Microsoft Vega Project Essay Example

Microsoft Vega Project Essay How does Microsoft conduct strategic planning and what role human resource management plays in that process? It is apparent that people are Microsofts greatest asset. Linking production areas and using an atmosphere that caters to the 30 year old average employee age, has made the company a fantastic place of employment. Human Resources is responsible for identifying, hiring, and retaining their gifted talent. Microsoft has also boasted as very generous compensation and benefits program that has created a quality employee experience. Microsofts work environment, is a catalyst for great achievements. With a strategic human resource plan, Microsoft ensures that a diverse range of candidates are considered for opportunities as well as retaining them in a very competitive market. Their results are shown through enhanced product development and employee performance. The HR department is great at spotting talent and potential and aim to hire people who are smart, work hard, and get the right things done. HR staffing seeks to hire talented people who are passionate about their work. This passion translates directly into products and services that enable Microsoft customers to do their very best. Its an important mission — bringing the right people in and taking good care of them. It plays a critical role in helping Microsoft generate technology that positively affects the lives of millions of people around the world (Microsoft. com 2008). The case study on the Vega Project shows that HR department as well as company directors are using the plan to promote, educate, and empower individuals. As this case shows, it does not always work out to be a successful match. However, according to Microsoft’s home page, I believe their HR approach is a great example of how to recruit, retain, and promote motivated employees. We will write a custom essay sample on Microsoft Vega Project specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Microsoft Vega Project specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Microsoft Vega Project specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Where along the transactional-commitment continuum does Microsoft choose to be located ? Transactional leaders use strategy, structure and culture to strengthen their organization. This type of leadership can be displayed through a system of contingent-reward exchanges as well as active management. This style of leadership can be characterized through a process of goal-setting, setting expectations, and defining how followers will be rewarded (Gerhardt 2004). By achieving specific goals for both leaders and their followers, transactional leadership seeks to maintain stability rather than promoting change within an organization. This leadership style is closley related to the style used by Jim Kaplan in 1998. By recruiting MacLellan, he set goals, explained the rewards associated for meeting those goals, and maintain as close relationship with his new recruit. MacLellan was very excieted about his new Vega project and felt empowered to complete the project on time and meet the specified goals. He had a great commitment to the project, his team, and used many resources to ensure that it was a success. In my opinion I feel that due to the nature of Microsoft’s business, the company is high on the transactional-commitment continuum. This type of leadership is shown through the offer to MacLellan from Kaplan. Delivering the Vega project would mean a 14,000 dollar bonus, an allocation of 2,800 stock options, and promoted to a level 33 program manager, which carried a salary range of 85,000 to 110,000 dollars (Bassert page ? ). Microsoft Home Page http://members. microsoft. com/careers/careerpath/humanresource/default. mspx 2008 http://www. paulgerhardt. com/homework/TranformationalTransactonalLeadershipInRetail. pdf Paul Gerhardt-Transformational and Transactional Leadership in Retail (2004)

