Strategic planning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic planning - Research Paper Example Benchmarking b. Knowledge management c. Utilization of general quality management skills VIII. Conclusion a. General Statements about Wal-Mart. b. Strategic Planning Abstract This is an 8 and half pages of in depth evaluation and analysis of Wal-Mart. The paper focuses on a resource based analysis and SWOT analysis of Wal-Mart’s strategic planning. There is also a look at control development and evaluation followed by a discussion of quality management at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart: A Master of Strategic Planning Name: (fill in) Strategic Planning Ashford University Wal-Mart: A Master of Strategic Planning Since its beginnings Wal-Mart has implemented strategic plans and innovative concepts to move to the place of the number one retailer in the world. What has made Wal-Mart a world leader in the retail industry? The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how Wal-Mart’s corporate management has succeeded through innovative strategic planning and implementation of the plans to grow Wal-Mart into a multibillion dollar operation. First section of this paper will contain a brief corporate background, an evaluation of culture and environment, and a resource-view analysis of the corporation will make up the first section of this paper. In section two, a deeper analysis of strategic planning and implementation, leading to the conclusion. Humble Beginnings Wal-Mart was the brainchild of Sam Walton. Sam Walton began Wal-Mart in the 1960’s after he had researched the changes in retail environments across the country. He drafted a plan for deep discounted operation that not only sold a variety of merchandise, but would include a pharmacy. His plan also would expand to include four types of retail stores; discount stores, supercenters, Sam’s clubs and neighborhood markets. Sam Walton opened his first discount store in the Rogers, Arkansas in July 1962. Walton incorporated his stores in 1969 with corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. In 1970 his corporation went public. (Gamble and Thompson 2011) By this time his company had grown from the one store in the beginning to 38 stores. A short nine years later, in 1979, the company was at 276 stores in 11 states. Culture and Environment The culture that Sam Walton promoted and developed with his company was part of the strategies that lead to his company’s success. Walton’s four core principles for managing are treat employees as partners, build for the future, recognize the road to success includes failing, and involve employees at all levels in the total decision making process. The three basic beliefs that underlie the culture at Wal-Mart are respect for the individual, service for the customers, and strive for excellence. Walton was a hand on manager and has passed this philosophy on to the current CEO of the company. Walton’s legacy is still very present in the way the company handles employees, customers, and expansion. Resource-based Analysis This anal ysis will look at the resources that are unique to Wal-Mart and produce and maintain a competitive edge for the company. Wal-Mart’s most unique resource was the founder Sam Walton and his business philosophy. His willingness in pioneering discount stores in no traditional settings, pioneering just-in-time inventory, online processes with suppliers, maintained corporate offices in a low cost environment, and set an example for others that few have been willing to repeat. (Price 1996) The analysis done shows that as a corporation Wal-Mart demonstrates; a great

Separation or division of powers between institutions in the criminal Essay

Separation or division of powers between institutions in the criminal justice system (comparative) - Essay Example Law Enforcement: are mandated with the roll of taking the report for crime that happened in a given area2. Defense attorneys have the mandate to defend the accused in the court of law3. Prosecution: they have the mandate of representing the government at the court of law4. Courts: they are managed by the judges who ensure abiding of the law to the latter and also oversee the court proceedings5. Corrections: they are mainly found in the prisons; they supervise the convicted offenders when they are in prison. Each of the components has a key role in the criminal justice process. And their separation ensures the suspects rights protection by the system. Various factors for comparison of the three countries South Africa, United Kingdom, and France criminal justice system include: the system of law practiced by the country, policing, structure of the court, juvenile justice, and gender equality in the criminal system, arrest of foreigners, prison and the punishment6. United Kingdom Court Structure: The lowest court in the United Kingdom is the Magistrates’ Court. The magistrate court deals with trials of most criminal offense. The District Judges and the Deputy District Judges heads the magistrate court. The suspect in the Magistrate Court appeals to the Crown Court. The suspect in the Crown Court appeals to the High Court headed by the Circuit judges. The suspects in the County Court appeals to the High Court, and they are headed by the Circuit judge, District Judge, Recorders and Deputy District judges. County Court deals with the trial of most Civil Cases. The High Court is the third powerful court in the country, Queens’s bench, Chancery and Family Division. All the three division appeals to the High Court and it can also hear first cases. The High Court and Deputy High Court judges are the heads of the High Court. Suspects in the High Court appeal to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal

