Production of Food in the Future Essay

The idea of feeding a population of 9 billion by the year 2050 is daunting. Consider the United Nations’ estimate that 1 billion people in the world today are hungry. The average number of malnourished people worldwide between 1990and 2006 is 850 million with the high point of 1.023 billion hungry people, reached in the 2008 crises. Before we can determine if we can feed 9 billion people in 2050, is it not a better question to ask: â€Å"Have we met the needs of our current population?† Increases in population growth, higher food prices due to increased demand, and rising poverty levels both in the US and internationally are all obstacles that need to be controlled. To begin with, strategies mentioned in â€Å"The Future of Food† need to be put to use, in order to overcome the challenges we face in meeting the growing demand for food. Elizabeth Dickinson states, â€Å"the world is always on the verge of a food crisis† (144). The population in this world is growing larger and larger everyday, so imagine how much food production would need to increase to feed 9 billion people by 2050. For example, in Elizabeth Dickinson’s info graphic essay, the largest number of respondents voted that the world would need to increase its food production by 70 percent. That is an enormous percentage because we would need to start increasing the production from now, so by the time 2050 comes around we will have increased by 70 percent. If we delay the process of starting to increase the food production then we will probably still won’t be able to feed the whole world in the future. As the population grows, increased demand will lead to higher food prices. For example, at any time demand for a commodity rises, prices generally surge. On the other hand, at any time demand for a commodity goes down, prices decrease. The cycle works the same with supply. An increase in supply on constant demand will cause a decrease in prices while decreasing demand will cause an increase in prices. In other words, if there is too much of the same supply but little demand then the price will go down, rather than having too much of the same supply with very high demand, prices will go up. People often ask, â€Å"What’s going on in the world today that is causing this food production problem to happen?† The answer remains, the population growth. A few examples of what has caused food prices to rise so high are: China and India have the largest and quickest growing populations generating demand for food from around the globe, so impact on prices has been raising demand from these countries, the Japanese tsunami and earthquake drove up seafood prices by 6%, and vegetable prices rose 50% month due to crop damage in Australia, Russia, and South America. If these prices keep rising we will not be able to feed the whole world and we will still have hungry people in poor countries. Elizabeth Dickinson states, â€Å"Poverty is the main problem. Even when food is abundant, many go hungry because of the lack of income to purchase food† (146). To cut down the global hunger rate, ten respondents voted that the international community should promote broader economic growth. In other words, we should produce a wider and vigorous quantity of growth. Strategies we can use to face all these challenges are genetic engineering, stress-resistant breeding, and the use of ecosystems in farming. The Green Revolution, which did not bypass Africa, is another problem facing food production. Elizabeth Dickinson proclaimed, â€Å"It failed because expensive hybrid seeds and fertilizers quickly degraded soils and impoverished small farmers† (147). This Green Revolution was ineffective. The use of fertilizer increased significantly, while per capita agriculture decreased dramatically. Yield continued to stay stationary in throughout Africa in the main crops such as maize, rice, wheat, etc. The green Revolutions impact on farming and food production has caused virulent disputes. Some people argue that it has saved many lives by enlarging agricultural productivity, while others argue that it ha made a catastrophic impact on small farmers. It has also effected the environments by â€Å"generating a massive global market for seed, pesticide, and fertilizer corporations† (GRAIN). Experiments studied in the past have came to the conclusion by stating, â€Å"a main reason for the inefficiency of Africa’s agriculture is that the crops on the great majority of small farms are not the high-yielding varieties in common use on the other continents† (GRAIN). Lastly, in â€Å"What Do We Deserve?† all of the different models of economic justice relate to â€Å"The Future of Food† by Elizabeth Dickinson. The first model is the libertarian model. This model is about the inequality of people and how different races, classes, genders, and people with different sexuality preferences don’t have the same opportunities and don’t start out their lives the same. For example, people of different classes either grow up rich, middle class, or poor. Arora states, â€Å"So while the racetrack may look nice and shiny, the runners don’t begin at the same staring point† (87). The second model is the meritocratic model. This model is about how some people are already born with talents and attributes while others don’t have that advantage. Those who do not have those advantages have to work hard to earn their wins. For example, society does not give as much praise to a person who isn’t born with a talent or attribute than they do to those who already have it in them. Arora expresses, â€Å"Are their wins not as arbitrary from a moral standpoint as the wins of those born with silver spoons in their mouths?† (88). The third model is the egalitarian model. This model talks about how if the people who are born with natural gifts don’t work for their success but still get rewarded, they should share their rewards with the public who do work to earn rewards. For example, if someone is born wealthy because of the family they come from, then they should be considerate to others and share what they have instead of being greedy. They did not work hard to earn the wealth. It was just handed to them very easily. Arora proclaims, â€Å"We should certainly encourage people to hone and exercise their aptitudes, but we should be clear that they do not morally deserve the rewards their aptitudes earn from the market† (88). All of these models relate to â€Å"The Future of Food† in very similar ways. It shows that not all people can afford the increasing prices of food, which causes world hunger. The ones born with attributes that make their life easier would be able to gain fame and fortune and wont have to worry about going hungry. Also they have things a lot easier than others. People don’t deserve anything unless they have earned it. It is not fair to those who are trying hard to succeed but fail and get no credit at all. Those trying to succeed are trying to provide for themselves in order to afford the food while prices are getting higher and higher. To sum it up, food production in the future will be a very big challenge we will have to face, but all obstacles can be overcome if we set our minds to it. I believe that if we all work together on the strategies talked about earlier, we can achieve feeding all nine billion people in this world, including all the starving people in the countries that suffer from poverty. Also with all the types of models of economic justice, society need to be fair with the right ways on rewarding people from either different classes or with different advantages.

Does Science After All Rule Out A Personal God? Essay

Since time in memorial, science and religion which contains the idea of a personal god and his existence as one of its key pillar aspects, have always depicted an outstanding collide. Many scientific scholars and theologists have been involved in this argument in a bid to defend their different stands. However as long as this heated debate has existed, no answer has evidencial conclusion has been arrived at. For instance, the views contained by Albert eisten and Paul Tillich depict the difference in opinion about this aspect of a personal God. as much as everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, these opinions and the justification they have do not seem to offer any direction to this long standing debate. Einstein states that there is no personal god. He gives a reason to justify his view stating that he and every other intellect is in a state that he similates to that of a little child getting into a huge study with books written in many different languages. He says this child knows that these books have their authors but he/she does not know and neither does she/he comprehend the books’ arrangement. He concludes that this is the perspective held towards god not only by him but by almost every other human having intelligence. After a comparison he did between the magnanimous relay and arrangement of the cosmos and failure to reconcile these features with the evil and suffering he got in the human’s being, eisteen concluded posing a question , how could an almighty god if at all he is there allow the existence of the suffering that is found on earth? In summing Einstein’s opinion he says that his idea is a childlike. However to him an embrace to the idea would be naive and anthropological . On the other hand theologist Paul Tillich holds a different opinion on the same. he asserts the existence of a personal god describing this being as the stronghold of being and even as the existence itself. Tilich, being a theologian is assertive and upholds the idea that a personal god actually exists despite the occurances that may question the existence of this being in terms of pain ,evil and suffering that exists among the human race. Tillich also states that God’s existence is not an aspect that can be proved or disapproved. In more bids to put more emphasis on his opinion which was commonly upheld by other theologists , Tillich even turned scientific tools into theological instruments. He was utterly committed to attempt put his view in the crystal clearest way that god is beyond essence and existence. Other scholars also involved in this argument like Hartshine say that there is really no sense in trying to find out whether a personal God exists. He however states that if there is existence of a personal God is a possibility then there is a necessity of doing so. In this bid it seems that there is a clear cut between those who agree with Tillich’s argument and those who differ with him. However these efforts are slowly being thwarted as the clock ticks. In a bid to conclude, it should therefore be noted that in spite the numerous argument the fact is, scientists have no evidence to prove that a personal god does not exist. Sources Espanol. Evidence for God from science. Retrieved 23rd October 2008 from : http://www. godandscience. org

Aristotle s Philosophy On Ethics Essay -- Ethics, Philosophy, Categoric

Aristotle is a strong believer that reaching happiness is the ultimate goal of humans. He says, â€Å"Another belief which harmonizes with our account is that the happy man lives well and does well; for we have practically defined happiness as a sort of good life and good action. The characteristics that are looked for in happiness seem also, all of them, to belong to what we have defined happiness as being† (Aristotle, Book I). Aristotle claims that a happy person lives well and that is what we should be striving for. We reach this happiness by doing good actions and it can take an entire lifetime to become virtuous. He also relates good actions to doing an activity well. Doing an activity well is important because after mastering an art you feel good about yourself or happy. For example, if you are a potter and you make a great pot, you feel happy. Kant poses the complete opposite of Aristotle’s philosophy and disregards happiness with being moral. Kant does not believe reaching happiness is the main goal of life, but instead doing good with a sense of duty is. Kant says, â€Å"A good will is good not because of what it effects or accomplishes†¦ it is good only throug... ... middle of paper ... ...nted to spread the knowledge, they are acting out of inclination instead of from duty. Aristotle and Kant propose very different philosophies. Aristotle is concerned with reaching happiness as to become a virtuous person. We are happy by doing good actions and mastering certain tasks. But happiness should not be the goal of humans to be virtuous because it possesses too many flaws as to what happiness really is. Kant offers a more concrete philosophy to being virtuous. He believes in following categorical imperatives or universal laws to doing what right. Doing right comes from a duty to do right and not from an inclination or desire to right. Since Kant exhibits a more concrete philosophy as to why do good, it would work a lot better in an ideal world. It would be very difficult for both philosophies to work in the real world because many questions can be raised.

