My Understanding Of The Bible - 934 Words

My understanding of the bible is that it has changed over years. From floods, burning bushes, sea parting, Adam and eve, and god talking to men. The bible has changed the world s view, not every human being believes in the bible. They may see it in a secular point of view, and just think the bible is just made up stories. But others may see it as a guide, manual, the right way Christians but don t live a life of a Christian. This is really something that happens globally for example churches people tend to only want to be told the positive but not the negative, all things should be taught without sugarcoating it. This is called secular humanism, majority of Christians even myself is a secular humanist. Many people drink, smoke, and do ungodly things and when they are questioned about they refer it back to the bible by saying where in the bible does it say that? Which is true where does it say that? There are so many different sayings to the point to where people d on t believe in the bible. You re supposed to live. The Bible is a powerful book and touches many lives; a story from the bible I remember the most is Noah and the Ark. When god sent a flood to destroy the land and gave Noah a message to build an ark and put his family on it. Not many believes that story but i do, some believe the bible isn t real itself but there is proof. A lot of proof from archeologist was pottery, sculptures, and writings found. Not only that but the bibleShow MoreRelatedBiblical Themes Of The Bible1169 Words   |  5 PagesBiblical Themes The Bible has numerous themes that influence our lives greatly as believers. In this paper, I will be discussing the biblical themes of Creation, God, Humanity, Sin, The Good Life and Salvation. In order to have a Christian biblical worldview we need to understand what the bible teaches us about these themes. These themes have influenced my beliefs and they affect my everyday life and worldview. I have always believed that what the Bible says about these themes is the truth andRead MoreWebsite Evaluation : Blue Letter Bible1256 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Blue Letter Bible† and its URL is: (http://www.blueletterbible.org/help/videoHelps.cfm#section2). The main reason which gets my attention towards this particular website is its powerful tools which are helpful for complete and comprehensive study of the Bible. Since, I have not study the Bible in my life before this course. So, I need a website which is comprehensive as well as easy to understand. I found this site very helpful for beginner. So, in the beginning of my journey of Bible studies translationRead MoreBishop Spong And The Bible919 Words   |  4 Pagesand incorporates the Bible into society not as fundamental law but by addressing the overall message of God I choose to discuss Bishops Spongs ideas with someone not in this class and I choose to confer on this subject matter with my live in boyfriend Justi n. I felt that discussion on these topics with him would be beneficial not only in the completion of my course work but also contribute to the growth and understanding in our relationship of our beliefs regarding the bible and religion, divorceRead MoreAnalysis and Reflection of Square Peg: Why Wesleyans Arent Fundamentalists1074 Words   |  5 PagesSquare Peg: Why Wesleyans Arent Fundamentalists, a book edited by Al Truesdale and published by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, examines two significantly different ways of understanding the nature and role of the Bible that mark different parts of Christ’s church. The first is represented by fundamentalism; the second by Wesleyan theology. The goal of the book is to help persons in Wesleyan denominations clearly understand the differences between Wesleyan theology and fundamentalist theologyRead MoreChristian Vs. Christian Home862 Words   |  4 Pagesthat the bible says â€Å"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.† Proverbs 22:6. I’m not sure if I agree with that anymore. Why? Well, my parents raised me as a Christian. I went to church, not faithfully but I went majority of the time. I was in praise dancing and even went to bible study. Now it’s like every since I came to Olivet, I feel as if religion is forced upon me. I didn’t feel this way when I was younger. I’ve departed from giving God my full attentionRead MoreMy View Of Christianity Changed At All Over The Course Of This Quarter?1449 Words   |  6 PagesHas my view of Christianity changed at all over the course of this quarter? That seems to be quite a loaded question. My understanding of Christianity has changed drastically. I have learned where Christianity actually came from, where our roots are. I was really intrigued when we learned about why the Romans let the Jews continue to practice Judaism. The Romans were more interested with how old things were than the actual content of the thing. If Jewish religion wasn’t older than Roman religionRead Morebook review: biblical studies what they dont tell yoi Essay1210 Words   |  5 Pagesnormal bible study. The book seems to be aimed at students beginning their journey of academic biblical studies and is supposed to be used as a guide to get the most out of ones studies. Part Two:                      The first chapter of this book seems to be mainly focused on discussing how bible study and biblical scholarship[1] differ and how different approaches need to be taken to each. Brown made several very interesting points when discussing the difference between bible studyRead MoreThe Place of Scripture in Evangelical, Liberal, and Neo-Orthodox Thought1563 Words   |  7 PagesProfessor Scharfe Bible ____ 16 November 13 The Place of Scripture in Evangelical, Liberal, and Neo-Orthodox Thought As part of the Christian faith during 18th century revivals, three practices evolved forming their own interpretation on the place and authority of Scripture in Christian faith. The first of these were the Liberals who viewed themselves as the saviors of a defunct out of date Christianity, they wanted to connect with people and bring them into the faith, not scare them with aRead MoreReflection On My Spiritual Discipline930 Words   |  4 PagesMy spiritual discipline was that I would read the bible everyday for at least 5 minutes at the end of the night. I did this because if I did it at the end of the night I was able then to look and think about my struggles during the day and then I could try to find something to relate in the bible so that I could get though it. I did change one thing during the practice, I changed when I did my practice. I did this because normally I would do it at the very end like close to when I was ready to goRead MoreIs The Bible True?1528 Words   |   7 Pagesâ€Å"Is the Bible True?† In William C. Placher’s article â€Å"Is the Bible True,† he discusses the question of whether the bible is trustworthy or not. He goes about this by taking examples and arguments of other literary work and incorporating them into his article to make or prove a point. The thesis of his essay is, if we believe the bible to be true, then we must put in the work to understand the language. This will enable us to understand the Bible itself. Placher is basically trying to prove to us

Steroids Essay - 950 Words

Steroids, what they are why people use them What are anabolic steroids? â€Å"Anabolic steroids are a group molecules that include the male sex hormone testosterone and synthetic analogs of testosterone† (Taylor,1991) Anabolic steroids are used by many people in sports today due to the rapid increase in muscle mass. Anabolic steroids are made synthetically and are very powerful. â€Å"Recent evidence suggests that there may be over 3,000,000 regular anabolic steroid users in the United States and most of these users buy there steroids illegally† (Taylor,1991) I am interested in finding out more about steroids and its effects. Steroids are used in veterinary medicine. They are used in meat production, to increase muscle in cattle which produces†¦show more content†¦In the 1950s, athletes used anabolic steroids to improve their performance in international competition. In 1956, American doctor John B. Zieglar worked with a drug company to produce anabolic steroids in the United States. Professional athletes particularly football players began using anabolic steroids as early as the 1960s. The health dangers of anabolic steroids were not yet recognized, and athletes obtained steroids from team doctors. When state laws were passed against steroids in the 1960s a black market or illegal trade began for steroids. Steroids eventually found their way into school level athletic programs at both college and high school levels. Most steroid users are not thinking about whether they might be harming their body or not. There are many health consequences of steroid use. There is liver toxicity, infertility, heart disease, and Prostate problems just to name a few. Some physical and side effects of steroid use are things like hair loss, nose bleeds, acne, high blood pressure. Long lasting side effects are things like higher tolerance for pain increased or lowered sex drive, sterility, impotence, increased appetite, and insomnia. â€Å"In male users anabolic steroids can cause the penis to enlarge and the testicles to shrink† (Yesalis, et al.,1998) The permanent irreversible physical side effects of steroid use are much more serious. Anabolic steroids can increase the levels of fat in the blood;Show MoreRelatedSteroid Use Of Bodybuilding And Steroids889 Words   |  4 PagesSteroid Use in Bodybuilding Chayla Vines Clover Park Technical College Abstract [The abstract should be one paragraph of between 150 and 250 words. It is not indented. Section titles, such as the word Abstract above, are not considered headings so they don’t use bold heading format. Instead, use the Section Title style. This style automatically starts your section on a new page, so you don’t have to add page breaks. Note that all of the styles for this template are available on the Home tabRead MoreAnabolic Steroids And Steroids Use1525 Words   |  7 Pagesbeans and hype (Steroids and their). All of these words are slang for the illegal substance known more commonly as anabolic steroids and HGH (human growth hormone). The controversy surrounding anabolic steroids and HGH in sports has stormed to the forefront of the many problems that plague America today. Anabolic steroids are synthetic chemicals that mimic the effects of the male sex hormone testosterone. Some athletes seeking increased muscular strength and size abuse anabolic steroids (R icki Lewis)Read MoreAnabolic Steroids And Substance Steroids1814 Words   |  8 PagesMerriam-Webster Dictionary anabolic steroids are any of a group of usually synthetic hormones that are derivatives of testosterone, are used medically specially to promote tissue growth, and are sometimes abused by athletes to increase the size and strength of their muscles and improve endurance. The main purpose of anabolic steroids is to gain strength and muscle very quickly and faster than any other drug enhancement. There are many types of models that relate to anabolic steroids. One model is high schoolRead MoreSteroids : Sports And Steroids1169 Words   |  5 PagesPresident George W. Bush says â€Å"Steroids are dangerous in sports and steroids send the wrong message: There are shortcuts to accomplishments and performance is more important than character.† Steroids are a hormone like substance made by the body. 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I’m interested in this question, because that’s the question that truly caught my attention the most and, also keeps me wondering. If people who use it have seen improvement, why do they keep using it. The anabolic steroid also known as the anabolic-androgenic steroid is a drug that athletes use to give more muscle mass to the body and create more testosterone in the body. If traced back to the 1940’s steroids first appeared in Germany. Athletes hadRead MoreEssay on Steroids772 Words   |  4 Pagesmuscular build? Have you ever thought steroids would be a helpful tool in doing so? If you have you must know that steroids are a deadly and illegal drug. After reading my paper I hope that the thought of using steroids will leave your mind forever and encourage you to keep others of them. To understand why you should stay off steroids you must first know what steroids are. The steroid of which you hear most are called, â€Å"anabolic steroids.† This kind of steroid is called anabolic because anabolicRead MoreAnabolic Steroid Abuse666 Words   |  3 Pages Anabolic steroid abuse has become a huge concern among high school athletes. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of athletes using performance enhancing drugs in high school, almost double the number since the 1980s. Student athletes feel that steroids give them a competitive edge that they think they need to boost themselves past competition. Athletes, whether they are young or old, professional or amateur, are always looking to gain an advantage over their opponents to come awayRead More Anabolic Steroids Essay1560 Words   |  7 Pages Steroids Probably one of the biggest stories in the news today is steroids in Major League Baseball. This is one of the reasons that I chose to do my research paper on steroids. I knew that it would not be hard to find information on the issue. 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Analysis of the Leadership Style of President Obama free essay sample

