Hometown

Hometown is a  place we live in. It is the place which means a  lot for us and that’s why it is important to think about how to make it a better place. As I  am thinking about what I  miss in my hometown, I  realize it is a  bathing pool. Bathing pool is a  place the people can go over the summer, the place where they can relax and also the place where they can get healthy. Many young people in Piestany are very bored over the summer holiday, because they don’t have the place to go.They are bored and feel very hot, and that is the reason they spend so much time in their houses doing nothing productive. Having a  bathing pool could definitely entertain them and contribute to a happy society. As in a  lot of big cities, in my city there are a  lot of adults who are permanently stressed from the work and need a  place to take a  rest, relax and forget about the daily stresses. The bathing pool over the summer can provide an effective way to cool dow n.As well as over the winter, the hot healing water in the pool can provide an effective way to warm and heal the person. Piestany is a spa city which has a lot of healing thermal springs. If they can make a bathing pool combined with the thermal water, it can be a good place for all the citizens of my city. Basically, the bathing pool with the healing water can contribute on making our society healthier. In summarize, having a bathing pool in my hometown would be a great way how to make the citizens in in the city happy, relaxed and healthy. Hometown Hometown is a  place we live in. It is the place which means a  lot for us and that’s why it is important to think about how to make it a better place. As I  am thinking about what I  miss in my hometown, I  realize it is a  bathing pool. Bathing pool is a  place the people can go over the summer, the place where they can relax and also the place where they can get healthy. Many young people in Piestany are very bored over the summer holiday, because they don’t have the place to go.They are bored and feel very hot, and that is the reason they spend so much time in their houses doing nothing productive. Having a  bathing pool could definitely entertain them and contribute to a happy society. As in a  lot of big cities, in my city there are a  lot of adults who are permanently stressed from the work and need a  place to take a  rest, relax and forget about the daily stresses. The bathing pool over the summer can provide an effective way to cool dow n.As well as over the winter, the hot healing water in the pool can provide an effective way to warm and heal the person. Piestany is a spa city which has a lot of healing thermal springs. If they can make a bathing pool combined with the thermal water, it can be a good place for all the citizens of my city. Basically, the bathing pool with the healing water can contribute on making our society healthier. In summarize, having a bathing pool in my hometown would be a great way how to make the citizens in in the city happy, relaxed and healthy.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 5

â€Å"Everyone knows that old-timey vampires had to stay in coffins during the day,† I went on. â€Å"To keep out of the sun. That's common knowledge, Diego.† â€Å"You're right. Al the stories do say that.† â€Å"And what would Riley gain by locking us up in a lightproof basement – one big group coffin – al day, anyway? We just demolish the place, and he has to deal with al the fighting, and it's constant turmoil. You can't tel me he enjoys it.† Something I'd said surprised him. He sat with his mouth open for a second, then closed it. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Common knowledge,† he repeated. â€Å"What do vampires do in coffins al day?† â€Å"Er – oh yeah, they're supposed to sleep, right? But I guess they're probably just lying there bored, 'cause we don't†¦ Okay, so that part's wrong.† â€Å"Yeah. In the stories they're not just asleep, though. They're total y unconscious. They can't wake up. A human can walk right up and stake them, no problem. And that's another thing – stakes. You real y think someone could shove a piece of wood through you?† I shrugged. â€Å"I haven't real y thought about it. I mean, not a normal piece of wood, obviously. Maybe sharpened wood has some kind of†¦ I don't know. Magical properties or something.† Diego snorted. â€Å"Please.† â€Å"Wel, I don't know. I wouldn't just hold stil while some human ran at me with a filed broom handle, anyway.† Diego – stil with a sort of disgusted look on his face, as if magic were real y such a reach when you're a vampire – rol ed to his knees and started clawing into the limestone above his head. Tiny stone shards fil ed his hair, but he ignored them. â€Å"What are you doing?† â€Å"Experimenting.† He dug with both hands until he could stand upright, and then kept going. â€Å"Diego, you get to the surface, you explode. Stop it.† â€Å"I'm not trying to – ah, here we go.† There was a loud crack, and then another crack, but no light. He ducked back down to where I could see his face, with a piece of tree root in his hand, white, dead, and dry under the clumps of dirt. The edge where he'd broken it was a sharp, uneven point. He tossed it to me. â€Å"Stake me.† I tossed it back. â€Å"Whatever.† â€Å"Seriously. You know it can't hurt me.† He lobbed the wood to me; instead of catching it, I batted it back. He snagged it out of the air and groaned. â€Å"You are so†¦ superstitious!† â€Å"I am a vampire. If that doesn't prove that superstitious people are right, I don't know what does.† â€Å"Fine, I'l do it.† He held the branch away from himself dramatical y, arm extended, like it was a sword and he was about to impale himself. â€Å"C'mon,† I said uneasily. â€Å"This is sil y.† â€Å"That's my point. Here goes nothing.† He crushed the wood into his chest, right where his heart used to beat, with enough force to punch through a granite slab. I was total y frozen with panic until he laughed. â€Å"You should see your face, Bree.† He sifted the splinters of broken wood through his fingers; the shattered root fel to the floor in mangled pieces. Diego brushed at his shirt, though it was too trashed from al the swimming and digging for the attempt to do any good. We'd both have to steal more clothes the next time we got a chance. â€Å"Maybe it's different when a human does it.† â€Å"Because you felt so magical when you were human?† â€Å"I don't know, Diego,† I said, exasperated. â€Å"I didn't make up al those stories.† He nodded, suddenly more serious. â€Å"What if the stories are exactly that? Made up.† I sighed. â€Å"What difference does it make?† â€Å"Not sure. But if we're going to be smart about why we're here – why Riley brought us to her, why she's making more of us – then we have to understand as much as we possibly can.† He frowned, every trace of laughter total y gone from his face now. I just stared back at him. I didn't have any answers. His face softened just a little. â€Å"This helps a lot, you know. Talking about it. Helps me focus.† â€Å"Me, too,† I said. â€Å"I don't know why I never thought about any of this before. It seems so obvious. But working on it together†¦ I don't know. I can stay on track better.† â€Å"Exactly.† Diego smiled at me. â€Å"I'm real y glad you came out tonight.† â€Å"Don't get al gooey on me now.† â€Å"What? You don't want to be† – he widened his eyes and his voice went up an octave – â€Å"BFFs?† He laughed at the goofy expression. I rol ed my eyes, not total y sure if he was making fun of the expression or of me. â€Å"C'mon, Bree. Be my bestest bud forever. Please?† Stil teasing, but his wide smile was natural and†¦ hopeful. He held out his hand. This time I went for a real high five, not realizing until he caught my hand and held it that he'd intended anything else. It was shockingly weird to touch another person after a whole life – because the last three months were my whole life – of avoiding any kind of contact. Like touching a sparking downed power line, only to find out that it felt nice. The smile on my face felt a little lopsided. â€Å"Count me in.† â€Å"Excel ent. Our own private club.† â€Å"Very exclusive,† I agreed. He stil had my hand. Not shaking it, but not exactly holding it, either. â€Å"We need a secret handshake.† â€Å"You can be in charge of that one.† â€Å"So the super-secret best friends club is cal ed to order, al present, secret handshake to be devised at a later date,† he said. â€Å"First order of business: Riley. Clueless? Misinformed? Or lying?† His eyes were on mine as he spoke, wide and sincere. There was no change as he said Riley's name. In that instant, I was sure there was nothing to the stories about Diego and Riley. Diego had just been around more than the others, nothing more. I could trust him. â€Å"Add this to the list,† I said. â€Å"Agenda. As in, what is his?† â€Å"Bul ‘s-eye. That's exactly what we've got to find out. But first, another experiment.† â€Å"That word makes me nervous.† â€Å"Trust is an essential part of the whole secret club gig.† He stood up into the extra ceiling space he'd just carved out and started digging again. In a second, his feet were dangling while he held himself up with one hand and excavated with the other. â€Å"You better be digging for garlic,† I warned him, and backed up toward the tunnel that led to the sea. â€Å"The stories aren't real, Bree,† he cal ed to me. He pul ed himself higher into the hole he was making, and the dirt continued to rain down. He was going to fil in his hidey-hole at this rate. Or flood it with light, which would make it even more useless. I slid most of the way into the escape channel, just my fingertips and eyes above the edge. The water only came up to my hips. It would take me just the smal est fraction of a second to disappear into the darkness below. I could spend a day not breathing. I'd never been a fan of fire. This might have been because of some buried childhood memory, or maybe it was more recent. Becoming a vampire was enough fire to last me. Diego had to be close to the surface. Once again, I struggled with the idea of losing my new and only friend. â€Å"Please stop, Diego,† I whispered, knowing he would probably laugh, knowing he wouldn't listen. â€Å"Trust, Bree.† I waited, unmoving. â€Å"Almost†¦,† he muttered. â€Å"Okay.† I tensed for the light, or the spark, or the explosion, but Diego dropped back down while it was stil dark. In his hand he had a longer root, a thick snaky thing that was almost as tal as me. He gave me an I-told-you-so kind of look. â€Å"I'm not a completely reckless person,† he said. He gestured to the root with his free hand. â€Å"See – precautions.† With that, he stabbed the root upward into his new hole. There was a final avalanche of pebbles and sand as Diego dropped back onto his knees, getting out of the way. And then a beam of bril iant light – a ray about the thickness of one of Diego's arms – pierced the darkness of the cave. The light made a pil ar from the ceiling to the floor, shimmering as the drifting dirt sifted through it. I was icy-stil, gripping the ledge, ready to drop. Diego didn't jerk away or cry out in pain. There was no smel of smoke. The cave was a hundred times lighter than it had been, but it didn't seem to affect him. So maybe his story about shade trees was true. I watched him careful y as he knelt beside the pil ar of sunlight, motionless, staring. He seemed fine, but there was a slight change to his skin. A kind of movement, maybe from the settling dust, that reflected the gleam. It looked almost like he was glowing a little. Maybe it wasn't the dust, maybe it was the burning. Maybe it didn't hurt, and he'd realize it too late†¦. Seconds passed as we stared at the daylight, motionless. Then, in a move that seemed both absolutely expected and also completely unthinkable, he held out his hand, palm up, and stretched his arm toward the beam. I moved faster than I could think, which was pretty dang fast. Faster than I'd ever moved before. I tackled Diego into the back wal of the dirt-fil ed little cave before he could reach that one last inch to put his skin in the light.

