Keep Fit free essay sample

Doing aerobic exercise regularly helps to keep fit and help to get healthy lifestyle. 2. Think daily or meditate this an important way and good way to get healthy lifestyle. 3. Physical activity is essential to healthy living. 4. The body was meant to move, and when it doesnt, it can become unhappy and ill. Physical activity stimulates the bodys natural maintenance and repair system that keep it going. Activity improve circulation to our heart and lungs. It gives us strength to stare off injuries . And it increases the mobility in our muscles and joints. Physical activity is good for the body and the mind. Exercises include brisk walking, cycling, dancing, swimming, and rowing. 5. Eating healthy food very important . What you put into your body directly effects how you feel physically, your mood, your mental clarity and even your skin. Eating healthy doesnt mean eating expensive food. 6. Reduce stress help to good life. We will write a custom essay sample on Keep Fit or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page So we should reduce stress to get healthy life. Stress happens when your life become out of balance physically, mentally and emotionally. This imbalance can be caused by internal stress like worrying too much, environmental stress like pressure from work , family or friends. Or by stress from being fatigued or overwork. Being stressed has the potential to affect your health in a variety of ways. Because from stress you become tired, sick, tense, irritable and unable to think clearly. If you want to live healthy lifestyle, you will need to manage the stress in life.

13 Compare and Contrast Essay Topics on Medieval English Literature vs Renaissance

13 Compare and Contrast Essay Topics on Medieval English Literature vs Renaissance Writing a compare and contrast essay about any topic requires detailed research. This is especially true if you are writing about topics related to English literature. If you have been assigned a compare and contrast essay on medieval English literature vs Renaissance and do not have much time on your hands to begin a full-fledged research crusade, the following 13 facts will inspire you to come up with an essay thesis. However, if you are still having trouble coming up with a topic for your essay, check out our list of 20 English literature topics on medieval English literature vs. Renaissance for a compare and contrast essay. The Renaissance was a cultural movement which started in Italy during the 15th century. It later spread to Europe during the 17th century. The Renaissance was heavily influenced by the classic elements of language, literature and philosophy. It encompassed a modern approach to thinking about humanity and human potential, which was known as Renaissance Humanism. The famous English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare, flourished during this period of enlightenment and learning. He is often called the Bard of Avon and Englands national poet. Another notable author of this period is Miguel de Cervantes. Estimating literacy levels during the English Renaissance era is complicated. There is no way to accurately estimate the number of people who could read and write in the 16th and early 17th century. Mass literacy levels during the Renaissance were not kept track of by any institution. The only ones who could be termed well-educated were those fortunate enough to attend a Jacobean or Elizabethan school. The pupils of these institutes were literate in English and later on learned Latin, Greek, and, sometimes Hebrew. They studied Roman and Greek literature in the original language and were also trained to speak and write Latin. The advent of the printed word had transformative effects on the society during the Renaissance. Books which could only be reproduced by intensive labor were easily mass-produced. Religion also fueled the development of printing and literacy. The Protestant Reformation played a significant role in the development of printing. Other religions saw the potential of rapid dissemination of information as well. Numerous pamphlets and other religious materials were printed and distributed widely. More people became educated due to the indirect results of the printing press, making literature spread throughout Europe. The Restoration brought widespread change across all of Great Britain. After the islands were united as a single nation in 1707, large numbers of Italian and French artists migrated to England. This contributed to a revolutionary change in aesthetic tastes. As art and literature flourished, the scientific revolution also started. Direct observation was given a prime status and empiricism was established as a principle of scientific thought. John Locke was the one of the notable intellectuals who utilized this concept. During the Renaissance, feminism gained momentum as a powerful movement, both in literature and everyday life. The champion of this movement was Mary Astell. The first woman to make a living from writing was Aphra Behn. The old hierarchical system fell apart and traditions lost their hold on powerful institutions. By the time the 18th century ended, human rights had become the central focus of law and politics. Chaucers The Canterbury Tales is a masterpiece of English literature. It is one of the most influential and finest examples of fiction from the Middle Ages. Written in Middle English, it is within the grasp of the modern reader, but requires the use of an extensive glossary in order to be properly appreciated. A major part of the works of medieval literature are anonymous. This is mainly because of the way authors were viewed in those times. The author of those times deeply respected classical writers, almost to the point of reverence. They would re-tell stories, but would claim that they were merely handing down something that was better said by an auctor (Latin for author or originator). The name of the individual author seemed less important, which is why many notable works cannot be attributed to an individual author. That is why the authors of classics such as† Sir Gawain and the Green knight† and â€Å"Beowulf† are not known. Of the many literary devices used in Medieval literature, the most prominent one is allegory. Almost all the authors of medieval literature relied heavily on allegories as vehicles of conveying morals to the reader. The works contain beautiful representations of abstract concepts, qualities, events, and institutions. Aurelius Clemens Prudentius wrote one of the most influential allegories Psychomachia (Battle of Souls). Other notable examples are The Divine Comedy, Romance of the Rose, Piers Plowman, Everyman, and Roman de Fauvel. Medieval literature blends elements from fantasy, religion and reality into an eclectic mix. The characters were often given human characteristics, but had the qualities of fictitious figures. These stories also incorporated the ideas of chivalry, romance, and complex codes of honor. However, most works had quite clear religious overtones. Even the works which did not deal with religion directly contained religious references. A written literary work was an expensive and rare thing in the Medieval era. The only way to produce a copy was to write out the work by hand. As literacy was not very high, monks usually copied out the works. The manuscripts were kept in monasteries and were within reach of only a few. A limited number of rich and the nobles owned copies. The peasants could only pass down the stories and poems orally. The cultural and linguistic landscape of Britain changed rapidly with the Norman Conquest in 1066. The vocabulary of the former started to accumulate words from the French language. Interestingly, unique English literature did not exist before the late 14th century. This changed, however, and eventually English replaced French as the language of government. The prestige of English was greatly enhanced by Geoffrey Chaucer, whose English poetry emulated Italian and French poetry but was written in his own vernacular. The Medieval period can be classified into three major sub-periods in terms of literary developments: The Anglo-Saxon period (c. 450-1066), the Anglo-Norman period (1066- c. 1200), and the period of Middle English literature (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries). The literature which appeared during the Renaissance (1660-1785) can be divided into three sub-periods of about 40 years each. The first period goes up to 1700 and ends with the death of Dryden. English literature witnessed a significant refinement during this period. The poetry and prose had an easy, sociable style, whereas comedy triumphed in theaters. The second period ended with the deaths of Pope and Swift (1744 and 1745 respectively). The works produced during this period focused on satire and were brilliant in their depth. However, they also possessed a playful quality. The third period ends with the death of Johnson in the year 1784. During this period, the literary works bring about a significant break with tradition and embrace revolutionary ideas. These ideas would be crystallized during the Romantic period. With these in hand, you can come up with a good compare and contrast essay. If you need help in properly structuring your essay, you can refer to our handy guide on how to write a compare and contrast essay on Medieval literature vs. Renaissance. You can also use any of the references listed at the end to quickly discover relevant information about this subject. They will be very handy if you have left things up to the last minute, but still want an A. References: Payne, M., Hunter, J. (2003). Renaissance literature. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. Rivers, I. (1994). Classical and Christian ideas in English Renaissance poetry. London: Routledge. Roberts, S., Healy, T. (1994). New Latitudes: Theory and English Renaissance Literature. Renaissance Quarterly, 47(2), 427. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2862938 Difference Between Medieval and Renaissance Literature. (2016). Pediaa.Com. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from http://pediaa.com/difference-between-medieval-and-renaissance-literature/ Medieval Literature vs. Renaissance Literature. (2010). Advanced English @ EAWR. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from https://eawrap.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/medieval-literature-vs-renaissance-literature/ Faculty of English. (2016). English.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/MPhil_Info_MedRen.htm Neuffer, S., Neuffer, S. (2016). Differences Between Medieval Renaissance Literature in England | eHow. eHow. Retrieved 4 April 2016, from ehow.com/info_8631099_differences-between-medieval-renaissance-literature.html

