Book Review “Marley Me” Essays - 1058 Words

I have never considered that a book about a dog could be so appealing and full of deep thoughts. But I changed my viewpoint after reading the autobiographical novel â€Å"Marley Me† written by John Grogan which depicts an astonishing story about the neurotic and loyal, clumsy and loving dog named Marley. In fact, as the author mentioned in some interviews, he intended to write the â€Å"dog story†, but soon after he realized that it was impossible to do so without including the family life [2]. That is why the title â€Å"Marley Me† encapsulates the main topic of the book such as the relationship between a human and a pet. To start with let me introduce main characters: John, Jenny, and Marley. John and Jenny, newlywed couple began their family life†¦show more content†¦First of all, Marley in spite of his loopy character had a loving heart. He always had been with people who need help. For instance, he shared Jenny’s grief when she lost her first baby during the pregnancy. During the next pregnancy, when Jenny had to remain in the bed for the whole month because of the early-arrival risk of the new baby, Marley again had been her companion making her boring days brighter. Finally, each time Marley easily accepted the Jenny and John’s new babies when they arrived from the hospital. As they grew, Marley became their best friend. It seemed like the dog understood that they were little humans whom he had to protect. Lately, Marley showed unexpected guarding characteristics when John rushed to help some girl who was stabbed near his house. Somehow the dog itself understood the danger of the situation and transformed into a â€Å"completely different dog†. Because of crimes around the neighborhood, John worried for the safety of his growing son Patrick and his pregnant wife. They started to appreciate the big dog being in the house. Even though Marley was harmless, his presence made them feel secure. Nevertheless, John admitted that teaching the â€Å"master-beast† basics to the dog was necessary in their relationship. Reading the book, I understood how it’s hard to have patience when a dog doesn’t obey the master’s commands. On the other hand, if a person loves dogs, he will forgive the chewed leather shoes and shredded furniture.Show MoreRelatedA Lack of Charity Essay example1718 Words   |  7 PagesIn Charles Dickens’s books, Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, the theme of lack of charity is pronounced. Throughout Oliver Twist, society turns a â€Å"cold shoulder† to those in need of help (Miller 30). The Victorian England society prohibits inhabitants of the lower social realms from moving up in society. Rarely do lower class members receive attention, and the attention they do receive is far from par (Reeves). Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character of A Christmas Carol, learns to be charitableRead MoreBob Marley’s Spiritual R hetoric, the Spread of Jamaican Culture and Rastafarianism6348 Words   |  26 PagesCopyright  © Mark Haner, 2007 The spread of Jamaican culture and Rastafarianism can be accredited to many events and technical advances in communication. Bob Marley is one of the main influences the spread of Jamaican culture and Rastafarianism due to the lyrical rhetoric used in his popular music. Growing up as an impoverished youth, Marley struggled to create a music career where his voice as well as others could be heard globally. Bob Marley’s lyrics contributed to the spread of Jamaican cultureRead MoreA Brief Look at Bob Marley and the Wailers2981 Words   |  12 Pages â€Å"Me only have one ambition, y’know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together – Black, White, Chinese, everyone- that’s all† (Bob Marley). Bob Marley’s main goal was to bring people together through his music, and influence everyone he could to become a better person. Throughout Bob Marley’s music career, he didn’t know what kind of artist he wanted to be until later in life, and once he knew what kind of artist he wanted to be, he reached outRead More Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, by Erving Goffman2120 Words   |  9 PagesThe book I chose to do my paper on is â€Å"Stigma Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity† by Erving Goffman. Goffman was stood out from other sociologists because he did no t follow the normal rules that the others lived by. This rebellion often was thought to be caused by his lack of professional manners, and made it difficult for some to be in his company. However, Goffman was not like other sociologists due to his love was data not simply sociology. He primarily exhibited his work via essays andRead MoreThe Dirty Heads Relationship1717 Words   |  7 Pagestowards conformity and then substance abuse. According to Kevin O’Brien and Wayne Chen – Caribbean historians – in their book Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music, reggae music originated from Jamaican roots in the late 1960s; it evolved from variations of ska, calypso and blues and it was popularized by the works of Bob Marley. It is common knowledge that Bob Marley and reggae music are both known for their connection to marijuana, and other mind altering drugs. A Rastafarian’s religionRead MoreA Brief Note On Standard Women s Rights1666 