Change Management as an Essential Tool for Organization

Change management in an organization depends on what people think and how they think about the change to be implemented. Implementing change in an organization is a difficult task. This makes many organizations to refrain from implementing change especially if they are forced into it. In order for an organization to implement change successfully, it must be prepared for it.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Change Management as an Essential Tool for Organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More People’s beliefs about change are mostly influenced by their underlying capacities and psychological aspects which determine if they are ready for the change that is to be implemented in an organization (Richard, Murphy and Willmott 12). This paper will therefore address the concept of change management and determine its effectiveness within an organization. Level of readiness for Company X to go through the jour ney for change Acceptance to change For any organization to emerge successful while deciding on whether to implement change, it is important for it to accept that it needs the change. In this perspective, an organization may look at its production processes and decide that it needs to adopt modern equipment in order for it to improve its efficiency. In the case of Company X, it is evident that the company lays more emphasis on the aspect of change acceptance. This aspect has a score of 3.34, which is the highest score compared to all the other aspects. This is an indication that in order for a change initiative to be successful, it is vital for employees to accept that the change is needed within the organization. Change initiatives In order for a change process to be successful in an organization, it is ideal for employees to work together to ensure that the process becomes successful. It is necessary for employees to play their part and ensure that they complete the assignments th at are assigned to them successfully (McMillan 5). In the case of Company X, the score for change initiative is 3.26. This ranks as the second aspect that the company lays emphasis on. This is an indication that in order for the change process to be successful, the employees within the organization must demonstrate their willingness to work hard. Managing change Managing change within an organization is an essential requirement for any organization that needs to succeed in implementing change. In this perspective, the management within the organization should ensure that all new equipment that is brought to the organization is managed properly.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Moreover, the management of the organization should ensure that any new equipment that the organization acquires is allocated to the qualified employees (Cameron and Quinn 13). In the case of Compa ny X, the average score for this aspect is 3.24. This is an indication that in order for the change practice to be successfully implemented, it is vital for the organization to ensure that the employees are allocated their rightful duties as well as ensure that they have sufficient information to enable them cope with the changes that take place within the organization. Managing change applies when the administration of an organization is able to confirm that all the equipment within the organization is operating according to the expectations of the managers. Management support for change It is not possible for an organization to implement change without the support of the senior people within the organization. It is therefore the role of senior managers to ensure that they provide all the resources necessary to enable them provide suitable working conditions for the employees. When managers support the initiative, it becomes easy for employees to adapt to the changes within the org anization (Richard, Murphy and Willmott 5). The various forms of support that managers can provide include effective allocation of finances as well as providing training to employees about the new tools that are implemented within the organization. Perceptions towards change The attitude of employees is crucial with respect to enabling an organization to implement changes. Therefore, it is the role of managers to ensure that the working conditions of employees are pleasant so as to ensure that they make employees to develop a positive attitude while working in the organization. This would have the effect of enabling employees to embrace changes that the management wishes to implement in the organization. This is the reason as to why the rating for the perceptions towards change for Company X has received a score of 2.84Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Change Management as an Essential Tool for Organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $1 1/page Learn More Mutual trust, respect and willingness to work together In order for changes that an organization wishes to implement in an organization to be successful, it is important for employees and managers to work together so as to make lasting decisions for the organization. This would play a crucial role in terms of enabling the managers to make reasonable changes that can transform the overall performance of the organization (Richard, Murphy and Willmott 13). Mutual trust and respect is manifested within an organization when managers and employees have respect for each other. As a result of having mutual respect for each other, Company X has been able to attain a score of 2.82. Understanding the vision for the change In order for the future of a company to be successful, it is essential for it to have a vision. The vision should allow the organization to choose strategies that can enable it to implement effective change strategies. Since the prospect of ch ange in Company X is well communicated, the company has been able to achieve a score of 2.46 thereby indicating that it understands the vision of the changes that it wishes to implement. Aspects of Change within an organization In order for an organization to implement changes effectively, there are certain aspects that it needs to analyze effectively. An organization should ensure that it involves the people who are affected by the change. For example, the members of an organization such as employees should be involved in change planning because they can manage to anticipate the problems that the organization is likely to face more effectively. The senior management of an organization should also ensure that it gives a valid reason for the change. This is because the busy people within the organization are likely reject the change that they think is irrelevant to be implemented in the organization (Richard, Murphy and Willmott 22). Therefore, the management should have a compelling reason for making the change.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The management of an organization should assign a talented person to implement changes. For example, the senior executive of a business is not necessarily the champion of every change that needs to be implemented within an organization. Therefore, it is essential for senior managers to look for a person who can communicate effectively with the employees. The organization should also create a transition management team. This is because there is no person within an organization who is talented enough to implement effective changes. For example, if an organization is exceptionally large, it should designate different duties to different departments depending on the expertise of the personnel (McMillan 45). This way, the departments would be able to work as a community thereby providing employees with brilliant ideas and emotional support. Reward systems are useful in terms of facilitating change within an organization. This means that in order for employees within an organization to ap preciate the changes that take place, it is necessary for the senior managers to show that they appreciate the contribution that the employees make towards implementing the change by adopting a reward system. This can serve as a motivation tool for employees to work hard so that their efforts can be appreciated. Trust is an essential element that makes it possible for an organization to implement change. In this perspective, the senior managers should demonstrate that they trust their employees by allowing them to participate in the decision making process. This would make employees to trust in the decisions that the senior managers implement in an organization (Richard, Murphy and Willmott 53). The perception of employees regarding the changes that an organization wishes to implement is critical in an organization. Therefore, before implementing any changes in any organization, the senior managers should test the perceived level of commitment of the employees in the organization in order to ensure that the commitment of the employees towards the change is communicated effectively. This analysis has therefore demonstrated that change management is an essential tool for any organization to adopt in order for it to succeed in its production processes. Works Cited Cameron, Kim and Robert Quinn. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. New York: John Wiley Sons, 2011. Print. McMillan, Elizab. Complexity, Management and the Dynamics of Change: Challenges for Practice. New York: Taylor Francis, 2008. Print. Richard, Daft, Daft Murphy and Hilton Willmott. Organization Theory and Design. New York: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. This case study on Change Management as an Essential Tool for Organization was written and submitted by user Kathleen V. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

