The Encyclopedia Of Dna Elements - 2407 Words

The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) is a project designed to compare and contrast the repertoire of RNAs produced by the human cells and cross verify with other methods like NGS. After a five year start-up since the beginning of the ENCODE project just 1% of the human genome has been observed and what was achieved was just the confirmation of the results of previous studies. RNA has functions of coding, regulation, decoding, and gene expression. RNA highlights the sequential output from genomes which gives the genetic information. They define the cells regulatory capabilities by their synthesis, translation, transport, processing, and modification. DNA, RNA and cellular proteins are the three most essential macromolecules responsible for the existence of life as we know it. This paper paves way for the generation of a catalogue that contains all the RNAs and their functions. The ENCODE project, which stands for Encyclopedia of DNA elements aims to catalogue and classify the RNA elements generated by human cells. This data acquisition is required to characterize and identify the functionalities that result due to the presence of the human genome sequence. The entire ENCODE project duration is divided into two phases: †¢ Phase I: (1-5 years): examined 1% of the human genome †¢ Phase II: (5-10 years): The interrogation of the complete human genome As per the findings of the ENCODE project, it is concluded that new RNAs consist of either of the two major cellularShow MoreRelatedThe Encyclopedia Of Dna Elements2709 Words   |  11 PagesINTRODUCTION The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) is a project designed to compare and contrast the repertoire of RNAs produced by the human cells and cross verify with other methods like NGS. After a five year start-up since the beginning of the ENCODE project just 1% of the human genome has been observed and what was achieved was just the confirmation of the results of previous studies. RNA has functions of coding, regulation, decoding, and gene expression. RNA highlights the sequential outputRead MoreThe Human Genome Project And Encyclopedia Of Dna Elements2847 Words   |  12 Pagesour life as we know it must start at the basics with our own DNA. DNA is the building blocks for all life, so to understand life we must analyze the mechanism of genetics. Projects like the Human Genome project and Encyclopedia of DNA elements (ENCODE) analyzes DNA to give society an interpretation of what the building code is and means. Our genetic code holds coding and non-coding sequences, at first researchers focused solely on coding DNA for it carried the function and means to life. The other non-codingRead MoreThe Cumulative Prognosis Time Distribution For The Selected Signaling Pathways904 Words   |  4 Pagesprognosis time distribution for the selected signaling pathways are shown in Fig. 4. The later activation of the IL-10 pathway in the symptomatic subjects can be explain ed by the anti-inflammatory nature of IL-10 and†¦. Similarly, the fact that the DNA sensing pathway is quick to become anomalous is likely due to the initial detection of viral ssRNA by RIG-I (Pichlmair, et al., 2006). In fig. 5, we show further evidence of the pathway cascade, i.e., the fraction of the subjects that have k pathwaysRead MoreStructure And Structure Of Membrane Proteins Essay922 Words   |  4 Pagesforms of genetic information in bacteria DNA sequence stored, i.e. bacterial chromosome and plasmids. The following are the properties of a bacterial chromosome. †¢ Location: Within nucleoid region , not surrounded by nuclear envelope. †¢ Number: 1 chromosome each cell. †¢ Size: E.coli 4640 kbp. †¢ Component: Single, double-stranded circular DNA. Also includes RNA and its participation in DNA replication, transcription and gene expression of regulatory proteins. DNA does not interact with histone proteinsRead MoreGenome Decoding: A Review of Three Articles1724 Words   |  7 Pagessubject by describing the mechanism of the human DNA itself far more complex than originally thought. The third has taken a totally new perspective and approached DNA from the point of cancer. I find the third the most persuasive since He-suk (2012) approached the subject from the readers perspective. He realized that cancer is one of our largest concerns today. It remains an undefeated epidemic that arouses huge interest and concern. By approaching DNA from the perspective of cancer, He-suk (2012)Read MoreBiological Networks And The Biomedical And Genomic Fields962 Words   |  4 Pages there has been an exponential increase in the genomic and clinical data. Two of the largest and â€Å"de ep† biomedical and genomic big datasets produced by large consortia are ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) and TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas). The ENCODE project14, 15 was launched to identify all functional elements in the human genome - regions of transcription, transcription factor association, chromatin structure and histone modification. The ENCODE project has generated more than 6000 genomicRead MoreHow The Firm Strategy Affect The Emergence Of The Genomic Industry?1489 Words   |  6 Pagesthe genomic industry as a viable source of profit4. (See Figure 2) Through the advancement of DNA sequencing through â€Å"Next Generation Sequencing† platform, such as Illumina (Solexa) sequencing and Roche 454 sequencing, the genomic industry has been able to go from a viable concept to deploying profitable genomic companies. (See Figure 2) With the continuous development of the Encyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE), through HGP and National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), companies have beenRead MoreEssay on The Human Genome Project1437 Words   |  6 PagesEmbedded deeply in our body is the complex biological story. The Human Genome Project is the exploration of this intricate yet crucial storyline. The Genome is a complete set of genes that make up an organism. Genes are made up of DNA (deoxynucleic acid) which subsequently is made up of long paired strands. These paired strands attach in a specific manner, for example, Adenine (A) attaches itself to Thymine (T) and Cytosine(C) to Guanine (G). The genome is the perplexing key in instructing cellsRead Moreâ€Å"Challenges And Risks Of Genetically Engineered Organisms†.1655 Words   |  7 PagesUnited States for GMO crops. GMOs: Good or Bad for People and the Environment? The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide, edited by Helicon, 1st edition, 2016. Credo Reference. Accessed 04 Apr 2017. To find this encyclopedia article I used Credo Reference, using the search terms â€Å"GMOs and Health†. This article is found in The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. The article gives a brief overview of what a GMO is and examples of how some foodsRead More`` Save The Animals : Stop Animal Testing `` By Lara Weber1241 Words   |  5 Pageshim to have neurological problems like body spasms and loud crying (Hawthorne). This is just one example of the many terrible experiments that are going on around the world. The next section talks about the similar DNA between humans and animals. Animals and humans share very similar DNA with each other. In the article â€Å"A Comparison of Human and Mouse Gene Co-expression Networks Reveals Conservation and Divergence at the Tissue, Pathway and Disease Levels† written by Gianni Monaco, Sipko Van Dam and

