Friday, November 15, 2019

In Which Of The 13 English Colonies Would You Have Preferred To Live? :: Informative, Personal Experience

I would have preferred to live in Pennsylvania out of all the thirteen colonies. Pennsylvania was a very prosperous colony due to the fact that everyone had economic opportunity. Also, the people had civil liberty, allowing them to surpass the other colonies that had multiple restrictions. In addition, they had religious freedom unlike other colonies. Pennsylvania had many great features compared to the other colonies. In Pennsylvania, progress was made toward social reform. No provisions had been made in order to receive military defense. This colony promoted peace. Also, no restrictions were placed on immigration, and naturalization was made easy, making it easier for new immigrants to move there. Many people in the colony disliked the idea of black slavery. Therefore, all of the social characteristics made it easier for the citizens to grasp the concept that there was no need for contradictions in social status. There were many economic opportunities in Pennsylvania. The soil was fertile and there was plenty of land. Grain was a big export here and earned Pennsylvania the title as one of the "bread colonies". The water was also very clean, which helped to prevent diseases. The economic characteristics of Pennsylvania helped the economy to prosper. Due to the fact that Pennsylvania was liberal, it helped it in politics, religion, and with ethnic ties. Pennsylvania had a representative assembly, voted by landowners. The colonists had freedom of worship and a "no tax-supported church". The rich mix of ethnic groups helped the colonists learn more about other cultures and also helped to bring forth new traditions. Therefore, liberation helped gain strength in the political, religious, and ethnic ties in Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Abraham & God Essay

Abraham is truly an exceptional man who completely surrendered his life to God’s will. However, while Abraham was a man of faith, he remained a man with flaws, asking God questions that implied confusions about the will of God and God’s omnipotence. For example, he laughed when God promised him that he will have offspring even in his old age. He also lied about Sarah being his wife for fear that he will be killed because of her and not trusting God will protect him. The greatest test, however, was when God asked him to sacrifice his only son. Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac to prove his love of God, and this should not be a question regarding his faith. But what of God who made a covenant with him stating the He will make a great nation out of Isaac? There is no doubt that God was testing Abraham. But what if Abraham had refused to sacrifice his son? Would that change what God had promised to Abraham regarding Isaac? This, to me, is a disturbing question regarding God’s purpose, and it is not an appealing image of God reconsidering His promise when His subject failed His test. See more:  Capital budgeting essay On the other hand, if Abraham was doing the sacrifice out of faith, then he would already know that God would not let the boy get any harm. How would God then fulfill his promise if Isaac was sacrificed? Knowing this, it would not be God who is really testing Abraham but the other way around. The story of God’s covenant to Abraham and God’s test to him, to me, does not really establish the faith of the religion but poses contradictions to divine purpose and the faith of the people. Credit #6 Jews and Christians look at the Messianic Prophecies on different context, hence while the other promote Jesus to be the messiah, the other reject him as such. Examining these contexts would allow us to understand why Jesus is accepted to be the messiah or not. The Jews believed the messiah to be human—not a god or a demigod. That the early Christians claim that Jesus was the Son of God and indeed a God himself made most of the Jews not accept him as the messiah. The Jews believe in only one God, hence the introduction of another, and a mere man claiming to be God, is seen as a heresy to the Jewish faith. The Jews believe that the messiah will unite all the Jews back to the land of Israel, reign in a time of world peace, and would be a great military leader. Jesus fulfilled none of these. However, the Christians believe that these prophesies will be fulfilled in Jesus’ second coming. On the other hand, the Jews believe that the prophecies will be fulfilled immediately and that there is no concept of a second coming. Hence, the Jews reject the idea of the second coming of Jesus. Other Messianic Prophecies have been justified by Christians to have been fulfilled by Jesus. The evangelists claim that, through Joseph the carpenter, Jesus was descended from the line of David, of which the messiah is said to come from. However, this claim is contradicted with the Christian doctrine of the virgin birth from which, strictly speaking, Jesus could not have been a direct descendant of David. The Christians also believe that Jesus have restored the temple, which they believe to refer to Jesus’ body, by his resurrection. On the other hand, the Jews believe that the messiah will be a strict observant of the Torah, which by all means and according to the accounts of the New Testament Jesus was not. Having said these, it is also important to note that the early Christians, as well as Jesus himself, were Jews. Accepting the teachings of the Apostles and disciples of Jesus depends on how one looks on messianic context. The fact that some Jews have accepted Jesus as their messiah while others clearly regarded him as a heretic and a threat to the Jewish faith proves this point. Jesus’ challenge to the Jewish law earned the right of the elders to suppress the sect that is slowly emerging. Considering however that Jesus lived an extraordinary life, with teachings of peace instead of being a war-like messiah, deserves credit