Economic Crisis in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economic Crisis in Europe - Essay Example This report will discuss the root causes of economic crisis in Greek and Spain followed by discussing some economic and financial strategies these countries have implemented to deal with the on-going economic and financial problems within its banking sector. Eventually, several lessons drawn from the public policies which aim to improve the performance of the banking industry in Greece and Spain including the broader economy in general will be tackled in details. Prior to conclusion, potential implications on other European economies and the U.S. will be identified if the on-going European economic crisis is left unmanaged. Root Causes of Economic Crisis in Greek and Spain The economic crisis in Greek started in mid-2000s when the country was adversely affected by the global financial crisis. Specifically the global financial crisis during the mid-2000s has triggered a significant impact on its tourism, banking, insurance, and shipping industry (Talebi, 2012). To keep its economy sus tainable, the Greek government went through a series of loan from the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and some major banks in France and Germany (Alderman & Ewing, 2012; The New York Times, 2012). Since the total government deficit of Greece has reached $400 billion, its interest rate increases while the Fitch downgraded its sovereign debt rating to â€Å"BB+ status† or â€Å"junk status† (Hurriyet Daily News, 2012; Kollewe & Neville, 2012; The New York Times, 2011). As a result of excessive government deficit, Europe’s economic recovery is now being threatened (The New York Times, 2012). The case of Spain is similar but totally different from Greece. Even though the Spanish government has incurred a high government deficit, this country managed to cut down its government deficit from 11.2% down to 9.2%, and 8.5% in 2009, 2010, and 2011 respectively (Weardan, 2012; Johnson, 2011). Due to high unemploym ent rate of 23.3% (Eurostat, 2012), Spain is unable to control its private mortgage debt (The Economist, 2012). Eventually, failure to manage the private mortgage debt can lead to economic problem related to housing bubble (Egan, 2012; Smyth, Callanan, & Doyle, 2012). Economic and Financial Strategies Implemented by Greek and Spain In general, government bailout is considered as a significant part of a country’s gross debt but not as a sovereign debt. For this reason, the Greek and Spanish governments are using government bailouts as a strategy to solve their economic and financial problems. Specifically the Greek government started requesting for a series of bailout loans to make its economy run under a normal economic condition. Back then, its first bailout loan worth $146.2 billion (â‚ ¬110 billion) happened on the 1st of May 2010 (BBC News, 2012) followed by its second bailout loan worth â‚ ¬130 billion in October 2011 (The New York Times, 2012). Using these bailout loans, the Greek government was able to reduce its primary government deficits even before it reaches the interest payments. As a result, the Greek government was able to cut down its deficit from â‚ ¬24.7billion in 2009 (Smith, 2012) to â‚ ¬5.2 in 2011 (Financial Info, 2012). There are several economic consequences with regards to Greek government’s decision to increase taxes on private sectors. First of all, its private sector and the overall economic growth of the country that is badly affected with the use of

Plato, The Republic of Plato Essay Example for Free

Plato, The Republic of Plato Essay I thought that Plato’s The Republic was very ambitious in its goals and for the most part, it made a lot of excellent observations about the dynamic of human nature. It is nearly amazing that Plato found things in the ancient times that were not only true in the context of his life, but true for human beings in every period of time. He hit upon the key, core values that each and every person cannot get away from, no matter what their role or place in society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first thing that I found interesting was Plato’s breakdown of society. Though many other parts of his work are transcendent across many different generations, this was one part that only applies to his time frame, or so it would seem. It is fitting that he overplays the role of the warrior in society, since that is what was important during his time. Because of this, his entire dynamic is thrown out of whack in context of how it might be viewed today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   He did nail some important points in regards to the human spirit itself, though. By breaking it down into three categories, he made what should have been a difficult idea into one that was very easy to understand. In particular, I found it interesting how Plato addressed money as a motivator. I think that too many authors get caught up in the idea that money is at the root of a lot of actions. Plato, even back then, had it right that money is simply wanted as a means to an end. Most people who seek money do not do so just to have it. Instead, they want it so that they an satisfy the other primal desires that they cannot seem to shake. Plato is also correct that the rational part of a person must be the controlling factor if a person is going to be just. All too often, a person motivated by things or by emotions makes bad decisions and causes pain for others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is interesting to see who Plato praises in his republic and who he puts down. Predictably, he likes to laud the philosophers for their work for the greater good. Plato does not seem to spare any sort of self adulation in this respect. He believes that what he and his fellow philosophers are doing is right. I cannot fault him for this, though. If he did not think it was just, he should stop living his life this way. It was interesting, however, that he chose poets as the one group of people to completely put down in the book. After thinking about it, this is not all that surprising. Poets like to hit on exactly the opposite of what philosophers spend their life championing. They play to the emotional side of people, while the rational side is the most just. In a way, this is a commentary on what Plato finds important in his society. He does not want a bunch of indulgent creatures running around and he does not have any patience for people who go out promoting that type of badness. Instead, he is looking for a republic where people let their rational thoughts guide them to where they need to be. He recognizes emotion as a part of the human dynamic, but does not glorify its position like poets do. That was the most telling part of the entire book.

