John Keegan, a modern military historian Essay Example

John Keegan, a modern military historian Essay Example John Keegan, a modern military historian Paper John Keegan, a modern military historian Paper Essay Topic: History Field Marshal Haig was the most important person during World War One. There are many different views on his competence, character and leadership qualities of both past and present leading up to his victory in 1918. Despite being victorious, there are many flaws and events of which Haig was at fault for during the war. On one hand you have the incompetent, criminal, immoral donkey view of Haig supported by historians such as John Laffin, and on the other you have a competent, man of his time, innovative resourceful supported by historians such as Garry Sheffield and John Keegan. Ultimately I will prove which view is most accurate; using the sources and my own knowledge I will provide sufficient evidence to support John Keegans suggestion that Haig was an efficient and highly skilled soldier. On the subject of Haigs performance in the Battle of the Somme, Keegans views seem to be somewhat limited. Other historians such as John Laffin argue that Haig should be seen as an incompetent and inflexible. His initial bombardment tactics were flawed, in that the Germans were easily managed to attack the British troops. There was insufficient barrage, attacking on too wide and deep a front. He displayed obstinacy in adhering to fixed plans regardless of the facts, even at the price of destroying his own armies. This is shown in source D. Source D is a view of Haig in the form of a cartoon entitled Your Country needs me, from General Haigs Private War; The cartoon suggests to us that Haig was arrogant, and this is almost certainly true in that he failed to adapt to changed conditions of attack, for example when the initial bombardment at the Somme failed he continued with the same tactics best epitomizing his inexperience and arrogance. However the usefulness of this source is unconvincing- it is only the view of one person, the cartoonist, and not of the general public. There is however some powerful evidence to support the view of Keegan, in particular sources K and H. Source K an article by S. Warburton, published in Hindsight:GCSE Modern History Review in April 1998 says that Haig was the best man for the job at the time. Haig was the product of his time, of his upbringing, education, and training and previous military experience. In perspective, the criticism Haig receives seems harsh and unjustified because the British casualties were the same as the Germans and French. Source H, shows us that Haigs perseverance in continuing the battle of the Somme, despite the heavy losses proved to be the correct option. Source H, from the official biography Haig, by Duff Cooper says, To have refused to fight then and there would have meant the abandonment of Verdun to its fate and the breakdown of co-operation with the French. However the sources accuracy and reliability is dubious because Cooper was asked by Haigs family to write it, so hes bound to put Haig in a good light. Having said that, it can also be argued that perhaps Haig shouldnt have continued with a full blooded attack. Source E is a diary of the events in the battle written by Haig himself. On 1st July 1916 he reports that the battle was going to plan on the first day of battle, the battle is going very well for us and already the Germans are surrending freely. In stark contrast the first day of the Somme was the complete opposite- it was a disaster. In fact the whole of the Somme was a disaster- Haig gained so little territory that, after the battle he had only just about gained the amount of land that he had planned on the first day. Showing us that he was over confident, naive and extremely optimistic. In relation to the source itself, the reports were written by General Haig himself, so he was bound to say all went well, to make himself look good; this source is very unreliable and is of no use to any historian as it is factually incorrect amongst other things. Overall on the issue I would say that although Haigs perseverance in continuing the battle of the Somme, the manner in which he did portrays him as an incompetent, criminal, immoral donkey. Despite the British, French and German Casualties being the same, I think the amount of men who died in the battle could have decreased a lot if Haig had adjusted his tactics and not been so over confident; for that reason I think the phrase Butcher of the Somme is justified to some extent. Therefore Keegans case is somewhat mostly naive and inaccurate, although there is some evidence that proves otherwise; the things Haig did wrong in the battle far outweigh suggestions that he was an efficient and highly skilled leader who did much to lead Britain to victory. On the subject of Haigs communications in relation to politicians, generals and soldiers, Keegans view appears to be correct to some extent. He was under extreme pressure to win the war quickly, by his political masters, by a vociferous med ia, and by the determination of the British Public, there was no path to victory on offer and he was rushed into action on many occasions. One must take into consideration the role John Charteris played in the battle of the Somme. He fed wrong and inaccurate information to Haig. General Haig allowing him to do so time and time again inevitable had all the blame put on him. However, Haig abortive attitude towards General Rawlinson is perhaps ultimately his greatest downfall. Keegan is not supported by the weight of evidence in source Ei, Haig understands and notifies the idea that there will be a lot of deaths during the battle and tells the British population to accept any losses with indulgence. No superiority of arms and ammunition, however great, will enable victories to be won without the sacrifice of mens lives. Haig in due course contradicts himself in this understanding; when original tactics incorporated by Haig were failing, (by taking as much ground as possible moving the artillery so that the guns and shells could defend the ground taken) he refused to accept Rawlinsons plans to adapt to a bite and hold stra tegy- adding insult to injury as they say, this tactic was used later on in the war and it proved a great success. This in return suggests that Haig was ignorant and very dismissive of other Generals plans; his arrogance led him to believe that his tactics were the best. As shown in source F, stem from his belief that he had been chosen by God to serve his country. Presenting to us that he was over confident and optimistic, in spite of the amount of men lost as he constantly sent thousands of men to war and to their deaths, having no real effect. Notwithstanding Haigs obvious mistakes during battles, the view that he was incompetent and an immoral donkey is groundless and dubious. Evidence suggesting otherwise is best revealed in source C. Earl Haig, the son of Field Marshal Haig says that Haig should be credited for his victories, after all victory in the war was the main aim, and that views that he was the butcher of the Somme have only come about in modern times. the victories he achieved in the First World War which brought the war to an end. This is true and supportive of Keegans view because Haig is the most successful war general in the history of Britain. Earl Haigs opinion that Haigs is portrayal as a callous, uncaring man has only come about of recent times is also correct. Using my own knowledge, when Haig died, 100,000 troops shot at his coffin whilst 30,000 followed him to his burial. Therefore Keegans case is largely proper and correct; the evidence suggests that Haig shared a good relationship with his troops and that views that he was the butcher of the Somme are harsh and seemingly unjustified. Although the source must be questioned as it was written by Earl Haig, Generals Haig son, so he is bound to write good things about his father. Overall, the idea that Haig was the butcher is true to some extent. His failure to listen to General Rawlinson and allow John Charteris to make mistake after mistake is his biggest downfall. Had he listened to Rawlinson, the battle of the Somme could have been less disastrous in that fewer men would probably have been lost. However, in spite of this amongst other things sources, in source G, David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Britain at the time says My only justification is that Haig promised not to press the attack if it became clear that he could not attain his objectives by continuing the offensive. Showing that Lloyd-George did trust Haig, despite both men holding grudges against one another. Ultimately, Haig did share good relationships and shows commitment to the war effort, despite claims he was the butcher of the Somme. In perspective, qualms about his relationship with other generals are improper because he learned form his mistakes, and won many battles throughout 1917 to 1918. His aim was to win the war, and he did. Haig is extensively regarded as being a technophobe during the war years. Although he was loyal and devoted to using traditional cavalry during the war, despite being a failure on many occasions, labeling him a technophobe is unsubstantiated, fallacious and unwarranted. He was an enthusiastic supporter of air power and introduced tanks to the war together with modern artillery- used to great effect. Artillery became much bigger and was more accurate, technologically the British were far more sophisticated than the Germans. It is the way in which Haig incorporated this advances into his tactics that undermine his demise. Source J underlines Haigs involvement in technology. A war veteran recalls a meeting with Haig in 1915, Germans started shelling Haig went round and asked me questions, and then even talked about camouflage from the air. This source is very reliable as the person quoted actually fought in the war and therefore Keegans case is largely supported in terms of technology. Having evaluated Haigs performance on a variety of key issues and over the whole period of his command, my overall conclusion is that Haig was the right man for the job during the war. Many historians argue that he sent troops to their deaths, but in actual fact, there were fewer deaths in the British army than in the French or Germans. He made a number of serious errors, but he managed to learn from his mistakes. However Sir Douglas Haigs job was to win the war, and despite the countless amount of deaths, he did. Therefore, Keegans view is to be frank, correct, although it does have it limitations and drawbacks, the successes Haig masterminded in the war far outweigh the losses.

