Four Things To Do to Increase One’s Level of Contentment and Happiness Essay

The learned Viktor Frankl contends that â€Å"chance decides what happens but we decide how to take it† (cited in Southwick, et. al. , 2006, p. 162). For someone who has been through the most tragic circumstances of human existence, Frankl is surely someone who knows pretty well how happiness is to be pursued in one’s life. While it can be argued that happiness is a state of human living which cannot be singularly defined, we – human persons that we are – nevertheless know what brings it about or how it affects our general take of life. Pursuing Happiness All throughout One’s Life The basic thrust of this paper is to argue that our state of contentment or happiness is something that we human persons can always choose to pursue. By adopting Frankl’s philosophy, we can say that a person can always choose the path towards happiness against the backdrop of different life circumstances and issues that come with one’s lifespan development. First, one can always choose to discover his or her crafts, potentials and talents as a way to appreciate one’s giftedness and uniqueness. This is a very potent element that contributes well to one’s happiness; and this usually happens during one’s late childhood and adolescent stages. The discovery of our uniqueness gives us a sense of who we are. But even when, for instance, one is not gifted enough, one can still discover certain strains of uniqueness to be appreciated. This is crucial because it can give us an initial taste of our sense of directedness and purpose. Second, a person needs to choose the kind of relationships that work in order to attain a level of happiness as well. This is especially true for those who are at the early adulthood stage. Growing up, it would be normal to feel that we need someone to complete us; and finding that suitable someone is notably crucial for this stage. Many people end up either unhappy or miserable because they did not either take the courage to pursue a person whom they love or feel powerless to break free from relationships that just do not work. But finding true happiness is about choosing the right relationships that could nurture, and not defeat life. Third, in order to secure happiness, one must always face life-crises with a brimming sense of optimism. This surely is a case of no little importance, as it is not uncommon to learn that many middle-agers suddenly lose their sense of meaning at a time when life-crises emerging from home and workplace start to take their toll. Crises, it needs to be remembered, cannot be avoided. But they are defining moments that can either make or break us. Increasing one’s state of happiness during these poignant moments therefore necessitates a commitment to hope – i. e. , one faces life problems with a sense of optimism. If one can face problems convinced that he or she can successfully get out of it, then it is like facing a battle half-winning it already. Fourth, one can look at his or her life under the lenses of accomplishment and gratitude so as to be happy. This especially applies to those who are in the twilight of their lives. When one becomes bitter every time he or she looks back at the past, it effectively robs a person with a sense of contentment and happiness. Instead, looking back at life with eyes fixed on the accomplishments and blessings that one has done or received in his or her life surely elicits an incomparable sense of contentment, happiness and pride. Conclusion This paper therefore concludes that a person is always empowered to make a choice in order to increase his or her level of contentment or happiness. In any lifespan development or stages, the choice to uphold sense of happiness is always a concrete possibility; i. e. , we can always choose to discover one’s giftedness, choose the relationships that could make us happy, choose to face life-crises with hopefulness and choose to be thankful in our lives. In the final analysis, it must be ultimately argued that we are the ones responsible for our own happiness.

Ibm Case

IBM CASE STUDY – DECADE OF TRANSFORMATION The IBM's rise to the top and its abrupt fall followed by its decade of transformation, boldly highlights the importance of a solid strategy IBM was the synonym for greatness and profitability during early 1990's but the lack of company's ability to foresee into the future & its internal issues cost the company bigtime. It registered its first loss during 1991 mainly due to its inability to adopt to the customer centric PC industry.Phase 1: Incremental Improvement After registering his first loss, in order to cope up with its large fixed & warranty costs the company had no option but to cut back the employees perks & worse made forced layoffs. Eventhough there were products and process before hand they were not fully exploited. By 1993 about 40,000 employees were terminated Phase 2: Process Reengineering Change in management took place during 1993, Lou Gerstner was appointed as the new CEO. He immediately began the Phase 2 ‘Proce ss Re-engineering'.He realized rather than break up the company he decided to turn it around by going to market as ‘One IBM' – a centralized model where individual divisions pulled into as larger business groups . By 1994 the 155 data centers were trimmed to 3 regional megacenters fed by 11 server farms . The systems development process was also reengineered thus enabling the company to focus intensely. The results were positive,by the end of year 1994 the company registered a profit of 5 billion USD on revenue of 64 billion USD.Gerstner strongly believed in Putting customer first. He made sure that Individual sales group was formed and spearheaded by experienced managers dedicated for supporting the customers Phase 3: Emerging Opportunity Gerstner soon realised that eventhough the company could be recovered from its current state, it may not gain its supremacy as Tech Giant,with its current Business model. He started to focus on ‘Emerging Opportunity' provided by the Internet. By 1995 he decided that the company would focus on e-business.E-business was projected as IBM's strategy vision . Enormous capital were invested in Internet Products and services & many aquistions were done,which helped the company to shift from software applications to middleware. The two major acquistions were Tivoli btought for 700 million USD and Lotus for 3. 5 billion USD Phase 4: Business Transformation By end of 1999 with its current business IBM's innovation process continued to be focused within silos of existing line.Gerstner wanted to change this and the concept of ‘Horizon' was developed where the current and emerging business opportunities was classified among three Horizons H1 – Mature Business H2 – Rapidly growing business H3 – Emerging business Each Horizon had different organizational and leadership model to cater its different needs. Reasons for failure IBM ignored its commitment to customers to provide efficient high quali ty technical and customer support,moreover they tried to compete in every product category which eventually made them as Jack of all trades and master of none.

