Ben Franklin BiographyCritique essays

Ben Franklin BiographyCritique essays In his many careers as a printer, moralist, essayist, civic leader, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, and philosopher, for later generations of Americans he became both a spokesman and a model for the national character. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Jan. 17, 1706, into a religious Puritan household. His father, Josiah, was a candlemaker and a skillful mechanic. His mother, Abiah Bens parents raised thirteen childrenthe survivors of Josiahs seventeen children by two wives (#1). Franklin left school at ten years old when he was pressed into his father's trade. At twelve Ben was apprenticed to his half brother James, a printer of The New England Courant. He generally absorbed the values and philosophy of the English Enlightenment. At the age of 16, Franklin wrote some pieces for the Courant signed "Silence Dogood," in which he parodied the Boston authorities and society (#3). At one point James Franklin was imprisoned for his liberal statements, and Benjamin carried on the paper himself. Having thus learned to resist oppression, Benjamin refused to suffer his brother's own domineering qualities and in 1723 ran away to Philadelphia (#1). Soon Franklin found a job as a printer. After a year he went to England, where he became a master printer, sowed some wild oats, amazed the locals with his swimming feats, and lived among inspiring writers of London. By 1726 Franklin was tiring of London (#1). He considered becoming an itinerant teacher of swimming, but when a Quaker merchant by the name of Thomas Denham offered him a clerkship in his store in Philadelphia, he decided to return home (#5). Returning to Philadelphia in 1726, he soon owned a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, and began to print Poor Richard's Almanac. In the Pennsylvania Gazette, a citizen asked editor Franklin the following question: "If A found out that his neighbor B was sleeping with his wife, was he justified in telling B's w...

Zora essays

Zora essays Zora Hurston writes a fascinating piece called "How it feels to be Colored Me". In this piece she tells of the days before and after she became colored. In the days before she knew of only one difference between white and blacks. She never paid much mind to the fact that the rest of the community reacted differently, she did what she wanted. It is the same for most kids at her age. They never really understand what is happening in the world around them until the world around them believes they're old enough to hear the When Hourston turned thirteen she was sent to a school in Jacksonville. She left her home as Hourston and enter Jacksonville as a little colored girl. Hourston made the point that she didn't mind the label the whites put on her. She wouldn't get depressed or let it bother her like the other blacks did. She made the comment "I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are all hurt about it." She makes a very good point here that African Americans tend to have the attitude that they were ripped-off. They blame everything bad that happens to them on the color of their skin. The world has changed but to this day some will sit back and ponder your last response wondering if that was a subtle insult brought upon by the color of their skin. In the piece "How it Feels to be Colored Me" Hourston also describes an experience she had with a white person that made her feel the true color of her skin. She talks about the music making her feel as if she's in a jungle. "My face is painted red and yellow and my body is painted blue. My pulse is throbbing like a war drum." She is feeling so many different emotions from the music yet these emotions are not shared with the white man sitting next to her. "He is so pale with his whiteness then and I am so colored." She feels the color of their skin makes th...

