Manager Roles and Skills Essays

Manager Roles and Skills Essays Manager Roles and Skills Essay Manager Roles and Skills Essay Describe three different roles of a manager; what skills are essential to perform these roles? Ans: Many people say, that â€Å"management is what managers do† While that’s true, it doesn’t tell us much unfortunately. So in order to understand the concept of management, you have to understand what managers do. There are three specific categorization schemes to explain what managers do, result of many years of research and study: Roles (Henry Mintzberg) Skills (Robert L. Katz) There are three different management roles, which can be subdivided in ten more categories, which I am going to discuss here. Management Roles: Henry Mintzberg is a well know researcher, and the results of his studies about the work of managers were published in The Nature of Managerial Work (New York: Harper Row, 1973). The term management roles refers to specific categories of managerial behavior, and Mintzberg concluded that what managers do, can be described by studying ten different and interrelated roles, grouped around interpersonal relationships, transfer of information, and last, but not least, decision making. Interpersonal Roles The ones that, like the name suggests, involve people and other ceremonial duties.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leader – Responsible for staffing, training, and associated duties.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Figurehead – The symbolic head of the organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Liaison – Maintains the communication between all contacts and informers that compose the organizational network. Informational Roles Related to collecting, receiving, and disseminating information.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Monitor – Personally seek and receive information, to be able to understand the organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Disseminator – Transmits all import information received from outsiders to the members of the organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Spokesperson – On the contrary to the above role, here the manager transmits the organization’s plans, policies and actions to outsiders. Decisiona l Roles Roles that revolve around making choices.   Ã‚           Entrepreneur – Seeks opportunities. Basically they search for change, respond to it, and exploit it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Negotiator – Represents the organization at major negotiations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Resource Allocator – Makes or approves all significant decisions related to the allocation of resources.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Disturbance Handler – Responsible for corrective action when the organization faces disturbances. It’s worth to mention that Mintzberg also considered that as managers perform the roles described above, their activities include reflection and action. Reflection (also called thoughtful thinking) because managers think, ponders and contemplates about their decisions. Action (or practical doing) because every time they act, they are doing something, they are applying their decisions. Mintzberg’s approach is debatable, but several studies that tested the Management Roles categories in different types of organizations support the idea that managers do perform similar roles. What does change is the emphasis given to each role that may vary depending on the organizational level. Management Skills: A managers job is varied and complex. Managers need certain skills to perform the duties and activities associated with being a manager. What type of skills does a manager need? Research by Robert L. Katz found that managers needed three essential skills. These are technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills. Technical skills include knowledge of and proficiency in a certain specialized field, such as engineering, computers, financial and managerial accounting, or manufacturing. These skills are more important at lower levels of management since these managers are dealing directly with employees doing the organizations work. Human skills involve the ability to work well with other people both individually and in a group. Because managers deal directly with people, this skill is crucial! Managers with good human skills are able to get the best out of their people. They know how to communicate, motivate, lead, and inspire enthusiasm and trust. These skills are equally important at all levels of management. Finally conceptual skills are the skills managers must have to think and conceptualize about abstract and complex situations. Using these skills managers must be able to see the organization as a whole, understand the relationship among various subunits, and visualize how the organization fits into its broader environment. These skills are most important at top level anagement. A professional association of practicing managers, the American Management Association, has identified important skills for managers that encompass conceptual, communication, effectiveness, and interpersonal aspects. These are briefly described below: Conceptual Skills: Ability to use information to solve business problems, identification of opportunities for innovation, recognizing problem a reas and implementing solutions, selecting critical information from masses of data, understanding the business uses of technology, understanding the organizations business model. Communication Skills: Ability to transform ideas into words and actions, credibility among colleagues, peers, and subordinates, listening and asking questions, presentation skills and spoken format, presentation skills; written and graphic formats Effectiveness Skills: Contributing to corporate mission/departmental objectives, customer focus, multitasking; working at multiple tasks at parallel, negotiating skills, project management, reviewing operations and implementing improvements, setting and maintaining performance standards internally and externally, setting priorities for attention and activity, time management. Interpersonal Skills: Coaching and mentoring skills, diversity skills; working with diverse people and culture, networking within the organization, networking outside the organization, working in teams; cooperation and commitment. Conclusion: In todays demanding and dynamic workplace, employees who are invaluable to an organization must be willing to constantly upgrade their skills and take on extra work outside their own specific job areas. There is no doubt that skills will continue to be an important way of describing what a manager does. Q # 2: Contrast between Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning theories of learning. Give suitable example for each. Ans: 1. Classical Conditioning: If a stimulus that results in an emotional response is repeated alongside another stimulus which does not cause an emotional response, eventually the second stimulus will result in the same emotional response. Classical Conditioning is thus ‘learning by association’. In more detail, we are pre-conditioned to unconditionally respond in certain ways to stimuli. For example a sudden noise (an unconditional stimulus, US) makes us flinch (the unconditional response, UR). If a movement is made at the same time as, or just before the noise, such as moving hands to clap loudly (conditional stimulus, CS), then the person will learn to flinch when the movement is made without the noise necessarily being there (the conditional response, CR). Thus the association is made between the US and CS, with either stimulating the same response. Classical Conditioning  does not work in all circumstances. In particular it is more effective where the conditioning may be of evolutionary benefit. Experiment: Pavlov did famous experiments with dogs, ringing a bell and then feeding them. After a while, he could ring the bell and their mouths would salivate. Garcia and Koelling (1966) showed that rats soon learned to avoid a sweet: I liked my aunt, she always made me feel warm and wanted. She always wore a particular perfume. When I smell the perfume now, I immediately feel warm and wanted. So what? Using it If you want to persuade someone to do something, get them to do it at the same time as doing something they like doing. Do something specific every time they do something you want (like touching them somewhere or making a specific sound). Then do that specific thing and theyll think of doing the desired behavior. Defending Watch out for people repeatedly touching you or having strange behaviors. Check that theyre not trying to program you. 2. Operant Conditioning: A behavior will increase if it is followed by positive reinforcement. It will decrease if it is followed by punishment. Operant Conditioning is thus ‘learning by consequences’. Whereas Classical Conditioning involves automatic, pre-programmed responses, Operant Conditioning involves learned behaviors. Also, whilst Classical Conditioning associates two stimuli, Operant Conditioning associates a stimulus and a response. Favorable circumstances are generally known as reinforcing stimuli or reinforces, whilst unfavorable circumstances are known as punishing stimuli or punishers. Operant Conditioning is also known as Instrumental Conditioning. Experiment: Skinner put rats and pigeons in a box where pressing a lever resulted in food being dispensed. From accidental knocking of the lever, they quickly learned to deliberately press it to get food. Example: Parents often try to balance praise and punishment. To be effective, they should punish only behaviors they wish to extinguishthey should not punish for not doing what should be done. So what? Using it: If you want someone to work harder, do not punish them when they do not work- reward them when they do. If you want them to stop smoking, make it unpleasant when they do rather than pleasant when they refrain. men

