Understanding Management Essay Example for Free

Understanding Management Essay 1. How can you prepare yourself to become an effective manager in an increasingly uncertain and global business environment? 2. Would the task environment for a cellular phone company contain the same elements as that for a government welfare agency? Discuss. 3. What do you think are the most important forces in the external environment creating uncertainty for organizations today? Do the forces you identified typically arise in the task environment or the general environment? 4. Contemporary best-selling management books often argue that customers are the most important element in the external environment. Do you agree? In what company situations might this statement be untrue? 5. Why do you think many managers are surprised by environmental changes and hence are less able to help their organizations adapt? 6. Why are interorganizational partnerships so important for today’s companies? What elements in the current environment might contribute to either an increase or decrease in interorganizational collaboration? Discuss. 7. Many companies are â€Å"going green† or adopting environmentally friendly business strategies. Clorox, for example, now offers an eco-friendly household cleaner called Green Works. How do companies benefit from going green? 8. Cultural symbols are usually noticed through sight, sound, touch, and smell. For example, Abercrombie retail stores use music, attractive models, and fragrance to communicate elements of its retail store culture. Why are symbols important to a corporate culture? 9. Both China and India are rising economic powers. How might your approach to doing business with Communist China be different from your approach to doing business with India, the world’s most populous democracy? In which country would you expect to encounter the most rules? The most bureaucracy? 10. General Electric is famous for firing the lowest-performing 10 percent of its managers each year. With its strict no-layoff policy, Valero Energy believes people need to feel secure in their jobs to perform their best. Yet both are high-performing companies. How do you account for the success of such opposite philosophies?

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THIS AGREEMENT is made effective December 31st, 2013 between the incorporated Town of Green Mountain Falls, hereinafter referred to as â€Å"Municipality† and Robert W. McArthur, hereinafter referred to as â€Å"Manager†. WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees desires to contract with Robert W. McArthur to serve as Town Manager, and Robert W. McArthur desires to accept the position as the Town Manager for the Municipality; and WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees, through a written employment agreement, desires to 1. Secure and retain the services of Robert W. McArthur and to provide inducement for him to remain in such employment 2. Establish employment and working conditions 3. Make possible full work productivity by assuring Robert W. McArthur’s morale and peace of mind with respect to future security 4. Act as a deterrent against malfeasance and dishonesty for personal gain on the part of Robert W. McArthur 5. Provide just means for termination of Robert W. McArthur’s services at such time as he may be unable to fully discharge his duties, or when Robert W. McArthur may otherwise desire to terminate his own employment; and WHEREAS, the Board of Trustees for the statutory Town of Green Mountain Falls in the State of Colorado, and Robert W. McArthur believe that a written employment agreement is desirable to serve as the basis of effective communication between them as they fulfill their governance and managerial functions in the operation of the business affairs of the municipality. NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual benefits to be derived, the parties hereby agree as follows: 1. Commencement of Services. The Board of Trustees agrees to employ Robert W. McArthur, and Robert W. McArthur agrees to accept the position of Town Manag... ...greement, shall not be construed as thereafter waiving any such terms and conditions, but the same shall continue and remain in full force and effect as if no such forbearance or waiver had occurred. h. This agreement may be executed in counterpart, and shall become effective upon execution by both parties. The municipality shall indemnify, hold harmless, and defend the Town Manager for any liability that may arise from acts or omissions committed by the Manager where said acts or omissions were made in good faith during the course of and within the scope of municipal employment or volunteer activity for the municipality, or while performing duties as a municipal employee. __________________________________________ Mayor or Mayor Pro-Tem __________________________________________ Town Manager (Robert W. McArthur) __________________________________________ Notary

