Transformational Change

At each moment of every day, someone, of eminent importance or the subordinate drifting around the park is embarking on a transformational change of some specific nature. What does that suggest to us? It indicates that at some point in our life we will experience this transformation as well. A transformational change is a modification to your life, as you know it; the learning cycle begins by recognizing that there is a substantial problem with your life in its current state. Once this breakthrough has been exposed, you must establish a way to suppress the predicament in order to resolve it. From this point on it may be a brief or time-consuming journey to your new life; but the expedition can be excruciating nevertheless. â€Å"Transformation, though desirable, rarely comes easily. † (Alexander, M. Clugston, W, & Tice, E. , 2009, Ch 5, p7) One conclusion that you can count on is that the ordeal that you have been through was meaningful and advantageous to your growth and development. Personally, I have been through a significant amount of transformational learning experiences. A select few come to mind, such as: graduating high school and beginning college for the first time, getting married, having a child, getting a divorce, going to real estate and tax school, and the death of my grandmother. Each of these circumstances have taken a toll on me; but when it came to selecting the transformational change that I am presently engaged, I believe that my decision recedes back into position in my renewal experiential cycle. I have ineffectively accomplished my original educational goals; so instead of establishing a new target, I will be â€Å"embracing the opportunity† to attempt once more. I am certain that ninety percent of our class, at the slightest, is going through the same transition as I am; working tediously to get a college degree taking into account a cumbersome work schedule and a family. Those were the strongest decisive factors this time around. At this point in my life I sense it is now or never; I faithfully believe that God has a plan for all of us, and it is now my time to thrive. When change is openly engaged, growth inevitably results—allowing boundaries to be broken and a new sense of freedom to be experienced. † (Alexander, M. Clugston, W, & Tice, E. , 2009, Ch 5, p3) According to Jack Mezirow’s research, identifying the seven phases occurring in the learning process, I have fulfilled up to this moment the first six phases: * â€Å"Experiencing a disorienting dilemma† I have faced the reality that it is time to buy my own home to raise my daughter in, despite the issue that I will not be getting married. In order to do this I must be financially secure with a career and a college degree on the wall. * â€Å"Self-Examination† Am I ready? Can I handle the stress? Is it worth the trouble? Will I have the time? Am I going to have to give up something in order to accomplish my goals? Will my financial aid and all of my credits transfer I have already received? Yes to all, and it will be worth it as the result. * â€Å"Critical assessment of assumptions† Will there actually be a job or an innovative career opportunity available to me when I essentially receive my college degree? I assume there will be, but all I can do is complete school through graduation and explore then. * â€Å"Recognizing that others have gone through a similar process† My mother is my hero. She went back to school in her early thirty’s, the same age I am now, and she has three degrees on the wall. She actually started her doctorate degree, but decided to wait until the school relocated near us in a year and a half in order for her to go to classes on campus rather than online. Therefore, when she does get the doctorate she will have four college degrees and be a doctor. I cannot help but admire her. * â€Å"Exploring a process† Going to college online at Ashford University until I complete my Bachelor’s Degree is my plan. Then from there you cannot speculate what may happen. I may continue school until I am fifty years old. I genuinely love learning and education universally. * â€Å"Formulating a plan of action† This time in school I am majoring in a degree that will actually benefit me obtaining employment immediately when graduating. In addition, I have approximately twenty years experience in all aspects of business and management. My previous degree program at the last school I attended was Interior Design. I am highly interested, but the market is obsolete, just as Real Estate in which I hold a license. * â€Å"Reintegration† I am not certain that I have accomplished this phase at the present time. (Alexander, M. Clugston, W, & Tice, E. , 2009, Ch 5, p7) For me personally, the reintegration phase can be experiential in two different aspects; attending school and being acclimated by the end of my first class, which is undoubtedly fulfilled. On the other hand, it could indicate graduating and facing the world as a newfound pristine college graduate. If the later is the case, then I have ample time to set new short-term goals for my next class, and continue adhering to them until my ultimate goal of graduating categorically occurs. I have had numerous blessings in my lifetime; however, the day that I graduate from college will be the second most ecstatic day of my life, second to childbirth.

