The Paralegal Career and Why

When I first thought about becoming a paralegal, I was in working for a Trust and Probate attorney who also had a Title company. I enjoyed the data gathering, research, meeting people and understanding their needs and helping them find peace of mind. I had also just become interested in John Grisham novels, which, granted, does not truly represent the legal field in the most correct light, but they are legal thrillers nonetheless.For some reason the combination of these two things made me think about pursuing a career in the legal field. I knew for certain that I did not want to go to law school, since I was a Mom with a lot of responsibility. I took an on-line course to become a legal assistant. However, when we moved, I had to change my career as I was offered a very challenging position in the insurance field. I studied to get my California Life, Health, Long Term Care, Property and Casualty licenses. Then my job required me to get my Series 7 and 66.These were all on-lines classe s, they were convenient and could be obtained around my work schedule. I am a classroom-oriented person. So, when I was laid off, I concluded that this was my chance to get back into the legal field and a paralegal would be a happy medium. In the meantime, my son graduated from law school and passed the California Bar. I now find myself wanting a job in a local law firm. So here I am now, writing a paper on the career that I now find myself eagerly pursuing.

My Son the Fanatic

My son the fanatic The generation gap is a dilemma which frequently occurs among immigrants, and in his short story My son the fanatic, Hanif Kureishi brings up the issue concerned. Kureishi introduces us to a father, who’s alarmed and puzzled by his sons’ strange behavior, which proves out to be against his own values. During this, Kureishi touches on the topics fanaticism and religion, and how these can change ones behavior towards ones family. Kureishi also focuses on how people relate to their roots.The main character in the story is Parvez, who’s a good example of an immigrant being well-integrated. He emigrated from Pakistan, where he was taught the Koran. He underwent indignity during this, and subsequently he avoided all religion; he even prefers jokes to rules. Even though he has a wife and a son, he spends most of his time â€Å"living a boy’s life† with his fellow taxi drivers; playing card and avoiding their wives. The narration of the s tory is 3rd person narrative and is therefore limited, but we see the conflict from Parvez’s point of view, which engenders surprises. Parvez sprang across the hall and set his ear at Ali’s door. A muttering sound came from within (†¦) The boy was praying. †(l. 130-134) Besides eating bacon and playing cards, another example of Parvez not being very Muslim is that he knows a prostitute, Bettina. Together they have deep talks; something Parvez wasn’t able to have with his own wife. It is also Bettina who helps Parvez figuring out what’s going on with his son, f. ex. â€Å"He knew what to look for: Bettina had drawn pictures†(l. 103-104) and â€Å"Reluctantly he and Bettina had abandoned their only explanation†(l. 18-119) â€Å"Surreptitiously, the father began going into his son’s bedroom†(l. 1). As early as the first line, the story pictures a father (Parvez) who struggles with something. Ali, the son of Parvez, acts differently and queerly, and his new tidy conduct scares Parvez who â€Å"was aware that he had become slightly afraid of his son, who, between his silences was developing a sharp tongue† (l. 15-17) Ali has also become very obscure and mystical, and an example of a cryptic remark of Ali is â€Å"There are more important things to be done† (l. 9) The teenage son Ali is going through a huge change. Formerly, he was well-integrated like his father, and they understood each other. As Parvez said: â€Å"we were brothers! † (l. 56) But at some point Ali decided to distance himself from the British/western world; he threw out his material goods and dissociate himself from his old friends and girlfriend. Among other things, computer disks and videotape are mentioned as Alis discarded things, and this indicates that the story takes place in our time.Furthermore, the setting is placed among the lower part of the middle-class, since Parvez is a taxi-driver, and they are i mmigrants. Furthermore, the relationship between Parvez and his son is slightly crumbling, especially when Parvez finds out that his son has chosen the opposite view of life than himself; Ali has become very religious, and Parvez is puzzled and concerned and doesn’t know how to deal with this. â€Å"But he’s growing a beard†(l. 115) is the first sign Parvez intercepts and exclaims to Bettina.Henceforth, the conflict whether it's wrong or right to blame ones son for becoming religious blossoms. Additionally, the relationship between the two of them worsens; Ali returns his fathers long and curious looks with â€Å"a hint of criticism, of reproach† (l. 111-112) and Ali acts â€Å"as if he hated his father† (l. 194) â€Å"’Don’t you know it’s wrong to drink alcohol? ’ Ali said† (l. 177). One of the most important passages is the restaurant scene with Parvez and Ali, because until this scene, we have only been followi ng Parvezs angle of the matter.Ali have been very introvert, but at this point we have Ali’s interior thoughts revealed; Ali blames his father for being â€Å"too implicated in Western civilization†(l. 218) and for having broken the rules of the Koran, which he means should be followed to the letter, for â€Å"the reward will be in Paradise†(l. 238). To this statement, Parvez feels puzzled and exasperated. But when Ali announces that he’s giving up his study, and especially after Ali have shown disrespect towards Bettina (which you can interpret as Ali insulting Parvezs lifestyle), Parvez can’t handle the problem anymore.Thus the short story ends up in a climax; Parvez beats Ali up while he’s praying, whereupon Ali says: â€Å"So who’s the fanatic now†(l. 392) â€Å"Parvez had been telling Bettina that he thought people in the West sometimes felt inwardly empty and needed a philosophy to live by†(l. 310). This could be o ne of reasons why the emerging problem between Parvez and Ali arises. The struggle is basically caused by the generation gap, which leads us to the central conflict; the two of them simply don’t understand each other.Especially Parvez doesn’t get his son’s sudden change in values, and doesn’t understand why Ali rejects the Western world, simply because it’s not compatible with the Muslim way of life. The development of the relationship between Ali and Parvez is the main focus, and with integration as a theme, Kureishi deliberates and construes â€Å"the gap generation†. Where the older generation has lived out their dream of freedom, the younger generation grows up with much wider opportunities in life and all this freedom makes them search for guidelines.They might have experienced the more unpleasant and cruel side of the Western culture, seeing that they have been different to their surroundings, growing up. That is why some of them find that religion binds 2nd generation immigrants together. Touching on this, Kureishs sets forth his view on religion as a selected/rejected thing, which in cases can lead to the stage of fanaticism; both for the religious ones, who we are easy to claim fanatic. But Kureish also portrays the more neglected ones; those, who so hardly fight against religion and refuse their background. Because they have a special opinion on how life should be lived, too. My Son the Fanatic My Son the Fanatic My Son the Fanatic is a short story about a worried dad, Parvez. From his perspective we get to read how his son, Ali, is suddenly changing his view on life and with that, also turning upside down his father’s life. A theme of the story could be: ‘teenager creating his own identity’. That is what Ali is doing by breaking out of the world in which he was raised by his parents. Ali wants to take the opposite direction of his dad, to avoid ending up like him; this could be an important reason for Ali suddenly becoming a Muslim.Another possible theme would be: ‘rebelling against parents’. The story is told in third person singular by an implicit teller who is aware of Parvez’ thoughts and how he is feeling. There are only three relevant characters in the story: Parvez the father, Ali the son and Bettina, who is a street prostitute and a friend of Parvez. Parvez is a taxi driver living in England with his family. Even though he wa s raised in Lahore and taught to be a Muslim, he tries to fit in with society as good as possible.As a child, Parvez had bad experiences learning the Koran, which is probably what causes his anti-religious behaviour (p. 197 l. 21 and 197 l. 38-40). That is also why Parvez has difficulties trying to understand his son, when he finds him praying five times a day. He feels he has lost his son (p. 199 l. 22), and gets so angry that he can’t control himself in some situations. However, throughout the story we get the impression that he is a good father, really trying to live with the way his son has changed.For instance, on page 196 lines 23 – 27, Parvez takes a night off to go out with his son and tell him about his family in Pakistan. Parvez’ good intentions aside; him having a drinking problem combined with the sharp tongue Ali has developed are two things that are not making it easy for Parvez to keep his temper. Throughout the story, Parvez talks to Bettina abou t the problem, sounding very insecure and worried. E. g. on page 194 lines 13 – 16: â€Å"I can’t understand it! ’ †¦ We were not father and son – we were brothers!Where has he gone? Why is he torturing me! † This makes the reader feel sympathetic towards him until page 202 lines 1-4, where he kicks and beats his son several times. We know very little about how Ali was as a person before he changed. We know from his dad that he was messy, playing guitar, had English friends and an English girlfriend. Despite Ali being raised in a regular English way and being a teenager, because of his religious change, he has become more responsible, quiet and serious.Living by the rules of the Koran, Ali is now behaving as a missionary towards his father. One reason for Ali’s sudden religious behaviour could be that he seeks his spiritual side. Maybe he wants some answers about life and death that science can't give him. Ali could also be so afraid an d disgusted by the idea of ending up like his father, a taxi driver with a drinking-problem, that he now does everything he can to prevent that from happening. The ending makes the reader uncertain of where his or her sympathy lies.I was on Parvez’ side throughout the story, disliking how Ali didn’t involve his family in his sudden new life-style. But, on page 202 lines 1-4, Parvez beats his son, and Ali says on page 202 line 6: â€Å"So who’s the fanatic now? †. Ali saying this makes the reader realise that Parvez actually has been very obsessed with his son’s religious behaviour, thinking about it constantly. This is a turning point in the story, since it becomes clear that Parvez is the one becoming fanatically angry time after time, while Ali is the more reasonable one, after his change of beliefs.To conclude, this story is about a worried father whose teenage son is suddenly turning religiously active. The teenager is able to identify himself with neither his father nor the society he is living in. Therefore he seeks answers to fill a hole inside of him. Answers, that science cannot provide. The father is having a hard time accepting that, not realising that with his aggressive response to his son’s changes, he actually turns into a fanatic himself, constantly watching his son and obsessing about his behaviour. Savanna K2 My Son the Fanatic My son the fanatic The generation gap is a dilemma which frequently occurs among immigrants, and in his short story My son the fanatic, Hanif Kureishi brings up the issue concerned. Kureishi introduces us to a father, who’s alarmed and puzzled by his sons’ strange behavior, which proves out to be against his own values. During this, Kureishi touches on the topics fanaticism and religion, and how these can change ones behavior towards ones family. Kureishi also focuses on how people relate to their roots.The main character in the story is Parvez, who’s a good example of an immigrant being well-integrated. He emigrated from Pakistan, where he was taught the Koran. He underwent indignity during this, and subsequently he avoided all religion; he even prefers jokes to rules. Even though he has a wife and a son, he spends most of his time â€Å"living a boy’s life† with his fellow taxi drivers; playing card and avoiding their wives. The narration of the s tory is 3rd person narrative and is therefore limited, but we see the conflict from Parvez’s point of view, which engenders surprises. Parvez sprang across the hall and set his ear at Ali’s door. A muttering sound came from within (†¦) The boy was praying. †(l. 130-134) Besides eating bacon and playing cards, another example of Parvez not being very Muslim is that he knows a prostitute, Bettina. Together they have deep talks; something Parvez wasn’t able to have with his own wife. It is also Bettina who helps Parvez figuring out what’s going on with his son, f. ex. â€Å"He knew what to look for: Bettina had drawn pictures†(l. 103-104) and â€Å"Reluctantly he and Bettina had abandoned their only explanation†(l. 18-119) â€Å"Surreptitiously, the father began going into his son’s bedroom†(l. 1). As early as the first line, the story pictures a father (Parvez) who struggles with something. Ali, the son of Parvez, acts differently and queerly, and his new tidy conduct scares Parvez who â€Å"was aware that he had become slightly afraid of his son, who, between his silences was developing a sharp tongue† (l. 15-17) Ali has also become very obscure and mystical, and an example of a cryptic remark of Ali is â€Å"There are more important things to be done† (l. 9) The teenage son Ali is going through a huge change. Formerly, he was well-integrated like his father, and they understood each other. As Parvez said: â€Å"we were brothers! † (l. 56) But at some point Ali decided to distance himself from the British/western world; he threw out his material goods and dissociate himself from his old friends and girlfriend. Among other things, computer disks and videotape are mentioned as Alis discarded things, and this indicates that the story takes place in our time.Furthermore, the setting is placed among the lower part of the middle-class, since Parvez is a taxi-driver, and they are i mmigrants. Furthermore, the relationship between Parvez and his son is slightly crumbling, especially when Parvez finds out that his son has chosen the opposite view of life than himself; Ali has become very religious, and Parvez is puzzled and concerned and doesn’t know how to deal with this. â€Å"But he’s growing a beard†(l. 115) is the first sign Parvez intercepts and exclaims to Bettina.Henceforth, the conflict whether it's wrong or right to blame ones son for becoming religious blossoms. Additionally, the relationship between the two of them worsens; Ali returns his fathers long and curious looks with â€Å"a hint of criticism, of reproach† (l. 111-112) and Ali acts â€Å"as if he hated his father† (l. 194) â€Å"’Don’t you know it’s wrong to drink alcohol? ’ Ali said† (l. 177). One of the most important passages is the restaurant scene with Parvez and Ali, because until this scene, we have only been followi ng Parvezs angle of the matter.Ali have been very introvert, but at this point we have Ali’s interior thoughts revealed; Ali blames his father for being â€Å"too implicated in Western civilization†(l. 218) and for having broken the rules of the Koran, which he means should be followed to the letter, for â€Å"the reward will be in Paradise†(l. 238). To this statement, Parvez feels puzzled and exasperated. But when Ali announces that he’s giving up his study, and especially after Ali have shown disrespect towards Bettina (which you can interpret as Ali insulting Parvezs lifestyle), Parvez can’t handle the problem anymore.Thus the short story ends up in a climax; Parvez beats Ali up while he’s praying, whereupon Ali says: â€Å"So who’s the fanatic now†(l. 392) â€Å"Parvez had been telling Bettina that he thought people in the West sometimes felt inwardly empty and needed a philosophy to live by†(l. 310). This could be o ne of reasons why the emerging problem between Parvez and Ali arises. The struggle is basically caused by the generation gap, which leads us to the central conflict; the two of them simply don’t understand each other.Especially Parvez doesn’t get his son’s sudden change in values, and doesn’t understand why Ali rejects the Western world, simply because it’s not compatible with the Muslim way of life. The development of the relationship between Ali and Parvez is the main focus, and with integration as a theme, Kureishi deliberates and construes â€Å"the gap generation†. Where the older generation has lived out their dream of freedom, the younger generation grows up with much wider opportunities in life and all this freedom makes them search for guidelines.They might have experienced the more unpleasant and cruel side of the Western culture, seeing that they have been different to their surroundings, growing up. That is why some of them find that religion binds 2nd generation immigrants together. Touching on this, Kureishs sets forth his view on religion as a selected/rejected thing, which in cases can lead to the stage of fanaticism; both for the religious ones, who we are easy to claim fanatic. But Kureish also portrays the more neglected ones; those, who so hardly fight against religion and refuse their background. Because they have a special opinion on how life should be lived, too.

