The Importance of Employee Retention Term Paper

The Importance of Employee Retention - Term Paper Example The variation in cultural values had a significant effect on the rates at which the newly hired employees voluntarily terminated employment. The relationship between the employees’ job performance and their retention also varied significantly with organizational culture values.† (Sheridan, 1992, p. 1036) Now when the subject of organizational, or more precisely, corporate culture is included in discussing the issue of employee retention, multidimensional analysis becomes imperative. This essay is a literature research based analysis of the issue of employee retention in the global work environment. Sources from scholarly publishers have been utilized and works of reputed experts in the field have been referenced. Quality and Productivity Issue: Employee Retention The term employee retention cannot be defined in a way that does not emphasize on its multidimensional aspects. Employee retention is primarily a human resources related issue, which is an integral part of the c ultural analysis of the corporate world. Here, the word culture points to the work culture of the company, which further spans over the other important topics like business organization, strategic management, organizational behavior, etc. (Garavan, 2007) According to the experts of Management Study Guide (2012), â€Å"Employee Retention refers to the techniques employed by the management to help the employees stay with the organization for a longer period of time. Employee retention strategies go a long way in motivating the employees so that they stick to the organization for the maximum time and contribute effectively.† So, sincere hard work must be done to ensure learning and growth for the employee in his/her current job assignments and help him/her to enjoy them. Contextually, Linley and Harrington (2010, p. 145) have stated that â€Å"organizational theorists interested in the â€Å"Happy/Productive Worker Thesis† almost exclusively concentrated on the role of j ob satisfaction in the prediction of both employee job performance and retention decisions.† In the modern competitive age of stricter labor regulations and more complex corporate cultures, employee retention thus emerges as a complicated problem. Employee Retention: Extent and Importance Employee retention and organizational culture extensively affect each other. An organization has to invest funds and time to groom an individual, make him/her ready to understand its culture, and achieve his/her professional pursuits. A new employee is totally underdone and the management truly has to effort hard so that he/she can be trained. It is an absolute wastage of funds, time and energy when the individual leaves the company all of a sudden. Consequently, the human resource department has to initiate the whole recruitment process once more for the same post, which is a sheer duplication of the employment processes requiring money for the same task repeatedly. Finding the right member of staff for a company is a wearisome job and every effort merely goes waste at the instance the employee quits. (Slugoski, 2008; Garavan, 2007) Contextually, on the basis of the research results, Slugoski (2008, p. 6) writes, â€Å"Indirect costs of replacing an experienced employee with an inexperienced employee included decreased organizational performance, potentially leading to decreased customer

A football match Essay Example for Free

A football match Essay After analyzing my performance in a football match I was able to notify and identify my strengths in a game and how these had a positive effect on my performance. I have good awareness and I am also capable of running up and down the right wing to make and receive passes. Also allowing me to make successful crosses into my opponents area. I have good all over body strength and can use it to stop a defender from tackling me. I can dribble the ball in different directions and keep control of it then I am able to look up and make a successive pass to a team mate in the goal area and have an increased opportunity of scoring goals to win the match. I always dribble the ball with two feet allowing me to move inwards or outwards so I can confuse my opponents the I put my self into a passing or shooting position very quickly. I also try to use my voice as much as possible and try to communicate with my other team mates and tell them to either pass or shoot the ball. When I am in danger I am able to pass to a near by team mate or clear the ball from my teams half into my opponents half which can be difficult at certain times. I am also able to header the ball or volley the ball into my opponents goal when one of my team mates crosses the ball into my opponents goal area. I have a lot of speed and strength which can be useful in matches and is an appropriate fitness level at certain ages. I may have a lot of strengths but I do also have a lot of weaknesses in attacking and defending. When a through ball pass is made past a defender for me to run to I am sometimes not quick enough to get to it or I do not react quick enough to receive the ball. As a result the ball either goes of the pitch or my opponents team defender gets to the ball before me which can reduce my teams chances of scoring goals to win the match. In certain goal scoring opportunities I have the eagerness to move and make a hard shot but my shot accuracy is very of target and sometimes goes of the pitch or the goal keeper saves it. I am sometimes not in a ready position to receive the ball and seem to make poor contact with the ball when it has been passed or crossed to me. As a right midfielder I need to take advantage of these opportunities and score for my team to win. Into the end of the first half of the game I seem to show weakness in my stamina and seem to be out of breath quite quick. My body feels very exhausted when I finish running up and down the wing and I am unable to move around the wing area quick as I use to move before. When we lose the ball or possession I sometimes walk back on defence instead of running back to try and tackle the attacker with the ball or help my defenders get the ball back. When my team are taking a corner kick I seem not to be moving around the area so I can get the opportunity to jump up and header the ball into my opponents goal. I have a low shot power in my left foot and hardly use my left foot in matches which could be a big help in certain situations

The History of the Holocaust Essay -- World History

Adolf Hitler said â€Å"I believe that I am acting in the accordance with the will of the all Mighty Creator, by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the lord.† This is how he rationalized his malicious acts against the Jewish people in Germany. A horrendous act that would later become known as the Holocaust. The first act toward the holocaust was on January 30th, 1933, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Paul Von Hindenberg, the current president of Germany, did his best to keep Hitler out of office, but in the end it wasn’t enough. At that time the Jewish population in Germany was approximately 566,000 people. From that point on things only went down hill for the Jews in Germany. Just a few months after Hitler became chancellor and a mere week after he became the dictator he passed a law ordering a boycott on all Jewish banks, shops, offices, and department stores that would take effect on April 1st, 1933. Then on September 15th, 1935 Hitler passed a series of laws that came to be known as the Nuremberg Laws. The first of these laws was put in place to protect the honor and blood line of the German people. It stated that no Jew would be allowed to marry or participate in marital intercourse with anyone that was not of the same race. The second law robbed the Jewish people of their citizenship. Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, was a series of attacks on the Jewish people by the Nazi soldiers on the nights of November 9th and 10th, 1938. Nazi soldiers attacked Jewish homes and destroyed their businesses, not to mention the more that 200 synagogues that were burned to the ground. Nearly 100 Jewish people were murdered and approximately 200,000 were sent to concentrat... ...nihilate all the Jews in Germany. Instead Hitler ultimately left us with a lesson to be learned from his narrow minded vision. That lesson is simply this "We are all different; because of that, each of us has something different and special to offer and each and every one of us can make a difference by not being indifferent" Henry Friedman Chairman. Works Cited ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. march 15 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ Hill, Jeff. the holocaust. Print ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. .

Hand Made Music Boxes Essay

In a market where monopolistic competition exists, businesses operate in a manner wherein producers sell differentiated products from one another, yet similar. This means that the product is not homogenous. Firms can still market their products by the highlighting the slight differences in their output. The various producers in this type of market are selling their products, in this case handmade music boxes, which act as substitutes. Firms are able to control the prices in some degree within a narrow range of prices. They enter the market if the profits are attractive wherein they can maximize their profit and are left with excess production capacity. In a market where there is monopolistic competition, there are many firms, which each firm has a small market share and operates independently from each other. (Salvatore, 2007) Enterprise, natural, labor and capital are considered as the factors of production in the economy. Given a firm that operates a business in hand made music boxes, these factors of production are important as to gain profit and be able to be competitive in the market. In a monopolistic competitive market, it is assumed that all these factors of production are mobile, in which if these are not being used efficiently, they will move instantly to where they can be maximized. (Harvey & Jowsey, 2007) In an enterprise, entrepreneurial skills are needed to manage and direct the other three factors of production to enable a production of goods or services in the market. Operating a hand made music box needs skills from people that have managerial experiences that can lead the firm into a competitive advantage through effective planning and execution in producing the goods needed in the market. This will help in giving the business a competitive advantage wherein the characteristics of the hand made music box of a certain firm is made with quality than that of other firms in the market. (Case & Fair, 2007) No business can operate without natural or land as part of its factors of production. Land is where the business is being done. It can be a factory, building, agricultural land or office, but this should have a location for it to be established. An access to land is needed in setting up firms. (Case & Fair, 2007) Hand made music box business needs a factory for the assembly of parts and for storing. Moreover, this business needs a shop for the goods to be displayed so that the goods can be seen by the consumers that will buy the product. Access to land and property can raise the standard of production as well as be more competent in the market. (American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2002) Businesses manage to exist because of its labor force. Firms do need people who can do hours of work for them. In making hand made music boxes, there can be a composition of various assembly lines. These assembly lines are made up of people that will do specific parts in making the hand made music boxes of the firm. Skilled workers help the firm in having competitive advantage in the market. In a competitive market, skills of workers are important to produce high quality goods that can be sold to consumers. This will result in a high advantage of a certain firm that employs highly skilled workers over those firms that employ lesser skilled people. (Harvey & Jowsey, 2007) In every business setting, capital should be present. Capital refers to equipments used by firms to produce goods. The workers of a hand made music box business need equipments for the production of the goods. These equipments will help the production be more effective and efficient. In a competitive market where different firms compete for products being sold to consumers, a firm needs capital that will increase the quality of the product. This will make the firm more advantageous in terms of output and quality in the market. (Harvey & Jowsey, 2007) Given that the situated market is in a monopolistic competition scenario, a firm’s demand curve will intersect the industry’s demand curve at the firm’s equilibrium level of output and price. (Weins, 1999) This explains why the demand curve is relatively elastic and downward sloping, which can be associated to a flat, but not horizontal demand curve. Firms in this type of market will have less control over price to charge their output. A firm that makes profit in the short-run will break even eventually because of a decrease in demand in the long-run, which in this case will result in a zero economic profit. (Duffy, 1993) Considering the law of supply, monopolistic competitive markets might not produce large quantities as a response to higher prices. The hindrance to the positive-quantity supply relation is the market control and downward sloping demand curve among monopolistic competitive markets. Monopolistic competitive firms are considered to be price-searchers rather than price-takers because â€Å"prices will change by the comparison of marginal revenue with marginal cost in every possible price along with the market demand curve. † Prices are not placed equal to marginal revenue; furthermore, it is not equal to marginal cost and price. Thus, as a result, firms do not essentially supply more quantities of goods at lower prices. (Harvey & Jowsey, 2007) In the short-run, individual firms behave like a monopoly thus they can raise their prices leaving the consumers options to buy similar goods from other firms. As for the long-run, there is a free entry condition where firms continue to occur in the market leaving the demand curve to continually shift leftward until the time when each of the firm earns a zero economic profit. Firms earn economic profit or loss in the short run, but eventually, new entrants will be attracted to profits thus would result to losses until these firms earn zero economic profit. The hand made music box firms will compete in the market for the available consumers that will purchase the goods.

