Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Case Study analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Case Study analysis - Essay Example Therefore, the process selection as identified by the team’s recommendations; will assist the organisation in prioritizing solutions to the pre-existing problems. For example, the review team’s assessment of the Information Technology (IT) department shows that it’s current IT solution, GovSource; has many undesired implications which lengthen the recruitment process (Stake, 2006). The team also identifies the inefficient modes of communication which cause delayed feedback from the interviewee’s referees and to the applicants. The use of process selection will, therefore, help the organisation to prioritize between these problems allowing them to come up with a SMART plan to ensure their successful resolution. Meaning, the plan ought to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. Process selection, therefore, proves to be advantageous to an organisation in the realizing of their set targets (Yin, 2009). 1.1.2 Process identification Proce ss identification entails the definition of the scope of business processes, for example, an analysis of the scope of Talent Seek’s recruitment process. ... These meetings prove helpful because they help relay the clients’ requirements to Talent Seek’s personnel. The preparation of application forms and advertising of the vacancy positions are an integral part of this phase. The scope of the second phase (actual recruitment and selection) covers the evaluation processes used to sort through the applicants. The applicants’ evaluations happen through a similar criterion during the evaluation phase. The scope of the second phase also covers the selection process, whereby, qualified candidates get selected to be offered Talent Seek’s clients’ requirements (Kane, 2008). The scope of the final phase (appointment) covers the final consultations between Talent Seek’s personnel and their clients, where introduction of the selected candidates occurs to the clients. It is in this stage that further negotiations between the recruits and their employers ensue, and, presentation of a formal employment offer ha ppens. In conclusion, process identification plays a key role in shaping the perspective of organisations. This is because it outlines the scope of the processes within the organisation. This allows personnel to understand their roles (Ashly, 2003). References Ashly Downey. (2003). Recruitment Process Improvement. New Jersey: Lee Moffitt . Kane, J. (2008, April 17 ,saturday). Recruitment Intelligence. Retrieved from Steps of the Recruitment Process and How to Identify Failure Points : http://www.ere.net/2010/05/10/the-steps-of-the-recruiting-process-%E2%80%A6-and-how-to-identify-failure-points/ Mikel J. Harry, R. S. (2006). Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing The World's Top Corporations. New York: Currency.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Platos Theory of Forms Essay Example for Free

Platos Theory of Forms Essay Explain and define Plato’s theory of Forms with your personal Criticism. Plato was born in Athens on 428 BC. He was a Greek philosopher who laid foundations of western philosophy. He raised basic questions and problems of western thought, goodness and virtue, truth and knowledge, body and soul, ideal political state, and use of Literature and Arts were some of the pre dominant topics of interest to Plato. Plato devoted himself completely to philosophy. He was a student of Socrates. He was a great admirer of Socrates and he initially joined Socrates school of thought to learn philosophy. Later after the death of Socrates, he found an academy where geometry was most prominent in the curriculum along with mathematics and philosophy. He was also influenced from pre-Socratic thinkers like Heraclitus and Parmenides; who rejected physical world and said that inner is more important than believed apparent world. He was also influenced by mathematical concepts derived from Pythagoras. He learned dialectical method of following truth in order to derive a philosophy, ideas and opinions. According to Encyclopedia Britannica literally word Form means, â€Å"The external shape, appearance or configuration of an object in contradistinction to the matter of which it is composed. In Aristotelian Metaphysics, the active, determining principle of a thing as distinguished from matter, the potential principle. † (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012) In Stanford Encyclopedia it is stated that, Plato’s term ‘eidos’ by which he identified the permanent reality that makes a thing what it is in contrast to the particulars that are finite and subject to change. The Platonic concept of form was itself derived from the Pythagorean theory that intelligible structures and not material elements, gave objects their distinctive characters. Theory of Forms states about what is real and what is not. The real is thought to be perfect whereas things which are not real are changing. Plato advocates that the world of forms is different from world of appearances. World of Forms can only be understood by philosophers and those who seek the truth. The dialogues in this theory portray knowledge as the process of leaving dark caves for going into sunlight. People who live in dark caves find their reality in shadows. These shadows are actually the symbol of the apparent world and it