Sony Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sony Corporation - Essay Example It manufactures CCD, LCD and other semiconductors as well. The electronic components that it makes are optical pickups, batteries, audio/video/data recording media, and data recording systems (SONY CORP, 2012). Two people, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita started the Tokyo Tsushin Kenkyujo or Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute in 1946 and the main aim of this company was to research and develop new products in their efforts to always bring something new to the customer’s plate and create value for the customer. The company tried to balance innovation with the consumer benefit and convenience because customer satisfaction was its top priority. With its success and expansion the title Sony Corporation came into being in 1958 and has been there since then. The word Sony was a coined by combining two Latin words, sound and sonny. Sonus signifies sound or something that is sonic while sonny means son. Sony is a short word which has the advantage of quick recall and can also be read in any language and is a sign of freedom and open-mindedness. The variety of high quality products that SONY offers makes it one of the market leaders of digital entertainment (Louwel, 2011). It is a company that banks upon the opportunities provided by innovation and new technology. It is a company that is characterized by a forward mentality and a desire to lead and be the first one to introduce something new to the customer. The competitive products and services offered by Sony give it a lasting edge over its competitors. The factors that account for Sony’s growth and success are its strategic thinking, talented people and e-commerce (Louwel, 2011). Sony operates globally in 204 countries in three continents North America, Europe and Asia. Because of its quality and innovation, SONY has achieved brand awareness and recognition over the years. Sony’s sales in 2008 were $88.7 billion and 180,500 people worked under the umbrella of Sony Corp. In the wake of the 2 008-09 economic crunch Sony experienced falling sales, 16000 jobs were lost and 6 production bases were discontinued. The prices of its raw materials and parts also increased due to which it became very difficult for SONY to maintain competitive prices (Giusti, 2009). Methodology Sony’s innovation is not restricted to its products and services only. It has also changed the way that marketing is done globally by international companies. It gives a very participative environment to employees so that they experiment and come up with new ideas, the rich corporate culture provides employees an opportunity to stay focused, and the marketing approaches adopted by the top management have helped the overall organization. The product designers are given the leverage to come up with new products that they think are fit to keep up the good name of the Sony Corporation. There is a lot of cohesion and coordination in the organization. This democratic management style has enabled the compan y to introduce premium, unique and futuristic products and this coupled with the corporate culture at Sony, gives it a sustainable competitive advantage over its competitors. Sony has not restricted itself to one marketing approach only as it is a progressive organization and has been changing its

Corporate governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Corporate governance - Essay Example uthor, difficulty of identifying a causal effect is aggravated due to lack of conclusive theories, which enable researchers worldwide to regard a specific corporate governance code as good or bad. Corporate governance framework established within companies need to incorporate core values of accountability, transparency, responsibility and fairness (ACCA, â€Å"Disclosures on corporate governance†). Even so, reported high profile financial scandals such as, those of Enron and WorldCom, suggest that the framework was not implemented at all. Weak corporate governance and untrustworthy financial reporting were cited as major reasons behind these scandals. These facts called for the need to establish robust corporate governance framework among organizations all over the world. Following this incidents, many laws were passed such as, Cadbury Report in United Kingdom, Sarbanes Oxley Act in the United States, the Dey Report in Canada, the Vienot Report in France, the Olivencia Report in Spain, the King’s Report in South Africa, Principles and Guidelines on Corporate Governance in New Zealand and the Cromme Code in Germany. Some authors claim that these laws have proven to be immensely successful in achieving objectives of transparent financial reporting; whereas, some authors have conveyed their options against efficacy of these laws. A significant proportion of research has investigated whether quality of financial reporting is influenced by various disclosure requirements of corporate governance. The results of these empirical researches are mixed. For example, research done by Armstrong, et al (2010) fails to provide conclusive results regarding ways in which managerial compensation influences quality of financial reporting. Cheng and Warfield (2005) have pointed out that a negative relation exists between managerial incentives and the standard of financial reporting. According to them, managerial incentives are amplified on the basis of their performance and not

Social Identity Theory and its Impact on People’s Reactions to Petrol Queue Jumping Essay Example for Free

