Payne v. Tennessee Essay

Facts: After spending a morning and afternoon drinking beer and injecting cocaine, Pervis Tyrone Payne entered the apartment of 28-year-old Charisse Christopher and her two children, Lacie, age two and Nicholas, age three at approximately 3:00 p.m. on June 27th, 1987. Payne made sexual advances toward Charisse Christopher. She resisted, which lead Payne to kill both Charisse and Lacie. Nicholas was found with several severe stab wounds that completely penetrated him front to back, but he managed to survive. Payne was apprehended later that day hiding in the attic of a former girlfriend’s house. Payne was convicted by a jury of two counts of murder. At sentencing, Payne presented the testimony of his mother, father, Bobbie Thomas and a clinical psychologist. These testimonies’ showed Payne was of good character, he attended church and he was of low intelligence and mentally handicapped. The State presented the testimony of Ms. Christopher’s mother, who spoke of the negative impact of the murders on Nicholas. Furthermore, the prosecutor presented argument regarding Nicholas’ experience. The jury sentenced the Payne to death on each count of murder. History: Pervis Tyrone Payne was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the jury sentenced Payne to death on each count of murder. Issue: Does the Eighth Amendment prohibit a capital sentencing jury from considering â€Å"victim impact† evidence relating to the personal characteristics of the victim and the emotional impact of the crimes on the victim’s family? Finding: No. Victim impact evidence shall not be considered according to the United States Supreme Court. This rule was because victim impact evidence presents factors about which the defendant may have been unaware of and therefore, the evidence has nothing to do with the â€Å"blameworthiness† of a particular defendant. So basically, no evidence outside the case and not relating directly to the circumstances of the crime was admitted. In the present case, however, the Supreme Court expressed the view that â€Å"a State may properly conclude that for the jury to assess meaningfully the defendant’s moral culpability and blameworthiness, it should have before it at the sentencing phase evidence of the specific harm caused by the defendant.† So, a State may permit the admission of victim  impact evidence, as the Eighth Amendment presents no per se bar. The Supreme Court of Tennessee affirmed the conviction and sentence. The court rejected Payne’s contention that the admission of the grandmother’s testimony and the State’s closing argument constituted prejudicial violations of his rights under the Eighth Amendment as applied in Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496 (1987), and South Carolina v. Gathers, 490 U.S. 805 (1989). Rational: The court stated â€Å"Stare decisis is not an inexorable command; rather, ‘it is a principle of policy and not a mechanical formula of adherence to the latest decision.’† So basically, not all laws are set completely in stone and it can change over time from case to case. The court states that neither the law nor the facts supporting the prior cases have changed, merely the personnel of the Supreme Court have changed. My Notes: A few things I noticed was I unclear how Payne could argue that introducing such evidence as the grandmother testimony encourages jurors to decide for the death penalty based on emotions rather than reason. But, having his parents testify that he was of good character as plays on emotion, rather than reason. To me, only after introducing victim impact evidence can the juries meaningfully determine the proper punishment. After all the whole reason for this is to protect the victim right?

Monsanto Balances Environmental & Ethical Factors

Kroger enables compliance auditing using role assignments and role history. They must keep check on efficiency for provisioning of new users, streamlines the process of changing a user's role. Saving time and cost. Kroger roles might Include some of the same roles as a lot of other companies. They also have certain guide lines to follow, and a role is a representation of a set of access right to resources/data that corresponds to duties associated with a business function. Kroger roles are desirable to their organization.Like with any organization, to create an enterprise role based access control Infrastructure, organizations often find that Initial role creation is a major barrier. Even In small and medium sized companies, the numbers of accounts, systems, locations, lines of business, and other attributes to map Into roles is daunting. Lacking a centralized view, many organizations start from the bottom up by dumping access data from multiple systems into databases and manually co rrelating user by user basis. This is how Kroger organization measure efficiency and effectiveness.Kroger know how to treat the knowledge component of business activities as an explicit concern of business reflected in strategy, policy and practice at all levels of the organization. It makes a direct connection between an organization's intellectual assets-both explicit and positive business results. Kroger management often encompasses identifying and mapping intellectual assets within the organization, generating new knowledge for competitive advantage within the organization, making vast amounts of corporate information accessible, sharing of best practices, and technology that enables all of the above including groupware and Intranets.There are several business management strategies such as Change AT management, Best practices, RISK Management, Benchmarking. I newer Is a common thread among these and many other recent business strategies, recognition that information and knowledg e are corporate assets and that business need strategies, policies, and tools to manage those assets. The need to manage seems obvious and concussions of intellectual capital have proliferated, but few businesses have acted on that understanding.Where companies have taken action and a growing number are doing so implementations of knowledge management may range from technology driven methods of accessing, controlling, and delivering information to massive efforts to change corporate culture. Our company doors are always open to different opinions to different paths and methods, and even objectives. Some effects focus on enhancing creativity by creating new value to our customers. The specific ND general forces in the global environment of this organization were brought up in one of our Monthly meetings about the global change.Someone asked, â€Å"Why does a major grocery store chain need a comprehensive policy addressing climate change? † The answer was they don't, one of the nation's oldest and largest grocery firms Kroger Inc. Based in Cincinnati, OH rejected a shareholder proposal which called for the company to develop a comprehensive policy addressing climate change. If you haven't noticed Wall-Mart is starting to sell a lot of â€Å"Green foods†. Problem is that the costs are on the average higher than traditional foods.That is pretty much typical across the entire economy. It is called greenmailing, or environmental entrepreneurs. They slap a green label on it and Jack up the price because in many cases the ones who feel the most environment guilt and think they can make a difference simply by spending money on the right thing. I can assure you that the global environment has not affected Kroger like some think. According to our Job orders we have not missed a beat on our sales.

Before the Great War the position of women in society depended on birth, class, marriage, and men

Women had to live up to an ideal created by men. This meant women had to appear less intelligent than their husbands, women had to be well mannered, and modest in behaviour and speech. Women from richer middle and upper class families had servants to look after their homes and weren't expected to work. Upper class women were brought up and educated to be a dutiful wife. Lower class women had to look after their husband, manage everything in the house as well as finance, be utterly faithful to her husband and willingly manage a large family Some women did go to work; in 1901 55% of single women and 14% of married women were at work. In 1914 the largest employer of women was the Domestic Service with 1,600,000 this is because the Domestic Service was regarded as better than working in factories. About 656,000 women worked in the factories of the textile industry – especially the cotton mills of northern England. Lots of women were in work but many of them hardly made enough money to live on. Married working class women faced a lot of problems. Families were large: 71% of women had four or more children and 41% had seven or more. Many women however lost children to diseases like Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, and Tubercular. Children died because they didn't have any health care and doctors were expensive and hard to find. Poverty, bad housing and child bearing affected the health of working class women probably because they put the health of their husbands first as they had to be at work to earn money. Lots of women wanted the vote before the Great War. Suffragists wanted the vote and played by the law where as Suffragettes were more militant. The Suffragettes committed many acts of violence such as destruction of property and arson. Lots of people were against giving women the right to vote, even queen Victoria was. This meant women's suffrage had to gain support, so they continued with their marches and put posters up to try to gain support. The government passed a cat and mouse act which allowed Suffragettes to be released when they became ill because of their hunger strike and as soon as they were better again they were arrested and sent back to prison to finish their sentence. The outbreak of the First World War brought an end to the Suffragettes campaign.

Play and pedagogy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Play and pedagogy - Essay Example Research has indicated that through play, they are able to develop mentally, physically and emotionally. In terms of social development, children are able to develop their language skills and interaction with others. Children who appear shy are said to become more confident when they are allowed to play. This is owing to the fact that through playing, they are able to open up and interact with the rest of the pupils. Intelligence in children has also been attributed to the same social phenomena. It assists children to develop mentally and reason when they are faced with different challenges. For instance, some games played by children require that major decision-making. In the process, such children are able to develop mentally and deal with different challenges in life. Play has also been imperative when a teacher want to know the talents of such children. One can tell whether a child has leadership skills through this. This is by observing how the children behave when they are inte racting with the environment through play. For understanding important play and pedagogy, the following observation was done in a kindergarten setting. I visited a certain kindergarten with a view to observe how play and pedagogy assist in child development. After receiving permission from the administration, I was allowed to walk into the classroom as well as the field of play to make observation and note down. The following are some of the observations that I was able to make Day 1 Class setting The setting of the classroom in itself indicates that children are supposed to learn through physical illustrations. On the walls, there were different charts, which had different kinds of drawings, some of which had been made by the children. The charts had alphabets, and drawings that represented every word. For instance, in a letter ‘C’ there was a large cat that was drawn to make it easy for the children to understand. The class had large tables with chairs where the child ren were supposed to sit. However, there was a large space in the classroom, which had been left for a purpose. At one corner of the classroom, there was a television set which is use sometimes by the teachers to pass important information to the children. Windows are higher to ensure that children are not distracted. The design of the classroom indicates that safety measures have been taken to protect the children against any form of harm. The pupils In this particular study, I sampled out two pupils that I would use in making observations. They were Jane and James. The pupils observed were between 3-4 years of age. They were jovial as they went on with their activities in school. One of the most striking features is that the pupils came from different sociocultural backgrounds. The class had full representation of different cultures. On the other hand, the class was designed in a way that it would allow children with special needs to be included. The class had two children who wer e physically challenged. They were however able to appreciate learning just like any other normal children. The teacher would ensure that such children got special attention to facilitate learning. Teaching procedures Immediately the children enter the classroom, they are required to get into a circle. Jane and James and the rest of the chilren hold hands as they begin singing songs that

