Environment Science Individual Group Project Portion Essay

Environment Science Individual Group Project Portion - Essay Example The human suffering that resulted from the ‘Irish Potato Famine’ of 1846 to 1850 occurred predominantly due to the Irish poor being reliant solely on one crop, the potato, for sustenance. Prior to the 1800’s, the Irish grew barley, rye, oats and vegetables, but the 1804 Corn Law of Britain, a tariff imposed on imported grains to safeguard the profit margin of British landowners, changed this. Grains were no longer a viable crop for Irish to produce but potatoes still were. The majority of Irish landowners, the employers of most of the working poor, converted to potato farming. Generally, the poor were paid in potatoes during this hard economic period. Millions trusted their fate to the health of the potato and the stage was set for this calamitous event. In addition, the Irish population had spiked 50 percent in the two decades prior to the famine in the regions that were hit the hardest (Japikse, 1994). In 1846, The Irish climate became wetter and warmer than usual which was conducive for the proliferation the fungus that ultimately destroyed the potato crop. The weather did not cause the fungus but acted to further its progress. The fungus, Phytophthora infestans, arrived in Ireland from Europe the year before and during a more normal weather pattern would have not produced a similar devastating outcome. â€Å"The spores of the blight were carried by wind, rain and insects and came to Ireland from Britain and the European continent. A fungus affected the potato plants, producing black spots and a white mould on the leaves, soon rotting the potato into a pulp† (Ranelagh, 1994, p.111). The 1846 potato crop perished and though potatoes can be easily stored for up to a year by simply being left in the ground, they cannot be sustained any longer therefore no surplus was stored for anytime later than 1847. The poor had food for the

How Enterprise Application Integration Competes with ERPs Research Paper

How Enterprise Application Integration Competes with ERPs - Research Paper Example As a result, the competition among businesses has augmented and organizations are putting their attention on supply chain synchronization and management to improve their corporate performance. On the other hand, for many years, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems have been used for managing supply chain operations. In addition, the boundaries of ERP systems on integrated systems have directed organizations to look for innovative business management techniques to put together their systems as well as supply chains (Themistocleous, Irani, & Love, 2002). This paper presents a detailed analysis of enterprise application integration. The basic aim of this research is to show how EAI competes with Enterprise Resource Planning. Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) EAI (Enterprise application integration) is the way of integrating two or more tools or systems in order to allow them to work as one. In this scenario, EAI includes hardware, software and services. However, enterprise application integration systems are utilized to put together contrary systems, like that an older technology based system in which a huge investment has previously been made (it is usually known as legacy system) and a latest business application, like that customer resource management (CRM) system; in a particular business. Moreover, the enterprise application integration systems are implemented with growing rate to put together the corporate systems of a variety of businesses to allow business dealings among companies to take place electronically (Themistocleous, Irani, & Love, 2002; HostIP, 2012). EAIs and ERPs The need for implementing EAI arose in the 1980s when a lot of business organizations that had until that time implemented information technology (IT) to computerize a variety of company procedures began to assume that the incorporation of these business management applications could, along with other things, augment competence and build accuracy inside company procedures. In this scenario, many IT managers tried to redesign previously implemented business management systems and applications in order to build them as if they were integrated. Instances of these endeavors comprise attempting to carry out operational transaction processing (linked with enterprise resource planning system working and operations) on systems for informational data handling and processing. On the other hand, the enterprise resource planning systems, which included the functions of human resource management, accounting, manufacturing, distribution and other back-end operations or business dealings that do not openly engage clients, grew in reputation all through 1990s when the majority of large size corporations began modernizing their mainframe systems with the latest client/server based ERP systems such as People-Soft Inc., SAP AG, and J.D. Edwards & Co. However, to make these business management systems well-matched with their legacy systems, businesses turned to enterpri se application integration vendors for integration solutions (Themistocleous, Irani, & Love, 2002; HostIP, 2012; PeterIndia, 2012; MuleSoft Inc., 2012). Insufficient Nature of ERP Systems Managing supply chains and organization’s requirements to incorporate their applications on enterprise and cross-enterprise level is one of the complex jobs. However, for the incorporation of external and internal business tasks, companies are carrying-on