Inter-professional Working and the Needs of the Patients

Inter-professional Working and the Needs of the Patients QUESTION I Not sharing information is detrimental to inter-professional working Indeed, the needs of patients are best met by the inter-professional team, the evidence indicates that collaboration can promote coordination, cooperation between carers and significantly improve patient outcome and resource management (DoH, 2000, 2001a, 2001b). ‘Inter-professional’ working has thus become popular following pivotal policies drafted to structurally re-shape the National Health System (NHS) and influence how professional groups work together (DoH 2000, 1998, 1997). The literature has thus seen an upsurge in studies investigating patient oriented inter-professional collaborations with evidence for the positive impact of good, innovative inter-professional practice (Freeman et al, 2000), some of which have been seen in the areas of acquisition of clinical skills via inter-professional approach (Freeth, 2001, Freeth and Nicol 1998), management of acutely ill patients (Smith et al, 2002), palliative care (Vickridge, 1998) and in the sphere of care of older peo ple (Tierney and Vallis, 1999). Collaboration between professionals and their teams, mutual respect, the sharing of knowledge, skills, decisions and the recognition of the contribution of participating professional/teams highlight the integrated nature of inter-professional work (Molyneux 2001; Ovretveit (1997). Nevertheless, several factor militates against inter-professional working; these include information unshared, poor communications skills/methods and language differences (Caldwell and Atwal 2003; Pietroni, 1992; DOH, 1991), role overlap and confusion (Caldwell and Atwal 2003), conflicting and unequal power relationships (Caldwell and Atwal 2003; Blane,1991), different ideologies (Caldwell and Atwal 2003), differing perception of patients needs and treatment goals (Stevenson 1985) role confusion (Opuko, 1992) and a persisting tendency to promote professionalism in work settings. Areskog (1988) and Carpenter (1995) suggested that if collaboration ideologies is included in the qualification programmes of professionals and exemplified at that early stage, it will lead to better inter-professional working as issues of differing perceptions of treatment goals and patients’ needs will be tackled along with professional ‘stereotype’ that become impediments of meaningful inter-professional work. In view of this, the work of Freeth and Nicol (1998, attached) is an important study that sheds light on the barrier, opportunities, benefits and perhaps the way forward for inter-professional education and practice. The study was described as innovative programme of shared learning in acute care, involving final year medical students and newly qualified staff nurses and was developed in response to the indistinct professional role of junior doctors and the expanded roles of nurses. The programme utilized patient scenario which was pertinent to the partic ipants area of practice for the training purpose. The authors defined inter-professional education as â€Å"learning with and from each other† and reports from a supportive climate, the description and analysis of an inter-professional clinical skill course for newly registered nurses and senior medical students. While the benefits of inter-professional working was a strong motivation for the training/study, the authors deemed inter-professional learning as difficult and fraught with practical problems; the non-resolution of which may lend further support to critics of the initiative. The Clinical Skills Initiative was a collaborative venture between a School of Nursing Midwifery and a Medical School (Studdy et al 1994). The importance of information sharing was underscored by the fact that the entire programme had communication skills taught, and role played using realistic patient scenarios. This was thought to have made for a balanced diet of clinical and communication skills that is vital for high quality patient care. A background to this was the development of the Inter-professional Skills Centre that ensured that the channels of communication between the two Schools were strengthened and inter-professional relationships was well established. This in the opinion of the authors provided the inter-professional initiatives with an infrastructure, and a supportive climate underpinned by common understandings, thus, enhancing the chances of success (Freeth and Nicol 1998). The course provided an inter-professional arrangement that allowed for an inter-change of information thus enabling members of the nursing and medical professions to learn from each other. Such sharing of information was shown from the analysis of field notes, interviews, flip chart and questionnaires to have promoted mutual appreciation of expertise and the roles of both profession