Age of the Bosses essays

Age of the Bosses essays As industrialization caused cites to grow in leaps and bounds, political bosses started to take power. As the 19th Century came to a close, almost every sizable city had a political boss, or at least had one rising to power. Tons of immigrants from every part of the world began to pour into the major cities. Cities have had diversity in the past, but the huge diversity of the American cities was unique. The only thing the new immigrants had in common with each other was the dream of becoming rich and the poverty of their current state. Unfortunately, so many different people with so little in common often left tension between different groups on the edge of becoming violent outbreaks. The famous Tammany set the example early on of how to broaden it's own appeal to people of all races and ethnic groups. Not long after, the other bosses did the same. The bosses did much to clean up some neighbors and prevent violence, but of course it always had the ulterior motive of securing votes fo r their own power. Their corruption often lead to their downfall, such as William Tweed, who died in 1878, penniless and imprisoned. On of the main power gaining tools for the bosses was the ability to give employment to people. The people would sign onto these payrolls even when padded, since any employment was better than no employment. Another platform was the sale and regulation of liquor. Though becoming somewhat unpopular among some Americans, Europeans were appealed by the bosses' support of liquor. Also appealed were many middle class members of society who, though not needing financial aid, did enjoy the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Many businesses also were dependent on the local government cooperating with their operation and expansion. This expansion also attracted more people to the city, thus they fed and grew off each other, expansion of business and population. The boom in population meant that the city had to accommodate the new pe ...

Leadership Roles My Experience in the Nokia Cup

Leadership Roles My Experience in the Nokia Cup Event organization always features different leadership roles being exhibited. There is clearly a need for organization, and therefore events are always instances where leadership is needed. The event I participated in is the Nokia Cup. This is an annual curling event and is very big within the sporting circles. I was assigned the role of lead hand in one of the event locations, namely Guelp Memorial Gardens stadium.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership Roles: My Experience in the Nokia Cup specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main leadership role there was organization. A lot of resources and personnel were allocated so that the organization could be efficient. There was the overall committee, which had been working in partnership with other organizations. Additionally, there were departments headed up by individuals who took care of specifics such as security, entertainment and other facets within the event. My role was to help with organizing and controlling others within the stadium I had been assigned to. The organization had both its advantages and challenges. The first advantage relates to the delegation of duties. The head committee delegated responsibility to various individuals based on the spread of the venue. This delegating allowed the people involved to specialize and take responsibility for different facets of the event. However, this was not followed up with effective communication, thus a breakdown in the quality of organization. The result was that inter-related aspects of organization were not taken into consideration. For example, security was a nightmare simply because the head committee did not give feedback on the expected attendance. Additionally, the leadership on the ground did not prepare those who were actually going to carry out security properly. There was need for a master plan as regards to planning, but this did not happen. It would have required an inter -committee task force to properly plan out the security in order for it to work effectively. The mediocre planning caused a series of unfortunate events. There was need for the leadership role of crisis handling. Good crisis handling allows the event to save face and maintain its reputation. The compressor for keeping the ice temperature was not working properly because the overhead sensor was malfunctioning. Additionally, since concessions were not up to par, we had less money to work with. However, there was real leadership shown in the heat of the moment. The leadership allowed for creativity, which saw a suggestion to increase the drinking so as to divert attention from the failed areas. This worked as the participants loved to drink. Additionally, the staff on the ground were inspired to work extra hard in order to cover for the unfortunate circumstances. At my venue, our venue head inspired us with a pep talk and a lot of warmth. Advertising Looking for essay on busin ess economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The result was that we were able to pull off the event, despite the overwhelming amount of work. However, I do not know specifically how the leadership handled the crises that they were facing in the other venues. What I do know is that the crises had to be handled, thus presenting a leadership moment for those in charge on the ground. Supervision is another aspect that we can explore. It is the work of any leadership to allocate roles and see them out. This is what supervision entails: handing out roles and checking whether they have been done effectively and efficiently. The main committee handed out responsibility according to the venue, and thus the delegated supervision to the various leaders appointed. At our venue, our leader was very hands on. He wanted to know what was happening and how it was being done. This allowed him to oversee effectively and respond to the chal lenges on a real time basis. However, this also made him very exhausted at the end of the day. In my department, as one of the leaders I was able to organize my minions to move into the irregular roles assigned to us. This made it hard to supervise what they were doing since I had â€Å"lent† them out to different departments to help out as was necessary. I left them to be supervised by the various heads of the departments I lent them to. In terms of creativity, I think the job done was very good. In this regard, I would change very little. The creativity was amazing, as shown by the building of a bar, food and beverages stand within the stadium, at the west end of the rink. They used professionals in creativity, and it paid off. However, if I extend creativity to include problem solving, I would recommend bringing on more talent and wider experience. The leadership should have trusted us, in the lower levels, to be able to come up with suggestions and insights into how the event could be organized. Had we been consulted, I am sure a wide range of suggestions that would have proved invaluable would have come up. Additionally, I would have loved if the leadership put in place a feedback mechanism for assessing the event. This way, the people on the ground would have given their view on how to improve the event. Additionally, they would include information on things to watch out for in the next event.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership Roles: My Experience in the Nokia Cup specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More I recommend that proper planning be done in future. The structure of planning needs to change in order for the event to succeed. In my opinion, the leadership was way too concerned with what was happening in the upper ranks that it forgot the small planning details that mattered. Ensuring proper delegation would solve this. Event venues should have their own effective plannin g committees, as opposed to relying on leadership directives from afar. Additionally, I would have the main and sub-committees meet regularly to discuss the challenges of planning. This way, we would avoid the problems altogether. Planning should be a participative process, and therefore I would include the lower levels of staff in the process. This would allow for an even greater pool of suggestions to be made. As for supervision, I think it would be solved by effective delegation. In order to avoid senior leadership from getting tired handling all the work, I recommend more leadership posts be created. This way, the system runs without exhausting some individuals. I have already stated that with creativity, I would prefer if the leadership allows recommendations from lower levels. This would boost morale and give the leadership a true picture of what is happening on the ground. Finally, since even the best laid plans have flaws, emergency precautions need to be put in place. Putti ng flexible and adaptable individuals in charge to handle the unknown would greatly help. Additionally, these individuals must be true leaders: they must be able to rally up those underneath them to effectively handle the challenges. This way, any challenge would be effectively handled.

Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 18

Article Example The government is an expression of people’s will and should therefore serve the people’s needs (Jefferson 22). Jefferson had negative views about women trying. However, in the declaration he does not talk much of women but he says that all men are equal (Jefferson 25). Jefferson appeared to favor patriarchal giving men more powers than women. The serious causes include the refusal of his Assent to Laws which also obstructs justice administration, refusing the other people to be elected, connecting with others to subjecting the citizens to the jurisdictions that are not usual to their constitution among other causes (Jefferson 28). These causes are not trivial and serious one that can cause revolution is by refusing his assent to law being the most necessary for the good of the public (Jefferson 28). The most graceful sentence in the entire declaration is that the united colonies had a right of being free and independent States (Jefferson 29). It is place in the first statement of declaration and the purpose is to give the citizens freedom. Jefferson does not the governance system of the king but supports a self government (Jefferson 29). The king does not want to have an assent to the law and this obstructs justice administration. Jefferson however believes that all men are born free law of nature (Jefferson

Comparative advantage, being a dynamic concept, can provide an Essay

Comparative advantage, being a dynamic concept, can provide an economic argument in favour of short term protectionism. Discuss - Essay Example Below-mentioned graph shows world exports in terms of percentage of world gross domestic product for the year between 1970 and 2008. This indicates how flourishing has been the world trade in the last 40 years. To begin with, it would be prudent to know about the basic reasons for trades to take place between the nations. Suranovic (2010) mentions five basic reasons for any international trades to take place. Trades occur between the countries when they differ in their technological abilities to produce services and goods. The resources used are capital, labor, and land to deliver the output in terms of products and services. Each country will have varying ability to use the inputs in producing the given output. Again, each country will differ in their resource availability such as mines, minerals, water, and electricity. Heckscher-Ohlin model explains about the trades taking place due to difference in resource capabilities. Trades between the countries also occur due to difference in demands. Difference in demands may be rooted in their cultures, beliefs, customs or habits. There are the communities and countries who habitually consume more fish preparations compared to some who are pure vegetarians. Some make their houses using woods and some use more steel and cement while making their dwellings. These innate consuming habits tend to make the demand differences among the countries, which they would fulfill through exchange of goods and services. Economies of scale bring down the cost of production. Those who cannot operate at the level of economy of scale of production will be at disadvantageous situation. Global demand will rush to the country where the cost is lowest. The point is that the reason could be any one or many for the trade to take place; however, the theory of comparative advantage is in its root. There are long term benefits of free trade in goods and services to the consumers at large but still there are disputes and

Chinas automobile industry Chapter 1 and 3 Essay

Chinas automobile industry Chapter 1 and 3 - Essay Example Started in 1984, the first wave of investment in the automobile industry in China includes the establishment of Beijing Jeep and Shanghai Volkswagen (Wu, 2006). Six years later, the second wave started when FAW-Volkswagen, Guangzhou Peugeot, and Dongfeng- Citroà «n was manufactured and publicly introduced in Chinese market (Wu, 2006). Sometime in late 1990s, the third wave happened when GM, Toyota Motor, and Ford secured their respective car assembly deals at Shanghai GM, Tianjin Toyota Motor, and Chang’an-Ford respectively (Wu, 2006). Other than the foreign-owned automobile manufacturing companies that entered the Chinese market between the years 1980s to 1990s, the fourth wave of investment can be noted when local automobile manufacturing companies like Geely Group, Brilliance China, and Shanghai Cherry started selling cars back in 2001 (Wu, 2006). The continuous development and transfer of foreign automobile technology together with the huge demand for new cars contributes a lot to the success of Chinese automobile industry. In 2009, the total number of cars, trucks and other vehicles sold in China was 13.6 million which accounts for 46% increase from the previous year’s total vehicles sold (Lewis, 2010). In fact, China’s Automobile Industry was the 2nd largest Industry back in 2008. (Table I – China’s Top Ten Industries) The main objective of this study is to gather existing and most current literature regarding the degree of competition in China’s automobile industry. Aside from determining the theoretical approaches that can be use in examining the degree of competitiveness in China’s automobile industry, the gathered literature will provide the readers with useful information regarding significant issues that has been discussed about the advancement of its existing automobile technology including the legal, economic, social, and political factors that could affect the Chinese’s

