Sex Abstinence and your Future Essay - 559 Words

Many people do not understand the meaning of abstinence. Some believe that abstinence is not having vaginal intercourse but they can enjoy other kinds of sex play that dont lead to pregnancy mostly known as outercourse. Some people believe that abstinence is not having vaginal intercourse when a woman might get pregnant. This form of sexual activity as Periodical abstinence, this type of abstinence is based on the fertility awareness methods of birth control. Abstinence is defined as practicing restraint oneself from indulging in something. Using this definition in sexual activity we can describe abstinence as practicing restraint from indulging or having any type of sexual activity. Practicing abstinence is refraining from oral, anal and†¦show more content†¦There are benefits to practicing abstinence such as prevent pregnancy, preventing STDs and STIs, having fun with romantic partners without the complexity of sexual involvement, being able to support personal, moral, or religious beliefs and values and/or easier recovery time when getting over a breakup. Many people ask how is abstinence 100% effective in preventing pregnancy and most STIs and STDs? Abstinence is 100% effective because if two people dont practice sexual intercourse, then the male sperm isn’t able fertilize an egg so, theres no possibility of the woman’s pregnancy. There are some forms of birth control that are dependent on barriers that prevent the sperm from reaching the egg, such as condoms. This makes abstinence the most effective birth control, because the person is not having sexual intercourse therefore the sperm never gets to the egg. Abstinence and its benefits to your future Choosing abstinence can lead to healthier relationships for the present and the future. Choosing abstinence allows you to focus on getting to know your partner without the complexity of sex or it becoming the focus of the entire relationship you have. Also abstinence allows you to have confidence that your partner that actually loves you for you and not what you can give them. In your marriage, you will beShow MoreRelatedThe Reality Of Abstinence Versus Sex Education1224 Words   |  5 Pages10 April 2017 The Reality of Abstinence Versus Sex Education Do you ever stop to wonder what goes through a teen’s mind? Maybe it s the late paper that wasn t turned in for English or the worry of coming home after school to family members being high as a kite, maybe it s the plans for their significant other later on or the so called special night they have planned together. Whether it be one of the topics mentioned or some far off random thought either way sex will be on a teen’s mind at someRead MoreUnited States has the Highest Rate of Teenage Pregnancies Essay1687 Words   |  7 Pagesin a year. When the topic of sex arises, people become uncomfortable because it is a subject that is thought of as personal and secretive. However, people aren’t only uncomfortable with the subject because of it being taboo, people try to avoid the subject because they aren’t always informed correctly about it and don’t have a way to learn about it, excluding the internet which doesn’t always have accurate material , and lack general knowledge of sex. Education about sex and its surrounding topics suchRead MoreThe Significance Of Sex Education982 Words   |  4 Pages101 6 October 2017 The Significance of Sex Education As teenagers start to grow up, they face with many difficult decisions about relationship and sexual behavior in their lives. It can impact their lives, health and behavior. To make sure that your children follow the right path to live a healthy life, sex education can prepare them to make good decisions. If you are not sexually active, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give up your chance to learn about it. Sex education shouldn’t be limited to teenagersRead MoreThe Importance Of Sex Education987 Words   |  4 Pages Sex Education As a young adult, I feel that sex education should be taught in school by a qualified adult.In a perfect world, sex education should be taught in the home; however, with the rise of teenage pregnancy, it is evident that it is not being taught in the home. It is because of this alarming trend that I feel that it needs to be taught in school.Sex education provides many different benefits to the students. It can prevent unwanted pregnancies, reduce sexually transmitted diseasesRead MoreIntimate Relationships And Sexual Relationships1196 Words   |  5 Pagesromance— chances are, every teen spends a part of their day wondering about these topics. The process of developing intimate relationships is a natural part of growing up. Intimacy is about being emotionally close to someone, and being able to share your feelings and thoughts without any restrictions. Many teens think that Intimate relationships are always sexual, but most of the time they are not, as there are many types of intimate relationships such as friendships and romantic relationships. OverRead MoreSex Education For Public Schools1426 Words   |  6 PagesSex Education Research Paper Sex education being taught in public schools is a reoccurring topic in many schools. More recently, it has also caught the attention of the public again due to rising unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease among young teenagers in the US over the last decade or so. â€Å"Each year, U.S. teens experience as many as 850,000 pregnancies, and youth under age 25 experience about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections† (McKeon). Sex Education is attempting toRead MoreComprehensive Ignorance1553 Words   |  7 Pagespregnancy prevention programs (Alan Guttmacher Institute 2011). Later, during the Clinton administration in the mid-1990s, federal investment in abstinence-only sexual education increased by attaching funding for abstinence-only to Social Security Legislature. The main goal was to enable the State to provide abstinence education... to promote abstinence from sexual activity, with a focus on those groups which are most likely to bear children out-of- wedlock (US Social Security Administration 2011)Read MoreThe Case For Rights Education1665 Words   |  7 PagesAbramson, Seth. The Case for Rights Education Alongside Sex Education. The Huffington Post, 18 July 2016. The Huffington Post, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-case-for-rights-education-alongside-sex-education_us_578d282de4b0d4229484d76d. Accessed 21 Nov. 2016. In â€Å"The Case for Rights Education Alongside Sex Education†, Seth Abramson states that the reason sex education is present in the majority of all American schools is because sex matters. He makes an in-depth point about knowing how to handleRead MoreEssay on Should Sex Education be Taken Out of Schools?969 Words   |  4 Pagesincreasingly active sex lives. No longer is sex education left to teachers and parents to explain, it is constantly in our faces at the forefront of our society. Regardless of sex education curriculums and debates about possible changes, children and teenagers are still learning everything they think there is to know about sex from very early on in their young lives. However, without responsible adults instructing them on the facts about sex, there are more likely to treat sex in a cavalier and offhandedRead MoreShould Sex Education Be Incorporated Into Public Schools?1372 Words   |  6 PagesFor Sex Education in Public Schools An observation of the prevalent television programs and popular topics broadcasted in the media often depict teenagers with an air of promiscuity. Is teenage pregnancy really an uncontrolled epidemic, as depicted in shows such as â€Å"16 and Pregnant†? Are a vast majority of teenagers exchanging racy photos of their bodies with each other? If so, are teenagers acting out because of too much sex education? Or is the outbreak of hyper-sexualized activity linked to lack

Mental Illness Among Prisons And The United States

If a society is to be judged how it treats its most disadvantaged members, then the United States is in a very lowly state of affairs. The United States currently incarcerates over 356,000 individuals diagnosed with some form of mental illness. This is ten-fold the number of people receiving treatment in psychiatric hospitals, around 35,000 (Frances). Leaving us with the question, when did suffering from a mental illness become a crime worthy of incarceration? Doubt no longer remains as to if the this system is broken, as indicated by recent report from the Treatment Advocacy Center and the National Sheriffs’ Association, which after surveying sheriffs and prison administrators, concluded on three main points. Mental illness among prison populations are growing in numbers as well as severity, prison and jail officers feel compelled to supply a hospital level treatment regimen, and that the problem originates in the mediocre aftercare provided for those who are released accompa nied by the continual closure of state psychiatric centers (Felthous). What must be asked now is how does one mend a system on the edge of crisis. There are many propositions on how this may be done, but they can be summed up into the following strategies: the creation of resources to intervene before situations ever become critical, newer and better training of first responders, EMTs, and police officers in mental health emergencies, reformation in the way judges sentence those suffering fromShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Crime And Mental Illness1245 Words   |  5 PagesTypically, mental conditions affect the cognitive and emotional aspects of a person. Thus, people with mental illness face a high risk of engaging in criminalized behaviors. Many pieces of research show that the US has the largest number of its citizens in prison with severe mental illness. This essay will analyze how crime and mental illness is a crisis in America that has fundamentally been avoided over the year s that have seen the decline in institutions that were previously designed to help thisRead MoreThe Importance Of Mental Disorders In The Prison System1288 Words   |  6 PagesIn addition, persons with mental disorders are clearly overrepresented in the prison system, when compared to rates of persons in the community with mental disorders, studies found â€Å"that prevalence estimates were three to 12 times higher than in community samples, reaching as high as 64%,† (Prins, S. J., 2014, p. 862) with â€Å"prevalence† being defined as the commonness or occurrence of a mental disorder. The reasoning behind this skewed representation has continually puzzled researchers and led toRead MoreAffordable Care Act Research Paper1123 Words   |  5 Pagesthe citizens of the United States, not a lot of thought is given to the medical state of the inmates incarcerated in North America. According to the eighth amendment, cruel and unusual punishment should not be inflicted upon inmates (U.S. Const. amend.VIII). Not issuing the proper medication to a pain stricken cancer patient or prenatal vitamins to an expectant mother can be looked at as cruel and unusual punishment. This paper aims to determine if healthcare in the United States is unconstitutionalRead MoreLong