A Startling Fact about Controversial Essay Topics for Middle School Uncovered

A Startling Fact about Controversial Essay Topics for Middle School Uncovered Controversial topics work nicely for speeches and essays, since they typically evoke strong opinions on either side. To locate argumentative essay topics easy on various platforms, you want to comprehend about the argumentative essay. Descriptive essays may be the easiest essays to write, after you produce a fantastic topic. Informative essays are somewhat more descriptive. There are just a few things that define whether an essay you're working on is going to be a good one. Simply, you ought to aim to make them interested in furthering their discussion by themselves even when they are finished with the reading the writing. You will discover a range of argumentative essay topics but picking the perfect one might be the basic and the very first step to compose an influential essay. If you're in a college and wish to compose an argumentative essay, you should select a subject of high importance. The Number One Question You Must Ask for Controversial Essay Topics for Middle School In precisely the same time, once you are going to learn how to compose an argumentative essay better, you increase your grades significantly! The matter of the truth is there is not any normal length for IB extended essay but the best length is regarded as around four thousand. Remember your final grade significantly is contingent on the topic. The last write-up needs to be concise with firm language. The Pain of Controversial Essay Topics for Middle School In other situations, it is going to be useful for you in the event that you cover a topic that have been discussed in any of your class discussions. On the flip side, if you select a controversial topic you have very little interest in, you'll find it rather tricky to finish the assignment. Contradictive Your topic should stir a number of opinions among the general public. When it is all about choosing essay topics for high school, the choice should reflect the degree of wisdom and knowledge of issues, which would unquestionably be expected to include more complicated ideas than what is expected of middle school. If you would like your presentation to be the best it can be, it is crucial to pick the most suitable topic. Quite frequently, the ideal topic is one which you truly care about, but you also will need to get ready to research it. As an example, let's say you decide on the very fir st topic from our list. Any idea can prove to be a good foundation for a topic. When you have the topic, answer the question and after that support your answer with three or more explanations for why you believe it. When you are requested to pick a great topic for your argument, start with something you're familiarized with. There are several topics in which you are able to give in your opinion. Vital Pieces of Controversial Essay Topics for Middle School Our life is about words. It's also advisable to have your audience in mind when picking. On the flip side, if you've got to compose a persuasive essay, all the matters mentioned previously don't play such significant function. Bear in mind you could make funny argumentative essays if you do a few things. Where to Find Controversial Essay Topics for Middle School Opinion essay ought to be concluded by gathering evidence to back up your opinion. In many instances, it's simple to write along and your opinion may be changed at the conclusion of you r essay. The thesis statement also needs to be restated in conclusion. Hence the topic isn't crucial until you are prepared to gather and analyze data and create your own conclusion. Another excellent resource may be the program book, read it and receive all the data in the world about your topic for protracted essays. If you can't locate a controversial topic on the list that is suitable for your passion, there are lots of different resources out there. Home schooling is a powerful education program for rural places and long distance regions. Examine the list to choose the topic which can help you compose a creative essay for your middle school class. In high school, you're supposed to choose the sort of topic you are going to be in a position to dig into that is, you've got to make sure that you can come across enough info on the topic. It is extremely important to decide on a great topic so as to compose a fantastic paper. For instance, you can opt for a topic for elementary, middle, or higher school. If you decided to compose an essay about abortion, go for an approach which has a considerable body of research to back up your stance. The shortage of great support sources will end in a decrease grade. In the instance of argumentative essay topics for high school, the topics should reflect the capability to analyse factors that have an influence on the modern planet, and additionally the willingness of the student to get to understand what's going on in the society, and the way they influence human lives at the pre sent and later on. In any case, you know many current issues that need its solution, thus you can begin your research project practically in a couple of minutes after being assigned.

Hamlet, By William Shakespeare - 1053 Words

William Shakespeare’s ravishing play Hamlet was performed at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre on November 18th, 2014. To recap what went on in the play: Claudius had killed Hamlet’s father, the King of Denmark. Hamlet’s mother Gertrude then married Claudius two months after the death of her husband’s murder, but she did not know. The guards of the castle saw the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Hamlet was told by his father’s ghost that he was killed by Claudius, and that is when Hamlet lost it. The King and Queen thought that Hamlet went crazy because of his love for Ophelia. They tested his opinion of her by putting them in a room together. After he was mean to her, Claudius, his uncle knows the only reason Hamlet could be mad was because he knew Claudius killed his father. Ophelia on the other hand went crazy and ended up drowning herself because Hamlet said he didn’t love her. Her brother Laertes blamed Hamlet for Ophelia’s deat h and challenged him to a duel. At the fight, Claudius planted poison in a glass of wine and on the tip of the swords because he wanted to kill Hamlet. Gertrude, the Queen, drank the wine by mistake and died. Hamlet and Laertes both stabbed one another with the poisoned swords and both died, but before dying, Hamlet killed the king. To start off, every character portrays their feeling in a distinct way, but one character stood out of the many and that was Ophelia. Ophelia in the movie does not show personality. She shows childlike behaviour,Show MoreRelatedHamlet, By William Shakespeare880 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Shakespeare is praised as the pioneering English poet and playwright whose collection of theatrical works is regarded as the greatest artistic value throughout the history of English literature. Shakespeare delved into the spiritual and mental component of humanity and the consequences that arise from this human spirit when it is disputed. The most famous revenge trag edy play, Hamlet, is an excellent illustration of Shakespeare’s philosophical study of human nature. In Hamlet, the arguableRead MoreHamlet, By William Shakespeare899 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Shakespeare, author of Hamlet, was a well-known author in the 1500s and is still popular today. He was born on April 24, 1564 in London, England. Although there were no birth records at that time, it shows he was baptized one year prior to that, which leads us to believe his birthday was in 1564 because children were normally baptized a year after their birth. Shakespeare’s writing style was very different than others at that time. He used many metaphors and rhetorical phrases, and most ofRead MoreHamlet, By William Shakespeare996 Words   |  4 PagesHamlet, written by William Shakespeare, with out a doubt holds the most famous soliloquy in English history spoken by Hamlet in Act III, scene i, lines 57-90. This soliloquy holds much importance to the play as a whole because it ties together the reoccurring themes of suicide and Hamlet’s inaction portrayed by Shakespeare. Hamlet poses a problem, which is the driving force of the play: â€Å"To be or not to be?†(III.i.57). Shakespeare uses this logical question asked by Hamlet to drive out his underlyingRead MoreHamlet, By William Shakespeare1178 Words   |  5 Pages In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the protagonist suffers from struggles with major characters, especially with the women in his life. While reading the play Hamlet, Hamlet appears to be a disillusioned man. Throughout the play, Shakespeare has only casted two females: Gertrude and Ophelia. Gertrude is defined to be incestuous, naà ¯ve and cold-hearted. On the other side, Ophelia is characterized to be ignorant, innocent and fearful. After the quick marriage of his mother and evil uncle, Hamlet’sRead MoreHamlet, By William Shakespeare1308 Words   |  6 PagesHamlet is arguably one of the greatest tragedies in all of literature and when most people think of tragic plays, they think of none other than the one who wrote it, William Shakespeare. This classic story of revenge excites it’s readers with its main character, Prince Hamlet, who goes through the unique human-like process of revenge that is often overlooked. Many other stories rely heavily on the logi c of good people doing good things and bad people doing bad things just for the sake of their natureRead MoreHamlet, By William Shakespeare Essay1453 Words   |  6 PagesHamlet by William Shakespeare explores many aspects of mankind--death, betrayal, love, and mourning. Out of these, the most prominent theme in this play is death in the form of suicide. The main character, Hamlet, finds himself questioning the quality of life and the uncertainty of the afterlife once he discovers news of his father s death and the corruption in the kingdom that follows. Ophelia, Hamlet’s lover, is found dead later in the plot and is presumed to have committed suicide. In Hamlet’sRead MoreHamlet, By William Shakespeare1146 Words   |  5 PagesA character so complex, enticing and fascinating, his name is Hamlet. We are all Hamlet, and that, is the argument. Hamlet is an enigmatic character with many flaws. These flaws are the ones that prove similarities between us and him. A play so popular and significant is due to its huge relevance to us as a society. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s character and metaphor to demonstrate that when one is left alone to their thoughts, these thoughts overtake reason. ConsequentlyRead MoreHamlet by William Shakespeare1456 Words   |  6 PagesThe play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, takes place in a time where the impossible was a part of the lives of everyday people. Occurrences that people in the modern time would believe unbelievable. Yet, with just a quill and parchment Shakespeare’s is able to connect the past and present by weaving a plot with skill that is still unparalleled to this day. The play Hamlet this exceeds this expectation by revealing depth of Hamlets, the protagonists, character personality through the useRead MoreHamlet, By William Shakespeare1920 Words   |  8 PagesIn the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the character Hamlet must deal with both external and internal conflict. Hamlet encounters many struggles and has trouble finding a way to deal with them. With so many corrupt people in his life, Hamlet feels as if there is no one that he can trust and begins to isolate himself from others. A result from this isolation leads Hamlet to become melancholy. Hamlet struggles with suicidal thoughts, wants to kill King Claudius, and is distraught over his mother’sRead MoreHamlet, By William Shakespeare846 Words   |  4 Pagesalways been a contemplative topic. In Hamlet, the main character Hamlet thinks to himself about suicide. Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote Hamlet between 1599 and 1602. William Shakespeare is one of the greatest playwrights in history. Hamlet is about Prince Hamlet of Denmark who is trying to find out about the death of his father after his father s ‘ghost’ comes to him telling him it was his uncle who had killed him. While Hamlet contemplates suicide he gives his famous

