Culture in organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Culture in organization - Essay Example According to my mentor, it is essential to have culture in an organization. This is because culture creates an opportunity for the employees to learn from each other on different cultural values. Such includes improvement on their appreciation of individuals from other cultures. As such, it becomes easier for employees to interact and conduct business with different people from all geographical locations in the world. Culture is an integral part in determining the interaction strategies and methods for employees. Such includes enhancing a health competition at the organization workplace. Culture also ensures that employees have a sense of direction while at the workplace, which determines their ability of achieving success in different spheres of life (Lowe 1). Furthermore, culture ensures that employees have an identity while in the organization. Such includes a cultural policy, which offers the direction and guidelines for employees while in the organization. Consequently, an organ ization wins loyalty from employees, which contributes towards the achievement of success in business activities. Culture creates a difference of promoting the brand image of a firm by establishing a common platform for individuals. Such is possible because culture brings unity among employees from different cultural backgrounds. These employees also get a chance of establishing long-lasting relationships, which enables them to extract the best from all the team members in an organization.

Biographical Information Essay Example for Free

Biographical Information Essay Regarded by contemporary and recent critics as one of the most notable female poets in Western literature, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote Aurora Leigh at the height of her literary career, and the poem is deemed her masterwork in terms of poetics and narrative. Part autobiography and part social criticism, the poem traces the life of an Englishwoman and poet, Aurora Leigh, and is frequently cited as a proto-feminist treatise for its portrayal of difficulties arising for female characters from traditional values and practices of English society. Brownings innovative use of genre, self-reference, and feminine perspective make Aurora Leigh a landmark of nineteenth-century literature. Biographical Information Browning had planned to write a novel in blank verse as early as 1845, and had proposed that the subject would be a critical narrative of ordinary English life. At the time of Aurora Leighs publication in 1857, Browning, supported by her friendship and eventual marriage to Robert Browning in September of 1846, had recovered from a long period of poor health, family catastrophes, and isolation. In 1850, Sonnets from the Portuguese, written during her courtship with Browning, had been published to popular acclaim, and her reputation as a poet, especially of sentimental works, had grown. A son, Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning, had been born to the couple in 1849, and this seems to have rejuvenated Brownings artistic endeavors. The Brownings began to travel extensively and became involved in politics on the Continent; Barrett Browning subsequently expressed in Aurora Leigh a concern with social issues, particularly the rights of women and the poor, and revealed her familiarity with European and classical literature as well. Aurora Leigh, published in 1857, was the most successful of Brownings works from a commercial standpoint: the book had gone through nineteen editions by 1885. Plot and Major Characters A novel in verse, as Coventry Patmore called it, Aurora Leigh follows the life of its heroine through her birth and childhood in Italy, intellectual development, literary career, and personal relationships. At a young age, Aurora Leigh resists the conventional and complacent English values imposed on her by a maiden aunt who cares for her after the death of her parents, and she discovers the pleasures of literature. Her early creative compositions stir her ambitions to support herself through a poetic career, and in time she becomes moderately successful in London literary circles. In the process of accomplishing this, Aurora rejects a marriage proposal from her cousin Romney Leigh, a wealthy philanthropist and owner of the family estate, who soon rescues a young woman named Marian Erle from poverty. The growing attachment between Romney and Marian is severed, however, by the unscrupulous Lady Waldemar, who is herself in love with Romney. Lady Waldemar contributes to Marians disappearance from London and her reappearance in a Paris brothel, where Marian is sexually assaulted and bears a child. Aurora, on her way to Italy, recognizes Marian in Paris and takes her and her child to Florence. When Romneys socialist Utopian community disastrously fails, he acknowledges the emptiness and hypocrisy of conventional methods of philanthropy, and travels to Florence. After a series of misunderstandings in which Aurora believes Romney has already wed Lady Waldemar, Romney once again asks Aurora to marry him. This she does, recognizing that art needs to be aided by love and partnership in the process of self-realization. Major Themes Browning addressed several major social issues in the narrative of Aurora Leigh—the relationship between art and individual self-fulfillment, the issue of class politics, and the issue of gender roles. The work suggests that individual freedom, regardless of class