Term Effects Of Reentry Programs On Reducing Juvenile Recidivism Essay943 Words   |  4 Pagesrepresented by the United who possesses 25% of the world s prisoners (Liptak, 2008). Approximately 2.2 million prisoners are awaiting pre-trial and 1.6 million post-trial inmates are incarcerated in city, state, and federal prisons throughout the United States, equating to 756 per 100,000 people incarcerated (Carson Golinelli, 2013; Exworthy et. al., 2012). Nearly 700,000 men and women are discharged from prison yearly (Mallik-Kane Visher, 2008). Recidivism places a strain on the prison by means ofRead MoreCriminalization Of The Mentally Ill1486 Words   |  6 Pagesill persons within the prison sy stem, it is important to know the history of mental illness in the prison system. In1841, Dorothea Dix began her Asylum Movement. She saw how deplorable the conditions were for mentally ill inmates in the prison system and insisted on change. The mental ill inmates were treated very poorly, being beaten, starved, and sexually abused. Dix brought her findings to the legislature of Massachusetts and funds were then set aside to expand the mental hospital in WorcesterRead MorePrisoners with Special Needs1118 Words   |  5 PagesPrisoners with Special Needs David Stevens CJS/255 May 30, 2016 Sherri Webster Special needs, mentally ill, and substance-abusing prisoners affect the jail and prison systems at a state and federal level in a multitude of ways. One of the main issues within prisons is the fact that their mental health services can be seriously inadequate and lacking the proper staffing, all while operating in facilities that are not equipped to handle such prisoners, on top of a limited amount of programsRead MoreThe United States Faces Excessive Mass Incarceration1618 Words   |  7 PagesThe United States faces excessive mass incarceration. We have the largest prison population in the world and the second highest incarceration rate per-capita (1 in 100 citizens is behind bars). While you are certainly familiar with these statistics, I would like to emphasize that using incarceration as the primary response to social problems, as is happening today in the United States, impacts the incarcerated, their families and neighborhoods, as well as costing Maryland taxpayers millions of dollarsRead MoreServing Mentally Ill Prison Populations Essay1030 Words   |  5 PagesServing Mentally Ill Prison Populations Kylee L. Radcliffe Argosy University  Abstract [The abstract should be one paragraph of between 150 and 250 words. It is not indented. Section titles, such as the word Abstract above, are not considered headings so they don’t use bold heading format. Instead, use the Section Title style. This style automatically starts your section on a new page, so you don’t have to add page breaks. To apply any text style in this document with just a tap, on the HomeRead MoreMental Illness And Its Effects On The Community992 Words   |  4 PagesPrisoners have a higher rate of mental illness than the community. Two point six percent to five point four percent of the adult population has a major mental illness. Sixteen percent of the incarcerated population has a mental illness and twenty-three point six of women in state prisons has a mental illness. The most common illnesses that women prisoners deal with are depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, personality disorders, and thought disorders. Women inmates used theRead MoreEffects Of Prison Overcrowding1345 Words   |  6 Pagesthat prison overcrowding causes towards the inmates and the guards. I will first address the issue of violence that prison overcrowding causes. My next point will be the health of the inmates discussing both their physical and mental while in overcrowded prisons. Lastly I will discuss the physical and mental health of the correctional officers and how the job could lead to correctional officers having issues in their private life. Prison Overcrowding has become a major issue in the United States

Frostbite Chapter 17 Free Essays

Seventeen WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE doing?† she demanded. Her voice was still too loud as far as I was concerned. â€Å"Nothing, I- â€Å" â€Å"Excuse us, Lord Ivashkov,† she growled. We will write a custom essay sample on Frostbite Chapter 17 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Then, like I was five years old, she grabbed me by my arm and jerked me out of the room. Champagne sloshed out of my glass and splashed onto the skirt of my dress. â€Å"What do you think you’re doing?† I exclaimed, once we were out in the hall. Mournfully, I looked down at my dress. â€Å"This is silk. You could have ruined it.† She grabbed the champagne flute and set it down on a nearby table. â€Å"Good. Maybe it’ll stop you from dressing up like a cheap whore.† â€Å"Whoa,† I said, shocked. â€Å"That’s kind of harsh. And where do you get off turning motherly all of a sudden?† I gestured to the dress. â€Å"This isn’t exactly cheap. You thought it was nice of Tasha to give it to me.† â€Å"That’s because I didn’t expect you to wear it out with Moroi and make a spectacle of yourself.† â€Å"I’m not making a spectacle of myself. And anyway, it covers everything up.† â€Å"A dress that tight might as well be showing everything,† she retorted. She, of course, was dressed in guardian black: tailored black linen pants and a matching blazer. She had a few curves of her own, but the clothing hid them. â€Å"Especially when you’re with a group like that. Your body’s†¦conspicuous. And flirting with Moroi doesn’t really help.† â€Å"I wasn’t flirting with him.† The accusation made me angry because I felt I’d been on really good behavior lately. I used to flirt all the time- and do other things- with Moroi guys, but after a few talks and one embarrassing incident with Dimitri, I’d realized how stupid that was. Dhampir girls did have to be careful with Moroi guys, and I kept that in mind all the time now. Something petty occurred to me. â€Å"Besides,† I said mockingly, â€Å"isn’t that what I’m supposed to do? Hook up with a Moroi and further my race? It’s what you did.† She glowered. â€Å"Not when I was your age.† â€Å"You were only a few years older than me.† â€Å"Don’t do anything stupid, Rose,† she said. â€Å"You’re too young for a baby. You don’t have the life experience for it- you haven’t even lived your own life yet. You won’t be able to do the kind of job you wish you could.† I groaned, mortified. â€Å"Are we really even discussing this? How did we go from me allegedly flirting to suddenly having a litter? I’m not having sex with him or anyone else, and even if I were, I know about birth control. Why are you talking to me like I’m a child?† â€Å"Because you act like one.† It was remarkably like what Dimitri had told me. I glared. â€Å"So you’re going to send me to my room now?† â€Å"No, Rose.† She suddenly looked tired. â€Å"You don’t have to go to your room, but don’t go back in there, either. Hopefully you didn’t draw too much attention.† â€Å"You make it sound like I was giving a lap dance in there,† I told her. â€Å"I just had dinner with Lissa.† â€Å"You’d be surprised what things can spark rumors,† she warned. â€Å"Especially with Adrian Ivashkov.† With that, she turned and headed off down the hall. Watching her, I felt anger and resentment burn through me. Overreact much? I hadn’t done anything wrong. I knew she had her whole blood-whore paranoia, but this was extreme, even for her. Worst of all, she’d dragged me out of there, and several people had witnessed it. For someone who supposedly didn’t want me attracting attention, she’d kind of messed that one up. A couple of Moroi who’d been standing near Adrian and me walked out of the room. They glanced in my direction and then whispered something as they passed. â€Å"Thanks, Mom,† I muttered to myself. Humiliated, I stalked off in the opposite direction, not really sure where I was going. I headed out toward the back of the lodge, away from all the activity. The hall eventually ended, but a door leading to some stairs sat on the left. The door was unlocked, so I followed the stairs upward to another door. To my pleasure, it opened up onto a small rooftop deck that didn’t appear to see much use. A blanket of snow lay over it all, but it was early morning out here, and the sun shone brightly, making everything glitter. I brushed snow off of a large, box-like object that looked to be part of the ventilation system. Heedless of my dress, I sat down on it. Wrapping my arms around myself, I stared off, taking in the view and the sun I rarely got to enjoy. I was startled when the door opened a few minutes later. When I looked back I was even more startled still to see Dimitri emerge. My heart gave a small flutter, and I turned away, unsure what to think. His boots crunched in the snow as he walked over to where I was sitting. A moment later, he took off his long coat and draped it over my shoulders. He sat down beside me. â€Å"You must be freezing.† I was, but I didn’t want to admit it. â€Å"The sun’s out.† He tipped his head back, looking up at the perfect blue sky. I knew he missed the sun as much as I did sometimes. â€Å"It is. But we’re still on a mountain in the middle of winter.† I didn’t answer. We sat there in a comfortable silence for a while. Occasionally, a light wind blew clouds of snow around. It was night for Moroi, and most would be going to bed soon, so the ski runs were quiet. â€Å"My life is a disaster,† I finally said. â€Å"It’s not a disaster,† he said automatically. â€Å"Did you follow me from the party?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"I didn’t even know you were there.† His dark clothes indicated he must have been on guardian duty at the party. â€Å"So you saw the illustrious Janine cause a commotion by dragging me out.† â€Å"It wasn’t a commotion. Hardly anyone noticed. I saw because I was watching you.† I refused to let myself get excited over that. â€Å"That’s not what she said,† I told him. â€Å"I might as well have been working a corner as far as she was concerned.† I relayed the conversation from the hallway. â€Å"She’s just worried about you,† Dimitri said when I finished. â€Å"She overreacted.† â€Å"Sometimes mothers are overprotective.† I stared at him. â€Å"Yeah, but this is my mother. And she didn’t seem that protective, really. I think she was more worried I’d embarrass her or something. And all that becoming-a-mother-too-young stuff was stupid. I’m not going to do anything like that.† â€Å"Maybe she wasn’t talking about you,† he said. More silence. My jaw fell open. You don’t have the life experience for it- you haven’t even lived your own life yet. You won’t be able to do the kind of job you wish you could. My mom had been twenty when I was born. Growing up, that had always seemed really old to me. But now†¦that was only a few years off for me. Not old at all. Did she think she’d had me too soon? Had she done a shoddy job raising me simply because she didn’t know any better at the time? Did she regret the way things had turned out between us? And was it†¦ was it maybe possible that she’d had some personal experience of her own with Moroi men and people spreading rumors about her? I had inherited a lot of her features. I mean, I’d even noticed tonight what a nice figure she had. She had a pretty face, too- for a nearly forty-year-old, I mean. She’d probably been really, really good-looking when she was younger†¦. I sighed. I didn’t want to think about that. If I did, I might have to reevaluate my relationship with her- maybe even acknowledge my mother as a real person- and I already had too many relationships stressing me. Lissa always worried me, even though she seemed to be okay for a change. My so-called romance with Mason was in shambles. And then, of course, there was Dimitri†¦. â€Å"We aren’t fighting right now.