Affordable Care Act and Its Controversies

On March 23, 2010 President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA); this date is when the growing debate began. The Affordable Care Act is also commonly known as Obamacare. A large issue between the opposing sides is the future of small business under this bill. â€Å"Many small businesses are going to be absolutely crushed by the provisions in Obamacare that require them to provide expensive health insurance coverage for their employees.† (Snyder, Michael) â€Å"3.2 million small businesses — employing 19.3 million workers nationwide — were eligible last year for tax credits worth $15.4 billion or $800 per employee.† (LOLGOP)These separate articles counteract each other, one claiming that small business is doomed while the other promises a happy future for small business. Another issue between the sides is the fact that neither has a full grasp of the bill and therefore only builds their opinions upon what they like versus dislike of the provisions. T his debate seems to be based between Republicans, who are stereotypically anti-Obamacare and Democrats, who are stereotypically pro-Obamacare. This essay will use different sources to describe the largest provisions and the varying stances on these provisions between the two sides.In Snyder’s article he destroys the ACA and shouts the predetermined catastrophic problems America faces with the ACA. His article is entitled â€Å"15 Reasons Why The Obamacare Decision Is A Mind Blowing Disaster For America.† Through this article, Snyder lists reasons as to why the ACA is a poor decision. Quotes from this article include the likes of, â€Å"It is hard to have any faith in the U.S. Supreme Court,† and â€Å"Supreme Court that is dominated by judges that have very little respect for the U.S. Constitution.†Snyder’s article lists reasons ranging from governmental power, new taxes, and possibly most extreme: decrease in life expectancy in the United States. Finally, this article ends on the note that â€Å"Obamacare will add more than a trillion dollars to government spending over the next decade. Considering the fact that the U.S. government is already drowning in debt, how in the world can we afford this?† The largest issue that people have with the bill is the mandate, which was described by Reddit poster CaspianX2 in a comment thread.The rough description of the mandate is that  it requires a person to have healthcare, and if any person who can afford healthcare chooses not to have it, they can be fined. The Supreme Court tested the constitutionality and through changing the words around a bit, the Court declared it constitutional. (CaspianX2) The biggest anti-Obamacare points include: the increase in governmental strength, the new taxes upon the American people it will impose, the mandate, and governmental spending.â€Å"A Harvard study found that 45,000 Americans die every year for lack of insurance.† (LOLGOP) Thi s shows that though the individual mandate is debated, it shows the pro-ACA viewpoint saves American lives. This article on eclectablog.com gave 18 reasons as to why the ACA is an achievement for the middle class. The healthcare reform puts a vast construct on the changes of insurance companies themselves. â€Å"Insurance companies can no longer cap the dollar amount of care you can receive in a lifetime,† and, â€Å"Health care insurers will no longer be allowed to charge women more than men for their coverage,† are two examples of the changes insurance companies will be facing with this bill.This bill makes insurance more accessible for more people, as the same eclectablog.com article states, â€Å"Up to 30 million Americans who are currently not insured will be covered, saving thousands of American lives.† (LOLGOP) A different article by Joshua Holland, titled â€Å"Up to 30 million Americans who are currently not insured will be covered, saving thousands of American lives,† highlights the concept that people can build different opinions of the bill, depending on how much they know about it. This article offers 10 things the common person may not know about the Affordable Care Act ranging from, the richest Americans will be paying more taxes, to how this bill benefits women, to people getting checks to help pay for their insurance. This article offers these points in a positive-bias perspective.Holland discusses how people with an income over a certain amount will be having a higher tax rate, rather than the lower-than-average rate they have now. This bill, similarly to the article by LOLGOP on eclectablog.com speaks to the idea that insurers can no longer charge women higher than men. Those with an income lower than a certain mark will be getting tax credits and subsidies to help pay for their insurance, is another point of Holland’s in this article. The largest pro-Obamacare points include: the newly regulated equality b etween insurers charging men and  women the same price, the raising or lowering of taxes depending on income, and how much more accessible healthcare is going to be with this bill.Many of the controversies between the sides seem to cancel each other out, where one side says something, and the other says something that directly refutes it. An example of this is with the effect the bill will have on young people. In an article by Brian Klonoski entitled, â€Å"13 Reasons Why Obamacare Sucks So Far,† he states, â€Å"Obamacare is more formally known as The Affordable Care Act, so it should make healthcare more affordable, right? Well, sorta. It definitely makes healthcare more affordable for some people, but it also raises premiums for others — most notably, young, healthy Americans.†In a different article, by Todd Essig, he discusses why Obamacare is good for the young and healthy. The three reasons he lists are as follows: they will have health insurance should catastrophe strike, they’ll get prescriptions for routine care, and they’ll have more skin in the game of self-care. (Essig)Both sides of healthcare reform has extremist opinions, one being that of the tea-party conservatives and the other that of the radical liberals. However, not republicans are anti-ACA and not all democrats are pro-ACA; though, most do fit the stereotype. Whether a person is anti-ACA or pro-ACA, they should learn the in-and-out of the bill, and not just pick and choose which issues to argue and make decisions about. Doing that will lead to well-rounded opinions and eventually, decisions made on this largely debated healthcare reform.

