Lean Manufacturing and Supply Chain

1. 0 INTRODUCTION: From humble beginnings, Tesco has grown to become the UK's largest supermarket chain. Over ten years ago, Tesco set its sights on becoming the Toyota of the grocery business. Since then the company has become renowned for its best practices in supply chain management (SCM), which included lean management and the use of RFID technology. The company has got an advantage over its competitors by incorporating innovation in its supply chain like point of the sale data, continued replenishment triggered by customer demand, primary distribution, cross dock distribution centre and use of single vehicle to serve several stores. . 0. Background Tesco was founded in 1910 by Jack Cohen, who invested his serviceman's gratuity of ? 30 in a grocery stall. The first private label product introduced by Cohen was Tesco Tea. The name Tesco was a combination of the initials of the tea supplier – TE Stock well and the first two letters of Cohen's name. Tesco opened its first sto re in 1929. Cohen was influenced by the supermarket culture in America and tried to introduce the concept in the UK. The company's driving force was the idea: ‘Pile it high and sell it cheap. In 1947, Tesco went public and a year later, Tesco self-service stores were started. In 1956, the first Tesco self-service supermarket was opened. In the 1960s, Tesco went on an expansion spree and acquired several store chains. The Retail Price Maintenance (RPM) Act8  in Britain prohibited large retailers from pricing goods below a price agreed upon by the suppliers. To overcome this obstacle to price reduction, Tesco introduced trading stamps which were given to customers when they purchased products; they could be traded for cash or other gifts.RPM was abolished in 1964, and from then on, Tesco was able to offer competitively priced products to its customers. The first Tesco superstore, with an area of 90,000 square feet, was opened in 1967. By the 1970s, Tesco's ‘Pile it high, sell it cheap' philosophy no longer appealed to shoppers. As people got richer, they started demanding expensive and luxury items. The poor performance of Tesco even led to the saying ‘doing a Tesco,' which meant snatching defeat from victory.  Control Key and Word – Text and Graphics.Tesco's image took a further beating when Imperial Tobacco Company which had considered acquiring Tesco as a part of its diversification strategy, did not go ahead with the deal as it felt that Tesco might damage its corporate image. To arrest the downslide in its fortunes, Tesco's management went in for an overhaul of its stores during the decade. Several stores were closed down to concentrate on the superstores. The smaller stores that still remained were refurbished to make them more customer-friendly.Tesco diversified into operating petrol pumps in 1974. In 1975, Tesco offered price discounts through a scheme called ‘Checkout at Tesco. ‘ By 1979, the company's turnover h ad reached ? 1 billion. In 1985, lan MacLaurin become Tesco's first CEO from outside the Cohen family. MacLaurin streamlined Tesco's operations, closing most of the smaller stores and opening large 30,000 square foot stores in the suburbs. Tesco also introduces a centralized distribution system, added fresh food and its own label for food products. These were successful moves.In the 1990s, the UK supermarket industry faced of 16. 7 per cent, behind Sainsbury's at 19 per cent. The other major competitors were Asda and Safeway. Several warehouse stores like Costco and discount stores like Aldi, Lidl and Netto also entered the UK. In 1997, Tesco's marketing director, Terry Leahy, become the new CEO. He had introduced new pricing policy of lowering prices to match those of Asda, which resulted in Tesco's prices begin 4-5 per cent lower than those at Sainsbury's and Safeway. 3. 0 DEFINING ISSUES 3. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGMENT Supply chain management is a business administration strategy that aims at the improvement in efficiency of cash flow through information sharing and Business Process Reengineering (BPR) in the supply chain as a whole. The emphasis is put on maximizing a consumer’s worth by conflating products, services, information, and the cash flow into one seamless stream. What was formerly a â€Å"push system†, in which the product was sent downstream and sold, has become a â€Å"pull system† that produces only the quantity sold.However, since the order cycle is different, the quantity of orders from retailers to wholesalers becomes the smaller wave compared with the wave of actual sales because of subjectivity. Subjectivity goes also into the wholesaler’s decision; thus, manufacturing quantities fluctuate significantly. Such a phenomenon is called the â€Å"bull whip† effect or Forester effect. The phenomenon may be avoided if retailers, wholesalers, and manufactures share information. A large number of bottlenecks exist on a supply chain. The entire supply chain must be improved in balance.It is important to construct a system that creates unity throughout the supply chain. In order to optimize the system as whole, information sharing is required. It begins by sharing such information as the transition of sales trends showing consumer interests as well as real-time inventory data on a supply chain. Figure 1. Supply chain management In such a situation, RFID attracts attention as a new data career that uses the Internet. Wal-Mart stores will have RFID on pallets or corrugated boxes of products from their top 100 suppliers beginning January 1, 2005.Tesco of Britain, Metro of Germany, and the U. S. Department of Defense also decided to use RFID similarly. Promotion of RFID has been incorporated in E-Japan strategy as well. 3. 2 LEAN SYSTEM The core idea is to maximize customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources. A lean organization unde rstands customer value and focuses its key processes to continuously increase it. The ultimate goal is to provide perfect value to the customer through a perfect value creation process that has zero waste.To accomplish this, lean thinking changes the focus of management from optimizing separate technologies, assets, and vertical departments to optimizing the flow of products and services through entire value streams that flow horizontally across technologies, assets, and departments to customers. Eliminating waste along entire value streams, instead of at isolated points, creates processes that need less human effort, less space, less capital, and less time to make products and services at far less costs and with much fewer defects, compared with traditional business systems.Companies are able to respond to changing customer desires with high variety, high quality, low cost, and with very fast throughput times. Also, information management becomes much simpler and more accurate. 4. 0 PROBLEM STATEMENT Tesco’s supply chain improvements described indicate that supply chain management has the potential to improve a firm's competitiveness. Tesco’s supply chain capability is as important to a company's overall strategy as overall product strategy. Firm’s supply chain management encourage management of processes across departments. . 0. QUESTIONS AND THEIR SOLUTION: 5. 1. QUESTIONS 1: To what extent can Tesco's supply chain practices be said to follow lean principles? Tesco is an extremely successful company and a major part of its success has been due to its distribution network, Tesco has successfully applied lean distribution and just in time strategy into their distribution network. Using just in time within their distribution network gives Tesco a competitive advantage over its competitors by reducing inventory costs and improves scheduling.It also insures proper protective maintenance and stress quality in all phases of production from qua lity by suppliers to quality within Tesco. However, it is not enough. The original seven muda are: * Transport (moving products that are not actually required to perform the processing) * Inventory (all components, work in process and finished product not being processed) * Motion (people or equipment moving or walking more than is required to perform the processing) * Waiting (waiting for the next production step) * Overproduction (production ahead of demand) Over Processing (resulting from poor tool or product design creating activity) * Defects (the effort involved in inspecting for and fixing defects) According to the original seven muda, Tesco can improve its suppliers more by teach them the lean technique. They did it before but they must do it for their new suppliers around the world. 5. 2. QUESTIONS 2: How can lean practices give benefits to Tesco operation? Lean operation is an alternative to traditional operation that an increasing number of organizations are adopting. The ultimate goal of a lean system is to achieve a balanced, smooth flow of operations.Sup- porting goals include eliminating disruptions to the system, making the system flexible, and eliminating waste. The building blocks of a lean production system are product design, process design, personnel and organization, and manufacturing planning and control. Key benefits of lean systems are reduced inventory levels, high quality, and flexibility, reduced lead times, increased productivity and equipment utilization, reduced amounts of scrap and rework, and reduced space requirements. The risks stem from the absence of buffers, such as extra personnel and inventory stockpiles to fall back on if something goes wrong.The possible results of risks include lost sales and lost customers. Lean can make more profit in Tesco’s supply chain management by: †¢ Point-of-sale data in the store directly to a shipping decision in Tesco’s RDC. †¢ â€Å"customers as pacemaker† r egulating the provision stream †¢ increased the frequency of deliveries to the retail stores †¢ shipping dollies directly up to POS. †¢ Contingency plan: buffer stock of full dollies is still held aside †¢ supplier’s distribution center for the items has disappeared. †¢ Converting RDC as cross-docks, reducing costs their also. Increase in loyalty of customer leading to increase in sales and more certainty in demand too. †¢ Reduced costs, operating costs were offset by overall profits in a long run †¢ increasing its share in every format †¢ Better forecasting ability, i. e. better knowledge of consumption of each type of consumables at store. †¢ Reduced inventory case as RDC was converted into Cross-docks. †¢ Reduced Transportation costs due to milk runs. †¢ Reduction in stock points too. †¢ The no. Of logistical activities for a pallet to reach the final storing point reduce to 200%. 5. 3.QUESTIONS 3: What are the ma in differences between operating lean practices in retiling and in manufacturing operations? Lean Manufacturing is a systematic methodology that identifies and eliminates all types of waste or non-value-added activities; not only in production or manufacturing operations, but in the service industry as well. Whether you are manufacturing a product or providing a service, there are components that are considered â€Å"waste†. Lean concepts are purely about creating more value for customers by eliminating activities that are considered waste.Any activity or process that consumes resources, adds cost or time without creating value becomes the target for elimination. Lean focuses on the â€Å"big picture† or improvements in the entire business process as opposed to incremental improvements. It is the business process system that can significantly improve a company's profitability. Lean concepts improve operating performance by focusing on the continuous flow of products, m aterials or services through the value stream. To achieve this, the various forms of waste must be identified and eliminated. Waste can include any activity, step or process that does not add value for the customer.Lean Manufacturing, sometimes also referred to as the Toyota Production System (TPS), is about the systematic elimination of waste. There are a number of waste types which are: 1. Waste from Overproduction — producing more than is required by the customer or marketplace which generates unnecessary inventory. 2. Waste from Transportation — multiple handling or movement of products does not add any value to the product. 3. Waste of Motion — of the workers, machines, and handling. Searching for tools or parts due to the inappropriate location of these items is considered waste of motion. 