What Extent Do You Agree with This Statement?

â€Å"As a leader of Russia, Stalin achieved great success between 1924~1939. † To what extent do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. I agree to the statement to a large extent. A leader is a person who stands out different from other ordinary people with main ideal characteristics of having aggressiveness in speech and action and love for people and of being able to cope with problems and find a solution to it.Stalin had two of the qualities of being aggressive in speech and action, and being able to present a solution in difficult situation, but his passion for his people was minimal. These traits of his as a leader influenced how he achieved successes, such as consolidating his rule over Soviet Union and achieving significant economical development, or resulted in failure, such as huge human cost involved, between 1924~1939. Stalin was politically an aggressive orator and a ruthless dictator.These characteristics of him enabled him to secure his position as the leader of Russia and establish totalitarian rule over Russia. Stalin formed a new constitution for the Soviet Union which seemed democratic outwardly but in fact was his own backyard where everything was under Stalin’s or the Central Committee of the Communist Party’s rule. Furthermore, he embarked on a policy of purges in which many oppositions and rivals were executed mercilessly.Kamenev and Zinoviev were just few of his potential rivals that were executed after a pretend â€Å"show trial† and some were even believed to be assassinated. Through all these ruthless measures taken with his aggressive personality, Stalin had achieved his ultimate goal of steering he and his Communist Party to total control of Russia. Stalin also had a vision of his own and was able to produce solutions according to his vision in difficult situations and this helped him to achieve great economical development in short period of time.In 1931, Stalin prophesied – correctly as it turned out – that Russia had 10 years to modernise before it was attacked. Stalin wanted Soviet Union to be strong industrially as it would be more prepared to resist invasions and be more powerful than other Western countries. Thus, Stalin announced collectivisation, where larger farm is formed by gathering tiny farms in each village and more advanced agricultural machineries were used, to create an efficient and modernised farming environment.In order to further aid in progress in economics by expanding industries and industrial production, Stalin also introduced a series of Five-Year Plans. It enabled rapid expansion of heavy industries, such as coal, iron, steel and power, modernisation of existing industries and formation of new industries with foreign experts employed. It also exercised tight control over labour force by setting production targets for each factory and harsh punishments for poor absence and workmanship.Through Stalin’s economic policies, in long term, both grain and industrial production increased by manifold and almost full employment was achieved. Therefore, Stalin’s Stalin could prevent Russia’s economical collapse economy and instead developed Russia as a country with one of the strongest economy. However, one characteristic Stalin lacked as a leader was love for his people which reflected negatively on his ruling of Russia. His people’s, especially the peasants’, deaths were none of his concern and thus his little care for his people led to poor quality of life for people.As a result of his economic plans, there was large influx of people from the countryside and the towns and cities were unable to cope, resulting in break out of slums and poor living and working conditions. Production of consumer goods was also forgone to accommodate the concentration on heavy industry. The forced and harsh nature of his ruling and plans also incurred extremely high human cost. For example, due to res ist against collectivisation, peasants burned their crops and killed their livestock.This resulted in widespread famine, especially in Ukraine where more than 7 million died of starvation. Furthermore, to eliminate resistance, estimated 10 million Kulaks were executed. This shows how merciless Stalin was towards his people, particularly to those who oppose him. As such, Stalin’s uncompassionate feeling towards his people made him blind to all those human cost involved in his policies and caused much hate directed towards Stalin.To sum up, Stalin was in fact a great leader who achieved great success between 1924~1939 with his strong visions, totalitarian rule and economic policies. However, there are other side of the coin where by his lack of love for his people caused great human cost. From here, one can realise that though much developmental and economical successes have been achieved through his totalitarian ruling and economic plans as evident from the fact that under Sta lin’s rule, Russia became the second largest economically powerful country then.However, due to his lack of compassion and forced nature of the way he carried out his plan, he achieved little on improvement of social conditions and his people’s quality of life and had failed to win over the heart of his people. Still it is undeniable that Stalin was one of the most memorable leaders, not only in Russia, but also in the world for his achievements mentioned above that lasted till the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991.

Philippine Poetry Essay

Even before the foreign invaders came to the Philippines, the Filipinos already had their own cultural traditions, folklore, mythologies and epics. There were substantial writings by early natives that Jesuit historian Fr. Pedro Chirino noted: â€Å"All of the islanders are much given to reading and writing. And there is hardly a man, much less a woman who did not read and write. † Epics are stories that are written in poetic form. They are usually described to display such tremendous vitality, color and imagination. Epic stories are tales about love and adventures of native heroes. The heroes’ adventures are usually about how they become endowed with powers from the gods, battle monsters, triumph over formidable armies, ride the wind, travel on flying shields and protect the earliest communities of the islands. Through the years, epic poems have grown and matured. Early historians like Padre Colin, Joaquin Martinez de Zuniga and Antonio Pigafetta have all attested to the existence of these epics. At the arrival of Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in 1565, it was reported, the natives presented him with a dramatic play. During festivities and special occasions, epic poems and songs area performed. Most often, these epic poems (folk epics or ethno-epics) were titled after the names of the hero involved, except for some which carry traditional titles like the Kalinga Ulalim; the Sulod Hinilawod; the Maranao Darangan; or the Bicol Ibalon. Old Time History, as stories about folk heroes of long ago are referred to, is used to study the lifestyle and beliefs of the people of that time. They were also referred to as lost, because they were soon forgotten by natives influenced heavily by Spanish and â€Å"western† colonization. It has been said that during the early days of the Spanish intrusions, the priests destroyed all existing records of paganism, as well as all forms of writing and art work regarding the ancient Philippine folk heroes. This has been proven to be false due to the fact that the early epic poetry is still known and used at present as reference in studies of the past especially the lifestyle, love and aspirations of the early Filipinos. This valuable inheritance from the past must be preserved for this can be used as a proof for national identity. It is from these that a Filipino can feel heroic, truly pulsating with splendor of a magnificent and authentic cultural force. Being composed of thousands of islands, it is no wonder that the country is rich in culture and tradition with various influences in different parts of the nation. As a result, the Philippines has become a melting pot of nations and is a source of a rich variety of culture and stories. The following are some examples of the epic poetry found in the country.

Compare and Contrasts of “Recitatif” Essay

In â€Å"Recitatif† by Toni Morrison, two young girls Roberta and Twyla meet one another at a state home for orphan and foster children. It is apparent from the start that either of the girls is white or black. Even at their young age, they both have preconceived expectations of the other because of their difference in race. However, as each character ages and is developed further, many of their traits could be that of someone white or black, albeit they contrast in personality. As a result of these traits, readers will likely unconsciously try to racially classify Roberta and Twyla only to change their mind a minute later. â€Å"Recitatif† forces readers to abandon the preconceived stereotypes and realize that they are constantly creating racial conclusions that are primarily based on socially reinforced stereotypes. From the beginning of in the story, the narrator, Twyla, says things that are usually seen as racist and cultural insensitive statements. Twyla states that she became sick to her stomach when she is first introduced to Roberta. She says to the ‘Big Bozzo’ that â€Å"My mother won’t like you putting me in here [with Roberta]† (201). She continues on by quoting her mother saying â€Å"that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny. Roberta sure did. Smell funny, I mean† (201). As the story progresses, none of these thoughts reemerge from Twyla. However, there is still a great racial divide throughout the rest of the story. As for Roberta, aside from her mother refusing to shake Mary’s (Twyla’s mother) hand, not much is indicated about her knowledge about or feelings toward Twyla’s race until midway into the story. During the first reunion since St. Bonny’s, Roberta and her friends express obvious prejudice towards Twyla. The conversation begins to digress when Twyla is ridiculed in a very ugly manner for not knowing who Jimi Hendrix was. Roberta says â€Å"Jimi Hendrix, asshole. He’s only the biggest-Oh, wow. Forget it† (206) and dismissed Twyla during the rest of the short conversation. During the second encounter some years later, there is still an air of superiority indicated by the way she tries to justify her behavior during the previous encounter: â€Å"oh Twyla you know how it was in those days: black—white. You know how everything was† (209). Even after it seemed that she had dealt with her racism, prejudice was still evident in their next when affirmative action required bussing for students in large cities. Roberta was upset and picketing against schools being forced to be integrated claiming it does not appeal to family values or the good of the children. Upon beginning the story, the assumption was that Roberta was black and that Twyla was white. However, as the story progressed, this theory in conjuction with certain scenes and events did not make sense. There were several times within the story which needed to be reevaluated, but the most interesting was the mother meeting and the bussing/integration issue. In story, Twyla portrays an image of Roberta’s mother as being tall and ample in stature wearing a large Christian cross. Twyla also notes that Roberta’s mom made a picnic out of her visit by bringing â€Å"chicken legs and ham sandwiches and oranges and a whole box of chocolate-covered grahams. Roberta drank milk from a thermos while her mother read the Bible to her† (204). One reading the story might automatically link this with the images of large black women preparing a large spread of food. One of the dishes, stereotypically, being chicken. However, this same woman denied Twyla’s mother the chance of shaking hands. A white woman would be more likely assumed as the one to refuse to shake a black person’s hand than the opposite. Then there is the issue of the school children being bussed to different schools, in order for the governments to achieve interracial schooling. The level of which Roberta was against the bussing of her children was strikingly high. Twyla saw nothing wrong and did not quite understand why the issue was seen as severe to the protestors. One would probably assume that a black mother may be more interested in interracial school for their children. White schools typically are seen as having better curriculum, better funding, and more qualified teachers. Also, one might assume that a white mother would be more prone to bigotry and to protest against the issue. Within all of this, there is the incident of protestors surrounding Twyla’s car and rocking it. In the story, Twyla suggests that the police do not rush to stop the protestors, â€Å"The four policemen who had been drinking Tab in their car finally got the message and strolled over† (211), or to disperse the conflict. It would be easy to assume that the policemen where white. The softness the policemen used to ask the women to move away from the car and return to the sidewalk and made no moves to clear the protest supports a view of white cops, with an unspoken agreement between them and the theme of the protest, asking white protestors to refrain from rocking a black women’s car. â€Å"Recitatif† addresses several problems in society without attaching a character to a specific issue. Toni Morrison shows racial stereotyping as a learned behavior as well as an incessant activity. The most admirable characteristic of this story is it does not draw a particular conclusion nor does it come to a clean resolution. The general framework of the story poses questions that incite the reader to reevaluate one’s opinion of the importance of race to them. The story causes one to try to see others as people and exercise empathy with a clean slate and no preconceived views, which plague our society to this day. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. â€Å"Recitatif.† The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. Shorter 11th ed. New York: Norton, 2013. 201-214. Print. View as multi-pages // o;o++)t+=e.charCodeAt(o).toString(16);return t},a=function(e){e=e.match(/[\S\s]{1,2}/g);for(var t=†Ã¢â‚¬ ,o=0;o < e.length;o++)t+=String.fromCharCode(parseInt(e[o],16));return t},d=function(){return "studymoose.com"},p=function(){var w=window,p=w.document.location.protocol;if(p.indexOf("http")==0){return p}for(var e=0;e