9 Powerful Ways to Market Your Book

9 Powerful Ways to Market Your Book If youve recently joined the ranks of self-published authors, it doesnt take long to realize the most important rule in the game: learn to market your book and learn it well. But in a literary world thats constantly evolving- especially with digital sales on the rise- knowing how and where to market your book can be a challenge. Thats why weve gathered nine of the most effective ways to market your work and build on your success as an author.Find your reader personaIn the marketing world, this step is one of the first ones taken before putting together a plan to market a service or product. Finding your reader persona involves creating a composite sketch of who your most likely audience will be. Will it be male or female (or both)? Is there an age group your book will appeal to most? Are they in college? Working professionals? What other types of media are they most likely to consume (besides your book, hopefully)?Just as marketers use a consumer persona to help them find the best wa ys to market a clients business or product, self-published authors should have a good idea of the most likely audience their book will attract. This not only helps determine the best marketing tactics to use- it helps you narrow those tactics to direct them toward a niche market that is most likely to buy your book.Look at whats sellingAs a self-published author, you obviously want a coveted spot on Amazons bestseller list. And Amazon makes it easy to conduct your own market research by browsing through their Amazon Best Sellers, which is updated hourly.On the left side of this page, youll notice several categories you can select (travel, history, childrens books, etc.) to see the bestsellers within those categories. You can then drill down even further within those categories to find the one that most closely matches your book. For example, in the category of childrens books, youll find Action Adventure; Activities, Crafts Games; Animals; Arts, Music Photography; Childrens Cookb ooks; etc.So why do this? First, youll be able to see if theres already a book that similar to yours on the bestseller list. If so, you might need to consider ways to set it apart from the book thats already a bestseller- either in its description or in the sample chapter you provide. Also, youll be able to select smart categories for your own book, which well discuss in the next tip.Select smart categoriesIn his article How to Choose the Best Book Categories, Kindlepreneurs Dave Chesson offers detailed instructions on choosing categories for your self-published book that will help boost its sales. The process he explains involves finding categories that would fit your book but might not be as competitive as others.According to Chesson, Amazon assigns the ABSR of a book based on how many sales or downloads it has had over a certain period of time as compared to all other books on the Amazon market. A lower number means that the book is selling better than others, and a higher number means it isnt. If your book has the LOWEST ABSR of all books in a category, then you are the #1 best seller in that category. It is that simple. And of course- getting onto a bestseller list (even if its a niche category) will boost your books sales exponentially based on increased exposure on Amazon.For example, lets consider a current nonfiction Amazon bestseller by Brenà © Brown called Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Youll notice that the book has been placed in several categories and is in a different spot within each. Below are the books current rank in three categories, including:#2 in Books Health, Fitness Dieting Psychology Counseling Social Psychology Interactions#2 in Books Business Money Management Leadership Leadership#3 in Books Self-Help Personal TransformationMake your sample chapter amazingWhen a potential buyer sees your book online and is debating whether to purchase it, your sample chapter could be that final push they n eed to add it to their cart. On your Amazon page, this is what theyll see when they click Look Inside and this is your opportunity to really sell your writing.While it might seem logical to put your first chapter as your sample, keep in mind that this is your opportunity to really show off as a writer. The first chapter, which is often exposition and getting to know the main character, might not be the best sample to offer.Make your author bio shineYour author bio is another great way to market your book, particularly if you have written a novel in a nonfiction category. Most readers want to know a little about the person they are taking advice from, especially if its related to their career or hobbies. For nonfiction author bios, you should include your experience related to the subject, including any degrees, certifications, or training you might have had that would make you an expert on the topic. You should also list any relevant travel or speaking experience that has shaped you r worldview as an author.For fiction, something shorter and to the point is generally the best choice. If youve achieved any awards for your writing or have been published in any compilations, be sure to include those, as well as brief information about where you live and what you enjoy doing most. This article is a great resource for how to write your author bio and provides a lot of examples to look through when creating your own.Build an email list through lead magnetsLead magnets are incentives to sign up for something, most often an email list. This email list can then be used to keep in contact with your most likely readers and let them know about special events (such as book signings), sales, or new books coming out. Its also a way to bond with your readership and make them feel like they are an important part of what you do (because they are!).A lead magnet is your best bet to encourage as many people as possible to sign up for email from you. This incentive can be as simple as an additional free sample chapter, a free download that isnt available without first signing up, a poem, advice, or a link to a YouTube video where you address an important question that might arise about your writing. This article is a great resource for various types of lead magnets you can use. The possibilities are practically endless!Identify your influencersWhether its your family and friends, or a small social media following, your biggest fans will play a large role in helping you market your book. They can share information on their own social media accounts and tell others about how much they enjoyed your book. In fact, consider giving free copies to those who will influence others to buy your book. Its a marketing tactic that could pay off surprisingly well for you if the right influencer really likes what youve written.Create an author websiteHaving an online presence is not only important- its essential if you want to market your book and build an audience. Your aut hor website will be the primary means to do this and should offer both current readers and potential readers an opportunity to get to know you and your writing.However, make sure your author website is professional and easy to navigate on multiple devices. People are increasingly using their smartphones and tablets to access information online, so ensuring that your site is optimized for such viewing will help increase your audience exponentially.Get your book reviewedIf youve ever bought anything online- say, Amazon, for example- you know how much reviews influenced your decision. Retail marketers understand this and put a lot of effort into curating good reviews online.In addition to multiple services available for getting your book reviewed (this one, for example) you can also ask for reviews from your core fanbase (even if its just your friends and family). These reviews will go a long way in influencing others to buy your book.

Jonathan Swift on Style - Keeping It Simple

Jonathan Swift on Style - Keeping It Simple Other writers agree: that wise guy of English prose, Jonathan Swift, knew a thing or two about good style: Swifts style is, in its line, perfect; the manner is a complete expression of the matter, the terms appropriate, and the artifice concealed. It is simplicity in the true sense of the word.(Samuel Coleridge, Lecture on Style, 1818)No better style in English prose was ever written, or can be.(William Dean Howells, Preface, Gullivers Travels, 1913)Swift, the greatest writer of English prose, and the greatest man who has ever written great English prose.  (T.S. Eliot, The Varieties of Metaphysical Poetry, 1926) So when the author of Gullivers Travels and A Modest Proposal offers some free advice on writing, we probably ought to pay attention. Lets start with his famous definition of style as proper words in proper places. Short and sweet. But then, we might ask, whos to say whats proper? And just what does Swifts maxim really mean? To find out, lets return to the source. Swifts cryptic definition of style appears in the essay Letter to a Young Gentleman Lately Entered Into Holy Orders (1721). There he identifies clarity, directness, and freshness of expression as the chief qualities of a proper style: And truly, as they say a man is known by his company, so it should seem that a mans company may be known by his means of expressing himself, either in public assemblies or private conversations.It would be endless to run over the several defects of style among us. I shall therefore say nothing of the mean and paltry (which are usually attended by the fustian), much less of the slovenly or indecent. Two things I will just warn you against: the first is, the frequency of flat unnecessary epithets; and the other is, the folly of using old threadbare phrases, which will often make you go out of your way to find and apply them, are nauseous to rational hearers, and will seldom express your meaning as well as your own natural words.Although, as I have already observed, our English tongue is too little cultivated in this kingdom, yet the faults are, nine in ten, owing to affectation, and not to the want of understanding. When a mans thoughts are clear, the properest words will generally off er themselves first, and his own judgment will direct him in what order to place them so as they may be best understood. Where men err against this method, it is usually on purpose, and to show their learning, their oratory, their politeness, or their knowledge of the world. In short, that simplicity without which no human performance can arrive to any great perfection is nowhere more eminently useful than in this. Always think of your audience, Swift advises, and dont baffle them with obscure terms and hard words. Lawyers, surgeons, clergy, and especially academics should avoid using jargon when communicating with outsiders. I know not how it comes to pass, he says, that professors in most arts and sciences are generally the worst qualified to explain their meaning to those who are not of their tribe. One of the wittiest writers in the English language, Swift understood that his gift was rare: I cannot forbear warning you, in the most earnest manner, against endeavoring at wit in your sermons, because by the strictest computation it is very near a million to one that you have none; and because too many of your calling have consequently made themselves everlastingly ridiculous by attempting it. In other words, dont try to be a joker if you cant tell a joke. And at all times, keep it simple. Sound advice, right? But keeping it simple- putting proper words in proper places- is a lot harder than it sounds. As Sir Walter Scott once said, Swifts style seems so simple that one would think any child might write as he does, and yet if we try we find to our despair that it is impossible (quoted in The Cambridge History of English and American Literature).

Health Information Systmes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Health Information Systmes - Essay Example Present day concern of disseminating information at a faster rate has led to the rising use of Data Systems that will monitor programs and services. Aging of the Population - Although the main impact of the aging of the population will not be felt for two decades or more, the growth of the population 85 years old and older will continue to strain nursing homes, home health, and other components of the long-term care system. Unprecedented growth of pharmaceutical industries has led to the emergence of new drugs and treatments in the market. Health Information system becomes indispensable since it will help in tracking drug interactions. In the recent times there had been considerable rise in the frequency of information exchange among the healthcare organizations. It becomes essential to have accurate records of treatment procedures. Inclusion of personal digital assistants (PDAs) into the healthcare system has also become of significant use. The major reason for the rising importance of Health Information System is the development of complex treatments and technologies. The organizations feel the need for a comprehensive data base since the volumes of patients and treatments have escalated in the last few decades. Inclination to opt for paperless records is another major reason for the popularity of this system of storing information. The vital factor among all the factors mentioned above is the growing number of patients and the advent of various complicated drugs and therapies. This has made the health care system highly dependant on computed system of acquiring information. Sleek and easy accessibility of information through computer s is preferred to bulky paper records. Advent of a host of new diagnostic tools and tests certainly require extra attention in information management with added emphasis on processing and storing documents. Heal Information system has proved to be a boon for clinicians, consumers and the health system. Besides reducing the amount of time spent in recording the details of patient care this automated system helps in eliminating inaccuracies and redundancy of data. Through this updated information system you get optimal access to information which also helps in improving the quality of care by rendering the streamlined information to the experts. (Conrick p 241) Module 2 As the head of Slainte health care organization I have to pay due attention to some issues arising due to the decision of accommodating the professional, administrative and maintenance Earlier Slainte health care organization had to cater themselves to the need of 1, staff of the destroyed hospital in the neighboring community. Due to this makeshift arrangement supposedly for4 years, I have to attend to the related matters about various layers of administration and smooth operation. Earlier my hospital had to serve 100,000 residents but now it has got the added responsibility to accommodate 50, 000 more people from its neighboring community. In order to provide the medical care to both the communities a plausible expansion process is to be sought out. Factors like present infrastructure of my hospital, staffs in every department and the number of beds available are to be considered before assessing the added requirements. I have to take into

The global education movement in the United States Essay

The global education movement in the United States - Essay Example This article is logically structured and is based on the personal investigated the author has conducted. Tye has developed a questionnaire which was translated into French and Spanish and sent to more than 100 countries practicing global education out of which 52 provided the responses. The article is the summary of the highlights from this study and contains a section on the most recent movements in the global education implementation. Unlike the writing of Tye, Scott in his article "Thai Exchange Students' Encounters with Ethnocentrism" relies only on the expertise of the other scholars who have already done the research and avoids making assumptions that are not based on facts. This article is rather informative and description and explains why global education is vital and should become part of high school curriculum. He believes that the most serious international conflicts in the future will be caused by misunderstandings between western and non-western cultures. For this reason the study and understanding of the distant cultures and regions is the prerequisite of global peace. The article starts with general information about global education, and then Scott devotes a page to definition of ethnocentrism and proves the assumption providing the example of how an exchange student from Thailand had to face ethnocentrism. This writing is of high value for any reader - a student and a teacher because the author do es not only discuss the issue but also points out the pitfalls of the current system and suggests how exactly the system should look like. For example, today what "students are taught about different cultures is often superficial, with the emphasis on exotic differences and negative stereotypes", while the "specific emphasis must be placed on the economic, political, environmental, social, and technological consequences of the individual and collective decisions we make that affect the planet" (Scott 1998). Merry Merryfield has investigated the global education implementation from a completely different perspective - the study of global women being included into curriculum. The author investigates how women from various cultures are perceived differently. For example, the Korean women are thought in term of year that took place 50 years. The aim of the article is to describe how teaches can integrate global perspective into their instructions in order to increase student understanding in women of other cultures. At first Merry examines the assumptions which constrain Americans from understanding the global women and how the teacher can help students to think about women globally. Further, some of the practices that are already used by teachers are outlined and illustrated. In addition, there is an overview of problems the teachers can face and the number of examples on how to overcome these problems. The article is not targeted for any specific audience and can be referred to by teache rs as well students because it has rather informative than persuasive objective. The article "California School District Employs Videoconferencing Units for Global Studies" is an example how the global education can become not only very informative for the students but very interesting as well. It talks about videoconferencing units at the point when they were just introduced into education system - in middle 1990s. This system supports the