Words   |  7 Pagesstandard woman s rights 6 Ways You Harm Me When You Appropriate Black Culture – And How to Appreciate It Instead August 24, 2015 by Maisha Z. Johnson Offer Tweet Offer Rigid Shares 11.0K Particular holding up their hand, as though to say Stop Source: iStock It is really a difficult to miss trial to be a Black geek in the US. Dull society should be the epitome of cool – the music, the style, and the swagger all set perceptible illustrations. In any case, then, I m simplyRead MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 Pagesterms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Edmonds, Ennis Barrington. Rastafari : from outcasts to culture bearers / Ennis Barrington Edmonds. p. cmRead MoreThe Navajo People Are The Largest Native American Tribe2530 Words   |  11 Pagesfrom the book The Navajo People and Uranium Mining, and the authors should be credited as such. I hope this serves as a reminder not to forget these lost lives, and to avoid making the same mistake again. Q: â€Å"During the time when you were working, was there a time when you got sick from it, the uranium?† George Tutt, miner: â€Å"Just machinery used to haul the ore out, they called it a â€Å"scoop creep.† We would haul one ton of ore with it. It operated with a diesel engine. ONe of these crushed me. It crushedRead MoreBelonging Essay4112 Words   |  17 PagesStephen, Billy Elliot Making Multicultural Australia, www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au It is also suggested you choose 3-4 related texts as you will have more to discuss. You do not have to read a full book; a story from an anthology can be enough. You can also choose a poem, a picture book, film or photographs. Remember though that you will need to discuss at length the relevance of the chosen piece to write about how belonging is represented in the text, how are the ideas about belonging broughtRead MoreWalmart China12415 Words   |  50 Pagesby Fidencio Espinosa B (fespinos@mx1.ibm.com) on January 26, 2013 12/516C Wal-Mart in China (2012) EXHIBIT 5: CHINESE CONSUMER PURCHASES IN 2004 AND 2010 PRODUCT CATEGORIES SOLD OVER INTERNET 2004 Gifts and decorations 1% CDs and DVDs 3% Books 6% Rechargeable cards for games and cell phones 5% General 7% Others 11% Electronics (Camera, MP3) 53% Home appliances 7% Cell phones and accessories 7% Source: iResearch Inc. (2005) 12 Purchased by Fidencio Espinosa B (fespinos@mx1.ibm

Economics vs Religion American Colonies - 1043 Words

Economics over Religion Throughout history there have been two leading factors that lead a colony to success. These two factors are religion and economics or money. Which factor is more important? In my opinion, economics is more important because the colonists had many issues getting necessities, and if they had enough money for all that, their problems would all basically be gone. Economic stability and the success of the mercantile system made the establishment of the colonies in North America possible. The Massachusetts Bay colony was established in 1691 by William and Mary. This colony was very successful on the principal of economics. At first this colony was supported by the wealthy immigrants, which wasn’t needed soon enough†¦show more content†¦Later the plant tobacco was grown all over Jamestown which was full of agricultural and fertile land. The colonists started mass producing tobacco and selling it Native Americans, England, and other nations of Europe. The colonists proved that setting their mind on economics instead of religion was the key factor in their success. Also in the colony of Maryland, there was a law passed known as the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 which basically shunned Trinitarian Christians. Governor William Stone didn’t want to tolerate this and was exiled to Virginia. He returned as the leader of the Cavalier and marched into Maryland. He was defeated and captured; also being replaced as governor. This uprising was due to relig ion, and could have been avoided if religion wasn’t so important to many people. Another uprising occurred in 1689 when Protestants felt that Catholics were being preferred as leaders rather than Protestants. The Protestants rounded up an army of 700 Puritans and revolted against the government which lead an army by Colonel Darnell who was defeated. In defeat the Protestants took office, and many years later a law was passed outlawing Catholics to hold a political office. This revolting was due to religious reasons and had nothing to do with money, economics, or trading. This was all about the leader’s religion and what they chose to believe. Economics benefits much more in theShow MoreRelatedEssay On Jamestown Vs Plymouth705 Words   |  3 PagesJamestown vs Plymouth The essay discusses from the story â€Å"From the generall histroy of Virginia†, by John Smith, a histrorical narrative is about the landing and the discovery of Virginia in 1607 at a place called Jamestown, this was the first permanent english settlement in the new world, the americas. Also â€Å"From of Plymouth plantation†, by William Bradford, a historical account, is about when 13 years later about 100 settlers went on the big fancy ship called the Mayflower and landed in MassachusettsRead MoreAP US essay1815 Words   |  8 Pagesï » ¿Step 1: State Your Argument Based on your existing knowledge of American Indian–colonial relations in North America, write an argument to use as the basis of your research. The French experienced the best relationship with the natives as they were very cooperative with the Natives, peacefully tried to convert them and married Native women and integrated with them. The Spanish came behind the French as they integrated with them as well however they were much more violent in exploiting them for resourcesRead MoreEducation : The United States1654 Words   |  7 Pageseducation is free to every child in the United States, it is difficult for us modern Americans to imagine a world where public schools have not existed. 