Identity Theory: Applications to Individual, Group, and Organizational Interventions Essay

Group Dynamics Introduction                   A set of individuals in the same surrounding constitute to a group. In these groups certain norms are established which have a great influence on the ultimate behavior of individuals in the group. Norms are a set of beliefs of how individuals should relate and behave. Examples of factors that influence group members to conform to the group norms include social acceptance, social identity, correctness, and to align with similar people(Carter, 2012). However, individuals do not always conform to group norms but at times they behave on a personal basis. This may make define their role in the group or it may make them prejudiced from the group. What factors will influence group members to conform to a group’s norms, and when will members remain independent?                   Performance is one of the key factor that makes individual conform to group norms. Each individual in a department is required to produce results to contribute for the success of that business unit. The appearance norm is another compelling factor for group members to conform. For instance pilots would dress in a certain way as their group norm which distinguishes them from the air hostesses group(Hale, 2013). Another determinant is the social arrangement in which an individual belongs to. High ranked executives tend to behave in certain way in their clusters that is unique to their group norms. Do individuals who do not conform to the group’s norms ever succeed in influencing the rest of the group?                   Individuals, though in a group, they become independent when they break the norms of a given group. This is to enhance accountability and responsibility by each member in a group(Carter, 2012).                   Individuals who do not conform to the group norms succeed to have influence on the rest of the members. This is because they establish their own norms apart from the group that defines their roles in the group(Hale, 2013). For instance different line managers are part of the group in their departments, but they may not conform to all the norms in their sections which gives earns them respect and hence influence to the rest of the members. References Carter, R. (2012). Identity Theory: Applications to Individual, Group, and Organizational Interventions. New York : Routledge Publishers. Hale, J. (2013). The Performance Consultant’s Fieldbook: Tools and Techniques for Improving Organizations and People. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Source document

Descartes’ Discourse on the Method Essay

None of the proposed philosophical theories is exact, not even a combination of two or more theories (Sayre, 2011). However, Descartes has unique way of metaphysical argument concerning existence of God. Descartes’ Discourse on the Method (Part IV) ends surprisingly with a claim of God’s existence, which can be deduced from the interrelationship between mind, soul and our existence. Descartes began the fourth section by discussing about himself. The reading up to the point where he gives credit to a supreme being, God, could only suggest that Descartes was discussing about his philosophical thought about his being as a man. However, the discourse twist came when he inferred, â€Å"something indeed having every perfection of which I could have any idea, that is—to explain myself in one word—by God† (Bennett, 2007, p. 16). After this inference, the discourse changed to one that discussed the existence of God. It was at this point that it became clear that the ending would be more of God’s existence rather than a conclusion of Descartes as a human being. The change of discourse from exploration of self to a proof of God’s existence through personal evaluation was indeed an ingenious thought. Most of the times we try to prove existence of God or lack thereof by evaluating what are outside us. However, Descartes made a self-evaluation on intrinsic values of himself as a human being. By deconstructing his strengths and limitations, he was able to realize a fair conclusion about the existence of a supreme being, which we refer to as God. Therefore, the ending was different but offered a concise conclusion on God’s existence despite starting on a different discourse. References Bennett, J. (2007). Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting one’s Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/pdf/descdisc.pdf Sayre, H. (2011). The Humanities Culture, Continuity, and Change: New York: Pearson College Div.

Nonsense in Alice in Wonderland Essay

Alice in Wonderland is a tale that ends with death, and violence lurks within all of its nonsense. Throughout the book, Alice grows and matures, just like we do; however, all journeys must come to a close and death is always at the end of the road. Carroll neither forestalls, nor denies the realities of death and loss in his book. If anything, he manifests the prevalence of its threat in everything. Instead Carroll soothes his readers for the pain and loss with nonsense-answers in excess of sense. He asks his readers to trust in another logic beyond the rational and believe in precisely what we cannot know. In wonderland, death is a present and probable outcome everywhere, and Alice is promptly introduced to the possibility of it when she enters wonderland. After becoming enlarged after eating a piece of cake, Alice became scared of her sudden, large state. In the midst of her despair, she sees the White Rabbit and calls for his help. He was startled by Alice, and dropped his fan before scurrying away in fright. Alice became hot and irritated and began fanning herself; however, she realized that her fanning was causing her to shrink. She immediately, â€Å"dropped it hastily, just in time to avoid shrinking away altogether. ‘That WAS a narrow escape!’ said Alice, a good deal frightened at the sudden change, but very glad to find herself still in existence.† This â€Å"narrow escape(Carroll)† accentuates Alice’s childlike naivety upon entering Wonderland. She has never had to worry about dying, but now she is faced with it head on. Shortly after this near death experience, Alice is confronted with an identity crisis prompted by an interrogation from a caterpillar. â€Å"Who ARE you?† asks the Caterpillar, to which Alice replied, â€Å"I—I hardly know, sir, just at present—at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then (Carroll).† Alice has only been in wonderland a short period of time and already she has transformed in more ways than one. Her experiences have made her question her previously stable identity because in Wonderland-nothing is as it seems. As Alice ventures on into Wonderland and Looking Glass Land, death becomes even more of a reality. The Queen of Hearts is one of the many obstacles Alice runs into in Wonderland, and, by far, the most threatening. The Queen exclaims, â€Å"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS,† in response to most situations. During the trial, the queen says the subject must have a, â€Å"sentence first—verdict afterwards,† to which Alice replies, â€Å"Stuff and nonsense! The idea of having the sentence first!†After refusing the queen’s order to be quiet, Alice is sentenced to a beheading (Carroll). The theme of death is also prevalent when Alice converses with the Mock Turtle who is very aware that he will soon be made into Mock Turtle Soup. The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon spend most of their time with Alice telling her about their school days. The subjects they studied are strange undersea parodies of real school subjects, just as the dance they perform for her, the Lobster Quadrille. This makes them real and relatable characters, one of which inevitably faces death. Alice realizes this and is careful when referring to lobster as â€Å"dinner,† which she nearly does several times (Carroll)`. In Looking Glass Land, Alice runs into Tweedledum and Tweedledee who tell her the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter that lure the little oysters away from their bed by enticing them with a nice walk on the beach. The young, naà ¯ve oysters, willing for an adventure. During their walk on the beach, the Walrus says, â€Å"If you’re ready Oysters dear,/we can begin to feed.† â€Å"†But not on us!† the Oysters cried,/Turning a little blue,/After such kindness, that would be/A dismal thing to do!† The walrus ended up eating all the oysters (Carroll 2). Although the oysters died in the end, they went on their adventure thinking that it was all innocent fun and games. Throughout these stories, Carroll invites us to believe in the nonsense. Although we may grow old, and we may die, we must not forget that child hood is the most important time because we have no preconceived notions of the world. Anything is possible if we believe it, and things have whatever meaning we give them. Time, in Wonderland, is of the mind. However, in the real world, time is generally perceived as a unit—hours, minutes, and years—and age is time from a certain year. We accept that the time mirrored on a clock and our ages are one in the same. However, a clock may cycle endlessly, whereas we have only one lifetime. Therefore, our age is simply our own fabrication. It is the product of an irreversible psychological sense of duration. Mad Hatter says of Time, â€Å"Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he’d do almost anything you liked with the clock (Carroll).† In Wonderland, the aboveground conception of time as a reliable, unchanging system does not hold. Time is represented as a person, and is therefore susceptible to all the foibles and inconsistencies that plague actual humans. Defeating time thus changes from Alice’s normal conception of observing the regular intervals that time sets to meet to the Hatter’s idea of a grudge against a personified time. Since time is now like a person, there is the inevitable danger that he will rebel and refuse to be dependable. It is yet another haphazard, changeable artifact that has no claim to absolute validity in Wonderland. That is exactly what has happened in this Wonderland tea party: the Hatter says time â€Å"won’t do a thing I ask! It’s always six o’clock now (Carroll)†; that is, it is always teatime. Therefore, time is frozen, and one of the most essential models of common human understanding are laughed out of reality. Through making time insignificant to the goings on of daily life, Carroll intended to highlight the subjectivity of age and time. So what if eighty years old means death is on the doorstep? What is time and age but a means of measuring, and who needs that? Even though growing old is inevitable, Carroll insists with the nonsense of the tea party that time does not have to go on. It can always be teatime. It can always be childhood where things do not have to have answers to make sense. Despite the fact that Alice is growing and maturing, and despite the fact that death is an inevitable step in the process of life, Carroll wants to leave us with one thing: Believe in nonsense. His method was to imagine a dream-state in which the ordinary ways of logic were replaced by fantastic ones. Within the dream-logic, everything is consistent, but queer. That is the point-life in wonderland is nonsensical, but it is consistently nonsensical; therefore, the nonsense makes sense, so who is to say that the real world sense makes sense? Most importantly, we must remember the significance of childhood-no matter how old we get, for as long as one believes in nonsense, they will be happy no matter what ails them. Bibliography Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. Project Gutenbeg, 2008. Web. . (Carroll) Carroll, Lewis. Alice Through the Looking Glass. Project Gutenbeg, 1991. Web. . (Carroll 2)