† I blurted out. He gave me a sidelong look. â€Å"Do you want to fight?† â€Å"No. I hate fighting with you. Verbally, I mean. I don’t mind in the gym.† I thought I detected the hint of a smile. Always a half-smile for me. Rarely a full one. â€Å"I don’t like fighting with you either.† Sitting next to him there, I marveled at the warm and happy emotions springing up inside of me. There was something about being around him that felt so good, that moved me in a way Mason couldn’t. You can’t force love, I realized. It’s there or it isn’t. If it’s not there, you’ve got to be able to admit it. If it is there, you’ve got to do whatever it takes to protect the ones you love. The next words that came out of my mouth astonished me, both because they were completely unselfish and because I actually meant them. â€Å"You should take it.† He flinched. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Tasha’s offer. You should take her up on it. It’s a really great chance.† I remembered my mom’s words about being ready for children. I wasn’t. Maybe she hadn’t been. But Tasha was. And I knew Dimitri was too. They got along really well. He could go be her guardian, have some kids with her †¦ it would be a good deal for both of them. â€Å"I never expected to hear you say anything like that,† he told me, voice tight. â€Å"Especially after- â€Å" â€Å"What a bitch I’ve been? Yeah.† I tugged his coat tighter against the cold. It smelled like him. It was intoxicating, and I could half-imagine being wrapped in his embrace. Adrian might have been onto something about the power of scent. â€Å"Well. Like I said, I don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t want us to hate each other. And†¦well †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them. â€Å"No matter how I feel about us †¦ I want you to be happy.† Silence yet again. I noticed then that my chest hurt. Dimitri reached out and put his arm around me. He pulled me to him, and I rested my head on his chest. â€Å"Roza,† was all he said. It was the first time he’d really touched me since the night of the lust charm. The practice room had been something different †¦ more animal. This wasn’t even about sex. It was just about being close to someone you cared about, about the emotion that kind of connection flooded you with. Dimitri might run off with Tasha, but I would still love him. I would probably always love him. I cared about Mason. But I would probably never love him. I sighed into Dimitri, just wishing I could stay like that forever. It felt right being with him. And- no matter how much the thought of him and Tasha made me ache- doing what was best for him felt right. Now, I knew, it was time to stop being a coward and do something else that was right. Mason had said I needed to learn something about myself. I just had. Reluctantly, I pulled away and handed Dimitri his coat. I stood up. He regarded me curiously, sensing my unease. â€Å"Where you going?† he asked. â€Å"To break someone’s heart,† I replied. I admired Dimitri for a heartbeat more- the dark, knowing eyes and silken hair. Then I headed inside. I had to apologize to Mason†¦and tell him there’d never be anything between us. How to cite Frostbite Chapter 17, Essay examples

Nationwide Petrol Station and Truckstop

Question: Discuss about the Nationwide Petrol Station and Truckstop. Answer: Introduction: Organizational change refers to the changes in management and business processes of an organization. Organizational changes are necessary from time to time in order to remain ahead of the competitors and to survive in the long- run. There are several difficulties associated with changes such as resistance from employees (Benn, Dunphy Griffiths, 2014). However, embracing changes is essential for the growth and development of an organization. Successful companies know the importance of organizational change in achieving competitive advantage. It involves understanding the needs and wants of the customers and developing products and services accordingly (Cameron Green, 2015). It involves ensuring that the quality of products and services meet the expectations of the customers. The report explains the organizational change in Z Energy Limited. Z Energy Limited is a New Zealand based company, which acts as a fuel distributor. The organization has its own branded service stations. It is a dual listed public company and a successor of Shell New Zealand Limited and Greenstone Energy Limited. The organization was founded in the year 1911 as Shell New Zealand Limited in Auckland. The organization is located in more than 305 locations in New Zealand and Australia. The company mainly deals in diesel, petrol and oil. The organization provides employment to more than 2500 individuals. The company supplies fuel to several large commercial and retail customers such as airlines, mines, trucking companies and several others. The organization is also involved in providing bitumen to the roading contractors ("Quality fuels, Forecourt service, Nationwide petrol station and truckstop network, Fresh food and great coffee - Z is for New Zealand | Z", 2017) The senior management team of the organization comprises of Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, General counsel, General manager corporate, General manager supply and distribution, General manager retail, General manager commercial, General manager HSSE (Health, Safety, Security and Environment), General manager people and culture and General manager marketing. The organization has its board of members, which comprises of seven people namely Peter Ward Griffiths, Alan Michael Dunn, Paul Fowler, Marko Bogoievski, Dr. Bruce Harker, Abby Foote and Justine Munro ("Quality fuels, Forecourt service, Nationwide petrol station and truckstop network, Fresh food and great coffee - Z is for New Zealand | Z", 2017). Products and or services of the organization Z Energy Limited is a New Zealand based company, which acts as a fuel distributor. The organization has its own branded service stations. The company mainly deals in diesel, petrol and oil. The company supplies fuel to several large commercial and retail customers such as airlines, mines, trucking companies and several others. The organization is also involved in providing bitumen to the roading contractors. For motorists, the Company offers fuels, such as ZX Premium Unleaded, Z91 Unleaded, Z Bio D Biodiesel and Z Diesel. The organization is located in more than 305 locations in New Zealand and Australia ("Quality fuels, Forecourt service, Nationwide petrol station and truckstop network, Fresh food and great coffee - Z is for New Zealand | Z", 2017). The Company also supplies bulk fuel to trucking companies, airlines, transport firms, construction companies, power generators, farmers, loggers and mining operations. The Company also supplies bitumen to roading companies. The goal of the organization is to represent the capabilities of New Zealanders to put their minds to the things that matter such as putting service into service stations, supporting local neighbors, fueling New Zealand to grow further and rewarding the investors for their trust in the company ("Quality fuels, Forecourt service, Nationwide petrol station and truckstop network, Fresh food and great coffee - Z is for New Zealand | Z", 2017). The organization aims to bring out purpose to life for their customers, shareholders and stakeholders. The purpose refers to what guides everything the organization does that is to solve what matters to for a moving world. The vision of the company is to become a globally recognized Kiwi company and become a role model for other organizations. Political factors: Political factors play an important role in the survival and profitability of an organization. Z Energy deals in diesel, petrol and oil in several countries and has to deal with the political environment and the several risks involved in the political systems across the nations. In order to ensure profitability in the energy industry across the nations, it is necessary to diversify the potential political risks. There are several factors that are required to be analyzed while conducting business overseas. The factors involve political stability in the other nations, corruption levels, legal framework, trade regulations, anti- trust laws, pricing regulations, wage legislation, taxation policies, industrial safety regulations, interference level of the government in energy industry (Zalengera et al., 2014). Economical factors: The economic conditions of the countries affect the business functions of Z Energy. Several factors such as inflation rate, interest rates, foreign exchange rate, savings rate and the economic cycle of the nations determine the demand of the products of Z Energy. Several other factors that determine the demand of the products of Z Energy involve the level of competition within the country. The organization can study the information related to the inflation rate, growth rate, tastes and preferences of the customers, etc in order to forecast the demand and profitability. The economic factors to be considered involve kind of economic system, type of market, exchange rates, quality of infrastructure, condition of the financial markets, comparative advantages, workforce skills, education level, labor costs, business cycle stage, economic growth rate, unemployment rate, discretionary income, interest rate, inflation rate and several other factors (Makos, 2015). Social factors: The culture of a society highly influences the success or failure of an organization. The attitude and belief of the people play a vital role in determining the marketing and sales strategies. It is necessary to understand the buying patterns of the customers in the target market in order to determine the scope of success or failure of a business. Therefore, it is necessary to study the demographics of an area, the education level of the population, class structure in the society, culture, entrepreneurial spirit, attitudes and leisure interest of the target population (Team, 2013). Technological factors: There have been rapid changes in the technologies all over the world. The transportation industry has witnessed several technological advancements in the past few years. The number of vehicles has also increased over the past few years. The taxi industry has also gone through a massive revolution with the introduction of several companies such as Uber. Automation has changed the outlook of the car industry (Petrou, Demerouti Schaufeli, 2016). Therefore, Z Energy is required to study the technological changes of the rivals, the impacts of technological changes on the products offered, impact