Leadership styles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leadership styles - Research Paper Example Their ability to perform the aforementioned things relies on the leadership style adopted. Thus, at any time the leader or the manager should employ these styles. An important issue arises and this will be subject in this paper, how are the managers capable of altering their leadership styles (as described in situational leadership theory) to communicate and motivate the employees. There are four leadership styles (the selling or coaching style, the participating or supporting style, the telling or directing style, and the delegating style) and each style will be discussed in detail and applied in the case of General Electric. Specifically, the paper will explore the leadership style of Jeff Immelt, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Electric. General Electric is among many companies that have excelled in their leadership styles. The leadership style employed has been used as a benchmark for most organizations and companies. It is noted that the four leadership styles are c rucial for the success or failure of a company. As seen in General Electric case, a leader or a manager can apply all the four leadership styles to steer the organization. However, there is a tendency to use one leadership style more than the others are. General Electric In 1876, in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Alva Edison opened a laboratory where he could discover the prospects of the dynamo and other electrical tools or devices that he had realized in the exposition. By the year 1890, Edison launched the Edison General Electric Company by merging his various businesses. At the same time, a competitor appeared, the Thomson-Houston Company. Thomson-Houston Company became the principal electrical company through a series of unions or mergers led by Charles A. Coffin (General Electric Company, 2012). As the businesses grew, it became very difficult for either of the company to generate complete electrical installations depending entirely on their own technologies and patents. The t wo companies merged in the year 1892, and the new organization was called the General Electric Company. A number of Edison’s initial business offerings are still a portion of General Electric (GE) today and they include transportation, power transmission, medical equipment, industrial products, and lighting. The initial GE Appliances electric fans were generated at the Ft. Wayne electric works in the early 1890s. Full line of cooking and heating devices was first produced in 1907(General Electric Company, 2012). The GE Aircraft Engines started its operations in 1917 when the United States government started its search for a company that could produce the first airplane booster. Edison’s experiments with plastic filaments for the light bulbs started in 1893 and this led to the creation of the GE Plastics department in 1930. The General Electric leaders over the years have created a diverse portfolio of prominent businesses;a series of dominant company-wide initiatives t hat reduces cost and drives growth; Controllership and financial strength that permit it capitalize on openings through several cycles; and a collection of common values which permit it to face every environment with confidence(General Electric Company, 2012). Analysis The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model illustrates the relation between the willingness of the followers and leadership style based on relationship and task behaviors of leaders.

Organization Development and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Organization Development and Change - Essay Example lly taking into consideration are the content of the agreement (contract) as well as the inter-personal relationships that may occur in the process of organizational development. It is usually imperative that certain issues, specifically the content of the contract are mentioned and comprehended at initial stage of the contract. One of the issues that is usually addressed by many organizations making efforts to engage into contract is clarification of the specific terms of the agreement: This is usually undertaken in order to ensure that the two parties do not engage in future conflicts by improving the level at, which they understand the terms of the contract. Another main focus in regard to content-oriented issues that are usually exhibited during contracts in organizational development process is the essence of addressing complex issues that may arise among professionals and stakeholders engaged in making the contract. That is, it is imperative to set terms that basically indicate the role of each stakeholder for instance: Who is responsible for solving any form of conflict that may arise in future; indicating issues to be addressed by the contract; ways by, which the overall goals of the contract will be achieved and the specific phases/stages of the organizational development process. The process of organizational development also involves the engagement into contract that basically leads into development of relationships. The process of organizational development usually begins with a scenario where one of the stakeholders in the organization contacts other organizational development practitioners in order to engage into a contract. The stakeholder may be the Chief Executive Officer or even a project manager that is facing challenges in regard to certain issues of organizational development. The process of determining whether the two parties should engage into any form of relationship is usually guided by a clear statement of the specific functions of the

Engagement of Companies in CSR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Engagement of Companies in CSR - Essay Example This however does not deter companies from adopting CSR. This research has used Hart’s sustainability framework to analyze the steps that has been taken by Toyota to improve its sustainability standard. This has allowed the organization to improve its social accountability. There is a considerable debate among researchers regarding the reason for which companies engage in CSR activities. Some cite that profit may be one of the reasons for which companies engage in CSR and others argue that they use this to improve their social image in the public. The passage of time had witnessed the transformation of CSR as an integral part of the business strategy. The introduction of stakeholders in the CSR became important with major contribution from Peter Drucker. This idea was completely opposite to that introduced by a famous economist, Friedman, who held the notion that the sole emphasis of a business is on ways to improve the level of its profits. It is nowadays argued that CSR is a multi-dimensional concept that encompasses philanthropy, environmental sustainability, transparency and innovation (Kaptein and Tulder, 2003). Researchers have found that majority of the global giants are incorporating CSR based on multiple facets in order to improve organisation al profitability. This increased awareness among companies to incorporate CSR in their management.

