Stock Options

Stock options increasingly dominate CEO pay packages. This column outlines when economic theory suggests that options-heavy compensation is in shareholders’ interests. The answer is that boards of directors are likely giving too many executive stock options. As boards of directors have sought to align the interests of managers and stockholders, executive stock options have become an ever-larger fraction of the typical CEO’s total compensation (Murphy 1999). Occasionally this practice has led to aggregate compensation payments that are so large as to mock the very connection they are supposed to encourage. What does economic theory have to say about executive compensation in a dynamic context? From a conceptual perspective, how effective is the granting of stock options in promoting the correct managerial decisions? How confident can we be that when a large fraction of a manager’s compensation assumes this form he or she will be led to undertake the same labor hiring and capital investment decisions that the shareholders would themselves want to undertake if they were similarly informed? Managerial incentives and the design of compensation contracts are the systemic implications of executive remuneration are taken into account, that is, in a general equilibrium context; one finds that for a contract to induce managers to take the correct business decisions in the above sense, it must naturally have the following three features. A significant portion of a manager’s remuneration must be based, in one way or another depending on the context, on her own firm’s performance. This concurs with the general message of a wealth of microeconomics studies. But this is not sufficient. The general contract characteristics must also be such that the manager is not, as a consequence of this first requirement, enjoying an income stream with time series properties that are too different from the time series properties of the income stream enjoyed by shareholders. This later restriction arises because, as is well known, the income and consumption position of a manager will determine his or her willingness to undertake risky projects. Optimal delegation requires that this risk attitude is not too different from shareholders’ own. The second feature may have to be modified if the manager’s risk tolerance is inherently different from that of the shareholders. The typical motivation for stock options (as opposed to pure equity positions) is precisely that the (recurrent) lack of income diversification of a manager may make her excessively prudent (in pursuit of a â€Å"quiet life†). This is the idea behind setting executive compensation according to a â€Å"highly convex† contract, i. e. ne where the upside is really good, but the downside is not so bad. This asymmetry is necessary induce risk averse managers to make the right investment decisions from the perspective of well-diversified stockholders. Are options-dominated contracts warranted? Shareholders receive both wage and dividend income, with the wage or salary component being, on average, the larger of the two. This is an implicati on of National Income Accounting. In the typical modern economy, about 2/3rds of GDP is composed of wages, with capital’s income account for only 1/3. Points 1 and 2 above therefore imply that an optimal contract will have both a salary (with properties close to those of the wage bill) and an incentive component (with properties naturally linked to the income accruing to capital owners) with the former being about twice as large as the latter. The incentive component may take the form of a non-tradable equity position (giving the right to regular dividend payments) or it may be more closely tied to the firm’s stock price itself. Furthermore, both of these components enter linearly into the manager’s compensation function. In today’s business world, the salary component appears to be too small relative to the incentive component. Hall and Murphy (2002) report that the grant date value of stock options represented 47% of average CEO pay in 1999. Equilar, Inc. , an executive compensation advisory firm, reports that stock options awards represented 81% of CEO compensation for the largest 150 Silicon Valley firms in 2006. What happens to incentives if the salary component is too small relative to the incentive component? Such an imbalance between the components of a manager’s compensation will lead to excessive smoothing of the firm’s output from the shareholders’ perspective. They typically prefer a highly pro-cyclical investment policy whereas, without further inducement, the manager will be much more reluctant to exploit the good opportunities and instead select a mildly pro-cyclical or, even, possibly an anti-cyclical investment strategy. This problem is well recognized, and it is the main justification for using highly convex managerial compensation contracts (i. e. options). Convex contracts overcome this possibility by reducing the personal (expected) cost to the manager of increasing the firm’s investment when times are good. If the manager’s preferences are well represented by a logarithmic utility function of consumption, however, then this latter argument does not apply; the manager’s actions will be insensitive to contract convexity. That is, even a compensation contract that is heavily laden with options will not induce managers to alter their behavior one whit. A straightforward application of this logic produces an even more striking result. If the manager happens to be more risk averse than would be dictated by log utility – an entirely plausible configuration – the only way to induce optimal managerial behavior is by using a highly unconventional remuneration package in which the manager’s compensation is inversely related to the firm’s operating results. This would mean a contract that pays high compensation when profits are low and vice versa. In this situation an options laden compensation package will induce the manager to behave in a manner directly opposite to what the shareholders would like. More generally, the degree of contract convexity must be related to the relative risk aversion of the manager as compared to the shareholders and if these quantities are not precisely estimated large welfare losses will ensue. From a theoretical macroeconomic perspective, the circumstances under which a highly convex compensation contract, for example, one that has a large component of options, will properly guide the manager in making the correct hiring and investment decisions are very narrowly defined. It would be surprising if these circumstances were fulfilled in the typical contract case.

Liquid Chromatography Lab

Liquid Chromatography – Laboratory #18 Introduction: We are using liquid chromatography to separate the colored substances in grape-flavored drinks. We separate the component dyes, and then we separate the flavorings and citric acids. Background: Chromatography is a process that is used to separate a substance into its component parts. The separation occurs between the stationary and moving phase of the lab. The moving phase consists of a fluid and the stationary phase consists of a solid. The mixture we are trying to split up is integrated into the mobile phase.When the mobile phase interacts with the solid phase, the components of the mixture are attracted to the solid phase in varying degrees. Components with higher levels of attraction for the mobile phase result in a faster speed of transport throughout the solid phase. Components with higher levels of attraction for the solid phase result in a slower speed of transport throughout the solid phase. These differing levels o f attraction end up in separation of the mixture into component bands, which exit the system as distinct liquids. [pic] Liquid chromatography labs are composed of six main parts: . A separation column filled with a fine-grain solid. b. A solvent (mobile phase) that moves through the separation column. c. An injection system to transport the solvent to the separation column. d. A pump to force the solvent through the separation column. e. A detector to determine when the components exit the separation column. f. A recorder [pic] Although in most chromatography labs the solid phase is polar and the mobile phase is nonpolar, we are using Reverse Phase Liquid Chromatography, where the mobile phase is polar and the solid phase is nonpolar. Also read: Fluorenol PolarityWhen the mobile phase interacts with the solid phase, the polar parts of the mobile phase are attracted to each other, so they wash through the column quickly. The less polar components of the mobile phase are attracted to the nonpolar solid in the column, so they wash through the column slowly. This results in a separation of the components, whose degree is measured as the resolution. [pic] Pre-lab Questions 1. What is the process of chromatography used for? 2. In the chromatography, components of a mixture distribute themselves between the stationary phase and the mobile phase.Explain how the components can be separate with these two phases. 3. In the liquid chromatography column used in this experiment, the solid has a C18 hydrocarbon bonded to it. Would a C18 hydrocarbon be polar or nonpolar? Explain. 4. Below are the typical data for this experiment. 1 mL of a Kool-Aid solution was loaded on a Sep-Pak C18 Column. The red and blue dyes were eluted fro m the column with a constant flow of 18% isopropyl alcohol. The eluted solution was collected in a 10 mL graduated cylinder. The volumes of eluant were recoreded at the beginning and end of each color band. pic] Information: The first step in calculating the selectivity and resolution of the system is determining the volumes of eluant corresponding to the band widths and band centers for each eluted dye. a. Bandwidth W is the volume in mL of eluant containing each dye as it emerges from the column. Calculate the bandwidth W for each dye for each of the three runs and then determine the average bandwidth W average for each dye. b. Center of band, called Average Retention Volume V Rave corresponds to the center of each band.The average retention volume is calculated by taking the average starting volume for each band and adding one half the corresponding average band width. V Rave = V start + (? ) W ave Calculate the average retention volume volume V Rave for the red and blue dyes. c. For each dye, a capacity factor k' can be calculated. This term is a relative measure of the attraction of the dye for the stationary phase as compared to its attraction for the mobile phase. The equation fo capacity factor is : k' = (V Rave – V M)/V M here V Rave is the average retention volume for each dye and V M is mobile phase or eluant volume in the cartridge. V M can be estimated to be one half the cartridge volume, with the stationary phase occupying the other half. For the Sep-Pak cartridges, this V M value is . 49 mL. Calculate k' for each dye. d. A selectivity or separation factor, alpha, can now be calculated. This is the ratio of the k' values for each dye, with the larger value in the numerator. For good separation, a mobile phase is usually chosen that gives an alpha value between 2 and 10. Calculate alpha for this separation: alpha = (k' Blue)/(k' Red) e.The resolution R, a measure of how well the two dyes are separated by the column and eluant, is determined by the equation R = 2(V Rave Blue – V Rave Red)/(W Blue + W Red) where the numerator is the volume between the band centers and the denominatory represents the average band width. The greater the selectivity, the larger the numerator and therefore the greater the resolution. The resolution can also increase as the efficiency of the column increases, since this results in a lower average band width. Calculate R for this separation. Materials: Isopropyl Alcohol, 70% 50 mLIsopropyl Alcohol, 28%, 10 mL Isopropyl Alcohol, 18% 50 mL Isopropyl Alcohol, 5% 10 mL Graduated Cylinder, 10mL Graduated Cylinder, 25 mL Distilled Water, 300 mL Grape Koolaid Solution, 20 mL Sep-Pak C18 Cartridge 10 mL Syringe w/ male Luer tip Beaker, 100 mL, 3 Beaker, 50 mL, Safety Precautions: Isopropyl alcohol is inflammable and a fire hazard. Do not conduct this laboratory in the presence of flames. This alcohol is slightly toxic by ingestion and inhalation. Chemical-resistant goggles, gloves, and aprons are required. Wash and rinse hands thoroughly with soap and water after conducting the lab.Procedure Part 1: Isocratic Separation (Constant rate of flow and solvent concentration) Pretreatment of the Sep-Pak C18 Cartridge 1. Cut off the exit tube/shorter end of the cartridge at the point where it meets the body of the cartridge. 2. Load the syringe with 10mL of 70% isopropyl alcohol. 3. Connect the tip of the syringe to the long end of the Sep-Pak cartridge. 4. Pump the isopropyl alcohol through the syringe cartridge at a rate of 5-10 mL/minute. 5. Collect the alcohol in a 10 mL graduated cylinder to monitor flow rate. 6. Repeat previous steps with distilled water. Sample Injection . Use 10 mL syringe to slowly inject 1 mL of Kool-Aid solution onto the column. 2. Discard the effluent that washes out. 3. Remove the cartridge from the syringe. 4. Rinse the syringe with 10 mL of distilled water 3 times to erase Kool-Aid residue. Sample Elution 1. Fill the syringe with 18% isopropyl alc ohol eluant and attach the syringe to the Sep-Pak Cartridge. 2. Pump the alcohol through the cartridge with a flow rate of 5-10 mL/min. 3. Collect effluent in 10 mL graduated cylinder. 4. Record volume of effluent collected as first and last of colored drops of each of the dyes exit.If separation is imperfect, record data for beginning/end of intermediate purple bands. Center of the purple band acts as the end of the first band and beginning of the last. Column Regeneration Repeat measurements two more times. Between injections, wash the column with 10 mL of distilled water at the same flow rate of 5-10 mL/min. If colored residue remains, repeat preatreatment. Part 2: Step Gradient Separation Now, we change composition of the eluting liquid. We first use a polar solvent, and then we reduce the polarity of the solid phase by adding isopropyl alcohol.Through this, we wash out citric acid and flavoring oils in addition. Pretreatment of the Sep-Pak C18 Cartridge Follow the pretreatment in Part 1. Sample Injection and Component Elution 1. Inject 1 mL of Kool-Aid solution into the column. 2. Elute polar components of the mixture (citric acid and sugar) by passing 5 mL of distilled water through the column. 3. Collect effluent in the first small beaker. 4. Elute the red dye by passing 10 mL of 5% isopropyl alcohol through the column. 5. Collect effluent in the second small beaker. 6. Use 10 mL of the 28% isopropyl alcohol to elute blue dye. 7. Collect effluent in the third small beaker. . Use 10 mL of 70% isopropyl alcohol to elute nonpolar flavor oils and additives. 9. Collect effluent in the fourth small beaker. 10. Record the color of each effluent. Evaporate the solvents and examine the components. 1. Allow the solutions to evaporate and leave them overnight in the fume hood until next lab period. Label solutions properly. 2. Observe and describe contents of each of the beakers. Measure using color, odor, and appearance. Data Table Part 1: Isocratic Separation | |Red Dye |Blue Dye | | Run #1 |Run #2 |Run #3 |Run #1 |Run #2 |Run #3 | |Start of Band (mL) | | | | | | | |End of Band (mL) | | | | | | | |W (mL) | | | | | | | |Vrave (mL) | | | | | | | |K’ | | | | | | | Part 2: Step Gradient Separation Beaker |Eluant |Observations | |1 |H2O | | | | | | |2 |5% isopropyl alcohol | | | | | | |3 |28% isopropyl alcohol | | | | | | |4 |70% isopropyl alcohol | | | | | | Calculations Determine the following values and show calculations. Refer to question six in the Pre-Lab Questions. Enter results in the Part 1 data table. 1. Bandwidth W for each dye. 2. Average Retention Volume V Rave for each dye. 3. Capacity Factor k' for each dye. 4. Selectivity alpha for the two dyes with this isocratic separation. 5. Resolution R for the two dyes with this isocratic separation.Post-Lab Questions 1. What is meant by polarity of molecules? What causes differences in polarity? 2. In discussing solubility, the rule â€Å"like dissolves like† is frequently used. What does this mean? 3. Draw the structural formula of isopropyl alcohol. Explain how it differs in polarity from water. 4. For good separation of the dyes, the resolution should be greater than one. What was the value you calculated? Did the two dyes overlap as they emerged from the column, or was the separation a good one? 5. In the step gradient separation, four separate fractions were collected. How were these related to the polarities of the column and of the eluting solvent?

