Is A Hero Really Nothing But Essays

Is A Hero Really Nothing But Essays Is A Hero Really Nothing But Paper Is A Hero Really Nothing But Paper Is a Hero Really Nothing but a Sandwich? In the article titled Is a Hero Really Nothing but a Sandwich? by Ted Toeless, he states what makes a person a hero. One Interesting Idea he mentions Is a hero has ability to boost change of community, and another important factor he raises is all heroes around the world are instructive and inspirational. While these are not the only factors that make up a hero, I believe they are the two most essential evidences to support the topic. The first point is that hero has ability to boost change of immunity. Ted Toeless indicates that heroes are catalysts for change. They have a vision from mountaintop; they have the skill and the charm to move the masses; they create new possibility. I am an advocate of this Idea because there Is a real hero In my country with these traits. Exactly, heroes are different with normal people. They are courageous, tenacious, wise, visionary and ambitious, so they dare to do something that normal can not do. They inspire masses, and they also influence people fallow them. In China, there are such words about that no chair Mao, no The Peoples Republic of China. Chair Mao is actually a hero in each Chinese mind. When the call war broken out In 1945, The Communist Party was always at a big disadvantage. However, Mao never displayed weakness; he leaded The Communist Party and masses to persist in battling until 1949. During four years war, He made many wise decisions and became popular around masses so that The Communist Party could win the war in 1949. He also predicted the leak of Soviet union System, so e does not let China follow Soviet. Finally, he changed whole China, and made people stood up instead of being oppressed; he established The Peoples Republic of China In 1949 with Chinas unique socialism system. Another Important point shows that all heroes around the world are instructive and Inspirational. Ted Toeless states heroes around the world generally share traits that instruct and inspire people. I believe this idea profoundly because I I had a hero in my mind when I was a little boy; the hero always conducted and inspired me to be better. So-called heroes, sometimes they should not have a number of glorious deeds, and they are not being popular among people; they Just have charming traits that attract masses to learn. I could remember that a Japanese carton called Pocket Monsters Inspired me since I was 10 years old. On each episode, the villains called Rocket Team want to snatch the pocket monster of leading role; however, they failed every time. Although they did not have enough combat effectiveness, they never gave it up. They tried all kinds of fantastic ways but useless. I started to think what support them keep moving? It was no doubt that the spirit of the persistence. I was Inspired profoundly because that was what I wanted and lacked. Each time I wanted to give up doing homework; I would remember Rocket Team; I should learn from their persistence. Therefore, I insisted on one rule: Study was the most important, and playing was second. I balanced study and entertainment well; I persisted in having some fun after finishing my homework so that I got high grade in my elementary school. Overall, I believe that roes have ability to influence people; their enchanting characteristics inspire people become well; they set examples for people so that people would be proud for teem Ana Tallow teem. I nee also can accelerate progress AT collect Decease teeny have supernormal skill that is able to lead people and make reforms. Heroes can be called heroes because they are different with normal people, and they benefit the world; they make large contribution to society and shape flawless images for people. These are the reason why these two points are vital for heroes.

How to Open a Genealogy GEDCOM File

How to Open a Genealogy GEDCOM File If youve spent much time online researching your family tree, then it is likely that youve either downloaded a GEDCOM file (extension .ged) from the Internet or received one from a fellow researcher. Or you may have an old GEDCOM file on your computer from research you entered years ago into a now-defunct family history software program. In other words, you have a nifty family tree file which may contain vital clues to your ancestors and your computer cant seem to open it. What to do? Open a GEDCOM File Using Stand-Alone Genealogy Software These instructions will work to open GEDCOM files in most family tree software programs. See your programs help file for more specific instructions. Launch your family tree program and close any open genealogy files.In the top: powellgedcomClick Save or Import.The program may then ask you to make a few choices regarding the import of your GEDCOM file. Just follow the directions. If youre not sure what to select, then just stick with the default options.Click OK.A confirmation box may appear stating that your import was successful.You should now be able to read the GEDCOM file in your genealogy software program as a regular family tree file. Upload a GEDCOM File to Create an Online Family Tree If you dont own family tree software, or prefer to work online, you can also use a GEDCOM file to create an online family tree, allowing you to easily browse the data. However, if you have received a GEDCOM file from someone else, you should be sure to get their permission before using this option as they may not wish the information they have shared with you to be available online. Most online family trees do offer the option to create a completely private tree (see below). Some online family tree builder programs, most notably Ancestry Member Trees and MyHeritage, include an option to start a new family tree by importing a GEDCOM file. From the Upload a Family Tree page on Ancestry, click on the Browse button to the right of Choose a file. In the window that comes up, browse to the appropriate GEDCOM file on your hard drive. Select the file and then click the Open button.  Enter a name for your family tree and accept the submission agreement (read it first!).From the main MyHeritage page, select Import Tree (GEDCOM) under the Get Started button. Navigate to the file on your computer and click Open. Then select Get Started to import the GEDCOM file and create your family tree (dont forget to read the Service Terms and Privacy Policy!). Both Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com offer options to create a completely private online family tree, viewable only by you, or the people you invite. These are not the default option settings, however, so if you want a private family tree you will need to take a few extra steps. See What are the Privacy Options for My Family Site? on MyHeritage or Privacy for Your Family Tree on Ancestry.com for step-by-step instructions.

What is Soybean the effectiveness and benefit to human Essay

What is Soybean the effectiveness and benefit to human - Essay Example The main soybean products are soybean grits, soybean flakes, fat soybean flour, oil and fermented products. There are water soaked and roasted soybeans that are called soy nuts and are the source of proteins and fats. Soybeans are the second largest source of protein for vegetarians. Soymilk is consumed as the alternative to dairy milk as it lactose and cholesterol free containing many vitamins and minerals ‎(Singh, 2010). Soybean oil is used as lubricants, plastics, plasticizers resins and surfactants in industries since soy oil is environment friendly and bio degradable. It is important environmentally because it required less nitrogen in the form of fertilizers. Bradyrhyzobium is present in its root nodule to fix nitrogen‎ (Singh, 2010). There are plenty of health benefits from soybeans. They decrease the blood cholesterol level and lessen the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Large amounts of hemicelluloses and cellulose are present in them that improve the digestive health. Soybean contains isoflovanes that are plant chemicals similar to estrogen. Okara is the soy fibre that is present in the making of tofu and soymilk. It has a capacity to hold water and fats so it can establish emulsion and use it as the replacement of fats in baked products. It is helpful in improving endothelial lining muscles and reduces inflammation‎ (Yu, Rsao and Shahidi, 2012)‎. Iconolastic: Soy contains almost all of the essential amino acids. It is a food source for animals too. Health benefits of soybeans are at their zenith but require further studies to break all false fact iconoclastically. Hotspur: Soybeans are highly beneficial and hotspur for humans in health, industrial and economical perspectives. However, further research is necessary to bring out the peak advantages of this golden seed. Munificent: Some studies suggest that they have extensive effects on decreasing blood cholesterol level. However, others suggest that the effects are skittish as they have

Financial health of HKM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial health of HKM - Essay Example We see that HKM is doing a profitable business and the profits can sustain growth and expansion. The balance sheet allows a comparison of the assets the company owns and the liabilities. HKM has total assets amounting to 14278. Comparing this with the liabilities it reveals that HKM is not overburdened in any way by debts. Some ratios can help here. Liquidity is defined as a business' ability to meet its financial obligations2. It shows whether it is able to pay its short term bills (liquidity) and also projects whether its going to be able to service its long term debts when they become due (solvency). Two of the applicable ratios to calculate for HKM are: Going by the above analysis, HKM is doing rather well for a two-year old company. The company has recorded an impressive net profit, it is very liquid and the asset turnover ratio confirms that the company is very efficiently utilizing its assets. For more on ratio analysis see Lynch foulks (2001). The next tool of determining the condition of a business is the break-even analysis. According to some authors it is the volume of unit sales that must be made to at least recover the cost of sales3. For HKM Break-even is calculated as below Break-even analysis helps the management of a business to know the volume of sales that is needed to start making a profit4. ... Current ratio. It is a measure of a company's stability and efficiency. It is calculated as Current assets/current liabilities. = 3278: 1 372 = 8.81: 1 This is saying that HKM is able to pay its short-term obligations 8 times over and that's good news. Net working capital ratio. Net working capital is Current assets - current liabilities Net working capital ratio = Net working capital Total assets = 2966 = 0.21 14278 Return on assets. This ratio tells you the asset intensity of a company and is calculated as; Net income/Total assets = 17966:1 14278 = 1.258:1 1. Activity analysis ratio: Assets turnover ratio. Determines the total sales for every asset. The ratio tells you how efficiently a company utilizes its assets. = Sales Total assets = 87824:1 14278 = 6.15:1 Going by the above analysis, HKM is doing rather well for a two-year old company. The company has recorded an impressive net profit, it is very liquid and the asset turnover ratio confirms that the company is very efficiently utilizing its assets. For more on ratio analysis see Lynch foulks (2001). Chapter 2. Break-Even Analysis The next tool of determining the condition of a business is the break-even analysis. According to some authors it is the volume of unit sales that must be made to at least recover the cost of sales3. For HKM Break-even is calculated as below Contribution per item = 87824-56676-3954.6 500 = 54.39 Break-even point = 9227.4 169.66 54.39 Margin of safety = 500-170 * 100 500 = 66% 2.1 Benefits of the break-even analysis. Break-even analysis helps the management of a business to know the volume of sales that is needed to start making a

