Solomon And The Queen Of Sheba Essays - Solomon, Books Of Kings

Solomon And The Queen Of Sheba On Francesco del Cossa's Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba The Italian artist, Francesco del Cossa, created an oil painting on a panel during the mid-15th century called Meeting of Solomon and the Queen Sheba. This work is now displayed in the Boston Museum of Fine Art. The plate that identifies the painted tray in the museum explains that this twelve sided tray is a ceremonial tray, most likely in honor of the marriage of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and given to them as a gift. The back of the tray was against the wall but the identification plate noted that two cupid figures with cornucopias and coral necklaces were painted there to symbolize good luck and fertility. The most striking part of this work is the symmetry. The symmetrical architectural structures perfectly centers the palace. The dome of the palace perfectly divides the arch behind it; the highest point of the palace perfectly divides the sky within the main arch. The next most noticeable point of this painting is where the figures of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon stand. They appear to protrude out from the rest of the painting. Each has an out turned foot that comes into the viewer's space. This aspect and the symmetry make it apparent that the Queen and Solomon are the characters to be focused on. The deep color is very striking, especially the abundance of reds, pinks and purple. It seems very bold, perhaps suggesting the royalty of the subjects. The overcast gray sky is the same color as the dome of Solomon's palace. Perhaps the dome is supposed to look as if it is made of metal, but it appears to reflect the trouble that is about to storm. The entire painting is almost composed exclusively of shades of red and black, with highlights of blue. The use of color is not realistic, but very symbolic. Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba utilizes many of the techniques that were beginning to be used in painting during the 15th century. The vanishing point lies on the central angelic statue above the arch of Solomon's throne. The lines created by the checkered floor and the landscape in the background suggest the depth and distance of this image. Francesco del Cossa filled the space he had. All space is taken advantage of by detail of architecture and people. The arches and circular lines may suggest motion. As a whole, this painting is very geometrical with the twelve-sided frame, the repetition of the arches and the line of people represented across the lower half of the work. The people in this painting are telling. The viewer first notices the Queen of Sheba and Solomon, who are at the so close to the edge of the floor that if they took one more step they would step to the ground. Their hands just slightly touch, but do not hold eachother, as if they would rather not have their hands that close together. This may suggest that this marriage is not a ceremony of love, but one of necessity. This is also reflected by their eyes, which do not meet. In fact, Solomon appears to be in a daze, almost possessed. The Queen of Sheba has a slight smile on her lips but her down turned eyes make her seem sad. The subjects on either side of the Queen and Solomon are interesting as well. Almost every woman appears to be in the ?correct? place. They seem quite proper with their hands clasped in a similar fashion behind the Queen. They appear to be supporting her. The men behind Solomon are less organized. Two men, one in a bright red cloak, appear to be having a conversation of their own, taking away from the important event that is depicted. There is a mysterious man in black in the background at the right. He is leaning against his own small archway; his hat and dress are unlike the others'. He holds a strange red object at his waist. There is also a small woman wearing all black in the lower left part of this painting. She does not display the same

Gender of Italian Nouns - Genere del Nome

Gender of Italian Nouns - Genere del Nome In Italian, the gender of a noun can be maschile (masculine) or femminile (feminine). Regarding people and animals, the distinction is in relation to sex; nouns of male living beings are masculine: padre (father), scrittore (writer), infermiere (nurse), gatto (cat), leone (lion), while nouns of female living beings are feminine: madre (mother), scrittrice (writer), infermiera (nurse), gatta (cat), leonessa (lioness). However, there is not always a correspondence between grammar gender and natural gender. There are, in fact, several nouns of the type that, while considered feminine in grammatical gender, denote men: la guardia (guard), la vedetta (sentry), la sentinella (sentry), la recluta (recruit), la spia (spy). Conversely, there are other nouns that refer to women, even though they are grammatically considered the male gender: il soprano, il mezzosoprano, il contralto. In these instances, the agreement of words that refer to the noun should take into account the grammatical gender: La guardia à ¨ svelta.The guard is quick. La sentinella à ¨ attenta.The sentinel is attentive. Il soprano à ¨ bravo. (not bravo)The soprano is good. Le reclute sono arrivate. (not arrivati).The recruits arrived. For the nouns of things (both concrete and abstract) the distinction between genere maschile or genere femminile is purely conventional; only with use over time have words such as abito, fiume, and clima been assigned the masculine gender, while others such as cenere, sedia, crisi have been established as feminine. Masculine or Feminine? Besides experience and consulting the dictionary, there are two elements that can help determine the gender of a noun: the significance and the ending of the word. According to the meaning, the following are masculine: The names of trees: labete (fir), larancio (orange), il melo (apple), il pino (pine), il pioppo (poplar), lulivo (olive); but there are also those that are feminine: la palma (palm), la quercia (oak), la vite (grapevine); The names of metals and chemical elements: loro (gold), largento (silver), il ferro (iron), il rame (copper), il bronzo (bronze), lossigeno (oxygen), lidrogeno (hydrogen), luranio (uranium); The names of the months and days of the week (except Sunday): lafoso agosto (muggy August), il freddo dicembre (cold December), il lunedà ¬ (Monday), il sabato (Saturday); The names of mountains, seas, rivers, and lakes: il Cervino (the Matterhorn), lEtna (Mount Etna), lEverest (Mount Everest), i Pirenei (the Pyrenees), lAtlantico (the Atlantic), il Tirreno (the Tyrrhenian Sea), il Po (the Po), il Tevere (the Tiber), il Tamigi (the Thames), il Danubio (the Danube), il Garda, il Trasimeno. But many names of mountains are feminine: la Maiella, le Alpi (the Alps), le Dolomiti (the Dolomites), le Ande (the Andes); as well as many names of rivers: La Senna (the Seine), la Loira (the Loire), la Garonna (the Garonne); The names of the cardinal points: il Nord (il Settentrione), il Sud (il Mezzogiorno, il Meridione), lEst (il Levante, lOriente), lOvest (il Ponente, lOccidente). According to the meaning, the following are feminine: The name of fruit: la ciliegia (cherry), la mela (apple), la pera (pear), lalbicocca (apricot), la pesca (peach), la banana (banana). What is remarkable, however, is the number of fruits that are considered masculine: il limone (lemon), il dattero (date), il fico (fig), lananas (pineapple); The names of the sciences and in general abstract notions: la matematica (mathematics), la chimica (chemistry), la biologia (biology), la linguistica (linguistics), la bont (goodness), la giustizia (justice), la fede (faith), la pace (peace); The names of continents, states, regions, cities, and islands: lEuropa (Europe), lAfrica (Africa); lItalia (Italy), la Francia (France), la Spagna (Spain), lIndia (India), lArgentina (Argentina); la Toscana, la Calabria, lUmbria, le Marche; la dotta Bologna, la Napoli degli Angioini; la Sicilia, la Sardegna, la Groenlandia (Greenland), le Antille (West Indies). But there are also many names considered masculine, including those of states and regions: il Belgio (Belgium), il Perà ¹ (Peru), lEgitto (Egypt), gli Stati Uniti (United States): il Piemonte, il Lazio; and those of cities and islands: il Cairo, il Madagascar. Depending on the ending, the following are masculine: Nouns ending in -o: il libro, il prezzo, il quadro, il vaso, il muro. There are not many instances in which nouns ending in -o are feminine: la mano, la radio, la dinamo, la moto, lauto, la foto, la virago, la biro. By convention eco in the singular is feminine (uneco, una forte eco), but frequently is considered masculine as well; in the plural it is always regarded as masculine (gli echi) Nouns ending in a consonant, mainly of foreign origin: lo sport, il bar, il gas, il tram, il film; but there are also foreign words ending in a consonant that are feminine: la gang, la holding. The following are feminine: Nouns ending in -a: la casa, la sedia, la penna, la terra, la pianta. However, many are masculine. Apart from nouns ending in -a that apply to both genders (such as il giornalista / la giornalista), various nouns derived from Greek are masculine, such as those that end in -ma: il poema, il teorema, il problema, il diploma, il dramma; and others such as il vaglia, il pigiama, il nulla; Nouns ending in -i: la crisi, lanalisi, la tesi, la diagnosi, loasi. But brindisi is masculine; Nouns ending in -t and in -tà ¹: la bont, la civilt, la verit, lausterit, la virtà ¹, la gioventà ¹, la servità ¹. Nouns ending in -e, unless they belong to certain classes of suffixes (-zione, -tore, -ite), can be either gender: il ponte, lamore, il fiume, il dente; la mente, la fame, la notte, la chiave.