Benjamin Banneker

Period Benjamin Banker was born In 1731 near Baltimore. HIS Grandmother, an Englishman, taught him to read and write. For several winters he attended a small school open to blacks and whites. There he developed a keen interest in mathematics and science. Later, while farming, Banker pursued his mathematical studies and taught himself astronomy. In 1753, he completed a remarkable clock. He built it entirely of wood, carving each gear by hand. His only models were a pocket watch and an old picture of a clock. The clock kept almost perfect time for more than fifty years.In 1791, Banker served as assistant to Major Andrew , the surveyor appointed by President George Washington to lie out the boundaries of District of Colombia. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson had recommended Banker to help In this work. From 1791 to 1796, Banker made all the astronomical and tide calculations and weather predictions for a yearly almanac. Banker sent Jefferson a copy of his first almanac. With it he sent a letter in which he called for the abolition of slavery and a liberal attitude toward blacks. Bankers skills impressed Jefferson greatly.Jefferson sent a copy of the almanac to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris an evidence of the talent of Negroes. Opponents of slavery in the United States and England also used the almanacs as evidence of blacks abilities. The Publishers of Bankers almanacs printed contributions by prominent Americans in addition to his material. In the 1793 almanac, for example, the famous surgeon and statesman Benjamin Rush proposed the appointment of a U. S. Secretary of peace. Banker himself probably contributed a few proverbs, essays, and poems. I think Benjamin Banker changed the world with his almanac.If It was not for this almanac people would not be able to keep records of certain things that go on astronomically. Such as the weather and the temperature. We would not know what weather to expect at what time of the year. We would not know what kind of moon to look for at night. Banker really showed people that blacks had more abilities than everyone thought. Benjamin Banker By Jay Benjamin Banker was born in 1731 near Baltimore. His Grandmother, an in this work. I think Benjamin Banker changed the world with his almanac.

Unemployment in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Unemployment in UK - Essay Example Unemployment in UK The thing that makes unemployment most dangerous is that it directly affects the growth of a nation and this is becoming evident for UK. United Kingdom, arguably Europe’s most influential country over the history has been dealing with this ailment since the early 1970’s. The unemployment rate in the United Kingdom was last reported as 8.4% in December 2011. (Hamilton) Due to this it is very important to analyze the cause of this mass unemployment in UK, and to find viable solutions to this particular problem. Summary of Articles As proposed by Hamilton, in his article â€Å"U.K. Unemployment Increases as Global Outlook Cut: Economy† published in Business Week (January 18, 2012), mass unemployment in UK touched its zenith in 16 years in November 2011. This was primarily due to Britain’s plunge into recession again. The unemployment rate according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) rose to a staggering 8.4%, the highest recorded since January 199 6. The number of people attaining jobless benefits rose to a figure of 1.6million. The World Banks’ estimation of global growth has experienced repeated down grades in last three years. The prime reason that has been forwarded by them is a declining state of the UK economy. Since UK is a part of the European Union and enjoys a quite significant status hence the euro-area crisis is being compounded by Prime Minister David Cameron’s budget cuts. This is affecting consumer confidence negatively and will lead to a further loss of employment for about 700000 workers by 2017. As specified by Nida Ali, an economic adviser in the Ernst & Young item club, the future for the labour market is pretty dismal. She even expects the rate of unemployment to rise by another 9.3% in a year. ITEM (Independence Treasury Economic Model) Club acknowledged that Britain has been struck by recession once again and Europe’s incapability to end the crisis of debt had a simultaneous effect on Royal Bank of Scotland group in United Kingdom. It has proposed last week that it will shut down its corporate-finance units and equities that will cut down almost 35000 jobs. Hamilton has also cited the ITEM club regarding the possibility of 600 job cut by â€Å"Premier Foods Plc† to illustrate the grim situation in UK job market. (Hamilton) According to Barrow in his article â€Å"Foreign workers take yet more UK jobs as number of Britons in work plunges and youth unemployment hits 1 million† published in Daily mail UK, a prime reason for unemployment in UK is the increased absorption of foreign workers by the firms belonging to UK instead of own domestic workers. Most of the business entities in UK hire foreign workers and that has left United Kingdom’s unemployment rate at the highest in 17years. The ministers termed this as â€Å"unacceptable†, but the management of the reputed entities in UK pointed out that many young British workers are lazy an d incapable at basic works, which made them to shift towards the foreign workers. As an example, the proportion of foreign workers at a leading firm of plumbers, â€Å"Plimico Plumbers†, has doubled over the past two years because the domestic British workers lack the right work ethics. Furthermore it is often seen that the workers are more interested in real wage than nominal wage courting a fall in their purchasing power. (Barrow) Evaluation & Conclusion It has been specified by Hamilton that the Prime Minister of UK has been administering a budget

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 58

No topic - Essay Example This is not healthy at all, since the missionaries should only do their part of spreading the gospel and leave the rest for the recipients to accomplish. He indicated that provision of external financial help is not self-sustaining and it could only lead to more problems than solutions. Jean indicates that missionaries premeditate their strategies for attaining their goals. The reason is that missionary works are motivated by a hero’s mentality where people assume that missionary is going to bring the desired salvation to the masses in terms of money and resources. As a result, missionaries have to premeditate how to achieve this goal already in the mindsets of the masses for them to achieve their goals. This leads to unsustainable organizations that are not capable of cultivating indigenous resources. These organizations are often vulnerable and when the missionaries withdraw or reduce their external support, these organizations are doomed to fail. Thus, he argues for the cultivation of a sustainable and indigenous church that thrived on local resources but not from missionary