Race Relations Act Essay Example

Race Relations Act Essay Example Race Relations Act Essay Race Relations Act Essay There has been a great deal of pressure on the government and on the police after the Stephen Lawrence murder to get things right and bring justice to the murders, in spite of this the Damilola case was not conducted properly. Some people blame the system and the police for not providing enough protection for the main witness and checking out the statements fully before the trial. Some people think that the amount of money spent on this case could have been used for safety and prevention measures, as children should be brought up in a safe environment, not in constant terror. Others believe that the local community let Damilola down by not answering to police enquiries. The police are not to blame for not getting the answers needed, but his neighbours and local area for refusing to help to solve his murder. Legislation in themselves do not stop discrimination just like speed cameras do not stop people speeding. The existence of a law does send out a very clear message that discrimination is not acceptable under any circumstances and there are consequences for those who decide to disregard the laws. All policies are only effective in promoting their aims if staff are committed to implementing them, if they are properly resourced and regularly evaluated, reviewed and updated. Policies can increase awareness, but will not in themselves, change attitudes or practice. Beaver et al. (1999) This quote shows that policy guidelines need to be carried out with good practice; just having the policy is not enough to prevent racism occurring in the future. Good practice is essential for children to enhance their social, physical, emotional, intellectual and linguistic development. Even with all these Acts, policies and legislation present in the current law, if racism related cases are taken to court, according to Beaver (2001) Successful prosecutions are comparatively rare. The law in its current state needs to be amended so that the legal system defends the accused more than witnesses and the suffering families. The criminal judicial service needs to be reformed so that prosecutions are more achievable. As the strongest way of promotion the media should encourage anti-discriminatory practice. Race Relations Act 1976 The passing of this Act makes it illegal to discriminate anyone on grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), ethnic origin or national rights in housing, education, employment, entertainment and provision of services and goods. This Act also set up the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), which carries out research, sends out information, and carries out investigations into cases of alleged racial discrimination both directly and indirectly. Method This is how I carried out my investigation. 1. I asked my supervisor for permission to do an investigation about racism and anti-discrimination / bias. 2. I photocopied the Equal Opportunities Policy 3. I devised a resources tick chart for all the rooms at the nursery 4. I devised a questionnaire for the staff at the nursery 5. I used textbooks to help me with theory With the resources tick chart I walked around all the rooms of the nursery checking whether each room had all the resources on the list. If they did it got a tick, if not then a cross. I showed the manager a copy of the questionnaire for approval before I gave them out to each member of staff. I asked politely if they could fill them in if they had time over the next few days. I collected the completed questionnaires and compiled the results together with the results from the resources. Presentation of my Results Only one person knew of any relevant legislation out of the 6 people I asked, but still could not name any. This shows that more training is needed to promote the awareness of Racial Equality within the day nursery so that adults know they can be protected against racial allegations and also be a good role model for the children in their care. All 6 people were aware of any posters or statements, but only half of staff knew where the Equal Opportunities Policy was kept. The majority of people knew there was a poster promoting children from different cultures. There could be more staff meetings to discuss and refresh staff on the whereabouts of important policies. 60% of staff thought that the resources were adequate but these opinions were from the staff from rooms of the older children 3-5years, where they appear to use the resources more than the under 2s children. The staff from the baby unit felt dolls with disabilities were missing.

Question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Question - Essay Example Group or public plans come in handy to cut down on costs (Santerre & Neun, 24). Health care policies must be tailored to meet end consumer needs (Santerre & Neun, 24). Insurance contractors do not only contract out policies for access purposes only. The policies must establish a good tradeoff between access and quality and still control costs (Santerre & Neun, 24). Many policy givers often go for low cost plans when those seeking to be insured want to be assured of quality and strong preferences. Traditional health fee for services modes of operation were quite expensive and hence the reason for coming up of health care plans which are cheaper. However, the costs of premiums have been on the rise due to increased competition in the health industry (Santerre & Neun, 24). Adopting of new working guidelines by physicians ensures that quality standards of health care are maintained (Santerre & Neun, 24). It helps ensure that patients realize desired results. The expectations on the side of physicians have been raised and they must continually strive to meet requirements. Policies and methodologies adopted must strive to ensure that they foster a balanced workforce presently and in the future (Santerre & Neun, 24). The physician induced demand theory specifies that a physician should be able to induce a patient during treatment on the fact that the physicians possess more knowledge than the patient (Santerre & Neun, 24). Supply induced demand occurs where health care practitioners persuade patients to seek health care polices. The patients are persuaded to seek policies they would otherwise not have obtained were it not for them physicians. Theories regarding the supply-induced model are that they physician have too much information regarding the policies which they at times do not explain to the healthcare seekers. Some do this to their advantage at the expense of patients. Empirical consequences of the supply-induced demand are that demand for

