Fedex Analysis Essay Example

Fedex Analysis Essay TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARYII TABLE OF CONTENTSIII LIST OF FIGURESV LIST OF TABLESV 1INTRODUCTION1 PART 1: TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTIC INDUSTRY2 2EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS2 2. 1TECHNOLOGICAL2 2. 2ECONOMICAL2 2. 3MARKET2 2. 4POLITICAL AND LEGAL2 2. 5ENVIRONMENTAL3 2. 6SOCIETAL3 2. 7DEMOGRAPHIC3 3INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS4 3. 1PORTER’S FIVE FORCES MODEL4 3. 1. 1Threat of new entrants (Low)4 3. 1. 2Threat of substitutes (Low – medium)5 3. 1. 3Bargaining power of buyers (High)5 3. 1. 4Bargaining power of suppliers (Medium – high)5 3. 1. 5Intensity of rivalry (High)5 4CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR6 4. STRONG AND TRUSTWORTHY BRAND6 4. 2ADVANCED IN IT SYSTEMS6 4. 3INTEGRATION TO CUSTOMERS SUPPLY CHAIN6 4. 4LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY6 PART 2: FEDEX CORPORATION7 5COMPANY ANALYSIS7 5. 1PRODUCTS AND SERVICES7 5. 2STRUCTURE7 5. 3STRATEGY7 5. 4GENERIC POSITIONING7 5. 5KEY STAKEHOLDERS8 5. 6PERFORMANCE8 5. 6. 1Marketing8 5. 6. 2Operations8 5. 6. 3Human resources8 5. 6. 4Research and development8 5. 6. 5Information Technology8 5. 6. 6Finance8 6COMPETITORS ANALYSIS10 7SWOT ANALYSIS11 7. 1STRENGTHS11 7. 2WEAKNESSES11 7. 3OPPORTUNITIES12 7. 4THREATS12 7. 5POSITIONING OF FEDEX13 8RECCOMMENDATION14 8. 1CORPORATE LEVEL14 . 2BUSINESS LEVEL15 8. 3FUNCTIONAL LEVEL15 8. 4NETWORK LEVEL16 8. 5SUGGESTED IMPLEMENTATION PLAN16 9CONCLUSION17 REFERENCES18 LIST OF FIGURES This is the complete listing of all the figures used throughout the report. FIGURE 1 ILLUSTRATES PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL FOR TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS INDUSTRY. 3 FIGURE 2 ILLUSTRATES POSITION OF FEDEX IN SWOT. 7 LIST OF TABLES This is the complete listing of all the tables used throughout the report. TABLE 1 ILLUSTRATES IMPLEMENTATION PLAN OF SUGGESTED RECOMMENDATION13 1INTRODUCTION FedEx is the world leader in transportation and logistic industry. It was founded in 1971 as Federal Express which provides only express delivery services. Over the decades, it has transformed it self to a global logistic and supply-chain management company (Express, Ground, Freight, etc. ) through massive investment in its IT infrastructure and acquisition of Caliber systems, Inc (Figure 1) 1971 1994 Now Figure 1. FedEx Brand Transformation FedEx has always been an innovator in changing how the world works and lives. Today’s FedEx is a network of companies, worth $34 billion, offering the right mix of transportation, e-commerce and business solutions. While each company has a unique history, collectively they exhibit the â€Å"absolutely, positively† dedication to providing specialised solutions for every shipping, information and global trade needs that the world has come to expect from FedEx. But as every cloud has a silver lining, so does FedEx Corporation. Through the reading and analysis of the case study of FedEx Corp. in 2000, provided in De Wit and Meyer (2004, pp. 647-662), some recommendations have been made to address the key issues concerning the organisation, in the context of its structural transformation through e-business. We will write a custom essay sample on Fedex Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Fedex Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Fedex Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer PART 1: TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTIC INDUSTRY 2EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 2. 1Technological The development of information technology (IT) has dramatically changed the way businesses operate in express transportation and information industry. It gives organizations the ability to share information within and between organizations, and hence, promote more time and cost effective operations which leads to shorter order-to-payment cycle and better cash flow. With the use of e-commerce in transportation and logistics, the consumer can now even track the progress of the courier at any point of time, at any given hour. 2. 2Economical The globalization of world’s economy has trigger enormous demand for transportation and logistic industry. As businesses expand itself into other countries, whether for seeking the new market or cost reduction, the transportation of goods or raw-material and management of information pertaining with them are essential. To cater to this need, as of 2000, FedEx now operates in 210 countries managing over 10 million square feet of warehouse space worldwide. Other than globalization, there are more economic factors that affect the transportation and logistics industry, for example economic rates, fuel price and economic growth. Economic rates, such as interest rate, inflation rate and currency exchange rate, and fuel price affect the price management of this industry. While economic growth affects the industry in terms of the demand of the services from customers. 2. 3Market Globalization has broadened market for all industry, from nationwide to world wide. The speed and accuracy has become the critical success factors not only for transportation and logistic company but also for their customers as well. As a result, fast and reliable service is not considered as values anymore, it becomes norm which customers expected from every transportation and logistic company. Therefore, to be competitive in this industry, companies must provide value-added-services which create great satisfaction to its customers. 2. 4Political and Legal The transportation and logistic industry is greatly affected by political stability, government policies, and regulations in each country. The deregulation and trade agreement has eliminated boundaries between countries such as U. S and Mexico, and hence, encourage transportation and logistic companies to easily establish and operate within those country. In addition, the regulations on airline and trucking industry also play vital roles on this industry because it directly impacts the core operation of industry. 2. 5Environmental Weather and climate change have great impact on transportation and logistic industry due to the fact that this industry is deeply associated with travel of airplanes, truck, freighter, and other vehicles. The ability to understand and predict weather and climate change can save company from delay, loss of its fleets, all of which is directly proportional to its reputation. 2. 6Societal Social mobility affects this industry in some way. It refers to the dollars consumers are willing to spare at the cost of time; as the most important asset in today’s cut-throat world is time. One of the most important social factors for the transportation and logistics industry is the labour part which helps the organisation carry out the day to day operations and keep the cash charts ringing. 2. 7Demographic The demographic is one external environment that affects transportation and logistics industry, especially the location of the stores; distribution centres hubs and so on. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS FedEx Corporation has been operated in the transportation and logistic industry which mainly involve in delivery, and managing and controlling of goods, information, and other resources like products. 3. 1Porter’s five forces model Figure 1 illustrates Porters five forces model for transportation and logistics industry. 3. 1. 1Threat of new entrants (Low) To be competitive in t his industry, businesses must have their own freighter, airplanes, trucks, etc. This result in very large capital investment required in order to start a business. Moreover, brand awareness is also very crucial. Without strong brand, particular company would not be able to gain trust, which is very important in this industry, from customers. For newly established company in this industry where there are already many strong players, it is not easy to create and strengthen its brand image. As a result, the entry barrier is considered very high. 3. 1. 2Threat of substitutes (Low – medium) Emergent of internet and email do reduce the necessity of express delivery of documents. There are also some moving and shipping services which target private households when they have to move aboard, or international students moving from or to their origin. But these are still in different market segment. There are still no potential alternatives which can fully replace service of FedEx. 3. 1. 3Bargaining power of buyers (High) Since there are many of companies which offer the same service as FedEx and with the increasing contribution of IT in logistics industry, buyers can easily compare prices and offers from different companies and choose the one that cheapest and most suit their needs. FedEx should provide significant service to its customers and have high differentiate products. 3. 1. 