Briefing note performance management

Two purposes of performance management and their relationship to business objectives: Performance management drives employee behaviour to align with business goals and objectives. This alignment happens because job responsibilities and expectations are clear, resulting in increased individual and group productivity; and also better information is available to use for promotion decisions. Having a Performance management system in place will serve the following purposes; †¢Employee decision-making Appraisal information is used as a basis for pay increases, promotions, transfers etc. †¢Employee development Appraisal information is used to guide training, job experiences, mentoring and other developmental activities. Three components of performance management systems: There are several components of a successful performance management system. An effective performance management system is not a one-size-fits-all approach but will generally include the following components: Plan: Setting clear objectives and goals and establish performance standards. Monitor: Identifying key performance indicators and conducting accurate and regular performance appraisals/ reviews and rewarding performance effectively. Review: Regular and honest feedback through performance planning conversations and career development initiatives. The Relationship between motivation and performance management On a basic level people are motivated towards desired outcome such as congratulations from the manager for a job well done or to avoid an undesired outcome such as an argument with the boss about targets not been hit. ?There are extrinsic and intrinsic factors to how we as individuals channel our motivational energy. ?Getting people to ‘opt in’ as oppose to ‘opt out’ is an important part of communication in business. The ideas of Abraham Maslow have had considerable influence on management thinking since the late 1940’s. Maslow has a positive view of human nature; a belief in the individual’s potential for personal growth – what he called self-actualisation which is displayed in his pyramid of Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow suggested that needs only motivate people when they are unsatisfied. When applied to his hierarchy lower-order needs (basic physical needs, comfort, safety and security) have to be satisfied before higher order needs (self-esteem and personal growth) assert themselves. To apply these theories into the workplace you should make sure your workforce is getting its basic physical and safety needs (reasonable working conditions, job security etc. ) Applying Maslow’s model will mean employees are more likely to work towards company goals only when there is harmony with their own personal goals. MaslowHerzberg Fred Herzberg’s two factor theory is based on looking at the main factors which result in either satisfying or dissatisfying experiences at work. The assumption is that if the individual is satisfied in their work, this will mean good performance, or, at the very least a willingness to stay on the job. Factors leading to dissatisfaction were found to do with conditions of work – company policy and administration, technical supervision, salary, interpersonal relations and physical working conditions. Herzberg called these the hygiene or maintenance factors. These are necessary minimum for a healthy workplace – they make people come into work and stay there but, they don’t necessarily encourage people to be productive. It is the other factors, the ‘satisfiers’ or ‘motivators’ such as achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, that encourage people to work harder. The link between motivation and performance seems to be an obvious one. If individuals are highly motivated, they will perform better. In turn better performance may well lead to a sense of achievement and result in greater motivation. Thus relationship between motivation and performance can be a mutually reinforcing one. Factors to be considered when managing different levels of performance: Many managers mistakenly spend most of their effort on trying to improve their low performing employees, believing that their high performers are low maintenance. The low maintenance belief is prolonged because high performing  employees are self-motivated individuals that need very little daily work direction. However the fact is that high performing employees do need a lot of attention to sustain their high level of performance. They need praise, recognition and collaboration. High performing employees are very skilled at working independently and will become frustrated if their manager give s them too much direction. These employees will seek guidance form their managers when they need assistance, they take ownership and pride, seek challenges and are bored quickly with mundane tasks; they need to feel valued by their manager and the company. As a manager you must make them feel like a business partner, not just an employee. Get them involved in goal setting, seek their advice from their area of expertise, give them exposure to higher management and other executives – all these things will show you value and trust them – in turn they will give you their loyalty. Plateaued Performers have the mind set of either not preparing or wanting to progress any further, they have petered out or are ready and willing to progress but are stuck in their current role due to other factors surrounding them. They are likely to be less enthusiastic, in a sales role they are likely to rely on existing relationships to drive sales, and they will appear to be ‘going through the motions’ with a sense of disengagement. Plateaued performers are experienced, valued employees who once, often recently performed at a higher level. However due to some unseen issue or closely held mind set, they are no longer reaching their potential. The likely outcome, if the problem goes untreated is that a once solid performer will find themselves plateaued stagnated in bit performance and professional development. Managing poor performance, whether related to capability or attendance, raises a number of different issues for employers and their HR professionals. Failure to perform or attend may be related to the following factors, which may or may not be connected and which may not be readily apparent such as lack of application or misconduct on behalf of the employee; lack of the required skills; and/or illness or disability. If poor performance is due to lack of application (unconnected to an underlying medical condition) or following the falsification of qualifications and  experience for the position that the employee holds or simply by a plain refusal to obey lawful orders, then it is appropriate to deal with the matter under normal disciplinary procedures for misconduct. However, the disciplinary procedure may not be appropriate when dealing with employees who are failing through no fault of their own. Where the failure to perform is due to a lack of the required skills, following say a reorganisation or where an employee has been prematurely promoted, then the employee should be assisted, wherever practicable, with further training or coaching and given a reasonable period to reach the required standard. Some employers therefore prefer to operate a gentler capability procedure referring to cautions rather than warnings and greater flexibility with regard to timescales The main purposes of reward within a performance management system are to retain, motivate key employees and to reduce turnover. It’s a known fact that people are the most important asset in the organisation. The Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement also believes that staff rewards have a valid purpose in this process. The groups Leadership and the Performance of People in Organisations: Enriching Employees and Connecting People study pointed out that many companies are using their performance management processes to encourage employees to work towards personal goals such as training and skills development. Claiming that such an approach can result in improved financial performance as well as being beneficial to the individual, the research said: Reward systems need to be adapted to reflect a leadership approach that ultimately satisfies peoples basic needs for achievement, a feeling of control over ones life and a sense of belonging.   Identify at least 3 components of a total reward scheme: The total reward system is a multitude of tools that the employer has in its hand and may be used to attract, motivate and retain employees. From the employee point of view the total rewards represent everything that he/she perceives to be of value resulting from the employment relationship. The reward conce pt covers both financial and non-financial pay. The components of a total reward system are: Compensation – is a critical component of the reward system that includes: basic pay system (annual or monthly salary rate) and variable or incentive pay systems (sales commissions, appraisal/performance-related pay, skills-base pay, etc. ) Benefits – are used to supplement the cash compensation that the employees receive and are designed to protect the employees and the family from financial risks. These can be life insurance, medical insurance, dental, retirement plan, savings scheme, uniform, gym membership, company car, breaks, company holidays, extra annual days, personal days, etc. Work life in this category is included the followings: workplace flexibility, paid and unpaid time off, health and well-being, caring for dependents, financial support, community involvement, and management involvement/culture change intervention. Performance and recognition Performance is a key component of the organisational objectives and involves the alignment of organisational, team and individual effort towards the achievement of business goals and organisational success. The recognition acknowledges and gives special attention to employee’s action, efforts, behaviour or performance. Recognition programs acknowledge the employee contribution immediately after the task has been completed. This type of recognition award can be financial or non-financial (e. g. , verbal recognition, certificates, trophies, tickets, dinners, etc. ) Development and career opportunity – includes learning opportunities (e. g. on the job learning, tuition, seminars and conferences attendance, corporate universities, self-development tools and techniques, new technology training, etc. );coaching/mentoring(e. g.  , leadership training, formal and informal mentoring programs, association memberships, exposure to resident experts, etc. ) and advancement opportunities (e. g. , internal job openings, promotions, overseas assignments, internships, succession planning, career pathways, etc. ) 2 sources of data required by individual involved in performance and reward management processes: Gathering performance information from a variety of sources increases objectivity and ensures all f actors impacting performance are considered. This information should include objective data like sales reports, call records or deadline reports. Other valuable information includes: feedback from others, results of personal observation, documentation of on-going dialogue, records of any external or environmental factors impacting performance many reviews also include an employee self-evaluation. Other documents that help define performance objectives include: past performance appraisals, current departmental and organisational objectives and documented standards related to career goals. In order to gather feedback from other employees, organisations will often use a 360 ° feedback process. Along with the completion of a self-assessment, selected peers, assistants, and managers are asked to contribute feedback around pre-identified areas. The feedback is based upon specifically identified skills or competencies and the final results are compared against the employees self-assessment this type of feedback increases self-awareness and in some cases is used to support the performance evaluation process

International Accounting Standards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