in contributing to overall patient care. In a case scenario where the participants were told that conservative management of a patient’s leg ulcer has failed and surgery was needed, it was interesting to note that both professionals, in small inter-professional groups, explored issues surrounding informed consent, focusing on the information needed to make an informed decision and the way in which this should be communicated to patients and relatives (Freeth and Nicol 1998). Undoubtedly the sharing of information here improved the outcome of the deliberation. The result suggests that the study was a positive experience for the participants; they were able to contribute something to the overall patient problem solving, drawing upon each other’s practical experience, and specialized knowledge. They shared information even during social interactions, as much of any waiting time was employed to enquire about each others ward-based experiences (Freeth and Nicol 1998). The registered nurses saw the inter-professional training as a great chance to learn new clinical skills and commented that the education made obvious what should have been done in their past experiences. Additionally, some participants from the medical profession had technical questions relating to ward procedures and their rationale. These were addressed to the staff nurses and information exchange was again beneficial to both team members, thus confirming the authors’ assumption that nurses ward experience is an asset for inter-professional training. A member of the medical team considered the inter-professional education to have ‘un-smudged’ some of the boundaries in roles and highlighted the need to work together and communicate. Overall, this article is relevant to the understanding of the vital ingredients needed for an inter-professional education that will promote current health policies and maximize patients’ benefits. The article indicates the im portance of ‘information sharing amongst professionals’ for the success of inter-professional collaborations. Caldwell and Atwal (2003) highlighted a number of problems of hospital inter-professional practice, a significant number of which can be attributed to ‘not sharing information’. A case involving a staff nurse, a consultant, an occupational therapist, social services, the patient and a hoist was described. The staff nurse considered the hoist as important for the authorised discharge of the patient and was concerned that one has not been issued; this was expressed at a multidisciplinary team meeting. However, underlying the ill-feelings of the professionals is the fact that information about varying perception of what should be the optimum care strategy for the patient has not been shared or negotiated. According to Caldwell and Atwal (2003), uknown to the occupational therapist the staff nurse had received pressure from the consultant to discharge this patient, and unknown to the staff nurse the occupational therapist is contending with social services who are suggesting that this patient could benefit from further rehabilitation and therefore should not be issued a hoist. It is thus reasonable to suppose at this point that team members’ innate un-willingness or the inability to share information or communicate is detrimental to inter-professional working. Professionals in such teams or settings should necessarily share information to promote an understanding of each others role and care plan thus fostering the approach of a team working toward optimum patient oriented goals in a well orchestrated manner (Cooper et al, 2001). The issue of role boundaries was also highlighted in the Freeth and Nicol (1998) study; sometimes however, it is a case of role overlap and confusion amongst professionals, for example, nurses and junior doctors. This has become apparent especially since Government policies now favour expansion of nurses’ role and reduction in the hours worked by junior doctors (DoH (1994). Clarity of these professional functions is important for practitioners in the ever changing inter-professional interface (Taylor 1996). It may be argued for instance, that why should a physiotherapist wait to have a wheelchair prescribed only after patient assessment by an occupational therapist when the former also have the requisite assessment skills. Clear definition of roles and optimum utilisation of professional resource capacities will make for an enhanced inter-professional practice and patients benefit. Other issues of importance to inter-professional working identified in the article included stereotypes, inter-professional barriers, and a tendency for some professionals to minimize the importance or value of the work of other professionals owing probably to excessive emphasis on professionalism during training. These issues are constraints to effective patient care and need be properly addressed for the optimum functioning of