4.Waiting — a worker waiting for a machine to finish a cycle, waiting for a supervisor to answer a question, or waiting for information or materials reflects an i nterruption to flow and need to be eliminated. 5. Processing — unnecessary processing steps should be eliminated. Combine steps where possible. 6. Inventory — or Work In Process (WIP) is material between operations as a result of large lot production or processes with long cycle times. This reflects system problems. 7. Defects — producing defective products is pure waste. Prevent the occurrence of defects instead of scrapping or repairing.Like lean manufacturing, lean retailing is an approach to re-inventing a long established business practice by using new information technologies to cut out waste and make operations more profitable. Pioneered by Wal-Mart – but subsequently taken up by most large retailers – lean retailing relies on the use of Barcodes to manage every step of the product value chain, from raw material sourcing through manufacturing through final delivery to the shop floor. Major attention is given to â€Å"just in time† del ivery to cut inventory costs, and to investments in IT infrastructures to allow stores to share sales data in Real Time with their suppliers.In many cases, Lean Retailing software systems will automatically place new orders for a given product from the manufacturer as soon as an item is scanned at the checkout counter, and in some cases, even the invoicing for that automatic order is automatized as well. Lean retailing aims to â€Å"cut out the fat† (waste) from the retail sourcing process to maximize profits for the retailer. Lean Manufacturing combines the advantages of craft and mass production systems, whilst avoiding the disadvantages of each.Lean manufacturing is ‘lean' because it produces products using fewer resources than traditional ‘job shop’ and ‘mass production' methods. Lean Manufacturing involves removal of all unnecessary costs (i. e. ‘waste'). Waste elimination is translated into customer satisfaction (i. e. improved performance , quality, cost, delivery etc). In this regard, it is the same as Just-in-Time (JIT) Manufacturing; the difference being that Lean Manufacturing encompasses the whole business rather than just manufacturing. It includes product development, production, supply chains, distribution and customer service. . 4. QUESTIONS 4: What challenges does the increased internationalization of both its suppliers and its markets present for supply chain management in Tesco? Tesco's real strategic store internationalization began in 1994 with entry into Hungary but soon expanded into other central European countries. First steps were then made into the Asian market, both as a reaction to the Asian economic crisis of the 1990s, which meant assets were cheap, but also due to a more positive sense of the scale of the market opportunities in China and Japan, for example.Over time the countries in which Teseo operates have changed slightly. Withdrawals from some markets have been made (Palmer, 2004, 5), re cognizing the lack of scope to become the market leader and/or the desire to invest elsewhere. In some cases, these withdrawals have been made as part of asset-swaps with other leading global retailers, each recognizing their own strengths in particular markets. During this time Teseo also re-entered Ireland through a major acquisition, though it is still not represented in continental western Europe .The strategic approach to store internationalization has seen Teseo develop different solutions for diverse markets, using distinct formats and tailoring the product and service offer to the local market. In many countries it operates as a multi-format and even multi-channel retailer (home shopping is available in Ireland and Korea) and focuses on the core values and brands of the business. Behind the scenes people, processes and systems have been enhanced and rolled out initially as ‘Teseo in a Box' and more recently as the Teseo Operating Model.As can be readily understood, the internationalization of Teseo at store level brings supply chain issues as well. At the same time, Teseo buys products on a global basis and this also has to be ‘fitted in' to the ever changing pattern of supply and demand. With formats and products varying by country and with time, the need is for a supply system that can be adaptable. In some cases, eg Ireland and Hungary, the composite model has been effectively exported to thesecountries, often with the same logistics service partners.Ln other situations there is an attempt to rethink the supply system and the technology needed and use this as the platform moving forward. For example, in 2003/4, based on the UK composite model, Teseo opened the largest distribution centre in Asia at Mokchon, Korea. It also opened major centers in Poland and the Czech Republic, extended a centre in Hungary (and added another fresh food distribution centre) and developed a new composite site in Ireland. As internationalization continues, so the infrastructure and the processes in the supply chain need to keep pace with or even lead the developments.The processes are now embedded in the Teseo Operating Model, but new faculties to meet expansion needs are required. In November 2007, Teseo finally opened its much heralded Fresh and Easy stores in California and Nevada. Years in the planning, this US entry is intended to achieve 200 stores by February 2009 and to eventually develop into a major chain. Based on extensive consumer research with US families and a trial store built secretly, Fresh and Easy stores average about 10,000 sq ft and hold around 3,500 product lines.They focus on providing faster, easier neighborhood retailing with an emphasis on fresh food and fresh prepared meals at affordable prices. Environmental, neighborhood, employment and organic credentials are stressed. Fifty stores had opened by the end of February 2008, with expansion into Arizona, although a ‘pause' in development was announced in April 2008 to reflect on the learning from these early developments. It is too early to judge the success or otherwise of this US venture, but it has attracted considerable attention. The store format is different to Teseo stores elsewhere.Whilst the Teseo name is not used, its operations are based on the Teseo Operating Model, but with reduced complexity. The in-store processes are simplified, including extensive display-ready packaging, self-checkout and automated replenishment. The systems are advanced, linking processes to the service centre in India. This simplification has reduced payroll and other costs. In supply terms, the Fresh and Easy operation is a little different to other Teseo operations, partly because the model of practices and processes has been built up from scratch, though it does rely on core processes from the Teseo Operating Model.For example, there has been a degree of co-location of production with distribution. UK suppliers with particular expertise have c o-located production facilities at the head office and distribution hub (Riverside, CA), so as to react quickly to demand. Whilst this is not unknown in, for example, Japan, the attempt here is to move towards a low-touch, lean operation and to rethink traditional approaches. There is extensive recycling of packaging, use of returnable crates and retail-ready merchandizing and packaging. The emphasis is on fully automated, one-touch replenishment supported by deep shelves.At Riverside, pick-by-line has been introduced and various environmental initiatives, eg solar power, developed (Stites, 2007, 4). Store stock levels and availability were initially poor, however (Uwins, 2007, 55) and the distribution systems performance has had to improve as the store development programme has moved on. The sizes of the stores are 10,000sq ft selling around 3,500 items (Telegraph). The stores are much smaller than supermarkets such as Wal-mart, which shows Tesco are not prepared to go in direct co mpetition with them. Furthermore, Tesco have nvented a new format in America; convenience retailing as we know it in the UK – a small shop selling a wide range of fresh, top-up groceries – does not exist in the US, where a convenience store means a petrol station selling cigarettes, doughnuts and little else (Telegraph). Tesco predicts Americans will prefer the convenience of a smaller store providing it caters for their needs. By Tesco being the first major competitor in the ‘convenience’ market, they can have ‘first picks’ on store locations, suppliers, employees and partners. This concept is known as first mover advantage.However, perhaps the reason no other company has broken into the market before is because it is not profitable or not in demand. A strategic alliance can be defined as cooperative agreements between potential or actual competitors. Tesco announced that they would form an alliance with Safeway, an American supermarket, and share profits. The strategic alliance will facilitate Tesco’s entry into the foreign market by renting stores from Safeway in prime locations. If Tesco purchased the buildings and the project was unsuccessful, losses would be much higher than if they rented them.Therefore, a strategic alliance allows companies to share the fixed costs and reduces the risks involved in entering new markets. Furthermore, the USA has different property laws to the UK and so can be confusing to follow the law-with an American company in alliance their knowledge can be transferred to Tesco and vice-versa. However, strategic alliances can be risky too. If Safeway go bankrupt and have to sell its stores, terminating the contract, it puts Tesco in a vulnerable position of either purchasing the stores it rents or move elsewhere.Either way, it will cost the company money. 6. 0 CONCLUSION Overall, Tesco's Supply Chain Management Strategy is its long-term goal. It is important for Tesco to have an operat ional strategy because it establishes the types of goods and services the company will offer its target market, and how Tesco are going to get advantages over its competitors. Tesco made good planning and control in its capacity, supply chain and quality. Besides, in order to make improvements in operation, Tesco measures quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost.Although they have made some improvements, there are still some disadvantages in its operation. The future retains numerous distinct scenarios for Tesco. The business has currently developed into a worldwide business. One of their likely future strategies could be dedicated to gathering a spectacular clientele service, as they have currently developed enough. As cited previous, Tesco is the market foremost in the UK. To sustain this location it is significant to advance its services all the time. Tesco will require advancing its product variety by proposing more non-food items. . 0 REFERENCE Book 1. (2013). In D. A. Rahman, Operation Management. McGraw-Hill Create p. Journals 1. James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, â€Å"Teaching the Big Box New Tricks,† Fortune, November 14, 2005. 2. Tsutomu Araki Sophia University â€Å"A SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM BASED ON RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION† (2006) 3. Womack, J. P. and Jones, D. T, Lean Thinking, Simon & Schuster, New York, USA, 1996 (ISBN 0-684-81035-2) The Evolution of Supply Chain Management in Retail Sector of Tesco and Analytical Study for the Period of 2005-2011† 4.Shah, J. (2009). Supply chain management: text and cases. 1st Ed. India: Pearson Education Inc 5. Bicheno, J. , Cause and Effect JIT: The Essentials of Lean Manufacturing, 2nd Edition, PICSIE Books, Buckingham, England, 1994 (ISBN 0 9513829 5 0) 9-The European Handbook of Management Consultancy, Oak Tree Press, Dublin, Ireland, 1995 (ISBN 1-86076-010-4) 6. http://siibblog. blogspot. com/2009/07/case-studylean-supply-chain. html 7. Wang, L. (2010). Ente rprise networks and logistics for agile manufacturing. 1st 8. Humby, C. Hunt, T. nd Phillips, T. (2007). Scoring points: how Tesco continues to win customer loyalty. 2nd 9. Pryke, S. (2009). Construction supply chain management: concepts and case studies. 1st 10. Humby, C. Hunt, T. and Phillips, T. (2007). Scoring points: how Tesco continues to win customer loyalty. 2nd Online: 1. (n. d. ). Retrieved 04 2, 2013, from Industrial time study: http://www. industrialtimestudy. com/lean. html 2. (n. d. ). Retrieved 4 2, 2013, from blogspot: http://siibblog. blogspot. com/2009/07/case-studylean-supply-chain. html