is just a shadow of what is real. Plato says that this world is not real; it is only the ‘world of forms’ which is real and never changes. It can be explained by many examples; for example we all try to seek knowledge but in reality what we learn is an opinion only. Likewise one thing is beautiful for someone but it can be ugly for someone else. People who have an urge to know and understand the true knowledge in the world can only touch the ‘intelligible world’. This world of objects is not independent because it depends on another real world of ‘pure forms or ideas’. Objects in this world have got their qualities from the ideal world. An object is beautiful because it takes that beauty from the ‘higher realm’. This concept of ideal Forms and forms of the world can be explained by geometry. Any square or triangle that we draw or construct is imperfect because it is ‘merely approximate the ideal triangle’. This ideal triangle has no connection with senses or reason because it is not concrete but a concept or an idea in the real world. Plato says that, the world of forms can be characterized as ‘changeless’ , ‘eternal’ and ‘real’ whereas physical world undergoes many changes and decay. The criticism on Plato’s theory of forms is that, he could not be able to draw a logical connection between ‘the realm of forms’ and ‘physical world’. According to Aristotle, this theory does not explain that how permanence and order can be attained in this world and how we can have objective knowledge of this physical world. Plato separated two worlds so distinctly that it failed to explain a former two points. The objectivity and permanence of real world does not explain this physical world hence establishes no strong connection between the two worlds. In my opinion Plato puts an argument that intellectual truth is truer than physical truth. This universe is created by God who is pure and the ultimate reality. He has no physical being but he has created a physical universe. This physical world is a copy of the real universe which only exists in the mind of creator. Similarly all horses are copies of one horse which exists at some higher land of truth. Likewise all beds are only copies of an ideal bed which lies in heaven probably. These examples are given by Plato to prove that world of forms is different from world of reality. It concludes that forms are relative and they are mere imitation of the real. The basic function of theory of forms is unification. It serves to unify ‘groups of objects or concepts’ by connecting them to a pure essence of the real world.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

MusiciansFriend.Com Essay -- Business and Management Studies:

MusiciansFriend.Com Mission Statement The mission statement for Musician’s Friend has always been "The Best for Less Shipped to Your Door." This is still their company slogan but their mission includes a lot of customer service emphasis as well. The company believes that the key to their success started with their mission statement, commitment to customers, dedicated employees that share the vision, forming partnerships and the growth of the business. Overview Musician’s Friend is an authorized dealer of thousands of products from more than 900 different manufacturers such as Fender, Gibson, Roland, and Pearl. They are the industry leader in musical equipment, information and customer service. They are open twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week, and have been providing the best products for less money to millions of musicians for more than 20 years. Musician's Friend offers over 36,000 products in its mail order catalogs and on its website. Some of the products include guitars, basses, keyboards, percussion, and amps, as well as recording, mixing, lighting, and Disc Jockey equipment. Hundreds of new products add to the company’s monthly supply chain as the company continues to expand its range of product inventory. In addition to their expansive inventory supply, Musician's Friend offers a money-back satisfaction and a price guaranty on every purchase. Musician’s Friend prides itself on having a top-notch staff of customer service people who are not only knowledgeable, but they also live and breathe the products in which they sell. History Musician’s Friend started out as a mail order catalog company in 1983 by Robert and Deanna Eastman, mostly carrying reusable items such as guitar strings, guitar picks, polish and polish cloths among other things. In addition, the catalog advertised some basic accessories like instrument tuners, string winders, guitar stands, music sheet stands and tuning forks. The catalog company started in the Eastman’s home in southern California with a couple of desks in their living room for the call center and order entry, which they later moved to their garage and converted it into mini warehouse of products. The company began expanding both in size and with more products and eventually relocated their business to a dairy barn in southern Oregon. The company ke... ... The Musician’s Friend is a very good example of a small business developing into a successful company that now includes large business partners. From the garage of their home, the Eastman’s were able to build their business by combining their business models, applications and services on the Internet. Thus, creating a good business model for electronic business solutions that other businesses can follow. They also became successful by utilizing their management resources such as supply chain management and customer relationship management. Musician’s Friend took their business concepts, applied it to technology and e-business and gained a rapid change, diversity and a solid foundation of managers and employees. Works Cited Cavanaugh, William. â€Å"New Definition of Diversity.