an inter-professional initiative. While works, such as those of Freeth and Nicol (1998) clearly demonstrate the benefits of inter-professional education, background schooling for the majority of professionals still take place in mono-disciplinary settings that fosters professionalism and stereotyped image/ expectations of other professionals (Leiba 1996). This trend cannot achieve the policy aims of effective collaborative working (DoH, 2000; 2001a; 2001b; 1998; 1997). A key solution will be the provision of support for inter-profession education/training as exemplified by Freeth and Nicol (1998); it is an integrated approach with potential for preparing professionals to encourage inter-professional practice. QUESTION II Part A: Points learnt include: The benefits of inter-profession working A positive outlook on multi-disciplinary teams that inter-relate for better patient outcome The need for interest in other professions and an understanding of their roles. The importance of ‘sharing information’ effectively with other healthcare professionals, patients and relatives while maintaining patient’s autonomy and confidentiality Professional need for effective communicate skills The need to be involved in therapeutic decision making and care plan formulation that earns patients’ concordance. An important practical message in the considering of inter-professional education/work is the need for attitudinal changes; the immediate effect of which in clinical practice, includes the readiness to share relevant information with clinicians to promote effective delivery of care, the perception of other professional as equally making valuable indispensable contributions to patient care as well as a positive outlook on inter-professional working. These attitudinal changes are necessary for the efficient local practice of inter-professional working. McGrath (1991) showed that the benefits of inter-professional working includes but is not limited to (1) efficiency in human resource allocation and the optimum utilization of capacity within the team, i.e. specialist staff focus on specialist skills/cases (2) efficient delivery of health care with improved patient outcome and (3) increase in job satisfaction for members of the inter-professional team arising from the support of willing team members and an enabling work environment. Inter-professional working could thus have improved the clinical outcomes in a number of the hospital cases that in my experience has led to grave loss or patient suffering. The recent experience was in the care of hospital in-patients with a clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis without any history of fracture and on a frailer group of patients with advance bone changes usually having sustained fracture/s (CSP 2002) and for which NICE (2005) has provided a guideline for the secondary prevention of fragility fractures. The patients were managed at any of the 11 wards representing medicine, surgery, orthopaedic and elderly care wards of a tertiary care facility in London during an 8-week placement period. Gross observation revealed treatment gaps in meeting guideline recommendations for the management of these patients in the areas of risk of fall assessment and referral to multi-factorial fall risk assessment and intervention clinic. There did not seem to be a unified format or standard for the assessment of fall risk within the 11 wards and risk of fall was not assessed in more than 50% of the cases in which this was a guideline requirement, perhaps, due to confusion in role identity and the location of this responsibility amongst the professional concerned. The clinical records of these patients showed that both nurses and physiotherapist assessed fall risk criteria and reported this in different formats. Proper integration of the services and communications between these professionals as prescribed within the frame work of inter-professional working will avoid needless duplication of effort, the waste of resources and clinicians time. Saved time could then be expended by either of the professionals in improving quality of care and quality time spent with patient; this is in addition to improved consistency in patients’ records and the ease of continued care should there be a need for patients to moved between wards of the unit. Part B: While Government policy has reflected a cultural shift by way of imposition of radical changes to the way in which health services are organized and delivered, there are distressing problems that make inter-professional working an arduous task. The issue of power and its distribution within the health institution is here of prime importance. There exist unequal power distributions between health care professionals, often leading to organizational and working structures that are impediments to inter-professional working. (Carrier and Kendall, 1995; Kgppeli’ 1995; Blane, 1991). Power is often