Trip to Karachi

Last winter we, a group of ten student, went to Karachi. Our collage had arranged this tour. Our professor. Mr.. Name Hosannas, was in charge of the party. All of us had looked forward to this tour. We had not seen Karachi, but had heard from people that it was a wonderful city. In particular we were very eager to sue the ocean. It was the 25th of December. When we left Lahore by train. The journey was long. The winter was more severe than usual. But we were happy, and the long. Slow Journey did not dampen our high spirits. Next daddy reached Karachi late in the afternoon.We went draught to the boy scouts hostel on the new queens road where we had arranged to stay. One our way to the hostel. We had our first view of Karachi. The very first thing we noticed was that the road were very wide. The traffic was much greater than that we had seen In Lahore. The number of cars we saw on the roads Indicated the prosperity of the city. The building were really palatial. On reaching the hostel we felt tired. We decided to spend the evening quietly in our rooms. Next day, early in the morning, we began our tour of the city. First of all we went to the Mazda of our beloved leader, Squad ?I-Gamma , to pay our homage.After offering faith we went to the house where Q aid-I-Gamma was born. It was an old there-storey building. The room where our leader was born was on the first floor. Some of the furniture and clothes of Squad-I-Gamma were on the show In the room. After this we went to Clifton beach . The most popular picnic resort in Karachi There we saw the sea for the first time. A great expanse of water was before us. It stretched as far as the eye could see. We stripped and not the sea for a swim. Our professor was all the time telling us not to go very far. After the swim, we had tea In a restaurant the beach. It was now mum for lunch.So we returned to the city. After taking our lunch. We felt rather tired and decided to rest to a couple of house. In the evening we want ou t and roamed in the bazaar till late in the night. Every one seemed to be in a hurry. The big hotels of Karachi were splendid buildings. They were richly decorated. Very brightly. It and filled with the sounds of music and laughter. Next day we visited Karachi port and manor island. The naval authorities very kindly allowed us to visit the PENS . Jelled , the officers and men of the ship were very courteous. They showed us all over the hip and explained everything we wanted to know . N the evening, we went to see the airport. The first Item on our programmer for the next day was a visit to the state bank, it was a magnificent building. We were very much impressed by its roof- garden and tastefully decorated conference hall and library. The rest day we spent in visiting the national museum and the Karachi zoo, it was our blast day in Karachi Trip to Karachi By Abductees Last winter we, a group of ten student, went to Karachi. Our collage had arranged 25th of December. When we left La hore by train. The Journey was long. The winter dampen our high spirits. Next day we reached Karachi late in the afternoon.We went we had seen in Lahore. The number of cars we saw on the roads indicated the beloved leader, Squad -I-Gamma , to pay our homage. After offering faith we went to clothes of Squad-I-Gamma were on the show in the room. After this we went to Clifton beach , the most popular picnic resort in Karachi. There we saw the sea for the first to go very far. After the swim, we had tea in a restaurant the beach. It was now time Karachi were splendid buildings. They were richly decorated. Very brightly. It and airport. The first item on our programmer for the next day was a visit to the state

The Gift of the Magi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Gift of the Magi - Essay Example In the story, O. Henry uses a detailed, humorous, and well-meaning tone. The writer uses a detailed tone for the story by showing the Della’s, the main character, emotion, action, and her environment in detail. The author describes in-depth how Della worries about what to buy for her husband Jim’s at Christmas. The story describes Della’s emotion when he writes: â€Å"There was clearly nothing to do but to flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So, Della did it. This instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating† (O. Henry 164). Della’s actions and emotions are explained in detail from the following passage. â€Å"After Della cut her hair, she got her curling irons, lit the gas, and went to work, repairing the ravages made by generosity. This is always a tremendous task, dear friends, a mammoth taskâ€Å"(O. Henry 166). A humorous tone is shown when the author explains about the main characters. This is evidenced in the story when Della says to herself, â€Å"If Jim does not kill me,† he will take a second look at me and say that I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But, what could I do? Oh! What could I do with a dollar and eighty seven cents?† (O. Henry 166). ... Henry 166). The two main characters in â€Å"The Gift of the MAGI† are Della Young and James Dillingham Young. Della Young is a positive and honest person because she sells her long beautiful long hair in order to buy a gift for her husband at Christmas. This is shown in the following passage: â€Å"pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheek burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied† (O. Henry 164). In the story, it is shown that Della is an honest person. James Dillingham Young is Della’s husband. He looks thin and very serious. He appears tired because of the burden of taking care of his family. As such, he needs a new overcoat and gloves (O. Henry 166). Also, he sells his gold watch, which was his grandfather’s, in order to buy a Christmas gift for his wife. â€Å"The Gift of the MAGI† addresses the true love between two people, e ven though they are very poor. The story states that â€Å"Della and Jim live at home. He is paid eight dollars per week. As such, they are poor. However, they love and cherish each other very much† (O. Henry 164). Also, the writer conveys a theme within the characters through evidence. Della and Jim think about what gift to buy for each other for Christmas. Della’s response is to â€Å"cut her hair, which ripples and shines like a cascade of brown water because she wants to buy a gift for Jim† (O. Henry 165). Also, â€Å"Jim wants sell his watch because he wants to give Della a luxury comb. Della especially liked the ones in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs are like pure tortoise shells with jeweled rims. The shade can be worn in beautiful varnished hair† (O. Henry

Analyse ways in which minimum core elements can be demonstrated in Essay

Analyse ways in which minimum core elements can be demonstrated in applying theories and principles for planning and enabling inclusive learning and teaching - Essay Example As such, the teacher can collaborate with language specialists in order to devise relevant activities. The instructor must ensure that the language of use should correspond with learning level of the students’ learning, while also being dynamic enough to allow the acquisition of more vocabulary. Other methods that will be helpful at this point include: setting tasks for learners to read; using readable and accessible texts to help learners develop their comprehension skills; using reciprocal teaching; making use of effective questioning; and reading handouts and written materials aloud; and finding ways to present materials through means other than written information (Lawton & Turnbull, 2007, p. 44). As for numeracy and learning theory, it is important that the instructor offers alternative methods for solving problems; increasing awareness of the language of numbers [such as multiplication, addition, product, times and share]; and avoiding the assumption that learners arrival at correct answers necessarily means comprehension of the topic. There is also a great need on the side of the teachers to design exercises that are relevant and meaningful before according learners with opportunities to practice, sharpen and put the skills they have acquired to use (Lawton & Turnbull, 2007, p. 44-45). Teachers should develop the culture of using up-to-date technologies such as whiteboards, m-learning and digital cameras to motivate learners. It is important at this juncture that the instructor encourages learner autonomy in ICT use. In this light, webquests the use of function keys and keyboard shortcuts will help develop individual ICT skills. Older learners who may not be enthusiastic about the use of ICT should also be encouraged to start using ICT. Other provisions of ICT which may go a long way in creating tech-savvy learners include interactive whiteboards,

Eportfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Eportfolio - Essay Example Amongst the many reasons that led to the decision was the need to run the plant more efficiently. While the management role rested wholly on the ministry of defense, the plant hardly ran at the optimal level as evidenced by the case study excerpt and this necessitated change. Efficient and strategic leadership was all that was required in order to restore and actualize the optimal performance of the naval pant. Efficiency in managing human resource, time, information and finances was a critical requirement, which led to the decision to put on board private management team by the ministry of defense. This paper therefore intends to critically analyze the performance of the plant before 2002, when the ministry of defense and the royal navy managed the plant, the strategic theories and models that were used and contrast the findings with the management structure that was introduced after 2002. A comparison of the internal features of the organizations will also be done. Analysis on thes e findings will employ the Hope Hailey’s and Balogun Change Kaleidoscope. Moreover, the paper will equally conduct Lewin’s Force field Analysis to the case study of the Fasline. An interview with Howie, who was the Fasline managing director for the period running from 2002-2006, reveals that the naval base offices are well constructed to accommodate the ships as well as the sailors. He says that it was the need to reduce operational costs and improve on the effectiveness that led to the decision to have partnerships with industrial firms in the running of the naval base and the ministry of defense of UK. The initial contract to be signed in the year 2002 dictated that the incoming team was obligated to bring about an approximate savings of about $ 114 million of the operational costs within five years while at the same time delivering the services of the naval. Strategic change context in 2002, at the start of the change process at Faslane Change is a common phenomenon in management of today’s firms. Organizations have been seen to employ permanent change policies as regards future performance in every change adopted. Changing an organizations structure and administration enhances quality and service delivery. During the freezing stage, members that are directly involved are prepared about the change and the need to have it. It is therefore a preparation stage (Rezvani, Dehkordi and Shamsollahi, 2012, 113-114). Since the change entails a wide range of rearrangement of the organization structure, proper preparation is essential. In analyzing the Faslane 2002 change, we look at the critical reasons that necessitated the change among which the general management formed basic. A sound system that would ensure profitability by way of saving costs was necessary. Moreover, the naval base required proper management of the over 7500 people around the naval base. However, resistance to change as is a common feature in all organizational change proce dures was evident. The customers were first hesitant in embracing the adoption of private firms to manage the base, as the structure that they were familiar with was the royal navy and the ministry of defense structure of management. Howie says that the civilians had adopted the supervisory role against the navy personnel who were busy looking after the ships and the submarines.

