Diversity Is A Strategic Advantage - 1365 Words

Why do you agree or disagree that diversity is a strategic advantage? Diversity in an important aspect in the work place since the world is changing and organizations are forced to evolve with changing times. Diversity in the workplace entails bringing together different people from various backgrounds, education levels, point of views, and ways of thinking. This kind of diversity promotes innovation and is a major contributor to the cultural identity of successful organizations. Global demographic trends coupled with social cultural shifts have brought about increased pressure on organizations to embrace diversity, especially in U.S. As stated by McInnes (1999), â€Å"more and more organizations are embracing policies and practices to value diversity in their work forces as a way to increase competitiveness, build talent, expand organizational capabilities, and enhance access to diverse customers.† Diversity becomes an important strategy in an organization only when it is intentionally promoted and encouraged. When we allow diversity to be come a vital factor in decision-making and planning, it becomes a powerful business strategy because it allows room for discussion and expression of ideas from various demographics and backgrounds. If truly embraced and cultivated, diversity can be a strategic advantage that moves an organization to higher levels. When employees feel respected, and their dissimilarities are accommodated and not frowned upon, they are at peace and areShow MoreRelatedDiversity Is A Strategic Advantage?2062 Words   |  9 Pagesor disagree that diversity is a strategic advantage? In your response, consider: †¢ What is diversity? †¢ What are the benefits of promoting diversity? †¢ What are the downsides of a diverse organization? In the overall picture we would all like to assume that we are a diverse country therefore we should be able to easily adapt to diversification in the work place. But the truth behind that, is that it is simply to complex to have that happen overnight. When talking about diversity there is many thingsRead MoreThe Impact Of Contemporary Uk On New Zealand Essay1728 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscrimination issues that occur through diverse people existing in close proximity. From social movements focusing on womens rights, civil rights, anti-slavery and indigenous rights, to modern diversity such as disability activism and managing diversity in the workplace, it is apparent that this issue of managing diversity is an ongoing encounter. Looking at the 2013 Census published by Statistics New Zealand (2013), we can see a substantial increase in ethnic groups in New Zealand since the 2006 CensusRead MoreIntroduction. As Part Of My Initial Assignment In Hrm 530,1213 Words   |  5 Pagesresponsibilities listed for that HR department.   3. Determine which HR job positions you would prefer and explain why. 4. Analyze how the selected company can establish HRM strategies to improve competitive advantages. 5. Propose three (3) ways that the company can increase diversity. Let me begin by addressing the importance of the HR strategy intersects with and complements the company’s business strategy: Propose how you would ensure the HR strategy is in alignment with the business strategyRead MorePersonal Goals And Abilities Of A Social Enterprise1361 Words   |  6 Pagesenterprises want to grow, as they are more focused on providing a comfortable living rather than expanding or growing (Schaper, Volery, Weber Gibson, 2014). Entrepreneurial growth as a whole come under three dimensions these are financial growth, strategic growth and organizational growth. As for financial growth for technological enterprises, they are more concerned with areas such as sales, profits and return on investment, which result in private gain, but this does result in job availability andRead MoreIntroduction. When Seeking Employment, One Searches For1145 Words   |  5 Pagesstructure, training and most importantly diversity in the workplace. Diversity has been improving for over 50 years but was brought to the forefront when minorities were fighting for equality during the Civil Rights movement of 1964. Title VII of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin (EEOC). The US workforce is becoming increasingly competitive by developing a diverse organization. The idea of diversity is accepting and understanding the creativeRead MoreThe Analysis Focuses On The Teabella`S In ternal Organization995 Words   |  4 Pagesdemonstrating the strategic management process, competitive advantage that continues to create value present a uniqueness of core competencies to increase the chances of opportunities externally The role of firm resources, capabilities, and core competencies to provide a foundation for creating strategic interventions to empower and diversify the lives of individual, groups, and organization. The relationship amongst these concepts in developing sustainable competitive advantage are recognized andRead MoreThe Impact of Workforce Diversity Essay663 Words   |  3 PagesDiversity refers to the ways people differ from each other. These ways are significant and plentiful. Culturally, people vary in gender, age, ethnicity, race sexual orientation, educational background, religion, lifestyle, as well as veteran and/or immigrant status. Functionally, people vary in the ways we think, learn, process information, respond to authority, show respect and reach agreements (Pollar Gonzalez, 2011.) Obviously, people differ in numerous ways, so what does that mean forRead MoreCase Study : Ford Motor Company915 Words   |  4 Pageswith its business strategies, employees become more efficient, and the company can achieve its goals. The first step in aligning HR strategies with a business is recognizing HRM as a strategic role and department. The business should move away from looking at HR as an administrative role and consider it as a strategic role. Human resource department should be included in every step of management. This is because HR is well placed to identify the right employees to work in the other departments ofRead MorePlanning Is Designing An Systematic Approach For Getting Goals Done1333 Words   |  6 Pagesobjectives as a whole. Top level managers focus on strategic goals. Strategic goals are goals that define the course of the organization. This is basically what the organization is based around and it encompasses the values and beliefs of the organization. It is also the â€Å"what† in making a plan. What will be done defines for an organization the mission, which is usually, described in a mission statement. Tactical goals are the next step in achieving the strategic goals. Tactical goals can be thought of asRead MoreStrategic Thinking : A Coherent, Integrative And Unifying Framework For Making Decisions1452 Words   |  6 Pagesentrepreneurs to meet various challenges. Strategic thinking is crucial in creating a coherent, integrative and unifying framework for making decisions particular regarding the direction in which an organization goes and the resources it plans to utilize (Goldsmith, 2009). In some way, strategic thinking utilizes external and internal data, perceptions, and opinions. It is proactive, conscious and explicit while defining a competitive realm for strategic advantage in the organization. Strategies are formed

Relationships in Lawrences Sons and Lovers Essay - 847 Words

Relationships in Lawrences Sons and Lovers There can be no argument that D. H. Lawrences Sons and Lovers is a study of human relationships. Gertrude Morel, because of her turbulent and odd relationship with her husband, ends up developing deep emotional relations with her two eldest sons. The second eldest in particular, Paul, is the receiver of most of this deep emotion. Because of these feelings and the deeper-than-usual emotional bond between the two, Paul has difficulty being comfortable in his own relationships. Pauls relationship with Miriam is plagued by his mothers disapproval, jealousy, and Miriam s own spirituality. Pauls relationship with Miriam is one†¦show more content†¦You make me feel spiritual and I dont want to be spiritual. (190) Eventually, Miriam introduces Paul to Clara to hopefully fulfill these needs. Pauls mother is also a major conflict. Pauls relationship with his mother was very dominating. When Paul compared his two loves, it caused great tension between the two, he would begin to hate Miriam. This tension is similar to the tension that caused William to die. Whenever William brought his lover, Lilly, around his mother, it pained him. He felt the need to belittle her constantly in comparison to his mother. He knew she did not completely approve of her. After Williams death Paul became his mothers chief emotional outlet, thus Miriam becomes subject to similar trials as Lilly. Because of these conflicts Paul made Miriam suffer. Because he made her suffer he despised her. The main problems that Gertrude has with Miriam is her worth and her family status. When the eldest son William went out with Lilly Gertrude was not horribly adamant against her. Then, why should she be against Miriam? Lilly was not as intelligent as Gertrude, Lilly had no chance of breaking, or coming anywhere close to breaking that bond. Also, William was already out in the business world. Gertrude wanted her sons to be more successful than her and William was well on his way. Although Im sureShow MoreRelatedSons And Lovers By D. H. Lawrence901 Words   |  4 Pages Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence is based on the life of a boy named Paul Morel, who is going through life fighting a battle between his mind and heart. Lawrence wrote Sons and Lovers during the late 1800s and early 1900s. During that time, the book was not like other books. It was explicit about topics such as sex and love. His books were ahead of time, and he was quite influenced by Sigmund Freud. I believe that Freud really influenced lawrence’s writing during Chapters 6 and 7 when PaulRead More D.h. Lawrence Essay757 Words   |  4 Pages An English novelist and poet, D.H. Lawrence was born September 11, 1885, in Nottingham, England. He was the son of a coal miner and a school teacher. His mother, the school teacher, was socially superior. She constantly tried to alienate her children from their father. The difference in social status between his parent’s was a recurrent motif in Lawrence’s fiction. David Herbert was ranked among the most influential and controversial literary figures of the Victorian Period. In his more than fortyRead MoreSons And Lovers : Psychoanalytic Criticism Essay1613 Words   |  7 PagesSons and Lovers: Psychoanalytic Criticism David Herbert Lawrence was born September 11, 1885 in a small coal mining village in Nottingham, England. He was the fourth child of Arthur and Lydia Lawrence. Arthur was a coal miner who worked in the mine from age ten until he was sixty-six. Lydia the more educated out of the two was born into a lower-middle class family; this changed when her father suffered a financial disaster. She passed down to her sons the profound desire to move out of the workingRead MoreAnalysis Of D H Lawrence s The White Peacock 1456 Words   |  6 Pagesused to love and respect from the bottom of his heart. he also wrote short stories, essay travel books and criticism, yet he is most remembered for his great novels The White Peacock (1911), The Trespasser (1912) , and Sons and Lovers (1913). Sons and Lovers was Lawrence’s masterpiece which raised him to the level of eminent men of letters of England. It was written chiefly in an autobiographical style with his favourite setting of meaning area. In this novel, Lawrence made a fine blendingRead MoreMrs. and Mr.Morel Relationship.898 Words   |  4 Pagesthis pattern of the modern novel clearly followed in the Walter-Gertrude relationship as we see them fall in love, as well as witness the absence of the fulfilment of that love for either of them. The narrative of D.H. Lawrence’s â€Å"Sons and Lovers† is on one level a story of a marriage but at the same time it raises the question of whether it is really a marriage at all. We are introduced to the Walter-Gertrude relationship years after they have been married and have even had two children. By nowRead MorePsychoanalytic Criticism Of Sons And Lovers1597 Words   |  7 Pagesa financial disaster. She passed down to her sons the profound desire to move out of the working class by expressing her dissatisfaction with her husband’s dead job combined and his drinking habits. Sons and Lovers is an eye opening semibiographical novel written by D.H Lawrence, an English writer from the United Kingdom. The novel was D.H Lawrence’s third book published in 1913 by Gerald Duckworth and Company in London, England. Sons and Lovers is about a young boy named Paul (based off ofRead MoreWomen in Sons and Lovers1597 Words   |  7 PagesSons and Lovers, published in 1913, is D. H. Lawrences third novel. It was his first successful novel and arguably his most popular. Many of the details of the novels plot are based on Lawrences own life and, unlike his subsequent novels, this one is relatively straightforward in its descriptions and action. D. H. Lawrence has been always criticized for the content of his novel and his characters. Sons and Lovers is another novel which was even banned for years because of its explicit indicationsRead MoreThe Oedipus Complex in D.H. Lawrences Sons and Lovers Essay example1648 Words   |  7 Pagesnovel â€Å"Sons and Lovers† by D.H. Lawrence, it could be said that many scholars have agreed that Lawrence’s novel can be used to discuss the Freudian concept of the mother and son relationship. Without much knowledge on the famous psychologists Freud and his psychoanalytic theories it is common for a reader to overlook such an important theme and the detriments of such a passionate mother and son relationship. This paper will try to confirm that there was some kind of an Oedipus relationship betweenRead More Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence Essays6130 Words   |  25 PagesSons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence THE PLOT In the rolling hills and coal-pitted fields of central England, known as the British Midlands, live the Morels, a poor mining family. The family has just moved down in the world from the nearby village of Bestwood to the Bottoms, a complex of working-class row houses. Gertrude Morel is a small, stern woman, pregnant with her third child, Paul, the protagonist of this novel. The Morels other children are William and Annie. But unlike his siblingsRead MoreNature in Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence2490 Words   |  10 Pagessexual fulfilment. His experience growing up in a coal-mining family provided much of the inspiration for Sons and Lovers, his third novel, also considered his ‘crowning achievement’ (Qamar Naheed, 1998). Written in 1913, it is considered a pioneering work for its realism, vivid characterisation, treatment of sex complications and faultless control over tone and narrative method. Sons and Lovers is referred to as a Kà ¼nstlerroman (a version of the Bildungsroman), which is a novel charting the growth