Constituents of breast milk Essay Example for Free

Constituents of breast milk Essay Cholesterol enhances myelinization of nervous tissue Choline Memory enhancement Docsohexanoic acid necessary for growth and development of the brain and retina, also for myelinization of nervous tissue Enzymes such as lipases Helps in digestion of fats Glutathione peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, xanthine oxidase important in prevention of infection Inositol enhances synthesis of surfactant in immature lung tissue Lactoferrin binds iron and transports it efficiently into the baby; prevents iron from being used by gut bacteria. Lactoferrin (above), lysozyme, secretory immunoglobulin A line intestinal surface, prevent bacterial attachment and infection Nucleotides building blocks of DNA, RNA, and energy storage compounds; enhance formation of immunity to infection Poly- and oligo-saccharides block bacterial binding to intestinal surfaces Proteins There are receptor proteins and binding protein, bind calcium and zinc for absorption by the baby; supply amino acids to the baby White blood cells Help protect infant from bacteria and foreign body invasion. Transmit maternal immunity to infants immune system Taurine important for bile acid function Formula Milk Main ingredients Lactose, Nonfat Milk, Palm Oil Or Palm Olein, Whey Protein Concentrate, High Oleic (Safflower Or Sunflower) Oil, Coconut Oil, Soybean Oil Less than 2% Mortierella alpina oil, crypthecodinium cohnii oil, adenosine-5-monophosphate, cytidine-5-monophosphate, disodium guanosine-5-monophosphate, disodium inosine-5- monophosphate, disodium uridine-5-monophosphate, mixed tocopherol concentrate, monoglycerides, soy lecithin, taurine. Vitamins. Ascorbic acid, ascorbyl palmitate, beta carotene, biotin, calcium pantothenate, choline chloride, cyanocobalamin, folic acid, inositol, niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamine hydrochloride, vitamin a palmitate, vitamin d (cholecalciferol), vitamin e (dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate), vitamin k (phytonadione). Minerals Calcium chloride, calcium hydroxide, cupric sulfate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium chloride, manganese sulfate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium hydroxide, potassium iodide, potassium phosphate, sodium citrate, sodium selenite, zinc sulfate. Nutrition profile of DHA Formula milk. Diluted: Each 5 fl. oz. (150 mL) contains 100 Calories Nutrients Unit Per 100 Calories PROTEIN g 2. 2 FAT g 5. 3 CARBOHYDRATE g 10. 6 WATER g 134 LINOLEIC ACID mg 500 DHA ARA Levels DHA mg 19 ARA mg 34 Vitamins VITAMIN A IU 300 VITAMIN D IU 60 VITAMIN E IU 1. 4 VITAMIN K mcg 8. 3 THIAMINE (vitamin B1) mcg 100 RIBOFLAVIN (vitamin B2) mcg 150 VITAMIN B6 mcg 62. 5 VITAMIN B12 mcg 0. 2 NIACIN mcg 750 FOLIC ACID (folacin) mcg 7. 5 PANTOTHENIC ACID mcg 315 BIOTIN mcg 2. 2 VITAMIN C (ascorbic acid) mg 8. 5 CHOLINE mg 15 INOSITOL mg 4. 1 Minerals CALCIUM mg 63 PHOSPHORUS mg 42 MAGNESIUM mg 7 IRON mg 1. 8 ZINC mg 0. 8 MANGANESE mcg 7. 5 COPPER mcg 70 IODINE mcg 9 SELENIUM mcg 2. 1 SODIUM mg 22 POTASSIUM mg 83 CHLORIDE mg 56 Human milk v. Formula milk Several studies have shown that human milk is much more nutritious and healthy for infants as compared to any man made formulas. Boyd (et al, 2006) also found that breast milk from donors reduces the risk of necrotising enterocolitis. In another study the fat globule size in the mother’s milk colostrums is adequate and large for better absorption as compared to formula milk and adult human milk (Michalski et al 2005). COMPARISON OF HUMAN MILK AND FORMULA. NUTRIENT FACTOR BREAST MILK CONTAINS FORMULA CONTAINS COMMENT Fats †¢ Rich in brain-building omega 3s, namely DHA and AA -Automatically adjusts to infants needs; levels decline as baby gets older -Rich in cholesterol -Nearly completely absorbed -Contains fat-digesting enzyme, lipase -No DHA -Doesnt adjust to infants needs -No cholesterol -Not completely absorbed -No lipase Fat is the most important nutrient in breastmilk; the absence of cholesterol and DHA, vital nutrients for growing brains and bodies, may predispose a child to adult heart and central nervous system diseases. Leftover, unabsorbed fat accounts for unpleasant smelling stools in formula-fed babies. Protein -Soft, easily-digestible whey -More completely absorbed; higher in the milk of mothers who deliver preterm -Lactoferrin for intestinal health -Lysozyme, an antimicrobial -Rich in brain-and-body- building protein components -Rich in growth factors -Contains sleep-inducing proteins -Harder-to-digest casein curds -Not completely absorbed, more waste, harder on kidneys -No lactoferrin, or only a trace -No lysozyme -Deficient or low in some brain-and body-building proteins -Deficient in growth factors. -Does not contain as many sleep-inducing proteins. Infants arent allergic to human milk protein. Carbohdrates -Rich in lactose -Rich in oligosaccharides, which promote intestinal health -No lactose in some formulas -Deficient in oligosaccharides Lactose is considered an important carbohydrate for brain development. Studies show the level of lactose in the milk of a species correlates with the size of the brain of that species. Immune Boosters -Rich in living white blood cells, millions per feeding -Rich in immunoglobulins -No live white blood cells-or any other cells. Dead food has less immunological benefit. -Few immunoglobulins and most are the wrong kind When mother is exposed to a germ, she makes antibodies to that germ and gives these antibodies to her infant via her milk. Vitamins and Minerals -Better absorbed, especially iron, zinc, and calcium -Iron is 50 to 75 percent absorbed. -Contains more selenium (an antioxidant) -Not absorbed as well -Iron is 5 to 10 percent absorbed -Contains less selenium (an antioxidant) Vitamins and minerals in breast milk enjoy a higher bioavailability-that is, a greater percentage is absorbed. To compensate, more is added to formula, which makes it harder to digest. Enzymes and Hormones -Rich in digestive enzymes, such as lipase and amylase -Rich in many hormones: thyroid, prolactin, oxytocin, and more than fifteen others -Varies with mothers diet -Processing kills digestive enzymes -Processing kills hormones, which are not human to begin with -Always tastes the same Digestive enzymes promote intestinal health. Hormones contribute to the overall biochemical balance and well- being of baby. By taking on the flavor of mothers diet, breastmilk shapes the tastes of the child to family foods. Cost -Around $600 a year in extra food for mother -Around $1,200 a year -Up to $2,500 a year for hypoallergenic formulas -Cost for bottles and other supplies -Lost income when baby is ill Retrieved from http://www. askdrsears. com/html/2/T021600. asp. References Brisbanes times (2007). Retrieved from http://www. brisbanetimes. com. au/news/parenting/formula-milk-v-mothers-milk/2007/07/09/1183833390756. html Formula Milk, Medline (2007) Retrieved from http://www. nlm. nih. gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002447. htm#top Van Voorhees, B. W.(2006). Breast feeding, Medline Retrieved from http://www. nlm. nih. gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002450. htm Nature’s Ones. (2006) Retrieved from http://www. naturesone. com/dairy-ingredients. php Catherine A Boyd, Maria A Quigley, Peter Brocklehurst (2006) Donor breast milk versus infant formula for preterm infants: systematic review and meta-analysis. Archives of Disease in Childhood Fetal and Neonatal Edition 2007;92:F169-F175. Retrieved from http://fn. bmj. com/cgi/content/full/92/3/F169? rss=1 M. C. Michalski1, V. Briard1, F. Michel1, F. Tasson2 and P. Poulain2 (2005) Size Distribution of Fat Globules in Human Colostrum, Breast Milk, and Infant Formula. J. Dairy Sci. 88:1927-1940. Retrieved from http://jds. fass. org/cgi/content/full/88/6/1927 Wight NE. Donor human milk for preterm infants. J Perinatol 2001;21:249–54. [CrossRef][Medline] Henderson G, Anthony MY, McGuire W. Formula milk versus term human milk for feeding preterm or low birth weight infants (Cochrane Review). In: Cochrane Library, Issue 3. Chichester, UK: John Wiley Sons, 2004. Henderson G, Anthony MY, McGuire W. Formula milk versus preterm human milk for feeding preterm or low birth weight infants (Cochrane Review). In: Cochrane Library, Issue 3. Chichester, UK: John Wiley Sons, 2004. de Silva A, Jones PW, Spencer SA. Does human milk reduce infection rates in preterm infants? A systematic review. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatol Ed 2004;89:F509–13. [CrossRef] McGuire W, Anthony MY. Donor human milk versus formula for preventing necrotising enterocolitis in preterm infants: a systematic review. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatol Ed 2003;88:F11–14. [CrossRef].

