Creating a Plan for Positive Influence Term Paper

Creating a Plan for Positive Influence - Term Paper Example The plan stated below outlines a method of achieving similar goals, devised for a team to work on a given project within one year. It is important to note that at all times; the plan has been devised keeping in mind that the employees are not merely present for the task, but that the task is present for the employees. In this regard, nowhere in the one-year plan, the managers viewed the task as more important than the employees did (Schuitema, 2010). At every point, it concentrates on how the plan is affecting the workers, and focuses on providing a valuable learning and growth experience to them. In addition, after the introduction of every strategy, management should put efforts to analyze the strategy to identify its impact on possible individual differences. The plan is to begin working on the project in the month of January, and complete it by the end of the calendar year, as instructed. This project has been assigned to eight team members, out of which one is the team manager w ho drafted this plan. The executives of the company have assigned this leadership role of management to this specific member based on his greater experience in training and managing members, and the executives hope that this manager will continue to train other members and instill leadership qualities. Thus the first phase of the planning is underway, which is to assign roles to each of the members. Each of the members will be equal contributors to the project, to ensure fairness in workload and consequent appraisal. However, these roles will be assigned to give the members a sense of responsibility and an important feeling in the team because the most devoted members are those who recognize their significance in the team (Drucker, 2008). Employing this way of thinking, the team members will be assigned roles according to the requirements of the project. This first phase will ensure that each member understands his or her significance in the team and thus, endeavors to remain an eff icient part of it throughout the year. Another advantage of doing this would be that once division of labor and delegation has taken place, the duties of each worker become clear, and he/she work toward fulfilling own responsibilities. This ensures efficiency and full concentration of responsible individual in each of the duties. Additionally, one major factor to account is how successfully each member will perform a given task. For this reason, it is important for the management to assign roles at first according to each member’s strengths and weaknesses. This will affect behavior immensely, as when the initial role assigned to a member is one at which he/she is good at, he/she will be more motivated to perform well and will also be more confident while working, thus affecting the productivity as well as the rate of progress of the project. Second phase of the plan is to work out a schedule for changing these roles periodically. Although specialization is a recognized tool o f creating efficiency and productivity in the workforce, it also leads to an intensive disadvantage if these roles are not changed periodically. This is another characteristic of workers that the management needs to take care of because if the workers perform the same roles for too long, it may lead to monotony and

IT INFRASTRUCTURE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

IT INFRASTRUCTURE - Essay Example The services are offered in a multi-specialty manner under one roof and multiple consultants and doctors operate from each specialty to reduce patient queuing time. There is also a modular operating room to minimize Hospital Acquired infections in surgical patients as well as an amazing and completely entertaining children’s zone and child care area attached to the pediatric wing. The hospital offers 24-hour service in selected emergency situations, pharmacy GP and ambulance. As mentioned earlier, the hospital provide a host of services including urology, heart care, child care, weight loss, genecology, minimal access surgery and women wellness programs. These services are highly sensitive and patients sometimes demand to be served by their preferred doctors. The hospital, in the past was overwhelmed by the demand and the lack of scheduling mechanism to distribute patients to available consulting doctors efficiently. This resulted in a lot of inconveniences in terms of waiting time the associated health repercussions. The hospital in leveraging technology decided to introduce a doctor and patient management system known as Inquiry, Booking and Reservation system. This system allow patient to inquire for their preferred consultant doctors and book for an appropriate session guided by the schedule of the doctor. Most of its clients make reservations through direct calls made to the centre. The customer service department receives the calls, book clients an d advice on the best visit schedules according to the physicists calendar of events. In dire scenarios, the hospital allows direct communication between clients and their doctors for better service delivery. Therefore, telephone communication is the de facto medium although other channels such as eMail and texts are employed. The clinic has an implementation of VoIP. However, the system has been associated with some drawbacks. Some of the clients have

