Personal Worldview Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Personal Worldview Paper - Essay Example The theorists and researchers as well have always been interested since ever in exploring the history and origin of world views people have developed in their minds about countless issues, which have been being transferred from one generation to the other for the last several centuries. The researches reveal that the religious people, philosophers, intellectuals and thinkers have rendered valuable services in respect of making the minds of the people about various realities attributed to the universal phenomena. The worldview, according to Carol Hill, concentrates upon the basic way of interpreting things and events that pervades a culture so thoroughly that it becomes that culture’s concept of reality (The American Scientific Affiliation). Hence, the adherence of a large majority of the people to the norms, values, mores, taboos, traditions, customs, cult and festivals etc prevailing in some specific social establishment turns out to be decisive is respect of transferring the cultural traits from one generation to the other and so on (Macionis & Plummer, 2008). ... The adherents of Christianity make up the greatest religious community of the world. The belief system of the faith seeks inspiration from the Holy Scripture Bible, which is viewed to be the word of God sent from the Lord for the spiritual uplift and moral guidance of the humanity. Hence, the Bible can be stated as the finest and most reliable source of inspiration for the entire Christian community existing on the face of the earth. The Bible consists of Old and New Testaments, which concentrates upon the covenant made between God and the House of Jacob regarding the worship of God, love for Christ, obedience of the parents, and strict adherence to the commandments clearly mentioned in the Scripture are the source of a blissful life on the earth, as well as the only way to obtain eternal success in the life hereafter (Flannelly et al, 2008:4). Being the most authentic source of the Christian faith, Bible lays stress upon strict observance of patience, endurance, tolerance, fair play , justice and sacrifice. I have learned from the Scripture (Leviticus, 18-19). The same views have been endorsed by the saints and preachers that a true Christian should follow the commands of God by worshipping Him, and obeying one’s parents and elders. I was taught that the Christians are forbidden from imposing any hurt on others. Being a Christian, I abhor stealing, debauchery, extra marital relationships, homosexuality and hurting and harming the neighbors (Leviticus, 19: 7-16). The records of the Christ’s life and sayings, preserved in the minds and hearts of his followers, also endorsed the true teachings of Jesus, which were followed and transferred from one generation to the other on the one hand, and

Walmart Winning Strategy Essay Example for Free

Walmart Winning Strategy Essay Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various formats around the world, aggregated into three reportable segments: (1) the Wal-Mart U.S. segment; (2) the Wal-Mart International segment; and (3) the Sam’s Club segment. We are committed to saving people money so they can live better. We earn the trust of our customers every day by providing a broad assortment of quality merchandise and services at every -day low prices (â€Å"EDLP†) while fostering a culture that rewards and embraces mutual respect, integrity and diversity. EDLP is our pricing philosophy under which we price items at a low price every day so our customers trust that our prices will not change under frequent promotional activity. Our fiscal year ends on January 31. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the largest retail company in the United States and has been ranked number one on the Fortune 500 Index by Fortune Magazine. Wal-Mart has four parts to their corporate strategy. Wal-Mart is dominant in the Retail Market. Wal-Mart has expansion in the U.S. and International Market. Wal-Mart has a creation of positive brand and company Recognition. Wal-Mart is able to branch out into new sectors of retail. Wal-Mart’s public affairs strategy must work to make implementation of these policy goals happen. Its public affairs strategy enables the company to move into other sectors of the marketplace and expand into foreign countries. The public affairs strategy also involves gaining access to politicians who can help Wal-Mart achieve its goals. Wal-Mart has a very active Political Action Committee that gives almost a quarter million dollars annually. While Wal-Mart’s public affairs strategy works well with its corporate strategy. We feel that there are a few recommendations which could make the company work better. Recently, Wal-Mart has been criticized for their opposition to allowing their employees to be unionized. Wal-Mart needs to clarify their reasons for their opposition to unionization. The public affairs strategy must also address the negative feelings harbored by some groups who feel  that Wal-Mart is encroaching into far too many other sectors retail than it should. These concerns must be addressed if Wal-Mart is to enjoy continued success in creating positive name recognition. The mission of Wal-Mart is to serve their members with strong advocacy, quality information, and responsive member services. Their vision is to continue building on our unique position, â€Å"the only research association serving an international membership.† Effective strategy incorporates a view from the customer and stakeholder perspective, and includes an understanding of customer needs, product and service characteristics, desired relationships and the desired â€Å"corporate image† that the organization wants to portray. Reference: https://:www.walmart.com https://www.balancedscorecard.org

