A Steady Rain Essay

It’s your typical cop movie, findable on the local channels. Two police officers claim to use their power for the good of the people, but find out how much easier it is to take matters into their own hands. Although we all can get this on our television for free, director Tazewell Thompson takes Keith Huff’s â€Å"A Steady Rain† and turns it into something worth paying for, or did he? The set is completely simple; as a matter of fact I must say it is very uncreative. There are two seats in the front and several are lined up in the back making two single rows. In the far back and sides of the stage, there are blinds with cracks in it as if people have been peeping through them. No art work, not even a coffee table, just chairs and blinds surrounded the stage. It took a while but it hit me, it is an interrogation room. Now, the only thing I predict coming is be a waste of hard earn money and angry people in the audience asking for a refund. But when the two actors came out and started to talk to the audience as if we were a part of the act, it startled me and caught my attention. I’m really in for the night of my life and if you were in my shoes, you’ll be to. This is definitely not your typical play; loyalty, friendship, and lives are at stake. Huff wants us to understand that it does not matter how long or how close you are with someone because in a split second they can betray you. This play did not provide a visual for less creative minds like myself. There was so much talking, storytelling, and current conversations, that I found myself lost through a couple of scenes such as the one where the random Vietnam boy shows up then gets eaten by some cannibalism. Good thing for Denny’s (Aaron Roman Weiner) aggressive voice which always brought my attention back to the play. What’s not to love about Denny? He is an alcoholic racist Italian who takes the law into his own hands leaving his kindergarten best friend, Joey (Kyle Fabel), to cover for him. Joey seems like the nice loyal wise guy who you would assume has his life together, but in all it is just an image. Joey apparently has to live under Denny’s roof because he cannot control his liquor cravings. Denny believes that Joey’s craving is the reason he has yet to have the most valuable thing in life, a family. Because Denny already has what Joey wants, he uses it against him by constantly reminding him who has what and who needs who which leads Joey to secretly wants to live the â€Å"successful† life of Denny. Denny’s vulgar ways makes him seem like he was the main character and as if the world evolve around him. He takes biblical quotes and twists the words around to support his crazy and in his own opinion, logical ideas. â€Å"It’s every man for himself and f–k your neighbor as you expect your neighbor to f–k unto you† (Huff 48). His harsh words are so striking that it leaves the audience in suspense quietly waiting for his next action. While Denny seems to be the one in charge, Joey on the other hand, stumbles over a couple of words. He tries to figure out what would be the best path for him and Denny. He shows his loyalty to his partner in crime by always sticking around and keeping his mouth shut when it comes to the other police officers. It is not always easy for Joey to cover up for Denny who has a particular attitude. He says that he is a family man and family comes first. However, he goes around sleeping with a prostitute, which in return creates conflict with the pimps, his job, and the safety of his family. Not even Saint Joey could save Denny from this situation because now both of their jobs are at stake. Denny will soon learn that all of his actions have consequences in which he is nowhere near prepared for. Are all his lies and his betrayal of the family he claims to protect worth it? Since Joey is living in Denny’s shadow, he believes that he is the one who should be taking care of the family. His loyalty for Denny soon dies when he finds the perfect opportunity to have the family he’s been longing for. Joey is now speaking up for himself by telling Connie, Denny’s wife, all of Denny’s dirt. Joey even starts making moves on his best friend’s, since kindergarten, wife and is making future plans with his new family. Denny was right, it is every man for themselves. In this play, the two characters have their own unique personalities, but as the play progresses there is a lot of role and power switching that occurs during the rainy setting. In Thomas Foster’s, Its More Than Just Rain or Snow, he shows the reason for why during the whole play it is raining. Foster says that rain sets the tone and it could mean potential danger is on its way or is already occurring. Throughout the play we can see destruction amongst friendship and when the play ends, the rain ends as if all the trouble has been washed away. Foster says, â€Å"So if you want a character to cleansed, symbolically, let him walk through the rain to get somewhere† (Foster 77). It is fascinated to see the twist within each character and to observe how each of them develops. By doing this, Keith Huff displays loyalty and friendship, but slams you with betrayal. Huff wants us to take a look at the people who we are closest with because at any given moment they can and there is a great chance that they will betray you. With all the conflicts seen in the play, only one of the brothers will have their happy ending. It’s a shocking twist that I did not even see coming. It’s worth the money spent.