Haiti Earthquake Essay

Haiti is situated in Hispaniola in the Caribbean. Hispaniola, which consists of two countries Dominican Republic and Haiti itself. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and it is the 145th poorest country the world. 80% of its 9.7 million people live below the poverty line. The Haitian earthquake occurred on the 12th January 2010; it left the country in devastation. The Social impacts of this earthquake left people homeless, the Haitian homes were not earthquake resistant as this was the biggest earthquake that Hispaniola has had so they did not prepare for it , the last earthquake occurred in Dominican Republic. The quake didn’t only leave the country either dead or injured it also brought back cholera a disease that the country hadn’t seen for a century this was because of the wrecked water treatment systems and crowded conditions it had spread quickly. Food shortage was also a side effect to the Haitian earthquake as staple crops like maize, plantains and bananas had been affected by the earthquakes mainly by the dust or being squashed, which means Haiti had to rely even more on increasingly expensive food imports that they couldn’t afford as country. Injuries and deaths was a big impact as the population went down .The death total tolls topped 200,000 a number of bodies were found under buildings and injuries were caused, fire fighters tried to retrieve many of these people, some survived but some sadly lost their lives. Another side effect after the devastation of Haiti was more crime as 3000 prisoners escaped. After the earthquake, orphans were also formed as parents of young children died and children were left homeless, parentless school less as the construction of the school wasn’t earthquake resistant each and every school in Haiti was destroyed. Life expectancy also went lower to 62 years and 7 months only. No residents couldn’t be aided without clean drinking water and dead bodies rotting in the hot sun the risk of life threatening diseases were expected. Economic Impacts was to do with government, the cost to rebuild and how Haiti was 145th poorest country in the world so they had no money to rebuild. Death tolls topped 200,000 and reliable industries and  structures were destroyed, leaving the nation in a tough situation. Haiti had never been known as a wealthy country. The homes of people were destroyed and job places were destroyed, so nobody could work, so no money could be made in the country therefore there was no income for the residents to rely on to rebuild the nation. Haiti had no chance to rebuild the country with their income in 2010. It is been no different three years later in 2014. In 2009 Haiti’s GDP stood at $11.9 billion compared to $11.6 billion in 2008. The population in Haiti increases by 2% of the total population of 10 million every single year. This made the country less rich because they didn’t have enough income for such large number people for the government to rebuild homes, more schools etc. Shops and businesses were destroyed. Looting had to take place. Damage to transport and communication links made trade became very difficult. Environmental impacts were outcomes of the earthquake to the environment. Farmers areas had been destroyed no crops could be grown due the dust and the destruction of the country. Air was also a victim to this disaster as it was polluted by the dust of the buildings and that collapsed and water was affected as chemicals and spillages from collapsed buildings oil had leaked out of damaged storage facilities into water which made it poisoned. The Earthquake reduced Haiti’s forest cover from 60% per cent to less than 2 per cent today. Today the population in Haiti has increased to 10.32million people. To avoid any further destruction to the country in future they should consider making their homes earthquake resistant and the country less populated to avoid a poor country. The number of people living in camps decreased from 1.5 million to 145,403 today, allowing over one million people to return home. More than 11,000 families have now been relocated, allowing the closure of 50 temporary camps. UNDP has been a major help to Haiti to help rebuild their small nation.UNDP is a charity that helps affected countries like Haiti. Key words Definitions. Earthquakes: Sudden release of energy through the earth’s crust in the form of waves. Tension builds up within the crust as convectional forces in the mantle try to move the plates above but are prevented from doing so by friction between plates. When friction is overcome, an earthquake occurs.  Social Impacts: Social impact is the effect of an activity on the social fabric of the community and well-being of individuals and families Convectional: Transfer of heat in a gas or liquid by upward movement of the hotter, less dense portion. Cholera: Cholera is an infection of the intestines. People get it from drinking water or eating food that’s contaminated with a type of bacteria called Vibrio cholera. Food Imports: Food imported from other countries Life expectancy: How long you are expected to live for Economic Impacts: Impacts that have affected the country’s money GDP: Gross Domestic Product. Population: All the inhabitants of a particular place Incomes: Money received. Looting: Stealing from unguarded homes or businesses Environmental Impacts: Impacts to do with Environment affecting the Landscape UNDP: United Nation Development Programme is a charity. Convectional: Final way that heat is transferred from one place to another is convection