Discuss at least two theories which hold that a mental state is Essay

Discuss at least two theories which hold that a mental state is nothing more than some sort of physical state - Essay Example There are two important movements that provide an answer to these questions, i.e. behaviorism and identity theory. It is in my contention that despite the enigma of the human mind, behaviorism and the identity theory, both attempt to offer a rational explanation for the nature and identity of mental phenomena. Behaviorism Behaviorism is generally regarded as the view that reduces mental states to the physical states of the body, specifically to that of the body’s behaviors. Thus, â€Å"behaviorists have argued that mental states and processes are really nothing more than behavior or dispositions† (Heil, 1993, p.174). A behavior is understood here as an external physical movement of the body, and thus includes verbal behavior, but excludes brain activities. Moreover, behavior is either actual or dispositional. Accordingly, all mental states are believed to be behavioral dispositions, which may or may not be actualized. As such, even if there is no actual behavior that co rresponds to a mental expression, the claim of behaviorism holds because it necessarily has a corresponding behavioral disposition. So to have a mental state is thus to behave or to be disposed to behave in a certain way. For instance, to be in pain is to exhibit behaviors such as crying, wincing, saying â€Å"ouch,† etc. ... Expressions containing mental terms such as â€Å"I desire to finish school†, â€Å"I am in pain†, and â€Å"I believe that it is going to rain,† are accordingly, logically equivalent to, or reducible to some expressions containing only behavioral terms such as â€Å"I will attend my classes regularly,† â€Å"I am inclined to cry,† and â€Å"I will bring my umbrella when I get out of the house.† In short, in this view, mental terms are defined in terms of behaviors. It is this notion of behaviorism that will be of concern to us. Logical behaviorism is often attributed to the view of the mind that Gilbert Ryle (1965) advanced as an alternative to Cartesian dualism, which he refers to as the ghost-in-the machine doctrine. Ryle argues that this doctrine commits a fallacy called the category mistake, i.e. when one wrongly takes something as belonging to a certain category that it does not belong to. The famous example given by Ryle is when someon e understands the word â€Å"university† as referring to a particular entity in the very same way that the words â€Å"buildings†, â€Å"members of the faculty†, â€Å"students†, and the like, refer to particular entities. In the same way, so argues Ryle, Descartes mistakes the word â€Å"mind† as belonging to the same category as the word â€Å"body†, and hence believes that the word â€Å"mind† refers to an entity of some kind in the same way that the word â€Å"body† does. Though â€Å"mind† and â€Å"body† refer to different kinds of entities, the fact that they do refer to entities puts them in the same category. Logical behaviorism, as noted above, is the view that mental states are nothing but behaviors. This view lends itself to two

SUSTAINABLITY IN THE DESIGNED ENVIRONMENT Assignment

SUSTAINABLITY IN THE DESIGNED ENVIRONMENT - Assignment Example This has lead to the rising demand and need for carbon footprint calculations. There are several approaches that have been proposed to provide estimates ranging from simple online calculators to sophisticated life cycle analysis. Despite these approaches, a definite definition for carbon footprint has not been established. According to Wackernagel (1996), carbon footprint is generally termed as the quantity of gaseous amount that contribute towards global warming. The sources of carbon could be human production and consumption activities. The ISA Research Report (p. 4) defines carbon footprint as a measure of elusive total amount of carbon dioxide emissions directly or indirectly caused by an activity in its life stages. These activities include individual activities, populations, government, companies, organizations, processes, industries, among others. According to this definition, carbon footprint is restricted from area-based indicator. The total amount of carbon is measured in mass units such as kilograms and tons. This form of measurement does not give room to area unit hence there is no conversion to area unit such as ha, m ², and km ². Conversion into land area must be based on various assumptions and this increases uncertainties and errors related to particular footprint estimates. This is the main reason why accountants prefer to use appropriate units of measurement. The concept of carbon footprint should be all-encompassing and issue relative causes that lead to the rise of carbon emissions. Accurate measurement of carbon footprint ripples importance and precariousness in carbon offsetting. When considering indirect quantities of carbon emissions, the methodologies applied should eradicate undercounting and double counting of emissions. This substantiates the inclusion of the word ‘exclusive’ in the definition for carbon footprint. Life-cycle

Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Justice - Essay Example These two characteristics, the concern for practical applications of his philosophy and the use of reason to supplant theological directives, distinguished Socrates. His was an attempt to teach people how to better define the highest good, how to attain justice, and therefore how to attain happiness both individually and socially. This essay will examine Socrates’ notions of a highest good and justice, his linking of the individual and society through an integrated philosophical approach, and the implications of different choices regarding public administration and public order. As a preliminary matter, it is important to note that Socrates’ teachings were most directed at the individual. The highest good, therefore, was a condition that each individual was capable of attaining; however, this highest good could only be known through reason and a knowledge of one’s self. Socrates equated this highest good with knowledge and happiness. Significantly, though, he went to great lengths to distinguish true happiness from illusory pursuits of happiness. He did this by drawing distinctions between absolute levels of ignorance and fancy ideals of true knowledge. These distinctions, often grounded in Socrates’ claims that he knew nothing, provided the intellectual framework for subsequently exploring ultimate questions of goodness, justice, and proper forms of public administration. In effect, he tore down common assumptions, challenged certain modes of thinking, and in the process attempted to redefine both the proper focus and method of philoso phical inquiry as well as the practical application of philosophy to man’s life and to social affairs. Central to man’s pursuit of happiness was the intellectual process by which he confronted choices and made decisions. In many ways, Socrates reduced the highest good to a

Whiteheads Prolificacy in Logic and Philosophy Essay

Whiteheads Prolificacy in Logic and Philosophy - Essay Example Because of this, Whitehead issues the warning that philosophy must not make a dereliction on the multifarious aspect of the world. It is for this same reason that Whitehead describes beauty as the union of intensity, harmony, and vividness which involve perfection of importance for an occasion. The same explains the reason for Whitehead seeing God as the set of all processes and relationships so that God is radically transcendent (universe-in-god) and radically incarnate (god-in-universe). Whitehead maintains that the metaphysical status of eternal objects is resistant to change so that they remain incomprehensible without an actuality and only intelligible within a broader conceptual frame (Stein, 2006). Â  Whitehead noted that experiences of science, ethics, aesthetics, and religion greatly influence the worldview of the Western culture and should, therefore, factor a more comprehensive and holistic cosmology. This cosmology should be comprehensive enough to provide systematic descriptive theories of the world, which are applicable for deducing human intuitions that have been arrived at through scientific, ethical, aesthetic and religious experiences. Whitehead maintains that in order for science to be, there has to be the presence of sufficient structures, given that intelligibility is a general condition essential for science and all knowledge. Whitehead also continues that science is progressive and imposes upon humanity, progressivity in thinking and inquiry. Whitehead also sees science as existing for posterity, since its progressive technology enables the generation-generation transition into uncharted seas of adventure or inquiry. Â  According to Whitehead, the essence of truth readily necessitates the need for verification.

Reflective Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Reflective - Research Paper Example There are different authors that list different ways to analyze a movie. The first thing of importance is to be sure to go into the movie with an open mind and not to have formulated an opinion ahead of time. The viewer must be open and receptive to all parts of the movie (Boggs & Petrie, 2008). Whatever is driving you to analyze this movie, whether it is for self interest or otherwise, there are some very organized methods to follow. The theme of the movie should be found but in order to do that you have to see the film so lets start a little earlier than that. Analyze the title and the credits. You have done this before but just do not realize it. Pay close attention and see what is picked up from these. Why was the movie titled the way it was? Is that important to this movie? You will not know unless you have paid attention as the movie opens. A great movie gets your attention and conveys emotion to the audience. You will begin to think about the theme as soon as the movie opens. The theme may be very difficult to understand or it may be very easy. Either way, it may or may not have significance in telling the story(steps to analyze). Characters are extremely important and as the analyst should try to understand the main characters and how the other characters relate to them. The characters will also relate back to the theme of the movie. Boggs & Petrie (2008), tell the reader that the analyst should begin to understand the characters within thirty minutes and be able to have enough understanding of the theme to begin to decide what kind of film he is watching and relate it to the classics. As one analyzes the film, take detailed notice and try to catch as much as possible in each scene including such things as camera lighting and costumes. What does the dialogue make you think of? Is it natural and believable or not? The characters dialogue should not be trying to describe the theme

The Clients Specific Areas of Strength and Growth Essay

The Clients Specific Areas of Strength and Growth - Essay Example Emotion = Joe is good at his projects and at organizing his team but personally, he feels sometimes off balance when he has to cooperate with business and marketing and feels devalued due to the emphasis is given to marketing and innovation by his company. Will = Joe takes on new challenges under high – stress conditions, he is proactive and he takes initiatives. Context = Joe wants to move upward in the business but this does not create a purpose for him. As Flaherty (2005) wrote: â€Å"Our capacity to design a purpose and then bring our own life into alignment with it is what I mean by context.† In the case of Joe, his ambitions do not form a purpose and his worries about the time spent with his family show that he is not going beyond his and his family’s survival and comfort. Soul = Joe has shown understanding of the issues concerning to this team and compassion to their needs, a fact that it is proved by the effectiveness of his team. He shows also compassion to his family since he wants to devote time to it and especially to his children. The creation of a coaching plan that will enhance personal development is a critical step in motivating a positive performance. The coaching plan will improve the areas of growth and it will have the following stages: State the Final Goal The goals will be: improving cooperation with business people within one month, develop business knowledge by attending a specific course of one year duration, to coordinate effectively work and personal life within three months, attend negotiation, time management and conflict management courses during the present year. The final goal will be to move upward in the organization. State the Progress Goals to Milestones The milestones over the next year will be set in quarters. In the first quarter, he will start his business course and he will set up more meetings with business people so he will be in the position to understand better their goals and priorities. In the second quarter, he will attend the time management courses so as he can bring in balance his personal and professional life and in the third quarter, he should have finished the business course.