Do you agree with the view that new communication technologies Essay

Do you agree with the view that new communication technologies accentuate gender inequalities in transnational family care-giving arrangements - Essay Example In simple words, transnational families are defined as those families, where the members of the family stay in distinct nations for a long period of the time. The concept of transnational families have emerged on the basis of the notion that migration is a never-ending process and that migration can help obtaining better well-being opportunities. Due to these principle reasons, it is very commonly observed that an increasing number of people are attempting to migrate from one country to the other. However, economic challenges presented due to migration on these individuals often restrict them from taking their entire family to their host country, and thus have to leave behind their family in the country of their origin. In this situation, the families try to keep in touch with their family members through the various forms of digital media communication channels such as Skype, social networking sites, and using the mobile networks. The system of leaving few of the members of the fami ly behind and migrating to some other country or places is determined as a temporary solution of the problem, which may range from personal reasons to the economic reasons, such as need for better job opportunities (Coface, 2012). In the earlier days, it was very commonly observed that the male members of the family used to leave their family behind in the hometown and move on to the other places in search of a better job. However, now with the modern age, it has been observed that the female members are also relocating to the other places, reflecting a distinct trend from that observed in the earlier days. Arguably, it can be affirmed that it is due to the modernisation of the world and the introduction of the new communication technologies, which has brought about changes in the social environment. This popularity of the female members can be asserted as the significant blessing of the transnational families. In order words, the transnational families have introduced a

How Christians put there believe of helping others into practise Essay Example for Free

How Christians put there believe of helping others into practise Essay Helping others is a big part of being a Christian. One of the commandments is Love thy neighbour; so many Christians do what they can to help. Charities are a popular way of helping the poor. Both Christian and non-Christian charities provide a wide range of help for the poor and needy. Christian Aid was set up in Britain and Ireland at the end of the Second World War. Its main aims were to improve the quality of peoples lives, particularly those of refugees who were struggling to cope with the aftermath of World War Two. It also funded Churches to help repair damage caused by the war. Eventually Christian Aids work started to involve other countries. It now has an income of approximately à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½40 million a year, and there are forty churches in the United Kingdom and Ireland who are part of Christian Aid. Most of the money, which they make through door-to-door collections and donations from members of the public and various churches, is put towards development work to help people in the long term. There are many other Christian charities that help in different ways. The Church of England Childrens society helps children in need. The Hospice Movement helps terminally ill people live out there life in a relaxed, caring environment making the experience less stressful for the patient and the patients family. Another famous Christian organisation is the Samaritans which was set up by Chad Varah, a priest. Chad Varah set up this organisation because horrified to find out that 3 suicides took place every day in London. He believed that the best way to help someone who was contemplating committing suicide was to talk to them. He set up a phone in his church and advertised locally for advice for people who were feeling suicidal. Now The Samaritans deal with 2 250 000 calls a year Sir John Templeton is a famous charitable Christian. He grew up in a poor family on a farm in Tennessee. He was educated at both Yale and Oxford University and he became a financial consultant in New York. Throughout his life he gave 10% of his earnings (a process called tithing) to help the poor. Eventually he became very wealthy running a multimillion dollar investment company, where he successfully managed funds for over two million people world wide. In 1972 he started the Templeton prize to be awarded for progress in religion. The Templeton prize is now worth more than the Noble Peace Prize. Fifteen years later he was knighted for services in philanthropy. In 1992, he sold his investment company for $400 million. He still gives money to support projects around the world. George Macleod is another famous charitable Christian. In 1938 he set up a Christian community on Iona, an island off of Scotland. He found volunteers to learn building, stone masonry and carpentry skills and together they rebuilt Ionas ruined abbey. After that he opened a centre to provide shelter for young people from across the world to live in a community. The people of this community cook, clean, garden and work away. When they are not working they pray. The people who live there feel it is better for everyone to share and live in a close community than be rich and not. Oscar Romero was born in 1917. He became Archbishop of El Salvador in 1977. When he took his post his meekness encouraged the corrupt authorities to take advantage and step up there reign of terror against the church; priests were murdered and tortured. When he witnessed the murder of a particular priest Romero began to think differently. He began to speak out against the government in his sermons. In March 1980 he was shot while speaking out against the government in a hospital chapel. He is seen as a great martyr, who took the greatest sacrifice for what he believed in.

