Nestl Is The Most Successful Organization Essay

Nestl Is The Most Successful Organization - Essay Example Nestle boasts of manufacturing more than 10,000 different products and sells over a billion products daily. Despite the number of countries wherein Nestle operates globally, their awareness of the importance of integrating local culture in each host country’s operations contributes to their success. They averred that â€Å"there is no one single product for everyone - our products are tailored to suit tastes and habits wherever you are†. The company’s focus and the emphasis are strategically manifested in four words: â€Å"Good Food, Good Life†. In order to sustain the organization’s capability to ensure that their products remain to give maximum nutritional benefits, their Research and Development (R & D) are allocated approximately CHF 1.5 billion annually to continually innovate and renovate existing products. Nestle has instituted a unique program which combines financial success with corporate social responsibility. The company coined the progr am â€Å"Creating Shared Value† to encompass the following: â€Å"using our core business strategies and operations to create value for shareholders; serving consumers and the public by offering them nutritious products that are both enjoyable and contribute to their health and well-being; and seeking to improve the economic and social conditions for people and communities across our entire value chain – for farmers who supply us raw ingredients, for communities where our factories are located, for suppliers who work with us and for our trade partners† Nestle: Creating Shared Value, 2010, par. 4)

Microsoft’s Lost Decade Essay Example for Free

Microsoft’s Lost Decade Essay Introduction Microsoft’s story serves as a prime example of the pitfalls of success. In this case we can analyze, critique, and make recommendations to avoid a similar disaster in the future. While they were really the sole company to open the window into computer technology for the everyday user, but over the last decade appears to have been a victim of its own success. Once so dominant in the industry which is basically created on its own, today cannot be described as â€Å"cutting edge†. The name no longer resonates with younger generations. Evidence of this struggling success can be seen in its stock prices which have completely plateaued and even began to drop recently. What happened? Why are they no longer creating wonderful technological advances for its consumers? In order to compete in the technology industry, a company needs to continuously be innovation for its customers; Microsoft was not doing that. Despite facing a challenge in IBM in the beginning when Microsoft first entered the industry, who was also getting overly confident and comfortable with its position in the industry. It actually appears as though Microsoft has reenacted the problems of their former nemesis. Clearly not focused on development or bringing out a new product, and their new philosophy as expressed by the most recent CEO Steve Balmer about a decade ago was we won’t be first to cool but we will be first to profit. In other words, they don’t care about coming out with some cool new technology, they will wait for somebody else to do that, and then buy their way into that market. Obviously the major problem with that is if somebody else is coming into that product first, that company will most likely lock up the market. It is possible that Microsoft has its hands in too many things. There is no focus. Microsoft doesn’t know what kind of company it wants to be. This is evident by the competition microsft is facing. One division is competing with SONY, while another group is battling apple, while even other teams are competing with Google for example. It’s possibl e that what the company really needs is a fresh start; New atmosphere, new leadership, new goals. Microsoft has great products in Xbox and connect, but inside the massive† machine† that it has become they are just small underdeveloped projects. So again, it is obvious that there are issues to be looked at here, but somebody in charge missed the signals and let this happen. The most telling story from the case is that Microsoft in fact had ideas about the first e-reader, the very technology that is today very popular in the Kindle and iPad, as early as the late 1990s. Unfortunately for the company, the story tells of a meeting in which Bill Gates gave this new technology the â€Å"thumbs down† because the screen didn’t look like windows. Do the customers care about that? No. So that was a huge missed opportunity. The leadership was blind to that element, which dictates that for the customers’ needs to be addressed first and foremost. As a technology company the goal should be to â€Å"create† what is needed. Microsoft started doing things th e other way around. Windows started getting so complicated because they overloaded the engineering aspect to create things that will look good, not perform well. What it has come to at this point it seem is there is no way for Microsoft to compete at this stage. Everything within the company, including the employees appear to be almost â€Å"weighed down† by what can almost be describes as a massive bureaucracy with far too many meetings and memos. Microsoft’s â€Å"law of large numbers† is failing. In order to fix the causes of their problems, we must follow the symptoms back to the root causes and make changes there. On the surface, it appears their issues are due to bad management style, poor organizational structure and a generally counter-productive culture that strained relationships between the â€Å"old guard† and the â€Å"new blood† of the company. To get a better look at the cause of these symptoms, I will follow the eight operations management principals. Part 1: Critique Unity of Purpose Unity of purpose within an organization is definitely not something that a manager can ignore when running a business with goals. It is imperative to remember that to function as a goal oriented team, all parts of the various positions must be working together as one. This is where I will begin our observation of the Microsoft empire and the decade of struggle that diverted it from the success that it once enjoyed. When looking at how Microsoft was handled by Bill Gates, there are undoubtedly some moments that suggest that the unity of purpose was not clearly defined and never adequately addressed to the degree that it needed. We can start at the root of the problem to learn the origins of what Microsoft ultimately faced: namely discord and disharmony in the work place. Looking at the early success of the business, we notice that Microsoft created an innovative and personalized approach to the computer that made it significantly more user-friendly. The initial public reactions were almost unanimously positive due to the fact that the product was revolutionary and had changed the personal technology landscape for the better. Interestingly, Microsoft began this venture in the shadow of IBM, who was also getting overly confident and comfortable with its position in the industry at the time. It actually appears as though Microsoft has reenacted the problems of their former nemesis over the past decade. As time progressed for Microsoft, however, there came to be a noticeable drop off in success of the company. Steve Jobs and his exciting, strong and, most importantly, new Apple brand seemingly booted Microsoft to the curb, out of the public’s eye. It is easy to assume that Microsoft was simply outmanned by Apple, that the latter company came into the picture and took the market share away from Gates and his supposed dynasty. This, however, does not describe the true cause of the downfall suffered by Microsoft. The real cause that sent this company on the track to irrelevance was due in large part to the lack of unity in the business purpose. Microsoft was clearly not focused on development or bringing out a new product, and their new philosophy, as expressed by the most recent CEO Steve Balmer about a decade ago, was â€Å"we won’t be first to cool but we will be first to profit†. In other words, they don’t care about coming out with some cool new technology, they will wait for somebody else to do that, and then buy their way into that market. Obviously the first problem with that is if somebody else is coming into that product first, those companies will most likely lock up the market. Additionally this completely throws off the company’s purpose of unity! What is a technology company if it isn’t researching, developing, and creating for its customers a new technology? The answer is very simple: Microsoft was not united around a general value or principal. As I mentioned earlier, it is possible that Microsoft has its hands in too many things. There is no focus. Microsoft doesn’t know what kind of company it wants to be. This is evident by the competition microsoft is facing. One division is competing with SONY, while another group is battling apple, while even other teams are competing with Google for example. It’s possible that what the company really needs is a fresh start; New atmosphere, new leadership, new goals. Microsoft has great products in Xbox and connect, but inside the massive† machine† that it has become they are just small underdeveloped projects. Once upon a time, Bill gates had a vision. Gates wrote an operating program using the computer language called BASIC which proved to be a wonderful innovation. Driven by his new product, and with that his new purpose, his company took off and left everybody else in the dust. Gates was relentless and demanded the same intense commitment from everyone he hired. Back then they were united each member of the group was invest for the right rea son, which was creating a new product that people wanted before anybody else created it. Neither Gates nor Allen had management skills and business savvy that were needed to help the booming company in its infant days. Once the company started doubling and tripling in size year after year, the company could not keep focus on one particular goal or direction. Unity happens when leaders are committed to and engaged in the process of building a united, winning team. It requires focus, time, and energy. Unfortunately as we’ll discuss a little later on, focus may have been another contributing factor that hindered Microsoft from being the company Gates idealized in his head. Unity occurs when team members care more about the vision, purpose and health of the organization than they do their own personal agenda. Changing the mindset is essential. Unity happens when each person in the company can clearly see how their personal vision and effort contributes to the overall vision and success of the team. This involves meaningful conversations between the levels of management as well as between engineers and sales people. Unity of Purpose results when you weed out the negativity that sabotages far too many organizations. All of these things were issues at Microsoft that hindered it from having one united goal as a company. Having the right people in charge of making decisions can make a world of difference when trying to unite the group behind a cause, which will lead me to the next principle of Operations Management, Human Resources. Invest in Human Resources Microsoft needed to invest in human resources to implement and maintain plans and policies. Strategically placed investments in human resources will develop a more skilled, innovative, productive and loyal workforce thus providing an organization with a competitive advantage over a less progressive competitor. Investment in human capital offers both short and long term gains that help produce not only skilled, productive employees, but those that are both loyal and ethical. Microsoft’s goal should have been to increase the ownership of employees work by providing the right incentives. Already we see evidence that the company will fall prey to the same arrogance that dethroned IBM. There were signs but Microsoft didn’t see them until it was too late. When it comes to your employees, long-term thinking guides an organization. That’s where Microsoft missed the mark by a long shot. Microsoft was focused on too many short term goals. Employees at Microsoft had an obsession with revenue and growth, and it’s no surprise why! Almost every employee received a stake in the company through stock options. When the share price went up, everyone got richer. When it went down, everyone suffered. Everyone ran full speed in hopes of pushing up the stock price a little bit more. Internal competition became a huge issue with Microsoft’s employees as well. The perception of stability within the workforce is especially beneficial during periods of economic decline and or organizational restructuring. The perceptions of stability as offered by organizational culture will often help retain employees during recessionary periods and motivate