Understanding and interpreting financial statements Dissertation

Understanding and interpreting financial statements - Dissertation Example Understanding and interpreting financial statements The information contained in the financial statements can be used by financial analysts to perform ratio analysis. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the financial performance of Morrisons Inc. Company Profile: Morrisons Morrisons was founded in 1899 by William Morrison. The first supermarket chain was opened in 1961. Today the company has become the 4th largest supermarket retailer in the United Kingdom . The initial public offering of the company occurred in 1967. The company serves over 10 million customers each week across its network of 382 stores. Morrisons helps the United Kingdom’s economy by providing the community with 124,000 jobs. One of the aspects of the Morrisons operation that makes this company different is that the firm owns its supply chain logistics. The company has its own packing facilities, baking capabilities, distribution centers, and fleet of trucks to deliver fresh goods to its stores. Ratio Selection The use of ratio analysis can help a person evaluate the financial performance of a company. To perform ratio analysis one must retrieve the financial statements of the company. The two financial statements that are mostly used when performing ratio analysis are the income statement and the balance sheet. There are different categories of ratios that an analyst can utilize. The five categories of ratios are profitability, solvency, efficiency, liquidity, financial gearing, and investment. To evaluate Morrisons this paper uses a variety of financial ratios from the different categories mentioned. A profitability ratio that will be used in the paper is net margin. Net margin is calculated dividing net income by sales (Besley & Brigham, 2000). It is preferable to have a high net margin because higher net margins imply that the company is more profitable. Another profitability ratio of importance is the gross profit. The gross profit is calculated with the following formula. (Sales – CGS) / Sales (Weygandt & Kieso & Kimmel , 2002). High profit margins are preferable. Two additional metrics that will be used to evaluate Morrisons is return on assets and return on equity. Return on assets is calculated dividing net income by total assets, while return on equity is calculated dividing net income by total equity (Dictionary, 2011). An efficiency ratio that will be used to evaluate Morrisons is sales revenue per employee. Obtaining high sales revenue per employee is preferable because it implies that each employee of the company is helping the firm generate more money. Another efficiency ratio that will be used in the analysis of Morrisons is sales revenue to capital employed. The ratio is calculated dividing revenues by capital. A liquidity ratio that was selected for the Morrisons ratio analysis was the current ratio. The current ratio determines the capabilities of the company to pay off its short term debt (Investopedia, 2011). The formula to calculate current ratio is current assets divided by current liability. Two gearing ratios that will be used in the analysis of Morrisons are the debt ratio and the debt to equity ratio. The debt ratio is calculated by dividing total assets by total liabilities. The debt ratio measures the ability of the company to pay off its long term debt (Garrison & Noreen, 2003). The debt to equity ratio is calculated dividing total assets by total equity. The investment ratios chosen to perform the ratio analysis on