Personal Reflection And Action Plan

Personal Reflection And Action Plan Self-monitoring is a personality trait which measures the ability of an individual (he or she) to adjust their behaviour to the demand of the external situational factors. There were many situations where my behavior was not proper with respect to understanding of other persons situation. Every employee gets stressed as they approach deadlines. I have neglected colleagues many times by not replying to their urgent emails because I was much worried about completion of work on time, though the sender required input data from me to go ahead further. I gave inappropriate answers to colleagues who approached me for technical doubts that added unnecessary arguments. The management had introduced a new process for the projects like documentation, reviews and so on. I argued many times by not thinking from perspective of the manager and the organization. There were situations when I got escalated with trivial issues. However, the problem might have been solved easily if I had thought from th e other persons perspective and acted accordingly. 1.Action Described People Centred Manager Skills that I will develop Example of New Behaviour you will display given this new skill Resources you need to implement action Actions specific benefits to an organization according to theory ( Kinicki Kreiter) Not replying to important emails when under pressure. Giving vague answers when I was in stress Argued with manager against new process by not thinking in right perspective Escalated with trivial issues when in stress Be more flexible and respond to others in an appropriate manner. Think twice before responding to others. Communicate in a clear and good manner. Stay cool and calm during stress and control the temper levels. Avoid unnecessary arguments. Think objectively. Understand the issues objectively before intensifying. Spend some time on replying urgent issues. If I cannot reply immediately, I would inform they by email or phone. Give clear answers to people according to the situation and let me them that I would attend them later if I am busy. Think objectively, think from others point of view before raising concerns. Be patient. I would practice constructive criticism. Avoid discussing unnecessary issues. Take help from friends and colleagues by discussing how would they handle stress and plan their work. Gain knowledge on how to interpret both the verbal and non-verbal gestures. Practice pranayams(breathing exercise) and do meditation. Improve communication by talking and reading Communicating in Digital Age(Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) There is must success with high self-monitors and career success (Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) Good communication within the team and improves well-being of the group (Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) High self monitors are people who are emotionally mature especially managers who can help their employers reduce conflicts, anger and stress related problems. (Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) Reflection 2 and Action plan 2: Measuring your desire for Performance Feedback I strongly believe that feedback helps what actions an individual need to change. I come under the category of moderate desire for feedback as per the hands-on exercise. As a person I knew what I did and how much I am supposed to do (a task). Generally I work according to the plan as scheduled by me ahead of the task. Sometimes, I regret for not taking feedback about my progress at work. Even though I am satisfied with my work, often I get doubts whether the management is happy about the quality of my contribution the organization. Most of the time, I did not bother negative feedback and did not handle in a proper manner in order to avoid feeling insecure. Many times I got a feedback with a negative message like I does not listen to team leaders, come late to the office and leave from work before closing hours. Because of this I should not show deaf ear to all kind of feedbacks rather I must get used to take objective feedback to improve my self-efficiency. 1.Action Described People Centred Manager Skills that I will develop Example of New Behaviour you will display given this new skill Resources you need to implement action Actions specific benefits to an organization according to theory ( Kinicki Kreiter) Working according to the plan without taking feedback. Neglecting to take feedback with regard to progress of my work. Avoid by not taking feedback from management with regard to the quality of work done by me. Avoiding negative feedback I would take feedback from team members and plan accordingly to improve. Get up to date feedback for progressing, improve quality and productivity of work. Take regular feedback with respect to quality of work. I would rather focus to improve in the areas where I feel uneasy by using objective negative feedback. Schedule the task to be done and work on it, request colleagues to go through it and get feedback to improve planning the thinks. At the time execution of the task, regularly get help from colleagues in the form of feedback to find out whether I am at par with others. When I complete the task, I would ask team members to review it so that the mistakes are traced out and can improve the quality of the task(work). It would be better for me to take feedback from others as I cannot be objective for my own performance. Consider, for example how I can improve my communication skills. Schedule a timetable for getting feedback time to time from a well organised teammate so that I can get proper guidance. A user friendly centralised system should be developed to help people to give feedback A moderator to be present in the discussion to ensure that the feedback is objective A new approach for building positive relation between managers and employees so that work is managed well and there is a good outcome as expected. (Performance Conversations Model, Christoper D.Lee). Employees gets motivated to improve performance, attitude and their intensions from performance feedback. Sometimes even the negative feedback can have positive motivational effect (Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) The outcome of feedback gives behaviour direction, resistance, effort and persistence (Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) http://www.amazon.com/Performance-Conversations-Alternative-Appraisals-Christopher/dp/1587366053 Reflection3 and Action plan 3: Job satisfaction Job satisfaction has relation with motivation at work. I have low job satisfaction with recognition, compensation and supervision as per the hands-on-exercise. I came to know that my friends are paid more for doing similar jobs in other companies. I also regret about the goals set to me by my manager at the time of appraisal. It has effect on my compensation which lowered motivation. However, I have not approach my manager to express my concern and to worsen the situation I got frustrated and decreased my efficiency at work. My manager is a headstrong person who wanted things to happen in his way. As an employee I expected to have freedom at work. Many times we ended up with arguments there by creating uncomfortable working conditions. Because of constant supervision my frustration levels increased which reduced the productivity. Often, team members were blamed for unnecessary issues that were not relevant to work which in turn lowered the motivation level among the team. 1.Action Described People Centred Manager Skills that I will develop Example of New Behaviour you will display given this new skill Resources you need to implement action Actions specific benefits to an organization according to theory ( Kinicki Kreiter) Did not discuss with manager regarding appraisal. I have not given the feedback to the manager, so work atmosphere is not improved. Getting stressed and their by neglecting