Human Resource Management Functions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Resource Management Functions - Assignment Example In the next section, this paper will further investigate why human resource management is currently considered so important in attaining superior business performance. After the discussion, it will briefly outline the main functions of human resource management and how these are applied in real world. The role of the workforce in the success or even mere survival of a business organization cannot be overstated. The old clich which states that "people is our most valuable asset" will not probably met disagreement with any manager in this competitive business environment. This is further emphasized by Bullinger, president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft1 by stating that employees are a company's best assets together with their knowledge, abilities, creativity and commitment. He further asserted that the competitiveness of a business organization is highly correlated with the company's highly trained, creative, and motivated employees. John Purcell further highlighted the importance of employees in his research which emphasized the huge role played by the company's workforce as "strategic partners." This research strongly supports the highly economist viewpoint of Grant (2002: 219) of "aligning employees with organizational goals." Schuler and Jackson (1987) gave a more precise description on how management should "align" their workforce to support the company crafted strategy. Their conclusion was: If management chooses a competitive strategy of differentiation through product innovation, this would call for high levels of creative, risk-orientated and cooperative behaviour. The company's HR practices would therefore need to emphasise "selecting highly skilled individuals, giving employees more discretion, using minimal controls, making greater investment in human resources, providing more resources for experimentation, allowing and even rewarding failure and appraising performance for its long run implications" - on the other hand if management wants to pursue cost leadership (the model) suggests designing jobs which are fairly repetitive, training workers as little as is practical, cutting staff numbers to the minimum and rewarding high output and predictable behaviour. (Boxall and Purcell 2003:53-4) The importance of human resource management therefore can be traced back on the essential role that the workforce plays in the company. As this paper showed above, current researchers highlight employees as on of the competitive advantages in realizing the objectives of an organization. However, a deeper analysis will also reveal the great function of management to turn employees into "most valuable assets" and "strategic partners" thus, the key purpose of human resource management. So, what activities should be performed by the human resource department to produce highly productive employees Functions of Human Resource Management The Economist (2002) recognizes the changing role of HR leaders due to the rapid change in the business climate and environment faced by industry players. This also implies the changing function of the HRM in shaping their employees-from the "psychological contract, rewarding employee loyalty with personal development, financial progression, and job security" to the "boundary less

APA PERSONAL INDIVIDUALFAMILY CRISIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

APA PERSONAL INDIVIDUALFAMILY CRISIS - Essay Example My family members consider it their sacred duty to protect me from all ends. As Meyer D. Glantz et al. (1999) rightly points out, â€Å"Protective factors against drug include characteristics such as strong family sanctions against drugs, religious identification, school success etc.†(103)Another important factor in the process of my counseling is resilience. He further states, â€Å"In order to contribute to the understanding of drug use, resilience has to be defined differently from risk and protective factors. Resilience, therefore, is defined here as the ability to tolerate, to adapt to, or to overcome life crisis.†(103) Students visiting drug joints has assumed serious proportions in educational institutions. Even my closest associate, my sister, doesn’t know certain things about me. Some of the bothersome issues are I have borrowed money from my friends. I have sold my gold bracelet to foot the drug bill. Drug addicts are difficult to deal with. Addicts feel worse about themselves as a result of their current actions, so they do it again to forget about it. Nothing else matters for them. I realize all these observations are true. I have been treading the same path but thank God, the Principal, Dad and Mom save me well in time â€Å"A new student took admission for the III year course. Our friendship was instant and he introduced me to smoking. Soon, he philosophized that only smoking won’t make a man perfect. Something more exciting is needed for a real kick! He told me about many types of drugs .He had samples in his pockets! After the college hours, one day he took me to his hostel room. I took a dose of drug and enjoyed the sensational feelings. Then my friend insisted that I must supplement it with drinking to carve out a complete personality of me. Soon I realized that I was on a perilous journey. He took money from me to bring the drug consignments†¦..thus Dad and Mom, I was ruined.†