The Emerging Popularity of Human Resource Management

What were the socioeconomic changes in the 1980’s which contributed to the emerging popularity of Human Resource Management? Does the concept of Human Resource Management present a radical novelty or is it a mere repackaging of personnel management? Introduction During the 1980’s, a new management concept referred to as ‘Human Resource Management’ (HRM) became very fashionable. At that time, many academics questioned whether HMR was simply a renaming of the previously known personnel management (PM) tool, or whether it was, as some claimed, ‘a radically different philosophy and approach to management of people at work’ (1). Firstly, it seems appropriate to define HRM. However, the definition of HRM this has been widely debated, and so for our purposes, we will use Stephen Bach’s view that it ‘can be viewed as the involvement of particular strategies and approaches towards management of considerable labour’. We must also consider what we mean by â€Å"socioeconomic†, which we can state as the relationship between economic activity and social life. In this essay, the similarities and differences between HRM and PM are analysed in an attempt to see whether there is more to HRM than novel rhetoric. Socioeconomic Changes Towards the end of the 1970’s and the early part of the 1980’s, both the US and UK economies experienced recessions of relative magnitude. Both governments sought new economic solutions, and adopted policies known as â€Å"Thatcherism and Reaganomics†, that contained monetarism and free market economics. One of the consequences of this radical period was the reforming and reshaping of what many described as the ‘conventional model of industrial relations’ (2). These new policies inevitably led to the empowerment of employers, and resulted in substantive destruction of trade union power at that time and eventually became the turning point of the era of trade unionism. There were a number of consequences as a result of this reshaping of the economy; probably the largest of note was that there was a considerable decline in a number of the mature Basic industries, such as Steel and Coal, which was balanced by the increase in the Service sector (this is still apparent today as 70% of UK GDP comes from the service sector (3)). This period of decline in many Basic industries coincidently ushered in a time for new technologies based on hi-tech products, further assisting the aim of both governments to deregulate and intensify market competition through free market economics. With anti-union legislations and privatisation at the core of the Conservative party philosophy, as Thatcher pushed to remove the power of the â€Å"Socialist / Communist† trades unions, the result of which led to the encouragement of ‘firms to introduce new labour practices and re-order their collective bargaining arrangements’ (4). This gave companies the opportunity to develop direct relationships with employees, and hence reduce further the power of trade unions. These ‘direct relationships’ are what some people to consider as one of the fundamentals of HRM. On a more global scale, this was an important period in the development of globalization that saw competition intensify from overseas. Japan rapidly became one of the major exporters of very competitively priced manufactured goods to the US undercutting many domestic suppliers. This development, unsurprisingly, forced US companies to consider their cost structure in an attempt to see off this foreign competition. Companies quickly began to investigate the productivity of its workforce. One of the outcomes of this, which is judged to be one of the cornerstones of HRM, was to try to develop harmonious relations between employers and employees. The belief was already there that synergy could be created from the employee/employers relationship. Furthermore, it became apparent that an environment free of conflict could help unite an organisation so that individual employees could commit themselves to organisational success. This Unitarianism perspective became one of the antecedents of the development of HRM. Toward the end of the 1980’s as more and more academics continued to produce a wealth of literature on the subject of HRM, it became clear that there was a recurring theme for those companies that appeared to perform extremely well in these market conditions. It became obvious in these increasingly dynamic markets that companies that were proactive to market change were able to do so as a result of motivated workforce. The question that was begging to be asked was ‘how they were able to this so well’? The answer was through involved management styles that were instilling a culture in the workforce that was proactive rather than reactive. This is one of the key differences that will be referred back to later. It was suggested that these had been brought on by the intense competition and pressure, which eant a competent PM was more necessary than ever. There were several other socioeconomic changes that all acted as antecedents to the development and reshaping of PM that became known as HRM. These included increasingly strident demands of shareholders, changing work force (flexibility, part time largely through the