How to Write Book Review Free Essays

How to write a book review Perhaps the best way to offer guidelines on how to write a book review is to give you an example of the kind of instructions and guidelines we (i. e. the academic staff) would be given by journals who invite us to review books for them. We will write a custom essay sample on How to Write Book Review or any similar topic only for you Order Now So, here are the instructions given to authors by the ‘Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders’. â€Å"A book review should be an objective and tactful evaluation of a book. The review should offer logic and fact in support of its evaluations.Without being just an abstract of the book, the review should indicate the nature and scope of the book’s content. It should indicate the goals of the author, the techniques used to achieve those goals, and the success of those techniques. You may also discuss how the book relates to its field and how it compares to other books in the field. It is important for your review to discuss what audience the book or other media best serves and to state whether the reviewer recommends it.The review should attempt to place the book within a context (e. g. , Is this a new approach? One that builds on an earlier one? ). Reviews should attempt to convey a flavor of the book overall (i. e. , not just summarize the table of contents. Quotes (see below – AQ: are there examples to be provided? ) can often help in this process. If you feel that the book does not merit a review in the Journal please let us know – there is no requirement that we review every book received and it is perfectly acceptable to do a negative review! † †¦. nd here is an example of an actual review written by Dermot Bowler and published in the European Journal of Disorders of Communication (Volume 31, pp 210-213). Note, however, that this review is somewhat longer than your word-limit permits. SAMPLE REVIEW (reproduced with permission of the author): Review of Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness: An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind. Cambridge, MA. : MIT Press. The integration of a range of theoretical perspectives to provide a coherent scientific account of a natural phenomenon is an easy task only for those who have never had to do it.In this volume, Simon Baron-Cohen has attempted such a difficult exercise by integrating currently fashionable modularist cognitive science accounts of the social dysfunction found in people with autism into neuropsychological and evolutionary frameworks. In the first three Chapters of the book, he aims to persuade us firstly that the explanation of the behaviour of other people using the mentalistic language of folk-psychology (John took his umbrella with him because he thought it might rain) is both highly efficient and evolutionarily advantageous to a species such as ourselves that relies heavily on social organisation for survival.In Chapter 4, he generates a model of development which can account for the emergence of the capacity to mindread in non-autistic children and, taking the well documented deficits in autism of lack of protodeclarative pointing, lack of symbolic play and the failure to understand that another person can act in accordance with a belief that the observer knows to be false, their failure to develop in children with autism. His account draws heavily on Fodor’s (1983) notion that the mind is made up of independent domain-specific modules, the outputs of which interact to yield mental life and behaviour.He also develops earlier accounts such as that of Leslie and Roth (1993), which posit a specific modular mechanism that enables people to understand minds. Specifically, Baron-Cohen outlines four modular systems that are necessary for the process he calls ‘mindreading’. The first of these he terms an intentionality detector (ID) which is triggered by stimuli exhibiting self-propelled motion and computes desire- or goal-based dyadic representations. The second is the eye direction detector (EDD) which is fired by eye-like stimuli and generates representations of the contents of agents’ visual fields.Mechanism number three is called the shared attention mechanism (SAM) which takes input from IDD and ED to compute triadic representations of the kind ‘Daddy sees I see the cat at the window’. Finally, there is the theory of mind mechanism (ToMM), a term borrowed from Leslie’s work, which takes inputs from SAM and knowledge of mental states and their consequences which can be used in a hypothetico-deductive way by someone possessing a full ‘theory of mind’. I n Chapters 4 and 5 of the book, Baron-Cohen marshals a considerable body of evidence in support of the existence of these modules and of their selective breakdown in autism. Briefly, he argues that ID and ED are functional in autism, although he acknowledges that there are still considerable gaps in the evidence. By contrast, SAM and ToMM are severely impaired. In Chapter 6, he draws together evidence from neuropsychological and neurological studies on humans and other species to attempt to localise these modular systems in the brain.In the final two Chapters, he develops the theme that the capacity to read minds depends crucially on the ability to decode information from the eyes of others, and returns to the theme that this capacity can best be understood within an evolutionary framework. As I said at the outset, Mindreading is a tour de force, in that it draws together evidence from a variety of fields with the aim of providing a coherent picture of the phenomenon of how homo sa piens can account for and predict the behaviour of her conspecifics by means of reference to hypothetical internal mental states.Baron-Cohen’s account is worthy of our admiration not just because it describes the current state of scientific play, but also because it permits us to generate propositions which, when tested against data, will refine and improve our understanding. Nevertheless, admirable as this attempt at integration of a range of perspectives might be, a reviewer is duty bound to point out unstated assumptions, weaknesses in analysis, un-expressed counter-arguments and problems of interpretation in an author’s exposition.To this end I will now try to clarify what I see as the three major areas of weakness in this book. The first concerns Baron-Cohen’s overall modularist orientation. Although accounts of psychological functioning that see behaviour as caused by discrete mental processes that are self-contained, domain-specific, automatic, impenetrable to conscious analysis and localised in specific brain sites has a respectable history, it is not, as its originator, Jerry Fodor would have us believe, the only game in town.It is quite possible to argue that the relationship between the categories we use to analyse behaviour and categories of brain state may be more subtle and more complex than a simple one-to-one correspondence, and that localisation of function may be the result either of anatomical happenstance or may not be a serious contender, given the global and integrated manner in which some neuroscientists think brains work. Readers who might be tempted to call a child ‘SAM-impaired’ or ‘IDD-but-not-EDD-impaired should read Bates et al. s (1988) critique of modularism, as well as of what she termed in a 1993 talk ‘thing-in-a-box neurology’, before forming such opinions. My second problem with the book concerns the way in which evidence is presented in support of the argument. Baron-Cohen draws on a wide range of evidence to support the four main planks in his argument; evolutionary, cognitive, neuropsychological/neurological and cultural. Evolutionary evidence is notoriously difficult to assess, since it inevitably has a post-hoc element to it.This is all the more true of the evolution of behavioural adaptations, since they do not leave fossil records that can allow us to detect non-advantageous changes that have died out. I am also worried by arguments that infer survival value and evolutionary success on the basis of the widespread use of a particular behaviour. Baron-Cohen attributes the survival of Homo Sapiens to the fact that we have developed mindreading skills. But many other organisms – from a-social HIV through bees to the social great apes – are evolutionarily successful without mindreading skills. Moreover, I am suspicious about evolutionary accounts that argue that increasingly complex social organisation in primates led to the development of mind-reading skills. This is as if the behaviours called forth by the survival demands of living in complex societies produced a gene that coded for a brain structure that made a particular social behaviour possible. In my view, there is a worrying circularity about all this, not to mention a whiff of Lamarckianism. On the cognitive front, there is undoubtedly an impressive amount of evidence that supports Baron-Cohen’s case, evidence which he presents cogently and skilfully.Indeed, this is the strongest and most closely-argued section of the book. However, there are worrying instances where counter-evidence is either glossed over (e. g. Ozonoff et al’s, 1991 evidence on the possession of mindreading skills in high-functioning individuals with autism) or relegated to footnotes (Ozonoff et al’s, 1991 failure to replicate Baron-Cohen et al’s, 1986 picture sequencing task). There are other instances where evidence appears to be presented where none exists – for example in his discussion of non-autistic people’s use of mental state terms when describing Heider and Simmel’s (1944) cartoon sequence.At the time the book was written, no published data existed on the use of this instrument with people with autism (but see Bowler ;amp; Thommen, 1995), although a less than careful reading of this text might lead one to conclude that there had been. My third set of reservations centre on often inconsistent or imprecise use of terminology. For example, is it justifiable to speak of a module such as ID as ‘interpreting’ stimuli, rather than just generating output when such st imuli are present and not when they are not?On pp126-127, the discussion slides from ‘psychopathology’ to ‘neuropathology’ without explanation. In this section also, I am certain that blind people would not welcome being labelled as having a psychopathology. Examples can also be found of references cited in the text but not in the reference list at the back. All these shortcomings suggest a hasty compilation of the volume. A little more time spent on reflection, exposition and the more technical aspects of production would have paid dividends here.Most of the reservations I have expressed so far all seem to stem from the most major problem of this book, namely its length, or rather the mis-match between its length and the aims the author has set himself. Baron-Cohen acknowledges that he faced a difficult task in trying to write for experts in biological and cognitive sciences, students of psychology and the general reader. Trying to please this four-faceted audience is a difficult enough task; it is even more difficult when the debate has to be engaged at several levels of academic discourse. It is well-nigh impossible in an essay of about 120 pages of printed text.Its very length constrains the book to contain a little, albeit very important, knowledge. However, a little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. Although I would recommend this book to anyone with a personal, scientific or clinical interest in autism, to avoid danger, I would also recommend that it be consumed with some complementary material. The best I can suggest is a paper by the author himself (Baron-Cohen, 1994), which is accompanied by several commentaries and a reply by the author that gives a better flavour of the subtleties of the field than does the volume under review here. How to cite How to Write Book Review, Papers

Agenda Setting And Global Television

Question: Discuss about theAgenda Setting and Global Television. Answer: Introduction The media covers most occurrences in the world. A large percentage of the world's population has access to a gadget which enables access to information. The gadgets could be a mobile phone, television set, a computer and several other platforms. With the advancements in the field of technology, the way in which news spread from one corner of the world to the other has also changed. The communication speed has also increased. The use of the internet has created a platform for media convergence. Information can be sent to the audience in different forms over the internet. Audio, video, pictures, as well as print media, can be sent via the internet. An event happening in The United States of America can be easily followed by someone from India or any other part of the world through live streaming; all you need to do is just get the link of the airing television channel. (Mccombs, 2013, P.85). The Agenda-Setting Theory The agenda setting theory explains how the media affects the audience by setting up the topic to think about. It was formulated by Max McCombs and Donald Shaw in the year 1968 when they were studying the impact of the media to the American Presidential elections. (Bowles, Hamilton Levy, 2014, P.53). What people watch on the television is what they will think about and decide the course to follow. However, this theory has mostly been linked to the wrong happenings in the society which include war, increased crimes and immorality in the societies. A study was done to see the impact of television programs and games on young children. It was found out that those children who were found to be violent watched war-related films and played games such as the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) (David, 2016, P.124). The Consequences of Conflict Reportage in Global Television Global television channels are watched in several places of the world. These channels include BBC, which is found in the United Kingdom, Aljazeera, found in the Middle East, CNN, found in the United States, Sky News, Fox News, and several other television channels. These television channels have a large viewership in the world. News or any other media material aired in these channels will affect a large percentage of people. The attack on the US in September 2011 led to the bombing of Afghanistan which was believed to hide the terrorist responsible, Osama Bin Laden. This event was covered in several media houses with the major one being Aljazeera which even gave the clips of speeches of Bin Laden. The US was forced to regulate the activities of the station; it did not succeed and therefore decided to bomb its operational base killing journalists of the station. What Aljazeera was showing the people was that they knew where Bin Laden was but could not tell the US of his hiding. If they did not know, the question among many was, how did they interview him? It was a time of crisis in Afghanistan, and many innocent people were killed along with the suspects, yet the person behind all these is viewed on the television, what agenda is the Channel setting? Aljazeera set an agenda for the military to bomb its operational base which was not in their plan till they watched their content. Most places during the times of war are attacked because the media has revealed the ongoing activities. The government is then forced by the media to formulate policies to favor different activities in the regions. Most people in the world will expect the government to act in the direction provided by the global media since they feel it is the right decision after being convinced. A video footage from WikiLeaks, in 2010 which showed how the US soldiers killed several civilians and two journalists brought the world into attention on the ongoing crisis. This was not a good image to the world. It made the US military to regulate its attack activities in the fight towards terrorism in the world. So many blamed the incident which resulted in the US government to call upon the military to change their attack policies. Government and organization policies in the world can be set by the global media either directly or indirectly. In an indirect way, the video footage mobilized human rights organizations in the world to rise against the killings. In such cases, the blamed organization will always try to paint such a media negatively. Global television reporting creates a public sphere to any military operations in the world. Mass killings are therefore stopped. This is a positive impact to the society. However, at times it is believed to spread propaganda in the world. This in most cases does happen when the media has been denied freedom by the government. The government will in most cases try to prevent the media from covering the truth about its operations, most of the time political leaders are the ones responsible. They want to be painted positively in the world despite their doings. For example, the US never wanted to be blamed for attacking Iraqi in 2003. (Freedman, Thussu, 2013, P.77). President George W. Bush saw that he was right after all. The news was spread globally that Iraqi was harboring terrorists and that was the reason behind the attack. According to many, this was propaganda to attack Iraqi, the US could have arrested President Saddam Hussein, whom they wanted and stop killing innocent civilia ns. In order to cover tracks which will lead to revealing the truth, global media is made to spread propaganda in the world nations so that they can see the essence of the attack on Iraq. (Haridakis, Hugenberg Wearden, 2016, P.111). The US assumed that it had rights to implement its policies in Iraq without consent from the international ruling bodies. Media Freedom The media is the fourth estate in a country; it deserves freedom. It needs to operate under minimal regulation from the government to avoid it becoming a propaganda tool. Does global media have freedom? The media has not been fully permitted to work in the world. This is why we still have propaganda spread through the global media, misleading people to follow a certain direction intended for them. Media freedom is the reason behind the killing of journalists in the world to cover the truth which they would have revealed to the world. We have had cases of BBC and Aljazeera journalist's being attacked and killed. This is not only in the global television network but also in the local and regional television networks. For instance last month, in Kenya Joseph Masha, who was a news reporter of The Standard Newspaper was attacked after he had had a meal with his rival, who was a politician. He had published an article which could have made the politician to lose in the elections (Zavattaro Bryer, 2016, P.116) He is believed to have killed Masha to stop publications about him. It is according to the media laws to protect your sources of information. (Plaisance, 2012, P.32). The US, during their attack in Afghanistan, attacked the global television networks of Aljazeera for airing clips of the most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden. They wanted to destroy the footage of the video clips and ended up killing journalists in the process. This is an indication that the media has not been given permission to cover certain events. They wanted Aljazeera to tell them where they got the footage from. This is against the media laws in the world. News sources are not to be revealed for their security purposes. Respect to the media laws is missing in the world. (Baran Davis, 2015, P.34) With the advancements in technology, media convergence has greatly improved. The global television networks have a wide coverage. People in different parts of the world can easily access the channels like BBC and CNN in any place through live streaming as long as they possess a gadget that is network enabled like for instance a phone. With the increased internet speeds, there are no difficulties when live streaming. Because of this, most people get news and programs from these channels. As per the agenda setting theory, most of their decisions are made from watching these programs. (Stewart, 2016, P. 63). Now that media has been denied full freedom by governments in which they operate, propaganda is quickly spread all over the world within a very short duration. In the US attack against Iraq, the American government stopped its media from using footage from Aljazeera due to the content covered. At that time, the Iraq attacks were what dominated the media, and so many people who were following the occurrences were denied the opportunity. In this case, the US infringed the media freedom. (Seethaler, 2013, P.47). Freedom of expression and speech has also been invaded in several instances in the global media. When denied an opportunity to air the news or articles you have researched on, then you are being silenced. Since there are so many people watching the global television, access to information is denied to them. Freedom of expression and access to information goes hand in hand in several ways. If one of them is hindered, then the other one is affected. For example, CNN was asked to tell the civilians that Afghanistan was being bombed because of the Taliban's regime to support Al-Qaeda. This was also implemented to the rest of the media houses in the world. The media was directed on what to say therefore it had no freedom to express and exercise what they understood. (Allen Seaton, 2013, P.16) Conclusion The CNN theory that television has usurped the function of governments in setting the agenda therefore dictating international relations holds in some circumstances. What we always have to remember is that the media does not tell people what to think, but what to think about. People are the final decision makers. (Ohair, 2015, P.9). The circumstances under which this theory works include when superpower nations like the USA use the media to spread propaganda to other nations. (Ess, 2009, P.97) The other countries (developed nations), will abide by what they will watch the television or other social media. For instance, when CNN aired news that Afghanistan was to be attacked for supporting terrorists despite the fact that consent was not sleeked from the United Nations organization to apply military force to the state. Most countries believed in it. References Allen, T., Seaton, J. (2013). The media of conflict: war reporting and representations of ethnic violence. London, ZIntellect Baran, S. J., Davis, D. K. (2015). Mass communication theory: foundations, ferment, and future. Boston, MA, Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Bowles, N., Hamilton, J., Levy, D. A. L. (2014). Transparency in politics and the media: accountability and open government. David A. (2016). Agenda setting, problem definition, and their contributions to a political policy analysis. Ess, C. (2009). Digital media ethics. Cambridge, Polity. https://site.ebrary.com/id/Intellect Freedman, D., Thussu, D. K. (2013). War and the media: reporting conflict 24/7. London [u.a.], Sage Publ. Haridakis, P. M., Hugenberg, B. S., Wearden, S. T. (2016). War and the media: essays on news reporting, propaganda and popular culture. Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland Company, Inc., Publishers. https://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1594691 Mccombs, M. (2013). Setting the Agenda the Mass Media and Public Opinion. New York, NY, John Wiley Sons. https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-201502186778 O'hair, H. D. (2015). Communication and media. Westport, Conn, Praeger. Plaisance, P. L. (2012). Media ethics: key principles for responsible practice. Los Angeles, SAGE. Seethaler, J. (2013). Selling war: the role of the mass media in hostile conflicts from World War I to the "War on Terror". Bristol, UK, Intellect Stewart, I. (2016). War, culture and the media: representations of the military in 20th century Britain. Trowbridge, Flicks Book Intellect Willis, J. (2013). The media effect: how the news influences politics and government. Westport, Conn. [u.a.], Praeger Zavattaro, S. M., Bryer, T. A. (2016). Social media for government: theory and practice