Ecological Modernisation as an approach for solving of Environmental Coursework

Ecological Modernisation as an approach for solving of Environmental problems - Coursework Example This study looks into the concept of ecological modernisation started to gain attention in the 1990s. This concept evolved in the industrialised democratic states as a dominant way of addressing environmental policies. It was also aimed at identifying the root causes of these environmental problems and to suggest possible policies or solutions. These environmental problems include global pollution, global warming, Ozone depletion, soil erosion, overpopulation, natural resources’ exploitation, destruction and fragmentation of natural habitats, water crisis, loss of biodiversities etc. These environmental problems are creating adverse effects on health and well-being of human beings. Ecological modernisation has been developed in order to fight against these environmental problems at large. It was also developed to ensure sustainability of natural resources and natural well-being, maintaining environmental justice and preserving the rights and beauty of the nature. The concept o f sustainability or sustainable development considers that the present generation must consume goods and services in such a way that the consumption of these goods and services by the future generation is not hampered. The notion of sustainable development has been used to preserve and conserve natural and environmental resources, mainly non-renewable resources like coal, petroleum etc. Sustainable use of these resources by the present generation can help future generations to acquire benefits from these resources. According to Brundtland Commission, it means ‘meeting the needs of the present without bargaining the capability of future generations to meet their needs (Berger et al., 2001, p.57). The concept of environmental justice deals with the preservation of the nature and natural resources. This paper is aimed at critically assess the importance of ecological modernisation as an appropriate approach for solving environmental problems. Brief history of the concept of ecolo gical modernisation: Since a long time, a conflicting relationship exists between economic development and environmental sustainability. There are conflicting opinions regarding the relationship between economic growth and environmental policies as well. Those people in favour of rapid economic growth and development argue that the policies aimed to act in favour of the environmental protections are creating obstacles against the economic growth of industrialised nations of the world. They have argued that environmental policies like reducing environmental pollution create larger problems for producers to produce goods and services at lowest possible costs and hence, hamper the process of economic development of countries by reducing their national output and national income (Berger et al., 2001, p.56). But the opposite side argues that without proper environmental protection it will be difficult for these industrialised countries to achieve their desired pace of economic growth. Th ey also argue that in the presence of sustained ecological society the pace of economic growth gets accelerated. The need for environmental awareness started at the end of the 1980s and at the beginning of the 1990s, mainly in the industrialised nations of the world. In this time the concept of environmental protection and environmental awareness was seen differently from previous periods. Before this time environmental problems were largely seen as natural phenomena which were beyond the control of human beings. But in this time people started to believe that those environmental problems are largely dependent upon human activities. People also realised that controlled and protected human activities can easily reduce the prevalence of those environmental problems. The main reason for the conceptualized difference was the emergence of a new concept called

Employment Laws and HRM Strategy Research Paper

Employment Laws and HRM Strategy - Research Paper Example Small, medium and large organizations all have diverse employees who should be treated with respect and appreciated according to their differences (Cihon, & Castagnera, 2010). Globalization in the world has resulted in diversity in all regions of the world. The diversity is reflected in all areas of the workforce such as when hiring and recruiting employees. The law is very strict in the protection of employee rights as specified in the different labor laws of different states. Nowadays, most organizations also ensure that they give employees from either gender an equal chance in employment for all available positions. The needs of both groups need to be taken into consideration since both are different in their own ways (Armstrong, 2011). The state of Texas is no exception and requires all employers to refrain from discriminating from individuals based on their race, gender or any physical features (Texas Employment Law, 2012). Individuals from different backgrounds have different b eliefs, values, and traditions. Some of these values might be reflected in the way that they work hence affect the workplace. However, no employee at the workplace should be treated differently just because they have different values, beliefs or traditions from other employees. Diversity in the workplace improves the image of an organization in the eyes of the customers. With the growth of information sharing in the world, target clients of an organization can easily rate an organization in terms of employee treatment (Cihon, & Castagnera, 2010). Customer awareness groups are likely to boycott the products or services of an organization that does not promote diversity. Many human resources management gurus have also cited that diversity in the workplace encourages innovation and creativity among employees. HRM Plan to manage the HRM situation within the confines of the law The human resources management department of the organization should develop relevant classes for their supervi sors on current issues in the workplace. The classes should be interactive to ensure that there is the complete understanding of relevant issues. The human resources department should also conduct periodic demographic monitoring to ensure that the workforce is balanced. The workforce should have diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity and physical traits (Cihon, & Castagnera, 2010). The disciplinary action that is taken by the supervisors on the employees should be uniform among all existing employees in the organization. Such an action sends a message of equality even in diversity. The human resources department should also communicate the importance that it attaches to equal opportunities and diversity in its workforce. Current and potential employees of the organization should have access to the opportunities that are available in the organization. The human resource management part of the organization should use modern methods of managing the employees. The top management and ex ecutives’ should be close to employees to encourage them to achieve the set objectives in the organization. To ensure inclusion of the diverse group of employees, the human resources management department can come up with a culture day. The culture day should be held regularly such as on Fridays.  Ã‚  

Business law (Downey v. Bobs Discount Furniture Holdings, Inc.) Assignment

Business law (Downey v. Bobs Discount Furniture Holdings, Inc.) - Assignment Example The exterminator compiled a report regarding the issues and sent s copy to the defendant explaining his findings (Clarkson, Miller, and Cross 65) The defendant only retrieved the infested bed that he had supplied and was unwilling to cover the cost of extermination. Downey paid for the extermination cost. After sometimes, Downey filed a case against the defendant because of his breach of contract in failing to cover the extermination cost. In addition, she claimed that the bed supplied by the defendant was the source of the bed bugs. The case was presented before a district court. Downey was requested to identify an expert of extermination and submit a written report of what the expert had to say. She did not conform to these demands. The district court ruled in favor of the defendant that there was no evidence to indicate that the bed bugs had come with the bed. However, Downey decided to appeal (66). The rationale of the ruling was in accordance to rule 26 (a) (2) (B), which makes it clear that experts may testify as witnesses and also provide a testimony based on their expertise and are exempted from the report requirement. This is the reason why the court of appeal ordered a new trial in the case