buy custom The Antibiotic Resistance essay

buy custom The Antibiotic Resistance essay Overuse of antibiotics is another way in which these drugs are abused. This practice causes antibiotic resistance. In the United States, healthy farm animals are often provided with vast quantities of antibiotics in low doses as part of their diet in order to make these animals reach maturity faster. People who oppose this practice say that it causes widespread antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is best defined a microorganisms ability to withstand the eradicating effects of antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance results from mutation. Sometimes it occurs as a result of plasmid exchange that takes place between bacteria that are found in similar species. Bacteria that have many resistance genes are known as multiresistant bacteria. The principle that explains antibiotic resistance is the same one that applies to the theory of evolution through natural selection. The action of the antibiotic s a pressure that is exerted on the organism by the environment. It is only those bacteria that are able to undergo mutation are able to survive and eventually reproduce. The young ones that are reproduced have this mutative trait passed on to them. In the end, the entire bacteria generation becomes fully resistant to antibiotics. Many studies have revealed that the number of resistant bacteria is dependent on the patterns of usage of antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics, especially those of broad spectrum variety, hastens the process through which methicillin resistance develops. The resistance develops even in those organisms that have never been subjected to selective methicillin pressure per se. A scenario where antibiotic resistant bacteria are the most common cause of bacterial infections is a very dangerous one. This scenario might lead to many deaths as a result of bacterial infections. Medical researchers would have to do away with alll existing antibiotics and research on new ones that would be able to deal with the bacterial infections. Without a new class of effective antibiotics, it would be difficult for doctors to deal with even minor bacterial infections. Such cases have been reported several times. In 1967, a pneumonia trait that was resistant to penicillin was detected. Other pathogens that have shown varying extent of resistance over time include Streptococci, Campylobacter, Salmonella and Myobacterium tuberculosis. Research on new classes of antibiotics is underway. Doctors may have to rely on vaccines which improve the bodys natural ability to fight infections, as opposed to antibiotics, which function independent of the bodys natural defenses. Overuse of antibiotics might also lead to development of new bacteria strains that are resistant to all existing vaccines. In this case, focus may be shifted towards phage therapy, a rather recent alternative whose research is ongoing. Buy custom The Antibiotic Resistance essay

The assignment is to develop an advertising strategy for a franchise Coursework

The assignment is to develop an advertising strategy for a franchise of your choosing - Coursework Example The company is defined by its unlimited milestones in the world of innovation and customer service. The marketing strategies of this franchise are dependent on customer satisfaction, environmental sustainability, and the utter need to expand beyond the current dimensions. Therefore, a diverse and cumulative marketing strategy is necessary to ensure that the franchise expands. The marketing strategies will involve finding the customers, maintaining their brands, networking, and selling of the product to the market. The Intercontinental Hotels Group is mainly concerned with customer satisfaction in order to oversee the final revenues of the franchise. The group should maintain the customer loyalty. This may be done through the provision of the best services to the customers to win their trust. The specific needs of the customer are taken into consideration. The customer is the basis of any business transaction. The staff at the franchise ensures that customer satisfaction is a necessit y. The mission of the franchise is to ensure that the customer gets an excellent service. All the other protocols of the franchise ensure that this mission is set to ensure that the customer loyalty is retained. The customer complaints are dealt with amicably and efficiently. Part of the marketing strategy is the introduction of the wireless network in the hotel rooms. This tends to give the customer a unique undertaking compared to the other competing hotels. All this improves the customer satisfaction and thus making the revenues increase eventually. Advertising techniques are also necessary for the marketing of this franchise. The company is widespread all over the world, and thus the large market stretch the hotel must serve. The provision of the best advertisement techniques deems the group successful in the management and customer service. The hotel provides five star services to its customers to try outdo other competitors in the same market. The best technique of advertising is the online advertising. The hotel provided the enigmatic service of online booking of rooms. The potential customers identify with the networking form of marketing. Currently, many people can access the social media through sites such as twitter, Facebook, and other sites. The ability of the group to prioritize the use of these services is a bold step in ensuring the culmination of the standards of advertisement in the marketing sector. Therefore, their marketing structure should ensure that customer appeal is portrayed. The group has been on the forefront of technology in the super positioning of better online technology measures in the franchise. The hotels have secured and simplified the private and public clouding network. This has the advantage of ensuring the provision of a favorable virtual network all over its hotels, including the resources in the software-defined networks. This has provided the cloud security and thus ensuring for the efficient communication to ensure a unified consumer satisfaction (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011). The customers can also access the services the hotels provide using the online means without being conned. Customer confidence is boosted since they can migrate around the private, public or hybrid cloud environments easily. Videos are posted online, and the customers can watch and make choices on the best services they want. Therefore, a larger target market is reached via the

