Gone With the Wind an Example of the Topic Literature Essays by

Gone With the Wind I chose to watch the movie, Gone With the Wind, a 1939 release, which originally had been a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Margaret Mitchell. The film was produced by David Selznick, Directed by Victor Flemming and released by MGM. It starred Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh as Rhett Butler and Scarlett OHara, with Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes and Hattie McDaniel as Mammy and a superb supporting cast including Olivia de Havilland and Butterfly McQueen. It is a drama set in the antebellum and post-bellum American Southland and divided into halves. It deals with the prewar era and the events of the Civil War in part one and then depicts the events after the war ended in part two. Need essay sample on "Gone With the Wind" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The movies premier was held on December 15, 1939 at the Loews Grand Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. For three days prior to the event limousines and celebrities descended on Atlanta. Stars arrived and were filmed doing charity work to ingratiate themselves with a gullible public (tags.library.upenn 2005). The promotion of this move, along with the accompanying hype and ballyhoo began before the filming, when Selznic, ever the showman, launched a nationwide search for the right woman to play the irrepressible Scarlett OHara, who had become legendary in the eye of the public by way of Mitchells hugely successful novel. While the role of Rhett Butler was cast relatively quickly, with the plum going to Clark Gable, the role of Scarlett was not cast until after shooting had begun, so the legend goes. Rumors circulated that the American actress, Paulette Goddard, had been called back time after time to retest, giving the public the idea that she was not only the front runner, but likely had been cast and the official announcement was being withheld to heighten the suspense. The story goes that Selznicks brother brought the English actress, Vivien Leigh, to the set the night they burnt the back lot of old sets to create the films stupendous footage of the burning of Atlanta, and introduced her to his brother as Scarlett OHara. Leigh has confirmed the story in interviews (Leigh, V. nd). One of the movie's most enduring myths is that Leigh was a last minute discovery after filming had already started (the "burning of Atlanta" scene). The truth is that Selznick masterminded a free publicity campaign of Who will play Scarlett? by keeping Leighs participation a secret till the last minute. Among Selznicks many memos is the one dated as early as 1937 that had Leigh secured in the role (LeninImports.com nd). The American public was stunned with the announcement that an English woman was to be cast in the role of the decade, if not the century. Scarlet was to become an American institution. She is a southern belle. It did not seem possible that anyone but an Ame rican actress could do her justice. In defense of Miss Leigh, she took the role of Scarlett OHara and made it her own. Clark Gable, on the other hand, seems to have not wanted the coveted role and is said to have considered asking Margaret Mitchell to remove him from consideration. Perhaps in hindsight, he doth protest too much. He has said in interviews that he found he had won the role by reading of it in the newspaper. Olivia de Havilland has said that Hollywood insiders tried to dissuade her from the role, saying that the movie was doomed to be a box office failure (Annas Tribute to Gone With the Wind nd). David Selznick, a showman on the scale of the great P.T. Barnum, promoted the film, considered one of the most important American movies ever produced. Such hype and promotion are not seen today. It was only possible under a now defunct star-system. Works Cited Annas Tribute no date Gone With the Wind Retrieved 10-9-2007 from:http://scarlett745836.tripod.com/scarlett745836/id21.html Gable, C. no date Interview: Rhett Retrieved 10-9-2007 from: http://scarlett745836.tripod.com/scarlett745836/id16.html Leigh, Vivien no date Interview: Scarlet LeninImports.com no date Gone With the Wind: Victor Flemming 1939

Gender, Management and Leadership The WritePass Journal

Gender, Management and Leadership Introduction Gender, Management and Leadership ). Her dominating behaviour helps Anne Wintour make sure that all business processes are controlled and monitored. However, Seperich and McCalley (2006) argue that the â€Å"fear of the boss† among employees may result in obstruction for creativity emergence, which is an integral part of business process in the fashion editing industry. Anne Wintour’s leadership style is driven by her willingness to bypass gender lines. This implies that she is willing to decrease the significance of sexism in the context of management and leadership (Daily Mail, 2011). Conclusion This paper was written to demonstrate differences in the leadership styles between the male and female CEOs. Anne Wintour of Vogue USA and Larry Page of Google Corporation were discussed and analysed. As a result of the case study analysis, it has been concluded that authoritative and democratic types of leadership work well in the context of organizational performance. This is mainly due to the fact that both companies have maintained a stable financial growth, and have acquired an international brand reputation. As a result, even though the authoritative leadership style of Anne Wintour might be considered as an obstacle to the productivity of the company; whereas Larry Page’s introvert character has also negatively affected Google’s performance, the vision of these leaders drive the success of the related organizations. Further research would be required to determine whether authoritative or democratic leadership styles are more suitable to particular genders. Also, the limitation in this analysis is that CEOs from different industries and with different leadership styles have been chosen. This may have led to analysis bias. References Abiodoun R. (2010). Leadership Behavior Impact on Employees Loyalty, Engagement and Organizational Performance. Author House: USA Bloomberg. (2012). Ambassador Anna Wintour Would Make the U.S. Look Good. Available: bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-04/ambassador-anna-wintour-would-make-the-u-s-look-good.html (Accessed on 6/2/2013) CNN Money. (2011). What would Larry Page do? Leadership lessons from Googles doyen. Available: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/18/what-would-larry-page-do-leadership-lessons-from-googles-doyen/ (Accessed on 6/2/2013) Daily Mail. (2011). Anna Wintour claims she is not intimidating Vogue interns may beg to differ. Available: dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2030249/Anna-Wintour-claims-intimidating-Vogue-interns-beg-differ.html#axzz2KDbDbfUR (Accessed on 6/2/2013) Everett A., (2011). Benefits and Challenges of Fun in the Workplace. Library Leadership and Management, 25, 1, 1-10 Google Official Website. (2013). Available: www.google.com (Accessed on 6/2/2013) Lewin, K., Lippit, R. and White, R. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates. Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 271-301 Manning G., Curtis K. (2003). The Art of Leadership. McGraw Hill: USA Manlow V. (2009). Designing Clothes: Culture and Organization of the Fashion Industry. Transaction Publishers: USA Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership, theory and practice. (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Seperich G., McCalley R. (2006). Managing Power And People. M.E. Sharpe: USA Vogue Official Website. (2013). Available: www.vogue.com (Accessed on 6/2/2013)