A Nuclear Waste Race: Perspectives on Reprocessing Spent Fuel Essay

â€Å"It isn’t easy being green† — Kermit the Frog. Even though Kermit was referring to the color of his skin, this is also vindictive of today’s mindset in thinking green trying to merge the environment into our everyday lives. Nuclear power first hit the scene as an alternative to burning fossil fuels and emissions of toxic carbons released into the atmosphere as waste products. But, the general public’s first glimpse of the awesomeness of nuclear energy was in the form of a highly effective and destructive weapon, therefore giving a distinct aura around the possibilities of nuclear development. Nuclear power had been operational and seemingly unscathed for almost fifty years, prior to the events that occurred in the late 1970’s. The vast political and social debates surrounding the alternative energy source arose from three major events in history. First was the release of the movie, â€Å"The China Syndrome.† This film is rendered as one of the most politically correct movies published about nuclear power. Movie critic Damien Cannon proposes, â€Å"How many films are so accurate that, even though they're fictional, they could easily be documentaries? Schindler's List is one. The China Syndrome is another. In this case we see the greatest fears of the Nimby culture unearthed when a nuclear power station almost goes out of control and the men-in-suits cover it up.† Secondly, only three weeks after the premier of â€Å"The China Syndrome†, the meltdown of the number two plant on Three Mile Island occurred. This spiked interest in the recently rele ased movie, and encouraged hysterical reactions to the progression of nuclear power. The American public had witnessed a recent unimaginable fear essentially come to life. Finally, the most notable and ... ...reat Illusion of Nuclear Energy.† Greenpeace.org. Greenpeace International Association. Nov 2008. Web. 26 July 2010. Lochbaum, David. A Nuclear Waste Disposal Crisis. Tulsa, Ok: Penwell Publishing. 1996. Print. â€Å"Nuclear Power: A Dangerous Waste of Time.† Greenpeace.org. Greenpeace International Association. 2009. Web. 25 July 2010. Pope, Carl. â€Å"The Empire Strikes Back.† Taking the Initiative. Sierra Club. 27 April 2007. Web. 27 July 2010. â€Å"The Wrong Nuclear Debate.† Taking the Initiative. Sierra Club. 26 February 2007. Web. 27 July 2010. â€Å"Radioactive Waste Management.† World-Nuclear.com. World Nuclear Association. June 2009. Web. 24 July 2010. Risoluti, Piero. Nuclear Waste: A Technological and Political Challenge. Eds. R. Allan, U. FÅ‘rstner and W. Salomons. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, Hong Kong, London, Milan, Paris, Tokyo: Springer. 2004. Print.