or gender, allows for inner development and the cultivation of creativity and inspiration. However, the novel-poem shows sensitivity to other aspects of the creative process, such as the background to the production of any artistic work and the source of creativity in turmoil and conflict. Furthermore, Aurora Leigh intricately weaves the political implications of Brownings own strong individualism and her emphasis on the actualization of ones lifes work into Aurora Leighs struggle to find her place, as a woman poet, in the traditional social order found in the poem. In addition, the work focuses on the institutionalized sexism and classicism of the Victorian age, and directs its severest criticism at conventional philanthropy as hypocritical and paternalistic. Also, Aurora Leigh depicts, through the character of Marian Erle, the horrific consequences of the abuse and neglect suffered by the poor—particularly poor women. The subplot of Marian and her child also censures the Victorian tendency to reject those who have been sexually attacked, and argues for greater concern for and treatment of the innocent victims. Critical Reception Despite its tremendous popular success, Aurora Leigh received mixed reactions from contemporary critics. Many, in addition to calling it immoral, found fault with its characterization, plot, and language; others, however, found the work proof of Brownings poetic genius. The poem was largely neglected by subsequent critics until the early 1930s, when Virginia Woolf s enthusiastic article on the poem was published. The emergence of feminist criticism helped spark renewed interest in the work, although Aurora Leigh is not unanimously accepted as a precursor to modern feminism. Commenting on the poems conclusion in particular, many feminist critics have regarded Auroras acceptance of marriage as the beginning of her loss of independence. Others have found in the ending a radical deviation from traditional nineteenth-century thought—instead of losing her independence through marriage, Aurora gains a rewarding and satisfying life through the blending of her artistic achievement with the love and partnership of another. According to several twentieth-century critics, this innovation is echoed in Brownings style: although contemporary reviewers criticized her unconventional poetic tendencies, more recent scholars consider her style to be innovative. Altogether, Aurora Leigh illuminates both Brownings artistic strengths and her weaknesses: she is praised for her ability to express passionate emotion, yet she is criticized for choosing such an abstract topic for Aurora Leigh as her highest convictions upon Life and Art. She is commended for her lyrical tone and innovative use of imagery, yet she is criticized for her verbose style, improbable plot, and unrealistic characters. In light of fervent endorsements of the poem by such literary figures as Emily Dickinson and Virginia Woolf, Aurora Leigh is generally judged to be a masterwork with noticeable flaws and remains highly significant to contemporary literary historians and critics.

Reflection On Communication In Experiencing Mental Illness Nursing Essay

Reflection On Communication In Experiencing Mental Illness Nursing Essay The purpose of this assignment is to critically reflect upon on aspect of my professional practice and development that arose whilst out in clinical practice. The paper will show emphasise based on communication. This reflection has been chosen to highlight the need for nurses to have therapeutic communication skills in order to provide holistic care and encourage a good nurse-patient relationship. Gibbs (1988) reflective cycle has been chosen as a framework for this paper. To satisfy the requirements of the Data protection Act (1998) as well as the NMC (2007) code of professional conduct, all names have been changed to protect identity in concordance with confidentiality purposes. Reflection is a way of analysing a past incident in order to promote learning and development. Gibbs (1988) reflective cycle can be seen as cyclical in nature which incorporates six stages to enable me to continuously improve my learning from the event for better practice in the future. The six stages are: 1. Description 2. Feelings 3. Evaluation 4. Ananlysis 5. Conclusion 6. Action plan. Description Whilst out in placement I witnessed both positive and negative communication. During handover I was informed Maisey has dementia, deafness, aggression and short term memory loss. During handover Maisey approached the nurses int he office who appeared to look very anxious and upset. The staff nurse raised her voice and in a fixed tone told Maisey to return to her bedroom, shouting we are to busy now, go back to your room. The nurses and health care assistants present in handover giggled amongst themselves, exchanged knowing glances and mimicked Maiseys voice saying she can be such a nuisance. Having not previously met Maisey I offered to assist her with her personal hygiene needs and to make her bed. I knocked on her bedroom door to which I then entered. Maisey stood up defensively and appeared to be very agitated and irate. She shouted that she wanted answers. I explained that I came to help her and would do my best to help her. Maisey then explained that no one had explained to her why she was in hospital nor did she know the where abouts of her daughter (main care giver). Reviewing Maiseys care plan I found out she had a fall at her daughters (Barbara) house and her son informed me that Barbara was away on