for the Christian faith. Credit #7 Monasticism throughout the world shares a similar purpose—the renouncement of worldly pursuit in search for spiritual growth. Images of gods and holy men are usually present in monasteries. The Greek Orthodox Christianity justified the use of these images as â€Å"windows† to heaven. It is not these images that they praise, but those of which they represent, which are unseen. It is explained that the human body is comprised by two elements—the physical and the spirit—and that the physical part needs to see some representation of the divine and that the images are merely tools to help them in their journey. Monks practice strict compliance to the teachings of their religion, isolated from the city life, spending most of the day in prayer. Monks also have assigned chores they must perform. They were also expected to forget the physical element of their body for a while—getting sufficient for the body to have its strength needed for daily tasks, no shower, no shaving. There is limited conversation between monks—they spend each day in silence and contemplation and prayer. Furthermore, monks are taught to pray from the heart. One could only wonder whether these prayers are repeated, as if being recited. Whether or not this is the case, monks believe truly in their heart that they have found their peace and satisfaction apart from the calling of worldly desires.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Global distribution

Online through Turning Marks: 30 marks Objectives This assessment item relates to the course learning outcomes 1 to 4 as stated in the unit outline. Students are to form their own groups and select their own group members. There will be a maximum of 5 members in a group. Guidelines: You must use at least 15 peer-reviewed publications to support your essay.In addition, you will need to read and refer to non-peer reviewed documents such as kooks, trade journals and articles to substantiate your discussion. Length: Maximum 4500 words Size 12, Font Times New Roman. Double-spaced. Margin 2. CACM all round. Use the Chicago referencing style. You should demonstrate a mature level of post-graduate writing. Transportation concepts and approaches learnt in this unit must be linked to this assignment.Students will be evaluated (as a group) in terms of their capacity to demonstrate understanding of the key issues in the relevant literature and applying it to the area f transportation and distrib ution management under supply chain competitive advantage and optimal performance'. Writing skills will be assessed. This Includes executive summary, Introduction, body, conclusion, high level of critical analysis and discussion of academic journal articles, supporting articles to the authors opinions and conclusions. Must demonstrate the width and depth of the arguments.A professional level of presentation is expected. All references must be and listed in the reference section. SE illustrations, diagrams, charts and table to enhance your report. Check the Assessment Marking Guide (end of this document). Make sure that you can tick off the items listed as you are writing or reviewing your manuscript. Many of these marks are easy to get. Examples: all references must be cited within the text, summary of main points, using the right referencing style. Check what you have done against the Assessment Marking Guide and make sure they match closely.Use your spell check functions. Proofrea d your document. Volume of global trade has increased multi-fold in the past decade. This has impacted on transportation infrastructure in many countries. The statement the essay needs to be addressed â€Å"Discuss how Transportation optimization has contributed to increased efficiencies in transportation and distribution†. Information may be drawn from trade, practitioner, and academic Journals to discuss this statement.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Analysis of semco and pixar animated studio as an example of innovative organizations The WritePass Journal

Analysis of semco and pixar animated studio as an example of innovative organizations INTRODUCTION Analysis of semco and pixar animated studio as an example of innovative organizations INTRODUCTIONSEMCOPIXARTHEORIES OF INNOVATION USING EVIDENCE FROM SEMCO AND PIXARFEATURES OF INNOVATIVE ORGANISATIONS OR MANAGEMENT ACTIONSSUMARY AND CONCLUSIONREFERENCEBIBLIOGRAPHYRelated INTRODUCTION Innovation is essential for the success of an organisation as an organisation that wants to be a market leader in today chaotic and complex business world must be receptive to new ideas and continue to be innovative. .However, many organisations fail to realise the significance of innovation leading to the eventual loss of market share just like Nokia, one timed market leader in mobile industry which lost mobile markets to Apple. Companies like Semco, Gore and Associate, 3M and Pixar have made a reputation for themselves due to their emphasis on creativity. Innovation is a product of collaborative learning, idea generation, sharing and idea realization practices of workers in an organization (Dovey, 2009, p.311). For innovation to occur an organisation must foster an environment and culture that give room for creativity which is what Semco and Pixar have achieved. To this end, this report will analyse Semco and Pixar as an exemplar of innovative companies and the relationship that ex ist between them using some key theories of innovation and the defining features and managerial actions that set them apart as innovative organisations. SEMCO Semco is a loose organisation that encourages innovation and self organisation leading to trust, collaboration and cooperation. Semco was a small family engineering company originally called Semler and Company established in 1952 in Sao Paulo, Brazil by Antonio Curt Semler and renamed Semco after Ricardo Semler, the 24 year old son of the owner resumed office as the new chief executive officer in 1984, firing more