Reaction paper on religious Tolerance Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reaction paper on religious Tolerance - Article Example per will analyze the opinions expressed by two prominent authors on religious phenomenon and tolerance and explain their profound influence on my understanding of concepts like religion, morality and tolerance. In his article titled ‘This Is a Religious War: September 11 was Only the Beginning’, the author Andrew Sullivan expresses his opinions on various issues related to religion, inter-faith clashes and religious fundamentalism. Many of my opinions on religious phenomenon and tolerance have in fact been shaped on Sullivan’s views and arguments. Sullivan says that in principle, faith is a form of conflict with reason, which in effect implies that it is in conflict with science. He further says that the only ultimate truth is god and that science can never disprove this true faith as it rests on truth. Science or reasoning can thus never find reason for conflict with this truth. I also find his interpretation of religious evolution as an interesting observation on human civilization and development. The belief that god created the universe does imply that any explanation on its formulation cannot find reason to contradict its creator, in other words find fault with any faith as all of them reconcile to the truth that will always remain beyond our fullest perception and understanding. Sullivan undoubtedly encourages religious tolerance by taking a harsh stand on fundamentalism across all religions. He not only criticizes the justification of violence as a means of achieving religious ends, but also despises fundamentalism as an obstacle in introducing doubt into the faith and its reluctance to encourage human reason. In fact, the cornerstone of religious tolerance is to rid oneself of exclusion and pride and to treat mystery as the primary reality behind any religious pursuit. While this may uphold truth that cannot be proven empirically, it nevertheless does not provide room for any hatred against other faiths. In January 2008, the noted psychologist

Core Areas of a Successful Business Essay Example for Free

Core Areas of a Successful Business Essay I.Ethics Leadership and ethics are more than closely related. They are one in the same. A famous quote by James MacGregor Burns sums up the correlation well, â€Å"Divorced from ethics, leadership is reduced to management and politics to mere technique.† (James Macgregor Burns) The quote touches on two very distinct differences. One aspect is leadership, and the other management. One who is a leader has the ability to inspire. He or she can inspire others to work harder, take on tasks thought to be impossible, and the leader could also inspire ideas. The ideas could come directly from a leader, or from those around him or her. A leader has complete clarity and vision. They also have a knack for overcoming obstacles and having others see and share their viewpoint. Another attribute that great leaders possess is the ability to show balance when handling various issues. They are able to balance ethic justice with ethic core. Ethic justice is defined by law and logic, as ethic core is defined by how it influences people on an emotional level. There have been various examples of ethical violations or moral ambiguity in business involving companies such as ENRON and TYCO. These companies were all about the perception of success. However, if someone were to investigate into the numbers, he would see there were serious problems. Hiding debt in dummy companies and offering excessive bonuses to executives are just a few examples of these violations. Where was the oversight? Well, the people who were in charge hand their hands out like everyone else. These individuals seemed oblivious to the consequences of their actions or those who would be hurt in the process due to their greed. Key decisions weren’t made at lower management level. Rather, they were being made at the executive level! Isn’t it the role of effective managers to prevent occurrences like this from happening? What is management’s position in these particular circumstances? Is there a specific procedure they should always follow? II.Processes of Management How do management and leadership differ from one another? It is best simplified by this quote from Peter Drucker, â€Å"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.† The terms manager and leadership are commonly used to mean the same idea, although they serve different purposes. Mr. Drucker gives a glimpse of the differences within his quote. Management is defined as a process that is used within an organization to help accomplish goals. The overall process of management includes planning, organizing, leading, and utilizing individuals and resources available within the organization. Planning is all about strategy and positioning. Having a clear understanding of the company’s objectives will streamline the planning portion of the process. Being able to identify trends are critical in meeting the demands of a business. A well-developed plan will help diminish the chances of failure of an organization. The plan requires structure and a team to deliver the plan. It is important that the structure be in place, and everyone has a clear understanding of their role. The concepts of organizational structures have in practiced for nearly one hundred years. In 1919, a French economic theoretician Henri Fayol published a book titled Administration Industrielle. It was one of the first publications that outlined the various aspects of a functioning business structure. He spoke about how to best to divide the function of business: creating a unity of command, hierarchy of authority, division of labor, and putting in place clear channels of communication. (Nickels McHugh, 2010, p. 207) Another theory was developed by Max Weber. Max Weber wrote a book titled The Theory of Social and Economic Organizations. He shared many of the same theories as Henri Fayol. However, Max Weber was of the belief that less educated workers carried out tasks better if they were guided closely and given strict rules by middle management to be performed. (Nickels McHugh, 2010, p. 208) Today many of those theories are still practiced. Businesses have to develop strategies allowing them to be nimble. If a business is slow to react to the market demands, they could be left behind. This is a costly proposition for companies looking to expand. Organizations seem to be moving toward a decentralized authority. This empowers the managers and employees to make decisions based upon their market needs quickly. A faster response time translates into improved customer relations and builds brand loyalty. This type of strategy is found in retail department store chains. On the other hand many fast food chains believe in the concept of centralized authority. All decisions on purchasing and promotion come from those in upper management. This allows companies such as McDonalds to keep their product consistent. (Nickels McHugh, 2010, p. 210) It is unlikely that a drastic philosophical change within retail or fast food will take place anytime soon. There have been innovative changes within other market segments concerning team structuring and how to best respond to the demands of the consumer. For example, if a company wants to introduce a new product and bring it to market quickly they have the ability to pool their internal human resources. Simply put as bringing the best minds from all facets of the business and have them work on a specified project. This team is commonly known as a cross functional team. What is so unique about this team is that they are self-managed. They may also share different managers during the task. The engineer may work closely with the team on the design of the product. However, when it is time to distribute and brand the product the marketing manager may take over. They also work together on a long term basis fostering new opportunities. (Nickels McHugh, 2010, p. 218) Working in teams can be great at moving an organization forward and carrying out task delivered by management. Teams can also seize opportunity by having the ability to quickly respond to a changing market such as technology. The biggest advantage of working in a team would have to be communication. Working as a team has far more advantages compared to its disadvantages. Some of the drawbacks would be the team having or developing a disconnection from the corporation’s core values or a feeling that they are their own entity. This occurs when areas are departmentalized from other functions of the business. Sometimes, if a common goal is not reinforced, it can cause some employees to become disengaged. If you have ever been part of a team where one of the members is negative and disengaged it can become infectious. At a minimum it becomes a distraction and disruptive to the team and its progress. (Nickels McHugh, 2010, p. 212) At what point does leadership step in to take charge? What role, if any, does leadership play in business? III.Leadership Leadership is universal as the principles that define effective leadership are equitable worldwide. This is because leadership is mainly founded on principles that revolve around human relations. It usually requires one to be selfless. Individuals in leadership should always prioritize the needs of all the people who are under his command before his personal needs or interests. There are several styles that have resulted in effective leadership. These styles depend on the demands and requirements of the individuals involved and the tasks facing the institution. However, these styles have also been forced to evolve with the changes brought along by the 21st century. This section tackles the evolution of leadership taking into account various styles and use of varied examples in a bid to highlight and make the issue most comprehensible. Leadership styles revolve around three key points. The first includes the manner in which a leader gives guidelines or directions to his subordinates. Secondly, it is also determined by the method through which the leader implements his plans. Lastly, leadership style is also largely influenced by whether or not the leader motivates people to produce the desired results. Leadership styles are usually categorized into three different and unique styles when referring to individual leaders. One of the leadership styles that have been around for ages is the authoritarian or autocratic type of leadership. In this case, the leader gives the employees orders on what they want to be executed and the execution manner. An authoritarian leader usually is strict on the regulations and policies governing the employees of the company. An example of an authoritarian leader is a traffic police officer giving directions to motorists (Glanz, 2002). According to Glanz, a true leader is best characterized if he or she serves as a role model to others by promoting corporation between them. Moreover, one should also empower other individuals by giving praise where necessary or including them in the process of decision making. Lastly, a leader should communicate effectively to his employees on both his values and those that govern the organization. Another form of leadership style is democratic or participative type of leadership. In this case, the individual in the leadership position includes other people in decision making. Despite this, the leader is the one to make the final decision on the matters at hand. There is also a leadership style where the leader delegates the role of decision making to the employees while giving minimal or no guidance. This style is referred to as free-rein or delegative type of leadership. This style works well where the employees are competent, and the leader has confidence in them. Having any characteristics of these three leadership styles doesn’t mean you can’t enhance your role as a leader/manager with vision, value, and ethics. How does following these important guidelines improve your role as a leader? Leaders that impact businesses and employees on a daily basis know what they value. They also recognize the importance of utilizing their ethical behavior. The best leaders exhibit their values and ethics in their leadership style and actions. Defining your leadership ethics and values should be visible because you are living them in your actions every single day. A lack of trust can become a serious problem in many workplaces throughout the business world. If leaders never identified their values in these workplaces, the mistrust becomes understandable. If leaders have identified and shared their core values then living those values daily will create trust with everyone. Workplace ethics take the same route when the organizations leadership has a code of conduct and ethical expectation; they become an organization joke if the leaders fail to live up to their published code of ethics. Leaders that exhibit ethical behavior powerfully influence the actions of others including the employees that will eventually make that leader successful. As a leader, choose the values and the ethics that are most important to you, the values and ethics you believe in and that define your character. Then live them visibly every day in the workplace. Living your values is one of the most powerful tools available to you to help you lead and influence others. Just as in the business text of class; leaders must communicate a vision, establish their values, promote their corporate ethics, and embrace change, and stress accountability and responsibility among employees to become an effective leader in management. How could you improve your role as a leader/manager to become more effective? Managers are often seen as administrators and not leaders, depending on how we define leadership. The meaning of leadership is defined as promoting new direction either in people or organizations. It has nothing to do with being in a position of authority over others. What do we define as management? This is having responsibility for people and other resources with the goal of getting work done as efficiently and effectively as possible. The goal of the manager is to execute the directions promoted by the leader. Managers do not differ from leaders based on their personalities or styles as leaders are not just more lively, charismatic or larger than life managers. Any manager can lead by promoting new directions. Managers can be as inspiring as leaders even when they are wearing their managerial hat; hence, aiming to get work done efficiently, they try to inspire employees to improve performance rather than move them to change direction as leaders do. Both leaders and managers can influence quietly or by example without being charismatic. Any person can step into management, but the real question is how that individual is going to lead his people or team. Managers become successful only by understanding what it takes to be an effective leader to promote change with accountability. An individual can manage, but the true success of a powerful leader is the reflection of performance among its subordinates. An imposing leader knows how to manage as well as how to promote change effectively and positively from leading by example. Becoming an effective leader will eventually give an individual the success to reach his/her employees through positive influence and by achieving the high expectations handed down by the company objective. It is up to the individual leader on how he wants to manage his people in order to receive the best end-results. Taking all of these aspects into consideration, does someone in a leadership position have an obligation to motivate his or her employees, or is it up to the employee to realize his or her motivation? IV.Employee Motivation Many corporations today explore various strategies on how to improve production and motivate their staff to give one hundred percent toward the company’s goals. The most successful companies and organizations always seem to have extraordinarily strong leadership. There are many ways in which strong leadership can motivate the employees in an organization. Strong leadership can be used to energize a team in the workplace. A formidable leader should create a positive correlation between the workers and their employer. Moreover, the leader should be able to pool energy from each worker so as to improve performance and productivity as a team. Strong leaders have enormous reserves of spiritual, emotional and physical energy. The leader should be able to create a time for reflection of performance and also interpersonal evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of every employee. This is because the investment in employees helps to improve performance and also improve motivation (Adair, 1998). Powerful leadership in the workplace can help to motivate the employees through effective communication. Communication helps to influence employees to improve their performance. In addition, delegation of duties within an organization is carried through communication, and it is essential for employees to communicate their concerns in the workplace to avoid inconvenience. An influential leader is a person who listens to the grievances of the subordinates and provides possible solutions to improve the level of performance. Moreover, a prominent leader should also be empowered to solve problems and to suggest solutions for the problems affecting the employees in the workplace. This means the information from every employee should be handled with the respect it deserves, including a concentrated effort placed on improving interpersonal relations with their employees. This reduces conflicts and creates a platform for employees to act as a team (Advameg, 2012). One valuable method to motivate employees in the workplace is to mentor them and encourage them to grow and work as a team. This improves their partnerships and helps the organization to benefit in the long run. The fundamentals of motivation should be based on influencing the employees and helping them to achieve success. In essence, the leader should limit the regulations and set rules. Any change of an objective or rule should be communicated effectively to avoid frustrations which may be created by the confusion. It should also be understood that employees work effectively in an environment where there are reduced rules and regulations. The rules should be developed in such a manner that they enhance integration and cohesion within the workplace (Emmerich, 2009). Awarding the employees who have performed well in an organization is one of the ways which motivates them and improves their capability. The top leadership should ensure that there is the creation of incentive programs in which the best performing employees are awarded according to their performance in the workplace. The main purpose for creation of incentive programs is to show the employees that the organization values and cares about them. In addition, through the rewarding of performance employees are encouraged to continue to seek improvement in their job. The production of employees is prone to increase after they have been motivated using incentive programs Messmer, 1995). Incentive programs motivate performance through maximization of results. Outstanding performance over a period of time should be rewarded through promotion or through the provision of incentives. The incentives should be based on hard work and should vary from one employee to the other. This helps to improve competition and also to help motivate the weaker employees to increase their performance within the organization. The leadership has the obligation to create a program in which the top performers are rewarded according to their performance in the work place. Alternatively, the salaries and remuneration of the top performing employees should be increased to encourage them to work towards achievement of personal goals and objectives (Emmerich, 2009). Performance based on consistent meeting of the objectives should also be rewarded. Some form of compensation helps to encourage employees to invest their personal best into an organization. Employers who reward their subordinates on performance based on consistency have increased rates in meeting of personal goals and objectives. Rewarding the employees shows them that they are important, and increases their level of motivation, consequently leading to excellent performance. This also shows employees that they are highly valued and are significant assets to management. Furthermore, rewarding employees helps to retain them and increase their morale in the workplace. Employees should also receive unexpected rewards to express appreciation for all of their diligence on the job. This unanticipated compensation explicitly illustrates their importance in the organization (Messmer, 1995). One of the proven ways of motivating employees is the reduction of turnover in the workplace. Reducing turnover creates cohesion and trust among the employees. Reduction of turnover also helps to maximize potential through reduction of the costs of retaining valuable employees. When the numbers of employees are at an optimum level, the rate of performance increases. This means that hardworking and promising employees within an organization should be retained while the unproductive employees should be dismissed. Arguably, it is evident that employees who leave their employment have the reason of being unmotivated and unsatisfied. Good leadership would solve these problems while helping to improve performance in the long run. However, the individual who displays a sense of pride complimented with self-motivation is the most valued employee and a key contributor to the success of any organization. (Advameg, 2012). Operating a successful business is by no means any easy task. For lack of a better analogy, it’s like a well-oiled machine. All the pieces have to be working together and each piece doing its fair share of the work. If one were to go down, then the others have to pick up the slack for the malfunctioning section. In business, each position has to be working together to achieve successful financial as well as intangibly. If not, then a company could very well be on the path to failure.