holiday for a week. After the discussion with Maisey I documented it in her notes so that other members of the Multi-disciplinary team would acknowledge that Maisey was uncertain about the situation she was in. After speaking to my mentor and being more knowledgeable on Maiseys situation, I returned to her with my mentor close by. I pulled up a chair next to her and in a calm, reassuring, comforting manner explained the reason why she was in hospital. However Maisey appeared to look confused and asked me to speak to her in her left ear as she was deaf. I patiently repeated what I had said, she looked brighter after I mentioned her daughters name. Maisey asked a few more questions and I tried to answer them accurately and confidently. Maisey smiled and confided she is aware that she can be forgetful but feels that she is being ignored and that no one cared to what she had to say. She also said she could not sleep as other patients were disturbing her. After the discussion I gave Maisey assistance with her personal hygiene needs to which she thanked me for taking the time and just talking. Maisey had said she felt a lot better that someone took the time to listen to her concers and explain wh at was going on instead of being ignored and left in the dark. Feelings I felt very angry and disappointed that the staff easily agreed as a team that Maisey was just confused and describing her a as nuisance, without investigating as to why she seemed upset. I was in complete shock that as nurses they could be so quick to dismiss Maisey the way the did. I was highly annoyed that they all felt it was alrite to mimic and laugh at a patient. I felt a bit disheartened how no one took the time to explain what was going on to Maisey. Once I helped Maisey I felt happy that I took the time to get to know her and in turn see a different side to things. I felt proud I was able to reassure and relax Maisey so she could rest properly. Evaluation I feel I have learnt a lot from this experience with Maisey and how the nurses responded to her when she was at a very vulnerable time. It was not a nice encounter as I feel things like this should not happen in practice, however in terms of a learning prospective it was good as it taught me that it is paramount to be sensitive towards a patient who is feeling distressed. It went well as I have learnt how important it is to be patient, to take the time to listen to a patient as this can have cumulative effects on that persons well being and the outcome as to how they are feeling. The way the staff nurses reacted was not in the best interests of the patient. I did not like their approach, as they did not make an effort to show support or any understanding as she was known as a difficult patient. Stockwell (1972) wrote the infamous book The Unpopular Patient where she explains that studies of communication in nursing demonstrate inadequacies in nursing practice.   Stockwell (1972) de scribes the nurse-patient interaction, insisting that such interaction is not always satisfactory, especially when dealing with a difficult or unpopular patient. I feel the nursing team were ignorant to the fact that Maisey had difficulty in hearing which must have made it irritating for staff to keep repeating themselves. This could have been part of the reason as to why Maisey was considered an unpopular patient as she was seen as demanding. Analysis There was no interaction between nurse and patient as Maisey approached the nurses station, and to be mocked then dismissed must have been a terrible experience for her.   Davis (2008) explains how hectic times of the day such as handover, mealtimes and ward rounds leave insufficient time to help patients who need it.   However, if the nursing team had engaged in a little conversation with Maisey, she might have felt valued and understood, instead of upset and belittled.   The NMC Code (2008) clearly states many standards of conduct which a registered nurse should be trusted to do, these including You must treat people kindly and considerately and You must listen to the people in your care and respond to their concerns and preferences.   If as nurses we should comply with The Code (2008), a lot of work is required to raise the awareness of the importance of communication in the delivery of care.   In 2007 the NMC introduced Essential Skills Clusters.   These Essential Ski lls are to be delivered by all registered nurses, one of these clusters containing Care, Compassion and Communication.   The NMC introducing these clusters show the importance of interpersonal skills in nursing care, and significance of communication in the nursing profession.   On this occasion, the nursing team did not show care or compassion for Maisey, and certainly did not engage in therapeutic conversation.   As a student nurse I felt I had the knowledge and skills to approach the patient to appropriately calm and reassure her.   Heyward and Ramsdale (2008) explain that a patient who thinks his nurse is not listening to them will lose faith in the service a nurse provides, and in the nurses willingness and ability to do as they have promised.   They explain that sympathising with a patient shows willingness to understand their anxieties and make the patient feel more comfortable.   As I entered the room the patient stood up with a defensive posture, which I assumed was using non-verbal communication to inform me that she was suspicious and distrustful of me.   This was caused by the nursing teams disability to make the patient their first priority and to listen and respond to her concerns.   