in the domain of the older, more established medical profession; and there has been a pattern of domination over other professionalized disciplines, such as nursing, social work and other allied health professions (Kgppeli’ 1995; Hugman, 1991). The study of Manias and Street (2001) revealed that nurses faced many difficulties that practically precluded them from participating in therapeutic decision making for patients to whom they maintain permanent physical, emotional and sensitory closeness (Kgppeli’ 1995). Manias and Street (2001) found that nurses on medical ward rounds answered ‘doctors’ questions only, were not encouraged to give unsolicited information about the patient and hence found it very difficult to present relevant patient issues during a medical ward round. An enormous amount of literature has been written on the nurse-doctor relation; a significant portion of these appear to imply that the powers and influences of medical profession are hindrances to development of nursing. From a historical standpoint, it is logical to think of health professions as complementary to each other, however, the fact that they are organised ‘around’ a patient, that they ought to cooperate for his benefit seems secondary if not trivial (Kgppeli’ 1995). There is a lingering tendency to maintain professionalism and to expect ‘predetermined behavior’ of other health care professionals. The domination of one professional over the others within a health team is a major factor that can strengthen the boundaries between the professional groups engaged in inter-professional working and constrain effective teamwork (Beattie, 1995). Power in-balance within the inter-professional team will also encourage the making of many ‘rules’ and regulations that are capable of controlling major aspects of professional practice (Kgppeli’ 1995), thus making un-necessary any substantial discussion intended to individualise care and improve clinical and social patient outcome. The care and management of a hospitalised patient cannot be achieved by one person, neither is one professional group capable of the task. It is always a complex multidisciplinary phenomenon (Kgppeli’ 1995) in which the integrated knowledge and skill of people with different professional backgrounds makes for better clinical and social patient outcome. Hence, leadership within inter-professional team should not be ‘zoned’ to one profession as such will be detrimental to the optimal functioning of the initiative. The leadership need be more inspirational and stimulating, enabling other team members to respond positively to opportunities presented by developing improved knowledge and skills in managing professional practice and inter-professional relationships. According to Colyer (1999), non medical professional members of the team who are willing to assume the demanding responsibilities of full membership of the inter-professional teams should also be made to feel a sense of belonging and responsibility to the integrated patient oriented goal of the team. References: Areskog N-H (1988) The need for multiprofessional health education in undergraduate studies. Medical Education 22:251-252 Beattie A (1995) War and peace among the health tribes. In: Soothill K, Mackay L, Webb C, eds. Interprofessional Relations in Health Care. Edward Arnold, London: 11–26 Blane D (1991) Health Professionals. In: Scambler G ed. Sociology as Applied to Medicine. Bailliere Tindall, London Caldwell K and Atwal A (2003) The problems of interprofessional healthcare practice in hospitals British Journal of Nursing 12 (20)1212 1218 Carpenter J (1995) Doctors and nurses: stereotypes and stereotype change in interprofessional education. Journal of Interprofessional Care 9 (2): 151-161 Carrier J, Kendall I (1995) Professionalism and interprofessionalism in health and community care: some theoretical issues. In: Owens P, Carrier J, Horder J, eds. Interprofessional Issues in Community and Primary Health Care. Macmillan, London: 9–36 Colyer, Hazel (1999) Interprofessional teams in cancer care. Radiography 5: 187-189 Cooper, H., Carlisle, C., Gibbs, T. and Watkins, C. (2001) Developing an evidence base for interdisciplinary learning: a systematic review, Journal of Advanced Nursing 35(2): 228–37. CSP: Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP, 2002) www.csp.org.uk. DoH (1991) Working Together: A Guide to Arrangements for Inter-agency Cooperation for the Protection of Children from Abuse. DoH, London DoH (1994) Implementing Caring for People: Training and Development. HMSO, London DoH (1997) The New NHS: Modern, Dependable. The Stationery Office, London DoH (1998) A First Class Service: Quality in the New NHS. DoH, London DoH (2000) The NHS Plan: A Plan for Investment, A Plan for Reform. The Stationery Office, London DoH (2001a) National Service Framework for Older People. The Stationery Office, London DoH (2001b) Working