The Goal of Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Goal of Advertising - Essay Example In the Toyota Camry advertisement, from the ESSENCE magazine, the target audience will likely first see, in the lower middle section, a red Toyota Camry car with black windows facing the bottom left of the page. There is a building behind the car that covers most of the picture from the left and half of the picture from the right. A lot of people are standing around the car having fun; some of them are dancing, some of them are playing with musical instruments, and some of them appear from the building windows dancing and raising their hands. Also, there is a woman with a short dress, black jacket and black shoes standing next to the driver’s door. The ad contains some praise phrases in the top right of the ad, and the sky appears in the top right of the picture behind the praise phrases. There is also a phrase in the bottom left of the ad that says â€Å" The 2015 Camry, your first bold choice†. Finally, the Toyota brand sign appears in the bottom right of the ad. In the Toyota Prius advertisement, from the TRAVEL + LEISURE magazine, the target audience will likely first see, in the right section, a back of a gray Toyota Prius with an open trunk that contains a lot of bags facing the middle left of the picture. There are many trees that cover most of the background from the middle to the top of the ad, and small pieces of wood covering the rest of the background from the middle to the bottom.

German Car Makers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

German Car Makers - Essay Example Main focus is to sell the cheap cars as basic rides since the major car market in the emerging market comprises of middle class society. But this low cost cars are not getting popular only in emerging world but even in premium market they are getting enough market. This has been the cause of worry for the big car maker like Toyota. Now even Toyota trying to come up with budget car to get hold of emerging market. Apart from budget car market premium car market is moving towards sensible motoring. German car makers have positioned themselves in the wrong sides of both these budget and premium car markets. This is the external environment in which Daimler Chrysler operates. Key factors and trends in this environment can be identified by using Porter’s five forces model. Here, world car market is divided into cheap and cheerful market and premium market depending on the nature of the demand of the customers. So buyers bargaining power is the key. Chrysler’s sales are not rising because today buyers have different options, each of which is equally good. Although there has been rapid improvement in terms of design and production lines, Chrysler still doesn’t have enough competitive product line as compared to its rivals. Customers have more bargaining power because they have better options from other car makers. Competition among the car makers are intense in nature as every company is coming up with new inventions, new strategies to establish those inventions. Chrysler has to come up with new better product lines in terms of technology, features and design to stay ahead of the competition. Suppliers have more bargaining power because there is more number of substitutes as all the big players are coming up with their new inventions to grab the emerging market. Suppliers are more powerful when the company is not financially sound.  This is exactly the situation in case of Chrysler as it is struggling both in terms of financial condition and product lines. Company has failed to come up with new product lines, keeping the pace with market trend.  

