New England Puritans - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 447 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/09/17 Category Environment Essay Type Argumentative essay Tags: Community Essay Did you like this example? Personally, I think that the New England Puritans did live up to their vision of a community for a certain amount of time. I feel this way because they did in fact have a set of rules that mostly everyone followed. Also, they had a set form of government to follow, and over time they realized what it took to survive in the Chesapeake area. The Puritans had a very specific opinion on what they valued. This happened to be religion, and they agreed to live in a community that had those values in common. So, they started a colony that followed this example. However, if you are going to have a community, you must have leaders to make decisions. These were the religious leaders, who were also the political leaders. In this new government that they had created, they needed a set of rules that everyone must abide by. The religious leaders were very well respected, as well as listened to, so, therefore, this situation created a Theocracy (a government in which religion is the main motivation, and the religious leaders are also political leaders). This is very important because most colonies that were attempted at this time ended up failing due a lack of a set of rules. These colonies did not have a structured government! An example, in Jamestown, (the suggested destination of the Puritans), starved to death because they had no source of food. There was no leader to make decisions or create rules. The Puritans had a set form of rules that mostly everyone followed. This made sure to keep organization, arrangement and order in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The people of this colony understood what was necessary to make everything flow, and what they should do to avoid catastrophe. One member of the colony said, â€Å"We shall be as a city on a hill† The people thought this meant that they had to spread His word and become the best and most powerful colony in the world if they wanted to make Him glorified. These set rules kept a structure to the colo ny. All these rules were successful until Roger Williams wrote â€Å"The Bloody Tenet of Christian Persecution† in 1644. This document caused people in the colony to question the set rules. Lastly, the Puritans’ work ethic was successful for the first four years. They had established peace and organization for the most part. Other colonies expected the work that the Puritans were doing to be done for them. Sure, they got riches and power, but the Puritans’ learned the more difficult way. These reasons prove that the Puritans lived up to their idealized vision of community and why they were successful. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "New England Puritans" essay for you Create order

Racism Enacted Throughout the History of Black Films Essay

The history of African Americans in early Hollywood films originated with blacks representing preconceived stereotypes. D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film, Birth of a Nation, stirred many controversial issues within the black community. The fact that Griffith used white actors in blackface to portray black people showed how little he knew about African Americans. Bosley Crowther’s article â€Å"The Birth of Birth of a Nation† emphasizes that the film was a â€Å"highly pro-South drama of the American Civil War and the Period of Reconstruction, and it glorified the role of the Ku Klux Klan† (76). While viewing this film, one would assert that the Ku Klux Klan members are heroic forces that rescue white women from sexually abusive black men. Griffith†¦show more content†¦Micheaux’s purpose behind his film blacks about the issues of racism and stereotypes. The film opens with a young educated African American woman, Sylvia, who travels to the North to raise $5,000 to save a local school for black children. During her visit, Sylvia meets a handsome white man, Dr. Vivian. Along the way, she also encounters a wealthy philanthropist, Elena. After Elena learns about Sylvia’s work, she decides to give her the money that she needs. However, Elena’s southern friend discourages her from giving the donation and says that â€Å"blacks cannot get an education.† (Please Cite this source). Conversely, Elena decides to give $50,000 which will be more than enough the save the school. According to Bogle, Within Our Gates sparked a controversy with a lynching scene. The lynching scene shows a white mob lynching Sylvia’s adopted parents and almost killing their son, and also the mob lynched the white man’s servant, Efrem. In addition, one particular scene shows Sylvia being chased by a white man who almost raped her but notices that Sylvia is his daughter. In the end, Dr. Vivian confesses his love for Sylvia and the film ends with their marriage. Within Our Gates plot and characters challenges the prejudice shown in the film Birth of a Nation. For instance, the character Efrem is an example of Uncle Tom because he tells his white masterShow MoreRelated`` Song Of Solomon Written By Toni Morrison And Film The Searchers Directed By John Ford1535 Words   |  7 Pagesfuture and renders the present inaccessible†. This sentiment is apparent in the novel Song of Solomon written by Toni Morrison and the film The Searchers directed by John Ford. In both these works of fiction prejudice is an underlying theme of the central plot. Throughout both plots, it becomes apparent the cause, cost and cure for prejudice taking the form of racism. The root of prejudice in Song of Solomon comes from slavery and the legacy of it that the generations that follow carry with them. 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Nurses’ Work Hours Free Essays