Dialogue Helps to Tell Your Story

Dialogue Helps to Tell Your Story Dialogue Helps to Tell Your Story Dialogue Helps to Tell Your Story By Guest Author This is a guest post by Charles A. Ray. If you want to write for Daily Writing Tips check the guidelines here. Dialogue can make or break your short story or novel. No matter how good the plot or subject line, poorly-written dialogue can turn a reader off quicker than anything. I recently read a draft novel manuscript that had a fascinating premise, a compelling story line, and conflict aplenty. I was, nonetheless, completely turned off because every character in the story sounded exactly alike. They all used the same stilted Shakespearean speech, and sounded as if they were reading from Hamlet. Even a street smart black activist student, who was portrayed as aggressive and racially sensitive, talked as if he was the villain from Othello. This is not to suggest that the character should have been lampooned, or that his dialogue should have been a parody of ‘Amos and Andy’ or ‘Shaft.’ But, the character would have been more credible and believable if the dialogue had been less formal, with more use of modern slang, instead of the formal speech that was employed. The only slang word this character used in the first chapter, in over a half page of dialogue, was the word ‘ofay,’ which was inserted in a formal sentence, making it stand out like a pimple on prom night; and it was as unwelcome and out of place as a pimple. Reading the passage, which described his encounter with his professor, I had difficulty telling which of them was speaking without looking at the tags, or going back to see who spoke last. This was clearly a case of poor dialogue ruining an otherwise good story. A more effective technique is to give each character a distinctive voice; either through the words they use, or some other action that belongs to that character and that character alone. Dialogue should be written so that the reader knows immediately which character is speaking. A good way to learn to write effective dialogue is to eavesdrop on the people around you. Note the quirks that distinguish one speaker from another. For example, teenagers these days seem to put the word ‘like’ indiscriminately in their speech. Here’s an example of a conversation I overheard on the subway one day, â€Å"He was like really out of control, and like I just couldn’t get into what he was like saying, you know.† That is an actual line of dialogue that could be used in your story. You have to be careful in most cases not to use what you hear verbatim. People don’t often say what they want to say as succinctly as you need your characters to speak to keep your story moving; but informal expressions in your dialogue will make your characters sound like real people. If you want your writing to keep people interested, in addition to a strong plot, and an interesting theme, you need characters that people find believable. This means learning to write dialogue that holds a reader’s interest as much as the plot. Dialogue, when well written, can help to identify a character more effectively than paragraphs of description or narrative, and it can help keep your story moving. More importantly, it can keep a reader interested in your story from the opening sentence through to the end. You can check Charles page on RedRoom for commentary on leadership, politics and life in general, as well as information about his books. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to use "on" and when to use "in"Flier vs. Flyer5 Keys to Better Sentence Flow