Nintendo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Nintendo - Essay Example Nintendo’s mission statement clearly reflects the company’s core purpose, its identity, values and, to a large extent, the company’s main business aims. Nintendo’s vision is expanding its market by creating innovative products that would appeal strongly to the larger gaming population. Through its vision, for example, the company has been able to produce smaller consoles that are not only cheaper, but also easier to use.2 Nintendo’s decision to create smaller consoles boosted its sales and effectively edged out its main competitors i.e. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s play station 3. In addition, while Nintendo’s competitors rushed to creating more powerful and high definition consoles, the company opted to stick with the standard resolution hardware. Instead Nintendo focused its energies to creating a console that would appeal even to non-gamers population. Nintendo’s strategy is to tailor its products according to the needs of its target segments, and one way of achieving the same is being different. The company, for instance, has been able to produce portable gaming into the market effectively challenging Sony’s PlayStation Portable. Nintendo’s Wii that came with improved features, for example, was produced in order to counter Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and help extend Nintendo’s prestige. Nintendo Company has the following strategies in the gaming industry. Following Nintendo’s many years of operation in the gaming industry, the company has gained enormous experience. As a result, the company can use cost advantage through analysis of its cost drivers such as backward integration. While the company’s competitors develop their games using their facilities, Nintendo uses off-the-shelf parts from different suppliers. Rather than produce own chip, Nintendo acquires the same from a supplier and at a cheaper cost. As a result, Nintendo was able to introduce the Wii at a relatively low cost compared to Sony’s PS3

The Importance Of Imaginary Places

The Importance Of Imaginary Places Id like to begin my essay from one quotation that helped me to understand the main direction of this work discussion. This quotation explains the main content of the notion imaginary places and their meaning for people. Lets look at it attentively and analyze how the World Trade Center site in New York City is now an imaginary place. Leonard Mcclure stated that Such sites are, of course, actual places. We can go there today, stand, look, and know we are in the place. Yet, at the same time, these actual places are mythic because they embody meanings far beyond the scope of the events that happened and even beyond the limits of the physical locations themselves. In that sense, they are imaginary places. (Leonard Mcclure, 2003) I want to mention in this paragraph that such imaginary places are very important for 21st century Americans. In our consciousness the notion imaginary place can be interpret as a place that exists only in imagination, it can be imagination of one person or it can be imagination of group of people, who are interested in one problem or question; also imaginary place is a place said to exist in fictional or religious writings. In our case it is one taken website that reflects events that had a place in American society several years ago. The date of awful catastrophe will never be forgotten by people who lost there their relatives and I think that the whole country will never forget that tragedy. Saying about the World Trade Center (WTC) we can say that it was a complex in Lower Manhattan in New York City. In 2001 in the September 11 the World Trade Centers seven buildings were destroyed by terrorist attacks. The site is at present being rebuilt with six new skyscrapers and a memorial to the casualties of the terrorist attacks. Now this website considered an imaginary place that exists as a part of memory for people who know this place and for people who will never see beloved people. It will be very honest answer to say that people should remember their history and visiting imaginary places all people receive such possibility. Young people need to know how the place that they can see every day looked like several years ago and they should know its history. Old people can visit this place in their imagination and remember some events from their past life. Imaginary places are important part of todays life, because everyday we are looking for something new and sometimes even forget about historical places and people who were connected with these places. It is a good idea to create imaginary places and it is also a good idea of creation of imaginary communities. Im not promoting against real places and real communities, but in my opinion people should have a chance to talk about their memories with people with the same interest and our past is the wonderful base for our future success and happiness. Id like to talk about imaginary communities in this paragraph as a component connected with the notion imaginary places. Famous American researcher Benedict Anderson named nations the  «imaginary associations ».  «Imaginary » as their representatives, not knowing the most compatriots, even never meeting them; however feel the involvement to them. By other words,  «imaginary associations » exist in imagination of their members. Like imaginary places we cant visit in real life and touch to its things and ground where they based. Imagination is a really interesting notion, because it allows us to create something new and important, or unimportant, but pleasantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ it depends from our necessities and wishes. Role of imagination in the process of creative cognition it is possible to define as one of methods of the use of present for a man knowledge. The functions of imagination are probed in-process on row procedures of scientific cognition: hypothesis, evident des ign, and mental experiment. The purpose of imagination is ability to create new appearances. It gives birth from necessities to correlate accessible to the man with that it is not given to him straight. It is understandable that for research of cognitive role of imagination it is necessary to find out its features. Complication of exposure of specific of imagination is conditioned that it closely interlaces with all types of cognition. This circumstance is reason of origin of tendency to the denial of existence of imagination as the special form of reflection. To decide this problem, it is necessary to expose actual nature of imagination. From all above stated determinations evidently, that the substantial sign of imagination is consider ability of subject to create new appearances. But it is not enough, because it is impossible then to conduct distinctions between imagination and thought. Creation of new knowledge and concepts in the field of logical thought can take place and with out participation of imagination. Thus, we should take into account circumstance that imagination is creation of new appearances, and transformation of past experience, and what transformation is accomplished at organic unity perceptible and rational. I think that imagination as a main aspect of imaginary places creation should be discussed with more details. We will consider specific forms of activity that is revealed in which perceptible reflection of reality, and also that role which execute feeling in the processes of forming of appearances. Very often feelings examined straight as valuable appearance of reality. Feelings primary appearances of certain properties of reality straight or indirectly join in forming of all (including generalized) mental appearances. Imagination, creating evident appearances, absorbs in itself feelings. But at it imagination leans against their semantic moment. Therefore, imagination physiological does not depend on activity of sense-organs. Imagination is product of transformation foremost of functional descriptions reflections. Perception is appearance of object on the whole, in it already very full semantic descriptions of subjectivity open up. During perception a subject is able to construct whole complexes directly not these parameters of object. The elements of imagination find out itself in a perceptible reflection only then, when along with ability functionally to finish building appearances these objects ability of man to expose is clearly revealed on your own functional meaningfulness of the perceived objects and to do this meaningfulness by the article of the special consideration and special procedures. Circumstance that in perception of persons capable from data separate to finish building elements the failings sides of object, see unit at to the real availability only its parts, testifies to development of subjective and active descriptions of perceptible appearances. Complexity such appearances, included in them experience individual and collective there is a display of nascent imagination activity. Essence of imagination consists in that appearances of imagination are consciously produced by a man. Thus, by a basic line which distinguishes imagination from different forms of activity in a perceptible reflection, there is original realized by the subject of imagination of human (social, cultural and other) grounds of this activity. The outer world comes forward the financial base of process of imagination in everything riches of its relations, from which the new impressions are dipped out and new images are created. Imagination can be examined and as a process (form) and as a result of (table of contents) reflection of objective to reality. It executes functions: heuristic, anticipatory, practical, cognitive, aesthetic and others. Imagination is capable to transform the whole world without an exception. Imagination it one of capabilities man to product new images. By the feature of imagination as facilities transfer of knowledge from one area there is an original alloy on other perceptible and rational. Analyzing information about imagination as a form of our mind work we should emphasize that imagination is the specific reflection of reality and serves by the mean of its cognition. Activity of imagination necessarily flows in evident plan. It necessarily destroys a subject outside available situations, forms appearances, not having a direct original in to reality. Thus, based on our research data we can conclude that imaginary places allow people to be involved in imaginary activity and it also allows Americans to be involved in the history of their country, because it is necessary for all people remember what had happened in their country and I believe that such imaginary place also can help to avoid some catastrophes in future.