Evaluate the options at the security manager disposal to respond to Essay

Evaluate the options at the security manager disposal to respond to organizational lost - Essay Example The capability to access and circulate data quickly and readily sounds marvellous from a productivity viewpoint; however, this is terrifying from a security perspective. Numerous studies have demonstrated that employees can equally do damage. This essay will mainly focus on the threats, dangers and risks that organizations are exposed to in the arena of Information Technology, approaches that managers can adopt to reduce them. The paper explores the implication of data theft for an organization within the financial sector with a bias towards insider threats. The key danger facing organizations emanates mainly from information technology; other hazards may include negligent workers, unsatisfied employees, data theft, documents and improper disposal of data (Blackwell 2009, p.8). In response to security threats to organization’s data, organizations have implemented diverse tools to mitigate and contain those threats through approaches such as passwords, encryption, firewalls, access-control lists, network traffic monitoring, system audits, and patch management. However, despite this arsenal, organizations cannot entirely impede the flow of proprietary data, confidential information, and trade secrets. An organization can frequently detect or control when an outsider (or a non-employee within the organization) attempts to access organizational data, either physically or electronically, and as such, the organization can be able to lessen the threat posed by an outsider stealing organization property. Nevertheless, the â€Å"thief† who can be considered harder to discover and who can render the most damage is the insider or employees who have legitimate access. Insiders embody authorized users with genuine access to corporate networks, data, and applications. Insiders include, but are not limited to, board members, employees, executives, business managers, IT consultants, contractors, and outsourcers. Specialists who

Econometric Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Econometric Project - Essay Example will use in-depth statistical analysis processes to create models relating the different observations, particularly that between gross weekly earnings (grmain1) and other observations such as age, sex, race, years of education and number of years in employment, among others. Correlation analysis will also be used to investigate the strength of the relationship observed between the dependent variable (gross weekly earnings) and other independent variables. A residual plot will be used to confirm the presence or absence of outliers, the plot will also indicate whether there were any particular areas where the model greatly under or over-predicted the relationship between unemployed persons and persons seeking employment. From the results, it is observed that othe sample consists of 7227 respondents. The mean income is obtained as 10.3 and this corresponds to an income category of  £300-350 per week. The standard deviation is obtained as 4.5 and this corresponds to an income category of  £100-125 per week. This implies that on average, the respondents’ salaries differ from the average earning by this amount. The STATA output shown indicates that the greatest proportion of respondents (20.23%) earn over  £600 per week followed by those that earn  £300 - 350 and  £250-300 with 9.5% and 9.2% respectively. Apart from persosn that do not earn anything, the income category of  £50-75 has the least number of respondents. It is observed that out of the 7227 respondents, 47% were male while the remaining 53% were female. These percentages correspond to 3398 and 3829 persons respectively. Observing these percentages, it is seen that both sexes made up approximately 50% of the sample. Further analysis of the data on sex in later sections of the paper will give further findings. The greatest proportion of respondents have â€Å"white british† ethnicity followed by â€Å"any other white background†. The two ethnicities account for almost 95% of all persons surveyed. This

Personal Health Lab Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Health Lab - Essay Example The issue of financial benefit from Lacks’s cells continues to be raised. Her heirs are the antithesis of a Norman Rockwell American family. Since many of them live at a subsistence level and often without health care, there is considerable irony in the fact that millions of dollars have been made on Lacks’s genetic material. Those who carry her genes have not seen one cent of that windfall. Decades passed before the family even knew of the continued existence of their mother, in her extraordinary cells. Not only is this famous woman buried in an unmarked grave, but also her family is â€Å"unmarked† with the monies her cells have generated. One of the incidents Skloot relates concerns her ongoing relationship with Lacks’s youngest daughter, Deborah. When Skloot began her research, Deborah was in her sixties. Deborah’s approach to the revelation about her mother was mixed. On one hand, she had many sober questions about her mother’s illness, her ongoing â€Å"life,† and its contributions to science as well as about the implications for her own health. On the other hand, she feared that her mother’s cells felt the effects of the diseases they were employed to study. At times Deborah believed her mother to be, in some sense, alive and capable of feeling the pain and other accompanying effects of AIDS, Ebola, and other diseases. She had read that her mother’s cells had been used for researching cures for these diseases. She vacillated between a cooperative and friendly attitude toward the author and a paranoid and distrustful stance. Skloot stuck with Deborah through her bouts with depression, hysteria, and severe cases of hives. The author once even came to blows with Lacks’s daughter, and she was present when Deborah was exorcized. By the time the book was published, Deborah had died.  

Food safty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Food safty - Essay Example We also observed that safe food storage and safe food preparation are not followed. Proper use of refrigerator and freezer is not observed as food is not given appropriate labelling and packaging. One of the reasons why food gets contaminated as FDA stated is when food are not separated from each other, such as what we have seen from the restaurant. Spoiled fruits and food mingle so that the cold storages emit bad smell. Correct food storage temperature is not kept so that foods are not in good condition. Incorrect food temperature causes food spoilage that may harm customers. (FDA 2014) There is also violation on human contact with food as we noted a worker who did not practice sanitation as she used her gloves in all her food preparations in the kitchen without proper cleaning it. She did not care to remove her watch that could probably contaminate the food she is preparing, which is again contrary to FDA

The Whole Person Paradigm Essay Example for Free

The Whole Person Paradigm Essay The Whole Person Paradigm Knowing oneself is the first step for the improvement of one’s personality. For us do better, we must first accept the things we are better at and the things we are the least, in short, identify your potentials, harness it with your passion and overcome your weaknesses. Personally one of the best traits that I feel I have is the urge for learning new things and adopting what can be really used. I can say that I am good in speaking, planning, organizing which I can use more in the teaching profession. Most of my former teachers who are presently my co-teachers often say that I have most of the talents and skills far better to be an excellent educator but still have to work on my attitude. They say I’m the â€Å"jack of all trades† which means having to know most but haven’t perfected or mastered some. Most people are easy saying things they believed they are good at but failed to accept the things they lacked with, and the worse, afraid to face the weaknesses they had. Second strength that I gained through experience is converting weakness as my strength by means of facing and learning from them. I do now believed that I should revalue attitude sided by skills and not to tend to forget the first. Number one is to add my patience, perseverance and love of work to anything accepted and took an oath to do, my responsibilities and duty. As a teacher, a learner, an educator and as a researcher I can touch lives by setting as an example of my persistence, patience and the willingness to help others. At the moment I’m assessing myself, it took me couple of days where to start on how to describe my life and end up hearing a song which I think best describes my life in that moment. The Climb-Myley Cyrus I can almost see it- To widen your vision in life. That dream I’m dreaming of I had a chance to redefine what are my dreams and goals at time being. There’s a voice inside my head said You’ll never reach it- I had the courage to continue personal progress. Every step I’m taking Every move I’m make me with Lost with no direction- I had set my time table and set target. My faith is shaking- My faith grows more. But I got to keep trying. Got to keep my head hailed high-Confidence together with hard work inside me matures. There’s always gonna be another mountain Never to lose hope and faith in God I’m always gonna wanna make it move†¦ Keep on moving†¦- Never to stop learning and believing.

