Is Fanthorpe an Effective Poet? Essay

UA Fanthorpe describes herself as, â€Å"a middle-aged drop out.† She was born in 1929 and is still alive today at the age of seventy-five. Today many people consider Fanthorpe to be one of the most accomplished poets ever. There are factors that lead to her success a poet. One of these factors is that, she viewed much more of the world than most people would view in a life time. She found out first hand what a teacher’s life was like, and also saw what it was like to work in a hospital. It was always her ambition as she was growing up to be a writer; she finally became what she wanted at the age of forty nine when her first piece of poetry was published. Fanthorpe feels poetry is not meant to, â€Å"Attract money or publicity.† She believes poetry is supposed to â€Å"stay honest and independent†. Poetry â€Å"can’t do more,† than stay honest and independent â€Å"because it hasn’t the status† of other forms of writing. â€Å"All a poet can do is warn†, which is what Fanthorpe, does powerfully. Over her life time she has written a number of successful poems, for instance, â€Å"Not My Best Side,† and â€Å"Half-Past Two,† and a variety of other remarkable poems. In my eyes, the two poems that she wrote which demonstrate her skills most effectively are, â€Å"Not My Best Side,† and â€Å"You Will Be Hearing From Us Shortly.† Both these poems display her skilful talent in using the other voice, along with creating a large amount of emotion. In the poem â€Å"Not My Best Side,† the reader perceives her skill in using the other voice, by creating the different voices for the Dragon, the Maiden, and the Knight. She portrays the dragons’ emotions as a wounded gentleman, discouraged because his â€Å"victim was so unattractive as to be inedible† The dragon is displayed very much against the stereotype of itself. She presents him as an intelligent young man who is more worried about his image and appearance than anything else. When having his portrait painted, the artist â€Å"did not give him a chance to pose properly.† He was upset because the painter â€Å"left off two of his feet.† The dragon, commenting on his death, says, â€Å"I should have liked a bit more blood† This understatement contradicts the violent reputation of a dragon, making the poem like an amusing fairy tale in that the dragon knows he will rise again. Fanthorpe depicts the princess as a small, chatty, plain yet slightly pretty woman. She in addition to the dragon does not fit the stereotype of a princess in distress. Instead of wanting to be rescued by the noble knight, â€Å"to be honest, I didn’t much fancy him.† â€Å"I quite took to the dragon.† St. George, who is known in other poems as a heroic knight who rescues the princess and carries her away to marry her, living happily ever after, is revealed as being â€Å"ostentatiously beardless†, and the princess worries that he may â€Å"have acne, or blackheads, or bad breath†. He thinks very highly of his armour, his horse, and himself. The author destroys the stereotype view of all the characters in the tale of St. George slaying the dragon. Instead of being the noble knight, he appears as a male chauvinist, whilst the princess, instead of being helpless, is an opinionated girl who speaks her own mind. Fanthorpe also frequently creates humour in the poem, for example when the princess says, â€Å"that green sexy tail† â€Å"You Will Be Hearing From Us Shortly,† is another show of why she is such a successful poet today. There is a great deal of skill involved in creating this masterpiece. Whilst the voice of the interviewer is the only one she uses, in contrast to â€Å"Not My Best Side†, she still makes it possible for the reader to understand and follow the poem. She causes the reader to dislike the arrogant personnel officer, and to feel sympathetic towards the man whom is being interrogated. Fanthorpe likes to open poems with a sentence that gets the reader’s attention immediately, and causes an interest in the character. â€Å"Once upon a school time, he did Something Very Wrong†, causes the reader to wonder what he did, in the poem â€Å"Half-past Two.† â€Å"Do you feel adequate to the demands of this position?† is a line which certainly would not make the interviewee at ease and relaxed, but creates tension, again causing the reader to wonder what will happen next. Although the reader cannot know what answers the interviewee gives during his interview, he still finds out many facts about him, which leads the reader to feel compassion and empathy towards him. We see the age of the man in a very subtle way. The interviewer is not impressed by the age of the interviewee: he wanted someone, â€Å"†¦with precisely the right amount of immaturity.† This little passage shows that the person that was being interviewed was too old for the job. At first we see the interviewer as a polite and concerned man, but as we near the middle of the poem we see that he is quite the opposite. An inappropriate remark that the interviewee makes is on the looks of the person that is being interviewed. They interviewer had just said something about looks being a delicate matter when he brings it up just in more detail, â€Å"You do appreciate this work involves contact with the actual public.† This shows that the interviewer not keen on the appearance of the person that is being interviewed. The point Fanthorpe makes very well is that the proud, pompous interviewer prejudges the man seeking employment. He criticizes his looks, accent, background, age, and number of children; not giving him a fair interview based on his qualifications. There are no major weak points in the style of Fanthorpe’s poetry. Not only does she display her use of the other voice, but she also creates humour and makes her views on society today known. This is also shown in â€Å"Dear Mr Lee†, in which the student loves reading, but fails exams, because she disagrees with the exam board, and cannot meet their expectations. Fanthorpe creates ample amounts of emotion and feeling in all her poems as we covered briefly. Her poems are written in an irregular form, with no rhyme scheme, yet her exceptional use of words makes her poetry very interesting.