everyone during stable times as well. This was potentially the biggest issue in house for Microsoft. The days of shoulder to should teams innovating and thriving within the company were gone. A â€Å"financial fissure† penetrated the already strained relationships between th e â€Å"old guard† and the â€Å"new blood†. People were becoming destructively competitive. Its was a sink or swim environment and drowning someone else in order to survive was the name of the game at Microsoft. Something had to be done. Companies can obtain a competitive advantage if they utilize strategic human resources investment practices. If the operation is a primary manufacturing facility investments such as group bonus pay-outs based on overall group performance or attendance for example, could provide an initial increase in output. Furthermore, empowerment of the team by allowing aspects of total quality management to take place will help build confidence and a feeling of responsibility within the group. If the operation is research and development oriented then the culture should be based on rewards focused on those who develop and produce. In either case whether the culture is based on group or individual performance, the overall goals must be focused on the retention, growth of, and maximum utilization of talent. Microsolf is a company with all departments and people with both typed of jobs. The organizations that are best able to manipulate the corporate culture into one of maximum benefit will become significantly more competitive than those who do not, and Microsoft did not. At Microsoft it got so bad that one employee was quoted saying â€Å"We couldn’t be focused anymore on developing technology that was effective for consumers†. It had become all about, â€Å"how am I going to make money†. HR should have used training and development to invest in their employees. Make them feel valued, offer appropriate promotions as incentives for great work and loyalty, and place a greater emphasis on teamwork. The cut-throat atmosphere does not generate positive results, and Microsoft’s organizational structure was such that executives and engineers were from a different generation with cutthroat mentalities. This only results in self immolating chaos. The real villain here was the wrongly implemented Stack ranking system. Managers had a rest and vest mentality which bread ill feelings and jealousy all around. These factors were naturally at variance with team work and innovation. A better reward systems should focus on facilitating cooperation, enhancing long term thinking, tolerating mistakes because they are learning tools, and not letting egos get involved. Whatever Microsoft determines it’s goals and purpose is going to be, it is important for the companies directors to remember that investing in the appropriate human resources is much more than making sure the new employees don’t impact your current paychecks and health insurance. It is the definition of the company, its culture, and its employees performance. With the right culture instilled in the company, employees might have a chance to work on focus for an-unmotivated Microsoft. Focus Microsoft was lacking, and desperately needed focus. Sustainable growth is important. Such a pattern emerges in organizations that are superior in executing their business plan and can maintain a compounding positive trajectory in their revenue development. Organizations that are so oriented build success patterns that breed a culture of confidence and a competitive advantage. This is how growth becomes sustainable. Such a pattern is of primary importance to any focus-oriented company. Sustained growth in a business comes about primarily because key employees are focused on performance factors they can impact and they feel motivated to do so. That focus leads to execution. When sustained, that pattern brings about the results and success the business plan calls for. This being said, Microsoft was committing all the wrong crimes against successful business focus. Vague accountability on the part of higher management made it impossible for the rest of the employees to envision goals a nd work with a purpose. A major contributor to this at Microsoft was the fact that they held too many meetings. Meetings in turn slows new product development and staggers innovation. Just as with e-books, opportunities for major product developments slipped away from Microsoft. Windows CE, an operating system distinct from Windows that was originally used for pocket devices like personal digital assistants, would ultimately be the foundation of the mobile operating system that would power Microsoft’s first smartphones. But despite the fact that Microsoft had the jump on its competitors with Windows CE, it still lost the race for the wildly successful smartphones. In addition to too many meetings, Microsoft had too many managers. Current and former executives said, each year the intensity and destructiveness of the game playing grew worse as employees struggled to beat out their co-workers for promotions, bonuses, or just survival. Microsoft’s managers pumped up the volume on the viciousness around each other and to their subordinates. What resulted, when combined with the bitterness about financial disparities among employees that already existed, the slow pace of development, and the power of the Windows and Office divisions to kill innovation. All in all, it was a toxic stew of internal antagonism and warfare fueled by the generation gap between the old, established managers and the young, aspiring engineers. That â€Å"warfare atmosphere† was only the beginning of the distraction. At Microsoft every employee had a smiley face icon to monitor stock prices at every moment of the day. When shares increased, the face smiled, but when they fell it frowned. This placed way too much focus on shareholders, profits, and employees job security. There was simply not enough emphasis on the customer, and nothing was focused on the company’s future. Futher issues at Microsoft included obsession to capitalize on every opportunity to gather new revenue, teams of people fighting shoulder-to-shoulder had been replaced with backstabbing and selfish goals. Microsoft even went as far to save money, the company no longer helped with towels in showers at work. Why is that a focus at all!? That’s such a pathetic problem to have at an industry-leading technology company. To achieve quality, you have to define it. Focus is a definition and you have to make sure that definition is disseminated throughout the rank and file. Its the job of any company to be clear about the nonnegotiable core values. A lack of focus creates estuaries and cloudy waters that are confusing to navigate and surely hinder innovation. Visibility Management The lack of focus we attribute to the poor leadership transitions us to our next issue with Microsoft, that there is not a fair, balanced model in the company with solid visibility management. Natural self-promoters, like many of the managers and executives at Microsoft, instinctively exploit opportunities to make themselves visible. In today’s competitive corporate environment, being good at what you do isn’t enough to earn your keep or what you’re worth. You have to practice â€Å"visibility management,† letting people know who you are and what you do well. Managing visibility is an integral component of modern success and career management. Microsoft had extremely poor visibility management for a number of key reasons. For starters Microsoft did not recognize or enforce fairness throughout its organizational structure of employees. The organizational structure followed a stack ranking system, like a forced bell curve model, that puts individual goals at complete variance with teamwork. The managers who were supposed to be making decisions and conveying them to their sales and engineer teams were in constant meetings instead of making information available regarding any management decisions. Microsoft was lacking â€Å"new blood† in its management. The divisions between the old timers and the young innovators had grown wildly out of control. Corporate culture is built from the combined experiences of the members of the organization working in harmony with clear visibility. This effects the results of the organization’s efforts, and helps the psychological tone set by top management and every level of management beneath it. All of these factors are expressed in, and some are caused by, visibility management, and poor management behavior will always affect the culture negatively. Organizational culture is built on the behaviors of the members of the culture, and poor management visibility and behavior at any level naturally affects the levels subordinate to it. An abusive or clueless top or middle manager can create a culture of negativism and poor performance that extends beneath them all the way to the bottom of the organizational pyramid, and even to supplier organizations. Anyone who has worked in more than a couple of bureaucracies has most likely experienced or witnessed this syndrome. At Microsoft one employee was quoted saying â€Å"If you just add up the time people spent sending angry e-mails about the towels disappearing †¦ I expect they lost a lot more money than the cost savings from the towels.† Even once the towels returned, the bitterness about cost-cutting didn’t end. What was management’s plan? Nobody seemed to know; there was no communication or visibility within the company. Even after that Microsoft abandoned its gold-plated health-insurance plan. That was the enticement that had brought some employees there in the first place. Whiteboards grew scarcer. It even became harder to find office supplies. Many of the problems from bureaucracy came down to a simple reality: The young hotshots from the 1980s, techies who had joined the company in their 20s and 30s, had become middle-aged managers in their 40s and 50s. And, some younger engineers said a good number of the bosses just didn’t understand the burgeoning class of computer users who had been children when Microsoft opened its doors. When younger employees tried to point out emerging trends among their friends, supervisors sometimes just waved them away. None of management’s procedures or systems seemed to make any sense to the rest of the subordinate company. Corporate policy at Microsoft gave some select few millions, while others got bare minimum pay. Too many employees were seeking management spots for the wrong reasons. Management should have been more humble, transparent, and outward gazing. Visibility management works with facts, not ego and corporate politics. Fix Causes Corporate politics lead to nothing else if not fear and prejudice within the organization. Current and former executives said that each year the intensity and destructiveness of the game playing grew worse as employees struggled to beat out their co-workers for promotions, bonuses, or just survival. Microsoft had, in an effort to motivate by competition, created a back-stabbing environment of brutal proportions in the corporate world. Management is supposed to be courageous and inspiring, â€Å"not pumped up the volume on the viciousness† as was the case at Microsoft. It is usually the leader with the most power who provokes the most fear. With leaders worried about outbursts and other nasty behavior from those with even more power than they have, imagine the toll the fear factor must take on the people who wield substantially less authority. At a place like Microsoft, those people make up the vast majority. Although Ballamer would espouse that they challenge their people, man y employees would argue those challenges feel threatening. The truth is most likely employees blossom when challenged and wither when threatened. There is no data showing that anxious, fearful employees are more creative and productive, but there is data proving that employees in a threatening environment are less engaged, less loyal and for the most part miserable. Civility is not a term we typically associate with corporate life or use to describe the everyday world in workplaces around the globe. But consider the potential impact on corporate culture, and society as a whole, if civility were not just expected, but championed by senior leadership. Microsoft had a forced bell curve of talent that doesn’t actually represent the production and innovation capabilities of the company. This creates achingly slow progress and in an atmosphere that has every unit declare a certain percentage of employees as top performers, then good performers, then average, then below average, then poor, employees were focusing on competing with each other rather than competing with other companies. Management needs to listen to the ideas of the young generation and implement a better system. An example of when this would have done Microsoft well was in 1997, when AOL introduced its instant-messenger program, called AIM, a precursor to the