Marketing plan of LOreal Melbourne Fashion Festival

Marketing plan of LOreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Listed as a not for profit organisation since 1996, the Melbourne Fashion Festival Ltd, now known as the LOreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, has always been at the forefront of the fashion world. Over the years, the LMFF has become one of Australias top fashion events and focuses on target markets that are fashion oriented, social oriented and a mixture of both. The events success can be recognised by the efforts made by many individuals and businesses that have been with the organisation for many years. On March 14, 2011, the LMFF launched Fashion Full Stop: Decades of Australian Fashion, an event that celebrated designers, along with many labels and styles that have shaped Australias history in fashion. With tickets ranging from $79 to $39, 4000 fans filled the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centres plenary auditorium. Due to this, the event has been deemed a large priority in future shows and an extremely important opportunity to raise the profile of the organisation (LOreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Pty Ltd, 2011) Therefore the main objective of this event is to be recognised both nationally and internationally as the leading event of its kind and stimulate activity across the retail, clothing, footwear, and creative sectors. The purpose of this marketing plan is to identify LMFFs many strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats ; and these must be used in union with several marketing strategies, actions and a budget of $47 200 to eventually achieve the overall objective. Although the companys strengths and opportunities outweigh the organisations weaknesses and threats, the growing competition within the fashion industry and changes in the marketing environment need to be of focus. For the event to be a success, the organisation must modify or maintain the strategies and actions to directly reflect these changes. Event Information The aim of the Fashion Full Stop Opening Runway event is to celebrate and promote iconic designers, labels, styles and moments from the 1960s to today, stimulate sales and present Melbourne as a precinct full of design superiority. Assessment of the Marketing Environment Internal Environment Strengths: Since the LMFF initiated in 1996, the unique LOreal brand image has flourished Created brand awareness, recognition and emotional value to its target audiences Has built a reputable media profile Has been able to grow and produce a diverse range of activities Showcases many strong brand names and sponsors Sales within Melbourne and other parts of Australia have skyrocketed Increased staff attitude towards the event, opinions about the event, and expertise and experience during the event Weaknesses: Certain markets are not focused, e.g. low income earners. This may be intentional as the event focuses on exclusivity. Due to the lack of detail about the event in regards to online advertising, television advertisements and more, previous customers may have a perception that the event may be similar to the previous year or be similar to competition. External Environment 3.21 Micro-Environment Competitive analysis and Venn Diagram Direct competitors (offer similar, but somewhat differentiated events) include: Location Prices Target Market Offerings and/or Sales Date and time Rosemount Australian Fashion Week Sydney Similar Same Similar Different Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival Brisbane Similar, but offer free events Similar Achieved an increase of 61% on ticket sales and 33% on attendance in 2008 (Lindsay Bennett Marketing, 2010) Different Motorola Melbourne Spring Fashion Week Melbourne Nearly all events are free Similar Very similar Different Perth Fashion Festival Perth Similar Same Very similar Different New Zealand Fashion Week Auckland (outside Australia) Very similar Similar Very similar Same Similar offerings Party Eclectic Well known SOCIAL HIGH PROFILE INTERNATIONAL Indirect competitors (seek to provide the same benefits to the consumers, but in a different form) include: Port Fairy Folk Festival Future Music Festival Moomba Festival 3.22 Macro Environment PESTE Analysis Political forces/legal and regulatory influences The LMFF is required to uphold and adhere to many political and legal regulatory practices and the most important include: Drinking laws: all underage visitors must be accompanied by an adult in bars and dining rooms (LOreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Pty Ltd, 2011). Entry: refused entry is given to any person that is