Reflective Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflective Journal - Essay Example Tutor, Mr.Schofield gave me the confidence to continue the research and he was very helpful and guided me to perform the research in a better way. Due to his support and guidance I took this research as a challenging task and completed the relevant analysis. The aim of this research was to analyze the services provided in the hospitality industry and I selected a particular organization to continue with my research. The objectives of the research were developed in order to make the task of research easier. Since defining the objectives gives an outline of the entire research it was easy to select the type of analysis. The feedback from other tutors was not as expected and it turned me down. But I managed to gain confidence and with the help of my tutor I took those comments as a challenging idea and continued my research. The negative comments helped me to achieve positive response from others. The main reason why I selected this topic is the chance of broader investigation and the opportunity to learn about the human resource field. Customer satisfaction is the ultimate aim of a hospitality industry and therefore the human resource strategy must be unique and it must suit the hospitality industry. (Nykiel, 2005). ... Then I decided to broaden my investigation so that I could find more planning strategies that would assist the company's to fulfill the customer's requirements. In the data collection stage I found out that customer satisfaction had a strong link with the loyalty. I continued my research with two hotels. This gave me an idea of how an organization implements a strategy to improve their service.(Mayor& Blackmon, 2005). I had the chance to evaluate the current strategies and to find out the flaws in the existing strategy. This paved the way to betterment of the organization by selecting a proper method to satisfy the customer's requirements. I had the opportunity to satisfy the clients with what they wanted and I decided to provide a good service to the clients. The interaction with the clients gave me a chance to improve the existing situation of the hotel. This was an advantage since I was able to get the opinion directly from the client. I enhanced myself in almost all the ways and I improved the way of expressing the ideas. Initially I used to struggle to complete my projects on time. This research eradicated this problem since I had to conduct different analysis each and every day. This research gave me a chance to improve my writing skills and my thinking ability. All these events gave a raise to my confidence and I could work efficiently. I am able to see the improvements in my research due to my hard work and an increased level of confidence in presenting the strategies and ideas. (Lancaster, 2005). In the initial stages of research I lacked the organizational skills and I felt it difficult to cope up with the organizational operations. I had to keep myself updated with the advancements in the technologies and I had to work

Strategic Marketing Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Strategic Marketing Analysis - Essay Example And then the product decisions are made based on popularity. This means that we must consider the brand name before purchasing from a manufacturer. In the collectable business, customers tend to look for the newest and greatest, and so animeinternational.com must consider the current popular culture in product decisions. We tend to focus on the high customer base products that are derived from popular anime cartoons, movies and menga comics. Over time, we develop customer's tastes and budgets step by step. We instruct them, and bring them along as far as they want to go. We may have affairs from time to time for one reason or another; but we deliver them true value, and have made repeated Sales of quality products, they'll get back. Customers Development and Customers Retention are super-critical foundation stones at animeinternational.com. Price decisions are also an important part of animeinternational.com marketing strategy. ... The price strategy is derived from the consumer's ability to find the product elsewhere, basically our competition. Therefore, to retain our customer base, we must sell at a less than retail value. Distribution decisions are also a strong part of our strategy, however, as noted previously, we do not market to any specific geographic location. Instead, animeinterantional.com markets to as many geographical locations as possible. This is a strong marketing strategy for us as it fills a customer need that other facilities do not. Many anime sellers and retailers are US only based, and we compensate for that customer base loss. We always conduct Quality sales of Anime products. Our processes include the quality product sales based on these principles: Is a product in good-quality Is a product sold at the "right" price Is a product understood by the buyer (customer's satisfaction or understanding is our utmost priority at animeinternational.com). All of our products manufactured at Animeinternational.com run through a standard lifecycle. We intend to sponsor our products in a more efficient way that will fulfill all the customer's requirements. Since Animeinternational.com creation, we are struggling hard to do something new and to evangelize to our valued customers. The promotional mix is very integrated. We are an internet based company, and use business 'sharing' type marketing-such as pop up adds on similar sites or fan forums, Google Adwords, and similar low cost marketing alternatives. Animeinternational.com does market to specific customer segmentations also, especially using web-based marketing, such as when a customer does a search

