Organisational Behaviour Ch7

CHAPTER 7 DECISION MAKING AND CREATIVITY Describe the six stages in the rational choice decision process Decision making: the conscious process of making choices among alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs. Rational choice paradigm of decision making: the view in decision making that people should and typically do, use logic and all available information to choose the alternative with the highest value. Decision making involves identifying, selecting and applying the best possible alternative. The best decision use pure logic and all available information to choose the alternative with the highest value Such as highest expected profit, customer satisfaction, employee wellbeing or some combination of these outcomes. Subjective expected utility: the probability (expectation) of satisfaction (utility) resulting from choosing a specific alternative in a decision. Decision making process: systematic application of stages of decision making. 1. Identify problem or opportunity 2. Choose the best decision process 3. Develop alternative solutions 4. Choose the best alternative . Implement the selected option 6. Evaluate decision outcomes Problem with Rational choice paradigm: 1. Impossible to apply in reality 2. Difficulty recognising problems 3. Process the huge volume of information 4. Difficulty recognising when choices have failed 5. Focusing on logical thinking, ignores emotion influence making decision IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES Explain why people have difficulty with it Problem identification is not just the first step in decision making: it is the most important There are five most widely recognised concerns. Stakeholder framing: attention-based theory of the firm: states that, organisational decisions and actions are influenced mainly by what attracts management’s attention, rather than by objective reality. Mental mode: if an idea does not fit the existing mental mode of how things should work, the idea is dismissed as unworkable or undesirable. Decisive leadership: being decisive includes quickly forming an opinion of whether an event signals problem or opportunity. Many decisions happens too quickly before having a chance to logically assess the situation, more often it is a poorer decision than would result if more time had been devoted to identify the problem and evaluating the alternatives. Solution-focused problems: decision makers engage in solution-focused problem identification because it provides comforting closure to the otherwise ambiguous and uncertain nature of problems. Perceptual defence: people sometimes block out bad news as a coping mechanism. Some people inherently avoid negative information. People are more likely to disregard danger signals when they have limited control over the situation. Identifying problems and opportunities more effectively * Be aware of the 5 problem identification biases * Increase awareness of problem identification, need willpower to resist the temptation of looking decisive * Create a norm of â€Å"divine discontent† * Discussing the situation with others to ease difficulty EVALUATING AND CHOOSING ALTERNATIVES Explain why people do not follow the rational choice model when evaluating alternative choices Bounded rationality: the view that people are process limited and imperfect information and rarely select the best choice. Problem with goals: assumes that organisational goals are clear and agreed on. Goals are often ambiguous or in conflict with each other. Problem with information processing: assumes that decision makers can process info about all alternatives and in their consequences, but it is not possible in reality. Implicit favourite: preferred alternative that the decision maker uses repeatedly as a comparison with other choices. iased decision heuristics: key element of rational choice paradigm, as people can estimate the probabilities of outcomes. 1. Anchoring and adjustment heuristic: people to be influenced by an initial anchor point such that they do not sufficiently move away from that point as new info is provided. Initial info influences evaluation of subsequent info 2. Availability heuristic: we estimate probabilities by how easily we can recall the event, even tho ugh other factors influence it. 3. Representativeness heuristic: we estimate probabilities by how much they are similar to something else, even when better information available. Problem with maximisation: people engage in satisficing, selecting an alternative that is good enough rather than the alternative with the highest value. To choose the best alternative is also demand more info processing capacity than what they willing to apply. Making the best choice among many, can be cognitively and emotionally draining. Evaluating opportunities: opportunity is different from the process of problem solving. Decision makers not evaluate alternatives, after all, the opportunity is the solution, so why look further, they tend to have an emotional attachment to the opportunity. EMOTIONS AND MAKING CHOICES: Describe 3 ways in which emotions influences the selection of alternatives 1. Emotions from early preferences: emotions form preferences before we consciously evaluate those choices 2. Emotions change the decision evaluation process: moods and emotions influence how well we follow the decision process. . Emotions serve as info when we evaluate alternatives: we â€Å"listen in† on our emotions and use that info to make choices Intuitive decision making: ability to know when a problem or opportunity exist and select the best action without conscious reasoning. * Gut feelings we experience are emotional signals that have enough intensity to make us aware * Not all emotional signals are intuitions * Intuitions are involves rapidly comparing nonconscious analysis Making choices more eff ective: Systematically evaluate alternatives against relevant factors * Be aware of effects of emotions on decision preferences and evaluating process * Scenario planning: imagining possible future, choosing the best possible solution long before they occur Evaluating decision outcomes: confirmation bias known as â€Å"post-decisional justification† * Forget or downplay the negative features of selected alternative and highlight the positive features * Typically nonconscious and driven by emotions * Gives people an excessively optimistic evaluation of their decision Escalation of Commitment: the tendency to repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a falling course of action 4 main causes of escalation: 1. Self-justification: individuals motivated maintain course of action when need to justify their action 2. Prospect theory effect: a natural tendency to feel more dissatisfaction from losing a particular amount than satisfaction from gaining an equal amount 3. Perceptual blinders: occurs because decision makers do not see the problems soon enough, they screen out or explain away negative information, serious problems looks like random errors 4. Closing costs: decision makers will because the cost of ending the project are high or unknown Evaluating decision outcomes more effectively: * Separate decision makers from evaluators to minimise self-justification * Establish a preset level to abandon or re-evaluate the project * Find a source of systematic and clear feedback * Involve several people in the evaluation EMPLOYEE INVOLVMENT IN DECISION MAKING Describe benefits of employee involvement in decision making Employee involvement: when employees influence how their work is organised and carried out Benefits: improves quality and commitment – recognising problem more quicker – defining problem more accurately – improve solutions generated – specific conditions improves the evaluation of alternatives Contingencies of employee involvement Identify four option thet affect the optimal level of employee involvement 1. Decision structure: decision can be programmed and non-programmed, programmed decision need less involvement, because solution is already worked out from past incidents 2. Source of decision knowledge: employee have relevant knowledge than leaders, it is improves decision quality 3. Decision commitment: participation is improving employee commitment 4. Risk of conflict: employee goals and norms conflict with the organisation’s goals, whether employees will reach agreement on the preferred solution CREATIVITY Outline the four steps in creative process Creativity: the development of original ideas that make a socially recognised contribution Rely on to find problems, alternatives and implement solutions Creative process: 1. Preparation: person or team effort to gain knowledge and skills regarding the problem or opportunity, clear understanding of what we are trying to achieve 2. Incubation: the period of reflective thoughts, put the problem aside, however our mind is still working on it, maintain a low level of awareness†¦Ã¢â‚¬ divergent thinking† reframing the problem and generating different approaches to the issue â€Å"convergent thinking†: calculating the accepted â€Å"right answer† to logical problem 3. Insight: refers to experience of suddenly becoming aware of a unique idea CHARACTERISTICS OF CREATIVE PEOPLE Describe the characteristics of creative employee and workplaces that support creativity 1. Cognitive and practical intelligence: creative people recognise the significance of small bits of information and are able to connect them in ways like no one else could imagine, they also have practical intelligence, the capacity to evaluate the potential usefulness of their ideas 2. Persistence: higher need for achievement, a strong motivation from the task itself and a moderate or high degree of self-esteem, persistence is vital because creative ideas meet with plenty of resistance from others as well as failures along the way to success 3. Subject knowledge and experience: creative people have sufficient knowledge and experience on subject 4. Independent imagination: -high openness to experience, moderately low need for affiliation, high self-direction stimulation values Creative work environment * Learning orientation: leaders recognise that employees make reasonable mistakes as part of the creative process, and need to tolerate â€Å"creativity comes from failure† * Work motivation: employees can be more creative if they believe their work. Benefit the organisation * Open communication and sufficient resources Activities that encourage creativity

