How to Build Teams Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How to Build Teams - Research Paper Example Employees who have their value acknowledge by the organization and receive respect from their boss go beyond their work jurisdiction willingly to achieve the company’s organization. There is need for companies to have a well built team of staff in the work place. In order to successfully build a team in the work place, there should be consistency and commitment. Team building is a process that calls for a comprehensive strategy which targets at developing and maintaining a work environment of team-oriented employees. When building a team in the work place, one needs to ensure purpose of the team is clearly defined. This is achieved through stating comprehensible realistic goals and making everybody in the team informed on the expectations, organization’s plan and their role in realizing the goals. The team should be made conscious of where they fit in the company through have contribution to the vision and the purpose of team building. Resources available for team build ing are very vital in coming with a team of staff in the work place. The resources should be accessible for use by the team. Furthermore, a proper communication is necessary for ensuring that connection between team members and the manger is two-way. A good team makes members feel excited on what they do and, thus, being in a position to handle challenges and failure. Creation of objectives and goals should be facilitated in a manner that allows all members to share the grounds. It is through this facilitation that talents, interests and ideas are identified from the group members. This way a shared path that influences everyone’s strength and talents is facilitated. According to the article by Allen, Pennisi & Norman on building development, high performance buildings are achieved through high performance teamwork. Given the supply chain and international competition facing the building industry, the industry has to come up with ways of developing high- performance building and a considerable reduction in energy consumption. This was the case with the United States manufacturing industry in 70’s and 80’s. It was necessary for the industry to adopt innovative and improved methods of product development in order to meet the competitive challenges. There is the necessity to make sure that a product meets what companies and customers want. High performance achieved through great products should be regarded as a norm (Allen et al 224). It is of greate value to have a customer focus organizational orientation. This entails having an understanding of customers’ needs so as to incorporate proactively the customers’ desires into the process of product development. Understanding customers’need as over the years evolved with a lot of variations but understanding what the customers want is vital in this field. In order to compete effectively in the building industry, there is the necessity to understand what is needed of a high- performance building. It should be able to tell who the customers of the industry are. Through knowing their customers, players in the building industry will have an understanding of the wide range of what they to experience. Understanding what the customer needs is of great importance as a building of high effectiveness and efficiency to its users. Such buildings are profitable to the owners as well. The building indust

