Saturday, August 31, 2019

Business Decision Mapping Essay

The Shamrock Manufacturing Chicago plant manager, Sean Fitzpatrick is contemplating replacing a large piece of manufacturing equipment. Mr. Fitzpatrick is also inline for a promotion to Shamrocks larger Houston plant within the next year, and is hesitant to make any decisions that will reduce short-run operating income and his performance evaluation. While the prospective replacement equipment promises to reduce cash operating costs, it costs $90,000, as well as the loss on disposal cost of the old equipment, which has not fully depreciated. Prior to making a decision, Mr. Fitzgerald must identify all relevant costs and chose a decision for the best interest of Shamrock (Datar, Rajan, 2013). Analysis The available data to consider in this case is the old machines purchase price ($150,000); the current book value of the old machine ($60,000); the market value of the old machine ($36,000); the cost of the new equipment ($90,000); and the reduction in annual cash operating costs ($32,500). All historical costs are considered irrelevant, as they have already occurred and have no effect on future costs. The only relevant costs that should be considered for this decision are the future cash operating costs, the disposal value of the old machine, and the cost of the new machine that will be deprecated over the next two years. Based on the #1 and #2 worksheets in Appendix A of this document, year one yields an increase in expenditures of $6500, but includes the $24,000 loss of disposal of the old machine, which is irrelevant. The only relevant data is the total two-year costs shown on worksheet #2 that shows a reduction in total relevant cash flow of $11,000. The results of worksheet #1 are not beneficial for Mr. Fitzgerald, but the overall results in year two benefit Shamrock. Based on the #3 worksheet, with a lower new equipment cost ($77,000), year one breaks even, which is irrelevant, and the total two-year reductions in total relevant cash flow are $24,000. Conclusion Based solely on the worksheet information (Appendix A), the company should replace the equipment. All relevant costs located in worksheets #2, and #3 indicate that Shamrock manufacturing will benefit by replacing the machines at either equipment cost. However, worksheet #1 presents a problem for Mr. Fitzgerald as it shows a $6500 increase in the first year expenses, which are irrelevant in the long-run, but may encourage Mr. Fitzgerald not to purchase the new equipment because it may reflect badly on the short-run net operating income of his plant during the evaluation period for his promotion. Worksheet #3 offers a breakeven scenario in the first year and a $24,000 reduction in relevant cash flows in year two, which is the best option for Mr. Fitzgerald and Shamrock, if available. Reference: Datar, S., Rajan, M., (2013). Financial and Managerial accounting, custom edition, Pearson Learning Solutions, Ch. 9 Appendix A Shamrock Manufacturing relevant cash flow analysis Appendix B 5-Step Critical Thinking Decision-Making Process Matrix Step 1: Identify the problem(s) and uncertainties. What exactly is the problem†¦ Sean Fitzpatrick has an opportunity to decrease long-run cash flow by replacing a large piece of plant equipment. The problem is this †¦ Mr. Fitzpatrick is up for a promotion and is concerned that any short-run decreases in operating income will affect his performance evaluation. This is an important problem because†¦ Mr. Fitzpatrick’s decision may be good for the company, but could hurt his career aspirations. The key question(s) that needs to be answered to solve this problem is†¦ What is the best decision for shamrock in the long-run? Step 2: Obtain information. The following information is needed to answer this question†¦ What are the relevant costs that impact the decision to keep or replace the equipment? Based on the #1 and #2 worksheets, what decision would be made in years one and two? Based on the #3 worksheet, would the decision be different for years one and two compared to the initial cost of the new equipment? Some important assumptions I am using in my thinking are†¦ I believe that the best decision for Shamrock is not the best decision for Mr. Fitzpatrick, which creates an ethical dilemma. The points of view relevant to this problem belong to†¦ Sean Fitzpatrick. Note: Remember to view the information you have obtained for potential bias. This is from the perspective of your own bias to the research and the bias of the authors who compiled the data and the research you gathered. In other words, do not discount the importance of other’s data because of your own bias(is). Step 3: Make predictions about the future. If this problem gets solved, some important implications are†¦ Long-run relevant cash flows will be reduced, and operating income will increase. If this problem does not get solved, some important implications are†¦ An opportunity to decrease relevant cash flows will be missed. The potential alternative solutions to solve the problem are†¦ Keep the status quo or make a tough decision that will benefit Shamrock in the long-run. Note: if the problem is one-dimensional, there may be just one correct solution. Step 4: Make decisions by choosing among alternatives. What is the best solution and why†¦ By the new equipment, because it decreases long-run relevant cash flows. Step 5: Implement the decision, evaluate performance, and learn. In business, the fifth step in the decision making process is implementation. In the MBA program, most times you will end with Step 4 since you will not have the opportunity to implement. You may be asked to develop an implementation plan and recommend how you will evaluate performance in some assignments.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Adv & Disadvantages of Leadership Development Methods Essay

Professional qualifications that require refreshing will be supported if they are an essential criteria for the post| * Trust induction * Trust Essential Update training * Manual Handling * Professional re-registration training * PRINCE2, MSP, LEAN| * Provides an understanding of how the Trust works * Provides health and safety training * Sends out a clear message that professional registration is recognised, important and is supported| * Trust induction training tends to be very generic and does not necessarily relate to the job role * Training for re-registration is not always timely * Is dependent on funding * Cost implications of ensuring that the training budget can cover training| Elective Learning| Courses that are not part of the essential criteria for the post will be deemed to be elective and will be subject to the trust policy on supported learning| * Courses identified as part of the personal development plan * Influencing skills * Negotiating skills * MS Project/Other IT Skills * Meets specific needs for the individual * Can be delivered by others in the team or by a generic course * Ensures that leaders are given requisite skills| * Some generic courses do not cover specific requirements * Is dependent on funding being available| Work Assignments| Work assignments will be seen as an opportunity to help leaders develop specific competencies or practice key behaviours. * Specific goals will be set as part of personal development plans * Feedback on progress will be done either via formal appraisal or by 1:1 feedback with line managers| * Reiterates the message that lessons can always be learned * Gives leaders the growth opportunities to put theories and models into practice * Learning by doing| * Unless well managed there is a tendency to concentrate on ‘getting the job done’ * Opportunities are not always recognised or used to the full advantage| Special Assignments/Initiatives| Involvement in short-term assignments or initiatives either generated from within the team or as part of a project team| * Attendance at programme or project board meetings * Involvement in assignments/initiatives

Five literary elements in Barbara Kimenye’s “The Winner” Essay

Barbara Kimenye’s â€Å"The Winner,† is an excellent example of a short story that does not necessarily use all five of the literary elements to their fullest potential, but still creates a sense of organic unity. In this analysis, the elements are organized in the order of theme, plot, characterization, setting, and then structure. Each element will be described and then â€Å"The Winner† and the events in it will be related to the elements. The purpose of the theme of a story is to provide insight to the reader about the author’s point-of-view on the topic they chose to write about. Theme can be communicated in two ways, both of which Ms. Kimenye utilized. One is to reveal the theme directly through a statement that a character makes, and the other is to allow the reader to interpret the theme based on the actions and reactions of the characters. She relates money and happiness throughout the story to convey her theme. Her use of description through the characters stressed her point very clearly. She used the right symbols, such as people, in the proper way to help the reader understand the purpose and meaning of the symbol. Overall, the way she incorporated the theme into the story could be considered to range from good to excellent. The plot of a story should have an element of suspense and irony in it to make the reader want to continue reading. It should also include at least one major complication, that is, the protagonist or another character is blocked from doing what they want to do. While all of this is going on, the order or events and relationship between events still has to make sense to the reader. There was a great deal of irony presented in the end of the story when Pius ended up changing his opinion of Cousin Sarah and marrying her, which the reader didn’t expect. Barbara Kimenye also kept the events in the story organized by some form and made it very simple for the reader to understand what was going on. While she fulfilled most of the characteristics of a good plot, one seemed to be lacking. There could have been more tension between characters present in the story. Ms. Kimenye made wonderful use of the element characterization. In short stories, not much depth is required as to the character’s personalities. It is only required that any reader be able to connect with one character.  However, in this story, one seemed to know Pius’ personality and by the end, could almost predict what his reactions would be to events. The setting in this story was somewhat described literally, but most good authors try to make a touch on figurative settings also. The setting is the conditions prior to the story, and should be described in clarity and detail. In this selection, one had a general idea of Pius’ surroundings, but no information presented was ever extremely detailed so that the reader could make a distinct picture in their head. Finally, the structure of a short story should always be fictional and written in prose. It should also contain no more than one plot and should be based on the plot rather than the characters. Short stories do not usually use all five literary elements clearly and with a great depth, although they are still present in some form. Ms. Kimenye chose a structure to write in at the beginning of the story and, for the most part, she stuck to all of the guidelines with it, although some things she did in the story may have been pushing it a little bit. In general, Barbara Kimenye used the five elements together in a way that most readers can understand and interpret to mean many things. The story could have been written better, but the author placed the elements together in a way that worked, regardless of whether or not she used them all to their full potential.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Opinion paper Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Opinion paper - Personal Statement Example They include: This is any measure taken with an aim of changing the offender’s character. It is a way of treating offenders via various psychological techniques, counseling, and training. This form of correction model is very effective. To increase its effectiveness the criminal justice should consider implementing measures in prisons so as to reduce rates of recidivism after release. According to experts, twenty percent of inmates have been found to commit crimes because of substance abuse. (Cullen, 1982) Drug abuse in prison and corrective facilities is very rampant. For these cases to reduce there should be rampant screening of inmates to verify their health. Measures should be taken to check on their mental health and addiction to substance abuse. (Marieke, 2013) After verification of the root causes of crime, rehabilitation come in hand. It is the best way to reduce recidivism because offenders say drug addicts would go through the process of training and counseling to manage their urge for drugs and in the long run the results are satisfactory as their reliance on drugs ceases. (Rainer, 2013) Thus, the twenty percent of individuals who commit crimes for money to buy drugs will be saved from recidivism since they will have learnt the negative impacts of substance abuse. Furthermore, rehabilitation for inmate addicts has proved to be effective according to scientific studies carried out in the last two decades. This calls for adoption of rehabilitation model as compared to other form of correction models which do not focus on changing behavior of inmates via appreciating their psychology. ( Marieke, 2013) In addition, rehabilitation in some cases has been found to embrace the medical model. They say â€Å"two is better than one.† This collaboration calls for justification that this form of correction model. It occurs when a person or inmate for this matter is physically ill and the cause is diagnosed though

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Paper on Career and Job Search Issues Mod 3 Assignment

