The Crimes of Brandy Holmes

During the early evening hours of January 1, 2003, the Brandy Holmes and her boyfriend, Robert Coleman, forced their way into the rural home of Julian Brandon, a retired minister who was 70 years of age, and his wife Alice, who was 68 years of age. Reverend Brandon was shot at near contact range in the underside of his jaw with a .380 caliber handgun. The bullet separated into two pieces: one fragment entered his brain and the other exited the top of his head. Julian Brandon immediately collapsed. Holmes and Coleman then took Mrs. Brandon to the rear bedroom and demanded her valuables, cash, and credit cards as she begged for her life. Ignoring her pleas, they placed a pillow over the womans face and shot her in the head, and left her for dead.    Over-Kill After shooting Mrs. Brandon, Holmes and Coleman heard Reverend Brandon struggling with his wounds and returned and stabbed and slashed him to death. Concerned Friends Discover the Bodies On January 5, 2003, four days after the attack, Calvin Barrett Hudson, a family friend of the Brandons, became concerned when the couple did not attend church on Sunday and decided to check on them. When he and his wife went to their friends residence, they found Reverend Brandon lying in a pool of his blood on the carpet. Hudson immediately went to a neighbors house and called the sheriffs office. When the police responded to the call, they found Reverend Brandons body. It was not until the authorities checked the house that they discovered Mrs. Brandon was barely alive. Even though Mrs. Brandon received a gunshot wound to the head, she survived the attack, although she was permanently disabled and requires around-the-clock care. Tips Lead Investigators to the Killers Door After the television news reported the crime, the Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office received a tip from persons at an apartment complex near the crime scene. The callers indicated the Holmes had been bragging about killing an elderly couple down the road near a church and that she was trying to sell their jewelry. Detectives then went to the trailer of Brenda Bruce, Holmes mother, which was located near the homicide scene. There they located Holmes, Coleman, her mother, and her 15-year-old brother, Sean George. All four agreed to accompany the officers to the sheriffs office for interviews. Over the next two days Holmes made six recorded and unrecorded statements, implicating herself and others to varying degrees in the homicide and robbery. She also said that two days after murders, she and two of her young nephews bicycled to the Brandons home. The youngest nephew, nine years of age, entered the home with her and she walked to the back of house and heard Mrs. Brandons heavy breathing and turned around and left.   The nine-year-old nephew entered the home with his aunt, where he saw Reverend Brandon lying in a pool of blood and heard Mrs. Brandon screaming from another room in the home. A neighbor witnessed both nephews fleeing from the residence, leaving the Holmes inside the home. Evidence Police recovered considerable circumstantial evidence that proved Holmes involvement in the crime. Although the gun used in the shootings was not recovered, ballistics evidence demonstrated that the weapon used in the Brandon homicide was the same weapon that had belonged to Holmess father and had been stolen from his residence in Tylertown, Mississippi. Holmes admitted she had stolen her fathers gun in one of her statements to the police. In addition, a surveillance video from Hibernia Bank depicted the Holmes and Coleman attempting to use the Brandons credit card at an ATM. A search of the Bruce trailer where the Holmes and Coleman were staying led to the discovery of several items that belonged to Mrs. Brandon. Three fired .380 cartridge casings were found in the rain gutter of the trailer where she lived.   Laboratory analysis revealed that Reverend Brandons DNA was found on one of these casings.   Ã‚   Additionally, forensic analysis matched the .380 projectile recovered from Reverend Brandons brain and the dining room ceiling to a projectile recovered from a tree at the home of Holmes father in Mississippi. Brandy Holmes was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death.

Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis - 781 Words

In the world of psychology, there is a theory, the tabula rusa(â€Å"blank slate†), which states man’s personality grows from experiences, but there are many examples that show mankind is created to exemplify goodness, although many easily stray from the path. The novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson focuses on the duality of man’s inner nature, demonstrating the development of a doctor’s evil as it slowly consumes him. Throughout the work, Stevenson merges his philosophy of human nature with the good-natured Dr. Jekyll and the mysterious evil, Mr. Hyde. As the plot thickens, Stevenson uses illustrious diction to clarify the positives of Jekyll, the negative aura of Hyde, and he displays his belief that man†¦show more content†¦The reader gets quite a bad first impression of Mr. Hyde as he â€Å"trampled calmly over the child’s body and left her screaming to the ground† (Stevenson 4), already fore shadowing more horrific events to be caused with his little remorse. The choice of his reaction of trampling calmly over a little girl demonstrates Mr. Hyde’s inhumane feeling as well as a possible joy of hurting others. After the first encounter with the unnerving Mr. Hyde, the protagonist of the story, Mr. Utterson, goes out of his way to cross paths with the man once more. As a result of the endless questioning, Utterson faces an animal that â€Å"snarled aloud into a savage laugh† (Stevenson 17) in a hurried craze. By having Hyde snarl, it connotes a more abhorring nature of the man, and describing his laugh as savage sends out warning signs of more incidents of pain to be caused by him. While Jekyll struggles to choose good or evil, Hyde does not struggle at all as he does not face any difficult choices, so he tries to take advantage of what he believes is his weaker side. Through Dr. Jekyll’s detailed statement, Stevenson unleashes a torrent of his philoso phy upon mankind’s nature. After indulging in his evil side for a while, Jekyll finally decides to choose â€Å"the elderly and discontented doctor, surrounded by friends and cherishing honest hopes† (Stevenson 91), an example of one’s choice of who they truly are as a person. Through the loss of his dreams, the doctorShow MoreRelatedAn Analysis Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde1729 Words   |  7 PagesTaking a Closer Look into the Story and Author of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Nothing Mr. Stevenson has written as yet has so strongly impressed us with the versatility of his very original genius. An anonymous review in â€Å"The Times† noted Robert Louis Stevenson for his intelligence in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The review continued with saying that the story, be read as a finished study in the art of fantastic literature. Whoever was the anonymous person to state these things aboutRead MoreAnalysis of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay557 Words   |  3 PagesAnalysis of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Everyone has heard of Jekyll and Hyde. The two infamous characters that portray the main roles in The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. Yet, even with this phenomenal status of the book, surprisingly, not many people know what is really represented inside its pages. Firstly, to understand what made The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde a classical story known by young and old alike, we must look at where it began. AsRead MoreDr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis703 Words   |  3 Pages The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde is an interesting story taking place in the 1800’s in europe. The story is told from a third person perspective. Telling this story in the third person is very useful because it narrates the life of a man that is some what investigating and you get to see the story from his perspective as he finds out more and more clues. Also when a story is narrated it gives the author the opportunity to explain some things to the audience that might not normally get pickedRead More Analysis of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson2888 Words   |  12 PagesAnalysis of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson In an attempt to consider the duality tale, one narrative inevitably finds its way to the top of the heap as the supreme archetype: Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Immense disagreement permeates the pages of literary criticism relevant to the meaning of the story. Yet, for all of the wrangling focused on the psychology, morality, spirituality, and sociality of the story, itRead MoreAnalysis Of The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, By Robert Louis Stevenson1323 Words   |  6 PagesStrange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, which gives a direct image of what Victorian era was like with his writing style as well as the story itself. Specifically, Stevenson portrays exactly how Victorian social life commenced as well as displays the main points of social standards of the time. Robert Louis Stevenson uses individual characters in the novella to accurately depict how people protected their social standing an d reputation during the Victorian era. Mr. UttersonRead MoreLiterary Analysis of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde† by Robert Louis Stevenson1530 Words   |  7 Pagesin the 1800’s during the Victorian era in this novel. As the story unfolds in the classic literature novel, â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde† written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the magnificent city of London becomes a darker and mysterious location. The powerful city of London embodied the freedom and solitude required for the antagonist of the story, Mr. Hyde to hide his wicked behavior from the society as a whole. According to the history of the Victorian age, â€Å"Traditional ways of lifeRead MoreDr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis1467 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde† by Robert Louis Stevenson and â€Å"Goblin Market† by Christina Rossetti are two interesting stories that would show how authors are able to outline good and evil in stories. The first story I consider a mystery as Stevenson leaves his reader in suspense of who really is Mr. Hyde, and what relationship does he have with Dr. Jekyll. And to help the reader solve this mystery was an interesting character by the name Mr. Utterson, who is a Lawyer by profession. Thus, in his questRead MoreDr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis1709 Words   |  7 Pagesnovella, the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson is able to explore his interests concerning the dark, hidden desires that all human beings are guilty of possessing. In his story, a well-respected professional by the name of Dr. Jekyll experiments with the idea of contrasting personalities and successfully undergoes a physical separation of such identities—one which would soon wreak havoc upon his very existence. As a result of his success, Edward Hyde is born. Hyde, characterized as a minisculeRead MoreDr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis914 Words   |  4 Pagesnovel Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson contains frequent situa tions where conflicts among the characters arise. This literary classic also has a prominent and iconic villain depicted in one of the title characters, Mr. Hyde. The general plot of the novel is as follows; Utterson, a respected lawyer, and Enfield, Utterson’s cousin, are on their weekly walk when Enfield tells Utterson about his first encounter with Hyde. During his retelling, Enfield explains how he witnesses Hyde trampleRead MoreDr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Analysis1320 Words   |  6 PagesIn The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it is clear that the biggest theme of the story is the concept of good against evil. In the case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the conflict exists within the same person. It is generally believed that this internal struggle exists in everyone, and that â€Å"man is not truly one, but truly two.† It suggests that everyone has a dual personality , and a good and evil side exists in everyone. The struggle supposedly is usually a close fought battle that is close

