...Willa Cather depicts in O Pioneers the life of a family who starts off poor, living on a farm. The daughter, Alexandra took over the farm when her father died and they told her that she should not, and just to let it go. But she wanted them to trust her, and they ended up having a huge farm with a big house. Although Cather does a great job making all the characters fit, Marie draws my attention because she is passionate, friendly, and vivacious. Marie is characterized to be a passionate young girl. She was forced into marriage with Frank Shabata, and an unhappy marriage is all she has to show for it. She is constantly craving a passionate, physical love that she knows is unattainable in her current situation. This want, or need rather, is what lead her into the arms of Emil. Although, she may feel guilty for wanting another man, she realizes that her own happiness is more important than what others may believe. She longs for Emil’s passion but persists in the self-torture of being with her husband. So why does Marie continue to torture herself? Marie believes that it is her own fault for taking the vows to live an entirety in an unfulfilling, passionless marriage. Not only is Marie a passion seeking individual, she is also depicted in the film as being a friendly human-being. An example of her friendly effervescence is the insistent cheer that made her an easy friend for her neighbor, Alexandra. Marie was constantly there to help Alexandra with the many troubles she had...
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...it is discussed in detail about the relationship between the early management innovators ideas and theories towards the modern management thinking. In the early days the concept of management was followed in different ways but when we compare it to the existing modern management ideas and practices it can be seen that they been created a long back by the early management pioneers. Early management pioneers have a lot of contribution to the current management ideas and practice followed in any kind of organisation. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coultor, 2006, pp-6-20) Construction of pyramids and the existence of the major economic trade centre in the 1400’s in the city of Venice are good examples of early management prevalence. (Bartol, Tein, Mathew, & Sharma, 2007, p-40) Bartol et al says new ideas however do not emerge from nowhere. They normally arise from a foundation of established ideas. He also stated that history is important and knowing the origins of particular ideas and theories helps to understand the foundation for emerging ideas and theories in the modern management. Some of the preclassical pioneers responsible for the foundation of the modern management ideas and thinking will be discussed throughout this article. Early contributors for the management theory Bartol et al examined the work of the early pioneer’s contribution and classified them as preclassical management contributors. Some of the contributors and their pioneering ideas are Robert Owen (1771-1858) ...
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...it is discussed in detail about the relationship between the early management innovators ideas and theories towards the modern management thinking. In the early days the concept of management was followed in different ways but when we compare it to the existing modern management ideas and practices it can be seen that they been created a long back by the early management pioneers. Early management pioneers have a lot of contribution to the current management ideas and practice followed in any kind of organisation. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coultor, 2006, pp-6-20) Construction of pyramids and the existence of the major economic trade centre in the 1400’s in the city of Venice are good examples of early management prevalence. (Bartol, Tein, Mathew, & Sharma, 2007, p-40) Bartol et al says new ideas however do not emerge from nowhere. They normally arise from a foundation of established ideas. He also stated that history is important and knowing the origins of particular ideas and theories helps to understand the foundation for emerging ideas and theories in the modern management. Some of the preclassical pioneers responsible for the foundation of the modern management ideas and thinking will be discussed throughout this article. Early contributors for the management theory Bartol et al examined the work of the early pioneer’s contribution and classified them as preclassical management contributors. Some of the contributors and their pioneering ideas are Robert Owen (1771-1858) ...
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...Quantum Pioneers: Max Planck On April 23, 1858 Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was born in Kiel, Germany. At the age of nine his interest in physics and mathematics was developed by his teacher Hermann Muller. When he graduated at the age of seventeen he decided to choose physics over music for his career. He in turn did independent studies primarily on Rudolf Clausius' writings of thermodynamics which inspired him and in July 1879 he received his doctoral degree at the age of twenty-one. After he decided to become a theoretical physicist he started a quest for absolute laws. His favorite absolute law was the law of the conservation of energy which was the first law of thermodynamics that stated that you could take any equal amount of energy and transform it into the same equal amount of energy ideally, meaning no energy was lost. The second law of thermodynamics led him to discover the quantum of action or Planck's constant h. How he came upon his formula for quantum mechanics well be explained as follows. Planck saw that blackbody radiation acted in an absolute sense because it was defined by Kirchhoff as a substance that could absorb almost all radiating energy and emit all that it had absorbed perfectly which is associated with the first law of thermodynamics. By using various experiments and theoretical failures many scientists tried to find the spectral energy distribution to try and draw a diagram of a curve that showed the amount of radiation given off at different frequencies...