Religon Buddhism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Religon Buddhism - Term Paper Example The discourse would initially proffer a brief historical background of Buddhism, prior to determining its common practices and core beliefs. Likewise, the paper would present a personal experience visiting Buddhists’ place of worship and to relay the responses from a devotee’s point of view. History Diverse research literatures have expressed different views on the exact origin of Buddhism. There are studies tracing the roots of Buddhism from the Indus Valley civilization and the Aryans (A View on Buddhism, 2006, pars. 1 & 2). In a website About Buddhism (2007), its history indicates that â€Å"the founder of Buddhism in this world is Buddha Shakyamuni. He was born as a royal prince in 624 BC in a place called Lumbini, which was originally in northern India but is now part of Nepal† (About Buddhism, 2007, par. 1). Likewise, History World (n.d.) identified Nepal as Buddhism’s point of origin, with Siddhartha Gautama, a Nepal prince, â€Å"follows an asceti c life for six years before deciding that a middle path between mortification and indulgence of the body will provide the best hope of achieving enlightenment. He resolves to meditate, in moderate comfort, until he sees the light of truth. One evening he sits under a pipal tree at Buddh Gaya, a village in Bihar. By dawn he is literally buddha, an 'enlightened one'. Like any other religious leader he begins to gather disciples. He becomes known to his followers as the Buddha† (History World, n.d., 1). Common Practices Buddhism reveals three common trainings or practices consisting of sila (â€Å"virtue, good conduct, morality†); samadhi (â€Å"concentration, meditation, mental development†); and prajna (â€Å"discernment, insight, wisdom, enlightenment† (Robinson, 2009). As averred by Robinson (2009), the practice of sila was premised on the principles of equality and reciprocity. Devotees are taught to acknowledge equality in stature of all living things a nd to practice, what is commonly known as the Golden Rule. The underlying idea for this practice is self-preservation. No one wants harm to be inflicted upon oneself. If everyone adheres to this principle, ultimately, no harm befalls mankind – the good of all is preserved. By this, an individual treats everyone else with respect, grace and concern. This in turn, develops good relationship to others, consistent with their belief in karma. Core Beliefs The core beliefs of Buddhism centers on reincarnation, on diverse cycles of rebirth, karma, and on Nirvana, or the state of being free and liberated from suffering (Robinson, 2009). They also believe in Four Noble Truths, the Five Precepts, and the Eightfold Path, among others. These beliefs focus on respect for all living things, ending suffering through the eightfold path, and following commandments which are almost synonymous with the Catholic’s Ten Commandments, specifically highlighting avoiding killing, stealing, tel ling lies, misusing sex and consuming liquor or drugs, among others. Worship Visit There is a Buddhist temple in Knost Drive, Mims, Florida known as the White Sands Buddhist Center. It rests on a 16-acre peaceful and beautiful land very near the Atlantic Ocean. There is complete serenity, simplicity and cleanliness in the worship place – a conducive environment for meditation and reflection, of seeking inner peace and enlightenment. The monastery’s ceremonial hall serves as a worship place for devotees. The statue of Buddha is strategically located

The Corporate Culture Essay Example for Free

The Corporate Culture Essay A six-year legal battle involving the jailed father-son duo who headed now-defunct Adelphia Communications has ended after prosecutors withdrew tax fraud charges related to their earlier conviction in a $1. 9 billion fraud case. Prosecutors said they withdrew the tax-related charges Wednesday against the Pennsylvania cable companys founder John Rigas and his son Timothy because they werent likely to end in substantial additional jail time or restitution. Proceeding with the case wouldnt be a prudent expenditure of prosecutorial resources, authorities said. Authorities alleged in 2005 the Rigases had committed tax fraud when they failed to pay income tax on the proceeds of the fraud they were convicted of in New York a year earlier. The former executives fought the case on the grounds it amounted to double jeopardy. Both men are already in jail stemming from the collapse of the company in 2002 after prosecutors said John Rigas, 87, and Timothy Rigas, 55, failed to report nearly $2 billion in liabilities. John Rigas has seven years left on his 12-year sentence, while Timothy Rigas isnt expected to be released until 2022. Meanwhile, prosecutors said the family spent lavishly on itself, ordering 100 pairs of slippers for Timothy Rigas and spending more than $3 million to produce a film by John Rigas daughter. Defense attorney Larry McMichael welcomed the end of the long court battle. This case never should have been brought, he told The Patriot-News of Harrisburg. The analysis should include the following: A short description of case identification of the ethical issues involved (what was the alleged ethical wrong done, and why is/was it wrong? A statement, in their own opinion, of whether it was wrong or not, and more importantly, why? Thoughts on what could have been done to avoid the problem – do we need more laws government regulation? What internal controls might have prevented this situation? Was the problem more a matter of individuals gone wrong, or was it more systemic and organizational? Provide 3-5 APA style references both inline and at the end of the paper to support your analysis. Please write in 3rd person. Note: This is your opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of the week’s theory linked to personal opinion and outside evidence.

Alice walker in search of the garden Essay Example for Free

Alice walker in search of the garden Essay lice Walker’s essay, In Search of Our Mother’s Garden, talks about her search of the African American women’s suppressed talent, of the artistic skills and talents that they lost because of slavery and a forced way of life. Walker builds up her arguments from historical events as well as the collective experiences of African Americans, including her own. She uses these experiences to back up her arguments formed from recollections of various African American characters and events. Walker points out that a great part of her mother’s and grandmothers’ lives have been suppressed because of their sad, dark pasts. But all of these are not lost because somehow, these are manifested in even the smallest things that they do, and that they were also able to pass it down to the very people that they loved. Our search of our mother’s garden may end back to ourselves. Walker builds up her argument by mentioning the experiences of other people in the essay. One of them is Jean Toomer, a poet in the early 1920s. He is a man who observed that Black women are unique because they possessed intense spirituality in them, even though their bodies endure every aspect of punishment in every single day of their lives. They were in the strictest sense Saints – crazy, pitiful saints. Walker points out that without a doubt, our mothers and grandmothers belong to this type of people. By building up on the observations of Toomer, she was somehow able to show how hard it was to be a mother or a grandmother or even just a woman at that time, one reason perhaps is that they are black. The mothers and grandmothers at that time endured all of this without any hope that tomorrow will be different, be better. Because of this, they were not able to fully express themselves. They were held back by their society. Another black character that she used to build her argument is Phillis Wheatley, a Black slave girl with a precarious health. Phillis is a poet and a writer at her own right, but unfortunately, she wasn’t able to do much with it because she was a slave. She didn’t have anything for herself, worse, she didn’t even own herself. Her futile attempts for self expression would be washed up by forced labor and pregnancies. She lost her health, and eventually her life without fully expressing herself through her gift for poetry. Alice Walker used the story of Phillis to establish the understanding that indeed, African American women at that time were not allowed or didn’t have the luxury of time to exercise their gifts, to hone their talents and abilities, and use them to fully express themselves. By doing so, Walker proves that our mothers and grandmothers lived a boxed life back then, with no way to channel to them emotions and thoughts other than hard labor and forced servitude. She pointed out that we wouldn’t know if anyone of them would’ve bloomed to be poets, singers, actresses, because they never really had the chance to know what they can do. By building up her argument using these two accounts, she is also presenting very strong evidence to her claim. These accounts were personal experiences of real African American people, and these are not just isolated cases. These are shared experiences not just by these two but by all of their people. Walker can confidently say that there is a lot of Phillis Wheatley in those times, perhaps including her mother and grandmothers. This is concrete evidence because it is not fictional, it is not imaginary, or something conceived out of Walker’s creativity. Slavery, forced pregnancies, poverty, and artistic suppression were the realities during the time of our grandmothers. No one can deny this, and no one can deny the existence of Phillis or the accounts of Jean Toomer. Considering Alice Walker’s authority in her arguments, she could be considered as an expert, a reliable source of information on the topic. First off, she is an African American woman, who had her fair share of poverty in her childhood. She was born and raised by hardworking parents, who really had to work day and night to provide for their family. Also, she witnesses first hand that even though her mother may not be a poet or a novelist; she was an artist in the truest sense. Her artistic side is manifested in her gardens and the beautiful flowers that she grows. Alice Walker witnessed all of this, experienced first hand what it was like to be poor and seemingly talentless. The accounts that Alice Walker used to prove her points and back up her arguments were African American history that she was all too familiar with. It may have been shared to her by her families, or simply a collective knowledge passed down from one generation to another. She is also well-educated, a wide reader, and an artist. She often cites Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, relating a white woman’s plight to a black woman’s hardships. She emphasizes that even though she recognizes Woolf’s point about society’s unfair treatment to women of her time, Walker still believes that black women suffered the most (Walker). There is simply nothing that could compare to the artistic suppression that her mother and grandmothers experienced. In this essay, she is appealing to a general audience, with no specific race or ethnicity. I think this essay was written to highlight the African American women of her mother and grandmother’s time, who were unable to express their talents and hone it to its full potential. This essay is written to inform anyone and everyone reading it about their stories, and of her discovery of her mother’s garden. She was glad to know that it is possible for African American women to express themselves even unknowingly, that it is up to us to discover these â€Å"gardens.† She is appealing to the readers in general that even though some people like our mothers and grandmothers seem talentless or artistically inferior, it doesn’t mean that they really lack the talent. It just means that were not looking hard enough to find it. Alice Walker’s method of using personal experience and historical accounts allow her to truthfully see and say what has really happened. She doesn’t have to make up hypothetical events because she already has a basis for her arguments. Jean Toomer’s recollections and Phillis Wheatley’s experiences are enough proof of her argument. If some people would disagree with what she’s saying, she can always go back to their experiences, to how Phillis suffered without fully using her gift, or what Toomer saw in the streets in the early Twenties. But because of this, I think Walker is somehow limited to the sad and pitiful stories of the past. Well, in reality, most of the stories of African Americans were really sad and pitiful, but still, Walker failed to mention of any successful artist who rose from the ranks of slaves to write her own story. It is either this kind of story really didn’t exist at that time, or Walker just didn’t mention it, since it wasn’t the focus of her essay. Alice Walker concluded her essay by saying that Phillis Wheatley’s mother was also an artist, and that the achievements of their daughters were in some way brought about by their mothers. Her conclusion states that the mother is somehow responsible in every achievement of their daughter. Any artistic output by a person is also a product of their mother. Indeed, their children are their best creations, their very own wonderful gardens. This conclusion is related to her method because it goes back to how Phillis Wheatley’s mother was somehow responsible for her daughter’s artistic sense, and that beyond the poverty and the hardships that our mothers and grandmothers experienced during their times, they were still able to artistically express themselves through their children, their very own wonderful gardens.