I have been a staff nurse in the emergency room for fourteen years. I have worked a variety of 8, 10, 12, and even 16 hour shifts. I currently am working 8 and 12-hour shifts on nights. We will write a custom essay sample on Nurses’ Work Hours or any similar topic only for you Order Now Previously, I also worked some 12-hour day shifts. I personally have been struggling with working the 12-hour shifts. My commute to work is 1 hour one way and I have fallen asleep several times driving home from work. The last four hours of my shift I experience great fatigue and even have had trouble staying awake. I have come close to having medication errors and feel that my quality of care is less during the last four hours. When working 12-hour shifts I average around 5-6 hours of sleep before returning to do another 12-hour shift. During an interview with another colleague also working 12-hour shifts she states she also experiences feeling very tired and less alert. She actually admits to having a medication error that she feels was associated with the long hours and fatigue. With these concerns I ask, â€Å"Are nurses work hours a concern for nurses and patient safety†? Introduction As demands for flexible work hours and a balance between home and work life have increased for nurses, twelve hour shifts are more common. The nursing shortage has also contributed to nurses’ working longer hours to cover shifts. Nurses must remain alert to provide safe care and prevent errors in medications and procedures. Nurse work hours are a concern to me regarding patient safety. I am also concerned with the health risk of nurses working long hours so I decided to do a search on how long hours affect nurses and their patients. I searched evidenced based research articles available from a variety of trustworthy healthcare sites like CINHAL, ANA, and Nursing Journals. I organized this literature review in three categories. These categories are: Positive and negative effects of long hours, effects of long hours on patient safety, and if there are any health effects on the nurse working 12-hour shifts. Literature Review Positive and Negative Effects of Long Hours There are both advantages and disadvantages of working 12 hour shifts (Ede, Davis, Sirois, Circadian, 2007). One advantage is working less days during the week, which is desirable of most nurses. It is also easier to have all the shifts covered because you do not have to hire as many nurses (Circadian, 2007). In a qualitative study by Richardson, Turnock, Harris, Finley, Carson (2007) the purpose was to examine the impact and implications of 12-hour shifts on critical care staff. Two groups and questionnaires with critical care staff from three critical care units were reviewed. Positive effects were found with planning and prioritizing care, improved relationships with parents/relatives, good quality time off work and ease of travelling to work. Less favorable effects were with caring for patients in isolation and the impact on staff motivation and tiredness. Acceptable patterns of work were suggested like no more than 2-3 consecutive shifts should be worked and rest periods between shifts. The survey concluded that most of the nurses that responded wanted to continue with 12-hour shifts. Systems and practices need to be developed to improve on the negative effects of working 12-hour shifts. In one of my interviews the nurse agreed that she enjoys 12-hour shifts because she has more days off during the week and feels she has more time with her family, although I personally disagree. She also states it is easier to provide day care for her children. Disadvantages of longer work hours according to Circadian (2007) included that it is harder to cover absences, limited family and social time during working days, more pay lost when a day is missed and increased percentage of night shifts. Longer work hours have also been associated with increased tiredness, less sleeping hours, driver fatigue returning home, and increased risk of errors or near errors ( Richardson et al. , 2007); (Scott, 2006); (Scott, 2010); (Chen, 2011). I have no time with my family on the days I work 12 hours. Even though I have more days off I feel I am spending at least one day recovering after working a long shift. I personally would rather have interaction with my family daily especially since the kids are in school. A colleague I interviewed also agreed that when working 12 hour shifts she had limited time with her family. Effects on Long Hours on Patient Safety As a result of nursing shortage hospital staff nurses are working longer hours with few breaks (Chen et al. 2011). In one quantitative study by Scott, Rogers, Hwang, Zhang (2006) they randomly selected 1148 critical care nurses and sent them a demographical questionnaire to fill and return related to medical errors and the hours they worked. The objective of this article was to describe the work patterns of critical care nurses, determine if there was a relationship between the occurrence of errors and the hours worked by the nurses, and explore whether these work hou rs had adverse effects on nurses’ vigilance. The 502 respondents consistently worked longer than scheduled and for extended periods. Longer work duration increased the risk errors and near risk errors and decreased nurses’ vigilance. The findings supported the Institute of Medicine recommendations to minimize the use of 12 hour shifts and to limit nurses’ work hours to no more than 12 consecutive hours during a 24 hour period (IOM, 2006). Although the findings note that 12 hour shifts can have negative effects, most participants wanted to continue working them. Nurses are responsible for the safety of their patients. Nurses must remain alert to provide safe care, recognize discrete changes in patient conditions, and intercept potentially dangerous errors in medication and procedural orders (Keller, 2009). Nurses’ work hours are a concern given the expectation of their sustained vigilance to maintain the well-being of patients. The 12 hour shifts worked by many nurses are associated with reduced sleep times, difficulties staying awake, frequent overtime, and significant risk for error (Rogers, Hwang, Scott, Aiken Dings, 2004)( Scott, Rogers, Hwang, Zhang, 2006). Even though 12 hour shifts may be preferred by many nurses, studies indicate that extended shifts worked by hospital staff nurses are associated with higher risk of errors. Long hours coupled with insufficient sleep and fatigue is even risker (Scott et al, 2010). More than two-thirds of 895 hospital staff nurses reported â€Å"struggling to stay awake on duty† at least once during a 28-day data gathering period (Rogers, Hwang, Scott, Dinges, 2003). Nurses reported fighting sleep about once every five shifts (2,258 out of 11,218 shifts). Drowsiness was not confined to the night shift; more than half of these episodes occurred between 6 A. M. and midnight. Nurses who reported shorter sleep durations were more likely to struggle to stay awake, fall asleep, and make errors while on duty (Scott et al, 2010). Effects on Nurses Working Long Hours Studies examing the health and safety consequences of nurses themselves are beginning to shed some doubt about the wisdom of continuing to use the twelve hour work schedule. According to one study, adverse health and safety outcomes of extended work hours include increased rates of musculoskeletal disorders, needlestick injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and inadequate sleep (Greiger-Brown, Trinkoff, 2010). All of these can be attributed to reduced vigilant attention, fatigue, and decreased neuromuscular fine motor control associated with sleep deficiency. In an interview with one colleague she states that her body, â€Å"hurts all over†, when working a twelve our shift. I have fallen asleep driving before which could of resulted in injury of myself or someone else. Lengthening of the shift duration from 8 to 12 hours significantly restricts the opportunity for sleep and produces sleep deficiency (Smith et al. , 1998). Working without adequate sleep between shifts can lead to negative chronic health effects including Cardiovascular Disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, decreased immune function, and increased cancer risk (IOM, 2006). In a quantitative study by Chen, Davis, Pan, Daraiseh (2011) a total 145 nurses wore monitors for one 12-hour day shift to record heart rate (HR) and work pace(WP), which were used to calculate energy expenditure(EE). The purpose of this study was to determine whether hospital nurses are experiencing physiological strain at work by examining their physiological and behavioral response patterns over 12-hour shifts. The EE and HR data presented in the study revealed a moderate physiological strain experienced by 12-hour shift nurses, regardless of their slowed paces during the last four hours. The study noted that although work pace slowed during the last 4 hours, the nurses’ heart rate continued to be elevated, which could lead to cardiovascular disorder. Moreover, inadequate work break and sleep, family care-giving responsibility and aging presented challenges that may have prohibited nurses from full recovery and potentially exacerbated the negative impacts of the 12 –hour shifts. Overall their results relates to EE and HR suggest that nursing workload of 12-hour has a negative physiological impact on nurses. Policy Implications Although there are negative effects noted in working twelve hour shifts, I don’t think it is going anywhere due to the fact that nurses love them, and the increase in nursing shortage. Keeping this in mind instead of focusing on stopping twelve hour shifts, there needs to be interventions on how to improve the 12 hour shifts to provide safer patient care and prevent health problems in nurses. The preliminary policy implications I have discovered is the possibility of limiting how many twelve hour shifts a nurse should work in a row, mandating breaks while working twelve hour shifts, allowing the night shift to nap, regulate how many hours a nurse can volunteer to work, and allow the older nurses to have an option between 8 and 12-hour shifts. In my institution there is no limit on how many hours a nurse can voluntarily sign up for as long as it is approved if it puts the nurse in overtime. Our breaks are not mandated, if we get one great, and if not we can get paid for not getting a break. Most of the time, our breaks are interrupted. Regarding naps, physicians on the night shift are allowed to sleep if there are no patients, but there is no policy stating the nurse can sleep. Some nurses actually work 24 hour shifts, but are allowed to sleep at night if they are not busy. There are times though that they are busy the whole 24 hours. In one interview a nurse stated that if she lays her head down and naps for about 20 minutes she feels much more alert. I have also tried taking a nap at work when there were no patients in the ER, and I did feel so much more alert, especially driving home. It is therefore wise to consider limiting shift length and hours worked per week per IOM recommendations. After reviewing the literature it is clear that the main problem is nurses not getting enough sleep between shifts which causes fatigue. In a study of nurses’ sleep habits, Geiger-Brown (2010) found that 58 percent averaged only 5. 5 hours of sleep. When they work three or four 12-plus hours a day, they are also unable to easily reestablish a â€Å"consistent sleep schedule†. In one research article it noted that allowing the nurses to nap, especially the night nurses showed improvement in alertness and feeling less fatigued and ultimately showed a reduction in errors or near errors (Fallis, McMillan, Edwards, 2011). It also noted that anagement needs consider to mandating that the 12 hour plus nurses are taking full uninterrupted breaks which also improves alertness. Most nurses are not taking full breaks and stay longer than the scheduled 12 hours which reduces their sleep and recovery time between shifts (Greiger-Brown, Trinkoff, 2010). In a recent review of studies between 1970 and 1998, 12 hour shifts nurses were fatigued in 5 of 7 studies, and of 10 studies measuring performance, 4 were negative, and 6 were neutral; none showed positive effects. In this review, laboratory studies showed deteriorated performance; but field studies found no difference between 8 and 12 hours. Recent studies with stronger designs and methods have increased the evidence that questions the safety of 12-hour shifts. More recent studies as mentioned earlier demonstrate an increase in patient care errors when nurses work 12 hour shifts compared to 8 hours. The research question that has been uncovered related to nurses’ long work hours is if the long hours affect the health of the nurse and patient safety? In my institution other colleagues have stated that they feel that when working 12 hours or longer more than two days in a row really decreases their quality of care because they are tired. I feel more studies need to be done on the impact of working hours and the nurses’ health along with more evidence regarding patient safety. One ethical implication researching effects of 12-hour shifts is that the managers do not want to take away 12-hour shifts due to nursing shortage because they do not have to hire as many nurses to cover shifts. Another issue is that most nurses enjoy the twelve hour shifts even though they know they become really tired because they enjoy having more days off during the week. Managers may fear that nurses will leave to find jobs that offer 12-hour shifts. I feel this is ethically a problem with colleagues and coalitions because they are not looking at the negative effects on the nurses and the patients. With research it has become obvious that working longer hours can effect both the health of the nurse and safety of the patients yet our facility along with many others have not come up with adequate resolutions to the problem. Conclusion Twelve hour shifts contribute to flexible patterns of work, but the effects of delivery of direct care and staff fatigue are important topics for deeper examination. More recent studies as mentioned earlier demonstrate an increase in patient care errors when nurses work 12 hour shifts compared to 8 hours. Although 12 hour shifts are popular, evidence shows us that extended working hours, and working while fatigued and sleep deprived reduce vigilance and impair physical/behavioral functioning. The result has damaging effects on patient safety, quality of care provided and the health of the nurse. I believe it is the responsibility of the nurse to recognize the risks of working longer hours to keep the patient safe and to also maintain their own health. I used the Patterns of Knowing (White, 1995) to view my topic and to gather information on this literature review. These patterns of knowing in nursing include empirics, esthetics, ethics, and personal knowing (White, 1995). I used empirics by gathering factual information regarding my topic. I discussed issues in regards to ethics on my topic that was mentioned in chapter 3. I included my personal knowledge and experience with working longer shift hours, and also looked at the esthetic form by putting it all together and acknowledging what the problem is. Doing this literature review I realize that working the longer hours does put a strain on my overall health, and also has potential to put my patients at risk. I will focus more on getting better sleep, and I have asked my manager about working only 8 hour shifts. I also really want to pursue gathering more information about night nurses being able to nap. How to cite Nurses’ Work Hours, Papers