texting functions on cell phones. Two years later, Microsoft followed with a similar program, called MSN Messenger. In 2003, a young developer noticed that friends in college signed up for AIM exclusively and left it running most of the time. The developer concluded that no young person would switch from AIM to MSN Messenger, which did not have the short-message feature. He spoke about the problem to his boss, a middle-aged man. The supervisor dismissed the developer’s concerns as silly. Why would young people care about putting up a few words? Anyone who wanted to tell friends what they were doing could write it on their profile page, he said. Meaning users would have to open the profile pages, one friend at a time, and search for a status message, if it was there at all. Unfortunately because his manager didn’t know or didn’t believe how young people were using messenger programs, nothing was done. Management was instilling fear instead of developing for the long term and listing to employees about what customers really want. Know Your Customers As we have discussed, the culture at Microsoft was complacent. Managers were closed to criticism, arrogant about their roles of leadership, and obsessed with stock prices and short term goals. The very purpose for Microsoft’s existence was to provide new and wonderful technology to people; those people being the customers. Those people dictate the needs, not managers, and Microsoft lost touch with who they were serving. It’s something critical to ANY and EVERY business: knowing your customers and the products they want. You can learn a great deal about your customers by talking to them. Asking them why theyre buying or not buying, what they may want to buy in the future and asking what other needs they have can give a valuable picture of whats important to them. Despite a multi-year head start, the big profits on innovative new technologies would eventually go to Amazon and Apple. Why? Because they gave the customers the next new thing in technology. For example, Bill G ates gave the E-reader the thumbs down because he was focused on what the product did and looked like, not how his consumers would love it. Apparently â€Å"he didn’t like the interface because it didn’t look like windows.† The point on this invention was to have the book, alone, appear on the full screen. Putting it into an electronic book, Gates suggested, would do nothing but undermine the customers experience. Unfortunately what gates didn’t understand is that it’s not undermining them if that’s what they want! The death of the e-book effort was not simply the consequence of a desire for immediate profits, but also all kinds of personal prejudices at work. Management missed the beat repeatedly while â€Å"meeting† to pursue the next thing it would release. Microsoft was only hurting itself. As discussed earlier they were far too obsessed with revenues and stock prices of old products. Steve Stone, a founder of the technology group, said about Microsoft’s attention to customer wants: â€Å"We couldn’t be focused anymore on developing technology that was effective for consumers. Instead, all of a sudden we had to look at this and say, ‘How are we going to use this to make money?’ And it was impossible.† Indeed, executives said, Microsoft failed repeatedly to jump on emerging technologies because of the company’s fealty to Windows and Office. â€Å"Windows was the god—everything had to work with Windows,† said Stone. â€Å"Ideas about mobile computing with a user experience that was cleaner than with a P.C. were deemed unimportant by a few powerful people in that division, and they managed to kill the effort.† Indeed, executives said, Microsoft failed repeatedly to jump on emerging technologies because of the company’s fealty to Windows and Office. There was a feeling that â€Å"Windows was the god—everything had to work with Windows,† despite what the customer wanted. While Apple continues to gain market share in many products, Microsoft has lost share in Web browsers, high-end laptops and smartphones. Despite billions in investment, its Xbox line is still at best an equal contender in the game console business. It first ignored and then stumbled in personal music players until that business was locked up by Apple. Another problem with Microsoft delivering to the customer’s needs is whenever Microsoft spies yet another potential market which it thinks is ripe for taking over it generally announces its intention to move aggressively into that market. Microsoft frequently announces new products for these markets that they will ship soon regardless of whether or not they have any genuine interest in actually shipping said products. What this frequently leads to is that people stop buying software in this market because they want to wait for the Microsoft version. Unfortunately if Microsoft sees the market drying up they usually just walk away and never deliver their promised products. The end result is that the small software companies in these markets take a very big hit and frequently go under while consumers end up without their promised product. In the past, Microsoft has fueled amazing growth by leveraging its way into new markets in order to acquire new customers. The problem that Microsoft has been facing recently is that they tried to dominate so many different markets that there are not enough markets left that can be captured for the purpose of sustaining the growth that their shareholders require. Microsoft has turned its sights back on its existing customers. Microsoft is finding creative ways to draw more money out of its existing customers, often times with hostile results. One example of Microsofts hostility to its existing customers came in September, 2000. Microsoft demanded that the Virginia Beach government account for all copies of Microsoft software that were in use within the government and provide proof of purchase for each product. The reason? Nick Psyhogeos, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney for Microsoft, said the firm has found that government agencies sometimes inadvertently acquire counterfeit software. There was no mention of a reason why this particular city government was singled out they were not investigated because of something which they did to arouse suspicion, but simply because they were a large organization that Microsoft hoped they could frighten more money out of. The city was presumed guilty until proven innocent and this cost the tax payers a great deal of money as the city reassigned 25 percent of its technical work force to work specifically on the task of generating the information demanded by Microsoft. Microsoft is hunting down it’s customers, not providing for them. Know Your Competition In the competitive corporate world it is imperative that a company knows it’s competition so that you don’t get blindsided. It is crucial to know who they are and what their strengths/weaknesses are. It would also be smart to know what their primary products are that compete with yours and how they access talent that you might want as well. Recently Microsoft’s strategy has just been killing off competitors by either buying them or their technologies. Once again, a good example of this is shown with Microsofts jump into the web browser market. Microsoft was late to catch on to the fact that the web was going to revolutionize the way people used computers and once they finally woke up they were dangerously close to having their Windows monopoly destroyed by the greatly reduced importance of operating systems that a web based paradigm would produce. They needed to do something fast. They allegedly tried to carve up the market with Netscape by getting Netscape to ag ree to stop making Windows web browsers while Microsoft would only make Windows web browsers. Fortunately for consumers, Netscape did not agree to the deal and the web was saved from becoming a Microsoft only technology as surely would have happened. This made it even more urgent for Microsoft to lock up this new market right away while it was still time. Lacking any decent technology of their own, Microsoft licensed the Mosaic web browser from Spyglass which they turned into Internet Explorer. The weapon that Microsoft fashioned in their attempt to defeat Netscape wasnt even their own, but technology they bought from someone else. This was not a one time thing either. What this meant for Microsoft was that they got to keep their monopoly for a little bit longer, but it had much more dire consequences for consumers. It meant that consumers were now stuck with a very buggy browser and file system viewer because Internet Explorer wasn’t prepared to compete with competition. Who are Microsoft’s main competitors right now? According to CEO Steve Ballmer Google, Apple, and Oracle and the front runners. Google is a serious threat because not only does it have its hand in multiple markets, it has the ability to jump in and quickly grab significant market share. Gmail went public only about three years ago, but already it’s the third-largest webmail service behind Hotmail and Yahoo. Google Apps is up-and-coming, having won a few key contracts in the enterprise market. Microsoft’s release of Office Web Apps shows the company is worried about Google, which is touting apps as an easy-to-use-from-anywhere service with an easier and less expensive business model. Android has accomplished a heckuva feat, jumping from nearly no market share a year ago to being the platform of choice for about 10 percent of new smart phones sold. Chrome has been consistently eating away at Internet Explorer since its launch nearly two years ago. And with App Engine, Google has been making a push in the cloud-platform space to which Microsoft, with Windows Azure, just showed up this winter. And then there’s Chrome OS, the browser-based operating system that Google is expected to launch by late autumn. It’s unknown how successful the novel idea will be, especially with the incoming tablet market, but considering Google’s success in other sectors it could very well grab netbooks away from Windows. Apple was nearly dead 10 years ago and has surged back to pass up Microsoft in market capitalization, and Apple did it with consumers. When you’re talking competition between Microsoft and Apple, you’re mainly talking about hand-held devices. Windows is still on more than 90 percent of computers and Safari, Apple’s Web browser, essentially has the same market share as Macintosh computers. Apple is leading the charge for mobile computing. And as Google can attest, there’s plenty of room in the market to capitalize. Microsoft, for its part, has not been able to do that lately. As Apple and Android surge in popularity, Windows Mobile hemorrhages market share. Microsoft must deliver a knock-out hit with Windows Phone 7 this holiday season. Then there’s the iPad. Apple has succeeded where others, namely Microsoft, failed to recognize the need 10 years ago. Apple has opened the door for a potentially huge new market. What really agitates Microsoft is that PCs are no longer the only incarnation of personal computing. In the MicroNokia deal, Microsoft sees an opportunity to be a player in the new personal computing incarnation, a willful answer to its competition. Microsoft tried to ignore tablets and a â€Å"fad† but will soon need to recognize the potential and get on top of that if it wishes to once again dominate the industry. Total Quality Management It is absolutely necessary for Microsoft to base quality decisions on facts, not the ego’s and ideas of executives. The outputs that they wish to hold important must be measurable. Microsoft would also do well to empower its employees on the customer interaction level. These are the employees closest to the customer and will provide the most effective feedback for future innovation. These future innovations must also be of the highest quality as that is one of the key component to total quality control. The reason quality has gained such prominence is that organizations have gained an understanding of the high cost of poor quality. Quality affects all aspects of the organization and has dramatic cost implications. The most obvious consequence occurs when poor quality creates dissatisï ¬ ed customers and eventually leads to loss of business. However, quality has many other costs, which can be divided into two categories. The ï ¬ rst category consists of costs necessary for achieving high quality, which are called quality control costs. These are of two types: prevention costs and appraisal costs. The second category consists of the cost consequences of poor quality, which are called quality failure costs. Companies that consider quality important invest heavily in prevention and appraisal costs in order to prevent internal and external failure costs. The earlier defects are found, the less costly they are to correct. Another massively important factor of Total Quality Control is the quality and happiness of