How to Conjugate Raser (to Shave)

How to Conjugate Raser (to Shave) The French verb raser means to shave, but it specifically refers to shaving someone else. To say youre shaving yourself, youd use the reflexive se raser. How to Conjugate Raser Raser is a regular -er verb, which makes learning to conjugate it very simple. Remove the infinitive ending from the verb to determine the stem, which in this case is ras-. You complete the conjugation by adding the ending appropriate of the subject pronoun and the tense in use. See the tables below for simple conjugations of raser. Present Future Imperfect Present participle je rase raserai rasais rasant tu rases raseras rasais il rase rasera rasait nous rasons raserons rasions vous rasez raserez rasiez ils rasent raseront rasaient Subjunctive Conditional Pass simple Imperfect subjunctive je rase raserais rasai rasasse tu rases raserais rasas rasasses il rase raserait rasa rast nous rasions raserions rasmes rasassions vous rasiez raseriez rastes rasassiez ils rasent raseraient rasrent rasassent Imperative (tu) rase (nous) rasons (vous) rasez How to Use Raser in the Past Tense The most common way to use a verb in the past tense is to use the passà © composà ©. This compound tense requires an auxiliary verb and a past participle to form the conjugation. Raser requires the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle rasà ©. However, when using the reflexive se raser, the auxiliary verb is à ªtre (all reflexive verbs use à ªtre when forming the passà © composà ©). For example: Linfirmià ¨re lui a rasà ©.The nurse shaved him. Il sest rasà © avant le diner.He shaved before dinner.