Metals in my life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Metals in my life - Essay Example Gold and Copper are considered to be the first metals discovered. However currently there are eighty six known metals. The dependency of mankind on metals is averred by the fact that the human civilization was based on seven metals which were known to be the Metals of Antiquity. These seven metals included Gold, Copper, Silver, Lead, Tin, Iron and Mercury. While referring the early development of civilizations, it has been found in the history that these metals were known and used by the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks and the Romans. In the post modern era of advanced sciences, the role of metals is quite inevitable in the day to day activities of human beings. Its usefulness are widely ranged involving its applications in Transportation, Aerospace, Computers and other electronic devices that require conductors, Communications including satellites that depend on a tough but light metal shell, Food processing and preservation, Construction, Biomedical applications, Electrical power production and distribution, Farming and household conveniences. The objective of this essay is to analyze the role of metals in my life. The role of some of the metals play in my day to day life is being reviewed along with the factual on those metals. The dependency of my routine activities on the application of these metals is wide and vivid. In the following paragraphs some of the metals are being dealt in detail beginning with the scientific information on those metals and then on the utility of those metals in my life. Thus essay takes care of the science of metals with reference to my life along with the emotional and application level attachment of mine with those metals and their products. The beauty and ambience of this metal is very much reflected in its chemical symbol itself. Chemical symbol of Gold is ‘Au’ which has been derived from the Latin aurum meaning shining dawn. The name also refers much to the color of

The General Theory of Employment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The General Theory of Employment - Essay Example His definition of involuntary unemployment, based on response to an increase in aggregate demand led to his definition that full employment is "a situation in which aggregate employment is inelastic in response to an increase in effective demand for its output." (Chapter 3) In Keynesian theory capitalism has no machinery to guarantee full employment. Keynes assumes that when aggregate demand is outweighed by aggregate supply then output will serve as the self-adjusting mechanism. (Furstater, 2001, p. 4) There is "no self-adjusting mechanism which generates a level of effective or aggregate demand sufficient to ensure the full utilization of resources." (Pilling, 1986, p.5) This creates an environment where the possibility of unemployment always exists. This conclusion is repeated by Furstater (p. 10) who states that "capitalism is first and foremost a system that does not provide employment for every person willing and able to work." According to Keynes the level of employment is directly related to the level of output which fluctuates based upon the level of effective demand. The two key components of effective demand are consumption and investment. Consumption refers to the money spent by individuals on consumer goods. As income increases so does our demand for consumer goods, though not quite as much as our income, due to increased taxes and the possibility of our putting the money away in savings, and Keynes referred to this as the marginal propensity to consume. He developed an equation which expressed how much extra will be consumed with the each additional unit of additional income: Marginal propensity to consume= The amount consumption rises The amount income rises mpc (marginal propensity to consume) =dCw dYw (Rodda, p. 2) If savings are increased too much there is a chance that consumption will drop, leading to decreases in income. Keynes believed that if incomes rose the marginal propensity to consume would drop. "When income rose beyond a point where a level of sufficient comfort had been attained, marginal consumption would fall as a greater portion of income is saved." (p. 3) Investment refers to money spent by enterprises on investment goods. "Investment spendingis driven by expectations of future profits." (Taylor, 8) Profits are the revenue that remains after subtracting costs. So investment is based on projected revenue based on expectations of future costs. Whereas consumer spending is fairly predictable, investment spending is volatile. This led Keynes to note that economic downturns were due in part to "the uncontrollable and disobedient psychology of the business world." (Chapter 22) Output is made up of consumer goods and investment goods. The levels of consumption and investment directly affect the level of output. Any fluctuation in the level of effective demand directly, by affecting output levels, affects employment, with a fixed money wage. It must be remembered that the money generated by production is subject to three leakages: taxes,

Child and young person development Essay Example for Free

Child and young person development Essay Task 2 – Explain the difference between sequence of development and rate of development and why the difference is important. The sequence of development is the order in which development takes place. Although some stages of development may be missed (for example some babies do not crawl and go straight from shuffling to walking) the sequence is usually followed by children and the order usually remains the same. The rate of development is the time-frame given for the average development of a child expected at a certain age, i. e. at one has started to walk. All children are unique and will develop at their own rate. The rate of development is just a guideline. For example: some babies start teething from 6 months and some of them start at 9 months. Some babies can start making sentences at around 1 year; others can only speak few broken words. Read more: Rate of development  essay The sequence of development generally remains the same. The rate of development can change considerably and many other factors such as individual growth patterns, social background, health and nutrition, disability and learning difficulties can have an effect on it. It is important to know the difference between the sequence and rate of development as it helps to meet the children’s individual needs. It helps you recognise if any children have special educational needs and helps you plan to make sure they are getting the help and support they may need. Practitioners must have a good understanding of the child development rates. Practitioners should: †¢Carry out assessment and observation effectively. It is required for practitioners to make development comparisons between a child’s actual development stage and expected development rates. †¢Offer appropriate activities and experiences. This will be informed by  observation, monitoring and assessment of individual children. †¢Anticipate the next stage of a child’s development. This allows the practitioner to provide activities and experiences that will challenge and interest children, therefore, stimulating the child’s learning development. †¢Notice when children are not progressing as expected. Although children develop at different rates, significant delays in one area or many delays in several areas can be an indication that children need intervention and extra support.