Deontological Moral Theory Essay -- essays research papers

Deontological moral theory is a Non-Consequentialist moral theory. While consequentialists believe the ends always justify the means, deontologists assert that the rightness of an action is not simply dependent on maximizing the good, if that action goes against what is considered moral. It is the inherent nature of the act alone that determines its ethical standing. For example, imagine a situation where there are four critical condition patients in a hospital who each need a different organ in order to survive. Then, a healthy man comes to the doctor’s office for a routine check-up. According to consequentialism, not deontology, the doctor should and must sacrifice that one man in order to save for others. Thus, maximizing the good. However, deontological thought contests this way of thinking by contending that it is immoral to kill the innocent despite the fact one would be maximizing the good. Deontologists create concrete distinctions between what is moral right and wron g and use their morals as a guide when making choices. Deontologists generate restrictions against maximizing the good when it interferes with moral standards. Also, since deontologists place a high value on the individual, in some instances it is permissible not to maximize the good when it is detrimental to yourself. For example, one does not need to impoverish oneself to the point of worthlessness simply to satisfy one’s moral obligations. Deontology can be looked at as a generally flexible moral theory that allows for self-interpretation but like all others theories studied thus far, there are arguments one can make against its reasoning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One objection to deontological moral theory is that the theory yields only absolutes and cannot always justify its standpoints. Actions are either classified as right or wrong with no allowance for a gray area. Furthermore, the strict guidelines tend to conflict with commonly accepted actions. For example, lying is always considered morally wrong--even a â€Å"white lie.† Therefore, one must not lie even if it does more good. In our society although individuals accept lying as being morally wrong, â€Å"white lies† have become an exception. Only having absolutes creates a theory that is extremely hard only to abide by, especially when deontological though permits you from making a choice when that choice would clearly be optimal... ...individual beliefs, one can form their own educated opinions regarding what kind of action he should take. Morals are also not always concrete. Relativist thought contends each group of people may contain different morals. From that opinion, one may assert that morals themselves are not absolute. Still, deontological moral theory provides a strong base for making correct decisions. There are few realistic exceptions to the theory and one can easily notice when an exception is to be made.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So, knowing that deontology creates a valuable beginning for a strong moral theory, one can simply interpret the theory less strictly. Deontology can be a quite appealing theory when not taken so literally. Clearly, one has morals they consider more important than others. If the theory is adjust for this idea, the notion of moral dilemmas is eliminated and one would be allowed to lie if it saved lives. Deontology when looked at loosely is simply a moral theory that says we have morals and we need to consider them when making decisions. Therefore, one may conclude that the overall principles or deontology are correct and that this moral theory should not be dismissed.