Together, Learning Together: A Framework for Lifelong Learning in the NHS. The Stationery Office, London Freeman M, Miller C, Ross N (2000) The impact of individual philosophies of teamwork on multiprofessional practice and the implications for education. J Interpr of Care 14(3): 237–47 Freeth G (2001) Sustaining interprofessional collaboration. J Interprof Care 15: 37–46 Freeth D and Nicol M (1998). Learning clinical skills: an interprofessional approach. Nurse education Today 18, 455-461 Hugman R (1991) Power in the Caring Professions. Macmillan, London Kgppeli’ Silvia (1995) Interprofessional cooperation: why is partnership so difficult? Patient Education and Counseling 26: 251-256 Leiba Tony (1996) Interprofessional and multi-agency training and working British Journal of Community Nursing 1 (1): 8 12 Manias E and Street A (2001) Nurse–doctor interactions during critical care ward rounds. J Clin Nurs 10:442–50 McGrath M (1991) Multi-disciplinary teamwork. Avebury, Aldershot Molyneux J (2001) Interprofessional teamworking: what makes teams work well? J Interprof Care 15: 29–35 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE 2005) Bisphosphonates (alendronate, etidronate, risedronate), selective oestrogen receptor modulators (raloxifene) and parathyroid hormone (teriparatide) for the secondary prevention of osteoporotic fragility fractures in postmenopausal women. Technology Appraisal Document No 87. Opuko D K (1992) Does Interprofessional cooperation matter in the Care of Birthing Women? Journal of Interprofessional Care 6(2): 119-25 Ovretveit J (1997) Evaluating Health Interventions: An Introduction to Evaluation of Health Treatments, Services, Policies and Organizational Interventions. Open University Press, Buckingham Pietroni P C (1992) Towards Reflective Practice The Languages of Health and Social Care. Journal of Interprofessional Care 6(1): 7-16 Smith G, Osgood V, Crane S (2002) ALERT: a multiprofessional training course in the care of the acutely ill adult patient. Resuscitation 52(3): 281–6 Stevenson O (1985) The community care of frail elderly people: co-operation in health and social care. Br J Occup Ther 48: 332–4 Studdy S J, Nicol M J, Fox-Hiley A (I994) Teaching and learning clirdcal skills, Part 1: Development of a mullidisciplinary skills centre. Nurse Education Today14:177-185 Taylor J (1996) Systems thinking, boundaries and role clarity. Clin Perform Qual Health Care 4(4): 198–9 Tierney A, Vallis J (1999) Multidisciplinary teamworking in the care of elderly patients with hip fracture. J Interprof Care 13: 41–52 Vickridge R (1998) Collaborative working for good practice in palliative care. J Interpr of Care 12: 63–7

Essay on Symbols and Symbolism in Moby Dick :: Moby Dick Essays

"He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it." Such was Melville's description of Captain Ahab. The symbolism that this statement suggests, along with many other instances of symbolism, are incorporated into Moby Dick. Although the crew knew that Ahab was obsessed with vengeance and wasn't interested in killing Moby Dick for whale oil, they still felt obligated to follow his orders. They knew that the rule book said that if a captain went against his contract due to personal feelings, they were obliged to wrest command from him. This idea symbolizes the emotional attachment we have to those around us, and it also demonstrates the mixed feelings we have when somebody we respect does something evil. In the end, this emotional attachment destroyed the crew. Starbuck had a golden opportunity to kill Ahab, but for his own salvation, h e undermined the good of the crew and chose to let the Captain live. So, part of the lesson of Moby Dick is not to let sentiment and personal feelings get in the way of our duty. The lack of this lesson among the crew destroyed Ahab and the entire ship's compliment, except for Ishmael. When Captain Ahab stabbed at Moby Dick with the harpoon, he was symbolizing the power that obsession has when a person lets it take over one's mind. Ahab had no chance of killing Moby Dick, yet he engaged in his suicide plan to stab at the whale. This lesson not to let obsession take over your mind is similar to Javert's obsession with justice and imprisoning Valjean in Les Miserables. It shows that a passion with a personal vendetta will ultimately destroy a person, whether it destroys the person physically or mentally. Moby Dick also was a mixed symbol. It seemed clear to the crew of the Pequod that whales were evil and whales were the enemy. Yet, white is a symbol of good, so one could conclude that Moby Dick was a symbol of both good and evil. With Moby Dick killing Ahab, he gave Ahab his just reward from acting out of revenge, which could be interpreted as an act of good. When Moby Dick killed all but one of the crew, it showed that he may be evil, even though he was acting only out of instinct, thinking his life was threatened.

