Management - Virtual organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management - Virtual organization - Essay Example This kind of group undergoes the same stages of development. In virtual group cohesiveness and norms are both important. Cohesiveness is the ability of the team to attract the members to be involved and really focus on the development. Norms are standards that are set by the member of the team that can either be a pro-management or anti-management. Building an effective virtual workgroup involves activity facilitated by computers. Interactions of the members are done thru the internet. In a normal workgroup they meet most of the time to talk about the project while in virtual group the communication and brainstorming are done thru the use of the web. Since there is no need to ask many questions the forming stage in the development are not the evident in the virtual group. The group understand what they need to do just by handling them the outline of the work. There are seldom storming stage in the virtual group. Although they have different ideas on their mind the focus is on the development of the IT. Leadership is important in any project. Virtual team leaders are operating within a different framework. Some of the behaviours considered good management practices were changed, or even eliminated, because the team was physically separated. In the virtual team the leader usually conducted meetings thru conference call.

System engineering Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

System engineering - Coursework Example Construction took fewer years than the normal four years and thus, if the construction were done in the normal time it should better results would be obtained. Following the construction procedures is a key to having the desired outcomes and therefore, the system engineers should have followed the right construction procedures especially when they were constructing the engine. The costs of constructing the ship would have reduced if there was following of the correct procedures. The system engineers are limited by the orders that they receive from the navy officers. The instructions are clear that the ship is required within a short span of time (Taubman, 2008). The executives fear that if the construction slows down it will disadvantage them from winning the contract and therefore the system engineers must hurry up. The system engineers do not have an option but to follow the instructions of hurrying the construction

GEs Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO | Analysis

GEs Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO | Analysis This assignment will critically evaluate BARLETT and MCLEAN GEs Talent Machine: The making of a CEO and Prokeschs How GE Teaches Teams to Lead. It will the lessons that can be learnt from General Electric (GE) and apply them to my organisation. GE is currently listed the 3rd largest business in the world (Adams, 2012), it is also ranked in the top 20 for other awards such as best company for leaders (Fig 1). GE operates globally in four areas: Technology Infrastructure, Energy, Capital Finance and Consumer Industrials. To understand GE a S.W.O.T analysis was undertaken (Fig 2), Stewart, Fletcher Barrett (SFB) is a small Nuneaton based business. Originally a firm of accountants, they now provide business services in Wealth Management, Human Resources and Marketing. With recent growth they now are opening a third office in Coventry. GEs Talent Machine: The making of a CEO Literature Review GE has always excelled over its competition, one is their ability to develop and uphold quality managers. Forbes showed that GE is the worlds best companies for leaders beating the likes of IBM and Microsoft. (Anonymous, 2012 ). What led GE to produce talented leaders was the emphasis they forced into developing quality leaders. GE has appointed twelve CEOs since Edison and many of them have contributed to management development which has helped GE to successfully maintain its growth in revenue and profit. Coffin, who succeeded Edison, devoted 20 years to creating a meritocracy within the organisation to reward employees promotions based on performance. In 2003, Coffin was named The Greatest CEO of all time by Fortune magazine (Collins, 2003). This went onto become the foundation of GE which went on to make GE a CEO factory. When Cordiner came into power, he thought it was best to decentralise GE, this increased the company management efficiency. Reg Jones increased the development of managers by strategic planning to a more formal structured approach, this served as an upgrade to Session C and the EMS reviews. When Welch took charge introduced the Work Out initiative which saw employees (over 200,000) meet for three days to discuss how their individual area of work could be made more efficient. Analysis The main reason for GEs constant business success is they use human capital as a competitive advantage, this combined with continues improvements in the training and development of staff created a culture for success. GE maintain being a revolutionary organisation; by hiring from within GE and always looking out for new management talent. The following points were analysed: Human Resource Management for Growth GE had devoted to a HRM Strategy by implementing new procedures and policies. This enabled them to uphold a healthy and vital pool of new managers. Butler (1988/89) identified this as a HR-driven model (Fig 4) which identifies HR as being the driving force to achieve business targets. Coffin who created a meritocracy-based culture used a well defined succession management process which became part of the GE culture. This process put performing employees in lower management positions, in a variety of industries. This was seen as a more Holistic model (Fig 4), which Torrington, D et al (2008) described this being where people of the organisation are recognised people as the key to competitive advantage rather than just the way of implementing organisational strategy. This process gave individual a defined career path, and clear goals, which in turn intrinsically motivated them as they could see their progression within the company. This particular performance oriented culture was extremely tough to uphold and apply in each business; however it shows the commitment GE has towards their human capital. Immelt concurred this by saying Unless you are really dedicated to a whole system, it doesnt work. (Barlett, C and McLean, N, 2006). Communication Even due to GEs size it could maintain uninterrupted communication with managers; this was helped by their clear structure that Cordiner had implemented. Immelt added additional channels of communication, such as conference calls and forums. This allowed employees from different industries around the world connect with ease. Recommendations The Vitality Curve The vitality curve is a rankings-based system and is now considered by GE employees to be apart of the companys meritocracy based culture. This is controversial to outsiders and complicated, relying on faultless incorporation of employee feedback, training and coaching. GE lost employees from the 70% range (Fig 3) to other companies such as the BankAmerica who had successfully recruited over 90 GE employees. Making the rankings more flexible would allow B Players to feel valued thus reducing de-motivation and increasing output. Immelt should consider expanding the top level or introducing an additional band of classification so that A Players are differentiated from B Players. GE should also consider a system of reward to all individuals achievement of the business; this will make majority of employees feel more rewarded for their efforts and also increase retention. Recruitment Immelt should focus on more international recruitment targeting the likes of Europe and Asia. Since 40% of GEs revenues are generated offshore this would also reduce the companys dependence in American for talent. GE can attract candidates by offering graduate programmes. GE previously had problems with MBA turnover in previous years, and similar issues offshore can be avoided if GE emphasising on its reputation as develop management talent. This would bring positive diversity to the business. Cameron K, 2011, states there are three types of positive outcomes; intergroup equality, positive intergroup relations and positive group outcomes. Executive Brands Having seven executive bands causes employees, particularly in international locations, to believe that promotional opportunities were limited. In business cultures such as India, status is highly valued. To them this would be a psychological reward, this is a process that reinforces behaviour something that, when offered, causes a behaviour to increase in intensity (Wilson, T. 2003). GEs should think consider adapting to provide employees with psychological reward and also acknowledgment in these areas of cultural variation. What has been learnt? GE has pioneered the business world and human resource methods. For GE to survive it must uphold its flexibility. GE recruiting and human resource approach needs updating as it has been the same for many years and hasnt evolved with the times. The change GE has gone through has been successful and unsuccessful in the following ways: Meritocracy GE staffs are still motivated intrinsically by results, goal setting and promotions, due to employees having common goals it caused a team working environment. Tuckman describes this stage as the performance stage, this is described as when the team share pride in what they are doing, they focus on the objectives and enormous energy occurs in completing the task. (Clayton, M, 2009) The vitality curve This is apart of the GE culture and Welch decided the best way to retain the staff that were leaving GE (the 70%) was to support people to strive to be in the top 20%; he did this by adding motivating factors which include aspects of the working environment such as rewards, training and also praise, supervisory practices. (Herzberg F, Mausner. B, 1993) Recruiting GE has always relied on internal talent to fill positions. Immelt recently hired externally when an internal candidate could not be found, hopefully this shift will open up GE to a much wider variety of talent which can have a positive effect on GE. Research by OReilly, Chatman Caldwell (1991) shows that new hires whose values fit well with the values of the organization and culture tend to adjust more quickly, feel more satisfied, and remain with the organization longer, this causes satisfaction increases, turnover is reduced and people are more productive. Communication Without effective communication on all levels GE would not be able to implement the changes it has go through such as reducing to seven executive bands and also implementing new business strategies. Immelt understood how vital effective communication was to the growth of the company in a global marketplace, and how it kept employees connected without geographic boundaries; this gave employees high levels of involvement with their jobs, made them more accessible and also made communication more effective. Executive Bands GE was going through a lean journey this is described as maximizing customer value while minimizing waste. Simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources (Beker, I. 2011). Reducing the 29 PLs was vital in saving money the cost saving opportunity was somewhere between $7 billion and $10 billion (www.pqa.net). The impact it had on the hierarchy resulted in their being less promotional opportunities which then effected the India as they were accustomed to promotions and the emphasis on job titles. This lean