Flexible Firm Hrm

Assignment 2 (a)Outline the main forms of flexibility as defined in Atkinson’s (1984) model of the flexible firm (b) What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Atkinson model? ANSWER PLAN: ?Introduction/Background oWhat are the aims of flexibility oGuest (1987) de-centralisation helps to create flexibility oWhat are the main forms of flexibility that modern organisation need ?Body: 4 types of flexibility oFunctional/Temporal/Numerical/Financial ?Body 2: Atkinson’s Model oCore group oFrist/Second peripheral groups How each of these differ oOutsourcing activities/ Agency / Self-employed/Sub-contracting ?Advantages / Disadvantages of Atkinson’s model ?Criticism ?Conclusion In highly competitive environment, organisations need to be able to react quickly and effectively to changes. David Guest (1987) in advocating de-centralisation emphasised the role it plays in increasing flexibility within an organisation. He cited flexibility as one of the keys to respo nding effectively to changes in the environment, and that it is essential for organisational success.The main forms of flexibility in modern organisation according to Blyton and Morris (1992) are four: Functional, Temporal, Numerical and Financial. Functional flexibility involves the task of multi-skilling where employees are required to possess one specific skill and many other generalist ones. This means a reduced specialisation of roles with individuals being trained to carry out a much wider range of activities than before. The purpose of numerical flexibility is to expand and contract the labour force according to specific demand for it.In times of expansion, more workers are required. Conversely a smaller workforce is needed if the business is decreasing. The third form is temporal flexibility. In this case the number and distribution of hours varies. It concerns different approaches to managing the time of employees, such as â€Å"annual hours contracts† where there is a total number of hours to be worked but actual hours will vary according to circumstances. Finally, financial flexibility involves the way that an individual’s payment varies in ways which best allow it to meet objectives.At the individual level this can mean pay-related-performance or multiple pay strategies such as bonuses, dividends and share options. Atkinson developed a model of what he called the flexible firm which brings together a number of aspects of flexibility. This model is shown below: The model consists of a core group, first and second peripheral groups and outsourcing activities. The core group include the full-time, generalist skilled workers who are expected to keep learning and adapting to changes.This is the permanent component of the firm’s workforce; they are the ones with the most job security, and they have better opportunities for training and promotion. They are relatively few in the organisation. This group provides flexibility through its commitment because they are the permanent ones. In contrast, peripheral workers provide a firm with numerical flexibility. The first peripheral group is normally full-time but does not have the same job security as the core workers. Their numbers increase or reduce with changing labour market conditions.The second peripheral group is employed on a part-time basis, with short-term contracts. They tend to be less well paid and have fewer rights and benefits than the first peripheral group. Less is invested in them as far as training and opportunities for promotion are concerned. As a final alternative if necessary, organisations can outsource functions as a means of generating flexibility. These are contracted to do specific work and are more expensive; outsourced flexibility comes at a premium price.An example of outsourcing services is office cleaning where an agency is contracted to carry out the cleaning of the office on a continuing basis. In times of recession, peripheral or no n-full-time workers are much more likely to be made redundant. The advantages of the Atkinson model for the organisation include: a more easily controlled and managed workforce; core employees being more committed due to enriched jobs (Soft HRM); the facility for bringing in skills as required and cost saving and low wage costs for part-time workers.The disadvantages include: risk of lack of specialist expertise due to multi-skilling and issues connected with loyalty and security. Firstly loyalty, because they are not bound by permanent contract, there is no guarantee that the worker will continue to be available. They may also lack necessary training as the organisation will be focusing more on the core workers because the more you move to peripheral workers the more you want to contain costs, therefore minimal training is offered.Atkinson’s model is criticised because many organisations will have core, peripheral and outsourced workers without having the Atkinson’s m odel in mind. In other words even when flexibility is practiced, it is not because of his model. The requirement for flexibility happened in organisations before he developed his model. In conclusion flexibility can take a number of different forms as proposed by Blyton and Morris. It helps the organisation react to changes faster and more effectively. The four types of flexibility link to The Atkinson’s model which illustrates how organisations are structured.Managers value the model to a degree of financial flexibility because it separates core workers from peripheral workers. It helps them taking decisions on who to contract. High level skills can be brought in when necessary and outsourced tasks can end up being less expensive, as the termination of the contract is simple. There are a number of potential advantages and disadvantages of workforce flexibility, depending on which group is considered. The flexible firm emphasises the need for organisations to be flexible and have the capability to adapt to constantly changing circumstances.