Case Study Management Principles

Question: Case study regarding starbucks. Answer: Differentiation Focus The differentiation strategy adopted by Starbuck is broad and targets a wider segment of the market. The market targeted by Starbucks is driven by the coffee drinkers and lovers. Starbuck has positioned itself within the customers as an organization that customizes the needs and requirements of the customers regardless of the fact how detailed is the order placed. Starbucks has engineered the art of making coffee and has built stringent guidelines to be concurred by the baristas across its outlets (HASKOVA, 2015). Starbucks has achieved a competitive advantage on the foundation of its unique and diversified offerings. Starbucks provides the buyer with the options that the customers value and has been successful in building a demand at a suitable price. The successful implementation of this strategy indicates in the fact that Starbucks provides a distinctive quality of coffee and the services related to it and the coffee shop industry while diversifying the offerings. Starbucks has able to compelled the buyers with the high quality of products and services to buy items with the label of Starbucks like bottle coffees available at the grocery stores or liqueur with the brand of Starbucks available at the liquor store (Latif et al., 2014). The target market of Starbucks continuously offers the potential to grow and provide attractive profits. Starbucks has conveniently positioned themselves in the market along with an ample amount of stores that are easy to access (Reinhard, 2015). Starbucks has created an impact on the effort, time and financial resources that have been invested in the employees rather partners as Starbucks has intentionally eliminated the term employee from their dictionary. The strategy implemented by Starbucks with the combination of uncompromising attitude towards the quality of the product and customer service in any circumstances and has to lead the company to become the leader of the niche market and has positioned well to remain profitable (Specht, 2013). Leadership Structure The organizational structure of Starbucks follows the flatter structure which indicates that there are fewer levels in the hierarchical levels within the organization in comparison to many organizations that have a complex style of hierarchical system. The executives who sit at the headquarters in Seattle oversee the company. The district managers are responsible for the monitoring of the regional stores across the country and they are to report directly to Starbucks Corporation. The store managers are the chief of the individual stores. Under the jurisdiction of the store manager comes the shift supervisor who are eligible of acting as the manger on duty when the store manager is not available. Rest of the employees comes under these shift supervisors and is called the baristas. Howard Schultz is a dynamic leader who realizes the importance of the incorporation of the good people in the company and then gives them the autonomy so that they would be able to perform their duty as they see it suitable. Howard inspires his workers to believe in the vision he has propagated that Starbucks is the most happening place and his workers give their best to visualize the vision. The leadership style adopted by Howard is a balanced mix of transformational and democratic style of leadership. Democratic leader is defined as the exchange of free opinion and inputs of the employees to the leader but the ultimate decision making power rests with the better judgment of the leader. Transformational leadership is defined as the practice that is driven by the advancement of the higher level of moral and motivation were the employees align with vision of the leader. Howard believes in motivating and inspiring his employees or partners as they call it in starbucks. Howard encourage s feedback and ideas and opinions from employees through personal calls and emails to achieve the completion of the cycle of feedback. Empowerment and entrepreneurship directly converts to good quality and service and enhances the quality of decision making within the employees and also increases flexibility of the choice of the preferred working of the employees. Howards approach towards the betterment of the working environment for the employees and keeping sync with his ideals and goals of the organization has been instrumental to the success of the leadership style. Information and control system forms the major part of the of Howards expansion plans. Starbucks has affiliated with Square that provides the merchant services and mobile payments since 2012. Starbucks has been using the Square's point of sale system in more than 7000 outlets in the US. Square helps the organization to operate traditionally as well as allows the customers to avail transaction through mobile devices through the use of Android or iPhone or iPad (Sthlberg Maila, 2012). Besides the mobile payment system, Starbucks has partnered with MICROS, to spread the use of MICROS Simphony POS in their store across the globe. MICROS Simphony is a premier enterprise that provides smooth system operation and allows Starbucks to be capable of performing daily operations with efficiency and links the system of the workstation that is spread over many locations (Pastoll et al., 2014). This enable headquarter to locate any regional trend that are hindering the operations and rectify them accordingly through making the required changes in the operation process or the product or any other aspect. The adopted human resource management of starbucks is highly focused on the recruitment of good and trained employees to execute appropriate actions to obtain high level of customer satisfaction. The main criteria of the recruitment process are to find people who can align with the goal of the organization and would be able to deliver the appropriate orders according to customized request of the customers. The company experienced acceleration of growth each day until 2007 when it opened more than 4 new stores with 200 new employees. Starbucks value their employees and believes that the employees are the most important part that is instrumental in triggering the growth of the organization. starbucks has been recognized as an organization who have ethically adopted the measures to procure the coffee from the farmers across the planet and have special focus on the environment sustainability as it uses re-usable or recyclable cups in its stores. They believe that the baristas are the fou ndation of the operations and the quality of the services that are instrumental in the customer satisfaction. The training of the baristas plays a vital role in maintaining the quality of the product and services of the organization. The training of the employees would ensure that the baristas would have a good knowledge of coffee and expertise in the product and servicing. Starbucks achieved another level of fame when CEO Howard Schultz implemented a benefit plan for the part-time employees who work for twenty hours and more. The employee would receive a health insurance benefit: the CEO was considerate enough because he saw his father struggled all through his life as he served as the employee of companies that did have the provision of offering such benefits. The strategy aimed to target the employee to keep them happy and increase their sense of job satisfaction through the channel of benefits, compensation and suitable company culture and working environment. The goal of the CEO is to maximize employee retention consequently reducing turnover and training expenses and maximization of revenue generation through increasing customer satisfaction. Licensing/ Franchise / Joint Ventures of Starbucks Licensing Licensed stores are the common practice for starbucks in the grocery stores, bookstores or any other site where starbucks is not the only establishment. Starbucks involves in licensing of the storefronts. These licensed stores are controlled by Starbucks Corporation and adhere to the same set of stringent guidelines that the company provides. All the items sold in the stores including food, has to be approved by the starbucks corporate offices. Starbucks maintain this control in attempt to protect the brand name and ensure the maintenance of the quality. Franchise Starbucks does not operate under the franchise system. Joint Venture with PepsiCo: In 1994, Starbucks started a joint venture with Pepsi-Cola Company (now PepsiCo) to offer a bolted Frappuccino. The product became a hit in the Starbucks outlets. Alone Starbucks that limitations that restricted the success of Frappuccino when launched earlier as the company lacks the capability to develop and mass produce canned or bottled dairy-based coffee drinks and the handling of the distribution channel through supermarket retails (Enterprise, 2015). The agreement signed for this fifty-fifty partnership between PepsiCo and Starbucks was called as North American Coffee Partnership (NACP); this agreement ensured that both the companies would enjoy equal amount profit sharing from the innovative product they have come up (Esterl, 2013). Joint Venture with Hyatt Hotels Corporation: Starbucks sealed a deal with Hyatt Hotels Corporation in the year 2001which made the coffee offered by Starbucks available at almost 100 Hyatt properties in North America. However after 15 years of partnership Starbucks coffee is available at all the 209 Hyatt hotels and resorts around the planet. The partnership offers an ambitious branding opportunity to the companies and serves the Starbucks effect and experience to millions who visit Hyatt properties for different purposes every year (Brooks, 2012). References Brooks, B. W. (2012). Starbucks: maintaining a clear position. Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies, 18(3), 39. Enterprise, S. (2015). 1.1 Opening Case: How Starbucks is Changing to a Digital and Social Enterprise. Esterl, M. I. K. E. (2013). Is this the End of the Soft-Drink Era?. HASKOVA, K. (2015). STARBUCKS MARKETING ANALYSIS. In cris (p. 0002). Latif, M., Gulzar, H., Bukhari, S. R., Sameen, S. N. (2014). Starbucks sustained during economic crisis. Lemus, E., Von Feigenblatt, O. F., Orta, M., Rivero, O. (2015). Starbucks Corporation: Leading Innovation in the 21st Century. Logan, N. (2016). The Starbucks Race Together Initiative: Analyzing a public relations campaign with critical race theory. Public Relations Inquiry, 5(1), 93-113. Pastoll, C., Rochwerg, T., Vlaar, B., Compeau, D. (2014). Starbucks Canada: The Mobile Payments Decision. Reinhard, K. (2015). Differentiation as the key to success. A marketing plan for Starbucks. Specht, S. (2013). Starbucks Brand. GRIN Verlag. Sthlberg, M., Maila, V. (2012). Shopper marketing: How to increase purchase decisions at the point of sale. Kogan Page Publishers.