Role of Marketing Staff Free Essays

The Role of the Marketing Staff DONALD R. LONGMAN Business management [S increasingly dependent upon marketing to gain enduring competitive advantage. This article describes the rich opportunities for success presented by a change rn the approach to marketing stafF work and acquisition of professional personnel for it. We will write a custom essay sample on Role of Marketing Staff or any similar topic only for you Order Now GREAT DEAL has been written in recent years about the marketing concept. We may expect to see much more; for competition in American industry is increasingly centered in marketing-. This is a substantial change from the situation only a few decades ago. Success then hung on creative skill in evolving substantially new types of products, new production processes, new efficiency systems. Each step forward in these areas produced relatively strong and enduring competitive advantages. This is much less true today. Mass training of skilled research and development men and of production engineers, increased mobility of manpower, and mass communication at the professional level have all served to spread technological know-how with amazing speed. Competitors employ research men and engineers of parallel training, professional contact, and skill. If one company’s team seems relatively inept in the competitive battle, it is still possible to call upon a superior group of consulting engineers for help while a new team is being built. Under these conditions, competitors quickly identify and match successful innovations made by any company in their field. They may even improve on the original innovator’s ideas. It would be vain to suppose that even such corporate giants as Esso, U. S. Steel, or^ General Motors could gain and hold for long a major competitive advantage in product or manufacturing process. Indeed, it has become common practice to grant licenses to competitors on a royalty basis, thus removing technical innovations as a basis of competitive advantage in the market. Competitive Opportunities It^ is this comparative equality in production skills that is forcing a shift in the weight of competition to marketing. Marketing is still a relatively unexplored area. Our customers are so many, so scattered, and so nonhomogeneous in nature and in demands that they are difficult to understand. We are not even sure how we can best serve them economically and efficiently. Changes are still commonplace among big, well-established companies in such basic elements as channels of distribution, discount systems, warehousing arrangements, and service policies. Such changes grow as much out of uncertainty and insecurity m marketing decision as out of changes in the market itself or m marketing institutions. Marketing offers a rich area of opportunity for competitive advantage, richer today than that offered by any other phase of business. But if a company is to seize this opportunity, a lot has to be done. 29 30 Journal of Marketing, July, 1962 Requirements for Efficient Marketing 1. A Sound Understanding of the Market First, it is essential to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the market itself. This is a matter of getting the facts, completely and accurately. One has to know the exact size of the market and its geographical distribution. One must know who make up the market, the numbers and kinds of people. Where do they buy, in what quantities, how often, why? What products are available for them to choose among? What are their characteristics, their prices, tbeir patterns of distribution? What are the products used for, what satisfactions do they provide? Why is one brand chosen over nother; and why do people change in their choices? There is so much that needs to be known, and known well. How else can we think constructively of the marketing process until we have a solid grasp of the facts, a sure sense of perspective? The truth is that little effort to think constructively about marketing was made during the decades when competitive success was estab lished by production efforts. Systematic collection and analysis of marketing facts have been undertaken, even by the largest and most progressive companies, only during the last fifteen or twenty years. Indeed, the evolution of marketing, research may serve as n index of the shift in competitive pressure toward marketing. We possess today the tools and techniques for acquiring quickly and efficiently almost all the basic data necessary to provide executives with a sound perspective in marketing. Yet marketing research is still inadequately utilized; there is ample room even now for a company to gain major marketing advantages over competitors simply by superior knowledge of the facts of the business. The 10,000 professional marketing research men today are probably not a third of the number we may expect when marketing has been developed to a peak of fficiency comparable to production. 2. Innovation The second requisite to superior marketing lies in innovation. There is no progress in acceptance of routine, in copying competitive practices, in turgid operation. Indeed, in the fiuid environment of marketing, with changes in policies, practices, and procedures borne no more of creative thought than of uncertainty, the well thought out, tested innovations may prove extremely rewarding. We must be prepared to consider alterations, often radical changes, in methods and policies. We must become creative, cultivating a flexibility of mind that seeks and considers ew approaches. We must be prepared to reexamine the basic premises upon which our policies rest. We must begin to ask the fundamental questions and to fix them in our mind, looking, looking always for new answers. There exists a unit expected to devise and explore new ideas in the production area. It is supposed to suggest innovations, to challenge current practices. It is staffed with men of imagination, men of specialized education, men whose minds are constantly stirred and challenged by contacts with ba sic research scientists in our universities, foundations, and government units. They are in continuous ontact with other professionals throughout the country, often in other countries, and are constantly stimulated by the ideas and exploratory efforts they encounter in a wide variety of industries. They are Research and Development men. There is no comparable unit in marketing, even in companies whose marketing costs far exceed manufacturing costs. The nearest marketing pai’- allel’is to be found in advertising agencies. These owe their independent existence to the very fact that creative imagination and innovation are obviously essential to advertising; and even the largest advertisers do not provide in their marketing rganizations a climate conductive to high quality creative work. But the advertising agency is concerned fundamentally with only one of many marketing activities. It is not well equipped to serve as the creative arm for the entire marketing function. It is not paid enough to do the job; nor is the company advertising manager who works with the agency so positioned in his own company that he could spark the creative effort for the entire Marketing Department. This means that a new and different unit is needed to function within the company itself. It must be staffed with men of creative minds, trained n seeing and exploring possibilities not clear to others. They need to be observers of marketing in all of industry, stirred and challenged by professional association with creative men in universities, consulting firms, everywhere that pioneering thought g-oes on. They must imagine, synthesize ideas, experiment systematically. They may be engineers exploring the application of operations research to warehousing. They may be psychologists studying the foundations of sales- †¢ ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Donald Longman is Vice President and Director of Research for the J. Walter Thompson Company, New York. He is President f the American Mar lteting Association and Chairman of the International Marketing Federation. In earlier years Dr. Longman was a university professor and a government executive. He has held senior positions in business in both line and staff capacities. He is the author of a number of books and articles. The Role of the Marketing Staff 31 men’s or dealers’ morale and motivation. They may be marketing researchers probing ways to break old consumer buying habits and build new ones. They may be systematically testing consumer responses to a range of product styles, flavors, or scents. They must be the Marketing R and D. . Scientific Approach to Decision Making The third major requisite to superior marketing lies in hard-headed, scientific decision making. This requires a solid grasp of the facts of a business through research and through experience. More important, it requires imagination, perceptiveness, thoroughness, objectivity, analytical skill, and emotional stability. Few people acqu ire all these traits in the normal course of their lives; our marketing executives today introduce large portions of emotion, hunch, habit, and haste in their judgments. But needed qualities can be developed as a matter of explicit training. In increasing measure they are being developed in the best of our Schools of Business. Decision making is extraordinarily complex in the marketing field. When decision is required between alternative policies or procedures, it is necessary first to grasp fully and completely the exact nature of the alternatives and all their implications. It may seem simple, for example, to select a brand name for a new product; but this is only true for one who does not know both the values and dangers in a name. A name can convey a sense of quality, lend itself to easy recall, facilitate effective advertising, express values to be received in use; n sum, it can secure a privileged competitive position to its owner. Or it can be easily ridiculed or played upon, fail of copyright, be subject to confusion with other names, and so on. In truth, there are scores of facts to consider in selecting names, a wide variety of criteria to employ in judgment. There is a lot at stake. If this is true of names, i magine how much more true this is of issues concerning pricing, packaging, discount systems, employment and motivation of salesmen, advertising themes, and so on and on. Each issue must be studied objectively, its implications uncovered. All the facts relevant to ecision must be marshalled. The possible effects of alternative courses must be weighed. Experimentation or testing may be considered. This is the slow, arduous, but hard-headed and scientific approach to decision making. This is the way to confident action, desirable any time but mandatory when significantly new, creative innovations are put into effect. Those of us privileged to have close contact with marketing management over the past twenty years have seen a slow but steady progress toward this kind of decision making. Arbitrary, hasty, â€Å"seatof- the-pants† decisions based on hunch, enthusiasm, nd personal preferment for the individual advocates of one course are becoming less common. Yet there remains much room for improvement in decision making today. 