Esther: From Rags to Riches Essay

It is the dream of every little girl and the theme of at least half of all box office movies. It is the story of an ordinary girl who grows up to marry a king and live in a castle. In this case Esther was raised by a cousin, because her own parents had died. She was not a child of wealth or status, but a simple Jewish girl, who had the gift of beauty. She not only became a queen, but had the rare opportunity to save many of her people from certain death. The story of Esther plays out like an exciting and at times frightening fairy tale, in which the poor little orphan grows up to marry the king and live in a fabulous castle. The story would make an excellent Disney movie because it follows the fairy tale formula exactly, complete with an evil villain and the required happy ending. Anyone who hears or reads the story might be tempted to think it sounds like a common story and lose interest. What people will discover when they dig a little more deeply into the story find that it is far from ordinary. Esther was a very unique individual as was her story. The most unique aspect of the story is that it is a true story. Although virtually all young girls grow up dreaming about the handsome prince or king that will arrive and take them away from their boring or humble life, those same little girls grow up to discover that fairy tales do not happen in real life. The exception is the case of Esther. It is a fascinating story to read and even better when people realize the impact Esther had in the lives of her people. Through her faith in God and her quiet courage, the Jewish people in the country of Persia were saved from certain death. Besides the story itself, Esther showed uniqueness through her unyielding faith in God, her obedience to both God and her cousin Mordecai, her natural beauty and quiet disposition. Her actions in the face of fear demonstrated her uniqueness as did her well timed actions. She became a heroine in a time in which women were rarely considered significant for anything other than procreation simply by having faith and following through on it. Some of the most unique aspects of Esther’s story happen at the beginning of it. She was the daughter of a man named Abihail, of the tribe of Benjamin. He and Esther’s mother both died when Esther was very young. She was taken in by her cousin Mordecai, who was the son of Abihail’s brother (Konig, 2008). There was no mention of a woman or wife of Mordecai being involved in raising Esther. In modern society Esther would have been considered an under priviliged child with minimal hope of future success. She would have been labeled as one of the children at risk of â€Å"slipping through the cracks and being forgotten†. Esther was a quiet, unassuming young lady, who did not ask for special treatment or privileges. She accepted her position in life and did what her uncle asked her to do. The exciting changes in her life began in the palace of King Ahasuerus, who at the time was the ruler of 127 provinces (Henry,). He was having a feast for all of the princes and officials in the kingdom. During this time his queen, Vashti held a banquet of her own for the women. After drinking wine, the king decided to summon Queen Vashti to show her beauty to the other men (Bible, New American Standard). The queen refused to go to the banquet when requested. The king asked the advice of his advisors on how to deal with her disobedience. They told him that if she was allowed to get away with being disobedient to him, other men’s wives would rebel against them as well. For this reason, they encouraged him to banish her. The king took their advice in order to send a message to the wives of the kingdom to obey their husbands. Once Queen Vashti was banished, the king needed to find a new queen. At this point he sent messengers out around the kingdom in search of virgins to be brought to the palace. These virgins were to be in the care of the king’s eunich Hegai. This is the point in the story where Esther and King Ahasuerus’ lives meet. Esther was one of the virgins who was sent to the palace from which the new queen would be selected. Esther did not go by her choice, but because she was told to go. Since Esther was a young woman of faith, she went as she was told. Esther would spend the next twelve months among many other young women at the palace, where she would undergo beauty treatments and preparation to be sent before the king. Most of the young women were there because they chose to be. They all hoped to be the next queen. Esther had no expectations along these lines, because the only reason she had gone was obedience. Many of the other girls whom Esther spent the year with had probably come from wealthy homes in which beauty treatments were normal rituals during growing up. Esther had undergone none of these things as a child. She still somehow with her quiet obedient manner and natural beauty, managed to capture the attention of everyone she met. Hegai favored her to the extent that he provided her with seven of her own maids and moved her to a place at the head of the harom (Bible, New American Standard Version). The competition was like the ultimate beauty contest or one of the new reality television shows in which the best girl wins the heart of the king. Since Kings usually chose their brides from one of the seven most important families in Persia, it was unique that in this case the king chose to select his new bride from the available virgins in the country (Bryce, 2006). When the time came for the girls to be presented to the King, each girl could take whatever she wanted with her. Esther chose to take only what was recommended for her to take by Hegai (Bible, New American Standard version). Each girl would be presented to the king for one night. The next morning she would be taken to a second harem for the concubines (Bible, New American Standard Version). The only way a girl would return to the king again was if he asked for her by name. When Esther was presented, the king was taken by her physical beauty and her quiet obedient nature. He chose her as his new queen. ). By winning the beauty contest that all the other girls dreamed of, she was placed in the perfect position at exactly the right time to have the opportunity to spare the lives of the Jewish people. She did this in the same calm obedient manner in which she had conducted her entire life, making her a true heroine. Her cousin Mordechai worked outside of the palace gates in a lowly position. At one time he heard two of the palace guards plotting to assassinate the king. Out of concern for the king, he passed this information on to Esther. Esther notified the king with the information in Mordecai’s name and it was documented that Mordecai was the person who was responsible for saving the king. The report was investigated resulting in the death of the conspirators and the appreciation of the king towards Esther and Mordechai. Later in the story, the King appoints a man named Hamon as his chief advisor and second in the country. He was a man who was very proud of himself and wanted a great deal of attention paid to him (Stewart, 2007). Hamon treated the king as a â€Å"person stroking a cat† (Kajer, 2007) which means he knew the one way to boost his ego and make sure the king would listen to him. He would make suggestions that would often appear to be the kings ideas. Because of this, Haman had a great deal of power and influence in the king’s decision making. He convinced the king to require everyone who saw Haman to bow before him. Mordechai refused to bow to Haman, because he was devoted to God and refused to bow to anyone except God. Some of the castle guards noticed that Mordechai did not bow as Hamon walked past. They asked him why and he said the reason was because he was a Jew (Bible, New American Standard Version). The castle guards reported to Haman that Mordechai was refusing to bow to him. This made Hamon very angry. Haman developed a strong dislike for Mordechai and decided to punish all of the Jewish people, because he did not want it to look like he was making a decision based solely on his dislike for one man. He proposed a plan to the king to execute all of the Jews on a specific chosen day, based on the information that the Jewish people had customs that went against the Persian customs. Haman went so far as to offer to deposit a large amount of his own money in the treasury to help pay for the army. The king showing little interest either way gave Haman his signet ring (Bible, New American Standard Version) and told him to keep his money and to do as he pleased with the Jews. Haman had the king’s scribes help him develop an edict stating that on a certain day all of the Jews young and old would be killed. Mordechai and the other Jews go into mourning at this time. Mordechai dressed in sackcloth and went to the palace gate. It was reported to Esther that Mordechai was at the gate dressed in sackcloth. She sent him clothes, but her refused them. He then sent a message back to her explaining the situation and asked her to talk to the king about the and tell him about haman’s evil reasons for wanting to kill the Jews. He told her to reveal her true identity as a Jew herself. Esther expresses her concern for her people, but explains to him that by going to the king she would be putting her life in danger as well. At that time there was a law stating that no one was allowed to go in to the king unless they were summoned by him. Anyone who broke this law and went into him could be put to death (Bible, New American Standard Version). The only exception to this rule was if the King raised his golden scepter to the person to allow them to approach and address him. Mordechai sent back another message saying that maybe the reason God had put her in the position of queen was to save her people. Because of her obedience to her cousin and her faith she was able to overcome her fear. She told him to have all the Jews fast and pray for three days and then she would go in to the king to see what happened. After the three days of fasting and prayer, Esther went before the king, he did not have her put to death, but instead promised her anything she wanted up to half of the kingdom. She could have asked at this point to have her people spared, but Esther knew the time was not right to reveal Haman’s plot. She simply asked for the king and Haman to join her for a dinner the following night. During the dinner, she invited both to a dinner again the next night. By that time Haman believed he had won Ester’s favor as well as the king’s. He went home quite happily and told his family about the two dinners he had been the only person besides the king Esther had invited. He felt good enough he decided to propose to the king that Mordechai be executed the next day. He was confident in enough in his power over the king that he had gallows built to hang Mordechai on as an example to the Jews. Ironically that same night, the king was unable to sleep and had the scribes come to read to him from the records. One of the things read during this time was the incident in which Mordechai had warned the king of the assassination plot against him (Bible, New American Standard). The king asked what had been done to thank Mordechai for saving him. The answer was that nothing had been done. At that time Hamon entered with the intention to tell the king of his plan to kill Mordechai. The king asked him what should be done for the person the king wanted to honor. Haman in his excessive arrogance (Stewart, 2008) thought that he must be the person that the king wanted to honor. He told the king to put the robes on him and have him ride through the town. The king told him to do that for Mordechai. This is a truly unique twist in this story as Haman must honor the man he wanted to kill. At the second dinner, Esther finally revealed that someone had plotted to kill her people and she would like for them to be spared. When the king asked who was plotting against her people, she explained it was Haman, The king was upset to the point that he had to leave the room. Haman then fell to the floor at Esther’s feet and begged for mercy. When the king returned to the room, he saw Haman with Esther and thought he was attacking her. At this point he demanded that Haman be executed. Haman was executed on the gallows he had built to execute Mordechai on. The King was unable to completely withdraw the decree he had sent out about attacking the Jews, because once a decree was signed and sent out, it could not be changed. He instead sent out another decree allowing the Jewish people to defend themselves by whatever means they needed. This resulted in fewer people attacking them and many of those who did were killed. It was extended into a second day and the Jews killed many of the people who hated them. Esther was the perfect person for God to choose for this job. She began life very humbly and was raised by a man who was her cousin with no mention of a maternal figure. In those days women were considered insignificant except for the purpose of procreation, therefore the very fact that a woman would carry out the task of saving the Jewish people from certain death was amazing. Esther was not an outspoken person or any kind of rebel. She was the kind of person who would be least likely to stand out in a crowd except for the Bible’s description of her obvious physical beauty. She was portrayed in the Bible as a young woman who followed authority with little question. Whatever Morechai asked of her she did, even if she would have preferred not to. This was evidenced by her hiding her Jewish heritage at the request of Mordecai (Bible, NIV) and entering the king’s throne room at the risk of her own life. She additionally was obviously a person who followed God’s wishes and who showed great faith in spite of the difficult youth she had endured. God used Esther through her faith to be an instrument for saving his people. Esther was raised to be an obedient faithful person who through that faith became one of the most influential women in the Bible. She did nothing outstanding nor was she a great fighter, but she showed a great amount of bravery in the face of possible death. She simply acted on obedient faith and allowed herself to be the instrument for God to use to save the Jewish people from a death caused by an angry bitter man. Her belief in God and her obedience made her the person to save her people. Only God could have designed a plan in which a young Jewish woman could end up married to a Persian king at the tight time to save an entire race (Platz, 2007). It is amazing how God works through people who have done nothing outstanding and whose only amazing trait was her incredible natural beauty.

Who you are what defines who you are Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Who you are what defines who you are - Essay Example I was born and grown up in South Korea where I lived until I was 17 years old. I have come to the U.S to pursue my studies and higher goals in my life and to get more experience about the larger world. Currently, I’m planning to transfer to UCLA because my girlfriend is studying here. I’m a Christian in religion and an aspirant of economics in career (I did my Major in economics). Three essential factors that determine or define who I am today are money (I believe in the power of money in today’s world), my girlfriend (she has changed my life entirely), and my self-consciousness (I’ve always been self-conscious – so I bought an expensive car, fancy stuff, nice house, etc.). The most essential factor that defines who I am is money and I am very honest and frank in admitting that money is everything in my life. From my personal experience, I have realized that money is so powerful in contemporary world that it can resolve even the hard-hitting issues of daily life. Whenever I got into a trouble, money was powerful enough to solve it and get me relieved from the issue. Therefore, I believe in the power of money which can make real life for human beings. My education has been connected with my faith in the power of money and I have acquired my major in economics. All my education and career orientation have been directed towards the goal of achieving money in life. Economics can help me understand the various aspects of money and offer a means to earn the same. Secondly, I believe, it is the relationship with my girlfriend which has tremendously influenced my definition of what I am today. It is my girlfriend who has changed my life drastically and has influenced me in formulating my life. She has been the essential source of inspiration and courage in my life for the last several years. I am fortunate to enjoy her love and care all through the last several years and she has given me the real meaning of my life. Today, as I reflect on who I

Shirley Chisholm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8250 words

Shirley Chisholm - Essay Example She was active in the League of Women Voters, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Political League, and the Brooklyn branch of the NAACP, and served in the New York State Assembly from 1964-68, the first black woman from Brooklyn to serve in the Assembly. In 1968 Shirley Chisholm ran for U.S. representative from the Twelfth District under the slogan, "Unbought and Unbossed" and won the election by 788 votes. She attended the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago as a New York state national committeewoman. The first black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, Chisholm voted against the anti-ballistic missile and the SST, co-sponsored a day-care facilities bill with Bella Abzug, supported the Equal Rights Amendment and the right to abortion, and helped to found the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971. Chisholm entered the presidential campaign in 1972 and earned 152 delegate votes at the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach before withdrawing her candidacy. She served in Congress until 1982, continuing to work for equal rights for blacks, women, and other minorities. She was married to Conrad Q. Chisholm in October 1949. Chisholm commented on her 1972 campaign for the presidency: "I ran because someone had to do it first. In this country everyone is supposed to be able to run for President, but that's never really been true. I ran because most people think the country isn't really ready for a black candidate, not ready for a woman candidate. Someday. . . ." ( The Good Fight, Chapter 1, 1973) When Shirley Chisholm decided to make a historic run for Congress in 1968, her candidacy was greeted, once again, with dismay by black male politicians within her district. Publicly they voiced concern about Chisholm's "independence" from the local Democratic leadership, but privately they objected to her because she was an uppity woman. Chisholm won the primary only to discover that her Republican opponent James Farmer (the former director of the civil rights organization Congress of Racial Equality) planned to make a campaign issue of her gender. His strategy backfired; and Chisholm, who had cleverly responded by organizing the women of her district, beat Farmer by a margin of 2.5 to 1. Four years later when Chisholm entered the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, she faced an even more uphill battle. First, the Democratic front-runners had more money and larger, professionally trained campaign staffs than did Chisholm. Second, Chisholm's race and gender made her candidacy "suspect" in the eyes of the press, the political elite, and among many voters; few people were willing to see her as a "serious" candidate (a point she laments in her account of the 1972 campaign, The Good Fight). Third, Chisholm's candidacy created a political dilemma for two groups, feminists and the civil rights establishment, predisposed to support her. Should they support her because of her strong congressional record on women's rights and civil rights, or should they use their political clout to extract promises of support for their issues from someone (like George McGovern) who stood a better chance of capturing the Democratic party's nomination In the end, although