Why I Want to Pursue a Degree in Ece free essay sample

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve known what I wanted to do. I am one of those people who was blessed enough to realize my passion at an early age. As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to become a teacher. I can remember as a child sitting in my room, surrounded by my stuffed animals (or students, as I saw them) and forcing my younger brother to sit still and quietly do the work I assigned him.I even had two baskets which I kept on my little wooden desk; one for my â€Å"students† to turn in work, and the other for more work which needed to be graded. I spent many afternoons teaching my little brother whatever I had learned in school that day, from writing words to adding numbers. It made me feel proud when he understood what I was trying to show him, and it made me even more proud when he started school and was slightly ahead of his classmates. Where did this passion stem from? I can only account it to my mother, who has been a teacher for 25 years.So, when asked the question â€Å"Why do I want to pursue a degree in Early Childhood Education? † I am overwhelmed at the many thoughts and reasons which come to mind. My first reason is passion, plain and simple. Love for the job, for all it means and all it stands for. Another reason is for personal satisfaction. I set a goal, once upon a time, to complete my degree and become a licensed teacher. I like to complete my goals in life, and I don’t feel fully content until I have mastered what I set out to do. My last reason, and quite honestly one of the most important reasons I am pursuing my ECE degree is my family.I have a husband and a baby boy who are my entire world. I want to get this degree to provide stability and security for my family. I feel that these three reasons are the combined drive that motivates me to push for this degree, until I walk across that stage with a degree and a diploma. 3 Why do I have so much passion for teaching? It all started with the smells. Yes, I said the smells. I love the smell of a classroom†¦it smells like crayons and sharpened pencils. As I mentioned before, my mother was a teacher.I remember going to work with her on â€Å"Take your daughter to work day† and immediately inhaling as soon as she opened the door to her room. I love that smell. So I fell in love with this scent†¦then mom put me to work! Helping put up bright and colorful bulletin boards, cutting out shapes, running to the copier to make copies.. . Oh, my mom sure knew what to do with my little helping hands. She kept me so busy, and I loved it. I looked forward to going to work with her when I could. Sometimes, she would ask me if I had any ideas for an art project! I had no idea at my young age that my mother was grooming me as a future teacher.She must’ve seen the light in my eyes and known. I have always looked up to my mother; always wanted to follow in her footsteps. She gave me all the tools and support I needed to lean towards becoming a teacher, but she never once actually said it out loud. Not until I was in 8th grade and proudly announced to her one day that I wanted to teach. I’ll never forget the small smile she gave me or the look on her face. It was a very knowing look. All she said was â€Å"If that’s what you want, sweetheart. You’d make a wonderful teacher. † I ran with it from there. As I grew my passion just grew along with me.When I got to high school I signed up to be a Peer Tutor. For one of my classes I would drive to the middle school and help tutor kids who were struggling in certain areas of their academics. This was another key moment in my love affair with teaching; seeing a child’s face light up with understanding! Hearing them say, â€Å"I get it now! † and having them show their improving grades to me with each session. It made me feel so good to be able to help, I felt like I was really giving something back. That is a feeling I can’t 4 find the words to describe. So I continued on this course, and after high chool got a part time job working with CIS (Communities In Schools) in Brunswick County. I worked there part time as an after school teacher. The program was designed to help at risk kids stay on track by connecting with resources from the community and extra academic guidance to help them learn. I loved this job and the children so much, so during the day I was attending the community college to try and start pursuing my goal. In early 2006 I was knocked off track. My little brother was killed in a car accident at the age of 17. My world went pretty dark for a while, and I dropped out of college and left my jobs.After a few months of deep grieving, I got on my feet and got a job making more money as a receptionist for a window company. I pushed my passion to the back of my brain and put the money first. I was all determined to have a â€Å"grown up job† and be on my own. This meant I couldn’t afford classes, or books. I also had to have a full time day job to afford my rent. Teaching went to the back burner for several years. I was offered higher positions at my job, and pretty soon found myself sitting in the office behind the desk from which I myself was hired. I hated it. I could sit on the computer all day long and do nothing.Most people would’ve loved my job. But I could not handle it. That’s when it hit me again- I belong in a classroom. I missed the kids, the noise, the movement! I quit that job, pulled myself together and got my Substitute Teacher certification. I began subbing in all four elementary schools of Brunswick County. This was hard, waking up not knowing if I had to work or not that day, and the lack of schedule was really affecting me. So I signed on to be a sub at Child Development Center, a special needs pre-school. I worked there as a sub for 3 months and was then hired as an Assistant.Now, 5 years later I am still there, teaching three and four 5 year olds. Living my passion! Still my goal has yet to be met. I need to graduate. I still have a long way to go but I am on the right path to get there. Personal satisfaction alone may not sound like a great reason in itself to pursue anything, but without the drive for personal satisfaction I think that many famous people would never be where they are today. When I set a goal for myself, I always intend to complete it.It may not be in the exact time frame as I planned, but I never let the finish line stray too far out of my sight. I had a teacher here at Mount Olive who had each student make a goal book. We had to put pictures in it, to help us envision each goal we set, then we had to write it out as a fact. In my goal book, it said â€Å"I will be a teacher with my B-K licensure within five years. † That was one year ago, so I better keep going! I have always had a strong willed personality, I want to push myself. Having my degree in ECE is something I have wanted for such a long time now that I can’t imagine giving up and never getting where I planned to be. It would be pretty ridiculous for me to give up, considering I’ve known what I’ve wanted all along. There are other people who are so confused, and have no idea what they want to be. They haven’t found their passion, and are out there searching for what feels right. I’ve been blessed to feel so sure all along, it would just be insulting if I wasted that gift of knowing and didn’t do anything about it. For this reason I continue to push. For this reason I stay up all hours of the night writing this paper, despite having to rise at 5:30 in the morning. I do it because I want it. It means so much to me.And that is a very important reason. 6 Speaking of goals, another goal I had set for myself was a family one. Well, it was more of a timeline. I always knew I wanted to start a family when I was around 25 years old. If it happened, it did and if I wasn’t in the position then I would’ve been okay I suppose. When I was 23 my boyfriend of six years proposed. I said yes and we were married a year later. We immediately started trying for a family, and when I say immediately I mean, honeymoon. Well, it worked. Nine months after our wedding we were blessed with our son, Brantley, who was named after my brother.So here it is, reason number three for pursuing my degree: My family. My husband is a police officer. Much like a teacher, he is over worked and under paid. It takes two salaries to balance our household financially. I want to finish my degree so that I can get a job that will provide a more comfortable income for our family. I know teaching will never make me a rich woman monetarily, but having the licensure will open up doors to higher paying teacher positions. My husband and I also want more children, and with the raised cost of living we just know that until I graduate we can’t afford more than one child.It hurts our hearts to put a financial limit on our family size, but we are responsible and would never want to bring a child into this world knowing that we cannot provide absolutely everything we want for them. So I continue to study and work, because I want Brantley to have everything he needs. I also appreciate the schedule that teaching allows. Knowing that as a teacher I will have every holiday off to spend with my family means more to me than any amount of paycheck. Also, the quality one on one time I get with my son during those lazy days of summer vacation are priceless†¦I would not trade them for all the money in the world.Having the opportunity to be with my son and watch him grow and learn is what makes my life beautiful. We are blessed that as an officer, 7 my husband is able to work day shift and gets home by six in the evening. As a teacher, I am able to be home, and have dinner on the table for my family by that time. There is no better work schedule than that of a teacher. It works so well into our family life. The same way it did for my parents when I was a child. I know that as Brantley grows, I will be able to work around his schedule because I will be on the same one. Quality time with my family is absolutely what I live and breathe for.I am so blessed to be given the opportunity to have a career which caters to this exact need. Being a teacher isn’t just another job to me. I feel like it is an integral part of who I am, and who I am going to become in the future. As I continue pursuing my degree in ECE, I will keep all these reasons in the forefront of my mind. There are a million good reasons why I feel I must pursue my degree, and I can’t think of one single reason alone to not chase after it. Even when I’m tired, or pressed for time, or feeling unmotivated in any way; I can close my eyes and go back to my room.And once again, I’m just a little girl, surrounded by stuffed animals and a dream. When I start to fall off track, something as simple as the scent of crayons draws my focus back to center. When I see a child’s face light up with pride from learning something new, it renews me completely. The sound of children playing and their laughter is my favorite music. A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child. –Kathy Davis

