ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
How generalizable are GE’s management development policies and practices? How transferable are they across cultures, across industries, and companies? The policies and practices in any organization play a pivotal role in its development. GE has grown to be one of the most admired global corporations all over the world. This achievement is attributed to its policies and practices that have been adopted and improved over time by various key managers (CEOs) running the company at different eras over the century. Some of these key leaders are Thomas Edison (founder), Borsch, and Jeff Immelt. The policies and structures adopted are cut out from the company’s leadership system and can be applied across cultures, industries, and companies. GE’s policies and structures include continuous improvement, meritocracy, focus strategy, and ‘marrying’ new employees to GE culture. The extent to which policies and practices can be generalized is dependent on the circumstances, environment, and situation of laws, geographical areas, and regulations within a state. Though they cannot be adopted in every company or industry in every part of the world, the generalizability of the policies and practices of GE is immense. For instance, GE is focused on the growth and development of its human resource through a step by step strategy (Bartlett & Mclean, 2006). This can be adopted by companies around the world to strengthen their human resource with the skills needed in their corporations. Transferability across companies, cultures, and industries: GE took upon itself to polishing its employees to fit and help grow the company. Recruits are fresh from college and they are trained while taking into account the present and future requirements of the company. This strategy may not be employed by most companies as they mostly do external hiring of manpower. Thus, this principle cannot be adopted in such companies. Culture varies in different parts of the world and within companies. For the transferability of GE’s policies and structures to exist, the company has to possess less or the same culture as GE. Thus, it’s not in all continents or companies that these policies can be adopted, for instance, the culture regarding type and need for manpower is different in Europe compared to that of Asia. This makes transferability difficult due to values, behavior, and culture which make human behavior different in different countries in similar situations. What was most critical in GE’s ability to appoint Jeff Immelt as CEO of one of the World’s most complex companies at the age of 44?
Executive Summary This research work is designed to investigate energy industry in Nigeria, particularly the Power Holding Company of Nigeria’s dealings in terms of project management. Essentially, the study will focus on a variety of issues pertaining the company’s accomplishments, constraints, and current reforms in the power industry. The study will be titled “Project Management: Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Its Accomplishments, Constraints and Current Reform In Relation To Project Management in The Nigerian Power Sector”. It is of the idea of finding out how project management has been conducted, challenges involved, and eventually successes achieved. The objective of the study will be to highlight the importance of PHCN, its achievements since formation, investigate the growth or decline the power sector, investigate challenges faced, and study the current reforms being undertaken, as well as their benefits. Relevant data for this research topic will be sourced from a number of sources both primary and secondary sources. A descriptive method of study will be employed for this research. Questionnaires will be issued to the staff in the organization, where 210 people will participate. A sample of 140 will be drawn from this population. Chi-square test will be used to test the validity of the hypothesis. Background The inability of most of the countries in Africa to provide access to power to most of its citizens has been considered as the curse on development (Okoro, & Chikuni 2007 p. 125). Energy is particularly crucial for any country that wants to achieve sustainable development. Many developed cities across the world have seen those kinds of tremendous growths because of availability and access to energy (Barnett & Rolando, 2002, p. 177). The availability to a number of sectors of the country always determines the rate and level of development of that country. Energy is an indispensable element of transforming a subsidence economy to a service-oriented or production economy (Ekpo, & Iyoha 2007, p.127). Energy has vast impact on education, manufacturing and production, service health, transport, housing and other demography. The need for safe and reliable source of energy has inspired countries to establish companies that would enable them to produce, and distribute energy. One of such companies is the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (Ekpo, & Iyoha 2007, p.127). Lack of access to these energy sources can cause and increase in poverty. For instance, people would spend a lot of time seeking cheap and available sources like firewood and charcoal for cooking and lighting (Barnett & Rolando, 2002, p. 177). These cause so much emission hence not friendly for the environment. Furthermore, cheap sources can cause health