Attitudes Towards the Religion of Islam Essay -- Culture

Attitudes Towards the Religion of Islam For centuries much of the Western world has targeted the Islamic religion as a threat to others. Many feel that the religion promotes hatred and violence while many others feel that Islam is a peaceful religion. With so many forms of the religion, though, it is hard to put a label on the religion as a whole as being either peaceful or violent. Perhaps the best way to try to answer these uncertainties about the nature of Islam is to look at its holy book, the Koran, and the practices of the religion’s followers. The Koran is the best source of information for non-Muslims to refer to regarding Islamic beliefs since Islam is followed in so many forms, and there is no central authority that can be consulted for a definitive decree of Islamic regulation. The Koran dictates to its followers what is morally right just as the Bible does for Christians. The Koran discusses a man named Mohammed who is looked at by Muslims as the perfect follower of the Islam faith. His role in the Koran parallels that of Jesus in the Bible. The differe...

TRW Case Analysis

Case 4 –TRW SYSTEMS (A and B condensed) ThiviyaManikandan sridhar – 54, Devika Srinivas – 11, Prabhudeep Shivakumar-31 1. What kinds of organizational design choices has TRW made about the design Challenges discussed in chapter 4? Due to the complexity of products being produced and the interdependency between the parts, systems, various groups, divisions and companies who assembled the parts forced TRW to adopt the matrix structure, where it covers vertical flow of functional responsibility and horizontal flow of product responsibility. On the vertical side, TRW systems have functional organizations like mechanical division, physical research division, systems divisions, fabrication integration and testing division. On the horizontal side, it has program organization which controls program office. Under these two organizations, sub project managers and assistant project managers are appointed. These managers have to report to two bosses. All these employees and departments are under the control of presidents and vice presidents. This is indicates a flat and decentralized structure, where managers and employees are allowed to take their own decisions. The level of decentralization followed by TRW is appropriate for the fluctuating and complex aerospace industry, as creativity plays important role in research and development which is accomplished by TRW engineers. A program manager maintained all the management responsibility for pulling together the various phases of a particular customer project. Assistant program manager was appointed to coordinate the activities of program manager. Under assistant program manager, sub project managers were also appointed to control the total project activity. Sub project managers are responsible for integrating and coordinating the functional organization and program organization. He also supervises the engineers and manages financial resources procured from program office. Sub project managers are the main integrating mechanism in the structure. There is too much of pressure and authority on the sub project managers, so TRW has to take drastic steps to develop its integrating mechanisms as integration plays an important role in matrix structure. TRW lacks standard operating procedures and standardized rules and norms. This indicates a total domination of mutual adjustment. As a result of this situation, most of the engineers are facing ambiguity problems. So TRW has to bring the balance between standardization and mutual adjustment. TRW makes minimal  use of formal hierarchical reporting relationships to coordinate activities. The informal  network of social relationships developed over time is important in determining how teams perform, and informal status  relationships between scientists are important as a means of coordination. Team values and norms  derive from informal interactions between scientists and are spread as members move between teams. 2. Are the design choices TRW has made appropriate for the organization, why or why not? From the above points, we can clearly say that the matrix structure and organic design followed by TRW systems is appropriate from the contingency perspective, as it matches the uncertain environment. But the managers are not utilizing their full potential and the employees are taking advantage of this structure by coming late to the work. This indicates the need for centralization and standardization. Fluctuations in the aerospace environment need spontaneous decisions which can be achieved by matrix structure. TRW is high in task variability and low in task analyzability. It  uses intensive technology and has  reciprocal interdependence. For all these features matrix structure is the best suitable structure. A matrix would not be suitable in  a simple, stable environment for routine technology and employees with  routine tasks. Here, it  would promote coordination and motivation problems and raise bureaucratic costs. 3. What is TRWs structure and what problems does it cause for TRW? TRW followed a matrix structure. The employees were responsible for two officers. Some of the problems caused by this structure – The relationship between the project officer and the functional division officer is a complex one. Both the roles are mutually dependent and have equal power. Hence authority is undefined. This leads to a lot of confusion about the role of the managers. Many employees are not comfortable with the relationship and this caused the status and authority problems within the organization. Another problem of the structure is the subproject manager is the prime mover of the organization. He is the person who brings the program officer’s requirements and the lab’s resources together to produce a subsystem. He has to cater to the needs of project manager as well as the functional manager. He has to keep in mind the interests of both the bosses; this puts him under a lot of pressure. If he reacts too much to pressure from either side, it hurts his ability to be objective about his subproject and this will in turn affect the employees. Hence the success of the project is majorly controlled by a single person. The matrix structure did not have any formal rules. The informal procedures followed are useful for the higher level management but the employees are given too much freedom. Due to the complexity of the structure, a lot of time is required in setting up a new project teams. This contributed to an increase in the cost incurred by the organization. As the structure is changing all the time there is lack of leadership. Also there exists large gap  between authority and responsibility. The project manager had no authority over people working on his project. He had to work with the functional heads on these problems. This imbalance enabled flexibility and adaptively in the organization, but it was difficult to work with. 4) What problems might TRW have with its present structure as it grows? The present matrix structure problem is that whether this matrix structure is suitable or Not for a large organization. As organization grows, it will be difficult for TRW to maintain Its Organic approach. We know that Divisions of TRW itself refused to share its R&D Information with other division. This attitude of employees will surely lead to Misunderstanding, conflicts and confusion. As the company grows, the company has to adopt For a new technology, some of the employees may not like new technology which is Complicated to understand and work.