Group Behavior in the Workplace

Group Behavior in the Workplace Antoinette T Harris Organizational Behavior, MGT 412 Instructor: Nikki Follis December 7, 2010 Group Behavior in the Workplace Introduction Group Behavior is well defined as, situations that allows people to interact in large or small groups. These individuals working together may begin to coordinate their behavior by acting in a certain way to achieve a goal that differs from what each person would do if acting alone. Group dynamics, combined with great leadership or management, can achieve goals that are set for organizational success.The organizations social systems are made up of many complex sets of human behavior and relationships that interact in many ways within the workplace and also in the businesses world they face every day. These working groups can be comprised of like-minded individuals, a diverse group of individuals, or a group of specialized skilled individuals who are developed by management to achieve one common goal in the organizat ion or project at hand. Balancing the rights of each individual in the workplace is sometimes difficult for the employer since most organizational goals are set to be achieved through group effort.People become dependent on established cultural systems that gives each individual stability, understanding, security, and the ability to respond to any given situation. Working Groups impose certain expectations and rules on each individual member of the team which can expose the weaker member’s lack of shared responsibilities. This can affect the working teams set goals that must be met by everyone involved in the group’s effort to get every detail finished and accomplished. Employer’s views on Group BehaviorQuality Management Systems within the workplace will become the key element that will measure the success or failure of an organization. Individual attitudes within the workplace can reflect a person’s likes/dislikes toward other co-workers and management within his or her working environment. Supervisors and managers must understand how workplace group behavior can be inspired to increase productivity, motivation and product quality by establishing a secure and stable group environment that can be managed effectively and minimally.The Manager – Worker relationship is usually influenced by management’s egoistic needs that are mainly governed by two types: the needs that relate to the leader’s reputation, such as recognition, status, respect of associates, and appreciation; and those that relate to self-confidence, achievement, decision making, self-esteem and knowledge. Management is not usually designed to help employees satisfy their human needs in a manner that will create healthy working environments.If management and high level leadership in the corporate world will develop more like minded, working group environments; employee’s will experience fewer frustrations and will devote more time and commitm ent to their production processes. These motivating factors I have listed would be aimed to benefit the organization as a whole and not slow down productivity through dis-satisfied and non-productive employees. 1. Altruism – is concerned with being of help to other people. Help of a practical nature can be a psychological or emotional kind. . Productivity – Efficiency managed by a productive management team will help minimize the working relationship gap that will usually exist between average employees and productive employees. 3. Self-Development – This motive can show concern by helping to develop individual skills and abilities that can be used as a plus in the working group. 4. Team Building Events – Managers who schedule team building events will see more productivity and motivation in their groups efforts to achieve its goals. 5.Staff morale – This motivator will help management build their teams and groups effectively, if they practice boos ting morale within the working group environments. High morale is one of the major components in the workforce. Traditional Management is no longer practiced within today’s workforce. This style of management focuses on using the majority of the time working with and through people. The working individual now has to become a skillful psychologist, since most of what people do on a daily basis, is shaping the behavior of others.Whether you are a manger or subordinate, you are only successful as a group effort if each individual has skills at motivation, interpersonal influence, working together with peers, good communication with