Saturday, August 31, 2019

Evolution of Technology Essay

â€Å"Men are only so good as their technical developments allows them to be† (Orwell 56). When the technology boom occurred in the 1990s and beyond, a typical student’s backpack would consist of a boondoggle, leather-bound planner, pager, cassette player, 3. 5 inch floppy disk, and a hardcover textbook. Time advanced, and eventually made its way into the 2000s, when then a backpack would hold a keychain game, CD player, soft cover textbook with a CD-ROM, and a box-shaped cell phone. Technology continued to grow into the next decade with backpacks full of smart phones, laptops, graphic calculators, receipts for online textbook purchases, MP3 players, a backup charger, and a 4GB flash drive attached to the bag’s zipper. Evolution of technology has come into major play, and has begun to conquer today’s society with one discovery at a time. For example, as assembly lines become familiar to many, technology advancements closely follow. While hundreds of employees used to manually run a factory, the majority of the hard work is now done by machines, also known as artificial labor. This change has affected business owners positively, thus allowing for new positions to help run the technology and to ensure all is running well. After such advancements were formed in our society, hundreds to thousands of new companies and manufacturing plants have been built, resulting in a major increase of available jobs to the middle class, which currently, the majority of United States citizens currently occupy. Recently, IBM teamed up with Corporate Service Corps (CSC) in order to send 30 volunteers out into different countries to work on technology-related assistance, such as distance learning programs, and upgraded laser eye treatments. The fact that advanced technology can help to save millions of lives has been one of the biggest reasons for such a large demand. IBM plan to take on several projects in different countries such as India, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ghana, and more. A total of 12 teams will go into each of those countries and successfully complete the projects for better technology-based education and eye treatments, which will cost approximately $250,000 each, all paid for by IBM. The overall project has not only opened up new opportunities for those willing to add this adventurous project to their resume, but it’s also reaching out to communities in dire need, something that the latest technology has allowed to be done. Furthermore, technology has been able to expedite the process of sending aid to places I need more quickly and efficiently with the release of new features to currently existing pieces of technology, as well as software applications. Renowned author Sarah Murray explains, â€Å"When a huge earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, the addition of Haitian Creole – spoken by 8m people in that country – to Microsoft’s online translation engine, which was achieved in just five days, helped humanitarian workers who needed to be able to translate quickly. Something as simple as an online translation system, a piece of virtual technology, was able to help save thousands to millions of lives in Haiti. One of the biggest issues in aid relief is the language and unfamiliar surrounding barrier, which Microsoft has been able to defeat with the use of several applications. The company has been closely working with skilled programmers to create certain software which allow for a variety of functions, such as Twisted Pair Wave software, which allows humanitarian professionals to keep in contact with one another from any device by keeping connected to one specific network. Relief workers can then locate others in the area by sending a ping signal to the network, which helps when in an entirely new environment and unsure of the native language. Technology continues to save the lives of many, by creating jobs that allow people to continue and support their family, as well as being able to provide support for those in a life-or-death situation when it comes down to the essentials such as food, water, and housing. Some fortunate people fail to realize how difficult it really is to obtain such aid. While technology has helped to eradicate useless jobs and help to decrease labor costs, it has resulted in the creation new useful jobs, such as manufacturing the actual technology to be used in a computer, and a computer specialist field that help to put the newly-made computers to use. Thus, if a job is able to be taken over by a machine that is incapable of independent thought, the job may be less suitable for a human being. While ATMs have replaced bank-tellers, we now have newly found jobs which focus on repairing, and manufacturing the ATM machines; it works like a two-edged sword.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Manager And Leader Essay

Serious political and economical changes, which we experienced during the last 10 years, influenced not only psychology of a man, but basic tendencies of development in economical system as well. As a result of those changes, modern educational system must prepare managers, who will be effective in any enterprise. But the good manager should be a good leader, shouldn’t he? Is it really a big difference to be a manager and to be a leader? First of all, ‘manager’ is a person, who has legal power and usually regulates sphere of business relations, whereas ‘leader’ more often is informal person, who is the most influential individual in the sphere of emotional relations inside group. Leader can be the manager, but not always. A good manager should be a good leader (Stever Robbins, p.1). To be a manager, you need to have special skills, abilities and qualities. When you are a manager, you aren’t only a person, receiving tasks but you are a person, who should influence separate people and groups of people as well, stimulating them to work to achieve definite aim. He should act effectively, he should be a leader. Still, leader is a member of some group, who possesses the most valuable potential, which gives to him leading position in this group. First of all effective manager must show his qualities of leader. When manager becomes a leader, he executes his managerial functions (planning, organization, motivation, control, etc) through the prism of informal leader. Leadership is the most significant component of manager’s activity, which relates to ability to motivate and influence behavior of some definite workers and working team as a whole. Skills of communication and personal qualities of manager, corresponding to external and internal demands of group, can be the instruments of such influence. Being a manager means using more formal way of organizing people, whereas being a leader means having more emotional approach of influence (‘The Difference’, p.1). When manager gives orders, people obey to him (because he has legal authority), whereas leader in the group unites people (they follow him or his ideas by their own will and choice). Usually people are more loyal to leader, because he is more emotional. Works Cited: 1. The Difference Between Management And Leadership [online] http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/MENG/ME96/Documents/Intro/leader.html 2. Stever Robbins, The Difference Between Managing and Leading. Understanding people will help you make the shift from managing to leading a business. November 18, 2002 [online] http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,304743,00.html

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Jobs on Human Resource and Criminal Justice Essay

There are a lot of jobs in Human Resource field. A job website shows fifty human resource jobs in New York, forty one in Atlanta, thirty nine in Houston, thirty five in Dallas, thirty one in Chicago, twenty two in Los Angeles, twenty in San Jose, twenty in Austin, and other around one hundred and twenty nine in other areas. There are different positions which are in demand and few of these are HR Administrative and HR Administrative Assistant in Le Parker Meridien, Human Resource Administrator in Bloomingdale’s, Human Resource Generalist in Advertising in Towne Search, Corporate Employee Benefits Specialist in Riddick Group-Executive, Business Office Manager, Human Resource Generalist in Impact Personnel,Inc, Payroll Administrator and HR Associate, HR Business partner, Human Resource Development, Time Attendance Administrator, Compensation and HRIS, Director Human Resource, Talent Representative, Attorney Recruiting Project Assistant, Global HR and Tech, International Compensation Manager, Employment Standards Relationship Manager, Benefits Coordinator, HR Operations Manager, Senior Implementation Manager, HRIS Analyst, Recruitment and Retention Coordinator, Director of Fun, HR is one of the most important functions in an organization and it needs to perform very carefully so that every decision taken is fair and transparent. The responsibility of HR is to make the employees comfortable and the work place an ideal one for them. The greater the efficiency of the human resources department, the better the workplace environment and the employee motivation to work in the organization (Robbins & Judge, 2004). Criminal Justice Job vacancies are also in the market but relatively less in number than HR jobs. There are approximately fifty one jobs available in UK, five in Wales, one in Scotland, forty two in England, four in Yorkshire and Humberside, two in East Midlands, twenty five in Greater London, two in East of England and five in South East. There is City Attorney position in, Madison Alabama, victim or witness coordinator in Hudson Wisconsin, Assistant County Attorney in Los Alamos New Mexico, and Police Officer in Madison Wisconsin. Other vacant position include Communications Officer paid approximately ? 15 to 16 per hour, Social Worker for a youth offending team paid ? 19 to 23 per hour, Probation Officer paid approximately ? 25 per hour, Secretary General in International Commission of Jurists, Counter Fraud Specialist, Probation Prosecutor, Domestic Violence trainer, Senior Consultants and many more. But the popular one and one with most number of vacancies is Youth Offending Team. Apart from YOT a lot of Social Workers are required in the market to intervene and prevent crime.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Sun catcher marketing plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sun catcher marketing plan - Term Paper Example We at Sun Catcher aim to address marketing, and its organization as other vital company functions, say human resources and finance. It was thus imperative that we studied our competitors and their organizations in order to find the challenges they faced in marketing. The challenges included; performance of transactional and tactical tasks by marketing managers rather than their main activities, lack of clear responsibilities and roles within the marketing departments when compared to other functions, selection of external marketing agencies due to relationships rather than tangible performance, repetitive and data intensive marketing activities performed due to lack of information and resource sharing mechanisms, and finally constrainment and stretching of internal marketing talent pool due to minimal specialized professional marketing strategies and training (Wittemen 2). To avoid these pitfalls, Sun Catcher aims to give marketing its executive role by aligning its cost structures to the business model and strategy (Wittemen 2). We aim to do this via allowing the marketing executives to strategize internally and come up with opportunities for economies of scale. This will align market potential with resources. We also aim to apply lean principles by aligning and integrating marketing processes with an aim of increasing efficiency. Investment in technology is also a must if we are to figure out where to make investments in marketing sensibly. This includes use of customer resource management (Wittemen 2). The establishment of effective and flexible structures that segment the marketing department into transactional, strategic, external and internal functions which clarify the activities of each member is vital for sun Catcher’s survival (Wittemen 2). Sun Catcher has several contingency plans in case an emergency, event, or new information becomes available to us. While Sun Catcher would wish not to be befallen by an

