Cancer Essays (1618 words) - RTT, Cancer Treatments,

Cancer During a shower one day you notice a lump that was not otherwise there. The next day you see a doctor. The lump you have identified is diagnosed as cancer. Now you need to figure out what to do. There is no absolute cure for cancer, but there are different ways to treat it. One treatment is the traditional from by seeing a doctor who possibly could use radiation, chemotherapy or other drugs. Another way of treating cancer is with alternative forms of medicine by using acupuncture naturopathic and homeopathic doctors who prescribe more natural forms of healing using a combination of the two. When using the combination of the two treatment techniques, one can receive the full benefit of all available options. The medical profession should acknowledge allowing alternative medicines in conjunction with traditional medicines to ease suffering as well as prolonging the lives of cancer patients. In order to make a decision on a treatment for cancer, one must understand what cancer is and th e current treatments used. Cancer starts when a cell ceases to function properly, mutates and begins to multiply rapidly. A cancer cell has an abnormal chromosome which sends ' the wrong ' message to the other parts of the cell, which causes the cell to grow rapidly as it multiplies. These multiplied cells form a lump called a malignant tumor which is the cancer. [Cancer] knows no boundaries and plays no favorites; it can be found among people of all races and ages, both rich and poor, black and white, male or female (Fine 9). Cancer is a very serious disease many people live with. On average about 1.2 million people are diagnosed with [cancer] every year (Noonan A3). Cancer is not a contagious disease; it can not be passed form one person to another. Like the statistic from above, imagine the fact that cancer kills more than 500,000 Americans every year -approximately one person per minute (Noonan A3). Many people each year are killed by cancer, yet there are more who continue to l ive with this disease. There are many different kinds of treatments to ease the pain and sometimes even kill the cancer. The most accepted form of treatment is through traditional medicine. This includes radiation ,chemotherapy, surgery and also improving ones lifestyle to prevent future episodes of cancer. Radiation is a method that uses high-energy x-rays, electron beams or radioactive isotopes to kill cancer cells without exceeding safe doses to normal tissue ( Dollinger 48). There are two different types of radiation therapy, externally and internally. When giving externally the medical profession uses Orthovoltage equipment that treats external types of cancer like skin cancer. Internally giving radiation involves one of the following treatments, Internal (Systemic ) Radiation therapy, Interstitial Radiation Therapy, Intracavitary Radiation and Intrauminal Radiation therapy. Radiation can be giving Like chemotherapy radiation therapy has similar side effects like nausea, vomiti ng, a burn some what like a suntan that tans then peels and ulcer may develop as well. Chemotherapy can cure some types of cancer. This form of therapy is given in many different ways. It can be taken orally with a capsule, pill or in liquid form. Other ways it can be taken is through a syringe into a vein, artery or the muscle. The most commonly known form of chemotherapy is given intravenously through IV drip devices. Chemotherapy is a very risky method to heal for the drugs used are so dangerous that if an unprofessional or unqualified doctor mixed the wrong dosage it would be fatal. This therapy does have some side effects. When taking chemo treatment there is a possibility of nausea, vomiting, hair loss, sore mouth, diarrhea and/or depressed blood counts (Dollinger 480). Another form of treatment is surgery, to remove the cancer. This involves removing cancerous or possibly cancerous cells known as tumors. Other times surgery is the only option after using chemotherapy and/or r adiation treatment. Changing ones' lifestyle maybe necessary for both pre and post cancer. According to the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research is there has been developed a new dietary recommendations list to improve ones' chances for avoiding cancer in the future. To name a few;

Writing Flash Fiction

Writing Flash Fiction Flash fiction is to short story writing much as haiku is to poetry. It’s an even more condensed form of an already condensed storytelling method, requiring the author to choose words carefully to ensure each syllable makes a meaningful contribution to the whole. Flash fiction is also experiencing a surge in popularity as magazines and collections spring up dedicated to this form. Maybe it’s because readers’ attention spans are shorter, but flash fiction seems to have never been more popular. Locally, we even have a theater group that performs flash fiction on stage. What Is Flash Fiction? Flash fiction is a very short short story. Guidelines generally place any story under a thousand words into the flash category, though some prefer even shorter pieces. Six-word stories or 140-character Twitter shorts are other subgroups. How to Write Flash Fiction When I write a piece this short, I often think in terms of a â€Å"punch line.† Not necessarily a funny ending like the punchline of a joke, but a tight conclusion that either neatly ties everything up or creates a reversal so the reader realizes something is not what he initially thought it to be. The more surprising the ending, the better. Ideally, I’ll have this punch line set in my head before I sit down to write the story. That way everything I write can lead up to that moment, creating exactly the experience I want for my reader. In this way, flash fiction is very much like any other type of fiction writing. You find an idea, develop that idea, then hone it until every word contributes something to the story, giving it the most power the story can carry. Lengths of Flash Fiction Stories Most flash fiction markets state a thousand words or less. Others go a bit higher or want shorter pieces. Since the definition of the form varies so widely, keep a close eye on your submission guidelines. There’s no point sending a thousand-word story to a collection of 140-character Twitter tales, after all. Markets for Flash Fiction Markets for flash fiction can be disappointingly low-paying, and unfortunately a good number of the markets don’t pay at all. But there are markets that offer decent pay. They’re usually flat rates, so I make sure to work out the per-word rate before deciding to submit. After all, $5 for a short-short can seem fair, but when you do the math, it’s only a penny a word for a 500-word story. So do your due diligence before submitting. Some good markets for flash fiction include: Vestal Review: http://vestalreview.net/About.html. Publishes only flash fiction. Pays 3-10 cents/word. All genres except children’s stories and hard SF. Nanoism: http://nanoism.net/submit/. This is a Twitter market. Stories cannot exceed 140 characters, or the maximum length of one tweet. Pay is $1.50 per storythat’s a bit over a penny per character or roughly $.05/word. Prefers literary fiction and also accepts serial stories. Previously published tweets will be considered, but pay at $1/story. Electric Spec: electricspec.com/submissions/submitting-fiction/ Speculative fiction. Not an exclusively flash fiction market, but will accept stories as short as 250 words. Pay is $20 per story, so the shorter the better as far as your per-word rate. Note issue-specific deadlines. A For more flash fiction markets as well as additional information on the form, how to write it, and examples: flash-fiction-world.com/writers-market.html or everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/flash-markets-2/

