War on Drugs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

War on Drugs - Research Paper Example This reduction in drug users was attributable to the fact that these drugs became more difficult to obtain. There are a few entities that advocate the legalization of drugs, with regard to drug users who do not harm others under the influence of intoxicating substances. Thus, the Global Commission on Drug Policy advocated the de – criminalization of drug use. It was their considered opinion that the various nations of the world should enact legislation that would legalize drug use. Such measures were expected to end the stigmatization, marginalization and criminalization of people using drugs, but not causing harm to others. This perspective towards drug use has found favor with several US drug advocacy groups. Moreover, those who oppose the legalization of drugs contend that legalization would increase the availability of drugs, which would considerably escalate crime and violence. On the other hand the proponents of drug legalization argue that the war on drugs has ended in a fiasco. Such legalization would transform what is now a law and order problem into a health problem (Price). As such, it is the considered opinion of the opponents of legalization of drugs that drug legalization would result in an increase in the number of drug users. On the other hand, once drugs are legalized, the government could raise huge amounts as revenue, via the taxation of drugs. Such amounts could be utilized for treating drug addiction. In addition, the vast sums, of the order of $41. 3billion per annum, spent on drug enforcement would be available to the government for other useful expenditure. This would be supplemented by the $46.7 billion that would be realized as taxes on drugs (Price). (Price). Thus, the legalization of drugs seems to be a worthwhile alternative. The US and several other nations have formulated drug policy on the premise that arrests prevent crime. Thus, it is believed in these countries that punishment and the resultant stigmatization would deter criminal behavior. There is some truth behind this belief, for instance, the arrest and imprisonment of infected drug users would reduce the risk of disease to drug users from injection – related infections. In addition, to incarceration of the infected drug users, the fear of arrest would bring down the number of drug users (Friedman, Pouget and Chatterjee 344). This would significantly reduce drug use and the consequent infection. Question Two The US has been beset with the problem of drug addiction from decades. The present administration has failed to comprehend the drug issue in all its ramifications. The assumption that the legalization of drugs would lead to unbridled drug use is indisputabl e. The international drug cartels would find way and means to find a niche in the US market, even if drugs were to be legalized (Smith). Moreover, crime related to drugs would not be eliminated, as the drug addicts would indulge in criminal behavior, due to drug induced defective judgment and instability. In Oakland and New York, a mere tenth of the heroin and cocaine addicts obtain treatment for their condition. Such individuals have to wait for a minimum of 6 months to receive treatment (Smith). In addition, crime related to

The Emperor's New Clothes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Emperor's New Clothes - Essay Example (Wullschlager) The author altered the story line and changed the theme to courtly pride and intellectual vanity. (Wullschlager) Andersen lived in a time when the bourgeoisie was a class of its own. Many believe that Andersen had chosen to change the storyline and the ending of the Spanish story to make fun of the bourgeoisie and their snobbishness and hypocrisy. The satirical attempt was obvious in how Andersen described the king as someone who â€Å"wanted to be always well dressed† and â€Å"spend (sic) all his money in order to obtain† his clothes (Andersen), not caring for anyone else. Intellectual vanity was not only limited to the bourgeoisie class, however, as the old sensible minister, courtier and other officials who worked for the emperor lied to the latter about what they saw since they also did not want to be called stupid. In fact, Andersen writes â€Å"Everyone in town...were anxious to see how bad or stupid their neighbours were.† (Andersen) By mak ing the foolish emperor decide to parade his nude fat body proudly under the invisible new wardrobe because he did not want to admit his stupidity, Anderson effectively showed how much people valued their pride. The need to keep face was also evident at the end of story when, after realizing the truth, the emperor said he must bear the humiliation till the end. Also, the element of irony is present because the swindlers’ cloth which is supposed to be seen only by superior people actually made the emperor and everyone else around him who praised the new wardrobe stupid. James Finn Garner’s retelling of Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes is a â€Å"politically correct version† with the author making fun of how people are trying not to be insulting, sometimes to a fault. Garner stuck to most of the storyline but changed the ending and consequently, changed the moral lesson of the fairy tale as well. Using modern language, Garner described the empero r, his kingdom and the people around him as nicely as politically correct advocates would not be expected to. Examples of such would be the tailor, who deceived the king, being decorum-impaired. The emperor was a â€Å"wisdom-challenged tyrant† who felt good about the idea of an empire that made him look good, like a â€Å"trophy wife†. (Garner) Although most of the storyline remained the same and the story was still about vanity, the author used the language of today to describe the situation, characters and feelings of the people in the story. The empire was supposed to be of people who were non-alcoholics, non-smokers and listened to country music among others. (Garner) The irony in the story is still shown in how Garner made the seemingly astute leader who believed that males were superior look inferior when he himself could not admit to the truth as to the existence of his new wardrobe. As with Andersen, Garner describes the new emperor’s body as â€Å"an ugly mass of puffy white flesh† and yet the emperor â€Å"saw this too, but pretended that he could see the beautiful, politically correct robes.† Again, Garner pokes fun at how some people already see the truth but still want to appear politically correct and say nice things to avoid being insulting. The alternate ending Garner did was to make the crowd decide on joining the nude emperor by undressing and declaring a â€Å"clothing optional† day from thereon. With this, Garner presents the issue of nudity with a thumbs-up