Importance of Marketing on Organization's Goodwill Assignment

Importance of Marketing on Organization's Goodwill - Assignment Example G. and. Schneider, 1995). This is achieved by providing clients with company’s production. That’s why marketing is considered to be the one of the leading functions of the strategic management. For a great number of organizations marketing is the key function that secures their successful activity depending on how they follow their goals and which strategies they realize. Kotler & Keller (2012) state that according to the philosophy of management, the company should avoid just making unfavorable products trying to sell them to the client by all means, and in this case marketing is becoming something more than separate function of management (Kotler & Keller, 2012). In the modern world marketing influences all the spheres of company’s activity. The concept â€Å"goodwill† implies the readiness of the buyer to pay bigger or smaller sum of money than the net assets of the company that he wants to purchase may cost. The goodwill can be positive or negative. In many cases business owners tend to overestimate the influence of their intangible assets and as a result the realized value of business increases substantially (Massoud, M. F. and Raiborn, C, 2003). It is important to take into account the fact that intangible capital should convert into income and the index of this income should be substantially higher than the market average one. The given paper will discuss the importance of marketing for establishing goodwill. The review of literature will be implemented in order to answer the question. The main goal is to investigate the importance of marketing on organization’s goodwill Literature review a) The notion of goodwill According to Johnson and Petrone (1998), goodwill is a strong management team and developed market strategy, high level quality of production, high credit measures as well as corporate culture and favorable location, good relations with suppliers (Johnson and Petrone, 1998). Day states that â€Å"goodwill is the difference between the value of a business enterprise as a whole and the sum of the current fair values of its identifiable tangible and intangible net assets. Net assets are the assets that are left after subtracting the company’s liabilities. Goodwill is only recorded when its amount is substantiated by an arm’s-length transaction. Goodwill cannot be sold or acquired separately but has to be included in a purchase with the net assets of a business enterprise† (Day 2008: 1). It is clear that the cost of organization that is represented by the single property complex differs much from the assets and liability cost of the organization. The great amount of mergers and takeovers in the USA and Europe can serve as a proof of such statement. It is enough to recollect the time when companies were bought by the sums of money, which were considerably bigger or smaller than the cost of company assets (Samuelson, 1996). The difference between these two indicators is ca lled goodwill. It means that brand is less valuable in case if it fails the competitive struggle and does not allow to sell the product at the higher price than the similar product of the competitors is sold at. Accrodign to Stolley (2013), in this case goodwill is negative and has a negative impact on the final cost of the company. It can be easily explained as it will be more difficult to realize the production with the same tangible assets than with the positive goodwill (Stolley, 2013). b) The evaluation of goodwill According to Wang, the estimation is made with the help of management account and provides the owners and managers with the important information (Wang, 1995). In order to find the answer to the question, it is essential to determine how the goodwill is