President Barack Obama seems to be a transformational leader who wants to achieve a deep change and mobilises therefore a lot of followers. In his election campaign he had three principles: Respect! Empower! Include! He said â€Å"It’s not about me, it’s about you! †. The people felt attracted to Obama and were sure that he will be the perfect President. He received so many donations for his campaign like no president before in the history of the United Stated. He benefited from the big advantage that the people were very dissatisfied with George W. Bush and that they wanted a political change. On the one hand he used social networks and he got in with the young people. On the other hand he managed that everyone felt as a part of the system and hence an incredible enthusiasm was created. The people began to commit with Obama and started to work for him in his so-called Workforce during his election campaign. He did it in the right way while giving them the opportunity to do what they could do best. Slogans like â€Å"Yes, we can! † and â€Å"Change, we can believe in! † underpinned his intention of a radical change, the healing of the sorrows of the Americans and the promise for a better life. But in his time in office turned out that he has still to improve some of his attributes to be a transformational leader. He made some mistakes e. g. in the health insurance reform because he was not so personal like everyone expected. President Obama is not yet a transformational leader like John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King but in various situations he proved that he has a lot of characteristics of this kind of leader. 1. Introduction The election campaign of Barack Obama from November 2007 to November 2008 was not a normal campaign it was different. He stated in inaugural speech 2008 that a â€Å"new dawn of American leadership is at hand† (Abcnews 2008). The big question is what was different to other campaigns. Was he really a new kind of leader or only another politician? What kind of leadership style did he use and is he still using? This analysis will show which leadership style Barack Obama used in his election campaign from autumn 2007 to November 2008 and how he approached his goals, roles and key tasks. Furthermore it will show if the start of the â€Å"new American leadership† really happened and hether he set a focus on team leadership as well. The analysis is underpinned with the theory of transformational leadership. In the first part of the analysis there will be a detailed definition of the transformational leadership theory. After that there will be an extensive explanation of all the different styles of a transformational leader and afterwards a short definition of the charismatic style of leadership. These theories were selected as they are mentioned numerously in the literature, in the news or in the internet if searching for the leadership style of President Barack Obama. Consequently they will be the base for this survey and will help to expose what kind of leader Obama really is. In the second part of the analysis the theories will be applied to the practice. It will be examined how Obama met the theories and what type of transformational leader he is. Furthermore it will be analysed in detail how he lead his election campaign. At the end of this paper there will be a conclusion with a short summary of the results and some comments on how Barack Obama could improve his leadership style. 2. Analysis A transformational leader recognizes a required deep change and accomplishes a vision to control this change. In normal cases he leads with inspiration and realise the changes with the support of other people who are convinced of the change (Marshall 2011). He has a vision of a better society and his beliefs are based on so-called end-values like freedom, equality and fairness. As a result the leader has to be very active to reach his aims and motives. He identifies the needs of potential followers and goes one step further on. He recognizes higher needs of his followers to engage them completely (Rosenberger 2005). Furthermore he is part of the process to reach the goals and the motives and integrates his followers in this process entirely. He forms – based on values – the political process, mobilises supporters and reacts to the hopes of the followers. If he is doing this well they will relate to the transformational leader and support him on his way. One important fact in this case is that the leader and his followers have to be inseparably connected so that their motivation to reach their goals rises in both (Rosenberger 2005). On top of that Burns (1979) differentiates seven different transformational leader characters: heroic, ideological, intellectual, revolutionary, creative, moral and reform leader. The heroic leadership implies a harmonic relationship between the leader and his followers. Normally it is characterized by a direct contact, e. g. shake hands when the leader is in public. They are especially in societies which are marked by a crisis or a big change. A major point is the non-attendance of a conflict (Lowney 2005). The ideological leader phrases political aims based on a certain ideology. He has a deep persuasion of this worldview and has a clear borderline to the principles of other political groups. The followers know exactly with who they are dealing with (Boal 2006). The intellectual leader is bringing new ideas into the society. He is part of the existing system, criticises and wants to change it. He analysis the established circumstances and creates a vision about prospective and better conditions (Money-Zine 2011). The revolutionary leader wants a complete change of the established social system. He overturns the current system, creates an entire new system and reconstructs the economy, law, medicine and so on (Burns 1979). The creative leader is setting new standards, creates new principles and communicates this to his potential followers. The main difference to the revolutionary leader is that the leader creates something complete new. He has to underpin the ideas with specific politic projects (Rosenberger 2005). The moral leader has to have a relationship to his followers which is based on shared needs, expectations and values. He has to transform these needs, expectations and values so that they are able to see changes (Burns 1979). The reform leader aspires after realising a reform process. He wants to transform the social circumstances and changes something in the established system (Rosenberger 2005). Aside from that the transformational leadership is also known as charismatic leadership. A charismatic leader is dominant, visionary, charismatic, self-confident, is recognized as an agent of change, has the talent to influence other people with inspiring speeches and an intense sense of the moral values of them. A charismatic leader has – as the name implies – charisma. This quality enables a leader to get the support of the voters and the public assistance. Some famous charismatic leaders were John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan or Martin Luther King (Articlesbase 2009). There are a lot of behaviours what describe how the charismatic leader mobilises his followers, e. g. that he articulates a vision in a strong and meaningful message, has high expectations, gives confidence to his supporters, builds identification with his organization or rather his person (Coggins 2009). Barack Obama and his election campaign is a perfect example of the implementation of the transformational leadership. The success that Obama was elected as president was because of his excellent team surrounding him and the systematic implementation of their three principles: Respect! Empower! Include! (Stronger Unions 2009). The so-called â€Å"campaign of change† mobilised nearly 6 million followers within only one year. Obama and his team received donations in the amount of over 650 million US dollar. Not only the amount of the money was very respectable but also that more than half of the donations were from single persons who spend under 250 US dollar each. Never before in the history were people spending more money for a political campaign (Associated Content 2009). What did he do different? How did President Obama mobilise so many followers? He requested the people to be committed with the political topics which they were interested in. â€Å"It’s not about me. It’s about you! † (The Washington Times 2009). He invited everyone to get involved however they want. Some people supported the campaign over the phone, some went from door to door, some provided their living rooms, their kitchens, their garages or their phones, some baked cakes and sold them in the cities and some were involved as security forces at public assemblies. Moreover they organised private call centre and wrote innumerable letters or appeals for donations and donated a lot of money themselves. Everyone could do what he was able to do best and for what he had time for. Hence President Obama believed in the performance capability of the people and gave them the framework to develop themselves. This was underpinned with the word â€Å"Respect! † and â€Å"Empower! †. The word â€Å"Include! † described the identification with the main aim and the feeling to be welcome in the team. Nobody was forced to be part of the â€Å"Obama campaign† (Wirtschaftspsychologischer Dienst 2011). Obama knew that the he could reach the best results when the people would have fun at work. The intrinsic motivation of the most followers was the change of the political climate and the government. â€Å"We are fed up with bush! † (Undiplomatic 2008). He managed that everyone felt to be a part of the system. Indeed is the influence of each voter not really high but in normal cases is everyone searching for followers and tries to influence his family, his neighbourhood, his friends or his colleagues. In times of social networks is the word-of-mouth recommendation still higher and all these steps were the beginning of the so-called â€Å"Workforce† of Barack Obama with him as the top (Dr. Blaschka Consulting GmbH 2011). But he also made some mistakes in his transformational leadership style, for example dealing with the big issue of the health care insurance for everyone in the United States. He saw this problem and invested a lot of power and time in it but he made some mistakes. A lot of reporters stated that Obama allocated the work of convincing the people to the congressional leaders. He should have campaigned more personal. This topic was one of the largest issues in his time in office and he was not the engaged leader as everyone expected him to be. Furthermore the news published that he did not used the power of his office to receive the required votes. In normal cases transformational leaders are using every possibility to reach the change. Barack Obama is a mixture of a heroic, an intellectual, a moral and a reform leader. He has of each of the four types a few characteristics. First of all he has a lot attributes of a heroic leader. He has a very good relationship to his followers and mobilised a lot of them like stated above. Obama went to the late night show of Jay Leno, showed attendance at a lot basketball games and establishes a good reputation in the Latino community because he appeared a few times on Spanish language television. To sum up he has a very close contact to his followers and you can see him nearly every day in the public view. His appearance acts supportive to his heroic leadership style. He is clever and comes across well on camera. His approval rating in America is over 50% and the people think that he is well-suited for a 21st century president (Hubpages 2010). Furthermore he is not only connected to the people in the US. In 2008 he has been to Germany and delivered a speech to over 200. 000 people. The people think that he is a real heroic leader and he has nothing but the interests of the people and the nation on his mind (Garbijman 2009). In the second place he is in one sense also an intellectual leader. Already before he decided to be a politician he was eloquent, wrote books and some people said that he wrote like a philosopher or poet. He brought a lot of new ideas into the government and created a vision which the people loved. A leader who is doing this has to be intelligent or rather sophisticated (Dr. Blaschka Consulting GmbH 2011). In the third place President Obama has a lot of characteristics of a moral leader. He even formulated a moral leadership for the US. He bets on the so-called â€Å"soft power†, i. e. the power of the classic diplomacy, the power of a good example and the power of mutual respect. This also includes the international relationships, e. g. with the United Nations. He delivered speeches in Cairo and Prague, made an offer for reconciliation to the Moslems and has still the vision of a multipolar and nuclear-free world. Since he made these things Russia for example renegotiated with the USA because they stated that they are willing again to hear what Barack Obama has to say (Stern 2009). Finally the fourth transformational leadership style of President Obama is that of the reform leader. In 2009 he started to promote his health insurance reform. On the one hand he spoke to the people in America. He delivered speeches, was present at town meetings and gave a lot of interviews in different TV shows. He argued to the people with a lot of different reasons. He said for example that there will be a reduction of expenses in the long term or an insurance coverage for so many people as possible. In addition to this he said to those people who are not able to pay they will get help and those who are satisfied with the current coverage will only get a premium reduction. On the other hand he spoke to the lawmakers, in most times in one-on-one discussions. His brilliant public power of persuasion encouraged the people to agree to the reform of President Obama. He performed as an excellent reform leader to establish the health insurance reform in the United States (Associated Content 2009). The charismatic leadership style is one of the most discussed topics on Barack Obama. In his election campaign he created an incredible enthusiasm at the young people in America. He played the role of something like a â€Å"regenerative healer† (Articlesbase 2009). He said in different speeches that schools in America are crumbling, that millions of people in the United States are having a lot of problems in their life like high invoices for gas or no health insurance. He continued and said that they are in need of a political reformation and if he is allowed to do this, they will leave behind a stronger America to their children. Based on these statements he formed the slogans â€Å"Yes, we can! † and â€Å"Change, we can believe in! †. In other words his charismatic leadership was underpinned with the belief of a radical change, the healing of their sorrows in America and the promise for a better life. But he did not only prove his charismatic leadership style in his election campaign. Since he has been elected as President he stays accessible to the citizens in the US. He often shows himself in the internet media like Youtube, Facebook or MySpace and is thereby connected to the younger generation. Further on he travels abroad a lot – more than any President before and he visited more than 85 public events just in his first 100 days in office (Coggins 2009). President Obama has this attribute that he does not use an authoritarian or a conservative leadership style; he has intuition and is sympathetic so that he convinces people with his incredible persuasive speeches and his characteristics. The big question for the future is if he is able to accomplish all of his promises and in which way he will do the promised change in America (Articlesbase 2009). 3. Conclusion Barack Obama inspired a lot of people with his election to be the President of the United States of America. Everybody knows that he is a transformational character in the world scene but this paper analysed more precisely if he is also a transformational leader. Especially in his election campaign he showed a lot of transformational leadership abilities. A lot of people compared him with leading figures like John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King. He mobilised a lot of followers with his convincing speeches and his charisma who donated so much money like never before in a political campaign. The people began to commit with Obama and started to work for him in his so-called Workforce. He did it in the right way while giving them the opportunity to do what they could do best. Furthermore he convinced the American people by talking about change and a new America. He used the unpopularity of the Bush government and knew that everyone wanted to a have this change. But going forward to his time in office he made some mistakes for a transformational leader, e. g. in the health insurance reform. He has to solve some problems more personally and has to be closer to the public. If he is able to re-integrate the people in his leadership and engage them like he did it in times of his election campaign, he will be more a transformational leader. Therefore it can be said in summary that President Barack Obama is not yet a complete transformational leader. The overall impression shows that he is on the right way and has a lot of good characteristics as he has shown in his election campaign from autumn 2007 to November 2008. But in his time in office turned out that he has still to improve some of his attributes to be this transformational leader.