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Jeff Immelt And The New General Electric †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: In what ways has Jeff Immelt redirected the strategy of GE? Answer: Introducation Strategic direction is defined as an organizations roadmap. It assists an organization to know what its objectives are, how to accomplish them and which resources are required to achieve the same. For strategic direction to be successful, an organisation must envision the future, come up with a strategic direction and tactics to implement the organizations objectives (Grant2016). Jeff Immelt redirected the strategy of GE by using these three pillars. Envisioning the Future Vision is timeless and based on what an organization would like to do. It has to be specific and progress towards it measurable. It gives a definition of whom the company serves, what it provides and what separates it from other organizations providing similar products and services (McCain 2014). When Jeff Immelt takes over GE, he sets a new vision for the company. He outlines his vision as wanting GE to be a, connected industrial company, which stood at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds and blended the best elements of speed, scale and flexibility. To work towards the achievement of this vision, Jeff Immelt made a number of adjustments to the companys portfolio in 2015 (Barney 2014). One of the major achievements was to fully acquire Alstoms power equipment and grid business. GE also divested a major section of GE Capital. Immelts vision for General Electric is to make it technology based, focused on the customer and growth oriented. Many structural changes have to be made in order to achieve this. Part of the changes include re establishing performance appraisal, changing marketing strategies and upgrading technology with the purpose of aligning the companys processes and systems to the new strategy. Strategy Industry and Market Strategy links an organizations vision with its current reality. It looks at how a company can achieve its vision while considering marketing conditions, competition and other external factors. Jeff Immelt looks at the industry and market in which GE is operating. The previous leader, Welch, had managed to steer the company to great financial performance steered by optimism, confidence and growth (Wheelen Hunger 2017). The 21st century however comes with its own challenges hence Immelt has to come up with new strategies that will ensure GE operates successfully in the new market conditions. Immelt reconfigures the portfolio of GE so that the company can operate more competitively in the current environment. This is done by exiting slow growth businesses and reallocating resources to those that had strong growth prospects. Immelts aim was to create growth platforms either through getting into new business or growing already existing ones. The areas that GE invested in were healthcare, energy, broadcast and technology. In healthcare, the company was leader in diagnostic imaging and through Immelt; they acquired Amersham and Abbot Diagnostics hence expanding product range and increasing geographical presence. Immelt also led GE to grow its energy section by developing alternative energy and acquiring companies like Enrons wind energy section, goal gasification business of Chevron and solar energy products production through Astro Power acquisition. Immelt also ensures that the companys broadcast and entertainment section is grown by acquisition of Telemundo and this enables the company to get into the Spanish market (Rothaermel 2015). The acquisition of Vivendi also sees GE get into the industry of films and theme parks. As part of the GE growth initiatives, Immelt led the company to diversify into secur ity systems production, water treatment and aerospace. This gave the company advantage of penetrating into different markets hence establishing a wider customer base. Jeff Immelt also refocuses competitive advantage of GE around technological innovation and customer service. Immelt sees technology as being a major driver of growth for the company. He therefore places an emphasis on research and development so that the company can speed up uptake of new technologies. The research and development centre in Niskayuna is upgraded and new global research centers are constructed. Bt 2015 there are over 37000 technologists working in different GE research centers across the world. Immelt enabled GE to change its focus to long term projects hence leading to advanced technologies that gave the company competitive advantage