International Accounting Standards - Essay Example When comparing its financial position and results of operations for the last year or years, competitors located in the same country like the United Kingdom can be easily compared and contrasted. A little difficulty arises when the financial statements of competing companies are compared and one company is located in the United Kingdom and the other stiff competitors are located in other countries like the United States, Japan, Canada, Brazil, China, India etc. They say that accounting is the language of business. Just as misinterpretation could be eliminated if people from Germany and Spain understand each other, misunderstandings and variances in the interpretation of the balance sheet and income statement are due to the different financial statement standards and methods of reporting which includes costing, billing and cost distributions. One major problem is that each country has researched and approved own generally accepted accounting principles individually. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are the widely accepted set of rules, conventions, standards, and procedures that are used for reporting financial information which are researched and established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board of each country. (Sanella, 1991) One example of a generally accepted accounting principle is the United Kingdom's generally accepted accounting principle as to when to record a transaction as cash or receivable or another accounting data.Another problem is that the individual financial data ( Belkaoui, 1999) reported in the financial statements are cash inflows and cash outflows that are inherent and unique to each country. For example, average daily salary paid for the factory worker in competing companies will have a big disparity because salaries of production personnel in third world countries like India are estimated to be ten times lower than the average daily wage of a production worker in the Great Britain or Germany.Another problem is that the modes of transporting the goods in India or Brazil is not as advanced or fast as the mode of transportation in the United Kingdom or the United States.As of this time, there is no one size fit all when it comes to global accounting standards. In relation to this topi c, The European Union which is a conglomeration of individual independent states in Europe, including the United Kingdom, has come up with the European Court of Justice that gives decisions on cases within the European Union community even though each country has its own courts of law.The Tax consultants, accountants and financial statement analysts are at odds when comparing electricity, salary, rent, asset amortization and depreciation, assignment of values to assets between countries. We know that the standard of living in London is very much higher than the standard of living in China.Each accountant, financial stateme

The effect of Spanglish on writers writing output Essay

The effect of Spanglish on writers writing output - Essay Example One major advantage of Spanglish is its ability to illustrate the power of the mind to play with words showing further inventive and creativity at some certain point. In other words, Spanglish could eventually make substantial touch in creative writing as in a way it could be highly viewed as creativity of the mind especially in aspects concerning words are played. In most of creative writing techniques, playing with words are normally highlighted just to help emphasize the main point of the writers and even emphasize their creative touch for more aesthetic feel. In other words, by this specific advantage, Spanglish eventually affects the way people right these days. People have creative ways and means to express themselves in writing and Spanglish eventually is a specific tool in helping them to wallow in deeper sense of creativity with words. Therefore, with Spanglish, there could be an assurance of achieving creative piece. There is eventually a market for Latino and Spanglish is remarkably accepted as an evolution of the language growth (Kevane & Heredia, 2000, p. 136). In other words, with Spanglish, it is not only on the point that creativity can be nourished, but with it also includes the fact that a writer would be able to use language freely and openly and allow it to grow or even execute the things it must necessary do. These are just some of the advantages of Spanglish, which substantially show that it has remarkable impact on the writer’s creativity to play with words in a positive way.... 240). In other words, Spanglish could eventually make substantial touch in creative writing as in a way it could be highly viewed as creativity of the mind especially in aspects concerning words are played. In most of creative writing techniques, playing with words are normally highlighted just to help emphasize the main point of the writers and even emphasize their creative touch for more aesthetic feel. In other words, by this specific advantage, Spanglish eventually affects the way people right these days. People have creative ways and means to express themselves in writing and Spanglish eventually is a specific tool in helping them to wallow in deeper sense of creativity with words. Therefore, with Spanglish there could be an assurance of achieving creative piece. There is eventually a market for Latino and Spanglish is remarkably accepted as an evolution on the language growth (Kevane & Heredia, 2000, p. 136). In other words, with Spanglish it is not only on the point that creat ivity can be nourished, but with it also includes the fact that a writer would be able to use language freely and openly and allow it to grow or even execute the things it must necessary do. These are just some of the advantages of Spanglish, which substantially show that it has remarkable impact on the writer’s creativity to play with words in a positive way. Disadvantages of Spanglish Spanglish is usually written by bilingual writers which means they also have to look out for readers who in nature are bilingual and have great affinity for combined languages (Castillo, 2005, p. 190). The problem therefore with Spanglish is finding for good markets for it. Hispanic are good market opportunities for Spanglish (Castillo, 2005, p. 190), but

United Kingdom fashion retailers' strategies of internet branding Dissertation

United Kingdom fashion retailers' strategies of internet branding - Dissertation Example Internet technology is progressing and it has empowered customers to shop from online fashion retailers. In this setup customers can undertake a shopping tour whenever they like to. One of the advantages of this kind of fashion retailing is that customers have the luxury to express their needs and wants more accurately. These online retail stores are equipped with the capabilities which enable online shoppers to make the retailers understand what they are looking for. According to Tzokas and Saren (2004) businesses are able to have closer relationships with their customers through their website and online business. Dayal, Landesberg, and Zeisser (2001) said that strong relationship with the customers is important in the success of online business. Moreover Cuthbertson and Bridson (2006) have said that effective marketing campaigns, loyalty programs, and other marketing strategies can be helpful in increasing customer satisfaction level even in the online businesses. Dayal, Landesberg , and Zeisser (2001) have suggested that businesses need to create familiarity, reassurance and intimacy if they want to be successful as an online business. They also said that these factors influence the customer satisfaction level. Therefore, advancement in technology and adaptation of technology by the firms in the fashion industry has been one of the differentiating features of online retail stores as compared to traditional retail stores (Fashion United). Since the fashion industry of UK comprises of diverse customer segments, therefore it is imperative that fashion retailers and manufacturers employ different marketing and branding strategies to reach out to these diverse customer segments.... United Kingdom fashion retailers' strategies of internet branding Introduction The United Kingdom’s fashion industry is one of its most vibrant sectors of its economy. Characteristics of consumers of this industry make it a customer and brand driven market-place. In order for brands to compete successfully in this industry they need to be market driven, meaning that they need to design their unique selling proposition according to the needs and aspirations of the customer segments they want to target (Wol?nbarger, and Gilly, 2001) Diversity of customer preferences presents attractive opportunities to manufacturers and retailers of this industry. Consumer behaviour and preferences have been changing with the passage of time, and today consumers can shop from anywhere. The marketing and branding strategies adapted by the online fashion retailer play an important role in increasing the sales of the product. Moreover, appropriate online branding strategy reduces the risk of the failure of the product (Laroche, Habibi, Richard, and Sankaranarayanan, 2012). Moreover, it allows organisations to reduce their marketing costs and thus they are able to reach their customers easily and in a cost effective manner. Therefore, the significance of the online branding strategies cannot be ignored in the online fashion retail industry. The research study and its findings will be useful for different analysts, economists, researchers and fashion industry participants. The most important aspect of this research is that it analyzes the strategies that are needed by online retailers to succeed.

Globalization of the Microsoft Corporation Essay

Globalization of the Microsoft Corporation - Essay Example This process is not necessarily between the people but also amongst various companies and organizations. Jaffe, Bacchus and Alon (2006) believe that anything that happens around the world is labeled as globalization. Hence, the fact that whether it is related to the business world or not, the term globalization is of an immense importance, but it is necessary for us to discuss further how or why this notion is raised an essential question. It has been elucidated that globalization is relevant to money making only, whereas, it has also been verified that not only money is exchanged through globalization but cultures, customs, traditions, values and beliefs are also a product of transference in the current era. In my perspective as the further study is related to an organization which is business related, hence, I shall support the former outlook. The reasoning behind the goodwill of the former topic lies in the explanation that customs, traditions, values, beliefs and cultures are tra nsferred and exchanged through globalization. Hence, when people circulate through borders they tend to circulate money of that specified territory as well. Hence, when money is circulated from country to country and from region to region, this process causes the mingling of businesses. This is the reason why the notion of today’s globalization holds such an importance as the circulation of almost everything throughout the world that is related to it. Hence, the world is now called a global village. Brawley (2008: pp.198) correctly states that â€Å"One of the most important aspects of globalization is the integration of economies across great distances.† THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: We might have heard Bill Gates’ name somewhere. Gates; someone everyone is well... This essay discusses that the major question that is to be analyzed is that how shall an organization like Microsoft should develop a strategy in order to achieve what they are working upon and what the market and customer requirements reveal. This notion can be spurred by the answer of Davenport, Leibold, and Voelpel that â€Å"Strategy generally requires careful, analytical calculation and choice, which assumes that there is a great deal of reliable information available.† As this organization climbs up the mountain of success it shall keep the future conflicts and divergences in mind. In Sà ¤Ãƒ ¤ksvuori and Immonen’s (2002) perspective business strategies affect the product strategies, which could work the other way as well. Looking at the diverse product nature of the products offering by Microsoft and the way the products are designed to cater the customer all around the world like providing language options in its products by using National Language Support (NLS) . The codes written for the products at Microsoft required the developers to understand the concepts of globalization and localization.When the runners of this organization will look upon it as their personal asset, they will understand the complete methodology of a transparent system. This can be done when they think less about their profit and more about the success of the entire organization as an institution of a society. How this organization can help in the improvement of various aspects which not only include economy but also other factors.