Class Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Class Discussion Questions - Essay Example #2 It is hard to argue with the fact that the government imposing a tariff would result in a greater amount of revenue going into the government. But in terms of producers and thinking of whether they gain or lose from a tariff, it is a more complicated question. On the one hand, producers in a domestic sense would be protected by the tariff, and thus gain stability within an internal domestic market. However, there would be negative repercussions for competition on a global market, and this is an increasingly global world of free trade opportunity and speed. Overall, producers have more to gain than to lose from limited tariffs, because ultimately, the producers are not going to have as much competition. #3 Chad mentioned that tariffs could hurt the US economy, and I agree. I also agree that in history, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, an excessive form of licensed protectionism for the US market, actually did the opposite of what it was supposed to do, which was end the crisis of the Great Depression. These factors point towards the phenomenon of bubble and crash, and particularly the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. â€Å"The concept of buying now and paying later was quickly adopted and by 1929, 60% of all cars and 80% of all radios were bought on installment credit. By 1929, 80% of Americans had no savings at all. Between 1925 and 1929 the total amount of outstanding installment credit increased from $1.38 billion to over $3 billion† (Shepherd, 2003). However, it is fairly safe to say that people have learned from the mistakes of this time period. Learning from this disaster means that banks are fairly safe places for our money, as they are highly reg ulated, but they are not completely fail-safe or fool-proof. It may be better and safer to have a savings account collecting interest than to have the money under the mattress generally, but during specific

Critically examine the added value the HR dept has made to improved Essay

Critically examine the added value the HR dept has made to improved company performance - Essay Example Having segregated itself from the Sears group in, 1998, the Selfridges group started out with an investment of 100 million pounds. This was diverted towards the opening of its second store in Trafford Park. This mall houses 280 stores and enjoys a wide clientele from various parts of Europe and the rest of the world. (Hutchison et al, 2003) The human resource role and organisational turnaround have been discussed in this paper from the point of view of the premise of competitive advantage as follows: The world of commerce in this era is one where there is an amalgamation of a global market place as well as the theories of competitive advantage with the strong backing of innovation. (Green, 2002) Any marketer or producer in this modern market place needs to adhere to these practices and theories in order to gain any measure of success, whether small or big. In this regard, the role of the HR element in Selfridges plays on its overall brand equity and effective goal achievement program. (Park, 1994) Before delving any deeper into the paper, let us fist consider the elements of the modern world of commerce. The world has shrunk to accommodate the limitations of the geographical demarcations and expanded to transgress the same by reaching out to people from all corners of the world. (Tirole, 1990) This has triggered a phenomenon called the global village concept, which is basically depend on the information technology, communication and a unified mode of business and commerce. Thriving in this global scheme of things indicates an affiliation with keeping abreast of what is going on in every corner of the world and adapting oneself to make profits accordingly. (Hutchison et al, 2003) This is owing to the fact that a manufacturer can now see his name in the most unexpected of places and in order to get there, he needs to be able to keep with the latest and improvise on the same to create

Project Planning Flow Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project Planning Flow - Assignment Example The primary key to the success of a project lies in the thorough technical understanding of its main characteristics and goals as this will eventually facilitate the production of the project report and the meeting of the schedule(Lewis 45). The most important key to successful and effective project management is through planning. A logically constructed and orderly plan is essential to direct any type of project and to help in preparing a report from conception through completion. The key to good planning is in its turn founded on clearly defined project objectives. Project planning can begin with the identification of the client's needs, the development of a budget and work schedule that fit these needs, and the planning for resources, including staff and materials. Project Planning Flow A project manager's planning process begins with the full comprehension of the assumptions. The understanding of the assumptions is important given how the expectations for the final results of the project are based on the initial suppositions made. Furthermore, changing assumptions throughout the project can bring about lack of satisfaction about the final results among the senior management; a scenario that is rather frequent in the project management field. Therefore, and despite the fact that project length remains a critical factor in the eventual extent of satisfaction exhibited with regard to the final results, assumptions should be documented at project initiation and throughout using the project charter as a possible means. The project manager should from then on continue to challenge and revalidate the assumptions to ensure that the project is either redirected towards a different set of objectives or simply terminated fully in the event of changing assumptions. Among the assumptions that need to be considered are related to both enterprise environmental factors as well as organizational process assets. Assumptions related to the external environment, and which can affect any given project and should be therefore taken well into account, include for instance interest rates, changing customer demands and requirements, technology changes, market conditions, and even government policies. The assumptions about present or future company aspects which can impact the progress of a project include on the other hand the capability of a company's enterprise project management methodology, checklists, guidelines, forms, templates, and the project management information system. Other keys to effective project planning include the right sampling of the most effective people for the job. In fact, this is in many ways one of the most important first steps in building a human resource plan for one's organization or project. As a project manager you need therefore to determine the desired background of your team by setting up certain standards and requirements. This can include for example a specific amount of experience, knowledge and skills, the availability of the team and the ability of the assembled members to work well within a team environment. These set of standards will generally help in minimizing the number of possible candidates and the selection of the appropriate ones. Additionally, among the important considerations in building a project team is to establish the