Hearst :: Essays Papers

Hearst INTRODUCTION American journalism and mass media were both profoundly influenced by a very dominating figure. In the last decade of the 19th century up until the end of the first half of the 20th century, William Randolph Hearst was a mega-force to be reckoned with. Hearst was a famous American publisher who built up the nation’s largest chain of newspapers. He was also a political figure and one of the leading figures during the Spanish-American War period. In his newspapers, he introduced a sensational journalistic style of writing and spent millions of dollars to fascinate and captivate readers. This kind of journalism was described by critics as â€Å"Yellow Journalism.† During his lifetime, even up until today, he has been respected, feared, loathed and envied by his friends and enemies alike. A man in his position was capable of being the greatest constructor or the most destructive evil of the Nation. BIOGRAPHY On 29th day of April 1863, in San Francisco, California, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, in great torment, gave birth to a boy in her bedroom. The boy was named William Randolph Hearst. William Randolph Hearst was the only child of George and Phoebe Hearst. His father, George Hearst ( 1820-1891 ), was not born into a rich and wealthy family. He did his share of the labor at a lead mine near his home. Mining had always fascinated him even from his childhood years. He later earned the nickname the â€Å"Boy-That-Earth-Talked-To† from the miners he was working with. With tremendous luck, hard working and blessings, he worked his way to become a multimillionaire miner and had also become a United States Senator from California ( 1886-1891 ). His mother, Phoebe Apperson Hearst ( 1842-1919 ), was a philanthropist and a school teacher from Missouri. She had gained national fame for her gifts to needy students and educational institutions. While Hearst was a boy, his father traveled throughout the West, from Mexico to Alaska, becoming a partner in three of the largest mining discoveries ever recorded in American history: the Comstock ( silver ) Lode in Nevada, the Homestake ( gold ) Mine in South Dakota and the Anaconda (copper) Mine in Montana.

Do’s and Dont’s About French Culture

* When you are invited somewhere, DO give a gift that shows that you are intellectual, such a gift of books or music. * DO bring a gift for the hostess if invited to a French person's house. Good host gift ideas include flowers and wine or dessert (if you are invited for a dinner). However, keep in mind that France is known for its wine, so it is better to do some research before and bring a nice bottle of wine! As a tourist from another country, a gift from your native country is also really appreciated. * DO expect a glass of wine with dinner. Wine glasses are filled only three-quarters of the way. DO be careful when picking out flowers as a gift. Indeed, white flowers are typically only used during weddings, white lilies and chrysanthemums are flowers for funerals, and red carnations stand for bad will. * DO maintain eye contact: it shows that you are interested in the conversation and your full attention is to them. * DO shake hands when you meet someone you don’t know for both male and female. * DO address people with the titles â€Å"Monsieur† (Mister) and â€Å"Madame† (Mrs. ) when meeting someone for the first time, or in a business meeting. Use â€Å"Mademoiselle† when greeting a young, unmarried woman or girl and â€Å"Madame† for older and married women. * DO wear what you normally wear, but keep in mind that attire such as baseball caps, flip-flops, and white sneakers are not traditionally worn by French people. It is fine to wear it, but you will probably be labeled as a tourist. * DO be polite. French people all the time say â€Å"Bonjour† (Hello), â€Å"Aurevoir† (Goodbye), â€Å"excusez moi, pardon†(excuse me, sorry) if you touch someone in the street or even if you just brush past the person! * DO apologize for your lack of knowledge if you do not speak French. Don’ts * DON'T eat with your fingers. You should always use your place setting; however you can use your fingers at a fast food restaurant. * DON'T eat on the street because it can be seen as unsophisticated. * DON'T start eating immediately after being served, you have to wait for everyone to have their meal and only after you say â€Å"Bon appetit† and you can start. It seems as really impolite to start without waiting for others. * DON'T put your arms on your lap during dinner but don’t put them above the table either. * DON'T give an even number of flowers as a gift. Flowers should always be given in odd numbers, except for thirteen, as that is an unlucky number. * DON'T expect the people you are meeting with to be on time. People in France are not often punctual: â€Å"le quart d’heure francais† (the french quarter). However, be careful if it is a business meeting you have to be on time! Without any good reason people will not be happy at all. * DON'T show any impatience or a confrontational attitude in a business meeting, it can be seen as a sign of being unprofessional. * DON'T take a bite from a whole piece of bread. Instead, tear your bread into a bite-sized piece and then eat it.