Santamaria (1993) tells us that nurses must deal with the full range of human behaviour, and at the same time deliver the highest quality of care.   I acknowledged that Maisey was upse t and gave her the opportunity to ask questions and voice her concerns, and in turn made her feel special by giving her my time.   As Maisey asked me to speak loudly into her right ear I wondered if her history of deafness had been accurately assessed, as she was definitely not deaf but having communication difficulties.   Eradicating this problem with help of a speech and language therapist or a hearing aid would have helped Maisey and the impatient staff enormously in this situation.   Although I had been informed that the patient could be aggressive, I managed the situation by relating to her position and understanding her point of view.   Leadbetter and Patterson (1995) explain the prevention and management of aggression should be dealt with by showing empathy and respect for the patients individuality and being genuine, utilising an open and honest manner.   Finally, integrity, and being aware of ones own competence to handle the situation.   Egan (1990) considers non-verbal communication to prevent violent situations such as considering body posture, nodding to show interest and making eye contact, but not as though to threaten the patient in any way. Fortunately, empathy and respect for Maisey helped her to trust and confide in me.   The reason for analyzing this particular section of the scenario was to answer the question, Why did the nurse not feel efficiently equipped to approach the patient herself, instead leaving the potentially aggressive situation with an unsupervised student?   In the NMC Code (2008), advice for a registered nurse is to recognise and work within the limits of your competence, but also to have the skills and knowledge for safe and effective practice.   I believe communication skills within the nursing team must be rigorously developed and maintained as one professional alone cannot meet a patients requirements.   We need to work collaboratively to provide maximum care delivery.   Maisey felt more relaxed, valued and safe, after we identified and resolved her concerns.   Older people generally have more barriers to communicating effectively.   These barriers are worth investigating, as the acquisition of a little understanding and basic skills is a simple and rewarding exercise. (Myerscough, 1992)   The barriers Maisey faced, was the time the nurses had to spend with her, and the fact that she was deaf.   Myerscough (1992) explains that this is overcome by speaking loudly and clearly, using clear lip movements to assist lip reading.   Through actively listening to the patient and encouraging conversation we managed to focus on the problem that was causing unease.   I do believe that Maisey was discriminated against because of her conditions and illness, as she was not given the time and energy that was given to other patients.   The Human Rights Act (1998) Article 14 explains that every person should be treated equally without any discriminat ion on any ground.   This section of the act was broken when the staff failed to treat Maisey as they would the other patients.   Maisey was confused and upset that she had not been given time to adapt to her surroundings, and was in fear due to the separation from her main caregiver.   Most patients do suffer a degree of anxiety and apprehension and admission to hospital is in particular a disturbing experience for anyone. (Lloyd and Bor, 1996)   They offer explanations for these anxieties, such as being in an unfamiliar environment and separation from family and friends.   Loss of personal space is a factor mentioned, as is loss of independence and privacy.   One that closely relates to the scenario is uncertainty of diagnosis and management.   Maisey was uncertain of what was going on.   By providing her with the information she required, she could understand a purpose for her admission and the decisions being made.   Conclusion The reason for Maisey being upset, and the nursing teams reluctance to help her, all stem from the same thing.   As we have discovered communication and ones ability to reflect on practice have enormous effect on the capability to provide the highest possible quality of care.   Additionally time and commitment to our patients is priceless as it can never be taken away from them.   We also need to realise that ones own values have effects on interaction with our patients, so appreciating that our client has different values and beliefs to ourselves help us gain insight into the reasons they think and behave as they do.   Some consider interacting with others as hard work, but we as nurses need to understand that communication is the gateway to successfully helping our patients and improving our skills.   Action Plan On reflection I saw first-hand how easily communication can break down, if not between nurse and patient, then within the multi-disciplinary team.   I will take the experience with me throughout my nursing education, remembering the importance of effective communication, and also the ability to look back at an experience and break it down to discover what really happened.   Taylor (2000) defines how reflection on action occurs perfectly.   He explains that only when details of events are recalled and analysed, unpicked and reconstructed considering all aspects of a situation, can one gain fresh insights and amend actions.   He quotes Critical thinking is essential for safe practice.   (Taylor, 2000)   This should be an ongoing and extensive process for all nurses in practice.   I will be more aware of my interaction with others and will constantly reflect on my experiences to see the whole package of care delivery.   REFERENCES Becker, E.L. (1991) Churchills Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 3rd Edition. USA: Churchill Livingstone Data Protection Act 1998 London: HMSO Davis, C. (2008) Tea and Empathy: discussing a project focusing on patient centred care. Nursing Standard. Vol 22, no. 32,   p.18 Elliss, R.., Gates, B., Kenworthy, N. (2003)   Interpersonal communication in Nursing.   2nd Edition. London: Churchill Livingstone Egan, G. (1990) The Skilled Helper: A systematic approach to effective helping.   4th Edition.   USA: Wadsworth Gibbs, G. (1988)   Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. London: Further Education Unit Human Rights Act 1998 London: HMSO Heyward, T. Ramsdale, S. (2008) Interpersonal Skills. Chapter 1 IN Richardson, R. (Editor) (2008) Clinical Skills for Student Nurses.   UK:   Reflect Press Lloyd, M. Bor, R. (1996)   Communication Skills for Medicine.   New York: Churchill Livingstone Myerscough, P.R. (1992) Talking with Patients: A Basic Clinical Skill.   2nd Edition.   Oxford: Oxford University Press Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2007) The Code: Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics for Nurses and Midwives.   London: NMC Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2008) Essential Skills Clusters for pre-registration nursing programmes.   London: NMC Santamaria, N. (1993) The Difficult Patient: An Important Educational Need of Registered Nurses. Unknown Stockwell, F. (1972) The Unpopular Patient.   London: Royal College of Nursing Taylor, B.J (2000) Reflective Practice: A guide for nurses and midwives. Buckingham: Open University Press p.64 Timby, B.K   (2009)   Fundamental Nursing Skills and Concepts.   9th Edition.   London: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins Weller, B.F (2002)   Baillieres Nurses Dictionary.   24th Edition. London: Elsevier

Management Information Systems Essay -- essays research papers

1.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  General Motors has several internal and external influences that are challenging them to reduce their operating costs and become more efficient. In doing an analysis of the General Motors using Porter’s Competitive Model these influences become clear and opportunities for the company to reduce costs and increase efficiency using information systems becomes obvious. Porter’s Competitive Model is a model used to describe the interaction of external influences; specifically threats and opportunities that affect an organizations strategy and ability to compete [Laudon & Laudon, 2005, p. 103].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Starting at the center of the model is the current industry, which includes General Motors and their typical competitors, such as, Ford, DaimlerChrystler, and the Japanese [Laudon & Laudon, 2005]. All of these traditional competitors are able to produce cars at a much cheaper cost than General Motors. Looking at the supplier portion of the competitive forces model, part of the reason General Motors was unable to produce cars inexpensively in comparison to their competitors was that they were producing a lot of their own parts. Their competitors were able to purchase parts from outside vendors at lower prices. General Motors viewed this as an opportunity and has since shed a lot of workers and factories and are currently searching everywhere for the lowest prices on parts. Also General Motors was very slow at producing cars because of old information systems and outdated processes. A lot of General Motor’s systems could not communicate with each other, which was causing a major lag in the production of automobiles. By integrating these systems they were able to become faster and leaner and were able to increase their customer focus [Laudon & Laudon, 2005]. In the competitive forces model, General Motors also has influence from new products and services to reduce costs and increase efficiency. General Motors wants to experiment with new ways to serve their customers, one of which was online shopping, allowing customer to shop for car models and colors online and giving them dealerships in the area that were currently in possession of the car they preferred. By utilizing the Internet, GM was able to provide additional services to their customers and allow them to also purchase vehicles online. Gen... ...rketing tool, businesses also use the Internet to provide customer service. Instead of having a call center where a customer needs to talk to a physical person they can use the Internet and browse frequently asked questions to get information or answers. They also can send emails to the business and expect a response in little time. Using the Internet for customer service allows the customer to be in control and tailors to the customer’s time schedule.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many benefits in using technology to gain customer information. The most popular is as a marketing function to provide customers with the products that are most popular. Also, it allows them to provide salesman type services without a physical salesperson or customer service representative. This is saving businesses money by reducing the cost of employing this person and is tailoring to the flexibility needs of the ever-demanding consumer. References Laudon, K.C. & Laudon, J. P. 2005. Essentials of Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management Information Systems Essay -- essays research papers 1.