Paper on Career and Job Search Issues Mod 3 - Assignment Example days is the work-life balance so that they are satisfied with their jobs and are productive enough to make valuable contributions for the organization (Connolly and Gregory, F53). Employees, especially single parents, are looking for some additional benefits in their jobs in the form of family-friendly policies such as flexible working hours, time off from work during pregnancy, compressed schedules, child care, and working from home, among others (Rose, 457; Urban Child Institute, 1). The prospective job seekers, particularly those who have young children, are aggressively looking for those jobs that will guarantee them work-family balance. Women, who are performing the role of single parents, have to find jobs that will help them in fulfilling their child’s responsibilities and avoiding any type of conflict between work and family (Lopez, Madrigal and Pagà ©s, 2). Hence, the job search websites help these women find the best jobs that are compatible with their requirements (Bender, Donohue and Heywood, 480-82). The employers need to provide some information about the benefits that they will offer to the job applicants so that they have an idea about the level of work-family life balances will they be able to afford. Since most of the women are looking for jobs that they can do from home, they can even gather information from them on various websites, such as Career Builder and Career Search Database. However, organizations need to consider providing such employees who are looking for flexible working hours some job opportunities; even if these employees are employed as full-time, then they should be given some child care facilities so that they can prosper in their career as well. Realizing the need of work-family life balance, the organizations are providing their employees, especially single parents, the option of availing the child care facilities so that they can smoothly progress in their career simultaneously. There are three websites that have provided

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Female genital mutilation and human rights Term Paper - 1

Female genital mutilation and human rights - Term Paper Example The UN is clear in its condemnation of the practice, stating unequivocally that it violates the basic human rights of girls and women and denies them of their physical and mental integrity, their right to freedom from violence and discrimination, and sometimes even their lives. At the same time, however, the UN recognizes that FGM is deeply entrenched in many cultures in the world, and as a result, difficult to end without respecting these cultures’ values and systems of belief. How, then, does the condemnation of FGM by many international organizations such as the UN and WHO fit into cultural relativism? This paper will seek to reconcile these two seemingly contradictory ideas. How can these organizations condemn such a practice without alienating large groups of people? First, I will provide evidence that FGM does indeed violate the human rights of the girls and women who are forced to withstand it. Then I will illustrate how the concepts of cultural relativism fit into it, and how those interested in promoting the health and welfare of women and girls all over the world can use these concepts to eradicate it. As WHO states, FGM â€Å"reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women† (â€Å"Female† n.p.). The UN states that FGM violates the rights of both children and women, and cites two major UN proclamations, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the 1989 Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). The UN clearly states that FGM violates the CRC because it compromises the â€Å"right to life, the right to physical integrity, the right to the highest attainable standard of health (including, with maturity, reproductive and sexual health), as well as the right to freedom from physical or mental violence, injury or abuse† (Lewnes 15). It is also a violation of the child’s right to development, protection, and full

Monday, August 26, 2019

Performance Management System Griffith University Assignment

Performance Management System Griffith University - Assignment Example Griffith University is an Australian University that was founded in 1971 and it is a public university. The Dawkins revolution of 1988 acted as a major catalyst for the growth of the university. A series of successful mergers with other colleges like Queensland Art College and Gold Coast College of Advanced Education to name a few had greatly enhanced the size of Griffith University/After forty years from its establishment, the University had grown from a small university that had a singular campus to one of the largest universities in Australia with multiple campuses across the continent.Presently, the university employs professors and academic staff from more than 130 countries. It has greatly increased the number of courses that are offered in it and has strategically positioned it among the top 5% research universities.The University has strategic goals of influencing communities through teaching and scholarly programs, valuing diversity and creating an environmentally sustainabl e society to name a few. It also strives to promote individual rights and ethical standards. The Human Resource (HR) management of Griffith University is an organized one which integrates the long-term strategic planning of the organization with the human resource planning. The HR staff service center of the university is responsible for providing assistance and support for activities like recruitment and selection, staff benefits, payroll measures and training and development programs.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Corporate Social Responsibility Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate Social Responsibility - Assignment Example Therefore there is a need for good corporate social responsibility toward the customer given the fact that the organization products or services are made for the consumption of the customers/public and in the even whereby the customer fails to consume the products, there is the danger of the organization becoming irrelevant or redundant because it would no longer need to carry out any more production. Another interesting contribution that speakers raised in the seminar concerning customers as stakeholders which the organization must address when it comes to social responsibility were whether for public offices especially government and not for profit organizations have customers as stakeholders. 1.2 It also emerged that the process of winning customers is quite an expensive one and therefore losing the customers by failing to adhere to corporate social responsibility requirements is a major undoing for the organizations considering the fact that organizations must need to be genuinely concerned about the well being and the wellness of the customers. Indeed organizations must also be able t,o rise above short-term focus and foresee the situation in a long-term sense. 1.3 Speaker after speaker supported this view of thinking but some of the speakers opposed this contention arguing that the organization risks spending a lot...This, opponents argued, is in contravention of the reason why organizations exist. The opponents of corporates social responsibility argued that organizations and customer relations are modeled on a consumerism principle whereby each side tries to gain the most out of the other and therefore the customer is less concerned about the well being and wellness of the organization. The opponents wondered why therefore the organization should spend thousands or millions of dollars trying to please the customers.  

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Finance and Accounting Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Finance and Accounting Homework - Essay Example Cost is a crucial aspect, and it facilitates realization of defined results in verifiable and objective amount. The matching of this accounting concept is usually facilitated in order to ensure that there is an accomplishment of radical goals within the depreciation expense parameters. Lump sum purchases should be treated in a way that plant’s asset useful life is well analyzed in a way that reflects all the revenues imperatively in the income statement (Tsuji & Fujibayashi, 2011). Purchases that the organization exercises should be subjected in going concern assumption. This is in order to ensure that there is attainment and realization of integral goals as per the laid down accounting and finance principles and policies in the organization. Revenue recognition principle in many scenarios usually limits an organization from reflecting on mechanisms of holding any asset from the plant. Cost principle should be differentiated in various ways in accordance to the equipments in t he organization (Tsuji & Fujibayashi, 2011). 2 Factoring is an important approach in every organization cash flow spheres. Company management can opt to sell all its accounts receivable to the third party at a discounted manner for the sake of exchanging money. The third party in this case is usually any financial institution or bank. The third party which purchases all accounts receivable has to remain significant and resourceful in order for all the transactions to be viable and beneficial. Receivable factoring has been posited as a simple commercial financing (Khazeh & Winder, 2006). When a company chooses a given option the management needs to articulate on analysis of the important factor. There are various factors that should be reviewed routinely accounts receivables. Accounts receivable needs to articulate on measures on how a company can convert cash on hand. Most business entrepreneurs have business ideas that turn accounts receivables into cash (Khazeh & Winder, 2006). Th ere are various types of reasons through which company implements receivables in its accounting books. Therefore, it is usually looked as an effective asset to investors and investors. Organizations articulate on ways through which accounts receivables can be converted into cash without causing problems to business progress. Organizations have been articulating on various types of conversion that are used for implemented balance sheet. Managers in these organizations always analyze receivables in comparison with small business owners (Khazeh & Winder, 2006). 3 A contingent liability has been a potential liability, and it wholly depends on a future event that occurs. In accounting and finance, a contingent liability and loss are usually recorded through the use of journal entry approach especially where contingency is estimated and probable. There are three examples of contingent liabilities known as the lawsuits that are filed against a company, warranty of the organization and guar antee of another party’s loan (Colquitt, McCullough & Sommer, 2011). Circumstances whereby a liability and also related contingency are possible (not probable) a journal entry for the event is usually not required. Disclosure is not required in this case scenario. In approaches whereby a contingent liability has been proved to be remote, both the disclosure and the journal are not required in the accounting activity. A

Friday, August 23, 2019

Experiences of Growing up in a Single-parent Family vs. a Dual-parent Essay

Experiences of Growing up in a Single-parent Family vs. a Dual-parent Family - Essay Example Usually when a child is brought up by a mother alone then he tends to be a person with weaker self-confidence or sense of security. A child remains deprived of the feeling that he is protected. While if a child is brought up by his father alone then the child lacks sensitivity, he will always have a bit of a more strong stance to things. He will probably lack the feelings of humanity even; he might have a very hard and stiff demeanor and outlook to life. His only focus most probably would be high aspirations and more focus would be on material things and success. Therefore, to create a proper balance in the life of a child it is necessary for a child to have his father and as well as his mother to support him throughout his life. It is generally assumed that children living with single parents have a more bolder and mature outlook to life, while the ones living with both the parents usually are the ones who have a milder perspective to life and look at things with a bit more innocenc e. I wanted to gain an insight as to fact that people since time beyond have emphasized, that both parents are necessary for the child to grow as healthy, normal and a productive person. It has been seen that single mothers have been looked down upon by the society despite the fact that they work so hard to bring up their children. I had designed a single questionnaire which I utilized for all participants. There are a total of 6 participants and each of them were given ample time to think and respond. This way also any bias that might come up was reduced as people had no time pressure. I had designed the questionnaire in a very simple way, it had ten questions. In the first question it was asked whether the child lives in a single family or a dual parent family. The responses were mixed; my sample contained a better of international students I felt it might influence the answers I had. Four out of the six respondents had grown up in the dual family outfit. This means that they had both of their parents with them when they were growing. When I asked, â€Å"Whether they believed that for a child to grow up in dual family the presence of both the parents was necessary, 5 out of six respondents said, that if the child didn’t have both the parents to tuck him in bed then he is not considered to be living in a dual parent family. Kenny said, â€Å"Parents can live apart and even then raise their child as a child belonging to a dual parent family†. Laki, who had grown up in a single parent family like Kenny also said, â€Å"if the both the parents are not living together then the child does not belong to dual parent family†. I then asked, â€Å"When a child lives in single parent family, he then gets to spend some fun time with both the parents separately?†, the respondents were asked what do they think of this arrangement, Noi and others said, â€Å"They feel that child will not label that time as the quality time, and will have quite a lot of issues with adjustments.† Kenny, who himself is from a single family very explicitly said; â€Å"Such a child will be very confused and prone to have mood tantrums more often than the normal kids. The child will be divided and there will always be an aura of confusion about him†. When I asked who they felt would be the most suitable choice as a parent of the single family for the child?, amazingly except Kenny, who felt that whichever parent â€Å"qualifies† more to keep the child he or she should keep it. The rest all believed that a mother is more understanding and caring, therefore the child should stay with the mother. Xi Sun said, â€Å"

