ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Heart of Darkness is a novel that was written by Joseph Conrad. This novel was a great work since it topped the list among many such novels. The novel is symbolic in providing a description of a man’s journey towards his inner being. It provides a mysterious and adventurers story captured in Central Africa. The symbolism and ambiguity found in Conrad’s writing have been a subject of debate since its meaning has been subject to conflicting interpretations. Criticism The author seems to have written the book basing it from his past experiences. This can be seen in the diary he kept while he was working as a seaman. He had sailed to Africa, and that is where he recorded stuff in his diary. During the several voyages, he had recorded information in his diary that reflected on most of the characters in his diary. This means that some of the incidences and impressions found in his novel are based on facts. However, Conrad’s expression of the environment of Africa in his novel may be based on his creativity and not necessarily facts. He also creates portraits of destruction and greed, which may be pure creativity. The author’s relationship with one of his characters, Marlow is also subject to criticism. Marlow has often been mistaken to be Conrad’s spokesman. Conrad’s evocative powers with regards to his clever use of imagery, can be commended. This is because it has managed to provide a sinister environment through the use of fine details while describing the natives of Africa and the jungles that exist there. There is the use of visual imagery in his work, and this was achieved through the use of contrast (black and white). The contrast was also used by the author to demonstrate how that world and the life lived in that world was morally uncertain. However, the author was not trying to ju
Change management is a complex activity. The research focuses on change itself. The research delves into the way the change should be implemented by reducing resistance. Change management can be best implemented using a three phase process. Description of the situation William Bridge (Bridges, 2010) emphasizes in his book, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change”, that the employees were required to shift from manual recording of business transactions to the use of computers w ithin the last six months of the organization’s work environment. For some of the older employees, the change was a huge hurdle to overcome. The old people gave their best efforts to hold on to the traditional way of doing things. The objecting employees used both legal and not legal means to thwart management’s plans to institute the necessary organizational changes. Some of the complaining employees announced that they have mastered the old way of doing things. The complaining employees brought out their defense that they do no have the physical and mental prowess to comply with the mandatory change to the new working environment. On the other hand, Robert Paton (2008) states that for some of the younger employees, the change was a welcome sight to embrace. The young employees felt the change was a small hill to effortlessly climb. The young employees were eager to jump into the bandwagon called innovation. The young employees pe
Introduction The extent to which an organization can be effective is often pre-determined by a myriad of factors. For instance, the characteristic in terms of how the given organization operates is an important factor to bear in mind. Also, the model used to implement policies and strategies devised by the organization as well as how the human resource pool organized is yet another factor that may determine the success level of an organization. All these are vital in achieving an organization’s purpose in production. Besides, the running of an organization and achieving its purposes requires knowledge in the use of information technology and its management. To acquire this knowledge, some paradigms can be applied as much as they may be different altogether. These two paradigms are design science and behavioral science. Due to this, researchers have come up with various ways on how to acquire them for use in managerial and organizational purposes. This essay will examine the research approaches used in information system development within the organization and the implications. Research approaches used in Information systems Organizations and information systems supporting them are made up of work systems, technologies, structures, and people. Most of the design work is done by the managers and the IS practitioners. Making information system effective requires proper strategy with a design activity that is extensive and covers organizational design and organizational infrastructure (Robey & Boudreau, 1999). The need to acquire knowledge of information systems has caused the researchers to adopt two distinct paradigms to come up with a way of developing an information system within an organization (Hevner et al., 2004). One of the approaches that have been used in information systems research is the behavioral science paradigm. This approach applies research methods based on natural science to justify and develop on other theories such as principles and laws theories. These theories explain human and organizational phenomena and assist practitioners and researchers by informing them of the interaction that needs to be managed among organizations, technology and people (Lapointe & Rivard, 2005). These interactions in an organization include improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the information system. It is important to note that the phenomena that the principles and laws theories explain surround the use of information systems, its management, implementation, design, and analysis (Mathew, 2011). Moreover, human interfaces are greatly affected by these theories that are part and parcel of functional capabilities and information systems needed in any organization. Al