Taiwanese clothing industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Taiwanese clothing industry - Essay Example Many countries in the third world have closely studied the phenomenon, especially the countries' model are exported-led development. During the 1960s Taiwan experienced rapid growth with steady prices, without the fluctuations of a boom-bust cycle. Private enterprises, especially small and midsize firms, took full advantage of this environment to start up business. With the growing economic of Taiwan, the inevitability of moving into different industries is also foreseen. The emergence of a global economy where production and consumption are organized and mediated in the world scale has spread all sectors of manufacturing activity in recent decades, especially clothing. This industry has some specific features, which make clothing suitable for implementation of networking strategies by Taiwanese manufacturers. Although, clothing manufacture is a small firm sector, truly global strategies can be pursued only by large companies. That is why networking can be an essential force to unite small businesses to compete on the global market. There is little doubt that clothing trade, employment and production have taken on an increasingly international dimension since 1960s. Meanwhile smaller companies usually cannot compete on geographically remote markets. Business networks help those firms to reach distant customers by sharing expenditures on transportation, production, purchasing, etc. therefore making it possible for SMEs to participate in global trade. Additionally, small businesses usually don't have the resources to make investments into research and development. Innovation is an important part of what it takes to be competitive on a global market. Sharing technological know-how and innovative knowledge is also a strong argument for networking. The economy of Taiwan economy remains export-oriented, it primary depends on an open world trade regime. Networking strategies implemented by Taiwanese clothing manufacturers allow them to remain competitive on a worldwide scale, regardless of their size. Networking strategies help them in three ways: reaching out to distant markets, lowering production costs and sharing knowledge and innovations between members. The next part deals with more detailed description of how it is achieved. 2.2 Networking Strategy A business network can be defined as linkages among firms. It provides external sources for various type of input that complement or substitute for a given firm's inadequacies (Malecki and Tootle 1996). Surprisingly, there are few studies based on strategic linkage and networking (Chen and Tain-Jy, 1998). Business networking is about cooperative relationships between companies. Networking is an adaptation process: it is because interdependent production, logistics, development, and administrative activities and resources need to be modified and coordinated to bring about a better match between the firms in the network (Chen and Chen, 1998). Network resources are particularly useful in entering an early stage of market where institutions that facilitate internationalization are still lacking. Business networking can take a lot of different forms, each one of them with its own purpose, advantages and drawbacks. I

Midterm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Midterm - Essay Example There are things that come into realization once the person is in tune with his spirituality, and often times it would even be life changing. c. Culture, gender and religion are important factors when counseling a family with HIV/AIDS. Culture dictates what should be and should not be – taboos; gender has its implications as well, women especially from minority groups and has low-income suffer psychological distress (Catz et al, 2003); Like for example, in the case of Latino culture, women are expected to be submissive to men while the men are expected to prove themselves. The concept of â€Å"machismo† dictates that males who had sexual intercourse with more women are more of a man than the others who have not. This of course plays a major role in the spread of the virus. e. Those who have been diagnosed positive of HIV are prone to domestic violence – usually in terms of physical and verbal. Some women may be beaten, forcing them to have sex or emotionally blackmailed, usually with guilt trips by men also forcing them to have sex. Women, particularly African American, who are infected by HIV/AIDS are more likely to be victims of physical and verbal abuse compared to those who are not infected (Jones et al, 2003). a. When counseling adolescents, it is important to point out to them that sexual behavior and sexual orientation is different so as to make things clearer and easier for them. Sexual orientation is simply a component of identity, and sexual behavior includes activity. According to Ryan and Futterman (2001) young kids limit sharing about their sexual identities with other gay people as they feel they might be criticized, lose friends, become victims of violence, etc... b. Two negative outcomes which may occur among LGBTQ populations due to internalized homophobia would be the inaccuracy of the information given to teens, and the

Jack Pollock Movie Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Jack Pollock Movie Review - Essay Example Occasionally showing a few pieces, Pollock is small beans at this point as he has yet to develop the drip canvas style for which is famous. It also shows Pollock’s trouble with alcohol beginning. It then moves on to Pollock meeting Lee Asner, who would champion his work and could be viewed as the major factor behind his success. Much of the film follows their tumultuous relationship as she recognizes his potential, attempts to help him with his alcohol dependency, and champions his work to people that were able to make him the internationally known artist that he became. The movie unflinchingly shows the darker aspects of Pollock. Never really fully dealing with his alcohol problem, Pollock could be eccentric, manic, and abusive. The movie can seem very loud and overwhelming at times as there were constant fights between Pollock and Asner, but it does take its time on several quiet, contemplative scenes that bring a nice balance to the film. Thankfully, the movie portrays Pollock’s alcoholism as a hindrance to his work. Often times in movies or books, artistic types are portrayed as being creative while they are intoxicated on their substance of choice. Often this can lead people to think that it is necessary to abuse substances in order to be creative, which is rarely the case. It is good to see a film that consciously attempts to realistically show how detrimental alcohol can be to artistic endeavors. There are many aspects of the art world that the film portrays without feeling like an art history lesson. For instance, it portrays an artists need for social connections in order to â€Å"make it† in the art world. Also, near the end after Pollock has become a celebrated artist for his innovative style, it portrays how limited Pollock turned out to be as an artist; many artists have different periods, different styles with which they experiment with throughout their

E-commerce and its Importance in Business Research Proposal - 1

E-commerce and its Importance in Business - Research Proposal Example At the end of the entire study and based on the conclusion, few recommendations will be also provided to further improve the process or how organizations, as well as consumers, can make effective use of it. Â  With the rapid development of networking technologies during the early 1990’s human being witnessed the commercialization of internet services (Kalakota and Whinston, 1996, p.147). From that era organizations across the globe started to incorporate the internet into their system of operations in order to gain competitive advantage and to create a core competency for themselves (Reynolds, 2004, p.5). At the same time that is in the early 1990s, the concept of e-commerce was also introduced (Kurth, 2011, p.6). Earlier E-commerce was considered to be a core competency for the organizations, however, at present, it has become a necessity to survive in the marketplace (Ardisana, 2000). Â  Electronic commerce or what is commonly known as e-commerce is an application which facilitates online selling and buying of goods and services (Zhou, 2004, p.56). It offers facilities such as online fund transfer, electronic data exchange (EDI), and online marketing among others. The major advantages of using e-commerce are the maximization of speed in the context of service delivery, reduction in the overall cost and also quicker response to the customers (Rajaraman, 2010, p.12). Electronic commerce also plays a crucial role in the online payment process. Online payment method refers to the process of directly transferring funds to the seller’s bank account (Radu, 2003, p.2). The biggest advantage of an online payment option is that it instantly completes the entire process of payment.

Relevance of Core Competency for the Attainment of Competitive Essay

Relevance of Core Competency for the Attainment of Competitive Advantage - Essay Example The exponential increase in competition compels the organizations to implement effective strategies with the aid of strategic analysis to survive in the market. Olson and Bolton (2002) stated that the attainment of competitive advantage and development of core competencies have become two of the main goals of business owners in the prevailing times. 2. Overview of Competitive Advantage and Core Competency The domain of competitive advantage has been studied by numerous researchers over the years. Michael Porter is one of the prominent researchers in the study of strategic management and strategic analysis; he stated that competitive advantage is defined as the strategies implemented by an organization to compete in the market while combating the external forces in the environment. The possession of competitive advantage enables the company to have an edge over the prevailing services and products in the market. One of the most vital contributions of Porter (1998) has been the accumul ation of strategies to attain competitive advantage in the form of â€Å"Wheel of Competitive Advantage†: Figure 1: Wheel of Competitive Strategy (Porter, 1998) It can be seen from the above figure that the attainment of competitive advantage is spread across all the departments and functions of an organization while being influenced by the goals and objectives of the organization. Dividend Tree (2009) stated that core competencies bear great relevance for any organization since they facilitate survival in competitive markets. Brown (2002) defined core competencies in a simple manner and stated that core competencies are those tangible and intangible resources of a company that enable a company to compete in the market in the presence of competitors. Core competencies become sources of great revenues and value for the customers. Gardelliano (2002) stated that core competencies may be an outcome of the following factors: Related Knowledge: Knowledge is an important intangible asset for any organization, for example, customer buying behaviors, sales forecasting on the basis of past and current sales records etc. Set of Skills: Set of skills includes the abilities to perform business operations, for example implementation of business plans, level of expertise possessed by the employees etc. Attributes: Attributes are related to the qualitative aspects of the business operations that might include the quality of the service, customer relations etc. The amalgamation of these aspects results in the production of core competencies for organizations and makes their service and products unique as compared to the competitors in the market. 3. Process of Development of Core Competency Organizational identity is a relevant asset since it has an effect on the competitive advantage of any organization. Glowa (2001) explained that the identity of an organization is an accumulation of the unique aspects, organizational performance and core values that it can introduce in its services and products. Jeyavelu (2006) stated that if organizational identity is directed towards the achievement of unique business goals and operations of the company then it can contribute towards the attainment of competitive advantage. However, Voss, Cable and Voss (2006) pointed out that these factors cannot bear much relevance if organizational identity is not supported by the top management of the organizati

