ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Article summary The article “Spin-Out Management: Theory and Practice” encourages managers to have effective organizational structures. A powerful organizational structure promotes “the best leadership practices, business models, and decision-making processes” (Jagersman and van Gorp 17). According to the authors, Spin-Out Management makes it easier for business organizations to diversify their operations. This strategy encourages firms “to produce independent business activities” (Jagersman and van Gorp 16). This practice “enhances the innovative aspects of a business” (Jones 34). The approach also increases the level of profitability. This model encourages companies to produce powerful structures that can support their potentials. The article examines how different companies such as Dell Computers, 4BB, and Infopulse have used the above model effectively. Businesses should “identify their objectives, budgets, scopes, and penetration strategies before embracing the Spin-Out Management model” (Jagersman and van Gorp 23). Relating the article to the class materials Managers should understand the relevance of Theory, Design, and Change. This article begins by examining the issues affecting many organizations today. The theoretical argument explores the importance of an effective organizational structure. This practice can produce the best behaviors and strategies in every firm. Managers should also identify the best organizational designs in order to achieve their goals. Organizational change is “a powerful concept that supports the needs of different companies” (Jagersman and van Gorp 19). These arguments support the concepts and lessons covered in class. A “weak organizational structure will make it impossible for a company to realize its potentials” (Jagersman and van Gorp 21). A powerful “business model will add value to different stakeholders” (Jagersman and van Gorp 16). The authors examine the strategies adopted by several companies in order to achieve their potentials. The presented companies have embraced the importance of the above model. The article identifies powerful aspects that can make many businesses successful. The class readings have supported the importance of “employee motivation, powerful leadership concepts, decision-making practices, Product Development Process (PDP), and organizational transparency” (Jones 28). These concepts explain why companies such as Dell Computers realized their potentials. Practical application The above article supports the changing needs of different organizations. Many companies “lack effective organizational structures and business models” (Jagersman and van Gorp 16). A powerful “ Spin-Out Business Model can redefine the performance of many firms” (Jagersman and van Gorp 16). Proper leadership “can also support the targeted horizontal synergy” (Jones 43). Businesses should therefore use powerful organizational philosophies in order to achieve their objectives. The article offers useful ideas that can support different organizational changes. For instance, managers should support the changing demands of their sta
Introduction One of the socially notable aspects of today’s living is the fact that, as time goes on, more and more people in Western countries grow increasingly preoccupied with trying to ensure the ‘beautifulness’ and/or ‘uniqueness’ of their physical appearance. On the other hand, however, there can be only a few doubts that the flow of time has a strong negative effect on the overall measure of these societies’ ‘anthropological pleasantness’ – something that can be easily illustrated, in regards to the skyrocketing rate of obesity in the West. In this paper, I will explore the discursive significance of the above-mentioned phenomenon at length, while promoting the idea that it should be discussed in close conjunction to what account for the instruments of hegemonic domination, deployed by the representatives of the elites, in order to be able to maintain their undisputed domination in the ‘civilized world’. It will also be argued that the phenomenon in question is reflective the ongoing existential degradation of White people. Body As it was pointed out in the Introduction, there is indeed a good rationale in referring to a Westerners’ obsession with ‘beautification’, as such that has long ago attained the subtleties of an epidemic. For example, according to Von Drehle: “The number of cosmetic procedures performed on Americans has risen roughly 500 percent over the past decade… and last year 11 million procedures were done. These procedures averaged more than $1,000 a pop, not counting the intangible costs” (14). The most popular TV shows are the ones, in which celebrities appear for the sake of making a spectacle of their physical appearance, while often crossing the boundaries of appropriateness. Even young girls in Western countries are being encouraged to think that, without being physically attractive, they will not be able to advance socially – something that it being illustrated by the so-called ‘beauty pageants’ held in schools. The same can be said about many young (and old) men in the West, preoccupied with paying close attention to their physical looks, as if it represented one of their main life-priorities. Nevertheless, it will not take applying much of an effort to become fully aware of the fact that, if anything, an average American is being committed to the ideals of bodily fitness and attractiveness the least – one would simply have to visit the nearest McDonalds restaurant, filled with ‘people-hamburgers’, who are often unable to walk on their own. Nevertheless, this seeming paradox is not quite as odd as it may appear. It signifies the fact the fact that, as it is being the case with just about any existential anxiety of those people who live in the capitalist society, their natural strive towards beauty has been capitalized upon by the rich and powerful, as the tool of legitimizing the widening gap between themselves and the rest of ordinary citizens. The logic behind this suggestion is as follows: People are being deliberately led to believe in the importance of physical looks (beauty), as such that prompts them to proceed with the highly individualist mode of addressing life-challenges. Moreover