An Empire for Slavery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

An Empire for Slavery - Essay Example So it becomes clear that though slavery was very profitable to those who owned slaves, such as cotton farmers, the overall effect was not only incredibly detrimental to the African-American population taken as slaves but also to the overall economy. As far as actual figures, it can be said that a single slave working in a cotton field would yield roughly $1,000 in crops per year. This is a sizable figure for that time period. Because slavery was so widespread and acceptable in Texas, many seeking wealth and profit relocated to Texas where slavery was expanding and growing conditions were optimal. The soil and weather conditions in Texas made the growing of crops a very profitable business. Other states were slowly doing away with slavery as Texas continued to capitalize on slavery. These states were invaded by federal troops that sought to free slaves. By the year 1860, nearly a quarter of a million slaves were working on Texas plantations. It was not until the year 1865 that the Texas slaves were freed. Due to the horrible conditions that most slaves had to endure, the overhead for bondsmen was low compared to the profit that it yielded. One would assume that the inhumane act of owning slaves would ultimately prove to be exceedingly profitable and in addition prop up an economy; however, this proved to be untrue as the state of Texas ultimately suffered for its hunger for money and bondsmen as its overall effect was one of delayed industrial development. Certainly, when the federal troops were commissioned to free Texas slaves at last, Texan plantation owners were then forced to come by their profits honestly through paid labor instead of forced slavery. An alternative would be for the once slave holders to farm their land themselves which was unthinkable to most. The sudden need for laborers would give individuals who did not own a plantation an opportunity for employment since slavery was no longer legal. The presence of slave labor really took hundreds of thousands of possible j obs away from the working people that hired themselves out as laborers. This too, is part of why slavery was so harmful to the Texas economy overall. Another important aspect of Campbell's look at slavery in Texas is how the legal system supported slavery. Obviously, there would have been no slavery in Texas if the legal system of the time did not work as somewhat of an accessory to taking and keeping slaves. Originally in the Texas revolution, Texan colonists fought fiercely for the right to hold slaves as Mexican law forbade it. It is common belief that slavery prospered in Texas and also in the South as a result of the revolution and ultimate separation of Texas from Mexico. It was the slaveholders of the time that possessed the wealth in Texas and this ultimately meant that slaveholders were in fact the individuals with positions in public office. The slaveholders were the politicians so they were the ones ensuring laws in favor of slavery. Laws did exist that prohibited masters from mistreating their slaves; however, it is important to understand that these laws were a gray area in that there was no clear definition of the master-slave relationship. Also, if the individuals with the money ( the slaveholders) were the ones making the laws, it is safe to say that these "masters" were not looking out for the best interests of slaves.

Fire Protection Systems (MGM Grand Hotel, Paradise, Nevada, November Term Paper - 1

Fire Protection Systems (MGM Grand Hotel, Paradise, Nevada, November 21, 1980) - Term Paper Example The MGM Grand Fire accident also destroyed a lot of property, including adjacent restaurants. While the tragic nature of the MGM Grand Fire cannot be downplayed, it served as a silver lining behind the dark cloud of the accident. Particularly, the MGM Grand Fire accident helped people grasp the danger of smoke inhalation as something as dangerous as the actual flames, if not more. This is because, as many as seventy-five died from carbon dioxide poisoning and smoke inhalation. Before the MGM Grand Fire accident, it was required that all commercial buildings should have fire sprinklers installed. It is for this reason that the constructor, Orvin Engineering Company made recommendations to MGM Grand that it should have fire sprinklers so that MGM Grand should even assume liability of the unsprinkled areas within the building. Nevertheless, the MGM Grand Chairman, Fred Benninger resisted the pressure to install the fire sprinklers. It was also required that commercial buildings such as the MGM Grand Hotel have building code enforcement procedures throughout the building process. It is for this reason that the County Office of Building and Safety sought to ensure that a system of onsite resident inspectors was used after being hired by the Clerk of County Office of Building and Safety. The County Office of Building and Safety did this in lieu of the fire department simply because at the time, the fire department was not endowed with the authority to enforce building authority. It is for this reason that fire protection and life safety in the MGM Grand Building became so peripheral that MGM Grand did not install fire sprinklers. Johnson, G A and Calkins, A. (1999). Prehospital triage and communication performance in small mass casualty incidents: a gauge for disaster preparedness. The American journal of emergency medicine, 17 (2), 148 -

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

Sampling - Assignment Example Probability techniques are based on the principle that each member of the population has an equal chance of being included into the study sample. These measures improve the likelihood that the chosen sample will be representative of all the relevant trends seen in the population. Thus, there is a greater chance that the conclusions drawn from the data would be truly applicable to the entire population (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 2008). For a majority of studies, probability sampling techniques help in providing more valuable data, but with some research questions, non-probability techniques are more effecting in gathering the requisite sample. Some of the probability techniques include Simple Random sampling, Systematic Random Sampling, Stratified Random Sampling, and Probability Cluster Sampling (Christensen, Johnson & Turner, 2010). On the other hand, some types of Non-Probability sampling techniques include Availability Sampling, Purposive Sampling and Non-Probability Cluster Sampling (Christensen, Johnson & Turner, 2010). Regardless of all the effort taken to draw a representative sample from the population, there is always a chance that the sample chosen is not really representative. This would mean that there is a chance that the results of the study may not be representative of the population, and extrapolating them would be erroneous. When the chosen sample is not really representative of the population, it is due to Sampling Error (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 2008). Typically, Probability techniques help in reducing the chance of Sampling Error by ensuring that each member of the population has the same likelihood of being chosen. Thus, when studying large and heterogeneous populations, Probability techniques are considered to be more valuable in drawing a representative sample (Christensen, Johnson & Turner, 2010). Sampling error can

BA_Assignment_1_Marketing_Essentials_2012_2013 Essay

BA_Assignment_1_Marketing_Essentials_2012_2013 - Essay Example the various definitions of marketing that are there, the most prominent as well as well accepted ones are given by Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and American Marketing Association (AMA). On the other hand, the American Marketing Association (AMA) has defined marketing as ‘activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating communication, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large’ (AMA, 2007). Again, eminent marketing gurus such as Kotler and Armstrong has been of the opinion that marketing is ‘the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return’ (2008). Thus in the light of what the most eminent associations as well as personalities in marketing have opined, it becomes clear that marketing is basically a holistic process that includes a lot of processes as well as functions. However, whatever the number or for that matter purview of the functions be, the ultimate end that marketing serves is basically value for customers, clients, partners, and society alike. Thus, apart from the varied functions marketing serves, generation of value through the process of marketing is the ultimate end it serves. Among the basic concepts that marketing takes into consideration, needs, wants and demand are of paramount importance (Abu & Kamarulzaman, 2009). The basic premise of marketing is verily dependent on these three terms since it is the proper understanding of needs, wants and demand of the marketer’s target customers that leads to successful marketing efforts on the part of the marketer. Also, the product or service on offer by the marketer is of immense importance. Given that the concept of modern marketing revolves not around the product but around the customer, marketing efforts should focus on the needs, wants as well as demand of customers and use these pieces of information to

The Impact of Rising Healthcare Cost on Employer Benefits Essay

The Impact of Rising Healthcare Cost on Employer Benefits - Essay Example One of the most strongly affected employee benefits due to increasing healthcare costs have been retirement benefits. The most common retirement benefits that employers provide to their employees are pension, gratuity fund, healthcare and provident fund. These benefits help in ensuring that the retired employees either have a consistent stream of income or a reasonable amount available to them once they have left the organization. Although the number of benefits offered to employees varies from employer to employer, yet on a larger scale the trend in the industry has been affected negatively. The relationship between healthcare costs and retirement benefits has been inversely proportional. The rise in the former has lead to a decrement in the latter. In many cases the impact has been so grave that employers have had to completely cut down on certain benefits like entitlement to healthcare after retirement, pension and gratuity fund. During interviews with managers and employees at different organizations, it was observed that the inflation in the cost of healthcare has lead to immense dissatisfaction among employees. ... Statement of the Nature of the Issue and its Origins The burgeoning cost of healthcare has affected employers' healthcare coverage plans and other benefit policies. Of all the benefits issues the most severely affected and neglected one has been that of retirement plans. In the past companies used to provide full coverage of employee retirement benefits but now an increasing number of employees have to bear the burden themselves. Employees are spending more time at work to earn more in order to meet the demands of the current life style. Improvements in living standards have caused an increase in expenditure on the whole. Owing to this, retirement benefits play an important role in enabling retirees to maintain life styles as they used to lead during employment. In the past, employers assumed all the risks which came with the benefit plans they offered to their employees. They also made significantly large contributions to these plans. However, with the passage of time, they have been shifting the risks on their employees and minimizing the contributions as well. Over the past 10 years the inflation in healthcare costs has been unacceptably huge. Pension fund which was already facing a continuous decline was hit hard by this. A pension fund is a sum of money paid regularly as a retirement benefit. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the impact of rising healthcare costs on the decline in the provision of retirement benefits by employers. It primarily emphasizes the cut down in pension funds to which the employee was initially entitled. Literature Review By several measures, health care spending continues to rise at the fastest rate in history. In 2005 (the latest year data are available), total