FUTRONICS Inc CASE

Introduction Background of the Case FUTRONICS Inc. is a private company located in Lexington mainly categorized for modems, monitors, disk drives and terminals. It is moreover in to sales and services. This case is about the replacement of Futronics’s central office stores by an outside service provider. In this case supply management manager have an opportunity for investigating selected outsourcing in-house services. Cost Status of the Company Description| Making Cost in Total| Buying cost in Total| Size of company: Raw | 2 Billion Dollar| | Cost of Goods sold| $ 900,000| | Average Inventory (500 items in stocks)| $ 140,000| | Cost of Personnel and Space| $ 200,000| | Period of performance (Time Line) Description| Year| Target Serving Areas| Central Store Created| 1950 (middle of)| 21 area sites| | Present| 42 area sites| Place of performance Futronics Inc. is located at Lexington, Massachusettes. Stakeholders Analysis: 1. FUTRONICS Inc. 2. Central stores 3. Supply Management Department 4. Manager of Supply Management 5. Employees 6. Consumers 7. Government bodies 8. Vendors 9. Financial department 10. Outside store services 11. Litton 12. Boise-Cascade 13. L. E. Muran 14. Bay state office 15. New England supply 16. Other firms in Boston Focus areas 1. Make or buy decision 2. Multi-functional team 3. Risk analysis 4. Cost Estimate 5. Time Estimate 6. Ethics Scope of work The company has been into the supply chain management business for more than 60 years but in the recent years there has been decrease in sales due to heavy competitions. So the company is thinking of outsourcing central office stores as a part of their cost reduction programme. Now the company is in the initiation and planning stage of procurement and contract management. The procurement division manager is into the through research and analysis on the all the external and internal factors to see whether this outsourcing step would be beneficial for the company in terms of cost, time schedule, risk, quality and ethic The case shows that the company still is in the Plan Procurement Phase and has been doing a deep analysis and research from different perspective and angle to see whether outsourcing is a good strategy to move ahead to increase sales and cost reducing mechanism. Plan Procurement Management Plan Procurement Management deals with two phases of procurement management initiating and planning. Initiating * The company came up with an initiative (idea) on how to reduce the overhead corporate cost to increase the profit margin. * Carried out some research to analyse how other competitors are addressing this issue. Planning * Develop vendor analysis comparative chart with selection criteria – Scoring Framework. Refer Annex 1. * Analysis on Risk Management Areas such as risk identification, risk involvement in the process, etc. * Analysis on quality management areas – whether they could get the same quality or not. How much they need to compromise on the quality * Developed the comparative analysis chart on decision making process based on the focused areas: Advantages and Disadvantages analysing from both perspective Make Decision| Buy Decision – Outsourcing| Advantages | Advantages| Cheap price of goods when bulk buy| Less overhead cost| Quality Control| More concentration on other portion of the work| Transparency| | Good quality raw materials – quality output| | Chances of getting more business| Faster delivery service| Good name and reputation – Goodwill| | Product price – less expensive| | | Make Decision| Buy Decision – Outsourcing| Disadvantages| Disadvantages | High operating cost| Conflict might arises with vendors| Lay off of staff| Less Transparency| Unethical (as one of the employee is physically challenged)| Not timely delivered| More manpower required| Less quality raw materials | Loose the existing customer – Risk| High profit margin| | Finish goods might be expensive| | Long term contract | | | Acceptance criteria The company is taking a crucial decision although through analysis has been done using various tools and techniques. But there is always a fear that what happens next. How would be the response from the consumer and stakeholders? Since now the company has become dependent, what would be the level of trust? Annex 1: Comparative Evaluation Sheet for Selecting Vendor Evaluation Criteria| Company Name| | Litton| Boise-Cascade| L. E. Muran| Bay State Office| New England| Total Score| Weighted Score| Sample Catalogues| | | | | | | | Price List| | | | | | | | Ranges of costs for certain delivery| | | | | | | | Contract Term – 3 year| | | | | | | | Order Cycle Times – 10 Working days| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Levels:5 – Execellant4- Good3- Average2 – Fair1 – Not Satisfactory| The Report After analyzing all these risks and criteria Id like to present some points to demonstrate why we should go for outsourcing: * Closing stores operation the labour cost (4 employees) and space can provide $200,000 savings per year. * The employees can be allocated to another area or retired. I recommend one of them to work supporting with the contract management and for this job the disability worker can be trained to perform it. The costs related to the inventory can be reduced by 6%. * All the stores areas will become available for rent or designed for other operations. Also the management of those stores won’t be necessary, saving time to focus on other issues. * Another strong advantage of outsourcing is the delivery time that changes from three to four weeks to less than ten working days. This can also become an advantage among the competitors. * The launch of new items can be time shortened since we don’t have all the inventory and distribution tasks anymore. Will not be necessary to plan and create other stores to support our business as long it is growing. The contract will take care of it. These points clarify and justify the outsourcing procurement we should develop and administer. Cost and competitive advantages are the main points indicating our company to go for this project. References: Flemng, Q. W. (2003). Project procurement management: Contracting, subcontracting and teaming. (First ed. , p. 273). America: Mayori, F. (2013). Procurement slides – course study . Toronto, Canada: Centennial College, Progress Campus. www. centennialcollege. ca