Iceland’s Economy During the Credit Crunch

Iceland’s Economy During the Credit Crunch Icelands economy used to be based on fishing and high-energy industries such as aluminium until it experienced a sharp boom period in the late nineties. Money flooded into Icelands economy creating enormous growth rates and unemployment fell to almost zero. The three major banks in Iceland Landsbanki, Glitnir and Kaputhing used this money to leverage debt and invest heavily abroad. They bought everything from Hamley’s to the Somerfield supermarket chain to West Ham United Football Club. However, towards the end of this decade Icelands economy was becoming increasingly reliant on debt and once the credit crunch arrived their banks were fatally exposed. They had made the same mistake as Lehman Brothers and the other large, now defunct, US investment banks. They had borrowed short-term cash to make long-term investments. Icelands economy was hinged on the continuous rolling over of debt, which had posed no difficulties in the boom years. However once the credit became more diffic ult to acquire, then the situation of the banks became perilous and so did that of Icelands economy. The bank’s share prices began to fall as did the exchange rate of Iceland’s Krona currency. The more difficulty the banks experienced, the more Icelands economy looked to be built on an unsustainable debt bubble. The banks funding was rapidly drying up and in 2008 the Icelandic government began nationalising them as depositor’s were panicking and taking their money out. But it did not stop there for Icelands economy; foreign reserves began to dry-up as the government now also found it difficult to borrow money because the international markets didn’t believe the government could rescue the banks as well as repay their own debt. One economic commentator said that it was not just a case of it being a run on a bank; it was a run on Icelands economy! Just how serious it is has been for Icelands economy can be seen from the fact that the government announced in early Oct 2008 that they were going to attempt to get a loan from the Russian government. This is a shock move considering that Iceland is a member of NATO. In the end however Icelands economy was saved, in the short-term at least, by a loan from the Swedish government. It is hoped that this will help support Icelands economy but there are fresh fears that they are facing a sovereign default. The government confirmed this when the Prime Minister stated in a TV broadcast that Icelands economy faced ‘a real risk of bankruptcy’ due to the credit crunch. It is worth elaborating on the discussion on Icelands economy during the credit crunch by looking at the impact it was, and is, having on real consumers in the country and then on those living outside the country who might think that what happens in Icelands economy will have no impact on them. During the height of the credit crunch in Iceland, the BBC interviewed a number of people to assess their sentiment. One young woman spoke of the rapidly rising prices because so much of the food was imported and with the Krona falling, prices on the shelves were soaring. People were even bulk buying food and hoarding it according to this interviewee. Icelands economy had gone from being one the wealthiest countries to this dire situation very quickly. Another Icelandic resident said he had bought his house for 13 Million Krona last year but because of the credit crunch causing higher interest rates, he now owed 16 Million Krona on it! He said Icelands economy had been built of debt and many p eople had borrowed at low interest rates not thinking they could rise – but they did. Another couple who had recently moved from the UK to live in Iceland said they were considering moving back. They could not access their savings because their bank had been nationalised and they were panicking. They thought Icelands economy was prosperous and wealthy but now they realised it was heading for an enormous recession and they did not want to stay there to experience it. Those living in the UK might believe they are immune from problems with Icelands economy but on Oct 7th, they realised they were not. On that day, the online savings bank, Ice Save declared they had suspended withdrawals in the UK because their parent bank Landsbanki, had run out of cash. It is estimated that 300,000 UK residents had a savings account with Ice Bank. Those who believed that problems with Icelands economy would stay in Iceland were seriously misinformed. It is also worth looking at some background information on what precisely caused the difficulties with Icelands economy and why the credit crunch impacted them particularly. The question most people might ask were why Icelands economy was so affected and the simple answer to this is size. Size really matters when it comes to economic problems. The UK and US economies were big enough and diversified enough to be able to move in and recapitalise their banking systems with national resources. Iceland has a population of only 400,000 people and their banks had ballooned in size. Icelands economy, no matter how productive it was, could never bail out their banks which had been investing huge sums outside of Icelands economy. Yet the Icelandic government was caught in a trap; without a functioning banking system, it knew an economy cannot function and so they were determined to prop up their banks. However, the government poured too many of the national reserves into its banks before it re alised it was all in vain. Icelands economy was destroyed during the credit crunch because it ultimately lacked a big enough central bank like the Bank of England or Federal Reserve. In fact, some individual Iceland’s banks were far bigger than Icelands economy itself and so could never have been rescued. The lesson to learn from the experience of Icelands economy during the credit crunch is to ensure that banks are well regulated and that their loans do not grow beyond the capacity of the government to rescue them should the need occur.

Why Build Solar? Essay -- Essays Papers

Why Build Solar? The question is, â€Å"why utilize the solar energy for our homes that is given from an existing power source for free?† A simple answer could be because the source of power in the long run is for free. The truth to the statement is nothing is for free because taking advantage of the sun does require some effort, but there certainly isn’t as much effort compared to the energy sources that we use today. More importantly there aren’t any severe consequences left for the environment during the process. The more learning and the more realization of how fast the quality of life is depreciating environmentally conscious citizens look to others observing ignorance for failing to come to the same standards of view. Utilization of solar energy can be very inexpensive, making several techniques feasible for today’s homeowner. The problem is the majority of the worlds population don’t see the benefit to the environment on themselves. Throughout history the sun has been a utilized asset to civilization. The Greek have spread their building far enough apart facing south to utilize the sun’s heat, accepting the sun through large entries of the villas. They even used transparent windows to decrease the rate of solar escape. During the 1500’s the Dutch used canvas and double-pane glass to further contain the heat. In the early 19th century they used green houses to capture heat as they opened up vents to warm the main house. Other forms of solar transfer were becoming more prominent, evaporation contained and used as a water pump. Minds were heavily looking into further use of the suns power. Leaps were taking when Walker showed how a solar water heater could be connected to an auxiliary heat source. To further add ... .... Close the shades of your home to help prevent the heat from escaping. Plant deciduous trees where the sun shines the most on your home. If building a home, face it south to receive the sun the most. These methods have some how been avoided for some time. It truly is unfortunate that the only way there will be a change in the use of energy is because oil prices are exploding, oil supply is diminishing, and most likely economics will eventually create the change because solar will be cheap. The future is efficiency because the world doesn’t have a choice or we’ll be consumed by or own pollution. The climate change and greenhouse gases are pointing towards an environmentally safe use of energy. Insulation will become more technologically sound. Windows currently are expensive but strongly efficient. The world has no choice if it intends on to stay living.