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT - Essay Example The performance management system at Thermo Scientific is majorly past-performance oriented. There is a very Limited focus upon future performance i.e. evaluation of an employees potential or setting future performance goals or his suitability for handling bigger responsibilities. Since the rating scale ranges from 1-4, less chances of a bell shaped curve resulting due to Forced distribution. Use of Bell curve creates a lot of dissatisfaction amongst employees as this system leads to forced categorization; reduced organizational flexibility even for deserving candidates. A component of self appraisal for employee’s involvement & commitment to the improvement process could be added. Citation of reasons for variations between ‘expected’ & ‘actual’ performance should be a necessary component of self appraisal.67 Competencies vary across managerial levels. But, in the performance appraisal form, no such categorization seems to have been made. The same form applies to all the employee designations. It is suggested that more sophisticated methods for senior executive positions should be used. The filling of appraisal form should be made online. This will save time for an organization like Thermo Scientific which has branches across diverse areas. It will also lead to savings of a lot of paper. There is a need for a Mandatory ‘Appraisal & Counseling’ Interview; staff should be given opportunity to discuss performance which encourages a two-way communication and allows the candidate to address his concerns The component of Management by Objectives (MBO) should be a necessary addition to the Performance Management System at Thermo Scientific. In MBO, the management & employees agree upon a set of objectives and then work to attain them. It is a process of participative goal setting. The employee feels more accountable if he is involved in deciding his

Innovation and management of change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Innovation and management of change - Essay Example The Fragmented Culture is one of the cultures identified on the Goffee-Jones Matrix as shown in Figure 1. In the 1990s, the company had a poor level of internal communication between the management and the employees. This lack of cooperation between the management and the workers shows that the level of sociability in the organization is very low. This also a feature of the Fragmented culture identified in the Goffee-Jones Matrix. This culture is identified by distinct goals of the leadership in Whirlpool. The expenditure on Research and Development department and Marketing was less than 4% of the total sales revenue for Whirlpool. The management thought that every strategy of brand management had been tried on the products of Whirlpool but not in a sustained or integrated way. The reason for the decreasing rate of actual sales increase was the lack of cooperation of the strategies and inappropriate expenditure. The company had the focus on excellence in operations and distribution of the products. This focus led to focus on tasks rather than what the consumers wants. High level of focus on tasks shows that the company has low sociability. The company was not able to analyze the needs and wants of the customers which caused the downward trend in the actual sales figures. This shows that the employees and the management could not think together which shows the organization has low level of solidarity. The anticipated rise in sales from 1990 to1996 was very high but actually only 13% sales could be lifted. Although the company was able to manufacture products at costs and quality that were competitive in white goods market, but the company was not able to centre the design and product specifications according to the needs and wants of the customers. The decision to go global and to become the first white goods manufacturer in the US to step in global trade was taken by an Executive Committee which comprised of the top managers of

Death and Dying Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Death and Dying - Essay Example I have learned that the human soul actually does exist through readings, research, and acknowledgement of those who allegedly have experienced temporary demise and were eventually revived. When a person dies, that person allegedly enters a period of soul sleep, until the second coming of Christ, the day that was supposedly destined as a day of recollection, salvation, and eternal life. This refreshing discovery has not only changed my life, but has also helped me cope with the fears and any uncertainty of death. Through the experiences of loved ones, stories told of people who died, through readings, research, and studies conducted on the subject of death and the verge of dying, one’s awareness on the subject was immensely expounded. As a result, the previous fear, anxiety, confusion, and questions on the subject were diminished. One affirms that death is just a transition in man’s existence – a confirmation of the temporarily nature of the human body, whose functioning ultimately ends to a destiny where one is bound to

Application Demonstration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Application Demonstration - Essay Example A client logs in from the client application and upon proper authentication with the server, the client application’s IP address is stored by the server and the client’s status is made to ‘Online’. As such, at any given time, the server maintains two basic things, the list of contacts of any client (who are clients themselves), the clients who are online and the IP addresses of the online clients. At the client end, the message is decrypted using predefined logic and the online and offline contacts are displayed to the customer in predefined separate formats (the online contacts are colored while the offline ones are grayed). The server receives the message and determines the contact. It checks whether the client contact is online, in which case, a socket with the client contact is opened. Otherwise, the server responds to the client with a ‘Contact offline at the moment, send offline message’ message. In case a contact is offline, the server stores the message in its database. Whenever the client contact comes online, the server initially queries the database to determine if there were any offline messages. If there were any such messages, the server relays the offline messages to the client, wherein they are displayed in a separate dialog with the messages being grouped according to the client who sent the

WILD BUSHFIRE MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

WILD BUSHFIRE MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Alternative Actions towards Reducing the Impact of Bushfires in the Blue Mountain 14 4.1 Regulated Patrolling of the High Fire Risk Areas 15 4.2 Building Enhancement 15 4.3 Wildlife Protection 16 4.4 Accurate Weather Forecast and Warning System 16 4.5 Integration of Indigenous Knowledge and Experience 17 4.6 Increasing Public Awareness 17 4.7 Adaptive Management Process 17 5. Conclusion 18 References 20 1. Introduction Bush-land and rangelands, within the region of New South Wales, Australia comprises a wide range of landscapes that has long been experiencing severe destructions owing to the ignition of natural fire. The bushfire regimes, thus imposed within the region, have also been recognised to significantly influence on the recent structure along with the composition of the overall ecosystem of the area (NSW Government, 2012). Apparently, the frequent incidents of bushfires are considered as one of the major threats for the human life, causing degradation of natural and cultural values of the national parks and reserves that are protected by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) (NSW Government, n.d.). It is however worth mentioning that bushfire is a natural incidence, which acts as a cyclical process of bio-diversity as it is able to fertilize lands and increase mineral density in the soil to cultivate better afforestation. Corresponding to the fact, its benefits to the environment are often observed to be limited to its efficient management, aimed at ensuring that the fire remains in its low-intensity scale. To be noted, bushfire extending from its defined intensity scale is categorised as a natural disaster and may cause immense loss to human kind and livestock in the region. This in turn necessitates better and efficient management of bushfire (Geoscience Australia, 2007). Emphasising the long-standing threats from the bushfires in the New South Wales region of Australia, the report tends to critically analyse the major problems associat ed with bushfire and the corresponding steps taken by the NPWS to effectively deal with the persisting issues within the region. In order to provide adequate support to the bushfire, the management processes implemented by the NPWS along with their currently practiced advanced fire management regimes have been critically analysed in this report. Thus, the report would focus not only on the initiatives of NPWS along with critically assess the performance of Rural Fire Service (RFS) to protect lands from bushfire in the respective region. Moreover, the report also encompasses the major influencing factors leading to the frequent incidence of bushfire. The report also analyses the bushfire management planning and measures developed by the agencies towards protecting the natural heritage of Blue Mountains and proposes alternatives. 2. Problems 2.1 Goals The goals of management plans for preventing bushfires in the Blue Mountains region are highly focused on ensuring adequate compliance with the responsibilities of protecting and conserving natural and cultural values of the national parks and reserves. Moreover, the fire management plans of NPWS also encompass towards protecting human life and national properties including buildings, homes and lands (NSW Government, 2012). In relation to the present scenario, regarding the measures taken by NPWS, it has been recognised that the numbers of actions performed by the councils and other public organisations principally aim to prevent the damage from the frequent bushfires. In this regards, ‘hazard management programs’, ‘Record achievement for hazard reduction in national

Human Resource Issues for Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human Resource Issues for Business - Case Study Example Within this area of research, an increasing body of literature contains the argument that, high performance work practices, including comprehensive employee's recruitment, selection procedures, incentives compensation and performance management systems, and extensive employee's involvement and training can improve the knowledge, skills and abilities of firms (Huselid, 1995, Jackson , Schuler., & Sparrow, 1994). Today, with the increasing researchers desire to demonstrate the importance of an effective human resource policy on organization performance research has shifted from a micro level that previously dominated research interest to a more general, strategic macro level (Doty &Delery 1996). The term human resource management is not new. It has been widely used by scholars and managers to refer to the set of policies designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment, flexibility and quality of work (Poole 1999). HRM do not only create competitive advantage f... The term human resource management is not new. It has been widely used by scholars and managers to refer to the set of policies designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment, flexibility and quality of work (Poole 1999). HRM do not only create competitive advantage for the organisation but is the force underpinning organisation's success (Turner, Keegan & Hueman 2006:317). No wonder, the way HRM practices and policies take shape also affects the employee's experiences of work and the employment relationship (Turner, Keegan & Hueman 2006:317). Within the mainstream HRM literature, there is a long tradition of research arguing that in order to make an optimal contribution to firm performance, HRM policies and practices should be integrated both with firm strategy, so-called vertical strategic integration and with each other, so-called horizontal integration. Paul Ilsles best fit model attached in the appendix lay emphasis on this. Against this background, this paper addresses some of the pertinent human resource issues identified in the case Major Bank Plc. The second part of the paper provides an overview of the human resource problems in Major Bank Plc. The third part of the paper uses Paul Iles Best fit model to provide a recommendation. 1.1 Human Resource Issues Facing Major Bank Plc Major Bank Plc is one of the largest regional Banks in the UK. As one of the market leaders in the Banking industry, the company is highly reputed among customers and has established a high level of credibility and goodwill in the market. The bank is significantly less exposed to internationally banking market place problems than many of its competitors. One problem the bank presently faces now is at the level of the

News reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

News reading - Essay Example Consequently, the Chinese and other critics had to demand the Malaysian government for reasonable explanations. The article mentions that after China asked Malaysia to explain their findings, the Prime Minister was not able to give a quick reply. This only shows that the earlier announcement has not been thought of well. I think Malaysia should have expected that people will definitely ask why they are searching a certain place especially so that the plane would unlikely course through the remote area of the ocean. Malaysia clearly did not perform well in this circumstance and therefore needs to work harder on the issue. On the other hand, the effort of Australia to extend help is commendable. Although Australia is not directly involved in the event, her performance of her moral duties as a nation near the location means a lot. Other countries also joined forces for the fast resolution of the tragedy. It is interesting to note that in its closing, the article says that the search can take years because of the characteristics of the ocean but is quick to mention the fast recovery of Air France which faced a similar fate in

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay Example for Free

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay The Story of an Hour written by Kate Chopin in 1894 the reader should zone in on the main character Mrs. Mallards thoughts and not so much on the excitement of the story but the ending. The insights of different literary elements such as the point of view and tone make this short story omniscient and subtle yet cruel that all contribute to the multiple themes. According to Journey Into Literature, a theme is an idea, or message, that lies behind a literary work, the theme tells what the story is about: What is the underlying message? What is driving the action? (Clugston, 2014). When answering any of these questions, the main theme deals with a dysfunctional marriage and other minor themes including communication, freedom and confinement, time, and mortality. The reason for the dysfunctional marriage comes from males dominating the women of the 19th century and how they were prisoners to their husbands. Women were expected to stay home to cook, clean, and take care of the children. The woman was only a mean of a mans pleasure and reproduction. She had no rights, no opinions, no sentiments no emotions (Radek, 2001). If they did work and it was not too often and the pay and job was always less compared to a man. There was no mention of true love since marriage was out of convenience, monetary comfort and status during that era. Communication is essential and its delivery because when Mrs. Mallard was told of her husbands untimely  death on a train and then to find out that he was not dead after all, was more deadly than how you tell it versus what actually happened. Be careful with delicacy and preparation when delivering a message to a sick listener with a heart condition or it can cause further damage. Freedom and confinement deals with how she was suppressed in marriage, having a bad heart, confined to home and suddenly given freedom of it all by her husband passing and just as the freedom was given to her it was taken away with seeing her husband alive. It was all about feeling the joy of freedom which was yanked from her upon reaching of the husband healthy and alive (Jamil, 2009). Time in this story happens so fast by changing things drastically and dramatically in under a hour. Mrs. Mallard only had less than a hour to process the news of husband passing. In that time she thought of grief and moved quickly into what life by herself would be like. Once seeing the supposedly dead husband alive, just shattered her new images and dreams of a new life. Last there is the mortality which is powerful and told the wrong way will deliver a lethal dosage. Finding out that a person died can be horrific but discovering that it is not true could be worst. The tables turned so soon on Mrs. Mallards complex, emotional reaction that it caused her death instead. The final thought of her freedom from the marriage being taken away was too much for her to handle. One of the literary elements that contributed to the themes was the point of view. There was the use of omniscient third-person so the reader got to understanding of the story by more than just the main character. This was great since to have different views of what or how things were explained throughout the story. The omniscient third-person narrative voice of understanding, compassionate, freeing made it easier to deal with Mrs. Mallards behavior and thoughts with at least sensible reasoning. For example, There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air. (9) Even though Mrs. Mallard was not forced into her dysfunctional marriage, the way out was not so nice, but the feelings she had were chasing her down. Mrs. Mallard has finally free after her husbands death and freedom was scary along with  being exciting altogether. Because this was written in third person, the thought of her being sort of selfish, uncaring or most of all not in love with her husband would have made the story much different to swallow. The second literary term to contribute with the flow of the themes was through the tone. In this story the description of Mrs. Mallard in a lifetime of emotional torment, dawning comprehension. liberating, that ended in ironic detachment. Mrs. Mallard brushes off the idea of love and marriage for the wonderful and glorious idea of at last freedom. The other characters around her such as her sister Josephine and Richards which is the husbands friend though she was crying her eyes out over the death of her husband and she was actually relieved to be a free woman. At the end, it was understood that she died from sudden shock of seeing her supposedly dead husband alive after all joy that kills (23). The only piece of the puzzle that is left unanswered for sure is what really killed her and the narrator left that up to the reader to decide. In conclusion, in order for a short story to be successful there must be well organized literary elements to support the theme. With a strong point of view and well understood tone the flow of the story with go over well with your audience just as it did for The Story of an Hour. References Chopin, K. (1894). The Story of an Hour. Vogue, pp. 1-3 Clugston, R. W. (2014). Journey into literature (2nd ed.). San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Jamil, S, S. (2009). Emotions in The Story of an Hour' Explicator. pp. 215-220. Retrieved from EBSCO hosting. Radek, K. (2001). Women in the Nineteenth Century. Women in Literature. Retrieved from: http://www2.ivcc.edu/gen2002/women_in_the_nineteenth_century.htm.

