Young Goodman Brown. Theme of your choice of good and evil Research Paper

Young Goodman Brown. Theme of your choice of good and evil - Research Paper Example The puritan beliefs that man was inherently sinful tend to be biased against society in favor of their own self-righteousness out of grace. Through the story of Goodman, Hawthorne criticizes the hypocrisy of the Puritan liturgy by creatively designing Goodman’s journey to self-discovery through personal reevaluation that ultimately ends in the loss of his own faith. Goodman as the protagonist of the story is a universal character, typical of every other man in the universe (Hawthorne 561). This story is strikingly a dark romance story in the period of American Romanticism because it depicts sad and dark events; moreover, in this story, Hawthorne deals with the theme of Good and Evil as two opposing forces in society. The basic argument is that man is constantly faced with the internal conflict about his personal belief, and this is because of the struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Hawthorne affirmatively states that the forces of evil are so strong tha t one is more likely to stray from the path of righteousness to the path of evil and darkness. Man being inherently sinful, he has  to defeat evil by remaining steadfast in his faith, but this is not often easy as we see through Goodman’s woes that lead to him losing his faith; he encounters the devil who is in his own resemblance (Hawthorne 554). The major characters of this story have been given names that suggest a deeper meaning than the surface one, in a deliberate fashion that supports the theme of Good and evil. Goodman for instance points out that the said character is a good man, pure in actions and free from evil. As such, Goodman appeals to the reader as a sympathetic character who has fallen victim of circumstances;  Faith  on the other hand  metaphorically represents his religious beliefs, through which he hopes to attain eternal life.  He believes in her earthly purity and innocence and later in the story,  it emerges that she also represents his per sonal faith. It is faith that keeps Goodman from indulging in evil; this is captured aptly through Goodman’s encounter with the devil in the forest where he excuses his lateness by the delay caused by his wife Faith. This highlights his internal conflict that is informed by man's  general predisposition to evil, and his religious beliefs that prohibit him from freely doing evil. Once Goodman learns that his wife is lost, his personal faith is lost too, and Goodman is totally lost from the righteous path. Apart from the Characters, the setting of the story has been used to highlight the theme of Good and evil in a manner that evokes greater significance in the plot of the story; thus, Hawthorne’s choice of a dense forest setting was purposeful and not merely coincidental. Forests have largely been associated with darkness and dangerous malevolence that could befall any unsuspecting person. Goodman alludes to this myth when he gets a notion that there could be evil beh ind every tree in the forest waiting to attack an innocent individual. In this regard, the forest setting symbolizes evil in its pure form with its deep secrets and darkness that portents mystery. By agreeing to walk in the forest, Goodman starts being compromised in his whole being as he begins to doubt his beliefs in the knowledge he already had about his forbiddance from the forest area. Goodman’s gradual walk deeper into the forest metaphorically represents his gradual straying from good to evil. Deeper into the forest, there is dense darkness that totally blinds Goodman’s eyesight thus highlighting the fact that his morality is getting darker and darker by the moment as he continues to walk in the fo

Recruitment and Selection Strategies Essay Example for Free

Recruitment and Selection Strategies Essay Over the past five weeks, work was completed on an employment compliance plan, compensation, and benefits strategies plan, performance management strategies suggested, advise given on training plans, and this week, we will provide recommendations on recruitment and selection strategies. Within these suggested strategies, the importance of implementing the following will be highlighted, the goals for Bollman Hotels, anticipated demographic changes, analysis of projected workforce needs, objectives of workforce diversity, branding of the organization, methods for recruiting, screening, and selecting candidates. Organizational Goals Bollman Hotels has net revenue of $100,000,000 with a 15% growth expected within the first year. A workforce of 25,000 employees with plans to increase by 20% with the expansion to India and the current employee turnover is 5%. Based on this information and the stage of their business development, they will need to enter the Indian market fiercely, but with as little interruption to the tourism industry as possible. Therefore, Bollman will have to be competitive and establish a premier hotel chain that will lure international travelers seeking the exotic, heterogeneous, and lavish experience by offering elitism while on business or pleasure (Incredible India, n. . ). It is recommended that the goal of Bollman Hotel’s in India is to open and operate at a five star deluxe status and be competitive with hotels such as Taj Falaknuma Palace, ITC Hotel Kakatiya, Park Hyatt, Hderabad, and The Ashok, just, to name a few (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, 2013). Therefore, Bollman Hotels will be a premier chain while aligning itself with the Government of India’s to urism and hotel requirements (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, 2013). Forecasted Demographic Changes Bollman Hotel’s entrance into the Indian market also means a shift in the demographics. Affluent international clients visiting Bollman hotels will bring notoriety to the region that they are located resulting in an economic boost. A thriving emerging economy means Indian Nationals (both men and women) experience a socio-economic change with an increase in jobs and income in that region. Additionally, with the increase in birthrates, the candidate pool has increased and Bollman will help to provide these well needed jobs (Chua, 2012). Five-Year Workforce Plan Based on the organizational goals and demographic changes, it is recommended that Bollman adopt a three-step plan to analyze its present workforce. This will help to identify the needs over the next five years (Analyzing Your Workforce, n. d. ). First step includes a supply analysis – evaluating current resources and includes the number of persons performing specific job functions in Minnesota, how many are supervised by one person and is it sufficient. What is the current pay rate in Minnesota and what will work best in India and what are the areas that contribute the most to the current 5% turnover rate and what will decrease it (Analyzing Your Workforce, n. d. ). Second step recommended is a demand analysis that will evaluate the future needs of Bollman Hotels. This analysis will determine the jobs necessary for optimum service, the jobs that can be combined or eliminated, the possible technological changes to operate best and the areas that can be performed more economically and effectively (Analyzing Your Workforce, n. d. ). The final recommended step is a gap analysis that will identify a projected need that has not been met or an excess. This is done by comparing the supply and demand results. Based on the results received from the gap analysis, solutions such as additional training, increased staff, and more efficient recruitment and hiring processes can be done over the next five years (Analyzing Your Workforce, n. d. ). Workforce Diversity Objectives Diversity is the variations that exist in an organizations based on age, gender, educational background, ethnic groups, culture, and working customs (Lai, 2013). Workforce diversity helps to manage the change that has taken place in the workforce from a manufacturing to a service industry that Bollman Hotels provides (Cascio, 2013). Second, market globalization is another factor and with Bollman’s move into an international market, it is important that they understand their internal market its customers to operate best (Cascio, 2013). Third, many businesses are requiring increased teamwork (Cascio, 2013). Bollman has experience with this demand in Minnesota with peak operating seasons and have had to increase the number of personnel that work at once. The same will apply in India. Fourth, there are increased mergers and strategic international alliances (Cascio, 2013) and with Bollman’s international move, there will be a difference in the corporate culture. Therefore, it is recommended that diversity training is provided. Finally, India is an evolving economy and with an expected increase in diverse workers such as women it is imperative that Bollman Hotel workers understand that the aim is to provide quality service to everyone (Cascio, 2013). Organizational Branding Organizational branding is essential at this point of the recommendations to Bollman Hotels. With a goal to be known as a five start deluxe hotel, it is important to put the name Bollman Hotels in the Indian market and among the local areas in the United States and Europe known for international business travel. It is recommended that this is done through traditional advertisements in local papers in the language of each country and most important and relevant to these recommendations, through hiring diverse employees (Cascio, 2013). This will ensure that Bollman is known to help create a boost in the Indian economy and the demographics as previously mentioned, hence, causing more word-of-mouth marketing internationally. Also, the service standards and five star statuses will also be something to rave about. Methods for Screening Candidates It is important that Bollman Hotels has a process for screening candidates; therefore, recommendations will be made for interview methods, testing procedures, and interview process considerations, all of which will cover the screening process. Interview Methods Employment interviews allow organizations to have an idea of the skills and personality traits that a candidate possesses (Cascio, 2013). It is therefore recommended that Bollman Hotels interview team have interview questions built on-the-job analysis done. Create general questions for all candidates, use thorough rating scales with descriptions of desired behaviors as scale points and recording notes focused on the behavior of the candidate. It is also recommended that several interviewers are used with a diverse number of them and that vast training is provided on how to conduct interviews. Interviewers are also encouraged to wait until all interviews are complete prior to discussing any candidates and finally, use statistical information and overall views of the candidates to decide (Cascio, 2013). Interview Process Considerations To ensure that the interview is a fair process, it is recommended that the panel focuses on-the-job competencies, assess resumes and applications by concentrating on specifics in line with the job requirements. Consider things that identifies if a candidate meets the requirements and skills that they possess from precious employment that are applicable (Cascio, 2013). Use open-ended questions to stimulate elaboration on topics and use questionnaires that will highlight how well someone will perform and overall fit. It is also recommended that scenario type questions are used as this will give an idea of how they will handle specific situations (Cascio, 2013). Finally, given this is a US company going into India, it is recommended that interviews are done in relaxed environments. This will allow candidate to be more open and relaxed with their responses also giving the interviewer a chance to note both verbal and non-verbal responses (Cascio, 2013). Testing Procedures Employment testing is necessary for Bollman hotels, not only based on the location, but also to protect them and to ensure they are hiring suitable employees. The tests recommended are work-sample tests, leaderless-group discussions, personality measures, and integrity test. Bollman Hotel’s goal in India is to be a premier chain; hence, service delivery is important. So, job fit is important and an integrity test will help to outline the attitudes of prospects toward stealing, dishonest behavior, violence, and drug abuse. This it done through overt integrity test clear purpose esting and personality-based measures disguised -purpose test (Cascio, 2013). Employees will have access to guest rooms and information, so ensuring that Bollman has an idea of their tendencies, could help with selection. Another testing method is the work-sample tests used to analyze an applicant’s ability to perform a job task (Casco, 2013). Placing an employee in a hotel ro om or situation based on the job they applied for will show the interviewer if he or she can perform this task, such as spreading a bed according to Bollman Hotel standards for example. Leaderless-group discussion is another method and entails placing several candidates at a round table and giving them a job related topic to discuss. Each person will naturally approach this based on his or her abilities and personalities. This is recommended for Bollman as it will help to determine persons suitable for supervisory roles or otherwise. Finally, the personality measure test is recommended as it will help to identify personality characteristics such as neuroticism that is the level at which an individual is insecure, anxious emotional or calm, and self-confident. Extroversion looks at how an individual is gregarious, assertive, and sociable. Openness to experience looks at how an individual is cooperative, and warm, and conscientiousness looks at how hardworking, organized, and dependable someone is (Cascio, 2013). Personality measure is recommended because it will give an idea of persons most suited for jobs where they will interact with guest the least or the most based on their personalities. Methods for Selecting Candidates The candidates chosen for the jobs at Bollman Hotels in India will have to be in tuned with the culture of prestige and superb customer service. To do this, it is recommended that all the persons involved in the interview process are gathers and each will give their thoughts on each candidate and narrow the candidate pool. The process can be repeated until the desired number of employees has been reached (McNamara, n. d. ). The interview results and subsequent selections can be coupled with test results to make decisions as well. Job Offer The job offer is another important step in the employment process. The following are recommended when presenting the job offer to a successful candidate. Prepare a letter stating how thrilled the company is to offer them the job, outline the exact compensation offered, and outline the benefits him or her is entitled to. The letter should have a signature line for them to indicate their acceptance of the job within a specified time and the contact information for the Bollman Hotel’s personnel office if the need arises (McNamara, n. d. ). A three month probation period is recommended in addition to orientation for one week and on-the-job training for four weeks. This should also be outlined in the letter in addition to a copy of the job description (McNamara, n. d. ). Impact of Organizational Diversity on Organizations Diversity caused organizations to grow and operate more efficiently in global markets as they understand the need to relate to their customers. This also creates a competitive advantage when customers see an active effort to embrace diversity. Diversity also effects an organization by building brand equity for companies that choose to invest in multicultural advertising. They become known globally (Cascio, 2013). Organizations are also seeing that diverse employees need to be embraced to retain productive talent. Corporate image is also a factor and is increased as organizations known to employ diverse employees are more attractive to job seekers and companies seeing alliances (Cascio, 2013). It is recommended that Bollman capitalizes on the impacts of diversity as they are entering into a diverse and global market-place. Laws to Consider for Recruitment Selection It is important that Bollman Hotels remembers that employee and future employees have specific rights under specific laws. Consent is needed for background checks to be done on applicants, and this is covered under the Fair Credit Report Act and is necessary for checks done by a third party. Also, if references are provided on an applicant, they have the right to petition to see this reference under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (Cascio, 2013). Conclusion In this final recommendation prepared for Bollman Hotels, the following were effectively addressed. The organizational goals, forecasted demographic changes, five-year workforce plan, workforce diversity objectives, organizational branding, methods for screening candidates using highlighting the interview methods, interview process considerations and testing procedures. Recommendations were also made for methods for selecting candidates, the job offer, impact of organizational diversity on organizations and recruitment selection laws to consider.