† Executive Excellence, Jan 2001, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p5, 1p. Master FILE Premier on-line. EBSCO Publishing. 02/19/02 Myron, David. â€Å"Workforce Optimization.† Destination CRM, July 2002 Negri, Richard A. â€Å"Companies Link Diversity to Business Strategies.† Sept. 1999 Rabiee, Hamid, Dr. â€Å"AICTC E-Business.† July 2001. Salter, Trent. â€Å"Robert Eastman.† Musician’s Hotline. Jan./Feb. 2002.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Conflict with “Macbeth” and “World War Poetry” Essay

During this essay I am going to write about the many diverse ways in which conflict is presented in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Wilfred Owen’s Poetry of World War 1. I will be comparing the ways in which Macbeth and 3 poems written by Owen; Mental Cases, The Next War and Dulce Et Decorum Est, link with each other. Macbeth is a play written in 1606 by Shakespeare who wrote plays to entertain his audience. On the other hand, Owen was a soldier in World War 1 when he wrote famous poems; he wrote them to tell us about the tragedies of war and he expressed his thoughts and feelings about war and conflict. Owen’s poems are influenced by his own experiences of war. In Macbeth the conflict shown by Macbeth and the other characters, gives us an idea of how Macbeth’s rivalry between certain characters in the play depicted the whole play itself. For example, Macbeth’s conflict with King Duncan shows how Macbeth was such an easy target for the witches bec ause they predicted he would be the next Thane of Cawdor which came true, then they predicted he would be the next King, but when Duncan announced Malcolm to be the next heir to the throne, Macbeth become insecure and had the thoughts of killing Duncan. â€Å"I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself† – Macbeth’s excessive ambition is like a horse that tries to jump too high but it falls on the other side of the fence, also Shakespeare uses a metaphor to describe Macbeth’s ambition as ‘vaulting’ like a horse. Shakespeare brings the idea of Macbeth killing Duncan to life. Similarly, Wilfred Owen presents the conflict in his poems in ways which he relentlessly unveils the full scale of the war’s horrors. For example, in Owen’s poem ‘Mental Cases’, the conflict the soldiers have with the violent conditions they had to live in, Owen presents the mental torment suffered by the patients in this poem. He uses the simile â€Å"like a wound† to show that their wounds are still fresh and present in their minds. The words such as ‘blade’ and ‘bleeds afresh’ suggest that they have be en brutally ripped open by the conflict happening in their minds. Owen’s poem ‘Mental Cases’ shows us the mental anguish the soldiers had to go through during the World War. He uses the simile â€Å"baring teeth that leak like skulls, teeth wicked† to describe the soldiers as skeletons because they’re half dead from fighting continuously in the war; this shows how the poems title ‘Mental Cases’ links with the whole concept of the soldiers being half dead because their minds have been taken over by  the trauma of the war. â€Å"Batter of guns and shatter of flying muscles† – the use of violent imagery to emphasise the way in which the soldiers are continuously surrounded by gun-shots (‘batter of guns’) and dead bodies (‘flying muscles’). â€Å"Dawn breaks open like a wound that bleeds afresh† – Owen uses a simile, also a personified phrase to highlight the way the soldiers wake up to constant violence around them. Wilfred Owen uses words such as ‘skulls’ to show that the soldiers were like skeletons; half dead. Also he uses ‘ravished’ to give more power to the poem, to demonstrate that the horrors have taken over the soldiers’ minds. This poem links with Macbeth due to the way in which Macbeth is mentally tormented because of the crimes he’s committed which are now acting upon him, just the way the patients are mentally tormented because of the tragic war. Shakespeare uses the personified phrase â€Å"art th ou not fatal vision sensible to feeling as to sight?† to accentuate that Macbeth can only see the dagger in his mind but it’s not really there. â€Å"Here’s the smell of blood still, all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten† – Shakespeare manipulates the use of the senses to show that Lady Macbeth is saying that there is no perfume of this world which shall ‘sweeten’ our sinful hands; which emphasises that Lady Macbeth still thinks about the murder of King Duncan. Shakespeare also uses the simile â€Å"that not look like inhabitants o’the earth† to show that the witches aren’t humans; they don’t belong to the earth. â€Å"If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly† Shakespeare presents the idea of past and present; to kill Duncan quickly would be better. â€Å"Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold† – Macbeth says to the ghost of Banquo; he has no marrow in his bones, his blood is cold. Shakespeare uses words such as ‘fatal’ to show the mental torment Macbeth is going through whilst h e sees the dagger in his mind. Also he uses ‘inhabitants’ to