Literature Review and Research Proposal - That extra intervention of a

And Research Proposal - That extra intervention of a dietician and occupational therapist will maintain a he - Literature review Example To date there is no known cure for the disease even though there are various methods which slow down its advance and thus assists the patients in relieving some of the signs. It is a terminal disease which incurable and leads to death (Innes, Kelly and McCabe, 2012, p. 104). Extra intervention of a dietician and an occupational therapist will ultimately maintain a healthy body mass index and improve quality of life, depression and dyskinesia in the patient with Alzheimer’s disease. This literature review and research paper will take a deep comprehensive study on the vital important role that the dieticians and the occupational therapist play in the slowing down on the effects and symptoms of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (Small and Vorgan, 2011, p. 124). This paper summarizes the specific approaches to the maintenance of a healthy body mass index in the patient whereas taking into consideration the other aspects of good health which include improvement of the qualit y of life, significant reduction of depression and dyskinesia (McDonald, 2010, p. 32). This paper will take into account the world-class recommendations that a dietician will highly recommend regarding certain foods which the Alzheimer’s patient will eat so that the symptoms of the disease are significantly reduced (Pulsford and Thompson, 2012, p. 129). Notable recommendations will also be highlighted regarding the advice that an occupational therapist would outmost recommend to the patient. A detailed overview on what the patient should do to reduce these symptoms are noted whereas providing very valuable advice on how the patients health will improve taking in to consideration the patient’s body mass index, superior life quality and an overall reduction in depression and dyskinesia (Downs and Bowers, 2008, p. 58). Literature Review Alzheimer’s disease has in the recent past turned out to be a widespread dementia complication among old people in the society. As defined, Alzheimer’s disease is the general loss of cognitive functioning which includes reduced reasoning, remembering, and thinking ability. Alzheimer’s disease is also presumed to be an irreversible and a progressive brain disorder which minimises thinking and memory skills. Moreover, recent researches have also confirmed that, long term existence of Alzheimer’s disease may as well reduce individuals’ ability to carry out some of the simplest jobs (Basak, Boot, Kraemer and Voss 2008, p. 777). Based on the available statistics, Alzheimer’s disease is in most cases apparent among people who are above 60 years of age. Compared to traditional society, contemporary societies have witnessed significant increased in cases of Alzheimer’s disease (Vance, McNees and Meneses, 2009, p. 51). In the extreme cases, Alzheimer’s disease is as well affecting young people. The side effects and magnitude of Alzheimer’s disease is with time tur ning out to be very severe and in some cases Alzheimer’s disease has reported to cause deaths. The contemporary nature and side effects of Alzheimer’s disease have forced health researchers and thinkers to undertake intensive researches to identify the main cause of the disease as well as the most cost effective and efficiency means of dealing with the problem (Ziere, Dieleman, Hofman, Pols, Cammen and Stricker, 2007, p. 223). The subsequent literature review is intended at examining how the extra intervention of a dietician and occupational ther

IAS2 Inventories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IAS2 Inventories - Essay Example The main objective of IASB for IAS2 was to reduce the alternatives in the measurement of inventories. The revised IAS2 does not allow the consideration of the exchange differences, arising from the purchase of inventories that are invoiced in the overseas currency, to be treated as a part of inventories purchase cost (Malaysian Accounting Standards Board, n.d.). As per IAS2 the inventories are measured at cost or realizable value whichever is lower, based on every item. The inventory costs is the sum total of the purchase cost like cost price, import duties, handling as well as transportation costs; after the adjustments of rebates and trade discounts, conversion costs and other costs that are incurred for transporting the inventories to the current location and form. But this excludes the storage costs, costs relating to abnormal wastage; and selling and administration. Inventories costs can be approximated using the standard cost method or retail inventory method. The cost of inventories relating to items that are usually interchangeable and also goods or services that are produced and set aside for other projects can be assigned costs on the basis of specific identification. The inventories are valued using the first-in-first-out (FIFO) method or the weighted average method. In FIFO the items in the inventory are measured on the basis of recent purchase. Net realizable value is the amount that the business expects to receive from the inventory sale in the due course of the business. In the Balance Sheet an entity reports the lower of the net realizable value and cost as an asset. This is shown below- After the sale of inventories, the carrying amount of the related inventories is recognized as expenditure in the statement of income in the time period when the revenue from it is recognized. In the event of a fall in the net realizable