Global strategy (MBA market) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Global strategy (MBA market) - Essay Example In seeking to establish a Business School in London, England, this business plan will build a sales, investment, marketing, and operations plan for the ‘International School of Business Innovation’ to be established in 2011. The school will initially pursue a goal of enrolling domestic and international students in an online program with a 4 week on-site seminar in London conducted yearly. In initiating operations, the school will market to and see the enrollment of both foreign and domestic students. Due to the limitations of budget, initial marketing internationally will be conducted in a manner that targets the students of India and Pakistan particularly, due to the demand for higher business education in those countries popularly. PART 2: BUSINESS PLAN: 1. Introduction In building and establishing a Business School in London with an intention of offering MBA (Masters of Business Administration) degrees to international and domestic students, the most important factor s are the business plan, philosophy of education, and location. In searching for the ethos for the school, the general approach to business that would guide operations from a position of philosophy, the management committee evaluated the writing, work, and experience of many of the top 100 CEOs internationally and historically. One of the most respected CEOs is Jack Welch, the former General Electric business leader who is well known for innovation in the corporate sphere and managing companies at the highest level. Jack Welch is currently associated with an online MBA school in the United States that offers an affordable business education to students anywhere in the world. â€Å"As a part of his effort to provide quality educations at an affordable cost, the Jack Welch Management Institute moves away from the stereo type business institutions that charge their students an average $100,000 for a MBA degree . On average, The Jack Welch Management Institute charges $600 per credit h our. This translates to students receiving an accredited MBA degree for just over $20,000. The realization of his dream for a management institute came through the coming together of a group of investors led by Michael Clifford who purchased the ailing Myers University in Cleveland in 2008. These investors hammered out a deal with Welch to establish the Jack Welch Institute of Management based on his management style and philosophy that brought him and general electric to the heights they both attained in society.† (OnlineEdu, 2010) As a start-up business venture, the MBA School proposed for establishment in London will follow the online MBA program model given as example in the Jack Welch Management Institute and seek to provide affordable, world-class business education to students worldwide in the form of an online-only school. 2. Overview of International Business School The first aspect required for the development of the project of creating an online MBA program for inte rnational and domestic students is to create a management team and business plan for the venture. In managing the main operations executively myself, I see also a need for a minimum of a five person management team who would oversee the establishment of the school. This group would lead the effort to secure financing, sign the lease for the

Business Commuication Writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Commuication Writing - Assignment Example 190). This is not the case because this act will create gaps in an applicant’s resume and gaps between jobs are not appreciated by an interviewer or screener. This will make the screener believe that an applicant is incompetent and due to this, he had failed to find jobs. It is wrong to state employment in an organization in which an applicant has not worked at all, because the human resource team has a huge network and they know other individuals of the human resource management department of other organizations and can easily obtain information about a particular individual’s employment with another organization. The human resource management team even has contacts with the government and can easily obtain background information about a particular applicant. It is okay to provide a photograph attached with the resume because a photograph provides a lot of information about a particular applicant, such as personality and looks which are quite important for recruiters. Even if the photograph provides information that may help the recruiters in making a biased decision, there is no harm in it because the same information is provided in the resume by the applicant. Those applicants that show an â€Å"I† attitude or, in other words, those who try to paint a picture that they can perform alone are not welcomed by current recruiters because recruiters today try to locate applicants and employees who have an ability to work along with a team. Those who show an individualistic attitude fail to pass the interviewing phase as recruiters know that today an individual cannot perform alone and needs a team to perform a task. An applicant might be told by many that they should be deceptive in their CVs, but this is not true as deceptive CVs and those that are not deceptive are treated equally, and CVs do not ensure that an applicant will get a job; rather, they ensure that an applicant will get a

Controversies Surrounding Pink Slime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Controversies Surrounding Pink Slime - Essay Example The term pink slime was coined a biologist called Gerald Zirnstein in 2002 due to the use of ammonium hydroxide in processing of this product. Initially the term was only used publicly in reference to food packaged for dogs. However, the media outlets created a phobia throughout United States when they made a claim that almost all meat products comprised some amount of Pink Slime. Following this media disclosure, a good number of beef processing industries have been forced to shut their business due to the controversy. Individuals as well as institutions such as schools have raised several arguments over the quality and appropriateness of the pink slime consumption (Drahl Web). Currently, the phrase pink slime is used to define a different type of ground meat different from the habitual ground meat in that it was prepared from fatty crumbs, connective tissue and hides, which were remnants of beef carcasses after steaks and roasts, had been extracted. The issue of slime mould caused many questions among the American particularly on the role of government in protecting the quality and safety of their food (â€Å"A Fight About Beef: Why to Avoid 'Pink Slime’† Web; Drahl Web). The American have a reason and the right to know the security of product that they consumer. However, the deliberations on slime meat have been stuffed with distortions and propaganda, which could be either true or fictitious.

Importance of Building a Brand for Kellogg Essay

Importance of Building a Brand for Kellogg - Essay Example In the Kellogg’s Case Study, an extensive evaluation of the brand building Kellogg is carried out. It deals with the question whether Kellogg is able to sustain its product lifecycle which is of great significance. Whilst building a brand for a product, it is equally important to consider whether it is possible to capture the market and profitability. For this, it is necessary to implement appropriate major strategic matters related to marketing. Kellogg’s All Bran Brand has been a leading brand in the fiber sector of the cereal market for a long period of time. Kellogg, a leading company in the global market, produces cereal products and other food items like snacks, pastries, cookies etc. One of the main features of Kellogg’s products is that the company offers goods marked for taste and quality. Among its number of brands, All-Bran brand of Kellogg Company holds a considerable position in the market avenues. This is mainly for the reason that the brand offers more nutritious products than the other brands. An effective implementation of both financing and marketing sectors is decisive for this brand building of All-Bran banner. In addition to this, it also requires consumer perception of the changes made by Kellogg Company. The brand image of Kellogg’s All-Bran is outstanding as compared to other high fiber brands made by Kellogg. So, in order to attain an overall development of all brands, Kellogg gas decided to merge all other brands with the master brand of Kellogg Company. As we take in to account the running style of the Kellogg Company, we find that it is necessary to evaluate the product life cycle of All-Bran product in order to improve its existing strategic plans. Effective implementation of marketing strategies is essential in the accomplishment of goals set by the entity. The success of any product and its marketing is highly related to its brand image. â€Å"Consumers very often do not use explicit, concrete, rational factors to evaluate products, and thus their motivation to purchase is not always easy to articulate.†Ã‚  

ART Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

ART - Essay Example amous 16th century portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, has been painted in oil on a poplar panel which illustrates the essential features of the Italian Renaissance. To perceive it visually, it is a length portrait depicting a woman who has an enigmatic expression on her face and the piece was celebrated for the ambiguity concerning the woman’s expression. The social relevance of the work by da Vinci is due to the monumentality of this half-figure composition and the delicate modeling of forms and atmospheric illusionism. These features were central to the progress of painting and there is a sense of mystery connected with the work. â€Å"Given the fact that Da Vinci manages to capture so many different emotions and character-traits in one painting, it seems natural that every time one looks at the Mona Lisa, one sees something different, irrespective from which direction the painting is looked at. In that light her ‘mysterious smile’ seems nothing out of the ordinary .† (Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa) In comparison with this celebrated work by Da Vinci, Marilyn Diptych, the 1962 painting by the American pop artist Andy Warhol, is an illustrious example of silkscreen painting which is important to the pop art style in painting. This work of acrylic and silkscreen on canvas makes use of the juxtaposition of the color images in order to depict the meaning of the artist. â€Å"The ‘Marilyn Diptych’ divides into 25 colored Monroes on the left and 25 black and whites on the right, with the image passing through near total blackening and disfiguration in the seventh column to extreme faintness on the far right. The more you look at the coloured panels, the more the hair, eye-shadow and lips look like paper cutouts that have been stuck on the faces, emphasising the artificially constructed nature of the Monroe ‘image’.† (Molyneux) Also, the misregistration or the failure of the color to fit exactly with the underlyin g black and white photograph gives the painting its great

Motor Skills (MOVIE) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Motor Skills (MOVIE) - Essay Example All players were at an early stage of learning that the coach believed required a type of challenge that surpasses other challenges the players dealt with outside training such as racial discrimination. A challenge from Coach Boone during training assuredly taught his team to apply the attitude of â€Å"fight[ing] together† in all challenging situations (Yakin, 2000). Motivation in Remember the Titans came from the coach, immediate surroundings, and during the advanced phases of learning. A fundamental principle of kinesiology is encouraging advanced staged learners to pursue their interests at all costs, which is applicable in sports. Motivation in Remember the Titans influences the performance of the student athletes positively. More specifically, Coach Boone compelled the high school learners to unite for a common cause despite racial differences (Yakin, 2000). Industriousness and patience are values that make up the motivation principle necessary for accomplishing ultimate motor control. Repetitive practice is Coach Boone’s main instrument for assuring motor control within the team ahead of all games. Coach Boone makes sure his team’s quarterback acquire the necessary game-like motor control as he puts him through many practices that enable him to perform and maintain the ability to implement these motor skills. A quarterback is not prosperous without these three primary aspects. Coach Boone instills these aspects in all players and not the quarterback only by emphasizing the interaction of all team players to discover their backgrounds before practice (Yakin, 2000). The film centers on the training of a group of talented football players through the enhancement of their physical abilities, maneuvering skills, opponent analysis, and existing knowledge about the sport and its history. To do this, Coach Boone believes he ought to

Global Leadership and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Global Leadership and Management - Essay Example The researcher states that in the light of one salient threat to the Kids Retail, mentioned in its SWOT analysis, which is the competition posed by the kid’s shops of the big chains like Wall-Mart and Limited Corporation, the researcher’s company could exploit this threat as a pivotal opportunity for international expansion. It is a pragmatic fact that the emerging kids’ apparel companies simply cannot contend with the retail and logistics potential of the established big chains. Considering the fact that apparel retailing is a capital and investment intensive business, our company could opt to emerge as a leading kids ‘apparel brand by striking pan-global alliances with leading apparel retail stores like Wal-Mart, Sears and JC Penny’s. Kids’ apparel business is required to contend with a complex market, considering the fact that a large segment of the consumers tend to fall without the typical consumer profile. Hence the resources saved on es tablishing new stores and supply and logistics operations, courtesy the alliances forged with the big global chains could be better spent on coming out with large lines during the main selling seasons that are spring, summer, back to school and holidays. At an international level, kids’ fashion happens to be one of the fast growing categories of clothing. So the time and resources saved by leaving retailing to the big clothing chains like Wal-Mart and JC Penny’s, the researcher’s company could focus on its core competencies like monitoring the international trends in kids’ clothing and fast adapting the products to the emerging trends.