4Bargaining power of suppliers (Medium – high) The main suppliers of FedEx are fuel and other energy provider, aircraft manufacturer, and truck manufacturer. The bargaining of vehicles manufacturer is considerably medium because even though FedEx is a big organization which requires big fleet of vehicles and continuous maintenance service, but vehicle manufacturers still has other choice of buyers from various industries. 3. 1. 5Intensity of rivalry (High) The intensity of rivalry is considerably high due to the three strong competitors which are UPS, DHL, and TNT. Need more 4CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR 4. 1Brand The reliability and accountability is the most important factor in this industry. Even though the company can make the very low price with easy access and user friendly service, but if the company could not guaranteed the speed and accuracy of its services, customers would not take the risk. 4. 2IT systems The advancement of IT systems leads to more efficient operations which again lead to faster and more accurate services with lower cost. In present, from the comfort of ones home, they can use most of the services offered by FedEx, booking a delivery or tracking the progress of the courier and so on so forth. 4. 3Service quality By providing services which integrate into customers’ supply chain, the company built up barrier to protect its customer from its competitors, as FedEx delivers almost anything anywhere at the quickest time possible, which is not really exclusive but with the continuous innovation and creativity, it helps in customer retention. 4. 4Location and accessibility Location of hub has massive impact on the speed of services. Proper distributed hub location according to geographic and intensity of demand could leads to faster and more responsive services. The accessibility such as customers care centre or user friendly systems also promote more pre and post sales. PART 2: FEDEX CORPORATION 5COMPANY ANALYSIS 5. 1Products and services FedEx corporation start the business with express delivery services as Federal express and the transform it self in to a global logistics and supply-chain management company. At present, FedEx offers wide range services which include express delivery, business to business ground small package delivery, special express delivery, less than truck freight, integrated logistics and warehousing solutions, supply chain management solutions. 5. 2Structure FedEx has been through many transformation of its organization structure with the goal to make it easier and faster for its customer and also to improve efficiency of its operations. Currently FedEx Corporation consists of six subsidiaries which independently operate but collectively compete with its competitors. 5. 3Strategy Base on case study, FedEx has always emphasis on shear innovation, industry leadership and IT development and use it as its key competitive advantages and also use it as the tools to help its customers take advantages of international market. Moreover, FedEx is the first company in the industry which owns all transportation fleet and expands its business through acquiring more trucks and planes. 5. 4Generic positioning . 5Key stakeholders FedEx works in the B2B as well as B2C model, which makes the customers as well as the organisations that it caters to as its key stakeholders. Moreover, its employee from all subsidiaries; its suppliers, such as fuel provider and packaging suppliers, and environmental activist group also constitute a large share of stakeholders. 5. 6Performance 5. 6. 1Marketing FedEx has a strong marketing presence but need to market all of its subsidiaries to gain a bigger market share as only FedEx Express is the dominant one amongst all. It uses the print media as well as TV campaigns to attract customers as well as create awareness for its excellent supply chain systems. 5. 6. 2Operations FedEx’s operation was one of the critical issues in the company as learnt from the case study, where it does not operate efficiently as a whole company. Not only it had different operations department for each division, it also added to the operation costs to great extent, which otherwise could be minimalised by sharing the available resources. 5. 6. 3Human resources FedEx failed in utilisation of its HR as one person was assigned one work only, irrespective of their maximum capabilities. 5. 6. 4Research and development FedEx allocates excessive resources to its RD division in order to keep itself updated with the every-day increasing IT developments in logistics field. But it still stands a fair level in terms of the services offered for customers. 5. 6. 5Information Technology FedEx was the first logistic company which introduce the use of IT to the business in 1984, by using the first PC-based automated shipping system. Since then, FedEx has been always implementing and improving its IT system, from barcode labelling, websites, software, e-Business and so on. FedEx IT has become its competitive advantage for years comparing to its competitors. The information about a package is as important as the delivery of the package itself. —Frederick W. Smith (1979) 5. 6. 6Finance In 1998, FedEx was listed as a US$10 billion company and it used US$1 billion annually on IT developments plus millions more on capital expenditure. And in 1999, it spent US$1. billion on IT from US$17 billion annual revenue. On 31 May year ending sheet, the company out-performed the projections and posted record earnings on 73 percent increasing the net income to US$221 million. Financially, FedEx spent about US$100 million for the reorganization over three years in 2000. In simpler terms, companies operating income as well as net income has been going down since first quarter ending 31 August, 1999. 6COMPETITORS ANALYSIS 6. 1UPS oStrong in logistic and delivery, especially in US. oIT developed as well (spent $9 billion on IT) Formed 5 alliances in 1997 to disseminate its logistics software to e-commerce users oFormed a strategic alliance with Open Market Inc to deliver a complete Internet commerce solution oWorking with IBM and Lotus to standardize formats on the websites oShipped more than 55% of goods ordered over internet and offered over full range of logistics solutions to its customers oOnly market 1 brand UPS 6. 2DHL oStrong in logistic and delivery, especially in Europe. o1993 DHL announced a 4 year US$1. 25 billion capital spending programme aimed at investing in handling system, automation, facilities and computer technology. Launched website in 1995 o25% owned by Deutsche Post and 25% owned by Lufthansa Airlines oDominated UK market oProjected an increase in worldwide turnover of 18% to US$5. 26 billion 6. 3TNT oOnly provide express delivery service. oLaunched website in 1998 oLaunched the first global price checker service on its website that allow customers to calculate the price of sending a consignment from one place to another anywhere in the world o1999, TNT launched QuickShipper, nonstop online access to TNT entire range of distribution services SWOT ANALYSIS 7. 1Strengths †¢Innovation and creativity. †¢Strong and well established research and development centre for IT systems to promote more efficient operation. †¢Very advanced â€Å"Global Operation Command Centre† which allows FedEx to prioritise hundreds of variables (eg. world event, weather patterns, and real time movement of its freighter) involved in the successful operation. †¢Excellent reputation in the industry. †¢Own all transportation fleets. †¢Strong business networks in the US. 7. 2Weaknesses Historical image of the company makes customers perceive FedEx as just an express delivery service company. †¢Complex and inefficient organization structure. There a re too many part of organization that duplicates each other. †¢Entirely reliant on manual labour to a great extent, which can be a prospective weakness in some circumstances †¢ Insufficient promotion of the other sectors and fields where FedEx offers its services †¢Disproportionate branching of FedEx subsidiaries thereby increasing the operating costs which can be otherwise be reduced by sharing the resources. . 3Opportunities †¢Government deregulation of airline industry, permitted the landing of larger freight planes, thus reducing operating cost of FedEx †¢Deregulation of the trucking industry, which allowed FedEx to establish a regional trucking system to lower costs further on short haul trips †¢Trade deregulation in Asia Pacific, which opened new market to FedEx, expanding globally became a priority for FedEx †¢Technological breakthroughs and applications innovations promoted significant advances for customer ordering, package tracing and pro cess monitoring. Rising inflation and global competition gave rise to greater pressures on businesses to minimize the costs of operation, including implementation of JIT inventory management system and created demands for speed and accuracy in all aspects of business. 7. 