Environmental Health free essay sample

What is Environmental Health? Environmental health is the branch of public health that is concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment that may affect human health. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing and controlling factors in the environment that can potentially affect health. Environmental Health is the field of science that studies how the environment influences human health and disease. â€Å"Environment,† in this context, means things in the natural environment like air, water and soil, and also all the physical, chemical, biological and social features of our surroundings. The man-made, or â€Å"built,† environment includes physical structures where people live and work such as homes, offices, schools, farms and factories, as well as community systems such as roads and transportation systems, land use practices and waste management. Consequences of human alteration to the natural environment, such as air pollution, are also parts of the man-made environment. We will write a custom essay sample on Environmental Health or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The social environment encompasses lifestyle factors like diet and exercise, socioeconomic status, and other societal influences that may affect health. The Media of Environmental Hazards Air, water and food are the major environmental media or vectors through which exposure to hazardous environmental agents occur. Environmental hazards †¢ The major environmental hazards and their relative importance in various environmental settings. †¢ Chemical agents: pesticides, VOC’S, and PCB’S †¢ Physical agents: ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, vibration, temperature, and noise. †¢ Biological agents: infectious and allergic disorders Interaction between hazardous exposures and humans †¢ Four characteristics critical to exposure assessment: †¢ Route ( Inhalation, Ingestion, Dermal) †¢ Magnitude (Concentration or Dose) †¢ Duration ( Minutes, Hours, Days, Lifetime) †¢ Frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Seasonally) All of the environmental media are possible exposure routes, and should be considered in a risk assessment. †¢ Humans have access to environmental toxicants by contaminated food, drinking contaminated water, and breathing contaminated air

How Companies Can Successfully Enter The French Fashion Industry

Abelisaurus - Facts and Figures

Abelisaurus - Facts and Figures Name: Abelisaurus (Greek for Abels lizard); pronounced AY-bell-ih-SORE-us Habitat: Woodlands of South America Historical Period: Late Cretaceous (85-80 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 30 feet long and 2 tons Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Large head with small teeth; openings in skull above jaws About Abelisaurus Abels lizard (so named because it was discovered by the Argentinian paleontologist Roberto Abel) is known by only a single skull. Although entire dinosaurs have been reconstructed from less, this lack of fossil evidence has forced paleontologists to hazard some guesses about this South American dinosaur. As befitting its theropod lineage, its believed that Abelisaurus resembled a scaled-down Tyrannosaurus Rex, with fairly short arms and a bipedal gait, and only weighing about two tons, max. The one odd feature of Abelisaurus (at least, the one that we know of for sure) is the assortment of large holes in its skull, called fenestrae, above the jaw. Its likely that these evolved to lighten the weight of this dinosaurs massive head, which otherwise might have unbalanced its entire body. By the way, Abelisaurus has lent its name to an entire family of theropod dinosaurs, the abelisaurswhich includes such notable meat-eaters as the stubby-armed Carnotaurus and Majungatholus. As far as we know, abelisaurs were restricted to the southern island continent of Gondwana during the Cretaceous period, which today corresponds to Africa, South America and Madagascar.

Advanced Interpersonal Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Advanced Interpersonal Skills - Essay Example Before the commencement of the session on advanced interpersonal skills, I was unaware of exactly what kind of person I am but with the help of this session I learnt a lot about myself and my personality. I learnt that there are many different types of personality tests and also many types of categories for the various personalities. I learnt that it is important to write diaries as by writing all thoughts in the mind comes out on the paper and one is in a better position to understand things. The session on MBTI had been a very interesting session during the course of advanced interpersonal skills. My personality type in the MBTI test was INFJ. INFJs allow a person to detect their talents and constantly work upon grooming their talents. My personality and nature reflects upon the fact that I am highly concerned about relationships and society as a whole (Brown and Reilly, 2009). I aim high in life and I want my life experiences to be extraordinary. Just getting a routine job would not be of high interest to me, I want my life to be adventurous and a continuous learning experience down my career path. Since I am strongly interested in the field of marketing, I would be able to demonstrate creativity and innovation in my work and skills (Managers, 2006). I have built up some strong principles and values in life and I work upon standing by my values so that I feel satisfied and content with whatever I do in life. I possess leadership qualities and hence aim towards a job in which my skills and abilities will be used to the optimum level. The job should be one that will allow me to implements my values and principles in a comfortable manner. My visions are intuitive and I know that I can produce excellent results if I believe in any particular task. My MBTI personality testing results were INFJ and this truly reflects upon my

Business and Corporate Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business and Corporate Law - Case Study Example In this assignment the business, which has been trading successfully as a partnership for many years, has decided to become a private company limited by shares. As such, they will be incorporated and registered under the Companies Acts, the main one of which is the Companies Act 1985. Under this act, the company must have a registered office1, which Lorraine and Brenda wish to have at Chancery Lane, London. The Act allows two or more persons to form a company with limited liability for any lawful purposes by following the formal requirements of the Act2. A memorandum and articles of association, which are the rules that govern the running and relationships of the company must be provided to the registrar as part of this process.3 Before getting into the details that regulate insolvency under the act I would like to just review the basics which you may already be aware of. As you have been acting under a partnership for some years you will have a general idea of how your business is performing and the likelihood of its future success. I do not see the change from partnership to limited company effecting your trading prospects materially. Therefore, if you have been successful as a partnership there is every reason to expect this success to continue after the change to company. You will have been used to operating under the partnership in a situation of unlimited liability. This means that in the event of the business failing, you both personally would have been liable for all of the debts of the business and stood to lose your homes and all of your personal assets. Fortunately, under a company, you will be protected by limited liability and this means that your personal assets will not be used to pay off the debts of the company unless some kind of fraud or wrong dealing is at play. However, all the assets of the business will be available to creditors of the business, and therefore, you should be very aware that any assets you transfer to the business will not be protected by the principle of unlimited liability and will be available to creditors should the business fail. Therefore, one way to minimize the risk of such loss is to avoid transferring unnecessary assets from the partnership to the