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  General Motors has several internal and external influences that are challenging them to reduce their operating costs and become more efficient. In doing an analysis of the General Motors using Porter’s Competitive Model these influences become clear and opportunities for the company to reduce costs and increase efficiency using information systems becomes obvious. Porter’s Competitive Model is a model used to describe the interaction of external influences; specifically threats and opportunities that affect an organizations strategy and ability to compete [Laudon & Laudon, 2005, p. 103].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Starting at the center of the model is the current industry, which includes General Motors and their typical competitors, such as, Ford, DaimlerChrystler, and the Japanese [Laudon & Laudon, 2005]. All of these traditional competitors are able to produce cars at a much cheaper cost than General Motors. Looking at the supplier portion of the competitive forces model, part of the reason General Motors was unable to produce cars inexpensively in comparison to their competitors was that they were producing a lot of their own parts. Their competitors were able to purchase parts from outside vendors at lower prices. General Motors viewed this as an opportunity and has since shed a lot of workers and factories and are currently searching everywhere for the lowest prices on parts. Also General Motors was very slow at producing cars because of old information systems and outdated processes. A lot of General Motor’s systems could not communicate with each other, which was causing a major lag in the production of automobiles. By integrating these systems they were able to become faster and leaner and were able to increase their customer focus [Laudon & Laudon, 2005]. In the competitive forces model, General Motors also has influence from new products and services to reduce costs and increase efficiency. General Motors wants to experiment with new ways to serve their customers, one of which was online shopping, allowing customer to shop for car models and colors online and giving them dealerships in the area that were currently in possession of the car they preferred. By utilizing the Internet, GM was able to provide additional services to their customers and allow them to also purchase vehicles online. Gen... ...rketing tool, businesses also use the Internet to provide customer service. Instead of having a call center where a customer needs to talk to a physical person they can use the Internet and browse frequently asked questions to get information or answers. They also can send emails to the business and expect a response in little time. Using the Internet for customer service allows the customer to be in control and tailors to the customer’s time schedule.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many benefits in using technology to gain customer information. The most popular is as a marketing function to provide customers with the products that are most popular. Also, it allows them to provide salesman type services without a physical salesperson or customer service representative. This is saving businesses money by reducing the cost of employing this person and is tailoring to the flexibility needs of the ever-demanding consumer. References Laudon, K.C. & Laudon, J. P. 2005. Essentials of Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management Information Systems Essay -- essays research papers 1.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  General Motors has several internal and external influences that are challenging them to reduce their operating costs and become more efficient. In doing an analysis of the General Motors using Porter’s Competitive Model these influences become clear and opportunities for the company to reduce costs and increase efficiency using information systems becomes obvious. Porter’s Competitive Model is a model used to describe the interaction of external influences; specifically threats and opportunities that affect an organizations strategy and ability to compete [Laudon & Laudon, 2005, p. 103].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Starting at the center of the model is the current industry, which includes General Motors and their typical competitors, such as, Ford, DaimlerChrystler, and the Japanese [Laudon & Laudon, 2005]. All of these traditional competitors are able to produce cars at a much cheaper cost than General Motors. Looking at the supplier portion of the competitive forces model, part of the reason General Motors was unable to produce cars inexpensively in comparison to their competitors was that they were producing a lot of their own parts. Their competitors were able to purchase parts from outside vendors at lower prices. General Motors viewed this as an opportunity and has since shed a lot of workers and factories and are currently searching everywhere for the lowest prices on parts. Also General Motors was very slow at producing cars because of old information systems and outdated processes. A lot of General Motor’s systems could not communicate with each other, which was causing a major lag in the production of automobiles. By integrating these systems they were able to become faster and leaner and were able to