Sunday, December 29, 2019

Descriptive Essay - Original Writing - 1021 Words

â€Å"Brrr.† I shivered when I stepped into the shallow water. After 30 seconds, though, I adjusted. â€Å"C’mon Tessa!† my brother Zen, called out as he raced by. â€Å"Okay!† I replied as I splashed after him. I was at the beach with my family. I had never been to a beach before, so it was a lot of fun, even though it was only at Lake Michigan in Chicago. As we ran my dad followed us into the water. â€Å"Hey, Zen, can you do this?† I asked as I waddled like a duck, â€Å" Quack, quack, HONK!!!† â€Å"That’s easy,† he responded as he started imitating the way I was walking, â€Å"Can you do this?† Now he was crawling like a crab. â€Å"THAT’s easy!† I retorted as my waddle turned to a crab crawl. Now it was our dad’s turn to try to one up us, we†¦show more content†¦I ran up to our blanket and grabbed our bucket. â€Å"Hey, I wanted the bucket!† complained Zen. â€Å"Weà ¢â‚¬â„¢ll take turns.† I suggested. â€Å"OK.† Zen shrugged. He walked over to a pre-built sand castle and started digging out hole?! â€Å"Whatchya doin’?† I asked. â€Å"I’m going to bury myself in the sand.† He replied frankly. â€Å"Okay!† I said cheerfully as I started scooping up wet sand. I made sure to get plenty sand nice and packed. I started shaping the sand into a tower. I could feel the sun beating on my back, my hair whipping around in the wind. I could hear the waves crawling up to the shore. It was the perfect summer- â€Å"Tessa, can you help me?† Zen interrupted. He had sand up to his knees. â€Å"No, I’m busy making my own sand structure.† I responded. I went back to building my tower. My hands were caked with sand. I brushed my hair out of my face with my arm. I got up up and walked to the water. My hands dipped into the sun-heated water. I pulled back my hair and plunged the b ucket into the lake water. When it submerged the sand washed away and it was filled with water. I skipped back, trying not to spill the water, sand spraying with every step. I plopped onto the ground. I poured the water over the top, creating a bowl shaped tower. I shook my hair back over my shoulders again. I thought back to the only other â€Å"beach† I’ve ever been to. I hadn’t even quite started kindergarten when I went to Ruidoso, New Mexico for Descriptive Essay - Original Writing - 1021 Words It was a scorching hot morning in the city of El Mirage, Arizona. I lived on 13022 W Scotts Drive. I was the typical 5 year old kindergarten girly girl. My parents were up early making breakfast and irong school clothes for my sister Mazie, my two brother JeRon and Duraie, and me Jada Levern Ashford. As always I was the first one up so I went to the dining room to eat breakfast. When I was finished my mother asked, â€Å"Jada will you take you and your sisters clothes upstairs and get dressed?’’ I replied, â€Å"Sure mommy, be right back.† i started to walk up what seemed like seventy stairs. Once I reached the top I skipped to the room my sister and I shared. Of course it was a carnation pink and a minion purple. I leaned over my sister s bed to†¦show more content†¦After a few minutes the medical assistant came to the doorway and said, â€Å"Jada Ashford.† We went back to the room and I got my regular check-up. While I he was checking my heart he said I had to get many test because my heartbeat didn’t sound right. I was just happy upset because I got to watch Dora, SpongeBob and The Backyardigans. We were told the results of my tests after about an hour or so of testing. I was diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease. The problem had to do with my left coronary anomaly which is really rare. Usually people who have Congenital Heart Disease die before the age of 1. Congenital Heart Disease affects 8 out of 1000 newborns. The diagnosis was founded by an echocardiogram (echo). After my parents got the news they called the whole family and my grandmother had to come down from Springfield, Missouri to watch my siblings for about a month. I went straight from the doctor s office to the hospital because they were connected to each other. I was hospitalized on September 29, 2007. I had to be in the I.C.U. the whole time I was in the hospital because I could have passed out and died at any point and time. All my friends and family came to visit a lot so they made me feel comfortable and not so bored in the hospital. I don’t remember my parents ever going home the whole time I was in the hospital. The day of my surgery was October 11, 2007, a day after my brother JeRon’s birthday. I just remember

