Managment and People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managment and People - Essay Example These problems are related to team building and could have been avoided if an effective team building strategy was adopted. One of the problems that are very conspicuous in the case study is lack of cohesiveness and coordination in the team processes. According to Tannenbaum, Beard, & Salas (1992), a team process refers to ways in which members of a team interact with each other. In this team, the level of interaction of the members of the team is low. Moreover, the general rules of a team like the rule of accountability and communication protocol do not exist. Therefore, the interconnection between the roles undertaken by some of the members of the team is greatly interfered with resulting in the problem of lack of cohesiveness and coordination in the team processes. Lack of coordination and coherence appears because of the failure of the members of the team to link their activities with the activities of the members of the team. Moreover, appears because of the difference in priorities of the different members of the team. Beatrice prioritizes accuracy of work more than saving time and meeting the deadline. Bill and Ben give more priority in meeting the deadline. In this case, the team leader has been effective in making the team members play their roles to their level best. Moreover, he had failed to clarify roles and set an effective communication line between the members of the team. This is what has made the activities of the embers to fail to interconnect thus resulting in lack of coordination and coherence. Every teamwork problem is avoidable and soluble through the employment of proper team building techniques. The problem of lack of cohesiveness and coordination could have been avoided in several ways. Team building approach used in this case study is the roles approach. This seems to have contributed to this identified problem. This is because of its ineffectiveness, especially when used in a place  where roles might conflict. Therefore, this problem could have been avoided by using another team building approach to the goal setting approach or the problem-solving approach. Moreover, the problem could have been avoided or resolved by a continuous evaluation of the proceeding of the team.

Arlington National Cemetery :: essays research papers

Arlington National Cemetery As the birds are singing their sweet melody, the terrain of Arlington National Cemetery is filled with sadness. Although the brilliant rays of sun are shinning through the thick colossal treetops, there is a chill in the air. While watching the mourners, the feeling of their sorrows is all too real. Thousands of headstones in the far distance create magnificent mazes against the horizon. The immense land has very little room to spare as it is overflowing with graves of heroic soldiers. The white marble graves are like oversized dominos stacked precisely in the thick wind ruffled grass. It is almost inconceivable to imagine each tomb is the physical eternal home to a once courageous and patriotic warrior of our homeland. As the fireball in the heavens slowly descends, it creates a glorious silhouette of the infinite number of tombstones. As you leisurely and respectfully journey through the peaceful burial ground, John F. Kennedy’s last resting place will be discovered. Watching over JFK’s grave is an eternal flame. The ever lasting flame emits a propane aroma into the calm air. As one may gaze at Kennedy’s grave, it is difficult to imagine someone would intentionally seize the life of a great leader from our nation. Continuing on, the Tomb of the Unknowns is the next stop on the journey. An extravagant white marble sarcophagus symbolizes the resting place for patriotic fighters who could not be identified during the time of war. Guarding the stunning sarcophagus are Tomb Guard sentinels. These sentinels are considered the best of the elite in the United States military. The elite soldiers stride back and forth in such a beautiful rhythmic motion that it is spectacular. A wonderful feeling is aroused knowing the brave unknown soldiers are being honored for giving their lives in a terrible time of war.

