Strategic Management SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Management SLP - Essay Example that the overreliance on the artificial intelligence of computers costs individual’s an arm and leg as far as thinking capacity is concerned (2015). Instead of lifting human thinking ability, the smart software slowly makes us dumb. The gradual process that traces from the industrial revolution is effective in its mission. Carr (2015) asserts that computers have become decision-makers and conduct an analysis that human people are not capable of doing in a short duration. I strongly concur with the author on this opinion. It is true that every human thinking is experiencing overshadowing by the existence of computer software applications. For example, it is challenging to perform simple statistical analysis such as standard deviations, mean, average and others. It is because of the knowledge that software that only requires me to feed the figures and exist. The software minimizes the workload that would otherwise be undertaken manually. Also, I think that automation in the manufacturing fields makes workers in such plants less efficient. For instance, an automated production process only requires an individual to sit in front of a screen and monitor the parameters such as pressure levels, temperatures, and opening valves at intervals. The challenge that remains is that the workers may not understand the operations if the automated machines stall. Since the workers are not exposed to handling the actual valves and pressure gauges, they may not have the capacity to think swiftly and save the situation. The increasing trends in plant accidents globally are a better manifest of automation increasing human dumbness. Carr continues with his agenda in discrediting the overreliance on technology with his arguably challenging articles. In his article â€Å"The Shallows: What Internet is Doing to Our Brains,† the author highlights that search engines such as Google reduce Individuals cognitive abilities. I am of the same opinion because in my experience as a student, I

Strategic Audit of Mohawk Industries Assignment

Strategic Audit of Mohawk Industries - Assignment Example According to SEC Form 10-K of the company, the Mohawk segment or subsidiary â€Å"designs, manufactures, sources distributes, and markets its floor covering product lines, which include carpets, ceramic tile, laminate, rugs, carpet pad, hardwood and resilient.† Brands under the segment include Mohawk, Aladdin, MohawColorCenter, Floorscapes, Portico, Mohawk Home, Bigelow, Durkan, Horizon, Karastan, Lee and Merit. The Dal-Tile segment â€Å"designs, manufactures, sources, distributes and markets a broad line of ceramic tile, porcelain tile products.† Primary brands under the Dal-Tile segment include Dal-Tile and American Olean. According to the SEC Form 10-K, the Dal-Tile segment is vertically integrated from the production of raw materials for body and glaze preparation to the manufacturing and distribution of ceramic and porcelain tile.† Based on Form 10-K, the Unilin segment â€Å"designs, manufactures, sources, licenses and markets a broad line of ceramic tile, porcelain tile, natural stone and other products.† The Unilin segment is â€Å"one of the largest vertically-integrated laminate flooring manufacturing in the U.S. producing laminate flooring and related high-density fiberboard† and â€Å"also produces roofing systems, insulation panels and other wood products.† Thus, the Mohawk segment concentrates on carpets, rugs, and floor covers in general, the Dal-Tile segment focuses on the ceramic and porcelain floor covers and tiles business, and the Unilin segment focuses on laminate covering and expansion of the company to other types of house or building-related businesses but usually wood or wood-related or fiberboards. Mohawk Industries describes herself to be in the leading market positions in carpets, ceramic, laminate, rugs and mats, stone flooring and countertops, and wood products. Data available appear to support her claims. As the leading firm in the market, Mohawk’s financial data (shown in Annexes 1 to 9 of this work) is indicative of the industry’s long-term profitability.     