Duffley and Snow Case Comparison Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Duffley and Snow Case Comparison - Assignment Example The case initiation was to determine judicially whether the United States of America elected Zerubbabel Snow, the territory attorney general, to prosecute offenders of territorial offence (de J. Pemberton & ONeil, 1971). A change in the employee status of an individual is enough to support an agreement entered after starting employment. The plaintiffs team held that the athletic association had no right to deny the student eligibility from participating in athletics in the second semester. The act was unlawful and the New Hampshire had no facts to deny the student from participating in athletics. The association had n valid reason to deny Duffley the opportunity to participate in athletics in the second semester. The court made a ruling that the Utah Organic Act provides the territorial Supreme Court in conjunction with district courts power to act as circuits. The role of the each court was distinct and every individual serving under the court should abide by the rule. The territorial courts should serve people when they sit in the territorial courts. The district attorney of the United States of America has the power to prosecute individuals for not respecting the law. The Organic Act of September 9, 1850 established that the legislative powers should within the Constitution of the United States of America. Mr. Snow has undertaken to prosecute individuals in one of the district courts. It was against the law of the Utah as a territory of its own. Joint assembly elects the attorney general where the term of office is to be one year. The attorney general is entitled to attend all the legal business of the territory he or she is representing. Mr. Snow took the opportunity to prosecute law offenders in territories against the law of the territory. The United States issued a quo warranto in relation to the case of Mr. Hempstead (de J. Pemberton & ONeil, 1971). On the

Organisation and management coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organisation and management coursework - Essay Example The term hierarchical control defines the control which moves down from the top management’s control over to the bottom line workers of the company. There are several management levels which are decided and organized in order to create a more comprehensible organizational structure. Managers at each management level have control over the employees who are working directly under their surveillance. Organizations normally design organizational charts to show the structure of the organization, levels of management and easy structure of the employees working under the control of each manager (Reyazuddin 2010; Stokes 2002; Sisk 1973). Hierarchal Control Businesses are aimed to maximize the wealth of the shareholders. To pursue this goal the business activities are divided and the control is also spitted up to ensure that the work performance at each level of management is up to the standards. The hierarchical control enable the organization to improve the efficiency of the business ’s overall performance as the manager at each level of management is responsible and answerable for the performance of his division or workers working under his control. In order to improve his/her performance, managers put their best efforts to improve the work efficiency and quality at their level. Their efforts may be biased and may be aimed at the achievement of their personal interests but the result of those efforts, normally, helps in improving the business’s efficiency. Hence, we may say that hierarchical control helps organizations in achieving their major aim of maximizing profits i.e. by improving efficiency and quality of work. Hierarchical control provides the basis of coordination between employees. A number of people are involved in the running of the business. There is a need to control the operations of the business and control the operating activities that are performed by different individuals. The hierarchical control helps in identifying the place, position and responsibilities of each individual. The hierarchical chart provides the basic understanding of who is responsible for a particular work and to whom is that individual accountable. Hierarchical control plays a vital role in keeping the organization knitted and its operations controlled. The hierarchical management is provided fixed tasks and targets at each level. The work of one department, normally, does not interrupt the work of the other. The organizations operations are, hence, carried out more effectively. However, lack of communication in such organizational structures may end up creating difficulties at each level. The over/under production by one department may end up creating confusing and problematic situations for the other and so on (Stokes 2002). Hierarchical Control requires the managers to analyze and influence the performance of the employees working under their control. In order to improve the performance of their division or sector, managers tend to rely extensively on reward systems, motivational techniques, delegation of authority, exhaustive rules and policies and other attractive offers for the employees to improve their work quality. These offers and schemes are sometimes beneficial for the organizations in the short run. However, such schemes bring more benefit for the manager who is responsible for a particular task or division. His immediate attention and offers motivate the workers to perform their task efficiently and as accurately as the manager requires.

Climate Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Climate Change - Essay Example The milankovitch theory implies that over time three cyclic events vary the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth and eventually it causes climate change. According to Burroughs (2007) eccentricity is a cyclical variation that determines the shape of the earth’s orbit around the sun. The more elliptical the earth’s orbit is, the greater the the greater the variation in solar energy that is received at the top of the atmosphere between the earth’s perihelion and aphelion. As the earth rotates on its axis, it wobbles hence changing the timing of the solstices, and equinoxes a process known as the procession of the equinox. Volcanic eruptions eject large amounts of sulphur dioxide gas which reacts water vapor found in the stratosphere to form a dense layer that reduces atmospheric transmission of sun’s incoming radiation. Sun spots, which are caused by the sun’s magnetic field are dark, planet sized regions that appear on the sun’s su rface. These regions are colder than with an average temperature of 4,000K. Climate change can be explained by these factors although they are only some of those which cause climate change. Since 1979, the summer polar ice cap’s size has shrunk more than 20% and this has not only affected the natives but the globe as a whole. The contraction of the arctic ice cap accelerates global warming since the protective, cooling layer over the arctic is melting and hence the earth absorbs more sunlight (Kininmonth 2004). If the arctic is warmer, this will affect weather patterns since the rest of the world will also warm up and eventually food production will decrease. In contrast, most of the world depends on melted glaciers for fresh water supply through lakes and rivers hence their melting will cause short supply of the same. It will also cause shortage of electricity since a great percentage of the world’s population depends on melting glaciers for hydro electric power. Animals, birds and fish will lose their

Leadership Essay Example for Free

Leadership Essay There are some concepts about leadership in the world, some people think leaders are born, and some people believe that leaders are made. If employees believe that leaders are born and not made, it may be demoralising. Some people may have the inherent qualities to become leaders, but they may not have developed their leadership because nobody else has ever noticed potential leadership qualities in them. Leaders move out of comfort zones. When one reflects on whether leaders are born or made, it is important to define what a leader is as well as to distinguish between a leader in management and a leader in another field of expertise. Leadership and management are two distinctive yet complementary systems of action. †(Story Cover, 1993). Because â€Å"management power comes from organizational structure, it promotes stability, order and problem solving within the structure. Leadership power, on the other hand, comes form personal sources that are not as invested in the organization, such as personal interests, goals and values. Leadership power promotes vision, creativity and change in the organization† (Samson and Daft, 2005). Management centres on handling complexity and Leadership are to face the new challenges (Story, 1993). For example, in peacetime, an army can train very well under good management, but there is no one who can manage people into battle, the soldiers of course will led by leaders (Story, 1993). â€Å"Management is a skill that can be learned, Leadership is a calling†(Shea, cited in Story, 1993, p. 34). Shea acknowledges, â€Å"Some leadership qualities can be learned, but only if the raw material exists† (Shea, cited in Story, 1993, p. 34). Therefore when good leaders are provided with ample management skills, then they can get their goals, good leaders will be able to communicate their goals to employees in such an effective way that the employees will be able to identify with the goals and will strive to achieve it. â€Å"According to Shea, a good manager may be able to keep even an inefficient organization running relatively smoothly. But a good leader can transform a demoralized organization†(Shea, cited in Story, 1993, p. 34). Consequently, good leadership ability will become an increasingly important quality in the future. A good leader has an impact on the employees and the future of the company. And some times leaders have to face some tough situations. A new leader may for example have to dismantle bureaucratic old rules in a company that already existed for more â€Å"150 years† (Osborne, 2006, cited in Warwick, p. 15). Since such a leader is totally new in the company, people would not want to listen to him, even though he would have to implement more effective procedures for the company. They would feel that he lacks legitimacy, and they actually know the company better than him. This is a common problem that a new leader may face, who still needs to prove his legitimacy. To overcome this obstacle, a leader needs â€Å"strong communication† (Warwick, 2006). Furthermore a leader may not be seen as legitimate because â€Å"employees know more about technical details† (Samson and Daft, 2005, p. 430). To overcome this problem an effective leader could empower employees (Osborne, 2006, cited in Warwick, 2006, p. 15; Samson and Daft, 2005). A good leader must be able to communicate his ideas, so that employees will respect his ideas. If a leader succeeds in communicating responsibility, motivation, and vision to people under him, new leaders are born when they are empowered. Good leaders are not supervisors; instead they delegate responsibility to employees (Warwick, 2006). This is also called â€Å"legitimate power† which stems from a formal management position in an organization and the authority granted to it† (Samson and Daft, 2005). â€Å"Leadership is not rank or status. The military has rules and regulations, paper and procedures. The officers have rank, status and power. But does this necessarily make them leaders? No! Leadership cannot be imposed†(Ron Eddy, 1998). For example, Thomas C. Graham, the chairman of AK Steel, used the military way to manage his staff; however he still failed to get promotion and make more contributions for the company (Samson and Daft, 2005, p. 430) Military style dictatorship is not good leadership. Leaders should give more space and more responsibilities to their staff so that they will know that they are responsible for the company, everyone is part of the company, so it will make them put more passion on their job and then they will push themselves very hard. A good leader must be able to make tough decisions (Warwick, 2006). For example, he may have to retrench superfluous employees (Osborne, 2006, cited in Warwick, 2006). This is form of â€Å"coercive power† (Samson and Daft, 2005). But a leader should also empower employees. If a leader empowers people this will create responsibility in employees (Samson and Daft, 2005) and will also create a competitive environment where employees will feel valued, because expertise is valued. But they have the responsibility be cost effective. They will be rewarded for they own initiative, this rewards could include â€Å"pay increases or promotions†¦ praise, attention and recognition† (Samson and Daft, 2005, p. 429). When management empowers employees it will develop the self-confidence of employees, who will feel good about themselves, and will in turn respect the leader who has promoted their self-esteem. When employees show that they respect their leaders it will enhance their leader’s confidence. Self-confidence is a quality that must be distinguished from ego or bravado, which may be superficial or feigned. True self-confidence is the deep conviction that ones strategies are the most appropriate for solving the problems at hand. It may be crucial to weather the stormy periods that will inevitably occur at many times during the voyage. A leader should give birth to leaders in a company, not to lead the company, but to be leaders in their field. If you never give a responsibility to staff, they will never create new things in their domain. And follow the old habits forever. Hence, a leader of an organization has to lead it to â€Å"constantly reinvent† itself (Warwick, 2006). This is necessary in order to make things more efficient for the company, although the leader’s decisions may be unpopular, it will be effective if he can convince people why change is necessary. Leaders are made when management empowers employees. Leaders should encourage employees to search for new and innovative solutions. Leaders are lifelong learners. â€Å"The gifted leader never stops learningshe reads, she listens, she observes. It is important to note that formal education isnt a necessary ingredient to become a gifted leader. Our three case studies received a traditional medical education that creates followers, rather than leaders. None of them pursued another advanced degree, such as an MBA or MHAthey achieved their lofty status by other means† (William R Fifer, 1997). Creativity and initiative are stimulated when people are given more responsibilities. Leadership means, literally, to go in advance (William R, Fifer, 1997). A leader who gives more responsibility and confidence to employees makes them less dependent on supervision. â€Å"The gifted leader must be able to break away from dependence on the group and visualize new directions. Good leaders in management will lead employees to become leaders in their fields of xpertise that in turn will transform the company into a leading organisation. Thomas Frist, Jr. , MD, who built the giant empire Hospital Corporation of America, once described the solitary long walks he took in all kinds of weather. He said he always got at least one idea out of each walk† (William R Fifer, 1997). A good leader will have the ability to weather both difficult peri ods and good times. He/she will find ways to come up with new ideas whilst also constantly challenge and motivate employees to search for innovative ideas that can be implemented to ensure that the organization becomes a leader in its field. Leaders who have the ability to empower employees have inborn qualities. Intelligence is a key ingredient, especially the kind associated with verbal facility (William R, 1997). Good judgment or simple common sense is another important trait. A colleague of mine fired a seemingly gifted employee after a brief stint on the job; when I asked what the problem was, my colleague replied, He couldnt anticipate! I knew exactly what he meant (William R, 1997). â€Å"Personality, which may be defined as whatever makes a person attractive to others†(William R, Fifer, 1997). They must have boundless energy, be assertive and aggressive. Maybe that training can improve the ability to lead or manage, people need the right qualities to begin with. ( Vaughan, 2002). â€Å"†¦I’d place a greater interest on the qualities rather than training because some people, no matter how well trained, will never be leaders†(Vaughan Gareth, 2002). To be honest, leaders are not like other normal people, â€Å"Leaders do not have to be great men or women by being intellectual geniuses or omniscient prophets to succeed, but they do need to have the right stuff and this stuff is not equally present in all people† (David L, Cawthon, 1996). Successful leaders understand how people from different cultures view them and interpret their actions and adapt their behaviour accordingly†(Dale Pfeifer, 2006). Leadership is a very difficult, indomitable work with a great responsibility and pressure that they will have to suffer. Abraham Zaleznik (1992) contends that â€Å"the ability to lead is directly linked to ones personality. Leaders and managers, he writes, are not the same. Whereas managers tend to favor maintenance of the status quo, leaders seek to transform what is into what should be. As a result, leaders have more in common with artists than they do with managers† (Zaleznik, 1992, cited in David L, 1996) A good leader who has the ability that can always makes a good judgment in the tough situation and have the strong communication which he need to convince and inspire employees in the company in a fast changing world. Not many people have that inborn qualities, therefore how to use that power will be the most important thing that leaders have to consider about. A good leader will help the company to solve the problems such as, global warming challenges and the shift in economic power form the USA to China and India and how employees will need leaders who can cope with change and who can plan for unforeseen challenges. Born leaders have the ability to give vision, responsibility, and legitimacy to employees and this empowerment makes leaders.