Hemingway Indian Camp

â€Å"Indian Camp† Essay In Hemingway’s short story â€Å"Indian Camp†, the use of light and dark symbolism is apparent throughout. Two different races are seen in the story, the white man, and the dark skinned Indians. The white man seems to be living the life, while the Indians live in a life of oppression and despair. The white man is clearly â€Å"superior† to the Indians, however Hemingway’s greater purpose of this symbolism is seen in the enlightenment of Nick Adams.When Nick Adams begins the story on his way to this camp he is already taken into the dark upon his initial journey along with his father and Uncle. Led by an Indian guide, Nick has no idea of what to expect or where he is being led. Upon their arrival to the camp several symbols of light and dark are seen quite clearly. Hemingway touches on a few characteristics including the Uncle’s cigar, and Indian guide leading them with his lantern. In the cigar, it burns and sheds lig ht in a dark world, a world these white men are not accustomed to and have no knowledge on.He then attempts to share his cigars with the Indians, perhaps showing he is willing to share his knowledge with them as well. Later, Hemingway describes how the Indian guide uses his lantern during their journey to the camp, however once they reach the road, he blows it out signifying how that road built by the white man now sheds light on where he is, and that is the Indian Camp. Upon their arrival, Nick’s father finally finds Shanty, the pregnant Indian he must perform surgery on. The Indians in this scene, step away from the lit road, and sit in the dark.Perhaps they are more comfortable in the dark and have no desire to be under the white mans light. Or in this case watch the white man perform surgery. Later, the woman’s husband is found dead, and Nick’s father tries to hide this harsh reality from his son, but Nick experiences it all in one night. At the beginning of their journey, Nick was led to the camp by the Indian guide with the lantern. Upon his departure, he reaches enlightenment on life in the light of a new day. He found a new understanding thanks to a dark skinned Indian guide with a lantern.Symbolically he was guiding Nick to his new perceptions and understanding, at least in my opinion. The metaphors are quite apparent in Hemingway’s writing. Two opposing cultures, races, and people contrasted throughout in â€Å"light† and â€Å"dark†. Nick had to take the darkness to eventually receive the light. He had to see a different side of life to reach clarity and understanding. Hemingway displays the racial differences and thoughts of both the Indians and white men with his symbolism in this story.

