WHAT I LEARNED IN THE CLASS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WHAT I LEARNED IN THE CLASS - Essay Example As the word TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More, a team leader needs to be proactive for efficient management of the relationship among the teammates and with the external members. I learned that to achieve organizational goals, the leader or manager needs to carefully define the duties and responsibilities for each employee and also standardize method of executing the tasks. Duties and responsibilities are defined by training, teaching and developing each worker to do the right job. The environment is constantly changing, and businesses have no control over the external environment. Businesses can only influence the internal environment and they require a framework of legal, social, political, economic and cultural factors. The internal factors include policies and plans, workers, business objectives and other factors with the business or organization. For the businesses to remain competitive, the managers need actively plan, organize, provide directions and coordinate the activities to adapt to the changing environment. For businesses to thrive, managers must achieve performance targets set by the business. The managers achieve these goals by focusing on their jobs and by motivating their subordinates. Working together as a team is important for the quality of output, retention and morale. It increases the productivity, improves quality, reduces costs and enhances speed. According to Frederick Brook in his book, The Mythical Man-Month, the time an individual takes to accomplish a task can be reduced by hiring more workers to assist in the completion of the job. An effective team has continual feedback on its performance, focuses on performance and has skilled members. Sometimes the team may fail due to lack of effective communication, proper chattering and goal setting, clear roles and trust. In a team environment, managers and

Use of Derivatives in Risk Management Term Paper

Use of Derivatives in Risk Management - Term Paper Example Following are the major sorts of instruments applied by organizations to manage the financial risks associated with business activity. Futures and Options In this type of instrument, one individual or business signs a contract with another one to purchase the commodity on some future date with an agreed-upon price. However, in futures both of the parties have to go through with the contract while in options both of the parties reserve the right to withdraw the contract upon paying in monetary terms. Agreements: This instrument is localized in nature, and governments do not interfere with its transactions. Nevertheless, the purpose of these agreements is the same as that of futures and options, which is to hedge against fluctuations in the market price of the commodity or an industrial product. It is also important to note that these kinds of agreements are more common in economically distressed nations. But, recently they are intensively deployed in order to ensure a supply of raw material in US, which is necessary because of the prevailing recession in the local market. So, it is safe to assume that businesses are preparing themselves for increasing adversities of the future by contracting with their suppliers on a long term basis, which also enables them to attain economies of scale as a result, driving their financial and operational costs down that allows them to lower their prices in order to increase their market share. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to acknowledge that various businesses are paying close attention towards managing financial risk through using statistical models in order to assess the current level of risk, which can disrupt the expected pattern of their cash flows (Benson & Oliver, 2004). However, they often lack the proper translation of this analysis into practical plans, so in this way they cannot benefit from the concept of derivatives effectively most of the times. On the other hand, manufacturing sector of Europe is using derivatives more extensively than American ones (SpricIc, 2007). The prime reason for this trend is prevailing and growing uncertainty of the European market as compared to that of America. Along with this, managers who deploy derivatives in order to evaluate the degree of risk in financial terms are viewed as trustworthy by stockholders because they consider it as the proper and desirable means of minimizing financial threats (Koonce, Lipe, & McAnally, 2008). However, managers are found to falter by not basing their business decisions on the results of derivative analysis, therefore portraying the image of rational business decision making when in reality it is not the case. At the same time, derivatives are not rated as an effective mean for minimizing the possibility of default (Yi, Lin, & Chen, 2008). Therefore, derivatives can only be utilized as the mean of predicting future financial position of a particular firm. However, it is important to note that firms that base their decisions on derivative analysis often outperform those that do not consider derivatives as an ideal method for predicting financial future (Lin, Pantzalis, & Park, 2009). Another advantage of successful risk management is contentment of stockholders (Berk, Peterlin, & Cok, 2009). Through effective management, risk managers can handle them and are