Competitive use of technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Competitive use of technology - Essay Example For attaining these purpose organizations across the globe are bringing innovations by effectively using new technology and enhancing the role of information system (IS) and information technology (IT) (Stair, and Reynolds, 2009). Furthermore these information system and information technologies are being used as a weapon to gain competitive advantage over the rivals (Avlonitis, and Karayanni, 2000). Conventionally businesses used to practice and use IT and IS systems specifically for data processing but things got change as various innovations came forward. With the advent and rapid growth of internet and global economy, the role of IT and IS showed ameliorations, as the concept of economic growth and expansion of businesses around the globe is very much related to effective use of technology with reference to successfully implanting and using IT and IS systems intelligently (Ward, & Peppard, 2002). At present businesses that are effectively using information technology and other co mpetitive technologies are amongst the global leaders in their respective domains. As these businesses have garnered understanding that competitive use of technology is going to create win-win situation for the

Meaning of Socratess Claim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Meaning of Socratess Claim - Essay Example The essay "Meaning of Socrates’s Claim" analyzes Socrates's statement, â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living† which is a clear representation of the deeply principled arguments that are rooted in philosophical life. In order for one to fully comprehend one’s self, relative to the world, it is pertinent that self-examination and self-questioning of one’s life and its foundations. In the case that one chooses not to examine one’s life, they relinquish critical thinking and remain ignorant to their own though process, behaviors, and emotions (Rudebusch). This creates a situation where individuals become merely a passive receiver of experience as opposed to an engage and active exegetist of experience. At the individual level, one has to fundamentally question the very foundations' values that one has inherited from society so as to critically analyze the validity of the basis or foundations of these norms and cultures (Strauss). This requires the deconstructing all the values that one holds, stripping them down to the source, purpose, advantages and disadvantages of the given value. Depending on the conclusion of these results, the value, norm and/or culture can either be discarded, modified or upheld as it was initially. When one lives an unexamined life at the social level, they have no one to observe the individual’s evolutionary process. This is the isolation of man that is damaging to experience. This is because man is naturally tuned to socialize and interact with members of his/her own species.

The reason why celebrities famous 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The reason why celebrities famous 1 - Essay Example Previously, fame was only achieved by those from royal families like Prince Charles. Research also point out that, talent and heroism was also a way of achieving the top visibility. Captain Sully Sullenberger is one of the famous heroes admired globally for landing a plane safely on the river. Celebrities also become famous by regularly appearing in public. Talent and skills are to the main aspects that drive their fame to such people. Study reveals that such approach is known as attributed celebrity. Some of the people who have become famous using such approach are Paris Hilton. She has neither talent nor skills, but she is famous. They use social media, magazines and TV shows to spread any information about their life and so they become famous. Others who have been on the public eye earlier engage on activities that make them increase their visibility. David Beckham is a well-known celebrity who has increased his fame by participating on programs that make them more famous. However, some have tried to take shortcut or do something extraordinary to become famous. Study talks about a 6-year-old boy who was thought to have floated on air balloon. Later he was found inside the garage, the authorities realized it was makeup case to make the family famous. In conclusion, fame or attention is that entire human race is trying to achieve at all cost. In addition, the study reveals that previous aspects such as talent and skills are not the only ways of achieving fame. People have devised other ways such as gossiping on social