Extracts from ‘Great Expectations Essay

The extracts I will be analysing are from the novel Great Expectations written by Charles Dickens. I am going to be describing how Dickens has succeeded in making the reader feel sorry for Pip. Dickens used his own experiences as a boy to help him write sympathetically of being a young child, his family had no money and got transferred from city to city until he was ten years old, his father was also sent to prison for six months over debt. He based the character Pip in remembrance of himself as a child, writing about his own thoughts and feelings to help himself create more sympathy for Pip. Pips given name was Philip Pirrip, as he was so young he couldnt pronounce his complicated name correctly, so he shortened it and named himself Pip. Pip was very imaginative as a young boy, he lived nearby to a graveyard and there wasnt many other people about, so Pip was alone and lonely a lot because he couldnt make friends with anyone. During the first extract we get to see that Pip is an orphan after he says: As I never saw my father or my mother.. (for their days were long before the days of photographs), we recognise that he unfortunately lost both his mother and father along with five brothers he once had, who passed away whilst they were still infants. The only family Pip had, was his older sister Mrs Joe Gargery and her husband who was a Blacksmith. He had lived with them both for most of his life, his sister treats him dreadfully as all she sees Pip as is a waste of space in her household. Whilst her husband – Joe Gargery, treats Pip like he was his own flesh and blood. We now get the chance to begin to see the hard and upsetting life Pip leads and what he has gone through in the past. We start to feel sympathy for Pip, as not many children would have to go through the same experience as he once did. Where he lived was neither such a nice place to be around, nor one of the friendliest places to live either. Pip describes the village he lived in as a marsh country down by the river, also remarking how the churchyard nearby to his home is full of over grown nettles and also bleak. The small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all, and beginning to cry was Pip, from what we are told of the surroundings and atmosphere where he lives, it all seems  like a gloomy, upsetting place to be around. Also, it sounds as if it were to be constantly dim and discoloured, somewhere were no soul would choose to be, whilst the marsh country is similarly being described with the colours black and red included symbolising things such as death. Dickens used a technique called imagery making us think about how unfortunate Pip is to have to live there, and that it would make you feel depressed and slightly unwanted as you would have no friends, if you were to live there too. Pip sneaks out of his house in the early hours of the morning to visit his mother and fathers grave when he comes across Magwitch who approaches him fiercely. We begin to get the impression of how scared Pip may have been, as he starts to gently cry after he pleaded to Magwitch:Oh! Dont cut my throat sir. Whilst Magwitch was threatening to do so, dressed in:All coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied around his headAfter Pip had seen this man who turns out to be and escaped prisoner he knows nothing of, dressing in such clothes, I am sure just the view of him would have scared him, even before Magwitch chose to threaten him once again, asking him to; fetch him some wittle and a file. Wittle was a word used as colloquial which the people of those days would have said, which simply meant; food. Magwitch wanted a file to help him file off the chains left around his ankle. If Pip didnt fetch Magwitch what he had requested, he furiously and vigorously told Pip:If you fail or go by my words in any partickler, no matter how small it is, your heart and live shall be tore out, roasted and ate. Magwitch tried to kid Pip into believing that if he didnt do as he pleaded, a different man he had not seen, would come and find him a nd no matter were he hid, he would be able to get to him. Although this man he speaks of did not exist, Pip was only young so he didnt know any better than to believe the words that came form Magwitchs mouth. Yet, the thoughts Pip must have had running through his head at this moment in time must have been horrific, seeing as Pip was so much more than just imaginative and always thought of the worse scenario possible, making things even harder for himself of what would have happened if he didnt do as he were told. At this moment in time we begin to feel enormously sorry for Pip,  after we get to see what Magwitch put him through just to get his own way. As Magwitch would have known, the younger he was the easier he was to fool over this imaginary man he had told him of. As a result he was proved right, when Pip then brought himself back to the churchyard the following morning with the goods Magwitch insisted he brought. After this extract the reader is affected with thoughts of what Pip went through after meeting the prisoner and after being viscously threatened by him. Dickens wrote this effectively for the reader to feel sympathy for Pip affectionately, also to create an image of what was going on in more detail, than if Dickens didnt put so much effort into making it much more intense. Dickens uses descriptive language to add life to the characters and tell us more about them. For example Magwitchs character uses a lot of dialect such as: Who dyou live with – supposing youre kindly let to live, which I hant made up my mind about? this suggests that Magwitch is a scruffy, common character. Dickens has wrote Magwitchs character to be phonetic, this also gives a comic edge to the convicts character. Whilst Miss Havisham doesnt have a personal dialect although her speech is very prosperous and well spoken: You are not afraid of a woman who has not seen the light since you were born?. This also brings the point across of how she hasnt left the chair she is sitting in since her wedding day, which never went forward. In the second extract Pip is asked to visit Miss Havisham, after she remarked how she would like Estella to play with Pip. Pip was worried at what she would think of him as he had never met this woman before. When we see Pips facial expressions after his first glimpse of Miss Havisham, we start to feel sympathy for him as she was dressed in a wedding dress still from the day she was supposed to get married. Pips description of her at this moment is: She was dressed in rich materials — satins, and lace, and silks — all of white. Her shoes were white. And she has a long white veil dependent from her hair Decayed objects. She was sat in a dim room, which she hadnt moved from since her wedding day. You could see from Pips body language and facial expressions that he was  horrified at the sight of her: I regret to state that I was not afraid. Miss Havisham asked if he were somehow frightened of her and he blatantly told the lie that he wasnt, although he regretted it sometime afterwards he was very afraid to admit that he was nervous and scared of her at the time. Estella was Miss Havishams adopted daughter, who was asked to play with Pip and break his heart. After Estella says to Pip: What coarse hands he has!. Pip then changes his mind and wants to become a gentleman instead of a Blacksmith, as she keeps on insulting Pip and denounced him for a labouring boy, we start to feel sorry for him. Whilst Pip thought Estella was a very pretty and proud young lady, she was just in need of breaking his heart as she had been asked to do so. Miss Havisham had power over Pip because she was rich, so he did his best to do as he was told, in dread of what she could have done if he disobeyed her. Towards the end of the second extract, Pip begins to wish he had lead a different life and blames Joe Gargery for his upbringing: I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too. This is a turning point for Pip whilst he also blames Joe for teaching him to call the picture-cards jacks, instead of knaves in a pack of cards, because Estella had laughed at him for calling them jacks. Again we begin to feel sympathy for Pip for the way Estella treats him, because he is a: Common labouring-boy! as she describes him. We especially feel sorry for him when Miss Havisham tells Pip he may not say anything of Estella. She also repeats her words: She says many hard things of you, but you say nothing of her. This shows the reader how harsh Miss Havisham is towards Pip, further on in the extract we see that Miss Havisham treats Pip even more harsh, just to hurt his feelings and make him wish he was a different boy. Overall I think Dickens was successful, as my response being the reader I thought that it was very touching and I easily felt sympathy for Pip throughout both of the extracts. I personally think that it is important to be able to feel sympathy for Pip in the first extract, as it then helps us feel sympathy whilst he visits Miss Havisham later on in the novel in the second extract. After we see that Pip doesnt have much of a family and that  he is horrified of doing anything wrong, just because of the circumstances which would have occurred by his sister or even Magwitch it makes us feel more sympathy towards the end while Miss Havisham and Estella try and mess up his mind and upset him.

Ethical Issues Report Essay

SeaWorld is a public company that is facing a significant ethical issue right now, mostly in part to the release of the documentary Blackfish. This documentary takes viewers inside the capture, training and marketing of these Killer Whales for the sole profit of the company. It also highlights the breeding, training and housing of these magnificent mammals. It brings many ethical issues to the table. 1) Should any wild animal be taken from its natural home and forced to live in captivity? 2) Should these animals then be forced to â€Å"perform† for our entertainment purposed? And finally 3) Should these animals be treated as objects and put thru artificial insemination, separated from family members and subject to inbreeding all while SeaWorld knows that this is making the whales lives beyond inadequate and causing not only death to the animal but to numerous trainers involved as well. Blackfish is a documentary made in 2013 by director Gabriela Cowperthwaite. It focuses on Tilikum (Tili), an orca forced by SeaWorld to live in captivity. It highlights the health issues, the whale-on-whale and whale-on-trainer aggression as well as the compromised lives and social experiences of SeaWorld’s killer whales. Tili is involved in deaths of 3 individuals and is a direct result of keeping killer whales in captivity. The film covers the captivity of Tili in 1983 off the coast of Iceland where he was torn away from his family. It then goes on to show the lack of social interaction these whales receive in captivity; causing grief, stress and anxiety all while being forced to perform. It makes an effort to show that although SeaWorld tried to promote their whales â€Å"wonderfully social and fulfilling† lives it is fact doing just the opposite. Not only that, but only .06% of all revenues SeaWorld actually puts towards conservation. Should wild animals be held in captivity at all? â€Å"Animals are often prevented from doing most of the things that are natural and important to  them, like running, roaming, flying, climbing, foraging, choosing a partner, and being with others of their own kind,† PETA writes in a web fact sheet. â€Å"Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to interfere with animals and keep them locked up in captivity, where they are bored, cramped, lonely, deprived of all control over their lives and far from their natural homes.† True, not all animals in captivity have been ripped from their natural habitat and placed into a cage to be used as a spectacle for human entertainment, but when there is not environmental reason or risk to the animal, why do we do so? Whales are by no means lacking in ocean to swim in. Why, just because we think they look â€Å"cool† should they be subjected to living as we say they should? Former SeaWorld senior trainer John Hasgrove, who appeared in Blackfish, asked: â€Å"If animal care in captivity is truly the goal, why are SeaWorld’s killer whales still â€Å"in the same sterile concrete pools† the park has kept them in for decades? SeaWorld has since said it has spent $70 million into upgrading those killer whale habitats in recent years. Should these animals be forced to perform solely for our entertainment purposes? Humans are generally fonder of critters that seem to have more dynamic personalities and pronounced social attachments. Killer whales are just that. In the wild the stay with their families for generations and have their own communication sounds of clicks and whistles individualized to their pod. SeaWorld has long benefited from promoting this idea. Its killer whale shows, marketing and displays have made the company money for years. For a time, the park even ran a Shamu Twitter account. Lori Marino, a neuroscience lecturer at Emory University in Atlanta who appeared in Blackfish, has said killer whales are among the world’s most intelligent animals. Almost a decade ago, Nova Scotia based biologist Hal Whitehead claimed orcas the second more â€Å"cultural† species. â€Å"They have their way of doing things, which they’ve learned from their mother and their other relatives,† Whitehead told the newspaper. The documentary states that the orcas suffer from broken teeth because they rub and ram equipment in their tanks and that they sometimes regurgitate their food all out of boredom. It also points out that captivity leads to violence and shortened live spans. Finally, are these animals’ just objects and are we under obligation not to  encourage and support this abuse? Is keeping these whales in captivity overshadowing any good that SeaWorld is doing? Is there a moral obligation that we have to protect these creatures from artificial insemination that is often the result of inbreeding? Do we have a right to separate the calves from their mothers just to allow another park, sometimes half way across the globe, a chance to showcase a killer whale? Should be â€Å"training† these whales to do human decided tricks for profit? Where does money no matter hold importance to the damage that we are doing to our environment ethically? How can one say that we have a right to remove an animal from its family and its lifestyle and then tell our children not bring a wild rabbit into the house? These animals, once raised in captivity cannot be returned to the wild, but how can we justify continuing to force breeding and incest? What does it stay about our intelligence and our ethical moral if we do not put an end to this mistreatment of such creatures?