journey caused a lot of change which can distress employees; However Welch backed the Six Sigma program up with a strong rewards system to show his commitment to it which attracted GE employees attention. Conclusion For over a decade GE has led the industry, not only as a successful profitable organisation but also as an innovator. In this time, GE has shown its self to be flexible in identifying business opportunities (such as acquisitions) but also with a strong human resource dedication. By being the leader in innovation, GE isnt able to look at its competitors for guidance they must solve potential issues head on and alone. As the market is an ever changing environment they must continue to develop their staff and improve from within looking at gaps and development in its Human capital. How GE teaches teams to lead Literature Review In September 2006 GE launched Leadership, Innovation and Growth (LIG) program which ran for the next two years, the purpose of LIG was to make innovation and growth apart of GEs culture as Six Sigma had been under Jack Welch. Prokesch underpinned five principles that made the LIG at GE successful. (Fig 5) The following shows what the management team at GE Power went through at LIG training. Before attending the LIG, they were asked to assess three areas, they would updated their 3 year strategy, it would conduct a 360 review on its growth values and finally it they assessed creating innovative There scores were collated and given back to the managers at the intervals. The first step in training was to identify barriers, these included things such as identifying the levels of risk taking, idea support, involvement, conflict and debate. These barriers were discussed during intervals throughout the 4 days. In the first interval the team learnt their actual team scores for the 360 degree review of their growth values. This automatically made them reassess almost every part of their business. This also triggered the team to ask questions such as Were not as good at anticipating major trends as we ought to be and Is solar a good place to be? This time to reflect then generated insights in to their business Does GE not understand Government Policies This constant evaluation became an ongoing occurrence after each internal with the mangers constantly adapting and evolving their thought process. Analysis Transformational leadership is, according to Northouse, a process that changes and  transforms people. It is concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals and includes assessing followers motives, satisfying their needs, and treating them as full human beings. A transformational leader stimulates the followers by setting challenging goals and offering them support and motivates them to share the same vision and goals as the company (Bass and Riggio, 2006,). This was shown when the mangers were shown their scores and they had to reassess this motivated them as they asked themselves questions such as Were not as good at anticipating major trends as we ought to be. Northouse, 2007 suggests The Transformational Leadership Model only exists when these 4 factors are present: Factor 1: Idealised influence. This reveals the importance for high standards of morality and strong ethical conduct among leaders (Northouse, 2007). This concept is about leading by example. LIG did not present concepts related this, Instead, leaders and their departments were heavily monitored for demonstrating these behaviours prior to attending the training (Prokesch, 2009). The screening included variables that measured the leaders skill to grasp conflict, empower group members to try new approaches with their work, encouraging open communication and trust, and challenging group members in their work. Factor 2: Inspirational Motivation Here leaders inspire and motivating individuals through words and actions of encouragement (Northouse, 2007). The leaders learned the value for creating excitement and building loyalty and commitment among group members through individual attention. The training specifically included consideration for empowering and encouraging employees to experiment and develop new skills. Factor 3: Intellectual Stimulation Here leaders ability to motivate followers and the leader to challenge their values. LIG encouraged leaders to develop relationships and encourage honest conversations (Prokesch,2009). Trust and openness were valued traits presented to leaders in the training which were consistently measured over time. Factor 4: Individualized Consideration The LIG course encouraged leaders in specific departments to consider relationships among its followers; it also looked how leadership is provided to followers across a period of change. Fundamentally, transformational leadership focuses on the ever-changing relationships between leaders and followers (Northouse, 2007). The training also encouraged leaders to assist followers to become leaders in their own respective industry. Conclusion GEs alignment with the factors in the model suggested that many effective features existed in the LIG leadership-training course. The Transformational Leadership Model used in this study suggested that the combination of the four factors resulted in performance beyond expectations. The findings determine that the organization encouraged and trained leaders to demonstrate and use behaviours, tools, and techniques proven to be effective in leadership. Northouse (2007) presented substantial evidence in transformational leadership that had found the transformational leadership factors to be effective elements in leadership. This also meant that performance was seen by way of satisfaction and motivation among subordinates. The findings suggest that the LIG training course offered to leaders at GE effectively trains leaders I encouraging performance among group members.