Flu Shot free essay sample

Everyone who walks around seems like they are in perfect condition, but sometimes even the sickest look the healthiest. Being surrounded by a small amount of people every day sounds pretty dandy. In reality, being surrounded by people can be dangerous because at a tiny school students are constantly sick. Once one person has the flu, everyone else starts to catch it. It is like a rumor suffusing around the whole school! When I was younger my father told me that receiving the flu shot sometimes causes us to become infected with the flu. He also mentioned that the flu shot is not always one hundred percent effective; instead there are natural remedies to substitute the shot. My mother on the other hand disagrees. She always told me the benefits for receiving the flu shot include: the vaccine prevents the flu, there are absolutely no side effects, and neglecting to take the shot can be life threatening. Until now neither side has convinced me to choose their side. People need to make their final decision after considering all the information about the flu shot. The flu shot has been unsuccessful in proving that it prevents individuals from catching the flu. Scientists have verified that the flu shot is not one hundred percent effective when it comes to eliminating the flu virus, according to Dr. Aviva Romm. Romm is the author of the article, â€Å"6 Doctor-Recommended Tips for Preventing the Flu† which claims that people choose not to take the flu shot because it is â€Å"only fifty percent effective and can cause the flu†. The vaccine only works half of the time, and sometimes instead of preventing the flu it can actually cause it. This is pretty ironic because are we not trying to avoid it? Vaccines can be inefficient and sometimes people do not know the truth about the flu shot. The article, â€Å"Flu Vaccine-Think Again† written by Dr. Randal Neustaedter states that the flu vaccines are essentially â€Å"useless† when it comes to preventing the flu, and will most likely cause it. He also claims that the flu vaccine can potentially damage your nervous system. The flu shot is not as effective as we think and can potentially cause damage to our bodies, therefore is it worth receiving? With a treatment results a side effect. Take the flu vaccine for instance. In the year of 1976 the vaccine was claimed â€Å"fatal† by Dr. Randal Neustaedter. How? Well this particular vaccine caused Guillain-Barre syndrome also known as GBS. Randal claims that due to studies on GBS, otherwise known as an autoimmune nervous system reaction causes unstable gait, loss of sensation, and loss of muscle control. GBS causes the loss to feel and harmful control of the muscles. Not only does it cause GBS but also causes the flu. In the article, â€Å"6 Doctor-Recommended Tips for Preventing the Flu† states that whether or not people receive the flu shot it can cause it, and to top it off the flu can last up to five days of misery. Regardless if people take the proper precautions, the injection will cause the flu which can last up to five days. No matter if the flu shot is received it can still be inevitable. There are several natural ways to prevent the flu. Leigh Erin Connealy, author of the article â€Å"8 Ways to avoid the flu naturally† describes raw garlic as a â€Å"serious germ fighter that helps the body fight off any unwanted bacteria. A best way to avoid the flu is by eating uncooked garlic which helps fight germs. Connealy also mentions how black tea is a great way to start your immune system and how a recent Harvard University study confirmed its healing affects. If Harvard University approved it, why not others? Studies have shown that people who drink five cups of black tea a day for two weeks had ten times higher levels of the cold-and virus fighting chemical interferon than those who did not drink tea, states Connealy. If not catching the flu is as easy as drinking black tea; why are individuals not drinking this beverage to help them? Running for thirty to sixty minutes daily can give your immune system the extra kick it needs says, Connelly. For those who individuals who are not willing to drink tea nor eat garlic, running is the way to go! Before a conclusion is made, one must consider all options available towards the flu shot. Everyone has a perspective of the flu, whether we believe in the vaccination or not. By discussing the pros and cons individuals will now be able to make a stable decision instead of making an assumption about the flu shot. Facts are/will be stated from both sides; however, the choice ill be in the conscience of those who choose to receive the vaccination or simply avoid it. So, the flu vaccine does not cause the flu? Many believe what is told but others do the research. Example, in the article â€Å"Big Shot† written by Robert Bazell states, â€Å"studies done of millions of people have now shown conclusively that the influenza vaccine does NOT cause the flu†, what does th is mean? The flu shot has been proven to work against the flu but not to cause it, so why is everyone still complaining about how the vaccine causes the flu? Bazell mentions how people can easily misinterpret the flu vaccination or â€Å"they have heard it by someone they know† that it will cause it. The vaccination does not cause the flu, some people may â€Å"only be suffering from a common virus. † If studies are proving otherwise why are people not taking the shot to help them prevent the flu? Could it be fault of the government? Bazell claims that another reason why individuals try to escape the shot is due to â€Å"lack of effort by government† and fault of â€Å"medical profession to promote the flu vaccination†; therefore, the government is lacking enforcement to the importance of having the flu shot. It is unbelievable because people believe it. Joseph Williams, an eight year old little boy died in Colorado due to influenza. According to Ben-Joseph Pearl Elana, writer of the article â€Å"Is the Flu Vaccine a Good Idea for Your Family† states the life of a young boy who â€Å"had been perfectly healthy before the sudden onset of a stomach ache and a high fever† and was quickly driven to the hospital because of influenza. The parents of Joseph Williams took precaution and took him to the emergency room, and it was announced that he had a â€Å"brain inflammation†. This was brought upon influenza not the fault of the flu. The mother of Joseph held a â€Å"tearful news conference† where she begged everyone in the community to immune themselves to prevent another loss of a loved one. She states, â€Å"If more people have been vaccinated, their child might have never contracted the infection in the first place†; furthermore, the remorseful mother took action to encourage people to receive the shot to help prevent another loss. Elana states â€Å"by immunizing yourself you vastly lessen the chances to spread the virus to some child or older person†, by simply receiving the shot yearly it can help stop spreading the flu to others. Side effects are a particular reason to why people prefer not to receive the flu vaccine. Centers for Disease Control also known as CDC says that 1 out of every million people vaccinated might develop GBS; if the chances of an individual to catch Guillain-Barre syndrome is slim, why is everyone so judge-mental into thinking they can be that one of a million? The article 10 bad reasons for skipping the flu shot this year states that people are worried about the ingredients found in the vaccine like Mercury and Thimerosal, but what is there to be worried about? Vaccines in the country no longer contain these deadly ingredients. CDC states how that there is no conceiving evidence liking to mercury-containing preservative if the evidence is not there why is everyone so skeptical? The only risk of not having the flu shot is dealing with the flu and its tedious symptoms. After all the facts have been stated, people should be able to come up with a decision to whether or not have the flu shot. Yes, Dr. Aviva Romm gave other natural alternatives to prevent the flu, but in reality how many individuals are willing to change their lifestyles to not catch the flu? If regardless they are going to catch it? Ben-Josephs perspective of the flu was more than sufficient. The loss of a loved one due to the flu made me realize the importance of yearly vaccinations. People now have a decision, to stand by the flu shot or avoid it.

Canterbury Tales And Medieval Women Essays - The Canterbury Tales

Canterbury Tales And Medieval Women Geoffrey Chaucer's Impression of Women during Medieval Times Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales in the late 1400s. He came up with the idea of a pilgrimage to Canterbury in which each character attempts to tell the best story. In that setting Chaucer cleverly reveals a particular social condition of England during the time. In this period, the status, role, and attitudes towards women were clearly different from that of today. Two tales in Chaucer's collection specifically address this subject: the Miller's Tale and the Reeve's Tale. The interplay between the tales and characters further enhances the similar viewpoints these stories have towards women. In the Middle Ages, most women married and began raising children soon after reaching puberty. They remained largely indoors, having no true chance to receive a formal education or to gain any social or economic power. Husbands commonly had full control of their wives, often limiting their public lives solely to the family. " A wife . . . must please her husband and be totally obedient to him, even when he is unjust and violent." (Blewitt, 662) In both the Miller's and the Reeve's tales Chaucer presents the women of the household indoors in all instances. Alison of the Miller's Tale lives in a cottage alone with her husband John and fly Nicholas, a scholar. Her implied role besides sexual purposes includes tending to house chores, just as the Miller's wife and daughter in the Reeve's Tale. Although, the women's sole purpose as a wife comes naturally as one of sexual purposes a wife's first duty was to provide her husband with an heir, and she could be divorced if she was barren. (Rhinesmith, 601) The wife must be loyal to her husband and obey him, even when her husband commits fiendish acts such as affairs. In these two tales, Chaucer brings about the ideas of protection and immortality. With men often leaving the house to tend to their own chores, the women of the house have plenty of chances to, "play around" with other men without their husbands knowing. John, the carpenter in the Miller's Tale, constantly worries about his eighteen year-old wife, Alison. "Jealous he was," the Miller told us, "and he kept her closely caged, for she was wild and young, and he was old, and thought she would likely make him a cuckold." (Chaucer, 118) This protection of the women of the home parallels that of Reeve's Tale, in which Simon, the miller, protects his wife and daughter, Molly, when he finds the mischievous Alan and John have slept with them. "By Holy God I'll have you tripes for daring to dishonor my daughter. . ." Simon exclaims. (Chaucer, 118) Full of rage, he attacks Alan as to sustain his protection for his women. Immortality is discussed in the Miller and Reeve's tales in the sense that the women of both tales have no true sense of integrity. Both John and Simon show some level of restraint over Alison, Molly, and the miller's wife, for "Restraint is recommended (for women) in regard to sexual behavior." (Blewitt, 662) Fly Nicholas, who pays rent to stay with John and Alison, finds John frequently leaves the house for many days as part of his job. Nicholas is portrayed as the sliest character in both tales, knowing all for love, sexual pursuits, and astrology. He approaches Alison one day and makes an intense sexual pass, and after little resistance, Alison accepts the pass. Alison then readily engages in sex with Nicholas, being assured that John will not find out. She stops not even once to think of what this will cause to her faithful and loving husband. Another such offense comes about when Alison openly sticks her, "Rompi" out the window for Absolom to kiss. Her overall character seems as one that has no shame. To the same extent, the miller's wife and daughter, Molly, commit a similar crime of lewdness. John and Alan, angry at the trick Simon has played on them, decide to sleep with Simon's wife and daughter that very same night. Carefully and cunningly, John gets Simon's wife into his bed, while Alan gets himself into Molly's bed. Molly, just as Alison readily accepts Alan's sexual offer, for Chaucer writes, "They soon were one." (Chaucer, 172) John uses a different approach to get Simon's wife, leading her to falsely believe his bed is actually hers. He instantaneously begins to have fun, but again the wife believes it is her husband who, "Thrusts like a madman,

Kantianism Nagel, Moral Luck

Kantianism: Nagel, Moral Luck Moral luck is a term used by Nagel to describe the external factors beyond our control, which act upon moral decisions we make. Nagels opinion is that people make moral decisions that may have good or bad intentions, but because of moral luck the outcome may be contrary to what he/she intended. Moral luck can be constitutive, the kind of person that someone is. Some people are born with certain characteristics, which enable them to be more virtuous then others. Others are born with a nasty streak of envy or jealousy, which makes it that much harder for them to make moral decisions. Another type of moral luck is ones circumstances. People are faced with different types of situations and problems, and certain situations make is easier to make the right moral decision. Nagel also describes two types of consequential lucks. One type is antecedent, in which certain consequences took place before the moral act and influence the moral decision to be made. The other type o! f consequential luck is the way actions and decisions turn out. Basically, moral luck is all the outside factors, which are beyond human control. These factors will determine whether a moral act turns out to be found moral by others or by oneself. A student may decide that he will not study for a specific exam because he intends to cheat off his neighbors paper. However, upon arriving to class he finds that all the seats but one in the front of the classroom are taken. The student, who had every intention to cheat no finds himself unable to look at anyones paper and must take the test on his own. This is an example of moral luck. According to Kant the student should be judged as having committed a moral wrong because Kant believes that moral acts must be judged on good or bad will. The student definitely had bad will in this case, however any Consequentalist would say the conseque...