of cost structure and value chain structure in the Energy industry and the level of technological diffusion. Legal factors: The legal structures differ from one country to another. Therefore, the organizations are required to study the legal structures of the countries in which they operate. Z Energy must also analyze the legal framework and the legal institutions in the countries in which it operates. Some of the legal factors to be considered involves discrimination law, consumer protection law, data protection law, health and safety law, employment law, intellectual property law and anti- trust law prevalent in the energy industries across the nations (Anderson, 2016). Environmental factors: The several environmental factors that affect Z Energy involve weather, climate change, air and water pollution, waste management systems, endangered species, etc. The business activities of Z Energy highly affects the environment, therefore; the organization is required to study the impact of the business activities of the organization on the environment (Nacamulli, Sheldon Della Torre, 2017). Research objectives To understand the importance of organizational change To identify the organizational changes required in Z Energy Limited To analyze the impact of organizational changes in Z Energy Limited To suggest suitable organizational changes that shall help the organization to further develop and increase its profitability The data collection process involves primary data collection method and secondary data collection method. In this case, both primary data collection technique and secondary data collection techniques would be appropriate to identify the areas in which organizational changes are required within the firm to improve its efficiency. In case of primary data collection, the employees of the organization shall be interviewed in order to know the type of organizational changes that are necessary for the further development of the organization (Orkin, 2014). The organizational change might be related to personnel change, technological change or remedial changes. For this purpose, the organizational members shall be interviewed and the results obtained from the data collected shall be analyzed to take further actions. The organization comprises of more than 2500 employees and a random sample population of 500 employees shall be interviewed in order to derive conclusions for the entire populati on. In case of secondary data collection, the market trends in the fuel and energy shall be analyzed in order to find out the necessary changes that are required. The strategies utilized by the competing firms shall also be analyzed in order to find out suitable organizational changes and strategies that shall help the organization to remain ahead of the competitors (Best Kahn, 2016). Research findings and Discussion The research findings indicate the necessity of reorganization the personnel within the organization in order to improve the efficiency of the organization and remain ahead of the competitors. The organizational change shall require personal development, ergonomic work place and improving the level of job satisfaction among the employees (Matthews Ross, 2014). The organization is required to undergo massive hiring and layoffs in order to ensure that the best employees remain within the organization. A major issue found was presence of a large number of older staff that has become unproductive and lack the technological advancement. Therefore, the organization is required to hire fresh candidates with higher productivity and greater knowledge of technologies. However, these changes might negatively affect the employees. Therefore, it is necessary that the organization ensures that the organizational change is managed in an appropriate manner that does not result in resistance towards the change. Another major change required for increasing the competitive capacity of the organization requires mergers, acquisitions or joint ventures. This shall increase the financial strength of the organization and shall enable the organization to explore the international markets and obtain benefits from them. The organizations operate in close relation to the society and involve social factors that are required to be considered. Organizational change management is highly dependent upon the social factors such as demographics and social mobility, lifestyle patterns and changes, attitudes and actions of people, perception and influence of media and ethnic and religious differences (Haslam et al., 2014). The biological perspective of managing change considers that the perceptions of the individuals differ from each other. The perception of an individual changes as it grows to an adult and matures until he dies (Colquitt et al., 2013). For example, the perceptions of the employees of Z Energy Limited might change from time to time. In such a case, it becomes necessary to consider the opinions of the organizational members in order to ensure successful change management. System perspective Systems perspective states that even a small change within an organization might have several impacts on the organization and its members. For example, there are several subsystems in a human body such as respiratory system and muscular system in the similar manner, there are several sub systems within an organization, which are inter related to each other. Any change in one system shall affect the other systems (Wooten Hoffman, 2016). Therefore, it is necessary to consider the impacts of the changes on all the related systems. The rational perspective is within the power of the managers to influence as they possess appropriate authorities and adequate resources that helps in achieving the organizational objectives (Dawson Andriopoulos, 2014). For example, suggestions and opinions from the managers in Z Energy Limited must be taken in to consideration before deciding the change and implementing it within the organization. Change is an important part of every organization (both small and large organizations). In the fast changing world, it becomes necessary for the organizations to adapt and implement the necessary changes in order to remain ahead of the competitors and survive in the long- run. The organizations that manage changes efficiently have more chances of becoming successful. The process in which organizations manage change differs in terms of nature of business, the change involved and the people involved. The Lewins change model comprises of three stages namely unfreeze, change and freeze. The first stage is unfreezing. In this stage, the organization gets ready for the change (Cummings, Bridgman Brown, 2016). This involves understanding the fact that the change is necessary for the betterment of the organization and getting prepared for moving out of ones present comfort zone. The more the organization feels that the change is necessary, the more it is motivated to implement the required changes. The second stage involves change or transition. In this stage, the organization actually implements the changes. This stage is often referred to as the most difficult stage (Burnes, 2017). There are high chances of resistance to changes as it is difficult for the people associated with an organization to accept the changes. The last stage involves freezing. In this stage, the organization aims at establishing stability after the necessary changes have been implemented. The changes are accepted by the organizational people and they start feeling comfortable with their present routines (Bartunek Woodman, 2015). John Kotters change model Kotter trusted that it is basic to experience a few stages keeping in mind the end goal to effectively actualize changes inside an association. The initial step includes making a feeling of urgency. As indicated by him, for a change to be effective, more than 75 percent of the members of the organization must feel the need and criticalness of the change. The change must be actualized when it is distinguished as any postponement in executing change may prompt misfortunes and wastefulness of the associations (Calegari, Sibley Turner, 2015). The second step includes making a directing coalition. This progression specifies that it is important to include the authoritative individuals keeping in mind the end goal to effectively actualize the change on the grounds that the senior administration and officials cannot be the only ones who execute the change. The senior experts are required to control the representatives of the association and help them to adjust with the progressions. The th ird step includes building up a dream and technique. It is important to build up an appropriate system and vision. The change administrator is in charge of creating proper methodologies that will direct the change procedure. They are required to include all the key partners in the change administration process (Pollack Pollack, 2015). The fourth step is passing on the change vision. It is exceptionally important to impart the progressions that are to be actualized inside an association that might influence the key partners. Change cannot be actualized effectively by insignificant arranging the change rather, it is important to pass on the progressions to the related partners so they can set themselves up for the progressions to be executed inside the association. The fifth step includes engaging representatives. In this progression, the change isn't just passed on to the related partners yet in addition they are permitted to concoct their contemplations, fears and thoughts in regards to the change. It is fundamental to include the general population who should be influenced because of the progressions so that there is no protection and the change is actualized with no obstacles. The 6th step includes producing temporary wins. Keeping up force is basic for the effective usage of progress. Short- term wins is one of the techniques that assistance in the fruitful usage of changes by making early progress. The seventh step includes merging gains. In this progression the fleeting wins should positively affect the related individuals and they might be urged to additionally actualize the adjustment keeping in mind the end goal to get long haul picks up (Issah Zimmerman, 2016). The eighth step includes mooring new methodologies in the way of life. The associations must be continually engaged with growing new methodologies that assistance in the hierarchical advancement in light of the fact that the methodologies, which have been effective in the past might not be fruitful later on. Along these lines, the associations must be inventive and creative and thought of another approach when the past methodologies appear to be of no utilization. Hard or soft model The 'hard' components of change are the undertakings inside change management, which are characterized and measured. Soft elements, for example, culture and inspiration might be harder to evaluate. Accentuation might be set after overseeing undertaking factors to the detriment of delicate components amid change intercessions; nonetheless, Farkas (2016) contended that four hard factors correspond to the result of progress mediations, to be specific: term (time