affected by alcohol/drugs, behaves aggressively or reduces the reputation of the LMFF or any organisation associated with the LMFF (LOreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Pty Ltd, 2011). Intellectual property: in the interest of all the stakeholders, registered designs, trademarks, patents, and copyrights all need to be respected by using intellectual property laws. It encourages technological innovation and artistic expression in industries (Commonwealth of Australia , 2010). Economic trends In economic troubles, fashion, the arts and entertainment often get sacrificed because of a decrease in disposable income. However, the slowdown within worldwide expenditure due to the impact of the global economic crisis has had a little effect on the LMFF. In fact, consumers are still spending a large amount of income, visiting the festival on an annual basis, and sponsorship is still going strong. Socio-cultural trends According to Easey (2008), fashion is ultimately about change.many of these changes are brought about by designers trying to create something new to satisfy customers, but others are because of influences beyond the control of designers or manufacturers.some are within a companys control and others are way beyond it. Therefore, the LMFF opening runway show will have to focus on the current needs and wants of the target market and find a way to satisfy them. Technological trends In several industries, the development and utilisation of new technology gives the opportunity of improving a consumers experience. Recently, designers such as Alexander McQueen and Alexander Wang used technology to stream their fashion shows live online (Moore, 2010). The brand DKNY has also started using a barcode technology for invitations and seating arrangements for its fashion show (Moore, 2010). This type of technology could be developed for use in the LMFF opening runway show. Environmental trends Recently, an ethical fashion forum has developed a mission to support  and  promote  sustainable practices, facilitate  collaboration, raise  awareness  and provide the  tools  and  resources  needed to reduce poverty, reduce environmental damage and raise standards in the fashion industry (Ethical Fashion Forum, 2011). Therefore, the push to become green is fairly large on fashion shows and designers. SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Established in 1996 Unique LOreal brand image Not for profit organisation Stimulates sales within Melbourne and several brands Presents Melbourne as a centre of design superiority Diverse range of activities Unique Strong brand names Good reputation Popular shows created annually/positive track record Staff attitude and opinions Staff expertise and experience Existing media profile/reputable media partners or sponsors Location Celebrity attraction Although variety of offerings, certain markets are not focused on Perception that customers may already know whats of offer Lack of detail Current marketing campaigns are shallow and not environmentally friendly OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Increase visitors and attract tourists Boost retail sales and economy Exposure for sponsors/volunteers Upcoming designers and existing designers to showcase talent Build reputation of Melbourne Opportunities for the LMFF to create something different Competition/growth of other tourism areas in Melbourne Limited finance Infrastructure renewal due to increase of visitors Safety and security Major events throughout the year that target market prefer to spend time and money on Hard to create niche products/services due to continuously changing environment Increase in push to become green Target Market Consumer Information There are three types of target markets: Primary: approximately 50% of attendees, require a small amount of marketing costs, go for the fashion and are loyal to the event. Secondary: approximately 30% of attendees, require a slightly larger amount of marketing costs, use the fashion event as a social experience. Tertiary: approximately 20% of attendees require a large amount of marketing costs; go as its an event close to home. Target Markets and Market Segmentation Market Research For the purpose of improving the LMFF event and in order to determine the characteristics of the primary, secondary and tertiary target markets, secondary research has been used. This information has not been directly extracted from the audience, but instead from a variety of sources. A useful way in identifying the reasons why several target markets visited LMFF was to create a brand bullseye, which takes into account a variety of emotional and functional perceptions, opinions and hot buttons (Skildum-Reid et al, 2007), see appendix 1. Consumer Segmentation The primary target market are associated with the fashion world and are visiting the event to connect with designers, musicians, consumers, and retailers. In other words they are high profile guests who have been actively engaged with the festival throughout its history and continue to support LMFF into its future (LOreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Pty Ltd, 2011). The secondary target market enjoys socialising, spending a large amount of disposable income and are easily influenced by peers