Strategic Management in a Corporate Environment Dissertation

Strategic Management in a Corporate Environment - Dissertation Example Recent studies have been focusing on linking knowledge transfer and strategic management through competencies development within the corporate environment where increasing global nature of business, technological complexity and knowledge intensive workforce is contributing to the knowledge and competencies of the business. This has been identified in the paper industry by Laukkanen (2008) and can be found applicable to other sectors as well. As knowledge is considered as the most important and strategic resource in an organization, this internal resource is being increasingly managed strategically to derive a competitive advantage for the business. Continuous globalization is forcing organizations to approach its strategic management towards resource-based and knowledge-based economy in a new perspective for sustainable competitive advantage (Ogrean et al, 2009). There is a need to develop a framework that can increasingly tie knowledge management in a corporate environment with the corporate strategy, which seems to be evolving. This effort also determines the success of the corporate’s business strategy in the internal environment as it is the business strategy that focuses on the effective utilization of organizational resources and capabilities (Zack, 1998). While evidence is available that ties the importance of knowledge management to the strategic management of an organization, there is not much research available to empirically link these two concepts. It can be understood that while knowledge management itself is still evolving along with the development of newer strategies for strategic management, there is a need to further study the relation between knowledge transfer and strategy to understand and estimate their... The research aimed at identifying variables that impact knowledge transfer in strategically managed environments. The objectives of research aimed at understanding strategic management concept through the different theories, concepts, frameworks and models of strategic management in the corporate environment. As firms create knowledge of two kinds: explicit and tacit; identifying, developing, sharing and retaining knowledge become necessary for the firms through strategic thinking, as they need to sustain in the chaotic and complex environments. Knowledge transfer within the different locations of the firm or groups of firms is a necessary task if firms need to achieve a competitive advantage in the global market. While explicit knowledge is easy to share, tacit knowledge is ambiguous and complex requiring strategic management tools or models that impact this transfer of knowledge. Identifying suitable frameworks of knowledge transfer becomes important if firms want to achieve a comp etitive advantage through a resource-based and competencies-based approach to strategic management. The different case studies have helped gather data to validate the qualitative information gathered through literature review. It is found that while the dependent variables: market share, business development, relationship development, cost focus, differentiation and collaboration; of strategic management can be measured for their impact on knowledge transfer, independent variables like HRM and performance are loosely tied to strategic management.

Does learning to express oneself Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Does learning to express oneself - Dissertation Example This endeavor is undertaken not only to clarify the methodology applied in this study, but it also seeks to establish the steps taken to achieve the purpose of this study. The purpose of this research study is to determine the extent to which learning to express oneself properly (write and recite) has on the number of violent incidents among at-risk inner-city middle and high School male students during a school year. Another purpose explored in this study is to investigate whether or not messages presented to juveniles in a creative format (poetic form) has a positive impact on juvenile behavior. Research Design Research design provided the overall structure of the procedures the researcher follows in the conduct of the study. It involved the data collected and the analysis used in the research. For research, a combination of quantitative and qualitative study had been chosen because it provided the researcher the opportunity to play a vital role in the data collection and analysis, in the gathering of the literary narratives and the inductive logic employed in the study (Creswell, 2007: Hatch, 2002; Patton, 1990; Yin, 2009). Moreover, in the mixed method, the researcher is not only an active participant in the whole inquiry process (Hatch, 2002), but it also enabled the researcher to observe social facts experience by the youth (Crocker & Algina, 1986). In this way, the researcher was not outside looking inside the phenomenon being observed, but was inside the phenomenon together with the participants in constructing meanings and understandings for the articulation of the event being observed, and in this case creative writing and expression of oneself as a viable alternative to counter juvenile violence. The literary narratives provided the framework with which the case was described, and out from the stories, themes that could explain and explore the phenomenon (Hatch, 2002; Shank, 2006). The study was inductive primarily because the â€Å"researcher gathe rs data to build concepts, hypotheses or theories† (Merriam & Associates, 2002, p. 5). As mentioned earlier, the researcher had preferred mixed method because it enabled the researcher to be actively involved in the data collection and analysis, in the collection of literary narratives and in the discharge of the inductive logic used in the study. Furthermore, through a mixed method a holistic picture of the incident was attained since it seeks to understand the phenomenon within the social context or circumstances where it was happening (Janesick, 2004). For the qualitative part of the research, Creswell (2007) noted that there are five different approaches to qualitative research; â€Å"narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study† (p. 53). In both the narrative research and phenomenology, the focus of attention is the life stories and experiences of the participants (Savin-Badin & Van Neikirk, 2007). It looks into the personal belie fs and attitudes of the participants towards the phenomenon (Creswell, 2007). As such, the personal beliefs of the participants become the focal point with which the phenomenon is to be explained (Yin, 2009). Thus, it demands that the personal beli