Darren Skanson Essay -- essays research papers

Overview From a very early age Darren Skanson had a burning passion for music. His passion grew deeper when realized how much excitement a crowd has when watching a musical performer. In 1989, Darren graduated from Moorhead State University with a BA in music. Darren’s career first began by being a lead guitarist in a heavy metal band. The band, Mata Hari, split up in 1993. Darren then joined Malcolm Watson, who was a classical violinist, at Watson and Company. Darren and Malcolm produced the third CD for Watson and Company. Shortly after the success of producing this CD the duo traveled nationwide performing. Within a year the sales had increased from $100,000 to $250,000. Malcolm wanted to move a little more slowly than Darren in expanding their business to greater heights. Since Darren was ready to move on, he left Watson and Company to form his own company. Darren had a vision to record, produce and sell his own music, as well as the music of other artists. Jennifer, a long time friend of Darren’s was the booking agent for his tour. Jennifer did not share the same vision with Darren so they parted ways and moved on. Trying to perform, handle CEO duties and handling the promotional marketing aspect of his business was getting to be too much for Darren. Business was getting to be complicated. He decided to hire a guy named Andy Harling, who was a classical guitarist to help with the office duties of the company and to suggest/implement ways to make CCM function more efficiently. Darren turned down two performances offered by Jennifer since he was already booked. However, he did not want to lose the business and the chance to get his name out there. Darren sent Andy to perform at the two shows. Andy was very successful and gained the knowledge of how the performances operate. Darren became a little nervous when he realized that Andy could leave him and become his competition. Darren then signed Andy to a contract and launched Andy’s first CD. Over time, Andy’s responsibilities grew with his performances that Darren hired an assistant for him. Recording and productions costs were high for musicians to produce their records/CD’s. Digital then came into existence and cut the costs of production. Music is sorted by labels. Because of the low costs in digital recordings it was possible for sma... ...erent marketing segment and would need to establish their resources and overall marketing clientele. Buyers †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Darren’s buyers are mostly between the ages 40 and 60 years old. Suppliers †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Distribution centers from which he buys his supplies for inventory. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One-stop centers Substitute Products †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Acoustitherapy †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Andrew Thomas Harling †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Music for candles Recommendations †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Darren should get rid of Jennifer and find someone who is more compatible in helping him reach his goal of expanding nationally. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Increase product lines. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hire someone to operate his marketing, promotion, inventory and production costs and issues so that he can devote his time to tours and concerts. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Try signing a contract with an artist of the Independent Label level in order to help increase his branding label. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hire an agent to sign on new artists rather than doing it himself.

India: Land of Diversity Essay

The western culture has always been known for its progressive nature. It has given its followers a lot of freedom and openness. But there are times when the freedom gets on to you. This is when one starts feeling the void and the emptiness and starts craving for some sort of support or someone to look upto as a guiding force. Since many decades, the westerners have been looking towards India to save their fizzing hearts and morality by its spiritualism. This is because India is the land of sages and great thinks and reformers who have reached far and wide spreading the true message of god. Their sayings and preaches have been guiding all of us since ages to listen to the voice inside us and lead a meaningful life. The growing impetus of spiritualism in the world was born in India and it has been the flag bearer of all this since ages. India is a land where many different religions and practices live together in complete conglomerate, side by side. India has always been open to visitors. There has been an old famous saying in India which says: â€Å"Atithi Devo Bhava† which literally translates to say that guest is god. The Indians have lived by this thought since the very beginning and still practice it. This is the reason why when any foreigner came to India (with whatever motives in mind, India was there with arms wide open to welcome them. It started with the Aryans, then came the Persians, Mughals, British French and many more. All were welcomed in India with equal gratitude. The humbleness and hospitality has also been prevalent till now. It welcomed the Dalai Lama when he escaped from Tibet after the Chinese agression.This is another example of the nobility that India has been Famous for. India and its have also been famous for helping out others. It helped Bangladesh to win freedom and independence from the erstwhile Pakistan. The practices of helpfulness and aid have been carried out like a tradition since ages, transferred from one generation to another. India has become the land where cultures and thoughts intermingle to provide an altogether new way of living to the people. Since being a home to people from different cultures, the residents have learned how to respect all the various cultures and traditions. Come to India-the only country in the world  where you shall find a Hindu temple, a church and a mosque adjoining each other and followers of any of them visiting each. This is the best part of the underlying Indian thought – tolerance and respect for everyone. So whatever be your culture, beliefs, religious practice, India can surely make you feel at home. India is truly a land of great cultural heritage and enriched traditions. The influence of various cultures on each other is evident from the architecture styles, language as well as the practices in various parts of the country. This innate mixture of features of various cultures and traditions gives India the place and the reputation of being the most tolerant and patient country in the world.