and the media. The tertiary are people that are interested in the arts, but use location and convenience to satisfy their needs and wants. Demographics Variables Target Market Primary Secondary Age 21 50 18 30 Gender Female and Male Female and Male Marital Status No No Education Yes Yes Children living at home No No Income Middle to upper class, large amount of income, between $50 000 $110 000 Lower class, large amount of disposable income, equal to or less than $30 000 Internet use/ type High/Broadband High/Broadband Online buying habits Medium High and know how to buy online tickets, etc Television viewing preferences Pay television Pay television and free to air television Transport use Private Public and Private Beverage and food preferences Expensive and prefer alcohol and tea/coffee Cheap and prefer alcohol and sweet drinks Employment status/occupation Employed, usually in the fashion industry Student, unemployed or new worker Location Both domestic and international Domestic and urban/metropolitan areas (Information collected from EIT Inc, 2005; Frankie, 2011; Fashion TV, 2011) Psychographics Variables Target Market Primary Secondary Lifestyle City prone Enjoys shopping Quality oriented Frequent buying behavior Interested in the arts music, dance etc Upscale and well-off Trendy Globetrotters Value-for-money oriented Social status activities No major responsibilities City prone Big spenders Personality Independent/Opinion leader Brand and fashion conscious Very sensitive to advertising Competitive Always searching for the newest trends and products representative of their social image Influenced by peers Outgoing Opinion formers Street-smart (Information collected from EIT Inc, 2005; Frankie, 2011; Fashion TV, 2011) Objectives Overall Business Objective The overall business objective of this event is to be recognised both nationally and internationally as the leading event of its kind and to stimulate activity across the retail, clothing, footwear, and creative sectors. SMART marketing objectives The objectives below conform to marketing standards of setting objectives which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results oriented, and Time bound (Skildum-Reid et al, 2007). To obtain international and national prime time stories on channel FTV, various advertisements on national radio station NOVA, and a major advertising campaign with a colour photo in the magazine Frankie, one month before the event. To increase ticket sales domestically and internationally by 10% compared to the previous years opening runway event. To increase awareness and recognition of the brand LOreal in Australia from 20% to 35% by February 2012. To obtain five more sponsors prior to the event in order to increase funds by $150 000. Marketing Strategies Link to objective Rationale Strategies Measurement mechanism 1 This will achieve a large market penetration in the target markets and will encourage ticket sales before the event 1.1 Provide digital footage of highlights of last years event to various television and radio stations Number of televised stories that use the material 1.2 Create opportunities for video and audio interviews with designers of the event Number of interviews 1.3 Create and distribute press kits to local and international media Quality and acceptance of media kit 2 This will achieve market growth and showcase the event as being popular and well-known 2.1 Release early bird tickets at a discounted price to loyal customers Advance ticket sales and/or revenue, customer database 2.2 Provide online ticket purchases through connection of event website and ticketing company Ticket sales and/or revenue, customer database of event and ticketing company 2.3 Cross-promote with the event designers, singers and dancers through various advertising campaigns Number and quality of cross promotions 3 This will boost ticket sales and product sales before the event due to brand loyalty and recognition 3.1 Offer and provide samples of LOreal products to customers Number and frequency of customer purchases, customer opinion and satisfaction 3.2 Cross-promote event with LOreal advertisements Number, quality and success of cross promotions 3.3 Start an online social page e.g. facebook to discuss the brand/product/event Number of visits/hits/comments/likes/followers 4 This will allow the event to produce better offerings in regards to the exclusivity of the event and will increase the events profile 4.1 Create a sponsorship proposal and press kit that stands out from competitors Acceptance of proposal and number of responses, number of proposals from competitors Action Plan Actions Action Officer Time Frame (months before event) 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Strategy 1.1 Action 1.11 Contact FTV and NOVA representatives to find out deadline Public relations/media team Action 1.12 Collect and compose footage of event and audio interviews Public relations/media team Action 1.13 Send to FTV and NOVA by deadline Public relations/media team Strategy 1.2 Action 1.21 Develop an interview script Public relations/media team Action 1.22 Contact agents of designers or designers directly and set up a meeting to interview Public relations/media team Action 1.23 Collect and condense interview data into clear