Character Education and Core Virtues Essay

When I signed on to teach English at a core virtues school, I had no idea what I was in for. I nodded and smiled in my interview when the Headmaster explained the virtues curriculum, and I parried back with everything I thought she wanted to hear; how I could infuse my lessons on To Kill a Mockingbird with discussions about empathy and courage. I may have even quoted Atticus’ line about walking around in someone else’s skin. I figured I could tack on some of that quaint â€Å"virtue† stuff before getting to the real meat of the lesson, the academic stuff. And for the first year I taught at Crossroads Academy, that’s pretty much what I did. I made some empty gesticulations toward the core virtues bulletin board in my classroom and made some token mentions of fortitude at obvious moments in our reading of The Illiad and The Aeneid. I was teaching literature, but I certainly wasn’t doing Aristotle proud. I mean come on. Character education? Core virtues? I teach English, not Sunday school, and besides, I teach middle school. If I were to walk into my eighth grade English class and wax rhapsodic about prudence and temperance, those kids would eat me alive. It’s hard enough to keep the attention of a classroom full of middle school students without coming on like an 18th-century schoolmarm. Character education is not old-fashioned, and it’s not about bringing religion in to the classroom. Character is the â€Å"X factor† that experts in parenting and education have deemed integral to success. Somewhere along the way, someone must have started dosing me with the character education Kool-Aid, because five years in, I have come to understand what real character education looks like and what it can do for children. I can’t imagine teaching in a school that does not have a hard-core commitment to character education, because I’ve seen what that education can mean to a child’s emotional, moral, and intellectual development. Schools that teach character education report higher academic performance, improved attendance, reduced violence, fewer disciplinary issues, reduction in substance abuse, and less vandalism. At a time when parents and teachers are concerned about school violence, it is worth noting that students who attend character education schools report feeling safer because they know their fellow students value respect, responsibility, compassion and hard work. From a practical perspective, it’s simply easier to teach children who can exercise patience, self-control, and diligence, even when they would rather be playing outside – especially when they would rather be playing outside. American schools used to focus on character education and civic virtue. The founders of this country, including John and Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin wrote about the importance of character education in maintaining the new republic. Those founders would likely be horrified by the loss of this goal, as they all cite character education as the way to create an educated and virtuous citizenry. As Gallup polls show that over ninety percent of American adults support the teaching of honesty, democracy, acceptance of people of different races and ethnic backgrounds, patriotism, caring for friends and family members, moral courage, and the Golden Rule in public schools, it seems odd that this facet of American education has disappeared from public debate over curriculum and academic content. The core virtues — prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice — make it into nearly every lesson we teach at our school and every facet of our daily lives on campus. The curriculum we use, designed by Mary Beth Klee, is a non-sectarian education in intellectual, moral, and civic virtues through literature, and can be used in conjunction with any academic curriculum. As the core virtues program uses examples to literature in order to illustrate character, I choose my texts accordingly. In my middle school Latin and English classes, we explore the concept of temperance through discussions of Achilles’ impulsive rages, King Ozymandias’ petulant demand that we â€Å"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair,† Macbeth’s bloody, â€Å"vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other. † This week, I gained a fantastic teaching assistant who has raised my character education skills to the next level, a wise teacher who has illustrated the importance of temperance far better than I — or Achilles or Macbeth — ever could. A Mallard duck (Mom Mallard to our students) took up residence on our campus this week. Mallards, or anas platyrhynchos, are also known as â€Å"dabbling ducks,† and this particular duck has apparently been dabbling in Aristotelian philosophy, because she’s presented our students with a real-life lesson in the core virtue of temperance. Her nest, made from feathers she’s plucked off her own breast and filled with ten eggs, lies about eighteen inches from the entryway to our main building, a path our students take in out of school at least six times a day. Mom Mallard doesn’t seem too worried about our students’ feet†¦ as long as they keep moving. However, the second those feet stop and one of the children pauses to take a good, long, look, she quacks angrily and abandons her nest. Her first day in residence, she spent more time off the eggs than she did on them, and we realized we were going to have to find a way to teach our students some self-control. It just so happens that this month’s virtue is temperance; stopping to think about our actions before we enact them, giving the best of ourselves, and saying â€Å"no† to our weaknesses. The middle school students use the term â€Å"temperance,† and the lower school kids use the term self-control, but tomato, tomato, it’s all the same idea. In Stanford’s famous experiment on self-control, children were faced with the immediate reality of one marshmallow versus the promise of two marshmallows if they can just wait for fifteen minutes. The children who were able to resist temptation and wait fifteen minutes for that second marshmallow had better life outcomes in the form of lower obesity rates, higher SAT scores, and higher levels of education. Self-control itself does not make a kid smarter, or fitter, or more proficient at test-taking, but it’s the essential skill hidden within all of these positive outcomes. Character education is not old-fashioned, and it’s not about bringing religion in to the classroom. Character education teaches children how to make wise decisions and act on them. Character is the â€Å"X factor† that experts in parenting and education have deemed integral to success, both in school and in life. Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed, calls that character-based X factor â€Å"grit,† while educational consultant Dr. Michele Borba calls it â€Å"moral intelligence. † When I asked parenting expert Borba to explain why she thinks character education is so overlooked as a vital part of children’s success, she wrote, â€Å"That’s what parents don’t seem to get, the hidden values of character traits for success. They see character education as fluff, because that’s often how it’s taught — posters and worksheets. Character education needs to be relevant. It needs to be woven in curriculum, not tacked on. We are such a trophy-, SAT-obsessed society, but if parents would recognize the value beyond the humanness, civility and ethics, they might get it. † Here on our campus, our marshmallow is a duck. Our students must weigh their desire for a quick peek at Mom Mallard with the promise of ten ducklings waddling around our playground in 28 days. If everyone, even the youngest, most impulsive kindergarteners, can learn to exercise self-control, we will all benefit. Next week, Mom Mallard will catch a bit of a break from our students, because they will be confined to their classrooms for a week of standardized testing. Our character education curriculum may not show up as an increase in this year’s test scores — but then again, it could: self-control, after all, is exactly what’s needed to put off a video game or a TV show for another 20 minutes to finish reading or studying. Though temperance isn’t easily measured with number two pencils and bubble forms, it has the capacity to foster and reinforce the skills those bubble forms do test.