Royal Mail Group: Human Resource Structure

Royal Mail Group: Human Resource Structure The Royal Mail group belongs to the UK government. It is a public limited company which has seen lot of success in past years. The degree of success was clearly reflected in the account of its annual turnover.Inspite of its success in the past, Royal Mail group have also witnessed higher degree of competition through its years. As it is not the time when King Henry (eight) established Royal Mail back in 1860s, it was very much necessary for the company to grow with the new advancement and sophisticated technology. The strategy they made and implemented was restructured according to the new level of demand and necessity of their customers. It was in 2006 the company first introduced the online postage system in which the customers can pay online. The stiff competition from the competitors sided by the change in status of the monopoly which the company have enjoyed before 2006 weakened the strength of the company. Modernisation was a major necessity to defend the pressure of competitio n from the competitors but company was not able to procure much fund for restructuring. Company have seen deficits in pension funds too. In 2003, a part of the Royal Mail group was privatised. In 2006, about 14 private operators were allowed to participate in the working of the company. HUMAN RESOURCE STRUCTURE An organisation should hold the unique strength of efficient recruiting which steps it out to a new level of development. It should involve group co ordination sided by developing leading power and talent. Innovative ideas should be given room for development and should create an environment to develop that culture. As this sort of organisation requires lot of effort from their staffs to stick on to their strict time lines, HR management should be the top priority management agenda. A company with good reputation helps it to attract the cream of the labour market. Identification of the core requirements by the Royal Mail enabled them to frame a new set of HR strategies from 2005, HR management in Royal Mail is mainly divided into 3 functional areas. It worked with People and Organisational Development Services. The organisation mainly focused on developing the prior HRM skills such as leadership quality, diversity and developing the organising talent. Business partners were the HR managers and they were assigned to different business locations. Combining with the strength of HR strategy, Royal Mail believed that they can reap the benefits of identification of the areas where the improvements should be made. Current state of the organisation can be closely studied with evidence based HR management approach. Employee assessments have been made and their performance was made into account. The findings were as follows which turned to be the organisations HR strategy; HR functions should include some hard skills relating to finance. It is essentially a quantitative aspect of human resource management.HR manager should be successful in knowing the operations which is being done in an organisation. This focuses mainly on calculative aspects.HR manager should prove his credibility in business development too. He should have the ability to manage the employees in a rational manner. Basic HR function should posses some soft skills which is essentially a qualitative aspect of human resource management. It is mainly confined with employee feedbacks, assessing works and reporting their performance. Good leadership is an essential characteristic of soft skill. Good communication with the workers boosts the relationship of manager to the workers to a great extent. Soft skills help to achieve higher work motivation and commitment. Congruence or a state of agreement should be present in the organisation as the workers in the Royal Mail should be fully content with their positions. MODE OF RECRUITMENT The criteria used by Royal Mail organisation for selecting a suitable candidate are as follows; Through advertisements job vacancies are communicated. Each job has a reference number. In Royal Mail website, using this reference C.V can be uploaded. If the reference number is unknown then candidate can search through and find out the suitable post to apply. If there is no job available at a certain point of time, provision for dropping of email id is given as when such vacancies are open, candidates are communicated through mail. It is cheap, focussed and quick mode of selection. By this method applications are selected, screened and interview is conducted by HR managers for recruitment. Human resource strategies developed by Royal Mail organisation was subtle. Professional development is given more importance with the effective use of business tools and technical skills. Hence training of the employees is done and performance is monitored. Performance appraisal is regarded as one of the top agenda of HR management. Training is structured in such a way that it includes class room training, seminars, teaching and the specialised coaching of encouraging the employees to understand their potential and hence upgrade their skills. They have given many supports and services like performance related pay bonuses and pension scheme. They have failed in the implementation of strategies due to the following reasons; Pressure from the trade unions. Deficits in pension fund. Bad communication. lack of fund to pay salaries. Inefficiency in managing work force. Redtapism EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RELATED ORGANISATIONAL FUNCTION To improve the commitment and psychological satisfaction of the work group, monetary considerations were channelized in such a way that it improved the motivation and role perception. Employees are given opportunity to pursue academic study which is seemed to be helpful for their position. They are paid in their study leave too. Financial support is given for the study. Independent support is provided by the organisation for health of employees in relation to the job, traumas, debt etc. Employee consideration was taken into account while framing the HR strategy. As one of the topmost organisation in UK, employees got discounts and offers in a wide range of products and services. The Royal Mail is located in easy location which helps the employees to come to work very easily.While working, some roles are paid shift allowances and mostly in flexible hours. Pension plan was developed and employees were made to contribute. Based on contribution, employee pension was paid by the organisation. After joining the Royal Mail, an employee is entitled to 4.5 weeks paid holidays per year and 8 bank holidays for the first five years.Option for purchasing extra holiday is given to employee to raise the entitlement upto 6 week maximum. By framing this sort of relaxation avenues, employees are likely to be more productive in work life devoid of stress. Flexible timing is developed by the organisation in which the employee can choose the timings as it allows them to adapt the time to meet their family needs too. The remuneration for the employees was not a standard one as per employee reviews as there was protest from the part of union regarding pay, modernisation and conditions in the organisation. Apart from the HRM core issues, secondary issues like health and safety, employee welfare etc should be taken into consideration while framing the HR strategies of the organisation. For gaining good competitive advantage, the satisfaction of employees should be reaped and this should be attached to the corporate plans while framing a HR strategy. Royal Mail was not very successful in reaping these benefits due to inefficient strategy formulation and lack of finance. For example: deficits in pension fund made the existing employees very much concerned about their future in the company. Belief in the organisation tends to decline which resulted in lack of motivation and commitment to work. Employee relation based on expectation and understanding failed. CHANGES IN HR PLANNING Human resource is the vital component of an organisation. The approach taken for the implementation of HRM should be adapted according to the business environment rather than a traditional defensive mode taken by the Royal Mail organisation as before. According to the economic view of implementation of human resources, Labour input cannot be measured purely in terms of workers employed in a particular job. It is not at all necessary that the labour input is directly proportional to the quantity produced in a production scenario as there is law of diminishing returns. To acquire the full efficiency of human resources in the organisation, there was some HR planning put into effect in 2005.The organisation was very successful in reducing the money spend on human resources by fifty seven million pounds in just 2 years. It was framed as a part of business transformation which included reducing absence rates, slashing head counts in HR etc.There was a significant improvement in HR to employee ratio from 1:75 to 1:130. HR planning was fruitfully implemented in the area of education sided with training and improvement in sickness absence. A three point plan was framed to prevent inefficiencies and introducing HR business partners into each area. The job description development and person specification is found to be the unavoidable part of HR planning. The repetition of tasks were monitored and prevented. A central shared service was created which brought all the experts towards the head office human resource team to point on strategies. The HR structure was restructured with business partnership and management change. In 2008, the Royal Mail organisation has become the toughest arm by employing 200000 plus workers. RIVALS AND COMPETITION Royal Mail was facing competition for many years. Counting from DHL , TNT the Royal Mail organisation has got a long list of rivals. Common complaints about the Royal Mail organisation were the unsatisfaction with the delays of the couriers, very short working hours, low level of customer service and unplanned delivery without a proper tracking system. The competitors in the field utilised these drawbacks and worked on it to made it as their main advantage. They concentrated in building up a business structure which was mainly build upon the basement of customer satisfaction and identification of their need. The work force in the company was trained and developed in such a way that the blend of HR ideas reflected in their working. Group coordination and subtle implementation of business strategy made them more powerful in capturing the market share more easily. Many of large organisations were looking for a better service provider so that their package are delivered in a better and s afe way. This became a concern to Royal Mail. For example, TNT managed to get high profile esteemed customers like Centrica and BT within a short span of just 6 years.It is continuously