Value Chain Model Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Value Chain Model - Research Paper Example The principle aim of Audible is to integrate literate listening so much that it becomes the core tool for anyone who is seeking knowledge to be more productive and well informed. Audile’s collection is massive. It‘s collection includes over 85,000 audio programs that have come from above 1000 content providers. These content providers vary from audio book publishers to broadcasters to entertainers to magazines to newspaper publishers to business information providers. The content can be easily downloaded and played back on various wireless mobile devices. Audible is also the leading provider of for audio products for Apple’s iTunes Store. (About Audible) Audible’s Value Chain Activities: According to Porter(1885), the core value chain activities are as following: 1. Inbound Logistics 2. Operations 3. Outbound Logistics 4. Marketing and Sales 5. Service Inbound logistics include some core value chain activities such as receiving the raw materials and stockin g them in warehouses. After stocking in their warehouses, the materials are distributed to the distribution and from there to manufacturing. Audible is an online store that delivers digital content. It delivers audio content and its stock includes DVDs at the most. Hence, its warehouses are designed to keep CDs and DVDs. Its core business model enables customers to shop, purchase and download audio content from their online store, www.audible.com. The operations include customizing the audio content to the standards that run at audible; adding the audible logo on the audible media content and copy-right protecting. Out bound logistics don’t involve brick and mortar here. The customers are given the opportunity to download their desired digital content on the media of their choice. Marketing and Sales involves coming up with customer needs and targeting them for sales. Audible markets itself through online media, social media and through the online big wig, Amazon.com. Audible has a toll free number through which customers can get in touch with their customer services department. (Value Chain Model) The primary activities in value chains are a combination of various things. These include the infrastructure of the firm, its Human resource management, its technology development, and its procurement. Audible is strategically aligned with Random House Inc for the production and publishing of audio content. Audible uses various technologies to support value creation for its business. Audible cut down on all the brick and mortar expenses such as paper, printing, warehousing and shipping by opting for online delivery that not just ensured that the customers were immediately delivered but were also offered a wide ray of DVDs to select from. Moreover, Audible also created value allowing the authors to dub in their own voices. Eventually the population and the masses started with drawing themselves from books because they found themselves too busy to read. Audible offered them the opportunity to become accustomed to reading amidst their busy schedules. They weaned away from books and started looking up to digital content available to them to read. Before this audio publishers found it difficult to ship physical products. An online shop store made it possible for them to come out of that limitation. Audible was the first company to center its

Change Management Processes in Business

Change Management Processes in Business Task 1 | Creative and Innovative Change Management Tasks  (Jump to) a) Identify and describe management processes in the organization that have led to successful innovation. b) Explain how management in your selected organization would lead staff to accept and implement innovation c) Evaluate the influence of the organizations vision and mission on supporting innovation. d) Use appropriate tools and techniques to identify at least two potential creative and innovative ideas e) Assess at least three risks and three benefits of the ideas identified above f) Describe at least two appropriate change models to support the implementation of the creative and innovative ideas identified above in the organization Task 2 | Influencing change  (Jump to) a) Identified and describe the characteristics of the main groups of stakeholders. Produce a rationale to persuade stakeholders of the benefits of a creative and innovative idea b) Create a plan to communicate a creative and innovative management idea to the stakeholders identified above, persuade them of its benefits for the organization, and generate stakeholder feedback. c) Show how you would use feedback from stakeholders to identify key goals and priorities for the innovation. Task 3 | Overcoming barriers  (Jump to) a) Identify at least four possible barriers to the implementation of change in an organization b) Plan a strategy to overcome these identified barriers. c) Explain how the strategy plan will help overcome resistance. d) Create a PowerPoint presentation to communicate the strategy plan to at least five groups of stakeholders CREATIVE INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT Task 1: Innovation management processes Identify and describe management processes in the organization that have led to successful innovation. The good organizations become best by adopting innovation. It is more than an invention as it also includes an attitude that encourage new concepts and risk attach with that new concepts. Excessive investments are not needed if a company has awareness about innovation and can use it to create products with unique features. So they create a friendly behaviour for new concepts, ideas, risk, change and even failure (Fortune, March 3, 1997). Managerial innovations are those adjustments in the process of management that gives ideas of products and services and than help in their production and delivery to the customers. It is not essential that effectiveness and efficiencies of product or services get effects from innovations by management (http://tumipc.info). Product versus Process Innovations: Innovations in processes and products are very significant classifications of technical innovations. Product innovations either generate entirely new products with distinct features or may help in increasing the performance and physical features of old products and services. Process innovations are changes in the way products or services are manufactured, created, or distributed. Whereas managerial innovations generally affect the broader context of development, process innovations directly affect manufacturing (http://tumipc.info), the implementation of robotics. Thus product innovations are particularly important during these beginning phases. Later, as an innovation enters the phases of growth, maturity, and decline, Vodafones ability to develop process innovations, such as fine-tuning manufacturing, increasing product quality, and improving product distribution, becomes important to maintaining economic return (http://tumipc.info). Explain how management in your selected organization would lead staff