Retailmax

RetailMax: â€Å"Role for Cam Archer and Regan Kessel† Sabrina Brown Professor Lahargoue Grand Canyon University: LDR-610 March 13, 2013 RetailMax: â€Å"Role for Cam Archer and Regan Kessel† What is RetailMax? RetailMax, Inc. is a young Boston- based company that provides merchandise, optimization software, and assistance with tasks such as; preseason planning inventory management, product pricing, and forecasting customer demands to major retailers. RetailMax was founded in 1984 as a consulting company and transitioned to a software company in 1998.Like many other software companies, RetailMax was forced to downsize in areas that were not directly involved with making or selling software, however since hiring Todd Elman as the new CEO, the company bounced back and were able to hire more than 100 employees to work (2006). Who is Cam Archer? Cam Archer started working at RetailMax within a business development capacity where she managed strategic alliances and partnersh ips after just graduating with her MBA from a leading business school.In the position Cam was in, she has a very good reputation from both internally and by her customers that she is very smart, diligent, and valuable individual (2006). However, after years of being in a sales position Cam decided to start exploring other options at RetailMax where he can stay with the company but change to another position with less or no traveling required. Who is Regan Kessel? Regan is the Vice President of Product Management and Marketing (PMM) for RetailMax, Inc. , Regan has 20 years of experience working in the industry.Regan founded his own retail supply chain software company, which was sold to IBM in 1996. Since then has developed product and marketing strategies for numerous supply chain companies, and recently worked with a Dallas-Based company commuting to Texas from home base to Boston. Todd approached Regan to come aboard with RetailMax and he did accept the offer. Who has the greatest potential power and why? Between Vince Mangini, the Vice President of Professional Services (PS) and Regan Kessel, the Vice President of Product Management and Marketing (PMM), Regan Kessel has the greater potential power.Why? Because if one sit back and take a hard look at what each has to offer Cam, Vince only has to offer more money verses Regan, he has much more to offer Cam. Vince not only offers a good salary, but room for growth if Cam ever decides to move up the ladder. Vince offers less or no traveling which what Cam was originally looking for and her purpose of wanting to find another position. Also, Cam is able to report to Vince directly other than having to report to an individual over her first, then to Vince.In comparing who portrays what type of power, Cam portrays Personal and Expert power which comes from her experiences, skills, and or knowledge. Cam not only gained experience in particular areas, but she became known as leader material in certain areas because o f how effective she was when making sells. Therefore, over time she began to portray having expert power in which can be utilized to get others to help meet certain goals as well. Regan portrays to have Referent Power.Regan does not come off as a person that you can trust, but being that he took the time off to research a fair salary for Cam not only based on her education but her experience as well seems as if he is an individual one can certainly trust and know you are going to be treated fairly. Vince portrays Formal and Coercive Power. Vince knew Cam wanted to obtain a position in which does not require little are no traveling. However, he insisted on making her an offer by using dollar figures. Vince also made smart comments to Cam such as; â€Å"If you try to sit on two chairs at one time, you are going to end up on the floor†.This comment does not allow Cam to make the right decision based on what she feels is best for her; this comment is saying look you know you cann ot do both jobs at one time so you need to hurry up and decide what you want to do for Vince benefit. Did stereotypical gender roles influence either party to proceed in a certain manner? Explain how they did or did not act stereotypically. No, gender roles did not influence either party to proceed in certain manners; it was about who can get Cam and how much she is willing to make to be a part of their organization.Regan wanted Cam because of her success rate in what she did, and knowing that he knew she was looking for a new position and was highly recommend by the CEO he was willing to give her a chance in a new position. Vince wanted Cam because of her success rate as well; however he was willing to offer Cam more money but less stability in which she will still be traveling, and not able to report to him directly, and with no room for growth. What social factors (such as reputation, the prior relationship between the parties, and their mutual ties to others in the organization, including the CEO) affected each person's power?The social factors that affected Regan was when he found out his other colleague Mangini knew that he was going to hire Cam, but then he decided to