work. Expressed my frustration on team members for which I ended in bad relationship with team. Got de motivated and reduced the production level due to unnecessary arguments with the management. I would express my views by talking to manager and come up with all the available options. Always give quick feedback to the management so that they take immediate action on concerning issues. Analyse the issue and act accordingly so that a good environment is created. Maintain healthy relationship with team members by being calm while at work. Avoid arguing unnecessarily by thinking objectively and positively so that at least new issues may not be raised. I prefer to take feedback from the management so as to understand how they think of the productivity. I would approach the concerned authority and let them know about the problems in the team. Talk to the manager personally about sensitive matters like appraisal to maintain good relationship. Reducing the frustration levels when talking to colleagues. Get dedicated to work along with the team. If there are any problems approach the management and let them know and talk to them clearly. Expecting the onsite opportunities to work on a project cover the lost compensation. I make sure that I attend various programs that improves me personally and team coordination. Get used to new activities like yoga, playing indoor games to calm down yourself. Know myself at what level I am in the team by taking feedback from my team members. There is a conntection between job satisfaction of and motivation (Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) There is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction andorganisational citizenship behaviours (Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) The more the person is healthy and has control on him the better the positive atmosphere is created in the organization (Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) When we are satisfied we perform well and performance in turn causes satisfaction(Kinicki Kreitner, 2009) Reflection 4 and Action Plan 4: Ethical Behaviour As a fresher I misused office resources when I was working for a company. As per rules of an organization, we were not supposed to divulge confidential information to the people who are not part of our team but many times I talked about the project with friends. We are supposed to use landline phones for office purpose only i.e. to clarify doubts with team members but we misused it for personal purpose. The company used to provide food and transportation for employees who work after 9 p.m. We used to stay till 9oclock to have food and go home by office car. We used to move around in the lunch break and back to the office late in the afternoon session. Sometimes we abscond from office during work hours by telling that we were not feeling well and take official leave. We were supposed to internet services for searching only the data that was relevant to the technology we were working on but many times we misused by watching news, cricket scores, chatting and so on. Many times we blamed each other for errors in the project work even though our mistake is there. Inspite of us being unethical to the organization we were not pointed out by the management because of our work performance. 1.Action Described People Centred Manager Skills that I will develop Example of New Behaviour you will display given this new skill Resources you need to implement action Actions specific benefits to an organization according to theory ( Kinicki Kreiter) I am unethical to the company by using its resources for personal purpose Using internet services for personal use. Blaming others for errors in the project. I would send a clear message by cultivating good habits and behavior about ethical conduct. Let the management know what need to be done to restrict the employees from misuse of the resources and suggest them to take severe action. Talk and listen to the senior employee about the ethical standards. Make a habit of following ethics of the company. Be regular to the office and work till the office hours are completed. Make use of the available resources strictly for office purpose only and not doing personal work in the office. I would be responsible for what I do and rectify the mistakes I have done by approaching collegues. Attend various ethical training programs to tackle with the ethical issues. Make use of the decision trees to evaluate the ethical questions. Attend meetings and informal conversations where leaders talk about ethical behavior by telling the situational examples. By being ethical one can act has a role model for others to follow and create good atmosphere in the company(Kinicki Kreither, 2009) Create an environment where employees are given chance to express them so that companies ethics are not violated(Kinicki Kreither, 2009) Provide training sessions on ethics at the time orientation, online lectures and through seminors (Kinicki Kreither, 2009) Reflection 5 and Action Plan 5: Intrinsic Motivation We were supposed to deliver a project to the client in a very less span of time. The task became a huge challenge to me because the time span is not sufficient. We were told to work for extra hours in the office. I went into a perception that I lost passion about my work because it was difficult for us to adjust all of a sudden to the new work environment. My team members and I could not give output up to the expectations because of the low intrinsic movtivation this in turn has effect on capabilities of my decision making. We lost confidence and passion for work. We did not get proper requirements from the client and as well from manager i.e. he does not give clear picture of what we are supposed to do. It was very difficult to go ahead with the project in less span of time because we were supposed to learn new concepts to implement in the project. Inspite of me working hard I do not get proper information from my lead or manager from time to time. 1.Action Described People Centred Manager Skills that I will develop Example of New Behaviour you will display given this new skill Resources you need to implement action Actions specific benefits to an organization according to theory ( Kinicki Kreiter) Lost passion at work because of new work environment. Did not get proper requirements from manager. No idea of new concept to be implemented in the task. No recognition from manager for my work. Get inspiration by recognizing my passion at work and by modeling desired behaviours. I would discuss with the employees about the tasks. Give proper training on the concepts before going ahead with the task and give support to learn. Report to the manager from time to time about work, be ethical. I would work with commitment and compassion till the project is handed to the client. When I get a task I would sit with the colleagues and get a clear picture of what we are supposed to do. Implement the task using new concept and approach team mates if necessary. I would work for extra work in the office and let the manager know if I help others at work by working late nights. Motivational lectures from the management or video tapes showing the examples for commitment towards work. Come to a solution by analyzing the task, approach the manager for modifications for confirmation. Sample documents that are related to our task. A system should be developed where the employees are monitored and rewarded . The company benefits from high productivity if the job performance of its employees is raised Identify and implement various kinds of managerial behaviours to improve intrinsic rewards(Kinicki Kreither, 2009). The organization have high retention rate if the employees feel that they are more valued The organization can improve bottom line results. http://www.ehow.com/how_4714830_foster-intrinsic-motivation-workplace.html http://www.callcentrehelper.com/building-better-performance-through-intrinsic-motivation-48.htm