Barbie Doll Advertisement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Barbie Doll Advertisement - Essay Example The market segmentation and semiotic analysis of Barbie advertisement for pre-tween girls reveal that their advertisement is geared towards the dominant ideology which promotes the ideal image of female beauty and body type. In America, prior to 1959, most dolls were either infants or toddlers. The Barbie doll was the first adult doll toy. She was adopted from the German doll Bild Lilli. The creator of the Barbie doll, Handler, was inspired by her daughter, who was giving adult roles to paper dolls to create a doll with a mature body. The Barbie doll was named after Handler’s daughter Barbara. Since then Barbie dolls became very popular among girls. The toy market took advantage of a child’s desire for â€Å"the whole spectrum of character licensed products† (Coulter, 2014, p.417) and as a result, they created a license for character products, which allow Barbie’s doll image to appear on clothes, magazines, board games and later on online games. As Coulter (2014) notes, the market for children is divided into segments based on the age and gender of the child (p.417). The purpose of market segmentation in such categories as boys/girls, infants, babies, and toddlers is to sell more products. If a child uses the same toy without wanting a new one, then toy producers will have less profit. Therefore, the market is divided not just into gender, but also into age categories. For example, pre-tween boys are interested in Transformers and Hot Wheels, while girls are interested in Bratz and Barbie dolls. Younger boys are interested in Spiderman and girls are interested in Strawberry Shortcake. Market segmentation was created not only to understand the audiences and consumers but also to create a constant need for new products. Using the Barbie advertisement, illustrated on page 6, I will demonstrate how market segmentation works in practice.

Brand Extension Marketing Plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Brand Extension Marketing Plan - Research Paper Example This aims at penetrating almost 80 percent of the target market and making it convenient for customers to access the new product. The distribution strategy is that Al-Mara Crà ¨me and Soap is easily available to its target market.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Promotion: The targeted geographical market is Lavington Green Village and this requires that were use a personalized approach to promoting our product. In this case, we will use billboards at strategic points within the estate so that a large number of the target customers can learn about our new product. The promotional material will portray an image of health and genuineness. We will asses the effectiveness of the promotional strategy using the number of sales. Marketing Research  We will mainly be involved in primary marketing research with a combination of secondary research. Primary research aims at identifying our existing customers, potential customers, and the competition that we will be facing in the market for cosmetics . Secondary research will provide information such as trade associations and government reports on the general cosmetic market. Information from the two types of resources is vital in the decision making process because it is very comprehensive. Evaluation of the research information will involve an assessment of the accuracy of the decisions made and response from the market. For instance, positive feedback will indicate that the company identified the real needs of the market. Clean-So will conduct the research on its own because it is relatively cheap.

Serious Reflection and Critical Thinking Through Understanding the Use Essay - 1

Serious Reflection and Critical Thinking Through Understanding the Use of Social Media - Essay Example Initially, students used to meet and discuss issues in an attempt to come up with a conclusion. Personal interactions encouraged students to tackle challenging issues through intensive research. In addition, through one-on-one interactions, it was easy to divide the roles and support each other in a specific task. This encouraged the students to think critically in order to support the rest of the group members. However, this is not the case. The students are currently using social media and other instant communication methods to communicate with each other while completing a task. This has made it very hard for them to think critically as a group and reflect on the issues at hand. College students can practice serious reflection in our always connected and instantaneous world through regulating their own time. Time management has become a major issue with the modern communication methods. Therefore, in order to ensure that there no frequent interruptions which affect the studentâ₠¬â„¢s reflection and critical thinking, they need to come up with a strict plan on when and how to use the social media and other instantaneous communication methods (Biagi 2012). For instance, they need to switch off some of the gadgets they use in communication while in group discussions or conducting research. This would make it possible for them to reflect and re-imagine the issue at hand. The students should embrace group work rather than individual assignments. Group discussions are very significant in enabling the students to brainstorm ideas.