Modernism in the 19th Century Essay Example for Free

Modernism in the 19th Century Essay Modernism was a response to the political, economic and the social chaos of the mid-19th century. Modernists believed in the practical usage of knowledge to solve society’s problems. For them, disciplines should not be sources of abstract concepts. Modernism in the 19th Century Europe in the mid-19th century was characterized with toppled thrones, repressive regimes, civil wars, executions and exiles. Ordinary citizens found themselves trapped in one despotic government after another. The promising careers of many artists were ruined, as many of them either died or fled their homelands. The intellectuals, meanwhile, were already too discredited and disillusioned to be able to work for change (Barzun, 1990). The ideas that were once regarded as the means to bring about a better world were now despised and even blamed for the turbulent status quo. Concepts such as liberty, fraternity and equality were dismissed as the products of feeble minds or glib rhetoricians. The images of hard matter and the evil man were embraced as the true representations of reality. Science and politics eventually became the two most important disciplines of the aforementioned period (Barzun, 1990). Consequently, modernism emerged in the late 19th century. Unlike its predecessor, Romanticism, modernism was a discipline that focused on the commonplace. Emphasis was given to â€Å"the dull, dreary, sordid (and) repetitious occurrences of daily life† (Barzun, 1990). The soberness of word and feeling ridiculous replaced the Romanticist notions of love of life and of love itself (Barzun, 1990). Modernism and Progress The prevailing economic situation in the late 19th-century Europe was likewise responsible for the rise of modernism. Urban areas that have separate business, industrial and residential districts proliferated across the continent. Consequently, people during this period assumed a mindset that welcomed innovation instead of constantly relying on past knowledge. Scientific inventions such as steam power, the telegraph and cast iron inspired them to come up with more progressive means of studying â€Å"classical† fields such as architecture, art, literature, applied arts, literature and music (Marx and Mazlish, 1996). Simply put, modernism became synonymous to the usage of â€Å"traditional† subjects to create new ideas that would bring about more progress. The discovery of cast iron, for instance, did not result in just railroad bridges. Architects during this period also used cast iron to come up with amazing structures such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The Eiffel Tower was a novelty in the sense that it was a radically different combination of engineering and art (Marx and Mazlish, 1996). The social sciences, meanwhile, were no longer just an abstract set of theories and principles. Fields such as economics and political science were utilized to improve public administration and governance. The theories of psychology, such as those of Ernst Mach and Sigmund Freud, were applied to the treatment of psychological disorders. In previous centuries, the mentally ill were regarded as a family disgrace and were therefore banished to asylums, where they were treated inhumanely. The studies of Mach and Freud on the human mind would later become part of the foundations of modern-day psychology and psychiatry. Modernism and Religion In the context of religion, modernism translated to the â€Å"(reinterpretation of) Christian (doctrines) in terms of the scientific thought of the 19th century† (MSN Encarta, 2008). Some dogmas of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Churches were started to be construed as symbolic instead of as literally true. Examples of Modernists in the Roman Catholic Church were theologians George Tyrell, Baron Friedrich von Hugel and Alfred Loisy. Rome responded harshly to them – Pope Pius X condemned the movement as â€Å"heretical, false, rash (and) bold† on July 3, 1907 (MSN Encarta, 2008). Protestant Modernists such as the German theologians Friedrich Schleiermacher and Albrecht Ritschl, meanwhile, wanted to reconcile religious dogmas and history with the theory of evolution and discoveries in ancient history, psychology and archaeology. As a result, they did not believe in the literal inspiration of the Bible and the historical accuracy of the Gospels. For them, moral and ethical behavior was more important to Christian life, rather than blind obedience to formal creeds. In addition, church officials should prioritize social activities over academic issues (MSN Encarta, 2008). Conclusion The most noteworthy characteristic of modernism in the 19th century is that it encouraged the practical use of knowledge to solve problems. Ideas of the existing schools of thought during the 19th century were no longer abstract concepts – they were actually used to come up with progress. Instead of merely shouting â€Å"Liberty, Fraternity and Equality! † economic principles were applied to ensure wise government spending. And rather than arguing that â€Å"Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world,† it would be easier to make people understand that â€Å"Jesus Christ was sent on earth to teach human beings to love one another as they love themselves. † References Barzun, J. (1990). The Cradle of Modernization. American Scholar, 59, 519-527. Retrieved December 15, 2008 from EBSCO. Marx, L. , Mazlish, B. (1996). Progress: Fact or Illusion? Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. MSN Encarta. (2008). Modernism (Religion). Retrieved December 15, 2008, from http://encarta. msn. com/encyclopedia_761568195/Modernism_(religion). html

