Tell us something special about yourself, including any leadership Scholarship Essay

Tell us something special about yourself, including any leadership opportunities - Scholarship Essay Example Though I would not say that I have achieved my purpose of standing out, I take pride in the fact that I have been able to excel in my studies and the testimonials from my teachers attest to this fact. Thus, I was able to ensure that I get a decent start in my chosen field. I have great admiration for our current president, Barack Obama and he is my idol in many ways. Like him, I want to be successful and demonstrate my leadership abilities. Towards this end, I have taken part in sports, particularly in the track events and football. I can claim that I have been able to achieve some success in this area. Further, as I have mentioned about Barack Obama, I want to be a good husband and father who takes pride in his family and is not intimidated by successful women. Finally, I have always striven to make life better for people around me and I have touched their lives and made them feel special. I am a relationship oriented person and I have several friends and well-wishers who take pride in my success and provide encouragement to me. I make it a point to reciprocate their affection and wishes for me. In conclusion, I would say that given a chance, I would like to put my abilities to use and be a leader in all respects of the

Discussion board reply Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion board reply - Coursework Example The notion of internal recruiting appears to be promising aspect for many organizations, but this has its own limitations, due to the fact that organizations opt for hiring new indiviuals only when they find it difficult to fulfill their needs based on their already available human resources. For this reason, whenever, an organization decides to hire new individuals, it should be understood that their local resources are unable to fulfill their requirements (Jackson et al, 2012). As far as the success of interview process is concerned, although interviews are regarded as being an opportunity to sell oneself, they can also act as limitation to those who are not quite skilled at verbal skills. Are verbal skills necessary for every job? My understanding is that although interviews should play a role in the job process, they should not be given extreme importance, which is sad a norm in the modern corporate

Obesity: Effect on Total Joint Replacement Patients

Obesity: Effect on Total Joint Replacement Patients The critical factor driving the growth in worldwide demand for joint replacement is obesity Kumar Anjan Contents (Jump to) Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Obesity – How can we define it? 3. Surgical Risk: 4. Obesity and Implant Failure 5. Conclusion 6. Bibliography Abstract: During early days, obese individuals were often suggested to lose weight before undergoing total joint replacement (TJR). It was common observation amongst surgeons and doctors that morbidity rate amongst obese individuals were significantly high as compared to that of non-obese subjects. In addition, there was significant increase in the physical and technical labour of operating overweight individuals. This resulted in time saving and managing long queue of patients. Recently, scientific reports with positive results reflected that there is only negligible effect of obesity on TJR. However, recently in the UK several health care authorities proposed that there would not be any financial support provided to the individuals whose BMI exceeds 30 kg/m2. The primary reason behind the decision is the reduction in health care budget. In olden days, TJR was a procedure considered for those who were more than 65 years of age. However, this trend is significantly changing. According to Dr. A yeres (MD, Chair in Orthopaedics, and director of the Musculoskeletal Centre of Excellence at UMass Medical School), with an increased rate of obesity amongst individuals under the age of 65 is acting as a driving force towards TJR. Therefore, in this case report I have discussed about obesity and its effect on TJR.   1. Introduction: Total joint replacement (TJR) is globally acknowledged especially due to the revolution in the quality of life for those individuals suffering from osteoarthritis or similar health problems (Garellick et al, 1998). Moreover, in modern medicine TJR has proved its effectiveness as one of the most successful interventions. There are also several high demo graphs recorded towards the improvement of the quality of life, which surpasses coronary artery bypass as well as renal transplants (Williams A, 1985). In elderly population, TJR’s especially knee anthroplasty has shown to be most effective technology resulting towards better life quality. Study conducted among a population cohort of over 65 subjects who had TJR shows that they are leading a healthier life (UK population Census, 2001). Total joint replacement has definitely bought a revolution in modern health care system. However, there are certain implications that concern the public. One of the