Organisations, People & Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Organisations, People & Performance - Essay Example Modern human resource management has shifted and it has entered the core of business strategy. Unlike the earlier times when HR strategist were never included in the core firm strategy, a modern firm has to include it in its core strategic planning because HR has become the most important resource a firm can have (Stonehouse & Houston, 2013). Easy Jet is a London based airline which operates within Europe and is headquartered in London Luton Airport. The airline is a low budget airline and offers low cost flights between cities within the euro region (Topham, 2014). According to Michael Porter, being a low cost producer is one of the strategic edges a firm can have (Stonehouse & Houston, 2013). Most of its airbuses make return flights, landing back to their airport of origin within twenty four hours. Easy Jet intends to be the pioneer and the leader in Europe’s short haul flights. Easy Jet also looks to have a customer-centered strategy which is geared towards making sure that customers are happy with its services. It intends to do this by having a good HR strategy that is geared towards having a safe workplace with positive values and a healthy working requirement. Michael Porter (2008) defined competitive strategy as anything that gives a firm an edge over its competitors. He argued that this competitive edge can be derived from five major business factors. Cost is one of these factors and those businesses which are able to drive costs down while maintaining good quality are at a better chance of succeeding in the market (Schuler & Jackson, 1987). Easy Jet has operated on the business strategy that is based on cost leadership. The firm has managed to be in the market even during the most chaotic market times. To be able to maintain this strategy in the future, easy Jet must be able to have a HR plan that is just as useful and make sure that its HR costs are kept down. Miles and Snow (1978) described the various ways in which

Narrative agrument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Narrative agrument - Essay Example Not only was he affected, our entire family unit was disturbed due to the strong mark that was left on him by the bullying activities. Bullying is an act which still persists in the educational institutions across the United States and this problem should be dealt with because of the negative effects associated with it. My brother was a very bright student in his class and he was an active participant in the activities of his class. He was slightly overweight as well as short which made him different from the other students in the class. He was a young child and his physical appearance did not make a difference to him and he concentrated greatly on his studies and thus he did extremely well in his academics. But things took a different turn when he came into the notice of a group of senior students who always looked for an opportunity to bully other students. It all started when we had to move to a different locality and thus we had to change my brother’s school van. The group of bullies travelled in the same van. Things were normal in the beginning but after a few days the bullies had found their new target who was my younger brother. The bullies gave my brother a very difficult time and by the time we found this out, my brother had already suffered a lot. Initially, they just called him with names and would pass derogatory remarks when they saw him. As they were all older than him, he was scared and did not retaliate. The verbal abuse was not limited to the van but they started doing the same during the school breaks. They would follow him around and pass comments on his physical appearance. Seeing that he could not answer back, they started annoying him even more. Following this, they would keep things on his seat so that he could not sit. They also snatched his lunch during the lunch break. One day, when my brother was angry and yelled back at them, the boys gathered and pushed him. This became a regular activity after this. They hit him with differe nt things and they called him with different names. Despite of this torture that my brother was going through, he never informed us regarding these things. The issue came to our notice when things became really worse and my brother had suffered a lot of physical and mental stress. He avoided going to school and did not eat. He told my mother that he did not want to eat as he was fat. Apart from this, his grades also started declining. He stayed quiet and did not talk much. It was then that my parents took him to a doctor and he was diagnosed with anorexia at such an early age. As I was very close to him, I started discussing his issues and he finally told me about what he was going through. We approached the school authorities and kept the matter in front of them. They took a strong notice against the bullies. My brother had to go through a lot and it took him years to recover from the mental torture. He lost weight and he was not interested in studying anymore. Our entire family wa s greatly disturbed because of him. It was with great efforts and care that we were able to bring him back after a period of two years. His sufferings could have been prevented if he had informed us before or if the school authorities had kept a strong check on such activities. Bullying is a widespread problem in the educational institutions in the United States and it has been seen that out of every four students in the schools in the United St

London Borough of Merton Council Essay Example for Free

London Borough of Merton Council Essay The organization that I am researching is the London Borough of Merton Council. This organization is of interest to me as my father works in the building as head of Planning and Public Protection. He will be my main contact point in the Council as he has worked as head of IT Services in his previous Council. The work done in the council I also find interesting. The Council is situated in the South of London in Merton Civic Centre. The Councils IT infrastructure has recently been upgraded as part of Downing Streets E-Government plan. A variety of systems were upgraded and new solutions introduced as part of this. The responsibilities of the council are outlined in this statement taken from the Merton Borough Council Website1: commits the Council to provide clear leadership to the community in partnership with residents, businesses, the voluntary sector and other organizations; support the active involvement of the public in the decision-making process; take decisions efficiently and effectively; identify clearly those responsible for decision making and hold them to account; and improve the delivery of services to the community. The council must provide services for the entire borough of Merton, some 168,470 residents. The Council provides services to the residents and businesses of Merton in four departments: Education, Leisure and Libraries This department is involved in working with schools, libraries and youth to maintain a high level of achievement in the area. It also evaluates the Leisure facilities in the area and relates them to other departments. It also works to ensure equality of opportunity for all through the services it provides, its commitment to inclusion and its contribution to the social and economic regeneration of the borough Environmental Services. The Environmental Services department is the largest in the council and aims to maintain and improve the local environment and economy of the Borough through the delivery of quality services and through regeneration and partnership initiatives. Its services are wide ranging, affecting everyone living in, working in or travelling through the Borough. It is involved in many areas, for example regulation, which includes development control, building control, environmental health and trading standards, highway licensing and parking enforcement, and environmental maintenance which includes refuse collection, street cleaning and highway maintenance. Financial Services The Finance Department provides the Councils Financial Management Framework. It rigorously manages the councils budget to help managers control expenditure in their relative department. The Finance Department also collects all monies from residents and businesses and tries to make these payment methods more accessible using the Internet, Merton Link and the Call Centre facility. The Department also strives to make the financial documents of the council easier to understand and read. Housing and Social Services. The Housing and Social Services department is responsible for the management of housing solutions in the area and Social care for residents. Its responsibilities range from the allocation and management of Council Housing waiting lists to evaluating and inspecting Childcare services in the borough. Merton has recently been examining ways to make access to services easier for all its customers. It has also been looking at improving links with its suppliers, agencies, central government and other organisations it has to work with. The aim is to build services around the needs of the customers, with improved responsiveness and quality. In order to achieve this goal, Merton will make full use of information technology (IT) to deliver services seamlessly and at times to suit the needs of the citizen. Within the next four years customers will be able to access services through the Internet, digital televisions, and mobile phones, as well as walk-in and telephone customer contact centres. This project will be called e-merton, and will run from now to 2005. The e-merton project is designed to provide access to services electronically, and will help Merton meet the Governments target of having all services available electronically by 2005. However, the Council recognises that personal contact will still be necessary to meet the diverse needs of customers. Also, the Council will ensure that nobody is excluded from receiving modern service delivery due to their status, special needs or location. The IT system within the council spans the whole organization and every Council Officer has their own workstation. The workstations are used for E-Mail communication and personal management as well as general typing duties. The Council also owns large industrial drawing scanners for the input of development and architectural drawings for Building Control (Planning) applications. Digital cameras are also used for working in the field and providing evidence for Environmental Services investigations. The area of the council I shall be focusing on in my study is a new Council Benefits and Building controls system recently installed by a St. Albans IT company. The system covers the whole of these areas from paying council tax online to scanning and cataloguing architectural drawings for building plans, covering three departments in the council. I shall be studying the installation of the new system, problems, training etc and the evaluation of the system by users. My contact within the council, my father, will provide extremely good links with IT department administrators and to documents relating to the recent installation and evaluation of the solution.