Marketing Research Analysis: Kudler Fine Foods Essay

Throughout this paper, I will explain the marketing research on Kudler Fine Foods. This paper will also discuss the significance of marketing research and how it affects the evolution of Kudler Fine Foods’ marketing strategy and tactics. Then, the fields where further market research is required will be distinguished. Subsequently, the significance of competitive intelligence and analysis concerning the promotion of Kudler Fine Foods’ marketing strategy and tactics will be considered. Kudler Fine Foods Marketing Research Kudler Fine Foods is primarily located in southern California with three successful sites. The original store launched in La Jolla in 1998 by Kathy Kudler, a creative thinker who wished for a place where she could purchase everything she wanted so that she could make dinner and thought that opening a chain of gourmet markets was the answer. The Del Mar and Encinitas sites were in motion within five years (University of Phoenix, 2013). Marketing research comprises more than just talking to a consumer and asking them to fill out a survey answering questions to find out how they agree and disagree. It implicates the identification of the elements of the part of the population that is the target market, the way people live and their values, and the information collected while conducting the fundamental research and analyzing the information. The results can then be used to make current business strategies better, make business decisions that are based on supply, demand, the demographics, avoid any indiscretions, calculate a correct likelihood and accurate probabilities centered on consistency of past experiences, and decide which strategic expenses are sensible for the company. Marketing research draws in a lot of time and can be expensive, before making valuable marketing choices and a communication strategy, it is essential to reflect the different kinds of buyers and consumers, and possible helpful and harmful influences, which guides to the tactical marketing methods. Also, preliminary research assists to conquer existing tasks, explain upcoming purposes and proposals, and financial arrangements. Furthermore, this early research will help to center budgets on an exact marketing phase and the attention of every phase can arrange managing systems on various marketing research methods (Armstrong & Kotler, Chapter 4, 2011). Areas Where Further Market Research is Required Kudler Fine Foods has numerous fields where additional marketing research is required. Even though it is a fantastic concept to develop proceeds in the store, teaching consumers to make these specialty foods is time consuming and too expensive. Kudler is getting well-known chefs from all over the world to teach the customers. It is expensive to hire very prominent chefs and they will be educating Kudler Fine Foods’ customers free of charge with anticipation that it will increase their consumer’s social network. Kudler will also present lessons at the homes of their customer’s for a first rate fee (University of Phoenix, 2013). Nonetheless, customers would most likely rather take the cooking classes for free at a Kudler’s location opposed to paying a fee for cooking classes at their homes. With the purpose of fixing this, Kudler should stop providing these cooking lessons services for customer’s altogether. They could also solve this problem by charging a first rate fee for the in store and at home trainings. The Importance of Competitive Intelligence and Analysis Kathy Kudler manages marketing research by recognizing novelty items and also stays current with new items that are available. In addition, she examines everything that the competitors have to offer and their particular sale prices and monitors the marketing in food magazines, meetings, and the internet. Following all of the investigation, she acquires a sample and presents these products at conferences. Managers will have the opportunity to test the different products and propose their ideas and opinions. Then Kathy Kudler and the managers can talk about pricing and competition issues. Recommendations Using Kudler Fine Food’s marketing summary and organizational data as an influence, there are numerous persuasive issues covered within the business’ procedures that concern the growth of a healthy communication design and can increase ones curiosity. The marketing outline provided is very detailed. It defines Kudler Fine Food’s ambitions to mature in order to lower expenses, gain more devotion from the customers, raise productivity, begin more evolution, and opening the company out. On the other hand, with gains of considerations and issues together, the communication procedures seem to be an expensive suggestion that should not be applauded. It should be recommended that concentrating on existing customers, instead of increasing the customer base and concentrating on present problems on the inside that Kudler is faced with. This will intensify the likelihood of being efficient with both time and expenses, which would impact and regulate a more advantageous advertising approach, that they can use in the future (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, Chapter 2, 2011). Conclusion Kudler’s Fine Foods is increasing quickly and proprietor, Kathy Kudler, recognizes that an operative marketing approach along with the execution of that plan is one of Kudler’s most important ways they will continue to be more successful than their competition. The philosophies for development and putting new services into practice for instance, the catering service are essential to continue Kudler’s on the top of the list. Kathy Kudler and her advertising department are aware, yet, if their marketing strategy does not increase and the consumers are not provided with what they need and want, there is no way that they would be able to will not be able to continue on with their company. Marketing and the plans and policies that go hand in hand with marketing are a few of the most significant elements for an establishment like Kudler’s Fine foods to implement and to carry on using. The marketing department, as well as Kathy Kudler, are required to analyze all characteristics of the marketing tactics that they have established as well as any innovative promotion that requires the right place to make sure that the consumers’ needs and wants are met but also that Kudler Fine Food’s is offering their new services and remaining on the right road to success. It is crucial that Kudler Fine Food’s is continuing this success by setting themselves apart from the competition.

Free Essays on Refugees And Asylum Seekers

MIGRANTS: Since the beginning of human society, people have moved from place to place, from region to region, from country to country. Some travelled by foot, others by motor vehicle or boat or plane. Every country in the world has experienced people coming and going at one time or another. Today, about one hundred million people are making the choice to leave the country of their birth and live somewhere else. Perhaps they can get a better job in another country perhaps they have married a person from another country perhaps their health demands a different climate for their well-being. Their reasons are many and varied. It is said that one in every hundred people in the world today does not live in the country of their birth. Migration is nothing new. Australia is a nation of migrants. Apart from Australia’s indigenous peoples, our ancestors all came to Australia from other countries by boat or plane. Australia has attracted migrants from the four corners of the globe at every stage of non-indigenous settlement since 1770. Despite such policies as the White Australia Policy’, Australia, like many other countries, has welcomed migrants, those who've come across the seas’ because this country needed a bigger population for its very survival as a nation. While the benefits of migration are incalculable, every country has the right to regulate its intake of migrants. Like most countries, Australia sets criteria for all people wishing to migrate and live here. REFUGEES: There is another group of people who come to our shores. These people are not migrants. They are refugees. Their situation is very different. They have fled their homeland because they had no choice. Sometimes war has been the catalyst for their moving. Sometimes they leave because of fear of being tortured or killed. When refugees migrate’ their transport’ is often harsh and terrifying. Some clamber over barbed wire fences some swim shark infes... Free Essays on Refugees And Asylum Seekers Free Essays on Refugees And Asylum Seekers MIGRANTS: Since the beginning of human society, people have moved from place to place, from region to region, from country to country. Some travelled by foot, others by motor vehicle or boat or plane. Every country in the world has experienced people coming and going at one time or another. Today, about one hundred million people are making the choice to leave the country of their birth and live somewhere else. Perhaps they can get a better job in another country perhaps they have married a person from another country perhaps their health demands a different climate for their well-being. Their reasons are many and varied. It is said that one in every hundred people in the world today does not live in the country of their birth. Migration is nothing new. Australia is a nation of migrants. Apart from Australia’s indigenous peoples, our ancestors all came to Australia from other countries by boat or plane. Australia has attracted migrants from the four corners of the globe at every stage of non-indigenous settlement since 1770. Despite such policies as the White Australia Policy’, Australia, like many other countries, has welcomed migrants, those who've come across the seas’ because this country needed a bigger population for its very survival as a nation. While the benefits of migration are incalculable, every country has the right to regulate its intake of migrants. Like most countries, Australia sets criteria for all people wishing to migrate and live here. REFUGEES: There is another group of people who come to our shores. These people are not migrants. They are refugees. Their situation is very different. They have fled their homeland because they had no choice. Sometimes war has been the catalyst for their moving. Sometimes they leave because of fear of being tortured or killed. When refugees migrate’ their transport’ is often harsh and terrifying. Some clamber over barbed wire fences some swim shark infes...

Free Essays on Shiseido

CASE #14 SHISEIDO COMPANY DECISION FOCUS: Shiseido was founded by Yushin Fukuhara as Japan’s first Western-style pharmacy in 1872, and has shifted back and forth from cosmetics and pharmacy. Established in the Ginza district in Tokyo in 1872, Shiseido is today a global manufacturing and sales corporation in the fields of cosmetics, salons, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, and nutritional products. After inaugurating its global business with sales to Taiwan in 1957, Shiseido began marketing to Europe in 1963 and to the United States in 1965. In Japan, Shiseido has long been considered an important force in the arts through its product designs and advertisements, which were originally overseen by the company’s first president, Shinzo Fukuhara. In 1987, the grandson of the founder took over as president. The same year Shiseido announced a 6 percent decrease in sales and a write-off in inventory of $239 million. In 1998 product mix consisted of cosmetics (74%), toiletries (16%), and other businesses (10%). They began to streamline domestic cosmetics lines to reduce inventory, eliminating products with a consistent turnover, while developing new technology and items. Shiseido’s management policies are embodied in its â€Å"Global No. 1† long-term vision, Shiseido identified three goals: technological excellence, diversified operations, and customer satisfaction. The company uses techniques like brand marketing, store marketing, and area marketing. To prepare itself for a more crowded domestic market, Shiseido is aiming for further overseas expansion, an area in which the company should pay more attention, given that its current foreign sales is only 15 percent of total income. Shiseido is planning to expand its foreign operations and increase its net foreign sales to as much as 25 percent of the total in the fiscal year 2003. Alternative Choices: 1. Establish a dominant position in the domestic cosmetics market. 2.... Free Essays on Shiseido Free Essays on Shiseido CASE #14 SHISEIDO COMPANY DECISION FOCUS: Shiseido was founded by Yushin Fukuhara as Japan’s first Western-style pharmacy in 1872, and has shifted back and forth from cosmetics and pharmacy. Established in the Ginza district in Tokyo in 1872, Shiseido is today a global manufacturing and sales corporation in the fields of cosmetics, salons, pharmaceuticals, toiletries, and nutritional products. After inaugurating its global business with sales to Taiwan in 1957, Shiseido began marketing to Europe in 1963 and to the United States in 1965. In Japan, Shiseido has long been considered an important force in the arts through its product designs and advertisements, which were originally overseen by the company’s first president, Shinzo Fukuhara. In 1987, the grandson of the founder took over as president. The same year Shiseido announced a 6 percent decrease in sales and a write-off in inventory of $239 million. In 1998 product mix consisted of cosmetics (74%), toiletries (16%), and other businesses (10%). They began to streamline domestic cosmetics lines to reduce inventory, eliminating products with a consistent turnover, while developing new technology and items. Shiseido’s management policies are embodied in its â€Å"Global No. 1† long-term vision, Shiseido identified three goals: technological excellence, diversified operations, and customer satisfaction. The company uses techniques like brand marketing, store marketing, and area marketing. To prepare itself for a more crowded domestic market, Shiseido is aiming for further overseas expansion, an area in which the company should pay more attention, given that its current foreign sales is only 15 percent of total income. Shiseido is planning to expand its foreign operations and increase its net foreign sales to as much as 25 percent of the total in the fiscal year 2003. Alternative Choices: 1. Establish a dominant position in the domestic cosmetics market. 2....

