Key concepts of culture and leadership. Problem statement Essay

Key concepts of culture and leadership. Problem statement - Essay Example The success that Gene One has had in eight short years has presented a quandary concerning the strategic path Gene One’s future. Should Gene One execute of strategy of constancy and continuity? Will this type of strategy keep Gene One’s competitors from gaining ground on Gene One’s share of the market place over the next several years? After careful consideration of these perplexing questions, the leadership of Gene One has decided an alternate strategy, as Gene One has not achieved all that they have by continuity alone. Gene One has taken risks that were founded on sound strategy and faith that intelligent men and women with innovative ideas and unsurpassed drive and passion cannot be stopped. These type of people are winners and they accomplish their goals. These factors set the stage for constantly evolving ideas that provided multiple benefits that were accomplished in record time. Seldom has this type of success been achieved in the biotech industry which i s considered a risky business in some cases. That said, the Gene One leadership has decided that Gene One must be given an opportunity to experience its maximum growth potential before some piggy back organization with lucrative investors siphon off strategic market areas previously held by Gene One. As with any strategy, there are risks involved. However, due to Gene One’s financial stability, strong leadership and growth potential, these risks are just obstacle that can be turned into positive opportunities. Please note the following: While IPO capital is of extreme importance concerning Gene One’s preparations to go public, this topic can not be considered if it does not include job security and economic packages that reward the founders, board members and essential personnel at Gene One for their contributions that have led to the meteoric rise of Gene One over an eight-year timeframe. This is not a difficult problem to solve due to the strategy that

International Purchasing and Supply-Chain Management Essay

International Purchasing and Supply-Chain Management - Essay Example Furthermore, the work at hand presents some remarkable concepts and models pertaining to purchasing and supply-chain management. It was found that none of these models could actually explain in detail the prevailing business model that Wal-Mart employed. However, Porter’s value-chain model and Reck and Long model were found to have closer resemblance to Wal-Mart’s employed model at present. However, there is a substantial reason to believe that Wal-Mart considers purchasing and supply-chain management as integral components of a general marketing activity, rather than separate entities as Porter suggested in his value-chain model. Keywords: Wal-Mart, purchasing, supply-chain management, value chain Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 3 What Wal-Mart is doing? 4 What the concepts and models are saying? 9 Evaluation of Wal-Mart’s approach 13 Conclusion 15 References 16 Introduction Every firm has its own story to tell, including its humble inception, its ups and downs along the way, and finally the relevant moves it might have put into consideration in order to reach the highest point where it might have successfully situated itself at present. There are many firms that finally reached this point. Among them is Wal-Mart, a firm that is more than just a name, but it speaks of value for customers, that is why it is one of the most recognised retail brands and companies in the world for consumer goods. The firm is widely recognised as the retailing giant with major operations across 28 countries under 60 different banners. It was able to branch out overseas, extending its competitive advantage way beyond the bound of the competitive market in the United States. Wal-Mart is a retailer of consumer goods that Sam Walton founded in 1962. Its ultimate strategy is to offer products with low costs. Its low-cost strategy is the leading source of its competitive advantage, but behind this, its purchasing and supply-chain management have gr eat contribution too, which have become the common primary interest among various business experts in the academe and in the actual business world. The firm is able to maintain its reputation in the retailing industry by counting on its purchasing and supply-chain management. Here where the firm is able to generate great volume, a continuing growth of its large scale and eventually lower cost for its product offerings. The firm is able to establish efficient and advanced inventory management system, and little and not so costly promotion and advertising efforts. Concerning this, it is of great interest to know whether the prevailing concepts and models about the purchasing and supply-chain management reflect on the condition of Wal-Mart at present. Regarding this point, the work at hand tries to critically evaluate the Wal-Mart approach to purchasing and supply-chain management against models and concepts explored in the class. There are many important points to be discussed regardi ng the above objective, but it is important to consider first the things that Wal-Mart is doing in the industry, primarily in the context of purchasing and su

