Discussion board reply Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Discussion board reply - Assignment Example do not understand that in the fast paced global operations within business sector, it is significant to appoint HR policies that are competitive and goal-oriented. Thus, with the implication of HRD, many organizations can bring betterment in their working schema (Gilmore & Williams, 2012). The post also incorporates the challenges that the chosen company may undergo. This can surely be followed as a roadmap when it would come to selecting HRD implicated approaches. The core compliance of the policies of HRD with employment population and diversity remains yet another significant pointer that has been discussed in a very effective manner. I would like to provide an addition to the written post i.e. HRD implication to any organization needs a thorough evaluation. It is not easier to conduct HR policies until or unless a thorough research is undertaken regarding the working asset of the company i.e. its workforce which remains widely diversified and effective (Gilmore & Williams,

Biblical Counseling Essay Example for Free

Biblical Counseling Essay The term biblical counseling never appear anywhere in the Bible, thus creating the dilemma defining the term. However, the words such as counsel, wisdom, and advice do appear. Walter A. Elwell (1988) defines counsel as â€Å"advice† especially legal matters. † It was derived from the Latin word consilium from con-solere meaning to consult. Counseling therefore means consultation for an advice. The Eerdsman Bible Dictionary noted that counselors were commonly employed at the royal court. The Vines expository Dictionary of the Biblical Words stated that the Greek word sumboulion for ‘counsel’ denotes a task â€Å"given, taken, and acted upon† such as in Matthew 12: 14 where the Pharisees devised a plan after conferring with one another against Jesus Christ, and finally executed that plan. Vines Completely Expository Dictionary stated that the word counsel was used throughout the history of the Hebrew language. The Hebrew word yaas, to counsel was first used in Exodus 18:19 where Jethro says: â€Å"Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring your dispute to Him. † In the passage, the word advice was used synonymously with the word counsel. Thus, Jethro counseled Moses. Citing the works of Jay Adams, Dr. Larry Crabb and Lawrence Crabb (1997) stated that the Greek word noutheteo includes the idea of verbal, directive, instructive confrontation (p. 147). One particular case attesting to this was in 2nd Samuel chapter 12:1-13, in whom King David was confronted by Prophet Nathan over his crime of adultery and murder. Crabb noted that in Colossians 1:28 Paul mention that he nouthetically â€Å"confronts people in an effort to promote their maturity† (p. 148). However, it appears that in the Old Testament, the use of the word counsel does not primarily denote divine purpose. Indeed, most of its uses in the Old Testament were either political or military advices to kings which were meant for the destruction of their enemies. The particular case where in counseling was used for divine purpose was in exodus 18:19 when Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law advised him on how he could effectively serve the people with justice. The word ‘wisdom on the other hand, was derived from Hebrew Hokma and Greek Sophia which according to J. D. Douglas and Mirrel C. Tenney only comes from God. Douglas and Tenney stated that â€Å"God is the source of wisdom and wisdom is the infinitely comprehension of all that is or might be† as mentioned by the apostle Paul in Romans 11:33-36, (p. 1066). Job 28:28 and Proverbs 1: 7 both teach that wisdom is given by God to people through the â€Å"fear of the Lord. Exodus 28:3 states that the wisdom given by God to man is manifested by their skills. This was clearly confirmed by God in Exodus 31: 1-3 wherein God said â€Å"†¦and I have filled with him the Spirit of God with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craft†¦. † The main word hokma for wisdom (used 146 times in the Bible) means understanding. The other Greek word, Tushiyya – used only a few times meaning â€Å"sound wisdom† while the adjective hakam â€Å"wise† is used 102 times, as wise men 15 times. In the book of Ecclesiastes, wisdom is considered â€Å"in contrast to other as a possible highest goal of life but is not desirable rather it is rejected. This is clearly reflected by in the following verses in the book of Ecclesiastes. Chapter 2:16 states: â€Å"For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool the wise man too must die. † Another verse that particularly talks about the similarity of the culmination of one’s life both the wise and fool is depicted in Ecclesiastes 9:17-18; as stated: â€Å"The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than a shout of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war but one sinner destroys much good. † The Greek Sophia for wisdom is used with reference to: (a) God Romans 3:33 and I Corinthians 1:21 (b) Christ – Matthew 13:54 and Mark 6:2; (c) Human wisdom Another Greek word for wisdom is Phronesis, meaning understanding, that is, prudence. Vines Dictionary stated that â€Å"while Sophia is the insight into the true nature of things, Phronesis is the ability to discern modes of actions with the view to their results. Sophia is theoretical and Phronesis is practical. In Exodus 28: 3, God directed Moses to make sacred garment for Aaron through the men whom God had given wisdom. This was also the case in chapter 31 of the same book wherein God instructed