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Collateralized Loan Obligations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Collateralized Loan Obligations - Essay Example The shareholders look for the assets which give higher yield and the companies take benefit of low borrowing rates. Collateralized mortgage obligations are same as the overflow marketplace of the predetermined product world. Strong trade of obscure products have helped increase investor’s enthusiasm for leveraged mortgages just as the regulators are cautioning about potentially agitated credit markets (Financial times, 2014). The paper aims at providing the nature of collateralized loan obligations and their role during the time of financial crisis. It will also highlight the changes which has taken place in the regulations to prevent the re-occurring of crisis. Further, the reasons behind the latest growth in the collateralized loan obligations market have also been discussed. Bank are gradually more employing securitization structure of a novel asset known as collateralized loan obligation (CLO) in order to fulfil their financial goals. Collateralized loan obligations allow banks to sell part of huge portfolios of the commercial loans directly in the global capital markets. CLOs provide banks a way of attaining a broad choice of financial objectives, comprising the decrease of regulatory capital needs and requirements, access to a proficient funding base for lending activities, accounting treatment of off-balance sheet, as well as increased liquidity (Kohler, 1998). The rationale behind the formation of collateralized loan obligations was to augment the supply of keen business lenders in order to decrease the price of loans/mortgages to companies and to facilitate banks more frequently to instantly sell loans to the external lenders/investors. This will facilitate providing of money to the business clients and therefore earn price or fee with no risk or little risk towards themselves. A collateralized loan obligation is made of various high risk business loans which are grouped together and sliced into diverse sectors which carry dissimilar credit

Lowe's vs. home depot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lowe's vs. home depot - Essay Example That is one of reasons that statistics show more sale revenue for Home Depot which is more accessible due to more branches! Lowe’s and Home Depot, being in the same business, have distinctly differentiated market strategy. Lowe’s is more focused to the needs and requirements of women and housewives who are more incline to buy dà ©cor accessories and unique products that can make a fashion statement for them. Home Depot, on the other hand, caters to the bulk buyers like contractors and retail customers, men especially, who are seriously into DIY (do it yourself) products. Home Depot has a better competitive image because they not only have more stores but they have also realized the need to improve on their quality and customer service. They are also thinking of expanding their product line to cater to wider customer base. Lowe’s, on the other hand, is just intending to improve on its customer service which is inadequate in the current scenario of recessive trend and highly competitive business

Monday, August 26, 2019

Legalization of marijuana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legalization of marijuana - Essay Example Therefore, this paper will seek ideas to develop an argument for and against legalization of marijuana, through elaboration of the ideas from different sources. Prohibition of marijuana is considered a misguided and ineffective policy, which has not contributed to reduction of marijuana consumption, since the government use funds to implement the policy, instead of collecting tax revenue from sales of legal marijuana. The government spends over ten billion dollars every year on enforcement of drug laws, thus resulting to cost of drug prohibition being wasted on the law enforcement resources. Therefore, government should impose a tax on sales of marijuana, hence eliminate the violence related to the organized drug trafficking (Edelson, 2012). Legalization of marijuana is also associated with a positive impact of lowering the crimes, since the regulation of drugs distribution can result to a reduction of the drug disputes, hence decreasing drug related crimes, besides, the use of marijuana can no longer be considered a crime resulting to a decreased number of criminals. Moreover, the prices of marijuana would decrease, thus cause a subsequent reduction in the crimes such as theft cases. On the other hand, prohibition of marijuana results to thousands arrests annually involving non-violent offences. The legalization would also make the police officers focus on serious crimes such as robberies, sexual assaults, violence, child abuse, burglaries and drunk driving. A relationship has been established between abuses of food intakes and the top ten leading causes of deaths in the world, but marijuana has never been mentioned; thus, there are no death tolls related to use or abuse of cannabis. In fact, the use of marijuana has not shown evidence related to causing health problems like cancer or heart disease; hence, it is considered harmless. Nevertheless, there

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Psychology Evaluate addiction in terms of brain dysfunction Essay

Psychology Evaluate addiction in terms of brain dysfunction - Essay Example In fact it does not require the individual to feel positive pleasure from the behaviour (West, 2006). There are two types of forces that forces that enhances purposeful behaviour in human beings: inhibitory forces and impulses. Each of these forces is balanced, checked and regulated by tasks of planning and evaluation. The behavioural plans that human beings propose for themselves, and the evaluation they make of their behaviour help to give identity and purpose (Baxter & Hinson, 2001). For instance if a man recognizes himself as addicted to smoking, but evaluate the smoking behaviour as a risk to mental functioning, then he will be able to formulate a plan that would displace the behaviour. Theory of addiction is viewed as chronic brain disorder that can be managed with all the tools at medicine's disposal. The addict's brain is claimed to be malfunctioning, just like the pancreas of someone with diabetes. The major distributing factor is the behaviour and lifestyle choices (Eugene & Heather, 2003). Genetics have found that there are gene variants that predispose people to addiction that explains why some people who tries addiction becomes hooked on it. The laboratories that are operated and funded by PET and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are forcing the addicted brain to yield up its secrets. According to West (2006), Neuroscientists are mapping the intricate network of feedback loops and triggers that are set in motion by the taste, sight or thought of a beer or a cigarette. They have learned to identified a signal that an alcoholic is about to pour a drink, and trace the impulse back to its origin in the primitive midbrain. Among the numerous compounds tested by NIDA are compounds that block the intoxicating effects of drugs. They include vaccines that train the body's own immune system to bar them from the brain Addiction as Brain dysfunction Addictive drugs like heroine and cocaine flood the brain with the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is a chemical that induces a sensation of pleasure and trains the subconscious mind to remember everything that proceed that sensation. Alcohol, amphetamines and nicotine, together with cocaine and heroine are considered the hardest drugs to give up (West, 2006). Drugs are substances that tap into brain's operation system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive and process information. Drugs can disrupt the brain's operation in two ways: can imitate the brain's natural chemical messengers and over-stimulate the reward circuit of the brain. Most drugs fool the brain's receptors and activate the nerve cells to send abnormal messages (Bannon et al, 2002). Nearly all drugs target the brain's reward system; they do this by flooding the circuit with dopamine. With continued drug abuse, the brain adapts the overwhelming surges in dopamine by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit; this will lessened the impact on the reward circuit, hence reducing the users ability to enjoy the drugs and things that earlier brought pleasure (West, 2006). According to Bannon et al (2002), long term abuse causes changes in other brain systems and circuit as well as facilitating non-conscious learning, which makes the learner to experience uncontrollable carvings whenever they see a person or place that is associated with the drug experience. Research indicates that drug-addicted individuals are show changes in regions of the brain that

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Ada Mediation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ada Mediation - Essay Example The State College is an old institution and the college authorities claim that it has historical significance of over 200 years in terms of its architectural structure. The real problem derives from the fact that due to absence of ramps, the student is not able to move freely around, which prevents him from utilizing the resources available in the college. Thus, he is forced to seek help from others to negotiate the tall steps. This causes considerable problems to him and hampers his music practice. The authorities of State College, on the other hand, state that it is hard to make modifications in the building, which will spoil its architectural value of historical significance. Besides, they claim that they will have to incur an expense of over $ 1 million to make the ramp for a single person. They are putting forth this reason to avoid any modifications to the college building to render it ADA compliant. This fact has raised a public issue as it disregards the provisions of the Ame ricans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990, enacted by the American Congress. Issues: The present subject raises the question of legal support to the music student in State College. For all practical purposes, this person has been unable to use the facilities to learn music in the college. The ADA emphasizes that all disabled persons have to be extended full facilities in their workplace.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Cultural Diversity in the U.S Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Cultural Diversity in the U.S - Assignment Example The American Civil Law however endeavors to protect the interest of the Native Americans from falling prey to discriminatory practices of the American people (Civil Rights and the Native Americans, n.d.). The treatment offered to the Native Americans thus seems quite inconsistent who become more susceptible to the effects of cultural relativity. Inconsistent Public Policies towards Native Americans The government of United States endeavors to maintain a strong binding relationship with the Native Americans. To this end, some of the legislators belonging to the United States congress have shown increased interest in setting better educational, health and working standards for the American Indians living within close proximity of their territories. These activities reflect that some Americans desire to make the natives enjoy those amenities which were once kept reserved for the American people. However, the Native Americans are increasingly falling prey to problems of cultural relativi ty and ethnocentrism as reflected by the attitudes of some fellow Americans. These groups of Americans suffer from the fear that large amount of Native Americans would gradually disturb the unity of the nation and hence poses a considerable threat to the American community. A majority of the American people believe that the due influx of Native Americans in the American community have led to the growth of crime and even had contributed to the birth of regional languages thus creating cultural barriers. However during the period of 2006 significant demonstrations were organized to promote the betterment of the ethnic groups comprising of Latin American people belonging to different regions. There have been similar erroneous remarks made on Native Americans as exploiters and self gainers. The Native Americans like Mexicans contribute around 29 billion dollars on an annual basis to America’s tax resources in return for the services received by them. The Native Americans are also observed as economic burdens of America. However, this stands false for the Mexican population living in America is the best cultivators of fruits and vegetables significant for the American economy. Moreover the Native Americans are quick adaptors of the English language and honor the multi-cultural facet of the American region. In the region of California however the immigrant population coming from Latin American countries faced fierce stance with denial of public support in matters related to health and education. During the period of 1994 the United States government headed by Bill Clinton took further steps to seal the entry points of Mexican people to United States. Estimates show that around $2.5 billion are expended by the Canadian government on programs directed to the betterment of the Native Americans. This service rendered by the Canadian government does not gain enough ground for Latin Americans are still kept away from being integrated to the culture of the state. Th e attempt of the Canadian government to bridge the economic gap between the American and Native Americans were viewed by others as activities, which promoted cultural disintegration. Native Americans thus became a victim of ‘cultural relativism’ (Native Americans and Public Policy, n.d.; Trigger, Washburn, Edward, 1996, p.435; D'Angelo & Douglas, 2009, pp.69-78).

