Speak free essay sample

The truth is, opening your heart can be dangerous. My solution has always been to write it down piece by piece. Now, taking a deep breath and looking at an unfamiliar crowd, I let poetry speak the words that I normally would not say. I am usually not the type who will scream â€Å"Hello† across the street if I see someone familiar, or approach a stranger and begin a conversation. Instead, I will giggle or smile when I am left speechless. What I find more comfortable is for the other person to speak as I listen attentively. Sometimes it’s difficult to face the fact that I’m actually shy. After a week-long vacation, tenth grade returned like a long-lost friend. An array of students swarming out of the elevator blocked my path to English class. Moving an inch at a time, I finally reached the center of the hallway where my friend was waiting. We will write a custom essay sample on Speak or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page My eyes came to rest on a bulletin with the echoing bubble letters â€Å"Poetry Slam.† I admitted to her how interesting it sounded. The problem is that â€Å"interesting† is not a word; it’s a placeholder, used when you really want to say something else. What I meant to tell her was that I had loads of journals at home rich with meaning and teeming with life. The poetry slam came as no surprise; I had heard about this event since ninth grade, but I knew I couldn’t do it alone. So before I knew it, meetings and rehearsals had flown by and my friend and I, along with 20 other brave souls, were scheduled to take part in the event. When the day finally arrived, I thought, Have I completely lost my mind?! I can’t do this. As the lights dimmed, students began crouching on the floor near rows of seats that had already been filled. I crossed my arms as my foot shook involuntarily. Poets, seated in the first two rows, all held their heads high and rehearsed words in the deep silence I was trying to create. â€Å"Next is Katrina with ‘Unspoken.’† Startled back to reality, I staggered through the air, feeling motionless. The slight breeze from the window allowed me to float from my seat to the stage where the virtue of waiting was going to pay off. Holding tight to the podium to keep steady, I began. â€Å"The truth is † My heart was pounding because I knew that this subtle gesture had taken a lot of courage. I had to remember that I had chosen what to say, how to say it, and, most importantly, why I was saying it. â€Å"Words cannot replace fear. Words cannot embrace an emotion. One cannot live with sentences alone.† Words began jumping off the page of my journal into the minds of others. No, wait, that was my voice bouncing off the walls into the ears of those who cared. Yes, I finally spoke and they listened. There is no greater reward than pouring your heart out to those who will gently hold it. Slowly but surely, my nerves turned into courage. From now on, I can refer to myself as the shy, but not-so-quiet, girl.

Free Essays on I Love Lucy, Too

). Introduced topic clearly: This was one route that Lucille Ball could have taken, but instead she took the road with no dust; the road people rarely take (antithesis). She turned herself in to more than the sex symbol she started out as; she became the off the wall comedienne who won the hearts of Americans of all races, all social classes, and all cultures (repetition). Lucy is most celebrated for her role in the TV show â€Å"I Love Lucy† as the scatterbrained housewife who could turn everyday chores into unparalleled fiascoes with her comic energy, panache for slapstick, and gift for vocal parody. Lucy had two character traits that made her difficult to forget, bravery and brilliance (alliteration). Lucy’s fearless attitude kept her on top during the sunny times and kept her head up during the cloudy times (repetition). The bravery that Lucy showed wasn’t evident to all because she kept her professional mind-set throughout the highs and lows of her career. She was brave because she went through rheumatoid arthritis as a child, which took her ability to walk as a child for one year; she was brave because she endured a miscarriage and even though the media made that into a public affair, she kept her head up; she was brave because after divorcing her co-host and business partner she bought his half of their Hollywood production company and went into business for herself. Lucy placed a silk scarf down on the borders that had confined women for centuries and gracefully yet confidently walked across. Not only was L... Free Essays on I Love Lucy, Too Free Essays on I Love Lucy, Too â€Å"I Love Lucy† Too General purpose statement: To commemorate Specific Purpose statement: To commemorate Lucille Ball because she was a brave and brilliant woman Gained Attention and interest: Sometimes when people become famous they misplace their personal identity among the chaos and develop into the person the media has described them as, which much of the time isn’t her true self (concrete words). Introduced topic clearly: This was one route that Lucille Ball could have taken, but instead she took the road with no dust; the road people rarely take (antithesis). She turned herself in to more than the sex symbol she started out as; she became the off the wall comedienne who won the hearts of Americans of all races, all social classes, and all cultures (repetition). Lucy is most celebrated for her role in the TV show â€Å"I Love Lucy† as the scatterbrained housewife who could turn everyday chores into unparalleled fiascoes with her comic energy, panache for slapstick, and gift for vocal parody. Lucy had two character traits that made her difficult to forget, bravery and brilliance (alliteration). Lucy’s fearless attitude kept her on top during the sunny times and kept her head up during the cloudy times (repetition). The bravery that Lucy showed wasn’t evident to all because she kept her professional mind-set throughout the highs and lows of her career. She was brave because she went through rheumatoid arthritis as a child, which took her ability to walk as a child for one year; she was brave because she endured a miscarriage and even though the media made that into a public affair, she kept her head up; she was brave because after divorcing her co-host and business partner she bought his half of their Hollywood production company and went into business for herself. Lucy placed a silk scarf down on the borders that had confined women for centuries and gracefully yet confidently walked across. Not only was L...