Project Management Transactions on Engineering

Question: Discuss about the Project Management for Transactions on Engineering. Answer: Introduction Project is a temporary aspect that is decided to be done within a certain time limit. A project defines some scope and resources (Allen, 2014). Project is specifically defined as the particular aspect that does not consists of some specific routine operations but have a particular set of operations that have specific goal. One project may consider their member from different geographic regions with no similarities within them. The definition of project management is: it is the application of skills, knowledge, techniques and tools to meet the project requirements according to the goal decided by the team members of the project (Hodgson Paton, 2016). In addition to this, the project manager plays a great role in case of managing the project. The role of the project managers highlights many success factors in case of project management. Their roles and responsibilities vary according to the environment and context of the project changes. This essay is elaborating the role of the project managers in the project management with respect to different environment and contexts. The processes centralizing the ideologies used in a project are the core responsibility of the project manager. Role of the project manager A project manager is very important part of any project. The total aspect is not only controlled but also arranged in a proper sequence of work that will help the project to gain success (Kerzner, 2013). In contrast with this aspect the various roles and responsibilities of the project manager should have to be discussed with respect to the project management (Chipulu et al., 2013). According to Mintzbergs management roles there are manly three roles that can be specified for the project managers: interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. Interpersonal role: These roles are concerned with the roles and responsibilities of the manager with respect to the relations and behaviour they present in front of individuals. According to the name of the significant role it explains nature and behaviour of the leader while considering the communication and contacts of them (Medina Medina, 2014). There are mainly there interpersonal roles that justify a project managers character. Figurehead: the symbolic social and legal duties are represented by this interpersonal role of the project manager. All of the social, inspirational, legal and ceremonial obligations are considered as the figurehead (Bredillet et al., 2015). According to this context, the manager is considered as the symbol of authority and status. Leader: It is the duty of the leader to make proper communication with their employees and build good relationship with them to provide them motivation and support in their work field (Mossalam Arafa, 2015). The duty is concerned as the heart of the manager- subordinate relationship and includes structuring and motivating subordinates. Recognition of promotional factors, supply of proper motivational aspect and proper balancing of the team effectiveness must be the intentions of the leader. Liaison: This aspect is concerned with maintaining the contacts with the people outside the work environment. This process is mainly utilized for gathering more information from the people working outside of the work environment (Burke, 2013). The knowledge base of project managers is improvised by engaging with the outside network of the work environment. Informational role: This role of the project manager introduces collection, dissemination and receiving of the information from various resources (Gonzlez et al., 2016). There are three crucial informational roles of the project managers. These are explained as follows. Monitor: Monitoring techniques are concerned with the external and internal information about issues that may affect the organizational goals and objectives. Duties of the project manager in this role are to recognize the organizational problems as well as opportunities that the company may utilize to improve (Gacasan et al., 2016). Disseminator and spokesperson: Disseminators transmits the information to the internal sources of organization and the spokesperson transmits the information to the external resources of the organisation. Decisional role: This role of the project manager is concerned with the making choices. The interpersonal role of the manager leads to the decisional role (Kelly et al., 2013). There are total four decisional roles of project managers, these are explained as follows. Entrepreneur: The entrepreneur is defined as the designer, initiator and encourages a change towards the way of innovation (Marion Jr et al., 2014). This encourages the entrepreneur to innovate thee project design and achieve the success. Disturbance handler: The unexpected situation the organization faces during any operation management process the disturbances handler role manages these difficulties (Sadeghi et al., 2014). It is generalized role of the project manager that takes the charge when the company is facing trouble. Resource allocator: The project manager is also considered as the resource allocator of concerned organization. This role operates time management, funding, human resource and other significant changes (Allen, 2014). This role helps the project manager to improve the financial condition as well as the condition of the organization. Negotiator: Negotiation is one of the most important roles of the project manager that improvise the areas of responsibility of the project manager (Haughey, 2013). This is one of the integral characteristic for the project manager. Role of a project manager in various environments and contexts In the contemporary time the role of the project manager is crucial for developing any project, it may be any kind sector such as: international or virtual projects, IT project or small and mid size business projects. Each of these projects involves the role of project within it (Hodgson Paton, 2016). The concerned description about the role of the project manager is described in this part of the essay that comprised of the three project environments. These environments are: international and virtual environment, IT sector and small and mid size business environment. Virtual and international business environment: In case of the international and virtual project management the importance of the project manager mitigates the cultural differences between the different organizations (Kerzner, 2013). These cultural difference impacts on the team-building and goal setting of the project. It is also important to look into the matter concerned with the self- direction of the team. The nature of the international projects needs to focus on the communication and risk assessment techniques related to the project (Chipulu et al., 2013). The empirical research did on the role of thee project manager shows that they play a great role in solving these problems with the help of their skills and knowledge. In case of the international projects there are not only the cultural differences but also there are differences in mind sets that affect the goal orientation of the project (Medina Medina, 2014). Problems related to languages and concepts about the work culture sometimes make the employees uncomfortable and inefficient during their work that harms the total project. To solve these problems the project manager should have proper skill and knowledge of tackling the people by mitigating their demands as well as by maintaining the objectives of the project (Bredillet et al., 2015). These aspect leads to the success of the project. The motivational and inspirational perspective of the project manager leads guide the employees for getting their work done in proper and right way that leads to the success of the project (Mos salam Arafa, 2015). The cultural norms and values of the individual member of the any project should be considered first by the project manager (Burke, 2013). This aspect leads to the proper team building by the project manager. The project manager utilizes several protocols for solving the problems raised within the project. Role of the Project Manager in IT Project Management: IT project management is concerned with the software development, hardware installation, up-gradation of the networks, cloud computing, virtualization rollouts and management of data. These aspects provide the proper knowledge to the project manager for the development and implementation of the process needed for the project (Gonzlez et al., 2016). There are several aspects that may affect the success of the project, such as: change in the infrastructure, updated software and hardware set-up and risks factors that are involved in the progress of the project. The new arrived technological perspectives are not introduced to many organizations, so the project leaders of those organizations should be aware of the development procedure of those technologies within their organization or project groups (Gacasan et al., 2016). The project manager of any IT project should have the knowledge of following aspects to guide the project properl y. Role of the project manager in Initiation stage: It is the duty of the project manager to establish a well structured project. In this stage the project charter is created by the project manager. Role of the project manager in planning stage: The project manager takes decisional steps to choose software and hardware set-ups in this stage with consulting with their project members that provides the project a successful conclusion (Kelly et al., 2013). Role of the project manager in Execution stage: The project planning stage introduces the execution stage of the project. The project manger guides the project member for creating the deliverables needed to build the IT infrastructure of the project (Marion