Letting Nature Speak

Letting Nature Speak If you were walking in the woods and suddenly a tree started speaking to you, most likely you would either faint or start running the opposite direction. It would be pretty scary, to say the least. But nature does speak to everyone in a sense; we are just so busy with life that we do not take the time to listen. There is so much in nature that we can learn from and apply to our lives, but so often we only look at it for its face value and do not see the deeper benefits.Speaking of nature, as I stand outside on the back porch, the sun is shining and the birds are singing, the smell of freshly cut grass fills the air and the mild breeze feels so refreshing on my skin. In the background I can hear the faint sound of traffic on the highway, cars busily heading to their destinations. It has been breezy for a couple of days now, but the sun is shining and the clouds are moving. As the day progresses, the wind speed increases and the temperature steadily decreases makin g a visit to the porch a little less comfortable than it was this morning.The humidity level has steadily increased as well, making my clothing sticky and somewhat annoying, also causing my paper to become limp and not as easily manageable. The clouds seemed to be huddling together as if forming a mob, moving in slowing overhead creating a blanket between the sun and me. My pleasant sunshine has been taken away from me now and I am left with a gray blanket of cloud cover to observe, I am picking out different shapes and possible figures within them. As the clouds continue moving by, more ominous clouds replace their predecessors, making the world around me darker and darker.The temperature is cool and the breeze is stronger than it was earlier. I hear thunder rumbling in the distance, a normal precursor to a storm. The thunder seems like a would be stalker approaching from the darkness, only his footsteps are so loud it shakes the earth and rattles the windows, demanding its presenc e be known. Lightning flickers like a streetlamp attempting to turn on, but continually failing. One drop of rain lands on my cheek, another on my arm. As the rain increases in quantity, I head inside and continue watching from my window.Slowly the rain changes from a lawn sprinkler type shower to more like someone turning on a high-pressure water hose as if they were trying to douse a fire. I am now confined to my home, as if there is an army outside keeping me contained unless I want to endure their unrelenting siege. The troubles in life are much like a storm; there are always signs of it brewing but so often we are caught up in the beauty of the moment that we do not see the thunderheads rolling in behind us until it is too late.We are then caught off guard without an umbrella in the pouring rain. The rain soaking our clothes and in turn our body, is like the stress that comes with trouble forcing us to try and find shelter or something to protect us. When caught in a storm, we rarely see the beauty of it because we are focused on the damage it is causing. After a storm the grass is greener, the air smells so fresh, the sidewalks are washed clean, and there is a sense of calm and reassurance that we have made it through. The sun raises its head and always gives us a rainbow after the storm.There is a lot more to the sun then rainbows and illuminating the world as Ralph Emerson states in â€Å"Nature,† â€Å"Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child† (563). This is so true; often nature is only seen for its face value. Sunrise is a particularly beautiful, natural event to experience, and all to often we do not take the time to enjoy the wonderful events that unfold during a sunrise.As the sun is approaching the horizon, I hear birds singing and nocturnal animals scurrying back to their dens to sleep the day away. The birds seem to be calling to one another as if they are old men sitting at the local cafe, drinking coffee and discussing the day’s to-do list. The sky is no longer black but a deep ocean blue, like someone has turned on a light in another room, and the light is reflecting throughout the house. I hear the leaves rustle in the wind, and the trees sway as if they are stretching after a deep sleep.Slowly, things in the distance become recognizable and I can distinguish more shapes and figures. The sky becomes brighter and brighter, changing from a deep blue to a brighter shade as the sun moves closer to the horizon. Faster and faster light is filling the sky and illuminating the world around me. It is almost like opening my eyes when I awaken and taking in all the colors and objects around me. Suddenly the sun shows its bright and shining face, peeking over the horizon as if to say good morning to me.It rises slowly, becoming more and more visible, until its entirety is now shining down on me, demanding to be seen, demanding my attention. I feel the warmth on my skin, like a blanket pulled up over me. The sunrise is so beautiful but when the sun comes up all the way it doesn’t always seem as wonderful, especially if there is a lot of it. This last summer we experienced an enormous amount of the sun and the heat that comes with it and the effects seemed all negative. It caused droughts, crops to wilt, electric bills were high in the effort for the air conditioning to keep up with the heat and the list could go on.But there were some benefits to the high heat and drought. I was able to spend plenty of time inside my home this summer and I was able to downsize a lot of my belongings. My home stayed very clean all summer long because I did not want to be out in the heat and I took advantage of the time inside. I was able to catch up on my movie watching and shows that I was missing out on. I have to admit, I did miss taking my children to the park, but I was able to spend quality time with them when we were cooped up inside.Another advantage to the drought and high heat is the crime rate was lower this summer; criminals do not like the heat just like everyone else. But what is a thunderstorm or a drought in comparison to something as devastating and tragic as a natural disaster that kills thousands and leaves even more without a home. Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans leaving in its wake, destruction and death. Causing many to wonder how could anything good come out of such devastation. At first there did not seem to be anything positive.Then as the clouds lifted and the water receded, people started to pull together and found in the midst of tragedy, a sense of community. Barely two months after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans’ art community pulled together and reopened the doors of the Ogden Museum with an incredible turn out on opening night (Krantz). Before Katrina, the turnout staye d about 100, but over 600 citizens crammed the affair, an enormous result (Krantz). Nature has its own lessons, whether teaching us to be prepared or to look deeper and find the treasure beneath the rubble.Wearing its many different faces, nature will always put us to the test. Whether enjoying the beauty of a sunrise or the thrill of a thunderstorm rolling in, there is always something to walk away with; the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Works Cited Emerson, Ralph Waldo. â€Å"Nature. † Sound Ideas. Ed. Michael Krasney and M. E. Sokolik. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 562-564. Print. Krantz, Susan E. â€Å"When Tragedy Inspires Recovery: Visual Arts In Post-Katrina New Orleans. † Phi Kappa Phi Forum 90. 2 (2010): 8-11. Academic Search Premier. Web. Oct. 25, 2012.