A Health Promotion Program Proposal Health And Social Care Essay

A Health Promotion Program Proposal Health And Social Care Essay There are many substance abuse and mental health organizations throughout the country but minimal effort has been expended in targeting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention programs toward people with mental illness and chemical dependency. The severely mentally disabled population are at a higher risk for HIV infection than the general population (Perehenets, Mamary, Rose, 2006). HIV prevention programs are at a commodity and rarely within this vulnerable population recognized as a sexually active population let alone at risk of HIV infection. In the health promotion program the proposed program will be a prevention case management approach to reducing the incidence of HIV in people with mental illness or dual diagnosis. The program will include a variety of professional health services, psychiatric care, and individually tailored education on HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, and safer sex, as well as drug/alcohol treatment as needed. Health promotion being the obj ective of this program there will be active progress to reduce HIV infection among mentally ill and substance abusing population. The process will include working individually with each client to facilitate the identification and modifying risky behaviors, while also treating mental illness and substance abuse issues in an active effort to improve wellness (Aids Alert, 2008). In Cleveland, Ohio, there is a limited effort directed toward addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS among people with mental illness and chemical dependency. At the same time, there is a growing phenomenon of HIV transmission through sexual activity among the severely mentally disabled individuals. Mental illness does not increase risk in and of itself, a person with mental illness can, of course, engage in high risk behaviors for HIV infection. Studies of people with Severe Mental Disabilities show that between 4% and 19.4% are HIV positive. In all cases, the seroprevalence rates among people with mental illness are higher than that of the United States population in general (Courns et. al., 1991; Sucks et.al.,1992; Susser, Valencia, and Conover, 1993). It is critical for the severely mentally disabled clients to be provided with adequate education about HIV/AIDS and prevention strategies. The typical severely mentally disabled client suffers from a severe thought disorder exhibiting periods of active mental illness and remission. Active periods may include symptoms such as hallucinations or paranoia. Negative symptoms, which appear during remission, may include anxiety, depression, or impairment in thought (DSM IV). During periods of active illness, a client is less likely to engage in unsafe sex or other high-risk behaviors. During periods of remission, however, a client may resort to sex and/or drug using behaviors in an attempt to self-medicate (Aids Alert, 2007). Ironically, one of the periods of greatest risk is when a client receives effective case management, including medication and counseling. Researching agencies across the United States it was found that rarely did individuals with severe mental illness have any knowledge of the HIV infection or ways to prevent the spread(Aids Alert 2007). Thus it is critical that severely mentally disabled clients be provided adequate education about HIV/AIDS and preventive strategies. The health promotion project will specifically address three priorities: (1) Promoting Healthy Behaviors and Life Styles, (2) Increasing and improving healthcare, (3) Increasing knowledge. Literature Review A total of six articles reviewed for this project all where consistent in the recommendation to reduce HIV among the severely mentally disabled population. To reduce the transmission of HIV among clients in this population, risk prevention and education are essential (Aids Alert, 2008). A challenge among this population is the continuous need for intensive case management because studies showed following education and risk reduction activities are taught after 6 months at risk behaviors returned (Berkman, Pilowsky, Zybert, Herman, Conover, Lemmelli, Cournos, Koepner, Susser. 2007). In review of the literature one of the weakness is that the reality of sustain prevention behaviors where not demonstrated nor did the articles at hand speak about the need for intensive case management once a person with persistent mental illness present being HIV positive or living with AIDS. Clearly the project being proposed would offer continuous individualized, comprehensive, prevention case management approach, coupled with risk-reduction counseling as well as pre and post counseling for testing for HIV. Prevention Case Management ensures that clients have the necessary infrastructure established in their lives to allow them to focus on treatment and healthy living. The case manager links the client to essential services such as healthcare, housing, entitlements, and training. Assisting in daily living skills, such as budgeting and medication compliance, and acts as a liason between medical doctors and psychiatrists working with the client. Once the client has been linked to resources to meet his or her needs and receives psychiatric care to minimize or control symptoms, then the focus on reducing risky behaviors associated with increased risk of HIV infection. There are many substance abuse and mental health organizations throughout the country but minimal effort has been expended in targeting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention programs toward people with mental illness and chemical dependency. Conceptual Model The High Risk Prevention Program is based in behavioral science theory. The education and prevention group sessions and prevention case management both use a combination of the AIDS Risk Reduction Model (ARRM) and Harm Reduction theory as a framework to guide interventions. For example, the education portion of the group sessions teaches people what behaviors put them at risk for HIV or other sexually transmitted infection. The participants activiely show the knowledge they are gaining through the High risk, Low risk, No risk game, where a behavior is written on a card and given to each person. Participants are then asked to stand under the sign that shows the level of risk the behavior carries. This is based on the ARRM principle that in order to change behavior, one must first label it as risky. The prevention portion of the group teaches participants how to reduce likelihood of infection through safer sex practices. This is based on both the ARRM principle that a person must make a commitment to change (e.g., use condoms for every sexual encounter) as well as the Harm Reduction principle that people are going to do risky things, so they should be given ways to at least reduce the risk. The ARRM states that the last step to changing behavior is to take action to perform the desired changed (Lanier,M. Gates,S., 1999). The High Risk Prevention Program witnesses this principle in prevention case management clients, since they are seen and intervened upon over a long period of time (sometimes years), whereas group session clients are seen only once. It is essential to provide education about the risk of HIV transmission to practitioner, community members, and clients. All of these groups need to understand what HIV is, how it is transmitted, and how to change risky behaviors in order to prevent infection. Without this knowledge, the disease will continue to be misunderstood and it will continue to spread through people with mental illness and/or substance dependence. Group sessions will be provided at local community organizations that provide mental health and substance abuse treatment, thus reaching a larger community. Experience shows that many people with mental illness are reluctant to go to an unfamiliar place and/or are likely to isolate themselves at home. Staff will provide outreach to homeless drop in centers and group homes to assist in reaching marginalized populations. Providing prevention education materials and the tools necessary for clients to practice prevention and risk reduction techniques nurses and other supportive staff will offer clients a variety of safer-sex products, including condoms, female condoms, dental dams, lubricants, and pamphlets about specific sexually transmitted disease or HIV. Free anonymous or confidential OraSure testing will be provided to participants following each session. In addition to education and prevention seminars, it is important to assist clients through learning, understanding, and implementing a risk-reduction life style. Prevention case management is critical in ensuring that clients have the necessary infrastructure established in their lives to allow them to focus on treatment and healthy living. The case manager will link the client to essential services such as healthcare, housing, entitlements and/or job training. The case manager will assist with daily living skills, such as budgeting and medication compliance, and act as the constant between medical do ctors and psychiatrists working with client. Project Goals and Objectives The first goal will be to increase knowledge and awareness around HIV and other sexually transmitted disease and prevention models, such as safer sex practices to clinical staff. The objective will be to provide education session about HIV and other sexually transmitted disease to employees and interns to ensure internal agency staff members are informed with accurate knowledge about high-risk behaviors associated with HIV and STDs. A secondary objective for this goal will be for staff members comfort and capability to talk with clients about sexual behaviors and HIV/STD prevention. The second goal will be to decrease behaviors that put people with mental illness and substance abuse problems at risk for HIV infection through comprehensive case management while supporting clients physical, emotional, social and mental health. The first objective will be to provide prevention case management services to 45 unduplicated clients. The intervention will be providing case management services to 30 clients each month, with overlap from month to month ( the average number of case management encounters will be two per client, per month). The second objective for the goal number two is to provide prevention and education sessions to One hundred and Eighty clients. With mental illness and/or substance use to increase knowledge about high risk behaviors associated with HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted disease, and safer sex. The intervention will be for multidisciplinary staff to provide prevention education sessions. Seminars will rotate through the community and will be held throughout the year, with an average of one seminar per month. Free, anonymous HIV testing will be provided through collaboration with an established testing provider. The outcome will be that clients achieve an increase in knowledge and awareness of issues around HIV, other sexually transmitted disease and safer sex, as evidenced in pre post test result analysis. Evaluation Component Evaluation of the projects success has two components. The first component is a pre/post test to assess clients knowledge of HIV, safer sex, and sexually transmitted disease. This evaluates the Education and Prevention component of the Project. Post-test scores that are higher than pre-test scores will show that the Education and Prevention session improved the participants knowledge of HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases and safer sex. The second evaluation component is a documented review of client goals. This evaluates the Prevention Case Management component of the project. After establishing rapport with the client, the Prevention Case Manager will collaborate with the client to formulate a personal goal about HIV or other sexually transmitted disease risk reduction or safer sex. Typically, the Prevention Case Manager checks in with the client about this goal at each session to evaluate one or more of the following: the clients knowledge about HIV and prevention, his or her attitudes about changing risky behaviors, and skills available to implement a change. There is a formal written review of the clients goals that takes place every ninety days and is kept in the clients record. Progress is determined by both the clients personal assessment of his or her achievements and the Prevention Case Managers clinical opinion. Optimal outcomes in Prevention Case Management evaluation will demonstrate increase in condom use, cessation of injection drug use, or decreased number of sexual partners. Barriers and Challenges The adoption of Evidence Based Interventions can be best implemented under real-world conditions. The agency implementing the change must also have the ability to offer capacity building activities for the adopters of the intervention. Just adding responsibility to staffs all ready full scheduled can be a barrier to the motivation and successful implementation of the interventions. The level of care also needs to be assessed when offering Prevention Case Management when in fact the client is aligned in needed intensive case management simply to manage basic needs and this intervention would not have any significant change in behavior. The severly mentally ill client will present with challenges of psychiatric stability and that does need prioritizing. Successful behavioral change is not a one-time event. Change occurs over time, and with small steps which accumulate to make large differences. Change must be maintained over time and interwined into the culture of the person and their support system. The clinicians must remain flexible and meet their clients where they are moving them to risk free behaviors in their time line, pulling on their strengths. Nurses must expand their efforts to design and implement interventions which support promotion of health and prevention of disease and disability. Preventing and staying healthy is complex, focus is not only on the client but their family, their support system and their beliefs. The nurses approach needs to be comprehensive looking at primary, secondary and teritarty levels of prevention and involve the client and community in the planning. The Aids Risk Reduction Model allows the nurse to understand and predict clients behavior including how they use and adhere to recommended therapy. Health promotion being the objective of this program there will be active progress to reduce HIV infection among mentally ill and substance abusing population. The process will include working individually with each client to facilitate the identification and modifying risky behaviors, while also treating mental illness and substance abuse issues in an active effort to improve wellness (Aids Alert, 2008). .