Evaluate Porter's concept of the 'Diamond' as a tool for analysing the Essay

Evaluate Porter's concept of the 'Diamond' as a tool for analysing the competitive advantage of nations, assessing its theoretic - Essay Example Moreover, America succeeded in getting the UN permission in attacking Iraq and Afghanistan as part of war on terror strategies. America was able to convince United Nations on all these issues because of their superior competitive power. Globalization has intensified the competition between nations and organizations because of the huge opportunities available in the international market at present. Competitive power of a nation or organization depends on many parameters. Former Harvard university professor Michael Porter and his associates have identified four different parameters for achieving competitive power which is known as Porter’s diamond model for national competitive advantage. â€Å"Porter's diamond model suggests that there are inherent reasons why some nations, and industries within nations, are more competitive than others on a global scale† (What is Michael Porter's Diamond Model?, 2010). Porter identified; Firm strategy, structure and rivalry, supporting industries, demand and factor conditions as the four major parameters which can affect the competitive power of a nation or a firm (Diamond model-Michael Porter, 2011). He was able to put all these parameters in a diamond shape as illustrated in the diagram given below. This paper analyses various features of diamond model and its role in achieving competitive power. Porter’s Diamond model for national competitive advantage (Martin & Porter, 2000) Strategy, Structure and Rivalry Strategies can make or break a nation. Poor strategies will never help a nation in increasing their competitive power whereas better strategies always helpful increasing the growth or competitive power of a nation. For example, when globalization initially entered the global arena, China distanced themselves from it because of their concerns about some hidden agenda at the back drop of globalization by capitalist countries. China and America were engaged in fierce rivalry before the introduction of gl obalization because of the different political ideologies prevailing in these countries. Most of the American and Chinese strategies before globalization were aimed at destabilization or destruction of their opponent. However, globalization forced them to change their strategies and currently America is one of the largest trading partners of China. Both China and America succeeded in increasing their competitive power in global market because of the changes they implemented in their strategies even though the political system and rivalry remains the same. India is another country which succeeded in achieving better competing power as a result of changes in strategies. In 1990’s India made lot of reformations in the economic circle in order to attract more foreign direct investment. They have made some changes in their foreign polices also in order to gain more competitive power in the global market. Earlier, India was more polarised towards former Soviet Union in strategic an d military cooperation. But India changed their strategies immediately after the destruction of Soviet Union and they established closer ties with Untied States in order to gain more competitive power. India has realized that the political structure in India and America are almost the same and it is easy for them to establish smooth business relationships with America. Thus America became a prominent trade partner for India at present.

The role of the IMF & World Bank Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The role of the IMF & World Bank - Essay Example The realist theories propose that the sovereign states are the main actors in the international system and that other institutions have little influence in the international scene (Evans M. 2001). Of course this assumption at that time was very plausible considering the fact that globalization and giant multi-national organizations were not really very popular at the time when the World Bank and the IMF were organized. Remember that it was just after World War II when these organizations came into being and at that time the notion that the international system is anarchic (Doyle, Michael (1997) and that no authority is considered above the state that is capable of regulating the interactions among nations (Schweller, Randall L (2003) was very popular. Since the World Bank and the IMF were organized to help the states, their presence was more or less acceptable to its member nations. Of course the roles that World Bank and the IMF play have been questions by many people over the years but the point is that these organizations have been instrumental in bringing together some order in the international financial scene. Moreover, aside from trying to make some policy influence on some nations, the World Bank and the IMF do not really have any means of directly intervening into the affairs of the different states all over the world. In other words, despite the presence of these international organizations, nations remain to be relatively independent when it comes to making decisions. At the start, we can say that the World and the IMF were more biased toward assisting sovereign nations and do not really recognize non-government organizations as potential vehicles for development. The initial task of the World Bank was specific towards rebuilding the European nations after World War II and the IMF were more geared towards stabilizing the economy of