Cesar Guarin “First Filipino Ultra-Marathoner” Essay

Will you gamble your own welfare for the sake of others? Cesar Guarin, a 56-year-old entrepreneur and the first Filipino, first Asian and fourth person in history to run around the world proved that with a strong determination and with a purpose to help, anyone can bring their dream into reality. Guarin is known as the â€Å"Father of the Philippines Ultramarathon†. He joined Global Run which considered as one-of-a-kind marathon and the toughest run ever that began 1983 and will end in 2016. He already finished the first four legs of his Global Run wherein he run 11,583 kilometers from 1983 to 2009. After his last run in US-Canada (2009), he will again venture in another run, 2,053 kms. in the Australia marathon, the fifth leg of his Global Run. After completing the Australia leg, he will run across- Middle East (2012), England-Norway (2012), Finlan-Moscow (2013), Egypt-Israel-Jordan (2013), Japan-Korea (2014), India-Myanmar (2014) and Thailan-Singapore (2014) to complete the marathon. Despite of different hindrances like injuries, Guarin continuously run and this time it’s for a mission. He started a fund raising projects called â€Å"Batang Pangarap† and â€Å"Global Run, Alay sa Pilipino† to help poverty alleviation in the Philippines, to reduce the number of children on the street by encouraging them to venture into sports, to campaign the tourism of the Philippines and to show his appreciation to the Filipino community abroad for helping the country (Philippines). Guarin as an Ultramarathoner showed to the world that Filipino is a one-of-a-kind race.

Bataan Death March - (Command Responsibility)

Bataan Death March - (Command Responsibility) Just hours after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, 40,000 Japanese troops quickly organized an attack on American soldiers stationed in the Philippines. The surprise attack forced the Americans to retreat into the peninsula of Bataan on Luzon Island. There the poorly equipped U.S. troops followed orders by General Douglas McArthur to hold out until new supplies arrived. On April 9, 1942, with no help on the way and after four months of intense fighting, the Americans, together with their Philippine allies, surrendered. About 60,000 Philippine and 12,000 U.S. troops, coupled with 30,000 civilians were forced into the most brutal series of war crimes ever committed against surrendering American or Philippine soldiers, later became known as the Bataan Death March.When General Masahuro Homma accepted the surrender he encountered more POWs than he had expected. He wanted to transport the prisoners via truck but there were too many POWs so the only way to trans port the troops was to walk.ja: æ ¥ µÃ¦  ±Ã¥â€º ½Ã©Å¡â€ºÃ¨ » Ã¤ ºâ€¹Ã¨ £ Ã¥Ë† ¤Ã¥ ¸â€šÃ£Æ' ¶Ã¨ ° ·Ã¦ ³â€¢Ã¥ » · ï ¼Ë†Ã¦â€" §...The Japanese marched approximately 76,000 sick, wounded and malnourished 80 miles out of the area, so as to have a free hand in occupying the rest of the Bataan peninsula. They were forced to walk barefoot over gravel roads, until they reached an old Philippine army camp, Camp O'Donnell. The march, including a 25-mile stretch by train, lasted more than 3 weeks. The estimated number of POWs who arrived at Camp O'Donnell is about 55,000. Based on those numbers roughly 20,000 POWs died during the march; however, the estimates of how many troops were captured and how many died vary because of poor record keeping.During the trek several factors contributed to the death of the above mentioned 20,000 POWs. The prisoners were murdered from the conditions of the march such as existing wounds,