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Marriage Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marriage Ethics - Essay Example Notably, proponents of same sex marriages appreciate the rights of heterosexual couples. Surprisingly, the opponents of same sex marriages express strong opinions and refutations against the gay marriages for instance. It is important that both sides appreciate that different people have different ideologies and perceptions regarding the marriage union. This paper will show that same sex marriages, specifically gay marriages, ought to be legalized just as heterosexual marriages legal. Legalizing both types of marriages warrants a harmonious society. To a significant proportion of the society, the question whether couples in a same sex marriage relationship deserve same matrimonial benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples is a question of civil rights. The constitutional concepts on this subject require that same sex couples be treated like heterosexual couples. A significant percentage of the society members, however hold a different perception on the matter based on religious and ethical values (Card, 2007). They perceive of same sex marriage as a vice that violates traditional ethics and risks undermining family values. Seemingly, opponents of same sex marriage seem to argue based on their religious teachings and ethical values that may not have significance to the whole society. They fail to note that these values and teachings vary from society to society and are subject to change with time (Greene, 2009). To a significant percentage of people constituting the American society, the religious aspect is a crucial aspect to their conception of the marriage institution. Therefore, it is expected that religious opinions feature and hence influence the opinion of most people regarding the subject. Such people fail to appreciate that various scholars and judges have shown that as long as the controversial issue is restrained within civil marriage, then religious views or perceptions are void and immaterial. The impression is that marriage has nothing to do

Failure Analysis Essay Example for Free

Failure Analysis Essay Team D will analyze the organizations Samsung Electronics Company (SEC) and Research In Motion Blackberry (RIM). The study will analyze in depth the success of Samsung and the failure of Blackberry. The paper analyzes how Samsung evolved into one of the largest conglomerates in the world during the past decade the demise of Blackberry and how the company failed. Vision and Mission Statement Samsung Vision Statement, The vision of SAMSUNG Electronics is Leading the Digital Convergence Revolution (Samsung, 2013, p. 1). Mission Statement â€Å"To experience the joy of advancing and applying technology for the benefit of the public† (Samsung, 2013, p. 1.). Established in 1938, Samsung has gone thru many changes. During its various changes, Samsung continues to modify its mission statement according to its own change and to new developments globally. Economic contribution to the nation â€Å", Priority to human resources† â€Å" Pursuit of rationalism are slogans that represent important moments in Samsung’s history. The organization has grown from a national leader to a worldwide consumer leader. The constant fluctuation in the global economy, competition, and operations, Samsung transformed its mission statement in 1990. According to Samsung’s philosophy, We will devote our human resources and technology to create superior products and services, thereby contributing to a better global society (Samsung, 2013, p. 2.). The organizations attitude is a representation of its determination to contribute to the success of people globally. Key factors for Samsung is the dedication, creativity, and talent of its employees. The strong leadership and team support has made endless opportunities for new technology and achieving higher standard of living globally. Leadership at Samsung believe its success is due to its contribution to people worldwide and to the shared prosperity between national boundaries worldwide. This determines how they manage their  company. The objective for Samsung Electronics is to generate the future with its consumers. SEC can be considered as one of very few companies that manage to go beyond mere imitation of global competitors, leverage resources, accelerate the pace of organizational learning and manage to attain seemingly impossible goals ( Hamel and Prahalad, 1989). Vision and Mission Statement Blackberry vision statement, â€Å"Blackberry aims to be the premier center for management development excelling in developing managers of tomorrow; strengthening management capabilities and facilitating policy options to meet emerging challenges†. (Blackberry, 2013, p.1.). Mission statement, â€Å"To develop socially and professionally responsible and proactive managers and leaders with holistic perspectives and competencies. (Blackberry, 2013, p.1.) In realizing the above vision and mission, RIM focuses on the following strategic areas: In 1994, Blackberry (RIM) was created. The organization is located in Waterloo, Ontario Canada. Other locations include Europe, United States, Mexico, and Asia Pacific. Blackberry lead the design, fabrication, distributor of its wireless solutions for the global cellular communications market. The creation of combined software, services, and support, Blackberry provided solutions for email, cell phone, SMS, MMS, Intranet, and Internet applications â€Å"The beauty of this device was that users could do all of these functions even as they were striding down the sidewalk, far from any desktop computer† (Kim, 2008). . The organization provided services for Civil Service, local governance, and the private sector. This enabled Blackberry to strengthen and develop into a strong financial, self-supported Institute. The downfall of Blackberry began on January 9, 2007, with the introduction of the iPhone. Apple sold a million iPhones the first week of its release, signaling the era of the smartphone. In a conference call on March 29, 2012 CEO Thorsten Heins stated, â€Å"It is now very clear to me that substantial change is what RIM needs,† (All Thing D, 2012, p. 1.). The CEO is creating something Blackberry has not had for a long time, a vision. . â€Å"We believe that BlackBerry cannot succeed if we try to be everybody’s darling and all things to all people†, (All Things D, 2012, p. 1.). It might be too late but  the organization will undertake a complete review analysis of the way the company operates. Leadership style, management, organizational structure, and culture Samsung Electronics is a worldwide organization with nearly 160,000 employees and operates in countries worldwide. Samsung is devoted to having a healthy organizational culture. It believes that ethical management is not only a tool for responding to the rapid changes in the global business environment, but also a vehicle for building trust with its various stakeholders, shareholders, customers, partners, employees, and local communities around the world. Samsung’s aim is to become one of the most ethical companies in the world that is respected by its stakeholders, Samsung Electronics continues to train its employees and operate monitoring systems, while practicing fair and transparent corporate management. Samsung has established a good and safe working environment for its personnel, this improves employee morale and productivity and commitment to the organization. Employees respect all workers despite the positions they have. Workers and leaders have a good relationship that allows both side to work together on workers grievances relating to their work environment. The relationships between the workers and leaders are interactive and workers grievances relating to their working environment and other labor related issues work well. Workers at Samsung will respect all workers despite the roles they play. CEO Kwon Oh Hyun is a commanding leader, almost militarist in leading. In South Korea, this style of leadership is very effective; unlike in the United States a commanding leader for a non-military organization would be ineffective. Kwon Oh Hyun is direct, takes tight control, very demanding, disciplined, and demands immediate compliance within the company, from top to bottom. It is difficult to recognize what leadership style is within Blackberry. What has brought Blackberry to its demise is not having a clear vision from its upper executives. Their leaders had no sense of direction to innovate the organization. Blackberry ten years ago was a leader in the cellular business. Customers who owned a blackberry phone felt important, celebrities, Wall Street investment bankers. Today Blackberry is at jeopardy on becoming obsolete. Blackberry made some critical mistakes, which put the organization in jeopardy. The organization  disregarded the iPhone until it was too late. Prior CEO Lazaridis â€Å"told his employees that no one would buy the iPhone because customers did not want a personal computer on their cell phones.† (Forbes, 2011, p. 2.) Blackberry promoted a culture of unwillingness and closed communication. Upper executives did not want to listen to ideas from below. Additionally, a critical mistake was waiting too long to innovate new products into their product line. Their current product line is a big dinosaur and still look much like their first phones. To further trouble Blackberry, two major outages occurred on April 2007 and again in February 2008, each outage lasted for a few days. Leading Organizational Change Team D would use the Kotter’s Eight Steps Detailed guidance for managing change. First major change is to establish a sense of urgency, in order to create a compelling reason for change. The compelling reason for change is to seek new ways of innovation. Keeping up with the global rapid change in the telecommunications, industry is vital. [Change process theories describe a typical pattern of events that occur from the beginning of a change to the end, and in some cases they describe how earlier changes affect subsequent changes. The theories may identify distinct phases in the process, stages in the reaction of individuals, or effects of repeated changes on people.] (Gary Yukl, 2013, p. 1.) In order to keep Blackberry competitive with the market, the organization must find new products to introduce into the market. Introducing a new lineup of products such as new cell phone models is vital for the company to compete with its competitors. The sense of urgency is creating and updating our products in time to keep up with the competition. The team would create a coalition between upper management to establish the new change for blackberry. The coalition between top executives would facilitate the introduction of the new strategy into our new business plan. A major priority for blackberry and its top executives is to create a clear vision for the upcoming change of the organization. The next hurdle is to widely open up communication barriers and simplify the communication between upper management on down. Blackberry will promote a culture of open communication and willingness for all its employees. The open communication will enable the organization to communicate the vision throughout the company. Good communication will help the organization with employees who resist change. Communication between upper management and employees will help give a clear vision of the change. Inadequate communication will give employees a sense of false information for example believe that change is not feasible, fear of personal failure, loss of status, and economic threat. The CEO will empower other managers to act on the vision by encouraging risk-taking and removing barriers to help solve problems. The new plan will take two years to implement. The action plan will include short-term goals that move blackberry toward the new vision. The change will allow upper management on down to consolidate improvement. All management reassess all changes to include analytical information, the consolidation improvements will allow the organization to make any necessary adjustments in the new programs. All management will have to lead by example and demonstrate the success of the cultural change. The new plan will reinforce the changes by demonstrating the relationship between the new behaviors. The leadership styles will be between transformational and visionary leadership. These leadership styles will inspire the conviction of the new vision and will give blackberry a clear direction to succeed in the new change. Transformational leadership will inspire and develop empowering focus on the new plan. Conclusion During significant change to a company’s structure and strategies, personnel can experience high levels of stress on the job. Prior to executing the strategies, organizations must empower employees to adopt the role of change and encourage them to take action to solve the problems that stresses them. A large piece of the puzzle is communication between upper management on down. Personnel need to feel that they are empowered during the phase of the change. Although few organizations fully acknowledge their role in helping employees, cope with change. Individual reactions to change your complex and most experts agree that people tend to be uncomfortable with change; employees do not want to depart from their comfort zone.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Difference Between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Transcription