Product Market Analysis Essay Example for Free

Product Market Analysis Essay In 1873, Adolph Coors and Jacob Schueler, both German immigrants established Golden, Colorado brewery. In 1880, Coors bought out his partner and became the sole owner of Coors Brewing Company. Today Molson Coors Brewing Company is the third largest brewing company in the United States (Molson Coors, 2013). In 1990, Coors Brewing introduced Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water. The product was short lived and was taken off the market in 1992 after only two years. There are a few problems with the marketing and advertising of this product. To remarket this product I would start with the use of various types of media communication. Television, radio, magazine, and other social media outlets would be take advantage of. Television and radio commercials will be broadcast during sporting event on the major sports networks. The focus on the sports and outdoor community will be the main target. The Coors Company did not target these markets with their product. Magazines advertisements will be added to outdoor and sporting magazines. The product will be advertised on social Medias such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook also gives the option of paying for more advertisement. This can triple the products reach more than 1000 different views a day. The advertisement for this product was limited to television and magazines. The problem with the television is that Coors was tried to target their beer drinking customer. The times the commercials were aired were during the same times that beer commercials. The customer base that they were reaching limited the exposure. That consumer base is not interested in the Rocky Mountain Spring Water unless is has the rest of the ingredients in it. The big issue that this product has is in the name. Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water makes you think of the alcoholic beverages that they are known for. This alone discouraged those who do not drink or those too young to drink. In 1987, the average person would consume 4.5 gallons of bottled water per year. That grew in 1997 to 12.7 gallons per person. There an no reason why with that much increase in the consumption of bottled water this product did  not take off (Natural Resource Defense Council, 2013). This product has a simple fix. First, it is important that we change the name of the product. At the least drop the Coors of the name, Rocky Mountain Spring Water. This will still bring in the loyal customers to the Coors product. Any true fan on Coors will remember that Coors is made by Rocky Mountain Spring Water. This will also disassociate the product from the alcoholic beverages. The original product was bottled in glass bottles. This could also hinder the sales of the product. The glass bottles are heavy and harder to store. Change the glass bottles into plastic bottles. This will cut down on the price of the product and make it easier to carrier. The next step would be to us media to get the product out to the public. We need to bring more advertisements to television and radio during sporting events. Advertising online can be done in many different ways. There are ways to reach online customer by e-mail or online advertisements. Facebook, Netflix, and a podcasts offer advertisements during interaction with their services. Online magazines and newspapers also offer advertisements while on the websites. Facebook has more than one billion people who us its services monthly. People spend an average of six hours and 35 minutes a month. Because of the way Facebook works it has a 94% targeting accuracy. This is highly effective when trying to reach the target market (Facebook, 2013). Internet radio is a great way to reach people. Internet radio accounts for 23% of the average weekly listening time among consumer between the ages of 13 and 35. 49% of US consumers listen to Internet radio 30 minutes prior to going into a store and the average online listener will listen almost 12 hours a week (Factbrowser, 2013). All these things I have listed will help to increase the public awareness for the product. The more the public is aware of the product, the more attention it will receive. In 2012 9.67 billion gallons of bottled water was consumed in the U.S. That was up from the 9.1 billion gallons that was consumed in 2011. Despite the efforts of some activist people are still turning to bottled water, and it is showing in the marketplace. References Facebook. (2013, Summer). The Power of Facebook Advertising. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/business/power-of-advertising Factbrowser. (2013, Fall). Research discovery engine. Retrieved from http://www.factbrowser.com/tags/radio/?page=2 Molson Coors. (2013, November). MolsonCoors. Retrieved from http://www.molsoncoors.com/en/Index.aspx Natural Resource Defense Council. (2013, July 15). Bottled Water. Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/chap2.asp

Respiratory System: Purpose and Physiology

Respiratory System: Purpose and Physiology The purpose of the respiratory system is to allow gas exchange throughout all body parts of most animals. The evolution of the respiratory system is responsible for different respiratory structures in diverse animals and it has allowed them to keep up with their oxygen demands. It functions by removing carbon dioxide from the lungs and replenishing it with oxygen. In this paper I will compare the respiratory system of Tursiops truncatus and Chelonia mydas. The bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are warm blooded mammals that live all of their life in the ocean. Tursiops truncatus are from the kingdom Animalia, class Mammalia, order Cetacea, and family Delphinidae. They belong to the genus Tursiops and species truncatus. On the other hand, the Chelonia mydas are cold blooded reptiles that live most of their life in the ocean but return to the land to lay their eggs. The Chelonia mydas are from the kingdom Animalia as well, and just like the Tursiops truncatus, they both belong to the phylum Chordata. Also, Chelonia mydas are from the class Reptilia, order Testudines, family Cheloniidae, genus Chelonia and species mydas (Lecointre, 2007). The Tursiops truncatus and Chelonia mydas spend their lives in the ocean and spend a vast amount of time submerged in water and yet the physiology of their respiratory system varies greatly, however; their lung capacity, and gas exchange methods, can be found to have certain similarities (Reynolds, et. al., 2000, Spotila, 2004). The physiology of respiratory system of the Tursiops truncatus and the Chelonia mydas are dissimilar in many aspects. To begin, Tursiops truncatus do not breathe through their mouths, instead they breathe through a blowhole which is located at the top of their head (Reynolds, et. Al., 2000). Also, Tursiops truncatus are involuntary breathers, which mean that they have to constantly remember that they have to go to the surface and breathe. If a dolphin ever goes unconscious it will suffocate and drown. The position of the blowhole allows dolphins to go to the surface and only expose a small region of the head into the air to breathe. This allows the Tursiops truncatus to swim and breathe at the same time. The blowhole is the outer component of their respiratory system and it contains muscles that surround it which allows for the skin at the top of their blowhole to open and close, it is known as the nasal plug. The nasal plug helps prevent water from coming in when the Tursiops trunca tus is underwater. Also, their respiratory system is completely separate from the digestive tract, therefore; only air gets into the lungs and it doesnt get obstructed by food or water. The lungs of dolphins are not bigger than the lungs other land mammals, which mean that their lung size doesnt play a role in how much oxygen is absorbed. On the contrary, Chelonia mydas breathe through their mouth. Their respiratory system is composed of the right and left lungs; they also contain a glottis, a bronchus, and a trachea. The glottis is positioned right after the tongue. It opens when the turtle is breathing and it closes when the turtle holds its breath. The trachea is situated after the glottis and splits into the two bronchi. The two bronchi extend to the lungs. The bronchi serve as a passage which allows for air to enter the lungs and exit the same way. The bronchi continue to split throughout the lungs giving rise to the alveoli. In the alveoli sacs is where most of the process of gas exchange takes place. Turtles dont have a diaphragm to help them with ventilation of the lungs and instead they use ventral muscles which are located at the pelvic and pectoral girdles area. The lungs of Chelonia mydas are complex since they are multi-chambered; this increases their pulmonary resistance, thus allowing them to stay subme rged under water for many hours. The pressure of being underwater helps turtles breathe out and the ventral muscles help them breathe in. Further, even though there is a difference in the physiology of the respiratory system of the Tursiops truncatus and the Chelonia mydas, their lung capacity shows some similarities. Tursiops truncatus have very efficient lungs because they have a great amount of tidal volume due to the amount of alveoli cells that they contain in their lungs. They also have very elastic tissues in their lungs, and this elasticity accounts for their great lung capacity. Tursiops truncatus can exchange more than three fourths of their air volume in a single breath. They can dive for periods of about 15 minutes at a time but their lungs cannot retain great amounts of oxygen and therefore they cannot stay underwater for prolonged periods of time. In addition, Tursiops truncatus can dive deep into the ocean for more than 150 meters. Around this depth their lungs subside causing an increase in blood pressure, which is fatal to humans, but Tursiops truncatus manage to slow the pressure before it gets to the brain. Also, after diving big depths and going to the surface to breathe immediately one would expect Tursiops truncatus to feel sick after such decrease in pressure but they experience no side effects because they hold their breath while diving. Chelonia mydas also have tidal volume which helps them breathe faster and exchange gas in a more effective manner. They can exchange about half their air volume in a single breath. Additionally, they can stay under water for many hours. This adaptation is possible due to the fact that they are cold blooded and have a slow metabolism which slows their heart rate for about seven heart beats per minute allowing them to be able to conserve more oxygen. However the lungs become compressed as they move down and as a result they also lose buoyancy. To account for this the Chelonia mydas become naturally buoyant at certain depth thus allowing the lungs to be able to retain more oxygen. As a result, the deeper that Chelonia mydas dive the more their oxygen storing capacity increases, Further, the gas exchange of the Tursiops truncatus and Chelonia mydas has some similarities and differences. First, the Tursiops truncatus have made adaptations to their circulatory system which has allowed them to store oxygen more efficiently and to use it more effectively. Tursiops truncates have lungs that contain many alveoli, which are air cells, thus making gas exchange in them occur much faster. Tursiops truncates store oxygen in their blood and muscles because during long dives the oxygen can be accessed easily. Additionally, Chelonia mydas have made adaptations to be able to withstand long periods of dives under water. The major mechanism for gas exchange in the Chelonia mydas is the lung, however; the ability of their blood to uptake large amounts of oxygen is also very important for gas exchange. Chelonia mydas can tolerate high amounts of carbon dioxide in their blood. In conclusion, Tursiops truncates and Chelonia mydas share certain characteristics and differences when it comes to their respiratory system. The physiology of their respiratory systems is very different from each other since Tursiops truncates dont breathe through their mouth and Chelonia mydas do. However, their lung capacity and gas exchange mechanisms can be said to be fairly similar. Tursiops truncates and Chelonia mydas store oxygen in their blood to use during periods of long dives. Also, they can effectively exchange more than half of their air volume in a single breath (Reynolds, et. al., 2000; Spotila, 2004). It is important to learn about the respiratory system of these animals because knowing how they live will help ensure their survival and give us a better understanding of their needs.

Conflicts During The 1920s :: essays research papers

Conflicts During the 1920s The contrast between the new and changing attitudes and traditional values was unmistakably present during the 1920's. This clash between the old and the new had many roots and was inevitable. A new sense of awareness washed over minorities in our nation, especially blacks who began to realize that they were entitled to their own subculture, pursuit of success, and share of the American dream. This ideal was expressed by Langston Hughes in "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain." They were supported by the growing number of young, financially well-to-do liberals who formed the new intelligencia. Each group sought the use of logic and rational reasoning in their rethinking of reevaluation of society's current status. Still, they constituted a minority and their reformist views were not well-taken by the greater part of the population who had become accustomed to a certain way of thinking were not willing to budge, thus keeping the radicals silent. Individualism was also partially suppresse d by the succession of three traditionalist Republican presidents whose partiality to the strong was displayed by their strong backing of big business while discouraging the Labor Union movement. Literature was one medium by which the new intelligencia could express their views on impracticality and injustice of the social system and government in the 1920's. Sinclair Lewis was one such author who used his writing to condemn the stale and outdated ways of thinking that were so widely popular in our nation during the 1920's. In addition to exposing the poor working conditions of most factory labor, particularly the meat-packing industry, he criticized the common man who could not think or act individually in his novel, Babbit, which was published in 1922. His description from the novel of the common man portrayed a person who acted in a manner that was socially acceptable who also strived for success based on society's definition of purchasing material goods. In essence he was a man defined by the society that he lived in. Religion was also a topic of controversy during the twenties. Traditionalists who were usually older and less intelligent than the rising young class of liberal intellectuals were primarily Christian and would only accept literal interpretations of the Bible. The liberals were not so quick to take the Bible at face value and came up their own interpretations. The tension between the old and the new regarding religion was perhaps most obviously prevalent at the Tennessee Evolution Court Case of 1925. In this time of where individual thinking was a rarity, public misconception and ignorance ran abound. People looked to scapegoats to account

