Thursday, October 31, 2019

Time Warp 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Time Warp 2 - Essay Example This tool helped me achieve my goal of yielding higher profits for Handheld, Corp. In this report, I included my analysis, the strategies I used, and what factors affected revenues for product X5, X6, and X7. Time Warp 1 Maribel P. Jabido Academia Research May 8, 2011 Analysis On the PDA simulator I had a final score of 1,185,800,553. I did better than Joe Schmoe by 20,890,196. I have observed that Joe’s strategy was a â€Å"lazy† implementation of marketing. If he took the time to analyze the performance of a product and what prices were appropriate to set, he would yield higher profits. I have made numerous attempts using a simulator to prove that my strategies worked better. I followed the advisor’s analysis and used it as my guide in pricing and allocation of R&D. One strategy I used for marketing handheld products is market segmentation. This is implemented by providing handheld products in different categories (X5, X6, and X7) to serve specific needs of tar get customers and increasing market share. Even with the discontinuation of X5 handheld in 2009, it was a strategy to market better available products to attract buyers. Pricing strategy was also what I’ve used relative to R & D allocations to generate profits. For instance, X5 sales were starting to decline. In 2008, I did not drop the price significantly or I would lose a lot of money. I was able to keep customers who purchased the X5 handheld for $240. Then, I decided to discontinue the product the following year to avoid more losses. R&D allocations were a bit tricky. I used the advisor’s analysis to manipulate the allocations. For example, when X5 was discontinued in 2009, I kept the same prices for X6 and X7 as of 2008 in 2009 and increased their R&D allocations to 30% and 70% respectively. The tremendous Jabido 2 increase in R&D had a positive impact on revenues. However, in 2008, I decided to distribute R&D of 25% equally to X5, X6, and X7 handheld products. Wh en I tried to reduce X5 R&D to 10%, I had a higher loss. With 25% R&D I was able to avoid the loss of -9,870,920 and reduced it to a loss of -$6,176,598. If I didn’t adjust that 10% R&D, it would affect profits for 2009. I also based my analysis on the product performance and on what level they are in terms of sales. For instance, X7 handheld was in the ‘growth phase’ in 2006 with a profit of $3,199,108. The following year, I reduced its price to $200 and allocated a higher R&D of 25%. The result was phenomenal. I had a profit of $23,555,939. Maintaining the price and R&D the following year, the profit for X7 was more than doubled. Here’s the breakdown of prices, R&D allocations, and profits for X5, X6, and X7: 2006 I increased the prices for all handheld products and decreased their R&D. As a result, advisory said X7 handheld was in the growth phase and potential X7 customers were new customers. X7 handheld performance was holding steady while X6 was pric ed the same as other competing products. Joe gained a higher profit of $295,185,249 in 2006. He performed better with all X5, X6, and X7 handhelds because the prices were lower although it was temporary. Jabido 3 2007 Since X6 performance was better than that of competition, I decided to maintain the price and R&D and it paid off as I had a higher profit. Joe sold X6 for only $400 this year which he could’ve made profit by selling them slightly higher. However, X5 sales were declining so I slightly lowered the price which is

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Media History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Media History - Essay Example As the report declares the mention of history should not be construed as a mirror of the past in totality for various reasons, and there are various points that anyone studying history in media or any other field should be aware about when trying to unveil it’s the two meanings. One of the matters concerning history is that there are epistemological as well as philosophical assumptions that many historians make with regards to the proper way in which history should be done. One of those assumptions is where we are meant to believe that history can correspond with reality in the past by reading its contents. The misconception that history is a true reflection of the past is thus worth noting in media studies out of knowledge that the history presented to us entails many life philosophies in its construction. According to the research findings history is always made for someone and thus it has a purpose as opposed to ‘the past’, which remains just as ‘the past’. It is through this understanding that one learning media history is able to know that every historian gives an account concerning something with the chief intent that someone in later time will get to read or go through their documentation unlike the past. In addition, history is ideological and not innocent as it appears unlike ‘the past’ in that, its construction encompasses a historian’s moral judgment concerning the wrong and the good as well as depending on how they perceive the world.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Effectiveness of Project Team Development

The Effectiveness of Project Team Development There is no doubt that project teams is playing increasingly important role in most of the successful project. To achieve this, building an effective team is basically start from the first day of the teams existence. Project manager plays important task that carries responsibilities to manage and develop commitment of every team members. It is important for project manager to have adequate knowledge to manage teams as it is a complex mix of human resources management, people skills, technical understanding and process facilitation. It is crucial for every project management to have dynamic project teams which are not static and unchanging. There are also several barriers exist in building a project teams that need to be concerned as this will affect the results of the project and the effectiveness of team development. This paper is critically emphasizes on the team building with project team development stage model, characteristic of effective team members and case study in regard to project adaption and success. The structure of the paper will begin with the