ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
In recent years, it is clear that the focus of many management scholars and managers have been to depict the concept of bureaucracy as unacceptable in modern-day environment. Most notably, it is argued that bureaucracy is inflexible, reduces organizational efficiency, and is therefore completely unsuited to today’s rapidly shifting world (Grey 2013). The general trend, therefore, has been to replace bureaucracy with flexible organizations that are viewed as more suitable for our increasingly fast-changing business environment. The present paper purposes to assess this view, with the objective of demonstrating that bureaucracy is still relevant in modern-day environment. One of the reasons proposed for adopting modern paradigms of management (post-bureaucracies) is that they stimulate creativity and innovation by allowing people to act on the basis of shared values than rules (Grey 2013). While such a predisposition has borne fruits for companies such as Google and Yahoo, it cannot escape mention that lack of rigid rules in organizations was substantially to blame for financial crisis that rocked the world in 2008-2009, and also for the subsequent downfall of big corporations such as the Lehman Brothers, Enron and the Bank of Scotland. A critical analysis demonstrates that non-hierarchical, personally focused and trust-based organizations reminiscent of post-bureaucracies played a substantial role in triggering the banking bubble that led to the financial crisis. Another reason progressed by pundits of the post-bureaucracy paradigm is that the bureaucratic approach is dehumanizing and degrading to employees. In attempting to supplant bureaucracy, these pundits argue modern-day flexible organizations should always ensure that responsibilities are assigned on the basis of competence for tasks rather than hierarchy, and that employees should be treated fairly as individuals rather than impersonally (Grey 2013). However, previous research done on companies such as Nippon CTV (utilizes new forms of management such as lean production, just-in-time approach etc) and ValleyCo (uses traditional practices) found substantial similarity between ‘traditional’ and ‘new’ forms of working in things such as employee treatment and participation, task assignment and hierarchy (Grey 2013). This evidence demonstrates that bureaucracy is still implemented in modern-day organizations. Moving on, advocates of modern-day flexible firms argue that “post-bureaucracy does away with the turgid old nonsense about impersonality, yearly promotions and fixed salary scales in favor of individual treatment where reward is based on merit” (Grey 2013, p. 84). These are noble virtues for any organization, but implementing them boils down to the fact some rules must first be put in place to determine, for instance, how employees will be rewarded and which measure will be used. Consequently, it is evident that bureaucracy must be present for flexible firms to be able to operate efficiently and effectively
Introduction Contemporary children’s/adolescent literature helps young American readers explore the world around them and understand themselves better. Notably, the twentieth century became the period when writers pertaining to different ethnic backgrounds started telling stories about their experiences and their lives. Asian American writers were among those who wanted to share their experiences (opinions, dreams, ideas, fears) and help their counterparts face certain challenges and solve various issues. Like any other non-white writers, Asian American authors’ works have been subjected to “marginalization and erasure” (De Manuel and Davis v). Nonetheless, these authors could not be silenced as their powerful works drew the attention of children, adolescents, as well as adults. One of the writers who managed to make Asian American experiences visible is Laurence Michael Yep. He is a prolific Chinese American author who created numerous works, including short stories, plays, picture books, and numerous amazing books for children and adolescents. The works of this writer often have several recurrent topics, which are close to children, especially Asian American ones, which makes his books so popular. Brief Biography and Its Influence on His Works It is clear that personal experiences have a tremendous effect on authors’ creativity and the way they express it. Therefore, prior to exploring major topics of Laurence Yep’s works, it is important to consider some facts from the writer’s life. Laurence Yep was born in San Francisco in 1948 (Lawrence 10). He was the second child. His father, Gim Lew Yep, was born in China in 1914, and he came to the USA when he was ten. Gim Yep owned a small grocery store in the 1950s. This store had quite a significant impact on Laurence Yep’s development. Completing chores made him understood the benefits of a certain rhythm, and this enabled him to be such a prolific author (Lawrence 16). Of course, the future writer’s life was not confined to the store only. Importantly, when the future writer was seven years old, some significant changes took place, and his “old world was shattered as… The gray, lifeless hills” appeared in the street he lived (qt. in Lawrence 16). There was a governmental program aimed at providing low-income families with affordable apartments, and the multistoried buildings appeared. Clearly, Yep did not have his old friends who had to leave, and he felt lonely. The neighborhood also played a significant role in the life of the writer. He lived in quite a poor neighborhood with predominantly African American neighbors. There were white people and Asian neighbors, as well. This diverse population increased his feeling of loneliness. It is possible to describe one episode from the author’s life to understand the way this feeling was developing. One day, children from the neighborhood were playing, and they pretended to be soldiers in World War II. At some point, they turned to Laurence and started chasing him as they thought