employment of women), a changing age structure of the workforce, the young moving in the direction of private and service sectors, hence less prone to unionisation and finally increasingly mechanised manufacturing processes through new technologies. Differences between HRM and PM The second part of this essay looks at whether HRM was in actual fact a novel idea or whether in reality it was a re-labelling of PM. Looking through a variety of literature on the subject, it immediately becomes clear that it is extremely hard to find a definitive line to draw between HRM and PM. Legge for example mentioned he felt their wasn’t a huge difference between the two and in fact drew on some very clear similarities. However he does manage to point out some diverging aspects. While Torrington saw the development of HRM as only adding ‘a further dimension to the multi faceted role’ (5) therefore seeing HRM as an ongoing process in the evolution of PM. As a result he finds it hard to label HRM as a revolutionary model. There are those experts that do agree in the novelty of HRM. It’s these authors that remind us not to play down the effects of HRM, mentioning that while many of the techniques in HRM are similar to those in PM, it is the philosophical context of HRM that makes these techniques so much more effective. The model of HRM unfortunately is not uniform and is made up of several different theoretical approaches therefore it becomes even harder to define clearly. This is perhaps what has muddied water so much in the debate of HRM and PM. Perhaps the easiest was to try and find an answer to this question is to compare the differences versus the similarities. Firstly the differences: Storey puts particular emphasis on the ‘strategic character’ (1) and continuously mentioned how HRM decision and formulations of policies should take place on ‘strategic level within an organisation’. Meanwhile PM can be condemned for its limited consideration of business objectives during decision making. Another major concept that is fundamental to HRM (particularly in ‘Soft’ HRM) which cannot be identified in PM is the creation culture and values on an organisation level. The intention of this aspect is to drive towards employee commitment towards achieving organisational goals. This ‘commitment’ can be seen as a precursor of motivation and performance (6). Furthermore we can consider the aspects of communication within HRM, whereby it rejects collective bargaining and attempts to set up direct channels of communication with individuals. By operating in this manor, HRM attempts to meet the individual needs of the employee so that they can then go on to contribute to the organisation. Consideration of the ‘proactive versus reactive’ argument can also identify differences (with HRM viewed as proactive and PM viewed as reactive). Proactive workforces enable organisations to pre-empt changes in markets. However they can only be implemented if the workforce is sufficiently motivated. The final major difference that can be identified is the emphasis that HRM places on training and development, that PM does not seem to identify with in the same way (5). When we contemplate the similarities of the PM and HRM we can consider Legge’s work (he viewed the clearest change from PM to HRM to be the ‘re-labelling process’). He established three main aspects than run through both forms of management. He stated that ‘both emphasised the importance of integration. Both sought to deliver the right people to the right jobs’ (he saw this as the principal role of the management of people in an organisation). Both PM and HRM gave people- management to â€Å"line† managers. Guest also discusses personnel development and functioning on a strategic level. However the above theses partially contradict what many other authors thought (6). In conclusion, we can accept that while HRM and PM contain significant similarities, we have to acknowledge that they differ in terms of their meaning and emphasis. Perhaps cultural aspects and strategic considerations would be the most important alteration, when converting from one theory to the other. Perhaps it would be wrong to say that HRM was a completely novel idea, especially when so many of the procedures and techniques overlap. However it is correct to say that HRM took many of the principles of PM and applied them to a different philosophy and way of thinking, and in doing so, inherently took the continuous evolution of PM to what we today call HRM.

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 15