The Rise and Influence of Nationalism in Japan around WWII Essay

The Rise and Influence of Nationalism in Japan around WWII - Essay Example WWII strengthened such ideologies as Bushido (the way of the warrior) and religious ideology of Shinto, ideas of the "New Structure’ and "Consensus State†. These different forms of nationalism were mutually acceptable. The â€Å"New Structure† was a necessary component of nationalism, and new institutions had to be imported as a means of linking all Japanese to one national bureaucracy for political and economic centralization. The very act of importing these institutions, the values upon which they were based on a direct support to the social and cultural traditions formed the essence of the Japanese nation. In contrast to other states preached individualism, Japanese nationalism was based on the idea of collective identity and objectives which helped to unite the nation against ‘outside’ world. The emperor did not play a dominant role in political and social life. Critics suppose that control over the countries and its political strategies were esta blished by the military, formed by the Emperor and Government. During the WWII, Japanese practiced kamikaze as one of the main national traditions. They had special kamikaze units in the Japanese Fleet who made a great damage to enemies. Because Japanese believe that the world in which they lived and the political world were two separate entities, it was difficult to get the public to identify with the state and political institutions. The social system had a higher importance in Japan than the political system, and political institutions had very little cultural meaning to Japanese. As occurred in the Meiji period, Japan's defeat led to a wholesale rejection of prewar institutions and a wholehearted adoption of most of the occupation reforms as a means of ridding Japan of its inferior status.

Rondell Data Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Rondell Data Corporation - Case Study Example This report stresses that Rondell Corporation uses a functional structure, a design that entails grouping of people because they possess similar knowledge, skills or use the same resources. The employees in the Rondell are sourced mainly from one particular field, that of engineering, and they are then grouped in specialized departments because they use the same skills and resources. In the case of Rondell, for example, Doc Reeves was preferred by Dave Schwab to move from Frank Forbus department to work in his. This shows that Reeves possesses skills that can enable to work in another department. Reeves are generally and engineer. This paper makes a conclusion that due to increased competition within companies, this structure is the most suitable as it tends to reduce the time required to bringing a new product to the market, as the process of product development is sped up. This structure involves centralization of the support functions and adoption of multidivisional structure whereby each department will have its own support functions. Specialists from the support functions are put together into product development groups that concentrate in the needs of a specific kind of product. The result is that each group becomes an independent division led by a product team manager, whose role is to oversee the operational activities related to the development and production of the product. The product groups specialize on the requirements of the product and they put their effort in it to ensure customer satisfaction.

Maos domestic policies Essay Example for Free

Maos domestic policies Essay Essay Question: To what extend do you consider Maos domestic policies more successful than his foreign policies? Between the years 1949 and 1976 China was in a faze of changes, which varied in good and bad, the way roller coasters vary in ups and downs. Mao Zedong was the Chairman during those years whom one could make responsible for numerous successes and failures in China. His domestic and foreign policies were the causes of millions of deaths, economic highs and lows, unhappy peasants and many more factors which harmed and helped China to build up and backwards after feudalism had been removed from China. The Five Year Plan, which was a duplicate of the plan that Russia used to overcome the countries misery, took place between 1952 and 1956 and was a success for entire China. The Hundred Flowers Campaign, which Mao started in 1957, is known to be one of his greatest failures and resulted in chaos, along with the collectivisation plan in the late 1950s and early 1960s and the Great Leap Forward Mao failed to help his country. As he supported the Korean War in the 1950s Chinas budget decreased my thousand of millions of Yuan. This foreign policy was a disaster for China and even though several domestic policies were introduced, none of them could really keep China and its masses in population contend. Due to the support China had provided Korea with many more people died. If Korean had not been supported by Chinas budget, then one could argue that not as many people would have been killed the Korean War. Maybe the number of deaths could have been reduced to half a million or so, one can only speculate, yet it is clear that this foreign policy did not do any good, but much more harm. It did not only destroy human lives, it also harassed the Chinese budget and as a result made China very weak. PRC Expenditure in Percentages of Total Budget: As is shown on the table in 1950 the percent of money which was taken away from the budget is 41,5 %. This is almost half of the entire Chinese budget. Most of this money supported the Korean War and helped Korean to defend itself. By 1957 this percentile had gone down, but all most every other one went up. For an example 51,4 % of the Chinese budget was being used to support the economic development. This is a vast amount of money needed to support the economic development of a country. Even though this foreign policy supported Korean, it was and opposition for the donator, China. The Five Year Plan can be viewed purely as a success. Mao was impressed with what Lenin had accomplished with it and decided to do the same. Mao and the PRC, People Republic of China, build up the same Five Year Plan as Russia and succeeded. The National Resources Committee, NRC, had already taken care of several industrial ideas, which Mao had, and they were also the ones who had total control over the industrial investment sections. During the Five Year Plan a significant amount of migration took place. Families moved from the countryside into the large cities to find jobs at factories. One major factor that makes the Five Year Plan a success is of the inflation, from which China had been suffering for many years, which Mao achieved to decrease. It dropped from over 1,000 percent to nearly 15 percent and was a result of a raise of taxes and a change of the Chinese currency from the Chinese Dollar to the Yuan. Not only did the PRC want to focus on the production of steel, coal and petrol-chemicals, but also on transportations such as the Chinese automobile. An event, which is a perfect example to demonstrate the successes of the Five Year Plan would be the construction of a road and railway bridge, which crossed the Yangzi River, which can be seen as a contribution to the modernization of China. By 1952 the PRC had introduced their goals of what they wanted to achieve during the Five Year Plan. Their targets were to produce at least 555,000 bicycles by 1957, yet instead they produced more than 1,740,000. Also, they planned on manufacturing 4,000 trucks, but they achieved to produce more than 7,500. However magnificent this all sounds and how proud China must have been, if Russia had not helped China to industrialize, they would have never been able to compare themselves with the Soviet Union after their Five Year Plan had Worked so well. Meaning, China was not as successful as Russia had been, because China got the Soviet Unions support, whereas Russia made it on their own two feet. However, one should give credit to Mao for the Five Year Plan, because this was one of his only successful domestic policies and it gave China a better economic position in the world. The Hundred Flowers Campaign, which was a domestic policy, introduced in 1956, was probably Maos greatest Failure during has dictatorship. When Mao became the Chairman in 1949 he strict freedom of speech policies, since he did not welcome any other political opinions other than those of communism. In 1956, Mao Zedong decided it was time to allow people in China to speak their minds free from fear of persecution by the government. Mao wanted to encourage free speech and healthy arguments. This was introduced with the phrase let a hundred flowers bloom. With this he wanted allow the expression of diverse ideas. Mao colleagues to stop this policy, due to the fact that Stalin had lost power in Poland and Hungry through this policy. However, he pressured boldly forward. After some time thing got out of hand and Mao replaced it with the anti-rightist operation. Mao sent intellectuals, layers and even teacher to the countryside, had them humiliated publicly, or let them be assassinated. The Hundred Flowers Campaign was a disaster. Thousands were killed because they had their own opinion and expressed it freely, just the way Mao had provoked. When Mao said: It is only by using discussion, criticism and reasoning that we can really foster correct ideas, overcome wrong ideas and really settle issues. and then killed the majority of those who obeyed his new policy, one must ask oneself, what he really intended with this. One could argue that Mao did not create the Hundred Flower Campaign to get feed-back and criticism so that he can improve the countries situation, it is thought that Mao introduced the Campaign to find those who had something to say against him and his ideas in a quicker and more efficient way than before. In conclusion, Mao became more powerful, however, be betrayed his own country. This is how one can see where his domestic policies were much less successful than his foreign ones. With his foreign policy mention earlier, he provoked death due to a war, whereas in his domestic policies he provoked death due to his own ignorance and utter ruthlessness. Once one has made one mistake, it seems as though one has released a chain of reactions. At least this is the case for Mao, because his next mistake was not far from his last one. The Great Leap Forward, which took place in 1958-1962, was a hardship on the peasants. Even though China had modernized and industrialized there were still many problems to come. Although Mao stood upright for equal treatment of all humans and even though Mao and his family were peasants, he set up a list of strict rules for the peasants to obey. This was a result of the following. Mao realized that not enough food was being produced and brought to the cities, because of the migration that took place in the Five Year Plan. Too much of the population was now working in the factories and the economic planner concluded that this was the fault of the peasants. Since the peasant families were increasing rapidly each month, too much grain was going to the individual families, and thus, Mao decided to put the peasants under strict central control and direction. During the great peasant revolution Mao had given the serfs freedom and the land that once belonged to the landowners now belonged to them. However, the Collectivisation Plan changed everything. Now the peasants were not working for themselves anymore, but for the government, to prevent another shortage of grain in the cities. Chinas agricultural land was split into 70,000 communes, each consisting of 750,000 brigades, each made up of 200 households. The setting of prices, distribution of products, farming methods and the sales were all controlled by the PRC. Since the targets of grain production of the government were so high, there was not much grain left for the people. Hunger and death was well known during that time, and millions had died of starvation. Alone in Tibet 20% of the population had starved to death. The main problem of this crisis was that nobody told Mao about these happenings, because they were all afraid to undergo the same destiny as all the others who told him the bad news. However, one man did find the courage after all and open his heart to Mao. Mr. Peng Dehuai was the minister of defence, and decided to let Chairman know about the disasters that were going on. He was dismissed and sent to the countryside. By now nearly all of China was afraid to say anything against or even to him. The Collectivisation system pulled China down more than ever. In 1958 200 million tons of grain were being produced, but in 1962 less than 160 million tons were produced. A similar thing happened to the meat production. In 19584,3 million tons of meat were being manufactured and by 1968 only 1,9 tons were being produced. Maos plan had once again not worked. Almost thirty million people died in China from his domestic policies, however, his foreign policies did not cause such harsh consequences for anyone. One must look at the success of the domestic and foreign policies from three different perspectives. One, the Chinese citizens perspective during Maos dictatorship, two, Maos own viewpoint, and three, the perception of the success of todays people. The Chinese people of that time lived the changes, the success and most of all the failures. Like in many situations, the negative things were paid more attention, due to the harsher memories, which are well in mind. The people suffered, lost family members and were tortured mentally and physically. Even though Mao became like a God for them after the Little Red Book was published in May 1964. It was a book of quotations from Mao and was there to give the Chinese citizens a better view of what he was doing. Mao was feared and therefore obeyed. From Maos point of view, things seemed to be going great because be barely received feedback from his colleagues, because they were too afraid of him as well. The fear, which developed through out the years came from the punishment that people had to undergo. The rumours of what was happening did not even have to go around the country; the majority of the people saw the humiliations and various other punishments with their own eyes. Anyhow, Mao was partially not informed about the millions of deaths that were occurring, therefore he was probably satisfied with his work, and believed that he was successful. Then, if one looks at the overall damaged he caused with his domestic and foreign policies one can see that his domestic policies were much less successful than his foreign policies. If Mao would still be alive today he would possibly realize his mistakes and would think similar to the perspective of today. Mao was a man with visions and ideas, which he thought to be most important. However, he did more harm then did he help people with his domestic and foreign policies. One can even consider his foreign policies more successful in some ways, because his support in the Korean War did not kill as many people as his domestic polices resulted in killing. Nevertheless, one mustnt generalize everything. One must also look from different perspectives such as Maos for an example. He was often left uninformed about what was really going on in the country; therefore he was most likely felt successful. The peasants had a much different point of view due to the more authentic experiences they had to undergo. But by looking at the situation form the modern eyes of today, one can clearly see the successes and failures of Chairman Maos dictatorship. His domestic policies were less successful than his foreign policies due to the numbers of deaths. It seems as though Mao released a chain reaction of mistakes as he did his first one with the Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1957, and that there was no way of stopping it.