than half of the top managers on his first day of resuming office as chief executive officer and eliminated all secretarial positions (CNN, 2004). The company prior to Ricardo taking over was characterised with autocratic style of management with control and rules being the order of the day and operating at the edge of collapse. Ricardo Semler favours a participating style of management, profit sharing and free flow of information. The company product range includes dishwashers, pumps, mixers, cooling units for air condition, biscuits factories among others (Semler 1999, p. 1). It is one of the most innovative companies in the world and has become the subject of study for most business schools all around the world due to its peculiar management style. There is no organisation structure that feeds managers ego, subordinates choose their own bosses, employees set their salaries, production targets and achieve them at their own time, and are encouraged to participate, share ideas and also share in the profit (Semler 1999, pp.1-7, 130 131). PIXAR Pixar animated studio was established in 1986 after Steve Jobs purchased the computer graphics division of Lucas films for $10 million with Ed Catmull being named co-founder and Chief technical officer, Smith as vice president alongside Steve Jobs (Price, 2008, p.74 85-197). In 2001, Ed Catmull was named Pixar’s president. The company originally manufactures and sell hardware and software that enable computer graphics to develop animations. In 1987, the company began the making of short films with its first computer generated movie, Toy Story being released in 1995. The company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Walt Disney acquired 2006 at $7.4 billion and located in Emeryville, California (Paik, 2007). The acquisition will help Pixar gain economies of scale and access to new technologies.   Pixar has a range of films under its belt that has surpassed box office expectations from Rango, Hop, Toy Story 3, finding Nemo, the incredible and many others (Emerald Group Review , 2011). Its target audience cuts across all ages and nationalities and include families and children and its product range include short films in DVDs, soundtrack CDs, animated films among others (Price, 2008, pp.3-7). It fosters an environment that gives room for mistakes and encourages collaborations among teams and departments and devoid of micro management by executives to ensure creativity and innovation (YouTube-imperial college, 2009). THEORIES OF INNOVATION USING EVIDENCE FROM SEMCO AND PIXAR What makes Ricardo Semler and Ed Catmull exceptional in the way they run their companies? Could it be that they were born to innovation, an act of God, divine intervention, grace, or years of experience and acquisition of knowledge and education? Analysts and business tycoons have called these men genius. Some critics of Semler and Pixar would have called the transformation at these companies as a gift from the gods. However, it is worthy of note that Semco was a company already in operation prior to Ricardo taking over and Pixar had several failed attempts before its major breakthrough in 1995 with Toy Story. Emerald group, 2011 quoted Ed Catmull in Harvard Business Review ‘I don’t think our success is largely luck. Rather, I believe our adherence to a set of principles and practices for managing creative talent and risk is responsible.’ Was grace far from the transformation in these companies? Ricardo was one of the youngest graduates at Harvard Business School who would have learnt some of the traditional management theories in school but choose to manage in a uniquely different way that suite his life and believes suite those of his employees. Moreover, having had an encounter with a doctor who told him to change his work style, he decided to change his way of management, a factor that has led to the key changes at Semco today. Thus innovation at Semco may be a combination of association having graduated from Harvard, accident-a chance meeting with the doctor, personality-considering that while at high school he raised some money for the school vacation program which he reinvested to yield a return before the vacation, feature of life and a bit of cognitive considering the fact that innovation at Semco had evolved over time. It is far from being grace or act of gods. Several forms of innovation can be said to have taken placed at these organisations. They are: Organisational innovation: An organisational innovation is one that entails the implementation of a new organisational method in the firm’s business practices, workplace or external relations (Stoneman, 2010, p.17; OECD, 2006). It is often intended to increase a company’s performance through improvement in workplace satisfaction and labour productivity and access to knowledge. It entails an adoption of an organisational method such as flatter organisation structures, employees’ participation among others that have not being used before in an organisation and often results from strategic decisions taken by management (Stoneman, 2010, p.18). Semco and Pixar posses a great deal of organisational innovation. Semco had implemented theories that have never being tried before such as the satellites programs that allow ex-employees to open their own companies with financial help and resources and become partners with Semco and employees cutting their wages by 30% to Semc o at difficult times to get a higher returns when trading conditions get better. What drive such innovation are the organisational culture, structure and learning. Social innovation: This is the innovation that supports and it is beneficial to the society. Pixar is an example of such innovation whose films though animated have a lot of influence on the society both young and small. Its latest film, hop for instance gives social lessons about the role of adult and children in society. Semco has also contributed to the Brazilian society through employment and a reduction in job