Functional areas of Business Essay Example for Free

Functional areas of Business Essay In today’s society, organizations need strong managers to lead their staff towards accomplishing goals. Managers are problem solvers, leaders, coordinators, communicators and planners. Managers fulfill many roles and have many types of responsibilities at different levels in an organization. Many roles Management can be very complex as they have to respond to planned and unplanned issues that can occur at any given time. Managers have a variety of duties to perform within an organization to help it function properly within the area of business. One of the areas of business that a manager plays a role in is Strategic Planning. Organizing and planning is a priority in businesses. Organizing and planning has objectives that involve developing business goals, organizing business resources to advance these goals. Both internal and external data is used about the industry, markets and competition provides information that is needed in order to direct the organizations resources and to also identify organizational needs. Managers are also responsible for making decisions in an organization, which involves choices that are related to changes that is needed to adapt internal and external factors that have an effect on business operations. Managers must also decide how and where to use resources within an organization. Other decision making responsibilities can include choosing suppliers and vendors for goods and services for the organization. Managers use accounting for financial decision making. Accounting for managers involves forecasting, relevant costing, cost-volume-profit analysis, investment appraisal techniques.(Accounting for Managers) Managers that use accounting sets targets for strategic business units as well as for departments, accounting assists in the assignment of responsibility for achievement of business targets by individual managers. Responsibility accounting is achieved by appraising the performance of managers responsible for their business units while giving due consideration for factors not within their control or influence. Mangers are also responsible for ensuring that all accounting procedures are within accounting standards, business ethics and legal requirements of business, and making th e organization financially, economically and legally sound. A manager in Human Resources create policies for employees, monitors training and performance evaluation, coordinates  new hires and employees, recruits and operate along with the vision and mission of the company. They become a positive influence to their work colleagues, sharing their experiences, to encourage employees to stay positive and perform at their best. The manager also directs his team to help monitor employees based on their performance, compensation and to carry out daily work tasks. As a manager considered a leader in an organization, you have to be able to motivate your employees in order to encourage productivity to ensure the highest level of job satisfaction. Leadership is defined as the action of leading people in an organization towards achieving goals. A manager must also have the ability to influence an employee in many ways. A leader sets clear realistic goals and vision for the organization, motivates employees and builds morale. Leadership is particularly important in senior management, such as VP, CEO, etc. To become an effective leader, a manager gas to lead people providing trust and purpose and self-management using influence and persuasion, achieving personal goa ls. It is important for managers to understand Economics in a business. Economics is very important because it enables managers to make decisions such as the price of goods and services to be produced, allocation of capital, and sales forecasting. Economics also helps managers to understand the possible effects on the way the organization functions. Resources can become scarce, and managers must be able to make financial decisions about what products and services to produce. Economics has an effect on businesses in many ways, which can have a negative and positive affect on an organization. Research and statistics enables managers to make accurate decisions based on available data, which allows them to make smarter decisions and provide more accurate leadership to staff relying on them. Statistics also helps managers to back up assertions. When managers needs to persuade people to move into a direction, or to take some toe of risk, statistics can provide them with objective goals with figures to substantiate positions or to provide a level of certainty as to what direction that the company needs to take. It is important for managers to know the law in an organization to protect the vital interest of the organization which that they manage. It will also help the manager to prevent the organization from legal problems. Not only would the law protect the workers, but it will also protect stakeholders and people that invest in  the company. If the organization is jeopardized, that can result in a huge lost. The law regulates contracts between businesses by laying down rules and regulations for the smooth running of the business and economy. Operations management is defined as the area in business where efficiency and effectiveness of operation support and development plays a role to achieve an organization’s strategic goals. Managers in this area are focused on the design and operations of systems to provide goods and services. Operations management involves planning, scheduling, and control of all activates that will transform inputs into outputs. Managers in particular have to communicate effectively to motivate other people, manage job projects and work on multidisciplinary teams. Marketing is another skill that managers should know to put their company products on the market. Marketing also enables managers to set prices for their products based on manufacturing costs. Directors also assist managers in deciding what type of advertising and promotion strategies that the organization will use. Managers may also assist advertising directors in establishing budgets for marketing and advertising their product. The manager can assist the marketing department with determining the right distribution product for the organization’s products. Great effective managers possess all of these skills to be successful in the workplace, along with other skills and assignments from upper-level management. References Role of management. (1992). Leadership Organization Development Journal, 13(3), 11. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/226916348?accountid=458 Tiffan, B. (2011). Four important roles of a manager. Physician Executive, 37(4), 94-6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/878544673?accountid=458 Berri, D. J., Leeds, M. A., Leeds, E. M., Mondello, M. (2009). The role of managers in team performance. International Journal of Sport Finance, 4(2), 75-93. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/229346895?accountid=458