4. Efficient Administration The fourth requisite to marketing success lies in efficient administration—the daily execution of policy and practice, the employment of facilities and men, the operating job. This is the field of marketing performance, so obviously necessary that it could not be overlooked. Here the need is for inspiring leadership of men, operating drive, astute supervision of performance in every detail, the building and aintenance of a morale that instills a motivation in the doers of the marketing job. Broadly speaking, marketing can claim credit for superior performance in this area; it has been given thought and attention at a senior business management level. By the same token, it is the marketing requisite least rich in opportunities for improvement and, therefore, least likely to yield a competitive advantage in marketing. The very obviousness of the need for sound administration has tended to obscure the nee d for the other three basic requisites in marketing—a full understanding of the market itself; the development f creative, new ideas or innovations; the making of decisions on a hard-headed, scientific basis. Administration is a big job, involving, the employment and supervision of hundreds, even thousands, of people, as well as the purchase, maintenance, and operation of equipment and facilities of countless kinds. And the huge expenditures for marketing lie under the administrator’s control. Small wonder, then, that marketing administration was equated with all of marketing, until increasing competitive equality in other areas forced people to study more seriously the nature of the marketing function. Sound administration is a fundamental component of marketing, but is far from all of it. It is the operation of a gigantic â€Å"machine. † This marketing machine works on the materials provided it, and under the policies and procedures set for it. The machine operator, skilled as he may be in his function, is rarely qualified alone to conceive, test, and decide upon new ideas, on new policies and procedures. He is not an innovator. He is not a researcher. He is not a trained and objective decision maker. These are different problems, requiring skills and training different from his, perhaps even a different temperament. A New Organization of the Marketing Function The slowly growing recognition that marketing management requires much more than administra32 Journal of Marketing, July, 1962 tive skill has led our largest and most progressive companies to bring a new kind of man to the Marketing Vice Presidency. He tends to be more thoughtful, sometimes skilled more in handling ideas than in handling men. He is more objective, analytical, less emotionally involved in his assignment. He has begun demanding research—searching for ideas, thinking of both â€Å"strategy and tactics. † The basic administrative management of arketing, the line operating responsibility, is being delegated to a subordinate General Sales Manager or Director of Field Sales Activities. Concurrently, staff departments in marketing have grown in number and influence. New units have appeared. We now have Product Managers, Marketing Operations Managers, Research Managers, along with the older Advertising and Credit Mana gers. Even Marketing Accounting and Marketing Personnel Managers may serve as members of the Marketing Stafif. Functions and Operation of the Marketing Staff The functions of these several staff groups have not been clearly crystallized as yet. Broadly speaking. , most of them are supposed to study all phases of the company’s marketing operations in the area of their specialization; keep the Marketing Vice President closely posted on trends and developments in their areas; check performance efficiency; and recommend policy or procedure changes when they seem needed. Thus, the Product Manager for a particular product keeps closely informed on all competitive conditions affecting his product, observes regional and district sales performance on the product, notes obstacles to sales success, and proposes means of overcoming them. The Operations Manager concerns imself with the supply, maintenance, and efficient performance of all physical facilities, stores, warehouses, delivery systems, etc. As a superior specialist in this area, he advises the Marketing Vice President on ways to improve efficiency and service, and to cut operating costs. The same kind of work is done by the Credit Manager, the Marketing Accounting and Personnel Managers, and the Advertising and Sales Promotion Manager. Collectively, the staff managers cover all the difiierent functions in marketing. When these Departments were set up, it was natural, of course, to staff them with young men ho had proved themselves successful in the company’s marketing activities. So, they were drawn from the ranks of the administrators. Generally this is still true, for this is the logical source of men and these jobs are still not clearly enough defined to suggest the need to look elsewhere. But this will change, indeed is in the process of change. It is not enough for the Product Manager or Operations Manager to serve as an observer of operations, to be an administrative second-guesser in a particular area of specialty. This would be a most routine approach to a job, unworthy of senior personnel. Rather, the staff Manager and his assistants must use their advantageous positions to acquire all relevant information affecting their functions. They must assimilate, analyze, and evaluate these data constructively. They must add to this, the stimulus of wide-ranging contact and observation of their industry and of many others. They must cultivate a flexibility of mind inviting new ideas. They must become creative—considering all manner of policies, procedures, activities which can add to marketing opportunities or improve service and increase efficiency. They must develop and explore their creative deas, testing mentally or in the market place those which seem most promising. In handling such tasks, they develop habits of thoroughness and objectivity, making scores of decisions on the basis of a scientific approach. They are truly staff experts— observing, creating, testing, recommending ways of doing their part of the marketing job better than it has been done before . This is the basic job of the Product Manager. Concentrating all energies on the one product or product line for which he bears responsibility, it is his job to conceive new and better ways to market it. His work may lead to recommended product odifications, package changes, price or distribution revisions. He may study advertising, promotion, guarantees, and service, and come up with new recommendations. He is the innovator, the preliminary decision maker, working from intimate knowledge of all relevant facts. The same is true of the Marketing Operations Manager. He is studying the nature and design of his retail outlets, the number and location of warehouses, the packing and order-filling system, the volume and distribution of inventories. He has scores of subjects to study, each offering opportunities for significant improvement. If he can nly conceive a better type of retailing equipment for his stores, a better system of truck scheduling, a finer system of production-distribut ion coordination, he can strengthen his company’s competitive position and add to its profits, just as can the Research and Development Manager or the Production Manager. What is true of Product and Operations Managers is just as true of the Advertising, Sales Promotion, and Public Relations Managers. It is just as true of the Marketing Personnel Manager. By use of cost analysis, the Marketing Accounting Manager can make significant contributions to policy on reas of operation, channels of distribution, a quantity discount system, and a hundred other things. We need an explicit, articulated understanding that this is the job of the Staff Manager. We need The Role of the Marketing Staff 33 to recognize formally, and afiirmatively that innovation and scientific decision making is the particular province of these men . . . that collectively they represent a kind of R and D for Marketing. The Staff as Professionals When this is done, we will have a very different set of specifica tions for men to fill these jobs. They must possess keenly analytical but highly fiexible minds. They must be imaginative, creative. They must be objective, thorough, trained in the scientific approach to problems. They must know the rudiments of collection, assimilation, and evaluation of data. They must be well informed, with wide contacts in industry and education. In a word, they must be professionals. Broadly speaking, this is the kind of background and training we find most often today in marketingresearch men and consultants. This implies that in time most senior staff positions in marketing will be research positions. After all, research, viewed broadly, is nothing more than the systematic, horough, objective examination of a problem; the orderly acquisition of all relevant data bearing upon it; and the meaningful, creative evaluation of the data in terms of conclusions and recommendations. This is, indeed, what is expected of Marketing Staff Managers. With further passage of time, however, the specific functions of marketing research will be narrowed. Today anyone engag ed in simple fact gathering may be called a research man. Ten years from now, however, the term prohably will be reserved largely for those who by long, and specialized training have mastered the more complex and intricate echniques of research. They will be the specialists in sampling, in operations research, in projective techniques. The Marketing Research Department will not be large, and it will carry out its work on a service basis for all the Marketing Staff Managers. The changes ahead are already very much in the process of being made. Product Managers, Advertising Managers, staff men of every kind are addressing themselves ever more seriously to their Jobs, going farther and farther beyond routine, specialized, administrative observation and suggestion. They are getting into their jobs more deeply han ever, and so they feel impelled to creative and decision making roles. And more and more such jobs are going to research men and to men whose training and temperament commend t hem for a research approach to business. The trend will quicken as there is more widespread specific recognition and articulation of the ultimate character of staff work. MARKETING MEMO We Are Already Living in the Future . . . ^ Are you enjoying your life in 1985? Through no time machine, via no crystal ball, we are, today, living lives accurately predicted by early science forecasters and science fictioneers—but predicted for about 1985. Our age is a good quarter of a century ahead of its time, thanks to developments that would have waited many more years—except for urgent military necessity. Many of us resent defense spending. We begrudge its existence as a necessary waste that helps insure freedom, but yields no tangible return. How wrong we are! Our defense research dollars, aimed at strengthening our military muscle, are pushing civilians toward richer, healthier, safer, more convenient living. It was military money that led to the development of the safety door lock and the low-profile anti-skid tires now on many new automobiles. Military necessity mothered rainwear that remains indefinitely repellent to water, oil. and grease despite repeated laundering and dry cleaning. ^John G. Hubbell, â€Å"Life in 11)85 Today,† reprinted by permission of Quest . . . for tomorrow Magazine, Vol. 2 (Summer, 1961), p. 14. Copyright of Journal of Marketing is the property of American Marketing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. How to cite Role of Marketing Staff, Papers