Understanding Cultural Materialism in Sociology

Understanding Cultural Materialism in Sociology Cultural materialism is a theoretical framework and research method for examining the relationships between the physical and economic aspects of production and built society, social organization and social relations, and the values, beliefs, and worldviews that predominate that society. It is rooted in Marxist theory  and is popular in anthropology, sociology, and the field of cultural studies. History and Overview The theoretical perspective and research methods of cultural materialism emerged in the late 1960s and were developed more fully during the 1980s. Cultural materialism was first introduced and popularized within the field of anthropology by Marvin Harris with his 1968 book  The Rise of Anthropological Theory. In this work, Harris built on Marxs theory of base and superstructure to craft a theory of how culture and cultural products fit into the greater social system. In Harriss adaptation of Marxs theory, the infrastructure of society (technology, economic production, the built environment, etc.) influences both the structure of society (social organization and relations) and the superstructure (the collection of ideas, values, beliefs, and worldviews). He argued that one must take this whole system into account if one wants to understand why cultures differ from place to place and group to group,  why certain cultural products like art and consumer goods (among others) are produ ced in a given place, and what their meaning is to those who use them. Later, Raymond Williams, a Welsh academic, further developed the theoretical paradigm and research method, and in doing so, helped create the field of cultural studies in the 1980s. Embracing the political nature of Marxs theory and his critical focus on power and the class structure, Williamss cultural materialism took aim at how culture and cultural products relate to a class-based system of domination and oppression. Williams built his theory of cultural materialism using already existing theoretical critiques of the relationship between culture and power, including the writings of Italian scholar Antonio Gramsci and the critical theory of the Frankfurt School. Williams asserted that culture itself is a productive process, meaning it is responsible for making intangible things that exist in society, like ideas, assumptions, and social relations. The theory of cultural materialism that he developed holds that culture as a productive process is part of the larger process of how a class system is made and remade, and it is connected to the class-based inequalities that pervade society. According to cultural materialism, culture and cultural products play these roles through the promotion and justification of certain values, assumptions, and worldviews within the mainstream and the marginalization of others that do not fit the mainstream mold (consider the way rap music has been routinely vilified as violent by mainstream critics, or how twerking is often framed as a sign that someone is sexually loose or morally deficient, while ballroom dance is held up as classy and refined). Many scholars who followed in Williams tradition expanded his theory of cultural materialism, which was focused on class inequalities, to include the consideration of racial inequalities and their connection to culture, as well as those of gender, sexuality, and nationality, among others. Cultural Materialism as a Research Method By using cultural materialism as a research method we can produce a critical understanding of the values, beliefs, and worldviews of a period through close study of cultural products, and we can discern how they connect to the greater social structure, social trends, and social problems. Per the framework that Williams laid out, to do so one must do three things: Consider the historical context in which the cultural product was made.Conduct a close analysis of the messages and meanings communicated by the product itself.Consider how the product fits within the greater social structure, its inequalities, and the political power and movements within it. Beyoncà ©s Formation video is a great example of how we can use cultural materialism to understand cultural products and society. When it debuted, many criticized it for its imagery that appears critical of police practices. The video features images of militarized police and ends with the iconic image of  Beyoncà © laying atop a sinking New Orleans Police Department car. Some read this as insulting to police, and even as a threat to police, echoing a common mainstream critique of rap music. But apply cultural materialism as a theoretical lens and a research method and one sees the video in a different light. Considered in a historical context of hundreds of years of systemic racism and inequality, and the recent pandemic of police killings of black people, one instead sees Formation as a celebration of blackness in response to the hate, abuse, and violence routinely heaped upon black people. One can also see it as a completely valid and appropriate critique of police practices that desperately need to be changed if equality is ever to be possible. Cultural materialism is an illuminating theory.

Executive Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Executive Summary - Essay Example Health records are very important in the health sectors. All the people involved be it doctors, nurses, technicians or even the patients require the health records in one way or another. The high numbers of people being attended to have led to there being numerous health records which are in the form of sheets and files. Despite taking up a lot of space for storage, it becomes very difficult to trace the records when they are needed and hence crippling the effectiveness of the health sector (European Working Conference on Electronic Health Records 2002). I would like to propose that the health sector be provided with digital systems of data storage. This summary will discuss the usefulness of the digital systems of information storage in the health sector and how they will benefit the each team player in the sector. Implementation of the project will reduce the cumbersome experience of tracking down health records of an individual patient. The project will entail purchasing of computers and tablets which will be used to store records of patients. The project will also entail the creation of a network whereby all the information on one patient can be accessed by any medical officer in the hospital. The project will eliminate the analogue process of writing down information on hospital cards and passing them from one department to the other as the patient undergoes treatment in the hospital. Retrieval of health information on a patient will be easy and will be a guide to the doctors on the kind treatment to give to the patient when they come to the hospital a second time. Outpatient attendance will be fast since the information required to attend to them will be available on a single click. Doctors, technicians and nurses will not need to move from one department to another to make enquiries sinc e the network system will ease communication. After full

Project management and implantation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Project management and implantation - Assignment Example They include an extensive range of apartments, holiday bungalows as well as lodges at a diversity of holiday resorts as well as fascinating places. They encompass offices on high streets in a lot of cities plus include a premium and across the world popularity. The business is as well running an efficient computerized system for management and handling of the business operations and various tasks. The management of the France Vacancies (FV) has decided to enhance the services and handling of business in a much improved means. In this scenario the business of France Vacancies (FV) is going to establish a web based system for the enhanced and efficient management of the customer requisites for the booking. This research report is about the comprehensive analysis for the establishment of the France Vacancies (FV) online booking or reserving system. This online booking system will offer effective means and facilities for the booking of online seats and quick handling of the customer’s complaints. France Vacancies has attained enormous business progress. These encompass improved market arrangement to the business as well as its general operating framework. As business has achieved a number of improvements, a lot of business problems and a number of business complexities have been emerged. The current arrangement of the France Vacancies business is based on the manual system for the request processing as well as a little bit implementing database system facility. However in case of present age of the Internet the business requires huge support for the availability of an online business platform that can effectively support the business operations through the available internet connection that is available 24 hours and 7 days a week. However the present system is creating considerable problems for the handling of customer requests and various needs of

Apple Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 9

Apple - Essay Example Apple still occupies a dominating position in the US markets. Even in Chinese markets, Apple has increased its share from 18.6 percent in September to 23.2 percent in January, 2013 (Patterson, 2014). From the beginning of 2011 to 2012, Apple’s overall market share rose from 18.8 percent to 25.1 (Finger, 2013; Marketing Minds, 2014). Through an in-depth analysis of the factors underlying its brand image, advertising and customer out-reach strategies; this paper wishes to analyze the success of Apple’s branding strategy and the ingenious business strategies that have been giving a long –term support to its customers, in terms of satisfaction, choice and specifications. Apple chooses to operate in some of the highly competitive markets, including the computer industry other than the consumer electronics industry and smart phone market and even the tablet market. The early years following its advent were extremely challenging, especially in comparison to the time when it started out with desktops in 1970s, followed by laptops in 1990s. The iPod was launched in the year 2001, followed by iPad in 2010 and now even resourceful with the latest introductions of Apple Pay and Apple Watch (Finger, 2013; Sanchez, 2014; Apple Inc., 2014). Presently, Apple Inc is one of the 10 top most of the 100 precious globally acclaimed brands with a net worth of $145 per share in cash, accounting for over 30 percent of the total market cap zero long-term debt in the year 2013 (Finger, 2013). It has been said about Apple’s brand image that its branding strategy focuses on emotions. That is to say, lifestyle, imagination, passions, hopes, dreams and aspirations all count. Above all, an interactive and simple yet elegant use of style is its forte. The sectors of brand equity and customer sense of community are extremely well-defined in literature. The concept of

Quantitative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Quantitative Research - Essay Example This paper tries to analyze critically of two academic papers published in the European Journal of Business Management. One paper is titled â€Å"The Impact of Structural Capital on Business Performance in Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Companies.† The other is titled â€Å"The Effects of Customer Prospecting Methods on Sales Force Performance.† The papers have been selected to consider how they have approached their respective research methodologies to deal adequately with the research questions, but are analyzed separately. Both methods of research analysis will be considered; quantitative and qualitative, on how much they were used. The objective of the analysis is that it will try to highlight both the advantages and disadvantages of the research methodology used to arrive at the aims, objectives, and design and to propose an alternative strategy. This will result in either agreeing with the methodology or proposing a better methodology which could have adeq uately delivered on the research question. ... He sought to determine the influence of Structural Capital (SC) on Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (JPM) Companies’ Business Performance. The study surveyed 132 managers by administering a questionnaire. Statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics and correlation were used. According to the paper, to confirm the suitability of the data collection instrument, a Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test, Cronbach’s Alpha and factor analysis as they were used. The findings were that there were significant positive relationship between SC and JMP Companies’ BP. This indicates that, SC performance can be clearly explained productivity and profitability more than market valuation. Objectives and rationale As a major research question of the study is to find out, â€Å"if there is a relationship between the direct impact of SC and JPM organization’s business performance.† The main objective is to provide useful recommendations about performance measur ement within SC context by identifying and trying to define the main attributes of productivity. This will extend to the quality of SC by pointing out critical factors of SC and to find out suitable ways for measurement and management context. The study developed a hypothesis which states that there is no significant impact SC on JPM organization’s BP. It went further to divide the hypothesis into three mini hypotheses. The first states that there is no significant impact of systems and programs (S&P) on JPM Company’s BP. The second hypothesis states that â€Å"there is no significant impact of research and development (R&D) on JPM Company’s BP.† The last is that, there I no significant