most critical limitations is the budgetary control which enforced by the competitive claim from the other intensive medical care system. Furthermore, as these treatments are not actually cost effective; therefore, it raises questions for the individuals undergoing a replacement as well as the government bodies who support the funding (Templeton, S.K. 2005). Recently, East Suffolk health trust in the U.K. decided to prioritize their patients undergoing TJR according to their weight and various other factors resulting in obesity. According to the top management of the trust, individuals who are overweight or obese are at an increased risk towards the efficacy of the surgery. This decision has definitely stirred controversy among the community undergoing TJR (Finer N, 2005). However, according to some valued sources, there i s no evidence that age, obesity or gender affects the functional outcome of the surgery (Templeton, S. K. 2005). Therefore, there is huge controversy surrounding towards the potential implications of obesity on TJR. Orthopaedic studies suggest that obesity leads towards degenerative changes in joints and leads towards complications and functional risk during post-surgery phase (Rockville, 2003). As there is no standard definition for obesity, it rather becomes very difficult to understand its actual meaning. However, several health care professionals recommend that problem in mobilisation and functional outcome is not visualised until an individual’s (BMI) exceeds 40 kg/m2 (Nammi et al, 2004). Various evidences conclude that obesity is the driving force towards development of osteoarthritis particularly in individuals with high BMI in an early age (DoH, 2001). In some rare scenarios, bariatic surgery is performed on the individuals before TJR. This is mainly due to bring their weight down to an acceptable score. 2. Obesity – How can we define it? Over several years, different authors described obesity in a different way. Obesity does not have an actual standard definition. However, the most common scientific way to describe obesity is based on the Body Mass Index (BMI) (Fig: 1) (Lawrence, 1998). BMI is also known as Quetelet Mass Index (QI) and is generally described as the ratio of the square of the height measured in meters (mt) to the weight in kilograms (kg) (Taylor, 1998). QI relates the body fat percentage and is one of the most preferred methods for the assessment of the potential health risk related with the overweight or obesity. Recently, authors started using the term â€Å"New World Syndrome† for obesity as its prevalence is dramatically increasing in the Europe as well as in the United States (USA). A shocking figure was projected when a recent survey was conducted by the Department of Health in the UK. According to the survey, prevalence in obesity has increased from 15% since 1995 to 21% in 2001 (Webb et al, 2004). Fig: 1 BMI Chart the ratio of the square of the height measured in meters (mt) to the weight in kilograms (kg). In the US, obesity has reached in an epidemic proportion. Considering the BMI of an individual, more than half of the adult population in the US are classified as overweight. According to a separate survey conducted in the US amongst 65-74 year age group, 66% were referred to as obese or overweight. Therefore, we can visualise the prevalence of obesity coinciding with the peak age during which most of the individual requires TJR (US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2003). In the UK, the data shows similar outcomes to that of the US. Obesity amongst males in the UK has increased from 6% in 1980 to 22% in 2002 whereas in females, 8% 23% (DhO, 2001). According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is an increase in obesity between 10% 40% in last 10 years. WHO also claims that there are approximately 200 million obese adults around the globe and 18 million children under age five are classified as overweight. Moreover, by 2000 this data significantly increased to over 300 m illion. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a group of mechanical abnormalities, which involves in the degradation of joints, articular cartilage. It generally affects approximately 20 million individuals in the US. It causes substantial morbidity leading to disability in the later stages. This disease is more common amongst elderly population. However, recently it was observed that adult age group between 60-65 years of age are getting prone to this disease. According to few scientific sources, the main reason for OA amongst younger generation is obesity. Various scientific reports documents that in the US more than 200,000 knee and hip replacements are performed each year and 35% are young individuals under the age of 65 (Dho, 2001; US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2003). Obesity is one of the most significant risk factors contributing towards osteoarthritis. Therefore, with an increase in obesity, there is a high probability of developing osteoarthritis. Moreover, this leads towards an increase prevalence of TJR (Felson et al, 2000). As we know that, there is a constant increase