Jr et al., 2014). If the project needs the project planning stage further then the project manager transfer the project to the planning stage to the planning stage from the execution stage. Role of the project manager in controlling and monitoring the project: The project manager has the responsibility to check the progress of the progress of the project at each stage of the project (Sadeghi et al., 2014). The scope, quality and risks are assessed by the project managers in this stage. Role of the project manager in closing the project: At the last stage of the project it is the duty of the project manager to check the feasibility of the project through the IT infrastructure set- up. Role of the project manager in small to medium sized company: Small scale and medium size industries plays a great role in case of the economic development of ay country or any organization (Allen, 2014). Therefore the project management should be to some extent effective to provide better economic development. According to the research done on the small and medium sized industries, it is found that they dont spend more turnovers on their project management tools. This is because their companies are small as well as their projects are. Therefore, the project manager of the small and medium scale industries should have to be more skilled in order to use the project management tools within a certain amount of cost that the small scale industries can bear (Marion Jr et al., 2014). Innovative ideas and improvisation of the project management techniques leads to the development of the small and medium size industries. There are several project management tools that can improvise the situa tion of the small scale industries (Gonzlez et al., 2016). The project manager should focus in these perspectives for developing their projects as well as their industry. The above mentioned perspective helps the project manager to improve the project management techniques with the small and medium sized enterprises. Conclusion Project management is defined as the regulated and goal oriented plan for establishing any objectives with respect to the demands of any concerned organization. In addition to this, project manager play a great role in case project management. The role of the project manager clarifies the goals and objectives of the project as well as improvises the internal and external relationships needed for the development of the organization. A project manager utilizes their power, skill knowledge and experience to gather support for the organizational development. These roles of the project manager differs when the environment and context is changed. This essay has elaborated the specific roles important for the project manager to manage a project specifically and obtain the results. These roles changes or modifies themselves accordingly with the environment or context of the situation. These changes are also elaborated with proper explanations. References Allen, D. (2014). Sustaining change: Danielle Woodss career took a new direction after a mentor encouraged her interest in dementia. Currently on secondment as a project manager in dementia care, she tells Daniel Allen about the challenges and rewards of her role and describes how she made the move from the emergency department.Nursing older people,26(1), 41-41. Bredillet, C., Tywoniak, S., Dwivedula, R. (2015). What is a good project manager? An Aristotelian perspective.International Journal of Project Management,33(2), 254-266. Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques.New Jersey, USA. Chipulu, M., Neoh, J. G., Ojiako, U. U., Williams, T. (2013). A multidimensional analysis of project manager competences.IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management,60(3), 506-517. Gacasan, E. M. P., Wiggins, M. W., Searle, B. J. (2016). The role of cues in expert project manager sensemaking.Construction Management and Economics, 1-16. Gonzlez, G. E. G., Coronado, C. A. L., Casas, G. H. P. (2016). Project Manager Profile Characterization in Energy Sector.International Journal of Information Technology Project Management (IJITPM),7(4), 64-84. Haughey, D. (2013). The Role of the Project Manager.Project Smart UK. Retrieved online,4. Hodgson, D. E., Paton, S. (2016). Understanding the professional project manager: cosmopolitans, locals and identity work.International Journal of Project Management,34(2), 352-364. Kelly, N., Edkins, A. J., Smyth, H., Konstantinou, E. (2013). Reinventing the role of the project manager in mobilising knowledge in construction.International Journal of Managing Projects in Business,6(4), 654-673. Kerzner, H. R. (2013).Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Marion Jr, J. W., Richardson, T. M., Earnhardt, M. P. (2014). Project manager insights: An analysis of career progression.Organisational Project Management,1(1), 53-73. Medina, R., Medina, A. (2014). The project manager and the organisation's long-term competence goal.International Journal of Project Management,32(8), 1459-1470. Mossalam, A., Arafa, M. (2015). The role of project manager in benefits realization management as a project constraint/driver.HBRC Journal. Sadeghi, H., Mousakhani, M., Yazdani, M., Delavari, M. (2014). Evaluating project managers by an interval decision-making method based on a new project manager competency model.Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering,39(2), 1417-1430.

To Be Or Not To Be Essays (1160 words) - Characters In Hamlet

To Be Or Not To Be " To be, or not to be ... " Prince Hamlet, Hamlet, III, i, 105 The most notable line by Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet is " To be, or not to be, that is the question." Hamlet's statement defines the central theme of the play and provides the reader with insight into Hamlet's psychological dilemma. His self-inquiry is a projection of what will occur in the play. Again and again, Shakespeare brings us back to Hamlet's plight: can he act or is he paralyzed by cowardice? Throughout the play Hamlet is unable to come to a concrete resolution of avenging his father's death, whether to kill Claudius, and reconciling himself to his mother marrying his uncle. Hamlet's indecisive personality determines how he deals with these issues. At the very outset of the play, Barnardo sets the stage by posing the question "Who's there?" (I,i,3) Little does the reader know at this time that this question will be repeatedly asked in different forms throughout the play. Who is Hamlet? And does Hamlet really know who he is himself? Will the "real" Hamlet step forward and be a decisive and righteous avenger of his father's death or will he be a timid and irresolute fumbler unable to make up his mind about matters of life and death? Before Hamlet poses the identity-defining "To be or not to be" question, the ghost of his late father confronts him (III,i,105). His father's spirit informs Hamlet that: "The serpent that did sting thy father's life/Now wears his crown" (I, v, 35-39). Hamlet is now cognizant that his father's life was not taken by a wild beast, but by his own brother Claudius. . The strange appearance of his father's ghost should have been enough to motivate Hamlet to action. But Hamlet's indecisive nature causes him to hesitate and satisfy himself through investigation that Claudius was his father's murderer and usurper of his mother. If Hamlet had acted impulsively (as many would have done), Shakespeare would have deprived us of a psychological tragedy. But Hamlet's wrestling of his conscience provides the vehicle for establishing Claudius's guilt and allows Hamlet to resolve his internal struggles. Hamlet is so indecisive that he is not certain how to go about avenging his father's death. Hamlet must resolve this divided intentions regarding his father, uncle and mother and his intense emotional turmoil before he is able to act to avenge his father's death. One can see how incredibly weakly Hamlet behaves by measuring the time before Hamlet can establish even a plan of action. Hamlet is faithful I his pledge to his father, yet he procrastinates until, by chance a group of players come to Elsinore. Upon arrival Hamlet excitedly greets them, "Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsinore" (II, ii, 384). Continuing to wait for the "perfect" situation confirming Claudius' guilt is another instance illustrating Hamlet's psychological timidity. Hamlet may be anticipating a moment of truth that will never happen. Although Hamlet's plan of re-enacting the death of his father is a good idea, the promise of revenge took place long after Hamlet swore his revenge against Claudius in act one. Hamlet is afraid to take his own initiative and can only act when a convenient situation is ready-made. He cannot act on his own convictions or make the decision to act or not to act on his own. As a weak personality with strong intentions, he can only act when all the circumstances are in his favor. At the core, Hamlet is indecisive and a coward unable to act in critical situations. Hamlet is presented with the opportunity to kill Claudius in the chapel, but instead decides to wait for a better time to avenge his father's death. As Hamlet dangles the sword over Claudius he muses to himself, "And am I then revenged/ To take him in the purging of his should, / When he is fit and seasoned for his passage? / No" (III, iii, 74-96). But delay and procrastination do not work to his advantage. Although Hamlet has the intention of killing Claudius at this moment, he hesitates again and gives a lengthy speech to himself. This self-analysis is inadequate. All Hamlet can do is analyze his predicament. AS much as he strongly believes that his father's death must be redressed, he cannot take definite response. If he truly had the desire and will to accomplish his objective, he would have used the opportunity to achieve this specific task. Hamlet does not create a situation in which