Writing with SMEs

WRITING WITH SMES As a marketing specialist, you recognize that SMEs (subject matter experts) are critical to effective content marketing. They’re authorities on your company’s products and services. Without them, your company couldn’t run—and it would be nearly impossible to create detailed content that showcases your company’s expertise. But if you’ve ever had to collaborate with one of these experts to produce a piece of thought leadership content, you might know that convincing them to share their knowledge—especially in writing—can be challenging at times. Whether you are planning a new marketing campaign, seeking to raise your company’s digital profile, or venturing out on your own as a thought leader, you need SMEs on your team. Developing a strong partnership with your SMEs can help you write valuable content that benefits both you and your customers. There is a wealth of online information about working with subject matter experts. Here is a compilation of some best practices that have helped other marketers, and may help you, generate more SME and SME-enabled content. Meet them where they are—literally and figuratively. You may be familiar already with SMEs who are very active communicators within your company and on social media. Seek them out! You’ll already have insights on their interests and areas of expertise, and they might be more receptive to a writing project than other SMEs. For the less active, you will need to exert a bit more effort to get a feel for their comfort level with writing and their preferences for working collaboratively. Before starting, or deepening, your efforts to partner with SMEs to write, you might want to seek out other teams in your company—sales, public relations, training—who have experience working with SMEs. Some members of these teams no doubt will have tips that might prove useful to you. A guide to working with SMEs to develop e-learning materials, for example, notes that a SME could be heavily vested in content that already exists. They may resist new ideas about how to present information, a possibility you’ll need to address before launching a project with them. Get to know your SMEs and the issues that matter to them. This will help you target topics that they can elaborate on for your customers. Ask to be copied on the SMEs’ emails and collect other examples of their writing, such as documentation related to their work, their LinkedIn profiles, and any formal presentations they’ve given recently. Attend their working meetings, or just hang out in their spaces to get a sense of their immediate priorities and what they see coming in their field and for the company. From there, you’ll need to communicate directly with the SMEs to explore those topics in more detail. Daniel Burstein of MarketingSherpa suggests five questions that content marketers can ask SMEs to get the ball rolling, with the goal of gathering information your customers will want to consume and share: How will the [a new product or service] help [target audience]? What challenges have you helped customers overcome recently? How have [industry developments] affected [target audience], and what should they do about it? A [job title] in our LinkedIn Group wanted to know [question?]. I’ve heard a lot of people in the industry talking about [target keyword]. For example, [other thought leaders in the industry] said [something you’ve read while doing industry research]. What is your take on this? These kinds of questions can form the basis of impromptu chats or informal idea-sharing sessions. Providing brief written summaries of these encounters for your SMEs to review might relieve some of their writing burden while engaging them in the creation of useful content. Asking SMEs to react to and edit your own high-level attempt to explain your company’s product or service could be another form of burden sharing. Conduct formal interviews. Be sure you to do your homework and prepare thoroughly for interviews so that you do not waste your SME’s time. Preparation should include conducting keyword searches on the SME’s area of expertise, gathering information on the SME’s professional background and experience, and sending out the interview questions ahead of time. Brendan Cottam, writing for B2B marketers, provides a good example of keyword research and questions aimed at making the most efficient use of your expert’s time. Maximize, Maximize, Maximize! Once your expert has provided writing, or data, start maximizing their contributions to create content that your target audience will want to read and share. The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as: â€Å"A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.† To this end, be creative in finding ways to convert your experts’ contributions into useful information for your customers. Identify the superstars. In cases where your SMEs already are competent communicators, convert their written products into formats that you can promote inside and outside the company: Share slides from their conference presentations. Edit their oral presentations into short online videos. Post the executive summary and excerpts from their white papers. Give the less confident a gentle nudge. Some SMEs may just as soon let you do the heavy lifting. These less enthusiastic writers may be willing to provide content—qualitative or quantitative—that you can then edit, reformat, and post. For the poorest writers, you might consider using the editing process as an informal tutorial or providing more formal tutorials, taking care to focus on the mechanics of communicating the message while respecting them as substantive experts. The concept of prewriting—the thinking and planning that precede drafting a written product—can help overcome anxieties about writing and boost reluctant writers’ confidence. You can draw upon the wealth of online college-level instructional material available today, material that walks you through pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Resources such as Duke University’s Writing Studio and MIT’s Comparative Media Studies/Writing will help you tailor your tutorial to the needs and preferences of your SMEs. For example, outgoing, talkative types might enjoy brainstorming sessions, while the more quietly cerebral SMEs might enjoy a hands-on mapping exercise. Check out images of pre-writing for inspiration. In partnering with SMEs, especially reluctant writers, it will be especially important to mine  your conversations and interviews for nuggets of valuable content. In her article on working with SMEs, Jessica Miller of PR 20/20 lists â€Å"20 marketing opportunities from 20 minutes with a SME,† including: Sharing key points from interviews with your company’s blog authors, customer service representatives, and sales teams. Recording podcasts featuring SMEs’ answers to interview questions. Using content from interviews to draft high level one pagers, including infographics and tip sheets to share across marketing, sales, and service teams. Measure and Reward Before launching any major initiative to get your in-house SMEs to write more, think about how you will measure your efforts. You also might want to consider how, within your company’s culture, you will recognize outstanding contributions from these experts. Once you’ve uploaded content that your SMEs have authored or inspired, Gillin recommends: Putting tools in place to measure views, shares, comments, likes, downloads, and other metrics of engagement. Making sure everyone on your team is actively upvoting, sharing, commenting, and retweeting. Featuring SMEs’ writing in company blogs and company publications. Whether you’re starting fresh or building upon existing strategies, coaxing your SMEs to write more, giving them a shout-out when they do, and putting in some additional effort yourself could well produce results that both you and your customers will value.