investing more funds in the sorting and processing technology. The Royal Mail have introduced the online stamp systems as a part of modernisation but the studies on customer reviews made it clear that the idea was subtle but the steps or the procedures involved in the purchase process is horrible. Improper implementation of ideas also counts very bad in the world of business. As now TNT handles more than 270 million items in a month and it is looking for more efficiency by building up a centralised distribution hub. As in the case of Royal Mail, a well established organisation which have a good history is still working on to improve its efficiency in all aspects of its working. Developing a competitive work force was the only solution for Royal Mail to raise from the edge of disaster. New HR strategies were framed and the focus fall upon the workforce. The need of transformation was identified and HR was a priority for them. Recruiting was done to get the competitive work force and training was given to them to make them adapatable to the changing environment. Expert team was employed to know the weaknesses. The main weakness which was figured out was the lack of customer focus and the dissatisfaction of them derived as a result. WITHSTANDING RIVAL COMPETITIONS The quality of work and the scaleability of costs were discussed among the executive committee. The pressure of competition was well known by the Royal Mail groups. To better their current position the trade off between the quality and efficiency were pointed out in the organisation and greater care was invested to perform the task specifically by taking into consideration the scopes and the risk involved in the business. It was leadership which was given importance to asses and develop operational managers. As a reform to introduce more technical tools, a computer based operational organisation simulation was set up.It identified the needs for development and the steps needed for improving the existing plan or replace the current plan with some other advanced plan. Next step was the design of leadership workshops which involved mainly scoping the identification of the current market situation and industrial relation for this time.Changes in the business plan of Royal Mail sided by the change in the management approaches and their practical implication was pointed out. These steps which were taken provided the foundation of the approaches they have taken later. Knowledge about the business and its new scope has to communicated with the managers. Inspite of great competition and regulation, the need for the managers to become more creative and make them ready to face the challenges was necessary. The operation manager played an important role in the management structure. They are actual backbone of performance. For stimulating high performance in the organisation, more concern was given to capability of the managers. Further concern was focussed on whether they are able to work with the surroundings if they are good in doing their job in high standard. So the need of making the workers more supportive with group coordination was also given attention. New performance standard was set up through lot of research and assessment. The prority was given to regain the operational control.they were investing their time to get the best output. Assessment is often a tough task in a management structure. There are various tools and methods to find it out. However, the Royal Mail was very much careful in the process as it wanted to be fit for the purpose and should involve realistic time demand both for the people involving in assessment and the people who asseses. The final step was to develop a selection process to fetch new managers as per vacancies. The key qualities was identified and developed. Performance appraisal was well designed to assess the performance level too. Some sort of changes in approach taken by organisation were as follows, Protection of the universal service   The need of the customers was taken into consideration and covered issues which ranged from the services provided to customers, its affordability to them the quality of service through efficient use of human resources. Market analysis investigation of existence of any failure in operation of organisation. Regulatory safeguards Giving more concern to the necessary protections for the people and the other companies in the same field. OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE Royal Mail made a performance improvement programme which was sponsored by its management and union. Root cause for the operational failure was closely analysed and studied. Based on the studies new methods and approach which has to be used in the three years programme to put in track the new action plans jointly by the Royal Mail group and the union to contribute to greater performance in the working. Training the internal project teams in the working process was made to build up models for efficient working. Strategic HR solutions was developed in the organisational development, learning and managing talent, development which gives light to business plans. Front line managers, staffs and union members were involved in the business meetings. This contributed to make the employees feel like they are the vital part of organisation which in turn boosted their commitment to the organisation and greater motivation level in working with the group. A new corporate strategy function was created and implemented. This mainly involved: coaching of directors. Planning and integration in the strategic programmes conducting capability testing on a pilot basis in divisions of management. Creating more realistic and practical approach to alter the working in various division. EFFECT OF RECESSION Royal Mail had seen a dramatic down trading in its business in the country. Customers began to abandon the first class post as it was not affordable in recession. Even the Royal Mail organisation had admitted the truth. The recession trends shown the volume of customers sending letters began to shrink at a steady rate or switching on from first class services to second class postal services. The situation had become even worse as the customers were switching on to emails and internet based social networking sites. In addition to the chaos created by the strikes, the recession made the organisations position even worse. However a combination of modernisation which accounted in cost reduction and slight price changes sided by good product mix helped the company to increase its profit. As the company was undergoing a very tight financial position, it was not possible to increase the wages. The reward system existed at the time was unlikely to change. In 2008, the mail market in United Kingdom fell by eight percent. Royal Mail was intending to cut up 16, 000 jobs as a part of huge cost cutting plan. Quality of service of the organisation would be hampered by such a plan. WITHSTANDING RECESSIONS EFFECT Royal Mail organisation planned to raise the price of the first class and second class stamps. Another important decision was to cut down the middlemens commission. These decisions were prone to pressure from four walls which made the condition of organisation even worse. The recession had given opportunities for organisational development in the company. The professional development was made possible. Flexibility and the knowledge of the employees was boosted. Training was given to employees at the time of recession so that they got time for skill updating. Many new developed sorting machines were introduced by which more than eighty percent of the mail were sorted automatically. Modernisation was given priority which resulted in installation of intelligent letter sorting machines. New technology was introduced to sort more A-4 sized mail which also included magazines and some catalogues. Hand held scanners were introduced which recorded the confirmation of delivery within a short span of time. Reading of bar codes of special delivery was made possible with these scanners. As a part of nurturing development Heathrow world wide distribution centre was set up which involved high technology facility for the mailing services. The importing and exporting of the mail was done systematically removing the unsatisfaction of the customers which existed before. Flexible working hours was designed so that the workers get greater commitment to work as they get time for their family too. This enhanced their motivation level. SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT is the method used to evaluate the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat an organisation possess. SWOT analysis of Royal Mail carves out the following attributes; Strength Monopoly it has enjoyed for 350 years count its goodwill and brand name. Good location of organisation, good benefits package that is being provided to the employees. Weakness    Inefficient senior management, too much politics, bad communication, bad delivery, delay in delivery due to inefficiency, lack of control. Opportunity Lack of opportunity of business development in post mail market. The number of people depending on mail services decline at a faster rate. Threat High competition from strong competitors like TNT, DHL etc. Modernisation remained as a question mark as there were deficits in fund for paying salary and pensions. The financial position of the Royal Mail has become more worse in the time span of 2005 to 2010.It was in 2008, one of the high profile human resource director, Kevin Green walked away from the Royal Mail organisation. Previously it was Tony McCarthy. Lack of healthy interaction with the trade unions resulted in poor industrial relation. Every employee seeks to improve their returns from the organisation and when such promotional aspects are absent in an organisation it is more likely that the employee move from one organisation to another. This might be the thing what happened in Greens case. Privitisation of the Royal Mail has become a necessity as the mail volumes were falling at a faster pace, low investment, low efficiency and there was huge deficits in the pension fund too. In march 2009 the defecits in the pension had been figured around 10 billion pounds. At the time organisation had about 176000 employees. The sorting and delivery process were decided to be handled by a new independent firm.It was obvious that outside investors maintained majority of share and the rest was given as a share to Royal Mail staff. This was a good practical application of HR strategy as it helped the employees to work more efficiently as they have to work for their own company. CWU trade unions opposed the privatisation decision as they feared that the plan would devastate the services given by Royal Mail. The trade union was even more concerned about privatisation as there were possibility of job losses for staffs and more pricing for the customers. Still chaos continuous in the Organisation.