Straight Outta Compton Song Impact

Straight Outta Compton Song Impact People are usually get entertained by listening to music. These songs were either pop, rock, classical or Jazz. Listeners often select the kind of music depending on their preferences. Sometimes, they just like the sound while other love the lyrics. Musical composers create lyrics and melodies depending on the kind of message they want to express to their listeners. However, the message they want to impart may have a different meaning to its listeners. One good example is that song by an American hip-hop group N.W.A. called Straight Outta Compton song from the album of the same title. It is one of the most controversial songs created during its time. This paper analyzes Straight Outta Compton as well as its potential interpretations (NWA Straight Outta Compton, 2012). Straight Outta Compton song represents the harsh realities of south central Los Angeles, such representation can produce a variety of interpretations, and most of them were unfavorable. The song Straight Outta Compton is the title track from the debut album of N.W.A.s debut album last 1988. The composer behind the song created the lyrics based on the lives of gangsters on the streets of a south central area of Los Angeles (Songfacts, 2010). The first three sentences introduced a person named Iced Cube from came from the black-American gangster group. The next five sentences suggest that the singer is carrying a gun and they can pull a trigger to injure other people. No one should mess with him, or he could be dangerous to deal with. The words being used were the typical terms used on gangster streets of Compton (NWA Straight Outta Compton, 2012). The subsequent lyrics also suggested that their gangsters are the typical ones who like to rumble. The lyrics also mentioned that they could use ammunitions like AK47 and he would be forced to use it if anyone does something bad to him. In other words, if would be recommended to avoid those people that the song mentioned. They also mentioned profanity and sexism. The song did tell something about smoking and illegal possession of firearms. The sounds of the song also involved a police chasing the gangsters, indicating that they have violated laws many times. In some cases, they avoid trouble especially if they knew that the law enforcements were around. They do not avoid the law enforcements, but they just lie low (NWA Straight Outta Compton, 2012). The people who created the song only said that they simply documented the happenings in the city of Compton. It also describes the characteristics of their musicians behind the song. Ice Cube explained direct interpretations of the song in his youtube video by Vanity Fair. Ice Cube mentioned that the sawed off also represents a metaphor knowledge. The sentences that suggest about murder rap and Charles Manson can be directly interpreted as Cubes rap will keep their listeners entertained, and he is also comparable to the cult leader/murderer Charles Manson of the Beach Boys (Ice Cube Responds to Rap Genius Interpretations of Straight Outta Compton 2015). The phrase out of the box indicates competition, musical charts or the winners circle. However, the lyrics also mentioned about daily, weekly and yearly and this implies that out of the box means musical charts. The sentence that starts with As I leave and then ends with Straight Outta Compton claims that after shooting house, he would stomp on the gas pedal and drive his car out of Compton City (Ice Cube Responds to Rap Genius Interpretations of Straight Outta Compton 2015). However, many people are interpreting it differently. For instance, they believe that the song glorifies the criminality through mentioning AK47 and something about killing. The first potential backlash is that the listeners may judge the song being the way of encouraging people to use firearms whether they acquire those arms illegally or legally. The song stated that they could use guns if they are pissed off indicating that if any people who not do any good towards them, it would be better to avoid them. Even though the word sawed off is a metaphor for knowledge, many people do not know about that. The rap song also has a catchy tune that may imply that using firearms illegally is okay as long as they can avoid the law enforcements (NWA Straight Outta Compton, 2012). Another possible interpretation from other people is that the music encourages listeners to engage in weed smoking. The lyrics also mentioned that they smoke weed and since rappers are considered cool, the listeners might think that it is cool to smoke weed. When the song said that the people should duck in the area of Los Angeles, they might interpret that they should be careful while in the area. Because violence is a norm in that location, people especially who are not familiar with the location must be extremely careful and sometimes they might have to duck literally (NWA Straight Outta Compton, 2012). The message is geared towards the listeners who love to rap and those who love hip-hop. However, because of violence and profanity, the song only targets adults. Nevertheless, adults could misinterpret the song especially if they are not aware of the genuine situation of the Los Angeles area. They would consider the song as a glorification of violence. However, if they live in the area, they would simply agree with the lyrics of the song as true (NWA Straight Outta Compton, 2012). On the other hand, the children would interpret it differently and directly. They might learn that being a bully is cool since they may consider the singer as the bully. Bullies are the ones who initiate violence, and they will surely consider people behind the lyrics were initiators of violence. In the first place, they could get away with it if they can escape the law enforcements. Since the lyrics only mentioned smoke, the children might believe that it is socially acceptable to smoke, whether tobacco or weed. The children may interpret the song that it is acceptable to be avoided by many people. They may also consider using guns illegally as acceptable. Consequently, it would attract potential controversy especially for teachers and parents of young children and even teenagers. Personally, the song does not sound good since it highlights criminality and violence. Even though they do not intend to promote criminality as they simply document it, they still made violence sounds good through this song (NWA Straight Outta Compton, 2012). Conclusion Straight Outta Compton song represents the harsh realities of south central Los Angeles, such representation can produce a variety of interpretations, and most of them were unfavorable. The people who created the song only said that they simply documented the happenings in the city of Compton. It also describes the characteristics of their musicians behind the song. The message of the song is geared towards the listeners who love to rap and those who love hip-hop. Since it has profanity and violence, it only targets adults. Ice Cube even discussed their direct interpretations of the song. On the other hand, other people interpreted it differently. The children would interpret it differently and directly. They might learn that being a bully is cool since they may consider the singer as the bully. Even adults misinterpreted the song especially if they are not aware of the genuine situation of the Los Angeles area. They would consider the song as the glorification of violence. However, if they live in the area, they would simply agree with the lyrics of the song as true References: Ice Cube Responds to Rap Genius Interpretations of Straight Outta Compton (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8-RDV9I4JY NWA Straight Outta Compton. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_xroIc3Hpw Songfacts. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=29456