Abstract The paper commences by taking a look at executive pay positions in the United States. It looks at the various forms of compensation alongside basic salaries. These are then compared to other executives from outsourced companies around the world. It has been shown that US CEOs are the most highly paid. On other hand, mid level and low level outsourced positions are dependent on the location of the individual. People in Japan, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark pay their mid level workers much higher than their US counterparts. However, outsourced jobs in developing Asian nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines are much lower than they are in the US. Introduction Compensation packages can easily be understood through an analysis of CEO pay as well as through an analysis of mid level job positions because the nature of their pay differs very substantially. Executive pay In the United States, executives can receive any of the following: a basic salary, some bonuses or incentives, some long term plans, compensation protection, perks and even employee benefits. Usually, some CEOs are given a basic salary alongside other kinds of short term incentives or bonuses. In this regard, one may be entitled to some monetary compensation based on revenue growth or other types of incentives associated with the nature of one’s position. Sometimes, executives may be given a combination of their base salary alongside other forms of incentives that are largely calculated using formulas. The difference between short term compensations and long term compensations is that the period under consideration varies. Long term incentives usually get measured for periods longer than one year. It is also possible for executives to be entitled to certain other perks like a limousine, health insurance packages, retirement plans, housing and access to loans with very low interest rates or no interest rates at all. Alternatively, a person in an executive position may be entitled to stock options when the respective organization is interested in aligning stock price with interests of the said CEO. However, because of susceptibility to abuse by CEOs who may choose to artificially raise stock prices; most organizations may prefer putting a cap on the stock options available to their executives. It should be noted that stock options are still preferable over cash compensation owing to recent historical events that attested to unethical accounting behavior i.e. the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009. Furthermore, stock options normally place executives at an advantage when it comes to taxation issues. Some firms may also decide to offer some of their executives an opportunity to access stocks through the use of restricted stocks. These kinds of stock options
Introduction Tunnels refer to any enclosed passageway. Usually, tunnels pass underground to bypass natural barriers and to reduce the cost and impact of aboveground construction. This paper looks at various aspects concerning tunnel construction. The main issues of interest include the construction of underwater tunnels, construction of tunnels in soft soils, and the examination of tunnel construction methods. Underwater Tunnels The need to construct tunnels underwater arises from several situations. First, it may make more sense to construct a tunnel under a large river, or the sea instead of a bridge to avoid interfering with marine traffic. For instance, instead of constructing a bridge to link the mainland to an island, it may be better to construct a tunnel to avoid interrupting marine traffic around the island. Underwater tunnels may be constructed to provide a means of crossing a river. In this case, a bridge may be ruled out because of costs, especially of the river serves as a waterway. In addition, undersea tunnels are ideal where ferries are impractical or impossible to use. Sea canals mainly provide access to large islands or join two main bodies of land separated by a sea. Underwater tunnels are also ideal because they do not require closure during bad weather. Bridges or ferries, on the other hand, cannot operate full time because they are affected by bad weather. Underwater tunnels are challenging to construct depending in the depth of the water and the length of the required tunnel. Usually underwater tunnels do not run on the bed of the waterway, but below the bed of the water body. Construction of a tunnel on the bed of the water body adds more challenges to the tunnel construction process. Tunnel Construction Methods One of the important decisions that engineers must make in the tunnel design process is the construction methods that they will use. Construction of structures on the surface of the land does not compare to the complexities of tunnel construction. Tunnel construction usually takes place underground. A long tunnel usually has more complexities if the geological landscape changes very much. However, even in areas with uniform geological make up, the local rock and soil characteristics can affect the construction of tunnels. Engineers usually use four tunnel construction methods. Factors affecting the choice of the tunnel construction methods are as follows:   * First, t