The Unwritten History of Cave Paintings Essay -- Art History

Religious stories and scientific theories have tried for thousands of years to accurately date the formation of man. However, in the 1860s, a new art was discovered that changed the view of human creation forever. This new insight was cave painting. Cave painting is a form of prehistoric art that dates back hundreds of thousands of years. Analysts are unable to specify the reasoning behind these paintings of objects on cave walls, but many theories have been formulated to surmise the rational behind the art. Questions arise like, â€Å"why did man find a need to paint the walls of caves† and is this part of the foundation of the origin of human life as we know it? (Beacon) The ecumenical belief is rooted at history, cave paintings are man’s unwritten story of evolution. In the Upper Paleolithic period, from 40000 B.C. to 10000 B.C., paintings were created in over 300 caves across the globe. â€Å"There are two types of cave art: petroglyphs, which are pictures carved in stone and pictographs, which are pictures painted on stone† (Cave Painting). The art is usually found in hidden caves that are difficult to locate. For this reason, scientists have taken great interest in discovering why man wished to go to such extremes to produce the artistry. The graphics include mainly animals, geometric figures, and signs but rarely depict any relevance to humans. The visual communication gives valuable clues to the culture and beliefs of that era. The degree of preciseness of the images, being at such a high level, suggests that the art was not merely decorations that covered the bare surfaces of the caves, but were created for purpose. â€Å"The tonal qualities, and the ingenious use of surfaces in the rock, suggest depth and even a kin... ... However which way you interpret it, it still provides us with one thing: history. It has taught us the lives of our ancestry and the society in which they survived. The evolution from that era to today is astonishing. We see it simply in the development from our society daily. Their ideas combined with that overtime have created a new perspective for us about our own history. And before we can learn the history of other things, we must learn about ourselves first. Even through interpretation, we learned immensely from the simple paintings and carvings on a cave wall. It will continue to teach us generation after generation. But in the end, the controversies shouldn’t arise from the ambiguous paintings. If interpretation is all we have to go by, then that is what we do. And isn’t that what all history is? An interpretation of facts versus opinion.