Shark Killing essays

Shark Killing essays Among some of the most wasteful reasons to hunt in the world Id have to say that besides the killing of elephants for their tusks, this is on top of the list for one of the worst reasons a blue shark is killed. And sadly enough the United States is one of the top countries to blame. In Hawaii and Mexico shark finning is very common. The fishermen fish the sharks take the fins, and throw it back into the water. The fins are mainly used for fin soup as a status symbol for the Japanese. They eat it for fin soup. Since the fins contain a high dose of ammonia smell and taste they must be processed quickly and tossed back into the ocean, and a lot of times the fish is thrown back into the water alive. Conservations main cause for concern is the fact that the sharks have a very low reproduction rate. They dont typically reproduce until the age of twenty-five, and even then they only produce a few babies. At The rate these fishermen hunt them the sharks will possibly become endangered in the next few years. This is one of the most cruelest things Ive ever heard, and not just the killing of them for the fins, but that fact that they are thrown back into the water without fins. How is the shark supposed to survive and even swim? That is so cruel. Maybe someone should cut off fishermens legs and arms, and watch them try to survive. It probably would probably hard for the fisherman to survive, hed be a physical vegetable. I hope the United States does something urgently to control this growing problem before it gets out of hand. The people can do something about it by obviously not buying shark products but also by writing letters and sending petitions to congress, we could also spread the word in other ways in Japan and Hong Kong. But I think if the US stopped the finning, other countries would probably follow and sales would go down, giving the sharks ...

Global Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Global Managers - Essay Example The pro-globalization lobby argues that globalization brings about much increased opportunities for almost everyone, and increased competition is a good thing since it makes agents of production more efficient. The two most prominent pro-globalization organizations are the World Trade Organization and the World Economic Forum. The World Trade Organization is a pan-governmental entity (which currently has 144 members) that was set up to formulate a set of rules to govern global trade and capital flows through the process of member consensus, and to supervise their member countries to ensure that the rules are being followed. The World Economic Forum, a private foundation, does not have decision-making power but enjoys a great deal importance since it has been effective as a powerful networking forum for many of the world's business, government and not-profit leaders. The anti-globalization group argues that certain groups of people who are deprived in terms of resources are not curren tly capable of functioning within the increased competitive pressure that will be brought about by allowing their economies to be more connected to the rest of the world. The first phase of globalization is to integrate economically most of the populations of the world. The advantages of these phases would be the reduction of geographical inequalities by spreading jobs and business opportunities all around the word. So, the main action of actors of the first phase is world trade negotiation against protectionism. First phase of globalization: During the first phase, a global market for all products has been created. The market equilibrium between undeveloped and developed country is obtained by the currency exchange rate. Countries, who have insufficient exported capabilities, have a weak currency. Weak currencies make imported products of developed countries outrageously expensive and prevent the local population to buy them. Then, according to the neo-liberal economical theory, the effect of low salaries make the country attractive to foreign investment and the local entrepreneurship become more competitive. The local industry exports more and so the country can bear higher salary and the level of importation will so increase. This classical scenario has one major drawback: foreign currency exchange rate volatility. The currency can adjust strongly against other currency or be linked to a strong currency (the bath and the dollar) and so follow the movement up of the strong currency. Second phases of globalization: The second phase of globalization is the constitution of global governance. Today, the United Nations is the first step of the second phases. The purpose of the United

New Technology of Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 54

New Technology of Management - Case Study Example Various parts of the system are obsolete or redundant. The process at Double B Builders, for instance, entails double functions of creating information in Excel before keying the same in Microsoft Word. The management at Double B Builders recognizes the need for a new system based on ineffectiveness of the current system. Manual preparation of reports within the company remains in tandem with external demands. Organizations have to automate the entire process of managing expenses as well as accounting(Mackey &Sisodia, 2013).It is common for companies and other institutions to get significant inefficiencies because of increased costs of processing information. The high cost also includes efforts aimed at the gathering; recording, coordinating and disseminating information often undertake manually (Simmons, 2012). Therefore, top-level executives at Double B Builders placed enhancing housing processes as a top strategic priority with the aim of enhancing efficiency. The new system uses various elements of modern Information and communication technology. The process entails using web-based applications, submission, approving, and reporting of information. With the help of the new software system, Builders B moves away from paper-based solutions to electronic channels. Applications in the new software system addresses company questions in many areas including utilization, billing, compliance the company policy on entertainment and travel, client profitability, as well as aspects of rebilling expenses. The new software system increases efficiency at Builders B in many ways. The system centralizes the management of times of reporting by employees and other workers in addition to entertainment and travel expenses. The systems will improve safekeeping of policies for Builders B. The new system also helps in close monitoring to improve compliance (Simmons, 2012).

American Middle-class Squeeze Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American Middle-class Squeeze - Research Paper Example Since 1981, the federal tax laws have encouraged and supported the formation of the severe income gap. After assisting in the creation of the income gap, the same laws sponsor the richest people, thus aggravating income disparity. The country is also experiencing destructive and significant tax gap, the disparity amid what to be paid in taxes and what is paid. Political scientists and economists argue that the decline in middle-class income to several factors, entailing tax evasion since high-income taxpayers are not fully compared to other middle and low-income groups. Other factors include the decline of a strong say by the middle-class to the electioneering elite that is highly less responsive to the interests of the middle class. These leaders influence resolutions without being answerable to the economic well-being and interests of people who elected them. Other contributors of decline in middle-class income include transformed patterns of voting and the renovation of the job ma rket. While there is a decline in organized labor and a transformation in the competition system, corporate profits and salaries at top of income scale have exploded, resulting in a decline in the wages of majority of working individuals (Bullock, 2010). According to Cahn and Carbone with increasing economic disparity, novel elite has restricted the relationship amid women and men, family and work, and garnered the returns for its kids, rewards that cannot be reached by the other populace.