The Philosophical Naturalism Of David Hume Essay

The Philosophical Naturalism Of David Hume - Essay Example Humes influence is evident in the works of quite a lot of other philosophers, among whom are: Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Henry Huxley. The diverseness of these writers shows what they gleaned from reading Hume; it reflects not only the richness of their sources but also the wide range of Humes empiricism. Contemporary philosophers recognize Hume as one of the most thoroughgoing exponents of philosophical naturalism. David Hume sought to develop more fully the consequences of Locke's cautious empiricism by applying the scientific methods of observation to a study of human nature itself. He was of the opinion that we cannot rely on the common-sense pronouncements of popular superstition, which illustrate human conduct without offering any illumination, nor can we achieve any genuine progress by means of abstract metaphysical speculation, which imposes a spurious clarity upon profound issues- that we are entirely unjustified in thinking that we can ever know anything about matters of fact. He thought that the alternative is to reject all easy answers; employing the negative results of philosophical skepticism as a legitimate place to start. Hume felt that since human beings live and function in the world, we should try to observe how they do so. The key principle to be applied to any investigation of our cognitive capacities is, then, an attempt to discover the causes of human belief. According to Hume, the proper goal of philosophy is simply to explain why we believe what we do. His own attempt to achieve that goal was the focus of Book I of his book, the Treatise of Human Nature and all of the first Enquiry.

Convertible Debentures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Convertible Debentures - Essay Example Some small companies are not able to meet the financial parameters for raising equity; thus, convertible debentures are issued instead of selling shares of stocks (Market Outbox par.3). Another motive of corporations for issuing convertible debentures is that they are able to raise equity without giving up control of ownership until such time that the debentures are converted into shares of stock. Furthermore, with debentures, the assets of the company will not be tied up unlike other forms of debt which require assets as collateral for the loan (Business Finance ,par.2). It is believed that issuing convertible debentures is a good alternative for companies who want to raise capital in short term intervals. It is win-win solution for both the issuer and the investor. It is attractive to investors because of the guaranteed interest payments and an option to convert to equity if the price of the stocks goes up. The company on the other hand is able to enjoy lower interest payments and can offer their shares at a premium based on the present value in the

Arguments in Favor of Capital Punishment and its Alternatives Essay

Arguments in Favor of Capital Punishment and its Alternatives - Essay Example This punishment has been applicable since ancient times to curb crimes and bring felons before justice. World’s major religions such as Christianity and Islam have also prescribed death for murder, necromancy and rape attempts as presented in Holy books including Bible and Quran. For instance, we have to consider the viewpoints, arguments, opinions, ideas, and understanding of every individual as we live in the democratic society where every person enjoys the freedom of speech, expression, and open communication. It is worthwhile to mention the fact that anti-capital punishment campaigners usually disregard the universal truth that everyone is mortal when defending Life Imprisonment against the death penalty. For instance, such campaigners argue that life-long wait for natural death by criminals will increase their agony of torture and emotional anguish in comparison to the pain and hurt they receive before hanging in public for death. However, they fail to provide a legitimat e explanation against the argument raised by endorsers of the death penalty â€Å"whether Life Imprisonment to culprits is the just decision for those who have lost their loved ones killed by felonies for personal reasons†. Some of the major arguments raised for and against capital punishment will now be demonstrated in the following sections to reach an appropriate conclusion. The first major argument in favor of Capital Punishment by supporters is that it leads to permanent eradication of notorious criminal groups, gangs or individuals from society. In addition, the death penalty serves as an example that no one is beyond the law as well as permitted to take law in one’s hand by brutally assassinating the innocents in society. Also, the punishment makes society safer and restores the confidence of the general public, which remains frightened from the presence of such malefactors in prisons.