Social Identity Theory and its Impact on People’s Reactions to Petrol Queue Jumping Essay Abstract This study aimed to investigate whether the social identity theory applies when it comes to peoples’ reactions to petrol queue jumping. It intended to ascertain whether participants demonstrated more reaction to those who jump queues, outside their own in-group (those who drive luxurious cars as opposed to non-luxurious car drivers). This study was influenced by a similar experiment conducted by Helweg-Larsen LoMonaco (2008) about queuing among U2 fans and their reactions to queue jumping. The experiment involved 49 participants who indicated they didn’t drive a luxury car, in a Melbourne metropolitan petrol queue, 26 of whom were males, aged 18-58 years (M =33:82; SD = 11. 26), in addition to this there were 23 females, aged 18-61 years (M =33.11; SD = 11.26). A questionnaire was utilized which included basic information as well as strength of identification with other drivers. Assessment of how upset queue jumping made them feel on a scale of 1-7 was also utilised. The results demonstrated that there was a reasonably high reaction rate, with statistically significantly results that proved drivers have a high level of social identification amongst other drivers within the same social class. The hypothesis that those who operate a non-luxurious vehicle will appear more distressed about queue jumping, when it is by someone driving a car of luxury as opposed to someone who is driving a car that is considered non-luxurious was supported. This helps support the existence of the social identity theory although the implications of this are that perhaps a broader definition of what ‘reaction’ to queue jumping needs to be developed, as well as using a larger sample size of people from several states or perhaps even countries. Social Identity Theory and its Impact on People’s Reactions to Petrol Queue Jumping It’s normal for most people to have a fundamental curiosity for finding out the causes of and therefore finding explanations for the behaviours demonstrated by humans. It is via this inquisition that queue jumping is explored, it is recognised as a human behaviour that most people will have to deal with in their everyday lives. It is generally known as the social phenomena where another person skips the line and rather then waiting at the  end of a queue. Queue jumping, as it is commonly known, has been researched in various cases including research within the animal community. Particularly in a study about wasps, which demonstrated that queue jumping may be seen as a rule for inheriting dominance (Bridge Field, 2007). This is not the sole study in regards to queue jumping, Milgram et al (1986) investigated the responses to queue jumping by assigning intruders to wait in queues (either single or multiple confederates) and they found that if there were more than one intruder it would provoke more of a reaction amongst the participants. They were also able to deduce from this study that those who preceded the intruders in the line felt more distaste for the queue jumpers as opposed to those in front of the queue jumpers (Milgram et al, 1986). This study demonstrates the social implications that queue jumping can have on an individual and the reason that so much weight has been assigned to the importance of researching queue jumping is because through this human interest, social theories, such as the â€Å"Social Identity Theory† have taken place. Social Identity Theory is a theory based on group membership as well as intergroup interactions that are based on self-categorisation, social comparison and the structure of a shared self-definition in terms of ingroup-defining properties (Vaughan Hogg, 2011). There are two dynamics to social identity that are attributing causality for behaviours, these include: social identity, which is the definition of self in terms of group membership as well as personal identit y, which is when one defines self in terms of personal relationships and traits (Vaughan Hogg, 2011). The main component to the social identity theory is the in-group/out-group differentiation which â€Å"is an inevitable characteristic of social life, and many social psychologists are still very busy with the issue of intergroup differentiation† (TaÅŸdemir, 2011). This study is relatable to other research particularly one executed by Thoitis Virshup (1997) in which groups of people were classified into â€Å"me’s and â€Å"we’s† and this is a clear representation for in-groups and out-groups. They discussed the notion that there is a sense of obligation and protection of one’s own ingroup as they are willing to empathise with those perceived to be similar to the individual as oppose to the â€Å"we’s† who were seen as dissimilar to the individual (Thoitis Virshup, 1997). In terms of human behaviour, social identity theory and queue jumping can be  closely interrelated as queue jumping has been was investigated by Helweg-Larsen LoMonaco (2008). In this study U2 fans where given a questionnaire whilst waiting in an overnight line to obtain floor spots at his concert the following day. The purpose was to reflect on their reactions to line-intrusion and the results showed that the queue is a social system and line intrusion was most upsetting to fans with a greater the commitment; the more dedicated the fan the more upset they were by queue jumping (Helweg-Larsen LoMonaco, 2008). In regards to queue jumping, there is much curiosity as to whether the social identity theory can be proven but little research. It is important to study reactions to queue jumping simply because of the social implications that are derived from this, as understanding how people function within a social in-group and how they react to an out-group can be vital. Through this knowledge one may able to apply this to discover solutions to problems such as peak hour