Night World : Black Dawn Chapter 4

Maggie was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming, and that was strange enough, but what was even stranger was the fact that she knew it wasn'tan ordinary dream. This was something†¦that came from outside her, that was being †¦ sent. Some deep part ofher mind fumbled for the proper words, seethingwith frustration, even while the normal part of her was busy staring around her and being afraid. Mist. Mist everywhere, white tendrils that snakedgracefully across her vision and coiled around herlike genii that had just been let out of lamps. She had the feeling that there were dark shapes out inthe mist; she seemed to see them looming out of the corner of her eye, but as soon as she turned they were obscured again. Gooseflesh rose on Maggie's arms. It wasn't justthe touch of the mist. There was a noise that madethe hairs on the back of her neck tingle. It was justat the threshold of hearing, distorted by distanceor something else, and it seemed to be calling overand over again, â€Å"Who are you?† Give me a break,Maggie thought. She shook herhead hard to get rid of the prickly feeling on herneck. This is just way too†¦too Gothic.Do Ialways have corny dreams like this? But the next moment something happened thatsent a new chill washing over her, this time oneof simple, everyday alarm. Something was comingthrough the mist, fast. She turned, stiffening. And then, strangely, everything seemed to change at once. The mist began to recede. She saw a figure, darkagainst it, nothing more than a silhouette at first.For just an instant she thought of Miles-but thethought was gone almost as quickly as it came. Itwas a boy, but a stranger, she could tell by theshape of him and the way he moved. He wasbreathing hard and calling in a desperate voice,†Where are you? Where are you?† So that was it. Not â€Å"Whoare you,† Maggiethought. â€Å"Where are you? Maggie! Where are you?† The sound of her own name startled her. Buteven as she drew in a sharp breath, he turned andsaw her. And stopped short. The mist was almost gonenow and she could see his face. His expression wasone of wonder and relief and joy. â€Å"Maggie,† he whispered. Maggie stood rooted to the spot. She didn't knowhim. She was positive she had never seen him before. But he was staring at herasif†¦ asif shewere the most important thing in the universe tohim, and he'd been searching for her for years untilhe'd almost given up hope. She was too astonished to moveashe suddenly erupted from stillness. In three long steps he was in front of her, his handsclosing on her shoulders. Gently. Not possessively. Butasif he had theabsolute right to do this, andasif he needed toconvince himself she was real. â€Å"It worked. I got through,† he said. He was the most striking person she'd ever seen.Dark hair, a little rough and tousled, with a tendency to wave. Smooth fair skin, elegant bones. A mouth that lookedasif it normally might be proud and willful, but right now was simply vulnerable. And fearless, brilliant yellow eyes. It was those eyes that held her, arresting andstartling in an already distinctive face. No, she hadnever seen him before. She would have remembered. He was a whole head taller than she was, andlithe and nicely muscled. But Maggie didn't have a feeling of being overpowered. There was so muchtender anxiety in his face, and something nearpleading in those fierce, blacklashed golden eyes. â€Å"Listen, I know you don't understand, and I'msorry. But it was so hard getting through-andthere isn't much time.† Dazed and bewildered, Maggie latched onto thelast sentence almost mechanically. â€Å"What do you mean-getting through?† â€Å"Never mind. Maggie, you have to leave; do youunderstand that? As soonas you wake up, you getout of here.† â€Å"Leave where?†Maggie was more confused than ever, not for lack of information, but because she was suddenly threatened by too much of it. Sheneeded to remember-where had she gone tosleep? Something had happened, something involv ing Miles. She'd been worried about him†¦. â€Å"My brother,† she said with sudden urgency. â€Å"I was looking for my brother. I need to find him.†Even though she couldn't remember exactly why. The golden eyes clouded over. â€Å"You can't thinkabout him now. I'm sorry.† â€Å"You know something a-â€Å" â€Å"Maggie, the important thing is for you to getaway safe. And to do that you have to go as soonas you wake up. I'm going to show you the way.† He pointed through the mist, and suddenly Maggie could see a landscape, distant but clear, like afilm being projected on a veil of smoke. â€Å"There's a pass, just below the big overhanging rock. Do you see it?† Maggie didn't understand why she needed to see it. She didn't recognize the landscape, although it might have been anywhere in the Olympics or theCascade mountain range above the tree line. â€Å"First you find the place where you see threepeaks together, the same height and leaning towardeach other. Do you see? And then you look downuntil you find the overhanging rock. It's shaped like a wave breaking. Do you see?† His voice was so urgent and imperious that Maggie had to answer. â€Å"I see. But-â€Å" â€Å"Remember it. Find it. Go and never look back. If you get away all right, the rest doesn't matter.† His face was pale now, the features carved in ice.†The whole world can fall into ruin, for all I care.† And then, with the suddenness that characterizedallhis movements, he leaned forward and kissedher. A nice kiss, on the cheek. She felt his warm, quick breath there, then his lips pressing lightly, and then a sudden quivering in them, asif he wereovercome by some strong emotion. Passion, maybe, or excruciating sadness. â€Å"I love you,† he whispered, his breath stirring thehair by her ear. â€Å"I did love you. Always remember that.† Maggie was dizzy with confusion. She didn't understand anything, and she should push this stranger away. But she didn't want to. Howeverfrightened she was, it wasn't of him. In fact, shehad an irresistible feeling of peace and security inhis arms. A feeling of belonging. â€Å"Who are you?† she whispered. But beforehecould answer,everythingchanged again. The mist came back. Not slowly, but like fog rolling in, quick and silent, muffling everything. Thewarm, solid body against Maggie's suddenlyseemed insubstantial, as if it were made of fogitself. â€Å"Wait a minute-† She could hear her voice rising in panic, but deadened by the pearly cocoonaround her. And then†¦lie was gone. Her arms were holding only emptiness. And all she could see was white.

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost Essay

â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† by Robert Frost focuses on the idea that nothing lasts forever. The poet uses a central metaphor and personification to express his idea. The poet uses figurative language such as controlling metaphors, personification,and allusions and is specific in his choice of words. â€Å"Nature’s first green is gold† (Line 1) is the first line the is the main example of the controlling metaphor. The color green is compared to gold, which is precious. What he means by this is that things may start out good, but they will not always last. Nothing gold can stay (Line 1) means that things will soon come to an end. â€Å"Dawn goes down to day† ( Line 7 ) by this he means that all the good that happened throughout the day will soon come to an end. There is personification in the poem, which is how Frost is referring to nature as ‘her’ ( Line 2 and 3). Her early leaf’s a flower,but only so an hour, by this he means that good things can last a while, but then will come to a drastic end. He used words like subsides, grief and Eden to represent â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay.†( Line 1)Here, he means that everything has to come to an end sooner or later. Eden is a state of happiness, that soon came to an end due to the choices made by Adam and Eve. Frost uses many examples of allusions in this poem such as, the brightness like that of gold’s reflective dazzle, that becomes dulled with time, and the Biblical paradise of Eden that was lost when Adam and Eve fell from the Creator’s good graces. The allusions are to help create a picture in the readers’ mind of what the poem is about, for example with the line â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† (line 1) it is saying that nothing good (gold) will last forever. Frost is specific with his word choice. He uses words like â€Å"Eden sank to grief†( Line 7) Eden sank to grief because Adam and Eve ate some kind of fruit off of the tree they were told not to eat from. When they ate from the tree the Creator forbid them from the garden of Eden. Frost uses many different ways to help put a picture in the readers mind. He uses allusions, personification and metaphors.â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† by Robert Frost focused on the idea that nothing lasts forever. The poet used central metaphors and personification to express his ideas.

How to Create an Environment of Effective Communication at a Business Research Paper

How to Create an Environment of Effective Communication at a Business Meeting - Research Paper Example This essay stresses that the employees will have their say leading to rising contention and new ideas may bring brighter prospects for the firm. At times entrepreneurs cannot think of ideas that fresh minds can and so this might help in the smooth running of the firm. Also this action item plan will lead to the development of attributes like target making and target achieving. When the employees have goals in front of them and a deadline to achieve them, they would do everything to accomplish that. Other employees will learn by seeing the example. This way, there would be a lot of competition and positive spirit arising in the employees. It is also equally important to seek for accountability of the follow up plan during the next meeting. Often people say a lot during one meeting and its effect simply cools down or, more appropriately phrased, dies out before the next meeting. This is very discouraging for those who take the meetings seriously. To ensure that the effective communicat ion environment is maintained, it is extremely important that the follow up plan is actually followed and the first thing during the next meeting should be to discuss its proceedings. This paper makes a conclusion that the decisions that the firm makes are actually representing everyone involved in the firm’s activities. Also, effective communication gives rise to fresh ideas and minds leading to innovation and more chances of research and development. It also ensures satisfaction amongst the employees. They would be contended and would thus work for the firm earnestly.

Answer the question Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 10

Answer the question - Assignment Example Students ask minimal questions, and learning merely involves passing exams. The subjects are a major part of the subject centered curriculum is common and general. They include; mathematics, language and general science. The three subjects are done by all students, and the learning instructions are mainly teacher centered. It is true that the interpretivism concept in the school context relies heavily on the cultural framework of the individual school, and the actions of learners in the specific school social context. This is instead of illustrating the general laws that apply in the wider global perspective. Each school is unique, and hence has specific learning culture and environment that cannot be effectively applied in other schools or the wider education sector. Some schools are very heterogeneous, while other are homogeneous cultural contexts. These schools should be managed uniquely due to different social composition. Learners and teachers in the heterogeneous school are more likely to be accommodative and tolerant to change and new ideas. On the contrast, a school with a dominant cultural group is generally more

Hazardous Waste Management - the Latex and Solvent Based Cans Essay

Hazardous Waste Management - the Latex and Solvent Based Cans - Essay Example Three, the container may be perceived to be empty if not more than three percent of the weight of the entire size of the container remains if the container is equivalent to or less than 110 gallons in volume. Four, a container is seen as empty if less than 0.3 percent of the weight of the entire size of the container is constant if the container’s size is larger than 110 gallons (Orloff, & Falk, 2003).   Containers with sizeable drumming should be handled with extreme caution because they are more probable to have fairly tremendous inner pressures. Before any handling, the bulging 55-gallon container must be physically assessed to attain significant information on the content. The flex test should be conducted on the bulging 55-gallon container by carrying out downward force to the container utilizing the palm heel. Nonetheless, additional methods may be employed together with the flex tests to establish if the container is pressurized. If it is probable, the container should not be moved due to the internal pressure. If it has to be removed from the location, the container should be handled with a grappler unit designed for containing an explosion. The container may be cautiously overpacked or transported far away to permit lying on a firm surface. Despite being approximately half full, the mirror back paint drum should be moved to a location away from the workers or the general pub lic. The container should be placed in a household hazardous waste collection site. Also, the paint may be solidified through a cautious process (Orloff, & Falk, 2003). The dried solvent-based paint cans should be sealed. Then, the cans should be put in several plastic waste bags and then the bags should be tightly shut. Afterwards, the sealed plastic waste bags may be placed with other facility wastes. The wet latex paint cans should be placed in an upside-down manner for the paint to develop a seal all-around the cover. In addition, the wet latex paint containers can be dried by adding absorbent substances, for example, sand or shredded newspaper to quicken the drying process.  Ã‚  

Microbiology Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Microbiology Report - Essay Example Retail beef has lead to disastrous outbreaks of shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli in Europe. Shiga toxin Escherichia coli is the leading cause of hemorrhagic colitis and this usually progresses to the fatal hemolytic uremic syndrome. Contamination of meat by shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli occurs during the skinning process. Poultry is susceptible to Campylobacter contamination. Other common microbial contaminants found in meat products as revealed by surveillance studies in retail outlets are Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Moraxella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Clostridium and Staphylococcus. These micro-organisms have virulence factors that contribute to pathogenicity in the human host and they include toxins, adhesins etc. Microorganisms such as Moraxella, Acinetobacter, and Pseudomonas lead to food spoilage via gas production, putrefaction and souring. Aside bacteria, fungi that lead to food spoilage and pathogenicity include molds in the following genera: Alternaria, Mucor and Cladosporium. Strict hygiene must be upheld in retail butcheries in order to eliminate microbial contamination (Montville, 2008). The Food Standards Agency in the United Kingdom provides for safety regulations in food retail outlets such as butcheries. They include directives on cross-contamination, cleaning, chilling, cooking and preparation. The various regulations that address food contamination caused by bacteria and other microorganisms are found in a legislative act i.e. The microbiological criteria regulation 2073/2005. It contains rules and regulations for all food business operators and is in agreement with the standards set by the European Union (EU). The implementation of general and specific hygiene measures is stipulated in article 2 of 2073/2005 and this is very relevant to meat production and selling (Moss & Adams, 2008). With respect to the aforementioned legislation, the latest applicable legislation in the United Kingdom was effected in the year 2006 and this legislation requires that for any person or firm to conduct any retail meat business, they must have a food management system that is documented. The document should strictly adhere to the principles outlined about hazard analysis of critical control point. The various areas that these guidelines are set to address is on carcass and carcass testing, handling and also processing as well as packaging of the meat and meat products to ensure that they are safe for human consumption devoid of any microorganism that can cause food poisoning (Moss & Adams, 2008). The management system required by the law is meant to ensure that the meat seller have the correct policies and procedures, that the employees have the correct training, equipment and also ensure that the firm/ meat dealer upholds and keeps records that can be used in future to help solve cases of food poisoning or help the government make some analysis about a certain concern. The visit to the butchery helped us come up with several observations on compliance with the set legislation. Most important all meat products were well labeled and the origin of the meat and preparation was well indicated. All standard operating procedures on cleaning and food hygiene were also adhered to. The manager explained the process of capacity building and the continuous training of personnel on food safety regulations. . The personnel working there are highly trained and