Compare and Contrast Harry Potter Movie and Book

Tianhao Mr. Findley Human Resources Management MGT-3375 Nov 28,2010 Employee Turnover Introduction â€Å"In a human resources context, turnover or labor turnover is the rate at which an employer gains and loses employees. Simple ways to describe it are â€Å"how long employees tend to stay† or â€Å"the rate of traffic through the revolving door. † Turnover is measured for individual companies and for their industry as a whole. If an employer is said to have a high turnover relative to its competitors, it means that employees of that company have a shorter average tenure than those of other companies in the same industry.High turnover can be harmful to a company's productivity if skilled workers are often leaving and the worker population contains a high percentage of novice workers. †(Wikipedia,Jan,2009) Turnover occurs when employees leave an organization and have to be replaced. With today's baby boomer generation beginning to retire from the labor market, man y companies are finding it increasingly difficult to retain employees. Turnover is becoming a serious problem in today's corporate environment. The employment culture is changing as well.It is now relatively common to change jobs every few years, rather than grow with one company throughout the employment life as was once commonplace. In addition, employees are increasingly demanding a balance between work and family life. Types of Employee Turnover Turnover is classified in a number of ways. Each of the following classifications can be used, and the various types are not mutually exclusive: * Involuntary Turnover Employees are terminated for poor performance or work rule violations * Voluntary TurnoverEmployees leave by choice Involuntary turnover is triggered by organizational policies, work rules, and performance standards that are not met by employees. Voluntary turnover can be caused by many factors, including career opportunities, pay, supervision, geography, and personal/fami ly reasons. Voluntary turnover also appears to increase with the size of the organization, most likely because larger firms are less personal, are permeated by an â€Å"organizational bureaucracy,† and have more employees who are inclined to move. Functional Turnover Lower-performing or disruptive employees leave * Dysfunctional Turnover Key individuals and high performers leave at critical times Not all turnover is negative fo organizations; on the contrary, some workforce losses are desirable, especially if those who leave are lower-performing, less reliable individuals, or disruptive co-workers. Unfortunately fo organizations, dyfunctional turnover does occur. That happens when key individuals leave, often at crucial work times.For example, a software project leader left in the middle of a system upgrade in order to take a promotion at another firm in the city. His departure caused the system ungrade timeline to slip by two months due to the difficulty of replacing that pr oject leader. * Uncontrollable Turnover Employees leave for reasons outsides the control of the employer * Controllable Turnover Employees leaves fo reasons that could be influenced by the employer Employees quit for many reasons that cannot be controlled by the organization.These reason include: (1) the employee moves out of the geographicarea, (2) the employee decides to stay home with young children or elder relatives, (3) the employee’s spouse is transferred, and (4) the employee is a student worker who graduates from college. Even though some turnover is inevitable, many employees today recognize that reducing turnover is crucial. Therefore, they must address turnover that is controllable. Organizations are better able to retain employees if they deal with the concerns of employees that are leading to this type of turnover. Causes of high or low turnoverHigh turnover often means that employees are unhappy with the work or compensation, but it can also indicate unsafe or unhealthy conditions, or that too few employees give satisfactory performance (due to unrealistic expectations or poor candidate screening). The lack of career opportunities and challenges, dissatisfaction with the job-scope or conflict with the management have been cited as predictors of high turnover. Low turnover indicates that none of the above is true: employees are satisfied, healthy and safe, and their performance is satisfactory to the employer.However, the predictors of low turnover may sometimes differ than those of high turnover. Aside from the fore-mentioned career opportunities, salary, corporate culture, management's recognition, and a comfortable workplace seem to impact employees' decision to stay with their employer. Many psychological and management theories exist regarding the types of job content which is intrinsically satisfying to employees and which, in turn, should minimise external voluntary turnover.Examples include Hertzberg's Two factor theory, McClelland 's Theory of Needs, and Hackman ;amp; Oldham's Job Characteristics Model Effects of Employee Turnover High turnover can be a serious obstacle to productivity, quality, and profitability at firms of all sizes. For the smallest of companies, a high turnover rate can mean that simply having enough staff to fulfill daily functions is a challenge, even beyond the issue of how well the work is done when staff is available.Turnover is no less a problem for major companies, which often spend millions of dollars a year on turnover-related costs. For service-oriented professions, such as management consulting or account management, high employee turnover can also lead to customer dissatisfaction and turnover, as clients feel little attachment to a revolving contact. Customers are also likely to experience dips in the quality of service each time their representative changes. The cost of turnover varies with the difficulty of the job to be performed.For example, in a food-processing company, s howing someone how to put jars of jam into a cardboard box may take five minutes, so the cost of training someone to handle this job would not be high. If, however, the tyrannical manager of the food processing line at the company kept driving away food cookers and quality-control workers, the cost of constantly training employees in this critical area could be high. Turnover costs Many organizations have found that turnover is a costly problem.In many service industries, the turnover rates and costs are are frequently very high. Employee turnover can cost companies millions per year. Good managers work to reduce turnover by taking a step beyond business level conversation. When accounting for the costs (both real costs, such as time taken to select and recruit a replacement, and also opportunity costs, such as lost productivity), the cost of employee turnover to for-profit organizations has been estimated to be up to 150% of the employees' remuneration package. There are both direc t and indirect costs.Direct costs relate to the leaving costs, replacement costs and transitions costs, and indirect costs relate to the loss of production, reduced performance levels, unnecessary overtime and low morale. In a healthcare context, staff turnover has been associated with worse patient outcomes. The costs of employee turnover can be staggering, ranging anywhere from 1/2 to 5 times an employee's annual wages dependant upon his or her position. It is neither possible, nor desirable to completely eliminate turnover from your organization.Some of the costs associated with employee turnover are unavoidable and must be expected to occur in the normal course of business. Turnover Calculation (1). Calculate the average number of employees (2). Calculate the number of departures during the period (3). Divide departures by number of employees Prevent Turnover Employee turnover is not just a Human Resources Issue. When an employee leaves a company, the employee takes with him kno wledge and experience, that which cannot be monetarily measured and that cannot be easily recreated.These are the little hints, tricks and history that relates to how to perform effectively and efficiently. Higher turnover can cost a company millions of dollars per year and can slow down productivity! It is important for managers to find ways to motivate and reward employees that don't break a budget line item, but still make the employee feel needed! Most employees spend between 40 and 60 hours per week on the job and away from a family. Because of this, the workplace sometimes becomes almost like a second home.This is a huge amount of time and the last thing a good employee wants is to feel that time is wasted or has become inefficient. â€Å"Managers can make the difference! Although professional achievement goals are mentioned quite often in managerial handbooks; these handbooks don’t always make note of the small things that make coming to work a desired event. Humans e njoy interaction. Although bonding is a term that has been misused lately, this is exactly what a manager should encourage. Some workplaces are conservative and some are liberal. No matter the culture, the small things matter!If most of the employees enjoy playing ping pong, watching Judge Judy or like pizza, what better way to reward employees who contribute the most? A used ping pong table can cost fifty dollars – a used TV set can cost about the same and pizza can certainly cost less. Lunchtimes can be used to engage in some fun activities that relieve stress and encourage sharing. † (Linda,2007) Here are some steps for reducing employee turnover. First, hire the right people and continue to develop their careers. Does your company have an ongoing career development program, tuition reimbursement, or skills training program?An investment in upgrading the workforce is one of the best investments a company can make when looking at long-term growth. Hiring the people th at are a good â€Å"fit† with the culture of the organization — meaning that their values, principles, and goals clearly match those of the company — and then training as necessary will go a long way toward ensuring employee loyalty and retention. Second, most companies with low turnover rates are very employee oriented. They solicit input and involvement from all employees and maintain a true â€Å"open-door† policy that avoids closed-door meetings.Employees are given an opportunity for advancement and are not micro-managed. Intrinsic rewards are critical. Employees must believe they have a voice and are recognized for their contribution. Remember that â€Å"trust† and â€Å"loyalty† are a two-way street. Third, develop an overall strategic compensation package that includes not only base and variable pay scales, but long-term incentive compensation, bonus and gain-sharing plans, benefit plans to address the health and welfare issues of the employees, and non-cash rewards and perks as well.To be competitive in today's labor market, most companies find it necessary to offer a standard benefit package, including health, dental, and life insurance, vacation and leave policies, and investment and retirement plans. In general, reducing employee turnover saves money. Money saved from not having to find and train replacement workers can be used elsewhere. Not All Empolyee Turnover is Bad â€Å"Not All Employee Turnover Is Bad — Celebrate ‘Losing the Losers’. (John,2009) It’s hard to find a more misunderstood and mismanaged human resource area than employee turnover. Executives are constantly sounding off about how â€Å"bad† employee turnover is, but in some cases, employee turnover is actually a positive thing. Imagine, for example, that you had a poor-performing worker like Homer Simpson. If Homer walked in late one day as usual and announced that he was leaving, would you consider that a bad thing, or would you secretly celebrate his departure? The idea of keeping everyone is just plain silly.The fact is that there are many factors that can transform â€Å"ordinary turnover† into either positive or negative turnover. As a result, few firms are beginning to classify their turnover as either â€Å"regrettable† or desirable turnover. Whether turnover is good or bad depends primarily on the business impact caused by the departure of the employee. â€Å"It’s easy during tough economic times to under focus on turnover and retention because the turnover rate of almost every firm decreases, as employees increase their emphasis on job security.However, this â€Å"lull† in turnover might be an ideal time to re-examine your processes, metrics, and goals related to turnover and retention. It’s especially important to act now because quite often the â€Å"seeds† or initial causes of turnover are more likely to be happening now because of the frustration related to budget cutting, hiring freezes, layoffs, and lack of development funds and opportunities. †(John,2009) Summary Employee turnover is a ratio comparison of the number of employees a company must replace in a given time period to the average number of total employees.A huge concern to most companies, employee turnover is a costly expense especially in lower paying job roles, for which the employee turnover rate is highest. Many factors play a role in the employee turnover rate of any company, and these can stem from both the employer and the employees. Wages, company benefits, employee attendance, and job performance are all factors that play a significant role in employee turnover. Now days most managers make their best to reduce the high employee turnover to make the organization better, but nothing is absolutely, â€Å"Not all turnover is bad†.References Dr. John Sullivan, Not All Employee Turnover Is Bad — Celebrate â€Å"Losing th e Losers† retried from http://www. ere. net/2009/04/06/not-all-employee-turnover-is-bad-celebrate-losing-the-losers/ Linda Banks, Reduce Employee Turnover: How to encourage your employees to stay retrieved from Nov 28,2010 http://www. suite101. com/content/reduce-employee-turnover-a20445 Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Turnover(employment) retrieved from Nov 28,2010 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Turnover_(employment) http://www. missouribusiness. net http://www. referenceforbusiness. com