among obese patients undergoing TJR. Therefore, several researches links obesity with the TJR as well as the complications associated with the same. According to a joint study performed by a group of scientists and surgeons, it was found that there is an increase in complication rate in obese patients as compared to individuals with normal BMI (Olivera et al, 1999; Sahyoun et al, 1999). In addition, the operative duration significantly increases in obese subjects. However, factors like physical stress and injury to health care professional remains undiscovered. As already mentioned, it has been well established that there is a positive link that connects TJR and obesity. Whil st examining, individuals with high BMI are in an exponential increase for TJR over next few decades. According to several health care professionals, there is often a challenging situation during pre/post surgery in obese individuals. Moreover, there is a high risk of blood loss and blood transfusion. It has also been highlighted that nerve injury is common amongst obese patients as compared to the healthy individuals (non-obese) during TJR (Mantilla et al, 2003). 3. Surgical Risk: In the previous section, it was discussed that East Suffolk Health Trust in the UK prioritised their patients, which resulted in a huge controversy. According to public and human right activists, their decision was biased towards the individuals with higher BMI. The main reason behind the decision was increased risk and the cost involved in performing TJR amongst obese/overweight individuals. Supporting the decision of East Suffolk Health Trust, â€Å"Ipswich Protocol† was followed. According to this protocol, orthopaedic surgeons and health care personals were advised that patients/individuals found with BMI>30 should be barred towards the access of TJR/anthroplasty (Amen et al, 2006). Winiarsky’s group performed a research on a population cohort with BMI>40 undergoing TJR. The result showed that 22% of the subjects suffered from wound complication, 10% individuals developed infection and 8% of the subjects suffered from ligament damage. When these result was compared with the wild type (normal population), it was seen that only 2% non-obese subjects developed wound complication, 0.6% suffered from infection and surprisingly there were non with ligament damage. Later, same group of individuals were studied after five years and significant post surgical differences were noticed in obese subjects as compared to the normal (non-obese) individuals. Therefore, we can conclude from the above study that obese patients have high risk during pre and post surgery (Vasqez et al, 2003). However, in Toronto, a random survey amongst 24231-population cohort showed that after 2-7 years of surgery there was a high level of patient satisfaction with reference to pain and func tion. In addition, there was no negative impact on outcome that co-related with subject’s age or obesity (Heisel et al, 2005). In Los Angeles California, Miric et al studied several factors leading towards TJR complexity. Research was performed amongst 406 subjects undergoing total knee anthroplasty (TKA). According to the researchers, it was observed that there was a significant co-relation between BMI and subject’s cardiac history. Interestingly, patients with diabetes mellitus have had an increase stay in hospital as compared to the healthy (non-diabetic) patients. Therefore, the study concluded that there was not a significant difference amongst heavier patients as compared to those with normal BMI. In addition, the cut offs of BMI dividing overweight and obesity did not accurately divide patients into high/low risk categories (Foran et al, 2004). In Scotland, research was performed amongst group of 283 TKA patients between 1995 and 1999 consisting of obese and non-obese subjects. Researchers concluded that there was no significant difference in complication rates (Peersman et al, 2001). In a similar study in Baltimore Maryland, evaluation outcome of TKA in 68 obese subjects showed that after five years of surgery there was no significant difference amongst obese and non-obese subjects. However, surprisingly after 7 years of surgery obese patients had a higher â€Å"implant failure† rate as compared to non-obese subjects. It was also noted that 12.3% of the obese patients had to go for a re-operation due to implant failure. In addition, deep vein thrombosis was only noticed in obese subjects. Pritchett and Bortel described that obese patients had greater blood loss and needed blood transfusion as well as longer operative time. Peersman supported the view saying that the increase in the infection rate in obese patients w as due to the prolonged operative duration (Prichett and Bortel, 1991). 