Explanation of the Gantt Chart

Explanation of the Gantt Chart Its use a simple logic calculations to identify the critical path, it does include: A sequence of activities has a timing duration. Adding the timing durations from the start till the end (forward pass), it helps to determine the early and late start. Deduct the timing durations from the end to the start (backward pass), it help to determine the late and early finish. Deduct the early finish from the late finish, by that we found the total float. The early start for activity A is 0, while the late finish for activity R is equal to its late start. The critical path is the longest serious of activities in the diagram with no flexibility, linked to each other without interruption. In other word its the path has activities with total float equal zero.While the duration of the project determine by the earliest and late finish of the last activity in the project. Gantt chart is useful tool to project manager, in this chart there is a calendar time scale enable to determine the project duration including , not only the working days, but also holydays and weekend. If the project starts on 11 January 2010 in 5 day working week, assuming there is no holidays the earliest day the project will completed is 2 April 2010. (See end of the document). a. As activity P is a critical activity in a critical path a one day delay will create a delay in activities Q and R, which delay the project end for one day. Also it could generate an increase in project cost. The project manager should be able to predict this before its occurred, therefore he should analyses the network diagram and looking for maneuver margin. b. If activity N completed 1 day earlier, it could give other activities in the path such as O, P, Q, and R one day flexibility. However it doesnt mean that the project will finish earlier because other activity recourses were schedule and it could be not available at that time, but still there is possibility to the project to finish 1 day before than schedule. c. Activity I is not critical activity, thats mean it has a float or slack which is in this activity is 6 days. There for a delay for 2 days in this activity will not create a delay in whole project, however there a possibility to generate increase in cost than the estimated before. In the network diagram all the project activities are represented accordance with the relations that exist between them, the activities represented by nodes (boxes), these mentioned the beginning and the end of each activity The benefits for the diagram are: Obtain a schematic representation of the project. predict the required time to complete the project. distinguish between critical and non critical activity in the project, and thus determine the possible maneuver margin for each task, which can be by moving some resources from non-critical tasks and focus on critical activity, which contributes to reduce the time of the project with a fixed cost. Implementing the network diagram is summarized in these steps: know all the activities for the project their is a list of all tasks (activities) often included in the outset project based on Work Breakdown Structure Identify the relations between these tasks there are tasks that can be implemented in parallel, or may depend on the end of the other tasks (sequence), in this step is a list of all the project tasks and its relations with other tasks. Setting the network diagram after knowing the tasks, and the relations with other activities, the project activities are drawn as Node network diagram. Estimate the required time an estimate of required time to complete each activity passed on past experiences, or by using intuition and logic, the estimate may not be free of error. identifying the critical activity and critical path of the project critical activity is an activity which, if the delay occurred during the implementation, it could delay the whole project with the same amount, the critical path is the path that connects critical activities and it starts from the beginning of the project and finished at the end of the project, it is the longest path in terms of length in the network diagram. On this path there is no margin time to maneuver in the implementation of any task because of the lack of flexibility time in any task on this path. Update the network diagram on a regular basis during the implementation of the project, real-time registration is taken for each activity, and in the meantime, critical path may appear to show new activities were not taken into account.