McNally and Geraerts Recovered Memory Proposal Analysis

McNally and Geraerts Recovered Memory Proposal Analysis Kaitlin Snapp Memory and Memory Disorders Reaction to McNally and Geraerts Recovered Memory Proposal McNally and Geraerts’s work, â€Å"Reaction to the Recovered Memory Debate† critically analyzes the previously proposed methods of recovering memories describing childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Finding fault in both existing theories, McNally and Garaerts suggest a third explanation for memories of CSA recovered years after the event. In the past, via the â€Å"repression interpretation,† scientists suggested that CSA memories are inaccessible until much later in life when it is psychologically safe to bring them to mind. On the contrary, the â€Å"false memories interpretation† suggests that CSA reports should be considered through a skeptical lens since traumatic emotional memories are usually thoroughly consolidated and frequently revisited. Therein, those memories that are called to mind via memory-recover methods such as hypnosis or guided imagery could likely be falsified. McNally and Geraerts challenge both existing analyses advocating instead the rol e of suppression, lack of retrieval cues, and affective association to explain gaps between CSA reflections and the time of the event for corroborated accounts. Accounts of CSA are of huge importance to the world of criminal law, child development and child protection. False memories of an occurrence of abuse can have major implications against the perpetrator or against the victim. A false memory of CSA that leads to prosecution of an innocent suspect undermines our nation’s justice system. On the other hand, a false memory that is presented and then proven wrong beyond reasonable doubt to the jury or judge can negatively affect future victims of true CSA, as they may not be viewed as credible. How then can psychologists help predict whether an account is true or false? The CSA accounts of most concern in this study were those that are presented years following the traumatic event. As stated before scientists usually believed these accounts were either, true (and just repressed) or false (and fabricated due to therapeutic priming). McNally and Geraerts suggest that delayed CSA accounts can be true, and yet not delayed due to repression, a concept of great controversy in clinical psychology due to little empirical support. Through studying ways a delayed retelling of a CSA memory maintains validity of its occurrence, court related factions may be better prepared to make a verdict on presumed cases of childhood sexual abuse. That will not only support our nation’s prosecution process but it will also support victim’s of CSA by encouraging them to share their experiences with the authorities. By their proposition, McNally and Geraerts concluded that CSA memories are suppressed rather than repressed, meaning the memories are not inaccessible to the victim, but rather heavily avoided in reflection of past events. They found this explanation plausible based on the idea that at the age of abuse, most victims were not able to understand the traumatic implications of the offense. A study of 27 corroborated accounts concluded that only 2 of the children being abused perceived the experience as traumatic. These two were, not surprisingly, the only two children to understand the sexual nature of the perpetrator’s activity at the time of the offense. The remaining 25 interviewed adults recognized the event at the time that it occurred as a little unordinary or uncomfortable, rather than traumatic. This explains why the memory may have been so easily dismissed. It also counters the argument that CSA memories shouldn’t be repressed due to their highly emotional nature. As a daycare associate last summer at a program for government-assisted homes, I witnessed the lack of understanding of a sexual offense against a young child. One of my nine-year old students registered halfway through the summer at the daycare where I worked. Her reasons, she explained in a very matter of fact, sematicized way, was because she had been raped twice in the past two months. First by her babysitter’s father and then her mother’s boyfriend, both known and trusted figures in her life. Due to HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) confidentiality regulations, I am not able to share much more on this case; however, I did recognize that the concern I held for the child’s well-being was much greater than that which she held for her own circumstances. She was hardly aware of how that sexual predation was a huge violation against her female rights. This tragic revelation makes it hard for me to agree with people who believe that CSA wo uld undoubtedly seem tragic to any child, despite their young age. What we fail to recognize, is that until sexuality is better understood through adolescence, children have difficulties discerning a â€Å"loving touch† from an â€Å"inappropriate touch†. Another argument supporting the credibility behind McNally and Geraerts’s third interpretation of CSA recovered memories is the lack of retrieval cues existing throughout the victim’s lifetime. McNally and Geraerts concluded that some people have better executive control of their memory than others, especially when it concerns emotionally negative recollections. This fact, paired with a lack of reminders of the abusive event, may very well account for the victim’s ability to suppress the memory. Additionally, McNally and Geraerts argued that throughout their lives, CSA victims may have previously recalled the experience but later when recalling it over again, they feel as though it is the first time they are remembering the event. This happens most often when the affective association of the event changes from subdued or accepted to terrified and ashamed. If the abuse memory first came to mind as a subtle recollection with minimal emotional links, it could have e asily been dismissed as a mundane afterthought. Then when it is re-remembered and taken in a more emotionally unsettling light, it will likely feel as though this spontaneous recollection is the first since the event. Both pieces of evidence support the possibility of suppression of CSA memories whose spontaneous retrievals corroboration rates are insignificantly different from those memories always maintained by victims (compare 37% to 43% respectively). A clear, and life like example of these two concepts delineated by McNally and Geraerts comes through Stephen Chbosky’s literary work â€Å"The Perks of Being a Wallflower†. In this piece, the protagonist Charlie was sexually abused by his beloved aunt at a very young age. Charlie could only spontaneously clarify these moments of trauma, however, when he faced specific retrieval cues. These included similar weather to a time when his aunt visited, witnessing his sister being abused by a boyfriend (a situation his aunt faced), the death of his aunt in a car accident, and Charlie’s first emotionally charged sexual experience with a friend he loved. Charlie did not need therapy to bring these memories out gradually; rather, he needed specific cues and an understanding of the events’ traumatic implications. The recollections were always accessible. The suggested third interpretation of CSA recovered memories described by McNally and Geraerts is well supported empirically and aligns with a high corroboration rate. It would be inappropriate to imply that all memories recovered via the â€Å"repression† or â€Å"false memories† methods are inaccurate; nevertheless, there is something to be said about a victim’s account that surfaces in McNally and Geraerts manner. The backing for this theory will hopefully allow court judges and jury members to make more informed and accurate decisions for or against the prosecution. When used in the appropriate way, these psychological discoveries can have profound effects on the legitimacy of our nation’s criminal justice system.