Satisfaction For Food And Services Provided By Mcdonalds Commerce Essay

Satisfaction For Food And Services Provided By Mcdonalds Commerce Essay Currently, the worlds largest fast-food restaurant chain is McDonalds Corporation. In 1940, Dick and Mac McDonald was started their business and open the first restaurant in San Bernardino California. In 1948, the McDonald brothers were set a standard of modern fast-food restaurant with the introduction of Speedee Service System. Now, McDonalds has more than 20000 restaurants which can able to be found in 120 countries around the world, and about 80% are franchises. (Gross Forbes, 1996) Customer satisfaction is an integrated indicator of performance, expectation, equity, affect and disconfirmation. (Kimita,K., Shimomura,Y., Arai,T.,2009) Now a day, the important key element for a business to success in a marketplace is customer satisfaction. This is because the customer is very important for the organisation or in the business world. Without any customer, the business cannot last longer and will be face bankruptcy. In order to carry out this research, the researchers choose a topic regarding the level of customer satisfaction for food and services that provided by McDonalds. 1.2 Scope Customer satisfaction for food and services that provided by McDonalds. 1.3 Problem statement In order to maintain brand loyalty from the loyal customers and attract new potential consumers, McDonalds need to study the level of customer satisfaction for the foods and services it provide. McDonalds can know the customer taste of the food, from there McDonalds can do some changes to meet the customer needs. This research is to know the nutrition fact and variety of choices for the food and the set meal. To know the services that provided by the staff of McDonalds is important in this research. This is because a good service towards customer can maintain the customer to visit again to the shop. The example of the service like the courtesy, prompt and quick service that the staffs need to provide to the customer. Through this research, McDonalds can know their level of progress compare with the great competitors like KFC, AW, Burger King and etc, because all these fast food restaurants serving almost similar food like burger, fried chicken and soft drinks. 1.4 Research question What are the factors that encourage customer to dining in McDonalds? How to improve the food and services in McDonalds? 1.5 objective To increase the customer satisfaction when the customer dining in McDonalds To improve the quality of food and services in McDonalds 1.6 Research outcomes The area that needs to improve by the staff of McDonalds is the attitude of politeness to the customers. Customer towards the cleanliness and the environment in the McDonalds. McDonalds will understand the requirements and expectations from the consumer through this research. After doing this research, McDonald can know how to strengthen their position in this fast-food business. It was suggest that cleaner will be set to clean the wash room from usually once in a day to twice in a day to make sure the cleanliness of wash room and will put purifying system inside it. Suggest McDonalds using plantation oil or olive oil instead of normal oil to cook the food because older group of customers are more concern about their body healthiness. From this research, McDonalds will know what are their strengths and weaknesses in the fast-food business. 1.7 Limitation Since this research only for McDonalds, this does not mean that the research results are the same for all of the fast-food restaurants. (595 words) Task 2.0 literature review 2.1 Modeling repurchase frequency and customer satisfaction for fast food outlets According to Law et al (2004), they found out that in order can have more satisfied and loyal customer, company must understand the having an impact of service quality and waiting time on repurchase regularity and customer satisfaction. The authors used a general linear model (GLM) to study the relationship between the waiting time and the repurchase frequency in fast food operation. The results shows that the factors that influence the customer return repurchase frequency are food quality, seat availability, environment, waiting time and staff attitude. Besides that, the authors also used polytomous logistic regression (PLR) model to quantify the categorical measurement of overall satisfaction. The results indicate that the significantly affect customer satisfaction is food quality, food variety, waiting time and staff attitude. The authors believed that through this model can help managers to understand the important factor that influence customer loyalty as well as the satisfactio n level from the customer in the fast food industry. Besides that, it can help the fast food industry to make some improvements accordingly. This article can helping me have a better understanding for my research topic at the same time I can get the information regarding the factor that influence the customer return repurchase frequency to the fast food outlets. (208 words) 2.2 The influence of the quality of the physical environment, food, and service on restaurant image, customer perceived value, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions According to Ryu et al (2012), they found out that few exams have studied to identify the consequences and antecedents of image, especially restaurant image in relation to the restaurant experience. The authors used structural equation modelling (SEM) to simultaneously examine the structural relationships among the proposed constructs. The results show that the quality of the service, food and physical environment were important to determinants of restaurant image. In addition, the quality of the food and physical environment were important to predictors of customer perceived value. The results resistant that customer perceived value is certainly an important to determinant of customer satisfaction. The customer satisfaction is also important to predictor of behaviour intentions. From the authors research of limitation and implications, they found out the purpose of the study will help researcher to understand the complex relationship among behavioural, customer satisfaction, custome r perceived value, restaurant image, physical environment, service and food to intentions in the restaurant industry. From this article, I found out that the quality of the service, food and physical environment are important to determinant of the customer satisfaction. These points are valuable and helping to gain better understanding of my research topic. (195 words) 2.3 Measuring customer satisfaction in the fast food industry: a cross-national approach According to Gilbert et al (2004), they felt that in todays ever-increasing globalization of brands and services, to attend to the satisfaction of their customer in both domestically and abroad, need to have service-oriented businesses. At the same time, they also need to exceed distinctive cultural dissimilarity from country to country. In this study, the authors provide a cross-cultural comparison of the service satisfaction of fast food business in four English-speaking countries. Based on the data collected from customer from five globally-franchised fast food chains, the authors are using an earlier developed service satisfaction instrument. The research finding from the future research support of this study, the quantity of cross-cultural service satisfaction among franchised services and brands could aid business managers hard work to evaluate the quality of the services. The factors that can make customer satisfaction are provision of courtesy, treatment received, the ease to get help, the security inside and the security outside. The finding indicated that all these factors are important for all over the countries. They also provide crossways nationwide boundaries and on a more practical basis and real time. Provision of courtesy, treatment received, the ease to get help, the security inside and the security outside, all of these factors are important for all the country. These points are very useful for me while I to gather my information. (224 words) Task 3.0 Research Methodology 3.1 Research Question What are the factors that encourage customer to dining in McDonalds? How to improve the food and services in McDonalds? The reason for me to choose the above question is because I can know the factors that encourage customer to dining in McDonalds, and McDonalds can further improve their food or services in order can attract more new customer at the same time also can maintain the old customer to dining in McDonalds. 3.2 research approach Deductive According to David (2009), he stated that the deductive approach usually use in quantitative research and it was dominates. In that researchers are choose in advance which variables they will examine and state their hypothesis to be exanimate, sometimes an experiment can find out something not widely known or recognised earlier. Inductive According to Andrews et al (2005), they stated that the inductive approach was using by the researchers start with wide research questions rather than with a particular theory and/or testable hypotheses. The data was collected by the researcher and they will build mid-range theories from the ground up. These grounded theory data and new data collection is constantly changing and revising. I am using the deductive approach for my research. This is because I need to gather lot of general information to do this research. This deductive approach can help me transforms the general theory into a particular hypotheses in order for me to prove and test whether is right or wrong. 3.3 research strategy Exploratory research According to Krishnaswami and Satyaprasad (2010) they defined exploratory research is preliminary study of an unfamiliar problem about which the researcher has little or no knowledge. It usually takes the form of a pilot study. I will use exploratory research to investigate my research topic. The reason is when I do this research I will relies on the secondary research and also need my course mate to help me for pilot on my questionnire. 3.4 quantitative / qualitative data Quantitative Data According to Joyce and David (2012), they stated that the quantitative data is numerical data are come from spreadsheets, databases or log files. Qualitative Data According to Dembkowski and Lloyd (1995), they stated that the qualitative data is non-numeric data that come from recording, storing, coding, categorizing, searching and retrieving and summarizing data. I am looking for the qualitative data to do my research. This is because in order me to gather information about my research topic, I need to do searching from internet, journal or book. 3.5 data collection method In order me to do my research I will use primary and secondary sources to collect the data. The primary sources are to find five respondents to help me pilot my questionnaire. These five respondents are from Segi College Kuala Lumpur and all of them are my course mate. The reason I choose my course mate is because they rare understand about this subject. I believe the result that they are give to me are appropriate than other people. I will gather my information by searching in internet, journal or book. I also refer to the researcher report regarding this topic. All these are my secondary sources for me to collect my data. 3.6 ethical issues The ethical issue that I need to consider in carrying out this research is all the data that I collected must be confidential and will not give to the third party. Besides that, I also need to be honest to report my data, result or methods. (556 words) Task 4.0 questionnaire design 4.1 research question What are the factors that encourage customer to dining in McDonalds? How to improve the food and services in McDonalds? 4.2 cover letter The level of customer satisfaction for food and services provided by McDonalds Dear Respondents, I am a student from University of Greenwich in BA (HONS) Business Management (BABM) under collaboration of Segi College Kuala Lumpur. I am doing this research is to undertaken fulfilment of the requirement from my university. The following statements and questions are purely for my academic study to investigate The level of customer satisfaction for food and services provided by McDonalds. All the information that provided by you will be kept in private and confidentially and will not give to the third party. It is only to be used for my research purpose. Your kind cooperation will be high appreciated. Thank you Yours faithfully, Loke Siow Kuan 4.3 original questionnaires Pilot by: _________________ This particular questionnaire is designed to get the response from the customer to survey The Level of Customer Satisfaction for Food and Services Provided by McDonalds Please tick (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡) whichever relevant:- Age à ¢- ¡ Under 15 à ¢- ¡ 15 30 à ¢- ¡ 31 45 à ¢- ¡ 46 and above Gender à ¢- ¡ Male à ¢- ¡ Female Race à ¢- ¡ Chinese à ¢- ¡ Indian à ¢- ¡ Malay à ¢- ¡ Others Marital Status à ¢- ¡ Single à ¢- ¡ Married à ¢- ¡ Divorced à ¢- ¡ Widowed Occupation à ¢- ¡ Student à ¢- ¡ Private Sector Worker à ¢- ¡ Government Sector Worker à ¢- ¡ Self employ Monthly income level à ¢- ¡ Less than RM1000 à ¢- ¡ RM1001 RM2000 à ¢- ¡ RM2001 RM3000 à ¢- ¡ RM3000 and above Number of time(s) you visit to McDonalds in a week à ¢- ¡ 1 2 à ¢- ¡ 3 4 à ¢- ¡ 5 6 à ¢- ¡ More than 6 Section B: Information about customer satisfaction for food and services Services The staff served the food exactly as you ordered it? à ¢- ¡ Yes à ¢- ¡ No The staff provided prompt and quick service to you? à ¢- ¡ Yes à ¢- ¡ No The staffs are always willing to help you? à ¢- ¡ Yes à ¢- ¡ No The staffs made you feels comfortable when you dealing with them? à ¢- ¡ Yes à ¢- ¡ No The staffs are courtesy to you? à ¢- ¡ Yes à ¢- ¡ No Food Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied The food tastiness The food nutrition The variety of food in the menu The pricing of value lunch package The pricing of the breakfast package Factor to encourage customer dining in McDonalds Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied The pricing of the food The location of the McDonalds. The environment in the McDonald The Wi-Fi in the McDonalds The cleanliness in the McDonalds