4. Obesity and Implant Failure As described in the previous section, in Baltimore, there was no evidence of either complication or mortality amongst obese patients after five years of surgery. However, the same group individuals suffered an â€Å"Implant Failure† after seven years of TJR. Various researches were conducted and scientists concluded that younger patients (age 65). Simulation of metal-onpolyethylene arthroplasty model under laboratory conditions showed that the principle cause of the device failure was due to increased wear rates when greater load was applied. Hence, it was proved that younger subjects due to their daily life routine were applying more force on the implant as compared to elder population cohort (Barbour et al, 1995; McKellop et al, 1995). Moreover, subjects who were able to reduce weight in seven years were living a healthier life as compared to other subjects. Therefore, we can conclude that obesity also potentially affects the device failure in long run. 5. Conclusion Recently, obesity and TJR has pulled the interest of several scientists, health care personals and even the government. Various government officials and trust group supporting financial aid are still under the impression that obesity leads to TJR. However, there is neither significant evidence nor sufficient clinical results to support their view. TJR surgery is a reliable procedure to offer sustainable pain relief and provide healthier life style regardless individual’s BMI. However, we cannot ignore the fact that obese individuals require special care in terms of patient handling, surgical exposure etc. In addition, obese subject are also at a high risk in wound healing, infection and longer duration of operative duration. It is also clinically proven that higher activity level leads towards device failure. As mentioned earlier, due to physical work restriction after TJR high probability lies towards increasing BMI. Therefore, it is recommended that individual’s shoul d attend weight loss programme before undergoing TJR. 6. Bibliography Amin AK, Clayton RA, Patton JT, Gaston M, Cook RE, Brenkle IJ. Total knee replacement in Morbidly Obese Patients. J Bone Jt Surg 2006;88(10-B):1321–6. Barbour PSM, Barton DC, Fisher J. The influence of contact stress on the wear of UHMWPE for hip replacements. Wear 1995;181–183:250–7. DoH Health Surveys, 1980, 1995, 2001 — Department of Health Publication, HMSO. Finer N. Rationing joint replacements — Trusts decision seems to be based on prejudice or attributing blame†¦. Br Med J 2005;331:1472. Foran JR, Mont MA, Etienne G, Jones LC, Hungerford DS. The outcome of total knee arthroplasty in obese patients. J Bone Jt Surg 2004;86(8-A):1609. Garellick G, Malchau H, Herberts P, Axelsson H, Hansson T. Life expectancy and cost utility after total hip replacement. Clin OrthopRelat Res 1998;346:141–51. Heisel C, Silva M, dela Rosa MA, Schmalzried TP. The effects of lower-extremity total joint replacement for arthritis on obesity. Orthopedics 2005;28(2):157. Lawrence RC, Helmick CG, Arnett FC, et al. Estimates of the prevalence of arthritis and selected musculoskeletal disorders in the United States. Arthritis Rheum. 1998;41:778–799. Mantilla CB, Horlocker TT, Schroeder DR, Berry DJ, Brown DL. Risk factors for clinically relevant pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis in patients undergoing primary hip or knee arthroplasty. Anesthesiology 2003;99(3):552–60. McKellop HA, Campbell P, Park S-H, Schmalzried TP, Sarmiento A, Grigoris P, Amstutz HC. The origin of submicron wear debris in total hip arthroplasty. Clin Orthop Relat Res 1995;311:3–20. Nammi S, Koka S, Chinnala Krishna M, Boini Krishna M. Obesity: an overview on its current perspectives and treatment options. Nutr J 2004;3:3. Oliveria SA, Felson DT, Cirillo PA, Reed JI,Walker AM. Body weight, body mass index, and incident symptomatic osteoarthritis of the hand, hip, and knee. Epidemiologia March 1999;10(2):161. Pritchett JW, Bortel DT. Knee replacement in morbidly obese women. Surg Gynecol Obstet 1991;173(2):119–22. Rockville MD: Department of Health and Human Services. Total knee replacement. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Department of Health and Human Services, 2003. (Evidence report/technology assessment No 86.). Sahyoun NR, Hochberg MC, Helmick CG, Harris T, Pamuk ER. Body mass index, weight change, and incidence of self-reported, physiciandiagnose arthritis among women. Am J Pub Health 1999;89(3):391–4. Taylor RW, Kiel D, Gold EJ, Williams SM, Goulding A. Body mass index, waist girth and waist-to-hip ratio as indexes of total and regional adiposity in women: evaluation using receiver operating characteristic curves. Am J Clin Nutr Jan 1998;67:44–9. Templeton S-K. â€Å"Doctors will get right not to treat self-inflicted illnesses†, The Sunday Times; November 27, 2005. UK Population Census 2001 US Department Of Health And Human Services. Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of obesity in adults: the evidence report; 2003. Vasquez-Vela Johnson G, Worland RL, Keenan N, Norambuena N. Patient demographics as a predictor of the ten-year survival rate in primary total knee replacement. J Bone Jt Surg 2003;85-B(1):52–6. Webb R, Brammah T, Lunt M, Urwin M, Allison T, Symmons D. Opportunities for prevention of ‘clinically significant’ knee pain:results from a population-based cross sectional study. J Pub Health Sep 2004;26(3):277–84. Williams A. Economics of coronary artery bypass grafting. Br Med J 1985;291:325–6.