in areas like energy conversion, nanotechnology and molecular imaging (Gamble Thompson 2014). Some of the inventions GE came up with were the evolution hybrid locomotive, smart grid and sodium batteries. This assisted the company to gain competitive advantage in various industries. Customer service was greatly emphasized by Immelt. He constantly focused the employees on the value of spending time with customers, building healthy relationships and ensuring their problems were sorted on time (Bryce 2017). The emphasis was also on ensuring that whatever products were manufactured by the company created the most value for customers. Tactics Resources and capabilities Tactics involve looking at the capabilities and resources of a company and ensuring they will drive the strategy achievement. Tactics work with current organizational structure. Immelt looks at the resources and capabilities of GE and changes strategies accordingly (Mordern 2016). The resources and capabilities that he lays an emphasis on are: Financial resources Immelt reduces the loan exposure of GE Capital and increases liquidity. The risk profile is also improved. This leads to redefining of the company as a supplier of specialist financial service with a focus on mid-market lending. Immelt also ensures that the financial resources of the company are used to diversify and innovate new products, which leads to the company gaining a competitive advantage. Physical assets Immelt ensures that the company lets go of any assets that are causing it not to perform and acquiring assets in companies, which will lead GE to the next level in terms of growth (Stead Stead 2013). This enables the company to grow as is acquires stakes in companies which have potential. Immelt ensures that the company invests in the necessary infrastructure. Human resources Immelt ensures that performance goals of its human resources are reoriented towards the companys revenue growth. This ensures that human resource strategies are aligned to the strategic goals that have been set. Intangible resources Under Immelts tenure, he acquires some organizations and patents some innovations. The company gains competitive advantage through this (Nahavandi 2016). He also grows the brand and ensures that there is good will towards customers and other stakeholders. Structural-cultural resources Part of Immelts strategy was to adjust the companys corporate culture. He wanted to instill a commercial culture and came up with various initiatives to do this. An example was the program known as, was At the Customer, For the Customer, which applied six sigma, in customer relations activities, tracked the satisfaction of customers and their attitudes (Bergh et al 2014). This helped the company to improve through feedback and to come up with products that satisfied customer needs. Immelt also created a system and values that demonstrated that GE was more valuable as a single entity that many separate businesses. Strategy Alignment Strategy Alignment to the Requirements of the 21st Century Business Environment Jeff Immelt has ensured that the strategies of GE are aligned to the 21ST century business environment. The 21ST century has come with a myriad of challenges for businesses. It has led to the collapse of industries, exposure of poor business models, bankruptcy of large organizations and the questioning of corporate credibility. To bring stability to GE in these conditions, Immelt viewed the portfolio diversification as a source of stability for the business. He therefore emphasized the merits of having a portfolio as it smoothed volatility (Foss Harlberg 2014). Top line growth would drive bottom-line returns despite the volatile external environment. PESTLE Analysis The following is the PESTLE analysis as pertains to GE and an analysis of how the company aligned itself to adapt to the turbulence in the external environment: Political Political factors determine how a government is able to influence certain industries. Tax and duties can be imposed hence affecting the generation of revenue. GE is affected by the political scene due to various taxes imposed on goods and raw materials. To ensure good relations Immelt ensures that there is an integrated approach in working directly with different governments to meet the needs of countries that have hosted GE (Rees Smith 2017). This was implemented through the company to country strategy. This made it easier for GE to penetrate different markets without facing too many obstacles. Economic- Economic factors determine how an economy performs and this has a direct impact on various businesses. They also affect the purchasing power of consumers. Some economic factors are inflation rates, interest, foreign exchange and economic growth patterns (Gans Ryall 2017). To counter economic factors, Immelt ensured that GE invested in countries where GDP growth would be high. The financial crisis if 2008-2009 was also a major threat to GE Capitals position in the American market hence it sought equity injection. Immelt reconfigured the business portfolio and focussed on the companys competitive advantage so that the company would not be affected by the turbulent economy. In 2015 most of GE Capital was sold so that the main company would remain stable. Social Social factors look at cultural