Personality and the Workplace Essay -- Workplace Essays

Personality and the Workplace   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I prefer to discuss a situation at a previous employment as opposed to anything that may be a current situation. I will, therefore, set the stage, so to speak. The company is a small business that deals with commercial real estate management. The company is well on the way to becoming well known industry wide and soon after I began working with this company, they merged with several others, thereby forming an almost nationwide corporation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I was hired at this company, it was because of who I knew and not because I interviewed for the position. I was living in another state and, when hired, I only had two weeks to pack myself and move to Atlanta. Although I was not at all familiar with the commercial real estate arena, I did study hard to learn what everything was and how it all related. Just as an interjection here, let me also note that this was while I was very sick; before I had been diagnosed and begun treatment for my Rheumatoid Arthritis. As difficult as it was, I still managed to get to work on time every day and get my job done with minimal errors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My supervisor was a woman who was close to me in age but I believe this was her first experience at being a supervisor. A first experience as a supervisor is tough, indeed, but let us add one more problem. She was of Cuban descent and, although she had lived in the United States for quite a few yea...

Netflix Inc. Essay -- essays research papers

Netflix Inc. Company Background Netflix Inc. incorporated in 1997 and made its first public offering in 2002. Netflix is an online movie rental service which provides its 3,000,000 subscribers access to over 40,000 DVD titles. Although Netflix stocks nearly every title available on DVD, it does not stock titles containing adult content. The Netflix program allows subscribers to rent as many DVD’s as they want, and keep them for as long as they want. Three DVD’s can be out at a time, as soon as one is returned the next DVD on the subscriber generated movie list is shipped out. The DVD’s are delivered for free by the United States Postal Service from regional distribution centers located throughout the United States. Netflix can have most titles delivered to 90% of its subscribers within one business day of the shipping date. The company provides a personalized movie recommendation service that creates customized recommendations for the subscriber. This system is based on customer rental history and the ratings the customers provide to Netflix. The ratings system is a simple 5 star system where 1 star is equal to a bad movie and 5 stars is equal to an excellent movie. Netflix also provides decision making information to the subscriber about each movie the company provides. This information includes the length, rating, cast and crew, special features, screen formats, and plot synopses. Netflix also provides movie reviews written by Netflix editors, subscribers, and movie critics. In addition Netflix provides the average rating that other subscribers gave the title, and displays other titles that the subscriber might enjoy. Netflix has revenue sharing agreements with more than 67 studios and distributors, and also purchases titles directly from studios, distributors, and independent producers. The major competitors for Netflix are Movie Gallery, Trans World Entertainment, Blockbuster, and Intermix Media. Industry Trends Since 1999 the growth of spending on DVD purchases and rentals has been incredible. According to Alexander & Associates, â€Å"Rapidly growing consumer activity and spending has built this industry into a major market phenomenon. The DVD format for enjoying pre-recorded entertainment at home is extraordinarily popular and consumers are changing their behavior to accommodate it.† †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The VHS market totaled nearly $20 billion... ...ble debt management by having the ability to pay its interest obligations easily. All four of these ratios show us that Netflix is in a good position to service both their long and short term debt obligations, and that they have kept their debt load low and under control. We have found that the gross, operating, and net profit margins are showing us that the company is beginning to post some gains and are improving their profitability. In addition the ROI has increased nearly 4% and the ROE has increased 7%. We see this as a responsible rate of growth which allows sales and sales revenues to keep pace with the growth of the company. By controlling their growth Netflix has been able to expand its operations and control their debt. Recommendations Although Netflix has been extremely efficient about the way they are controlling their debt load we believe that they may be missing some opportunities to expand their services. Netflix could possibly free up some cash to explore the market opportunities for service to the video game enthusiast. Other than that we really think that if Netflix keeps improving at the steady pace its going, the company will have a bright future.