Ethical Issues of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

Ethical Issues of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) Identify a specific situation, from your own experience in practice, where an ethical issue arose. With regard to confidentiality, outline the situation and explore the issues involved. Using appropriate ethical theory/principles, analyse the situation and the action taken to resolve the problem. In this essay we shall consider the case of Mrs.P., a 39 yr. old married mother of three who attended at a gynaecology clinic with menorrhagia. She was investigated and was found to have, amongst other things, a chlamydial infection. She was horrified. On questioning, she was initially incensed and stated that the path lab must have made a mistake and that such a thing â€Å"simply was not possible†, she denied any knowledge of how such an infection could have been contracted and asked the staff if it meant that her husband had been unfaithful. It was about half an hour after the news had been broken and the rest of her problems had been dealt with, that the staff moved onto the delicate matter of contact tracing. It was only then that Mrs.P. eventually confided that she had had a number of clandestine relationships without her husband knowing. One of these relationships was with her husband’s best friend from his work (Mr. H). She was adamant that neither he nor her husband should be told, as she could not face the consequences from the inevitable fall out. The clinic staff were also told that Mr and Mrs H were desperate to have a baby and that Mrs H was about to consider going for referral for infertility investigations. There are many ethical issues in this small clinical encounter and they represent, as a generalisation, issues that are typical of many ethical difficulties that present to healthcare professionals in the UK on a daily basis. The subject of medical ethics has evolved over a huge length of time and is, in part, dependent on the circumstances and environment in which it is applied. (Veitch RM 2002). In this essay we shall consider these ethical difficulties as they pertain to Mrs.P., but before we consider them in detail, let us consider the overriding ethical principles that should guide the actions of those concerned. We can start with a historical note. If we consider Hippocrates’ often quoted dictum â€Å"first do no harm†, (Carrick P 2000), we will see that it underpins the first guiding principle of ethics, that of Non-Maleficence. This means â€Å"no malice†. It places an implied burden on any healthcare professional to not only avoid doing harm to a patient, but also to take active steps to make sure that harm does not occur through accident or negligence. The Principle of Beneficence takes the argument further with an expectation of doing good or â€Å"goodness† as a quality. As we have suggested earlier, this quality is variable and is judged in the circumstances in which it occurs. This is particularly relevant in questions relating to consent which again, is central to the case of Mrs.P. (McMillian J 2005) The third principle of ethics that is relevant to our considerations here is the Principle of Dentology which places an expectation on the healthcare professional to act in a way that means that decisions are made in the patient’s best interests and are not in any way influenced by other considerations such as cost or expediency. (Tà ¤nnsjà ¶ T 2005) There is then the consideration of autonomy. In the case of Mrs.P. this effectively means that she is allowed to make her own decisions based on her own free will and is not forced (either figuratively or expressly) into a situation where she feels pressurised into decisions against her will. She should be allowed to consider what is right for her, in her current circumstances, without feeling that she is being coerced by any form of outside influence.(Mill JS 1982) It clearly follows from this statement that Mrs.P. can only make such a decision if she is in full possession of all of the relevant facts relating to her circumstance and this then opens up another field of debate, one relating to the role of the healthcare professional as an information resource. It is incumbent on the healthcare professionals advising Mrs.P. that they would ensure that she has available to her (in a form that she can understand) all of the information necessary to allow her to make up her own mind on the issues presenting themselves. (Sugarman J Sulmasy 2001) Chlamydia In order to appreciate the full implication of the decisions and dilemmas facing Mrs.P., we should firstly consider the issues of the pathophysiology of chlamydia. It is commonly accepted that a large proportion of what was previously called NSU or even undiagnosed genital discharge, was probably infection due to chlamydia. It currently ranks as being responsible for numerically the greatest number of sexually transmitted diseases in the UK in the present day. (Duncan 1998) The actual incidence of detected chlamydia varies between different sociological groups and is dependent on the study. Adams (et al 2004) produced a huge meta analysis of UK data and suggested that the incidence varies from 8.1% of the under 20 age group to 1.4% of the over 30 group Equally it can be seen that other studies, (Piementa et al 2003), put the incidence in the under 20 group as high as 17% and in antenatal clinics (whole population) at 12%. There is no merit in debating the statistical validity of these figures, they are presented to underline the point that Mrs.P.’s dilemma is not a rare one. If we take an overview of the whole chlamydia issue we can cite the opinion of National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) who quote that, in their rationale for a national screening programme, chlamydia: Is the commonest Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) in England Is an important reproductive health problem ~ 10-30% of infected women develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). In a significant proportion of cases, particularly amongst women, are asymptomatic and so, are liable to remain undetected, putting women at risk of developing PID. Screening may reduce incidence of PID and ectopic pregnancy. These points are presented as underlining the argument that we will make later in this essay, that a diagnosis of chlamydial infection – although commonly asymptomatic (especially in men), is actually far from trivial and therefore should not be taken lightly or dismissively. Discussion With specific reference to Mrs.P. we should note that there are two important factors that should influence our discussions here. One is the relevance to Mr H. and his wife and the possible implications to their apparent infertility, and the second is effectively the contact tracing arguments and the degree that the healthcare professional should be involved in making Mr H. aware of the possibility that he may have the chlamydial infection. Let us begin by considering an excellent and informative paper by Cassell (et al 2003) on the issue of partner notification. The authors are of the opinion that, due to factors such as the explosion in the numbers and the evolution of the Health Service, that the thorny issue of partner notification, which had previously largely fallen into the domain of the GUM clinic nurse, had now evolved to involve General Practice staff, obstetric and gynaecology clinic staff as well as many others. The corollary of this is that this role has lost some of its efficiency in skill resources and time. (D of H 2002). The paper itself is very informative, but if we restrict ourselves to a consideration of those aspects which are directly referable to our considerations here. With regard to the issue of patient confidentiality and contact informing, only 40% of the healthcare professionals questioned thought that partner notification was actually their role. The remaining 60% took the view that it was their role to inform the patient of what they saw was their responsibility to inform their own partners. The reason that we make this point is that over at least the last two decades, there has been a noticeable and welcome shift to the general acceptance of evidence based medicine (Berwick D 2005). The point is therefore made that if this evidence is accepted, then we could assume that the majority of healthcare professionals believe that their responsibility to inform the patient’s partner ends with their discussion of the matter with the patient. This is relevant if one considers the Bolam principal which has been the foundation of the legal view of matters of medical negligence. The Bolam test, when applied to this type of situation states that: A healthcare professional is not negligent if he or she acts in accordance with practice accepted at the time by a responsible body of medical opinion. In other words, if one acts in accordance with the rules that govern normal medical and nursing practice. In these circumstances it would appear that the majority medical opinion is that one’s burden of responsibility is limited to telling the patient that they should tell their own sexual partners of their infection. To a degree, this view is at odds with other ethical considerations, as one might consider that one has an obligation both to Mrs.P.’s husband who may clearly be at risk from chlamydial infection and complications, and also Mr. H and his partner, who may even already be suffering from complications, as they are considering being investigated for infertility. In these eventualities one has to consider if one is breaching any or all of the three principles that we have already outlined above. On the face of it, it would appear that all three principles are being compromised by this course of action. Non-maleficence because of the implied failure to take active steps to protect Mrs.P.’s partners from potential harm. Beneficence because of Mrs.P.’s failure to agree to consent to anyone telling her partners on her behalf Dentology becaues it could be argued that a suggestion that the healthcare professional should tell Mrs.P.‘s partners means that decisions are being made on the grounds of expediency rather than necessarily in Mrs.P.’s best interest (as Mrs.P. sees it). The only principle that appears to be upheld with this particular view is that of Mrs.P.’s autonomy. We can explore this issue further. Mrs.P.’s refusal to inform her partners may be, at first sight, understandable. But there are other issues that we must consider before passing moral judgement on her. If we consider a paper by Duncan (Duncan B et al 1998). This provides a very informative insight into the issues that confront women in this situation and she cites a common finding of equating a perception of â€Å"being dirty† or promiscuity with a positive test. There is also the issue of both men and women feeling embarrassed to get tested, although, with the advent of General Practice based testing and testing away from the stigma of the GUM clinics, this may well be less of a problem. It also follows from this study finding that there is a major Public Health Education paradox here. If it is true that the majority of healthcare professionals actually believe that it is the responsibility of the patient to tell their partner and this fact is augmented by the discovery that another study found that nearly 20% of respondents actually chose to treat chlamydia with a dose of antibiotic which is less than the currently recommended therapeutic level recommended by the Central Audit Group for Genitourinary Medicine, (Stokes et al 1997), it is perhaps not a surprising observation that the level of chlamydial infection is apparently as high in the community as it is. It follows from this that the authors of another study in a similar area can make the comment: If testing in primary care continues to increase without adequate support for partner notification, much of the resource used in testing women will be wasted. (Griffiths et al 2002) To provide a balanced view on the subject we should observe that the converse of our argument so far is put by other workers in the field (EHC 1999), who argue for the enhancement of the contact tracing facilitators and facilities in order to â€Å"properly maximise a reduction in the risk of both personal re-infection and the level of infection in the community† The central importance of this argument is exemplified in an excellent paper by Patel (HC et al 2004). This looked at the reliability of contact tracing mechanisms. The paper itself is both long and involved. It followed up over 250 patients over a five year period. in short, the authors reported that if the infected patient had a regular partner, they were likely to turn up for treatment in about 53% of cases, whereas if there was an extramarital partner only about 13% would receive treatment. The implication is clearly (although it is obviously admitted that there are significant confounding factors), that an infected patient is far more likely to tell their marriage partner than an extramarital sexual partner. Conclusions and suggestions for practice. In order to help with such considerations we note that the main professional bodies issue their own comprehensive guidelines. They are issued jointly by both the BMA and RCN for all healthcare professionals(Dimond. B. 1999). The documents themselves are unsurprisingly enormous, and offer outline guidance on virtually every major issue and they follow the principles that we have already set out. They equally make the point that not every eventuality can either be predicted or catered for, and in these circumstances the healthcare professional is left to make their own judgement based on their interpretation of the underlying principles and circumstances. In our interpretation of these principles, it would appear that the overriding consideration in the case of Mrs.P. is that of autonomy. There may well be a substantial evidence base that we could point to which would suggest that Mrs.P.’s refusal to tell either her husband or sexual partner could have serious and possibly long lasting adverse effects on their health. But in the last analysis, Mrs.P. has the right of consent to her personal details being divulged – either explicitly or by inference and implication – to any other person. If that consent or permission is withheld then the healthcare professional would be expected to respect that right, even if they had personal difficulty with it themselves. There is an implicit obligation on healthcare professional not only to enhance the patient’s autonomy but also to take as many steps as possible to ensure that any decision reached by the patient is truly autonomous. The professional guidelines suggest that one of the best ways of doing this is primarily by the giving of as much information as possible, particularly that information which is judged to be of importance in assisting them in making their decisions (Williamson C 2005) This view seems to be echoed by the legal profession who have pointed to the fact ( in case law) that each adult has a right to their own autonomy. (Donaldson L 1993). The guiding pronouncement in this type of issue is that a legally competent adult has the right to agree or to disagree with any form of treatment or opinion offered by a healthcare professional and does not have to justify the reason for their action to anyone else. It is clearly incumbent on the healthcare professional to try to provide the Public Health information to help the patient make an informed and considered decision. It may even be considered acceptable to suggest or persuade the patient to â€Å"do the honourable thing†, but this clearly must not be interpreted as placing undue pressure on the patient otherwise all of the underlying ethical principles discussed so far will be completely undermined (Hendrick, J. 2000). We should also note that the same professional guidelines cited above also make the suggestion that the nature of the conversation and the topics discussed should be clearly recorded in the patient’s notes and if a decision is made to allow healthcare professionals to contact the other potential partners, then a consent form recording the decision should ideally be signed by the patient. In many instances we acknowledge that it is common practice to advise and take whatever action is perceived to be in the best interests of the patient, but in terms of our ever more litigious society, it appears to be good advice to get written consent for virtually every action however seemingly minor. (Yura H et al 1998), If we had to sum up the thrust of this essay in a sentence it would be that there is no excuse – either ethically, or for that matter in law – for making unfounded assumptions about what the patient wants or will permit. (Gillon. R. 1997). References Adams EJ , A Charlett, W J Edmunds, and G Hughes 2004 Chlamydia trachomatis in the United Kingdom: a systematic review and analysis of prevalence studies Sex. Transm. Inf., October 1, 2004; 80(5): 354 362. Berwick D 2005 Broadening the view of evidence-based medicine Qual. Saf. Health Care, Oct 2005; 14: 315 316. Carrick P 2000  Medical Ethics in the Ancient World  Georgetown University press 2000 ISBN: 0878408495 Cassell JA , M G Brook, R Slack, N James, A Hayward, and A M Johnson 2003 Partner notification in primary care Sex. Transm. Inf., June 1, 2003; 79(3): 264 265. Dimond. B. 2001  Legal Aspects of Consent  Salisbury.: Quay Books 2001 D of H 2002  Department of Health. The national strategy for sexual health and HIV: implementation action plan. London: DoH, 2002. Donaldson L 1993  in Re T (Adult: Refusal of Treatment) [1993) Fam 95 5 Duncan B, Hart G. 1998  Screening for Chlamydia trachomatis: a qualitative study of womens views. Prevenir 1998; (suppl 24): 229. EHC 1999  Effective Health Care. Getting evidence into practice.  York: University of York, 1999. Gillon. R. 1997.  Autonomy  London: Blackwell 1997 Griffiths C, Cuddigan A. 2002  Clinical management of chlamydia in general practice: A survey of reported practice. J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2002;28:149–52. Hendrick, J. (2000)  Law and Ethics in Nursing and Health Care,  London. Stanley Thornes 2000 McMillan J 2005 Doing whats best and best interests BMJ, May 2005; 330: 1069 ; Mill JS 1982  On Liberty, 1982,  Harmondsworth: Penguin, p 68. Patel HC, Viswalingham ND, Goh BT 2004 Chlamydial ocular infection: efficacy of partner notification by patient referral. Int. J. STD AIDS 2004 Jul-Aug;5(4):244-7. Stokes T, Bhaduri S, Schober P, et al. 1997  GPs’ management of genital chlamydia: a survey of reported practice.  Fam Pract 1997;14:455–60 Sugarman J Sulmasy 2001  Methods in Medical Ethics  Georgetown Univeristy Press 2001 ISBN: 0878408738 Tà ¤nnsjà ¶ T 2005 Moral dimensions BMJ, Sep 2005; 331: 689 691 ; Veitch RM 2002  Cross-cultural perspectives in medical ethics Jones Bartlett 2002 ISBN: 0763713325   Williamson C 2005 Withholding policies from patients restricts their autonomy BMJ, Nov 2005; 331: 1078 1080 ; Yura H, Walsh M. 1998  The nursing process. Assessing, planning, implementing, evaluating. 5th edition. Norwalk, CT: Appleton Lange, 1998. ############################################################# 20.2.06 PDG Word count 3,184