Performance Rights Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Performance Rights Act - Essay Example It is actually one of nine bills headed for the same thing but with a little different wordage. The plan is to require all radio performances including terrestrial radio, to pay performance license fees to artists for the broadcast of music (ecoustics.com). At this point in time webcasters , satellite companies, and cable companies all pay artists and others for the right to play recorded music but terrestrial radio is not required to do so. The nine bills that are now in Congress are meant to try to equalize this situation. Some of those bills are HR4788 sponsored by Representative Howard Berman, HR 848 presented by Representative John Conyers and another by Senator Partick Leahy. Senator Leahy states that presently it is very unfair and unjust for the radio companies not to have to pay for recordings. To them, it is there livelihood and it is unjust to not get paid for what they do as artists. The Performance Rights bill is meant to stop that unfairness(ecoustics.com). The Performance Rights bill will close an ancient loop hole in the copyright law that was created and allowed AM & FM radio stations to earn $16 million a year in advertising revenue without compensating the artists and musicians who have brought them the music in the first place. These artists bring the music to life and the music brings the listeners to the radio dial (ecoustics.com). AM & FM radio becau AM & FM radio because of the loop hole is the only platform of music that does not pay the artists and musicians a fee for the use of their music, in fact this is the only country in which this occurs. According to the artists, AM & FM radio have received a free pass. Sam Moore says, that American broadcasters have earned billions of dollars by playing the music created by these artists and all the artists want is to receive what artists in every other country around the world receives when their recordings are broadcast, fair compensation for the performance of their work. All the Performance Rights Act does is to bring the United States into line with other countries in the world. The major provisions of the act include providing a statutory license for making one payment annually under a set rate through negotiations or by the Copyright Royalty Board for all the music they play. This would be in place of the original thought of having to negotiate every copyright owner for each use of their music. This Act would accommodate small broadcasters and others by assuring balance and fairness that is not presently there. More than 75% of all commercial radio stations would pay only $1,000 per year. People like talk radio who only use music incidentally would not have to pay the fee and neither would religious radio. Most of the other 8 amendments read very close to the same way. The Future of Music Coalition has many issues going on at this point and only one of those is the Performance Rights Act. The future of the web and what it means to the music industry is part of their concern at the moment. Many artists are now using the internet to do their own open bookings of live concerts as well as selling merchandise, and booking tours. Almost all of them are building fan bases on the web. The Live Nation and Ticketmaster controversy and merger has concerned many of the artists enough to cause them to find ways to take on some of this business venture themselves. This

Quantitative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Quantitative Research - Essay Example This paper tries to analyze critically of two academic papers published in the European Journal of Business Management. One paper is titled â€Å"The Impact of Structural Capital on Business Performance in Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Companies.† The other is titled â€Å"The Effects of Customer Prospecting Methods on Sales Force Performance.† The papers have been selected to consider how they have approached their respective research methodologies to deal adequately with the research questions, but are analyzed separately. Both methods of research analysis will be considered; quantitative and qualitative, on how much they were used. The objective of the analysis is that it will try to highlight both the advantages and disadvantages of the research methodology used to arrive at the aims, objectives, and design and to propose an alternative strategy. This will result in either agreeing with the methodology or proposing a better methodology which could have adeq uately delivered on the research question. ... He sought to determine the influence of Structural Capital (SC) on Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (JPM) Companies’ Business Performance. The study surveyed 132 managers by administering a questionnaire. Statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics and correlation were used. According to the paper, to confirm the suitability of the data collection instrument, a Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test, Cronbach’s Alpha and factor analysis as they were used. The findings were that there were significant positive relationship between SC and JMP Companies’ BP. This indicates that, SC performance can be clearly explained productivity and profitability more than market valuation. Objectives and rationale As a major research question of the study is to find out, â€Å"if there is a relationship between the direct impact of SC and JPM organization’s business performance.† The main objective is to provide useful recommendations about performance measur ement within SC context by identifying and trying to define the main attributes of productivity. This will extend to the quality of SC by pointing out critical factors of SC and to find out suitable ways for measurement and management context. The study developed a hypothesis which states that there is no significant impact SC on JPM organization’s BP. It went further to divide the hypothesis into three mini hypotheses. The first states that there is no significant impact of systems and programs (S&P) on JPM Company’s BP. The second hypothesis states that â€Å"there is no significant impact of research and development (R&D) on JPM Company’s BP.† The last is that, there I no significant

Ibn al-athir Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ibn al-athir - Essay Example The document was perhaps written in Mesopotamia since the Arab historian lived in Mosul, a place located in Northern Iraq. The document seems to be a narrative of secondhand information about the Tatars. The author had described the stories he heard about the atrocities of the Tatars. For instance, he stated â€Å"It is now time for us to describe how they first burst forth into the lands. Stories have been related to me, which the hearer can scarcely credit, as to the terror of the Tatars, which God Almighty cast into men’s hearts; so that it is said that a single one of them would enter a village or a quarter wherein were many people, and would continue to slay them one after another, none daring to stretch forth his hand against this horseman†. Ibn al-Athir wrote a document about the exploits of ‘horsemen’ from China, specifically referring to the Mongols led by Genghis Khan. The document was written for those who are interested in knowing the nature or characteristics of Mongol invaders. The author specifically addresses the Muslims who were victimized by the cruelties of these conquerors. It seems that the author wants to rekindle the religious zeal of the Muslims who, historically, were insulted and slighted by the ‘bizarre’ religion of the Tatars: â€Å"As for their religion, they worship the sun when it rises, and regard nothing as unlawful, for they eat all beasts, even dogs, pigs, and the like†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The main point of the document is that the Tatars were obviously mighty conquerors, whose conquests should be admired by all, but were clearly ‘barbaric’, ‘profane’, and ‘savage’. The author described how these invaders inflicted sufferings in the lands they swept into. They were successful conquerors but the unspeakable horrors they perpetrated should cast them as savages in the eyes of God. The author enumerated the territories conquered by this invading horde and, at the same time, commenting about the

Team Leadership Essay Example for Free

Team Leadership Essay One of the key facets of being a good manager is being able to bring people together that have many different personalities, and forge them into a team that works like a well-oiled machine. In the case of my marketing team, including myself I have four personalities, which to work from to put together a marketing team that will work efficiently with one another. The people in my marketing team were analyzed on the Jungian 16-Type Personality test, and the personality types in my group are two ESTJs, one ISTJ, and one ENTJ. These personality types are overall very similar to one another and that fact should make forming an effective marketing group that much easier (University of Phoenix, 2013). The first personality that I will analyze will be I and another person in my group, the ESTJs. ESTJ stands for Extroverted Sensing Thinking Judging, which means that people with my personality type are acute leaders who promote work ethics, responsibility, and standing up for the principles that one holds. ESTJs are particularly well suited for management or political office due to the fact that they make impersonal decisions quickly, and are very good at supervising those under them in order to accomplish goals. One theory that applies particularly well to those who are ESTJs is the collaborative leadership theory, which states that creating and working through strategic alliances and strong partnerships creates leadership roles that allow for great change and work to be accomplished within businesses, corporations, etc. Collaborative leadership is upheld not by formal institutions of leadership or communication, but by a complex web of interpersonal relationships that are essential to the proper functioning of the business. Since ESTJs are very good at making decisions quickly, a trait that is necessary in order to efficiently collaborate, the collaborative leadership theory is a theory that can be easily used to direct ESTJs. The next personality type that is to be evaluated is the ISTJ. Similar to the ESTJ in that the person has a great focus on taking in facts and making logical, clear decisions, the main difference is the way in which the ISTJ communicates to others. Being an Introvert does not necessarily mean that this person is shy; rather, being an Introvert usually just means that interpersonal communication takes more effort and energy to do effectively than Extroverts. ISTJs function on the principle of quantifiable, measurable means of data and actions, and thus are very effective at analyzing situations and processing a decision to be made and held to in a very short amount of time. ISTJs are very determined, and will usually pursue a job or a goal in an effective and efficient manner. When they see other people that do not follow through on their goals or responsibilities as the ISTJ would, this causes the ISTJ to become frustrated, as others inconsistency is something the inhibits their progress. The final personality type in my marketing group is the ENTJ, a personality type that often embodies the traits of leadership that are often looked for in managers. ENTJs are those personalities who become world leaders or powerful people, as they are unequivocal in their resoluteness to accomplish whatever goals are set before them or by them for their own sake. ENTJs are decisive, and have the inborn ability to delegate and assign roles to their peers efficiently, traits that management and leadership laud and constantly search for. In the midst of conflicts, problems, or any other kind of issue that arises before and ENTJ, they remain calm and persistent in their efforts to take care of the problem in a manner that will efficiently close it. The situation in which my marketing team is one where we will need to come together in order to accomplish group goals that will be set by the leader of the group. Since all of the personalities in the group share common characteristics, the TJ part of their personality test, then it would follow that our group will be able to easily and efficiently communicate and work together on these goals. The urgency within the group will be to find and make someone a leader, establish goals, divide and assign labor, and then begin work on those goals. Since all four people in the group could possibly be an effective leader, picking a leader will not be an especially urgent task, as each group member has a personality type that is conductive to being self-motivated and accomplishing tasks that have been set before them. The matter that will be of the most urgency is the division of labor within the group, because one of its biggest strengths, the above-mentioned fact that all members could be possible leaders, is also one of the groups biggest possible weaknesses. Making sure that everyone knows his or her job and that no one bumps over into someone’s work territory will be an important first step for my marketing team to take (University of Phoenix, 2013). Since I have been chosen to take charge of this group, I will use the fact that all of us in the group share the TJ characteristic to being communicating the different duties that will be assigned to each person. By dividing the labor and clearly establishing who needs to do what, and what lines are to be drawn, the members of my group will be able to operate within clear guidelines that all of our personalities tend to crave. Two leadership theories that will be able to be practically applied in this situation will be the theories of relational and collaborative leadership. Relational leadership theory focuses on the importance of the relationships that are established in leadership roles. Making sure that the relationship between me and my co-workers, and my co-workers and themselves is an essential facet of having a successful team. Without the trust and confidence that is given through effective and meaningful relationships, leadership in a group such as this will be difficult to exercise. The collaborative leadership theory applies here because in such a small team, making sure that everyone is collaborating on work is a critical part of making sure that everyone is on the same page. In conclusion, I believe that the teams of people that have been assigned to me as my marketing team are serendipitously set to be a powerful and effective team. As our personality types are congruent and conductive to the kind of work that will be taking place, being a leader among personalities that understand and know leadership qualities will be an interesting and  fulfilling task. The urgency of dividing labor and establishing leadership can be assuaged by applying the leadership theories that have been mentioned, along with the communication and relational focus that is necessary for leadership in this kind of situation. Being a leader in a group of leaders can sometime cause issue, but with time and effort, this group can become a well-oiled work machine that every manager lives to see.