A Sense Of Urgency In Your Workforce Business Essay

A Sense Of Urgency In Your Workforce Business Essay The term Change Management refers to managing change successfully in any and all spheres of our lives, not just at work. Wherever the change happens, it is not easy to handle. Most often, the change that happens tends to complicate matters rather than simplifying them. Frequently, when we talk about change, it is in the organizational context, though there are personal and social changes that can be just as hard or even more difficult to handle. Like Gandhi said, We should try to be the change we want to see. If we approach any change, whether it is personal, professional or social, with an open mind, then the chances of successfully coping with it increases. Why is Change so Hard? It is hard because, when we go about our daily lives, we perform most of the mundane tasks on autopilot. We hardly use our conscious mind. Imagine switching on the coffee maker in the morning. You hardly open your eyes when you do it; now imagine that you have traded your regular coffee maker for an espresso machine. How hard do you find it to make your first cup of coffee in the morning? Likewise, in our professional lives too, we get used to our routine and become set in our ways; so we tend to use our subconscious minds more than we think, even at work. So, when there is change afoot, our subconscious mind, which is primitive, is wary of getting re-programmed, to learning new ideas and functions, and so feels threatened. This elemental resistance to re-learning new ideas and functions is the reason, we are resistant to change, which makes changing so difficult. Ch: 1 INDIVIDUAL CHANGE To improve is to change; to be perfect is to constantly change. Winston Churchill. Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Barrack Obama were all well aware of the power of the individual and his ability to effect in himself and in his society. They managed to mobilize millions of people to change the way individuals, communities and governments function by just their beliefs and their tenacity. From their achievements, we know just what one person can do when he or she is steadfast in his or her beliefs and principles. These great souls have managed to bring about mind-boggling changes in their societies and their governments, just by being strong. Each of these great men and women started off as ordinary citizens; each underwent some intense upheaval in their lives that changed them completely. This change brought them greatness and untold benefits to the world around them. Every type of change, whether individual, organizational or societal, starts ultimately with the individual. However, most of us, in our eagerness to succeed, end up committing one of two common mistakes that people make when it comes to change: we either implement the changes much too slowly to be effective, like dipping our toes to test the waters. Or we go overboard and jump in headfirst in our enthusiasm and end up drowning. If you try to change too much too soon, there is the likelihood of you getting frustrated and giving up. It is easy to advocate others to change than to try and change oneself. However, too slow a change might also not bring enough results and lead you to getting disheartened, and hence abandoning the changes. Moderation is the key to success. Everything in moderation should be the cardinal rule for success. Change what you can, without causing too much disruption to your system and routine, and you will succeed. Whether the change you are trying to effect is trivial like your diet or exercise routine or is major like overcoming an addiction or changing your outlook, etc., try it in moderation to succeed. For instance, if you are trying to lose weight or quit smoking, unsuccessfully, try to reduce your portions, while increasing your exercise by maybe 10 minutes, instead of going on a crash diet; likewise, cut down on the number of cigarettes or on the nicotine content, or go for a smaller cigarette with less nicotine. All it needs is a little will power to change, and change successfully. Remember to come up with a realistic plan; also find a good outlet for your possible frustrations; try change counseling; and last but not least, try and remind yourself that the mind controls the body. Try to find inspiration from the world around you, and know that nothing lasts forever; everything is transient and change is the only constant in life! ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: The first thing to understand, and understand well, about Organizational Change is that it is an Ongoing Process and not a Single Event. Most organizations know the importance of being able to change with the economy and the market conditions. The economy and the market are not static; they are in a dynamic state, changing constantly. So to flourish, an organization should also be amenable to change. If you bend with the wind, you can survive; if you stand rigid, you will break. This is true for every being in nature and it is equally true for each organization. So organizations bring in experts who help them and their workforce to deal with the changed circumstances. Such experts are usually trained in Change Management, which can help individuals, teams and entire organizations to transition from their current state to a better future state. The many stumbling blocks in the path of positive change might be cultural, social or economic. A trained change management expert can identify such causes and address them to effect positive change. To understand Change and to help organizations to handle it better, one should first understand the factors behind the necessity to change, and how and in what form the Change is to take. There are many types of organizational changes, which are determined by some key factors like the goal of the proposed changes, the scope of the changes, the intensity and the time frame involved. Once these parameters are determined, the style of change, namely the implementation parameters have to be decided upon. The change can be instructional or participatory: which means that the change is dictated by the top management, or everyone brings their ideas and it is collaborative in nature; and whether the proposed change to be effected is structural or process-oriented: which goes to say if the changes are going to be in the organizational structure or in its processes. These sorts of crucial decisions, when arrived at after careful consideration of all the factors, are the decisions that can help your organization to change successfully. There should be no room for any ambivalence when setting the agenda for change. Clarity in thought and communication will help in achieving the desired results from your workforce by motivating them in the right way. According to Percy A. Dastur, author of The Art of Change Management, Organizational Change can be broadly classified into Organization-wide involving the entire organization Subsystem Change involving one small section or department Developmental Change involving improving the structure and processes and Remedial Change involving the fixing of any issues or problems that are an impediment to the healthy functioning of the business. There are some sub-classifications called Transformational Change, Incremental Change, Planned Change and Unplanned Change. These are self-explanatory in the type of change they bring about in the organization. The next key factor for Change to be considered is the change driver. A change driver can be External or Internal. In most cases, external change drivers can become catalysts for internal change. For instance during the recent global meltdown, giants like Microsoft and Caterpillar were drastically affected and were forced to cut costs and lay off employees. However, many other companies, large and small, were able to carry on, largely unaffected. This reflects the on the companies structure and policies. Though Caterpillar is the world leader in mining and earth-moving equipment manufacturing, it had to lay off almost 20,000 employees as its operational costs had to be cut down by 25% for it to weather the downturn in the global economy. This is a classic case of unplanned change brought about by an external factor. At times, technology ushers in change, whether you are willing or not; so it becomes a case of swim or sink. Case in point: Nokia was ruling the mobile market until 2004; then Apple came out with its iPod, that changed the way people listen to music; Sony, the world leader in individual portable music players with its Walkman, had to come up with a Network Walkman, after it realized it had to either join the mobile music brigade or lose out. After the unprecedented success of MP3 players, Sony realized that it had to come out with a similar product, or lose a chunk of the market, which might otherwise have stayed loyal to Sony. So in the case of technology-led consumer focused industries like music players and mobile phones, in which Sony and Nokia were the undisputed pioneers, external changes forced them into strategic change. This is an external driver leading to innovation and product enhancement. To truly understand the impact of one revolutionary product on an entire industry, you have to remember that in the case of technologically advanced industries, Apple is an industry outsider in three of the above four categories. Yet it had the entire music and mobile phone industry turn on its head with one single product. With the technological development in many areas growing by leaps and bounds, many organizations are kept on their toes, trying to keep with the latest developments. For instance, digital photography and the advent of the digital camera, gave stiff competition to the film photography industry, both the camera manufacturers and film suppliers, with new entrants like Casio, HP and IBM dominating the market. When the camera phone were introduced I market, the digital cameras are also struggling to find space in the consumers conscience. This is a classic example of technology being an external driver for change. Ch: 2 THE CHANGE PROCESS Generally, an organizational change is a complex maneuver, involving 4 core actions: appreciating the change, mobilizing support for the same, executing it and building change capability. It is the responsibility of the leadership to ensure that these actions are carried out, for successful change. Appreciating change involves appreciating the fact that change is difficult; it is so because it involves changing our mental models. When you talk about an organization as a single entity, you might forget the fact that it is made up of thousands of individuals scattered across the country or around the globe. So the idea of the organization is abstract and emotional than physical. This mental picture of the organization has to be changed, when you talk about changing the organization and that it is not an easy task. The proposed changes might be in any of the following areas of the organization, like marketing, manufacturing, processes, quality control, technology or productivity. Mobilizing support involves motivating your workforce to adapt the changes willingly and wholeheartedly; first the mental models of your managers have to be changed towards accepting the newly introduced changes. Only then they, in turn, can convince their teams to adopt the changes. You can opt for either imposing the changes and expect the support of your workforce, or you can expose them to the benefits of the proposed changes by addressing them and communicating the perceived benefits of the changes to the welfare of the entire organization. This will also help the workforce to develop a positive attitude towards the coming changes, which might ultimately lead to a successful change or an unsuccessful one. Depending on the size and structure of your organization, identify Change Strategists, who can strategize on what to change and its benefits; then appoint Change Implementers who are responsible for implementing the proposed changes; then identify and train the Change Recipients: they are the ones who are directly affected by the coming changes. So their co-operation will determine whether your change succeeds or fails. Executing change is the most critical component of organizational change and is not easy; this phase involves creating the actual new processes or procedures and implementing them; then troubleshooting as and when necessary. It is the most difficult part of the change process; many key people might not like the changes and decide to leave the organization; with a well thought out plan, and clearly outlined ideas for the type of change and scope of change, you can go to some extent to lessen the confusion and maintain some semblance of normality. Quite often, the outcome of the organizational change is decided in this phase; because if this implementing of the change does not happen as proposed, then it is almost a sure thing that it is about to fail. Building change capability is the long term plan for sustained changes so that the organization stays ahead of the competition in a fluid market. Just because you were able to change once successfully does not mean that from now onwards, it is going to be smooth sailing. Change has to be constant and you have to keep adapting and improving according to the fluctuating market conditions in order to stay ahead of the game. Again to help this happen, you have to identify innovative thinkers and strategists and equip them with the authority to effect similar changes and when they deem necessary, in order to sustain the advantages of the organizational change. One of the fundamental ways to help your workforce develop change capability is to help them to learn, how-to-learn; for, over the years, they would have developed their own style of functioning and working in a certain way; for them to change to a new system, they have to re-learn their jobs in the new system. It is not easy to discard something and re-learn a different way to do the same job. It involves enormous stress and re-training and can be quite taxing on your employees. So show them how to learn, for them to cope with change easily. CHANGE LEADERSHIP When your organization is in the middle of a change, or is set to change, your role as the leader is the most essential and influential one. You have the responsibility to understand the need to change, identify the changes needed, identify the people who can strategize and implement, and finally motivate your workforce into embracing that change. You are the cognitive tuner, efficacy builder, systems architect and also the people catalyser, according to V. Nilakant and S. Ramnarayan, authors of Change Management . So the importance of your role to the success of the process of organizational change cannot be overstated. As a leader, your contribution to the organizations future and towards a successful change should be a value proposition. What is a Value Proposition? It is a couple of phrases or statement that has 3 unique characteristics: it offers something of value to the customer; it is customer friendly and it has a differentiator that sets it apart from your competitors. Some fantastic examples of good value propositions are: Dominos offer of 30 minutes or free. It offers the hungry customer the chance to have his meal hot and in 30 minutes, failing which, he does not have to pay at all. This revolutionized the pizza delivery business. Dominos captured the customers mind space by giving a tangible guarantee, failing which instant reward. Walmarts price guarantee: Always Low Prices, Always. Googles faster and wider search results. BMWs ultimate driving experience, etc. Depending on the size of your