Introduction There are a lot of common features between art and cooking; people working in these spheres may produce totally different results even using the same materials, and this is why practical skills are so significant. When it comes to cooking, it is necessary to remember that it is wrong to assess the quality of food-based only on its gustatory qualities. Apart from that, it is extremely important to consider the ways of processing food products that were used and estimate whether they have helped to maintain nutrients and vitamins that are in vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish. It is common knowledge that people who are professionals in this field and work at restaurants have to be aware of different methods of processing food products that can help to retain their hale and cook the food that will be free from harmful substances and will benefit people’s health. Nevertheless, the rules and tips that allow cooking healthy food can be applied during domestic food preparation as well. Types of Nutrients Found in Alimentary Products As it is clear from the laws of nature that all living creatures live in accordance with, each organism needs to be provided with food in order to experience physical development and be strong enough to survive yield progeny, and be able to protect young ones as long as possible. In order to fulfil these tasks, living creatures need nutrients that can be found in different types of alimentary products. Speaking about nutrients, we mean a range of components providing the organism with energy and allowing its cells to multiply. There is a range of nutrients that can be found in products that we regularly use while preparing food, and different cooking techniques may destroy nutrients or help to preserve them. Speaking about the latter, it is necessary to define and provide insight into the most important types of nutrients that can be found in alimentary products that we use. Thus, there are six types of them. The first group includes proteins that help to fulfil essential functions of the human body; apart from being an important source of energy, they help to improve muscle mass. As for the particular products that contain a lot of protein, they include meat, eggs, fish, and dairy products such as milk, cottage cheese, and buttermilk. The second type of nutrients that are important for the human body is represented by such substances as water. The latter also allows the organism to develop; apart from that, it plays an essential role because it helps to provide cells of the human body with nutrients of other types (“Australian dietary guidelines,” 2013). The next type of nutrients is fat. Aside from this term, these nutrients are also referred to as triglycerides. Fats are supposed to be one of the primary sources of energy in the human body. Consumption of these nutrients may have both positive and negative influences on people’s health as f
Both Venezuela and Brazil are associated with complicated economic and political environment and significant barriers to sustainability of foreign enterprises. According to Cardenas (2014), in Brazil, the major issues are of the structural and infrastructural character, i.e., the “cumbersome” tax system, high labor costs, high cost of production and some other bottlenecks which may not allow firms to increase their competitiveness in the market. Additionally, the shortages in the qualified labor force may result in low productivity, ineffectiveness, and decreased quality of service. At the same time, Venezuela is associated with significant financial risks due to hyperinflation, “shortages of currency and goods,” and high level of the economy’s dependence on oil and gas sector (Coface, 2017, par. 2). These weaknesses may create serious obstacles to the organizational ability to purchase necessary materials and other inputs and interfere with innovation endeavors. When choosing between these two markets, Brazil seems to
Introduction General Motors (GM) remains one of the most competitive automakers in the world today ( General Motors , 2016). The company has numerous resources and financial assets that support its manufacturing processes. GM continues to deliver exemplary and luxurious vehicles to more customers across the globe. Despite such achievements, errors, and challenges have always been associated with GM’s business process. Such challenges are evidenced by the major concerns reported by most of the firm’s customers. For example, GM “recalled over 2.6 vehicles because they had faulty ignition switches in 2014” ( General Motors , 2016, para. 3). Such faults led to the death of around 124 people. Similarly, the giant automaker recalled over 4.3 million luxury vehicles in September 2016 (Nunez, 2016). Most of the affected vehicles had been manufactured between 2014 and 2016. Such automobiles had been observed to have software issues. Such “defects prevented airbags from deploying whenever there was a crash” (Nunez, 2016, para. 2). Since such defects had caused several deaths, GM decided to implement new measures in an attempt to improve the safety of its automobiles. The use of lean can play a critical role in dealing with the current issues affecting the company. GM Recalls as an Internal Service Issue Experts in the global automobile industry have acknowledged the presence of internal service issues at GM. This is the case because the occurrence of defects in such vehicles is a clear indication that several things are not being done efficiently. The company’s management team has not been committed to the best cultural and manufacturing practices. Two major recalls within a period of two years is a serious issue that should be analyzed carefully (Nunez, 2016). This is the case because such recalls might affect the performance and profitability of the company in the future. The corporation’s culture might have been ineffective thus creating new rooms for errors. The term internal services “describes the managerial approaches embraced in order to ensure the activities within a large