individuals and superiors. Managers are reflections on each working individual and their style of leadership will determine the quality of groups they orchestrate to build organizational power, growth and success. New management styles tend to base their success on feedback from individuals bottom line performance.Management believes that everyoneâ₠¬â„¢s performance is important and should be aligned with the organization’s values, vision, and strategic priorities. The Employees View Today’s corporate world calls for effective and efficient working professionals that will go beyond their comfort zones to build good working interpersonal relationships at work that help all workers understand their role and target goals that contributes to the strategic vision of the organization.Healthy interpersonal relationships in team members will enhance favorable working environments and keep morale strong as teamwork progress toward one common goal. The culture of an organization is a very important and powerful element when that shapes working relationships, work enjoyment, and teamwork progress. Not every working individual has the psychological make-up that enhances the workplace and makes way for an enjoyable teamwork environment. Some employee’s feel that working in a team group causes blurred vision between the self and others which causes a mixture of anxiety and false self.Working in close-knit work relationships can be positive or negative depending on the culture of the organization and how management governs the project or goal at hand. Each individual adopts a role on behalf of the working group which functions as a team looking to achieve one common goal. If a certain team member is not using his or hers interpersonal relationship skills, then the goal of the team can be hindered and unprogressive, leaving a negative impact on the team’s functionality and creativity.Several issues emerged as a result of the employee’s lack of fulfillment in the teamwork environment. Employees who are not prone to building interpersonal relationships can assume a particularly negative team role, or scapegoat role, where the team member can take on the entire responsibility or guilt of the working group if they chose not to produce as required by the working group and management. Interp ersonal relationships are very important when it comes to teamwork and effective production levels within the organization.Management should be aware of certain individuals that do not possess the interpersonal or relational skills it takes to be a good and effective team member. Team building events can be very effective when it comes to helping individuals achieve certain career goals and team building skills. Each individual brings diversity and creativity to the total work group, and should therefore be treated fairly and carefully, to bring a positive outcome to all working groups that are looking to achieve a common product or goal. Developing Group NormsEach employer has an obligation to ensure all of his or her employees are working toward achieving a common goal. This is to include any and all of the relationally challenged individuals in workplace. Some of these employees may not already be recognized as interpersonally challenged workers, and may need a personal assessmen t performed to calculate the degree of his or hers developmental needs. As the culture of the organization is important for productivity, the development of group norms should also be at the top of management’s organizational goals.Successful communication between managers and employees can be critical components of group interaction and functioning. Some steps that an organization can take to adopt group norms can be very effective in managing group efforts that will produce one common goal. First, a session or team building event should be scheduled for all group members to attend. This should be fun, exciting, motivating and positive in order for each individual to learn their particular roles and effectiveness they will bring to the common production goal at hand.Once this team building session is scheduled and established, the facilitator builds on each team member’s creativity and abilities to begin a common working environment for all to build reliance, trust an d self-confidence. A brainstorming session is vital to this team building process. This allows each individual to bring their personal thought processes and skills to the table of production. The more ideals generated the better. Recording these ideas on a large white flip chart