Legalizing Prostitution

Legalizing Prostitution There is no profession in this world that has lasted longer than prostitution- the selling of sexual services. Despite the age of this field, there is a lot of controversy over whether it should be legal or if it is even morally correct to do. There are places all over the world where prostitution is legal, but in the United States only two of the fifty states have legalized it-Rhode Island and Nevada. But there is a lot of evidence to suggest that Prostitution should be legalized in all fifty states because it is a perfectly legal and beneficial career.One argument against legalizing prostitution is that it would cause an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. This is actually false if the proper standards are taken. Should prostitution be legalized, there would be regulations in place to make sure all prostitutes are clean and free of any diseases. According to STD Advisor Richard Steen, legalizing prostitution would actually cause a decrease in disease spread.English: Prostitu tion in Africa"In Kenya, where the importance of chancroid in HIV transmission was first described in the late 1980s, interventions targeting sex workers and STD patients were implemented. Reported condom use by sex workers has since increased to over 80% in project areas and the incidence of genital ulcers has declined." (Steen, 2001) If prostitution were to be legalized, the government could quickly put standards in place to ensure that all registered sex workers are not disease ridden, and the ones that are will not be allowed to practice their service.Another argument against the legalization of prostitution is that it's morally incorrect. But who determines what our morals are but us? The Constitution of the United States was formed off the basis of a multitude of freedoms guaranteed to all of its citizens. Is a woman selling...

African Elephant Essays - Elephants, Elephant, African Bush Elephant

African Elephant Essays - Elephants, Elephant, African Bush Elephant African Elephant The common name is the African Elephant, the scientific name is Loxodonta Africana, the phylum is Vertebrata, the class is Mammalia, the order is Proboscidea, and the family is Elephantidae. The Closest Relatives to the African Elephant are: the Asian Elephant, mammoths, primitive proboscidean (mastodons), sea cows, and hyraxes. Scientists believe that the African Elephant evolved from one of its closest relatives, the Sea Cow. The geographical location and range of the African elephant covers all of central and southern Africa. In Ethiopia there are isolated populations that exist around Lake Chad in Mali and Mauritania. Also in Kenya, Rhodesia, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Zaire, and in National parks located in South Africa, as well as several other countries. African Elephants, originally, were found in all of the Sub-Saharan African habitats except desert steppes. Elephants still occupy diverse habitats such as: temperate grassland, tropical savanna and grass lands, temperate forest and rainforest, tropical rainforest, tropical scrub forest, and tropical deciduous forest despite their drastic decline in numbers. However, their migratory patterns and habitat use have changed, due to the fact that they are restricted to protected areas. The elephant can exist in many types of environments but it prefers places that have many trees and bushes, which the elephant needs both for food and shade. They also like warm areas that have plenty of rainfall. This ensures plenty of food, shade, and water. The elephant prefers a habitat of mixed woodland and grassland which gives them an opportunity to eat a variety of vegetation. African Elephants are considered herbivores, they are both browsers and grazers; they will eat rough sticks, stems and leaves of plants as well as grasses, sedges, and fruit. Their favorites are mangoes, berries and coconuts. An elephant eats up to 500 pounds of vegetation every day and drinks up to 50 gallons of water daily. Elephants must consume these giant quantities of food, due to their poor digestive system. The small intestine is 82 feet long, the large intestine 21 feet long, and the rectum adds a further 13 feet. The problem with the digestive tract lies in their gut; elephants have too few symbiotic bacteria. These are the organisms which help break down the cellulose of plant cell walls by producing enzymes called cellulases. The most remarkable feature of the elephants digestive system is its 5 feet long appendix, bigger than the stomach. Proteins, starches, and sugars are digested in the appendix. The elephant will excrete almost 200 pounds a day of semi-digested food. Elephants live together in strong family units which might have as few as two or as many as twenty members. When the group gets too big, it splits up; but the groups stay in close contact. Elephant life revolves around this unit which is usually headed by the oldest female. The family offers protection, aid, comfort, and teaching to all of its members. Within the units are cows, calves, and bulls. The male bulls are very solitary and most of the time travel only with other males, except during mating season when the bulls travel with the pack looking for a mate. The males remain with the family unit until they are about fourteen and then leave the family to join the other males. The African elephant usually gives birth to one calf every four years. The gestation period is approximately twenty to twenty two years. The newborn calf, which weighs 200-300 pounds and stands about three feet high, is cared for by all of the females in the pack, not just by the mother. The calf may nurse as long as eight years, or until its tusks are too long for the mother. It takes about 14 to 15 years for an elephant to fully mature. They grow to about 10-13 feet tall and 7.5 meters in length and weigh as much as 7 tons. The family will remain together throughout their lives. The elephants body has many special features which it has adapted throughout the centuries to help it survive in its environment. The most important part of the elephants body is its trunk. An elephant uses its trunk for many things. With it, the elephant can pick up objects that weigh as much as 600 lbs. This powerful trunk is also used to beat off attacking animals and sometimes mother elephants use their trunks to swat their babies. The trunk, which is very flexible, can curl over the elephants head so that the elephant can give