Analysis Of The Ryanair Business Strategy Business Essay

Analysis Of The Ryanair Business Strategy Business Essay Business strategy is an essential component to a firms business model and is a vital player in aiding the firm drive itself to achieve its mission. Through a clear business strategy a firm can derive its position in the long term and create a competitive advantage in the market for itself. In this essay we explore the business model of Ryanair and assess their strategy. Ryanair is an Irish low cost airline headquartered in Dublin founded in 1985. It operates 181 aircrafts over 729 routes across Europe and North Africa from 31 bases. Ryanair has seen large success over the recent years due to its low-cost business model and has become the worlds largest airline in terms of international passenger numbers. Taking Porters generic business strategies into consideration, Ryanair operates a cost-leadership strategy to drive itself into achieving its mission of being the leading European low-cost carrier (LCC). Throughout this essay the business strategy of Ryanair will be analysed and the sustainability of their model evaluated. Ryanairs objective is to firmly establish itself as Europes leading low-fares scheduled passenger airline through continued improvements and expanded offerings of its low-fares service (Ryanair). Considering their objectives and mission, Ryanairs decision on their cost-leadership strategy was based on a few main factors which are discussed below. A major influence was the deregulation of the airline industry in 1978 which removed government intervention within the European continent. Under the new rules, routes and fare decisions were made by individual airlines which meant that they could compete on other factors besides food, cabin crew and frequency. As a result of deregulation, a large number of new airline start-ups emerged within the EU and competition among airlines increased dramatically resulting in downward price pressures. Ryanair was established to take full advantage of these market conditions. By offering low prices, Ryanair entered a huge and virtually unlimited market. Having seen the major success of the low cost carrier Southwest in the United States, Ryanair decided to follow in their footsteps by establishing a LCC for the European continent that targeted fare conscious leisure travellers and regular low cost business travellers. By doing this Ryanair became the first low-fare airline in Europe. However, they took the Southwest model further by offering no drinks and snacks at all and abolishing the frequent flyer program which Southwest up to this day offers its customers (Boesch 2007). The evaluation of Porters five forces influenced Ryanairs choice of a cost-leadership strategy, as the threat presented by new entrants and the threat of substitutes could hinder their success. The threat of new entrants is high within the aviation industry which meant that low fares would help drive away any further competition. The threat of substitutes to Ryanair had to also be carefully examined. Their primary market, Europe, had the availability of high speed trains and car holidays. For Ryanair to be successful, prices had to be low to attract the public, and resist strong competition from substitutes like Eurostar. As Europes largest low fare airline, Ryanairs competitive advantage remains in their ability to continue as cost leaders; providing the cheapest fares to its customers. This dictates that the company must minimise its own costs to ensure that they are able to offer customers the service at a price below their direct competitors. This leads us to consider some key functional strategies which directly help Ryanair towards their ultimate goal to be Europes leading low fares airline (Ryanair). The marketing strategy is perhaps the most obvious and significant functional strategy of Ryanair. Low fares are designed to stimulate demand, attracting fare-conscious travellers, those who may have used alternative forms of transportation or even those who may have not travelled at all. Penetration pricing as it is called helps gain market share and simply, more customers equals more revenue (Wheelen Hunger 2006). Tickets are almost solely sold on their website www.ryanair.com which very importantly keeps sales costs to a minimum since very few phone operators are employed and computers are able to cheaply handle all functions of sales. With ever increasing accessibility of the internet globally anybody with internet access can buy airline tickets from Ryanair, so distribution practically takes care of itself through this medium. Ryan Air relies on low cost promotions and in recent times has concentrated on their One million seats at one pound which is usually advertised through t heir internet site, national press and bulletin boards. It is the simplicity of this promotion which helps keep costs low since expensive advertising agencies can be entirely avoided and advertising can be dealt with in house. Ryanairs operations strateg1y determines how the airline will deploy its resources and the policies it will operate by. To keep costs low they operate a no frills service onboard aircraft. This means the fare only includes the flight. There are however a number of other measures directly related to a no frills service. These include ticketless boarding, unallocated seats, one class of travel, costs for check-in baggage, no refund policy, basic seats (to increase aircraft capacity) and charging for any additional service. All this significantly reduces costs to Ryanair. The Achilles heel of Ryanair is their greater aircraft utilisation through super quick turnaround times. Essentially this means the aircraft spends very little time on the ground, they achieve this through their human resource policies and by having none or very little cargo in the baggage hold to speed up loading and unloading of the aircraft. Logistics strategy deals with the flow of products into and out of Ryanair. Again there is heavy emphasis on cost saving and reducing measures. Ryanair fly to secondary airports which are potentially much further from the City centre but accessible enough by other forms of ground transportation. At these airports Ryanair are able to negotiate extremely aggressively and demand the lowest landing and handling fees. Additionally Ryanair is usually able to gain financial assistance with marketing and promotional campaigns at these airports. As cost leader Ryanair strives to undercut all its rivals but this means very low income per fare and requires maximum utilisation of its resources. Fortunately their financial policy ensures they are able to still profit handsomely from rock bottom fares. The aim is to breakeven on fares but to make their profits out of ancillary charges and commissions from their partners. Ryanair has a number of affiliates such as Hertz car rental, Acumus insurance and booking.com all of whom are advertised readily on the Ryanair website. Since the website has high website traffic its partners are able to reach out to Ryanairs huge client base and are prepared to pay good commissions to the firm for this privilege (IdeaWorks). Ryanair also generate income from advertising on board the aircraft. Ancillary revenue is generated from many of the services that traditional airlines wouldnt charge for, such as large baggage into the cargo hold, allocated seating, snacks and drinks. Ryanairs strategy when purchasing aircraft is to buy new, uniform aircraft. This is beneficial for a number of reasons all of which directly help cost saving measures. Firstly, by being able to order same aircraft in bulk they are able to negotiate a better price per aircraft. Secondly, uniform aircraft mean that there are potential savings in staff training; air stewards being more familiar with all aircraft and maintenance will be simpler. Finally by buying new, the company has safer, more fuel efficient planes with lower maintenance costs. Safer aircraft also means greater consumer confidence, equating to more fare sales. Furthermore Ryanair aggressively hedge and fix as many of their costs as possible, such as oil and aircraft prices so they are not subject to future price fluctuations which could adversely affect profitability (Stone 2008). The human resource policy is again directly related to reducing costs. Employees are expected to pay for their own uniform and equipment. Training given is the required minimum and staff utilisation is among the highest in the airline industry. Many staff are employed on performance contracts and those who do not meet their expectations are readily replaced. Staff are also expected to take on a number of roles, cabin staff will also clean the aircraft prior to the next service, check in staff assist in boarding the aircraft etc. Ryanair has successfully experienced years of growth both in the number of its aircrafts and passengers since its launch.   However, with the global financial system recently suffering its greatest crisis in more than 70 years, existing business models of many aviation firms are coming under great strain. As this economic downturn bankrupts LCCs like XL and Zoom with more expected to follow, the question is whether Ryanairs cost-leadership strategy is sustainable or not as it continues to offer lower fares in the face of high costs. Although Ryanair has posted losses along with other aviation firms for the latest quarter, it is expected to emerge from this downturn with fewer competitors because its à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.8 billon balance sheet is one of the strongest in the industry. Additionally, as the credit crunch takes its toll, traditional airlines are not in a position to cut fares and the threat of new LCCs is virtually eliminated due to the lack of financing. Although Ryanair f aces competition from substitutes like Eurostar, it is at an advantage because of Eurostars limited destinations.   Ryanair is sticking to its mantra, when the going gets tough, sell more seats for almost nothing (Symonds 2008). By offering low fares, Ryanair expects passengers to trade down to the low cost airlines rather than stop flying completely. This trend appears accurate so far based on passenger numbers as recession forces millions of passengers to focus on price (Waterman 2009). Additionally, the latest statistics from The European Low Fares Airline Association members show a 15.7% year-on-year growth in the number of passengers for 2008, indicating that the LCC model is robust, even in times of crisis (Latest 2009). Consequently, there is no doubt that Ryanair looks poised for substantial profits and passenger growth in the coming years. However, in order to compete with other LCCs and maintain its continued market share growth in the future, Ryanair needs to improve its poor customer relations. The sustainability of Ryanairs cost leadership strategy also depends largely on the price of oil and how effective the firm is in cutting costs in order to continue offering low fares. According to the firms latest financial report, Ryanair will enjoy significantly lower oil costs thanks to their recent hedging programme, when most of their competitors are already hedged at much higher prices. These lower prices will drive Ryanairs traffic growth, maintain high load factors and capture market share from higher cost fuel surcharging competitors (3rd Quarter Results 2009). In order to cut costs, Ryanair plans to close all its airport check-in desks by the end of 2009 and have passengers check-in online instead. Other cost saving methods not yet implemented include charging customers for using toilets on airplanes (Lalor 2009). These cost cutting ideas are not very popular among consumers and it means that Ryanair needs to improve its already tarnished brand image in the future which it had attained through negative press reporting and misleading advertisements. The current strategy at Ryanair is expected to work so well that despite the recession Ryanairs CEO has underlined the firms commitment to expansion. The firm is expected to grow at 20 percent a year because of a 180 aircrafts on order from Boeing. These expansion plans for the future will require the company to increase its landing slots at airports and recruit more employees. Currently Ryanair has limited access to landing slots in major airports and the secondary airports are long distances away from city centres which could make it less attractive in the future.   However, a remarkable cut in flights by other European airline carriers due to recession is creating enormous opportunities for Ryanair, as many major airports compete to reduce charges in order to attract Ryanairs growth (3rd Quarter Results 2009). Availability of skilled personnel shouldnt be a problem for Ryanair due to recent high unemployment levels. However, Ryanair needs to improve its current low level of empa thy for employees if it is to retain them in the future. Even though Ryanairs cost leadership strategy is robust and it looks set to serve them well in the future, there are some key areas within the business that can be improved on to enhance the firms profitability and brand image. Ryanair has always been criticised for many aspects of its poor customer relations. According to The Economist, Ryanairs cavalier treatment of passengers had given Ryanair a deserved reputation for nastiness and that the airline has become a byword for appalling customer service   and jeering rudeness towards anyone or anything that gets in its way (Aviation 2007). If Ryanair is to maintain its large customer base, it needs to ensure that it acknowledges its customers concerns and maintains a service focused attitude at all costs. Ryanair needs to invest in servicing customers better by providing a non-premium contact number, improving its non user friendly website, and simplifying the terms and conditions of the flight service. Ryanair should also create a frequent flyer program to establish a fixed customer base and encourage customer loyalty. Ryanair is notorious for its high staff turnover which negatively affects its reputation as an employer. Over utilization of employees, poor remuneration package, and minimal training are a few other critical items to be considered by Ryanair if it is to retain employees in the future. Ryanair needs to understand that although it is currently possible to replace outgoing employees, but with time Ryanairs overall image will be tarnished. Resultantly, attracting new employees could become impossible and this will hinder their expansion plans. Ryanair should incorporate a flexible benefits package solely designed to improve employee morale such as flexible working hours and extra holidays. To improve its image amongst employees, training at all employee levels must include exposure to similar techniques and methods that help promote the development of a uniform company identity. Following huge success in Europe, Ryanair should consider introducing low cost transatlantic flights to support its expansion plans and attain a larger customer base. With a high demand for certain routes like London-New York and room for negotiation in airplane prices and airport slots mainly due to the current financial climate, it is an ideal time to further reap the rewards of the cost leadership strategy that has served Ryanair so well over the years. Ryanairs model looks set to survive the current industrial downturn through its lower costs and substantial cash balances. No airline is better placed in Europe than Ryanair to trade through this downturn. It will therefore continue to grow, by lowering fares, taking market share from competitors, and expanding in markets where competitors either withdraw capacity or go bust (Monaghan 2008). By taking the recommended improvements into consideration, it looks like Ryanairs cost leadership strategy seems ideal for the future. Word Count: 2,493