An analysis of the three sociological perspectives

An analysis of the three sociological perspectives This paper discusses three approaches that can be taken when studying Sociology. There are many subjects to be studied and discussed in the field of Sociology, and the approach chosen to study a particular subject is called a perspective. There are three different perspectives, and they are functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives. This paper compares and contrasts these different perspectives with one another. Through Analysis, A Compare and Contrast Of the Three Sociological Perspectives: Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist When studying in the field of Sociology everyone is going to approach topics in a different manner. No two people are going to have the exact same view on a particular subject. There are however, three major categories in which people might choose to approach topics. The approaches are know as sociological perspectives and are the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives. These perspectives name different ways in which different people choose to analyze a subject, and how they look at a society as a whole. The following paragraphs compare and contrast the three, and identify major characteristics of each. The functionalist perspective is a sociological approach which emphasizes the way that parts of a society are structure to maintain its stability,(Schaefer Lamm, 1998). This perspective looks at a society in a positive manner and sees it as stable, with all the parts working together. Under the functionalist view every social aspect of a society contributes to the societys survival, and if not, the aspect is not passed to the next generation. There are two people who where mainly involved in the development of the functionalist perspective, they are Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons. Durkheim contributed to the functionalist perspective when she was studying religion, and how it was responsible for people feeling solidarity and unity in groups. Parsons was a sociologist from Harvard University who was greatly influenced by Durkheim. In return, he influenced Sociology by dominating the field, with his functionalist views, for four decades (Schaefer Lamm, 1998). When approaching a subject with the functionalist perspective, manifest and latent functions as well as dysfunctions are looked at and studied. A manifest function of an institution is one that is stated and expected. A latent function is one that is unexpected or can show a hidden purpose of an institution, and a dysfunction is a component of a society that can cause instability (Rothman, 1998). These functions and dysfunctions are use in analyzing a society. Functionalist perspective is an approach to studying a society on the macrosociological level. This means that a society is studied on a large scale as a whole. The view of the individual in a functionalist perspective is that people are socially molded, not forced, to perform societal functions. Order in a society, as viewed by a functionalist, is maintained when members of a society cooperated with one another. Functionalists view social change as being predictable and positive. The main idea of functionalist perspective is that of stability (Schaefer Lamm, 1998). The conflict perspective is a sociological approach which assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between different groups, (Schaefer Lamm, 1998). In contrast to the functionalist view of stability, conflict sociologist see a society as being in constant struggle. The idea of conflict is not necessarily violent; it could just refer to disagreements that are worked out through a mediator (Platt, 1999). The two main contributors to the formation of the conflict perspective are Karl Marx and W. E. B. Du Bois. Karl Marx explained that conflicts between classes of society are inevitable, since workers will always be exploited as a result of capitalism. It is through the expansion of Marxs work that sociologist now apply conflict theory to all aspects of society. Even though there are parallels between Marxist theories and conflict perspective they are not the same. An important aspect of conflict perspective is that it encourages sociologists to look at a society through the eyes of those in the population who does not influence decision making. Du Bois contributed to the conflict perspective by studying society in reference to blacks and their struggles within society (Schaefer Lamm, 1998). The conflict perspective sees society as being full of tension and struggle between groups. It also, like functionalist, analyzes society on the macrosociological level. As for the individual, they are perceived as being shaped by power and authority. Social order is viewed as being maintained not through cooperation, but through force. And social change is not predictable, but is constantly taking place. The conflict perspectives main idea is that there are competing interests between groups and social inequality exists, therefore there is always conflict of some kind. The interactionist perspective is a sociological approach which generalizes about fundamental or everyday forms of social interaction, (Schaefer Lamm, 1998). Interactionist perspective focuses on the way that small groups act, in order to understand society as a whole. Interactionists study people in their everyday behavior and how they react to their surroundings. Such surroundings may include material things, actions, other people, and symbols. George Herbert Mead is most often credited with founding the interactionist perspective, but Charles Horton Cooley also shared Meads views. Mead was a professor at the University of Chicago, and he focused on the analysis of one-to-one situations and other small groups. He paid particular attention to body language such as a frown or nod, and he also asked the questions of how other group members effected these gestures. His students passed down his views after his death, as a result of hearing his lectures (Schaefer Lamm, 1998). The interactionist view of society is that we influence each others everyday social interactions. In contrast to functionalist and conflict perspectives, the interactionist perspective studies society on a microsociological level. In other words they study on a small scale in order to understand the large scale. Interactionists believe that an individual creates their own social world through his or her interactions, and it is thought that social order is maintained when people share their understanding of everyday behavior. Interactionists say that social change occurs when the positions and communication with one another change. The main idea of an interactionist sociologist is to study nonverbal communication and small groups paying particular attentions to objects and symbols (Schaefer Lamm, 1998). As one can tell from reading these three approaches are very different in the way in which they study sociological issues. They all strive to give meaning to why people do what they do, and neither is better than the other, they just go about reaching the same goal in a different way. Bibliography:

Use of Humor in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet :: William Shakespeare

Use of Humor in Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. One, could give many reasons as to why this play became such a huge success, but one of the most important reasons could be the use of humour in the play. The main reason for doing this could be to relieve the tensions in the play, and to entertain and keep the Elizabethan audience interested. Humour plays a very significant part in the play as it allows Shakespeare to create a lot of contrasts and moods, as and when he wants to. In Romeo and Juliet humour occurs in three forms. The first being, humour by the use of puns, irony and jokes. The second being through the actions of characters and by their behaviour and the third by the incidents of the play. Shakespeare uses characters like Mercutio and the Nurse to bring out the comical element of the play, and each character does this in a different way. One of Shakespeare's tools used to evoke humour is the mockery that is aimed at a particular character. Some of the funniest moments are when one character is sarcastic to another. One of the best examples of this is when Capulet asks Lady Capulet for a sword and she replies "A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?" In this line the mockery of Capulet is obvious and appealing to the audience as it is direct. Shakespeare is known to be fond of puns and uses them quite regularly but he doesn't use them as often as the Elizabethan audience expected him to. Shakespeare starts of the play with a lot of humour, with the conversation between Sampson and Gregory, both of them using a lot of puns. This type of punning, for example on the words "coals," "collier," " choler," "collar", goes on till the end of the play. The Elizabethan audience used to like puns and hence although Shakespeare has used many vulgar puns, it still has a positive effect on the popularity of the play. Although in the Act I Scene 1 there is a fight between the families the humour in the scene makes us forget the seriousness of the fight.