or white board where everyone can see, will build upon the common goal management has tasked the working group with.Ensuring positive and effective communication and keeping commitments are very essential to teamwork efforts. Each member of the group is committed to living the guidelines that is set in motion. The team should commit to confiding in each other if they think a group member is in violation of the agreed upon â€Å"group norm†. A list of all group norms should be distributed to each team member and posted in a common area like the team’s meeting room. These group norms that were established should be periodically reevaluated and implemented to ensure the effectiveness of the groups common goals and achievements.Keeping management updated and informed of the groups progress can be a big plus to each individual as evaluation time rolls around to show the team members how effective and productive they were in achieving the common goal that was tasked as a group effort. Conclusion Today, the major task within the working groups is communication and team building sessions that will bring everyone together to build interpersonal relationship skills with other coworkers, to show each individual the importance and effectiveness of working together as a team. One of the ost important things to remember when it comes to team development and team building is to consider that effective teams are developing organisms. Each team goes through stages of development the same way plants and animals do. The Wheelen’s Integrated Model of group development describes the evolution the group evolves through. The model shows the groups progression from immaturity to maturity in four stages. The first stage is modeled after a toddler or young child. These newly created members of the working team are insecure and unsure of themselves, the group and its structure.This new group will need instruction, guidance and direction to establish a routine that will help each member gain security and stability in their individual roles that will enable them to move toward their next stage. The groups’ second stage is similar to middle school. These easy to recognize issues are prone to rear its ugly head. Lots of disagreements; subgroups and cliques emerge where some of the members will show discontent and resentment toward the leader. This makes the leader frustrated with the group of workers since no matter what he or she tries to do, will always add up to â€Å"wrong†.Stage two can be compared to teen years. For leadership or management, this stage is critical in the team building adventure. This is the time to give each member the opportunity to ta ke on a larger role, and not the time to relinquish authority or rewrite the script on power. As the group matures into stage three, it will soon learn what it takes to accomplish the group’s task at hand. At stage three, each working individual will have to give equal weight to what and how they will work within the group’s efforts. This stage allows for individuals to fine-tune their roles and form positive partnerships and coalitions.Each member masters this part of the stage and the group can now move effortlessly into stage four. It is great to see working groups progress into stage four. They are focused on the process it takes to carry out the work. This stage characterizes the independence of the leader and trickles down to each individual that is working toward the goal of completion. The team learns delegation skills from the leader and this relationship now resembles that of the adult-child or older parent relationship. The leader is dedicated and consulted as needed, for clarification and feedback that results in the final decision of the group.As working groups learn what it takes to work together effectively, this integrated model of group development will help organizations to achieve effective teams that are armed with knowledge, interpersonal skills, individual creativity that allows everyone to work together. Working as a team will help build effective products and services that will show a quality that cannot be produced by one person, but built upon by an effective group of individuals who learned how to come together to achieve one common organizational goal.Works Cited†Group Behavior and Psychoanalysis. Changing Minds and Persuasion — How We Change What Others Think, Believe, Feel and Do. Syque 2002-2010. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. http://changingminds.org/disciplines/psychoanalysis/articles/group_psychoanalysis. htm.