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...[pic] PLASMA TV SETS SALES BREAK RECORDS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON Wide Assortment of Plasma Models from Major Brands Supports Consumer Demand for Ultimate Home Theater Experience New York '' December 13, 2006 '' Industry reports that sales of Plasma television sets are soaring this holiday season affirm that consumers are now seeing at retail the clear advantages of benefits of Plasma for their big screen home entertainment center, according to the Plasma Display Coalition. On Black Friday alone, the NPD Group reports that Plasma experienced a 140 percent increase in unit sales, compared with last year. “Consumers are embracing Plasma in record numbers because they love the life- like picture that a big-screen Plasma HDTV delivers,” said Jim Palumbo, president of the Plasma Display Coalition. “It is evident that the outstanding picture quality, very high contrast and black levels, full range of color reproduction, and wide viewing angle that Plasma offers are resonating with people who are shopping for a new high-definition TV. For consumers considering a television above 40-inches, Plasma is the clear choice for the home entertainment center,” Palumbo added. Inundated with so many HDTV options at retail, consumers are arming themselves with information before heading out to shop. “They know that if they are looking to create the ultimate home theater experience to enjoy movies and sports, then Plasma is the TV of choice,” said Palumbo. In the store, consumers...
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...1. What is the main argument from this section of the Molesworth committee’s report used to describe the convicts as slaves e.g. is it religious. political, economic? Having been branded as a slave society and convictism as a slave labor system the Molesworth report pointed out that the economical affluence of New South Wales (NSW) and Van Diemen’s Land swift rise in wealth was due to the compulsory free labor of the convicts. Scarcely surviving the first year it was the increase of the convict transportation that help the economy with the delivery of cheap skilled labor, craftsmen, clerks and tradesmen. Providing free the abilities and expertise to help build the new settlement. The first governor of NSW Arthur Phillips penned the plans for management of the colony. Insisting that the laws within England would be initiated in the new country. No slavery and no slaves within the new land. Unfortunately the similarity of convictism to slavery was considerable. 2. Why does the committee argue that transportation to New South Wales must end? The Molesworth’s committee argued that due to economics it was no longer financially feasible to continue to transport convicts to NSW. Arguing that it had become too expensive to continue with the transportation to NSW. With the government paying for the excess produce and granting a variety of indulgences the settlers who engaged a convict, it was costing the British government over and above 7,000,000l. Analysing the situation...
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...Total Quality Pioneers Paper xxxxxxxx Quality Management and Productivity MGT/449 xxxxxx xxx Introduction People are confronted with scenarios concerning quality nearly every day. The word or notion of quality can be defined a number of ways. Some think quality should be determined by individual standards and expectations, while others believe quality is an ever changing state. Goetsch and Davis systematically broke down the elements of quality and determined that “quality is a dynamic state associated with products, services, people, processes, and environments that meets or exceeds expectations and helps produce superior value (Goetsch and Davis, 2010 p.5).” Whatever ones interpretation of quality might be, the intent of this paper is to more clearly define quality and its elements as well as describe how the quality pioneer's use of the total quality elements made the pioneers successful. Furthermore, this paper will explain why the elements of quality are useful in today’s environment and offer some insight as to what the future of quality might look like. Quality and its Elements Quality is defined with a variety of distinct explanations. Nevertheless, understanding quality is the key. End use consumers that are businesses explain quality unmistakably through the use of standards, specifications, and other measurable features. For instance, an individual in search of a new automobile will make his or her final purchase decision based on the quality...