increase their customer focus [Laudon & Laudon, 2005]. In the competitive forces model, General Motors also has influence from new products and services to reduce costs and increase efficiency. General Motors wants to experiment with new ways to serve their customers, one of which was online shopping, allowing customer to shop for car models and colors online and giving them dealerships in the area that were currently in possession of the car they preferred. By utilizing the Internet, GM was able to provide additional services to their customers and allow them to also purchase vehicles online. Gen... ...rketing tool, businesses also use the Internet to provide customer service. Instead of having a call center where a customer needs to talk to a physical person they can use the Internet and browse frequently asked questions to get information or answers. They also can send emails to the business and expect a response in little time. Using the Internet for customer service allows the customer to be in control and tailors to the customer’s time schedule.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many benefits in using technology to gain customer information. The most popular is as a marketing function to provide customers with the products that are most popular. Also, it allows them to provide salesman type services without a physical salesperson or customer service representative. This is saving businesses money by reducing the cost of employing this person and is tailoring to the flexibility needs of the ever-demanding consumer. References Laudon, K.C. & Laudon, J. P. 2005. Essentials of Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

God Sees the Truth but Waits Essay

It’s just the simple act of picking one of the many pieces of paper from a black box, one of which contains the dot that speaks of its drawer’s destiny†¦ Question is, is it an act or a choice—or, if it were possible, destiny itself? But if one would stop and think—and lay aside the ironies of a tragic death through a single tragic mistake—and look into—and, similarly, look through—the eyes of Tessie Hutchinson, her husband Bill, her son Davy, and all the other people in their town, one would stop short to have found out that their minds are a clear mirror of one’s own. Clearly, the story is but a simple twist in the nature of man that man himself has tried to magnify. In the beginning, the characters in the story are we, the bored, uninteresting people walking around and talking and showing up for a yearly event with nary a care in the world. Their eyes have seen people die, as we find out in the end—their eyes have seen their own wives and husbands and children slaughtered through pain, but their hearts only remember, but do not feel. And when the moment of truth comes out—as it always does—the bored people become aggressive, the seemingly unstained—but otherwise—hands take on an evil stance, the wives and husbands and children turn into something less than a stranger, and the pain and slaughter begins. In the beginning, the characters are we. Also in the end. It is, perhaps, an unexplainable terror to face head-on the inhabitants of the ordinary—not only is it ordinary as it seems, but also as what it really is—town and see them as our own flesh and blood, our own savage, twisted selves. But it only takes a little listening to the desires of our hearts and the dreams of our souls to unmask the truth that is clearly shown in the story, the truth that also rules our existence today. They are we. We are they. We are one with them—and they are one with us. We walk around and talk and go about our chores and go through the same routine over and over—we, the unsuspecting—and at the same time, the unsuspicious—with nary a care in the world. It is a routine that we go through that who could have thought would come out the way it always does, a routine with an end of which we have often seen with our own eyes, but would also shock the undiscerning. And then the end nears†¦and we still don’t care. We draw our lot, and it is clean—as if our own souls are, that is—big deal, we put the  piece of paper in our pocket and it is immediately forgotten. And then the end springs at us†¦we look the person who’s drawn the dotted lot—look him as if our own souls are anything but the piece of paper he has picked—with stranger’s eyes. We stone him to death, we forget who he is—friend, family member, father, son, husband†¦and he dies. We go about our chores again and walk and talk as if our civil hands were clean and leave the slaughtered lamb with a triumphant smile because we have won again, we did not draw the cursed lot, he did. It doesn’t matter who ‘he’ is—as long as it’s not we. Our own eyes have beheld the same old scene, but the heart only remembers—and doesn’t feel. We do not care if it would be we who would die next year, as long as we are left living today. We see not nor expect the time of our own downfall—we caused the downfall of another one today and it’s what matters at the moment. But time will come that we will be the center of the tragedy, too, and we will be looked on with hostile strangers’ eyes by our own friend, father, son, husband. Time will come that it is our own downfall with which they will stain their civil hands with blood. And their heart will not feel, only remember†¦and you will no longer see yourself in them but in that which you had killed, that which had died in your own savage folly. Amidst the pain you will be crying out, â€Å"Wait—it’s not fair! It’s not fair†¦!† And then you die.