The Womens Rights Movement Essays - Lecturers, American Quakers

The Women's Rights Movement In the nineteenth century, the words that our forefathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence, that all men were created equal, held little value. Human equality was far from a reality. If you were not born of white male decent, than that phrase did not apply to you. During this period many great leaders and reformers emerged, fighting both for the rights of African Americans and for the rights of women. One of these great leaders was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton dedicated her entire life to the womens movement, despite the opposition she received, from both her family and friends. In the course of this paper, I will be taking a critical look at three of Stantons most acclaimed speeches Declaration of Sentiments, Solitude of Self, and Home Life, and develop a claim that the rhetoric in these speeches was an effective tool in advancing the movement as a whole. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York. She was born unto a conservative, Presbyte rian family of considerable social standing. Her father, Judge Daniel Cady, was considered to be both a wealthy landowner and a prominent citizen with great political status (Banner 3). Stanton was one of seven children, 6 of which were girls, to be born to Daniel and Margaret. Growing up in the period that she did, Elizabeth was very fortunate to receive the outstanding education that she did since it was not as important to educate daughters as it was sons. She overcame that boundary when she began attending Johnstown Academy. She was the only girl in most of her classes, which was unheard of in those days. Even when females did attend schools, they were learning about womanly things, like how to run a household, not advanced math and science courses, like she was in. She then went on to further her education at a very prominent educational institution, Emma Willards Troy Seminary. After that she studied law with her father, who was a New York Supreme Court Judge. It is through th is training that her awareness was raised about the discrimination that women were subjected to. In 1840, Elizabeth married an abolitionist organizer named Henry Stanton, much to her familys dismay. After their marriage, Elizabeth and her husband traveled to London for a worldwide antislavery convention. It was here that she met Lucretia Mott, another well-know womens rights reformist, who was chosen as an American delegate to the convention. They were both outraged that the female delegates that were attending this convention were denied participation because of their sex. It was at this convention that their fire was ignited and they became allies in the war against the discrimination of womens rights. The first wave of the womens movement is said to have begun roughly in the year 1840, and lasted through the year 1925. While the convention in London sparked the fire in 1840, it was not until 1845, that the fire was a full blaze. The signature event that is believed to be the offi cial starting point of the womens suffrage movement was in 1848 when a group of women met in Seneca Falls, New York (Wood 66). The Senaca Falls Convention was organized by a group of women, including Stanton, that were fed up with the mistreatment of women in the antislavery battle. They were now going to primarily place their focus on the rights of women. Consequently, the movement became almost entirely white, both in interest and membership (Wood 68). It was at this first convention that Stanton delivered the Speech the Declaration of Sentiments which addressed the grievances that women had suffered under the unjust government of men. I will go into much greater detail concerning the specifics of this speech, later in the paper. In the beginning, the womens movement was not just a single-issue movement. Stanton realized that women were being oppressed in every aspect of their lives. Among the causes that she advocated are as follows: coeducation, girls sports, job training, equal wages, labor unions, birth control, cooperative nurseries and kitchens, property rights for wives, child custody rights for mothers, and reform of divorce laws (Wood 67). Many women did

Henry VIII †English Literature Essay (100 Level Course)

Henry VIII – English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Henry VIII was the ideal Renaissance monarch, since he was scholar, poet, musician and sportsman. He had a securer title to the throne than his father,who had fought a war to win it. He also had more wealth than his predecessors. England did not, however, have the power of France or Spain; Henry’s aim, therefore, was to maintain the balance of power between the great two European nations for as long as possible. The most important event of this period was the breach with Rome, which took place under Henry VIII, although the causes of the rupture may be traced to previous centuries. The anticlericalism widespread among the English had already appeared in the long and tragic quarrel between Henry II and Thomas Becket in the 12th century. In addition to this, the teaching of Wycliffe, the Lollard movement and reading the Bible had produced a great number of laymen able to think for themselves and deny the absolute authority of the Church in questions of doc trine and morality. Many English people respected religion, but disliked clerical dominance, as the higher clergy extorted money in many ways and were often immoral and corrupt. Research Papers on Henry VIII - English Literature Essay (100 Level Course)Mind TravelAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2The Effects of Illegal ImmigrationCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionQuebec and CanadaStandardized TestingPETSTEL analysis of IndiaWhere Wild and West Meet

Overview of Systemic Functional Linguistics

Overview of Systemic Functional Linguistics Systemic functional linguistics is the  study of the relationship between language and its functions in social settings. Also known as  SFL, systemic functional grammar, Hallidayan linguistics, and systemic linguistics. Three strata make up the linguistic system in SFL: meaning (semantics), sound (phonology), and wording or lexicogrammar (syntax, morphology, and lexis). Systemic functional linguistics treats grammar as a meaning-making resource and insists on the interrelation of form and meaning. This study was developed in the 1960s by British  linguist  M.A.K. Halliday (b. 1925), who had been influenced by the work of the Prague School and British linguist J.R. Firth (1890-1960). Examples and Observations SL [systemic linguistics] is an avowedly functionalist approach to language, and it is arguably the functionalist approach which has been most highly developed. In contrast to most other approaches, SL explicitly attempts to combine purely structural information with overtly social factors in a single integrated description. Like other functionalist frameworks, SL is deeply concerned with the purposes of language use. Systemicists constantly ask the following questions: What is this writer (or speaker) trying to do? What linguistic devices are available to help them do it, and on what basis do they make their choices?(Robert Lawrence Trask and Peter Stockwell, Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts. Routledge, 2007)that language use is functionalthat its function is to make meaningsthat these meanings are influenced by the social and cultural context in which they are exchangedthat the process of using language is a semiotic process, a process of making meaning by choosing.Four M ain ClaimsWhile individual scholars naturally have different research emphases or application contexts, common to all systemic linguists is an interest in language as social semiotic (Halliday 1978)how people use language with each other in accomplishing everyday social life. This interest leads systemic linguists to advance four main theoretical claims about language:These four points, that language use is functional, semantic, contextual and semiotic, can be summarized by describing the systemic approach as a functional-semantic approach to language.(Suzanne Eggins, An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics, 2nd ed. Continuum, 2005) Three Kinds of Social-Functional NeedsAccording to Halliday (1975), language has developed in response to three kinds of social-functional needs. The first is to be able to construe experience in terms of what is going on around us and inside us. The second is to interact with the social world by negotiating social roles and attitudes. The third and final need is to be able to create messages with which we can package our meanings in terms of what is New or Given, and in terms of what the starting point for our message is, commonly referred to as the Theme. Halliday (1978) calls these language functions metafunctions and refers to them as ideational, interpersonal and textual respectively.Hallidays point is that any piece of language calls into play all three metafunctions simultaneously.(Peter Muntigl and Eija Ventola, Grammar: A Neglected Resource in Interaction Analysis? New Adventures in Language and Interaction, ed. by Jà ¼rgen Streeck. John Benjamins, 2010)Choice as a Basic Sy stemic Functional ConceptIn Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) the notion of choice is fundamental. Paradigmatic relations are regarded as primary, and this is captured descriptively by organizing the basic components of the grammar in interrelated systems of features representing the meaning potential of a language. A language is viewed as a system of systems, and the linguists task is to specify the choices involved in the process of instantiating this meaning potential in actual texts through the resources available for expression in the language. Syntagmatic relations are viewed as derived from systems by means of realization statements, which for each feature specify the formal and structural consequences of selecting that particular feature. The term choice is typically used for features and their selection, and systems are said to display choice relations. Choice relations are posited not only at the level of individual categories such as definiteness, tense and number but also at higher levels of text planning (as in, e.g., the grammar of speech functions). Halliday often stresses the importance of the notion of choice: By text . . . we understand a continuous process of semantic choice. Text is meaning and meaning is choice (Halliday, 1978b:137).(Carl Bache, Grammatical Choice and Communicative Motivation: A Radical Systemic Approach. Systemic Functional Linguistics: Exploring Choice, ed. by Lise Fontaine, Tom Bartlett, and Gerard OGrady. Cambridge University Press, 2013)

Training & Development of Fire & Rescue Staff Dissertation

Training & Development of Fire & Rescue Staff - Dissertation Example This proves that training evaluation can be influenced by training content and design, observable changes in learners, as well as transfer climate, job performance and end results. As organizations must make sure that their programmes and activities for training are consistent to their requirements, it is of great importance that they carry out a comprehensive assessment of training needs that will identify the job tasks for which training and development is needed. Consequently, they will be able to develop training plans for carrying out the necessary training. Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 4 Research Aims 6 Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature 7 Skills for Justice: An Overview 7 Training Needs Assessment 8 Application of Training 10 Training Evaluation and Effectiveness 12 Training and Motivation 16 Conclusion 18 Chapter 3 Methodology 13 Research Approach 19 Research Design 21 Data Gathering Procedures 21 Ethical Considerations 22 Conclusion 22 Chapter 4 Results and D iscussion 24 Learner Readiness 24 Motivation to Transfer 25 Positive and Negative Personal Outcomes 25 Personal Capacity for Transfer 26 Peer Support 26 Supervisory Support and Sanctions 27 Perceived Content Validity 27 Transfer Design 28 Opportunity to Use 28 Transfer Effort-Performance Expectations 29 Resistance/Openness to Change 29 Performance Self-Efficacy 30 Performance Coaching 30 Analysis 31 Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 33 Conclusion 33 Recommendations 34 References 35 Chapter 1 Introduction Introduction The significance of providing opportunities for training and development for public sector workers is evident through the implementation of different policies as well as the substantial amount of money that the government invests. For an effective and valuable training system to be provided, its effectiveness should be measured as well (Moats, Chermak, and Dooley 2008). Due to financial constraints, agencies and organisations cannot afford the provision of train ing which are not assessed for its importance or contribution to the accomplishment of organisational goals. Training and development should always be congruent with the organisational mission to achieve long-term objectives (Brinkerhoff 2005). Effectiveness is the main component for training and development in any organisation as it allows workers to acquire and develop the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully perform their tasks. For organisations to initiate efficient training for their workers, it is necessary that such systems are evaluated to determine whether these are consistent with the organisation’s overall strategy; moreover, examining the processes and decisions made to ensure the effectiveness of training is also of great importance (Mitroff 2005). Organisations in the public sector have also spent a considerable amount of money to generate a knowledge-based workforce that can be capable of providing efficient services that the community expects. At pr esent, however, numerous complaints and issues have been aimed toward the public sector’s inefficiency in delivering such services. Hence, the current study focuses on the training programmes of the fire and rescue services and how such activities can create