Business Research Methodologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Research Methodologies - Essay Example Businesses are working together in procurement, outsourcing, and consultancy to ensure sustainable growth and competitive advantage in the market (WÃ ¶lfl, 2005). The trend is set to continue because of the emergence of innovative technologies and the growth of national economies. Technology has opened up the various organizational operations. According to WÃ ¶lfl (2005), the growth of B2B and e-commerce in particular has also been promoted by the growth in the service sector. In the OECD economies, services are now accounting for over sixty percent of the aggregate employment and production. The service sector is made up of some of the largest global corporations who have grown to become among the major users and buyers of innovative technologies. The global entities are also active innovators whose activities have led to the growth in number of firms in almost all the sectors. Throughout the world, service firms have become the major stimulant for productivity as wells as efficiency in the business to business arena. They do so through e-commerce and in the long run accelerate the changes in the economy. According to Fill & Fill (2005) the B2B services have witnessed the fasted grown in the last ten years. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the sector accounts for about 50 percent of all employment opportunities (Achrol & Stern, 2008). In the academia, the B2B topic is well established. Scholars have investigated the issue in terms of the scope and the nature of business markets, employee and organizational behaviour, business strictures, management strategies and the critical success factors. Despite this being the case, there are only a few studies that have examined the critical B2B issues which come out of the service concept. Scholars have not widely studied the experiential, interactive and the process dependent aspects of B2B services. Minimal work has been done on B2B with