Meeting at airport :: English Literature

Meeting at airport Ali had just driven through the rush hour traffic of London with his mother. He had arrived several hours earlier than necessary for the arrival of his wife’s return flight from India. His wife and son had been on holiday in India. He knew he had a couple of hours before his wife arrived. He had been married for two years. His wife was born in India. He had gone to India after completing his studies. He travelled to India with his parents to visit relatives, and to have a holiday before he started his new job. While he was on holiday, he made many friends. It was while staying with his grandparents that he met his future wife. His wife was the daughter of one of his neighbours. He was in India for only two months and within two months he had met, someone with whom he wanted to marry. During his walk around the arrivals area, he bumped into Ali a friend from his school who he had not seen for many years. Ali said to Sanjay†Hello, how are you, I haven’t seen you for ages!† Sanjay replied, â€Å"It’s you Ali, my old friend we have a lot of catching up to do.† Ali said† I have been married for a couple of years and I am waiting for my wife and son to return from India.† Sanjay replied, â€Å"I am waiting for my second wife to return from India, her job involves a lot of travelling.† Sanjay continued, â€Å"We’ve recently been allowed to adopt a child by the local authority.† Ali was surprised that Sanjay had been previously married. Sanjay said, â€Å"I was married to my first wife for about a year before we separated† Sanjay continued, â€Å"I wanted my wife to stay at home, and for us to start a family,† â€Å"my wife didn’t want to stay at home, she wanted to continue with her career.† Sanjay continued, â€Å"I believe that a woman’s place is in the home and it is important for her to look after the house and the children after these responsibilities she can pursue a career.† Ali said, â€Å"I don’t completely agree as the maintenance of the house and children nowadays are a joint responsibility between Husband and Wife.† Ali’s eye caught the flight arrivals board, which indicated that their flight had landed.† Ali told Sanjay that their flight had arrived. Sanjay said, â€Å"I expect my wife to leave her job when she becomes pregnant.† Sanjay continued, â€Å"I wouldn’t want her to work again until our child was at least three years old, and starting nursery.† Ali said â€Å"Goodbye!†

Masculinity in Deliverance by James Dickey Essay -- Establishment of M

Masculinity in Deliverance by James Dickey The novel Deliverance by James Dickey portrays the essence of middle-aged men experiencing the mid-life crisis through which they must prove to themselves and more importantly every one else that they still possess the strength, bravery, intelligence, and charm believed to be society's ideal of "masculinity." Dickey's four main characters undertake a risky adventure to satisfy their egotistical complexes and prove to the world that they are still the strong young men their wives married. Each character represents a different stereotype of the middle-aged man, and therefore experiences a different type of psychological and physical journey than their peers. The character Drew Ballinger in Deliverance is a sales supervisor at a soft-drink company who is very devoted to his son and his job. Drew is the character who represents the middle-aged man's desire for talent and attention. Drew plays the guitar and his music is his true companion. Without having any talent, as he would be the first to tell you, Drew played mighty well, through sheer devotion.(Dickey, 11) For Drew the highlight of this trip is his duo with Lonnie, an uneducated banjo player. Drew obviously finds this the most exhilarating part of the adventure in that he is the center of attention and is playing very well with a talented young man. I had never heard him play so well, and I really began to listen deeply, moved as an unmusical person is moved when he sees that the music is meant†¦.I could not see Drew's face, but the back of his neck was sheer joy†¦I was glad for Drew's sake that we had come. Jus... ...ecame a possession to me, a personal, private possession, as nothing else in my life ever had. Now it ran nowhere but in my head, but there it ran as though immortally. I could feel it - I can feel it - on different places on my body. It pleases me in some curious way that the river does not exist, and that I have it. In me it still is, and will be until I die, green, rocky, deep, fast, slow and beautiful beyond reality†¦The river underlies†¦everything that I do. It is always finding a way to serve me†¦(Dickey, 275-6) Thus, Ed is the protagonist and hero of Deliverance. It is through this perilous voyage that Drew, Bobby, Lewis, and Ed undertake, that they prove their "masculinity," or lack there of, to themselves and to the society in which they live. Works Cited Dickey, James Deliverance. 1970. New York: Dell Publishing, 1994. Masculinity in Deliverance by James Dickey Essay -- Establishment of M Masculinity in Deliverance by James Dickey The novel Deliverance by James Dickey portrays the essence of middle-aged men experiencing the mid-life crisis through which they must prove to themselves and more importantly every one else that they still possess the strength, bravery, intelligence, and charm believed to be society's ideal of "masculinity." Dickey's four main characters undertake a risky adventure to satisfy their egotistical complexes and prove to the world that they are still the strong young men their wives married. Each character represents a different stereotype of the middle-aged man, and therefore experiences a different type of psychological and physical journey than their peers. The character Drew Ballinger in Deliverance is a sales supervisor at a soft-drink company who is very devoted to his son and his job. Drew is the character who represents the middle-aged man's desire for talent and attention. Drew plays the guitar and his music is his true companion. Without having any talent, as he would be the first to tell you, Drew played mighty well, through sheer devotion.(Dickey, 11) For Drew the highlight of this trip is his duo with Lonnie, an uneducated banjo player. Drew obviously finds this the most exhilarating part of the adventure in that he is the center of attention and is playing very well with a talented young man. I had never heard him play so well, and I really began to listen deeply, moved as an unmusical person is moved when he sees that the music is meant†¦.I could not see Drew's face, but the back of his neck was sheer joy†¦I was glad for Drew's sake that we had come. Jus... ...ecame a possession to me, a personal, private possession, as nothing else in my life ever had. Now it ran nowhere but in my head, but there it ran as though immortally. I could feel it - I can feel it - on different places on my body. It pleases me in some curious way that the river does not exist, and that I have it. In me it still is, and will be until I die, green, rocky, deep, fast, slow and beautiful beyond reality†¦The river underlies†¦everything that I do. It is always finding a way to serve me†¦(Dickey, 275-6) Thus, Ed is the protagonist and hero of Deliverance. It is through this perilous voyage that Drew, Bobby, Lewis, and Ed undertake, that they prove their "masculinity," or lack there of, to themselves and to the society in which they live. Works Cited Dickey, James Deliverance. 1970. New York: Dell Publishing, 1994.

Considering Mahayana Buddhism for Process Philosophy Essay -- Philosop

Considering Mahayana Buddhism for Process Philosophy "Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." Karl Marx (1844) "Science frees us in many ways†¦ from the bodily terror which the savage feels. But she replaces that, in the minds of many, by a moral terror which is far more overwhelming". Charles Kingsley (1866) Classical sociological theory teaches that all social phenomena—be it intangible, like an idea or a belief; or tangible, like institutions or a nation’s rights engraved into a written constitution—are interrelated to some extent. Two domains of social life that exert a particularly strong influence on the lives of individuals are science and religion. As dominant forces, both have, throughout history, conflicted with each other in fascinating ways. This paper will consider how the two might be integrated into a single mode of thought. My broad aim is to demonstrate how Mahayana Buddhism can be used to satisfy the primary goal of process philosophy, which combines the otherwise conflicting spheres of science and religious life: "the integration of moral, aesthetic, and religious intuitions with the most general doctrines of the sciences into a self-consistent worldview." (I heretofore refer to this as a "single worldview.") Doing so will first require an examinati on of the core tenets of Buddhism and the debunking of a popular misconception of the faith—the idea that Buddhism is an atheistic tradition. Next, I will consider how the tenets of Buddhism—chief among them, the idea of "emptines... ...and. Varieties of Postmodern Theology. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989.) Marx, Karl. "Selections from Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right." February 1844. Available online at: http://www3.baylor.edu/~Scott_Moore/texts/Marx_Opium.html. Polkinghorne, John. Science and Theology: An Introduction. (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998. Powers, John. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1995.) Raymo, Chet. Skeptics and True Believers: The Exhilarating Connection Between Science and Religion. (New York: Walker and Co., 1988.) Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse. The Excellent Path to Enlightenment: Oral Teachings on the Root Text of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. Trans. The Padmakara Group. (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1996.) Wuthnow, Robert. "Sociology of Religion." In Handbook of Sociology. Ed. Neil Smelser. (London: Sage, 1988.)