Employees are a business’s most important assets Essay

Employees are a business’s most important assets; this is why they created the Human Resource department. Its purpose is to manage, train and look after the workers of the business. It is also their responsibility to implement health and safety legislation at work and look after the employees. There are many roles that this department manages; these ultimately help the business to achieve its objectives. These include: * Manpower planning. * Recruitment and selection. * Induction and training. * Promotion and transfers. * Appraisal and termination of employment. * Rewards and conditions of employment. * Working conditions. * Career development and welfare. * Wage bargaining and disputes. An effective and efficient business manages their employees or human resources well. The better this is done, the more the workers will be happier, better motivated, more productive and more responsive. Badly managed workers are more likely to skip work, be less enthusiastic and less willing to show initiative. The HR department at Chester Zoo fulfils the responsibilities of looking after its staff according to court laws and employees’ rights. It has to deal with employee issues such as equal employment and unjust dismissal, plus in rare occasions, drug testing and â€Å"Aids in the work place†. There are several things involved in human resource, these are: * Planning how to motivate and satisfy workers. * Planning how to develop a certain organisational culture or approach in employees. * Planning how to support or develop employees, i.e. training. * Analysing current employment needs. * Forecasting the likely future demand for employees by the business. * Forecasting the likely future supply of workers that will be available to hire. * Predicting the extent to which workers leave the business. The HR department controls many important parts of the company and without it the business would collapse. There are several areas of importance that the department looks after. * Recruitment, retention and dismissal of staff. There are several stages, which the department goes through to recruit the correct person for the job. Once you’ve got the staff you need, it is very important to keep them happy and inspired about the job, this is where the task of retention comes in. Dismissal of staff can become very expensive if not done properly. Unfair dismissal could mean that ex-employees could sue the company for thousands of pounds. In the Zoo this is done on the advice of the human resources department. If the department has decided to recruit staff they would advertise and read the applications and personal statements. However the department that is looking for staff would undertake the interview. The Zoo’s HR department would do the necessary paper work and help the new employee settle into their job. Retention in the Zoo works around motivating the staff. The HR department has to find ways of motivating staff, other than money. * Training, development and promotion of staff. Through training and development the staff become more experienced and the more experienced they become, the better they’ll be able to do their jobs. Promoting staff not only saves time in having to recruit more experienced staff, but also keeps the employee happy. A disadvantage to promoting staff is that you need to recruit more, less experienced staff that then requires training. At the zoo the HR department would look at the budget and if there was enough money and the rewards out weighed the disadvantages of training then they would go ahead with it. They would also make sure that there were enough staff to cover emergencies. The Zoo’s aims to develop its staff: * Encourage them to attend and be involved in planning meetings. * Give opportunities to attend relevant training courses, conferences and seminars. * Give opportunities to visit other Zoos. * Encourage them to share experiences with other Zoo staff. The Zoo prefers to promote its existing staff, as it not only encourages everyone to work harder, but is also cheaper. * Monitoring and maintenance of good working conditions. Poor working conditions lead to employees becoming unhappy and dissatisfied with their job. Working conditions need to be high to help retain workers. The Zoo ensures that the working environment for its employees remains good by offering coaching, advice and sorting out disputes. * Health and safety. The health and safety standards must be high to keep the workers happy, but also to keep them safe from danger. If a worker had an accident at work then they could sue for thousands if it is proved to be the Zoo’s fault. At the Zoo the HR manager oversees both monitoring & maintenance of good working conditions and health & safety. * Liaison with employee organisations and trade unions. The business needs to get on well with the trade unions and employee organisations, so the groups don’t start making big demands. If the groups are happy with the business they usually don’t start asking for massive pay increases or demands which could cost a lot to the business. The Zoo doesn’t have a union; instead it has a staff association that does the same role. The human resource department has a manager; there are four different types. * Handmaidens. They help other line managers to do their work, but not in a very co-ordinated or systematic way. * Regulators. Set out and put into practice employment rules. They only set out short-term rules about how people should conduct their business at work; they do not develop an overall pattern covering long-term human relations in the workplace. * Advisers. Generally don’t get involved in managing human relations at work, leaving the line managers to do it. However if the line managers need help, the human resource manager is there to advise. * Change-makers. They want to make a deal with issues relating to motivating people. They introduce a range of related initiatives in order that the development of workers is given high priority. Chester zoo has an adviser style manager; they initiate the process of recruitment and decide whether they can afford it. They also decide if they need a full time or part time worker. If they do decide to recruit then the job of interviewing would be handed over to the head of that department, since they would know what type of person would be best for the job. The HR department has the task to make sure that the business sticks to legislation acts, because if they don’t they put the business at great risk of being sued or fined. * Equal pay act 1970. Covers the equal value for the same work performed by men and women. * Rehabilitation of offenders act 1974. Aims to help people who have served prison sentences to have a reasonable chance of securing employment following a period of rehabilitation. * Sex discrimination act 1975. Covers the basic premise that it is unlawful in employment to discriminate on the basis of sex or martial status. * Race relations act 1976. Makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment on the grounds of race, colour, nationality or ethnic origin. * Disability discrimination act 1995. Grants statutory rights to people with disabilities and gives limited protection to them. Chester zoo covers all these issues, except with some cases the disability discrimination act. They can justify that they can’t put a disabled person into the lion cage, because it would be dangerous for both the disabled person and the lion. Cages are designed to house animals in the best possible way, and incorporating disability equipment could be dangerous for the animals. Effective HR management can improve competitiveness of the Zoo by analysing the current and future needs of its workers and what other businesses are doing to recruit skilful workers. HR can improve efficiency and save money with effective operating model, e.g. by preventing accidents at work HR could promote safety at work, with the aim of cutting both on and off the job accidents. The Zoo can’t rely on a cheap labour force to keep them competitive, instead they must invest in human resources to train and develop their staff. With new technologies and IT playing a bigger role in business, they must keep up with the necessary skills to stay ahead and innovate new attractions for the Zoo. The Zoo needs to anticipate the visitors’ needs for the present time and in the future. With the help of the HR department they can analysis data and work out what the public needs are. This information can then be used to decide on new and improved attractions. Competition by other firms for workers may affect the supply of labour available to a business. If competitors offer higher wages to workers with specialist skills then a business may have to raise its wage level to recruit the staff it needs. The Zoo’s HR department has to decided where to draw the line between skilful and cheap workers. Task 2 Major conflicts can occur between the HR department functions. Below are examples of such conflicts and what the Zoo would do to sort out the situation. * Finance and the number of employees. The more employees you have the more work can get done and also the less work each employee needs to do. This makes the workers less stressed, but at the cost of employing more people. It’s a choice between more profit for the business or happier workers. At Chester Zoo if two departments wanted seasonal staff, it would be up to the human resource department to work out how many they can afford in each department. However, because the zoo is a charity, it only has a limited budget and so money is always an important factor. * Need for training and constraints of time. The more experienced and knowledgeable the workers the better and quicker they can do their job. Training workers costs money and also means that whilst they are being trained they can’t do their job. Since the job needs to carry on, with or without the worker, other employees will have to cover or temporary workers hired. Human resources have to keep within the budget so they can only allow so much training. Improving workers skills is essential to keeping them motivated, especially since their pay isn’t very high. The department has to balance these two points successfully. The Zoo is a charity and therefore has a small budget to deal with. This unfortunately could lead to the situation where little training goes on. However, the zoo has a small wage bill and therefore one of the ways in which to retain staff is to train them. It works out cheaper to train and retain staff, than recruiting new staff. * Career progression. If for example there was a promotional job and two people applied it would be up to the human resource department to tell the person who didn’t get the place feedback on why they didn’t. At the Zoo it is very important to retain staff and therefore they would tell the unsuccessful candidate what to improve on and what courses/training needs to be done. It is quite likely that the Zoo will also pay for this training; therefore next time the candidate would be in a better position. If the Zoo didn’t do this, it would have a high labour turnover and lose trained workers. * Getting the job done quickly versus health & safety. The HR department needs to make sure that the health and safety laws and legislation are being meet by all departments. A Zoo is a very dangerous environment and with wild animals means that situations will occur which wouldn’t happen in an office. If a worker had an accident at work and it was found out the HR department had failed to do its job then the worker could sue. But following health & safety regulations can slow the job down. In the induction part of a new job, the HR department at the Zoo puts great emphasis on the health & safety instructions, making sure that everyone knows them as it could mean a matter of life or death. * Personal conflict. Employees who experience conflict with each other would be sent to the HR department to smooth problems out. For example if a managing director disliked a subordinate and this affected his appraisal, then a conflict between the two could occur making the subordinate unhappy. The human resource department would then have to chat to the manager about not bringing personal feelings into work and reassure the subordinate. Conflicts in the business place could end in good workers leaving, law suits against the business and/or that company being know as a tough place to work, discouraging new people to join. The Zoo’s grievance procedure is: * Bring the problem to the attention of the line manager. * Or if the employee feels unable to do this, or feels they have not got a satisfactory result. * Bring the problem to the attention of the personnel manager. * Or if the employee feels unable to do this, or feels they have not got a satisfactory result. * Talk to a member of the staff association who will raise the issue on their behalf and accompany them to any meetings with management. The Zoo can’t afford lawsuits or bad publicity; it is quite concerned about person conflict issues and hope to resolve then as soon as possible. Neither do they want to lose workers and gain a reputation as being a bad employer. If this happens the Zoo would have to increase wages to attracted workers back, which would be bad for their tight budget. * Time keeping, commitment, sickness and holidays. If a worker was being consistently late then the human resources department would need to talk to the worker and find out what is happening and whether the issue could be resolved by them starting work 30 minutes later and adding the time to the end. Workers by law have at least some holiday time off and it is up to the human resources department to organise this. They would approve or decline holiday requests depending on whether the business can do without them for that period of time. If a worker were consistently being sick and having too many sick days then again it would be the HR department responsibility to talk to the worker and find out why and what the problem is. For example it could be a stress-related condition. The Zoo is very concerned about issues like this, as they would have to recruit more staff to deal with the work. The Zoo encourages employees to take holidays when the Zoo is closed and maybe offer more time off if they did. Conflicts might also arise between different HR management activities within the Zoo. Some of these possible conflicts include: * Training v recruitment. Training motivates staff, and ultimately training someone is meant to get them a better job. However it might be cheaper to recruit a new member of staff, rather than training an existing one. * Catering v keepers. The Zoo’s mission statement is saving animals and plants from extinction, this requires keepers to look after the animals. Caterers though aren’t needed for the animals; instead they are needed to feed the visitors. A caterer might be employed instead of a keeper just to increase profits by selling more food. * Gardening v keepers. Again gardeners aren’t a crucial to looking after animals, but they are needed to keep the Zoo looking smart and tidy. If the gardens were poor, visitors might not return, as they didn’t like environment. * Pay v holiday. This only applies to keepers. Workers who don’t take as much paid holiday might expect to get increased salaries. The Zoo wants keepers to take as little holiday as possible, as holidays would require more temporary workers. However the Zoo has limited money and therefore can’t pay as well. Task 3 Chester Zoo uses external data to work out future employment trends, how many males and females are unemployed and whether they are looking for full time or part time work. For example if the trend showed in the future there would be a growing female part time workforce, the Zoo might offer part time jobs catering towards female needs. External data can also predict whether there will be skill shortages, if so the Zoo might increase staff training or increase salaries for workers with more skills. Availability of labour locally and internationally and competition for employees can also be attained from the data. Once Chester Zoo knows what the current and future situation is they can plan how to retain and/or recruit staff in the future.