Victors Destruction in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essay -- Frankenst

Victor's Destruction in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Mary Shelley, in her book Frankenstein, makes several allusions to the fact that Victor Frankenstein is usurping the role of God in bringing his creature to life. The point of the book seems to be that a human who attempts to usurp the role of God will be heavily punished. Victor Frankenstein is severely punished. He loses everyone he loves before perishing himself in the arctic wastes. But did he really "play God" or did he merely unleash his own id and destroy himself? Allusions to Frankenstein's identification with God are sprinkled liberally throughout the book. From an early age Frankenstein identifies himself with God through his study of metaphysics. "It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn (23)," Frankenstein says. From an early age it was the metaphysical secrets of life and death that obsessed Frankenstein. It was this interest that led him to study the alchemists. A choice that he believed brought about his own downfall. Frankenstein fears for his sanity. He exhorts us more than once to "remember that he is not recounting the visions of a madman (37)." Yet he fears so much that he will be thought mad that he doesn't reveal that his creature killed William, even though it means the death of Justine, who was wrongly convicted of the murder. Frankenstein protests his own sanity so strenuously throughout the book that one begins to wonder if he is, in fact sane. The image of Frankenstein as God is reinforced in the dialog between Victor and the creature when they meet on the summit of Montanvert (Chapter 10). The creature says: I am thy creature, and I will be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king if thou wilt also perfo... ...d friend, and the destined mate -- rivals for the affection of his parents and for success. It is significant that Frankenstein, although he knows of the creature's threats, does nothing to protect Elizabeth on their wedding night. In this way he is complicit in her death, and in his own destruction. Frankenstein spends the rest of his life chasing the creature. He seems to want to confront and kill him, but it is not destined to be. In reality Frankenstein ostracizes himself from human society, even traveling to the uninhabitable North Pole. He never catches his creature. Instead he wears himself out, dying more of guilt and exhaustion than anything else. The creature, freed by Victor's death, retreats from the inhabited world searching for the death that he hopes will bring him relief. Works Cited Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein. (Bantam Classics, NY), 1981.