Analysis of Kraft Foods

[pic] Kraft Food Analysis of Kraft Food Kraft Foods is an American food and beverage multinational company. It produces and markets many brands to more than 170 countries, and 12 of its brands earn more than $1 billion worldwide annually (â€Å"Kraft Foods†, 2011). Most of the food products which we consume everyday belongs to this company. For instance, some of well-known brands are Jacobs and Maxwell, Milka and Toblerone, Tang and Cipso. It is the successful and popular leading food companies of the world. So, Kraft Foods will be reviewed in terms of values and promises that it communicates with consumers and employees, communication and job satisfaction respectively. Values of the company are shared among its employees. First value of the company is its employees. The company highlights the importance of its employees and their contribution to the company. It emphasized that hardworking and passionate workers, who constantly seeks ways to make content consumers by finding innovation, make the company what it was. After it, Focus, Passion, Speed, Teamwork and Trust are listed as the most important values of company. Those five values describe fundamental structure of organizational process. Firstly, focus on what is needed to improve the business and focus on what is important to make customers happy is like starting point of the process. Generating innovation according to needs is second value of the company. After focus and innovation, Passion which is motive of making better outcome in each work, the next value in order to reach the most desired outcome. You can manage focus, innovation and passion, but you also have a speed as a fourth value of company in order to compete with other food companies. As it is known in the beginning of the paragraph, employees are the key agents who make the name of brand. So, it is normal that fifth value is the teamwork. The final value of it is trust which is the fundamental block of teamwork and organizational communication. Firstly, the company promises to be open and inclusive, because it sees this value as a critical value to create a high-performing organizational culture. Being open to different perspectives make innovation easy and better. It claims that openness and inclusiveness to diversity are so embedded into their way of doing business and into every department of it. They constitute its blocks of organizational culture. Taking into account every possible different perspectives and evaluate them is one of promises which the company gives to its employees. Also, it guarantees that discrimination or harassment based on age, race, disability, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation or any other legally protected status are not allowed. If the company is able to approach diversity in a positive manner, this gives workers feeling of recognition and makes them more motivated. When we want to give concrete example, 43% of their mployees are women and 35% of management team is constituted by females. It shows us that there is no gender discrimination on hiring and it opens up to gender diversity. Secondly, it promises employees that they will be work in an international environment. For instance, they can be participated into European/International projects. Other than it, they can join into short-term overseas assignments, and then join into l onger-term assignments when they develop in their career path. Moreover, the company assures training and development programs for employees in order to reach their best level of expertise. These programs are like job training, cross functional projects and corporate training programs. It also promises giving feedback about how employees’ outcome contributes to the business in general. It is obvious that the promises of the company are motivating factor for employees. When we take into account both values and promises of the company, we can conclude that we are open to all ideas, we can discuss about them in a participative context, we can decide collectively and finally we deliver what we decided to others in order to make them be aware of what is going on the company. Their motto is â€Å"We discuss. We decide. We deliver. † The company uses variety of internal communication channels. Social and sports activities are among the practices which HR department prefer to use as internal communication channels. Employees can join sports teams and organized social events including a winter ski day, summer golfing day and a winter family fun day during the holidays. Those enjoyable events are organized by the company-subsidized social committee. They make work atmosphere better and improve communication among workers. It also creates a sense of equity, because every employee has equal access to them. In addition to this, employees can have a chance of socializing and increasing interaction with their co-workers by providing richly physical workplace which contains the fitness facility with free membership, employee lounge with foosball and television, quiet room for meditation and reflection, and a nap room for employees who need a quick break during the day, cafeteria with healthy menus and subsidized meals. While those places offer many opportunities for employees, they can facilitate the internal communication at the same time. The company thinks that every people has different ways of absorbing news and information, every people can use different channels, therefore the company must use very different channels to communicate with its employees. The Kraft Foods is relatively very successful in this issue. It uses face-to-face communication activities such as town hall meetings and lunch-and-learn sessions. Moreover, it has its corporate intranet and internal blog sites. Newsletters, news magazines and e-business updates are also available for employees. The company is also in Facebook. It shares company news. Their community involvement projects and sustainability efforts are announced here. The most important application of it is that some of the Kraft Foods team join to talk about their own areas of expertise to enable information sharing and facilitates internal communication. One of internal communication channel of the company which is very popular is iPhone. Kraft employees use their iPhones for sending email, organizing calendar, and saving contacts. Kraft employees can listen to audio messages, dubbed â€Å"Kraft Casts,† from the CEO and other executives on their iPhones. They are so useful to stay up-to-date on the latest corporate strategies and branding initiatives. It can be also very effective to improve [pic][pic][pic] downward communication. It makes easy information flow from top people in the company like CEOs to all employees. Learning company future strategies or plans by reading from a bulletin is less visual and live compared to by listening and watching from iPhone. There have been many community involvement projects within organization. Employees organized national and international charitable organizations with the support of company. For instance, in my view, the welfare activities serve two functions for the company. Firstly, they can make employees from all levels of organization together. They are one of social events and internal communication channels. They can work for an interdependent goal cooperatively during these charities. Employees from different departments can have a contact with each other and can improve their social relationships with co-workers. In this way, internal communication among employees can be facilitating thanks to them. [pic][pic][pic] Secondly, they can also become an external communication channel for the company. We can encounter much news in the social media when the company performs a charitable activity or subscribes to a relief fund. The company can communicate its brand externally thanks to this news. They can make contribution to the respectability, reliability of company, and at the same increases brand awareness at the same time. In sum, we can consider charitable organizations as both internal and external communications channels. Employer brand of the company is one of external communication channels of it. It can communicate itself through its brand name. While it creates its brand with what it did in the market, the brand creates the company at the same time. There is a reciprocal relationship between two. It can tell the reputation and image of the company in the market via its brand. At the same time, this external communication channels can be a motivating factor for the employees and for the upcoming new employees. The more famous and prestigious brand is, the more people want to work in this company. Its reputation in the market will attract the new employees. Upward communication is less applied in organizations than downward communication. Although there is an open and inclusive workplace for generating diverse ideas, we can not know whether this freedom is also seen in performance evaluation of managers by subordinates. There is not available information about whether subordinate appraisals of managers are applied or are not. Appraisals of supervisors which are done by the subordinates can give feedback about the performance of supervisors. If they take into account these feedbacks, they can be more effective in their working process and managing process. As employees start to recognize that heir feedback is taken into account, upward communication can be also provided. On the other hand, the company has spread all around the world. For instance, one manager who is from Europe can supervise the employees who are from very different and far away country. Thanks to the ways the Internet enables communications like teleconference, a manager can work for a far away office of the company (Waltner, 2010). Although it has so me advantages like company can choose best manager by basing on performance, not basing on location, it can be a barrier to upward communication. While networks for teleconference are available more easily when there is a meeting between senior managers from different departments, it can accessed more difficulty when more subordinate employee need it to communicate with managers. Moreover, the other factor is cultural differences. How much employees want to share their ideas about managers can be change according to culture. For instance, in more collectivistic culture, people can think that making criticism about a person can be perceived as offense by him. So, they don’t want to share its views about him in order to conform existing situation. They can fear of being evaluated negatively by their managers if they give negative feedback about their managers. So, suggestion or complaint boxes can be a good solution for those employees. Attitude surveys are one possible ways of improving upward communication. However, if the results of those surveys about the performance and effectiveness of manager are not taken into account by managers, they have no value (Aamodt, 2010). So, managers also organize a time for discussing the feedback with employees face to face. Although Kraft Foods has those kinds of surveys like many international companies, in my view, it can not effectively discuss its result with subordinates. Because, some employees have still reported some upward communication problem in a website that employees can report reviews about their company anonymously. One of employees says that there is low level of employee participation in decision making. Also, he suggested that the company should take into account the employee surveys (Kraft Foods Employee Review, 2011). Along with that comment, Kraft should initiate more democratic and participative style of management. It can improve upward communication if employees are able to generate ideas or share their concerns about process by including in the decision-making process. The company has all of the channels of communication which are essential in downward communication like bulletin boards, annual reports, newsletters, annual fact sheets or intranets. Although much of communication in organization is downward when compared with upward and although most of channels are available, still downward communication can not reach perfect level. For instance, although the company has a policy manuals or annual reports, they can not function properly, because they have a very technical language. Employees have to read themselves. Interactive meetings to discuss about current company news can be more effective than only transmitting corporate news and facts through written material. For instance, although Kraft Foods Senior Financial Analyst says that the company has many benefits, he suggests that it should improve communication and especially downward communication from middle management (Kraft Food Employee Review, 2011). Although the company has many channels, still some managers don’t really