Warhammer40k: The darkest millennium

Warhammer40k: The darkest millennium This is the 41st millenniuman age of wars. Since the God-Emperor of Mankind ended the Age of Strife and set up the Imperium of Man 10,000 years ago, his twenty Primarchs[L1] and sons started the Great Crusade to recapture every human colony which lost during the warp storm in the galaxy. As the banner of the Imperium was spreading fast, the best son of the EmperorWarmaster Horus, betrayed his own father shamefully. We call it the ‘Horus Heresy’ .Half of the Emperor’s Space Marine Legions converted to the worship of the four Chaos Gods. Though these rebels were ultimately defeated, the Emperor was critically wounded in the final battle with his traitor son Horus and survived on life support in a persistent vegetative state on the Golden Throne. In the absence of his guidance, the Imperium has to become a very brutal authoritarian regime. And now, the Imperium is simply fight for survival. Our story begins from 60 years ago. That time I was still served in the Imper ial Guard in the 101st Cadian legion, served for the God-Emperor of Mankind as a normal guardsman. And I knew a man whose name is Charles Morgan, an old friend and a great legend of the Imperium of Man Chapter 1: For the Emperor! The Far-East Segmentum[L2] of the Imperium System of Chris Chris No.1 West state A mouth after landing â€Å"We need backup! Backup!†A sergeant shouts loudly â€Å"There are too many of them! Retreat! Retreat!† He waves his chainsaw sword and cuts a head of an ork â€Å"Fall back Guards!†He shouts again. The lasgun[L3] in his hand keeps spraying deadly laser beams. â€Å"Sergeant Morgan?†A young soldier stands beside him and says â€Å"Sir! We’re running out of ammo!†The young soldier looks nervous â€Å"What we gonna do, sir! Charles looks at him, the young soldier had lost an eye in the battle before and his body armor has torn, blood on his face. He puts down the sword â€Å"I have no idea, just pray to the Emperor† He says. â€Å"Seriously, sir?† The young man says with fear on his face â€Å"But it has been three weeks since we were trapped here† Charles glances at him â€Å"Don’t worry son, our reinforcements will come soon, you must strengthen you faith guard and remember, you are not fighting for yourself or anything else, you are fighting for the emperor!†He turns around towards the young soldier â€Å"On your feet guard!† The soldier snaps to attention. â€Å"Who are you?†He asks loudly. â€Å"The man of Cadia!† The young man shouts. â€Å"What are you?†He asks again. â€Å"The Sledgehammer of the emperor and the cornerstone of the Imperium!†He cries loudly, with frenzy on his face. â€Å"Correct guard! Remember, we’re the army from the Eye of Terror[L4] and we have nothing to fear! Now dismiss!† â€Å"Yes, sir!†The young man quickly pick up his lasgun and gets into his position. Charles looks around ,they are in a small town in the west state of Chris No.1.Obviously orks have killed all the civilians before they came, he and his squad has been trapped here for three weeks, no backup, no fire support and no reinforcement. He knows that if there are still no backup or any supply, he and his men will soon be exhausted and they will finally become a big meal of these damn green hybrids. â€Å"Waaaaagh!!!† â€Å"Orks incoming!!!† A guard shouts. â€Å"Hold your position guards!†He says â€Å"In his name, attack!!!†He puts the orks into the sight of his lasgun again and pulls the trigger. â€Å"Boom!!!!†Suddenly, a big explosion happens in the centre of orks. â€Å"What the h†Then, a giant figure interrupts Charles, he looks up at the sky, and the sky turns into dark. â€Å"It’s the ‘Kingfisher ’!†A guard shouts excitedly. â€Å"Praise the God-Emperor† Charles whispers. Soon the giant figure shows itselfThe Imperial Luna class cruiser ‘Kingfisher ’. With the powerful canons on it, the orks are completely in a mess. â€Å"We made it! We made it!†Charles shouts excited â€Å"Here are our reinforcements!† â€Å"Yeah!!!!† The last ten guards burst into cheers. â€Å"All right guards!†Charles stands out from the bunker â€Å"Let’s fight back!†He shouts â€Å"Imperial Guard! Attack!† He holds his chainsaw sword and rushes towards the green sea in front of him â€Å"For the Emperor!!!†The sawtooth of high-speed rotation cuts a head of an ork easily, with blood splashing on his face. â€Å"For the Emperor!!!† So excitedly did the ten guards follow his step, hold their lasgun and shoot madly. A big shadow appears from the horizon, it’s the Leman Russ main Battle Tank, with 101st on its armor. The 400mm main gun can lacerate orks’ bodies easily, and three heavy bolters[L5] on it could destroy everything which dares to approach them. Then, another two Leman Russ Tanks appear. â€Å"It’s a tank squad!† Charles shouts excited. Then, more and more tanks appear and after these tanks, there are Armoured Fist Squads[L6], Veteran Squads and the best of all—the Storm Troopers, with Hellgun[L7] in their hands. â€Å"Goddamnedhumans!!!!† A roar comes with anger. â€Å"A Warboss!† Charles screamed â€Å"Attention guards!† Then a big self-made missile fires from the green sea. â€Å"BOOM!!!† The Leman Russ tank in the front was destroyed in a second. But obviously its’ rude behaviour attracts more and more attentions. Thousands of laser beams and bullets fly towards it. â€Å"Waaaagh!!!!† The ork Warboss covers its’ face with its’ big hand. â€Å"Iwillbe back!!!† Then it turns around and run away quickly. The rest of orks cannot keep fighting any more without their boss and the guards soon clear the area, send every ork to the hell. â€Å"Sergeant Charles Morgan!† A captain of The Storm Trooper walks towards him. â€Å"Sorry man, we’re late, the greenskins from north slowed us down.† â€Å"That’s OK, I’m already very glad that you come.† â€Å"So sergeant, get on the Chimera[L8] over there, let’s back to the ship, someone wants to see you.† â€Å"Someone? Who?† â€Å"A master from the Ordo Malleus[E9].† The captain says â€Å"Usually won’t be anything good you know.† â€Å"Yep, to tell you the truth, these greenskins are cuter than these judges.† â€Å"Oh, I agree with you on that, so good luck man, we have to go now.† Chapter 2: An impossible mission â€Å"Judge Johnson! I’m telling you that’s impossible!† At the bridge of the ‘Kingfisher’, Charles shouts loudly. â€Å"The Emperor needs you, sergeant!† A man with a powerful powered armor says. â€Å"If it is, your majesty† Charles says â€Å"The Emperor will never give us a suicide mission!† â€Å"No, he won’t indeed.† The judge says â€Å"Only if the Imperium is in great danger.† â€Å"Great danger? By who? These geenskins? You must be kidding me!† â€Å"And you should know that I’m from the Ordo Malleus not the Ordo Xenos, so I’m not in charge of the orks’ business.† â€Å"I know who you are, your majesty.† Charles says â€Å"You came for daemons, but have you even think about what kind of daemon will choose such a poor world?† â€Å"You mean Chris? She’s not poor in fact.† Johnson says. â€Å"Oh, that’s not what I heard of.† Says Charles. â€Å"Then what you think why you are here sergeant?† He asks â€Å"If she is just a normal world, why would the commanding room send you guys here?† â€Å"What?† â€Å"I mean it’s unnecessary to send a Cadian legion to a normal world, isn’t it?† â€Å"So Chris must be something wrong.† Says Charles. â€Å"And it must be something about Chaos!† Answers Johnson â€Å"Clever sergeant!† â€Å"So why don’t you find some Space Marines or Adeptus Sororitas[L10]?† Asks Charles. â€Å"Oh~you know what’s the meaning of ‘stalk’ sergeant? What I need isn’t a war machine, instead, I want a man who can use his brain.† Says the judge â€Å"I need a spy, not a super worrier, do you understand me sergeant?† He walks around Charles and says â€Å"And you are the man that I’m looking for.† â€Å"Yes, your majesty, as your wish.† Charles salutes to the judge. â€Å"Good sergeant, now come with me, you are not alone.† â€Å"You mean there is still some else will join the mission?† â€Å"You will see.† â€Å"What? You want me to work with these guys?† In the bar of the ship, there are seven men sitting in the corner of the bar. â€Å"Let me introduce them for you sergeant.† Says Johnson the judge â€Å"The tallest man over there is the notorious pirate‘rattlesnake’ and the pretty lady in front of you is the assassin from the Officio Assassinorum[L11] names Brambles, the beautiful lady on your right is Alyssa Linster from the Alaitoc[L12] of Eldar and the bald guy on you left is the famous mercenary from CatachanEugene and the last gentleman over there is brother O’stantintic from the Adeptus Mechanicus[L13]!† â€Å"A group of mobs.† Charles whispers. â€Å"Hey! You wanna cause troubles boy?† The bald guy shouts. â€Å"I’d love to, bastard!† Charles provokes. â€Å"Come boy! I killed thousands of men like you!† Eugene laughs â€Å"Useless guardsman!† Suddenly, Charles takes out his combat knife and put it to his neck â€Å"Say it again!† His shouts â€Å"Who is useless? Who!† â€Å"Easy sergeant.† Johnson appears â€Å"Impulsive young man.† He sighs â€Å"And you!† He suddenly point at Eugene â€Å"Shut up your mouth Eugene! We are a team now!† He looks around â€Å"I don’t want to see anything like this an more! Are you clear?† â€Å"As your wish, your majesty.† â€Å"You have three hours, see you at the bridge.† Says Johnson â€Å"Now dismiss!† â€Å"All right guys, our plan is† In the bridge of the ‘Kingfisher’, a group of men with different status and faith gathers together. â€Å"So that is our plan, you get it?† Johnson says â€Å"Captain Wolf of the Imperial Navy will drop us in the north pole of Chris No.1, there is an ancient temple and we’re gonna stalk there to find out what the heretics are doing there, and then put them and their business into hell! And during the mission the ‘Kingfisher’ will be always above us! Are you clear?† â€Å"You got it!† â€Å"What about you, Sergeant Morgan?† â€Å"I’m fine, sir!† â€Å"All right guys, from now, forget who you really are, remember, you are just like ‘them’!† â€Å"No problem, sir!† â€Å"All right, the Emperor protect!† Johnson prays. â€Å"The Emperor protect!!!† â€Å"Let’s move out!† -Charming Lee See you next season! [L1]The creatures of the Emperor, twenty powerful warriors, with the Emperor’s gene. [L2]Province that cross the stars. [L3]A kind of laser gun. [L4]Once the Eldars’ home, now is the biggest exit of the warp, demons from warp usually come out from it. [L5]A kind of gun that fires a kind of bullet that like a tiny missile. [L6]A kind of squad that is consist of a Chimera and a guard squad. [L7]A kind of laser gun, more powerful than lasgun and more expensive than lasgun. [L8]A kind of armoured vehicles. [E9]One of the Inquisitions. The Imperium has three Inquisitions—Ordo Malleus for the daemons from wrap, Ordo Hereticus for the traitors and the Ordo Xenos for the aliens. [L10]Sisters of Battle, belongs to the Ordo Hereticus. [L11]A place that trains assassins for the Imperium. [L12]One of the tribes of the Eldar. [L13]A religion of the Imperium, they believe that machine has spirit and they controlled every factory and school in the Imperium.