to accept and implement innovation The Human Energy of Innovation Innovation is difficult. Its hard not to be constrained by organisational history, politics and budgets. Its even harder to think of innovation as a human energy and not a process (www.10again.co.uk). Lead the Way to Successful Innovation in Vodafone The collaboration necessary, general cultural differences that can influence the process and the importance that organizational culture has on creating an environment that supports innovation, after these presentation keynotes, I often get a few people who approach me with their stories about innovation in their organizations. They tell me how great the information was and wished they could apply it into their own organizations, but they know that it would never be supported (www.bia.ca). It seems that while individuals are given the necessary time in their jobs to generate ideas, they are not given the time that is really required to explore them through a proper process for innovation. This therefore makes it difficult, if not impossible, for true innovation to happen. Now I realize that those who asked me the question may not necessarily be in positions to change their organizations cultures but maybe they could start to create change within their own spheres of influence, such as a department, plant, location, store, etc. Sometimes Vodafone need to think on a smaller scale and then demonstrate to the organization the value of what they are doing, demonstrated success will help greatly to sell the idea. Implementing innovative cultures and processes into organizations they have found that executives often ask themselves, Why are not they better at innovation? There are lots of examples out there and lots of advice. But in reality innovation challenges differ from one organization to another. Just as each innovation is unique, so is Vodafones culture. The process of innovation that works in one place will not necessarily work in another. They must consider the culture (www.bia.ca). Vodafone India further demonstrates their commitment to innovation when they build innovation into performance management. They measure managements performance on the basis of their ability to create new value-added products, services and ideas. As well, they assess the extent to which managers undertake this jointly with staff, rather than independent of their staff, because this demonstrates a clearer understanding of the use of an innovation process versus simply the result of management directive. Vodafone managers can demonstrate this in their regular department meetings by focussing on the exploration of new ideas. They can train employees in the innovation process. They can allow time for employees to explore their ideas. They apply an aggressive effort to build new opportunities based on the development of new services and products (www.bia.ca). Evaluate the influence of the organizations vision and mission on supporting innovation. In todays fast moving economic situation, mostly category breaking business environments meet their mission, vision and objectives. Only such companies meet their estimate growth, gain profit, out run their competitors and show excellence in execution. They achieve by the culture of innovation. In every industry, the leading companies are the innovators. However the cadre of innovators keeps changing (www.scribd.com). Companies may seize upon a good idea that gives them an advantage for a while, but sooner or later, they cede this advantage to a competitor who has found an even better idea. As Nicholas Stein (2000) correctly mentioned, Innovation is at the heart of sustaining Vodafones competitive advantage. This holds very true as long as they wants to stay on top of their competitors and win the innovation game. Innovation is very important criterion for success in the future, (Horibe, Frances Dale Emy, 2001) an important study done on the rate of return of 17 successful innovations shows a mean return of 56% in comparison with an average Return on Investment (ROl) of 16%. It is clear that organizations need to innovate to survive and achieve good profit figures. What to innovate? Now we understood the importance of the role that innovation plays in Vodafone. The next important question now arise is where and which things to apply innovative ideas in Vodafone India. Suggestion and recommendation for where to apply innovations are as follows (www.scribd.com): Innovation can be applied to products, services, design, invention, development, process, and systems. To make a product or service compete with the new economy. This is essentially to educate organizations to move out of their traditional old habits1 to the new innovation culture. To avoid high risks: Avoiding high risks involving money, staying ahead of competition and high pay off opportunities are the essence of the innovation To gain long term market focus, as a result the Vodafone can save money. Use appropriate tools and techniques to identify at least two potential creative and innovative ideas Creative and Innovative Culture, Change Management: Three Easy Tests Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation and innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. From this simple definition, it is clear that certain cultural characteristics ought to be prevalent if creativity and innovation are to be maximised. And maximisation of these ought to be a priority for senior leaders, as those organisations that take them seriously, tend to be leaders in their field, tend to maintain their leadership position longer and are quicker to bounce back when competitors leap frog (http://ezinearticles.com). There are many blocks that prevent expression of problems and hinder idea generation. Some solutions include (http://ezinearticles.com): An environment of psychological safety and freedom accepting an individual as unconditioned worth; recognising that the individual is capable of producing but that their value is not based on producing; understanding empathetically; understanding the individual from their point of feeling and view (Vernon, 1970). Tolerance of failure Accepting that many ideas will fail before one worthwhile one will surface and reach commercialisation; recognising that there are benefits to failure, such as competency expansion Blade Runner was initially a commercial failure yet Ridley Scott went on to make some very successful movies. Though senior leaders pay lip service to the above, the reality is often much different. Below are some easy and simple tests to gauge how well Vodafone is performing in practice. Employee interviews. Are interviewees expected to conform to the prevalent norm of not contradicting the interviewer? If they do so, are they less likely to be selected? Interviewees who throw up many ideas and challenge existing methodologies at this stage are more likely to be expressive when they find problems in Vodafone and more likely to bring them to the attention of decision