Economic Structure Of The Mafia :: essays research papers

The Mafia is viewed by many people as a bunch of gangsters like those that they might see on movies such as Goodfellas, The Godfather, or Donnie Brascoe. In all actuality the Mafia represents much more than that, it is an entity within itself. The original Sicilian Mafia was just a group of families controlling certain territories in which they each laid claim to. These families were headed by a dominant male and were usually in competition with other families. The members of these families would engage into various "illegal and legal businesses with each other and outsiders" (Fiorienti and Peltzman 38). In the introduction to The Economics of Organized Crime, Fiorentini and Peltzman claim that between the years of 1860and maybe ranging all the way to 1957, the "Mafia was not a membership organization but a natural outgrowth of culture, politics and law enforcement" (Peltzman 38). Many have tried to eliminate the Mafia from its’ "control" of the underworld and its’ stranglehold on politicians and government. Under the fascist movement in the late 20’s and 30’s of Cesare Mori, Mori tried to eliminate the Mafia in any way in which he could. This attempt at elimination was quite unsuccessful since the Mafia’s base was so far ranging. ""Arlachhi (1986 44-5) concluded in 1983 "there does not exist a centralized criminal organized called the Mafia… The cosca mafiosa is a simple organism but a solid one, without formalism or bureaucracy. Within it are neither statutory ordinances, initiation rites nor courts of judgment"" (Fiorienti and Peltzman 38). This is in contrast as to what others recognize as organized crime. In direct retrospect to his earlier writings, Arlacchi claims that, through interviews with Mafia members, there is a more formal organization within the Mafia and that the Mafia does have initiations. The United States Mafia definitely was different than the Sicilian Mafia when trying to generalize them. The American Mafia consisted of only around 24 families whereas the Sicilian Mafia consisted of hundreds of families. These families were much larger than their Sicilian counterparts and that the families were most definitely organized and formal. " A detailed case-study of one of these families and its legal and illegal activities as of 1970 (Anderson, 1979) found that the Mafia family itself was not a firm; rather, its members entered into various businesses on their own account" (Fiorentini and Peltzman 39).

Generational Differences at the Workplace

The article that I have chosen for my assignment is called â€Å"Generational differences in the workplace: personal values, behaviors, and popular beliefs. † It was published recently in the Journal of Diversity Management. The main purpose of this paper was to identify the most significant differences between three generations of present employees: Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y, using popular and academic literature. These differences were then analyzed using the results of the Rokeach Value Survey, which included 5057 interviews with people from every group. According to the results, the information received from the research was very similar to other widely-spread opinions on this topic. The differences found between these three generations were quite typical and this implies that managers have not only to remember about such age-specific diversity but put a lot of efforts to be able to successfully hire and retain employees from every above-mentioned group. People from these generations usually see the world in a very different way as they have been influenced by different factors during the age of making up of their personality. That is why they should be managed in specific ways, adjusted to their core values and desires and some of the possible ways are considered in the closing part of this article. Main part: According to Manheim (1953) a generation can be defined as a group of people born and raised in the same general chronological, social and historical context. Nowadays, many companies are faced with challenging problems concerning the rising amount of conflicts in the workplace between people of different age. This is one of the obstacles of the generation diversity, that should be treated very carefully as it has an enormous impact on the social life of any company. The article offers us a survey conducted among 5057 employees of various age in order to understand the principal distinctions between three generations, to better realize their core values, beliefs and expectations from life and, what is more important for the employers – their expectations from their jobs. As it was already mentioned in the Introduction these three generations are the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), Generation X (born 1965-80) and Generation Y (born since 1980). Baby Boomers present the largest group of employees nowadays. These are people who mostly rejected their parents' values in their earlier years. According to Loyalty Factor President Dianne Durkin â€Å"They invented work as self-fulfillment and proving themselves, and have defined themselves by their careers† (ref. â„â€" 4). Usually they can be described as self-absorbed, loyal and competitive workaholics. They usually have leading roles in the company, holding top-level management positions. In addition to this they are competent, effective but usually have quite conservative type of thinking and do not like to accept any changes. Generation X people are mostly very confident and independent, as the environment where they were brought-up had changed a lot. These children usually came home after school alone as their parents were working the whole day. And this was one of the main factors that led to the creation of a freedom-loving and self-reliant generation. According to the article â€Å"Managing Different Generations at Work† (ref. â„â€" 3) these people view work just as a job. They work to live, not on the contrary and they want to balance their lives. That is why they need to be given freedom and autonomy, maybe some support, but not the guidance. A clear mission and well-defined goals should be