Accounting Information System Data Mining System

Question: Describe about the Accounting Information System for Data Mining System. Answer: Introduction With the due passage, there has been a strong reliance on the availability of data and this has become possible with the advent of various softwares. Technology has improved the performances of the organization. This has led to the emergence of Business Intelligence that is composed of various activities like reporting, processing, data mining, etc. The enterprise system is vastly benefited by it and in this report; the main stress will be on the Business intelligence, data mining, and how these are put to implementation (Peter et. al, 2013). Business Intelligence BI or Business Intelligence is basically an umbrella term which implies a variety of different software applications that are used to evaluate raw data of an organization. As a discipline, Business Intelligence is made up of various associated activities that include reporting, querying, online analytical processing, complex event processing, benchmarking, and data mining etc. BI is a technology-driven process that is primarily used by various companies, business managers and corporate executives so that they can enhance their decision-making, minimize expenditures and recognize new and effective opportunities for business (Peter et. al, 2013). It is more than just corporate reporting and a set of tools that is used to persuade data out of the enterprise systems. The CIO (Chief Information Officer) of companies to recognize several business processes that are ineffective and have become ready for re-engineering processes also uses it. The main objective of BI is to permit simple and easy interpretation of high volumes of data so that an effective strategy can be implemented based on insights that can provide companies with a long-term stability and competitive market advantage (Rodriguez et. al, 2010). In the current scenario where developed BI tools prevails, business management can jump in and start evaluating data themselves instead of waiting for IT to process several complex reports. This transformation to a more democratic political regime of easy accessible information can assist users to back up various business decisions that would otherwise be based only on anecdotes and gut feelings (Golfarelli Golfarelli, 2009). Even though Business Intelligence holds huge promises, implementations can be unshakeable by cultural and technical challenges. Management of companies are bound to ensure that the data feeding applications of BI is not hampered, that means it is consistent and clean enough to be trusted and relied upon by users (MacIntyre, 2004). Business intelligence provide a competitive advantage Industries and businesses from all around the world have observed various innovative or technological variations provided by the forces of globalization. One of such relevant variations is the prevalence of advanced IT (Information Technology) in the contemporary organizations. Regular enhancement of such globalization and IT proves to be the biggest factors that provides global aspect to competition. The business managers or corporate executives of contemporary organizations have been encouraged by such factors to introduce the Business Intelligence concept in their business environment (Watson et.al, 2007). They constantly concentrate on attaining an enhanced stage of competitive advantage in the international business markets. There are several ways by which BI can used to attain competitive advantage. Firstly, BI facilitates in the measurement of marketing efficiency. One of the key drivers for departure of advertising expenditure to the internet has been the potential to measure results. This can be attained through direct ways like impressions and click-through or indirect ways like evaluation of consumer emotions on blogs, social networks etc. BI can be used here as a major component in managing the huge volume of data involved in such work (Chugh Grandghi, 2013). The outcomes of this evaluation can assist contemporary organizations in targeting marketing budgets and understanding how to segment their markets. Secondly, contemporary organizations in fact, are weaker in enhancement of Human Resources. Therefore, they must focus on such improvement and BI can be adopted to develop and transform the relevance of their human capital. Markets that are highly competitive require HR strategies and examining of its performance. BI can support such processes by permitting organizations to gain better perceptions into the realization of their HRM strategies (Blumberg Atre, 2003). Thirdly, managers and executives of contemporary organizations can adopt BI to tran sform collected information into precious knowledge within their business architectures so that they can make better economic decisions in the global environment (Rud, 2009). This will provide them a competitive advantage in modern businesses. It has been observed that contemporary organizations that have adopted BI as a strategy in decision-making have attained competitive advantage over other competitors as BI could encompass business applications, technologies, and peoples skills into such decisions. Loyalty card process Data is the vital requirement of every sector, provides great functioning in the global economy, and is considered as an important factor of production like human capital, hard assets, etc. It is difficult to perform the economic activity without it (McKnight, 2003). In the retail, industry data mining helps in making crucial decisions and the apt example is the utilization of a tier system to enhance purchases. It is a big challenge to the companies to strike a balance between attainment and desirable rewards using a loyalty program. The main way through which it can be implemented is to utilize data mining. Rewards are used as a base for offering so that people draw towards the scheme. To get an upper hand, loyalty programs are being used and the consumers are engaged (Kimball, 2008). Data that i gathered through a loyalty program can provide great insight into the segment of customer and help to provide strategic dollar to every group. Sainsbury loyalty reward card is an apt examp le that was launched in the year 1996. It considered the monetary model that helps segmenting the customer that is based on certain data. Now the identification of the customer can be done based on the data that is collected. This leads to identification based on recency, frequency, as well as monetary. Using the above-mentioned technique it can be ascertained that which customers are most valuable and scoring can be done considering this. Such a customized approach has helped Sainsbury in filtering and tracing the customers based on various parameters. This has helped the company is implementation of various strategies. Hence, loyalty card program has not only won and retained the customers but has also helped in knowing the trend (Clark, 2006). Thereby, it can be said that the process of loyalty card program is not only to reward the customers but the information gathered from it is used to protect, grow, and acquire new customers. Reactivating the customers is an important consid eration and this is possible when sufficient data is available in this regard. It helps in proper analysis and leads to a better scope of activity (Clark, 2006). Overall, the system is based on providing strong support to the system and the same can be witnessed in the case of Sainsbury. This has provided a strong support to the functioning and hence, data mining and analytic can affect the performance of the organization in a strong fashion. Conclusion BI can contribute towards talent management in contemporary organizations to provide competitive advantage. It can evaluate the qualifications and skills of employees, analyze the efficiency of recruitment methods, measure efficiency of various learning programs and oversee the achievements of combining the objectives of employees with the corporate objectives. The use of data mining can help to provide a strong back up because huge pool of data can be assembled and evaluated to discern the pattern and lead to better decision making. This becomes the way for competition and growth for firms that are individual in nature that enhances the productivity and creates value by reduction of the waste (Coker, 2014). Data mining helps in sorting relationship and trace patterns that are useful in making chief decisions. Therefore, the application of BI in contemporary organizations has been very effective in promoting competitive advantage. Queensland Health systems implementation Introduction Systems Development Life Cycle refers to the series of steps that are to be employed in the development of any application that might be either hardware or software or a combination of both. It is used in information systems, software engineering and systems engineering. The steps included planning, coding, testing, and deploying as a part of implementation of any new application. The aim here is to complete the transition to new application and discard the old system. Old systems are obsolete and needs a change. Change needs to be done when there is a dearth of it. Therefore, a change can produce desired result and it has to be completed within a proper period to achieve the desired results. Factors contributing to failed Payroll System The Healthcare industry involves people, processes, and services provided by hospitals, pharmacies, diagnosis agencies, etc. For this reason, it is fundamentally different from the other industries irrespective of the fact whether it is public sector or private sector. This difference is in not only the nature but also the focus and size of the industry. Healthcare industry involves a lot of procedures and different acts. Therefore, it can be easily differentiated from the other industry. The Queensland Health Implementation project failure was estimated to be the most costly one in the southern hemisphere involving $1.25 billion AUD. The factors that contributed to this failure are not one but many. The three primary stakeholder teams were identified as Queensland Health, CorpTech, and IBM. The first and foremost issue was with IBMs selection as the prime contractor. While the protocol was that all the bidders for the project should be given the same information, for some unknown reasons, the Project Director was believed to have passed on some extra knowledge to IBM thus helping it gain a competitive advantage over the others and getting the project allotted. Since, the extra knowledge and information was provided it proved to be unethical. This proves that this was unethical in nature and providing extra knowledge goes against the policies framed by the government (Alwan, 2016). As in the implementation of any project the roles and responsibilities of each team has to be made clear for effective functioning, it was believed that as the implementation commenced, throughout the project the responsibilities were not clear. The Healthcare industry