makers. They are also more likely to persuade others to do the same. Thought leaders are good drivers of change and prevent complacency though as a result it is not unusual to find that they cause friction with senior leaders who for some reason or other may be resistant to change. Remember, todays thought leaders can easily become tomorrows established bureaucracy (http://ezinearticles.com). Are senior leaders confident enough to leave themselves open to evaluation from all others in Vodafone? Status deference has many negatives including (http://ezinearticles.com): Higher status individuals tend to dominate the session and reduce the participation of others, People allow higher status individuals to do all the idea generation People place higher value on ideas produced by higher status individuals and People have a greater tendency to allow higher status individuals to get away with bad ideas. Assess at least three risks and three benefits of the ideas identified above There are a number of reasons why creative ideas fail to become innovations. Sometimes it is because the idea, which seems brilliant in concept, is flawed in application. More often, the problem is that organisations invest in creative ideation initiatives (often called innovation initiatives), such as brainstorming events, idea management, ideas campaigns and the like, but fail to invest in implementing the most creative ideas that come from those initiatives. Indeed, they have probably experienced this typical scenario: Vodafone invests in generating ideas via brainstorming events that involve a lot of highly paid managers and researchers. A number of promising creative ideas are generated. Sometimes business plans are developed. Sometimes prototypes are built, sometimes not, but, at some point between the identification of a promising idea and beginning to implement that idea, the idea is killed (www.jpb.com). There are many reasons why creative ideas are killed however almost all of them have to do with risk. Implementing a new idea is perceived as risky and people in the Vodafone do not wish to undertake that risk. So, the idea is killed. Needless-to-say, investing in a creative idea generation initiative in order to generate creative ideas they will never implement is an expensive method of accomplishing absolutely nothing (www.jpb.com). Unwillingness to implement creative ideas is not only a weakness with companies, individuals have the same problem. Imagine a young person applying for a job with Levi Strauss Co and having the idea to write her CV on a pair of Levis jeans and sending it to her perspective employer. Such a creative approach to applying for a job would almost certainly stand out and grab the attention of the hiring person. It could very well result in an interview particularly if the Vodafone values creativity as Levi Strauss does. Or it could result in the CV imprinted jeans being promptly rubbished as ridiculous. In my experience, most people who had such a creative idea would be unwilling to risk carrying it out (www.jpb.com). Such a waste of creative time, energy and money does no one any good and makes the world a more boring place than it could be. The Idea Before Vodafone implement their idea, they need to describe it in detail. Separately, they should describe what makes the idea special, that is: what is the unique selling point (USP)? Once Vodafone have done this, ask their self how they might push the USP even further in order to make their idea even more special. Benefits and Risks The next step is to do a simple risk versus benefits analysis. That may sound complex, but might simply be a matter of drawing up a table with a column labelled benefits and one called risks. Then simply lists the benefits and risks in their appropriate columns. If the risks are greater than the benefits, they need to rethink their idea and focus on greater benefits (www.jpb.com). Describe at least two appropriate change models to support the implementation of the creative and innovative ideas identified above in the organization Integrated Innovation Process Management Vodafone as an innovative organization, however, should not have a single innovation process cycle in operation. Rather it should have many of them! Large cycles are suitable for enterprise-wide innovation. Meanwhile, business units can run somewhat smaller innovation process cycles in order to manage their own ideas (although it should be noted, collaborative groups need not be limited to employees of that business unit). Teams, departments and any other group can also run their own innovation process cycles (www.jpb.com). However, these innovation process cycles should not be in isolation. Rather they should inspire and feed other cycles elsewhere in the organisation. For instance, the implementation of a new product idea should inspire innovation cycles in the marketing, sales and customer service divisions as well as at the enterprise level (www.jpb.com). Managers should watch their colleagues innovation process cycles and ruthlessly copy ideas as inspirations for their own cycles. Task 2: Influencing change Identify and describe the characteristics of the main groups of stakeholders. Produce a rationale to persuade stakeholders of the benefits of a creative and innovative idea Thomas Edison had all the characteristics of a risk taker innovator. He was a divergent thinker, making observations about the natural world. He was not afraid of failure. The lessons learned in one of his failures led to success in another project. In addition to the light bulb, his 1,093 patents included familiar ones such as the microphone batteries (The Creativity Handbook, 1994). Creative leadership must facilitate positive relationships in organizations to produce profitable growth through innovation. They now know that creativity is not a personality trait that is available for geniuses. Everyone has unique knowledge and experiences that can be tapped, given the proper environment. This environment must be freed flowing and non-judging to take people through the mental block they learned in early childhood. These blocks are associated with the risk of being wrong (www.aiu.edu). The motivation for innovating comes largely from the joy of doing something that has never been done before. It is like going on an expedition and risking everything to be the first person to climb a mountain or sail around the world. It taps the same drive that exists within a composer or an artist who wishes to create something forever. Create a plan to communicate a creative and innovative management idea to the stakeholders identified above, persuade them of its benefits for the organization, and generate stakeholder feedback. Open Innovation or expanding the pool of brains thinking about their business problems outside of Vodafone is a concept that has gained significant and recent traction. The concept is very sound (http://blog.thinkforachange.com): Open innovation is a paradigm that assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as the firms look to advance their technology. The boundaries between a firm and its environment have become more permeable; innovations can easily transfer inward and outward. The central idea behind open innovation is that in a world of widely distributed knowledge, companies cannot afford to rely entirely on their own research, but should instead buy or license processes or inventions (e.g. patents) from other companies. In addition, internal inventions not being used in a firms business should be taken outside the company (e.g., through licensing, joint ventures, spin-offs) It used to be that innovation was something that happened deep in the bowels of corporate RD departments. Secretive folks lurked there and lived by the code of NIH or Not Invented Here. A motto that held that if RD didnt think of it, then it didnt exist or wouldnt work or should be ignored. Except a funny thing happenedthe ideas started drying up. Game changing ideas became few and far between. More of the same survived and less of the unexpected was developed. Then one day, some very smart innovation management consultants showed these organizations that there is no such thing as an all or nothing approach to innovation. Open innovation is but one branch of a well-rounded and comprehensive innovation management program. And for open innovation to truly work, they need to have their internal house in order first as it relates to idea and innovation management. Vodafone must have a solid and well managed internal innovation capability before seeking ideas from the outside world (http://blog.thinkforachange.com). That means: Having a strong executive sponsor engaged in the innovation strategy of the organization Having a proven set of processes, tools, techniques and training for moving ideas into prototypes and, eventually, products Having enough resources (human, financial, time, space and capability) to adequately support the idea and innovation management system Vodafone are putting into place Treating innovation and idea management, not as some singular event, but as a true business discipline and strategy for growth Developing a list of problems and/or opportunities that the organization wants to invest money and effort into finding solutions Developing a strategy for seeking ideas from inside and outside of the organization Developing a clear and communicated set of selection and filtering criteria for idea submission and consideration to ensure the idea pool is manageable Determining the utilization of the closed innovation system for the research, development, prototyping, portfolio management and launch planning that Vodafone dont want their competitors finding out about Developing a workable system for protecting the intellectual property rights of all parties in the process Show how you would use feedback from stakeholders to identify key goals and priorities for the innovation. Focusing on Customers Executives acknowledged that business has had to learn these lessons many times, and the need to create a culture where innovation can thrive is not new. A big part of the leaders role is to distract the organization away from itself and its own inner workings and dynamics, and shift the focus to customers, creating the openings where innovative ideas become possible (www.poststone.com). Allow enough time The rapid pace of business tends to create an overload of initiatives and a rush to complete projects as quickly as possible, and creates a significant barrier to sustainable progress. Business moves too fast; you need tenacity to innovate One approach recommended is for leaders to lengthen the time for goal achievement, and encourage staff to spend the necessary time thinking deeply about a problem, gathering data, and moving forward in a thoughtful way (www.poststone.com): People tend to give up when they cant get results quickly. You need to give longer goals, give people time, and ask them to do it slowly and thoughtfully. Generating good ideas is not always the issue: prioritization and resourcing of a few key initiatives is often more important in making significant progress. Task 3: Over coming barriers Identify at least four possible barriers to the implementation of change in an organization De-bunking the Myths of Innovation The executive panel saw little merit in much of the conventional wisdom about innovation, and de-bunked the myths for Vodafone India: The new product myth There is a strong tendency to focus on product innovations, however executives generally see this type of innovation as highly visible, but not necessarily critical to business success (Levitt, et. al. 2005). The breakthrough idea myth While creating the environment where Vodafone staff will speak and tell them their ideas received considerable emphasis, the idea itself is rarely sufficient. Canada was noted as the home of many good ideas that have not had enough sustained effort, persistence and resources to achieve results (Soto, Hernando de, 2000). The creative chaos myth Many business processes support innovation better when they are consistent and measurable. With a consistent and known process, ideas for change can be implemented in a way that employees can understand and execute successfully. The new process can then be integrated into routine and evaluated (Collins, Jim, 2001). Without a consistent baseline to build on, its difficult to see if a new idea would work, and just as difficult to implement successfully. The creative individual myth The power of creative individuals with insight is rarely enough to move the organization, regardless of the level of seniority. High-potential young managers cannot sally forth as ambassadors for a new order and meet with success. The whole organization needs to be mobilized, through accountability at all levels (www.poststone.com). Plan a strategy to overcome these identified barriers. Most approaches to strategic planning put an emphasis in answering the question What should the organization do? The answer to this question is very important for Vodafone. However it does not ensure that the organization is enabled to create value and to make the right strategic decisions. Strategy execution and monitoring of success have been identified as characteristic problem areas in organizational practice (Avila, et. al., 1995). Putting the proposals into practice, the Vodafone can address a more comprehensive set of issues related to fundament, execution and funding (Deloitte, 2005): Fundament:  Why should the organization choose this way? What are the underlying assumptions, the tradeoffs, and the risks? How should the organization respond if one of these assumptions turns out to be flawed or changes? Execution:  How does the organization do it? What are steps for implementation? Who is accountable for this process? How does the organization keep track of execution and success? Commitment:  How can the organization achieve commitment among the management team and