The Welcome Table vs Country Lovers Essay Example for Free

The Welcome Table vs Country Lovers Essay Have you ever experienced discrimination and/or racism? It is my belief that, sadly, most of us have; for this paper I have chosen to compare and contrast the literary works, â€Å"The Welcome Table† by Alice Walker, and â€Å"Country Lovers† by Nadine Gordimer. Both of these literary pieces give the reader awareness of the pain and suffering endured by the two African-American characters that were subject to racial discrimination and the superior mentality of those that participated in the discrimination. Discrimination and racism is the core issue in both of these short stories; I will address the subject of racism in various ways. A similarity of both short stories is that the narrator reveals the characters through observation which means both stories are told in the third-person omniscient point of view. I will explore how the narrator drew me in when reading each of the stories. I can relate to to each through experiences in my lifes journey, and will explore those emotions a bit as well. The stories authors will also be compared and contrasted and compared. â€Å"The Welcome Table† Storyline â€Å"The Welcome Table† story was intriguing to me because the author describes the old woman as one who does not have emotional ties with the people around her. â€Å"The Welcome Table† theme is racism. I was moved deeply by The Welcome Table, in which an old, dying black woman is evicted by bodily force from a white church, but then meets-up with Jesus on the highway. I believe the old woman is bitter from the days she was a slave to the white people. Because of this, it appears she has focused only on Jesus for some time now; she knows it will soon be time to join Him. The old woman in the story is a spiritual woman, but bitter, and is so looking forward to her day of meeting with her Lord Jesus Christ, it appears she cares little about anything else at this point in her life. For example, in â€Å"The Welcome Table†: â€Å"The old woman stood with eyes uplifted in her Sunday–go–to–meeting clothes: high shoes polished about the tops and toes, a long rusty dress adorned with an old corsage, long withered, and the remnants of an elegant silk scarf as head rag stained with grease from the many oily pigtails underneath. Perhaps she had known suffering. There was a dazed and sleepy look in her aged blue–brown eyes. But for those who searched hastily for reasons in that old tight face, shut now like an ancient door, there was nothing to be read. And so they gazed nakedly upon their own fear transferred; a fear of the black and the old, a terror of the unknown as well as of the deeply known. Some of those who saw her there on the church steps spoke words about her that were hardly fit to be heard, others held their pious peace; and some felt vague stirrings of pity, small and persistent and hazy, as if she were an old collie turned out to die.†. â€Å"Country Lovers† Storyline The â€Å"Country Lovers† storyline was captivating as well; the theme is racism also. In this story the characters are young; â€Å"Country Lovers† follows the evolving relationship between a white, well to do farm-owners son, Paulus, and the black daughter of a farm-worker, Thebedi. â€Å"Country Lovers† is set in South Africa, and focuses greatly on the product of the star-crossed lovers union. Example in â€Å"Country Lovers†: â€Å"For the first time since he was a small boy he came right into the kraal. It was eleven oclock in the morning. The men were at work in the lands. He looked about him, urgently; the women turned away, each not wanting to be the one approached to point out where Thebedi lived.† Apartheid Regime At the time this story happens, South Africa was under a strict apartheid regime. The white population of South Africa was in charge of the country, and even though they were the minority they oppressed the rest of the inhabitants, mostly the black population. In â€Å"Country Lovers†, we see how distinct the differences between blacks and white were. The fact that Paulus was found ‘not guilty’ of murder, even though there was enough evidence against him, shows how the white people protected each other at all costs. The story also tells how the white children get to go to school, while the black children are not considered when it comes to education. In my opinion, you have to know something about the apartheid period in South Africa in order to understand the short story fully. The educational value is definitely present. And TodayDiverse Opinions â€Å"In post-apartheid South Africa we speak about race extensively. It permeates our workplace, weaves a thread through the fabric of our professional and personal lives, as well as our private conversations and public interactions with others. From within psychoanalytic theory, the thread weaves through the unknown content of our radicalized unconscious. When there is a focus on race in the South African psychoanalytic context it largely takes the form of the struggle to articulate the complexities of working with difference, as Swartz notes, or the struggle to map out issues of race. Such struggles are not localized in South Africa, but strongly reflect a much broader struggle within the global psychoanalytic community, as mirrored in the expanding focus on race.† (Knight, Z. G. (2013)) â€Å"Fourteen years after apartheid, is the ideal of a rainbow nation fading? Not at all. South Africa has come a long way since the days of institutional racism. Its transition to democracy has been remarkably smooth, set against the countrys bitter past. You hear of few incidents of racially motivated violence. The vast majority of South Africans want a non-racial democracy that respects peoples differences. There are laws to punish unfair discrimination, and black economic empowermenta positive-discrimination policyseeks to redress past injustice.† (Knight, Z. G. (2013)) Theme and Characters As you can see already, there are many differences, but there is but one meaningful theme in both stories, racism. In â€Å"The Welcome Table† the main character is an old woman, ready to meet her maker; it is apparent the pain the woman has endured throughout her life just by the description of the condition of her appearance, â€Å"beaten by king cotton and the extreme weather†, the condition of her clothing items â€Å"a long rusty dress adorned with an old corsage, long withered, and the remnants of an elegant silk scarf as head rag stained with grease from many oily pigtails underneath†, and the emptiness conveyed by her to the outsiders â€Å"a dazed and sleepy look in her aged blue brown eyes.