span); honesty (dependence on administrators); duty (of all associated with change); and exertion (inside the chance of time permitted). While portraying change, organizations are required to consider the speed and size of progress, and relate this to the issue of multifaceted nature. The issues that change present to an association can be seen by supervisors as 'challenges', which are 'limited' in that they can be very much characterized (determined) and can be managed without including or affecting on the more extensive associ ation. Another classification of issues are those which can't be all around characterized and are 'unbounded' as in the more extensive association is embroiled and should be engaged with managing these sorts of issues. In the case of Z Energy Limited, the change is soft change as it involves change in the human resource management. Total quality management (TQM) refers to the organizational effort that is developed to enhance the quality of products or services provided by the organizations. In the highly competitive environment, the organizations are required to pay more attention towards the quality of its products and services (Mitra, 2016). Several organizations nowadays hire external consultants and initiate several quality training workshops for their employees. Successful companies know the importance of total quality management in achieving competitive advantage. Total quality management involves giving preference to the needs and wants of the customers and developing products and services accordingly (Goetsch Davis, 2014). It involves ensuring that the quality of products and services meet the expectations of the customers. In case of total quality management, the initial objective of the organizations is to identify and meet the expectations of the customers. According to Total quality management, a product is of no worth if it is unable to satisfy the expectations of the customers (Dale, 2015). Another aspect of total quality management is that it focuses upon continuous improvement. High performance work organization High performance work organization refers to the organizations, which have greater involvement of the organizational employees in the decision- making process. The high performance work organizations provide greater control to the organizational employees over their reward structure, which results in greater efficiency and motivation among the employees (Gimenez- Espin, Jimnez- Jimnez Martnez- Costa, 2013). The high performance work organizations aim at increasing the job satisfaction of the employees by providing them with several benefits and rewards such as profit- sharing, job rotation, job enlargement, job enrichment, on the job training, outside training, incentives, pay based upon merit and several other benefits (Jensen, Patel Messersmith, 2013). It is necessary for the organizations to aim at becoming a high performance work organization in order to remain profitable in the high competition market (Katzenbach Smith, 2015). Conclusion Organizational changes are necessary from time to time in order to remain ahead of the competitors and to survive in the long- run. There are several difficulties associated with changes such as resistance from employees. However, embracing changes is essential for the growth and development of an organization. Z Energy Limited is a New Zealand based company, which acts as a fuel distributor. The company supply fuel to several large commercial and retail customers such as airlines, mines, trucking companies and is one of the leading suppliers of fuel and energy in New Zealand. However, the organization is required to undergo massive hiring and layoffs in order to ensure that the best employees remain within the organization. A major issue found was presence of a large number of older staff that has become unproductive and lack the technological advancement. Another major change required for increasing the competitive capacity of the organization requires mergers, acquisitions or join t ventures. This shall increase the financial strength of the organization and shall enable the organization to explore the international markets and obtain benefits from them. Recommendations Z Energy Limited is required to emphasize upon its human resource management techniques in order to ensure successful change implementation. For this purpose, the organization must must involve the organizational employees and managers and devise suitable motivational techniques to avoid resistance to the changes. An in depth market research is necessary to identify the market trends and the marketing strategies used by the competitors. Only after the collection and analysis of the relevant data, the change must be initiated. It is also necessary to keep the organizational employees satisfied in order to obtain their support during the entire change process. The organization must follow Kotters eight steps of change management in order to ensure the success of the organizational change. For the change to be effective, it must be ensured that more than 75 percent of the members of the organization must feel the need and criticalness of the change. The change must be actualized when it is distinguished as any postponement in executing change may prompt misfortunes and wastefulness of the associations. It is fundamental to include the general population who should be influenced because of the progressions so that there is no protection and the change is actualized with no obstacles. Smart objectives Activities Methods Time frame Increasing the competitiveness of the organization Collecting data regarding the competitive strategies of the rival organizations Analyzing the current strategies of the organization Making provisions for detailed market research 1 month Increasing the level of job satisfaction among the employees Involving the employees in the change management process Offering attractive wages and incentives to the employees Using non- monetary motivational techniques to motivate the employees Implementing effective human resource management techniques 2 months Implementing the change management successfully Promoting the necessity of the change Involving organizational employees Helping the organizational members to become comfortable with the change Following Kotters eight steps of change management 6 months Referencing Aarons, G. A., Ehrhart, M. G., Farahnak, L. R., Hurlburt, M. S. (2015). Leadership and organizational change for implementation (LOCI): a randomized mixed method pilot study of a leadership and organization development intervention for evidence-based practice implementation.Implementation Science,10(1), 11. Anderson, D. L. (2016).Organization development: The process of leading organizational change. Sage Publications. Bartunek, J. M., Woodman, R. W. (2015). Beyond Lewin: Toward a temporal approximation of organization development and change. Benn, S., Dunphy, D., Griffiths, A. (2014).Organizational change for corporate sustainability. Routledge. Best, J. W., Kahn, J. V. (2016).Research in education. Pearson Education India. Burnes, B. (2017). Kurt Lewin: 18901947: The Practical Theorist.The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers, 1-15. Calegari, M. F., Sibley, R. E., Turner, M. E. (2015). A Roadmap for Using Kotter's Organizational Change Model to Build Faculty Engagement in Accreditation.Academy of Educational Leadership Journal,19(3), 31. Cameron, E., Green, M. (2015).Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers. Carter, M. Z., Armenakis, A. A., Feild, H. S., Mossholder, K. W. (2013). Transformational leadership, relationship quality, and employee performance during continuous incremental organizational change.Journal of Organizational Behavior,34(7), 942-958. Colquitt, J. A., Scott, B. A., Rodell, J. B., Long, D. M., Zapata, C. P., Conlon, D. E., Wesson, M. J. (2013). Justice at the millennium, a decade later: A meta-analytic test of social exchange and affect-based perspectives. Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewins legacy for change management. human relations, 69(1), 33-60. Cummings, T. G., Worley, C. G. (2014).Organization development and change. Cengage learning. Dale, B. (2015).Total quality management. John Wiley Sons, Limited. Dawson, P., Andriopoulos, C. (2014).Managing change, creativity and innovation. Sage. Farkas, F. (2016). Hard and Soft Approaches of Strategic Organisational Change Management. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT, 21(2), 13-22. Gimenez-Espin, J. A., Jimnez-Jimnez, D., Martnez-Costa, M. (2013). Organizational culture for total quality management.Total Quality Management Business Excellence,24(5-6), 678-692. Goetsch, D. L., Davis, S. B. (2014).Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson. Haslam, S. A., van Knippenberg, D., Platow, M. J., Ellemers, N. (Eds.). (2014). Social identity at work: Developing theory for organizational practice. Psychology Press. Issah, M., Zimmerman, J. A. (2016). A Change model for 21st Century Leaders: The Essentials.International Journal of Pedagogical Innovations,4(1), 23-29. Jensen, J. M., Patel, P. C., Messersmith, J. G. (2013). High-performance work systems and job control: Consequences for anxiety, role overload, and turnover intentions.Journal of Management,39(6), 1699-1724. Katzenbach, J. R., Smith, D. K. (2015).The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press. Makos, J. (2015). An Overview of the PESTEL Framework.PESTLE Analysis,18. Matthews, B., Ross, L. (2014). Research methods. Pearson Higher Ed. Mitra, A. (2016). Fundamentals of quality control and improvement. John Wiley Sons. Nacamulli, R., Sheldon, P., Della Torre, E. E. (2017). Meta-Organizations and Upper Echelons: Exploring Strategic and Organizational Change in Employer Associations. Orkin, K. (2014). Data Collection Methods. InEncyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research(pp. 1430-1432). Springer Netherlands. Petrou, P., Demerouti, E., Schaufeli, W. B. (2016). Crafting the change: The role of employee job crafting behaviors for successful organizational change.Journal of Management, 0149206315624961. Pollack, J., Pollack, R. (2015). Using Kotters eight stage process to manage an organisational change program: Presentation and practice.Systemic Practice and Action Research,28(1), 51-66. Quality fuels, Forecourt service, Nationwide petrol station and truckstop network, Fresh food and great coffee - Z is for New Zealand | Z. (2017). Z Energy. Retrieved 8 November 2017, from https://z.co.nz/ Sharif, M. M., Scandura, T. A. (2014). Do perceptions of ethical conduct matter during organizational change? Ethical leadership and employee involvement.Journal of Business Ethics,124(2), 185-196. Team, F. M. E. (2013). PESTLE Analysis. Strategy Skills.Ebook: https://www. free-management-ebooks. com/dldebk-pdf/fme-pestle-analysis. pdf. Wooten, M., Hoffman, A. J. (2016). Organizational Fields Past, Present and Future. Zalengera, C., Blanchard, R. E., Eames, P. C., Juma, A. M., Chitawo, M. L., Gondwe, K. T. (2014). Overview of the Malawi energy situation and A PESTLE analysis for sustainable development of renewable energy.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,38, 335-347.

