(OutLine) Biography Animal Rights ( Michael Dwayne Vic) Essay

(OutLine) Biography Animal Rights ( Michael Dwayne Vic) - Essay Example He ended up serving 21 months in prison and 2 months in house arrest. d.) After his release, he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and basically his life returned to normal, although there are those who do not feel he has learned his lesson and dislike him for his actions. B. It illustrates that there is still a lot more to be done for animal rights since Vick was involved with the torture, abuse, and death of many dogs and was given less time in prison then some people involved with drugs receive. Plus, it shows that Vick was able to get his life back for the most part without too much difficulty. C. Discuss how animals are not really being protected by these laws as they are more about ensuring that humans behave in a certain civilized way. There needs to be more focus on the animals well being than the humans. A. Cases such as Michael Vick’s are important in that it shows how frequent abuse occurs and how widespread it is. It shows that animal abuse is not always perpetrated by the scuzzy lowlife with the beer belly who lives in poverty, but also by an affluent celebrity. B. Animals are beloved in America, but we still do not have enough legislation to protect these animals who many consider to be as important as a family member. If they are so important, why aren’t they receiving the rights and protection that they

Wheel of Change Sustainability Tool Essay Example for Free

Wheel of Change Sustainability Tool Essay Bob Doppelts Wheel of Change is a great tool for companies that seriously want to change their operations towards sustainability. According to Bob Doppelt, organizations can have the best intentions for improving and moving in a more sustainable direction, yet they fall prey to sustainability blunders. These blunders are: 1- Patriarchal thinking that leads to a false sense of security. This is the most serious of blunders. Employees who are not empowered and only take directives from superiors will lack in personal responsibility to drive change. 2- Silo approach to environmental and socio-economic Issues. Organizations where functions work independent of each other, like islands, have difficulty grasping a 360 view of the companies procedures and opportunity areas. This silo ed approach is an impediment to change. 3- No clear vision on sustainability. Without a clear vision change is not possible. 4- Confusion over cause and effect. When an organization focuses on the symptoms of a problem rather than the root cause of the problem, then the impact on sustainability will not be optimal. 5- Lack of information. Today, more than ever, transparency and the sharing of data are critical aspects in driving employee engagement, customer loyalty and stakeholder support. Transparency is key in driving change. 6- Insufficient mechanism for learning. Organizations that lack an openness to innovation and who do not promote a safe environment for testing and learning will find it very difficult to change their ways. 7- Failure to institutionalize sustainability. For change to happen within and organization, sustainability has to be baked into all aspects of a business. What the wheel of change provides a framework that helps organizations overcome the seven sustainability blunders. The wheel counteracts each blunder with a sort of antidote that, if followed accordingly, guarantees successful implementation for sustainable change. The seven interventions are: Intervention One – Change the dominant mindset through the imperative of achieving sustainability. Organizations need to disrupt the controlling mental models in place. Status Quo needs to be shattered. How can you bring it to life? Relentless and compelling messages from senior executives that make the case for sustainability. Intervention Two – Rearrange the parts by organizing transition teams. Cross functional team involvement and representation from all levels is required. Each team should be as diverse as possible to minimize the risk for status quo perpetuation. Teams will develop new goals and strategies as well as implement plans. Best Practice Example: The Herman Miller company maintains an Environmental Quality Action Team, composed of nine sustainability driven subcommittees. Intervention Three – Change goals by crafting an ideal vision and guiding sustainability principles. Leading organizations use end planning to craft the vision of the new sustainable enterprise. A compelling vision will be felt by the heart and understood by the mind. Best Practice Example: Scandic Hotels adopted a vision towards â€Å"resource caring†. A simple yet compelling way of communicating its objective for waste reduction. Intervention Four – Restructure the rules of engagement by adopting new strategies. Alter the rules that determine how work gets done. Align the rules to the vision. How to bring this to life: Change internal procedures, strategies, tactics and implementation processes in alignment with the new vision. Intervention 5 – Shift information flow by tirelessly Communicating the need, the vision and the strategies. Communication must be consistent, persistent, engaging and transparent. Best Practice Example: At Interface environmental issues are discussed at every staff meeting, every retreat and through internal communication. At one point in time, Ray Anderson said: â€Å"Sustainability has become the language of the company†. Intervention 6 – Correct feedback loops by encouraging and rewarding learning and innovation. Leading organizations have systems set up that allow for accurate feedback to flow as it relates to progress and setbacks. These organizations also reward those willing to take risks, experiment and learn. Best Practice Example: Henkel incorporated the â€Å"Henkel Innovation Awards† awarded to employees who develop sustainable products. Intervention 7 – Adjust the parameters by aligning systems and structures with sustainability. Change towards sustainability is an iterative process. To some extent, Change   Sustainability. In conclusion, The Wheel of Change demonstrates how the seven interventions interact with one another to form continuous transformation and improvements in line with a sustainability imperative.