share essential things with employees. Some of them don’t set a proper guideline for what employee will do to achieve its goals. They don’t healthy share about what, when and how employees will do a task. They think that employees have already known those things, because they are their work. They have a problem in taking employees’ perspectives. So, people managerial positions can be received training programmes to improve their communication skill with their subordinates and make them aware of needs and strivings of their subordinates. Do employees really satisfied with their jobs? For instance, Dieter Follens who is the manager of Product Costing Coffee in Kraft Foods Europe said about the company is that it did not provide only a job for him, but it also provides a career in Finance for him. He had worked as an assistant with internal controls, a financial analyst, a cost controller, finance manager in our European Union (EU) Office after Belgium, and product cost manager respectively. This shows us that Kraft Foods provides employees job rotation. It is one of motivating factors of the company. They can satisfy the needs of growth and challenge. Employees feel less boredom and feel more motivated to their jobs. Also, they can understand better how they contribute to the development of the company (Robbins & Judge, 2011). Understanding the effectiveness of individual outcome and the significance of task which are among five core dimensions of Job Characteristic Model explains the satisfying effects of job rotation. Also, Mr. Follens indicated that awareness of contributing to the the growth f company make him satisfied and engaged with job, an even he added that when contribution took place in different ways, then satisfaction turns into real pleasure for him. His comments obviously showed us that job rotation and changes in the job characteristics make workers satisfied. This is the example of satisfied employee. It is impossible to expect that all employees feel and think same things about the company and their position. Also , Dieter works in organizational part of the company. We can analyze Kraft Food Company as focusing separately on white collar workers and blue collar workers. It is a big multinational manufacturing company in the field of food and beverage, so most of its employees are blue collars, in other words, they are hourly workers. While flexile work options were useful for professional employees, they are not good for manufacturing ones. Therefore, employee dissatisfaction was observed among hourly workers in 2001 and 2002 surveys. Fast Adapts Program was prepared in order to decrease the dissatisfaction. It provided workers shift-swapping, single-day vacations and job sharing. Changes in work options make increase in the level of satisfaction one year later (Executive Office of the President Council of Economic Advisers, 2010). The underlying factor that made this improvement was the autonomy, because it offered plant managers the autonomy in deciding the best suitable flexible work options for their own plant and implementing them. One empirical study showed that when the perceptions of nurses about opportunity of structural empowerment changed, changes in psychological empowerment and so in job satisfaction were observed. It means that employees feel more motivated to work and satisfied with their job when they can make work related decisions that will affect themselves (Laschinger, Finegan, Shamian, & Wilk, 2004). We can also form a relationship between this employee empowerment strategy and the Job Characteristic Model. It proposes that any job has five basic dimensions: Skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback. The most relevant dimension to the empowerment programs in Kraft Foods is the autonomy. It can be defined as the degree of freedom which job offer employees about scheduling the work and deciding procedures to implement it. This freedom makes employees more satisfied and intrinsically motivated to job over time by providing to them experienced responsibility and recognition (Robbins & Judge, 2011). We can observe the same pattern in workers of Kraft foods. There are basic key motivators for employees. As in the most companies, compensation and benefits are among key motivator factors of Kraft Foods. For instance, Canada Kraft offers great financial benefits like bonuses for some employees (depending on the position), new employee referral bonuses (up to $1,000 for some positions), and year-end bonuses (to $100,000). Also, it provides health benefits plan including fertility drug treatments. In addition to this, it offers an employee store with discounted food products, dinner catering services (called the â€Å"Kraft Kafe 5 O'Clock Solutions† to take home meals). Also, it provides maternity leave with 100% of salary for 17 weeks. Performance management is one of motivator factors of Kraft Foods. For instance, employees receive individual performance reviews every 6 months in Kraft Canada (Yerema & Leung, 2011). In order to evaluate employees better, managers enroll training programs how to make effective performance reviews. Also, performance evaluation is not only based on one manager’s views, but also it is based on co-workers and other managers who know the employee. In addition to this, it takes a consultant service to make employee satisfaction and engagement surveys better and professionally. In relation to performance management, the most important motivating factor of the company is the training and skills development opportunities for employees. Two motivators are very much related to each other. As the company makes proper performance management, it can organize better training programs according to developmental needs of employees. For instance, Kraft Canada offers tuition subsidies for courses that are related to employees’ position for the development of them. Moreover, it provides professional accreditations; in-house training programs; online training programs; new employee orientation program. In addition to this, the company offers skills development outside the position of employees in Kraft test kitchens like food tastings, cooking classes and culinary presentations. Also, Kraft Foods North America (KFNA) promotes intranet provides professional development resources for its employees including access to training and mentoring. Values and ethics are among key motivator factors of the company. There is an available 15 pages document of Codes of conduct and Kraft Foods Rules of Behavior in the website of the company. It is also translated so many other languages in order to communicate its compliance and values correctly and efficiently with employees from different nations. It states 10 rules which all employees have to be obeyed. For instance, one of the most important rules of it is behaving people fairly. There are some missing motivating factors for employees in the company like clear career path. For instance, Cristina Monterrey who is Human Capital Senior Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers emphasized that Pwc provide a clear career path to employees. Each employee knows what will be his position in five years. Thanks to this knowledge about their future work life, employees feel more secure and certainty. In this way, employees feel more committed to their work and companies. Other than themselves, an agent helps them organizing their future. Worries about future which can cause stress destroyed in this way and employees work passionately. But, in the case of Kraft Foods, although it provides feedback about performance and training programs according to these feedbacks, there is no available information about a structured career program for employees. In order to make employees more motivated, career plans can be provided for them. Kraft Foods Category Planner in Glenview said that Kraft Foods is a lucrative place to work, but the employees earn every cent they make due to extremely long work hours (Kraft Food employee review, n. d. ). Although he reported that there were lots of opportunities, he paid attention to work load especially for employees with a family. Long work hours can create stress problems, because employees can not balance their work and family life properly. Long hours can be a fundamental dissatisfying factor and it can harm performance along with effect of stress. In my view, there can be some modifications in work schedule. For instance, they can provide alternative or flexible work schedules. Employees start to feel more control over their work by deciding their own working hours. This autonomy and positive effect of change on family life can make employees more motivated to their jobs. References Aamodt, M. G. (2010). Industrial/Organizational Psychology. USA: Wadsworth Cengage learning. Executive Office of the President Council of Economic Advisers. (2010). Work-life Balance and the Economics of the Workplace Flexibility. Kraft Foods. (2011). In Wikipedia. Retrieved November 19, 2011, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Kraft_Foods. Kraft Foods Employee Review (2011). Retrieved from http://www. glassdoor. com/Reviews/Kraft- Foods-Reviews-E13294. htm. Laschinger,H. K. S. , Finegan, J. E. , Shamian, J. , & Wilk, P. (2004). A longitudinal Analysis of the Impact of Workplace Empowerment on Work Satisfaction. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 527–545. Robbins, S. P. , & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior. New jersey: Pearson. Yerema, R. and Leung, K. (2011). Chosen as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers and Greater Toronto's Top Employers for 2012. Retrieved from http://www. eluta. ca/top-employer-kraft-canada. Waltner, C. (2010). Networking Communications for the Global Corporation: An Interview with Kraft Foods CIO, Mark Dajani. Retrieved from http://newsroom. cisco. com/feature-content? type=webcontent&articleId=5305212. [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic]

Group Assignment Example

Group Assignment Example Group Assignment – Coursework Example Outsourcing Healthcare Decision Outsourcing Healthcare Decision Freedom County decision on outsourcing or internal provision of healthcare is an important aspect of ensuring cost efficiency, quality provision, and meeting the 8th amendment requirement for prisoner’s safety and wellbeing. From the article, it is better to keep the healthcare function internally at the Freedom County jail and not outsource. The reasons include the inability of the private companies to provide the quality of service provided by the jail owing to differences in personnel tasked with meeting the needs of the employees. The nurses at the jail have first-hand knowledge of the pain of the prisoners, and they aim at providing the best service. Outsourcing would compromise this as explained by Grace Chaudhary, the director of corrections health in Freedom County. The low staffing levels, denial of basic services to inmates, and poor quality service that resulted in Corizon Health Inc. facing investigati on and censure depicts the risks of outsourcing hence internal provision isd better (Rosselli, March 1, 2015). The other reason for the internal provision of heath service at the jail is the compassion attached to the provision of service at the jail. The use of an example of a man who commits a crime after being offered a parole for a cancer sickness to have the chance to return to prison and receive the healthcare service depicts the compassion in service delivery at the jail that cannot be replicated by a private organization that is mostly after profits. Outsourcing will present a challenge to the security and safety of the patients in terms of the possibility of private companies having employees who may smuggle dangerous substances to the prisoners in the form of treatment. When there is a poor relationship between sheriffs and private healthcare personnel reaching, the prisoners will be a nightmare that could result in death or inefficiency. The success of outsourcing is anch ored on having a perfect relationship between sheriffs and healthcare personnel, which is hard to achieve. Outsourcing does not ensure efficient delivery of a saving of tax payer money owing to the profit motive off private companies in healthcare provision for prisoners (AFSCME, 2014).ReferencesAFSCME (2014). Opposing outsourcing in corrections. Retrieved on March 30, 2015 from afscme.org/members/conventions/resolutions-and-amendments/2014/resolutions/opposing-outsourcing-in-correctionsRosselli, S. (March 1, 2015). Outsourcing neglect: Corizon’s for-profit healthcare endangers prison inmates and workers. Retrieved on March 30, 2015 from sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/outsourcing-neglect-corizons-for-profit-healthcare-endangers-prison-inmates-and-workers/Content?oid=2921905

If it was me, Mr. President, I’d Get a Grammar Lesson.

