Challenges and Opportunities in Strategy Implementation Essay - 2

Challenges and Opportunities in Strategy Implementation - Essay Example According to the paper the set plans need to well communicated throughout the organisation to enable all the staff to work together to achieve the company’s expected future results. Both new and existing organizations strive to get the biggest share of customers in the market. To acquire a big market share, organisation conduct different practices and activities to be more appealing and better placed in the market. There needs to be set procedures by the organizations that cover the whole field. An organisation that operates without set plans and procedures stand a chance to overlook other crucial areas needed to be better placed in the market. From this paper it is clear that organizations that set strategies and work towards implementing them are the ones that enjoy a greater market share. Putting set plans to action is one of the most important parts of achieving expected results. The small actions carried out in an organisation on a day to day basis need to be well linked to each other so as to contribute to the expected organizational results. Small daily targets need to be structured to contribute to the strategy of the organisation. Organizations need to be well structured so that all the staff can respect the expected results of the organisation. Communicating the strategies to the staff is crucial to ensure all staff works with a uniform purpose, which is to achieve the expected results of their organisation. For customer retention, organizations need to learn from the market reaction to various processes. Organizations with good strategy implementation plans are better placed to ensure that successful processes are continuously carried out and the non-effective processes are replaced with more productive processes.

Gothic Horror Stories Essay Example for Free

Gothic Horror Stories Essay Gothic horror is a type of romantic, horror fiction based on irrational fear that predominated in 18th century England. The term gothic originated from the architectural style of the middle ages, but came to describe the dark, terrifying tales that achieved such popularity. Gothic horror can be determined by many things which exist in all gothic horror stories, for example eerie settings such as gothic monasteries, bleak comfortless castles, grave yards and cobwebbed rooms lit by guttering candles. It can also be determined by a unique character such as a beast, monster, ghost, evil creature and innocent person. Usually the innocent person is killed by the evil creature in a gothic horror story. Fear, supernatural and the macabre were also essential elements in gothic horror. I looked at six stories but I will focus on three of the stories which appear to fit the genre, these stories are The Judges House written by Bram Stoker who lived from 1847 to 1912. It is about a person called Malcomson who moves into an old house. He gets disturbed by rats while living in the house and then gets killed by a judge. The Tell Tale Heart written by Edgar Allen Poe who lived from 1809 to 1849. This is about a man who is killed by another man at his house, police go to the house after getting a disturbance call from the neighbours then the killer confesses about the murder to the police. The Signalman written by Charles Dickens who lived from 1812 to 1870. The story is about a signalman who sees a ghost and every time he sees it, the ghost shows something in the future which is going to happen. The signalman tells a passing man about this incident, the man and him become friends. Then the signalman sees his own death without knowing, he tells the man about this, they think of a rational reason for this but however the signalman dies. All three stories were written in the 19th century. They were all set at the same time when they were written. This is a good effect because at the time when they were written, horror stories containing superstition and the macabre were popular because the people at that time believed in witchcraft, ghosts and demons. The location of the action is of great importance in the gothic novel because it creates an atmosphere and feeling to the story. The Judges House is located in the dining room of an old, quiet and isolated house. An old, rambling, heavy built house, this creates a scary atmosphere thus matching the typical setting of a gothic horror story. It goes on to describe the dining room as a, room in darkness, this also creates a scary and terrifying atmosphere because you cant see in the dark and you dont know whats in the dark, this also is an essential gothic horror element because darkness creates a creepy and scary atmosphere. The Tell Tale Heart is located in a house that is probably old as a lantern is used by the narrator, this creates a scary atmosphere like the Judges House because you cant see in the dark and you dont know what is in the darkness so the reader imagines things that create the scary atmosphere, for example, the reader may imagine evil creatures emerging from the darkness, or someone suddenly jumping out from the dark surroundings. The Signalman is located in a railway station that is isolated which is gloomy and dark. This creates an intimidating atmosphere because isolation makes the reader think why it is isolated and the darkness as I said before creates a scary atmosphere. Also it refers to the place as being a great dungeon which is a typical setting of a gothic horror story. From the three stories I have read, the plot in the story was similar, it is really about good versus evil and because its a gothic horror story evil is supposed to win. The Judges House it is about a person called Malcomson who moves into a old house because he wanted to get on with his studies he was doing, in this house Malcomson gets disturbed by rats, especially one rat that was bigger and looked evil. Then one day he was killed by the judge that haunted the house, who was in fact the bigger and evil rat. This is a typical gothic horror plot because the good is killed by the evil. I think Stoker wrote the story well because he always throughout the story created a scary and macabre atmosphere by using descriptive words baleful eyes to describe a thing such as the rat which would produce a frightening image in the readers mind. I think Stoker did this well because his usual style is horror. This is a typical gothic horror plot because the good is killed by the evil. The Tell Tale Heart is about a crazy man who kills an old man because he didnt like the old mans eye. I think Poe wrote the plot as he did because his usual style is being a critic, so he put a bit of criticism in the story as the man killed the old man because he didnt like his eye, he thought it resembled that of a vulture. This also is a typical gothic horror plot because the innocent person (the old man) is killed by the evil person (the crazy man). The Signalman differs from The Judges House and The Tell Tale Heart because the evil doesnt kill the good or innocent this time. The Signalman is about a signalman who sees a ghost which warns him about something which is going to happen. The thing which the ghost warns the signalman about is his death, and then the signalman dies. This isnt really a typical gothic horror plot. I think Dickens wanted to create a mystery in the story as well as horror because his usual style of writing is mystery and horror, so he put mystery in because he is use to it. Characterisation plays a major part in all three gothic horror stories. In The Judges House Malcomson is studying mathematics and people who study are thought to have a more mature approach to the supernatural, this is why he laughs when Mrs Dempster, the charwomen, warned him about mysterious somethings I think Stoker chose this character because he would fit a typical character as he is a innocent and rational person, Stoker knows this because horror is his usual style of writing. Also Malcomson is a very intrigued in his studies, I think Stoker gave these characteristics in Malcomson because Stoker himself went to college and knows how studying is interesting and affects a young person. The judge, who is another main character, only comes in the story at the end, but at the end we also find out that the judge is in the story before the end as the big, evil rat. I know that the judge is evil because every time this big rat comes, all the other rats go because of its present. I also know its evil by how Stoker described the rat, baleful eyes, and these descriptions produced, an image in my head showing that it was evil. The judge meets the character determinant as he is the evil creature, he is like a ghost that haunts the house and he is described in a certain way to make him look wicked and evil.