Comparing Jane Eyre and Yellow Wallpaper -- Comparison Compare Contras

Similarities Between Jane Eyre and Yellow Wallpaper   Ã‚   There are notable similarities between Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. These similarities include the treatment of space, the use of a gothic tone with elements of realism, a sense of male superiority, and the mental instability of women. There is a similar treatment of space in the two works, with the larger, upstairs rooms at the summer lodging and at Thornfield Hall being associated with insanity and the smaller rooms below being safer and saner. Gilman's narrator expresses an early desire to move downstairs to a smaller, saner room, but her wish is ignored. Large rooms become haunted rooms in both stories as typified by the room with the yellow wallpaper, the Red Room, and the third floor room beyond which Bertha is confined. Both works contain gothic elements, but there is a conscious effort on the part of both narrators to dispel the gothic tone with elements of realism. Gilman's narrator begins to describe her eerie summer lodgings, but notes "there was some legal trouble with the heirs and co-heirs... That spoils my ghostliness, I am afraid" (11). Jane likewise is both affected by and resists the supernatural. For instance, she notes along with Grace Poole's fantastic laughter, her affinity for beer. However, the most notable similarity between the two works is the presence in each house of a "madwoman in the attic" (to borrow from Gilbert and Gubar). In the case of Gilman's narrator (unnamed, but with one ambiguous reference that it may be Jane) and Bertha, madness id the result of traditional Victorian marriages, from which both transgress. Clearly implied in Gilman's text and interpretable in Bronte's ... ...e Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. New York: Feminist Press, 1973. Golden, Catherine, ed. The Captive Imagination: A Casebook on "The Yellow Wallpaper." New York: Feminist Press, 1992. ------. "The Writing of 'The Yellow Wallpaper': A Double Palimpsest." Studies in American Fiction. 17 (1989): 193-201. Haney-Peritz, Janice. "Monumental Feminism and Literature's Ancestral House: Another Look at 'The Yellow Wallpaper'" Women's Studies. 12 (1986): 113-128. Kasmer, Lisa. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper': A Symptomatic Reading." Literature and Psychology. 36, (1990): 1-15. Lodge, Scott. "Fire and Eyre: Charlotte Bronte's War of Earthly Elements." The Brontes: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Ian Gregor. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1970. 110-36. Maynard, John. Charlotte Bronte and Sexuality. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1984.

Investigation into aqueous electrolytic cells Essay

Introduction: For this experiment, we are to test an aqueous solution, choosing from the four selections given: sodium chloride, copper sulfate, copper chloride and hydrogen sulfuric acid. The purpose of this investigation is to investigate one factor that affects the output of an aqueous electrolytic cell. We were given a double lesson to plan the experiment and another for us to collect data. I decided that the electrolytic cell I will study is copper chloride by measuring the mass of the carbon stick, the electrode. We are also given a supply of power units to help us investigate into aqueous electrolytic cells. Aim: My aim for this experiment is to investigate whether the amount of voltage in a circuit can affect the amount of solid discharged. Hypothesis (including reason): If the voltage increases, the amount of solid discharged from the electrode will increase as well. I predict that the solid discharged from the electrode will increase as the voltage increase in the circuit because as the voltage goes higher, the more energy will be produced and the faster the solid will be discharged from the electrode. And hence, the mass of the electrode will gradually become heavier as the voltage increases. Variables: Independent variable: voltage For the independent variable, it is the voltage, because I have to change it as we finish the experiment every time, meaning the input of the experiment. It is also a manipulated variable, which is a factor or condition that changes intentionally manipulated by the investigator to observe the effect. Since we want a big difference of mass change, we decided to go from 2amps to 12amps. Dependent variable: mass of electrode For the dependent variable, it is the mass of electrode, because this is what I will be measuring, meaning the output of this experiment. It is also the responding variable; the variable that may change result of the independent variable. Controlled variable: temperature, distance of carbon stick, length of carbon stick, type of cathode and anode metal, time of running led with constant current, volume or depth of emersion of electrodes. These are all the controlled variables, because they all need a certain amount or distance in order to keep the experiment constant each time I do it and to make it a fair test. Discussion & Conclusion: Referring to my graph, the line of best fit shows clearly a trend that the mass of the electrode increases as the voltage increase, therefore supporting my hypothesis, proving that the prediction was correct. As the voltage increased, the faster the solid was discharged from the electrode, causing the mass to increase gradually. However, during the process of collecting the data, there was a problem of unstable temperature. I had to redo the experiment again as the first attempt was not what I expect, the temperature went from 20.5Â ºCto43 Â ºC. Therefore, I changed the solution after every read of each different voltages in order to keep a more stable temperature and hold a fair test. I also noticed the copper chloride in the first attempt changed from turquoise color to dark green, I believe it is the carbon residue left in the solution. The second time, there was less because we changed to a new solution every reading. Excluding the errors made during the experiment, all in all base on the points stated above, it proves that my hypothesis is correct. Modifications to Original Plan: As mentioned in the discussion, due to the unexpected rapid increase of temperature as the voltage increase, I decided that the solution should be changed every reading to prevent an unfair test, producing unreliable results. Changing the solution after every reading will decrease the risk of unstable temperature and will carry out a fairer test, and the results are more accurate. Evaluation: My method was overall satisfactory as it carried out a successful experiment, proving my hypothesis right. But if I were to do this investigation again, I would decrease the voltage range as the range I did was too high; hence, producing chlorine gas which was toxic and it was too strong when the power unit reached 12amps. After this experience, I would be aware of the voltage, and next time I would only start from 1amps and end at 5amps. That way, there will be less risk of breathing in too much toxic chlorine gas and the experiment would be safer as well. This investigation can be extended to investigate on whether the aqueous solution would be affect by the length of the electrode.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Wurttemberg, Germany. He was the son of Hermann and Paulina Einstein. Einstein was one of the greatest scientists, as well as mathematicians that the world has ever seen. His most famous accomplishment was his theory of relativity, however he made many other valuable contributions. Einstein attended public school in Munich and in Aarau, Switzerland. He studied mathematics and physics at the Swiss Polytechnic institute in Zurich. In 1900, he graduated and from 1902 to 1909, he worked as an examiner at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. Einstein became a Swiss citizen in 1905. This year was a very busy one for Albert. He published three papers, which made him what we know of today. The first suggested that light could be thought of as a stream of tiny particles. This forms part of the quantum theory. Max Planck, a fellow German physicist, had proposed that the radiation of light occurred in packets of energy called quanta. Einstein used this information to state in his paper that light consisted of quanta. In a second paper, Einstein proposed the special theory of relativity. The paper was titled, The Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, and it demonstrated the relativity of time. Later in 1905, Einstein also published a study in which he showed the equivalence of mass and energy, which is the famous equation E mc2. Which is energy equals mass times the velocity of light squared. This was a foundation stone in the development of nuclear energy. The third paper of 1905 dealt with Brownian motion. This is an irregular motion of microscopic particles suspended in a liquid or gas. The paper confirmed the atomic theory of matter. These three papers showed the world the immense knowledge possessed by Einstein. In 1909, he became a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Zurich. From 1911 to 1912, he taught at the German U