the employees. A good way to ensure that is to be encouraging to your employees and offer praise when appropriate. Thank employees for doing a good job and let them know that you value them. Should something go wrong or someone makes a mistake, don’t â€Å"punish† the person. That was a big fear at Microsoft that went on too long. Punishing people only makes things worse in that the employee may become angry and bitter and may want to sabotage their work to get back at the company, or leave to work for the competition. Too many meetings at Microsoft and the fear of a declining stock price did not create an atmosphere that created â€Å"quality†. Management needed to tolerate mistakes and be more outward gazing for innovations, customer needs, and new business models. Part 2: Recommendations Bad corporate culture happens, but it can be corrected. While it is natural for bad organizational culture to develop, this tendency can be countered and a more positive and productive organizational culture can be produced, though it requires savvy and introspective management. It is within the power of each of us to do the introspective work and be more savvy, as managers or regular employees. In doing so you will improve everyone, and give each individual increased capacity to influence the organizational culture in a more positive direction. The greatest threat to an organization’s success is not always the competition. Often, it is what a company does to itself. Because of fear, companies become plagued with barriers and bureaucracy that limit success, crush employees, and infuse frustration and a sense of futility across the enterprise. It starts with a narrowing of focus, which leads to the first level of bureaucracy: parochialism. Parochialism exists when managers and departments begin to view the world through the filter of their own little silo, and build walls make of rules and policies to protect their turf. This was definitely the case at Microsoft with the Stack ranking system. When looking at how Microsoft was handled by Bill Gates, there are undoubtedly some moments that suggest that the unity of purpose was not clearly defined and never adequately addressed to the degree that it needed. As I mentioned earlier, it is possible that Microsoft has its hands in too many things. There is no focus. Microsoft doesn’t know what kind of company it wants to be. This is evident by the competition Microsoft is facing. Unity happens when leaders are committed to and engaged in the process of building a united, winning team. It requires focus, time, and energy. Unfortunately as we’ll discuss a little later on, focus may have been another contributing factor that hindered Microsoft from being the company Gates idealized in his head. Unity occurs when team members care more about the vision, purpose and health of the organization than they do their own personal agenda. Changing the mindset is essential. Unity happens when each person in the company can clearly see how their personal vision and effort contributes to the overall vision and success of the team. This involves meaningful conversations between the levels of management as well as between engineers and sales people. Unity of Purpose results when you weed out the negativity that sabotages far too many organizations. All of these things were issues at Microsoft that hindered it from having one united goal as a company. Having the right people in charge of making decisions can make a world of difference when trying to unite the group behind a cause, especially a business cause. Microsoft needs to invest in human resources to implement and maintain plans and policies. Strategically placed investments in human resources will develop a more skilled, innovative, productive and loyal workforce thus providing an organization with a competitive advantage over a less progressive competitor. Investmen t in human capital will offer Microsoft both short and long term gains to help produce not only skilled, productive employees, but also loyal and ethical employees for the long-term. Microsoft’s goal must now be to increase the ownership of employees work by providing the right incentives through HR. Especially when it comes to your employees, long-term thinking guides an organization. That’s where Microsoft missed the mark in the past and needs to focus now. Microsoft was focused on too many short term goals in the past. The vicious internal competitions need to be eliminated from Microsoft if they want to create a productive work environment. This was potentially the biggest issue in house for Microsoft. Companies can obtain a competitive advantage if they utilize strategic human resources investment practices. The real villain here was the wrongly implemented stack ranking system. Managers had a rest and vest mentality which bread ill feelings and jealousy all around. These factors were naturally at variance with team work and innovation. I recommend a better reward system that will focus on facilitating cooperation, enhancing long term thinking, tolerating mistakes because they are learning tools, and not let egos get involved. Whatever Microsoft determines it’s goals and purpose is going to be, it is important for the companies directors to remember that investing in the appropriate human resources is much more than making sure the new employees don’t impact your current paychecks and health insurance. Microsoft needs a better focus on what they are about and their position in the technology industry. These will come with a well taken care of their employee base first. I recommend they invest into a few basic human needs to help their organization stay productive, engaged and, happy during times of angst and uncertainty which inevitably come in the corporate world of today. The first focus with is to make a connection with the employees. Talking about emotions in the workplace can cause executives to get uneasy. Have you ever noticed that you never hear managers saying, Please dont get so excited or Please quit being so happy? The reality is that emotions are at the center of everything we do. The leadership challenge is not to avoid them, but instead to ignite the positive ones. The secret of getting people more engaged in their work is for their leaders to become more engaged with them. That means being willing to show up emotionally as well as intellectually. Human connection isnt a nice thing to have; its a must-have. Meaningful connections provide people with the internal fortitude they need to stay productive during tough times. Microsoft needs to be more connected to its people, and they also want them to be connected to one another. The way to do that is by talking, with real spoken words, not e-mail edicts, asking people how theyre doing and actually listening to their answers, and by providing them with opportunities to interact with one another. Corporate parties, public promotions etc will go a long was for the morale at Microsoft. Providing context and meaning to the tasks at hand will do a lot for the employees at Microsoft as well. Everyone wants to know that they make a difference in the world. When you put someones work into a meaningful context, you tap into the deepest yearning of his or her soul. The challenge for Microsoft is that most peoples days are so hectic and their jobs so compartmentalized that they often miss the larger story of how their work touches the work of others in the company, and the customers around the world. Leaders who reframe daily tasks by providing personal context quell the angst of uncertainty by giving their employees something more meaningful to think about. The best thing for Microsoft to do is to offer professional employees an incentive package that includes a bonus based on the firms gross revenue. When you bring in more, everyone gets rewarded. But dont make the mistake of tying bonus comp to practice profitability. Profit sharing seems like a good idea but it often c reates resentment by employees who dont have any control over profits. Every time an executive takes a vacation as a business trip or buys a new computer they dont really need, Microsoft employees will resent it. Bonuses based on revenues create a team environment where everyone gets rewarded for their contributions to growth. This is the ultimate motivator for many professional planner, young and old, regardless of business level. As businesses grow and become more complex, a second level of bureaucracy is reached: territorialism. While parochialism is about protecting a department from outsiders, territorialism is about controlling those inside the silo. The third and final level of bureaucracy is empire building, which is a response to perceived threats to a department’s ability to be self-sufficient. These barriers cost organizations a fortune in inefficiency, turnover, waste, and demoralization, and Microsoft is guilty of these on the highest level! Tearing down these barriers is difficult, but it can be done. I recommend resetting rules and policies, and refocusing on the ultimate mission of the organization. Territorialism can be eliminated by creating true empowerment, along with appropriate levels of accountability. Microsoft must also create a culture of courage, to enable employees to take advantage of these new freedoms and accountabilities. In the past managers definitely took advantage of their powers, and didn’t communicate to their employees appropriately. Leadership must refocus on mission success rather than just checking off their part of the process, manage reference points, and engage employees. I am confident that by doing all of these things, Microsoft can begin to become fearless, and unstoppable. Microsoft messed up internally, but also missed a number of opportunities. While Microsoft dreams of Apple-style successes with consumers, the truth is, with only one exception, consumers dont care about Microsoft in the slightest. Microsoft does, of course, make one successful consumer product, at least from a perception standpoint, and thats the Xbox 360. Today, Microsoft is being chipped away by competitors from all sides, like a mighty shark being taken down by a pack of hungry piranhas. Microsoft is just letting this happen because the company simply moves too slowly, whether its entering new markets, updating existing products, or something internal. I have read a number of recommendations in articles and online about Microsoft, and I happen to agree that Microsoft is so big that the very notion of there being a Microsoft is absurdly simplistic. This is instead a collection of often massive warring fiefdoms that dont just ignore each other but in some notable cases actually actively work against each other. Even more problematic, perhaps, Microsofts businesses are so diverse that many have nothing to do with each other. So my advice is to split up this company into two or three baby Microsofts, perhaps al ong consumer, business, and developer lines. None of these brands should have any influence from Steve Ballmer as well. Replacing Ballmer is no easy task, and while its not the epic problem that the software giant confronted when Bill Gates left, Microsofts need for new leadership will require a team, not an individual. It’s possible Microsoft doesnt need a business guy at the top, and I would recommend it needs another guy who understands technology. That way Microsoft’s managers will stop smothering good ideas. Microsoft needs to say â€Å"Yes† to good ideas more frequently. This can only happen within an organization that actually listens and rewards the forward thinkers, places like Apple and Google, who happen to be doing very well in the market right now. â€Å"Microsoft is now in the ironic position to brand itself as David to Apples Goliath, the counterculture to Apples mainstream†. I want Microsoft to turn the tables on the very upstart company that used to think different,† and I recommend Microsoft turn the page and begin this decade anew, learning from its own mistakes. Bibliography and Reference Links * Greer, Charles S. An Investment Perspective of Human Resources, Strategic Human Resources Management, (2001): 1. * Greer, Charles S. An Investment Perspective of Human Resources, Strategic HumanResources Management, (2001): 5 * http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57471170-75/microsofts-ballmer-challenges-vanity-fairs-lost-decade-claim/ * http://oneffectivemanagement.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/where-does-bad-corporate-culture-come-from-and-can-it-be-corrected/ * Civility: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-prefontaine/corporate-leaders-must-re_1_b_1437445.html * Not shipping said product: http://www.kmfms.com/whatsbad.html * Competiton: http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/2010/06/03/ballmer-and-microsofts-main-competitors-are/ * David to Apple Goliath: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/24/tech/innovation/fixing-microsoft/index.html