introduction, terminologies section, characteristics of effective team members, team development stage, case study and review if the case studies as well as conclusion as the summarization of the whole topic. Keywords: project team, team building, project manager, team development stage model, effectiveness 1.0 INTRODUCTION Initially, a team is highly necessary to run a project. Without an effective project team, it is hardly to achieve projects goals. In fact, one of the hardest aspects of project management is managing the individuals on the project. There are various formal and informal roles that team members play in creating successful projects and also the potential for a single person to play more than one simultaneously on smaller projects (Cooke and Tate, 2005). In short, every team in project has their own responsibilities that carry both formal and informal task and sometimes they are also assigned to run in big or small project concurrently based on the project requirements to achieve project successfulness. Besides, to manage a project team, it is highly necessary to have a good leadership or a project manager to control project by leading, inspiring and motivating all project team to greater heights for project success. As stated by Bubshait and Farooq (1999), successful project managers recognize the importance of people because they know that without people, no project would exist in the first place. They also indicated that people or team are the initiators, developers and users of project. It shows here, team is plays an important role in completing quality and innovative project in order to produce a good result within the budget and on time. 2.0 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS: TEAM, PROJECT TEAM AND TEAM BUILDING Numerous case studies and articles have been written about team and team building in the project management. There are various definitions of team from many authors with different point of views. According to Harodyski (1995), team is a group of people that cooperate and work together to achieve a given set of objectives or goals. As suggested by Bennett (1994) that written by Ingram et al., (1997), team is special types of group that voluntarily ties the members towards held objectives. For Baca (2007), the people who will create the product of the project is called team member. While Bushait and Farooq (1999), defined team as a collection of individuals with different needs, backgrounds and expertise. Both of these authors also stated that team is cross functional which is a matrix and project management organizations characteristic. Based on Eskerod and Blichfeldt (2005) article as taken from Katzenbach and Smith (1993), team is a small number of individuals that have complementar y skills and they are committed to a common purpose, performance goals as well as approach for which they hold themselves accountable. Based on the above definitions, basically team term brought similar concept, where it carry out defined, a group of people with specific skills and knowledge and is assigned to run a specific task in achieving goals and objectives. Every author has their own point of views to describe it based on their different areas of expertise and experiences. Project teams are essential in performing for both big and small project. The definition of project teams as pointed by Zwikael and Unger-Aviram (2010) are unique type of teams. Project teams are now seen as a popular organizational form under environments where coordinated actions directed towards a non-routine goal are needed (Rikards and Moger, 2000). Project teams who work well together are able to contribute and focus on the work and also lead to the production of work on time, meet a budget and of course achieve projects goals. In addition, project team is a group of people that is responsible and assigned to perform task and producing deliverables based on the project strategy. Team building is acceptable by the belief that there is a family life bond within working groups that can be used for the companys benefit (Beyer and Trice, 1987). In addition, team building is the process of identifying members in project. This process is significant to select appropriate people to handle and perform the project plan. In a certain circumstances, sometimes the team building process will starts before project approval, however full team only can be developed after the project is formally approved and organizational and contractual pattern are identified (Diwan, 1999). For Johns (1995) team building is the action taken by project manager, team members and line management to enables a group of people to perform a good job, to think and act together. 3.0 CHARACTERISTIC OF EFFECTIVE TEAM MEMBERS The people side of project management is very important for project success and in order for project to be successful, every individual including team leader or project personnel need to be properly managed. This aspect is crucial because it will lead them to contribute towards the achievement of the project goals. In the other hand, with good team members, it brings benefits including increased involvement, development and empowerment of employees, expand the use of employee skills and capabilities, helps in decision making process, growing in creativity and work processes and performance may improve. Creating effective team members is crucial. They are several characteristics of the effective members that are normally contributes to the successful of project. Have ultimate goals and plans A clear defined mission and goals encourage the team members to share purpose and common goals and willing and strive to achieve the goals and plans. Besides, team members are willing to put on their head the teams goal with their goal are basically same. Listen to everyone in the team Be an active listening, attempt to understand and concentrate to other teams point of views. Think and make a best option before making a decision. This criteria help team to identify and clarify the alternative ay to overcome problem arises. For team leader this criteria is very crucial because it is the aspect where the project can be perform without any unsatisfied matter occurs. Have positive relationship among team members By having good relationship with other team mates, the team will easier to perform their job as this can assist them in