cuts. Traditional innovation: This is technological innovation and is measured in different ways such as through patents, expenditure and development among others. Semco and Pixar have shown a lot of innovation and creativity in technology with Pixar having a lot of patents. All these types of innovation create social capital which will be discussed later in this report. FEATURES OF INNOVATIVE ORGANISATIONS OR MANAGEMENT ACTIONS SEMCO and Pixar’s success is built on a lattice or flatter organisational structure devoid of control culture that has gone through series of transformation through the years which has enhanced their innovative ability. An organisational culture devoid of control fosters innovation as individuals are giving the freedom to self organise and make their own decisions just like Semco where employees set their salaries and take decisions on production targets and the time they meet such targets (Semler, 1999,   p.1). These companies have been able to manage innovation in the following ways: Structure and culture: Organisational design is crucial to the continuous innovation of an enterprise. As the business environment becomes complex and uncertain, so is the organisational design changing to meet up with customers’ demands for value maximising products. Traditional management scientists like Max Weber emphasised formal structure which is a top-down approach characterised with command, control, rules, position power and neglect social and psychological influences on behaviours of employees and teams (Burnes 2000, p.45). Employees are likely to respond to a good leader who they trust and respect than being managed in a bureaucratic way as argued by Adair 1986:54. Semco operates a lattice structure and considers all workers as equal and has reduced bureaucracy from twelve layers of management to three (Semler 1999, p.7). Reduced hierarchies and high involvement will lead to faster decision making and idea generation and information sharing, leading to innovation. F ormal organisational structure stifles individual creativity. In the words of Semler, authoritarianism diminishes productivity and as such no privileges or rules that discourages flexibility (Semler, 1999, p. 4). At Semco, People are made to enjoy their job and feel good about themselves, not just to survive. Business strategy in the company is determined without interference from the top. Similarly, Pixar is free from the thick layers of formal management and executives are not involved in the day to day running of the organisation. All employees are equally important and all work together for the success of a story. Both companies are devoid of micro-management which ensures creativity and innovation. To have these kind of organisations require a conducive organisational culture that is devoid of control. In the words of Ed Catmull, ‘Management really doesn’t tell people what to do.’   Thus both companies give employees freedom to take risk and there is refle ction, learning and feedback. However , not everyone can work in an environment with such a structure as some people like being told what to do, also, people wants to know what their responsibilities are and who they are report to while others do not like responsibility. It means that such environment will attract liked minded individuals. Trust and Freedom: Due to the flexible organisational structure and lack of formal reporting structures, employees can be trusted to carry out their roles. However, there is a tendency for employees to abuse the system giving the few reporting structures. Semco has absolute trust in her employees and encourages them to be self managing and governing and have made partners with them. There is so much trust that Semco made entrepreneurs out of its workers through assistance with setting up their own company through its satellite programs, buy from them and encourage them to sell to its competitors. One will assume trust will not be a possibility giving the large number of employees of over 3000. Semco has defiled business school expectations and has gone as far as allowing workers to participate in managerial decision making from deciding how much they get paid, to unlimited access to financial information and freedom to work whenever and wherever they choose and meet targets at their own set time and set their salaries which has resulted in impressive growth, long term loyalty and increase and better productivity. To Semler, his interest is in the final result not where, how and hours worked (Easen, 2004). Freedom drives performance and encourages innovation. Staff can work better if given more independence (Handy, 2004). Semco adopts a participating or democratic management style that create an atmosphere where both bosses and subordinates ( partners and associate) interact regardless of jobs and position and all are involved in decision making (Semler, 1999.pp.6 81). In the words of Semler (1999, p. 6), ‘We don’t have as many bosses as we used to. As workers began to exercise more control over their jobs and assume more voices in our policies, the need for supervisors diminished.’ Having trust in individual will give them a sense of belonging and being wanted and encourage new ideas and sharing of ideas among one another. Semco and Pixar re alised that the most powerful resources at their disposal are the people who make things happen in their organisations and have learnt to trust, believe in them and give them the freedom to express their innovative capabilities and drive production forward. Trust is seen as an outcome of social capital and shared values (Cote and Healy, 2001). However, the problem with freedom is that not everyone like being free. Some people want to be controlled and directed to get their job done. Some see control as a motivator. Moreover, some top managers may resist the need for reduced hierarchies for fear of losing control and power. Social capital and Collaboration: At Semco and Pixar, there is collaboration and teamwork as people work together for common and shared values and not get in each others’ way but are committed to the achievement of the common goal of the company. At Semco, employees participate in managerial decision not just relating to their jobs but the business as a whole. They are included in decisions that pertain to choosing who their boss becomes (Easen, 2004). Before people are hired or promoted to leadership positions, they are interviewed and approved by all who will be working for them, and every six months managers are evaluated by their subordinates.   