organization, the change can be leader-driven, process-driven, team- driven, expert-driven or change management driven. The first approach is successful only in the case of small and medium sized concerns. Though you, as the leader will have the decision-making authority, the team driven change has a better chance of success. The process driven one, though, will take time as your workforce has to learn the new process and get comfortable before productivity can reach previously existing levels. Most organizations favor the last method: change management method, which is the team and expert driven method. This method of change brings to the table the expertise, the commitment, the technical know-how and the ownership qualities, thereby almost creating a fail-proof method of change. As a smart leader, you should be aware of the importance of ownership, involvement and commitment of your workforce to the change process for it to be successful in the long ru n. As the leader, you have to persuade your workforce to commit to the changes and there are experts whose ideas are remarkable. Consider the world-renowned social psychologist Robert Cialdini, who in his books about Influence, written after some 30 years in the field, expounds the best ways to persuade your workforce. The specialty of Cialdinis work is that it is based on research of people in industries like car dealerships, real estate, insurance sales, army recruiting and advertising, whose jobs depend on people saying yes to them. He then wrote the 6 Principles of Persuasion. They are Liking, Reciprocity, Social Proof, Consistency, Authority and Scarcity. Liking: When we hear a suggestion from someone we like, we tend to be positive towards that; on the other hand, when a suggestion comes from someone we do not like, we are predisposed to dismissing the suggestion, however valid or helpful it might be. Liking also stems from and towards similarity; so if someone like you tells you something, you are more likely to listen than to someone whom you might perceive as superior or inferior. So, rather than having a mass gathering where you announce the plans for the changes afoot, you need to first inform your team of senior personnel. Let them talk to their teams and so on until the frontline staff are informed by their own supervisors or managers. This will help them to be open to the coming changes, and also help them to feel included rather than being huddled into a great auditorium and addressed by someone from a podium or a screen. Reciprocity: This is nothing new; the Bible says it: Do unto others what you want others to do unto you. This is also Cialdinis expert opinion. When you treat people right and listen to them, they too will reciprocate. So, he recommends that in a large organization, identify those who are well liked and respected; tell them about the coming changes and enlist their help in communicating the same to their colleagues in a positive light. And generally if the workforce is treated well, and taken care of, in times of adversity, they will not mind helping by working extra hard or taking a pay cut or accepting the changes willingly and working harder to learn the new process or technology, as the case may be. However, if the organization is perceived as miserly, the workforce will be resistant to learning new processes that might be implemented as part of the changes. Social Proof: It means validation from our peers and those around us; we are unduly influenced by the opinions of those around us, which can often lead to thoughtless behavior. A classic example of this is the multiple car collisions that we see during rush hour; even though all lanes are moving, slowly but steadily, one driver decides to jump lanes to see if he can go faster; then the next one follows, leading to many others too trying to jump lanes; this leads to numerous collisions during rush hour, frequently. Also called the bandwagon effect, this is one of the best ways to influence your workforce and mobilize support. Consistency: Here it is not used in the usual sense of staying consistent, but rather means consistency in ones words and actions; this particularly carries weight when it comes to garnering support for the proposed changes, especially when they are publicly disclosed. As a general rule, something publicly declared is thought to be incontrovertible; when someone declares something in public, people do not expect them to go back on their word. In change management, this can be a powerful tool in the hands of a skilled manager. However, it will be effective only when it is used not to intimidate or threaten, but in consultation with the workforce. Authority: This principle goes to show that when an expert shares an opinion or fact, we tend to take it at face value; we dont question it or his authority. This expert driven change can be a powerful tool to convince your workforce to adopt the proposed changes in full measure, for the benefit of themselves and the organization. E. Sreedharan, who was invited to join the Delhi Metro, proved his authority by completing the ambitious project in time and on budget. He asked for and was granted full freedom in the operations and in the hiring and firing of his team, with no political influence, which is unprecedented in the Indian bureaucracy. Scarcity: This is based on the idea that we want what is restricted to us. If the workforce is told that unless the proposed changes are adopted whole-heartedly, they might lose their jobs, then they are more likely to work harder to assimilate the new changes and processed. We respond to the threat of something becoming scarce, than to the promise of some benefit. Our primitive psyche responds better to the threat of losing something than to the idea of gaining something. However, a manager should be careful to not use threats when explaining the potential losses. A leaders role when it comes to change management is never ending. One of his core duties is mobilizing support, and there are a hundred different ways, depending on the size, nature, structure and architecture of your organization. But one essential ability is the think out of the box and catch the imagination of your workforce and to be quick on your feet. To be able to out think the others is a great gift for a leader. You have to be a fast thinker, a brilliant strategist and skillful negotiator to be a successful change management leader. Consider this story: Just before a Presidential election, the Presidential campaign managers decided to release some three million brochures with a nice photo of the Presidential Candidate on the cover; almost on the eve of the planned blitzkrieg, in the last few weeks of the campaign, they found to their shock that the photo was copyrighted to a studio in Chicago. The campaign was in a quandary; they did not have the time to reprint the brochers; neither could they risk a lawsuit or a scandal at that late stage of the campaign; inquire about the studio and its owner brought further disturbing news. The owner was someone who was difficult and money-minded; so, after a brainstorming session, the campaign manager had his secretary shoot off a fax to the studio owner, which read: We are considering offering some studios a chance to sponsor a photo of the Presidential Candidate; when we win, it will be a chance for you to gain huge publicity mileage out of it; so what are you willing to pay us for using your photo? The story goes that the offer was a princely sum of $250; which the campaign manager promptly accepted and went ahead with the release of the brochure using the photo. The candidate was Roosevelt, in 1912 and the studio was Moffat Studios in Chicago. This story was told by Professor James Sebenius and the campaign manager is George Perkins. This shows that, if you are clear headed thinker, who can think on his feet, even major catastrophes can be skillfully avoided, just by deft handling, especially if you know human nature. This is the hallmark of a great leader! As a leader, you can beg and barter for change; it all depends on your target audience. If your audience will respond better to negotiation, then you can offer some deal which will benefit them hugely when the changes are in place and the organization is healthier. You also have to pick your time and do whatever is necessary to maintain the momentum. If you can get your workforce to genuinely believe and participate whole heartedly, the changes that you bring to your organization cannot help but succeed. The commitment of your workforce is the key to the success of the proposed changes! Ch: 3 EXECUTING CHANGE Dr. John Kotter, one of the leading authorities on Change Management and author of Leading Change says, Accelerate. It is better to change at a fast pace in order to keep ahead of your rivals, or else, chances are that you will be stuck in a perpetual game of catch-up. And for an organization to change successfully, the behavior of its employees has to collectively change; and that is a mammoth task. However brilliantly you plan and communicate it to your workforce, and get them committed to the idea of change, unless you execute the plan equally efficiently, all that effort will end up getting wasted, and the change process will become an utter failure even before its launch. To help in this Herculean endeavor, Dr. Kotter has devised an 8-step process, of which he says: There are still more mistakes that people make, but these eight are the big ones. In reality, Even successful change efforts are messy and full of surprises. But just as a relatively simple Vision is needed to guide people through a major change, so a vision of the change process can reduce the error rate. And fewer errors can spell the difference between success and failure. Dr. Kotter recommends learning from both your successes and your mistakes: Establish a sense of urgency in your workforce Examine your competition and the market realities. If the market is in a slump, be realistic in your expectations. In a recession, effecting change in your organization can go only so far in bringing results. Organizational change cannot compensate for the prevailing market conditions. As the senior management, you have to identify your weak areas as an organization, and also watch out for any potential crises in the offing. Communicate such looming crises to your employees so that they are ready and willing to accept the coming changes. Your success in changing for the better, as an organization, depends on your managers ability to convince their teams that the coming change is inevitable and that it will benefit the organization and everyone working for it. Plan your strategy to play to your unique strengths, and to take advantage of any opportunities. These initial steps will help you to motivate your employees and help them to adjust to the coming changes, as they have been made aware of the importance of the changes to the future of the organization. Establish a Powerful Guiding Coalition A guiding team made up of individuals from the teams across the board will help in promoting employee cooperation and in wider acceptance of the changes, because your employees feel like stakeholders and also as a part of the decision making coalition. This inclusive approach will yield better results when compared to a top-down approach. This coalition should also be vested with the authority to effect necessary changes within the organization and in its policies to improve the results of any transition planned. Most frequently, failure to improve employee participation in all levels leads to fostering of resentment towards the senior management and thereby resistance to the proposed changes. However, this does not mean that the top management is not responsible for effecting the desired changes. The onus is on the top management to see that employee morale is kept high and that the proposed changes are accepted and adopted by all. A Clear Vision a Simple Plan to Achieve it First you have to envision the changes you want to see in your organization, and then you will have a clear vision of the benefits that the proposed changes can bring to your organization, and then take the time to convey the same to your workforce. Then devise a simple plan to achieve that change, and convey that to your teams. This will help your workforce to feel that they are important to the company and also inculcate a sense of participation and inclusiveness. A simple and sensible plan can do wonders for an organization that wants change by motivating its employees. Simplicity will win every day over grandiose words and actions, as most people can see through them clearly. Share your Vision and your Plan When you share and communicate your vision of the positive changes and your plans to achieve the same, you can reap the untold benefits of employee participation. When your workforce feels included in the decision making, it inspires them to perform better as they feel like stakeholders and not just employees. It is always better for the organization when they volunteer and work harder on their own conviction, rather than being coerced in any way. In an organization with thousands of employees, such voluntary participation and ready support can make a huge difference to the outcome of the proposed changes. Empower your employees Identify those of your employees who can convince their colleagues to follow in their footsteps; when you workforce receives information that is promising from their peers, especially someone they like and respect. When you allocate such responsibilities, you should also allow room for individual ideas and action. New ideas and innovative suggestions should be encouraged and adopted where ever possible. This can go a long way in improving input and in inculcating a sense of ownership amongst your employees. This empowerment will also instill accountability in your workforce, thereby increasing productivity, as the sense of ownership will give them an incentive to see that the organization flourishes. As a corollary, restrictive actions on the part of senior staff and management should be discouraged, as they can be an impediment to successful and sustainable change. Strategize and Plan for Short Term Benefits Any vision for successful change has to be, inevitably on a long term basis; but little successes in the short term have to be acknowledged and rewarded, as that will help your employees feel positive about themselves, their changed circumstances, and also help to boost their morale. Set realistic short term goals and reward those who are successful in achieving them. For instance, you can set up annual reward programs for those who perform well in the newly formulated strategy, or master a newly introduced innovation; this will encourage better participation from your workforce in the changed strategies. Consolidate and Build to Further Improve By this stage of the change process, you should be able to see that your initial efforts are paying off; your employees have adjusted well to the changes and their productivity has increased. The changes have really helped your organization to perform better and to compete in the market, favorably, when compared to its competitors. But do not stop pushing hard, because now is not the time to rest on your laurels. Now is the time to forge ahead, firing on all cylinders and with more vigor. When you achieve positive results from change effected, you gain credibility. Use this credibility to push forward. Otherwise your sense of achievement might prove to be premature as it takes sustained effort to maintain difficult changes in an organization and change is an ongoing process. You can even hire or promote staffs who are open to change, without too much resistance fro