Budget Management Analysis Essay Example for Free

Budget Management Analysis Essay Cost variance is a way of showing the financial performance of a project. It is the mathematical difference between budgeted cost of work performed, and the actual cost of work performed. Both budgeting and forecasting are financial projections. Looking at the differences between forecasting and budgeting, forecasting is broad in scope and part of strategic planning whereas a budget is more specific and detailed, with expenditure heads specifically matched to sources of income. Cost variances may be either positive or negative figures. Negative figures happen if you spend more on a project than you allowed in your budget. Positive figures result if you spend less on a project than the budget predicted. Negative cost variance figures are almost always a bad thing for a business, as companies cannot always guarantee they can come up with the funds to cover the excess cost. However, positive cost variances are not always good for a company, either. For instance, if customer service or good quality parts are sacrificed for a positive variance, a business may not sell lose clients. Cost variance figures must be examined in the context of the business to determine the true impact those numbers will have. Managers use budget management analysis as a device to make sure that all resources available are being used efficiently. The budgets are determined yearly and are based upon the previous year’s budget and variances. Benchmarking gathers information of the performances and processes from similar organizations and compares the data to help with making improvements. Cost Variance in Budget Management Various strategies are used to control budgets; managers and the chief financial officer of most healthcare organizations have the tools needed to manage the budget. By managing the budget the organization will be better prepared for the financial forecasts, which are the company’s future expenses. Some strategies and tools that will assist with managing the budget are zero based, activity based, performance based, cost variances and benchmarking. Zero based budgeting analyzes every expense within an organization and justifies the need and cost of each. Activity based costing is the gathering of the operating cost data, which is assigned to specific activities such as engineering. The performance dashboard uses the metrics of performance and analyzes the root cause of financial problems. Cost variance analysis looks at the differences of the actual cost and expected cost of an expense. Motivating the staff and informing them of the budget goals is another strategy that may be used to help the organization succeed (Nayab, 2011). Expense Results The expense reports show the difference between the budget and the actual amount spent and the result is called the variance. Variances may be within the budget which is favorable, or over the budget which is unfavorable. The variance is used to predict the budget for upcoming years, help with spending during the current year, and help with evaluating the managers and their departments. To determine the cause of variances the managers must investigate and justify to upper management why the variance occurred. There are a variety reasons for variances, which must be identified and controlled if possible. While analyzing the nursing expense results from various units for a pay period, there were some favorable and unfavorable variances. While reviewing the expense record the paid productive hour’s variance was within the budget and the paid nonproductive hour’s variance was 60 hours over the budgeted hours. The unfavorable variance of paid nonproductive hours may have occurred due to some staff being on modified duty, sick leave, meeting time, or education time, which means they are getting paid with no patient care involved. The overtime percentage of hour’s variance was 7. 5% over the budget and the registry percentage of hour’s variance was 8. 0% over the budget, both are unfavorable. The overtime may have been caused by bad time management, late arrival of the next shift, or working past shift hours due to not enough staff. The increase in the registry hours may have been due to not enough regular staff due to hiring freeze or staff being off for personal or illness reasons. The hours per patient day (HPPD) licensed productive hours was . 13 over budget, the direct product hours was within budget, and the total productive hours was within budget. The hours per patient day over budget may have been caused by the unit being over staffed or also due to the overtime and registry hours. The average daily census (ADC) per unit varied from being within budget to 7. 50 over the budget. The daily census is very unpredictable and depends on the time of year, the admissions from ER or the clinic, and transfers from other hospitals or facilities. Strategies to keep the results aligned with expectations may be done by performance budgeting, which will analyze key areas such as staffing, cost control, increased productivity, and indirect and direct patient care. The activities affected by analyzing these performance areas would be daily staffing calculations, reduced cost to the unit, working more efficiently and better time management, patient care planning, and time spent on patient charting. Offering incentives could also be a good way to involve the staff by informing them of the budget goals. Benchmarking Benchmarking helps to identify performance gaps and identify where improvement is needed. â€Å"Benchmarking is used by large health systems and smaller practices alike as a tool to identify targets and set goals enabling staff to compare the operation’s service, process, and outcomes with those already attaining †best practice† goals† (Borglum, 2008). There are many benchmarking techniques; for the purpose of this paper three will be discussed, financial, performance, and operational. Financial benchmarking is performing a financial analysis and comparing the results in an effort to assess your overall competitiveness and productivity† (Cimasi, 2006). â€Å"[Financial benchmarking is among the more effective techniques for extracting information from a health care enterprise’s historical operating performance and presenting it in a form that facilitates informed judgments that help predict the subject entity’s future operating performance and financial condition]† (Cimasi, 2006). Performance benchmarking involves comparing the performance levels of organizations for a specific process, this information can then be used for identifying opportunities for improvement and/or setting performance targets† (Business Performance Improvement Resources, 2011). â€Å"Performance levels of other organizations are normally called benchmarks and the ideal benchmark is one that originates from an organization recognized as being a leader in the related area† (Business Performance Improvement Resources, 2011). [Performance benchmarking may involve the comparison of financial measures (such as expenditure, cost of labor, cost of buildings/equipment, cost of energy, adherence to budget, cash flow, revenue collected) or non-financial measures (such as absenteeism, staff turnover, the percentage of administrative staff to front-line staff, budget processing time, complaints, environmental impact or call center performance)]† (Business Performance Improvement R esources, 2011). Operational benchmarking embraces everything from staffing and productivity to office flow and analysis of procedures performed, this technique performs a comprehensive assessment considering different aspects of operational and business performance† (iCognitive, 2011). â€Å"Consequently, this model will help companies to improve from decision-making at the strategic level to implementations at the operational level† (iCognitive, 2011). These benchmarking choices were made based on the fact that all three techniques together will focus on the organization as a whole and not just one area, and might improve budget accuracy in future forecast. Covering finances, operation, and performance will incorporate every aspect of the budgets involved in the organization and give mangers the appropriate tools needed to justify and correct variances throughout the year and future years. Conclusion Strategies to manage budgets are used to maintain the actual cost predicted for budgets and to correct variances in cost. Variances may occur at any time, may be internal or external, and in most cases are correctable once investigated by the mangers. Benchmarking is used in strategic management and compares processes and performance to help improve organizations. The use of financial ratios and benchmarking is critical to understanding an entity’s overall historical performance and to the forecasting function of valuation analysis† (Cimasi, 2006). This paper has discussed specific strategies to manage budgets within forecast, compared five to seven expense results with budget expectations, described possible reasons for variances, gave strategies to keep results aligned with expectations, recommended three benchmarking techniques, and identified what might improve budget accuracy, and justified the choices made.