Grinding to a Halt :: American Government Politics Elections Essays

Grinding to a Halt What's the U.S. all about? When asked that question almost everyone I know would reply: "Well, the U.S. represents democracy, capitalism, freedom, etc." The first thing I noticed is that everyone seems to mention democracy first. If you quiz a random American on this, that's probably what they'll think of too. It's also a point of view that might be the source of resentment for many Americans who are unhappy with our government right now. Why would that be? Because the U.S. is actually not a pure democracy, as I'm sure you already knew, but a republic. This means the government is set up in such a way that the people as a whole elect their leaders, those who they think would best represent them, and then those leaders handle the big issues, such as foreign policy, legislation, or legal interpretation. In principle this is a good system, since it would be virtually impossible for everyone in the U.S. to vote on every issue facing our nation. With this vision our forefathers cre ated a strong governmental system, one they hoped would withstand the tests of time. And it has. Until now. Many Americans feel the modern American government is bloated, deceptive and overly convoluted beast that isn't living up to its founding principles. This has become quite apparent in the 2000 Presidential election in which a process that should last little more than a day, the counting of ballots, has lasted more than two weeks. The foremost problem that this election demonstrates very clearly is a lack of any real political direction. Neither candidate, or party for that matter, can presently demonstrate substantial division on major subjects. While the parties generally tend one way or the other on issues, there are no longer strong and fast party-wide philosophies that one can count on. When our Government was first created there were major divisions between the parties of the time. Even up until around WWII both parties had strong separate characters that helped voters in choosing the right person to represent them. Over the last fifty years, however, the parties have started to grow together, neither side feeling safe as the representation of a political or philosophical extreme. Now this move towards mediocrity has finally culminated in one of the closest races for the presidency in U.

The processing of information begins

The processing of information begins when energy as the idea of irritant reaches one or more of five senses of the human being. This contact takes place while physical approach to the irritant, which stirs to activity one or several senses. This idea demands from side, which executes communication, to choose those means of information transfer, personal or mass, which are able to embrace the target market. So, when a person contacts with quite strong stimulus, his sensory perceptions become more active, and coded information transfers to his brains via nerve fibers.This effect is called sensation, which is influenced by the following three threshold determinations: 1. The lower (or absolute) threshold: it means the minimum quantity of stimulating energy or intensity, which is necessary to form the sensation. 2. The Extreme threshold: the point, in which additional increasing of stimulus intensity doesn’t affect the sensation. 3. Differential threshold: the minimum change of ir ritant intensity, which can be noticed by human being (Dictionary of Marketing and Advertising, p. 74).Some researchers of buyer behavior think that intensity of the irritant should be at least at minimum (absolute) threshold in order to make some influence on a buyer. The other think that irritants which are below the absolute threshold can influence the buyer as well – so-called conception of subconscious persuasion. We know that our sensory detection abilities go into a decline when we are getting older, so it is interesting to find out a way marketers appeal to the elderly people.The other thing we need to take into consideration is that during the life we are getting used to different sensation, so we have to increase the level of absolute threshold to attract attention. So, what is attention, particularly? It can be determined as direction of cognitive resources to process the irritant. One of the main difficulties for commercial company is to make a consumer to focus a ttention on some definite information, which has to be reported. Due to some sources, average consumer looks through three hundred advertisements per day.Average TW viewer looks through more then one hundred TV ads. It is pity, but a lot of such materials cannot attract attention, which is necessary to make some influence. The same situation you can see in trading as well. There are from 18 till 20 thousand different types of consumer goods in assortment of typical supermarket. The main problem there is marking out of one item from plenty of analogs at the market shelf and attracting of consumer’s attention as well.The factors which influence distribution of consumer’s limited resources can be divided into two main groups: personal (individual) and factors which have concern to stimulus. Besides, some emotional conditions of personality are used in publicity, such as feeling of self-confidence, reliability, self-satisfaction, creative abilities of human being, objects of love, strength, family traditions, immortality, etc. The second group of factors is called determinants, which relay to stimulus, it means these are characteristics of stimulus.The can be controlled, it means somebody can manipulate by them in order to increase or decrease the attention. So, it means that they are used quite often by companies in their struggle for buyer attention (Consumer