AP English Literature - Learn What Score You Need

AP English Literature - Learn What Score You Need AP English Literature and Composition is one of the more popular Advanced Placement subjects. Nevertheless,  roughly 175,000 more students took the AP English Language course and exam in 2018. The literature course is primarily focused on college-level literary analysis, and students who do well on the AP English Literature exam will often earn college credit for composition or literature. About the AP English Literature Course and Exam The AP English Literature course covers important literary works from a range of genres, periods and cultures. Students learn close-reading and analytical skills, and they learn to identify a literary works structure, style, tone, and use of literary conventions such as imagery and figurative language.   Students in AP Literature work at becoming active readers; in other words, they learn to become thoughtful and critical readers who can analyze and appreciate the various writing strategies employed by a wide range of authors.   The course has no required reading list, and individual AP instructors are free to choose any literary works that invite a rewarding reading experience. Genres will include poetry, drama, fiction, and expository prose. Most texts will have been originally written in English and may have originated in the United States, Canada, England, Africa, India, and elsewhere. A few works- such as a Russian classic or Greek tragedy- might be read in translation. The focus of the course, however, is much more on reading and writing skills, not specific authors. On the writing front, students learn to write effective analytical essays that employ a wide-ranging and appropriate vocabulary, effective and varied sentence structures, logical organization, strategic use of both generalization and specific detail, and careful attention to rhetorical forms, voice, and tone. AP English Literature Score Information Many colleges and universities have a composition and/or literature requirement, so a high score on the AP English Literature exam will often fulfill one of these requirements. The AP English Literature and Composition test has a one-hour multiple-choice section and a two-hour free-response writing section. The score on the is based on a combination of the multiple choice section (45 percent  of score) and the free-response essay section (55 percent of score).   In 2018, 404,014 students took the exam and earned a mean score of 2.57. Close to half of those students (47.3 percent) received a score of 3 or higher indicating that they have enough mastery of the subject matter to potentially earn college credit or course placement. The distribution of scores for the AP English Literature exam is as follows: AP English Literature Score Percentiles (2018 Data) Score Number of Students Percentage of Students 5 22,826 5.6 4 58,765 14.5 3 109,700 27.2 2 145,307 36.0 1 67,416 16.7 The College Board has released preliminary score percentages for the 2019 exam. Keep in mind that these numbers may change slightly as late exams are added to the calculations. Preliminary 2019 AP English Literature Score Data Score Percentage of Students 5 6.2 4 15.9 3 28 2 34.3 1 15.6 College Credit and Course Placement for AP English Literature The table below provides some representative data from a variety of colleges and universities. This information is meant to provide a general overview of the scoring and placement information related to the AP English Literature exam. For schools not listed below, youll need to look on the colleges website or contact the appropriate Registrars office to get AP placement information. AP English Literature Scores and Placement College Score Needed Placement Credit Hamilton College 4 or 5 Placement into some 200-level courses; 2 credits for score of 5 and B- or higher in a 200-level course Grinnell College 5 ENG 120 LSU 3, 4 or 5 ENGL 1001 (3 credits) for a 3; ENGL 1001 and 2025 or 2027 or 2029 or 2123 (6 credits) for a 4; ENGL 1001, 2025 or 2027 or 2029 or 2123, and 2000 (9 credits) for a 5 Mississippi State University 3, 4 or 5 EN 1103 (3 credits) for a 3; EN 1103 and 1113 (6 credits) for a 4 or 5 Notre Dame 4 or 5 First Year Composition 13100 (3 credits) Reed College 4 or 5 1 credit; no placement Stanford University - No credit for AP English Literature Truman State University 3, 4 or 5 ENG 111 Introduction to the Short Story (3 credits) UCLA (School of Letters and Science) 3, 4 or 5 8 credits and entry writing requirement for a 3; 8 credits, entry writing requirement and English Comp Writing I requirement for a 4 or 5 Yale University 5 2 credits; ENGL 114a or b, 115a or b, 116b, 117b A Final Word on AP English Literature Keep in mind that another benefit to the successful completion of an AP Literature course is that it helps demonstrate your college readiness in a core subject area. Most of the countrys highly selective colleges and universities have  holistic admissions, and the admissions officers look not just at your GPA, but  how challenging your course work is. Colleges would much rather see you successfully complete a challenging college preparatory class in English than an easy English elective. AP Literature shows that you are taking the most advanced course possible in literature. So even at a school like Stanford that does not award any credit or placement for AP English Literature, your decision to take the class still strengthens your application. To learn more specific information about the AP English Literature exam, be sure to visit the  official College Board website.

Important Changes in European Societies that Influence Politics in Essay

Important Changes in European Societies that Influence Politics in Europe - Essay Example This essay offers a comprehensive review of major changes in European societies in different fields of human life. Their summing impact on change of politics of the EU is assessed in the paper. A new political union was developed by the countries of Western Europe. Europe is made up made up of regions with varying historical backgrounds. The nations making up Europe have different cultural backgrounds too. Various factors have led to division of Europe into autonomous entities, the economic factors, the religion factors and the political factors. The cultural unity that has put European nations together has not yet disappeared despite of the registered transformations. Europe especially the western side has experience increases in immigration cases. Most of the people come from the less developed part of the world especially North Africa due its close proximity to Europe. More people are also moving from central and Eastern Europe towards the western side of Europe. The role of men and women has continued to change in the European society. Initially, male education was considered more superior than educating women. Gender is considered as one of the new cleavage in the current societies. It has been found out that more women are currently employed in the highly paying jobs. However, their earning is considered lower compared to the men’s salaries. Unity has continued to exist among the countries that make up the European Union. Europe remains home to most of the industries in the world.

How Social Has Made Everyone Self-Obsessed Literature review

How Social Has Made Everyone Self-Obsessed - Literature review Example The paper "How Social Has Made Everyone Self-Obsessed" examines how social has made everyone self-obsessed. Some individuals go to extreme lengths to garner followers or friends who follow their actions faithfully. They may pull daredevil stunts such as riding bikes dangerously, eating unpleasant foods among others. Selfies have also become a common thing to share as celebrities such as Kim Kardashian hardly let a day pass by without posting a photo for her followers. On a daily basis, â€Å"she posts an average of five posts on all her platforms†. This behavior is in relation to the quote by Andy Warhol, â€Å"In the future everybody would be world famous for fifteen minutes.† Social media has provided an opportunity to individuals who were not known to people to create their ideal world on the internet. By doing this, they gain new friends, followers and admirers who would have remained unknown to them. Some people have become famous on the social sites and even earn a living from it, yet others are known for a day and quickly forgotten. What matters to them, however, is that they have the chance to be in the â€Å"limelight†. Kim Kardashian through her twitter account has managed to create more wealth for herself. She has been paid by various companies a lot of money for just a tweet mentioning their product. â€Å"Forbes estimated Kardashian West’s Earnings at $28 million. A year earlier that sum was $10million-her financial power is ballooning". â€Å"She’s managed to put her name on cheaper brands-QuickTrim weight loss.