The Well Paid Receptionist

The Well Paid Receptionist Values, Attitudes and Work Behaviour from Johns, G. & Saks, A. M. (2010). Organizational Behaviour. Pearson Education: Toronto. Case Study The Well-Paid Receptionist Harvey Finley did a quick double take when he caught a glimpse of the figure representing Ms. Brannen’s salary on the year-end printout. A hurried call to payroll confirmed it. Yes, his receptionist had been paid $127 614. 21 for her services last year. As he sat in stunned silence, he had the sudden realization that since his firm was doing so well this year, she would earn at least 10 to 15 percent more money during the current fiscal year. This was a shock, indeed. Background Harvey began his career as a service technician for a major manufacturer of copy machines. He received rather extensive technical training, but his duties were limited to performing routine, on-site maintenance and service for customer. After a year’s experience as a service technician, he asked for and received a promotion to sales representative. In this capacity, he established many favourable contacts in the business community of Troupville and the surrounding towns. He began to think seriously about capitalizing on his success by opening his own business. Then, seven years ago, he decided to take the plunge and start his own firm. He was tired of selling for someone else. When he mentioned his plan to his friends, they all expressed serious doubts; Troupville, a city of approximately 35 000 people located in the Deep South, had just begun to recover from a severe recession. The painful memories of the layoffs, bankruptcies, and plummeting real estate values were too recent and vivid to be forgotten. Undeterred by the skeptics, Harvey was optimistic the Troupville’s slow recovery would soon become a boom. Even though his firm would certainly have to be started on a shoestring, Harvey thought his sales experience and technical competence would enable him to survive what was sure to be a difficult beginning. He was nervous but excited when he signed the lease on the first little building. A lifelong dream was either about to be realized or dashed forever. Troupville Business Systems was born. While he has managed to borrow rent, lease, or subcontract for almost everything that was absolutely necessary, he did need one employee immediately. Of course, he hoped the business would expand rapidly and that he would soon have a complete and competent staff. But until he could be sure that some revenue would be generated, he thought he could get by with one person who would be a combination receptionist/secretary and general assistant. The typical salary for such a position in the area was about $30 000 per year; for Harvey, this was a major expense. Nevertheless, he places what he thought was a well-worked ad in the â€Å"Help Wanted† section of the local newspaper. There were five applicants, four of whom just did not seem quite right for the position he envisioned. The fifth applicant, Ms. Cathy Brannen, was absolutely captivating. Ms. Brannen was 27 years old with one child. Her resume showed that she had graduated from a two-year office administration program at a state university. She had worked for only two employers following graduation, one from five years and the most recent for two years. Since returning to her hometown of Troupville two months ago, following her divorce, she had not been able to find suitable employment. From the moment she sat down for the interview, Harvey and Ms. Brannen seemed to be exactly the same wavelength. She was very articulate, obviously quite bright, and most importantly, very enthusiastic about assisting with the start-up of the new venture. She seemed to be exactly the sort of person Harvey had envisioned when he first begun to think seriously about taking the plunge. He resisted the temptation to offer her the job on the spot, but ended the hour-long interview by telling her that he would check her references and contact her again very soon. Telephone calls to her two former employers convinced Harvey that he had actually underestimated Ms. Brannen’s suitability for the position. Each one said without equivocation that she was the best employee he had ever had in any position. Both former employers concluded the conversation by saying they would rehire her in a minute if she were still available. The only bit of disturbing information gleaned from these two calls was the fact that her annual salary had risen to $32 900 in her last job. Although Harvey thought that the cost of living was probably a bit higher in Houston, where she had last worked, he was not sure she would react favourably to the $30 000 offer he was planning to make. However, he was determined that, somehow, Cathy Brannen would be his first employee. Ms. Brannen seemed quite pleased when Harvey telephoned her at home that same evening. She said she would be delighted to meet him at the office the next morning to discuss the position more fully. Cathy Brannen was obviously very enthusiastic about the job as outlined in the morning. She asked all the right questions, responded quickly and articulately to every query posed to her, and seemed ready to accept the position even before the offer was extended. When Harvey finally got around to mentioning the salary, there was a slight change in Cathy’s eager expression. She stiffened. Since Harvey realized that salary might be a problem, he decided to offer Cathy an incentive of sorts in addition to the $30 000 annual salary. He told her that he realized his salary offer was lower than the amount she has earned on her last job. And he told her he understood that a definite disadvantage of working for a new firm was the complete absence of financial security. Although he was extremely reluctant to guarantee a larger salary because of his own uncertainty regarding the future, he offered her a sales override in the amount of two percent of sales. He explained that she would largely determine the success or failure of the firm. She needed to represent the firm in the finest possible manner to potential customers who telephoned and to those who walked in the front door. For this reason, the sales override seemed to be an appropriate addition to her straight salary. It would provide her with incentive to take an active interest in the firm. Cathy accepted the offer immediately. Even though she was expecting a salary offer of $32 500, she hoped the sales override might make up the difference. Who knows,† she thought, â€Å"two percent of sales may amount to big money someday. † It did not, however, seem very likely at the time. Troupville Business Systems began as a very small distributor of copy machines. The original business plan was just to sell copy machines and provide routine, on-site service. More extensive on-site service and repairs requiring that a machine be removed from a customer’s premises were to be provided by a regional distributor located in a major city approximately 100 miles from Troupville. Troupville Business Systems did well from the start. Several important changes were made in the services the firm offered during the first year. Harvey soon found that there was a greater demand for the leasing of copy machines, particularly the large expensive models that he originally planned to sell. He also soon discovered that his customers wanted to be able to contract directly with his firm for all their service needs. Merely guaranteeing that he could get the machines serviced was not sufficient in the eyes of potential customers. In attempting to accommodate the market, he developed a complete service facility and began to offer leasing options on all models. These changes in the business all occurred during the first year. Growth during that year was steady, but not spectacular. While sales continued to grow steadily the second year, it was early in the third year that Harvey made what turned out to be his best decision. He entered the computer business. Harvey had purchased a personal computer soon after Troupville Business Systems was founded. The machine and its capabilities fascinated him, although he knew virtually nothing about computers. He was soon a member of a local users club, was subscribing to all the magazines, and was taking evening computer courses at the local university- in short, he became a computer buff. Harvey recognized the business potential of the rapidly growing personal computer market, but he did not believe that his original business was sufficiently stable to introduce a new product line just yet. During his third year of operations, he decided the time was right to enter the computer business. He added to his product line a number of personal computers popular with a small business in the area. This key decision caused a virtual explosion in the growth of his firm. Several key positions were added, including that of a comptroller. By the fourth year of operations, computers produced by several other manufacturers had been added to Harvey’s product line, and he had developed the capability of providing complete service for all products carried. His computer enterprise was not limited to business customers, because he quickly developed a significant walk-in retail trade. Rapid growth continued unabated. During the first seven years of the company’s existence, Cathy Brannen had proven truly indispensable. Her performance exceeded Harvey’s highest expectations. Although her official position remained that of secretary/receptionist, she took it on herself to learn about each new product or service. During the early years, Harvey often thought that she did a better job than he did whenever a potential customer called in his absence. Even after he acquired a qualified sales staff, Harvey had no concerns when Cathy had to field questions from a potential customer because a regular salesperson was not available. The customer never realized that the professional young lady capably handling all inquiries was â€Å"only† the receptionist. Cathy began performing fewer sales functions because of the increased number of professional salespersons, but her secretarial duties had expanded tremendously. She was still Harvey’s secretary, and she continued to answer virtually every telephone call coming into the business. Since her office was in an open area, she still was the first to greet many visitors. Cathy took a word-processing course at a local business school shortly after joining the firm. As she began working with Harvey’s first personal computer, she, too developed into a computer aficionado and became the best computer operator in the firm. The Current Situation Harvey was shaken by the realization that Cathy Brannen had been paid over $127 000 last year. As he wondered what, if anything, should be done about her earnings, he began to reflect on the previous seven years. Success had come almost overnight. It seemed as though Troupville Business Systems could do nothing wrong. The workforce had grown at a rate of approximately 15 percent per year since the third year of operations. Seventeen people were now employed by the firm. While Harvey’s dad acknowledged that some of this success was due to being in the right place at the right time, he also had reason to be proud of the choices he had made. Time had proven that all his major decisions had been correct. He also could not overestimate Cathy’s contribution to the success of the firm. Yes, certainly, one of the most important days in the life of the firm was the day when Cathy responded to his ad in the newspaper. Success had brought with it the ever-increasing demands on his time. He had never worked so hard, but the rewards were certainly forthcoming. First, there was the new Jaguar, then the new home on Country Club Drive, the vacation home on the coast, the European trips†¦Yes, success was wonderful. During these years Cathy, too, had prospered. Harvey had not thought much about it, but he did remember making a joking comment the first day she drove her new Mercedes to work. He also remembered commenting on her mink coat at the company banquet last December, Cathy had been dazzling. Now that Harvey realized what he was paying Cathy, he was greatly disturbed. She was making almost twice as much money as anyone else in the firm with the exception of himself. The best salesman had earned an amount in the low nineties last year. His top managers were paid salaries ranging from the high sixties to the mid-seventies. The average salary in the area for executive secretaries was no probably between $30 000 and $35 000 per year. A good receptionist could be hired for under $28 000, and yet Cathy had been paid $127 614. 21 last year. The sales override had certainly enabled Cathy o share in the firm’s success. Yes, indeed. As Harvey thought more and more about the situation, he kept returning to the same conclusion. He felt something had to be done about her compensation. It was just too far out of line with other salaries in the firm. Although Harvey was drawing over $200 000 per year in salary and had built an equity in the business of more than $1 million, these facts did not seem relevant as he pondered what to do. It seemed likely that a number of other employees did know about Cathy’s compensation level. Harvey wondered why no one ever mentioned it. Even the comptroller never mentioned Cathy’s compensation. This did seem quite odd to Harvey, as the comptroller, Frank Bain, knew that Harvey did not even attempt to keep up with the financial details. He relied on Frank to bring important matters to his attention. With no idea of how to approach this problem, Harvey decided to begin by making a list of alternatives. He got out a piece of paper and, as he stared at the blank lines, overheard Cathy’s cheerful exchange with a customer in the next room. The Well Paid Receptionist Analysis of â€Å"The Well Paid Receptionist† Harvey Finley is in quite the predicament. He his company’s net profit should be approximately $107, 614. 21 greater than he expected for this year. The problem is that his secretary/receptionist is making six to seven times the amount of an average â€Å"good† secretary/receptionist in the local market and has been for a few years. There’s a few ways this issue can be addressed. One way would be to talk to Ms. Brannen and advice her that there has been an oversight in her salary over the past few years and for the upcoming year the oversight will be corrected and her salary will be adjusted to $25,000 per year with no percent of sales bonus. Another way to address the issue is to fire the manager who should have reported this oversight to Finley and promote Ms Brannen to his position while adjusting her salary to $55,000 per year and explaining the oversight to her as well. One more solution to this issue would be to let things be the way they are since the company has been doing great and growing the way things currently are. The two most important value drivers to consider in establishing the Value Over Time maximization are â€Å"individual employee values† and â€Å"owner values†. Let’s start identifying the specific aspects of the first value driver, the individual employee values. The facts remain that the reason Finley hired Ms. Brannen was mainly based on her individual values and performance at her two previous jobs. She held a two year office administration degree, she was very articulate, bright and most of all she was enthusiastic about assisting in launching this start-up company with Finley. She also had two extremely positive feedbacks from her previous employers that said â€Å"they would rehire her in a minute if she were still available. † The problems lie with her not being satisfied with the initial salary offer for this position. Salary was the only issue with Ms. Brannen other than that she was perfect for this new position at Troupville Business Systems. A few potential problems with Ms. Brannen would be that she only moved from Houston was because she was going through a divorce. What would happen if she were to get back together with her husband? Another potential problem ith her would be the fact that she has a small child. If the child is sick then she will not be able to come into work. This would be an issue since at the moment she would be the only other employee. Also Ms. Brannen has two very good references and if she accepts this position and continues to look for another position elsewhere that may pay better and she can potentially leave Troup ville Business Systems. The potential positive impacts on Value Over Time for Ms. Brannen is that she will continue to shine and prosper as a great striving employee the company will grow. She is the front line and the first person the customer see’s or speaks to when they make the first contact to Troupville Business Systems. She has already proven herself since the launch of this company as being a key player in the success of this start-up company. A few potential negative impacts maybe that Ms. Brannen gets comfortable at the salary she is at and realizes that in her hiring package the terms and agreement were that she was to receive $14,000 salary plus 2% of sales. There was no clause to when this would be removed and she can just put herself on cruise control and still make six figures. I expect her effect to be a positive one over time since this is the person Ms. Brannen is. You can tell a lot by looking at a person’s past performance history and we know she is a person who not only strives to be the best at her job position but also picks up on other job position duties and can perform them just as well if not better than others. We know she is able to handle sales calls if no sales person is available and the client/customer has never noticed. There are ways to turn something negative into something neutral or even better into a positive effect. In the event that Ms. Brannen was offered a better paying position with another firm, Finley would be able to evaluate her for the time that she was working for him to see if she is worth the difference in salary. He would have also had time to make some sales and see how the potential sales market is doing and instead of offering her 2% in sales which obviously we now know was a bad strategy, can offer her more upfront in salary. A person that likes the job they are doing will not leave for one or two thousand dollars more. So Finley can be true to her and make a counter offer in hopes that she would accept and stay. As for the other negative aspect of her getting back together with her husband in Houston and move back there, Finley would either have to offer her a significant more salary or find her husband a position at Troupville Business Systems. The other important value driver to consider in establishing the Value Over Time maximization is â€Å"owner values†. As the owner Finley’s main concern is to keep his business running. Another concern is to make more and more profit each year. Owners need to worry about reputation risk as well and the well being of each of their employees. Some problems Finley is facing with his company, Troupville Business Systems, is that he is paying his secretary more than double what his highest paid manager is making. The problem Finley is facing is not knowing what should be done about this or how to approach the issue. The potential problems that may arise if the current situation is not addressed is that it will cause an up roar with the manager & salesman to find out that a secretary/receptionist is making much more than they are. Managers as well as other employees not knowing her hiring benefits will demand a raise. Another potential problem is that rumors will most likely be started that they are having relations and that’s why a secretary is making six figures. A potential positive impact would be that other employees will see that being a hard worker and sticking through the highs and lows of a business really pays off. This may motivate all other employees to be outstanding or above average performers. The employees have witnessed the value over time with Ms. Brannen and have seen the long-term effects on her salary. A negative impact would be that employees who have already been at Troupville Business Systems and have not seen the value over time in the bonus or benefits will demand a raise or quit. Salary is always a delicate situation to deal with and this is why it is not considered acceptable talk in the office. Another negative impact is over time if the company grows and does not have an increase in sales then Ms. Brannen will still be making more than Finley since he has more overhead to pay for. There are steps that can be taken to negate a potential negative effect. First of all no one should be discussing compensation at all inside or outside the office. Second in case it does get out then there should be a one on one sit down with each employee to discuss their performance, not Ms. Brannen’s. Finley does not need to justify his actions to his employees; he only needs to treat them fairly. Now let’s evaluate the case where the company’s expense gets higher and the sales stay the same and Ms. Brannen is making more than Finley. In this case Finley will have to renegotiate Ms. Brannen’s contract to reflect expenses as well if he does not decided to give her a base salary and no bonus that is. I believe the interactive effect these value drivers will have over time will be positive. During the maturity of Troupville Business Systems we can seen that Finley is a successful leader and Ms. Brannen is an outstanding employee who goes above and beyond her expected duties. These two make a good successful team. Over the years you can see that she has proven herself and should be promoted to a higher ranked position. She deserves the 2% sales bonus because she was with this company from the start and has stuck through the toughest times thus far. The best alternative solution for both effects would be for both Finley and Ms. Brannen sit down and review her contract, salary and bonus and come to an agreement on a fair salary and a possible promotion since she and proven her loyalty and performance to Troupville Business Systems. I’m sure Ms. Brannen realized that this day would come. And as long as the compensation is fair she will not leave since she is so invested in the company. In conclusion I would consider the best course of action would be to offer Ms. Brannen a managerial position within Troupville Business Systems. This will make her happy to get a respectable and long overdue promotion as well as a fair competitive salary of $60,000 a year with no percent bonus in sales. And if she is more motivated by a percent in sales then offer her $50,000 plus 1% of sales with a minimum of $5,000 annual or $20,000 maximum cap. This is fair for both value drivers for Finley as the owner and Ms. Brannen as the Individual employee. If I were Finley the first step would be for me to evaluate her performance and hard work since the start of Troupville Business Systems. I would bring her into my office and have a one on one with her. I would start off by saying how much off an asset she is to the company and how much appreciate her hard work is and has paid off in the success of the company. Then I would proceed by offering her a managerial position within the company. I would advise her that she will need to be trained for managerial duties and will be on an evaluation period as a manager for 3 months. Depending on the decisions made by her and how well she can manage a team she will be offered the permanent position. After she is given the formal offer she will have to decide whether she prefers being a secretary/receptionist or taking on new exciting role as a manager with Troupville Business Systems. Now the difficult part, this is where Finley should bring up the current compensation and offer Ms. Brannen a new compensation package. Advise her that the old compensation will be reduced to an above average rate for a secretary/receptionist and that this new opportunity will be a much better move for her career path. He will need to talk her up a bit like saying that she is management material and how good this is for her career path. Most likely she has been expecting this day to come and will choose to be a manger rather than go with a different company as a secretary. It’s a win/win move on parts of both parties.