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...The pioneer company I have chosen for this assignment is Siemens. Siemens is a very successful German company founded in 1888 by Werner Siemens. It still remains as one of the world’s leading companies in the electronics sector, offering products in multiple industries as automation, lightning, medical and power. So it can be said that Siemens has overall a very high expertise regarding the electronic industry. The founder was a very innovative engineer, who came up with numerous new ideas and inventions, including telegraphs and dynamos. Another major invention that keeps designing the world we know today are the innovations in the control command and signalling sector, also containing the radio technology. In the very beginning of this invention Werner Siemens set up multiple patents to secure his knowledge and to make competitors not copy his work. Therefore Siemens certainly is the pioneer in this industry. All over the world Siemens trains are being used when the requirements are an outstanding quality and durability. This is also one of the reasons why Siemens is dominating the control command and signalling market with a share of almost 30 per cent over the world. To keep the current leading position Siemens need to constantly develop their products. This is definitely a very demanding task, since the technology has been around for a long time and coming up with new things become harder. There is a tendency towards offering less expensive sensors and receivers, for example...
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...Whitney. They then ventured west to Utah with the Mormon pioneers. Within a month of traveling Newell died, he left behind Emmeline and their two daughters. Emmeline had a very hard time supporting her daughters and being a widow traveling to Utah. She then wrote a letter to Newell’s best friend. She asked him to marry her and he accepted, becoming his seventh wife. Em became the editor of The Women’s Exponent. This was the first women’s magazine west of the Mississippi River. Em was Utah’s representative for the National Women’s Suffrage Association. She was also the president of the LDS women organization called Relief Society. Em was called to do a project by the president of the LDS church. The project was that she would store grain (the grain was brought in by many farmers) in case it was needed in difficult times. This project was for long term purposes. It was a big success all over Utah. She even provided grain for the starving Europeans at the end of World War 1. Later on, close to the end of Em’s life she met the the President of the America, Ronald Reagan in Washington. Emmeline B. Wells died on April 25, 1921. Emmeline was important for many reasons such as pushing for economic, educational, and political opportunities for all women and she stored grain for starving families all over Utah. This especially helped through the harsh winters. Some of her main connections to Utah are coming here as a Mormon pioneer, being Utah’s representative for the National Women’s...
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...Pioneer Petroleum Cases Analysis The Problem: Pioneer Petroleum Corporation (PPC) has two major problems that are interfering with the goal of the firm to maximize shareholder wealth. The first is that PPC has been calculating their weighted average cost of capital incorrectly, by incorrectly calculating their after tax cost of debt and their cost of equity. This miscalculation has subjected PPC to more risk and has hurt the company’s ability to make appropriate investment decisions. This has also led PPC to accepting investment decisions that should not have been included within their acceptable range. Second, PPC has been using a single company-wide rate for their multi-divisional company. In either instance the company is not maximizing wealth. Statement of Facts and Assumptions: PPC has been calculating their after tax cost of debt using the coupon rate of 12% instead of the actual interest rate which is 8%. Taking the 8% interest rate into account, PPC’s actual cost of capital would be calculated as: [.08(1-.34)]= 5.28%. PPC has simply been using 10% (their equity growth rate) as their cost, but must instead either use the CAPM model to calculate their cost of equity, or the Dividend-growth model. If they use the CAPM model, which is the most accurate, their cost of equity will be: .078+.8(.1625-.078)=14.56%. Or they can use the Dividend-growth model and their cost of equity would be: (2.7/63)+.1=14.29%. Both are acceptable but, because the Dividend-growth model...
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...Family Conflict In Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!, farmer and land developer Alexandra Bergson feels the land her father, John Bergson, gave her and her brothers, originally belonged to her and her brothers, but has since been divided into separate titles between the three of them. Before Alexandra’s father died, he placed her in charge of the land and she became the lands steward and expanded it beyond the original homestead. The role Lou and Oscar Bergson, Alexandra’s younger brothers, played was that of laborer under the direction of Alexandra. Lou and Oscar feel that the land belongs to them because they have put their blood, sweat, and tears into the land. It is not until Alexandra’s brothers see Carl spending time with Alexandra that they begin to worry about the true ownership of the land. The boys are ok with Alexandra having the property but once they find out Alexandra might marry their jobless old neighbor Carl, they confront her, reminding her that Alexandra’s property really belongs to them. John Bergson always had more faith and trust in Alexandra than he did with Lou and Oscar. Even before Alexandra was the age of twelve John was calling on her to give him advice. He reminisced, “It was Alexandra who read the papers and followed the markets, and who learned by the mistakes of their neighbors… Lou and Oscar were industrious, but he could never teach them to use their heads about their work.” From a very young age Alexandra showed wisdom and leadership. ...