Shamanism: The Siberian Paradigm in the Analysis of Shamans Essay

Shamanism: The Siberian Paradigm in the Analysis of Shamans THE ANALYS OF THE SHAMAN: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION King Louis IX of France, a devout Roman Catholic who is venerated as saint and exemplary Christian monarch, received a harrowing report from a Franciscan monk in 1255. The Monk Wilhelm av Ruysbroek, who had been sent to the court of Mongolia on behalf of France, retold the account of an oracle that invoked spirits with sorcery and fed an evil darkness with drum music and boiled meat. Scholars now realize that this account describes the first encounter a Westerner experienced with shamanistic rituals (Siikala, A.L. & Hoppà ¡l, M. 1998). More importantly, despite his subjective portrayal, the French Monk introduced the concept of the shaman to the West. Through many subsequent eye-witness reports, it would be seen that the role of the shaman has remained relatively unchanged from century to century. The shaman, as a spiritual-religious specialist, is now the focus of much Western scholarship with research analyzing the role of this individual within the shamanistic systems of belief. Yet, it is within this study that the scholar of shamanism must become acquainted with the characteristics of the shaman through the collection and scrutiny of primary data in order to properly interpose established conclusions to the discipline. These conclusions should introduce original claims within the field such as shaman identification criteria, detailed research methodologies, and deconstructions of clan-specific shamanic history. More importantly, the data being analyzed must originate from first-hand accounts of shamans and their otherworldly journeys, ceremonial rituals, and specialized paraphernalia. The aim of this research piece is... ...ifferent worlds and interaction with unearthly beings is juxtaposed with a dependency to a participatory community. In the end scholarship is given an understanding of the shaman that is accord with the reality of the cultural circumstances. References Eliade, M. (2005). In L. Jones (Ed.), Encyclopedia of religion (2nd ed. ed., pp. 8269-8274). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. Pharo, L. K. (2011). A methodology for a deconstruction and reconstruction of the concepts â€Å"Shaman† and â€Å"Shamanism†. Numen: International Review for the History of Religions, 58 Sidky, H. (2010). Ethnographic perspectives on differentiating shamans from other ritual intercessors. Asian Ethnology, 69(2), (pp. 213-240). Siikala, A.L. & Hoppà ¡l, M. (1998). Studies on shamanism. Helsinki: Finish Anthropological Society. Stutley, M. (2003). Shamanism: An introduction. London: Routledge.