Moses to summon Bezalel son of Ur and Oholiab, son of Ahisamach both were skilled in all crafts, to make the tent of meeting between the people and God. These passages clearly involve the concepts above. Unfortunately, the word advice and plan does not appear in any biblical reference materials so there seemed to be no way to include them in the word study. The range of situations involving these concepts Biblical counseling according to Ed Welch is â€Å"as old as the history† of mankind and will thrive through out the next generations. Welch noted that it started with God speaking to his people (Welch, p. 2). In the Bible times, counseling was either for good or for bad purpose. Elwell noted that the task of a counselor in the royal court was â€Å"like a United States cabinet member today. † Biblical counselors of David and Absalom such as Ahitophel and Hushai held this position and were regarded not only as very influential in the king’s decision makings, but their counsel were held as â€Å"the oracle of God by the people, as mentioned in 2nd Samuel 16:23. However, in chapter 17 verses 1 to 14 of the same Bible book, the counsel given by both Ahitophel and Hushai was meant for the destruction of both David and Absalom. Ahitophel counseled Absalom to attack the fleeing and weary David to destroy him for Absalom to be able to consolidate all people of Israel. However this advice was frustrated by Hushai and gave his version of plot against David, which in effect was meant to bring disaster on Absalom verse 14. In the Old Testament, counseling was employed by kings as a form of political and military scheme as can be noted in many occasions such in 1st Samuel chapter 28 where King Saul sought counsel from a witch at Endor because of the great armies he was about to face in war. This was also the occasion with Absalom concerning the consolidation of his kingdom after David fled from the palace to escape from Absalom. Earlier, in the book of Judges Chapter 4, Israel’s leader named Barak also sought counsel from a prophetess named Devorah on whether he should go up against his enemies. Counseling occupy prominent role both in the political and military adventures of kings in the Bible times but was seldom employed for spiritual purpose. Two situations in the Bible that use the biblical data as support The New Testament may not have many situations wherein these cases had been vividly using the biblical data above as support. Nevertheless, one particular situation perhaps, is found in I Kings 3: 16-28 concerning the wise ruling of Solomon. The passage tells about two prostitutes living in the same house and who had given both birth of a son. Unfortunately, one of the children died and each of the mothers was claiming the baby alive. The dilemma of the case was that there was no one in the house except the two of them, when the problem occurred. When the case was brought to King Solomon, he rendered a sound judgment giving the live infant to his true mother. The Wisdom of Solomon was generally held a God-given wisdom. 1st Kings Chapter 3 deals about Solomon’s wisdom which he got from the Lord. In this case, Solomon’s counseling was based on the wisdom God has given. The second situation is found in the book of Acts 23: 12-15. In this case, Paul was a prisoner in Jerusalem on account of his preaching the gospel of Christ. Verse 12 tells us that some forty men formed a conspiracy against Paul. Their intention was to kill Paul, so they went to religious authorities to consult their plan and to finalize the details in which the religious leaders will petition the commander in charge of Paul to bring him to them â€Å"on the pretext of wanting more accurate information. † These men will then ambush the party along the way. Parallel to this, it could be noted that Ahitophel’s counsel to Absalom was about David’s destruction, and Hushai’s advice was a conspiracy with David to frustrate Ahitophel’s advice to bring disaster on Absalom. Either way leads to destruction of either of David or Absalom. The scenario maybe different, but the ethics of counseling involved was just the same. It had the intention to destroy just as the counsel given by Ahitophel to destroy David or the counsel given by Hushai to bring disaster on Absalom. The ethics involved is therefore bad ethics. According to Matthew Heney’s Commentary, Ahitophel gave Absalom a wicked counsel. The commentary goes: â€Å"Ahitophel counseled him to do wickedly, and so did as effectually betrayed him as he did who was designedly false, to him for those that advice men to sin certainly advise them to their hurt and that government which is founded in sin is founded in the sand† (commentary on II Samuel chapter 18) The advice given by those fanatical men designed to kill Paul was acted upon by the religious leaders corresponding to the Greek sumbulion which implies action. Although the advises given were not meant to solve one’s problem, but given the concept of counseling above, it was quite clear that biblical counseling, or the counseling done by the biblical people were usually political and had destructive intent against the person or the people the counseling was directed. This was also true with the advice given by Balaam to King Balak in Numbers chapter 22, when he was summoned to curse Israel so he could defeat them in battle. The Bible tells us that an angel of God appeared to him and warned him not to curse Israel instead, he should pronounced blessings, or he be killed by the angel. According to commentaries, although he pronounced blessings for Israel, he also counseled Balak to entice Israel to commit sin (Numbers 31:15-16).