Case study 4-4 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

4-4 - Case Study Example Whoever provided the wrong test results (A+) should be held responsible for carrying out lousy work, furthermore, the hospital management, in general, should be held responsible to curb future lousiness (Welcome to Advances in Medical Ethics). On the other hand, the ROI (Release of Information) coordinator could have ordered a medical officer to carry out a re-do of Martha’s blood type to obtain a valid blood type and request for a correct re-entry of her medical record rather than maintaining that the legal document could not be changed. The Health Information Management director (HIM) could have been following protocol as stipulated by management yet I support a professional approach to taking the tests again and request for a re-entry of her medical data (Welcome to Advances in Medical Ethics). The directive to obtain a court order via an attorney to make amendments to patient’s records should be done away with because it takes the patient through a whole lot longer process rather than just re-doing the tests and correcting their mistakes in the first place. Martha’s actions, however, were absolutely logical and

Analysis on the Global Strategy of Volkswagen Essay

Analysis on the Global Strategy of Volkswagen - Essay Example The cars underwent testing by the automakers and the Nazi troops. In 1938, they set up a plant in Wolfsburg to continue its massive production for the German people. However, the Second World War changed the car production of Volkswagen into a military vehicle. Volkswagen was named as Wolfsburg Motor Works while British desired to eliminate the beetle name. Despite their effort, Volkswagen remained in the history. The cars were produced to serve the countries involved in the war, which destroyed the future of Volkswagen (Gunnel 6-7). The future of Volkswagen became certain due to Heinrich â€Å"Heinz† Nordhoof as the general manager. Massive production of the beetle was distributed throughout France, Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands. In 1949, British government returned the ownership of Volkswagen to Germany. The Volkswagen continued to produce car for commercial and luxury. It has achieved its goal to excel the â€Å"legendary mark† attained by the Ford Motor Comp any’s Model T. Moreover, the first design was altered to large car production. The popularity of Volkswagen increased with the introduction of the Golf GTI (â€Å"Brief Journey†). With its commitment to innovation, the Volkswagen continued to evolve in matching the preference of its customers. The main thrust of this paper is to analyze the global strategy of Volkswagen as the global leader in the automotive industry. ... By being number one, it means that Volkswagen has to surpass Toyota. According to The Guardian, Toyota was able to overshadow the General Motors, which was once the number one car dealer (â€Å"Toyota Holds†). The company aims to be the â€Å"global economic and environmental leader among mobile manufacturers† in 2018. To achieve the company’s goals, the Volkswagen attempts to innovate and utilize technologies but retaining the core aspect of customer satisfaction and quality. Second, the unit sales must increase above the average of 10 million cars a year since the market continues to expand. Third, the 8 % increase in the return sales of Volkswagen before tax to secure its financial situation, and its capacity to operate despite the crucial market environment. Lastly, the company aims to be the best employer among all companies, brands, and regions; hence, Volkswagen must create a first class team (â€Å"Strategy†). Furthermore, profitability is the main purpose of Volkswagen group, so that it remains viable in the car production. The economic condition affects their profitability, but they strive to achieve economic balance in their system. The capital expenditure must remain at the manageable position while the company achieves efficiency and flexibility. Global Strategy Multiple Brand-Strategy Multiple brand strategy is the common trend in the automotive industry. Volkswagen is divided into two forms: classic and sporty. The classic brands include VW, Skoda, and Bentley while sport brands involve Audi, Seat, and Lamborghini. Brand name is remarkably sensitive in the target market of the automotive industry (Schmid 3). That is why it is crucial