Healthcare Policy Unit 2 DB HA415 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Healthcare Policy Unit 2 DB HA415 - Essay Example rces and efficient application of such resources identifies the importance of economics to health care policy makers because a good policy is one that can successfully be implemented. World Health Organization identifies the need to prioritize opportunities, or policies, and the need to solve the scarcity problem of resources through identification of sources, and efficient application of resources as some of the reasons why economics is important to policy makers in the health care sector. This is because every situation has alternative applicable policies and resources for implementing such policies are always scarce, and needed for application in other scopes. Consequently, there is a need for economic competence in order to identify a policy, with the highest level of utility, for implementation. Economics’ knowledge is further important to a health care policy maker because it facilitates identification of resources and efficient application of such resources in implement ation of an identified policy (World Health Organization, 2006). An understanding of economics is therefore important to a health care policy maker because it facilitates identification of policies with the highest utility level and ensures effective resource planning for policy

Literature review matrix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Literature review matrix - Essay Example   The researchers designed two phases for the study. In the first phase, participants were interviewed and their responses noted down while in the second phase, the researchers studied participants independently and noted their observations.   In the results, the researchers were able to identify some factors which influence the proper implementation of evidence based practices. They included organizational and practice issues, multi-professional relationships and the role of project leaders.   Some of the factors that were identified as influencing the process of implementing evidence based practices include number of years in the nursing practice, the age of the nurses and the number of years since obtaining the last professional degree.   Majid, S., Foo, S., Luyt, B., Zhang, X., Theng, Y. L., Chang, Y. K., & Mokhtar, I. A. (2011). Adopting evidence-based practice in clinical decision making: nurses perceptions, knowledge, and barriers. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 99(3), 229.   Rycroft†Malone, J., Harvey, G., Seers, K., Kitson, A., McCormack, B., & Titchen, A. (2004). An exploration of the factors that influence the implementation of evidence into practice. Journal of clinical nursing, 13(8), 913-924.   Dalheim, A., Harthug, S., Nilsen, R. M., & Nortvedt, M. W. (2012). Factors influencing the development of evidence-based practice among nurses: a self-report survey. BMC health services research, 12(1), 367.   Van Achterberg, T., Schoonhoven, L., & Grol, R. (2008). Nursing Implementation Science: How Evidence†Based Nursing Requires Evidence†Based Implementation. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 40(4),

Why do uae nationals don't use public transportation Research Paper

Why do uae nationals don't use public transportation - Research Paper Example In light of the recent calls to ban the use of private means of transport for people from lower economic classes in Abu Dhabi (Oueiti, 2014), it is clear that there are issues to be looked into surrounding the issue of transportation. This essay will look into some of the reasons as to why nationals of the UAE avoid public transportation and some of the proposed remedies for the situation. The main forms of transport in the countries of the UAE are buses and trams Olson, 2012). Different countries in the UAE are all facing similar issues with their public transport system. That is, most of the nationals prefer to use private transport for commuting. As a result, officials report that there is congestion on their roads (Ruiz, 2013). Policy makers have because of this been forced to take drastic measures to encourage more commuters to make of the public transport system. For example, in Dubai, parking fees imposed on drivers of private cars have been raised (Bouyamourn, 2014) to discourage drivers from taking their cars to work. Apart from this is the ban on private transport for poor nationals in Abu Dhabi, also meant to encourage citizens to use public transport. One of the reasons for the poor use of public transportation is the poor state of buses in the region. The main issue is the fact that the air-conditioned bus shelters are in dilapidated states. As such, many are completely out of order and closed down, while some have inadequate power (National Editorial, 2014). Given the fact that the UAE experiences hot summers, this presents a problem with commuters, who do not want to suffer from excessive heat. Commuters that use public transportation have cited this as the main disadvantage of the system. In addition to this, the minimum standards of buses desperately need to be raised; commuters complain of unhygienic conditions. These factors make it hard to attract new users to the public

Western civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Western civilization - Essay Example The second industrial revolution was characterized with mass production systems to achieve economies of scale to increase profits. While in the first revolution, the people were self employed and worked manually and it was only a little later that mechanization started to be employed. In the first industrial revolution, much of the development depended on the willingness of capitalists to risk financial loss, however in the second revolution, the development was promoted by the government and hence the development depended on several factors including the availability of natural resources, capital, government support, an active middle class, entrepreneurial spirit. Another striking difference is that in the first industrial revolution, the production was dependent on the cottage industries and was more agrarian in nature. In, the second revolution the products were customer oriented and the nature of products was more industrial. Also marketing, innovative business practices and globalization were essential features of this age of expansion. The late nineteenth century saw tremendous growth in professionalism of products. With the economical growth several innovative products and ideas came into existence. The demographic population increased and with it, the need for more resources. The social dispersion was captured in the music of that time which changed to â€Å"reflect the disorientation of traditional standards and values, the contrasts between an extreme collectivism and an equally extreme individualism†. The art captured the emotional isolation of the individual and questioned the values of a modern consumer-oriented society created by the industrialists to reap economies of scale. The people at that time felt fearful and disorientated because of shifts in demographical factors such as emigration and globalization. Economic competition and

Famous Court trial Analysis, 3 to choose from Essay

Famous Court trial Analysis, 3 to choose from - Essay Example In this period of about two decades of struggle, the politics of America is believed to have divided Douglas, 1999). The nine black teenagers were arrested after a white youth stepped a black youth’s hand in a train. This young black youth was hanging on one side of the train. This resulted to a stone throwing fight between a group of black youths and white youths. Since the black were many, they succeeded forcing all the white youths off the train. Some of those who were forced out of the train reported the incident to the stationmaster. They described their statement as an assault by gung teenagers who were black. The stationmaster ordered the train to be stopped and he sent a group of armed men to arrest the gang. These armed men arrested every black teenager they could find. It is at this incident that the nine teenagers were arrested and taken to Scottsboro in a jail. They remained in jail for twelve day before their trials could start. It is during that period that two o f white girls, who were mill workers, said in response to questions by one of the posse that they were raped by twelve black youths who were armed with knives. One of the girls identified six of them out of the nine black teenagers. ... However, they later claimed that they said so since they were threatened. In this trial, they announced guilty verdicts and in the second trial, it was underway. The nine boys were also accused of having knives and guns. However, no evidence was presented during the trials. Eight out of nine boys were already sentenced to death by the end of the fourth trial. Fortunately, the boys served for a long time in prison instead. During this period, NAACP and the international labor defense intervened and represented the nine black teenagers in the appeal. Some money was also raised by the two organizations to defend the nine boys. In the process, a letter was found, which was written by Bite, the girl who presented the rape case, to her boyfriend. The letter entailed a statement that the girl was not raped, and therefore, her testimony in the court was false. The results of the case at trial and on appeal When the case reached the Supreme Court, the case handed over to the lower court after finding the black’s exclusion on jury. In this court, the electrocution tried all the defendants, and eight of them were sentenced to death. One of the nine black teenagers wrote a book, vividly describing all the events and his experience in the trial. The legal issues involved in the case and historical significance of the case in the American legal system This case has contributed to a great extent to the amendment of the civil rights in American history. It also has a great importance in the constitutional law evolution. This case led to initiatives of implementation of equal protection of the citizens under the law. Since then it was agreed that no ethnic group