Individual Write-Up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual Write-Up - Essay Example e going to visit Africa and more particularly Kenya, s as to go and watch the wild beast migration, based on what I have heard regarding Africa I prepared myself for the Stone Age life. Two days before our departure I had already parked all the things that I thought was necessary. I carried some of the most essential things, such as toothpaste, soap, spotlights, and camp knifes. My dad informed me of certain things like soap that could be bought when we got to Africa, but I could not dare leave my â€Å"Essential package† as I was not sure even if there were shops there. The day finally came, and we left for Africa, the fight took about 12 hours, as we had to make a stopover in Amsterdam. All through the flight, my mind was on the types of houses that I was going not just to see but live in. when the pilot announced the plane’s arrival in an hour, I was very excited because I was going to experience Africa for the very first time. The plane reached the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and t my surprise there were no animals anywhere in sight all I could see were tall, beautiful houses like the ones back in Canada. Sensing my dismay my dad told me â€Å"I told you†, the animal park that we were supposed to go and see the wild beast migration was known as the Tsavo National Park, which was quite a long distance from Nairobi. I had found out from the internet about the wild beast migration, and I was looking forward to seeing the animals leap into the river and cross to the other side. I tried to anticipate how many animals would make it safely to the other side. To make the experience a unforgettable, my dad had arranged that we travel by train to the park. There are no electric trains in Kenya we had t use the old locomotives, which run on diesel apparently these trains were left by the colonial government decades ago. The trip t the park was full of adventure, the train tracks went through beautiful open country where we were able t see some wild animals

Histroy of English Language Essay Example for Free

Histroy of English Language Essay History of English language will explain, why learning English as a second language is difficult without proper instruction, even though basic components are same. Throughout its history English has been influenced by the varieties of language. Living languages never remain static. Every language is the product of change and continues to change as long as it is spoken. Only dead languages like Latin or Sanskrit change no longer, since no one speaks them now. The changes, while they do occur are gradual and slow and hence almost imperceptible. Over a span of centuries, however, their cumulative effect is appreciable. Shakespeare English is difficult for modern readers; Chaucer’s is almost is incomprehensible without formal instruction. The History of the English language: The origin During the Roman invasion, the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. English belongs, in all its stages, to the Indo European family of languages, formerly called Indo-Germanic, and still earlier Aryan. Indo European is the name given to the set of linguistic forms from which nearly all European languages as well as those of Persia and very large part of India can be shewn to descend. The historians have used the word Indo-European because it merely suggests that the languages it comprises cover most of the Europe and India mark the length of its confines. The predominance and pioneering s of the position of the German Philologist English is one of the most important languages in the world today. More the an 350 million people in Great Britain are native speakers. In addition 150 million non-native speakers of English are there. English however is not spoken by large number of people in the world . Chinese, for instance spoken by more than 880 million people in China alone. Among the western languages English has the advantage in numbers. Spanish in spoken by about 210 million people. Russian is spoken about 200 million people Portuguese is spoken about 105 million people etc . Importance of a language is associated with political role played by the nations using it and their influence in the international affairs. Several reasons may be adduced for current importance and popularity of English. Historically the colonial expansion of the British Empire over which the sun never sets, was responsible for the imposition of the English on aspiring natives. Even after achieving independence many countries like Nigeria, India, Ghana continue to use English as official language for several reasons. The nature of the English language and its tolerance to change has made it very popular. One of the major assets of the English language is the mixed character or its vocabulary. English being the Germanic descent has many words from the Germanic languages viz, German Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Scandinavian, Swedish, Norwegian. It also shares a large number of words with the European languages derived from Latin viz,French Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Hence English seems very familiar to anyone who speaks a Germanic and Roman language. Instead of making new words chiefly by the combination of existing elements, English has shown the marked tendency to go outside its own linguistic resources and borrow from other languages. These words have been so well assimilated into English the no one ever remembers or recognizes that they have been borrowed. Any etymological dictionary will show that English has borrowed from almost every language of the world; Hebrew Arabic Hindi Tamil,Malay,WestAfrica,Chinese,Brazil etc. This is the reason why we call English a cosmopolitan vocabulary which is an asset to any language which seeks to attain international use. Modern linguists therefore accept the dynamic nature of language. One of their axioms is that there are no pure forms of language, for language, for languages keep changing all the time. If English had remained pure over the centuries, we should still be speaking the language of Chaucer. Throughout the history, the English language has accepted with comparative equanimity words from other languages with which it has been in contact. There have been periods in which speakers and writers have indulged in large-scale use of foreign words. In general, most people will agree that the foreign contribution to English has been useful. Some languages avoid as far as possible the use of alien terms; instead they substitute new words made up of native elements. English however, has always accepted foreign words. Many hundreds of words of non-English origin are now part and parcel of the English vocabulary, indistinguishable from the native stock except to those with some knowledge of etymology. Of all the world languages, English has probably the vocabulary which is the most copious, heterogeneous and varied, at the same time this also one of the reason that learning English as second language becomes difficult. All the people, with whom its speakers have come in contact during more than thirteen centuries of its growth, have left permanent marks on the language. Some of the contacts have been deep and lasting like Greek, French and Latin. A study of the history of the English language, therefore, unfolds the panorama of English history-both social and political. With an empire over which sun never sets, the English language has been particularly open to foreign influences. The Romans with whom the ancient Germanic tribes had dealings, the Romanized Britons, the Latin fathers of the church who were once eagerly studied the Danish and Norwegian invaders, the Norman French conquerors, the revival of ancient Latin and Greek classics at Renaissance, the Italian artists and men of letters of the 16th century the colonizing nations of the same century—all these have made their contributions to the English language. Arab mathematicians from Spain have enriched the language: so have American Redskins and Indian sepoys. The Italianate Englishman of Queen Elizabeth’s time of whom Shakespeare made fun and famous writers like Dryden, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift have left something of value in the English word—hoard. It is no doubt, that such statement might fairly be made about other language and their history; but what stands out so remarkably about English is the abundance, the unparalleled variety and the length of the time during which foreign influences have been effective. Further, no other language has so much copious and heterogeneous material. In historical linguistics the contribution of particular foreign language to another is referred to as borrowing . In common parlance, ‘borrowing’ means getting something form somebody on the understanding that it is to be returned. Luckily, this definition does not apply to words which are borrowed, never to be returned. Linguists wonder whether ‘stealing’ might be a more appropriate term for this phenomenon. As Haugen says† The borrowing takes place without the lender’s consent or even awareness and the borrower is under no obligation to repay the loan. One might as well call it stealing, were it is not the owner is deprived of nothing and feels no urge to recover his goods. The process might be called adoption, for the speaker does adopt element from a second language into its own. Even though English language has adopted variety of languages into it, the basic structure of the English language has not changed. English language’s basic structure is, it has fixed word order. Due to more than two hundred years of English rule, Tamil has borrowed copiously from English. Now these words are not recognized as foreign at all. One hears an uneducated Tamil speaker use words like office school, ticket, gate, bus etc. In fact, practically no one remembers the Tamil equivalent of these words. The problem arises for the second language learners only when they were asked to use the language or reproducing it. Tamil is Dravidian language spoken by more than 65 million people. It is the official language of Tamil nadu state in India and one of the official languages of Srilanka also. Large Tamil-speaking communities also reside in South Africa,Singapore, Malaysia and the other Indian ocean islands. The earliest Tamil inscriptions dates from 200B. C. The literature in the language have a 2,000-year history. There are 247 letters in the Tamil alphabet. The 247 letters in the Tamil alphabet can be divided into 12 vowels 18 consonants, 216 vowel consonants and 1 special letter. The vowel consonants are formed by combining the vowel letters and consonants letters. The vowel-consonants letters also have long and short sounds. The History of English is divided into three ages. Old English, Middle English and Modern English. There are 26 letters and 44 sounds, in that there 6 pure vowels and 18 diphthongs and 20 consonants in English language. Compared to Tamil language English has less number of letters ,but ironically language that has 247 letters(Tamil) has limited in terms of vocabulary, but English language that has 26 letters has million words. According THE HINDU newspaper which published an article duirng 2006, The department of Tamil language in the University of Madras has benn revising, enlarging and updating the Tamil lexicon. During 1924-39, the University of Madras had Published the Tamil Lexicon in seven volumes comprising 124,405 entries. Such a dictionary was pioneering venture in the pre-independence period. Prof. Vaiyapuri Pillai had played a huge role in the complication and publication. There have been persistent demands for updating and expanding the lexicon. The many social, political and technological changes in the six-decade period have direct bearing on the Tamil language. It is in this background that the Department of Tamil language of the Madras University had out forth its plan to revise enlarge and update the lexicon. The present Tamil lexicon, under preparation ,will come out in 10 volumes, comprising atleast 500,000 entries ,will be bilingual in nature and at the same time render the meaning chronologically. On top of the vast difference in the number of letters in their alphabet, the Tamil language also differs in many grammatical items compared to the English language. The earliest period of English was formerly called as ANGLO SAXON. The history of English language is divided into three main periods . They are old English (from earliest writings till 1100) Middle English extends from about 1100A. D- 1450A. D, from 1450A. D till date its Modern English. The English language is spoken or read by the largest number of people in the world, for historical, political and economic reasons. First and foremost feature of English language is its extraordinary receptive and adaptable heterogeneousness-the varied ease and readiness with which it has taken to itself material from almost everywhere in the world and has made the new elements of language its own. Throughout its history English has accepted with equinamity words from other languages with which it has been in contact. Foreign elements with ease and assimilated them all to its character. Though it is copiousness of vocabulary is outstanding. A second outstanding characteristic of English is simplicity of inflexion-the ease with which it indicates the relationship of words in a sentence with only the minimum of change in their shapes or variation of endings. A third quality of English is its relatively fixed-word order. An inflected language like Latin or Russian can afford to be fairly free in the arrangement of its words, since the inflexions show clearly the proper relationship in the sentence and ambiguity is unlikely. Of all world languages, English has probably the vocabulary which is most copious, heterogeneous and varied. All the peoples with whom its speakers have come into contact during more than thirteen centuries of the growth, have left permanent marks on the language. Some of the contacts have been deep and lasting like those of ancient Rome and France. Others have been casual like those of Spain or Czechoslovakia. During the Roman invasion, the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. While the Roman soldiers in town used Latin, the Britons in the countryside spoke Celtic. Later this was replaced by English. The history of the English language in Britain begins with the settlement of the Angels, Saxons and Jutes in Brtian. These three tribes came from the plains near Schelswing Holstein in North Germany. They had to encounter varying degrees of hostility from the Celts. For mutual protection the tribes combined into small kingdoms. The most important among these were: Northumbria, Mercia. East Anglia, Wessex, Sussex, Essex and Kent. Under King Alfred Wessex enjoyed the leadership in learning. The English language of today reflects many centuries of developments. The political and social history of England has exerted a considerable impact on the language. The Christianizing of Britain in 597 brought English into contact with Latin civilization and many Latin words were added to the English vocabulary. Then the Scandinavian invasion resulted in considerable two people and their languages. For two centuries after the Norman Conquest English remained the language of the lower classes. When English once more gained importance, it had been considerably changed from what it was in 1066. In a similar way the Hundred Years War, the rise of an important middle class, the Renaissance the development of the British empire, the growth of commerce and industry, science and literature have all contributed to make the English language what it is today. In short the English language reflects in its entire development the political, social and cultural history of the English people.