Ted Williams Career essays

Ted Williams Career essays His name is Theodore Samuel Williams, but to others he was known as The Kid, The Thumper, and The Splendid Splinter. Ted Williams, he played for the Boston Red Sox, and was one of Baseballs greatest hitters and the last player to have a seasons average of .400. He combined keen vision with quick wrists and a very scientific approach to hitting, to set numerous batting records, and become the best hitter in baseball, despite missing nearly five full seasons due to military service and two major injuries. He accomplished much in his years in the majors. Some of those things include a .406 season average in 1941, two Triple Crowns, two MVPs, six American league batting championships, 521 home runs, in which he joined the 500 Home Run Club, a lifetime average of .344, 18 All-Star Game selections, and fame world wide. Ted Williams stands 63 tall and weighs 205 pounds. He was born in San Diego, California, on August 30, 1918. He play baseball all his life. Through elemantry, middle, and in high school, he was the best ballplayer around. He was asked to join a the pros at the age of 17, But his mother would not let him because she wanted him to finish his studies at school. After he graduated from high school he joined the military. He went in to the Marines as a fighter pilot. Then when he finished after about two years in the military, he came back to baseball. He joined the joined the Major League Baseball and was picked up by the Boston Red Sox, and that was where he stayed for 19 years. Ted Williams may have been the greatest hitter of all-time. Hitting was what Ted did best. He had every tool a good hitter could want. He hit for power and average, which is remarkable. Very few hitters can hit for power and average at the same time. Power hitters are prone to strike out often, and contact hitters, which hit for average, do not often hit over 10 home runs a season. This is why ...

Aristotle s Philosophy On Ethics Essay -- Ethics, Philosophy, Categoric

Aristotle is a strong believer that reaching happiness is the ultimate goal of humans. He says, â€Å"Another belief which harmonizes with our account is that the happy man lives well and does well; for we have practically defined happiness as a sort of good life and good action. The characteristics that are looked for in happiness seem also, all of them, to belong to what we have defined happiness as being† (Aristotle, Book I). Aristotle claims that a happy person lives well and that is what we should be striving for. We reach this happiness by doing good actions and it can take an entire lifetime to become virtuous. He also relates good actions to doing an activity well. Doing an activity well is important because after mastering an art you feel good about yourself or happy. For example, if you are a potter and you make a great pot, you feel happy. Kant poses the complete opposite of Aristotle’s philosophy and disregards happiness with being moral. Kant does not believe reaching happiness is the main goal of life, but instead doing good with a sense of duty is. Kant says, â€Å"A good will is good not because of what it effects or accomplishes†¦ it is good only throug... ... middle of paper ... ...nted to spread the knowledge, they are acting out of inclination instead of from duty. Aristotle and Kant propose very different philosophies. Aristotle is concerned with reaching happiness as to become a virtuous person. We are happy by doing good actions and mastering certain tasks. But happiness should not be the goal of humans to be virtuous because it possesses too many flaws as to what happiness really is. Kant offers a more concrete philosophy to being virtuous. He believes in following categorical imperatives or universal laws to doing what right. Doing right comes from a duty to do right and not from an inclination or desire to right. Since Kant exhibits a more concrete philosophy as to why do good, it would work a lot better in an ideal world. It would be very difficult for both philosophies to work in the real world because many questions can be raised.

Hrm case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Hrm case study - Essay Example Conclusion 9 1.1 Purpose of Report The purpose of this report is to critically analyze the business operations of ‘High Street Heaven’ which is a high street retail store chain that has proved to be quite successful. Owing to the global economic scenario however, the retailer has been experiencing difficulties and facing problems in meeting its strategic goals. 1.2 Introduction The first part of the paper will discuss the problems being faced by High Street Heaven in meeting its strategic objectives, this discussion will be followed by recognizing the areas of strength for the retailer as well its opportunities. In conclusion, the report will put forward applicable plans of action and recommendations that are backed by extensive research and literature to suggest what the business can do in order to address its organizational issues. These recommendations and suggestions will specifically be in the context of how the Human Resources division of the business can contribut e in tackling the challenges being faced by the organization. 1.3 Strategic Objectives of the Business Before the problems and challenges being faced by High Street Heaven are identified it is important to establish the strategic objectives of the business, according to Bartol and Martin (2005) objectives and goals that are said to be strategic are extensive aims that are developed by the top management. Shrivastava (1987) suggests that the importance of these objectives is such that they include fundamental aspects related to the survival of even the most prolific businesses; therefore, the setting of strategic objectives is not only limited to small and medium enterprises but each and every organization, regardless of its size and scale of operations. From a market standing High Street Heaven seeks to focus on growth and expansion by stepping into the markets of 8 major cities in the United Kingdom by 2017. In analyzing the problems and challenges that the achievement of this stra tegic objective faces, it is imperative that the organizational and environmental factors of the retailer that are posing probable challenges should be analyzed. 2. Discussion of findings from SWOT and PESTLE analysis – Problems and Challenges A SWOT helps managers to understand the threats and weaknesses of a business along with its strengths and opportunities (Bartol and Martin, 2006). Anthony (2008) adds that another important tool in the overall assessment of the general environment is that of the PESTLE analysis, which focuses on political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors that have a significant impact not only on the operations of a business but in the achievement of its strategic objectives. As this part of the report focuses mainly on the challenges being faced by the High Street Heaven, the threats and weaknesses of the organization would be assessed first along with an understanding of the shape of its general environment. 2.1 Proble m/Challenge A – The Global Economic Downturn From an external perspective, the business faces the global economic downturn which poses a grave threat to the prosperity of the retailer and its plans for expansion. Sloman (2005) reports that an economy in recession sees minimal growth or no growth and in turbulent scenarios the prevailing economic situation can even cause the overall output to diminish. This certainly is an alarming situation for the high street retailer owing to its primary

Frederic Chopin And Polonaises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Frederic Chopin And Polonaises - Essay Example The Polonaise first appeared in Poland around the sixteenth century as a court dance that is sort of a procession where all the company passes in a stream and then defiles in pairs with movements. He left eighteen works in the genre with sixteen piano Polonaises, one for piano and cello and one for piano and orchestra. Their style changed over time evolving from conventional salon miniatures to some expansive dance poems. Chopin started a new chapter in the history of the genre with the Polonaises, Op. 26. Henceforth, he abandoned conventional stylizations. Each of the seven works has its own distinctive shape, pianistic expression, and style. The features of an authentic polonaise are 3/4 time, typical rhythmic formulas, a moderate tempo and a distinguished character (Ted, 22). He completed 2 Polonaises in 1835, Op. 26, in C sharp minor and Polonaise in E flat minor, marked by strong dramatic elements. In 1838-1839 he composed 2 Polonaises, Op. 40in A major and C minor. The A major has features of the heroic polonaise while the C minor is elegiac and tragic in expression. The other three polonaises are grand dance poems which are removed from earlier conventions of the genre and form. In1841 he composed Polonaise in F sharp minor, Op. 44. It is close in its epic-dramatic gesture as to the idea of Romantic fantasy as well as it is unusual in the appearance of a mazurka in its middle section which is a contrasting lyrical passage. In 1842-1843 he composed Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53.