Nursing Ethics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Nursing Ethics - Term Paper Example The nature of the nursing profession makes social connections practically unavoidable. These social connections also make moral and ethical choices which may affect other people inevitable (Butts and Rich, 2005). The various meaning describes to ethics provided the impetus for the different professions to document and enforce the acceptable norms of practice in their respective spheres. Diversity and geography eventually further necessitated different countries or states to delimit the standard professional practice in more vivid detail. Additionally, the scope of professional practice, like in nursing, is delineated into a legal scope of practice and a scope based on education, training in experience (Small, 2009). In the United States, for example, as cited in Small (2009), the scope of nursing practice may differ from one state to another. This paper will compare nursing ethics as practiced in the states of Florida and California. Nursing Practice in Florida and California and the Nursing Code of Ethics The practice of nursing in the US is defined under the Model Nursing Practice Act of 2004: â€Å"Practice as a registered nurse means the full scope of nursing with or without compensation or personal profit, that incorporates caring for all clients in all settings; is guided by the scope of practice †¦ through nursing standards established or recognized by the board† (as cited in Small 2009, p 21).... The nursing standards include, but is not limited to the following: (1) provision of complete nursing evaluation of the health condition of patients; (2) collaboration with a health care team in the development of coordinated health care plan which is client-focused; (3) strategy development for nursing care coordinated within a client-focused plan of health care which consists of: [a] nursing diagnoses, [b] setting goals within the context of identified health care requirements of patients / clients, [c] identification of applicable nursing interventions; (4) provision of nursing care through the employment of self-directed strategies and nutrition which are requested, ordered or prescribed by authorized health care professionals; (5) execution of health care plans through the designation and assignment of nursing interventions; (6) direct or indirect provision and maintenance of safe and effective nursing care; (7) fostering of a safe and healing environment; (8) providing quality support for patients by recommending / advising practices towards the best interest of the patients / clients; (9) examination of intervention outcomes and efficacy of the health care plan; (10) communication and collaboration with other health care professionals towards health care management and execution of the total health care regimen within and across various health care settings; (11) development and application of significant new information and technologies in nursing care practice; (12) managing, directing and assessing nursing practice; (13) teaching the theory and practice of healthcare; (14) taking part in the formulation of policies, methodology and systems which will support the

Punishment in the Holocaust Essay Example for Free

Punishment in the Holocaust Essay The Holocaust was an event in history that people would like to pretend never happened however in reality it will never be forgotten. Hitler came into power in 1933 and wanted to create the master race, meaning the Aryan race (Ushmm, 2013). The Jews, along with other groups such as the gypsies, were not included in this superior race. He thought of them as inferior and knew he had to expel them from the world. The word Holocaust means a burnt sacrifice offered solely to God (Niewyk, 2011). Once the Holocaust was over around 6 million Jews had been persecuted by the Nazis (Ushmm, 2013). Hitler had established the New Order and wanted it to apply to all of the people in Europe. Some people were in shock and others tried to adjust to the changes, however some people did accept Nazism (Lyons, 2010). The fear of communism and desire for order in their country motivated them to feel this way. Germans were the chosen people in the new order, including Scandinavians, the Dutch, Luxembourgers, German speaking Swiss, Flemish Belgians and the English. Hitler considered all these places to be a part of a Greater German Empire, except the English. Hitler was willing to let them keep their independence if they had a positive attitude (Lyons, 2010). Hitler wanted all of these countries in the Greater Reich. The Jews were not included in this and from the start Hitler did not approve of them. Hitler had planned to expel the Jews from Germany and other territories under his rule from the time he came into power. The Jews were the damned and from the start of Hitlers rule they never stood a chance. At first Hitlers goal was to make their life miserable to get them to leave Germany. Some of them left but a majority of them stayed. Some didnt have the money to leave and others did not want to leave because Germany was their homeland and thought that this may be temporary. Other groups, such as the gypsies also faced terrible treatment, but no group faced the kind of treatment and punishment that the Jews did (Lyons, 2010). In 1935, Nazi thugs attacked Jewish shops and beat them in the streets. These continued attacks on them created the Nuremberg laws (The holocaust: an introductory). These laws took away the German citizenship of the Jews and also didnt allow sexual relations or marriage between Jews and Germans. The situation became worse in 1938 when a Jew assassinated an official of the German embassy in Paris. After this attack the Nazis killed 100 Jews and arrested 30,000 others (Lyons, 2010). Their synagogues and shops were burned and destroyed. So much glass was broken in the city this event became known as Kristallnacht meaning Night of Crystal Glass. Following Kristallnacht, Jews were forced to pay heavy reparations; Nazis captured Jewish businesses and required businesses to dismiss Jewish employees. These chains of events led to more and more Jews to leave the country in 1938 and 939 (Lyons, 2010). Hitler decided that the final solution to the Jewish question was extermination. The Jews were considered to be the lice of civilized humanity and needed to be eliminated completely (Lyons, 2010). Hitler wanted to take over the island of Madagascar to make it the permanent Jewish homeland. However, the Germans 2010). By 1941, people that were identified as a Jew in any place considered German territory had to wear a yellow star on their clothing (The holocaust). This made them targets to Nazis along with people in society, everyone knew whether someone was a Jew or not. The Nazis created the first Jewish ghetto in October 1939 in the Polish city called Lodz. Others were soon created afterwards. These ghettos were holding transit places for the Jews; they were sent to these ghettos, detained there and then eventually sent to the concentration camps. The Germans set up a council called Judenrat in each ghetto. The members of the council had to administer the ghettos and send Jews to the death camps (Lyons, 2010). When men and women got to the ghettos they were separated from each other along with their kids. The boys went with the fathers and the girls went with their mothers. They were subjected to terrible conditions. Thousands of people became human guinea pigs in medical experiments. These experiments included the effects of freezing human beings, subjecting them to intense air pressure, and sterilizing women (Lyons, 2010). Some were infected on purpose with diseases such as typhus and exposed to mustard gas. The Nazis purposely made the living conditions unbearable. The largest ghetto was Warsaw. Around 400,000 people were confined to an area of about 2. 5 miles making it nearly impossible to move. (Jewish life during the Holocaust). 19 foot walls onfined the people in to keep them separate from the rest of society. Guards paroled the area constantly, making sure no Jews were trying to escape. If one was caught they were killed. Different diseases broke out and spread extremely fast due to the fact that everyone was living on top of each other. No medical care was given to those who needed it so they suffered until they died. Others died from starvation due to the lack of food they got. Some people killed themselves because they could not handle the physical or emotional pain any longer (Jewish life during the Holocaust). Concentration and death camps were the two different types of camps created as a place for the Jews to be sent to (Jewish life during the Holocaust). Concentration camps were for prisoners to do forced labor where they had striped uniforms, armbands or labels to identify what type of prisoner they were. Different colors represented different groups. Death camps were created for mass murder and immediate death. At death camps people originally were shot or killed in gas vans. The people would be locked into the van and when the driver pressed the accelerator carbon monoxide gas was released, killing them. Even though concentration camps seemed better than death camps, people there still faced terrible, cruel, and horrific punishments (Jewish life during the Holocaust). It in a way was worse than death camps because at least there you were immediately killed. People suffered and endured harsh treatments in concentration camps. Prisoners there eventually died from starvation, disease or horrific treatment from the Nazis. Some were even sent to death camps, where there they would be killed (Jewish life during the Holocaust). The earliest concentration camp established was Dachau located in Germany in 1933 nd the earliest death camp established was Auschwitz in 1940 located in Poland (Rosenberg). Auschwitz was both a death camp and a concentration camp. The fate of the people and what camp they would be in was decided upon arrival. By December 1941, six death camps were using gas to kill the Jews. Five were located in southwestern Poland called Auschwitz. Eventually this camp included 3 camps and 45 sub-camps. Auschwitz camp was responsible for murdering 1. 1 million people, mainly Jews. There were three different locations of Auschwitz, known as Auschwitz (the main one), Auschwitz 2(Birkenau) and Auschwitz 3 (Buna-Monowitz). Auschwitz 1 is where Block 11 and Black Wall located. Block 11 was a place where the prisoners were severely tortured and the Black Wall was where they were executed (Rosenberg). This camp was mainly for housing prisoners and subjecting them to medical experiments. Nazi doctors would pick people upon arrival to perform experiments on. They usually picked dwarfs, twins and anyone that looked unique. One type of experiment done was injecting substances into womens uteruses and exposing them to X-rays to make them sterile. Another one was experimenting on identical twins trying to find a way to clone people. This type of experiment was performed because Hitler was interested in creating the master race so if he found a way to clone it would be easier to accomplish his goal. Auschwitz 2 was created in 1942 right outside of the original Auschwitz. It was larger than the main one, housing the most prisoners. This is where the selections and most killings took place. Auschwitz 3 was used mainly to house the forced-laborers (Rosenberg). Jews, along with gypsies and homosexuals were put in filthy, small, cattle cars on trains to be ent to Auschwitz. It was extremely overcrowded and uncomfortable, many people died in the trains before they even reached the camps. The train would stop at Auschwitz 2, forcing the people to get off and stand on what was known as the ramp (Rosenberg). They were split up into 2 different lines. The left line was for people who looked unfit, unhealthy, the elderly, children or women and the right line was for those who looked strong and were young men. The left line meant you were going to be executed immediately by the gas chambers and the right line meant you were going to become a prisoner at the camp (Rosenberg). The prisoners who were allowed to live usually died later on from starvation, torture, forced labor and exposure. The people who were sent to the left line had no idea what that really meant, the Nazis kept this a secret from them. They were told they would be sent to work but first needed showers to disinfect them. Originally carbon monoxide gas was what was used to kill them (gas vans) however; Commandant Rudolf Hoss replaced it with Zyklon-B crystals. This lethal gas could kill 24,000 humans in a day. Jews were taken into buildings that looked like bathhouses and were told to get undressed for a hower. Once the shower was turned on the Zyklon-B crystals were released from the showerhead, walls vents, ceiling and windows killing Jews in minutes (Lyons, 2010). Once they realized what was happening they went into a complete panic. They climbed over each other, trying to find an area to breathe, scratched at any opening trying to get out until their fingers bled. The Germans selected certain Jewish prisoners that showed to be of useful strength to be members of Sonderkommando. These members were responsible for sending the Jews to the gas chambers, ollecting their bodies once dead and then burning them in crematoriums (Lyons, 2010). The people that were spared immediate death to become workers were subjected to terrible living conditions that were punishment in itself. Many died from starvation, intense work labor and disease (Ushmm, 2013). There would be three usually was a bowl of soup and bread. These terrible conditions were done intentionally to starve and work the prisoners to death. The Germans tried to keep the camps and extermination a secret from the world. However, by 1941 the news began to flood through Germany, Allied countries along ith neutral countries. At first people were doubtful and in disbelief but by 1942 they knew that this was really happening. In 1944, the Allies started to take over the camps and the liberated the first one in Poland (Hitlerschildren). Soon, more camps were liberated with Auschwitz being liberated in 1945. The German forces surrendered on May 7, 1945. There were around 50,000-100,000 survivors living in Europe after the end of the Holocaust. The Jews were treated this way for no reason other than them being Jewish. Hitler wanted them completely expelled from the orld because he did not see them as a part of the Aryan race. He thought of them being inferior and himself and the race he wanted was superior. They did nothing wrong, they were not criminals; they did not deserve to be punished or subjected to the terrible kinds of treatment. Hitler simply did not want Jews to be a part of society. He also blamed the Jews for Germans loss of WWI, along with problems that Germany was facing such as unemployment, poverty and starvation (Jewish life during the Holocaust). He wanted to torture, punish, and make them suffer in the most horrific and appalling ways possible. They were mentally, physically and emotionally punished. He used manipulation and deception in his tactics. The Jews were lied to about nearly everything. They were deported from the ghettos to camps easily because the Nazis told them they were being moved to someplace else where life would be better for them. Once they got to Auschwitz camp and were separated into the left and right lines, having no idea what those lines really meant. The Nazis purposely did not tell them because they knew they would try and fght back. Hitler knew he had to keep this a secret in order for the mass murders to be successful. They were told they were going to work but needed to be disinfected first. Having them believe they were going to take a shower, when really they were walking into their deaths. The ones that the Nazis kept alive and sent to concentration camps were kept alive to work. Not for themselves to make money but for Germany. They were sent to factories, coalmines and farms (Daily life). This was free labor and free workers, therefore Germany was benefiting by them. These ideas of punishment and treatment are still seen in the present. The Holocaust was a genocide and there have been many since and still are in present day. The Rwandan genocide took place in 1994 in East Africa between the Tutsis and Hutus (Genocide in Rwanda). Over a span of 100 days around 800,000 people were killed. The Hutus brutally killed and slaughtered the Tutsis, murdering them with any kind of weapon they could find or make. They had to flee from their homes and seek refuge, trying to hide and escape their death. There also is an ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan where over 300,000 people have died (Sudan backgrounder). After the attack on Pearl Harbor any person living on the west coast that was of Japanese heritage was place in nternment camps (Japanese-American internment ) They did nothing wrong and were not a part of the attack on Pearl Harbor but since they had Japanese in them people in the USA were paranoid and wanted them gone.