Westco Diversity Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Westco Diversity - Case Study Example The following discussion features the approach that Kyle Roberts, vice president of the firm and John’s supervisor should take to address the complaints raised due to John’s behaviour. The discussion also proposes and discusses initiatives that Westco can take to reduce the likelihood of this issue coming up in the company in the future. Stereotyping involves making decisions or viewing individuals based on assumptions and perspectives related to the characteristics exhibited by people of their group (Kinicki and Fugate 96). In Westco’s case, the two individuals affected, Susan Thompson and Oscar Hernandez, both face discrimination against for factors outside inherent of their being. Susan Thompson, a 48-year-old single mother, is on the receiving end because of her sexuality and age. It is common for women in careers to face absolute barrier to prevent them especially when it involves management positions and programs. Her role as a mother and as such is responsible for her child’s welfare, and this does not create a nurturing environment for social growth at a career level. Secondly, Thompson faces discrimination because of her age. John believes that at her age, investing in her is a waste of resources and time as she will not be able to contribute much to her possible retirement. Oscar Hernandez is of Latin origin but schooled and raised on American soil. His discrimination is due to his racial background as a Latin. The barrier towards his advancement in his career at managerial level crops from characteristics exhibited by the general Latin community. Because of John’s attitude towards the racial group, his talents and unique perspectives do not reflect on the organisation’s workforce. John is just an example as noted of lack of Latin Americans in managerial levels with a few exceptions in certain regions. Westco has a conservative reputation. Conservatism

Modus Operandi Essay Example for Free

Modus Operandi Essay

Strategies for Operations Strategy

Strategies for Operations Strategy DEFINITION OF STRATEGY: The pattern of most important objectives, goals and purposes and the fundamentals, plans, policies and philosophies for achieving those goals, that are declared in such a way as to define what business the firm is engaged in, and what kind of organization it is or would like to be. OPERATION MANAGEMENT: Operations management is an area of business concerned with the production of goods and services, and involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient in terms of using as little resource as needed, and effective in terms of meeting customer requirements. It is concerned with managing the process that converts inputs (in the forms of materials, labors and energy) into outputs (in the form of goods and services). OPERATION STRATEGY: There are two types of operations strategy: They have a particular essence, a blend or fusion of building blocks that give each a unique composition customized to the embeddedness of the situation; and These various operations strategies have a number of tactical factors or contingency issues that influence the deployment of the strategy and also act as management levers to enhance its competitive ability. The operations strategy cannot be designed in a vacuum. It must be linked to the customers and other parts of the enterprise and the supply network.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Alan Rushton and John Oxley 1989) The operations strategy has an important role in coordinating the operational goals to those of the organization. However, the objectives will change over time; hence the need for the operations strategy to anticipate future needs. In this way it acts as a portfolio that can adopt to the changing product and the service combination needs of the final customer. SUCCESS FOR OPERATION STRATEGY: The keys to competitive success for the operations strategy lie in: To know the requirement of markets Identifying the priority choices Understanding the consequences of each choice Appreciating the various trade-offs TECHNOLOGY: Technology is the survival of the fittest. Know a days every firm is trying to get new environment which is surrounded by vast eruptions of not only nuclear power but also technological power as well. Globalization has led Managers to become more fully equip and face their competitors fiercely with strong and analytical based marketing strategies. The number of world-class competitors is increasing at an alarmingly rate and to gain the upper edge a firm has to develop an internal system so strong that it can leave its competitors far behind in the race and earn the loyalty of not only its existing customers but also take over the new market successfully. In order to penetrate into the market successfully organizations are realizing that strong engineering, design, and manufacturing functions are necessary. So where it all did began that organizations began to realize the customer needs and fulfill them according to their demand. No longer was the customer dumb but the integral force behind an organizations position in the market, the organization soon learnt to cater to its needs and specifications, designing and engineering customer specific goods available within time and at cost effective prices. It was in the early 1980s that demand for new products escalated and manufacturing organizations soon realized that in order to meet the ever changing customer needs they need to become flexible and responsive in modifying existing products and processes. As manufacturing capabilities improved in the 1990s, managers realized that materials and service inputs from suppliers had a major impact on their organizations ability to meet customer needs. This led to an increase focus in the supply base and the organizations sourcing strategy. Managers also realized that producing a quality product was not enough. Getting the products to customers when, where, how, and in the quantity that they want, in a cost-effective manner, constituted an entirely new type of challenge. More recently the era of the â€Å"Logistics Renaissance† was also born, spawning a whole set of time-reducing information technologies and logistics networks aimed at meeting these challenges. As a result of these changes, organizations now find that it is no longer enough to manage their organizations. They must also be involved in the management of the network of all upstream firms that provide inputs (directly or indirectly), as well as the network of downstream firms responsible for delivery and after-market service of product to the end customer. From this realization emerged the concept of the â€Å"supply chain management†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Stephens 1992) Supply chain management is the back-bone of operations management without it the flow of products from producer to customer would in fact collapse. To better understand the operations management and how strategies are applied to it to get the competitive advantage over other firms let us take an example of FedEx Business Logistics Services and Laura Ashley EXAMPLE OF FEDEX BUSINESS LOGISTICS SERVICES   LAURA ASHLEY: The United Kingdom-based garment and home furnishing company Laura Ashley had severe financial problems in the early 1990s. The company had grown rapidly since Bernard and Laura Ashley started production in 1953 of hand-printed scarves, and by 1990 Laura Ashley employed more than 8000 people and owned or leased about 550 retail shops in 27 countries. The company also supplied a number of franchise shops in other countries. Total sales in 1990/1991 were about GBP 325 million, more than 40% of which came from North America.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Stephens 1992) Poor logistics performance was recognized as a major cause of the above-mentioned financial difficulties. Laura Ashley had serious problems in servicing its customers worldwide. The company could not get products from distribution centres to stores quickly enough to avoid stocking out on major items. Laura Ashley had seven distribution centers around the world, but they were largely unconnected by management information systems. Overall stock availability was only about 80%, although inventory costs were high. The transport system was inefficient and spread over eight principle carriers. In 1992, Laura Ashley decided to hand over the global logistics functions to Federal Expresss newly formed business logistics division. The two companies signed a 10-year contract. All in-house logistics operations were transferred to Business Logistics. The 300 Laura Ashley employees from distribution centres and distribution all become employees of Business Logistics. Laura Ashleys distribution centre in Newton, Wales, was transferred to Business Logistics, and the remaining six centres were closed. The higher efficiency of a single-hub distribution system more than offset the extra transport costs. The new contract targets a 10% reduction of distribution costs in the first year. Beyond cost savings, the new system will be more reliable, with frequent store deliveries. The target is to be to supply shops anywhere in the world within 24 or 48 hours, depending on location. A further advantage is access from the individual stores to Business Logistics on-line information system, which provides data on which products are in stock, expected dates for receipt of out-of-stock items and the location of all items in-transit. The partnership with Business Logistics has enabled Laura Ashley to re-launch its catalog mail order business. CAPACITY Maximum output or producing ability operating at capacity Capacity of service firms is constrained by Time Labor Equipment Facilities Four ways to manage constrained capacity Amount of capacity needed The timing of changes Need to maintain balance throughout the system Flexibility of facility and workforce Capacityuse existing resources more efficiently Extend hours of operation Staff work more efficiently during peak times Reduce service levels or offer smaller range of options during peak times Improve customer service Vary capacity to meet demand adjust the firms resources to match demand What could be done during peak periods? i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  use part-time/casual employees ii.  Ã‚  share or rent extra facilities or equipment iii.  Ã‚  cross-train (multi-skill) employees iv.  Ã‚  outsource some functions i.e. reservations (Robert B. Hanfield Ernest L. Nichols) What could be done during off-peak periods? Schedule down-time Reduce staff numbers LOCATION: The marking out of the boundarier, oridentifying the place or site of, a piece of land, according to the description given in anentry, plan, map, etc. The location of facilities involves a commitment of resources to a long-term plan. Once the size, number, and location of these are determined, so are the possible paths by which product flows through to the final customer. These decisions are of great significance to a firm since they represent the basic strategy for accessing customer markets, and will have a considerable impact on revenue, cost, and level of service. Every firm/business looks for location that will help them to expand their markets. Location decision represents a key part strategic planning process of virtually every organization. Need for Location Decisions Marketing Strategy Basic Cost of a Business Expand of business Depletion of Resources Nature of Location Decisions Importance of strategic Entail a Long term commitment/costs Impact on investments, revenues, and Operations Supply chains Goals/objectives Profit potential No single location may be better than others Make right decision to choose perfect location More Options Expand existing facilities Addition of new facilities Shifting Objectives of Location Decisions Decide on the criteria Identify the important factors(location of markets or Raw materials) Develop location alternatives Evaluate the alternatives Make selection Trends in Locations Foreign producers locating in U.S. â€Å"Made in USA† Currency fluctuations Just-in-time manufacturing techniques Micro factories Information Technology EXAMPLES OF VARIOUS COMPANIES: Let us consider some examples of various companies which have taken location under account in order to grow Nike and Reebok, the two largest athletic footwear companies, look to contractors in Asia to manufacture their shoes. Sourcing from Asia offers advantages of low cost and flexibility, When FedEx opened its Asian Hub in Subic Bay, Philippines, in the 1990s it set the stage for its new â€Å"round-the-world† flights linking its Memphis and Paris package hubs to Asia. When Mercedes announced its plan to build its first major overseas plant in Vance, Alabama, it completed a year of competition among 170 sites amongst 30 states and two countries. When Hard Rock Cafà © opened in Moscow in late 2002, it ended three years of advanced preparation of a Russian food supply chain. PROCESS: Hammer and chamhys defines process as a collection of activities thats takes one or more kinds of input which generate an output that is of value to the customer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Hammer chamhys 1993) The various kinds of business process are: Supporting processes:- this include IT support, recruitment, Accounting. Operational processes:- operational processes are manufacturing, purchasing, sales, marketing. Core process:- Add direct value to the customer in term of products or services, Corporate Governance: one can define corporate governance as the culture of company which includes rules, policies, and customs. They also manitain relationship with management board of director, shareholder and stakeholder (Employees, bank, supplier, customer etc). Strategic Management: strategic mangement provides overall directions of an organisation. The aims and objectives, developing polices and plans to achieve these objectives. This Managemrial top level actitvity is usually performed by CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and the exclusive team. LAYOUT: In operations management strategy there are four types of Layouts: Facility Layout and Basic Formats Process-oriented Layout Layout Planning Service Layout Facility layout Facility layout can be defined as the process by which the placement of departments, workgroups within departments, workstations, machines, and stock-holding points within a facility are determined. Process-Oriented Layout Design places departments with large flows of material or people together Dept. areas have similar processes Used with process-focused processes Product-Oriented Layout Facility organized around product Design minimizes line imbalance Types: Fabrication line; assembly line Retail Service Layout Goalmaximize net profit per square foot of floor space. Services capes EXAMPLES: Examples of companies who have employed layout strategies In 1995, Toshiba was the market leader in portable computer sales worldwide. The company used layout strategy in its Ome factory in Japan. Total Quality Management(TQM) Definition â€Å"TQM is a complete re-organizing of the work process and the workplace by application of principles of â€Å"teamwork and work â€Å"teams† that are supposed to involve the worker and give them greater control in their work.† Total Quality Management (TQM) is a comprehensive and structured approach to organizational management that seeks to improve the quality of products and services through ongoing refinements in response to continuous feedback. TQM requirements may be defined separately for a particular organization or may be in adherence to established standards, such as the International Organization for Standardizations ISO 9000series. TQM can be applied to any type of organization; it originated in the manufacturing sector and has since been adapted for use in almost every type of organization imaginable, including schools, highway maintenance, hotel management, and churches. As a current focus ofe-business, TQM is based on quality management from the customers point of view. Business Process Outsourcing Business process outsourcing (BPO) is the act of giving a third-party the responsibility of running what would otherwise be an internal system or service. For instance, an insurance company might outsource their claims processing program or a bank might outsource their loan processing system. Other common examples of BPO are call centers and payroll outsourcing. Typically, companies that are looking at business process outsourcing are hoping to achieve cost savings by handing the work to a third-party that can take advantage of economies of scale by doing the same work for many companies. Or perhaps the cost savings can be achieved because labor costs are lower due to different costs of living in different countries. In exchange for the potential cost savings, the company in question must relinquish control over an aspect of their business which explains why business process outsourcing is often reserved for non-critical, non-core type of work. REFERENCES: Philip B. Schary and Tage Skjott-Larsen, Managing the global supply chain management, Munksgaard International Publishers Limited (pages 16, 24 and 38) Alan Rushton and John Oxley, Handbook of Logistics and Distribution Management, 1st published in 1989 by Kogan Page Ltd (pgs 74-76) Ronald H. Ballou, 3rd edition Business Logistics Management, Prentice hall (pages 44, 56 and 171) Robert B. Hanfield Ernest L. Nichols, JR. Introduction to Supply Chain Management (pgs9-22, 45-56) William J.Stevenson 9th edition Operation Management(International student edition with global readings)(pgs361-367,227-229) http://www.netmba.com/operations/project/cpm/ http://www.ganttchart.com/Ganttwith%20DependenciesExample.html BIBLIOGRAPHY: Philip B. Schary and Tage Skjott-Larsen, Managing the global supply chain management, Munksgaard International Publishers Limited (pages 16, 24 and 38) Alan Rushton and John Oxley, Handbook of Logistics and Distribution Management, 1st published in 1989 by Kogan Page Ltd (pgs 74-76) Ronald H. Ballou, 3rd edition Business Logistics Management, Prentice hall (pages 44, 56 and 171) Robert B. Hanfield Ernest L. Nichols, JR. Introduction to Supply Chain Management (pgs9-22, 45-56) http://www.netmba.com/operations/project/cpm/ http://www.ganttchart.com/Ganttwith%20DependenciesExample.html Heinrich, Claus E. Adapt or die: transforming your supply chain into an adaptive business network. Hoboken, N.J: J. Wiley Sons; 2003. Fredendall, Lawrence D. Basics of supply chain management. Boca Raton: St. Lucie Press; 2001 Hugos, Michael. Essentials of supply chain management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons; 2003 David Simchi Levi, Philip kaminsky, and Edith Simchi Levi. Designing and Managing the Supply Chain: Concepts, Strategies, and Case Studies. Irwin McGrawHill, 2000. Sunil Chopra and Peter Meindel. Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation, Prentice Hall of India, 2002.