Sex and Death in A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams :: A Streetcar Named Desire Essays

It’s just a little after sun set as Blanche Dubois sets foot off a train in New Orleans. She is visiting her sister, Stella, & brother-in law, Stanley. Well she is actually moving in, because she has lost their family’s homestead, Belle Reve, and as well as her job, as a high school English teacher. Her husband shoots himself after she told him that he disgusted her, because he was homosexual. Blanche is so afraid of her past that she does her best to lead the life of an elegant lady and does her best to keep up appearances. She is an alcoholic, but tries to hide it from everyone. Blanche takes a liking to Stanley’s friend, Mitch. He evenly finds about her past and wants nothing more to do with her. Then Blanche wants Stella to leave Stanley and go with her to leave with a rich â€Å"man† named, Step Huntleigh, who turns out to someone she made up. Stanley rapes Blanche during the time Stella was at the hospital having their baby. She tells Stella about th e rape, but she does not believe her. Blanche becomes deeply disturbed, so they decide to put her in an insane asylum (Williams). Blanche Dubois is a mid-age high school English teacher. She is very naà ¯ve and thinks highly of herself. She has became very promiscuous since her husbands death, which she caused by telling him that he disgusted her because he is homosexual. She puts on the airs of a woman who has never known indignity, even though she has had many lovers and strong sexual urges. She was forced to leave Laurel, Mississippi because of her affair with a young student. Soon after Blanche arrives in New Orleans at the Kowalski apartment and eventually reveals that she is completely destitute. She avoids reality, preferring to live in her own imagination. As the play progresses, Blanche’s instability grows along with her misfortune. Stanley sees through Blanche and finds out the details of her past, destroying her relationship with his friend Mitch. Stanley also destroys what’s left of Blanche by raping her and then having her committed to an insane asylum (Williams). Stella Kowalski is Blanche’s younger sister, about twenty-five years old. Stella left Laurel, Mississippi in her late teens and moved to New Orleans. She then met and married Stanley Kowalski, who is lower-class, but she loves and cares for him dearly.

Comparing Henry IV and King Lear :: comparison compare contrast essays

Comparing Henry IV and King Lear  Ã‚      Shakespeare's play, King Lear details the tragic consequences of the decisions of the fictitious character Lear, King of England. King Lear is a man of great power but he surrenders all of this power to his daughters as a reward for their demonstration of love towards him. Lear’s rash decision results in a chain reaction of events that send him through a journey of hell. King Lear is a metaphorical description of one man's journey through hell in order to expiate his sin.      As the play opens one can almost immediately see that Lear begins to make mistakes that will eventually result in his downfall. (Neher) This is the first and most significant of the many sins that he makes in this play. By abdicating his throne to fuel his ego he is disrupts the great chain of being which states that the King must not challenge the position that God has given him. This undermining of God's authority results in chaos that tears apart Lear's world. (Williams) Leaving him, in the end, with nothing. Following this Lear begins to banish those around him that genuinely care for him as at this stage he cannot see beyond the mask that the evil wear. He banishes Kent, a loyal servant to Lear, and his youngest and previously most loved daughter Cordelia. (Nixon) This results in Lear surrounding himself with people who only wish to use him which leaves him very vulnerable attack. This is precisely what happens and it is through this that he discovers his wrongs and amends t hem.      Following the committing of his sins, Lear becomes abandoned and estranged from his kingdom which causes him to loose sanity. While lost in his grief and self-pity the fool is introduced to guide Lear back to the sane world and to help find the lear that was ounce lost behind a hundred Knights but now is out in the open and scared like a little child. (Bradley) The fact that Lear has now been pushed out from behind his Knights is dramatically represented by him actually being out on the lawns of his castle. The terrified little child that is now unsheltered is dramatically portrayed by Lear's sudden insanity and his rage and anger is seen through the thunderous weather that is being experienced. All of this contributes to the suffering of Lear due to the gross sins that he has committed.

Free Hamlet Essays: Hamlet Father and Son :: GCSE Coursework Shakespeare Hamlet

Hamlet: Comparing Father and Son The play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet was a man that looked up to his father throughout his life, during and after his father's death. The younger Hamlet tried to follow in his father's footsteps, but as much as they were alike, they were very much different. The man named Hamlet had a son named Hamlet and after everything was over, that is one of the few things that they had in common. King Hamlet and Hamlet compare in that they are both upset by the Queen’s marriage, they both hate Claudius, they are both brave, and they are both dead by the end of the play. They contrast in that while Hamlet’s father was king, Hamlet will never have the kingship, Hamlet does not leave a legacy and they die differently. Hamlet looked up to his father because he felt that he was a great leader and the bravest man that he knew, as Hamlet mentioned, "so excellent a king† (I. ii.149). He wanted to be so much like him, but couldn't because of a couple of barriers that he had to deal with. He became a lot like his father in the end. Hamlet was very disappointed with his life because he knew that becoming king was one thing that he didn't have in common with his father, because his stepfather was king, â€Å"married with my uncle, my father's brother" (I. ii. 151-2). Hamlet was very upset by his mother's marriage, and as he learns later, his father was as well, "It is not nor it cannot come to good: But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue" (I. ii. 157-8). The ghost of Hamlet's father advises his own opinion, "Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxury and damned incest" (I. v. 82-3). They both shared the hatred towards Claudius, the King and the wife of Hamlet's mother and his father's widow. Hamlet expresses his hatred in I. v. 106, 108-9, "O villain, villain†¦That one may smile†¦and be a villain; At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark.† The ghost gives his hatred in I. v. 38-9, 42, "The serpent that did sting thy father's life Now wears his crown. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast.† Hamlet does become as brave as his father when he kills the king, his stepfather, when the plot of the king to kill Hamlet goes wrong, and the Queen drinks the poisoned drink herself.

Boredom: Prank Call

Boredom paper Can Boredom get you into trouble? That is the question that i will be discussing in my paper. I think boredom can get you into trouble because you tend to do things you normally wouldn't do. Second I think boredom can get you into trouble because you can get arested. Lastly I think boredom can get you into trouble because when you are bored you tend to eat more and more. There's still some good in being bored. When your bored you can draw,read and just write about anything. My paper is going to be about the bad in boredom.My first reson that i think boredom can get you in trouble is because you will start doing thingsyou wouldn;t normally do. If your at home and your bored and hungry but you don't know how to cook what's going to happen? Your going to want to experiment but you don't know how cook,but you cook anyway. You cook anyway and you end up burning down your house and almost killing yourself. See that's what boredom does to you. My second reason that I you think boredom can get you in trouble is because you can get arrested. When your bored some people prank call people for fun depending on their aghe they can get fined or arrested.I went on my computer and typed in things to do when your bored,two things that came up were prank calling people and hurting yourself and others. That's what being bored does to you. My last reason that I think boredom can get you in trouble is because you tend to eat more and more. When your bored you eat just to eat. You eat just to eat because your bored and there's nothing else for you to do. When you eat because your bored all your doing is gaining wieght and seting yourself up for health problems down the road. See that's what boredom can leads too.