traffic and how to best overcome this problem and avoid road rage and car-crashes. With that in mind the study below aims to investigate whether social identity affects how upset people feel about jumping a queue in order to purchase petrol. It is predicted in this study that those who operate a non-luxurious vehicle will appear more distressed about line intrusion, when it is by someone driving a luxury car rather that a non-luxury vehicle. This prediction is based on the social identity, assuming that the social identity theory can be demonstrated. Method Participants This study involved 49 participants who indicated they didn’t drive a luxury car, in a Melbourne metropolitan petrol queue, 26 of whom were males, aged 18-58 years (M =33:82; SD = 11.26), in addition to this there were 23 females, aged 18-61 years (M =33.11; SD = 11.26). Design The scheme utilised in this study was a one-way between-factor design. In relation to queue jumping it compared participants reactions from (LUXURY) whether the queue jumper drove a luxury car in which 24 where allocated and (NON-LUXURY) whether the queue jumper drove a non-luxury car in which 25  participants were allocated. As well as the main dependant variable being the measure of how distressed people felt about the queue jumping. Materials/Apparatus A questionnaire including background information (such as age; gender; number of years driving; type of car driven; how long they had been waiting in the petrol queue; whether they had waited in petrol queues before; whether they had ever witnessed queue jumping and when; and how much they usually paid for petrol) was employed. The questionnaire also evaluated their strength of recognition with drivers of non-luxury cars using Brown, Condor, Mathews, Wade and Williams’ (1986) 10-item measure of social identification (1 =strongly disagree; 7 =strongly agree). A total maximum score of 70 was possible on this measure. The questionnaire also implemented four items that each measured how distressed queue jumping (overall) made them feel (1=not at all upset, to 7=extremely upset). These items were revised versions of questions included in Helweg-Larsen and Lomonaco (2008) and a single measure/index (called REACTION) was calculated by summing the answers to these four items; with hig her figures indicating that people were more distressed by the queue jumping. A total maximum score of 28 was possible on this form of measurement. Procedure Ethics approval was first obtained from Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee. Participants were then selected in the Melbourne metropolitan region petrol station where queuing for reduction of petrol prices happened frequently. In the first occurrence, four drivers were employed and were requested by the experimenter to act as experimental stooges. Two of these drivers were required to drive a luxury car: 1. a Maserati GranCabrio Sport; and 2. a 2012 model Porsche 911. One of these (luxury car) drivers was asked to take up a place in a petrol queue and allow queue jumping to happen, while the remaining driver was expected to jump the queue to the place immediately preceding to that drivers location in the queue. The other two drivers were asked to drive a non-luxury car: a Ford Fiesta or a Holden Astra. One of these (non-luxury car) drivers was also required to take up a place in the petrol queue and to allow queue  jumping to happen, while the other driver was asked to hop the queue in the place immediately preceding that drivers place in the queue. This meant that other people in the queue were open to the elements of queue jumping, that was being put up with, either among luxury car drivers or among non-luxury car drivers. The two queue jumping incidents were staged to take place at a distance of 10 cars from the petrol pumps, within the same day but separated by two hours in time (with queues stretching for numerous blocks). No other queue jumping, besides those associated with the current study, was observed to have taken place. Each of the participants in the queue behind the place where the queue jumping occurred was approached, after the incident, by one of four experimental research assistants and they were then asked to answer a questionnaire about queuing for petrol. At the conclusion of the study, all participants were debriefed and notified that they were permitted to contact the experimenter to gain access to results. Results Table 1 Mean and Standard Reaction to Queue Jumping of Luxury and Non-Luxury cars N Mean Standard Deviation LUXURY 2425.712.10 NON-LUXURY 25 23.60 2.14 TOTAL 49 24.63 2.35 The results from Table 1 illustrate that the total Mean was 24.63, where the maximum response possible was 28 for REACTION (as well as a maximum of 70 on the social identity scale) and the total Standard Deviation being 2.35. This indicates that the scores were relatively high in regards to the total amount possible. Using SPPS version20, a one-way between variable factor, ANOVA was carried out on the dependant variable of REACTION. Reaction was perceived bigger when the queue jumping was done by a luxury car driver (M=25.70; SD=2.09) as opposed to when it was by a non-luxury car driver (M=23.60; SD=2.14);(F(1, 48)=12.12;p

Kotter and lewins change and positive models