Information Needs by Position, Function and Role Essay

Information Needs by Position, Function and Role - Essay Example Certainly, having an appropriate organizational model in place is a precondition for long stint success (Pugh, 1990). This is because of its ability to identify and address the innumerable business and human realities of the corporation in question. An organization is a three layer system where at the bottom the organization’s material flows (activities of the first kind). Decision makers, managers of the organization are at the top. The middle layer receives information from the bottom, processes it and presents it to the decision makers. Decisions made in the top layer influence the bottom layer activities. For organization mangers to make qualitative decisions, they need to receive qualitative information on time (Pugh, 1990). This will result in the delivery of decisions to the bottom layer on time. Qualitative realization is attained if these information flow procedures are ensured by the middle layer. The two fundamental requirements of an organizational structure includ e division of labor into distinct tasks and coordination of that labor. This is such that the workers are able to accomplish the company’s goals. ... It may choose to cluster these utilities together under the department of marketing. Bigger establishments may organize so much of these undertakings that they isolate sales into a department different than the other functions (Pugh, 1990). Hence, qualitative information is required on the customer’s needs as well as the company’s performance in the market. The company should have information on how to establish market niche. The other information needed is the need for competitor intelligence. The company should be equipped with strategies to beat the competitor. Roles Once a corporation has proven how functions are convened, then functions must be allocated to the people who have the capability to perform them. Many establishments make roles to execute these functions. Companies should have information on ranks with job explanations that will assist employees to know the range, function and parameters of their roles. This will create a system of accountability and rel iability between all the people working in an organization (Pugh, 1990). In corporations big enough to have several people in a branch, roles aid in making sure that each person is taking care of central functions without replication or desertion of tasks. For instance, in a finance division, they might have a controller, accounts payroll person and an accounts collections person. All these people form part of a crew with an inclusive job to manage the firm's cash flows. However, every one of them has a set of duties that boost efficiency and ensure the assiduousness of the team. Information needs associated with organizational roles include information on training programs and motivation strategies for the employees. There is a need for

The Forced Marriage Legislation in the UK Research Paper - 1

The Forced Marriage Legislation in the UK - Research Paper Example â€Å"Marriage, whether civil or religious, is a contract, formally entered into. It confers on the parties the status of husband and wife, the essence of the contract being an agreement between a man and a woman to live together, and to love one another as husband and wife, to the exclusion of all others†. This is the universal and perhaps most comprehensive characterization of marriage. Among the most controversial aspects of this is the element of consent. This is encapsulated in the concept of a contract. In a contract consent that is not tainted by force or coercion is essential to its validity. Consequently, it is also a major of controversy for marriage. This is compounded by the fact that marriages as a social phenomenon are diverse and multi-faceted.The forces governing present society in the present have imposed significant challenges upon marriage. These adverse forces have given rise to a wide array of problems. The government today struggle tot to protect and uphold family and marriages by finding means to deal with the various problems that undermine them.This also challenges the state to uphold society’s many concepts of marriage while also containing negative elements attributed to it. Furthermore, it has to strike the balance between its power to regulate societ y, society’s right to culture and the welfare of its citizens. This is not a mundane task given the complexity involved and the magnitude of the harms involved society today.Among the malign realities faced by society today are â€Å"forced marriages.† This kind of marriage â€Å"is a marriage conducted without the valid consent of both parties, where duress is a factor. Duress can range from emotional pressure from family members to threatening behavior, abduction or imprisonment, and physical violence†.

The Theme of Emancipation in A Doll's House & Girl by Jamaica Kincaid Essay

The Theme of Emancipation in A Doll's House & Girl by Jamaica Kincaid - Essay Example Both arms of the scale are equally important to strike the correct balance. Imbalance leads to many problems. Ibsen in â€Å"A Doll’s House† develops a powerful theme—that of emancipation of a woman. What can a doll do? It will be controlled by the string to which it is attached. It has no free movements of its own. That is the type of married life Nora and Torvald live. Nora’s submissiveness to him is seen in every aspect of her life; she is indeed the doll with human physical equipment (body) Forget the movements, even her thoughts are controlled by Torvald. A puppet has no existence of its own, and is totally dependent in its master as to what he will do with her. When Nora learns tarantella, the absolute controlling aspect becomes obvious. Out of sheer submission (and perhaps hidden fear in the mind) Nora pretends that she heeds him to relearn the dance and its each move. Torvald treats Nora like a sex object to be enjoyed at will. He takes her sexual submission for granted and as a matter of right for the husband. After he completes the session of teaching her tarantella dance, Torvald with the urge that reveals his craving for her body says, when she was gyrating, his blood was pounding and obviously he had strong urge for sex. He was constantly observing her physical assets and didn’t care much about her emotions. Nora was in no mood to respond and asked him to go away. Torvald reminded her that he was her husband. This adamancy on the part of Torvald indicates that as a husband he has the right to demand physical pleasure from his wife, at will! Torvald has poor opinion about Nora; he treats her like a child or a slave. She doesn’t have the freedom to spend the money which Torvald gives her on rare occasions. The following conversation reveals the essential gap in their mindset, when Torvald asks her whether she wants anything from him. Henrik Ibsen (2005, p.13) writes, â€Å"Nora :( speaking quickly) You might give me some money, Torvald. Only just as much as you can afford; and then one of these days, I will buy something with it. Torvald: But, Nora†¦. Nora: Oh, do! Dear Torvald; please do! Then I will wrap it up in beautiful gilt paper and hang it on the Christmas Tree. Won’t that be fun?†Torvald thinks that she would spend the money on children goods like candy and pastry. She has a fixed duty schedule of caring for the children, remain engaged in routine household work, and work on her needlepoint. She performs all her assigned duties, the main objective of which is to please Torvald. The issues raised in A Doll’s House by Ibsen, concern not a solitary case of Nora vs. Torvald, but the entire womenfolk of the Victorian Society. There were restrictions around women in every facet of their life. A Doll’s House is not the story of a House, but how the House assumes the form of the prison for the women. They have no freedom of free thinking and their mind is fettered. Nora was treated like a child by her father as well--that was the structure of the society as for the treatment for women! Her husband later dutifully took over the role of dominance. At every stage of life the growth of the women was curtailed. In many societies and in many households, the position of women, even today is comparable to the status of Nora. Even in some advanced countries, her position is equal as per the provisions of the Constitution only—the society still treats her as unequal with antiquated social views regarding women. It is a case of double fault. Women are inclined to use their feminine charm to secure what they want from men and remain satisfied at that level. This is the mindset that one sees in A Doll’s House. Men like Torvald are concerned about the controlling aspect and exercise

Legal Aspects Of Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legal Aspects Of Business - Case Study Example He should always comply with the deadline. Failure to do so makes all his efforts fruitless. So though he delivered the product it was of no value to the customer as he had run out of time and had made other arrangements. In the case provided it's not mentioned that the contract between Alf and the customer was written or not. If the contract is written then legal action can be taken against Alf. Since verbally the customer has mentioned that he cannot work other than the stipulated time, he has all rights to take action against Alf. The written agreement between both the parties with a clear mention of the time makes Alf's case weaker. However if the customer does not have a copy of the written agreement between him and Alf then his case becomes weaker. Also if somewhere in the contract if it's mentioned that the shopkeeper is in no way responsible for any delays in delivery then too, the customer can not take any action against Alf. So though verbally Alf and the customer know about their agreement, if the customer has a written document then Alf's action can be proved a legal offence. So for the sake of law it is advisable that Alf does not impose the contract forcefully on the customer. In the second case the customer was unable to work with an ... After inspecting the gravity of the defect, the seller should replace the product, repair the fault or in extreme circumstances even refund the money if the customer is not ready for either replacement or repair. But he cannot say 'no' to the customer. Hence legally the customer can take action against Alf for not complying with the guidelines of selling electronic gadgets. In such circumstances it is advisable for Alf to refund, as he himself will not have to suffer any losses because the sellers have back-to-back service and maintenance contract with manufacturers. According to Kolah if the customer claims that the purchased product is not working properly then "Such a claim will require the interpretation of the defendant's obligations under the terms of the contract. This is because there may be express terms of an agreement the claimant and defendant concerning the purpose and standard of the product." (2002, p. 52) If it's not this, then to ensure that the product is fit for th e purpose made known to the seller, in the contract terms, the law implies that the product is of good quality and is appropriate for the buyer. In the third case too, Alf has the similar legal bindings as in the second case. Alf assured the customer at the time of sale that the saw he is selling is meant to cut anything, even steel bars. Since the saw broke down on the first day of its use, the case of misrepresentation of facts by the seller can be charged on Alf. He is liable for refund or replacement and if he is not willing to do so then the customer has all rights to drag him to court. If the seller is making a statement to the potential buyer, like in this case, according to Kolah

Proposition 13 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proposition 13 - Essay Example Proposition 13 was the result of a taxpayer revolt against escalating and uncertain tax rates. Viewed as one of the first signs of the coming Reagan Revolution, the radical conservative approach rippled across the country as key provisions of the act were enacted in several other states (Menrow). The most immediate and severe impact of Prop 13 was felt by the school districts that lost over half their revenue creating a crisis in many of California's public schools. In response, California passed a number of bills that eased the pressure on school systems. Overall, tax revenues going to schools decreased between 9% and 15%, with the wealthier districts losing the higher amount ("The Special Challenge"). Prop 13 resulted in the school systems in California moving from local community control to control by the state. It further gave property owners the ability to calculate and plan for their tax rate, enabling low income and fixed income households to maintain possession of their prope rty and avoiding losing their homes due to unaffordable taxes. The focus of Prop 13 was to give the taxpayer a known and predictable property tax rate. It set a maximum tax rate at 1% and limited valuation increases to 2% per year. Upon selling a property, it would then be revalued at the market value. The 1% limit imposed by Prop 13 was about 1/3 of the rate prior to its passage. Prop 13 further limited local taxation by requiring a 2/3 majority in the legislature and 2/3 public vote to increases local taxes. These actions put the responsibility for funding the public school system on the state and in doing so, the state took control of the schools and away from local communities. Recent amendments have lowered the threshold for voter approval to 55%, which has allowed local governments to raise additional funding when necessary. Impact of Proposition 13 The impact of the loss of revenue was most clearly felt by local school districts. Schools, faced with fewer dollars, were forced to delay improvements and in some cases resulted in the cutting of programs. However, the long-term result has not led to the bankruptcy of California's schools. Bolstered by "bailout bills" that benefited education, the schools continued to operate under state control at or near the previous level of funding. In 2001-2002 California teachers were ranked at the top of the pay scale compared to other states (Bell). Faced with the loss of revenue, many cities increased fees on everything from traffic violations, to home inspections, and service taxes on hotels and restaurants (Wood). Along with innovative taxation, changes in Prop 13 over the years have made it easier for local communities to raise money for schools by reducing the 2/3 voter approval to 55%. Critics have pointed to the lower test scores in California schools since the inception of Prop 13 an d linked them to the reduced funding. Per pupil spending has been reduced and is currently about $650 below the national per pupil average. The falling test scores are due to several reasons and lower funding may be just one facet of the problem. Immigration, state educational policies, and an activist teachers union may have more impact on test scores than reduced funding. Relations between the state and local governments have been strained as local government officials, in need of funding, have become

Psychological Reaction to the movie American Beauty Essay

Psychological Reaction to the movie American Beauty - Essay Example The family is portrayed as normal but as the films tag line suggests look closer then it is possible to fully understand the implications that takes place in this seemingly happy home. My perception is that the film is masterfully directed by the famous theater director Sam Mendes and encompasses a great number of cinematic techniques that appear fresh and exciting. Critics have mentioned many of these techniques. However, they failed to notice the clever use of color used throughout the film, especially the color red. Psychologically speaking, Sam Mendes effectively uses the color red; as a central design to accentuate mood and theme, to contrast families, and to reveal characters personalities and feelings. This paper speaks of whether the movie should be allowed to see on the part of the college students or not and it looks at the reaction to this movie in the psychological sense. Since this paper delves into the psychological tone that I have set in reaction to the movie, I have focused on the color red which has been used widely in this paper and it is thus the point of discussion in the following lines as well. As we know that in American culture red is a color of various meanings and images.