The Grandmothers Tale Essay Example

The Grandmothers Tale Essay Example The Grandmothers Tale Essay The Grandmothers Tale Essay EXTENSION ENGLISH The Grandmothers Tale Speech Fairy Tales are short stories that have been passed through cultures and generations, usually adapting to fit the social restrictions and morals of the time. The Grandmothers Tale, which most of us would recognize as Charles Perrault’s adaptation, Little Red Riding Hood, has been passed through different cultures, countries and many variations of the text are prevalent in different societies around the world. The Grandmother’s Tale tells of how a young girl, who is nameless, ventures through the woods to visit her sick grandmother. On the way she meets a wolf, and because of her naivety, tells him where she is heading. The wolf beats her there, eats the grandmother and when the girl arrives, the wolf simulates the grandmother’s voice in order to eat the girl too. The girl how-ever escapes and the wolf ends up getting dropped in the river by laundresses and drowns. Because the hero of the story, the young girl is kept nameless throughout various variations of the text, she is then seen as a representative of all children who read the text, making her a role model for those children. By giving her an identity this would no longer apply, lessening the effect that fairy tales are designed to have on children. The text has undergone a number of transformations, both simple and complex, thus leading to a variety of versions. By analyzing the text and applying reading practices, approaches and other methods of deconstruction, namely those of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s cycle and Vladimir Propp’s deconstruction of folk tales, it is possible to create a complex transformation of the text. Vladimir Propp and Joseph Campbell both theorized the idea that in divulging into a fairytale text analytically, one can establish certain analyzable elements which are present in a majority of folk tales in unvarying order. Propp studies fairytales by examining their most basic plot components. He devised a list of 31 generic functions, proposing that they covered all of the plot components from which fairy tales were constructed. Joseph Campbell however, discovered one standard plot that has been repeated throughout mythology and fairytale genre. The invited reading of this text is not dissimilar to Bruno Betlelheim’s theory that â€Å"Children know that there are monsters – they need to know that they can be defeated. † The young girl is able to subvert the power relationship between herself and the wolf by using her wits to outsmart him, becoming the heroine of the story and saving herself rather than being passive and becoming a victim. The ideal reading is to not challenge the status quo, thus agreeing with the ideologies presented in the text. By doing so, the reader would be then deemed by Eco to be what he theorized as the ‘Model reader’. The Model reader responds, comprehends, embraces and respects dominant ideologies and discourses promoted in the text. Though the model reader is not born with that socio-cultural understanding, it is imbedded into varying aspects of their culture, like fairy tales, thus molding them into the â€Å"Model reader†. By using characters such as Ogres, witches and, in the case of the grandmother’s tale, a wolf, to portray evil, children are able to easily distinguish between the good and bad. One reason for this is because of the depiction of such characters in folk tales. Usually the good characters are represented as being beautiful, gold hearted beings while the evil are ugly animalistic creatures that are rarely human. The purpose of many fairy tales is to support the status quo. By repeating this practice fairy tales are able to convey the idea that society is portrayed how it should and that it should not be challenged or questioned. They are inherently conservative and portray the dominant ideologies of the time and the society of which they support. They are written by those in power in order to position us in favor of the already powerful. When analyzing The Grandmother’s Tale, it is necessary to have considered the cultural understandings of the time period of which it was written and to understand the discourses which shape that particular society. A discourse is not just a way of speaking or writing, but the whole ‘mental set’ and ideology which encloses the thinking of all members of a given society. That is why transformations of the text can occur. French Philosopher, Michel Foucault is post-modernist in his approach to defining power. He theorized that â€Å"Power works through language by presenting a certain type of knowledge as if it were reality or truth. The discourses of power which exist in society, are those promoted in fairytales. These are people who are wealthy, mainly those born into wealth, and the biologically powerful, men. In The Grandmother’s Tale, the power is, to my cultural understanding, decentralized, by subverting the power relationship to favor the young girl, though in the transformation, Little Red Riding Hood, the power is attributed to the patriarchal male. By referring to Joseph Campbell’s Hero cycle and Vladimir Propp’s analysis of folk tales, the characters can be categorized by the roles of which they play. The heroine of the story is the young girl; she would be labeled as the hero. This operates under a socially acceptable discourse, that of femininity and youth. She is portrayed as genuinely light hearted, a discursive trait that is generally attributed to the hero of the tale. The wolf is the villain of the tale, portraying evil, dishonesty and a cunning manipulative personality. In Norse mythology, Fenrir is a wolf that is bound by the gods, though destined to grow and kill Odin, only to be slain by Odin’s son . Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely human characteristics to nonhuman beings, inanimate objects, or natural or supernatural phenomena. This is something that is repeated in many fairy tales, though in most cases the object or animal is portrayed as something positive. Examples such as the little bird or the bull, existing in transformation of the Cinderella text are seen as the agents of transformation, helping the unrecognized hero, as labeled by Joseph Campbell, to break free of the restraints which hold the hero back from transformation. Readers readily embrace the negative connotations attributed with wolfs, not just because of representations in Norse mythology and other tales, legends and stories, but also because of the biological factors. The wolf is an ice age survivor, stalking its prey in packs. They hunt in packs and for many years have deprived farmers of their livestock, leading to starvation. By attributing human traits to the wolf, a creature that is feared in societies around the world and often portrayed as evil, the children reading, or listening to the text are subconsciously connecting those fearful manipulative traits seen in humans, with evil. This particular representation has supported society’s constraints and still exists and operates in societies of today. Though the wolf is portrayed negatively, it can still be seen as the agent of transformation. In the tale, the girl is naive and disorientated to start with, though with the second encounter of the wolf the girl realizes that he is negative, taking it upon her self to flee. The wolf or villain is then killed, leaving the reader with a sense of satisfaction, knowing that the good character of the story prevailed. The wolf is not human so the power discourse is shifted then by that fact and the fact that he is evil, putting the young girl in power, making it socially acceptable for the wolf to be slain. In some variations of the text the wolf is slain in a gruesome manner yet is still seen as acceptable. By introducing the Woodcutter into an adaptation of the text, Little Red Riding Hood, the power discourse is then, in my opinion, centralized, due to the society of which I live in. In the text, the dominant discourses operating are that of gender. A middle aged working man is now seen to be the hero of the story, subverting the power relationship away from the young girl. He rescues the two women from the wolf, portraying the women as passive and dependant. Both of these ideals are crucial in understanding both texts and without them the text would convey little meaning. This naturalizes the dominant discourses operating in the society of when the text was written. Post-Structuralism suggests that the reader will attribute their own attitudes, values and beliefs to a text whilst reading it. They make links based on the social context of which they exist and operate and expect or predict certain outcomes and events, such as good prevailing over evil, thus leading to a â€Å"happy ending† (do finger quote marks!!!!! ). A happy ending is normally constituted by the dominant discourse that represents the good, generally the heroes, prevailing, while the negativity of the story or the villain is conquered. In literary theory structuralism is a reading approach that observes narrative material, semiotic codes being just one aspect. Structuralism emerged fully in the 1950’s and 1960’s though it can be traced back to the works of Ferdinand de Saussure; a Swiss Linguist who was one of the key