Refusal for Eating Disorders Essay Example for Free

Refusal for Eating Disorders Essay The controversial issue of insurance companies and mental health cost is an ongoing battle. Initially, I would like to say that eating disorders are emotionally based rather than physically. Emotions are from the mind where there are thoughts, perceptions, motivations, and imaginations. Emotions are what we feel inside of us that cause us to act in a certain manner, although some people’s emotions are so powerful that their actions are uncontrollable. This is the case with eating disorders. Therefore, how could anyone choose to ignore a victim with an emotional problem like eating disorders, and refuse 100 percent medical coverage for this ailment? The insurance company’s logic or ability to manipulate this refusal of medical coverage for eating disorders is due to the unregulated controls; by federal regulations that gives insurance companies all the administrative, and authority to refuse medical coverage for eating disorders. Over the years eating disorders have been misunderstood and poorly explained by insurance companies. It is included in the list of mental heath diseases, along with perceptions and distinguishing features that can be identified by medical personnel. However, today I sense eating disorders are renowned mental illnesses that affect all walks-of-lives, and should receive entire medical coverage. The National Organization for Women, 2007 stated that typically, insurance companies cover the cost of treating the physical symptoms such as heart failure, kidney failure, rupture of the esophagus, ulcers and high blood pressure. Yet, the treatments that address the mental health of the patient, and the root causes of the disorder, are not generally covered, or are only partially covered. However, I feel that the treatment to an illness is cured through its roots and perhaps there should be more financial support in the root of this illness. I thought the intent for health care was designed to make people healthier in opposition to extracting money from the faithful customers. It is obvious that â€Å"ten million Americans suffer from eating disorders† (Kramer, 2007) according to estimates from several known health groups. Moreover, nearly all of those victims felt powerless because of something they were feeling inside themselves. But what happened to the genuine care of others? Medical insurance companies have networks of physicians, and facilities with a wealth of knowledge that have served loyal families, companies, and athletes for years. Those physicians are also well trained within their particular field, and certainly know what is best for their patients. Some medical insurance companies do provide treatments to their members, however they are normally limited. Perhaps, this is the reason why â€Å"the effectiveness of a full recover after treatment for eating disorder is only 60 percent†. (Kramer, 2007). At one time eating disorders were rarely talked about, kept hidden from others and very poorly understood. Although, today medical experts now know that eating disorders are mental heath diseases since they have recognizable causes, clear symptoms, and predictable out comes; but Insurance companies consider an eating disorder â€Å"severe based on the number of times that it recurs† (Kramer Others, 2007), and I believe this is ridiculous. Surprisingly, there are â€Å"only 43 percent of the American population that are fully aware of the different types of eating disorders, and the resulting health complications that can occur with them. (NEDA. 2007). However, the other 57 percent could be the insurance companies, or even friends that could provide a strong shoulder with understanding during difficult times â€Å"An eating disorder occurs when a person ties his or her self-esteem, personality, and happiness, and their way of life with food† (Strada, 2001). Individuals who demonstrate those types of traits are known as having an eating disorder and distressing as it may sound, most victims and none victims are not fully mindful of this disease. A model of this unaware mindset of eating disorders is witness daily during a group discussion among friends. A group of acquaintances or insurance agents may have expressed their opinion of a friend by wording â€Å"John is obese because he always stays home and watches TV shows, he has no desire to lose any weight†. Another opinion from the group may be â€Å"Mary is a very tiny women, she probably wears a size two†. In both instances, John, Mary, and their acquaintances lack the knowledge of this life threatening illness; perhaps this is just one more reason why those illnesses should be covered via insurance. This well-known psychology has clearly demonstrated a concrete motive for eating; however insurance companies â€Å"continue to ignore the systematic symptoms of this dreadful illness in spite of its increases since the mid 1950s†. (Whelan, 2002). Eating disorders are not one particular illness; instead it is made-up of four different types of illnesses that consist of anorexia, bulimia nervosas, compulsive overeating, and binge eating. This constitutes the need to identity them separately, each one should be looked upon differently in order to gain a better understanding of them, and at this same hopefully this issue on insurance coverage should raise the level of unease and stress the need for more coverage and education regarding these disorders. †¢ â€Å"Anorexia nervosas, is a an illness which someone deliberately keeps their weight below a healthy level, often see themselves as fat and may look like a person of starvation. †¢ Bulimia nervosas is an illness in which people eat large amount of food in short time and get rid of it by purging themselves. Purging is usually by vomiting and/or taking laxatives. †¢ Compulsive overeating, it is driven by an urge that the person cannot control. It can be triggered by hunger but is often a response to negative thoughts or feeling. †¢ Binge eating disorder (BED), the binges involve at least three of the following, eating very quickly, eating until uncomfortable full, eating when not physically hungry, eating alone because of embarrassment about the amount eaten, felling disgusted, depressed, or very guilty afterwards (Whelan, 2001).† Eating disorders don’t discriminate, instead, affecting everyone from females to males, wrestlers, insurance agents, and celebrities. They have affected lightweight boxers, family and friends, even affecting Diana, Princess of Wales. She â€Å"suffered from bulimia and spoke to the public about the emotional aspects of her illness† (Whelan Others 2001). It was once believed that eating disorders begin in the teenage years to due to physical, emotion, and social changes that youth experience, and it was once known that women suffering from eating disorders did not speak out, and older women in their 40s and 50s rarely experienced symptoms of eating disorders although now circumstances have changed. There are still more reported cases of females suffering from eating disorders then men, however, there are now reported cases were a nine-year-old boy was diagnosed with eating order, and other boys and men are now stepping forward for help. Additionally, â€Å"older women in their mid 40s to 50s are also now experiencing relapse and new cases are surfacing within the same age groups for having eating disorders†. (Kramer Others, 2007). Accept as the truth, or not but ‘eating disorders are four mental illnesses’, and the American people including myself are unhappy with insurance company’s lack of support. Furthermore, there are insurance companies in this era that have been sued for millions of dollars, all for refusing to pay for treatment of 21-years-old anorexic [a type of eating disorder],a women who committed suicide because of her emotional shortfalls, and ignored cry for help.

Search For My Tongue and Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan :: Poems Poetry Essays

Search For My Tongue and Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan The first poem â€Å"Search† focuses on less visual effects such as language. She writes the beginning and of the poem in English but the middle is made up of Gujerati. Even though we cannot tell what the writing means it doesn’t matter because we still get the same effect from it, the almost angriness and distress from the poet, Sujata Bhatt . The other poem â€Å"Presents† uses visual items like clothes to show the difference in cultures: â€Å"my costume clung to me I was aflame.† Moniza Alvi sees her Pakistani clothes as a â€Å"costume† rather than normal clothes. She calls it this because they are so different to English clothes that when she wears them it’s like she is putting on a play and she is an actress at the weekends. â€Å"I longed for denim and corduroy.† Most people see Pakistani clothes as beautiful creations but she doesn’t like them and would prefer to wear boring English clothes such as jeans. All through the poem â€Å"presents† the poet talks about the difference in the two cultures and explains that she feels she has â€Å"no fixed nationality† and like the other poet wants empathy form the reader and wants the reader to know how it feels to have two separate parts of your life. Moniza Alvi calls her Pakistani clothes her â€Å"weekend clothes† this shows that she doesn’t see them as clothes she wants to wear but clothes she is forced to wear by her parents and relatives so that she remembers her culture in Pakistan. Both poets feel as if they don’t belong in either culture they long to just have a simple background from one country although other people who have that wish that they had different exciting backgrounds. Both poems are autobiographical and talk to you as a the reader not to a group of people. â€Å"You ask me what I mean† is the first line of â€Å"Search for my Tongue† Sujata Bhatt uses the first line to show that she is answering a question, not that anyone has directly asked but that she knows people are thinking. Unlike â€Å"Presents from my aunts† which uses a lot of similes throughout the poem this poem is one big metaphor. â€Å"If you had two tongues in your mouth, and lost the first one.† The poet describes her language all through the poem like she has two tongues in her mouth and Gujerati is her â€Å"mother tongue† and English is her â€Å"foreign tongue† In each poem the poets both want to get rid of their original cultures

Bargaining Power Is the Ability to Influence the Setting of Prices

Bargaining power is the ability to influence the setting of prices. Buyer power refers to the ability of customers of the industry to influence the price and terms of purchase. The bargaining power of customers is also described as the market of outputs. The ability of customers to put the firm under pressure, which also affects the customer's sensitivity to price changes. Bargaining power of buyers occurs when leverage is given to the buyer and demand for lower prices, increased quality and more services are made.The amount of power enjoyed by a buyer group maybe determined by the concentration of buyers or volume of purchase. Additional occasion for high levels of buyer’s power may occur when the purchase represents a large portion of the buyer’s overall expenditures, if differentiation and switching costs are low, if there is likelihood of backward integration and if the buyer is fully informed about demand, market prices and supplier cost. The power of buyers is the impact that customers have on a producing industry.In general, when buyer power is strong, the relationship to the producing industry is near to what an economist terms a monophony a market in which there are many suppliers and one buyer. Under such market conditions, the buyer sets the price. In reality few pure monopolies exist, but frequently there is some asymmetry between a producing industry and buyers. The following tables outline some factors that determine buyer power. Buyers are Powerful if: Buyers purchase a significant proportion of output distribution of purchases or if the product is standardized. or example-Circuit City and Sears' large retail market provides power over appliance manufacturers. Buyers are weak if: Buyers are fragmented, no buyer has any particular influence on product or price. For example in garments industry there are so many kinds of customers there in the market. Prices are set by supply and demand and the market reaches the Pareto-optimal point where the highest possible number of buyers are satisfied at a price that still allow for the supplier to be profitable. In garments industry some of them are facing powerful buyers and some are facing weak buyers. ike sub-dealer of boo tic stores have a limited set of potential clients, each commanding a large share of their market these industries are having strong buyers. When retailers face individual consumers with little or no power at all that means now the garments industry has a weak buyer. In the garments industry it is economically feasible for buyers to follow the practice of purchasing the input from several suppliers rather that one. The products are unimportant to the quality of the customer's product or service.The buyers pose a threat of integrating backward to make the garments industry's products. In the garments industry the supplying industry is comprised of large numbers of relatively small sellers. They are concentrated and buy in large volume. The bargaining power of customers is also described as the market of outputs. The ability of customers to put the industry under pressure, which also affects the customer's sensitivity to price changes. These factors change with time and firm's choice of buyers-groups should be regarded as an important element in strategic decision-making.

Being Brought from Africa to America

Deonca Pierce ENG 350 American Literature I 2 September 2011 Response paper 3: â€Å"On Being Brought from Africa to America† To the literary world, Phillis Wheatley is recognized as the first black American poet (Archiving Early America, 2011). At the young age of seven, Phillis Wheatley was stolen from her homeland of Africa and sold into slavery to John Wheatley becoming the personal slave servant to his wife, Susannah Wheatley. She was taught to read and write English as well as the study of Latin and English literature. Due to this advantage, she began to write poetry that encompassed her Christian faith, her abduction from Africa and learned histories. (Woodlief, A. ) One of her most notable poems is, â€Å"On Being Brought from Africa to America†. Within this poem, she utilizes words that can have the reader perplexed wondering if she was fully cognizant of the time and her status, a slave. In this poem she employs many words, there true meaning hidden within the text, which gives way to her knowledge and understanding of self and surroundings. It reads: ‘Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land, The use of this phrase can be interpreted as being taken from a land void of Christianity and being delivered into the Christian faith. Taught my benighted soul to understand That there’s a God, that there’s a Savior too: †¢The word benighted means to be in a state of moral or intellectual darkness. This represents her once lack of knowledge and faith before becoming a slav e. Once I redemption neither sought nor knew. Some view our sable race with scornful eye, â€Å"Their color is a diabolic dye. † †¢The color of sable is a very dark shade of black fur that is considered valuable and alluring. In contrast, she references to it being a diabolic dye impresses upon the negative thoughts and feelings of others toward her race and status. Remember Christians; Negros, black as Cain, May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train. (Phillis Wheatley, AEA) †¢The last two lines points to state that Christians are treating their fellow man Negros, Blacks in the same manner as Cain treated his brother (NKJV, 11), void of regard, love or acceptance. Furthermore, that as Christians all, black and white can come together as one, knowing the Savior. Phillis Wheatley understood her burden and her blessing. Giving glory to God as well as accepting her fate not being ashamed but rather thankful for the negative cause that turned into a positive effect for her. Works Cited â€Å"Genesis 4. † New King James Version. Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982 â€Å"Phillis Wheatley: Americas first Black Woman Poet. † Archiving Early America. 2 Sept. 2011 Sable. â€Å"Dictionary. com. † 2 Sept. 2011 Woodlief, A. â€Å"On Phillis Wheatley. † 2 Sept. 2011