Shakespeare othello Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Shakespeare othello - Research Paper Example Along with it, the play also encapsulates perspective which can be judged from myriad social cone. The feminist and the racist approach to the play amid them is the most prominent. Thesis Statement The play â€Å"Othello† by Shakespeare captivates myriad themes like, jealousy, love, revenge and betrayal. All these themes are incorporated in the play which helps it to move forward and reveal the subtle bent of human psychology, which the playwright wishes to project through various characters and their interaction with the other characters in the play. This essay intends to explore the manifestation of these themes through the symbols, characters and motifs of the play throughout its plot. Myriad Themes Captivated within the Multi-layered Plot of the Play Despite being a tragedy, the importance and influence of the play â€Å"Othello† in the history of the English theatre cannot be undermined at all. The theme of love in the play is manifested through the love of Othello for Desdemona whom he treats as the extension of his own self. Desdemona is treated by Othello as an object of romantic passion with a feeling of exaltation. The destruction of Desdemona is actually treated as self-destruction for Othello. And the murder of Desdemona is viewed as a prelude to his self-killing. Iago, in such situation, can be viewed as an object of temptation that is persuading Othello relentlessly to view and regard himself from a perspective of Venice. Gradual provocation compelled him to accept the fact that he is an alien to the Venetian society and the lady of his love, who is an embodiment of that Venetian culture, also treats him alien. Othello desired for an ideal beauty and ideal love which he found in Desdemona. Desdemona, on the other hand, is incarnation of pure spiritual love and embodiment of ideal beauty. She is not the icon of love but the reason for love in others. It is under the influence of Iago with his tainted mind, Othello started viewing his beloved as a threat and her sexuality started becoming unbearable for him. Othello under the spell of his frailty mind gradually moves away from the platform on which the sensual and spiritual love were harmonised. Slowly Desdemona’s erotic beauty became an eye-sore for him and her devotion and love seemed â€Å"proof† of infidelity. The failure of Othello to harmonize the two aims of love leads him to encounter a fear and loathe of secularity which puts him into an aura encapsulated by physical frailty and extreme dependence on Desdemona. The horror and pity displayed by Othello transcends every spectacle of love and takes him to a paradigm far beyond the complete and noble concept of love undermined by a filthy and self-hatred state of mind. Even the failure of Othello as a romantic lover does not end with the bodily collapse of Desdemona. It is only the destruction of the symbol of life by the lover. And even after the murder of his beloved, the experience of love c ontinues. This is the reason as even after Desdemona perishes, Othello is posited in a â€Å"full possession of this heavenly sight† reflected from the sight of his dead beloved. Theme of Jealousy â€Å"Othello† is a play that explores sexual jealousy at myriad levels of its plot. The seat of jealousy evolves in the play from the outset of the play; the audiences are encountered with Iago. Iago

Islam in Kyrgyzstan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Islam in Kyrgyzstan - Term Paper Example This paper will analyze Islam in Kyrgyzstan and present an objective account of the role that this religion plays in this country. In order to do so, the paper will provide a general overview of the religion in question in the country and examine the process of introduction of it. Next, it will analyze the extent of influence of tribal religious system of the contemporary Islam as it is practiced in Kyrgyzstan, paying particular attention to tengriism, elements of shamanism as well as the peculiarities of their coexistence with the Muslim faith. The following aspect of investigation is the relationship between Islam and the state, namely the way the former influences rhetoric of certain politicians as well as legal system of the country. Finally, the paper will analyze the current status of Islam in Kyrgyzstan, including the increase in the number of mosques, introduction of Islamic banking and national holidays. Kyrgyzstan is a rather peculiar country. It is situation in the Central Asian region is border with such influential countries as China and Kazakhstan. It was a part of the Soviet Union and, therefore, was able to experience influence of communistic atheism on its religious life. In spite of the fact that Kyrgyzstan does not play a key role in the politics of the religion or its cultural life, this is a country that should be taken into account when it comes to understanding the diversity of the part of the world in question. It would not be a mistake to suggest that Islam was introduced to these lands relatively late: in the tenth century the southern part of the modern Kyrgyzstan was converted into Sunni Islam. However, the process of consolidation of tribes and their unification was slow: even today there is a big different between the southern and the northern parts of Kyrgyzstan. The people of this country were closely connected to their traditional beliefs; that is why to a certain extent such

Analysis of ethical dilemma that has been addressed by a professional Essay

Analysis of ethical dilemma that has been addressed by a professional journalist - Essay Example Why? c. What was the effect of the decision on the individuals involved and on the community in general? What would have been the effect of a different choice in addressing this ethical decision? d. Are there any relevant laws that influenced the journalist’s decision? If so, what does the law state, and how did it affect the decision? Are there any legal implications to the decision? Ethical Dilemma Addressed by a Professional Journalist Chosen Report The report chosen to be analyzed for this paper is entitled â€Å"The boy with a broker heart: special problems with juveniles are newsmakers† written by Richard Paxson (2011). Case facts revealed the story of a 14 year old boy, Jody Collins, who accidentally caused the death of a schoolmate when punched at the back. Apparently, the schoolmate, named Justin Charlie, was reported to have had a â€Å"plastic valve sewn into his heart a month before to fix a birth defect. When Jody hit Charlie, the blow ripped out stitches holding the valve in the aorta, according to the autopsy report. Charlie’s heart stopped beating† (Paxson, 2011, par. 3). Reporter Nick Lamberto investigated the facts behind the incident by pursuing Jody at his home and interviewing him without seeking prior consent from an adult. Subsequent news reports have identified Jody when he was charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault. Adding insult to injury, Jody, who was previously identified as a victim to a sexual abuse and testified in court during the uncle’s (perpetuator’s) trial, was concurrently reported and sensationalized. a. What is the ethical issue or dilemma? The ethical issue presented in the article encompassed violations of privacy, giving informed consent, competencies of children, environmental and social context, among others. Privacy issues have been clearly defined by the reporter’s lawyers, especially in cases involving juveniles who have allegedly committed some criminal offense but has not been charged as of the date of scheduled report. In addition, there were policies against naming sexual abuse victims to protect the identity and absolve them from social stigma. The ethical issue of getting consent from adults, not from the children, was likewise violated by the reported. The subject of seeking consent proves to be controversial in terms of who the journalists should seek consent from in addition to the children themselves, the subject of competence is more debatable due to the age by which competence in children is agreed on. In this case, despite the apparent intent of Jody to seek the presence and consent from his stepfather, the reported disregarded the ethical obligation to seek consent from the adult and proceeded on interviewing Jody alone. Competence was clearly depicted by Alderson (1995) as having 3 characteristics: understanding, wisdom, and freedom. At the age of 14, Jody is still considered a juvenile and as such, competence is stil l compromised. Ethical issues of the environment and society were eminent through the pressures and actions manifested by neighbors, to wit: â€Å"eggs already had been tossed at his home and at a van he was riding in† (Paxson, 2011, par. 17). Also comments from Jody’s neighbors have supposedly attested to the boy’s violent and aggressive behavior; seemingly rationalizing and justifying the reporter’s intention to publish his identity. What choices did the journalist have when reporting on the issue, and why did he or she decide the way he or she did?

Analyse and evaluate the view that language affects cognition Essay

Analyse and evaluate the view that language affects cognition - Essay Example â€Å"Children learn languages that are governed by highly subtle and abstract principles, and they do so without explicit instructions or any other environmental clues to the nature of such principles† (Pinker, 1995: 135). Despite the complexity of language systems, every child successfully learns his/ her first language in a few years, without conscious effort or formal lessons. Hence, language acquisition is distinct from general intelligence; it is based on inherent cognitive programming, and is unique to humans. One of the important aspects of cognitive science is language acquisition. According to Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler (2004, p.172), â€Å"inhibitory processes serve a restraining function by preventing strong responses† from taking control of effectors responsible for thought and action. This constraining measure ensures that other less likely responses are also considered; hence incorrect interpretations of text and language are avoided. These functions work together to ensure that information in the memory buffer pertains only to goal-relevant information. Language learnability is related to the cognitive processing that gives meaning to language. There is a distinction between top-down and bottom-up processing. Top-down refers to starting with the complete picture and working down to the basic processes; bottom-up means starting with the minute details and working towards understanding the whole process. Thus, the former is a breaking down process, and the latter is a building up process (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2004). In top-down processing of stimulus, knowledge and memory function together to explain the details while information from the general context is used to help organize the stimulus. On the other hand, bottom-up processing of a stimulus is that in which information is from a physical stimulus, and not from a general context. The bottom level of processing is

The Evolution of Representations of the 'Libertine' Essay

The Evolution of Representations of the 'Libertine' - Essay Example These issues had largely to do with factors or methodologies for keeping anarchies at bay and holding on to power. Uneasy lay the heads that held the crown. The dark ages did not provide any help by way of alternative means of ruling and administering. Theologians were divided in their loyalty and beliefs. Blind faith, superstition or outright bullying tactics were the order of the day. The mighty monarch ruled with an iron fist till death or till he was deposed or treacherously killed. This lasted until the 14th century A.D. The Renaissance descended like a breath of fresh air everywhere in Europe. The media of books and theatres whetted the appetite of the peasants and royalty alike, but having promised the moon it still left a void in the hearts and minds of both. This was enough for fertile creativity to wind its way through the corridors of subtle extravaganzas prevalent with the royalty in its grotesque mismatches of high-handed aristocracy and ignoble reality of the suffering masses. In the circumstances, what better way to exploit the social anomalies than the dangling of the naughty albeit decent Francois, the poor but enigmatic pcaro, and the sleaze, the intrigue, the portrayal of social and political inequalities and hypocrisies, and the ambiguities of living in a exploitative system and the artistic means of its exposure. The situation was not all that entertaining. The metamorphosis from medieval to modern era claimed its share of intrigue, suspense and bloodshed. If it started with a simple laughter from the pages of Charles Sorel it also revolutionized France with staggering effect. The Renaissance factor Beginning from the 14th century, Europe witnessed an awakening that was to transform the way people thought and worked. Changes were beginning to happen economically, politically, in the field of art and religion, education, and these had their cascading effects on social and familial life. (Renaissance) The nature of transformation was epochal so much so that literature, scientific discoveries and inventions, sea voyages for discovery of new continents and regions, and even exploration of space by rockets became topics of great interest and research. There was a paradigm shift in the way people of all walks of life began to think. They dreamed! New and successful ideas, discoveries and inventions were fodder to their beliefs that nothing was impossible. (From Cyrano to Jean-Luc Picard) It was an awakening of continental proportion that initiated the preference for logic and reason as the ideal means to establish facts and find out truth. It also lent credence to the fundamentals of cause and effect as responsible for events, situations and actions. These concepts dramatically changed the ways of thinking and execution. They equipped science and literature with profound and effective insights and methodologies for developing theories and strategies. The freshness and originality of