Ebay Case Meg Whitman Essay

In 1995, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay, an on-line company whose purpose was to facilitate an environment where people could not only exchange goods, but also have discussions, make connections, and form relationships. He carefully crafted a culture based upon, â€Å"trust, respect, autonomy, empowerment, and equality,† and sought for the eBay community and company to be reflective of those principles. eBay was successful because Omidyar realized that a respectful, symbiotic relationship with this on-line community was critical, â€Å"because eBay wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for [the] community. In 1998, Meg Whitman was brought in as CEO to strengthen the eBay brand and to develop a stronger marketing strategy. In this, she was remarkably successful. In little over a year, eBay registrants grew from 88,000 to 3. 8 million users. The company successfully went public, revenue just about doubled every quarter, and acquisitions and partnerships were made to increase the customer base. However, the rapid growth under Whitman caused a major problem for eBay: it put a strain on the culture and the community upon which eBay was successfully founded. With growth came the need for more rules and policies. For instance, Whitman made the decision to ban the sale of firearms to keep the company free of legal liabilities. Many in the community and company were shocked and outraged by this policy because it violated the eBay values of open communication and trust. Also, the acquisition of Butterfield and Butterfield, a prestigious, high-end auction house, was taken as a slap in the face. It violated the eBay value of respect, and the community saw this purchase indicative of the company’s priorities being focused on higher profit margins, not building and maintaining relationships with its existing community. There are clear reasons why the eBay community felt its culture was being left behind in the wake of rapid growth. First, the strategic design of eBay dramatically changed under Whitman’s management. eBay was previously built upon a small, flat and flexible team of engineers who worked together without many formal chains of authority. This open work environment perfectly mirrored the community Omidyar sought to create online, and the internal company practiced its values of respect and trust on a daily basis. However, Whitman correctly recognized that as the company grew, more formal structures and positions would have to be put into place to bear the burden of greater demand. With expert consultation, she reorganized the engineers. She eventually added eleven different vice presidents in upper management. In little time, the company transformed from an informal, flat model to a formal functional structure. This enabled growth, but it also created tall hierarchies that diminished the culture of open communication. For instance, lower-level employees and the eBay community both back-lashed at the decision of banning firearms for largely the same reason: they had no idea such a policy was forthcoming. Upper management made this decision without outside consultation. Even though it was the right decision for the company, it was handled and presented in a way that violated the culture eBay was built upon. In 1999, Whitman formally created a Community Watch group to monitor the website for fraud. Initially, eBay â€Å"counted on its users to abide by its user agreement and take much of the responsibility for safeguarding the site themselves. But, the community had grown too large to be self-monitored. Again, the decision was appropriate, but so many structural changes implemented in so little time was too much for the community to absorb without reaction. Moreover, the political nature of eBay changed rapidly. Pierre Omidyar, eBay’s founder and developer, had the rare gift of leading with b oth referent and expert power. He used this power to create a strong sense of community throughout eBay. He also used his referent power to give Whitman legitimacy in both her position as CEO and in her consequential actions. His support was effective at getting the company to align behind her decisions, but the external community did not see this support and were more suspicious of the company’s new direction. Whitman’s decisions were all sound and applauded by Wall Street. But the community saw what was once a democratic forum turning into a big business. Her lack of consultation with the community lead one user to brand eBay as having a â€Å"cavalier attitude,† and a â€Å"political agenda. † Lower level employees also saw this lack of communication. Where there were once full company meetings weekly, now they were held, at most, once a quarter. Power was concentrating. Clearly, this power shift was positively causing growth but negatively affecting culture. In her defense, Whitman was not indifferent to the culture at eBay. She stressed hiring people who understood and wanted to expand the eBay culture. But at the same time she outsourced customer service to a location in Utah, far from where the gatekeepers of the eBay culture were to be found. Therefore, those directly working with the community may have been the least in tune with its values. Also, she applauded and maintained the â€Å"no penalty† culture where everyone could voice their opinions and feel free to change their minds. However, with the growth of the company, there were fewer opportunities for a voice to be heard, less direct contacts with upper management, and fewer voices involved in major decisions. This led to decisions being made that were sound individually but not corporately when placed in the eBay culture. It also proved difficult to spread this culture to the plethora of newly added users. And it is critical because it built the community, which built the company, and if it is removed, those elements that made eBay a unique success will be gone. Therefore, eBay needs to find a way to maintain its culture. One way to correct this problem would be to implement more cross-functional teams internally. These teams would recreate the initial eBay structure of being team-based, autonomous, and flat. They would allow different departments to address problems and offer valuable input into pending company policies. This lateral flow would lead to decisions that would keep more in line with the original eBay culture, thus satisfying the community at large. The downside to these teams is that it gives Whitman and others less authority to use in making decisions for the company. Another alternative would be to create a formal system of distributing information and gathering feedback from the eBay community. This would create an opportunity to communicate values as well as pending or upcoming policy changes. This system of polling through email would empower the community to have a cogent voice once again and would reestablish the feeling of one-to-one communication. The downside is that if the company decided to go in a direction different than that of the community, those polled and involved could lose faith and optimism in exercising their voice. Finally, Whitman could create a separate company under the eBay name where she could make mergers and acquisitions without alienating the base users and without directly affecting the company. This would help maintain the existing eBay culture, but it would do nothing to repair any damage done. Moreover, having a different arm will not expand their user community of eBay, which is eBay’s vision. Whitman should create a formal system of distributing information and gathering feedback from the eBay community. This mechanism would be two-fold in design. First, eBay would create a oalition of the â€Å"top sellers,† those truly engrossed in the eBay community and whose interests are aligned with both company and community. Upper management would formally integrate the opinions and responses of this group (on issues ranging from policy to community values) into its decision-making processes. Also, the use of widely sampled polls of eBay users on the same issues would help th e company get a feel for how the broader community at large feels about important issues. This would be positive for the community because it would give them a legitimate voice in the company again, just as it had at eBay’s inception. It is important to remember that eBay is unique in that the community it serves is the company itself. Soliciting, responding to, and implementing the voice of this community improve eBay; even with its now more functional structure, it will only help the company know the needs and opinions of its community, which will strengthen business. The downside to this move is that after hearing out the top sellers and looking at the data of a poll on a particular issue, Whitman and upper management may still feel that an unpopular direction needs to be taken. Some users may feel patronized and refuse to participate in future polls. Even so, many in the community will be appreciative to at least be involved in the process and to be forewarned of pending changes. Once again there will be a dialogue with the community that will attribute value, trust, and respect to its opinions, even in disagreement. In this manner, eBay can grow and still stay small.