Ray Charles Contributions To Popular Music

Ray Charles Contributions To Popular Music Ray Charles has been described by many of his contemporaries, Such as Frank Sinatra, who said, Ray Charles is the only genius in the business. I am going to discuss to what extent Ray Charles contributed to popular music. Ray grew up alongside both gospel and country music and was heavily influenced by these two genres. I am going to discuss how through his integration of gospel and rhythm and blues in releases such as I Got a Woman helped Ray create his own musical identity but ultimately helped to create a whole new musical style Soul. Finally I will discuss how his fusion of white country music through Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music helped to break barriers and introduced country music to a mainstream audience. Nat King Cole and pianist-singer Charles Brown, much to similar style of Cole had a great effect on Ray Charles. Ray closely imitated these artists as a teenager and during his time with Swing Time Records, headed by Jack Lauderdale. However, for Ray too be more successful he would have develop his own musical identity. During the 1950s Ray Charles would begin to blend RB and secularise gospel styles, which would ultimately lead to birth of Soul. He would begin to incorporate the chord changes, song structures, call and response techniques, and vocal screams of gospel. The influence gospel had on Ray is present from an early age. Ray grew alongside church music and would listen to Wings Over Jordan and the Golden Gate Quartet. During his time at school he would regularly sing in a choir and also organise his own informal singing group, which would sing rhythmic gospel music. In 1953 Whilst recording for singer Tommy Ridgeley at the JM Studio, New Orleans, Ray would play a couple of tunes after the session. He performed Feeling Sad funeral march and Guitar Slims and Rays I Wonder Who. His performance is characteristically blues, as ray weeps his way through the lyrics as horns drone sombre chords. However as Micheal Lydon states that after re-listening, Ray opens his voice in baby steps, exploring how to shade his vocal textures. This recording shows that Ray would need to push himself further with his emotional range. Around his birthday after Ray begins to widen his emotional range his friends in New Orleans would notice a change he began to sound like a gospel singer. Trumpeter Wallace Davenport recalls The first time I heard him I thought he was Charles Brown, then he started getting into that church thing. As Ray began to incorporate gospel into his music he would listen to gospel radio and read the Braille bible he carried. Renald Richard explained how Ray loves the blues singers like Joe Turner, but most of all he loved gospel singersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦He used to talk about Archie Browne, the lead singer with the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, how much he liked them. He would then begin to sound like them by turning and playing around with his notes, which would be much to the enjoyment of the audience. Later on in December 1953 whilst with Atlantic Records, Armet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler would listen to four arrangements Ray had made on radio station, WDSU. In this you can hear three distinct elements: Jazz, Deep Blues and fervid Gospel, coming together in an early stage, not a sound which is fully refined but one that sounds like Ray Charles. If there was a single turning point in the career of Ray Charles, it probably occurred on November the 18th 1954 at a radio station in Atlanta. It was here Ray and his recently formed band would record I Got a Woman. This was his first hit Ray had with a gospel influence. In October 1954, Ray was touring with his first band toward Indianna. Whilst searching the radio stations he would stop when he found a gospel station. Renald Richard remembered vividly a gospel tune that came on with a good groove and started singing. Ray sang something like I got a woman and I answered yeh she lives cross town then shes good to me. Renald then wrote the song for the next morning to the satisfaction of Ray. I Got a Woman is an archetypal 16 bar secularisation of My Jesus is all the World to me. Others have seen it as a straight rewrite of I Got a Saviour. The songs Ray had performed before like The Suns Gonna Shine had the hortatory tones of a preacher in the pulpit. I Got a Woman was a preacher a t a picnic. Light heartened gospel spiritual joy into sexual delight. It would lift the listener with each of its 4 bar chord change, confirming his optimistic lyrics. Just as the church would joyfully celebrate the glory of God. I got a woman was a record for every happy couple in America, black, white and in-between. The band first performed I Got a Woman for Ahmet and Jerry as they arrived at the Peacock club in Atlanta. Ahmet described how the power and precision had stunned Jerry. Jerry stated that something fantastic had happened, Ray had hatched, ready for fame. Through blending gospel with blues, Ray had the first time fused two strict idioms. In the African-American community the blues and gospel are both part of their culture. However a blues singer didnt sing gospel and a gospel singer didnt sing the blue. It was taboo. Many people believed that it was sacrilegious to mix blues with spirituals says Big Bill Broonzy and American blues singer. However, it quickly rose to the top of the charts in early 1955, the success of I got a woman being down to good attention from both white and black markets. Before, Ray had recorded songs like Mess Around by Ahmet Ertegà ¼n, which were big in the RB charts but not the white charts. A year after its first recording, Elvis Presley would confirm the impression it made by his own cover of I Got a Woman at RCA. In Jan 1955 Billboard quotes as I Got a Woman as one of the most infectious blues sides to come out since the summer. At the following recording session for Atlantic in Miami. Rays defining sound would be clearly and precisely heard. Ray recorded four charts, two straight blues and two gospel charts. The gospel songs This Little Girl of Mine and A Fool For You would reiterate Rays push of his gospel influence. This Little Girl of Mine is an up-tempo shouter with a rhythmic Latin feel based on the gospel song This Little Light of Mine. A Fool For You is a 6/8 double time waltz with Rays sanctified singing but without the heavenly lyrics, accompanied by piano gospel licks and preaching horns. Although, like I Got a Woman these two gospel and RB charts was seen as sacrilegious, the mix Ray had created appealed to so many audiences across the nation, and introduced a new music that would have a lasting effect, which would be later labelled as Soul music. As the 1950s progressed vocal groups following Ray Charles, began to add a sense of urgency and meaning- Soul, to their style of music resulting in the groups of Motown and others, including groups like the Chicago based family band called the Staple Singers who had hit songs which were centred around Gospel and RB. Their success followed on into the 1970s. In the late 1950s into the 1960s girl groups joined male Doo-Wop and RR groups, which resulted in groups like The Shirelles, Marveletess and The Supremes. Their material was largely written by the Brill Building writers and received hit records but never usually lasted. As Ray Charles added the gospel influence to his music, such as the call and response backing vocal groups like the Raylettes so too did Aretha Franklin. She reinfused her female backing groups with a gospel influence, which are present in her mid 1960s Atlantic recordings. Other artists like James Brown, who started his career as a singer with the Gospel Starlighters, following the style of Reverends Julius Cheeks and Claude Jeter added RB to their style. The vocal urgency and syncopated dance rhythms of gospel along with top notch RB house bands came together most clearly in the music of James Brown. Combining a Little Richard- style act with other theatrics from Joe Tex and a pleading version of Ray Charles gospel/soul. He then recorded his hit Please, Please, Please. In 1959 Ray released Whatd I Say, a song that became a top ten pop hit and would be one of his last singles with Atlantic before his