Leadership Styles Of Jesus Christ And Paul Religion Essay

Leadership Styles Of Jesus Christ And Paul Religion Essay This essay will examine the theoretical concepts of leadership, showing their strengths and weaknesses. The leadership styles of Jesus Christ and Apostle Paul will be discussed followed by the leadership qualities expected from the church as illustrated by the five-fold ministry found in Pauls epistle to the Ephesians Chapter 4. The leadership qualities expected in change management, communicating vision and handling or dealing with oppositions shall be examined. Nevertheless, most people believe that leadership means to occupy an exalted position that commands authority over others. Typical is the request by the mother of Zebedees children to Jesus Christ in Matthew Chapter 20 verses 20 and 21. Salome sought that Jesus will grant that her two sons take positions; one on the left and the other on the right hand of Jesus in His kingdom. Jesus confirmed that this is the manner of leadership found in the world, where the princes of the gentiles exercise dominion over them and they exercise great authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you.  [1]  Wright inferred that with this concept of leadership, only the few people occupying positions of authority and responsibility could be referred to as leaders and not every Christian.  [2]   Jesus advocated that leaders should serve rather than being served  [3]  . This concept focuses on what we do; as in service to God and to others as opposed to merely occupying positions. Paul, when writing to the Galatians instructs us that, by love serve one another  [4]  . Gods intention demonstrated by the blessing of Genesis Chapter 1 verse 28 shows that all humans have the right to lead and we need not occupy any position to do that. Wright again explained that if by leader we mean a person who enters into a relationship with another person to influence their behaviour, values or attitudes, then I would suggest that all Christians should be leaders.  [5]   Damazio in his book reveals the danger the church faces today as scriptural principles laid in Gods word are being replaced with business principles thus making the church to run as business corporations rather than as New Testament organisations. Members hardly comprehend the truth of the word of God. Biblical prerequisite into leadership position demanding holiness, Holy Ghost in-filling, integrity and godly wisdom have gradually been replaced with academic scholarship hence robbing the church of its spiritual life and vitality  [6]  . The church is gradually going the way Paul describes as having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.  [7]   LEADERSHIP STYLEs OF JESUS CHRIST and APOSTLE paul COMPARED AND CONTRASTED Jesus communicated His mission saying, For the son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life as ransom for many. This statement depicts service and sacrifice. Similarly, Paul in his Epistles revealed that his leadership is derived from being a servant of Jesus Christ. Some translations of the Bible even allude to him as a bondservant of Jesus. Pauls leadership is by example reflected in his statement, be followers of me as I am of Christ  [8]  , similar to Jesus, I do whatever I see the Father do  [9]  . This emanated from the law of reproduction of kinds every organism produces after its kind  [10]  ; which actually has its root in Genesis at creation. It is popularly said, that success without a successor is failure. As Jesus therefore commanded his disciples to teach all nations, so Paul instructed Timothy that the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also, thus the continuity of the leadership chain guaranteed. The mentorship style of both Jesus and Paul is also here emphasised. According to Ascough, Pauls style of leadership referenced in 1st Thessalonians 5:12-13 is, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in highest regard because of their work  [11]  . Since these are unnamed people, the term who are over you, implies they are leaders whose obligation is due to the work they do rather than their position. This tally with Jesus view that leadership is not about the office but the duties. While exercising authority in administrative offices, they are not to slack in their daily tasks of their work; for which they are to be respected  [12]  . Accordingly, Agostos Jesus leadership challenged the political and spiritual leadership of His time. He identified with the masses that were overtaxed and oppressed by the Jewish domination helped by Roman authorities. He confronted the injustice, challenging the oppressors right into the temple; where He overthrew tables of money changers  [13]  . His weapon remained the Word of God, referring His critics to the Old Testament book of Jeremiah 7: 11 which says that the house of God has become den of robbers.  [14]   The difference between Jesus and Pauls leadership style is obvious the way Jesus ministered to a local audience in the regions of Galilee and Jerusalem and ministered in Jewish temple and synagogues, Paul embarked on missionary journeys establishing churches in urban centres throughout the Roman Empire. Paul wrote to his followers while Jesus did not keep any writing except witnesses account written after his death. This makes Paul presentation more comprehensible to us today than Jesus  [15]  . The gospel writers may not have written without elements of their personal agenda. THE FIVE FOLD LEADERSHIP MINISTRY In Ephesians chapter 4, the five-fold leaders template was identified and Paul explained the purpose of the gifts. According to verse 12, the purpose of the gifts is not to boast but as tools to work with, that is: The perfecting of the saints providing leadership for other believers The work of the ministry The edifying of the body of Christ APOSTLES The word apostle is from the Greek word apostollos meaning to send. That is called to represent Christ as a missionary, preaching the gospel and establishing churches.  [16]  Jesus was called an Apostle sent by God (Hebrews 3:1).  [17]  Stamps believe that apart from the signs of an Apostle mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:12, the apostles commissioned to write scriptures belonged to a different class to church leaders that succeed them. PROPHETS The Old Testament prophets always appeal to the conscience of Gods people to remain faithful and telling of future events. Today they warn, rebuke exhort, comfort and pronounce judgement  [18]  . Their prophecies however are to be authenticated by the word of God. EVANGELISTS From the Greek root word evangel meaning good news, evangelists have the tasks of spreading the gospel of Christ. Jesus commanded His disciples to go into the world and preach the gospel to all creatures. Mark 16:15. Every believer is expected to do this. But there are some specially gifted of the Holy Spirit to evangelise and win many souls by preaching, miracles and deliverance  [19]  . Philip is a classical NT example (Acts 21:8). PASTORS Pastors are shepherds to tend and oversee the flock of God in a local assembly. They are to feed the members with the undiluted word of God; to ensure spiritual growth and provide leadership for the congregation in a local church. Apostle Paul was very clear in expressing the qualifications of bishop, Pastor or overseers; which are not political but spiritual qualities (1 Timothy 3: 1-7). TEACHERS Teachers lead Gods people providing sound doctrine and acting as the custodians of the truthfulness of the Word of God. They check and balance the ministry of prophets to prevent heresies  [20]  . They are also responsible for raising other teachers. The five-fold ministry are interrelated and interdependent. Individuals within the body of Christ can possibly manifest more than one of these gifts. Apostles are said to function in all five. LEADERSHIP WITH DEFINED AND PROJECTED VISION TO FOLLOWERSHIP. According to Carson Pue, Leaders met in the past two decades and concur in the realisation of the full advantages of communicating their vision clearly and with such a feeling that people were able to follow. With numerous books on visionary leadership, Leaders wanting to achieve their target for various ministries or organisation will still need to cope with the modern requirement for the creation and communicating their visions. He made mention from John Cotters extensive research that Superior Leadership stems from power to translate a vision into reality and sustain it. Carson sums it all by the absolute need to take adequate time, involve enough people so as to successfully disseminate the vision. It will in turn be captured at all levels of workers in the organisation (boosting motivation) hence assist in progression of goals for the Ministry.  [21]  A biblical example is the sequence with which the Lord did the commissioning of the disciples after resurrection as recorded in Acts 1:8 where the disciples were instructed to wait for Holy Ghost baptism to acquire the power required for evangelism.  [22]   MANAGEMENT OF CHANGES IN LEADERSHIP. According to Michael W Foss book A servants manual, Dr Zipper symbolises the process or challenge of Change to a burning platform with a multiple attitudinal response form leadership. With the burning platform taken as the very circumstances that necessitates the required change, its management then translates to ability to call the attention of those whom the change will affect to it. While Persistence, patience and purpose are three key factors through a successful change, there are conservative leaders that will assert that the platform is not really on fire. This is an expression of denial immediately followed with the attitude that, we had fires in the past this one is no different we will soon put it out! This foregoing attitude was linked to gradual decline in church attendance research at various congregations despite sustained evangelism. The big question to consider is if the platform is burning hot enough to absorb the obvious loss. Management of Change welcomes such loss as long as focus is brought from the past to the present for the sake of good future. Leaders are enjoined to make use of only vocabulary that will influence those who will receive the changes. Leaders are to stay connected to followers as followers prefer leaders who are with them rather than the one always in front of them.  [23]   MANAGEMENT OF OPPOSITIONS IN LEADERSHIP Oppositions will come up from within the leadership scope and outside the scope itself, hence according to Bill Hulls book, the disciple making church, he used the example of Paul and Barnabas who saw opposition as normal and a clear projection of their success. With full recognition of Acts 14:22 where it is expected that evangelism through tribulation are the pathway to Kingdom of God. Hull says that oppositions could be gotten from the resulting friction from the implementation of Gods agenda or from being passive and allowing the Church to be moribund with a resulting clamour against poor leadership skills. He further said that in evaluating approaches to opposition, it is good to bear in mind that the enemies of the ministry should only be in the categories of the opponents of the gospel. It is essential to let the opposition count rather than being ignored. Apostle Paul in a Challenging time was encouraged by God who made it clear to him to continue the evangelism as there are many people in the city for God ( Acts 18:9-10), when he was abused by Corinthians Jews as he left them to continue preaching to the gentiles.  [24]   Conclusively, I am in support of Leadership that is ready to Change, manage changes as earlier mentioned by Michael Foss rather than the passive leadership that only reacts to the aftermath of challenges rather than being pro-active or be mindful of overall disposition in the scope of leadership in the areas of needful changes and apparent opposition. This in line with warning from Hosea 4:6 which God warned that his people are perishing due to lack of Knowledge. This can also be likened to indifference and overly conservative attitude of some Modern day leaders.  [25]  