Creative Management Essays -- essays research papers

Creative Management gives creative ideas of how a manger should present himself and how to approach different situations. Creative Management written by Shiegru Kobanashi, focuses mainly on the importance of teamwork, and on group management. How can we transform our present methods of production, under which we become slaves to machines, and regulations for the temporary increase in productivity, into one in which we are the masters of our work? How can we establish a system, which will make people work voluntarily and feel good about doing it. The book starts with waking up make sure you have proper hygiene. Wear simple clothes. Not close that stand out. A fussy dresser doesn’t impress people, but it gives a false impression of the person wearing the clothes you should wear clean, pleasing clothes that match your personality. A manager should always meet someone with a smile. It will lighten the mood and there is no better way to show your personality them by your smile. â€Å"Face every day with a smile, and you will lead a pleasant life everyday.†(Page 86) It expresses the importance of saying the simple words good morning and good night. When talking to employees you should speaking sincerely and low toned which will make others understand your thinking or feeling. Speaking forcefully and loud with raw emotion can affect other people as well as yourself. The book also emphasizes the importance of a manager to use empathy when dealing with fellow employees. Always put yourself in other people’s position. If you base all decisions and give information to workers solely on how you feel chances are the advice you give will not be what the person coming to you needed. Everyone is different and everyone’s lives are different. A good manager should get to know his employees as best as possible. Giving the manager a little incite into each of their lives. The more you know about your fellow workers the easier it will be to put yourself in there shoes and give the correct advice. .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The world is filled with all types of temptations, and sometimes a manager is put into a situation where he has the opportunity to make some extra cash or maybe get something from some one for doing a not so legal favor. When these situations occur you should stop think things through. You have a mind and are used to doing your own thinking, but you a... ...wth are discussed. This type of meeting takes place every six months. Each department manager or team leader becomes familiar with other functions and groups, learns from hearing their work revised, and participates in policymaking. They learn the significance of his department’s activities in relation to the whole company. They discuss policy making ideas, review appraisals, and set goals. Teams don’t function on order from above, rather it functions on it’s own ideas. The same thing can be said about the individuals who make team, and revise goals that are also handled by team. In other words they work as a unit. A manager should hold himself as a person of power who is still an equal of his work force. The job of the manager is not to order people around and push his ideas. A manager's job is to keep the work force unified and keep it working as a team. Most people in today’s society are power hungry and are only in it for them selves. They don’t realize that if everyone is successful you will be successful they will be to. So remember . there is no â€Å"I† in team. Working to getter and putting minds together is much more efficient then one person how thinks they know everything