Ebola Virus Mechanism of Infection

Ebola Virus Mechanism of Infection The Ebola virus (EBOV) is an enveloped, non-segmented, negative-strand RNA virus, which  together with Marburg virus, makes up the filoviridae family. The virus causes severe  hemorrhagic fever associated with 50-90% human mortality1. Four species of the virus (Zaire,  Sudan, Cà ´te d’Ivoire, and Reston ebolavirus) have thus far been identified, with Zaire typically  associated with the highest human lethality2. A fifth EBOV species is confirmed in a 2007  outbreak in Bundibugyo, Uganda3,4. Infection with EBOV results in uncontrolled viral  replication and multiple organ failure with death occurring 6-9 days after onset of  symptoms5. Fatal cases are associated with high viremia and defective immune responses,  while survival is associated with early and vigorous humoral and cellular immune  responses6-9. Although preliminary vaccine trials in primates have been highly  successful10-13, no vaccines, specific immunotherapeutics, or post-exposure treatments are  currently approved for human use. Since 1994, EBOV outbreaks have increased more than  four-fold, thus necessitating the urgent development of vaccines and therapeutics for use in the  event of an intentional, accidental or natural EBOV release. The EBOV genome contains seven genes, which direct the synthesis of eight proteins. Transcriptional editing of the fourth gene (GP) results in expression of a 676-residue transmembrane-linked glycoprotein termed GP, as well as a 364-residue secreted glycoprotein  termed sGP14,15. EBOV GP is the main target for the design of vaccines and entry inhibitors. GP is post-translationally cleaved by furin16 to yield disulfide-linked GP1 and GP2  subunits17. GP1 effects attachment to host cells, while GP2 mediates fusion of viral and host  membranes16,18-20. EBOV is thought to enter host cells through receptor-mediated  endocytosis via clathrin-coated pits and caveolae21, followed by actin and microtubuledependent  transport to the endosome21, where GP is further processed by endosomal  cathepsins22-24. Essential cellular receptor(s) have not yet been identified, but DC-SIGN/LSIGN25,  hMGL26, ÃŽ ²-integrins27, folate receptor-ÃŽ ±28 and Tyro3 family receptors29 have all  been implicated as cellular factors in entry. Here, we report the crystal structure of EBOV GP,  at 3.4 Ã… resolution, in its trimeric, pre-fusion conformation in complex with neutralizing  antibody Fab KZ52. GP1 is responsible for cell surface attachment, which is probably mediated by a region  including residues 54-20132. GP1 is composed of a single d omain (∠¼65 Ã… Ãâ€" 30 Ã… Ãâ€" 30 Ã…),arranged in the topology shown in Fig. 2a, and can be further subdivided into the (I) base, (II)  head and (III) glycan cap regions (Fig. 2a and Supplemental Fig. S3). The base (I) subdomain  is composed of two sets of ÃŽ ² sheets, forming a semi-circular surface which clamps the internal  fusion loop and a helix of GP2 through hydrophobic interactions (Fig. 2b). Moreover, this  subdomain contains Cys53, which is proposed to form an intermolecular disulfide bridge to  Cys609 of the GP2 subunit17. Cys53 resides near GP2 in the ÃŽ ²2-ÃŽ ²3 loop at the viral membraneproximal  end of the base subdomain (Fig. 2a-b). Our EBOV GP contains an intact GP1-GP2  disulfide bridge, based on reducing and non-reducing SDS-PAGE analysis. However, the region containing the counterpart GP2 cysteine is disordered, which may reflect functionally  important mobility in the region. The head (II) is located between the base and glycan cap   regions towards the host membrane surface. Two intramolecular disulfide bonds stabilize the  head subdomain and confirm the biochemically determined disulfide bridge assignments17.   Cys108-Cys135 connects a surface-exposed loop (ÃŽ ²8-ÃŽ ²9 loop) to strand ÃŽ ²7, while Cys121-Cys147 bridges the ÃŽ ²8-ÃŽ ²9 and ÃŽ ²9-ÃŽ ²10 loops (Fig. 2a). The glycan cap (III) contains four  predicted N-linked glycans (at N228, N238, N257 and N268) in an ÃŽ ±/ÃŽ ² dome over the GP1  head subdomain (Fig. 1b and 2a). This subdomain does not form any monomer-monomer  contacts and is fully exposed on the upper and outer surface of the chalice. The central ÃŽ ² sheets  from the head and glycan cap together form a fairly flat surface and, in the context of the GP  trimer, form the three inner sides of the chalice bowl. Ebola virus GP2 GP2 is responsible for fusion of viral and host cell membranes and contains the internal fusion  loop and the heptad repeat regions, HR1 and HR2. Many viral glycoproteins have fusion  peptides, located at the N terminus of their fusion subunit, which are released upon cleavage  of the precursor glycoprotein. By contrast, class II and class III fusion proteins, as well as class  I glycoproteins from Ebola, Marburg, Lassa and avian sarcoma leukosis viruses, contain  internal fusion loops lacking a free N terminus. The crystal structure reveals that the EBOV  GP internal fusion loop, which encompasses residues 511-556, utilizes an antiparallel ÃŽ ²Ã‚  stranded scaffold to display a partially helical hydrophobic fusion peptide (L529, W531, I532,  P533, Y534 and F535) (Fig. 2c). The side chains of these hydrophobic residues pack into a  region on the GP1 head of a neighboring subunit in the trimer, reminiscent of the fusion peptide  packing in the pre-fusion parainfluenz a virus 5 F structure33. A disulfide bond between Cys511  at the base of ÃŽ ²19 and Cys556 in the HR1 helix covalently links the antiparallel ÃŽ ² sheet. This  disulfide bond between the internal fusion loop and HR1 is conserved among all filoviruses,  and is analogous to a pair of critical cysteines flanking the internal fusion loop in avian sarcoma  leukosis virus34,35. Interestingly, the EBOV internal fusion loop has features more similar to  those observed in class II and III viral glycoproteins (in particular to flaviviruses) than those  previously observed for class I glycoproteins (Supplemental Fig. S4). It thus appears that  regardless of viral protein class, internal fusion loops share a common architecture for their  fusion function. EBOV GP2 contains two heptad repeat regions (HR1 and HR2), connected by a 25-residue  linker containing a CX6CC motif and the internal fusion loop. The crystal structures of postfusion  GP2 fragments30,31 have revealed that the two heptad repeat regions form antiparallel  ÃŽ ± helices and that a CX6CC motif forms an intrasubunit disulfide bond between Cys601 and  Cys608 (Supplemental Fig. S5). In the pre-fusion EBOV GP, HR2 and the CX6CC motif are  disordered. By contrast, the HR1 region is well ordered and can be divided into four segments:  HR1A, HR1B, HR1C and HR1D (Fig. 2c), which together assemble the cradle encircling GP1. Similarly, heptad repeat regions in influenza and parainfluenza viruses also contain multiple  segments in their pre-fusion helices that substantially rearrange in their post-fusion  conformations33,36,37. The first two segments, HR1A and HR1B (residues 554-575), together form an ÃŽ ± helix with an  Ã¢Ë† ¼40 ° kink at T565, which delineates HR1A from HR1B. Interestingly, the bend between  HR1A and HR1B contains an unusual 3-4-4-3 stutter, which may act as a conformational  switch31, rather than the typical 3-4 periodicity of heptad repeats (Supplemental Fig. S6). A  similar stutter has also been noted in parainfluenza virus 5 F33. The Ebola virus HR1C (residues  576-582) forms an extended coil linking HR1B to the 14-residue ÃŽ ± helix of HR1D (residues  583-598). HR1D forms an amphipathic helix and the hydrophobic faces of each HR1D join to  form a three-helix bundle at the trimer interface. Although the breakpoint maps directly to a  Lee et al. Page 3 Nature. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 June 22. NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript  chloride ion binding site in the post-fusion conformation of GP230,31 and at least two other  viruses38,39, no chloride ion is observed here as HR1 and HR2 do not come together to form  the six-helix bundle. Instead, the pre-fusion GP2 adopts a novel conformation, intimately  curled around GP1 (Fig. 1c). Ebola virus GP-KZ52 interface KZ52 is an antibody isolated from a human survivor of a 1995 outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic  Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)40. This antibody neutralizes Zaire ebolavirus in  vitro40 and offers protection from lethal EBOV challenge in rodent models41, but has minimal  effects on viral pathogenicity in non-human primates42. KZ52 is directed towards a vulnerable,  non-glycosylated epitope at the base of the GP chalice, where it engages three discontinuous  segments of EBOV GP: residues 42-43 at the N terminus of GP1, and 505-514 and 549-556  at the N terminus of GP2 (Fig. 3 and Supplemental Fig. S7). Although the majority of the GP  surface buried by KZ52 belongs to GP2, the presence of both GP1 and GP2 are critical for  KZ52 recognition43. It is likely that GP1 is required to maintain the proper pre-fusion  conformation of GP2 for KZ52 binding. Indeed, KZ52 is the only antibody known to bridge  both attachment (GP1) and fusion (GP2) subunits of any viral gly coprotein. Given that KZ52  requires a conformational epitope seen only in the GP2 pre-fusion conformation and that the  KZ52 epitope is distant from the putative receptor-binding site (RBS), KZ52 likely neutralizes  by preventing rearrangement of the GP2 HR1A/HR1B segments and blocking host membrane  insertion of the internal fusion loop. Alternatively, IgG KZ52 may sterically hinder access to  the RBS or to a separate binding site of another cellular factor, especially if multiple attachment  events are required for entry. The KZ52 epitope of GP is convex and does not have a high shape complementarity to the  antibody (Sc index of 0.63), although ∠¼1600 Ã…2 of each GP monomer are occluded upon KZ52  binding. The antibody contacts a total of 15 GP residues by van der Waals interactions and 8  direct hydrogen bonds (Supplemental Fig. S7). Ten out of 15 residues in the structurally defined  KZ52 epitope are unique to Zaire ebolavirus (Supplemental Fig. S6), thus explaining the Zaire  specificity of KZ52. Ebola virus GP glycosylation We generated a fully glycosylated molecular model of EBOV GP to illustrate the native GP  trimer as it exists on the viral surface (Fig. 4). The majority of N-linked glycosylation sites are  concentrated in the mucin-like domain and glycan cap of GP1. Given that the mucin-like  domain is ∠¼75 kDa in mass (protein and oligosaccharide), the volume of this domain is  predicted to be similar to each GP monomer observed here. The crystal structure suggests that  the mucin-like domain is linked to the side of each monomer and may further build up the walls  of the chalice, forming a deeper bowl (Fig. 4). Although a mixture of complex, oligomannose  and hybrid-type glycans are found on intact, mucin-containing GP144, those glycans outside  the mucin-like domain are likely to be complex in nature: the mucin-deleted GP used for  crystallization is sensitive to PNGaseF, but not to EndoH treatment (Supplemental Fig. S8).   Modeling of complex-type oligosaccharides on the EBOV GP indicates that the majority of  the GP trimer is cloaked by a thick layer of oligosaccharide, even without the mucin-like  domain (Fig. 4). The ∠¼19 additional oligosaccharides on the full-length GP (17 on the mucinlike  domain and 2 more on GP1, disordered here) further conceal the sides and top of the  chalice. The KZ52 binding site and, presumably, the flexible regions of HR2 and the  membrane-proximal external region (MPER) remain exposed and perhaps vulnerable to  binding of antibodies and inhibitors. Lee The development of neutralizing antibodies is limited in natural Ebola virus infection. Many  survivors have low or insignificant titres1,7, and those antibodies that are elicited preferentially  recognize a secreted version of the viral glycoprotein that features an alternate quaternary  structure and lacks the mucin-like domain43. The glycocalyx surrounding EBOV GP likely  forms a shield that protects it from humoral immune responses and/or confers stability insideor outside a host. The mucin-like domain and glycan cap sit together as an external domain to  the viral attachment and fusion subunits, reminiscent of the glycan shields of HIV-1  gp12045,46   and Epstein-Barr virus gp35047, perhaps pointing to a common theme for immune  evasion. Alignment of filoviral sequences indicate that regions involved in immune evasion  have a low degree of sequence conservation [i.e. GP1 glycan cap (∠¼5%) and mucin-like domain  (0%)], but the N-glycosylation sites in the glycan cap are mostly conserved among all EBOV  subtypes (Supplemental Fig. S6), indicating the functional importance of these posttranslational  modifications. Sites of receptor binding and cathepsin cleavage Although a definitive receptor for EBOV remains to be identified, previous studies32,48,49  have determined that residues 54-201, which map to the base and head subdomains of GP1,  form a putative receptor-binding site (RBS) for attachment to host cells. Additional  experimental studies have identified at least 19 GP1 residues, assigned into four groups based  on the location in the structure, that are critical for viral entry48-50 (Fig. 5). Many of these  residues are apolar or aromatic and are involved in maintaining the structural integrity of GP1  for receptor binding or fusion. However, six residues (K114, K115, K140, G143, P146 and  C147) cluster within a ∠¼20 Ãâ€" 15 Ã… surface in the inner bowl of the chalice and may thus  represent important receptor contact sites. All residues in the putative RBS are highly conserved  among Ebola virus species (Supplemental Fig. S6). Importantly, this putative RBS is recessed beneath the glycan cap and perhaps further masked  by the mucin-like domain (Fig. 4), suggesting that additional conformational change or removalof the mucin-like domain could reveal additional surfaces required for receptor or cofactor  binding. It has been demonstrated that endosomal proteolysis of EBOV GP by cathepsin L  and/or B removes the mucin-like domain to produce a stable ∠¼18 kDa GP1 intermediate which  has enhanced viral binding and infectivity22-24. The precise site of cathepsin cleavage is  unknown and the role of cathepsins in natural infection is as yet unclear. However, formation  of an ∠¼18 kDa GP1 fragment implies that cathepsin may cleave near the GP1 ÃŽ ²13-ÃŽ ²14 loop  (residues 190-213). Indeed, this loop is unresolved in the pre-fusion structure, suggesting  enhanced mobility and accessibility to enzymatic cleavage. Cleavage within this loop would  remove the entire mucin-like domain and glyc an cap region (Fig. 5). As a result, ÃŽ ²7 to ÃŽ ²9  strands and their associated loops would become exposed. These regions of GP are in proximity  to the previously identified residues critical for viral entry. The fold, location and  physicochemical properties of this site should now provide new leads in the search for the  elusive filoviral receptor(s). A summary of the Ebola virus mechanism of infection, including the events of cathepsin  cleavage and conformational changes to GP2 during fusion, is presented.

Does Increased Carbon Dioxide Emissions Cause Global Warming? Essay

The warming of the Earth’s atmosphere is one of the most important environmental issues in the world today. The volatile climate and changes of heat in the atmosphere are connected with an increase of large amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is often talked about that the primary reason why the global warming situation is increasing is due to the increase of the amount of greenhouse gases present in the Earth’s atmosphere, primarily the amount of carbon dioxide emissions. The increased carbon dioxide amount in the atmosphere that causes global warming is a cause of concern for many people because of its potential dangerous effects to the Earth and the environment. However, there are opposing arguments against this claim, and they refute that it is not accurate to mainly attribute the problem of global warming to the increasing carbon dioxide emission caused by the activities of humans. Audience My audience will be the one’s opposing the claim that carbon dioxide emissions cause global warming. The one’s opposing this claim believes that global warming is natural and the greenhouse gases do not cause global warming. That is true to some extent; however, if we did not build all of the industrial plants after the Industrial Revolution, which produces all of the carbon dioxide emissions global warming would not be as bad. To many scientists global warming refers to the observation that the Earth is warming, without any indication of what might be causing the warming of the atmosphere. This definition indicates that global warming can be due to various factors, and one of these reasons includes the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect, meanwhile, is a warming near the surface of the Earth that results whe... ...make our planet the only planet known to be habitable. I was able to use this book to better improve my reader’s knowledge of global warming and the effects of global warming. "What is Global Warming? - National Wildlife Federation." Home - National Wildlife Federation. National Wildlife Federation, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. . This article defines global warming and talks about how it is happening now. The article also goes in depth of how global warming is caused by humans and the effects that global warming are causing. Another thing the article talks about is what we can do to solve the problem of global warming. This article helped me by explaining the reasons of global warming and also by telling me ways that the global warming issue can be fixed. Another reason the article helped was by explaining the different causes of global warming.