A midsummer days nightmare

A midsummer days nightmare Executive Summary The ability of managers to balance between employees’ personal demands and business established policies forms the most critical aspect in determining the levels of productivity and profitability that can be assimilated. This requires the human resources managers to ensure that the best practices are assimilated in dealing with workers at all times to guarantee their commitment.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on A midsummer days’ nightmare specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The case study in this paper presents a situation where an individual with little leadership and management skills is charged with the role of managing a restaurant. Consequently, issues of coordinating activities coupled with other factors like limited workforce and resources makes the smooth operation of the business to become elusive. The capacity to reflect successful leadership and management concepts in resta urant management stems from understanding work requirements, being professional, devising an acceptable vision, and challenging normal practice for the purpose of adding value and redefining existing culture in restaurant practices in order to anchor continued development. Effective leadership and management in a restaurant therefore form the most critical elements that dictate strategic approaches and effectiveness in meeting restaurant business missions and objectives. To overcome the challenge facing this business, there is need for training and development of the existing leaders and other works as this will sharpen the workforce and create a forward force that will enable the restaurant to move forward. Introduction The capacity to reflect successful leadership and management concepts in restaurant management stems from understanding work requirements, being professional, devising an acceptable vision, and challenging normal practice for the purpose of adding value and redefini ng existing culture in restaurant practices in order to anchor continued development. DiPietro et al (2007) posit that a leader in a restaurant must have the correct attributes and unique skills as well as characteristics that accompany them. As this paper analyses, leadership is the greatest factor that determines success or failure of an institution because it determines the focus, motivates lower level employees and ultimately links objective to success. This paper is an in-depth evaluation of a case study of leadership and management at a fast food restaurant to determine management issues. Besides, it evaluates management problems in the restaurant and concludes by offering recommendations and strategic action plans of addressing the situation that was faces the leader.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Background and statement of the problem Effective lead ership and management in a restaurant form the most critical elements that dictate strategic approaches and effectiveness in meeting restaurant business missions and objectives. The ability to realize high employees’ motivation, high productivity and eventual excellent consumer value and satisfaction demands careful articulation of human resource management principles that entails reducing their weaknesses while maximizing their strengths (Kimes, 2005). From the case study, the restaurant leadership has received immense pressure to improve performance from its top management. However, there are numerous factors that present major problems to the realization of effective management. One of the major problems presented in the case is lack of training and professionalism in leadership of the restaurant as the mentioned leader mwpand other leaders have been put quickly promoted to positions of leadership without adequate knowledge of the roles they are supposed to carry (Sawyer Melnyk, 2003). This does not only force the unskilled leadership to frequently refer to guidelines and manuals for directions, but the roles also pose as burdens on their shoulders. Besides, human resource management is a major issue in the restaurant as there is no proper coordination of activities necessary to foster change, enhance motivation, recruitments and smooth functioning of activities. Waller (2006) posits that the department and profession that plays one of the most important roles in any organization is the human resource department because it deals with workers, their motivation, appraisal and strategic focus that determines the overall productivity and profitability of any institution. Human resources departments are very crucial in their work because they link an organization with its visions because it is indeed the workers and employees who define the application of respective organization policies (Ofori, 2008). Situation analysis- internal environment and externa l environment Kimes (2005) points out that SWOT analysis is one of the best systems of analysing a company’s status and therefore determines its ability to progress in the market profitably. It explores a company from an internal consideration while gauging its external preparedness to address the different problems. Indeed, the ability of any business enterprise to grow lies in its capacity to maximally enhance its strengths and utilize the available opportunities while addressing the weaknesses and effectively countering the threats. Internal factors Strengths The restaurant’s mission, goals, and objectives are very clear as the major guiding tools for its development and growth. As indicated in the case study, the companys top management saw a rich niche of leadership among its workers upon which they could utilize as an entrepreneurial opportunity.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on A midsummer days’ nightmare specifically for yo u for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More With all the other types of foods were being offered in the market and to customers, the mission to offer good menu was actually a major element of strength. Besides, the restaurant has also managed to grow due to the ability of the co-founders to assimilate recipes that are highly authentic and nutritious to the consumers. As a marketing and sustainability strategy, this notion is able to bring and maintain consumers to the restaurants products. The other strength the restaurant is that it has product offerings that are unique and of excellent quality. The company has a unique corporate culture and offers its customers efficient services. This gives it a high reputation in the market. Team orientation The performance of small groups within an organisation is a key ingredient to the overall output of the entire organisation (Kimes Thompson, 2004). Hence, the success of any organisation heavily relies on the individual output o f small teams that constitute departments or divisions within an organisation. Increased productivity has been directly linked to group efficacy in an organisation. Besides, there are other group dynamics elated to group efficacy that may also contribute positively to the growth of an organisation. Most studies have also revealed that group dynamics derive a lot of benefit from efficacy and the overall effectiveness of a group (Kimes Thompson, 2004). Although leadership style in an organisation is paramount in driving groups, leadership satisfaction may not necessarily be affected by group efficacy. In this restaurant, despite poor leadership, there is team orientation, a concept of team building that can be described as an organizational behaviour and practice that attempts to bring employees together as one cohesive team that works to achieve a common objective or goal. Weaknesses The ability to identify and establish modes of addressing the different weaknesses in any company o r business unit, acts as a rotating framework upon which growth and development can be inferred (Waller, 2006). Ogunlana (2008) explains that all business units posses various weaknesses that determine their overall ability to achieve the necessary productivity and profitability.