The Big Idea: How to Start an Entrepreneurial Revolution

In the latest Ease of Doing Business ranking from the World Bank, one country made a spectacular leap—from 143rd on the list to 67th. It was Rwanda, whose population and institutions had been decimated by genocide in the 1990s. On the World Bank list, Rwanda catapulted out of the neighborhood of Haiti, Liberia, and the West Bank and Gaza, and sailed past Italy, the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Poland. On one subindex in the study, the ease of opening a new business, Rwanda ranked 11th worldwide. You can see and even smell the signs of Rwanda’s business revolution at Costco, one of the retail world’s most demanding trade customers, where pungent coffee grown by the nation’s small farmer-entrepreneurs is stocked on the shelves. And in Rwanda itself the evidence is dramatic—per capita GDP has almost quadrupled since 1995. [pic] Rwanda: From Genocide to Costco’s Shelves This is the kind of change entrepreneurship can bring to a country. As Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, put it recently, â€Å"Entrepreneurship is the most sure way of development.† He is not a lone voice: Economic studies from around the globe consistently link entrepreneurship, particularly the fast-growth variety, with rapid job creation, GDP growth, and long-term productivity increases. You’ll see more palpable evidence of surprising entrepreneurial success stories on the Costco shelves. A few steps away from the Rwandan coffee, you can find fresh fish from Chile, which now ranks second only to Norway as a supplier of salmon. The Chilean fish in America’s supermarkets were supplied by hundreds of new fishing-related ventures spawned in the 1980s and 1990s. A few aisles over are memory USBs invented and manufactured in Israel, a country whose irrepressible entrepreneurs have been supplying innovative technologies to the world since the 1970s. And just around the corner, the Costco pharmacy sells generic drugs made by Iceland’s Actavis, whose meteoric rise landed it, in just 10 years, among the top five global generics leaders. Rwanda, Chile, Israel, and Iceland all are fertile ground for entrepreneurship—thanks in no small part to the efforts of their governments. Though the companies behind the products on Costco’s shelves were launched by innovative entrepreneurs, those businesses were all aided, either directly or indirectly, by government leaders who helped build environments that nurture and sustain entrepreneurship. These entrepreneurship ecosystems have become a kind of holy grail for governments around the world—in both emerging and developed countries. Unfortunately, many governments take a misguided approach to building entrepreneurship ecosystems. They pursue some unattainable ideal of an ecosystem and look to economies that are completely unlike theirs for best practices. But increasingly, the most effective practices come from remote corners of the earth, where resources—as well as legal frameworks, transparent governance, and democratic values—may be scarce. In these places entrepreneurship has a completely new face. The new practices are emerging murkily and by trial and error. This messiness should not deter leaders—there’s too much at stake. Governments need to exploit all available experience and commit to ongoing experimentation. They must follow an incomplete and ever-changing set of prescriptions and relentlessly review and refine them. The alternatives—taking decades to devise a model set of guidelines, acting randomly, or doing nothing—all are unacceptable. But the government cannot do everything on its own; the private and nonprofit sectors too must shoulder some responsibility. In numerous instances corporate executives, family-business owners, universities, professional organizations, foundations, labor organizations, financiers, and, of course, entrepreneurs themselves have initiated and even financed entrepreneurship education, conferences, research, and policy advocacy. As we shall show later in this article, sometimes private initiative makes it easier for governments to act more quickly and effectively, and all stakeholders—government and otherwise—should take every chance to show real leadership. To make progress, leaders need practical if imperfect maps and navigational guidelines. From what we know from both research and practice, here’s what seems to actually work in stimulating thriving entrepreneurship ecosystems. Nine Prescriptions for Creating an Entrepreneurship Ecosystem The entrepreneurship ecosystem consists of a set of individual elements—such as leadership, culture, capital markets, and open-minded customers—that combine in complex ways. (See the exhibit â€Å"Do You Have a Strong Entrepreneurship Ecosystem?†) In isolation, each is conducive to entrepreneurship but insufficient to sustain it. That’s where many governmental efforts go wrong—they address only one or two elements. Together, however, these elements turbocharge venture creation and growth. When integrating them into one holistic system, government leaders should focus on these nine key principles. [pic] Do You Have a Strong Entrepreneurship Ecosystem? 1: Stop Emulating Silicon Valley. The nearly universal ambition of becoming another Silicon Valley sets governments up for frustration and failure. There is little argument that Silicon Valley is the â€Å"gold standard† entrepreneurship ecosystem, home to game-changing giants such as Intel, Oracle, Google, eBay, and Apple. The Valley has it all: technology, money, talent, a critical mass of ventures, and a culture that encourages collaborative innovation and tolerates failure. So it is understandable when public leaders throughout the world point to California and say, â€Å"I want that.† Yet, Valley envy is a poor guide for three reasons. One is that, ironically, even Silicon Valley could not become itself today if it tried. Its ecosystem evolved under a unique set of circumstances: a strong local aerospace industry, the open California culture, Stanford University’s supportive relationships with industry, a mother lode of invention from Fairchild Semiconductor, a liberal immigration policy toward doctoral students, and pure luck, among other things. All those factors set off a chaotic evolution that defies definitive determination of cause and effect. Further, Silicon Valley is fed by an overabundance of technology and technical expertise. Developing â€Å"knowledge-based industry†Ã¢â‚¬â€the mantra of governments everywhere—is an admirable aspiration, but achieving it requires a massive, generation-long investment in education as well as the ability to develop world-class intellectual property. On top of that, a knowledge industry demands an enormous technology pipeline and scrap pile. Consider that top venture capitalists invest in at best 1% of the technology-based businesses they look at, and a significant proportion of that select group fails. A third limit is that although Silicon Valley sounds as if it’s a place that breeds local ventures, in reality it’s as much a powerful magnet for ready-made entrepreneurs, who flock there from around the globe, often forming their own ethnic subcultures and organizations in what Gordon Moore, one of the Valley’s graybeards, calls an â€Å"industry of transplants.† And difficult as it is to foster an ecosystem that encourages current inhabitants to make the entrepreneurial choice and then succeed at it, it is even harder to create an entrepreneur’s â€Å"Mecca.† 2: Shape the Ecosystem Around Local Conditions. If not Silicon Valley, then what entrepreneurial vision should government leaders aspire to? The most difficult, yet crucial, thing for a government is to tailor the suit to fit its own local entrepreneurship dimensions, style, and The striking dissimilarities of Rwanda, Chile, Israel, and Iceland illustrate the principle that leaders can and must foster homegrown solutions—ones based on the realities of their own circumstances, be they natural resources, geographic location, or culture. Rwanda’s government took a strongly interventionist strategy in the postgenocide years, identifying three local industries (coffee, tea, and tourism) that had proven potential for development. It actively organized the institutions that would support those industries by, for example, training farmers to grow and package coffee to international standards and connecting them to overseas distribution channels. Rwanda’s immediate priority was to provide gainful employment to millions of people. Its efforts led to about 72,000 new ventures, almost entirely consisting of two- and three-person operations, which in a decade tripled exports and reduced poverty by 25%. Chile also focused on industries where it had copious natural resources—such as fishing. As in Rwanda, the government took a powerfully interventionist approach to its entrepreneurship ecosystem in Augusto Pinochet’s early years, and the dictator’s free-market ideology made it easier for Chile’s middle class to obtain financing and licenses for fishing operations. The government also weakened labor (sometimes brutally) to reduce new ventures’ input costs and kept Chile’s currency inexpensive to maintain competitiveness in export markets. Natural resources often are not a key component of an ecosystem, however. Frequently, entrepreneurship is stimulated when such resources are scarce, requiring people to be more inventive. Taiwan, Iceland, Ireland, and New Zealand, resource-poor â€Å"islands† far from major markets, all developed ecosystems based primarily on human capital. So did Israel. In the 1970s and 1980s, its unique ecosystem evolved haphazardly out of a combination of factors, including spillover from large military R&D efforts, strong diaspora connections to capital and customers, and a culture that prized frugality, education, and unconventional wisdom. 3: Engage the Private Sector from the Start. Government cannot build ecosystems alone. Only the private sector has the motivation and perspective to develop self-sustaining, profit-driven markets. For this reason, government must involve the private sector early and let it keep or acquire a significant stake in the ecosystem’s success. Start with a candid conversation. One way to involve the private sector is to reach out to its representatives for early, frank advice in reducing structural barriers and formulating entrepreneur-friendly policies and programs. If the necessary expertise doesn’t exist domestically, it can often be found overseas among expatriates. In the 1980s the Taiwanese government engaged with the Taiwanese diaspora, consulting prominent executives in leading U.S. technology companies and establishing ongoing forums to collect their input. The government actually built programs based on the suggestions of these expats, who liked how their ideas were implemented so much that they returned home in droves in the 1990s, many of them to occupy prominent policy positions or run the new plants that were established. For example, Morris Chang, the former group vice president of Texas Instruments, came home and eventually set up and ran TSMC, Taiwan’s second semiconductor-fabricating plant. Taiwan: Bringing Expat Entrepreneurs Home Design in self-liquidation. In 1993 the Israeli government created Yozma, a $100 million fund of funds that in three years spawned 10 venture capital funds. In each one, Yozma, an Israeli private partner, and a foreign private partner with proven fund management expertise all invested approximately equal amounts. From the start, the Israeli government gave the private sector partners an option to buy out its interest in the funds at attractive terms—a fact often overlooked by other governments that copy the Yozma model. That option was exercised by eight of the 10 funds, profitably for the government, I might add. Five years after the founding of Yozma, its remaining assets were liquidated by auction. The government’s exit served as market proof that real value had been generated and is one of the reasons that the Israeli venture capital industry not only became self-sustaining but simultaneously achieved a quantum leap in growth. 