Operations Management Exam 1 Review Notes

Basic info for Exam 1 Types of questions you can expect * Ones similar to assigned discussion questions, homework * How topics in assigned articles relate to key concepts below: test questions similar to these are fair game. * You will have the formula sheet handed out during forecasting section. The most important things to know from part 1 of this class 1) Chapter 1 a) How to measure performance of a process: financial measures, external measures, internal measures and why you would choose one over another. ) 4 product attributes and their corresponding process attributes i) This is something to memorize. c) Job shops vs flow shops: attributes of each and which products is each suited for? d) Will not cover product-process matrix. 2) Chapter 2 e) How process competencies support a firm’s strategic position. ii) Market-driven strategies (identify market needs and develop processes to support them) vs. rocess-driven strategies (Amazon hosting websites, cloud computing for othe r companies, G&H with financial aid call center branching out to other services) iii) Operational effectiveness vs. operational efficiency: low cost of operations does not necessarily support the business strategy iv) Focused strategies allow for competitive advantage (1) Plant-within-a-plant: why would companies do this and what makes this succeed or fail? ) Question about hypothetical company or companies we’ve analyzed in book, articles, class discussion—what are their business strategies/product competencies and how do their process competencies support them? g) Competitive product space 2-D graph: may ask you to interpret one but not to draw one v) Idea of operations frontier, that it represents the highest level of operational effectiveness (2) Effect of technology and improved management practices on the operations frontier. h) Order-qualifiers vs. rder winners (in slides, G&H discussion) i) Will not be tested on section 2. 7 j) Last 3 slides not covered: Disney and McDonalds 3) Forecasting k) Anything covered in book is fair game: Expect questions very similar to those in class, on HW. l) General categories: subjective, time-series, associative/causal m) What are key features of each forecasting method, why would you choose one over another? n) Trends, seasonality: know what these are, which methods account for these, and how they do it. ) Forecasting error and bias: why are these important to measure, what they mean, what are differences between methods for assessing them (MAD vs. MSE, for example) p) Use of control charts: how to make one and what are they used for. 4) Chapter 3 q) Takt time not covered but everything else is fair game. 5) Chapter 4: Flowcharting and network design r) Interpret or make a simple flow chart s) Using a flow chart to start to improve operations (esp. in conjunction with chap 3 and Little’s Law)

Hammurabi’s Law Essay

â€Å"If anyone brings an accusation against a man and the accused goes to the river and leap into the river, if he sinks in the river, his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river proves that the accused is not guilty and he escapes unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser†. This law implies that if a person laid charges and could not substantiate the guilt of the accused, then the accused plunged into the river. If guilty, the accused drowned into the river. On the other hand, the river could also cleanse him from his guilt and restore him (Richardson, 2004). This is a trial by ordeal method that was used to prove guilt or innocence. It was a common believe that the Euphrates River would judge people accused of various crimes (Brians, 1998). Hammurabi’s law 2 is biased due to the fact that those who knew how to swim, no matter how few, did not drown even if they were guilty. Consequently, justice did not prevail in such circumstances. This law is no longer relevant due to the advancement in technology. Most people know how to swim and therefore it is not a reliable method of establishing guilt or innocence. Nowadays, if the accused claims to be innocent, he is given a chance to prove this beyond reasonable doubt. The trial by ordeal method is rarely used. Hammurabi’s law 5: â€Å"If a judge tries a case, reaches a decision, and presents his judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judge’s bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgment†. This implies that the Babylonians valued not only justice but one that is declared by a judge. However, the judge was also scrutinized for any shortcoming in his judgment. Consequently, if any error was found, he would pay twelve times the fine he had set. This law is good because it ensured that the judges were cautious when they were making a decision. Consequently, justice was practiced. Today, Hammurabi’s law 5 can be used to come up with code of conducts for public servants. More so, clear boundaries as to what behavior is expected or prohibited will be provided. In addition, it will ensure competency and accountability. The judge should be the only person to declare innocence or guilt. Hammurabi’s law 6:â€Å"If anyone steals the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death†. The temple was very important to the Babylonians because this is where they took their tithes, sacrifices and other offerings. In other words, it was the city archives. Stealing from a temple or court was a capital offence and the thief was convicted to death. This law is good because it aids in promoting a crime free society. If such a crime is committed, then the punishment should be implemented to the fullest extent of the law. Hammurabi’s law 6 can be used today to instill respect to public institutions by people. In so doing, evidence in courts will not be interfered with and holy places will be respected. Hammurabi’s law 7: â€Å"If anyone buys from the son or the slave of another man, without witnesses or a contract, silver or gold, a male or female slave, an ox or a sheep, an ass or anything, or if he take it in charge, he is considered a thief and shall be put to death†. A buyer had to find out the title of their potential seller. If he bought from a minor or a slave without witnesses or a signed contract, then he was considered a thief and was executed (King, 2007). This law is relevant because it seeks to protect the poor and the minor against exploitation from the rich and the powerful. Hammurabi’s law 7 is not applicable to the present generation due to the fact that human rights are being advocated for and therefore, slavery will soon come to an end. Minors are being employed and in some special circumstances can now own or sell property.

Reaction Paper Last Princess by Kara David Essay

Stories of princess were part of our childhood memories. We dream of becoming one during those times. But in Tumandok tribe in Tapaz, Capiz, Philippines, there were women, who were treated like a princess. They are known to be the binukot. Before seeing the documentary of Huling Prinsesa (Last Princess), I was really excited because who knew that a 3rd world country like the Philippines would afford to have a princess. Then I realized, Philippines was not a 3rd world country then. And I remember that during the pre-Hispanic period we used to have datus, babaylans, pandays so having a princess would not be far from reality. Philippines though colonized by foreigners, retained its rich culture and I think this is one of the proofs. The binukot was usually the prettiest daughter of the chief tribe. The term was derived from bukot which means â€Å"to keep†. Binukot was not allowed to go outside the house. That’s why her food was usually delivered in her room. She will be taught to memories and sing different epics. Going outside the house is not a simple task. The binukot needs to be carried on a cradle so that her feet will be kept clean. The tribe believed that the binukot has a supernatural power. During planting and harvesting time, she will be brought to the farm to perform, for them to have a bountiful harvest. At present there are still few binukot on some part of Panay Island. But the danger of losing this tradition is very high, for most women of Panay preferred to be an ordinary citizen instead of becoming a princess. Stories of princess were part of our childhood memories. We dream of becoming one during those times. But in Tumandok tribe in Tapaz, Capiz, Philippines, there were women, who were treated like a princess. They are known to be the binukot. The trip to the remote mountains of Capiz is tough — an hours-long motorcycle ride and several hours more of trekking across rivers and up and down rocky, slippery slopes. It is a challenging feat for anyone who wants to see and explore a mysterious tradition preserved for decades among some of the mountains isolated communities.The trip took some time and I thought it’s worth the wait just to see the ‘Last Princess’, from the trip alone, it made me really curious of what will princess look like. I-Witness travels to the Tapaz Mountain, considered the farthest in Capiz, located in the central Philippines island of Panay. The mountain people called the tumandoks live in Tapaz, and I-Witness searched for the tribe’s last remaining princesses called the binukots. Reporter Kara David reaches the community of Rizal Sur, a village that looks just like any other isolated community, where the tumandoks living in traditional huts and survive on whatever nature provides them. In the midst of this community, she meets one of the last remaining binukots, 73-year-old Lola (grandmother) Isiang. Lola Isiang lives in an old hut, just like everybody else in the community. However, she has stayed inside a room in the house ever since she was five years old, living in isolation as the family’s chosen binukot.