BUCHANAN Last Name Origin and Meaning

BUCHANAN Last Name Origin and Meaning The Celtic last name Buchanan  has several possible origins: A habitational or geographical surname meaning who came from the district of Buchanan in Stirlingshire, a location near Loch Lomond in Scotland. The place name is thought to derive from  the Gaelic elements buth, meaning house and chanain, meaning of the canon.An anglicization of the German buchenhain, meaning beech wood. Most last names originate in more than one area, so to learn more about your Buchanan last name or to identify a Buchanan family crest that may have belonged to an ancestor, you really need to research the history of your own specific family. If you are new to genealogy, try these steps to begin tracing your family tree. Surname Origin ï » ¿Scottish Alternate Surname Spellings BUCKCANNON, BUCANNON, BUCHANON Famous People With the BUCHANAN Last Name James Buchanan  - 15th President of the United States Where Is the BUCHANAN Name Most Common? The Buchanan surname is interestingly most commonly found today in New Zealand and Australia, according to surname data from WorldNames PublicProfiler. It is also a fairly common surname in Canada, the United States and United Kingdom. Within the UK, the name is by far the most prevalent in Scotland, especially in Stirling, where the name originated, as well as the Western Isles.  The top cities for the Buchanan last name worldwide are all in the UK and Ireland: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Liverpool and Aberdeen. The Buchanan surname currently ranks as 117th most common in Scotland, according to surname distribution data from Forebears. Data from the 1881 British census showed that Buchanan ranked highest in Dunbartonshire at #15, followed by Stirlingshire (27th), Renfrewshire (59th) and Lanarkshire (60th). The largest density of individuals named Buchanan, as a percentage of population, can be found in Anguilla, where one in 585 people use that last name. Genealogy Resources for the BUCHANAN Last Name Meanings and Origins of the 100 Top Scottish SurnamesInterestingly, Buchanan is the 67th most popular Scottish surname in the United States, but doesnt even crack the top 100 in Scotland. See which Scottish surnames are more popular! Buchanan Y-DNA Surname ProjectOver 200 men with the Buchanan last name have already tested their DNA and joined this project to help identify Buchanans of Scottish or Irish heritage into broad family groups. BUCHANAN Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Buchanan last name to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Buchanan query. FamilySearch - BUCHANAN GenealogySearch and access records, queries, and lineage-linked online family trees posted for the Buchanan surname and its variations. FamilySearch features over 1.2 million results for the Buchanan last name. DistantCousin.com - BUCHANAN Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Buchanan.- References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Strengths and weaknesses of English orthography Essay

Strengths and weaknesses of English orthography - Essay Example Finally the experienced reader in English is served well with the language. Homophones: Differentiation between homophones or similar sounding words is achieved successfully by English orthography. For example, the words hour and our though pronounced similarly are distinguished by the usage of h in the first word. This can help to remove any ambiguity when a reader reads the written language. Etymological relationships between words: Usually an abstract underlying representation or morphophonemic form is seen to be represented for English words. For example, dipped, loomed and looted have different pronunciations of the usage of -ed, which is pronounced as (t), (d) and (Id) not represented to the reader. The abstract representation of words is also a relative strength as it indicates the etymological relationship between words. Thus while writing English becomes a little difficult, it makes learning English a relatively easy process (Chomsky 1970:294, Rollins 2004:17). Creativity: The inconsistency in English spelling can also be considered advantageous as it gives way to creativity and allows people to pronounce words in their own personal way. Slogans in creative communications are witness to the fact, which is an activity that can not be taken up for other languages (Venezky, Children of the code interview, undated). Spelling and pronunciation inconsistency: As per Laubach, "English is

Managing Change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Managing Change - Research Paper Example These achievements however, have been coupled with various drawbacks but with the application of economic theories with an illustration of the Contingency Theory such hurdles are to be tackled. The study provides recommendations on the various aspects that require adjusting for the economies to thrive even more. With the onset of the financial crisis within the past decade, the financial markets in the Gulf region have undergone various changes and institutions and business entities have adopted new market strategies to counter the implications of the crisis. The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf countries (GCC) - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are keen to improve their economic competitiveness in the international market. From the early 1970s to the early 1980s the GCC member countries made significant developments in the financial front. The financial institutions were beneficiaries of the lucrative returns brought about by the abundant oil revenue. At the time up to the 1990s, the primary focus of the institutions was on short-term lending trade, building and construction and manufacturing. With the 1990s came global financial integration that entailed the carrying out of economic restructurings especially due to the effects of the Gulf war. Technological novelty and new market strategies centred on consumer-based services were adopted. Following the Gulf war was a variation of loan problems in banks across nations affected by it. The financial set-up of the GCC has overtime faced a number of challenges that revolve around the augmented role of the private sector in the financial market, the high demand for new financial services and the aspect of global participation. Efficiency and productivity are therefore a principal concern in this modern age. The countries in the GCC have links with banks that are expansively

I need me summary of psychological artilce Essay - 1

I need me summary of psychological artilce - Essay Example he specific areas related to the child’s proper growth and development included making an assessment of the core cognitive processes to see how mature or immature they were in late childhood, including processing speed (Hale, 1990), voluntary response suppression (Diamond & Goldman-Rakic, 1989; Fischer, Biscaldi, & Gezeck, 1997), and working memory (Zald & Iacono, 1998) Therefore the problem areas to be tested would be speed processing, inhibition towards voluntary response as well as the child’s working memory. There are many different traditional psychological testing methods, but the one that is most suited to assesses and evaluate the maturation of all these cognitive processes is the method of testing making uses of oculomotor tasks, which allows for testing across a wide range of age groups. The instructions for this method are simple and can be understood by children of all ages. Further the tasks in this method involve encoding responses in visual, auditory, motor, speech and psychological processes. Finally, oculomotor tasks are especially well suited for informing us about the brain basis of development because these tasks have been used to characterize the neural basis of cognition in single-cell studies of nonhuman primates (Barbas, 2000; Funahashi, Chafee, & Goldman-Rakic, 1993;) Results for the maturation of response suppression errors indicated that a changepoint occurred at 14 years of age. For the ODR task, the changepoint occurred at 19 years of age. The results for other variables included the response latency which were significantly correlated across all the tasks. In the antisaccade task, visual and memory guided responses correlated with the prosaccade rates. Hence, various results show that though the development of inhibition in response is somewhat primarily independent of the speed processing development, yet where maturation is concerned, working memory does contribute significantly, demonstrating that voluntary/cognitive control

Doubt Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Doubt - Assignment Example Sister Aloysius was again in doubts as how the father escaped these issue giving doubts to the two sisters wondering how Father Flynn could have managed it. She then presses on the father to resign and remove the collar.(Glaspell p 14). The agreement that Father Flynn and sister Aloysius regarding the collar and the part to participate was not fulfilled by Father Flynn giving extra doubts to Sister Aloysius. He was assigned a bigger pastor position in another by his seniors. She confirms to her partner Sister James that she has doubts and the play leaves the audience with their own doubt (Glaspell p 24). The moral teaching from the play is today’s current hot issues facing our religion. The victims are having ways and means of getting away with their wrong doings and getting better positions in the church despite the ill tainted names. (Patrick ,p38)They just migrated to other locations that are not familiar to them or the citizens know little about them and the reasons for such