contributing ideas such as brainstorming process and run the project together with easily and effectively. This characteristic is applied for both team project and project manager or team leader. Overcome problems and make decision on time To be an effective team member, he or she is required to solve a problem and make a decision on time. With the knowledge and skills, they should have a capability to identify the best solution for any problem arises and able to rectify the problem and also faster make decision to prevent any project delays and cost overrun. Able to manage conflict An effective team is able to identify and resolve to any problems exist in timely during the project running. They also are capable to minimize conflicts as much as can to ensure the project will be completed on time. To achieve this criteria, the organization is suggested to provide a training program to all the teams. This will assist them in managing conflict effectively and efficiently. Facilitate productive meeting Team leader is efficiently, productively and has the skill in well managed meetings that efficiently use team members time. The productive meeting is important in identifying any potential risk and problems that may occurs during the implementation project. Besides by having meeting, all the team members may share and contribute ideas pertaining to achieve successful project. In addition through meeting, team members can develop plan and generate recommendations to stay on project track or schedule. Know roles of team members An effective team member also understands the roles of every team members in the project. By understanding every responsibility of every team members, it will assist the team to clarify other team members job and assist them to search a respective team according to a specific skills and knowledge if any problems occur that required other teams skills and knowledge. Operate in productive manner This criteria means, team members have the resources and skills to success and they are able to complete their works on time and facilitate quality and quantity measures to evaluate overall efficiency and effectiveness as well. 4.0 TEAM DEVELOPMENT STAGES There are number of models that describe the stages that teams go through on the way to be productive. One of the most famous ones has self-explanatory tittles for the stages. This team development stages model was developed by Bruce Tuckman in the 1970s. This model can be as levels of guideline for every project manager in managing their project team effectively. Other than that, by understanding and applying this practice into project management, it assist the team leader or project manager to have a better preparation to detect any changes or problem and take appropriate action to help the team. This model can be applied in order to see how teams are emerging and explain how behaviours and feelings of each team members at any given time. At first the Tuckmans model in 1965 consists of four (4) important stages, there are, forming, storming, norming and performing. After subsequent review by Tuckman and Jensen (1977), the stages have added to another important element known as adjourning as represented in Figure 1. C:UsersIJAPicturesTuckmans model diagram_0.JPG Figure 1: The stage model of team development by Tuckman and Jensen (1977) Source: Joanne Leith. The importance of team. Retrieved on 9 August, 2010 from http://www.teamworkspacific.com.au/article/importance_of_teams 4.1 Forming Stage Forming is the stage where all the team members meet and begin to work with each other for the first time. In this stage, teams are concerned to study the boundaries of acceptable team behaviour. This is a platform where the team come together with a sense of anticipation and commitment (Bubshait and Farooq (1999). In the other hand, this is a stage of transition from individual to become project member status and they look to the leader or other individual that are responsible to give them some clear picture in order to assist them get started (Lewis, 2007). This can be considered as a one way communication which is from leader to team member. Forming stage is quite stressful since everyone is new in the project and sometimes they even did not know each other. Due to this fact, team effectiveness is actually moderate and their motivation is high because they are being selected to be part of the team (Bubshait and Farooq, 1999). This will become more stressful if the project manager is not suitable with the project teams and this will automatically impact the process in performing and producing efficient work. Forming stage consist of several feelings and behaviours as represented in the Table 1. Table 1: Feelings and behaviours in forming stage Feelings Behaviours Excitement, anticipation and optimism Pride in being chosen for the project Initial, tentative attachment to the team Suspicion, fear and anxiety about the job or if they will be accepted by others Attempts to define the task and decide how it will be accomplished Attempts to determine acceptable group behaviour and how to deal with group problems Decision on what information need to be gathered Lofty, abstract discussions of concepts and issues; or for some members, impatience with these discussions Discussion of symptoms or problems not relevant to the task; difficulty in identifying relevant problems Complaints about the organization and barriers to the task Posturing, external and internal behaviours Source: Tuckmans stages of team development. Retrieved on 12 August, 2010 from http://jhartleyconsulting.com/files/Stages_of_Team_Development.pdf 4.2 Storming Stage Storming stage is challenging compare with the forming stage where this stage involves views and disagreement from team members instead of listening only to the instruction from the team leader. Based on Mackintosh (2007), storming stage sometimes will cause conflicts or problems among the team members even the forming stage was run and planned well. While for Rickards and Moger (2000), storming is the stage that involves personal conflicts. During this stage, team leader is holding heavy task where their leadership quality is tested (Mackintosh, 2007). As point of view by Bubshait and Farooq (1999), this stage involves various views by team members and they are dispute each other and this factor causes fail to the motivation and