Case: Valley Wide Utilities Company Essay

Problems A. Macro 1. The company faced with financial inefficiencies resulting from an expansion of its facilities. 2. President Delgado appointed John Givens and Hilda Hirsh to provide a broad outline of MBO performance standards, identify key standards controlling performance, and more specifically, isolate goals not easily attained. B. Micro 1. During the past year, performance evaluation problems are surfacing, dissatisfaction is emerging, managers are stating MBO standards are too tight and unfair, and workers are threatening to leave. I. Causes 1. John and Hilda may not have the knowledge or skills to evaluate and change performance levels of individuals or teams. 2. Hirsh was only looking for failure to report under the cover of the MBO system II. Systems affected 1. The company just increased the performance level on several items, bur they didn’t set a specific goal. 2. When the problems appeared, the company should talk about it together, and find out what they should do next, but they didn’t. III. Alternatives 1. Lower the standard of the system. 2. The manager should make a plan or goal from the review, then tell the employees how to do next. IV. Recommendation The company should do what I said before. Case: valley wide utilities company Problems C. Macro 3. The company faced with financial inefficiencies resulting from an expansion of its facilities. 4. President Delgado appointed John Givens and Hilda Hirsh to provide a broad outline of MBO performance standards, identify key standards controlling performance, and more specifically,  isolate goals not easily attained. D. Micro 1. During the past year, performance evaluation problems are surfacing, dissatisfaction is emerging, managers are stating MBO standards are too tight and unfair, and workers are threatening to leave. V. Causes 3. John and Hilda may not have the knowledge or skills to evaluate and change performance levels of individuals or teams. 4. Hirsh was only looking for failure to report under the cover of the MBO system VI. Systems affected 3. The company just increased the performance level on several items, bur they didn’t set a specific goal. 4. When the problems appeared, the company should talk about it together, and find out what they should do next, but they didn’t. VII. Alternatives 3. Lower the standard of the system. 4. The manager should make a plan or goal from the review, then tell the employees how to do next. VIII. Recommendation The company should do what I said before. Case: valley wide utilities company Problems E. Macro 5. The company faced with financial inefficiencies resulting from an expansion of its facilities. 6. President Delgado appointed John Givens and Hilda Hirsh to provide a broad outline of MBO performance standards, identify key standards controlling performance, and more specifically, isolate goals not easily attained. F. Micro 1. During the past year, performance evaluation problems are surfacing, dissatisfaction is emerging, managers are stating MBO standards are too tight and unfair, and workers are threatening to leave. IX. Causes 5. John and Hilda may not have the knowledge or skills to evaluate and change performance levels of individuals or teams. 6. Hirsh was only looking for failure to report under the cover of the MBO system X. Systems affected 5. The company just increased the performance level on several items, bur they didn’t set a specific goal. 6. When the problems appeared, the company should talk about it together, and find out what they should do next, but they didn’t. XI. Alternatives 5. Lower the standard of the system. 6. The manager should make a plan or goal from the review, then tell the employees how to do next. XII. Recommendation The company should do what I said before. Case: valley wide utilities company Problems G. Macro 7. The company faced with financial inefficiencies resulting from an expansion of its facilities. 8. President Delgado appointed John Givens and Hilda Hirsh to provide a broad outline of MBO performance standards, identify key standards controlling performance, and more specifically, isolate goals not easily attained. H. Micro 1. During the past year, performance evaluation problems are surfacing, dissatisfaction is emerging, managers are stating MBO standards are too tight and unfair, and workers are threatening to leave. XIII. Causes 7. John and Hilda may not have the knowledge or skills to evaluate and change performance levels of individuals or teams. 8. Hirsh was only looking for failure to report under the cover of the MBO system XIV. Systems affected 7. The company just increased the performance level on several items, bur they didn’t set a specific goal. 8. When the problems appeared, the company should talk about it together, and find out what they should do next, but  they didn’t. XV. Alternatives 7. Lower the standard of the system. 8. The manager should make a plan or goal from the review, then tell the employees how to do next. XVI. Recommendation The company should do what I said before.