information Public relations/media team Action 1.24 Send to editor of magazine by deadline along with press kit Public relations/media team Strategy 1.3 Action 1.31 Contact media representatives to find out deadline Public relations/media team Action 1.32 Write media release and information Public relations/media team Action 1.33 Develop press kits to send to magazine Public relations/media team Action 1.34 Send to editor by deadline Public relations/media team Strategy 2.1 Action 2.11 Contact ticketing company to inform them of intention to sell tickets to event, with prices and discharge information Marketing team/Ticketing manager or assistant Action 2.12 Create online flyer to advertise event and early bird discount Marketing team Action 2.13 Send flyer to ticketing company database and event database through both mail and e-mail Administration Strategy 2.2 Action 2.21 Liaise with marketing team of ticketing company about website link Marketing team Action 2.22 Create link within current event website with information and prices of tickets IT team, marketing team, ticketing manager or assistant Strategy 2.3 Action 2.31 Develop a partnership agreement Public relations, marketing team Action 2.32 Contact agents and set up a meeting to propose potential partnership  arrangement Public relations, marketing team Action 2.33 Create and edit advertisement/promotion Marketing Action 2.34 Inject cross-promotion into public Marketing Strategy 3.1 Action 3.11 Contact LOreals sales and marketing team and set up a way to receive an x amount of samples Sales and Marketing team Action 3.12 Contact various intermediaries such as makeup counters, hair salons, fashion magazines to inform about samples Marketing team Action 3.13 Distribute samples to intermediaries to implement in marketing campaigns Sales and distribution team Strategy 3.2 Action 3.21 Develop a partnership agreement Public Relations, marketing team Action 3.22 Contact LOreals marketing team and set up a meeting to propose potential partnership  arrangement Public Relations, marketing team Action 3.23 Create and edit advertisement/promotion Marketing Action 3.24 Inject cross-promotion into public Marketing Strategy 3.3 Action 3.31 Create a user login on facebook.com IT Team Action 3.32 Organise and disseminate information and media on profile page with links to several other pages and event website IT Team, media team, marketing team Strategy 4.1 Action 4.11 Write a marketing plan Marketing team Action 4.12 Identify competitors and sponsors Marketing team Action 4.13 Write a sponsorship proposal and press kit Marketing team Action 4.14 Send sponsorship proposal and press kit to identified sponsors Public relations, marketing team Contact sponsors and decide on sponsorship funds Marketing team Marketing Budget The marketing budget was based on a calculation of 20% of the total price of 4000 tickets sold in 2011. Ticket cost Total $79 x 4000 $316 000 $59 x 4000 $236 000 $39 x 4000 $156 000 $708 000 Average $236 000 Total Marketing Budget after 20% $47 200 Objectives Need Description/Calculation of Costs Cost 1 Advertising/publicity costs for Frankie and NOVA and FTV Frankie: 3 x Full Page, W: 210mm x H: 275mm @ $4670 each (Frankie, 2011) $14010 NOVA: 20 x 30 second ads over 7 days, 6am 6pm prime time @ $50 each (Australia Trade, 2010) $1000 FTV: 10 x 15 minute shows over 7 days, 7pm 7:15pm @ $20 cost per thousand (CPM) of 50, 000 (Boone, 2009) $10 000 Total $25 010 2 Mailing costs 5,000 x letters @ $58c each (Australia Post, 2011) $2900 Ticketing commission 4000 tickets x 10% increase = (4400 x $79) x 0.01 commission $3476 Printing costs 2 colour copy flyers per A4 page = 2500 x A4 pages @ $38c each (Officeworks, 2011) $950 Website development Overall cost (Cmather, 2011) $495 Website maintenance 30 hours @ $30 per hour (Cmather, 2011) $900 Advertising and promotion for cross-promotion with designers Billboard 6m x 3m for 8 weeks @ $1500 per 4 weeks and a one off $300 installation cost à · 2 (halves with cross-promotion) (GOA Billboard, 2011) $1650 Total $10 371 3 Samples cost 20 000 samples @ $10c each $2000 Advertising and promotion costs for cross-promotion with LOreal 25 x national light weight bus stop advertising @ $690 each à · 2 (halves with cross-promotion) (Adshel, 2011) $8 625 Social Website Usage is free $0 Distribution costs Covered by LOreal $0 Total $10 625 4 Printing costs 20 pages x 100 booklets = 2000 colour pages @ 0.38c = $760 + 100 booklets x $1.95 each for binding = $195 (Officeworks, 2011) $955 Mailing costs $1.20 x 100 booklets (Australia Post, 2011) $120 Total $1175 Overall total $47 181 Monitoring and Evaluation Objective 1: Measurement and evaluation mechanisms include: Number of televised stories that use the material Number of gained interviews Quality and acceptance of media kit Continuous partnerships with companies Objective 2: Measurement and evaluation mechanisms include: The difference in the number of ticket sales and/or revenue collected in prior year and current year Customer database increase and loyalty Number and quality of cross promotions Employee satisfaction LMFF annual review statistics Objective 3: Measurement and evaluation mechanisms include: Number and frequency of customer purchases/ LOreal annual review Number