Journal Entry 14 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal Entry 14 - Coursework Example The second stage involves discussion between the instructor and the student whereby the importance of effort and motivation in writing is encouraged. Thereafter, the instructor comes up with a model on how to employ self-regulation strategies to reflect the needs of the student and match their personal writing style. The student is encouraged to memorize the strategy steps and the teacher in turn supports the writing strategy of the student to ensure that they achieve their goals. Independent performance is the last stage whereby students can now use the strategy they developed effectively and independently. In this last stage of independent performance, there are several procedures for endorsing preservation and simplification throughout the model. Some of the procedures include prompts to use the strategies, recognizing opportunities in employing self-regulation strategies, studying how the procedure can be adapted in certain situations, allocating assignments to the students in using the recognized situations and assessing the triumph of such undertakings (Graham & Harris,

Abortion as an Ethical Issue Essay Example for Free

Abortion as an Ethical Issue Essay In our everyday lives, we have to deal with a variety of different ethical issues. We as individuals with our different thought processes deal and view with these issues in different ways. Abortion is one of the most controversial ethical issues within the health care profession. Abortion is a topic that can cause heated ethical discussions within the healthcare community. Abortion contains legal and ethical issue. Abortion mean ending a pregnancy before the fetus (unborn child) can live independently outside the mother. An induced or â€Å"therapeutic† abortion is caused deliberately in order to end the pregnancy. The practice of abortion is legal in the United States. Abortion law has many sources-constitutions, legislative statues, administrative regulations, and court decisions. The foundation of abortion law is the United States Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court (McBride, 2008). Constitutional law does not directly regulate abortion, but it sets limits on the powers of the states and the federal government to regulate abortion. The authority to regulate abortion has been reserved to the states by the Constitution because Article I, which covers the legislative branch. This does not give Congress explicit authority to regulate medical practice. Nonetheless, Congress does get involved in abortion policy through its power to spend money and regulate interstate commerce (McBride, 2008). The Court has established this constitutional law of abortion through a series of decision, called case law, especially Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. States do not have constitutional authority to prohibit the medical practice of abortion before the fetus is viable; any laws that make abortion criminal before viability would be unconstitutional. After viability, that is, when an unborn child is able to live on its own outside the mother, state governments have the authority, but not the obligation, to prohibit abortion, except when medical judgment decides that abortion is necessary to save the life or health of the mother (McBride, 2008). This means that abortion is legal in the United States without condition before the fetus is viable. After viability, abortion is prohibited in some but not all states except when the health or life of the mother is in danger. Roe v. Wade gave strength to a woman’s right to privacy in the context of matters relating to he own body (Pozgar, 2008). This would include how a pregnancy would end. The Supreme Court also has recognized the interest of the states in protection potential life and has attempted to spell out the extent to which the states may regulate and even prohibit abortions. In Roe v. Wade, the United States Supreme Court held the Texas penal abortion law unconstitutional, stating this: â€Å"State criminal abortion statutes†¦that except from criminality only a lifesaving procedure on behalf of the mother, without regard to the stage of her pregnancy and other interests involved is violating the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Pozgar, 2008). With Doe v. Bolton, the Supreme Court went on to describe what regulatory measures a state lawfully may perform during the three stages of pregnancy. In the companion decisions, Doe v. Bolton, where the Court considered a constitutional attack on the Georgia abortion statute, further restrictions were placed on state regulation of the procedure. The provisions of the Georgia statute establishing residency requirements for women seeking abortions and requiring that the procedure be performed in a hospital accredited by The Joint Commission were declared constitutionally invalid (Pozgar, 2008). In the case law Planned Parenthood v. Casey the Supreme court affirmed Pennsylvania law restricting a woman’s right to abortion. The Court was one vote shy of overturning Roe v Wade. The Supreme Court ruling, as enunciated in Roe v. Wade reaffirmed: The constitutional right of women to have an abortion before viability of the fetus, as first enunciated in Roe v. Wade. The state’s power to restrict abortions after fetal viability so long as the law contains exceptions for pregnancies that endanger a woman’s life or health. The principle that the state has legitimate interests from the outset of the pregnancy in protecting the health of the woman and the life of the fetus. About three years ago, a difficult situation presented itself upon me. I was sitting in the doctor’s office six weeks after giving birth to my first-born. I was there to get my Mirena ® birth control. The doctor walks in and asks me if it could be possible that I was pregnant. I told her no I received birth control Depo-Provera ® right before being discharged from the hospital. The