Semco has autonomous business units established by ex- employees who open their own business with help from Semco and have become partners, associate and collaborators and has made Semco a leaner and agile organisation (Semler, 1999 P.7). Also different departments and business units and teams work collectively to drive innovatio n forward at Semco and Pixar. Easen, 2004 reported Semler as saying that ‘Growth and profit are a product of how people work together.’ There is a balanced collaboration at Pixar as artist and technologists are paired together. Every offer or idea is accepted and then people get the chance to plus it (Nelsen, 2008). A term Nelsen called ‘plussing’- taking an idea or a piece of work and find a way to add or improve upon it without judging it. At Pixar, collaboration means amplification whereby employees who are listening and interested in each other are joined together to work and bring separate depth to the problems and breadth that gives them interest in the solution as well as allow teams to communicate at different levels. The brain trust at Pixar is a framework or forum that gives an opportunity for some of the best brains to use their expertise and experience to share their understanding and knowledge with others and to get feedback. The Organisation f or Economic Development and Cooperation, OECD defines social capital as ‘networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate cooperation within or among groups’ (ONS, 2001; Cote and Healy, 2001:41). It is the glue that holds organisations together and enables employees to join forces more effectively and pursue shared objectives. In a culture of continual change and uncertainty, sustainable communities are those who are collaborative and always growing with and towards each other in the formation, sharing and adaptation to new knowledge (Smith and Paquette, 2010). Some of the outcomes of social capital are social relations, trust, collaboration, mutually enforceable agreement, general reciprocity and innovation (ONS, 2001). In Semco there is mutually enforceable agreement resulting from profit sharing. In the past, Pixar had used stock to motivate employees and encourage them to stay. Also, the need to produce quality output at Pixar could be a form of mutually enforceable agreement (Price 2008, p. 114). Pay recognition: Motivation such as adequate pay, interpersonal relations and work and group dynamics are some factors that increase productivity and workers satisfaction (Mullins, 2007, p.53). Employees will be committed to work if they are being paid fairly and feel that their contribution is appreciated in the organisation. Semco’s employees set their salaries and share in the profits. As Semler (1999, P. 4) says, ‘Profit-sharing is democratic. We negotiate with our workers over the basic percentage to be distributed- about a quarter of our corporate profit.’ This has worked so well at Semco as there is very low labour turnover and when the need arises, those laid off are assisted to form their own company. Reward systems and benefits retain people and lead to workers’ satisfaction, commitment and loyalty (Chiu et al, 2002). There were times when workers salary proposal were rejected in instances of over- statement. Contrary to this is the argument that financial rewards are not enough to motivate people and that group pressure has more influence on employees than financial rewards (Mullins, 2007, p.301). In addition, people also have intrinsic motivation derives from within the individual which propels them towards the need for self actualisation and fulfilment. Learning and feedback/ Gives room for mistakes/Risk taking: Learning within projects teams depends heavily on the inflow and transfer of knowledgeable among them. Semco and Pixar are learning organisations. Such organisations give room for failure and learning from mistakes and encourage risk taking and have a wide tolerance for new ideas and do not punish mistakes. A learning organisation was defined by Johnson et al (2008) as, ‘One capable of continual regeneration from the variety of knowledge, experience and skills of individuals that encourage mutual questioning and challenge around a shared purpose or vision.’ Semler pointed out that mistake is welcome and a sign that the employee is taking enough risk. Without mistakes, there will not be learning and consequently, innovation will be stifled. Likewise at Pixar, continuous innovation requires that executives resist the natural tendencies to minimise risks and accept uncertainty to ensure originality and ability to r ecover from failures resulting from taking risks. It encourages creativity by allowing people to experiment with new ideas and mistakes genuinely made are treated as part of the learning process Emerald Group review, 2011). Mistake are not punished at Pixar but seen as building block for new ideas and innovation just like 3M. Pixar endorses and encourages   a creative by rejecting hierarchical and controlled system, instead the taking of risks and recognizes the importance of serendipity in the creative process (Smith and Paquette, 2010) It has been argued that employees’ collective knowledge exceeds those of the organisation and its capabilities and managers should aim at encouraging processes that unlock employees’ knowledge and encourage information, knowledge and idea sharing which is the sort of environment both companies have created for their employees. As a narrator said, each movies produced by Pixar contains a combination of tens of thousands of ideas arisi ng from risk taking, failure and learning. Ed Catmull said that ‘Innovative people are failure recovered not failure avoider.’ Both companies give room for reflection, learning and feedback. The benefits of learning cannot be over emphasis. Learning increases employees’ commitment, improve quality as mistakes are identified. Senge 1999 reiterated that organisational learning leads to organisational performance. Commitment: At Semco, everyone is committed to the achievement of the organisation’s objectives as they all feel a sense of belonging and part ownership of the company arising partly from the profit sharing. Employees are seen as being importance and valued. A worker in an interview said if an employee is idle, another worker will often ask why he or she is not working, reminding him or her that failure to work will reduce their profits and subsequently reduction in money for their pockets. So there is peer pressure. If employees feel that they are being trusted to take decision on their own and self manage, they will be committed. Semco operates an egalitarian company where there is no preferential treatment. Parking lots are for first come basis and all employees eat on the same canteen. Meetings are held based on the first two employees to be present. This makes employees feel as being a part of the team and big family and give them a sense of being wanted by the company. B y removing privileges of ranks, employees will see themselves as a wider community, thus feel comfortable voicing their opinion, leading to generation of new ideas. Dynamism:   Semco is a highly flexible company with no boundaries to the type of business and products, making it difficult to say exactly what kind of business the company is in. There is no fixed business and it is open to any form of business that comes their way. It is also characterised with the absence of business plans and company strategy. In the words of Semler (2003, p.4), ‘ Once you say what business you are in, you create boundaries for you employees, you restrict their thinking and give them a reason to ignore new opportunities as they will say we are not in that business.’ Semco is so dynamic in its operations and processes that employees must not use one desk two days in a row. This is to make them difficult to track and are free to move and work anywhere that appeals to them be it home office. There is time flexibility as they are not concerned about when the employees arrive at work. However, contracts are negotiated on the basis of what to be achieved at a set period and what it stands to gain for paid value and what the employees get in return. It is a mutually enforceable agreement as both parties- employees and Semco benefit. Pixar, though in a core line of business of animated films, it is not to say it is not a dynamic company as different forms of films that benefits both adult and children have being produced over the years. There is effective communication at both companies due to the organisational culture and flatter structure devoid of control. There is information, idea and knowledge sharing. At Pixar, technologists communicate with the artists. SUMARY AND CONCLUSION Semco and Pixar are said to be innovative even though the companies are different in what they do and how they approach innovation. Nevertheless, some common factors in both companies is the delegation of a large amount of control to their employees and absolute freedom to take risk and give room for mistakes and failure, giving them freedom to generate new ideas and thus take a more active role and commitment. Both companies have decentralised the management structures to get employees more involved in decision making and give them a sense of belonging. They have created a culture that gives room for mistakes, failures, sharing of information, and ideas. There is also collaboration between employees, teams, departments, business units and partners, trust, social capital, communication, lack of micro-management and similar organisational culture and structure which encourages innovation. However, both companies differ in a number of ways such as absence of profit sharing at Pixar, la nguages, products, country of location and time scales. Having carried out a detailed analysis of Semco and Pixar, it is possible that what works at these companies can be applicable to other companies. However, some disadvantages will be accrued if these features are applied in another company characterised with hierarchical control culture and structure such as resistance from top management who are control freaks and unwilling to relinquish power. Moreover, not everyone will be able to self manage as some people like being controlled and told what to do. In addition, that trust and freedom work well in these organisations does not mean it can be implemented in other organisations as differences in culture and environment will play a role in determining its effectiveness in another company with different organisational culture and business environment. Having said this, nothing is worth not trying, so these managerial actions that have worked so well in these organisations can be applied to other organisations. The reward may not be see n immediately, but in the long run, it will pay off. REFERENCE ADAIR, J. 1986. Effective Team Building: How to make a Winning Team. London: Gower Publishing Co Ltd.BURNES, B. 2000. Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics. 3rd edn. England: Pearson Education Ltd. CHIU, R. K, LUK, W.V AND TANG, T.L (2002) Retaining and motivating employees: Compensation preferences in Hong Kong and China. Personnel Review [Online journal], 31 (4), pp.402-431. Available from Emerald at emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=Retaining+and+motivating+employees%3A+Compensation+preferences+in+Hong+Kong+and+Chinact=allec=1bf=1 . (April 19 2011). COTE, S AND HEALY, T. (2001) The Well-being of Nations. The role of human and social capital. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris. CNN. 2004. Ricardo Semler, Semco SA. [WWW] http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/06/29/semler.profile/index.html?iref=allsearch     (27 April 2011). DOVEY, K. 2009. The role of trust in innovation. The Learning Organization [online journal] 16(4). Pp.311-325. Available from Emerald at emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=role+of+trust+in+innovationct=allec=1bf=1 . (March23/3/2011). EASEN, N. 2004. Interview with Ricardo Semler. [WWW] http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/05/19/go.semlar.transcript/index.html   (15 April 2011). EASEN, N. 2004. Democracy in the Workplace. [WWW] http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/05/19/go.democratic.workplace/index.html?iref=allsearch   (15 April 2011). EMERALD GROUP, 2011. How Pixar animates its talent team: not knowing the answers can be the way ahead. Development and Learning in Organizations [Online journal], 25 (1), pp.   30-32. Available from Emerald at emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=pixarct=allec=1bf=1. (April 8 2011). HANDY C, 2004. Giving your Staff More Freedom. [WWW] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/ hi/ business /4058519.stm   (1 April 2011). JOHNSON, G, SCHOLES, K AND WHITTINGTON, R. 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. 8th edn. England: Pearson Education Limited. MULLINS, L. J, 2007. Management and Organisational Behaviour. 8th edn. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. NELSEN, R. 2008. Pixar’s Randy Nelsen on the Collaborative Age. [WWW] youtube.com/watch?v=QhXJe8ANws8   (1 April 2011). OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS. 2001. Social Capital: A review of the literature. [WWW] statistics.gov.uk/socialcapital/downloads/soccaplitreview.pdf (26 April 2011). PAIK, K. 2007. To Infinity and Beyond: The story of Pixar Animation Studio. London: Virgin Books Ltd. PIXAR GROUP 24. 2009. Innovation Management: Imperial College. [WWW] youtube.com/watch?v=dTB5S2mc3wA (20 March 2011). PRICE, D. A.2008. The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company. USA: Alfred A. Knopf. SEMLER, R. 2003. The Seven-Day Weekend. London: Century. SEMLER, R. Semco Ricardo Semler MIT SF 11 Leading organizations. [WWW] youtube.com/watch?v=k1qJ2W9cVDM (14 April 2011). SEMLER, R. (1999) Maverick! The Success Story Behind the Worlds most  Unusual Workplace.  London: Random House Business Books. SEMLER, R. 2007. Interview with Ricardo Semler. [WWW] youtube.com/watch?v=gJkOPxJCN1wfeature=related (13 March 2011). SENGE, P.M. (1999). It’s the learning: the real lesson of quality movement. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 22 (6)Pp.34-40. STONEMAN, P. 2010. Soft Innovation: Economics, Product Aesthetics and Creative Industries. New York: Oxford University Press.SMITH, S. AND PAQUETTE, S. (2010). Creativity, chaos and knowledge management. Business Information Review, 27 (2), pp. 118-23. BIBLIOGRAPHY BESSANT, J. 2003. High Involvement innovation: Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage Through Continuous Change. England: John Wiley Sons. CHRISTENSEN, C.M, AND ERIK, A.R. 2004. Seeing What is Next: Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change. USA: Harvard Business school Press. BURDETH, O.J. 1994. The Magic of Alignment. Management Decision [online journal], 32 (2), pp. 59-63. Available from Emerald at emeraldinsight.com/search.htm?st1=alignmentct=allec=1bf=1go=Go. (March 3 2011).

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Difference Between Avere and Tenere

The Difference Between Avere and Tenere Learning a new language is not only tough because there are thousands of new words to learn, but even tougher because those words often overlap in meaning. This is definitely the case with the two verbs in Italian - â€Å"tenere - to hold, to keep† and â€Å"avere - to have, to obtain, to hold†. What are the main differences? First, tenere is often understood as to keep or to hold, like to keep a window open, keep a secret or hold a baby. Avere is to understood as meaning, to have, in the sense of possession, like age, fear, or an iPhone. Second, tenere is used, more often in the south, particularly in Naples, in the place of avere, but grammatically, its incorrect. Meaning, even if you hear Tengo 27 anni or Tengo fame, its not grammatically correct. Here are some situations where choosing between avere and tenere might be tricky. Physical Possession 1.) To have/keep an item Ho una mela, ma voglio mangiare un’arancia. - I have an apple, but I want to eat an orange.Non ho una borsa che si abbina a/con questo vestito. - I don’t have a purse that matches this dress.Ho il nuovo iPhone. - I have a new iPhone. In the situation above, you couldnt use tenere as a substitute for avere. Tengo questo iPhone fino alluscita di quello nuovo. - Im keeping this iPhone until the new one comes out. 2.) To not have any money Non ho una lira. - I dont have any money. Here, you can use tenere, but avere is still preferred. Non tengo una lira. - I dont have any money. Non avere/tenere una lira is an expression that literally means, I dont have one lira. To Maintain a Situation 1.) Keep/have a secret È un segreto che tengo per Silvia, quindi non posso dirtelo. - Its a secret that Im keeping for Silvia, so I cant tell it to you. However, if you have a secret and youre not keeping a secret for anybody, you can just use avere. Ho un segreto. Ho un amante! - I have a secret. I have a lover! 2.) Have/keep in pockets Ha le mani in tasca. - He has his hands in his pockets. In this situation, both avere and tenere can be used. Tiene le mani in tasca. - He has (keeps) his hands in his pockets. 