Divine Comedy - The Trinity in Dantes Inferno Essay -- Divine Comedy

The Trinity in The Inferno      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dante's Inferno, itself one piece of a literary trilogy, repeatedly deploys the leitmotif of the number three as a metaphor for ambiguity, compromise, and transition. A work in terza rima that details a descent through Nine Circles of Hell, The Inferno encompasses temporal, literary, and political bridges and chasms that link Dante's inspired Centaur work between the autobiographical and the fictive, the mundane and the divine and, from a contemporary viewpoint, the Medieval and the Modern†¹Dante's recognition of the Renaissance as our millennium's metamorphic period and of himself as its poetic forerunner (until deposition by Shakespeare).    The Inferno is a work of transition between two points, as attested by the opening lines: "When I had journeyed half of our life's way,/ I found myself within a shadowed forest,/ for I had lost the path that does not stray" (I, 1-3). Echoes of these famous lines can be heard in Robert Frost's "The Road Less Traveled"; whereas Frost's poem concerns itself with the duality and firmness of decision, Dante's tercet implies an interval of great indecision and limbo. Indeed, he is anything but entrenched in position: "I cannot clearly say how I had entered/ the wood; I was so full of sleep just at/ The point where I abandoned the true path" (I, 10-12). Dante is nearly sleepwalking, yet another fusion of two worlds, the conscious and unconscious. This division of self can best be explained by Dante's exile and his loss of national identity. He examines this alienated state through a geographic metaphor: "And just as he who, with exhausted breath,/ Having escaped from sea to shor e, turns back/ To watch the dangerous waters he has q... ...ts notion of a "third way" as an ambiguous compromise. What is most fascinating is the degree to which one of the more stable metaphors, that of past, present, and future, has come true. The Inferno repeatedly invokes past epics, especially Virgil's Aeneid, with such cries as "O Muses, o high genius, help me now," and Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan welcome Dante and Virgil into Limbo. Now many modern poets, most notably T.S. Eliot, allude quite frequently to Dante's work. It seems that The Inferno will forever be canonically in the terza rima†¹originally written as a centerpiece to the Italian epic, now accepted as a framer of world literature.    WORKS CITED: Brucker, Gene A. Renaissance Florence. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969. Mandelbaum, Allen. Inferno (translation). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.   

A theology or philosophy of education

Education is an essential part of our lives. Without education we fail to understand the greater meanings of life. True education does not only contain achievement of academic degrees.It involves learning the meaning of life and the greater virtues of life and unless we understand the virtues and the philosophies of life we will not be in a position to intake the academic knowledge fully. In order to get proper education it is necessary that we get a true mentor who will strive to imbibe the philosophies of life into our minds.A mentor is able to impart academic knowledge only when he or she prepares the mind of students philosophically and morally. Moreover a mentor or an instructor should always walk in the path of virtue. Getting deviated from the path makes him unfit for teaching a bunch of young men.This paper aims to look at the various theories of life and the value of virtues in life and hence tries to relate it with teaching. It tries to focus on the fact that a mentor shoul d believe and follow some theories while he or she is instructing the students.The paper also has tried to tell how the teachers should help their students to understand the meaning of their lives and also guide them in the true path of religion. The main aim of the paper remains in pointing out the role which an educator should play in order to bring about over all human development so that the society is able to get more number of sensible citizens who will adhere to the path of righteousness.There are actually many theories and many views of virtue which can be incorporated by an educator while imparting knowledge to the students. For instance The Divine Command Theory states that morality is associated with God’s commands. Divine Command Theory focuses that anything not approved by God is immoral. Therefore it actually tries to say that we must all carry out acts those are approved by the God. For example torture is an act not approved by the God hence we can say that tor ture is an immoral act.The theory is of prime importance because it gives us a reason as to why we need to be moral in our lives. An important thing which we tend to believe from the theory is that only the persons who are morally upright secure happiness in their lives. Hence we can say that with the help of the Divine Command Theory we get directed towards the path of morality. (Austin, 2006).As an instructor or a mentor we can take cue from this theory and try to imbibe the virtue of morality into their minds. We can use it by making our students understand that the ultimate aim of our lives should be morality.Unless we lead a moral life we will not be in a position to achieve happiness. It should be our attempt as a facilitator to make the students realize that unless they adhere to the path of morality they will not be able to get the blessings of the Almighty and in turn will not be able to get success in their lives. Incorporating of this theory into the teaching curriculum i s important because unless the students are moral by nature they will not be able to take in the academic lessons properly. They will also not be able to use the lessons learnt in their future lives unless they have a moral foundation in them.The theory of virtue ethics is in close association with the Christian philosophy of ethics. The virtue theory is teleological in nature that is true human nature involved in true human good. The virtue ethics is of tripartite structure. It contains firstly human-nature-as-it-exists.Secondly it consists of human-nature-as-it-could-be. And the third element consists of all those habits, desires, perceptions which will transport human from one stage to the other stage. The virtue ethics focuses on the fact that there are certain habits and desires in human beings which prevent our journey towards a true human nature.Thus it is clear that in order to achieve the true good of our lives we may have to renounce certain habits of our lives. The theory deals with the journey from the stage of who we are to what we could be. It goes on to say that human nature is worth only when it is a good human nature and in order to become a good human nature it is absolutely necessary that we carry out functions which are true in nature and which adds to the true well being of humans.Therefore according to this theory we are permitted to carry out only those acts which contribute to the well being of the people and at the same time keep away from those which are not considered as true acts.(Kotva, 1997). Thus we can say that even the theory of virtue ethics can be incorporated within our teaching curriculum.That is we can make the students understand that the ultimate goal of life is well being and well being is only possible when we carry out true acts. True acts in the sense those acts which are virtuous in nature. We should also encourage the students to give up all those acts which are not true acts that are all those acts which do not co ntribute to the well being of man. In this way we can direct the students towards proper acts and keep them away from all ill acts.It is necessary to guide the students in such a direction because unless they carry out acts which are true by nature they will be unable to use their academic learning’s in proper channels. Instead they may use all their academic learning’s for accomplishing acts which are not proper. Hence it is very necessary to develop a moral guard in them right from their tender years so that they do not even get the desire to undertake an act which is improper.According to John Stuart Mill utilitarianism is basically the measure of human action based on the consequence received by that action. He was of the opinion that any human action which produces happiness among the human beings is a morally correct one. On the other hand an action which fails to generate human happiness is termed as morally wrong. Therefore according to Mill all human actions s hould be directed towards generating human happiness.Rather it should be the goal of all human beings to bring in happiness to others and not to one self.(West). Taking cue from the theory of J.S. Mill we can go further to say that the essence of utilitarianism is to maximize social welfare. We can take the happiness of others in a collective form and refer to it as the common good of the society.Thus according to the theory we can say that our ultimate aim should be to bring in the overall welfare of the society through our actions. Utilitarianism can be synonymous with â€Å"welfarism†. Therefore using utilitarianism we can say that all individuals are given an equal status as because a common good of the society has been mentioned. Unless all individuals are given an equal status they will not have a common welfare.Thus utilitarianism also incorporates egalitarianism.(Roemer, 1998). Even the theory of utilitarianism can be of much help in imbibing values within the student s. We can use the theory to make the students understand that the aim of all our actions should be to secure happiness of others.Our actions should not be directed by self interests. By happiness of others it means that we should teach the students to work for the common good of the society because if we do not put effort for the betterment of our society we will also not achieve any betterment in our moral lives. Moreover the ultimate goal of education remains self-enlightenment and that enlightenment do not involve seeking happiness for the self but it comprises bringing in positive transformation of the society through our knowledge and education.Therefore it is a must that the students are made to realize the true purpose of education at a very early stage. It is necessary to make the students realize that the purpose of their education is a great one otherwise they in the later stages of life will not be able to do justice with their education.