effectiveness of the team. However, even the arguing among team members emerges through this stage; it is also a beginning for them to know each other. Table 2 shows the feelings and behaviours occur during the storming stage. Table 2: Feelings and behaviours in storming stage Feelings Behaviours Resistance to the task and to suggested approaches different from what they know Sharp fluctuations in attitude about the team Powerlessness. Arguing among members even when they agree on the real issue. Defensiveness and competition; factions and choosing sides. Questioning the wisdom of those who selected the project and appointed the other members of the team. Establishing unrealistic goals; concern about excessive work. A perceived pecking order, disunity, increased tension, and jealousy. Source: Tuckmans stages of team development. Retrieved on 12 August, 2010 from http://jhartleyconsulting.com/files/Stages_of_Team_Development.pdf 4.3 Norming Stage This stage where the team is starting to work well together and the goals, roles, strength and weaknesses are identified. The team members are unite and agree on the principles cooperation, even though there are several opinions from many team members. During this stage the level of motivation and effectiveness start to increase (Bubshait and Farooq, 1999). According to Mackintosh (2007), norming stage is the stage that covers rules and regulations where through this stage, all team members are aware each other and it produce strong relationship among them. Besides, conflicts on emotion are also reduced and team members become more cooperative instead of having competitive relationship. As shown in Table 3, it listed the feelings and behaviours that might be occurred during norming stage. Table 3: Feelings and behaviours in norming stage Feelings Behaviours A new ability to express criticism constructively Acceptance of membership in the team Relief that it seems everything is going to work out. An attempt to achieve harmony by avoiding conflict. More friendliness, confiding in each other, and sharing of A sense of team cohesion, a common sprit and goals. Establishing and maintaining team ground rules and boundaries (the norms). Source: Tuckmans stages of team development. Retrieved on 12 August, 2010 from http://jhartleyconsulting.com/files/Stages_of_Team_Development.pdf 4.4 Performing Stage The fourth stage is performing, which all team members are focus on the team goals and they are begin to create strong relationship and built trust each other. Due to this fact, they may reach a high level of motivation and effectiveness (Bubshait and Farooq, 1999). Through this stage, all team members are aware and concern on the strength and weaknesses of the project and they are also work towards on that as they know rewards will be given after completion of project. According to Mackintosh (1997), the team members are comfortable in this stage compared with the storming stage where this stage is a platform that leads for the personal growth among the team members. During performing stage, project managers role become easier because the team members understand what their roles are and they are complete self-directed. The table 4 shows, the feelings and behaviours in performing stage. Table 4: Feelings and behaviours in performing stage Feelings Behaviours Members having insights into personal and group processes, and better understanding of each others strengths and weaknesses Satisfaction at the teams progress Close attachment to the team The team is now working effectively as a cohesive unit. You can tell when your team has reached this stage because you start getting a lot of work done Source: Tuckmans stages of team development. Retrieved on 12 August, 2010 from http://jhartleyconsulting.com/files/Stages_of_Team_Development.pdf 4.5 Adjourning Stage In other different team development model, adjourning term is also known as mourning. Adjourning is final stage where team reaches some kind of termination level which is through accomplishment or membership disruption (Rickards and Morger, 2000). In this stage, team members are brief and share the improved process and successful project as well. They also may feel a sense of loss. In a certain circumstances, if a new team is join the project team, the whole team will regress from the beginning and they have to act faster to get back on track. 5.0 CASE STUDIES This section will be presented two cases studies about project team members with adaption of team development stages model in regard to project success. 5.1 Case study 1 Team moving through five stages: A case study This case study is about the project to improve the performance of company in managing and supporting their client base. The project was leaded and guided by a leader from Chicago office that has 15 years experience as a project manager or team lead managing process improvement projects. This case study was performed by five individuals with different skills, abilities and experiences from various of large service organization. The project was conducted in virtually by using SharePoint site as a medium to interact each other. However, the team leader also has preferred to meet face to face initially. This case study was used the Tuckmans model (1977) as a guideline for the team leader to understand how to build an effective team and also to continue to manage and motivate them in order to achieve project goals. The findings of the case study will be discussed further. The project was begun with the initial meeting as a first stage in Tuckmans model known as forming stage. In this stage, all the team members were assembled and the meetings covered all essential aspects before the project get started. Based on first stage, it was found out that all team members were excited and ready to get work together. They were agreed to every task which has been assigned to them. Overall the first stage was in charged successfully by the team leader. The project work were begins in the storming stage. During this stage, arguments and conflicts between team members were emerged. This was happened due to unsatisfied of job assigned and issues of seniority or experiences for particular job aspect. For this reason, the team leader was initially taken a side role to overcome these conflicts. She managed to solve the problems with a win win situation for every of her team