Lego Case Essays

Lego Case Essays Lego Case Paper Lego Case Paper TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction1 Strategic Analysis2 A. Internal Core Competences2 B. Company mission and vision3 C. Future goals4 D. Organizational Structure5 E. 7-S model analysis76 Improvements9 Open Innovation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 A. Organization of innovation. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦11 B. Matrix Innovation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. 12 Reference14 Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 15 A. Memos†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦15 B. Project A Log for mm215†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦.. 17 Executive Summary LEGO Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, and has a long history which started with making wooden toys, plastic toys and then getting to the famous brick. Because of the foreign competition, many companies, including LEGO, had to reevaluate their strategies to regain competitive advantage. As a consequence, the current corporate vision in Lego energizes all employees. Furthermore, the bond between them and top management can make every decision become a successful strategy. LEGO Goals focus on increasing, developing and expanding â€Å"direct to consumer† activities. The company has three main divisions in order to secure a successful implementation: â€Å"Market and Product† division, â€Å"Community, Education and Direct† and Operation division. This report discusses the 7 S model analyses: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills. Excelling in this areas, LEGO became the fourth biggest toy manufacturer in the world and the brick was called the â€Å"Toy of the Century â€Å". LEGO Games provide the opportunity for a unique combination of building with Lego bricks and social play with family and friends. LEGO core values are: fun, creativity and quality. The company structure consists of the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and four Executive Vice Presidents each responsible for their own business area. The company has always been a family business and now it’s the first time when an outsider becomes part of it, but with his visionary leadership style pulled LEGO out of the crisis. The biggest innovation of LEGO is the way they work with users and other external agents for development and product improvement. For the manufacturing of new products LEGO implemented a mechanism known as LEGO Development Process (LDP). The company has split its innovation efforts into 8 distinct areas, from product development to business model innovation. This report reviews and synthesizes the information presented on the project, and shows case of the Group’s strategies and vision. The issues of diversity and innovation occupy a central role in showing the company’s values. Nevertheless, the Group must advance and focus on its fundamental mission, adapting to the external realities that affect the market. Introduction The LEGO Group, a privately held company based in Billund, began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891 – 1958), a carpenter, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1947, it started to produce plastic toys, and in 1949, LEGO began producing the now famous bricks, calling them â€Å"Automatic Binding Bricks†. Bricks are colourful and they are accompanying array of gears, mini-figures and various other parts. LEGO Company takes its name from the two Danish words ‘Leg Godt’ meaning â€Å"play well. † The LEGO Groups motto is ‘det bedste er ikke for godt’ which means roughly only the best is good enough’. This motto was created by Ole Kirk to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. The motto is still used within the company today. Today, LEGO Group ranks among the four biggest construction toy company around the world. Globally, there are approximately 10,000 employees in the LEGO Group, which is presented in more than 130 countries. The concept of â€Å"Play Well† serves their philosophy for all LEGO products today, a philosophy encouraging children to be open and curious, to stimulate their creativity, imagination and learning – while they’re having fun. In 1968, LEGOLAND Billund opened and it became Denmark’s most popular tourist attraction outside the capital. LEGOLAND parks are family parks in which children enter an exciting world of adventure built of LEGO bricks. There are 4 LEGOLAND’s in the world and soon there will be 5. There is one in the south of England, which opened in 1996, one in USA, in California which opened in 1999 and one in Deutschland, which opened in 2002. LEGO Group announced the opening of 2 new LEGOLAND parks, in Florida at the end of 2011 and in Malaysia in 2012. Strategic Analysis The threat of foreign competition has caused many companies to re-evaluate their strategies in order to regain the position of competitive advantage. The whole purpose of a strategic analysis is to figure out the most suitable planning strategy in respect to the company’s production and people, to set overall goals for the business and to develop a plan to achieve them. This process involves stepping back from the day-to-day operations and asking where the business is heading. 1 Internal Core Competences [pic] All the internal core competences that LEGO promote are properly balanced, adding value to the company strategies. Leadership The corporate vision is inspirational and energizes all employees throughout the company. Leaders are energetic, communicating strategic decision and lead by example. The top management within LEGO Group knows how to help its employees to expect and respect data-driven decision making, by making strategy everyone’s job: the work force understands the strategy and further, understands how their locale, everyday decision can contribute to successful strategy implementation. Corporate Culture The shared values of the LEGO Company within the employees are what link the organization together so that everyone lives the values, nurturing an attitude of relentless growth. Teams are infused with purpose, personality and passion for continuous improvement. Empowered Employees The employees of the LEGO Company are sharply aligned with the corporate vision and strategy, having a decision-making authority. All the innovators employees have the freedom to experiment, fail and begin again more intelligently. Performance Management LEGO Group has two major systems that are performance wise: motivation systems and suggestion systems. Motivation systems encourage extraordinary performance from all employees, as suggestion systems involve them in continuous efficiency improvement. Corporate Capabilities Combining all the structures, LEGO has established strong corporate capabilities on the basis of high promotion of effective creativity, ideas and knowledge. Within the company, teamwork is made a religion and innovation teams are empowered and diversity is leveraged. 2 Company mission and vision For the vast majority of companies, having well-defined visions and mission statements changes nothing. The exercise of crafting them is a complete waste of time and talent, if visions and mission statements are used for nothing but being published in the annual report and displayed in a reception area. In connection to this, LEGO Group has a remarkable strategy of sharing the missions and vision among all the employees and customers. Mission: ‘Inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow’ LEGO’s ultimate purpose is to inspire and develop children to think creatively, reason systematically and release their potential to shape their own future experiencing the endless human possibility. Based on the world famous LEGO brick, the company currently provides toys, experiences and educational materials to children living in over 130 countries. The LEGO Group has approximately 10,000 employees and is the fifth-game material in the world. Vision: ‘Inventing the future of play’ LEGO wants to pioneer new ways of playing, play materials and the business models of play leveraging globalization and digitalization it is not just about products, it is about realizing the human possibility. In order to achieve this, LEGO is: We try to achieve this by providing a wide range of fun and high quality, based on our build system. In the hands of children, encourage products to implement the unique LEGO style: a style fun, creative, engaging and stimulating all at the same time. This activity provides children self-esteem and allows them to experience the special pride of getting things. Throughout the process, develop automatic and informally a set of future skills of ou tstanding importance: The resolution of problems from a creative standpoint, structured, curiosity and imagination, interpersonal relationships and physical motor skills. Building with LEGO is ultimately synonymous with play. 3 Future goals The LEGO Group has seen continued growth over the previous five years, and sales have increased by double-digit growth rates in the last few years. On this basis, seven growth goals have been defined by the company: Increase market share in USA Increase market share in Eastern Europe Invest in emerging markets Develop innovative new products Expand â€Å"direct to consumer† activities Expand LEGO Education The company’s aim is to create growth in the area of educational materials for preschools, schools and educational institutions all over the world. Expand Electronic Activities The LEGO Group currently operates on electronic platforms through the www. LEGO. com website and video games. According to LEGO’s website, its electronic presence will be further expanded, in particular through LEGO Universe – the first MMOG (massively multiplayer online game) from the LEGO Group, which was launched in the second half of 2010. 4 Organizational Structure An organizational structure combines activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. In order to secure the successful implementation of the LEGO Group strategy a new organizational structure was introduced in Feb 2006 with three main divisions: 1. The ‘Market and Products’ division is focusing in creating value for the customers and ensure a higher degree of innovation. 2. The ‘Community, Education and Direct’ Division is developing the group xisting and new direct-to-consumer sales and ensure that the unique LEGO communities are catered through direct dialogue. 3. In order to ensure optimal operation and efficiency, all the supplies of products via the value chain , as well as the supply chain and central functions will be united within the ‘Operations’ Division. 5 7-S model analysis7 [pic] You can divide the factors into so-called hard and soft factors. Strat egy, structure and systems fall under the hard element because they can be easy to identify and affect. On the other hand there are shared values, style, staff and skills which fall under the soft elements because they can be difficult to identify but are equally important to have a successful company all around. Strategy: The company plan or route-map to maintain competitive advantage Structure: The company hierarchy Systems: The day-to-day processes and procedures throughout the company Shared Values: The core values of the company Style: The company leadership style Staff: The companys employees and their broad abilities Skills: The skills and competencies of employees Strategy: LEGO is always trying to have a competitive advantage. Always trying to expand and get the LEGO band into other countries and have also inspired to open LEGO amusement parks around the world – USA, Germany, Japan and England. Their market share in the US has increased with 5% over the past years and it is also their assessment that it can increase more over the next years. They have become the fourth biggest toy manufacturer in the world and manage to keep their position because they are very innovative and always come up with new concepts and new ideas of fun and play for kids to engage in. Structure: The company structure consists with the chief executive officer, the chief financial officer and 4 executive vice presidents with responsibility for their own business areas. This has both pros and cons. They all specialize in their area and that can be a pro because they know everything there is to know about their area and they are excellent at their job. It can also be a con because it also means they do not know a lot about the other business areas and it would not be the easiest thing to go help the other vice presidents if they needed it. Systems: LEGO has since 2005 been undergoing major organizational change and the CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp introduced the LEAN process in the company. It is a system that has two main areas, customer value and waste. Shared values: LEGO Games provides the opportunity for a unique combination of building with LEGO bricks and social play with family and friends. Players build the game from bricks, play it – and can then build a new version of the game or change its rules. The many games in the series have been developed on the basis of LEGO core values: fun, creativity and quality, and with an appeal to children aged five years and older. Style: The company has always been a family business with a member of the original family at the top, but now for the first time it’s an outsider that has been made Chief executive officer. He has a very visionary leadership style, and you can see that because he pulled LEGO out of a crisis and saved it from destruction, and focuses on how the leader defines the future for followers and moves them towards it, with his 4 vice presidents each responsible for their own business. He carried out the LEAN process and it has shown to be a great success. One of the areas in LEAN is about reaching the full potential of the employees and having them think about improvements regarding the customer’s needs. For this to work it is very important that the management have an attitude that shows trust, recognition and respect towards the employees. The company also has a unique and admirable style when you look at their code of conduct making sure that all their suppliers work after their high standards, and LEGO require that their suppliers sign a statement saying they follow the Code of Conduct of LEGO which is regarding: Child labour Pay and work hours Discrimination Force and harassment Forced labour Work environment Environment Fighting corruption Staff: The LEGO Group has 10,000 employees and they are both experienced and competent and they care a lot about all their employees being trained by someone more experienced so they learn from the inside and from the best. They show their employees a lot of trust so that they fe el confident and like a big part of the organization. Skills: The creative core of LEGO is made of 120 designers, always making sure LEGO is ahead on the toy ideas. Most of them have designer degrees and art school degrees although this is not a requirement to be a part of LEGO’s creative core. They always have to be on top of things and they are very skilled and capable, which is also a part of the great leadership style at LEGO. By doing the analysis of all these elements of LEGO it gives an overview on the internal organization, and it is clear that LEGO is a very functional company with a very capable CEO who is always up front on the marked and trying to make LEGO even bigger. There is always room for improvement but LEGO has a good solid organization for that Improvements Every process produces information on the basis of which the process can be improved. The focus is on continuous improvement throughout the organization through constant effort to reduce waste, rework and complexity. LEGO Company has business process thinking and it is based upon the central belief that is fundamentally the simplicity, shared vision and technology enabling that creates value to the customers and builds a good image for the organization. Integrating best practices Outline best possible strategies Because of their organizational structure with four vice presidents responsible for their own business areas, it could be a good idea to have them work in each other’s areas to get a wider knowledge about the other areas and make it easier to help each other if needed. World Class Competitiveness Market impact, focus on a balanced culture Further definition of client’s needs Development of an Integrated Strategy Built outcomes into new strategies Simplifying the processes, measures, and data gathering for a better action planning. Employee force development Prioritizing the options, resourcing the teams and find the most suitable plan for action. External improvement Developing the customer relationship Long term relationship with the suppliers Customers focus and feedback Open Innovation Since the discovery of its benefits, many companies are distinguished for being at the forefront of work processes and methodology, have opted for open innovation. He who works alone, he adds, who works in networks, it multiplies. The scenario has changed and we need not only internal innovation, the advantages or benefits that represent the adoption of open innovation models in companies or organizations, such as cost reduction, flexibility of structures, accelerated innovation and creativity or increase revenue, but we need for an organization to be more efficient against the competition, both in creation and in the capture of value. What is it? Basically expand innovation, listening in decision-making organizations to all its members and outsiders and not limited to R D Department or the Directorate. Open Innovation brings together innovative products and innovation model business across the R D process. In the research phase, companies seek and discover inventors, start-ups and other sources of available technologies that can be used as a basis for internal development project or assembly. In the development phase, established firms can acquire innovations outside that provide the opportunity to develop new generations of technology. In the marketing stage, it can buy or sell products or technologies, depending on the potential value that can be generated. Open innovation has acquired a new dimension, thanks to booming Internet collaborative tools and social networks. The most important for each organization must be clients, users and beneficiaries of each product or service. There are many cases in which companies currently have user communities of each brand that have given a boost in times of decline. External flows of technology, experience and knowledge through the collaborative work we now, say that open innovation have even become an almost essential tool for some companies when it comes to reinvent itself, leaving behind the obsolescence that seemed doomed their products and services. The biggest innovation of LEGO is the way they work with users and other external agents for development and product improvement. An example of this is what happened whit the product LEGO Mindstorm, a line of building blocks and programmable robots. Given its complexity, users, children and adults, without programming knowledge could not build their robots and make them work correctly and that frustrated them, so that meant Lego was facing a drop in sales. The first step to solve this problem was to seek advice from the outside. They got prototypes mountable in 20 minutes and easy to use for people without computer and programming skills. Later, they took a real leap electing 5 people from their community of consumers, 5 people with experience in computer science, programming and design and were fans of Lego. They worked on a new prototype of Lego Mindstorm, but were not paid with money but with advantages in the purchase of new products that were not yet on the market and free tickets to LEGOLAND. In addition to that, 100 users formed a community of developers. Shortly after the release of Mindstorm, a hacker revealed the programming code and hung it on the network. Lego then saw a new opportunity to increase the added value of their products to share with the world some of their knowledge. Another example of Open Innovation is the website that created LEGO, Lego Factory, where people can customize and design their own toy and buy it. Also, people can upload their designs and if they are good, Lego makes them to sell to the public. This makes LEGO closer to the people and that consumers will identify more with the company and its philosophy. And its a very good method of developing the user loyalty. 