Horniman Horticulture Essay

Horniman Horticulture is a whole-sale nursery business that has been owned by Maggie and Bob for three years. They have seen an increase in business and number of plants grown at the nursery and are expecting demand to continue to grow. In 2005, the business’s profit margin was expected to grow to 5. 8% up from 3. 1% in 2003. This projected growth seems accurate considering Maggie’s conservative approach with the companies cash balance. Handling the finances, Maggie dislikes debt financing because of her fear of holding too much inventory and thus not being able to make interest payments. Since the business relies on good weather conditions with some mature plants taking years to grow, severe weather can destroy this inventory. The family has high hopes for the future, since changing their business strategy; they now are acquiring more mature plants in response to the demand for â€Å"instant landscape† customers and are seeing positive signs of economic strength. Because of Maggie’s accounting policies, the business has started to see a decrease in cash balance which falls below their target of comfort. Projection for 2006 Looking at Exhibit A, we have given the projection for 2006. Due to the local economy growing, demand is also going to continue to grow in their business. Most of their inventory will be ready for customers, since it has been maturing over the last 2 to 5 years resulting in their revenue growth to be estimated 30% higher in 2006 to $1,360,000. In order to have opportunities for growth, Maggie and Bob want to buy the neighboring 12 acres of farmland. Because of this plan to buy the parcel of land, their capital expenditures are estimated to be $75,000 which they do not plan to finance. Case Issue Revenue growth over the past 3 years has surpassed the industries benchmark and could indicate that Horniman can take an aggressive competitive advantage early on. Some financial ratios prove the company is performing above industry norms solely due to the fact of their decision to not pay interest on debt, causing few additional expenses. An issue that this company may see due to their determination in paying suppliers under 10 days which can be seen in the Payable Days ratio (Exhibit C). They do benefit rom a small discount of making payments early, but comparing this to the benchmark; Horniman takes an average of 50 days to collect from outside customers and vendors. This indicates that they are making payments five times faster than they are receiving them, which poses the question of whether the small discount is truly beneficial to their company. This exhibit also points out the fact that inventory are not being turned over as often and has actually continued to increase since the start of the business. In addition in 2005, they didn’t reach their target balance of 8% cash balance of total revenue; they fell to a low of . %. In summary, they are very good at driving revenue up and exceeding profits higher than the industries average, but are experiencing a cash flow problem because of the way they are running their business. If it is not dealt with now, there is potential for bankruptcy in the future, especially with their future acquisition of land for $75,000 which they do not plan to finance. Financial Statement Analysis When analyzing the financial statements, in Exhibit A we can see that Horniman has done a decent job by increasing their revenues. They increased their revenues by 33% in 2002 being at $788,500 to 2005 at $1,048,800. They have stabilized their depreciation as it only rose 20% from 2002 to 2005 ($34,200 to $40,900). Also, their tax expense did not increase dramatically by staying around 34 to 39%. After looking at the free cash flows in Exhibit D you can see that increases in net working capital is a problem with the business. In the first year their net working capital was $44,800 which is 1. 4x the net income of $32,600. In 2004, there was an improvement in net working capital but on the other hand there was a big capital expenditure of $88,100 which reduced their cash. Past 2004, net working capital in 2005 was $97,200 which is 1. 6x the net income of $60,800. If they continue to increase their net working capital like they have in the past, the projected net working capital for 2006 would be -$235,900 which would cause them a negative cash balance of -193,000. When you look at the balance sheet in Exhibit B we can see that the current assets have increased 19% and total assets increased 14. 4%. This is due primarily to the increase in inventory and accounts receivable. In the four years from 2002 to 2005 inventory has increased 8. % and accounts receivable has increased 16. 4%. Due to this, the cash balance has decreased from $120,100 all the way down to $9,400. In addition in 2005, the cash balance went below their comfort level of $10,000 down to $9,400. This is not meeting their expectation of their 8% minimum of total revenue target. Financial Ratio Analysis Even though their business was growing significantly, and they were experiencing a steady increase in revenues, they were seeing a huge decrease in their cash. The reason for this is because of their recent change to an increase in business from small nurseries. By looking at the financial ratios, even though they are increasing in sales, you can tell that they are relaxed on their accounts receivable and credit terms. Each year it takes them longer to collect their money. This is due to the fact that the carrying cost of inventory is harder for the smaller customers to endure. To add to this, Bob has to put a bigger investment in his inventory because of the more mature plants that take 2 to 5 years to grow, because of the increased demand for instant landscape. Finally, they are paying out cash significantly faster at 9 days than the benchmark of 27 days in order to receive their 2% discount. To summarize it, they are holding their inventory longer, collecting on payments slower, and paying out cash faster which in essence is destroying their cash balance. By looking at the ratios in Exhibit C, you can see the evidence of this in Receivable Days increasing from 41. 2 to 50. 9, and the Inventory Days ratio increasing from 424. 2 to 476. 3. Due to the way their business is being run, the consequences are shown in the liquidity ratios in Exhibit E for 2002 to 2005 and the projected ratios for 2006, all of their liquidity is diminishing. You can see that every ratio is steadily declining throughout the years. Analyzing them all, their cash has significantly decreased the most, diminishing an astonishing 70% from years 2002 to 2005. Compensating for Growth With larger growth coming in 2006, Maggie and Bob need to look at their cash balance and figure out what they will need for financing to avoid a negative cash balance which could put them into bankruptcy. With Revenues increasing every year, and dramatically increasing from 2005 to 2006 by 30%, they need a compensating cash balance. Since they do not pay out any cash dividends, their rate of growth is the ROC ratio. In Exhibit A, the return of capital has been an average of 4. 