The Relationship Between Structure Mentoring Programs

The issue of new graduate nurse retention remains a challenge in many healthcare facilities. More than 50% of new graduate nurses leave their first employment in less than a year (North, Johnson, Knotts & Whelan 2006). Because new recruits are often faced with a variety of stressors in their beginning practice it is clear that a structured mentoring program could be of immense value. Such a program would provide technical and emotional support to nurses and so ease their transition into the unit culture. This article provides a critical review of the literature on mentoring, especially the impact that structured mentoring programs have on the retention rates of new graduate nurses. In the first section I will explore the nature of mentorship within the nursing discipline. I will discuss the functions of a formal mentoring program and the chief characteristics of the mentor: mentee relationship. In the second section I will provide a critical review of the literature concerning the relationship between mentoring programs and increased nurse retention rates. The third section explores common pitfalls that subsume in a dysfunctional mentoring program. Finally recommendations to organisations are proposed based on the review findings. Introduction Graduating from a nursing school is a considerable achievement. New graduates eagerly anticipate their first position in the ‘real world’. The issue however of new graduate nurse retention continues to be a grave concern in many healthcare facilities. It was reported that more than 50% of new graduate nurses leave their first employment in less than a year (North, Johnson, Knotts & Whelan 2006). New recruits are often faced with a variety of stressors associated with beginning practice. It is clear therefore, that a structured mentoring program which provides technical and emotional support to new nurses may be one of the best retention strategies for nurse administrators. This article provides a critical review of the literature on mentoring, with an emphasis on the impact that structured mentoring programs have on nursing retention rates. The first section sets up mentoring concepts and processes as identified in the literature. The second section will provide a critical eview of the literature on the relationship between structured mentoring programs and the nursing retention rate. The third section explores common pitfalls that subsume in a dysfunctional mentoring program. The final section makes recommendations to organisations regarding a successful mentoring program. Significance New nurse graduates have many employment options. They can choose not to work in settings where they are not supported and often they take that option. Common themes emerging from the literature show that many new nurses lack both confidence and a sense of competence (Oermann & Garvin 2002). They are afraid of making mistakes; they complain of an unsupportive environment; and of being obliged to work with ‘difficult’ colleagues (Oermann & Garvin 2002). A lack of recognition of their work as well as difficult shift-work schedules have also been identified as sources of distress (McVicar 2003). It is a sad fact that one out of every three nurses under 30 years plans to leave during his or her first year of employment (Nelson, Godfrey & Purdy 2004). The cost of such high levels of unnecessary nurse turnover is significant (Halfer, Graf & Sullivan 2008). More significantly the resulting deficit of nursing personnel inevitably affects the quality of patient care in hospitals and can compromise patient safety (Leners, Wilson, Connor & Fenton 2006). In response to the critical issue of nursing retention, hospital managements have been urged to address the issue by developing a more congenial work environment. However, it is noticeable that mentoring initiatives are still not integrated into many healthcare organisations, despite a plethora of literature relating this with positive outcomes. Literature search Relevant studies were identified by searching the following electronic databases: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Ovid and ProQuest. The keywords or their combinations have been utilised in the searching process. These include: mentorship, preceptorship, new graduate nurses, personnel retention, and personnel recruitment. Other literature was identified through searching the bibliographies of studies found through electronic searches, including the World Wide Web, Google Scholar and library data systems. Inclusion criteria included discussion/ opinion papers and articles/materials written in English. There were no particular discipline restrictions and there were also no specific date restrictions. Articles that were published after 1999 were sought. The retrieved articles were reviewed and selected based on these criteria: the relationship between formal mentoring programs and personnel retention; benefits of mentoring; new graduate transition; and possible pitfalls of mentoring. Literature review What is mentoring? There is a substantial body of literature which deals with mentoring and preceptoring as discrete functions (Block, Claffey, Korow & McCaffrey 2005; Kelly 1994). To date however, the two terms continue to be used interchangeably or synonymously (Block et al. 2005). It is useful to draw some distinctions between them. Preceptorship is understood as an organised orientation program in which the nurse preceptor facilitates the integration of new staff into role responsibilities in the clinical setting for a limited period of time (Greene & Puetzer 2002). This relationship is often viewed as one-sided and patriarchal (Leners et al. 006). In contrast, mentorship is a reciprocal relationship established between two nurses â€Å"on the basis of respect and compatible personality with the common goal of guiding the nurse toward personal and professional growth† (Block et al. 2005:134). The relationship often occurs over a much longer period, depending on whether the agreed-upon goals have been achieved (Andrews & Wallis 1999). Stated simply, the features of mentorship as distinct from other supporting roles in clinical settings include a strong repertoire of helper functions, reciprocal sharing and a relatively longer duration (Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000). Characteristics of the relationship Mentorship primarily involves a mentor and a mentee in a one-to-one relationship (Latham, Hogan & Ringl 2008). This relationship is characterised by a process of enabling, cultivating, and empowering a less experienced practitioner within the work environment (Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000). In this longitudinal relationship, both mentors and mentees assume their own responsibilities and obligations in achieving either organisational or personal goals (Latham et al. 2008). In this relationship, a mentor is recognised as a wiser and more experienced practitioner, who possesses certain ‘personal’ and ‘professional’ attributes such as good interpersonal skills, self-confidence, flexibility, knowledge, and an interest in professional growth (Kane-Urrabazo 2006:193; Andrews & Wallis 1999:204; Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000). Personal attributes that have been identified as important factors to success also include good listening skills, the ability to facilitate learning and being comfortable in giving feedback (Sherrod, Roberts & Little 2008; Woodrow 1994). The literature refers to the nurse being mentored as a ‘mentee’, ‘protege’, ‘learner’, or ‘mentoree’ (Zucker, Coss, Williams, Bloodworth, Lynn, Denker & Gibbs 2006; Hunter 2002). Referred to here simply as â€Å"the mentee† she or he can be any nurse at a distinctive stage of his/her profession (Leners et al. 2006). The characteristics of a mentee that allow a functional mentorship to flourish include honesty; the capacity to take responsibility; being ready and available for feedback; following through on decisions, having a strong self-identity and a willingness to learn (Wagner & Seymour 2007; Sherrod et al. 008). Structured mentoring program Various structures of formal mentoring programs are available across institutions (Latham et al. 2008). Broadly speaking, the structure of a mentoring program contains several stages of strategic planning (Latham et al. 2008). Initially the focus is on: establishing objectives and measurable outcomes, role delineation for mentors and mentees, establishment of criteria for involvement in mentorship and the construction of a supportive system and a surveillance system of the mentor-mentee team (Latham et al. 2008). Those parties who are involved in this formal relationship are required to fulfil pre-determined aims, objectives and outcomes as identified by their respective supporting organisations (McCloughen, O'Brien & Jackson 2006). The second stage in which the program is implemented involves the selection of suitable mentors, the recruitment of mentees, (on both a voluntary or involuntary basis) and mentor preparation (Latham et al. 2008). Final stages include an evaluation through reflection and feedback by mentors and mentees, to determine whether specific objectives and measurable outcomes have been achieved (Latham et al. 008). The program duration may last one year or even longer (Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000). Structured mentoring programs and retention success In this session, several issues regarding structured mentoring program and retention success will be addressed. First, we must ask what mentoring functions are important to retention success? Second: to what extent or in what way does mentoring contribute to the retention of new graduate nurses? Each of these questions is considered in the following section. Benefits of mentoring programs Mentoring has been shown to provide a beneficial effect on a proteges’ job satisfaction levels and willingness to remain in an organisation (Fleig-Palmer 2009). One aspect of the mentoring relationship is the passing of knowledge from a more experienced staff (mentor) to a less experienced staff (protege) (Heartfield, Gibson, Chesterman & Tagg 2005). Research suggests that by the absorption via socialisation of specific skills to proteges is positively related to personal learning in the workplace (Sherrod et al. 2008). This component is akin to preceptorship which also includes skill-development (Sherrod et al. 2008) and is widely accepted as a crucial orientation to new graduate nurses. Literature has linked preceptorship to a high level of satisfaction together with successful retention (Almada, Carafoli, Flattery, French & McNamara 2004; Lee, Tzeng, Lin and Yeh 2009). Anecdotal evidence shows that new graduates after completing the preceptorship program tend to seek more support, a fact which in itself would imply a strong need for good mentoring programs. A second aspect of the mentoring relationship is the psycho-social support the mentor may provide to a mentee: support which enhances his or her sense of competence and confidence (Heartfield et al. 2005). Recent findings from a longitudinal study suggest that mentoring fosters organisational retention rates through the establishment of emotional connections between mentor and mentee, by contributing to higher level of commitment to the organisation (Beecroft, Dorey & Wenten 2007). A substantial body of literature also supports the notion that mentorship initiatives can help new recruits transiting into the unit culture (Leners et al. 006). Positive environments can be created through frequent interaction, communication and relational caring between different generations of co-workers (Latham et al. 2008). Such interactions can help new nurses transcend the generations, norms and values differences in a unit (Latham et al. 2008). It also can aid a new recruit in getting in touch with overt or covert culture within the practice environment (Morrow 2008). Ultimately, better patient outcomes can be achieved, which in turn can increase nurses’ satisfaction (Leners et al. 2006). Many studies show that individuals who were mentored report higher levels of job satisfaction (Halfer et al. 2008; Krugman, Bretschneider, Horn, Krsek, Moutafis & Smith 2006; Faron & Poeltler 2007). An abundance of research studies indicates that organisations who implement mentoring programs show a consistent decrease in turn-over rate of new nurses (Hurst & Koplin-Baucum 2003; Greene & Puetzer 2002; Halfer & Graf 2006; Halfer et al. 2008; Zucker et al. 2006; Persaud 2008). Similar results are also evident in other disciplines such as Medicine, Pharmacy and Academia (Cohn, Bethancourt & Simington 2009; Sambunjak, Straus & Marusic 2006). One report in particular highlights the benefits of mentoring. A study from the southern United States by Zucker and co-workers (2006) was done to determine the impact of an 18-month mentoring program on nurse retention in five hospitals. Prior to commencement of the program, participants completed a personality profile, to ensure successful pairing (Zucker et al. 2006). This program included topics such as communication and conflict resolution skills, co-operative learning and time-management (Zuker et al. 006)– all subjects which are normally not covered in conventional orientation programs. At the end of the program, both parties reported that the mentoring relationship increased their knowledge and helped them become ‘better people’ and ‘better colleagues’ (Zucker et al. 2006). Higher levels of protege satisfaction were directly translated into increased retention. In this case, the increase was 16% (Zucker et al. 2006). Given that the high turnover rate of new recruits, mentoring program yield a significance of cost-saving to healthcare system. Research methodology/measurement issues Admittedly, strict evidence for an improved retention rate is hampered by the small sample size of these programs (Hamilton, Murray, Lindholm & Myers 1989; Faron & Poelter 2007). Atkin and William (1995) argue that findings which result from such small purposive studies cannot be generalised. Despite numerous studies therefore which show that retention rates increase with the application of a mentorship program (Block et al. 2005), it is still difficult to draw a firm conclusion on the direct causal relationship between mentoring programs and the attained retention level. This is due to the limited amount of information provided with respect to evaluation tools, sample size, mentor styles as well as the lack of a comparison group in the available studies (Gagliardi, Perrier, Webster, Leslie, Bell, Levinson, Rotstein, Tourangeau, Morrison, Silver & Straus 2009; Greene & Puetzer 2002; Hurst & Koplin-Baucum 2003). In addition, the outcomes of these studies may be affected by: differences that exist in a mentor-mentee relationship; the program’s aim and function; and the frequency of interaction between mentor and mentee (Jacobi 1991; Beecroft et al. 2007). Lack of strong quantitative data may prevent the establishment of a positive colleration between mentoring programs and retention rates. Furthermore it can be argued that retention strategies such as mentorship (which are deemed appropriate in one hospital) may not work in another (Jacobi 1991). Atkin and William (1995) point out that the findings might only show that mentors and mentees’ experience during mentorship was relatively new to them. In spite of all critiques, no one however has doubted the overall value that mentoring programs have for mentees, mentors as well as for organisations (Block et al. 2005). The existing mentoring studies on nursing which are linked to retention rates include cross-sectional and longitudinal components (Halfer et al. 2008). In contrast, empirical studies with correlational design, contain data which are only collected for a single point of the study and are subject to a limited amount of participants (Caine 1989; Fagan & Fagan 1982). Quasi-experimental design is therefore recommended (Jacobi 1991). In such studies data is collected from a group of participants who receive mentoring programs together with another non-receiving group, at multiple points throughout the study (Jacobi 1991). Until today, it is not known how long the mentorship effect takes to emerge, in this instance, nor how long it will last (Jacobi 1991). Pure experimental research has value in determining the relationship between mentoring and retention of new graduates (Jacobi 1991) but not many current studies can afford to adopt such a strict approach to measuring the cause and effect of mentoring programs and retention rates. Pitfalls of a structured mentoring program Despite numerous of benefits gained from a mentoring relationship, the desired outcome such as retention not always achieved. Several types of problems that might occur in mentoring include:- Selection of mentors A number of authors note that inequity in the selection of mentors can be problematic to the success of a mentoring program (Greene & Puetzer 2002; Andrews & Wallis 1999). Andrews and Wallis (1999:206) state that ‘some of the nurses are not mentors by choice’, as they dare not reject their selection by the nursing manager. The mentor selection criteria have not been made clear and explicit (Andrews & Wallis 1999). Sometimes, an experienced staff nurse does not have the attributes to become a good mentor (Greene & Puetzer 2002). Indeed, selection of the mentor should be subject not to seniority but to the mentor’s â€Å"availability, interpersonal skills, clinical knowledge, and teaching experience† (Greene & Puetzer 2002:69). An optional basis may also be used (Atkin & William 1995). An inadequate mentor who lacks strong values, or good personal and professional attributes and who exhibits unwarranted behaviours can be a liability (Kane-Urrabazo 2006). Such behaviours can include negative feedback or a lack of respect towards the mentee and can result in decreased self-esteem in the new recruit (Kane-Urrabazo 2006; Woodrow 1994). These behaviours are also known as ‘joy stealing’ (Heinrich 2007, cited in Driscoll 2009:8). The consequence of this will be frustration for either or both mentor and mentee (Kane-Urrabazo 2006). Poor mentoring can drive the newly employed staff away (Kane-Urrabazo 2006; Woodrow 1994). It is therefore imperative that a formalised selection criteria for mentors should be identified. Compatibility Many proteges complain of being enmeshed in a dysfunctional relationship with their mentor (Feldman 1999). This is likely to occur if there is ‘forced matching’ when a less experienced nurse is assigned to be with a mentor pre-selected from experienced staff nurses (Morton-Cooper & Palmer 2000:46). Given the closed relationship between mentor and mentee, there is a risk of this relationship becoming destructive (Woodrow 1994). Empirical studies have identified this issue (Fenske 1986). Common themes that emerge are: failure of the mentor or mentee to maintain confidentiality of private information, mentee abuse of the relationship in which the mentor’s resources are exploited for personal advantage, mentor abuse of the enthusiasm and goodwill of the mentee by making use of his/her as a personal helper or assistant (Hunter 2002). Eventually varying degrees of injurious consequences to mentor, mentee and organisation can develop if not properly monitored (Feldman 1999). The literature has identified that mentees would have better opportunities for growth if mentees were able to select the mentors (Woodrow 1994). Opposition to this suggests that matching is not as important as meeting regularly for a successful mentoring relationship (Beecroft, Santner, Lacy, Kunzman & Dorey 2006). Training for mentors Undoubtedly, a mentor is the key person in the success of a mentoring relationship. However, several studies have shown that most mentors feel deficient in their role as mentor because their training consisted of learning â€Å"on the job†, and by â€Å"watching how other people do it† (Andrews & Wallis 1999:205-206). There are some institutions providing formal mentor training to guide the mentor along (Hurst & Koplin-Baucum 2003). An evaluation study done by Jinks and Williams in 1994 (cited in Andrews & Wallis 1999:205) found those who undertake a formal course with exams felt significantly more able to undertake the role. A formal mentoring course commonly would examine the phases in mentorship, recognising different adult learning styles and personality traits, provide techniques in dealing with conflict and effectively help to manage the relationship with the mentee (Hurst & Koplin-Baucum 2003; Block et al. 00. In spite of these improvements, the majority of the course content was still perceived as inadequate by mentors’ (Andrews & Wallis 1999). Additionally, those who had left school for a significant period of time, might feel the lack of a theoretical background leading to doubts as to whether they possess sufficient preparation to be a mentor (Andrews & Wallis 1999). Woodrow (1994:813) argues that the ideal of mentorship might be undermined by ‘token mentorship’, in which mentors are unable to perform true mentor functions. Recommendation It is important for hospital managers who prepare and support nurses as mentors to develop a greater understanding of mentoring from the mentor’s perspective (Atkin & Williams 1995). Andrews and Wallis (1999:206) argue that mentors’ gain invaluable skills and satisfaction from their work but this often tends to be â€Å"intrinsic† and is internalised. Several authors believe that administrative support through financial compensation, staffing and schedule flexibility, title and leadership recognition can act as motivators for experienced staff (Greene & Puetzer 2002). Such measures would make mentors more likely to commit and sustain in this longitudinal relationship (Greene & Puetzer 2002). In addition, on-going mentor support through a mentor-support group may be helpful in maintaining the momentum (Latham et al. 2008). Latham et al. (2008) had further examined a university-hospital partnership mentoring program. The program included a component of mentor support as part of the program follow-up. It offered an opportunity for mentors to vent about the difficulties they were facing, and share the successful experiences in the mentorship. A mentor support group can clearly help management to monitor the mentorship progress and develop a strategy to tackle emerging problems (Latham et al. 2008). Conclusion It is important that healthcare organisations not continue to take the nurse retention issue lightly. The provision of an effective mentoring program structure is the appropriate response. This is essential in helping clinical entry nurses make a smooth transition into the working environment and at the same time benefit experienced nurses to achieve a higher level of professional development. Such a program can also help the organisation transcend a multitude of problems by creating a positive environment where every staff member may enjoy working. In order for an effective mentoring program to be carried out, organisations must: allocate sufficiently experienced staff to act as mentors; provide flexible staffing and scheduling; give quality training to mentors; and support the mentors through various means by title recognition, wage adjustment and support groups. In turn the program can help organisations increase retention and reduce turn-over for nurses, particularly new graduate staff. It can thus achieve better patient outcomes and increase nurse’s job satisfaction. By providing a structured mentoring program for new nurses’ career development and advancement, we can help to improve the longevity of active nursing careers and also help to alleviate the problem of current nurses’ retention.