all employees? How can the organization inform employees? Funding:  What will the outcome of the strategic planning cost in total? How will the organization fund the planning results? What is the expected return and will it meet the internal hurdle rates for return? Taking into account the broad perspective for strategic planning and considering execution, monitoring and funding issues, the organization and its managers can gain a clear view of where they are going and why. They will also know how to monitor the progress and can assess the payoff. Monitoring of both market data and operational data against planning assumptions as well as sustaining organizational flexibility represents another field of strategic planning improvements (www.themanager.org). Due to consideration of capital allocation and funding issues it is also clear, which other critical corporate processes will be influenced from the strategic planning outcome. Summarizing and bundling this outcome in so called strategic campaigns or strategic initiatives helps the organization to focus and improves intra-organizational communication (Dye et. al., 2007). Explain how the strategy plan will help overcome resistance. Hitchhiking creates ideas that combine the best ideas of everyone on the team. It can also help during implementation if all members see a piece of their idea in the final solution (www.aiu.edu). Creating an environment that is tolerant of mistakes is difficult. It must be made clear that mistakes are acceptable if they are based on solid thinking, enhance learning of what will not work, and are caught early before damage is severe. There must be support for the people who were on the team of the project that failed. The Kirton Adapter: Innovator (KAI) inventory measures preferred styles for problem- solving. The adaptor prefers to be creative within the present system. The innovator wants to create new definitions of the problem and new systems. Thus, both types are creative, but their styles are different. Adapters include bank managers, accountants, production managers, and programmers. Innovators include persons in marketing, finance, and fashion buyers (www.aiu.edu).

Blindness in Richard Wrights Native Son Essay -- Native Son Essays

Blindness in Richard Wright's Native Son Does it seem sometimes as if people are ignorant to other feelings? Have you ever had a friend get away with something or toy with someone's thoughts to benefit him or her? Similar types of blindness occur in the novel Native Son by Richard Wright (1940). The story starts in the Great Depression with a poor black family waking up to a foot long rat in their one room apartment. Bigger, the main character, and his younger brother Buddy narrowly kill it without bodily harm. Bigger is supposed to start a job for a rich white man as a chauffeur. Bigger has never really interacted with white people before and is not wanting to be there. After an accident on his first day, he kills the man's daughter and throws her body into their furnace, severing her head from her body to make it fit. He acts like he didn't do anything and slyly puts the blame on Jan, her communist boyfriend, while leaving a ransom note. It almost works until the media finds remnants of her bones in the ashes of the fire. Bigger believes that he will be blamed and runs away with his girlfriend, who he also ends up killing. He ends up being cornered by a mob of white people and taken to jail. His trial is fast and unjust, but he is convicted regardless of the surprising help of Jan and his lawyer. During the course of the novel, there are many instances where people were blinded by the actions of others or did not realize that their actions were negatively affecting their own lives. The following will better explain and demonstrate this. When Bigger first meets Mary, he instantly hates her for her ignorance in prodding him when all he wants is to be left along. Her blindness about his thoughts and feelings makes him hat... ...nd pray because she thinks she is only drunk. This is may be considered somewhat ironic. However, Bigger could also be considered 'blind' in this situation because he doesn't see what he is doing and how it will eventually end his own life. There are other instances where Richard Wright uses 'blindness' as a symbol. Bigger considers the whites 'blind' of blacks and blacks 'blind' of freedom after he kills. During the entire story, the reader senses that Bigger is lost in life. He never understand why he acts the way he does until his lawyer, Max, explains to him why whites seclude blacks and why blacks naturally push back. In the end, everyone is 'blind' for one reason or another. Work Cited "Native Son" Native Son Richard Wright. 30 April 2004. Barnes & Noble. <http://www.sparknotes.com/> Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.

Edna come back from amrecia Essay

What do you think motivates Muriel to identify June as Edna? Does she act on the spur of the moment when she sees June at the water’s edge, or has she been searching for some time for someone who can solve her problems for her? Do you think she really believes that June is Edna? Muriel has been searching for some time for someone who can solve her problems for her because she was at her wits ´ end, but when June appeared Muriel understood that June was the perfect person to take care her family members who were mentally ill. To illustrate, her brother was a violent alcoholic, her niece was a mentally ill girl and her mother had Alzheimer ´s. There are many facts to support that supposition. First, June was left with nothing by Alastair ´s wife, and then when she was on the train on her way to the place where she had once been happy with her father, a friendly youth had stolen her handbag with all her belongings, so June did not have any documents which would identify her. This suspicious fact I think was prepared by Muriel. Second, perhaps Muriel had been following her because she knew that June was homeless without money and hopes. Coincidently, June was going to commit suicide when Muriel suddenly had appeared like her rescuer to offer June her help, and also she told her that she was Edna who had been in America. Third, in Muriel ´s house June was introduced to Ted, Muriel ´s husband, who studied June seriously and closely as if she was an examination paper before giving his acceptance to Muriel about June. Fourth, Muriel had convinced June to revert her new style to the old style which includes her hair and clothes because that is how Edna had dressed before. Fifth, also to convince June more easily that she was Edna, Muriel told June that her mother had passed on, but she had left a bit of money and a house for her. Finally, when Muriel gave June Edna ´s handbag, she found a snapshot, which showed June that she had also had a husband and a little daughter. All these facts were used by Muriel to convince June to accept that she is Edna and not June, but really Muriel knew that June is not Edna.