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Professional Development Plan Essay Example for Free

Professional Development Plan Essay When forming teams in a professional work environment it is important to understand the personalities of your teammates to determine strengths and weaknesses. When a leader is able to define the strengths and weaknesses of the team members it is easier to delegate tasks, encourage brain storming sessions and be successful as a team. Team C is composed of five members all with great leadership skills and a desire to learn and complete excellent work together. The first week of class we completed a DISC assessment that identified our individual personality traits. According to Disc Profile (n.d.), The initial DISC model comes from Dr. William Marston, a professor at Columbia University in the 1920s, who was curious about the behavior of normal people. He did not create an instrument from his theory, but others did† (Disc Overview). As a potential leader of this team, I was able to examine my own leadership styles and apply that to our assignment which is to create a professional development plan to identify the characteristics of the members to lead them to success. My DISC assessment concluded that I was a Cautious personality type. I see this in my personality. I often think or overthink what I do and tasks that I complete at work and in the school environment. I rarely rush into an assignment or partially complete an assignment. I often am very detail-oriented in projects and assignments. My leadership mentality is mainly to lead by example. I rarely will task another person without knowing exactly what is involved in completing the job. This is probably due to a desire to have control over a situation and know exactly what is involved and how long it will take to complete. Plus I am a person that prefers to build trust by having examples of competent behavior to reference. Three members of my team have the â€Å"Steadiness† personality. Betty, Shawn, and Harlan are more steady and security-oriented, meaning they prefer to know precisely what they are doing as far as job related and school related tasks are concerned. When leading them in the team I would make sure they  understand the assignments of projects we work on as a team and I may be able to help them understand the projects better by fully explaining what we would hope the result would be. This might help team members to have more confidence in the projects. Brian has an interactive personality and it shows as he is able to learn about an assignment and take charge in explaining and delegating tasks for it. Brain is very confident in his assessments of situations and tasks. He has a very good way of being so excited about an assignment that it influences others in a positive manner. If I were to lead this team, I would have to have an understanding of the strengths of Brian’s ability to motivate the team and my ability to help the others understand the project so we may be successful in completion. Betty, Harlan, and Shawn are the key players in this as they will strive to do an incredible job in maintaining a strong will to succeed and complete the tasks. As a general rule, the steady personality listens well, creates very strong relationship bonds and work very well with others (Uniquely You, n.d.). They are able to be objective about situations that other people might not handle well. They can handle stress well and are reliable and really care about others feelings and will often take action that will help others feel good. References Disc Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc/overview/ Uniquely You. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.uniquelyyou.com/disc.php

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Gender Discriminations as Portrayed in Budd Schulberg’s “On the Waterfront” Essay Example for Free

Gender Discriminations as Portrayed in Budd Schulberg’s â€Å"On the Waterfront† Essay Literary forms reflect most of the time social conditions and scenario. This is because most writers have the gift of being sensitive to their surroundings. A lot of writers have already wrote about the pains of war, the stories of success, and criticisms about the existing flaws of the society. When narrating about war, writers never forget to touch the topic of patriotism. When it is a story of success that they want to write, they always incorporate the keys to success. However, when criticizing the society, most writers focus often on two themes: the struggles between the wealthy and the poor and gender discrimination. For example, in Budd Schulberg’s â€Å"On the Waterfront†, gender criticism is one of the compelling themes the author has presented and embedded in the story. However, unlike other gender-based novels, ‘On the Waterfront† does not mainly focus on one gender but tackles both criticisms pointing to males and females. The novel suggests that gender-defined roles damage both gender along with greed for power. Criticisms on Women In the society that Schulberg has created, the D and D society, women seem to be victims of double jeopardy. Here the women are being discriminated in two levels. First, they are abused as being women in general and second, they are abused by their own society led by Johnny Friendly. In the novel, women already experience household violence, specifically coming from their husbands or other members of the family. For example, Edie, has experienced to be limited by his own father. It could be remembered that Edie’s father wants her to continue pursuing college: â€Å"But Pop, Ive seen things that I know are so wrong. Now how can I go back to school and keep my mind on on things that are just in books, that-that-that arent people living? † Although one way of empowering women is to educate them, it is more empowering for them to follow their own will and not be dictated by others. Edie’s decision to stay in Brooklyn to search the truth behind the death of his brother could be considered as more rewarding than to attain a degree in college. Her father, on the other hand, might not be aware of what he did. Nevertheless, his action could be considered an act of limiting the rights of women to think and act on their own. Criticisms Against Men Clearly, the novel shows more cases of criticisms and abuse against men than women. Unlike women, men in the D and D society are not victims of two-level criticisms. However, the abuse they experience seems to be as heavy as the abuse those of women. In their society, those who are in power mainly abduct their rights—the members of the mob-connected union, particularly their leader Johnny Friendly. The novel clearly shows how the rights of men to live and to speak the truth were violated. They are not simply hurt physically; they lose their lives once they go against the union. But Schulberg did not stop on that; he even explored the psychology of how men hurt each other’s feelings. For example, one of the biggest conflicts in the story is the dispute between siblings Terry and Charley: â€Å"You dont understand. I coulda had class. I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, lets face it. It was you, Charley. † (Shulberg p. 266) These lines from Terry clearly shows that it was indeed a hard life for people to live having dispute with their family. Greed for Power Aside from gender criticisms, another theme that is present in â€Å"On the Waterfront† deals with the greed for power. In the story, Schulberg clearly shows how man can become a monster just to achieve a power comparable to that of a god. This universal truth, in reality, also damage both gender. Being greed for power could push a person, regardless of gender, to commit actions that violate both the law and morality. In the novel, killing people and oppressing them just to remain in power is one vivid example. Johnny Friendly, together with other members of the union, is evidently guilty of it: â€Å"You want to know whats wrong with our waterfront? Its the love of a lousy buck. Its making love of a buck— the cushy job— more important than the love of man! † (Schulberg p. 225). These lines from one of the characters in the novel is an attempt to verbalize the problem with the D and D society. People are so absorbed on how to gain power over other people. Thus, one effective way to do this is to gain an incredible amount of money. In summary, â€Å"On the Waterfront† tries to capture forms of abuse that are a result of greed and the need for power. The novel clearly shows, through the character of Johnny Friendly, how man can be blinded by his constant pursuit for money and power. Generally, it is the greed for wealth that a person could lose his sense of what is right and what is wrong. To dream of becoming rich is not a bad dream. It is in the nature of man to look for ways on how to improve himself and his condition. But when the dreamer let himself to be carried away by the grandiosity of wealth, the dream will suddenly turn into a nightmare. As a result, greed for money and power both damage men and women. Both are threats to the rights and freedom of people. Moreover, it is a stain of our society, Work Cited Schulberg, Budd. On the Waterfront. Pennsylvania: Continuum Intl Pub Group, 1985

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Emerging Issues In Strategic Human Resource Management Commerce Essay