Kotter and lewins change and positive models Change management deals with adapting and controlling change. For an organization, change management is defining and implementing procedures and/or technologies to deal with changes in the business environment and to profit from changing opportunities. (searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/definition) There is always a need for the change to happen as the world is changing. Therefore, some models can help an organization to implement change successfully. Kotters Change Model John Kotter is a change expert who is a professor at Harvard Business School. Kotter introduced a famous change process that consists of eight steps in his 1995 book, Leading Change. Step One: Create Urgency For an organization to let the change happen, this step is a primary motivation for the things to happen. Therefore, the first task is to develop a sense of urgency. (mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM) Step Two: Form a Guiding Coalition For the change to happen, the change needs to be managed as well as led. Hence, there is a requirement for strong leadership as well as the support from important employees of the organization. (Strategies-for-managing-change.com/john-kotter) Step Three: Developing a Change Vision Developing a clear vision will help out to simplify the decisions, motivates employees to go for the change even it is hard for them, and helps to organize the actions in a hasty and well-organized way. (kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/Change Steps/Step3) Step Four: Communicating the Vision for Buy-in It is not about developing a clear vision, but the vision has to reach all the employees of the organization. For this to happen, the vision should be communicated in hour-by-hour activities. Communication can also be done through meetings, emails, and presentations. It should be communicated anywhere and everywhere in order to let the employee have a clear idea about the change to happen. While communicating the change be honest and concentrate on the emotional dimension of the peoples fears and concerns. (kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps/Step5, strategies-for-managing-change.com/john-kotter) Step Five: Empowering People and Removing Barriers Removing barriers will help the people to do their best work and empowers them to execute vision. This will result in change to happen. (mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM, kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps/Step5) Step Six: Generating Short-term wins Generating short-term wins will definitely encourage the employees. The employee confidence will increase and will adapt to the change as well as will be satisfied with his work. Organizing a change without looking at short-term performance is always risky. One cannot know where they stand and how far is the destination. (kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps/Step6) Step Seven: Dont Let Up! There is always a chance for the resistance to occur even success occurs in the early stages. There is fear of change with everyone. Letting up will create problems and the momentum can be lost. Therefore, the organization has to consolidate gains and produce more change. (kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps/Step7) Step Eight: Make it stick Culture is deeply rooted in an organization and is the hardest thing to change. Every associate of the organization indoctrinates into the culture of the organization without realizing it. Therefore, new approaches have to be anchored and should be deeply rooted in order to stay strongly in the culture. (kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps/Step8) Strengths and Weaknesses The strength of this model is that it concentrates on all aspects for the change to happen in an organization. Therefore, by concentrating on all aspects such as communicating the vision, creating a guiding coalition, generating short-term wins, and not letting up will definitely makes the change to happen. Culture is the hardest thing to change in any organization and with the help of this model, the cultural change can happen. On the other side, the first step speaks about the urgency but it does not concentrate on the purpose for change. Purpose with urgency can only play an effective role together for the change to happen. To implement this model the leaders should be experienced and associates of the organization should support the change. Lewins 3-Stage Model Kurt Lewin is a psychologist who recognized three stages of change. They are Unfreeze, Change, and Refreeze. Stage 1: Unfreeze This stage is an important one that involves reaching to a position of knowing that change is essential. In this stage, creating ideal environment is an important thing for the change to take place. Generally, people get used to the way they are working and they try to resist the change even the change is beneficial one, as it will initially cause discomfort. Therefore, the main theme of this stage is to shift people from this frozen state to an unfrozen state. (Change-management-coach.com/kurt_lewin, London Management Centre, 2008) Stage 2: Change or Transition This stage is central to Lewins model and is a confusion period at the psychological level. In the transition stage, the changes are made that are essential. Employees will be unfrozen and will be heading in the direction of new way of being. Therefore, people are not clear about new ways that are going to replace the older ways. This clearly shows that this is the hardest stage as employees are not sure or fearful. The main goal of this transition stage is to move employees to the unfrozen state and keep them there. (change-management-coach.com/kurt_lewin, London Management Centre, 2008) Stage 3: Refreeze This phase concentrates on elevating the comfort levels and bringing back the stability. It brings people to a stable and productive state from a low productive state. Refreeze is to establish stability after the changes occur. Finally people form new relations start to become comfortable with new changes. (Change-management-coach.com/kurt_lewin, London Management Centre, 