Photograph Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Photograph - Essay Example The stretching position she is holding is one that is commonly undertaken by people prior to taking a jog or a brisk walk. The common stretching techniques include taking an upright or seated position, and hold it while either stretching their legs by gently pulling the ankle backwards or touching their toes respectively. The article highlights, through evidence from studies, the disadvantages of stretching before working out. When one undertakes a stretching exercise, they should not do it for more than 30 seconds and it should not be in a fixed position for the entire time. This explains the use of the photo of the woman doing a stretching exercise while seated on the ground. In that story, the photo editor selected a photograph of a woman on the road stretching, seemingly about to take a jog, in which the road acts as the line of the photograph, which essentially creates structure allowing the reader to view the photo from one end to another. This also adds symmetry to the photo which further draws a reader to the photo, and produce shapes, that add depth to a photograph. For this photo, the shapes are created from white rails visible on the left, just off the road. These rails are rectangular and elongated in shape forming a perception of the distance to be covered by the woman when she starts to jog. These two elements go hand in hand to produce depth and structure, allowing the reader to form a perspective on the context of the article i.e. the location or surrounding environment. The young woman seated on the road provides the element of a form that brings three-dimensionality to the photo. Three-dimensionality implies length, width and depth that draw the eye of the reader allowing them to look deeper into the photograph, then develop a perception for example whether they find it beautiful. The photos value enhanced by the shadows and light within a photograph, and these further

Property law coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Property law coursework - Essay Example Crane Jr, because a covenant on registered land would be registered as well and not require a DII charge. The details of the charge need careful examination to determine any existing prior rights. Bearing these aspects in view, the existence of a CI land charge suggests that Mr. Crane’s right in the property may be in the nature of an equitable charge that is acquired by a tenant or statutory owner for life.3 There have been successive charges over this land, hence applying section 97 of the Property Act of 1925, any puisne mortgage existing in Mr. Crane’s favor will be determined by the order of registration, however the Land Charges Act4 would make such a mortgage void where a subsequent purchaser of the property is concerned. However, since Mr. Crane has registered the property and the deed exists, this problem may be averted. Section 53(1) of the now-repealed Law of Property Act of 1925 had clarified that no oral interests can be created in property. However Section 53(2) included the provision for the existence of a constructive trust arising in those cases where a former co-habitee asserts a beneficial interest arising out of an informal arrangement, such as that Ms. Chandra had with Mr. Crane, in providing funds for improvement of the property from her own savings. The Land Registration Act of 2002 which has replaced the Law of property Act of 1925 also includes a formality requirement of a signature, even for documents in the prescribed electronic format that are â€Å"to be regarded for the purpose of any enactment† as a deed.5 Ms. Chandra’s interest is not a legal one and may not fall under the category of protection of land charges.6 This could have entitled her to a second legal charge over the land, which would have been enforceable even in the cases of unregistered land, where the charge has not been registered as a class C1 charge7. She has been cohabiting with Mr. Crane and there is no special law that

Argument - Pursue my Career of Choice, not that of the VA Essay

Argument - Pursue my Career of Choice, not that of the VA - Essay Example should pursue, in this respect I have found that the skill of negotiating can be developed through constant practice, direct personal experiences and that individuals use different negotiation styles. These differences in negotiation styles depend upon the individual’s personality and the situation which include the objectives for negotiating. Conflict arises when the interests of people do not coincide. Since each individual is unique in his own way, the potential for conflict in human interactions is high. For instance, people perceive the same things differently. They may, likewise, disagree about how things are and how they should be. Sometimes, simple misunderstandings can lead to major disputes. As a military veteran scholar, I have regularly communicated with Mr. Les Sakuma. Upon Mr. Sakuma’s advice, I should pursue a degree in Business Management or Computer Science, of which I have already had brief and uninteresting careers in both of the fields. I would like to pursue something that I am actually enthusiastic in doing, rather that something I am forced to do. Mr. Les Sakuma has worked with the Veterans Affairs for more than 30 years. He is very hardworking, diligent and determined to work for the accomplishment of the Veteran’s mission and goals. Mr. Sakuma plainly states that since the Veteran’s Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation Program is paying for me to get educated in order to obtain gainful employment; he would not approve the forensic field of study. I am firm to convince him otherwise. Mr. Les Sakuma advised me to pursue a degree in Business Management or Computer Science because of my past experiences. He believes I would be successful in either of these endeavors. Furthermore, he feels that my physical disability would not be greatly challenged by delving into any of these careers. He is also unaware that a career in Forensic Photography is a viable option in Hawaii, where I am currently based. With these arguments in mind, I need

Cover Letter Essay Example for Free

Cover Letter Essay I would like to apply for the role of Intermediate Support Developer in your organization as the details of the job role and company itself are very appealing to me. I have enclosed my resume for your consideration. I am an enthusiastic and high-achieving IT professional with a Masters of Computer Science. I have exceptional technical and analytical skills, with over 3 years’ experience in providing application support at level 1 and 2 for critical business applications with additional duties of unit and integration testing, technical documentation and prioritising and allocation of user tickets. I possess the ability to take initiative with a positive and friendly attitude. My excellent communication skill helps me understand user’s requirements to provide them with an excellent customer service. Working in a highly dynamic work environment, has given me the sound knowledge of interacting with business users and external stake holders, finding technical solutions, answering questions quickly, and leaving a mark of satisfaction in customer’s mind. You will find me to be positive, ready to learn and hardworking who has ability to multitask and communicate effectively with non-technical users. I believe my attitude, expertise, skills, and excellent time management skills will prove to be an asset to the organization. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Food, Sex, Love in Like Water for Chocolate Essay Example for Free

Food, Sex, Love in Like Water for Chocolate Essay Have you ever experienced that euphoric sensation after eating an absolutely delicious food? You are not alone. Many have experienced this feeling and refer to it as a â€Å"foodgasm†. These types of connections between food and sex have long been established, but from where do they come? Do we make these connections through our cultural experiences or are they biologically programmed within us? In Like Water for Chocolate, the author, Laura Esquivel, portrays sex and food as being connected in a cultural sense. The basis for this conclusion rests largely in her use of tradition and her depiction of a Latino family strongly based in their culture. This cultural foundation, paired with the interactions between characters, food, and sex, gives the reader plenty of evidence to support this perspective. Esquivel uses the preparation, eating, and serving of food as a connection to love and sex, and as humans we have learned, through culture, to make this connection. Structured in twelve chapters, each representing a month of the year, Esquivel has created an entrancing love story that is sprinkled with culinary enchantments around every corner. Each chapter is prefaced with a recipe that is relevant to the progression of the novel, not to mention the many cooking tid-bits thrown in throughout each chapter. The preparation of food is clearly very important to the culture being represented. Tita, the main character and protagonist, was born in the kitchen and possesses all the superior traits of a culinary expert. She is also blessed (or cursed) with the ability to inject her emotions in to the food she cooks, in turn, infecting all those who consume the food with that emotion. In one section of the novel, Tita makes Quail, in Rose Petal Sauce, to express her passion for her sister, Rasaura’s, husband, Pedro, who she is deeply in love with. With that meal it seemed they had discovered a new system of communication, in which Tita was the transmitter, Pedro the receiver†¦ Pedro didn’t offer any resistance. He let Tita penetrate to the farthest corners of his being, and all the while they couldn’t take their eyes off each other. (Esquivel 52) It is customary, in many cultures, for a woman to prepare a meal for her significant other in order to show how much she cares for him. The fact that Tita has taken the time to cook such a complex and beautiful dish, to translate her love to Pedro, shows how much impact this cultural custom has on her. Through this particular interaction, Esquivel has displayed the influence that culture has over the preparation of food and it’s relation to love. The expectation for a woman to acquire the ability to prepare food for her significant other brings me to another question: Does a woman’s capacity for cooking significantly affect a man’s attraction to her? Esquivel brings this question to the forefront of the reader’s mind when she offers this comparison between Rasaura and Tita’s cooking. The rice was obviously scorched, the meat dried out, the dessert burnt. But no one at the table dared display the tiniest hint of displeasure, not after Mama Elena had pointedly remarked: ‘As the first meal that Rosaura has cooked it isn’t bad. Don’t you agree, Pedro? ’ Making a real effort not to insult his wife, Pedro replied: ‘No, for her first time it’s not too bad. ’ (50-51) She goes on to show Pedro’s reaction to Tita’s cooking saying, â€Å"It wasnt enough hed made his wife jealous earlier, for when Pedro tasted his first mouthful, he couldnt help closing his eyes in voluptuous delight and exclaiming: ‘It is a dish for the gods! ’†(51). This comparison allows us to reasonably assume that Tita’s aptitude for culinary artistry did contribute to the growth of Pedro’s love. So, how might this reaction be culturally habituated? In almost all cultures, men are expected to provide and women are expected to cook. Even if a man is not consciously aware, they subconsciously factor this in to their choosing of a mate. It is culturally conditioned for a man to prioritize supporting his family over many other things. If a woman does not possess the ability to cook then a man may assume that she will not be able to support or provide for their family. This, of course, is not a strict rule of thought but, from my experience, it can be applied to many cases. Through comparison, Esquivel gives the reader evidence that Pedro loves Tita partially for her ability in the kitchen, and with prior knowledge we, as the reader, can attribute this connection to his cultural influences. We’ve determined that falling in love can be related to a woman’s ability to make food, but what about the relationship between food and making love? Earlier I made a reference to the word â€Å"foodgasm†, this portion of a quote, which I previously used, provides a great example of what a foodgasm might look like. â€Å"†¦ for when Pedro tasted his first mouthful, he couldnt help closing his eyes in voluptuous delight and exclaiming: ‘It is a dish for the gods! ’†(Esquivel 51) It is instances like this one that finds Esquivel nudging the reader to make a connection between food and sex. Esquivel’s use of diction such as ‘voluptuous’ makes it practically impossible not to connect this experience to the effects of an orgasm. Thinking further on this connection, I think that giving food is a form of showing love just as making love is. As raunchy as it may seem, Pedro is receiving Tita through food. It is their unique form of making love. Esquivel makes another food/love connection on page 67 when she says, â€Å"Tita knew through her own flesh how fire transforms a tortilla, how a soul that hasnt been warmed by the fire of love is lifeless, like a useless ball of corn flour. (67) It’s almost as if Esquivel allows characters, in this case Tita, to take on the form of food. With this being said, receiving food is like receiving the person who made it. In Tita and Pedro’s case, it was their way of making love before they could actually perform the act. I think that the importance of food to their relationship can be contributed to their culture’s emphasis on food. If food were not so important to their culture it would not be the medium for such an important interaction. In order to make and express love in Like Water for Chocolate, Tita makes food for Pedro further emphasizing the cultural connection between food and love. Some may argue that this relationship between food and sex is purely natural and scientific. In some sense this is true. Sex and Food are both biologically programmed drives that all humans possess. We have a strong need to procreate in order to further our species as well as a great need to eat in order to survive. These are facts of nature, but you can’t ignore the emotional connection that we have to food and sex. Tita and Pedro do not have these reactions to food in relation to sex simply because they need to eat or they have a great need to reproduce. Culture conditions us to eat because we love food not to simply eat to live. The same goes for sex. We are taught that in order to have sex one must have a connection to their partner; it is â€Å"morally sound† to think this way. This is especially true for the culture being represented in Like Water for Chocolate. Just in the way that Esquivel structures the novel you can get a sense of the importance food. The food must be treated with respect and love just as a person should be. Esquivel shows the significance of treating food well here: Something strange was going on. Tita remembered that Nacha had always said that when people argue while preparing tamales, the tamales wont get cooked. They can be heated day after day and still stay raw, because the tamales are angry. In a case like that, you have to sing to them, which makes them happy; then theyll cook. (218-219) Esquivel’s personification of food demonstrates the meaning that food holds in this culture. It has feelings and you have to love it and nurture it. You don’t just eat food to eat it; you eat food because food is a beautiful part of life that you respect. In this way, Esquivel creates a strong connection between food and love through the cultural importance that the novel puts on the meaning of food rather than the natural tendency of humans to make this connection. After analyzing Esquivel’s novel, Like Water for Chocolate, I can say that the connection between food, sex, and love, in this context, is predominately based on cultural influences rather than natural ones. In making food, one is showing how much they care, just as Tita did for Pedro with her Quale in Rose pedal sauce dish. The ability to create such meals, in a man’s mind, is a reflection on a woman’s ability to provide for their family. By personifying food, Esquivel allows this process of cooking food and giving food to become much deeper than the simple act itself. The act of giving food then takes the form of giving ones self to the individual receiving the food. Whether it is between food and love, cooking and falling in love, or eating food and making love, culture is the force that defines these connections.