and frequency of sample intake Customer opinion, satisfaction, perception, and behaviours through surveys Number, quality and success of cross promotions Number of visits/hits/comments/likes/followers on facebook page Increase in ticket sales for LMFF overall events Objective 4: Measurement and evaluation mechanisms include: Acceptance of proposal Number of responses from sponsorships Number of proposals from competitors to sponsors Number of contracts signed with sponsorships compared to previous years, see appendix 2 Sponsorship funds increase and resource availability Sponsor reliability, efforts made, and perception of event Conclusion and Recommendations The LMFF has repositioned one of its most recently popular events called Fashion Full Stop: Decades of Australian Fashion. This popularity is proven by creative director, Grant Pearce, who stated in previous years, there hasnt been a show on opening night, theres just been a small presentation but this is a major theatrical show (Merhab, 2011). This success has been assisted by creating numerous objectives, marketing strategies, and an action plan that concentrates on increasing advertising, sponsorship and sales. The LMFF needs to continuously check and track the success of their initial objectives and modify or maintain the strategies and actions accordingly. These changes need to directly reflect the target markets and their various needs, wants and demands. Appendix Appendix 1. Appendix 2. Principal and Government partners: Loreal Paris, State Government Victoria Major Partners: Herald Sun, David Jones, Sofitel Luxury Hotels, Pacific Brands, Centralpier Spirit of Docklands, SpecSavers, Paper Stone Scissors, Eye Media, Westfield, City of Melbourne Event Partners: Marie Claire, 565 Lasoo, City of Stonnington, Peroni Italy, Colonial First State Global Asset Management, Woolmark, Sportsgirl Official Product Partners: Champagne Devaux, Yering Station, Lavazza, Lexus, Raffaello, Chambord, Sanpellegrino, Toll Ipec, Nine west, kikki.K, Synergy, Steve Madden Platinum Partners: Chadstone, Deloitte, Victoria Racing Club, Wilson Parking Gold Partners: Middletons, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Deutsche Bank, MyCatwalk.com, Melbournes GPO, Fashion Weekend Melbourne, Image Box, The Just Group, Collins 234, Nikon, QV Melbourne, Kookai Media Partners: Artichoke, WGSN, Frankie Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Vogue Australia, 3AW 693, FASHIONTREND, FashionTV, Harper Bazaar, Grazia, Nova 100.3FM, InStyle, Madison, Avant Card, Hoyts, Yen

Ghost Story of the Kingsville Haunted House Essay examples -- Ghost St

Kingsville Haunted House The teller is 24 years old, and works for the state department of education. Originally, he was from the Baltimore area where he attended an elementary Catholic school. He moved to Bell Air in second grade and grew up there. After his parents separated, he moved back to Baltimore to live with his grandparents, and has remained in Baltimore ever since. The sister he mentions in the story moved away to China years ago. A weekend or two ago, he, I, and a few other friends spent the evening in one of our favorite hang-out spots in Columbia, Pub Dog. It was there, sitting in our dimly lit booth, over some beers that I heard him tell this story from his childhood. He spoke in a strangely matter-of-fact tone, considering the weirdness of the story he was telling, and in a smooth, comfortable manner that seemed to indicate he had told the story many times before. Here is the story he told: Ok. One night my sister and I were at my father’s house. He lives in Kingsville on 10 maybe 9 acres of land in this [small pause, looks at ceiling] I wouldn’t really call it a farmhouse, just a kind of small house out there. The previous person who lived in the house was supposedly shipped to an asylum, for, you know, normal stuff [pause] schizophrenic or something. My sister and I were at the house one night and we were cleaning up the house while my dad was on some sort of job out of the state and my step mom was at work in the hospital. We were doing our stuff, and then the power flickered, and came back on. We didn’t think anything of it. Then, outside of the door, we heard a noise, kinda like a dog barking, but like, just enough not so that we knew it wasn’t. So, we hear this noise, and start to get fre... ...g age. â€Å"Young children idolize their parents and draw strength from closeness to them.† (Nichols, 190). As soon as my friend and his sister were near to their father, they felt safe, and things returned to normal. This story, although somewhat unique in its exact plot, contains many elements that make it a typical and traditional ghost story. These elements suggest common fears in today’s society of people in general, and children specifically. Works Cited Nichols, Michael P. Stop Arguing with Your Kids: How to Win the Battle of Wills by Making your Children feel Heard. New York: Guilford Press, 2004. Sceurman, Mark and Mark Moran. Weird Maryland: Your Travel Guide to Maryland’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. New York: Sterling Pub. Co., 2006. Spock, Benjamin. Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care 8th Edition. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004.