Teenage drunk driving has been so common these days that according to a report, every year in the U.S. 12.8% of all traffic accidents are due to alcohol and 40% of those accidents are due to teenage drunk drivers. (Alcohol Alert) Alcohol is one of the major causes of highway deaths and injuries, accounting for about half of all annual motor vehicle fatalities. Therefore there is a need to analyze the relationship between drinking and driving and when it comes to teenagers, injuries take the form of fatal accidents. This essay would highlight on all the possible solutions and measures than can be taken in order to avoid teenage drunk driving. Many solutions to a problem Teenagers’ awareness Teenagers must be taught awareness of alcohol-related injury and misuse. While there is no question of the importance of individual differences and personal drinking behaviour, children must be aware of the alcoholic beverages and their social consequences in modern society. (Boyd & Howard, 1995, p. 134) Teenagers must be aware of the perils of ‘drunk driving’ even at the sub conscious level. Reducing Alcohol availability Alcohol consumption among teenagers could be easily reduced by reducing alcohol availability or to make the prices too high for the teenagers to purchase. Parental Control/ Restriction One solution is to simply control teenage drinking by keeping a strict eye on the school’s social environment of the teenager. (Presley & Pimentel, 2006) However parents must take into account that behaviors such as alcohol consumption, drug use and drinking are the initial steps towards delinquency. Therefore children must be stopped at the initial level before it gets too late for their experience of drunk driving. It is through the frequent use of alcohol consumption that teenagers become sexually active and begin driving. This problem also leads teenagers to stop thinking about further studies, therefore they decide to drop out or stay in school. Therefore parental control is necessary in order to prevent teenagers from drinking abuse. Solving teenagers sociological problems There is a need to view and analyze the idealized, sentimentalized vision of childhood spread beyond its initial focus in family life. (Joel, 1994, p. 6) Reformers must begin to draw attention to problems faced by teenagers in the larger society. All the problems that previously had been ignored must be given adequate consideration. Therefore another solution of preventing children from drunk driving is to dig deep the various sociological concerns and reasons behind, thereby understanding the root and cause of their social issues. For example parents may give ex
The productivity of the work force is becoming more and more qualitative. High quality productivity demands high mental alertness which requires a calm and trouble free mind. Thus the role of entertainment has increased many folds during the past decades. Sport, both as a participant and as a viewer is a major form of entertainment for many years. In recent years the trend is becoming more widespread and more professional. Never the sportsmen used to receive so much money as they are today. As Kern (2000, p. 9) found that the players now receive salaries much closer to the value of their contribution to team revenue. Graton and Taylor (2000, p. 56) gave the same opinion while mentioning sports as recreation. It has also been observed that certain countries have developed likings for certain kinds of sports and they are not uniform in all the countries as such. Football has become more popular in South Korea (Robinson, Bender & Whyte, 2004, p.110) after the world cup, while cricket has become popular in some Asian countries. It s said that money is the biggest motivating factor, same goes with the players. Players’ productive life is probably the lowest in terms of years. They become productive at the age of twenty and around 35 their productive life ends. In such a short time period they need to earn for their lifetime spending and therefore each player is very mindful of this aspect of his career. To motivate the football players FIFA has increased the salary of players in the world cup (Wong, 2008, p.126). Thus the funding had to be increased as well. FIFA’s compensation to participating team for the 2003 World Cup was $16 million and was collected from the tickets. During 2006 the price of ticket was $136 which was increased to $139 during 2010 World Cup (Pretswell, 2010, para. 1). Before a player reaches to the world cup he plays at club level at his own locality and country. There too, he needs to grow and groom to perfection. Thus, not only at international level, but even at local level the players need motivation for reasonable earnings for their household. During 2009 in Dallas, NFL average ticket prices rose 4% to $75, the fan Cost Index was $759 (Leahy 2009). While talking about the importance of individual player’s productivity we may define it in terms of Marginal Revenue Productivity (MRP). This may be defined as the cost and benefit of additional players in the game. For example, MRP is the multiplication of increase in revenue and increase in productivity. The cost versus productivity graph may be drawn as follows: The cost incurred in selecting the player and their productivity needs to be balanced to maximize benefits in each game. The concept of marginal revenue product (MRP) may have some relations in sports also. MRP may be defined when the newly hired employee produces work more valuable as compared to his remuneration. MRP is the value