Friday, December 20, 2019

Hostess Essay - 889 Words

The Fate of the Hostess Twinkie Hostess Brands, manufacturer of the iconic Twinkie, is in a bit of a predicament. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004, emerging in 2009, after rounds of restructuring and concessions taken by union and non-union employees (Flahardy, 2012). In the face of the recent recession and increasing commodities pricing, the company has yet again filed for bankruptcy protection (By Spector, 2012). In addition, the company has been engaged in collective bargaining with its two major unions, the Teamsters Union and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), hoping for more concessions from employees to help it survive. Combined, these unions represent†¦show more content†¦The company states that things must change. Also holding the company back are obligations with pension plans. The company currently owes the Bakery Confectionary Union Industry International Pension Fund some $944 million dollars (Flahardy, 2012). Add to this the $102 million annually that Hostess pays toward multi- employer pension plans and the company says it is tapped. These plans were designed to help employers in the industry share the costs, but as more and more companies are struggling, contributions have waned. This has put strain on those that are still making their payments (By Spector, 2012). The Union Perspective Union leaders say that the company has failed to innovate and has pursued business strategies that have failed again and again (By Spector, 2012). They state the company neglected to invest in product development and upgrades to manufacturing equipment so they wonder what makes this time any different than the last bankruptcy (Flahardy, 2012). The union has already seen concessions of $110 million annually (Feintzeig, 2012). They have also seen retirement ages increased from 57 to 65 (By Spector, 2012). From there perspective, millions of dollars have been given in bonuses to managers and supervisors while they are being asked to cut just to save their jobs. Conclusion Obviously the situation between the Hostess and its unionsShow MoreRelatedSwot Analysis Of Hostess1809 Words   |  8 Pagesand vision of Hostess is all about the growth of the company due to their most recent bankruptcy. In November 2012, Hostess filed bankruptcy due to a strike by the lab or unions. However, that was only after one week of the strike, Hostess had an immense amount of debt due to mismanaged cost-cutting and operations. Hostess is currently run by leaders from companies such as; Ghirardelli, Nabisco, and Hershey. With the new members of a relaunching company they can reinvent how Hostess is going to moveRead MoreEthical And Legal Environment Of Organizations1308 Words   |  6 Pages Hostess Brand Falls Flat Cristy Lawler Bethel University MOD 450: Ethical Legal Environment of Organizations Dr. Dorothy Black December 29, 2016 â€Æ' Abstract For over 70 years Hostess had been a staple on shelves everywhere. Then in the 80’s the company hit very hard financial troubles. In an effort to save the company it made hasty negotiations, took hefty loans for two major leaders, and then tried to quick fix the problem. All the while not holding up to their end of the bargains theyRead MoreMy Job As A Hostess921 Words   |  4 PagesMy roommate always complained about her summer job as a hostess, she would say how she couldn’t believe how many hours she worked for so little pay and that she couldn’t wait to graduate and go into a job she actually liked and make a decent salary. 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I took my G.E.D. tests in May of 2005, and earned an Honors G.E.D. I continued to work for Applebee’s and in this position I was able to excel. I quickly was training other employees, and receiving excellent reviews on evaluations and inspectionsRead MoreOlive Garden Case Analysis Essay957 Words   |  4 Pagesexpecting to be greeted with a friendly smile and great customer service. This was not the case. Instead, Mr. Wallace was not greeted by any host/hostess, but instead an empty station. After waiting about ten minutes, he went to the bar to find someone to seat him and his family. Only then did a hostess take them to their table and appeared to be annoyed. The hostess tried to seat them in a section that was not possible for Mr. Wallace’s father to get to easily since he is handicapped. After a short conversationRead MoreFemale Characters In Beowulf890 Words   |  4 PagesWealhtheow and Hygd, Hildeburh and Freawaru, Thyrth and Grendel’s mother, the women play various roles and reinforce the limits of female autonomy differently. The women can be categorized in to three separate groups, women as peaceweaver’s, women as hostess and women as monsters. The women who are classed as peaceweaver’s are princess Hildeburh and Freawaru, these women are known as peaceweavers as they were married off to the enemy in order to keep peace among the rivals, these marriages were forcedRead More The Role of Women in Homers The Odyssey Essay695 Words   |  3 PagesThe Role of Women in Homers The Odyssey Women form an important part of the folk epic, written by Homer, The Odyssey. Within the story there are three basic types of women: the goddess, the seductress, and the good hostess/wife. Each role adds a different element and is essential to the telling of the story. The role of the goddess is one of a supernatural being, but more importantly one in a position to pity and help mortals. Athena, the goddess of wisdom,Read MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare972 Words   |  4 Pageswaiting on her husband to return. Her only job, it seems, is to to be the hostess and wait on her husband and the King. Even in her attempts to â€Å"unsex† herself the job of hostess is always assigned to Lady Macbeth throughout the whole play. In the beginning of the play she is to be a hostess for King Duncan and his court when they arrive at her house. Even when Macbeth becomes king and she queen, we see her in the place of a hostess. In act 3 Scene 4, Macbeth introduces himself and his queen and says

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Leadership and Organizational Culture