The Major Components Of Green Computing Information Technology Essay

The Major Components Of Green Computing Information Technology Essay As IT has become a major component in social infrastructure, it plays a vital role in humans life. Computing is a fast growing area which consumes energy a lot. A computer which performs well consumes lots of energy. It takes a lot of energy to create, package and retrieve data. With the development of the technologies, people tend to depend on these technologies more and more. It will lead us to many problems as energy is a non renewable resource. It will soon cost more to power a computer in future, than buying a new one today. Therefore we have to find methods, where we can minimize the wastage of energy while utilizing existing resources efficiently. Since computer plays a major role in our lives, demand for the energy, cost and wastage also increase dramatically. According to the Climate Saving Computing Initiative, the half of the power input to our PC is wasted without even reaching to the processor, memory, disk or any other component. Further, they have identified that added heat of the computer systems, inactive sleep and hibernate state of the computer and mal practices of using electronic equipments has a great impact in this energy wastage. It is estimated that out of $250 billion per year spent on powering computers worldwide only about 15% of that power is spent computing. The rest is wasted idling. Therefore, Green Computing is introduced in order to maximize the energy efficiency and increase the recyclability of products and the factory waste. Green Computing is focusing on creating technologies that help to preserve nature and minimize the bad effects of the technological development. Overview Green Computing is an echo friendly approach to the modern computing environment. It discusses about the ways of using computers in environmental friendly way. Â  The main focus of Green computing is reducing the environmental impact of industrial processes and innovative technologies caused by the Earths growing population and the ways of utilizing computer resources efficiently. It talks about serving social needs in a way which reduce the damage happen to the nature. Mainly this is talking about creating recyclable products, reducing pollution, providing alternatives to certain technological areas and etc. It is a concept which is already used in the IT environment. Researchers have found that most of the computers are not used for most of the time, but they are left running and many personal computers are left on unnecessarily. It leads to the high wastage of energy. These kinds of issues are also considered in Green Computing. It also talks about proper disposal of electronic w aste. Eco Friendly Computing Green Computing is also known as Green IT. Environmental sustainability, Energy efficiency, and the cost of disposal and recycling also includes in Green IT. History The Energy Star program commenced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 was the first voluntary labelling program designed to promote and recognize energy efficiency. It is basically designed to promote and recognize energy efficiency in monitors, climate control equipments and other technologies. The term Green Computing immerged shortly after this Energy Star Program. The first function launched as a result of the Green Computing researches was the sleep mode function of computer monitor. Approaches to Green Computing In order to gain the environmental sustainability and efficient use of energy through computing there are four main paths to be taken. Green Use Using the computers and other related products in an efficient manner where the energy consumption is minimized. Green Disposal Reusing old computers, properly disposing and recycling other unwanted products. Green Design Designing energy efficient and environmentally friendly computers and accessories. Green Manufacturing Manufacturing computers and other related equipments in a way that they have a minimal effect to the environment. These four steps can be further spanned in to number of activities and areas. Efficient use of energy Power saving Server virtualization Environmental sustainable designing Responsible disposal and recycle Risk mitigation Use of renewable energy sources Eco- labelling Use of Green methodologies and assessment tools. As an initial step to the Green Computing the work habits of the individual computer users have to be changed. Most of the energy wastages regarding the personal computer usage happen because of the false beliefs regarding the computer usage. For an instance, people belief that when turning off a computer and turning on it back uses more energy than it leaving on. But the actual energy consumption of the computer when it boots up, is far less than the energy it uses when left on for more than three minutes. Further the use of notebook computers rather than using personal computers will also save energy. Moreover, people think that screen savers do save energy. But the fact is that they are designed to increase the lifetime of monochrome monitors. The screen savers will save energy if they actually turn off the screen or turn off the backlight of the laptops. By letting the users get to know about these facts will change their habits and it will lead to power utilization. When it comes to organizational level, many organizations have undertaken various kinds of activities as an approach to this Green IT. Telecommuting Virtualization VoIP Organizations have allowed their workers to work while being at home. This will help to reduce fuel emission at transportation. They are given all the necessary facilities to work. This is known as telecommuting. Virtualization refers to the consolidation of servers. It allows to two or more logical computer systems to run in one physical hardware. This leads minimum power consumption and maximum cooling. VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is a technology of voice transmission over internet or other packet switched networks. It reduces the telephone wiring infrastructure and is low cost. It is method of reducing metallic waste. Green business practices Green IT isnt just about energy efficiencies but also about operational efficiencies that can improve the organization. In most of the organizations, Green IT is practiced because of the explicit business drivers such as cost and the availability of the energy, cost of the equipments, cost of the data centres, business process optimization and performance and efficiency. When focusing on business optimization, few areas can be targeted which energy demand can be reduced and growth can be increased with the help of IT. Server and storage utilization and consolidation Server, storage, and application virtualization Technology and information life cycle strategies Energy measurement and management Green Information Strategy Under Green Information Strategy, the ways of managing and retaining information has been defined. The ways of collecting, classifying and archiving information are introduced in Green Information Strategy. It involves several key steps: Understanding the requirements for information retention and availability. Determining infrastructure requirements. Conducting continual strategic planning to meet economic and business conditions and demand. Measuring progress and adjusting the strategies. Information Lifecycle Management is a set of concepts which helps organizations to build processes and implement best practices for creating, storing, archiving, and dispose data. A variety of technologies and methodologies can be used in order to optimize the storage utilization. Then the amount of storage required and the energy used to power will be reduced. Maximizing data centre and server room efficiency Designing a data centre for maximum efficiency is complex and requires input from many disciplines not normally