Academic And Non Academic Writing English Language Essay

Academic And Non Academic Writing English Language Essay Writing may be categorised as either academic or non-academic. Academic writing is generally used in items such as scholarly essays, business reports and textbooks. In contrast, non-academic writing is commonly employed in newspaper reports, Internet postings and novels. This analysis defines these categories and contrasts them in terms of readership, structure and style. Two extracts, each of which offers perspectives on privacy in the modern world, are utilised to illustrate these differences. The introduction from the book, The Privacy Advocates: Resisting the Spread of Surveillance by Colin J. Bennett is an academic source of writing. Siva Vaidhyanathans online Guardian article, Our Digitally Undying Memories is an exemplar of a non-academic text. The two authors address relatively different readerships. This is reflected in the nature of the publications. Bennetts book is published by Cambridge, a recognised scholarly printing company, while Vaidhyanathans writing appears on a newspaper Website; branding it as non-academic. It is also clear that Vaidhyanathan targets a general audience highlighting a privacy issue which is of everyday public concern, while Bennett is writing for a narrower readership. Bennetts audience would include people who are already familiar with the content of the piece. In this instance, with knowledge of privacy in the modern day including, [] biometric identifiers, the retention of communications traffic data, the use of cookies and spyware by Websites []. Unlike Bennett, Vaidhyanathan addresses a readership of anyone with access to the internet. He does not assume the reader has any prior knowledge of the topic and shares the information around as he invites the reader to form their own opinions an d conclusions. Bennetts extract achieves the opposite. He is directly telling the audience what to think and leaves no time for the reader to develop an opinion. This is done by the utilisation of the impersonal, distant third person. Vaidhyanathan employs first person to include the reader; to draw them in. He uses terms such as, we can be and many of us. This forms a personal relationship between the author and the readers, a hallmark of non-academic writing. Structural differences reinforce the inter-personal nature of non-academic writing. These can be observed at the sentence and paragraph level. Bennetts academic piece incorporates fully-developed and cohesive sentences that combine to create long and logically progressed paragraphs. These paragraphs are made up of a topic sentence, followed by elaboration and then a concluding sentence that links to the next paragraph. This can be seen when Bennett uses phrases such as, surveillance is, therefore and thus to determine. The paragraphs themselves are equally ordered in a hierarchy and the title, Introduction is extremely functional. Finally Bennett uses at least eight sources in the extract and gives multiple references for examples; seven being the largest number appearing together. In Vaidhyanathans writing, the non-academic style becomes highly apparent; the article is more like a conversation. The sentences are commonly fragmented with several alternate lengths. The shortest senten ce at four words, They dont choose us is dwarfed by the longest sentence at forty-two words. This demonstrates the variety that non-academic writing entails. Topic and concluding sentences are rare and there is no real hierarchy or specific logical progression and, while Vaidhyanathan mentions a range of sources, he rarely refers to them directly to back up his ideas. Additionally the title of the piece could not be more different to Bennetts dry, Introduction. Our digitally undying memories is a title that motivates a person to read on. Stylistic contrasts are also apparent in the body of the texts. Bennetts writing maintains a formal tone and often uses technical language. This includes terms such as, ubiquitous realities of contemporary surveillance, journalistic parlance, and culturally and historically contingent. The language is also generally theoretical and concise seen in the example: Privacy advocates operate within a range of institutions. However in Vaidhyanathans article, the general tone is conversational and unlike Bennetts there are attempts at humour throughout the piece. An example of this humour appears when he says, [] yep, I Googled it to find the date []. Also frequent in this extract are contractions such as cant and dont which reinforce the informality of the writing. Colloquialisms such as, most of our stuff are also apparent. The language employed by Vaidhyanathan emphasises casualness. He uses everyday terms that are modern and well known such as Googled, YouTube, and How cool is that? Fina lly, Vaidhyanathan is at times verbose. The information conveyed in the sentence, Judge Sonia Sotomayor discovered the cost of warped perception fed by the permanent archive of trivia when her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court was saddled by the exploitation of one small YouTube clip [], would have been presented much more concisely in an academic text. Academic and non-academic writing each have their own specific readership, structure and style. The contrasts between the two are evident at the word, sentence and paragraph levels. Academic writing usually incorporates a more formal structure and style and is commonly directed toward a narrow and specific audience. Non-academic writing incorporates a simpler and conversational tone in both structure and style. And while academic readers may need some prior knowledge on the topic, the targeted readers of non-academic writing are a more general group with everyday knowledge.