Rationalism vs Empiricism Using Descartes 2nd Meditation & Hume Essay Example for Free

Rationalism vs Empiricism Using Descartes 2nd Meditation Hume Essay Q3:What are the main differences between rationalism and empiricism as approaches to knowledge? Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each, using Descartes (Second Meditation) as the example of a rationalist, and Hume or Locke as the example of an empiricist. In your view which approach better explains the common-sense knowledge of the world that we take for granted? Common-sense knowledge is information we know and understand unproblematically. It could be that a spider has six legs, your two times tables or that in answering a multiple choice test, it is a good idea to bring a rubber and fill in your answers in pencil. It is information gained from ordinary life. Epistemology is a philosophical term in reference to the nature and limitations of knowledge. It addresses firstly what is knowledge, secondly how is knowledge acquired and thirdly the limitations of knowledge. Rationalism and empiricism are two approaches which seek to provide answers to these questions (Cottingham, 1988). Empiricism perceives that the development of concepts and ideas are dependent on the senses (Markie, 2008). Alternatively rationalism ascertains that reasoning, intuition and deduction are the ultimate vehicles to acquiring knowledge, not sensory experience. These theories do not necessarily exist in opposition of each other, but can co-exist to describe how one views the acquisition of knowledge in different fields (Markie, 2008). Throughout this essay, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each view using Descartes’ ‘Second Meditation’ in contrast to Hume’s ‘Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding’. I will then elaborate how the Empiricist perspective provides a better explanation to common sense knowledge of the world we live in. Rationalism Rationalism is a method in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive. The rationalistic perspective survives on the assumption that firstly, there is a rational structure to the world and secondly, that people have the capacity to comprehend it. It utilises the deductive methods of logic to provide a model for all human knowledge and relies on intuition (Markie, 2008). This is not always the case, so this philosophy cannot be relied in all circumstances. Rationalism is founded on the thesis of Intuition/Deduction, thesis of Innate Knowledge or Innate Concept thesis separately or in some combination (Markie, 2008). The Intuition/Deduction thesis proposes that in a particular subject area, some information is known by intuition alone or that knowledge is gained by deduction from intuited propositions. Experiences are incapable of developing one’s knowledge but can catalyse thinking causing knowledge to progress from unconsciousness to consciousness (Cottingham, 1988). The Innate Knowledge thesis asserts that some knowledge is inherent within humanity like DNA, as part of our rational nature. The Innate Concept theory is based on the assertion that some of our concepts are not gained from experience (Markie, 2008). The rational nature organically possesses an individual’s concepts. Sense experiences might catalyse a process by which concepts are better understood but experience does not provide the concepts or determine the information they contain, rationality does (Markie, 2008). Other minor theories which are used less significantly to endorse Rationalism are the Indispensability of Reason Thesis and the Superiority of Reason Thesis. The Indispensability of Reason theorem states that we gain knowledge in a certain area when we utilise deduction and employ intuition. The Innate concepts and instances could not have been gained through the sense experience. The second strain stems that knowledge gained â€Å"a priori† through reasoning is superior to that gained through experience (Markie, 2008). In reference to Descartes’ Second Meditation, he explains how rationality can be used to pick up information that is not completely provided by the senses through the example of the hats and coats (Descartes, 1984). Rationalism can provide knowledge which is otherwise unattainable â€Å"Something which I thought was seeing with my eyes is in fact solely grasped by the faculty of judgement which is my mind. † Empiricism Empiricism is the other branch of epistemology, where knowledge is discovered through experience and observation, modelled on natural sciences. Knowledge is â€Å"a posteriori† catalysed by a sensory experience (Markie, 2008). Empiricism is not based on a definitive complete rational system of knowledge but does provide verifiable understandings and information, useful for everyday life (Hume, 1975). In David Hume’s piece â€Å"An enquiry concerning the human understanding and concerning the principals of morals†, Hume purports that the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦most lively thought is still inferior to the dullest sensation. † Hume interjects that thoughts and ideas are less lively perceptions in contrast to impressions where we are encouraged to feel, experience and will (Hume, 1975). He labours his point through the example of the man in a fit of rage, as opposed to someone thinking of espousing those feelings. Rationalism only recalls the information or experience. It is incomparable to the intensity from the original experience provided by empiricism. It might appear that thoughts are without the same restrictions the body possess (Hume, 1975). In reality they have ‘narrowly confined limits with no more creative power than compounding, transposing, augmenting or diminishing the materials provided by the senses’. If a person is without the capacity of one of the senses, they are devoid of the information provided by that sense and are incapable of understanding information attached to that sensation (Hume, 1975). Restoring that sense enables them to receive sensory input, enabling them to conceive the attached ideas. This proves the importance of the sensory experience and that without it understanding is impossible. Comparison In my opinion, Empiricism better explains the common-sense view of the world. This is because knowledge gained through rational thought however much you can understand it, is not engrained or integrated into your core beliefs to the same degree as that gained through tangible experience. Knowledge gained through experience is more strongly felt and can be considered to be superior to knowledge gained by reflection (Hume, 1975). Without an experience of the subject in focus, the information is detached and reflection cannot proceed to occur. Intuition and deduction, however relevant, are open to deception and can lead to inaccurate assumptions. People previously believed the earth was flat and the earth was the centre of the universe, as this â€Å"information† fit their current schemas. It made sense but lead to wrong conclusions as it lacked testing. It is through empirical observation that accurate insight was reached. Their rational thinking followed logical deduction and was believed to be correct due to their intuition, but even rational thinking can be fallible leading to wrong assumptions (Descartes, 1984). It is proven that when people possess strongly held beliefs, they perceive information in such a way to support their current understanding and deny opposing views, filtering out information that does not fit their current schemas like putting blinkers on a horse. Although they believe their thoughts to be rational, their powers of deduction are compromised and can be rationally wrong. This significantly limits their ability to gain knowledge (Descartes, 1984). Conclusion Rationalism and Empiricism are two distinctly different views relating to epistemology and the degree of input that the senses provide in the formation of knowledge. Rationalism through intuition, deduction and rational logic ascertains certain knowledge which perhaps cannot be scientifically proven through observation (Markie, 2008). On the other hand, Empiricism understands the role of sensory experience and observation in order to develop one’s knowledge. In reality, both are useful and even essential to the formation of any knowledge. References Cottingham, P (1988) The Rationalists, Oxford University Press. Oxford; New York Descartes, R. (1984) Meditations. Second Meditation, ‘The nature of the human mind, how it is better known than the body’, translated by Cottingham, J. in The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, vol II (Cambridge U. P. , 1984) pp 16-23 Hume, D. (1975) An enquiry Concerning Human Understanding [Section 2, ‘Of the Origin of Ideas’ (P. H. Nidditch, ed. , Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), pp17-22. Markie, P (2008), Rationalism vs. Empiricism, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, viewed 2nd October 2011, http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/rationalism-empiricism/.