Donald Trump :: essays research papers

Donald Trump, one of the great New York City business tycoons, has written several biographies that explain in detail his dealings in the business world and his personal life throughout his career. The book that I have read is titled Trump: The Art of the Comeback. In this biography Donald tells about the time in the eighties and early nineties that he was struggling financially because of the economy and the hardships that he went through to make a comeback. Each chapter tells a story about his return to the top and how he did it. This book is his account of how he engineered one of the most remarkable business comebacks in history. He has accumulated a net worth of well over three billion dollars.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the things that has helped Donald Trump throughout these times was his ability to make wise decisions based on his experience. I realized when reading this book that he was very talented in the area of decision making. He knew exactly when to buy or sell his assets to maximize his profits. Trump starts of by listing his top ten comeback tips. Some seem ridiculous, but apparently they work. He suggests things such as playing golf, being paranoid, going with your gut instinct, and always having a prenuptial agreement. The first chapter explains briefly his rise to the top and the rest of the book tells how he survived the low period and eventually regained his status. One of the main reasons for Donald’s downfall was the plummeting value of his vast real estate assets. He claims that his investments in Atlantic City are what eventually saved him from really going under between 1989 and 1992. Trump then bought Mar-a-lago, a gigantic mansion in Palm Beach and restored it. He vacations there and has had dozens of celebrities vacation there also. Donald Trump then acquired 40 Wall Street in 1995. The deal that he was able to make on this property was unbelievable. He paid the Kinson family one million dollars for a building that they had already previously paid for and had also sunk tens of millions into. He truly stole this property from them. The difficulty that the Kinson family was having was dealing with the German family that owned the ground lease. As soon as the Kinson family signed the papers he was on the phone working out a new 200-year ground lease with the Hinnebergs.