A study of knowledge management leadership

A study of knowledge management leadership For the purpose of the assignment, the telecommunication industry was chosen from the services industry from Great Britain. Vodafone Group plc. (LSE: VOD, NASDAQ:  VOD), being a British multinational mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, England has established prominent state within the business world. Vodafone is the worlds largest mobile telecommunication network company, and has a market value of about  £71.2 billion (November 2009). A multinational corporation (MNC) or transnational corporation (TNC), also called multinational enterprise (MNE), is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation. The first modern multinational corporation is generally thought to be the East India Company. It currently has operations in 31 countries and partner networks in a further 40 countries. It is the worlds second largest mobile phone operator behind China Mobile a nd over Telephonic based on subscribers, with over 427 million subscribers in 31 markets across 5 continents as of 2009. In the UK, its home ground, Vodafone has badly underperformed in the last few years due to brisk change in administration. It has slipped from first to third largest telecom operator generating revenue of  £4.9 billion from its 18.7 million customers in 2008-09. As of March 31, 2009, the company employs more than 79,000 people worldwide. The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones. (BBC, 2009) Vodafone has been working and operating within many countries and have created several opportunities of working with local companies. February 2010, Vodafone announced that it is bringing M-PESA, one of the worlds most successful mobile money transfer services, to South Africa, to be deployed by its subsidiary, Vodacom South Africa and its South African banking partner. With approximately 26 million people in South Africa without official bank accounts, M-PESA will enable millions of mobile phone subscribers who have access to a mobile phone, but do not have or have only limited access to a bank account, to send and receive money via their mobile phones. The M-PESA service was developed by Vodafone and has already been deployed by Safari com in Kenya, Vodacom in Tanzania and Roshan in Afghanistan (branded M-Paisa). More than 11 million registered customers now rely on their mobile phones for money transfer, airtime top-up and bill payments. Vodafone takes an unusual tack with success ful candidates. Vodafone feeds back information on how people performed into their development plans as no one is ever a 100 per cent fit. The assessment process is constantly re-evaluated, with employees being assessed regularly on their background and personality. It also tracks new hires on attrition, sickness absence, performance in training and performance in the job. The process clearly works. They recruit fewer people than before because there assessment process has had such a positive effect on both attrition and performance. Theres a key attrition measure in call centres at 13 weeks into the job. Its the first pinch-point. Theyve improved there dramatically by selecting the right people at the outset. There are several factors that influence the working of multinational companies such as market imperfections and international powers. For the company under consideration, the market imperfections are the possibility of not knowing the local laws, local customers or businesses. The international power factors could be tax exemption, market withdrawal, lobbying, patents and government powers. The SECI model (the acronym stands for Socialization, Externalization, Combination, Internalization) was first proposed in 1991 (Nonaka 1991), though was refined and expanded for a broader audience in the popular book The Knowledge Creating Company (Nonaka Takeuchi 1995). The SECI model met with broad acceptance, especially among management practitioners, due to its intuitive logic and clear delineation of knowledge types between tacit and explicit knowledge-utilising this knowledge delineation first espoused in management theory by Polanyi (1958). The core behavioural assumption in the model is that knowledge creating companies continually encourage the flow of knowledge between individuals and staff groups to improve both tacit and explicit knowledge stocks. Thus, knowledge value is created through synergies between knowledge holders (both individual and group) within a supportive and developmental organisational context. Figure (The Key Elements of the SECI Model, In the above diagram, the I, G, and O symbols represent individuals) group and organization In 1998 a third, more challenging, cultural assumption was added to the SECI discussion. Nonaka and Konno (1998) introduced the Japanese concept of Ba, a philosophical construct rooted in Japanese society that relates to the physical, relational and spiritual elements of place, or perhaps more expansively context. In the strategic management and organisational theory literatures, organisations are increasingly conceptualised in terms of their knowledge and capabilities (Poppo Zenger 1998), and less in terms of their physical and financial assets. Further, organisational alliances that draw together firms are being viewed as conduits for information and knowledge flows between organisations (Grant Baden-Fuller 2004). Trans-National Corporations (TNCs) sometimes referred to as multinational companies, are enterprises that control economic assets in other countries generally this means controlling at least a 10% share of such an asset. These companies command enormous financial resources, possess vast technical resources and have extensive global reach. In 2002, the most recent year for which full data are available, FDI made throughout the world totalled some $651bn. While most FDI goes to developed countries; for developing countries it is by far the largest source of external finance. The figures are striking: In 2002 $162bn in FDI went to developing countries. By comparison, official development assistance (ODA) amounts to some $58bn annually and remittances, another significant source of funds for poor countries, totalled $93bn in 2003. Above mentioned picture shows that Developed market multinationals gives more emphasis to Process Technology and Organizational Architecture. Their operating model is process technology driven and results were judged on the basis of performance metrics. They give very less importance to Leadership skills Inter-personal relationship between people however opposite is true for Emerging Market multinationals where more emphasis is given to Leadership Inter-personal relationship between people and less importance is given to process technology, organizational Architecture metrics. For Example: In the oil and gas industry, for instance, emerging-market NOCs do not seem to rely as systematically on the strict net-present-value metric that IOCs use in their decision-making process-which is consistent with a more-risk conscious leadership style. Rather than adopting this metric, NOCs change the game by creating deals that involve aid and infrastructure packages. This signals a market development mind-set as opposed to a market-exploitation mind-set. Knowledge Management plan: Overview Knowledge Management (or KM) refers to the processes and/or tools an organization uses to collect, analyse, store, and disseminate its intellectual capital. Besides deployment of appropriate technology and processes by a business enterprise in order to maintain and retain its intellectual capital, effective KM also refers to making optimum use of experience and understanding of organizational knowledge, in general. This includes a wide range of information artefacts, such as inherent knowledge-based documents (reports) available internally within the organization, as well as related information from the external resources. Definition A logical extension of this concept is into the entire organization, in the form of Enterprise Knowledge Management (EKM). Among the areas of greatest concern for the modern knowledge worker (from CIO down to the Content Manager), is identifying, collecting, securing and maintaining the information (aka knowledge base) of the organization. Without a process to ensure this systems usefulness, there are invariably holes which are only found when a user tries to obtain that (missing) information. As Intellectual Capital This intellectual capital can include training materials, processes, procedures, documents, ideas, skills, experiences, and much more. An effective Knowledge management plan allows a company to quickly and easily share this intellectual capital among the organization so it is available on-demand at any time it is needed. (EEC) KM Types KM can take many forms, depending on the purpose and requirements. The following is a partial list of related types of KM from which an organization may select one or many: Content Management Data Management Records Management Document Management Portal Online Education Information Architecture Knowledge Discovery Knowledge Retrieval KM Storage Methods of storing and sharing this intellectual capital include searchable knowledge bases, Learning Management Systems, other types of databases, enterprise portals, groupware tools, and email. KM Leadership Knowledge management leadership, in terms of position types and their associated titles, covers a broad category of positions and responsibilities. Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO), like any executive-level corporate leader, handles for enterprise-wide coordination of all KM-related issues and projects. Few corporations maintain a CKO or equivalent officer within their organization. More likely, this responsibility would fall either within the scope of the CIO or a director-level Knowledge Manager. Various categories within the lower-level Knowledge Management career field may be: Knowledge Analyst (Content Manager), Knowledge Engineer (Software Specialist), or, Knowledge Steward (Librarian). These are general career titles, since a specific taxonomy does not currently exist which applies to all organizations or positions within the emerging field of KM. Most of the challenges in knowledge management primarily stem from the types of knowledge reuse situations and purposes. Knowledge workers may produce knowledge that they themselves reuse while working. However, each knowledge re-use situation is unique in terms of requirements and context. Whenever these differences between the knowledge re-use situations are ignored, the organization faces various challenges in implementing its knowledge management practices. The Knowledge Management system enables employees to have ready access to the institutional documented base of facts, information sources and solutions. A typical claim justifying the creation of a KM system might run something like this: an engineer could know the mobile applications can help in transferring money to other countries without any security concerns. Sharing these informations widely could lead to more valuable money transfer plan leading to ideas for new or improved equipment. Following factors incorporate manag ement system such as Purpose: the Knowledge Management System depends upon explicit knowledge management objectives towards collaboration, effective practice and team work. Context: Knowledge is information that is significantly well thought-out, accumulated and embedded in a framework of creation and application. Processes: Knowledge Management System are always developed to sustain and extend knowledge-intensive processes, tasks or projects of e.g., designing, construction, identification, capturing, acquirement, variety, valuation, organization, linking, structuring, formalization, evolution, accessing, visualization, transfer, distribution, retention, maintenance, refinement, revision, retrieval and last but not least the application of knowledge, also called the knowledge life cycle (KLC). Participants: KMS designs are held to reflect that knowledge is developed collectively and that the distribution of knowledge leads to its continuous change, reconstruction and application in different contexts, by different participants with differing backgrounds and experiences. Although this is not necessarily the case. Employees can engage in recreation the roles of active, involved participants in knowledge networks and communities fostered by Knowledge Management System. Instruments: KMS support KM instruments, e.g., the capture, creation and sharing of the modifiable aspects of practice, skill management systems, collaborative filtering and handling of interests used to hook up people, the creation and fostering of communities or knowledge networks, the creation of corporate knowledge directories, taxonomies or ontologies, expertise locators. KM systems are being used within many transnational organizations with many success stories. The advantages claimed by the KM systems are: Sharing valuable institutional information throughout organizational hierarchy: Knowledge and information sharing are regarded as means to use resources more effectively in order to reduce costs and gain a competitive advantage (cf. Chuang, 2004; Johannessen and Olsen, 2003; Ringel-Bickelmaier, 2000; North, 2005). As a common feature, all international organizations work within the restraint of a tight regular budget that needs to be managed as effectively and ef ¬Ã‚ ciently as possible. Almost all international organizations have accordingly installed controlling systems or rede ¬Ã‚ ned their tasks as business cases. It includes creating plans such as helping in identifying, create, capture and share knowledge systematically in order to assist working smarter rather than harder. Modern strategies for improved reputation advertising capabilities and getting resource returns for further enhance development agenda; Widened pool of targeted knowledge makes organizational learning more strategic as Efficiency gains though improved results. Through the systematic system, the companies can avoid re-discovering the wheel, reducing outmoded work as well as committing same mistake again and again. It helps the businesses to improve the cost; time spent as well the better risk management. May lessen new employees training time. After the employee leaves, retention of Intellectual Property if knowledge can be codified. Knowledge sharing behaviours and facilitate knowledge transfer This study aims to examine the factors affecting knowledge sharing behavior in knowledge-based communities because quantity and quality of knowledge shared among the members play a critical role in the communitys sustainability. Past research has suggested three perspectives that may affect the quantity and quality of knowledge shared: economics, social psychology, and social ecology. In this study, we strongly believe that an economic perspective may be suitable to validate factors influencing newly registered members, knowledge contribution at the beginning of relationship development. Accordingly, this study proposes a model to validate the factors influencing members knowledge sharing based on Transaction Cost Theory. By doing so, we may empirically test our hypotheses in various types of communities to determine the generalizability of our research models. Benefits to sharing knowledge include: Enhancement of effectiveness and efficiency by spreading good ideas and practices. Cost effectiveness knowledge is developed and then re-used by many people. Time savings Professionals learn from their mistakes and those of others. Emotional relief and decreased tension are experienced when problems are shared. Bonds and connections between professionals are strengthened; solving problems brings people together. More sophisticated ideas, insights and information sources are applied to problems resulting in better solutions. Innovation and discovery increase as does: excitement, engagement and motivation. A feeling of satisfaction from sharing knowledge, much like giving charity, results from making a contribution to society. Respectful ways of using knowledge with attribution and permission benefit the person who generates the knowledge and the person who shares it. Management Development plan Management Development is the process by which managers learn and improve their expertise not only to benefit themselves but also their employing organisations. There are various approaches to management development programmes such as follow. Mentoring Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be.  Eric Parsloe, the Oxford School of Coaching. Mentoring is a technique for allowing the transmission of knowledge, skills and experience in a supportive and challenging environment much like coaching. The same skills of inquiring, listening, clarifying, reframing and many of the same models are used. Mentoring can also work as a way of inducting employees, as a form of employees development across departments and as a means of simple skills transfer. However, mentoring relationships can be much more long term, for example in a sequence planning scenario a regional finance director might be mentored by a group level counterpart where they might learn the basics of dealing with the boardroom, presenting to analysts, challenging departmental budgets, etc. all in a supportive environment. This is particularly productive when there is a gender or ethnic dimension to the relationship. An effective mentoring liaison is a learning opportunity for both parties.  