has its special requirements in the way that the focus is on the safety, well-being of the patients, person-to-person interaction is primary, and the number of clients catered to usually runs into millions when compared to other industries where it could be just thousands. The main aim is to provide hospitality and look after the people. These requirements have not been adhered to by the system development implementation. There are many complexities involved in the project that can be classified as complexity of the industry, complexity of the system itself and the complexity of the client consultant relationships. The complexities arise because there are different systems and each has its own peculiarity. Having diffe rent system leads to a variety of acts. The configuration used by the Department of Justice for SAP HR was adopted by Queensland and the milestones were decided keeping this as the basis. When IBM took up, additional planning was done in October 2008 that revealed an underestimation of the complexities and resulted in cost overruns and substantial increase in time. From the initial stage, the business requirements were poorly defined which had a negative impact. The risk when the Payroll Software was implemented in Queensland was massive as it was not first tried and tested in smaller government agencies where the complexities were less. Since, it was tested on a very small basis it led to problem. It needs to be noted that the pilot program needs to be done on a grand scale so that the effectiveness is high. However, it was not seen in the case of Queensland and it proved to be of bigger risk. The first test resulted in a discrepancy of $1.2 million AUD and the second test led to a discrepancy of $30,000 AUD. Despite these discrepancies, Queensland opted to Go Live without completing the testing of a few modules. Upon Go Live, a significant proportion of employees were either not paid or paid incorrectly. As the number of employees and types of wage structures were varied, the use of WorkBrain could have simplified the interface between SAP and the new Payroll System, but the same was not used or adopted. This was just the part of technical deficiencies. However, the series of difficulties did not ended here and apart from this, the industrial strike resulted in the resignation of a number of employees that was the accelerated human impact of all the chaos that had occurred. The layoff of a huge number of employees led to issue and the industrial strike led to difficulties that further aggravated the situation. The total cost of implementation, stabilization and maintenance resulted was estimated to be $1.25 Billion AUD. Classification of factors As there are very many problems from the inception stage itself, the classification is also done as below: The issue over IBMs selection would fall into the Preliminary analysis phase where the requirements of the organization are defined and the proposed alternative solutions are analyzed and classified by doing a cost benefit analysis. The bias in the tendering process is also a major hit back. The Requirements definition should be in such a way that details of the functional areas, problems and opportunities of the adopting organization are essential not only to ensure that the system performs but also to detail the scope of implementation. There has to be a proper documentation of the requirements that was also not done by Queensland. Proper documentation leads to greater compliance however, the absence proved to be a big failure for the organization (Siraj et. al, 2011). Every project is unique and has to be studied from specific perspectives. Each perspective has own pros and cons. Moreover, it needs to have proper logical functioning. Using the configuration of one project over another is a lapse in phase two that is Systems Analysis and Requirements Definition. The series of logical steps to be followed in this phase are collection of facts, scrutiny of the existing systems and analysis of the proposed system. The project over budget and over schedule is also an example of the gross failure of proper planning. The approach followed by Department of Public Housing is less complex since the pay structures are simpler when compared to those of Queensland. Thus, there is no proper definition of the requirements. A Queensland, there are 24,000 types of combinations of pay awards. This underestimation of the complexities in the wages structure has led to disastrous results. The presence of innumerable awards led to many complexities and hence it is diff icult to ascertain. The Integration and Testing Phase is not completed as the Casuals and overtime claims had not been tested due to lack of proper definition of the requirements. The possibility for existence of errors, bugs, and interoperability cannot be ruled out (Sheilds, 2005). WorkBrain was a major configuration that led to IBM being allotted this project at Queensland but this was not actually implemented during the project that was a major failure. WorkBrain was used to transfer and process the timesheets from SAP into the format accepted by the financial institutions. As WorkBrain was not used the difficulties with system testing, maintenance, up gradation, conservation of data quality increased. The unavailability of the system led to innumerable problem and hence there were many difficulties were observed. Even after the mistakes in the payments upon Go Live, the systems were not completely abandoned. The issues were attempted to be resolved by the prolonged attention of all the three stakeholder groups. This shows that the acceptance, installation and deployment stage was also a total failure and in a very messy situation. The pressure to Go Live ruled out the possibility of a parallel testing mechanism. Though the defects were initially categorized into four, there was a reclassification of the same due to the changing requirements and not all these defects were fixed before the Go Live decision that created all the havoc. In short it can be said that from the commencement there was poor management, poor handling and lack of proper understanding of the complexities in the IS environment. Recommendations Though time and cost overruns are typical in healthcare type of industry and framework, processing complexities and orientation, still the failure of Queensland Payroll System is arguably the worst example for the same. A specific project methodology is required to be followed. Adequate Governance Structures were not established until June 2009 that led to the vague description of the roles and responsibilities. The proper following of the systems development life cycle will lead practical and fruitful results. The organization needs to clearly articulate its requirements, utilize an appropriate implementation strategy, perform a substantial amount of testing before the decision to Go Live is reached, utilize an appropriate project management methodology and effectively communicate with all the stakeholder groups involved. Communication is a vital area in such cases as the communication between the client, consultant, and vendor is required for project governance (Mehdi, 2006). Lack of proper documentation led to user acceptance issues and functionality issues during the testing phase. The configuration of WorkBrain was not performed at Queensland that led to further complexities (Olsen, 2012). In healthcare industry every patient is unique and unpredictable and for this reason almost 50% of the healthcare organizations have found the installation of IS systems a failure but a majority of such failures can be attributed o the lack of proper management support, poor project management, inefficient communication among the stakeholder groups and technical issues which are poor system testing and lack of proper definition of business requirements (Weistroffer et. al, 2010). At Queensland, not surprisingly all of these factors are found to co-exist. WorkBrain should have been used in Queensland as IBM used it in other agencies and clients. Conclusion Many lessons can be learnt not just with respect to the implementation, testing and Go Live phase of the project but also the importance of communication, planning and parallel testing requirements. A succession planning of the legacy system needs to be in place and the perspective project methodologies have to be followed. Due to the requirements of multiple hierarchy and multiple subprojects, Queensland has had a disastrous payroll implementation project failure (Sheilds, 2005). The key reform areas have been identified and multiple layers to the governance process have been added. Thus apart from the technical and financial defects, this project failure has also has industry and nationwide implications. References Alwan, M. (2016). What is System Development Life Cycle? Accessed September 1, 2016 from https://airbrake.io/blog/insight/what-is-system-development-life-cycle Blumberg, R. Atre. S. (2003). More than Search. DM Review, 13(3), 42-47 Chugh, R Gandhi, S. (2013). Why Business Intelligence? Significance of Business Intelligence tools and integrating BI governance with corporate governance. International Journal of E-Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 4(2), 1-14. Clark, P. (2006). An overview of supermarket grocery loyalty programmes around the world, Accessed September 1, 2016 from https://www.thewisemarketer.com/features/read.asp?id=97 Coker, F. (2014).Pulse: Understanding the Vital Signs of Your Business. Ambient Light Publishing, 4(3), 4142. Golfarelli, M. Rizzi, S. (2009).Data Warehouse Design: Modern Principles and Methodologies.McGraw-Hill Osburn. Kimball, R. (2008).The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit. Wiley. MacIntyre, B. (2004). Information Technology Challenges Keep Rising. The Business Journal of Portland, 23, 226-245 McKnight, W. (2003). Bringing data mining to the front line. DM Review, 13(1), 50. Mehdi, K.P. (2006). Emerging Trends and Challenges in Information Technology. Management. Idea Group. Olsen, E. (2012). Strategic Planning Kit for Dummies. John Wiley Sons. Peter R, Alaa S, Aladdin A. (2013). Business Intelligence and Performance Management: Theory, Systems, and Industrial Applications, Springer Verlag U.K Rodriguez, C; Daniel, F; Casati, F; Cappiello, C. (2010). Toward Uncertain Business Intelligence: The Case of Key Indicators.IEEE Internet Computing.14(4): 32. Rud, O. (2009).Business Intelligence Success Factors: Tools for Aligning Your Business in the Global Economy. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley Sons. Sheilds, M.G. (2005). E-Business and ERP: Rapid Implementation and Project Planning. John Wiley and Sons. Siraj, S., Mikhailov, L. and Keane, J. A. (2011). Priests: an interactive decision support tool to estimate priorities from pairwise comparison judgments. Research, 12(4), 45-61 Watson, H.J, Wixom, B. H. (2007). The Current State of Business Intelligence. Computer 40(9): 96. Weistroffer, HR, Smith, CH Narula, SC. (2010). Multiple criteria decision support software. Oxford University Press