associated with IT. But most of the organizations dont have data centres. They have their IT equipments in a sever room. Server room is a data centre operated in a small scale. Here are few facts that have to be considered when designing a server room. Raised floor in computer rooms was the general accepted norm since vacuum tube era. Variable speed motors can tailor cooling power usage to need, producing substantial savings, and may prove less expensive in the long run though they are more expensive to purchase. The trend in servers is to pack more CPUs in to a single track. But when power densities get above 200 watts per square foot, because of the high heat generated, too much air is needed to remove the heat. Therefore racks (19-inch EIA-310-D standard) with built-in chillers or even water-cooled servers, become preferable. Use a large server. Replace physical servers with virtual servers. Blade servers Blade servers put each processor, memory and hard drive on one single card called blade. These blades are fixed in to a backplane. A single power supply, a shared cooling system, a shared network interface is used among the blades, which connected to a backplane. Replacing multiple servers with blade servers generally saves power and space. Green Storage Storage systems are among the systems which consume power and storage a lot. Drivers have to be full powered and running to be able to store data. Data Deduplication Data Deduplication is the term used for removing the duplicates. It examines the hard drive or the storage system and find out the duplicates and remove them. It effectively reduces the storage allocated for certain data file and allocates it to other additional data. It increases the capacity of your system. Thin Provisioning Thin provisioning is allocating right amount of storage is as needed. It helps to eliminate unused capacity. Storage can be used efficiently by allocating the required storage when it is needed and using storage management software to adjust it. As the storage is dynamically allocated the storage can be grown or shrink according to the application stored. Further storage management software can view applications simultaneously and allocate unused capacity as needed. Storage Virtualization Storage virtualization gets all the available capacity together from multiple storage systems and enables it to share, without requiring a change in storage hardware. By enabling sharing it avoids the trapped capacity, which is available but cannot be used by an application. Using Virtualization Multiple applications and multiple Operating systems can be run simultaneously with the use of virtual memory technology. Virtualization increases the utilization of computer systems by condensing applications into few servers. Therefore the number of required servers will be reduced. It reduced the power consumption of the data centres and the cooling requirements. Virtualization is one of the earliest paths to green, because when more than one application is run on a server (application consolidation) the number of servers required to support these applications is reduced. Fewer servers mean less power consumption and low energy requirement for cooling. Future Directions on Green Computing

Factors Affecting Organisational Environment

Factors Affecting Organisational Environment One of the factors that affects organization-environment relationships is environmental change and complexity. The environment can be described along two dimensions which are its degree of change and its degree of homogeneity. The degree of change is the extent to which the environment is relatively stable or relatively dynamic. The degree of homogeneity of the environment is relatively simple (with some elements, a small portion) or complex (multi-element, much segmentation). These two aspects interact to determine the uncertainty facing the organization. The least environmental uncertainty is faced by organizations with stable and simple environments. The degree of homogeneity and the degree of change combine to create uncertainty for organizations. For example, a simple and stable environment creates the least uncertainty, and a complex and dynamic environment creates the most uncertainty. The University of Manchester provides exceptional learning environments which are highly int eractive online learning tools with our high quality, face to face teaching to provide all the students with a richer learning experience. The University of Manchester committed to creating contemporary, technology-rich and learning specs that bring students into the heart of a required learning experience through their investment in their campus and facilities. And they have the largest collection of books electronic resources of any UK university, and extensive coverage of Wi-Fi on campus. The university library is one of the largest and best-resourced in the UK. With more than four millions books, it also provides a collection of electronic resources unrivalled by any other British university. Professional library stuff provides every student with a full introduction to services, resources and how to make the most of them, and are also on hand throughout your time at the university to provide advice, training and help whenever you need it. And of course, if you have any special needs, facilities and help are provided here too. Manchesters IT provision is constantly growing and being updated to satisfy the rigorous de mands of the most computer-literate of students. But even if youve never graduated beyond a games console, theres no cause for concern.    The University provides guidance, training and support to help you keep abreast of the latest computer programmes and electronic information resources. When you become a student at Manchester, you will be registered for email, file storage and internet access. Computer clusters pepper the campus, many within individual Schools and halls of residence. The biggest computer clusters are located in the main Library and George Kenyon Building. Several of these clusters are open 24 hours a day. More powerful workstations are available to support specialist research applications. Organizations with dynamic but simple environment generally face a moderate degree of uncertainty. Examples of organizations functioning in such environments include music producers (catering faces relatively few competitors (diesel, Lee, and Wrangler), has few suppliers and few regulators and uses limited distribution channels. This relatively simple task environment, but also changes very rapidly as competitors a djust prices and styles, changing consumer tastes and new fabrics become available. Another combination of factors is one of stability and complexity. Toyota, Honda and Nissan face these basic conditions. After all, they must interact with consumer groups, regulators, suppliers and competitors. However, occurs quite slowly in the automobile industry. It is just like how the University of Manchester used the same concept of the environmental change and complexity. The second point of how environments affect organizations is competitive forces. Competitive forces is forces in the marketing environment or educational environment that are based on competition among customers and compete with other firms. As the organization looks out at its business environment, competition is a critical factor. Who is buying goods and services and who is providing them to those customers? Are there many competitors or are there just a few? Maybe none. Knowing what competitive forces exist helps an orga nization develop strategic planning to attract customers. As for the university, the university has a very high-quality research profile. In the first national assessment of higher education research since the universitys founding, the 2008  Research Assessment Exercise, the University of Manchester came 3rd in terms of research power after Cambridge and Oxford and 6th for grade point average quality (8th when including specialist institutions).    