move to ABC. There are clear gospel influences combined with the sexual innuendo in the song made it not only widely popular but very controversial to both white and black audiences. In the middle of the song. Charles indicated that The Raelettes should repeat what he was doing, and the song transformed into a call and response between Charles, The Raelettes, and the horn section in the orchestra as they called out to each other in ecstatic shouts and moans and blasts from the horns. This improvised interchange between himself and the Raylettes and between the band and audience is much like that of a Preacher and his congregation. Ray also uses gospel dialouge with unuh-uhnnh over charles moans and cries. He also uses phrases like shake that thing and I feel alright, and expression for the body instead of the lord. During Rays early life the influence of country and western music is ever present. When Ray Charles was growing up, the south was full of Country or Hillbilly music. Ray explains how there wasnt a single Saturday night that he wouldnt listen to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio. I loved Grandpa Jones and other characters. I could hear what they were doing and appreciate the feeling behind it. Ray would listen to Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff, Hank Snow, Hank Williams and later Eddie Arnold. I listened to them all the time, I certainly dug it and paid it some mind. In 1948 Ray joined a Hillbilly band called the Florida Playboys. It took just one audition to convince the Playboys that Ray could play country music with genuine flavour, and they hired him, no questions asked about race. For seven months he gigged with the band, playing current country hits of the day like Kentucky Waltz and Anytime in white honky-tonks in and around Tampa, learning to yodel and singing, Waiting All for You. Even as black, blind man, Ray was accepted and applauded just like anyone else by the audience. I could play the music right and I could do country music with as much feeling as any other southernerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. I had been hearing it since I was a baby. Long before the birth of his own country music, Charles looked back with pride on his stint with the Playboys.Lydon. In an outtake of a 1950s recording, Ray plays a limpid country lick. The producer chuckles over the studio intercom and says that he didnt know Ray could play Nashville. Ray then replies Man, Didnt you know I gigged with the Florida Playboys His time with the Florida Playboys, though brief would plant a seed in his mind that would rise during the 1960s. After leaving Atlantic Records in 1959, Ray joined ABC and at the end of 1961. He asked Sid Feller to get together 40 country hits from the last twenty years with the idea to record a country album. Sid Feller had not know at the time that Ray liked County and Samuel Clark and Larry Newton the executives at ABC Records were adamantly opposed to the idea that Charles brought to them. The ABC executives said, You cant do no country-western things.Youre gonna lose all your fans! However Feller believed that Ray understood Country music. He describes how Ray loved the simple plaintive lyrics, and he felt that giving the music a lush treatment would make it different Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a dozen tunes that runs the whole scope of Nashville from the traditional Careless Love to the rock and roll Bye Bye Love and from Hank Williams to the B-side fail of I Cant Stop Loving You. The tracks alternate from big band to string and voice. However regardless of all the jazz and symphonic effects present, the heart of every arrangement is a simple strummed guitar. Rays bluesy melismas wring every tear out of the country weepers, all the poetry out of their monosyllabic lyrics. I Cant Stop Loving You has a folk song strength, major scale melody, marching up and down over 3 chords and operatic grandeur created by his baritone voice and orchestra. He also uses his trademark letting the chorus lead the lyric with his voice following. Ray sings County in his own way, expanding the country sounds without distorting its colour. Rays own blend obscures the fact that Modern Sounds was his boldest album, which breaks many barriers. Invading white country music in the 1960s was something black pop-jazz singers didnt do. You had to be Country in 1962. After Modern Sounds it became a major player in Rays repertoire and on popular music. His unique blend of Country, Pop, Jazz and RB introduced country music to people of the city and showed to record companies and producers how to arrange their music to reach a much wider audience. Ray Charles played a pivotal role in shaping the course of a seemingly very different genre of popular music. In the words of his good friend and sometimes collaborator, Willie Nelson, speaking before Charles death in 2004, Ray Charles the RB legend did more for country music than any other living human being. The landmark album that earned Ray Charles that praise was Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, which held at number 1 for 14 weeks and stayed in the charts for 2 years. His single release I Cant Stop Loving You ruled at number 1 on RB and Easy Listening charts for weeks in the summer of 1962 dipping to 3rd in July and beginning to fall in august. As Charles told Rolling Stone magazine a decad e later, But Charles recognized the quality of songs like I Cant Stop Loving You by Don Gibson and You Dont Know Me, by Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker, and the fact that his version of both of those country songs landed in the Top 5 on both the pop and RB charts was vindication of Charless long-held belief that Theres only two kinds of music as far as Im concerned: good and bad. Following the massive commercial success and notice of Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, country music experienced an immediate increase in popularity. According to music writer Daniel Cooper, the album raised the genres profile, specifically Nashville sound, of which Charles had covered. Benefiting from this were songwriters, music publishers and country singers who covered the subgenres material. As noted by Cooper, by the end of 1962, Nashville country publishers were being held as the hottest source of music material in the record business these days. Ray Charless success with the stylistic fusion of country and soul on Modern Sounds later lead to country soul efforts from performers, such as Candi Staton and Solomon Burke who were both greatly influenced by Charless Modern Sounds recordings. Many country music artists, such as Willie Nelson and Buck Owens, have cited Charless take on country music and Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music as their major influences. In an interview for Country Music Television, Nelson said of Modern Sounds influence that the album did more for country music than any one artist has ever done. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music has also been perceived by many critics and writers as a landmark album in American music, as the record was the first to blend the two racially distinct genres of country and soul. Ray Charles all-embracing attitude toward music was one that he developed during his childhood and early career. Ray was immersed in the sounds of jazz, blues, gospel and country in his youth, playing in RB bands and a Country Hillbilly band. Ray Charles pioneered soul music, which had a great effect on popular music. In secularising certain aspects of gospel music with RB, Ray received his first gospel and RB hit I Got a Woman, which received attention from both black and white audiences. Subsequently, further releases like Whatd I Say and the Hallelujah I Lover Her So album attracted a large mainstream audience. His fusion of white country music earned Ray mainstream and crossover success, with his album Modern Sound in Country and Western Music which broke racial stereotypes and exposed country music to city dwellers. It also helped other country artists; particularly them orientated around the Nashville sound, reach a wider audience, raising the genres profile. To him, the bounda ries between those styles of music were made to be crossed, and he made a career out of doing just that having a great effect on popular music.