How to Grow a Salt Crystal Garden

How to Grow a Salt Crystal Garden A salt crystal garden produces a tree of white or colored crystals. Learn how to grow a salt crystal garden using a paper towel or toilet paper tube and a salt crystal solution. Salt Crystal Garden Materials toilet paper tube or about 4 of a paper towel tube3 tablespoons household ammonia3 tablespoons iron(III) ferrocyanide solution1 tablespoon table salt The iron(III) ferrocyanide solution may be made by suspending the powdered chemical in water or you may use Prussian Blue artist pigment, diluted to produce a deep blue-colored liquid, or you can use Mrs. Stewarts Laundry Bluing (find online). Grow a Salt Crystal Garden Stir the salt crystal ingredients together in the bottom of a shallow dish.Set the paper tube in the center of the dish. If you like, you can cut the tube to resemble a tree. The salt crystals will be white, so if you want colored crystals, dot the paper tube with food coloring or color it with a water-soluble marker.Place the salt crystal garden somewhere it wont be bumped or disturbed. Over the course of a few hours, the liquid will move up the tube and start growing crystals. Crystals will continue to grow for a day or more or you can add more solution if you want to continue crystal growth for a week or two.

Teenage Violence essays

Teenage Violence essays The rash of violent crimes in recent months seems to be on the rise. More teens than ever are becoming the culprits. Although more and more teens are the culprits, they are also three times as likely to become the victims. People ask why do young adults commit these crimes? The answer is very complicated. Teenagers act violently for a number of reasons or a combination lots of reasons. The main and most important reason is due to poor mental health. The recent school shootings + young deaths could have been prevented. If these young teens were thought ways to improve there mental health. Teens in this Health class are being taught just that, way to improve their mental health. Taking this class is possibly preventing young teens in the school to commit violent crimes. If you haven't been in a coma, you must have heard of the Columbine shootings on April 20, 1999. A couple students from Columbine high school came to school with guns and bombs and killed twelve students and a teacher, injuring two dozen, then killing themselves. Students and News analysts said these 2 boys were into "hate crimes" and discrimination. They say they found lots of stuff on the internet about hate crimes and how to make weapons such as bombs they targeted certain groups such as jocks, blacks, jews, and people that bullied them. Also, just last week, another school shooting erupted in San Diego, California. There, a 15-year old freshmen brought a firearm to school in his backpack and shot at students and faculty almost at random in a fit of rage. He killed two students in the bathroom after he targeted them because they had been picking on him. After shooting one in the back of the head he stood in the doorway of the bathroom and fired at people running by. People can get confused about where to put the blame, they think they can feel safe if they put someone in jail for committing a crime, but are they really? With incidents like Columb...