Navigating Interstitial Spaces Essays -- Democracy American Tocquevill

Navigating Interstitial Spaces â€Å"[T]he law permits the Americans to do what they please.† Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America The protection of virtue, I submit, requires an understanding of interstitial spaces—spaces where formalist adherence to rules and laws does not suffice to adequately promote virtue. Recognition of these spaces spawned agent morality and Aristotle’s practical wisdom. Fascination with these spaces fueled Alexis de Tocqueville’s inquiry into American religious, familial and political mores in Democracy in America. Though America’s formal, codified laws of the 1830s granted â€Å"dangerous freedom† to the individual, Americans managed to navigate interstitial spaces with assiduous virtue. This discussion will briefly connect threads from Aristotle’s Ethics, Plato’s Republic, and Pericles’ funeral oration to preface a more extensive examination of Tocqueville’s careful study of the institutions which reinforced virtue within America’s interstitial spaces. The conclusion will examine and evaluate the doctrine of †Å"self-interest rightly understood† as the sole guarantor of virtue in the United States. Aristotle, one of the forefathers of agent morality, understood that universal and formalist rules alone could not sustain virtue. Practical wisdom, â€Å"a truth-attaining intellectual quality concerned with doing and with the things that are good for human beings† allows the moral agent to operate virtuously in a context-specific way. â€Å"[I]t is not possible,† Aristotle writes, â€Å"without practical wisdom to be really good morally.† Obedience to fixed rules cannot govern action â€Å"to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, for the right reason, and in the right way.† In order to cultiv... ...ticipation correlate directly with the correct practice of â€Å"self-interest rightly understood† and we accept both Michael Sandel’s thesis about the rise of the â€Å"voluntarist self† and Robert Putnam’s thesis describing the decline of American social and political capital—then a gloomy picture emerges about the sustainability of virtue in the hands of enlightened self-interest alone. Without guidance in a wide expanse of interstitial space, it is easy to slip through the cracks. Words Cited Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Mitchell, Joshua. The Fragility of Freedom. Plato. The Republic. Putnam. Bowling Alone. Sandel, Michael. Democracy’s Discontents. Thucydides. The History of thte Peloponnesian War. â€Å"Pericles’ Funeral Oration.† Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America.