In strategic studies, causes, impacts, and ways of ending war have always been subjects of concern to scholars (Baylis, 2007). Humans have always considered war as a disaster, a source of misery, and a threat to their existence. However, it should be noted that war has not always been viewed negatively. For instance, during the 19 th century some scholars believed that war was the only remedy for ailing nations. Equally, before the mid 20 th century people perceived war as a tool of change. However, with the inventions of nuclear weapons the above ideas have been rendered obsolete. This occurred due to the fear and destructiveness caused by the nuclear weapons. In this regard, this article focuses on how the inventions of nuclear weapons have altered our understanding of strategic studies. Before the invention of the nuclear weapons, classical strategic theories were pertinent in warfare. However, after the invention of these weapons the techniques of war have been changing from decade to decade. With these changes, several strategic theories that had been passed on from the 19 th century became outdated. During the 1946, Brodie suggested that nuclear weapons had the capability to destroy all the major world cities in a single day (Baylis, 2007). He further asserted that there was no adequate defense system to prevent the risks caused by atomic attacks. According to him, atomic attacks had no geographical immunity. In addition, Brodie postulated that with improvements in nuclear science the perceptions that military superiority guaranteed national security were going to be obsolete. During the mid 20 th century, scholars noted that inventions in nuclear weapons necessitated effective strategies to enhance nuclear deterrence. In addition, it was noted that in the outcome of a war the winners and the losers were both going to suffer a great deal of destructions. Based on this concept, scholars argued that unde
Executive summary The report examines the marketing mix applied by Nordstrom Inc., which is one of the retail chain stores in luxury products. Retail chain is one of the highly competitive industries particularly among firms dealing in luxury and fashionable products. The report provides recommended marketing mix as one of the consumer behavior principles to be applied by sales management of the company to enhance its competitiveness. The report is based on the marketing survey data collected from the customers, employees, and managers of different chain stores of the company in various states. Nordstrom Inc. is one of the American upscale chain stores retailing in fashionable products ranging from accessories to women and men’s wear. From the beginning, the company was known for its specialty in shoes. However, the company has expanded its product range and currently retailing in all manner of fashionable products including accessories, garments, ornaments, and bouquet. The company has not only expanded in terms of product range but also in geographical coverage. Currently, the company is operating retail stores in over thirty-three states in the USA and plan to open another line store in Canada. Nordstrom Inc. is the luxury products retailer that has the largest number of stores as well as geographical spread compared to the major competitors such as the Bloomingdales and Marcus. The company is currently leading in terms of market share with over forty-five percent. The product strategy recommendation The company deals in varieties of fashionable products ranging from both women and men’s wear to jewels. As such, the company should utilize its innovative capabilities to ensure the development and sale of new products that offer varied choices for customers (Kotler & Armstrong, 2013). Moreover, the auxiliary functions of the products should be improved to suit the customer needs and bring convenience, which is a mixture of value and quality. Further, product differentiation is critical amid intense competition particularly in new markets where the company plans to establish new stores. The company should differentiate its products in terms of augmented value, placing and pricing. In other words, the company should ensure that the products have additional value beyond the expectations of the customers (Kotler & Armstrong, 2013). Moreover, the products should be placed at the customers’ convenience. In essence, the firm should ensure that the customers receive their desired products at the right time and place even if it means delivering the products at the customers’ doorsteps. In the presence of increased competition, the company should ensure that its products are affordable to the target market. The affordability of the product should be accompanied by the form differentiation. The company should ensure that the products are displayed according to the sizes and reflect shapes that are considered by the customer as of superior quality (Kotler & Armstrong, 2013). Moreover, according to the customers, the products should be given the right specifications or conformance quality. In fact, the custom