How to Structure Modern Marketing Departments For Success

How to Structure Modern Marketing Departments For Success Could an outdated marketing department structure hold you back from success? It’s certainly possible. This industry moves fast. In order to keep up, you need the right people, with the right skills, doing the right tasks. If silos prevent your team from doing its best work, you could wind up spinning your wheels, without realizing why you’re not moving forward. Unfortunately, many organizations are unprepared to adapt to future changes. Leaders will staff talent skilled in emerging technologies and tactics, while followers with catch up too late (if at all). If your business is going to thrive, both today and in the future, it’s imperative your org chart is built to scale. So, how can you make sure your company is built for the future of marketing? Start planning now to determine: What skills will you need (and who has those skills)? How will you organize your team for maximum efficiency and success? What tools and software do you need to keep everyone in sync? This post will help answer those questions (and more). How to Structure Modern Marketing Departments For Success via @Snag Your Free Marketing Org Chart Template It’s easier to achieve success when you can visualize it. Using this template, you can map out your org chart easily to help you and your company see what a successful team structure should look like. This also helps everyone understand their coworkers’ roles and big-picture value.I'm planning my marketing team structure with this free template from @... And Manage Your Marketing Department With the Team Managment Dashboard in Managing marketing teams effectively requires the right tools. And there's no better choice than with Team Management Dashboard. This nifty new tool helps teams: Coordinate internal resources effectively to ensure the right team members are working on the right things. Balance workloads and resource allocation  so your team can plan ahead without burning out. Plan project timelines and monitor progress  so you can plan your work, work your plan, and measure productivity. See what you can do with it: Why Pay Attention to Team Structure? With so many competing priorities vying for your attention, what makes this so important? The answer is simple: well-organized teams are better positioned to succeed than ones that aren't. But, getting it right isn't easy. What if you have the right people on the wrong team? Or lack the right teams to support the right people? Or the right people can’t communicate because of a communication barrier between teams? ^^^ If any of the above scenarios is true for your organization, you’re shortchanging your success. Fortunately, correcting these issues can have an outsized impact on future success. Not only that, but getting on the track is within your reach. A good team structure can have an outsized impact on future success.What Do Common Marketing Team Structures Look Like? There’s no such thing as an ideal one-size-fits-all team structure. Different models may work better for different organizations and industries. The size of your company overall plays an impact, too. If you’ve spent much time searching for examples to follow, odds are you’ve felt overwhelmed, too. It’s not uncommon to hear advice suggesting you need a dozen roles for one team, and multiple teams spread across your entire marketing department. That might make sense for large enterprises with tons of resources. But, for the majority of companies, that may not be realistic. To simplify things, here are some theoretical examples for companies of different sizes. Small Business Marketing Team Structure: Lean and Scrappy. In a small business, odds are you’re hiring one or two people to tackle marketing. If you’re fortunate, you may have three or more. When available talent is this thin, how do you prioritize what these folks should be doing? Content Creation: Your marketer(s) will need to be able to update website content, write blog posts, and craft catchy copy for social media and email. Graphic Design: At a minimum, a working knowledge of Photoshop (or, failing that, free design apps like Canva) will be necessary. Technical Skills: A basic grasp of SEO is likely essential. A general ability to use a content management system (like WordPress) will be useful, too. Social Media Management: This can easily consume tons of time. (Scheduling tools can help). Project Management: How will you keep everything on track? This is just a handful of the different tasks they might be responsible for. What could this look like when its mapped out? Mid-Level Marketing Team Structure: Building for Growth. At this point, your marketing department may have multiple teams. Enterprise Marketing Team Structure: Specialists With Deep Expertise. Large companies (those with 200+ employees) may have more layers of management, with more specialized teams with deep expertise in specific areas. Here’s a generic example: Take a Look at Example Marketing Org Charts (Courtesy of HubSpot) So far, this post has looked a few general examples. HubSpot did an excellent job breaking down seven common org structures  (along with their respective pros and cons), getting a bit more granular into each one. Functional Org Chart This example is broken down across business functions. One can assume each spoke under Marketing leads down to more sub-teams (content, social, analytics, and so forth). It’s also interesting to note how marketing and sales operate side-by-side (after all, someone has to close deals on the leads marketing generates). Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams How can you construct a functional marketing org chart?Divisional Org Chart In this next example, the company is organized based on product-category departments. Each department could presumably have its own marketing team. This type of structure is common at large enterprises that make lots of different types of products. For example, consider a company like Samsung, which produces everything from phones to refrigerators. Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams How can you construct a marketing team structure based on clear divisions?Market-Based Org Chart This example is similar to the previous one, except teams are split up based on customer-centric divisions instead of product-based ones. Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams How can marketing teams be organized around specific marketing segments?Geographical Org Chart For extremely large enterprises or companies with offices around the world, a geographic org chart like this one may make sense. A company with different geographic-based teams within a country might use something similar as well. Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams Is your marketing org chart based on geography and location?Process-Based Org Chart Next up is a process-based structure, where teams are divided up based on where they fit in the production of a product, from ideation all the way through to customer service. In this example, however, it’s unclear exactly where marketing may fit (though content can certainly support all initiatives shown). Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams How can marketing leaders develop process-based org charts?Matrix Org Chart If this one reminds you of a certain early 2000s movie series, you’re not alone. This example illustrates a different kind of matrix though. It’s similar to some of the examples above, but instead of different divisions having their own marketing teams, the marketing, sales, and service functions all answer to one department head. From there, smaller sub-teams work with each division. It’s a subtle but important distinction. Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams Here's how to plan a matrix-based marketing org structureCircular Org Chart In a circular organizational structure, a marketing services department responds to work requests from other areas. Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/team-structure-diagrams Have you tried using a circular marketing org structure?Team-Based Org Charts Next, let’s look at what individual teams could look like when mapped out. Content Marketing Team You don’t need an enormous team to start content marketing. But, the work requires lots of different tactics and disciplines, and the more help you have, the better. What can this type of team look like at a large organization? Here’s an example from Hubspot, a company that certainly knows how to do content marketing, via Revenify: Source: revenify.com/decide-structure-content-marketing-team-marketing-organization/ Social Media Team Seem a little complex? This example from Weber Shandwick takes a more high-level view: Source: http://webershandwickseattle.com/2012/11/a-crash-course-on-social-content-planning/social-content-team-structure-3/ Origin offers another way of looking at your social media team, introducing an analyst role: Source: https://www.originoutside.com/insights/what-should-your-social-media-team-look-like Public Relations Team It’s easy to think of PR as nothing more than media relations (which is a complex discipline unto itself). But, this would be a misnomer. Modern public relations is multi-faceted and spans lots of areas, as this illustration of the PESO model from Spin Sucks illustrates: Source: https://spinsucks.com/marketing/peso-model-affiliate-marketing/ What does your PR team org chart look like?Following this diagram, several staffers would likely divide up work across paid, earned, shared, and owned media strategies. The diagram below from MMI  breaks down in a bit more detail how a team might be structured: Inbound Marketing Team Now, what about holistic inbound teams that bring paid and organic strategies together under one roof? Here’s how Mojo Media Labs  breaks it down: Planning an inbound marketing team org chart? Read this first.SEO Team Search engine optimization is interesting because it often spans several teams across an organization. BuiltVisible  breaks down four different areas a single SEO team needs to cover: technical SEO, content, outreach and off-site SEO (links), and analytics. Source: https://builtvisible.com/build-a-great-seo-team/ How should SEO teams be structured?What makes this intriguing? The technical aspects may require assistance from a development team. Content might be created by a content team or a separate marketing department (although SEO should be aligned with marketing). A PR team or specialist might help with link acquisition and other off-site strategies (even if the terms a link builder and a PR pro use may differ according to their goals). Analysts often measure all aspects of a company’s marketing efforts. So, while this may look like a simple diagram, but there’s more than meets the eye. What’s the Problem With Following Someone Else’s Org Chart? It’s easier to know what to do, when you have a good example to follow. But, when it comes to organizing your marketing department, you have to do what makes the most sense for your company. That may or may not entail following a template down to a T. Collectively, the examples above illustrate one overarching point: there are a lot of different types of companies and organizations out there. Different sizes. Different industries. Different teams spread across different departments. How can one-size-fit-all recommendations work for your business? At best, they may offer either a starting point, or something to compare yourself against. If your current team structure doesn’t work, and it also looks nothing like what’s considered standard, you know where to start diagnosing issues. But, what will always work best, is figuring out what your specific organization needs to succeed. The best marketing org structure is the one that's designed specifically for what your organization...How Did Grow Its Marketing Teams? When first started, Nathan Ellering (now Head of Demand Generation) was a one-person team. While CEO and co-founder Garrett Moon contributed content and guidance, all things marketing were owned by a single staffer. Talk about a high-pressure environment. The upside? Nathan had total creative control and free reign to test what worked (and what didn’t). He’d learn a new tactic or get started with a new channel. Then, once he figured it out, another team member would be brought on board to take it over. Eventually, more teams were added to tackle new tasks, each strategically selected to support business growth for a fast-moving startup. Product Marketing promotes the product itself: While Branding and PR helps tell 's story to the world: Is it time to rethink your marketing org chart? See how @structures its marketing teams...How to Build Your Own Marketing Department The best marketing team layout is the one you build yourself. A structure that’s tailored to your own needs is going to work better than rigidly sticking to the way things have always been done, or filling roles you think you need because they’re what everyone else is doing. Start With Jobs to be Done Before thinking about specific roles, think about the work that needs to be completed. This doesn’t necessarily mean figuring out what’s the next hot marketing trend and hiring to fill that gap. It means figuring out what makes the most sense for your business, and finding talent to fit your own needs. That’s what the team did when it started out. The results speak for themselves, and might not have been attained as easily had the company followed a traditional hiring pattern. In the early days (and even now) leaned heavily on inbound marketing, creating top-notch blog content to attract leads. The strategy was simple: Do basic keyword research. Create content answering those queries. Promote it via social media and email. That’s effective for bringing in an audience, and eventually converting that audience into a paid customer base. It then added product marketers to help sell the product once an audience had been built. Next, a PR team was built out to help manage key relationships, 10X the buzz around the product, and more. Recommended Reading: The Best Formula for 10X Marketing Growth is Here Research Your Industry Your competition got where they are somehow. Copying them isn’t necessarily a recipe for duplicating success. But, studying them might give you ideas on which roles you need to hire for. Start by searching names and job titles on LinkedIn. Enter a company of similar size to your own (or one you admire, or perhaps a competitor) into the search bar: Next, scroll through the results to find Job Titles: Then, build a spreadsheet mapping out roles you find and where they might logically fit: This can help you sketch out a loose idea of how a marketing department like yours might be structured. You might also reveal roles or opportunities you hadn’t considered before. Recommended Reading: The Marketing Research Process That Will Take Your Content to the Next Level Determine the Most Important Work That Will Make the Most Impact focuses on 10X marketing. This means prioritizing projects that deliver 10X improvements, rather than 10% improvements. It’s allowed the company to grow immensely, and guides how decisions get made. Any marketer or team can follow a similar framework for determining which roles should be filled first. Here’s a brief explanation of what its about from CEO Garrett Moon:Here’s a visual rundown illustrating how this philosophy works in practice: This process is geared toward content marketing, but you can adapt the core concept to prioritizing marketing roles and activities across the board. The goal: figure out the channels, tactics, and strategies that will contribute to 10X business growth. Easier said than done, right? Prioritize Channels Here are some findings from a survey conducted by Get Response: Determine the Roles That Fit Each Channel Broadly speaking, which roles will own which tactics and channels? Some channels might touch multiple teams (for example, customer service, PR, and content might all use social media for different purposes). Determine the Tasks Each Role Should Be Responsible For You know what needs to be done. Now, who will own which tasks? This ties back into your Jobs to be Done. For each job or task, list the steps required to complete it. Here’s an example of what this might look like for creating a blog post: Generate an idea. Do keyword research. Write an outline. Execute post based on outline. Design visual content. Editing and review. Schedule on editorial calendar. Measure performance. Each of these tasks could fall onto different team members: Ideation and writing execution might fall onto content marketing. Keyword research might too, if the organization doesn’t have a dedicated SEO specialist. A graphic designer would be best for creating stunning visual content. An editor or manager would need to review and schedule content. If a team has a dedicated analyst or analytics team, they’d own measuring performance and extracting actionable insights from data. Beyond knowing what you need done, understand what it will take to complete the work effectively. Then, hire accordingly, and divide tasks between the team members best suited to handle each one. Do This With : Task Templates are reusable checklists you can build directly into your marketing management platform with . See how they work. Find the Best Talent Sports teams sometimes draft talent using what’s called a â€Å"best available player† approach. This means that regardless of current talent gaps on their roster, they’ll take the best overall players they can find. Then, they’ll strategize on how to make the best use of those players. It’s all about doubling down on strengths, and finding ways to mitigate weaknesses (if they can’t be eliminated completely). Businesses often do something similar, where they’ll make room for talented team members, even if they weren’t initially hiring for their role. Where can you find these folks? Consider the following places: Networking Events: Are there any relevant professional groups or marketing meetups in your area? Conferences: Large marketing conferences like Inbound and Content Marketing World may be great places to find talent. Social Media: Reach out to your network for referrals. Someone you know might pass along your next great hire. Be sure to post about job opportunities on LinkedIn, or even consider doing some cold outreach to promising prospects you find. Looking to find the best talent in your area (or beyond)? Use these resources: Indeed Workable Jobvite Group Talent Into Logical Teams As you add staff and roles, you may find different people fit better on different teams. Now, here’s the kicker: your org chart might not look exactly like anyone else’s. You’re not your competition. In fact, you’re not anyone but yourselves. So, why be beholden to copying a rigid structure, when you could custom tailor your own talent to your own needs? Take this as permission to put people where they’re best suited to succeed, not where a chart says they have to be.