Buka culture, Oceania

Residents of Bukas are called Buka after the island and though no English definition of the word can be found it most likely originated from a Malaysian word. Foreigners refer to the people as Bukas but in the country they are know by their clans. It can be assumed that there are rude names that names used for respect within the different inhabitants but I have a feeling that to learn those one must actually visit the island. 2- The Buka reside on Buka Island, Bougainville Province, in Papua New Guinea.Buka Island itself is separated from Bougainville by Buka Passage, a swift flowing sea channel. There are five small inhabited islands found off of the west coast. The east coast of the island has many cliffs as it is unprotected from the ocean wind. The west coast has the Richard Parkinson Range, with its highest peak, Mt. Bei which is 458 meters high. The entire island is surrounded by coral reef rings, with large lagoons on the west coast.3- There are two distinct languages spoken o n Buka, though with dialects there are about 4 different languages, Hanahan Halia is spoken along the east coast, Haku is spoken in the north coast villages, Selau a dialect of Halia is spoken in the Bougainville peninsula, and Solos is spoken within the North Bougainvillean Austronesian families. Halia and Haku speakers can easily understand each other, with Selau being there most distant dialect. However Solos and Halia speakers do have difficulty understanding each other.Tok Pisin is also used as a lingua franca between the three different dialects and this language is spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. All of these languages are part of the North Bougainvillean Austronesian languages which can be traced back to South China and Formosa. There is a clear division between the south and north of this island mainly dealing with those that immigrated to these areas. 4- Most settlements are villages and hamlets. The island itself is divided into five electorates, the pewit, Halia, Hag ogohoe, Tsitalato and the Haku.These areas are connected by narrow paths and through trade partners. These villages would move and change depending on the weather and with new alliances or reorganizations of clans. Some of the first towns grew around missions and near airstrips or by good harbours. This area did not have much European settlement until after WWII so there is still much of the traditional life present. The main town, also called the capital, is located on Buka Passage and on most maps is still labelled â€Å"Chinatown†. The family-household is still the basic social unit and can consist of many generations.The most important buildings in the villages are the tsuhana. Funerals, reconciliations, memorials and feasts are all held at the tsuhana, and the building for the tsuhana is quite elaborate as a pig must be sacrificed for each step of the construction. Town are the center of commerce and then reach out to the nearest villages. There are not many roads and sh ips and air travel are needed to reach certain areas. Due to the geography much of the inner island is not populated. Currently at the capital there is more modern buildings arrived as the settlement has grown to incorporate businesses and some tourism.This urban Mecca contains representatives for banks, the government and agricultural businesses as well as some resorts on the beach. 5 – Buka houses contain many generations, as many of three. One type of house built in this area is made of silt. Silt houses last between 20 and 30 years and are constructed above the ground to allow for the high tide. These houses are quite large and require about 20 men to set the posts (the foundation) of the house. There are also traditional houses made of wood, huts made of woven reeds and roofs that are thatched with hay. Almost all houses are built up on stilts.If no paint is used then most house are a brown or beige colour, as paint is a big upkeep because it has to be reapplied so often due to the humidity. 6 – Bukas economics are mainly based off of agricultural, as the sweet potato is a main staple in the villages not only for food but also to trade. Copra and cocoa are cash crops and there is some small amount of money to be made in spices and vanilla. Other popular crops are breadfruit, yams, taro, rice, bananas, mango, coconuts and other fruits. Many animals have been domesticated for food and birds, marsupials, cassowaries and turtles are hunted for their meat.Tea is drunk throughout the day. There is also a substantial amount of fishing done and collecting shellfish as most villages are very close to the coast. Many families keep chickens and pigs those pigs are considered to be very important and only used for rituals and formal occasions. A lot of time is spent collecting water as fresh water is in short supply. Tourism has slowly sprung up on the island allowing for some small change sin income though moist businesses found in the main city along the Burka Passage all deal with agriculture products.Most villagers produce their own food and townspeople may have their own garden or they trade with village women who sell their produce at markets. Small trade stores supple kerosene lanterns, matches, blankets, clothing, soap, tinned fish, tea, sugar and rice while large urban supermarkets import expensive food items and other products. There is also some work in the gold mining and oil industry though most industry is horticultural. 7 – The political system in Buka is based off of chiefs though both men and women can be â€Å"chiefs†.These chiefs then build alliances and trade routes with other chiefs and clans. Most authority positions are inherited and chieftainships, called tsuono, though many times this heredity is ignored. The tsunono represents the interests of their clan. Each tsuono will look over about 20 families though many tsunono clans can come together under the tsunono mal, of a superior clan. The mo st powerful of all the chiefs, the munihil, is put forth or â€Å"elected† by the tsunono, and has power over clans of a moiety class.