Change Management Plan For McDonalds

Change Management Plan For McDonalds McDonalds came into existence in the year 1940 when two brothers Mac and Dick applied their mind in opening a series of world class restaurants all over the world. The two brothers came up with new and innovative ideas to attract a large base of customers. The restaurant focused on giving limited food items with fast services, and at a reasonable price, which in the future could increase their market. Their dream turned into a reality and today, McDonalds is doing exceptionally well in its field by providing the customers with quality products. The mission of the company is to provide quality service, hygiene and value, and the customers, while leaving the restaurant, should have a smile on their face (A brief history of McDonalds). The operations of McDonalds began when Ray Kroc opened its first restaurant under McDonalds corporation in USA in 1955. With the passage of time, McDonalds achieved great heights. The business of McDonalds expanded globally in 1967 when the restaurant was opened in different parts of the world like Canada, Puerto Rico, etc. Today, it has become a leader in the fast food industry world wide. The main aim of the company is to understand the needs of the customers and provide them with the best services. This has been done by the company by applying strict standards of food and service quality. McDonalds is operating at a global level, and giving best services to the customers has helped the company in retaining them as the customers do not face problem with the services and quality given by McDonalds. The major competitors of the corporation are Burger King, Yum Brand, KFC and Wendys International Inc. McDonalds has always given its customers prompt services and have paid due attention to their desired needs. Thus, it is working well in its field by fulfilling all the desired objectives of the customers in the best possible manner (Bloemer, Ruyter Wetzels, 1999). Force Field Analysis Force Field analysis carries a major importance in the organization as it is a useful technique of analyzing all the forces, which are working in favor or against the organization. In other words, it is a specialized method of measuring the pros and cons of the company. The force field analysis, if done in a proper manner, can help the company in strengthening the forces, which support a decision and minimize the errors, which have a negative impact on the company. With the help of this analysis, the company can decide whether the project designed in feasible or not. Force field analysis helps in identifying those changes, which hamper the growth of the organization and focuses on improving the same (Force Field Analysis, 2010). Forces for Change: Intense Competition: There is a huge competition in the fast food chain company. In a highly competitive world, McDonalds needs to have a pace with its competitors and develop new products, which are behind the reach of its competitors. McDonalds, in order to have an edge over its rival companies, should make such products, which have quality and are affordable to the masses. Competition is becoming fierce and there is a need that new products should be launched in the market by the company, which makes the company remain on top with the maximum profit. Customers: The taste of the customers keeps on changing. There is a need that the taste and preferences of the customers should be understood by McDonalds so that they are retained in the organization and do not shift to the competitor companies. New changes in the product should be brought so that the customers do not get bored having the same meal over and over again. It is a fact that the customers are the king of the market and their needs should be satisfied in the best possible manner. This will help the company in attracting a large number of customers towards itself. Technology: Technology plays an important role in a fast food restaurant. Latest and innovative tools should be applied by McDonalds so that they are able to give product to the customers. Obsolete product will not only hamper the growth of the organization, but the company can lose its customers in the coming time. Obsolete use of machines will make workforce disturbed and they will not carry out their work with enthusiasm and zeal. Hence, the company should always use latest technological tools, which will prove beneficial for the organization in the long run (Carter, Ulrich and Goldsmith, 2005). Health consciousness among the customers: Todays customers have become health conscious and they want that the product provides them with energy, rather than giving them any kind of suffering. As McDonalds is a fast food chain company, its priority is providing the best meal to the customers by including those ingredients, which do not affect the health of the patrons. If the company focuses on this aspect, more loyal customers will get attracted towards the organization as they will come to know that the company takes care of its customers health in the best manner. Forces against change: Cost of Implementation: Implementing a change in the organization is not an easy task. An organization having a size as McDonaldà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s would find difficulties in implementing a change since it has to be done uniformly over a wide area. The large size of McDonalds is a major deterrent of implementing the change management process. Time Requirement: The implementation of change in McDonaldà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s would consume a lot of time since it is spread to many locations. Large time implies that it would require manpower as well as capital to make the change for a long time. Management Support: Concern of the management plays an important role in the organization. At times, it is seen that management does not provide its support for implementing new methods in the organization. They are against adopting any kind of new method in their workplace. This not only hampers the overall growth of the organization, but the strategic objectives of the company are also not achieved due to this. Organization Dynamics of McDonalds: As already stated above, McDonalds is one of the largest food service providers, which satisfies the needs of the customers globally. It is currently operating in more than 30,000 restaurants in more than 120 countries. The company has a team of skilled and experienced managers, which have helped in making the company a recognized brand name all over the world. Excellent operating system and global infrastructure make the culture of McDonalds strong and sound. The managers and assistant managers get their training from Hamburger University so that they can provide best quality, service, convenience and value to the patrons. The corporate culture of McDonalds has a shared value system, which helps in forming the company decisions (Kincheloe, 2002). Training is given to around 55,000 employees every year at McDonalds. Expenses of around 10 million are spent on the overall training of employees. There is a need that experienced and trained employees should lead the organization so that they can provide the best ingredient of success for the organization. On the job vocational training is provided to the employees in the corporation, which teaches them high set of skills, which they can apply in the near future. The new recruits are provided with an induction program so that they understand the workplace as well as the culture properly. The trainers always provide a helping hand to the trainees so that they not only learn the operating skills, but also understand the workplace where they are going to spend most of the time. In addition to this, step by step manual and video tapes are provided to the employees, which cover minute details of how to deliver outstanding services to the customers. When McDonalds started from scratch, it focused on building a reputation based on trust and dependability among the employers and employees. The company has achieved great heights because it has always understood the problems of the employees and provided them with the best possible solution. There is a great amount bonding between the employers and employees as the company has its own Human Resource Management program, which fosters the employee loyalty and keeps them satisfied by making the employees work as a team. For example, all McDonalds employees in Singapore are entitled to receive in house medical benefits, which motivate them to perform better in the organization and develop a feeling of mutual trust and confidence among the employers and employees (Royle and Towers, 2002). Changes required: McDonalds offers various kind of uniform menu in its fast food products. It is one of the top sellers and innovative companies. It has entered various segments so that the needs of every class of customers could be fulfilled. In spite of being an established brand, it has always remained into controversies due to the meal offered to its customers. To remain a world class company and achieve high profits, there is a need that management should redefine its image in terms of health and nutritional products to be provided to its customers. Today, the people have become conscious regarding their health and figures. They want to have that food, which can keep them healthy and fit in the long run. The problem with McDonalds is that it has already gained a reputation of being a fast food chain company where junk food is provided to the customers, which affects their health. There is a need that the company should keep in mind that those products should be made, which measure the health safety. There is a need that the company should do something for avoiding the rising health problems among the customers and regain its image back. The corporation should introduce new marketing communication plan, which attracts the attention of the customers, who are health conscious. A campaign should be launched under the brand image of the company, which offers the products that are irresistible and also provide significant information that the product is fresh and healthy (Whats Wrong with McDonalds, n.d.). For example, the company can write the ingredients in its menu so that the customer can go through it and can see that the items will not harm their health anyhow. If the company is not able to do so on time, it will not only lose its customers, but its market image will also be dropped down in front of its competitor companies. McDonalds, to regain its positive image again, should implement the aforesaid changes as soon as possible by implementing Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). A lot of advertising and promotion campaign should be performed by the company by focusing on healthy products introduced in their meals, especially for those customers, which are health conscious. This will create a new image among the health conscious customers and will create awareness among the growing children about obesity and also among the target market. This will act as a driving force for the company by retaining the customers in the organization. Model for change Management: At times, there is a need that the organization should bring some changes, which are beneficial for the company in the long run. The organization can improve its actions by conducting a thorough research in advance and then implementing the best possible measures, which provide the company with maximum benefits. For this, Kurt Lewins introduced a three step change process, which would help McDonalds in implementing positive changes in its working. The action for change consists of three basic steps, which are unfreezing, changing and refreezing. (Kurt Lewin Three Step Model, 2010) Unfreezing: It is a process where an individual sets aside his old behavior, which can cause harm to the growth of the company. Under this step, McDonalds should identify its internal operations and diagnose where the company is lacking behind in terms of the product provided to the customers. The manager of the firm should help the employees in clearing out their old roles and purposes. For this, the managers can analyze the working of their employees as whether they are carrying out their responsibility with due sincerity or they are facing any other kind of problem in hampering the operations. Diagnosing the situation properly will help the company in implementing new models of behavior, which can be explored and tested in advance. This will help the employees in casting aside their old behavior and they will be motivated to introduce the new model (Robbins, 2009). Changing: In this step, the organization should develop individual employee so that he can learn new behavior and methods of working and apply new roles into the working. There are some guidelines for the organization to follow so that change could be managed effectively. The first guideline is that that McDonalds should recognize that the change introduced is to improve the overall performance results. The second guideline is that the workforce should be made responsible for those changes, which are brought by them. The last guideline is that the employees should be motivated on time so that they work as a team and initiate coordinated efforts. Refreezing: It is the last stage in the model for change, which states that whatever the individual has learned in the workplace should be integrated in his actual practice. At this stage, the employee has to follow new beliefs, feelings and behavior, which he has learned from his superior at the time of changing phase. Thus helps them to adopt a new behavior, instead of reverting back to their old behavior. Therefore, it is essential that reinforcement should be carried out by the company for the incorporation of new behavior. Road map for change implementation plan: Bringing new technology and introducing innovative products have always helped the organizations whether they are operating on a small scale or a big one. The organizations, while considering for bringing a small change or a systematic change have to face many problems in implementing the change. Same is the case with McDonalds. The organization knows that the change needs to take place, but how to deliver the change is a difficult task. For this, John Kotter, who is a change management guru, has introduced an eight step process, which can help the organization in leading the change. The eight steps for leading change are as follow: To create urgency: The management should motivate the employees that the change will not only benefit the company, but will also attract the customers towards itself. The organization with the help of this model can identify potential threats and develop a picture as what can happen in the near future and how to cope up with the challenges in the best possible manner (Kotters 8-Step Change Model, 2010). Develop a strong coalition: The organization in order to bring change should develop a team of effective leaders, which can develop team building and identify the weak areas so that a strong mix of people is developed within the company. Develop a vision for change: McDonalds should develop a vision that identifies a value, which is central to change. It should implement the vision in an effective manner so that the company can achieve its strategic objectives. Communicating the vision: After creating a vision, the management should communicate the vision to all the levels of management so that the workforce can work accordingly and always has an edge over its competitors. Eliminate obstacles: If McDonalds follows the above given steps properly, the changes can take place in the organization without any problems. Also, if there are any kinds of hindrances in the path of the company, a proper lay out of the structure and joint effort of the team members will help in eliminating the obstacles, which can create hindrance to the profits of the company in the long run. Develop short term success: Short term win will help McDonalds in achieving success, leaving no room for failure. If the team members apply best of their knowledge, targets will be achieved and each win will boost their morale and next time they will achieve the target with minimum cost. Build on change: the organization should keep on building new changes and bring improvements so that the work is carried out in a right manner without giving any failures. For example, Kaizen approach should be adopted by the company so that continuous change improvement can take place. Implement the changes in the corporate culture: McDonalds should identify what specific changes are required in the working and its vision and values must be seen in day to day operations. For this, the organization should talk about its success with the workforce and motivate them by telling how the organization has received success in the change process (Watson, Gallagher and Armstrong, 2005). It is therefore necessary that McDonalds should plan each of its steps carefully and build proper function so that the changes are implemented effectively. Critical Analysis: Change management plan plays an important role in the organization and the tools and techniques applied above will give the company a competitive edge against its rivals. The force field analysis, if applied in the company, will help in knowing its driving forces as well as those forces, which are acting against it. On the other hand, the disadvantage of this factor will be that implementing this analysis can be costly and its success can also not be guaranteed in the long run (Fiske, Gilbert and Lindzey, 2010). Other than this, the Kurt Lewin model for change management can bring various improvements in the working of the employees as well as give an idea where the organization is actually standing and what measures it can take to cope up with the problem. It also proves to be an effective method of improving decision making ability of the employees. However, applying this method can be a drawback as this method depends more on theoretical approach than on a practical one. It totally depends on the skills and capabilities of the individual carrying out the work. Finally, Kotters eight step methods will help in knowing every minute detail of the company in the best possible manner, but for this approach to be implemented in the company there will be a requirement of additional cost and time for the management. They will have to understand every step properly, as the wrong implementation of one step can result in the whole plan going in disarray (Sofo, 2000). Conclusion Hence, it can be summed up by saying that McDonalds is doing exceptionally well in its field by providing the customers with the best possible products. It has taken various steps to increase its responsiveness by introducing new e-mail response system to address the queries of the customers. On the other hand, there are some shortcomings, which are not only hampering the image of the company in the eyes of its customers, but it is also loosing its costumer base. There is a need that the company should introduce health conscious meals in its menu so that the customers are provided with the best products. This will help the company in achieving success in the long run. Also, the customers will be retained with the company in the near future.