Affirmative Action Essays (2272 words) - Social Inequality

Affirmative Action Essays (2272 words) - Social Inequality Affirmative Action Affirmative Action Affirmative action has been the subject of increasing debate and tension in American society. Affirmative action is the nations most ambitious attempt to redress the issues of racial and sexual discrimination. According to the University of Rhode Island, Affirmative action is defined as, the specific actions in recruitment, hiring, upgrading and other areas designed and taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination, or present discrimination (www.riuniversity.edu , 8). This allows minorities and women to be given special consideration in education and many other areas. The need for affirmative action is essential to college admissions credentials. Institutions with affirmative action policies generally set goals for increased diversity and equal opportunity among minority students. Our society is not one of equality, but affirmative action provides a way that problems with inequality can be address to the public. Minorities such as African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics live mostly in urban areas that have large populations. Therefore, many minorities normally attend lower quality schools. Colleges usually do not take into account that students come from different backgrounds and different quality schools. The students that have better intermediate and secondary schools have an advantage in college admissions, which exclude many minorities. Affirmative action helps students who come from a lower quality secondary school to have a chance to prove themselves in accredited college. Another advantage of affirmative action is that it provides an environment of diversity. Diversity is essential to colleges and students. As part of higher education, students learn from face-to-face interaction with faculty member and other students to work productively inside and outside the classroom. Racial diversity can enhance college atmosphere by improving communications. It can also develop understanding among individuals of different races. Affirmative action can help students overcome prejudices when students discover just how much they have in common with their peers from other races. The educational benefit of affirmative action is that majority of the students who has previously lack significant direct exposure to minorities, frequently have the most to gain from interaction with individuals. Diversity on college and university campuses may be something that helps people expand their mind, or be open to new opportunities. In the article Needed documentation of how affirmative action benefits all students, it discusses how it is essential t colleges and students to have minorities on the campuses (6). In the section, The Evidence for Diversity: Then and Now, it states: In Justice Powells opinion, Baake relied heavily on the Harvard Plan. The admissions policy of Harvard College include justification for considering race as one of many factors used in deciding whom to admit. The plan stated that of Harvard College is to continue to offer first rate education to its students, minority representation in the undergraduate body would be ignored (2). Justice Powell went on to support diversity plan, which was in 1978. I the seventies, the same things were happening as it is today. People were fighting to have their race or someone elses as a factor in college admissions. Although this happened at Harvard in 1978, it continues today all over the United States. The article goes on to state that twenty years later much has changed, yet we still rely on anecdotal evidence to support the claim that a racially diverse student body is essential to quality education (2). Affirmative action dealing with college is still trying to make campuses a more diverse place with a racially diverse student body. Admitting someone into college or a university because they are smart, not only gives them a chance to be someone, but it also allows that campus to be diversified. In the article, Diversity Fades on Campus, it says schools routinely make exceptions for jocks, the children of big donors and alumni, and friends of power brokers. So why shouldnt these same schools be allowed to make exceptions for minority students. Minority students need the same advantages as jocks or students of big donors to have an equal opportunity in school. Affirmative action gives the same exceptions that some students who arent minorities receive t get into college. According to Jackie Snow in the article The Positive Aspects of Affirmative Action the author states that minority and women remain economically disadvantage.