Report on Case Study an Example by

Report on Case Study Within a given workplace environment it is every managers desire to get the best out his or her employee(s) have a job done in a desired manner. Its the efficiency as well as effectiveness of employees in terms of output that determine the overall output of an organization. However, it is not an easy task to achieve if the morale of employees is downward they do not feel motivated (Adair, 1996:2). Motivation can generally be defined as the innate forces within an individual that drives his or her and as such influences the path, intensity and his or her persistence toward voluntary behavior. Morale on the other hand refers to the level of confidence or an employee(s) level of optimism toward performing a task. An employee with high morale is a motivated one and vice versa. Need essay sample on "Report on Case Study" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Motivation forms one of the essential component drivers in individual performance and behavior and as such is considered as an integral part of the engagement level of the said employee (Allison: 236). For any organization to be competitive one of the key indicators is normally an engaged workforce however, it is not easy to motivate an employee rather it is a near impossibility. All that is possible is how to influence the motivation of an employee. The search to have a motivated workforce that is very engaged in its work has become very challenging indeed. There seems to be a lack of understanding of how employers can motivate their staff. This paper thus concerns itself with the task of improving motivation and morale. It draws relevance from various researches while also taking into consideration a case study and answering questions posed about motivation. Firstly, I will discuss the various individual characteristics that are likely to influence the behavior of a member of staff. For instance, the level of self-esteem would be influential on the behavior of staff. Self-esteem is one of the indicators that would impact on the performance as well as behavior of a staff member. Self esteem can be defined generally as the amount of value an individual attaches or rather places on themselves. There are two kinds of self-esteem; Low and high self esteem. A high self-esteem staff is one who places a lot of value on him or herself, while a person with low self esteem place or attaches very little on him or herself. It is usually not very easy and at certain times impossible for any individual to remain unmoved and indifferent to information that has a bearing on their self-esteem. Instances of a decrease or increase of the level of self-esteem have resulting emotional reactions. These resulting strong emotional reactions may cause a staff member to either be receptive or very unreceptive to others and might to a certain degree affect their level of performance within the workplace. Besides, the fluctuations in the level of self-esteem may coincide with success or failures. Employees with a high self esteem are likely to give better output in terms of job done but may also be affected.. Self esteem may also make employees develop social groups that would hinder effective interaction between employees. The other individual characteristic that will definitely affect behaviors of staff within a given workplace is that of attitude. Attitude can basically be defined as the hypothetical construct representing a persons preference and/dislikes for a particular thing. There are three kinds of attitude; positive, neutral and negative. In certain instances people can become very ambivalent about objects that they are neither positive nor negative about the particular item. A persons attitude is born out of his or her personal judgment of a situation, place or thing. A negative attitude would be a hindrance to good performance level. Another characteristic that would influence the behaviors of staff member is the social behavior. There are basically two types of social behavior i.e. pro-social or antisocial. The pro-social employee is able to interact freely and communicate effectively with the rest while an anti-social one will not. It is of great importance for an employer to have a clearer understanding of his or her employees as well as perception so as to be able to influence their motivation. This is because human beings are different and their needs and expectations vary like their personalities. Considering Maslow needs hierarchy theory, every individual is triggered virtually by more than just needs but rather these needs come at varying hierarchy with vary effect on the individuals particular behavior. According to him, the hierarchy model theory pursues a holistic path, with the idea of merger the long list of needs into five fundamental categories of hierarchy The psychological needs in this case include such things like water, air, food shelter among many others and are usually at the base of the pyramid. However, individuals are different and due to the difference in personality would mean that there would b e differences of the individuals preferred physiological needs in order to priority would be important. Since you might want to promote someone by giving him or her physiological need she does not prefer. The next level is that of safety needs which involves an individuals desire to be in secure and stable environment with the absence of pain, illness or threat to his or her life. According to Maslow, human beings are motivated by various needs but the origin is usually the lowest unsatisfied need at that particular ((McShane, 2007:100). At the initial stage the physiological needs are to be first satisfied to as to move up the hierarchy. This means that the physiological needs do then become the primary motivator to every employee. It is then of great importance for every human resource management/employer to understand to help them satisfy their primary needs that would be primarily motivate them toward high level of performance. Even though it is not always easy for people to always this needs hierarchical theory model in satisfaction of needs, it however presents a good case to launch form. For instance, the realization that one would actually self actualize even in a place considered insecure can offer better explanation to employers to help them understand the various employees within their workplace so as to get the best out of them in order to optimize their potential and increase productivity. Moreover, it can take like forever for one to satisfy his or her needs and the needs keep on changing with time meaning without a better understanding as well as perception it is not possible to influence the level of motivation. The third aspect of the article that would tackle involves the values that would affect productivity as well as satisfaction (Allison: 237). In essence the values that affect the level of productivity are usually directly or indirectly with the management but effectively with the employees. A highly motivated employee would most likely give his or her best to help push up the level of production. Equally an employee with high morale would be driven to exert his or her effort to ensure that the task assigned to him or she is effectively and efficiently performed. On the other hand, when these two aspects are missing it is not possible for the employees to give their best. When it comes to the level of satisfaction there are two basic values that are related to satisfaction are expectation as well as needs of an employee. Expectation can be defined as the value of any opportunity, which a person attaches to something and is dependent on some contingent event. According to a theory on expectation the basis of interest is effort, a persons real exertion of energy. This theory states that the action of an individual in a given workplace is greatly dependent on the expectation that an act will result in an outcome and on the attractiveness of the outcome to the given individual (McShane, 2007:89). This theory suggests that an employees motivation is usually influenced by all these factors of effort-to-performance expectancy, outcome valence and preference to outcome expectancy. In the event that any of these components weakens, so does the level of satisfaction of the individual, which in effect results in depleted level of motivation. On the other hand needs are necessities that an individual requires to live a sustainable life. A persons needs are buttressed through the process of learning especially during childhood, parental styles and the social norms. As was put forward by one psychologist known as David McClelland there are various needs which include; need for achievement, need for affiliation, need for power among others. Individuals who have a strong desire to achieve always want to attend reasonably challenging tasks through their individual effort. This various needs affect people in various ways, as an individual would only be satisfied if for instance his need for affiliation, power or achievement is fulfilled. Both needs and expectations have a great bearing on the level of productivity in an organization. When individual needs as well as expectation are used they tend to be very responsive and feel more motivated tasks given to them thereby increasing their level of productivity, which translates to high level of production for the organization, by its employees. The fourth question that I will discuss borders on the various basic motivation concepts that are normally considered relevant to every organization. According to Fredrick Hezberg there are theories of motivation; hygiene theory and motivation theory. In his argument to advance motivational theory, they involve what are referred to as the hygiene factors that encompass the work as well as organizational environment. Hygiene factors cover the organization, the policies and the administration of eh company, the type of supervision, which encompasses, leadership and management that employees perceive while at the work place. Additionally, such aspects like salary and wages, status of the employee within the organization, job security, the prevailing conditions at work as well as interpersonal relations between the management and the rest of the workforce (employees). These do not necessitate employee motivation, but their essence will surely lead to a high level of dissatisfaction of th e employee. The other aspects include; achievement, recognition, personal growth or advancement and interest in job. In his prospective Hezberg argued that both the two approaches must be carried out simultaneously so as to alter the aim of employee motivation. In effect he suggests that employees ought to be treated in the best way possible to limit the level of dissatisfaction. Thus, motivation is about inducing employees to move in a certain way toward goal specifically stated by the organization. The goals as well as the motivation must be in tandem with the corporate policy of the organization. They must be designed to favor the situation and to the company. When an employee talks about personal growth he or she is looking for the chance to progress within the social, economical, spiritual as well as political growth. When the organization offers employees the chance to advance, like for instance to enter into a managerial position, they are likely to work hard. When employees feel their job is safe and are comfortable with the wages they get and consider their status as well as salary as fair they are likely to have high morale. In instances where employees make employees feel as partners in the organization. For instances, the management shares successes as well as the failures and involves the employees in decision they would feel proud and motivated. Even though money seems to b e the greatest motivator there are other aspects that cannot be ignored. Semlers approach as concerns seems to work a little bit. For fact he is incorporated a few aspects of employee motivation in his management style. For instance, in this case he motivates employees by offering their autonomy in decision-making. This has a two-fold effect one, the employees feel they own the company and as such anybody who owns something will always want the best for it. It means every decision the employees make should be in the interest of the company. However, the level of autonomy that he is offered is too much as the employees run and make virtually every decision. What he should do is first to reverse the system by having representatives of employees or doing regular sampling on the kind of policies the employees want formulated then discuss them at board level. If semler really wants to uncover gold then he needs to try other approaches and integrate them with his. Secondly, instead of just leaving the entire decision making process to the employees and overturning earlier discussions made by employees he should offer the employees a chance to move up in the rank to management level. For one right now the employees might not really want to grow, since there might not be any need if the managers can be overturned and the employees becoming their supervisors. Taking into consideration theory X which believes that any given set up is inherently distasteful and that people are equally inherently lazy and unambitious and then with theory Y where it is believed that everyone enjoys working, it is as natural as play, which Semco seems to be applying. Theory Y is very good on its own but something you might find some employees who are inherently lazy so some fear needs to be instilled in their either through supervision or nay other such measure. The management of Semco can as well employ the theory of motivation based on an entrepreneur mindset. This theory would go beyond merely sharing profits and stock option with them. It encompasses the management instilling the feeling that they are partners and not just employees. Currently, the autonomy given the employees may not be enough, the management must demonstrate leadership and be involved in decision making too. Finally, the management needs to have a better understanding of every employee within the workplace as some of them may have needs and expectation beyond mere salary likes. The effect of employees raising their own salaries may also not work. For example, the employees may be too scared of raising the salary to a satisfactory level as their accounts would be reviewed later, additionally; they might award themselves salaries they do not deserve. The salaries should be managed independently but the management needs to receive recommendation from the employees, which they will look into and make considerations. Conclusion Employee motivation remains a very significant aspect of management that any successful business or organization cannot just wish away. However, there is no single definite way to motivate employees, but rather a combination of many process. In essence any employer or manger cannot just pick on one single theory and expect to be very successful it may work for sometime and fail. He must first begin with understanding his/her employee(s). Anyhow, one of the most effective approaches would be hygiene theory approach, as it encompasses various aspects of employee motivation. Reference: Adair, John, 1996: effective motivation; how to get extraordinary results from everyone. Pan books UK, pg 2-14, 30 Allison James, Integrative Case Study B: What makes people want to come to work on Mondays? Australian Maritime College pg 236-237 Gary P. Latham, Christopher T. Ernst 19 May 2006 Center for Creative Leadership, Singapore University of Toronto, Canada James S, Ann Bruce, 2003, employee motivation, McGraw-Hill Roseville Australia, pg 1 McShane S. Travaglione T, 2007: Organizational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim.2nd McGraw-Hill Roseville Australia. Susan M Hearthfield, 2007 Trust Rules: The most important secret about trust, Pg 1)