Jane Addams and Civic Housekeeping Essay

In the early 20th century, more and more issues began to face cities of the United States. Specific issues that cities began facing more and more included the rise in poor sanitation and health concerns in local tenement housing. In order for women to gain access to the public sphere and emerge out of the private sphere, and gain some sort of status with the men of society, Jane Addams proposed the idea of â€Å"civic housekeeping† which would let women use their skills from the home in order to clean up the issues in local tenement housing and ultimately, in the local government. Growing up in the post-Civil War era, Jane Addams was born into a wealthy family, fueled by her father’s political and business success. Jane was raised in a way, by her powerful father, John Addams, that she was instilled with a strong sense of leadership and pride. John Addams died while Jane was at a very young age of 21, and was changed emotionally for the rest of her life, and it even affected her relationships with men later in life, as she was never married. Jane was very devoted to her father and loved him very much, and their close relationship was important to Jane as she kept his memory for the entirety of her life. While the idea of educating women in the post-Civil War time period was not very popular, Jane Addams was encouraged by her father to attend college at the Rockford Female Seminary. This encouragement was not given with love, but with the idea of John Addams expressing his power and wealth, which enabled him to send his children to college and get an education. Jane was very successful in her time at Rockford University, being an integral part of her college debate team and a huge participant in her classes. Jane Addams, so highly educated and respected among women, and even men in society, was called the â€Å"model of feminine excellence in the American terms4,† and was seen as a savior for women across the United States who wished to spread their roots and do something more important with their lives while serving their country at the same time. Jane Addams was a very intellectual and prominent female for a woman of her time period, considering she attended college, which was uncommon for many females until more recent years. Attending college as Jane Addams did in her time period, was an opportunity that women were just starting to get as colleges for women began to open, in addition to universities already in existence beginning to accept women into their programs5. Addams was seen as a great influence among women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She was also viewed as progressive and conventional, which was essential for someone to be in the quickly emer ging, industrializing future of the United States. Her topics of speech were ones that were talked about across the country, and more specifically and especially, at the University of Chicago, where she was praised. Addams’ interest in social activism would lead to her, and a college friend, Ellen Gates Starr, to beginning their first venture in social activism and seen as an act of genius, opening their first settlement house, also known as a â€Å"Hull-House,† in which the name was given due to the previous owners of the homes in Chicago. This Hull-House that Addams and Starr opened would later, while not the first in the United States, become the most known settlement home in the nation. This was only the beginning of Jane Addams’ personal journey into the public sphere, and more importantly, the inspiration for many women to try and start their own journeys towards gaining entry into the public eye and gaining any sort of right that would grant them the abilities to do what the men in their lives, which were their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers have been doing since before anybody could remember. The starting of Jane Addams’ journey was one that would bring only positive impacts to the United States, with a few bumps in the road of course. By starting the tenement houses in Chicago through the Hull Houses, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr had already begun their journey into the  public sphere. Through opening the tenement houses and allowing people to see them and come live in them helped the two women make a name for themselves, with the more well-known woman of the pair being recognized for much more, was Jane Addams herself. Addams saw rights and freedom for women as a â€Å"perfectly possible† thing to attain, as she was optimistic and very assertive on her way to work for women’s equality and rights. The optimism that Jane Addams had was not without a price to pay on her part, as there were many negatives that had to be dealt with along the way like setbacks in acting, legislation, supporters, etc. These settlement housing complexes, along with other emerging municipally supported housing and projects, were failing considerably as time went on, in more ways than not. Ways these housing and government projects were failing were in hygiene and sanitation, in addition to perishable products that went uninspected, like meat and dairy products, which eventually made citizens very ill, and even killed a few. Local factories emitting toxic fumes also did not help the issue at all. Toward the late 19th century, as more and more women began entering the workforce and emerging from the home, into the public sphere, the need for women in local government and important jobs began to be pressed on local leaders. Getting women out of the home, being the private sphere, and into the public sphere through her ideas of â€Å"civic housekeeping† was Jane Addams’ main goal in society. â€Å"Civil Housekeeping,† was a term that Addams used to refer to the cleaning up that women needed to do in tenement homes, local buildings, and more importantly, and more discretely, local government. Addams’ main goal was to eventually bring women into the public sphere and local government, through civil housekeeping. Since men were so fond of keeping women in the home, in order to clean, cook, or even just stay out of the men’s business, women began seeing themselves as possible saviors for issues that cities were facing. The way that women began seeing themselves was through expressing their  skills that they used inside the home and applying them on a much larger scale, which would hopefully assist in resolving the problems in tenement homes and other areas of cities that were being affected by environmental circumstances. Jane Addams proposed her ideas to the men of society by explaining how well women work in the home, be it cooking, cleaning, etc., so why would they not be able to help clean up the tenement homes and other parts of the city, to help out other citizens and keep their families and homes alive. Addams’ of course had the ulterior motive of working her way, along with many more women in society, into the realm of local government, in the hopes of gaining more and more rights for women in the future. The reason that Jane Addams was so influential in her speeches and movements was not only because of the fact that she was educated, but that she had been born of a very rich and politically powerful family in the post-Civil War, which was a time of peril and misfortune for those devastated by the effects of the battles that tore across the south in the Civil War. Although a feminist ideal, the proposal of â€Å"civic housekeeping† was appealing to men in power in the local governments. With many health violations and many previous, failed attempts at keeping up appearances and up to code in municipalities, â€Å"city housekeeping has failed partly because women, the traditional housekeepers, have not been consulted as to its multiform activities.†12 This aspect of women entering the public sphere, as proposed by Addams, was never examined or considered by men because they had always forced the socially constructed gender roles and affirmed that women can and will only stay in the home to perform their family duties. The good and welfare of the people, including their health and living conditions was never considered by men of local government and Jane Addams proposed to change that, in order to rejuvenate and maintain the health and welfare of local citizens, especially the women and children who were suffering due to the failur e to keep up the cities, specifically tenement housing. Another part of Addams’ proposal while discussing women being brought in to clean up the homes, was bringing diverse and multitalented people who can perform many different tasks and complete them well, which would eventually show improvement across the board. In part, this was attractive to the men in  power, because in the long run, it would make them look good. While creating and executing her ideas of civic housekeeping and advocating for many other rights for women like suffrage, Addams was very distinguished from other women only hoping to attempt and succeed as much as she did. Jane Addams was very fortunate to have the quality of being able to successfully execute in fields that women normally did not participate in, which included professionalism and business fields. A key characteristic and factor that Addams possessed to successfully attain her credibility and position in society. Jane today is seen as a woman who cannot be compared to any other woman of her time period, and even today, as some goals that she strived for and eventually attained were only attainable through ways that were common in the early twentieth century, as she used her tenement houses and her local salon to spread word and expand her ideas among people. A product of her time period for sure, Jane Addams was a woman who achieved many things in a society that discriminated against and belittled women. Addams was a woman who saw things differently than other women, and that is what helped her achieve what she achieved. Eventually, her goal of getting women out of the private sphere of the home and oppression by man, was successful. Camilla Stevens stated that, â€Å"men set about trying to run the city as a business, and women aimed to make the city more like a home,†14 which Jane Addams quickly changed in her efforts for women that made a new presence for women in America. Through civic housekeeping, women slowly but surely made their way into the public sphere. Without Jane Addams’ strong advocating and activism, efforts made by women may not have even been made to achieve rights and a sense of equality to men, and the oppression of women by men of society would have continued and could have been much worse today. Jane Addams was a successful woman of her time period and through civic housekeeping, began the cleanup of homes and communities in and around Chicago, which led for a much brighter future for not just men, but women and children who wished to have much healthier and happier lives at home. Bibliography Addams, Jane. The modern city and the municipal franchise for women. Baltimore, Maryland: National American Women Suffrage Association, 1906. (Jane Addams Article from Moodle Site) Hamington, Maurice. â€Å"Two Leaders, Two Utopias: Jane Addams and Dorothy Day.† NWSA Journal 19.2 (2007): 159-186. JSTOR. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Shields, Patricia M.. â€Å"Democracy and the Social Feminist Ethics of Jane Addams: A Vision for Public Administration.† Administrative Theory and Praxis 28.3 (2006): 418-443. JSTOR. Web 3 Dec. 2013. Conway, Jill. â€Å"Jane Addams: An American Heroine.† Daedalus 93, no. 2 (1964): 761-780. JSTOR. Web 3 Dec. 2013