trends, demographics and the dynamics of a population. Immelt looked at the industry trend before making various strategic decisions at GE. The company looked at the demographics of the world where the aging population created opportunities for goods and services required for healthcare (Jenkins 7 Williamson 2015). This led to Immelt greatly investing in research and development so that innovative products and solutions in healthcare would be discovered. The growth in population across the world also offered demand for many other services offered by GE, for example entertainment. Technological Technological factors are related to innovations which affect operations of an industry or company. Immelt focussed on technological innovation so that the company would gain an even greater competitive advantage. The company invested greatly in technological infrastructure that led to enhancement of its products and services hence giving it competitive advantage. Legal Legal factors can be internal and external. Laws affect businesses in different countries. Safety standards, labour laws, and consumer laws also affect the operation of a company. Immelt ensures that the company meets all legal obligations in the countries, which they are operating in. He ensures that employees work under safe conditions and that all the branches of GE adhere to these policies and procedures. Environmental The surrounding environment determines environmental factors. Immelt identifies the global warming challenges, water scarcity and conservation as issues that GE must look at (David David 2017). Technological and innovative responses are implemented by GE to deal with this. Strategy Alignment to GEs resources capabilities It is important that organizations align their people, processes and technology to the organizational strategy (Foss Knudsen 2013). Immelt ensured that the company strategy was aligned by ensuring that the following there areas were covered: Establishment of Shareholder Value When Immelt took his position, he explains to shareholders that the role of the CEO is not to take care of stocks but to carry out activities that will create value hence lead to the rising of stocks. This enabled the shareholders to have confidence that the company was being steered into the right direction (Karadag 2015). It is important to have all stakeholders on board whenever a strategy is being implemented. Immelt ensured that he had all the key stakeholders on board and this enabled successful strategy implementation. Core Competencies Used by GE Immelt ensured that in managing resources and capabilities, the company used its core competencies to ensure successful strategy implementation (Ruff 2015). Core competencies enable companies to deliver value to their customers. A core competency, which is hard for competitors to copy, is a strong one. Immelt identified the key internal strengths of GE and through this invested in capabilities valued by their customers. The following are the core competencies that Immelt used in GE: Innovation Innovation leads to competitive edge in an industry. Companies should not stop innovating. Immelt invested in many research and development centers across the globe so that GE would remain competitive in its business (Farzin et al 2014). This led to the discovery of many products and services, which greatly added value to GE customers. Innovation kept the company successful over the years. Quality Quality simply means reliability and performance. When a company makes quality its core competence, it automatically enjoys customer loyalty. Quality was key for Immelt. He ensured that Six Sigma principles were applied to GE. Total quality management was applied and there was emphasis on customer care. Through getting customer feedback, the company was able to tailor its products and services to the needs of its customers. Customer Service Businesses that focus on provision of exceptional customer service usually have competitive edge. Efficiency and effectiveness is a core competence that enabled Immelt to achieve customer service strategic goals (Dudin Frolova 2015). There was a focus on giving customer value through the products that were being manufactured by GE hence ensuring the customer grew its market share and enjoyed customer loyalty. Flexibility Successful companies are able to stay competitive. Immelt ensured that despite uncertain external environment, GE remained flexible and came up with strategies which enabled it to survive tough market conditions. Through diversifying the portfolio and off loading businesses, which were not successful, GE was able to maintain a competitive position in the market. Successful Value Delivery Immelt ensured that there was effective value delivery at GE through: Customer Value The process excellence of GE was used to enhance customer value and drive growth. Quality became the focus and this led to excellence in processes hence customers benefited from this. The positive effect led to customer growth and retention for GE. Innovation Innovation led to value, as there was constant improvement to products and discovery of new ones. This led to variety for customers. Leadership in Technology Immelt ensured that technology was key in GE. There was a focus on better technology for the whole