created for Xers. They are very cynical by nature and are usually not concerned with the words like loyalty and trust that is why they tend to change jobs very often. Probably the most interesting generation of these three is the last one – Generation Y, as these young people represent the future. This generation was brought-up on computers, internet and TV programs. They are optimistic, realistic, globally aware and easily accept diversity and innovations. According to the article â€Å"Get ready for a new type of worker in the workplace: the net generation† by MarkL. AIch, Ph. D (ref â„â€" 6) the members of the newest generation hold respect for people who can demonstrate expertise and knowledge, but not just thanks to someone’s rang or age. They are more interested in utilizing their expertise and skills, want to participate in decision making and have a need to collaborate and to establish an interconnectivity with others. This may also be confirmed by the article â€Å"Managing Generation Y† by Rick Weber (ref â„â€" 12) where he states that these people feel great about themselves. And when you think about how to prepare the next generation to move into leadership roles they are already thinking about buying the company. They also want to learn from others, because they are curious. So the best way to retain these young talents is to spend time in guiding, directing, and supporting them, and giving them the wisdom they cannot get from anywhere else. It is interesting to see some peculiarities in the results of the Rokeach Value Survey mentioned in the given article. According to its results, Family Security and Health are on the first two positions for every generation. Freedom is very important for both X and Y generations, but is quite insignificant for the Boomers. Gen X’s value for pleasure is higher than others, and Gen Y ranked Independence much higher than two other generations. Other significant differences in ranking preferences include Open-mindedness which has a very low position in the Boomers’ rank. As we can observe now, the results from the survey correlate strongly with a general description of every generation. Thus, we can state that there are some typical differences between Baby Boomers generation, Generation X and Generation Y which should obviously be taken into account by the managers who have to deal with employees from these various groups. They need to know what their workers want, what they need and how to occupy them as this is essential for the successful and effective work of the whole company. Implications: For sure, there are many challenges created by having multiple generations in the workplace, but if the correct approaches could be found, the goal of creating an efficient, effective and sustainable business model that uses the best qualities within each of the three generations can be achieved. Baby boomers are characterized as loyal hard workers usually taking high positions. They can be probably motivated by money, promotion options and social approval. Referring to the article â€Å"Managing Baby Boomers† by D. Quinn Mills and Mark D Cannon (ref â„â€" 8) this generation can be attracted and motivated by several approaches. First, it is important for managers to be sensitive to employees’ needs and interests and provide the variety of challenges and experiences to keep the job interesting. Another good tip is to treat them as professional because Baby Boomers usually consider themselves professionals and want to be respected for their individual skills. They like to have responsible tasks and have opportunities for further development. Some other steps could be to create individually oriented reward system, to provide opportunities to develop relationships adopt a more participative management style and try to reduce conflict through understanding. The distinctive features of Generation X are their independence, self-reliance and lack of trust. That is why managers should try to make their work more meaningful and fun. According to the article â€Å"Managing our future: The generation X factor† by Gary O’Bannon (ref â„â€" 9) managers need to support Xers’ style of thinking, learning and communicating, and respect the unique perspective they bring to the workplace. Maybe Xers should be granted more day-to-day autonomy and enough creative responsibility to imagine problems in their own terms. Here I would like to give an example of a global management consultant company Accenture (ref. â„â€" 11) that realized how time flexibility may significantly increase the level of satisfaction of their workers. For that reason they introduced an idea of Future Leave which gives the employees a possibility once in three years to take 1 to 3 months of self-funded sabbatical and use it as they wish. Some similar steps may be undertaken to satisfy Generation X’s necessity in independence, because it gives them time to rethink their values and feel more comfortable and appreciated. The Generation Y is raised on computers and constant changes in the world. Therefore they need to satisfy their high ambitions, curiosity and need of innovation. Referring to the article â€Å"The Net Generation Takes the Lead† (ref. 10) the trend in the companies should be toward networks, not hierarchies, toward open collaboration rather than command, toward consensus rather than arbitrary rule, and toward enablement rather than control. Learning has to be part of work and these people should always be given the possibility to offer new ideas, to innovate. They should be given interesting and challenging tasks, and in addition to this their opinion should be appreciated as they will never stay in a place where they do not have right to participate in decision-making and add value in the future of the company. However, simply because people are from same generation does not automatically mean they will all share the same generational characteristics. That is why managers should treat every person individually, based on who this person really is, but not on whom he or she should be according to their belonging to any kind of groups or generations. Only doing that way, the company will be able to manage diversity in a right way.