Aubrey Beardsley was one of the most notable English artists in the nineteenth century. His unique style of illustrating was to draw only with black inks. Moreover, there was a particular relation between his style and Japanese woodcuts, which influenced his talent and professional activity as well. The artist departed at the age of twenty-five due to his tuberculosis disease. Although Beardsley was born in a tradesman’s family, he was supported by the heritage that his mental grandfather left him when the artists turned twenty-one. This notable man of talent also had a wife who was the daughter of an Indian surgeon. Beardsley’s family moved to London in the year 1883, where he was also able to demonstrate his musical talent by giving multiple concerts along with his sister. Beardsley was inspired by the works that he had a chance to get acquainted with during his travel to Paris in 1892. Japanese prints were very popular in France back then, which influenced his style, as it was mentioned above. Almost all of his famous works include particular elements of mythology and history, which were usually depicted with the method of hard-edge painting. Moreover, his works were so popular that some publishing companies wanted Beardsley to draw illustrations for their books. Aubrey Beardsley also positioned himself as a caricaturist. Therefore, he depicted some contemporary politicians in the style of a caricature. Aubrey Beardsley knew when his days on Earth were about to end, so he decided to move to the French Riviera. He departed in the year 1898 in his hotel suite in France. As it was mentioned above, Beardsley died because of tuberculosis. His grave can be found near the Menton Cathedral.
Liberalism is a political philosophy based on liberty and equality, meaning that the market has to be free, and people should be given their rights and freedoms. This would facilitate the realization of the economic and political ambitions. Some of the principles that liberalists uphold include free and fair elections held periodically, respect for human rights, provision of various freedoms, free trade where the government’s involvement is minimal, and respect for individual property meaning that private ownership of property is valued principle. Based on its assumptions, the government should never interfere with the market, as its role is to provide an enabling environment for individual fulfillment. This implies that the market should be left to operate according to its internal logic where manufacturers of goods and services check on the customers. Based on this, producers will never manufacture products that customers are not ready to consume. However, liberalists underscore the fact that consumers are faced with various health complications, and this calls for government’s intervention through licensing and general regulation. Whenever an economy encounters economic challenges, such as recession and financial meltdown, the government has to come in to save companies facing financial problems. Once normalcy is restored in the market, the government should withdraw completely and allow free movement of goods and services. Several scholars supported the views of liberalism, but the 18th and 19th-century theorists conducted extensive studies to challenge the position of the philosophy. Karl Marx was one of the philosophers who opposed liberalism arguing that the system is based on a defective policy that allows the rich and the powerful in society to own the means of production while the poor do not benefit from economic activities. The scholar was concerned with market blindness as regards to inscriptive features, the exchange value of goods and services, and the idea of free trade. For Marx, liberalism, which he termed as capitalism, is based on three principles, one of them being exploitation in the sense that it promotes the unequal distribution of wealth in terms of production and distribution. In this regard, he came up with various assumptions to justify the exploitative nature of capitalism. First, he observed that the main actors are the economic classes, but not individuals, companies, organizations, or states, as liberalists would argue. The idea of private property is to blame for the formation of classes since it ensures that people have unequal power. Based on this, he opposed the idea that the system promotes natural property rights since because the rich, the bourgeoisie, are given a chance to own everything while the poor, the proletariat, only own their cheap labor. Private property facilitates the effective exploitation of one class. Additionally, exploitation takes place in four main stages including, private ownership of property, and forma