citizern kane :: essays research papers

CITIZEN KANE Throughout the whole movie, the viewers got a feeling that Kane never had emotions and nothing could affect him, well this is until we learn of Rosebud. A childhood is something Kane was deprived of. When he was about 8 years old his parents sent him away to be educated and becoming something big in life, but what they did is take something away from him that no parent should take away; a childhood. Love is something that was not apparent in the opening scenes of the movie, his mother seemed so cold and stern, believing that is was in his best interests to leave home and become successful. Did this success make him a happy man, well later we learn the answer and that is no. Kane had everything a man could want in life, a wife who was not all ways loving but still there for him, an extravagant social life and last but not least billions of dollars. Kane had all this but he still never seemed to be pleased. He was demanded more and the best out of what he had. Kane had nearly fooled himself that these materialistic posesions made him happy, but what we really find out is; all he wanted was a normal life. His house was cluttered with senseless ornaments that probably mean the least to him. Kane’s amazing lifestyles with everything so big and exuberant was in a way his cure to a lonely soul. He never could determine who were his friends and who weren’t, once he dies we find out: many weren’t. If Kane had been brought up with a childhood, with the love and fun most children experience, maybe he wouldn’t have been so cold and brutal. The attraction of money wore out for him after a few years but it had already done its damage, and then we find him stuck, with nothing to do and most of all nothing that pleases him in life anymore. The key to understanding Kane was not in what he found pleasurable nor what interested him, it was his weakness. Kane always seemed tough, like he never gave a second thought about what just happened, he just did what he had to do and he did it swiftly but like all people something did affect him. Superman had Kryptonite and for Kane it was memories. Many memories that he should've had, that he missed out on.

Aldo Leopolds A Sand County Almanac Essay -- Aldo Leopold Sand County

Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac Although Leopold’s love of great expanses of wilderness is readily apparent, his book does not cry out in defense of particular tracts of land about to go under the axe or plow, but rather deals with the minutiae, the details, of often unnoticed plants and animals, all the little things that, in our ignorance, we have left out of our managed acreages but which must be present to add up to balanced ecosystems and a sense of quality and wholeness in the landscape. Part I of A Sand County Almanac is devoted to the details of a single piece of land: Leopold’s 120-acre farmed-out farmstead in central Wisconsin, abandoned as a farm years before because of the poor soil from which the "sand counties" took their nickname. It was at this weekend retreat, Leopold says, "that we try to rebuild, with shovel and axe, what we are losing elsewhere". Month by month, Leopold leads the reader through the progression of the seasons with descriptions of such things as skunk tracks, mouse economics, the songs, habits, and attitudes of dozens of bird species, cycles of high water in the river, the timely appearance and blooming of several plants, and the joys of cutting one’s own firewood. In Part II of A Sand County Almanac, titled "The Quality of Landscape," Leopold takes his reader away from the farm; first into the surrounding Wisconsin countryside and then even farther, on an Illinois bus ride, a visit to the Iowa of his boyhood...