4Threats †¢FedEx advantages were quickly eroding as newer technologies became more powerful, developed faster, and less expensive – more affordable for its competitors. †¢Potential financial crisis due to too much fixed cost, such as aircrafts, vehicles and other heavy equipments. On the lines of blue ocean strategy, CHEP is a possible/prospective threat to FedEx as it explores altogether new approach in the supply chain industry. †¢Rocketing fuel prices which increase the transporting cost to sky-end. 7. 5Positioning of FedEx Figure 2 illustrates position of FedEx in SWOT. Base on the SWOT analysis, even though FedEx has many strong points but its historical brand image has put limit on almost all of its strength. Due to this constraint, it is known only as Express Delivery Company. As a result, FedEx is currently located in weaknesses-opportunities quadrant. If FedEx could widen the perception of its current and potential customers, and fully utilize its own strength to pursue its opportunities, it would be one of the strongest in its industry. 8RECCOMMENDATION 8. 1Corporate level Get slim: FedEx could shrink down its structure by integrating some division of its subsidiaries together to reduce cost and time caused by duplication of works. And by doing so, it would encourage lateral flow of information between each business unit. And as a result, its operations would be more efficient which leads to more flexible profit margin and more customers’ satisfaction. Add pic Acquire CHEP: CHEP is a global leader in pallet and container pooling services. It is not actually a logistics company. It provide and manage, returnable and reusable supply chain packaging solutions (such as pallets and containers) to help customers to store, protect and move their products through the supply chain in a cost-effective, safe and environmentally sound way. By acquiring CHEP, FedEx will benefit from immediate horizontal expansion of its company and also its customer base. Moreover, acquisition of CHEP will also allow FedEx to integrate more into its customers supply chain and hence create strong barrier from its competitors and substitutes. Take serious concern on environment: Due to the fact that the nature of FedEx businesses required extensive amount of transportation activities which results in largely emission of green house gas that create global warming effect. Therefore, in order to get strong support from community and environmental activist such as Greenpeace, FedEx should then come up with the environmental concern vision to make its fleet cleaner and be more environmental friendly. This could be done by modifying its fleet or support or joint-research with any car company or institute to develop an alternative cleaner power source. Moreover it could establish its own manufacturing plant for shipment package and protection (such as cardboard boxes, paper envelope, bubble wrap, shredded paper) by emphasis on recycle of material. 8. 2Business level Promote brand awareness of all FedEx subsidiaries: Now FedEx is struggling with its historic image which narrows customers’ perception to FedEx as only an express delivery company. To deal with this problem, FedEx should promote all of its services by strong marketing campaign. This could be done by advertisements in television, its website, or major video clip website such as Youtube. Alternatively FedEx could collaborate with 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Picture to create a film, which represent all the of its services, as it was done before in â€Å"Cast Away†, 2000. 8. 3Functional level Developing and training for multi-task oriented employees: In order to successfully shrink down company structure as proposed before in corporate level recommendation, FedEx should develop a training program for its employee to be multi-task oriented. By doing so, FedEx encourage its staffs to be able to work in more than one job. This does not means that FedEx should overworks its staff, but it should be able to rotate its staff around for different roles such that one staff could delivery a package to customers and in the same time pick up another couple of packages which one suppose to be sent by ground and another one by express air. Create strong marketing division FedEx should establish a separate marketing division which in charge in creating strong marketing strategy for all of its subsidiaries. FedEx should allocate some portion of budget from its research and development to its marketing division in order to support strong marketing strategy which is very vital for creating brand awareness for all of its subsidiaries. 8. 4Network level Alliance with companies in IT industry: The research development and advance in IT systems are one of FedEx competency. But with too high budget allocation, this could cause adverse effect to the company. FedEx should make strategic alliance with IT systems company such as IBM or HP in order to reduce their cost of operation. 8. 5Suggested implementation plan Table 1 illustrates implementation plan of suggested recommendation

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Due to the vast definitions of leade rship, Bass (1990) cited in Schafer (2009) hinted and pinpointed some common unifying theory implying that leadership is the persuasive power and ability to influence group of people or individuals or other behaviours in an coordinated manner to achieve some pre-determined goal. Kouzes and Posner (2004) defined leadership by their followers and it involves a relationship between those who want to lead and those who choose to follow. They suggested that any discussion of leadership should follow this norm of relationship. Kouzes and Posners assertion for leaders and followers relationship is based on followers perception and they normally depend upon leaders for collective success. Thus, the implication to follow good leaders is high and to follow bad leaders is too costly as it cannot be denied that some leaders are often tempted and lured to manipulate their position for personal gain (Van Vugt et al., 2008). 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The idea of charismatic leadership too will not be related to effective leadership in this study although Conger and Kanungo (1998) described charismatic leaders to possess all the qualities of vision, drive, passion and ability of leaders to inspire their followers into action. But Bass (1985) argued that charismatic leaders often lead to dictatorship than real leaders with inclusion of qualities such as narcissism, manipulation of people and defensiveness in the example such as Hitler and Mussolini. To this, Kouzes and Posner (1988) came up with their Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) to conceptualize leadership behaviours associated with leader effectiveness based on five dimensions of practices: Modelling the Way, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Challenging the Process, Enabling Others to Act, and Encouraging the Heart. The construction of LPI is although not designed for transformational or transactional leadership styles, but the instruments contents of different scales may from subordinates point of view contains elements of transformational and transactional leadership styles (Fields Herold, 1997). Other studies indicated an increase in perception of effective leadership can lead to an increase in subordinate and organizational effectiveness. To this, researchers like Jaussi and Dionne (2004) in their study on Unconventional leader behaviour, subordinate satisfaction, effort and perception of leader effectiveness cited Bass (1990) claimed that an increased in perception of leader effectiveness can lead to elevated subordinate performance which in turn can enhance organizational effectiveness as one the three outcomes documented in previous leadership literature. As there are too many literatures associated with effective leadership, this paper only attempted to use the term effective leadership as derived by Kouzes and Posner (2002) through his Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) and the dimensions that articulate and explain effective leadership. The reason as to why practices are selected rather than traits and characteristics of leadership is based on the understanding of leaders behaviour through the role theory that can provide insight and understanding on how roles and behaviours influence subordinates behaviour. Role has been defined as a socially specified pattern of behaviour that accompanies a particular position within a social context (Deaux Wrightsman, 1988) cited in Huse (1998). In another definition, roles are also the combination of expectations and performances on the part of those who are interacting with each other (Neal, 1983). Hooijberg and Quinn (1992) also stated that in order to increase their effectiveness, leaders may perform and execute variety of leadership roles and practices in the organizational setting. Another reason for the role theory to be accepted and not the traits theory is because previous literatures on the traits theory popularised in 1930s only explained leadership effectiveness by means of natural characteristics, skills and abilities such as self-efficacy, decisiveness, and interpersonal competences to be associated with organizational effectiveness. But this theory has been subjected to criticism on the ground that this theory lacks predictive power in linking leadership traits to performance (Stogdill, 1948). Consequently, in 1940s and 1950s, the leadership behaviour theory was introduced to explain leadership effectiveness based on leaders behaviours and practices they should play to provide new perspective on understanding leadership effectiveness (Steers, Porter Bigley, 1996) cited in Oyinlade (2006). The theory explains that the behaviour of the leader occurs within the context of various roles and practices the leader plays. This further justifies why leadership practices and behaviours are important to influence subordinates behaviour and this also helps to explain that the effectiveness of the leader is influenced by his/her roles obligations and expectations. 