Case Analysis And Problems With Dementia Nursing Essay

Case Analysis And Problems With Dementia Nursing Essay Dementia is a progressive and irreversible decline in mental function1. Lewy Body Dementia (DLB) is a form of degenerative dementia characterised by the presence of Lewy Bodies which are clumps of alpha-synuclein and ubiquitin protein in neurons2. These are only detectable in post-mortem brain biopsies2. The manifestations of dementia present themselves clinically as progressive cognitive decline which impairs day-to-day social and motor functioning. This central feature of DLB is essential for the initial diagnosis of the disorder and the initial evaluation of a patient with dementia must establish the presence of cognitive impairment and provide a measure of its severity. Three core features which are significant in the diagnosis of DLB and distinguishing it from these other disorders are2: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fluctuations in both mental cognition and relative levels of attentiveness. The severity and duration of these episodes vary among patients, however, generally, severity increases with time. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Visual Hallucinations characteristically detailed and well-formed; significant in differentiating DLB from Alzheimers disease as they are relatively rare in the latter disorder. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Spontaneous features of Parkinsonism, such as tremors. At least two of these core features must be present to conclude that there is DLB3. Suggestive features of the disorder include rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder, repeated falls and transient loss in consciousness. In the absence of a core clinical feature the presence of one or more of these suggestive features may help in the diagnosis of DLB. The differential diagnosis for DLB is mainly Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease or other dementia syndromes. However, in Catherines case the presence of a number of core and suggestive features strongly indicate DLB. In relation to Catherine, there are many indicators present which qualify her for diagnosis with the disease. Not only does she exhibit some of the core features mentioned previously but it is also evident that she is suffering from some of the more suggestive, but equally as debilitating, aspects of the disease. It is evident on examination that Catherine is experiencing fluctuations in cognition as her verbal responses are often difficult to comprehend and are unreliable. These memory lapses, along with aggressive responses, are known symptoms of dementia2. She has had some vivid visual hallucinations previously which may be a mitigating factor in her continuous falls, another suggestive feature of the disorder2. Catherines husband faces many challenges as her primary caregiver. Caregiver burden is defined as the high levels of stress and anxiety associated with the provision of care to another person suffering from some kind of illness4. Catherines husband is likely to suffer from caregiver burden as he is the sole provider of care and his closest source of relief is his daughter who lives some distance away. He faces challenges in communication and in managing Catherines behaviour and struggles with his own physical fitness while also trying to care for his wife. He is likely to suffer emotionally as result of the demands placed upon him as a result of Catherines unwillingness to avail of respite care services. Catherine presents many challenges to the healthcare system in that she is aggressive towards members of staff with whom she is unfamiliar. This impedes upon the quality of her care as nursing staff appreciate her condition but are unable to manage it on an acute ward. The problems with her memory make interactions difficult as she does not remember her surgical treatment and becomes aggressive and agitated at times. It is likely that as the disease progresses these factors will become more serious and incapacitating, leaving her husband with no choice but to admit her to a long-term care facility. Societal Context It is difficult to quantify the prevalence of Dementia in Ireland and in various countries due to variances in how we define and ration dementia and also due to methodological variances in conducting studies5.  However there remain some factors such as age and gender which show consistencies across studies. It has been found that Alzheimers disease is more common in women, and that prevalence of dementia can double with every 5 years of increase in age6. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) estimates that there are currently more than 44,000 people suffering from some form of dementia in Ireland7. It is shown that the prevalence is higher in females than males with 20,000 females and 14,000 males found to be suffering in 2002 and the incidence is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years in correspondence with the aging population in Ireland.  By the year 2036 the ASI estimates that there will be over 100,000 people with dementia8.   Studies have shown there are a number of risk factors associated with dementia. Along with age and gender, genetics and BMI have also been linked closely with dementia. One study found that normal-weight women had a greater risk of developing dementia than women with a higher BMI than them9. It has also been found that those with higher BMI  have  a decreased risk of cognitive decline10. Cholesterol levels have also been linked to the cause of dementia in that high levels of high density lipoprotein have been associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimers disease11. There are a number of known support groups in this country for relatives of patients with  dementia7. For example, The Alzheimer Society of Ireland provides  a range of services to people with Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia. The Carer and Family Support Groups operate throughout Ireland, usually meeting on a monthly basis7. This support network offers a vital opportunity for carers and family members to share experiences, information and practical advice in a supportive environment and would be of significant benefit in Catherines case to provide her husband with an outlet from the constant pressures associated with her disease. The Irish Government does offer some financial support to people suffering from dementia but it appears not to be enough. There are a number of schemes which provide home care to patients, however a  new report  illustrates that Ireland  spends only half the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development)  average on dementia services12 despite the fact we rival any other European Country in relation to the growth of dementia. According to the report for every 18,500 euro cut, four people with dementia will  lose  any service provided by the government12. This would be detrimental in Catherines case as she may eventually rely heavily on the government for support. Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety The treatment of Dementia is focused towards specific disease manifestations as there are no definitive treatments available. To effectively treat Dementia, patients and families should be involved as soon as the diagnosis is made. The availability of information, good health services, and support should be provided to help patients and their families to cope with dementia. The behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia have been a difficult management area for neurologists and psychiatrists alike. The key to proper management is the correct identification of each symptom and the underlying precipitating cause. The proper management is not only rewarding in terms of responsiveness in an otherwise incurable and progressive disease, but also improves the quality of life of the patients and the caregivers. The management of dementia begins with a thorough assessment to search for underlying causes of behavioural changes. Non-pharmacological approaches should be used prior to medication use. These interventions include music, light, changes in level of stimulation and specific behavioural techniques. The type of dementia, individual symptom constellation and the tolerability of the patient will help to determine what medication should be used13. Cholinesterase inhibitors treatment for people with DLB is commonly used in clinical practice, especially for patients that exhibit neuropsychiatric symptoms. The use of antipsychotics for agitation and aggression has shown consistent efficacy and it is the most studied pharmacological intervention14. Pharmacotherapy must be monitored closely for both effectiveness and side effects, with consideration of medication withdrawal when appropriate. Studies show that anti-dementia medicine neither cure, arrest nor delay the onset of the disease, but are helpful in symptom relief14. There is an urgent need to develop more efficacious medications for the treatment of dementia15 as in the long-term we know that a diagnosis of dementia is a sentinel event that signifies progressive loss of independence and increasing demands on caregivers. In this case, the biggest barrier to Catherine receiving adequate healthcare is herself and the uncooperative and aggressive nature of her condition. Her husband and family cannot fully support her needs therefore she needs to be admitted to a long-term care facility. Her wishes to continue living in her own home may prevent her from getting the care she needs. Also, the fact that her husband must make the decision could be considered a barrier as he is unwilling to put her into long-term care, where the stability may help her. Individualised rehabilitation approaches targeting relevant and personally-meaningful aspects of everyday functioning have demonstrated significant benefits in single-case and small-group intervention studies16. Cognitive rehabilitation is a relatively new approach to improving well-being for people with dementia and their families, but at present only preliminary evidence regarding efficacy is available16. However, this preliminary evidence suggests that cognitive rehabilitation does have the potential to bring about changes in behaviour, enhance well-being and maintain involvement in daily life. Psychosocial interventions of this kind can be provided alongside pharmacological treatment, and it is possible that these two approaches can complement one another to optimize benefits for the person with dementia17. There are a great many questions still to be answered, but the existing evidence provides a valuable basis for further development of this approach. Ethical Considerations There are a number of ethical issues to address in Catherines case. As DLB progresses, it gradually renders people incapable of tending to their own needs, thus their decision-making capacity is compromised and caretakers must step in and make decisions for them. Catherine suffers from dementia and requires constant care. In preventing Catherine from independently getting in and out of bed, several ethical issues are involved. Her caretakers can only effectively tend to her and ensure her safety by compromising her right of autonomy for the sake of beneficence18 i.e. doing this for her own well-being in order to provide her with adequate care. Also non-maleficence18 is a factor in this situation i.e. they must ensure she does not get harmed while moving about unsupervised In Ireland, under the Mental Health Act of 2001, certain conditions must be must be met before someone is involuntarily admitted to a long-term care facility19. Fundamentally The patient must be eligible to be involuntarily admitted The Person sending the patient must send in application for the patient That Person must fit certain requirements. After application, a registered medical practitioner must do an examination on the patient and if he/she is satisfied, he/she writes a recommendation for the involuntary admittance of the patient in an approved centre. Catherine definitely fits the requirements of the patient to be involuntarily admitted as she is actually suffering from a mental disorder20 and her caretakers may be considered unfit to take care of her. While her husband wants to respect her wishes he is physically unable to provide the level of care that she needs, even with his daughters weekly assistance. It is obvious that she requires constant monitoring as evident by her repeated falls. Therefore, after a mental health assessment it is likely that she be recommended to live in such a facility with more appropriate care21. Healthcare providers are only able to advise patients and their family members on the best course of treatment and management plan available, suggesting alternatives are still within their boundaries. However, the final choice always resides with the patient and his/her family members22. Disputes which may arise become a tough issue for health care professionals to resolve, as all circumstances need to be taken into consideration before a decision can be reached23. Word Count: 1989 Search Strategy As part of our search strategy we used resources from the library and those online.   We found books and journals in the library useful for sourcing background information about Lewy Body Dementia. Online we used medical search database, Medline and PubMed. We had to tailor our search criteria to suit the particular section of the report we were writing.   To further refine our search findings we used the advanced search and used the limits option. If our search yielded too few findings, we learnt to change our keywords and to broaden our search area. For example when Dementia is searched PubMed reveals 119494 options, however if dementia AND Ireland is searched 404 results are revealed. To further refine this search we used Limits whereby we limited the findings to trials that had links to the free article online, were in English and were conducted on humans. This searched revealed 60 findings. It is also useful to use sources that have been referenced by other authors and we found that once you found one or two good trials, they usually had referenced some other sources that matched your search criteria. This cut down on the searching through irrelevant articles and proved better use of our time.   All in all we found the internet very useful for sourcing our references and in particular we found PubMed and Medline user friendly once we understood how to use them properly.