Discussion 1 It is not the consequences, but the circumstances under which Dog House found itself in a dire financial situation that lead to the conclusion that Jerry Teal’s conduct was unethical, as it violated professional standards in business law. First, the landlord took advantage of his position and misappropriated company funds. Second, he used a corporate entity to perpetrate fraud, as he recovered money from the insurance property of Teal Properties, but did not pay that money to Dog House. In other words, Jerry Teal abused a corporate privilege for his own benefit. As a result, the personal interests of Mr. Teal and the corporate interests of the company became commingled, so the latter appeared to have no separate identity (Carroll and Buchholtz 418). However, even if Teal Properties did not reimburse the tenant for the repair costs and Dog House did not end up in a bad financial situation, the conduct of Mr. Teal would still be unethical. Discussion 2 Based on the definition of a shareholder’s derivative suit, it is possible to say that corporations can be expected to benefit from this type of litigation. This is because a shareholder’s derivative suit is brought against a third party whose actions are considered to have harmed the corporation. Specifically, corporate directors and officers can take advantage of their positions, thus causing harm to the corporation (Miller 739). For this reason, it is clear that these persons would be unwilling to bring a lawsuit against themselves. A shareholder’s derivative suit allow
Case description This case presents a medical condition (obtained through invasive testing and prenatal karyotyping) of a 30-year-old mother who is presently at 25 weeks of gestation; previous records show triploidy, a small fetus, and an early onset of Intrauterine-Growth-Restriction (IUGR). The fetus’ karyotype has been known to be (46, XX, del (4) (p 14), and it suffers from Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. The task in this case, therefore, is to present a discussion of the clinical phenotype for this fetus and as well give counsel to the expectant family. Generally speaking, prenatal karyotyping and diagnostic genetic testing has been very useful in assessing pregnancies that are vulnerable to genetic disorders and which are as a result of ages of mothers, known family medical records, clearly defined screened results, as well as ultrasonographically defined fetal abnormalities. Conducting prenatal diagnostics is aimed at revealing existent abnormalities in the chromosomes of the fetus; if this is not checked, it will result in severe harm to the fetus; this equally prepares the parents adequately on how and what to do during and after the pregnancy (Hsu, 2010). For a pregnancy that is in its 25th week, an earlier chorionic villus sampling would have been conducted in the 10th or the 11th weeks of the gestation through transabdominal/transcervical alternatives (or the recently preferred amniocentesis) is supposed. Clinical Significance for the Fetus A syndrome could be said to be a dominant expression of a particular clinical condition in a reoccurring state which is supposed to have been caused peculiarly. For a majority of known syndromes, it has been known that their occurrence is largely based on imbalances of the structure of chromosomes. The presented clinical condition of Wolf-Hirschhorn in our study case, like the Cri-du-Chat syndrome, is a clear manifestation of contiguous-gene-syndromes (CGS) that is linked with growth abnormality and some form of mental retardation (MR) caused primarily by chromosomal terminal deletions. A specific way through which insight is gained into the molecular pathogenesis of CGS is through the collection of patients who have closely related phenotypes whereas they have imbalanced variable sizes. According to Hook: ‘The identification of the minimal region of overlap associated with a specific phenotypic feature enables the localization of the genes of that pathology’ (Hook, 1992, p.102). The method noted by Hook is known as genotype-phenotype-correlations and is one of the earliest pieces of evidence for mapping Cri-du-Chat syndromes. Studies from postnatal diagnosis h
I Love Lucy is among the best American television sitcoms of all times that premiered in the 1950s, in Columbia broadcasting system (CBS). On the other hand, See Dad Run is one of the latest sitcoms in American television that premiered in 2012 in Nick at Nite. I Love Lucy and See Dad Run were produced by Desilu Productions and Nickelodeon Productions consecutively. With both of these series being among the top watched shows by Americans, they have similarities and disparities that make them worth watching. As much as they were casted in different decades and have disparities in their setting, topics, and basically their scripting; they still have some similarities that make them the top television shows of all times. Given that I Love Lucy premiered only a few years after World War II, the media did not have the freedom they have today; therefore, they declined covering some subjects. They had to be careful as there was a lot of tension, and would not have wanted to raise any apprehensions among their audience. To begin with, the settings of the casts are