Paradigm Transitions in Education

Paradigm Transitions in Education Introduction professional context For this piece I will look to investigate the transition to paperless education to coincide with the opening of a new sixth form centre. Alongside the research question I will look into the relevant epistemological, ontological and methodological paradigms and how they influence my professional practice. During this piece I hope the reflexly look into my personal experience, my Habitus (Bourdieu, 1993) and how this has affected the decisions made in the pursuit of this goal to become paperless. I have worked with education for the last 11 years having the predominant section of ,my career being in the secondary education sector. I was recently appointed to the position of Head of Deeside Sixth form centre, which is a brand new  £15 million build the enhance the provision of A levels for North Wales and beyond. The building is a XXX square feet and is part of Coleg Cambria, which is one of the largest Colleges in Wales with some 20,000 students. The new role has not only changed my lens in terms of sector, with a move from secondary to further, but also significantly changed my role within the organistion, by moving from a position of middle management to senior management. This has challenged my epistemology of A level provision, specifically within the field of preparing students for positive progression to employment or university. With the building of this new Sixth form centre, I made the claim that we would have cutting edge IT facilities (Deeside Sixth Website), and this gave me the perfect opportunity to make large investment in ILT (information for learning technologies). The centre had a large budget of IT facilities with some 800 log-ins around the building. Because of the large investment I was able to look at ways of developing pedagogy to best suit 21st century education. This large investment coupled with the overarching drive to become more sustainable as a college, made me look into the options of reducing paper use. In order to allow this reduction in paper use and to prepare current A level students for future employment and education, as a new Sixth form centre I have decided to make a transition from a paper based curriculum to an electronic curriculum, which makes use of Goolge as a learning platform including google classroom as a VLE, thus allowing online work submission, marking and feedback. This should best prepare students for university, where their studies will be largely dependant on this format and an employment world, which is under rapid change and has a growing reliance on technology. As head of a brand new sixth form centre this decision has fell solely with me and during the planning phase there has been no staff engagement or student voice, due to not having a staff team or student body during the planning phase. To allow retrospective planning and ensure smooth future transition this piece will look at staff and student opinion of the transition to paperless and outline stage for further progress to the Holy Grail of paperless education. Paradigms Having come from a natural science background the idea of paradigms is a novel idea, which has made me challenge my own thoughts and feelings about epistemology and how the phenomenology as opposed the the cartesian philosophy may be more applicable to the social world of a school or college. To start with a definition of a paradigm, Oxford Dictionary defines it as a world view underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject. A more grounded description would be simply a belief system that moulds the way we think and act about all aspects of life. Upon commencement of this unit I was faced with the philosophical viewpoint that There is no such thing as absolute truth and absolute falsehood. (Rowland, H, 1899), which brought about some dissonance in my understanding of the world. Previously, the idea of my research falling into a certain ontological perspective other than positivist seemed absurd, however upon making my way through some of the numerous philosophical opinions and approaches within the area of educational research, my lens has widened and allowed me to embrace some of these theories and their application in the social setting. The term paradigm, which can largely be derived from the work of Kuhn (and his  book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions published in 1962) and can broadly be described as the ways in research be investigated and interpreted. Further work by Patton (1978) in Sparkes (Ed.) (1992, p.11) takes the idea of a paradigm a step further and refers to it as a world view. This world view has shifted throughout the progression of this unit to acknowledge the strengths and applications of the interpretivist paradigm. This paradigm shift, would show strength for the work of Kuhn, Kuhn argues that changes in paradigm is brought about by a series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions, and in those revolutions one conceptual world view is replaced by another. (Kuhn, T 1962). I dont feel I am in a position to fully move away from the positivist paradigm, but I feel my Lens has significantly altered. As previously mentioned, my natural science background has largely ingrained the positivist paradigm with my outlook and this has embedded in my professional practice. Positivism is an epistemological standpoint that looks for experimental testing , where controlling bias and the importance of subjectivity is vital. Ledoux (2002, p. 34) defines natural sciences as disciplines that deal only with natural events (i.e. independent and dependent variables in nature) using scientific methods. According to work Bà ¼chel (1992), the birth of natural science was initated by those who questioned earlier explanations about the world and wanted systematic / scientific methods for research.