If it was me, Mr. President, I’d Get a Grammar Lesson. I have been thinking for some time that I would like to write a blog on the subjunctive.   One of my blog followers, an astute man named Gabe, was kind enough to give me fodder for bringing this topic to the top of my list. For the second time in The Essay Expert’s blogging history, I turn to President Obama’s grammar bloopers.   The first was his incorrect use of â€Å"tenant† when he meant â€Å"tenet† in his speech following the Tucson shootings (The President Makes Grammatical Errors Too!). This week I’m pointing to Obama’s statement about the texting transgressions of Congressman Weiner. Obamas Grammatical Error Said the President, according to many news sources, â€Å"If it was me, I’d resign.† I won’t spend a lot of time explaining that a more proper structure of this sentence would have been, â€Å"If it were me, I’d resign.†Ã‚   Put simply, this is a conditional statement, speaking about an event that is not sure to happen and that did not definitively happen.   Any time you see the word â€Å"if† in a sentence, watch out for the subjunctive.   The correct verb form is most likely â€Å"were.† A good explanation of the subjunctive can be found on EnglishClub.com. I also won’t spend a lot of time harping on the fact that the President used the incorrect form of the pronoun â€Å"me.† The truly correct phrasing would have been, â€Å"If it were I, I would resign.† Note that â€Å"I† is a subject pronoun.   But who really talks like that? Meet The Press:   To Quote or Not to Quote? What interests me most is the way the press handled the situation.   You might remember that when the President said â€Å"tenant† instead of â€Å"tenet† in his Tucson shooting speech, the transcription of his speech corrected his error.   In the Weiner situation the press went to bat for Obama again but not universally.   Ive created a snapshot of press coverage of the issue below. [Challenge to reader:   How many double entendres can you find in the body of this article? If you find one, report it in the comments!] The New York Times Michael Barbaro of The New York Times covered up (or worked around) the President’s grammatical errors as follows in his article, Obama Suggests Weiner Should Resign: President Obama told NBC News that if he were in Representative Anthony D. Weiner’s position, â€Å"I would resign,† according to a senior network executive. Fox In contrast, Fox quoted Obama word for word in their article, Obama Says He Would Resign in Weiners Position: I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign, Obama told Ann Curry in an interview scheduled to air Tuesday on NBCs Today. How many times do you think that one got tweeted? Youtube/Hollyscoop.com Hollyscoop.com, in the midst of making references to porn star names, fixed the subjunctive issue on its youtube video report, but did not touch the improper pronoun: Now the President is saying, â€Å"I can tell you that if it were me I’d resign†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Maybe these folks need a grammar lesson too. Pundit Press Pundit Press left the error waving in the wind, both in the title and body of its article: Title: PRESIDENT OBAMA: If it was me, I would resign. Body: Obama did not call for the resignation of Anthony Weiner, but did say,  I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign. CNN Finally, CNN’s article by Ashley Killough maintains picture perfect grammatical integrity in its headline, Obama On Weiner:   ‘I Would Resign’, but exposes Obama’s actual wording in the text: (CNN) President Barack Obama told NBCs Ann Curry in an interview to air on Tuesdays Today, that if he were in Rep. Anthony Weiners shoes, he would leave Congress. I can tell you that if it was me, I would resign, Obama said. Grammatically correct or not, Obama’s opinion surely had an impact.   Weiner has stepped down, probably due to the uncovering of his lies more than anything else. If you were a reporter, how would you have handled Obama’s grammatical error?   And why did Clinton survive his sex scandal, whereas Weiner was trampled?   The Christian Science Monitor has shed some light on this question in its article, Why Democrats turned on Anthony Weiner, but not Bill Clinton. I suppose we can all be comforted that no one (even The Essay Expert) will push for politicians to step down due to grammatical transgressions. Category:Grammar Writing TipsBy Brenda BernsteinJune 20, 2011 7 Comments Penelope J. says: June 22, 2011 at 3:05 pm Agree with the above comments. Also, Obamas use of the English language is generally correct except for the occasional slip such as this one unlike his predecessor, famous for his grammatical bloopers. For me, its a big relief to have a president who can speak and pronounce (think nucular) English correctly even though Obamas dependence on the er is annoying. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: June 22, 2011 at 6:25 pm Penelope, I couldnt agree more! Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: June 22, 2011 at 6:23 pm Thanks for your insight Eric. I wonder if Were it me or Were I to would sound stilted. I approve of grammatical errors when necessary to sound conversational. Even If it were I would have sounded a bit high and mighty. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: June 22, 2011 at 6:24 pm Rita, I agree completely! And it scares me how many educated people do not know the rules of how to start a sentence with a pronoun or pronouns. I do my best to educate when I can! Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: June 22, 2011 at 6:25 pm The Wizard of Oz the answer to all our grammatical troubles!! Love it. Log in to Reply Jarom says: June 23, 2011 at 11:05 am That was an enjoyable post Brenda. 🙂 Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: June 23, 2011 at 11:32 am Thanks Jarom! Log in to Reply

Biography of Artemisia I, Queen of Halicarnassus

Biography of Artemisia I, Queen of Halicarnassus Artemisia I of Halicarnassus (~520–460 BCE) was the ruler of the city of Halicarnassus at the time of the Persian Wars (499–449 BCE), As a Carian colony of Persia, Halicarnassus fought against the Greeks. The Greek historian Herodotus (484–425  BCE) was also a Carian, and he was born in that city during Artemisias rule. Her story was recorded by Herodotus and appears in the Histories, written in the mid-450s BCE. Known For: Ruler of Halicarnassus, naval commander in the Persian WarsBorn: ~520 BCE, HalicarnassusParents: Lygadimis and unknown Cretan motherDied: ~460 BCESpouse: Unnamed husbandChildren: Pisindelis INotable Quote: If thou art hasty to fight, I tremble lest the defeat of thy sea force bring harm likewise to thy land army. Early Life Artemisia was born probably about 520 BCE in Halicarnassus, near todays Bodrum, Turkey. Halicarnassus was the capital of the Carian satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian empire in Asia Minor during the reign of Darius I (ruled 522–486 BCE). She was a member of the Lygdamid  dynasty (520–450 BCE) of rulers in the city, as the daughter of Lygadimis, a Carian, and his wife, a woman (unnamed by Herodotus) from the Greek island of Crete. Artemisia inherited her throne from her husband, whose name is not known, during the rule of the Persian emperor Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great (ruled 486–465 BC). Her kingdom included the city of Halicarnassus and the nearby islands of Cos, Calymnos, and Nisyros. Artemisia I had at least one son, Pisindelis, who ruled Halicarnassus after her between ~460–450 BCE. Persian Wars When Xerxes went to war against Greece (480–479 BCE), Artemisia was the only woman among his commanders. She brought five ships of the 70 total sent to battle, and those five ships were forces with a reputation for ferocity and valor. Herodotus suggests that Xerxes selected Artemisia to lead a squadron to embarrass the Greeks, and indeed, when they heard about it, the Greeks offered a reward of 10,000 drachmas (about three years wages for a workman) for capturing Artemisia. No one succeeded in claiming the prize. After winning the battle at Thermopylae in August of 480 BCE, Xerxes sent Mardonius to talk to each of his naval commanders separately about the upcoming battle of Salamis. Artemisia was the only one who advised against a sea battle, suggesting that Xerxes instead wait offshore for what she saw as the inevitable retreat or attack the Peloponnese on shore. She was quite blunt about their chances against the Greek armada, saying that the rest of the Persian naval commanders- Egyptians, Cypriots, Cilicians, and Pamphylians- were not up to the challenge. While he was pleased that she provided a separate viewpoint, Xerxes ignored her advice, choosing to follow the majority opinion. Battle of Salamis During the battle, Artemisias found her flagship was being chased by an Athenian vessel and had no chance of escape. She rammed a friendly vessel which was commanded by the Calyndians and their king Damasithymos; the ship sank with all hands. The Athenian, confused by her actions, assumed she was either a Greek ship or a deserter, and left Artemisias ship to chase others. Had the Greek commander realized who he was chasing, and recalled the price on her head, he would not have changed course. No one from the Calyndian ship survived, and Xerxes was impressed at her nerve and daring, saying My men have become women, and my women, men. After the failure at Salamis, Xerxes abandoned his invasion of Greece- and Artemisia is credited with persuading him to make this decision. As a reward, Xerxes sent her to Ephesus to take care of his illegitimate sons.   Beyond Herodotus That is all that Herodotus had to say about Artemisia. Other early references to Artemisia include the 5th century CE Greek physician Thessalus who spoke of her as a cowardly pirate; and the Greek playwright Aristophanes, who used her as a symbol of a strong and uppity warrior woman in his comic plays Lysistrata and Thesmophoriazusae, equating her with the Amazons.   Later writers were generally approving, including Polyaenus, the 2nd century CE Macedonian author of Stratagems in War, and Justin, the 2nd century Roman empire historian. Photius, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinopole, described a legend depicting Artemisia as having fallen hopelessly in love with a younger man from Abydos, and jumping off a cliff to cure the unrequited passion. Whether her death was as glamorous and romantic as that described by Photius, she was probably dead when her son Pisindelis took over the rule of Halicarnassus. Archaeological evidence of Artemisias relationship with Xerxes was discovered in the ruins of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus by British archaeologist Charles Thomas Newton when he excavated there in 1857. The Mausoleum itself was built by Artemisia II to honor her husband Mausolus between 353–350 BCE, but the alabaster jar is inscribed with the signature of Xerxes I, in Old Persian, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Elamite.  The presence of this jar in this location strongly suggests it was given by Xerxes to Artemisia I and passed down to her descendants who buried it at the Mausoleum. Sources A Jar with the Name of King Xerxes. Livius, October 26, 2018.Falkner, Caroline L. Artemesia in Herodotus. Diotima, 2001.  Halsall, Paul Herodotus: Artemisia at Salamis, 480 BCE. Ancient History Sourcebook, Fordham University, 1998.  Munson, Rosaria Vignolo. Artemisia in Herodotus. Classical Antiquity 7.1 (1988): 91-106. Print.Rawlinson, George (transl). Herodotus, The History. New York: Dutton Co., 1862.Strauss, Barry. The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece- and Western Civilization. New York: Simon Schuster, 2004.