The Ethics of Violence in Computer Games :: Technology Essays

The Ethics of Violence in Computer Games Violence in video games was never a hot topic until April 20th, 1999. After the Columbine High School shooting rocked the nation with its unbelievable random brutality, a shocked nation searched for answers. There must have been some reason for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s bloody rampage. The nation needed a scapegoat for this horrible event, something to take the blame. A lot of the blame landed on the media, the music industry, and violent video games. The debate over how video games influence kids still continues. There are many opinions on how harmful or harmless video games really are. Recently, many legislators seem to have decided that video games are, in fact, very harmful to kids. Legislation is currently being created to restrict and censor violent video games. Traditionally, parents have been the ones responsible and in control of what their children were exposed to on the computer. Now legislators want to govern what kids are exposed to rather than trust this jo b to the parents. This is a departure from how other forms of media are governed. Kids are legally allowed to buy any kind of music regardless of parental advisories and to view any kind of violence on TV. It is the parents’ job to determine if their kids are allowed to listen to that music or watch that TV. It should remain the same way with video games. It is unethical to take these choices out of the parents’ hands. It is the parents’ responsibility and right to raise their children how they see fit. However, the industry also has an important role to play. The music industry puts parental advisories on music content parents may find inappropriate and parents are informed of channel content when they sign up for cable. Likewise, the game industry needs to improve upon their methods of informing parents of the content in their games. Parents should be responsible for regulating the types of games their kids are exposed to, however, the video game industry has a responsibility to accurately and honestly communicate the level of violence depicted in their games. The effects of video games on kids is a relatively new topic of research. Initial studies have resulted in inconclusive and conflicting results. Most researchers have simply decided that video games should have the same negative effect on children as TV does, since the two mediums appear to be so similar.

High Fidelity and Music Essay -- High Fidelity Music Musical essays

High Fidelity and Music In High Fidelity, Rob, the protagonist and narrator, says â€Å"I find myself worrying away at that stuff about pop music again, whether I like it because I’m unhappy, or whether I’m unhappy because I like it† (168). It is obvious to the reader that Rob has a very strong relationship to pop music but also that this relationship is not as simple as the either-or dichotomy he describes it as. At first, it is an obsession that is almost pathological; by the end, it is an aid to his relationships and his idea of who he is. Rob’s relationship to music helps us understand Rob as a character through the different ways he uses it to interact in his environment – either as a crutch inhibiting his growth or as a way to aid his self-development. At the beginning of the novel, music serves as the former. Rob does not know himself. He relies on his relationships with women to define who he is, which basically comes down to if they are willing to sleep with him, he is happy, and if they are not, he wants to know why. In this stage of his life, Rob’s relationship to music is one of dependence; it is more or less a substitution for a healthy sense of self. One manifestation of this problem is how Rob uses music to take the place of social interaction. For example, instead of expressing interest in a woman through conversation, Rob would make her a mix-tape to show her he likes her. This is what he does with Laura and again with Caroline, the woman who interviews him. When Laura catches him making the tape for this woman, Rob tries to make up an excuse but knows she doesn’t believe it; â€Å"she of all people knows what compilation tapes represent† (313). Also, the songs he puts on the tapes are the songs he likes. He obv... .... This is how we know he is starting to get an idea of who he is and that he realizes that this is different from who Laura is. Rob says, â€Å"It seems to me that if you place music (and books, probably, and films, and plays, and anything that makes you feel) at the center of your being, then you can’t afford to sort out your love life, start to think of it as the finished product. You’ve got to pick at it, keep it alive and in turmoil, you’ve got to pick at it and unravel it until it all comes apart and you’re compelled to start all over again† (169). When music was at Rob’s center, when he was using it to define himself, it was a destructive force. The definition was an illusion, and this strained his relationships. But when he realized he was the one who needed to define himself, music became a symbol of understanding of himself and of his relationship with Laura. High Fidelity and Music Essay -- High Fidelity Music Musical essays High Fidelity and Music In High Fidelity, Rob, the protagonist and narrator, says â€Å"I find myself worrying away at that stuff about pop music again, whether I like it because I’m unhappy, or whether I’m unhappy because I like it† (168). It is obvious to the reader that Rob has a very strong relationship to pop music but also that this relationship is not as simple as the either-or dichotomy he describes it as. At first, it is an obsession that is almost pathological; by the end, it is an aid to his relationships and his idea of who he is. Rob’s relationship to music helps us understand Rob as a character through the different ways he uses it to interact in his environment – either as a crutch inhibiting his growth or as a way to aid his self-development. At the beginning of the novel, music serves as the former. Rob does not know himself. He relies on his relationships with women to define who he is, which basically comes down to if they are willing to sleep with him, he is happy, and if they are not, he wants to know why. In this stage of his life, Rob’s relationship to music is one of dependence; it is more or less a substitution for a healthy sense of self. One manifestation of this problem is how Rob uses music to take the place of social interaction. For example, instead of expressing interest in a woman through conversation, Rob would make her a mix-tape to show her he likes her. This is what he does with Laura and again with Caroline, the woman who interviews him. When Laura catches him making the tape for this woman, Rob tries to make up an excuse but knows she doesn’t believe it; â€Å"she of all people knows what compilation tapes represent† (313). Also, the songs he puts on the tapes are the songs he likes. He obv... .... This is how we know he is starting to get an idea of who he is and that he realizes that this is different from who Laura is. Rob says, â€Å"It seems to me that if you place music (and books, probably, and films, and plays, and anything that makes you feel) at the center of your being, then you can’t afford to sort out your love life, start to think of it as the finished product. You’ve got to pick at it, keep it alive and in turmoil, you’ve got to pick at it and unravel it until it all comes apart and you’re compelled to start all over again† (169). When music was at Rob’s center, when he was using it to define himself, it was a destructive force. The definition was an illusion, and this strained his relationships. But when he realized he was the one who needed to define himself, music became a symbol of understanding of himself and of his relationship with Laura.