Constance Baker Motley: A Biography

Constance Baker Motley was born on September 14, 1921, in New Haven, Connecticut. She was the ninth of twelve children born to parents, whom emigrated from the island of Nevis in the West Indies. Her mother was Rachel Baker and she was a founder of the New Haven NAACP. Her father was Willoughby Alva Baker and he was a chef for student organizations at Yale University. At the age of fifteen, Constance joined the local NAACP were she was denied admission to a local skating rink and public beach. This is what sparked her interest in law and helped her pioneering career as a civil rights lawyer, lawmaker and judge (which spanned six decades) and was highlighted by numerous historic achievements, including the first African American elected to the New York Senate, the first black woman to hold the position of Manhattan Borough President, and the first African American woman appointed to serve as a federal district judge. Constance attended New Haven's integrated public schools. By the age of 15, she decided that she wanted to be a lawyer because of all the active reading she was doing. She also attended Fisk University and then transferred to New York University, were she received a bachelor's degree in economics. She was accepted at Columbia University Law School in 1944 and she went and graduated in 1946. In 1945, she became the law clerk for Thurgood Marshall, then became the chief counsel of the NAACP'S Legal Defense and their educational fund. Over the next 20 years, she did some hard work on some of the United States' civil rights cases, including preparing the draft complaint in 1950, for what would later become Brown v. Board of Education. In the early 1960's, Motley successfully argued for one thousand schoolchildren, who were expelled for demonstrating. She also represented a group called the â€Å"Freedom Fighters,† who rode interstate buses to test desegregation laws. From 1961 to 1964, Motley won nine of ten civil rights cases because she argued with the Supreme Court decision on every case. In the late 1960's, Motley became interested in politics and by 1964, she had left the NAACP to become the first black woman to serve on the New York State Senate. In 1965, she became the first woman president of the Borough of Manhattan. She worked to decrease racial segregation in schools. In particular, she directed the campaign that resulted in James H. Meredith admission to the University of Mississippi. Later in 1966, President Johnson nominated Motley to the federal bench in Manhattan. Over the next 40 years. Motley handled civil rights cases such as, when she made the decision in 1978 allowing a girl to change in the New York Yankees' locker room. During this time she was a big success to Dr. Martin Luther King and all the other civil rights activists. Her and King fought together so that the nation would be equal among citizens and there would not be anymore segregation. In 1982, Motley became the first female chief judge. Her style could be deceptive, often challenging a witness to get away with one lie after another. Judge Motley won cases that ended segregation in Memphis restaurants and white-only lunch counters in Birmingham, Alabama. Judge Constance Baker Motley was a tall, gracious and stately woman whose main goal was sometimes elusive: dignity for all people. Her personal approach was also dignified. As a black woman practicing law in the South, she endured gawking and more than a few physical threats. But through those trials and tribulations, she still remained positive and influenced others to do the same. Constance Baker Motley was a very famous person to remember. She did a lot of things to help young individuals. This lady changed society because she was the first to serve in high ranking categories, which gave the African American race a chance to follow in her footsteps or even go beyond that. Constance Baker Motley died of congestive heart failure on September 28, 2005, at the age of eighty-four years old. Although she had assumed senior status as a judge in 1986, handling a reduce caseload, she continued to work until her death. She was survived by her husband, Joel Wilson Motley, whom she married in 1949, and she had one son Joel Motley and several siblings. Constance Baker Motley played a vital role in today's society because there are many people that will not be active in civil rights and the well-being of themselves and others. She will always be remembered of as one of the greatest women of lifetime history because she was positively influenced, which made her work be positive. This is a true role-model for people all across America to want to do something similar to what this woman did for the African American race.

Why are there different perspectives on change within organisations Essay - 1

Why are there different perspectives on change within organisations Consider your answer in relation to both theory and practice and with an attention to value(s) and valorisation - Essay Example Organizational change is at the heart of contemporary organization research. Numerous theories were developed, to ensure smooth and efficient implementation of organizational change frameworks. It is unequivocally acknowledged that leaders and managers view organizational change in entirely different ways. More important is the complexity of governmental change and change management. Apparently, there is a need to explore the relevance of multiple organizational change perspectives in more detail. The following research accentuates that organizational change is the concept with no clear boundaries and draws on a number of traditions and social science disciplines (Hughes 2006). The complexity in organizational change phenomenon justifies the presence of multiple transformation management perspectives. Organizational change is interpreted in a number of ways. Numerous literatures exist on the various perspectives on organizational change and change management. The organizational change process is extremely complex. Generally, organizations apply to change, with the goal to transform and, consequentially, adapt to environmental changes (Stacey 1995, p. 477-478). Organizational change is always rational and intentional (Stacey 1995, p. 478). Most organization suppositions explicate and confirm the variability of organizational characteristics (Hannan & Freeman 1994, p. 149). The multitude of organizational change perspectives can be interpreted from a number of viewpoints. The causes and anticipated consequences of organizational change greatly affect organization attitudes to change. Environmental variables and the disciplines on which organizational change frameworks build matter a lot. The issue in question should be interpreted through the prism of the organizations’ values, missions, and performance principles. All these factors warrant examination and have to be considered in more