Question: Discuss about the Leadership and Organizational Culture. Answer: Introduction: Leadership is the need of an hour in any organization, as it is one of the important elements that are needed for the efficient management of the organization. In this research study, the author illustrates about the leadership and the reactions of the employees towards any organizational change. The topic is new and carries potential of attracting the attention of practitioners, as leadership is a most researched topic in the current time. Although this topic falls within the research area that aims at determining the attributes and conditions that are related with successful organization, it is different as focus is on the aspects linked with the reactions of employees to change. Objective The research is aimed to understand the how leaders attributes can be explained through the intentions of the employees for resisting a large-scale organizational change. Nowadays, many of the studies that are aiming towards explaining the successful change in the organization, adopts the macro perspective which mainly focuses on the factors like, structure of the organization, environment and strategy etc. The research conducted thus concluded that the employees flexibility and acceptance is must for the success of any change that is to be implemented in any organization. Methodology and Means of Analyses The author of the research study has taken up a multi level analysis of the data, which he collected from 75 school principles and 586 teachers. According to Carpenter, Geletkanycz, Sanders (2005), the leaders personal attributes relation to the employee reactions can be explained by implementing two sets of process. According to Goksoy (2015), the choices and decisions of the leaders vary according to the personal attributes of the leaders and hence also have impact on the decisions they will be making in the organization. Such attributes of the leaders also affects the attitudes and beliefs of their followers. Giberson et al. (2009) believes that the decision which is influenced, by the attributes of the leaders, includes mainly two factors, firstly the actions and performance that must be recognized and rewarded and secondly the recruitment decisions of the organization that also include the release of the employees. Avolio, Zhu, Koh, Bhatia (2004) believe that later process values how the beliefs and attributes of the follower are influenced by the decision of the leaders. The leaders values are expected to be positively related to the intentions of employees to resist the change based on what the author knows about the relationship in between the leaders value and followers reactions. For better analysis, author framed hypothesis for these statements. Hypothesis 1a: Conservation values of the leaders positively associate themselves with the intentions of employees to resist change. Hypothesis 1b: The intention of the employees to resist change is negatively associated with the openness towards change. The author discusses about that various ratings and reactions on the studies of the leaders traits are their presence in the leadership literature. Oreg, Nevo, Metzer, Leder, Castro (2009) stated that the change due to dispositional resistance has been linked with the varied conclusions which comprises of professional preferences and interest, technology adoption and the intentions of resisting the specific organizational changes. The author portrays that the leaders dispositional resistance is correlated with the employees intentions of resisting change (Oreg Nov, 2008). Hypothesis 2: The intentions of employees resistance are positively associated with the dispositional resistance to the change of employees. Bommer, Rich, Rubin (2005) in his study identified that transformational leadership behavior gets negatively associated with cynicism of employees regarding the organizational change. For better introspection of the results, author critically thought of analyzing the results of the data, analysis of the above study and for this purpose, he framed another hypothesis. Hypothesis 3: The intention of the employees to resist will be negatively associated with the transformational leadership behavior. Through a strong vision researcher has articulated that transformational leadership reduces the ambiguity which is associated with the organizational change by offering undeniable visions of the future. (Kihlstrom, 2013). Hypothesis 4: The relationship of employees dispositional resistance to change and intention to resist will be moderated by Transformational leadership. The author has been successful in conducting the research analysis with the public school system of Israel, which was followed by decline in the student performance over the past years. For efficiency in methodology, 40-item portrait value questionnaire were utilized to measure personal values. Arguments Advanced in Article The focus of the study was kept on the leaders and the reactions of the employees to organizational change. The author portrayed that personal emphasis of leader on the stimulation and novelty are negatively related with the intention of the followers for resisting the organizational change. The research done by Lau Woodman (1995) shows the correlation among the openness values and dispositional resistance to change and also the outcomes overlaps in their effects. Liao and co- authors (H M, 2008)supports the research study and says that conceptualization in respect of the transformational leadership focuses on the high order constructs. The transformational leadership scale comprises of the inspirational scale, intellectual scale and individual scale. Gaziel (1994) portrayed in his study that Israeli school system has conservative climate and has hierarchical structure and because of that, differences in the leaders personal conservation has less significant impact on the followers, in comparison to the differences in the leaders stress on the creativity and innovative ideas. Although not hypothesized but it is anticipated to determine certain relationship in between the leaders transformational leadership behaviors and attributes. The author reveals that one can expect the change to be accepted easily by appreciating it and emphasizing the sincerity to