Water is a human right to all mankind. However, over 1.1 billion people in the poor nations lack access to safe and clean water. A shortage of water results in the perpetuation of diseases, an escalation of poverty, and even early deaths. Among the poor countries, the public sector is charged with the responsibility of managing ninety-seven percent of all the water (Segerfeldt para. 1) and as such, the sector is largely responsible for failing to provide the more than one billion individuals with clean and safe water. Privatization of water leads to better incentives and superior competencies. Attempts to privatize the waters of the world have however elicited strong resistance, not to mention stirring strong emotions and feelings among those affected. Privatization ends up treating water as a commodity, and not a human right and so in the long-run, the poor have no access to it. On paper, water is regarded as a basic human right but still, one has to pay for it. To gain a further insight into the issue of privatization of the world’s waters, the paper shall examine three articles. First, Joshua Ortega’s article, “water wars: bottling up the world’s supply of water” shall be explored. The article, “private water saves lives” by Fredrik Segerfeldt shall also be assessed and finally, Jeff Fleischer’s article, “Blue Gold: An interview with Maude Barlow” will also be examined. As Segerfeldt (para. 1) notes, over 1 billion people globally, a majority of them from the poor nations, lacks access to safe and clean water. This is despite that fact that only about 8 per cent of all the water available globally is sued for purposes of human consumptions. This is an indication that the inability of the more than 1 billion individuals globally to access clean and safe water is not as a result of water shortage, but is due to bad policies. For example Segerfeldt (para. 1) observes that Cherrapunji, India often regarded as the world’ wettest place, also suffers from periodic water shortages. The public sector manages about ninety-seven percent of the entire water distribution channels in the poor countries and as such, it could be held responsible for the lack of access to clean and safe water by the more than 1 billion individuals in these countries. Those poor nations that have decided to privatize the water sector have witnessed an increasingly higher number of the citizens accessing water, in comparison with the other nations in which water is still managed by the public sector. Privatization the wat
Cuba, Iran, and Sunni Islam’s lack of democracy each pose a serious issue: taken together, these issues can result in America’s losses in influence and security. Cuba limits freedom of expression, abusing its citizens’ right to elect, criticize, and change their government, which is urgently emphasized by America’s Human Rights Watch (“US/Cuba” n.pag.). The embargo between Cuba and the U.S. is said to rather isolate the latter than controlling the former. The U.S. lacks the opportunity to communicate with the Cuban government, which keeps abusing its citizens’ freedoms, despite the economic limitation. Despite America’s best efforts, the democratic situation in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2001 and 2003 conflicts remains complicated. By and large, the U.S.’s attempts at establishing democracy in Iraq resulted in an increased level of corruption of the latter (Kadhim par. 8). America’s policy is more concerned with not letting Iraq fall into factions, which is why administrative and political corruption is overlooked. Such lenience does not put any obstacles to the potential sponsoring of terrorist organizations by corrupt politicians, making it a major threat to America’s national security. Sunni Islam is most widespread in Iraq and Syria; ISIS is an organization practicing Sunni as well. In the aftermath of Iraqi democracy and Syrian crisis failures, the U.S. has reduced its involvement in the region (Forsythe and Monshipouri par. 5). Such a move results in increasing agitation and insecurity, which might
Introduction One of the main problems in the contemporary society is getting affordable housing. Real estate developers are doing everything to provide people with quality houses that meet their needs, and at competitive market prices. Demand for housing has always been high, especially after the turn of the century. Therefore, it is important to ensure that property owners manage the available houses in a manner that will satisfy the market demand (Tucker 19). One of the most effective strategies applied in satisfying the demand and supply of affordable housing is rent regulation. Rent control refers to a system of laws administered by governments to regulate rents of residential houses and commercial properties. It is a price control measure that dictates the limit on the amount of rent that a property owner can charge (Lett 100). Rent regulation protects tenants against exploitation by the proprietors. Rent control regulations vary depending on the legal power in the place that they apply. Rent control helps to boost the economic value of real property through a steady return on their investments for proprietors. The concept of rent regulation was developed in response to an argument by economic experts that the supply function in the housing market was inflexible. This means that it cannot adjust readily to the demand function in the same market (Tucker 23). Discussion Currently, there are over forty countries across the world that applies the concept of rent regulation. Rent control uses a number of provisions that have had a huge impact on the development and value of real estate properties. Economic experts argue that rent regulation helps to stabilize global economies, by enabling people to have a sound economic culture (Turner 62). They argue that people develop value for money through changes in rents and size of houses. Experts predict that rent for houses will increase but the space is likely to reduce. People will in turn opt for lesser space at the same cost depending on their economic capacity. The economists also argue against the use of rent controls because they can have negative effects such as shortage of houses (Tucker 31). Advantages and disadvantages of rent control Just like any other price regulation strategy, rent control has its own advantages and disadvantages. The pros and cons of rent regulation apply evenly across all the key players in the housing industry (Tucker 40). Studies have shown that people in urban and rural areas prefer to live in rent-regulated housing. This shows that the advantages of rent regulation outweigh t