Inherit the Wind: Henry Drummond Essay

The authors, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s, main purpose through Inherit the Wind is proving that humans hold the right to think. Henry Drummond is vital in this discovery because of his firm belief that one should hold this right. Drummond’s hero archetype is the cause for his strong feelings, and he succeeds when convincing the audience of his beliefs by revealing the contradictions underlying his witnesses’ inherited religious beliefs. Henry Drummond arrives in Hillsboro as an atheist, and leaves as a hero. The townspeople’s initial reaction to the news that Drummond is defending Cates, alerts the audience. This is most apparent when Melinda, a young girl, first sees him and screams â€Å"It’s the Devil!† (Lawrence and Lee ). Drummond does not let the citizen’s misconstrued interpretation of him distract him from his goal, to take a stand. Drummond uses the case as an opportunity to fight for the right to think and develop one ’s own truths. Slowly the townspeople start to see through Brady and start to see the true Drummond. The Drummond who is committed to defending Cates and respects Cates for â€Å"standing up when everybody else is sitting down.†(Lawrence and Lee ). Brady and Drummond are alike in multiple ways such as their mutual respect for each other as well as their past together, but there are also very significant differences between them, such as their character. Drummond’s reason to defend Cates is to share a message throughout the world as well as protect an innocent man. Meanwhile Brady’s purpose is to gain popularity throughout the world, and only to help himself. Brady’s lack of dedication towards this case results in his downfall. In Act III of the play, the readers see Drummond’s quick mind, his ability to function under pressure, and his creativity. When the judge refuses all of Drummond’s witnesses he switches tactics and decides to call Brady to the stand a s an â€Å"expert† on the bible. Drummond’s character serves as a foil for Brady’s character, Drummond’s patient demeanor and open-minded, progressive way of thinking accentuates Brady’s narrow-minded way of thinking which causes the audiences support in his direction and opens their eyes to truth. The point where the Drummond’s point is finally made is when he stumps Brady. Drummond’s cross-examination of Brady causes humiliation and hysteria. Brady self-destructs when his convictions about the literal truth of the Bible are questioned and proved false due to Drummond. Drummond’s attack of Brady is not mean-spirited, it is  devastating. At the same time, the power of Drummond’s attack stems not so much from Drummond’s wit as from the weight of Brady’s egotism, stubbornness, and arrogance. Basically if Brady was not so cocky and arrogant he might have been able to prevent the case going the way it did. Although the trial in Inherit the Wind concerns the battle between creationism and evolutionism, a deeper conflict exists beneath the surface. Drummond points to this more basic issue when he asks his young witness Howard whether he believes in Darwin. When the boy responds that he hasn’t made up his mind, Drummond insists that the boy’s freedom to think—to make up his own mind—is what is actually on trial. This point in the book is where Drummond’s point becomes obvious; freedom of thought becomes the freedom to be wrong or to change one’s mind. Even though Cates is found guilty, Drummond wins a moral victory. He reveals his integrity when he defends freedom of thought, even for those he disagrees with. When Hornbeck criticizes Brady and Brady’s fundamentalist beliefs, Drummond tells Hornbeck that † . . . Brady had the same right as Cates: the right to be wrong† (Lawrence and Lee )! Drummond’s hero archetype and his initial analysis of Brady are the cause of his success with the people of Hillsboro. At the end of the play, Drummond feels the same way and is still fighting for people’s â€Å"right to be wrong† (Lawrence and Lee ).

Predicting Performance

Mix between current method and intelligence test. Evaluate Alternatives: 1. Intelligence tests. If Intelligence tests are used by corporations to screen Job applicants, colleges could use the same methodology. Also this will give a future opportunity for the students after graduation, to be familiar with this kind of test. Also corporations looking new employees will be confident that the graduated students have already passed the intelligence test, so they can give priority for students graduated from New England College.In addition the New England College, based on this alternative, could do agreement with potential recruiters, to give priority for student graduated from the college as they can ensure their Intelligence level. This will give an advantage to overcome any possibility of discrimination and to be more fair for poor and minorities, as it will be based on real evaluation for intelligence level for students. 2. Keep existing selection criteria. As Alex has no prior exper ience in college admissions, and in the same time she didn't eave enough time to collect all data and verify It by real study.All her reservations about using SAT scores based on concerns, the only evidence Is that coaching improves the SAT score. So keeping the current selection criteria will overcome the risk of failure in case of any change in the process of selection, also as the people who design the SAT argue forcefully that these test scores are valid predictors of how well a person will do in college. But Alex could gain time during keeping the current selection process to collect and analysis data before thinking about other alternative o challenge this argue. . MIX between current method and Intelligence test. As SAT Is only three sections Mathematics, Critical Reading, and Writing. It Is preferable also to measure the intelligence of the students. For this it's required to redistribute the scoring as per the below. High school grades (20 %); Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores (30 %); Intelligence tests scores (30 %); Extra-curricular activities and achievements (10 %); And the quality and creativity of a written theme submitted with the applicationThis alternative will make the selection criteria based on measuring the mathematics; critical reading and writing in addition to the proper intelligence level, and avoid discrimination for poor and minorities. Taking into account the students character and their ability to manage activities and have achievement, and their ability to express their writing capabilities and creativity. Also this alternative will have the advantages of first alternative. Recommendations: To use the third alternative by having mix between current methods and intelligence test.