Adolf Hitler Essays - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany, Hitler Family

Adolf Hitler Essays - Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany, Hitler Family Adolf Hitler ADOLF HITLER Rob Moffitt Mrs. Flinn CP Enlish 10 April 16, 2000 1. Hitlers Early Life 2. Hitlers World War I Service 3. Free Corps 4. Weimar Republic 5. German Workers Party 6. Munich Putsch 7. Mein Kampf 8. Hitlers Rise to Power 9. Hitler Launches the War 10. Hitlers Last Days The interesting life of Adolf Hitler is not fully known to people. Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, the fourth child of Alois Schickelgruber and Klara Hitler in the Austrian town of Braunau. Two of his siblings died from diphtheria when they were children, and one died shortly after birth. Alois was a customs official, illegitimate by birth, which was described by his housemaid as a very strict but comfortable man. His mother showered Young Adolf with love and affection. When Adolf was three years old, the family moved to Passau, along the Inn River on the German side of the border. A brother, Edmond, was born two years later. The family moved once more in 1895 to the farm community of Hafeld, 30 miles southwest of Linz. Another sister, Paula, was born in 1896, the sixth of the union, supplemented by a half brother and half sister from one of his father's two previous marriages. Following another family move, Adolf lived for six months across from a large Benedictine monastery. The monastery's coat of arms' most salient feature was a swastika. As a youngster, Adolf's dream was to enter the priesthood. While there is anecdotal evidence that Adolf's father regularly beat him during his childhood, it was not unusual for discipline to be enforced in that way during that period. By 1900, Hitler's talents as an artist surfaced. He did well enough in school to be eligible for either the university preparatory gymnasium or the technical/scientific Realschule. Because the latter had a course in drawing, Adolf accepted his father's decision to enroll him in the Realschule. He did not do well there. Adolf's father died in 1903 after suffering a pleural hemorrhage. Adolf himself suffered from lung infections, and he quit school at the age of 16, partially the result of ill health and partially the result of poor school work. In 1906, Adolf was permitted to visit Vienna, but he was unable to gain admission to a prestigious art school. His mother developed terminal breast cancer and was treated by Dr. Edward Bloch, a Jewish doctor who served the poor. After an operation and excruciatingly painful and expensive treatments with a dangerous drug, she died on December 21, 1907. Hitler spent six years in Vienna, living on a small legacy from his father and an orphan's pension. Virtually penniless by 1909, he wandered Vienna as a transient, sleeping in bars, flophouses, and shelters for the homeless, including, ironically, those financed by Jewish philanthropists. It was during this period that he developed his prejudices about Jews, his interest in politics, and debating skills. According to John Toland's biography, Adolf Hitler, two of his closest friends at this time were Jewish, and he admired Jewish art dealers and Jewish operatic performers and producers. However, Vienna was a center of anti-Semitism, and the media's portrayal of Jews as scapegoats with stereotyped attributes did not escape Hitler's fascination. In May 1913, Hitler, seeking to avoid military service, left Vienna for Munich, the capital of Bavaria, following a windfall received from an aunt who was dying. In January, the police came to his door bearing a draft notice from the Austrian government. The document threatened a year in prison and a fine if he was found guilty of leaving his native land with the intent of evading conscription. Hitler was arrested on the spot and taken to the Austrian Consulate. Upon reporting to Salzburg for duty, he was found unfit...too weak...and unable to bear arms. When World War I was touched off by the assassination by a Serb of the heir to the Austrian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Hitler's passions against foreigners, particularly Slavs, were inflamed. He was caught up in the patriotism of the time, and submitted a petition to enlist in the Bavarian army. After less than two months of training, Hitler's regiment saw its first combat near Ypres, against the British and Belgians. Hitler narrowly escaped death in battle several

Sports in America

Sports in America In his essay Sports in America, James Michener argues that the role of sports in contemporary society has often been misconstrued by mass media and that there is very little understanding of the goals that sports should attain. This is the main thesis that the writer advances.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Sports in America specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In particular, he believes that reporters often overestimate the importance of athletic activities for the formation of a person’s character. Moreover, they should not assume that they can always help a person escape the dangers of a ghetto life. These are some of the main points that he makes. The main purpose of this essay is to make policy-makers, teachers, and parents to re-evaluate their views on sports. In order to elaborate his opinions, the author creates a very elaborate structure of the essay. First of all, he identifies the main objective of spo rts such as the promotion of healthy lifestyles and entertainment of individuals and the public. Secondly, the author identifies a set of stereotypes about sports and attempts to debunk them. For example, the writer focuses on the idea that athletic activities can develop the leadership skills of an individual. In the author’s opinion, good leadership of these people can be explained primarily by their self-discipline and intelligence (Michener 1031). Additionally, James Michener discusses various books that can give readers a better idea about the role of sports. Finally, the writer identifies the main problems that are associated with sports nowadays (Michener 1033). Overall, this structure helps the author to elaborate his ideas. It should be taken into consideration that James Michener does not directly identify the main readers of his essay. As it has been said before, this work is primarily intended for policy-makers, parents, educators and administrators of colleges or universities who may consider the ideas of the author. First of all, the writer uses a balanced and tentative tone that can appeal to these people. Moreover, the issues discussed by James Michener are related to the investment in sports and recreational infrastructure such as stadiums, the education of students, and the policies of the state. Thus, this essay is supposed to change the opinions of people take important decisions regarding the education of children or adolescents. It is also important to speak about the style and tone of this paper. One can say that the writer avoids the use of categorical statements. Instead, he attempts to create well-constructed arguments that are based on certain evidence or at least logical reasoning. Secondly, James Michener uses bullet points in order to better identify the main points of his essay (Michener 1033).Advertising Looking for essay on rhetoric? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn Mo re The author uses different types of sentences that include approximately fifteen or seventeen words. On the whole, one can say that his style, tone and word choice are quite clear. This is the main strength of his essay. Overall, this essay can be viewed as a great example of formal writing when the author has to put a well-developed argument. Moreover, this work shows how the writer can make a claim that may not necessarily appeal to the readers. To some extent, the author’s reasoning appears to be quite convincing. However, one should take into account that James Michener does not refer to any empirical studies that confirm his arguments. This is the main limitation of this essay. Nevertheless, it should be considered by policy-makers and educators. Michener, James. â€Å"Sports in America.† Literature for Composition: Essays, Stories,  Poems, and Plays. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: Pearson Education, 2010. 1028-1034. Print.