GLobal Warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

GLobal Warming - Research Paper Example That global warming has happened in the recent past is evident from the rise in the mean temperature of the earth’s atmosphere. Many ecosystems will be unable to adapt suitably to such rapid changes in climate and this will lead to extinction of some animal species. In addition to the impact on ecosystems, human agriculture, health and water resources are all being affected by global warming sparking wide spread apprehension across the globe. Scientists agree that human activities have led to release of green house gases that in turn are responsible for global warming during the last century. This has been especially marked during the last 50 years. As humans began to use petroleum and burn coal and oil to heat their cities and run their machines, levels of carbon dioxide have risen by almost 30%. The concentration of nitrous oxide and methane that are by products of farming, coming from rice fields and cattle have also risen by 10 – 15 %. In 2002 about 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions were a result of the burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation. Coal accounted for 93 percent of the emissions from the electric utility industry. Statistics show that of the total energy consumption in the US every year, almost 85 % comes from gas and petroleum products and coal. (American Gas Association) About 33% of U.S carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of gasoline in engines of cars and light trucks. Hence the second biggest sources of these green house gases are road vehicles and industries. Emissions from airplanes and buildings add their own percentages of Carbon Dioxide to the atmosphere and aid global warming. It has been found that water vapor in the atmosphere - a powerful greenhouse gas, has been increasing, due to warming caused by carbon dioxide, methane and other green house gases. Deforestation is yet another major cause of

Voluntary cooperation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Voluntary cooperation - Essay Example Investment trusts are companies just like any other company as they issue share to raise funds from shareholders, and thereafter invest that money. The difference between normal trading companies, and investment trusts is that, they invest their money in the shares of other companies. Contrary, they invest in physical assets like mobile phone networks and factories. The problem with the investment trust is that sometimes they deviate from fundamental policy without the approval of the stakeholders. In addition, securities sold to companies by an affiliated person acting as the principal (Larkins 428). In investment advisory contract, there were failures in obtaining approval of the board of directors or stockholders. As it has been noted by the stakeholders, that there were omissions and failure to present financial information, they should put in place devices to regulate such omissions. The companies should make sure that they buy securities from the principals and not the affiliat ed persons. Voluntary cooperation enables minimization of risks of life. The free markets relieve risks as much as possible by providing security against aggression. They foster it by allowing people to invest whilst enacting the insurance policies that allow people to pool and abate risks. In addition, voluntary charity is available; this enables the donation of resources to those who are less secure. Financial crisis, revealed a fundamental weakness in the pre-crisis financial architectures for managing, preventing, and resolving crises in the financial global system.

Motivation in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Motivation in the Workplace - Essay Example Motivation at the workplace changes depending on the atmosphere in the workplace. Employee motivation changes from time to time depending on the leadership structure, the changes in the workplace dynamics, the external environment, changes in culture and other similar aspects. As such, the focus of the essay is to evaluate some of the ways to induce and retain high motivation levels within various organizations.   Statement of the problem and sub problems   Motivation is modifiable from two primal aspects. One of the key ways through which the behavior can be modified is using intrinsic rewards, which appeal to human psychological needs. The use of intrinsic rewards is evident in appraisals, giving employees more challenging tasks, more responsibility, power, recognition and appreciation. Alternatively, extrinsic rewards can be used to achieve the same goal. For example, money, gifts, vacations and other similar rewards that are tangible or directly visible are effective ways to motivating employees.  Hypotheses   This study makes several unsupported truths that are require proof from the rest of the study. For instance, Motivation in the workplace is the driving force of the company that determines how industrious the company is in terms of the employees input. In addition that, the study builds in the confidence that motivation in the work place is initiated by the employer after understanding each employees potential and motivating in accordance to their uniqueness.

What were the significant issues of American foreign policy under Essay

What were the significant issues of American foreign policy under President Theodore Roosevelt Explain - Essay Example This policy of non-intervention continued until the end of the nineteenth century, when a call for America to pursue a more proactive role in world affairs, in keeping with her position as a great power, began to gain popularity. Its chief adherents were in the Republican Party, and consisted of Theodore Roosevelt, Admiral Alfred Mahan, John Hay and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, who advocated America’s adoption of â€Å"the large policy† committed to the expansion of U.S. influence and territory overseas (Raico, 1995). President Theodore Roosevelt may be considered the chief architect of America’s new foreign policy of active intervention in global affairs. Theodore Roosevelt was born on 27 October, 1858, in New York City. He graduated from Harvard and went on to study Law at Columbia University, dropping out in pursuit of interest in politics, and winning a seat in the New York Assembly in 1882. He subsequently served as Civil Service Commissioner, President of the New York City Police Board and Assistant Secretary of the Navy. As the commandant of the ‘Rough Riders’ regiment, he was a hero in the Spanish-American War. He became the Governor of New York State in 1898 and then the Vice-President under President McKinley in 1900. On McKinley’s assassination in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became the President of the United States and remained in that office until 1909. Roosevelt extended the influence and stature of the executive, introduced conservation and progressive reforms through welfare measures, government regulation of big business and his ‘Square Deal’ approach to domestic economy and social justic e. Roosevelt died on 6 January, 1919. (Miller Center of Public Affairs website). President Theodore Roosevelt embarked on an aggressive foreign policy geared to make America the most influential force in global affairs. In keeping with his diplomatic motto to â€Å"speak softly

Reading Response 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reading Response 2 - Essay Example ling is overcome, when it appears that it is a normal thing that happens daily, with people exchanging the old cars they do not want with other new ones, which is the business of Avis Rent-a-Car, a dealership company. However, the most unique element of the company is the mode of advertisements it places for the trade-ins, which almost always makes individuals ready to exchange their cars with those offered by this company, due to the luring nature of the advertisements. For the company, sexuality takes a center stage in the advertisement, while infidelity is the most apparent and common feature displayed by the advertisements. However, this exchange is aligned to the husband-wife infidelity, making anyone who gives out or receives a car from the company feel a bit uncomfortable about the exchange. The thesis of this reading revolves around the discomfort of car trade-ins, where giving up an old car that have served an individual well over the years for a used-new car is not a good idea. There are many comma splices, sentence fragments and run-ons, which affects the smooth flow of the reading, making it not enjoyable and even difficult to understand. There is a limited application of conjunctions and punctuations that would have made the reading enjoyable and comprehensible. However, the most admirable and worth appreciating thing about the reading is the fact personification has been applied so well in the reading, making the old cars elicit feelings in the reader, as they do to the car trade-in participants. The complains that the old cars wage against their owners for disposing them in exchange for other ones makes the reader feel the pain of betrayal and abandonment (Fish, 1). This feeling can easily be related with an experience I had of abandoning my friends when I had t o join college. This experience was one full of mixed feeling, since I enjoyed advancing with my studies and thus felt happy and excited to leave my locality to join college. There was also a