Coral Reef essays

Coral Reef essays First of all, they houses a collection of diverse organisms, and contribute fisheries which provide food items such as fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. Furthermore, coral skeletons are being used as bone substitutes in reconstructive bone surgery and may be able to provide important medicine, including anti-cancer drugs and a compound that blocks ultra-violet rays, they even help reduce global warming by taking carbon dioxide out of the air. These reefs provide a house for many species. If the coral reefs were to become extinct than future generations would not have the benefits that theses animals have to offer, such as possible medicines, pest control, and carbon dioxide control. Fisheries are also contributed by corals and if they were eliminated would reduce the food source greatly. By not preserving corals, we are taking food directly out of our grandchildren's mouths. With the technology that is rapidly being discovered, we learn more and more about what we can do with bone str ucture and hard corals. Right now we are doing restructuring procedures and learning that bone tissue and blood vessels spread into the coral graft and eventually bone replaces most of the coral implant. Think about what could happen in the future, what future generations could do to improve bone structure disabilities. The possibilities are endless. There is evidence that suggests coral reefs could potentially provide important medicines, including anti-cancer drugs and a compound that blocks out UV rays. Do we really want to take that opportunity away from our descendants? With the ozone layer depleting more and more each day they are going to need all the protection they need from the sun's harmful rays. Possibly a cure for cancer, and people are treating these living organisms like they are nothing. Maybe if there was more education people wouldn't take the subject so lightly. These organisms not only provide protection from ultra-violet rays they also ...

Strategies set in place do not solve the drug problem around the world Research Paper

Strategies set in place do not solve the drug problem around the world - Research Paper Example There are several social and environmental factors why people start using drugs. Types of drugs consumed depend upon the price and accessibility of particular drugs. There are many other reasons that push the young people towards drug abuse like family tensions, peer pressure, poor school performance, low self-esteem, inadequate social skills, depression and so on. There are various drug policies all over the world to fight against this grave social problem. Most of the policies strive towards creating awareness of the evils of drug abuse. With the rapid change of lifestyle, growing competition among peers in educational and professional arenas, drug abuse is an ever increasing social malady. The governments’ efforts of creating strategies to cope with drug abuse have so far been essentially unsuccessful. This paper focuses on drug policies and their inadequacy among young generation. Drug policies To fight drug use, it is imperative that effective preventive strategies be imp lemented. Such strategies must cover all stages of life, from infancy to adulthood. Such strategies can keep the youth away from consumption of all kinds of drugs including alcohol. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) has adopted six kinds of preventive measures. The first one is Information dissemination that is designed to create awareness about drugs and alter the youth’s perspective of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. The second one is Preventive education that enables the youth to acquire personal and social skills for better health, and this keeps them away from drug use. The third one includes Alternative approaches that assume that young people who get engaged in drug-free activities with be benefited by those activities rather than through activities concerned with drugs. The fourth one is Problem identification and referral involves those youth who have already been addicts of drugs and have drug-related physical or emotional problems, and suggesting t o those youth regarding appropriate treatments. The fifth one is Community-based process that enhances resources in the communities, for instance, building training agencies to promote awareness through education. The sixth one includes Environmental approaches that build policies to increase protection measures and reduce risk factors of drug use (Promising Strategies to Reduce Substance Abuse, 2000, pp.1-2). Legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco, and illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin, marijuana have many harmful affects. Alcohol consumption can lead to road accidents, domestic violence and crime. Heavy drinking can cause chronic diseases like liver cirrhosis and brain damage. If pregnant women consume alcohol, then there is possibility of birth defects. Smoking tobacco is a major cause of breathing problems and cancer. Illicit drug use can cause road accidents, violent outbursts and crime. Then there is also the risk of getting affected by HIV/AIDS through unsafe injection of illi cit drugs. The goal of National Drug Strategy 2010-2015 is to reduce the social, economic and health problems that occur due to drug use. The three approaches adopted are demand reduction, supply reduction and harm reduction. By demand reduction strategy, prevention measures are taken to reduce the consumption of alcohol and other drugs in the community. It also guides people to recover from the addiction and return to normal life. By supply reduction strateg

The History of Technology of the Colt Revolver Essay

The History of Technology of the Colt Revolver - Essay Example Amongst the two distinguished firearms that helped in conquering the west are the 1873 model Winchister rifle and colt single action army model revolver. The Colt revolver revolutionized the entire firearms industry and how was war going to be fought on frontier from that time. The following pages illustrates the history of the revolver, the history of its inventor and how the revolver changed the way in which wars would be fought for ever. Prior the invention of the colt revolver the guns at that time required to be reloaded after every single shot was fired. This resulted in loss of plenty of lives in wars. The revolver that had a mechanically rotating cylinder so that it would not require to be reloaded after every single shot was fired was the goal of the gunsmiths for several centuries. It was in the year 1831 that 16 year old Samuel Colt made the first prototype model of a revolver with a mechanical cylinder. The Colt revolver was the fire arm that used a revolving cylinder and thus it need not require reloading after every single shot was fired1. The Samuel Colt worked with several gunsmiths in order to manufacture the prototype of the gun. The invention by Colt was patented over the course of several months in the year 1935 and 1936. The revolver mechanism that was designed by Colt is considered in some sense to more of an innovation than invention. The mechanism was originally used in muskets and rifles and wa s patented by a Boston based inventor named Elisha Collier. The mechanism was referred to as revolving flintlock. Colt’s mechanism which was an improved version of the earlier one developed by Elisha was patented by him in the year 1835 in UK. The American patent for the same was received by Colt was developed in the year 1836. The company started by Samuel Colt thus started manufacturing the revolver through the manufacturing facility that was based in Paterson in New Jersey. The ability of the revolver in firing 6 shots without the need

Breast cancer Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Breast cancer - Research Paper Example s who have had a history of breast cancer provided the impetus for intense interest to delve further into contemporary issues relating to breast cancer on a global scale. In this regard, the current research would touch on diverse issues that confound women’s contracting this illness such as: risk factors, recurrence rates, conservation surgery through Indian experience; pregnancy associated breast cancer; the impact of curable versus advanced cancer in West of Romania; bioengineering embryonic stem cell microenvironments for the study of breast cancer; and triple negative breast cancer cell lines; to name just a few. The research would initially start with an introduction of the topic to include the researchers’ rationale for interest in the subject and to present current statistics and relevant information on current trends and patterns on breast cancer. A historical background would be delved into, particularly how the specific area of interest emerged. Likewise, the researchers would proffer ways in which the current study would be beneficial to various professionals who are interested on the topic. The research problem is to determine the best possible way of addressing breast cancer through the review of related literature on the subject. The researchers would integrate and synthesize the relevant findings noted from at least 15 authoritative and academic studies which have been contemporarily published in peer-reviewed journals. The discussion portion would highlight innovative ways of looking into addressing issues that confound breast cancer with the aim of better understanding the dilemma, determining how others tried to attempt it, and finally how they progressed in their respective researches. The concluding portion highlights the findings and stipulates the researchers’ recommendations. As indicated, the most effective intervention or treatment does not depend on the new technological or medical breakthrough discovered but on early detection