Human Resource Management of HM

Human Resource Management of HM This is a case study on HM, from a Strategic Human Resource Management perspective, based on publicly available details of HM, which has been analyzed and presented within the context of the perspective. This case study was prepared to meet the requirements of an academic exercise. HM was established in Vasteras, Sweden in 1947 by Erling Persson. HM sell clothes and cosmetics in around 2,000 stores around the world operates in 37 countries and has 76,000 employees all working to the same philosophy: to bring you fashion and quality at the best price. HM is a hugely successful multinational company. The success of HM is primarily based on the business model of entire design being done internally and centrally, manufacturing totally outsourced, but quality ensured and local retailing with hired places, local staff and local shop managers empowered to take decisions. The success, business growth and expansion plans were possible because HM have formatted their HR strategy in line with the corporate strategy. As evident from their Annual Report (2008), when they expand into new markets they do not lose sight of their core values. They have succeeded to manage all components of HRM effectively to ensure that core values are upheld in all parts, regardless of country and cultural differences. Their strategic and coherent approach in recognizing that the organizations most valued assets are the people working there, INTRODUCTION COMPANY STRATEGY: Hennes Mauritz (HM) was established in Vasteras, Sweden in 1947 by Erling Persson. HM offers fashion and quality at the best price and offers fashion for women, men, teenagers and children. The collections are created centrally by around 100 in-house designers together with buyers and pattern makers. HM also sells own-brand cosmetics, accessories and footwear. The stores are refreshed daily with new fashion items. In Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria HM offers fashion by Internet and catalogue sales. HM does not own any factories, but instead buys its goods from around 700 independent suppliers, primarily in Asia and Europe. HM has about 16 production offices around the world, mainly in Asia and Europe. The turnover in 2009 was SEK 118,697 million. HM primarily operates in Europe, North America and Asia, and have around 2,000 stores spread over in 37 countries. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. HM has grown significantly since it s beginnings in 1947 and at the end of the financial year had around 76,000 employees. The average number of employees in the Group, converted to fulltime positions, was 53,476 (53,430), of which 4,874 (4,924) are employed in Sweden. Around 79 percent of the employees were women and 21 percent were men. Women held 77 percent of the positions of responsibility within the company, such as store managers and country managers (AR2 2009). HMs strategy is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. HMs annual report (AR1 2009) emphasizes that quality relates to both. HMs products exceeding customer expectations, and also customers being satisfied with the company itself. The report states Taking responsibility for how our operations affect people and the environment is also an essential prerequisite for HMs continued profitability and growth. HM is driven by strong values such as commercial mindset, simplicity, constant improvement, cost consciousness and entrepreneurship states in annual report (2009:13). The World of HM (HM 2010) Long-term strategic plan goals of HM HM which is in the fashion retail industry. HM has stores in 37 different countries and employs over 76,000 people. The business concept of HM is very clear. It is offering to clients qualitative fashion clothing for low price. The company has its own team of designers, its own interior designer team, its own production factories, production partners and team for purchasing other brands production. It usually stock up HM cosmetics supply, making sure that those products will be cheaper than in other stores. Long term objectives are strategic plans company make for future five years. These objectives are set in seven key areas- productivity, profitability, competition, employee development, employee relations, technological leadership and public responsibility and show were company wants to be when they are achieved. Long term objectives have to be motivating, flexible, measurable, suitable, understandable, realistic and acceptable by employees. Three main strategic goals for HM for the next five years would be linked with profitability, competition and technological leadership. HM has reported a rise in sales and profits and sales for the three months to 31 August. Net profit for the third quarter of 2009 rose 4.1% to 3.46bn Swedish crowns from 3.33bn crowns last year. Sales, excluding sales tax, increased by 13% to 23.6bn crowns. So first LTO is to maintain financial stability HM has achieved. HM plans to increase sales revenues by 20% and earnings per share by 30% till 2015. Secondly as main strategy of HM is expansion, LTO in competition is to increase number of stores by 10% to 15% every year. Today HM has as 1840 stores up from 1618 at the same time last year. New stores will be open in the cities HM already has stores and also in completely new markets. In the Annual Report (2008:7), HM, CEO Rolf Ericsson states that the long term goal is to Make fashion available to everyone, give the customer a fashion experience that strengthens HM brand. They also state the goal of a 10-15% increase in the number of stores every year, which would be funded internally (2009). The aim to increase sales in existing stores, while focusing on quality and continued high profitability. How does HM want to get there? To execute its strategy HM focuses on 3 main aspects of its business concept in the annual report of 2009. Price, which is controlled by limiting the number of middlemen, buying in large volumes, relying on its in-depth, extensive expertise within the design, fashion, and textile industries, buying the right merchandise from the right production markets, being cost-conscious at all levels and maintaining effective distribution procedures. Design: Products are designed in-house and production is completely outsourced. Quality: Central emphasis on quality with extensive testing and ensuring least environment damage. Merger and Acquisitions: Acquisitions (like FaBric Scandinavian, the Swedish design company), and Design Collaborations (collaboration with Mathew Williamson) are adopted. SWOT Analysis (S)trengths One of the main reasons for HMs popularity is because of its trendy items for such a low price. This store offers quality clothing at department store prices which is rare for many retailers today. Strength for this company is their overall delivery time. It only takes 12 weeks to get an item from the design to its retail state which is very impressive for a worldwide, low price retailer. The average for retailers is usually about 6 months which is double the time that HM uses. They also manage to keep the stores brands fresh with guest designers coming in for different lines in the store. Some of these have been Madonna and Robert Cavalli. They also keep the prices affordable by using very few middlemen and buy large volumes cost consciously. But with these strengths come weaknesses as well. (W)eaknesses One of the strengths I mentioned above can also be a weakness for this company. Buying large volumes means that there is no real guarantee that all the items will be sold. This means that theyre already low prices may have to be lowered in order to make room for the next collection. This means that if these items are not sold in time, then the company will have to pay more for extra storage for the items not sold. Another weakness could be its wide range of customers this brand provides for. The range is for men between the ages of 18-45. This is not including the childrens clothing and maternity wear and the huge wide range of different styles they provide depending on what store you go into. This can be difficult to manage especially in a vertical company because there is no real focus on a target customer and gets more expensive to provide machinery for all these different groups of people. But with these huge leaps there are many opportunities for this company flour ish. (O)pportunities One good opportunity would be for HM is to have matching clothes for mothers and children. I think this would be a good opportunity because there are also maternity wear and childrens clothes and I think that it would appeal to a larger crowd. They would like to dress their children like them in the same styles. (T)hreats since HM is a brand that is very unique it has very few threats as far as retail chains go. One of these stores would have to be the clothing chain called ZARA. This is a store that also has fairly reasonable prices but is most famous for its rapid delivery time. It only takes two weeks for the design to make it into retail stores. Even with HMs time which is 50% faster than most retailers, cannot even compete with that time. The second threat to HM is Gap just because of their quality at reasonable prices and their wide range of people they reach as well with their vertical company as well. There is a market for babies as well as men and women Human Resources HMs corporate strategy is to expand on a continuing basis, and as a consequence, employee strength also increases continuously. The growth target is 10-15 percent new stores each year, which means that 6,000 -7,000 new jobs each year. Their staff is spread across approximately 37 countries and come from different cultural backgrounds. Their strategy is to recruit locally whenever a new store opens as stated in the annual report (2008). The main area for which HM may have clearly articulated policies are listed below. The policy areas are based on the categorization by Armstrong (2006). Overall Policy and Values: HMs website indicates that their objective is to be a good employer, including in those countries whose laws and regulations fall short of their own requirements. To quote the Head of HR In order to meet peoples expectations of HM as an attractive employer, the company develops global guide lines on diversity, equal rights and against discrimination (AR1 2008).At HM, HR activities are guided by a fundamental respect for the individual. This applies to every aspect from fair wages, working hours and freedom of association to the opportunity for growth and development within the company. This also indicates that the company has specific policies for areas such as Equal opportunity, Managing diversity, and Employee development, Health and Safety, among others. Employee Relations and Voice: HM has an open door policy granting all employees the right and the opportunity to discuss any work-related issue directly with management (AR1 2008). They also support their employees right and ability to organize and to decide who should represent them in the workplace (AR1 2008). HM has positive experience of open and constructive dialogue with the trade unions and they welcome such relations wherever they operate. They consider such cooperation to be essential if they are to become even better. Examples of collaboration on staffing issues include their agreement with UNI (Union Network International) and the work they do with the EWC (European Works Council). Promotion: In the annual report of HM (2008:34) the Head of HR quoted Internal recruitment and job rotation enable the company to grow quickly. This statement indicates that HM has policies related to promotion. Employee Development: To quote Mr. Par Darj, Head of HR at HM I tell employees, if you do not grow neither will HM (AR1 2008:34). This indicates that policies exist for this area. Rewards: According to the annual report (2008) HM focuses on rewarding people by providing more opportunities and responsibilities, and not through a promotions and job titles. This indicates that HM has policies for this area. Other areas with clearly defined policies might exist, but these are not evident from available sources. Organization Behaviour and Structure Structure: Corporate management is based at HMs head office in Stockholm. Stockholm is also where the main departments for design and buying, finance, accounts, expansion, interior design and display, advertising, communications, IR, HR, logistics, security, IT and CSR and environment are located. HM has around 16 country offices that are responsible for the various departments in each sales country. HM also has around 16 production offices which take care of contacts with the approximately 700 independent suppliers that HM works with. There are nine production offices in Europe, eleven in Asia and one in Africa. Behaviour: HM operates in 37 countries and has a work force belonging to these 37 countries because they recruit locally. HMs espoused values are stated to be the foundation for a multinational company in a multi cultural market where great respect is paid to the individual. Interviews with the CEO and Head of HR in the annual report indicate a participative culture where everyone is made to feel like a part of the companys success (AR1 2008:34). Par Darj (Head of HR) stated in the annual report the key word for continual growth is responsibility and commitment. We have committed employees and we are prepared to delegate responsibility at every level. The company encourages what it calls the The HM spirit employees committed to their work and prepared to take on new challenges, common sense, hard work and team spirit are encouraged. All their operations are typified by an essential respect for the individual; including reasonable wages, reasonable hours, and opportunity to grow, and develop within the company (AR1 2008). Quotes from employees about the organizational climate indicate that the values above are values in use. These quotes can be found on the career section and in the annual report of HM. Based on this information; the prevalent culture appears to be primarily task oriented (Schein 1985). Such a culture can support HM HR related strategies and policies (like Open door, job rotation, freedom of association etc.). They also have a significant impact on HR aspects; Recruitment needs to focus on finding candidates with the right fit to the organizational culture irrespective of local culture, facilitating expatriation of experienced staff when new stores are opened, facilitating rewards schemes aligned with organizational culture, enabling HRD that can empower employees to take on new challenges and work in new teams. At HM, a lot of importance is given to personality development and for opportunity for the employees to grow within the organization. Various practices empowering the employees; like a Shop Manger being allowed to take independent decisions, and managing the business like an entrepreneur etc. are designed to increase employee loyalty and commitment to the organization and are great motivators (AR1 2008). The HR strategy for employee motivation; total reward with emphasis on Intrinsic Motivation (Armstrong 2006), has been proven, to be directly related to forming the success of the organization. All their operations are typified by an essential respect for the individual; including reasonable wages, reasonable hours, opportunity to grow and develop within the company (AR1 2008) The prevailing organizational culture at HM encourages team work, supports effective leadership and provides adequate growth opportunity for employees. These HR strategic initiatives in turn make significant co ntributions to the organizational goals of continuing growth and profitability. Organization Culture HMs strong corporate culture the spirit of HM has existed ever since the days of HMs founder, Erling Persson. This strong culture is of great value and is a contributory factor to HMs successes over the years. The spirit of HM: The spirit of HM is based on a number of values that describe in simple terms how we want to work. These are in turn based on our business concept, fashion and quality at the best price. The fundamental values behind the spirit of HM are among other things common sense and own initiative. HM provide room for people to make their own decisions and take responsibility, and co-workers get regular feedback on their performance. An important part of HMs culture is to delegate responsibilities to the stores. Strong commitment and involvement are important, and co-workers are encouraged to take their own initiatives within a defined framework. Creativity and job satisfaction increase when there is a good working environment. Co-workers commitment makes a major contribution to HMs successes. HM believe in the abilities of the individual and encourage co-workers to develop further. Respect for the individual is a fundamental value at HM. This applies to everything from fair pay, reasonable working hours and freedom of association to the opportunity to grow and develop with the company. Job rotation is common at HM. In the stores, for example, duties may vary between the cash desk, fitting rooms, unpacking, display and follow-up of advertising and campaigns. Working in the store provides very important experience and is a way of getting to know HM from its very foundation. Attracting and retaining skilled staff is important for HMs success therefore HM work constantly on skills development and all training is carried out within HM. However, the biggest knowledge gain is made through active learning on the job. Information System HM has employee-scheduling system to improve its use of staff resources and maximise time spent by staff on the shop floor. The Swedish clothing company implemented. 