Social media Essay Example for Free

Social media Essay Social media is being integrated in our everyday lives at a rapid pace. Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace have become a channel for social interaction, personal identification and network building among society. A student’s life would be unthinkable without Facebook and small to medium businesses for example food trucks would suffer without the enormity of audience volume of social media. These companies have evolved people’s lives and business in successful ways, the question remains to ask on how these companies are to remain profitable from individuals using their services. As Facebook remains to be the top social media portal, the company has many obstacles to overcome when it comes to ethical issues regarding security and privacy. Facebook has essentially become a personal identification database. This is very disconcerting as personal information can easily be accessed or recognized using Facebook. In the past, the company has faced protest and government action as it has practiced unfair and deceptive business research practices. The unethical research behavior issue at hand has to do with privacy concerns with its users. The problem involved has to do with users being unaware on how Facebook manages its personal information. The company conducted deceptive practices by not warning user’s that certain personal information was made public record, which was set to be private by the user. In other results, Facebook, which has almost a billion users worldwide, had allowed advertisers to glean personally identifiable information when a Facebook user clicked on an advertisement on his or her Facebook page. The injured party in facebook’s security and privacy breach is the user. The user has personal information that is only intended for his or her private forum. The user should be notified if any personal information is being viewed in a public forum. Also advertiser should not have the capabilities of tracking user information even though the user clicks on advertisements belonging to the company. As a result, the ability to track someone should be off limits. Social media has become a portal for personal information and can be viewed as a spy machine. This in turn could have reckless affects against the user and consumer. The unethical behavior has affected the organization, individual, and society in a spectrum of events. The organization or Facebook was investigated by the Federal Trade commission and was given a settlement that could result in fines. The government did not find that Facebook intentionally broke the law but must respect the privacy wishes of its users and must adhere to privacy audits the next 20 years. However, within the organization, Facebook potentially could have lost users and faced protest from society for certain products that were resulting in privacy and security concerns. In a report of 23 internet service companies, the watchdog organization Privacy international charged Facebook with severe privacy flaws and put it in the second lowest category for â€Å"substantial and comprehensive privacy threats† (â€Å"A race to the bottom†, 2007) As an individual, the company’s unethical behavior is disconcerting and should be more thoroughly recognized when using the Facebook’s service. Potentially the information viewed and received can report a lot of about people’s behavior and actions that could lead to further investigation. In a rather benign example, a police officer resorted to searching Facebook after witnessing a case of public urination outside a fraternity house at University of Illinois. Once on Facebook, the officer found the man he was looking for and cited the individual a $145. 00 ticket for public urination. (Dawson, 2007) Additionally, the Patriot Act allows state agencies to bypass privacy settings on Facebook in order to look up potential employees. (NACE spotlight online, 2006) The unethical behavior by Facebook has given society a reason to be concerned about the personal information that they may deem as irravalent data. Facebook or the internet for that matter is a spy machine that collects data and can be viewed to the public for research. As technology evolves, a new wave of computer hacking tools will develop using personal information from social media portals. In a experiment by Missouri student Charlie Rosenbury, who wrote a computer program that enable him to invite 250,000 people to be his friend and 30 percent added him to be his friend. (Jump, 2005) Simarily, the IT firm Sophos set up a fake profile to data mine â€Å"friends† for the purpose of identity theft. They found that out of 200 contacted people, 41 percent revealed personal information by either responding to the contact or immediately befriending the fake persona. (Sophos Facebook ID, 2007) The unethical behavior could be avoided or resolved by having safer business practices. Facebook is attempting to profit by large margins from its users for advertisement. The company has at present a billion users that could dangle to advertisers for the benefit of profiting in large scales. Facebook has not found a model to ethically keep users information private and maximize on the personal information of its users.

MAS holdings: An overview

MAS holdings: An overview MAS Holdings is a large apparel manufacturer in Sri Lanka, whose partners are also some other well-known fashion brands in the world including Victoria Secret, Gap, Inc., Nike etc., as introduced by Watson and Story (2006). Its About us website also states that MAS is now a giant in South Asian in undergarment and sportswear manufacturing industry with more than USD 700 million of revenue every year. The companys history was described thoroughly by Watson and Story (2006), from which a number of reasons for its success could be figured out. However, the factors standing out from those reasons were from its management activities. This assignment is going to analyse the above aspects with the MAS case study by Watson and Story (2006). The first thing to be discussed is how the MASs manager helped it flourish. In this case, the roles of a manager in the general context of business should be considered. According to Mintzberg (1973) in Boddy (2008), there are 10 roles for a manager to play in total. Those roles are divided into 3 main categories: informational roles, interpersonal roles and decisional roles then described by Mintzberg (1973) in Boddy (2008). Informational roles are required from managers for the information inside and outside of the organisation to be received and transferred. This includes monitor (finding and acquiring information), disseminator (passing the information acquired) and spokesperson (passing the information to out of the company). Interpersonal roles are required from managers to build and maintain relationships between people in the company and also with people outside, which comprise of figurehead (representing the organisation in formal events), leader (making people do their jobs and help them to improve) and liaison (networking between the business and its stakeholders). Decisional roles are required for managers to make right decisions for the firm including entrepreneur (creating new things, making significant changes, catching opportunities and indicating development routes), disturbance handler (solving accidental problems or changes), resource allocator (distributing the resources of the organisation to the right sector with the right amount and in the right time) and negotiator (convincing the stakeholders). Mintzberg (1973) suggested in Boddy (2008) that every manager plays all of these roles, however the priority of each role may vary depending on his/her position. In the case study of MAS by Watson and Story (2006), there were a variety of evidences supporting the application of the above roles. Firstly, the informational roles could be proved by the way the production line was supervised: The supervisors walk through each cluster of machines, making notes. They sync their Palm Pilots to the central database to post their lines current efficiency and productivity numbers on the electronic boards overhead. (Watson and Story (2006), page 5), which showed the monitor and disseminator roles. With this method, the production management of MAS became very professional that enabled itself and its partner to continuously track the production progress and make changes when necessary to increase efficiency or to meet the new demand, while creating a good image for MAS as a reliable manufacturer. On the other hand, the interpersonal roles were proved mainly by leadership. In this aspect, the MASs managers, especially the Amaleans who chose follow an ethi cal business concept, attempted to motivate the employees by a very high-quality working environment and by the provision of life supports, training, education, as well as promotion prospects, which helped some exemplary persons like TNS Kumari to noticeably change their poor lives. As a result, this again created another good image for MAS, this time as a business doing the right thing (not the sweatshops bias in apparel industry at that time), attracted more local talent who tend to seek opportunities overseas and maintain strong relationships between the company and employees, which were important for further development. Last but not least, the decisional roles were proved mainly by entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurship of MASs managers is illustrated through the fact that the Amaleans started their own business, created new units (two IT branches, an own brand Amante in 2007 as introduced in Amante page on MAS Website) looked for and caught opportunities (creating joint ventur es with several famous fashion brands then learn from them the modern technology and business practice) and decided the paths of development (concentrating on lingerie manufacturing, reaching high technology by partnership with Speedo). These were some of the major decisions that boost MASs growth from a USD 6 million annual revenue firm in 1990 to an over USD 570 million annual revenue one in 2005, according to Exhibit 2, page 18 in Watson and Story (2006). The second topic of this assignment is the management approach. As Worthington and Britton (2009) said, in the general business context, there are 3 main approaches: classical approach, human relations approach and systems approach. According to Worthington and Britton (2009), the classical approach is based on scientific management and bureaucracy, which were studied by Taylor (1856-1915) and Weber (1864-1920) respectively. The former means increasing productivity by the one best way to do the job and by rewarding employees financially toward the common achievement of the organisation. The latter insists on the formality of the organisation (the hierarchy). Next, the human relations approach, instead, focuses on the people, the social and psychological effects on their performance including motivations, leadership, communications and group dynamics and the informal relationships in the formal environment, which was early studied by Elton Mayo (1880-1949). Lastly, the systems approac h views the organisation as a collection of different correlative sections and if a change occurs with one section, the other sections will also have to change accordingly in order that the overall performance will not be undermined. This approach is considered to appear later and to be more complex than the two first ones. In the MAS case study by Watson and Story (2006), in respect of the definitions of different management approaches above, the human relation approach appeared to be most considerable. This approach was obviously supported by the concept of an ethical business in combination with several extra benefits which gives MASs employees a lot of incentives. Consequently, in the case study, it was mentioned that despite the cost of this business practice: Even Sharad, the former CFO, thought that payback came in different forms: employees who embraced the company culture, higher productivity, lower downtime. At this point, the level of employees satisfaction should be measured, which can be done by Maslow needs hierarchy in Worthington and Britton (2009). There are 5 levels in this hierarchy: physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualisation. As can be seen from the case study, most of these motives of MASs workers were met. For physiological needs, they were working in well-designed factories, able to have free breakfast and lunch as well as to use the on-site medical centre. For safety, the well-designed factories and the medical centre also gave a hand, in addition to the abuse-free working environment and the right to stop the production line when there are troubles. For love, the strong relationships had been built between the employees and the company itself, the employees and managers and the employees with each other through the friendly working environment and many extra activities. For esteem, the workers were assured that they were working in an ethical business with high labour standard and they also had chances to participate in MAS Women Go Beyond programme. For self-actualisation, they were able to attend different kinds of classes or training and to have promotion opportunities. These examples made the human relations approach in MAS evident. In conclusion, the prosperity of MAS was notably influenced by the proper of different management theories, of which the most outstanding are the roles of managers and the human relations approach. While the roles of managers were well played in MAS and help sharply strengthen the business, the human relations approach did that from the very inside of the firm: the satisfaction of each of the people working for it. MAS would still need these advantages for its further development and the way it runs might be a notable example for other companies. REFERENCE: About us [n.d Online] MAS Holdings. Available: http://www.masholdings.com/ [Accessed 11 November 2009]. Amante [n.d Online] MAS Holdings. Available: http://www.masholdings.com/ [Accessed 11 November 2009]. Boddy, D. (2008) Management: An Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education. Watson, N. and Story, J. (2006) MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry. INSEAD. Worthington, I. and Britton, C. (2009) The Business Environment. 6th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education.