describe the way the witches look; they don’t look like they live on earth. In Owen’s poem ‘The Next War’ he presents the inner conflict of the war because the poem is based on the idea of not being afraid of death but getting used to the fact that death comes everyday to them. In the beginning of the poem Owen has written a quote from Siegfried Sassoon â€Å"war’s a joke for me and you, while we know such dreams are true† – this is an unusual sonnet because sonnets are usually on love and romance, but this one is on war. Owen uses personification like â€Å"out there we’ve walked quite friendly up to Death; sat  down and eaten with him, cool and bland† to emphasise that mostly all the soldiers are used to seeing people die and when death comes its normal for them. Also Owen describes death as ‘cool’ and ‘bland’ – these are oxymorons because they have an unusual perspective of war. â€Å"He’s spat at us with bullets and he’s coughed† – Owen u ses personification to show how death has tortured the soldiers. Owen uses many language techniques to bring the idea of welcoming death to the soldiers’ lives. Wilfred Owen uses words like ‘courage’ to emphasise the soldiers’ characters. Also he uses ‘green thick odour’ to represent the ‘odour’ as the poisonous gas that caused many soldiers’ deaths. This poem links with Macbeth because in this poem Owen talks about the courage these soldiers had and how they got used to seeing their men die all the time, however, in Macbeth, Macbeth is looked at as ‘brave Macbeth’ who has ‘disdaining fortune’ because he won the battle for Scotland and was looked at as a hero. â€Å"For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name – disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel† – Shakespeare describes Macbeth as a courageous warrior. However, during the play we find out that Macbeth has planned to kill Duncan, but then feels a slight regret in going fourth with the murder â€Å"we will proceed no further in this business. He hath honour’d me of late, and I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people†. In this scene, Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeths manliness and makes him feel like he less of a man â€Å"And live a coward in thine own esteem†. â€Å"But screw your courage to the sticking place† – Shakespeare uses a metaphor here to show the power in which Lady Macbeth has; she wants Macbeth to tighten his courage to the limit, so he can go fourth and kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth tries to convince him by calling him a ‘coward’ and unmanly. Macbeth is convinced enough to murder Duncan which eventually lead to his own down fall. ‘Dulce Et Decroum Est’ meaning ‘Die for Your Country’ is another famous poem of Wilfred Owen’s where it links to battlefield conflict and inner conflict. The poem is based on the whole concept of war, and how the soldiers fight for their country throughout the world war. â€Å"Bent double like old beggars, coughing like hags† – Owen uses two similes to describe the soldiers as ‘beggars’ and ‘hags’, due to the way they live in. â€Å"Men marched asleep† – this use of characterisation brings to life the way in which the soldiers were continuously marching during their days, and nights. Owen also uses an oxymoron to bring sarcasm into the poem  Ã¢â‚¬Å"of gas shells dropping softly behind† – gas shells are usually very loud and dangerous but Owen makes out the gas shells were ‘soft’. â€Å"As under a green sea I saw him drowning.† – a metaphor to describe the poisonous gas, and Owen’s persona of his friend drowning in the gas. â€Å"Guttering, choking, and drowning† – the use of onomatopoeia gives effect of the way in which Owen presents the conflict of the war. Owen also uses personified techniques to show the inner conflict of how the soldiers’ minds were taken over by the tragic war â€Å"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood† – the effect that Owen uses to ‘hear the blood’. Owen gives the impression that these soldiers are broken and describes them to be helpless. Wilfred Owen uses words such as ‘deaf’ from the gun shots and bombs and ‘blind’ from the tear gas and smoke; he uses pitiful language to reveal the reality of war. This poem links with Macbeth, because Owen talks about the way in which the soldiers die for their country and linking back to Macbeth, he fought a battle for his country. However, the soldiers in the poem are described as ‘beggars’ and ‘hags’, on the other hand, Macbeth is described as ‘brave’. Macbeth has a higher reputation because he had killed the enemy of King Duncan’s. Shakespeare describes the nature of war as if it is a game or a sport â€Å"doubtful it stood, as two spent swimmers that do cling together† – using the word ‘swimmer’ relates to sport and ‘doubtful’ makes them want to try harder and think of swimming where they are pushing the water away racing to the finish line makes the reader create a picture of Macbeth and Banquo slashing away with their swords creating a sea of dead soldiers and blood behind them fighting their way to glory. It is only at the end of the play that Macbeth finally discovers his fate; after being told that Macduff had been, â€Å"untimely ripped from his mothers’ womb†. Macbeth describes the witches as â€Å"Juggling Fiends† Macbeth is accusing the witches of deliberately juggling their words so that he could not understand them. This is a clever quote as Macbeth has just realised his life is in ruins, but the