2.3. Measurement of effective leadership In a study done in 2008 to more than 1,000 police supervisors attending the FBI National Academy (NA) in Quantico, Virginia which involved 1,042 of the 1,071 (97.3 percent) NA attendees completed all or part of the survey, the survey concluded that efficacy of police chiefs who are effective leaders was most strongly linked with integrity, work ethic, communication, and care for personnel while ineffective leaders were characterized as failing to express these traits or were characterized as suffering from questionable ethics and integrity. The study revealed that 37.5 percent of respondents ranked honesty and integrity as the most important characteristics of an effective leader. The study also acknowledged that development of effective leaders and leadership practices is a persistent problem in policing (Schafer, 2009) A study done in 2008 involving a total of 1,000 high public school teachers in Amman, Jordan which studied the behaviours of their principals using Kouzes and Posners LPI has shown that 550 school teachers represent 55 per cent of the targeted respondents of 1,000 have assessed their principals as moderately practising Kouzes and Posners leadership practices model and identified them as transformational which is also associated with effective leadership (Abu-Tineh et.al. 2008). 2.4. Integrity Integrity is a concept commonly discussed in a formal and informal way and usually associated with leadership and organisational theory, but it is yet to be defined and theoretically understood (Rieke Guastello, 1995) as cited in Parry and Proctor-Thomson (2002). Previous definitions on integrity indicated that integrity has been defined in different manner and in different forms due to different lines of research by previous researchers. This was conceded by Hooijberg et.al (2010) that the complexity regarding its meaning and interpretation makes it difficult to be understood. Hence, its broad dimensions had led to many researchers to associate it with ethics, honesty, trust, credibility, and character that have been used and applied interchangeably in many past literatures (Hooijberg et.al., 2010; Becker, 1998; Yukl Van Fleet, 1990); Kouzes and Posner (2002); Ciulla (2004). In 2007 and 2009, Palanski and Yammarino cited in Hooijberg et. al. who successfully found evidence of rela tionship between integrity and honesty also asserted that it involves matching deeds to words, a sense of morality and that it lies in the eyes of the beholder. This was shared by Kirkpartrick and Locke (1991) and Covey (1992) described integrity as walking the talk with no desire other than for the good of others. This was supported by Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman, (1995) by stating that integrity should be more than walk the talk but is associated to an individuals full commitment to underlying principles. For Kolthoff et al. (2010) stated integrity has its foundation in ethics and Lawton (1998) asserted that ethics and integrity encapsulate a code of conduct as basis for actions. Notably some examples of ethics violation in public organizations include lying, cheating, rule-bending, stealing public property, harming others and so on (Ciulla, 2004). For Van der Wal; Huberts; Van Den Heuvel and Kolthoff (2006), they described integrity within organizational context to constitute wholeness and in the Latin word -integritas which means acting according to moral values, norms and rules and which must take place within the context and environment in which one works or operates and accepted by the members of the organisation. For integrity also means trust as Bennis (1989) stated that integrity is the basis of trust and Simons (1999) in asserting that trust of subordinates in leaders behaviours is very important suggested behavioural integrity (BI) rather than self-perceived integrity or any statement on integrity as the main focus research on integrity to describe leaderships style and behaviours as there often mismatch between actual values and enacted values of leaders behaviour. The author duly admits that this has been the common flaw in public service where leaders normally ignore subordinates trust and in many instances they do not need subordinates trust as they probably feel proud to helm public organizations and hence could have acted on their own for selfish gain. It is here that mistrust and dishonesty exist within public organizations and as Kolthoff et al. (2010) pointed out that integrity is affected. Other researchers like Padilla, Hogan, and Kaiser (2007) also believed and argued that the occurrences of corruption, unethical and bad behaviours, mismanagement and so on perpetrated by people in position of power appointed in public organizations can be traced to issues of integrity. That is why integrity must be perceived as a moral courage and the will and willingness public servants ought to do and to go against what is not right and believes to be wrong (Kolade, 1999). How integrity is important for leadership? Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991); Kouzes and Posner (2002) cited in Hooijberg et.al (2010) asserted that integrity is not only good for organizations but also to be an important trait of leaders. Becker (1998) argued that excellent leaders are people viewed and perceived to be high in integrity because they do not want to gain something out of organizational resources for selfish reasons. This is consistent with Badaracco and Ellsworths (1990) notion that leaders with values and integrity normally make decisions in accordance with the enacted values of the organization and for Kouzes and Posner, (2002) added that leaders with integrity would be able to convince followers that they are worth to be followed. While Kanungo and Mendonca (1996) cited in Parry and Proctor-Thomson (2002) also stated that integrity in leadership has become an increasing concern for business and organisations. To this, many theorists now believe that leadership without i ntegrity may put the organisations at risk, (Morgan, 1993; Mowday, Porter Steers, 1982; Posner Schmidt, 1984). Perhaps, the most important definition of integrity related to leadership was given by Tan Sri Mohd. Sidek Hassan who is the Chief Secretary to the government of Malaysia in his speech dated 25 Mac 2009 that integrity can be defined as continuous adherence to moral principles, honesty, wholeness, the quality of being unimpaired; soundness. He also reminded civil servants on the need to instil integrity especially on the role of leadership in public institutions in order to deliver high quality of service delivery (http://www.pmo.gov.my/ksn/?frontpage/speech/detail/1512. accessed 5th April 2011). From the so many definitions of integrity mentioned above, it is clear that integrity plays an important role in establishing and maintaining high ethical standards in public organizations but it must start with the top echelon of the organizations which must be perceived to have integrity as without it the whole system and existing reform measures will be meaningless. 