Introduction Traditionally, the marketing of products and services has always occurred either through a face-to-face conversation, magazines, billboards, television, or even through a simple phone call. Yet, due to advances in technology where the scale and scope of the retail industry have come to encompass a global market place, the traditional processes by which marketing efforts have always followed started to change. Large companies have utilised the mass-market strategy as a means of promoting their products to consumers in their various target markets. The mass-market strategy primarily focuses on appealing to a wide range of possible consumers within a given market. For example, in the case of appliances such as microwaves, refrigerators or ovens, there is no specific segment of the population that these appliances attempt to target, aside from people that have need for and can afford them. This means that demographics related to age, race, level of education, and ethnicity do not factor into the marketing strategy decision. Instead, when a mass marketing strategy is implemented it is normally the case when it attempts to appeal to consumers based on uniqueness, affordability and functionality. Despite the obvious advantages in such a strategy, we currently exist within an era of unprecedented “data richness” so to speak, wherein companies find themselves far more capable of addressing the various needs of a customer based on their individual profiles as compared to simply blanketing a particular region with a mass marketing campaign and hoping people would “bite”. It is based on this that customer information increasingly drives decisions with companies realising their current unprecedented capacity to reach out and communicate with customers as well as enhance a customer’s purchasing experience through customised marketing schemes (i.e., selling a product based on what a customer will require now and within the immediate future based on their data profile). This is far different to the process of “pushing” particular products to customers regardless of whether they might need it or not. Such a level of marketing customization is indicative of companies placing more emphasis on customer lifetime value (CLV) (i.e., long term patronage of a customer of a particular brand, shopping centre, company, etc). As such, this paper will explore the use of this contemporary marketing strategy by an international corporation in order to better understand its application within a real-world marketing strategy. Brief Company History Formally established in 1911, IBM has grown within the past 100 years into one of the largest technology-oriented enterprises in the world to date. It was one of the first companies to develop the concept of the home personal computer, pioneered the development of the modern-day checkout line through the creation of the laser scanner, is the primary manufacturer of many of
Introduction The present briefing paper explains the concept of family centred practice in the context of child protection, and also provides a summary of the key themes and ideas in family centred practice. In addition, this paper illuminates some issues in family centred practice that may require future exploration. The audience for the briefing paper is human service professionals in non governmental organisations specialising in out-of-home care. Family Centred Practice Family centred practice is basically an approach that “supports and builds family resilience and strengths utilizing individualised assessments, along with an array of formal and informal services and relationships that are identified and planned with the family (Minnesota Department of Health Services n.d. p. 1). Nationally and internationally, family centred practice is emerging as the approach of choice in enhancing the safety, permanency, quality of life and well-being of children at risk by comprehensively involving the immediate, extended, adoptive or foster family members in the planning and delivery of child welfare or protection services. In the provision of out-of-home care to children at risk, family centred practice continues to receive wide-ranging interest not only for espousing beliefs and practices that treat families with dignity and respect, but also for its individualised, flexible and responsive approaches that necessitates information sharing to provide families with the opportunity to make informed decisions (Dunst, 2002). Consequently, recent legislations on child welfare are increasingly predicated upon strengthening children’s and families’ rights to family centred practice by broadening the responsibility of child welfare/protection agencies to identify and actively engage family members in the provision of care and support to children placed in out-of-care settings (Landsman & Boel-Studt, 2011). Key Themes & Ideas in Family Centred Practice Why Family Centred Practice? Extant literature demonstrates that child welfare policy, practice and legislation “have long reflected a balancing act between the parents’ rights to rear their children as they see fit, the children’s rights to be reared by their parents, and the state’s interest to protect children from perceived danger” (Landsman & Boel-Studt, 2011 p. 20). The family centred practice, in my view, has gravitated around a focused attempt by interested stakeholders to provide viable solutions to these tensions by supporting children from unstable family backgrounds to attain permanency in their family relationships, achieve maximal physical, psychological and emotional heath and wellbeing, and also live under safe conditions that enable them to conquer their fullest potential. This theme is reinforced by Madsen (2009), who acknowledges that family centred practice takes into account the interests of all stakeholders by building on family strengths to provide access to a broader range of services, underlining family choice in all facets of care provision, engaging family members on their own turf, and providing flexib