The Work Satisfaction And Motivation Questionnaire Psychology Essay

The Work Satisfaction And Motivation Questionnaire Psychology Essay According to Neuman, 2000 population can be seen as a number of things such as individuals or groups, the researcher wants to investigate. Whereas Cooper Schindler, 2001; Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 2000; Sekaran, 2000 refers to it as an entire group that allows data to be sourced and investigated. By establishing this, I have concluded that 60 sales employees of Currys/PC World Mega Store would be investigated upon, this is because it would provide an accurate answer to the research question identified in chapter one. SAMPLE SIZE Sample also had a similar definition to population as cited by (Sekaran, 2000, p.226) a subset of the population. In their latest book Somekh and Lewin 2005, it refers to as individuals from whole selection of entire population. Neuman 1994 talk about the sample ratio, as he implies that size of population will determine the sampling ratio for example the limitation of handing out the questionnaire the higher the ratio need. By looking at this view the sample size I used should be around 60 to give a better result in response. However out of 60, 43 participated in this study. 17 out of 60 returned questionnaires which were uncompleted due to being misplaced or failed to complete questionnaire. 3.3.2 SAMPLING DESIGN In outlining the size of this investigation above, it can be said that the type sampling which was used for this purpose of research was in fact the non-probability. As cited by Welman Kruger, 2001 it is less complicated than a probability sampling design, incurs less expense and may be done to take advantage of the available respondents without the statistical complexity of a probability sample. 3.3.3 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN Robert 2006 states which I have interpreted as a survey, is a technique for research that enables to gather information from a group of people, in this case sale employees only, even thought they are in different departments they still do the same job as others. Terre blanche and Durrheim 2003 also confirm this, however the process of questionnaire construction is very complex, as stated by Whiteley 2003:371. SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE As we move on, Edwards et al 1997:24 state the survey questions can be two put into two categories, one being open-ending they other closed- ending. Researchers main use closed-ended questions as it is the preferred because the answer are set in a way that can easily be quantified by the researcher, stated by Whiteley, 2002:345. With this understanding I have incorporated Likert rating scales because it would make it easier for the employee to answer the question based on how strongly they feel, positive or negative. I had used the five-point Likert scales the In my analysis of motivation and job satisfaction at Currys/PC World Mega Store. DATA GATHERING INSTRUMENTS Linde, Rothmann and Sieberhagen (1999 cited in van Zyl, 2002) add that as self evaluation questionnaires are usually quantified, it is easier to compare the scores of different individuals. Weiers (1988) further postulates that the analysis of questionnaires is easy due to the structured information in the questionnaire with minimal or no open-ended questions. Kerlinger (1986) however, found that the main problems experienced using questionnaires involve poor levels of response and the limitation of not being able to test the given responses for accuracy. Furthermore, the validity of self-evaluation questionnaires may differ from situation to situation as some items are ambiguous and could be viewed as having two possible answers (Smith, 1981 cited in van Zyl, 2002; van Zyl van der Walt, 1994). 3.4 RESEARCH STRATEGY 3.4.3 ETHICS CHECKLIST The study involves participants who are employees at DSGI only. All research carried out would be by myself. A statement would be provided on the questionnaire giving participant information about the research, that they understand the nature of the work and what is expected of them. The study will not involve discussion of sensitive topics (e.g. managers or employees dislike). No financial inducements will be offered to participants. Identification of the steps to be taken to ensure that participants do not feel pressurised to participate.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 3.4.1 TIMEFRAME OF RESEARCH To conduct this research I had created a timeframe so it doesnt interfere with other commitment. It also enabled me to stay on top of study so I can get the best results needed, I had given myself 1 month period to complete study. Task Duration Resources Required Begin the secondary research 4 weeks Books, journals, internet Complete literature review 14 days Books, journals, internet; Computer Choose sample 21 days Design questionnaire in draft 14 days Books, computers Finalise questionnaire 4 days Computer; books Carry out questionnaires 6 weeks Transport and Appropriate venue Gathering of all data 1 week Paper, computer Analyse the data and responses to the questionnaires 5 weeks Computer, software e.g excel, Books, journals 3.4.2 RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION The required data will be collected by producing a questionnaire about views, thoughts and opinions of sales employees. It will include qualitative and quantitative data used open and closed questions. The results of the multiple choice questions can be produced into a tally table. Graphs can be produced using a computer to illustrate the research results. A quantitative method was used to gather data for the research. The measuring instruments included the Work Satisfaction and Motivation Questionnaire developed by De Beer (1987) and a self developed biographical questionnaire. 3.4.4 PRE-TEST OF QUESTIONNAIRE I had created a questionnaire which I was not satisfied with at first. I felt I should add or edit question that needed to be asked, also on back of my mind that too many question would results in more literature review, due to the limitation of study I had refined question that best suited the literature research i had undertaken. According to Zikmund 2003:229 had stated that a trial run with a group of five to seven would criticize the questions, structure and design of questionnaire. After the feedback was processed and analysed, some changes were made to wording and layout as well as the type of question asked i.e. from open question which need explaining of reason of choose at they stated time consuming and the most important fact that they are there to work. This is why i had introduced Likert rating scales question which made it easy to respond as they need to but an x in the statement they believe. 3.4.6 RESEARCH APPROACH A modified questionnaire tagged Work Motivation, Job Satisfaction was used for the collection of data on the study. The questionnaire was specifically designed to accomplish the objectives of the study. The first section collected information such as age, sex, experience, professional status, marital status, position, and so on. The second section contained the items, and was divided into three parts. The biographical questionnaire was used to determine the demographic profile of the sample. Questions tapped into the following personal information of the individual: age, race, gender, designation, years employed at the organisation, educational level, and language spoken. by De Beer (1987) Part1. This measures motivation. It is a 15-item questionnaire using a Likert scale with responses ranging from Strongly Agree= SA; Agree = A; Disagree = D; and Strongly Disagree = SD. The items were adapted from Work Motivation Behaviour Scale of the Akinboyes 2001 Executive Behaviour Battery. The modification yielded an r = 0.74 Cronbach Alpha. Part 2. This part contains fifteen items that measure organizational commitment, using a Likert scale of four points: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. Items were adapted from organizational commitment questionnaire (OCQ) by Mooday, Steer, and Porter (1979). The overall reliability co-efficient of the instrument yielded an r = 0.83 cronbach alpha. 3.5 PROCEDURE I had to ask for permission from managing director of Currys/PC World Mega Store to conduct the research on sales employees. This was the first hurdle as permission was then obtained from sales departments mangers. I had provided the questionnaires to managers direct to hand out as they discuss the sales figures in the brief which made it easy for colleague to participate. Cover letter explained the purposes of the research, that participation was voluntary and what the results would be used for. (Furthermore, respondents were assured that all responses would remain confidential, respondents would remain anonymous and that only grouped data would be presented. To stay anonymous i had suggested that they place questionnaire in a tray which was provided for each department, this was explained to managers. As to time frame and collecting enough data, I had chosen three of the most busiest days so I can have good range of answer which would give me an accurate answer to the question I was answering, 3.5 DISCUSSION RESEARCH APPROACH ADVANTAGE The data was gathered by means of self-report questionnaires. Rosnow and Rosenthal (1996) have outlined the advantages of using questionnaires as follows: It can be administered to large numbers of individuals The method also allows anonymity It is relatively more economical to use Linde, Rothmann and Sieberhagen (1999 cited in van Zyl, 2002) add that as selfevaluation questionnaires are usually quantified, it is easier to compare the scores of different individuals. Weiers (1988) further postulates that the analysis of questionnaires is easy due to the structured information in the questionnaire with minimal or no open-ended questions. DISADVANTAGES Kerlinger (1986) however, found that the main problems experienced using questionnaires involve poor levels of response and the limitation of not being able to test the given responses for accuracy. Furthermore, the validity of self-evaluation questionnaires may differ from situation to situation as some items are ambiguous and could be viewed as having two possible answers (Smith, 1981 cited in van Zyl, 2002; van Zyl van der Walt, 1994). DATA COLLECTION METHOD ADVANTAGES For the purposes of this research, a questionnaire was considered appropriate as data gathering instrument. Denzin and Lincoln (2002) postulates that there are specific benefits of utilising questionnaires: The cost per questionnaire is relatively low. Structured information in the questionnaire and few open questions makes analysing questionnaires is relatively straightforward. Questionnaires give respondents extended time to formulate accurate responses. This method of data collection produces quick results. Questionnaires are a stable, consistent and uniform method of collecting data. The advantage, Convenience sampling involves collecting information from members of the population who are most easily accessible and conveniently available to provide the required information (Kerlinger, 1986). The rationale for using this method is that it is convenient, quick and costeffective (Neuman, 1997; Terre Blanche Durrheim, 1999). DISADVANTAGES Based on discussion, I have identified ..of using questionnaire as following: The negative reaction of the public towards questionnaires. Usage of questionnaires is limited to literate respondents. Questionnaires are time consuming due to the construction of a linguistic questionnaire and the response time of respondents (Bless Higson-Smith, as cited in Roberts, 2005).Kerlinger, as cited in Roberts (2005) argues that the response rate for questionnaires tends to be relatively low. A response rate of between 20 to 4 percent (20% 40%) can be expected when utilising questionnaires as a datagathering instrument (Bless Higson-Smith, as cited in Roberts, 2005). The disadvantage however, is that the properties of the sample are likely to under or overestimate the true population values (Terre Blanche Durrheim, 1999). Moreover, the sample may misrepresent the population and the results cannot easily and accurately be generalised (Neuman, 1997; Sekaran, 2000).) 3.6 LIMITATIONS A limitation of this research could be, how the sample is going to be chosen amount of time i have to complete the dissertation, it also can affect the achievement on how much research we could gather and the various research skills that we could reflect in my work to gain information about motivation and job satisfaction. The availability of primary research carried out, as most or nearly all of primary research will be collected from journals, books and scalars. This will produce critical analysis which argues for and against represent all the population and a general view. So therefore results will only reflect what author think about motivation and job satisfaction in Currys/PC World Mega Store on sales employees. 3.7 SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER This chapter outlined the description of the research design, provided a description of the sample and discussed the demographics of the sample. The data collection procedure were presented. The instruments used to gather the data were highlighted and described, and reference was made to the reliability and validity of the Work Satisfaction and Motivation Questionnaire. 3.7.1 INTRODUCTION OF NEXT CHAPTER Chapter 4 presents and discusses the data obtained in relation to literature reviewed in chapter two. The results are presented in a clear and coherent manner, using tables, graphs etc. This results are then critically discusses why this results are so in conjunction with motivation and job satisfaction.