2.5. Measurement of integrity Hogan and Kaiser (2010) in their study on How to assess (not to assess) the integrity of managers stated that various attempts have been made in the past to assess and measure integrity in leadership including using the Big Five Personality Theory as researcher like Allport (1937) and other moral philosophers linked leaders integrity to personality and they believed that leaders personality could influence individuals and groups behaviours. To this, measurement of leaders personality using The Big Five Personality theory was a questionable issue related to how sound the integrity test works with leaders (Howard Thomas, 2010) and although it can predict counterproductive work behaviour based on the three dimensions of personality theory: Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Emotional Stability; but it does not measure counterproductive behaviours. Another critic for the theory was by Mischel (1977) who suggested that personality is most important in weak situations and of course in s trong situation it could provide solid cues about leaders appropriate behaviour which resulted in peoples supportive actions. Hogan and Kaiser (2010) also stated that another measurement technique linked integrity to leaders competency model theory and by using the data that delivered subordinates ratings of 672 directors and vice presidents employed by a Fortune 500 technology firm in the United States, this method defines integrity as a leadership competency and measures it using co-worker ratings of observed ethical behaviour. The test used 23-items to measure five competencies and integrity is one of them. The result of the competency test found that the behavioural ratings suggested only a negligible proportion of managers may have integrity issues and do not identify leaders with integrity issues as most of the items in the questionnaire only reflect the desirable end of integrity construct. The study also did not differentiate between high and low-performing managers, and hence cannot be used as an appropriate measurement to identify leaders with integrity issues. What have been done by previous measurements only focused on positive behaviours of managers that might not have been able to identify leaders with integrity issues. However, using Craig and Gustafson (1998) measurement technique of Perceived Leader Integrity Scale (PLIS) which focussed on perception of unethical behaviours of leaders using only a short version of 8-items questionnaire survey rather than 32-items, Hogan and Kaiser (2010) in their study using data from 80 employed MBA students at a university in the South-Eastern United States has proven that this technique is a reliable way of assessing leaders with potential integrity issues as correlation and regression analyses using the PLIS suggested that trust and leaders integrity is the primary determinant of employee attitudes and effective leadership perceptions. Apart from using PLIS, Hogan and Kaiser also used Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) developed by Stogdill (1963) in the study to assess the leaders effectiveness via two-factor of leaders behaviour, that is, Initiating Structure and Consideration scales (10-items for each scale) and found that PLIS is the strongest predictor of all the three predictors and another result indicated that leader perceived integrity was highly correlated with consideration rather than initiating structure which means leaders need to pay more attention to the needs of the subordinates. So, this study will use the PLIS to measure perceived leaders integrity from subordinates assessment in the focus area, that is, the selected Sabah states agencies in Kota Kinabalu. 2.6. Relationship between effective leadership and perceived integrity Parry and Proctor-Thomson (2002) in their study on Perceived Integrity of Transformational Leaders in Organisational Settings involving 1,354 useable samples out of 6,025 managers in private and public organizations throughout New Zealand using both PLIS and MLQ to measure perceived leader integrity and effectiveness respectively found that there was positively significant correlation between leader perceived integrity and a range of leader effectiveness measures in which leader effectiveness was measured with items such as satisfaction with leadership, perceived leader effectiveness, extra efforts from followers and motivation of followers. A study done by Hooijberg et.al in 2010 involving 175 bureau chiefs and directors of a state government agency in the North-eastern USA taking part in a leadership-training program using 20-items survey of Competing Values Framework (CVF) to assess managers effectiveness through eight leadership roles: Producer, Director, Coordinator, Monitor, Mentor, Facilitator, Innovator and as Broker revealed that integrity has an above impact of leadership effectiveness followed by honesty and goal-orientation is the leadership role that bosses highly associated with leaders effectiveness. In addition to the above studies, other past literatures on the study of leadership focussed on the impact of leadership on organization and indicated it was the leaderships role to protect and enhance the invulnerability of public agencies to threats of integrity as suggested by Selznick (1957) that the integrity of the institution is vulnerable to corruption if the leader fails to protect the institutions distinctive values, competence and role. The importance of leaders to demonstrate integrity was also studied by Gray (1985) and Fiedler (1995) as cited in Huse (1998) who argued that leaders will inspire others when they demonstrated integrity. This shows that leadership with integrity is vital to protect organizations vulnerability to corruption as well as to inspire others to behave in a forthright and open-manner and lead the organization into the future which is part of leaders demonstration of integrity. The study by OECD in 2005 on Public Sector Integrity: A Framework for assessment regarding perception of integrity in all its member countries such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Germay, Japan and host of other countries indicated that integrity in public agencies starts at the top and through leaders actions and behaviour. Instilling a culture of integrity has to come from the top such as the senior management, head of department, governing board etc. Leaders in public organizations must keep integrity at the forefront activities so that employees can take their cues and examples from the top. Other research also has shown that supervisors or leaders are the primary influence on the ethical behaviours of their subordinates (Morgan, 1993; Posner Schmidt, 1984). Their contention is based on the belief that as integrity is also about ethical behaviours, this indicates that if leaders exercise ethical behaviour this will lead to larger implications on subordinates behaviours and behaviours of others in the organization. To this, an effective leadership must lead the initiatives to create an atmosphere where individuals in the organization feel safe to move forward to becoming an ideal and competitive organization. But this will depend on the leaderships beliefs in motivation and competitive spirit of all members in the organization on the adherence to values of honesty, ethics, and trust. What is important is a statement by Morgan (1993) who emphasized the ethical leaderships positive impact on organisational effectiveness will result in ethical development which is very important to the leaders success. Morgan also found that followers perception of leaders ethics was positively related to their perceptions of leaders effectiveness. 2.7. Summary of Literature Review Based on the numerous definitions of integrity given by previous researchers such as Becker (1998), integrity is conceptualized as similar to honesty, trust, ethics, matching words with deeds and actions, and a commitment in actions to set of principles and values. In other words, integrity is about something ethical and morality in words and in actions in accordance with existing norms, cultures, values, processes, rules and laws in which managers and leaders in public organizations must adhere to in order to create and maintain public trust. Previous studies indicated that effective leadership can be conceptualized and perceived using Kouzes and Posners (2002) Leadership Practices Inventory or LPI which emphasizes on leadership practices in five dimensions : Inspiring Vision, Model the Way, Challenge the process, Enable others to act and Encourage the heart. Recent study by Abu-Tineh et.al (2008) done in 2008 in Amman, Jordan involving a sample of 550 school teachers resulted in the school teachers assessed their school principals as having practiced Kouzes and Posners leadership practices and has identified them as transformational which is also related to effective leadership. The leaders integrity can be perceived by using Craig and Gustafsons (1998) Perceived Leader Integrity Scale of PLIS in which Parry and Proctor-Thomson in 2002 has conducted a study on a sample of 1,354 private and public managers in New Zealand using PLIS and found a moderate to positive relationship between perceived leader integrity and transformational leadership behaviours measured using Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). Other previous literatures also pinpointed to the needs for perceived effective leadership to possess moral values such as honesty, trust and ethics or in other words integrity to maintain trust and create followers positive perception of leaders effectiveness and integrity to bring the desired impact to the organizations.