Television and Media - Daytime Talk TV is Immoral Essay -- Argumentati

Daytime Talk TV is Immoral Today’s society has become a visually based culture and, as a result, people learn and act from what they see. With the advent of television, many programs have been aired ranging from news programs to sitcoms and from game shows to talk shows, but talk shows, today, have the most effect on the public. Daily, viewers turn on their televisions and many are bombarded with images of sex, drugs, and violence on the talk shows. Unfortunately, many people are either disturbed or affected by what they see. As Vicki Abt and Leonardo Mustazza point out in their article, â€Å"Coming After Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV Talk Show,† â€Å"Surely long-term exposure to this genre has consequences for the way we judge ideas, behaviors, and ‘values’† . . .† (Abt and Mustazza 26). Despite many people’s beliefs that daytime talk TV today is purely entertainment, it is certain that it presents many immoral values and distorts th e reality of how our society should behave. One negative effect that talk shows have on their viewers is the false sense of reality portrayed to children. Many viewers of daytime talk TV are young children because many are not in school when these programs are being aired since they are not old enough to attend yet, or they have come back from school. Sadly, these children are exposed to the distortion of reality portrayed from these talk shows. Shows, such as Jenny Jones, Ricki Lake, and Jerry Springer, are constantly having guests who speak about topics like sex and drugs, and there is always violence as well. In most episodes, the guests are either cursing at each other or attempting to attack one another. Children viewing these episodes may begin to grasp a f... ... America needs to step back and take a look at what these talk shows are doing to society as a whole and rethink exactly what should be on talk shows and what should not. People are being corrupted with these images of sex, drugs, and violence, and it needs to come to an end. Though talk shows are not solely responsible for the way people behave or think, they are a big part of it. As they are teaching corrupted morals and values, it is obvious that talk shows are not purely entertainment, but are very immoral. Works Cited Abt, Vicki and Leonard Mustazza. â€Å"Coming After Oprah: Cultural Fallout in the Age of the TV Talk Show.† Reading Culture. 4th ed. Ed. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Longman, 2001. 25-27. Willis, Ellen. â€Å"Bring in the Noise.† Reading Culture. 4th ed. Ed. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Longman, 2001. 34-37.

Assignment Task

Introduction to healthier food and Special diets. Task A- Healthier dish Traditional dish: Burger and chips with coke. Vs.. Healthier dish: Vegetarian burger with homemade chips and fruit smoothie. Traditional Dish Healthier Dish Beef burger Vegetarian burger Fried chips Homemade oven cooked chips Coke Fruit smoothie To make the dish healthier I would also- Cook the burger under the grill instead of cooking It In 011; this reduces the extra fat content. Homemade oven cooked chipsUsing homemade chips that oven cooked is much healthier than deep fat frying chips as the oil used is full of saturated fat and can lead to health problems such as obesity, heart problems, only if eaten regularly. Coke Coke is high in sugar which can cause health problems such as weight gain. Even diet coke contains aspartame which is a sugar substitute, the e-numbers in the coke will cause children to become hyper. Replacing coke with a fruit smoothie will benefit your diet lots as It's full of vitamins and very low In calories as are all of the healthier options.Which nutritional guideline is being met? – Your GAG is being met as the calorie intake is considerably lower than if you had the traditional' burger and chips with a coke. The recommended daily allowance for a man is around 2500 calories for a woman its 2,000 calories, an example of how many calories are in a burger, fries, and a coke from burger king Is around 1000 calories for a small portion. Sources used to find current nutritional guidelines: Information on calories- http://www. Has. UK/chi/pages/1126. Asps? Doctorate=51 &subcategoryid=165 Burger king Info http://w. NM. BC. Com/en/us/menu-nutrition/landed. HTML Info on coke http://www. Coca-cola. Co. UK. ‘health/gather-coca-cola-labouredly. HTML benefit from using healthy dishes because people that are health conscious will decide to come and eat there which will increase the restaurants revenue also healthy eating has increased more into the public eye that it was a few years ago.The customers will benefit from the new healthy dishes because: The customer will infinite from eating the new healthy dish because they'll be having a healthier option which will be part of their balanced diet which you need. Consequences of not using healthier ingredients for the restaurant and customers include: The restaurant won't be seen as up market The restaurant won't be seen as appealing The customers may decide not to eat at the restaurant because it's not promoting healthy meals. As a result the restaurant will lose revenue and may become bankrupt.