incomparable; this is because of the advancements made in technology which tremendously improved the quality of pictures. This is evident when comparing these two sitcoms as I Love Lucy was produced in black-and-white, while See Dad Run is not only produced in colored pictures, but also uses multi cameras in their casting. Times have changed and so have the lifestyles of many families; for these, the approach to the coverage of topics is different. For instance, unlike in I Love Lucy, See Dad Run , tend to openly converse issues related to sex, showing how differently this generation views this sensitive subject. In addition, the jokes used in the scripts are different in terms of their funniness, level of intellect and their delivery. Actors and actresses especially kids have greatly improved in their acting skills as there are more acting sc
Introduction Entrepreneur refers to the broader class of actors, individuals, private sector, and civil society or the government subjected to diverse forms of risk and challenges as well. Due to the complexity of the entrepreneurial culture, the business people must be very efficient and adaptive to survive the world business competition. This condition requires managers and entrepreneurs who can sustain profitability and viability by maximizing their potential (Timmons and Spinelli, 2007:113-125). Entrepreneurs differ in abilities and potential in the different vocational duties they undertake. An entrepreneur who is likely to succeed possesses both strengths and weaknesses, which directly spell the success or failure of the business. All business entrepreneurs have weaknesses. However, the success or the failure of any business depends on how he turns or complements the weaknesses. Strengths As an entrepreneur, one needs to be honest with oneself. There are every fewer benefit if any for an entrepreneur to cheat oneself, an existing customer, or a potential customer. Cheating in business leads to the loss of a game in one’s ground. One loses the possibility of improving oneself and the business (Szerb, and Acs, 2012:187-191). A successful entrepreneur sets realistic goals to achieve within a specified time. He looks at the market potential and financial ability then establishes a target that is realizable within that period. An entrepreneur should be self-reliant to succeed (Alain, 2007:119-123). He must be very independent in making a decision and when setting objectives. He should focus on the goals for which he has set in the business. An entrepreneur should periodically review the performance of the business. This review should be mainly after the expiry of the trading period or on stock renewal. An entrepreneur should learn from past mistakes and experiences and should be ready to listen to advice from other experienced entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur should accept changes and learn from them or use them as the motivating factor. An entrepreneur should prot
Photo’s Impression The history of military photography has its roots in the deep past. Nevertheless, even in the era of the absence of any advanced devices and tools, some authors managed to make extraordinary shots that became legends. The impressions made by the photo of Fenton on the reviewer were significant for several reasons. Firstly, the simplicity of the display of war horrors can be traced in this shot, which attracts and, at the same time, repels. Secondly, during that period, Fenton was one of the few who were interested not only in depicting battle scenes but also in such conceptual plots that could be seen in the photograph. Finally, from the standpoint of war, such a large number of cannonballs on the road testifies to the scale of the hostilities, which also makes one wonder about the alarming consequences of attacks. For that era, a careful approach was typical since photography was not developed well enough, and authors considered it as the means of artistic expression. Making any creative forms took long, and the public adopted such a style due to its meaningful nature and design. Therefore, the style and features of the image prompted a keen interest in the reviewer. Visual Representations and Their Meanings Using Fenton’s photo for comparison with video materials containing battle scenes allows drawing certain conclusions regarding the various techniques and approaches of the authors. The shot is the silent display of war, its consequences, and frightening nature. Video scenes have a simpler and more straightforward plot where only tactical actions are presented. In both genres, there are unique features; however, the meanings and promise are different. Fenton seeks to show the viewer not the key war events but their background and takes his photo that conveys an unusual and apocalyptic landscape with cannonballs on the road. Video materials do not have the goal of engaging viewers to thoughts and reflections, although the scenes presented also convey the frightening nature of armed conflicts with injuries and victims. Regarding the effect of the impact, cinematic excerpts can have a greater influence on those who can hardly see the idea of ​​the photographer in his shot. Therefore, based on the analysis of materials, it is possible to argue about a completely different approach to the image of war and its interpretation by different authors. Work Cited Fenton, Roger. “ The Valley of the Shadow of Death. ” 1855. Getty Museum, Los Angeles. The Getty . Web.