Sing and Spell and Chant I get up at 4:30 a.m. and start lifting so I will be done with my workout by kickoff, and when I finally come up from the basement, the house smells like crabby snacks, three-meats pizza, and buffalo wings. â€Å"Smells good,† I say to my mom while I put on my trash bag, and then I'm out the door for a ten-mile run. I am shocked to see that Tiffany is jogging up and down the block, because she did not run behind me yesterday, and also, I am running in the a.m., which is not my regular time to run. I jog toward Knight's Park, and when I look over my shoulder, I see she's following me again. â€Å"How did you know that I would be running early?† I say, but she keeps her head down and only follows silently. We run our ten miles, and when I return to my house, Tiffany runs on without saying anything, as if we had never even eaten raisin bran together at the diner and nothing has changed. I see my brother's silver BMW parked in front of my parents' house, so I sneak in the back door, run up the stairs, and jump into the shower. When I finish showering, I put on my Hank Baskett jersey – which my mother has laundered, getting the makeup off the numbers – and then follow the sound of the pregame show to the family room, ready to root on the Birds. My best friend, Ronnie, is seated next to my brother, which surprises me. Both of them are wearing green away jerseys with the number 18 and the name Stallworth on the back – Ronnie's is a cheap replica jersey with iron-on numbers, but Jake's is authentic. Dad is in his chair, wearing his number 5 McNabb replica jersey. When I say, â€Å"Go Birds!† my brother stands, turns to face me, puts both hands in the air, and says â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!† until Ronnie and my dad also stand, face me, raise their hands in the air, and say â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!† When I raise my hands in the air and say â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!† all four of us do the chant, rapidly spelling the letters with our arms and bodies – â€Å"E!-A!-G!-L!-E!-S! EAGLES!† – shooting out two arms and a leg to make an E, touching our fingertips high above our heads to make an A, and so forth. When we finish, my brother makes his way around the couch, puts an arm around my shoulders, and starts to sing the fight song, which I remember and sing with him. â€Å"Fly, Eagles, fly! On the road to victory!† I'm so happy to be singing with my brother I do not even get mad at him for putting his arm around me. We walk around the couch as we sing, â€Å"Fight, Eagles, fight! Score a touchdown, one, two, three!† I look at my dad, and he does not look away, but only starts singing with more enthusiasm. Ronnie throws his arm around me, and then I am in between my brother and my best friend. â€Å"Hit 'em low. Hit 'em high. And watch our Eagles fly!† I see that my mom has come in to watch, and she has her hand over her mouth again like she does whenever she is about to laugh or cry – her eyes look happy, so I know she is laughing under her hands. â€Å"Fly, Eagles, fly! On the road to victory!† And then Ronnie and Jake remove their arms from my neck s o they can make the letters again with their bodies. â€Å"E!-A!-G!-L!-E!-S! EAGLES!† We're all red-faced, and my father is breathing heavy, but everyone is so happy, and for the first time I really feel like I am home. My mom sets up the food on TV trays, and the game begins. â€Å"I'm not supposed to drink,† I say when Mom distributes the bottles of Budweiser, but my father says, â€Å"You can drink beer during Eagles games.† Mom shrugs and smiles as she hands me a cold beer. I ask my brother and Ronnie why they aren't also wearing Baskett jerseys, since Baskett is the man, and they tell me the Eagles were able to trade for Donte Stallworth, and that Donte Stallworth is now the man. Because I am wearing my Baskett jersey, I insist that Baskett is the man, to which my father blows air through his teeth, and my cocky brother says, â€Å"We'll see soon,† which is a weird thing for him to say, considering he was the one who gave me the Baskett jersey in the first place and just two weeks ago assured me that Baskett was really the man. My mother watches the game nervously, like she always does, because she knows that if the Eagles lose, my father will be in a bad mood for an entire week and will yell at her a lot. Ronnie and Jake trade facts about different players and check the screens on their cell phones for updates on other games and players, because they both play fantasy football, which is a computer game that gives you points for picking players who score touchdowns and gain yardage. And I glance over at my father from time to time, making sure he sees me cheering, because I know he is only willing to sit in the same room with his mentally deranged son as long as I am rooting for the Birds with everything I got. I have to admit that it feels good to sit in the same room with my father, even though he hates me and I still have not forgiven him a hundred percent for kicking me in the attic and punching me in the face. The Houston Texans score first, and Dad starts cursing pretty loudly, so much that my mother leaves the room, saying she will bring us new beers, and Ronnie stares at the television, pretending he has not heard what my father has said, which is, â€Å"Play some fucking defense, you piece-of-shit overpaid secondary! This is the Texans, not the Dallas Cowgirls. The fucking Texans! Jesus fucking Christ!† â€Å"Relax, Dad,† Jake says. â€Å"We got this.