2008) Strengths and Weaknesses The strength of Lewins model is that it is simple and easy to understand. This model concentrates on the fear of employees who oppose the change to happen. This is the main factor, which should be worked out by every organization to bring out change. However, on the other side, this model does not concentrate on each aspect. For the change to happen all the aspects should be considered such like the aspects covered in Kotters change model. The Positive Model The Positive model involves five phases. They are: Phase 1: Initiate the Inquiry Initiate the inquiry is to know the subject of change. It points up the associate participation to recognize the organizational issue they have the most energy to address. (Cummings Worley, 2009) Phase 2: Inquire into best practices Inquire into best practises is assembling data that is the best in the organization. If the subject is organizational innovation, then associates of the organization helps to build up an interview protocol which contains the information about the new ideas that were developed and carried out in the organization. The members of the organization conduct the interviews: they interview each other and let them know the information or stories about the innovations in which the members are personally involved. These stories are gathered to form a group of information, which describes the organization as an innovative system. (Cummings Worley, 2009) Phase 3: Discover the themes Discovering themes is about the members of the organization who look at the stories that are gathered previously which may include both small and large, to recognize a set of themes which are demonstrating the common scope of peoples experiences. For instance, the stories of innovation that are collected may contain themes about how much freedom each individual gets from the managers in exploring a new idea, how much support the coworkers provided to the organization members, or how to exposure to customers sparked ingenious ideas. No theme is small in case of representation; it is very important to describe all the core mechanisms that help to generate and support the themes. The themes symbolises the basis for moving from what is to what could be. (Cummings Worley, 2009) Phase 4: Envision a preferred future Members that scan the identified themes, challenge the status quo, and describe a compelling future. Based on the organizations successful past, members collectively picture the organizations future and develop possibility proportions- statements that bridge the organizations current best practices with ideal possibilities for future organizing. These proportions should present a truly exciting, provocative, and possible picture of the future. Based on these possibilities, members discover the relevant stakeholders and critical organization processes that must be aligned to support emergences of the envisioned future. The vision becomes a statement of what should be. (Cummings Worley, 2009) Phase 5: Design and Deliver Ways to Create the Future This phase illustrates the activities and the plans necessary to bring vision. It progresses to both action and assessment phase comparable to action research described earlier. Members of the organization make modifications, weigh up the results and make necessary adjustments, to move the organization towards the vision and nourish what will be. The course of action is continued by restoring the discussion about what the best is. (Cummings Worley, 2009) Strengths and Weaknesses The strength of this model is that it concentrates on the main issue and tries to solve the problem by using the best practises of the organization. The weakness of this model is that there is no urgency, which is essential for the change as sometimes the organizations might run out of time. If the change does not happen before the time passes away then the work made by the organization goes in vain. Conclusion The three change models Kotters change model, Lewins 3-stage model, and the positive model are different from each other. These three models can be used by any organization for the change to happen. Kotters change model is a brief model that concentrates on every small aspect. The only problem with the Kotters change model is that it focuses on urgency but not on purpose. Without knowing purpose of change, the urgency will have no reason and everyone will be doing things quickly without purpose. By considering the purpose, this model can be most preferable for an organization to implement change. This model makes sure that the change need to occur is communicated to everyone and concentrates on building the momentum with short-term wins. The culture of the organization can be changed that is deeply rooted. Lewis 3-stage model is a simple model it concentrates on moving people from their old style of working. People always have a fear of change, which is the biggest opposition of the change to happen. This model concentrates on moving people from a stage of freezing to refreeze stage. This model does not concentrate on all the small aspects. The positive model is different from Kotters and Lewins model. It enquires about the problem and uses the best practices of the organization to solve the problem. This helps the change to happen. However, there is no sense of urgency that is a major problem. When compared to Kotters model it is not as detailed as that model. Every model has some strength. Therefore, it is always better to go for the three models, opt for the best things from the models, and implement them for the change to happen. Speaking about best of the three models, my choice is Kotters change model as it concentrates on all the aspects for the change to happen.