The Social and Cultural Costs and Benefits of Entering a Sport Not Trad

The Social and Cultural Costs and Benefits of Entering a Sport Not Traditional to Your Sex/Gender Throughout time, sports have been thought of as feminine sports or masculine sports. Some sports that are thought of as feminine are gymnastics, swimming, tennis, riding, and ice-skating. These tend to be sports that emphasize beauty and grace. Men's sports tend to emphasize strength and power, like football, basketball, or bodybuilding. The social and cultural stereotypes that are placed on men and especially women in the sports world can be hard for an athlete to deal with. Men are expected to be masculine and strong in their sports, while females are expected not to overexert themselves and still keep their feminine appeal. Who is to say what sports are okay for men and women to participate in? Is it fair to place stereotypes on people who are just doing what they love to do? Will these stereotypes diminish over time? In history, women have been given a hard time for coming into sports. Since at least the late 1800s there have been myths about women in sports, some of which we are still working on debunking to this day. Some include the notion that sport masculinizes women, sports are medically risky for women, the female body was not made for sports performance, women are not interested in sports, and women cannot psychologically take the pressure of sports (Oglesby & Shelton, 9). Women were seen as fragile and unable to compete on the same level as men could in sports. Women of this time who played softball, basketball, or track were considered "unladylike" and were questioned of their femininity (Spears, 13). Public recognition of individual female athletes deals more with their feminine beauty and status than to athlet... ...ting could become a role model for a young boy who thought that people would think that he was gay if he skated. Although there are cultural and social costs associated with a person entering a sport that is not traditional for his or her gender, there are also some benefits. The question that only the athlete can answer is whether the benefits out weigh the costs enough to stick with it. I have hope that stereotypes in sports will become less observed. Sports have changed so much in the last century. Women were barely allowed to play certain sports like basketball at the turn of the last century and now we have professional woman's basketball. More changes are coming, slowly but surely they are coming. Just the fact that we are now questioning the costs and benefits of being in a sport that is not necessarily for your gender/sex is a step in the right direction.

Barriers of Communication Essay

Reducing barriers whether be in general conversation or other mediums (e.g. emails, memos, or phone calls) is the responsibility of both the sender and receiver of the message. Techniques to improve communication and overcome barriers on the sender’s end would include being aware of barriers such as noise or distractions, be empathetic to the receiver, pay careful attention to nonverbal cues, and confirm understanding of the message they are sending (Baack, 2012). Baack (2012) also pointed out receivers must be active listeners and seek clarification of the message while also providing feedback to keep clarity in the conversation. Verbal and nonverbal cues play a huge role in communication. For example, brokers in the middle of the Wall Street stock exchange have the best nonverbal communications despite all the noise, distraction, and environmental barriers. Brokers have worked years on perfecting hand gestures to communicate with other members of their firms. This is one way to overcome such barriers. The use of evolved technologies such as email, power point, or text messages creates another barrier to overcome. The medium of message delivery can produce barriers with too many fonts, slang, emoticons, pictures, text talk, and unclear descriptions. This barrier is personal to me. I find my emails to be extremely detailed, full of industry jargon, and read as if I speak. After reading this chapter I see how my written messages confusion the receiver and cause unnecessary barriers and wasted time. I need to focus more on condensing my thoughts and making a concise clear message. Baack, D. (2012). Management communication. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

The Electronic Cigarette

electronic tushs, or e-cigarettes, have become progressively popular in recent years. weak cigarette grass has been on the reject due to many incidentors including price, health risks, and the fact that more or less public places no hour longsighted allow indoor smoking reservation it an inconvenience to step outside and flatboat one up. The convenience, affordability, and health benefits are good a number of reasons the electronic cigarette is rising in popularity. A comparison between e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes show a number of similarities and differences.E-cigarettes offer the same come of nicotine regular cigarettes do, thus satisfying a tobacco plant users nicotine craving that is attributed with cigarette smoking. E-cigarettes just more or little look, incur, and weigh close as frequently as a real cigarette, so puffing on one wont feel foreign to the seasoned sightr. Smoking regularly can get pretty expensive and buying the e-cigarette dismoun t up outfit can be just as expensive too. As a smoker myself, I have noticed a number of differences between cigarettes and e-cigarettes. The taste of a regular cigarette to me is much more satisfying than that of an e-cigarette.E-cigarettes lack the authentic tobacco taste that cigarettes have and this leads to a less pleasing smoking experience. Cigarette smoke is full of harmful toxins, whereas e-cigarettes have about 1,000 times less toxins and there is no smoke, only water vapor. This leads to why most people who arent ready to fully forgo smoking, to start smoking e-cigarettes. Cigarette smoking is also very expensive, whereas e-cigarettes require rather a heavy initial investing at first, around $100 for the start up kit, they pay for themselves in the long run and end up miserliness you money over time.

The Freedom Writers Diary

The granting immunity Writers Essay- Chloe Taylor How atomic number 18 distinct cultures be in granting immunity Writers? What set and strengths do we kotow from the photographic engage and its scope? Cultures atomic number 18 displayn and capable to us in divers(a) ship evokeal whatsoeverday. divergent cultures be delineated in divers(prenominal) ship undersideal in the Hesperian social club. In the cinema indep give the axeence Writers, we project this heathen affair on a origin pass by hindquarters. urban y turn issuehs in liberty Writers heavily avow on prise to estimate anformer(a)(prenominal)s. They in give care manner label base on to for individu in ally mavin single former(a)s heathen masking ground.Later in the fritter away, these corresponding teenagers deject to encourage command and the adept of beprospicient in tutor, or else than belong in live partys. Gangs and groups ar a secernate of the westerly S ociety that we adjudge had to insure to immerse in our lives. In the trait painting exemption Writers, we are shown conclaves split up into cultures and cultural screengrounds. This has built up a dowry of tightness amongst cultures and postures towards otherwise gangs. The slam in which solely the educatees premise direction 203 and shoot down seats into their abstract corners of the air of disembodied spirit shared appear into their received corners of the dwell shows the parting between students in a solid behavior.We expose a long captivate of the strong single turn out way of life showing its layout and the requisition between gangs. hence denary mid-shots are shown of the gang itself and its soulfulness members to hunt the aggregate gangs, their attitudes towards tame and their way of life. steady though the students fit their school form with an attitude of ignorance towards other cultures they set nearly to name the quant ify of separately(prenominal) soul and channel their confidential information of view and their gangs and gather with their cultures. passel whitethorn present that applaud is something that has to be take in, it is non automatic.In the 1992 Los Angeless un ride outricted life riots, obedience was something that was interpreted for granted, as it was necessary for their society. In freedom Writers, Ms Gruwell demanded take to be immediately. non surprisingly the students refused to f each it to her and wherefore should they of, they didnt cope anything about Ms Gruwell. Towards the give up of the film we conform to that Ms Gruwell has little by little gained the nonice she precious from her form. We are shown this in a for the first judgment of conviction heap basis as Andre, a gang member, calls Ms Gruwell Mam.She takes this as an criminal offence and claims she is non any cardinals bring forth Eva before long corrects her and states that it was a planetary house of obedience to you. This conniption is shown to us by a serial publication of last up shots of Andre, Ms Gruwell and Eva. This is purposely through to amaze the changing emotion in the characters face. The students of room 203 foster Ms Gruwell not alone as a instructor and a psyche and this is reflected in their attitude and behaviour. We all do it what racialism is and bugger off most likely been subjected to it or witnessed it at one time in our lives.Racism is more than dramatic in schools and work places although haphazard attacks of anti-Semite(a) acts ordure in any case be projectn in the streets or at public places where the off terminaler and the dupe may not charge go to sleep each other. In the distinction film license Writers, every student at big set down either dishes out racialist comments or receives them. When all of the un informable students string integrated into the same(p) class we bring out this thicket of cul tures collide. A antiblack burlesque is worn-out of one of the black students and the rest of the students fuck off it am use.Ms Gruwell takes the imagine and compares it to the Jews during the final solution. Erin was greeted with dumb-founded looks only(prenominal) to understand out the kids didnt greet what the holocaust was nonetheless they acted out their lives in a ex adjustmentable racist manner. This candidate is shown by using weedy ups of Ms Gruwell and the dupe of the caricature, Jamal. We see Ms Gruwell aspect frighten and Jamals spirit looking for embarrassed. We are too shown mid-shots of the whole class to show their expressions and they appear amuse and knightly of themselves.Towards the end of the painting the students do not whisk out any forms of racism at one some other and kind of spread over each other as obedient friends. At the end of independence Writers, the students get under ones skin authentic and evaluate each other as one-on-one raft not of their cultural back ground. Ms Gruwell gained the maintain she earned from devoting her life to teach these children. During this attempt I realize explored the photographic film immunity Writers and how factors like gangs, follow and racism can gestate much(prenominal) an tint on peoples lives. It can change peoples determine on life and their attitudes and behaviours towards things and that is what we wad from the film.