Stephen Kings Influence On American Literature Essay -- essays researc

Stephen King is one of the most influential authors of today. His award-winning novels and short stories are known world -wide. His many awards and nominations have created a space for him in the literary world. King is a true â€Å"Horror King†, for his books, turned movies, have scared millions world- wide. Stephen King has helped bring America to prominence through his many books, essays and short stories. Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947 at the Maine General Hospital in Portland, Maine. His parents were Donald Edwin King and Ruth Pillsbury King. Stephen being the only natural born child in the family and his older brother David having been adopted at birth two years earlier. â€Å"The Kings were the typical, â€Å"nuclear† family of the fifties until one night when Donald King said he was stepping out for cigarettes and was never heard from again.† At this point Ruth took over raising the family with help from other relatives of the family. They traveled throughout many states over several years finally moving back to Durham, Maine in 1958. (P.R. 5 pg.1) Stephen King began his actual writing career in January of 1959 when David King and Stephen decided to publish their own local town newspaper named Dave's Rag. David bought a mimeograph and they created a paper that sold for five cents an issue. Stephen King attended Lisbon High School, in Lisbon, Maine in 1962. Collaborating with his best friend Chris Chesley, in 1963 they published a collection of 18 short stories called People, Places, and Things-Volume I. King's stories included "Hotel at the End of the Road", "I've Got to Get Away!† "The Dimension Warp", "The Thing at the Bottom of the Well", "The Stranger", "I'm Falling", "The Cursed Expedition", and "The Other Side of the Fog." A year later King's amateur press Triad and Gaslight Books, published a two part book titled "The Star Invaders". Stephen King made his first actual published appearance in 1965 in the magazine Comics Review with his story "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber." The story ran about 6,000 words in length. In 1966, Stephen King graduated from high school and took a scholarship to attend the University of Maine. Looking back on his high school days, King recalled that "my high school career was totally undistinguished. I was not ... ...p; In conclusion, Stephen King is not an easy person to write about. There are thousands of websites and books devoted to him and yet, none mention his international fame. Though my findings were slim, I feel that, given the information available, I have successfully proved that Stephen King has helped bring America into prominence through his writings. King is a dedicated writer and there is no end to his writing in site. â€Å"†¦And aside from being a force of nature, he’s a pretty good guy.† As said by Robert Parker, introducer of speakers at a benefit, Voices Louder Than Words, at Harvard. (P.R. 1 Pg. 161) 1. Beahm, George. America’s Best Loved Boogeyman Stephen King. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City 1998. 2. Beahm, George. The Stephen King Story. Andrew’s McMeel Publishing Kansas City 1991. 3. â€Å"Accident Recovery Update.† Stephen King Official Web Presence. http://www.stephenking.com (30 Jan. 2000) 4. â€Å"Novel Database.† http:///www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/1947/kingworks.htm (10 Feb. 2000) 5. â€Å"Stephen King Biography.† http://utopianweb.com/king/bio.html (10 Feb. 2000) 6. King, Stephen. ‘Salems Lot. Doubleday and Company New York 1975.