Employment Scenario in India Essays

Employment Scenario in India Essays Employment Scenario in India Essay Employment Scenario in India Essay Employment has emerged as an important subject in the development agenda of most national governments and several international organisations over the past two decades. In recent years, the processes of globalisation have also resulted in certain trends in labour markets in both the developed and developing countries. in the developing countries, fears have been expressed of displacement of workers in the hither to protected sectors as a result of international competition. Current scenario of India: As a belong to India, I would like to emphasize on the current education and employment scenario in India. In India, The educational system follows 12 years of schooling and then a 3-4 years of graduation course, and 2 years of post graduation course. India  has a total  of 253 universities and 12,732 colleges right now. Growth rate of employment is 3. 29% in 2009. Highest rate of Employment is observed in agriculture , fishing and forestry- 296. 62 million. The Lowest rate of employment is in Electricity, Gas and water supply – 1. 5 million. The country is having a population of 1. 2 billion while the total employment is 529. 87 million. It indicates that major portion of the youth remain unemployed. Major employment challenges in India: 1. Population: India  is the  second most populous  country in the world, with over 1. 18 billion people (estimate for April, 2010), more than a sixth of the worlds population. More than this every year about 5 million people become eligible for securing jobs. But the employment opportunities are much lower than the job seekers. 2. Poverty: In India, Poverty often forces households to withdraw children from schools for reasons of both direct and opportunity costs. In addition, schools and the style of instruction are not always attractive for the children. In the case of girls, the familial attitude towards educating them continues to be discriminatory. As a result, Drop-out rates are high: at 40 per cent in the primary, 50 per cent in the middle and 66 per cent in the secondary stages of schooling for boys and 42 per cent, 58 per cent and 72 per cent at the three levels, for girls In rural families. 42 per  cent of children said they wanted to be graduates and just 24 per  cent wished to go in for a post-graduate  degree. Even the choice of subject changed according to the occupation of parentschildren of the salaried class were more likely to study engineering or medicine. 3. Employability: A part of the problem of employment has always been the result of a mismatch between qualitative aspects of the supply and demand of labour: demand has remained unfulfilled due to non-availability of workers with requisite skills and workers have remained unemployed or underemployed as they have no skills or their skills have no demand. This mismatch seems to have grown in recent years due to fast changes in production technologies and structures to which the skill supply mechanisms and institutions have not been quick enough to respond. 4. Rate of Literacy: 39 per cent of the Indian workforce in the 15 years and above age group is illiterate; another 23 per cent have studied only up to the primary level. Only 22 per cent have secondary and higher level of education. 5. No of colleges: India  has a total  of 253 universities and 12,732 colleges right now. If we take the total  population in the relevant age group and divide this by the number of colleges/universities, then it shows that, at the all-India level, each university will have to cater for around 250,000-300,000 studentswhile thats about the size of Delhi University, there arent too many universities of this size in the country, nor are many being planned. 6. Educational Infrastructure: The infrastructure and curriculum of the school and colleges suffer from lack of adequate technologies, Shortage of funds. The curriculum of professional colleges are not updated to met the requirements of the industry. India is having Total engineering colleges more than 3000, when Total number of  Private MBA  colleges  in India is more than 1700. Almost 90% of these  colleges  are unable to provide quality education. Only top 10% college of Engineering and managements are able to provide job to students through Campus selection. 7. Economic depression : sick industries are often close down compelling their employees to become unemployed. 8. Technological advancement : Technological advancement contributes to economic development . But unplanned and uncontrolled growth of technology is causing havoc on job opportunities. The computerization and automation has led to technological unemployment. 9. Industry lockouts: Strikes and lockouts have become inseparable aspect of the industrial world today. Since workers do not get any salary or wages during the strike period they suffer from economic hardships. They become permanently or temporarily unemployed. How to improve the education system: Education system plays a crucial role in the employment scenario. Because it delivers the students who possess the skills and knowledge to participate in the global economy. Following measures should be taken to make the students employable in Public and Private sectors: 1. Increasing No of Schools: As discussed earlier, the existing No of schools are not adequate to provide quality education to the eligible students. So the No. of universities and colleges must be increased. 2. Providing Free education: In primary level, Education in the Govt. Schools should be made free for rural families. Also No of scholarships should be increased for higher education. . Developing Infrastructure: Increase spending substantially on primary and high school education (Both qualitative and quantitative). Increase the salaries of teachers at least at per with university lecturers and put stringent quality control while recruiting the teachers and introduce accountability among them. We must increase substantially the number of primary schools and quality of those a nd improve on physical infrastructures like school buildings, a minimum standard of school laboratory and library, a decent play ground, some internet connected computers in libraries etc. In technical institutions, technical equipments should be used in instructing. 4. Pattern of evaluation: Subsequently the exam patterns should change and put more emphasis on original thinking and problem solving rather than emphasizing database-quiz type format. 5. Improving curriculum: Basic education should be in mother tongue but English also should be compulsory from class 1. Technical education should be made available to students who have completed 8 years of schooling. To cover the lack of skills, a mechanism needs to be set up at different levels - national, regional and local - to continuously assess the emerging skill requirements of the rapidly changing economic and technological scene and reorient the training infrastructure to meet them. Second, it is necessary to develop training systems to meet the skill requirements of the unorganised sector, which is likely to be the main source of new employment opportunities, in highly diverse activities with many common as well as specific skills. 6. Training for competitive exams: In higher educational institutions, students should be prepared to clear the competitive exams. It will make a large No. Of students eligible for various public sector jobs. Conclusion: The first lead in improving the educational system should be taken by the Government. Because though Education in Private Colleges are expensive, they are having a good infrastructure and placement record compared to the Govt. Colleges. Govt. Should take initiative to increase no of schools and colleges with proper facilities, and also improve the curriculum and infrastructure of present education system.