The History of Modern Women and Body Art Essay -- Art Tattoos Arts Ess

The History of Modern Women and Body Art I chose to do this field report on body art because I, personally, find the topic very complex and interesting. It is for this reason that I decided to narrow the scope of my field research. I am focusing this report on the trends and evolution in body art as relating to modern women. When I say modern women I am referring to the women from about the 18th century to the current day. I chose to focus on women imparticular because of the strong societal pressure that is specifically place upon them to fulfill a certain role and aesthetically look a particular way. I wanted to research the history of body art and how it related to these pressures and stigmas. In my research I found everything from information on tattooing practices to body modification through clothing. As De Mello noted in her book, Bodies of Inscription, "Contemporary tattooing has evolved from a practice that was originally imported from the islands of Polynesia and later transformed into a form of working-class folk art" (p10). The credit should be duly given to the original tattoo artists of Polynesia, but the art form also existed in North America within Native Tribes. James Swan sights a specific tribe known as the Haida who practiced the cultural tradition of tattooing (Gilbert, 94-5). Both women and men were tattooed, but as common in many cases, the markings were different for each. The women more commonly had tattoos on their hands and forearms. Most had tattoos also on their breast and legs below the knee. These markings are very culturally significant. They allow the tribe identification on the basis of the design which tells the family name of the wearer (Gilbert, 94-5). The popularization of tattooin... ... to be. I was looking for more information that gave details on societal views and how that influenced women in particular in the way they modified their bodies. I did find a wide variety of ways in which women modified their bodies, but perhaps not as many specifics about the society and their reaction to that particular method of adornment. I think I could've probably found much more detailed sources had a looked hard enough for them. In the future I will try to find more detailed information on a variety of subtopics within a main topic to better guide my research. Works Cited Brain, Robert. 1979. The Decorated Body. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. De Mello, Margo. 2000. Bodies of Inscription: A cultural history of the modern tattoo community. Durham: Duke University Press. Gilbert, Steve. 2000. Tattoo History. New York: Juno Books.

How do Hardy and Steinbeck portray loneliness in The Withered Arm :: English Literature

How do Hardy and Steinbeck portray loneliness in 'The Withered Arm' and 'Of Mice and Men'? Thomas Hardy, author of 'The Withered Arm' and John Steinbeck, author of 'Of Mice and Men both portray the common theme of loneliness in each of these novels. For example, in 'The Withered Arm', Rhoda is judged for the cause of her loneliness, such as when it says 'She knew that she had been slyly called a witch since her fall', as are Curley and Curley's wife like when Candy refers to Curley's wife as a tart. Both show signs of discrimination be it due to race, sex class or disfigurement. Also, both mainly revolve around a friendship-Lennie and George in 'Of Mice and Men' and Gertrude and Rhoda in 'The Withered Arm'. 'The Withered Arm' also conveys many other themes; a lot of these are common to 'Of Mice and Men'. Similarities in these themes include the unhappy marriages suffered which could also link into the loneliness theme. Curley and Curley's wife in 'Of Mice and Men' have an unhappy marriage as do Farmer Lodge and Gertrude in 'The Withered Arm' though in 'Of Mice and Men', neither try to resolve the situation whereas in 'The Withered Arm', it is Gertrude's main concern to find a cure for her arm so that her husband will love her again. However, we know that this won't happen as there have been too many bad things happen for everything to turn out happily. 'Of Mice and Men' also shows strong signs of this inevitability. We hear from George about the many mice that Lennie has killed and how things always go wrong due to the fact that he does not know his own strength. After crushing Curley's hand and killing the puppy, we know that it is only a matter of time before Lennie kills a person. We also know their 'American dream' of owning a ranch will not come true as, fairly near the beginning, George says 'Nuts' showing that he did not believe in it from the start. 'The Withered Arm' was set in Hardy's home town of Dorset though he has used fictional names for parts of Dorset such as Holmstoke, Casterbridge, Egdon Heath and Wessex. This in itself is a rural, quite isolated setting as is the ranch in 'Of Mice and Men' which is situated near Soledad in California which is also the author's-Steinbeck's-home town. The isolation of these settings is used to show the isolation of the characters within them. This technique of using the setting as a reference to other points of the story is also used in the settings themselves.

Did the Nazis solve Germany’s economic problems from 1933 to 1939?

Between 1933 and 1939 Germany suffered economic problems. The main economic problems were Germany was dependent on the foreign market and the imports, the industrial production, unemployment, the cost of living and wages. Hitler and the Nazis tried to solve the problems, they were successful but there were hidden factors to each solution. Firstly unemployment was a problem because it had risen to over six million by 1933 and that was 25. 9% of the country. With people out of work the standards of living dropped. By 1939 Hitler had reduced the number of unemployed, it was now just above three hundred thousand, which was 0. 5% of the country and thanks to one of Hitler's schemes to reduce unemployment, new roads had been built. Hitler reduced unemployment by introducing the autobahn scheme, which created many jobs for men as the Nazis were aiming to build over 7000 km of road. Hitler also continued with the national labour service, which became compulsory for German men between 18-25 years old. The men had to work on public works schemes such as land reclamation, tree planting, construction and road building. The schemes seemed to work, removing thousands of young men from the unemployment figures. The schemes appeared to be working but the results were that the unemployment figures hid a lot, such as the impact on women and Jews. The loss of rights for workers because trade unions were banned. There was no negotiation of wages and there was no right to strike. The national labour service was temporary and there was low wages for those who joined. The autobahn was actually part of war plans. The next problem was that Germany was too dependent on the foreign market and its imports. Hitler felt that Germany was too reliant on the foreign imports, which he felt made Germany to venerable and Hitler wanted to stop the need for the foreign market. Hitler's solution to this problem was â€Å"Autarky†. Autarky was the creation of artificial substitutes (using ersatz) for products such as oil, textiles, food and rubber. The effect of Autarky was ersatz materials. These were developed, produced and ordered. The increase of ersatz made Germany more self reliant but it was still not totally reliant, as Germany continued to import 33% of its raw materials and 17% of its food. The result of Autarky was ersatz was a complete failure because they were inferior products. Ersatz contributed to the decrease in living standards for German people. The third problem was the industrial production of Germany. Due to high unemployment, many factories were closed down. This meant that production was at a low level and by 1933 the production of goods ad fallen by a third since 1929. Between 1933 and 1939 the production in heavy industry increased largely. Coal and chemical production doubled, oil, iron and steel production trebled and iron ore extract production increased by five fold. Consumer goods were not as important so they were produced at a slower rate. Hitler managed to increase production by firstly introducing autarky. By doing this it enabled the country to become more self sufficient for wartime production. Hitler began rearmament, which opened up job opportunities both in the factories and the army. Rearmament helped to reduce unemployment levels. Hitler's other solution was to increase working hours. In 1933 on average, per week, working hours were 42. 9 but had increased to 47. 0 in 1939. This meant that production increased. The result of Hitler's solutions was Germany became more likely to start war. The next problem was the issue with wages. The problem was that because of the high unemployment, employers had lots of people wanting jobs, so they could offer low wages and people would have to accept them. This lead to the working class not having a very high standard of life. Hitler's solution was to get rid of local and national wage rates and introduce performance principle. This scheme meant that the more work a person did the more money they earned. The effect was that the real value of take home pay increased and longer working days let people gain more money. The positive result of Hitler's solutions was that the quality of life got a little bit better for a majority of the working class. The negative results of Hitler's solution were it didn't suit older people and less fit people, as they could not work as long as others. Sickness and absenteeism increased meaning people didn't earn money. Longer working days and hours meant people do not have much energy to work and trade unions were taken away, which gave the people little rights. The last problem was the cost of living. The problem was that everyday items were too expensive because of the average pay; there was not enough money. Hitler did nothing about this problem because he wanted to keep the support from the farmers. The effect from this problem was the cost of living in 1939 had increased since 1933. All basic groceries, except fish had risen in price. This was because food items were in short supply and it was the Nazis policy to discourage agricultural production because it had to keep up prices for the benefit of farmers. The result was the standard of living was very low for most Germans, mainly the working class. Hitler did manage to solve most of Germanys economical problems but it was not entirely down to Hitler and the Nazis. Before Hitler can chancellor in the early 30's, the Weimar government was in power and this was during the 1920's depression. After the 1920's depression, the German economy was starting to recover, the worst of the depression was over, unemployment was decreasing and inflation was going back to a suitable amount. With the economy going back to normal the Weimar government started to set up new schemes to help solve all the problems. The Weimar government set up the national labour service, but Hitler improved it by making it compulsory to join in 1935 and the Weimar government also came up with the autobahn idea but lack of money in the 20's meant it could not go ahead but in 1934 Hitler had enough money to start the construction of the autobahn. So although it may have seemed that Hitler came up with these ideas and solved the economical problems he didn't, he made the Weimar governments ideas better because he had the money to do so. When Hitler was came into power there was a worldwide recovery happening after the depression and in Germany. This factor led to an increase in production, which helped solve one of the economical problems in the early 30's in Germany. Hitler's solution did bring about some improvements such as the fall in unemployment, new roads and German citizens having a slightly better quality of life, but there were a lot of hidden and negative factors to these improvements. Women could not work nor the Jewish, so there standard of living dropped, a lot of the improvements were for the war effort, not the country, the autobahn, rearming and conscription were part of the war effort and trade unions were abolished meaning workers had no or very little rights. This was all part of Hitler's plan for dictatorship. Another factor was most of these solutions were not long term and Hitler hadn't really thought about the consequences because the standard of living was still going down, there was still food being imported and the working hours were getting longer.