The Cause of Death in All Quiet on the Western Front :: All Quiet on the Western Front Essays

The Cause of Death in All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque's ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT is a very interesting and true-to-heart novel based in the first world war where many men and women died because someone called them the enemy. The main character is Paul Baumer, a nineteen year old man who is swept into the war, along with his friends, not one day before he is out of school. They are sent to the front to "protect the fatherland" or Germany as it is called. Paul and his friends go from this idealistic opinion to disillusionment throughout the book as they discover the truth that the enemy is just like them, and Paul's friends start being killed one-by-one. This novel is a gripping account of how war is most of the time bloody and horrid. The few who came out of this war were not the people they were when they left. They become pale and emotionless, without feeling or thought. Some killed themselves, they had experienced ultimate horror, the horror of war. The novel starts two years after Paul and his friends first reached the front and then goes back and forth between present and past. The main topics throughout the book is the change from idealism to disillusionment, the loss of Paul's friends, and especially the loss of Paul's innocence. The change from idealism to disillusionment is really the driving force behind the novel. From young school boys, listening to their schoolmaster asking "Won't you join up comrades?"(11) to "weary, broken"(294) men, idealism and disillusionment play a major role on Paul's decisions and thoughts. For example, on the second page of the novel, Paul says, "It would not be such a bad war if only one could get a little more sleep." (2) Later in the book, a disillusioned Paul says of the same war, "I see how people are set against one another and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another."(263) Even though he has been in the war two years, the first quote shows how Paul's idealism is still strong. In the second quote, Paul sees the war for what it truly is, a waste of time, food, money, and young men. The

Vichy France and Eisenhower

Eisenhower’s moral reasoning in handling the Darlan situation involved several key principles of a ‘traditional ethic’ for the military profession. Specifically, Eisenhower demonstrated ‘service to country subordinating personal interest to mission accomplishment’ and ‘promoted and safeguarded the welfare of subordinates’ in making decisions regarding this politically sensitive case. Eisenhower was well aware going into the Torch campaign of the strategic significance of allied victory in the early stages of the war.The potential for French reaction and Vichy government resistance to invasion of their North African colonies was all too real. Eisenhower clearly understood that Darlan would be a key strategic ‘center of gravity’ for controlling potential Vichy resistance. As Churchill noted, â€Å"Kiss Darlan’s stern if you have to, but get the French Navy†(page 354). As a result, the Darlan deal Eisenhower orches trated resulted in a cease-fire agreement between French and Allied forces in exchange for appointing Darlan as military governor or high commissioner of North Africa, much to the outrage of the British and American governments.In analyzing Eisenhower’s moral reasoning in getting to such a deal, there are two specific principles of the ‘traditional ethic’ to consider. The first is the principle of service to country where personal interests are subordinate to requirements of the profession and to mission accomplishments. Eisenhower was given orders from his civilian bosses, to include FDR, to ‘use whatever means necessary to resolve the French problem’. He accordingly knew that Darlan, once the Giraud option failed, was his only option.He understood the decision on the deal would be politically controversial but that to accomplish the mission, it was necessary. In this case, Eisenhower demonstrated the moral courage to make a tough decision where â⠂¬Ëœleadership would not equate to likership† and he expected that criticism would ensue. The second moral principle Eisenhower demonstrated was to promote and safeguard the welfare of his subordinates as persons, not merely asSoldiers, Sailors or Airmen. Here Eisenhower kept in mind what he needed to do to save the lives of his men, not the careers of statesmen. He maintained a Soldier’s perspective, not a political perspective. With regards to Darlan, he knew â€Å"this guy can stop the fighting and nobody else can† (page 355). He also understood that winning the favor of Darlan would directly impact the success of Torch by allowing uncontested access to key terrain and facilities.For example, he knew that use of airfields at Tunis and Bizerte, both French controlled, would help achieve overarching goals in North Africa and again save the lives of his men. On the surface, Eisenhower’s actions in handling the Darlan deal may point to poor and hasty decisi on making from a novice Allied Commander early in the war. Further analysis reveals Eisenhower’s skills and ethical reasoning were largely at play. Ultimately, he believed the deal would save the lives of his men, accomplish the mission and he was willing to assume risk and accept blame for it.