How Logistics Improvements Affect The Economy

How Logistics Improvements Affect The Economy Define Logistics Management and explain how logistics productivity improvement affects the economy as a whole as well as the position of individual consumer. The definition of logistics management (LM) varies from company to company but the most comprehensive definition is given by Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) as logistics management is the part of supply chain management that plans, implements, and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services and related information from the point-of-origin to the point-of-consumption in order to meet customers requirements (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, n.d.) Logistics Productivity Improvement and the Economy Logistics has become an enormously important component of the gross domestic product (GDP) of industrialized nations and thus affects the rate of inflation, interest rates, productivity, energy costs and its availability and other aspects of the economy as well. Ever changing business environment due to globalization, lead time reductions, customer orientation, and outsourcing has contributed to the interest in logistics (Hertz Alfredsson, 2003). The increase in global production sharing, the shortening of product life cycles, and the increase of global competition all underline logistics as a strategic source of competitive advantage (Arvis, Mustra, Panzer, Ojala, Naula, 2007). Moreover, in order to remain in competitive marketplace and earn reasonable profits, organizations interest in logistics has been increased. Logistics operations have become more efficient due to technological advancements which make it possible to deliver goods on time while reducing the cost involved. Global market access has been improved over the time with the advancement in technology and trade liberalization resulting in the economic growth and development of the countries. Patterns in the market competition situation are continuously dictating the supply chain flows (i.e. product, price and information flows) in a predictable, timely and cost-effective way. Global firms corporate decisions regarding which country to locate in, which suppliers to buy from and which consumer markets to enter are largely based on logistics costs, quality and service level. Therefore, the countries with higher overall logistics costs are more likely to miss the opportunity of globalization. Nearly every sphere of human activity is affected, directly or indirectly, by the logistics process. Certainly, the improved logistics is expected to have important economic effects. Lower logistics costs and services affect positively in production, distribution and trade and/or retail activities of the firms. Reduced/minimum logistics costs enable a production or distribution facility to serve a wider market area, with potential gains from economies of scale. It also means that a firm can draw supplies from a wider area with potential gains in terms of the cost and/or quality of parts and materials. Logistics costs include transportation costs, costs of owning and operating warehouses, ordering costs, and carrying costs of inventory (Consulting Decision-Economics, 2002). To understand, how logistics productivity improvement helps in boosting economic growth, the following Figure 1 represents how investments in transportation infrastructure (a sub-sector of logistics) can lead to g enerative effects and growth in the national economy. It can also be drawn that reduction in shipping costs and transit time and increase in schedule reliability can be expected to have significant impacts on inventory management at supply chain level. Figure 1: Transportation and the Economy Efficient Transportation Infrastructure Investment Increased Transportation Capacity, Efficiency, Reliability, and Level of Service Transportation Cost Savings Business Expansion (Relocation and Restructuring) Transit Time Savings (Reliability Improvement) Increased Competitiveness Increased Productivity Increased Economic Growth Source: (Consulting Decision-Economics, 2002) Consequently, the efficiency and reliability of the logistics system affects economic productivity which is the most important determinant of economic performance. Therefore, logistics industry is the artery and the basic industry of the national economic development in the world. Its development level is one of the important marks to evaluate the level of state modernization and comprehensive national strength. Logistics is the accelerator of the economic development and growth. The World Bank, with its professional and academic partners, has produced the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) to help countries develop logistics reform programs to enable trade and enhance their competitiveness. The LPI is a comprehensive index created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in trade logistics performance (Arvis, et al., 2007). Logistics Productivity Improvement and the Individual Customer In todays uncertain and changing business environment, firms must respond to changing customer need in order to remain successful. Customers expect many kinds of goods to be available with them whenever they need. When a person comes into a store with the expectation of having the desired item/article from the store and eventually walks away with or without it. If the item is either not available or in stock, there is a problem for both the retailer and the customer. The retailer loses business and the customer has to go another store/retailer for the item/article. The same situation applies to businesses buying supplies; it is costly to a business if it cannot obtain supplies when needed. To cope with this problem (i.e. stock outs) and to improve responsiveness to the customers businesses should carry inventory. But carrying inventory requires huge capital investments in constructing warehouses and insurance expenses to cover the risk of loss or damage. All of these costs are reduce d if inventory can be reduced. Inventory held in retail stores or at warehouses can be reduced if replenishment is fast and reliable. Firms that analyze their costs carefully, find that inventory and the number of warehouses can be reduced without loss of customer service by using more flexible and efficient transportation system. Such changes in a firms logistics set-up are sometimes referred to as a reorganization effect (Consulting Decision-Economics, 2002). Businesses are constantly under immense pressure to have enough stock to satisfy customers and to reduce the cost of carrying inventory as well. To accommodate these conflicting pressures, firms are left with no option but an efficient and effective logistics system enabling them reduced inventory costs while maintaining or improving the level of customer service (that is an increase in productivity). These productivity gains will not occur unless a firms management perceives that the logistics system is robust and reliable enough to support its plans. Zhang, Vonderembse Lim (2005) are of the view logistics flexibility and its components: physical supply, purchasing, physical distribution, and demand management flexibilities are related to each other and to customer satisfaction. Figure 2 portrays the relationship, how flexible logistics affects the customer satisfaction. Figure 2: Impact of Flexible Logistics Competence on Capability and Customer Satisfaction Flexible Logistics Flexible Logistics Competence Capability Physical Supply Flexibility Physical Distribution Purchasing Flexibility Demand Management Customer Satisfaction Source: (Zhang, et al., 2005) Logistics, as a business competence, deals with the attainment of customer satisfaction at the minimum level of (logistic) costs. Customer satisfaction or improved customer service, is reached as the suppliers of goods and services succeed in achieving the growing needs of consumers to deliver their products according to the ever emerging demands of the customers, not only with regards to the physical nature of these products, but also with regards to their demands of reliability and flexibility of the logistics organization. According to Lim Palvia (2001) a responsive and efficient logistics network helps the organization to satisfy their customers in a number of ways: Increase in product availability i.e. high order fill rate and promised delivery date Reduced order cycle time Reduced distribution system malfunction i.e. accuracy of billing and product delivery Distribution system flexibility Distribution system information i.e. notice of price change, new product information, shipping delay and order status information Improved post-sale product support Why has logistics been receiving more attention as a strategic function of the organisation? Discuss the key challenges faced by logistics today and identify what you see as the greatest area of opportunity for logistics, and explain why you chose this area. (Your answer should not exceed 2000 words). Logistics as a Strategic Function of the Organisation The strategic importance of logistics is well understood especially in organizations that identify customer service and not the physical product as the single output of any organization (Korpela Tuominen, 1996). For companies successful with logistics partners, a common factor overriding all others is the recognition that this business activity is an important part of marketing strategy (Bowersox, 1990). Braithwaite Christopher (1991) gave following reasons, why logistics is a strategic function for most of the organizations: Extended lead-times of supply Extended and unreliable transit times Multiple freight mode and cost options Intermediate component shipping with local added value Initially, logistics was considered to have a supportive role to primary functions of organizations such as marketing and manufacturing. But now they have stretched out to cover purchasing, warehousing and transportation activities, distribution, inventory management, packaging, manufacturing, and even customer service. More importantly, logistics management has evolved from a passive, cost-absorbing function to that of a strategic factor which provides a unique competitive advantage (Bowersox Closs, 1996). Companies committed to strategic use of logistics usually outperform the competition in speed and consistency of order cycle (Bowersox, 1990). Organizations do have some standards, they intend the customers to rely on and expect employees to adhere to. A product marketer for example, having 95 percent order fill rate, if want to increase it to 98 percent, will require a just-in-time or quick response inventory replenishment type of business strategy. Marketers will strive not only to consistently deliver complete orders to the customers at the time and location requested but also to expand the level of service to keep customers loyalty. By developing a high level of standards performance, the companies reduce the number of less-than-standard situations that have to be resolved. Moreover, high quality logistics service compliance is almost invariably less expensive than a procedure based on an expected percentage of failure that demands frequent correction (Bowersox, 1990). Advances in telecommunications and information technology have given companies the way to manage the physical movement of product over long, often circuitous, routes. Many carriers (for example DHL , FedEx and TCS Express Logistics in Pakistan) have invested heavily in track and trace systems to be able to establish the location of any consignment at any time, improving the visibility of the global supply chain to shippers and their customers. Also there is a growing competition among international companies to produce and deliver customized products and services fast and efficiently all over the world. Eventually, this will go hand in hand with an improvement of lead times to the extent that customized products have the same responsiveness as standardized products have now. Logistics has become a strategic function of the business organizations by providing competitive advantage through competence in delivery speed, reliability, responsiveness, and low cost distribution. Integrating logistics into corporate strategy has a greater effect on customer value than any other process, whereas, integrating logistics into overall organizational strategy is critical to reducing costs, entering new markets, creating customer service, and gaining competitive advantage. Logistics excellence has a significant impact on corporate profitability and firms can use logistics to create a competitive advantage. Key Challenges to the Logistics Today As businesses become more outsourced, virtual and as global customer markets expand along with the emergence of new regional supply capabilities, the need for improved skills of procurement and logistics as well as operational transformation becomes more acute. Organizations today face great challenges because the successful provision of many goods and services requires the effective integration of logistics activities across a complicating and lengthening supply chain. In recent years, most industries have recognized that substantial savings are available to companies that are able to coordinate and innovate within their logistics operations. Chiu (1995) identified following challenges, logistics systems are facing: Diversified products Short order cycle times Shipping in small quantities High frequency and reliability of deliveries Customer service orientation Low stock level and rapid inventory turnover Timely and accurate information requirements Cheong (2004) on the other hand, differentiated the challenges to logistics providers by their level of tangibility i.e. Logistics Network Configuration layer (most tangible), to Material Flow layer, to Information Flow layer, and finally to Relationship Management layer (least tangible) as shown in the figure. 