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example In this brief treatise, the history and evolution of CSR will be described and followed by a discussion on the concept and drivers of CSR. Focus is put on the role of CSR in the financial crisis, the implications of CSR for both business and communities, and the prospects of CSR for the future. History and Evolution of CSR While the concept of business corporations possessing some type of social accountability or obligation may have surfaced in the past, the serious study of corporate social responsibility as a facet of management commenced in the 1950s and was called by a host of other names (see Table 1). In 1953, Bowen posed the following question: ‘To what extent do the interests of business in the long run with the interests of society?’ (Bowen 1953, p. 5) The corporate responsibility core concept emerged as an economic concern. Andrew Carnegie, the founder of US Steel, articulated two principles supportive of CSR: (1) the ‘charity principle’ requiring individuals who have more to assist those who have less; and (2) the ‘stewardship principle’ stating that the rich and wealthy hold their wealth ‘in trust’ for the rest of society; while they hold it, they are required to multiply the wealth through making sound and prudent investments (Freeman & Liedtka 1991). Carnegie’s position was termed ‘richesse oblige’ by Windsor (2001), which is a parody of ‘noblesse oblige’. On the other side of the debate is the argument of Milton Friedman that corporations should pursue their economic self-interest and that CSR activities amount to a moral wrong against the shareholders. Activities directed at the social welfare should be properly left to the government (Freeman & Liedtka 1991). Friedman’s position resounded among many businesspeople and practitioners, understandably more than academicians, and the concept of wealth creation as the priority (some say only) goal for business constituted a recurring theme of many policy makers. At one point the argument entered the realm of academic discussion, and the debate eventually led to the conciliation of the two sides: ‘wealth creation is the best path to social welfare improvement’ (Windsor 2001, p. 226). This approach has been accepted by most businesspeople and managers because it resolves the duality imposed by Bowen’s premise that separates wealth and social responsibility. What it does not resolve is the direction management should take if a decision should be required between what may emerge to be irreconcilable alternatives (i.e. in favour of wealth creation or in favour of social responsibility). Currently, the main promoter of the ideas and principles of corporate social responsibility is the United Nations (Madrakhimova 2013, p. 115). Through the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN sought to advance global standards for business firms, particularly the large multinational corporations, to abide by in order to preserve and protect human rights that these businesses may be violating in the interest of earning a profit. Table 1: The genesis of the concept of corporate social responsibility (Madrakhimova 2013, p. 116) Concept of CSR CSR is a ‘concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis’

'Critically discuss the common law duty of seaworthiness' Essay

'Critically discuss the common law duty of seaworthiness' - Essay Example It is also used as a shipment receipt after the goods have been delivered. This receipt is mandatory for the shipment process and it is required that an authorized individual from all three parties, i.e. carries, shipper, and receiver, signs this document as it serves as an evidence of receipt of goods in the desired condition (Schmitz). This bill is very useful in situations where the good received are damaged while they were in good condition when loaded on to the vessel or when the receiver does not receive the goods at all. The process of carrying goods by the sea can be somewhat complicated with reference to defining the parties involved and their position in the entire process (Low). The contract begins between the shipper and the carrier who takes the responsibility of delivering the good from one port to another. Since the bill of lading receipt is issued by the carrier, the responsible party in case of any discrepancies in the quantity, quality, or condition of the good deli vered would be the carrier. It must be noted that the receiver of good is in more cases not the shipper but the consignee. It can be said that the bill of lading is the prima facie evidence between the shipper and carrier and conclusive evidence between the carrier and the consignee (Andersson). In the entire process of shipment, the ship owner has certain obligations to the shipper and the consignee. These obligations can be divided in to three parts of before commencement of the voyage, during the voyage, and after the voyage has been completed (Baughen). These obligations include providing a vessel which seaworthy, a reasonable dispatch of cargo, protection of cargo, not deviating from the route and delivering the cargo in time, at the right destination, in the desired condition (Baughen). Providing a Seaworthy Vessel The obligation to provide a seaworthy ship for the voyage is understood between all parties even when it is not explicitly agreed upon. There has been much debate r egarding the definition of the term â€Å"seaworthiness†. Though it generally implies that the carrier provides a ship which is physically fit to stand any perils of the sea and complete the journey. Not only is it settled that the ships provided by the carrier will be seaworthy in the general sense but it will also strong and sit enough to make it through any perils that might come across on the voyage along with strong furniture and other equipment in order to receive the cargo (Dockray and Thomas). Though different branches of Maritime law make use of the same definition of the term â€Å"seaworthiness†, this definition is little broad to explain the condition of the ship in this context. Seaworthiness under Carriage of Goods by Sea Even though the definition of seaworthiness has been changed a number of times under common law, Harter Act, and Hague/Hague-Visby rules, the term is still based on the same principles. It has been stated under common that the ship must be fit enough â€Å"to meet and undergo perils of the sea and other incidental risks which of necessity she must be exposed in the course of the voyage† (Kopitoff v. Wilson 380). Moreover, seaworthiness has