Economics for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Economics for Business - Essay Example Non economists believe in the existence of giffen goods which have an up-ward sloping curve, Veblen goods are the ones whose demand decreases with decrease in the prices and the inferior goods demand decreases with increase in income. Depending on where the VM products lie, this will determine the likely shift on demand. Loyal consumers of VM products will have the services delivered on demand. Demand is the economic want backed up by purchasing power, demand curve represents the amount of a good that buyers are willing to purchase at various prices assuming all other non price factors remain constant i.e. at ceteris paribus. In a free market, quantity demanded and quantity supplied depends on the market price. In our case the decrease in demand is likely because shifts in the demand curve towards the left.1 In our case of VM the demand of the services will be affected by the non price factor. For the consumers to continue demanding its services, they have to improve their terms with them. As the VM claims that the SkyB is coerce with its customers, meaning that they are competing firms and therefore it's a substitute for the VM consumers. To mitigate these consequences of the likely decrease in demand, it can lower the prices for the customers who demand for their services and this is likely to increase its demand against that of its competitors if there is free market a d therefore has a bigger market share. It can also improve the quality of its services that it delivers to its customers; this is because the demand of a normal good is likely to increase with its increase in its quality. VM can also promote isits products through public awareness, this can be done through advertising, sales promotion, offering free services at certain time, and it can also use road shows. 2 Question two Market is a group of buyers and sellers exchanging goods that are likely substitutable for one another. Markets are defined by the demand conditions that exist; they embody the zone of consumer's choice for the goods or services. Markets exists in two dimensions- a. Product type b. Geographical area Market structure refers to the selected number of organizational characteristic of the market that establishes the relationship between buyers and sellers of a certain product; market structure analysis is therefore the study of organizational features of market that is believed to have significance for conduct behavior and performance of firms comprising the market. In simple theoretical analysis, the concept of market was traditionally defined as consisting of buyers and sellers of a homogenous good who have insufficiently close contact with each other that o single price prevails The major market structures are: Perfect competition: This is where the market has very many firms producing homogenous product. Monopolistic competition: This is also called competitive market, this is where there are very many firms and each commands a small share of the market share.] Oligopoly: This is where the market is dominated by many small firms which own more than 40% 0f the market share. Oligopsony: This is where the market is dominated by a few buyers with many sellers Monopoly: This is where there is only one provider of a certain product. Natural monopoly: This is a monopoly in which economies of scale cause efficiency to increase as the firm

Weather, Hurricanes, & Solar Radiation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Weather, Hurricanes, & Solar Radiation - Essay Example There are hurricanes that first appear on June or July and that means they will stay a little longer than those hurricanes that appear in August (Elsner, 2009, p. 61). Generation of hurricanes begins to cool with the cooling of the water in late autumn. At this time, the weather pattern fails to favor the development of tropical development. North Atlantic seasonal cycle pronounces its peak activity during August and September where only 17 percent of activity happens beyond the three months duration of august to October (Elsner, 2009, p. 65). The examination of North Atlantic took into account the mean number of for all hurricanes in a year’s time and for total. North Atlantic experienced hurricanes every season due to the presence of the budget heat and seasonality effects. Budget heat effects influence the hurricanes to occur mostly from June through to December. During this time, there is perfect balancing of heat that earth absorbs inform of radiation. If this absorption did not occur, then the earth would have extremely high or low temperatures. The seasonal variability has many, but important parameters associated with the North Atlantic Hurricanes. One such parameter is the El Nino that is helpful in determining, through analysis, whether the season would be active. El Nino takes into account a number of atmospheric variables. El Nino has a characteristic of warm sea temperatures on the surface especially over the equatorial pacific. The temperature relates to westerly winds of up to 200-millibar on the sea. The El Nino also has a link with the Caribbean surface pressure and the western Atlantic. When El-Nià ±o occurs, stronger Westerlies bring fourth fleeing over the hurricane producing areas of the western Atlantic as well as generating higher surface pressure. These occurrences suppress the hurricane development especially if it occurs earlier than October to November. El Nino southern oscillation, therefore, plays a vital role in

Challenger disaster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Challenger disaster - Essay Example Activities carried out in programs that do not have established good house keeping conditions are also unsafe, as is the lack of maintenance of equipment. Finally, where the workers have not been prepared or have not been trained on how to respond to incidents like employee injury, fire, and spills, the working conditions are unsafe (Ohnysty 57). The training and education of the employees on the manner in which to conduct their activities in safety aids, in the minimization of exposure risks, and this is a critical element for all complete health and safety programs in the workplace. The training must involve how to carry out the activities safely, as well as ensuring that they comprehend the hazards inherent in their jobs on a day-to-day basis. It also needs to provide workers with information that covers how they should protect their fellow co-workers and themselves. However, safety is not achievable via reliability alone. Some systems in the workplace cannot be made safe from fai lure, especially where continuous availability is required. Lack of recovery procedures, fault tolerance, as well as lack of redundancy provisions, makes the activities performed in these conditions unsafe. In addition, systems in the workplace that are less sensitive for quality induced uncertainty or reliability prediction errors are also unsafe (Ohnysty 59). Finally, systems that do not have failure detection, as well as avoidance and correction of common causes of failure lead to unsafe conditions of work because of low system level reliability. 2. What responsibility did the engineers at Thiokol have to their company versus the general public and the astronauts on that flight? Understanding the code of ethics for professional technologists is a convention among professional technologists. It aids us in explaining why technologists cannot merely depend on private conscience during the practice of his/her profession (Ohnysty 68). This is in spite of how good their private conscie nce may be, which means that technologists must integrate what the engineers’ organization has to say concerning what the technologist is required to do. What the conscience tells one to do in the absence of a particular convention is not what the same conscience would tell one to do with the presence of the convention. Where the code of ethics is a morally permissible convention, it guides a technologist as to what to expect reasonably from one another. It is essential to know the code of ethics so as to know, for instance, whether as a technologist to weigh simply safety with disregard to the manager’s wishes or to give preference to safety issues against the wishes of the of the company. The code of ethics provides a guide on what to expect the other members of their profession to aid them to do. If prioritizing safety first were part of being a technologist, the technologists at Thiokol would expect their managers to support them. For instance, if the managers had asked them to think, not as technologists, but as managers, the engineer should have responded that they were there in their capacity as technologists (Ohnysty 69). This would have been the response of a technologist, although the question would arise as to whether, overall, this would have been the right thing. Technologists are not merely the members of their profession but are also persons with responsibilities and cannot escape punishment,

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 17

Final - Essay Example Then, in an essay that synthesizes at least four of the six provided sources for support, take a position that qualifies the claim that GMO should be discouraged because it is a probable health risk and an environmental hazard. This article presents an assessment of the effect GMO technology is having on global agriculture from both economic and environmental perspectives. The article seems to assert that there could be a possibility of having positive economic impact when all factors are put into consideration. This source is significantly resourceful in presenting counterargument when discussing the negative impacts of GMO technology. This article highlights some of the widely argued biomedical risks of GM foods such as potential allergenicity, and most importantly, horizontal gene transfer. The source also discusses the environmental side effects on biodiversity. Since the source also discusses the benefits of the first generation of GM foods, then a good comparison can be made from the same source. This source gives a clear list of reasons why GMOs should not be used. The article highlights little knowledge on GMOs as one of the issues challenging use of GMOs. Increased pesticide use is also a notable cause for alarm on use of GMO. This source gives a quick peek. However, it offers a good start into more indepth research