Breastfeeding and the Sexual Objectification of Women Essay -- Feminis

Breastfeeding and the Sexual Objectification of Women      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The sexual objectification of women is detrimental not only to women, but also to their children and even the environment. This objectification may prevent women from breastfeeding.      Breastfeeding is extremely beneficial to both mother and baby and the environment as well. Breastfed children are less likely to have ear infections, allergies, vomiting, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, chronic digestive disease, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, bacterial meningitis, research also indicates that breastfeeding may help protect against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), women who were breastfed as infants have a lower rate of breast cancer, and breastfeeding helps promote bonding between mother and child. Breastfeeding has also been related to possible enhancement of babies' cognitive development. It's good for the mother because it burns more calories; it increases levels of oxytocin, resulting in less postpartum bleeding; it builds bone strength; it helps the uterus return to its regular size more quickly; and it reduces the risk of ovarian and breast cancer. The environment benefits because whereas there is waste generated from formula packaging and b ottle inserts, there is no such waste with breastfeeding. There's also the use of water and fuel to heat the bottles as well. (Dermer and Montgomery). Businesses benefit when their workers breastfeed as well. Aetna Inc. found that parents of breastfed babies missed fewer workdays and saved a total of $2,500 per newborn in the first year alone. CIGNA established a program for nursing mothers. They found that that saved them $240,000 a year in health care and $60,000 in reduced absenteeism. (Redbook, ... ...Gift of Extended Breatfeeding."   Nurturing Magazine. Corbin, Michael. "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore. House Upholds Limits on Public Nursing". Baltimore City   Paper Online. March 21 - March 27, 2001 Davis, Marie. "Breastfeeding."  Ã‚   http://getattached.com/winter99/breastfeeding.htm1 1999 Dermer, Alice, and Anne Montgomery. Breastfeeding: Good For Babies, Mothers, And The Planet. Dermer, Alice. "If Breastfeeding is So Good, Why Aren't More Women Doing It?"   Medical Reporter. Dettwyler, Katherine A. "Breasts" October 30, 1995. La Leche League. "Toddler Tips: Criticism from Relatives" 2000. Leonard, Sue.   "Jealous men banish breastfeeding"   The Times November 12, 2000. McKenna, Kate.   "Moms at Work;:   The New Discrimination" Redbook   January 2001. 100-104 Stork.net. Breastfeeding Cubby: "Breastfeeding in Public"   

Conversation between nick and jordan Essay

One of the reasons that Gatsby has become so famous around New York is that he throws elaborate parties every weekend at his mansion, lavish spectacles to which people long to be invited. I made the short walk to Gatsby’s house and joined the festivities, feeling somewhat out of place amid the crowd of ecstatic strangers. Gatsby’s party is almost unbelievably luxurious: guests marvel over his Rolls-Royce, his swimming pool, his beach, crates of fresh oranges and lemons, buffet tents in the gardens overflowing with a feast, and a live orchestra playing under the stars. Liquor flows freely, and the crowd grows rowdier and louder as more and more guests get drunk. In this atmosphere of opulence and revelry, Jordan and I, curious to see this â€Å"Mr Gatsby† set out to find him. At midnight, Jordan and I went outside to watch the entertainment. We sat at a table when a very well dressed man said that I looked very familiar to him and explain that we served in the sam e division during the war. He then man introduced himself as none other than Jay Gatsby. His speech was so elaborate and formal, and he had a habit of calling everyone â€Å"old sport.† As the party went on , I felt myself being increasingly fascinated with Gatsby but Jordan was always there on the back of my mind. The more time I spent in the company of Jordan Baker , the stronger I was drawn to her. It might have been the alluring way her slender figure snaked itself In and out of the scandals of Tom and Myrtle as well as Daisy and Gatsby , or her cool manner of simmering down daisy when things got heated between tom and daisy and they were bickering over something trivial. Nick was never a man to let a girl know how he felt about her , so he simply watched from a comfortable perch as Jordon sauntered around gatsby’s mansion , encountering old girlfriends , previous competitors and former lovers. Her dress was a simple style , pressed tightly against her , and her golf club was always secured at her side. Nick felt something brush against his shoulder. Fa irly accustomed to drunken partygoers , he ignored it. â€Å"It’s all quite marvellous , isnt’t it ?† a voice prompted him. Jordan had found her way back to him , apparently bored of all the glitter and intrigue. â€Å"But it’s quite ridiculous as well† she rolled her eyes draggin her club across the staircase railing. Nick felt an overwhelming desire to remain silent and allow jordan’s dominant personality to steer the  conversation whenever she intented it to go.However , her kohl-enhanced eyes widened in expectation. â€Å"Quite marvellous indeed† nick piped up, fiddling with the cuffs of his suit sleeves. â€Å"I received an invitation , you know.From mr.gatsby himself† Nick attemped small talk , but was unaware that dabbling in gossip would ensure jordan’s commitment to the conversation. â€Å"I hear he killed a man â€Å" Jordan arched her brows with a smirk, â€Å"but then again , they probablu say the same thing about me.† â€Å"why ever would yo think such a thing?† nick shuffled uncomfortably Jordans eyes danced with laughter and she stood back to survey nick with amusement â€Å"a women with a flawless golf record and a string of pearls?† she gave him a sceptical glance, â€Å"Now nothing good can come out of that† Nick pursed his lips , not quite sure how to respond. â€Å"Well you seem quite content with your lifestyle,† he pointed out gingerly. Jordan chuckled under her breath. It was as though she found nick’s innocence endearing. â€Å"Of course I do , Mr. Carraway . I love to golf , but you see , I love to party as well† she gestured to the grand party around her, â€Å"and this frightens most men†¦.. and women† she sighed dramatically. To Nick, seeing a woman like Jordan, one who drinks and gambles, he wouldn’t assume that she was too. â€Å"Although , you don’t seem too afraid† Jordan noticed, â€Å"maybe you’ve benn spending too much time in New York , Mr . Carraway.† â€Å"well I – ,† nick fumbled on his words , â€Å" I †¦ I do believe my cousin daisy enjoys your company.† â€Å"Yes Daisy and I were inseperable in our youth . but now she thinks I’m a fool.† â€Å"Well , personally I think – â€Å" but nick was interrupted. A man had leaned In toward Jordan to mumur â€Å" Mr Gtasby requests your presence , Ms Baker.† â€Å"Me?’ Jordan was dually incredulous and fascinated. â€Å"Well , a girl must go where she’s wanted, â€Å" she laughed and winked at Nick , as though they now shared a special Secret. Watching Jordan walk away Nick felt a special attraction to Jordan but brushed it off as though to say he would just be another fling to her. One of the reasons that Gatsby has become so famous around New York is that he throws elaborate parties every weekend at his mansion, lavish spectacles to which people long to be invited. One day, Gatsby’s chauffeur brings Nick an invitation to one of these parties. At the appointed time, Nick makes the  short walk to Gatsby’s house and joins the festivities, feeling somewhat out of place amid the throng of jubilant strangers. Guests mill around exchanging rumors about their host—no one seems to know the truth about Gatsby’s wealth or personal history. Nick runs into Jordan Baker, whose friend, Lucille, speculates that Gatsby was a German spy during the war. Nick also hears that Gatsby is a graduate of Oxford and that he once killed a man in cold blood. Gatsby’s party is almost unbelievably luxurious: guests marvel over his Rolls-Royce, his swimming pool, his beach, crates of fresh oranges and lemons, buffet tents in the gardens overflowing with a feast, and a live orchestra playing under the stars. Liquor flows freely, and the crowd grows rowdier and louder as more and more guests get drunk. In this atmosphere of opulence and revelry, Nick and Jordan, curious about their host, set out to find Gatsby. Instead, they run into a middle-aged man with huge, owl-eyed spectacles (whom Nick dubs Owl Eyes) who sits poring over the unread books in Gatsby’s library. At midnight, Nick and Jordan go outside to watch the entertainment. They sit at a table with a handsome young man who says that Nick looks familiar to him; they realize that they served in the same division during the war. The man introduces himself as none other than Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s speech is elaborate and formal, and he has a habit of calling everyone â€Å"old sport.