members by selecting the best options. During the norming stage, everything was going smoothly. There were still have some arguments and disagreements but they were managed to overcome it without relying on the team leader to make decision for them. They were also become a teamwork and enjoy working with each other. After the completion of norming stage the fourth stage was taken place, which is performing stage. By this stage, the team has reached high performing team. It was discovered some of the team members have developed their skills and leadership roles with the support of others. The project was completed on time within the budget. Besides, the team leader was rewarded by the team because of her good performance in managing the project. Finally the project was achieved it goals where their internal customer was pleased and there is improvements in how the company supports its clients. The team has united together to do some evaluation on the project done that including documenting best practices and way to improve any mistakes done during the implementation of project. 5.2 Case Study 2 Diamonds in the rough: A case study of team development across disciplines, distances and institutions The purpose of this case study is to explore team building strategies by describing reactions of every respective faculty to their participation in a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional team project which performed via distance. The team members of this project consist of five different universities and from various agriculture disciplines. The teams were gathered to develop online educational resources. The results of the case study that adapted into team development stages are presented in Figure 2. C:UsersIJAPicturesteam development stages.jpg Figure 2: Integration of Tuckmans (1965) Small Group Development Model into One Teams Experience Source: Susan Fritz et al., Diamonds in the rough: A case study of team development across disciplines, distances and institutions. Retrieved on 9 August, 2010 from http://www.joe.org/joe/2005october/a4.php From the findings also, they have pointed out several important elements that engaged during the execution of project. There are motivation for collaboration, timeline, evaluation and rewards, team leader, cohesion, interaction, trust and some miscellaneous findings. In the forming stage, it was discovered that two of team members were inspired to sharpen their skills and motivated to further their knowledge in Web-based instructions. While there were some questioning of team objectives occurs during the storming stage due to the progressed and deadline of project were frequently unmet. There were also an issue pertaining to the evaluation and rewards where they were concern over little support from their team mates and administrators as well. During this stage, the team leader was strict to ensure the team members keep on track. In the norming and performing stages, the trust and friendship were built. It was found out that there were distances separating them in running the project but the team grew from a mere work group into a synergistic individual. Finally the website containing lesson was completed. As overall, the teams were satisfied with their job as well as the supervisory of their team leader. However the lack of supporting from home departments was still remain major issue. 6.0 REVIEW OF TWO CASE STUDIES The findings for both case studies almost the same where the results appear the same meaning. In case study 1, Tuckmans model (1977) was used while for case study 2, Tuckmans model (1965) without adjourning stage was applied. Basically, team leader is plays important role in developing an effective team member through team development stages. Table 5 presents comparison with several key elements that engaged in both case studies. Table 5: Key elements KEY ELEMENTS CASE STUDY 1 CASE STUDY 2 Motivation level The project motivated the team members and the team members were developed their skills and applied a leadership roles during the implementation of project. The team members were inspired and motivated to collaborate with each other. Timeline pressures Project schedule issue was emerged due to the decision made by only two team members. Timeline of the project was questioned by the team members due to the project progressed and deadlines were seldom unmet. Evaluation and rewards The team were acknowledged by project sponsor and other executives. The team felt little support from their colleagues and administrator. Leadership style Team leader has encouraged and brought the team together for a face to face meetings on monthly basis Team leader has created a working environment conducive to collaboration. Cohesion and interaction The team members communicate each other via communicating on email, via instant messaging, on Twitter or over the telephone. Many team members still missed the interaction of face to face meetings. However, the scenario changed slowly as team reached the norming and performing stages. Trust The team share knowledge with other team members The team members felt comfortable with others to be honest about their opinions and ideas 7.0 CONCLUSIONS It can be concluded that effective team members only can be developed through considerable structure (Lewis, 2007). This structure known as team development stages, where these stages represents the team members are working together, strengths and weaknesses of each team are tested, compliant to the rules and behaviours of the team, working as a unit while working independently and shifting onto other teams (Ruppert, 2009). While developing an effective project team members, the team leader also need to have multiple skills in managing those people in the project management. According to Tan (2004), due to multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional of project management, a good manager is an individual that can wear multiple hats and work in any discipline of development to plug up any shortcomings. For team members, it is necessary for them to fulfil the effective team member characteristic in order to achieve project goals on time and within the budget besides preventing a conflict w ith others in the same project.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Prufrock in the poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock Essay -- T.S.