The Coliseum :: essays papers

Architecture of the ancient Roman Empire is considered one of the most impressive of all time. The city of Rome once was home to more than one million residents in the early centuries. The Romans had a fine selection of building monuments in the city of Rome including the forums for civic services, temples of worship, and amphitheaters for recreation and play. The Romans made great use and pioneered great architecture mechanisms including arches, columns, and even mechanical elements in pulleys and early elevators. However, when one tends to think of great buildings, one building stands out in Rome. This building is the Flavian Amphitheatre, or better Known as the Coliseum. The Coliseum is the greatest standing building of Rome, and one of the most recognized worldwide architectural achievements to this day. The amphitheater is a type of architecture that was without Greek precedents. This makes sense since its primary purpose was to hold gladitiator fights and brutal shows which were banned in Athens at the time. Such events held in Roman amphitheaters were horseracing, gymnastics, mock cavalry battles, footraces, prizefighting, wrestling, fights between animals, between men, animals and men, and even naumachiae, or mock sea battles. The great building although fitting and plain in design to its surroundings of Rome still stood out due to its sheer monstrosity and oval shape. Although the site viewed today is still a marvel, back in the days of its prime it was a spectacular site that would be difficult to apprehend with only words. The emperor given credit for the idea of the coliseum was Vespasian. Building commenced around 72 AD. But Vespian would not live to see his greatest accomplishment finished. Titus, Vespasian's son, completed his fathers dream around 80 AD. The dedication of the Coliseum was a lavish gladiator show that lasted for exactly one hundred days in which over nine thousand animals were killed. A typical day at the Coliseum show usually started with a bloodless comic relief battle, often times with dwarfs, women, or cripples battling with wooden objects. The gladiator fights were the most popular and prominent fights. These featured two highly trained men battling for courage, strength, and dignity. They would often rather take a blow and stand strong than whimper and run in defense. It is written that famous women would even leave their husbands for famous gladiators, which were known to be very scarred and ugly by Roman standards.