Resistance to Change in an Organisation

Resistance to Change in an Organisation Introduction Change is not an easy factor to go through. Taking in to account that it does not matter if it is a change of rules, space or simple habits. The concept of change involves many other functions. Where the resistance to it, sometimes is hard to adapt or maybe just simple depending the management and organization between one and more individuals, which makes part of an organization structure and affect a whole organization. Organizational change in inevitable Just like anything in life, in addition to this the evolution of the world markets and cultures. Makes the change something that requires constant attention and preparation. In order to be successful in any market, an organization has to be able to transform an evaluate different kind of statements that show the importance of organizational change in the develop of a company. We live in a world in which the nature of organization and the practice, most of people believe that we are in a Constance change. When the difference between theory and practice is completely relevant and plays an important role in management and helps to understand that is a vital in any organization process, which helps to analyze and create structures that help to understand the value of change. The theory of change The theory of change is a strategy or project for achieving large-scale, long-term goals. It identifies the preconditions, pathways and interventions necessary for an initiatives success in different model, where change makes a huge impact in the evolution of a system organization. Theories of change and logic models are vital to evaluate success for a number of reasons. According to Burke, Warner and his book (Organization change, theory and practice). Organizations change all the time, each and every day. The change that happens in organizations commonly is unplanned and gradual, affecting or attributing different aspects where planning is a very important tool to apply and makes this much more easy to understand and shows the importance of change and its crucial participation in the evolution of a company. For a better understanding of change, organizations are created and developed, to continue and during the last. But external factors as environment, plays a very important role in the evolution, because those are discontinuous and can cause destruction but can cause creativity as well. To affront this many others levels in managing as a planning and controlling for example, makes change a Constance factor, which decide the future or develop of any kind of system. However change sometimes could be an internal factor. For example, the change of management that brings new rules, methods and a new different path to assume new emerging markets, makes this theory unpredictable for the good of a system. The paradox of planned organization change. Sometimes when plan is the right way to follow in an organization not always is the option to assume as crucial for the right entrance of change. However this paradox can be implemented as a one of the most analytics methods to follow for a better and capable knowledge of this. According to Michael Powel and referring to the new digital technology, was quoted and saying: it will be messing and it will be confusing and we will get a lot of it wrong and well have to start over. But thats the creative process, thats the evolutionary process. (Naples daily news, 2001, p. 6A.) Mr Powell described change as a very realistic method, where the process is more linear and could be divided by phases, periods or steps and so on. The implementation process is difficult because change the system and of course the way, how the process it was made for, the things dont work well and people do they own way and in some cases the retaliation and revenge is one of the most common things to affront with many others negative aspects that make more difficult to implement a series of changes. Types of organizations change To define organizational change as the process to evaluate and reach the desired goals the first thing to have in mind in change is the concept between evolution versus revolution. The process of resistance is very common and shows the variety of circumstances to affront in management; this contrast might be is actually a very important way to think about the different forms that an organizational system can take and the correct evaluation to it. Organizational change occurs when an organization restructures resources to increase the ability to perform and create effectiveness as the principal method to arrive, similarly, to this the creation of new system of evaluation of a company for the right performance of it. Targets of changes Human resources are for an organizations most important asset, because include investment in training and modification of manage that motivates the personal for a better understanding and approach of it. In addition to it .Human resources plays a very huge impact in companies develop, because involves moral principles and workforce as a combination for the right develop of any system created to evaluate process in a safe work environment. Functional resource can be use to maximize the use of present value. Organizations can change the environment, structure and sometimes the culture of creation but technology is the most important thing to preserve. For example technologies that uses self manage work increased productivity and quality for a better develop in terms of time and production, helping to increased the creation of different products Reducing the use of time and decreasing the value in terms of production. As a result of the right use of change in a company. A technology capability, that helps to provide new products and changing the existing ones, improving the reliability and quality of goods and services of a company. Organizations might be need the restructuration of technology for a correct develop and achieve the results of a new and developing technology. Forces for and Resistance to Organizational Change Organizations and the process of change requires to face two and very important factors for the correct developed of it, one of those is change and the other is the resistance to change. Resistance to change can occur at the organizational level, group level and individual level. For example, managers should be motivated to initiate change because they are concern with improving their organization effectiveness. However, change can be threat to managers and no managerial personal as well. Almost every change requires the cooperation, collaboration, and co-ownership of others, even if that change might be beneficial some people just refused because is a natural way to response and affront. the change as fear of the unknown also to lose something of valuable, believing that change is not good for the organization and provide a different kind of elements damaging the right develop of a company in many levels and misunderstand the process of evolution. Why do people resist changing? An individual is likely to resist change for three reasons principally: uncertainty, concern over personal loss, and they believe that the change is not in the organizations best interest. In adtion to this a common example of resistance for change is giving in a normal college. Where the student are suggested and have the obligation to attend because are the rules and when they leave the college they will have to trade the known for the unknown. Some examples of resistance in organizations is when the introduction of a new analysing system means that employees will have these new methods. Some employees who are accustomed to their work routines or who have inadequate math and statistics backgrounds may fear that they will be unable to meet the system demands. They may therefore, develop a negative attitude because dont know how to use it, and prefer to judge before accept any kind of change just for fear and inclusion of different process that makes changes crucial in the develop of a company. In some case the resistance is fear for the unknown but what happens when change comes with a new structure of elements that become inconvenience for the personal? What do we should do to minimize the impact of resistance? And keep the tolerance and the right balance between employees and employers. How to break that huge wall that separates fear and commitment in the companies?. Some techniques for reducing resistance to organizational change. When management sees resistance to change as a dysfunctional, what action as a manager should I take? Several strategies have been suggested for use by managers, but in some cases the change is so extreme that brings a lot of resistance and is not enough to divide and propose steps to come in with new ideas. Is better if including tactics that helps to understand the process of change and find mediation between managers and employees. According to Barbara Senior and Steve Wailes, the resistance of change evaluate the process how the company has been created and proves the management as vital tool for the right develop and creation of strategies that helps to affiance the resistance of change and mediate between many different elements. One important step to follow in management is the implementation of education and communication, facilitation and support, negotiation and manipulation, co-optation and coercion, these tactics help to summarized and helps us to have a better look of management and understanding in how this tactics help for mediation and confront of a such a wide open variable. That involves techniques and strategies, which help to have a better understanding in the managerial concept. Tactics and strategies to reduce the resistance in organizational change Education and Communication Can help to mediate the resistance of change by helping the employees to see the logic process of change. This technique of course helps to minimize the impact of misinformation or poor communication and give the chance to aport new ideas to the system for a better compression and implementation of this. For example the correct use of communication Between agent of change and personal showing elements to improve and the importance for the good of the company but demonstrating the right benefits for the process which normally interact in the productivity and effectiveness of a company. Participation This tactic involves those individuals directly affected by the purpose of change into the decision making process. This kind of method allows expressing their feelings, increasing the quality of the process and increase employee commitment for final decision. For example, create tools for the evaluation of the process that help to understand better the inclusion of strategies showing the important of evaluation for both sides of views. Facilitation and support Involve helping employees deal with the fear and anxiety, associated with the change effort, this help could be include employee counselling and new skills training for a better use of tactics and facilitation trough the process of change. Negotiation Involves a bargain between something value for an agreement to lessen this hard process of change that sometimes can be stressful by both sides. This resistance method can be very useful, when the confrontation comes from a powerful source and shows the importance of negotiation in the process. Additionally, there is the risk that, once a change agent negotiates with one party to avoid resistance, he or she is open to the possibility of being blackmailed by other individuals in positions of power. When misunderstanding and lack of communication, makes part of the process that commonly happens in different types of organization. Manipulation Refers to cover attempts to influence others about the process of change. Sometimes involves twisting and distortion of facts to make the change appear more attractive and comprehensive. One of the common tactics to use is this particular case is creating false rumours is an example of manipulation. According to the international journal of managements reviews the use of manipulation in a change process could be illegal and immoral, because use the misunderstanding as a tool for manipulate and distort the right compression of different factors that helps to use the correct develop of tactics. Minimizing the resistance of change. Co-optation In this kind of method it is form by both manipulation and cooptation and it seeks to buy the leaders of the resistance, giving them a key role in the change decision. The last two methods are relatively inexpensive for the organization and are the easy ways to gain the support of adversaries. In addition to this sometimes this method can demonstrate that if they note this, can be sing of tricked or used. Once discovered the agent creditability may drop to cero and in the future might be a sign of confrontation and retaliation. Coercion The coercion tactic can be used to deal with the resistance fact, involves the use of different threats or force against the resisters. According to Stephen Robbins,ÂÂ  Organizational Behaviour, different organizational methods as coercion sometimes involves the use of bad recommendations and negative perform evaluation. This method should only be used when speed is of the essence or when the other person themselves has taken to public and damaging actions. Those methods listed above show the importance of management and the correct use of it. In addition to this tactics, the resistance of change in organization has different approaches that show the incursion of several strategies can be completely illegal and may undetermined change agents credibility. Being this stops the improvements in the organization. Conclusions Organizations operate in multiple environments, as a temporal, external and internal. They key task for organizations is work through a series of process or steps for mediate the impact of different factor to evaluate. Achieving External adaptation and internal integration. In addition to this, they need to anticipate and give opportunities to eliminate any possible problem or unpredictable surprises. In conclusion to this change is a very important factor to keep in mind, because if the organization doesnt have the knowledge to achieving o good process. The company can be affected and damaging the develop of a company. For that reason the implementation of strategies that allow risk evaluation and possible changes must be planned before the execution of any kind of process. Finally the use of tactics to prevent the resistance of company, while is in changing process is vital for the correct use and future develop. Because, demonstrate that organizational changes are crucial factors that involve the moral as a key to be fair with the others and the correct use of managing for good of an organization. Resistance to Change in an Organisation Resistance to Change in an Organisation Develop a plan to address below the surface resistance to change. With the research you have done so far in the course, how would you, as a manager, facilitate and manage a major change in your organization? Our company has established procedures and policies created from both a technological perspective (how to do the task) to mutual agreements with the staff leading to policies on expected behaviour etc. For changes and improvements to be successfully implemented, there needs to be not only compliance, but buy-in from staff. In order to implement a major change, a project team would be created. In the NHS, it is often standard to employ the Prince2 project management framework and depending on the nature of the project, this approach would be the probable method. Assembling the optimum project team with the correct skill mix is paramount to the successful execution and implementation of the project. Bareil (2013), defined resistance to change as a change-specific behavioural response towards a change initiative normally identified by a leader and identified it as the primary reason for change failures. Maurer (1996) described resistance as an inevitable response to change as individuals felt compelled to maintain the status quo especially if they fail to understand the rationale behind the changes in question. Maurer focussed on the poor presentation of changes as being a more significant catalyst for resistance outlining that the assumption of the manager that their change is the only possible direction and the concept that the workforce must be forced to comply would promote resistance among organisation members. According to Kruger, (xxxx), the principle issue is the established personnel change barriers which require recognition in order to be dealt with effectively. These may be company wide i.e. endemic across the workforce especially in climates with strong culture. In order to demonstrate the issue, Kruger developed a pictorial representation-the Change Management Iceberg which displays the evident and more importantly, the unseen barriers to changes within a company. Kruger lists three management issues that must be addressed in order to achieve successful implementation- Issue Management, Management of Perceptions and Beliefs and Power and Politics Management. Issue Management: This represents the top of the iceberg. Key factors are time, cost and quality. Management of Perceptions and Beliefs: It is essential to have an empathy for both the evident and covert perceptions of the workforce. Power and Politics Management: These can play a pivotal role in the change process and can influence the perceptions and beliefs significantly. According to McPheat (2014), the optimum approach is to recognise that the change will impact on all personnel at every level within the company and that they will inevitably align into one of four types: Promoters-employees who will support the changes and buy-in. Potential promoters-probable recruits to the cause however may require further convincing. Opponents-those who visibly oppose the change Hidden opponents-those who verbally support the changes however secretly oppose it. This suggests that one of the primary focuses is to develop trust and promote an honest transparency by which to increase buy-in. Middaugh and Robertson (2005) wrote that in order to succeed politically, it is imperative to use expertise wisely, in order to persuade others to buy-in. To empathize with other individuals perceptions of the managers expertise. A manager may consider something to be obvious however understanding that others may not see it as so, facilitates dialogue and change. Involving staff in the implementation of change is paramount to success. Trust cannot be assumed and is developed over a period of time. Showing integrity, treating people fairly and keeping promises over a period of time will build a healthy culture based on trust. Half (2016) suggested that it was imperative to focus on the benefits of the team in the workplace in order to persuade the employees to buy in and outlined the key points to emphasize. There are tangible benefits that are unique to each team that can be bought to the table. If the goal of the team is clearly stated along with the means by which the individual members can contribute, buy-in is more probable. The assignment requires clarity and transparency. The importance and significance of the change needs to be emphasized along with the level of prioritisation against the existing workload. Exception reporting needs to be explained so if help is required, it can be sought. Prioritisation aside, knee-jerk reactions and decisions are to be avoided and reflection advised as there may be a cosmopolitan make-up in the teams construct and empathy and understanding must be the norm to avoid conflict within the team. References: Bareil, C., (2013). Two Paradigms about resistance to change. Organization Development Journal.31.3 (Fall 2013): 59-71. Half, R., (2016, April 29). How (and why) to get employee buy-in. Retrieved March 04, 2017, from https://www.roberthalf.com/employers/hiring-advice/employee-retention/teamwork/team-buy-in Maurer, R., (1996). Using resistance to build support for change. The Journal for Quality and Participation.19.3 (Jun 1996): 56. McPheat, S., (2014, July 03). The change management iceberg. Retrieved March 04, 2017, from http://www.mtdtraining.com/blog/change-management-iceberg.htm Middaugh, D., Robertson, R. (2005). Politics in the workplace. Medsurg Nursing.14.6 (Dec 2005): 393-4.

Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King Essay -- Why We Crave Horror

Stephen King wrote a very brief essay titled "Why we Crave Horror Movies", in which he explained some of the reasons that people choose to go to horror movies to be entertained. In his essay, King goes on to explain that we as a people need horror movies as a sort of release; to feed the darker elements within all of us without having to sacrifice our humanity (also, civility). King does this by comparing people based on their levels of sanity whereas some societal "eccentricities" are completely acceptable, while some will get you thrown right into the loony bin. It’s summed up pretty well in this quote: "The mythic horror movie, like the sick joke, has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized ...and it all happens, fittingly enough, in the dark." I don’t disagree with King in his opinion at all, but I feel that maybe this was a bit of a simple answer to a very loaded question. I mean can we really say this about all horror fans? Horror fans have all kinds of different occupations, personalities, and backgrounds so obviously this theory can’t apply to everyone, so in this case, I can only really say why I watch horror movies, and ask you to do some kind of self reflection on your own. First of all, why do I watch horror movies? That is actually a really good and very heavy question. I often times try to understand why I watch films tha...

Edgar Allan Poe, son of Actress Eliza Poe and Actor David Poe Jr., :: English Literature

Edgar Allan Poe, son of Actress Eliza Poe and Actor David Poe Jr., born 19th of January 1809, was mostly known for his poems and short tales Edgar Allan Poe, son of Actress Eliza Poe and Actor David Poe Jr., born 19th of January 1809, was mostly known for his poems and short tales and his literary criticism. He has been given credit for inventing the detective story and his pshycological thrillers have been infuences for many writers worldwide. Edgar and his brother and sister were orphaned before Edgar's third birthday and Edgar was taken in to the home of John and Fanny Allan in Richmond, Va. The Allans lived in England for five years (1815-1820) where Edgar also attended school. In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia. Although a good student he was forced to gambling since John Allan did not provide well enough. Allan refused to pay Edgar's debts and Edgar had to leave the University after only one year. In 1827 Edgar published his first book, "Tamerlane and other poems" anonymously under the signature "A Bostonian". The poems were heavily influenced from Byron and showed of a youthful attitude. Later in 1827 Edgar enlisted in the Army under the name Edgar A Perry where his quarrels with John Allan continued. Edgar did well in the army but in 1829 he left and decided to apply for a cadetship at West Point. Before he was able to enter West Point Edgar published a book entitled "Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and minor poems", this time the book was published, not anonymously, but under the name Edgar A. Poe, where the middle initial acknowledged John Allan's name. Before Edgar left West Point he received financial aid from his fellow cadets to publish a third edition of the book. Edgar called it a second edition though and it was entitled "Poems by Edgar A. Poe" in which his famous poems "To Helen" (another version was published in 1848) and "Israfel" appeared. These show of the musical effect that has come to characterize Edgar's poems. Later Poe moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Maria Clemm, and his first cousin Virginia. In 1832 he won a $50 prize for his story "MS. Found in a Bottle" in the Baltimore Saturday Visiter. In 1835 Poe brought his aunt and cousin to Richmond where he worked with Thomas Willis White at the Southern Litterary Messenger. He also married his cousin Virginia, only thirteen years old. Most of Edgar's work with the Messenger were of a critical nature but he also published some literary work such as "Berenice".