Key Values of US Culture in any Disney Movie

IntroductionMovies speak volumes about a particular subject. It is even understood that most animated motion pictures even hammer the point much clearer than their non-animated counterparts. It has been a tradition that with every animated movie, a corresponding moral accompanies it to the end of the credits. The ability of animated films to send out messages within the confines of its story has been one of the hallmarks of animated American movies.With The Lion King, the movie stresses the importance of family through the relationship of both Simba and Mufasa. It also clearly does the same with the movie Finding Nemo as the whole story is about a dad clown fish tries to find his lost son, Nemo. There are a lot of subtle undertones and values which are also placed in some animated movies—some even more poignant than the next. This paper aims to shed some light on that fact. Walt Disney’s Aladdin, through the genie of the lamp, depicts equal opportunity and material comf ort, which even solidifies the classic American dream.The American DreamThe great â€Å"American dream† is defined by James Adams as â€Å"the dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement† (Adams, 2001) It has been one of the most treasured features of the United States as the wealthiest nation on the face of this earth. It is in this particular country that â€Å"dreams are made† and where one’s past is quickly covered in prosperity upon reaching this particular land. As grandiose as this claim is, the different testimonies of all sorts of people have given justice to it on more than one occasion. If one looks closely at the Walt Disney animated film, Aladdin, certain aspects of this dream are also embedded in it.The GenieThe genie of the lamp in the animated film Aladdin can symbolize so many different things but more than anything, it is able to sig nify the American values of equal opportunity and material comfort. Gleaning from the genie’s character, it is not as hard to associate material comfort with him. The genie of the lamp is required to fulfill absolutely any three wishes that his owner desires. With the exception of making people fall in love, killing someone or wishing for more wishes, the master of the genie is quite literally powerful beyond measure. One of the most memorable scenes in the movie is when Aladdin, who is now already Prince Ali, parades across the streets of Agrabah. During the latter part of the song, the lyrics of the song gives testament to how much has changed with Aladdin’s situation:â€Å"Prince Ali!  Amorous he! Ali Ababwa  Heard your princess was a sight lovely to see  And that, good people, is why  he got dolled up and dropped by  With sixty elephants, llamas galore  With his bears and lions  A brass band and more  With his forty fakirs, his cooks, his bakers  His birds that warble on key  Make way for prince Ali!† (Clements, 1992)The former â€Å"street rat† has now become a prince because of the genie. This alludes to the fact that the genie is a very good provider of material comfort, should one choose to get that from him. In the same sense, the land of America is also able to provide material comfort from those who ask and willingly strive to make it happen.The last American value, which is equal opportunity, is much more subtly expressed in the character of the genie. Since the rules of the lamp is that whenever a person gains ownership of the lamp, the genie of the lamp is now bound to serve that person and that person only. All of the wishes of the owner of the lamp are satisfied by the genie. The â€Å"equal opportunity† clause enters here by giving absolutely anyone a fair shot to being â€Å"rich and powerful† The only negative thing about relating this particular equal opportunity clause with the genie is that no one is able to share that equal prosperity in such a way that the genie sort of has an exclusivity clause that does not allow him to grant two separate wishes of two different masters at the same time. (Clements, 1992) One person must be able to wield the lamp in order for the genie to grant their wish.ConclusionLooking deeper at the animated feature film Aladdin, one sees a much more poignant picture of how America essentially is as a superpower and a proverbial land flowing with milk and honey. As the film and as this paper suggests, America is a land where one can prosper materially in terms of wealth and it is also a land where equal opportunity is stressed. As long as someone works hard enough, they will simply have both within their lifetimes. Maybe, just maybe, you really don’t need a magic lamp with a genie after all.ReferencesClements, Ron. (Producer & Director). (1992). Aladdin [Motion picture]. United States: Walt Disney PicturesAdams, J. (2001). T he Epic of America. Phoenix: Simon Publications