Achilles Essay

Achilles set the model or heroism in the western world. Do you think Odysseus is a better model? Why or why not? The two heroes have their different characteristics and contributions to the English Literature. They were known by their every heroism acts, honored with their people and envied by their enemies. Odysseus was portrayed as a hero by the Greek because of his many virtues and, considered as a villainous falsifier by the Romans. (http/www:wikipwedia. com). He portrayed inconstant characteristics as a hero. He’s known to be cunning and deceitful, tricky and wise. One of the most influential Greek Champions of the Trojan War, a friend of Achilles whom he had convinced to join with Menelaus (King of Spartan) troops in sailing through Troy, and retrieve Helen (mistress of the King) that was abducted by Paris of Troy. Though, he tried to avoid from coming since an oracle prophesized that he’ll be delayed long in returning home if he went, but Palamedes placed his son in front of the plough which forced him to go. He became one of the most trusted advisers and counselors. He helped and brought the battle to victory. Just before the war begun, he accompanied Menelaus and Palemedes in an attempt to negotiate Helen’s peaceful return. Menelaus made unpersuasive emotional arguments, but his arguments almost persuaded the Trojan court to hand her over. He was indeed a hero of the Greek because of his strength and intelligence, his irresistible approach towards negotiations of the land’s boundaries and properties. On the other hand, Achilles was too a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer’s lliad, which takes for its theme the Wrath of Achilles. (http/www: google. com). He was known as the quickest and the most handsome of the heroes assembled against Troy. His great relationship with his friend Patroclus, who wore his armor the time he’s slain by Hector. On the movie â€Å"Troy†, he became more of a hero when he turned back and join the war to save the woman he first held as a captive at the first time they conquered one of the places of Troy. He showed passionate love with the Troy Princess and tried to keep her when King Menelaus invaded and murdered the King of Troy. Though, he presented a hubristic personality, however, his soft side was revealed by the time he fell in love with the Princess, being a good and trusted friend of Patroclus also. Achilles was invulnerable on all his body except for his heel, and was killed in battle by an arrow to the heel. (The movie is very visible on this part. ) Both Odysseus and Achilles were great, intelligent and peerless warriors. They were also in love when they’re forced to join the war. The first saved his son from placing in front of the plough and the later being so brave that he fear no kings, lived according to his will and desire, and went to save his Princess from danger. And though, Achilles was killed during the war and Odysseus was trying to get his armor away from Agamemnon. For me, they are just fair of becoming great models to everyone. They are heroes and great models in their own way and right. Achilles Essay Achilles possesses superhuman strength and has a close relationship with the gods; he has all the marks of a great warrior, and indeed is proved to be the mightiest man in the Achaean army. At the beginning his mind is calm and collected, he stands up justly for the men around him and shows understanding when confronting Agamemnon, however his deep-seated character flaws constantly hinder his ability to act with nobility and integrity constantly. He cannot control his arrogance or the rage that surges up when his pride is injured. This dislikable attribute of his causes him to abandoned his comrades and even pray that the Trojans will slaughter them, all because he has been insulted at the hands of his commander, Agamemnon. Like most Homeric characters, Achilles does not develop significantly over the course of the epic; his state of mind is constantly fluctuating between where his rage is being directed all through the book. Although the death of Patroclus prompts him to seek reconciliation with Agamemnon, it does not lessen his rage, but instead redirects it toward Hector. The event does not make Achilles a more deliberative or self-reflective character. Though his mind is filled with grief and despair over his friend’s death, this only helps fuel his bloodlust, wrath, and pride that continue to consume his mind throughout the epic. He mercilessly mauls his opponents, their bodies filling the river Xanthus, angering the god, which Achilles’ shamelessly takes no note to. He immorally desecrates the body of Hector, and savagely sacrifices twelve Trojan men at the funeral of Patroclus. He does not relent in this brutality until the final book of the epic, when King Priam, begging for the return of Hector’s desecrated corpse, appeals to Achilles’ memory of his father, Peleus. Yet it remains unclear whether a father’s heartbroken pleas really transformed Achilles, or whether this scene merely testifies to Achilles’ acceptance of the god’s words, as he had previously, before Priam’s arrival, been told by Zeus that his morning and defiling of Hectors body was enough. Achilles has a strong sense of social order that in the beginning, manifests itself in his concern for the disorder in the Achaian camp; a deadly plague is destroying the soldiers, and Achilles wants to know the reason why. His king, Agamemnon, will not act, so Achilles decides to act: He calls for an assembly of the entire army. In doing this, Achilles upsets the order of protocol; only Agamemnon can decide to call an assembly, but Achilles does so to try to return order to the Achaian camp. He succeeds, partially. He finds out why the plague is killing hundreds of Achaian soldiers, but in the process, he creates disorder when it is revealed that Agamemnon is responsible for the deadly plague. Thus, Achilles’ attempt to return order to the Achaian camp does little, ultimately, to establish order. Apollo lifts the plague, but after Achilles withdraws himself and his troops from the Achaian army, disorder still remains among the Achaians. Agamemnon, of course, is as guilty of creating the ensuing disorder as Achilles is, but Achilles seems petulant and argumentative. He is undermining the little harmony that does exist. In his argument that Agamemnon receives all the best war prizes and does nothing to earn them, Achilles forgets the valuable prizes that he has received. His rage even causes him to almost attempt to kill Agamemnon, but the goddess Athena saves him from this deed. It should be noted that Achilles does not leave the Achaian army without sufficient reason: Agamemnon demanded to have the maiden Briseis, Achilles’ war prize, and Achilles saw this act as a parallel to Paris’ kidnapping of Helen — he sees himself in the same position as Menelaos. Consequently, the quarrel between himself and Agamemnon is as righteous to him as is the war against the Trojans. But even after Agamemnon offers to return Briseis, along with numerous other gifts, Achilles remains angry, indicating that one of Achilles’ major character flaws is his excessive pride. The gifts that Agamemnon offers do not compensate for the public affront, the public insult Achilles believes he has suffered. A concern for gifts, the reader realizes, is far less important to Achilles than his concern for a proper, honored place in the world. After all, Agamemnon had previously given gifts and then taken them back. He could do so again, so the promise of more gifts is possibly an empty promise. This idea of social status is in keeping with the heroic code by which Achilles has lived, but in his isolation, he comes to question the idea of fighting for glory alone because â€Å"A man dies still if he has done nothing. † The idea developing in Achilles’ mind is that the concept of home (or family) and the individual are both important to society and to a heroic warrior. (Hektor is the embodiment of this view. Some critics see these ideas slowly developing through Achilles’ ability to relate to others on a personal basis, as he does with Patroklos, and as he does in his guest-host relationship with the ambassadors from Agamemnon. However, it is only after Patroklos’ death that these relationships and broader concepts of love begin to become significant for Achilles. Ironically, with the death of Pa troklos, Achilles begins to see life and relationships with other people from a mortal point of view, and at the same time, he is drawing ever closer to the divine aspects of love. He has an obligation to avenge Patroklos’ death, and he realizes his own shortcomings as Patroklos’ protector. He also sees that his sitting by his ships is â€Å"a useless weight on the good land,† something that is causing the deaths of many Achaian warriors. Unfortunately, however, Achilles is unable to see that the Achaians feel his withdrawal as keenly as he now feels the loss of Patroklos. It is Achilles’ anger, whether he is sulking or whether he is violent, this state of mind is paramount throughout most of the epic. Achilles’ violence closes with the death of Hektor and with Achilles’ mutilation of Hektor’s corpse. By now, under Zeus’ firm hand, the gods have moved from their own state of disorder to order. When the gods see Achilles act without any sense of pity for Hektor or his family, they come back into Zeus’ all-wise fold of authority. And eventually, through his mother, Thetis, even Achilles is finally persuaded to acquiesce to Zeus’ will. In the end, Achilles is exhausted. His passions are spent, and he consents to give up Hektor’s corpse.