Behavior, pp. 103-105). Let’s examine some factors used in order to attract the buyer’s attention by the example of elderly people, taking into consideration their peculiarities we spoke about a page before. Size: To tell the truth, the stronger irritant is, the higher is a probability that it will attract attention.In case you enlarge the size of printed advertisement, you’ll increase chances to attract buyer’s attention. Probability that the object will be seen in the shop, depends on size or quantity of trade space for this definite item. This is mostly important for impulse shopping, where sale depends partially from the fact how many place is given for the item. As elderly people often have poor eyesight, it is important to take into account size of type – it should better be bigger, then letters, typed on the items which are aimed for younger people.Some pharmaceutical companies make medicines which mostly are used by elderly people and write information for these medicines by big letters, in order to see description clearly. Color is also one of important factors. Color advertisements can increase sale for 41% more, than their black and white analogs. Moreover, some colors can attract attention more, then the other. We can examine some meanings of colors here. Red color – color of determination, can arouse strong desire to make some deed, for example to buy some item.Orange color can add activity, but at the same time will give the feeling if internal balance and spiritual harmony. Yellow color inclines to communication. I t is the color of open mind and communication, at the same time it is able to provide the thing with intellect, so this is the reason that a lot of Hi-tech companies make their advertising in yellow color. Green is good in publicity of medicines, health centers. Pink increases the feelings, so it can be used in perfumery, goods for women and children, family centers etc.Blue is a color of peace and harmony, dark-blue – helps to concentrate at the very necessary. In 1959 Ris made a test (color Lusher test) in medical clinics of Leipzig University and tested 1000 people of different age, from children till elderly. He found that young people, especially in the age before 25, prefer red color. The elder people are, the more they like dark colors (Journal of Advertising, p. 15). Still, it is very difficult to influence attention of elderly people also because they due to their life experience can resist the publicity and advertising more then young people or children.LG Company m ade a mobile phone, which is specialized for elderly people. Marketers understand that it is quite difficult for elderly people to see small letters, press small buttons as well as learn new technologies. Still, the majority of elderly people prefer a basic number of functions – it means the idea â€Å"A telephone should be used to make calls only†, so LG made this telephone with elementary functions only. Big buttons and low price – are two factors by opinion of LG, which should satisfy demands of elderly. This model (LG NS1000) allows only making calls and receiving/sending SMS.Japan manufacturers of automobiles intend to start a new line of special automobiles for elderly people. As local Mass Media informs, such new and clever auto will help the driver to brake and to turn the wheel. They plan assembly-line production of such cars from the beginning of 2006. Auto will have numerous sensors and cameras, which can read all movements of hands, legs and eyes of driver and will determine mistakes in driving. At present time specialists analyze influence of age changes for physical reaction of driver and his ability to estimate situation on the road.In accordance with results a special computer program will be created to help elderly drivers. A prototype of new car is already developed, which will have speed till 60 km/h. The creators of new auto consider that this novelty will be of great success because of increasing quantity of elderly drivers in Japanese society. The cost of such a novelty will be approx. 9-13 thousand dollars. Now, let’s make the excursion to Austria, where one of the trading concerns makes an interesting experiment: this concern opened two supermarkets especially for elderly people.This experiment is interesting before all because representatives of the elder generation traditionally aren’t attractive group for retail trade: seems that they don’t have much money, and their demands are quite modestà ¢â‚¬ ¦ Still, almost in all European countries fast ageing of society takes place, and quantity of elderly people is increasing more and more†¦ So this supermarket in Vienna is a kind of test place, where technologies of servicing of quite specific client sphere, which is constantly increasing and becomes more important, take place.At the first sight, this is a very ordinary supermarket: long rows of shelves, relaxing music from dynamics†¦ But if you be attentive, you can notice some differences. For example, figures at the price-list: they are bigger, then usual. Some of shelves have magnifying glasses, in order the client will be able to see inscription at the goods, which are usually typed by small font. Besides, you can ask the cashier to give you glasses for reading.Just near the exit you can see a comfortable bench to have a rest, near it – the device to measure blood pressure. The cart for shopping has special hanger in order to put there a walking stick. The gangway between shelves is bigger then in usual supermarkets, and floor in the shop is made of special material, so legs don’t slide. Moreover, the shelves are made in such a special manner that elder person doesn’t have to bend down or stretch for goods he needs. All those novelties were highly appreciated by the clients.