† Mom distributes the beers, and Dad sips quietly for a while, but when McNabb throws an interception, my father starts pointing his finger at the television and cursing even louder, saying things about McNabb that would make my friend Danny go wild, because Danny says only black people can use the n-word. Luckily, Donte Stallworth is indeed the man, because when McNabb starts throwing to him, the Eagles build a lead and Dad stops cursing and starts to smile again. At halftime, Jake talks my dad into joining us outside for a catch, and then the four of us are throwing a football around on our street. One of our neighbors comes out with his son, and we let them join in. The kid is only maybe ten, and he cannot really reach us from his yard, but since he is wearing a green jersey, we throw it to him again and again. He drops every pass, but we cheer for him anyway; the kid smiles wildly, and his dad nods appreciatively at us whenever one of us catches his eye. Jake and I are the farthest apart, and we send each other long passes down the street and often have to run even farther to catch the throws. Neither of us drops a single pass, because we are excellent athletes. My dad mostly just stands around sipping his beer, but we throw him some easy balls, which he catches with one hand and then tosses the football underhand to Ronnie, who is standing closest to him. Ronnie has a weak arm, but neither Jake nor I point this out, because he is our friend and we are all wearing green and the sun is shining and the Eagles are winning and we are so full of good hot food and ice-cold beer it doesn't really matter that Ronnie's athletic ability is not equal to ours. When Mom announces that halftime is almost over, Jake runs over to the little kid; my brother puts his hands in the air and yells â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!† until the kid's dad does the same thing. The little guy catches on after only a second, puts his hands in the air, yells â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!† and then we all do the Eagles chant – spelling the letters out with our arms and legs – before running back into our respective family rooms. Donte Stallworth continues to be the man in the second half, gaining almost 150 yards and a TD, while Baskett does not even get a decent ball thrown to him and fails to record a single catch. I'm not all that upset about this, because a funny thing happens at the end of the game. When the Eagles win 24 – 10, we all stand to sing the Eagles fight song together like we always do whenever the Birds win a regular season game. My brother throws his arms around Ronnie and me and says, â€Å"Come on, Dad.† My dad is a little drunk from all the beer and so happy about the Eagles victory – and the fact that McNabb threw for more than 300 yards – that he lines up with us and throws his arm around my shoulders, which shocks me at first, not because I don't like being touched, but because my father has not put his arm around me in many years. The weight and warmth of his arm makes me feel good, and as we sing the fight song and do the chant afterward, I catch my mother looking at us from the kitchen, where she is washing dishes. She smiles at me even though she is crying again, and I wonder why as I sing and spell and chant. Jake asks Ronnie if he needs a ride home, and my best friend says, â€Å"No, thanks. Hank Baskett is walking me home.† â€Å"I am?† I say, because Hank Baskett is the name Ronnie and Jake called me all throughout the game – so I know he really means me. â€Å"Yep,† he says, and we grab the football on the way out. When we get to Knight's Park, we throw the football back and forth, standing only twenty feet away from each other because Ronnie has a weak arm, and after a few catches my best friend asks me what I think about Tiffany. â€Å"Nothing,† I say. â€Å"I don't think anything about her at all. Why?† â€Å"Veronica told me that Tiffany follows you when you run. True?† I catch a wobbly pass, say, â€Å"Yeah. It's sort of weird. She knows my schedule and everything,† and throw a perfect spiral just over Ronnie's right shoulder so he can catch it on the run. He doesn't turn. He doesn't run. The ball goes over his head. Ronnie retrieves the ball, jogs back into his range, and says, â€Å"Tiffany is a little odd. Do you understand what I mean by odd, Pat?† I catch his even more wobbly pass just before it reaches my right kneecap, and say, â€Å"I guess.† I understand that Tiffany is different from most girls, but I also understand what it is like to be separated from your spouse, which is something Ronnie does not understand. So I ask, â€Å"Odd how? Odd like me?† His face drops, and then he says, â€Å"No. I didn't mean †¦ It's just that Tiffany is seeing a therapist – â€Å" â€Å"So am I.† â€Å"I know, but – â€Å" â€Å"So seeing a therapist makes me odd?† â€Å"No. Just listen to me for a second. I'm trying to be your friend. Okay?† I look down at the grass as Ronnie walks over to me. I don't really want to hear Ronnie talk his way out of this one, because Ronnie is the only friend I have, now that I am out of the bad place, and we have had such a great day, and the Eagles have won, and my father put his arm around me, and – â€Å"I know Tiffany and you went out to dinner, which is great. You both could probably use a friend who understands loss.† I don't like the way he collectively uses the word â€Å"loss,† as if I have lost Nikki – as in forever – because I am still riding out apart time and I have not lost her yet. But I don't say anything, and let him continue. â€Å"Listen,† Ronnie says. â€Å"I want to tell you why Tiffany was fired from her job.† â€Å"That's none of my business.