Is Going Green an Empty Fad or a Powerful Tool for Competitive Essay

Is Going Green an Empty Fad or a Powerful Tool for Competitive Advantage for Modern Organization - Essay Example Several techniques like utilizing the energy of sun and wind, saving water, using laptops, fluorescent bulbs, conserve power cost, planting trees, taking ayurveda medicines etc,. Pharmaceutical medicines should be replaced by natural remedies and medications so that home remedies like using of natural herbs can cure the ailments in a healthier method. Green living is a easy method which everyone can adopt in their daily life. One can plant trees to defuse carbon dioxide, recycle the mobile battery, use biogas as a fuel, use solar cooker, solar fan and build eco-friendly houses. (Martin, 2010) Benefits of going green Going green will soon be identified as a cost of business. Turning to Eco-friendly can reduce the cost because it is noted that companies reduce what they use .Thus the development generates increased revenues from better products and can also make new business. Business going green is not just an empty fad because fad always has followers and can change within a short term. But green living will sustain in the lifestyles of people. With various awareness programs people today are enough conscious about the green living and they not only preserve the environment but also contribute towards it. Living green does not suggest to build eco-friendly houses which can be expensive but it suggest to utilize the natural energy like installing skylight roofs or using low watt bulbs, gardening, saving bills by investing solar panels or using of smoke free vehicles. (GGI, 2010; ANERN, 2010).For industries to acquire a leadership role in the world fight the requirement of greener tomorrow has increased drastically. Industries are nowadays being recognized and awarded foe taking actions to go green. Subsequently India’s top companies and industries are adopting ecological sustainability in the business practice. Various industries like automobiles, IT, Thermal power stations, and banking sectors are adopting green technologies in their business for healthier improvement in their business. Under are few examples of the industry which have adopted green technology:- Energy sector: Energy sector played the major role in focusing on green technology .For instance. Suzlon Energy, one of the greenest companies with world’s third largest producer of wind-turbine having a factory in Pondicherry, which works with wind energy.  It focuses on the best practices to fuel stable growth  and expansion in markets. (Thambi, 2010) Another company, Origin Oil, a Los Angels based company with emerging leader in growing biomass and pollution absorbent.  Ã‚  It is aiming at transforming algae through growth and extraction process. Algae are a source of renewable oil which is one of the competitors of petroleum and it can use as diesel, plastics fuel and gasoline. It is believed that the changing technology will lead to much modernizat ion in the future. (OriginOil, 2010).ONGC’ a India based company has also launched green projects among the local society .The project regarding the Mokshada Green Cremation saved 70% of wood and the burning time per resources. (India Syndicate, 2009) FMCG Sectors Lately FMCG sectors also were not left aside in

Vietnamese Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Vietnamese Market - Essay Example Enforcement is primarily in the form of agreed upon termination for non-performance. For Boeing, cooperation with businesses abroad is becoming significantly evident as an alternative response. In an alliance, both companies share some risk in the investments they have made, financially or otherwise, in the common activity. Technical training or startup assistance agreements require involvement of the two organizations over the period of time which covers the training period and can be terminated by prearrangement. The degree of involvement is defined by that which is needed to support a small training team in a foreign location for what is usually a short time. A joint-venture strategy predicates a long and indeterminate lifetime for the alliance and requires only limited commitment. For Motorola, marketing subsidiary would help to penetrate the market and remain competitive for a long-time. Marketing subsidiary is an effective way for a company to overcome import restrictions and p olitical instability. Market penetration is likely to be greater than under exporting, and profit potentials are larger than with licensing. The costs of R&D are spread over more units, as are the centralized expenses. The parent company, in the process of producing and then selling overseas, learns about foreign markets and ways of doing business overseas (Tayeb 2000; Arnold & Quelch, 1996). 2. Vietnam is the third fast growing country in the world with the population 85,262,356 (International Data Base 2007). Statistical results suggest that Vietnam has a hogh rate of population growth in contrast to other countries. In 2000, its population was 79,060,410, and it is predicted that in 2050 it reaches 107,772,641 (International Data Base 2007). An increase in population growth rate has both a positive and negative impart on three companies. On the one hand, an increase in the population growth rate has a negative, 'resource swallowing' effect that depresses the level of per capita income; since the propensity to save also has a positive impact on the level of per capita income, it becomes important to determine the influence of the population growth rate on the fraction of income saved; three companies need to consider that countries (like Vietnam) with higher rates of population growth should tend to have lower levels of per capita income. For three companies, population growth proposes opportunities: entering the new market, they should take into account decreased consumption per capita income and increased labor market (Tayeb 2000). Also, the companies should be aware of cultural differences and strong corporate culture. In Vietnam HRM is the prerogative of senior management. HRM has elevated human resource issues to a position of key strategic importance. The main opportunity for the company is that the Vietnamese like to try something new. In societies like Vietnam the power distance is large and formed the basis of social relations. It is important to note that collectivistic society shows concern for a much wider group and emphasize belongingness which can extend to organizations. Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty. These variables shape the values and hence the behavior of people and their consumption patterns. Language differences and brand perception is another area of conc ern for three American companies. In global

Week 5 assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Week 5 - Assignment Example The cultural change that was introduced in the company turned around its near bankruptcy position with the assumption of Ricardo Semler, Antonio Semler’s son, a Harvard educated man. He implemented drastic change upon assumption as the new CEO of Semler. Upon assumption as the new CEO, Ricardo Semler fired two-thirds of the top management of Semler & Company and that included many close friends of his father. This would not have been possible under his father because Antonio Semler did not separate work from his personal relationships. The new set-up of the company was also a socially responsible to do to save the company and to introduce a new kind of company culture which is a total departure of the old autocratic style of leadership of the company. The young Semler felt that the old autocratic leadership thwarted people’s motivation and creativity. Thus, he decided that the authority to make decisions at Semco to be more evenly distributed to be more responsive and competitive in a globalized economy. In the process, he dismantled the rigid bureaucracy and structure of the company to make it more flexible based on the new three values of the company – employee participation, profit sharing and free flow of information. And to emphasize the change, even the name of the company was changed from Semler & Company to Semco. There were a lot of changes that can be considered drastic if it will be compared to the old leadership. Strategy wise, among them product was product diversification and the creati on of Nucleus of Technological Innovation (NTI). Leadership and ethical perspective was also changed to democratic and participatory to the point that employees can already direct themselves- set their own budget, even their own salaries and even the hiring and firing decision of both employees and managers and above all to make the company a professional and ethical business

Utilitarianism and Greatest Happiness Principle Essay Example for Free

Utilitarianism and Greatest Happiness Principle Essay Happiness Happiness: In one word, this concept exemplifies the American dream. People go to any means by which to obtain the many varied materials and issues that induce pleasures in each individual, and intrinsically, this emotion remains the ultimate goal, John Stuart Mill, a nineteenth century philosopher, correctly advocated the pursuit of happiness, and maintained the concept that above all other values, pleasure existed as the final destination, Mills hedonistic views correctly and rationally identified a natural human tendency, and his Utilitarian arguments strongly support the theory that above all else, happiness is the most important dream to be fulfilled. Upon researching for this paper, I came across a counter argument, which was based on metaphysics. Immanuel Kant, in Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, defends his strong beliefs in the issue of a good will, and surfaces as MMs chief opponent on the topic of metaphysics, The issue diminishes to a clash between emotions and pleasures ve rses rationality and logic. Yet, what use is logic when the good agent is miserable? Mills stance within Utilitarianism exists as the more favorable of the two beliefs, for happiness exist as the one intrinsically favorable element, not an emotionless mind. The main defender of the Utilitarian system exists within the Greatest happiness Principle. Mill lived as a chief advocate of this concept, which supports the idea that a decision is morally correct as long as it increases and encourages pleasures and happiness. Kant, however, in his endless quest to remain separate from emotions and thrive only on logic, would argue that autonomy should be placed above happiness in a list of intrinsic values. A good will, however, does not comfort an individual in any way if happiness does not accompany this asset, Consider this example of a seemingly happily married couple. The wife in this duo is madly in love with her husband fiercely loyal, and completely happy with her marriage and children. The husband, however, as wrongfully strayed, and had a brief, but damaging affair behind his wifes back. Kant would argue that autonomy reigns over pleasure, and the woman should therefore want to be informed of her husbands adultery, Mill would greatly disagree. By revealing the secret of the past affair, the womans happy world would be instantly shattered. Her pride would diminish, her stability would fall apart, and the children especially would be forced to view a nasty side of their beloved father. In this case, individual control is greatly overshadowed by the need for happiness. The husband is no longer acting unfaithful and the family can easily continue to live in a happy realm, If the secret were to become uncovered, all members of this circumstance unavoidably would become terribly disappointed, Under the Greatest Happiness Principle, the wife should not be informed. Since happiness truly lives as the ultimate in human desires, sparing such immense amounts of pain truly is the logical choice, Mills argument prevails, and all those involved remain happy. Through this example, one can easily see that although autonomy is often a favorable feature, it does not overshadow the importance of happiness. One of the main arguments against Utilitarianism exist in the lack of apparent fairness. An advocate of the Kantian logic principle would argue that Mills belief system does not allow for equal treatment, When considering what is best for an entire society, however, it is necessary for certain individuals to endure suffering. The good of society remains the ultimate goal, and unfortunate pain is therefore inevitable, If young children are being killed in a certain community, the obvious good for this society is discovering and punishing the murderer. Especially when children are involved, people automatically demand prompt justice. The officials of this area have searched immensely for the accused, yet no leads have surfaced, and the community suddenly erupts with anger, they demand that someone be punished, As a Utilitarian, the police chief sees a window of opportunity. A drug dealer has recently been brought in on yet another drug selling offense, and the chief decides to coerce the invalu able member of society into confessing the crime at hand, By doing so, the community instantly reunites in support and a dangerous and deadly revolt is avoided, and a menace to society is right back where he would have been regardless of his confession: behind bars, Kant, however, would argue that logically, the chase for the true offender should continue. He would shun the emotional decision to make the whole society happy by ignoring the rational decisions. But since the community obviously chooses happiness over logic, Kants arguments are irrelevant. In addition, Kant believes in a decision making process completely separate from the natural human emotions, Such a demand is possible only for a character such as Star Treks Dr. Spock, for human emotions are as much a part of every day life as the decision making process itself. Logically speaking, therefore, Mills Utilitarianism arguments maintain the largest dose of validity. Other opponents to the philosophical viewpoint of Utilitarianism state that followers of this belief system often promote an ignorant lifestyle, They maintain that advocates of the Greatest Happiness Principle believe in the theory that ignorance is bliss, Again, such reasoning is quite faulty. Displaying the erroneousness of this statement can be done by examining the issue of AIDS, An opponent of Utilitarianism would say an Infected HIV victim would not want to be aware of his disorder, Such a belief is extremely incorrect. Mill and other Utilitarian are strong advocates of education, for with intelligence, greater levels of achievement and happiness can be obtained. A member of this belief system would rightly argue that being aware of the disorder could increase long-term happiness, for treatments and support from friends and family could greatly aid the victims fight against his or her alhnents, Mills therefore strongly support education systems and believe in making society as a whole as happy as possible. In the case of the AIDS victim, a Utilitarian would also support the notification of the disorder to the victim in order to spare others of contracting the virus, The happiness of the majority would not be increased by an unknowing HIV carrier spreading the disease to other defenseless individuals, Utilitarianism clearly is not a ignorant way to live, and the Kantian philosophy of ignoring the irrational system of emotions cannot refute this standard. Without happiness, the other opportunities and necessities lose nearly all levels of importance. A true Utilitarian supports only those concepts that promote the highest levels of pleasures, and as Mill states, encourages only those actions that promote real happiness, From a Kantian viewpoint, rationality and the possession of a good will remains the most important element, but even someone with the truest and most logical of intentions can easily exist in a realm of pure depression. The one link that exists between these opposite belief systems is the concept that, all decisions should be made outside of ones personality. The key is that Kant said this decisions should be made without any regard for human emotions, A request of this magnitude is a part of a utopian society only, for ignoring ones emotions is an illogical assumption in itself, If your child and wife are both dying, deciding which one to save cannot be made without some emotional influence, Utilitarianism allows for the emotional side of life but requests only that the Greatest Happiness Principle be strictly followed. Any truly decent human being naturally follows such a request every day, Decisions are made based on the greatest level of happiness, That way, the largest majority of people benefit, and the greatest amount of happiness is achieved. Yet as Kant believed, a more morally correct decision lies at the heart of every dilemma. How does one decide who is morally more correct to save in an instance where two cherished loved ones are passing away, and only one individual may be saved? And even more importantly, how does one do so without regard emotions? I personally feel that living strictly by the doctrine of Kantian philosophy is completely impossible. Being a Utilitarian and hedonist, such as Mill, makes more sense to me.