Adam Sandlers what The Hell Happened To Me?: How Music Affects Cult :: essays research papers

Adam Sandler's "What the Hell Happened to Me?": How Music Affects Culture This song means that culture affects how we grow up greater then most people think. I shows that when Adam Sandler was young, he was a well-rounded boy that liked to have fun. The song is also saying that our culture is affecting innocent youth that are forced to deal with the problems that the previous generations made for them. This song shows how all people are affected when they are really just innocent bystanders that have to witness the world at its roughest. They are forced to deal with it although they are truly unprepared for such a harsh treatment. Traits. The song presents cultural traits in that it shows how we grow up and are affected by culture. Cultural traits presented in this song are how we teach children and what we subject them to. Our methods of education and entertainment both affect how we turn out in the long run. The song shows how these traits affect how people grow up, and what they value in life. For example, the song talks about selling lemonade, eating popcorn, and watching parades. Then it goes on to say he's "only happy when [he's] drinking JD" The point is that people are changing because of society and our culture's lack of certain elements, such as respect and discipline. Values. The values presented by this song include the value of respect and discipline, and the need for more strict ways to keep a young mind safe of destruction. These values are presented in the line "I only did the things that Mama said I should, but now I do whatever I want." That line shows that values change as we age and the reason is because of society; obviously if Adam only did what was allowed, culture's values of discipline and respect must have turned him the wrong way, because his mother did not. Other values presented in the song are education and entertainment. This is shown by the lines stating that as a boy, Adam was well-behaved and had fun in parks and carnivals. He played in the snow and he loved sports, but as an adult he only finds pleasure in things he would never had imagined he could have only 20 years ago. Also, it is shown that culture has made such a mess of his mind that he can't understand why he would be in this shape. he presents this information to us in the lines "It makes no sense, I can't believe I'm me.

Of Mice and Men- Prejudice Essay

This room is made put to be privileged and also because it means he is nearer to the horses but in fact it is really because the other ranch hands do not want him in the bunk house with them. As a result of this prejudice Crooks has become bitter and very lonely. When Lennie comes to pet the puppies, not even realising that Crooks room is â€Å"out of bounds†, Crooks instantly becomes defensive and uncivil, â€Å"I ain’t wanted in the bunk room and you ain’t wanted in my room† but Lennie in his childish innocence is completely without prejudice, â€Å"why ain’t you wanted†, he asks. Crooks retaliates to this with: â€Å"Cause I’m black, they play cards in there but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well I tell you, all of you stink to me†. This quote shows us that Crooks desperately wants to join I, be accepted, but because of his colour he cannot so he feels the only way he can make himself feel better is to cut himself off further. When Crooks realises that Lennie means no harm he invites him to â€Å"come on in and set a while† Lennie talks to him about George and his dream, it makes Crooks remember his childhood which he looks back on as a kind of heaven. The white kids come to play at our place, an’ sometimes I went to play with them and some of them were pretty nice. My ol’ man didn’t like that. I never knew till long later why he didn’t like that. But I know now†. Crooks did not experience racism directly as a child, this makes his current situation worse as he was not us ed to racism. Crooks is fascinated by the strength of the friendship of Lennie and George. Especially how close they are. Crooks said, â€Å"Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then? Crooks asked these questions as he does not have any friends, and he would not know how losing a friend unexpectedly would feel. He was curious and Envious, about the friendship of Lennie and George, noticing that Lennie is mentally immature, he takes advantage of this situation to â€Å"torture† him mentally, to make him feel better and ease the pain of having others reject him â€Å"Crooks face lighted with pleasure at his torture† he also does this to ease his jealousy towards the friendship Lennie has, but that Crooks will never have. He wants the people to feel the way that he does, completely alone. Crooks goes on to talk about his loneliness â€Å"‘A guy needs somebody to be near him’, he whined: ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you’ he cried ‘I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ gets sick’† Crooks is looking for sympathy, he is so incredibly lonely that he says being lonely can make you fall ill. Lennie continues to talk about is dream. Crooks, having been on the ranch for quite a while, has witnessed a lot of people with the same dreams, he mocks it â€Å"Nobody ever gets to heaven, and nobody never gets no land† but when Candy comes in and backs up what Lennie has been saying he begins to believe in the dream â€Å"if you†¦ guys want a hand to work for nothing just his keep, why I’d come and lend a hand† Crooks sees the dream as his escape from what he is living in, somewhere like his childhood where his colour would not be an issue. There are different levels of racial prejudice throughout the book. Most of the ranch hands do not socialise with Crooks but would not go out of their way to insult him.