Requirements for Scientific Application for Programmers

In addition to merely providing the best quality or most efficient application for users of computer systems, designers at corporations such as Microsoft and programmers within such systems Java as are striving to enhance the capabilities of their application systems with the aim of making even innovative features in these systems user-friendly to even the most techno-phobic users of new scientific systems and applications. â€Å"One of the standard bugbears is the persistent belief†¦ that difficulty is a virtue in itself, even a sign of intelligence. (Girvan, 2002) Grasping this concept is a critical aspect of computing as modern technology becomes increasingly integrated into daily business life. â€Å"Users may need guidance as they work with unfamiliar software,† thus the use of easy to read menus and clear instruction manuals in the point and click ‘help' applications are simply the first step in creating less intimidating face for modern technology. (Girvan, 2002) Windows pioneered the development of the palettes and pull-down menus used for quick access to common symbols and operations. But cosmetic friendliness is one aspect, however, of making users feel comfortable with new applications. (Girvan, 2005) Automation of as many systems as possible within an application makes it easier for users to concentrate on aspects of the application that cannot be rendered without the use of supervision. The ability for a calculator application to run without supervision under the control of the batch management system can be configured so that it deploys a command line option for taking input from a file or assumes a default response. This feature can be found in computer applications designed with offline operations in mind, including Visual Basicc script (VBScript), JavaScript, Perl, all of which can be used on a Windows-based cluster. (High Performance Computing FAQ, 2005) â€Å"Functional friendliness† as a concept is also important when making scientific applications less intimidating to potential users. In other words, providing explanatory prompts for users when certain systems are deployed, such as available ‘drag and drop' controls and the display or visual prompting of likely intermediate steps in the application. Hypertext help browsers eliminate the need of a large, hidden command set to remember, such as one early Internet program â€Å"that required, to make a dialup connection, typing the modem command string, from memory, in hexadecimal. † (Girvan, 2002) Even if this example seems like an extreme example of a dinosaur code from the age of dial-up, only recently has the widespread graphical user interface of application software, with â€Å"sliders, menus, radio buttons, and check boxes,† become the norm. (Girvan, 2002) For example, â€Å"Waterloo Maple's Java-based Maplets† deploys visual description of the device scripting to control the user's interaction with the interface's worksheet during a programming session. In other prompted systems, â€Å"the Insert Component menu drops a graphical device into the worksheet, where it automatically passes input (for instance, a slider position) to a variable. Pop-up dialogue boxes allow fine-tuning of the layout and the underlying VBScript†¦ GUIs [Graphic User Interfaces] are also easily designed using GUIDE, a GUI layout editor that generates both a . FIG file of the contents and the basic M-code to handle the calling procedure,† in many systems Similarly, programming menus can access the code for the programmer, allowing for more detailed configurations. (Girvan, 2002) Even more experienced programmers, whether concerned with designing new systems, using existing systems, or individuals concerned with on and offline data storage and manipulation can appreciate some of the other updates newly available for scientific applications. Other useful recent enhancements to linear programming-such as NSolve numerical solution, and simplification, the use of memorable planetary and musical symbols, Asian language support for individuals most comfortable in expressing themselves in these languages, XHTML export and two new scientific data formats, SDTS (the ANSI Spatial Data Transfer Standard for geographical and satellite data) and FITS (the NASA-endorsed Flexible Image Transport System for storing astronomical metadata-all complete the increasingly diverse array of applications that add ease and save time for individuals of all levels of using and programming ability. Girvan, 2002)

Identify the Mission, Objectives, and Responsibilities of an Organisation Within It’s Environment Essay