Women Leadership In Public Sector History Essay

Women Leadership In Public Sector History Essay In a fast paced and changing environment, the focus of attention is increasingly on the need for effective leadership not just good management, and women have recently proved that they are not only good in making food and taking care of children, but also good in leading the society and promoting a better generations. Moreover, women made dramatic gains in electoral politics, winning a number of high profile positions of national leadership and a record number of seats in parliaments around the world. However, ladies who are aspiring to leadership positions are facing particular challenges; they often face far more meticulous tests to determine their suitability for promotion and must be active in seeking selection for leadership positions. Nevertheless, in order to create your own opportunities, you should acquire the characteristics and competencies of an effective leader and integrate these into your personal leadership style not caring about your identity or gender. Furthermore, through interactive exercises and group discussions, female will gain powerful communication, negotiation and influencing skills which will help them succeed in male oriented working environments. They will learn how to achieve an assertive but not aggressive response styles and create and sustain an image of authority. They will also acquire valuable techniques to help them lead, empower and motivate their staff to excel. To give an opportunity for women to develop practical leadership skills as well as to benefit from the breadth of knowledge and experience of their peers within a range of commercial and public organizations is an obligation and a duty in the hands of the government. In fact, a large number of women around the world have set up and managed their own businesses. It was not easy for those women to succeed in business. They had to face a lot of difficulties and overcome a number of barriers to become successful in their ventures. They had to deal with discrimination and endure the doubt of society, and also put in more effort than men to prove their credibility to others. The frequent mismatch that arose against women, on the one hand is because of societal discourses and media representations which often reproduced slim and highly stereotypical accounts of womens leadership, and on the other hand, because individual womens subjective experiences of leadership challenged such representations. Many experiences have been conducted concerning womens leadership, One of them was done through the Student Leadership Practices Inventory (Student LPI) and Leadership Competency Inventory (LCI), demographic questionnaire, and focus group interviews have been asked, the researchers explored the leadership training the women had received and their perception of their leadership abilities and development needs. The findings showed that the women reported frequently demonstrated exemplary leadership practices and many possessed significant leadership experience. Participants scored highest on competencies utilizing people skills and lowest in areas reflecting competence in cognitive or strategic skills. While exposed to formal leadership education, they reported receiving their leadership education primarily through observation and experience. Data from other studies were gathered in three diverse sample conditions to examine whether male and female managers differed in styles of leadership observed by their direct reports and they examined differences in both transformational and transactional leadership styles using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. In three samples, women leaders were rated by both their female and male direct reports as displaying certain key aspects of transformational leadership (i.e. charisma, individualized consideration) more frequently than men. Although the effect sizes were generally small, the results of these studies suggest that women are no less transformational than their male counterparts, and may, in fact, be more so. The sex of the raters did not appear to make any difference in the results obtained. What studies and research have shown? According to  the new Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu report, Paths to  power: Advancing women in government, launched in advance of International Womens Day on March 8, governments have been more successful at advancing women than the  private sector. Globally, women are increasingly being elected and appointed to  positions of power within the  public sector such as heads of state, ministers and cabinet members, and legislators more so than in the  private sector. Furthermore, Talent and knowledge are the  most important resources a  nation can possess, said Greg Pellegrino, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Global Public Sector Industry Leader, and one of the  authors of the  report. Womens progress has vital implications for the  health and growth of governments, companies, and nations. Therefore, it is crucial that governments and companies work together to  harness and cultivate global female talent, to  help create positive change and ensure continued growth and success. According to Diana Radl Roger, partner at Deloitte Czech Republic and Slovakia, creating appropriate conditions for women is a  very difficult task because it demands cooperation of the whole organization. In  my opinion, companies that take care of and support a  better work-life balance, win their employees loyalty, and not only their female employees. They provide incentives for higher performance and professional growth. Indeed, the number of women in a company suggests the companys culture and  values, Progress with respect to  womens participation in the  public sector serves as a  model for the  private sector. Countries that have women in government leadership positions have an  increased number of issues affecting women on the  legislative agenda, often resulting in positive societal and economic developments. For example, after ten women won parliamentary seats in Kenya, legislation relating to  womens issues, such as combating domestic violence, was passed into law. Likewise, research has shown companies with women in leadership positions perform better and achieve more economic rewards than those without women representation. The  top 500 multinational firms, which had at least three women on their boards, saw a  16.7  percent return on equity, while average companies just saw an  11.5  percent return. Evidence suggests that as female representation in government increases, their shared interests emerge, bringing about increased attention of issues affecting women. It also paves the  way for more women to  move up the  ranks, as their predecessors break down many of the  cultural and institutional biases still in existence. As the  world grows ever more interconnected, talent is becoming increasingly mobile. With the  exception of North America, regions throughout the  world are experiencing a  brain drain, in which educated women are emigrating at alarming rates in search of advancement opportunities. For example, in Africa alone, 27.7  percent of females with tertiary education emigrate 10  percent more than men. What are the steps to be taken to preserve women rights to leadership? An organization-wide culture shift is required to  nurture an  environment that is friendly to  women and encourages their advancement. In reality, women are a  critical national resource for economic growth  .Womens progress has vital implications for the  health and growth of governments, companies, and nations. Both the  private and public sectors must continue to  nurture and advance diverse talent including high-potential women in order to  stay competitive and grow. According to Anne Weisberg who is the director of Deloitte Services LP in the  United States, and one of the  authors of the  report, While women have used individual strategies to  achieve their ambitions, accelerating the  advancement of women into positions of leadership in the  government will require new organizational strategies led by those in senior positionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Among others steps, it will require organizations to  establish metrics and accountability measures, focus on career development for women and promote work life integration. The insertion of women in the workforce is critically important to the economy. Research has shown that if you have women in leadership in a company, it performs better. The same is true for the public sector. In fact, having women in high levels of government according to Excellency Maha Nakib, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is important, but whats more important is having women who can make a difference. The United States Case: In the United States, women are increasingly praised for having excellent skills for leadership and, in fact, women, more than men, manifest leadership styles associated with effective performance as leaders. Nevertheless, more people prefer male than female bosses, and it is more difficult for women than men to become leaders and to succeed in Male dominated leadership roles. This mix of apparent advantage and disadvantage that women leaders experience reflects the considerable progress toward gender equality that has taken place in both attitudes and behavior, coupled with the lack of complete attainment of this goal. United States, where women constitute 24% of the chief executives of organizations, 37% of all managers, and 43% of individuals in management, financial, and financial operations occupations (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006,). Although no one would argue that gender equality has arrived or is even near at hand, such statistics reflect massive social change in womens roles and opportunities. Advantages mixed with disadvantages: Alice H. Eagly argues in her book Psychology of Women Quarterly that research has established a mixed picture for contemporary female leadership. Women leaders on average manifest valued, effective leadership styles, even somewhat more than men do, and are often associated with successful business organizations. Attitudinal prejudice against women leaders appears to have lessened substantially, although even now there are more Americans who prefer male than female bosses. People say that they would vote for a woman for president; however, only slightly more than half of Americans indicate that the country is ready to have a female president. Because of the remaining prejudicial barriers, women face challenges as leaders that men do not face, especially in settings where female leaders are nontraditional. Such signs of advantage mixed with disadvantage and trust mixed with distrust are contradictory only on the surface. They are manifestations of gender relations that have changed dramatically yet have not arrived at equality between the sexes. Changes occurring in the 21st century: Many women have contended successfully with barriers to their leadership, as shown by the fact that women now have far more access to leadership roles than at any other period in history. The inroads of women into positions of power and authority reflect many underlying changes (Eagly Carli, 2003, in press)-above all, womens high level of paid employment (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007) and a lessening of the time demands of womens housework, accompanied by greater sharing of childcare and housework with husbands and partners (Bianchi, Robinson, Milkie, 2006; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005). Associated with these shifts in roles is a large increase in womens education, whereby young women have become more educated than young men (U. S. National Center for Education Statistics, 2005). Because these changes in employment and education are accompanied by psychological changes in the form of increasing agency in women (e.g., Twenge, 1997, 2001) and greater career ambition (e.g., Astin, Oseguera, Sax,Korn,2002), women have achieved many more leadership positions than in the past. Women continue to encounter impediments to leadership within organizations, but many of these impediments can be removed or weakened by organizational changes designed to improve womens (and minorities) access to and success in leadership roles (e.g., Kalev, Dobbin,Kelly, 2006; Rapoport, Bailyn, Fletcher,Pruitt, 2002; Yoder, Schleicher, McDonald, 1998). On the other hand, the authors of Gender Equity or Bust! On the Road to Campus  Leadership  with Women in Higher Education argue that, Born of a patriarchal tradition, higher education continues to marginalize  women  at every turn as students, administrators, faculty, and athletic leaders. Whether the bias is conscious or unconscious,  women  are being penalized consistently for their gender (Wenniger and Conroy, 2001: 7) However, taking into consideration the deep changes taking place in womens roles and in the cultural explanation of good leadership, it is clear that women will continue their rise toward greater power and authority. The 20th-century shift toward gender equality has not ceased but is continuing (Jackson, 1998). The presence of more women in leadership positions is one of the clearest indicators of this transformation. Are women interested in political leadership? Women  would not be equally represented in student  government, much like they are not equally represented in the federal government, because they do not choose to run for office. One explanation is that  women  are not as interested in politics and  government  as men. The second explanation for not running for office could be that they do not believe they are qualified. Ultimately, these findings show that further research in which female student  government  representatives, candidates and the student body electorate are asked specifically why  women  might not be running for office or getting elected would offer more insight into this gender division of  leadership. Gender and Leadership: When it comes to gender and leadership, one thing is clear. Women can be successful in leading both private and public sector organizations. Women corporate leaders face a special set of challenges due to the male dominated nature of these things. Because women are members of the lower status minority group, for them assimilation creates problems with cultural adaption, the inability to maintain a positive sense of identity, feelings of marginalization and isolation and increased exposure to harassment and other stressors. (Korabik, 1997) What is the role of the media in all this? An analysis of media discourses on womens leadership, suggests the need for more nuanced ways of understanding women leaders identity formation that combine a range of macro and micro methodologies. It points to the importance of including an examination of both the specific organizational fields and the broader political, social and economic discourses of womens leadership, as mediating influences on the construction of womens leadership habits. It is our hoped that our study reveals the need for more complex ways of understanding women leaders identity formation and, in so doing, opens up productive spaces from which may flow subjugated knowledge of diverse womens leadership. Where is the female disadvantage? Our meta-analytic demonstration that women fare less well than men in male-dominated and masculine leadership roles identifies context-specific disadvantage (e.g., Eagly et al., 1995)-that is, in some leadership roles, women face obstacles that men do not face. If women who are in fact equal to their male counterparts are treated differently either in their access to male-dominated leader roles or in evaluations of their performance once they are in such roles, women would indeed face disadvantage as leaders. Such Disadvantage would be prejudicial, as defined by less favorable treatment of women than men, despite their objective equality (Eagly Diekman, 2005) one place to look for evidence of prejudicial disadvantage is in studies of attitudes toward female and male leaders. Especially informative are national polls that have asked representative samples of respondents for evaluations of men and women as leaders. Such polls have consistently shown favoritism toward male over female leaders. For example, for many years, pollsters have asked people what they think about personally having a job in which a woman or a man has authority over them. The specific Gallup Poll question is If you were taking a new job and had your choice of a boss, would you prefer to work for a man or woman? These data show a preference for male bosses over female bosses, although this differential in favor of men has decreased substantially through the years. What are the female advantages? Although revealing relatively small differences, findings indicate an advantage for women leaders. Women, more than men, appear to lead in styles that recommend them for leadership. In contrast, men, more than women, appear to lead in less advantageous styles by attending to subordinates failures to meet standards or by displaying behaviors that involve avoiding solving problems until they become acute and by being absent or uninvolved at critical times. What is clear from the meta-analysis is that women leaders, on average, exert leadership through behaviors considered appropriate for effective leadership under contemporary conditions. Why might women and men display somewhat different leadership styles within the limits set by their leader roles? Women are faced with accommodating the sometimes conflicting demands of their roles as women and their roles as leaders. In general, people expect and prefer that women be communal, manifesting traits such as kindness, concern for others, warmth, and gentleness and that man be agentic, manifesting traits such as confidence, aggressiveness, and self-direction (e.g., Newport, 2001; Williams and Best, 1990). Because leaders are thought to have more agentic than communal qualities (Powell, Butterfield, Parent, 2002; Schein, 2001), stereotypes about leaders generally resemble stereotypes of men more than stereotypes of women. As a result, men can seem usual or natural in most leadership roles, thereby placing women at a disadvantage (Eagly Karau, 2002; Heilman, 2001). Consequences of prejudice toward female leaders: Although prejudicial attitudes do not invariably produce discriminatory behavior, such attitudes can limit womens access to leadership roles and foster discriminatory evaluations when they occupy such positions. Social scientists have evaluated womens access to leadership roles through a large number of studies that implement regression methods. Finally, women have different opinions and views and having just one woman does not mean all are represented. We need to take more action in order to ensure that leadership women who have the style and the personality of a leader are taking their chance and are being represented. Moreover in order to ensure this right, we should provide women with education because in educating a woman, you educate a community. In the 21st century, many women are coming up in government and its really important to give them the mentorship they need to grow their careers and to motivate other women to act like them. This way, women will embrace a participative empowering consensus-building style of leadership and women will change the nature of power; power will not change the nature of women. (Bella Abzug, State of the World Forum, 1996)