Free education Essay

When Thomas Edison set out to create the light bulb, his intention was to reduce the amount of time that people spent sleeping. His idea was that if people had light to work by they could and would work longer hours. In his mind, sleep was something that was not needed and stood opposed to progress (Coren, 1996). â€Å"Anything which tends to slow work down is a waste. We are always hearing people talk about ‘loss of sleep’ as a calamity. They better call it loss of time, vitality, and opportunity. † -Thomas Edison Even great minds, like Edison’s, can be wrong at times. Some researchers argue that had Edison spent more time sleeping it would not have taken him more than 1000 attempts to create his light bulb. Research has shown that lack of sleep can have adverse effects on an individual’s physical health, mental health, and productivity. The information presented in this paper will address the importance of sleep in human health, safety, and productivity. First, some physical issues attributed to sleep deprivation will be discussed. Next, mental problems linked to lack of sleep with be outlined with documented cases. Lastly, examples of errors and disasters that have been tied to sleep deprivation will be presented. There are many physical issues that are linked to sleep deprivation. Cardiovascular problems and greater risk of death have been tied to lack of sleep. The human body requires sleep to restore and repair itself. When the body does not get the rest it requires the consequences can be quite unfortunate. Poor sleep has been shown to increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, and heart attack. The human liver produces a protein called â€Å"C-reactive protein† that is used by the body to aid in response to inflammation, injury, or infection and is removed by the body when the inflammation, injury, or infection is gone or heals. This protein binds to damaged cells, as well as some bacteria, to aid in removing them from the body. This allows the body to heal. One study showed that over a period of five days during which a subject was denied sleep, the C-reactive protein builds up in blood at a steady and significant rate. Sleeping allows the body time to process and remove these proteins. An increase of these proteins can at times lead to heart attack, stroke, or high blood pressure (Meier-Ewert , Ridker , Rifai, Regan, Price, Dinges & Mullington, 2004). The body is able to restore itself and heal when given between six and eight hours of sleep in a 24-hour period. While a person sleeps the immune system is working to restore and revive the body. When the human body is not granted enough sleep, the immune system is not able to fully complete the task of taking care of and healing the body. Lack of sleep can also cause the number of T-cells to decline in the human body. T-cells aid in immunity and assist other cells in their functions. Lower T-cell levels mean that the body is less able to fight off infection, subdue inflammation, or heal an injury (Mann, 2010). When the body is unable to heal itself, there is greater risk of death. Sleep deprivation can also lead to an increase of stress, which has been linked to heart disease, obesity, depression, gastrointestinal issues, as well as mental heath issues. Allowing the body to rest and rejuvenate during sleep helps ensure that many physical issues associated with the lack of sleep can be avoided. Another way that lack of sleep increases the chance of early death is in traffic accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives a conservative estimate that 100,000 reported crashes per year are a result of a fatigued driver (â€Å"Facts and stats† 2012). Mental illness has also been linked to lack of sleep. Issues ranging from poor concentration, inability to focus, memory loss, the appearance of psychosis, and diagnosed mental disorders have been attributed to sleep deprivation. In the past, researchers believed that poor sleep was caused by psychiatric problems. However, recent research is showing that a lack of sleep is usually the catalyst of mental disorders. When the human body needs to concentrate or focus when it has not had enough sleep, it produces hormones adrenaline and cortisol in an attempt to engage and wake itself up. These hormones give the body a short-term boost in energy and they affect the body in much the same way that caffeine does. Once the boost in energy is finished, the body often â€Å"crashes† and a person returns to feeling tired; unable to concentrate or focus again. These hormones, again like caffeine, often make a person feel jittery of jumpy, which may impede concentration and focus. These hormones have also been directly linked to increase stress in the human body (Hart, 1985). Memory loss can also be a result of sleep deprivation. Memories are captured and recalled in the brain by a three-step process. The first step in creating memories is acquisition; where a person has their first experience with what will become the memory. The next is consolidation; which occurs while a person sleeps. In this step a memory becomes stable in a persons brain. Recall, the final step, is the ability to access the memory in the future. When the brain is denied the opportunity to stabilize a memory during sleep, a person is much less likely to retain the memory (Chang, 2011). Studies have also shown that students who study regularly and get a good night sleep before exams generally do better than students who â€Å"cram† the night before. The information that the student needs is better solidified in the brain and is ready for recall when the student