Emerging Issues In Strategic Human Resource Management Commerce Essay This report is based on the case study Apple Inc.s Corporate Culture: The Good the Bad and the Ugly. The report tried to investigate and find out what is good and what is detrimental to the organisational culture in terms of Human Resource strategy and practice in Apple Inc. The conceptual investigation was totally focused on Human Resource Management perspective issues of Apple, though the case study has included wide areas of analysis including Apples operations, marketing, accounts etc. This theoretical research provides a reasoned and academically underpinned critical analysis as well as provides coherent and justified recommendations for changes to HR strategy and practice in Apple Inc. Based on the above mentioned case study, this essay reviewed the impact of people (employee) in apples magical success as well as it has reviewed the Apple Incs management and leadership styles. In the progress of the essay, Apples human resources policy is also critically evaluated and detrimental HRM issues are identified. Appropriate models and frameworks also has been identified which could be used for better managing of human resources. Good HRM practices also given credit which they can effectively keep implementing for sustainable future success. Critical appraisal of the contribution people has made to Apple Inc People, in organisational term employees have great impact towards organisations success or failure. Michigan model (Cited in Price 2007, pp 40) explains that employees are resources in the same way as any other business resource. So exploiting the peoples are crucial as with other equipment and raw material of the organisation. Peoples in Apple Inc. have made huge impact and they are the key of companys success. Its CEO Steve Jobs is the person who has been the figureheads for the company. He is the founder of the company, however after his initial spell with the organisation he had to leave. When he came back after twelve years, he has made Apple most innovative and profitable organisation on earth. He is an iconic figure and everybody wants him around in the company. He is worlds greatest salesman (case study). Apple and Jobs have become synonymous. How one person can make a crisis-ridden company to a world most recognised company, what might be impact of peoples to an organisation, Apple and Steve Jobs would be used as an example surely for long. It is not only Steve Jobs, apart from him it is peoples who works for Apple made the difference. As the case study suggests, totally awesome team of people working in the company. Everyone is respectful, intelligent and good at executing. Apples employees had high passion and believe in the corporate mission and it was the competitive advantage for the company. Apple exploits it employees in various roles right from engineering to marketing to operations and sales. People working for Apple feels proud working for the most innovative company and work hard for the company which is phenomenal within the industry. According to the case study the key people in the organisation are the position of technical, marketing and staff positions. The organisations success largely depends on attracting and keeping these peoples. Redman Wilkinson (2009) indicates that personal and organisational success is increasingly correlated with the profession of skills. Skilled individuals can command a premium salary in periods of high economic activity. It is the interests of any company to maximise its human resources by investing in the skills of its workforce: its human capital. Price (2007) suggests human capital is a crucial component of an organisations overall competitiveness. Companies like Apple where human resources become the driving force in the development of strategy; there is an overriding emphasis on developing their skills and capitalising on their competencies. Apple has successfully focused on the people resources and capitalised it to achieve competitive advantages in the market place. Apple is acknowledged as the most innovative company within the industry and no doubt, its peoples (management and other employees) has made it worlds top innovative company. Analysis of factors concerning the management of the human resource in Apple Factors concerning the management of the human (people) resource vary within an organisation and across situations. The output of any organisation, however it is measured, relies heavily upon market factors which determine how the organisation operates. RDI (2010) suggests, future trends must be identified and the organisation must be able to adapt to them if it is to continue to function in a profitable and effective way. The HRM function must support these strategic perspectives. In developing a strategic perspective, an in-depth understanding needs to be acquired of the relationship between an organisations environment and its people (HRM) strategy. HR professionals must therefore have an understanding of the strategic HRM process in term of people aspects. . Most organisations are being held back by people issues. They need to be handled with care and effectively. It seems Apple has adopted a balance of Best fit and best practice approaches to manage its human resources. The objective of Apples Human Resources is to maximize the return on investment from the organizations human capital and minimize financial risk. These responsibilities are conducted by human resource managers in an effective, legal, fair, and consistent manner. Human resource management in Apple serves these key functions: Recruitment and selection, work analysis, training, job rotating, leadership development, performance appraisal, incentive compensation, benefit profit sharing, employee development, employee security and health, employee relation etc. However some key factors concerning the management of human resource in Apples are discussed below: Recruitment Apple recruits people with computer based knowledge. Highly selective recruitment process was designed to hire only the best who would fit well to the organisational culture regardless of their experiences. Organisational fitness is more important in Apple than job-fitness. Case study suggests that selection process is a short procedure, where prospective employees organisational suitability is measured by verbal interview. Equal opportunity and diversity Apple is the equal opportunity Employer and promoted diversity within the organisation. Apples employees are from diverse background. Diversified workforce is one of the positive aspects of Apples corporate culture. Compensation and benefit: Apple offers various benefits to its employees and its compensation and benefits are very competitive. Benefit package varied depending on location and employment status. The common benefit included insurance coverage, flexible spending accounts, an employee stock purchase programme and a 401(k) saving and investment plan. Product discounts, on site fitness centre, and the opportunity to work on big projects with some of the experienced players in the industry were added bonuses. Salary and compensation reviews include year-end bonuses, vacation time and other perks and reimbursements. Apple also offered the FlexBenefits programme to its employees where they could choose benefits that best fit their lives. Recognition and appreciation In 1995 Apple created the Apple fellows program in order to recognise the best of its employees who had made extraordinary contributions to personal computing. Each Apple fellow acted as a leader and visionary guiding the company in their particular area of expertise. According to the case study apple is well known to appreciate and value its employees. It is considered a great place to work for people who are passionate about innovation. Career opportunity: Apples positive recruitment policy emphasis on candidates suitability to suit the organisational culture rather than their skills to fit in a specific position. However opportunities are given to employees to gather skills within the organisation. Opportunities for training and development include internship, on-the-job training etc. Internship with apple offered real learning experiences that led to prospective careers in diverse fields. Apple attracted most talented people to come as interns, as people valued Apple best place to learn, they joined them and worked for them as interns. They thought once they get chance to work at Apple, whatever basis it is , it would not be a problem for them to find jobs in elsewhere, the fact is that it wasnt as according to the case study most of Apples interns were able to find jobs promptly once they had some experience from Apple. On-the-job training is applied successfully in Apple. In this casual work culture employees get an opportunity to work with experienced and talented people with no end to challenges. Employability security: Apple has no mutual obligation between the company and its employees and the employees should opt for a better opportunity if it came along. Apple is always unapologetic about layoffs and made it clear that the company believed in employability security rather than employment security. The employability security means that an employee after working with apple would learn enough to be attractive to another employer if laid off. Apple emphasis on psychological contract rather than physical contract. Price, (2007) viewed psychological contract as an informal understanding between the employer and employee. Unlike the formal employment contract, this has no physical existence. It is a set of expectations held by both employers and employees in terms of what they wish to give and receive from their working relationship. Comparison and contrast of the concepts of management and leadership in context of Apple Inc The effectiveness of any organisation depends upon the structure of the management system in operation, as well as its cultural environment. According to the case study Apple is ranked in the top position for the people management within the industry. Jobs is a charismatic CEO whose management style has influenced by Douglas McGregors Theory Y type attitudes (Price, 2007) who leaves his employee to work on their own, taking initiatives, being self-motivated and tending to work hard. However when it comes to take final decisions, the case study suggests it is always one person who takes them and it is Steve Jobs himself as well as his job delegation was very selective only to whom he (Jobs) trusted which is named benevolent authoritative style of management by Likert (2009). One of the problems of management was span of control and information communication gap. As the case study suggests one of the employees said, six different supervisors gave him six different answers and they did not communicate together. Apples management coordination is characterised by Japanese centralisation (Torrington et al 2008) orientation the typical Japanese approach is for strong headquarters group to keep for themselves all major decision. Steve Jobs is a visionary leader who has who has always identified the need of change and has vision of future desired state. Anon (2002) dubbed him as a transformational leader who has single-handedly turned the organization around and delivered it from crisis when he was called back to the company in the year 1997 after twelve years of his departure. Jobs inspired the employees at apple to come out with unconventional products by thinking differently. However though Jobs leadership has brought success for Apple, it does not guarantee that same style would work for future leaders. According the case study Jobs leadership in Apple is supported by Great man theory of leadership where he practices CEO centric power. Anon (2008) suggests that he is secretive, controlling, hog credit, makes people cry and parks his Mercedes in disabled spots. In the world of continuous change this sort of leadership is ineffective for long run. Jobs has been a successful manager who has showed his competency of managing task and people in Apple at the same time though he is a transformational visionary leader but on the other side of the coin he is a autocratic dictator who has been subjecting his employees to tyrannical outburst and fostering a culture of strict secrecy at the company. Apples future leader should adopt more integrating style of leading rather than Jobs traditional controlling leadership. Apples organisational culture is ingrained by Steve jobs and he has made Apple an Institutional mirror of himself. However the company thinks that they would keep operating the same way even when Jobs was no longer there. As the case study suggest that Jobs put an executive team, trained and groomed in his way of doing things in place to take the company forward in his absence. It seems the scheme is successfully working as in Jobs recent six months absence period the company ran smoothly and even Apples stock price was up 66%. Steve jobs has put bold management succession plan in place as it is clear after Jobs sudden exit, Cook will take over as the CEO. Torrington et al (2008) describe it as individual succession analysis. This process is focused to an informal approach to promote with short-term focus on who would be able to replace senior people if they left suddenly. However it is not undisputable that Apple is a visionary organisation or Steve Jobs is a visionary leader as some critics thinks they live just in present. Like Boivin, C. Roch, J. (2006) said Apples leadership are stonewalling; these people, accustomed to the veneer of emergencies, could find no heart or time in their calendars for thinking beyond next months products, next months programs. Too many Apple people, live only in the present and are so wrapped up in the present, so totally engrossed in fighting todays battles, that they live unaware of the past and the future. All today, no yesterday, no tomorrow. They werent stonewalling on the strategy; the strategy dealt with tomorrow, and there was no time in their calendar for tomorrow. Leading and developing effective teams Though Apples work culture is driven by intense work ethic, however it has also another side. In one side we can see a group of eccentric workaholic peoples who work unusually longer hours on the other side we can see that Apples work environment is relaxed and casual, which has certainly helped leading and developing effective team spirit. Employees are followed by casual dress code on the job. According to the case study, Apples employees think it has funny, brilliant, relaxed co-workers and modern, spacious, beautiful offices filled with comfortable couches. Case study also suggests, employees are upbeat about Apples workplace experience and corporate diversity and shared passion. Apple has been able to instil a sense of pride towards its employees. The work culture at Apple was driven by passion for products and attention to the minutest details. Every department is equipped with smart, creative and hard-working people. The work culture is much more like club rather than family. Product development team is formed at Apple with peoples from diverse experience background. By hiring innovative people from diverse background, apple was able to incorporate different perspectives and skills and achieve its goal of making the best products on the market. Teams in Apple work in challenging and creative environment and explored new ways of performing common tasks. Apple provides them ample opportunities to learning and growing. There was amazing level of coherence among the executive teams at Apple. However rather than team work in apples corporate culture encourages individual performance. In Apple, employees had to do their work independently and each individual was his/her best resource. Guidance was occasional. As a company policy employees were not allowed to take note in meetings. Apple appreciated hard working employees and rewarded those who demonstrated their skills and capabilities. It seems Apple fostering an individualistic culture rather team culture. It selects independent thinker who likes to work alone. Apple created a club/community like environment to motivate and retain employees. Analysis of HRM problems in Apple Inc and appropriate models to develop solutions The absence of systematic standard human resource management tools is major problem for Apple. In the absence of well-structured systems and process, the corporate culture became dysfunctional. Many talented people left Apple, because they did not like Apples culture. Without systematic HRM strategy which should be aligned with organisational strategy the company will not prosper for long time. Lack of proper tools to recognition and appreciation Case study suggests that employee had to look after their career as organisation has no proper talent tracking system. Management did not care about interests of other employees, recognising their hard works. Employees innovative product ideas have never been accepted by the company. Though in the early stage employees were appreciated for their work e.g. those who worked for Mac their signature were engraved in the inside of computer case. However it was not the practice later on. Promotion unfairness According to the case study unfairness in promotions and overall employee treatment existed at Apple. Apple worked its employees to the bone but did not reward their hard work and dedication. Only top executives were rewarded. In Apple, appraisal is not based on contribution to the team and support of others, rather based on individual outstanding performance. Career progression and development In a flat hierarchical organisational structure career advancement opportunities were very limited. Reward and bonuses Reward is not based on team performance and contribution, rather individual performance and individual effort. The top management seems in Apple is content with their pay. Lower level employees have not got bonuses or pay rise. Even lower level employees do not have stock option though they worked 60 hours per week. Pfeffer (1998) models suggests profit can still be made with higher pay rates if the right pay format is used such as gain sharing , stock options and pay for skills (cited in Price, 2007). When employees think they are fairly rewarded they will show more commitment. Apples management must pay attention on this. It is important task for any HRM department to aligning an organizations payment arrangements and wider reward systems with the business objectives (Torrington et al. 2008, pp. 638). Long work hours Apple is criticised for its long work hours. Employees struggle to balance work and family life and Apple was blamed for having no regard for family life. Even the company was sued by its employee on the ground of breaking the Californian labour law. Adopting a commitment model (Torrington et al 2008) and changing the organisational culture could solve most of the HRM issues for Apple. commitment model: Communication: Outlining the direction that the organisations strategy is taking and the purpose of any changes. Staffs need to understand why decisions have been before they will cooperate in their implementation. Apples top level managements strict secrecy and rigid mentality must need to be changed. Ownership: Ownership is encouraged by involving people in decisions and making them responsible for implementing specific action. Steve Jobs himself and his successor must stop taking all decisions without employee involvement and participation. Employee involvement is all about their participation with organizational decision making process. Employee involvement is largely concerned with preventing or alleviating alienation (Torrington et al. 2008, pp. 484). Staffs can be involved within the organization through ownership or empowerment. ABE (2001) HRM study manual suggests that empowerment involves people in the operation of organization, so they feel personal responsibility for their actions (pp. 115). Emotional Identification: It is more likely in an atmosphere of enthusiasm. This can be created by acknowledgement and encouraging responsibility and recognising hard work. Performance: Performance assessment and reward structure should be focused on commitment. Apple must put proper performance appraisal system in the place and act accordingly to identify well performing individuals and reward them accordingly. Change of organisational culture: Moreover organisational cultural shift is also needed which would change Apple from an excessive control cultural company to a collaborative cultural company. To survive in future transference and collaboration is essential. A culture that is constantly in pursuit of operational excellence. Good organisational cultures flourish the organisational growth. Leadership in control cultures is a function of authority, and decision making is tied closely to title and role in the organisational. Such organisations tend to be more hierarchical in structure (RDI, 2010). Apple belongs to this category. Scholars place a high value on collaboration not just internally, but with its customers and partners. It emphasises the power of teamwork. By collaboration it seeks to be closely in touch and in tune with the customer and the market at large. RDI (2010) hints that leadership in a collaboration culture is role-based, not person or title-based, and authority is situational (dependent on the particular client engagement, project etc). The natural organisational structure of a collaboration culture is cross-functional teams aligned to market opportunities. According to the case study Apple has been subject to the criticism for an organisational culture characterised by Steve jobs over controlling, top management strict secrecy maintaining and practice of lack of transference. To attain sustainable customer trust, transference and collaboration are necessary in all levels of the organisation. Conclusion It is obvious apple has many good thinks which are strength for the company including strong management, leading, skilled and dedicated people resources. However it is also evident that companys overall corporate culture is out dated which is characterised by absence of morale and lack of alignment of people with organisational strategy. So change in organisational culture is crucial and should be imminent for sustainable long term success. Future leaders initiatives to address these issues, their openness to change and implementing changes to the organisation would become vital factor to success. It is also need to be seen whether Apple finds a perfect successor (predictably Cook) for Steve Jobs, a man who has always been well ahead of competitors to create future vision. It is not drastic change Apple has to go through in near future in terms of its HRM strategy but they must implement some changes which will put the company from one man show to a systematic practice. Apples existing workforce comprise by 35,000 employees worldwide (case study), however this number is inevitable to increase in future and without proper Human Resource strategy and defined policy it will be difficult to manage a diverse huge workforce. Future leaders and managers must set out a standard HRM policy aligned with organisational strategy addressing all emerging issues of HRM. Reference Anon (2002) Transformational leadership; Organizational change; Management styles. Review of Transformational leadership in the context of organizational change by Eisenbach, R. et al (1999). Strategic Direction, 18(6), pp.5-7 [Online] Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0258-0543volume=18issue=6articleid=869238show=html [Accessed: 19 July, 2010] Anon (2008) Leading personalities. Review of The trouble with Steve by Elkind, P. (2008). Strategic Direction, 24 (11), pp. 17-19 [Online]. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0258-0543volume=24issue=11articleid=1747898show=html [Accessed: 19 July, 2010] Bovin, C. Roch, J. (2006) Dominant organizational logic as an impediment to collaboration Management Decision, 44 (3), pp. 409-422 [Online]. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0258-0543volume=18issue=6articleid=869238show=html [Accessed: 19 July, 2010] Likert, R. (2009) Management Operations. Harlow, England: Pearson Education Price, A. (2007) Human Resource Management in a Business Context. 3rd Edition, London, UK: Cengage Learning EMEA rdi (2010) Managing the Human Resource Manual [Online] Available at: http://moodle.bl.rdi.co.uk/course/view.php?id=168 [Accessed: 18 July, 2010] Redman, T. Wilkinson, A. (2009) Contemporary Human Resource Management Text and Cases. 3rd Edition. Harlow, England: Pearson Education Torrington, D. et al (2008) Human Resource Management. 7th edition. Harlow, England: Pearson Education