Productivity Quality Profitability in research

Operations Research (O. R. ) has been termed The Science of Better. The term Operations Research (OR) describes the discipline that is focused on the application of information technology for informed decision-making. In other words, OR represents the study of optimal resource allocation A problem in the real world is modeled, usually in mathematical terms, then mathematical techniques, together with data analysis and computational algorithms, are applied, in order to find ways to do the job better. The word Operations derives from the many successful applications of O.R. To military operations in the sass. But, since then, most O. R. Applications have been to peaceful activities, especially to business management, of which planning industrial production, and scheduling airlines, and other transportation, have been prominent. The name Management Science denotes the same discipline, with some emphasis on business management. Practitioners of Operations Management will find many of the se techniques relevant. The areas of Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Decision Sciences, and Manufacturing Management deal with similar applications.The goal of OR is to provide rational bases for decision making by seeking to understand and structure employ situations, and to utilize this understanding to predict system behavior and improve system performance. Much of the actual work is conducted by using analytical and numerical techniques to develop and manipulate mathematical models of organizational systems that are composed of people, machines, and procedures. OR's role in both, the public and the private sectors is increasing rapidly.In general, OR addresses a wide variety of issues in transportation, inventory planning, production planning, communication operations, computer operations, financial assets, risk management, revenue management, and any other fields where improving business productivity is paramount. In the public sector, OR studies may focus on energy policy, defense, health care, water resource planning, design and operation of urban emergency systems, or criminal justice. To reiterate, OR reflects an analytical method of problem solving and decision-making that is useful in the management of organizations.In OR, problems are (1 ) decomposed into basic components and (2) solved via mathematical analysis. Some of the analytical methods used in OR include mathematical logic, simulation, network analysis, queuing theory, and game theory. The actual OR process can in general be described via three steps. (1) A set of potential solutions to a problem is identified and developed (the set may be rather large). (2) The alternatives derived in the first step are analyzed, and reduced to a smaller set of solutions (the solutions have to be feasible and workable). 3) The alternatives derived in the second step are subjected to simulated implementation and, if feasible, exposed to an actual analysis in a real-world environment. It has to be pointe d out that in the final step, psychology and management sciences often play a rather important role. Generally speaking OR improves the effectiveness and the efficiency of an institute the term operations in OR may Suggests that the manufacturing application Category represents the Original home of OR. That is not quite accurate, as the name originated from military operations, not business operations.Nevertheless, it is a true statement that OR's successes in contemporary business pervade manufacturing and service operations, logistics, distribution, transportation, and telecommunication. The myriad applications include scheduling, routing, workflow improvements, elimination of bottlenecks, inventory control, business process re- engineering, site selection, or facility and general operational planning. Revenue and supply chain management reflect two growing applications that are distinguished by their use of several OR methods to cover several functions.Revenue management entails first to accurately forecasting the demand, and secondly to adjust the price Structure over time to more profitably allocate fixed capacity. Supply chain decisions describe the who, what, when, and where abstractions from purchasing and transporting raw materials and parts, through manufacturing actual products and goods, and anally distributing and delivering the items to the customers. The prime management goal here may be to reduce overall cost while processing customer orders more efficiently than before.The power of utilizing OR methods allows examining this rather complex and convoluted chain in a comprehensive manner, and to search among a vast number of combinations for the resource optimization and allocation strategy that seem most effective, and hence beneficial to the operation. Businesses and organizations frequently face challenging operational problems whose SUCCessfUl solution requires certain expertise in applied autistic, optimization, stochastic modeling, or a com bination of these areas.To illustrate, a company may need to design a sampling plan in order to meet specific quality control objectives. In a manufacturing environment, operations that compete for the same resources must be scheduled in a way that deadlines are not violated. The manager of a supermarket must determine how many checkout lines to keep open at various times during the day and evening so that shoppers are not unnecessarily delayed.The area of operations research that concentrates on real-world operational problems is called production systems. Production systems problems may arise in settings that include, but are not limited to, manufacturing, telecommunications, health-care delivery, facility location and layout, and staffing. The area of production systems presents special challenges for operations researchers. Production problems are operations research problems, hence solving them requires a solid foundation in operations research fundamentals.Additionally, the so lution of production systems problems frequently draws on expertise in more than one of the primary areas of operations research, implying that the successful production researcher cannot be One-dimensional. Furthermore, production systems problems cannot be solved without an in- depth understanding of the real problem, since invoking assumptions that simplify the mathematical structure of the problem may lead to an elegant solution for the wrong problem.Common sense and practical insight are common attributes of successful production planners. At the current time, the field of OR is extremely dynamic and ever evolving. To name a few of the contemporary (primary) research projects, current work in OR seeks to develop software for material flow analysis and design of flexible manufacturing facilities using pattern recognition and graph theory algorithms. Further, approaches for the design of re-configurable manufacturing systems and progressive automation of discrete manufacturing sy stems are under development.Additional OR projects focus on the industrial deployment of computer-based methods for assembly line balancing, business process reengineering, capacity planning, pull scheduling, and setup reduction, primarily through the integration of the philosophies of the Theory of Constraints and Lean Manufacturing. Quality in Research Companies need to compete both by bringing new products to the market and by improving existing products and processes. These two aspects constitute the rationale underlying this master's programmed.However, in addition to the factors discussed, we think that there should also be additional focus on the quality of operations research and the dissemination process of findings from such research. This has tremendous implications for the importance of operations research technology transfer to the national level. Broadly defined, this field deals with the efficient design and operation of systems, usually seeking to determine an optima l or effective utilization and allocation of scarce resources.The tools of OR lie in the mathematical doodling and analysis of physical or economic systems, and its scope of application arises in varied walks of life, in the areas of business, industry, government, and national defense. As stiffer competition and lower resilience to business shock make companies and industries walk a tight line that separates success from failure, the emphasis of this field on both long-term (strategic) and short-term (tactical) efficiency and cost effectiveness are increasingly promoting its use in widely diverse areas.Although the importance of quality in research might seem obvious, we have found that quality and methodological rigor are often lacking. To identify proven strategies aimed at improving routine immunization services in developing countries, we recently conducted a literature review assessing both results and methodological rigor. The lack of quality and rigor for most studies and th e overall paucity of well-conducted published studies was striking, especially in light of the longstanding Expanded Programmed on Immunization (PEP) and the widely recognized importance and cost- effectiveness.Also some of the broader issues, innovations and implications across a spectrum of disciplines which co-inhabit the same ecosystem. The history has been presented as the paradigm of detonation management, defined as the use of technological, quantitative methods, and decision making techniques in order to make business decisions based on data and analyses rather than solely on intuition. The history of this paradigm has been presented as a series of periods, each of which have unique characteristics, whilst simultaneously being part of an overall evolution.Using the themes that are particularly prevalent in the analytics period, examples of possible research directions for the OR community have also been presented. Above all the analysis demonstrates that OR does not exist en tirely in isolation; the community must embrace and engage with the wider concerns of the ecosystem and paradigm or risk declining into obscurity. With other academic and practitioner communities engaging with analytics and increasing research in these areas, OR is in danger of being left behind.Whilst arguments may be made that such research directions risk diluting the OR ‘brand', the original conception of the discipline was to use the most relevant methods available to solve business problems, a tradition such research falls firmly within. Many businesses are currently uncertain of how the economic recession will affect demand for their services and products. For global permeate Norse Kooks, this IS a familiar situation. Over the past decade, the company has experienced declining demand for its products as electronic media have replaced newsprint publications.As it struggles to survive, the company has been forced to make some difficult decisions, including closing paper p roduction lines and entire mills. As decision makers become more involved in implementing Total Quality Management, questions are raised about which management practices would be emphasized. In this exploratory investigation of the relationship of specific quality management practices to quality performance, a framework Was constructed.It focuses on both core quality management practices and on the infrastructure that creates an environment supportive of their use. In addition, it incorporates two measures of quality performance and their role in establishing and sustaining a competitive advantage. Path analysis was used to the management, with multiple regression analysis determining the path coefficients, which were decomposed into their various effects. Weak linkages were eliminated.The trimmed model indicated that perceived quality market outcomes were primarily related to statistical control/feedback and the product design process, while the internal measure of percent that pas sed final inspection without requiring rework was strongly related to process flow management and to statistical control/feedback, to a lesser extent. Both measures of quality performance were related to competitive advantage. Important infrastructure components included top management support and workforce management.Supplier relationships and work attitudes were also related to some of the core quality practices and quality performance measures. The driving idea behind OR is to collaborate with clients to design and improve operations, make better decisions, solve problems, and advance managerial functions including policy formulation, planning, forecasting, and performance measurement. The goal of OR is to develop information to provide valuable insight and guidance.By utilizing OR methods, the objective is to apply to any given project the most appropriate scientific techniques selected from mathematics, any of the sciences including the social and management sciences, and any b ranch of engineering, respectively. The work normally entails collecting and analyzing data, creating and testing mathematical models, proposing approaches not previously considered, interpreting information, making recommendations, and aiding at implementing the initiatives that result from the study.Moreover, utilizing OR methods allow to develop and implement software, systems, services, and products related to a client's methods and applications. The systems may include strategic decision-support systems, which play a vital role in many organizations today. Profitability in Research profitability is a prime concern in all organizations. Operations management uses various tools and strategies to try and improve if not maximize profitability. Operations management, which encompasses supply chain management and logistics, deals with how well some function is performed.This research analyzes the specific strategy of production mix efficiency and what mediating effect it has on the r elationship between operations management and financial profitability. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the relationship between he three constructs. This research found that operations management alone does not have a positive impact on profitability. However, the strategy of production mix efficiency has a positive mediating effect on profit, which provides a potential answer to firms trying to increase profits through operations.Analyzing a strategy of operations management for the purposes of increasing profitability. The strategy of production mix efficiency looks at factors involved in the process of producing goods. Some variables here are the number of items each firm makes and the time and costs involved in ACH. The study is a logistical aspects of business. The purpose of this paper is to provide operation managers and firms with an in-depth understanding of what factors have a more direct impact on profitability.Operati ons management is concerned with all areas that affect the company on a daily basis. According to Jaggy (1992), one of the goals of operations management is to achieve profit minimization. In order to achieve this, there are various factors that can be utilized. A few of these strategies are production mix efficiency, product route efficiency, and resource commitment. This research analyses production mix efficiency. Counting (1996) describes a situation in which a management process that is not optimized will result in less than optimal results.Such results lead to solid and hazardous waste, as well as increasing operational costs. This forward supply chain issue creates a desire and need for a well-organized and robust reverse logistics System. Supply chain disruptions pose an increasingly significant risk to supply chains Synergy demands these forward and reverse systems be linked for effective communication and scheduling purposes. Typically, supply chains will consist f an inde pendent system for the reverse chain however, it will work hand in hand with the forward chain.Without such integration, Stock (1992) notes that several problems may arise because firms do not understand they can positively affect the environment through reduction and recycling of waste. Industries are in the habit of utilizing virgin materials rather than recycled ones. Lastly, there exists a perception that recycled materials are inferior to virgin ones. It is important with regard to profitability to make the most of the materials a firm has. This is achieved by using the materials the firm has to produce the optimal mix of products to achieve maximum profitability.