Archduke Franz Ferdinand Essays

Archduke Franz Ferdinand Essays Archduke Franz Ferdinand Essay Archduke Franz Ferdinand Essay There were many causes leading up to World War l, but it wasn’t until June 28, 1914 the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered World War l. His assassination took place in Sarajevo, leading Austria to declare war against Serbia. Austria declaring war to Serbia caused Serbia’s allies to declare war on each other, for example France, Russia, and United Kingdom. From all this chaos World War I began. Franz Ferdinand, eldest son of Carl Ludwig, the brother of Emperor Franz Josef, was born in 1863. He joined the Austro-Hungarian army in 1883. He was young when he entered the military. He didn’t receive any formal traning but he was considered eligible for command. He was frequently and quickly promoted. His great work in the army led to promotions: lieutenant around age 14, captain around age 22, colonel around age 27, major around age 33. In 1889, the son of Franz Josef committed suicide. Due to his death, throne was passed down to Ferdinand’s father, Carl Ludwig. When Carl Ludwig died in 1896, Ferdinand’s life would completely change. Ferdinand became the new heir to the throne after his father’s death. (Miller, P. Frederic. 58. ) A few years before Ferdinand’s father had passed away, he met a woman named Sophie von Chotkovato at a ball in 1888. They deeply fell in love but Sophie coming from a noble family caused a controversy, on how she shouldn’t be the one for Ferdinand. To be able to marry Ferdinand, she had to come from one of the ruling dynasties of Europe. Franz Ferdinand refused to marry anyone else but Sophie Von Chotkovato. Emperors and Popes spoke if that marriage were to happen it would be a corruption towards the stability of the monarchy. In the year 1889, Emperor Franz Josef made a deal with Ferdinand. Ferdinand was allowed to marry Sophie but her descendants could never have power to the throne, she couldn’t share Ferdinand’s rank, title, or be seen much in public with him. The wedding took place in Bohemia, Chez Republic. Franz Josef did not attend Ferdinand’s wedding. His brothers nor family were nowhere to be seen either. Weeks after the wedding Ferdinand wrote his stepmother Maria Theresia a letter where he said, â€Å"Sophie is a treasure, I am indescribably happy. She looks after me so much, I am doing wonderfully. I am so healthy and much less nervous. I feel as though I had been born again. † He felt nervous that he wouldnt be able to be together with Sophie, since she wasnt in the ruling dynasties in Europe. Years after their marriage they had three children; Sophie, Maximilian, and Ernst. (Shepherd, Gordon. page 154. ) In 1913 he was appointed as Inspector General of the Austro-Hungarian Army. Ferdinand was popular with the armed forces and well experienced. In 1914 General Oskar Potiorek, Governor of the Austrian provinces of Bosnia, invited Ferdinand, to watch his troops on maneuvers. Potiorek let Ferdinand know that his wife would also be welcomed; Franz Ferdinand gave the yes to make the visit. With him still being heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand knew his visit to Bosnia would be dangerous. Despite it being dangerous to go, he still went. Plenty of people in Bosnia were unhappy with Ferdinand’s rule. Bosnia was in union with Serbia. In 1910 a Serb, Bogdan Zerajic, had attempted to assassinate General Varesanin, the Austrian governor of Bosnia-Herzegovina, when he was opening parliament in Sarajevo. Zerajic was a member of the Black Hand who wanted Bosnia to leave the Austro- Hungarian Empire. The Black Hand went by Unity or Death. The leader of the group was Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijevic, the chief of the Intelligence Department of the Serbian General Staff. Dimitrijevic was worried that Ferdinand would become a threat. Worried that Ferdinand would make an independent Serbia state harder to reach. Gilfond, Henry. Page 240. ) When it became official that Ferdinand was going to visit Bosnia in June 1914, Dimitrijevic started to make plans to assassinate Ferdinand. Dimitrijevic send three people of the Black Hand group to Sarajevo. The prime minister of Sarajevo knew about the Black Hands plan. The prime minister didn’t want the assassination to take place in Sarajevo, as he was afraid of it leading to war w ith Austria-Hungary. The prime minister gave order for those three men to be arrested before they arrived to Bosnia. The arrest never took place. The three men were able to arrive to Bosnia. When the three men arrived they joined forces with the conspirators. They were determined to kill Ferdinand. Just before 10 oclock on Sunday, 28th June, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie von Chotkovato arrived in Sarajevo by train. General Oskar Potiorek, Governor of the Austrian provinces of Bosnia, was waiting to take the royal party to the City Hall for the official reception. In the front car were the Mayor of Sarajevo and the citys Commissioner of Police. Franz Ferdinand and his wife were in the second car with Oskar Potiorek and Count von Harrach. The cars top was rolled back in order to allow the crowds a good view of its occupants. When the cars passed by the central police station Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a grenade at the car Ferdinand was in. The driver of the car saw the object flying and accelerated his car. The grenade exploded underneath the wheel of the car that was behind the car Ferdinand was in. The driver of the car drove on fast trying to avoid any other attempts by the Black Hands. Franz Ferdinand made a speech at the official reception at the Sarajevo City Hall. With â€Å"It gives me special pleasure to accept the assurances of your unshakable loyalty and affection for His Majesty, our Most Gracious Emperor and King. I thank you cordially for the resounding ovations with which the population received me and my wife, the more so since in them an expression of pleasure over the failure of the assassination attempt. †(Miller, P. Frederic. page 234. ) After the reception at city hall, Franz Ferdinand asked if any members of the party were hurt from the bomb. He was told they were in bad condition, so he insisted on going to see them. People there told him it would be dangerous if he went. Despite the dangerous he still wanted to go. Oskar Potiorek was sure that Bosnia wasn’t a place full of assassins. Even though he disagreed about it being dangerous he suggested Ferdinand’s wife should stay. Ferdinand’s wife refused to stay declaring; â€Å"As long as the Archduke shows himself in public today I will not leave him. † Sophie would not stay under any circumstance and went with Ferdinand. General Oskar Potiorek suggested they should take a different route to go to the Sarajevo hospital. Ferdinand was fine with taking a different route, but Potiorek forgot to tell the driver about the final decision. On their way to the hospital the driver took a wrong turn. Potiorek realized the driver took a wrong turn, he immediately told the driver to turn around. The driver quickly hit the brake and backed up. No one notice there was a Serbian conspirator, named Gavrilo Princip hiding at the corner. The conspirator didn’t hesitate to watch the car back up any longer and just fired plenty times. After the assassination he attempt to commit suicide but was stopped before he had the chance to take another shot. Due to him being young he only receives twenty five years of prison. He contracts tuberculosis and dies 28 April 1918. He dies at Terizin, where later on under Nazi power they make a concentration camp. (Fabijanic, Toby, page 28) It’s believed that Ferdinand was hit in the neck and that Sophie Von Chotkovato was hit in the abdomen. Ferdinand and Sophie were drove to Konak, the governor’s residence, after arriving there the couple died from the hits.