organization are executed in a professional manner” (Watson, 2012, p. 74). The case of GM indicates that some of its internal services are characterized by a wide range of problems. Consequently, the inefficiencies associated with such internal services must have led to the issues affecting the company ( General Motors , 2016). The financial implications of such recalls cannot be underestimated. This fact explains why GM has continued to lose its profits. Nunez (2016) indicates that such issues might have long-term implications on the company’s business performance and discourage more customers from purchasing its automobiles. The occurrence of these challenges at GM should be a wakeup call in order to implement new approaches that can make a significant difference. The ultimate goal of every organization is to maximize profits and ensure the diverse needs of the targeted customers are addressed in a timely manner. If GM conti
Introduction Antigone is an ancient Greek play believed to have been written over two thousand years ago at a place which is considered to be the origin of democratic organizations. One of the greatest Greek authors, Sophocles, wrote about some of the momentous happenings that were experienced during those ancient times. Traditions and gods were particularly vital in shaping the lives of the Greeks’ lifestyles. This influence is reflected in the themes brought out in this play including pride, tragedy, fate, gender, betrayal, and love and sibling rivalry among others. These issues have made Antigone, a consistent story, to be relevant to the audience of all times, because these issues are remarkably vital for human existence. Pride It is obvious that Pride is highly expressed in Antigone as well as many other works by Sophocles. It is apparent in most religions that gods do not like people who are full of pride (De Quincey 364). They, in fact, despise it and the repercussion for this is dealt with mercilessly. In the play, it is evident that pride is used by people to create laws that challenge the divine law from gods. Antigone is clearly a threat to the status quo since she challenges authorities by invoking the divine law in her defense (De Quincey 364). However, implicit in her stance is the belief in the discerning power of her personal conscience. Antigone sacrifices her life because of devoting to divine law instead of human law. She adheres to the divine law, the gods for the sentence he imposes on Antigone harshly punish Creon. The need to defeat Antigone seems to be a personal issue that Creon seems to be determined to achieve (Kallendorf 118). As a result, he puts the order of the state at stake as well as his position as king (Sophocles, “Literature” 605). In other words, the laws created by Creon are put in place because he feels his law should also be divine. Because of pride, Tiresias is sent to bring the message claiming that the king will suffer. Besides realizing that he made a mistake, Creon still refuses to admit and correct it because of pride (Kallendorf 118). He then alters the prophet’s summon to preserve the status quo, his life, but not because he is sorry. Therefore, he has to suffer punishment for that. While talking to his son Haemon, Creon is seen to question him, “Should I stand here and listen to your lecture? A highly experienced man, at my age…” (Sourvinou-Inwood 134). This situation shows that, pride stood in the way of Creon’s actions, and as a result, he ends up losing everything he loved and cherished. Tragedy About halfway down the play, a tragedy is announced. The tragedy comes as a perfec
Introduction The Work Choices legacy has been one of declining unionization and less collective bargaining in workplace relations. Conversely, the Fair Work Act (FW Act) 2009 is seen as a tool for reinstating enterprise wide collective bargaining. In this proposal, it shall be argued that the FW Act is a far better legislation for collective bargaining than previous legislations through an analysis of the core values in the legislation and some of the particular workplace changes that have been and will be altered through implementation of this law. The current situation on collective bargaining Collective bargaining in Australia has often been viewed as an adversarial relationship. The battle is often between workers, their unions or representatives and their employers. There has been little room for consensus and this has led to excessive arbitration as well as continual mistrust between parties in workplace relations. There is a need to move from these hostilities to a more harmonious approach to collective bargaining (Forysth and Stewart, 2009). Although things are changing after instatement of the Fair Work Act in 2009, the workplace arena is yet to undergo a paradigm shift from the old way of viewing industrial relations to this new one. Prior to the passing of the FW Act, statutory individual agreements were the main way of bargaining between employers and their workers. This was especially enforced through the Work Choices Act of 2005. The latter legislation made it okay for employers to refuse to negotiate with unions if and when the need arose. Individual agreements were the order of the day and employers often had the upper hand. Currently, this has changed slightly because the new legislation does not encourage these approaches to collective bargaining. Why laws regulating collective bargaining are important One cannot fully exhaust the reasons why legislating collective bargaining is important because the matter is quite lengthy. However, at the heart of it, is the need to protect the rights of employees. These rights should not merely be thought of theoretically because they often translate into practical applications for workers. Workers who enjoy union membership or who have applied collective bargaining often benefit from better working conditions; which is an important process of these expressions. They also gain the advantage of having better pay at work and employers who listen to them (Cooper and Ellem, 2009). Making laws on collective bargaining can potentially increase the level of productivity at work. This is because if employee’s rights are protected, then chances are that they are likely to concentrate at work and this may affect their outcomes. Eventually, high productivity among individuals translates into higher productivity nationally thus contributing to greater competiveness globally. Industr