† â€Å"It is if you are going to have dinners with her. Listen, you need to know that †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ronnie tells me what he believes is the story of how Tiffany lost her job, but the way he tells it proves he is biased. He tells it just like Dr. Timbers would, stating what he would call â€Å"facts,† with no regard for what was going on in Tiffany's head. He tells me what coworkers wrote in their reports, he tells me what her boss told her parents and what the therapist has since said to Veronica – who is Tiffany's designated support buddy and therefore has weekly phone conversations with Tiffany's therapist – but he never once tells me what Tiffany thinks or what is going on in her heart: the awful feelings, the conflicting impulses, the needs, the desperation, everything that makes her different from Ronnie and Veronica, who have each other and their daughter, Emily, and a good income and a house and everything else that keeps people from calling them â€Å"odd.† What amazes me is that Ronnie is telling me all this in a friendly manner, as if he is try ing to save me from Tiffany's ways, as if he knows more about these sorts of things than I do, as if I had not spent the last few months in a mental institution. He does not understand Tiffany, and he sure as hell doesn't understand me, but I do not hold it against Ronnie, because I am practicing being kind rather than right, so Nikki will be able to love me again when apart time is over. â€Å"So I'm not telling you to be mean or to gossip about her – just protect yourself, okay?† Ronnie says, and I nod. â€Å"Well, I better be getting home to Veronica. Maybe I'll drop in this week for a lifting session? Cool?† I nod again and watch him jog away from me, the bouncy steps suggesting that he thinks his mission is accomplished. It is obvious he was only allowed to watch the game because Veronica wanted him to talk to me about Tiffany, probably because Veronica thought I might take advantage of her nymphomaniac sister, which makes me very mad, and before I know it, I'm ringing the Websters' doorbell. â€Å"Hello?† Tiffany's mom says to me when the door opens. She is older-looking, with gray hair and a heavy sweater-coat, even though it is only September and she is inside. â€Å"May I speak with Tiffany?† â€Å"You're Ronnie's friend, right? Pat Peoples?† I only nod, because I know Mrs. Webster knows who I am. â€Å"Do you mind if I ask what you want with our daughter?† â€Å"Who's there?† I hear Tiffany's father call from the other room. â€Å"It's just Ronnie's friend, Pat Peoples!† Mrs. Webster yells. To me she says, â€Å"So what do you want with our Tiffany?† I look down at the football in my hand and say, â€Å"I want to have a catch. It's a beautiful afternoon. Maybe she would like to get some fresh air in the park?† â€Å"Just a catch?† Mrs. Webster says. I hold up my wedding ring to prove I do not want to have sex with her daughter, and say, â€Å"Listen, I'm married. I just want to be Tiffany's friend, okay?† Mrs. Webster looks a little surprised by my answer, which is odd because I was sure that was the answer she wanted to hear. But after a moment she says, â€Å"Go around back and knock on the door.† So I knock on the back door, but no one answers. I knock three more times and then leave. I'm halfway through the park when I hear a swishy sound behind me. When I turn around, Tiffany is speed walking toward me, wearing a pink tracksuit made from a material that swishes when one pant leg rubs against the other. When she is about five feet away, I throw her a light, girly pass, but she steps aside and the football falls to the ground. â€Å"What do you want?† she says. â€Å"Want to have a catch?† â€Å"I hate football. I told you this, no?† Since she doesn't want to have a catch, I decide I'll just ask her my question: â€Å"Why do you follow me when I run?† â€Å"Honestly?† â€Å"Yeah,† I say. She squints her eyes and makes her face look mean. â€Å"I'm scouting you.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"I said I'm scouting you.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"To see if you are fit enough.† â€Å"Fit enough for what?† But instead of answering my question, she says, â€Å"I'm also scouting your work ethic, your endurance, the way you deal with mental strain, your ability to persevere when you are unsure of what is happening around you, and – â€Å" â€Å"Why?† â€Å"I can't tell you yet,† she says. â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"Because I haven't finished scouting you.† When she walks away, I follow her past the pond, over the footbridge, and out of the park. But neither of us speaks again. She leads me to Haddon Avenue, and we walk by the new stores and swanky restaurants, passing lots of other pedestrians, kids on skateboards, and men who raise their fists in the air and say, â€Å"Go Eagles!† when they see my Hank Baskett jersey. Tiffany turns off Haddon Avenue and weaves through residential blocks until we are in front of my parents' house, where she stops, looks at me, and – after almost an hour of silence – says, â€Å"Did your team win?† I nod. â€Å"Twenty-four to ten.† â€Å"Lucky you,† Tiffany says, and then walks away.

Are Celebrities Being Good Role Models or Are They Setting a Bad Example for the Teenagers?