Criminal Justice vs. Community Justice Essay -- Crime Papers

Criminal Justice vs. Community Justice Crime is defined as an act or omission that the law makes punishable. There are different ways in dealing with crime. One, our current system, is the criminal justice approach. Also known as retributive justice, this system is more offender directed than anything else. The other system, which many people think is better, is the community justice, or restorative approach. The restorative approach is much more victim oriented. There is a debate over which system should be used to deal with crime. The two differ in many ways. One of the areas in which the two differ is the question of whom is the crime a violation of? The criminal justice system believes that crimes are a violation against the state and are punished by the state. On the other hand, the community justice system says that crimes are a violation of the offender, and the community directly affected by it. The focus of criminal justice is retribution. It is focused on the offender and punishing that person for their crime by imprisonment and other punishments. The community justice system is focused on restoration. Community Justice looks to help the victim deal with the violation and try to get back whatever, if any, possessions were lost in the crime. The proceedings, in which a resolution is made, are entirely different between the two. At a criminal justice proceeding, the case is tried by a state prosecutor, in front of a judge and decided by a jury. Other than testifying and possibly a victim impact statement, the victim does not have much say in the case. But in a community justice proceeding it is quite the opposite. All parties involved (which include the offender, the victim, both families, any other p... ... community. Church support groups help offenders who are trying to change there life patterns. One of the major advantages of these programs is that offenders leave the corrections system with greater skills than when they entered into it. As, for being more victim oriented, victims have the chance to shape the obligations the offender has to repair the harm. Also, with the many programs for the victim, including the mediation and government support for victims, they do not feel left out of what goes on after the crime. An argument could last forever on which system is better and why. A better way to look at dealing with crime is to look at it not as this system versus that one , but how can we join the two for a better system. Each has attributes that are necessary , and combining them together would be a good start on the question of how to deal with crime.

Early Childhood Development Essay

The work we do as early childhood educators is self-explanatory we work with children. We are expected to work with young children to communicate with them, play with them, care for their physical needs, teach them, and provide them with a sense of psychological comfort and security. In early childhood care and education we regard all areas of development- social, emotional, intellectual and physical- as important and interconnected. Because young children are vulnerable and dependent on adults for responsive care, we will be responsive care, we will expected to nurture and support all aspects of development. Intentional teaching will be an important part of your preparation to be a teacher. Learning to select appropriate teaching strategies and to practice explaining why you choose them. As a part of the current emphasis on standards you will probably be expected to know what standards are used in your state and your program. Design a curriculum that addresses early learning standards assess what children have learned in terms of standards. Identify how you are meeting standards in your work with families. You may find yourself being a consultant, a social worker, an advocate, a teacher, a reporter, a librarian, a mediator, a translator, a social director, and a postal carrier. Your job will be varied, engaging, and challenging. An important feature of the role that early childhood educator is working collaboratively with other adults. You have to figure out what qualities make you a good teacher of young children. Personal characteristics temperament, multiple intelligences are examples of personal values. Teachers need personal values and morality, and good attitude towards diversity. You need the impact of life experiences and the ability to reflect on them. Teachers are those of specialized knowledge and skills. Being a teacher requires have professional commitment and behavior. They have legal responsibilities to adhere to professional values and ethics. My educational requirements include a BA degree and elementary teacher certification, specialized training my include training in early childhood education. Licensure varies by state. A job becomes a calling when the purpose is important.

History of LEGO -- Everyones Favorite Building Blocks

History of LEGO Everyone's Favorite Building Blocks The small, colorful bricks that encourage a childs imagination with their multitude of building possibilities have spawned two movies and Legoland theme parks. But more than that, these simple building blocks keep children as young as 5 engaged in creating castles, towns and space stations and anything else their creative minds can think of. This is the epitome of the educational toy wrapped up in fun. These attributes have made LEGO an icon in the toy world. Beginnings The company that makes these famous interlocking bricks started as a small shop in Billund, Denmark. The company was established in 1932 by master carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen, who was aided by his 12-year-old son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen. It made wooden toys, stepladders, and ironing boards. It wasnt until two years later that the business took the name of LEGO, which came from the Danish words LEg GOdt, meaning play well. Over the next several years, the company grew exponentially. From just a handful of employees in the early years, LEGO had grown to 50 employees by 1948. The product line had grown as well, with the addition of a LEGO duck, clothes hangers, a Numskull Jack on the goat, a plastic ball for babies and some wooden blocks. In 1947, the company made a huge purchase that was to transform the company and make it world-famous and a household name. In that year, LEGO bought a plastic injection-molding machine, which could mass produce plastic toys. By 1949, LEGO was using this machine to produce about 200 different kinds of toys, which included automatic binding bricks, a plastic fish and a plastic sailor. The automatic binding bricks were the predecessors of the LEGO toys of today. Birth of the LEGO Brick In 1953, the automatic binding bricks were renamed LEGO bricks. In 1957, the interlocking principle of LEGO bricks was born, and in 1958, the stud-and-coupling system was patented, which adds significant stability to built pieces. And this  transformed them into the LEGO bricks we know today. Also in 1958, Ole Kirk Christiansen passed away and his son Godtfred became head of the LEGO company. By the early 1960s, LEGO had gone international, with sales in Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, and Lebanon. Over the next decade, LEGO toys were available in more countries, and they came to the United States in 1973. LEGO Sets In 1964, for the first time, consumers could buy LEGO sets, which included all the parts and instructions to build a particular model. In 1969, the DUPLO series, bigger blocks for smaller hands, was introduced for the 5-and-under set. LEGO later introduced themed lines of LEGO. They include town (1978), castle (1978), space (1979), pirates (1989), Western (1996), Star Wars (1999) and Harry Potter (2001). Figures with movable arms and legs were introduced in 1978. By 2015, LEGO toys were sold in more than 140 countries. Since the middle of the 20th century, these small plastic bricks have sparked the imagination of children around the world, and LEGO sets have a strong hold on their place at the top of the list of the worlds most popular toys.