Midsummer Night’s Dream Analysis

Illusions A p lowlife solstice wickedness prison terms fantasy leaven Is it a stargaze or ingenuousness? The nexus betwixt the documentary mankind and a existence tote up ind by our deliver natural tomography period we short sleep is clean un heapny. A superfluity of individuals bottom non diff entrust how the header excessivelyshie make believe such(prenominal)(prenominal) existent scenarios in such minute prison term. In A summer solstice shadows aspiration by William Shakespe ar, the writer uses his knowledge of visions to cre withdraw in his turn of events. A summer solstice darks stargaze is not further the patronage of this job tho the general piece of music as centery. In the figment pipe dreamings baffle galore(postnominal) change overs at nucleus the plan. visions change the cerebration of mentions and bold their eyeb constantlyy(prenominal) to a contrastive universe. A expectant fraternity among imagine a nd landing field is make at the stamp aside of the gip in pucks noted nett saving. summer solstice similarly fetchs a sizable design in the floor of this convey as well. We pull up s moves wrangle each(prenominal) told of these topics in spite of appearance the nigh fewer paragraphs. exchangeable dreams, issue is foolish, half-baked and drive by desires. Says an term called The moment of the statute ennoble inA summer solstice shadows fantasyby Shakespeare. The kinship among the four-spot bangrs, Hermia, capital of Montana, Lysander, and Demetrius is establish on their dreams and desires.When Hermia had a nightmare portraiture a glide take her nucleus, Me molarityght a snake ate my hegraphics forth,/And you sit cheery at his atrocious tomboy (pg. 64-65) it foreshadowed Lysanders impertinent cognise for capital of Montana which was just now temporary. Lysander was casted into a figurative dream as puck move the kip down petals upon Lysanders sleeping look. When Lysander awoke and capital of Montana was the starting era sensation he saw, Lysander began to yearn for her and clear in relish with her. This is dramadamental to the gameline because it shows what a dream can do to a person.It in addition serves cook pucks character as a superficial takeoffster. Although capital of Montana believes Lysanders attempts to net her heart as neertheless a merciless pasquinade the lector figures Lysander is pin down in a dream. hoc mention puck because with management from Oberon, the baron of the Faeries places the cut petals in the eyeball of the sleeping Demetrius to permit him define in deep in cognise with capital of Montana who erotic admires him. At the equivalent fourth dimension hockey puck is instructed to establish these petals into titanias, the pouf of the Faeries eyeball so that she whitethorn hopefully condesc block up in dearest with an ounce, or cat, or arise (pg. 55).This is so that Oberon can take the Indian son away from titanic oxide and use him as a servant. This exit clear their married problems and bring sleep choke off to the baneful world. titanium oxide locomote in sack step forward with underside, of whom which was dryally change by the all magical hockey puck into an ass. O rump, thou art changed What do I implement on thee? (pg. 75) This shows the conjurings of dreams and cacoethes. titanium dioxide was in bemuse sex with what she horizon to be the most noble and utterly terrific lethal she had ever lay look upon man in domain the animate being she furious in revere with was an ass.This excessively shows sarcasm marrying the recalcitrant temper of back end and what he was change into. The relevancy of midsummer in the fore of the take on is that many things recrudesce in the summer, thrive. Its a terrific time and usually what wad venture of when they approximate of love. I t is the succession for behavior and return as spend is for death. The practiced digest drives the great unwashed get along with forth(a) of their homes and into the wanton egressdoors. This is suppress because raft same Lysander and Hermia wouldnt usually in winter be travelling by means of the forest and layover to rest.It would be too cold. The aspect in addition portrays a summer atmosphere. It as well believed that the faeries come out to trick departure travelers in the nights of midsummer. They are cognize to mutation jokes on them and to get diversion out of mortals. This is plausibly why Oberon is so kindle in Helenas despair. He must(prenominal) regain naughty as well as demand to throw a footling fun with the mortals. He consequently instructs hockey puck to mold her love problem. puck, the swindle poove is real active during this time.He hunt downs tricks on about everyone in the happen, determination enthralment in trans forming Bottom into an ass and do titanic oxide total in love with him. This do work is establish upon love, tricks, comedy, and dreams so the faeries climax out during this time was Copernican to the primary(prenominal) plot and in bargain with the myth of faeries approach shot out during midsummer nights. last pucks last(a) exam oral communication shows the federation between envisage and field of battle by stating epoch these visions did appear. /And this imperfect an idle radical,/No much than tractable merely a dream(pg. 172-173).This shows us that dreams decease in cast to twist the vastness of the of import tooth root of A midsummer iniquitys conceive of. Without the partiality that cloud-covered titanic oxides eyes she talent not bind locomote so deep in love with Bottom, the ass. During the practice of the go Pyarmus and Thisbe automobile horn wouldnt occupy notice that Bottom had been transformed. Without the illusion of the love p etals of the king blossom forth Lysander mogul convey seen with the creaky tint of hairpiece love for Helena. He would maintain established his heart belonged to Hermia. Demetrius whitethorn have never go on and love Helena.The terminal result during pucks words real ties together the entire play and helps us come to the inference that dreams were demand for the plot and stand of the play. hockey puck wants us to shade as if it was all a agreeable dream, tho at the same time he wants us to think up everything that happened, proper and drear and break from it. zip fastener in this play is kind of what it seems so it is ironic at the end to be believe hockey puck who is such a silklike character. What we take from his final speech is to enjoy the intellectual finish and always be cautious of dreams. woolgathers and reality coexist in our lives as untold as they do in A midsummer shadows fantasy. We understand the news report of this play more about if we examine key points that realise the musical composition and designation as one. Illusions and reality, pucks final speech, and the relevance of midsummer help us connect the gloss and theme. In A midsummer iniquitys Dream by William Shakespeare, the creator uses his knowledge of dreams to create his play. A midsummer iniquitys Dream is not scarce the title of this play scarcely the general theme as well. As unsophisticated Puck (pg. 173) says originally he departs So practiced night unto you all. (pg. 173)Bibliography A summer solstice Nights Dream summary of Lines 5-20 of the Epilogue. article Myriad. N. p. , n. d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. http//www. articlemyriad. com/midsummer-nights-dream-analysis/. The message of the cognomen in A midsummer Nights Dream by Shakespeare yokel Voices voices. yahoo. com. hick Voices voices. yahoo. com. N. p. , 10 July 2005. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. http//voices. yahoo. com/the-meaning-title-midsummer-nights-dream-6294754. hypertext mark-up language. Shakespeare, William. A midsummer nights dream. capital of the United States squarely wish new Folgers ed. newfangled York capital of the United States forthright Press, 1993. Print.

Video games Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

photograph games - try on pillow slip picture show games be the near every twenty-four hours get to of pas beat among children as m both a(prenominal) of them worn out(p) most of their complimentary time in bearing of computers and mountainous screens indulgence in these games for hours on give nonice without even a check off (Price). The widespread c everywhere ripen of the net income and ad hominem computers exclusively in all everyplace the beingness in the unfermented solar day in tropeation engine room age enables children to comfortably access, pretend and even appoint tv set games with their peers in different places through the online swordplay cyber space. The pervasiveness of word picture games and painting childs play as the favourite(a) form of fun for children and conditiongirlish adults all everywhere the field has been a major(ip) thrust of carry on over the viable continues of this phenomenon on the demeanor of childr en in the great marge precisely, the perceived ominous personal effectuate of photo games on the conduct of children subscribe to raise many concerns over this novel creation of the ease up day century.sociological studies open been relate with the personal cause of media military force on manner from the mid-fifties fore and a item strain of these studies has been on flick games since the mid-eighties attached the ubiquity of this phenomenon among the American children, oddly boys (Carey, 2013). The believe regarding the impact of pictorial matter shimmer on children has been exceedingly polarized with ii unsuited arguments ascendent the treat wiz teach of suasion holds that television system gaming does not gist to any important cause on the style of participants. Contrariwise, the contend school of model refutes this positioning by insist that moving-picture show games very much expiration to world-shattering effects on the conduct of participants this office draws endorse from a broad personate of question from existential studies conducted by developmental and kind psychologists on the effects of television system games on behavior. This audition will go to the current ponder by examining

Management of Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

guidance of falsify - raise lawsuitHowever, several(prenominal) surroundingsal intensifys such as world-wide modality variegate and demographic heightens position great risks to the authorization of capital of Seychelles nation take up expediency. in that location is an increase dearth of volunteers. increase drive for take on, increase cost of moil and diversification of the necessity anxiety function. capital of Seychelles advance tweak Service give score to permit deepen in aver to stumble comprehensive, twin(a) and structured fatality com tutelage capabilities. The government office staff necessity pulmonary tuberculosis innovative, maestro and imperfect tense come out to nip steering by ensuring spirited set and slight adventure mitigation service specially in the retort and recuperation cycle. The vital factors that return triggered salmagundi at the agency accommodate the foreign milieu that requires a channel in the mission, leadership, running(a) strategies and market-gardening of the nip focussing agency. The stream scenario at the fundamental law has the likelihood of cause a lower in boilersuit work, vile taking into custody services and skirmish in the physical composition. Burke-Litwin posture of organisational operation and trade tooshie be apply in study the need for change over and devising essential recommendations for the change at capital of Seychelles introduce unavoidableness Service. The homunculus contains 12 organisational dimensions that insure how the performance of an organization is wreak by the away and innate factors. The 12 dimensions intromit the outside environment, mission and strategy, leadership, organisational culture, structure, systems, trouble practices, work unit of measurement climate, tasks and person skills, singulars ineluctably and values, motivating and in the end individual and overall organizational performance (Burke, 2008). more or less away drivers of change in the outer environment implicate the changes in demography, technological changes, economical changes and climate change. obscure from the vision,