Case Study: Performance Management at Intermountain Healthcare

Kuan-Chung (Bill) Wu HPM540: Professor Kamke HPM540: Case Study 3: Performance Management at Intermountain Healthcare 1. What is your assessment of the Performance Management system developed at Intermountain Healthcare? – The Performance Management (PM) system developed by Intermountain has become a model for many healthcare organizations. Intermountain’s PM system includes the following elements: 1) Identifying six most important performance criteria, 2) Developing goals for different groups within the organization, and 3) implementing the goals by creating an incentive compensation scheme.This PM system design has proven to be effective in many perspective, ranging from individual staff to administration and to the organization as a whole. First and most importantly, this PM system aligns Intermoutain’s mission and values/commitments to its employees and their performances. Their employees and administration do not just talk about their values, they live those values – committing to best practice with quality and accountability.Secondly, this PM system is effective in regards of beneficial and useful as development tool and administrative tool. The system not only allows administration to accountably designed, implemented, reached, and evaluated the goals for different groups in the organization, but also allows employees to engaged and contribute organizational goals by developing their career and earning incentives. As a result, different groups in the organization were able to remain focused on accomplishing all the goals as a whole team.Lastly, most employees in Intermountain had positive and fair views for the PM system. For example, employees in Intermountain expressed embarrassment, rather than complaints of not getting incentives, when they did not reach a certain objective, even it was missed by less than 1%. Lastly, this PM system allowed administration and management team at Intermountain to effectively and accurately m easure employee performance, such as using balanced scorecard and data shown in Exhibit 8 and 12, as well as the cost of providing services.The PM system created by Intermountain has served to be a model for healthcare organizations to face future challenges due to the Affordable Care Act as well as other changes in the nature of running a healthcare business. Lastly, they were able to realize the goal of recruiting and retaining the best employees. 2. In what ways could it enhance or detract from the organization's strategic objectives? – There were many ways this method could enhance the organization’s strategic objectives.First, the important performance dimensions were identified – these constituted the big picture of the organization strategy and allowed the big picture to flow all the way down to every individual staff. Everyone in the organization could all know about organization’s objectives and commit to achieving them. Moreover, as described in a the section of Clinical Goals, this system allowed the goals of five dimensions of performances to flow in a topdown fashion, the goals for the Clinical Goals were developed in a bottom-up fashion.This enabled the organization to have a continuous circle of performance management loop similar to Figure 10-1 in the textbook, which shows a linkage from organizational strategies to feedbacks collected from organizational results. The ways that this system would detract from organization’s strategic objective is the finance for implementing these strategies, as mentioned in last section of the article. The clinical performance improvement initiative had resulted in revenue losses.If Intermountain did not have enough cash on hand, this performance management system would not work so efficiently. The other way that could detract the strategic objective is that data could be manipulated to make the performances 1|Page Kuan-Chung (Bill) Wu HPM540: Professor Kamke looked well on th e graph/table/figures. This is because the incentives is generated by good data, and it is very easy for these data to be manipulated. 3. How are physician incentives at Intermountain unique? Why did they take a ifferent approach to physician performance as compared to other employees? – Physician incentives at Intermountain are unique because physicians are divided into two groups (employed and non-employed aligned) and incentive plans designed for each group have different programs. For employed physicians, three approaches were implemented for incentives: 1) Peer pressure, in which open discussion where held to examine physicians’ performance, 2) Public Recognition, in which best practice was recognized at the corporate level, and 3) monetary incentives for meeting clinical standards.For non-employed, aligned physicians, who accounts for 2/3 all physicians using Intermountain, the organization has adopted the strategy to engage these physicians through peer-to-peer competition and a reliance on academic literature and internal data in a given clinical area. Here we can see that there are a lot of physician communication and engagement for supporting physicians to receive incentives, which are different approaches than other employees such as managers and staffs who earns incentives through achieving individual and corporate level goals.In my opinion, physicians have their incentives different than just monetary incentives is because health care is a service business and physicians are the centers for providing different kinds of services to patients. In many cases, physicians are the decision makers who may influence the outcome of these services. Therefore, it is essential for physicians to know what each other is doing with transparent and evidence-based communications so the effective services can be learned and implemented by different physicians.Moreover, the increased communication would enhance the aspect of coordinated care which would help both the physician and organizations to reduce the cost of their services. The other reason that different approaches were implemented for physicians might be because they have already been earning high levels of compensation and need something different than monetary incentives, in contrast with those who are in healthcare administration. 