Education in Evolution: from Freire’s Bank Clerk to Problem Poser

Our portrait as students is an evolution of experiences of continuous life’s challenges and disasters. In our childhood, we consider our parents the first teachers. In the process of growing and maturing, we join the educational world going to school at the same time that we are introduced to the school of life. As scholars, we have experienced Freire’s two educational methods – bank-clerk and problem-posing.It is true that the educator would decide what method to employ, however, at the end, most of us, including the students depicted in ancient and modern literature, would choose to be critical thinkers and exhibit Freire’s â€Å"Emerging Consciousness†, opening the door to creativity, critical and a revolutionary learning process. Usually, the beginning of our education starts at home; our parents are the first ones who teach us how to behave with manners and cultural customs. The education that we received at home can be different for everybody and the reason is different cultures, languages, and religion.The way our parents and families teach us can be defined as coalition of bank clerk and problem posing methods, the parents are the teachers and we are the students, sometimes the parents use the â€Å"banking† concept, they talk and give commands and the students just listen and accept the commands. As Freire declares Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat.This is the â€Å"banking† concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits (Freire 72). Freire tells us that using â€Å"banking† education, the parents become narrators and the children just containers to be filled with the parents’ knowl edge. Pedagogy of the Oppressed emphasizes that communication between parents and children, doesn’t exist in a â€Å"banking† education. â€Å"Banking† education means suppression and by suppression, children are limited to extend their learning process by being filled by the parents’ ideas.But do the parents realize that using a bank-clerk method minimizes or annuls their children’s creative power? Some parents do not realize it, they become oppressors and their children the oppressed. They consider their children inexperienced and ignorant. The parents think that their children have to learn what they teach them without asking or questioning anything, this way they would be integrated into the society accepting the passive role imposed on them. Strepsiades can be a good example of a father using â€Å"banking† education. Strepsiades wants his son to join the Thinkery to learn the two logics to save him from his debts.In the beginning, Phei dippides does not want to join the Thinkery because he believes that people from the Thinkery are crazy and what is taught is a fraud. Finally, Strepsiades persuades Pheidippides and he joins the Thinkery. Strepsiades claims â€Å"So tutor him in your two logics – traditional Philosophical Logic and that flashy modern sophistic logic they call Immoral because it’s so wonderfully wicked. In any case, if he can’t master both logics, I insist that he learn the Immoral Kind of argument† (The Clouds 66). Strepsiades does not question Socrates methods, he tells Socrates to take his son as his student and teach him the two logics.Stresiades does not care whatever it would take for Pheidippides to learn the two logics. Stresiades sees Pheidippides just as tool that would server the purpose of avoiding to pay his debts. Pheidippides is the oppressed and he can not question or criticize any method that they would use in the Thinkery to teach him the two logics. How ever, other parents like mine, using a coalition of both educational methods, sometimes talk in a mandatory way and nothing is negotiable; as Colonel Graff, the head of the battle school, does with Ender.Occasionally, my parents talk to me as a friend in a rational way, sharing their experiences and exposing their problems. As equal human beings, we reach the communication between teacher and student; in the process of learning from each other we expose Freire’s â€Å"emerging consciousness†. We do not see parents just as an authority, we see them as friends, together, through dialogue, critical criteria, and creativity we develop a problem-posing education.In Ender’s case, he is the third child of the Wiggin’s family; he knows that he could not stay with his biological parents, his instincts push him toward new experiences and the discovery of new things. He leaves his parents in an early age to join a battle school. Beginning on that day, Colonel Graff acts as Ender’s father at the school and Ender’s life would not be the same again. Like Ender, I felt the same attraction when I first joined culinary school at age of 13, leaving my family far away to experience one of the biggest challenges in my life.I would be alone in a place where everything and everybody was unknown to me. This life experience was a vital part of my educational journey. As Freire believes â€Å"Students, as they are increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves in the world and with the world, will feel increasingly challenged and obligated to respond to that challenge† (Freire 81). Freire thinks that when we find challenges in our life, that relate to ourselves, we develop the power to perceive critically the way of our existence in the world and in which we find ourselves; becoming teachers-students and students-teachers.Graff enforces â€Å"banking† education on Ender, manipulating, isolating, and limiting his existenc e in the school. Graff believes We could be wiped out and it would adjust, it would get on with the next step in evolution. But humanity doesn’t want to die. As a species, we have evolved to survive. And the way we do it is by straining a straining and, at last, every few generations, giving birth to genius. The one who invents the wheel. And light. And flight. The one who builds a city, a nation, an empire. (Ender’s Game 35). Graff explains to Ender why they chose him to join the battle school.He tells Ender that they expect him to be a hero and save humanity. As a tutor and teacher. Graff, being a bank-clerk, pushes Ender to his limits, but Ender’s reaction is different, the more they challenge and isolate him the more he awakes his emerging consciousness. Ender soon becomes the best strategist and leader of the battle school. On the other hand, Pecola’s story is totally different from Ender’s. Pecola bears the blame for the sins, crimes, mistake s or misfortunes of her parents, she suffers abuses from her parents, and people at the school even the cashier from the grocery store that sees through her.She is treated as a marginal person who does not fit in to white people’s view of what beauty means for society. For Pecola, beauty means to have blue eyes. Pecola feels As long as she looked the way she did, as long as she was ugly, she would have to stay with these people. Somehow she belonged to them. Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness, the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike. She was the only member of her class who sat alone at a double desk. The blues eye 45). Pecola does not like the world of isolation and oblivion where she lives. She associates black with ugliness. She tries to find an answer to why people ignore and despised her at the school and at home. She thinks that the solution for all her problems is to get blue eyes, and for her blue eyes are synonymous of acceptance and beauty. Unfortunately Pecola’s experiences at the school are not pleasant, fortunately, we join the educational world going to the school, and enjoying the adbantanges of education.The school of life together with the other educations helps us to improve our civilization. In this process, we find educators that would choose the â€Å"banking† system or the problem posing method. In my experience, some of the professors that I had in the past, used â€Å"banking† system; they would become transmitters and we would be the receptors. Most of the time with this kind of education you learn whatever the teacher tells you to learn, but in a short period of time this information would disappear. With a problem-posing education there is a relationship between professor and student.The class would become more active and teacher and student would become subjects of the educational process and humanism, they would learn from each other. Freire believes Those who use the â€Å"banking† approach, knowingly or unknowingly (for there are innumerable well-intentioned bank-clerk teachers who do not realize that they are serving only to dehumanize), fail to perceive that the deposits themselves contain contradictions about reality. But, sooner or later, these contradictions may lead formerly passive students to turn against their domestication and the attempt to domesticate reality.They may discover through existential experience that their present way of life is irreconcilable with their vocation to become fully human (Freire 75). Freire tells us that sometimes bank-clerk teachers do not realize that this method affects the students. It limits their thinking capability to be critical, to be creative and to develop new theories or ideas. He also tells us that the contradictions about reality sometimes may lead the passive students to awake their consciousness and to go against thei r teachers and the â€Å"banking† method in order to become fully human.For example, Ender usually is pushed to his limits by Graff who uses a â€Å"banking† method, isolating him from the rest of the students, challenging and changing the rules always. But Ender never surrenders, he answers his teachers in a problem poser way solving all the challenges using his emerging consciousness. It is true that at a certain point, Ender believes â€Å"It’s the teachers, they’re the enemy. They get us to fight each other, to hate each other. The game is everything. Win win win. It amounts to nothing† (Ender’s game 108).Eventually, Ender sees the teachers as his enemies and the game as nothing, which he demonstrates through such actions as his at the battle against two armies. As Freire says the contradictions about reality, leads the passive students to turn against the domesticate reality. Ender declares â€Å"I’m trapped here, Ender thought, trapped at the End of the World with no way out. And he knew at last the sour taste that had come to him, despite all his successes in the Battle School. It was despair† (Ender’s Game 141).Ender tells us how he feels about being manipulated and also about lacking control over his own life. He fears the possibility of running out of ideas and not being able to win. He is worried because he has a huge responsibility. He is the last hope of the humanity. He knows that if he wants to win against the Buggers he has to learn more about them, he has to learn how to love his enemies, this way he finds their weaknesses and he uses this strategy to destroy them. However, Ender and Pheidippides are from different genres and belong to distant eras.Pheidippides in the Thinkery is exposed to radical thinkers like Sophistry and by highly imaginative thinkers like Socrates. Above all, this creates repercussion, undermining traditional values and corrupting the moral of youths. Sohpist ry is a clear example of a problem poser method and he teaches Pheidippides that the principles of a society, such as justice and truth, are just concepts that can be adapted or interpreted to the needs of society. After he graduates from the Socrates’ Thinkery, Pheidippides believes that he is a new man.Using his emerging consciousness he thinks that with this power he can challenge everybody and everything. Pheidippides points out â€Å"But now, now that Socrates has made a fresh Pheidippides of me, now that my daily diet is Philosophy, Profundity, Subtlety, and Science, I propose to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt the philosophical propriety of beating my Father† (The clouds 103). Pheidippides emerging consciousness allows him to break and create his own rules, he says that his father deserves the beating because his father ordered him to play a lyre and sing a song even when Pheidippides did not wish to do it.His father keeps ordering things and Pheidippides did not agree with his father’s wishes, consequently he beat his father. Pheidippides justifies his acts telling his father that he beats him because he loves him and he says that for him loving and beating are synonymous. Pheidippides emerging consciousness makes him a bully. Never mind Pheidippides, Pecola’s classmates torment and abuse her for being black and ugly, she is also raped by her father, and eventually she becomes pregnant by him.Although the baby dies, her mother treats her coldly, as she thinks Pecola is ugly and is ashamed of her. Pecola becomes a martyr, she just wants to disappear from this world. She thinks that she is responsible for all bad things that happen in the world. Claudia who is Pocola’s friend comments The damage done was total. She spent her days, her tendril, sap-green days, walking up and down, up and down, her head jerking to the beat of a drummer so distant only she could hear. Elbows bent, hands on shoulders, she flailed her arm s like a bird in an eternal, grotesquely futile effort to fly.Beating the air, a winged but grounded bird, intent on the blue void it could not reach—could not even see—but which filled the valleys of the mind. (The bluest eye 204). Claudia describes Pecola who has lost her mind. Pecola is force farther into her fantasy world, which is her defense against violence and cruelty. The school of life awakes Pecola’s emerging consciousness in a different way from the other students, instead to expose to the world and confront the challenges; she drives herself into a state of madness over the blue eyes.Tired of a dark and sad world she decides to disconnect with the reality and she creates her world, with her own rules and friends where everything is beautiful and perfect, where she has the bluest eyes. It is true, that our emerging consciousness is the result of our different educations that is based on a problem-poser method, it does not serve the concern of the opp ressor. Freire thinks as revolutionaries, we perceive the world as a reality in the process of evolution instead of a static reality. Therefore we should strive for a humanist society.