† As the party progresses, Nick becomes increasingly fascinated with Gatsby. He notices that Gatsby does not drink and that he keeps himself separate from the party, standing alone on the marble steps, watching his guests in silence. At two o’clock in the morning, as husbands and wives argue over whether to leave, a butler tells Jordan that Gatsby would like to see her. Jordan emerges from her meeting with Gatsby saying that she has just heard something extraordinary. Nick says goodbye to Gatsby, who goes inside to take a phone call from Philadelphia. Nick starts to walk home. On his way, he sees Owl Eyes struggling to get his car out of a ditch. Owl Eyes and another man climb out of the wrecked automobile, and Owl Eyes drunkenly declares that he washes his hands of the whole business. Nick then proceeds to describe his everyday life, to prove that he does more with his time than simply attend parties. He works in New York City, through which he also takes long walks, and he meets women. After a brief relationship with a girl from Jersey City, Nick follows the advice of Daisy and Tom and begins seeing Jordan Baker. Nick says that Jordan is  fundamentally a dishonest person; he even knows that she cheated in her first golf tournament. Nick feels attracted to her despite her dishonesty, even though he himself claims to be one of the few honest people he has ever known. He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. (See Important Quotations Explained) Analysis At the beginning of this chapter, Gatsby’s party brings 1920s wealth and glamour into full focus, showing the upper class at its most lavishly opulent. The rich, both socialites from East Egg and their coarser counterparts from West Egg, cavort without restraint. As his depiction of the differences between East Egg and West Egg evidences, Fitzgerald is fascinated with the social hierarchy and mood of America in the 1920s, when a large group of industrialists, speculators, and businessmen with brand-new fortunes joined the old, aristocratic families at the top of the economic ladder. The â€Å"new rich† lack the refinement, manners, and taste of the â€Å"old rich† but long to break into the polite society of the East Eggers. In this scenario, Gatsby is again an enigma—though he lives in a garishly ostentatious West Egg mansion, East Eggers freely attend his parties. Despite the tensions between the two groups, the blend of East and West Egg creates a distinctly American mood. While the Americans at the party possess a rough vitality, the Englishmen there are set off dramatically, seeming desperate and predatory, hoping to make connections that will make them rich. Fitzgerald has delayed the introduction of the novel’s most important figure—Gatsby himself—until the beginning of Chapter 3. The reader has seen Gatsby from a distance, heard other characters talk about him, and listened to Nick’s thoughts about him, but has not actually met him (nor has Nick). Chapter 3 is devoted to the introduction of Gatsby and the lavish, showy world he inhabits. Fitzgerald gives Gatsby a suitably grand entrance as the aloof host of a spectacularly decadent party. Despite this introduction, this chapter continues to heighten the sense of mystery and enigma that surrounds Gatsby, as the low profile he maintains seems curiously out of pl ace with his lavish expenditures. Just as he stood alone on his lawn in Chapter 1, he now stands outside the throng of pleasure-seekers. In his  first direct contact with Gatsby, Nick notices his extraordinary smile—â€Å"one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it.† Nick’s impression of Gatsby emphasizes his optimism and vitality—something about him seems remarkably hopeful, and this belief in the brilliance of the future impresses Nick, even before he knows what future Gatsby envisions. Many aspects of Gatsby’s world are intriguing because they are slightly amiss—for instance, he seems to throw parties at which he knows none of his guests. His accent seems affected, and his habit of calling people â€Å"old sport† is hard to place. One of his guests, Owl Eyes, is surprised to find that his books are real and not just empty covers designed to create the appearance of a great library. The tone of Nick’s narration suggests that many of the inhabitants of East Egg and West Egg use an outward show of opulence to cover up their inner corruption and moral decay, but Gatsby seems to use his opulence to mask something entirely different and perhaps more profound. From this chapter forward, the mystery of Jay Gatsby becomes the motivating question of the book, and the unraveling of Gatsby’s character becomes one of its central mechanisms. One early clue to Gatsby’s character in this chapter is his mysterious conversation with Jordan Baker. Though Nick does not know what Gatsby says to her, the fact that Jordan now knows something â€Å"remarkable† about Gatsby means that a part of the solution to the enigma of Gatsby is now loose among Nick’s circle of acquaintances. Chapter 3 also focuses on the gap between perception and reality. At the party, as he looks through Gatsby’s books, Owl Eyes states that Gatsby has captured the effect of theater, a kind of mingling of honesty and dishonesty that characterizes Gatsby’s approach to this dimension of his life. The party itself is a kind of elaborate theatrical presentation, and Owl Eyes suggests that Gatsby’s whole life is merely a show, believing that even his books might not be real. The novel’s title itself—The Great Gatsby—is suggestive of the sort of vaudeville billing for a performer or magician like â€Å"The Great Houdini,† subtly emphasizing the theatrical and perhaps illusory quality of Gatsby’s life. Nick’s description of his life in New York likewise calls attention to the difference between substance and appearance, as it emphasizes both the colorful allure of the city and its dangerous lack of balance: he says that the city has an â€Å"adventurous feel,† but he also calls it â€Å"r acy,† a word with negative moral connotations. Nick  feels similarly conflicted about Jordan. He realizes that she is dishonest, selfish, and cynical, but he is attracted to her vitality nevertheless. Their budding relationship emphasizes the extent to which Nick becomes acclimated to life in the East, abandoning his Midwestern values and concerns in order to take advantage of the excitement of his new surroundings.

Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan in the Civil War

Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan in the Civil War John Hunt Morgan - Early Life: Born June 1, 1825, in Huntsville, AL, John Hunt Morgan was the son of Calvin and Henrietta (Hunt) Morgan. The eldest of ten children, he moved to Lexington, KY at age six following the failure of his fathers business. Settling on one of the Hunt family farms, Morgan was schooled locally before enrolling in Transylvania College in 1842. His career in higher education proved short as he was suspended two years later for dueling with a fraternity brother. With the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846, Morgan enlisted in a cavalry regiment. John Hunt Morgan - In Mexico: Traveling south, he saw action at the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. A gifted soldier, he won promotion to first lieutenant. With the conclusion of the war, Morgan left the service and returned home to Kentucky. Establishing himself as a hemp manufacturer, he married Rebecca Gratz Bruce in 1848. Though a businessman, Morgan remained interested in military matters and attempted to form a militia artillery company in 1852. This group disbanded two years later and in 1857, Morgan formed the pro-South Lexington Rifles. An ardent supporter of Southern rights, Morgan often clashed with his wifes family. John Hunt Morgan - The Civil War Begins: As the secession crisis loomed, Morgan initially hoped that conflict could be avoided. In 1861, Morgan elected to support the Southern cause and flew a rebel flag over his factory. When his wife died on July 21 after suffering from several health problems, including septic thrombophlebitis, he decided to take an active role in the coming conflict. As Kentucky remained neutral, Morgan and his company slipped across the border to Camp Boone in Tennessee. Joining the Confederate Army, Morgan soon formed the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry with himself as colonel. Serving in the Army of Tennessee, the regiment saw action at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862. Developing a reputation as an aggressive commander, Morgan led several successful raids against Union forces. On July 4, 1862, he departed Knoxville, TN with 900 men and swept through Kentucky capturing 1,200 prisoners and wreaking havoc in the Union rear. Likened to American Revolution hero Francis Marion, it was hoped that Morgans performance would help sway Kentucky into the Confederate fold. The success of the raid led General Braxton Bragg to invade the state that fall. Following the invasions failure, the Confederates fell back to Tennessee. On December 11, Morgan was promoted to brigadier general. The next day he married Martha Ready, the daughter of Tennessee Congressman Charles Ready. Later that month, Morgan rode into Kentucky with 4,000 men. Moving north, they disrupted the Louisville Nashville Railroad and defeated a Union force at Elizabethtown. Returning south, Morgan was greeted as a hero. That June, Bragg gave Morgan permission for another raid into Kentucky with the goal of distracting the Union Army of the Cumberland from the upcoming campaign. John Hunt Morgan - The Great Raid: Concerned that Morgan might become too aggressive, Bragg strictly forbade him to cross the Ohio River into Indiana or Ohio. Departing Sparta, TN on June 11, 1863, Morgan rode with a select force of 2,462 cavalry and a battery of light artillery. Moving north through Kentucky, they won several small battles against Union forces. In early July, Morgans men captured two steamboats at Brandenburg, KY. Against orders, he began transporting his men across the Ohio River, landing near Maukport, IN. Moving inland, Morgan raided across southern Indiana and Ohio, causing a panic among the local residents. Alerted to Morgans presence, the commander of the Department of the Ohio, Major General Ambrose Burnside began shifting troops to meet the threat. Deciding to return to Tennessee, Morgan headed for the ford at Buffington Island, OH. Anticipating this move, Burnside rushed troops to the ford. In the resulting battle, Union forces captured 750 of Morgans men and prevented him from crossing. Moving north along the river, Morgan was repeated blocked from crossing with his entire command. After a brief fight at Hockingport, he turned inland with approximately 400 men. Relentlessly pursued by Union forces, Morgan was defeated and captured on July 26 after the Battle of Salinesville. While his men were shipped to the Camp Douglas prison camp in Illinois, Morgan and his officers were taken to the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, OH. After several weeks of incarceration, Morgan, along with six of his officers managed to tunnel out of the prison and escaped on November 27. Proceeding south to Cincinnati, they managed to cross the river into Kentucky where Southern sympathizers aided them in reaching Confederate lines. John Hunt Morgan - Later Career: Though his return was lauded by the Southern press, he was not received with open arms by his superiors. Angry that he had violated his orders to remain south of the Ohio, Bragg never fully trusted him again. Placed in command of Confederate forces in eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia, Morgan attempted to rebuild the raiding force that he had lost during his Great Raid. In the summer of 1864, Morgan was accused of robbing a bank in Mt. Sterling, KY. While some his men were involved, there is no evidence to suggest that Morgan played a role. While working to clear his name, Morgan and his men encamped at Greeneville, TN. On the morning of September 4, Union troops attacked the town. Taken by surprise, Morgan was shot and killed while attempting to escape from the attackers. After his death, Morgans body was returned to Kentucky where he was buried in Lexington Cemetery.