Yahoo Advantages Disadvantages

Yahoo Advantages Disadvantages Yahoo In APA Style Strategic Management and Policy In the growing world of technology we often see many advantages and disadvantages associated with the growing population of Internet companies with there advertising techniques and strong thresholds on the American society through innovation and design. In the case of Yahoo it is apparent that there is an emerging culture growing inside the walls of the technological structure that allows Yahoo to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage through Internet applications and services provided by the Internet giant. Yahoo has a structure unlike any other internet provider in which they are able to maintain a strong barrier against new and emerging providers to enter the market world of technology and over throw the internet giant. Also, they have the sustainability to achieve a mass bargaining power through the buyer and seller who use the services of Yahoo to achieve an overwhelming curve in the market place. With the advantages that Yahoo holds with the products and services it allows a strong barrier to increase so that substitutes can not and will not grow within the walls of the technological structure. With this in mind Porters five forces was the best resource to improve on my analysis of the corporations growth and competitive advantage in the internet society. The threat of new and emerging entrants in the internet society is very low in these circumstances because of the product differentiation, capital requirements, and the access to distribution channels (Strategic Management, 2007). Product differentiation under these circumstances would cause a new entrant who wants to publicize an internet publication on the World Wide Web to spend a fortune to achieve what Google and Yahoo have spent a decade achieving through product loyalty and customer satisfaction. A new entrant also does not have the capital needs to achieve there desired results because of the extreme overhead and production cost included with beginning a new and emerging service. Also, the availability of distribution channels needed to publicize the internet page owned by the new emergent would quite possibly be owned solely by there strong competitor Yahoo or Google and dominance could cause a crushing blow to the competitors technological advancements. The bargaining power of buyers has made an everlasting impact on Yahoos financial stability and advantage on market growth because of the strong leadership shown by CEO Terry Semel. Terry has integrated the internet service to become a virtual shopping guide know to all man kind through smart acquisitions and also mergers with top communication leaders such as SBC global, Verizon communication and Overture Services. This has allowed for service providers to advertise there many products and services on the World Wide Web and gain the advantage that Yahoo has provided, as being the next step generation in technological advancements. This in return has allowed Yahoo to charge a fee accompanied with advertisements so that the firms financials statements will increase in value and also will look extremely enhancing to those looking to purchase Yahoos stocks on the exchange. These advantages have done nothing but encourage the advertisement industry to buy their advertisements with Yahoo because of the well known technique and broad market that it connects with, but also to gain the top market share price that every corporate executive is trying to achieve. With the bargaining power of buyers in mind we will now turn to the suppliers bargaining power so that we may introduce some factors that encourage supplier power. In this cause the supplier for Yahoos internet access is the American public that continues to thread the needle that sews Yahoos financial stability and continued growth throughout the world. Suppliers in this instance would be similar to the buyer when they are looking for a service that can generate a market power for the products and service that are being advertised on the Yahoo site. It is extremely difficult for the supplier to gain and advantage in this instance because of the strong control and marketing capabilities that Yahoo has over other leading advertisers such as television and radio. But, since yahoo has been able to form acquisitions with SBC and Verizon it is able to communicate over a much more â€Å"mobile† coverage area than before and therefore will enhance the suppliers to use the services of fered by Yahoo extensively for product and service development. The threat for new or substitute products and services is extremely high for Yahoo because they have the competitors AOL and MSN to always compete with and trying to overturn any investment opportunities that Yahoo has been involved with. The one major advantage that Yahoo has acquired is that they have the capabilities and resources to expand there service realm across many divisions of the consumer wants. Yahoo has the virtual reality of diminishing AOL and MSN by overturning the technology through broad band communication at the tips of your fingers with the cell phone industry. And also by acquiring a major search engine component which allows many consumers to search multiple things and acquire a result plus a solution for there disrupted efforts of confusion. With this being the situation in all business efforts we will now turn to the intense rivalry within the industry. In every business unit we will always have a rival picking at our feet to see what integrative tactics we have in store for the future. In this case the customer base has lead to believe that Yahoo and its executives are in a win win situation because of the barriers it has created within the organization. Including the differentiation that Yahoo has created a commodity and not just a service it is something all Americans depend upon when they are travel so that when they get to there hotel they may pull up on the search engines on places to dine within the city that they are staying and get listings as well as suggestions. Also, they can use the service offered by the wireless internet on the mobile phones to get reservation for a room while the consumer is still in flight. In this situation Yahoo has gained an extraordinary advantage against MSN and AOL in the service aspect of the business unit. We have discussed all the forces that can and might drive an industry into an undesired state for which its products will not be desired and the business units will strongly fade away we as corporate leaders need to find a foundation of formulation. This will encourage our buyers and suppliers to continue to operate with our services and allow us at Yahoo to overcome the forces and achieve excellence within the market and service realm. Formulation in this situation will increase the power that Yahoo has over the other competitors in the industry and it will also give them a stepping stone or building block to creating an implementation for their business strategy. First, would be the forming of the overall cost leadership within the firm to allow Yahoo to create that barrier between AOL and MSN. The issue of human resource management has lead me to realize that it would be in the best interest of Yahoo to continue to allow the casual dress for its employee base so that the employees are in a continual state of comfort while they are working and can provide the best and top quality service at an affordable rate. This statement may seem off the wall but just take for instance an employee who is always demanded of for service and top quality production at a high level industry, do you think that they are going to produce more under high pressure and uncomfortable atmospheres or are they going to perform under the most relaxing conditions imaginable. The structure of overhead costs has reduced a huge amount of dollars because there have not been a large number of administrators at Yahoos corporate level and this in return has gained the advantage over the competitors who have that large overhead expense involved with creating value for its customers. Along with the control of the organizations administrative cost, Yahoo should use the service realm to produce high quality technicians who are constantly monitoring progress or down time within the browser to ensure that all users are pleased with the experience they are receiving from Yahoo. Along with the service that Yahoo delivers to there clients I that is so well known Yahoo also, delivers a unique parity to there clients with a speedy and creative innovation through there brand image which in turn will result in a powerful differentiation effort towards pleasing there customer base. Yahoos brand image that has attracted millions in my opinion is â€Å"with a click of a mouse you can have the world† and is very true to some aspects. The main strategy of Yahoo is to create a â€Å"virtual Disney land†(Jamal Shamsie, 2007) says CEO Terry Semel by engaging in numerous links that any American can access through one web mail address which enhances the convenience sector and also enriches the dealers networks that have advertised with the world service provider Yahoo that has continually strived to bring success as well as an invisible feature of differentiated search engines that allows individuals to look for any piece of information around the world at a quick response rate and also receive a suggestive comment back as to the best possible choice for the convenience of the consumer. And as we have discovered through the discussion of differentiation was that the focus strategy for Yahoo was simply to be above all the rest and capture the consumer eyes through technological, innovative, and brand image strategy to gain all competitive advantages in the market world. Yahoo has maintained a unique strategy of â€Å"being different† from all the rest by not concerning itself with profitable area but to allow its customers to have a service that produce more output than all the others combined. Focus strategy in Yahoos case would be considered a differentiation focus that strives to targets a segment of the market world by allowing its users to choose from a wide variety of services from financial consulting to broad band internet access from the convenience of the cell phone. This gives the Yahoo firm the advantage it needs to gain and keep market shares increasing by dissolving the new entrant gap of trying to achieve the dominance factor to make an internet providers dream come true. With this statement from the core of the analysis has concluded that the strategy that has been chosen to completely analyze and formulate the Yahoo firm has been done to establish a broad base on how the Yahoo firm can initialize a base mission and statement and keep turning the eyes of AOL and MSN so that Yahoo stands one step ahead of the competitor to achieve competitive advantage. The philosophy of Yahoo was to â€Å"work within a framework and if it is free for all we wont take advantage of the strengths of our company†(Jamal Shamsie, 2007) says CEO Semel which allows the company to achieve great deeds on the weakness of the firm because we all know that one hundred percent of a strong company is a lot better than fifty percent of the strengths and fifty percent of the weaknesses. Meaning, fix the bad and leave the good alone because the good got there for a reason and they dont need to be adjusted but the bad has issued needing to be addressed. References Dess, Lumpkin, and Eisnor (2007). Porters Five Forces, Business level Strategy, McGraw and Hill Strategic Management. Shamsie, Jamal (2007). Yahoo Case, McGraw and Hill Strategic Management p. 792-797