Introduction Happy Endings is a narrative by Margaret Atwood that explains the nature of marriages in society. According to the author, marriages do not always end in happiness. In fact, the only happy ending is found in the first part of the story where John and Mary live their life to the fullest. Although both of them die, they die happy people. The rest of the narrative is filled with people’s desire to be loved. On the other hand, The Open Boat is a short story by Stephen Crane that explains about four men who are stuck in the middle of the sea while trying to find their way into shore after their ship has capsized. The narrative speaks of a strong will to live and shows how we are not supposed to give up. The situation the men find themselves in makes them create a love for each
Polar transformations are the dramatic changes that Polar Regions have been undergoing due to climate change and other threats such as overfishing, pollution, and oil and gas developments. Due to global warming, Arctic and Antarctic regions have been experiencing growing numbers of ice-free days, with increasing access to gas and oil reserves. Djoghlaf notes that since these parts of the earth are unique, any sensitivity to changes in temperature can be used as the initial warning system as far as global warming is concerned (14). As observed from 1850 to present, the regions’ average temperatures have increased by almost thrice the global average temperature. Furthermore, the average temperature on the surface of the permafrost layer has gone up to three degrees Celsius. Nonetheless, the 1995-2006 survey by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that the two regions emerged to be at the top among the twelve warmest years since 1850 (Djoghlaf 14). Scientists have established that the magnitude has caused the annual average Arctic ice to shrink by 2.1% to 3.1% per decade. Green Facts Organization projects that the polar precipitation will increase by roughly 20%, as the total Po
Introduction Diabetes is one of the disorders associated with metabolism and circulation. Skin is one of the organs affected by chronic metabolic problems that lead to nerve damage and poor circulation. Chronic leg ulcers associated with diabetes are conditions that occur over a long duration mostly in elderly people between the age of 65 to 80, with the peak occurrence at the age of 80. Venous insufficiency is commonly reported within the range of suggested aetiologies. Pain is commonly reported to affect over 89% of patients suffering from venous leg ulceration, Caballero. E and Frykberg, R.G. (1998). Leg ulceration is one of the chronic disabling conditions. 1-2% of the developed world population is believed to be affected. Its median duration of occurrence is 6-9 months with a range of 4 weeks to 72 years. Although healing can be accelerated, more than 40% of the patients will experience open ulceration for more than one year. Even in cases where healing is achieved, 26-69% 12-month recurrence rate has been reported. Thus some patients may suffer from leg ulceration symptoms for a lifetime, Albrant, D.H. (2000). Factors that lead to skin lesions in diabetes Neuropathy Peripheral nerve malfunction is common in uncontrolled diabetes. The mechanisms that result in neurons damage in diabetes are not well understood. Oxidative stress in the neurons due to a high level of blood glucose could be a factor. Diabetic neuropathy may involve the sensory, motor, and autonomic nervous systems. Malfunction of the sensory neurons leads to loss of feeling, problem sensing limb position, reflex loss, pain, and tingling (paresthesias). Local circulation is altered by autonomic neuropathy as motor impairment results in muscle weakness, Michelle, B and Kate, F. (2007). Circulatory impairment Arteries, as well as arterioles, are prone to have plaque buildup in cases of chronic diabetes. The exact reason for this is not clear but Type II non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients usually suffer from diabetic dyslipidemia (abnormal blood lipid). The low-density lipoproteins particles adhere to the blood vessel walls causing vascular occlusion and the resulting lowered nutrient and oxygen supplies stress tissue resistance as well as impair the process of tissue recovery from injury. Mechanical stress Tissue perfusion is inhibited by repeated chronic pressure upon the skin that compresses dermal arterioles. Ulceration results from this tissue weakness that further exposes it to pathogenic microorganisms. Osteomyelitis may be initiated if the ulceration does reach the underlying bone. Fungi and Protozoa A common inhabitant of chronic diabetic wounds. Examples include Aspergillus and Candida where Aspergillus, Candida, Actinomycoses, Histoplasma, and Cryptococcus are neutralized by the drug Ozone. Several protozoan organisms are usually found in diabetic chronic wounds. Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and free-living amoebas such as Hartmonella, Acanthamoeba, and Naegleria are amo