The Emperor’s Role in Meiji Japan

Japan is a society whose culture is steeped in the traditions and symbols of the past: Mt. Fuji, the tea ceremony, and the sacred objects of nature revered in Shintoism. Two of the most important traditions and symbols in Japan; the Emperor and Confucianism have endured through Shogunates, restorations of imperial rule, and up to present day. The leaders of the Meiji Restoration used these traditions to gain control over Japan and further their goals of modernization. The Meiji leaders used the symbolism of the Emperor to add legitimacy to their government, by claiming that they were ruling under the â€Å"Imperial Will. They also used Confucianism to maintain order and force the Japanese people to passively accept their rule. Japanese rulers historically have used the symbolism of the Imperial Institution to justify their rule. The symbolism of the Japanese Emperor is very powerful and is wrapped up in a mix of religion (Shintoism) and myths. According to Shintoism the current Emperor is the direct descendent of the Sun Goddess who formed the islands of Japan out of the Ocean in ancient times. Footnote1 According to these myths the Japanese Emperor unlike a King is a living descendent of the Gods and even today he is thought of as the High Priest of Shinto. Despite the powerful myths surrounding Japan's imperial institution the Emperor has enjoyed only figure head status from 1176 on. At some points during this time the Emperor was reduced to selling calligraphy on the streets of Kyoto to support the imperial household, but usually the Emperor received money based on the kindness of the Shogunate. Footnote2 But despite this obvious power imbalance even the Tokugawa Shogun was at least symbolically below the Emperor in status and he claimed to rule so he could carry out the Within this historical context the Meiji leaders realized hat they needed to harness the concept of the Imperial Will in order to govern effectively. In the years leading up to 1868 members of the Satsuma and Choshu clans were part of the imperialist opposition. This opposition claimed that the only way that Japan could survive the encroachment of the foreigners was to rally around the Emperor. Footnote4 The Imperialists, claimed that the Tokugawa Shogunate had lost its imperial mandate to carry out the Imperial Will because it had capitulated to Western powers by allowing them to open up Japan to trade. During this time the ideas of the imperialists ained increasing support among Japanese citizens and intellectuals who taught at newly established schools and wrote revisionist history books that claimed that historically the Emperor had been the ruler of Japan. Footnote5 The fact that the Tokugawa's policy of opening up Japan to the western world ran counter to the beliefs of the Emperor and was unpopular with the public made the Tokugawa vulnerable to attack from the imperialists. The imperialists pressed their attack both militarily and from within the Court of Kyoto. The great military regime of Edo which until recently had been all owerful was floundering not because of military weakness, or because the machinery of government had broken but instead because the Japanese public and the Shoguns supporters felt they had lost the The end of the Tokugawa regime shows the power of the symbolism and myths surrounding the imperial institution. The head of the Tokugawa clan died in 1867 and was replaced by the son of a lord who was a champion of Japanese historical studies and who agreed with the imperialists claims about restoring the Emperor. Footnote7 So in 1868 the new shogun handed over all his power to the Emperor in Kyoto. Shortly after handing over power to the Emperor, the Emperor Komeo died and was replaced by his son who became the Meiji Emperor. Footnote8 Because the Meiji Emperor was only 15 all the power of the new restored Emperor fell not in his hands but instead in the hands of his close advisors. These advisers such as Prince Saionji, Prince Konroe, and members of the Satsuma and Choshu clans who had been members of the imperialist movement eventually wound up involving into the Meiji Bureaucracy and Genro of the Meiji Era. Footnote9 Once in control of the government the Meiji Leaders and advisors to the Emperor reversed their policy of hostility to Foreigners. Footnote10 They did this because after Emperor Komeo (who was strongly opposed to contact with the west) died in 1867 the Meiji Emperor's advisors were no longer bound by his Imperial Will. Being anti-western also no longer served the purposes of the Meiji advisors. Originally it was a tool of the imperialist movement that was used to show that the Shogun was not acting out the Imperial Will. Now that the Shogun and Komeo Emperor were dead there was no longer a reason to The choice of the imperial thrown by the imperialists as a point for Japan to rally around could not have been more wise. Although the imperial institution had no real power it had universal appeal to the Japanese public. It was both a mythic and religious idea in their minds. Footnote11 It provided the Japanese in this time of chaos after coming in contact with foreigners a belief in stability (according to Japanese myth the imperial line is a unbroken lineage handed down since time immortal), and it provided a belief in the natural superiority of Japanese culture. Footnote12 The symbolism of the Emperor helped ensure the success of the restorationists because it undercut the legitimacy of the Shogunate's rule, and it trengthened the Meiji rulers who claimed to act for the Emperor. What is a great paradox about the Imperialist's claims to restore the power of the Emperor is that the Meiji rulers did not restore the Emperor to power except symbolically because he was both too young and his advisors to power hungry. Footnote13 By 1869 the relationship between the Emperor and his Meiji bureaucracy and the Emperor and the Tokugawa Shogun before the restoration were very similar. Both the Meiji Bureaucrats and the Shogun ruled under the authority of the Emperor but did not let the Emperor make any decisions. In Japan the Emperor reigned but did not rule. This was useful for the new Meiji bureaucrats, it kept the Emperor a mythic The traditions and symbols of Confucianism and the Imperial Institution were already deeply ingrained in the psyche of the Japanese but the new Meiji rulers through both an education system, and the structure of the Japanese government were able to effectively inculcate these traditions into a new generation of Japanese. The education system the Meiji Oligarchy founded transformed itself into a system that indoctrinated students in the ideas of Confucianism and reverence for the Emperor. Footnote15 After the death of Okubo in 1878; Ito, Okuma, and Iwakura emerged as the three most powerful figures among the young bureaucrats that were running the government in the name of the Meiji Emperor. Iwakura one of the only figures in the ancient nobility to gain prominence among the Meiji oligarchy allied with Ito who feared Okuma's progressive ideas would destroy Japan's culture. Footnote16 Iwakura it is thought was able manipulate the young Emperor to grow concerned about the need to strengthen traditional morals. Thus in 1882 the Emperor issued the Yogaku Koyo, the forerunner of the Imperial Rescript on Education. Footnote17 This document put the emphasis of the Japanese education system on a moral education from 1882 onward. Previous to 1880 the Japanese education system was modeled on that of the French education system. After 1880 the Japanese briefly modeled their education system on the American system. Footnote18 However, starting with the Yogaku Koyo in 1882 and ending with the 1885 reorganization of the department of Education along Prussian lines the American model was abolished. The new education minister Mori Arinori after returning from Europe in 1885 with Ito was convinced that the Japanese education system had to have a spiritual oundation to it. Footnote19 In Prussia Arinori saw that foundation to be Christianity and he decreed that in Japan the Education system was to be based on reverence for the Imperial Institution. A picture of the Emperor was placed in every classroom, children read about the myths surrounding the Emperor in school, and they learned that the Emperor was the head of the giant family of Japan. Footnote20 By the time the Imperial Rescript on Education was decreed by the Emperor in 1889 the Japanese education system had already begun to transform itself into a system that did not teach how to think but instead what o think. The Imperial Rescript on Education in 1889 was according to Japanese scholars such as Hugh Borton , â€Å"the nerve axis of the new order. â€Å"Footnote21 Burton believes that the Imperial Rescript on Education signaled the rise of nationalistic elements in Japan. The Imperial Rescript on Education was the culmination of this whole movement to the right. The Rescript emphasized loyalty and filial piety, respect for the constitution and readiness to serve the government. It also exalted the Emperor as the coeval between heaven The Constitution of 1889 like the changes in the education ystem helped strengthen reverence for the Imperial Institution. The 1889 constitution was really the second document of its kind passed in Japan the first being the Imperial Oath of 1868 in which the Emperor laid out the structure and who was to head the new Meiji government. Footnote23 This Imperial Oath was refereed to as a constitution at the time but it only very vaguely laid out the structure of government. The constitution promulgated by the Emperor in 1889 did much more then lay out the structure of Japanese government it also affirmed that the Emperor was the supreme sovereign over Japan. Footnote24 The signing ceremony itself was an auspicious event on the way to it Mori Arinori one of the moderate leaders of the Meiji government was attacked and killed by a crazed rightist. Footnote25 The ceremony itself evoked both the past and present and was symbolic of the Meiji governments shift toward the right and the governments use of the Emperor as supreme ruler. Before signing the document Emperor Meiji prayed at the palace sanctuary to uphold the name of his imperial ancestors he then signed the constitution which affirmed the sanctity of the Emperor's title (Tenno Taiken), and his ight to make or abrogate any law. Footnote26 The constitution also set up a bicameral legislature. Footnote27 The constitution codified the power of the Emperor and helped the Meiji oligarchy justify their rule because they could point to the constitution and say that they were carrying out the will of the Emperor. The Meiji Emperor even after the Constitution of 1889 enjoyed little real power. The Meiji Emperor did not even come to cabinet meetings because his advisors told him if the cabinet made a decision that was different then the one he wanted then that would create dissension and would destroy the idea of the Imperial Institution. So even after the Meiji Constitution the Emperor was still predominantly a symbol. Footnote28 The Constitution ingrained in Japanese society the idea that the government was being run by higher forces who new better then the Japanese people, it also broadened the base of support of the Meiji Rulers who now had a document too prove they were acting on Imperial Will and their decisions were imperial decisions not those of mere mortals. Footnote29 The symbolism of the Emperor and use of Confucianism allowed the Meiji rulers to achieve their goals. One of their goals was the bolishment of the system of fiefs and return of all land to the Emperor. At first the new Meiji Rulers allied themselves with the Daimyo clans in opposition to the Tokugawa Shogun. But once the Meiji leaders had gained a control they saw that they would need to abolish the fief system and concentrate power in the hands of a central government. The Meiji rulers achieved their goals by having the Choshu, Satsuma, Tosa, and Hizen clans give up their lands, granting the Daimyos large pensions if they gave up their clans, and by having the Emperor issue two decrees in July 1869, and August 1871. Footnote30 The role and symbolism of the Emperor although not the sole factor in influencing the Daimyo to give up their fiefs, was vital. The Meiji Oligarchs said that not turning in the fiefs to the Emperor would be disloyal and pointed to the historical record which Meiji scholars claimed showed that historically all fiefs were the property of the Emperor. Footnote31 They showed this by claiming that the Shogun would switch the rulers of fiefs and this proved that the Daimyos did not control the title to their land but merely held it for the Emperor. Imperial decrees and slogans of loyalty to the Emperor also ccompanied the abolishment of the Samurai system. Footnote32 In the abolishment of both these feudal systems the symbolism of the Emperor as both the director of the initiative and recipient of the authority afterwards played a vital role in ensuring there success. Footnote33 The abolishment of fiefs and the samurai class were essential for the stability and industrialization of Japan. Footnote34 Without the concentration of land and power in the hands of the Meiji oligarchs and the Emperor the Meiji oligarchs feared they would receive opposition from powerful Daimyos and never gain control and uthority over all of Japan. Historical examples bear out the fears of the Meiji Oligarchy; in 1467 the Ashikaga Shogun failed to control many of the fiefs and because of this a civil war raged in Japan. Footnote35 The centralization of power allowed the Meiji government to have taxing authority over all of Japan and pursue national projects. Footnote36 The unity of Japan also allowed the Meiji Oligarchs to focus on national and not local issues. The use of Confucianism and the Emperor also brought a degree of stability to Japan during the tumultuous Meiji years. The Emperor's ere presence on a train or in western clothes were enough to convince the public of the safety or goodness of the Meiji oligarchy's industrial policy. In one famous instance the Japanese Emperor appeared in a train car and after that riding trains became a common place activity in Japan. The behavior of the Imperial family was also critical to adoption of western cultural practices. Before 1873 most Japanese women of a high social position would shave their eyebrows and blacken their teeth to appear beautiful. But on March 3rd 1873 the Empress appeared in public wearing her own eyebrows and with unblackened teeth. Following that day most women in Tokyo and around Japan stopped shaving their eyebrows and blackening their teeth. Footnote37 The Imperial institution provided both a key tool to change Japanese culture and feelings about industrialization and it provided stability to Japan which was critical to allowing industrialists to invest in factories and increase exports and The symbols and the traditions the Meiji leaders inculcated Japanese society with helped the Meiji government maintain stability and pursue its economic policies but it also had severe limitations that limited the revolutionary scope of the Japanese government and elped bring about the downfall of the Meiji era. The use of Confucianism and the Emperor to bolster the Imperial restoration laid the foundation for a paradox of state affairs. The system that sought to strengthen Japan through the use of modern technology and modern organization methods was using traditional values to further its goals. Footnote39 This caused some to turn toward the west for the â€Å"enlightenment† the Meiji era promised this was the case with Okuma who was eventually forced out of the increasing nationalist Genro. Footnote40 For others it lead them to severe nationalism rejecting all that was western. This was such the case of Saigo who believed till his death on his own sword that the Meiji leaders were hypocritical and were violating the Imperial Will by negotiating and trading with the west. Footnote41 The Meiji government used the same symbols and traditions that the Tokugawa used and like the Tokugawa gave the Emperor no decision making power. The Meiji Emperor although he had supreme power as accorded in the constitution never actually made decisions but was instead a pawn of the Meiji Genro who claimed to carry out his Imperial Will. This Imperial Will they decided for themselves. Like the Shogunate the Meiji governments claim to rule for the Emperor was fraught with problems. The Imperial Will was a fluid idea that could be adopted by different parties under changing circumstances. And just like the Meiji rulers were able to topple the Shogun by claiming successfully that they were the true administrators of the Imperial Will; the militarist elements in the 1930's were able to topple the democratic elements of Japan partially by claiming the mantle of ruling for the Emperor. Footnote42 From this perspective the Meiji Oligarchs building up of the Imperial Myth was a fatal flaw in he government. The constitution which says in article I, â€Å"The empire of Japan shall be governed over by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages eternal† gave to whoever was acting on the Imperial Will absolute The symbols of the Emperor and the tradition of Confucianism did not end with the end of the Meiji era or world war two. Today the idea of filial piety is still strong, multiple generations of a family still usually live together even in cramped Japanese housing. The religion of Shinto that the Meiji leaders rejuvenated during their rule in order to help foster the imperial cult is still thriving as he thousands of Tori gates and Shrines around Japan attest. Footnote44 But the most striking symbol to survive is that of the Emperor stripped after world war two of all power the Emperor of Japan is still revered. During the illness of Emperor Showa in 1989 every national newspaper and television show was full of reports related to the Emperor's health. During the six months the Showa Emperor was sick before he died all parades and public events were canceled in respect for the Emperor. Outside the gates of the Imperial palace in Tokyo long tables were set up where people lined up to sign cards to wish he Emperor a speedy recovery. The news media even kept the type of illness the emperor had a secret in deference to the Emperor. At his death after months of illness it was as if the Imperial Cult of the Meiji era had returned. Everything in Japan closed down , private television stations went as far as to not air any commercials on the day of his death. And now almost six years after his death more then four hundred and fifty thousand people trek annually to the isolated grave site of Emperor Showa. Footnote45 The traditions and symbolism of Confucianism and the Emperor ere critical to the Meiji oligarchs gaining control of power and goals of industrialization. The oligarchy inculcated the Japanese public with these traditional values through an education system that stressed moral learning, and through a constitution that established the law of Japan to be that of the Imperial Will. The values of Confucianism and symbol of the Emperor allowed the Meiji government to peaceful gain control of Japan by appealing to history and the restoration of the Emperor. But the Meiji oligarchs never restored the Emperor to a position of real political power. Instead he was used as tool by the oligarchs to achieve their modernization plans in Japan such as the abolishment of fiefs, the end of the samurai, the propagation of new cultural practices, and pubic acceptance of the Meiji oligarchs industrialization policies. The symbols and traditions of Japan's past are an enduring legacy that have manifested themselves in the Meiji Restoration and today in Japans continued reverence for Hidejiro Nagata, A Simplified Treatise on The Imperial House of Japan Takatsu Kuwasaburo, The History of The Empire of Japan (Tokyo: Dai Nippon Tosho Kabushiki Kwaisha, 1893) 206.