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...Benefits of Pioneer Generation Package Healthcare cost is expensive for elderly because they are likely to fall sick and require medical care and treatment. Elderly face financial burden on medical care expenses as most of them are retire and with no source of income. On 21 February 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced Pioneer Generation Package which will benefit around 450,000 elderly to ease the burden of their healthcare expenses. Pioneer Generation Package is good scheme to take care of pioneers’ health. Pioneer Generation Package is for the first generation of Singaporean working and living in Singapore during Singapore independent. The pioneer generation has contributed a lot in building Singapore as a nation. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that it is to “sincere expression of our gratitude” (2014, p. 1) to the pioneers. $8 billion funds have been pumped into the package by the government. With this package not only it will reduce pioneers’ medical expense, it would help them to use the money in other needs and bring down the burden on their children. To be fit into this Pioneer Generation Package, they need to be aged 65 years old or above this year which also mean born in 1949 or above and another critical is they became Singapore citizens before 1987. If citizen missed by a day or more to reach the critical to get the Package, citizen can go appeal for it. There will be 3 main components of the package and they are outpatient care...
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...Pioneer Petroleum is a multinational corporation that is in position to capitalize on investments all around the World. Within the industry Pioneer’s gasoline are among the cleanest burning fuels. They are better position than most to meet strict environmental guidelines as they currently have clean efficient running plants positioned to capitalize on less polluted products. Also Pioneer Petroleum is heavily involved in exploration and devilment. From 1924 to the present, pioneer has been able to expand both vertically and diversify horizontally. With such resources and capital, the company has to oversee so many opportunities and ventures. Presently the company is at odds over whether they should use a company wide cut off rate based on the overall weighted average cost of capital or if Pioneer should use multiple rates that reflect risk-profit characteristics of the several businesses or economic sectors. At first we must decide if the methodology used in computing the company’s overall weighted average cost of capital is just. Second, we should decide in which terms Pioneer adheres to future investments. Should they adjust discount rates for different divisions and projects and stay away from a universal cutoff rate? Third, the capital budgeting criteria must be set for different projects across Pioneer’s divisions. What distinctions among projects need to be noted and how the standards should be determined are all questions that arise from judging how to proceed forward...
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...Pioneer Petroleum Corporation One of the critical problems confronting management and the board of Pioneer Petroleum Corporation was the determination of a minimum acceptable rate of return on new capital investments, The company’s basic capital budgeting approach was to accept all proposed investments with a positive net present value when discounted at the appropriate cost of capital. At issue was how the appropriate discount rate would be determined. The company was weighing two alternative approaches for determining a minimum rate of return: (1) a single cutoff rate based on the company’s overall weighted average cost of capital, and (2) a system of multiple cutoff rates that reflected the risk-profit characteristics of the several business or economic sectors in which the company’s subsidiaries operated. The issue had assumed increased importance because of management’s decision to extend the use of the cutoff rate to the evaluation of existing operations and investments. It was planned to evaluate divisional managers on the basis of their net profits after the deduction of a charge for capital employed by the division. Pioneer Petroleum had been formed in 1924 through the merger of several formerly independent firms operating in the oil refining, pipeline transportation, and industrial chemical fields. Over the next 80 years, the company integrated vertically into exploration and production of crude oil and marketing refined petroleum products, and horizontally into plastics...
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...Total Quality Pioneers Paper In this paper I will discuss the total quality pioneers mentioned in Chapter 1 the textbook Quality Management for Organizational Excellence and my objective is to define quality and its elements. Describe how the quality pioneer’s use of the total quality elements made the pioneer successful, explain why the elements of quality are useful in today’s environment and what do I foresee about the future of quality? The first objective is to define the quality and its elements. Total quality is not just one separate model. Quality is many different concepts that are put together to create a wide-ranging approach to doing business. The quality pioneer became successful using the elements listed such as creating constancy toward the improvement of products and services in order to become competitive, stay in business, and provide jobs. Another concept is to drive out the feat that all can work effectively, remove quotas and the superiors. Remove obstacles that take away the gratification of the work they create or do for their employer. Make available educational and self-improvement program for employees to foster a learning environment. Making employees feel they are a part of the process is always empowering individuals that are part of the solution and not just part of the workforce. The elements are important today because the work environment has not changed. It’s important. After researching quality business, I came across an...
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