0% in the four years. The un-proportional increase in revenue from 15% to 30% will most likely not be supported for much longer. The need for financing, to counterbalance this significant growth is needed to avoid bankruptcy. Accounts Payable Analysis In 2002, Horniman’s cash balance was a respectable $120,100, a number which represented 11. 64% of total assets for that year. As shown in Exhibit F, a common-size cash balance of 11. 64% hardly poses any threats of short-term liquidity risk. However, the following years tell a different story where Horniman’s cash balance steadily decreases. In 2005, just 0. 80% of Horniman’s total assets were held in cash—a drop of $110,700 in just three years! Keep in mind, Horniman has displayed positive revenue growth through each of these periods negating the idea that these declining cash balances are represented by lack of growth (Exhibit C). In the case write up it was mentioned that Maggie (who controlled the financials) avoided borrowing at all costs, and would take any trade discount her suppliers would offer. To an ordinary individual this would sound like a financially responsible plan, but taking a trade discount isn’t always the best decision to make. When taking a discount, certain factors should be looked at to determine whether or not it is worth it. In Horniman’s case, Maggie accepts the discount from her supplier every time it is offered. The footnotes state that most of Horniman’s suppliers provide 30-day payment terms, with a 2% discount for payments made within ten days (2/10 net 30). This is a fairly common discount offered by suppliers to entice the buyer to make timely payments. Horniman has always had the cash on hand to make these payments within the terms of the discount, but in the long run it is hurting them. The most important factor to look at when making this decision is the current interest rate. Interest rates will help to determine whether it is practical to take the discount or to delay payment till the final day it’s due. The rule is simple: if the borrowing rate offered by a bank is greater than the annualized rate earned by taking a discount, then pass on the discount and delay your payment until it’s due in full. The rule remains true if the scenario is reversed. Maggie’s overall issue is she isn’t timing her cash inflows with outflows. Her outflows are made within 10 days of receiving the invoice, but she isn’t collecting from customers every ten days which is creating a short-term liquidity issue. Our Recommendations As you can see the business as a whole is running pretty strongly and their main problem is just the diminishing cash flow. There are quite a few ways that Bob and Maggie could attempt to raise the amount of cash that they have on hand and even stop this problem all together. In the case it says that Maggie doesn’t want to use much if any debt financing for their business because if they were to have a dramatic loss (i. e. drought, frost, etc†¦ ) they could find themselves struggling to keep up with the interest payments on the debt loans that they would have taken out, but using just equity financing can put an unnecessary strain on your business. By simply using equity financing Bob and Maggie are reducing the amount of cash that they could possibly have on hand dramatically. If Maggie were to try and find a happy medium between equity and debt financing, an amount of loans that couldn’t bankrupt them if they had a catastrophic loss of inventory but an amount that would help them with their cash inflow problem then they could see a reduction of the large negative free cash flow that they are seeing now. In reference to their huge capital expenditure they are planning on acquiring the next year, they should think about taking out a mortgage loan on it for the 6. 5%. If they took out a 30 year mortgage loan to finance the $75,000 acquisition, the payment would be $474 monthly, which would save them a huge amount of savings in 2006 instead of paying it with cash that they don’t have. Another option is for them to not always pay their suppliers in the 10 days to obtain the 2% savings. As stated earlier in the paper the 2% savings looks and sounds good to the normal person but when a business is having cash problems like Horniman Horticulture is at this time it isn’t always the smartest thing to do. Their biggest problem is that their cash outflows are being paid 5 times faster than their cash inflows are coming into their company. If they were to figure out a system to find a way to occasionally get the 2% discount offered to them by their suppliers to save some money but also hold on to their money some of the time and pay at the 30 day due date they could see a massive change in their short term liquidity problems that they are seeing and that could really help reduce their cash on hand problem. They could also adopt some form of payment reward plan like their suppliers have for customers that buy rather large quantities of inventory and take a percentage off of the amount owed for payments that are before a certain date. Another option would be to have a preferred customer policy for customers that either have large orders consistently throughout the year or for customers that always pay early on the amount that they owe. For instance they could either chop off a percentage of the price for early payments as stated before or they could offer some of their more unique plants to the preferred customers before they let anyone else have the opportunity to buy them. The final option that we discussed that could help them with their cash problem is to stray away from their new business strategy, and simply calm down on their mature plant inventory since they take so long to be able to sell and actually bring in any profit on them. From the case it sounds like this could be a profitable business but with the way that they are getting payments in and the possibility of a complete loss if the worst happened to their inventory it seems like it is somewhat of a risky move for them. This could be a much better idea once they figured out their cash problems and fixed their accounts receivable turnover so that they are closer to the 8% that Maggie feels comfortable with having as an emergency fund.