3. Logistics network configuration is concerned with designing the optimal network to satisfy service requirements at the minimum cost and the challenges at this level consist of decisions regarding: number, size and location of warehouses; location; their links to the distribution centers; warehouse sizing allocation; and customer points. Second layer is material flow which refers to the movement of products from the upstream entities, via the logistics provider, to the downstream entities. Figure.3: Layers of Challenges Faced by Logistics Providers Source: (Cheong, 2004) At material flow level, the decisions on: inventory management; scheduling the transport; lot sizing; warehousing; and consolidating the products are the challenging areas of logistics management. Third layer is information flow, which refers to the flow of information throughout the supply chain and includes: order processing; information sharing; IT systems integration; Internet; and visibility. The final layer, the relationship management is concerned with performance measures and contract design. The biggest challenge in inter-company coordination is information sharing and the issue of trust (Cheong, 2004). Area of Opportunity The status of power in logistics industry is very much important in determining the future trends. In the USA, for example, the resellers and retailers have typically occupied a weaker power position in the logistics channel than the manufacturers whereas this has not been the case in Australia where the retail chains, particularly in the grocery industry, have always held the dominant position (Gilmour, 1993; Gilmour, Driva, Hunt, 1995). The opportunities for retail logistics are hence different from that of distributors. The most potential area of opportunity for overall logistics industry is information and computer technology in my personal view. Information and computer technology have had a significant impact on global logistics operations over recent years. Chiu (1995) identified five major information technologies which have become increasingly common in logistics: Point-of-Sale (POS) systems Bar Coding Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Value-Added Networks (VANs) Electronic Ordering Systems (EOSs) In addition, there are some other terminologies i.e. Enterprise Requirements Planning (ERP), Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Transportation Management Systems (TMS), productivity tracking software and Activity-Based Costing (ABC) software etc. which represent the status of IT in logistics. There are many examples of the use of WMS and other technology in warehousing, such as those systems installed at Hewlett-Packard, Malaysia Airlines, Texas Instruments, and Unilever Italia. Furthermore, there are some latest equipments as well, which are being used in warehouses and distribution centres including voice synthesizer and video text, to facilitate the receipt of an order; paperless picking warehouses using radio frequency (RF), and new transport equipments such as B-doubles scheduled and monitored by on-board computers facilitate the delivery of the order. Time-based competition has put the businesses under continuous pressure and to be successful in todays competitive environment the use of information technology has become obvious. Mentzer (1999) identified four specific strategies that organizations use in time-based competition: just-in-time (JIT), quick response (QR), vendor managed inventory (VMI) and continuous replenishment programs (CRP). Efficient consumer response (ECR) is another time-based competition strategy found primarily in the grocery industry that focuses on inventory replenishment, store assortment, promotion and product introduction. Collaborative, Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) transfers end-customer information as far up the supply chain as possible to plan upstream supply chain activities such as distribution and production scheduling. The future of logistics development is subject to collaborative logistics and virtual or fourth-party logistics. Collaborative logistics is described as a model relying on real-time information which flows seamlessly amongst all parts of the supply chain. It is generally believed that collaborative logistics between companies participating in supply chain setups reduce the cost and increase the efficiency. Virtual or fourth-party logistics is described as third-party logistics providers who act as a general contractor of all logistics activities for an organization. In either of the situation, information technology has pivotal role in effective and efficient logistics. Identify the objectives of warehousing and explain different key performance indicators for all the Warehouse activities. (Your answer should not exceed 2000 words) Warehousing Objectives A warehouse is simply a commercial building used for the storage of goods. Warehouses are normally used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport agencies etc. Warehousing processes include receiving, put-away, order preparation/picking, dispatching and inventory management. In a warehouse, storing goods in an adequate space with the proper equipments by well trained personnel in a properly planned layout results in maximum protection of items (Tomkins, et al., 1996). So the objectives of a warehouse should be: Space utilization; Equipment utilization; Maximize human resources utilization; Reduce SKU handling and maintain required SKU; Minimize companys operating expenses; Accessibility of all materials; Protection of all materials (including companys assets); In order to achieve objectives of a warehouse business, the first step is to ensure right product, in right quantity, in right condition and on right time is received. Secondly, to allocate proper storage space to that inventory that maximizes the space utilization. Finally, while shipping an order, ensure right SKU, in right quantity, in right condition and at right time is dispatched. Moreover, the efficient and effective use of equipment and human resources is of prime importance. The size, architectural design, configuration and location of the warehouse, are also the major determinants of the success or failure of the company in chasing its objectives. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of Warehousing Warehouse management is an area where logisticians can focus to gain maximum efficiency for minimum cost. Usually organizations measure their performance by analyzing if the things are going in the right way or not, and if not, what were the causes of poor performance? The main instruments for assessing performance are key performance indicators (KPIs), the specific characteristics of the process which are measured in order to describe if the process is realized according to pre-established standards. Moreover, KPIs measure the business health of an enterprise and ensure that all individuals at all levels are marching in step to the same goals and strategies. Neely et al. (1995) defined performance measurement as the process of quantifying the efficiency and effectiveness of an action or activity. There are some other reasons too for measuring performance: for improving performance, for avoiding inconveniences before its too late, for monitoring customer relations, for process and cost control and for maintaining quality. Selecting and defining KPIs is not as easy as it sounds. In the current marketplace, while purchasing business intelligence (BI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM) or business performance management (BPM) systems, there is the dilemma of choosing only few KPIs from the several hundred (or thousand) metrics that are included in the package. Key performance indicators (KPIs) reflect strategic value drivers rather than just measuring business activities and processes. Key performance indicators help aligning all levels of an organization (business units, departments and individuals) with clear targets and benchmarks to create accountability and track progress. Furthermore, they accelerate collaborative planning across the organization to ensure that everyone is operating from the same playbook. The success of any performance management program is thus dependent on selecting the correct KPIs. Selection of the wrong KPIs can result in sub-optimized results. While selecting KPs, it should be bore in mind that although all KPIs are metrics, not all metrics are KPIs. The trick is discerning between the two. In a study on performance measurement of a manufacturing warehouse, Birkholz (2004) used warehousing KPIs based on business processes: receiving, put-away, storage, order picking and shipping/dispatching. Warehousing KPIs were classified into five categories: financial, productivity, utilization, quality and cycle time. A summary of all the warehousing KPIs is given in Table 1. Table 1: Warehouse Key Performance Indicators Financial Productivity Utilization Quality Cycle Time Receiving Receiving cost per receiving line Receipts per man-hour % Dock door utilization % Receipts processed accurately Receipt processing time per receipt Put-away Put-away cost per put-away line Put-aways per man-hour % Utilization of put-away labor and equipment % Perfect put-aways Put-away cycle time (per put-away) Storage Storage space cost per item Inventory per square foot % Locations and cube occupied % Locations without inventory discrepancies Inventory days on hand Order Picking Picking cost per order line Order lines picked per man-hour % Utilization of picking labor and equipment % Perfect picking lines Order picking cycle time (per order) Shipping Shipping cost per customer order Orders prepared for shipment per man-hour % Utilization of shipping docks % Perfect shipments Warehouse order cycle time Total Total cost per order, line, and Item Total lines shipped per total man-hour %Utilization of total throughput and storage capacity % Perfect warehouse orders Total warehouse cycle time = Dock-to-stock time + Warehouse order cycle time Source: (Birkholz, 2004; Frazelle, 2002) Krauth et al. (2005) classified around 130 indicators used for assessing warehouse performance, such as storage surface, storage volume, storage racks, number and characteristics of docks, pallets per hour, pallets per square meter, opening hours, and assistance with customs etc. Liviu et al. (2009) grouped key performance indicators for warehousing into three categories: Inventory Management, Warehouse Performance and Order Fulfilment. The summary of these warehousing KPIs is given in Table 2. Table 2: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of Warehousing Inventory Management Measure Calculation Damaged Inventory (min.) Total Damage (lei) / Inventory Value Days on Hand (min.) Avg. Month Inventory (lei) / Avg. Daily Sales/Month Storage Utilisation (max.) Avg. Occupied Sq. m. / Total Storage Capacity Dock to Stock Time (min.) Total Dock to Stock Hrs. / Total Receipts Warehouse Performance Indicators Orders per Hour (max.) Orders Picked or Packed / Total Warehouse Labour Hrs Items per Hour (max.) Items Picked/Packed / Total Warehouse Labour Hrs Cost per Order (min.) Total Warehouse Cost / Total Orders Shipped Cost as % of Sales (min.) Total Warehouse Cost / Overall Sales Order Fulfilment Indicators On-Time Delivery (max.) Orders On-Time / Total Orders Shipped Order Fill Rate (max.) Orders Filled Complete / Total Orders Shipped Order Accuracy (max.) Error-Free Orders / Total Orders Shipped Order Cycle Time (min.) Actual Ship Date Customer Order Date Perfect Order Completion (max.) Perfect Deliveries / Total Orders Shipped Source: (Liviu, et al., 2009) Inventory Management measures are generally concerned with decisions regarding optimum level of inventory to be maintained. A higher value of Damaged Inventory indicator shows less effective inventory management. Days on Hand indicator shows the level of inventory in hand into number of days it will serve. It will have a lower value if contracts with suppliers are renegotiated and if are kept only the ones who are able to deliver products fast. Storage Utilization indicator shows the level of space utilization, for example, number of layers of pallets per rack. It also describes how efficiently space has been allocated to storage, dock and office. Dock to Stock Time indicates the efficiency of warehouse operations and its value can be reduced by introducing portable barcode readers and a barcode software. By solving the space related problems, both the issues related to product entry time and preparing them for delivery will be shortened. Warehouse performance indicators simply represent the operational efficiency and contribution to the overall profitability of the organization. A maximum value of Orders per Hour and Items per Hour is desirable while a minimum value for Cost per Order and Cost as % of Sales is likely to lever the profits of the organization. Order fulfilment indicators represent the firms operational performance as well as its responsiveness to the customers. A maximum value of On-Time Delivery, Order Fill Rate, Order Accuracy and Perfect Order Completion and a minimum value of Order Cycle Time shows a higher level of customer satisfaction, efficiency and contribution to the company profitability. Warehousing key performance indicators (WKPIs) can be used with benchmarking to indicate the overall state of warehouse operations. These are the meaningful measurements which can be referenced periodically to analyze the current financial, productivity, quality, and cycle time status for a warehouse facility. However, in addition to all the key performance indicators (KPIs) mentioned in Table 1 and 2, a tool is still required to automate processes in order to maximize the use of warehouse resources. This is where the integration of information technology becomes a key component in warehousing. Information technology is a key to improvement when considering world-class warehousing practices. In nutshell, performance indicators are useful for identifying the problems related to warehouse management and abnormal values of the indicators can be used to develop an efficient control system for a warehouse. The basic use of the concept is, it helps in identifying the causes of the problems and hence to diminish their impact or eliminate the causes, before is too late. It is true what is measured is managed, and, conversely, what is not measured merits little or no attention. Answer the below given questions (Each answer should not exceed 200 words): How is logistics related to the marketing effort? The marketing effort is based on the achieving organizational goals while focusing the target customers more efficiently and effectively than competitors. McCarthy (1981) popularized the idea of the marketing mix of price, promotion, product and place, the later (i.e. place) is directly related to logistics management. In providing the product to its right place, logistics plays an important role. The place component of the marketing deals a lot with customer service provided by a business, undertaking such tasks as on-time delivery, high order fill rates and consistent transit times. A product or service provides satisfaction to its customer only when it is available to the customer when and where it is needed. Furthermore, how logistics operations affect the major elements of marketing mix can be easily understood from the following figure. Product Price Promotion Place Customer Service level M A R K E T I N G Inventory Carrying Costs Transportation Costs Lot Quantity Costs Warehousing Costs Order Processing and Information Costs L O G I S T I C S Product is the set of benefits or utilities or characteristics which a customer receives as a result of its purchase. In order to increase sales or due to some other strategic decisions management may decide to lower