An organisation is defined as ‘A group of people working together’ (Collins Dictionary 2001). An organisation is generally accepted as a unit working together to achieve the same goals. Concurring with this statement, Mintzberg (1997) defined goals as ‘the intentions behind decisions or actions, the states of mind that drive individuals or collectives of individuals called organisations to do what they do’. In order for an organisation to work, set guidelines have to be put in place for both short and long term aspirations, to ensure that the organisation is moving as a whole, a unit, to avoid separation, miscommunication, and misunderstanding. This can be achieved by administering a meaningful and worthwhile strategic plan consisting of a progressive, hierarchical set of aims. This will give each individual, as well as the organisation as a whole, a purpose. A set of aims can be as follows (Business Essentials 2010); An example of this would be my current place of employment. Their Vision Statement is as follows; ‘We are committed to providing a modern, efficient, and cost effective service focused on meeting our customer’s needs in a friendly , timely, and accurate manner, and will provide the necessary resources to enable achievement of our objectives. We will be readily accessible to everyone in the community to maximise social inclusion, minimise barriers to work and assist people to live in decent housing. We will process claims quickly and accurately, while actively reducing the incidences of fraud or error through investigation. Where fraudulent intent is proven, we will seek to apply appropriate sanctions as a deterrent against future activity. Where we seek to collect money, we will issue bills promptly and correctly. Where recovery action is required, we will act quickly, fairly, and impartially, but with due regard to social welfare and human rights of our customers.’ (Heather Tiso, 1995) However something so unobtainable may not be in the forefront of people’s minds. This is summed up in the following article statement ‘Mission statement in some companies has a huge influence in all management levels of the firm, but in others it is still just addition on the wall and usually what’s forgotten.’ Values of an organisation are more likely to be remembered, as they are more relatable to people within. The values upheld by the people within my organisation, are that of trust, respect, pride in work, ability to take ownership, two way communication – to give as well as to receive, to maintain excellent customer service at all time, to help each other out if need be, to feel comfortable and confident enough to speak up if they have any ideas for improvements, to strive for fairness, equality, and diversity, versatility, flexibility, taking responsibility for their own development, to be open minded as our line of service is ever changing. This encourages a culture of people that are able to pull together against constant adversity, and still achieve excellent results, as well as continually exceed Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The key objectives of my organisation, can be broken down in to the following examples; †¢Operational Goal – to increase revenue (Objective – decrease number of incorrect subsidy claims by 10%) †¢Non Operational Goal – to modify behaviour of customers (Objective – to get customers to act and think in a productive manner) †¢Primary Objective – to maximise revenues with as little expenditure as possible †¢Secondary objective(s) – to maintain excellent customer service, to strive for 100% accuracy, to maintain excellent working relationships with stakeholders. †¢Corporate Objectives – To increase customer satisfaction, to minimise risk, to ensure a glide path is in place for these objectives. †¢Unit Objectives – to answer all calls within 20 seconds, to deal with all work items with a turnaround of 9 days, to see all customers visiting the offices within under 5 minutes, to identify and understand our customer’s needs, to maintain a very high level of service, to develop personal/professional relationships with stakeholders. The influence of stakeholders Identifying Stakeholders is a process of integration within the said organisation. This can be summarised with a statement from a World Bank Group article – ‘All parties should be listed which are likely to be affected by the development, both positively or negatively, directly or indirectly.’ Stakeholders in our company are highly valued and important, and therefore our relationships with them are maintained to a very high standard. Our organisation has numerous companies identified as Stakeholders. This is not just on a professional level, as on top of Internal Stakeholders (i.e. staff) we recognise a number of Connected Stakeholders (customers, suppliers,) and External Stakeholders (local community, the government). Therefore, overall Stakeholder influence is vast, extending way beyond just making a customer happy. The knock on effects of the positive or negative experience of that customer may affect my organisation greatly. As different Stakeholders have different interests, it is not possible to focus on all of them at once with a blanket gesture in the hope of satisfying all their needs. Their needs have to be prioritised by looking at individual objectives, and balancing important/urgent needs with needs that would not have an adverse effect or affect relationships by waiting to be dealt with. Examples of Stakeholders in my organisation, are employees, customers, and the Government. As staff are immediately and intimately connected with the organisation, their influence is going to possibly be the strongest influence. It has been said numerous times that employees are the most influential. Motivated employees are highly likely to be more productive in producing work, ideas, and meeting objectives. Coincidently, the objectives of staff, are to be treated fairly, be given equal opportunity, be recognised for the consistently excellent work they produce when the odds are stacked against them, feel secure in their job and working environment, and have a sense that they are achieving. These objectives are met in the most part, however, as the organisation as a whole has a hierarchy , and it tends to be the senior managers setting objectives and deciding whether these have been met. This can lead to the human element being lost, and people judged by numbers, as other factors aren’t always taken into consideration. This can affect morale, but ultimately, our nee ds are met. Achieving objectives of stakeholders One of our Connected Stakeholders, our customers, are generally the focal point of our work. The bottom line, is customers want a service provided with their individual interests in mind, with the least possible output from them. The saying ‘The Customer is Always Right’, is incorrect in my opinion. The customer may not know what they need, they need to be asked open and closed questions in order to ascertain exactly what service they require. Customers wish to be heard, treated with respect, and for a positive experience with whatever organisation they deal with. The needs of our customers are met, as they are one of the most important stakeholders. Failure to meet these needs may result in loss of business, complaints, and repercussions from higher management if objectives are not met. The Government is an example of our External Stakeholders. This is due to the fact we are a public sector organisation, and a direct derivative of Central Government. The Government’s objectives are mainly that their Corporate Objectives influence our Unit Objectives, as well as Primary/Secondary Objectives. We meet the requirements of the Government by adhering to their laws, policies, procedures, and implementing them whilst maintaining a professional forefront to other stakeholders, such as the general public.