Online game Parents should control their children's online time Research Paper

Online game Parents should control their children's online time - Research Paper Example The games are currently more entertaining due to advanced features added in them. This contributes to addiction which makes the game industry to grow very fast. Apart from addiction, online games have negative economic impacts because parents and teenagers spend their savings playing the games. It is difficult for some gamers, especially children to differentiate reality and cyber world. Study outcomes show that online games violence does not help in reducing real world problems as some people claim. People are spending most of their time playing online games. Currently, studies show that a large percentage of children in the US play online games (Prot, McDonald, Anderson 2). They also show that young people play online games for about 2 hours a day. 25 percent of the young males spend about 4 hours playing online games (Prot, McDonald & Anderson 2). Children are the most affected because they make 79.9 percent of all the gamers globally (Fullerton, Taylor, Grande 1). As people spend their time playing online games, they start focusing more on the game and forget the real world. Most people play games in order to escape reality. Games are currently more advanced and interesting. Consequently, people use them as way of relaxing. Others also use them to pursue their passions. For instance, those who like football and have never had a chance to play it in real world gain satisfaction by playing virtual games. In addition, people can play games that require opponents in real world such as chess. They do not need their friends in the virtual world. This has reduced people’s level of interaction in the society. People do not have much interaction with their families because the online games have become their first priority. The situation destroys relationships between family members. The virtual game world affects people’s real lives because gamers bring problems from the gaming world to real life. In the virtual game world, people do