The Grange :: essays research papers

The Grange The Grange was the first major farm organization and began in the 1860's. This organization was created mostly as a social and self-help association not originally an organization of protest. During the depression of 1873, this group of bonded friends, became an "agency for political change." They knew in ordered to help themselves they must become a voice in this new government in order to survive. With the depression farm product prices began to decrease. More farms joined the Grange to band together to resolve the issues before them. Beginning as a small group of friends learning from each other what worked and what didn't, by 1875 the Grange boasted of over 800,000 members and 20,000 local lodges; claiming chapters in almost every state, being the strongest in the states that produced the most: the South and Midwest. As a group (strong in member) they made their statement to the world on an appropriate day, Independence Day 1873. The framers Declaration of Independence informed those listening they were ready to fight back. The Declaration stated they would use "all lawful and peaceful means to free themselves from the tyranny of monopoly". Many of the members opened stores and other businesses so they could begin to buy and sell to each other. However most of these were farmers, with families, not businessmen and many companies didn't survive because of their lack of real business knowledge and the pressures of the middlemen who wanted them to fail. They worked as a team to get candidates elected who agreed with the need for governmental control of the railroads. With the control of the Legislatures they implemented governmental controls on railroad rates and practices. However the railroad was also very wealthy. They hired lawyers who soon destroyed the new regulations. With these defeats and with the new rise in farm prices in the late 1870's the Grange began to lose strength and power, dwindling to a membership to only 100,000 by 1880. The Grange was the springboard for another banding together of farmers, the Farmers Alliances. This new movement began in the Southern states and quickly spread beyond what the Grange had been. One of the most notable differences within the Alliance, was the approval of women to vote and become speakers and leaders for their cause. The Alliance however, had similar problems as the Grange. Many of the cooperations, stores, banks, processing plants and other resources began to suffer the same fate. Lack of solid management and the market forces operating against them caused them to fail. These disappointments aided the forming of a national political organization.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Correlation between 8th grade mathematic CMT scores and mathematic CAPT