Motorola’s Global Strategy

? Short description of the case For years Motorola and was among the world’s most successful consumer electronics firms. The firm then controlled the emerging U. S. market for cellular telephones and pagers but, like many other firms at the time, was a bit complacent and not aggressively focused on competing with the Japanese. Motorola has remained the exception: Today it is one of the world leaders in mobile communication technology, including the manufacture of cellular telephones, paging devices, automotive semiconductors, and microchips used to operate devices other than computers. Japanese firms began to flood the U. S. market with low-priced, high-quality telephones and pagers. Motorola was shoved into the background. Motorola then decided to fight back and regain the firm’s lost market position. This fight involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. To carry out these strategies, executives set a number of broad-based goals that essentially committed the firm to lowering costs, improving quality, and regaining lost market share. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. Motorola also try to achieve Six Sigma quality – which is become main strategy of Motorola. By using this strategy, Motorola try to achieve a perfection rate of 99. 9997%. When Motorola actually achieved this level of quality, it received the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Motorola become success on its operations abroad, especially in Japan. It also generates over 56% of its revenues abroad. Problem identification of the case From the case, one of Motorola’s strategy in doing the business is expanse its business abroad. The firm then needs to concentrate on how to do its business abroad and what kind of strategies should be taken to achieve its goal. Motorola controlled the emerging U. S. market for cellular telephones and pagers. Motorola has also won many battles around the world in order to doing its business abroad. But, like many other firms at the time, was a bit complacent and not aggressively focused on competing with the Japanese. Motorola began to fall in its competition with Japanese. For that reason, Motorola have to find new strategies to win its battles, not only the competition with Japanese but also other countries that becomes Motorola’s target market. Formulation of problem solving In terms of finding the strategies to do the business, a company must first define its vision and mission. Economic success, indeed survival, is the result of identifying missions to satisfy a customer’s needs and wants. The organization’s mission defined as its purpose – what it will contribute to society. Mission statements provide boundaries and focus for organizations and the concept around which the firm can rally. The mission states the rationale for organization’s existence. Developing good strategy is difficult, but it is much easier if the mission has been well defined. Motorola also try to picture what their objectives to deal with the competition around Japanese and around the globe. Motorola’s fundamental objective is to attain total customer satisfaction. Others Motorola specific goals are to achieve competitive advantage by becoming the best in its class in terms of people, marketing, technology, product, manufacturing, and service, to increase global market share and to achieve superior financial results and improve shareholder value. Before arrived in the concept of strategies, a company should make an SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis consists of: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Motorola also build its SWOT analysis based on the market experiences. Motorola’s SWOT analysis comprise of: 1. Strengths Motorola is one of the world's leading providers of wireless communications, semiconductors and advanced electronic systems, components and services. Motorola is an inventor of technology and has first-mover advantage. In the early 1980s, Motorola controlled the emerging U. S. arket for wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones, pagers and high-frequency radios. Motorola maintains sales, service and manufacturing facilities throughout the world, conducts business on six continents and employs more than 139,000 people worldwide. Motorola is strongly committed to delivering customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and setting new standards of quality. 2. Weaknesses Motorola maintained old strategies in doing business, was conservative and unambitious. Motorola was complacent in its leadership position in the U. S. market, and failed to aggressively compete with the emerging Japanese firms. 3. Opportunities Motorola can compete and expand globally. Information and communications technology is fast-paced, with new discoveries happening every minute. Motorola can match this speed of discovery with new and innovative product and technology development. 4. Threats Japanese electronics firms are heavy competitors in terms of cost and quality leadership. Barriers to entry, supplier power, threats of substitutes, degree of rivalry, and buyer power. After defined its mission and made a SWOT analysis of the company, then the company can start to create its strategies to do the business. Strategy is an organization’s action plan to achieve the mission. Each functional area has a strategy for achieving its mission and for helping the organization reach the overall mission. These strategies exploit opportunities and strengths, neutralize threats, and avoid weaknesses. Firms achieve missions in three conceptual ways: (1) differentiation, (2) cost leadership, and (3) response. Each of the three strategies provides an opportunity for operations managers to achieve competitive advantage. Competitive advantage implies the creation of a system that has a unique advantage over competitors. The idea is to create customer value in an efficient and sustainable way. These conceptual ways then develop into competitive priorities. Competitive priorities consist of: Competing on Cost by lowering cost operation Competing on quality High-Performance Design Consistent Quality Competing on Speed (Time-bases Competition) Fast Delivery On-Time Delivery Development Speed for new product Competing on Flexibility Customization Volume flexibility Motorola’s global strategies The first thing that Motorola’s managers want to do to conquer the competition with Japan is involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. The sending of the managers was divided into three categories, first, plant visit and study of successful Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi, second, study Motorola’s own Japanese operations to learn more fully how it functioned, third, plant visit and study of U. S. est-practice companies such as General Electric. The lessons that the managers took from this investigation are first, Motorola should adopt and invest in employee education and training. Motorola should not only send employees to limited quality-enhancement training, but must recognize that employees need a broader form of education to ensure that they can initiate and implement effective quality planning and design, and th ereby meet company objectives. From a narrow emphasis on specific quality techniques, Motorola should focus on manufacturing-related education. Management should consider partnering with local schools and colleges in providing courses ranging from practical technical application, to business courses, to graduate work in computer-integrated manufacturing. Second, Motorola should implement a benchmarking program using American and Japanese best-practices. Motorola must know what levels of quality its products must achieve to top its competitors. Each of the firm's business units must implement benchmarking programs that analyze all aspects of a competitor's products to assess manufacturability, reliability, manufacturing cost, and performance. Motorola must also measure the products of other companies against its own standards to verify that whether its own products rank as best in their class. Third, Motorola should adopt the Defective-Parts-Per-Million (DPPM) approach to determine product reliability. From the lessons learned from the Japanese, Motorola should institute the Defective-Parts-Per-Million, or DPPM product reliability standard. DPPM can be defined as the average number of defects in an average production run multiplied by one million. From these lessons, Motorola take some key initiatives to achieve its objectives and to gain the competitive advantage. The key initiatives are: Six Sigma Quality Six sigma was pioneered by Bill Smith at Motorola in 1986; originally used as a metric for measuring defects for improving quality; a methodology to reduce defect levels ; 3. 4 Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). Motorola divided six sigma into three levels, as a metric, as a methodology, and as a management system. Essentially, Six Sigma is all three at the same time. Total cycle time reduction Total cycle time is the time from when a Motorola customer places an order until it is delivered. In fact, in the case of new products, Motorola's cycle-time reduction is even more ambitious; the clock starts ticking the moment the product is conceived. This calls for an examination of the total system, including design, manufacturing, marketing, and administration. Product, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership Motorola try to be the leader in all segments in order to win the battles of competing with its competitors and to emerge the market around the globe. Motorola try to achieve it by doing customization and put some innovation to its product. The flexibility in doing the business also applied in order to be the leader of the market. Profit Improvement The company has been implementing Six Sigma throughout the organization for over 15 years, extending the practice beyond manufacturing into transactional, support, and service functions. As a result, Motorola has documented over $16 billion in savings. Empowerment for all, in a Participative, Cooperative and Creative Workplace All levels of the company are involved in decision making process. Non-executive employees contribute directly through Motorola's Participative Management Program (PMP). Composed of employees who work in the same area or are assigned to achieve a specific aim, PMP teams meet often to assess progress toward meeting quality goals, to identify new initiatives, and to work on problems. To reward high-quality work, savings that stem from team recommendations are shared. Motorola also do the training as critical to increasing quality and productivity. Motorola’s strategy takes us to its competitive priorities. The primary business strategy of Motorola is six sigma. Motorola try to improve its product quality by reducing the defect levels of the product ; 3. Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). The improvement of quality means that Motorola try to compete in quality among its competitors. Another strategy of Motorola is reducing its total cycle time. This strategy also supported by six sigma approach which is six sigma help to diminish unimportant variables in operations. By reducing its total cycle time, Motorola also try to compete on speed. R educing its total cycle time will affect its cost to operations. Furthermore, six sigma approach means try to achieve perfection of product quality. By eliminating the mistakes, it also reduces the costs to operations. By lowering its cost operation, Motorola also try to compete on cost. Motorola also try to compete on flexibility by customization and able to adapt with trends over the society. Motorola began customizing their Bandit pager in the early 1980s, to offer customers up to 29 million product combinations encompassing hardware and software configurations. Production was consolidated in one factory whereas before the project it had been divided among a number of facilities. Customers select their options and a salesperson enters the specification into a computer system. It is then transmitted to the company systems and on to the assembly process. The facility could accept orders for single pagers in any sequence. The finished product was then shipped to the customer. Conclusions In order to expanse its business, Motorola use its goal concept and SWOT analysis to define its business strategy to compete around the globe, especially Japanese. Motorola try to learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. From the lessons over the managers sending option, Motorola build its key initiatives in order to do its business. The primary key initiative which is its current strategy in competition around the globe is Six Sigma. Other key initiatives are total cycle time reduction, product, manufacturing and environmental leadership, profit improvement, empowerment for all, in a participative, cooperative and creative workplace. Answer the case problem 1. What are the components of Motorola’s international strategy? Answer: 1)Learning from the Japanese 2)Competing directly with them Six Sigma Quality Total Cycle Time Reduction Product, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership Profit Improvement Empowerment for all, in a Participative, Cooperative and Creative Workplace The first thing that Motorola’s managers want to do to conquer the competition with Japan is involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. The sending of the managers was divided into three categories, first, plant visit and study of successful Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi, second, study Motorola’s own Japanese operations to learn more fully how it functioned, third, plant visit and study of U. S. best-practice companies such as General Electric. From these lessons, Motorola take some key initiatives to achieve its objectives and to gain the competitive advantage. The key initiatives are: Six Sigma Quality Six sigma was pioneered by Bill Smith at Motorola in 1986; originally used as a metric for measuring defects for improving quality; a methodology to reduce defect levels ; 3. 4 Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). Motorola divided six sigma into three levels, as a metric, as a methodology, and as a management system. Essentially, Six Sigma is all three at the same time. Total cycle time reduction Total cycle time is the time from when a Motorola customer places an order until it is delivered. In fact, in the case of new products, Motorola's cycle-time reduction is even more ambitious; the clock starts ticking the moment the product is conceived. This calls for an examination of the total system, including design, manufacturing, marketing, and administration. Product, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership Motorola try to be the leader in all segments in order to win the battles of competing with its competitors and to emerge the market around the globe. Motorola try to achieve it by doing customization and put some innovation to its product. The flexibility in doing the business also applied in order to be the leader of the market. Profit Improvement The company has been implementing Six Sigma throughout the organization for over 15 years, extending the practice beyond manufacturing into transactional, support, and service functions. As a result, Motorola has documented over $16 billion in savings. Empowerment for all, in a Participative, Cooperative and Creative Workplace All levels of the company are involved in decision making process. Non-executive employees contribute directly through Motorola's Participative Management Program (PMP). Composed of employees who work in the same area or are assigned to achieve a specific aim, PMP teams meet often to assess progress toward meeting quality goals, to identify new initiatives, and to work on problems. To reward high-quality work, savings that stem from team recommendations are shared. Motorola also do the training as critical to increasing quality and productivity. 2. Describe how Motorola might have arrived at its current strategy as a result of a SWOT analysis! Answer: Motorola controlled the emerging U. S. market for cellular telephones and pagers. Motorola has also won many battles around the world in order to doing its business abroad. But, like many other firms at the time, was a bit complacent and not aggressively focused on competing with the Japanese. Motorola began to fall in its competition with Japanese. Motorola first try to picture what their objectives to deal with the competition around Japanese and around the globe. Before arrived in the concept of strategies, a company made an SWOT analysis. From this SWOT analysis, Motorola tried to find a new way to regain the firm’s lost market position. The first thing that Motorola’s managers want to do to conquer the competition with Japan is involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. The sending of the managers was divided into three categories, first, plant visit and study of successful Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi, second, study Motorola’s own Japanese operations to learn more fully how it functioned, third, plant visit and study of U. S. best-practice companies such as General Electric. The lessons that the managers took from this investigation are Motorola should adopt and invest in employee education and training, Motorola should implement a benchmarking program using American and Japanese best-practices, and finally Motorola should adopt the Defective-Parts-Per-Million (DPPM) approach to determine product reliability. From these lessons, Motorola take some key initiatives to achieve its objectives and to gain the competitive advantage. The primary key initiative which is its current strategy in competition around the globe is Six Sigma. 3. Discuss Motorola’s primary business strategy! Answer: Motorola’s primary business strategy is Six Sigma. Six Sigma has evolved over the last two decades and so has its definition. Six Sigma has literal, conceptual, and practical definitions. Motorola think about Six Sigma at three different levels: As a metric The term â€Å"Sigma† is often used as a scale for levels of â€Å"goodness† or quality. Using this scale, â€Å"Six Sigma† equates to 3. 4 defects per one million opportunities (DPMO). Therefore, Six Sigma started as a defect reduction effort in manufacturing and was then applied to other business processes for the same purpose. To give such numbers meaning, the engineers at Motorola set up a scale to evaluate the quality of a process based on these defect calculations. At the top of the scale is Six Sigma, which equates to 3. 4 DPMO, or 99. 9997% defect-free. In other words, if a company have a process running at Six Sigma, the company almost eliminated all defects , it's nearly perfect. Of course, most processes don't run at Six Sigma. They run at Five Sigma, Four Sigma or worse. Here's the table that shows full scale to get an appreciation of the numbers involved: The process mean will vary each time a process is executed using different equipment, different personnel, different materials, etc. The observed variation in the process mean was  ± 1. 5 sigma. Motorola decided a design tolerance (specification width) of  ± 6 sigma was needed so that there will be only 3. 4 ppm defects — measurements outside the design tolerance. This was defined as Six Sigma quality. As a methodology As Six Sigma has evolved, there has been less emphasis on the literal definition of 3. 4 DPMO, or counting defects in products and processes. Six Sigma is a business improvement methodology that focuses an organization on: Understanding and managing customer requirements Aligning key business processes to achieve those requirements Utilizing rigorous data analysis to minimize variation in those processes Driving rapid and sustainable improvement to business processes At the heart of the methodology is the DMAIC model for process improvement. DMAIC is commonly used by Six Sigma project teams and is an acronym for: Define opportunity The purpose of this step is to obtain a precise definition of a problem or issue that requires attention. The key here is not to focus on the outcome (which is what most people generally do), but to concentrate company’s attention on the process that creates that outcome. This often requires detailed process mapping to be done so that all the stages in a process, how they link together and how they interrelate, are fully understood. Define opportunity consist of try to know he customer’s requirements, the team charter represents the business case for the project, define and build a process map that relates measurable internal processes to customer needs. Measure performance Once the problem and its potential causes are understood, the company can move on to detailed measurement of all the elements in the process and what influence they have on each other. During this step it is important to focus on the parts of the process that are critical to quality – the ones that can be shown to have the greatest impact on the process outcomes. This step may also require some benchmarking to find parts of your business, or perhaps other businesses these maybe competitors or organisations in other sectors) that manage this process better. Ideally the company will find the best there is to study and learn from. Analyze opportunity Having gathered all the necessary measurements the company can then analyze them to establish how well or poorly the process is working, it’s full detrimental impact on the organization, the opportunities for improvement and the benefits that would result if it were improved. This analysis will show the gap between what is being achieved and what could be achieved, where improvements might be made and whether the investment needed would be justified by the return. Improve performance The information gathered and analyzed in the previous steps will have pinpointed where the maximum returns are possible for the minimum investments. This is therefore where the efforts are focused to ensure that the process is improved in the precise areas and in the specific ways that will have the greatest impact on the outcomes. Control performance This step is needed to ensure that all gains made will remain as gains and will not be allowed to slip back. The purpose is to lock in your success through on-going monitoring and control processes that will guarantee no eversion to the previous, poor results. As a management system Through experience, Motorola has learned that disciplined use of metrics and application of the methodology is still not enough to drive desired breakthrough improvements and results that are sustainable over time. For greatest impact, Motorola ensures that process metrics and structured methodology are applied to improvement opportunities that are directly linked to the organizational strategy. When practiced as a management system, Six Sigma is a high performance system for executing business strategy. Six Sigma is a top-down solution to help organizations: Align their business strategy to critical improvement efforts Mobilize teams to attack high impact projects Accelerate improved business results Govern efforts to ensure improvements are sustained The Six Sigma Management System drives clarity around the business strategy and the metrics that most reflect success with that strategy. It provides the framework to prioritize resources for projects that will improve the metrics, and it leverages leaders who will manage the efforts for rapid, sustainable, and improved business results. References Heizer, Jay & Render, Barry, Operations Management, Eight Edition, The Prentice Hall, 2006. Pande, Peter S, Neuman, Robert P, & Cavanagh, Roland R, The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies are Honing Their Performance, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2000. Pyzdek, Thomas, The Six Sigma Project Planner: A Step-by-Step Guide to Leading a Six Sigma Project Through DMAIC, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2000. http://www. motorola. com/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Motorola http://www. trizsigma. com/six. html http://www. brecker. com/six_sigma. htm