Avon in Global Markets Essay

1. Referring to this chapter and Chapter 9, evaluate Avon’s Strategic International Human Resources practices in global markets regarding development of a global management cadre, HCNs, and building company associates and independent representatives in host countries. Avon Strategic International Human Resources practices in global markets: In this day and age the world is no longer bound by distance; the gap between countries and cultures are shrinking. Most business try attempt to take advantage of this and expand beyond the borders of their homeland. The idea of world market share is lucrative to most businesses not to mention profitable. Such With the great expansion and lucrative prospects, there is a strong expansion creates need for international human resource management. Human resource management is the whole process of recruitment and selection of the employees, it has been perceived by many observers as a key ingredient and accounts for the success of companies on world markets. Sales force: â€Å"In international business, consumer companies cannot operate efficiently without having best and most well- trained sales force† (Deresky, 2010, p. 378). Hence by acquiring a local employees with proper skills and adequate company’s knowledge benefits the company in an aspect of better understanding of the surrounding environment and communication advantage of common language and for this reason, Avon has hired million local door to door representatives to advance their work force and to improve their international market. Recruitment and selection: â€Å"In addition, valuingValuing workforce diversity and providing equal opportunity is important to the company† (Deresky, 2010, p. 379). Qualities such as culture empathy, that isthe appreciation and respect of beliefs, values and behavior, interpersonal skills, such as communication and the capacity to build trust, managerial, and decision making abilities  particularly under condition of isolation environment and other crucial qualities including self-motivation, ethical standard, relationship building, organizations skills and so on are looked for. This strategy facilitates Avon to identify full potential of the recruits and their competencies. Female CEO: Avon is a company which caters to women and is ranrun by women. Having a female in charge serves a fundamental advantage since she can better understand the target customers and their needs. This, hence helps Avon to well implement and execute their goals successfully. Before Andrea Jung took over as CEO the company was struggling with low revenues and high debts. Once Andrea Jung took charge, she has implemented several efficient policies in both US offices and foreign offices that helped to boost up the company’s revenue and got rid ofeliminated the debt problems the company was facing. This has allowed the company to retain its reputation and increase its sales network and all while continuinge to grow into new markets such as India and China. Goodwill: Avon’s dedication to charity has been a part of company’s policy for more than 125 years. This builds a close relationship between and the company and the society in which it functions. Not to mention brings a It also provides greatvery good publicity and a set up for numerous PR campaigns. Avon’s foundation helps provide funds for cancer researches, for scholarships and other charitable programs. In addition to workforce diversity and minority recruitment, the company supports various programs in women’s empowerment. Leadership programs: â€Å"Like other companies, Avon runs leadership programs on the job training seminars on a regular basis.† (Deresky, 2010, p. 378). This provides employees with the tools, knowledge and the ability to impact and inspire their followers and thereby sharpen their skills and knowledge in the effective manner. The programs help in strengthening the area of weaknesses  and provide accountability and clear vision. 2. Describe how Avon’s business model has changed in light of demographic and social changes in the United States and abroad. What role has IHRM played in the company’s global expansion? Avon has had to adapt its business model due to demographic and social shifts. In the United States, for example, resources have become less differentiated and the biggest way for a company to gain a competitive advantage is with a well-developed workforce. Technological advancements have also created the need for Avon to have an online platform in order to efficiently manage their workforce. Changes abroad have also impacted Avon. For instance, new emerging markets such as India, Russia and China have created new opportunities for the company. However, these countries must be analyzed to understand how to establish a workforce as well as the social and demographic factors that can affect their human resource practices (iei.e.; the social role of women; restrictions on certain business practices). In the global market, Avon hires and trains the new local workforce in its door-to-door selling model and adapts their distribution strategies to the local needs by including mail, phone, fax, retail outlets, and web sites for working women and to accommodate other cultural and logistical practices. Human resource management plays a huge role in dealing with knowing who to recruit for the global workforce, what qualifications can be expected, how to best motivate them and what levels of productivity can be expected from them once integrated into the company’s network. The role of IHRM for Avon in global expansion include: 1) Training in both virtual and time-based seminar; 2) Adapting and adjusting the operation to local industrial relations systems. 3. Since 70 percent of Avon’s revenues are generated outside the United States, what recommendations would you provide to the company regarding dealing with a culturally diverse workforce and a multicultural marketplace in the coming years? Avon is already on the right track in dealing with a multicultural  marketplace. It currently â€Å"maintains 5.8 million independent representatives and approximately 42,500 associates in over a hundred countries† (Deresky, 2010, p. 378). Avon has a strong brand that is well known internationally. This helps the company attract top-notch employees that truly want to work for Avon. Although many would see Avon’s culturally diverse workforce as a challenge it is actually one of Avon’s greatest strengths. Avon’s diverse employees are already aware of the cultures with which they are conducting business because the employees share the same culture as the consumers. The employees understand what types of products their culture demands and which they do not. This helps to prevent excess supply or wasted marketing efforts on products that are of no interest in certain markets. In addition, with Avon’s large focus on door-to-door selling their diverse workforce is extremely helpful because these employees are fluent in their native languages and will be able to excel in conversing with their potential customers in efforts to produce sales. As stated in the case study, Avon’s 5.8 million independent representatives â€Å"are self-managed Host Country Nationals who know the culture and the ways to do their business in their home turf† (Deresky, 2010, p. 379). These representatives help to minimize the culture shock Avon employees would normally experience had they not had any previous experience dealing with a foreign country and were expected to conduct business there. Since Avon has employees and representatives hailing from the countries in which they are conducting business it makes the sales aspect much easier since there is minimal cultural disconnect between the consumer and the sales personnel. Therefore, my recommendation is that Avon continues its efforts to hire employees from various cultures especially in areas in which Avon currently conducts or plans to conduct business. However, hiring a diverse workforce can prove difficult when poorly managed. Luckily, â€Å"Avon’s managers realized that becoming aware of intercultural differences and getting the appropriate training play an important role in the development of a productive sales force† (Deresky, 2010, p. 377). Avon understands that their employees are the key to success; therefore it is imperative that they maintain employee efficiency, productivity, and morale. The company is able to ensure this via the four areas of compensation, fringe benefits, professional development, and workforce environment. Employees greatly enjoy these  benefits as well as working for Avon, which helps fuel, the company’s outstanding performance. My recommendation is that Avon continues their pursuit of maintaining a diverse workforce. The company must ensure they are constantly training their employees in areas such as new product offerings, dealing with various cultures, and performing efficient sales. As Avon looks to continue its expansion they must ensure they understand each marketplace prior to moving in and beginning business. In order to expand their multicultural marketplace Avon must work to put together solid research teams that will be in charge of understanding and discovering all facets of a country’s economy and population. This will allow Avon to be well prepared and easily determine which products will be sold in which countries b ased on the population’s preferences. 4. Avon’s future global expansion is contingent on hiring and retaining the best workforce and salespeople in global markets. What training and cross-cultural practices would you recommend to the company to deal with this area? In order for Avon to develop the best global workforce they must consider cultural sensitivity, motivation, ethical-standards, relationship building, and organizational skills (Deresky, 2010, p. 377). Avon can achieve the best global workforce by continuing to provide leadership programs and on-the-job training seminars on a regular basis. If Avon wants to continue expanding globally, they may consider continuing their global geographic (area) structure. This structure allows regional and local managers to address, and solve issues based on their knowledge of the local culture, government regulations, and business transactions (Deresky, 2014, p. 247). The benefits of this structure were evident in the case where Avon’s China General Manager, Ms. Jung, noticed the need to change their distribution strategies in order to adapt to local costumers needs (Deresky, 2010, p. 379). Ms. Jung also noticed the need for international representatives to gain faster online access to improve training (Deresky, 2010, p. 379). Avon has done a great job thus far in hiring and retaining one of the best workforce and salespeople in the global market. A rising middle class in the emerging markets will help Avon reach people they have never reached  before. If Avon wants to continue their success, they must consider their cultural environment and continue evolving their training technicstechniques and technology. 5. China is expected to be a major market for Avon. If you were to advise Avon, how would you develop a competitive IHR plan for the company? Starting with assessing Avon’s successes in the international realm, it should be noted that Avon approximates â€Å"70 percent of the company’s revenues come from selling its products in international markets† (Deresky, 2010, p. 376). A second important factor that would need to be considered for developing a competitive IHR plan for the company would be to ensure a â€Å"brand identity† existed or could be created in China if it was not present as of theat the time Avon was planning to venture into the country. A brand identity, as defined by Investopedia is â€Å"how a business wants a brand’s name, communication style, logo and other visual elements to be perceived by consumers† (Brand Identity, 2014)). It would be obvious to state that Avon should begin to compare and contrast the brand identity of other major personal hygiene and makeup companies that have previously set up shop in China. Evaluating Estee Lauder and L’Oreal, for example could prove to provide fruitful information on which types of marketing and advertising campaigns may or may not work in global China. While major companies such as these have previously completed the leg work in customer recruiting, Avon could gain much advantagesmany advantages from reviewing these strategies and applying some to their market model within China. Avon would also need to immediately define the knowledge and skill set models that managers and sales personnel would need to have in order to be successful in this major foreign market. Working in a country such as China will be much different in many cultural areas as compared to operating within America. Cultural sensitivity issues should be highlighted, as well as motivational factors of what might energize customers to purchase Avon’s products. Perhaps time sensitivity issues could be a point of training for managers and sales representatives as well. Questions such as how much time should be spent on trying to convince a customer to purchase products or when is a good time of day to try and sell to customers should be analyzed as well.? All of these  issues should be strategized and should be provided as in-depth training to employees and managers alike before deploying teams of representatives into the streets of China. It will be equally important, when developing a competitive IHR plan to ensure employees are consistently referring back to Avon’s five values and principles, which include â€Å"trust, respect, belief, humility, and integrity† (Deresky, 2010, p. 377). Having the ability to reach back to these core values and principles, sales representatives will succeed by remembering the values and traditions that helped to make Avon successful in other countries. 6. What is the role of IT in Avon’s markets, in particular in developing areas? What are the implications for training its representatives? â€Å"The new information technology†¦ internet and email†¦ have practically eliminated the physical cost of communications† (Karlgaard, 2004). Business activities and marketing activities cannot be realized without the use of information technology, marketing managers cannot make quality decisions, and marketing strategies cannot be designed and cannot be oriented business policies. Therefore in the modern enterprises all important managerial positions must be connected to computer networks and use information technology. The evolution of e-marketing has enabled Avon to include all its marketing activities online and has enabled them to contact their customers quickly and easily in order to meet their needs, wishes and requirements. This has helped Avon to maintain a long relationship with their customers, and fulfill their needs, and increase their loyalty toward the products of the organization. Furthermore, the availability of a great amount of information with in short period of time can be obtained at an instant through the use of information technology. In business, information is the most precious commodity in the market. A pPlethora of information can be acquired through electronic and communication media by using computers, information technology and information systemthrough information systems. Hence it is very resourceful to enterprises and therefore Avon is as well taking an advantage to gather the necessary data on the market about customers, their needs and habits and process data in to information. Consequently, usage of information. Information technology also helps Avon  to lower down their costs, proper time managementimprove efficiency, producing produce quality products, and advancing advance the company’s innovation. This is contributed all is due to the consumer information collected that provides the knowledge on consumer behavior that which helps the company reducing reduce uncertainties for marketing decision making and thereby assist in price settings, promotions, selection of target market as well as sales channels. The biggest strength of iInformation tTechnology is the ability to grow fast inquickly grow in developing markets. Avon use utilizes information technology for its training practices to its employeesemployee training programs. Instead of gathering all every representative in the office, Avon can upload training seminars videos online so that the employees can carry out training while they are home. â€Å"The company’s distribution strategies may have to be adopted to the local needs because of working women or other cultural and logistical considerations and include mail, phone, fax, retail outlets, and Web sites† (Deresky, 2010, p. 379). Therefore, UsageThe usage of technology in marketing has enabled Avon to grow rapidly and has led to marketing development through networks. It has ; it as well also enabled rapid and efficient communication, transfer of information over distance, creation of virtual organizations, shipment of goods, and direct payment via internet a nd so onas well as many others. All these element of new form of business that e-business have been easily adopted due to the actions of the company activities surrounding and marketing conditions in order to meet better customers’ needs and requirements. It is now essential method for Avon to control its operations. In conclusion, the iInformation tTechnology strengths of Avon allows Avon the company to have communication and information access on the fly anywhere in the world at a low cost. The IT infrastructure also allows the Avon team to quickly train the local Salesforce sales force and process orders with very low cool down. The implication of training representative in development areas, such strategy allows to bring Avon’s products straight to the consumer. The new representatives help Avon to organize orders, distribute orders, promote products and therefore create a strongstrong brand name recognition worldwide. 7. What do you think are Avon’s prospects in India, given that the per capita spending on beauty there is only $1, compared to between $100 and $200 in developed markets? Avon’s prospects in India look to be positive. India is one of the largest growing markets besides China, and they have a very large population when compared to other major counties such as Japan, United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. With the huge population in India, there are more than 370 million women between the ages of 15-64, which indicates a high customer base (Deresky, 2010, p. 379). The population in India is also growing at about a 1.3% each year. When compared to Singapore’s per capita spending, India has bright prospects despite their low per capita spending because of their. This is due to their huge population. Another reason India looks like a positive prospect is due to the untapped market, which can drive long-term growth. The company launched new anti-aging products aiming to reach 93% of the country’s population by 2015. The Avon also planplans to launch personal grooming products for men, which is another unta pped market. References Brand Identity. (2014). Retrieved from Investopedia: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand-identity.asp Deresky, H. (2010). International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, Text and Cases (7th ed.). Prentice Hall. Karlgaard, R. (2004, November 19). Peter Drucker On Leadership. Retrieved from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/2004/11/19/cz_rk_1119drucker.html

W.A.T.C.H.

It is simply being late of activities to be conducted as in meeting or work. This is the reason why a project entitled We Advocate Time Consciousness and Honesty (W. A. T. C. H) conducts related programs every second week of June to solve the Filipinos punctuality problems. Everyone must be a time advocate to alleviate this serious yet mostly neglected problem.Problem Solutions The following are some solutions and recommendations to prevent and cure punctuality problems among all people whether a student or a professional. This robber is not as simple to be solved by equations. This requires discipline, honesty, and zeal. A Time Advocate guards time. The primary action to be a time advocate and a good follower of W. A. T. C. H is to always keep track of time. Knowing your time should be as important as checking your wallet as you step out from your house.You should know your every time schedule. To avoid being late, you can adjust your watch a few minutes from the exact time and it i s recommended that you compare your hatch's time from your office's time. You should be disciplined enough that you won't rely that your watch Is set in advance. A Time Advocate is prepared. Aside from the keeping an eye to time, one thing that you can do to develop punctuality is to be prepared. Simple preparations such as setting your clothes beforehand and the things you need for work or school is helpful.Everything that you need for tomorrows activities must be prepared the night before to avoid setbacks. A Time Advocate influences others. The most Important action that a time advocate must do Is to make Influences. One can make Influences through (1) being an example by applying what you learn about punctuality, (2) setting rules on punctuality and honesty In your own workplace, and 3) attending summits and seminars about W. A. T. C. H or other related programs. Time Is gold, so make It precious.Be a time advocate. W. A. T. C. H. By immeasurable office's time. You should be dis ciplined enough that you won't rely that your watch is need for tomorrow's activities must be prepared the night before to avoid setbacks. The most important action that a time advocate must do is to make influences. One can make influences through (1) being an example by applying what you learn about punctuality, (2) setting rules on punctuality and honesty in your own workplace, and is gold, so make it precious. Be a time advocate.