Correlation between 8th grade mathematic CMT scores and mathematic CAPT scores Introduction: Standardized testing, specifically â€Å"high-stakes testing†, has become a topic of debate for many years. â€Å"High-stakes testing† is associated with states that require successful performance on a standardized test for graduation, an â€Å"exit exam†. Is this the trend in public education? As an educator in Connecticut, should I expect â€Å"high-stakes testing† in the future? The State of Connecticut Legislature created a statue (Section 10-14n) that mandates statewide standardized testing for students in 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th grade. The tests assess performance tasks and a set of specific skills, which are aligned with the Connecticut Common Core of Learning and National Standards. Students are evaluated against that set of specific skills, not each other (Connecticut Mastery Test Program Overview 14). In 4th, 6th and 8th grade, students take the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) is administered in 10th grade. The movement for standardized testing began in 1985 with the CMT and the testing trend continued with CAPT in 1994. The State of Connecticut touts the purposes of the tests are to monitor student progress, identify students for remediation, to promote accountability and equitability between/within school districts and to improve instruction/curriculum. Until 2001, the tests were not supposed to b e used as tool for promotion or graduation. In the 2001, school districts were mandated to create a specific set of criteria for graduation, with CAPT as one component but not the sole component (Connecticut Assessment Performance Test Overview 8). If the trend continues, Connecticut will have â€Å"... ...ment of Education. 2003. Connecticut Assessment Performance Test Program Overview. Dec. 2004 ct.us/public/der/s-t/testing/capt/2004_capt_program_overview.pdf>. Connecticut State Department of Education. 2003. Connecticut Mastery Test Program Overview. Dec. 2004 /s-t/testing/ cmt/cmt_program_overview_may_2004.pdf>. Connecticut State Department of Education. 2003. Strategic School Profile. Dec. 2004 . McMillan, James H. The Relationship Between Instructional ad Classroom Assessment Practices of Elementary Teachers and Student Scores on High-Stakes Test. Jan. 2003. Virginia Commonwealth University. Dec. 2004 storage_01/0000000b/80/28/04/d0.pdf>.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The Lamb Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A time lost in it’s own morals, seeks refuge in the knowledge and innocence of the past. William Blake used direct dictation through his poem, â€Å"THE LAMB†, in disseminating his theorem, which we, humans, seek to find peace within our selves only after reestablishing our identity with something pure. In the poem William Blake uses the Lamb, as a vessel, to interpret the innocence, we would seek to use. The speaker is seeking answers to his questions, about how the lamb gained such natural innocence. Blake’s biblical reference is also clear; although one may possibly, with out major knowledge of biblical testaments, know that Adam and Eve both â€Å"sinned†; therefore damning all mankind to eternal suffering. This eternal suffering is what the speaker may be trying to express, envy for the lamb’s godlike quality and innocence that it still retains, unlike the speaker a human by default.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Lamb Lamb, who made thee?† A rhetorical question to ponder upon, not to seek an answer. To ask the lamb its self â€Å"who made thee?† it may answer â€Å"My mama†. Although William Blake may have not intended such simplistic interpretation; William Blake may have sought scholarly biblical people to read and interpret that single line as a passage to his chamber of innocence, and metaphorical visions of happiness. Throughout the poem the speaker continues to haggle the lamb about its nature, as if to repress the lamb’s self worth. The lamb is seen as...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Essay

It is known how the cowboys won the West, as it is seen in so many films and TV shows that it seems impossible that anyone would not know about these tales. White civilized soldiers moving out of the East coast of the USA, having the wild natives and lands tamed. The wild natives who threatened the sovereignty and peace of the white Americans, on the contrary, Dee Brown paints a different picture, a story told from the other side of the fence, this tale is known as Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee was first published in 1970 and contains the history of Native Americans belonging to the West side of America in the late 19th century. The story narrates how the Native Americans were displaced and slaughtered by the Federal Government of United States. Bury my heart at Wounded Knee is the last phrase of a poem called â€Å"American Names† by Stephen Vincent Bennet. Brown starts the book by quoting what Columbus wrote to the Majesties of Spain, â€Å"So tractable, so peaceable, are these people that I swear to your Majesties there is not in the world a better nation. They love their neighbors as themselves, and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile; and though it is true they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praise worthy†. (Brown, 5) Though, this did not seem to impress Columbus for long as the author states that Columbus saw this as a sign of weakness on the part of the Native Americans and being a European, he was convinced that the people should be made to work and do everything essential to adopt our ways. The massacre then continued for the next four hundred years until almost the total extinction of the Native Americans culture and civilization had been carried out. The Native Americans who are still alive, are proud cultural people residing in the land consigned to them by the government of USA, the land known as ‘Reservations’. The opening chapter of the book is a broad introduction to the hardship to follow, starting with Columbus and the entrance of Europeans in the Caribbean and down the Eastern seaboard. After the introduction, in which Brown explains that massacres and genocide have deep roots in the history of the American continent, even before the Wild West period, we reach the topic itself. Most of the documented history is of the thirty year period among the 1860s to 1890s. Fresh from the most gruesome era of USA history, when the self caused death count rose to the highest ever the country would experience, the Civil War of America reached a revolving point. As the now unified and stable government had returned, most of the population was charged up with the pioneering spirit and went into the unknown areas of the West, searching for new lives, freedom and quick riches. It was this migration which landed the white man at the doors of an ancient cultured establishment. Even though the Native Americans of the East, who were village based farmers, had been dealt with a long time back, the Native Americans belonging to the West coast were a diverse breed altogether and more dire measures had to be undertaken to deal with them. The Native Americans believes were very dissimilar from the white man’s culture and belief. The Native Americans believed that nothing was ever personally owned by them, as the land, the homes and everything that had been given to him were only loans to him and could be taken back anytime. Therefore, how could the Native American population sell the land that could not be owned by anyone? Yet, the white men took the land anyway, dislocating the Native Americans and setting up their own homes and families and brimming over the land in his place in a sign of greed and bloodshed. The USA adopted such policies making the Native Americans indebted to the government; this was done by transferring the Native Americans to low quality land and reservations and by the methodical destruction of the buffalo. The tribes would have to relay on the supplies from the white government and the only thing the Native Americans had to bargain was the land they resided at. Brown has used ancient manuscripts and actual texts of the white men and dominated Native Americans of that time to portray the route taken to acquire the land of the west by false arrests, kangaroo courts, unprovoked attacks, broken treaties and round-ups of Native Americans, forcing them onto desolate lands. Brown also narrates stories of particular Native Americans using certificated information; the great warrior known as Geronimo who battled the white men and the peaceful leaders of Native Americans known as Black Kettle who would try to sort out treaties through dialog and understanding. Black Kettle would look for ways to preserve the Native Americans’ open lands and at the same time settle the white men in the other areas of the west. Brown breaks down the time of the westward push through time-line, geographic areas, particular tribes and their chiefs and incidents that formed the history of the Native Americans’ termination by the hands of the government of the USA and the white settlers. The author ends the book with descriptions from the Native Americans who survived the carnage at Wounded Knee, a creek in South Dakota. As this was the last major butchery of the Native Americans by the USA soldiers. Many series of misunderstandings and blunders contributed to the mass killing of unarmed Native Americans that took place at Wounded Knee. At that 29th December of 1890, as much as 300 Native American men, woman and children were butchered. The following is a paragraph from the book, describing the events that took place at Wounded Knee Lake. â€Å"A mother was shot down with her infant; the child not knowing that its mother was dead was still nursing†¦ The women as they were fleeing with their babies were killed together†¦ and after most of them had been killed a cry was made that all those who were not killed or wounded should come forth and they would be safe. Little boys†¦ came out of their places of refuge, and as soon as they came in sight a number of soldiers surrounded them and butchered them there†. (Brown, 83) As all 19 chapters of the book narrate the battles, events and certain tribes, it is easy to say that Brown wished to go deep into detail which is also obvious with book consisting of 500 pages. However, some might say Bury my heart at Wounded Knee seems text-book like which bores the reader. Although the book seems to be appealing for me, as little is known about the genocide that took place in the West of USA and therefore, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee seems to be a magnificent and attractive learning instrument. Among Brown’s written Creek Mary’s Blood and Killdeer Mountains which were also about Native Americans, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee seems to be the greatest text of all. The author has included elements such as quotes, songs and portraits throughout the book to attract the reader. These elements play a strong part by breaking the chain of monotony of pages of texts. The quotes seem to be well chosen and positioned, so are the portraits and help present a well informed picture of the history. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee assists us to look into our shady past and examines it; the book explores how the white men tried to fulfill our Christian manifest destiny in American history. The white men are shown as discriminators, murderers and sadists, with the exemption of a few soldiers and civilians. These white men would kill Native Americans despite of gender or age, often mutilating and scalping the bodies, and sometimes even committing horrendous acts such as cutting the genitalia of Native Americans. These extraordinary and appalling revelations give the reader a horrifying image of the birth of the great country known as the USA. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee has its share of drawbacks such as any other book. I believe one of the greatest shortcomings is the language the author has used in some parts of the book. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee becomes complicated and could lose probable readers because of the lack of understanding of the used text. Although the book is an essential for any reader who is interested in history as the book reveals a lot, the vocabulary and writing techniques used may challenge the readers at times. The next drawback is that the book narrates similar tales, just with different tribes, which sends a monotonous tone through the book. Although, by writing in such a way, Brown indicated and clearly conveyed this influential point that no matter where the Native Americans turned to, they were butchered. With the shortcomings intact, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee remains a book which wins the heart of readers by telling a tale that is not really understood or identified, a nasty yet important part of the American history. The book is inclusive, yet only narrates the starting of what was being done in the name of war profiteering and manifest destiny. The author asks the reader to confront our history that may make us feel uneasy. There are always two sides of a story and the author has decided to tell us the story of the side that is rarely heard and spoken of. Brown has indeed achieved the goal he set out when he decided to write an account of this appalling mark of American history in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Dee Brown wrote this book over thirty five years back, to redress and balance the history. This is the tale of the Apache, the Navaho, the Comanche, the Sioux and the story of Sitting Bull, of Geronimo and others. It is hard headedly researched and extremely detailed, at the same time interesting. The author’s sources of quotes were the journals, courts transcripts and other documents of the Native American people. These words indeed carried an intellectual, beautiful and expressive imagery of these cultural people. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a gloomy story of unkindness, racism, ignorance and prejudice you’ll ever read. The immoral perpetrated against the Native American people are of a scale beyond words, certainly ahead of any words of mine, or Brown’s, or even the arrogant, depressing, gorgeous descriptions of the Native Americans themselves. Yet, we must carry on to the future, with our evolving societies, knowing that no one can turn back the hands of time. The Native Americans can’t have their heritage, their land, or their way of life returned to them. Even though there is a need for testament for history and for the preserving of knowledge, customs and culture. There is no other way to learn from the past and go forward to our future if there is nothing to build upon. Bibliography Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. Pocket Books, United States (1981)