Free Essays on Knowledge Management

Introduction In my line of work I routinely encounter managers who come to me in search of help to find the best approach to managing their resources. Invariably I am asked what the best tool, approach, method is, and you can fill in the blank here. This is what I have labeled the â€Å"what’s best† question. In answering this type of question I must determine the requestor’s requirements. Therein lies the answer to the initial question, what do you want to accomplish. The purpose of this paper is to compare two approaches to knowledge management. In so doing, we will examine concept definition and the selected solutions, problems faced and the effectiveness of each method. Concept Definition and Solutions The two consulting agencies shared the same concept of knowledge management. Their overall idea was to capture specific organizational knowledge an organize it and make it available to those who need access. The difference between the two projects came in the concept of the delivery system. Step Two Designs delivery concept was to capture the information contained in RTA’s employee’s minds as shown in the following excerpt:1 Much of this work involved converting tacit (undocumented) knowledge to explicit (documented) knowledge, as neither F1 help or the FAQs had previously been created within the RTA. We were lucky to have two of the most knowledgeable people in the RTA to act as subject matter experts, and much of the information came directly out of their heads. RTA’s newly captured knowledge was then loaded into a standalone database based on an XML-based publishing system. This database was then made available to the Newcastle call center employees. On the other hand, Navigator Systems knowledge delivery method was in the form of a web portal. The Frito-Lay portal basically links various corporate data information systems into a single front-end. Problems Faced and Effectiveness Frito-Lay had three ... Free Essays on Knowledge Management Free Essays on Knowledge Management Introduction In my line of work I routinely encounter managers who come to me in search of help to find the best approach to managing their resources. Invariably I am asked what the best tool, approach, method is, and you can fill in the blank here. This is what I have labeled the â€Å"what’s best† question. In answering this type of question I must determine the requestor’s requirements. Therein lies the answer to the initial question, what do you want to accomplish. The purpose of this paper is to compare two approaches to knowledge management. In so doing, we will examine concept definition and the selected solutions, problems faced and the effectiveness of each method. Concept Definition and Solutions The two consulting agencies shared the same concept of knowledge management. Their overall idea was to capture specific organizational knowledge an organize it and make it available to those who need access. The difference between the two projects came in the concept of the delivery system. Step Two Designs delivery concept was to capture the information contained in RTA’s employee’s minds as shown in the following excerpt:1 Much of this work involved converting tacit (undocumented) knowledge to explicit (documented) knowledge, as neither F1 help or the FAQs had previously been created within the RTA. We were lucky to have two of the most knowledgeable people in the RTA to act as subject matter experts, and much of the information came directly out of their heads. RTA’s newly captured knowledge was then loaded into a standalone database based on an XML-based publishing system. This database was then made available to the Newcastle call center employees. On the other hand, Navigator Systems knowledge delivery method was in the form of a web portal. The Frito-Lay portal basically links various corporate data information systems into a single front-end. Problems Faced and Effectiveness Frito-Lay had three ...

Free Essays on War On Vieques

The movie â€Å"War on Vieques† opened my eyes to a part of Puerto Rico in which I was unaware. I am glad I had the opportunity to view this movie in class as it opened my eyes to something I was wholly unaware. The developments over there came to me as shocking revelations, for it seems almost as if it were a scandal. First off, the island of Vieques is located in the Caribbean Ocean. It is located on the Eastern side of Puerto Rico. Since the early 1900’s, our very own U.S Navy has been occupying much of the island of Vieques. The U.S navy occupies this territory for their own selfish reasons, and it continues to be a problem. Technically the U.S is allowed to be in that territory as they do have the right with Puerto Rico being a U.S colony. However, the land is misused and it is felt that the U.S is abusing their power. The U.S has been occupying the island for military purposes that date back quite a few years. The U.S rather bullied there way in, forcing the natives out of there land in some ways. The natives were forced to live wherever the U.S would let them, and they had to accept it. The years of military testing have taken there toll on the island. The land has been noticeably affected. There have been serious contaminations deposited throughout the land due to all the toxic weapons the U.S have practiced with. This is seriously leading to the deterioration of the land. There are many reports of chemicals, dust particles and residues.... Free Essays on War On Vieques Free Essays on War On Vieques The movie â€Å"War on Vieques† opened my eyes to a part of Puerto Rico in which I was unaware. I am glad I had the opportunity to view this movie in class as it opened my eyes to something I was wholly unaware. The developments over there came to me as shocking revelations, for it seems almost as if it were a scandal. First off, the island of Vieques is located in the Caribbean Ocean. It is located on the Eastern side of Puerto Rico. Since the early 1900’s, our very own U.S Navy has been occupying much of the island of Vieques. The U.S navy occupies this territory for their own selfish reasons, and it continues to be a problem. Technically the U.S is allowed to be in that territory as they do have the right with Puerto Rico being a U.S colony. However, the land is misused and it is felt that the U.S is abusing their power. The U.S has been occupying the island for military purposes that date back quite a few years. The U.S rather bullied there way in, forcing the natives out of there land in some ways. The natives were forced to live wherever the U.S would let them, and they had to accept it. The years of military testing have taken there toll on the island. The land has been noticeably affected. There have been serious contaminations deposited throughout the land due to all the toxic weapons the U.S have practiced with. This is seriously leading to the deterioration of the land. There are many reports of chemicals, dust particles and residues....