Nokia: Values That Make a Company Global

STraTeGiC Hr MaNaGeMeNT case study with teaching notes Nokia: Values That Make a Company Global By Geraldine Willigan, MBA Project team Author: SHRM project contributor: External contributor: Copy editing: Design: Geraldine Willigan, MBA Nancy A. Woolever, SPHR Ram Charan, Ph. D. Katya Scanlan, copy editor Terry Biddle, graphic designer  © 2009 Society for Human Resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBA. This case was prepared by Geraldine Willigan, MBA, former editor at Harvard Business Review, under supervision of Ram Charan, Ph. D. , former faculty member at Harvard Business School, winner of best teacher award at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and a regular teacher in executive programs across the globe. The authors gratefully acknowledge the help of Juha Akras, Ian Gee, Antti Miettinen, Arja Souminen, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Hallstein Moerk, Tero Ojanpera and Shiv Shivakumar. Note to Hr faculty and instructors: SHRM cases and modules are intended for use in HR classrooms at universities. Teaching notes are included with each. While our current intent is to make the materials available without charge, we reserve the right to impose charges should we deem it necessary to support the program. However, currently, these resources are available free of charge to all. Please duplicate only the number of copies needed, one for each student in the class. For more information, please contact: SHRM Academic Initiatives 1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA Phone: (800) 283-7476 Fax: (703) 535-6432 Web: www. shrm. org/education/hreducation 09-0353 Nokia: Values That Make a Company Global Introduction In the summer of 2006, the global competitive landscape in which Nokia was operating was changing at an astoundingly fast pace. Market growth was shifting to emerging countries, mobile devices were being commoditized, handset prices were declining, networks were combining (Nokia had just merged its own networks infrastructure business with that of Siemens, forming Nokia Siemens Networks, or NSN), Microsoft and Apple were making moves toward mobile devices, new technologies were being developed, and new strategic opportunities were arising as mobile phones were becoming the gateway to the Internet. To win in such a fast-paced and intensely competitive environment, the company had to move with speed and do a superb job of satisfying consumers. Decision-making would have to occur at the lowest possible level to reflect the peculiarities of the local markets while leveraging the power of Nokia’s diverse people, its brand, its financial resources, and its technology and design expertise. Collaboration between locals and headquarters and among multiple cultures and partners was paramount. Nokia conducted extensive interviews with people inside and outside the company, including partners and suppliers, to understand how Nokia was perceived and how it might have to change. That research informed a number of actions and renewed the focus on Nokia’s culture and, in particular, its values. From Paper Mill to Conglomerate to Global Brand Nokia, headquartered in Espoo, near Helsinki, Finland, is the world’s largest mobile handset manufacturer. It holds some 40 percent of the global device market as of the second quarter of 2008. It operates in 150 countries and had more than 117,000 employees, including NSN, as of late June 2008. It is the top-rated brand globally. Annual revenues for 2007 were $74. 6 billion (51. 1 billion euros). The company began in the late 1800s as a paper mill, then evolved into a diversified industrial company and was an early entrant in the mobile era in the 1980s. In the 1990s, CEO Jorma Ollila restructured the conglomerate to focus on mobile phones and telecommunications, and Nokia became the technology and market leader, starting first in Europe, then expanding to the United States and dozens of other 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa 1 developed and emerging economies, including China and India. In the early 2000s, Nokia was briefly challenged by Motorola and Samsung but was able to maintain and soon to increase the lead. In 2006, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo (OPK, as he is known at Nokia) became CEO. Nokia’s strategy at that time was changed to c over both the mobile device market as well as services and software. In 2007, Nokia announced that it would become more like an Internet company. Transforming the Culture for the New Challenges As Nokia’s leaders pondered what would hold people together and enhance collaboration and speed across their large global company, they arrived at an answer—culture, of which values had long been a foundation. Values align people’s hearts and emotional energy and define how Nokia employees (â€Å"Nokians†) do business with each other and the rest of the world. Because Nokia’s existing values had been unchanged for more than a decade and research showed there was some ambivalence about them internally, the executive board, comprised of the CEO and about a dozen senior leaders, decided it was time to re-examine the values. OPK selected a team of people to create a process for doing so. The challenge to the team was to get all the people of Nokia intellectually engaged. In keeping with Nokia’s culture, the values would have to be the result of â€Å"the many† communicating with â€Å"the many. † Assigning this task was not trivial. It required that senior management be committed to live with the outcome. The values that emerged from the bottom up would have to be taken seriously and stick—or the organization would be seriously harmed. As the team got to work and explored the options, they determined that the best approach would be to combine high tech and high touch. The high-tech part of the values-creation process would be through the â€Å"Nokia Jam†Ã¢â‚¬â€using IBM’s Jamming technology that would allow all Nokians to engage in an online dialogue. The hightouch part would come through the use of the World Cafe methodology. The World Cafe methodology had sprung up in the mid 1990s to accommodate a large group of people from diverse disciplines and far-flung locations around the world who wanted to discuss issues of common interest. 2 That group was known as the Intellectual Capital Partners. To create an informal conversation among so many people, participants were divided into small groups seated around tables to discuss a given question. The groups would then repeatedly disperse and individuals would rotate to other tables, so ideas were disseminated, cross-pollinated and combined. As the conversations continued, facilitators compiled the ideas that emerged. The World Cafe methodology had been used in some small pockets within Nokia but had never been tried on a companywide scale. The concept was right, but it was impractical for all 50,000-plus Nokians to directly engage in a dialogue. So the idea emerged to have a subset of people from across Nokia get together to discuss Nokia values with a totally clean slate, as if they were recreating Nokia on the planet Mars. 2  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa A trip to Mars became the metaphor for assembling a cross-section of Nokians to participate in the World Cafe format and create the new values. Nokia’s Trip to Mars Nokia produced 5,000 elegant, visually exciting invitations that looked like boarding passes and airline tickets. These were sent in bundles through snail mail to people at various organizational levels and functional areas, including HR, in each of the business units. The instruction to the recipients was to find a way to randomly distribute their bundle to people in their offices and factories whom they would trust to have a discussion about Nokia’s values and culture. The recipients could also keep a ticket for themselves. Each ticket was in a â€Å"wallet† that described what Nokia was doing. It stated the current values and gave instructions for how to proceed, first by going to the Nokia Way web site to learn more and to register for a cafe in their local area. Participants also got two luggage tags, which they were supposed to discuss with their colleagues beforehand: a green one, which represented the values or ideas Nokia should be sure to take with it as the company moved forward, and a gray one, for things that could be left behind. Nokia held 16 cafes in 60 days around the world. More than 100 employees representing a cross-section of Nokia attended each one. The day of the cafe, small groups discussed a predetermined set of questions. One person served as host and stayed at the table while everyone else rotated to other tables, eventually returning to their original spots. People had taken the preparation very seriously and interviewed their teams ahead of time; some brought stacks of paper with various notes and ideas. As the discussions took place, ideas began to emerge and converge. Facilitators captured them graphically and in written scripts. The outputs from each cafe were then uploaded to the Nokia Way web site, and everyone at Nokia had access to it and was invited to comment. Several thousand more employees were able to participate in the dialogue through the means of the web site, giving their opinions and making suggestions and sometimes asking questions they hoped the next cafe would address. The sessions were also videotaped and edited into short video blogs that were so funny and engaging that they logged approximately 30,000 visits. The video blogs, too, elicited comments from fellow Nokians. The mix of people attending the cafes was just what Nokia’s executive team had hoped for: an assortment of people from offices and factories and from every functional area and organizational level. The cafe process allowed those diverse viewpoints to be heard. Engineers said Nokia needed greater tolerance for risk, for instance, while marketing people wanted more stability. In the process, it broke down biases and misconceptions and began to build social bonds. â€Å"Latin Americans were not the only people with emotions! one participant commented. Another said: â€Å"At first it felt like I couldn’t even find a common language with my Mexican  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa 3 marketing colleagues in Nokia. It was exciting when we found a common language and vision, and everybody was on board. † As the cafes took place, four values began to emerge. These were to be presented to the top 30 leaders at the final global cafe to be held in Helsinki. But instead of writing them on a PowerPoint slide, the values were presented in a way that was experiential. Representatives from each of the Nokia Way cafes were chosen to attend, and on day one of the Helsinki cafe, they got together and brainstormed how to make the values come alive. They recreated some of the skits, songs and visual aids their local cafes had generated to express the thoughts and feelings that underlay the values. The representatives from the Finnish cafes built a bird’s nest and a sauna in the hotel meeting room to represent Nokia’s passion for innovation (the bird’s nest was for the hatching of ideas, the sauna to represent the fire of passion). The next day, the group made their presentation to the senior leaders, and after some discussion, the four values that had came out of the cafe process were affirmed. OPK, who, like many Finnish people, was ordinarily quite reserved, was visibly moved by the intensity and sincerity of the feelings expressed. He felt as though he could hear the voices of Nokians around the world, and he, too, wholeheartedly supported the values. He asked that a representative present them to a group of 150 top leaders that was meeting three or four weeks later as part of the annual Strategy Sharing process. The group selected Ganeas Dorairaju, a native Malaysian who had been working in Finland for the past decade, to represent them. He stood in front of the top leaders and explained the values and the process by which they were created. At the end of it, the audience gave him a standing ovation. One leader wondered if the values could be turned into a catchy tune. Soon after, an employee teamed up with her husband and did just that! Nokia’s New Values3 Nokia’s new values and the explanation of them are as follows: n achieving together. Achieving together is more than collaboration and partnership. As well as trust, it involves sharing, the right mind-set and working in formal and informal networks. engaging You. For us, ‘engaging you’ incorporates the customer satisfaction value and deals with engaging all our stakeholders, including employees, in what Nokia stands for in the world. Passion for Innovation. Passion for innovation is based on a desire we have to live our dreams, to find our courage and to make the leap into the future through innovation in technology, ways of working and through understanding the world around us. Very Human. Being very human encompasses what we offer customers, how we do business, how we work together, and the impact of our actions and behavior on n n n 4  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa people and the environment. It is about being very human in the world—making things simple, respecting and caring. In short, our desire is to be a very human company. The world cafe process generated values that are different and more open-ended than most companies’. As leaders at Nokia note, the values require discussion. People might not know right away what â€Å"very human† means, but once people start to discuss it within the context of Nokia, it becomes very clear. People do, in fact, have those discussions. They use them to say, â€Å"Hold on a minute, is this engaging you? Are we meeting that value in what we’re doing? † ‘Very Human’ is closely associated with technology; it reflects the fact that Nokia has to develop devices that are easy to use. And ‘Achieving Together’ is about customers and suppliers as well as fellow Nokia employees. ‘Achieving Together’ also helps remove the fear associated with being an industry pioneer. The values are aspirational but also model what was already working well at Nokia. In India, for instance, where Nokia has built a dominant market position of some 75 million subscribers in a very short time, the values were evident before they had been articulated, which likely influenced the input of the three cafes conducted in that country. One of the key factors that drove business success in India was the distribution system, which Nokia and its business partner, ATL, built from scratch when large consumer electronics retailers declined to carry mobile phones because of their low margins. Working together to find an alternative, Nokia and ATL hit on the idea to mimic the small (sometimes just 5 x 5 feet) kiosks that are found in villages across India from which vendors sell fruits and vegetables. They recruited individuals interested in running their own kiosks, trained them and ensured they would have products in the right quantities and at the right margins for those vendors to make a living. The Nokia team wanted to be sure that whatever arrangement they designed would benefit Nokia, ATL and the individual mobile phone vendors. That way, they would Achieve Together. The Nokia team in India—a mix of native Indians and technology and other experts from such far-flung Nokia locations as Finland, China and Indonesia—collaborated in listening to and observing people in various parts of India to understand