Essay --

Bill the Butcher, a nativist man, willing to kill and die for his own country. Dislike Irish immigrants, and African Americans, an egocentric man. Bonnie and Clyde a couple who met young, committed their crimes together, and ultimately died together. These notorious characters from history have formed a platform of violence among those around them. Bill the Butcher, and Bonnie and Clyde, their thoughts, their views, and their lives; alike and different at the same time for government/ authority, power, their crimes, their atmosphere ( events surrounding them ), and ultimately their deaths. Bill the Butcher's view on government was that the natives basically run everything. He has a big dislike for irish immigrants coming into the U.S. In the film Gangs of New York Bill the Butcher finds the Irish as a waste of space, of no use, and unwilling to die for the Nations that has opened their doors to them. He is egocentric believing that Natives are superior to any others residing the area, including African Americans. Bonnie and Clyde in ‘’ The Lives and Times of Bonnie and Clyde’’ do not present an actual hate toward government, rather as Milner shows, a sense of rebellious criminals, ‘’ They call them cold blooded killers’’ ( ). The title of the chapter impling who they are, not just thieves, and burglars, but murders. Bill the Butcher was willing in his eyes kill and die for his country, Bonnie and Clyde on the other side, were destroying the government with their crimes, leading officials to investigations, and chase s after the two. Bill the Butcher presents a sense of power in his character, he is the leader of a Nativist gang as Asbury states called the (----) (Page). In the book Bill the Butcher is known as Asbury states ... ... sense of rebellion, and standing your ground, Bill the Butcher not liking the Irish immigrants, even when the government was allowing them to come in; Bonnie and Clyde not settling to live like others in poverty, and if times were hard, well they made times hard for those who were doing well, public officials..''the law..'' (PAGE). Blibliography Asbury, Herbert. The Gangs of New York. Leicester: W.F. Howes, 2003. Print. Milner, E. R. The Lives and times of Bonnie and Clyde. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1996. Print. Gangs of New York. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perf. Daniel Day- Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo Decaprio. Twentieth Century Fox, 2003. DVD. Bonnie and Clyde : Dead and Alive. Dir. Bruce Beresford. Perf. Emile Hirsch , Holliday Grainger. Sony Pictres Television, 2013. Televison Program Movie.

Lifestyle Choices Limit Good Health

The Scottish diet has been identified as particularly poor, it is high in salt, sugar and fat, and low in fresh fruit and vegetables. Neither women nor men meet the recommended levels of exercise; only 33% of women and 45% of men meet the recommended levels Of exercise. It is therefore not surprising that 59% of Scottish women and 69% or Scottish men are overweight and it is also not surprising that Scotland suffers from very high levels of weigh- related health problems, from diabetes to cancer.This suggests that the choices that we make about what we eat are impacting on the nation's health to a great degree. In addition, habits such as smoking certainly do have a connection with ill health. Smoking is a known cause of 25 serious diseases, including lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory problems. One in every four Scottish people will die from smoking related causes. It is therefore clear that the 23% of Scottish people who smoke are putting both their own health and others ar ound them in danger.Although all individuals have the ability to make healthy choices some of us are more likely to live healthy lifestyles than others. It can be cheap to live healthily – buying fruit or going for a walk – but for those in poverty, who are less likely to do so due to solicitation, knowledge, motivation or time. For instance, in Scotland least deprived areas, 1 1% of people smoke. In the most deprived areas, 40% of people smoke. Consequently, there are higher rates of lung cancer, heart disease, and low birth-weight babies in the most deprived areas of Scotland than in the least deprived areas.However, it is too simple to blame the poor for causing their own ill health through â€Å"bad choices†. For instance, Dry Harry Burns has spoken of the biology of poverty. In which he has argued that infants born into deprivation are exposed to the great stress, which has a lasting effect on the brain and body and leaved them more vulnerable to ease in la ter life. This has contributed to an astonishing 28 year male life expectancy gap between Gallon in Glasgow and the wealthy suburb of Leonie.Therefore, the health gap between rich and poor cannot be explained by lifestyle alone and we must take into account the wider effects of poverty on health. As a final point, other factors that are unrelated to lifestyle can also limit good health. Certain illnesses can be passed on in the genes. F-or instance, it is believed that 60% of cancers are linked to family history. However, few illnesses are purely hereditary and even those who carry a emetic Rick can lessen their risk of falling ill by making good lifestyle choices.For example, strokes do run in families, but it is said that 25% of them could have been prevented by doing regular daily exercise, such as walking. Therefore, lifestyles can still have an impact in the case of hereditary illnesses and is an important factor. In conclusion, while lifestyle factors do impact on health, the causes of ill health are more complex. Ill health is most usually the result of a combination of genes, environment and lifestyle factors and it is therefore too simple to say lifestyle is the main cause of ill health.

The Decision of Johnson & Johnson Acquires Dabao.