Mentoring relationships work best when they move beyond the directive appr oach of a senior colleague telling it how it is, to one where both learn from each other. Management Coaching and Development The challenge of maintaining competitive advantage, delivering growth plans, restructuring and downsizing has never been greater. Developing people to deliver to their maximum potential can mean the difference between success and failure. And successful organisations know that developing their people not only leads to increased business performance, but that it is also a key factor in staff engagement and retention. In tough times, organisations that axe development activity do so at their peril. Coaching Although there is a lack of agreement among coaching professionals about precise definitions, in this service company, Coaching as developing a persons skills and knowledge so that their job performance improves, hopefully leading to the achievement of organisational objectives. It targets high performance and improvement at work, although it may also have an impact on an individuals private life. It usually lasts for a short period and focuses on specific skills and goals. There are some generally agreed characteristics of coaching in organisations: It is essentially a non-directive form of development. Coaching assumes that the individual is psychologically well and does not require a clinical intervention. It provides people with feedback on both their strong point and their weaknesses. It is a skilled activity which should be delivered by trained people. It focuses on improving presentation and developing individuals skills. Personal issues may be discussed but the emphasis is on performance at work. Coaching activities have both organisational and individual goals. Job rotation Job design  technique  in which  employees  are moved between two or more  jobs  in a planned manner. In Vodafone the objective  is to expose the employees to different experiences  and wider variety of  skills  to enhance  job satisfaction  and to cross-train them. Job rotation is a great way to discover your strength and interest in different areas of the Vodafone. On the job training This will be for the assistants who join fresh to help managers. A mapping procedure will be followed by the HR, to place the new assistant with a manager that has expertise in the field that the assistant aspires to enhance his/her skills. This will help reduce the training cost of the company and help the fresher become confident and be integral to the company Business Workflow Analysis In Vodafone Company the workflows is to diagram the way that a company works in an easy-to-read format. This chart allows managers to assess the way the company is performing and determine how productive its methods are. Flaws in the process where time or resources are wasted can often be identified quickly in format of a  workflow. These issues can then be addressed by preparing a new, more efficient business  workflow  to demonstrate the changes that need to be made. Upward feedback In leadership development and management development, upward feedback (also known as manager feedback and subordinate appraisal) is a structured process of delivering feedback from subordinates to managers, intended to identify ways to increase management effectiveness and enhance organizational performance.   Supervisory training This training provides an opportunity to learn about the transition to leadership so that new managers and supervisors can be more successful in their new role. For more experienced managers and supervisors, the training offers an opportunity to reflect on the style they have adopted in performing their duties, and it shows where they can make improvements. This is particularly true for those who have come up through the ranks over the years and now face a very different workforce, workload, and set of community expectations. This training is intended to help you better understand your role and provide strategies to enhance your effectiveness as a leader. Management Development Theories: The human relations and human factors approaches were absorbed into a broad behavioural science movement in the 1950s and 1960s. This period produced some influential theories on the motivation of human performance. For example, Maslows hierarchy of needs provided an individual focus on the reasons why people work. He argued that people satisfied an ascending series of needs from survival, through security to eventual self-actualization. In the same period, concepts of job design such as job enrichment and job enlargement were investigated. It was felt that people would give more to an organization if they gained satisfaction from their jobs. Jobs should be designed to be interesting and challenging to gain the commitment of workers a central theme of HRM. Scientific Management Theory (1890-1940) At the turn of the century, the most notable organizations were large and industrialized. Often they included on going, routine tasks that manufactured a variety of products. The United States highly prized scientific and technical matters, including careful measurement and specification of activities and results. Management tended to be the same. Frederick Taylor developed the :scientific management theory which espoused this careful specification and measurement of all organizational tasks. Tasks were standardized as much as possible. Workers were rewarded and punished. This approach appeared to work well for organizations with assembly lines and other mechanistic, routinized activities. Bureaucratic Management Theory (1930-1950) Max Weber embellished the scientific management theory with his bureaucratic theory. Weber focused on dividing organizations into hierarchies, establishing strong lines of authority and control. He suggested organizations develop comprehensive and detailed standard operating procedures for all routinized tasks. Human Relations Movement (1930-today) Eventually, unions and government regulations reacted to the rather dehumanizing effects of these theories. More attention was given to individuals and their unique capabilities in the organization. A major belief included that the organization would prosper if its workers prospered as well. Human Resource departments were added to organizations. The behavioural sciences played a strong role in helping to understand the needs of workers and how the needs of the organization and its workers could be better aligned. Various new theories were spawned, many based on the behavioural sciences (some had name like theory X, Y and Z). Points to consider *. What is the value of theory? Specifically, what is the value of a theory that has gone out of fashion? Most theories are not entirely new they adapt or develop older concepts as a result of perceived inadequacies in the originals. Management thinking is like an incoming tide: each wave comes further up the beach, then retreats, leaving a little behind to be overtaken by the next wave. You can also consider the limitations of common sense and the fact that most problems have been experienced already, in some form, by someone else. We can learn from that wider experience, whereas common sense is essentially individual. Conclusion: The SECI models help the business to improve the business turnout through traditional strategies such as emotional and regional factors. The Vodafone are employing all these strategies in order to strengthen their roots within those communities through the theses money transfer campaigns and employing people from those countries to introduce the desired factors within Knowledge system. Also thorough the management development schemes, Vodafone are getting the best out of them by educating and empowering them with the modern techniques. Nonaka, I Takeuchi, H 1995, The knowledge creating company. How Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation, Oxford University Press, New York. Nonaka, I 1991, The Knowledge Creating Company, Harvard Business Review, (November-December), pp. 96-104. Nonaka, I, Toyama, R Konno, N 2001, SECI, Ba and Leadership: a Unified Model of Dynamic Knowledge Creation, in I Nonaka DJ Teece (eds.), Managing Industrial Knowledge: Creation, Transfer and Utilization, Sage, London, pp. 1-43. Poppo, L Zenger, T 1998, Testing alternative theories of the firm: transaction cost, knowledge-based, and measurement explanations for make-or-buy decisions in information services, Strategic Management Journal, 19 (9), pp. 853-877.