Younger generations are getting brainwashed by these so called celebrity role models that think they are setting a good example for these young teenagers, where-as it is actually getting backfired. These celebrities have started to ruin our society with people are acting like copycats, because they think if celebrities can, well so can I. But these celebrities haven’t always been bad, they have had a stage in their career where they were good role models, but then their career starts to go downhill, with drugs, alcohol and even anorexia. Lindsay Lohan was worthy of our admiration when she was younger playing in movies called the parent trap, and Freaky Friday, who didn’t look up to the young Lindsay? On 8th of October 2005, it was said that Lohan had tried pot once but did not like the side effects, â€Å"I’ve seen how it messes families up. If I hadn’t experienced that, I may have gone down a different route. † However this did not stop the young girl from using drugs. All Lohan is famous for now is, her unhealthy habits, family problems and drugs. Who wants their child to look up to that? A well known couple that had an affair are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, this happened while they were shooting Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Celebrities like this couple set bad examples in relationships. Children are going to grow up watching their favourite celebrity cheat on their partner, marry them and then wait until someone younger comes around. Is that what we want our children to watch and hear about? Or do we want them to grow up and end up in a healthy relationship? Miley Cyrus is a good girl gone bad. This young celeb started off on the Disney channel staring in the well known show Hannah Montana. She was a huge success, with many fans giving her their support, and then she did something outrageous that put a halt to her career, putting half naked pictures of herself online. What next? Is she going to be the next Lindsay Lohan? Or is she going to turn her life around? With not many good celebrity role models out there making the right decisions, it is very hard to find a good role model among them. Although there are some good celebrities, including Anne Hathaway and Taylor Swift which make good impressions on young teens. These two stars are massive role models and so many people look up to them. More people look up too Taylor Swift though because she is young herself and she can relate easier with her young fans. What are we supposed to do now? Hide the television from our children so they can’t see what their favourite idols are doing? It’s up to the celebrities to stop what they’re doing and think about what they are doing to the younger generations and how it’s going to affect them and others around them with their actions, and it’s up to the parents to do what’s right for their children.

Cable Based Television †Retaining Customers

Cable Based Television – Retaining Customers The industry of communications has grown exponentially during the past years allowing cable and satellite television companies to capture a large piece of the market. According to the National Cable & Telecommunications Association cable television was introduced since the late 1940’s in the USA while satellite TV was introduced in the early 90’s. According to the Television Bureau of Advertising (tvb.org) Cable television has lost significantly part of its market share to the newly introduced Satellite TV providers. According to research by Nielsen Company reported by tvb.org in February of 1999 the percentage of TV per household receiving cable television was at 70% while 9.1% came from any form of Satellite receivers while in July of 2009 only 62.2 % belonged to cable transmission while 28.6% to satellite receivers. This data is somehow alarming to cable companies all around. Even though they still remain as a top provider they have lost a significantly share of the market over a rather short period of time. This calls for action from the cable companies to analyze and evaluate new strategies to retain customers and eventually gain back the customers lost. This situation might change depending on the providers of the services, also affecting other things such as quality of the service, installation processes, prices and even customer services. While Satellite providers started appealing to a higher income percentage of the population now they are working their way down the income latter to appeal with better prices and bundles. The present marketing plan aims to draw a clear strategy that will start locally in the area of Tampa and surrounding cities. If the implementation is effective then it shall be replicated to all the other states and cities were the company in question, Bright house Networks, works as a Cable provider. Having in mind that cable is something that people can definitely live without, it is a harder task to preserve the nee d especially during rough times as perceived by the public in general. With the introduction of technology the addition of internet service provider to the cable companies has been a very smart way to create an increased need for the services and the effect of this shall be explored within the marketing plan, including the differences between the different services offered by the satellite TV and Cable TV providers which are often a deal breaker when deciding to stay or change companies. Company Overview Bright house Networks is a cable provider company established in 1994, it was merged with Warner Cable and other local cable providers to form the new company with new goals in mind and definitely different managerial styles. According to Bright House Networks, LLC Company Profile on Yahoo Finance it has over 2 million subscribers in the areas of Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, and Michigan. Recently, Bright House Networks ranked highest in customer satisfaction for the fourt h year in a row by J.D. Power and Associates for Home Phone and for the delivery of High Speed Internet in the South Region. (Brighthouse.com/company overview) The company has a very important presence in Tampa and surrounding cities. It is the main cable provider in the area offering also other services such as high speed internet and telephone services which they cater to both households and business alike.