Brief Overview of The Freedmens Bureau

Brief Overview of The Freedmens Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, also known as the Freedmen’s Bureau was established in 1865 to assist newly freed African-Americans and displaced whites following the Civil War. The Freedmen’s Bureau provided freed African-Americans and whites with shelter, food, employment assistance, and education. The Freedmen’s Bureau is considered the first federal agency devoted to the social welfare of Americans.   Why was the Freedmen's Bureau Established? In February of 1862, abolitionist and journalist George William Curtis wrote to the Treasury Department suggesting that a federal agency be established to help formerly enslaved people. The following month, Curtis published an editorial advocating for such an agency. As a result, abolitionists such as Francis Shaw began lobbying for such an agency. Both Shaw and Curtis assisted Senator Charles Sumner draft the Freedmen’s Bill- one of the first steps to establishing the Freedmen’s Bureau. Following the Civil War, the South was devastatedfarms, railroads, and roads had all been destroyed, and there were an estimated four million African-Americans who had been freed yet had no food or shelter. Many were also illiterate and wanted to attend school.   Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. This agency was also known as the Freedmen’s Bureau in March 1865. Created as a temporary agency, the Freedmen’s Bureau was part of the War Department, which was headed by General Oliver Otis Howard. Providing assistance to both African-Americans and whites who were displaced following the Civil War, the Freedmen’s Bureau offered shelter, basic medical care, job assistance and educational services.   Andrew Johnson's Opposition to the Freedmen's Bureau Just one year after its establishment, Congress passed another Freedmen’s Bureau Act. As a result, the Freedmen’s Bureau was not only going to present for another two years, but the U.S. Army was commanded to protect the civil rights of African-Americans in former Confederate states. However, former President  Andrew Johnson  vetoed the bill. Soon after Johnson sent Generals John Steedman and Joseph Fullerton to tour sites of the Freedmen’s Bureau. The purpose of the generals’ tour was to reveal that the Freedmen’s Bureau was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, many southern African-Americans supported the Freedmen’s Bureau because of the aid and protection provided.   Congress passed the Freedmen’s Bureau Act for the second time in July of 1866. Although Johnson vetoed the act again, Congress overrode his action. As a result, the Freedmen’s Bureau Act became law.   What Other Obstacles Did the Freedmen's Bureau Face? Despite the resources that the Freedmen’s Bureau was able to provide to newly freed African-Americans and displaced whites, the agency faced many problems. The Freedmen’s Bureau never received enough funding to provide for people in need. In addition, the Freedmen’s Bureau only had an estimated 900 agents throughout southern states. And in addition to the opposition that Johnson presented in the existence of the Freedmen’s Bureau, white southerners appealed to their political representatives at the local and state levels to end the work of the Freedmen’s Bureau. At the same time, many white northerners opposed the idea of providing relief solely to African-Americans following the Civil War.   What Led to the Demise of the Freedmen's Bureau? In July of 1868, Congress passed a law that closed the Freedmen’s Bureau. By 1869, General Howard had ended most of the programs associated with the Freedmen’s Bureau. The only program that remained in operation was its educational services.  The Freedmen’s Bureau closed completely in 1872. Following the closing of the Freedmen’s Bureau, editorialist George William Curtis wrote, No institution was ever more imperatively necessary, and none has been more useful.  Additionally, Curtis agreed with the argument that the Freedmen’s Bureau had averted a â€Å"war of races,† which allowed the South to rebuild itself following the Civil War.