The Global Products of Ford Motor Company essays

The Global Products of Ford Motor Company essays Ford Motor Company is a global corporation made up of the world's most recognizable cars, trucks, and Suv's (www.fordmotorcompany.com). It consists of eight major companies that can be separated into three categories based on their origins. First, there is Mazda, which comes from Japan. Next, we have the American automotive, which are Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury. The third group consists of European cars, and they are Land Rover, Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Volvo. Together they make the Ford Motor company the world's second largest manufacturer of cars and trucks. The Japanese company offers consumers a wide range of prices, because of this person of all economical stature buy their products. Together the three American companies provide the same price ranges. Finally, the European line is strictly for the high rollers. In this essay, I have researched these eight companies and found that the reason for the Ford Motor Companies success lies within the fact that they have all the consumer groups covered. The only company in the first group is Mazda. For the less financially endowed, they have the Protà ©gà ©, and the 626. Those with a little more money might go for the luxury of the Millenia, or perhaps the Miata if they are looking for a sportier car. Mazda also makes a minivan, for all the soccer moms and large families called the MPV. Price ranges for all of these automotive come from $12,000 and go up to $33,000. The second group also covers the price ranges fairly well. Ford takes care of the cheaper cars with its Focus and Escort, which go for $11,000-12,500. The Explorer is the most purchased SUV in the world, probably because it's right in the price range of most working Americans at $16,000-35,000 (except for teachers of course). One of the most popular cars that Ford produces is the Mustang; it's got a legacy in America that is backed up by the thousands of people who purchase it ever year, most of which are males that h...