Calveta’s Dining Services, Inc: A Recipe for Growth? Essay

Higher chances of attaining goals and will obtain desired market penetration Increases Calveta’s geographic coverage and market share GSD is presently in a good position, when the revenue generation is taken into consideration. Calveta would attain a great deal of customer potential as it was maintained by GSD. The organization hierarchy could be restructured so that it could accommodate significant growth while preserving the company’s core values. The disadvantages of choosing this option are: Very risky Plagued with labor issues and management turnover Quality of service may suffer. Higher debt load Does not have a strong balance sheet but has great income potential. Jennifer Calveta COO of firm: Could have been CEO instead of her brother Very detail oriented and concerned about preserving the company’s culture Is concerned about the acquisition of business for growth expansion Is concerned with the organizations structural modification 1. What role (if any) have Calveta’s values played in the organization’s success? Calveta has clearly defined values to guide the staff’s behavior. The immense growth of the organization confirms that Calveta’s is doing an excellent in embedding their values in their employees’ actions and management decisions. The values necessitate the inclusion of everyone and the exclusion of none. The organization’s values enabled all levels of management to usher the employees toward a continuous growth. 2. Does Calveta’s operating approach offer a sustainable competitive advantage? Calveta’s operating approach offered a unique competitive edge over many of its competitors. While their competitors focused on highly regularized systems and standards, Calveta chose to build local food service teams and menu offers to serve each facility distinctively. Additionally, Calveta’s wait staff treated the residents like family following their behavioral standards. This type of customer service garnered rave written reviews from the facility’s residents. Finally, implementing programs that increase efficiency while satisfying the needs of bed ridden or immobile residents confirm a very innovative operating approach that resulted in a sustainable competitive advantage. 3. Why haven’t other food service providers copied Calveta’s approach? Calveta’s competitors were not focused on conducting a profitable business without straying away from its core values. Passion, customer service and efficiency remained at the forefront of every decision. On the other hand, their competitors were focused on growth, meeting financial goals and increasing market share. Rarely do we find companies who keep both service and profit as a priority. 4. Given Calveta’s communication and internal organizational challenges, how important will training and development be to maintaining growth and culture? The internal challenges within Calveta confirm that the organization must continue to rely on training and development to ensure success. However, training and development should not be done in a manner that reduces quality or at the expense of the residents’ positive experiences. Upper management must create systems that focuses on the development of new managers and establishes a solid means of communication between staff and management. Growing pains is inevitable but it cannot become a deterrent to taking the company to the next level. 5. Calveta’s fifth goal is profitable growth. Goals one through four is more ethical in nature. Is goal five inconsistent with the first four? Establishing growth as a goal is consistent with Calevta’s other goals. However growth, whether by acquisition or market penetration, should not mean that â€Å"Antonio’s Way† is watered down in any way or removed from the way Calveta conducts business. Calveta’s unique approach to business cannot be lost while increasing revenues and market share. As long as Calveta’s values remain the guiding force to management decisions and employees’ actions, having growth as a priority should be expected. 6. How, if at all, should Calveta’s organizational structure be changed to resolve communication issues, preserve the company’s culture, and support future growth? Calveta’s uses the top-down management structure. This structure contains layers of managers (rank structure) which all communications must pass through. With each layer there is a risk of distorted information being sent to the next level. Each level adds to the communication becoming more confused and out of context. Therefore more layers mean a greater risk of distortion and confusion among the staff. Such distortions cause a lack of productivity, frustration, confusion, and inept management. Conversely, management is receiving feedback from the field that is invalid since the original plans, orders, and ideas were not acted on; the same risk of distortion exists with the return flow. The end result of this is that customer service suffers. The image and prestige of Calveta is damaged. Calveta should simplify its management structure, implement an information network, combine some positions and eliminate others. The implementation of a more flat management structure will reduce the chances of distorting communication. 7. Should Frank Calveta move forward with an expansion into the hospital sector? With the proposed acquisition? Calveta should focus on making serious internal improvements before piling on debt, increasing the chances of management turnovers, and getting into business with an organization known to not have the best reputation. Calveta has a great reputation and its ability to function and grow with little debt confirms that their balance sheet is in excellent condition as well. An internal restructure and a recommitment to its values and goals should be the number one priority. Calveta should not move forward with the expansion into the hospital sector at this time. On the other hand the acquisition of GSD may be an excellent move for Celveta. This acquisition will increase Celveta’s geographical presence and increase its assets without increasing its debt load. With some management restructuring done within GSD, Frank should be able to meet his father’s financial goal to double profit in 5 years.