change value and low level of dispositional resistance towards the change(Groves, 2005). Conclusion and Findings of Study After data analysis, researcher identified that the intention of teachers was negative towards the principals candidness to change value and the transformational leadership behavior and it is positively related to his dispositional resistance towards the change. Moreover, the author portrays that the principals transformational leadership behavior moderates the relationship in between dispositional resistance of teachers and intentions to resists to the change. Relationship between conservative values like compliance have been found for exhibiting weaker relationship with the behaviors in comparison to the relationship in between opened standards and behaviors. In this particular paragraph, the author has shown the theoretical contributions that the findings offer. First, the study unites the two highly deliberated, aspects of the organization. Organizational scholars associate leadership, in transformational leadership with motivating employees for responding positively to the chang e. By explicitly focusing in such a link, the author has successfully filled the conceptual gap in literature. Implications The findings of the study critically expand how the forming of attitude of employees towards the change is affected by the situational factors interaction with the personal factors. In line with the study of Ross(L RE, 1991), the author suggests that the personality of the employees have varied effects on the leadership environment in which they merely work. The study successfully allows examining the large number of organization where the given changes were introduced. This literature mainly focuses on the change within the single organization although the organizations initiated a number of changes and at different stages the data was collected during the entire implementation process. The research study implies that the characteristics which leader holds are able to create serious impact on the change reactions. The performance of the employees enhances as and when they are able to assess the self-awareness conclusions of their personality. Though the leaders of the organization can successfully use the traits of the transformational leadership in their working for overriding the resistance to change but still other means can be considered, for the same, by the officials of human resource department like facilitating a trend that endorse the change by selling issues in the various organizational activities like workshops. This research study shows that the transformational leaderships managerial advantage suggests specific benefits. In particular, the followers, dispositional difficulty that some of them have in times or during organizational change can be compensated by charismatic leader. Strengths This research study has successfully taken on integrative framework within which some of the factors of the organizational outcome are incorporated and examined, in comparison to other previous studies, which have restricted themselves to investigation of trait or motives only. In particular, the study shows that the interaction in between the leaders behavior and followers traits mentions the circumstances under which the followers are influenced by the transformational leadership. Weaknesses The main weakness in the study concern is about the external validity. Firstly, the sample of the study was selected through convenient sampling, thus constructing the assurance of the representative of the population of schools in Israeli. Additional research is needed to be conducted in other sectors and industries. The effects analyzed by the author in the country in which the data was collected, it appeared to be weaker in countries with great homogeneity in individuals perspective towards the change. This research fails in analyzing the cultural level changes and its reactions, so further research is needed for meaningful proposition about the validity of models of cross-cultural differences. References Avolio, B.J., Zhu, W., Koh, W. Bhatia, P., 2004. Transformational leadership andorganizational commitment: mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of structural distance. Journal Of Organiztaional Behavior, 25(8), pp.951-68. Bommer, W.H., Rich, G.A. Rubin, R.S., 2005. Changing attitudes about change: longitudinal effects of transformational leader behavior on employee cynicism about organizational change. Journal of Organiztaional Behaviour, 26(7), pp.733-53. Carpenter, M.A., Geletkanycz, M.A. Sanders, W.G., 2005. Upper Echelons Research Revisited:Antecedents, Elements, and Consequences of Top Management Team Composition. Journal of Management, 30(6), pp.749-78. Gaziel, H.H., 1994. Implementing reforms in a centralised education system: The Case of Israeli education. Oxford Review of Education, 20(2), pp.237-52. Giberson, T.R. et al., 2009. Leadership and Organizational Culture: Linking CEO Characteristics to Cultural Values. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24(2), pp.123-37. Goksoy, A., 2015. Organizational Change Management Strategies in Modern Business. IGI Global. Groves, K.S., 2005. Linking leader skills, follower attitudes, and contextual variables via anintegrated model of charismatic leadership. Journal of Management, 31(2), pp.255-77. H, L. M, S., 2008. Employee customer orientation in manufacturing organizations:s: Joint influences of customer proximity and the senior leadership team. Journal of Applied Psychology. Kihlstrom, J.F., 2013. The PersonSituation Interaction. The Oxford handbook of social cognition, pp.786-805. Lau, C.-M. Woodman, R.W., 1995. Understanding Organizational Change: A Schematic Perspective. The Academy of Management Journal, 38(2), pp.537-54. L, R. RE, N., 1991. The person and the situation: Perspectives of social psychology. New York: : McGraw-Hill. Oreg, S. et al., 2009. Dispositional Resistance to Change and Occupational Interests and Choices. Journal of Career Assessment, 17, pp.312-22. Available at: 10.1177/1069072708330599. Oreg, S. Nov, O., 2008. Exploring motivations for contributing to open source initiatives: The roles of contribution context and personal values. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(5), pp.2055-73.