Entrepreneurial Approach to Profit and Social Responsibility Research Paper

Entrepreneurial Approach to Profit and Social Responsibility - Research Paper Example Entrepreneurship is about risk taking, seen an opportunity where others are not able to see it and taking advantage of the opportunity. Adi Saravanan and Rich Gorman are such leading and successful entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity where other people around them were not able to see. They took all the risks involved in the business and financial undertakings to venture and later emerged successful and became millionaires as a result of good entrepreneurship. Adi Saravanan Adi Saravanan, an engineer by profession, graduated from the University of Bharathiyar, developed interest in being a successful entrepreneur as a result of the opportunities’ he saw in the business world when working in the financial department of Samar Financial Limited. Adi Saravanan also holds a degree in Business and Financial Management from the University of Periyar and Masters form the same university. His hard work made him get a promotion to market the products of the company. He later got another job at Ashok Leyland finance limited where he worked within the financial and treasury departments. He had a lot of interest in finance and information technology that made him co-find a company named Allsec Technologies where he is the Chief Executive officer. This company offers Business Process Outsourcing services ranging from payroll to web solutions and retail healthcare services to various industries in India and Philippines. Adi Saravanan’s Leadership Style Leadership styles are the skills, traits and behaviors that a leader exhibits as he or she interacts with his workers. Adi Saravanan as the president of Allsec Technologies is portrayed as a democratic leader.... Adi Saravanan’s Leadership Style Leadership styles are the skills, traits and behaviors that a leader exhibits as he or she interacts with his workers. Adi Saravanan as the president of Allsec Technologies is portrayed as a democratic leader. As such, he uses a democratic leadership approach to manage the company’s activities. This is because he encourages participation of all his workers and staff in decision makings. He also ensures that workers are consulted on what is supposed to be done for the benefit of the company as a whole (Northouse, 2009). His democratic leadership style is also seen in that he does not closely supervise his employees but instead gives instruction and trusts that his instructions are to be followed since all decisions made are done in consultation. Adi Saravanan’s Approach to Profit making Adi Saravanan developed various strategies to ensure that his company became profitable. The first thing he did was to ensure that costs are kept l ow by eliminating unnecessary expenditures. He also ensured that the focus of the company was to improve shift utilization by getting more clients. He ensured that the services provided are customer focused and that they met customer expectations. This is in terms of both quality and quantity. This way, he maintained the loyalty of his clients and customers. He also makes sure that the staff he hires as are professionals to ensure that quality services are delivered to the clients. This was demonstrated by the quality of payroll services and BPO services offered by Allsec Technologies (Drucker, 2006). Adi Saravanan’s Strategies to Social Responsibilities A company is supposed to give back to the society through corporate social responsibility. This is because the society is normally impacted in various

Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Exam - Essay Example Employers are also required to report any workplace accident to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), particularly those that involve death of an employee or hospitalization of five or more employees. Another requirement is for the employers to provide safe and healthy working conditions for the workers and the contractors. Such conditions include safe machinery and equipment, ensuring that the work place is safe through activities such as installing fire exits and emergency equipment. The employer is also supposed to provide adequate facilities for employees to ensure they are free from accidents and their health and safety is not compromised. Moreover, employers are supposed to ensure that the employees are informed and understand the instructions for them to operate in a safe and healthy manner. Additionally, the employer should ensure that the employees are aware of any possible negative effects that could be associated with their work. Additionally, employers are liable for any forms of injuries that the employers may incur when employees are performing activities especially the hazardous ones. This applies even when the person who causes the injury is a contractor. The McWane a major manufacturer of iron pipes for water piping and sewers has had several health and safety violations, which have resulted in numerous injuries and some death cases. After investigating, the working conditions at McWane, OSHA confirmed that the company had consistently flouts most of the work place safety rules. McWane was listed as one of the companies with the worst workplace safety records within America. Since 1995, the company has violated more than 400 safety measures. The violation result in serious accidents an example being crushing of one of the employees by a truck, which resulted in amputation of both legs. Such violations include the unsafe systems such as machineries and equipment of which were