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MIS Related Issues ASOS.com MIS RELATED ISSUES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Despite the spectacular dot-com bust a few years ago, the Internet has markedly changed the way we do business. (Reynolds, 2004, 78) Conducting business in the digital economy refers to the use of Web-based systems, on the Internet and other electronic networks, to accomplish some form of e-commerce. Networked computing is helping some companies excel and is helping others simply to survive. Generally, the collection of computing systems used by an organization is defined as Information Technology (IT). In the developed countries, almost all medium and large organizations use information technologies, including e-commerce, to support their operations. IT, in its narrow definition, refers to the technological side of an Information System (IS); it includes the hardware, software, databases, networks, etc. An IS collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and disseminates information for a specific purpose. It processes the inputs (data, instructions) by using IT and produces outputs (reports, calculations). It includes people, procedures, facilities and it operates within an environment. MIS refers to the management of ISs and it raises a lot of concerns, such as global, e-commerce, software system choices, ethical, social and operation strategy issues. (Turban et al, 2001) The aim of this paper is to examine five selected MIS topics and analyze specifically one or two of the occurring issues of each topic; then, connect these issues to the ASOS.com enterprise. The paper begins with a brief observation of the background of ASOS.com. Initially, the selected topics and issues, derived from relevant literature, will be described. Next, a discussion of whether each issue is a problem for ASOS.com or not is presented. Furthermore, a reflective paragraph follows. The paper ends with the conclusion section and the references. ASOS.com Asos.com, is the UKs largest online-only fashion and beauty store, attracting over one million visitors a week. Its name stands for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"As Seen On Screen and it was chosen to show the brands intention, to supply the public with outfits similar to the styles of celebrities. Asos.com targets 16 to 34 year olds; it offers womens fashion, menswear, accessories, jewelry and beauty products. It provides potential customers browsing its content, with a number of unique features. For example, individual catwalk model videos of most clothing items on the site, and a fashion blog, which is frequently updated with articles relating to celebrity and entertainment. Asos.com is greatly admired for its large variety of fashion and beauty goods and for the speed at which it keeps up with the latest fashion trends. (http://www.asos.com/) Asos.coms headquarters are located in Camden Town, in North London. The company was launched by Nick Robertson in 2000. Since then, the online company has seen significant growth. Over Christmas season of 2008, it reported a 100% increase in sales and for the financial year ending 31 March 2009, it reported a revenue of  £165,395,000. Asos.com is being run by a board of three directors and two non-executive directors. It is a PLC, quoted on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) part of the London Stock Exchange. AIM is not as strict in its rules as the main market; it therefore, helps smaller companies to raise capital through the sale of shares. Asos.com chose to use the web channel, since researches have shown that online sales have been increasing faster than any other sector. It has targeted young people, for these represent around 60% of online shoppers. To attract them, it offers a diverse range of brands and products. Above all, it offers a pleasurable shopping experience, by ensuring that the website provides much more than a customer would expect from a shop. The site, also, provides more choices, competitive prices, new styles and, above all, convenience. While growing, Asos.com has developed a more complex structure. It has worked hard to keep up with changes in technology. The website is being kept up-to-date by constantly adding new products and product lines. Moreover, Asos.com uses other communication channels to drive growth. These include a monthly magazine of 116 pages and an e-mail newsletter that is being sent to 1.8 million users each week. In addition, it distributes PR pieces in other publications and encourages word-of-mouth recommendation. (http://www.asos.com/) GLOBAL MIS/RISKS Designing websites for a global audience The designing of successful web-sites that present information about products and services is a relatively recent occupation, which introduced new issues and challenges that designers were called to face. It is well-known that some web-sites seem to be more efficient than others. They are more often visited and more purchases occur. Very little is reported in the literature on web design and the evaluation of the factors that formulate a successful web-site. However, many studies have been made, in order to empirically test the features, often mentioned by trade journals and vendors, as being critical to design a successful web site. The roles of a web-site are many and important; some of them are: marketing research, marketing tool, public relation machine and means of payment. Web sites are basically an interface between the costumer and the firm. The web sites are being designed in order to facilitate organizations, to carry out business activities by using Internet technology. On their web sites, each organization promotes and sells its products or services, provides catalogs, technical support and obtains useful feedback from its consumers. (Udo and Marquis, 2001/2) According to Udo and Marquis, there are eight factors that contribute to the design of an effective web site: * Download Time (response time) * Navigation * Graphics Usage * Interactivity * Cohesion * Consistency * Use of Frames * Amount of Advertisements (Udo and Marquis, 2001/2) According to Tilson, R. principles like simplicity, satisfaction (feedback) and versatility (flexibility) are also very important in designing e-commerce sites. In fact, Tilson describes eight factors, with which the designer achieves the following: * Simplicity: doesnt compromise usability for function. * Support: user is in control with proactive assistance. * Obviousness: makes objects and their controls visible and intuitive. * Encouragement: makes actions predictable and reversible. * Satisfaction (feedback): creates a feeling of progress and achievement. * Accessibility: makes all objects accessible at all times. * Versatility (flexibility): supports alternate interaction techniques. * Personalization: allows users to customize. (Tilson et al, 1998) Asos.com has very successfully designed its website for a global audience. As already mentioned, the website offers to potential customers a large variety of unique features, such as catwalk videos, a fashion blog, a diverse range of brands and products, a pleasurable shopping experience, competitive prices, new styles and convenience, in order to attract more users and set itself apart from other similar websites. The company tries to keep up with changes in technology by frequently updating the website, which is also kept up-to-date by constantly adding new products and product lines, according to the latest fashion trends. Its global success has been recognized through many awards such as: % Sep 2002: E-commerce awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Highly commended % Feb 2005: More Magazine Fashion Awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Most Addictive Online Shopping % Oct 2008: Aim Awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Company of the Year % Nov 2008: Company High Street Awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Best Online Shopping % Mar 2009: Cosmopolitan Online Fashion Awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Best Online Retailer (http://www.asos.com/) E-COMMERCE AND ITS ISSUES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Electronic commerce is taking off both in terms of the number of users shopping, as well as, the total amount of people, who are spending via Internet based transactionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . (Tilson et al, 1998) E-commerce is gaining importance rapidly, in todays business environment. The practice of e-commerce has been in existence since 1965 and has attracted the interest of many pundits. Most companies accepted and adopted the e-commerce technology faster than any other technology in the history of mankind. The reason is that the benefits are plenty; by creating a web site they can be seen all around the world, reach out to new customers, have lower transaction costs, meet their customers expectations and needs, provide new services and products and therefore, remain competitive. (Khan, 2008) E-commerce presents enormous opportunities for both consumers and businesses in the world. The self-service enabled by it, allows consumers to conduct a wide-range of activities. They can access thousands of online sites and purchase anything, from groceries to books, cars, credit-cards and loans. As Mark Hurst stated: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Its ease of use, its ease of use. Why doesnt the industry get that?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Andrews, 1998) Legal and Ethical issues in E-Business Internet technology has posed new challenges for the protection of individual privacy. Computer information, regarding Internet users, is generated every day through credit card purchases, telephone calls, magazine subscriptions, video rentals, mail-order purchases, banking records and local/state/federal government records. If this information is put together and minded properly, it could reveal a users credit information, driving habits, tastes, associations, political interests and much more. It is possible to record many online activities, including which websites a user has visited, which newsgroups or files he has accessed and what items he has purchased over the Web. Some organizations use this information to better target their offerings. Others monitor the Internet usage of their employees to see how they are using company network resources. A new data analysis technology called NORA (non-obvious-relationship-awareness) offers even more powerful profiling capabilities to the government and the private sector. NORA can take information about people from sources like employment applications, telephone records, customer listings and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"wanted lists, and correlate relationships to find obscure hidden connections that might help identify criminals or terrorists. Cookies are another noteworthy issue. Cookies are tiny files deposited on a computer hard drive, when a user visits certain websites. Cookies identify the visitors Web-browser software and track visits to the website. When the visitor returns to the site, the website software will search the visitors computer, find the cookie and know what that person has done in the past. Then the site can customize its contents for each visitors interests. There are several more ethical/legal concerns occurring from the use of IT. For example, another issue is the protection of intellectual property such as software, digital books, digital music, or digitized video. It is extremely difficult to protect intellectual property, when it can so easily be copied and distributed. In addition, there is the matter of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"spam messages and the computer theft/fraud (stealing personal credit card information). (Laudon and Laudon, 2005) Asos.com guarantees privacy and security over credit card purchases for the website visitors. There have been strong movements from the political view to protect the Web users privacy and security. Additionally, the online industry has preferred self-regulation to privacy legislation for protecting consumers. In 1998, the online industry formed the Online Privacy Alliance to encourage self-regulation to develop a set of privacy guidelines for its members. The group promotes the use of online seals, like TRUSTe, certifying websites adhering to certain privacy principles. There has also been created an additional industry association called Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) to develop its own privacy policies to help consumers opt out of advertising network programs and provide consumers redress from abuses. On top of the legislation, new technologies are available to protect user privacy during interactions with websites. Many of these tools are used for encrypting e-mail, making surfing and e-mail activities appear anonymous, preventing client computers from accepting cookies etc. Asos.com plans to use such activities in the short-run, to ensure its visitors privacy. (Laudon and Laudon, 2005) SOFTWARE SYSTEM CHOICES To buy off-the-shelf packages or develop from scratch The acquisition of new software and hardware can bring dramatic applications that will change an organization. Managers must be prepared to make risky acquisitions that will have a significant impact on the firm. There has been some movement towards outsourcing and