The decision of Johnson & Johnson Acquires Dabao. Di Wang MGT 540 MI004 Professor: Arthur Annechino 20th February 2013 Table of Contents Executive Summary3 Introduction4 The reasons of decision6 Decision making style7 The problem in decision making process8 Recommendations9 Conclusion11 Reference12 Executive Summary This paper is talking about the Johnson & Johnson Acquires Dabao. It starts with review the two companies’ history, and then shows the problem of them before acquiring.Further analysis of Johnson & Johnson’s decision with the problems that in their decision making process and also the decision making style that could be found in the acquisition. At last, give some recommendations to JNJ and the conclusion for this whole paper. Introduction Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is an American multinational medical devices, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and t he company is listed among the Fortune 500.Johnson & Johnson is located in New Brunswick, New Jersey with the consumer division being located in Skillman, New Jersey. The corporation includes some 250 subsidiary companies with operations in over 57 countries and products sold in over 175 countries. Johnson & Johnson had worldwide pharmaceutical sales of $65 billion for the calendar year of 2011. Among JNJ’s well-known consumer products are the Band-Aid Brand line of bandages, Tylenol medications, Johnson's baby products, Neutrogena skin and beauty products, Clean & Clear facial wash and Acuvue contact lenses.Johnson & Johnson came to China in 1985, but until now, in majority of the Chinese people’s hearts, it still stay in the baby care products. In fact, Johnson & Johnson brand in the United States has more than a century history, is the products supplier with most comprehensive and the most diverse medical and health care products and consumer care in the world. The strong outstanding international performance did not make Johnson & Johnson achieve the comprehensive development of a leap in China.Especially in consumer and personal care products, Johnson & Johnson has Johnson & Johnson's Baby, Clean & Clear, Neutrogena and other brands. These brands almost cover each segment of the cosmetics industry. But in each market segment, the market share of Johnson & Johnson's product did not reach the top ten. Johnson & Johnson seems to be considered as a niche brand, which makes JNJ very depressed. In Johnson & Johnson’s view, in order to catch up with other multinationals in China, the best and quickest way is to acquire a local brand and expand its own brand extension and channel coverage.Dabao is undoubtedly the best choice to achieve this strategic goal for Johnson & Johnson. Beijing Dabao Cosmetics Co. , Ltd. its predecessor factory is Beijing Sanlu Factory, is a state welfare enterprises established by the Beijing Government for the emplo yment of the disabled. And with as many as 35% of the disabled workers. The company was founded in 1958, 1985 converting cosmetics develops, produces, sells, and exports herbal cosmetic products in China and internationally. It offers various varieties of skincare, hair care, beauty care, perfume, and clinical series products.The company’s products include slimming creams, breast configuring creams, hair stimulators, senile fleck dispeller creams, eye-bag creams, anti-wrinkle creams, ginseng shampoos and conditioners, and ginseng both lotions. Its most famous product is â€Å"Dabao SOD cream†. It sells its products through department stores and shops. The company exports its products to the United States, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Tunisia, Bangladesh, and Cyprus. From in 1997, Dabao won the championship of the domestic sales of skin care products for eight consecutive years. In 2003, market share of Dabao in the skincare industry was 17. 9%, much higher than the oth er competitors. Dabao was trying to get rid of the low-end positioning, but the market performance is far from satisfactory. It seems that Dabao would never enter the high-end market in the industry. In 2004, its brand market share of negative growth, accompanied by declining net profit. Industrial output value and tax sales revenue declined slightly. The total profits and taxes in the decline stage, indicating that there was fierce competition in the market at that time, Dabao brand was facing the increase impact of foreign brands, price wars, increased costs, and many other heavy pressure.On February 27th , 2007, Dabao listing to start the transfer of 100% equity at a price of 2. 3 billion yuan in the China Beijing Equity Exchange. Its transfer form is equity overall transfer. Listing period, Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Co. , Ltd. , Unilever (China) Investment Co. , Ltd. , Kao Corporation and other international well-known cosmetics companies to come to counseling and due diligence. Johnson & Johnson and Unilever are interested transferee. The Unilever offer only 1. 7 billion yuan, much lower than the listing price. Finally JNJ won at the price of 2. 3 billion, the equity transfer agreement signed on April 18, 2008.July 30, Johnson & Johnson completed the acquisition of Dabao transactions from Beijing Sanlu Factory and the Dabao employee stock holding committee. Acquired the 83. 42% of state-owned shares and 16. 58% of employee shares from both of them. The reasons of decision There are three main reason why Johnson & Johnson make the acquire decision. Firstly, in order to catch up with other multinationals in China, the best and quickest way is to acquire a local brand and expand its own brand extension and channel coverage. Dabao is undoubtedly the best choice to achieve this strategic goal for Johnson & Johnson.Johnson & Johnson can access to the business development department directly, gain the time advantage in order to avoid time delays in pl ant construction. Secondly, Reduce a competitor, and directly get its position in the industry. Thirdly, get the use of high energy market forces. The two corporate uniform price policy, earnings higher than the revenue they gained when they were compete with each other. For example, a large number of information resources will be available for disclosure. Such as accounting income data can be used to illustrate the profitability of the enterprise, lso can be used to evaluate the changes of industry profitability. The acquisition will bring Johnson & Johnson the efficiency of production and operation, the most obvious performance was to achieved economies of scale to help Johnson to improve the control ability of Chinese market. Dabao in the second and third line markets has a strong marketing network and great attraction. Dabao have the mature path in these markets , especially advantage in the wholesale field of the second and third line markets, there will be conducive to the ex pansion of the Johnson & Johnson products field.Also can filling in gaps for Johnson & Johnson in the field of low-end mass cosmetics market. Share the Dabao development experience can reduce the learning cost of accumulated experience for Johnson & Johnson. And save the enterprise development expenses. Low-end cosmetics is very easy to research and development, but to cultivate a mature terminal need to spend more time. So acquire Dabao no doubt go a shortcut for Johnson & Johnson. But its original intention is to clear away the barriers to enter the industry and the market to get priority in China.From Dabao’s view, Dabao acquired by Johnson & Johnson who is more efficient and the replacement of managers has become inevitable, management efficiencies will brought new opportunities to Dabao in the future development. Decision making style For the decision making style in the decision making process, first I found the overestimation bias. â€Å"Overestimation occurs when peo ple overestimate their performance, chances of success or control of the situation† (Bazerman & Moore, 2009, p. 91). JNJ has full confidence for acquiring Dabao company and they believe they will gain most of the market share after they acquiring Dabao.So they give a high price to buy Dabao company, at the price of 0. 6 billion yuan more than their competitor Unilever. Actually, Dabao was facing many problems at that time and even can not survival in the market. So JNJ should did more research for the background of Dabao, and consider that seriously then give the right price to leave more chance for its self to the further development. Another bias I found is the Motivated Optimism bias. The Motivated Optimism bias is the tendency to feel positively about a situation turning out well despite evidence that proves otherwise.This bias was reflected in the staffs’ placement plan that accepted by JNJ. JNJ was positively about giving the disable employees continue working in Dabao even thought JNJ knew that is one of the mean reasons that caused Dabao developed slowly. I also tell the cultural bias from this issue. First there are culture differences between the US and China in doing business. And the two companies have totally different cultural with each other. Dabao is a state welfare company. So there must have many culture issues that JNJ can not avoid.It seems JNJ never make any prepares for that and acquired Dabao in a hurry. The problem in decision making process Because the purchase price failed to reach an agreement, the negotiations had reached an impasse after entered into an equity transfer intention agreement. Dabao listed price 23 million yuan is five times its net assets, 3. 4 times sales. Dabao audited total assets of 6. 45 billion yuan, net assets of 495 million yuan. In 2006, the main business income of 676 million yuan, net profit of 41 million. According to the 2006 assessment report, the total assets of Dabao is 2. 26 billion yuan, liabilities of 295 million yuan, the owner of the equity of 2. 241 billion yuan. The data shows that Dabao listed price of 23 million audited is of five times as net assets of 459 million yuan, which is not a cheap price. The reasonable price should be about 1. 5 billion yuan. In the others’ eyes, the price is debatable, but JNJ still acquisition of Dabao with the price ahead of the competition’s price of 600 million yuan. Another problem is the staff resettlement problem. Dabao has a characteristic, Dabao is a state welfare enterprises with as many as 35% of the disabled workers.And according to Chinese law, employees with disabilities have not been laid off, which is one of the reasons that makes Dabao development difficult. The staff placement problem hindered the acquisition process for a time. Therefore, in the acquisition, placement of workers become the most central issues in addition to price issue. After negotiated for many times, the staff placement plan has reached a consensus. After the acquisition the Dabao employees still be the employees in Dabao’s original parent company: Beijing Sanlu Factory , continues to serve Dabao brand.The employees who have not get the new jobs or do not accept the jobs of the new company's will continue as employees in Sanlu Factory. Recommendations In my opinion, I disapprove Johnson & Johnson’s decision of acquiring Dabao. Before a company makes a decision to acquire another company, two main issues must be taken into consideration: to recover the cost of investment in a short period of time; another is able to play the role of complement and enhance their own original brand. Before the acquisition, the two companies are in the decline stage.Acquired Dabao company for Johnson & Johnson is a certain risk, if Dabao continued its downward trend after the acquisition , then it will certainly contrary to the original intention of Johnson & Johnson to acquired Dabao. That will not only exacerba te the problem of Johnson & Johnson’s products market positioning in China, and it will also affect the overall development of Johnson & Johnson. If Dabao can not become a listed company, Johnson & Johnson will be difficult to recover the $ 23 billion investment cost for acquisition Dabao. Also the difficulty of integration will be to some extent prevent the development of Johnson & Johnson.The huge capital injection and Dabao placement of workers problem will increase the difficulty of the Johnson & Johnson Development. National circumstances and foreign investment risk will be a severe test. The products of the two companies does not match, the future development challenges than opportunities. After the acquisition, the biggest problem is if JNJ could make good use of the Dabao’s channel resources, after all, there are too many differences and even conflicts of the management style between multinationals and local companies.JNJ valued Dabao’s channel resources , however, these are not the hardware resources, if JNJ could not make good use of these channel resources, that may cause the channels unrest as well as loss of dealer. So I think JNJ should maintain the independence of Dabao, make Dabao like its other subsidiaries in the world, became a separate entity, independent operation. And achieve the integration of sales and channel. Dabao has weak research and development ability, so JNJ retain Dabao’s original flagship product and at the same time research and development of new products, in order to seize the market.Johnson & Johnson should change a senior management team for Dabao. Conclusion In order to catch up with other multinationals in China, Johnson & Johnson completed the acquisition of Dabao, a state welfare company has many channel resources but also has develop issues. During the decision making process, Johnson & Johnson met many problems such as the price issue, the employees settling issue. Johnson & Johnson gave a high price and accepted the employees settling plan that came up by Dabao.I do not think that is a good decision for Johnson & Johnson to acquire Dabao because it is difficult to recover the cost of investment in a short period of time and the development will be affected by the issues appeared in the decision making process in the future. Also for the further development I give the recommendations of make good use of these channel resources, maintain the independence of Dabao, retain Dabao’s original flagship product and at the same time research and development of new products, and change a senior management team for Dabao.References :analyzing the reason of johnson &johnson acquired dabao. (2008, August 06). Retrieved from http://bbs. 55bbs. com/thread-1836669-1-1. html Beijing dabao cosmetics co. , ltd.. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. dabao. com/ Enterprise merger case analysis of johnson& johnson acquired dabao. (2012, August 09). Retrieved from http://wenku. baid u. com/view/af14c431a32d7375a4178039. html Johnson&johnson. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. jnj. om/connect/ Johnson &johnson purchase dabao a sudden change in the situation. (2011, May 27). Retrieved from http://wenku. baidu. com/view/763309976bec0975f465e271. html Johnson & johnson ranks no. 1 in national corporate reputation survey for seventh consecutive year. (2005, December 07). Retrieved from http://www. harrisinteractive. com/news/allnewsbydate. asp? NewsID=999 Klovee. (2008, February 02). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://johnsonjohnsonblog. blogspot. com/2008/02/introduction. html

Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Essay Example

Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Essay Example Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Essay Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Essay Organizational Technology Integration Evaluation Model Leopold E. Madrigal University of Phoenix An organizational technology integration model will be proposed using a specific case in the automotive industry, one that took place in 1998. A consideration to be noted is the potential that the proposed model could had been used successfully at the time of the presented cases implementation as it may be used today in any situation to assess technology efficiency. Antecedents The problems the United States auto industry had during the late sys and sys ere the lack of discipline, high absenteeism rates, and low morale among employees, all of which resulted in inefficiencies and low quality products. Even with lesser quality, the (MM) Fremont plant averaged 34 man-hours of labor per automobile, versus only 20 at Toyota (Redder, Henry, Smith, 1985, p. 36). The implementation of new technologies in the American automotive industry, such as lean manufacturing principles, self-directed teams, quality circles, and flexible operations required that employees and their unions were aligned and committed with this new direction. The results in organizations implementing new technologies in which stakeholders bought in were as expected and manufacturing productivity as well as products quality improved. Product quality and production efficiency augmented as a result of implementing new technologies and new manufacturing approaches, as in example: Lean manufacturing, quality circles, self-directed work than several of Gems newer plants. Plans are to reach an annulled 200,000 units in 1986 with a work force of 2,500 a level which rivals Japanese productivity (Redder teal. , 1985, p. 38). International Truck Engine Company In 1996 International Truck Engine Company was evaluating the implementation of new technologies to improve its manufacturing efficiency. One of the new technology approaches considered was the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system. Firms around the world have been implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems since the asses to have an uniform information system in their respective organizations and to reengineering their business processes (Philippians, 2002, p. 87). For this new project other technologies were considered besides the ERP system implementation. The automotive industry in America was adopting lean manufacturing principles driven by the success of the Toyota Production System (TAPS) that was first implemented in America in 1985 at the ANNUM plant in California. Toasts extraordinary success is indisputable, and the TAPS has been a major element in its increasing status in the world automotive industry (New, 2007, p. 3546). As part of the lean manufacturing initiatives the objective of a new organizational design that empowered employees and promoted teamwork in self- directed work groups was set in motion. Our major finding is that highly empowered teams are more effective than less empowered teams (Kirkland Russell, 1999, p. 69). This initiative represented a new approach to an organization that was very conservative in their management of shop-floor operations. It was also decided that a new facility would be designed and built in accordance to lean manufacturing principles, as in example modular assemblies should flow directly to the point of application in production sequence. The new facility would be installed in Mexico, in an effort to lower production costs, many U. S. Rims manufacture products offshore in countries with low labor costs (Oldenburg, Roman, Treaty, 2007, p. 423). The challenge Beyond the imminent challenge that an experienced team of people would find while setting up a new manufacturing facility the additional requirement to implement new technologies compounded the complexity. The new technologies to be implemented consisted of new technical designs for manufacturing, new conceptual designs for manufacturing processes while using lean manufacturing initiatives, new management practices such as self-directed work groups, and a new ERP system implementation. Lean manufacturing based on the Toyota production system (TAPS) changed the final assembly into a mixed model final assembly system to level the demand on their suppliers, converted the linear subassembly lines into U-shaped subassembly cells and redesigned the Job shop into manufacturing cells. Final assembly operates with a take time, and the cells are designed to have a cycle time slightly less than the take time and to operate on a make one, check one, and move one on'(MO-CO-MOO The task consisted of planning the implementation strategy, building a new facility n a foreign country using lean manufacturing principles, selecting and hiring the leadership team for the new facility, implementing a new ERP system for the organization, and capable to start production of trucks being built at other facilities to alleviate some of the capacity restrictions while reducing the manufacturing cost. In summary, there were three major areas in which the implementation team had to be focused: 1) the manufacturing system, 2) the human integration to the new manufacturing design or the socio-technical system, and 3) the ERP system as an enabling technology. While working on the design and implementation of the manufacturing system the implementation team had to take into consideration that the manufacturing system is the beating heart of any manufacturing company. The manufacturing system is defined as a complex arrangement of physical elements characterized by measurable parameters (Black, 2007, p. 3643). The socio-technical system included the design and implementation of self-directed work groups and a multi-task development program tie to a payment structure, the people who work in a manufacturing system are the internal customers, and the system must be signed to satisfy their needs. At the same time, the manufacturing system must produce products that satisfy the needs of the external customers (Black, 2007, p. 643). The ERP system implementation was viewed as an enabling technology to enhance performance. ERP systems consist of a number of functional modules such as materials management, production planning, sales and distribution, human resources, and financial accounting. In order to serve the needs of a wide range of companies with different characteristics, ERP systems in general, and these modules n particular, are built on the bes t practices, which represent the most cost-effective and efficient ways of performing business processes (Sackbut Submarine, 2006, p. 7). There was an advantage in the way the organization decided to take on this challenge as it was to be set up in a new facility with new management and new people, with it some of the change management issues could be diminished. Change management is primarily a human resource management issue. This is because implementing new procedures, technologies, and overcoming resistance to change are fundamentally people issues (Banal, 2009, p. 36). The deliverables Any organization that decides to invest in technology does it because there is an expectation about the future state of the business and how that technology, once successfully implemented and performing will be fit to meet the future organizational needs and those of customers and stakeholders. Technological innovation is an important source of value creation. The application of knowledge to human activity allows for the more efficient production of existing products and services (Shame, 2009, p. 7). The expectations the organization had from the new technologies implementation ere: 1) To increase in 120 units per day the medium duty truck assembly capacity, 2) To increase in 60 units per day the heavy duty assembly capacity, 3) To reduce the man-hours per truck by 10%, 4) To reduce the cost of direct labor by 70%, 5) To implement an ERP system integrating information from all performance and assemblies), 7) To limit online stocking areas by designing narrow aisles along the assembly lines, 8) To implement quality circles and multi-ability development programs for people, and 9) To increase the quality of the product by minimizing the end-of-line defects-per-truck. The expectations regarding the soft systems technologies, those related to the people, were that each person should go through a specific training program to be certified to perform all operations of at least three assembly stations. The belief was that a certified person should be able to perform without incurring in mistakes while working at line speed (take time). The lean system is designed to produce superior quality products. Toyota believed in company-wide total quality control and therefore taught it to everyone, from the company president down to every production worker. They were able to hang from a company that made Junk to one that could give customers products of high reliability (Black, 2007, p. 3644). The ERP system implementation represented another piece of the technology improvements and even though no clear measures of success were established there were some beliefs about the outcome. Typical benefits of ERP systems commonly cited in the literature include, but are not limited to, inventory and lead time reductions, improved on-time deliveries, reduced operating costs, enhanced customer relationships (Hit et al. 2002) and improved decision making (Sackbut Submarine, 2006, p. 49). The situation By March 1998 the new facility had initiated operations although on a limited basis. Only one of two assembly lines was ready to assemble trucks, the other assembly line, the cab fabrication, and pain t areas were being conditioned for production. The materials flow design and the use of Kanata and assembly modules were in place. The new personal seemed to be comfortable with the processes, procedures, tools, and systems at their use. The ERP system was already set in production environment. The organization was concerned about the situation at the new assembly plant. Millions of dollars were committed and expended to increase the corporations production capacity, improving production efficiency and product quality, while reducing manufacturing costs. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The situation was that trucks were getting at the end of the assembly line with missing parts, the required materials were not available at the plant much less at the point of use. The production ramp-up plan had to be aborted and redesigned to reduce the compounding problem of assembling incomplete trucks to be reworked at the truck storage area. The root causes of the problem at hand were not easy to identify as there were many variables unknown to manufacturing experts at other assembly plants. The organization was dealing with a new manufacturing facility, with a new operational philosophy based on lean manufacturing, with new processes, new tools, new systems, new inexperienced people, and in a foreign country with a different language. Problem definition and purpose statement In summary, the problem at hand was that the new assembly facility was incapable of producing five trucks a day without missing some components, the missing quest planning (MR..). In consequence the trucks presented many defects at the end of the assembly line making undesirable to ramp up production to the expected 30 units per day planned to be produced by April 1998. Without the opportunity to build clean trucks it was difficult to assess the improvements in the man-hours per truck or any manufacturing costs reductions. Moreover, the new installed capacity was theoretical as given the high number of missing components there was no opportunity to test the assembly line at top line speed. The purpose while inducting an assessment of effectiveness of technology implementation would be to test each of the different technologies implemented at the new assembly facility from the planning and designing stages throughout the pre-production and implementation stages. Once those tests were completed an integration test between the different technologies would need to be carried out. Finally, the total system would be tested. At this point the data gathered at different performance levels may provide evidence to validate the new technologies as fit or no fit to meet the deliverables defined in the new facility original concept. Any discrepancies found during any of the unit, integration, or system tests would provide information to be analyzed to evaluate a design change, include additional capabilities, or modify the expectations about the outcomes. Assessing the effectiveness of technology implementation At that time the situation was reviewed using some approaches from the general systems theory (SST), meaning that the desired state of the system was defined and contrasted against the current state of the system. General systems theory is, as emphasized, a model of certain general aspects of reality. But it is also a way of seeing things which were previously overlooked or by-passed, and in this sense is a methodological maxim (Bertelsmann, 1972, p. 424). The tool to assess the effectiveness of technology implementation to be proposed in this paper was not the one used at the time the described situation was taking place although the addition of the SST as a design and performance validation tool will be included . The new facility contained different technologies. The result being sought was the resultant of each of those technologies individually performing as planned. Then hose technologies would be tested interacting with other technologies while performing flawlessly, and delivering as expected as an integrated system. Banal (2009) suggested three different stages of testing: 1) Unit testing, 2) Integration testing, and 3) system testing. The proposed methodology would include those three stages. The different technology components may be tested using Thompson (2003) assessment table that described that the assessment is a function of crystallized or ambiguous standards of desirability and the degree of completeness of beliefs about cause/effect knowledge (University of Phoenix, 2012). This approach is also supported by some management problem solving tools as the one presented by Tennyson Isis (2011) who stated that an effective performance improvement approach must start by identifying a performance problem and then finding ways of solving that problem. Thompson assessment techniques are similar to the initial step in the systemic problem solving approach by defining the desired state of the system and its desired output (standards of desirability) and contrast it against the complement this app roach and discover the root causes of the problem one has to e prompt to ask the reasons and purposes behind systems design decisions by using a V model life cycle test. In an ideal technology implementation a V model life cycle test should be used. The V model requires that each deliverable be verified in an attempt to identify defects as early as possible and to ensure that specifications are complete and correct. The model specifies that activities in one stage must be completed before moving on to the next stage (Banal, 2009, p. 274). The stages included in the V model life cycle are: 1) defining reasons for testing, 2) acknowledging structure jesting, 3) testing and verification at the design stage, 4) testing within a system implementation, and 5) testing with a system maintenance environment (Banal, 2009). The next diagram shows Thompson (2003) technology assessment table: Beliefs about Cause/Effect Knowledge Standards of Desirability Complete Uncertainty Crystallized Efficiency test Desired state is achieved Ambiguous Extrinsic Measures Organizational rationality In summary, the proposed methodology flows as presented in the next table: Unit Interrelation System System Ideal state Technology component Define performance at ideal state Define performance as designed System Current state Technology components Define performance at testing stage Defining reasons for testing Understanding structured testing Testing and verification at the design stage Testing within a system implementation Testing with a system maintenance environment Each of the different technology components needs to be defined in terms of performance as by design and evaluated during the V model life cycle (bottom part of the table) as a unit, after that as an interactive technology, and finally as part of a system (moving toward the right side on the table). Each test result needs to be confronted objectively to the ideal state, as per design, so whenever possible specific and objective goals must be defined to assess the current performance of each unit, their integrations, and as a total system against the desired performance. At this point Thompson assessment table can be used to evaluate the different stages according to the following premis es: When standards of desirability are crystallized and beliefs are complete, efficiency is the desired meaner of assessment. When standards are crystallized and beliefs are incomplete, assessment of effectiveness is y achieving a desired state. When standards are ambiguous, but beliefs are complete, extrinsic measures such as someone elses opinion is used. Finally, when standards are ambiguous and beliefs are in complete, then a predetermined organizational measure is used (University of Phoenix, 2012). It is important to notice that the success of any assessment methodology depends in a good definition of the expected outcomes of a technology implementation. Those outcomes need to be validated at the designing stage to clarify if such technology implementation is capable of providing them. Then as the implementation moves from design into integration of technologies, it is tested in different pre-production environments, these validation need to be performed against objective measurements or against expectations with solid foundations of attainability. Conclusions The proposed technology implementation effectiveness assessment tool would be appropriate to any technology implementation situation. As stated earlier a key component of the success of the assessment resides in a clear and objective definition of what is expected from the implementation. The definition of performance parameters at the design phase will provide an objective guidance while performing the assessment assuming that those parameters are within the technology capabilities. The technology implementation described in this paper was resolved by September 1999. Each of the different units and components of technology implemented were analyzed and tested. Their different interrelations with other technology components were also evaluated and tested, on a one-to-one basis as well as combining three or more different technologies as required by design. It was one of those interrelations the one that was not performing as it was substitution module, residing in external software, was not providing the information into the new facility ERP system. New components for trucks were not available to the ERRS MR.. System and in consequence were not being scheduled in the production plan or in the materials releases to be sent out to suppliers.