Isolation as the Root of Hamlets Torment Essay -- Essays on Shakespear

Isolation as the Root of Hamlet's Torment Does Hamlet stand alone? Does this magnate of English literature hold any bond of fellowship with those around him, or does he forge through his quandaries of indecision, inaction and retribution in solitude? Though the young Dane interacts with Shakespeare's entire slate of characters, most of his discourse lies beneath a cloud of sarcasm, double meaning and contempt. As each member of Claudius' royal court offers their thickly veiled and highly motivated speech Hamlet retreats further and further into the muddled depths of his conflict-stricken mind. Death by a father, betrayal by a mother, scorn by a lover and abhorrence by an uncle leave the hero with no place to turn, perhaps creating a sense of isolation painful enough to push him towards the brink of madness.   Ã‚  Ã‚   With the supporting cast of detractors circled around him, Claudius clearly constitutes the core of Hamlet's opposition. The king's animosity towards Hamlet spreads to the rest of his entourage in the same way that his refusal to mourn his brother's passing left only the prince in black attire and dark-eyed grief. Claudius and the others each make weakly shrouded attempts to gain Hamlet's support, but the deafening falsity of their gestures leaves little doubt about their true sentiments. The first appearance of King and nephew together begins with the disingenuous greeting, "But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son-" (1.2, 64) to which Hamlet sardonically retorts, "A little more than kin, and less than kind!" (1.2, 65).   Ã‚  Ã‚   This initial encounter between the two men reveals a sea of mutual hostilities and as a broker of the king's will, Polonius parallels such an antagonism. The advisor's first meeting with Haml... ...is inaction. The tragic hero walks a very lonely role, and this seclusion probably deserves a mention in literature's eternal search for the roots of his torment. With words more sage than he realizes, Polonius condenses Hamlet's entire struggle into a single poignant idea: "The origin and commencement of his grief / Sprung from neglected love" (3.1, 180-181). Polonius and Laertes derail Ophelia's tenderness, and Claudius' persuasion steals the heart of Gertrude. A unanimous lack of mourning scoffs at Hamlet's deep esteem for his fallen father and even the companionship of his childhood friends succumbs to Claudius' menacing demands. The end result is a huge gulf between ally and adversary, a gulf that ultimately plummeted Hamlet to the depths of psychological torment. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Longman,1997.

Soliloquies of Shakespeares Macbeth :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Macbeth- Soliloquy Analysis  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      The opposition of light and dark as symbols for life and death is the foundation upon which much of Shakesphere’s Macbeth is built. In Act V Scene V of Macbeth, strong words covey all of these thoughts to the reader. The tone for Macbeth’s speech is immediately set after hearing of the death of Lady Macbeth. Having lost his queen, and seeing his hopes turn to ashes, the bitter Macbeth now comments on life in caustic words. â€Å"Tomorrow creeps in this petty pace.† The basic feel of this brings a negative connotation to tomorrow. Iit keeps coming slowly and slyly as if to attack. What exactly does this petty pace refer to? It is the progression of life, as Macbeth now sees it. This negative and dark imagery continues to grow because tomorrow is unrelenting. â€Å"[T]ommorow creeps...To the last syllable of recorded time.† With these dreary remarks Macbeth presents his hopeless outlook. He feels the only way to end the pain of life is through death. â€Å" And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death.† What can be taken from this is that from our earliest recollection, we are constantly being guided forward from yesterday to our death. If light is life, then the light just leads us to death. When these lines are read together it enables the reader to see the despair and agony Macbeth is now suffering. The past is pushing him ahead and the future is creeping in on him. He has nowhere in time or space to escape. Death is the only place left to go. â€Å"Out, out brief candle!† Lady Macbeth’s candle has burnt out and soon his will also. Although he talks here about life being light (the candle flame), light is not desirable to him. He wants to extinguish it. Macbeth is at the point in his life where he is now trapped by his fate. The consequences of his actions have caught up with him. This may very well be why he has such a dreary outlook on life. Life is associated with light but Macbeth is at a state where he sees no significance in having lived. â€Å" Life’s but a walking shadow.† Macbeth is saying here that one’s life is dark and dreary, and that the light of life only serves to cast a dark shadow . Soliloquies of Shakespeare's Macbeth :: GCSE English Literature Coursework Macbeth- Soliloquy Analysis  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      The opposition of light and dark as symbols for life and death is the foundation upon which much of Shakesphere’s Macbeth is built. In Act V Scene V of Macbeth, strong words covey all of these thoughts to the reader. The tone for Macbeth’s speech is immediately set after hearing of the death of Lady Macbeth. Having lost his queen, and seeing his hopes turn to ashes, the bitter Macbeth now comments on life in caustic words. â€Å"Tomorrow creeps in this petty pace.† The basic feel of this brings a negative connotation to tomorrow. Iit keeps coming slowly and slyly as if to attack. What exactly does this petty pace refer to? It is the progression of life, as Macbeth now sees it. This negative and dark imagery continues to grow because tomorrow is unrelenting. â€Å"[T]ommorow creeps...To the last syllable of recorded time.† With these dreary remarks Macbeth presents his hopeless outlook. He feels the only way to end the pain of life is through death. â€Å" And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death.† What can be taken from this is that from our earliest recollection, we are constantly being guided forward from yesterday to our death. If light is life, then the light just leads us to death. When these lines are read together it enables the reader to see the despair and agony Macbeth is now suffering. The past is pushing him ahead and the future is creeping in on him. He has nowhere in time or space to escape. Death is the only place left to go. â€Å"Out, out brief candle!† Lady Macbeth’s candle has burnt out and soon his will also. Although he talks here about life being light (the candle flame), light is not desirable to him. He wants to extinguish it. Macbeth is at the point in his life where he is now trapped by his fate. The consequences of his actions have caught up with him. This may very well be why he has such a dreary outlook on life. Life is associated with light but Macbeth is at a state where he sees no significance in having lived. â€Å" Life’s but a walking shadow.† Macbeth is saying here that one’s life is dark and dreary, and that the light of life only serves to cast a dark shadow .