Platinum (Pt) analogues Essay -- Health, Diseases, Tumors, Cancer

Platinum (Pt) analogues are now among the clinically used most efficacious metal-based drugs in the treatment of a variety of tumors/cancers including lung cancer (both non-small cell and small cell), head and neck cancer, bladder cancer, ovarian cancer, germ cell tumors and, to a lesser extent, breast cancer and gastric cancer [1,2]. However, here the drug action is less- / non-selective, and normal cells, in addition to transformed cells, are also affected, which leads to substantial dose-limiting acute and chronic toxicities [3, 4]. It is generally believed that non-Pt metal-based drugs offer potential to overcome these shortcomings [5]. Complexes of metals such as palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, copper and lanthanum, with aromatic N-containing ligands (pyridine, imidazole and 1,10-phenanthroline, and their derivatives), have shown promising cytotoxic properties in in vitro and in vivo models [6-10]. Among non-Pt compounds, copper complexes are potentially attractive as anticancer agents. Actually, since many years a lot of researches have actively investigated copper compounds b...

Gaming in Shanghai Essay

Overview HyperHawk, one of the world’s major providers of global supply management software and services, helps companies reduce costs through efficient product and services sourcing. It has handled more than $50 billion worth of products and services in the oil and gas, other natural resources, retail, transport, finance, and industrial sectors for customers including General Motors, Nestlà ©, Shell, Japan Energy, Mitsubishi, and Cadbury Schweppes. Shanghai-based JJM, one of the biggest gaming and hospitality companies in Asia, is owned by Chinese businessman Tan Wu Bo. This case study revolves around the period when JJM has been a HyperHawk client for six months, and the companies have signed an agreement to conducttwo projects. The first, completed in March 2005 and tremendously successful, saved JJM some $1 million, and the second one is set to start.Impressed with the results, JJM wishes to explore the possibility of other joint endeavours with HyperHawk. To this end, a meeting is arranged between JJM’s Senior Vice-President of Finance Iris Ma and HyperHawk’s RegionalManaging DirectorDrake Dubois, and attended by JJM’s Vice-President for Procurement Henry Chow and HyperHawk Sales Group Director Layton Pang. Ma is keen to explore more projects with HyperHawk and has tasked Chow to follow up with HyperHawk as soon as possible. The managing director of HyperHawk suggests that a session be arranged with key stakeholders from both companies to discuss and assess possible opportunities for other JJM projects. The Scene Ma and Chow agreed to the suggestion and asked that a proposal be submitted to JJM after the opportunity assessment meeting that was attended by Chow, his assistant Mary Xie, who is also the purchasing manager, and two members from HyperHawk. Both parties identified ten possible projects. Xie asked for a proposal to be submitted to JJM through her, and HyperHawk provided a competitive price package that included services over a twelve-month period. As is to be expected from a Chinese company like JJM, Xie asked for a reduction in the licensing fee, additional program management days (at no extra cost), and an extension of the software term from twelve months to  twenty-four months. In reply, HyperHawk put in writing its discussions to date with JJM: 1.JJM had agreed that HyperHawk could add value to the projects identified. 2.JJM would sign for a ten-project package to get a competitive price. 3.If HyperHawk could meet JJM’s demands, the latter would sign the contract by May-end 2005. Xie agreed to point one above, but was noncommittal on points two and three. After much discussion, HyperHawk agreed to lower its fee and provide JJM additional program management days at no additional cost. However, HyperHawk said it could not agree to extend the twelve month term for use of the software without charging extra. Then, to complicate matters further, Xie suggested that JJM could not commit to an agreement even if all the issues were resolved. The most recent negotiations were conducted quite hastily, since HyperHawk knew that Xie was not the decision maker and approval had to come from her top management. Negotiations to Date HyperHawk’sprimary concern was how likely JJM would be to enter into an agreement even if the issues were resolved, and within what time frame. JJM argued that the proposed price was beyond what it could afford, although it recognized the need for help from HyperHawk to implement the projects, and that it needed twenty-four months to implement the ten projects due to its lack of manpower. HyperHawk took the position that, while it was prepared to look into the fee structure and program management term as part of the total package, the request for twenty-four months was not reasonable. Although it reasoned that other organizations were able to implement ten projects in twelve months, to satisfy JJM, HyperHawk negotiated a mid-way solution: a maximum of eighteen months. When one week passed and there was no response from JJM, HyperHawk asked if it would be prepared to sign if HyperHawk acceded to its three requests.Xie replied that she would submit the proposal for approval to her superiors, Tan and Ma, but added that there was no guarantee the agreement would be signed by the end of May. From HyperHawk’s perspective, all the issues presented by JJM had been resolved—yet there was still no deal. When asked about the status of the project, JJM cited staff turnover, but then mentioned another possible IT project where there was a clear need for HyperHawk. The discussion ended with JJM requesting that HyperHawk prepare the preliminary work and submit yet another proposal.  Based on the updated information, it appeared that the IT project might get underway earlier than the previously proposed ten projects. Moreover, given that this project had an entirely different scope, there was a strong argument to negotiate a separate deal for it. Whichever proposal JJM wished to undertake first, HyperHawk was ready to negotiate and finalize an agreement, but it could not yet tell whether the latest development was a genuine project or a further stalling tactic. Observations 1.Both parties acted rationally in the way the negotiations were conducted, and it helped that the relationship between them was excellent from the start. 2.HyperHawk gave in to JJMs demands in the hope of concluding the agreement quickly and starting the projects. But JJM continued to indulge in last minute wavering and only introduced a new project, which took the parties away from the initial negotiations. 3.The way HyperHawk responded to JJM’s delaying tactics, showed it’s patience and its determination to get the deal done. 4.Meanwhile, JJM believed it was negotiating from a position of strength, having even gone so far as to assert that it had in-house a system similar to that of HyperHawk that could probably fulfil its needs, even though without the sophistication of the HyperHawk product. 5.Going forward, it was critical that HyperHawk engage with Ma, the senior vice-president and decision maker, since the groundwork had been laid with her staff. But they were finding it difficult to do so due to the complicated hierarchy of the Chinese companies. 6.HyperHawk reflected that maybe it should have asked for the agreement to be signed within a fixed time when it met JJM’s initial demands, although JJM had previously delayed decision making on other projects. Conclusions This case is typical of what vendors face in a competitive, hi-tech environment, and illustrates the opportunity they have to reduce their price. Handled appropriately, a win-win outcome is not difficult to achieve. From this case study, at least two scenarios for short-term success can be derived. First, assuming the vendor, is taking a tough stance, you can take a long-term perspective and conclude the first sale with a friendly, competitive attitude, countering the buyer’s demands with suitable offers, while never losing sight of your determination to bag the order. But,  besides showing friendliness, flexibility, and determination, you must show the potential buyer that you will be there for them over the long haul. For this you require people with leadership qualities in your team. Should one lack high-quality leaders in your team, you have the option of a second scenario. In this case, you would show, right from the beginning,that your team comprises hard workers who w ill do whatever the buyer needs. By adopting Chinese-style service orientation and dedication and making your team indispensable to the potential buyer, being available daily, and making yourself virtually a part of your opposite number’s staff—you could clinch a deal. HyperHawk failed to show the requisite service orientation and commitment. From the perspective of longer-term success, an initial achievement provides the opportunity for friendship to be cultivated with the client company’s key people, perhaps even with the CEO, the final decision maker. Should one eventually become accepted as â€Å"family,† the client will telephone you for what they want and no longer require competitive quotations. But to reach that point, you will have had to develop a genuine friendship and service orientation with those at the top of the client company.