An Analysis of Das Boot Essay -- Das Boot Essays

What is it that makes the film, "Das Boot", stand out in the plethora of war movies? Why was this film, with subtitles and about German World War 2 soldiers, popular enough in America to earn six Academy Award nominations? One possible answer is the characters. Like so many other epics, the sensation of viewing pleasure goes beyond the intense plot and into the intricacy and intimacy of the building blocks of every story: the characters. Director Wolfgang Petersen's mastery is in bringing the viewer into that unfortunate submarine, makes everyone a participant in the horror as one of the characters, creating the feeling of no escape. Then, once Petersen has the viewer "in" the submarine, he presents us with a duality in character type; there are men determined to salvage the mission and thwart disaster, as well as others who are helpless in helping their comrades, doomed to be insufficient and bothersome. Once Petersen has portrayed this conflict, it is easy to see how the level of tension is so high in the submarine. The film begins with the submarine crew drunk and jovial, attempting to enjoy their final moments before their departure. Knowing that the odds of returning alive are minimal, the men appear to throwing their intuition to the stars as they frolic foolishly and even tastelessly. Petersen is presenting the viewer with a group of rowdy boys full of life and indifferent to their future, in stark contrast with the men who arrive at the Mediterranean port later in the film. At this moment, all the men are equals, ready to confront the sea and serve their country. While in the submarine, the nature of these men changes. No longer are they a homogeneous group; rather a number of... ... thing he does like his attentiveness to Hitler's speeches, his meticulous eating habits, and promenading in his Nazi attire, all annoy the crew. His very presence is a distraction to a crew that needs total focus. Although he appears as diligent as the others, his style is different, his attitude is too unnecessary, and his demeanor is too inappropriate for the submarine. This duality is a large component of the tension that resides in the boat. Peterson seems to be making a contrast he to encourage the already mounting tension. Combine this with the life-death aspect of the mission and incredible stress is inevitable. It is a ship mostly full of ardorous men, but the few who don't fit are harpoons in the ship's side. Pederson's film is quite intense and it has to be said that this duality in character portrayal enhances this aspect of the movie.