Study On The Visionary Of Leadership

Study On The Visionary Of Leadership A leader has a vision, humility and courage to learn and grow constantly and develop a vision of the future and a plan to achieve the vision by setting a direction which takes him to the success. Leadership makes ability in a person to do what they dont like and then they like to do it. In the Morden world only study of management will not help to solve the problems on the sufficient level. People who add the leadership role to their primary role have little or no need to fall back on the sanctions which support their authority. The organization culture and value depend on the quality leadership because the more important role of the leader is a motivation. In organization leadership increase the performance of other roles by motivation. Leadership has a critical role in the creation of successful organization. Leadership always related to outcomes and situational aspects. In organization leadership is an important factor (Arvonen, 2002; Yukl, 2006; Arnetz, 2005). Leadership theory traditionally included two dimensions derived from factor analysis. According to Arvonen, 2002 and Yukl, 2006 there are two dimensions relation and structure orientation. The balance between these dimensions as they relate to different desired organizational outcome and many researchers discussed about this from past several decades. Andersen 1995 says Leadership research assumes that leadership considerable influence people on organizational effectiveness but Winston Churchill define leadership concisely as a ability to influence people set aside their personal concerns and port a large agenda. Churchill made it clear that effective leaders motivate people to perform beyond and above the call of duty in order to enhance group success. Leadership effectiveness is not who exerts the most influence or who control the group. Churchill suggests that the leadership is the best source of the organizational competitive advantage. The other definition of leadership is that it is the act of engaging, satisfying and stimulating the motives of followers that take followers towards a mutually shared vision. This theory embraces three components; leader, followers and the context. There are different categories of leader which define different approaches of the leadership. Leaders who have vision, humility and courage makes them effective leader. This quality makes them visible and outstanding. They use their quality because they know what to do with themselves. Leader always has great relation with the people around him because the though power of leadership does not come from inside or personal character, its come when people love their leader and on the other hand leader must be a great supporter, encourager and he know what to do with their people, how they feel safe and the part of corporate community. Good leader always maintain proper communication and create effective leadership. Effective leader know how to use communication channels to create good environment in the organization. The very fearful communication channel in the organization is a clogged channel. Organization effectiveness or the root issue lies at the failure of the misunderstanding and the communication. Leader has to make a systematic work environment in the organization because leader knows that what is going on in the organization and he maintain the systemic or holistic picture of the organization. The big role of the leader in the organization is to help his people by systematic thinking. So different categories of the leaders make up components of the organization, the leader and the style of led and the most important is the connection between them that call as communication channel. The other category is to see organization in a systematic manner by different leadership style. Visionary Leadership The visionary leadership always joint to the disciple for the successful leadership. There are different type of leadership style which would help organization to move in a right way. Different types of leadership style have ability to change in the organization (Bas, 2002; Kanungo and Conger, 1998; Sashkin, 1998) the quality of visionary leadership is very much greater than before by estimating the change of the organization that will be a lot simply by some leaders. Need of vision The sustaining and sustainable vision is not something that can be built by a person or a group of a person in the organization. It shows the corporate future, which is something that could not be achieved by the few but can only be accomplished with synergy that emanates from the active participation of the all. The attainment of an organizational vision is based on the mobilisation of bias and the pursuit that mobilisation must be of the many not of the few. If the staffs work together on the task the organization can fulfil the goals that cant be achieve by one or two people. The characteristics of vision It is a comprehensive view of the future. It acts as a guide when dealing with uncertainty and complex events. It affords a means for overcoming employee inertia. It holds out the real prospect of the vision being changed and adapted. It indicates a change from the past and present to a new, dynamic future. It creates a context for individuals to locate their work schedules within a collective Framework. It draws people together in pursuit of a super ordinate goal. It provides a rationale for action. It presents a standard against which to judge and make choices. It serves as a means to align corporate activities. The characteristics of effective vision It meets the needs of the new, individual contribution, educated worker to be engaged in making valued, corporate efforts. It focuses energy on the outcome of collective effort and not simply upon the outcome of individual efforts. It depicts a whole, a totality, into which people can place themselves, their feelings and their attitudes. It unites and inspires people to make an extra effort in pursuit of collective and individual goals. It creates a positive attitude that people can expand in their own immediate work Environments. Literature Review The visionary leadership emerged in 1990 as a matter of utmost interest to go in various field including the education sector (Montagomery and Gowe 2003, Thomson 2003, Fehlis 2005), stazesky 2000, political science. The literature review of the management which include the origin, significant characteristics, visionary leadership process. The origin Mary Parker Follett has worked on the origin of visionary leadership, contribution, cooperation, group membership and participation as early as 75 years ago (McLamey and Rhyno 1990). Significant of leadership Significant of visionary leadership describe the success, growth of the corporate survival in the todays challenging environment. Determination of corporate success and failure According to Tellis (2006), the determination of corporate success and failure of the company is based on its internal culture. Likewisw has described the six leadership styles: visionary, affiliative, directive, coaching, participative and pace-setting. Peace-setting style is belongs to demotivating and low performing organization and the visionary, coaching, participative and affiliative styles present the high motivated and cultured organization. Visionary leadership as a powerful strategic device According to Chopra and Ahmad (2004, pp. 51-54) suggest that the visionary leaders share and express the organization mission and goals in a easy and simple way so that everybody can understand. Their vision statement is always in a tangible and easy understood way. Their vision and mission statement is to help for the management. Visionary leadership develop the clarity, flexibility and focus in the organization. It is use as a powerful strategic device for organization growth and to motivate the employees. Visionary leadership for full use of people potential Visionary leadership put people in to the highest possible realms of human potential. It helps to drive and awake the human inner strength and inspire the immense potential translation in to action. They spread the roots of their vision so that they take people in to the reality. They challenge, line between the inspired world and the material world of action. Stimulating innovation Based on Over 300 sample of company, Tellis and Chandi (1998) demonstrate that vision of the leader have put impact on the radical innova tion. According to Bob Webb (Motivation tool.com) visionary leader are building todays organizations and they are using human affects in a totally different way. Wal-Mart airlines give the beat example by moving responsibility to the frontline. By this decision employees got the full opportunity to develop their capability and the power of decision making. Characteristics of visionary leadership (convergent perspective) There are many convergent prospective of visionary leadership. According to Bennis (1990), the leaders of 21st century would have the power of creating the vision and turn that vision in to the reality. The leaders ensure that their followers are highly motivated and flexible to take necessary action to achieve the vision (White and Hodgson, 2002, p.184). Kahan (2002) says that visionary leadership is a transformative and power based inspiration; include the social responsibility as its modus operandi. Visionary leadership is to increase the performance. Westley and Mintzberg (1989) says that visionary leadership is a dynamic and its involves three stages- The vision of the desired future of the organization The vision should be shared and served Every follower must know that so they can enact the vision Starratt 1995 suggest that visionary leaders embrace with the sense of security and they know that one day the dream will come true. Vision gets shape according to sharing of the vision. Strong vision can define what will come and what will happen. Green (2006) says that visionary leaders are charismatic, super creative and inspiring with lots of possibilities that how vision can improve. They identify the contact and potential it into active energy. They try to find new ways of getting thing done. Malloy and Fontaine (2006) says that visionary leadership focuses on communication and clarity. Perspective of centre for visionary leadership Corinne McLaughlin (2006), executive director, centre for visionary leadership, asserts that visionary leader can see wonderful vision for the future. They have great inspiration with articulating as well as bringing those visions in to the world and transforming in the same way. They can effectively articulate their vision because they are creating specific goals. Leadership basically characterized by a clear inspirational vision, innovative action, commitment to core spiritual value and empowering relationship. Visionary leaders are equipped with a high level of commitment to spiritual values. They have a sense of energy and personal integrity. They are elevated by exercise more relation and the power. Moreover, the base of the leadership for them is inspirational positive picture of the future and the clear sense of direction in reaching there. They are marked of empowering relationship. They can create shared sense of vision. They transform paradigms or old mantel maps and evolve strategies which are outside the box of conventional thought. They focus on the opportunities not on the problems. The process of visionary leadership Visionary leadership comes as interactive, dynamic process and its available in a different forms. Westley and Mintzberg (1989) describe the visionary leadership by using the metaphor of drama. In the drama action and communication occur simultaneously. The audience, actor and the action and the ideas are all synchronized to form a united whole in the unfolding drama. Its all starts with the repetition. The actor has the excellent knowledge of the particular subject. Just as the actor rehearses for the moment they step on the stage, this moment of the vision is a visionary practice. This thought of vision is a leader communication. Leader creates all vision in to success, when repetition moves in performance. Westley and Mintzberg (1989) give the future assume that visionary leadership style comes in a varying form leader to leader and different variety of packages. The style of the leader may vary with the context in which it takes root and the content f the leaders vision. The theo ries of visionary leadership based on three assumptions; variety, dynamism and context/content. These three assumptions underpin their representation assistance model. The purpose of the study The empirical work on the visionary leadership is very little in India. Notwithstanding this lake of research literature, this is gratifying to suggest that in India. This assignment shows the visionary leadership quality of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at Defence Research and Development Laboratory. Dr. Kalam presented his visionary leadership at DRDL by changing its demotivating and low -performing climate into energizing and high performing climate. Dr. Kalam used indigenous management techniques at DRDL. Vision of Dr. Kalam in organization change (implementation and outcome) In 1982 Dr. Kalam was appointed as a director of DRDL in Hyderabad. At that time DRDL was working on five staff project and sixteen build up projects. DRDL was working on many technologies oriented activities to get lead time for future project. At time of joining Dr. Kalam saw the different problems in the DRDL and he starts working on that. The problems of DRDL were- The demotivating and old low performing climate was the big problem of the organization. The scientists of DRDL were frustrated with the devil missile project. They were thinking that ministry of defence cheated them and all senior officers using them for their profit. The Tactical core vehicle was also pending from long time. Dr. Kalam decided that or good work he has to built a healthy climate which include the confidence and trust. He used indigenous management theory to build up the high performance and high energize climate at DRDL. He provided clear direction and effective communication to the confused team so that every buddy has good understanding and its helped them to launch (IGMDP) Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. After some time the team performance reached on high level because of indigenous technique used by Dr. Kalam. Focus on Inside and outside communication system Dr. Kalam focuses on the effective communication which was not in the DRDL. Dr. Kalam got a chance to improve the communication between government and scientists when Admiral O.S. Dawson, the chief of naval staff visited the DRDL. Dr. Kalam takes this opportunity to make two way trusts through effective communication. Dr. Kalam shows the product plan and the