Team work is better than Individual heroism Essay

Team work is better than Individual heroism - Essay Example Teamwork guarantees collaboration, support and cooperation. Individual heroism, on the other hand, denotes the self-centered technique of approaching things from a personal perspective. Team work is better than individual heroism because through teamwork people of different abilities and skills unite for the accomplishment of a common purpose. For instance, if a group of people runs a business, it becomes easy to distribute the tasks amongst themselves thus making the venture successful. As a result, it is easier for teamwork to succeed in any endeavor due to the synergy of pooled resources and potentialities. On the other hand, individual heroism depicts selfishness and may not achieve much due to the solitary approach involved. Whereas teamwork could be convenient through the distribution of tasks, individual heroism is self-exhaustive and cumbersome. Teamwork provides an avenue for interaction, cooperation and sharing that result into better society and healthy living. For instance, when people meet to accomplish a joint task, they interact and share their experiences through which they strengthen each other. Teamwork achieves far much more than the task at hand because it offers opportunities for social and individual advancement through the involvement of different people in a single task. The experience of teamwork is so satisfying that the task need not be accomplished in totality; because the joy and success of teamwork lies in cooperation, which is a huge source of actualization. Through teamwork, it is possible for individuals to learn and correct their areas of weakness for better performance. A case in point is a situation when a group of people perform a common duty through which they observe and learn from one another. This is contrary to individual heroism, which seals all opportunities for growth and development by glorifying personal achievement at the expense of nurturing potential. Accordingly, individual heroism fosters personal

Report question about AMR-US Airways Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Report question about AMR-US Airways - Assignment Example Fuel volatility is bad for the airlines because it reduces airline revenues, trust fund revenues, and access of passengers to the national aviation system. The domestic passenger traffic, reduces by 9% overall. Some airlines in the US decrease of 25%. These decreases declined the revenue of airports, prompting the airports to cut their operating costs, and hold the capital improvement projects. Price fluctuation also led to airports to reduce their airline capacity causing some of the passengers to lose access to the services of commercial air. This is due to increased fares in the passenger market. Smaller airports with fewer flight options, has the largest percentage decrease in their nonstop destinations as well as their reduction in capacity. Therefore, when the price of fuel fluctuates, Trust Fund revenues will fall, thereby contributing to a decrease in the funds non-committed balance (Lehman, 67). The Cost per ASM is computed by calculating the operating cost by the available Seat Miles that an online provides each year, this will vary with capacity. A quick analysis of the ASM from the company shows that the overall capacity has increased since. This explains the reducing Cost of ASM. On the other hand, the operating expenses have increased sharply since. Therefore, CASM for the 3month ending 2013/06/30 The Revenue Seat Miles is the distance an airplane flies times the passenger’s seat available for the passengers (Ones, 76). RSM is normally referred as the available seat miles. Therefore, the operating Cost per Mile is calculated as The difference between the two numbers is calculated as 926 The US Airways: The total operating cost in the 2nd quarter was recorded in $3.4m, this was a one percent increase compared to the previous year. The operating Cost per available seat mile was recorded are 12.88 cents. This was down 2 % on a 4.2% rise in the airlines ASM. When special items like profit and fuel sharing are excluded, the airline’s CASM becomes 8.21 cents. The 8.21 cents is a 0.4% decrease in CASM compared to the previous year. The merger will benefit the firms because it would generate it would raise more than half a billion dollars to the consumers and firms as well. Additionally, the merger will provide an effective competitor to some of the leading companies in the industry (Ones, 76). This will reduce competition by sidelining the market from creating competitive and new flight options for the passengers (Nutriment, 88). Consequently, the merger would result in cutting of services and raises the domestic fares. Also, the merger would be beneficial to the firm because it would result to a more competitive airline industry thereby giving the passengers more choices (Lehman, 67). Also, the merger would bring about the most competitive development in the airline industry. It is in the same dimension that FTC allowed UA-CO merger. However, the FTC is discouraging AA-US merger because the merger would reduce the le gacy carrier number from 4 to 3. This would increase the chances of coordinated professionalism among the airlines. This will lead to higher fees, fare, and diminished services. Therefore, blocking the merging of the two airlines will loosen the competition. This will prolong the cycle of the crisis to the passenger’s detriment, to the US airways, and also to the employees