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More While the ability to select the correct and professional leaders who share the same vision and are strongly entrepreneurial oriented is a key facet in enhancing faster growth and adaptability of a restaurant business unit to assimilate the necessary growth with time, the restaurant management selected untrained and inexperienced leaders to manage the business’ operations. Indeed, bad choice of business leadership has acted as a major setback for the restaurant and a major point for its near downfall. Besides, another distressful weakness that the restaurant has is adapting faster to the ever changing needs of a restaurant operations. The management of the restaurant lacks proper coordination and communication necessary to ensure smooth flow of operation and provision of necessary resources. Opportunities According to Kimes (2005), the most important aspects of any business entity is its management ability to identify the different opportunities that face it at different peri ods. The restaurant has numerous opportunities in the hospitality business arena to enhance provision of services and quality food stuff. Being a restaurant that served its customers for several years and has made tremendous advances in terms of products and services, it has more time to prepare, analyze the external environment and set strategies for future changes. In addition, the business has competencies that include a team of workers who are self motivated which it can use to enhance provision of services in the market. Threats Like other restaurants in today’s economy, this restaurant faces numerous threats that affect its performance in the hospitality industry. One such threat concerns limited resources to use to improve its products and business operations. From the case study, it is depending on old and worn out machineries to preserve and prepare food stuff. Deficiency of resources is a threat to this restaurant as it may make it less competitive and lose its hold of customers in the market. Consequently, its competitors who are equally stronger will take its position in the market. Besides, another threat is its leadership which is less trained and lacks professional experience to run restaurant operations (Sawyer Melnyk, 2003). This problem is compounded by the fact that other core leaders have neglected their roles and instead left the running of the restaurant to less skilled leaders. The effect of this threat is that the effectiveness of service provision, human resource management as well as customer service will diminish. This calls for the leadership of the restaurant to change its tactics and set new management strategies. External factors Economic factor One of the economic factors affecting the restaurant is the trade cycle that Kimes and Thompson (2004) describe as the fluctuation of cost of commodities or goods in an economy. Accessing food materials and resources such as refrigerators and cooking materials due to their cost a re some of the challenges that the restaurant face due to the rise, fall, stability and continuity of cost of products. It is imperative to note that trade cycles is a changing factor that impacts on any business in an economy due to changes in general price level. Analysis of alternatives Offer training and install new machineries In his publication, Kimes (2005) points out that all institutions whether profit or not for profit seek to grow and meet their outlaid perspectives. This has however been a great challenge with many institutions as their leaders and workers lack adequate training resulting to losses or suboptimal profitability. Training and development therefore becomes so critical to all organizations because so critical because it determines the ability of an organization to remain in its vision objectives (Yun, Cox Sims, 2006). As case brought it, lack of training for the promoted leaders made their work and the smooth running of the business cumbersome. Training and development will sharpen the workforce and create a forward force that enables an organization to move forward. This is in line with John Kotter’s theory of change management which posits that workers are the driving forces for their institutions (de Vries, Bakker-pieper, Oostenveld, 2010). The top management of the restaurant should train workers to create the innovativeness edge sharp enough for higher profitability, innovativeness and and provision of better quality products and services. Establish supportive structures In his theory of organization change, Kurt Lewin pointed out that there is need to establish the necessary supportive structures that cultivate the need for change demands (Ogunlana, 2008). The theory points out that that organizations leadership has a role in provision of the necessary goodwill that brings down the management to the workers levels (de Vries, Bakker-pieper, Oostenveld, 2010). It is worth noting that over the years, the need for change in managing restaurants has risen at different instances especially with the rising levels of competition and fast changing business environment. It became clear from the case study that management problems will always call for major and minor changes that directly or indirectly impact of the restaurant. It is in this respect that this calls for long term critical thinking as a basis for management decision making at all times. Recommendations, implementation (Action plan) and conclusion In the theory of cultural dynamics, the overall ability of an organization to assimilate change and maintain the same consideration is through careful inclusion of the workers into the change demands which carves their necessary identity (Alimo-Metcalfe et al., 2008). The theory continues to say that though the management acts as the major proprietor for enhancing the necessary progress in an organization, the most important factor is the workers who dictate the application and efficiency of the same c onsiderations. Since the restaurant culture is to quickly promote its workers into positions of leadership, it should focus on their experience as this will be key in facilitations their effective operations. De Vries, Bakker-pieper, Oostenveld, 2010 argue that as contingency theories indicate, effective change management requires that careful structural constitution where the alignment of structures is empowered to ensure stronger flow and coordination of the major decisions assimilated by an organization for change. It is in this respect that there is need for coordination between the top management and other leaders in the restaurant which is lacking according to the case study. The top management of the restaurant should consider that a leader such as one in the case study being in the restaurant and interacting with customers and other workers posses greater knowledge to point out at the areas that need change. Palmer (2009) points out that though management of the restaurant may not necessarily apply the propositions by the leader in charge, they should view the emergent considerations to change as part of their own decisions. Besides, following the increasing demand for quality services by the staff to consumers, installation of better machineries and training employees will possibly be the best system as it would enhance their in their operations and enhance their accountability. The system will also be good in that it will employ the companys resources instead of seeking external facilities for training and practices. Figure 1: Training and installation program Time Action Expected outcomes/ suggested practical applications 2 days Install new machineries Changes in the systems outlook 2 Weeks Train employees Training on skills 1 Week Test new toasters Practical application of skills 1 Month Check customer Satisfaction Outcome evaluation 6 Months Monitoring the progress Continuous organization assessment References Alimo-Metcalfe, B., Alban-Metcalfe, J., Bradley, M., Samele, C. (2008). The impact of engaging leadership on performance, attitudes to work and wellbeing at work. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 22(6), 586-98. de Vries, R.,E., Bakker-pieper, A., Oostenveld, W. (2010). Leadership = communication? The relations of leaders communication styles with leadership styles, knowledge sharing and leadership outcomes. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(3), 367-380. DiPietro, R. B., Murphy, K. S., Rivera, M., Muller, C. (2007). Multi-unit management key success factors in the casual dining restaurant industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 19(7), 524-524. Kimes, S. E. (2005). Restaurant revenue management: Could it work? Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 4(1), 95-97. Kimes, S. E., Thompson, G. M. (2004). Restaurant revenue management at chevys: Determining the best table mix. Decision Sciences, 35(3), 371-392. Ofori, G. (2008). Tipping points that inspire leadership. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 15(3), 212-229. Ogunlana, S. O. (2008). Performance and leadership outcome correlates of leadership styles and subordinate commitment. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 15(2), 164-184. Palmer, D. E. (2009). Business leadership: Three levels of ethical analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(3), 525-536. Waller, K. (2006). Successful restaurant management: From vision to execution. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 12(4), 381-382. Yun, S., Cox, J., Sims, H. P. Jr. (2006). The forgotten follower: A contingency model of leadership and follower self-leadership. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(4), 374-388. Sawyer, L. Melnyk, J. (2003). A midsummer day’s nightmare. Comprehensive Cases, 1-5.