battlefield capability of Tactical Core Vehicle. Dr. Kalam focuses its sea skimming role rather than as single core vehicle as present earlier. This information passed to every scientist in the DRDL in this own words Do not make anything which you cannot sell later and do no spend your life on making one thing only. Missile developed is a multi dimensional business if you remain in any one dimension for a long time, you will get suck. Dr. Kalam spends time in interacting with people and explains the future goal of DRDL. He tries to connect this goal to the people life in DRDL. During this time he came to now that scientist at DR DL had a high level of determination and an urge to go ahead. In earlier project they show that they have high level of motivation, based on this Dr. Kalam started the reviews at DRDL at various level to accomplish the precise specification. He also start inviting the professionals from outside laboratory (IITS, CSIR, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) to contribute an useful knowledge. Clear direction to the team Dr. Kalam worked with ISRO and there he learned about visionary leadership from great visionarys prof. Vikram Sarabhai and Prof. Satish Dhawan. Dr. Kalam learned how make mission larger than life and how motivate people to achieve that. With these professors he learned that you should dream before your dream come true some people do hard work there goal of life and other people not able to move their feet because the confuse about what they want in life and how to achieve that. This was power for Dr. Kalam in DRDL because he knows the potential capability of scientist and he knows that they can fulfil the expectation of the Ministry of Defence. Dr. Kalam had a very professional team of scientist in the laboratory but he knows that there is a lake of leadership and guidance in the team. Dr. Kalam visualized that to increase the RD activities in the DRDL, technological and technical problems must be taken promptly. To achieve the goal he took the major decision, he made missile technology community of senior scientist where different issue can be discussed and debate as a collective process. The idea behind this community is the participation of all level of scientist and engineers to manage the laboratory activities. The organizational climate of DRDL was improved constantly. The new climate of DRDL helps in to the birth of Integrated Guided Missile Development programme (IGMDP). Launch of guided missile programme After improvement in the laboratory culture DRDL came with the Guided Missile Programme. This successful program happened because of Dr. Kalams vision for development of technology. Dr. Kalam always asserted himself that know where we are going. The great thing in the world is not so much in knowing where we stand and which direction we are going. Its help to accomplishing the technological competence as compare to Weston countries. At DRDL it was like driving force for the people. To complete the production of indigenous missiles, chairman formed the community. All people at DRDL welcome this proposal. Dr. Kalam made a presentation and question answer session at south block, New Delhi. Dr. Kalam presents the proposal and Dr. V.S. Arunachalam, who is scientific advisor of the defence minister, support him fully when doubts about the proposal. After this presentation defence minister asked Dr. Kalam to meet him in the evening. Mr. Venketaraman suggests that DRDL is not just making missile in phases, DRDL launch integrated guided missile development program. Dr. Kalam and Dr. Arunachalam together rework on the plans throughout the night. When plan was shown to the defence minister, he was visibly pleased. The new proposal was put up before the cabinet and it was approved with an amount of Rs. 388 crores. At the missile technology community, Dr. Kalam shows the government sanction letter, every buddy was motivated for the work. On 27, 1983 IGMPD was formally launched in the great event and every employee participated in the big success. Vision of Dr. Kalam to accomplish beyond the collective national capability Great visionary Dr. Kalam knew that government given them the sanction letter but this is only a 10 per cent of work done. In this operation the leader required who can put his heart and soul into this programme and carry hundreds of engineer and scientist with them. Dr. Kalam was thing beyond the collective national capability. He was convinced if he wants to achieve his goal; his team should work on basis of probability. For this goal he uses the indigenous approach of management technology. The other approach includes in this: capable project leader, pro-active follow-up, technology-oriented structure, collaborative efforts, motivation for outstanding performance, empowerment and spiritual guidance. Dr Kalam shows his power of leadership to finish this project with his team. Locating capable project leaders Dr. Kalam starts looking for capable leaders for five individual missile projects. He needs a leader who knows the clear goal and has a capability to perceive the goal. He needs a leader who can give energy all the time to his team working on various working centres. He discussed with engineers and the scientist on the different prospective because he need five project directors to train who will train twenty five future project directors and team leaders. He needs leaders who had the capability to grow the possibilities and were equipped with patience to explore all possible alternatives, who can put old principals of ideas to the new situations. He want leader to be flexible who share his power with others and work in teams, give fresh opinions, listening to wise counsel, respect intelligent people and delegate good jobs. He thought the leader should be capable in making good environment and resolve the conflicts. Overall leader should be capable to take failure in their stride and share both success and failure. Dr. Kalam creates a science council to provide an emotional outlet to the scientists. His thought at DRDL, that scientists were highly emotional persons. If they stumble its very difficult for them to pull together. Disappointment and setbacks were always problem for them. Dr. Kalam did not want any of them to face problem alone. He stopped making goals for them when they were at the low abb. The all issue of general importance were discussed by the council very openly. That time all scientists used to sit together and take common decision. In every three month all scientists including juniors, seniors, veterans and freshers could sit together and let off steam. Changing the dynamics of DRDL by empowering scientist The 250 young engineers and scientist change the dynamic of DRDL because of leadership of Dr. Kalam. The outstanding performance contributing ingredients of this leadership which include: believing, positive thinking, visualising and goal setting. The team leader enthused the young engineers and scientist about this goal. In the review meeting, Dr. Kalam says that the young scientist shows the very good team work and we got help to visualizing whole system. He said that climate of confidence and trust gradually developed. The young scientists start questioning to the senior associate on different issues. This helps them to become persons of power. Dr. Kalam kept the work environment on the higher level. He shows that he has the experience of the old science which mixed with his skills. The dependence between the experience and the young scientist made a very productive environment in the DRDL. At the time of joining DRDL, Dr. Kalam knew that the motivating people to get outstanding results were a challenging task. The behaviour of the individual is based on the environment of the work place. Most people possessed strong inner drive of growth, self-actualization and competence. However, the biggest problem had been the work environment at DRDL. Dr Kalam visualized the leader can accomplish his task with outstanding performance if he get the proper job design and organizational structure, and by appreciating and recognizing excellent work. According to Dr. Kalam he got the supportive environment while launching IGMDP. At that time the project was in design phase. The first reorganization increases the level of DRDL at least 40 to 50 per cent. In the second reorganization process, he used motivational inventory available at that time. According to Dr. Kalam there are three ingredients of motivational inventory of leadership: understand the people need which they satisfy in their jobs; influencing the peoples behaviour by using the power of positive reinforcement; and design the job based motivation and understand its impact. The second reorganization was very complex exercise managed effectively by Dr. Kalam. The young scientist performed outstanding work such as a world class strap down internal guidance system. It was an effective demonstration of the renewal factor. Dr. Kalam given enthusiasm to the young mind and he got the outstanding performance. Accomplishment at DRDL On September 16, 1985 the first missile program took place. The test was successful. The success of the missile program at DRDL shows to all engineer and scientist that it happened because of the visionary leadership of Dr. Kalam. This was followed by the successful test by the pilotless targeted aircraft. On February 25, 1988 the DRDL launched the Prithvi missile. DRDL create an epoch making event in the history of rocketing in the country. By launching Prithvi missile DRDL give the basic model of all the future guided missile in the country. On May 22, 1989 DRDL give the perfect launched of Agni. After that DRDL became the finest laboratory for the world. This was the greatest moment for DRDL as well as for Dr. Kalam. The national defence became stronger after Agni launched. Overall success of DRDL is belonging to Dr. Kalam. The nation celebrated the success of its missile program very first on Republic day 1990. Dr. Kalam was awarded by Padma Shree. He retired from DRDL on 15 October 1991. DRDL got lots of success in his leadership and many successful changes when he was director. Still DRDL working on the same direction which Dr. Kalam shown to the company. Conclusion Dr. Kalam worked as a director of DRDL and he showed his brilliant visionary leadership at the company. He worked hard and tried to give his best for the DRDL. Dr. Kalam showed three different characteristics of his leadership style. He has very clear far reaching and encompassing vision. This vision embraced goals and ideas which remained constant no matter how long it took to actualize him despite difficulties which he encountered. Dr. Kalam never allowed any of the means of actions on the way to invalidate this vision and its constituent values. The second characteristic is that DR. Kalam was skilful in creating and designing appropriate organizational culture which helped him to achieve his ideas and vision. The design of such organizational culture was the most lasting contribution of Dr. Kalam. These cultures embodied enduring values, beliefs and vision which were shared by the organization members even subsequently. The third characteristic is that Dr. Kalam attracted others t o follow him in seeking attainment of the vision. Dr. Kalam is a charismatic person because he was able to instil in others beliefs, values and ideas of his vision so as to empower them to move beyond the expectations of Dr. Kalam and their own. Dr. Kalam demonstrate a high level of moral capacity and intellectual, over the long period of time, to maintain coherency between foals, short term action and long range if ideas. The visionary leadership style followed by Dr. Kalam and he shows how vision for exceptional results can be turned in to reality by sharing with the people and for outperform we have to inspire them. The new age leaders need to understand that outstanding performance can be accomplish by having utmost focus on organizational climate, organizational structure, quality of leadership, job deign effective communication, proactive follow up, empowerment, collaboration, internal motivation, team work and spirituality. Plan for future development of my own leadership After analysing of some practical and theoretical aspects of leadership styles I constructed a list of list of desired visionary leadership style, which should be developed be me, to go higher level of leadership capability. To become the leader of 21st century I must see the leaders work, especially those engaged in the task of development which involving management of technology globally. The performance of the organization depends on its climate. I must diagnose this problem and find a de motivating and low performing climate in the organization and I must make concerted effort gradually to transform it into a high performance and energizing climate. I should use effective communication which include inside and outside interaction. I must share my vision with the people and discuss the clear goal of organization. As a leader I must work in a team and provide the proper direction toward people have to move. Participation in management I can use to involve people in the affairs of the organization. As a leader to accomplish outstanding performance I must assess the existing structure of my organization. I should see the source of full utilization of human resource and effective way to achieve the goals. I must evolve a suitable structure with a comprehensive discussion with the people. To become a good leader I should grow with the possibilities, I should share my power with the people and work in a team, grow my capability to resolve the conflicts and carry people with me and channelize their energy towards the goal. I must respect people and delegate work of worthy of their talents to them. As leader I must make arrangement in the organization to provide emotional outlet to the people and help them to release their day to day disappointment and setbacks so that people can express their view points freely and the issue of general importance. I should use pro active follow up activity for repaid growth. If required I must develop collaboration between the organizational units and outside organizations. To improve the future organizational climate of my company and to get outstanding performance I must focus on the goal setting, visualizing, believing and positive thinking. I can do this by empower young people. As leader I have to understand that there exists an internal motivation with in individuals which can be taken to the attainment of outstanding performance. This can be done by job designs to satisfy higher order needs of people. I need to use my super power to accomplish my outstanding performance like Dr. Kalam. So to become a good leader I must consider all theories of leadership and the great leader how create new ways to make people follow them.