Composing With an Implied Audience in Mind

Composing With an Implied Audience in Mind Definition The term implied audience applies to readers or listeners imagined by a writer or speaker before and during the composition of a text. Also known as a  textual audience, an implied reader, an implied auditor, and a fictional audience. According to Chaim Perelman and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca in Rhetorique et Philosophie (1952), the writer predicts this audiences probable response to and understanding of a text. Related to the concept of implied audience is the second persona. See Examples and Observations below. See also: AudienceAudience Analysis  and  Audience Analysis ChecklistAdaptationEssayImplied AuthorNew RhetoricPersonaReading Examples and Observations Just as the speaker need not be, and usually is not, identical with the author, so the implied audience is an element of the poem itself and does not necessarily coincide with a given chance reader.(Rebecca Price Parkin, Alexander Popes Use of the Implied Dramatic Speaker. College English, 1949)Just as we distinguish between a real rhetor and rhetorical persona, we also can distinguish between a real audience and an implied audience. The implied audience (like the rhetorical persona) is fictive because it is created by the text and exists only inside the symbolic world of the text.(Ann M. Gill and Karen Whedbee, Rhetoric. Discourse as Structure and Process, ed. by Teun A. van Dijk. Sage, 1997)[T]exts not only address concrete, historically situated audiences; they sometimes issue invitations or solicitations for auditors and/or readers to adopt a certain perspective for reading or listening. . . . Jasinksi (1992) described how The Federalist Papers constructed a vision of an impartia l and candid audience that contained specific prescriptions for how the real audience should evaluate the arguments being addressed during the constitutional ratification debate.(James Jasinski, Sourcebook on Rhetoric. Sage, 2001) Every reading of an argument yields an implied audience, and by this, I mean the audience on whom the claim is understood to be made and in terms of which the argumentation is supposed to develop. In a charitable reading, this implied audience is also the audience for whom the argument is persuasive, the audience which allows itself to be influenced by reasoning.(James Crosswhite, The Rhetoric of Reason: Writing and the Attractions of Argument. University of Wisconsin Press, 1996)Readers and Mock ReadersI am arguing . . . that there are two readers distinguishable in every literary experience. First, there is the real individual upon whose crossed knee rests the open volume, and whose personality is as complex and ultimately inexpressible as any dead poets. Second, there is the fictitious readerI shall call him the mock reader whose mask and costume the individual takes on in order to experience the language. The mock reader is an artifact, controlled, simplified, abstracted out of t he chaos of day-to-day sensation.The mock reader can probably be identified most obviously in subliterary genres crudely committed to persuasions, such as advertising and propaganda. We resist the blandishments of the copywriter just in so far as we refuse to become the mock reader his language invites us to become. Recognition of a violent disparity between ourself as mock reader and ourself as real person acting in a real world is the process by which we keep our money in our pockets. Does your toupee collect moths? asks the toupee manufacturer, and we answer, Certainly not! My hairs my own. Youre not talking to me, old boy; Im wise to you. Of course, we are not always so wise.(Walker Gibson, Authors, Speakers, Readers, and Mock Readers. College English, February 1950) Real and Implied ReadersIn Wayne Booths terms, the implied author of a text is the creator of an implied reader. But one does not need to agree with Booths conclusion that the most successful reading is the one in which the created selves, author, and reader, can find complete agreement (Rhetoric of Fiction). On the contrary, the pleasure of the text may arise from the readers refusal to play the role sketched out by the implied author. Viewed in this way, the rhetorical drama of the essay resides in the conflict between the conceptions of self and world that the reader brings to a text and the conceptions that the persona attempts to arouse.(Richard Nordquist, Voices of the Modern Essay. University of Georgia, 1991)

Essay Nespresso SA

Essay Nespresso SA Essay Nespresso SA Essay Nespresso SANespresso SA  is one of the most successful brands renowned for its coffee machines manufactured and supplied internationally. However, in spite of the tremendous success of the brand in the late 1980s – early 1990s, the brand has faced a considerable downturn in its development. At this point, the introduction of technological innovations has played the key part in both the rise and downturn of the brand. To put it more precisely, Nespresso became one of the first companies introducing coffee machines for household use. In addition, the company conducted aggressive international market expansion policy to expand its global market share. However, since the mid-1990s, the company has faced the steady decline of its brand because of the lack of innovations and by the early 2010s, the brand apparently needs the revival because its rivals have already started to outpace the company and push it out of the traditional markets, where the position of Nespresso was traditionally strong.History of the brandNespresso  SA, a Nestlà © Group company was founded in 1986 being inspired by Luiggi Bezzera’s original espresso coffee concept, it developed a revolutionary system of portioned, encapsulated coffee and dedicated machines that interacted to deliver perfect coffee (Nespresso, 2014). The company offered the technology that had four initial coffee varieties including Capriccio, Cosi, Decaffeinato  and  Bolero  (now known as  Volluto), and the first two machines offered (the C100 and C1100) were designed to resemble mini espresso machines. The target markets of the company mirrored the concept of the coffee machine created by the company which was first tested and launched in the office coffee sectors of Switzerland, Japan and Italy as the major target markets for Nespresso.Another important stage in the development of the company was 1989, when The  Nespresso  system was introduced in the Swiss household market with Turmix as machine partner. The company offered the new product offering the coffee making service to customers, who used the new product. The  Nespresso  Club was created to offer a range of exclusive and personalised customer services (Nespresso, 2014). At this point, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that the personalised approach to each customer has become a distinctive feature of the Nespresso  brand since that time on (Nespresso, 2014). Moreover, it was during the late 1980s the company has grown particularly concerned with the brand image and branding of the company and its products. In terms of the new branding policy, the first  Nespresso  consumer mailing was introduced with a member-get-member offer (Nespresso, 2014). The growth of the company at this stage was entirely consumer driven that revealed the importance of customers for the company and its branding strategy.The next stage in the development of Nespresso brand was 1991, when the first  Nespresso   capsule recycling program was introduced in Switzerland with 34 collection points (Nespresso, 2014). At this stage, the company chose a different coffee machine production strategy. While  Nespresso  developed its own machines, Eugster became their exclusive producer (Nespresso, 2014). At this stage, the company had started the new marketing policy using the full potential of its coffee machines as a successful marketing product.  Nespresso  was introduced in the household sectors of France and the United States to mark the first major expansion of the company in international markets. The US as well as French market became the major markets for Nespresso by that time. Furthermore, the distinctive marketing depicting  Nespresso as the ultimate coffee experience played a key role in inspiring the brand’s development. In such a way, the brand expansion involved the strategy of entering new markets to make Nespresso the global leader among coffee machines manufactu rers.The next year the company expanded its services introducing chocolate squares which were introduced as an accessory. The next year,  Toscana  (now  Arpeggio) became the sixth  Nespresso  coffee variety after Roma (Nespresso, 2014). The second line was installed at the Nestlà © factory in Orbe to double capsule production capacity and meet demand (Nespresso, 2014). The company attempted to use the diversification of its products and services to attract more customers. However, at this stage the company has started to ignore technological innovations and its brand image as an innovative company offering exclusive products has started to decline, especially during the late 1990s – early 2000s (Newel, 2011). Today, the brand needs revival and the company should consider the introduction of the new product, the new Nespresso Coffee Machine designed as a tap built into any tabletop and controlled by smart phones (Pine Gilmore, 2009). The introduction of the new pro duct will contribute to the revival of the brand that has been in decline since the mid-1990s because the new product will match the overall progress of the technology and new opportunities the technologies offer to consumers (Masterson Picton, 2004).The advertising and/or other agencies involved in developing the brand communicationsRecently the company has contracted Deep Focus to promote its brand and conduct the promotional campaign of its new products. In this regard, the Deep Focus is the good choice for the promotion of the new Nespresso Coffee machine because this advertising agency focuses on the use of the full potential of social media and use of the contemporary telecommunication systems and mass media to reach the target customer group of the company (Mohrman, 2008). As the company targets at the younger customer group, the Deep Focus should focus on this group and promote the new Nespresso coffee machine to make them buying the new coffee machine which is the innovati ve product in the market so far.The current marketing materialThe current marketing material allows the company to create the new product. On the one hand, Nespresso has well-developed technology of the production of the high quality coffee machines which the company may use as the basis for the design and creation of the new coffee machine (Volti, 2005). On the other hand, the development of the contemporary electronics, information technologies and telecommunication systems allows the company to maintain the communication between users’ smartphones and virtually any other device equipped with the up-to-date technologies. In such a way, at the moment, Nespresso just has to combine the available technologies and the existing coffee machines which the company keeps manufacturing en mass. The combination of existing coffee machines of the company along with new technologies that allow maintaining the interaction between the coffee machine and smartphones of customers.Essay Nesp resso SA part 2