needs to access the information (Sifferlin, Augu). Symptoms of psychosis have also been directly tied to sleep deprivation. In at least two documented cases, persons who went without sleep for extended periods of time showed symptoms similar to psychosis. In 1964 Randy Gardner attempted to gain entry into the Guiness Book of Work Records by staying awake for eleven days (264 hours). Gardner suffered a gamut of symptoms. Days two through five found Gardner unable to concentrate, irritable, unwilling to cooperate with others, and hallucinating. During days six through nine Gardner’s speech slowed, his irritability increased, and he began to have lapses in his memory. He often would begin sentences without finishing them and he had difficulty recalling the names of common objects. Paranoia began to set in on day ten. On day eleven, Gardner’s speech was slurred and without intonation. He seemed expressionless and had to be encouraged to talk or respond to someone talking to him (Ross, 1965). A similar story is told of Peter Tripp, a disk jockey from New York. In an effort to raise money for the March of Dimes, Tripp stayed awake for 200 hours. He showed many of the same symptoms that Gardner did. Tripp’s experience with sleep deprivation ended with him mistaking a doctor for an undertaker. He charged out of the room with doctors following close behind. Tripp’s mind could no longer determine what was real and what was not (Ross, 1965). With the aid of doctors, Randy Gardner was able to recover completely from his psychotic episode. He was monitored while he slept and eventually returned to normal sleep patterns and a normal state of mind. Peter Tripp, however, suffered from his self-inflicted psychotic break. For some time after his sleepless stunt he thought that he was an impostor of himself and complained of headaches and emotional instability. Lack of sleep can also affect how people perform at their jobs. Routine and remedial tasks are often affected by a lack of sleep. Simple errors, such as spelling, grammatical, mathematical, or clerical errors are most often made due to a lack of sleep. These errors can either go unnoticed or can be corrected without significant consequence. More significant errors are also attributed to fatigue. Between 50,000 and 100,000 deaths each year are caused by preventable medical errors. Long shifts for doctors, interns, and nurses deny medical professionals sleep required for them to function a high  levels. The nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, the meltdown at Chernobyl, the grounding of the Exxon Valdez, and the explosion of space shuttle Challenger have all been linked to fatigue (Harris, Horne, 2000). â€Å"Sleep deprivation is bad for your brain when you are trying to do high-level [thinking] tasks. It may have serious consequences both on performance and on the way your brain functions. † -J. Christian Gillin, M. D. (DeNoon, 2000) In research and in experience it has been proven that lack of sleep can have adverse effects on an individual’s physical health, mental health, and productivity. An individuals physical health is affected by sleep deprivation by an increased risk of death, cardiovascular problems, and issues with their immune system. A person’s mental health suffers as well from a lack of sleep. Memory loss, inability to concentrate or focus, and even psychotic episodes have been traced to sleep deprivation. Randy Gardner and Peter Tripp are prime examples of what happens to the brain when it goes without sleep. Poor job performance and errors ranging from insignificant to catastrophic have been linked to a lack of sleep. The amount of sleep needed for each individual is different. Where some people are able to function on very little sleep, others need many hours to fully restore and rejuvenate. References Coren, S. (1996). Sleep thieves : an eye-opening exploration into the mystery and science of sleep. New Yok, NY: Free Press Paperbacks. Hart, A. (1985). Adrenaline and stress. United States: W Publishing Group. Meier-Ewert , H. , Ridker , P. , Rifai, N. , Regan, M. , Price, N. , Dinges, D. , & Mullington, M. (2004, February 18). Effect of sleep loss on c-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker of cardiovascular risk.. Retrieved from http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/14975482. Mann, D. (2010, January 19). Can better sleep mean catching fewer colds?. Retrieved from http://www. webmd. com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/immune-system-lack-of-sleep Harrison Y, Horne J. 2000. The impact of sleep deprivation on decision making: A review. Retrieved from http://healthysleep. med. harvard. edu/healthy/matters/consequences/sleep-performance-and-public-safety Facts and stats. (2012). Retrieved from http://drowsydriving. org/about/facts-and-stats/ Ross, J. (1965). Neurological findings after prolonged sleep deprivation. Arch Neurol, 12, 399-403. Retrieved from http://www. psychiatrictimes. com/print/article/10168/54471? pageNumber=1&printable=true Chang, L. (2011, March 18). Sleep deprivation and memory loss. Retrieved from http://www. webmd. com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-deprivation-effects-on-memory? page=2 DeNoon, D. (2000, February 09). Lack of sleep takes toll on brain power. Retrieved from http://www. webmd. com/sleep-disorders/news/20000209/lack-of-sleep-takes-toll-on-brain-power Sifferlin, A. (Augu). Time healthland. Retrieved from http://healthland. time. com/2012/08/21/study-or-sleep-for-better-grades-students-should-go-to-bed-early/ EFFECTS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION1.