Leadership is an exceedingly crucial element of an organization. Many organizations have managers, but they lack leaders. Leaders are especially vital when an entity makes crucial strategic decisions that alter various aspects of the organizations such as its culture, structure and workforce levels. The above scenario entails the merge of two entities Chrysler and Daimler.The deal was to bring together an American and a German automobile entity. Each entitywas successful on its own account. Hence, bring the organizations together seemed to have been a shrewd corporate move. However, this merger had catastrophic implications on one entity and the deal at large. In such a scenario, leadership would have been crucial in trying to salvage or turn around the fortunes of both entities (Jonker& Witte 2006, p. 34). The grid managing model would have been relevant in this case. First, this model offers an array of leadership styles which would suit various problems that the Chrysler-Daimler merger deal encountered. The leadership styles included are such dictatorial, indifferent, accommodating managing styles and a few others. Nevertheless, they are two prime concerns for leaders or managers under this model, production and employees. In the Chrysler-Daimler case, the culture clash between the employees resulted in the decrease in morale of the American employees reducing the output in Chrysler, which affected output in the entire organization. The grid model is applicable since it would have addressed the concerns which contributed to the failure of the merger. Employees are the most crucial resource in most organizations. The German employees adhered to a more formal managerial approach while the American counterparts were relaxed and laid back. The battle to adopt one managerial style resulted in the adoption of a formal managerial style. The Americans employees felt overlooked by their counterparts. Daimler’s failure to accommodate the American way of management triggered an erosion in job satisfaction among the American employees which eventually resulted in the plummeting of output in Chrysler. If the grid model was utilized, there would have been a remedy to the culture clash since it integrates an accommodating leadership style (Martelin2009, p.124). The solution to this problem would have entailed each entity maintaining their managerial style. However, at the top brass, which involves few employees, the joint entity,Chrysler-Daimler should have adopted a unitary leadership approach.
Introduction The aerospace industry grows continuously, as this segment becomes more and more attractive to different service providers. Emirates Airlines could be considered as one of the companies that were able to take advantage of the external environment and became one of the industrial leaders. Today, Emirates is an international airline with constant flights to 82 countries across the globe (The Emirates Group 2017). It gives priority to quality, exceptional service, and its recognition worldwide (The Emirates Group 2017). Thus, even industry giants face difficulties in economic crisis and recession. Consequently, the primary goal of this paper is to evaluate its external environment, marketing strategies and tactics, and finances. Finally, recommendations are proposed to discover the ways to survive in the market within the next 20 years. Factors on Airline Business General Overview To establish a foundation for discussion, it is essential to describe methods and techniques that Emirates used since its first years of operation to overcome financial difficulties such as crises. Utilizing the PESTE framework is the most suitable approach because it covers external factors from different spheres such as political, economic, social, technological, and environmental ones (Grunig & Kuhn 2015). This analysis assists in gaining a multifaceted overview of the topic by depicting the impact of each external force. Nevertheless, before conducting the PESTE analysis, it is essential to review Emirates’ performance over the past three years. For example, it experienced a substantial increase in its revenues from AED 82,636 million in 2013-2014 to AED 88,819 million in 2014-2015 (The Emirates Group 2017). In 2015-2016, sales slightly dropped (from AED 88,819 million in 2014-2015 to AED 85,044 million in 2015-2016) while at the beginning of the fiscal year 2016-2017 (AED 85,061 million), it was able to prevent this rapid decrease in revenues (The Emirates Group 2017). To summarize, Emirates experienced problems with its finances and demands since the beginning of 2015 while continuing to be one of the market leaders. PESTE Model According to the PESTE model, political factors have a critical impact on the financial performance of the company. For example, operations of the enterprise are highly dependent on the political stability of the country and its neighbors. In this instance, wars in Yemen and Iraq create negative perceptions of the country while making the United Arab Emirates less attractive to foreign investors and visitors (Dudley 2016). The blockade of Qatar’s airspace is also a vital political aspect, as it requires changing the existent travel routs and leads to increases maintenance cost