u.s. grant Essay -- essays research papers

Ulysses Hiram Grant was born April 27, 1822, in a two room frame house at Point Pleasant, Ohio. His father, Jesse Root Grant, was foreman in a tannery and a farmer. His mother, Hannah Simpson Grant, was a hard working frontier woman. When Ulysses was a year old, the family moved to Georgetown. There his father bought a farm, built a house, and set up his own tannery. Jesse and Hannah had five more children there, two boys and three girls. Grant love horses and learned to manage them at an early age. When he was seven or eight he could drive a team and began hauling all the wood used in the house and shops. From that point on until he reached seventeen, Grant did all the work done with horses; such as breaking up the land, furrowing, plowing corn, bringing in the crops when harvested, and hauling wood. Three months each winter when work was minimized Grant went to a one room schoolhouse, and that's how he was educated until he went to West Point at age seventeen. When Grant turned seventeen, his father got him an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. The congressman who made the appointment did not know Grants' full name, so he left out Hiram and added Simpson. Simpson, was Grants', mothers' maiden name. Grant did not care for military life and never expected to stay in the army. He was good in mathematics and hoped sometime to teach. He was, however, the best horseman at the academy. He was Quiet, shy, and he made few friends. When he was commissioned, Ulysses was ordered to Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri. While stationed there he met Julia Dent, daughter of a slave owning Southern family . Within three months he proposed to her and was accepted. Since he had only his pay as lieutenant, the wedding was postponed. Grant was in almost every battle of the Mexican War. He fought on foot, observing many different commanders and how they lead their troops. This experience, he said, was of great value to him, because he became acquainted with nearly all the officers of the regular army. Some of them including the great soldier Robert E. Lee were to be on the Confederate side in the Civil War. Grant came back from Mexico a captain. He at once married Julia and took her to his new station, Sackett's Harbor, New York. During the Mexican War. This is where Grant formed the habit of drinking. At Sackett's Harbor he joined a t... ...ed in 1884 and left Grant penniless and humiliated. Ward was sent to the state penitentiary. To earn money, Grant turned to writing. Samuel L. Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was then a subscription book publisher. He offered Grant a high royalty for his memoirs, and in 1885 Grant began to dictate them. A pain in his throat was finally diagnosed as cancer, but Grant went on, writing with a pen, to provide for his wife after he was gone. In the summer of 1885 Mrs. Grant took her husband to the Adirondacks near Saratoga. There he finished his `Personal Memoirs' about a week before he died on July 23. Written frankly, the work ranks high among military biographies. It was so popular that Mrs. Grant received nearly $450,000 from its sale. A granite tomb to Grant's memory was built on Riverside Drive in New York City, in 1959 it became a national memorial. Grant's life was like a roller coaster, in the beginning he started low and was regarded as a failure. He worked his way to the top, became the most honored general in the U.S., and was elected President of the United States. Then suddenly his life went downhill, his firm crashed, he developed cancer and died bankrupt. u.s. grant Essay -- essays research papers Ulysses Hiram Grant was born April 27, 1822, in a two room frame house at Point Pleasant, Ohio. His father, Jesse Root Grant, was foreman in a tannery and a farmer. His mother, Hannah Simpson Grant, was a hard working frontier woman. When Ulysses was a year old, the family moved to Georgetown. There his father bought a farm, built a house, and set up his own tannery. Jesse and Hannah had five more children there, two boys and three girls. Grant love horses and learned to manage them at an early age. When he was seven or eight he could drive a team and began hauling all the wood used in the house and shops. From that point on until he reached seventeen, Grant did all the work done with horses; such as breaking up the land, furrowing, plowing corn, bringing in the crops when harvested, and hauling wood. Three months each winter when work was minimized Grant went to a one room schoolhouse, and that's how he was educated until he went to West Point at age seventeen. When Grant turned seventeen, his father got him an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. The congressman who made the appointment did not know Grants' full name, so he left out Hiram and added Simpson. Simpson, was Grants', mothers' maiden name. Grant did not care for military life and never expected to stay in the army. He was good in mathematics and hoped sometime to teach. He was, however, the best horseman at the academy. He was Quiet, shy, and he made few friends. When he was commissioned, Ulysses was ordered to Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri. While stationed there he met Julia Dent, daughter of a slave owning Southern family . Within three months he proposed to her and was accepted. Since he had only his pay as lieutenant, the wedding was postponed. Grant was in almost every battle of the Mexican War. He fought on foot, observing many different commanders and how they lead their troops. This experience, he said, was of great value to him, because he became acquainted with nearly all the officers of the regular army. Some of them including the great soldier Robert E. Lee were to be on the Confederate side in the Civil War. Grant came back from Mexico a captain. He at once married Julia and took her to his new station, Sackett's Harbor, New York. During the Mexican War. This is where Grant formed the habit of drinking. At Sackett's Harbor he joined a t... ...ed in 1884 and left Grant penniless and humiliated. Ward was sent to the state penitentiary. To earn money, Grant turned to writing. Samuel L. Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was then a subscription book publisher. He offered Grant a high royalty for his memoirs, and in 1885 Grant began to dictate them. A pain in his throat was finally diagnosed as cancer, but Grant went on, writing with a pen, to provide for his wife after he was gone. In the summer of 1885 Mrs. Grant took her husband to the Adirondacks near Saratoga. There he finished his `Personal Memoirs' about a week before he died on July 23. Written frankly, the work ranks high among military biographies. It was so popular that Mrs. Grant received nearly $450,000 from its sale. A granite tomb to Grant's memory was built on Riverside Drive in New York City, in 1959 it became a national memorial. Grant's life was like a roller coaster, in the beginning he started low and was regarded as a failure. He worked his way to the top, became the most honored general in the U.S., and was elected President of the United States. Then suddenly his life went downhill, his firm crashed, he developed cancer and died bankrupt.