Attribution theory :: essays research papers

ATTRIBUTION THEORY OF FRITZ HEIDER Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This article starts off by a man having his wife serve on a jury in a federal case involving conspiracy, racketeering, drug dealing, armed robbery, and extortion. There were seven defendants and one that escaped from police custody. The key government witness was an ex-gang member named Larry who was called â€Å"the Canary† by the defendants because he turned informer. For two months Jean, the wife, listened to Larry’s testimony and tried to figure out whether his account of the incident was credible or not. A question in her mind was that whether his behavior on the stand was that of pathological liar, a rejected pal seeking revenge, a petty crook who would say anything to save his own skin, or and honest witness dedicated to the truth? All this falls into Fritz Heider’s attribution theory saying that we all tend to rationalize in the same way. Fritz said that the theory of attribution is the process of drawing inferences. This would be seeing a person act and immediately reaching a conclusion that goes beyond mere sensory information. Example: Larry yawns while on the stand. Your immediate conclusive reaction would be â€Å"is he bored, afraid, tired, or indifferent†. In the article it says that Heider would see us as naà ¯ve psychologist bringing common sense to bear on an interpersonal judgment. It also says that we can’t help it to make these judgments. This is because we make personality judgments in order to explain otherwise confusing behavior. Heider says that there’s another reason for making causal inferences from behavior. The reason is because we want to know what to expect in the future. He says prediction is a survival skill. Example: Jean comes face-to-face with one of the defendants, in her jury trail, outside a train station. Mildly anxious, she quickly turned aside. Accurate attributions can help us know which people might do us harm. The article also talks about attribution as being a three-step process through which we perceive others as causal agents. The three-step process talked about includes perception of the action (You saw it), judgment of intention (You/they meant to do that), and attribution of disposition (What you think of the action). Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To begin, in the case with Jean trying to figure out whether Larry’s story was credible and how to categorize his behavior. In my opinion I would think him turning informer

We All Fall Down

Cormier is able to keep the reader engaged and interested throughout the novel, whilst exploring important social issues through a variety of narrative techniques. We all fall down centres on the story of four teenagers who vandalise a house and the effects after the trashing that not only have on the victims but also the trashers themselves, thus Comier is successful in creating a successful novel. Throughout the novel we observe the affect the vandalism has had on Jane Jerome. Through the use of shifting narrative perspective, Cormier allows us the view her thoughts and reactions to the trashing.After the trashing we learn that â€Å"Jane used to love it here† living in Arbour Lane, however the effects of the trashing have left Jane feeling â€Å"Ashamed†¦ wanting to hide somewhere, as if she had done something wrong not the culprits, not the invaders. † The use of shifting narrative perspective shows that as a result of the trashing, everything changes for Jane, making the reader feel sympathetic and upset for Jane. The reader is drawn into the world of the â€Å"We all fall down†, interested and impelled to find out how Jane is going to get on with her life with the memories of the trashing, still very fresh in her mind.Through the highlighted techniques, Cormier has written an interesting novel, that challenges the reader to think beyond the page and explore issues that could be in their lives. We all fall down maintains and engages the reader’s interest throughout not only because of the reader’s expectations of the thriller genre with conflict and tension, but also because Cormier confronts the reader with compelling ideas which challenge and entertain the reader.

Notes on Frankeinstein

How much sympathy does the writer make the reader have for Victor Frankincense? How does she do this? The reader often feels ambivalent towards Victor. The traits that make him a powerful and admirable figure are the same ones that lead to his ruin. His self-contradictions become more frequent as his problems get bigger. Our Initial sympathy alters radically once we meet the monster (Victor should feel more remorse for abandoning the monster: his duty to family and humanity should have deed to him helping) but we should not underestimate the foulness of Williams murder.His death is tragic and he dies hoping that another man may succeed where he has failed. Shelley uses irony to help the reader take a critical attitude by using twists In the tale so that Victor's responses develop him Into a complex and realistic figure. 2. Examine the differences between the male and female characters. What does this tell us about the context? The women are portrayed as virtuous; Caroline Breakout's kindness towards the poor, her adoption of Elizabeth, the orphans Elizabeth, Justine ND Margaret act as surrogate mothers, Ghats and Sane show gentleness and kindness towards Delayed and Felix.The fathers unlike the mothers, fall in their parental role. The fathers of Clerical, Walton and Safe try to stop their children pursuing their interests. Allophones tyrannical behavior mirrors Victor's attitude to the monster. Women's roles at the time were entirely domestic, with assertive behavior seen as ‘unfeminine'. Men had control over women both morally and legally but women were believed to have a duty to bring the finer virtues to a man's fife particularly through marriage. Trench of women seen In their dialogue, reflecting their beliefs and attitude. Put into supporting roles (as was the reality of their situation) Women's role in creating life is diminished. 3. Trace the development of the relationship between the monster and Frankincense briefly. Does this help direct the re ader's emotions towards each? The monster is made from many people's parts. 4. How does Shelley use locations and weather to enhance our understanding of the novel? There are indoor and outdoor settings.Indoor settings are symbols of mental as well as physical imprisonment. Most outdoor scenes are barren, wild, or desolate. They often symbolism the separation of a character from his fellow beings. Journeys form a pattern. The monster keeps returning to meet Frankincense, a haunting feeling. Victor travels away from his family and returns with new pressures. 5. In what ways is Frankincense a book of emotions and the imagination? Imagination Is the living power and the primary agent of all human perception.Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The Romantics believed that art should have themes of great magnitude which could arouse emotional exhilaration in the audience. Frankincense belongs to 1 OFF stormy and dark settings, satanic imagery and themes of revenge and pursuit. 6. How reliable is Fra nkincense as a storyteller? Is he biased (duh! ) Victor feels himself to be a victim yet partially aware that his ‘mad scheme' is also to blame. 7. How does the way the story told, with three narrators, affect the way the reader sees the novel?We are introduced to the characteristics, desires and values of the narrators o we see things from their perspective but we can also question their character. The Chinese box narrative allows us to go deeper into the story as each narrative lets us know more about the different perspective, even if they are biased. This techniques has an effect on our feelings – we change our emotions towards each character as we meet each and have divided sympathies in the final section. There are contrasts and parallels in language, characters and settings. 8. How responsible is Frankincense for his own downfall?