3.) Have/keep In mind Ti spiegherà ² quello che ho in mente. - Ill explain to you what I have in mind. In this context, avere and tenere can both be used although the sentence structure will change. Tieni in mente quello che ti ho detto ieri. – Keep in mind what I told you yesterday. To Hold Something 1.) Hold/have a baby in your arms Tiene in braccio un bimbo. Il bebà © ha sei mesi. - She is holding a baby in her arm. The baby is six months. In this situation, you can use avere interchangeably. Ha in braccio un bimbo. Il bebà © ha sei mesi. - She is holding a baby in her arm. The baby is six months. 2.) Have a bouquet of flowers Perchà © hai un mazzo di fiori? Hai molti spasimanti? - Why do you have a bouquet of flowers? Do you have a lot of admirers?Non posso rispondere perchà ¨ ho un mazzo di fiori in mano. - I can’t answer the phone because I’m holding a bouquet of flowers. Then, the person youre talking to might respond to you using the verb tenere. Rispondi, che te lo tengo io. - Answer, and I’ll hold it for you. 3.) Hold a bouquet with style La sposa tiene il bouquet con classe. - The bride holds the bouquet in her hands with style. In the example above, tenere is used to stress the way she holds the bouquet. To help make this easier, use tenere whenever you have something that youre physically holding in mano - in your hands or in braccio - in your arms. It can also be used in figurative expressions, as you saw tenere in mente, but since we would be likely to translate that as keep in mind, its easier to distinguish from avere. Avere, on the other hand, is used to talk about something you possess, either literally or figuratively. If you find yourself in conversation, and you cant think of which one is right to use, its best to ask yourself what the simplest meaning is.  For example, instead of saying, He had a change of heart, you can say, He changed his mind or â€Å"Ha cambiato idea†.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

3 simple auditing questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

3 simple auditing questions - Assignment Example Julia Granger has already completed steps 1 through 4 and has documented the results of her work on audit schedules E-100, E-110, E-111, and E-112. Assume that the client performs the control activities identified in the flowcharts. A solution to the assignment is provided using schedules similar to the schedules provided to students on the pages that follow. Again, due to the subjective nature of some of the judgments alternative solutions could be considered equally acceptable. Note that the solution lists potential audit tests that could be performed. It is very unlikely that an auditor would decide to perform all these audit tests. Additionally, the solution does not indicate whether the audit test should be performed on the entire population or a sample of the population. 9) Transfers are appropriately authorized and the financial statements presentation including the disclosure of all investments conforms to the generally accepted accounting principles that are consistently applied. The company purchases material from the vendors, the purchased material are inspected and counted and the prices compared to the purchase orders and a pre-numbered receiving report is prepared. / After that the receiving report and the purchase order are issued. On the accounting side, the accountants receive the invoices from the vendors for the items purchased. All the materials that are not accounted for in terms of receiving report are transferred to the appropriate department for acknowledgment for the receipt. The vendors document are marched with the appropriate accounted document to allow for documentation in the purchase journal, vendor ledger, general ledger and the inventory files. The files are reviewed by the supervisor. All the reports such as the purchase order, receiving report and vendor invoices are documented by the

Friday, November 1, 2019

Analysis and Application of Clinical Practice Guidelines & Scoring Essay

Analysis and Application of Clinical Practice Guidelines & Scoring Rubric - Essay Example lines are a sequence of recommendations on clinical care aided by the best present indication in a clinical literature (Castellani, Girlanda, & Barbu, 2014). For a long time, Clinical Practice Guidelines on several occasions have been used and abused. Although position statements on the best care were meant to be unbiased, the documents were problematic. The process of development did not meet transparency requirements, and the experts involved in the development made the material beneficial to themselves. Patients and practicing physicians usually felt cheated in cases where decisions on health care were focused on guidelines concerned with economic and not quality goals. Through application of evidence-based medicine techniques in development of guidelines, opinion and biases are remarkably minimized and the elevation of rich scientific literature is witnessed and assessed in a systematic fashion to offer transparency and reduce imbalance in evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines. Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines are greater than non-evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines and are right tools of better quality patient care. The structured, transparent process used in developing Clinical Practice Procedures makes them difficult to abuse and easy to use. Evidence-based Clinical Practice Procedures are being used to create quality measures as well as used to aid referrals when insurance companies question them. In addition to that Clinical Practice Procedures act as patient’s education tools. Evidence-based Clinical Practice Procedures on a national level are a direct means of improvement of quality and play a big role in the making of measures of performance for pay-for-performance repayment programs. Practicing orthopedists are given a voice by the evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Society based Clinical Practice Guidelines on a local level are used to influence and inform hospital guidelines in order to enhance best practices.