Jennifer Lopez :: Art

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born July 24, 1970 in Castle Hill, Bronx. She is the daughter of Guadalupe and David Lopez. Lopez has been able overcome the Spanish stereotypes becoming the highest paid Latin woman in the world. Every time she appears on magazine covers, presents on the Oscars, makes movies and music she is breaking down barriers and showing that every woman, no matter what race, can do this. The place where Jennifer grow up was a Spanish area, with people, food, and music Her grandparents taught her all about her roots. That is why she is proud of her ethnic background. As Jennifer grow up â€Å"West Side Story† was an inspiration to her, she especially looked up to a character named â€Å"Anita† played by Rita Moreno. She has always admired her. Ever since Jennifer was a kid she knew that she wanted to be a actress, singer, and dancer. When she was 5 years old she took ballet classes at the â€Å"Ballet Hispanico†. She Contained taking classes trough her teenage years. All trough her life she â€Å"On The 6† train to go tryout for dance auditions. When Jennifer was 15 years old, she meets her ten year long boyfriend David Cruz, know as â€Å"The best looking guy in the neighborhood†. Her parents did not approve of the relationship. Eventually they had outgrown the relationship, because David’s and her life were headed in a different direction, she also got lost in the Hollywood entertainment culture. Jennifer held multiple jobs, going to school during the day, dancing at night and kept a job, she was not home often. She even dropped out of college, because she knew she wanted to pursue dancing . At one point she and her mom had big fallout. When she was 18 years old she got kicked out of her house. She got an apartment at â€Å"Hell’s Kitchen†, the same neighborhood that Jennifer’s other role model â€Å"Lisa Lisa† grow up in. In 1990 Lopez gets her first big break as a fly girl in â€Å"In Living Color†, she beat more then 100,000 other girls for the part. She also takes acting classes and begins to appear in music video’s like Janet Jackson’s â€Å"That’s The Way Love Goes†. She went on tour with Janet and saw the pop culture that eventfully she would lead. She appears in sit-coms that did not really last like â€Å"Hotel Malibu† and â€Å"Nurses On The Line†.

Business and the Economic Environment Essay

Identify the impact of government spending on a selected businessP4 Explain how both fiscal and monetary policy decisions have affected a selected businessP5 Describe the impact of international factors on a selected business M1 Analyse the implications of government policies for a selected businessM2 Analyse the effects of fiscal and monetary policies for a selected business in terms of the market it operates inM3 Assess the impact of changes in the global and European business environment on a selected businessD1 Evaluate the impact of changes in the economic environment on a selected businessD2 Suggest and justify elements of fiscal and monetary policies that would help a selected business achieve its objectives Learner declaration I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own and research sources are fully acknowledged. Learner signature Date LEARNING OUTCOMES On completion of this unit you should 1. Understand the impact on businesses of changes in the economic environment 2. Know how government spending impacts on businesses 3. Understand fiscal and monetary policies and the effects on spending 4. Know how the international economy affects UK businesses and competition. Assignment 1 Date issued27/01/14Deadline Date 10/02/14 Scenario This assignment requires you to consider the effects of a changing economy on a selected business. You will base your answer around a particular UK company which operates in the Service sector. The Davis Service Group provides textile maintenance services in the UK and Europe. This includes linen hire, work-wear rental, dust control mat, laundry and washroom services. The Group consists of two main operating companies each with its own directors and executive team. These two operating companies delegate responsibility and authority to profit centers throughout the Group. Providing essential services enables the company to grow when economic activity is expanding in its various markets. For example, it has recently been growing quickly in  Poland. At the same time because the services it provides are so essential to other businesses it manages to maintain sales in times of falling demand. With the given case study you will need to produce a report which examines how Davis service Group has managed the recent change in the Business Cycle. Task 1 Produce a report describing the business cycle, including explanations of the nature of each stage of the cycle and its impact on the Davis Service Group. Explain what effect an increase of GDP, Balance of Payments and the Ripple effect would have on Davis Service Group. This provides evidence for P1 Explain the effects, of changes in the economic environment on a selected business. Task 2 Using UKs current Inflation rates, Unemployment rates and GDP figure, state how changes affect Davis Service Group. Predict future changes and explain and justify how Davis Service Group