†. The descriptiveness, the symbolism drew me in when reading this story. Racism and Spirituality Black liberation theology is a theological perspective found in some Christian churches in the United States which contextualizes Christianity in an attempt to help African-Americans overcome oppression. Black liberation theology seeks to liberate people of color from multiple forms of political, social, economic, and religious subjugation and views Christian theology as a theology of liberation- a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the forces of liberation to the essence of the Gospel, which is Jesus Christ, writes James Hal Cone, one of the original advocates of the perspective. African-American theology has come from biblical faith to cultural captivity dogmatic texts from the patristic period to the Reformation. Dogma is a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true Theme and Characters In â€Å"Country Lovers†, the main characters are young, and see the beauty in life for a time. I sympathize more with Thebedi throughout the story; I believe she leaves herself vulnerable when she chooses to give herself to Paulus; I believe him to know more what the outcome of their relationship will be; I believe she secretly wants for her lover to be with her and their child. I see women to be more unrealistic because of their deep emotional attachments. I believe Paulus was a bit full of himself as well. He is heartless to call the baby it, and then to kill her himself? In both stories, there is the knowledge of racism by the characters, but in â€Å"The Welcome Table†, although the old woman is aware, she does not consider what others will think at this point, and in â€Å"Country Lovers†, the threat of what others may think means very much. Heart-breaking Realities In both stories I see the reality of broken-hearts. In â€Å"The Welcome Table† the old woman has been through much because of racism in her day; in â€Å"Country Lovers†, the heart-break is just beginning. Both stories are culturally rich, but in diverse ways. While â€Å"Country Lovers† tells of how it is acceptable to test the waters to see if your wife to be is able to bare your fruit, â€Å"The Welcome Table† implies that the old woman was accepted as grandma or auntie when raising a white mans children, but when it came to entering their church there was no acceptance what-so-ever. To me, these short stories have very different endings. The ending in â€Å"Country Lovers† was absolutely heart-breaking compared to the ending of â€Å"The Welcome Table†, which had a rather happy ending in my way of thinking. Authors Many authors have written essays, stories, and poems about negative judgmental and biased views of people in hopes to understand unfair treatment towards mankind and promote changes in human behavior that will bring solutions of peace. These authors are no different; both authors have been rewarded many honorary awards for promoting peace. Ironically, Nadine Gordimer is a white woman born and raised in South Africa and Alice Walker is an African-American from Eatonton, Georgia, but both authors have kindred spirits and are celebrated for their commitments to fight racism. These authors have a twenty year age difference, and have experienced racism in very diverse ways, in their very diverse lives. Nadine Gordimer grew-up in a privileged family, while Alice Walker grew-up poor. Her mother worked as a maid to help support the familys eight children, while Nadine Gordimer is an only child, whose mother imagined her to be ill, weak, throughout her childhood. Both authors began writing at an early age, each for different reasons I believe. Alice Walker started writing age eight, and Nadine Gordimer at nine. Alice Walker, who also wrote The Color Purple, started writing after listening to her grandfathers stories, who was the inspiration for Mr. in The Color Purple; With my family, I had to hide things, she said. And I had to keep a lot in my mind.. Nadine Gordimers first writings were that of apartheid on the lives of South Africans; Gordimer witnessed government repression firsthand when still a teenager; the police raided her family home, confiscating le tters and diaries from a servants room. Personal Thoughts and Feelings on Racism I have had mostly bi-racial amorous relationships in my lifetime; I am Caucasian, and my romantic relationships have been with African-American and Hispanic men. Even in this day and age I believe many people frown on this. Many of the people of either race whole-heartily approves of this in my opinion. The struggle to eliminate racism from our world is an important one. Understanding what it is, understanding the key role it plays in dividing people, and how to challenge it, in ourselves and others, is central to our understanding of how oppression works and how, ultimately, we can free all humanity from it. Racism is ignorance. There are no rational conflicts of interest between any peoples on this planet. There is not rational need for the artificial borders that have been erected over the years to separate different groups of humans. All people deserve an equal share in and access to food, shelter, education, health care and the other necessities of life. The false divisions created by racism only serve the short-term interests of systems which constantly try to divide us and distract us from seeing the underlying economic exploitation that feeds greed. Some have minds that are full of misinformation and confusions about people who have a skin color that is different to our own. Many have been left with irrational fears about countless aspects of other peoples’ and their cultures. The Solution? Nadine Gomier and Alice Walker both wrote what they lived; both stories are laced with racism and discrimination. Where does the solution to this basic human problem lie? The simple answer is in helping people consider an alternate course of action. How? Here is where it gets complex. Let me present several complementary models. First, a basic premise: Racism in its essence is the refusal to accept the other as an equal. To do so, one will have to share in the societal rewards of social wealth, political power, and structural privilege. If racism has nothing to do with biology, but has everything to do with socially structured beliefs and behavior, then it can also be socially unlearned and unstructured. How people proceed, however, depends on how they see themselves when confronted with evil. The great Karl Marx spoke of â€Å"the haves and the have nots†; I see that to be very accurate still today. In â€Å"The Welcome Table and â€Å"country Lovers We cannot change yesterday, and we cannot predict tomorrow, but we can live today. So, do not allow anyone to make you feel less than or hurt you.