figures in the development of modern approaches to the study of language between 1857 and 1913. By analyzing The Grandmother’s Tale using the semiotic code, there are underlying actions, discourses and ideologies prevalent in the text, as well as symbolic meanings which lead the reader to gain inter-textual references and recognize the text as a variation of a text that they have read. Examples of this are such things as the introduction of the colour red that is used in Little Red Riding Hood, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s version Little Red Cap, an Austrian version called Little Red Hat and it is also seen in other variations of the story. Alfred DuPont Chandler, Jr. was a professor of business history at Harvard Business School, who wrote extensively about the scale and the management structures of modern corporations. He states â€Å"A sign is a meaningful unit which is interpreted as standing for something other than itself†. The tale and its variations follow the same basic structure and the discourses under which the characters operate tend to be similar in each of the texts. By analyzing the text and subverting discourses and changing actions and traits of the characters, a complex transformation of the text can be produced. This text is generally unrecognizable and readers are unable to connect it to the original text until methods of deconstruction are applied. An example of this is the movie Pretty Woman, a complex transformation of the Cinderella fairy tale. The discourses under which the characters operate have been subverted; therefore the viewer doesn’t recognize the text though they anticipate the actions and behavior of the characters as well as the ending because they are subconsciously making links to Cinderella and similar fairy tales without realization of this. To create a complex transformation of The Grandmother’s Tale, one must subvert ideologies and discourses so that they can be questioned and must stray from the archetypal characters. When deconstructing the transformed version of The Grandmother’s Tale it is obvious that the same basic line of events and structure is still used. It is the discursive shifts and altered semiotics that make the text unrecognizable. The ideal young girl of the story is that of a kind hearted innocent being. By representing her as a young prostitute who has little respect for men, she is no longer the epitome of all that is good and pure, formulating many negative ideologies so that the reader then has to question the text. This then allows a transformation of which challenges cultural expectations and social understandings and assumptions that are crucial to the base text. The inversion of the â€Å"wolf† is another aspect of the transformed text that makes it harder to link it to the original base text. Zoopomorphisation, opposed to anthropomorphism, is giving the human character animal features. I have then subverted those characteristics so that the character is completely different from what the reader expects. The wolf character in The Grandmother’s Tale represents evil, so it would be natural to have the human character whose physical attributes are wolf like to also be evil. There are examples of this in many fictional stories and movies with the use of the â€Å"werewolf† character. However, in the transformed version of The Grandmother’s Tale, Fenrir the male client of the subverted ideal girl who is a prostitute is inverted behaviorally by loving and trying to protect the prostitute. His intentions are pure and selfless, unlike those of the wolf in the base texts. Another discursive shift present in the transformed text is that of the grandmother figure from the base text. The Grandmother’s Tale and Little Red Riding Hood both consist of a sick grandmother, who is needy of basic necessities like milk and bread. The young girl in both of those tales then takes those necessities to the ill grandmother. By inverting the grandmothers gender and altering the age and discourse under which the character operates, an unrecognizable character is formed. When deconstructed, the pimp in the transformed text is actually the subverted grandmother from the base text. He too is ill, though in the text it states what illness he has, putting him in a position where he is relying on his prostitute to bring him money to live on. His behavior however is not kind, but manipulative and selfish, shifting away from the discursive traits of the original character. The pimp is represented as being physically attractive opposed to being physically animalistic and ugly, a trait which generally applies to the villains of the text. Take for example the step mother or step sisters in Cinderella. Those three characters are all represented as being selfish and ugly and are seen to be the villains. The prostitute respects him, something that a lot of us would find hard to comprehend due to the society of which we operate and the ideologies which enclose our thinking. In the original text, the hero’s helpers are the laundresses. By inverting their gender and altering the motive behind killing the wolf character, they are no longer perceived as the hero’s helpers. Though this shift has occurred, the same line of events and the same outcomes are achieved. The reason for these discursive shifts is to subvert the dominant patterns seen in The Grandmother’s Tale and its variations, thus positioning the reader to question ideologies and discourses used in the transformed text. The semiotics in the transformed text are those seen in the original text, though slightly altered. The colour red that has been introduced to variations of The Grandmother’s Tale is used throughout the transformed version, though in different ways conveying different ideologies and meanings. The tattoo on the young prostitute’s leg is an important symbol, ttributing several different meanings to the text. There is extensive symbolism endorsed with the colour red, some positive and some negative. Red is evidently the first colour perceived by man, and a common belief is that the colour red held protective powers against evil influence. Some negative connotations of the colour can be dated back to Israelites in biblical times who painted their do orframes in red blood to scare demons. In ancient Egypt red was the colour of the desert and that of the destructive god Seth. Red is the most vivid symbol in the text, though it was not originally used in The Grandmother’s Tale and was thought to be introduced by Perrault. Psychoanalytic critics have divulged into analyzing the meaning of the colour as it traditionally symbolizes things that would not normally be attributed with a small child. Sin and blood to passion and sexuality, there are many sexual undertones attributed with the colour red. Though the colour is suggestive of sexual connotations, it was most likely introduced by Perrault to try and provoke the idea of caution, another meaning often associated with the colour red. It is obvious that the semiotics present in a text will change over time due to extensive perceptions of signs and symbols that are attributed with certain cultural beliefs. The reason I chose to use a Chinese dragon as the symbol of her tattoo is because of the dominant religions prevalent in my cultural context. By using a red dragon, I am able to subvert the Judeo Christian ideologies and discourses surrounding innocence and the belief in one god. The dominant meaning derived from the tattoo and its colour is that it is very provocative and sexually suggestive, emphasized a lot by the fact that it is on her upper thigh. When analyzed and applied to Chinese mythology, it suggests a lot of other connotations, differing greatly to the negative connotations assumed surrounding Judeo Christian ideologies. The Chinese dragon is one of the most important mythical creatures in Chinese mythology. The Chinese dragon is considered to be the most powerful and divine creature and is believed to be the controller of all waters. The dragon symbolised great power and was very supportive of heroes and gods. This subverts religious beliefs present in the text as there has been extensive interaction between chinese mythology and religion. The chinese dragon is also ultimately symbolic of good fortune. This transformation oversteps boundries layed down by society, and does not make sense within the traditional fairy tale genre. I have chosen to subvert various discourses in order to display this, though I kept the same basic structure throughout the whole text. The original consists of a young girl getting followed by a wolf, who is going to get taken away from her grandmother, though because of this the wolf gets killed. The transformed text is ultimately the same, though due to the amount of discursive shifts this is unrecognizalbe at first. Through reproductions of the text, the most common dominant discourses present are that of gender, clearly reflecting the way society has been and still is being constructed to accept the patriachal hierachy of male dominance. It is evident that fairy tales have underlying intentions of societal constraint and socially acceptable conformity, thus the repiticouse productions of fairy tales seem to have the same underlying message, of which is society is portrayed how it should and that it should not be challenged or questioned. Thank-you