doctor then says well let me have my nurse do a blood test so that we can know for sure, and make sure it’s not just a chemical pregnancy. A couple of days passed and I return to the doctor’s office to receive my results. My doctor tells me what I had been dreading. I was pregnant again with our second child. I went home with my newborn and I cried until my husband came home from work. I cried because this news was much unexpected. We had carefully planned the timing for our first-born. We were in a perfect financial situation to be able to commit to one child. Two infants would really be pushing our financial limits. I was thinking how unfair this was. I had taken every precaution to ensure that I would not get pregnant, but I somehow ended up pregnant. When my husband came home that afternoon I was still crying, and I explained the whole situation to him. My husband was overjoyed at the news of having another child. I was confused by his emotions because I thought he would be feeling overwhelmed as I was. After I told my husband, I also told him that I was planning to get an abortion. He wanted to know the reasoning behind my decision. I told him that we were only financially equipped for one child, but two children would cause a financial burden. I refused to bring a child into this world knowing that I could not financially take care of that child. I know that people are quick to say why not give the child up for adoption. Anyone who can say that I know they have never experienced a pregnancy before. Could you imagine the emotional distress of having to give up a child that you have carried around and nurtured from almost ten months? You would also be giving your child up to a couple that you would probably only get to see after passing the baby along. Also, imagine the emotional aspects of the child. The child would be thinking about how their birth parents were able to give them away. My husband and I talked over the financial aspect over it, and decided with help from various family members that we could survive. We would just have to make sacrifices within our everyday lives. During my sonogram appointment when I was four months pregnant I received another dose of bad news. At first the doctor saw what he thought were cysts on the brain. The doctor then told me that I should terminate the pregnancy because of the difficult life the child was about to go through. I thought long and hard about what the doctor was saying. I felt like I had a strong support system that would help me get through any obstacle that life throws my way. Finally, the birth of my youngest takes place, and she was diagnosed with Lissencephaly. Lissencephaly is the condition of having a smooth cerebrum without convolutions(Merriam-Webster). Before we were discharged from the hospital, my husband and I were told to take her home, and treat her as if she is normal, and not to expect her to live past three months old. My daughter just had her third birthday May 5. This is why I have a deontology view on abortion. The deontology view is compatible to the abortion pro-choice decision. Utilitarianism really does not have a lot to say on this issue because there are too many other issues tied into the ethical issue. They would probably have arguments about if the fetus is a person or even if someone has the right to determine what goes on in their own body. They would also argue about if it were okay to kill a baby why not an adult. In my opinion, these are two different topics. We would assume through virtue ethics that killing a human adult is wrong. Don’t get me wrong killing an adult human is wrong because that is life that has already been birthed, and established. Abortion should be a choice that we are able to make on our own. This is my body I should be able to freely decide what to do with it. We are able to freely tattoo and pierce our bodies without any type of interference from the government. So why can I not make a decision to end a pregnancy that I carefully tried to avoid. I also feel that abortion when done early on in the pregnancy would not cause any harm to the fetus. According to pregnancy. rg a fetuses nervous system does not develop until after five weeks into the pregnancy. After that period the baby has already began to develop major organs and the nervous system. An egoist view on abortion would be based on one question. According to socyberty. com, an egoist would focus on what will be in her best interest. This would not mean the woman is selfish or self-centered. For example, maybe the women would be in a predicament where she would be a single mom. On the other hand, maybe she has not emotional of financial support to help er care for the child. In her case, her best interest would be to abort the child because it is in her best interest. Egoism states that everyone should act in her or her own self interest, regardless of the interest of others, unless their interest also serve as hers(http://socyberty. com/issues/abortion-an-ethical-analysis/). With the abortion this women can now complete her education. Others might argue that she could have just gotten a job, and still have been able to attend school. When making decisions you need to think of every possible scenario. What is there is a complication early in the pregnancy that requires complete bed rest or hospitalization. If this were to happen, where would her income come from? She would have to drop out of school. She would then have six months to get back into school or she would have to begin the repayment of her student loans. How can she do any of this without financial support? There are several ethical views on abortion. All the different views would explain why or why not to have an abortion. Abortion can be a controversial ethical topic. No one person will ever have the same stance on the topic. It is one of those topics when you just have to agree to disagree. You will just have to respect and listen to the opinions that others have on this ethical issue.