The Introduction to Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Introduction to Business Law - Essay Example This law is called the judge made law. In case of statute law made by the parliament judges interpret in accordance and in connotation with the facts and issues. The quality decisions come from quality of judges and the success of any trade or business if not entirely at least partly depends up on the quality decisions of the judges. Therefore the first part of the statement 'The commercial success of the City of London is, in part, dependent on the quality of the judges in the Commercial Court' is rightly said. It is not in dispute that the judges working all the areas of work in England and Wales are of the highest calibre. They have created a strong and independent judiciary which command respect nationally and internationally. However, an independent Judicial Appointments Commission will take responsibility for the selection of judges in England and Wales cannot be seen as an attempt by Governement to meddle with the justice delivering system. As of now all the judicial appointments are entirely in the hands of the Government. To have a transparent, independant judicial system it is imperative that the system must be independent from governement. If the appointments of the judges are in the hands of governement, it is quite not possible to believe that the judiciary is independent of governement. The existing Commission has not received any criticism and it proved it is efficient and successful. But the commission is assigned with limited functions such as (a) conducting an ongoing audit of judcial appointments, with a right to access every document, access to interviews and shifts and opinion in relation to every appointment. (b) to recommond the Lord Chancellar to improve the process of appointment (c) to consider complaints relating to application appointment procedures in individual cases (d) to receive coments from organisation and individuals on appointment process. With these limited assignments it could achieve limited results. Under the existing system the responsibility of appointing the judiciary is solly resting on Lord Chancellor, and Governement Minister. Commission has not much involvement in appointment procedure except as an observator. This system could not win the confidence of the public. Apart from this, as judicial appointments are made from a pool of qualified and meritorious candidates, this small group of intellectuals is dominent by white, male and a specific narrow social background. Without distrubing the standards for appointment of a judge, it is necessary to open up the system to have people of calibre from myriad social as well as legal backgrounds so as to represent the society as a whole. The commission has to see that the appointment procedures attract more women, more minority members, and lawyers from a wider range of practice. Such a system affords opportunities to all qualified candidates with the appropriate professional skills and expertise. This will instill

Reading Response 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reading Response 2 - Essay Example ling is overcome, when it appears that it is a normal thing that happens daily, with people exchanging the old cars they do not want with other new ones, which is the business of Avis Rent-a-Car, a dealership company. However, the most unique element of the company is the mode of advertisements it places for the trade-ins, which almost always makes individuals ready to exchange their cars with those offered by this company, due to the luring nature of the advertisements. For the company, sexuality takes a center stage in the advertisement, while infidelity is the most apparent and common feature displayed by the advertisements. However, this exchange is aligned to the husband-wife infidelity, making anyone who gives out or receives a car from the company feel a bit uncomfortable about the exchange. The thesis of this reading revolves around the discomfort of car trade-ins, where giving up an old car that have served an individual well over the years for a used-new car is not a good idea. There are many comma splices, sentence fragments and run-ons, which affects the smooth flow of the reading, making it not enjoyable and even difficult to understand. There is a limited application of conjunctions and punctuations that would have made the reading enjoyable and comprehensible. However, the most admirable and worth appreciating thing about the reading is the fact personification has been applied so well in the reading, making the old cars elicit feelings in the reader, as they do to the car trade-in participants. The complains that the old cars wage against their owners for disposing them in exchange for other ones makes the reader feel the pain of betrayal and abandonment (Fish, 1). This feeling can easily be related with an experience I had of abandoning my friends when I had t o join college. This experience was one full of mixed feeling, since I enjoyed advancing with my studies and thus felt happy and excited to leave my locality to join college. There was also a

Mobilization of Bulgarian women after the fall of communism (in Essay

Mobilization of Bulgarian women after the fall of communism (in Bulgaria) - Essay Example In fact, Bulgarian women contribute higher population of work force than the males. On 1987, women work force comprise of 71.7% of the population while there were only 68.5% of from the male counterparts1. However, in the most recent years, the percentage of Bulgarian women's work force populace dropped gradually. This is because during the time that most women were part of the working population, many business establishments and/or employers have realized the broader roles that women had to play at home and at work. In Bulgaria, women have a wide range of domestic roles. Aside from the fact that they have to bear and take care of the offspring, they still have to manage all the household duties. They have to take care of the domestic needs of the husband and of the children. They have to ensure that all the things concerning household are well taken care of. Needless to say, domestic roles must come first before the women can attend to their duties as paid laborers 2. Before, because women were one of the biggest members of he working force of Bulgaria, the government have provided a number of benefits for the women, as a gratitude for their double-faceted roles in the country - being the "producer and the reproducer". This prompted for the establishment of maternity leaves in this part of Southeastern Europe. Moreover, alternative work schedules and child care were also formulated3. B But because there are more women paid laborers during that time, more companies had to suffer in terms of growth and earnings. More so, it was reported that although most Bulgarian women were so keen to working, they passion to work diminishes as they started to build their own family. "women place high value on women's paid labor as a source of independence and personal fulfillment; however, it also appears that for most Czechoslovak women a home and children are of greater importance than a job"4 At the same time, in response to the global perspective of working towards a market economy, more companies have to ensure that the company's allocation of resources is handled properly and efficiently. The cal for "stabilizing and restructuring measures including price liberalization, liberalization of imports, private sector growth, macroeconomic anti-inflationary policy, and internal convertibility" was enacted. The stabilization and structural adjustment of the companies established a series of change for the women labor force. Gradually, more and more companies opted to hire male workers than females5. The implementation of "neo-liberal type of economic restructuring" in Bulgaria has affected its women populace. There were reports rendering that "the marginalization and/or exclusion of women incurred by cutbacks in state-funded services such as health care, child care, family planning, education, and sectoral restructuring with heavy reductions in bureaucracy and civil services" was experienced mostly by women6. Further research revealed that eventually, Bulgarian women who are in the labor force

No More Homework Essay Example for Free

No More Homework Essay Homework has historically been given to students to reinforce what they learn at school, and ultimately to help them learn the material better. However, too much homework is not helpful, and can be counterproductive. Excessive amounts of time spent on completing homework can take away from a students social life, family time, and limits participation in sports or other activities. The amount of homework a teacher can give to a student should be restricted, and only assigned due to necessity. Critically acclaimed author Tamim Ansary reports that since 1981, the amount of homework given to the average sixth grader has increased by more than fifty percent. Many people claim that the increase in homework dates as far back as 1957, when the Russians launched Sputnik into outer space. The new competition that resulted served as incentive for schools to try to increase the difficulty of the curriculum. With harder classes came more homework (Ansary). Many teachers defend large amounts of homework, claiming that it helps prepare students for a world that is becoming increasingly competitive. However, Dr. Kralovec, author of The End of Homework argues that doing homework during high school has little or no effect on successful study skills of students in college. College students have only a few hours of class a week and lots of daytime hours in which to study. She says the college schedule is nowhere as grueling as in high school. In addition, the average adult does not return home from the office with three or more hours of work to complete (Kralovec). Excessive amounts of homework can be harmful to kids both physically and mentally. A lot of homework usually means a lot of books to carry. Fifty-five percent of the Massachusetts children surveyed by researchers at Simmons College carry loads heavier than fifteen percent of their body weight, the suggested limit. Carrying large amounts of weight daily at a young age can do a lot of damage because bones are still in development. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported that in 1999, more than 800 kids were treated in emergency rooms for backpack-related injuries. Many of these injuries can lead to serious problems later in life including chronic shoulder, neck, and back pain (“Children”). The large amount of homework is causing kids in both high school and junior high school to be up until midnight or later. When extracurricular activities such as sports, clubs, etc., are added to the picture, kids may even have to wake up early the next morning to finish their homework, leaving them with an insufficient amount of sleep. Some parents and teachers argue that it would be beneficial to a child’s academics to limit after school activities. However, cutting back on the few hours a week teenagers use for exercise could be a factor in the growing obesity rates (Igo). Homework also takes away from time that a kid could be spending with his or her family. Rather than spending time bonding and building strong family relationships, parents and children argue over homework. Time is taken away from important elements of daily life. This time is particularly precious in families with two working parents whose time with their children is limited. This time could be better spent going out to dinner as a family, or doing other activities that most families are not able to do because the kids do not have time to take a break from their homework schedule (Igo). When busy work assignments are given carelessly and frequently, it causes students to lose interest in the subject. Negative results can also occur when a student is not able to complete his or her homework. Many times they will resort to copying homework, having others do their assignments, or cheating on tests. Bad habits such as these are likely to follow kids through their lives and have an effect on their moral judgment. With no consequences to these actions students will almost always take the easy way out when it comes to homework (Kralovec). The use of homework is effective when used by the rule less is more. Overwhelming students with loads of homework can cause them stress and possible physical injury. Homework takes away from the small amount of time kids get to spend with their parents and siblings. A limit on their physical and social activities can also take a large toll on their lives, and could hinder their health and future relationships.

Effects of Technology :: Computers Society

Effects of Technology The technology which surrounds almost everyone in the modern society, affects both work and leisure activities. Technology contains information that many would rather it did not have. It influences minds in good and bad ways, and it allows people to share information which they would otherwise not be able to attain. Even if a person does not own a computer or have credit cards, there is information on a computer somewhere about everyone. The technology which is just now beginning to be manipulated and harnessed is affecting the minds of small children and adolescents in ways that could be harmful. It is affecting our immediate future. It also gives another form of communication and exchange of information which was not available before, information that is both good and bad. Technology is one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is transforming our lives and shaping our future at rates unprecedented in history, with profound implications which we can't even begin to see or understand. Many different elements affect how satisfied we are with our lives. The impact of technology on these elements can change how safe, healthy and happy people feel. Throughout history, people have looked for better ways to meet their needs and to satisfy their expectations. Technology has improved the way people feed, clothe and shelter themselves. Technology has also changed other aspects of everyday life, such as health care, education, job satisfaction, and leisure time activities. People have used technology since they first chipped stone blades to improve their hunting. Yet some people call the current age the "Technological Age" because of society's dependence on technology. For the first time in human history, almost all the goods and services people use depend on technology. The products of technology are available to almost everyone in society. The economy of a country influences how the people of the county live. Technology is often considered the key to a nation's economic growth. Most economists would say that it is one of the factors in economic growth, but they would probably disagree about its importance. Many economists think that if technology sparks growth in one sector of the economy in the form of increased productivity, growth will also occur in other sectors of the economy. Jobs may be lost in one industry, such as agriculture but new jobs may emerge in other sectors of the economy.