Cold War conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cold War conflict - Essay Example But was the defeat of the Soviet Union the only thing that happened during the Cold War' There is more to this story from which America emerged smelling like a rose and putting itself on the pedestal of world redeemer; after all, it had been the nation instrumental in freeing the world from the clutches of Hitler and then afterwards, barely snatching the world from Russia's snapping communist jaws. Who really paid the price of victory' It was the defenseless and even back then, marginalized third world countries which, depending on what kind of resources that the U.S could draw from them, controlled with the skill of a master puppeteer. This was mostly done by putting into place right wing dictatorial leaders who would ensure that these mostly new democracies would not be lured into communism and gang up with the Soviet Union against the U.S. The end results were disastrous to say the least, and it was these broken countries that were left behind to pick the pieces as America stood o n an international podium to receive accolades for her victory. It is no secret that with the abolition of slave trade in the late 1800s the little interest that the United States had in Africa simply petered out. The colonialists had divided the continent into territories that they claimed for themselves and ran ragged as they chose. America, being an anti-colonialism nation, disapproved from a distance but did not step in to intervene. However, after the Second World War and with the rise of the Cold War, America's interest in African states was on full alert1. America had this fixed perception of African countries and other third world countries as not being ready for their own democracy. She saw African countries as being too primitive and backwards for self governance. The U.S believed that African countries had to be guided into self governance as it was something completely beyond their comprehension. This resulted in years of U.S meddling with African affairs that has persisted to date. Why the United States suddenly took an interest in the affairs of African nations is because they believed that these nations were not ready for independence. The United States was afraid that the freshly independent nations, who had such limited experience of democracy, would be exposed to communism and that they would embrace it instead of capitalism. But the U.S could not afford to have an Africa aligned to the Soviet Union; hence they became active in African affairs because now they had a vested interest. The only way to avert such an eventuality was by determining what kind of governments that there would be in these 'unstable' African nations. The kind of governments that the U.S preferred were the authoritarian types which were not tailored on true democracy. Such governments would ensure that the people stayed in line and could feed propaganda to the masses as they deemed fit. The U.S took it upon itself to not only tell African states how to govern themselves but also chose African leaders who she felt would forward her own agendas. Right from the

Global Warming and Water Shortage Research Paper

Global Warming and Water Shortage - Research Paper Example The author of the paper states that the hydrology of all the major river basins all across the world are likely to be affected and changed by the warming process as well (Postel, 1999). Therefore, the fresh water supply of the world is very likely to be affected through altered precipitation patterns or hydrological systems. As a result, the possibility of fresh water supplies being affected adversely as a direct consequence of global warming emerges. Though there are critics who attribute likely global water supply shortages to more significant anthropogenic causes rather than global warming (see Golkany, 2003), the present essay shall consider global warming as a source of fresh water depletion as, though such anthropogenic causes may be significant in the short run, in the long run, climate changes are likely to have greater impacts. Thus, the implications of global water supply shortages for the future generations shall be explored assuming that they will be significantly contrib uted to by global warming. In what follows, we first briefly look into the present global water supply situation. The analysis of the implications of the further depletion of the present stock predicted for the generations to come is explored. On the basis of this, we then attempt to identify the true nature and the extent of the severity of the problem before attempting to discuss the possibility of prevention and finally concluding.

None Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

None - Essay Example The family is met with a severe accident but all of them are saved to be killed at the hands of the serial killer, Misfit. This story is one of those in which complex and comprehensive themes are presented in clear and plain language. This is a simple story like a picture which is able to speak a thousand words. The major themes in this story include faith, morality and self conscience along with other religious connotations. Another major theme revolves around trust, mistrust and faith which the author has portrayed specifically during the first stop of the family at The Tower with their owners. The owner, Red Sammy Butts and his wife get engaged in a conversation with the family. During this conversation, the owner and the grandmother talk about the reality of the world and the moral ethics and codes which were ignored by people in everyday life. They talk about how no one in the world could be trusted anymore. Red Sammy Butts shares his experiences of mistrust about how he helped some people and gave them something on credit and never saw them again. This conversation leads to the ugly truth of the world, the presence of good and evil and the ultimate reality that no one can be trusted. The title of the story itself portrays the theme of the story that good men are hard to find this world, those who live, not for themselves, but for others. The author has tried to describe the shortcomings of the traditional meaning of good and bad. This traditional concept states that people can either be good or bad but in this story, O`Connor has tried to depict that both good and bad can exist within a single person. The author enforces that a person can find both good and bad but it just depends on the way he searches for it. Similarly, the initial story is portrayed in such a way that the reader would think that the story shows a good family and a bad convict, misfit. However, this is a false impression which is corrected at the end of the story. After the accident, th e grandmother and the whole family meets misfit and his gang. The grandmother`s judgmental nature results in a serious conflict between her and misfit which results in the death of the entire family. The grandmother thought that the only thing that will save her from the killer was her supposed good deeds and good nature. However, the story initially shows that the grandmother is a self serving person and she is clearly a racist and this is shown by her comment about the street children as she says, â€Å"Little niggers in the country don't have things like we do† (A Good Man is hard to find, Web). This clearly shows that the grandmother was a racist and during her encounter with Misfit, she thought she was good and her goodness will save her from the convict. She even called Misfit and â€Å"alleged criminal† and tried to enforce her superior position which further worsened the conflict between them. However, Misfit had more power than the grandmother at that time and he decided to end her life. Faith is a person`s belief in something whether it be God, a religion or even a personal trait, for example. The Misfit did not have any such belief in any religion but he seems to have faith on himself. The grandmother even tries to bring in religion and Jesus to change Misfit`s mind. She tries to save herself by bringing in Jesus’

TEAM PROCESSES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

TEAM PROCESSES - Essay Example As a part of customer service, it was required to assist the customers to select the merchandize and offer them suitable products as per their needs. In terms of handling the complaints of the customers, the role had to comply with the company policies of no refund but only exchange. Thus the entire team was dynamic in its work functions with specific purpose of adhering to the company policies and in maintaining the overall profitability of the retail business. This was achieved through improved customer service that played the role of attracting the customers time and again to the retail store. A situation was encountered when the customer wanted a refund of money due to the non-receipt of a free product that was offered with the product. It was found that the stock of the free product was depleted in the retail store for which it could not be provided while selling the primary product to the customer. However, the customer had a non-negotiable approach on his demand. This created an undesired situation which occurred due to lack of effective communication and non-fulfillment of roles and responsibilities of the team. Analysis of team activity: overall effectiveness, limitations, challenges, interactions with other teams The analysis of the overall effectiveness of the team activity has been given below. The activities in the retail sales in the store demand healthy interaction of the different functions of the retail sales. The spontaneous interactions lead to strong co-ordination between the teams and its members. Due to exchange of information, the areas of concern within the team could be addressed. The experience encountered was solely due to lack of co-ordination among the team members and non-availability of updated information on the product sold to the customer. The non-availability of stock of the free offerings with the product was not communicated to the sales person by the store manager who did not inform the same to the customer. The customer af ter buying the product checked later on to find that the free offer was not packed with the sold item by the retail store. This created a sense within the customer of being cheated. For this reason, the customer wanted a refund from the store as the contract of buying and selling was breached by the retail store. This shows the limitations of overall effectiveness of the retail business in dealing with their customers. This is a challenge faced by the team as the there was no free exchange of information. The integral function of the retail store is an aggregation of the individual retail functions (Brannick,  Salas and  Prince, 1997). The communication with other teams is thus important for delivering effective customer service and in sustaining the profitability of their business. Key recommendations for improvement In order to deal with such situation in the future, the key recommendations for improvement of the retail operations are given below. There should be respect among the team members for each other and they should be aligned to overall retail sales activity. The alignment of the roles towards common interest of the overall work of retail sales triggers action from the individual roles that are aimed to make the system error free. In this experience in retail sales, the team members should have exchanged information on