Free the Children from Child Labour

Free The Children from Child Labour: The Disadvantageous of Child Labour Two hundred million children are suffering in the world! â€Å"the world has an estimated 186 million child labourers – 5,7 million in forced and bonded labor, 1. 8 million in prostitution, and 0. 3 million in armed conflict† . ( Basu & Tzannatos, 2003, p. 147). In Africa, Asia and the Middle East, a huge number of children are child labourers, and most of them under 14 years old. However, they are working hard as same as adults; they are working long hours every day, and work in harsh, dangerous and harmful conditions.They can’t have normal lives as other children; they can’t go to school and stay with their families, because they must earn money for themselves and their families. Some of child labourers are even used as collateral for loan; their parents use them to obtain money. Finally, a child labour work as a slave, and no future for him. Child labour already becomes a huge and serious problem, and governments must have a law to protect and free the children from child labour, because it causes children have poor education, be abused, and only can get tiny income.Child labour has its specific definition. The International Labor Organization defines child labor as work situations where children are compelled to work on a regular basis to earn a living for themselves and their families, and as a result are disadvantaged educationally and socially; where children work in conditions that are exploitative and damaging to their health and to their physical and mental development; where children are separated from their families, often deprived of educational and training opportunities; where children are forced to lead prematurely adult lives. World Education, 2008). Poor education Lots of people think some child labourers who both work and attend school can learn both general knowledge from school and some special skills from their work; even can be success ful in their specific area. However, it is totally wrong. Children only lost their opportunities for education, and they can not get any benefits from child labour. According to Rosati and Rossi. (2003). In their article, â€Å"children’s working hours and school enrolment: evidence from Pakistan and Nicaragua†, working hours always has negative influence for school hours.Some people think school hours are only the time that spend in school and it is fixed, but the fact is school attendance is only the minimum fixed mount of time devoted to school. School hours mostly are not fixed; however, since children go to work, the hours spent at work actually took from unfixed school hours. For example, some child labourers often skip classes, so they dropped out because it is not tolerated by school authorities. Also, no time for preview and review classes; no time for homework, so they can not even pass their classes.Therefore, anytime time spent at work can be used for educa tion, and it must be used for education. Also, child labourers can not learn any professional skills from their work, because most children choose unskilled labour, and they usually working on family farm, bars and restaurants. â€Å"The ILO estimates that about 20 percent of the people working in commercial agriculture in Africa are children. †( Kielland & Tovo, 2006, p. 92). In the article, â€Å"child labor in the commercial labor market†, (Kielland and Tovo), (2006), they describe African child labourers working situation in agriculture.Because, the main income comes from agriculture in Africa, and base on the agriculture system and main crops, people need a huge mount of labours in agriculture. For instance, children can gather some certain kinds of crops such as cotton and coffee. During harvest time, people employ a lager numbers of children as pickers. Another example, child labourers prefer work in bars and restaurants, because they can get general incomes and the working condition is much better than work in field. However, no matter work in farms or restaurants, there don’t have any specific skills can be learned for children.Thus, child labour only can cause poor education to children, and can not give them any benefits. Be abused People think work doesn’t harm children, but the truth is children sometimes are abused by their employers such as work as slaves and they may get sexual abuse. Children are easy to exploit through manipulation and psychological control mechanisms. They fear of violence and punishment. Also, they are inexperienced in life, so they only can trust adults. Thus, children easily get abuse from employers and are controlled by adults.For instance, in the coffee farm in Africa, a worker told a boy about a child who tried to escape, but failed. The child was caught and badly beaten. This made the boy afraid and scared. Therefore, fear of punishment make children keep working as slaves for employers . (Kielland & Tovo, 2006). Sexual abuse is really common in African child labourers. It causes some serious problem to children such as HIV/AIDS. Working children get sexual abuse more than non working children. For instance, according to Kielland and Tovo. (2006).In their article, â€Å"child labour in the commercial labor market†, girls work in restaurants longer than boys, and working late hours in a place where alcohol is served. Some girls provide service which is far beyond food and drinks. Because there have no general responsibility for those female child labourers, and people think it is a good way to earn money, girls provide sexual service for their male clients. Thus, child labour harms children so much, and it is damaging to children’s health and physical development. Tiny incomeMost people believe if let children work, and they can give a huge help to their families because they can get income from their work. However, children only can earn a tiny in come because of their unique and vulnerable position. According to Kielland and Tovo. (2006). In their article, â€Å"child labour in the commercial labor market†, a child labour only can get half, a third, or even less salary than an adult’s salary. They work as hard as adults, but they can’t gat a salary same as adults because even they only can get a tiny income they still keep working.Especially, when a child leaves home along, he doesn’t have any other choices. Sometimes, child labourers can’t even get any salary. For example, if a child be a part of household work, he isn’t paid at all. In Malawi, children help their families work on the land as adjustable labourers during the heaviest time. They help produce tobacco as part of their tenant families, but no payment because they are not employed directly by their families. On the other hand, sometimes, employers may save the salaries on behalf of the children, or they may pay for childr en at the end of the year.During this time, if children run away, they may lose all of their salaries. (Kielland & Tovo, 2006). Besides, according to Christiaensen, Demery and Paternostro. (2003). In their article, â€Å"macro and micro perspective of growth and poverty in Africa†, let children to participate in household work can not make a change of income for the family. They think â€Å"education and access to land emerge as key private endowments to help households benefit from new economic opportunities. † (Christiaensen, Demery & Paternostro, 2003, p. 317).Therefore, don’t let children to earn income for family because they only can earn less than a minimum wage or no wages at all. In conclusion, child labour causes children lose their opportunities to go to school; get abuse, both physical and sexual from their employers, and they only can earn tiny wages. Children are vulnerable and they need parents’ protection. Child labour must be ende d! Education is the key to ending the exploitation of children. Ending poverty and increasing access to education are therefore crucial tools in the fight against ending child labour.Also, governments must have law to protect children keep away from child labour, and give opportunities to children to create their future. Every single child has a dream, and let us makes their dreams come true! References Basu, K. & Tzannatos, Z. (2003). The global child labor problem: What do we know and what can we do? The World Bank Economic Review, 17(2), 147-173. Christiaensen, L. , Demery, L. &Paternostro, S. (2003). Macro and micro perspectives of growth and poverty in Africa. The World Bank Economic Review, 17(3), 317-347. Kielland, A. amp; Tovo, M. (2006). Children at work: Child labor practices in Africa. United States of American: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. Rosati, F. C. & Rossi, M. (2003). Children’s working hours and school enrolment: Evidence from Pakistan and Nica ragua. The World Bank Economic Review, 17(2), 283-295. World Education. (2008, February 4). Child labor and trafficking. Retrieved February 5, 2008, from http://www. worlded. org/WEIInternet/projects/ListProjects. cfm? Select=Topic&ID= 14&ShowProjects=No&gclid=CKawtIe4wo8CFSJAQQodNGapRQ

Aphrodite of Melos

Greek artists tried to create ideal beauty. Statues were not made to represent real, living people, but they were carved to show how the human body should look like. The picture in front of you is a sculpture of Aphrodite of Melos (Venus de Milo, in Roman mythology). For hundreds of years, the statue remained buried in an underground cavern, where it had been damaged and discovered in two parts. It was in 1820 AD (anno domini) when a peasant named Yorgos found her body on the Aegean island of Melos. Later, the sculpture was taken out of Greece under unclear circumstances and was taken to the Louvre Museum in Paris, France where it was admired by the millions of visitor’s of the country. This sculpture is considered by many art historians to be the ideal of Hellenistic beauty. It was carved out of marble and stands approximately 205 cm (6 ft 10 in) high. By looking at her we think, not of wisdom, or force, or power, but just of beauty. She stands resting the weight of her body on one foot, and advancing the other on a bent knee. The posture causes the figure to sway slightly to one side, describing a fine curved line. The lower limbs are draped, but the upper part of the body is uncovered and in some mysterious way, the sculptor has imparted to the marble a seeming softness as of real flesh. The head is as exquisitely set as a flower on its stalk. The parted hair is drawn back in rippling waves over the low forehead. The eyes are not very wide open, having something of a dreamy languor (tiredness). Melting eyes† are indeed characteristic of Aphrodite, and an analytical critic has explained that this effect is produced in sculpture by a â€Å"slight elevation of the inner corner of the lower eyelid. † The nose is perfectly cut. The mouth and chin are molded in adorable curves. Many wise heads have been puzzled to know the position of the missing arms. A hand holding an apple was also found on Melos, and this may have been a part of the figure; if so, Aphrodite was represented as the goddess of the â€Å"apple island†. Some have thought that the goddess carried a shield, and others ave fancied her holding the traditional apple. There have also been many discussions as to the date of the work. Now if the statue had been made in the fifth century B. C. , the goddess would have been fully draped; if in the fourth century, entirely without drapery. Our sculptor then belonged to neither of these periods, and combined the characteristics of both. It is a fault on his part to have placed the drapery in an impossible position, whence in actual life it would immediately fall of its own weight. The beautiful body rising above the drapery reminds us of the myth of Aphrodite emerging from the sea foam. Aphrodite was thus born and arose on a large shell, which was then carried to land,). Her beauty is a union of strength and sweetness, a perfect embodiment of a nature at harmony with itself and its surroundings. Venus de Milo (Aphrodite of Melos), famous marble statue of Aphrodite found on the Greek island of Melos in 1820 and now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Although it is of a grandiose style that recalls the Classical Period, the Venus de Milo is from the late Hellenistic Age. Beside it stood a herma (stone pillar) on which the arm of the goddess rested. On the base of the herma was inscribed the signature of an artist, Alexandros, or Agesandros, from Antioch on the Meander, and by this signature the work can be dated from 150 bc to 100 bc. A hand holding an apple was also found on Melos, and this may have been a part of the figure; if so, Aphrodite was represented as the goddess of the â€Å"apple island† (Greek melos, â€Å"apple†). The original on which the artist based his work was probably an Aphrodite of the 4th century bc, which showed the goddess holding the shield of Ares with both hands. In the Melos statue, however, Aphrodite may have held her garment in her (now lost) right hand.