Analyze the different Operational Management (OM) perspective of Walmart Essay

Analyze the different Operational Management (OM) perspective of Walmart. Identify the following by writing a paper (with paragraphs, including an introductory, body, and concluding section): 1) The organization’s name and main line of business, 2) A specific type of operations process that takes place there (either service or product), 3) Describe the nature of the operations given your newfound understanding of operations management and productivity. 4) You may identify the strategy or global strategy of that organization. Turn in your one to two page paper by the Module due date. Walmart Stores, Inc. or Walmart is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount department stores. It is the world’s largest public corporation by revenue, Founded by Sam Walton in 1962, it was incorporated on October 31, 1969, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It is the largest private employer in the world and the fourth largest utility or commercial employer. Walmart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States, with an estimated 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business. It also owns and operates the North American company, Sam’s club. The operations that take place in Walmart are specifically related to products. Walmart has a systematic approach to conducting its operations. It is able to understand the issues and problems to be studied, measures of performances to be established and uses scientific and analytical tools to develop effective and efficient solutions to the problems at hand. Irrespective of the nature of organization and the activities it performs every organization needs to incorporate marketing finance and human resources activities to its operations. This operation process is the conversion process. These four forms the basic functions of any organisation.and are mutually interactive.oerations come at the core of every organizational activity and bind the functional areas together. Productivity and efficiency of work is determined by an efficient system of operations. Hence operations forms are very important process of work flow and .corporate level strategies must first be made and then translated into operational strategies. Operation management functions encompass product  design and development, process design, location and layout of facilities, capacity planning, forecasting, production planning and control, supply chain management, maintenance management and continued improvement in operations. The strategy of Walmart is to extend its products to every possible household and make every product available to the common man through its wide network of stores all over the USA.the strategy is also to provide empowerment and work to as many people as it can and make the supply chain management a very safe and profitable process. it gets its groceries from unknown and untapped resources thereby making it a virtual assembly house of varied manufactured products. Project 2 Consider Wal-Mart. Integrate the concepts and operations management principles that you’ve been studying in this module and turn in your one to two page paper addressing the following questions: How project management influence other departments and functions of this organization (i.e., marketing, finance, accounting, human resources, etc.)? What are the difficulties or limitations for implementing PERT and CRM in the organization? Operations are a key functional area in an organization. Irrespective of the activities and the type of business every organization has few important activities to perform. This encompasses operations, marketing, finance and human resources management. Operations pertain to managing the conversion process in an organization. The marketing function is concerned with understanding the requirements of the customers cresting a demand for the products and services and satisfying the customer requirements by delivering the right product and services to the customers at the right time. In order to perform the various activities pertaining to operations and marketing finance is needed for tapping the market for funds and managing the working capital. These activities constitute the finance function. Every organization employs a number of people with varied skills background and work requirements. Managing the workforce and addressing a host of issues related to them is called human resources management.hrence these four form the basic functions of any organization The basic functions of an organization. The four functions have mutual interactions between them. The decisions  taken in each of these functional areas could form an important input in another functional area. Typically, organizations begin their yearly plan with the marketing function of estimating next year’s sales. This input forms the basis for production planning, procurement planning and all these lead to certain estimate of the funds required. This forms an important input for the finance function.wjhile planning has such a sequence of information flows and interactions at the time of executions interactions are even more. The HRM function influences the productive capacity of manpower available in real time the actual production of gods influences the marketing activity to be undertaken and the quantum and timing of funds available from sales. Hence project management influences every department in an organization. It is difficult to implement PERT because it is a product industry and as such Pert is normally suited to a service industry of where there are many projects taking off Walmart being primarily a goods industry does not require PERT. Customer Relationship management is a though study by the organization of the customer behavior and relationship. Walmart’s customer base is so huge that it seems impossible to maintain a CRM of that size. Furthermore the customer is from varied backgrounds and Walmart will not have any use for this. It becomes very expensive to initialize something like this for the size of Walmart. Project 3 At the Hard Rock Cafe, like many organizations, project management is a key planning tool. With Hard Rock’s constant growth in hotels and cafes, remodeling of existing cafes, scheduling for Hard Rock Live concert and event venues, and planning the annual Rockfest, managers rely on project management techniques and software to maintain schedule and budget performance. â€Å"Without Microsoft Project,† says Hard Rock Vice-President Chris Tomasso, â€Å"there is no way to keep so many people on the same page.† Tomasso is in charge of the Rockfest event, which is attended by well over 100,000 enthusiastic fans. The challenge is pulling it off within a tight 9-month planning horizon. As the event approaches, Tomasso devotes greater energy to its activities. For the first 3 months, Tomasso updates his MS Project charts monthly. Then at the 6-month mark, he updates his progress weekly. At the 9- month mark, he checks and corrects his schedule twice a  week. Early in the project management process, Tomasso identifies 10 major tasks (called level 2 activities in a work breakdown structure, or WBS):†  talent booking, ticketing, marketing/PR, online promotion, television, show production, travel, sponsorships, operations, and merchandising. Using a WBS, each of these is further divided into a series of subtasks. The following table identifies 26 of the major activities and subactivities, their immediate predecessors, and time estimates. Tomasso enters all of these into the MS Project software. Tomasso alters the MS Project document and the time line as the project progresses. â€Å"It’s okay to change it as long as you keep on track,† he states. The day of the rock concert itself is not the end of the project planning. â€Å"It’s nothing but surprises. A band not being able to get to the venue because of traffic jams is a surprise, but an ‘anticipated’ surprise. We had a helicopter on stand-by ready to fly the band in,† says Tomasso. On completion of Rockfest in July, Tomasso and his team have a 3-month reprieve before starting the project planning process again. Please turn in a paper of one to two pages (page counting does not include cover and reference list) discussing the following questions, The critical path is A-D-E-F-G-O The project completion time is 34 weeks. 2. Identify some major challenges a project manager faces in events such as this one. To plan thoroughly all aspects of the project, soliciting the active involvement of all functional areas involved, in order to obtain and maintain a realistic plan that satisfies their commitment for performance. To control the organization of manpower needed by the project To control the basic technical definition of the project, ensuring that â€Å"technical† versus â€Å"cost† trade-offs determine the specific areas where optimisation is necessary. To lead the people and organizations assigned to the project at any given point in time. Strong positive leadership must be exercised in order to keep the many disparate elements moving in the same direction in a co-operative. To monitor performance, costs and efficiency of all elements of the project and the project as a whole, exercising judgement and leadership in determining the causes of problems and facilitating solutions To complete the project on schedule and within costs, these being the overall standard by which performance of the project manager is evaluated. Project 4 Global firms like Regal Marine know that the basis for an organization’s existence is the good or service it provides society. Great products are the keys to success. With hundreds of competitors in the boat business, Regal Marine must work to differentiate itself from the flock. Regal continuously introduces innovative, high-quality new boats. Its differentiation strategy is currently reflected in a product line consisting of 22 models. But why must Regal Marine constantly worry about designing new boats? The answer is that every product has a life cycle. Products are born. They live and they die. As Figure 5.1 shows, a product’s life cycle can be divided into four phases: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Figure 5.2 shows the four life cycle stages and the relationship of product sales, costs, and profit over the life cycle of a product. When Regal is developing a new model boat, it typically has a negative cash flow. If the boat is successful, those losses may be recovered and yield a profit prior to its decline. The life cycle for a successful Regal boat is three to five years. To maintain this stream of innovative new products, Regal constantly seeks design input from customers, dealers, and consultants. Design ideas rapidly find themselves in Regal’s styling studio, where Computer Aided Design (CAD) technology speeds the development process. A Regal design engineer can start with a rough sketch or even just an idea and use the graphic display power of CAD as a drafting board to construct the geometry of the new boat. The CAD system helps the designer determine engineering data such as the strength, dimensions, or weight. It also allows the designer to be sure all parts will fit together. Existing boat designs are always evolving as the company tries to stay stylish and competitive. Moreover, with life cycles so short, a steady stream of new products is required. A few years ago, the new product was the 3-passenger $11,000 Rush, a small, but powerful boat capable of pulling a water-skier. The next year, it was a 20-foot inboard-outboard performance boat with so many innovations that it won prize after prize in the industry. Then it was a redesigned 42-foot Commodore that sleeps six in luxury staterooms. With all these models and innovations, Regal designers  and production personnel are under pressure to respond quickly. By getting key suppliers on board early and urging them to participate at the design stage, Regal improves both innovations and quality while speeding product development. Regal finds that the sooner it brings suppliers on board, the faster it can bring new boats to the market. The first stage in actual production is the creation of the â€Å"plug,† a foam-based carving used to make the molds for fiberglass hulls and decks. Specifications from the CAD system drive the carving process. Once the plug is carved, the permanent molds for each new hull and deck design are formed. Molds take about 4-8 weeks to make and are all handmade. Similar mold s are made for many of the other features in Regal boats–from galley and stateroom components to lavatories and steps. Finished molds can be joined and used to make thousands of boats. Please turn in a paper of one to two pages (page counting does not include cover and reference list) discussing the following questions, 1. How does the concept of product life cycle apply to Regal Marine products? 2. What strategy does Regal use to stay competitive? 3. What kind of benefits are Regal achieving by using CAD technology rather than traditional drafting techniques? Project 4 The product life cycle that applies to regal marine products is new boats every three to five years. To be competitive every boat that is manufactured has four stages .the introduction and the design conceptualization is the most important stage. Once the design has been conceptualized it becomes easy to transfer the design into an acceptable model through the CAD models. Then it is introduced into the market’. The innovations and the new design boats help the market and it grows fast that the entire market is full of the new design boats from regal marines. This is the maturity stage of the boat life cycle. Every boat lover has a new boat design of regal marines and then the stagnation starts and the sales of boat decline gradually at first and then very quickly. this is a sure sign that the life cycle of the new design is coming to an end and obsoletion has set in .if this is not tackled then the firm will be incurring losses on more production. So this is an  indication t hat regal marines have to start looking for another new design to replace the one that in just going out of vogue. Regal marines’ competitive strategy is right from the customers themselves. Every design and thought that goes into making boats comes from the customers themselves. The customer’s suppliers and designers are all together in the studio of the regal marines while designing a new boat of enhancing features of existing models. This allows for regal marines to feel the pulse of the market and also help in setting in trends and innovations. Since every product is manufactured and customized as per customer design and style this helps regal marines to bring in the right edge to the sale and product and allows it to stay competitive. The brand of Boats from regal marines sells because there is always something new to every boat that is introduced in the market. Regal marine’s product development cell has a good combination of suppliers too. It uses the suppliers input in the design stage by urging them to participate in the design drafting process. This helps in speedin g up the initial design process. While competitors lose out on time regal marines is able to capitalize on time. Regal finds that the sooner it brings suppliers on board, the faster it can bring new boats to the market this competitive strategy also allows for competitive pricing with enhanced features. This is the gaining advantage that regal marines have. The traditional drafting method needs precision and perfection and usually takes some days to design. The prototype of the design cannot be seen unless the drawing is fully complete. This is not so in the case of Cad. if a few necessary dimensions are given and the shape chosen the CAD design engineers can bring out hundreds of designs of the prototype and improving upon the concept as the design proceeds. This is the greatest advantage of CAD designing. Improvements can go along simultaneously. This is not only faster but innovative too. The errors that arise out of human calculations and design lengths can be avoided though computer designing. The parts of the design can be fitted redesigned and reengineered based of specifications and new inputs. This allows for innovations and new concepts. The CAD also gives suggestions for new designs which can be improved upon. Styles and engineering models can be used to stay ahead of others. This is the greatest advantage of The CAD over tra ditional patterns of design. The CAD allows regal marine engineers to be constantly under pressure to bring in  innovations in boat design and models. This also has led to improving the efficiency of Regal marine product service lines. Project 5 Consider Wal-Mart. Integrate the concepts and operations management principles that you’ve been studying in this module and turn in your one to two page paper addressing the following questions: 1) How product design is applied in decision-making of that organization? 