Broken Spears

The Broken Spears â€Å"The Broken Spears† is a collection of many accounts of the destruction of Mexico by Cortes and the conquistadors in their invasion. The motive behind this conquest was Cortes’ desire to bring a fortune of gold, spices, and land that can be claimed, back to Spain. Although these desires were admirable, they were sought after at the expense of the Aztecs and consequently changed an entire civilization, due to an initial drive for power, control, land, and money. Cortez along with the Spaniards ultimately destroys the Aztecs in their quest for fortune and fame. The accounts are based on the Aztec’s perception of the invasion and include the revolt of the Aztec people that lead to the terror and the end of the Aztec civilization. The Spaniards first entrance into Tenochtitlan The novel begins with the description of a series of omens or premonitions, observed ten years prior, that was believed to be essential warnings of the coming invasion. The omens arouse many fearful and terrifying reactions. At the time, the meanings were unclear to the Natives. According to the text, â€Å"Montezuma consulted various seers and magicians to learn whether the omens meant an approaching war or some other crisis†, however the magicians could not advise him. Not soon after, according to the second chapter, there were reports that â€Å"the mountains bore a strange people who have very light skin. They all have long beards, and their hair comes only to their ears. † After much contemplation, Montezuma sent five messengers to greet the strangers and to bring them gifts believing that they might be Quetzalcoatl (God of learning and the wind) and other divinities returning to Mexico as they promised. 2:13)Montezuma gave specific instructions as to how to present the messengers and gifts to the strangers. The natives showed reverence to the strangers at their arrival by â€Å"touching the ground before him with their lips†. (25) However, Cortez in return gave orders to chain them by their necks and feet. When the messengers retur n, they inform Montezuma of the various firearms, animals, foods, and resources the Spaniard possessed, and he was astonished and terrified by their report. Montezuma’s attempts to keep the Spaniard away from the Tenochtitlan included everything from sending out magicians and warlocks hoping that they could harm the Spaniards with their magic, to sending out captives to be sacrificed in their presence. With each failed attempt to prevent the Spaniards from entering Tenochtitlan, came the rising fears of the â€Å"inevitable†. As the Spaniard began to inquire about Montezuma, he contemplated fleeing and escaping the â€Å"gods†. Due to Montezuma’s failed attempts, Cortez and the Spaniards decided to begin marching In-land, in their arrival to Tlaxcala and Cholula. One could argue that the invasion of these cities was due to the defiance and the fact that they would not surrender to Cortez’s control. During the march Cortez gained a larger army and allies. Once Cortez and the Spaniards reached the entrance of Tenochtitlan their march was complete. Montezuma then prepared to greet Cortez. According to the text, â€Å"He presented many gifts to the Captain and his commanders, those who had come to make war. He showered gifts upon them and hung flowers around their necks; he gave them necklaces of flowers and bands of flowers to adorn their breasts; he set garlands of flowers upon their heads. Then he hung the gold necklaces around their necks and gave them presents of every sort as gifts of welcome. † Not mentioned in the Broken Spears however, according to the Diaz document, Cortez offered Montezuma his right hand but Montezuma refused it. It also states that Cortez went to place fine a necklace on Montezuma’s neck, but his nephews stopped and refused him. The Spaniards seemed to portray a non confrontational notion, as if they arrived with pure intentions. The document’s perspective seems to contradict those of The Broken Spears. The document describes the Aztec’s conversion to Christianity as a peaceful one. It also states that Montezuma pronounces that â€Å"I am in debt and will give all I poses,† revealing that Montezuma willingly gave of his possessions and land. However, according to The Broken Spears, the Aztecs were tortured and terrorized. The Expulsion from Tenochtitlan (Spring 1520) After imprisoning Montezuma, the Spaniards begin to terrorize the city, causing commotion and inflicting fear into the natives. The terrorism that was taking place caused an uprising battles and massacres to take place. One example of the harshness inflicted on the Aztecs was the events that took place at a Fiesta. The Spaniard invaded the Fiesta, murdering many Aztecs and revealing the Spaniards did not abide by the Aztec rules or expectations of war. They were said to be reckless and extremely brutal, without respect or compassion. Preceding the surprise attack at the Fiesta, other attacks and retaliations arouse, such as the Night of Sorrow. The Aztecs no longer desired to follow Montezuma’s initial orders for non retaliation. They decided to take up arms and fight against the Spanish. In the attack at the Fiesta, they fought with broken spears and attacked with javelins and arrows. However the Aztecs came to the realization that enough blood was shed. Montezuma’s body was discovered and it was unclear as to his cause of death. Since the Aztec no longer catered to the Spaniards by