Difference Between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Transcription SUMMARY Biosynthesis of proteins is under direct control of DNA in most cases or else under the control of genetic RNA where DNA is absent. Information for structure of a polypeptide is stored in a polynucleotide chain (Gupta, 2007). Sequences of bases in a particular segment of a polypeptide chain will determine the sequence of amino acids in a particular polypeptide (Gupta, 2007). The relationship popularly known as central dogma explains how protein synthesis is controlled by nucleic acids. There are two major steps involved in protein synthesis (1) transcription and (2) Translation. Transcription involves transfer of genetic information from DNA to mRNA and Translation involves translation of language of nucleic acids in to that of proteins (Gupta, 2007). Transcription will be discussed in detail in the present topic. TEXT Transcription is the synthesis of RNA which carries the genetic information present in DNA (Fig. 1). The DNA is double stranded and can theoretically code for two separate RNA molecules (Jain, 2000). However, it has been found that only one of the two strands of the gene is transcribed (Jain, 2000). Only in a few exceptional cases both strands are transcribed. This is possible because the promoter is asymmetrical and unidirectional (Jain, 2000). The DNA strand which have a sequence homology with the RNA is known as the coding strand. The second strand which is complementary to RNA and serves as the template for RNA synthesis is known as the non-coding strand. It is therefore, a misnomenclature, as it is the non-coding strand which is in fact transcribed to form the primary transcript (Jain, 2000). Transcription in prokaryotes The principal enzyme involved in transcription is the DNA dependent RNA polymerase (commonly called as RNA pol). To understand the transcription, it is necessary to learn more about the RNA polymerase. The bacterial RNA polymerase consists of five polypeptide chains including two chains of ÃŽ ± (alpha) polypeptide and one chain each of ÃŽ ² (beta) and ÃŽ ²ÃƒÅ Ã‚ ¹ (beta dash) and ÏÆ' (sigma) polypeptides (Fig.). The RNA polymerase molecule thus can be represented as ÃŽ ±2ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ²ÃƒÅ Ã‚ ¹ÃÆ', in which the attachment of sigma (ÏÆ') factor is not very firm, so that the core enzyme (ÃŽ ±2ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ²ÃƒÅ Ã‚ ¹) can be easily isolated. The size and function of the prokaryotic RNA polymerase is given in table 1. The active sites of core enzyme are shown in fig. (). Once RNA synthesis is initiated, ÏÆ' dissociates after RNA is 8-9 bases long and then the core enzyme brings about elongation of mRNA. The dissociated sigma factor may again combine with core enzyme to form RNA polymerase holoenzyme (Fig,..). Events in transcription The entire process of transcription can be divided in to following steps: (1) Template recognition (2) Initiation (3) Elongation and (4) Termination Template recognition The promoter directs the RNA polymerase to recognize the correct region of the gene and to bind at this site. The -35 region serves this function and is recognized by the enzyme. The size of the RNA polymerase is such that about 60 nucleotides in the gene are involved in binding of the enzyme to the template. Sigma factor plays an important role in specific binding of the enzyme with the template (Jain, 2000). The core enzyme without the sigma factor can bind to DNA but the binding is not promoter specific. The sigma factor is thus necessary for the formation of promoter-enzyme complex. The binding of RNA polymerase to a site other than the promoter is generally referred as loose binding. In presence of sigma factor, the affinity for loose binding is reduced while the affinity for specific binding is increased (Jain, 2000). Thus the chances of only the specific binding taking place are enhanced many fold in presence of sigma factor (Jain, 2000). Initiation and elongation of RNA synthesis in prokaryotes RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase proceeds in four steps: (i) the holoenzyme first binds at the promoter site, forming the closed promoter complex in which DNA remains double helicle, (ii) the closed complex isomerizes and causes unwinding and separation of DNA strands to form open (binary) promoter complex, (iii) after unwinding only one of the two strands is copied; this is achieved by incorporation of nucleotides, initially without movement of enzyme leading to the formation of RNA chain, up to 9 bases in length. During the incorporation of these 9 bases, at every step, there is a possibility for the release of this small RNA chain, a process described as abortive initiation (Gupta, 2007). A cycle of abortive initiation usually occurs generating a series of short (2-9 base) oligonucleotides, before initiation is usually successful. (iv) Once initiation succeeds, the sigma factor of RNA polymerase dissociates. (v) the dissociation of sigma factor marks the entry of NusA protein, whic h helps elongation, and promotes pausing and termination at specific sites. Core enzyme now undergoes a major conformational rearrangement and a stable ternary elongation complex is formed. This complex moves along DNA, synthesizing RNA all along its path at a rate of about 40 bases per second at 370C (Gupta, 2007). Elongation of RNA transcript continues till an unstable termination complex is formed (Gupta, 2007). Termination The termination of mRNA chain in prokaryotes is brought about by certain termination signals on DNA. These DNA sequences providing termination signals are called terminators (Gupta, 2007). Once the enzyme hits the terminator, it falls off the template and the transcription stops. The termination signals whenever found on DNA can be of two types: (i) Rho (Ï ) dependent termination and (ii) Rho (Ï ) independent termination. (i) Rho (Ï ) dependent termination: The termination factor (Ï ) participates in this type of termination (Jain, 2000). Rho (Ï ) is a 46 KD protein and its active form is a hexamer, having a total mass of 275 KD. It binds to growing RNA chain and moves along the RNA. Once rho catches the RNA polymerase, it results in chain termination. The question arises how?. It has been found that once RNA polymerase hits the terminator sequences, it pauses for a short time. During this period the rho factor reaches the RNA polymerase and causes it to fall off the template. Once RNA polymerase is detached, the RNA chain also comes off and the transcription terminates (Fig). (i) Rho (Ï ) independent termination: In some genes, there is a definite region of intrinsic sequences which causes the termination of RNA chain. This includes two G:C rich stretches at the end of RNA transcript which are complementary to each other. These form a 7-20 bp intra-molecular hairpin structure. Further this region is followed by a small stretch of U residues which form relatively weak interaction with dA residues of the gene (Fig..). such a structure is highly unstable thermodynamically and causes the displacement of newly synthesized RNA from the DNA template. Once the RNA is detached, the RNA polymerase falls off and the termination of transcription occurs. This type of termination provides an interesting example where the structure of RNA itself can cause its own termination from the DNA chain. Transcription in Eukaryotes The eukaryotes have more than one type of RNA polymerase. Based on the activity to ÃŽ ±-aminitin, an antibiotic which inhibits mRNA synthesis, three classes of RNA polymerases have been identified which are involved in the transcription of different class of eukaryotic genes. There properties are given in table 2. The eukaryotic RNA polymerases are large molecules of ˃500KD in size. It has two large subunits of -200KD and -140KD, respectively. The 200 KD subunit is similar to ÃŽ ²ÃƒÅ Ã‚ ¹ subunit of E. coli of RNA polymerase and have similar function (the template binding). Besides these two proteins it also has upto 10 different small subunits. A subunit of Pol II, which has similarity with one of the subunits present in Pol I and also in Pol III, is similar to the ÃŽ ±-subunit of E. coli enzyme and helps in the enzyme assembly. Besides the RNA polymerase, a number of other transcription factors are also needed for the transcription. Promoter sites for Initiation of transcription Promoters for RNA polymerase I could not be initially studied since all genes for rRNA were similar. Promoters for RNA polymerase III, on the other hand, had some unusual downstream promoters. However for RNA polymerase II, several hundred eukaryotic genes have now been sequenced and their promoters studied revealing some general features in three regions located at start point, centred at sited lying between -25 bp and -100 bp. The least effective of these three regions is the TATA or Hogness box (7 bp long) located 20bp upstream to the start point. The TATA box is surrounded by G-C rich sequences and is comparable to pribnow box of prokaryotes. Further upstream is another sequence called CAAT box, which being necessary for initiation, is conserved in some promoters (ÃŽ ² globin gene), but is not necessary in some other genes. This sequence lies between -70 and -80 bp. Another sequence called GC box (GGGC GG) is found in one or more copies at -60 or -100 bp upstream in any orientation in several genes. It has been shown that CAAT and GC boxes determine the efficiency of transcription, while TATA box aligns RNA polymerase at proper site, with the help of TFIID and other transcription factors (Gupta, 2007). Initiation In eukaryotes the initiation is more complex. It involves a number of specific transcription factors. The process has been followed for the Pol II action resulting in the synthesis of mRNA. The process is essentially similar for Pol I and Pol III. For initiation, it requires, a number of trans acting factors along with the RNA polymerase. The trans acting factors, which are the product of various regulatory genes, bind to either DNA or to each other or to RNA polymerase. They can also bind in various combinations. All the transcription factors involved with Pol II are called TF II. First the factor TF IID binds to TATA box (-15 to -21 region) covering about 25 nucleotides within the -17 to -42 region. Now factor TF IIA associates itself to the complex, further extending the protected region towards upstream, upto the -55 to -80 region. On the other hand TF IIB associates itself protecting the region at -10 to +10. It binds to two strands in a non-symmetrical manner. This complex prep ares the stage for binding of RNA polymerase II which covers up to +15 region on template strand and 5 extra nucleotides (up to +20) on the non-template strand. Finally TF IIE joins, extending the protection upto +30 region. Once the entire complex has been assembled, the incorporation of first nucleotide takes place. Transcription factors and elongation of RNA chains in eukaryotes Certain accessory proteins of transcription, called the elongation factors enhance the overall activity of RNA polymerase II, leading to increase in elongation rate. Atleast two such proteins (transcription factors) are known (i) the transcription factor TFIIF accelerates RNA chain growth relatively uniformly, in concert with RNA polymerase II or pol II, (ii) transcription factor TFIIS (also called SII) helps elongation of RNA chain, by relieving the obstructions in the path of such elongation. TFIIS is known to function by first causing hydrolytic cleavage at 3Ê ¹ end of RNA chain, which are stuck and can not elongate. Thus RNA polymerase moves backwards (hydrolytic cleavage) under the direction of TFIIS before it moves forwards through the block to elongation (fig.) (Gupta, 2007). Termination of RNA synthesis in eukaryotes In eukaryotes, the actual termination of RNA polymerase II activity during termination may take place through termination sites similar to those found in prokaryotes (the nature of individual termination sites is not known). But these termination sites are believed to be present away (sometimes up to one kilobase away) from the site of 3Ê ¹ end of mRNA. Obviously 3Ê ¹ end of mRNA will be generated due to post-transcriptional cleavage. This cleavage, at the end, is believed to be achieved by what is popularly called snurp (small nucleur RNA-protein complex). Snurp used for post-transcription cleavage has not been identified so far but is believed to be certainly different than the U1 snurp, which is believed to be involved in intron splicing in split genes. Moreover, a sequence 5Ê ¹ AAUAAA 3Ê ¹ has been found just on the 5Ê ¹ side of poly(A) addition site in several eukaryotic mRNAs. The poly(A) tail is added to 3Ê ¹ end of eukaryotic mRNA after processin g of precursor mRNA. The sequence 5Ê ¹ AAUAAA 3Ê ¹ in mRNA 3Ê ¹ end seems to be common in eukaryotic mRNA and mutation in this sequence cause elongation of mRNA. This will suggest that this sequence contains the signal for endonucleolytic post-transcriptional cleavage. This sequence therefore, is not involved in the termination of the synthesis of mRNA, but helps in generating 3Ê ¹ end later through endonuclease cleavage, in which snurp helps in an unknown manner. FAQs Q. What is transcription? Ans: synthesis of RNA which carries the genetic information present in DNA. Q. What is the composition of RNA polymerase in prokaryotes? Ans: RNA polymerase consists of five polypeptide chains including two chains of ÃŽ ± (alpha) polypeptide and one chain each of ÃŽ ² (beta) and ÃŽ ²ÃƒÅ Ã‚ ¹ (beta dash) and ÏÆ' (sigma) polypeptides. Q. What is the function of sigma factor of RNA polymerase in prokaryotes? Ans: The function of sigma factor in prokaryotes is Promoter recognition and initiation of transcription. Q. What are the steps in transcription? Ans: The entire process of transcription can be divided in to following steps: (1) Template recognition, (2) Initiation, (3) Elongation and (4) Termination. Q. What is a Promoter? Ans: Promoter is defined as a sequence of DNA having the signal which directs the proper binding of RNA polymerase to DNA and activates it to a form which is capable of initiating the transcription. Q. What is the role of NusA protein? Ans: NusA protein, helps in elongation, and promotes pausing and termination at specific sites in prokaryotic transcription. Q. How termination of transcription occurs in prokaryotes? Ans: The termination of mRNA chain in prokaryotes is brought about by certain termination signals on DNA. These DNA sequences providing termination signals are called terminators (Gupta, 2007). Once the enzyme hits the terminator, it falls off the template and the transcription stops. The termination signals whenever found on DNA can be of two types: (i) Rho (Ï ) dependent termination and (ii) Rho (Ï ) independent termination. Q. How many RNA polymerases are involved in eukaryotic transcription? Ans: three classes of RNA polymerases (Pol I, Pol II and Pol III) have been identified which are involved in the transcription of different class of eukaryotic genes. Q. What the functions of Pol I, Pol II and Pol III? Ans: The functions of Pol I is Ribosomal RNA synthesis, Pol II is mRNA synthesis and Pol III is tRNA synthesis, 5S and other small RNA synthesis. Q. What are transcription factors? Ans: transcription factors are proteins which are needed for initiation of transcription, but are not a part of RNA polymerase. Q. What is Hogness box? Ans: The second region of eukaryotic promoter which is similar to -10 region of prokaryotes. is called the TATA box or Hogness box. Q. What is the role of transcription factor TFIIF and TFIIS? Ans: the transcription factor TFIIF accelerates RNA chain growth relatively uniformly, in concert with RNA polymerase II or pol II while transcription factor TFIIS helps elongation of RNA chain, by relieving the obstructions in the path of such elongation. Q. How TFIIS helps in elongation of RNA? Ans: TFIIS is known to function by first causing hydrolytic cleavage at 3Ê ¹ end of RNA chain, which are stuck and can not elongate. Q. what is the role of small nucleur RNA-protein complex? Ans: Termination takes place at termination sites which are present away from the site of 3Ê ¹ end of mRNA. The 3Ê ¹ end of mRNA will be generated due to post-transcriptional cleavage. This cleavage, at the end, is believed to be achieved by snurp (small nucleur RNA-protein complex). Q. How does Rho (Ï ) helps in termination of transcription? Ans: When RNA polymerase hits the terminator sequences, it pauses for a short time. During this period the rho factor reaches the RNA polymerase and causes it to fall off the template. MCQs: 1. Transfer of genetic information from DNA to mRNA? a. translation b. transcription c. transformation d. All of the above 2. During transcription the DNA strand which have a sequence homology with the RNA is known as: a. coding strand b. non-coding strand c. Both a and b d. None of the above 3. During transcription the strand which is complementary to RNA and serves as the template for RNA synthesis is known as? a. coding strand b. non-coding strand c. Both a and b d. None of the above 4. The principal enzyme involved in transcription is: a. RNA polymerase b. DNA polymerase c. transcription factor d. a and b only 5. RNA polymerase is: a. RNA dependent b. DNA dependent c. protein dependent d. hormone dependent 6. The RNA polymerase molecule thus can be represented as: a. ÃŽ ±ÃŽ ²2ÃŽ ²ÃƒÅ Ã‚ ¹ÃÆ' b. ÃŽ ±ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ²ÃƒÅ Ã‚ ¹ÃÆ'2 c. ÃŽ ±2ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ²ÃƒÅ Ã‚ ¹ÃÆ' d. ÃŽ ±ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ²ÃƒÅ Ã‚ ¹2ÏÆ' 7. The function of ÃŽ ± subunit is: a. Template binding b. Nucleotide binding c. Both a and b d. Enzyme assembly 8. Sequence of DNA having the signal which directs the proper binding of RNA polymerase to DNA is known as: a. Hogness box b. promoter c. CAAT box d. None of the above 9. The sigma factor is necessary for the formation of: a. promoter-enzyme complex b. Enzyme assembly c. CAAT box d. All of the above 10. The dissociation of sigma factor marks the entry of NusA protein: a. TF IIB b. TF IIE c.TF IIS d. Nus A protein 11. Termination of transcription in prokaryotes is: a. Rho (Ï ) dependent b. Rho (Ï ) independent c. both a and b d. a only 12. Hairpin structure for termination of transcription is found in: a. Rho (Ï ) dependent b. Rho (Ï ) independent c. both a and b d. a only 13. which RNA polymerase is found in Eukaryotes: a. Pol I b. Pol II c. Pol III d. All of the above 14. TATA box of eukaryotes is comparable to which sequence of prokaryotes: a. pribnow box b. CAAT box c. Hogness box d. All of the above 15. Transcription factors helps in: a. initiation b. elongation c. termination d. a and b only 16. At what region of DNA does RNA polymerase first bind to a gene: a. Initiation site b. Transcribed region c. Promoter d. Intron 17. RNA polymerase adds new nucleotides to the growing RNAs at what end? a. 3Ê ¹ end b. 5Ê ¹ end c. both a and b d. none of the above Key: 1-b, 2-a, 3-b, 4-a, 5-b, 6-c, 7-d, 8-b, 9-a, 10-d, 11-c, 12-b, 13-d, 14-a, 15-d, 16-c, 17-a. ASSIGNMENTS/TUTORIALS Q. 1: Difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic transcription initiation. Q. 2: Explain the role of RNA polymerase in prokaryotes. Q. 3: Eukaryotes contain multiple RNA polymerases explain their role? Q. 4: Explain Rho dependent and Rho independent termination of transcription in prokaryotes. Q. 5: What are transcription factors? discuss the role.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Life Success Of Bill Gates