Accordingly, Manchester enjoys the largest amount of research funding behind Oxbridge, UCL and Imperial  (these five universities being informally referred to as the golden diamond of research-intensive UK institutions). Manchester also has a particularly strong presence in terms of funding from the three main UK research councils,   EPSRC, MRC  and  BBSRC, being ranked 3rd, 7th  and 1st  respectively. In addition, the university is also one of the richest in the UK in terms of income and interest from endowments: at a recent rank, it was placed at 3rd place behind Oxbridge. Historically, Manchester has been linked with high scientific achievement: the university and its constituent former institutions combined had  25 Nobel Laureates  among their students and staff, the third largest number of any single university in the United Kingdom behind  Oxford  and  Cambridge; in fact, excluding Oxbridge, Manchester has graduated more  Nobel laureates  than any othe r university in the UK. Furthermore, according to an academic poll two of the top ten discoveries by university academics and researchers were made at the University (namely the first working computer and the contraceptive pill). The university currently employs 4 Nobel Prize winners amongst its staff, more than any other in the UK. The 2009  THE-QS World University Rankings  found Manchester overall 26th in the world and 5th by employer reviews by receiving a maximum 100% rating which the university has retained since 2008. The separate 2010  QS World University Rankings  (in 2010  Times Higher Education World University Rankings  and  QS World University Rankings  parted ways to produce separate rankings) found that Manchester had slipped to 30th in the world. The  Academic Ranking of World Universities  2008 published by the Institute of Higher Education of  Shanghai Jiao Tong University  ranked Manchester 5th in the UK, 6th in Europe and 40th in the world . After several years of steady progress, Manchester fell back in 2009 to 41st in the world and 7th in Europe, falling back further to 44th in the world and 9th in Europe in 2010. Excluding US universities, Manchester is ranked 13th and 11th in the world for 2009 by THES and ARWU respectively. According to the ARWU rankings, the university is ranked 9th in Europe for natural sciences and 4th in engineering. Similarly the  HEEACT  2009 rankings for scientific performance place Manchester 5th in Europe for engineering, 8th for natural sciences  and 3rd for social sciences. And finally THES ranks Manchester 6th in Europe for technology, 10th for life sciences  and 7th for social sciences. More recently a survey by the Times Higher Education Supplement has shown that Manchester is placed 6th in Europe in the area of Psychology Psychiatry. According to a further ranking by SCImago Research Group Manchester is ranked 8th in Europe amongst higher education institutions in terms of sheer research output. In terms of research impact, a further ranking places Manchester 6th in Europe. According to the High Fliers Research Limiteds survey, University of Manchester students are being targeted by more top recruiters for graduate vacancies than any other UK university students for three consecutive years (2007-2009). Furthermore, the university has been ranked joint 20th in the world for 2009 according to the Professional Ranking of World Universities. Its main compilation criterion is the number of Chief Executive Officers (or number 1 executive equivalent) which are among the 500 leading worldwide companies as measured by revenue who studied in each university. The ranking places the University only behind Oxford nationally. Manchester is ranked 5th among British universities according to a popularity ranking which is based on the degree of traffic that a universitys website attracts. Also, a further report places Manchester among the top 20 universities outside the US. At a recent ranking undertaken by the Guardian, Manchester is placed 5th in the UK in internation al reputation behind the usual four: Oxbridge, UCL and Imperial. However, while as a rule world rankings (such as the ARWU, THES and HEEACT) typically place the university within the top 10 in Europe, national studies are less complimentary; The Times Good University Guide 2011 ranked Manchester 30th out of 113 Universities in the UK, The Complete University Guide2011 in association with The Independent placed it at 31st out of 115 universities whilst The Guardian University Guide 2011 ranked Manchester at 51st out of 118 universities in the UK. This apparent paradox is mainly a reflection of the different ranking methodologies employed by each listing: global rankings focus on research and international prestige, whereas national rankings are largely based on teaching and the student experience. The last point on how environments affect organizations is environmental turbulence. Environmental turbulence refers to the amount of change and complexity in the environment of a company. The greater the amount of change in environmental factors, such as technology and governmental regulations, and the greater the number of environmental factors that must be considered, the higher the level of environmental turbulence. For many reasons, environmental volatility and instability have been increasing for the past 100 years. Although often experience unexpected changes and upheavals, the five could still compete for the review and evaluation system, and development plans to address these issues.   At the same time, despite the changes in the environment or the occasional long-wave instability is not the most common form of the organization warned, there may be some form of crisis. One of the crisis is to get the attention of managers in recent years is workplace violence-situations in which disgruntled workers or former workers assault other employees, resulting often in injury and sometimes in death. The recession began in 2009 and concerns about the H1N1 (swine) flu virus in 2009 are other recent examples. The impact of crisis affects the organizations in different ways, and some organizations have developed crisis plans and teams. For example, during the H1N1 virus scare in 2009, one investigation reported that only 27 per cent of all United States employers had their plans for dealing with such a potential health crisis. In view of numerous problems, difficulties, and the environment in an organization, how should the organization adapt? Clearly, each organization must assess its own unique situation and adapt according to the wisdom of its senior management. Organizations attempt to their environments. The most common methods are information management; strategic response; mergers, acquisitions, and alliances; organization design and flexibility; direct influence; and social responsibility. One way in which organizations adapt to their environments is through information management. Information management  (IM) is the collection and management of  information  from one or more sources and the distribution of that information to one or more audiences. This sometimes involves those who have a stake in or a right to that information.   