strategic alliances to reduce the time required to develop vital applications. Buying instead of making is one strategy to bring change more quickly in the firm. However, the purchase decision is one that usually warrants advice from systems professionals. Software can be bought from a large number of companies. Manufacturers of large computers often sell proprietary software for them, especially operating systems. Companies like Computer Associates sell a great deal of software for large-scale computers. The main attraction of buying of-the-shelf packages is to avoid having to develop a custom system. Custom programming is expensive and time-consuming; therefore, when a package is available, it should be considered. The major advantage of using a package is cost savings. The package developer expects to sell a number of packages to recover the investment in developing it. The cost is thus amortized over a number of users. The cost to the developer though is usually higher than the development of a single application would be, since the package must be general enough to be used by a number of customers. This increased generality makes the package larger, more complex and often less efficient to operate than an application specifically developed for a single application. (Henry and Lucas, 2000) The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"make or buy decision is always a difficult one for management. The availability of new technologies in the marketplace and a movement by firms to get back to their core competencies, have led many companies to select the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"buy option. Because of the high cost and long time required to develop software, most managers look first at whether they can buy existing software and modify it, if necessary, to avoid programming an application from scratch. (Henry and Lucas, 2000) (Henry and Lucas, 2000) Asos.coms managers had to face all these difficulties in order to make a decision of whether to develop their own custom system or buy existing software and modify it, according to their needs. They could have depended upon outsourcing to develop and operate their applications, or choose to retain part of their IT functions and to partially outsource some activities, which I believe would be the best decision for the company. Unfortunately, there isnt much information in the Asos.com website of how the organizations software systems were developed. ETHICS / SOCIAL ISSUES Information ethics relates to standards of right and wrong in information processing practices. Organizations must deal with ethical issues relating to their employees, customers and suppliers. Ethical issues are of high importance, for they have the power to damage the image of an organization and to destroy the morale of the employees. Ethics is a complicated area, since ethical issues are not cut-and-tried; they vary between people, cultures and countries. What may be regarded as ethical by one person may be regarded as unethical by another. (Turban et al, 2001) Displacement of employees with Information Technology IT offers many benefits to the organizations. A key benefit of IT is for example, the reengineering of work; it provides operations with many benefits such as elimination of production waste and reduction of operating costs. On the other hand, redesigning business processes could cause millions of employees to lose their jobs. As Rifkin (1993) said: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"We will create a society run by a small high-tech elite of corporate professionals [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] in a nation of the permanently unemployed. (Laudon and Laudon, 2005) Some argue that relieving bright, educated workers from reengineered jobs will result in their replacement to better jobs in fast-growth industries. However this does not apply to unskilled, blue-collar workers and less well-educated, old managers. Consequently, IT has created new ethical dilemmas, in which one set of interests is pitted against another. For example, many of the large telephone companies in the USA are using IT to reduce the sizes of their workforces. Voice recognition software reduces the need for human operators by enabling computers to recognize a customers responses to a series of computerized questions. Competing values at work are, therefore, developed and groups are lined on either side of a debate. Companies argue that displacing employees with IT is ethical, since they have the right to use ISs to increase their productivity and reduce the size of their workforce, in order to lower expenses and remain in business. The employees that are being displaced argue that their employers have responsibilities against their welfare and that their displacement with IT is unethical. (Laudon and Laudon, 2005) Asos.com, as an online corporation, occupies much less personnel than traditional fashion and beauty industries. The company hires high-educated, IT experts to run the operating software and keep the companys website updated with the most innovative features. Displacement of employees with IT is not an issue for Asos.com, although, the latest movement of businesses moving into the digital economy, could be an issue for less and less workers are needed. STRATEGY AND IS / INITIATIVES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Competitive Advantage is at the core of a firms success or failure. (Turban et al, 2001) Ensure continued, powerful Competitive Advantage Computer-based ISs have been enhancing competitiveness and creating strategic advantage for several decades. A competitive strategy is defined as a broad-based formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be and what plans or policies will be required to carry out those goals. Through its competitive strategy, an organization seeks a competitive advantage in an industry. A Competitive Advantage represents an advantage over competitors in some measure such as cost, quality, or speed. A strategic IS can assist an organization to gain a competitive advantage through contribution to its strategic goals and the ability to considerably increase performance and productivity. (Turban et al, 2001) M. Porters competitive forces model is the most popular framework for analyzing competitiveness. It is used to develop strategies for organizations, with the purpose of increasing their competitive edge. Porters model identifies five major forces that could endanger an organizations position in a given industry. These forces are: 1. The threat of entry of new competitors 2. The bargaining power of suppliers 3. The bargaining power of customers 4. The threat of substitute products or services 5. The rivalry among existing firms in the industry (Turban et al, 2001) Asos.com is an online-only corporation; this fact alone provides the company with a strong competitive advantage over its (traditional-clothing-stores) competitors. Asos.com possesses a competitive advantage, mainly, in a matter of cost/expenses, since it doesnt own stores and doesnt occupy vendors and other kinds of staff (cleaning staff, security, etc.) For Asos.com, Internet technologies offer very powerful tools that can increase success through traditional sources of competitive advantage. For example, apart from low cost, Asos.com has an excellent customer service and superior supply chain management. Low costs contribute to more advantages such as competitive prices and supreme quality for the companys products. Consider and Decide IT Strategy: be a leader, a follower or an experimenter Strategic management refers to the conduct of drafting, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its long-term objectives. IT contributes to strategic management in many ways. For example, it can contribute through innovative applications, competitive weapons, changes in processes, links with business partners, cost reductions, relationships with suppliers and customers, new products and competitive intelligence. Porters model identifies the forces that influence competitive advantage in the marketplace. Managers are interested in the development of a strategy that aims to establish a profitable and sustainable position against these five forces. To accomplish this, a company needs to develop a strategy of performing activities differently from a competitor. There are many different strategies that managers can choose, according to which copes best with their operation. Some of them are the following: Cost Leadership Strategy: Produce products at the lowest cost in the industry. A firm achieves cost-leadership in its industry by thrifty buying practices, efficient business processes, forcing up the prices paid by competitors and helping customers/suppliers reduce their costs. Differentiation Strategy: Offer different products, services, or product features. By offering different-better products companies can charge higher prices, sell more, or both. Niche Strategy: Select a narrow-scope segment (niche market) and be the best in quality, speed or cost in that market. Innovation Strategy: Introduce new products and services, put new features in existing ones, or develop new ways to produce them. There are many other strategies such as Growth, Alliance, Operational Effectiveness, Time Strategy, etc. (Turban et al, 2001) Asos.com has tried to implement Niche strategies. It has chosen a relatively small market segment (it targets consumers aged 16 to 34) in the clothing/fashion and beauty industry and it has tried to be the best in cost, quality, and speed of the deliveries (same day delivery service through the use of MetaPack delivery management software and CitySprints SameDay Courier solution). Given that it is an online enterprise, and it can therefore keep expenses low, it demonstrates very competitive prices and a very wide range of products and brands. It also maintains high standards of quality for its products. (http://www.asos.com/) REFLECTIVE PARAGRAPH I believe that the main lesson learnt here is that the use of IT has many benefits, but also many drawbacks. IT and the use of information systems can bring rapid change to organizations, enhance productivity and reduce costs. A firm established on the World Wide Web has countless advantages, which is why most medium and large organizations and even small ones create a website. In contrast, numerous concerns derive from the exploit of IT. Global, software system choices, e-commerce, strategy and IS initiatives, and ethical, social and political, are only some of the subjects that raise a great deal of issues. However, there are many options to be considered for the use of IT and most of the matters can be resolved. CONCLUSION To conclude, a brief observation of the background of ASOS.com has been given. The five selected MIS topics have been examined and the occurring issues have been analyzed. Moreover, a discussion of whether each described issue is a problem or not for ASOS.com has been presented. Finally, my reflective thoughts have been outlined, in the reflective paragraph. Last of all, mentioning that in the 21st century we find ourselves living in the age of computerization, is essential. There is plenty room for future development of IT and IS. Information and Communication Technologies for Development, for example, refers to the application of Information and Communication Technologies within the field of socioeconomic development or international development and its concept is intimately associated with applications in the developing nations. It is concerned with the direct application of IT approaches to poverty reduction. Information and communication technologies can be applied either in a direct (their use directly benefits the disadvantaged population) or in an indirect sense (facilitates the improvement of general socio-economic conditions). In many indigent regions of the world, legislative and political measures are required to facilitate or enable application of information and communication technologies. References Andrews, W. (1998) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“At Far Too Many Sites à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Buyer Be Lost Appliesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , Internet World, Vol. 98, Issue 6 Henry, C. and Lucas, Jr. (2000) Information Technology for Management, McGraw-Hill, 7th edition, Ch. 15-17 Khan, K. M. (2008) Managing Web Service Quality: Measuring Outcomes and Effectiveness, Information Science Reference, Ch. 1,3 Laudon, K. and Laudon, J. (2005) Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, Prentice Hall, 9th edition, Ch. 5 Reynolds, Janice (2004) The Complete E-commerce Book: Design, Build and Maintain a Successful Web-Based Business, CMP, 2nd edition, p.76-79 Tilson, R., Dong, J., Martins, S. and Kieke, E. (1998) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Factors and Principles Affecting the Usability of Four E-commerce Sites, Proc. Of the 4th Conference on Human Factors and the Web Turban, E., McLean, E., Wetherbe, J. (2001) Information Technology for Management: Transforming Business in the Digital Economy, Wiley, 3rd edition, Ch. 1, 2 Udo, Godwin J. and Marquis, Gerald P. (2001/2), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Factors Affecting E-commerce Web Site Effectiveness, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Vol. 42, Issue 2, 10-17 The ASOS.com web-site: http://www.asos.com/