Life Success Of Bill Gates The traditional definition of leadership by Webster dictionary states its an interpersonal influence directed towards the achievement of a goal or goals. Leadership is a dynamic relationship based on mutual influence and common purpose between leaders and collaborators in which both are moved to higher levels of motivation and moral development as they affect real, intended change (Friedberg K and Friedberg J, 1996). Using the key words here such as influence and change, history has her fair share of leaders. In 1974, TIME magazine published a special section on history greatest leaders where a variety of individuals were asked to name their selection and a large number of people were nominated. Each for a different reason but mostly because they created a culture of influence and brought upon change. With the myriad of eligible entrepreneurs contesting to be great leaders of today, we dissect and analyse the lives of two living legends that have become household names in the world, William H Gates and Oprah Gail Winfrey. Two distinct individuals driven by ambition have become the core subject of business educators to delve into what makes them great leaders and like the old mythology, the search of the Holy Grail (Pearce T 2003). Famously known as Bill Gates, an American businessman, philanthropist, software executive and founding father of Microsoft Corporation, he is also the worlds second richest person (Forbes Magazine 2010). He is one of the best known entrepreneurs of personal computers revolution (Bellis M, nd). Oprah Winfrey a television host, producer, philanthropist and one of the most influential women in the society today, was ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century. She is credited for revolutionising the intimate confessional form of media communication (Wikipedia). 2.0 LIFE AND SUCCESS OF BILL GATES A personal computer in every desk and in every home (Keegan, Davidson Brill, 2003) A simple vision made him possibly the greatest visionary of our times. Bill Gates born to a prominent defence lawyer and a school teacher was introduced to computers at a very young age. He was enrolled in Lakeside Elementary School when his parents noticed his deep interest in computer and programming. After dabbling in various programming software, he developed his first software programme for controlling traffic under Traf-Data and sold it for $20000 (Paluri R K, nd). Following the release of MITS Altair 8800 based on the Intel 8080CPU in 1975, Gates and his best friend Allen started their own software company Microsoft. In 1976, when Microsoft was registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico, Gates dropped out of Harvard (Wikipedia). From releasing a version of FORTRAN language for microcomputers in 1977, they went on to introduce a version of COBOL 1978. In 1979, a new version for BASIC was developed by Microsoft. Gates focused on product development, harvesting best talents and intelligence, and introducing innovative and aggressive marketing strategies transforming Microsoft from a million dollar company in 1978 to a market leader in software with revenues in billion dollars by 2002 (Des Dear Love 2002). Resigning as CEO in 2000 to spend time with software architecture and passing the torch to Steve Ballmer, his childhood friend, he and his wife Melinda have built a foundation to support philanthropic initiations on global health and education (Fritz J, nd). 3.0 LIFE AND SUCCESS OF OPRAH WINFREY Oprah Gail Winfrey born in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother is an African American television host, for the multi-award winning, self-titled talk show. She is also the greatest black philanthropist known to date who is one of the most influential women today (Wikipedia). Raised in a difficult childhood in a ghetto and an abusive one, she was not only raped by relatives but also got pregnant at the age of 14. Oprah Winfreys life turned when she lived with her father in Nashville and attended high school there. She was academically successful and became an incredible speaker which earned her a scholarship to Tennessee State University (Fry E). With her publicity at being a good speaker in University she landed her first job as a television co-anchor. Graduating with a degree in communications she became a news anchor at WLAC-TV in Nashville, later in Baltimore for the 6 o clock news. In 1984 she hosted AM Chicago which became the highest rated talk show within a year. The show was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986. In 1988, she founded Harpo Studios (Harpo Inc.) to take over the show. In 1990, movies projects, she ventured into acting projects and gradually progressing to the launch of O, The Oprah Magazine. The initiation of Oprahs Book Club star ted her multimedia breakthrough. In 1987, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation and in 1997, Oprahs Angel Network was founded respectively for charity (Allen S). Oprahs talk show is all about encouraging the peoples potential, making them feel safe and affirming their personhood (Davis P). Oprah Winfrey once said As a young child I had a vision, not of what I wanted to accomplish but I knew that my current circumstances would change. That dream propelled her to success (Entertainment Executive 1991). 4.0 THEORIES ON LEADERSHIP Leadership theories have evolved through the years beginning from archaic ideas such as The Great Man Theory being self explanatory to more civilised, refined concepts. The trait approach identified a group of traits were positively associated with leadership such as intelligence, self confidence, initiative and persistence. However this is in no relation to effectiveness (Stogdill 1948, 1974). The behavioural approach took focus on two dimensions creating leadership styles; task-oriented behaviour and relation-oriented behaviour (Stogdill 1948) on organizational outcomes (Blake Mouton 1964). These approaches pay too much attention to the leaders perspective not considering the followers. The situational leadership model ( Hersey and Blanchard,1982) emphasises leadership flexibility and adaptation, the contingency model (Fiedler,1967) is much more consistent with less flexibility and the path-goal theory (House and Mitchell, 1974) assumes that leadership styles not only vary with different subordinates but in different situations. This theory is based on the assumption that situation moderator variables are easily identified but it is subjective to individual inference which change the actions and outcomes. Servant leadership stems from the notion that leadership arises out of a desire to serve rather than a desire to lead (Katzenberg and Smith, 1994). Asking questions, providing opportunities and seeking a common understanding instead of consensus to make any particular decisions were thought to be qualities that make a leader. Transactional leadership has remained the organisational model which is built around a person who needs to get a job done, has power and perks, striving to work in the current system with short term goals. The shift to use transformational leadership has more meaning with morals and ethics, focusing on missions and strategies, making it more meaningful and challenging with long term goals (Liu J and Liu X, 2006) Leadership is a complex process in which leaders, followers and the situation interact with each other usually one or the other theories overlap in reality. 5.0 LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF BILL GATES AND OPRAH WINFREY Using Kouzes J and Posner B survey as a basis where common characteristics of leaders were formulated after interviewing 75,000 people, below are the characteristics present in both of our personalities discussed. 5.1 LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF BILL GATES PASSIONATE He is a Harvard dropout (Richard D). While it is every Americans dream to be selected into Harvard University, he stopped his education halfway with the strong passion to pursue his dream for software architecture. VISIONARY A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer (Paluri RK). This is a dream that propelled Gates to his overwhelming success and realising that dream proves him to be a far visionary. INTELLIGENT Starting at a very young age he began dabbling at computer programming (Walter I). He believes in intelligence and with that you can achieve almost anything in the world. His parents observed their sons intellectual capacity and enrolled him in private school (Wikipedia). INNOVATIVE Creating new versions of FORTRAN, BASIC and created MS DOS for personal computers (Des DearLove). He also realised that internet was taking the world over by storm and not to be left out in the rat race he incorporated Web in his advancement. He spoke in April 2002 that in the upcoming digital decade the tools created in the next 10 years will be the best tools for empowerment and productivity the world has ever seen.( Krames J A) STAFF ORIENTED He coined the phrase digital nervous system to speak of a culture that encourages the workforce not only to think but to share their thoughts (Gates 2002). His company engages in a ritual known as THINK WEEK twice a year where he reads almost 100 mails and ideas from his employees (Dvorak D). COMPETITIVE Constantly meeting rivalry such as Apple, Google. With the advent of Windows system, Microsoft won over the rivalry of format with Apple (Richard D). His competitive nature suggests that to maintain high standards in the global economy is innovation and hiring a workforce that consists of the worlds brightest minds (Gates 2007). DIVERSE Employment of staff from around the world harnessing intelligence (Krames J A, 2003). He gained even popularity in China during his visit there with his charisma. (Microsoft Presspass, 2003) HUMBLE The idea is not just to make money but to give something in return, the knowledge and the software. Evident in his character is the fact that he employs his own childhood friends or individuals he knew from his past to participate in the rise of Microsoft. He values the people he comes to meet and know such as Steve Ballmer and Paul Allen. CREDIBILITY Though the government opened antitrust trial against Microsoft challenging Bill Gates credibility where it accuses Microsoft of bundling its internet explorer browser with its Windows OS to eliminate Netscapes Navigator browser (Brinkley J, 1998) ENTHUSIASTIC -He has shown his zeal in many of his undertakings such as business, golf, and donations (Lesinski, 2007). CONFIDENCE At an early stage he was confident he could sell his idea to a huge company like IBM and made it materialize (Des DearLove) TRUSTWORTHY His team constituted of people he worked and studied with and brought only his trusted friends to start a small team (Wikipedia) PHILANTHROPIST- Funnelling large amounts of his wealth through The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to raise standards in health and education. Caring for the lesser fortuned population despite having abundant wealth (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). ASSERTIVENESS Due to multilevel and cross-sectional communication between his employees he is able to know their needs and respect their opinions while maintaining his goal (Gates 2002). 5.2 LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF OPRAH WINFREY ENTREPRENEURSHIP She transformed from media talk show host to media industry mogul millionaire. As a simple girl who ventured into news anchoring, she surpassed many obstacles to become one of the most renowned individuals in the movie or television industry. Harpo Inc is an active supplier of motion pictures, produces not only Oprahs talk show but also produces Rachel Rays, Dr Phils and Dr Ozs shows (Wikipedia.) CONFIDENCE As told to business partner Gayle King I dont know what the future holds but I know who holds it (Baldoni J, 2008). To be a successful black in the movie industry which is dominated by the Americans is a formidable task. Oprah once said, It is confidence in our bodies, minds and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures, new directions to grow in, and new lessons to learn which is what life is all about (Fry E). INNOVATIVE Though the mainstay of her career is the confessional form of talk show, she went on to create Harpo Productions Inc, Harpo Films Inc, Harpo Studios Inc, and Harpo videos. She expanded her empire by forming Oxygen Media LLC which includes a women cable TV network and internet site. In 2000, O magazine was launched (Jet 2003). INTELLIGENCE Though she had an unstable childhood that did not deter her from obtaining a degree in mass communications from Tennessee State University and carving her path in the entertainment industry INFLUENTIAL Changing the lives of many Africans and African Americans especially the down trodden. The 66th U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice describes her as a woman of moral character and source of strength for millions of her admirers (Rice C, 2006). INTEGRITY She is true t her work and keeps control of her products and her image not over marketing it. She believed in keeping control of her branding and being in control of Harpo Inc. (Baldoni J, 2008). CHANGE She is people driven bringing change to the lives of the young African girls. She used her past as a lesson and channelled it to a positive growth and lesson for others. Her metamorphosis is certainly laudable. PHILANTROPHIST Starting the Oprah Winfrey foundation to support the education and empowerment of women, children and families in the United States and around the world. Her caring nature allows her to empathize with the unfortunate. Post hurricane Katrina, she donated her own money to build new home for 65 families. She is also actively campaigning victims of abuse to find justice so that they can move on. She is championing her cause with the sole message that I did it, so can you (Rice C, 2006). CREATIVITY She created a reality show hosted by Nate Berkus called the Big Give encouraging others to give and aid the less fortunate. She also formed Oprahs Angel Network to inspire people to make a difference. STRENGTH Despite coming from a dysfunctional home and being molested by family she managed to make the mess of her life into a message for other women. Most individuals tend to cocoon themselves to cope with the post traumatic stress disorders or rebel at life due to dysfunctional family background but she is proof of dealing with misfortune in a positive manner. HARDWORKING She worked her way to the top with her skills and opportunities strewn in her way. VISIONARY The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls inspired by her humble beginnings to provide educational and leadership opportunities to academically gifted girls from impoverished background. She became a visionary for others after obtaining such success in her life. TALENTED She is not only an honours student, winning oratory contests and skilled in public speaking, she has indulged in acting in movies, became a famous talk show host and television programmer. 6.0 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN BILL GATES AND OPRAH WINFREY 6.1 EARLY YEARS Gates was a young visionary who had a dream which he ambitioned to full fill. He was born into a family of standing who valued his intelligence and supported him in his undertakings. Winfrey was a lady who was presented with an opportunity and she used that chance to create a dream and then envisioned a future. Coming from a past of difficult times without supportive parents, it was a bold and courageous move to achieve what she has today. Two different upbringings and knowledge foundation but both proved to be great leaders of our time. Gates was an intelligent individual but a university dropout by choice, but Winfrey used her education and oratory skills to propel her forward. Both are leaders using different foundations to grow. This shows the use of situational leadership in their decision making. 6.2 LEADERSHIP TRAITS IN GATES AND WINFREY 6.2.1 Transformational Gates and Winfrey both exerted transformational leadership qualities. In the early days of Microsofts birth, Gates was more transactional, he was driven to get his vision across, and using the position he held, he focused on tactical issues on a daily basis. He relied on the existing structure to maximise his output. Using MS DOS as a foundation to license it and sell it to other personal computers (Richards D). Software programming was the mainstay of his indulgence and finding the core programmes was a challenge. When IBM approached him to do his programming it was his breakthrough in the networking world. He wanted more and with that dream Microsoft was born. Gradually when he left IBM he transformed Microsoft to be an organization which identified human potential and talents with larger mission and strategies, had long term goals which had more meaning( Wikipedia). He kept redesigning jobs to keep them challenging. Winfrey was not a leader in her early years, being a struggling African American herself; she paved her career with short term goals and opportunity. When she had her breakthrough she practised more situational leadership qualities to ensure she made improvements and progress based on needs and ideals of the populations. She took what was offered to her and climbed gradually to the top. Her transformations were based on change. She brought change to the African society in general and mostly the women. She transformed the thoughts of people to rise from the ghettos and reach for the stars. She generously gave hope (Allen S, nd ). She also managed to penetrate the white dominated entertainment industry though acceptance of a black woman was an issue. Influential Both individuals are influential to mankind, creating a class of believe and a sense of idolism in the world they have introduced a metamorphosis in the entertainment and technological revolution. Microsoft and Bill Gates are almost synonyms in the computing world (Gates 2008). The blacks mainly from the African continent are faithful and devout worshippers of Winfrey (Black Enterprise). Philanthropic Winfrey has been described as a person with warmth and deep love, an abiding commitment to the principles of goodness and generosity that transcend any individual (Rice C, 2006). Melinda Gates seeing that malaria was a transmittable disease in the African continent causing the death of millions decided that it was a vacuum that does need to be stepped into. Melinda and Gates Foundation provide more than a third of worlds entire malaria-research funding. They also funded the creation of a synthetic form of artemisinic acid, a drug to combat malaria (Bower A, 2006). Their magnanimous natures of caring for the population and channelling financial aid to the needy have made them both philanthropic idols (Alleyne S, nd The New York Times June 2010). Passionate Gates does not only thrive on profit, if he did he would not have stepped down as CEO and allow Steve Ballman to continue, instead he moved to concentrate on his primary passion that is software programming and actively nurturing his charity foundation. Winfrey too does not make business decisions purely based on profit. She develops partnerships and ventures in instinct and utility (Alleyne S 2008). Employee relationship Gates usually involves his employees in the think tank of Microsoft, having twice yearly meetings to harvest new ideas or resolve old issues. His relationship is purely business like in nature (Dvorak D). He is almost beaureaucratic in leading with his employees though financially rewarded are tired of being overworked and have temporarily opted out. His monopolistic character in the early days of Microsoft gradually transformed from an autonomous approach to be involved only with the broad strategy (Heller R, 2006). However Oprah being in touch with her emotional perspective of nature thinks taking care of employees and rewarding them occasionally is the path to be a good leader. Debbie McElroy, a head hunter for the Lucas group said, Employees get a six week vacation in their first week at Harpo. The pay and benefits are exceptional. (SellersP, nd). Named as the Worlds Greatest Boss by the Chicago-Sun Times newspaper, she went cruising with 1,700 employees all expense paid in 2009. In 2005, it was a company vacation to Hawaii (Bieganski M, 2009). 7.0 CONCLUSION What makes a good leader? Leadership can vary depending on situation and background of the leader. The personalities chosen to define leadership in this assignment are from different backgrounds, Oprah being from a dysfunctional and uneducated family and Gates from an educated and family of standing in society. The two individuals are also yin and yang in race; one is a white American and the other of African American origin. They differ in the upbringing, values, goals and vision in life. The industries they are involved in are different, Oprah in the entertainment industry and Gates in the software industry. Nevertheless, amazingly both of them are leaders of the generation today. Both are successful, talented and influential billionaires. The similarities they share also include their common interest in philanthropy and giving away their earnings to the population to help the needy and to connect to the population. Both these leaders are charismatic, but Gates is through his business skills and Oprah is through her general caring nature and love for people. Oprah does not believe in doing the marketing her business, over merchandizing her products and always kept in control the on goings of her company allowing her partner only 10% of the business control. Whereas Bill Gates handed over the day to day affairs in 2000 to Steve Ballmer and finally resigned in 2007 to completely hand over the business to his partner. He practised empowerment as part of his leadership quality but Oprah though allowing others to carry out the designated jobs approval was always maintained by her. Both our leaders in the assignment are with varied qualities; however, they are still great leaders of our generation.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Essays --