Why Do People Fall in Love

A question many of us find us asking ourselves in today’s society. Many of us have been hurt by love and therefore have refused to neither use nor believe that there is such a word or feeling that exists in the universe. People fall in love for many reasons; some don’t even know why they end up in love. I believe people fall in love for three life-based reasons, to expand the self and to increase our abilities and our effectiveness in other words self-expansion, lack of self-dependency, Last but certainly not least they have something good to offer and they want something good in return.I myself have been thru all these stages of â€Å"Love† as we all call it and have come to a conclusion thru my own two eyes and hands on or should I say feelings on experience. The first reason people fall in love is to expand themselves thru other people also known as self-expansion. In his book â€Å"Self-expansion: a NEW! Integrated paradigm for psychology† author Miklo s Fodor describes very clearly how people expand themselves with one another. He created a model called Fodormiks Integrated Paradigm for Psychology (FIPP).The model describes many forms of human behavior from sex, religion, problem solving and even intimate relations. Upon reading the first couple of pages of the book I learned that the amount of money where you live and yourself can all affect who you fall in love with. If you’re wealthy you are a target of love to someone who wants to expand their business or find funding for something which the person couldn’t afford on their own. An example of self-expansion is in family’s that are wealthy and both husband and wife own businesses or assets that are in good use with each other.The husbands company makes the leather for her fancy purses. Many people believe that this kind of love is wrong but it’s a form of love in which both parties are happy and successful. Another example of self-expansion is someon e who feels they can accomplish more and succeed in life with some besides them. The feeling of being complete motivates the person to pursue a life of fulfillment. Take for instance Romeo and Juliet two lovers who fate was decided by the feelings expressed to each other in self-expansion. The second problem causing reason people fall in love is lack of self-dependency.Many of us witness an individual in a relationship where they are not happy everyone advises them to leave and for some odd reason they claim they are in love. This type of love is brought on by growing up in a harsh unloving family, and they are glued to this person because when they were in distress that person put them at ease to the individual losing someone like that is something they just won’t do. Another reason this love is bought is the person is he/she gets whatever they want while they are with this person for some it could be a meal and the bills paid to others it could be a lavish life-style.A grea t quote that illustrates well what this person might be feeling is â€Å"I know well what I am fleeing from but not what I am in search of† written by Michel De Montaigne. The person knows the love is wrong but refuses to leave because simply they are afraid of not finding a better love. This quote also points out that the person is lost inside they don’t know what exactly they are here for in life or what exactly it is they are searching for in a relationship.Lack of self-dependency to my opinion is a horrible reason to be in love but many people in the world depend on this love to get them thru, sad to say this is the type of world we live in. The final reason I believe people fall in love is because they have something good to offer and they want something back in return. Now I believe in this love 100% but some say it’s wrong. In today’s society the relationships that work out are relationships in which both parties are offering something to each othe r.An example of this type of love maybe the wife is a great cook and the husband loves to eat, while in return the husband works on the car clean or does anything to which he believes he can pay the wife for here great cooking. Another way this type of love is manifested in the form of making the significant other feels special. In this type of relationship the trade-offs could range from a number of things, happiness for wealth or wealth for happiness, it could also be a sexual trade off. No matter what in this type of relationship if the person isn’t receiving something in return there is no possible way the relationship is going to work.Some people feel if they love someone more than they love themselves that person to is going to do the same for them, but as we all can see it doesn’t always turn out that way. Some people offer there time, money and efforts to attain the feeling of being loved and end up hurt in the end. I believe all love is false but is used as a way to cope with living with some of life’s hardest decision and it’s always good to have someone by your side thru these times but understanding love can help you attain and reach that level of love and happiness in life.In closing words to the feelings we find ourselves calling love, people fall in love for three life-based purposes to expand the self and to increase our abilities and our effectiveness in other words self-expansion, lack of self-dependency, Last but certainly not least they have something good to offer and they want something good in return. People expand themselves every day in every relationship decision we make or think of making weather done conscious or unconscious the mind has a life of its own and who you fall in love with is determined by many objects and situations surrounding you.Also people fall in love due to what I call lack of self-dependency. It’s a good thing to be in love but make sure it’s a love where both people are benefitting and are happy. Don’t let life’s bad mishaps determine who you fall in love with and the reasons you fall in love. And finally the ultimate reason to fall in love is having something good and offering it to some in returns for a better or equal something. In this love the amount of love you choose to give is the amount of love you get back, you don’t have to ever worry about this love when you encounter it, just embrace close your eyes and never let go.This is the love of feeling of matter of each other’s happiness this is the love I believe that we all should share with each other it would just make things better in the world that we live in.SOURCES http://www. quotegarden. com/self-discovery. html http://www. yoshke. com/2010/02/top-10-reasons-to-fall-in-love/ â€Å"Self-expansion: a NEW! Integrated paradigm for psychology† By Milkos Fodor http://www. 2knowmyself. com/relationship_breakups/why_do_we_fall_in_love Why Do People Fall in Love Why Do People Fall In Love Many researchers actually consider falling in love to be a biologic event. And there are some researchers that can show brain changes using MRI tests to show that there are actual changes in our brain that we think of psychologically but biologically it really is a physiologic change. But when we want to understand what falling in love is — the best concept to understand is the concept called limerance. Limerance is that period in a relationship of great passion, when we're almost obsessed with our partner, when we can think of nothing else, when we put our lives on hold to spend time, to pull all-nighters.We daydream about them and when we put our partner on a pedestal. When, everything they say is smart, when we wonder why everybody in the world isn't in love with our partner. That's limerance. At a certain point in a relationship, limerance fades. It can only last about 2-3 years. At that point many would misperceive that as falling out of love, b ut in fact, it's really a change in the relationship. When the partnership changes from that passionate, exciting, romance, mystery, dangerous period, to one of a stable committed partnership, and by definition, you can't live up to that level of excitement.And at that point you start to see partner's flaws, and not everything they say is wonderful and they have some bad habits, and that requires the concept of recognizing that limerance fades, but being in love, and loving somebody does not. So, in order to really establish a good long-term relationship, we understand that falling out of love means just not putting our limits on wanting that passion all the time. is love natural in humans or are we thought to love by experience ? Non scientifically I think you love because you gave yourself to that person.You opened up about everything to them. You trust them, you get along with them, you can’t imagine not living without them there by you. You love because of the bond you cr eated with this person. We've all experienced love. We've loved (and been loved by) parents, brothers, sisters, friends, even pets. But romantic love is different. It's an intense, new feeling unlike any of these other ways of loving. Loving and being loved adds richness to our lives. When people feel close to others they are happier and even healthier. Love helps us feel important, understood, and secure.But each kind of love has its own distinctive feel. The kind of love we feel for a parent is different from our love for a baby brother or best friend. And the kind of love we feel in romantic relationships is its own unique type of love. Our ability to feel romantic love develops during adolescence. Teens all over the world notice passionate feelings of attraction. Even in cultures where people are not allowed to act on or express these feelings, they're still there. It's a natural part of growing up to develop romantic feelings and sexual attractions to others.These new feelings can be exciting — or even confusing at first. The Magical Ingredients of Love Relationships Love is such a powerful human emotion that experts are constantly studying it. They've discovered that love has three main qualities: 1. Attraction is the â€Å"chemistry† part of love. It's all about the physical — even sexual — interest that two people have in each other. Attraction is responsible for the desire we feel to kiss and hold the object of our affection. Attraction is also what's behind the flushed, nervous-but-excited way we feel when that person is near. 2.Closeness is the bond that develops when we share thoughts and feelings that we don't share with anyone else. When you have this feeling of closeness with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you feel supported, cared for, understood, and accepted for who you are. Trust is a big part of this. 3. Commitment is the promise or decision to stick by the other person through the ups and downs of the relationshi p. These three qualities of love can be combined in different ways to make different kinds of relationships. For example, closeness without attraction is the kind of love we feel for best friends.We share secrets and personal stuff with them, we support them, and they stand by us. But we are not romantically interested in them. Attraction without closeness is more like a crush or infatuation. You're attracted to someone physically but don't know the person well enough yet to feel the closeness that comes from sharing personal experiences and feelings. Romantic love is when attraction and closeness are combined. Lots of relationships grow out of an initial attraction (a crush or â€Å"love at first sight†) and develop into closeness.It's also possible for a friendship to move from closeness into attraction as two people realize their relationship is more than â€Å"just like† and they have become interested in one another in a romantic way. For people falling in love fo r the first time, it can be hard to tell the difference between the intense, new feelings of physical attraction and the deeper closeness that goes with being in love. Lasting Love or Fun Fling? The third ingredient in a love relationship, commitment, is about wanting and deciding to stay together as a couple in the future — despite any changes and challenges that life brings.Sometimes couples who fall in love in high school develop committed relationships that last. Many relationships don't last, though. But it's not because teens aren't capable of deep loving. We typically have shorter relationships as teens because adolescence is a time when we instinctively seek lots of different experiences and try out different things. It's all part of discovering who we are, what we value, and what we want out of life. Another reason we tend to have shorter relationships in our teens is because the things we want to get out of a romantic relationship change as we get a little older.In our teens — especially for guys — relationships are mainly about physical attraction. But by the time guys reach 20 or so, they rate a person's inner qualities as most important. Teen girls emphasize closeness as most important — although they don't mind if a potential love interest is cute too! In our teens, relationships are mostly about having fun. Dating can seem like a great way to have someone to go places with and do things with. Dating can also be a way to fit in. If our friends are all dating someone, we might put pressure on ourselves to find a boyfriend or girlfriend too.For some people dating is even a status thing. It can almost seem like another version of cliques: The pressure to go out with the â€Å"right† person in the â€Å"right† group can make dating a lot less fun than it should be — and not so much about love! In our late teens, though, relationships are less about going out to have fun and fitting in. Closeness, shari ng, and confiding become more important to both guys and girls. By the time they reach their twenties, most girls and guys value support, closeness, and communication, as well as passion.This is the time when people start thinking about finding someone they can commit to in the long run — a love that will last. What Makes a Good Relationship? When people first experience falling in love, it often starts as attraction. Sexual feelings can also be a part of this attraction. People at this stage might daydream about a crush or a new BF or GF. They may doodle the person's name or think of their special someone while a particular song is playing. It sure feels like love. But it's not love yet. It hasn't had time to grow into emotional closeness that's needed for love.Because feelings of attraction and sexual interest are new, and they're directed at a person we want a relationship with, it's not surprising we confuse attraction with love. It's all so intense, exciting, and hard to sort out. The crazy intensity of the passion and attraction phase fades a bit after a while. Like putting all our energy into winning a race, this kind of passion is exhilarating but far too extreme to keep going forever. If a relationship is destined to last, this is where closeness enters the picture. The early passionate intensity may fade, but a deep affectionate attachment takes its place.Some of the ways people grow close are: * Learning to give and receive. A healthy relationship is about both people, not how much one person can get from (or give to) the other. * Revealing feelings. A supportive, caring relationship allows people to reveal detail about themselves — their likes and dislikes, dreams and worries, proud moments, disappointments, fears, and weaknesses. * Listening and supporting. When two people care, they offer support when the other person is feeling vulnerable or afraid. They don't put down or insult their partner, even when they disagree.Giving, receiv ing, revealing, and supporting is a back-and-forth process: One person shares a detail, then the other person shares something, then the first person feels safe enough to share a little more. In this way, the relationship gradually builds into a place of openness, trust, and support where each partner knows that the other will be there when times are tough. Both feel liked and accepted for who they are. The passion and attraction the couple felt early on in the relationship  isn't lost. It's just different. In healthy, long-term relationships, couples often find that intense passion comes and goes at different times.But the closeness is always there. Sometimes, though, a couple loses the closeness. For adults, relationships can sometimes turn into what experts call â€Å"empty love. † This means that the closeness and attraction they once felt is gone, and they stay together only out of commitment. This is not usually a problem for teens, but there are other reasons why rel ationships end Why Do Relationships End? Love is delicate. It needs to be cared for and nurtured if it is to last through time. Just like friendships, relationships can fail if they are not given enough time and attention.This is one reason why some couples might not last — perhaps someone is so busy with school, extracurricular, and work that he or she has less time for a relationship. Or maybe a relationship ends when people graduate and go to separate colleges or take different career paths. For some teens, a couple may grow apart because the things that are important to them change as they mature. Or maybe each person wants different things out of the relationship. Sometimes both people realize the relationship has reached its end; sometimes one person feels this way when the other does not.Moving On Losing love can be painful for anyone. But if it's your first real love and the relationship ends before you want it to, feelings of loss can seem overwhelming. Like the feel ings of passion early in the relationship, the newness and rawness of grief and loss can be intense — and devastating. There's a reason why they call it a broken heart. When a relationship ends, people really need support. Losing a first love isn't something we've been emotionally prepared to cope with. It can help to have close friends and family members to lean on.Unfortunately, lots of people — often adults — expect younger people to bounce back and â€Å"just get over it. † If your heart is broken, find someone you can talk to who really understands the pain you're going through. It seems hard to believe when you're brokenhearted that you can ever feel better. But gradually these feelings grow less intense. Eventually, people move on to other relationships and experiences. Relationships — whether they last 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years, or a lifetime — are all opportunities to experience love on its many different levels. We learn both how to love and how to be loved in return.Romance provides us with a chance to discover our own selves as we share with someone new. We learn the things we love about ourselves, the things we'd like to change, and the qualities and values we look for in a partner. Loving relationships teach us self-respect as well as respect for others. Love is one of the most fulfilling things we can have in our lives. If romance hasn't found you yet, don't worry — there's plenty of time. And the right person is worth the wait This felling of love is a very â€Å"raw† effect of pheromones or sexual hormones that we pick up when around other people.Its root lies in the fact that Mother Nature wants us to procreate and suggests that when this â€Å"falling in love† sensation occurs then the individual these feelings are centered around would make a good partner to have offspring with in terms of a healthy offspring. It DOES NOT mean the same person will make a good life partner. Our society seems to place a great deal of significance on this sensation, and tend to co notate it with a mysterious and magical feeling that can only be the allusive concept of love.This is also why we live in a society with such a high divorce rate. Although it would be nice to think this magical and mysterious feeling extends for the rest of our lives and is an indicator that we found our soul mates – the reality is it is nothing more than chemical warfare with the biology of our bodies. What love it is, is a choice – plain and simple. Of course we hope that happy feelings and good times are a natural result of that choice, but this is not required for the choice of love to exist.People who define love based on how they feel are often times in for a bumpy ride with relationships, because when the body changes its biology, or someone else crosses their path with a new set of hormones/pheromones they react to they have the magical mysterious feeling all over again, but f or someone new. So my two cents would be to understand â€Å"falling in love† is a term that refers to a very raw biological process, one that is independent and should not affect our conscious decisions as to who is significant in