Management  means the organization of and control over the structure, processing and delivery of information. Throughout the 1970s this was largely limited to files, file maintenance, and the  life cycle management  of paper-based files, other media and records. With the proliferation of information technology starting in the 1970s, the job of information management took on a new light, and also began to include the field of  Data mainte nance. No longer was information management a simple job that could be performed by almost anyone. An understanding of the technology involved and the theory behind it became necessary. As information storage shifted to electronic means, this became more and more difficult. By the late 1990s when information was regularly disseminated across computer networks and by other electronic means, network managers, in a sense, became information managers. Those individuals found themselves tasked with increasingly complex tasks, hardware and software. With the latest tools available, information management has become a powerful resource and a large expense for many organizations. In short, information management entails organizing, retrieving, acquiring and maintaining information. It is closely related to and overlapping with the practice of Data Management. Other than information management, there is another way that an organization adapts to its environments is through a strategic respon se. If the market is growing rapidly as a company, the firm may decide to invest even more heavily in products and services for that market. Similarly, if the market is shrinking or without the possibility of reasonable growth, the company may decide to cut back. A related strategic approach that some organizations use to adapt to their environments involves mergers, acquisitions, and alliances. A merger is the combining of two or more companies, generally by offering the stockholders of one company securities in the acquiring company in exchange for the surrender of their stock. An  acquisition, also known as a  takeover  or a  buyout, is the buying of one company (the target) by another. Consolidation is when two companies combine together to form a new company altogether. An acquisition may be private or public, depending on whether the acquiree or merging company is or isnt listed in public markets. An acquisition may be  friendly  or hostile. Whether a purchase is p erceived as a friendly or hostile depends on how it is communicated to and received by the target companys board of directors, employees and shareholders. It is quite normal though for MA deal communications to take place in a so-called confidentiality bubble whereby information flows are restricted due to confidentiality agreements (Harwood, 2005). In the case of a friendly transaction, the companies cooperate in negotiations; in the case of a hostile deal, the takeover target is unwilling to be bought or the targets  board  has no prior knowledge of the offer. Hostile acquisitions can, and often do, turn friendly at the end, as the acquirer secures the endorsement of the transaction from the board of the acquired company. This usually requires an improvement in the terms of the offer. Acquisition usually refers to a purchase of a smaller firm by a larger one. Sometimes, however, a smaller firm will acquire management control of a larger or longer established company and keep i ts name for the combined entity. This is known as a  reverse takeover. Another type of acquisition is a reverse merger, a deal that enables a private company to get publicly listed in a short time period. A  reverse merger  occurs when a private company that has strong prospects and is eager to raise financing buys a publicly listed shell company, usually one with no business and limited assets.    Achieving acquisition success has proven to be very difficult, while various studies have shown that 50% of acquisitions were unsuccessful. The acquisition process is very complex, with many dimensions influencing its outcome. A  business alliance  is an agreement between businesses, usually motivated by cost reduction and improved service for the customer. Alliances are often bounded by a single agreement with equitable risk and opportunity share for all parties involved and are typically managed by an integrated project team. An example of this is  code sharing  in airline alliances. An organization may also adapt to environmental conditions by incorporating flexibility in its structural design. For example, a company in an uncertain business environment, relatively low levels may choose to use many of the basic rules, regulations and standard operating procedures of the design. The latter sometimes referred to as an organic design, is considerably more flexible and allow t he organization to respond quickly to environmental change. Organizations are not necessarily helpless in the face of their environments. In fact, many organizations are able to directly influence their environments in many different types of ways. The organization also influences their customers by creating new users for a product, stealing customers away from competitors, and also convincing customers that they need something more new and updated. Another way that an organization adapts to its environments is through social responsibility. Social responsibility  is the principle that companies should contribute to the welfare of society and not be solely devoted to maximizing profits. This responsibility can be negative, meaning there is an exemption from blame or liability, or it can be positive, meaning there is a responsibility to act beneficently (proactive stance). Specifically, social responsibility is the set of obligations an organization has to protect and enhance the societal context in which it functions. A number of organizations recognize that in all three areas of responsibility, every effort to meet each of them, while others emphasize only one or two areas of social responsibility. And a few acknowledge no social responsibility at all. In addition, the views of social responsibility vary in different countries.

Whose history, which narrator? :: Essays Papers

Whose history, which narrator? Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children can be read, inter alia, as the unfolding of the twentieth-century India’s history. There is in the novel, virtually all of the twentieth century Indian history: the Jallianwalla Buch tragedy, Quit India movement, Cabinet Mission, freedom movement, Muslim League and its role, riots and bloodshed subsequent to the independence, Five Years Plans, reorganization of Indian states and language riots, Chinese aggression, the theft of the sacred relic from the Hazratbal mosque, Pakistan War, liberation of Bangladesh, the Emergency, the military coup in Pakistan in 1958, and various other historically important events. There are also typically Indian divisions and dissents, chaos and disillusion, communal tensions, religious fanaticism besides traditional values and modernizing efforts. One aspect Rushdie places emphasis on, is the close link between the history of India and the history of Saleem’s family. In the end, the former can be read as a family album. Saleem’s uncle, Zulfikar, is a Pakistani general who helps General Ayub Khan to plan the military takeover of 1958; his aunt is a mistress of Homi Catrak, who is shot by the husband of Lila Sabarmati, another of his mistresses (Commander and Mrs. Nanavati in real life); his classmate Cyrus Dubash becomes the founder of a religious cult that seems to be an amalgam of Guru Maharaj and Hatha-yogi Lakshman Rao who claimed he could walk on water; Saleem himself triggers off one of the worst language riots in Bombay; his mother was first married to Shcikh Abdullah’s right-hand man; the disappearance of the Prophet’s Hair is linked to his grandfather. In addition, Saleem belongs to an extremely peculiar group of 1,001 children born within the very first hour of India’s independence, on the 15th of August 1947, and capable of performing paranormal phenomena. Saleem, thus becomes an authentic representative of India, he is India. Rushdie is convinced that there is a connection between public affairs and private lives. They interpenetrate and that is how the writer needs to examine them, the one in the context of the other. In the light of this consideration we can read the passage in which Saleem declares: Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have seen done, of everything done-to-me. I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I’ve gone which would not have happened if I had not come.