Volleyball Research Paper For some people, they literally live, breathe, and are volleyball; others do hate the sport and prefer soccer or football (as many do already). But volleyball has been around for more than 100 years! And it is one of the world’s most popular sports; a worldwide estimate of around 800 million people play volleyball at least once a week. But today’s volleyball doesn’t compare with the volleyball that was first invented in 1895. Society has modified to an extent this trending sport the past few decades that some actually think that William G. Morgan, the inventor of volleyball, wouldn’t be able to recognize his own sport. William G. Morgan was an instructor at the YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Morgan came up with the new idea by mixing parts of other sports like tennis, baseball, basketball, and handball together. The net idea was actually derived from tennis (which is probably why it looks so familiar), however Morgan decided to raise it a little over six feet above the middle of the court; now, the net can be up raised 8 feet above the court due to changes in the game and its rules. Another aspect that wasn’t original is the word â€Å"volleyball†. The game was in fact called â€Å"mintonette† when Morgan first created it but after observing a demonstration game, some scholars approached Morgan with a new name, â€Å"volleyball†, which they found more appropriate to call the name due to the way the athletes volleyed the ball back and forth over the net: hence, the name was changed and has been the same for more than a century. In 1895, Morgan created only one volleyball but like everything else, it has revolutionized into subsets and variations of volleyball such as: Indoor/Outdoor, Newcomb, Beach, Footvolley, Shoo... ... apply to spikes and serves. For body composition, having lower levels of body fat will be an advantage because it could provide more power, better coordination, and possibly better balance. If there were to be an â€Å"excessive† amount of body fat, it is possible that the player’s ability to move around the court freely could decrease and would increase chances of fatigue during the exercise. In conclusion, volleyball is a competitive but amusing sport in which really anyone could participate and could excel in when following the rules and guidelines. Health-wise, it would make a great addition to a daily workout; an average human could burn up to 600 calories during one hour of competitive volleyball! And not only does it burn calories, but it adds a great variety of skill to your coordination and improves cardiovascular and muscular endurance and body composition. Essays -- Volleyball Research Paper For some people, they literally live, breathe, and are volleyball; others do hate the sport and prefer soccer or football (as many do already). But volleyball has been around for more than 100 years! And it is one of the world’s most popular sports; a worldwide estimate of around 800 million people play volleyball at least once a week. But today’s volleyball doesn’t compare with the volleyball that was first invented in 1895. Society has modified to an extent this trending sport the past few decades that some actually think that William G. Morgan, the inventor of volleyball, wouldn’t be able to recognize his own sport. William G. Morgan was an instructor at the YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Morgan came up with the new idea by mixing parts of other sports like tennis, baseball, basketball, and handball together. The net idea was actually derived from tennis (which is probably why it looks so familiar), however Morgan decided to raise it a little over six feet above the middle of the court; now, the net can be up raised 8 feet above the court due to changes in the game and its rules. Another aspect that wasn’t original is the word â€Å"volleyball†. The game was in fact called â€Å"mintonette† when Morgan first created it but after observing a demonstration game, some scholars approached Morgan with a new name, â€Å"volleyball†, which they found more appropriate to call the name due to the way the athletes volleyed the ball back and forth over the net: hence, the name was changed and has been the same for more than a century. In 1895, Morgan created only one volleyball but like everything else, it has revolutionized into subsets and variations of volleyball such as: Indoor/Outdoor, Newcomb, Beach, Footvolley, Shoo... ... apply to spikes and serves. For body composition, having lower levels of body fat will be an advantage because it could provide more power, better coordination, and possibly better balance. If there were to be an â€Å"excessive† amount of body fat, it is possible that the player’s ability to move around the court freely could decrease and would increase chances of fatigue during the exercise. In conclusion, volleyball is a competitive but amusing sport in which really anyone could participate and could excel in when following the rules and guidelines. Health-wise, it would make a great addition to a daily workout; an average human could burn up to 600 calories during one hour of competitive volleyball! And not only does it burn calories, but it adds a great variety of skill to your coordination and improves cardiovascular and muscular endurance and body composition.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Drugs Essay -- essays research papers