Ethics and Environment Essay

Innovation is said to occur when something is done in a radically new way. Apple has been frequently cited as the innovation leader in technological world. It, under the leadership of its CEO Steve Jobs, introduced products which were radically different as for as design was concerned. Compared to Apple, Dell’s computers have no innovative design or technical feature. The importance of innovation is such that most of the successful companies around the world are spending huge sums of their profits on innovation related projects. Many people confuse innovation with invention. Innovation and invention are different things. Invention is the first step toward the development of something new. It is the manifestation of an idea while innovation happens when that idea is put to use successfully. Invention can occur any moment while for innovation to occur, years may pass by as it takes a lot of time from researching to introducing a new product. It takes one person to invent and many to innovate as a lot of people are required to do research, test, and market a particular product. Following are the four types of innovation types as described by Oslo Manual: 1- Product Innovation. This type of innovation is said to occur when a significantly different product is introduced by a company. The difference may occur due to design, improved technical specification etc. 2- Process innovation. If a production process is novel and delivery system improved then process innovation is said to have occurred. 3- Marketing Innovation. When a product’s pricing, packaging, or positioning is done in a totally new way then marketing innovation is said to have occurred. 4- Organizational innovation. If organizational culture is changed bringing in a lot of value than organizational innovation is said to have occurred. Innovation is result – oriented, the two main outcomes of innovations as described in a report published by Boston Consulting group are: †¢ Tangible Outcomes: Tangible outcomes refer to new products and design that are achieved as a result of innovating. They are provided legal cover by various intellectual property instruments like copyrights. †¢ Intangible Outcomes: These are outcomes that cannot be quantified and legally protected. A new production process is a tangible outcome. Not every organization that engages in innovative pursuits succeeds. Many organizations complain that their money invested in innovation process is wasted. This does not mean that every organization fails rather there are various success factors that determine whether an organization will succeed and come up with innovative products or services or not. Idea generation is a first step where most organizations fail. If resources are not invested properly, bright ideas might not come to executive’s attention. Companies also need to look to their customers for ideas. Then they need to have proper processes in place to carry forward the best ideas and make most of them. Another success factor that many organizations lack is the absence of good leaders who can gauge the whole innovation process. Innovation process will be disrupted if an organization does not have enough skilled workers. In research and development labs of many successful companies, quality of employees is one factor which has played a big role. Importance to Innovation for Organizations Innovation is critical to any company’s success in these times because it is the main driver of competitive advantage. It is one of the factors that drives the growth and shareholder value of any organization. Every organization wants to come up with creative ideas which they can manifest and implement successfully. One study suggests that distinct products/services and novel business processes are the main competitive advantage that any organization can have. This is also the opinion of the 70 percent of the CEOs of the fastest progressing companies. Almost every organization has realized the value of innovation so much so they have not decreased their R&D budget in this time of recession. One Wall Street Journal report says that big US companies have not decreased their spending on R&D despite a fall of 7. 7% in their revenue. It is true that history teaches us great lessons. The same is case with business world. IPod was introduced soon after the incident of 9/11. Among those who plan to spend almost the same amount on R&D as they did in 2007 are Microsoft, Intel and 3M. Apple is a perfect example of a company which gained competitive advantage mainly by innovative pursuits. It realized that investment in innovation pursuits is the only way to boost profitability that’s why they increased their R&D investment by more than 42% during 1999 to 2000 despite a decrease of 6% in their revenue. This led to products like IPod and ITunes store. They have mainly relied on innovation in design. Apple has also succeeded in capturing a share in cell phone market by introducing another innovative product called IPhone. In the last century, people talked about efficiency and shareholder value. They applied various principles to reduce cost and achieve economies of scale. But their rivals in low- income countries could outclass them because of lower costs of production there. Now is the time to gain competitive advantage by innovation. Human resource of any organization is the best place for creative ideas. It is the people of any organizations that can help give it a competitive advantage by innovating new products and services. Google is another company which has gained significant competitive advantage over its rivals by introducing innovative products. More than 50 percent of internet users use Google as their primary search engine. It introduced the new way of targeting ads based on internet surfing behavior of its users. Google Voice is another of their innovation. Apart from that, they have introduced services like Google mail, Google News etc. The owners of Google have made fortune by indulging in innovation pursuits. Automaker industry also drives its strength from innovation. Toyota, ranked third by Business Week as most innovative company, has come up with cars with very innovative features. It will introduce the powerful Prius which will have solar- powered air conditioner. Microsoft is another company which has gained competitive advantage by rolling out innovative product. It recently introduced Windows 8. It can, therefore, be concluded that if any organization is to gain a competitive advantage, it should foster the innovative environment. This can be achieved by giving way to open culture at organization, empowering people at all levels, and encouraging employees to give their ideas about new products and/or services.