Child development and social learning theories

Child development and social learning theories The three theories that I want to talk about are social learning theory, psychoanalytic theory, and psychosocial theory. These are three theories that have related to me in so many ways. However, there were also quite a few discussion questions, which related to some of my experiences in life. Throughout this course, I also will talk about what have learned taking this course. One assignment being experiential learning this assignment made me think about what I have accomplished and different experiences that I have a lot through over the years with my family and how I am raising my children Child development focuses on sciencetific studies and processes of stability in human children. There are many changes that children go through during development or being domains of development that consist of physical,cognitive,and psychosocial development. Psychical development is a child that may have problems with development of their motor skills, for example, a child that may not learn how to walk until they are two years old. Cognitive development a child whom has problems with speaking around others may have tendencies of being shy. Psychosocial a child that may have low self-esteem and social acceptance, these three domains are very important during child development that is why it is very important what children see and do during these stages this has a major affect on their lives. Influences on development There are many different influences on children many influences come from heredity are culture, race, and religon. The environment is also a major influence on children being raised in poverty can have a big influence on children most children think beyond and in their adult lives they become successful and many children settle for less and continue to live their lives in poverty. Culture has a lot to do with influence for example Jehovah witnesses they do not celebrate many holidays and being a child raised around this type of environment will look at the world with different perspectives. Basic theoretical issues However, basic theoretical issues many children are active and passive in their development. The English professor John Locke held that a young child is a tabula meaning blank slate at how they look at society. Children have their own internal drives and needs that influence development there are five major perspectives and theories of child development. Psychoanalytic learning, cognitive, contextual, and evolutionary, this considers evolutionary and biological underlings of how a child behaves. Psychoanalytic Psychoanalytic are views development of the unconscious forces that motivate human behavior that is referred to as psychoanalysis. The unconscious mind lies outside vague and boundaries of consciousness these things are too painful to remain in the conscious part of the mind. That are considered as repressions this is the egos defense mechanism. this could be many different things that people are unaware of these are thing that lead to serious mental behaviors in my earlier discussion question I said that these are things that trigger OCD patients they are so used to doing things like washing of the hands so much they are unaware that they are doing it too much. According to Freud2008, the ego is an aspect of the subject that emerges from the id that are biological, inherited, and unconsciousness of sexual drives and irrational impulses. The ego also develops the ids acceptation with the world. The stages of child development would include super ego is placing rules and demands of re ality. The ego demands both the id and the superego that may be called constructive acceptance that are demands made both by id and super ego these are important to mental health. Self identity and gender identity are also important stages the child realizes to identify them self of who they are and who they are going to be gender identity would be the child would be the child realizing if they are boy are a girl they are developing of self concept. Psychosocial crisis at different stages of development Crisis that develops at this stage of development would be depression the child has to much pressure to meet certain expectations and feeling to overwhelmed or the child has permissive parents that have made the child feel ashamed about what he or she is supposed to be doing. Low self-esteem child has no self worth about what he or she are doing they may also have identity crisis not really knowing who they are in this world. This is the main reason why we have so many children that commit suicide it is very important that we show our children love and support no matter what they may be doing in during this stage of development this will matter as they grow into adults. Social learning theory However,learning is very important during child development this learning comes from observing others behavior. Social learning is a transition between learning theories and cognitive learning theories. Observational learning is learning by choosing models to imitate when a child has watched someone do something for instance, my daughter has watched me fold the linen over the years now she helps me fold this is because she has learned from watching me since she has been a baby. Observational learning is very important this is a very critical time in a childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s life they want to learn and do everything possible. Bandura makes a distinction between learning through observation and imitation of what has been learned. There are four conditions that are used before a person can model behavior paying attention being able to remember having the ability to replicate and motivation being able to show what they have learned throughout the observation process. Modeling behavior Modeling teaches new behaviors influences frequencies and encourages many different behaviors. Self efficiency plays a big role in learning the child has to be able to believe in themselves in order to have confidence to succeed towards the learning process this affects behavior because if they do not believe in their self they will not feel successful in doing certain activities. Self-regulation is also important this is when one has their own ideas of choosing what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior setting standards and goals. Self-instructions are strategy that teaches learners instructions to guide their behavior this would be cognitive modeling, external guidance, selfguidance, and self-instruction. Associative learning, and Psychosocial tools Associative learning are two kinds of learning operant conditioning, and classical conditioning classical conditioning being would be fearing something this fear would be from something that has happened to someone for instance a tornado if you have experienced something like this every time you hear strong wind this can make you become fearful that another tornado may hit. Operant conditioning would be for example, if a child is rewarded for good behavior in school, it is most likely that the child will always show good behavior to receive rewards. Classical conditioning is a natural process of learning different from operant conditioning this learning involves voluntary behavior learning from consequences. Cognitive learning theory Cognitive learning focuses on the thought process and a behavior that reflects on these processes J Piaget (1896-1980) described to processes used by the individual in its attempt to adapt assimilation and accommodation. Both of these processes are used in life as the person increasingly adapts to the environment. Assimilation is the process of using or transforming the environment and placing them in to structures. There are four stages of development in cognitive development the sensiormotor stage this is a period of development when thie child demomstrates activities and knowledge of the world. Pre-operational stage is when the child demonstrates the usage of the memory and imagination. Operational stage is when the child shows actions that can be reversed. Formal operational stage the child begins to use egocentric thoughts intelligence is demonstrated. At this stage of development it is very important that we challenge our children ablilities during this developmental stage. Infromation processing Information is a process that explains cognitive development by analyzing the mental processes that are involved in perceiving and handling information. This processs consist of usage of the brain. Vygotskys(2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ theory says that the brain is similar to the computer.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  This approach helps researchers to estimate the intelligence of a child. Different studies are put into place to see how much data can be stores in the brain. This is put into place to study and to put a handle on the conscious an uncouncious parts of the memory for example, the child memory is very difrrent from the adult memory for instance there is generic memory that comes from remembering basic routines that a child may do on a daily basis. Script would be from repeated or familiar events that take placethis could be a family gathering. Episodic memory are longterm memories this is a family vacation. Autobiographical memorys are events that take place in a persons life that have spec ial meaningthis could be a memory that had negative affects on the child and is always remembered because of that. Memories have a lot to do with information processing if a child is unable to remember this can affect the way that they learn, and also affect the developmental process. My experience taking this course This course has taught me a lot about child development new things that I have never thought about before. I will be able to utilize these new skills when I am done with this course. For instance, you think about things that may be going on in your everyday life you also a good understand about child development, experiential learning was one of my favorite assignments. For example, experiential learning for me is the best way to learn I am the kind of person that if you show me something one time I take it and run with it. I also enjoyed talking about Psychoanalytic perspective I learned from this perspective that there are th ings that people do on a daily basis without even realizing that this is being done this has a lot to do with the unconscious part of the brain.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight :: Sir Gawain Green Knight Essays

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle English romance poem written by an anonymous West Midlands poet also credited with a lot of other poems written during that time. The protagonist, Sir Gawain, survives two tests: a challenge, which he alone without the assistance of King Arthur's knights accepts, to behead the fearsome Green Knight and to let him retaliate a year later at the distant Green Chapel; and the temptation to commit adultery with the wife of Lord Bercilak--in reality the Green Knight--in whose castle he stays in en route to the chapel. This story is emblematic of life; how it issues tests and challenges and the consequences rendered as a result of failing or succeeding these challenges. Sir Gawain is a very symbolic character; symbolic in the sense that he represents innocence in life. He was not afraid to accept a challenge because it meant saving the kingdom from the affects of anarchy as a result of not having a king. Sir Gawain accepting the challenge from the Green Knight instantly represented one of the things that knighthood represented, fearlessness. People accept those kind of challenges everyday. This could possibly be where the term "sticking your neck out" could have come from. When people accept challenges, most do not want to accept the consequences as a result of being unsuccessful. Gawain was not like this. When the year passed he gallantly mounted his horse and set off for the Green Chapel. This showed that Gawain was brave. This was preceded by the warning "Beware, Gawain, that you not end a betrayer of your bargain through fear." Along this journey Gawain faces peril and self-reluctance in the form of the elements and the never-ending search for the chapel respectively. These feeling can be characterized as the inner turmoil suffered as a result of dealing with one's conscience. The journey also tested his faith in the sense that he was constantly in prayer during his journey, and not once did he curse or renounce the name of God. It seems as if the prayers were what kept Gawain sane and focused on the purpose of his journey. Gawain's prayers were answered when he rode along and finally came upon a place that he could petition for possible rest.