Friday, August 16, 2019

Leadership orientation

Nowadays, there is a number pf psychological tests, intended to measure leadership-related abilities as well as managerial style and orientation. In the present paper I would like to describe my own results of the following surveys: the Willingness-to-Communicate Scale; the Leadership Style Preferences Inventory; the McGregor Theory X and Y Surveys; the Followership Questionnaire, the Leadership Grid Survey and the Least Preferred Coworker Scale. The Willingness-to-Communicate Scale The Willingness-to-Communicate Scale was developed in order to determine the aspects of communication in which the individuals less competent or more suspicious, as in different environments individuals tend to express themselves in dissimilar ways. This survey first appeared to me strange, as it was difficult to recollect how often I wish to establish contact or communicate in certain situations. The survey suggests that I am willing to interact with others in group discussions and during meetings, interpersonal conversations (the highest score) and when it is necessary to communicate with a friend, whereas I am probably a bit shy or insufficiently self-confident to speak on public, moreover, the results suggest that I almost never wish to converse with strangers. In the context of leadership, this test would probably indicate that it the work in HRM sphere would require of me additional adaptation, as sometimes I do not wish to establish rapport with strangers. On the contrary, I am a team player, who can maintain friendly relations and symmetric communication with trustworthy and reliable colleagues/inferiors. The Leadership Style Preferences Inventory The Leadership Style Preferences Inventory demonstrates that I am bale to maximize human potential and encourage or motivate others, in addition, I often use empowerment and active listening as my tools. Confidence and ability to innovate are less notable, but also represented in my personality, whereas I am not always capable of inspiring others – this means, I can provide psychological incentive to an individual, but not always invent new ways of inspiring, whereas the survey suggest that I will become a truly resourceful leader if I will view and analyze the related cases (as a component of my current studies) and try to generate alternatives to the decisions, made in the scenarios. My overall ability to lead is higher than medium, so it is natural for everyone to have weak points to reinforce. The McGregor Theory X and Y Surveys The McGregor Theory X and Y Surveys are in my opinion quite outdated, as this approach divides managers into merely two categories:   the category X managers are generally less ‘mature’ and ‘wise’ than those belonging to the latter group. As for me, the results suggest that I have more Y-characteristics, comparing to those attributed to X-managers. This means, I am motivated first and foremost by higher psychological and cognitive needs like self-actualization and am more likely to motivate my inferiors rather than punishing or threatening them. In addition, the test shows that my negotiation strategies are based upon constructive discourse and attention to the opposing party’s interests. In addition, my approach to management if rather ‘futurological’, i.e. I seek to predict the long-term consequences, brought by my decisions and then find alternatives and options, which allow avoiding concrete negative outcomes. Nevertheless, the test can be widely criticized, as the students, who attend leadership classes are likely to have already learned (cognitively, but not always in behavioral dimension) the patterns of performance, required of a ‘successful manager’ and simply put these patterns as their true leadership style. The Followership Questionnaire The Followership Questionnaire is primary aimed at measuring the person’s critical and independent thinking and the ability to engage actively into the superiors’ assignments and team discussions, as the authors believe they are the major prerequisites to effective followership. In my opinion, the ability to follow is to great extent an art, similarly to managerial talents and capacities. My results suggest that I am an ‘exemplary follower, but due to the fact that I am often ‘consumed’ by my critical thinking, I might occasionally behave   like ‘alienated follower’. Positive followership   is an easy path to effective leadership, as independent followers, who contribute to group dynamics, are likely to ‘grow’ into confident leaders, who will be able to unite their team. The Leadership Grid Survey The results describe me as a ‘Middle of Road Manager’, who focuses on balancing between positive relationships and the accomplishment of certain organizational goals. This style often characterize inexperienced leaders, so I believe, after learning new skills, I will be able to avoid the possible ‘side effects’, related to the aforementioned ‘double policy’. Furthermore, the results probably demonstrate that I am not confident enough, – in fact, the problems lies not in my ‘shyness’, but rather in my poor experience in managing people and controlling their commitment and performance – this means, I still haven’t clearly imagined management and leadership ‘in action’. Least Preferred Coworker Scale This survey is the most interesting, as it involves projective techniques. The results suggest that my orientations to relationships and tasks are almost equivalent, but the former aspect demonstrates 3-point higher result.   Thus, as a leader, I tend to take into consideration multiple factors and dimensions (although they are more than 2) of the same issue or problem and reasonably preserve positive relationships with my team, but conform only in those decisions, which seem rational and sound. Nevertheless, as a leader, I accept that humans are irrational creatures, who should be approached with basically positive cognitive constructs about them. Conclusion The above presented results characterize me as a flexible leader, who can find balance between tasks and relationships, opposing interests and confronting viewpoints. On the other hand, my flexibility if limited, since I don’t tend lose the ability to think critically and independently. On the other hand, my emotiveness is not enough to inspire my hypothetical team immediately, therefore I need to invent alternative means of empowerment.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Breaking the Rules

Every company has a set of rules and they should not be broken at any time, but flouting the rules to complete a customers request is not at all wrong, as it is nothing but good customer service, sensing the urgency of the request. Nancy was also rewarded on this basis only; because she took the matter into her hands, and did what she thought was right by reciprocating to the customers request even though she knew that she was breaking the rules. The only thing on her mind was that she wanted to solve the customer’s problem and didn’t want to lose a valuable customer.Her only thought was to provide good customer service to the customer who was in such urgency. The most important thought on her mind was that she should solve the customer’s problem at any cost, and she had to decide how to react, and the decision Nancy took was totally justified, even if she was breaking the rules. Her decision solved the customer’s problem, and he was able to get the spare part he needed on time. Nancy had other options also, she could have told the customer that no distributor was available at that time, and that she could not help the customer.She also could have told the customer that rules did not permit her to send the required spare part directly to a customer. She could also simply ignore the call, as if it had not come at all and got back to her work. Nancy knew that good customer service is always important for a customer to keep coming back to the same company, and Nancy who is a loyal employee of the company, did exactly what she thought was right and got rewarded for what she did. Breaking the RulesNancy was obviously a very good and loyal employee of the company that she was working for, because she did not think of the outcome of breaking the rules, but her most important thought was to provide prompt and good customer service. The manner in which she dealt with the situation is proof enough to judge her behaviour. She didn’t even think twice before writing a personal check for $ 150 to compensate the loss of the same amount to the company, as the distributor refused to pay the dealer, because he was not a regular dealer.This sort of action itself shows that the manner in which Nancy behaved and handled the situation was commendable even if that meant that she had to break the rules. Her loyalty and tactfulness were the main factors that influenced her very much while taking the decision. The reputation of any company should be the primary concern of each and every employee, nobody should behave or act in such a manner towards a customer, that it gives a bad reputation to the company.If the reputation of the company is at stake, than it is alright for an employee to break a rule, if he thinks it would improve the reputation of the company. In this manner the company can also try to modify their set of rules if the need arises. The employees should be encouraged to employ a particular strategy and to break an y particular policies the company has in order to provide good customer service. And such employees should also be properly rewarded for breaking the rules, while keeping in mind the company’s reputation and proper service to the customers.Any company which encourages employees to break policies is a very good company for the customers as well as its employees and investors. A good employee with tact for good customer service goes a long way in improving a company’s reputation. Breaking the Rules Breaking a rule is far better than creating a scene in front of a customer. If there is any rule in the company that has been made only to increase the profits of the company, and to avoid losses, and it does not favour the customer, then the company has to face the wrath of the customer.Therefore it is better to have rules made in such a manner that they also benefit the customer. Every employee should try to judge the rules of the company which are coming in the way of the g rowth of the company, and should try to bring this to the notice of the management, so that they can modify these rules. It is the responsibility of the employee to study each and every rule, and to see if the rules are still meeting the needs of the company, and if only a part of any rule is applicable, then they should try to change or rectify the remaining part of the rule, so that it benefits their company.The employee should try to solve a problem by first defining it, and seeing what needs to be done, to overcome the problem, voicing out the difficulties might help when any other employee might come out with a solution. If any idea is offered and an employee doesn’t like it, he can offer a different perspective to that problem. It is the job of the employee to always think of new strategies and methods to satisfy the customer and to provide better customer service. It is better to challenge the rules which do not add to an employee’s growth or the company’ s growth, than to accept them.Every company should encourage its employees to think in a diverse manner, and to not blindly follow the rules but be creative in their attitudes towards the customers, bending any rules which do not contribute to the growth of the company is very much necessary for the company as well as the employee’s career growth. Good customer service should be the main motto of every employee to attain the confidence of the management. References Customer Service Etiquette, Illium Software Blog, Retrieved on 18 November 2007, http://blog. iliumsoft. com/?p=54 Encouraging Independent Thought, Service Untitled, Retrieved on 18 November 2007, http://www. serviceuntitled. com/category/culture/ John Groth, Career Management: Break the Rules for Career Success, Articlesbase, Retrieved on 18 November 2007, http://www. articlesbase. com/career-management-articles/career-management-break-the-rules-for-career-success-262123. html Laurie Brown, When Good Customer Serv ice Rules go Bad, Retrieved on 18 November 2007, http://www. babyshopmagazine. com/fall07/when-good-customer-service-rules-go-bad. html