Why Study Humanities

Allison Humanities-?is a study of human culture with a great emphasis of history and art; further broken down into disciplines as music, performing art, theatre, religion, and languages. It is a study of what people have created and accomplished over a vast period of time. Nowhere in the definition of humanities have I seen science or medicine as sub study to humanities; maybe because science existed before human beings, but they were privileged to uncover and reveal to the rest of the World the new scientific laws.However, studying Humanities I would consider science piece as well, because it is also another significant achievement of the intelligent species. Traveling is one of my favorite types of vacation. Every year I try to visit a different country or two. Summer of 2014 was packed with lots of new experiences, mixed emotions, new knowledge, and of course new perspectives of different cultures.This summer I had an opportunity to travel to Israel. There I visited places like De ad Sea, Red Sea, Tell Aviva, Cashed and Mediterranean Sea, drove through two historically important deserts, the Judea Desert and The Desert of Engel, and of course Jerusalem, the city most desired and finally visited and explored. Jerusalem, especially the Old City is a heritage of three different religions and a multitude of different nations.The place that I wanted to visit the most was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, place that commemorates the hill where Jesus Christ was crucified and His tomb where He was buried. This site is controlled by The Greek Orthodox Church, but people from many different religious backgrounds visit the church. What I found absolutely amusing is that there are no descriptions inside the church of the exhibits. Only during my second visit to the church I realized that Goliath (the hill of crucifixion) was located inside the church.When I inquired about the reason why there are no descriptions, I was told that guides from different religious background s are telling their own story from their religious perspective, and give the exhibit their own cultural name. Another place that I totally fell in love with was The Mount of Olives. It is located outside of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Jewish tradition says that Jesus' second coming will be on The Mount of Olives and the resurrection of the dead will occur at that time, thus many Jews want to be buried on the mountain.From the top mountain the view to the humongous cemetery opens up that is a result of the traditional belief. Muslim heritage also believe that Jesus will return to The Mount of Olives and have buried there their best soldiers who would stop Jesus from coming when the resurrection of the dead occurs. The New Testament of the Bible also mentions The Mount of Olives as the place where Jesus cried for His people. Visiting Jerusalem was a dream off lifetime. I attempted to go there in 2004 for the Why Study Humanities Allison Humanities-?is a study of human culture with a great emphasis of history and art; further broken down into disciplines as music, performing art, theatre, religion, and languages. It is a study of what people have created and accomplished over a vast period of time. Nowhere in the definition of humanities have I seen science or medicine as sub study to humanities; maybe because science existed before human beings, but they were privileged to uncover and reveal to the rest of the World the new scientific laws.However, studying Humanities I would consider science piece as well, because it is also another significant achievement of the intelligent species. Traveling is one of my favorite types of vacation. Every year I try to visit a different country or two. Summer of 2014 was packed with lots of new experiences, mixed emotions, new knowledge, and of course new perspectives of different cultures.This summer I had an opportunity to travel to Israel. There I visited places like De ad Sea, Red Sea, Tell Aviva, Cashed and Mediterranean Sea, drove through two historically important deserts, the Judea Desert and The Desert of Engel, and of course Jerusalem, the city most desired and finally visited and explored. Jerusalem, especially the Old City is a heritage of three different religions and a multitude of different nations.The place that I wanted to visit the most was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, place that commemorates the hill where Jesus Christ was crucified and His tomb where He was buried. This site is controlled by The Greek Orthodox Church, but people from many different religious backgrounds visit the church. What I found absolutely amusing is that there are no descriptions inside the church of the exhibits. Only during my second visit to the church I realized that Goliath (the hill of crucifixion) was located inside the church.When I inquired about the reason why there are no descriptions, I was told that guides from different religious background s are telling their own story from their religious perspective, and give the exhibit their own cultural name. Another place that I totally fell in love with was The Mount of Olives. It is located outside of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Jewish tradition says that Jesus' second coming will be on The Mount of Olives and the resurrection of the dead will occur at that time, thus many Jews want to be buried on the mountain.From the top mountain the view to the humongous cemetery opens up that is a result of the traditional belief. Muslim heritage also believe that Jesus will return to The Mount of Olives and have buried there their best soldiers who would stop Jesus from coming when the resurrection of the dead occurs. The New Testament of the Bible also mentions The Mount of Olives as the place where Jesus cried for His people. Visiting Jerusalem was a dream off lifetime. I attempted to go there in 2004 for the