Pride and Vanity in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice Essay -- Jane Au

Pride and Vanity in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice      Ã‚   Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. In her novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen makes the point that an excess of pride or vanity is indeed a failing. Pride, observed Mary, . . . is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or another, real or imaginary. Pride and/or vanity is exhibited in different forms by each character. Those characters who can recognize their flaw emerge as the true heroes of the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In many minor characters of the novel, pride is a common characteristic. Mrs. Bennet, for instance, is extremely proud when it comes to her daughters marriages of mercenary advantage. She is so concerned that her neighbors have a high opinion of her that her own vanity will not even allow her to think of her daughters love and happiness. This is best shown with the case of Elizabeth Bennet's proposed marriage to the esteemed Mr. Collins, a man she did not love. Mrs. Bennet was so upset when her daughter refused Mr. Collins offer that she would not speak to her for passing up such an opportunity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We can see an example of pride for imaginary qualities in Mary Bennet who was herself the speaker of this passage. To the embarrassment of her family, Mary would take every chance she could to put on a show whenever in a public sit... ...s a flaw in their respective characters. Darcy realizes that he must check his pride in order to be seen in a good light by others. Elizabeth, the object of his affections, is so turned off by his prideful ways that a touch of vanity enables him to change himself for her. Elizabeth, while observing the transformations of Darcy, realizes that she, too, has been guilty of too much pride. She sees that she was indeed prejudiced and that she must come to terms with the failings of her family. Darcy and Elizabeth are able to overcome their pride which enables them to live happily ever after. Works Cited Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813. Ed. Donald Gray. New York: Norton and Co., 1993. Johnson, Claudia L. "Pride and Prejudice and the Pursuit of Happiness." Pride and Prejudice. By Jane Austen. Ed. Donald Gray. New York: Norton and Co., 1993. pp. 367-376.

Cost and Value of Providing Domestic Partner Benefits Essay

Employers worldwide are beginning to embrace the idea of a domestic partner employee by reorganizing their benefit packages to include coverage for domestic partners in order to stay competitive and retain current employees. Most often these benefits are an extension of the same ones offered to married employees. The only difference being that a marriage is not a requirement. Many are confused by what exactly a domestic partner is and readily assume it refers to an individual that is part of a same-sex relationship. When, in fact, it can refer to a variety of situations in which two people commit to and build a life together. Just as married couples do, they usually share bank accounts, financial obligations, home, meals, and a host of other things with one another. A domestic partner is defined as, â€Å"a person you live with and have sexual relations with, but are not married to† (Merriam-Webster.com, 2014). It was in 1986 that the living arrangements of a domestic partner were first described as two persons sharing a family household but are not joined in a traditional marriage, common-law marriage, or civil union. The rising cost of seeking medical attention is making it nearly impossible these days to live without insurance coverage. Not recognizing our employees that are in unmarried opposite and same sex relationships is creating unnecessary financial hardships and stress. Changing the current benefit plan to include domestic partners will create a happier more committed employee for the business. Happy employees are more productive and aid the bottom line. It is important to note, that if something should happen to an employee or their significant other that medical attention is easily and readily available; allowing the employee to return to work sooner. As an employer, we have a moral obligation to respond to the needs of our employees. We can start by allowing them to define in their own terms what a family is to them. Background MCJAR, Inc. has suffered due to the loss of three of their high ranking positions resigning. The reasoning behind their resignation was due to lack of benefits being offered to their domestic partners. As in all positions  the human resources person, Keri Miller, has posted the open position with much success. She had found three successful candidates to fill the positions with high qualifications, but all three had turned down the job once they learned about the lack of benefits being offered to those in domestic partnerships. Once finding out the candidates had turned down the positions, Ms. Miller had created a survey to give out to all employees to complete and turn in. The survey asked about how they felt about the current benefit package being offered to all employees at MCJAR, Inc. The results of the survey showed that those that were in a domestic relationship were unhappy of the benefits. That those in domestic partnerships are currently looking for work elsewhere because they feel they are not being treated fairly. Ms. Miller is understanding of the restriction on the benefits being offered due to the budget concerns. Ms. Miller also understands that the cost of the benefits may be minimal, just need to research the cost of adding domestic partnership benefits to the existing plan. Ms. Miller is also concerned to how the public will perceive the company unless the concerns of benefits being offered to those in a domestic partnership are resolved. Key Problems Primarily, the budget is already strained due to the comprehensive benefits package we currently offer our employees. We must carefully weigh the cost of providing benefits to those in a domestic partnership, not only for our current employees, but potential new hires as well. If we are to make room, where can we make these adjustments? Will they be from a specific department, from employees’ pay, or perhaps we need to scale down our benefits package to make room for additional benefactors. Each option we look at has many different consequences, we may lose employees or productivity due to our lack of foresight. In addition, we must consult and potentially alter our corporate policies and if possible those of Federal and State as well. Federal law will be the most simple to circumnavigate if there is any rebuttal, but having the proper documentation will be the key to success. State law will also require the same attention. Correct wording is crucial for ensuring equal authority and proper application of power of attorney. Lastly, we need to adjust the new benefits package to match the modified policies and procedures. This includes everything from  new hire training, corporate office signage, and our own interweb