their needs. Their approach was collaborative and Very Human. As a member of the leadership team in Nokia India explains, â€Å"One thing that Nokia prides itself on is that it is not arrogant. That comes across in every interaction. People never take for granted that they know everything. Because of conditions in parts of the country, Indians needed a mobile device that was dustproof and didn’t slip out of sweaty hands. They wanted a device that could be an alarm clock, radio and flashlight (or â€Å"torch†) as well as a phone. Nokia’s Passion for Innovation drove the team to find the technology solutions Indians needed. Nokia found that the process of creating values itself had merit. It allowed the many to connect with the many and demonstrated that heterarchy was more important than hierarchy. It captured Nokia employees’ understanding of the challenges they were facing personally and organizationally and their desire to create an organization  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa 5 that could meet them. It also reflected the spirit of bonding across cultures, functions and silos. As a member of the executive team says, â€Å"It is proof that a strong global corporate culture is possible. † The next order of business was to track the effectiveness of the values. To that end, the company has created a number of vehicles. Nokia includes values in its annual employee survey, â€Å"Listening to You,† and made them a key part of the change pulse survey it undertook during a recent reorganization. The suggestion arose to have pictures to demonstrate the new values, so the company staged an employee competition for photos that represent the values. Photos were posted online, and employees voted for their favorite. The top prize went to a quality manager in one of Nokia’s Chinese factories, who got to accompany Nokia’s brand people on a photo shoot in Paris. Given the quality of Nokia’s artistic skills, it was a choice prize. More than 22,000 employees took part in the competition, and Nokia has a rich bank of photographs to represent the new values. Nokians now are learning to create 90-second films that tell how values are making a difference in their work. These films can be uploaded to a video hub where fellow employees can view them. As of October 2008, more than 60 films had been uploaded to the internal VideoHub, and they have had over 50,000 viewings. 6  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa Teaching Notes Global companies require the alignment of their employees and partners not only on the strategy itself but also on the values needed to make that strategy successful. Values reflect and shape corporate culture. A shift in strategy often requires a shift in values. The Nokia case explores the connection between values, strategy, and the collaboration, innovation, speed and flexibility that are required for Nokia to succeed. Nokia is a very large company, with one of the highest brand recognitions in the world. It has the rare ability to design a new strategy and reshape its culture to deliver the strategy at the same time. The Nokia case describes Nokia’s social process for achieving alignment on values—a component of corporate culture—across geographies, silos and hierarchical levels. The learning objectives of the case are as follows: n note NOTE note Instructor’s Note Distribute only pages one through sixNOTE case study document to of this students. A PDF version of this document is also available online for your convenience. To learn the social process of engaging multicultural, multi-country employees in generating and agreeing on a set of values. To concretely demonstrate one way to build a workforce receptive to crossfunctional, cross-cultural teaming that can therefore make fast, high-quality decisions and increase the organization’s flexibility. To probe and deepen understanding of the relationships between strategy, culture, values and business outcomes. To encourage participants to brainstorm alternative ways to engage employees and accomplish similar results. To challenge participants to think critically about whether Nokia’s approach to creating values can apply to other business issues. n n n n The case is appropriate for graduate students in higher-level HR courses and for HR professionals at the highest levels.  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa 7 The classroom instructor might want to pose the following questions for discussion: 1. Why did company management choose values as a foundation for taking the culture to the next level? Nokia needs collaboration because it must routinely leverage its technology platforms, global brand and manufacturing footprint, experience base in multiple countries, and in-depth knowledge of consumers and the marketplace. While individuals must have some degree of freedom to act, they cannot know everything or understand in depth all of the implications of various trade-offs that must be made in the ordinary course of business. As people come together to exchange information and make trade-offs, they must also have a common glue to hold them together. Values can be a uniting factor; they can be the glue. In the process of creating values, discussions touch on other topics, such as strategy, management style, opportunities, competition, priorities, and the inadequacies of organizational structure and reward systems. Values can fill in the gaps or provide what formal mechanisms miss—for instance, they can support open communication outside of formal reporting relationships. 2. What is your view about the four values the cafe approach produced? Note that they are few in number—four instead of 12. They describe the kind of company many people would like to work for. They can be applied in the real world and are relevant to any job function or organizational level. They are in keeping with requirements for Nokia to succeed. They capture the sense of higher purpose and human dignity people long for in their personal and work lives and therefore encourage positive, authentic behavior. 3. How do Nokia’s values compare with those of your company? Graduate students can compare with a company they are familiar with or one the instructor presents. One option is to look at the values of a competitor—for instance, Apple, given that Apple is now going into the cell phone business. Consider whether people â€Å"connect† with the values, or whether the values are too abstract or too generic to be meaningful. How many are there? Are they actually practiced? Do they relate to company strategy? 4. How will Nokia’s values help execute the change in business strategy? The process and content of the values build trust, making people more receptive to information and ideas from elsewhere in the company. Information flows are likely to be nonhierarchical. Nokia should therefore be able to innovate and respond to change better and quicker. Take, for example, the value â€Å"achieving together. † This value is now fully socialized at all levels in the company. It gives a lower-level person the freedom to call a higher-level person for collaboration and expertise where needed. By reinforcing this behavior, the values help break hierarchies, silos and other barriers. 8  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa 5. concisely define the behaviors that were stimulated through the cafe approach at Nokia. What information channels got opened? Individuals took time to think about the company and how it does and should operate. They expressed their ideas, knowing their ideas could have wide visibility and make a difference. Before attending the cafes, people sought input from their peers. Participants listened to the views from many other employees. They sought commonality among the viewpoints. They experimented with creative ways to express their ideas. Employees became excited about the company and renewed their emotional commitment to it. Information flowed across boundaries. Because participation in the value creation process required no special knowledge, every participant was on equal footing, including newer employees, whose fresh ideas and energy got released. Thus, information flowed up even from some of the youngest Nokians, who represent the future of Nokia. 6. What’s your evaluation of the social process for engaging thousands of employees across the globe in defining the values? It was an efficient way to engage a broad, diverse set of people. The ready acceptance of the values (the output) indicates that the process was effective. It mirrored the patterns of communication and cooperation in a matrix organization. 7. What does Nokia’s cafe process say about its senior leaders? The senior leaders were secure about their role in the company and heir personal power. Once they committed to the process, they had to be prepared to accept the output. They also had confidence in Nokia employees. They were willing to â€Å"let go. † Senior management of any company should not feel insecure about the outcome of the bottom-up process. Because the process is open, it has built-in sincerity. People want to do the right thing. Also, broad participation is a check against a few radicals who want their way. 8. If Nokia were to use the cafe process again in 2010, what change in values would you anticipate? The outstanding goal of this process is to produce a set of values that are enduring. If the company were to do it again, the values themselves might not be very different, but they might be deepened or tweaked because people will have examples of how they have been used, or not used. The exception is if Nokia were to make a 180-degree change in strategy direction. Then some new values might be needed. If such new values did not emerge through this process, consider whether the strategy shift will succeed. Also consider how the outcome might be different if some regions are far more successful than others going forward, and how working relationships might be affected. Consider, too, the values of younger people who will be entering the workforce around that time.  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa 9 The instructor needs to press participants on how concrete the values are, how engaged the people are, what are the pros and cons of having values cascade upward, why this process generates energy, and how management can measure whether the values are indeed being practiced and having the intended results. The instructor can jumpstart discussion by dividing the class into eight small groups and having each group discuss one of Nokia’s four values, addressing the following: If the group participants were the leaders, how would they ensure that the value takes deep roots and builds a superb social fabric while at the same time improving business results? The instructor may choose to broaden the discussion to explore issues around new theories of organization and management, such as Enterprise 2. 0 and the use of Web 2. technologies that promise to overcome the bureaucracy associated with hierarchy and make the organization more agile and productive. 4 What some people refer to as Enterprise 2. 0 or depict as a flat organization includes the direct exchange of information among people at lower organizational levels and bottom-up decisionmaking. Nokia’s value-creation process is representative of this new way of engaging employees and doing business. The following questions c an prompt discussion: n Is there a negative side to mass participation, or connecting the many to the many? Lack of knowledge or commitment can cause people to generate bad ideas that nonetheless gain momentum. Senior management will appear to be heavy-handed if it derails or ignores them. The major risk is when management is not trusted by employees, is erratic or seen as incompetent. Under those conditions, this process will fail. If that failure gets the attention of the board, which in this day and age is likely, the board might well insist on a change in management. Good management should learn from anything that comes in that does not match their expectations. In what situations, or for what issues, does a cafe-type approach work or not work? Any time a new leader is starting to take charge of a unit or company, cafe-type approach is a fantastic tool to energize and align people and hear what’s on their minds. This could be used to generate ideas around any particular topic—for instance, to gather ideas for coping with the global financial crisis. Do you think employees want to weigh in on all issues? In this knowledge worker society, tapping everybody’s brain and energy can create momentum and be a competitive advantage. People want to participate. There may be some managers who don’t want to hear what people have to say. The blockage tends to be from management, not the employees. n n 10  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa n How do you know if the masses are generating a better or more authentic solution than a smaller number of experts? The adoption and application will reveal the validity of the solution. Let’s remind everybody that â€Å"experts† are also employees. All experts can learn from the front lines. Experts also can be narrow. An open process will surface those conflicts in point of view. In a fast-moving, highly volatile environment, it is hugely important to draw those conflicts to the surface and get them resolved. Even if the outcome is not better in some absolute sense, it will be better accepted. to what extent does engagement affect business performance? How can you measure it? An employee audit or pulse survey are common tools to measure engagement as well as perception of business performance beyond financial numbers. Have people shown more commitment? In this case, the value of achieving together might be evident in shorter decision cycle times. n  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa 11 For Further reading Lawler, E. E. III, & Worley, C. G. (2006). Built to change: How to achieve sustained organizational effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Shirkey, C. (2008). Here comes everybody: The power of organizing without organizations. New York: Penguin. Charan, R. (2007). Know-how: The 8 skills that separate people who perform from those who don’t. New York: Crown Business. McGregor, D. (2005). The human side of enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hamel, G. (2007). The future of management. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Goldsmith, M. (2007). What got you here won’t get you there: How successful people become even more successful. New York: Hyperion. 12  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa endnotes 1 For more on the history of Nokia, see â€Å"The Story of Nokia† on the Nokia web site, www. nokia. com/a4303001. For more on the World Cafe methodology, see www. theworldcafe. com /reading. htm. Nokia’s earlier values are as follows: 2003 n Customer Satisfaction n Respect n Achievement n Renewal 1992 n Customer Satisfaction n Respect of Individual n Achievement n Continuous Learning 3 4 For more on theories of organization, see, for example, Andrew P. McAfee. (2006, Spring). Enterprise 2. 0: The dawn of emergent collaboration. MIT Sloan Management Review.  © 2009 Society for Human resource Management. Geraldine Willigan, MBa 13 SHrm members can download this case study and many others free of charge at www. shrm. org/education/hreducation/pages/c ases. aspx. If you are not a SHrm member and would like to become one, please visit www. shrm. org/join. 1800 Duke Street Alexandria, VA 22314-3499