When Armpit Hair Grows :: essays research papers

What happened to wanting to grow up? Where did all my sports and hobbies go? Why is it I have to take showers daily now? I woke up this morning and I was eighteen. I absolutely hate being eighteen. I am expected to be an adult now and forget about having fun. If this is the path of what growing up is going to be like, then I QUIT! Bring me back to twelve I want to be young again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The irony, when I was twelve I could not wait to be eighteen. The thought of being able to do what ever you want seemed so appealing to me. Little did I realize that being eighteen has plenty of downfalls. I remember thinking eighteen year olds were so cool. They were able to buy the coolest things, cigarettes, scratch tickets, and porn. Now eighteen I don’t buy any of these items because; A) I don’t smoke; B) I never win on scratch tickets, and C) I now know I can get porn free on my computer. My idea of eighteen seemed much more glorious than what it is. Being eighteen went far past the ability to buy the coolest things. Someone must have forgot to tell me that I now need to work to live, that I need college to work, and that I need to grow up to go to college. Someone forgot to tell me it sucks being eighteen. I use to be an active kid. I was outside everyday, rain or shine. Nothing would stop me from doing what I loved to do. Everyday after school I would go out dirt biking, skateboarding, or bicycling. Some times you might have found me thirty feet up in a tree building a fort. I was always far from being board. My imagination was incredible. I would be able to play Ninjas with my buddies, holding paper towel rolls as swords. Now my imagination is consumed with ways to make money so I can pay bills on time. Now everyday after school you’ll find me working at a local package store in Leicester. Sometimes you might find me sleeping in bed, making up for the lack of sleep I don’t get throughout the week. The only time you’ll see me out side now is when I’m on my way to the car or walking to the mailbox.

Essay --

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE I am very thankful for providing me this opportunity and it is with sincere sense of gratification that I do pen my brief statement of purpose. I completed under graduation in Computer Science Engineering from VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology affiliated by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad. Being an undergraduate student, I stand at a point where I have to decide my future so as to enhance my knowledge and skills. At this point I have to take right choice of university to pursue a graduate degree. Graduate study helps me in sharpening my skills and quest professional exposure. Undergraduate program is a broad based structured course with strong fundamentals but offers limited scope of specialization. Thus, I feel that the graduate course would pave way to acquire specialization in my field of interest. In the following paragraphs I shall explain my interest in pursuing a graduate program in Computer Science. Through under graduate studies I have learnt many concepts and it gave me a firm grounding in number of Computer Science Engineering related concepts. During my schooling, I was introduced to computer basics and I also feel that one should have proficiency in more than one field. I found this computer knowledge coupled with my under-graduation background would be advantageous to pursue a career in Computer Science During my under-graduation, I was introduced to various subjects like Computer Organization, Computer Networks, and Operating Systems and programming languages like C,C++,JAVA. I am acquainted with operating systems like MS-DOS, WINDOWS. I developed interest in the field of networking from the time I started to learn about LAN and I... ...spirations I wish to pursue my education at a school renowned for its good research facilities, eminent faculty and good quality of student life. I feel that advanced graduate study at your university is best kind of education with the environment to achieve my goals because of flexibility in learning systems and sophisticated infrastructure available and the nature of research going on. Attending your prestigious institution would give me an opportunity to receive high-level education under the guidance of prominent professors. I would regard my admission to UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL MISSOURI not only as a great honor but also as a great responsibility and challenge to prove myself. Hence, I request that my application be considered for admission with possible financial aid and assistantship. Thank you for your time and consideration. High Regards, VAMSHI NENAVATH.