Analysis Of The Last Song Essay

Analysis Of The Last Song Essay Now that Miley Cyrus is 17, its about time she played a 16-year-old. That she does fetchingly in The Last Song, and wins the heart of a beach volleyball champion a foot taller than she is. Well, actually 12.5 inches. She also learns to love her dad, played by Greg Kinnear, whose aura suggests a man easier to love than, say, Steve Buscemi. She does this on an idyllic island paradise off Savannah, Georgia, where her dad is a classical composer whose pastime is restoring stained-glass windows. I was trying to remember the last time I felt the way about a girl that Miley Cyrus fans feel about her. That would have been in 1959, when I saw Hayley Mills in Tiger Bay. Oh, she was something. A brave tomboy. She was 12, but I could wait. Its a bit much to ask for the same innocence from Miley, who has already had her first World Tour, but the fact is, she does a good job of making her character Ronnie engaging and lovable. Thats despite her early Alienated Teen scenes. You know its an Alienated Teen when its a lovely day on an island paradise, but she has her hands pulled up inside the sleeves of her sweater and huddles against the chill of the cold, cruel world. I like Miley Cyrus. I like her in spite of the fact that shes been packaged within an inch of her life. I look forward to the day when she squirms loose from her handlers and records an album of classic songs, performed with the same sincerity as her godmother, Dolly Parton. I think itll be a long, long time until she plays a movie character like the free-standing, engaging heroines of Ashley Judd, but I can wait. The Last Song is about how Ronnie (Miley) and her little brother Jonah (Bobby Coleman) are taken by their mother (Kelly Preston) to spend the summer with their dad Steve (Kinnear). She blames her dad for the divorce, is sullen and withdrawn. Ten minutes after she hits the beach (dressed in Gothic black), her milk shake is spilled by a flying volleyball player named Will (Liam Hemsworth). Talk about your Meet Cutes. Gradually she overcomes her hostility to Men and realizes Will is a nice and honorable kid, even though he lives in a vast Southern mansion with insufferable rich parents. Ronnie and Will make an attractive couple, possibly because Miley is standing on a box below camera range. I suspect Hemsworth may have been cast for his appeal to fangirls, rather like Robert Pattinson in Twilight. Hes a little too tall, blonde, blue-eyed and hunky to be super plausible. He can definitely become a star, but it may be in the Peter OToole tradition; I can more easily imagine him in a remake of Lawrence of Arabia than as a settled spouse in a domestic drama. Miley Cyrus, on the other hand, is attractive in the way of a girl you might actually meet. Her acting is unaffected, she can play serious, and she works easily with a pro like Kinnear, whose light comedy skills are considerable and undervalued. She even seems sincere in the face of a plot so blatantly contrived it seems like an after-school special. Would you believe that she and Will bond over sea turtle eggs? Yes, she scares off a raccoon trying to raid a nest of eggs buried in the sand, and mounts an all-night vigil over them. Then she calls the aquarium, and who do you think is the handsome volunteer who responds to the call? Standing watch together the second night, Ronnie and Will start talking, and its only a matter of time until they regard together the itty bitty turtles hurrying toward the sea. The other big crisis of her summer is that she a trained classical pianist, but has just turned down a scholarship to Juilliard because her dad, you see, is such a snake. In a world containing divorce, whats the use of Mozart? The films title relates to this situation, I believe, in some obscure way. Miley does, however, sing in the movie. Shes mad at her dad, but not her fans. The Last Song is based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, who also wrote the screenplay. Sparks recently went on record as saying he is a greater novelist than Cormac McCarthy. This is true in the same sense that I am a better novelist than William Shakespeare. Sparks also said his novels are like Greek Tragedies. This may actually be true. I cant check it out because, tragically, no really bad Greek tragedies have survived. His story here amounts to soft porn for teenage girls, which the acting and the abilities of director Julie Anne Robinson have promoted over its pay scale. The movie is intended, of course, for Miley Cyrus admirers, and truth compels me to report that on that basis alone, it would get four stars. But we cannot all be Miley Cyrus fans, and these days you rarely hear Hayley Mills mentioned. Yet I award the film two and a half stars. To be sure, I resent the sacrilege Nicholas Sparks commits by mentioning himself in the same sentence as Cormac McCarthy. I would not even allow him to say Hello, bookstore? This is Nicholas Sparks. Could you send over the new Cormac McCarthy novel? He should show respect by ordering anonymously. But it seems unfair to penalize Miley Cyrus fans, Miley herself, and the next Peter OToole for the transgressions of a lesser artist.