4. How might this system also improve the performance appraisal process? –Performance appraisals are used to assess an employee’s performance and provide a platform for feedback about past, current, and future performance expectations. In Intermountain’s performance management system, there is a continuous goal development and implementation, as well as feedbacks to the senior management. The senior management team then provides recommendations for the group that develops the organization’s goal to make sure what the organization expects for everyone. In other words, the expectations, whether they are past, curren t, or future, are transparent to all employees.Another aspect that I believe this system helps to improve the performance appraisal process in its uses. The textbook states that organizations generally use performance appraisal process in two conflicting ways – administrative and developmental. However, Intermountain’s performance management system seemed to resolve this conflicting issue by its incentive compensation scheme. As described by Dan Zuhlke, the Vice President of Intermountain HR, the potential bonus or incentive is based on the fulfillment of the combination of individual level goals and corporate level goals.This helps to solve the conflict of uses because both administrative and developmental actions can be accomplished simultaneously under this system. Lastly, under the physician incentive system, open discussions and peer-to-peer competition allowed physicians to gain constructive feedback or improvement ideas from others. The physician incentive syste m essentially served as a virtual platform for care givers to learn what the expectations are. 2|Page

Free Essays on Queen Elizabeth 1

What sank the Mary Rose? The story of the Mary Rose was a real disaster for Henry VIII, especially as wooden ships don’t normally sink. This ship was his favourite ship – but just how did it sink? It was built in 1547, and sunk in battle with the French navy; it was recently raised from the seabed in 1982. There are 6 theories to this story THEORY 1 Did the French navy hit the Mary Rose? However there was not any obvious cannonball marks, but there had been some repairs because there was a 5-inch hole in the side the hull. Henry VIII had been fiddling with the boat before it set sale because he wanted it to be the best ship ever. He fitted eight new bronze cannons, which was an extra 8-20 tons. People did not know how to calculate stability so it could have been unstable. Just having extra weight on board alone would not have sunk the ship. THEORY 2 Was the crew really drunk? We found out they had been drinking to celebrate the new ship the crew were really panicking as well because they did not Know how to swim. THEORY 3 The captain had no idea on how to skipper the ship and the ship was badly handled, this was true THEORY 4 Water may have got into the gun flaps because they were left open. For each 1sq metre of water that came through the flaps would equal to 1 ton in weight, this means the ship so it would flood very quickly and possible become unstable. THEORY 5 There was only meant to be 415 men on board, but there turned out to be 715. The calculation is that for every additional 10 men this would equal 1 ton. THEORY 6 A strong gust of wind could of tipped it when the ship was turning, but the most probably explanation is a combination of all of the above theory which resulted in the sinking of the Mary Rose.... Free Essays on Queen Elizabeth 1 Free Essays on Queen Elizabeth 1 Queen Elizabeth 1 Elizabeth I was born on on September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace, London, England, an estate of her Father, King Henry VIII. Elizabeth's mother was Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth became Queen of England in 1558 and reigned until her death in 1603. Her reign is often called the Golden Age of England or Elizabethan Age because it was a time of great achievement and prosperity. She was known as The Viirgin queen, or Good Queen Bess Elizabeth succeeded in furthering England's interests in the face of foreign threats and religious unrest at home. Highlights of her reign include making the Church of England, the state religion, while avoiding war with the powerful Roman Catholic nations of Europe; the English navy defeated of the Spanish Armada; English merchant ships challenged Spanish preeminence on the high seas; the first settlers were sent to America to open the way for a great colonial empire, and England's economy flourished. The English court became a center for writers, musicians, and scholars. English literature thrived during this period, with Francis Bacon composing his Essays, and William Shakespeare writing his great works of drama and poetry. Elizabeth never married. She entertained both Protestant and Catholic suitors while committing to no one. She used her single status as a policy tool. By entertaining Catholic suitors she kept hostile Catholic monarchs at bay, and English Catholics loyal to her government. At one point it appeared she was interested in one of her subjects, Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. She avoided entering a marriage with Sir Robert because the match lacked any political benefits. Problems at home marked the end of Elizabeth's reign. The Irish rebelled, the Earl of Essex lead a rebellion against the government, and the economy faltered. Elizabeth was the last legitimate decendant of Henry VIII. She was succeeded by James I, son of Mary Queen of Scots and he... Free Essays on Queen Elizabeth 1 What sank the Mary Rose? The story of the Mary Rose was a real disaster for Henry VIII, especially as wooden ships don’t normally sink. This ship was his favourite ship – but just how did it sink? It was built in 1547, and sunk in battle with the French navy; it was recently raised from the seabed in 1982. There are 6 theories to this story THEORY 1 Did the French navy hit the Mary Rose? However there was not any obvious cannonball marks, but there had been some repairs because there was a 5-inch hole in the side the hull. Henry VIII had been fiddling with the boat before it set sale because he wanted it to be the best ship ever. He fitted eight new bronze cannons, which was an extra 8-20 tons. People did not know how to calculate stability so it could have been unstable. Just having extra weight on board alone would not have sunk the ship. THEORY 2 Was the crew really drunk? We found out they had been drinking to celebrate the new ship the crew were really panicking as well because they did not Know how to swim. THEORY 3 The captain had no idea on how to skipper the ship and the ship was badly handled, this was true THEORY 4 Water may have got into the gun flaps because they were left open. For each 1sq metre of water that came through the flaps would equal to 1 ton in weight, this means the ship so it would flood very quickly and possible become unstable. THEORY 5 There was only meant to be 415 men on board, but there turned out to be 715. The calculation is that for every additional 10 men this would equal 1 ton. THEORY 6 A strong gust of wind could of tipped it when the ship was turning, but the most probably explanation is a combination of all of the above theory which resulted in the sinking of the Mary Rose....