Foundation and Empire 15. The Psychologist

There was reason to the fact that the element known as â€Å"pure science† was the freest form of life on the Foundation. In a Galaxy where the predominance – and even survival – of the Foundation still rested upon the superiority of its technology – even despite its large access of physical power in the last century and a half – a certain immunity adhered to The Scientist. He was needed, and he knew it. Likewise, there was reason to the fact that Ebling Mis – only those who did not know him added his titles to his name – was the freest form of life in the â€Å"pure science† of the Foundation. In a world where science was respected, he was The Scientist – with capital letters and no smile. He was needed, and he knew it. And so it happened, that when others bent their knee, he refused and added loudly that his ancestors in their time bowed no knee to any stinking mayor. And in his ancestors' time the mayor was elected anyhow, and kicked out at will, and that the only people that inherited anything by right of birth were the congenital idiots. So it also happened, that when Ebling Mis decided to allow Indbur to honor him with an audience, he did not wait for the usual rigid line of command to pass his request up and the favored reply down, but, having thrown the less disreputable of his two formal jackets over his shoulders and pounded an odd hat of impossible design on one side of his head, and lit a forbidden cigar into the bargain, he barged past two ineffectually bleating guards and into the mayor's palace. The first notice his excellence received of the intrusion was when from his garden he heard the gradually nearing uproar of expostulation and the answering bull-roar of inarticulate swearing. Slowly, Indbur lay down his trowel; slowly, he stood up; and slowly, he frowned. For Indbur allowed himself a daily vacation from work, and for two hours in the early afternoon, weather permitting, he was in his garden. There in his garden, the blooms grew in squares and triangles, interlaced in a severe order of red and yellow, with little dashes of violet at the apices, and greenery bordering the whole in rigid lines. There in his garden no one disturbed him – no one! Indbur peeled off his soil-stained gloves as he advanced toward the little garden door. Inevitably, he said, â€Å"What is the meaning of this?† It is the precise question and the precise wording thereof that has been put to the atmosphere on such occasions by an incredible variety of men since humanity was invented. It is not recorded that it has ever been asked for any purpose other than dignified effect. But the answer was literal this time, for Mis's body came plunging through with a bellow, and a shake of a fist at the ones who were still holding tatters of his cloak. Indbur motioned them away with a solemn, displeased frown, and Mis bent to pick up his ruin of a hat, shake about a quarter of the gathered dirt off it, thrust it under his armpit and say: â€Å"Look here, Indbur, those unprintable minions of yours will be charged for one good cloak. Lots of good wear left in this cloak.† He puffed and wiped his forehead with just a trace of theatricality. The mayor stood stiff with displeasure, and said haughtily from the peak of his five-foot-two, â€Å"It has not been brought to my attention, Mis, that you have requested an audience. You have certainly not been assigned one.† Ebling Mis looked down at his mayor with what was apparently shocked disbelief, â€Å"Ga-LAX-y, Indbur, didn't you get my note yesterday? I handed it to a flunky in purple uniform day before. I would have handed it to you direct, but I know how you like formality.† â€Å"Formality!† Indbur turned up exasperated eyes. Then, strenuously, â€Å"Have you ever heard of proper organization? At all future times you are to submit your request for an audience, properly made out in triplicate, at the government office intended for the purpose. You are then to wait until the ordinary course of events brings you notification of the time of audience to be granted. You are then to appear, properly clothed – properly clothed, do you understand – and with proper respect, too. You may leave.† â€Å"What's wrong with my clothes?† demanded Mis, hotly. â€Å"Best cloak I had till those unprintable fiends got their claws on it. I'll leave just as soon as I deliver what I came to deliver. â€Å"Ga-LAX-y, if it didn't involve a Seldon Crisis, I would leave right now.† â€Å"Seldon crisis!† Indbur exhibited first interest. Mis was a great psychologist – a democrat, boor, and rebel certainly, but a psychologist, too. In his uncertainty, the mayor even failed to put into words the inner pang that stabbed suddenly when Mis plucked a casual bloom, held it to his nostrils expectantly, then flipped it away with a wrinkled nose. Indbur said coldly, â€Å"Would you follow me? This garden wasn't made for serious conversation.† He felt better in his built-up chair behind his large desk from which he could look down on the few hairs that quite ineffectually hid Mis's pink scalp-skin. He felt much better when Mis cast a series of automatic glances about him for a non-existent chair and then remained standing in uneasy shifting fashion. He felt best of all when in response to a careful pressure of the correct contact, a liveried underling scurried in, bowed his way to the desk, and laid thereon a bulky, metal-bound volume. â€Å"Now, in order,† said Indbur, once more master of the situation, â€Å"to make this unauthorized interview as short as possible, make your statement in the fewest possible words.† Ebling Mis said unhurriedly, â€Å"You know what I'm doing these days?† â€Å"I have your reports here,† replied the mayor, with satisfaction, â€Å"together with authorized summaries of them. As I understand it, your investigations into the mathematics of psychohistory have been intended to duplicate Hari Seldon's work and, eventually, trace the projected course of future history, for the use of the Foundation.† â€Å"Exactly,† said Mis, dryly. â€Å"When Seldon first established the Foundation, he was wise enough to include no psychologists among the scientists placed here – so that the Foundation has always worked blindly along the course of historical necessity. In the course of my researches, I have based a good deal upon hints found at the Time Vault.† â€Å"I am aware of that, Mis. It is a waste of time to repeat.† â€Å"I'm not repeating,† blared Mis, â€Å"because what I'm going to tell you isn't in any of those reports.† â€Å"How do you mean, not in the reports?† said Indbur, stupidly. â€Å"How could-â€Å" â€Å"Ga-LAX-y, Let me tell this my own way, you offensive little creature. Stop putting words into my mouth and questioning my every statement or I'll tramp out of here and let everything crumble around you. Remember, you unprintable fool, the Foundation will come through because it must, but if I walk out of here now – you won't.† Dashing his hat on the floor, so that clods of earth scattered, he sprang up the stairs of the dais on which the wide desk stood and shoving papers violently, sat down upon a comer of it. Indbur thought frantically of summoning the guard, or using the built-in blasters of his desk. But Mis's face was glaring down upon him and there was nothing to do but cringe the best face upon it. â€Å"Dr. Mis,† he began, with weak formality, â€Å"you must-â€Å" â€Å"Shut up,† said Mis, ferociously, â€Å"and listen. If this thing here,† and his palm came down heavily on the metal of the bound data, â€Å"is a mess of my reports – throw it out. Any report I write goes up through some twenty-odd officials, gets to you, and then sort of winds down through twenty more. That's fine if there's nothing you don't want kept secret. Well, I've got something confidential here. It's so confidential, even the boys working for me haven't got wind of it. They did the work, of course, but each just a little unconnected piece – and I put it together. You know what the Time Vault is?† Indbur nodded his head, but Mis went on with loud enjoyment of the situation, â€Å"Well, I'll tell you anyhow because I've been sort of imagining this unprintable situation for a â€Å"Ga-LAX-y, of a long time; I can read your mind, you puny fraud. You've got your hand right near a little knob that'll call in about five hundred or so armed men to finish me off, but you're afraid of what I know – you're afraid of a Seldon Crisis. Besides which, if you touch anything on your desk, I'll knock your unprintable head off before anyone gets here. You and your bandit father and pirate grandfather have been blood-sucking the Foundation long enough anyway.† â€Å"This is treason,† gabbled Indbur. â€Å"It certainly is,† gloated Mis, â€Å"but what are you going to do about it? Let me tell you about the Time Vault. That Time Vault is what Hari Seldon placed here at the beginning to help us over the rough spots. For every crisis, Seldon has prepared a personal simulacrum to help – and explain. Four crises so far – four appearances. The first time he appeared at the height of the first crisis. The second time, he appeared at the moment just after the successful evolution of the second crisis. Our ancestors were there to listen to him both times. At the third and fourth crises, he was ignored – probably because he was not needed, but recent investigations – not included in those reports you have – indicate that he appeared anyway, and at the proper times. Get it?† He did not wait for any answer. His cigar, a tattered, dead ruin was finally disposed of, a new cigar groped for, and lit. The smoke puffed out violently. He said, â€Å"Officially I've been trying to rebuild the science of psychohistory. Well, no one man is going to do that, and it won't get done in any one century, either. But I've made advances in the more simple elements and I've been able to use it as an excuse to meddle with the Time Vault. What I have done, involves the determination, to a pretty fair kind of certainty, of the exact date of the next appearance of Hari Seldon. I can give you the exact day, in other words, that the coming Seldon Crisis, the fifth, will reach its climax. â€Å" â€Å"How far off?† demanded Indbur, tensely. And Mis exploded his bomb with cheerful nonchalance, â€Å"Four months,† he said. â€Å"Four unprintable months, less two days.† â€Å"Four months,† said Indbur, with uncharacteristic vehemence. â€Å"Impossible.† â€Å"Impossible, my unprintable eye.† â€Å"Four months? Do you understand what that means? For a crisis to come to a head in four months would mean that it has been preparing for years.† â€Å"And why not? Is there a law of Nature that requires the process to mature in the full light of day?† â€Å"But nothing impends. Nothing hangs over us.† Indbur almost wrung his hands for anxiety. With a sudden spasmodic recrudescence of ferocity, he screamed, â€Å"Will you get off my desk and let me put it in order? How do you expect me to think?† Mis, startled, lifted heavily and moved aside. Indbur replaced objects in their appropriate niches with a feverish motion. He was speaking quickly, â€Å"You have no right to come here like this. If you had presented your theory-â€Å" â€Å"It is not a theory.† â€Å"I say it is a theory. If you had presented it together with your evidence and arguments, in appropriate fashion, it would have gone to the Bureau of Historical Sciences. There it could have been properly treated, the resulting analyses submitted to me, and then, of course, proper action would have been taken. As it is, you've vexed me to no purpose. Ah, here it is.† He had a sheet of transparent, silvery paper in his hand which he shook at the bulbous psychologist beside him. â€Å"This is a short summary I prepare myself – weekly – of foreign matters in progress. Listen – we have completed negotiations for a commercial treaty with Mores, continue negotiations for one with Lyonesse, sent a delegation to some celebration or other on Bonde, received some complaint or other from Kalgan and we've promised to look into it, protested some sharp trade practices in Asperta and they've promised to look into it – and so on and so on.† The mayor's eyes swarmed down the list of coded notations, and then he carefully placed the sheet in its proper place in the proper folder in the proper pigeonhole. I tell you, Mis, there's not a thing there that breathes anything but order and peace-â€Å" The door at the far, long end opened, and, in far too dramatically coincident a fashion to suggest anything but real life, a plainly-costumed notable stepped in. Indbur half-rose. He had the curiously swirling sensation of unreality that comes upon those days when too much happens. After Mis's intrusion and wild fumings there now came the equally improper, hence disturbing, intrusion unannounced, of his secretary, who at least knew the rules. The secretary kneeled low. Indbur said, sharply, â€Å"Well!† The secretary addressed the floor, â€Å"Excellence, Captain Han Pritcher of Information, returning from Kalgan, in disobedience to your orders, has according to prior instructions – your order X20-513 – been imprisoned, and awaits execution. Those accompanying him are being held for questioning. A full report has been filed.† Indbur, in agony, said, â€Å"A full report has been received. Well!† â€Å"Excellence, Captain Pritcher has reported, vaguely, dangerous designs on the part of the new warlord of Kalgan. He has been given, according to prior instructions – your order X20-651 – no formal hearing, but his remarks have been recorded and a full report filed.† Indbur screamed, â€Å"A full report has been received. Well!† â€Å"Excellence, reports have within the quarter-hour been received from the Salinnian frontier. Ships identified as Kalganian have been entering Foundation territory, unauthorized. The ships are armed. Fighting has occurred.† The secretary was bent nearly double. Indbur remained standing. Ebling Mis shook himself, clumped up to the secretary, and tapped him sharply on the shoulder. â€Å"Here, you'd better have them release this Captain Pritcher, and have him sent here. Get out.† The secretary left, and Mis turned to the mayor, â€Å"Hadn't you better get the machinery moving, Indbur? Four months, you know.† Indbur remained standing, glaze-eyed. Only one finger seemed alive – and it traced rapid jerky triangles on the smooth desk top before him.