Bus/210 Week 8 Assignment Developing Good Business Sense

Name: Date: 04/28/2011 Course: BUS/210 Assignment: Developing Good Business Sense ? BUS/210 Week 8 Assignment Developing Good Business Sense There are three fast food restaurants that I chose as the businesses for this assignment; Sonic Drive-In, McDonalds, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. All three of these businesses are fast food restaurants. Sonic Drive-In is a curb side restaurant in which car hops bring the customer’s order to their car. McDonald and Kentucky Fried Chicken are both dine-in sit down restaurants that also offer a drive-thru window in car service. The three businesses have similar operations involved in their inputs. The main goal of the employees is to make high quality fast food. While Sonic Drive-In prepares their menu items as they are ordered, McDonalds and KFC precook there items and use heat lamps to keep the food warm. McDonalds and KFC organize their employees in a very similar manner, while Sonic Drive-In is slightly different. McDonald’s and KFC utilizes the cook stay to prep and cook all the food items, the front counter and drive through staff run the registers, take order prepare drinks, and sack or tray customers’ orders. Assistant Managers and managers help out in all positions and oversee all operations of the restaurant. Sonic Drive organizes their cooks and Managers in a similar way, the difference is that Sonic Drive-In does not utilize a front customer counter and register. Sonic utilizes a curbside menu’s and speaker system for customers to place their orders. Carhops replace the counter help normal seen at traditional fast food restaurants. The carhops deliver the orders to the customer’s car. Sonic Drive-In allows their customers to custom order their menu items any way the customer wants. They also offer over 350,000 different drink combinations. That is something that is not offer by any other national fast food chain. The OMM costs of these three restaurants are very similar. The all three of them have operating costs such as rent, utilities, inventory, franchise fees, royalty fees and labor. I found it surprising that all three restaurants actually do not own the property that they are on. All three of them own the restaurants but rent the land that there restaurants operate on. With all three of these restaurants, the time of years and the weather have a huge effect on their sales volume. The lower their sales volume the higher percent of operating cost that they have. During the winter, sales are at their low and in the summer they are at their high. Each restaurant experiences high profits during the summer months and low profits during the winter months. Operating cost such as inventory and labor are the biggest monthly expense from all three restaurants. Since all three of these restaurants belong to national franchise chains they are required to pay franchise fees and royalty fees each month. The manager at Sonic Drive-In stated that their franchise and royalty fees are determine by their net sales each month. They are required to pay 15 percent of their net sales for franchise fees and 10 percent of their net sale for royalties. The manager at Sonic Drive-in also Stated that they are doing very good if they can profit 15 percent of their sales each month after paying all the expenses, and the best way to do that is by controlling the inventory and labor expenses. The managers of McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken were unwilling to release any of their business information to me. While the manger of sonic Drive-In was willing to answer some question, they were very restrictive of the information they did give. The way McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Sonic Drive-In all three conduct their business is very similar. They are designed to produce quality fast food at a price that is considered a value to the customer. They each use the small batch operating system to make customized products. In all three case their own customized food for individual customer orders. KFC makes small batches of fried chicken that is to be sold to individual customers. Because the time it takes to make the fried chicken, KFC cooks batches throughout the day so that it is ready when the customer orders it. This reduces the waiting time for the customer. McDonalds precooks their hamburgers and makes the sandwiches when the customer orders to reduce the waiting time for their customers. Sonic Drive-In cooks the customer’s food when it is ordered, but states that none of their menu items take more than three minute to cook, therefore the wait time for the customer should not exceed three minutes. All three of these businesses focus on delivering fast quality food at an affordable price to keep their customers satisfied and insure they maintain repeat business. This is what keeps their sales value up and allows them to be a profitable business.

Leadership in Non Profit Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Leadership in Non Profit Organizations - Essay Example A preliminary review of the literature has revealed that there is a lack of research on leadership specifically in the context of non-profit organizations. This is noteworthy omission as the non-profit organizations have traditionally made a large impact on the socio-cultural and economic uplift of the people, and governments across the world rely on their partnership and support for welfare activities. As such, it is essential to assess what leadership style may be most suitable in the context of the environment in which non-profit organizations operate. There is however, another difficulty in leadership studies related to non profit organizations. This lies in the fact that leadership effectiveness can not be measured simply in terms of revenues or any other objective economic indicator. As such, it becomes difficult to objectively assess the effectiveness of leadership in non profit organizations. The current research therefore proposes that effective leadership should be able to positively impact on the job satisfaction of the employees, which in turn leads to highly motivated and committed workforce. The proposed research is therefore directed at assessing the leadership styles in the non-profit organizations in the USA and their impact on the satisfaction levels of the employees. The research is expected to provide insights about the leadership styles that are best suited in the context of the non-profit organizations.   2. Literature Review   2.1 Non-profit Organizations: Concept, Growth and Development of Non-Profit Organizations    A non-profit organization can be defined as a group organized for purposes other than generating profit and that does not issue stock shares or distribute its surplus funds  to its members, directors, or officers (Young, 2001). The purpose of Non-Profit organization is to serve the public, and not the owners and the members of the organization. There are a variety of non-profit organizations in different sectors, lik e sports, education, health, social services and artistic groups. Non-profit and non-government organizations are legally comprised entities that work independently from the government. The history of a non-profit sector is embedded in the broader political culture and social improvement of a country or a region, and is also impacted upon by cultural and religious factors. The evolution of US non-profit organizations and non-profit sectors is associated with development of constitution of the US society. In contrast to the US, the non-profit sector development in the Great Britain was closely attached to the changing social needs and political confederacy of the time (Anheier, 2005). Non-profit sector is highly developed in U.S due to its relatively low level of social welfare spending and it seems to be the largest among other countries (Agard, 2011). There are more than 8,00,000 charitable non-profit organizations in the United States, majority of them are Universities, hospitals and churches and these entities make up the major part of the sector in terms of assets and employment (Agard, 2011). According to the John Hopkins’ comparative non-profit sector study, over half of the hospital beds are in the non-profit hospitals, half of all colleges and universities are non-profit institutions, 95% of all orchestras are non-profit organizations, 60% of all social service agencies are non-profit (Salamon, et al, 2003). The non-profit sector has a rich and diverse history in the United States. In USA the non-profit organizations are mainly active in three fields: education, culture and recreation, social service. (Salamon and Anheier, 1996). In the context of European countries as well, the establishment of the voluntary