Dial M For Murder essays

Dial M For Murder essays In the movie Dial M for Murder, the director, Alfred Hitchcock explores the planning of the perfect crime from the inside. Right from the beginning the viewer knows who the murderer is and what the motive was. However, the movie still keeps you in suspense. The real mystery of the movie is discovering if the plan actually works and then dreading that it actually might. The movie takes place in one location the apartment of a married couple. Tony Wendice, a sports equipment salesman wants to murder his wife, Margot. He found out that not only did she cheat on him with an American crime-novel writer (Mark Halliday), but that she's been lying to him about it since the affair began. She continues to pretend that she's still in love with him, when he knows the truth. Furthermore, his life is a mess and he believes that it's all her fault. She made him give up playing professional tennis so they could have a real marriage. Unfortunately for her, Margot suspects nothing of his knowledge of her affair or the hatred that is inside of him. It takes him a year to figure out how to settle the score. He devises the perfect murder plot. The plan will result in her death and ensures that he gets away with it. He blackmails an old college acquaintance to become the perfect murder weapon a surprised burglar. The entire evening is choreographed down to the last d etail, except for one thing he overlooks. The will of his wife to live. Margot saves her life by killing the murderer in legitimate defense. Tony then tries to make his wife appear guilty of deliberately killing the murderer with premeditation. He uses the fact that Lesgate (his college acquaintance) could have been blackmailing Margot with her lost love letter for money, so that killing him would be her only way to escape that situation. He achieves it. Because of the existing evidence against her, she is condemned to death. However, Police Inspector Hubbard finally uncovers t...

Keurig's Decision to Implement DRM Technology In Future Coffee Brewers Essay

Keurig's Decision to Implement DRM Technology In Future Coffee Brewers - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that with Keurig planning to expand its coffee brewing business to new levels, they have seen protecting their digital rights as the main step to move forward as they keep off the third party from their operations. With competition also in place from its main rivals Treehouse foods and Rogers family company, how well Keurig survives with its new technology is yet to be seen as both competitors have sued Keurig for unfair competition for creating a monopoly. The great coffee war in 2014 is coming with Keurig taking that direction, third parties will not have a way in the coffee market as Keurig plans to take a monopoly position as they will not use their cheap coffee pods in the new machine. Keurigs chief executive officer claims that this will only boost the performance of their coffee market, meaning that the consumer will suffer from the increased coffee prices while innovation takes its new entry to the coffee market. This battle has eve n been transformed into litigation as Treehouse food sued Green mountain coffee the parent company of Keurig back in February this year claiming that Keurig has been involved in the unfair competition, in the market by creating a monopoly environment that would see the company drive many form the coffee brewing market. Another war is also coming as Rogers’s family company also considering litigation on the same. Jon Rogers claims that if Green mountain coffee is allowed to introduce the Keurig 2.0 machine with digital restrictions in it, this will amount to restraint in trade, and this would mean that Keurig 1.0 was the only brewer in the market. How this plays in the next coming months will be interesting to follow as the coffee giants battle it in the corridors of justice. The Keurig 2.0 with digital rights management will block unlicensed K-cup alternatives used by coffee brewers; it is of great importance to any big and historical company to protect its heritage by embrac ing the current technology.

E-Recruitment in the banking Industry a comparative study in to the UK Dissertation

E-Recruitment in the banking Industry a comparative study in to the UK bank Lloyds TSB and Indian bank ICICI - Dissertation Example A primary research study which is composed of a combination of quantitative research survey and research interview was conducted to determine the factors that could significantly influence the e-recruitment practices in both banks. Based on the research findings, the three (3) significant factors that can affect the ability of the banks to maximize the full benefit of its e-recruitment practices includes: the unique recruitment practices in each bank, access to Internet, and the ability of the people to use the computers. To make Lloyds TSB and ICICI be able to maximize its full investment on e-recruitment platform, this study highly recommends the idea that the bank manager(s) should be able to design and implement strict policies with regards to the use of the banks’ e-recruitment process. In the case of Lloyds TSB, its bank personnel should redesign the banks’ existing e-recruitment practices to be more friendly in the sense that it should allow the bank personnel to get to know each candidate on a personal level. In the case of ICICI, its existing e-recruitment process is not highly dependent over the use of its official website. For this reason, one of the best ways to improve ICICI’s existing e-recruitment is for the bank to offer better online forms. Other study recommendation includes the need to simplify the online testing. Through the use of basic and simple IQ test, maths test, or English, the banks will have lesser risks of screening out individuals with positive work attitude and pleasing attitude and personality needed in serving the bank customers. It is also necessary to keep the actual design of the virtual recruiting environment simple and user-friendly. SPECIMEN ABSTRACT STUDENT NAME Kirandeep KAUR DEGREE MBA International Business DISSERTATION SUPERVISOR Richard Knight DISSERTATION TITLE E-Recruitment in the banking Industry a comparative study in to the UK bank Lloyds TSB and Indian bank ICICI DATE September 3rd 2012 KE YWORDS E-RECRUITMENT CULTURE RECRUITMENT METHODS ABSTRACT E-recruitment is pertaining to the use of information technology in the recruitment processes of each bank. Through the strict implementation of e-recruitment, each bank can speed up and improve the overall quality of the banks’ recruitment services. Banks like Lloyds TSB in UK and ICICI in India spent a lot of money on its e-recruitment platform. Among the common reasons why these two banks invested on e-recruitment is to get hold of the most highly competitive individuals to join the team, speed up, and further improve its existing recruitment services. A primary research study which is composed of a combination of quantitative research survey and research interview was conducted to determine the factors that could significantly influence the e-recruitment practices in both banks. Based on the research findings, the three (3) significant factors that can affect the ability of the banks to maximize the full benefit of its e-recruitment practices includes: the unique recruitment practices in each bank, access to Internet, and the ability of the people to use the computers. To make Lloyds TSB and ICICI be able to maximize its full investment on e-recruitment platform, this study highly recommends the idea that the bank manager(s) should be able to design and implement