providing them with food, shelter and supplies, Cortez realizes that they must leave the land. They planned to retreat at night, however the retreat was discovered. According to the text, â€Å"They attacked as the Spaniards were fleeing down the Tlacopan (now Tacuba) causeway, and the rout was so disastrous that it has been known ever since as â€Å"la noche triste,† the Night of Sorrows. Those who escaped the disaster found refuge in the nearby village of Teocalhueyacan, where they were welcomed as friends; but three-fourths of the army had perished in the retreat and in the siege that preceded it. The Aztecs benefited greatly from the fleeing of Spaniards. They gathered things that the Spaniard abandoned and claimed it for themselves. They collected weapons that had been left behind or had fallen into the canal-the cannons, swords, spears, bows and arrows-along with all the steel helmets, coats of mail and breast- plates, and the shields of metal, wood and hide. They recovered the gold ingots, the gold disks, the tubes of gold dust and the collars with their gold pe ndants. The violent recapture of Tenochtitlan (1521) The Aztecs were convinced that the Spaniard would never return. They began to rebuild the city and the temples, and celebrated in a victorious manner. They choose a new King for the city; however it was not long that the Aztecs lived in tranquility. A horrible plague of smallpox quickly spread. The plague spread during the thirteenth month and lasted for seventy days, striking everywhere in the city. It was difficult for some to walk or even move. Many died from the disease, some died of hunger because they were incapable of searching for food. The text describes that the first cases were reported in Cuatlan. By the time the danger was recognized, the plague was so well established that nothing could halt it, and eventually it spread all the way to Chalco. Then its cruelty diminished considerably, though there were isolated cases for many months after. The Spaniards returned without mercy. This time however they had more forces, and resources, and better technology. Although the Aztecs had a previous disposition, they retaliated, being aware this time, of some of the Spaniards tactics. For example, discovered that the shots from the cannons always flew in a straight line, they no longer ran away in the line of fire. They ran to the right or left or in zigzags, not in front of the guns. After a great deal of battles and much bloodshed. The Aztecs eventually surrendered to the Spaniards. The Aztecs culture and civilization was eventually eradicated after the Spaniard burned the temples and destroyed their empires. In comparing the readings of The Broken Spears to some document excerpts, a large disparity is found. There were many actions that the Aztec’s took, that to some were considered barbaric. For instance, in The Conquest of New Spain, Diaz describes the Aztecs to be somewhat savage like. He mentioned that they would â€Å"tear out the palpitation heart, with the blood, they present as idols† and they would eat â€Å"arms and thighs at their ceremonial banquets†. However, The Broken Spears describes these actions as sacred sacrifices that were signs of respect and honor. These reasons alone prove why separate accounts help understand history. There is a saying that states: â€Å"There are two sides to every story. † The Broken Spears would be considered the other side

Examples of Business Plans Components

Examples of Business Plans Components When it comes to starting your own company (or managing someone elses), every business needs to develop and write a good business plan they can follow to achieve the companys goals, which can then be used to pitch to investors or seek out commercial loans. Put simply, a business plan is an outline of goals and the steps needed to achieve them, and while not all businesses require a formal business plan, composing a business plan, in general, is an essential step to starting your own business as it lays out what you plan to do to get your business off the ground. All business plans- even informal outlines- require several key components including an executive summary (including objectives and keys to success), a company summary (including ownership and history), a products and services section, a market analysis section, and a strategy and implementation section. Why Business Plans Are Important Taking a look at a  sample business plan, its easy to see how these documents can get quite lengthy, but not all business plans need to be as detailed as this- especially if youre not looking for investors or loans. A business plan is simply a way for your business to evaluate whether or not actions would benefit a companys ability to achieve its goals, so theres no need to write extra details if theyre not needed to organize your business. Still, you should be as detailed as necessary when composing your business plan as each element can greatly benefit future decisions by outlining clear guidelines for what the company plans to achieve and how it plans to achieve it. The length and content of these plans, then, comes from the type of business youre creating a plan for. Small businesses just looking to stay organized benefit from the objective-strategy structure of the standard business plan while bigger businesses or those hoping to expand can fully summarize every element of their businesses so investors and loan agents get a better understanding of