The Affect of Acupuncture on the Nervous System :: Biology Essays Research Papers

The Affect of Acupuncture on the Nervous System Acupuncture is an ancient practice which arouse in China at least two thousand years ago and has been used since then by healers to cure people of their ailments. The art is focused on the Qi (pronounced chee), which is the energy flow through the body. It is believed acupuncture helps to stimulate different areas of energy flow which can help cure pain and sickness(1). Although acupuncture has been around for a long time the validity of the techniques and results has been questioned by many medical specialists. Only fairly recently (mid 20th Century) did this practice come to the United States and it has yet to be accepted as a certifiable medical practice. Even though this is the case, acupuncture has been used to help treat asthma, myopia, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, stroke and obesity, just to name a few (5). Although the healing affects of acupuncture aren’t fully understood, they have been tied to different physiological changes in the body. As mentioned earlier, the natural energy in the body, Qi, is the focus of the treatment. Qi is connected to the ideas of Yin and Yang, which are two forces that offer balance to life. Yin and Yang have to be together because a disturbance in the relationship leads to disease (1). The image of Yin and Yang demonstrates how they have to be connected, represented by the white and black halves, each with a small circle of the other color. In this belief if the balance of energy in the body is thrown off, then the body becomes weak and sick. In Chinese medicine, when you restore the Qi in the body then health will return. The practice of acupuncture involves sticking very fine needles at different predetermined spots on the body: 365 points in a human body. These points have been uncovered over thousands of years but can not been seen through dissection or microscopy (6). It is believed that the insertion of needles at these points causes the Qi to move to the point. It is said that when a person is experiencing pain, that there is a blockage in the Qi in the body and that the acupuncture returns the flow to normal (1). Many of the acupuncture points are located only millimeters from peripheral nerves in the skin, others are very close to arteries.

Samsung: Building a Great Brand

Samsung: Building a Great Brand Presented By: Michael Baccus, Marcial De Castro, Judith Dupin, Monica O’Neil, and Jose Santillan Marketing Management- MAR 3023-P80 October 5, 2011 Samsung grew its brand equity by 186 percent in just five years from 2000 to 2005. â€Å"Brand equity is the value of the brand name, its worth as an asset to the company. † (Marketing Principles, 2011, Module 6 p. 1). When new management came into the South Korean based firm, it scraped the all the various brand names that the company was selling low end electronics under, and consolidated by branding all of the company’s products as Samsung. Ten years later,Samsung is a force to be reckoned with to its competitors and a global brand name. However, the decision to only use the brand name Samsung is not the critical key to its success. Samsung has focused on innovation and product design to build its brand equity and it is working. Samsung implemented different innovative ways to inspir e and deliver great designs. The former chairman hired hundreds of new designers, implemented usability laboratories, and opened design centers around the world. The investment in product design, the progressive culture, and Samsung’s ability to step outside the box has all been invaluable in uilding a great brand. The critical activity in the process of Samsung’s transformation into a world- beating developer of new cell phone handset designs and other product line designs was its innovation with investment in product design and quality. Samsung built its brand into a superior brand by thinking and acting outside of the box. Instead of focusing on textbook product development funnels, it focused on more cutting edge methods such as the implementation design centers staffed with highly trained, creative, and skilled young designers and no bureaucracy to get in the way of design and innovation.According to Roll (2011), â€Å"Samsung has created a strong brand around in novation, cutting edge technology and world class design. † (para. 1). Samsung Chairman Lee Kun Hee concluded that â€Å"great design and innovation would be the way to build Samsung into a great global brand,† and he was correct (Marketing Principles, Module 6, p. 1). Instead of forming panels and hiring managers or more marketers to come up with new gimmicks, he hired hundreds of designers. The designers were from prestigious colleges of design and had an average age of just 33. The design force at Samsung multiplied y over 400% to over 400 designers in 10 years. This out of the take on product development allowed Samsung to transform its product line into world class. Competitors such as Sony have also followed in Samsung’s footsteps. According to Kunkel: â€Å"With nearly 250 industrial designers; graphic, packaging, and logotype designers; user- interface specialists and Web designers working in offices from Tokyo to San Francisco to Cologne, the Sony Desig n Center is responsible for nearly 2,000 new products, concepts, packaging schemes and design strategies every year, driving sales of products nd services totaling nearly $50 billion per year† (Product Description, para. 2). Although Sony also employs a lot of designers, Samsung still leads the industry in allowing their designs to inspire innovation. Samsung’s progressive culture of effective, efficient, and fast implementation is part of its advantage over competitors. According to the dynamic theory of competition presented in Marketing Principles (2011): â€Å"Suppliers with an insatiable improvement drive are more competitive. † â€Å"Suppliers who implement effectively, efficiently, and faster are more competitive. † (Module 1 p. 6).Samsung changes its product line three times as fast as its competition such as Motorola. Samsung has shown agility, according to Marketing Principles (2011) â€Å"†¦ i. e. the ability to implement change to change processes to introduce new technologies, new skills into the organization very quickly and effectively† (Module 1 p. 7). Change is managed very well at Samsung and they have lower manufacturing cost on top of their time to market being faster than that of competitors. Samsung avoids bureaucracy at its 24/7 design centers. Designers can work through problems without being delayed by non-productive orporate presentations and politics. Samsung has a constant focus on improvement and being faster and implementing the next innovation before the completion. Fackler (2006) explained, â€Å"†Our TVs are better,† Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony's chief financial officer, said in an interview earlier this year. †But Samsung's cash flow is amazing. It is hard to invest in and develop products† at the same pace as Samsung. † (para. 23). Samsung’s use of usability laboratories have been key in its market orientation skills and understanding the user interface. Sa msung does not follow the textbook best-practice of product development, which is idely now considered â€Å"yesterday’s best practice† in product development. According to Marketing Principles, Samsung uses concurrent engineering and fast prototyping in an around the clock approach to problem solving (Module 6 Case 2 p. 1). The traditional best practice only produces a success rate of 50 percent in product development. This out dated way of thinking is burdened with â€Å"gates†. These gates are where bureaucracy in an organization can delay forward movement of the product design. Samsung has â€Å"decentralized† and broke away from this way of development.It is actually criticized in the case study with the example of the use of Samsung’s design centers. Product development is free to develop in a creative environment without lawyers or other hold ups. Samsung has taken its out of the box approach and its investment in design and turned it into p rofits. As Marketing Principles explains, according to the current CEO of Samsung â€Å"we still have a lot of things to do before we are a great company. † (Module 6 Case 2 p. 2) With that approach and its constant drive to beat itself, The Samsung brand equity is likely to continue to grow. References:Marketing Principles. (2011). Portsmouth, NH: Backbone Press Frackler, M. (2006). Electronics company aims to create break-out product. The New York Times, p. C. 1. Kunkel, P. (1999, September 4). Product Description [Review of the book Digital Dreams: The Work of the Sony Design Center]. Amaonz. com. Retrieved from http://www. amazon. com/Digital-Dreams-Work-Design-Center/dp/0789302624 Roll, M. (2011). Samsung: Building brand equity through brand community. Venture Republic. Retrieved from http://www. venturerepublic. com/resources/Samsung_Building_brand_equity_through_brand_community. asp