company hence leading to process improvement and better quality products and services for the company. Commercial Excellence Immelt ensured that GE became one of the excellent companies in the various industries that they served. Due to this, the company was often used as a case study example and became a brand name. Customers associate GE with excellent products. Globalization-Immelt ensured that GE focused on gaining full entry into markets that had GDP growth, which was high and constant. Due to this, the company was able to enter into many markets and succeed on the same. This led to word wide growth and the company benefiting from economies of scale. Due to this, customers get value as products can be priced competitively. Growth Leadership Immelt ensured that there was growth in terms of leadership for the company. The company structure was changed for the better and this led to efficiency in various departments. Due to this, the customers and shareholders receive value as the company is steered to growth by competent leaders and workers. Organisational Changes Brought about by GE Strategy Jeff Immelts strategy brought about a number of changes to the organisation. There was a change in organizational structure. Between 2002 and 2008, Immelt made a number of management changes. He reorganised different divisions into broader sectors. This reduced the number of sectors, which were reporting to Immelt from twelve to five and then further increased them to nine. Immelt wanted to enhance the management talent in GE and ensured that employees accepted the change process and embraced growth personally. Managers were trained to become growth leaders at GE. Immelt carried out benchmarking to find out the management characteristics of various companies hence identifying various traits that he wanted his managers to have. He therefore focused on external factors, imagination and creativity, decisiveness and clear thinking ability, inclusiveness and deep business knowledge. During the annual performance reviews, these traits were looked at. Career planning was also introduced and this led to employee retention. Innovation was another change, which occurred in GE. Immelt came up with an initiative known as The Imagination Breakthrough Initiative, which ensured innovated projects received the needed attention. Funding decisions were placed with Immelt and his management team to reduce bureaucracy and ensure the company focused on innovation. This helped the company to realize its goal of being a customer driven company. Changes also occurred in marketing and sales. Immelt upgraded the department by first creating a position for Chief Marketing Officer. He also initiated a marketing seminar, put up a leadership program and ensuring that each of GEs businesses appointed a Vice President level head of marketing. A commercial council was also developed that was in charge of developing new ideas for the business. Six Sigma was also implemented in sales and marketing and this was used in tracking customer satisfaction. GE will be able to succeed in strategy implementation though few challenges may be faced. One of the challenges that may be faced is decision making. Some decisions may not be agreed to by everyone hence may take time in implementing. Another issue can be lack of resources. There might be a shortage in resources, which may prevent effective strategy implementation. Entry barriers may also be an issue in some countries hence preventing GE from achieving its strategy. Alternative Strategies to be considered by GE GE can consider standardization instead of localization. The company should standardize its processes but used a localized approach in selling, depending on the market where it is operating. The company should therefore try to find a balance between company policy and localized customer needs. GE tailoring its products and services to various markets will enable the company to gain wider market share in its global markets. GE should consider having electronic distribution channels. There is widespread use of internet and social media and this can be used by the company in enhancing its marketing strategies. The company can do online sales and ship products worldwide hence ensuring it can satisfy customers from all over the world, even where it is yet to establish branches. The company should also adopt sustainability when sourcing for raw materials. The inputs used in manufucturing should have the capability of being up cycled or recycled. This will lead to a reduction in costs and lead to production efficiency in the company. 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Nahavandi, A., 2016.The Art and Science of Leadership -Global Edition. Pearson. Rees, G. and Smith, P. eds., 2017.Strategic human resource management: An international perspective. Sage. Rothaermel, F.T., 2015.Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education. Ruff, F., 2015. The advanced role of corporate foresight in innovation and strategic managementReflections on practical experiences from the automotive industry.Technological Forecasting and Social Change,101, pp.37-48. Stead, J.G. and Stead, W.E., 2013.Sustainable strategic management. ME Sharpe. Wheelen, T.L. and Hunger, J.D., 2017.Strategic management and business policy. pearson.