the mission of that business- and whether or not they want to invest. Introduction to Business Plan Whether youre writing a  web design business plan  or a  tutoring business plan, there are several key components that must be included in the introduction to the document in order for the plan to be considered viable, including a summary of the business and its goals and the key components that indicate success. Every business plan, big or small, should start out with an executive summary that details what the company hopes to accomplish, how it hopes to accomplish it, and why this business is the right one for the job. Essentially, the executive summary is an overview of what will be included in the rest of the document and should inspire investors, loan officers, or potential business partners and clients to want to be a part of the plan. The objectives, mission statement, and keys to success are also principal components of this first section as they will outline achievable, concrete goals that the company plans to achieve through its business model. Whether youre stating well increase sales by more than $10 million by the third year or saying well improve inventory turnover to six turns next year, these goals and missions should be quantifiable and attainable. The Company Summary Section After fleshing out the objectives of your business plan, its time to describe the company itself, starting with a company summary that highlights major accomplishments as well as problem areas that need to be solved. This section also includes a summary of the ownership of the company, which should include any investors or stakeholders as well as owners and people who play a part in management decisions. You will also want to give a full company history, which includes the inherent barrier to your goals thus far as well as a review of prior years sales and expenses performances. Youll also want to list any outstanding debts and current assets alongside any trends noted in your particular industry that affect your financial and sales goals. Finally, you should include the companys locations and facilities, which detail the office or workspace being used for the business, what property assets the business has, and which departments are currently part of the company as they relate to achieving the companys goals. The Products and Services Section Every successful business must have a plan to make money through the products or services that business provides; so naturally, a good business plan must include a section about the core revenue model of the company. This section should start with a clear introductory overview to what the company offers consumers as well as the voice and style in which the company wishes to present itself to those customers- for example, a software company might say we dont just sell good accounting software, we change the way you balance your checkbook. The products and services section also details competitive comparisons- how this company measures up to others that offer the same good or service- as well as technology research, sourcing for materials, and future products and services the company plans to offer to help drive competition and sales. The Market Analysis Section In order to properly project what goods and services a company might want to offer in the future, a comprehensive market analysis section should also be included in your business plan. This section details exactly how well the current market in your companys business field is doing, including major and minor concerns that could affect your ability to achieve your sales and income goals. The section starts with an overview of the market your company targets (demographics) as well as industry analysis of what types of businesses typically exist within that marketplace and known participants who are your main source of competition within that industry. You should also include distribution, competition, and buying patterns alongside the companys main competitors and an overview of statistical figures from an in-depth market analysis. This way, investors, partners, or loan officers can see that you understand what stands between you and your companys goals: competition and the market itself. The Strategy and Implementation Section Finally, every good business plan needs to include a section detailing  the companys marketing, pricing, promotions, and sales strategies- as well as how the company plans to implement them and what sales forecasts have been discovered as a result of these plans. The introduction to this section should contain a high-level view of the strategy and their implementation including bulleted or numbered lists of objectives and the viable steps that can be taken in order to achieve them.  Calling out objectives like emphasize service and support or focus on target markets and describing how the company will go about doing this shows investors and business partners that you understand the market and what needs to be done to take your company to the next level. Once youve outlined each element of your companys strategy, youll then want to end the business plan with sales forecasts, which detail your expectations after implementing each element of the business plan itself. Essentially, this final section tells investors exactly what will be accomplished by carrying out this business plan into the future- or at least give them an idea that youve thought about what could happen if you implemented the plan.