(Moiety classes are associated with prestige, with Nakaripa and Naboen being higher class and Nakas and Natasi of lower class. ) Moiety class is important for resolving conflicts and organizing authority. Women can also be chiefs but they are looked on as sacred objects held with great respect. Though ever since the Bougainville civil war women have become more prominent in leadership roles. Those that want to participate in higher politics within the Papua New Guinea government must be very wealthy and use the traditional campaigning methods; much of popular politics does not exist throughout Buka.8 – Kinship terminology is Hawaiian and descent in is matrilineal. Most newlyweds tend to live with their maternal relatives at first but will move to the wife’s native land as children technically belong to the wife’s clan. So u nder this kinship all females in the parent’s generation are referred to as mothers and all males in the parental generation are fathers. All brothers and male cousins are referred to as brother and all sisters and female cousins are called sister. 9 – There are two types of marriage offered in Buka that are clearly described in the marriage act of 1963.Customary marriage is where the individuals follow the customs of their tribes and you do not need any proof of marriage beyond those of the traditional custom, though the definition of a native of automatic citizen is not very clear. The extended family is very important to the formation of the marriage, husbands may have several wife’s and the husband or husbands family must pay the bride price. Once they are of age men and women spend time in supervised courtship sessions. Exogamy is a must and women marry outside of their clans most of the time.Is a women is unhappy then she is able to leave her husband, get divorced and return back to her clan. A statutory marriage must be performed by a district officers, Registrars or ministers of Religion or anyone else that has authority from the government. Marriages must have seven day notice, and all participants must be over 21 years of age unless they have their parents consent. The ceremony must have two witnesses and you will receive a marriage certificate. 10 – Both men and women are involved with horticulture though there is still a clear division of labour as well as payment.Men will clear the forest so that the women can plant gardens and keep the pigs. The crops and cash crops are planted and tended by men, banana, sugarcane, cocoa and coffee and though the women will help to pick these crops the majority of the money is given to the men. Women do all of the cooking though both the men and women will look after the children. In towns and large villages the women take car of the domestic chores and child care while the husbands ar e at work. If a woman has a job then one of her family will take care of the chores.Women have begun to take part in men’s jobs though they deal with a lot of prejudice and harassment, while men that do traditional women’s work are stigmatized. Females are very important to building authority as the participate in female exchange event and redeem matrilineage lands. The men with the most power have achieved it only with the help of his female relatives. As times change women are slowly redefining their roles though there are not many job opportunities for them. 11 – Current religious beliefs are Christians divided between Roman Catholics and Methodists.There has been a lot of assimilation of indigenous and Christian beliefs ad God is called Sunahan. Sunahan is a creator figure from Buka tradition. Traditionally Buka religion focused around keeping good relationships between the living and the spirits of the dead, including the spirits that inhabit all named geog raphical features such as pools of water and large rocks. Spirits can impart positive and negative attitudes and they are all powerful. Spirits are important for success in fighting, horticulture and all things sexual.Bukas communicate with spirits using fire mainly to celebrate funerals. Sensory is also believed in and there are two kinds of sorcery, one that is used by the chief to punish transgressors and contemporary sorcery which is secret and is illegal, it was thought to have been brought in from outside of Buka. IN current society most people still have knowledge of sorcery and use spells to promote, healing, gardening, prevent minor illnesses and to bring about love. Most rituals focus on health and fertility and focus in maturation and future success of those participating.Initiates will find their spirit guide that will help them in their life. Bukas use both traditional and western medicine to overcome illnesses. Western medicine is used to deal with symptoms while tradi tional methods are used to uncover the cultural cause of the illness. There is a hospital in the main city, though most villages will have a mid-wife or other lightly trained women to deal with medical issues. There is not many medical trained professionals available outside of the urban areas so traditional medicine is still prevalent throughout the island.13 – Buka is actually the site of a large social movement called Hahalis Welfare Society. This is referred to as a cargo cult by the church and Australian government. This society was established as a result of new taxes. They were supported by cash crops and ‘baby gardens’ in which young women were encouraged to build the societies population. Over 400 Australian police were needed to restore order. Eventually the society became very prominent supported the Me’ekamui Onoring Pontoku (Fifty Toea Movement) which was a source of much conflict at the end of the 1980s.This society was one of the first to di splay Bougainvillean nationalism and brought about many militant formations. 14 – Barnard, A. , (2006) Patterns of Masculine Protest among the Buka, Journal of Personality, 11 (4), 302-311 Haviland, W. , (2002) Cultural Anthropology, Wadsworth Publishing Resture, J. , (2008), Bougainville History, http://www. janesoceania. com/bougainville_history/index. htm, accessed November 29, 2008 Zimmer-Tamakoshi, L, (2007) Culture of Papua New Guinea, http://www. everyculture. com/No-Sa/Papua-New-Guinea. html, accessed November 29, 2008