Brettonwoods Institution Essays

Brettonwoods Institution Essays Brettonwoods Institution Essay Brettonwoods Institution Essay 1 . What are the Bretton Woods Institutions? = There are two Bretton Woods institutions that were established by the planners at Bretton Woods in 1945. These are International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The IMF works to promote global economic growth and stability to different countries by providing policies and financing nations that are in need. The World Bank, on the other hand, lends money to devastated countries because of war and needful countries for rehabilitation and development programs. 2. What circumstances led to its formation? There are 2 reasons that I can see that led to the formation of the Bretton Woods institutions based on my research. During the Great Depression, many countries, rich or poor, were affected economically. It was a devastating worldwide economic depression after World War II. And a lot of countries were afraid for this to happen again so this is one of the two reasons why they formed the Bretton Woods Institutions. They formed these institutions to promote global economic growth and stability so that the happening in 1930 wont happen again. Another reason behind he formation of these institutions is the reconstruction of the different countries that were devastated after the World War II. Countries that were devastated after the war needed aid from the US to rebuild their nation. US used this moment to make Britain choose. But since Europe was devastated they had no choice but to accept the aid and let US prosper in the global economy. This moment was very sad for Britain because not only war the affected them terribly but also the turning point where financial power was turned from I-JK to US. 3. How did this change the relation etween/ among countries and nation states? = The United States of America became more influential than before. This can be seen when France applied for a loan in World Bank. World Bank secured that France will be able to pay the loan. But before they approved the loan, the United States Department told the French Government that it had to remove first its members associated with the Communist Party. The French complied with this and only after hours that the loan was approved. In this scenario we can see how US influenced things to be done. Focusing on the third world countries, it was difficult for them. The Bretton Woods institutions were focused more on the First world countries that the third world countries cannot cope up with policies of the Bretton Wood Institutions. To make this more specific, here is an excerpt from an essay by Victor Dike about the effect of Bretton Woods institution to third world countries. Nigeriais external borrowing dates back to the colonial period. The last colonial loan was a 1958 World Bank loan to finance the Borno Railway extension (Dike 1990, p. 3). As we have seen, the experiences of other developing nations suggest that devaluation exert a contradictory impact on real output and employment. Yet they have continued with it. Why? The reasons are contradic-tory. When Nigeria approached the International Monetary Fund in 1983 for loan, the Fund massive cuts in public subsidies in Nigeria (e. g. gasoline) made life difficult for the people. In June 1986 General Babangida announced the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) for the period of July 1986-June 1988 for the country. As social scientists have noted, the SAP was a recipe for a chain of social and political instability in Nigeria. There were riots in urban areas across the nation during this period. Many local plants were closed for lack of material inputs and spare parts. The impacts culminated in massive retrenchment of workers. The adverse effects of the SAP programs are still with Nigeria today. The economic recovery programs (the austerity measures and the SAP) were within the policy-framework recommended by the World Bank and the IMF. The key elements of the SAP programs include: 1). Exchange rate devaluation; 2). Liberalization of export trade; 3). Cut in budgetary spending; 4). Reduction of subsidies; 5) Abolition of subsidized commodity board; 6). Privatization of public enterprises; 7). Rationalization of civil service employment; and 8). Tight monetary policy (Usman, March 1999, as cited in The Guardian, April 28, 1999). Comparatively, it is appropriate to indicate that the IMF and the World Bank operate loan policies that are favorable to the GIO nations (the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland. In this we can see that these countries would rather sacrifice their domestic economic growth for them to be able to borrow from World Bank. These loan policies should be not only focused on first world countries but also for these countries like Nigeria. As a suggestion, there should be friendly policies based on the domestic growth of a state. So that these institutions can promote global economic stability not only for first world countries but also for these kind of countries.