The Online Music Industry

The Online Music Industry Introduction In today’s business world, technology plays a fundamental role and very few businesses can boast of success without the use of technology. The music industry is one of the businesses which has greatly benefited from the technological advances that have characterized the 20th century. In particular, the computer and the internet have had a huge impact on the music industry. As a result of the two, a new business entity; the online music industry, has emerged and continues to flourish.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Online Music Industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More While the manual system which includes selling music over the counter still plays a role in the distribution of music, online distribution has taken ground and is fast becoming the preferred form of distribution. Considering the importance of the online music industry, this paper shall set out to examine the history of the same, its challenges and the future of the industry. The Music Industry From a commercial perspective, music has become a big business in America contributing over a billion dollars to America every year. One can therefore extrapolate that the music industry is an important facet of the American economy. Through the various components e.g. recording artist, production houses, agents and concert venues to name but a few, this industry creates employment for a big number of American citizens and also increases the government’s revenue accrued from taxation on sales made. Music production and the medium through which music is distributed to the consumers has changed through the years as technological advances are made. The cassettes and records which were the preferred mode in the 1980s are now rendered obsolete by even more efficient mediums. The invention of the MP3 audio encoding and compression format had a huge bearing on the manner in which music was distributed. Lehma nn documents that the significant reduction in size required for the storage of audio files while maintaining quality was a huge breakthrough to the music industry (6). This technology was used in CDs which quickly replaced the cassettes and records of the 1980s. In the past decade, there has been an unprecedented high adoption rate of internet usage. This is because the costs of computers and internet access have reduced drastically over the years. This has resulted in internet connectivity becoming widely available to a majority of the population. Technological advances which have resulted in higher rates of transmission over the internet have led to a situation whereby transferring of data over the internet can take place at very high speeds. This perversity of the internet has resulted in CDs becoming superfluous as digital media takes a front seat in music distribution. New technologies that have emerged as a result of the internet have changed the classic business model for mu sic in profound ways. Ground-breaking inventions such as the iPod revolutionalized the manner in which music is listened to by consumers.Advertising Looking for research paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The iPod has made it possible for one to listen to their favorite music literally anywhere owing to their compact nature and allows users to buy music online from internet music stores hence rendering traditional music stores redundant since users can in most cases get the same music provided by the stores at significantly reduced rates (Ivan 2). Strengths of the online Music Industry The online music industry has given music marketers a new tool with which they can better target their products. Bruno documents that by examining the online sales made through the information that is provided by the internet, listening trends can be established therefore giving record companies the opportunity to make even higher sales (25). By using the data that is collected on the consumers, music companies are now able to market to consumers more effectively since they have a profile of the tastes and preferences of the particular consumer. This may result in higher profits for the music industry as well as better customer satisfaction. The internet is a very potent promotional tool and for this reason, many record labels have benefited from its promotional abilities. Through one of the online music service providers which is the internet radio, musicians have been able to promote their music. Castro declares that â€Å"getting your music played on the internet provides a huge boost for an artist† (8). This is so because high visibility results in the artist gaining a wider audience therefore giving them a chance to more effectively market their music. As such, the internet creates more value for the copyright holders who are mostly the music label companies. This results in high er profits for the players in the industry. An increase in sales is one of the primary goals for any business and the music industry is no exception. The internet can assist in the increase in sales by a number of ways. Castro states that internet radio helps increase music sales by providing the listeners with links to online stores where they can buy their favorite music (8). Also, by playing music by a particular artist, the profile of the artist increases which is goof for marketing and branding purposes. Another means through which the sales have been increased is through the iPod which assists users legally download millions of songs from the internet.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Online Music Industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Burkart and McCourt theorize that the online music industry may result in the reduction in the role played by record labels in the music industry (7). Before the advent of online music, artists greatly relied on their record labels to market their music and increase their popularity. Without the online music industry, most artists were force to transfer the complete copyright of their songs to the record label or the producers therefore reducing their profits. The internet provides a cheap way through which an artist can popularize his/her work and therefore gain popularity without the record label. Challenges Arguably the biggest threat that the online music industry faces is that of piracy. The Business Software Alliance defines software piracy as the unauthorized copying or distribution of copyrighted music. Despite pirating constituting copyright infringement and therefore being an illegal action punishable by law, it has over the last decade become so prevalent in modern society that most people engage in it without hesitation. While a country may impose strict copyright laws within its borders, there is no guarantee that the same will be obeyed in other countries which is what makes piracy so hard to curb. The BBC documented that a website which was offering illegal MP3 tracks for sale could not have any legal action taken against it since it was operating in Russian and the Russian laws did not cover digital media therefore making it ok to pirate from the country. Such discrepancies in law are detrimental to the online music industry. Piracy not only denies the players in the music industry off their rightfully earned pay but it also translates to a slowing in the growth of the music industry as the much needed revenue is siphoned off by pirates The Future of Online Music The future of music lies with the emerging technology and at the moment, the leading technology is the internet. As has been noted in this paper, while the online music industry holds a lot of promise, its challenges threaten to reduce the income of the music industry substantially. The major challenge posed is that of piracy through illegal do wnloads. If piracy is to continue unabated, it will dry up the income of artists and with this, there will no longer be an incentive for musicians to keep on coming up with new music. Solutions to this must therefore be sought if the online music industry is to remain profitable. To curb the threat that piracy brought about to the music industry, Castro reveals that major record labels are beginning to license their music to online services (8). These services such as Imeem give listeners an opportunity to listen to music online legally for a minimal fee thus discouraging them from participating in piracy.Advertising Looking for research paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More While there has been a significant growth in digital music sales as a result of new strategies adopted by key players in the industry to tackle the copyright infringement issues, this sales still fail to compensate the losses that the industry faces. Castro suggests that the creation of a nationwide database of sound recordings would enable the copyright holders to gauge the popularity of their songs therefore enabling them to set competitive market rates resulting in higher sales (9). Conclusion Online music is potentially big business for all the players in the music industry. This paper set out to examine the growth of online music, its relative benefits and the challenges that it posses in the music industry. From this paper, it is clear that while online music can give a competitive advantage to the music industry players who take advantage of it therefore allowing them to thrive, it can also result in huge losses and even threaten to collapse the music industry. These problems must be dealt with to ensure the long-term survival of the music industry. BBC. Legal okay for Russian MP3 site. 8 Mar, 2005. Web. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4328269.stm Bruno, Antony. Companies are now fighting for data as well as dollars. Billboard, Vol. 121, No. 20. 2009. Burkart, Patrick and McCourt, Tom. Digital music wars: ownership and control of the celestial jukebox. Rowman Littlefield, 2006. Print. Castro, Daniel. â€Å"Internet Radio and Copyright Royalties: Reforming a Broken System.† The Information Technology Innovation Foundation, 2007. Ivan, Gregor, How the iPod has Changed the Way we Listen to Music. 2007. Web. Lehmann, Volker. Copyright in the Music Industry. Aug. 2005. Web. https://emle.org/