Prepare a report presenting the advantages of adopting a project Essay

Prepare a report presenting the advantages of adopting a project management approach for the planning and control of a hotel refurbishment project - Essay Example lties, regardless of the scope of the refurbishment project, adopting a project management approach can streamline the renovation activities and ensure that all aspects of the project are coordinated from a management perspective. This report highlights the advantages of adopting the project management approach during the hotel refurbishment activity. During the refurbishment efforts, the needs of the stakeholders must be considered to ensure that the hotel still maintains competitive advantage (especially in terms of satisfying customers). Additionally, the entire refurbishment process requires the administrative efforts of a single individual (or a single group of leaders) who maintain responsibility for the entire project. Creating this type of hierarchical leadership scenario within the project will ensure that all members involved in the refurbishment process are accountable for the individual responsibilities and have a singular point-of-contact to report on their activities or communicate problems with the process in order to avoid miscommunication or project failures which are over-looked. Drescoll (2008) suggests that preliminary planning for the project is most crucial in the project management phases, by clearly establishing which stakeholders will be actively involved in the refurbishment process and the specific capacity of their individual or group responsibilities. The author suggests that an appropriate project management approach requires the project leader, prior to the actual start of the project, contact various departments and stakeholders to discuss the most appropriate channels of communication (Drescoll). These channels may include distribution of mobile devices for instant communication of project failures, internet and other online mediums, or any other method of communication which can provide instant opportunity for resolution or assistance in the face of problems. It appears that this aspect of project management maintains a

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 17

Final - Essay Example Then, in an essay that synthesizes at least four of the six provided sources for support, take a position that qualifies the claim that GMO should be discouraged because it is a probable health risk and an environmental hazard. This article presents an assessment of the effect GMO technology is having on global agriculture from both economic and environmental perspectives. The article seems to assert that there could be a possibility of having positive economic impact when all factors are put into consideration. This source is significantly resourceful in presenting counterargument when discussing the negative impacts of GMO technology. This article highlights some of the widely argued biomedical risks of GM foods such as potential allergenicity, and most importantly, horizontal gene transfer. The source also discusses the environmental side effects on biodiversity. Since the source also discusses the benefits of the first generation of GM foods, then a good comparison can be made from the same source. This source gives a clear list of reasons why GMOs should not be used. The article highlights little knowledge on GMOs as one of the issues challenging use of GMOs. Increased pesticide use is also a notable cause for alarm on use of GMO. This source gives a quick peek. However, it offers a good start into more indepth research

Is capital punishment a good sentencing option Essay

Is capital punishment a good sentencing option - Essay Example Colon-Cruz), declaring it unconstitutional (Bedau, 190). Essentially, capital punishment may be referred to as â€Å"the taking of a criminal’s life by an organized society in view of his crime† (Moreland and Geisler 1990, 103) In the US, the legal methods to carry out the death penalty through the years are as follows: lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging. Arguments in favor of the death penalty can be classified into three: utilitarian, retributive and egalitarian. The first is that view which holds that enforcing capital punishment would serve the common good because society would benefit from it by deterring crime either by discouraging future offenders or by incapacitating the criminal. Many view the utilitarian argument as a forward-looking and objective perspective since it weighs both the cost and benefit of the penalty. The retributive argument, meanwhile, follows the classic â€Å"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth† principle. There is no thought given to what the society may reap or achieve from the act of killing an offender. What matters is that the criminal should be punished because he deserves it. Finally, there is also the egalitarian point of view. Here, capital punishment is seen as part of the principle that all people must be treated the same and that too little punishment may constitute an injustice for a criminal that has committed a far grievous crime. On the other hand, proponents who object to capital punishment argue that it violates the right to life, that it is inhumane and actually do nothing to deter crime. As one would find, the arguments are anchored on what is moral and in some areas dwell in the utilitarian line of reasoning as well. Many of those who favor the abolition of death penalty cite the â€Å"inalienable right to life† which Thomas Jefferson himself has eloquently stated in the Declaration of Independence as â€Å"Nature’s Laws† given by God and that no man has the right to

Ethics of Native American Mascots Essay Example for Free

Ethics of Native American Mascots Essay Ethics of Native American mascots is a controversial topic and should not be argued against because they are used ethically, complementary, and respectfully. The Native American Mascot controversy is a topic that has presented itself in recent years all across the country. Though there have been some issues, complaints, and moral questions brought up about the Native American mascot dilemma by a minority group of people, there is no legitimate argument to why these mascots should be banned. Ethically, there is nothing wrong with using Native American symbols as mascots. Native American mascots are ethical. Ethics is defined as â€Å"a system of moral principles and rules, the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group or culture, and also a branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions† (dictionary. com). Native American mascots and logos for sports leagues has been a debate dating back as far as the late 1960s (Oguntoyinbo 2011). When talking about the ethics side of the argument, calling the images and logos unethical toward Native Americans is wrong because ethics, like the definition says, portrays to respect and class toward a group or culture. The purpose of mascots is to believe in something, to have a logo that brings teams and communities together for battle in sports, and to perform well and do your best so you stand tall and proud to be a part of your team and mascot. To be a warrior on a football field and literally have the warrior symbol, to be a brave, or the chiefs and represent honor, courage, and bravery would be astonishing. Native American mascots are complementary. The use of logos as mascots is to honor Native Americans, they are not used to offend, and they are not misguiding (King 2002). Though there are two sides to every argument, when a mascot is called degrading or any negative term other than complementary, it must have something border line if not over the top offensive on it. There is no legitimate argument for why an arrowhead on the side of a football helmet, a logo of a Native American chief’s head on the side of a school or even a tomahawk on a basketball jersey is being reverted to as degrading, but the controversy still continues. Some names can be offensive such as Redmen, Savages, etc. But if it is the name itself that offends, it needs to be argued that way and not toward the Native American mascot as a symbol. Arguing a mascot as degrading when really it is meant the name is disrespectful in itself because a mascot is a symbol of a team, not the name; it is also the strength and core of a team. Mascots are purposely portrayed as being ethical, complementary, and respectful, in fact â€Å"tribal names find their way onto all kinds of consumer products, such as the Jeep Cherokee and the Dodge Dakota. For the same reason, Indian images appear on U. S. currency, such as the old Indian-head nickel and the new Sacajawea dollar. The Army even names its helicopters after tribes: the Apache Longbow, the Kiowa Warrior, the Comanche, and the Blackhawk. If we were† to let the minority side of this argument change Native American mascots, then â€Å"a number of cities (e. g. , Chicago, Miami, and Milwaukee), plus about half the states, would have to be renamed (Miller 2001). Mascots are symbols, symbols of spirit, and symbols of strength. Native American mascots are respectful. The minority of people who argue this issue want these mascots to change because they believe that Native American mascots are disrespectful to Native Americans, they are portrayed disrespectfully, and everything about the mascot is portrayed disrespectful. Some even say that teams with Native American mascots do what’s called a tomahawk chop that supposedly represent Indian culture and meant for honoring them but that’s not true (Pewewardy 2000). Doing a tomahawk chop is in no way disrespectful, in fact, a tomahawk chop is used to pump up the crowd, it’s used to respect the heritage of the Native American, and it’s used to continue tradition. Being a part of a Native American mascot team, chances are the intent is to want to represent that logo and be the upmost respectful possible toward the heritage that the symbol represents. It is amazing how some can say that Native American mascots are disrespectful. A huge reason that Florida State University got to keep their symbol and logo the Seminoles is because the chief of the Seminole tribe in Florida strongly supports what Florida State does with the symbol and how it is respected. Disrespect is when a team of any name burns a mascot logo before a game, disrespect is when a sports game is not played by the rules, disrespect is when refusal to shake and opponents hand after a lost battle, not a logo that represents pride and respect for a team, school, and community. Ethics of Native American mascots is a controversial topic and should not be argued against because again they are not being used unethically, they are not degrading, and they are not being used disrespectfully. Schools shouldn’t have to change their mascot because a few minority people give speeches, write letters to the NCAA, or even protest about it. It should come down to what the tribes themselves want; they are the ones with their image portrayed out there as mascots. That would be the ethical and right way to go about this controversy. Ethics can play a big role when it comes to the Native American mascot issue. No matter which side is chosen to debate, ethics should always be considered one of, if not, the top motivation. Works Cited â€Å"Definition of ethics. † Ethics definition. Dictionary. com. Web. 15 November 2011 King, Richard. â€Å"Defensive dialogues: Native American mascots, anit-Indianism, and educationalinstitutions. † Academic Search Premier. Simile, February 2002. Web. 27 November 2011. Miller, John. â€Å"What’s in a (Team) Name? † Academic Search Premier. National Review, 16 April 2001. Web. 15 November 2011. Oguntoyinbo, Lekan. â€Å"The Name Game. † Academic Search Premier. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, 28 April 2011. Web. 15 November 2011.. Pewewardy, Cornel. â€Å"Why Educators Should Not Ignore Indian Mascots. † Academic Search Premier. Multicultural Perspectives, 2000. Web. 27 November 2011.