The Atomic Bomb Changed the World Forever Essay - 2523 Words

Introduction The development and usage of the first atomic bombs has caused a change in military, political, and public functionality of the world today. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki revolutionized warfare by killing large masses of civilian population with a single strike. The bombs’ effects from the blast, extreme heat, and radiation left an estimated 140,000 people dead. The bombs created a temporary resolution that lead to another conflict. The Cold War was a political standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States that again created a new worldwide nuclear threat. The destructive potential of nuclear weapons had created a global sweep of fear as to what might happen if these terrible forces where unleashed again.†¦show more content†¦During the first minute of the explosion many injuries where caused by the instantaneous penetrating radiation from the nuclear explosion (3). Other casualties came from burning fires that had ignited throughout the cities from the tremendous heat of the blast (3). The pressure of the blast waves created flying debris, collapsed buildings, and forcibly hurled people to their death (3). Undoubtedly those who survived the initial effects of the blast were very lucky. The amount of deaths caused by the blast itself was incomparable to the number of lives lost to the other effects after the initial explosion (â€Å"Summary of Damages and Injuries† 3). The inferno created by the bomb wasn’t from the explosion itself, but the after effects of fires, collapsed buildings, and flying debris (3). â€Å"In Hiroshima fires sprang up simultaneously all over the wide flat central area of the city;† these fires combined to form immense fire storms which continued to destroy anything that had not already been destroyed by the blast. Buildings that had encountered considerable structure damage collapsed and continued to take even more lives (13). In the end both cities were left totally obliterated wi th nearly all of their residential districts and businesses flattened and most of their citizens dead (14). The technology that had built the atomic bomb helped the â€Å"world [get] a glimpse of its own mortality† (LanouetteShow MoreRelatedThe Atomic Bomb Of The United States Essay1748 Words   |  7 Pagesthe detonation of the first atomic bomb took place near Los Alamos, New Mexico. This atomic bomb testing would forever change the meaning of war. As the atomic bomb was detonated it sent shock-waves all over the world. There was endless research done on the bomb in the United States. The research was called The Manhattan Engineer District Project but it was more commonly known as The Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was brought by fear of Germany and its atomic research. On account of theRead MoreA Scientific Breakthrough That Changed The Face Of International And Domestic Warfare Forever1614 Words   |  7 PagesA scientific breakthrough that changed the face of international and domestic warfare forever was named the Manhattan Project (1942). The Manhattan Project (1942) was under the direction of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Its focus was to create a bomb using the expulsion of atomic energy. This secret operation where they built and assembled the first atomic bomb was located in Los Alamos, New Mexico. With the creation of such a device of destruction no one imaged it would lead to the deaths ofRead MoreThe Atomic Bomb Of Hiroshima1701 Words   |  7 Pages‘The Atomic Bomb; a bomb which derives its destructive power from the rapid release of nuclear energy by fission of heavy atomic nuclei, causing damage through heat, blast, and radioactivity’. On A ugust 6 1945, at 8:15 am local time, the city of Hiroshima in Japan, home to 350 000 people, became the first victim of the destructive war weapon. As of this vicious and devastating day, world history was changed forever. The long and short-term significance of this event shaped the way in which peopleRead MoreThe Atomic Bomb Of The United States1610 Words   |  7 Pages It was the morning of July 16, 1945, a countdown for the detonation of the first atomic bomb took place near Los Alamos, New Mexico. The atomic bomb testing would forever change the meaning of war. However, the atomic bomb was detonated and it sent shock-waves all over the world. There was much research to be done on the bomb in the United States. The research was called â€Å"The Manhattan Engineer District Project† but it was known as The Manhattan Project. With the issues of theRead MoreEssay on Manhattan Project1664 Words   |  7 Pagesresearch for the first Atomic bomb was done in the United States, by a group of the best scientists; this research was given the name of amp;quot;The Manhattan Projectamp;quot;. On Monday July 16th, 1945, a countdown for the detonation of the first atomic bomb took place near Los Alamos, New Mexico. This atomic bomb testing would forever change the meaning of war. As the atomic bomb was detonated it sent shock-waves all over the world. There was endless research done on the bomb in the United StatesRead MoreThe United States And Japan s Involvement1687 Words   |  7 Pagesdropped the world’s first atomic bomb on his hometown. Three days later, while terror was still raging in Hiroshima, the US dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. While it may seem inhumane for the US to have used such powerful weapons on Japan, the US had many reasons to use such drastic measures. The United Sta tes and Japan s involvement in WW2 led to the eventual use of atomic weapons causing a series of devastating effects that changed Japan and the world forever. In the early 1940s, HitlerRead MoreJulius Robert Oppenheimer, the Man Who Created the Nuclear Bomb1100 Words   |  5 PagesOne man created a nuclear bomb, ended a world war, saved hundreds of thousands of lives, all while creating a new wave of theoretical physics. He was born on April 22, 1904 in New York. His father, who had come to the United States from Germany at the age of 17, was a prosperous textile importer. His mother, Ella Freedman, was a painter who studied in Paris and came from Baltimore. He is Julius Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was the most important person of the twentieth century due to his creationRead MoreHiroshima And The Atomic Bomb1716 Words   |  7 Pagesdropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which was the first time an atomic bomb was used in war. Three days later, the United States proceeded to drop an atomic bomb again on another city, Nagasaki, which was the last time that an atomic bomb has ever been used in the world till today. Soon after the de vastating bombings, with thousands of Japanese civilians dead, the Japanese emperor Hirohito surrendered, marking the official end of WWII. Consequently, whether or not dropping the atomic bomb was theRead MoreThe Threat Of The Atomic Bomb1131 Words   |  5 PagesStates of America have fought in since World War I to the ruthless naval sea battle in World War II with the Japanese. There is no question about it that war is a great catastrophe, which leads to death of soldiers, destruction, butchery, but the worst kind of all the atomic war. One only has to think of the havoc this nuclear war would cause Capio mentioned in the article Airpower Journal (68). Just like when the United States Air Force dropped the Atomic bomb in Hiroshima from a B-29 bomber planeRead MoreA Closer Look at the Bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki1485 Words   |  6 Pagesof history was changed. Two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima, and three days later, August 9, 1945, on Naga saki that ended World War II. Japan had already been a defeated nation from conventional bombs and World War II. Many innocent lives were lost, psychological scars were left on the lives of the bomb survivors, and thus many lives were changed forever. The atomic bombings caused many people to have genetic effects due to the radiation from the bombs. Revisionists