Please explain 'product placement ' and evaluate the effectiveness of Essay

Please explain 'product placement ' and evaluate the effectiveness of product placement in moveis and online games - Essay Example Nowadays product placement has been expanded and included into program TV programme. It has also been included in an array of different media like video games, novels etc. Moreover the role of the product placement has been shifted from being a background prop to now being an important part of a movie. There are many films like Castaways in 2002 where Tom Hanks who was a FedEx employee was left to drift alone after a plane accident with many FedEx packages. It helped him survive on the deserted island alone. Similarly there are many instances in games like Burnout Paradise where political ads of Obama were shown. This shows that product placement is an important strategy for the marketers in the present time. This report will take a look at the effectiveness of product placement in the movies and games. Product placement is defined as the paid inclusion of a branded products or brand identifiers within a mass media program through visual or audio means. This kind of strategy is adapted by the marketers to increase the brand familiarity and sales of the brand. It helps to capture more eyeballs for the marketer. Basically it increases the product presence among the customers more than ever before1. There are many advantages to product placements. These include overcoming the problem of zapping. Zapping occurs which when people switches between the channels. Because of product placement people are unlikely to engage in zapping because the brand appears in their favourite movie or video games which they can’t change. Hence they watch the product while watching the movie. In addition to this in such films the product is endorsed by a celebrity which h appears to have significant influence on the attitudes of the consumer towards the product. Further through product placement the advertisers are able to target very specific audiences since the demographics of those who attend the kind of movie can well be understood at prior. Product

Introduction to human resource management Essay

Introduction to human resource management - Essay Example Discussion Business Partner Model The business partnership model can be defined as the process wherein the intensity of the business partners in allocating accessible resources is determined towards the accomplishment of organisational targets. Moreover, the model explains the process through which the partners exploit necessary resources in order to develop their respective businesses (Global Public Policy Unit, 2006). It is worth mentioning that it is the HR department which makes active participation in the strategic planning procedure for achieving desired business goals within the context of business partner model. The model looks after the conduct of other business activities such as training along with recruiting of employees and placement of existing and new employees. Specially mentioning, the HR department is able to identify and select appropriate employees who are suitable for performing their respective job tasks with the implementation of business partnership model (McK ay, 2013). ... This driver can compel the management team of the hotel to innovate new technologies in order to attain maximum satisfaction level. Moreover, this driver can motivate the HR department of the hotel for selecting appropriate employees, so that much of the attention can be focused on complying with customers’ needs. It can be affirmed that the external driver concerning business market competition can force the management team of the hotel to adopt and implement effective strategies in order to sustain in the respective industry. According to the case study, it can be viewed that the HR Director of the hotel is much keen towards adopting new technologies, which act as an internal driver for the purpose of enhancing the image of the organization and availing other significant benefits (Zakic & et. al., 2008). In the preceding few years, it can be apparently observed that the HR functions are gradually changing and the need for adding greater value to customers has increased. The business partnership model requires strategic orientation for shaping the work and the behaviour of HR department (The OD Center, 2013). In order to determine the value of the model to the business of the hotel, it can be stated that the HR strategy of creating a positive work environment would promote the capability of the existing and the future employees to perform various operational functions. The formation along with the advancement of business partner model would support the hotel to generate greater value to the customers through raising the morale of the employees and also through generating team spirit amid them. There lay certain potential disadvantages of implementing the model of business partner. In this