Features of data and information

Features of data and information Identify the features of data and information Data: Data is defined as the collection of facts about events. This collection of facts is in raw form means that an unorganised and unprocessed form, which cannot be use for meaningful purpose for example Name, Age, Price etc. Information: Information is defined as a well-organised, well-processed and meaningful form of data generated from raw data. The end users utilises this meaningful data for making a decision easily for example Employees Records, Sale Report etc. Accessibility, Relevance, comprehensibility, timeliness and accuracy: In any organisation it is important that accessibility to information must be provided to all departments employees it means that availability of information to the management and other staff. The accessible information must be relevant to the processes, functionality and operations of that department. The information must be comprehensible i.e. clear, well organised and structured, must be timelines i.e. suitable to complete related task and must be accurate to generate the expected result properly. Determine the criteria to be applied when selecting data and information to support decision-making In business environment data is a valuable asset for any organisation. The data must be collected carefully because organisation decision-making processes are based on the generated information from this data. While selecting data and information for decision-making we must apply some criteria to this selection such as accuracy, validity, clarity etc. Data selection criteria: Accuracy, completeness, validity, consistency Accuracy: Data accuracy is vital role in management information because an accurate data can generate highly valuable results. For data accuracy timeliness is important otherwise there will be errors in the result. Completeness: The completeness of the data means the availability of latest data for decision-maker. The incomplete data can lead to poor decision-making management information. Validity: The validity of data mean data must be collected carefully and from an authentic source. The source of data must be known and verified. Consistency: The consistency of data is key role in good management information because it generates reliable, steady, well-organised and well-structured information. Information selection criteria: Data quality, definition clarity, relevance, presentation, timeliness, availability Data quality: To generate highly valuable and standard information data must be according to certain quality standards such as data must be in the appropriate format, well structure, well-organised and standard transferring method must be used. Definition clarity: The generated Information must be clearly and easily understandable, this will allow organisation employees to use the right information in the right place. Relevance: Information must be relevant to a task that it can be examined and packaged into an effective format. This is helpful that the management information is having to the point information but the information must not be incomplete. Presentation: The management information must be able to present information in the right format, order, well-structured and attractive design. This will describe a clearer picture of the organisation. Timeliness: The information must not take longer time i.e. must be concise and to the point that the management information can quickly response. Availability: The regular availability of information must be guaranteed to the management information that all tasks can run smoothly and the management information is able to generate up to date results. Evaluate the impact of a management information system to an organisation Increasing productivity and creativity: Management information system provides knowledge to workers accessing information resources. Using this knowledge the productivity of organisation is increased rapidly i.e. manufacture more products in short time. Not only this but also it brings new ideas and inspiration into the organisation. Developing policies: Management information system helps organisations to get maximum benefits from the extensive use of these information resources in developing policies i.e. planning, implementation and evaluation in the organisation. Use of strategic information resources: In the management information system the strategic information resources helps organisation in increasing productivity and brings new innovation. Organisations are able to do better planning, implement new policies efficiently. Strategic information resources improve the use of information resources in business, government and non-profit organisations strategies. Understanding ICT as a tool for accessing information In the management information system the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools are the most commonly used source for accessing information. These tools allow organization to access any type of information such products, researches, new developments, quality standards, communication with employees and customers etc. Managing external, corporate and internal information in organization The management information system systematically and efficiently manages the external information i.e. customer needs and choices, corporate information i.e. organisation values, brand names, advertising and marketing procedure, and internal information i.e. effectiveness of tasks, quick processing, interpretation and response of the organisation staff. Using information to support business processes Information supports the following business process. Market and customer information Using Market information organisation can learn about the competitors in the market allowing them to improve product quality, increase productivity etc. using customer information organisation will have a better understanding of customer needs and choices. Product information Using product information organisation can improve products quality, increase production, price comparison and easily availability. Specialist knowledge Using specialist knowledge organisation can manufacture new innovative products, add new customer to business, reduced cost and expenditure. Business process information Business process information supports the internal information about the performance of the organisation such Finances, Customer, internal process and learning and growth. Management information and plans Management information and plans supports the developing policies, future planes, and improvement of services of the organisation. Human resource information Human resource information is essential for organisations reputation, product support, future planes and innovations. Supplier information The Supplier information allows the organisations to choose from a large number of suppliers offers affordable price, best quality and quick service. LO2: Understanding the importance of information sharing within the organisation Information sharing within the organisation making employees as team allowing them to put forward their ideas, inspiration, new creations, discuss different matter and find solution for critical issue. This improves the overall efficiency of the organisation in terms of employees, products, policies, customers and competitors. Assessment Criteria Determine the legal responsibilities in sourcing, sharing and storing information Confidentiality and privacy: Special care must be taken when sourcing, sharing and storing information such that this must fully compliance with the Data Protection Act. Information about organisation and employee must not be disclosed with out their consent. Copyright and software protection Any type of data, information and software must be used under copyright and software protection Act. This means that using someone work must be authorised by that person or any organisation to which it belongs. Contractual obligations In case of conditional agreement information sourcing, sharing and storing must not breach the conditions i.e. all these operations must be according to the terms and conditions of contract. IS and Crime (criminal not civil law) This includes frauds i.e. dishonestly use of information, infringement i.e. violation of rules and regulation, miss used of information i.e. for the purpose of making organisation or individual unpopular. Discuss when information should be offered and access allowed. Information obtaining, accessing and processing must be according to the Data Protection Act, which gives the right to individuals Person, organisation etc to know what information is held about them, the purpose of information holding as well ensures them that personal information is handled properly. Anyone who is processing someone personal information must comply with the eight principles of Data Protection Act, which are explained below. Fairly and lawful process: According to 1st principle, Personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully. This means that the data subject i.e. person, organisation permitted the processing of their personal information for any legal and legitimate purposes such as employment, justice, health and safety etc. Process for limited purpose: According to 2nd principle, Personal data must be obtained and process for a limited purpose only i.e. one or more particular and lawful purposes. If the further processing of personal information is required for other purposes than the specified then the data subject must be informed and further processing should be according to the data object consent. Adequate, relevant and not excessive: According to 3rd principle, Personal data must be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose it is obtained and processed. This must ensure the data subject that the processing of personal data is relevant to the specified purpose and is not unnecessary. Accurate and up to date: According to 4th principle, Personal data must be accurate and up to date if necessary. This means that the accuracy of the data must be ensure whatever it is directly obtained from the data subject or it is through third party. It is the responsibility of the data object to inform the about any changes or inaccuracy in the data. Not kept for longer than is necessary: According to 5th principle, Personal data must not be kept longer than is required for the purpose or purposes after it is processed. Process in line with a persons right: According to 6th principle, Personal data shall be processed with the data subject rights under the Data Protection act. This means the data subject has the right to request for the correction, blocking and deleting of their personal data after processing. Secure: According to 7th principle, the security of personal data must be ensures. This means that in case of unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss and destruction to the personal data appropriate technical and organisational measures should be taken to prevent such incidents. Data Transfer According to 8th principle, Personal data must not be transferred outside the European Economic Area i.e. to outside countries. If the outside countries can ensures that personal data will have adequate level of protection and will be processed with the consent of data object and for the specified purpose, then in such situation data can be transferred. Evaluate the formats in which information can be offered. Electronic/manual: In Electronic format information are provided through electronic means computer generated such as E-mail, Ms Word file, Excel sheet, Data Bases etc. while manual information are almost are provided on papers i.e. printed or handwritten such as log books, manual order book, letters, books, reports etc. Lists of Individuals List of individual could be computer generated or manual, which contains details about organization employees, managerial stop and other staff responsible for different task. Usually this contains names, designation, contact etc. Libraries: Libraries are well organized and well-structured data storage system used in computer to holds data files, folders, records, pictures, and videos in a proper order etc. now days there are many electronic libraries holding e-book, e-journal etc. not only electronic libraries are used still most organization using large number of manual libraries contains books, journal, research papers, reports etc. Folders Folder is container used by computer system for organizing folders, programs and files on a disk in graphical user interfaces mostly represented with a graphical image (icon) of file folder on the screen. Manual folders normally used for holding papers i.e. invoices, report, expenses etc. Documents Computer generated document is any self-contained piece of work created with help of any application program is saved with a unique file name. This unique name is used to retrieve that document. While manual documents are hard copies or handwritten records, personal detail, manual etc. List items inside the lists This is heretical or tree structure, similar items are list under single category the inside list are known as sub categories of the main category. This keeps items in an organized structure and it is easy to find and locate a specific item. List items present in the libraries: In the libraries all items are divided in categories, each category contains a list of interrelated items as well sub items, this categorization helps in searching and locating items within the vast amount of the available items. LO3: Use information to inform and support strategic decision-making Assessment Criteria Analyze information to identify patterns and trends With the help of information system organisations can identify and predict the patterns and trends in all aspect of the business such as market, competition, customer demands etc and based on the information analysis they can make good strategic decisions. The market The Information system analyses the data collected from the market and based on the analysis the organisation can decide about the product quality improvement, increase productivity, adjust product price and can decide about the launching of new products and organisation future planes. The competition Based on the Information system analysis of the market data organisation can decide about the product price reduction, improves quality, improve advertising campaign, more facilities to customer and shareholder, easily availability etc as competition with other organisation. The state of economy Based on the Information system analysis organisation can manufacture economical product with low cost and can utilise available resources efficiently i.e. reduction in manufacturing time, proper use of material, required amount of product, reduction in manufacturing defects etc. Legislative development Information system improves the legislative system of the organisation. They are fully compliance with the data protection act, international laws and standards, legal rights. Based on the information analysis the organisations can take legal steps to attract Customers, compete with their competitors, can utilise information resources, shares informations, utilise hardware and software etc. Customer demands Based on the Information system analyses of the collected data from the market organization can predict the customer demands such as what customer wants, is their need of improvement in products, is there a possibility to launch new product, are products easily available to customer, is there a need of change in the policy and legislation, are customers able to commits complains and advices etc, are they happy with prices etc. Evaluate a range of decision making tools and techniques available to support a strategic decision SWOT SWOT (Strength weaknesses opportunities and Threats) analysis tools provide an organization a structural analysis of its Strengths, Weaknesses, the opportunities and threats they are facing. The SWOT analysis is based on the discussions and people viewpoints and it is not the end but step before any action planning take place. The organization use the analysis result to appreciate its strength (personal, competition, knowledge, production etc) for taking decision to minimize its weaknesses (improve developments, competition, product quality, customer communication etc), utilize most of the opportunities (possibilities, value in next five years, product demands etc) available and treating possible present and future threats (limitations, losing product values, equipment and software fault etc) in a planned and well organized way. Critical success factor (CSF) Critical success factor is an approach takes by the organisation to determine organisational need for information. There are a numbers of key factors required for any organisation to be successful, these factors are known as critical success factors. If organisation is unable to achieve these critical success factors, then this will have a high impact on the organisation and as a result there is possibility of organisation failure. Model Driven DSS Model-driven is a complex Decision Support System (DSS) system helping in analyzing decisions or choosing different options between the available. This type of system is used by the organization / Business managers and staff members, or by other peoples usually interact with the organization. The use of the system is for a number of purposes, which is depending on the setup of the model such as scheduling, decision analyses etc. there are a number of ways for the deployment of Model Driven DSS system such as in stand alone PCs through hardware and software in, through client / server systems, or through the web. Data Driven DSS The organization manager mostly uses the Data Driven Decision Support System (DSS) system as well staff and the product/service suppliers used it. The use of the system is for a specific need by sending query to a database or data warehouse, which then returns the requested specific information. This type of system is mostly deployed through a mainframe system, client/server system and trough the web. Computer-based databases are the example such system, having the capability to response to query and valuable results value from existing databases. Data Mining Data Mining is the data analyzing process from different perspectives and after processing generation of useful information summary. This summary information are utilized by the organizations to increase revenue, cuts costs etc. Data mining software is one of the analytical tools available to analyze data. This tool allows users to do analysis of the data from different angles, categorize data, and finally identification of the relationships in a summarized data. Determine the source available to assist in analyzing data information Information resources such as Data, Information and knowledge In business environment information resources are the most valuable assets for any organisation. The information i.e. data, information or knowledge must be collected carefully and with authenticity because the organisation decision-making processes are based on these information. These sources of these information resources could be organisation employees, customer and other organisations but there must be some criteria for using these resources such as accuracy, validity, clarity etc. Technology resources such as hardware and software For the processing of organisation data and information such as products detail, employees details, manufacturing, stock and accounts information appropriate technology resources such hardware i.e. computer systems, printers etc and software database system, data analysis tools etc must be available to managers and staffs of the organisation. Using such resources reduces production time, cost, improves communication within the organisation and with the customers. People resources such as employee and managers in organizations Organisation employees and managers are the vital part in analysing data because they provides the organisation internal data such as manufactured quantity, cost, stock etc and as well they are operating the available equipments, computer systems and software. In organisation mostly there are people specially trained for operating specialised hardware and software for information processing, analysing, report generation. LO4: Monitor and review management information Assessment Criteria Identify methods of evaluating management information within an organization For high level of management information organisations utilise different information evaluation methods to ensure a reliable, trusted and quality of information management system. Data governance Data governance (DG) is the overall management of the data employed in the enterprise. The Data governance ensures the availability, usability, integrity, and security of the employed data. A governing body or council runs a well-organized data governance program with a well-defined set of procedures and plans for the execution of defined procedures in the right direction. The followings are the three key elements of the successful data governance in an organization. The ability to use timely, reliable, trusted information to drive the business The data governance program must be able to ensure the information availability within the prescribed time frame to the recipients that it can be processed at in early stage. This information must be reliable i.e. consistent that execution of different processes can be performed in proper order and in the right direction. As well the information must be trusted i.e. accurate, update and must be gathered from the trusted source otherwise it will lead to program failure. Improving the quality of business decision- making The data governance programme must be able to utilise certain standard decision support systems for the achievement of high quality of business decision-making such as Model Driven DSS, Data Driven DSS etc. The available data for decision-making must be according to certain quality standard, appropriate format, well structured and well organised. Ensuring consistent use of information The data governance program must ensure the consistent use of information in organisation for reliability and smooth flow of business different process. The information flow must be regular to different component of the overall system that the system can generate reliable, trusted and high quality of result otherwise inconsistency will generate incorrect result and will lead to system failure. Management information value Timeliness Timeliness is a high importance in management information, which means that the recipients must receive information within the prescribed time frame. The timeliness can ensure an early stage information execution, which generates the accurate information result. The characteristic of timeliness of information must be effective as well must includes the current up to date information. Content Management information system provides valuable contents for organisation internal and external process support. These contents support business different process such as contents for decision making process, for manufacturing process, for marketing process, financial process, customer and services support etc. Format Management information system provides information in an appropriate and clear format, which is easily understandable. The provided information clearly describe the need, the purpose and place where it can be used such as market related information clearly describes the value of the organisation and its product that can be used to improve quality and services. Cost Management information systems help organizations in cost reduction in the overall business i.e. internally and externally. It allows organizations to deliver their products and services to customers at lower price than their competitors. Therefore, due to information system organizations can survive in difficult situations and can grow rapidly. Discuss process for analyzing impact of information on strategic decision made Set objective of process or organization The information analysis allows the decision-maker in the organization to develop and set objectives and allocates resources required for the achievement of these objectives. Thus the organization top-level management is benefiting from information analysis in making strategic planning. Evaluate weather goals achieved The information system allows the organisation to evaluate weather the desired goals are achieved from the information analysis or not. In case of failure the process is refined with utilising more resources, expertise, care and thoroughly investigation to make sure a quality of result achieves. Gap analysis is used for the evaluation of weather goals achieved or not. Assess reasons for variance from target to actual The performance diagnosis is done by applying knowledge to performance to check weather the processes, operations and functions are generating the quality results or not. Each process is judged thoroughly weather the overall process is running smoothly and will complete successfully. Revise and implement new approaches or modify goals If there is any mistake in the process it is revised and retest. Some times the achievement of the desired resulted new approaches is implemented and some time the difficulties in achieving result can lead to modification in goals. The ASHEN factors is used for the assessment of knowledge quality at the points described below Decisions Problem solutions Solution creation Judgement Learning points The ASHEN factors are one of the important attributes used in DIKAR model for knowledge quality assessment. It helps in making the decisions in the right place and direction, helps in finding the solution for the problems, helps in finding solution in an appropriate manners, helps in judgement of the task, problems, solutions and finally allowing end user to learn different approaches for the solution of the desired task. REFERENCES Dr.L.Ali, 7004_Strategic Information Management, 2009, Lecture Notes, Cromwell college of IT Management Manga Singh, Management Information System, 2010, Thesis Data Protection Act 1998 The Principles explained, at http://www.northtyneside.gov.uk/pls/portal/NTC_PSCM.PSCM_Web.download?p_ID=29520