The Methods of Iago in Shakespeares Othello :: Othello essays

The Methods of Iago in Othello Through out the play of Othello Iago used many techniques to get what he wanted and one way or another he some how all most always got what he wanted. His techniques were that of an everyday sneaky, conniving bad guy, who always got people to trust him, except the person that was closest to him. But the main overall techniques he used were; 1)He gained the trust of people. Which was the number one technique, and from gaining their trust he could branch off form that and then he could manipulate the people he was playing into thinking that he was on their side even when he might be on the opposite side. Another thing that he could do to people was to, from gaining their trust and making then think that he was on their side he could manipulate them and make them turn on each other. The other technique that he used which didn't nearly play a role as large as the first technique but was important was he was always very careful, in being discovered and by covering his tracks. He knew how to take care of things in precarious situation. There was in my own personal opinion one more technique, and that was that he knew how to use all his options and could use his wits and cunningness. Iago's number one technique was his ability to make people trust him. He had just about everyone spun in Iago's web. Rodrigo, Othello, Cassio, Desdemona, Emilia, and etc. And he got every one of them to trust him, although he still hadn't got Emilia into his web fully. She still had suspicions about him. He could gain the trust of people as if it was nothing to him. He always when talking to that certain person said that he was on their side, making a false trust that the person believed, and therefore trusted him. Now most of the people he did this to it worked on. Such as Cassio calling him "Honest Iago" and when Cassio got in that fight with Rodrigo, he believed that Iago was the only good, honest man on his side, even though he was the one who set him up. The Methods of Iago in Shakespeare's Othello :: Othello essays The Methods of Iago in Othello Through out the play of Othello Iago used many techniques to get what he wanted and one way or another he some how all most always got what he wanted. His techniques were that of an everyday sneaky, conniving bad guy, who always got people to trust him, except the person that was closest to him. But the main overall techniques he used were; 1)He gained the trust of people. Which was the number one technique, and from gaining their trust he could branch off form that and then he could manipulate the people he was playing into thinking that he was on their side even when he might be on the opposite side. Another thing that he could do to people was to, from gaining their trust and making then think that he was on their side he could manipulate them and make them turn on each other. The other technique that he used which didn't nearly play a role as large as the first technique but was important was he was always very careful, in being discovered and by covering his tracks. He knew how to take care of things in precarious situation. There was in my own personal opinion one more technique, and that was that he knew how to use all his options and could use his wits and cunningness. Iago's number one technique was his ability to make people trust him. He had just about everyone spun in Iago's web. Rodrigo, Othello, Cassio, Desdemona, Emilia, and etc. And he got every one of them to trust him, although he still hadn't got Emilia into his web fully. She still had suspicions about him. He could gain the trust of people as if it was nothing to him. He always when talking to that certain person said that he was on their side, making a false trust that the person believed, and therefore trusted him. Now most of the people he did this to it worked on. Such as Cassio calling him "Honest Iago" and when Cassio got in that fight with Rodrigo, he believed that Iago was the only good, honest man on his side, even though he was the one who set him up.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as the Fools of Hamlet Essay -- GCSE Cour

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as the Fools of Hamlet  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince Hamlet replaces the letter that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are carrying to England with a forgery of his own making, thus sending these two men to their deaths. He does this without giving it a second thought and never suffers from any guilt or remorse for his actions. Considering that these two men were friends from his youth, this would at first glance seem to reflect poorly on his character. However, one must consider carefully the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern before passing judgment on Hamlet.    Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent for by the King and Queen to spy on Hamlet and learn why he "puts on this confusion" (III, i.2). While some are fooled by Hamlet's act of insanity, the king is not. He is convinced that it is an act and, being a sly man himself, he suspects that Hamlet is up to something. Having obtained the throne through deceit and murder, he believes Hamlet capable of the same. While King Claudius is evil, he is not a fool and he would never have sent for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern if they were such close friends of Hamlet. They are even told outright that they will be rewarded for their efforts (II, ii. 21-6).    The very fact that they undertake this task for the king is proof enough of their lack of love and loyalty toward Hamlet. Despite their actions, Prince Hamlet gives them ample opportunity to show their loyalty by admitting that they were sent for and why. By showing so much reluctance, they show themselves to be allied with the king. Hamlet asks them to "be even and direct with me, whether you were sent for or no." But after this direct question, Rosencrantz s... ...let's warning. Either way, they are indeed fools and they die a fool's death in the end. They carry in the form of a letter, the king's command to have Hamlet beheaded upon his arrival in England. Hamlet switches the letter with a forgery and seals it with a likeness of the king's seal. The new letter orders the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, thus they handcarry their own death sentences to their executioners. A poetic justice is served to these unfaithful "friends."    Works Cited Frye, Northrop. 1991. Northrop Frye on Shakespeare   London: MacMillan. Girard, A Theater of Envy: William Shakespeare New York: Oxford University Press, 1991 Shakespeare, William. The Tradegy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark.   New York: Washington Square Press, 1992 Watts, Cedric. Hamlet Twayne New Critical Introduction to Shakespeare; Boston: Twayne, 1988.   

Loyalty Shown In The Odyssey Essay example -- essays research papers

Loyalty to family, community, and the gods is an important quality in the lives of ancient Greek citizens. These qualities are clear demonstrated in The Odyssey through Penelope, Telemakhos, and Odysseus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Penelope shows her loyalty in several ways. She shows loyalty to Odysseus by waiting for his return for twenty long years. She did not choose a suitor until she knew for sure that Odysseus was dead. To delay the decision of choosing a suitor, Penelope said she would marry a suitor after she had finished weaving her shroud. She showed that she was weaving the shroud during the day, but at night, when it got dark she secretly unwove it. That is how Penelope shows her loyalty to her family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Telemakhos also shows loyalty to his f...