4: Favor the High Potentials. Many programs in emerging economies spread scarce resources among quantities of bottom-of-the-pyramid ventures. And indeed, some of them, such as the Carvajal Foundation in Cali, Colombia, have dramatically increased income for segments of the population. But focusing resources there to the exclusion of high-potential ventures is a crucial mistake. In an era when microfinance for small-scale entrepreneurs has become mainstream, the reallocation of resources to support high-potential entrepreneurs may seem elitist and inequitable. But especially if resources are limited, programs should try to focus first on ambitious, growth-oriented entrepreneurs who address large potential markets. The social economics of high-potential ventures and small-scale employment alternatives are significantly different. Whereas 500 microfinanced sole proprietorships and one rapidly globalizing 500-person operation create the same number of jobs, many experts argue that the wealth creation, power to inspire other start-ups, labor force enrichment, and reputational value are much greater with the latter. One organization that recognizes this is Enterprise Ireland, an agency responsible for supporting the growth of world-class Irish companies. It has created a program specifically to provide mentoring and financial assistance to high-potential start-ups, which it defines as ventures that are export-oriented, are based on innovative technology, and can generate at least â‚ ¬1 million in sales and 10 jobs in three years. The global nonprofit Endeavor, which focuses on entrepreneurship development in 10 emerging economies, has to date â€Å"adopted† some 440 â€Å"high-impact entrepreneurs,† who, with Endeavor’s mentoring, are turning their successes into role models for their countrymen. Not all high-potential ventures are technology based; in fact, I’d argue that the majority are not. SABIS is a perfect example. An educational management organization founded in Lebanon many years ago as one school, SABIS now is one of the world’s largest EMOs, teaching more than 65,000 students in 15 countries, with the goal of reaching 5 million students by 2020. 5: Get a Big Win on the Board. It has become clear in recent years that even one success can have a surprisingly stimulating effect on an entrepreneurship ecosystem—by igniting the imagination of the public and inspiring imitators. I call this effect the â€Å"law of small numbers.† Skype’s adoption by millions and eventual $2.6 billion sale to eBay reverberated throughout the small nation of Estonia, encouraging highly trained technical people to start their own companies. In China, Baidu’s market share and worldwide recognition have inspired an entire generation of new entrepreneurs. Celtel’s amazing success as sub-Saharan Africa’s leading regional mobile provider and acquisition by Zain for more than $3 billion stirred the region’s pride and helped African governments fight â€Å"Africa fright† among investors. In Ireland it was Elan Corporation and Iona Technologies, listed on Nasdaq in 1984 and 1997, respectively, that served as guiding lights to a gener ation of budding entrepreneurs. Sub-Saharan Africa: Building Shareholder Value—and Better Government Early, visible successes help reduce the perception of entrepreneurial barriers and risks, and highlight the tangible rewards. Even modest successes can have an impact. Saudi Arabia, a nation with a dearth of entrepreneurial ventures (aside from the powerful family business groups), is fighting hard to tear down the numerous structural and cultural obstacles entrepreneurs face. One young Saudi, Abdullah Al-Munif, left his salaried job, tightened his belt, fought the bureaucracy, and started a business making chocolate-covered dates. He ultimately grew the business, Anoosh, into a national chain of 10 high street stores and turned an eye to overseas markets. Now when Al-Munif appears as a panelist at entrepreneurship seminars, he is swamped by aspiring Saudi entrepreneurs who take inspiration from his bravery, realizing that neither capital, nor technology, nor connections are essential to success. Overcelebrate the successes. Governments should be bold about celebrating thriving entrepreneurial ventures. Media events, highly publicized awards, and touts in government literature, speeches, and interviews all have an impact. This is not as straightforward as it may seem, because many cultures discourage any public display of success as boastful or an invitation to either bad luck or the tax collector. Whereas in Hong Kong even small-scale entrepreneurs drive black Mercedes to project their status, in the Middle East flaunting one’s success publicly can attract the envy of neighbors or, worse, the evil eye. Kenya’s first international call center, KenCall, founded by Nicholas Nesbitt and two partners in 2004, built an international presence by overcoming many bureaucratic and structural barriers, including the lack of a high-speed optical fiber hookup to the international communications grid. The Kenyan government didn’t wait until KenCall became big to sing its praises; even when it was a fledgling operation, the government brought in foreign delegations for visits, promoted the company in official publications and press releases, and hosted an international outsourcing conference. Government officials also used KenCall’s example to push for reforms, which expedited the construction of East Africa’s first undersea optical fiber link—an example of how entrepreneurial success can facilitate structural change, not just the other way around. 6: Tackle Cultural Change Head-On. Changing a deeply ingrained culture is enormously difficult, but both Ireland and Chile demonstrate that it is possible to alter social norms about entrepreneurship in less than a generation. Until the 1980s employment in government, financial services, or agriculture was the main aspiration of Ireland’s young people. There was zero tolerance for loan defaults, and bankruptcy was stigmatized. Parents discouraged their children from setting out on their own, so few nurtured dreams of starting their own business. But by the 1990s, after successful pioneers paved the way, hundreds of new software companies had been launched in Ireland. Some exported products; some went public. Many achieved healthy sales revenues. Just as important, entrepreneurs learned that it was possible to fail and regroup to try again. â€Å"If you wanted to be respected and taken seriously, you needed to be a founder with a stake in a company trying to do something,† recalls Barry Murphy, who was national software director at Enterprise Ireland’s predecessor in the 1990s. In her research, University of Minnesota professor Rachel Schurman has described how Chileans’ negative image of entrepreneurs as greedy exploiters was transformed in just one decade, as a direct result of the Chilean government’s concerted effort to liberalize Chile’s economy. Until the 1980s, Chile’s well-educated middle class wasn’t entrepreneurial, avoided opportunity-driven investment, and preferred to consume rather than save and invest. But by the 1990s, Chile’s new middle-class entrepreneurs were telling Schurman: â€Å"Today the youth, everybody, wants to be an entrepreneur. If a successful empresario is interviewed in the newspaper, everybody reads it. Why was he successful? How did he do it? It’s a model that never existed before†¦.† The media can play an important role not just in celebrating wins but in changing attitudes. In Puerto Rico, El Nuevo Dà ­a, the largest daily newspaper, supported local entrepreneurship by running a weekly page of start-up success stories. On the small island, these stories have quickly become part of the social dialogue and have raised awareness about the opportunities entrepreneurship presents, as well as the tools it requires. 7: Stress the Roots. It’s a mistake to flood even high-potential entrepreneurs with easy money: More is not necessarily merrier. New ventures must be exposed early to the rigors of the market. Just as grape growers withhold water from their vines to extend their root systems and make their grapes produce more-concentrated flavor, governments should â€Å"stress the roots† of new ventures by meting out money carefully, to ensure that entrepreneurs develop toughness and resourcefulness. Such measures also help weed out opportunists. In 2006 Malaysia’s Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development awarded 90% of some 21,000 applicants about $5,000 each in business support, strong evidence of the government’s commitment to entrepreneurship. The program was part of an affirmative action program largely aimed at indigenous Malays, who were less entrepreneurial than the country’s business-minded Chinese immigrants. Yet Malay entrepreneurs themselves attribute the disappointing results partly to the fact that funding was too loose and even stigmatized the Malay recipients as less capable. More broadly, Malaysian entrepreneurship-development programs, considered by many, including myself, to be among the most comprehensive programs in the world, have been criticized for actually inhibiting entrepreneurship among the Malays by unwittingly reinforcing their lack of risk taking. Similarly, recent reports on South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment program have reached the conclusion that BEE has discouraged entrepreneurship among the bulk of black South Africans and has benefited primarily the elite and well-connected. In fact, the hardships of resource-scarce, even hostile, environments often promote entrepreneurial resourcefulness. New Zealanders call Kiwi ingenuity â€Å"number 8 wire†: In the country’s colonial days, the only plentiful resource was 8-gauge fencing wire, and New Zealanders learned to fix and make anything with it. Icelandic entrepreneurship is built upon a legacy of â€Å"fishing when the fish are there, not when the weather is good.† For years incubators or entrepreneurship centers that provide financial help, mentoring, and often space to start-ups have been popular with governments. But I have seen scant rigorous evidence that these expensive programs contribute commensurately to entrepreneurship. One municipality in Latin America established 30 small incubators, but after several years only one venture out of more than 500 assisted by them had reached annual sales of $1 million. Though Israel’s renowned incubator program has helped launch more than 1,300 new ventures, relatively few of them have been big entrepreneurial successes. On the basis of my discussions with Israeli officials, I estimate that, among the hundreds of Israeli ventures that have been acquired at hefty valuations or taken public, at best 5% were hatched in incubators. And incubators definitely are not a quick fix. When well conceived and well managed, they can take 20 years or longer to generate a measurable impact on entrepreneurship. Poorly conceived and managed, they can be white elephants.