Operation Management Analysis Of Hard Rock Cafe Brand Tourism Essay

Operation Management Analysis Of Hard Rock Cafe Brand Tourism Essay Hard Rock Cafe is a success story in operation management . From its very first London pub in 1971 , after 39 years of existence Hard Rock cafe continued expanding and succeeding in many different countries. This paper will discuss how the 10 decisions of the Operation management were made on Hard Rock Cafe as well as operation management challenges and opportunities confronting Hard Rock Cafe when considering an expansion of its business in Hanoi. Critical evaluation of the operation management strategy of Hard Rock Cafe as described in the case materials. With the mission to spread out the spirit of rock n roll by delivering creating authentic experiences that rock, Hard Rock cafe has won continued success since it was founded in June 14, 1971 when the rock music was explosive in England. Hard Rock Cafe has uniqueness and more importantly it has launched an excellent strategy in operation management. Hard Rock cafe strategy is to provide not only a custom meal from the menu, but a dining event that includes a unique visual and sound experience not duplicated anywhere in the world. (1) That strategy has helped Hard rock cafe grow from its first Cafe to 129 world wide locations. Bellow is the discussion on some out of 10 decisions of opreration management run on Hard Rock Cafe. Taking the success of the Hard Rock Cafe into consideration means considering its service quality and product design. The Cafe offers a range of services from cafes, live music, Rock concerts to hotels and casinos. They serve customer by modifying the menu from classic American burgers and chicken wings- to include higher-end items such as stuff veal chops and lobster tail ( P.56). And of course, its quality must be the top charts. They always usually change their menu based on the frequent customer survey and localized food taste. Surveys are done on a regular basis to evaluate quality of food and service at the cafe. Scores are rated on a 1 to 7 scale. And if the score is not a 7, the food or service is a failure (Jay Barry, n.d,P.56). Hard Rock not simply offers meals and drink, it provides a unique different experience in each location. Experiences are not exclusive about entertainment; company stage an experience whenever they engage customers in a personal and memorable way. (Harvard Business Review, Welcome to the experience economy, B,Joseph Pine II Jame H. Gilmore, 1998) Surely, the key has driven Hard Rock Cafe to success is to build a standard of quality and keep its product and service meet the standard. One factor that brings success to Hard Rock Cafe is Human resource strategy.   Based on their specific services, from the recruitment Hard Rock Cafe looks for people who are passionate with music, like to serve people and have ability to tell story. Hard Rock builds on a hiring criterion of bright, positive attitude, self-motivated individuals with an employee bill of rights and substantial employee power. These people will surely inspire customer and make them happy. Hard Rock Cafe also created a great working environment with people who have the same interest but different personality. Besides, training plan is also a very good strategy at Hard Rock. The companys training is very specific, with job-oriented interactive CDs covering kitchen, retail, and front of the house service.   Through the training, employees improve themselves both personally and professionally. Staffs are highly motivated because they can see their opportunities in Hard Rock even they are from a low level as 60% of the managers here are promoted from part time staff. Such strate gies have reveaved that the Cafe really cares about their employees and their employees do not only come for money but also to obtain job satisfaction. Because location is such a significant cost and revenue driver, location often has the power to make (or break) a companys business strategy (Jay Barry, n.d, P.364) therefore, Hard Rock Cafe has been spending much time and great efforts to analyze location whenever they want to open a new Cafe. Focusing on tourists and people who love music therefore demographics, visitor market, transportation, restaurants/night clubs and political risk are emphasized factors for researching to make sure that Hard Rock Cafe is located in a convenient place for their potential customers. The analysis also helps them have a long term investment in each Hard Rock cafe. Every opened cafe is a result of an extremely careful decision after investigating the target markets, the proper places and considering the future success in a long period of time. Therefore, location contributes a crucial role in expanding Hard Rock Cafe popularity to world-wide nowadays. The layout is also another important decision that management has to make. The kitchen is set up to be not just only a normal kitchen but also a comfortable working space for all the staff. The kitchen flows are designed in order to make sure that the chief, waiters and waitresses have enough space to do their work. The bar and restaurant are designed to bring the highest income for Hard Rock Cafe. The installation of lighting, sound, screens, music and circulation paths is in order to praise memorabilia and as a result, customers are convinced to buy souvenirs naturally. In fact, the retail shops produce about half the companys profit and they are always displayed at eye-catching areas such as within the restaurant space, flow and work stations. Its obviously that scheduling is one of the most important decisions at Hard Rock Cafe. With Mr. Ken Hoffman, Hard Rocks General manager takes scheduling very serious. There are some factors that affect sales that Ken Hoffman cares when he makes schedule. The number of occupied rooms in nearby hotels is important because not all guests will have dinner in the Hotels. They will look for dinning spots and of course Hard Rock cafe will be their destination because of it uniqueness and well-known. The next factor that they consider is how many events will occur in the area. The third one is they examine the sales at the same day of previous year. Another factor that Hard Rock Cafe takes into account is the entree sales data, each entree is present 1 customer. With the result of the forecast, Hard Rock Cafe estimates the number of guest will come and they can have an appropriate plan on staffing and menu. There is a fact that inventory management is a different side of Hard Rock cafe. It is not too much when saying that the collection of rock and memorabilia is a trademark that makes Hard Rock cafe widespread everywhere around the world.  Customers come to Hard Rock Cafe not only for the meals they serve there but also for the items of their favorite artists that they can find on the cafe walls. These items;  including autographed guitars, outfits from world tours and rare photographs;  are collected and taken care by a special group in Orlando. They manage every single item with every single history, know exactly which item is being exhibit in which cafe on which wall through an inventory system using advantaged technology. An life circle of the exhibition of an item is around 5 to 7 years. After these years, the item is brought back to Orlando and renovated while another item is being replace it on the wall Hard Rock Cafe has lunched the first restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City through franchise license bought by Viet Thai International Company (VTI). This restaurant chain has been successful for since 1971 and in more than 166 worldwide locations. It seems that after a year launching, Hard Rock Cafe Vietnam (HRCVN) is on a right direction to the success. VIT (HRCFVN franchisee) has also a long term vision to expand the chain in Vietnam. Director of VIT announced on the launching day that his company will have at least two more Hard Rock Cafe in Vietnam in 2012, one in Hanoi and another one in Dang Nang city (Rock Passion, 2010. n.d.). In order to evaluate if HRCFVN will be a successful model in Hanoi, this writing will examine opportunities and challenges for HRCFVN based on its some key decisions of operation managements. Goods Services Design: As franchise, HRCFVN has been benefited from Hard Cafe international in providing the best quality of goods and services for its customers. Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh city can served more than 500 customers at the same time, as a result, if Hard Rock Cafe expand its business in Hanoi, this scale would be considered to apply. This would be a good point to served big events and parties meanwhile not many restaurants in Hanoi are large enough. Based on menu of Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh, they are offering a very diversified and good menu from drinks to eats and even a special menu for kids. These is only one thing that would be a challenge for drinks and eats menu is that the Northern foods are quite deferent with the South. The restaurant needs to do researches to make food and drinks suitable for the Northern peoples taste. Besides, a series of rock t-shirts and pins collections are also offering at Rock Shop. This is unique selling point which is no single restaurant in Hanoi can offer. This would offer Rock lovers opportunities to own a rock t-shirts. As Hard Rock cafe is changing its strategy to response to operation management, they believe that they dont sell meals or drinks, Hard Rock Cafe offers an unique different experience (Hard Rock Cafe Mission). At HRCF Ho Chi Minh, they are offering Rock n Roll memorabilia with hundreds of pieces of guitar, dress of Rock n Roll legends such as John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Pantera, Kiss, Van Halen, Motorhead, Pearl Jam, Eagles, Scorpions, Jon Bon Jovi, Steven Tyler, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley. By offering these items in Hanoi, it would be another key point to pull customers coming to the restaurant. Regarding service design, as Jey and Barry comment that designing services is challenging because they often have unique characteristics and in reality. Seeing s ervice quality point only, there is a big gap if compare Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Service quality in Ho Chi Minh city is always evaluated much better than Hanoi. It would be a challenged point for Hard Rock when they expand to this location. However, Hard Rock Cafe is well know in flexibility with the product, design and so many other aspects of their restaurants based on the local market they enter into. It means that they try to present themselves customizing things to the likes of their local customers. They empower the local franchisee to create their own unique Hard Rock Cafe that delivers unique  guest experience. There is no doubt that they would respect the tradition and culture of the locals and design your restaurant settings with that view in the mind. That would be a key to lead to the success when they do business in Hanoi. Quality Management: As franchisee, HRCFVN will be provided, guided and trained international management standard which Hard Rock Cafe is applying worldwide with almost 40 year experience. The local owner VIT will have many opportunities to learn how to manage Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh and then apply key learning for location in Hanoi. In addition, VIT is also a big name in food and beverage industry in Vietnam. They are owning and operating High Land Coffee brand which has more than 60 high class coffee chain nationwide with more than ten years experience. They also have a high qualified management team who would be a good source for the business expand. Location:. It is clear that Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular are a safe place to invest with high stable political conditions. Furthermore Vietnam is the second fastest economy growth in Asia Pacific with the 13rd largest population in the world. The capital of Vietnam is a good location to invest as the income of people is increasing quickly. As a result, customers would welcome a high end restaurant with deferent selling points as Hard Rock Cafe even they have to pay more. Besides, Vietnamese society is more open with Western life style, thus in term of social norm, it is not hard for customers to experience a new style in town. There is an another key point that need to clarify that any restaurant must pay much consideration location of restaurant. Location is sometime considered counting up to 80 percent of successful opportunity in restaurant business. In fact that Hanoi is now hard to find a good location to Hard Rock as good and convenient venues are been already occupying by other competitors. Thought the current owner of Hard Rock cafe Vietnam is very successful in finding perfect location for their High Land Coffee chain, but to open a Hard Roack cafe would be definitely harder because they need a much larger location than a coffee shop. Supply Chain Management: It is not difficult to find a qualified suplier who can provide fresh, quality materials and products to the restaurant. Metro supermarket (a giant wholesales supermaket from Garmany) has at leat two distribution centers in Hanoi which are current main suppliers for five star hotels and retaurants in the city. In addition, there are ten of smaller supliers who can meet whatever Hard Cafes demands. The distant from Metro and other suppliers to the dowtown of Hanoi is around 15km, 40 minutes for trucks or vans reaching any place in the city to provide foods and drinks on time. There is a taugher task which would be a moving the memorabilia among locations to change the experience every time a guest visit. This is a key point in supply chain to create the best circulation items among its members. Human Resources: It is a strengthen point if Hard Cafe expand its business to Hanoi. As one of the best high end coffee chain, VIT has a large number of qualified employees who are ready to start these project as key members. In reality, VIT has several other restaurant projects and they have successfully used their current human sources to solve one of the most difficult tasks in any business ventures people question. Regarding recruitment of employees who are are passionate about music, love to serve and convey the experience to customers, it is not a big challenge as Hanoi labor force are young and well educated. The recuitment can target to hundred of thousand students who are learning at ten of colleages and universities in Hanoi. These targeted employees are passionate to RocknRoll lyfe style and would be the best front liners to spread the spirit of this concept to local customers. As an international restaurant chains, Hard Rock will provide professional training courses for local employees with international standards which will be opportunity point for Hard Cafe in Hanoi to have better employee team with international standard. Inventory Management: There is no big challenge for inventory of Hard Cafe as key supplier can be reached by in 40 minutes by vans and there are many alternative suppliers who ready provide and meet all demands. Thus, inventory should limit to minimize volume except special food and raw material which take time to import. Memorabilia are more challenge for Hard Rock inventory as it 0000 pieces will be circulated among 160 locations around the worlds. However, it seem that this work has been well organized by Hard Rock Cafe International with $40 million valued memorabilia are catalogued, each piece is known where to be (Gusa and Inci, 2008) Scheduling: Based on the current business model of Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh city is offering full service event planning facility for all events. Catering, entertainment, and event merchandise can be customized to complement every event (Hard Rock Cafe HoChi Minh, n.d.). if this scale is applied to Hanoi location, this restaurant can be seen as a medium and large size in the city. All community event in the area will be targeted. With the unique and deferent point of sales, it is potential that Hard Rock Cafe would be a favorite venue for events related to young customers. However, there is only challenge can be seen that the restaurant will not be an attractive place for tourists, especially for those who come from Western countries. The reason can be explain that if you travel to The U.S, it would be good to explore Hard Rock Cafes Rock n Roll experience right in the home land of this music. However, this purpose will less attractive when the restaurant is locating in an Orien tal country likes Vietnam. It is also a challenge point that Hard Rock Cafe will take longer time to reach ROI (Return on Investment) points than Hard Rock Cafe in Ho Chi Minh city because, outside dining culture is more popular in Ho Chi Minh city. People spend much more budget to eat outside any place in Vietnam, particularly during the weekend. Second, Hard Rock Cafe needs to invest a large of capital to reach premium standard as requested by Franchiser. However, to expand business in Hanoi is a right direction and it should take action as soon as possible as they as have set successfully a first step in the main market of Vietnam.