30,000 employees swipe in and out with smartcards at the beginning and end of their shifts. The system reduced administration by recording shifts electronically and helped improve sales by scheduling shifts to coincide with the busiest times in stores. The scheduling application is linked to HMs human resources and payroll systems, which lets the retailer control staff costs more accurately. The Workforce Management application from software supplier Work Place Systems will be hosted at a data centre in Stockholm. Motivation at HM HM is a flat organization, which might give the impression that its hard to move up within HM, the organization is constantly evolving and is growing fast, thus providing more opportunities to its employees. Employees are motivated by providing new challenges; in another department, another role or, another country. HM encourages employees to try many different roles within their organization stated in annual report part 1 and 2 (2008). HM recruitment advertisements indicate possibilities like: working abroad, furthering education and learning new things. Their websites promotes that many in management today, actually started on the shop floor. HM also provides a comprehensive benefits package. HM fulfils employee aspirations by providing opportunities to take more responsibilities. Individual development versus organisational development. HMs annual report (AR1 2008) and website (Careers website), emphasize that working at HM is about commitment, both from the individual and the organization. HMs Head of HR emphasizes that organization can grow only if the individuals grow. HM wont make a career plans for their employees, but will provide them with tools to go as far as they possibly can on their own. This indicates that at HM, individuals are expected to drive their own development, within the framework that the organization provides. The organization appears to facilitate and promote cross-functional and cross-boundary development opportunities for individuals, which is aligned with their own development and growth strategies. To quote PÃ ¤r Darj, (Head of HR), We have committed employees and we are prepared to delegate responsibility at every level. I tell employees, if you do not grow neither will HM, (AR1 2008:34). This indicates that HM treats individual development and organizational development as tightly linked areas. Selection Recruitment The HR strategy, which is closely aligned with the organizational strategy to achieve continuing growth and profitability, envisages recruitment of people every year to run the new stores scheduled to be opened. For example, as per their Annual report (AR1 2008), about 6000 7000 employees are to be recruited during this financial year, to meet the requirements of the 225 new stores being opened worldwide. The planning and recruitment is based on the HR policy to recruit locally when a new store is opened. Future employees are evaluated and chosen according to certain criteria practiced by HM and based on the companys culture. They look for people with personality who can perform well within the culture, growth and motivational framework provided at HM. Par Darj, Head of HR stated, At HM, great grades and all the university credits in the world are no guarantee of a job or a fast-track career. Of course, we do welcome those things, but what we are really looking for, more than anything, is people with the right personality. This is based on the belief that one can always gather skills as you go along, but personality and attitude cant be taught. Either youve got it or you dont. One of the most important things we look for is drive (AR1 2008). HM values personal qualities much more than formal qualifications. Since HM is a fast company and the tempo is always high, they need employees who are self-driven and capable of well direct communication. Hence HM recruits people who like responsibility and decision-making also it indicates that a love of fashion combined with a focus on sales is perceived as an adva ntage. These appear to form the basis for HMs recruitment requirements (and person specifications), programmes and drive its selection processes. At HM selection interview approach is usually face to face and mostly structured situational based According to Armstrong (2006) In a situational based interview the focus in on a number of situation or incidents in which behaviour can be regarded as being particularly suggestive of succeeding performance. This is followed by panel interviews and aptitude/work sample tests. It appears that candidates are filtered at each stage of the process in HM. Sources of candidates: Internal Recruitment: This is their first choice for a new job opening. External recruitment is considered only if no internal options are available. External recruitment: Potential recruits (minimum age is 16 years) are encouraged to apply directly to the local store, from the careers website. HM does not offer summer jobs or work experience placements. Buying is centralized in Stockholm, and so is the recruitment for the same. HM recruits locally to its new stores (AR1 2008). Organisational learning and management development in HM. The average numbers of training days per employee in 2008 are, 10 for new sales staff, 1 for existing sales staff and 5 for existing management positions. HM usually conducts all training in-house (classroom, stores and one to one), written and produced by HM staff. External training has been considered for some areas like buying. E-learning has also been initiated for a few subjects (AR 2008). However, indications are that HM today focuses more on on-the-job, just- in time, hands on learning. For example, when they opened their first HM store in Japan, locally recruited employees were sent to Norway and Germany for gaining experience in existing operations. Also, during the sales intensive opening phase of a new store, colleagues from other countries are brought in temporarily (AR 2008). The head of HR quoted in annual report (2008:34) As an employee of HM, you can be an entrepreneur and you will be given responsibility early on. HM claims to provide structured opportunities for on-the-job, hands on and work place based training. To summarize, it appears that HM focuses on experiential Self-directed learning today as defined by Armstrong (2006), however, they are moving towards incorporating a blended approach with including simulation and e-learning. Ensuring Learning and Development opportunities for its employees is an integral part of the HR strategy at HM (AR1 2008), and these essential ingredients contribute significantly to the success of the organization. Human Resource Development is a continuing process at HM, the new recruits being sent to already existing shops for gaining valuable experience, experienced employees being brought to new shops to support the new local recruits during the intensive opening period activity etc. This is critical to the process of organizational learning and helps them climb the learning curve faster. Keeping employees highly motivated is essential to the success of HM, due to the nature of its business of dealing in high fashion consumer goods. The various concepts that can be adopted to increase performance (like job satisfaction as a reward management tool) are very effectively employed and as the employees themselves state, they are happy to be there and every day is a challenge (AR1 200 9). Expectancy Theory, which states that if individuals feel that the outcome of learning is likely to benefit them, they will be more inclined to prove it (Armstrong 2006) has been proven on the shop floors of HM. The HR practice of giving responsibility to the employees early on in their career, treating them as entrepreneurs rather than just employees is a definite and positive step towards their development. Considering the employees as capable of shaping its results and improving it in big and small ways and is key to HMs approach to learning and development. Reward Management The reward management process of HM and its potential influence on human resource management. HMs careers website indicates that the company offers a comprehensive benefits package, which includes staff discounts, incentive bonuses, company sick pay, private health care a pension scheme. Share options are not provided. The head of HR, indicates that they do not consider titles and pay structures as motivational tools. Opportunities to fulfil an employees aspirations by wanting more responsibility, as a means of getting on with in the organization quickly, are provided. Apart from these, as stated by different categories of employees on the careers site and the annual report, the main reward is the job satisfaction they derive. Thus, HM appears to provide a total reward framework, with greater emphasis on relational rewards even though transactional rewards are provided (Armstrong 2006). HMs reward management is consistent with other HR areas, including organizational culture, recruitment/selection etc. and is also in sync with the overall HR strategy of open doors, job rotation etc. which is essential to fulfil HMs strategy of fast growth. HM has implemented the concept of Total Reward Management very successfully. Apart from the financial compensation, job satisfaction as a reward has motivated the employees to perform and contribute their maximum to ensure customer satisfaction and business success through increased sales. This is evident in the statements by the employees from various levels on the HM website. As a stated policy, there is more emphasis on personality development through delegated authority in the decision making process and greater autonomy to local elements of the organizational structure. Being a multinational company with employees of different cultures, this decentralized decision making process and empowerment of employees have proven direct impact on the success of HM (AR1 2008) Various techniques associated with basic motivation have been given more importance and priority than the extrinsic aspects. Work environment related parameters like leadership, employee voice, recognition, achievement etc. have been built in to the HR policy and practiced to leverage the critical business goals of continuing growth and increased profitability. Performance Management HM has adopted a strategic and integrated approach to achieve organizational success through improved performance of its employees. HM employees have been told that the growth of the employees and the organization are closely linked (AR1 2008). The practice of Shop Managers going through a process of reviewing that days business with their subordinates on a daily basis is part of the performance management activity. This underlines the fact that HM has recognized the importance of such a practice, and built in that process by which managers and their subordinates work together, agree on what needs to be done and how it is done. They are able to plan, prioritize and develop their sales team in a customer-focused environment (AR1 2008). At HM a shop manager is in charge of the daily running of the store like running their own business. The HR strategy of delegating authority for managing the shops activities is a key factor contributing to the success of the organization. Managing Diversity in teams and groups HM is expanding its business to open new shops in countries where they are currently not present. By their HR policy and procedures, when a new shop is opened the staff recruited locally. They also have the practice of job rotation and movement of employees from one location to another based on internal recruitment (promotions). This brings together people of different cultural back grounds together in the same team, and successfully managing such a team is crucial to the success of the organization. The HR strategy is, not to have very rigid procedures, and the corporate culture of respect to the individual. As stated in their Annual Report (AR1 2008), the HR strategy ensure the following: 1. In order to meet peoples expectations of HM as an attractive employer, company develops global guide lines on diversity, equal rights and against discrimination. 2. HMs objective is to be a good employer, including in those countries whose laws and regulations fall short of their own requirements. The whole of their activity is shaped by a fundamental respect for the individual. This applies to every aspect from fair wages, working hours and freedom of association to the opportunity for growth and development within the company (AR1, 2008). 3. HM has positive experience of open and constructive dialogue with the trade unions and they welcome such relations wherever they operate. They consider that cooperation is essential if they are to become even better. Examples of collaboration on staffing issues include their agreement with UNI (Union Network International) and the work they do with the EWC (European Works Council). (AR 2008) HMs success in executing their strategy of continuous international growth and expansion, while maintaining its Swedish organizational culture, indicates that its HR practices have contributed to the successful management of diversity in teams and groups. Recommendations Conclusion Issue and challenge at HM could be: nurturing and maintaining a balanced relationship with employees. Line managers may need good awareness of their reporters aspirations, to enable motivation by providing responsibilities and opportunities al