Equilibrium

Equilibrium Director: Kurt Wimmer The film Equilibrium, directed by Kurt Wimmer, illustrates a world without emotions and how higher forms of control define a society. The idea of control is shown though the main character John Preston (Christian Bale). John Preston is the Top Gun Kata cleric. Initially he forgot to take a dose of Prozium (a drug which removes emotions from ones system). This mistake gives Preston an opportunity to change both his and all Librians lives. His choices and views change and we can clearly see these changes through the plot, costumes, music and most importantly cinematography.Preston eventually gains free will and the choices he makes contribute to the redemption of Libria. Wimmer crafts ideas of the media controlling a society and how it is important to stand up for ones individuality. The movie is set in a fictional town called Libria. It is ruled by the Tetragrammaton government and Father. Sense offenders those who are able to feel are exterminated by Grammaton Clerics. The film begins with a raid in the Nethers, where the sense offenders live. The scene is dim, dull and gloomy.Wimmer has done a great job with the camera work in the film to portray certain messages. The camera slowly pans over a vivid painting which symbolises life and emotion. Paintings and feelings are illegal in the society and punishable by death. The sense offenders guard a few remaining artefacts left by hiding them inside a room. The sense offenders desperately protect the illegal content because they are the remains from pre – world war three. The audience is then shown a wide shot of a group of Grammaton clerics about to enter the building.The group enter the building enclosing around the offenders. The clerics have orders from the fascist government to exterminate all sense offenders. The lawbreakers are slaughtered and all other objects of emotional content are destroyed. These two shots are important as they show who is fighting in the war and why the war is occurring. The law of Libria requires all Librians to take a daily dose of Prozium. After the raid Preston takes Mary O’Brien (Emily Watson) a sense offender into custody for questioning. Her words are memorable as she compares the difference in their lives.Hers is worth living because she has emotions whereas his is just â€Å"a clock ticking†. Preston contemplates Mary’s words as they give him more choice than the current society holds. He is infused with emotions and his views on life change ultimately confusing him. When Preston revisits the Nethers he approached a room full of illegal content. His newfound emotions give him curiosity and he plays a record – Beethoven. The power of the music helps justify Preston’s choice to bring change to Libria and the world. Jurgen, the head of the resistance fighters meets with Preston.They form a plan to overthrow Father and the government in order to give all Librians free will. The costu mes have been used throughout the film to help create thought provoking ideas of how emotions define a society. At the beginning of the film Preston always wears dark gloves. Preston takes his gloves off after he stops taking prozium. There is an effective image of Preston sliding his bare hand across a bullet shot wall. It is shown he explores how to feel when he slides his hand across the wall. This shows the audience how Preston gains a sense of touch.The Gun Kata and Grammaton clerics a new arm of the law always wear very conservative clothing. The audience is unable to connect to the Gun Kata as they appear desensitised. The costumes emphasise how they are emotionless and powerful. At the end of the film when Preston is fighting the Tetragrammaton government and Father, he wears an all white pristine uniform. This use of costume strongly symbolises good versus evil. It also makes Preston seem god like and powerful as he is the saviour of Libria. An example of good vs. evil is w hen DuPont begs for his life staring up at Preston.Preston takes DuPont’s life in revenge of Mary’s death. Preston now has smeared blood upon his white uniform, symbolising that he has blood on his hands. The camerawork has been crafted through the film to portray the idea of control. In Low angle shots, Father appears on large screens in the town of Libria. This is significant as it shows the power and status Father has over the people. The director uses high shots to show Father looking down on his puppet, Preston. This shot expresses Father’s power and presence is higher than Preston’s.There are close up’s of John injecting Prozium into his system. This illustrates how the Tetragrammaton Government has the unconscious power to make one take drugs. This may be to prevent a fourth world war like the government states or possibly other intentions of making sure the people are powerless. If the Librians have no emotions they have no free will. These effective shots work incredibly well considering Wimmer’s minimal budget. The Music has been used from beginning to end to show internal and external conflicts.In the first scene the music sounded dark and unnatural; the sense offenders are shown in a building guarding a painting. The music then changed to an upbeat orchestral symphony; and Preston is shown outside the building. The music then becomes dark and dangerous again. This use of music has been used by the director to show how the painting means life. The dark music is used to emphasise the eerie feeling that Preston gives showing the audience he’s mysterious and dangerous. Initially the film has very dull and quiet music in the background.When Preston gains feeling and emotions the music becomes more upbeat and louder. This highlights the change that Preston experiences. It is a powerful use of music as it is a link that feelings are what music sounds like. It also shows how the change has been for the bette r as at the start of the film the music was eerie and towards the middle and end the music was happy and upbeat. Wimmer did a remarkable job of portraying a society where people live their lives with no emotions. He demonstrates how media and higher forms of power control the perceptual world.The media shown in the film like The Mona Lisa and Beethoven demonstrate what would be missing in society. If they were destroyed, how the propaganda of a government would take away more life than what they proclaim they are saving. It also shows us that it is important to always fight for ones free will and never let the media take that away from one. In today’s society days media judges how we should look and act yet the masses conform to this media. The masses conform in order to not be socially shunned. Yet it is critical to remember to frequently take a stand for our individuality like John Preston.

Having a First Year Marriage Baby

A new baby inevitably shifts the balance of your relationship. For some this is a positive shift, but for many others it can bring up a range of challenging issues. A baby changes everything as they say. If a couple has a strong marriage before having children, chances are it will remain as such, if not strengthen due to the bond between the husband and wife who must now parent together. If a couple's relationship was weak, either they will grow more distant after a baby is thrown into the mix, or once again, the bond of being parents will bring them closer together.In fact, contrary to the popular belief that having a baby brings couples closer, studies on marriage often show that having children leads to a decrease in marital satisfaction and happiness. One of the negative ways a baby affects marriage is the amount of time and energy she requires from her parents. A parent who cares for this demanding human day and night may have little left to offer his or her spouse. The lack of intimacy that can result and cause resentment on one or both sides can be crippling.For starters, couples have about one-third the time together as they did before the birth of their child, and they have added financial responsibilities. One thing that will change is your conversations. You will find that you are talking less about current events and more about future events This is certainly not to say that having a child means your marriage is doomed. What it means is you should take the time to care for and nurture your marriage, whether you’re a parent already or soon plan to be.

From Data, Information and Knowledge to Wisdom

From Data, Information and Knowledge to Wisdom The data-information-knowledge-wisdom (DIKW) continuum is a concept of the transformation of data into wisdom through cognitive processes. DIKW was initially used to illustrate principles of information management for the designing of information systems (Davenport & Pursak, 1989)(Saltworks, 2009).DIKW models utilized by nursing such as the model by Englebart & Nelson (2002), incorporate principles of increasing complexity due to increasing interactions What is important and unique to nursing is the DIKW concepts and models also help describe the critical thinking processes that nurses use to transform knowledge into the delivery of patient care, into education and learning and also into nursing research (ANA-American Nurses Association, 2008).The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the progression through the four steps of the data, information, knowledge, wisdom continuum that occurs research information to answer a clinical questi on pertinent to nurse practitioner practice. Standardized N nursing Language in Nurse Practitioner Practice The use of electronic information and decision support systems in nursing practice has brought about the introduction of several standardized nursing languages to document and communicate patient care. (McGonigle & Mastria, 2012 ).The identity of the Nurse Practitioner is grounded in nursing practice but has also expanded to include the functions of a physician (O'Connor, Hameister, & Kershaw, 2000). Given the merged identity of the Nurse Practitioner the clinical question is :Would a standardized nursing language adequately document the patient care delivered by a nurse practitioner? The Search for Clinical Data Data are discreet entities that in of themselves have no meaning. The search for data related to the clinical question was conducted through the Walden Library Health Science and Nursing Databases.DATA TO WISDOM 3 Using the search words Nurse Practitioner and Standard ized Nursing Language, both the CINHAL/Medline and the OVID data bases were queried. The search identified 6 articles. According to Bernstein (2009), The Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom hierarchy is based on filtration and reduction, so to select the most relevant articles, the titles and the keywords of the articles were reviewed first. This resulted in one article that did not contain the search words to be elimiated from further review. Translating Clinical Data to InformationTo further evaluate the usefulness of the 5 remaining articles, their abstracts were read to identify any relevant information. Information is data that has some meaning to it. Davenport and Prusak (1989) describes information as data that makes a difference to the receiver of the data. The data which is now aggregated into informational sentences and paragraphs (complete thoughts) reveal that the NANDA Nursing Diagnoses, the Iowa Nursing Interventions, and Iowa Nursing Outcomes Classification SNLs have be en explored for use in Nurse Practitioner practice.This is information as it has context to the reason the literature search is being performed. Linking Information to Knowledge In the DIKW continuum, Knowledge is transformed from Information At the knowledge stage in Englebart's & Nelson's (2002) DIKW model, an increased level of complexity in thinking must occur as a result of the increasing occurrences of interrelationships between information and knowledge (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2012 ).Davenport and Pursak also describe the knowledge stage of the continuum as a level of higher order of thinking and go on to describe some of the higher level thinking actions that turn information into knowledge. DATA TO WISDOM 4 One such action is Comparison i. e. How does this information compare to other known facts ? In this case the information found was about one type of SNL, but it known that there are about 13 different SNLs in existence. Another action is making Connections i. e. How does this information relate to other pertinent topics? In this situation another pertinent topic in NP practice is e-Prescribing.How does the use of an SNL relate to e-prescribing? Thus far the knowledge gleaned is not enough information has been found to answer the clinical question as written. Wisdom—Knowledge Applied in Meaningful Ways. Can informatics be used to gain wisdom? Interestingly the concept of wisdom has been eliminated from many DIKW models (DIK models) because according to Davenport and Prusak(1989) there is â€Å"enough difficulty distinguishing among the three related concepts of data, information and knowledge† and so â€Å"higher-order concepts such as wisdom and insight have been lumped into the category of knowledge†.There are differences in defining what wisdom is. According to Bernstien (2009) â€Å"wisdom means an ability to see the long-term consequences of any act†. Or wisdom is knowing when and how to apply knowledge to complex pr oblems or needs (Englebart & Nelson, 2012). In this case Wisdom is knowing that more research needs to be done on the topic of SNL's and NP practice in order to determine if standardized nursing language adequately applies to NP practice. It is what nurses do with the information available or lack of information available in informatic systems that creates wise decision making.Summary In nursing, Data- Information- Knowledge-Wisdom continuum models help depict the critical thinking nurses use to provide patient care. In information science DIKW models depict information management systems. DATA TO WISDOM 5 Data and Information can be stored in the databases of information systems in the forms of numbers, symbols and words that in of themselves have no meaning. It is only when data and information have context and meaning and are correctly applied to a problem that they are transformed into Knowledge and Wisdom in the minds of the users of these information systems. DATA TO WISDOM 6 References American Nurses Association. (2008). Nursing informatics: Scope & standards of practice. Silver Springs, MD Bernstein, J. H. ( 2009) The Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom Hierarchy and its Antithesis.Retrieved from http://arizona. openrepository. com/arizona/handle/10150/105414 Davenport, T. , Prusak, L. (1998) Excerpt of Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know. Retrieved from http://wang. ist. psu. edu/course/05/IST597/papers/ Davenport_know. pdf McGonigle, D. & Mastrian, K. G. (2012). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (2nd ed. ). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. O'Connor, N. A. , Hameister, A. D. , Kershaw, T. (2000). Application of Standardized Nursing Language to Describe Adult Nurse Practitioner Practice. Nursing Diagnosis Magazine. Copyright 1999 Nursecom, Inc. Retrieved from www. highbeam. com The Data-Information-Knowledge Continuum. The Saltworks Blog Archive. Retrieved from http://www. datamobilitygroup. com/saltwor ks/archives/76