Crime Prevention, Disorder and Community Safety (Criminolgy) Free Essay Example, 3750 words

As the percentage of terrorism is increasing in the world so as the fear of victimization among people; Williams (2000) d: â€Å"Thus there is no consensus on a "best" measure for fear of crime, or even on exactly what may be measured by a particular approach. The most common approach to fear of crime measurement uses some variation of the National Crime Surveys "walking in the neighborhood" questions, which offer a very general approach to crime fear. Few researchers have been concerned with the exact type of fear they are tapping and those few have generally attempted to make the distinction in an ex-post-facto fashion. In reality, the term "fear of crime" is an artifact of a broad interest in what is presumed to be the psychological effect of crime. As a result, there is no clear rationale behind its use. † Researches indicate that people especially women fear crime more than men but they do not report it quite often so it can be concluded that the actual statistics of women victimization is higher than reported. Stanko (1992) observed that according to the surveys, males are more capable of being victimized than women despite of the fact that women show more insecure behavior. We will write a custom essay sample on Crime Prevention, Disorder and Community Safety (Criminolgy) or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now It is perceived that the fear is irrational and unrealistic. However it should be noted that crimes happened with women are not reported all the time as women are more sensitive to their social image than man thus less willing to report that they are being victimized. Young (1988: 174) wrote that: "Domestic crisis and sexual crimes are less likely to enter the statistics than property crimes, which leads to the systematic underestimation of crimes against women". It should also be considered that researches and surveys only consist of crimes happened in front of witnesses or road-crimes. Women are often victimized within the walls of their own homes and do not report to any one. Warr (1984, 1985) investigates that as women are scared more of sexual assault than men so the general fear gets mix with the fear of sexual assault and heighten their insecurity. He also suggested that womens fear of victimization should be differently analyzed than men as men rarely fears sexual assault. Keane (1995) suggested that women’s fear of crime consists of two fears basically i. e. concrete fear and formless fear. Concrete fears are the fears of some specific crimes while formless fear is general fear or fear that can not be associated with some specific crimes. This theory of Keane has an underlying assumption that some crimes are more fear inducing than others.