Question Who is Prufrock? The modern propensity for excessive introspection prevents people from living full, active lives. Is this true of Prufrock? Refer to examples from the poem to support your opinion. Answer It is obvious that the excessive and obsessive reflection of self that Prufrock undergoes in the poem, "The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock" written by T.S. Eliot, prevents him from living to his true potential, and this is shown through the poet?s language and his use of poetic devices. ?The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock? has some immaculate imagery. T.S. Eliot uses figurative diction to create almost cinematic images in the readers mind, almost like a memory of their own. The imagery creates an incredible mood and atmosphere, and this evokes appropriately vivid feelings and emotions that all the same, feel eerily familiar and appeal to the senses of the reader. This is the case as the reader can relate to the personal feelings of Prufrock. Yet, the individual images, I consider are not the guiding force or theme of the poem. The constant and central theme of the poem is the dismissive tone of the self-cynical persona, Prufrock. I personally believe that the poem, ?The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock? contains T.S. Eliot?s perception on modern man, or in other words, the monotony and sordidness of the human condition. I believe he attempts to break the conventional modes of perception of the typical individual which perpetually takes new forms, and makes the reader see the world afresh from a new perspective. He does this by making us aware and engaging us in deeper feelings that we rarely penetrate. Eliot personally feels that modern man has an exiguous view on the quality of life and the truly impo... ...of Prufrock's propensity to move backwards and downwards is suggestive of his nearness to death, and his backpedaling down into Hell. Prufrock himself as stated earlier sees "the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,? while he says in the next line "in short, I was afraid." The point of past tense is also worth noting. With these phrases the audience has to feel pity towards Prufrock and it is through emotions that Eliot makes his point and perception realised in the readers? eyes. In conclusion, as Eliot seemed to think that the modern propensity for excessive introspection prevents people from living full, active lives, Eliot created the story of Prufrock. Through his persona, T.S. Eliot engages his readers with an assortment of emotions. These emotions were successful in allowing Eliot to see his perception of superficial people seen in his reader's eyes.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Comparing Poetry Essay

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. Good morning Ms Linton and students, today I will be informing you on why you must choose these two poems for the poetry speaking contest. The poems I have chosen are ‘The Man from Ironbark’, by Banjo Patterson as well as ‘He Started the Cycling Craze’ by myself. Narratives help the readers enjoy and understand poetry as it is a way the poets can connect to their readers by using storylines that may relate to them or something that they enjoy. Storylines of narratives play a major role and without these the readers would not be able to understand what is happening in the story. The story line of ‘The Man from Ironbark’ is about a man who wants his beard to be shaved, so this man heads off to the barber. The barber pulls out a razor and starts to shave his throat. The man from Ironbark fears the barber is a murderer who wants to cut his throat. The storyline of ‘He Started the Cycling Craze’ is about a man who decides to buy a new bike so he goes off to the bike shop. He buys a bike then rides it home and on the way home he rode up the hill then started to roll back. Once he had rolled down the hill he ended up in the creek. Both of these storylines are different in their own way, but one similarity is that a man leaves his home, goes somewhere and in both poems they make a mistake. In all poems there is a difference, but some may be similar in one way or another. The difference between these two poems is that they both contain various poetry techniques and they are both based on individual topics. Each poet uses several techniques and have a different style of writing. In this case these poems are similar as one was re-written from a poem written by the author of the other poem. Every poem can have differences and similarities to other poems. In poetry the poets describe the characters and settings so that the reader can view the image in their head, here is a quote from ‘The Man from Ironbark’ ‘The barber man was small and flash, as barbers mostly are, He wore a strike-your-fancy sash, he smoked a huge cigar:’ This describes how the barber looks and what he is holding. In this part of the poem he is stereotyping barbers to that that they are both small and flash. This helps the reader imagine what the main character is seeing. And from ‘He Started the Cycling Craze’ ‘He started to roll down the hill swerving a tree, and almost being stung by a big fat bee, nearly at the lake he had to swerve a car’. This describes what the man on the bike is enduring and what he is seeing. By describing surrounding and what people look like, it allows the reader to create an image in their head of what is happening in the poem. In poetry the poets use poetic devices to make the poems more interesting, this helps the reader keep interest in what they are reading. In ‘The Man from Ironbark’ the poetic devices used