Is the Government Morally Justified in Declaring Some Drugs Illegal?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are all kinds of drugs. Whether or not the drug is illegal or not depends on what drug we’re talking about. It is important to look at both the bad effects and long-term effects, such as addiction, when determining legality. Certain drugs, such as prescription drugs like Ritalin, are illegal to the people who abuse them. They are designed for people who need the drug and can be dangerous if taken without seeing a doctor first. Other drugs, such as marijuana and cocaine, are illegal to everyone. The government has put a block or law on these. These drug laws are supposedly for your own good. It is the type of drug and its effects that determines whether or not it should be illegal. When it comes to drugs, there are various aspects that need to be considered.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug of abuse and is currently illegal. Individuals who have tried the drug describe it as a powerful experience that gave a â€Å"high† and a feeling of dominance. Because cocaine is so highly addictive, once someone starts taking it, one cannot predict the extent of drug abuse or the continuality. The ways to take cocaine include: sniffing, snorting, injecting, and smoking. Health risks are present regardless. Smoking has slightly higher health risks. It allows extremely high doses of cocaine to reach the brain much quicker, resulting in an immediate, intense high. If injected, the drug user has a risk of contracting HIV/AIDS if needles or other injection equipment is shared. Physical effects are what make this drug illegal, and so highly dissuaded. The effects include constricted peripheral blood vessels, dilated pupils, and increased body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. It’s also said that you will h ave a feeling of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety (both during use and in between periods). Once addicted, it is difficult to be broken out of the habit and death is very likely a possibility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  High doses of cocaine, or just lengthened usage, can trigger paranoia. Smoking crack cocaine increases aggressive behavior. Alcohol mixed with cocaine compounds the danger each drug poses and causes a complex chemical interaction within your body. The human liver combines cocaine and alcohol to produce ... ...gs such as cocaine. Another problem is that, once legalized, the thrill will be gone. One of the reasons to try it and then, in most cases, continue with drugs is the thrill of getting caught or the fact that you know you’re doing something illegal. Also, drugs are so readily available today that basically if you want them, you can have them. There is not much the government can do. The government might as well legalize marijuana and make money off of it. It is going to be done illegal or legal. If it were to be legalized, the government could watch over it (no mixing of drugs). Also, since there seems to be an age limit and everything, such as alcohol and cigarettes, an age limit could be put on marijuana. As I stated above, there are many factors that are contributed to the legality of drugs. It is the government’s decision to determine which, and though some disagree, it is for the welfare of the country. This topic is high in discussion today and it’s a h ard decision to make considering all of the pros and cons. I think the way things are is fine, but for now only. A decision has to be made. You can’t allow it in certain areas and not everywhere.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Saturday, August 17, 2019

iPhone. Apple

Drew Adams Intro to Art (FINE 1001 002) Learning to Look 02/07/2013 Source. iPhone. Apple. 2009 Formal Analysis The product that is advertised in this advertisement is the new iPhone. The composition of this advertisement is only a concept version of the iPhone. It is showing only the back of the iPhone, which gives a different perspective of the main product which makes viewers want to learn more. The color palette of this advertisement consists of mostly dark colors with the print being in white.There is bold print that says, â€Å"Touching is believing†, this statement is bold to show the slogan of the advertisement. The advertiser uses the contrast of the black and white colors to give emphasis to the slogan, which could be the focal point of the picture. The black color maybe gives the sense that the product has great innovation. The viewer can clearly see the Apple logo and knows that the product is made with good quality. InterpretationThis advertisement could be trying to show how different apple is than other companies in terms of being innovative. The product being shown is the iPhone, this is Apple’s most prized product on the market. There is text in the middle that is in white and it says, â€Å"Touching is believing†. A key feature is shown as a subtitle under the main slogan that states, â€Å"The new, faster iPhone now with 3G†. The image characterizes the company as superior to other companies. Evaluation The main goal of this advertisement is to get the viewer to buy the product.It surely does a good job of grabbing the attention of the viewer and making people curious about their product. The main audience of this advertisement seems to be anyone who enjoys technology or wants the â€Å"newest† and â€Å"superior† device. By the look of the advertisement it seems to do a good job at reaching the audience that they want to reach. What is impressive about this advertisement is that it is simple yet effe ctive in getting the point across and getting the viewer to be curious. Image of Advertisement

Revenge is sweet!