Organizational Culture at Apple Inc

Organizational Culture at Apple Inc. In the year 1976, it was a dream for most people to buy a computer for their homes. Back then the computer community added up to a few brainy hobbyists. So when Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs sold a van and two programmable calculators for thirteen hundred dollars and started Apple Computers, Inc. , in Jobs garage, the reach for success seemed far. But these two young business men, Wozniak 26 years old and Jobs 21 years old, had a vision. Computers aren't for nerds anymore, they announced. Computers are going to be the bicycle of the mind. Low cost computers for everyone. From the first day on the founders of Apple kept their vision intact and they spoke it at every turn. They only hired people into the company that had the same visions as they did. Even though Jobs was the founder of Apple Computers, he resigned from Apple Computers in 1985 to form NextStep Computers after losing control of Apple. Steve Jobs was re-hired in 1997 to save Apple from its beleagurement when the past three CEO's could not bring Apple to its glory days again. Steve Jobs is one of the founders of the Apple. From the beginning his main goal was to make technologies that will change the life style and that will serve the customer. Jobs left the apple during the 80ies, only to return in 1997 and completely shake things up. He is known not only as a good visionare but as well as someone whose decisions are always unpredictable (switching to Intel). He is as well known for publicly provoking his competitors (Mac vs PC videos and talking how Michael Dell and his empire are far behind Apple when it comes to innovation and that they can only copy them. Knowing to implement excellent design to all of its products – Apple is putting a lot effort when it comes to design of all its products. After Steve jobs returned to the company, both desktop and laptop computers received new stylish helmets. Even the OS X and later Tiger had better appearance than Windows. Apple Computer, Inc. has experienced both the best of times and the worst of times. The further survival and success of this company will depend on what strategic course they decide to pursue. In order to do this, the company must first re-establish what it actually is and what it aims to become. It is important to start a course of action and develop a culture that understands and supports Apple’s mission. The computer industry is important for Apple. It should therefore concentrate in its expansion. However, survival in the computer industry depends on the development of new products and technology. Products are subject to quick obsolescence and being a leader in new products is essential. In the past, a budget was cut as a cost saving measure. This is still advised due to the importance of developing new technology. Another recommendation for Apple is to consider the licensing of clones. Apple is the only company in the PC market that makes both computers and the operating systems to run them, whereas the market is dominated by computers that combine Intel processors with Microsoft operating systems. Because of their financial situation, they need to better position themselves to quickly produce and distribute any newly developed products. For example, if they developed a revolutionary new product, cloning companies could assist in the production and distribution of this technology. Revenues would be generated from the licensing agreements. This could result in quickly establishing this new technology in the industry and re-establish Apple as a leader in technology development. Developing a better marketing and distribution of their products is a further recommendation for Apple. Apple products are not as available as PCs to the retail market. People should have as easy access to Apple products as they have on other PC’s. Next, Apple should develop an integrated and easy-to-use computer system. This system could be targeted to young children and older individuals that would be interested in using a computer but do not want the hassle of setting up equipment. Although there are many different strategies to consider, Apple’s future success will depend on their future strategic decisions. Next, Apple has proved to be much more innovative in the industry than Microsoft. By trying to be always one step further, Apple has managed to develop the iPod and iTunes, as well as the iPhone which are all complements to the digital industry. Microsoft has not developed anything new and original for a long time now. It seems that all they do is creating advanced version of the operating system that is not always compatible with the old ones. Unlike Microsoft who is desperately trying to buy Yahoo! nd stay competitive, Apple does not have to do anything to prove its popularity. It already has faithful customers and their numbers are increasing every day. The reason for this is Apple’s good knowledge in customer base. Apple’s move into new industry may have different effects on its core business. However, given the success of the iPod and iTunes as well as the