Technology and Nursing Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Technology and Nursing Practice - Essay Example ern definitions of nursing define it as a science and an art that focuses on promoting quality of life as defined by persons and families, throughout their life experiences from birth to care at the end of life (Wikipedia, 2006). As technology is playing a major role in all emerging fields, nursing is also growing in terms of technology. It is quite evident that the use of computer and information technologies in the health care increase at a faster rate and this is in turn going to improve the nursing practice and patient education. These technologies have also entered the teaching practices of Nursing. Modern teaching approaches with new technology-based teaching and learning assignments will increase student attainment, including retention, motivation, and class participation; improve learning and significant thinking, provide instructional reliability, and augment clinical education. Moreover, it will create nursing curricula which links people and information resources into a web of learners’ community, communication, and group association as the nursing student engages in their journey from a student to a trainee practitioner. One of the primary role of the nurse as a health care provider has be en one of patient educator. Hence nurse professionals and nurse educators require to look at how the nursing profession can use the potential of the Internet to revamp patient education and transform nursing practice. One of the technologies used is the Knowledge Management System (KMS). Knowledge management is the unambiguous and systematic organization of fundamental knowledge and its related processes. It necessitates turning personal knowledge into knowledge for learners-at-large through the organization of information across guidelines. Generally, managing knowledge focuses on two basic intentions: enabling knowledge distribution and using knowledge to generate society. Specific knowledge management activities that have been employed within the business model

Business Strategy - IKEA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business Strategy - IKEA - Essay Example As such, we as individuals and the organizations that utilize our services need to show collective responsibility towards each and every aspect of our society. One of the best ways this can be achieved is by continuing to use resources and developing better processes for managing our businesses, albeit in an efficient manner without causing any harmful impact on the environment and by foreseeing how best we can preserve our economy and nature for our future generations. IKEA is one such organization that has been demonstrating corporate social responsibility over a long period. The company is popular worldwide for selling low-cost furniture across outlets around the globe. The range of products produced by IKEA span every possible thing that can be used in a home from kitchens and draw rooms to bathrooms and bedrooms. IKEA today has sales in over 36 countries and looks all set to expand into 6 other countries in the near future (Gerald S. Albaum, Edwin Duerr, Jesper Strandskov, 2005). The present case study is an attempt at studying the success behind IKEA and studying the reason behind what has enabled it to become the largest furniture company in the world. The study is deemed important as IKEA has come to dominate the furniture world within a short span of 60 years and the turnover of the company simply suggests the existence of a very strong business model and supporting processes that aid in generating high revenue. The study will concentrate on evaluating the different aspects of IKEA’s operations and performance figures against a set of six models that will attempt to answer a variety of questions. The current strategic position will be ascertained by using the Porters generic strategies and the Bowman’s clock models.