can respond to these changes. This provides evidence for D1 analyse the implications of government policies for a selected business. Sources of information The Times 100 Online HYPERLINK http//www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-study–managing-firms-throughout- the-business-cycle–111-360-1.php http//www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-study–managing-firms-throughout-the-business-cycle–111-360-1.php HYPERLINK http//www.bbc.co.uk/news/10613201 http//www.bbc.co.uk/news/10613201 Assignment 2 Date issued24/02/14Deadline Date 28/04/14 Scenario As a manufacturing company, Jaguar Land Rover has borne the brunt of sustainability regulations and the growing costs of compliance. The carmaker, which employs 15,000 people, including 3,500 engineers at two product development centres in the Midlands, is part of the EU ETS scheme and has signed up to a Climate Change Agreement. Head of sustainability Frances Leedham says One of my objectives is to make environment and sustainability part of doing business. It was unheard of a few years ago, but there is a clear incentive to decarbonise our economy and focus on renewable energy. Across our UK facilities we have set ambitious targets, and by 2012 we aim to reduce operating carbon emissions by 25 per cent, waste to landfill by 25 per cent and water consumption by 10 per cent. So crucial is the companys sustainability agenda to long-term business growth that a 9m fund has been set aside for investment in efficiency measures across the business, targeting areas where the biggest savings can be made. Jaguar Land Rovers paint shops, for example, have been identified  as the largest consumer of energy in the whole man ufacturing process. By sharing best practice between production sites, the company has implemented more than 50 initiatives-from optimising use of air compressors to closing parts of the paint shops when they are not being used. These measures have saved 13,200 tonnes of carbon emissions and more than 1.5m in energy costs over the past two years. But Leedham insists smaller schemes have a significant effect, too Things such as lighting, heating and PC shutdown policies are as important as the bigger manufacturing issues. Engaging employees in our environmental strategy is fundamental to achieving sustainability targets. Task 1 The government sets out policies that influence the UK economy. You need to explain what the following policies are and how each policy impacts Jaguar Land Rover in a positive and negative way. Economic Policy Industrial Policy Competition Policy Fiscal Policy Social Policy Education and Training Policy Transport Policy Environmental Policy HINT- Use the Jaguar Land Rover website to gain more information on how Jaguar Land Rover is part of these policies. This provides evidence for P2 Identify how government polices impact on a selected business Task 2 The UK Government has proposed th e following changes Spending on education to increase. Government introduces a programme to cut carbon emissions by 20 Government introduces a lower inflation target of 1.5 The government outlined key changes in the industrial policy the government will NOT support business to introduce new technology. Your task is to analyse the impact of the above changes on your business. You need to examine the information and draw justified conclusions on how the business may react. This provides evidence for M1 Analyse the implications of government policies for a selected business Task 3 Produce an article for The Halesowen College Education magazine, you should include the following headings- Define government spending and how it takes place at different levels. Identify and describe the key areas on which government spending takes place (You should support your description with figures which show the percentage of total government spending allocated to the major areas) Describe how government spending affects your selected business Explain the M ultiplier Mechanism in the context of the knock on effects it has on your selected business. This provides evidence for P3 identify the impact of government spending on a selected business Task 4 Outline how Fiscal, (Direct and  indirect tax, capital allowances, public finances and the budget), and Monetary, (Interest rates, employment levels and inflation) affect Jaguar Land Rover. Explain how changes in the above will affect investment levels for Jaguar Land Rover. This provides evidence for P4 explain how both fiscal and monetary policy decisions have affected a selected business. Task 5 Describe how changes in inflation and interest rates affect Jaguar land Rover in a positive and negative way. Use a UK graph to illustrate your answer. Predict future changes in inflation and interest rates and justify what effects it will have on Jaguar Land Rover. This provides evidence for M2 analyse the effects of fiscal and monetary policies for a selected business in terms of the market they operate in Task 6 Suggest and justify elements of fiscal and monetary policies that government could use that would help Jaguar Land Rover achieve its objectives. This provides evidence for D2 Suggest and evaluate elements of fiscal and monetary polices that would help a business achieve its objectives.