1994 Mexican Peso Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

1994 Mexican Peso Crisis - Essay Example The 1994 Mexican Peso crisis was a monetary disaster that reverberated throughout the world.Brought on by Mexico's "Tequila Crisis" ,the peso's fixed exchange rate against the dollar "plunged by around 50% within six months..This in turn caused the local-currency value of the government's large dollar-linked debts to swell enormously and sent Mexico into a deep recession". Through the help of the United States and others, Mexico's economy has since rebounded nicely, but is not growing at a rate that many experts would consider desirable. To be sure, the scars of the 1994 crisis will be apparent in Mexico for years to come.The impact of the currency crisis on Mexico's financial sector was especially severe. "Stacks of bad, even fraudulent, loans by the recently privatised banks were exposed. Many banks went bust. Thousands of Mexicans, particularly in the new middle class, defaulted on loans as interest rates rocketed, and had their homes repossessed. In 1995 GDP shrank by 6.2%". The devastation of this collapse had an impact that reverberated throughout the region, and was amplified by Mexico's recent ascension to the North American Free Trade Agreement.The new free trade block in North America demonstrated the ripple effect that a financial crisis in one country can have with its main trading partners. The existence of NAFTA, while a hazard to the United States due to this vulnerability to problems plaguing another country, constituted a life raft for Mexico because it ensured that the United States would need to make a greater effort than it otherwise might to assist Mexico. "President Bill Clinton reasoned that Mexico, then America's third-largest trading partner, must be helped because of its importance to American jobs and investment. His administration arranged a $40-billion standby loan--in the words of Robert Rubin, then the treasury secretary, not so much 'for the sake of Mexico, despite our special relationship, but to protect ourselves'" (par. 3). Nevertheless, it has been argued that NAFTA was one of the primary contributing factors to the currency crisis. Maskooki asserts that "Mexico's joining NAFTA, and ensuing trade liberalization and deregulation of capital market and banking stimulated large capital flows in the form of portfolio investment. Banks and the capital account transactions were liberalized before adequate regulation and supervision measures were in place. The result was an excessive accumulation of external credit and an unprecedented lending boom driven mostly by moral hazard. The availability of foreign capital promoted excessive borrowing by both the public and private sectors. As Mexican economic fundamentals deteriorated and the peso became overvalued, foreign portfolio funds reversed direction leading to the peso devaluation" (par. 12). Indeed, it is no accident that the currency collapse occurred within a few months of Mexico's ascension to NAFTA. Maskooki also notes that NAFTA ignored the need to coordinate economic cooperation among its members in light of Mexico's relatively primitive economic situation. "NAFTA did not effectively address issues concerning macroeconomic coordination and monetary cooperation amongst the trading partners or provide an adequate safety net while Mexico was undergoing rapid deregulation and liberalization of its economy. There was a lack of coordination of economic policies among NAFTA partners. Most notably, the impact of the US monetary policy, and its ramification for Mexico's small and debtridden, archaic economy were little understood, and mostly ignored" (para. 10). Much more needed to be done to prepare Mexico for exposure to free trade such an advanced economy as that of the United States. The deregulation of the banking sector that was called for by NAFTA made Mexico's lack of preparedness quite evident. "NAFTA did not provide Mexican

SOLUTION TO PARK AND RIDE PROJECT COURSEWORK Assignment

SOLUTION TO PARK AND RIDE PROJECT COURSEWORK - Assignment Example The basic rule for numbering events is that the starting point of an activity is lower than the completion point. Meanwhile, the activities or tasks which need to be completed are represented by arrows. In Figure 1, the tasks indicated in Appendix B were replaced by activity codes using letters. Task duration in days is shown beside their respective codes as numbers in parenthesis. Table 1 presents the activity data for the project with the activity codes, description of each task, normal task duration, the early start (ES), early finish (EF), late start (LS) and late finish (LF) times based on normal duration. The ES and EF times were computed based on the analysis of the network using a forward pass. In a forward pass, computation is made from left to right. The earliest starting time of an activity is the earliest finish time of its predecessor. When an activity has no predecessor, such as for initial activity (or activities), the ES of this activity is 0. The earliest finish time is the sum of the early start time and the duration of the activity (Kerzner, 2009; De Marco, 2011). Meanwhile, the LS and LF times were calculated using a backward pass or a right to left computation. The late start of the final activity is taken as the late finish of this activity and from here the late start of the final activity is computed by subtracting the activity duration from the LS time. If there are two or more terminal activities, the highest LS time of these activities should be adopted as the LS time of the rest of the terminating activities (Kerzner, 2009; Demarco, 2011). Table 1 is presented below and the network diagram is shown as Figure 1 on page 4. Table 1. Activity Data for the Park and Ride Project Using ‘Normal’ Task Durations – Float Times Task Description Duration (in days) Early Start (ES) Early Finish (EF) Late Start (LS) Late Finish (LF) Total Float (TF) Free Float (FF) A Excavate Site 10 0 10 0 10 0 0 B Install Ground Drainage 5 10 15 15 20 5 5 C Install Piled Foundations 10 10 20 10 20 0 0 D Erect Steel Frame 10 20 30 20 30 0 0 E Pour In-situ Concrete Floors 9 30 39 30 39 0 0 F Install Electricity, Lighting and IT Cabling 10 39 49 39 49 0 0 G Electrical and Lighting Fit Out 8 49 57 51 59 2 2 H Fix IT Hardware and Screens 10 49 59 49 59 0 0 I Tar-macadam to Access Ramps and Parking 4 49 53 55 59 6 0 J Fix Automated Entrance Barriers 3 49 52 56 59 7 7 K Commission Services and IT Equipment 10 59 69 59 69 0 0 L Landscaping 10 53 63 59 69 6 6 1. The critical path based on the ‘normal’ activity durations There are three ways of determining if an activity is critical. First, from the tabulation of the ES, EF, LS and LF times, if the ES and EF times of an activity are identical to the LS and LF times, then this activity is critical. An examination of Table 1 revealed that seven activities are critical and these are highlighted in blue and bold font in the table. These are activities are: A, C, D, E, F, H, and K. Another way of determining which activities are critical is by computing the float or slack. Float or slack is the difference between the early schedule (ES, EF) and the late schedule (LS, LF). Tasks with zero (0) float are critical (Kendrick, 2010). As reflected in Table 1, the critical activities have 0 total float and 0 free float. To differentiate, total float is the amount of time (i.e. days, in this project) that an activity can