The Wild History of Roller Skates

The Wild History of Roller Skates An overview of the evolution of dry land skating aka roller skates. Early 1700s - Skeelers In Holland, an unknown Dutchman decided to go ice skating in the summer, ice skating was the widespread method used in the Netherlands to travel the numerous frozen canals in winter. The unknown inventor accomplished dry land skating by nailing wooden spools to strips of wood and attaching them to his shoes. Skeelers was the nickname given to the new dry-land skaters. 1760 - Crashing the Masquerade Party A London instrument maker and inventor, Joseph Merlin, attended a masquerade party wearing one of his new inventions, metal-wheeled boots. Joseph desiring to make a grand entrance added the pizzazz of rolling in while playing the violin. Lining the huge ballroom was a very expensive wall-length mirror. The fiddling skater stood no chance and Merlin crashed solidly into the mirrored wall, as his roller skates crashed into society. 1818 - Roller Ballet In Berlin, roller skates made a more graceful entrance into society, with the premier of the German ballet Der Maler oder die Wintervergn Ugungen (The Artist or Winter Pleasures). The ballet called for ice-skating but because it was impossible at that time to produce ice on a stage, roller skates substituted. 1819 - First Patent In France, the first patent for a roller skate issued to a Monsieur Petibledin. The skate was made of a wood sole that attached to the bottom of a boot, fitted with two to four rollers made of copper, wood or ivory, and arranged in a straight single line. 1823 - The Rolito Robert John Tyers of London patented a skate called the Rolito with five wheels in a single row on the bottom of a shoe or boot. The Rolito was unable to follow a curved path, unlike the in-line skates of today. 1840 - Barmaids on Wheels In a beer tavern known as Corse Halle, near Berlin, barmaids on roller skates served thirsty patrons. This was a practical decision, given the size of beer halls in Germany, which gave dry land skating a publicity boost. 1857 - Public Rinks Huge public rinks opened in the Floral Hall and in the Strand of London. 1863 - Inventor James Plimpton American, James Plimpton found a way to make a very useable pair of skates. Plimptons skates had two parallel sets of wheels, one pair under the ball of the foot and the other pair under the heel. The four wheels were made of boxwood and worked on rubber springs. Plimptons design was the first dry-land skate that could maneuver in a smooth curve. This considered the birth of the modern four-wheeled roller skates, which allowed for turns and the ability to skate backwards. 1884 - Pin Ball-Bearing Wheels The invention of pin ball-bearing wheels made rolling easier and skates lighter. 1902 - The Coliseum The Coliseum in Chicago opened a public skating rink. Over 7,000 people attended the opening night. 1908 - Madison Square Gardens Madison Square Gardens in New York became a skating rink. Hundreds of rink openings in the United States and Europe followed. The sport was becoming very popular and various versions of the roller skating developed: recreational skating on indoor and outdoor rinks, polo skating, ballroom roller dancing and competitive speed skating. 1960s - Plastics Technology (with the advent of new plastics) helped the wheel truly come of age with new designs. 70s 80s - Disco A second big skating boom occurred with the marriage of disco and roller-skating. Over 4,000 roller-discos were in operation and Hollywood began making roller-movies. 1979 - Redesigning Roller Skates Scott Olson and Brennan Olson, brothers and  hockey  players who lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, found an antique pair of roller skates. It was one of the early  skates  that used the in-line wheels rather than the four-wheeled parallel design of George Plimpton. Intrigued by the in-line design, the brothers began redesigning roller skates, taking design elements from the found skates and using modern materials. They used  polyurethane  wheels, attached the skates to ice hockey boots, and added a rubber toe-brake to their new design. 1983 - Rollerblade Inc Scott Olson founded Rollerblade Inc and  the term rollerblading  meant the sport of in-line skating because Rollerblade Inc was the only manufacturer of in-line skates for a long time. The first mass-produced rollerblades, while innovative had some design flaws: they were difficult to put on and adjust, prone to collecting dirt and moisture in the ball-bearings, the wheels were easily damaged and the brakes came from the old roller skate toe-brake and were not very effective. Rollerblade Inc Sold The Olson brothers sold Rollerblade Inc and the new owners had the money to really improve the design. The first massively successful Rollerblade skate was the Lightning TRS. In this pair of  skates  the flaws had vanished, fiberglass was used to produce the frames, the wheels were better protected, the skates were easier to put on and adjust and stronger brakes were placed at the rear. With the success of the Lightning TRS, other in-line skate companies appeared: Ultra Wheels, Oxygen,  K2  and others. 1989 - Macro and Aeroblades Models Rollerblade Inc produced the Macro and Aeroblades models, the first skates fastened with three buckles instead of long laces that needed threading. 1990 - Lighter Skates Rollerblade Inc switched to a glass-reinforced thermoplastic resin (durethan  polyamide) for their skates, replacing the  polyurethane  compounds previously used. This decreased the average weight of skates by nearly fifty percent. 1993 - Active Brake Technology Rollerblade, Inc. developed ABT or Active Brake Technology. A fiberglass post attached at one end to the top of the boot and at the other end to a  rubber-brake,  hinged the chassis at the back wheel. The skater had to straighten one leg to stop, driving the post into the brake, which then hit the ground. Skaters had been tilting their foot back to make contact with the ground, before ABT. The new brake design increased safety. Presently the best way for you to experience the latest inventions in the world of wheels is up-close and personal. Please do so, try in-line skating and keep rolling.