further promotion on the iPhone, it is safe to say that Apple is doing well in both industries. This means that Apple has already shifted in a different direction (digital music) but so far it has had a lot of success. In fact, some people might have heard about the iPod first, and then found out that Apple is actually a big and successful company that manufacturers computers as well. If a customer is satisfied with one product, he/she will be willing to buy another from the same company. If a person sees that Apple is selling all of these different products, and they are all popular and good quality, there is no reason why this person would not buy from Apple. Apple already has loyal customers and any innovation that may happen could only lead to more success. It will also increase its profits and gain more popularity. This is why, we believe that moves into new industry might impact Apple’s core business, but in a good way – bring better promotion and reputation. There are number of reasons why apple is set up for success within computer and music industry. It designs a very good quality, compatible hardware and software products. The operating system that runs on the Mac hardware (Mac OS X) remains as the major advantage over any version of Microsoft poor quality operating system with a lot of viruses, worms, spyware, and adware. Apple creates programs that run on Mac Os X operating system, and this brings bigger market share. Apple is set up for success because it targets a niche market: the Apple users. As the case study presents, it creates its own miniature techno-environment, economy with a wide range of products offered to their clients, this builds up their market share, and strengthens their position, creating future loyal customers. Apple sets up its own stores to display their products; in this way it catches new potential clients. Apple launched many advertising campaigns; one of them featured â€Å"real people† who had â€Å"switched† from the Microsoft Windows platform to the Mac. A popular advertising slogan â€Å"Think Different† remained the integral part of Apples identity. Put simply, Apple approaches the customers, with original, funny ads, this precipitates to the creation of the products considered as fashionable, well designed and build on Apple technology. Apple owns a big share of the market, which makes it easier for the future success. It is better to work for Apple because it s a dynamically growing company with well developed campuses where the employees play and work at the same time. With the high technology used in the Apple product, employee can participate in the development or learn how company like Apple works. Apple is a rewarding environment in which employees can build their career using their special skills and talents. Apple is looking for newly graduated stude nts, and professional programmers who are looking for work sacrificed for people who would like to work in different departments, starting from Mac Hardware Engineering finishing on Retail. It is worth working for a company like Apple because of the success that the company has achieved. Steve Jobs has done an amazing job at revitalizing Apple Computers. He took over Apple when it was at the brink of death, and brought back with much life. In spite of the bad publicity about its unprofitable quarters, predictions about its death, falling market share, and advice on how to save the business (i. e. make Windows compatible hardware), Jobs continued to prove the critics wrong. Even with the 5% market share, Apple is trying hard to increase its market share. As the world’s lowest paid CEO at $1 per year (Guinness World Records, 2000), Jobs strives to make Apple provide the best computing experience to its users. To be a successful CEO, one must understand the market they are competing in. Even though the previous CEOs did not have any computer related experiences, but was highly successful and regarded at their previous positions. The CEOs did fail to adapt their strategies remain competitive in the computer market. Scully could not maintain the competitive advantage it once had, and the other two CEOs did not have the right strategies to bring Apple back to its glory. Because they did not fully understand the computer market as Jobs had done, they unsuccessfully struggled to keep Apple from falling farther down the market. With Jobs deep understanding of the computer market as a pioneer in two businesses, consumer, and a technician, he implemented many of the strategies Apple should have done in the beginning. His added value to the Mac with software, customized the products to a target market, and simplified the product chart. Steve Jobs has successfully saved Apple from death, but he faces a greater challenge, increasing market share. As long as Jobs can maintain Apple’s competitive advantage and sustain it, increasing market share should not be too much of a problem. References http://www. bloggingstocks. com/category/battle-of-the-brands/2. http://piqued. brianfrantz. com/? s=apple3. www. dailyindia. com4. http://www. operating-system. org/betriebssystem/_english/bs-macos.