NaNoWriMo †What It Is and Why You Should Join In

NaNoWriMo – What It Is and Why You Should Join In NaNoWriMo – What It Is and Why You Should Join In NaNoWriMo – What It Is and Why You Should Join In By Ali Hale If you’re an aspiring novelist, but have yet to write your masterpiece, you might want to consider joining in with NaNoWriMo. Say what? NaNoWriMo is short for â€Å"National Novel Writing Month† (though, technically, it’s international). Every November, writers around the world join in a fiction-writing frenzy, aiming to produce a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days. This year is the tenth NaNoWriMo, so it’s a great time to get on board if you’ve always wanted to write a novel, but have never quite got around to it. Are you up for the challenge? You can find out everything you could possibly want to know on the NaNoWriMo website, but here’s the quick run-down for those of you who’re in a hurry†¦ How it Works The rules are pretty straightforward. The basics are that: You shouldn’t start your novel before November 1st You can send your novel to the site (it’s not stored anywhere or read, don’t worry) for word count validation You can’t collaborate with someone else to produce the 50,000 words – but if you get your friends involved writing their own novels, that’s great! You can write your novel on a computer or with pen and paper, but you obviously won’t be able to validate the wordcount if you’re using pen and paper†¦ You need to be over 13 to register on the NaNoWriMo site. Under 18s (including kids under 13) can register for the Young Writers’ version. Facts and Figures 50,000 words in 30 days is 1,667 words a day. If you look at it like that, it’s a challenging but achievable target. Depending on how fast you write, that’s probably 1 – 2 hours work. Last year, over 100,000 people signed up†¦ †¦and 15,000 â€Å"won† by completing 50,000 words by midnight on November 30th. Ali’s Tips I did NaNoWriMo last year, along with my boyfriend Paul and our mutual friend Nick. We all â€Å"won† by completing our novels by the end of the month. (Though I was the first to reach the 50,000 word target†¦) It was a great experience, and I did try to finish and redraft my novel earlier this year, but eventually decided it was better seen as â€Å"practice† than a piece that would be worth further work. I’d definitely recommend: Buy and read the excellent book No Plot? No Problem! by the founder of NaNoWriMo, Chris Baty it’s a great guide to writing a book in a month, and it’s also incredibly funny. Get a partner, housemate or friend involved. It especially helps if the people who live with you understand why â€Å"making today’s wordcount† is more important than cooking dinner†¦ Competing against your friends and loved ones will really spur you on through the tough spots. Don’t worry about the quality of your writing, just focus on getting to that 50,000 word target. (NaNoWriMo is not the best time to work on that wonderful idea you’ve been brooding over for years – try picking something new. If you care about it too much, you’ll get over-perfectionist.) Get as far ahead as you can in the first week †¦ it’s awful playing catch-up later on. If you have a full-time job, try getting up early to write before work (my tactic) or writing through your lunch-hour (Nick’s tactic); it’s a lot easier than trying to pound out words in the evening when you’re tired. If you’re a student, try writing in your library (Paul’s tactic); you won’t have distractions like TV, computer games and the fridge nearby†¦ Finishing a novel is a fantastic feeling †¦ and it’s something that most people in the world will never do, even those who want to be writers. NaNoWriMo 2018 update We are getting close to this great month again. If youre going to participate, I recommend that you take a look at a post from the Reedsy guys with 41 tips to win it. Have you ever done NaNoWriMo? How did you get on? Will you be taking part this year? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:45 Synonyms for â€Å"Food†Social vs. SocietalThe Difference Between "Un-" and "Dis-"