Puerto Rico Colonization essays

Puerto Rico Colonization essays Colonized people are people who have been influenced and taken over by another country or power. Puerto Rico has been colonized by Spain and also by the United States. Spain took over Puerto Rico, a small island inhabited by the Taino Indians in 1493. Spain didnt grant freedom to the Puerto Rican people until 1897. The Puerto Ricans had freedom for a short time but soon was taken over by the United States in 1898 and the end of the Spanish-American War. After visiting Puerto Rico I witnessed three main points of the colonization including language, music, and foods. The country of Spain had the first and longest affect on the island of Puerto Rico. The most obvious and oldest form of colonization would be the Puerto Rican language, which is Spanish. Puerto Ricos native language was Arakwan, which was spoke by the Tainos, but now they speak Spanish even today. Spanish influence on music was brought with religion. Through the religion classical music was introduce to the Puerto Rican culture through the notes and tones in classic gospel music. Spain also introduced spices, seasonings, and herbs along with a variety other foods to the island. Spanish rice and pastas are popular and the now traditional spicier style of foods were introduced to the Puerto Rican culture. After the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States took over the island of Puerto Rico. I think the United States has had the greatest impact on the colonization of the Puerto Rican people. When I was in Puerto Rico I noticed that almost all of the people in San Juan, also spoke English as a second language, because of this I was able to meet and socialize with two Puerto Rican teens. While hanging out with the two guys they played a Puerto Rican style rap called Reggatone in their car, which originated from the American style of rap, that has artists like Eminem, Tupac, Dr. Dre, and many ot ...

How Systematic Random Sampling Work

How Systematic Random Sampling Work Systematic sampling is a technique for creating a random probability sample in which each piece of data is chosen at a fixed interval for inclusion in the sample. For example, if a researcher wanted to create a systematic sample of 1,000 students at a university with an enrolled population of 10,000, he or she would choose every tenth person from a list of all students. How to Create a Systematic Sample Creating a systematic sample is rather easy. The researcher must first decide how many people out of the total population to include in the sample, keeping in mind that the larger the sample size, the more accurate, valid, and applicable the results will be. Then, the researcher will decide what the interval for sampling is, which will be the standard distance between each sampled element. This should be decided by dividing the total population by the desired sample size. In the example given above, the sampling interval is 10 because it is the result of dividing 10,000 (the total population) by 1,000 (the desired sample size). Finally, the researcher chooses an element from the list that falls below the interval, which in this case would be one of the first 10 elements within the sample, and then proceeds to select every tenth element. Advantages of Systematic Sampling Researchers like systematic sampling because it is a simple and easy technique that produces a random sample that is free from bias. It can happen that, with simple random sampling, the sample population may have clusters of elements that create bias. Systematic sampling eliminates this possibility because it ensures that each sampled element is a fixed distance apart from those that surround it. Disadvantages of Systematic Sampling When creating a systematic sample, the researcher must take care to ensure that the interval of selection does not create bias by selecting elements that share a trait. For example, it could be possible that every tenth person in a racially diverse population could be Hispanic. In such a case, the systematic sample would be biased because it would be composed of mostly (or all) Hispanic people, rather than reflecting the racial diversity of the total population. Applying Systematic Sampling Say you want to create a systematic random sample of 1,000 people from a population of 10,000. Using a list of the total population, number each person from 1 to 10,000. Then, randomly choose a number, like 4, as the number to start with. This means that the person numbered 4 would be your first selection, and then every tenth person from then on would be included in your sample. Your sample, then, would be composed of persons numbered 14, 24, 34, 44, 54, and so on down the line until you reach the person numbered 9,994. Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

How to control and manage hospital acquired infection in a mental Essay

How to control and manage hospital acquired infection in a mental health setting - Essay Example Those who recuperate from surgical wounds and have indwelling equipments such as catheters and intubation tubes, also have a higher chance of developing nosocomial infections if not handled properly. Nosocomial infections are hard to treat, because the frequent use of different antimicrobials in the mental facility over time has resulted to development of resistance. The mentally ill patients present with symptoms such as low blood pressure, chills, fever, and even mental confusion depending on the etiology (Shaw, 2011: 56). Nurses working in a mental health facility face many challenges when treating patients. In some cases, because of the poor mental state or poor cognitive ability of the patient, the nurses usually get a hard time when treating them. Some patients are uncooperative and violent and pose a huge challenge to the nurses attending them. If such patients have wounds then treating such wounds becomes a huge problem and the likelihood of occurrence of nosocomial infections is high. If such patients have fall related fractures or chronic diseases, then the combination of such with the mental state of the patient, contributes significantly to a lowered immunity of the patient and the nosocomial infections get a chance to thrive. This presents the nurses with a huge responsibility because they have to deal with three factors which are treating the first disease, handling the mental state of the patient, and treating the nosocomial infection (Beckwith, 2011: 80). Another challenge facing nurses in such a facility is resistance of drugs and the lowered immunity of the patients. The immune-compromised patients do not recover quickly, because the already low immunity finds it hard to fight infections. The continual use of drugs to control such infections makes the immunity more weakened, and development of drug resistance by the causative pathogens complicates the whole situation. Microorganisms become more troublesome