Best Buy Case Study Essay

Best Buy is a multinational corporation with over 4,000 locations nationwide. Circuit City was Best Buy’s only main competition for some years until it took over and ran Circuit City out of business. Best Buy’s market share increased after that however, other large retailers as well as e-tailers entered into the market. Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart and Apple became Best Buy’s new competition that caused a decrease in market sales in 2010. They all had the same thing in common after the Circuit City collapse and that was to increase electronics. They all had their own strategies to out-beat Best Buy. Although Best Buy acquired some more competition in a 2010 survey consumers still said Best Buy is the first to come to mind when they think about buying electronics. However, even though Best Buy is the first that comes to mind against the other competitors, depending on what the product is they will go to Amazon to buy it instead. Due to their strategy which focuses on three areas; customer-centricity, employment policies and exclusive branding, they are keeping up with the competition. Best Buy’s strategies may help them a majority of the time but they could change their strategies just a little bit. They should try what Wal-Mart does and price match ads with other stores so that way they are still getting the profits and keeping customers. In my opinion, Best Buy could improve their strategy when it comes to prices because they are on the higher end of prices. As a consumer myself, I do look at Best Buy first for my electronics but I usually go somewhere else because the prices are usually cheaper. Other than their prices I actually think their strategies are working out good for them and it shows in their rankings amongst other competitors. Consumer electronics is considered a mature industry because of the new trends. This industry hits record sales during the holiday seasons but still says rather well throughout the year as well. All companies associated with this industry try to keep up so they make their own products. However, due to manufactures cannibalizing their products their product life cycle has decreased. Manufactures started doing this to try to keep their consumers  loyalty. When prices start to fall for technology products this opens a bigger demographic; however by time the prices fall for the products they have come up with better products. In order to recapture the growth of Best Buy they should try to fix the prices to fit a bigger demographic. I think if they at least try to work with the consumers with the prices they would gain more customers. The problem is the fact that consumers go elsewhere when they see the prices and do a price match. Amazon became popular with electronics because people f ound out that they could get electronics of all kinds online. Also Amazon has an advantage over Best Buy because with Amazon there is free shipping on products, well on most products. I think if Best Buy tried to adapt some of Amazon’s strategy they can out beat them in the electronics department. If they could be like Amazon and have a limitless inventory online rather than just have their amount of availability on the showroom. If they did this I think they would see growth in their company. They pride their selves in having the most respected name brands in the consumer electronics industry so if they matched the prices with their pride in their brands I see a definite growth in their company. With Best Buy being a well-known company and is the first that comes to mind when talking about electronics, if they had a bigger choice when it came to the products than they might gain some more growth as well to go along with their already loyal customer base. At Best Buy, they offer a selection of energy-efficient products. These products were designed to help their customers around the world save some more money by using less energy. I think with Best Buy becoming more sustainable they are more able to maintain the interest of the stakeholders. With these products the shareholders play a big role in influencing their overall sustainability strategy. The stakeholders help with modeling Best Buy’s annual sustainability reports. So with them adding this strategy and allowing the stakeholders to get the chance to have a part in the strategy they are gaining their interest. Best Buy actually takes the recommendations from their stakeholders and they try to communicate with them in efforts to keep their interest in their decision to incorporate a sustainability strategy. I think this was a good move on their part because it states they were uncertain about Mr. Dunn’s five year growth strategy. The stakeholders  were worried abo ut Best Buy’s cash position and about if these strategies would work or not. Anytime when stakeholders have the opportunity to have a so in a company is a good thing. In conclusion, I believe Best Buy is a great company but can become a better one if they were to do some modifications with their strategies. With the constantly changing economy they need to adapt their strategies to the changes. I’m not saying they would have to always change their strategies but I think they should always try their best to make their strategies fit the customers as well as help the success of the company. With that being said I believe they will receive even better results for the company as well as the consumers.