Organizational Control

Organizational control is the systematic process through which managers regulate organizational activities to make them consistent with expectations established in plans, targets and standards of performance (Kuratko, 2001). These organizational expectations are a collection of goals and accountabilities represented in the budget, which help establish performance metrics, document actual performances, allow comparison between the estimated and actual performance, and allow for corrective actions (Jones-George-Hill, 2003). Measures of financial performance are those ratios against which actual performance can be meaningfully measured against the expectations of the budget. These measures are objective measures of performance, and a careful analysis of a combination of these ratios may help dis ¬tinguish between firms that will eventually fail and those that will continue to survive, sometimes as early as five years before a firm fails trouble can be detected from the value of these financial ratios (Keating). These performance ratios measure profit, liquidity, leverage and activity and the combination tell a significant story as to the overall health of an organization. Profitability ratios demonstrate the efficiency of the use of resources to generate profits from organizational inputs of materials to value added activities (Jones-George-Hill, 2003). These are Return on investment and Gross Profit Margin. ROI, or â€Å"return on investment,† measures competitive advantage because it allows managers to compare performance against other similar organizations. Although firms will differ on how that calculation is reached internally and what activities are considered profit drivers. For instance, in her 2010 book Open Leadership, Charlene Li argues that a social media campaign goes beyond marketing in that it reduces other costs by not only building affinity but can reduce other costs using Ford Motor Company and Comcast as an example (Li, 2010). Gross Profit Margin is the difference between the amount of revenue generated from the product and the resources used to produce the product. For the current quarter, Apple Computer is projecting an increase in GPM from their expectations of 36% to 37% with further expectation that will increase to 38% next quarter (Barrons, 2011). The iPad generated $4. 4-Billion in revenue last quarter with 80% of the Fortune 100 deploying the computer (Goldman, 2011). With strong business acceptance and revenue performance for a market that didn’t exist a year ago, the GPM associated ith such a product increases far more quickly. Real Networks, on the other hand, has had significant difficulty maintaining its gross profit margin indicating it either cannot control costs or that it has been forced to lower prices (Phillips, 2011). Apple has had no downward price pressure and costs have been kept under control (Hadhazy, 2010). Liquidity ratios measure the overall organizational preparedness to meet the short-term obligations of the organization. The higher the ratio, the greater the organizational ability to cover short-term debts, but a high liquidity ratio also indicates a significant proportion of assets are being used in non-productive ways (Yahoo Finance). Two common liquidity measures are the current ratio and the quick ratio. The current ratio is the difference between current assets and current liabilities and it speaks to the question of whether there are enough assets to pay claims on short-term debts without selling inventory. The ratio expression indicates how much money is available versus how much short term debt is outstanding. A ratio of 2:1 indicates $2 in assets for every $1 in debt. The Motley Fool dissects Real Networks stock performance while determining whether or not to sell the stock. One positive sign for the company is a high current ratio – 3. 13 (Phillips, 2011). However, while the company has â€Å"miniscule† debt, the company’s equity has been shrinking over the past 5-years, so a question to ask is do they have too high a current ratio, bearing in mind that represents non-productive assets? There are enough assets to pay short-term claims, but the stock performance lags the S&P by almost 2/3 – raising the question in my mind if they have too much non-performing assets on hand which need to be reevaluated. The quick ratio answers the question of whether an organization can pay claims without selling inventory. Inventory is not necessarily worth the amount represented on the books, and removing it from this calculation gives a better view of whether or not an organization has liquid assets available. If a company has too much of its liquidity tied up in inventory, it will be dependent on selling that inventory to finance its operations and will have a low quick ratio (Motley Fool). Leverage ratios measure the use of debt or equity to finance operations, with the use of debt becoming problematic if profits cannot cover the interest on the debt (Jones-George-Hill, 2003). Two common such ratios are debt-to-assets ratio and times-covered ratio. Debt to assets shows to what extent the organization is financed with debt, with a lower number being more favorable. With a low number, an organization and its investors can be more confident a company can weather difficult times. Real Networks, as discussed earlier, has a debt to equity ratio close to zero, largely because there is close to no debt – this is a company which can weather some difficult times, however while the debt remains low, the equity is decreasing as well signaling there may be some continuing difficult times (Phillips, 2011). The times-covered ratio measures the extent to which a company's can meet its current debt obligations with available net income. If the times-covered ratio declines to less than 1, then the company is unable to meet its interest costs and is technically insolvent (Jones-George-Hill, 2003). Activity ratios are a measure of an organizations utilization of resources to create value. For a company to be profitable, it must be able to manage its inventory, because it is money invested that does not earn a return. So, inventory turnover measures how well a company is moving its inventory so the assets are not carried as non-performing assets and days sales outstanding measures how quickly that inventory is converted to payment on what it owed. I worked for a small printing company which was dependent on its ability to collect on outstanding projects – age of account was an important measure of the company’s health and much effort was placed on collecting. Inventory was not an option as each job was unique to the client and was good only for that client. These measures help direct the activities of the organization and help set the goals of the organization. The indicate the health of the company, by measuring the management effectiveness in meeting the organizational goals.