include; rhyme, rhythm, repetition, imagery, alliteration, and metaphors. The rhyming patter is a,a,b,b,c,c and the rhythm is shown by the rhyme and the flow or the poem. An example of alliteration is ‘upon the newly shaven skin it made a livid mark. ’ As well as ‘brow grew black’. Imagery is shown in many parts of the poem but particularly when he is describing the barber. ‘The barber man was small and flash, as barbers mostly are, he wore a strike-your-fancy sash, he smoked a huge cigar. ’ The metaphor was shown when he referred to the man as a dog. The devices used in ‘He Started the Cycling Craze’ includes rhyme which is used in a pattern of ‘a,b,b,a’ as well as rhythm which is seen by the rhyme and flow of the poem. Alliteration was also used in the line ‘and almost being stung by a big fat bee. ’ Imagery was also used when describing what was on the road when he was swerving so that he didn’t fall off of his bike. Overall there are many different poetic devices used in poetry and this is shown through these poems. In summary poets use different techniques and devices in their poems so that the poem becomes for intriguing so the reader continues to read on. Devices are used in poetry so that the readers have something to laugh or cry about and are intrigued to read other poems by the poet. Storylines of poems are important as they help describe what is happening in the poem and the reader is able to understand what the characters are doing. To wrap up these two poems should be chosen for the poetry speaking contest as they use various devices and techniques which allows the reader to continue interest in the poem as it goes on.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Doing Business in Argentina

Doing Business in Argentina Argentina has a stable political structure and the government is working on developing economy. I would choose to produce and sell solar panels in Argentina through Joint Venture with an Argentina company, which is one of the Investment Entry Mode. And I would send 1 in sales, 2 engineers, 1 accountant, 1 in shipping, 3 technicians, and 2 managers. Market reasons: Firstly, Argentina has enriched solar resource. â€Å"Argentina’s eastern plains and north western regions are ideal  for solar PV development.However, only 10 MW of solar has  been installed in Argentina to date, making it a huge untapped  resource† (Grotz, Decundo and Ernst and Young). It indicates that the potential market for solar panels is huge. In addition, the efficient of solar energy is the most concern factor of solar panels, â€Å"solar energy installations began as simple contraptions in Latin America but are increasingly led by technologically advanced providers deploying sophisticated equipment and expertise that makes foreign participation almost indispensable† (Solar Daily).And my company has the best electronics package on the market; it is a great opportunity for my product to take a major part of market share in Argentina. Secondly, solar energy is one of the major renewable energy that Argentine government trying to develop. Argentina is the third-largest economy in Latin America, and one of the emerging markets around the world. However, the shortage in electricity is the major obstacle of the development. â€Å"Electricity demand continues to grow steadily in the country  and forecasts suggest an ongoing annual increase of 6%.Estimates indicate that an additional 1 GW of new generation  capacity per annum will be necessary to satisfy this growing  demand† (Grotz, Decundo and Ernst and Young). To solve the problem, Argentine government not only passed a law to ensure that â€Å"8% of  electricity demand should be generated by renewable sources  by 2016†, but also developed the GENREN program to â€Å"contract at least 1GW of renewable energy capacity† (Grotz, Decundo and Ernst and Young). And 20 Mw of electricity are supposed to be converted by solar energy.With the encouraging and supporting of Argentine government, it is the best timing to introduce my product into the renewable energy industry. Why Joint Venture? The very first concern is from the company’s interest. Since $5,000,000 has been spent in developing the electronics package and assembly machine, I need to reduce the costs of entering the new foreign market as much as possible. Through Joint Venture, I can access to existing resources that the local company has in Argentina; it takes less time for my company to get familiar with the market and actual start my business.Time is money. Also, the advantages I have are the core technology of the business, human resource to train workers and jobs; all I need is the local facility and less required workforce. I will send 3 technicians to Argentina to train limited workers before hand and license my patents to the local company for a limited time. On one hand the business is able to operate smoothly once it started. On the other hand, given the fact that, Argentina is a country with high uncertainty avoidance, it shows my willingness of cooperating with the local company.Also, it’s necessary to sign a very detailed contract with the local company. What’s more, Argentina has a high Human Development Index and ranked 45th among 187 countries (UNDP). Therefore, it will not take much time in training workers. Secondly, it helps my company to form a local image. Argentina is an achievement oriented country, with a local company entering the market; it reduces the effect of unfamiliarity. In the mean time, since Argentina is a multi-culture country, when dealing with culture issue, a local company can provide support and reduce r isks that due to unfamiliar of the culture.The most important is that, a local image represents