An Analysis of Singing to Wolves Essay -- Singing to Wolves

   An Analysis of â€Å"Singing to Wolves†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      The poem,   â€Å"Singing to Wolves† is a modern poem,   that tries to explain to the reader how wonderful solitude is,   but also considers it’s negative side,   with the example of a lonely girl.   The poem starts off with a brief encounter into the history of Wales,   and talks about the Llanthony monks,   who the reader is told were unloved by the Welsh,   and thus driven to a lonely life in the wilderness.   By reading this poem,   it seems as though being unloved is a popular reason for solitude.   After this brief insight into Wales’ history the reader is then taken back to the realms of modern day living.    â€Å"Why should we stay here singing to wolves?†    This opening sentence seems to act as a kind of question,   which is answered in the course of the poem.   At first it sounds like a stupid thing to do,   but eventually the reader realises that the wolves become very symbolic in the poem.   Wolves are thought of as being ruthless hunters of the wilderness,   and one could hardly imagine them being impressed by the singing of any person. For the monks the Wolves were those that despised them (the Welsh),   and by â€Å"singing† to them,   they were actually trying to convince them of their belief etc.   And seeing as no-one ever listened to them,   they may as well sing to the wolves,   as they take just as much notice of them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However the wolves also have another interesting metaphorical meaning in the poem.   These days they no longer roam Britain,   and have all died out,&nb... ...flowers†¦Ã¢â‚¬     Another interesting thing that the poet makes use of is semicolons.   These are used throughout the three stanza’s.   The point of these semicolons is to make the sentences seem longer,   and bring a certain amount of continuity to it.    â€Å"†¦said Llanthony monks;   and left for soft living†¦Ã¢â‚¬     Once one has recognised the ideas behind the text,   one realises that the poem tries to make the reader think about the world he lives in,   and maybe even prompt him into looking more deeply into his way of life,   and try not to simply follow the pattern that everybody else makes.   The poet has don this by using the example of the monks in the past years,   and the little girl in our modern world.   Maybe he wants the reader to find a medium between becoming a statistic,   and singing to wolves.

The Great Land Serpent

For starters, the train Is being portrayed as a serpent, and In biblical terms, the serpent Is an evil creature that lures Innocent people to betraying others. In the cartoon It stretches across the land Into the horizon, In a curvy motion, which shows how wide spread this creature Is, and showing how there Is no escaping It. The creature Is consuming money and people through Its mouth which shows what Is powering it as well as what it takes to create it. Close to the top of this creature is a hole for smoke to blow out of, which homilies the damage it does to the environment.In the smoke there is also a word written, dividend. According to the dictionary, dividend means a sum of money paid to shareholders. There is also another word cleverly hidden in the cartoon, on the street corner, it reads â€Å"Dangerous†, and when you put these two words together, you are able to come to the conclusion that the author doesn't think that the railroad is worth the risks and money. Anothe r important aspect to this cartoon is the human standing to the side.His resent may be to show that humans are responsible for this horrible creation that is in turn killing them. You are able to tell that he is raising his hand but it's hard to tell is he is saying to stop or continue on. By showing the train/creature running over many dead bodies and lots of money, it's clear the author disapproves. â€Å"The Great Land Serpent† symbolizes how the railroad is similar to a beasts evil creature. It's very apparent that it's negative because its' getting its' energy from the dead bodies, money, and manpower.The painter makes it a point to show his disapproval of the railroad and how evil his believes it to be. The author must have been greatly affected by the railroad system to cast such a negative light on It In this political cartoon. The Great Land Serpent By middleman 2 This political cartoon, titled â€Å"The Great Land Serpent,† casts the railroad and its were exp ensive, and had to be maintain constantly. Also it cut Jobs, because it eliminated the need for people to transport items from one place to another. Lord. For starters, the train is being portrayed as a serpent, and in biblical terms, the serpent is an evil creature that lures innocent people to betraying others. In the cartoon it stretches across the land into the horizon, in a curvy motion, which shows how wide spread this creature is, and showing how there is no escaping it.