Pestle Zara

Pestle Analysis of Zara SOE11108 Sources of Competitive Advantage Assessment 1 Group Presentation PESTEL – Analysis [pic] Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Overview 3 3 Business Environment 3 4 Political 4 5 Economic 4 6 Social 5 7 Technological 6 8 Environmental 6 9 Legislative 8 10 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction The global apparel market is a consumer-driven industry. Also, globalization and new technologies have allowed consumers to have more access to fashion. As a result, consumers are changing, competition is fierce, and companies are evolving to meet these demands.Zara, a Spanish-based chain owned by Inditex, is a retailer who has taken a new approach in the industry. With their unique strategy, Zara has the competitive advantage to be sustainable. In order to maintain that advantage and growth they must confront certain challenges and face traditional retailers in the apparel industry. So, now our group will analysis the PESTLE of Zara Company. (Lopez & Fan, 2009) Ov erview Zara is one of the largest international fashion companies and belongs to Inditex, which is one of the largest fashion retailers worldwide.Inditex operates in textile design, distribution and manufacturing. (Inditex, 2011 b) Zara operates in 78 countries worldwide with 1557 stores in the world’s largest cities. (Inditex, 2011 c) The company is founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega, located in Spain and had in 2010 a net sale of 8. 088 million of euro. (Inditex, 2011 a) The have worldwide 1557 stores in 78 different countries. (Inditex, 2011 a) Aim: democratize fashion, offering latest fashion, medium quality and moderate price (Lopez & Fan, 2009)Structure: customer oriented, satisfaction of consumer needs (Mazaira, Gonzalez, & Avendano, 2003) Business Environment Global textile and clothing industry (Lopez & Fan, 2009) with 900 billion Euro in 200 worldwide (Ghemawat & Nueno, 2006). Main competitors: H&M, Gap and Benetton (Ghemawat & Nueno, 2006) Dynamic and innovative sec tor (Nordas, 2005) High quality fashion market vs. lower quality products (Nordas, 2005) Production in Europe vs. Production in low cost (Nordas, 2005) PoliticalInternationalisation: The key pull factors that explain the internationalisation of Zara include Spain’s entry into the European Union in 1986, the globalisation of the economy and thus potential economies of scale, the homogenisation of consumption patterns across countries – Zara’s belief is that â€Å"national frontiers are no impediment to sharing a single fashion culture† – and the abolition of barriers to export as well as the development of information technology (Lopez & Fan, 2009). Indian Market:India provided open market for Zara as Indian government is willingly to provide foreign investment in their country, but Indian Govt. Has their own policy which are to be adhered by organizations as Zara formed joint venture with TATA (Shah, 2011). Economic Production NOT transferred to lo w cost locations Zara resisted the industry-wide trend towards transferring fast fashion production to low cost countries like for example China. Zara states that this gives the greater control as it controls most of its steps on the Supply Chain, designing, manufacturing and distributing of products (CNN, 2001).In the UK 50% of the product Zara sells are manufactured in Spain, 26% in the rest of Europe and 24% in Asian and African countries > clothes with longer shelf life like for example basic t-shirts are outsourced to low cost suppliers mainly in Asia and Turkey (Business Week, 2006). Zero Advertising Policy The most unusual company policy is its’ no advertising policy. It is worth noticing that Zara competitors rely heavily on costly advertising campaigns. However, Zara prefers to invest money in opening new stores instead (CNN, 2001). Producer of about 11 000 items annuallyThe product range of Zara company is significant. It produces nearly 11 000 items annually whilst its competitors produce only about 2000 – 4000. Moreover, Zara changes its designs every 2 weeks which encourages customers to repeated visits and builds the brand loyalty. An average high street store in Spain expects customers to visit three times a year. It is 17 times for Zara. (The Guardian, 2002). Shortening Product Life Cycle Additionally, Zara needs just 2 weeks to design a new product and get it to the stores whilst industry average is 6 months (Business Week, 2006).To sum up, Zara breaks all the rules but this strategy proves to be successful as Zara is one of the biggest retailers in the industry. REFERENCES LIST entrys Social Rising of income With the rising of disposable personal income, people began to pursue a high quality and comfortable life. This tendency provides Zara quite wide market share. Personalized consumption become the mainstream of society. The strategy of ZARA, â€Å"a small amount, variety, cheap,† is a major guarantor of its success. Fa st fashionRegarding the design strategy, an article in Business world magazine describes it as follows: â€Å"Zara was a fashion imitator. It focused its attention on understanding the fashion items that its customers wanted and then delivering them, rather than on promoting predicted season's trends via fashion shows and similar channels of influence, which the fashion industry traditionally used. † There will be a 0. 7% depreciation of fashion products every day. A new product, from design to produce, logistics operation and the final sale, only need 2-3 weeks in Zara. Affordable fashionAn increasing number of people pay more attention to fashion. But fashion is a masterpiece of top designers, only a few people can afford it. The designers of ZARA will follow these fashion elements and design their own product, which most consumers can afford it (Baidu, 2010). Technological R&D and Production 1. Fast production: Deliver within 6 weeks instead of 6 months which is the delive ry time from Zara’s competitors (Ghemawat & Nueno, 2006). 2. Zara has only 20 suppliers which accounted 70% of their products. The other companies have for example more than 200 different suppliers.Therefore it’s easy for Zara to control their suppliers. Logistic 1. Own distribution centre with an order to delivery time of 24 hour for Europe and 48 hours to USA and Asia (Tokatli, 2007). 2. The shops receive two deliveries from distribution centre. That allows the shops to have low inventory and a high turnaround within the shop (Lopez & Fan, 2009) (Ghemawat & Nueno, 2006). Flexible Supply Chain 1. Vertical integrated and controls its entire production chain. One important effect of the control is to re reduce the bullwhip effect. (Ghemawat & Nueno, 2006) . Zara has very short lead times. The Agility of their supply chain enables Zara to deliver from product design to sale within 2 weaks for repeat or 5 weeks for new products (Mazaira, Gonzalez, & Avendano, 2003). Envir onmental Zara wants to help the sustainable developments of the society and the environments with which it interacts. This commitment to the environment is a part of the Inditex group corporate social responsibility policy. Objectives and Actions: At the sores: Zara saves energy and lot of care has been given to make the stores eco efficient.Development of efficient management models for their stores that proposes measures to be applied to all processes, from the design of the store itself, the lighting heating or cooling system equipment, to the possible recycling of furniture and decoration. Use of paper or biodegradable plastic bags 90% of the bags Zara gives out to customers are made of paper. 1. Reduction of waste and encourages recycling Millions of hangers and security tags are processed each year additionally both the cardboard and plastic used are recycled. 2. Increasing awareness among the team membersHeighten employee’s awareness of the need for sustainable practic es such as trimming energy consumption, using sustainable transport or modifying habits. With the product 1. Use of ecological fabrics, like organic cotton. Zara Supports ecological agriculture and uses organic cotton in the production of selected items of clothing (100% cotton, completely free of pesticide, chemical agents and bleaches). With a distinctive label these products can be identified very easily at the stores. 2. Producing PVC –free footwear No petroleum derivatives or non-biodegradable materials are used in producing the footwear.In the transport Zara’s fleet of Lorries transport over 200 million items of clothing annually and uses 5% biodiesel fuel, reducing emission of CO2 into the atmosphere by more than 500 tones. Animal welfare policy All the animal products, including fur and leather sold at Zara come exclusively from animal reared in livestock form and never from animal sacrificed for skin sale. (Zara, 2010) Legislative Plagiarism plagiarism in the fashion industry has become a huge issue. Trends are often copied and cheaply as well as illegally sold in the street. Global expansionAs the European market has a well working trade and legal system facilitating business operations in member countries, other countries globally will not offer the same securities, especially in communistic countries the threat of losing a private run company to the local government is very real. REFERENCES ? Conclusion ZARA was just a small Spanish dress shop, but now, the little-known brand has grown into a leader of the apparel market. Now the footprints of ZARA have around more than 60 countries. The big design group, unique strategy, environmental management idea and other operational strategies make ZARA success.

Customer Service Essay

1. The key concepts and topics in this course that have made me a stronger candidate to continue in the business world would be what I have learned from the units dealing with: Diversity, Customer Behavior, Customer Loyalty, and Exceptional Service: I have learned that customer comments, good or bad should always be taken into consideration, addressed and handled appropriately. Comments can provide insight to the thought process of the customer and it could help improve not only the customer service department but the product as well. The success of a company relies on the customer. Relationship Building and Solving Customer Problems: Satisfied customers will remain customers until there is a better option offered to them. Loyal customers establish an emotional connection with a business and/or company. Their loyalty is motivated by their experience with the products and the service. Customer service is what a company or business provides; customer loyalty is the result of the service. Extraordinary approaches to customer service is to go beyond the customer’s satisfaction, and make every attempt to surpass the customer’s expectations every time. A company earns customer loyalty by molding the shopping experience to the needs of the customer. Customers have a tendency to patronize companies that interactive with them in a positive, meaningful, personal manner. Many companies offer their customers loyalty programs such as; reward programs. This method can ensure a company keeps their current customer base and entices possible new customers. The Impact of Communication Styles on Customer Services:  A business cannot afford to lose customers because of a lack of customer service, but many do. Customers remember how they are treated and pass the word along, good or bad. Once a customer has been treated poorly they are likely not to return to buy from that business again, even if that business has what they need. When customers are satisfied, it is probable that they will spend more on the product or service and keep returning to that business. Customer service representatives (CSRs) play a big role in keeping, and bringing customers to a business. That is why it is essential to train customer service representatives in effective communications styles and skills because they are the liaison between the customer and the business. The CSR’s communication skills can impact the decision of a customer’s loyalty and the right communication style can be helpful in avoiding conflicts. Communication styles are methods in which a particular individual converses with another individual. Great service requires effective communication styles, and skills. Having a combination of these elements will guarantee that the right message is conveyed in a way that ensures the customer receives and understands it correctly and as intended. 2. Discuss how this course has affected you in your professional development as a student and as a person as well as encouraging you on your academic path. This was a very beneficial, educational and informative class. I have chosen the legal  field, more specifically, paralegal studies. I currently work for a bankruptcy law firm and I have learned a great deal since I have been employed there. I have 30 plus years work experience and a great work ethic. With what I have learned in this class, my work ethic, and common sense, I believe I will be successful as a paralegal. I have learned the importance of maintaining professionalism. This class has reinforced my desire to continue in the legal field and has helped me in interacting with clients, co-workers and the attorneys I currently work with. My skills in listening, communicating, observing and relationship building have improved by taking this class. I would recommend a class in customer service, regardless of the professional field one decides to enter into. I believe it would be very insightful and valuable.