On October the 13th she took her last breath, on November the 6th we buried her. On November the 21st I heard her call on me for the first time, and on December the 13:th it was my turn to take my last breath. Around one and a half-month ago, my little sister was killed. She was only ten years old. The police are still searching for the murderer, but they believe that it was a robber, because her mobile phone and her money had been taken away when they found her. Everybody tries to make me forget what has happened, but I can't. It was a Sunday morning when I heard her for the first time. â€Å"I miss you so much, why can't you be with me?† Is it you Minnie; is it my dear sister? â€Å"I feel so alone in here, come and be with me.† The voice was faint and husky. â€Å"Minnie, can you hear me? Are you all right?† â€Å"I can hear you, I'm not alright, it is a terrible stench in this little coffin, and I feel so alone. Come to me, come to me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Who did you talk to?† â€Å"Mum, it was Minnie, she told me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Minnie? Stop kidding with me.† â€Å"I promise, it was Minnie, and she told me that she felt alone.† â€Å"Honey, I know you think that this is hard, it is hard for all of us, but she is dead, you did not hear her. I dream about her too, and the dreams seem to be real, but then suddenly I wake up, and realize that it's just a dream.† I was just quiet. I knew that there wasn't an idea to try to make mum believing me. Maybe she was right, maybe it wasn't Minnie. But it sounded so real†¦ The dark has always made me scared. Every scary thing happens in the dark, were none can see what's happening. So when I, a couple of days after I heard Minnie for the first time, was I going to sleep, I felt a bit afraid. I don't know why, I just got an unpleasant feeling. The darkness seemed to be everywhere. Both inside and outside me. Suddenly I felt a cold wind. The window was closed, and it has never been any draught here before. I draw the duvet close to me. Then I heard her for the second time. â€Å"It is cold in here. Do you think of me while your laying in your bed with you warm duvet† â€Å"Oh Minnie, I'm thinking of you every second, every minute, every hour. I miss you so much.† â€Å"So why don't you come down to me, I'm not that deep down.† â€Å"Oh Minnie I wish I could. I'll make a plan, I promise, but mum will think I'm crazy if she saw me digging on the burial-ground.† â€Å"Come to me soon, I feel so alone in here†¦Ã¢â‚¬  †I†m coming soon. Soon.† The burial-ground was desolated, and the lights were not turned on yet. The sky was gray and everything looked dusky. I felt like all the tombstones stared at me, wondering why I was here. I†ve always thought that it is nice to walk at the burial-ground at all saints day, because there is so many candles on the tombs, and I thinks that the candles shows that people care and not forget the dead humans. But now everything felt dark and forgotten. I walked to Minnie's tombstone, it was a white tombstone, and it looked quite new in opposite of the other graves. Everything was so quiet; I just heard the wind blow. I felt like I was watched on, and turned around. Behind me stood an old man, with a long white beard. He's eyes was blue, and observed me from my head to my shoes. â€Å"Feeling alone?† â€Å"No. Just thinking.† It wasn't true, I felt alone. However, I didn't want his company. â€Å"Your sister down there?† â€Å"Yes. How did you know?† â€Å"I know her.† â€Å"How do you know her? I meant knew her.† â€Å"Know her. I've seen her. She is very pale, but those coffins isn't to nice.† This man is crazy. â€Å"Err, okay.† â€Å"You don't believe in me, right?† I didn't know what to say. â€Å"You'll see that I'm right, but trust me, do the things Minnie tells you to, or you'll end up like those.† He pointed at the names at the tombstones. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, he was gone. I thought of what he had said. Do the things Minnie tells you to? Has she told me anything? I won't dig her up, I don't even know if I've heard her, or if it is just my mind that makes it up. Well. The man was an old crazy idiot; there's no reason to listen at him. When I was lying in my bed that night, I heard her again. â€Å"Why didn't you come down to me today? I heard you; you spooked to the old man at the burial-ground. Why didn't you start to dig when he was gone?† â€Å"Minnie, I don't even know if it is you who speaks to me.† â€Å"It is me, but I can prove it if you want to.† â€Å"How can you prove it?† â€Å"You'll se tomorrow. If I prove it, do you promise to go down do me then?† â€Å"Minnie, I don't know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Promise, or I'll leave you forever†, she sounded a bit angry, and I was afraid that she would leave me unknowing if she were Minnie or not. â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"Se you tomorrow then.† Everything was quiet. She was gone. When I woke up next morning and thought about what Minnie had said, I felt insecure. What if she proved it? Should I go to her then? No, impossible. She can't prove it. She's dead. And if she against all odds will prove it, I won't go to her. Not yet anyway. However, she won't prove it. But she did. When I came to school I got a big shock. All over the roof there was painted; I watch every single step you take, is this evidence enough? I didn't know what to do. In school there was a lot of talk about who did it, they thought that it was one of the gangs in town. But I knew. I said to my teacher that I was sick, and that I wanted to go home. Then I walked to the park beside the burial-ground. I had been there for approximately ten minutes when she started to talk to me. â€Å"What are you waiting for? Go and dig me up.† Her voice sounded angry and ordering. I was just quiet. Maybe she would think that I didn't here her if I just ignored her. â€Å"I know that you hear me. You're in the park. Why don't you dig me up? Are you afraid? You promised me to dig me up. If you don't dig me up, everything will be worse for you.† I was afraid. How could she know where I was? And what would happen if I didn't do as she said. But I didn't say anything. She would give up, and what could she do? She was dead. â€Å"I know what you're thinking, but I can do a lot. I can destroy your life, 'cause I'm manipulating it. I can promise that you'll dig me up sooner or later.† Her voice was ecstatic, and it scared me. I started to walk away, but she didn't want to stop talking with me. She screamed: â€Å"I'm manipulating your life, I manipulating your life, so you better dig me up soon.† Her voice tormented me all day, and when I at last fell asleep I had nightmares. I dreamed that the old man at the burial-ground haunted me, and that Minnie laughed at me when I stumbled. And when I had stumbled, I couldn't stand up again. Everything turned into different red coulors, and Minnie's laugh became higher and higher. When I finally woke up, I felt like I hadn't slept at all. I went to school, and tried to not look at the roof with Minnie's message. I went in to my classroom. The first lesson was math. I hate math, so when my teacher told me to go to the front of the classroom, I felt afraid. Would she give me a hard question? â€Å"Okay everybody, quiet please. We all know that somebody painted a sentence on the roof. We don't know what the culprit wants to tell us, we didn't even know who was the culprit. But now I know. I know it, 'cause the culprit by herself called to me yesterday and admit that she painted it. She said that she wanted to tell the class why she did it. So, can you tell us why?† She looked at me. I didn't understand anything. â€Å"Angelica, can you tell us?† â€Å"But it wasn't me.† I felt like a fool. Damned Minnie, if it is you who have done this, you can forget every hope about that I will dig you up. â€Å"Well. We all know who's the culprit now, and if you won't tell us Angelica, you can go straight away to the porter, and he'll give you the things you'll need to clean the roof.† â€Å"But it wasn't me.† â€Å"GO!† I started to walk away. I was so mad at Minnie. It wasn't me, it was Minnie, so why did I have to clean the roof? However, how could she call to my teacher? And didn't my teacher recognize that it wasn't my voice that she heard? I became more and more afraid, what would she do next? She spoke to me every single minute, and her voice sounded more and more frightening. She was totally convinced that I would dig her up, and she repeated again and again that she manipulated my life. Sometimes I believed in her, because I couldn't do anything with her voice in my head. And I did a lot of things that she told me to do, I was afraid that she would do anything worse if I didn't. However, I wouldn't dig her up. The things that she got me to do was just stuff as clean her room, put her photos in a frame or say good things about her. She repeated that it would just be worse if I didn't dig her up soon. And it should, much worse. I had stopped going to school, 'cause everybody avoided me. My teacher was mean to me, and derided me when I did something wrong. At December the 11th it was time for the next thing to happen. Mum was mad at me because I didn't walk to school. But she couldn't make me change my mind. We had just had a fight, and she screamed to me that she would go to her job and do some good instead of just sit and cry. I was mad at her and at the whole world, because nobody seemed to understand anything. I walked out of the door and went to the supermarket to buy some chocolate. I had nearly accepted Minnie's voice, but today it was scarier then ever. â€Å"I'm sorry to say this Angelica, but today will I hurt other people to get you dig me up.† â€Å"If you do that, I'll kill you.† â€Å"Good luck, I am already dead.† â€Å"I won't dig you up.† â€Å"Well, go home and se if you change your mind when you se what I've done.† She sounded satisfied, and that made me scared. I ran home, and what I'll never forget what I saw. The first thing I saw was just that the door was red. I stared at the door a few seconds before I realized that the red thing was blood. I flung the door open, and inside I found a tail. I started to shiver. If she had†¦ I didn't even wanted to think about it. â€Å"CHARLIE!† I screamed frightened. But our dog Charlie didn't come. I ran in to the living room, and there I saw Charlie. Anyway, I saw a part of him. But his head and his paws were gone. I started to scream and cry; I didn't know what to do. My thoughts was just a mess, Why do you does this to me Minnie? You loved Charlie so much, how could you ever kill him? Why do you want me to dig you up? If you are dead, why do you want me to be with you? Oh Minnie, why? I called mum. She came home as fast as she could, and we were both struck dumb. She asked me if I knew who had killed him, and I said that I didn't know. She cleaned the living room, and I walked up to my room. Minnie started to talk to me again. â€Å"Do you dig me up now?† â€Å"No, I won't. You are terrible, I hate you.† â€Å"I know that you hate me, but if you don't dig me up soon, I'll have to do something worse than this. If you haven't dig me up in 24 hours, It'll be time for another harmless to die.† Later that day when I was going to use the toilet I heard mum and dad talking to each other. I didn't believed what I heard. â€Å"I'm worried about Angelica. It is terrible what has happened to Charlie, but in fact I'm wondering if it can be Angelica who has killed him. I know it sounds weird, but she has change a lot since Minnie died. I guess that that's normal, but†¦ I don't know; she has always loved school, and now, she hates it. Her teacher called to me and told me that she had written a form of message on the roof, and that she had admit that it was her who did it once, but said that it wasn't she later. I don't know, maybe I'm just too worried. But she has been so introspective.† â€Å"I guess she's just shocked about Minnie's death. But I'm worried about Charlie's death too. Maybe it is she who killed him, I'll speak to her this weekend.† I was terrified. How could they even think about it? That I killed Charlie? Why can't anyone believe me? The 24 hours ran away. I didn't dig Minnie up. I'll never do it. I hate her and I won't do anything that she want's me to do. 12 hours later I had changed my mind. I can hardly think about what happened. But I'll try to tell. I had been on the burial-ground, when Minnie started to talk to me. â€Å"Well, you didn't dig me up, and I've made my choice. I'm sorry that I have to do this.† â€Å"Do what?† â€Å"Go home and se for yourself.† Her voice sounded honestly sad. I ran home and the first thing I smelled was a terrible stench. Then I smelled blood. I heard how daddy screamed and I ran in to the house. Inside I found dad paralyzed. And I found mum. On the floor. And I found Charlie's head. In the place where mum's head should be. â€Å"Dad what has happened?† â€Å"I don't know. I was in the kitchen, and I heard her scream. I went in to the living-room, and I found her.† â€Å"Oh dad. It's all my fault. I have to do a thing. Dad, I love you. I went down to the cellar and brought a spade and ran to Minnie's grave. I have never been that angry before. â€Å"Are you satisfied now Minnie?† â€Å"You haven't dug me up yet.† Her voice was very weak. I dug as fast as I could. After a few seconds I saw the coffin. I opened it. â€Å"Lay down.† I did as she told me to. Nothing to lose anymore. Exactly when I lay down, the coffin's lid smashed down. I heard scratch from a spade, and I couldn't open the lid. I screamed for my life, but noon heard. I guess that I screamed for hours. At last I had no voice left. I started to investigate the coffin, and I found the head of my mother, and Charlie's paws. The last time I watched my clock it showed: Friday the 13th 13:00. The last time I heard Minnie she said: â€Å"Revenge is sweet.†