local interests. The argument among nationalizing YPF S. A. , the oil and gas company owned by the Spanish energy giant Repsol (Romero), is the hottest issue recently. One reason for Argentine government to take over YPF S. A. is that â€Å"YPF, hasn't produced enough to keep up with Argentina's rapidly growing economy†¦the company's proven reserves of oil and gas have also fallen substantially over the past few years† (Weisbrot). From Argentine government’s point of view, it means YPF S. A. somehow did not represent the country’s interests. When corporate interests are not aligned with national interests, when companies are concerned only with profits, that's when economies fail, which is what happened globally in 2008 and what happened to Argentina in 2001† (Bronstein). In this case, it is crucial to form a local image in Argentina and being less foreign. Thirdly, it reduces the political risks in Argentina. IMF claims that there is no nationalization trend in South America despite the moves in Argentina, â€Å"it's a very diverse region and we would not call what we are seeing a trend† (Palmer).However, always being aware of potential political risks in Argentina is good to prepare ahead and reduce the loss as much as possible. Through Joint Venture, if a wide range of nationalization happens, it would reduce my loss of investing in establishing facility and share the risks with the local company. In addition, it allows me to be able to get involved into the relationship between the local company and local government. Fourthly, my company needs to get into the industry as soon as possible.Since Argentina is a FDI favorable country and renewable energy industry is hot, it is a highly competitive industry currently. â€Å"Argentina attracted US$743m (â‚ ¬546m) in clean  energy investment in 2010, ranking it 16th among G 20  members. Its five-year growth rate for clean energy investment  is 115% which places it second among the G 20† (Grotz, Decundo and Ernst and Young). As for solar energy, there are already some big companies involve in, like Sequel Power and Onyx Service and Solutions, Inc. , they admitted that â€Å"South America is a tremendous growth region for utility-scale solar energy projects† (Solar Daily).Not to mention when the EU begins to focus on the industry, â€Å"the EU is the biggest foreign investor in Argentina, accounting for about half of the FDI in Argentina with EU's investment stocks worth â‚ ¬ 44. 1 billion in 2008 and   important investments in areas such as telecoms, automotive or energy† (European Commission), the competition would be drastic. At that time, the key point to win the battle would focus on technology. Through Joint Venture, not only my company would provide the latest technology in the U. S. , but also the local company is abl e to distribute the competitive product to local market in time.Fifthly, through Joint Venture, it would be easier to send money back to the U. S. The financial issue would be the biggest problem to do business in Argentina. Due to the crisis in 2001, â€Å"Argentina defaulted on its bonds and has since had  difficulty accessing the international credit market†; therefore, even though Argentine government is trying to develop renewable energy, â€Å"A lack of  support for project development from financial institutions  continues to be a barrier to renewable energy development in  the country† (Grotz, Decundo and Ernst and Young).Without subsidiary from government, it is harder to develop a new company in a new industry. Therefore, the financial plan should be made in detail and carefully. The restriction on money transaction is tightened in Argentina; huge amount of money need to go through the Central Bank to transfer to outside of Argentina. It would be easi er for Argentina residents to do so. Argentina has placed trade barriers, like limits on payment of import services, to protect local industry and its trade surplus.And â€Å"the critics described the policy as ‘unbefitting any WTO member’ and ‘particularly troubling’ because they limit the growth-enhancing prospects for trade† (Miles). Also, the labor cost is much cheaper in Argentina than the U. S. , thus, I decided not to import products from the U. S. to Argentina, but to produce it locally. Last but not least, through Joint Venture, I am able to know the cost of living in Argentina, and provide my employees a reasonable salary while working in there.And the local company can assist my employees to get used to the life in Argentina; it will allow them to feel less culture shock. I will keep their positions in the U. S. , and ask the first group of employees that go to Argentina to share their experiences in the help of next group of people to mak e full preparation. As the company in Argentina should be long-term, and I would like everyone in my company has the chance to work there, if I could. In this case, the coordination among the U.S. company and Argentine company will be better. One group of 10 employees in Argentina is fixed. And technicians are the most important, it needs 3 employees; 2 engineers are able to develop our products suitable for Argentine circumstance; 1 in sales, 1 accountant, 1 in shipping, and 2 managers would be enough to cooperate with the local company. All in all, considering the market factor and the business environment in Argentina, I would like to sell and produce my electronic package.I already have competitive advantage in my product, through Joint Venture; it enables my business to develop smoothly and steadily in such a foreign market. Works Cited Bronstein, Hugh. Hugh Bronstein. 4 May 2012. 4 May 2012 . European Commission. Argentina. 18 April 2012. 3 May 2012