support. Finally, and most complicated is the reworking our benefits package with our health service providers, and insurance companies. We need to make sure that each person is covered with the same benefits. We also need to make sure that we can lower or maintain our current deductible with the increase in the number of patients being seen, and consequent incidents being filed. This process can take be lengthy at times and will be battled on two fronts. First is the unhappy employees without benefits, and the other is insurance companies fighting to make themselves greater profits. Solutions Providing domestic partner benefits will give the company a competitive edge, improve employee morale, and create an equal business environment, with minimal additional cost to the company’s already strained budget. According to the Fickewirth Benefits Advisors (2012), website the majority of the nation’s largest companies provide benefits to the domestic partners of their employees. This trend is increasing in order to retain and attract talented employees. A domestic partner benefit plan can yield to employee’s satisfaction and, therefore, produce a greater willingness to stay and recommend the company to others. This can be of great advantage because it can improve employee productivity. Employees will also feel that they have a safety net for their families thereby allowing them to better focus on work. Employers have raised the arguments about high cost, but despite such perception the overall cost of adding these benefits is quite low. In the end, implementing the new domestic partner plan will help this corporation to thrive. Solutions are listed as follows: Implementing a new domestic partner benefits plan for all employees Current employees are looking elsewhere since they have no access to domestic benefits. The way to rectify this problem is to implement domestic partner benefits plan. Before implementing this plan, Human Resource Director Keri Miller needs to have a private meeting with all managers involved in this matter along with a financial advisor. With everyone present, these topics can be thoroughly discussed and changed as needed, such as federal, state, and corporate policies or the application of a reasonable savings plan. Some existing benefits can be cut, but in the end the financial advisor will try to use the proper solutions to make sure the company is not affected in a negative  manner that can hurt the morale of employees, the company’s profit or production. An expert on the health benefits package needs to be also present in order to obtain the right guidance on how to rework the benefits plan with all health service providers and insurance companies. Executing things in this manner will ensure that the business can safely implement the new plan and be sure that it can afford to extend benefits to domestic partners. Once all issues are addressed and the plan is given approval, a meeting should be held to inform all employees. The companywide meeting will be arranged to discuss this issue with employees who have domestic partners and are interested in the plan. The Human Resources Director should direct the meeting along with other assistant managers that can assist employees after the meeting has ended. During this meeting, the new plan can be addressed and encouraging words used to assure employees that the company cares about them and their needs. It demonstrates that the company values equality among their employees. After the discussion, the manager can have a space of time for questions and answers. This encourages good communication between employees and managers. The assistant managers can have a few tables set up at the back of the room so that when the meeting has concluded employees that have more in depth questions or issues they can discuss them privately. Employees can obtain further guidance in the subject if needed and also have the opportunity to update and complete paperwork needed for enrollment in the new domestic partner benefits plan. As employees are exiting managers can hand out new surveys regarding the new benefits and turn them in the following day. This survey will ensure that the company has proper feedback from employees that state how satisfied they are with the changes being made to the benefits package. Modifications can then be made accordingly if needed, to ensure that employees are fully satisfied in this matter and all other areas as well. Having good communicatio n and treating everyone well will make certain that there is a positive work environment in the business and thus improving it greatly. Send letters to former employees informing them of new plan Following the implementation of the new domestic partner benefits plan, past employees who resigned due to this subject should also be informed and properly contacted. Letters can be sent to former employees notifying them  of the newly offered domestic partner benefits and extend an invitation for them to return to the company. Promote the recently implemented Domestic Partners Benefits Plan Publicize to all outside sources that a domestic partner benefit plan has been implemented. This includes updating the company’s website and other sources that promote employment for MCJAR Inc. The quick and timely release of this exciting information regarding the renovation of our company offered benefits may inspire many potential new hires to apply for employment opportunities and decrease the amount of current vacancies. As a result from all these changes, the company’s productivity and success will increase as a whole. Recommendations As a condition of employment, most employers require their employees to register for company provided benefits. It is recommended that MCJAR, Inc. develop a list of set criteria that would define an eligible domestic partnership. Common criteria used by many employers today are that the couple must live and maintain a home together for a minimum of six months and can provide proof. Next, financial interdependency must also be proved. They both must be at least 18 years of age and not legally married to anyone. MCJAR, Inc. has the leisure of choosing their own criteria and should do so as soon as possible. Offering domestic partner benefits will help MCJAR, Inc. reflect diversity as a company. It will also help recruit and retain employees, and boost employee satisfaction with very little additional cost. References Advisors, F. B. (2014). Fickewirth Benefits Advisors. Retrieved from Fickewirth Benefits Advisors: http://www.fickewirth.com/ask-an-expert.php?ask Astray-Caneda, E. E. (2011, Volume 40, No. 2). Offering Same-Sex Domestic Partner Benefits to Government Employees: Reasons, Examples, and Methods. Public Personnel Management, 89-97. Bevins, F. &. (2013, January). Making time management the organization’s priority. McKinsey Quarterly. Retrieved from Insights and Publications: http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/organization/making_time_management_the_organizations_priority hrc.org. (2014, May 12). Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved from hrc.org: http://www.hrc.org/ James Schaefer, M. (2009, Volume 12, Issue