7th Grade SAT Prep How to Ace the Exam

7th Grade SAT Prep How to Ace the Exam SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Why take the SAT in 7th grade, when there are plenty of other standardized tests like the PSAT and ACT Aspire that are aimed at middle schoolers? There are a couple of answers to that question. Certain summer programs for talented 7th graders require participants to take a college entry exam, which is why most students end up taking the SAT so early. The rare middle schooler may also choose to take the SAT as a 7th grader as part of her early college preparation. In an effort to do well on a college entrance exam like the SAT as a 7th grader, it may be tempting to do everything that's recommended for regular SAT prep and then turn it all the way up to . But just as good 7th grade SAT scores may be different from good college application SAT scores, so, too, does your test prep need to be different. Learn about the best strategies and practices for 7th grade SAT prep so you can be preared to ace the exam on test day. feature image credit: Ian Van Ness/Flickr. Why Take the 7th Grade SAT? The two big reasons students take the SAT in 7th grade are to participate in programs for early achievers or to start training early for college. There are several programs targeted at academically gifted younger students, including Duke TIP or CTY at Johns Hopkins, that require 7th graders to take the SAT. These organizations don't just identify your strengths and weaknesses and offer advanced summer courses for academic enrichment, but also provide guidance from middle school onwards for the best ways to prep for college. The only other real reason to take the SAT in 7th grade is to start laying the groundwork for the PSAT and SAT when you take them in high school. Since you won't have learned some of the content on the SAT (particularly certain math topics), you're definitely not going to want to use your 7th grade SAT score to apply to colleges. But if you want to start to get familiar with the format of the test and the ways in which the College Board will test your reading, writing, and mathematical knowledge, an early encounter with the test can be helpful. Depending on your reason for doing 7th grade SAT prep, you’ll have different amounts of time to study and will need to use different test-taking strategies. I'll start out by discussing how to ace the SAT in 7th grade for the purposes of qualifying for talent searches. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: 7th Grade SAT Prep: Summer Programs If you’re in 7th grade and taking the SAT to take part in a talent search or summer program, you have a relatively short deadline to work with in terms of SAT prep. Programs like the Duke TIP 7th Grade Talent Search start enrollment early, usually in August of each year. To take part in a 7th grade talent search, you have to take the SAT during 7th grade, which means the latest you can take the test is June at the end of your 7th grade school year. If you want to avoid being waitlisted for the highly competitive summer-after-7th-grade programs, though, it's usually recommended you take the SAT by December of 7th grade, if not before then. Because your prep time is so limited if you want to take the SAT as a 7th grader and still qualify for summer programs, you'll need to use strategies similar to high school students with little time before the exam. One of these strategies is to center the majority of your study around official SAT practice tests and questions to make sure you know what kinds of questions and topics will show up on the real test. You don't need to get a perfect score on the SAT in order to qualify for any of the summer programs, of course, but neither do you want to wake up early and go in on test day only to find out that you were studying entirely the wrong thing. Henry Burrows/Flickr This small child just discovered that trigonometry is now on the SAT. Don't let this be you on test day. Using official SAT materials is only the first step, however. You're also going to need to take at least a couple of realistic full-length SAT practice tests. Compared to high schoolers, 7th graders have less experience taking lengthy tests by dint of not having been in school for as many years, and so will need to build up their test-taking stamina. With breaks, the SAT is over three hours long (or over four hours long if you take the optional essay); being able to sit down and take the whole test without losing focus requires dedicated practice. Another important strategy that can be modified for use by 7th graders taking the SAT is settling on a target score ahead of time. Before you begin to study for the SAT, you need to figure out what score you're aiming for so that you can structure your studying accordingly. For high schoolers, this target score is determined by the average scores of the colleges they want to get into; for 7th graders, SAT target scores should be based on the summer programs you want to attend. Average the score cutoffs for all the different summer programs you're thinking of applying to and then aim to meet that average when you take the SAT. The key strategy to use on the SAT for 7th graders is not to agonize over answering every single question. If you’re aiming for a 600 on each section, it makes way more sense skip questions you don't understand so that you can maximize the time you spend on questions you actually can answer. For more details about exactly how many questions you can skip and still hit your SAT target, read our articles on how to improve low Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Math scores on the SAT. 7th Grade SAT Prep: Early Training for College To be totally up front, there are definitely some drawbacks of studying early for the SAT as part of your preparation for college. Because you won't have covered a significant portion of the math tested in school yet and will be at a lower reading level (just by the fact of having been alive less time), you may struggle with the content of the SAT in an unproductive way. It's possible to learn some things on your own, but you may find that, for instance, you cannot effectively teach yourself trigonometric functions. Depending on when you take the SAT, it could be many years before you end up taking the test to apply for college, which means that any benefit you would have gotten from familiarity with the test will likely have vanished. It makes far more sense to start prepping for the SAT in 9th grade, a time when you'll have more of a chance to connect your studying with an endgame of taking the test early on in sophomore year and so can be more focused. On the other hand, if you do still want to study for the SAT in 7th grade as part of preparing to apply to college, you’ll have much more time to study than if you were rushing to take it for a talent search. Without program deadlines to limit your test dates, you can take the SAT any time during your seventh grade year, or even afterwards. And unless you write in to College Board and specifically request they keep your scores, they won't, so your 7th grade scores won't follow you around forever. All you need to do to escape the ghost of your 7th grade SAT scores is...nothing. Because you won't have learned some of the content on the SAT in school yet, you might be tempted to start with the hardest topics first and throw yourself at them until they give in. While this is an approach that might work in some areas, it won't work for studying for the SAT as a 7th grader. Instead, gear your studying toward subjects you have a better chance of improving without having learned them in school. SAT Reading is an area that offers