10 in demand skills you NEED to get hired

10 in demand skills you NEED to get hired If you feel like your job hunt is floundering or you find yourself in a position where you need to find a new job ASAP, one of the best things you can do is focus on your skills. Even more than experience, skills are often what gets you into an interview- and, ideally, into a new gig. LinkedIn recently did a survey of hundreds of thousands of job postings on their site and identified the skills most in demand by today’s employers. If you’re looking to get more impact on your resume and job applications, these skills are a great place to start. Hard skillsHard skills, or the specific, teachable skills that you’ve acquired through school, training, or experience, are the hardest to â€Å"fake it ‘til you make it.† Typically, these skills can be boosted through specific training or education, but this also makes them an easier skill type to build because they’re so specific. All of these skills can be learned through online courses. According to LinkedIn, these are the top five hard skills sought by employers.Cloud computingAll the data lives in the cloud now, which means people with engineering skills who can wrangle, understand, and leverage the massive amounts of cloud data in an efficient way will be highly valued.Artificial intelligenceFrom digital assistants in our home to hiring platforms, artificial intelligence is the method of choice for making work more efficient and accessible. Machine learning is taking over in every industry, as employers look for ways to reduce human effort (and human error) in their processes.Analytical reasoningNow that every corporate decision seems to be data-based, that means people with the skills to take all of that raw information and turn it into meaningful, impactful decisions will be in high demand with employers.People managementSomething that will never change is the need to manage people at all levels of an organization. And although â€Å"leadership† is a soft skill (more on that in a bit), you can build very specific skills that will make you a better manager and leader.UX/UI designUser experience design, or UX design, is crucial for the way people receive information, shop, organize their lives, browse online, or use devices. As companies put more resources into finding the right app layout or the best customer experiences, having design skills will make you a strong candidate in our digital-first society.Softs skillsThese are the less concrete skills- the people skills. Soft skills are the personal attributes you need to work with others and be successful in the workplace. Although they’re not as easy to learn as, say, a specific software platform or mastery of a tool, you can still build these as well through courses and practice. According to LinkedIn, these are the top five soft skills sought by employers.CreativityCreativity, or the ability to solve problems with basic human ingenuity, is one of the things that all the AI and data in the world won’t be able to replace completely. It’s also a challenge if you’re not already a creative problem solver. However, courses about the creative process, and how to generate ideas, can help train your brain to think more creatively.PersuasionAlways be selling, right? Whether you’re selling your team on an idea or a product to a customer, you’ve got to be able to identify why they need it, how it benefits them, and why it saves time/money/effort/etc. And oh yeah, you also have to present it in an engaging way. Persuasive skills will also help you when it comes time to negotiate for a raise or a promotion, by the way. Courses in human behavior or consumer behavior can help you refine your pitches and build your persuasiveness.CollaborationEvery employer out there wants people who can play well with others. You can hire all the hot shots you want, but if everyone’s butting heads all the time or doing their own thing without regard for others, no real work is going to get done. Collaboration and teamwork are one of the fastest-growing skills identified as high-priority by hiring managers. If you’re a lone wolf type or just want to learn how to interact with people more effectively, courses in effective communication, professional collaboration, or team dynamics can help.AdaptabilityLike teamwork, adaptability is highly prized by employers, who want to be increasing efficiency and results all the time. Adaptability is also a key element of innovation, another big-ticket priority for most employers. Flexible thinking may not be your default mode, though, so if you find yourself clinging to â€Å"the old way† of doing things, seminars on strategic agility and developing adaptability in yourself and others can make you a more flexible thinker and worker.Time managementThis is one of those skills that just about everyone could stand to improve. Balancing projects, balancing work and life, and managing deadlines so that things get done well and on time are all crucial skills in every industry. Building this skill is not quite a simple as writing up a calendar or schedule, but there are courses on finding time management strategies that work for your personality that can help you manage your time and count it as a marketable skill.Whether you don’t yet have these skills or just want to shine them up so that you can feature them proudly on your resume, online courses are an effective way to do that- especially if you’re feeling a time crunch. The more time you spend developing these skills now, the sooner you’ll have the most in-demand skills and opportunities rolling in.