Poverty Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Poverty - Coursework Example Impacts of Poverty on Individuals Poverty has significantly impacted the lives and properties of individuals in developing countries like Africa. Poverty in Africa has led to the increase of child labor since most children lack basic commodities in their homes. They resort to child labor because a majority of them are actually the breadwinners in their families as the parents are incapable of providing for them or their siblings. Child labor has no moral dignity because children who are underage are employed by employers who exploit and abuse them because of their lack of knowledge and inability to find other venues to earn a living (Blackden & Wodon, 2006, p.137). Poverty in Africa has also led to unemployment of individuals leading to a decline in the living standards. Lack of jobs within most of African countries has witnessed sufferings of many families as they are forced to work for minimal wages which are below the standard living. Lack of unemployment affects the lives of indi viduals as they resort to vices and criminal activities like robbery, prostitution, drug smuggling and human trafficking to earn a living and take care of themselves and their families (Brinkerhoff, 2008, p. 17). Unemployment in Africa has earned the title of the most unsafe place in the world, and also the title of the continent with the highest number of human trafficking. Human trafficking occurs to willing and unwilling girls since most are poor, jobless single mothers who are promised well paying jobs abroad only to find out the harsh realities of the said jobs. Unfortunately, because of poverty many people are aware of human trafficking but still risk the lives by gambling that they could miss a rare opportunity. Poverty in Africa is also associated with various plagues like substance and alcohol abuse, lack of water, food and social amenities like hospitals, school and infrastructure causing a rise in diseases and security among others. Poverty is escalates depression and str ess levels; thus, most poor individuals seek solace in alcohol consumption or substance abuse to forget about their worries or relieve the stress. The effects of alcohol on an individual can not be underestimated because it gives an individual a false judgment of situation or a position. The end results are increase in accidents and crime within the society, and the country as a whole. Substance abuse is also harmful to individuals as it destroys their health leading to deaths and disabilities among the addicts. Alcohol and substance abuse also leads to lack of responsibility of parents who in turn do not provide food, shelter, clothing, medication and education to their families. Water and food related diseases are common with the poor because they are not in a position to lead healthy life styles. In most cases, the poor are associated to diseases caused by lack of nutrients in the body like malnutrition. These diseases when not treated lead to deaths of citizens living in differe nt parts of the countries found in Africa (Jamison, 2006, p. 339). Poverty in Africa has also led to the migration of individuals into different countries. Lack of unemployment, which is associated to poverty, has caused many individuals living in Africa to flee from their counties with the intent of seeking employment in their asylum countries (Crush & Frayne, 2010, p. 54). Migration in Africa

Computer Software Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Computer Software - Essay Example The ultimate objective is to get ordinary persons to be able to use the computer for their requirements. The nature of software divides it into three portions - operating systems, languages and applications. The first of these is the operating system which sets down the laws for exchange of information between men and the machine. This is taken by users as being part of the machine and is generally seen by individuals when they first switch on their computers. In many cases, for individuals using a computer at home, this is Windows. Till the system becomes functional and the loading of Windows stops, the user will not be able to start using the machine. Anything that is typed by the operator before Windows is ready for taking instructions will only result in the computer just clogging up and stopping operations. At the same time, Windows is not the only possible operation for a computer, as it may also have "UNIX, Apple Mach, Ban, VMS, RS, OS2, Irix, AIX or HP-UX" among others. (Comp uter Software) However, the operating systems lead to files being written in particular languages, and thus it is difficult for information to be exchanged between computers which have different operating systems. This is very important today in view of the high usage of Internet and sending of mail across the world. That is made simpler as the language for sending information is generally Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. Files in these languages are accepted by all operating systems so that communication is not interrupted. In the same machine also it is possible to have more than one language like having both Windows and Linux, though Windows does not recognize the existence of Linux as it is viewed as a competitor. The next question is of languages used for writing instructions for the operation of the computer. This is the language used by programmers so that the computer itself can translate their instructions to machine language for the operation of the computer. It is important to know that the operations of the computer are carried out in machine language and that is in the simple method of off or on. Off is viewed as zero, and on is viewed as 1. Thus 2 are written in machine language as 10, and three is written as 11, and four as 100. Similarly, there are also codes for the alphabets, and for every character, there are 16 bits or 32 bits being used now. This also results in large sizes for files in computers. One page of typed matter has a size of over 20,000 units of bits. This makes it essential that computers have large storage capacities, presently over 80 gigabytes or 80 trillion bytes. Coming back to the point that we were discussing, some common languages are "C, C++, FORTRAN, COBO L, Pascal, Perl and Java". (Computer Software) Presently, the language popular among programmers is Java, as the instructions in that language can be the shortest. However, the ultimate language for passing on all instructions to the computers is machine language, and