Forced Labor and Free Enterprise on Sugar Plantations Created a Feudal and Capitalism Society

Forced Labor and Free Enterprise on Sugar Plantations Created a Feudal and Capitalism Society Feudalism, a political and economic system that was practiced in Europe between the eighth and fifteenth century, was based on a relationship between the lords and their vassals. The vassals were protected and maintained by their lords through granting of fiefs (maintenance fee paid in return for services) and served under their lords in war.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Forced Labor and Free Enterprise on Sugar Plantations Created a Feudal and Capitalism Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Capitalism refers to private ownership system of all the physical non-human inputs of production such as factories, machines, and all the tools used in the production of wealth are operated for profit. Such an economic system owns all the means of production as well as the means of distribution. In America and Europe, there was a great demand of slaves to provide forced labor that was useful in the large plantation farms t hat were owned by the lords. These demands led to the acquiring of stronger slaves from the African continent who could withstand the harsh weather conditions and work for longer hours on the plantations. Slave came from different tribes and origins and the owners of the plantations used many ways to control their slaves. One of the ways was to choose one member of each tribe, feed, treat them well, and give them fewer responsibilities. In turn, the leaders chosen ensured that the slave members of their tribes behaved well worked even harder and had a chance to earn some income. Moreover, slavery individuals swore allegiance to their social superiors who protected their interests. This resulted into a system of labor known as plantation complex. The rise in market economics and the spread of agricultural labor slave resulted in more productivity from the plantations and acquiring of wealth. The plantation complex also enabled the owners to have overall control over the slaves and their labor, which resulted in the accumulation of wealth from sugar plantations. The plantation owners used such vast wealth to buy their political and economic power and change the economic system to their advantage. The plantation complex had its master or planter who owned the land, the slaves, and the products produced. Such masters eventually controlled the means of production and distribution of products such as the factories and machines that aided production. Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They sold their products to and had shares in large companies such as the East Indian Company that promoted its sugar. Moreover, the lords prevented peasants from obtaining surplus amounts of produce above their subsistent needs, as this was required to replenish the soil and improve its fertility. The merchants accumulated wealth and they were viewed as capitalists who controlle d all the means of production to their own advantage (McNally, 1988). Exploitation of Caribbean Islands The exploitation of the Caribbean islands was carried out by the western powers. It involved the extirpation (total extermination) of native population through war, disease, and maltreatment. Those who were not killed were assimilated genetically by their conquerors, resulting into a westernized and modernized Caribbean because of the introduction of advanced forms of large-scale capitalistic agricultural practices (Mintz, 2007). The American countries exhibited capitalism due to slave trade. The labor demand and the increased economic forces because of increased productivity called for more labor preferred from the slaves from African origin who were stronger and resistant to the harsh conditions in the agricultural plantations of the merchants. In the West Africa, the British colonialism led to rise in the prosperity of peasant producer groups that retained freehold ownership of their land. This resulted into greater economic growth that made them enter into the world great currency trades because of the colonial powers’ national policies that favored them. In the Australian society, the European colonial powers were conquerors; they created new western transplants because of a modern way of administration and development. Moreover, the Spaniards conquered large populations of the highland agriculturalists through decapitating of political structures of the villages and imposing their policies to other members.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Forced Labor and Free Enterprise on Sugar Plantations Created a Feudal and Capitalism Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Skilled and domestic slaves In the plantations, there were the field hands who were slaves who would work long hours on plantation farms, they had no skills and they usually worked under an overseer. In addition, the y received harsh treatment from the overseer whose main interest was to maximize the harvest. Domestic slaves worked on the master’s homes (preparing meals, prepare for guests, tend the house, looking after the masters’ children) and they were considered part of the extended family. Skilled and domestic slaves were in constant contact with their masters, resulting into development of mutual bond between them and the families of their masters. The bond between them and the children made their masters to provide them with better treatment and enjoyed the high status accorded to them by their masters, unlike the others on the plantation who were harshly and brutally treated by overseers who monitored the work for the owners. Such overseers needed to impress their masters in terms of thorough work done on plantations by the slaves; hence, the overseers had to ensure that decent work was done on the plantations at any cost. Slaves who had skills such as crafting, woodwor k, art, and so on were treated differently because they would use such skills for the benefit of their masters in terms of maintaining the properties of the masters. Articles made by skilled slaves were used as decoration in their masters’ houses, and this motivated their masters to treat them with utmost fairness and hence they enjoyed the higher social status (Scully and Paton, 2005). Social classes in plantation slave society Five social classes existed in the slave society. The first class is the large plantation owners who were the elite group that had vast wealth and great influence to the government on matters such as taxes; they owned most of the slaves. The second class involved the small slaveholders, who did not have quite a substantial number of slaves, and due to their economic limitation, they could easily be found dwelling in farmhouses, as well as working alongside the slaves. Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The third class comprised of the independent white farmers who had a significant influence due to their enormous number. The forth class consisted of free blacks who were a product of a white and black parent and they were free because of the idealism of revolutionary days. They were treated harshly and never had a choice of occupation. The fifth class consisted of the black slaves, which was the lowest class treated poorly by their masters who owned them, they were oppressed and subjected to hard labor. They were owned by both the plantation owners, small slaveholders, and the independent white farmers. Interdependence The large plantation owners depended on their black slaves who provided labor on their plantation farms. The slaves spent more hours working on the farms; planting, harvesting and transporting the produce to ensure that the produce met the owners’ expectations in terms of profits gained from the sale. The owners also had relationships with the women slaves wh o acted as their mistresses. Moreover, the black slaves depended on their masters for food (daily rations), clothing (and shoes provided after a predefined time) and shelter. Those who worked for the plantation owners were treated fairly by their masters and obtained tips and favors for good work done. Indeed, the slaves provided market for the small slaveholders farm produce (Conlin, 2008). References Conlin, J. R. (2008). The American Past: A Survey of American History. OH: Cengage Learning. McNally, D. (1988). Political economy and the rise of capitalism: a reinterpretation. London: University of California Press. Mintz, W, S. (2007). Caribbean transformations. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. Scully, P. and Paton, D. (2005). Gender and slave emancipation in the Atlantic world. NY: Duke University Press.