Interview paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Interview paper - Assignment Example noted that she didn’t consider herself as a religious person, because she believed that religion and church were secondary things and her faith was the most important for her. However, she called herself Presbyterian, as she has been raised in this religion confession by her parents and just got used to identify herself with it. Presbyterian Church is one of the most numerous Protestant confessions on the territory of the United States. Alabama State, where Sarah lives with her family, is mostly inhabited by Protestants and Presbyterian Church commands a large part of protestant population of the state (Balmer & Winner 290). When we started talking about the religion itself Sarah said that there was a time when she considered changing her religion into Catholicism, because it seemed to her that a religion should bring discipline and she believed that it must have more rituals and religious traditions. However, in some time she realized that the main advantage of her religion was that it didn’t require any mediums and even didn’t require attending church in order to connect with the Lord. Presbyterian Church has two main ritual ceremonies which are the ceremony of Christianizing and the blessed ordinance (Balmer & Winner 290). Sarah was Christianized when she turned 21, as according to her church tradition, each parishioner should come to Jesus by oneself and the ceremony is supposed to symbolize start of the relationships between the Lord and a person. Thus when she was 21 years old Sarah realized that she was ready to establish these relationships and that she was absolutely sure about the fact that her faith was not going to be changed ever. Concerning the roots of her faith Sarah is considered to have very typical for Protestantism beliefs about God and His place in her life. She believes that her faith is guided by Holy Bible and that what is written there is the absolute truth. Whenever Sarah doesn’t know what to do in any situation of her life,

Chemistry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Chemistry - Essay Example This could be manifested in a person suffering from bipolar disorder or related mental illnesses. As early as 1800, pharmacological studies came up with antipsychotic drug that will help doctors during psychiatric treatment. Research and surveys showed that by the year 2005, based on the report of Archives of General Psychiatry, approximately 5.7 million of adult Americans or 2.5 percent of its population were affected by bipolar disorder (BD). There are also cases of BD found among children (Geller B, Luby J, 1997). Bipolar disorder or manic-depression is a mental disorder characterized by signs of mania or depressions which can be observed in alternating episodes. Prominently, these episodes show shifts of mood swings, from extremely energetic moods to hopeless and depressive moods. It includes one or more incidents of manic behavior, disrupted sleep, fast speech, distractibility and increase in goal-oriented-activities. Together with these manic episodes are depressive episodes characterize with lost of interest, displeasures, feeling of emptiness and unworthiness. A bio-chemical explanation was presented by scientist and researchers to explain why people tend to suffer manic-depression. Biologically speaking human brain was composed of nerve cells, neurotransmitters and receptors sending messages from one another (Prof. Hokin, University of Winconsin).Over activity or under activity in these neurotransmitters or messengers of the brain could be the reason for such disorders. So bipolar disorder could be manifested whenever brain operations has gone wrong resulting to alternating poles of mania and depression. Anti-psychotic drugs are prescribed by psychiatrists to treat bipolar disorder. These are termed to be mood stabilizers and help the patient as it goes into psychiatric treatment. The most common yet old used anti-psychotic drug nowadays is lithium. Dr.

Great Wall Motor Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Great Wall Motor - Coursework Example In India, the automotive industry is a critical part of the economy. In 2013, one of the industry’s most powerful competitors, Audi, achieved a growth of 11% compared to 2012 (Business Today 2014). More specifically, during 2013 Audi in India managed to sell 10,002 cars breaching the limit of 10,000 sales on an annual basis, a limit that no firm has managed to pass up today, except from Audi (Business Today 2014). This achievement denotes the perspectives not just of Audi but also of all firms operating in the automotive industry of India. These perspectives should be taken into consideration by foreign investors who seek for profitable emerging markets but also by foreign automotive firms that are interested in entering the specific industry of India. The sales of top auto manufacturers in India are presented in the graph in Figure 1 below. A standardization of the level of sales between August 2012 and August 2013 is clear, a fact showing a delay in the industry’s gro wth for the same period. The performance of Indian automotive industry from Jan 2012 up to May 2013 is presented in the graph in Figure 2. In the particular graph the overall performance of the specific industry for the above period is presented, i.e. sales are not categorized by auto manufacturer. An important cWallenge that automotive firms in India have to face is the following: inflation in India is at high levels, with trends for a further increase; this fact has led to the increase of production costs in all industries, including the automotive sector. (Choudhury 2013). At the same time, due to the Weak Rupee, producers in all industries are not able to increase prices since such practice would further reduce their customer base (Choudhury 2013). Great Wall Motor would also have to face the specific cWallenge in case that it would enter the Indian