1 Organization of innovation For the manufacture of new products LEGO implanted a mechanism known as LEGO Development Process (LDP). This mechanism became a cumbersome bureaucratic mechanism because the workers had to fill in many forms, and each product took a long time to arrive to the market and only a few products were finally launched to the market. This process was modified and simplified, steps were removed, and the results to be obtained at each stage of the innovation process were clarified. The company has split its innovation efforts into eight distinct areas, from product development to business model innovation. It divides responsibility for them across four areas of the firm: the functional groups, the Concept Lab, Product and Marketing Development, and a unit called Community, Education, and Direct. To implement the new innovation process and manage and coordinate innovation across the entire company, LEGO created an Executive Innovation Governance Group. This committee determines innovation goals and strategy, decides the portfolio of innovation projects that the LEGO Group will take on, coordinates efforts, it delegates authority, allocates resources, and monitors the development process through the LDP review points. The four areas in which it divides the process of innovation are: 1. Functional Groups: Create core and enabling business processes in functions from Sales to manufacturing and supply chain. Areas of Innovation: core processes (sales, operations, financial planning), enabling processes (forecasting, marketing planning) 2. Concept Lab: Develops fundamentally new products and play experiences; located in its own building. 3. Product and Marketing Development (PMD): Develops the next generation of existing products and innovates on existing play themes (for instance, â€Å"pirates†), packaging, and campaigns. Areas of Innovation: Messaging (advertising campaigns, websites) Offerings (products, packaging) Platforms (toys’ technology elements) 4. Community, Education, and Direct (CED): Supports customer communities and taps Them for product ideas; manages the LEGO retail chain, the online store, and educational-market offerings; creates online play experiences. -Areas of Innovation: consumer interaction (communities, customer service), sales channel (retailers, direct to consumer), business model (revenue, pricing). 2 Matrix Innovation After failed innovations in different types of products, to make it easier and specific new process development (LPD) for each area, to help coordinate and identify the innovations necessary to develop a new product, LEGO creates the Matrix Innovation. This matrix identifies four areas in which innovation can take place within the company product, business, communication, and the process as well as the innovativeness of the improvements. In completing the matrix is achieved coordinating innovation efforts and identify where they need to focus resources. Matrix also used innovation as a guideline for restructuring the company and clarifies specific innovation responsibilities for each department. This allows each group to have greater authority and responsibility in achieving their goals. It also serves to coordinate this new form of open innovation in which ideas are taken into account and use the work of consumers, retailers, start-up companies, inventors and others who are interested in helping in developing Lego products and innovation. Reference http://1000ventures. com/business_guide/org_balanced_5elements. html businesslink. gov. k/bdotg/action/detail? itemId=1079687246r. i=1079687767r. l1=1074404796r. l2=1074446322r. l3=1079687477r. s=scr. t=RESOURCEStype=RESOURCES http://en. wikicollecting. org/the-lego-group http://cache. lego. com/upload/contentTemplating/AboutUsFactsAndFiguresContent/otherfiles/download98E142631E71927FDD52304C1C0F1685. pdf lmcuk. com/management-tool/the-7-s-model-for-organisational-change http://aboutus . lego. com/da-dk/corporate/default. aspx ouh. dk/wm267615 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing docstoc. com/docs/6899468 http://blogs. alianzo. om/redessociales/2008/08/08/innovacion-abierta-casos/ slideshare. net/dsanchezbote/open-innovation-comunidad-de-innovadores-presentation josemira. com/2011/01/articulo-el-fenomeno-de-la-open-innovation/ www. LEGOFactory. com innovationgovernance. net/legostudy. html innovationgovernance. net/legomatrix. html Appendices Memo To: Meg Sonderlund From: Maria Carlsen Date: October 10th 2011 Subject: My development during project A During the week of our project A regarding the LEGO Group I feel like I had a personal development with understanding and helping my group members. It was a challenge to communicate and work together as a team with someone who is from another country and speaks another language, and is maybe used to doing things differently from me. I always fall into the role of the leader in a group and is used to doing things my way and just had everyone follow me. But this week I got a lot better at slowing down and listening to the others and explaining what I meant and what I am doing so they could understand and also lean. I was really nice to help and show them ways to do things, and I also learned from them. I got better at Word processer by the help from one member of my group and she also showed me how to do a great layout for a paper and a power point. It was a challenge to work together in such a big group and with people that have such different backgrounds, but I really enjoyed it and I think I also became a better team player this week and got better at doing things together instead of just doing my own thing and finish my part. This group came together and I also made some friendships I don’t think I would have otherwise so that makes this week a success. To: Meg Sonderlund From: Hannah-Rebecca Doukhan Date: October 10th 2011 Subject: The memo of Project A During this week of Project A, I have improved some knowledge about the LEGO Group, in constructing a paper and in Word Processor. I can use my class of Communication and Organization to write the paper. Furthermore, I have improved my English and met new people. Indeed, during this week I learned so many things about LEGO Group. I already knew the company because in France we have the LEGO toys, but I didn’t know that it is a Danish company and that it is the fourth biggest toy company around the world. It was so interesting to learn things about this group because it is very stimulating to be acquainted with a company better. Furthermore, for the presentation of the paper, we have to make a table of contents automatically generated by our word processing program. But I did not know how to do this. So I did some researches on Internet and now I know how to make a table of contents automatically on Word. When I arrived in Odense, I had some difficulties in speaking English and still have, but this week helped me to improve my English. I think I have made more progress during this week than since I got here. All the day I spoke English with the other members of my group and I had to be understood by them, so I had to make effort. During this week, I have met some nice people. And it was so exciting to speak with them. They helped me improve my English, they corrected my mistakes. To conclude, I think I can say that this week was a very good week. I learned so many things and it was more stimulating than classes. To: Meg Sonderlund From: Laura Dragomir Date: 07. 10. 2011 Subject: Personal Development This memo has a key role in showing case of my personal development while working in a group for Project A. In the beginning it took me a lot of time and energy in understanding and accepting the others ideas and proposals, but soon I found out how interesting and challenging a group task can be. I have learned to develop my analytical skills and to be more concise about all the knowledge that I want to pass on. Furthermore, I was introduced to a practical issue of analyzing a theory model and I believe that my knowledge in that area has improved considerably. Other than the achievement and improvement of the practical skills I have also enjoyed the social part of the group project. I got to know my group colleagues better than I would have done it in the class room, and it was very exciting to learn about their different life stories. Other than reaching a positive result in the group project we also established a connection with each other. To:Meg Sonderlund From: Maria Enasoae Date: October 7, 2011 Subject: The Memo of Project A During our first project, the Project A, having like task the LEGO Company, I consider that we gained more knowledge about LEGO, we had the opportunity to implement some things from the communication class, and not the last is that we learned working like team. We met during this week; we talked and exchanged ideas between us, sharing tasks that we hope to be fully accomplished. Like every beginning, was a little bit difficult to work with people that you don’t know very well, speaking in English instead of your mother tongue, different culture, different ways of thinking, but I think the end was a benefic one and we made a pretty good job. We worked allot for this project, we tried to find as many topics discussed to lead us to a favorable result, each of us coming up with an idea and finally choosing the one that we all agreed. We learned how to make an Executive Summary, Appendix, and Analysis, how to write them in Word, how should be the page, and many other interesting and useful staffs. Besides working to this project we made time also for coffee breaks and lunch, moments of relaxation in which we had the opportunity to socialize, to find out more one about each other, we talked about us and our personal life, daily life, things that we like and things that we don’t like, we learned how to communicate, and in my opinion the communication is crucial between members of a group or organization to be successful in their jobs. I think now, after this project, we learned many new and interesting things about us, like team, we get used more one with each other and become more confident regarding our qualities and also defects. Now, that the project it’s done and our mission has ended for the moment, we hope that will have achieved good results to be proud of. It was a nice and positive experience, first project like group, so for us it was a first step until the next projects, and our target for the future is to reach higher and higher like team. We thank you all for your interest and attention, hope you liked our project and team work! To: Mary M. l. Sonderlund From: Gustavs Erglis Date: October 7, 2011 Subject: Project A Project A was a great experience for me, because I’ve never really done anything like this before. At first it was very hard for me to understand what the objective was, and what do I have to do, but thanks to my group mates I kind of managed to get through my part of the work. Also I really liked that this was the second time we did a case together, so we didn’t have to spend much time getting to know each other. I gained a lot from this project. For example, I learned something about the strategic analysis, for any means I don’t want to say I’ve gotten very good at it, but at least now I have some knowledge about this. We had a very nice atmosphere in our group, everybody was very friendly and helped me, when I had some difficulties. In the end I can say that I really enjoyed doing this project, and I’m glad that we got through without many major difficulties. To: Meg Sonderlund From: Amador Ignacio Fidalgo Omil Date: October 10th 2011 Subject: The memo of Project A Work on this project on LEGO Group has been interesting because I learned many things about this company and also because it helped me to improve my English skills a little because I have a low level. I liked working with my classmates because they listen to my views and helped me when I had some problem with vocabulary or looking information. And I liked to know the working method of Lego. Learning this new concept to me that is the Open Innovation as Lego takes into account the opinions of its users to develop or improve their products. I think it is a philosophy of work very interesting and exciting to the fact that consumers can make decisions on the product creation process that subsequently will buy. Maria Carlsen Hannah-Rebecca DoukhanPROJECT A Laura DragomirLog for group 2 Maria Enasoae Gustavs Erglis Ignacio Fidalgo Monday October 3rd The group met and got the assignment on the LEGO Group. We all agreed on going home and each find some information about LEGO and come up with some ideas on how to do the paper and which model to use, and then we agreed to meet Tuesday morning to brainstorm all of our ideas and start the paper. Everyone did a really nice job and came up with different interesting ideas for our project. Tuesday October 4th We met at 9 o’clock and started brainstorming and showing the others what we came up with for the paper. At first we had a hard time getting started and trying to figure out what to write in the project and which models to use. After some discussion and debating we made a rough draft of the table of contents and divided it so we each had an area to focus on and also decided to do a little bit of homework each day so we do not fall behind. After dividing the different parts of the paper we could decide to stay at the school and work or go home. Some went home and some stayed a little longer. Wednesday October 5th We met at 10 o’clock this morning and started reading what everyone did at home. Everyone did a really good job and had a lot to share. We now have 17. 000 keystrokes and are almost done with the paper, so all we need is just a few last parts of the paper and all the appendices, and for everyone to read through the paper so we can do the power point. That is what we plan to start tomorrow. This day was a really good day. We worked very well together as a team and listened to each other and tried very hard to understand and explain if someone had a hard time with the language or something else. Thursday October 6th We met at 10 o’clock to finish the paper and start our executive summery and power point. We all had some different ideas of what to write in the executive summery and we discussed a little bit and tried to put everyone’s ideas into it. Hannah-Rebecca worked on the layout of the paper and the power point and the others worked on the summery and the grammar in the paper. Friday October 7th Today we just finished the last grammar corrections in the paper, the table of contents and the last touch to the power point. Some members of the group had some jobs they did all through the week. Hannah-Rebecca worked on the layout of the paper and the power point and did a very fine job on both. She is the creative one in the group, and Laura and Maria C did all the grammar and spelling corrections in the paper. The rest of the members helped out where it was needed and also did work from home like everyone else in the group. This team worked very well! Tietgen Business College MM215 COM 1st Semester Project A 2011 Carlsen Maria Doukhan Hannah-Rebecca Dragomir Laura Enasoae Maria Erglis Gustavs Fidalgo Ignacio Group 2 21,054 keystrokes Meg Sonderlund Peter Storm-Henningsen 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ProductBusinessCommunicationProcesses 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Meg Sonderlund Peter Storm-Henningsen 1st semester mm215 21 22