Portfolio- Revisions of two graded essays Assignment

Portfolio- Revisions of two graded essays - Assignment Example This final draft clearly illustrates the problems and solutions to the problems faced by students in Community college of Philadelphia. My paper further compares CCP College to other neighboring colleges and borrows some solutions from the colleges. If the IT department decides to implement the solutions found in my paper, then the standards of CCP computer lab shall be raised to give a stress free environment to students using computers at the lab and an equal chance for all the students to use the computers to complete their projects and class work. Mental peace is crucial while studying and the inability to concentrate can cause a decline in academic performance for any student. Community college of Philadelphia has a high-tech computer lab that has all the necessary resources. This is the reason the computer lab has a high student demand but with a low supply. The low supply usually causes inconvenience to the students who wish to work on assigned projects and college work. The large population in the lab at a particular time makes the room loud making it difficult for the students to concentrate leading to low academic performance. The thesis concentrates on the major problems facing the students of Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), the facilities/ services offered by CCP computer lab and the solutions to the problems in CCP computer lab while comparing the Computer lab to the other labs in the neighboring colleges. Staying focused while studying is a challenge for many students in campus, especially when surrounded by many distractions in the learning environment. Community College of Philadelphia facilitates the Student Academic Computer Center (SACC). SACC in turn provides the students with free access to computer workstations. These computers are updated and have a wide array of updated. In addition, the SACC offers free laser printing services but limited to only 30 pages. Usually, the faculty does

Music Piracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Music Piracy - Essay Example Music piracy is harming the economy in a substantial manner following the robbing of artistes of their creativity and compensation. This also works in the domino effect where loss of revenue in one industry results in an overall loss in other industries; this is because of decreased sales. Illegal music downloads over the internet affects a large number of people ranging from artists, songwriters, audio engineers, computer technicians, talent scouts and producers. All these people are reliant on the music industry for their income and as a source of livelihood, which is based on intellectual property. Denying musicians and their affiliates of revenue puts at risk the jobs of millions of people, as there will be no funds to sustain them at work. In addition, it denies the government of taxes paid by the said population thus affecting the overall development of a nation. Some musicians and producers with recording studios have even been forced to close business to loss of revenue and i ncreasing operating costs leading to losses. On a personal scale, piracy punishes successful artistes by putting them on a level where their rights are not equal to those of other citizens of the world. This is because it is similar to theft or robbery, only that this time it robs an individual of his or her intellectual property. In a normal world, the law punishes robbers and thieves, but in piracy, little is done leading to demoralized artistes and music industry affiliates (Greenblatt 992). This way all those that work closely with the music industry are left at a loss as for clothing lines and no merchandise is rolled out to popularize the music produced. This, in turn, trickles all the way down to the textile industry, finally the farmer, and the global economy. As a result, the music industry is undergoing a slow death owing to increased piracy, and little effort applied to its prevention. In addition, piracy of music affects the internet network used for pirated downloads in terms of bandwidth. This is particularly so as it strips the network to the bare essential leading to loss of productivity, while participating in illegal activities, as is prone in institutions of higher learning (Wade 4). Therefore, in order to prevent music piracy from taking place, a myriad of measures can be taken that are directed to those that engage in the practice. Since most of the pirates in the music industry are students, advertising can play a crucial role. Most companies have taken part in massive campaigns directed at students in an attempt to convince student to stop downloading music illegally. However, this has little effects as students are working even harder to bring down the music industry. Studies show that one of the ways to cut down on music piracy especially in this age of the internet is to understand the mind and the drive behind a pirate’s behavior prior to the action. This is concerning the motivation of the pirate and his or her goals. In this case, a pirate would like access to music but there are inhibitions to getting t to the goal, in the form of monetary requirement. As a result, pirates seek to bypass this barrier by downloading music from illegal sites. Therefore, campaigns targeting definite pirates can be a significant boost against piracy. This is through creating campaign depicting the dangers that one is exposed to