A Synopsis of the Movie Fight Club Essay

The movie begins as Jack, the protagonist, is trapped in a state of insomnia by his job at calculating the cost of recalling a faulty car as opposed to paying court settlements to the relatives of the people killed by that car. He then recommends the one that seems less expensive. While he tries to argue with a doctor about how he can start sleeping, the doctor happens to make a sarcastic remark about how if he wants to see real pain he should go to a support group for men with testicular cancer. Jack takes this remark literally. It is there that he meets Bob, whom I shall describe shortly. Anywhere, he begins to find the support groups addictive, and attends more and more of them, and finds that they allow him to sleep. Soon after in the movie we find Jack meeting Tyler Durden on a plane trip, and when his apartment later explodes Jack meets Tyler Durden in a bar. Having agreed to let Jack stay at his house, Tyler asks Jack to punch him. He tells Jack this will make him feel that hi s life was indeed exciting, and Jack obliges. They begin to fight, and others begin to stand around, wanting to join as well. They gather together, protesting amongst themselves that society was trying to turn them into wimpy and uniform machines and preventing them from feeling like real people, constantly telling them that they need to buy all sorts of stuff that they only need because the advertisements said they did. Pretty soon there are weekly gatherings of these men, waiting for a chance to fight one another, and then they move into the basement of a local bar. More and more men begin to attend Fight Club with the express agreement that they would not mention it, and rumors begin to circulate of Clubs in other cities. Gradually Durden begins to make the Club more involved, giving out â€Å"homework assignments† such as to start a fight with a stranger and lose. Thus Jack finds himself watching as Durden institutes Project Mayhem, an outward attempt at changing society based on widespread attacks on coffee franchises and corporate artwork. Finally Durden plots to blow up ten major credit card companies, with the intent that to erase everyone’s debt would create chaos, and allow society to re- organize itself from that chaos. Many critics of the movie found it to portray antisocial behaviors as a valid way of expressing oneself. (Particularly if only the beginning and middle of thi s movie are looked at.) They argue that its violence is there merely to draw an audience. This is supported by numerous instances of young men and boys vandalizing cars as was done in the movie or forming clubs of their own. Therefore many say that the movie succeeds in condoning what the ending condemns. They say that it promotes violence by making it seem so attractive in muck of the movie, regardless of the conclusion. With this argument in mind, we shall proceed with our analysis of the movie itself. One of the principal themes in Fight Club is its treatment of violence and its relationship with masculinity. The men in the film are portrayed as confronting a society which gives them little meaning and refuses to give them what they feel to be a birthright, a meaningful, productive place in society. Tyler Durden, the leader of Fight Club and the manifestation of the angry, alienated, and purposeless feeling, articulates this, â€Å"We’re the middle children of history, with no special purpose or place. We don’t have a great war in our generation, or a great depression. The great depression is our lives. The great war is a spiritual war. We have been raised by television to believe that we’ll be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars–but we won’t And we’re learning that fact. And we’re very, very, pissed off.† The men in this movie, having their traditional masculine role of breadwinner seemingly denied by feminism and left with meaningless corporate jobs compensate for this loss of masculinity and control by re-affirming their masculinity for themselves through the only masculine behavior they still can do: fighting. According to Jackson Katz: One way that the system allows working class men (of various races) the opportunity for what Brod refers to as â€Å"masculine identity validation† is through the use of their body as an instrument of power, dominance, and control. For working-class males, who have less access to more abstract forms of masculinity-validating power (economic power, workplace authority), the physical body and its potential for violence provide a concrete means of achieving and asserting â€Å"manhood†. Bob also fits this description of fighting as compensation for that sense of paralysis preventing men from being either a crucial part of society or being able to change it so that one can be. Through a combination of the treatment for testicular cancer and of increased estrogen as a result of his steroid use while a body-builder which Bob was left with unusually large breasts and left him with very little perception or himself as masculine or valuable to anyone. However, Bob later appears in the movie as a member of Fight Club, where he finds that once again he can act â€Å"like a man† and feel as if his masculinity is validated. Jack finds Durden’s assertions that the men in their generation have no other wa y to express their individuality or to free themselves from materialism than to fight each other, and to use their fighting as a method of filling the void left by the removal of worthy roles for men in society. In the beginning of the film Jack is using mail-order catalogs, becoming so obsessed with buying whatever he sees advertised in them that his orders become an end to themselves. I would flip and wonder, â€Å"What kind of dining room set ‘defines’ me as a person?† He became so obsessed with obtaining what he saw in the catalogs that he filled up his apartment with furniture and all sorts of other stuff he didn’t need. This seems also to address the increasing assertion by advertisements that you can be defined and given a soul by acquiring products. Durden also spoke of this sort of cycle: â€Å"Look at the guys in fight club. The strongest and smartest men who have ever lived — and they’re pumping gas and waiting tables; or they’re slaves with white collars. Advertising has them chasing cars and clothes. A whole generation working in jobs they hate, just so they can buy shit they don’t really need.† He was alluding to the shackles that a culture based on acquisition has on its members, and inviting these members (namely men) to throw off the shackles and prove that they didn’t need a better dining room set to define them. All they needed, he assured them, was to fight, and would show their humanity and masculinity through that. During another one of his outcries about the male relationship with society, Durden once came upon a designer clothing billboard featuring a muscular man in jeans and no shirt, and criticized it much like various critics of ads which use unrealistic shows of feminine beauty to sell products asked, â€Å"Is this what a real man looks like?† After smearing it with blood, he proclaims, â€Å"Guys packing into the gyms, all trying to look like what Calvin Klein says. Fight club isn’t about looking good.† Susan Faludi, author of Stiffed: the Betrayal of the American Man† calls this sort of â€Å"ornamental masculinity† a major factor in the â€Å"Angry White Male† mentality: The more I consider what men have lost–a useful role in public life, a way of earning a decent living, respectful treatment in the culture–the more it seems to me that men are falling into a status oddly similar to that of women at midcentury. The ’50s housewife, stripped of her connections to a wider world and invited to fill the void with shopping and the ornamental display of her ultrafeminity, could be said to have morphed into the ’90s man, stripped of his connections and invited to fill the void with consumption and a gym-bred display of his ultramasculinity. The empty compensations of a â€Å"feminine mystique† and transforming into the empty compensations of a masculine mystique. Douglas Rushkoff gives his account of the switch from a linear and continuous world to one that was non-linear and discontinuous. Before this switch, middle-class men were seen as valuable and benevolent authority figures who were a pillar of society and who always succeeded in bringing home food for the table because his work paid relatively well. The society felt that there was value also in acquiring as many new and technologically advanced possessions as possible, which allowed for the men to ensure that their wives would find it enjoyable to expend all of their energy at home, cooking and vacuuming and buying better things for cooking and vacuuming. In this way men were given the great majority of political power and respect. However, the awareness of the corruption in politicians’ lives from Watergate, the national confusion after a country was able to watch Kennedy assassinated on TV, and possibly the most lasting of all, the first time that ordinary citizens were able to see combat in Vietnam on the nightly news, creating a much more suspicious outlook on the government and military, caused society to become discontinuous. The former male status symbol was gone along with continuity, replaced by gender equality which prevented men from using the feminine mystique to their advantage, making them less likely to have a dependent wife and family. They lacked that meaning which they had when they were providing for their offspring and mate, to put it in a biological concept, so their motivation to work was largely gone, with consumerism alone unable to fill the void. Their power having toppled, the male now tried to fill this void and prove that he indeed was still a man for society. Consumerism was unable to do that anymore, and so the male body itself, as Jackson Katz said, became the tool. This is shown by the film, in which Tyler Durden attempts to destroy the discontinuous society which tells him that he should not have this total control. This is shown by his completely anti-feminist outlook, particularly his meaningless sexual relationship with Marla Singer. â€Å"Except for their humping, Tyler and Marla were never in the same room†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jack relates. Tyler also describes a generation of unaggressive men â€Å"raised by their mothers†, that characterized his peers who grew up in a time of increased divorce rates and in turn grew up without fathers. â€Å"The last thing we need is another woman.† He gives reason to his masochistic fights and burns by saying that you could create pain for yourself, thereby â€Å"hitting bottom†. He describes it not as a painful and agonizing experience, but a turning point, where you are going to feel excellent after having your teeth knocked out no matter how bad your station in life is. And so Durden’s scheme to create chaos which would then begin society anew, Rushkoff would say, actually was showing that he was trying to mold society around himself. Meanwhile Jack in the end renounces Tyler’s ideas of violent upheaval, instead deciding that he would accept society as discontinuous and use its discontinuity as part of his life. This film therefore shows the advantage in not letting what happens matter to you such as it would in a linear world. Edward Herman’s perceptions of the film would be those of contradiction, largely centering around the fact that the movie is marketed and designed to make a profit, yet at the same time it criticizes the idea that you need to buy what society tells you to buy and that material goods are unnecessary to life. He might postulate that the companies had realized that a capitalistic message promoting conformity doesn’t sell, and instead used and anti-capitalistic message of being skeptical of what society and everyone else tells you to make an even greater profit (much like Sprite’s paradoxical campaign which made fun of soft drink ads, then told people to buy Sprite). he would observe in short not that corporations indeed rejected themselves, but that they now make themselves even more effective by letting people pay to watch them pretend to do so. My own impressions of the movie are that along with its messages on corporations and their relationship with the identity crisis in American men is that it also offered a lot of information on the ultimate problem with taking violence as a way of demonstrating masculinity. This is especially apparent with Bob, who, managed to rediscover his manhood in Fight Club and in Project Mayhem, but was also killed while part of the latter. Fol lowing his death, he is spoken of by his comrades as if he had never been human. This is saying that to become part of violence unquestionably despite perceived acceptance and purpose is to swap one form of denial of yourself for another. Bibliography. Katz, Jackson/ authority on phenomenon of violence and its link to masculinity and cultural trends creating this phenomenon/ Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity This article discussed the use of violence by white men as a tool to regain power they feel to be lost to other groups. Discusses overuse of portrayals of violence and its symbols in advertising. Faludi, Susan/ author of Backlash and Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man, a contributing editor for Newsweek, â€Å"The Betrayal of the American Man, At Ground Zero of the Masculinity Crisis, The Ornamental Culture, Beyond the Politics of Confrontation† Newsweek, (09-13-99) â€Å"It’s ‘Thelma and Louise’ for Guys†, Newsweek (10-25-99) These articles discuss how men have reacted to the identity crisis from their loss of job status and expresses that much of it comes from a modern image of manhood impossible to attain and in the latter relates such phenomena to the film . Fletcher, Kim, â€Å"Male Fantasies† The Spectator (11-20-99) Much like Faludi in that it concludes that film is the result of male feelings of inadequacy in modern culture addressing the question of how to react. Rushkoff, Douglas/ author of Media Virus and Playing the Future among others content take from excerpts of Playing the Future This book describes the cultural evolution caused by the digital age and resulting in adopting non-linear thought and in chaos mathematics. Herman, Edward/ linguistics professor at MIT, comrade of Noam Chomsky â€Å"The Propaganda Model Revisited† from Capitalism and the Information Age This essay enlightens as to the role producers’ and reporters’ personal biases and more particularly of their desire for profit plays in how the media portrays certain events or whether they even mention certain events at all. Braun, Bill, â€Å"Auto dealership vandal released after finishing ‘bootcamp'†, World Staff Writer final home edition (date not given) This, among other articles, outlined or mentioned the violent and anti-social effects that the film seemed to have on the younger adults and adolescents, such as forming their own little fight clubs or vandalism. Uhls, Jim Fight Club screenplay available at http://geocities.com/scifiscripts/scripts/fight_- club_shoot.txt