2) Can you describe a Product Life Cycles in the organization? 3) How different Issues for Product Development are applied in the organization? Project 5 Walmart a premier Grocery store and the largest chain store in the USA has been constantly striving to improve its product design. In the design of a consumer product not only is the manufactured cost of interest, but also the quality of the product delivered and how well the product meets customer expectations is studied. Walmart has been able to sustain this competitive advantage by staying ahead of others in designing delivering products in new fashion Walmart product can be distinguished just by design and packaging. Products sold by Walmart have measurable and non measurable attributes too hence both these have to consider while preparing a design plan for its products. Cost is a very important attribute of product design. a key decision making process is the constitution of cost. Walmart has been tagged as the cost price sop or a friendly shop. Having scored on this advantage Walmart needs to design its product and decide on the most important factor of cost. Many of the decisions regarding cost and quality are made in the preliminary design stage where the design engineers and the cost engineers sit together to make a workable proposition keeping the corporate strategy in mind. Hence these two put together deliver a product that can be afford by a maximum number of people. Since the consumer market is a fast changing one no product design can be kept constant for long. there is great uncertainty regarding this hence this decision of whether to stick to same design or keeping changing the design as per consumer preferences is a decision that has to be taken promptly so that products can have the delivery value. Too much newness and change may also lead to undesirable results sometimes. Where there is a degree of uncertainty in design  performance levels, customer preferences, and even in the goals for the design itself have to change immediately so that the product reaches the shelves with the newness that is anticipated from every Walmart store. The Walmart’s products are fast-moving consumer goods and durables and groceries which have short shelf lives. The product life cycles of products at Walmart are varying from 2 months to 2 years. That is why it is called a FMCG sector. Even before a product has been introduced it become out of fashion and obsolete. Such products life cycle is very short and these products will not be able to bring in that competitive advantage to Walmart. Most of the products that Walmart deals have short PLCs. even before the growth rate starts the decline set in. this call for continuous product improvement and great innovations in product life cycle management. Every product here has a tangible attribute and consumers want that attribute in every new product line. This is a challenge that Walmart has been continually striving for. Walmart’s issues of product development are many and are challenging to the very existence of this chain stores. The issues are generated not only from managing the wide variety of products but continually striving for error generating highest customer satisfaction. The watchword of product development is innovation. The market place is so crowded that unless Walmart caters to this it cannot sustain in the market. It keeps innovation as the watchword every customer need has to be met and new initiatives have to be optimized to meet the needs of the ever changing consumer market. This is critical to the success of any product development agenda. An ideal marketing mix should be approached by the organization so that product development is optimized. This would help in sustaining the advantage of product development issues. Project 6 The Arnold Palmer Hospital (APH) in Orlando, Florida, is one of the busiest and most respected hospitals for the medical treatment of children and women in the U.S. Since its opening on golfing legend Arnold Palmer’s birthday September 10, 1989, more than 1.5 million children and women have passed through its doors. It is the fourth busiest labor and delivery hospital in the U.S. and the largest neonatal intensive care unit in the Southeast. And APH ranks fifth out of 5,000 hospitals nationwide in patient satisfaction.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Part of the reason for APH’s success,† says Executive Director Kathy Swanson, â€Å"is our continuous improvement process. Our goal is 100% patient satisfaction. But getting there means constantly examining and reexamining everything we do, from patient flow, to cleanliness, to layout space, to colors on the walls, to speed of medication delivery from the pharmacy to a patient. Continuous improvement is a huge and never-ending task.† One of the tools the hospital uses consistently is the process flowchart. Staffer Diane Bowles, who carries the â€Å"Clinical Practice Improvement Consultant,† charts scores of processes. Bowles’s flowcharts help study ways to improve the turnaround of a vacated room (especially important in a hospital that has operated at 130% of capacity for years), speed up the admission process, and deliver warm meals warm. Lately, APH has been examining the flow of maternity patients (and their paperwork) from the moment they enter the hospital until they are discharged, hopefully with their healthy baby a day or two later. The flow of maternity patients follows these steps: 1. Enter APH’s Labor & Delivery check-in desk entrance. 2. If the baby is born en route or if birth is imminent, the mother and baby are taken by elevator and registered and admitted directly at bedside. They are then taken to a Labor & Delivery Triage room on the 8th floor for an exam. If there are no complications, the mother and baby go to step 6. 3. If the baby is not yet born, the front desk asks if the mother is preregistered. (Most do preregister at the 28–30-week pregnancy mark). If she is not, she goes to the registration office on the first floor. 4. The pregnant woman is taken to Labor & Delivery Triage on the 8th floor for assessment. If she is ready to deliver, she is taken to a Labor & Delivery (L&D) room on the 2nd floor until the baby is born. If she is not ready, she goes to step 5. 5. Pregnant women not ready to deliver (i.e., no contractions or false alarm) are either sent home to return on a later date and reenter the system at that time, or if contractions are not yet close enough, they are sent to walk around the hospital grounds (to encourage progress) and then return to Labor & Delivery Triage at a prescribed time. 6. When the baby is born, if there are no complications, after 2 hours the mother and baby are transferred to a â€Å"mother-baby care unit† room on floors 3, 4, or 5 for an average of 40–44 hours. 7. If there are complications with the mother, she goes to an operating room and/or intensive care unit. From there, she goes back to a mother–baby care room upon stabilization — or is discharged at another time if not stabilized. Complications for the baby may result in a stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) before transfer to the baby nursery near the mother’s room. If the baby cannot be stabilized for discharge with the mother, the baby is discharged later. 8. Mother and/or baby, when ready, are discharged and taken by wheelchair to the discharge exit for pickup to travel home. Please turn in a paper of one to two pages (page counting does not include cover and reference list) discussing the following questions, 1. As Diane’s new assistant, you need to flowchart this process. Explain how the process might be improved once you have completed the chart. 2. If a mother is scheduled for a Caesarean-section birth (i.e., the baby is removed from the womb surgically), how would this flowchart change? 3. If all mothers were electronically (or manually) preregistered, how would the flowchart change? Redraw the chart to show your changes. 4. Describe in detail a process that the hospital could analyze, besides the ones mentioned in this case. Project 6 Staffer Diane Bowles is the â€Å"Clinical Practice Improvement Consultant,† who charts scores of processes. Her inputs are very important for efficient room processes and admission processes. As Diane’s assistant I would first acquaint myself with the flow of Diana’s flowchart. I would take a few days to study the various inputs and the process flows. Once this is done then I could suggest improvements if any. I feel that there is only place where  there is a scope for improvement. This would also help in getting the rooms vacated on time without the prospect of waiting for rooms to be vacated. I would not initiate any changes because the flow chart of processes has been very successful and critical to the 130% capacity of the operational levels of the hospitals’ only would like to improve upon the levels of floors of the various units. The process as such is maintained very well but the floors on which facilities for labor wards for operations and normal delivery are scattered and in case of any emergency the patient has to be shifted many times up and down. This not only wastes critical time but also man power. I suggest that the seventh and the eight floors be exclusively used as labor wards and operation theaters and the rest of th4 floors be used in any order convenient for doctors’ nurses and other therapists. A mother who is expected to be operated upon needs to jump from process 1 to 7 without any intervening steps. the process 7 would become step 2 as the mother has already registered and ready for the cesarean .then step 6 could be followed the mother and child sent to the ante natal care and then step 8 .in process flow chart for a mother who is to be operated upon. she need not go through any other step as it is not required. Pre-registration should become mandatory fro all expectant mothers. Then the order of the flowchart would change with step 3 becoming step 1 and step 322 and others following each other. There should be no instant admission process .since all mothers are treated only by this hospital doctors pre-registration must become compulsory. That way the no of patients and mothers to be admitted for delivery on any particular day can be assessed and particularly over crowded seasons can be studied and staff arranged for emergencies. A process for a hospital specializing in obstetrics and child birth could be as follows: 1. Expectant mothers to pre register with the hospital either manually of electronically in the 30th week of pregnancy. 2. The registration number to be produced during time of admission with doctor’s diagnosis. 3,. If the mother is due for a cesarean, admission should take place before 6 hours and the mother should be taken to floor 7 for preoperative care and then proceed to step 6 4. If the mother is due for normal delivery and the birth of the child can happen any time, the mother and baby are taken by elevator and registered and admitted directly at bedside. They are then taken to a Labor & Delivery Triage room on the 8th floor for an exam. If there are no  complications, the mother and baby go to step 6. 5. If the mother has still some more time for delivery she is asked to go around the hospital till the contractions start and then goes to step 6. 6. The mother is taken to the labor ward and after successful child birth she goes to the mother and child ward and then to step 7 7. After observation and mother and child found healthy they are discharged and then to step 9 8. if the mother is found healthy and the child is found not fit enough to be discharged the child is taken to the natal care centre and the mother goes to step 9. 9. The mother and baby discharged with dates vie fro the next check up with post natal care dates. . Project 7 Consider Walmart. Integrate the concepts and operations management principles that you’ve been studying in this module and turn in your one to two page paper addressing the following questions : 1) What process strategy (form the four process strategies) is applied in that organization? 2) Where is the headquarter (or distribution center) of the organization? Are there any benefits locating there? If you could choose, where would you choose? Project 7 The process strategy is also called the job shop process. The process focus at Walmart is basically strategized around the low volume low variety type. The goods that are sold in Walmart are a large variety of goods with small quantities on the shelf. If one goes through the Walmart shelves it is noticeable that there are hundreds of varieties of goods of all types and brands but one can never buy in bulk just because Walmart does not stock them in bulk. It is not categorized as a bulk store but a retail chain store. The facilities of each department starting from the procurement to delivery are all specific processes and are organized around specific activities. Every activity is done in a specialized way by the department and process concerned. There is heavy centralization of process leading to  high execution times and perfection in operations. The procurement department is centralized with a specialists working on processes and jobs. The store stocks goods according to the eve r changing demands of the customers so the product range at Walmart is highly flexible. The stores allows for product flexibility. Since majority of the work of disbursement and product stocking is done manually the store incurs heavy cost on distribution. Except for billing and inventory every other activity is manually done. This leads not only to heavy man power requirement but also lot of human errors that cannot be avoided. This makes way for repetitions and sometimes high levels of inefficiencies. Because of the high manual work the sophisticated machines are seldom used and are all put in cold storage. To show that the store is organized around the latest technology the machines have been ordered and put in place but they are neither used nor automated. This calls for idle cost. Another main characteristic of the Walmart chain stores are the varying product flows making planning and scheduling a challenge. It is very difficult to estimate in advance the flow of a product during a week in advance. this calls for either over stocking a product or non availability o f the product hence the floor manager‘s job of stocking the right quantity during the time of demand becomes a challenge. This is the most difficult part of the process flow in Walmart. The work processes are very unique in the sense that one cannot apply any strategy of operations management and organization behavior here. The assembly process is also a challenge for every department of Walmart. The Walmart chain stores are headquartered at Bentonville, Benton County, Arkansas, 72716. The reason for having the headquarters there is quite obvious because it was here that Sam Walton opened the company’s first discount store in 1962.the original store is now a tourist spot. This small town has not only a big store but all offices of Walmart including the corporate office here. There could be no benefits here except having a sentimental value to having the head office near the original store. Since theses are the corporate offices and do not actually carry out operations of sully chain and procurement it does not matter. This headquarters is management office as all other Walmart stores operate on their own through centralized market pool. Hence procurement and distribution is done through the local stores but decisions regarding corporate policies are excused from the headquarters. I would choose the same. References: dedeksoncenter.net/Classweb/MSIS_301/MSIS301_Slides/OperationsMGT_hr8_ppt07.ppt – http://walmartstores.com/ P