offer her another position with a higher salary. I know this is business, but that was a little dirty to do. Cam has been with the company for a longtime, therefore she has more of an advantage than others when applying for other positions. This is how she was able to get an offer from Regan being that he knew the CEO and he asked Regan to give him a chance even in this new position. In reading both articles, assumptions were not really made from each side.Basically, what was discussed between them all was pertaining to business choices. Cam had to decide in which direction she wanted to go while Reagan, Mangini, and Todd wait for a finalized decision. Archer should be interested in the Marketing position because it will enable her for room for success, it will give her more time having a social life, and less travel. This position will strengthen her power once she gets the title. With the title will come respect; Kessel should definitely hire Archer being that Archer has reported not only to be a success factor for the company, but her reputation all together speaks by itself.Kessel will do great things if Archer comes on board. If Kessel hires Archer the proven work that Archer has done in the past, individuals will definitely sit back and watch how will do things as a team together. What positive effect might hiring an external applicant instead have on Kessel's power? If Kessel hires someone externally this should not do anything as far as power is concern. It just shows that things happen and we all need to move on. Therefore, if Kessel really want Archer to work for him, he should offer him the highest he can offer him for that position and offer to pay commission. This will even out at the end eventually.Archer should accept the Marking Position being that th is is something that was always planned when it comes to less or no traveling. Archer need to sit down and just take a really look at things. Money is not everything especially y when you are making a good salary already. After considering all of the above, evaluate who used social power most effectively and why. Out of all the individuals mentioned, Mangini showed the most social power. How? Mangini used not only his position, but his salary as well of what he can offer Cam to bribe Cam to work for him. Mangini even said little remarks to Cam to get Cam to come his way.Cam has to realize being in Marketing is where the heart is, and just because Mangini can offer more money, is what you really want to do with no room for growth, reporting to someone else other that Mangini, and still traveling. My mom use to always say, what look good to you is not always good for you. References McGinn, Kathleen L. , and Dina R. Pradel. â€Å"RetailMax: Role for Regan Kessel. † Harvard Busi ness School Exercise 904-025, May 2006. (Revised from original September 2003 version. ) McGinn. , and Witter. â€Å"RetailMax: Role for Cam Archer†. Harvard Business School (2006).

A Rainy Day Essay Example

A Rainy Day Essay Example A Rainy Day Essay A Rainy Day Essay * To be a successful professional in a progressive organization that offer opportunities for advancement, which allow me to actualize the skills developed so far with a good potential for professional growth and further. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION| * * * Qualification| Board/University| School/College| Passing Year| % of Marks| S. S. C. | G. S. E. B. | Gurukul Vidhyapith| 2007| 49. 23%| D. M. E| T. E. B. VallabhBhudhi Polytechnic| 2011| 51%| * PROFESSIONAL SKILLS| * Comprehensive problem solving abilities, excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to deal with people diplomatically, willingness to learn team facilitator hard worker. * * * * * * * * PROJECTS (In Academic Years)| * A project is not a physical objective nor is it end result. It has something to do with the going on between its starts from sketches with a definite mission.Generic activities involving a variety of human and non-human resources all directed towards fulfillment. * Project on Studies of †Å"STRADLE MILLING FIXTURE†. My Experience| * I worked as workshop supervisor in Tata motors at Surat. * I worked as workshop supervisor in Mahindra presidents’ motors at Surat. * Presently Working in CTTS(Coil Tracking and Transporting System) department in Essar Steel Ltd,Hazira. on Contract basic CRM Plant. ACADEMIC ACHEIVEMENTS| â€Å"Elementary Drawing Grade Examination† at State Examination Board Gujarat State. Industrial Process Technology Visit| * Industrial training in Batliboi. ltd. At Surat. * Industrial training in PS. pvt. ltd. at Navsari. SOFTWARE PROFICIENCY| Programming Languages : C++, Auto Cad. Packages   :   MS Office PERSONAL INFORMATION| Name: Patel Abhishek Father’s Name : Patel Jitendrabhai Languages known: Gujarati, Hindi, English Date of Birth : 28th December, 1991Nationality: Indian Hobbies: Travelling,Music, Address :257,Saidham society,nr-vrundavan park society,aspass temple,godadara, surat-394210 Gender : Male Categories : S . T. DECLARATION| I hereby declare that the information above is true to the best of my knowledge. Yours sincerely, Patel Abhishek j.