Love and Destruction in Alice Hoffmans Here on Earth :: Hoffman Here on Earth Essays

Love and Destruction in Alice Hoffman's Here on Earth Dangerous love was an attraction for March in Alice Hoffman's Here on Earth. The story suggests that her love is pure from the beginning and that she could only love her counter part Hollis. The twist and turns that this novel brings shows the doom that falls upon March and Hollis's relationship. The affection grows to lust and then to a need for their bodies. March and Hollis's need for the love of each other lead to each of their destructions. March begins with an attraction to Hollis that starts to break down her family life. March sees Hollis for the first time when they were both in their early teen years. March observes Hollis from a window on the first day and lays claim to him, "From now on, he's mine." (17). Hollis does not talk in the beginning of the novel. This lack of communication does not allow March to see his background. She finds out that later on in the novel that Hollis is a very angry man, "... of some other scorching scent, which March would later come to believe was anger." (19). This is a lead to March that danger is in loving Hollis. Huffman suggest that the love of Hollis and March will be difficult when Hollis became possessive of March. She was preparing for a night at the Coopers and Hollis was jealous of the relationship that she had formed. He became violent with March, "He was twisting her wrist; as soon as she shook free, she backed away. 'Leave me alone' she said." (27). Huffman knows that a love with one of the partners being jealous and possessive does not work and she makes that clear from the beginning. At that point Hollis leaves March angry while Huffman knows that love must not be built on the jealous rampage of one man. March spends years waiting on Hollis with hopes that he will return to her,"...before she knew it the pane of glass had become her universe, the empty road her fate." (28). March goes on to become another person but she knows in her heart that she will always love Hollis. This dooms her character to a life of sadness and regret. Her family is always different. March will never truly love Richard, her husband, and this strains their marriage to the extreme as the novel continues on, "I'll never be in love with you.

Mintzberg and Management Essay

Throughout the 20th century a strong focus was placed on the principles behind management with Henri Fayol’s 1916 publication ‘Administration Industrielle et Gà ©nà ©rale’ being one of the first books aimed solely at deciphering and understanding the intricate concepts of management. In his book Fayol presents his classical model of management from the perspective on an executive. Fayol lists and discusses fourteen principles of management which, although non-exhaustive, provides a guide on the execution of what he proposed to be the five elemental processes of management. These five primary processes consisted of planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling which advocated Fayol’s support of a dynamic system of management. In response to changing contexts, other new theories have been placed forward by other distinguished academia such as Henry Mintzberg (1973), John Kotter (1982) and C.P. Hales (1986) which offer more concurrent perspectives on the concept of management. Born in 1841 Henri Fayol had, after a three decade career as a mining practitioner, committed himself to the promotion of his theories on administration in 1916 through the publication of his book ‘Administration Industrielle et Gà ©nà ©rale’ up until his death in 1925. Contextually influenced by the bourgeois environment of a post revolutionized France, Fayol advocated the notion of a flexible system of management which could be applied to more than just one setting. In his book, Fayol devotes more time and focuses on the five processes of management in contrast to the fourteen management principles as claimed by (Fells, M.J., 2000, p. 358). The first element, planning, is defined â€Å"both to assess the future and make provision for it† (Fayol, 1949, p.43). He goes on to describe that this dynamic plan must take into account a list of factors such as resources, work-in-progress, and future trends. Organizing considers the functional components of organizations along with the personnel and discusses the ideal conditions required of them. Commanding considers the responsibility that falls on every manager. The goal of managers is to achieve maximum contribution from personnel towards the welfare of the company through a number of factors. An example of these factors would be elimination of the unproductive, having a thorough knowledge of personnel and their respective binding agreements and an aim to be a role model. The third element of  management is coordinating which is defined as the harmonisation of resources in their optimum proportions in order to achieve results (Fayol, 1949, p. 103). The indicators of a well coordinated organization include efficient departments which harmonize well with the rest, are well informed of their responsibilities and also work to constantly adjusted schedules based on circumstantial demands. The last element, control, focuses on the timely verification of plan implementations. This element is applicable to all the other processes and its sole purpose is to identify any complications, amend any issues and prevent future recurrences. Due to their flexibility in implementation, the correlation between the introduction of Fayol’s model and the sharp rise in US productivity levels as well as living standards supports his approach to management (Fells, M.J., 2000, p. 348). Fayol’s approach is supported by another academic source (Hales, 1989, p. 12) which claims that â€Å"Fayol grasped the essence of management† through his classical formulation of the management functions. In 1973, Henry Mintzberg provided a new conceptualization about the roles of managers through his book ‘The Nature of Managerial Work’. Through his composition Mintzberg proposed and argued that the previously accepted role of managers which adhered to a systematic approach of planning, organizing, coordinating, leading and controlling were in fact false as through his diary analysis, Mintzberg was able to demonstrate that â€Å"the manager is not a planner in a reflective sense, and no amount of admonition in the literature will make him so. His milieu is stimulus-response.† (Mintzberg, 1973, p. 182). By performing an unstructured observation and interview procedure over a two week period, Mintzberg concluded the activities of his study managers could be categorized into three sets of behaviors or roles. He conceptualized these clusters of roles as: interpersonal, informational and decisions (Pearson et al, 2003, p. 696). Mintzberg also recognizes that all managers at some time exercise each of these rules but also that different levels of managers will give different priorities to them (Mumford, 1988, p. 3). In terms of contemporary management, Fayol and Mintzberg have contributed greatly to the understanding regarding the concept of management. However  both authors are not exempt from criticisms regarding their approaches. Fayol’s approach is widely considered to be too theoretical whilst Mintzberg’s approach has been criticized for not being theoretical enough. Despite their differences in approach, fundamentally the two theories not only share the same ‘elements’ under the guise of differently labelled terms, they compliment each other in terms of validity due to the strong correlation between results regarding the behaviour of managerial positions. (Fells, M.J., 2000, p. 359) supports this judgement as the journalist goes on to state that not only are Fayol’s principles still relevant, they are interrelated at an elemental level with the model of Mintzberg. (Lamond, 2004, p. 350) reinforces this argument through study conducted on a large sample of male and female managers of different ages and at different managerial levels. Not only did the survey confirm that there were indeed a central set of manager functions, as placed forward by Fayol, there were also a generic set of managerial behaviours as proposed by Mintzberg. In concluding despite their contextual differences, Henri Fayol’s ‘Administration Industrielle et Gà ©nà ©rale’ and Henry Mintzberg’s ‘The Nature of Managerial Work’ fundamentally share the same innate elements. This is supported by the results which derived from studies conducted by academic sources such as (Lamond, 2004) as well as the research by other academic sources (Fells, M.J. 2000), (Pearson et al, 2003), (Hales, 1989) and (Mumford, 1988). Subsequently both approaches are considered valid and have without a doubt contributed greatly to contemporary management theory. Bibliography Fells, M.J. 2000 â€Å"Fayol stands the test of time.† Journal of Management History, vol 6, no.8, 345-360 Lamond, D. 2004, â€Å"A matter of style: reconciling Henri and Henry.† Management Decision, vol. 42, no.2 p. 330-356 Pearson, C.A.L. And Chatterjee, S.R. 2003, â€Å"Managerial work roles in Asia. An empirical study of Mintzberg’s role formulation in four Asian countries.† Journal of Management Development, vol. 22, no. 8 p. 694-707 Hales, C. 1989, â€Å"Management Processes, Management Divisions of Labour and Managerial Work: Towards a Synthesis.† International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 9, no. 5/6, p. 9-38 Mumford, A. 1988, â€Å"What Managers Really Do† Management Decision, vol. 26, no. 5, p. 28-30