How to Achieve Cultural Diversity in the School System

How to Achieve Cultural Diversity in the School System Cultural diversity as an issue wasnt even on the radar of most private school communities until the 1990s. To be sure, there were exceptions, but for the most part, diversity was not at the top of the list of priorities back then. Now you can see genuine progress in this area. The best evidence that progress has been made is that diversity in all its forms is now on the list of other issues and challenges facing most private schools. In other words, it is no longer a detached issue requiring resolution by itself. Schools seem to be making well-thought-out efforts to attract and retain faculty and students from a wide variety of societal backgrounds and economic sectors. The resources under The Diversity Practitioner on the National Association of Independent Schools site show the kind of proactive approach which NAIS members are taking. If you read the mission statements and welcome messages on most schools websites, the words diversity and diverse appear frequently. Set an Example and They Will Follow The thoughtful head and board members know that they must encourage diversity. Perhaps that has already been done at your school. If so, then a review of where you have been and where you are going should be part of your annual review activities. If you have not addressed the diversity issue, then you need to get started. Why? Your school cannot afford to turn out students who have not learned the lessons of tolerance. We live in a multicultural, pluralistic, global community. Understanding diversity begins the process of living in harmony with others. Communication enables diversity. Example fosters diversity. Every sector of the school community from head and trustees on down through the ranks must be proactive in listening, accepting and welcoming people and ideas which are different from their own. This breeds tolerance and transforms a school into a warm, welcoming, sharing academic community. Three Ways to Communicate Diversity 1. Hold Workshops for Faculty and StaffBring in a skilled professional to run workshops for your faculty and staff. The experienced clinician will open up sensitive issues for discussion. She will be a confidential resource which your community will feel comfortable turning to for advice and help. Make attendance mandatory. 2. Teach DiversityEmbracing the principles of diversity taught in a workshop requires everybody to put diversity into practice. That means reworking lesson plans, encouraging new, more diverse student activities, hiring different teachers and much more. Communication imparts knowledge which can breed understanding. As administrators and faculty, we send dozens of subtle messages to students not only by what we discuss and teach but, more importantly, by what we do NOT discuss or teach. We cannot embrace diversity by remaining set in our ways, beliefs and thoughts. Teaching tolerance is something all of us have to do. In many cases, it means shedding old practices and altering traditions and modifying points of view. Simply increasing a schools intake of non-Caucasian students will not make a school diverse. Statistically, it will. Spiritually it will not. Creating a climate of diversity means radically altering the way your school does things. 3. Encourage diversityOne of the ways you as an administrator can encourage diversity is to require compliance with school policies and procedures. The same kind of strict adherence to policy and procedure which makes cheating, hazing and sexual misconduct taboo should apply to diversity. Your staff must become proactive when it comes to encouraging diversity. Your staff must know that you will hold them just as accountable for your diversity goals as you will for teaching outcomes. Respond to Problems Are you going to have problems with diversity and tolerance issues? Of course. How you handle and resolve problems as they arise is the acid test of your commitment to diversity and tolerance. Everybody from your assistant to the grounds keeper will be watching too. Thats why you and your board must do three things to promote diversity in your school: Decide on policyImplement policyEnforce compliance with policy Is It Worth It? That nagging question does cross your mind, doesnt it? The answer is a simple and resounding Yes! Why? Simply because you and I are stewards of all that we have been given. The responsibility for shaping young minds and inculcating eternal values has to be a major part of that stewardship. Our abrogation of selfish motives and embracing of ideals and goals which will make a difference is really what teaching is all about. An inclusive school community is a rich one. It is rich in warmth and respect for all its members. Private schools say they want to attract more teachers of different cultures in order to achieve diversity. One of the leading authorities on this subject is Dr. Pearl Rock Kane, director of the Klingenstein Center at Columbia Universitys Teachers College and professor in the Department of Organization and Leadership. Dr. Kane admits that the percentage of black teachers in American private schools has risen, to 9% today from 4% in 1987. While this is commendable, shouldnt we go beyond 25% in order for our faculty lounges to begin to mirror the society in which we live? There are three things schools can do to attract black teachers. Look outside the box Private schools must go outside the traditional recruitment channels to attract  teachers of color. You must go to colleges and universities where these students are being trained and educated. Contact the deans and career services directors at all of Historically Black Colleges, as well as other colleges that focus on specific cultures and ethnicities. Develop a network of contacts at those schools, and take advantage of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, which make networking efficient and relatively easy. Be prepared to attract faculty who do not fit the traditional teacher profile Teachers of color have often spent years discovering their roots, developing a keen pride in their heritage, and accepting who they are. So dont expect them to fit into your traditional teacher profile. Diversity by definition implies that the status quo will change. Create a nurturing and welcoming atmosphere. The job is always an adventure for a new teacher. Starting in a school as a minority can be really daunting. So create an effective mentoring program before you actively recruit teachers. They must know there is somebody in whom they can confide or to whom they can turn for guidance. Then monitor your fledgling teachers even more carefully than you usually do to make sure that they settle in. The result will be a mutually rewarding experience. The school gets a happy, productive faculty member, and he or she feels confident in the career choice. The true make-or-break issue of hiring teachers of color may be the human factor. Independent school leaders may need to re-evaluate the climate and atmosphere of their schools. Is the school truly a welcoming place where diversity is tangibly honored? The human connection that is offered or not offered when a new person enters the school may be the single most important moment in efforts to recruit teachers of color. - Attracting and Retaining Teachers of Color, Pearl Rock Kane and Alfonso J. Orsini Read carefully what Dr. Kane and her researchers have to say on this subject. Then begin your schools journey down the road to true diversity.

Business Litigation Law (International Business Law) Essay

Business Litigation Law (International Business Law) - Essay Example The paper concludes with summarization of the main point s discussed in the whole paper. Business litigation is a complex issue and area which involves many tort claims and contractual claims. Such claims many include the following fraud, breach of contract, the breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, infringement of intellectual property rights and tortuous interference with contract (Law Office 2012). In case any of the above disputes arise in a business setting, and the parties involved are unable to reach a conclusion through negotiation or arbitration, then, business litigation is applied in such instances in order to look for justice and also resolve the issue at hand. Business litigation does not only involve a business suing other businesses, even individuals have rights to sue businesses and also businesses also have rights to sue businesses. Corporate litigation and commercial insurance litigation are some of the sources of business litigation (James 2011). Corporate litigation arises when there is a corporate dispute caused by a breach of duty of fiduciary. A perfect example of corporate dispute is an instance where the shareholders in any given closely held corporation may recover against the leader or manager or even a corporate director if he or she breaches or goes against his or her fiduciary obligations. In commercial insurance litigation, such a dispute may arise when a commercial insurance company denies or undervalues a fair claim (James 2012). In such a circumstance, the victimized business has a right to sue the corporate insurance in order to recover the amount of money that he believes that he owns and entitled to. In many cases, such instances arise since many insurance companies put some clauses which they rely mostly on in any contract which will make them not to pay a fair claim to the other party. There are other many countless and countless areas in which business litigation can be used to resolve and settle any dispute among many businesses (Thorses 2005). In the case Ahmad et al, v. Foodmaker, Inc, a $ 58,000, 000 fine was paid in order to settle Jack Box food poisoning case on behalf of the corporation which was parent corporation Of Jack in the Box (Edward 1995). ( Micheal 2012). In the case County of San Diego v. RanchoVista Del Mar, a verdict of $55,000,000 was given which in history has ever been the largest condemnation verdict in history o United States at that period. The accused filed an appeal and finally the injured party was paid $40,000,000. In the case Border Business Park V. City o San Diego, there was a breach o contract by San Diego which resulted to the company paying a fine o $94, 500, 000 as jury verdict. After the judge compiled all the granted fees and interest which was charged in the case, the total amount that San Diego paid to the client was over $136,000,000 (Mash 2012). Another perfect example of business litigation case was People o the state o California V. Grigory Zubkis and Rimma Zubkis, et al where $2, 750,000 and when the interest was added 2, 790,000 settlement was paid or the case which involved the taking o a private residence in order to expand a road. The case was decided by Lead attorney Partner Daral Mazzarella (Thorses 2012). Conclusion In case any business dispute arises between two business entities or between a