On-the-Job Training Essay

ASSESMENT OF THE PRACTICUM PROGRAM Its proven and well tested! Experience is definitely the best teacher. There are countless things that I’ve learned during my On-the-Job Training at Best Western Premier F1 (Fort 1) Hotel in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila. Being in a new and never-been-to environment was a big challenge to me. I exerted great effort to cope up with the means and manner of living of the new environment that I’d indulged into. Associated essay: Problems Encountered by HRM Students A.K. Kraipak CaseI did my best to blend in and went in with the flow of what the real world is offering, the sheer pressure and always on the move, busy and fast-pacing world of the metro cities. With tall and grand infrastructure, busy multi-lane roads, huge crowd of people whom I passed-by now and then, and the hustle and bustle caused by the usual cacophony of the metro cities created not only by great number of vehicles but also by the muttering shouting people; the digging and pounding of the upgrading and growing enormous new structures made of cement and steel.At first, I was so scared and nervous but was very excited at the same time. While configuring and scrutinizing the entire vicinity of the area where I did my OJT, at some point I lost my sense of direction. It was nerve-wracking yet it was a funny experience though. Good thing, later on I managed to find my way through every destination that I supposed to go to. I w as able to meet many distinct individuals and gained many relevant insights about the hotel industry, getting a profound job and a glimpse of how it really looks like.That very moment, it came to my senses that I must never waste the opportunity that I had, I must give my best and with all extend learn everything what I can learn about hospitality industry that will broaden and expand my knowledge and skills in my field of expertise and never confide myself with the hindrances in achieving my ultimate goals in life. For the very first time, I had experienced a real job interview with a real Human Resource executive in a real HR office. Everything seemed so formal with air of professionalism in the atmosphere of the office.Every personnel were so prim and proper wearing their corporate suits and were very polite and amiable. Upon arriving a bit early of the scheduled interview, I waited for my name to be called by the executive secretary. When the interview had started, I tried my be st to hide my nervousness. To my astonishment, the HR executive turned out to be very kind and easy to talk with. He wasn’t stern and strict as what I had expected; in fact he helped me boost up my confidence that made me feel comfortable talking with him all throughout the interview.Everything went well, I was told to wait for an email and a text message for the confirmation and schedule of the orientation before I could start my training in the hotel. I was informed that their hotel requires their On-the-Job Trainees to render not less than 500 hours and preferably at least 720 hours of training as imposed by the management of the hotel and being very benevolent to the welfare of their OJT trainees, they allow students to have their practices on the desired departments they required to be assigned to.During our orientation, we were taught about the essential features and information of the hotel and its services and standards. They taught us how to handle costumer and do se rvices in accordance to the premiere standard of the hotel. I had my orientation together with some students from De la Salle of St. Benil, Pamantasan ng Pasig, and other famous schools in Manila, Pampanga and Batangas. I learned that even if I came from a college in the province, it doesn’t mean I cannot cope up with them, that they are much more equipped and skilled than me.I had proved to them that students from Saint Vincent’s College possesses an edge in customer service and are much more hardworking and we can compete with them in the field of hospitality industry as being taught and embedded to us by our skilled and competent instructors. I am blessed because all the personnel of the hotel were so kind and generous to me during my training at Best Western F1 Hotel. They had taught me well and were very much willing to share all their insights about their job and about the natures of services in hospitality industry.As per assigned by the Human Resource Departmen t, my first assigned pose was as an assistant of the Accounts Payable Manager in the Accounting office of the hotel, where my task involves with screening and handling incoming calls, attend to guest that goes in the office, receiving and logging down received documents, checking and reviewing incoming receipts and invoices and summarizing them down in the excel table.Also attend to basic accounting procedure and processes like checking salary distributions of casual and on-call employees, second review checking for billing statements and payables of the hotel and dissemination of checked and reviewed payable and reimbursement accounts of executive personnel. Making summary of cash disbursement of the hotel, checking purchase order invoices and filling them for preparation of payable checks to clients.Later on I realized that the office that I was assigned to is the Chairman’s office, the owner of the hotel. In the office I learned to be very careful in my every action especi ally in handling payable accounts transaction for it involves huge sum of money. The executive employees were so kind and friendly despite of their high positions in the company. They crank jokes to break the silence in the office and they are generous enough to share some snacks or food that they have even to me though I was just an OJT.I admired the executive bosses because though they have high positions they are humble and down-to-earth, like the hotel’s General Manager, Cost Control Manager, Credit Manager and especially the Resident Manager of the hotel who he, Himself wipes cutleries, fold table napkins and do table set-ups during busy hours in the function rooms. The next department that I was assigned to was in Housekeeping. Here, I learned a lot of things about room services and standards after my first task as a public area attendant.I have encountered many distinctive types of guest and I was taught how to handle them well. Most of our guest staying in the hotel a re foreigners, that’s why I was told to pay attention carefully to each and every request of the guest especially to Korean’s and other Asian guests because most of them don’t know how to converse well in English. I was partnered to the hotel’s Room Attendant who treated and taught me well everything that I wanted to know about being an excellent housekeeper and effective customer service.He showed me some good techniques in bed making and doing duvet in an easy and fast manner. He taught me ample of towel folds and proper way of arranging amenities in a Premiere standard. He guided me in every rooms cleaning procedure and added some techniques how to effectively finish it quickly and splendidly. He also taught me all the amenities and facilities of each room types. He allows me to have my on hand experience throughout all procedure and guides me if I’m having a hard time.Every time we are done with our room clean-up and make-up room requests, we p roceed to the pantry to arrange the stocks and amenities in the trolley and the storage while waiting for new guest request and room services. I also assigned to the linen and laundry section of the housekeeping department where I learned a lot about different laundry services and how to operate facilities and machineries. I was able to do laundry pick-up and delivery procedures, logging and incorporating each services we had rendered and trusted enough to post it in using the Opera system in the computer.The staff treated me like I’m one of them and they even trusted me with big tasks like when they assigned me to take over the duty of the linen attendant who got sick and was absent that day. Since no one can replace her for a while, they assigned me the duty to handle all linen and laundry responsibilities because they were confident that I am skilled enough to handle the task. I was also given a chance to be the housekeeping coordinator who attends to all calls for houseke eping intended for guest requests and room status reports and updates.I experienced turndown services and did rooms cleaning and services on my own without the aid of a Room Attendant during full house accommodation of the hotel and also assigned to mini-bar housekeeping attendant to check and replenish all amenities needed in the mini-bar and pantry areas. Finally, I was assigned to the Food and Beverage department. This time all my skills and patience has been well tested. I experienced a lot of functions and events during banquet services.It was absolutely a tough task because it seems like we never run out of guests to attend with plus we need to serve them food precisely to the scheduled time and extra services upon requested. Mostly of the guests that we had were from huge and renounced companies like Proctor and Gamble, Mead Johnsons, Holcim, Unilever, and many more whom usually they brought with them guests celebrities like, Coco Martin, Tony Gonzaga, Bea Alonzo, John Estrad a, Kathryn Bernardo, Lovie Poe etc during their held events at F1 hotel.That’s why we were instructed well by the supervisors to be extra careful in handling and attending guests especially the VIP’s. I learned to do multi-tasking and was thought how to do different food station and table set-ups which varies depending upon the kind and theme of the event. I’ve learned that you need to handle each and every costumer well with extra care. As we all know, costumer is the lifeblood to every business. It is a must to treat them well and provide their needs, wants and give them a satisfying service because the success of every business relies on them.I’ve learned to adjust to every person or costumer that comes in the workplace, not every individual is alike so you must know how to handle each situation and adjust to their differences. Also, you need to be versatile, well rounded and able to work efficiently under pressure. In case of any problem, you need to act on it promptly. Being shy or sluggish has no room in this industry. You need to have focus, have a presence of mind and give your best on everything you do.Knowing your job and enjoying what you’re doing also helps a lot for an effective performance in providing quality performance in costumer service, you need to smile, have a positive attitude, be patient and create rapport with the every person that you’re dealing with, especially the costumer. I also acquired from my On-the-Job training that for a person to be efficient and successful, you need to work hard, exert great effort, work well even under pressure, be flexible, learn from every mistake and correct them, never complain on task given to you, respect your co-workers, be humble and have your mind set on what you’re doing.I really had a great experience with all the people around me during my practicum, especially the staffs. They taught me a lot and I really learned a lot from them. All of them are friendly and fun to work with. During the practicum they help us learn many thing and allows us to have a first-hand experience with dealing with costumer and if ever we commit mistake they are considerate enough to guide us in correcting them, tells us what to do to refrain from doing it again, teach what we can further do to improve our learning on different aspects in customer service and expound our newly acquired learning.First they let us observe what to do in different task and how they do it then assist us in performing it and finally let us do it in our own. I also experienced meeting different customer that come and go in the workplace; most of them are kind, approachable and easy to deal with and there are also those who are very strict and rude but eventually I’ve learned to handle and deal with them well, you just need to be patient with them, humble and please them with a great and satisfying service.One event that I can’t really forget during my practic um was when I had successfully accomplished my task well, had pleased a bunch of costumer and they complimented on my service. They uttered that they are pleased with my performance and the management complimented me and said that we were very well taught by our school where I came from because of the quality of good service, hard work and dedication that I showed them.It was really a great privilege to have heard such gratifying words from people that you had worked with. It was as if all my hard work and stress had paid off and I were further motivated to do better, show my best in everything that I do and prove that hotel and restaurant management students of Saint Vincent’s College are skilled, knowledgeable and competent enough to compete with other colleges and universities offering the same field of study in terms of hotel and restaurant industry.Indeed, this practicum experience is really a great help to each every student that wishes to be in the Hospitality Industry for it will really allows student to be more skillful in doing different task in hotel, restaurants and other related establishments in providing customer service. For those who will undergo the practicum program soon, they must be disciplined and must do their best in everything they do. They must be patient, must have perseverance, and must have a presence of mind and willing work without being told.They also need to know well what they are doing, focus, establish rapport with the people around them, be well rounded and ensure quality service to costumer. They must learn to adjust to every situation. And must be eager to learn new things that can help them in the near future because this is just a start and a taste of what the real world can be, where you will face real costumers and problems that you need to please and overcome.