How can Collaborating Virtually Compete with face-to-face Interaction?

The world is not as small as it once was. Individuals are more complex than they once were, seeking greater freedoms of expression in their professional lives. They are more intelligent and have a great need to know their roles in their broader organizations. Corporations have changed also. They are no longer seeking profit in one arena. Many of the successful corporations compete in a myriad of different arena in an even more diverse network of countries. Corporations have become worldwide conglomerates. â€Å"Organizations of the future will increasingly live in a world that is flatter, faster, and much more chaotic. They will need to respond in the marketplace before headquarters realizes the game has changed.† (Katzenbach & Khan, 2009, pg. 99) As a result of this flatter, faster, and more chaotic world both individuals and organizations have found it necessary to change the way they communicate. As individuals we are more connected than we have been at any other p oint in history. â€Å"Where once the challenge was how to stay connected, now the pervasive use of BlackBerry and wireless-enabled laptop computers allow one to be connected around the clock and around the world. The new challenge may be learning how to filter out information or how to set boundaries around available time. Effective virtual collaborators will learn to establish team norms that ensure that no one is being overwhelmed with too much information and that are respectful of teammates’ work/life balance.† (Bradley, 2010, pp. 205) Here rests the fulcrum of successfully collaborating virtually. It is balancing the right mix of information with the correct medium in order to ensure collaboration takes place. Successful collaborators keep constituents eng... ...es the time available for discussion and analysis of strategic options (Rudolph & Repenning, 2002), creates problems in achieving both cognitive and effective consensus at least some of the time (Gersick, 1988), and generally diminishes communication quality in many, if not most, instances (Waller et al., 2002). Yet organizational team members seem unable to escape the demand for speed. A significant organizational challenge is in creating communication processes that allow reflective understanding of the meaning and perspectives of others, yet within the increasingly stringent time constraints commonly found in organizational settings.† (Berry, 2006, pp. 344-366) As a leader, when it comes to collaborating virtually this is your primary task. Leaders need to put in place systems that allow the strength of the collective genius of their constituents to shine.