Real Estate Section of “The New York Times”

Real Estate Section of â€Å"The New York Times† strategist at TD Securities in Toronto. (Adler) Residential Sales prices are differs as per the region and facilities required in the apartment The average price for one bedroom apartment in Manhattan Upper West Side would cost $325,000 - $400,000 for 600 Sq. Ft. of accommodation space. Similarly, one bedroom apartment in Manhattan West Harlem will cost $400,000 - $600,000 for 700 Sq. Ft. Prices are higher for apartments in Upper East Side and Chelsea area ranging from $700,000 to $1.4Million. A four-five bedroom apartment in Four Boroughs will cost between $365,000 to $733,000 depending on the area Tottenville or Riverdale or Bayside. Apartment in Brooklyn Heights area are costlier. Two to Three bedroom apartment in Long Island will cost somewhere in between $270,000 to $775,000 if area is selected from Sound Beach or Port Washington or Cold Spring Harbor. Old Westbury area accommodations are costly and vary between $1.5 million to $2million for a four-bedroom apartment. In Westchester or Putnam, two-three bedroom apartment prices vary from $364,000 to $1.3million. In Rockland or Orange, one can find two-five bedroom apar tments in between $344,000 to $900,000. Similarly in New Jersey, it will cost $250,000 to $1.15Million for three-four bedrooms apartment. A three-bedroom 2002 Sq. Ft. apartment in Stuyvesant, N.Y will cost $299,000; two-bedroom at Miami Beach, FLA will cost $305,000 for 1,180 Sq. Ft and two-bedroom unit in Cincinnati will cost #309,000 for 3,400 Sq. Ft. The national home price index showed an 8.9 percent decline in the third quarter of 2009 from the third quarter of 2008, a substantial improvement over the 14.7 percent decline in the annual rate of return in the second quarter of 2009. (Hernandez) The data on home construction showed a decline in the rate of single and multiple-family home building, contributing to an overall decrease of 10.6 percent in housing starts from September. In total, construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000 housing units in October, falling short of the 600,000 predicted by analysts. Building permits, an indicator of future construction, declined as well, to an annual rate of 552,000, from 575,000, also falling short of forecasts. (J. C. Hernandez) I found the real estate section very helpful. You can buy, sell or rent a home easily. It is extensively informative for people who are new or unfamiliar with real estate prices in United States.