Bryan’s hunt

Briar's Hunt Author: Gary Paulsen Protagonist: The protagonist In this story Is Brian himself. He Is about 16 years old. He is a very strong and spirited person. He has many obstacles come his way but his bravery helps him overcome the obstacles. Once he was rescued he decides he wants to pack his bags and go back out the Canadian forest and live for a month or so. Antagonist: Later in the story the bear becomes the antagonist. The bear has killed a family who Brian knows and three of those family members were killed.Brian found out that this was a giant, 500 pound bear who did this. He also knew that on its front right paw it was missing a toenail and that it had giant footsteps. This is how he tracked the bear, which Is one of its weaknesses. Also If Brian can get a clear shot on the bear, then the bear would be dead or at least hurt. Another weakness Is that this bear Is huge so It Is very lazy. Plot: explosion: There Is only one mall character In the book his name Is Brian. Brian was Like on Journey to go find his Indian friend Susan. At the beginning of the book,Brian is walking around the woods. The setting changes maybe a couple times during the book. In some parts of the book he is going down the river in his canoe-The situation Brian is in is that he comes back to the woods. Because he knows he won't be happy in society. Rising action: In Briar's Hunt, the rising action occurs as Brian arrives on the island, he finds things out of order. Then he comes across the cabin that was destroyed by the bear. The rising action is the fear brought on by the bear and it makes a sense of fear come to you and wonder is going to happen.It also s the point when the focus of the book changes from finding friends to a life or death survival situation. Climax: Brian follows his Instincts to head north. He finds that they have been attacked by a bear over 500 pounds. He finds the mother and father, along with 3 dogs dead from the bear attack. Brian finds Susan along the s hore dragging a canoe. He noticed the scratches and bites on her from the bear. Falling action: Brian and Susan call the authorities. They pick up Susan and take her to her aunt and uncle's house. Brian sets out to find the bear. The bear was huntingBrian and attacked him, he grabbed two arrows and stuck them in the bear, which later resulted in the bear's death. Resolution: Brian goes out and starts looking for the bear that killed Suntan's family and that injured the dog. He goes and sets out like traps to catch the beat. After like hours of waiting he then sees the bear. He goes running after the bear he starts throwing arrows at him. Then he goes face to face with bear and he stabs the bear right in the chest and kills the bear. Setting: The story takes place In the wilderness of Canada. Let takes place near the five lakes.It Is also far, far away from civilization. Conflict: the conflict Is man vs†¦ Nature. Brian vs†¦ The Bear. It pits Brian against the bear that kill ed his friends, and Is brutal and aggressive. Brian defeats the bear in this conflict with a two arrow shots into the dog begins to lick his face and he realizes that the bear had landed on him. Theme: The theme of the story is in the remote Canadian forest with streams,and rivers,and lakes. He is completely alone with no civilization with 200 miles. He is basically stranded out there for over month with whatever he carried in there off the plane.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

A comparative study of small and medium enterprise banking services in Bangladesh and Canada

A comparative study of small and medium enterprise banking services in Bangladesh and Canada Women Entrepreneurs in Canada What is the typical Canadian woman in a business like? What kinds of businesses do Canadian women entrepreneurs choose to start and develop? How many women-owned businesses are there in Canada? Ive put together this collection of statistics on Canadian women in business to answer these questions and others like them. Facts and Figures on Canadian Women Entrepreneurs The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, 2013 There were 950,000 self-employed women in Canada in 2012, accounting for 35.6% of all self-employed persons. In 2010, Quebec had the highest proportion of majority-owned female SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprise) at 19 percent, followed by Atlantic Canada, Ontario, and then the Prairies and British Columbia. 47% are SMEs were entirely or partly owned by women. The proportion of women-owned businesses that plan to expand their business is generally higher than men. Approximately 51% of Aboriginal-owned SMEs belong partly or wholly to women. Among established businesses (non-start-ups), the percentage of female entrepreneurs rose from 27% in the early 1990s to 33% in 2012. The average net profit before tax of female-owned businesses has increased from 52% of male-owned business profits in 2000 to 89% in 2007. Majority female-owned firms with growth intentions are significantly more active in hiring new employees than majority male-owned firms. Majority women-owned SMEs represented over $117 billion per annum of economic activity in Canada. A greater concentration of women-run SMEs is present in certain sectors, such as professional services, accommodation, and food services. The percentage of young women (25-34) with a post-secondary degree or diploma has increased from 43% in 1990 to 71% in 2013. Women Entrepreneurs. Small Business Financing Profile. Jung, Owen. (2010). Ottawa: Industry Canada Small Business and Tourism Branch, October 2010. Majority female-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (i.e., 51 to 100 percent of the ownership of the business is held by women) constituted 16 percent of SMEs in Canada in 2007. On average, female business owners were younger and reported fewer years of management or ownership experience compared with male business owners. Majority female-owned firms were more likely to operate in the tourism industry than majority male owned firms. Revenues earned by majority female-owned firms were still significantly less than revenues earned by majority male-owned firms in 2004 and 2007; however, before-tax net incomes generated by majority female-owned firms were comparable to net incomes generated by majority male-owned firms. In 2007, majority female-owned firms were just as likely as majority male-owned firms to seek external financing (17 percent request rate), in contrast to 2004 when majority male-owned firms were more likely to seek financing than majority female-owned firms (24 percent versus 15 percent respectively). Most majority female-owned firms that sought financing in 2007 were successful in acquiring at least some form of external financing; however, majority female-owned firms were less likely to be approved for short-term debt financing, such as lines of credit and credit cards, than majority male-owned firms (77 percent versus 94 percent respectively). There was little evidence of disparity with regards to interest rates or requests for collateral among majority female-owned and majority male-owned firms that were successful in obtaining financing. On the other hand, among SMEs that were denied debt financing, majority female-owned firms were significantly more likely to be turned down due to a poor credit history or insufficient collateral than majority male-owned firms. Among SMEs that intended to expand the size and scope of their businesses within two years (i.e., declared growth intentions), majority female owned firms were more likely to require external financing to fund their expansion plans than majority male-owned firms. Interestingly, majority female-owned firms were more likely to consider sharing equity in the business to fund their expansion plans than majority male-owned firms. In 2007, majority female-owned firms were more likely to declare growth intentions than majority male-owned firms. From 2004 to 2008, firms that declared growth intentions exhibited noticeably stronger growth in total revenue and full-time equivalents (employees) than firms that did not declare growth intentions regardless of owner gender. Action Strategies to Support Womens Enterprise Development The Canadian Task Force for Womens Business Growth. November 2011. In 2010, over 900,000 of the 2.6 million self-employed workers in Canada were women. Canadian women business owners are on average less likely to engage in international trade compared to male counterparts. Key Small Business Statistics July 2012 Statistics Canada. There were 910 000 self-employed women in Canada in 2008, accounting for about one-third of all self-employed persons. Between 1998 and 2008, the number of self-employed women grew by 6.4 percent compared with 11-percent growth in male self-employment. Accommodation and food services industries have the highest share of businesses that are majority-owned by females, at 22 percent. Women Entrepreneurs of Canada 84% of women feel their business has reached a size they are comfortable with and dont want to grow, as compared to 37% for men. Women are also more likely to operate businesses in the servic e sectors rather than in knowledge and manufacturing industries, which traditionally enjoy higher growth potential and profitability. Canadian Women Entrepreneurs, Research and Public Policy: Barbara Orser. Tefler School of Management. The University of Ottawa. November 2007. Because this is a literature review, I have followed each quote from Ms. Orsers report with the complete references she refers to, as she cited them in the appendices of her paper. The majority of majority women-owned firms (85 percent) are micro- businesses employing fewer than 5 people (Carrington, 2006)(p. 15). Women are significantly more likely to operate firms in the services sectors and less likely to operate knowledge-based industries and manufacturing operations. The most common service sectors for women entrepreneurs were wholesale/retail, professional services and information/culture/real estate. (Carrington, 2006) (p. 17). The majority of self-employed women (62.7 percent) remain unincorporated solo workers concentrated within personal services and retail sales sectors (Hughes, 1999; 2006) (p. 17). Canada is a global leader in wom en’s entrepreneurship (GEM, 2000). The participation rates of Canadian women business owners are comparable to those in the United States and higher than those of other leading nations such as Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand (Brush, Carter, Gatewood, Greene, Hart, 2006) Are Women Shortchanging Themselves? Paul Lima. Globeandmail.com Business. November 10, 2006. a flexible work schedule is a greater motivator for women planning to open their own business (63%) than for men planning to do so (51%). 36 percent of men planning to open a business plan to do so to become wealthy, while only 23 percent of women planning to open a business do so for the same reason. The majority of women and men entrepreneurs (69 and 64 percent respectively) seem to be equally driven by a love for what they do or hope to do. Women are less likely than men to start a business because they want to be their own boss. Women are more likely to employ a spouse or a child and to be first-time business owners. Virtually equal amounts of male and female entrepreneurs listed their three main challenges faced when starting up a business as finding clients; keeping a steady workload and working long hours. Canadian Women in Business in Summary: The numbers of Canadian women entrepreneurs are still growing.On average, women business owners are younger and have fewer years of management or ownership experience compared with male business owners. Women entrepreneurs are much more likely to choose to start and run small businesses in the retail and service sectors. Women entrepreneurs do not make as much money as male entrepreneurs although the gap appears to be closing. Canadian women business owners are on average less likely to engage in international trade compared to Canadian male business owners.