rich rewards for non-classroom studying. It's very hard to teach reading in the same way you'd teach other standardized test skills, because SAT Reading proficiency is dependent on skills acquired through years of reading and critical thinking. As a 7th grader, the best way to study for SAT Reading is to practice reading and analyzing short stories and non-fiction writing. You may also find it useful to study vocabulary independently to boost your reading level. Out of all the subjects covered on the SAT, you'll end up using the skills you learn from SAT Reading practice most continuously as you progress through the rest of your schooling. Because any skills you pick up during early studying are unlikely to atrophy through lack of use, preparing for SAT Reading is an exception to the "starting to study sooner means forgetting what you've learned sooner" rule. You may lose familiarity with the SAT question format if you don't study for the test again until high school, but you won't forget how to read critically. By becoming familiar with more advanced writing, you'll also improve to some extent on the SAT Writing and Essay sections. For more focused studying, however, I recommend reviewing our complete list of grammar rules covered on the SAT and instructions on how to write an SAT essay step by step. Finally, you can start to take a look at some of the topics you might not have covered yet in school that are tested on SAT Math. Different topics are difficult for different students, and you may find that learn algebra and trig is a breeze, whereas SAT Reading is like pulling teeth. In general, though, mathematical topics are harder to teach yourself outside of a formal classroom or tutoring setting, even with good study materials. In general, although it's possible to take the SAT in 7th grade as a useful part of your preparation for college applications, it's more likely to be an unnecessary expense and stress than anything else. If you really want to start early, you can, but you shouldn't beat yourself up too much about not knowing content and doing as well as you hope to in high school. School is stressful enough already. Think hard about whether you really want to add more stress to your life by taking the SAT early. The Bottom Line: How to Study for the SAT in 7th Grade You’ll need to adapt your study plans depending on the reason you're studying for the SAT in 7th grade. If you're taking the SAT for a talent search or a summer program, you should focus on practicing with realistic tests and skipping the questions you don't understand or can't answer. If you're taking it to get ready for college applications, you should focus on learning content and getting familiar with the types of questions you'll be asked. Most importantly, don't let a low 7th grade SAT score (or percentile) discourage you. When you take the SAT as a 7th grader, you've got to keep in mind that the other students taking this test are high school juniors and seniors who need it for college. They're probably going to take it more seriously and spend more time prepping because it will have more of an effect on their future, and will probably know more of the content because of having covered it in school repeatedly. To get a better idea of how you stack up against others your age, take a look through our article on 7th grade SAT scores. Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr How does your 7th grade SAT score stack up? What’s Next? Looking for a more in-depth discussion of the pros and cons of taking the SAT so early? Then our article about whether or not to take the SAT in 7th grade is for you! Need to zero in on a target score, but don't know where to find that kind of information? Start with our articles on the SAT requirements for the Duke TIP and Johns Hopkins' CTY programs, which will give you a good idea of what SAT scores are needed for summer programs in general. Interested in finding out more about some of the summer programs for gifted youth mentioned in this article? Read our guides to the Duke TIP 7th grade Talent Search, CTY at Johns Hopkins, NUMATS, Stanford EPGY, and Summer Institute for the Gifted. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Asia Pacific Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Asia Pacific Business - Essay Example Similarly, China had also begun showing its hyper-growth during the late 70s. According to a report published by The World Bank (2009), it had been observed that the economic performance of Japan and China are even better than that of their complementary countries such as the United States of America and other European countries. In order to recognize the characteristics of business systems currently practiced in Japan and China, it is essential to understand the concept of business system beforehand. Apart from this, culture is also regarded as one of the most crucial factors, which influences business systems directly, as an effective impact can be observed on the economy too. Moreover, internalization has also changed the nature of business systems for more than a couple of decades (Yeung, 2000). In accordance with Padmalingam (2000), Japan and China both share a substantial percentage of similarities that is identifiable in terms of their cultures and social systems particularly owing to their geographical positioning. As a result, over the years, these countries have developed similar characteristics in terms of religion, culture and national identity (Padmalingam, 2002). Besides, it has also been observed that both the countries share almost similar value systems, which have influenced each other on several occasions, quite apparently. However, a critical analysis of the phenomenon revealed that both the countries, i.e. China and Japan, on their path of development, have come to follow two completely separate modern civilizations in order to develop economic policies, especially in the post World War II period. These variances can be framed with the help of different business cultures and varied patterns of economic systems. During the transition period of the post war ec onomic system, it has also been observed that the governmental authorities in Japan and China had a commanding role in order to support the growth of domestic firms

Read Plato's Allegory of the Cave Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Read Plato's Allegory of the Cave - Essay Example Because it's all they've ever known, they think these shapes are the reality, but Plato says it's important to try to get these people to come out of the cave to see the true reality by the light of the sun. They will struggle and not want to admit the truth, but if they stay in the sun long enough, they will finally begin to understand. It was difficult for me to think of a time when I was fooled into believing something was true instead of what was real. There are many times when this happens in life, but we rarely want to admit it. One thing really stands out in my mind, though. This is my belief in the United States President George W. Bush. I really didn't pay much attention to politics growing up and thought it was natural to support the President when he called for us to go to war in Iraq to save us from the weapons of mass destruction he knew were there. I didn't think there was any reason for me to question him since he had access to so much inside information. Even after th e fall of Bagdad and the searches we did in that country without finding any WMDs, I still believed the Iraqi's must have hidden them somewhere we just couldn't think to look. After having friends and relatives deployed to that region and seeing so many soldiers being killed, I started to pay more attention.