Perfect Competition Essay Example

Perfect Competition Essay Example Perfect Competition Essay Perfect Competition Essay Essay Topic: Competition Perfect competition is a market structure with large number of buyers and sellers. There are no barriers to entry into the industry. Firms sell identical products that are perfect substitutes each other. In addition, they are well informed about prices and no have government intervention. Transport cost is negligible hence do not affect pricing. Price determined by the market must be accepted by the buyers and sellers. They are said to be price takers. Therefore, firms have no market power. Each firm in perfect competition seeks to maximize their profit, which equals total revenue minus total cost.Total revenue for a firm is the selling price times the quantity cost [ TR=(P*Q) ] . Total cost is the opportunity cost of production, which includes normal profit. Average revenue tells us how much revenue a firm receives for the typical unit sold. The average revenue equals the price of the good in perfect competition. Marginal revenue is the change in total revenue from an additional unit sold. For competitive firm, marginal revenue equals the price of the good. In the short run, firms can make super-normal profits or losses under perfect competition. The firm has fixed resources and maximizes profit or minimizes loss by adjusting output.When a firm operates in a perfectly competitive market, its supply curve is its short-run marginal cost curve above average variable cost. The firm should not produce, but should shut down in the short run if its loss exceeds its fixed costs. By shutting down, its loss will just equal those fixed costs. The shut down point is the level of output and price at which the firm just covers its total variable cost. For perfect competition, marginal revenue is equal to price as the firm is facing a perfectly elastic demand. Entry and exit is possible in the long run of perfect competitive.Long run firms are attracted into the industry if the supernormal profits are making by the incumbent firms. This is because there are no barriers to entry and there is perfect knowledge. The effect of this entry into the industry is to shift the industry supply curve to the right, which drives down price until the point where all super-normal profits are exhausted. If firms are making losses, they will leave the market as there are freely to exit, and this will shift the industry supply to the left, which increase price and allows those left in the market to derive normal profits.In perfect competition, optimal allocation of resources helped by high degree of competition. Lower price charged for the consumers. Consumer and producers surplus are maximized. This is because the change in demand leads extra supply. But insufficient profit for investment is one of the disadvantages in perfect competition. Besides that, perfect competition cause unequal distribution of goods and income. If there are externalities in production or consumption there is likely to be market failure without government intervention Competitive Markets.Due to the availability of many brands of the handsets in market, sellers share the market to comparatively smaller shares since the products are identical and serve the same intentions. The handsets are in this case standardized due to the functionality aspect they provide to the buyers. The government does not adjust the prices of the mobile phones in ties industry other than the normal taxes on business. The competitive aspect in this sector is mainly via prices such that the handset selling firms compete mainly using the prices (Lee, 2003).This is the ideal competitive environment where the products being sold are homogenous. From the Globe and Mail, deals with lamb prices in Canada. The article indicates that because the Orthodox and Western Christian Easters fall on the same Sunday in 2010, the demand for lamb and braided bread has gone up. And while there is a shortage of lamb there doesnt appear to be a shortage of bread. Lamb prices are up 22% over last year. Lamb producers in Alberta have been trying to convince people to take up the craft of raising sheep and hope that promise of higher prices will be an incentive.

Comparison of Barbara Ehrenreich"Bright-Sided" and " Essay

Comparison of Barbara Ehrenreich"Bright-Sided" and " Mariah Burton Nelson, " I Won. I'm sorry." - Essay Example It does this by looking at how these articles are in a dialogue about identified aspects of popular US culture discussed by these scholars. In I Won. Im sorry, Nelson presents a candid and insightful discussion on the gender stereotyping in athletics as one of the popular cultures in USA. As a former basketball player, Nelson alludes to her own experiences because she happened to have actively engaged in her favorite game at a time when US culture was quite skeptical ob the involvement of women in certain sporting activities. With her first-hand experiences, Nelson acknowledges that indeed, gender inequality is quite evident in athletics in the country. Due to the patriarchal nature of the society, men have been brought up to believe that there are certain games that should not only be reserved for them. To them, the womenfolk should only concentrate on skating, gymnastics and tennis. The other prominent feature that appears in Nelson’s discussion is the issue of feminism. Even if the society is slowly transforming and giving room to the women to be active in athletics, a lot of concern is raised about how their involvement in athletics can make them to behave. Unlike their male counterparts, women are supposed to be careful not to be viewed as masculine. She says ‘Women want to be tall enough to feel elegant and attractive, like models. They want to feel respected and looked up to. But they don’t want to be so tall that their height threatens men. They want to win — to achieve, to reach new heights — but without exceeding male heights’ (P 570). Meaning, they are still viewed as a weaker sex who should apologize for appearing masculine and at times have to feature in nude adverts so as to prove to the society that they are still elegant and have the beauty that qualified them as feminine creatures who must be dominated by the male

How did African American and Native Americans shape Colonial America Essay

How did African American and Native Americans shape Colonial America and how were they shaped by Colonial America - Essay Example At the same time, with their divergent social and cultural beliefs, the colonial America also contributed immensely in shaping the practises of both the two races. The twenty first century American culture can be highly attributed to the struggle and input of the black and Native Americans. The black Americans received a very hostile reception in which they were treated more like underdogs. They were barred from participating in societal activities, nor even serving in a position of authority above a white American. Random killing by racial groups became an order of the day for the black Americans. However, despite the bleak future that faced them, the African Americans changed the course of their history and that of the continent for good. The fight that the African American embraced enabled them to change from being the American slaves and workers to being the American citizens, this became the basis of democratic struggle in colonial America. Despite of the weaknesses that nature presented them with, the African Americans embody the true struggle of democratic freedom and equality for all Americans (Breen and Innes 74). According to Breen and Innes 77, the eastern shores of Virginia developed during the colonial America because of the black presence. ... son, known mostly as ‘Antony the Negro’ is used by the authors to illustrate the spirit of hard work and struggle that the black Americans cultivated. He had a great ability to interact with other whites setting the pace for cross-cultural relations and friendships (Breen and Innes 74). The notion of more property equals more freedom and power among the American people was also built by these interactions by Antony the Negro. The Native Indian population were subjected to the aggressive rule of the European colonisers. The arrival of the guest from the west meant a complete change of lifestyle and freedom within their society. The Indians were the original farmers in the American continent and this encouraged the Europeans to create agricultural settlements in the continent. As a result, the growth of farming and huge crop plantations in the continent was borrowed from the practises of the native Indians (Richter 84). The development of the slave trade and immigration of the blacks into the American continents traces its roots to the activities and cultures of the Native Americans. As the need for more raw agricultural materials grew, the need for more strong and hardy workers developed. Africans became the only alternative due to their vulnerability and the European invasion at the time. The Indian Americans were also considered weak as compared to the blacks, this is how the native Indians shaped the history of the colonial America (Richter 90). Colonial America was characterised by a number of activities that defined the behaviours of the native and African Americans way of life. The mass movements of the population from the African continent into a new land and life marked transition in the lives of the black Africans. From a completely different cultural