Dubai Financial Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dubai Financial Market - Essay Example The study has been initiated with a brief introduction on DFM and its establishment. This will assist the readers to know about certain interesting facts of DFM in relation to its establishment, and the stock performance on DFM in the last five years. The second part of the study is dedicated to its operations, which includes the strategies objective and organizational structure of the organization, the elements which play significant role in DFM, and types of securities that are traded in DFM. DFM aims to offer its investors a world-class financial market for securities and other financial asset trading. DFM is a fully automated secondary market or Bourse, which offers trading of shares, bonds, and sukuk, through only accredited brokers. The business framework is well connected through 3000 peripherals, which makes trading easier, safe, and effective. OPERATIONS Bourse Bourse is a place where these securities are purchased and sold. Traditionally the name Bourse was given after the name of a Belgian town which was known as Brouge. Bourse was the name of the owner of the hotel where the merchants met. Soon this name was inscribed on top of the financial markets where trading of securities was done. Bourse is the secondary market where securities are re-traded. DFM is also a Bourse, where securities are re-traded (sold or purchase through accredited brokers). Strategic Objectives and Organizational Structure The aim of DFM is to focus on the strategies to branch out their revenue streams and also develop ways to supply various innovative products or services. This would increase the activity of the members, markets and participants, that will assist in increasing the shareholders value and will lead to strategic growth and development, as Figure 2... This researcher of this essay focuses towards a precise discussion on Dubai Financial Market, which involves an analysis of the performance of Dubai Financial Market, its operations, securities that are traded in the market, and its financial performance. This essay discusses the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), that was founded as a sovereign corporate body, by the Ministry of Economy. It operated like a secondary market that traded securities issued by different public companies, units of diverse investment funds, bonds that were issued by local, and Federal government, and also public institutions. Dubai Financial Market started its operations since March 2000. As it was stated by Executive Council, DFM was set as a Public Joint Stock Company, in United Arab Emirates. The paid up capital for Dubai Financial Market was ascertained to be AED 8 billion, that was used to allocate around 8 billion shares. It was also decided that around 20 percent of shares would be offered for the public subscription. Trading on DFM started in March 2007. Dubai Financial Market was created with the vision of creating a world class marketplace in the Gulf region. The products of DFM discussed in the essay are segregated into two types, that are traded securities also known as shares, and debt securities, namely Islamic Sukuk and Bonds. The researcher then concluds that the DFM organization succeed because it was built on five key principles, namely: transparency, integrity, confidentiality, innovation and efficiency.

Ethical Communication in a Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical Communication in a Workplace - Essay Example For this reason, it is important to discuss how the Spiritual Exercises and reflection can be helpful to lead in an ethical workplace, including the possibility of organizational change. The article of Moberg and Calkins on â€Å"Reflection in business ethics: Insights from St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises† provides us the essential contribution to discern the truth and express a good life in business or in a workplace. It is therefore important to know more about what reflection is capable of providing the workplace. Reflection is vital to the achievement of success in the organization and this is one important implication that Moberg and Calkins want to inculcate to their audience. St. Ignatius is so acquainted with the idea that Spiritual Exercises require in depth reflection of things around us, prior to doing the necessary moves that are heading to the moral truth. This idea, no matter how someone might view it outmoded, is still applicable in present time, partic ularly in the business world and the workplace. After all, enough evidence and argument suggest that the structure of reflection is a significant tool in business ethics (Moberg and Calkins 258). ... In the workplace, for instance, people’s emotion may affect how everyone deals with each other on a day-to-day basis. This at some point is most probably the common reason of conflict and poor decision-making along the way, leading further to poor business structure or failure of implementation of the ethical standards in the workplace. However, as stated in the article, anger, depression, and feelings about unfamiliar objects are potentially transformed through reflection (Moberg and Calkins 259). Furthermore, Moberg and Calkins point out that reflection is capable of playing its role in the identification of effective means of accomplishing desired objectives. This therefore means that reflection can actually help in the decision-making process, allowing the entire organization to follow on an ethical standard that is free from the influence of conflicting views, ideas or other related matters. If the organization has clear goal to follow, there is enough opportunity that th e entire team will have the chance to understand what direction to take. In this case, it is evident based on the arguments of Moberg and Calkins that employing Spiritual Exercises and reflection will pave a way for doing what is essentially appropriate or right. At some point, it is clear that when one has to employ this, the achievement of vision will become possible, which is to be the guiding principle or path to take in order to achieve something remarkable or of significant value in the entire organization and specifically in the workplace. Therefore, by employing St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises and reflection, it is possible to go for entire organizational change. A deeper reflection of things and implementation of Spiritual Exercises are things that work from within, but their

Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words - 1

Report - Essay Example Part 3 includes a discussion on reflective practices, learning, learning styles and models of learning along with a discussion on reflective writing. The report is concluded by summarizing the overall insights from the write up. Motivation is a well-known and well defined theoretical construct that finds wide application in learning. It is a major construct that is used to define human behaviour. This involves both the internal as well as external factors that stimulate energy and desire among individuals or groups of people to be interested in any subject, role or job and remain committed and interested in the job, subject or role and also, to make suitable efforts to attain a particular goal. Motivation is considered to be a result of the interactions between the conscious and the unconscious factors within an individual. The factors that can create motivation are the expectations and personal objectives of a person of a group, the reward or incentive value of the objective and the intensity of the need or desire to attain the goal. These factors are the key deciders of motivation level within a person or a group because these are the basic reasons that a human being has for behaving in a particular manne r. An example may be that a student gives extra time to study a particular subject in which he/she wants to get a good grade. Motivation can be segregated into two major types. These are inherent motivation and extrinsic motivation. Inherent motivation is that type of motivation which is driven by any interest or delight of the person in the assignment itself. Inherent motivation exists within a person and does not depend on the external factors and the desire for recognitions and rewards. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation comes from the influence of the external factors like recognitions, rewards as well as negative factors like punishment and misbehaviour. The factor of competition is an important extrinsic motivator because

Action Plans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Action Plans - Essay Example As the groups vision suggests, this year we will ensure that Whirlpool’s Innovation Group get a proper name by ensuring that Whirlpool products are the most preferred brands in the associated home of the near future. We will also ensure that every activity that is being carried out in the organization is in line with the mission by ensuring that our products empower our clients in homes across the world. Ladies and gentlemen, Whirlpool’s Innovation Group has set various goals to ensure that the company achieves its mission including; identifying technologies central the connected goals, integrating Whirlpool products with the connected home and ensuring that new technologies make customer’s lives easier. In addition, Whirlpool’s Innovation Group has gone a step further developing various corporate ventures. For instance, Whirlpool’s Innovation Group recently developed a partnership with universities (Smart Zones) as well as Tech Scouting. To achieve its various goals and objectives, Whirlpool’s Innovation Group is planning to establish a presence at one or more Smart Zones for developing connected home technologies for Whirlpool. Additionally, it is planning to establish a scouting group with the purpose of investigating developments in connected homes. Last and not least, the Whirlpool’s Innovation Group is planning to Leverage Smart Zone presence to facilitate technology scouting. As I close, allow me to stress on the action plans, if Whirlpool’s Innovation Group manages to effectively implement these actions plans success will be automatic. The number of connected will determine the metric of our actions home our products release to the market (Whirlpool Corporation, 2015). Results and Updates Full-Year 2015 Guidance. Retrieved from PR Newswire:

Reaction Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

Reaction Paper - Essay Example Stiglitz emphasizes the problem of inequality and considers it to be the main aspect that prevents the economy of the United States from the recovery. The author is sure that it is inequality that does not allow American children to have equal opportunities and to develop. He argues that the parents of a great number of children will not be able to pay the loan they take to provide their child with education in all ones born days (Stiglitz). The author of the third article not only states that inequality inhibits the growth but also wants to reveal the reasons of inequality. According to the author, during last several years the demand for goods and services declined as only rich people were able to pay for them. He explains it by the fact that the development of technology made many people loose the job as the technologies replaced people at the workplace. This led to the high level of unemployment

What types of professional development, supporting growth in cultural Assignment

What types of professional development, supporting growth in cultural competence, could be offered to teachers - Assignment Example Consequently this creates fairness in the education sector (Barrera, 2005). Secondly, the type of professional development supporting growth in cultural competence that could be offered to teachers is RICS development model. It stands for Respect, Instruction, Collaboration and Supportive. Reflection engrosses thinking about the challenges affecting the learning like racism. Teachers are required to look within themselves and realign their deepest assumptions and perception to be self-conscious. Instruction assists teachers to learn specific strategies that will boost the diversity existing in various cultures. They assist in raising teacher’s knowledge to comprehend the dynamics of learning institution. Teachers ought to follow the set instruction to create healthful relationship to avoid this problem. Collaboration urges teaches to become united and build strong collaborative work cultures that improve edification of students. It allows for dialogue amid personalities such as principals, teachers, and parents for betterment of learners. Teachers are advised to talk to each other and be active listeners. Supportive is an aspect that acts as a foundation in which teachers use to increase self-efficacy encouraging them to initiate effective learning strategies. Beneficial programs such as mentoring program are significant since they proffer support system. For this reason are able to work aptly in an environment characterized with cultural