audience knew this earlier. The witches have changed Macbeth from a brave warrior to an evil, murderous, traitor, underlining the conflict of good and evil. â€Å"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes† – this quote is significant as it illustrates the change in Macbeth throughout the play, now even the witches consider Macbeth to be evil. However, when looking at the path of destruction that Macbeth has left behind him it isn’t very  surprising. Just one man driven by his ambition to be king has led to a chain reactio n of murders. There are many important conflicts in Macbeth, like the conflict between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, the conflict between the good which is represented by Macduff and the evil which is represented by Macbeth, and Macbeth versus himself, his inner struggle, and all of those conflicts lead to Macbeth’s down fall. Shakespeare gave a truthful, but interesting effect to show war and conflict in that time and age of Shakespeare. There are also many significant conflicts in the World War 1 which Wilfred Owen wrote about in all of his famous poems, like the conflict between the soldiers and death; the way in which the soldiers have to welcome death because it’s likely they will die. This conflict leads to the soldiers becoming mentally tormented. Owen always revealed the truth about war and conflict.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Bowl Championship Series

The controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in college football has many competing factions. There are those who believe that BCS’ computerized ranking system offers the most objective option based on the available statistics for each team. Opponents to the BCS argue that the computer’s system unfairly weighs certain factors in determining the rankings. No matter where you stand, arguments for any side of the case can be convincingly made.With this research, my goal will be to show how despite the controversy of the ranking system, it appears that the main purpose of the BCS system is to make as much money as possible through the televising and sponsorship of the bowl games themselves which create millions of dollars through advertising revenue. According to their own website, the BCS â€Å"†¦is designed to match the two top-rated teams in a national championship game and to create exciting and competitive matchups between eight other highly reg arded teams†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The BCS).The key words here are, in my opinion, ‘exciting’ and ‘highly regarded’. In other words, the BCS wants teams that translate well to the television due to their popularity and due to the likelihood of creating a high-profile match-up that will draw in millions of viewers as opposed to determining the football programs that deserve to be there based on their play throughout the season. This is understandable from a business point of view, but troubling on the other hand for two major reasons considering the staggering financial numbers.With their new four-year deal with Fox, the BCS is going to rake in $132 million dollars a year to broadcast the four BCS games, or in other words, $33 million a game (Ourand). The first reason is because these are student-athletes that do not reap the financial rewards that the sponsors and colleges are receiving from their labor. Surely these student-athletes do get special treatment and mo st of them are on scholarship trying to make it into professional football and the increased media exposure can up their stock, but these benefits pale in comparison to the financial windfalls reaped by the colleges and sponsors.The second problem is that this system creates a cycle where high-profile football conferences maintain their dominance due to the disproportionate amount of money they receive from profiting from the BCS system, which in turn offers these conferences more money to pour into scholarships to attract the best athletes (who have seen these teams on TV and know and want to then play for them), more money to spend on better facilities and training programs, and more money to secure additional television broadcasting rights.According to ESPN’s college football expert Gregg Easterbrook, every team in the six ‘football factory’ conferences stands to make $1. 5 million dollars from their BCS television profit sharing strategy. Meanwhile teams from the mid-major conferences will only bring in $200,000 if they are fortunate enough to even have a team earn their way into the BCS (Eastbrook).BCS proponents cite these figures to strengthen their argument by saying that the profit-sharing strategy effectively ‘lifts all boats’ when in reality the ‘exciting’ and ‘highly regarded’ programs and the BCS sponsors profit disproportionately at the cost of creating a structure that truly has the student-athlete’s well-being in mind along with actually determining the best team in the land. Works Cited Eastbrook, Gregg.â€Å"The BCS doesn’t always give us a clear national champ†¦and that’s OK. † ESPN. 4 December 2007. http://sports. espn. go. com/espn/page2/story? page. â€Å"The BCS is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bowl Championship Series in association with Fox Sports. 15 August 2007. http://www. bcsfootball. org/bcsfb/definition. Ourand, John and Michael Smith. â€Å"BCS seeks b ig bump from Fox. † Sports Business Journal. 3 November 2008. http://www. sportsbusinessjournal. com/article/60463.