How will you Identify, Cultivate, and Thank the Donors at the School Assignment

How will you Identify, Cultivate, and Thank the Donors at the School - Assignment Example The process of fundraising funnel starts with prospecting (Graecht, 2014). My core strategy would be to build the  prospect list. For instance, I would ask my current donors and Board of Directors for referrals. I would like to inquire if they know any people would want to know more about my cause/organization. The podcast specifically mentions that a non-for profit organization should usually look forward to having individual donors and not expect big organizations to take an interest in my cause. I will try to identify individuals that I can connect with and possibly build a relationship. Even if I do not get direct donors by prospecting, but the prospect that I converse with might probably lead me to a major donor. Before asking for direct referrals, I need to build a stable relationship with my current prospects. And it takes a lot of efforts to strengthen this relationship. Not-for-profit organizations do well with regular donors (Graecht, 2014). One does not need to introduce the cause (pitching) and do the fishing every time to get the donations. A lifelong relationship with regular donors is the best way to fund my project. I would like to hold ‘non-ask events’ because they are not intimidating. People are more comfortable in coming to and interacting in these events as compared to direct donation events. But as I’ve already mentioned that the first step is to develop a relationship with a few people. From then onwards I can ask them for referrals or indirectly ask for donations. From the study material, it is clear that hardly anyone gives contribution when directly asked for money (Graecht, 2014). It is a passive strategy, but very effective because the people need to see the cause and the impact that their contributions will make. I would also develop a story for my project.

Sustainable Buildings Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sustainable Buildings - Assignment Example ding United Kingdom, japan have had strict environmental policies implemented to help in enhancing the environmental quality and thus preserving the resources sustainability (Gottfried & Malik, 2009). According to McDonald (2005), Canada’s green building is growing vigorously in the market. The prediction of the increased activity of green building is widely done by several firms that suggest that at the overall share of green buildings in the market is likely to grow at a stronger pace. While Canada’s construction market is smaller compared to the one seen in the United States and the data used in building a green building share in the U.S are not available in Canada. The top environmental main reason Canada is constructing green buildings is to reduce the consumption of energy. Water and energy consumption as well as improving the quality of air that is indoor are the driving factors. There is a lower greenhouse gases emission during construction. The future if green building in both the United States and Canada is seen to be in a good place several years to come if they master the skill of cross- disciplinary. Since communities are integrated with their natural environments, the industries must, therefore, master these skills. Several institutions of education in both United States and Canada are offering courses in green building that target sectors that are specific sectors. This will ensure proper knowledge and skills are imparted, and the future of green building lay