The Business Value of Information Systems. Case Study: Amazon.Com

THE BUSINESS VALUE OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS CASE STUDY: AMAZON Isabel Maria Arroyo Moreno Business Information Technology Module BSc Business Management with HR Greenwich School of Management, University of Plymouth (London) Submission date: 8th December 2011 Word count: 2. 776 Table of Contents Executive Summary4 The Business Value of Information Systems5 Introduction5 Business Value of Information5 Business Information Management through Information Systems6 The Value of Information Systems6 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems6 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems7 Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems8 Information Systems and the Changing Business Environment8 Amazon. com Information Systems10 Introduction10 Amazon. com’s Information Systems Value10 Amazon’s Customer Relations Management (CRM) system11 CRM System Business Value11 Amazon’s Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) System Value13 Amazon. com’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) system13 Amazon. com’s SCM system Value13 Amazon IS and the external changing environment †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 16 ? Executive Summary Business information management requires the use of information systems, which make possible the conversion of data into useful information to be used by decision makers in organisations (Chaffey, 2004) The acquisition and further deployment of such systems requires organisations to make expensive investments prior to know whether they are going to produce the desired business improvements. Therefore, delivering value for money from information systems investments has become a very serious issue for many organisations. There are several examples in both the private and public sector of expensive failures, but there are fewer published cases of success (Ward, 2006) The purpose of the present paper is to explain how added business value emerges from the use of information systems. The paper begins with a review of the related literature and then, it takes a practical approach through a case study analysis which intends to set out the value of information systems to a successful organisation such as Amazon. Therefore, the case study will illustrate how different information systems have enabled Amazon to achieve a solid competitive advantage by improving its marketing techniques and the efficiency of its distribution channels in a time in which the fast development of technologies have come to redefine the commerce model within the retail industry. Indeed, the use of Internet has changed the way in which people acquire goods and services, and nowadays there is a strong shift towards online shopping that is forcing retailers to go onto the Net if they want to remain competitive. In this regards, Amazon has been a pioneer in using information systems to anticipate changes in the retail industry environment, and in addition, it provides the perfect example of how a company can obtain value for money from information system investments. ? The Business Value of Information Systems Introduction Business information management is essential to organisations in order to support strategic decisions. Information adds value to organisations as it allows improving products and services, reducing business costs and developing new innovations. Information systems are used in order to manage business information in such a way that allows organisations to increase profitability, to improve productivity and to gain other intangible benefits with the objective of achieving sustainable competitive advantage and company success. In addition, the use of information systems allow organisations to adapt to external changes in the business environment, otherwise they could not remain competitive. Business Value of Information Information management is essential to businesses in order to support operational processes, organisational performance, and strategic decisions affecting their position in the market place. According to Marchand (2000) information can create value for organisations by: †¢Adding value to products and services through a better understanding of customer characteristics and needs, as customer activities are monitored to develop competitive strategies. Reducing costs and making business processes and operations more efficient, as information enables organisations to use fewer resources and to improve communication. †¢Supporting organisational strategic decisions and helping with risk management assessment †¢Enabling innovations and new product and service developments (Chaffey, 2004; Oestreich, 2010) Business Information Management through Information Systems Business information management involves the use of information systems (IS) which, according to the UK Academy for IS, are â€Å"the means by which organisations and people, using information technologies resources, gather, process, store, use and disseminate information†. (www. ukais. org; Chaffey, 2004) Therefore, IS are computer based systems that collect, process and stores data, making possible its conversion into useful management information –data mining process- to be used by decision makers within organisations. (Davis & Olson, 1985; Lucas, 1990; McLeod, 1995 cited by Ramesh, 1997). The Value of Information Systems During the 1990s, there was a great argument about the real value delivered by expensive organisational investments on IT and IS, as studies found out that there was weak correlation between IS investments and increased business performance (Solow, 1987; Brynjolfsoon, 1993; Strassman, 1997 cited by Dans, 2003; Chaffey, 2004) However, studies by Delone and McLean (1992, 2003) and by Jacks (2009) demonstrated the importance of IS to the creation of business value and competitive advantage. Jacks, 2011) According to Jacks (2011) IS make organisations successful by either: †¢Increasing profitability: sales growth, profits, ROI, reduced costs, market share increase. †¢Increasing productivity: business process outcomes, operational efficiency, service performance †¢Intangible benefits: customer satisfaction and loyalty, industry performance, quality improvement. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems CRM systems are intended to build and sustain long-term business relationships with customers of an organisation. Organisations may increase their profitability if they can retain customers and sell additional products to them. Research by Reicheld and Schefter (2000) showed that by retaining 5% more customers, online companies can increase their profits by 25% to 95%. (Chaffey, 2004) Consequently, CRM systems focus on the activities aimed to market products and services to customers in a more efficient way. By understanding customer characteristics and needs, organisations can elaborate tailored marketing campaigns to acquire, retain, extend and select potential customers, which ultimately will translate into increased sales and organisational profitability (Steinberg, 2006; Chaffey, 2004; Lee-Kelly, 2003) Table 4: Marketing activities of CRM CRM marketing activitiesObjectiveInformation based marketing techniques Customer acquisitionGain new customersTailored marketing communication Customer retentionEncourage repeated purchasesPersonalized/tailored ommunications Customer extensionUp-sell (more expensive products) Cross-sell (additional products) Personalised/tailored communication Customer selectionIdentify the most responsive groups of customersDatabase analysis and modelling Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems ERP systems integrate all departments and functions across an organisation, thus eliminating IS’ isolation in departments such as finance, HR, marketing and the w arehouse, and replacing them with a single system where all important information is connected together (Wailgum, 2008; Steinberg, 2006). ERP systems add value to organisations by: †¢Integrating customer order information: ERP systems integrate order information, product shipment and invoices in one single system, enabling organisations to improve order tracking, and to coordinate inventory and shipment among different locations simultaneously. Therefore, the order process speeds faster through the organisational departments, and customers get their orders faster and with fewer mistakes. †¢Reducing inventories: ERP systems streamline the order fulfilment process and help with the delivery process, thus improving the flow of the organisation’s supply chain. Wailgum, 2008; Steinberg, 2006) Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems SCM systems coordinate all supply activities of a company such as supply and distribution network, logistic activities and inventory management; and these add value to an organisation by (Gabe, 2010; Chaffey, 2004): †¢Increasing process efficiency: SCM systems help to reduce t he cycle time of business processes and the resources needed to execute them, thus reducing costs per order. †¢Reducing supply chain’s complexity: SCM systems enable organisations to order directly from suppliers, thus reducing the costs of distribution. Improving data integration within the supply chain: SCM systems enable information sharing on product demand between the organisation and its suppliers, which improves inventory management efficiency through the use of VMI (vendor-managed inventory). The benefits include reduced cost of paper processing and lower inventory holdings. †¢Reducing costs: SCM systems enables organisation to outsource certain assets, to lower costs through price competition and to offer better service quality. (Steinberg, 2006; Chaffey, 2004) Information Systems and the Changing Business Environment The environmental influences on any organisation change rapidly, and therefore it is important to continuously monitor the current environment and to anticipate future trends through â€Å"environmental scanning or sensing† activities, in order to respond to changes accordingly. Organisations that either do not monitor environmental factors or do not respond to changes adequately may lose competitiveness or even incur in failure. As example, IS managers need to constantly assess the relevance of new technologies and to monitor technology trends and innovations in order to remain competitive. (Chaffey, 2004). ? Amazon Information Systems Introduction Amazon is the biggest online retailer in world, although many consider that it is more a leading software developer or â€Å"information systems’ company with a little pick, pack and ship service† (Hof, 2003). This world-class retailer, which began doing business as an online bookseller in the mid 90s, has changed with the time and currently it offers its customers a wide variety of products such as electronics, clothes, beauty products, and so on. In addition, Amazon operates as a service provider allowing other retailers to sell on its site and it also commercializes cloud storage services and its own tablet post-PC device –Kindle-. Businessweek, 2003; Hof, 2003; Jenkinson, 2005) Therefore, Amazon has become the Net’s premier shopping destination in 2011, and data, information technology and information systems constitute its most valuable assets. (Manjoo, 2011). Amazon’s Information Systems Value Between 2001 and 2003, Amazon investe d $300,000 into building new distribution centres and acquiring information systems software. However, experts hardly criticised the company asserting that it would never recover the investment, (Gabe, 2010) and even financial analysts such as Lehman and Brothers expressed concerns over its cash flow situation. Foley, 2000) Although it took Amazon long time to become profitable, additional revenues rose once the company got enough customers and sales to pay off the initial IS investments, and their bet for information systems technology enabled the company to overcome competitors such as Barnes and Nobles in the 90s and more recently Wal-Mart Stores Inc (Hof, 2003; Gabe, 2010). Amazon uses information systems to improve profitability faster and its current financial situation, strategic position, market share, and intangible benefits give evidence of that the company’s IT and IS strategies worked as expected. According to Hottovy’s report (2011) Amazon doubled in size from 2008 to 2011 with $34 billion in net sales and its current revenue growth is close to 40%. The company has a valuation of $325 per share and generates return on invested capital exceeding the 50% – note that Amazon invests mainly in IT and IS technologies –. Moreover, it has an active customer base of 137 million users that accounts for an annual growth rate of 20%. All in all, Amazon has one of the most capital efficient-models in e-commerce and its low cost operations, network effect and focus in customer service provide the company sustainable competitive advantage (Hottovy, 2011). Amazon uses ERP, SCM and CRM information systems. Oracle (ERP) built a multi-terabyte database for the company, while SCM software was acquired to control costs and to improve shipping and logistics efficiency. In addition, Amazon’s CRM system intends to work up e-marketing efforts through the analysis of customer’s preferences and the provision of products for specific segments (Foley, 2000). Amazon’s Customer Relations Management (CRM) system Amazon’s CRM system uses the following applications to gather customer information: †¢A database of customers with personal, profile and transactional data which include their purchase history and activities †¢An order processing system that includes the record of credit card information and is linked to a delivery system †¢A web-page system that takes customer information such as customer feedback, personal interests, wish list and product review records, and customises formats. †¢Automated communication ystems: e-mail and message systems and order information systems that ensure personalised and relevant communication with customers (Hof, 2003; Jenkinson, 2005; Hottovy, 2011) CRM System Business Value Amazon’s CRM system creates business value through integrating customer sales, services and communications effectively (Jenkinson, 2005; Manjoon, 2011) In order to detect patterns of consumer behaviour, customer information is analysed by data mining experts using statistical CRM and artificial intelligence (SAS) software; while collaborative filtering technology automatically analyzes past customer purchases. The analysis provides processed information that serves to elaborate profiles of customer individual interests, which enables Amazon to send them tailored product recommendations in order to increase product sales (Foley, 2000; Hof, 2003; Jenkinson, 2005). In addition, CRM data mining activities also compare individual profiles to other customer profiles and bring them together into similar groups. As result, the company has taken traditional campaign techniques and move into faster campaigns to target different customer segments more effectively. Thus, Amazon has the ability either to launch broad campaigns to millions of customers, or more focused campaigns to a few thousands and tailored recommendations to individuals, due to a better understanding of customer characteristics and needs (Foley, 2000; Hof, 2003). Summarizing, Amazon’s CRM system combine advertising, service and selling to acquire customers in order to encourage repeated purchases through cross selling and up selling tailored marketing techniques. Jenkinson, 2005) As a result, Amazon has achieved high levels of customer commitment and loyalty. Research by Millward Brown (BrandZ study) showed that 54% of US buyers are loyal to the company, as compared with a 10% of the industry average; while a 67% of its orders are from repeated customers. Moreover, Amazon customers are more likely to buy at a higher rate than loyal customers across the category, as 40% of Amazon customers are frequent users compared to an 8% of the average category (Jenkinson, 2005). ? Amazon’s Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) System Value Oracle is the ERP system used by Amazon and it consists of a multi-terabyte database that integrates all the information related to customer orders such as purchase history, product shipment and invoices, thus enabling to streamline the order fulfilment process (Wailgum, 2008) Oracle automates the steps of this process by taking customer orders and process them into invoices, so when a customer comes online to buy a product the order system communicates directly with the warehouse system to find the adequate distribution centre, while customers receive communications about their purchase status and delivery times (Bacheldor, 2004) The company recognises that without this system it would be very difficult to coordinate and control the flow of merchandise in their business operations (Bell, 2011). Such integration of information creates business value by allowing Amazon to speed faster the order fulfilment process, as we ll as to improve visibility of order tracking and to reduce distribution mistakes. In fact, the company has reduced its customer service contacts per order by 50% since 1999 due to fewer distribution mistakes (Businessweek, 2003). Amazon’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) system Back in 2000, Amazon. om made expensive IS investments into building its high quality automated warehouses, and nowadays their supply chain is one of the most efficient and sophisticated in the world (Jenkinson, 2004; Businessweek, 2003, Gabe, 2010). A CRM system controls all supply chain activities of Amazon, such as transportation management, shipping activities and inventory planning, with the aim of reducing operational costs and optimizing logistic operations (Gabe, 2010) Amazon’s SCM system Value In 2000, Amazon’s operational costs accounted for about a 15% of sales revenue because the process of picking and packing different products was not very efficient. Employees had to enter dat a into the system manually and chutes holding pending orders were backed up when products did not arrive on time. (Businessweek, 2003) Nowadays, the implementation of a SCM system has enabled Amazon to reduce the cycle time and the resources needed to complete its operational processes, thus making them more efficient. The SCM system examines Amazon’s customer demand to identify items that are often purchased together in order to place them at the front of the supply lines, thus enabling to speed faster the process flow (Businessweek, 2003) The SCM system also allows to find where the items are physically located, so after receiving an order the system will send a picker where the product is shelved. In the case of multi-orders, the system generates optimised pick lists, finding the shortest possible route for picking the product. (Gilmour, 2003). As a result, Amazon’s operation costs fell down from 15% of total sales revenue in 2000 to a 5% in 2003, and lower costs have enabled the company to offer more product discounts and free shipping in orders over $25 (Businessweek, 2003). Moreover, Amazon’s CRM system enables information sharing on product demand between the company and its suppliers, which improves inventory management efficiency. Amazon’s CRM system is linked to its suppliers’ IS in order to share information in real time about orders and shipment. Thus, Amazon can hold lower levels of inventory stock in warehouses as it receives goods from its suppliers only when needed and accordingly to customer demand levels. Hof, 2003; Foley, 2000) Thanks to the CRM system, Amazon reduces costs by carrying only a 15 day’s worth of inventory while traditional retailers must stock up to 160 days’ worth of inventory in their warehouses (Hof, 2003). In addition, information systems’ i ntegration between suppliers and Amazon enables customers to buy goods directly from suppliers. The company forwards orders to its suppliers which get the product to customers directly; therefore the complexity of the supply chain and costs of distribution get reduced. (Knowledge Wharton, 2009). Amazon’s IS and the changing external environment. Information systems have provided Amazon with competitive advantage since it as been able to adapt its business model better than its competitors to the changes that the retail industry has experienced during the past decade such as the shift towards online shopping due to a more widespread use of Internet (Manjoo, 2011) Thus, Amazon forced traditional retailers to go onto the Net in the 90s (Hof, 2003), while nowadays, it has the best record with new products -as they are constantly monitoring environmental changes- and their web services, cloud computing services and Kindle device are true innovations that have changed the rest of t he industry (Manjoo, 2011) ? Conclusion This paper demonstrates the importance of information management and information systems to the creation of organisational business value and competitive advantage. According to Jacks, information systems contribute to organisational success by increasing profitability and productivity, and providing other intangible benefits such as customer loyalty. Subsequently, Amazon’s case study illustrates the perfect example of how an organisation obtains value for money of their information systems investments. The effective use of information systems has allowed the company to improve the efficiency of its distribution channels, to provide cost effective convenient products to its customers and to achieve the highest levels of customer retention and loyalty within the e-retail industry, which ultimately has helped Amazon to increase profitability and to achieve a solid financial position. 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