Research Methods - Dissertation Proposal (Balanced Scorecards - Why to Essay - 1

Research Methods - Dissertation Proposal (Balanced Scorecards - Why to go for it, how to develop and implement, how effective are they ) - Essay Example Norton in 1992, in an article that appeared in the Harvard Business Review titled: â€Å"The Balanced Scorecard: Measures that drive performance.† This management strategy was devised in response to the fact that while most financial measures were able to track the past performance of a business, they were unable to effectively assess the intangible factors that contributed towards ensuring that the business retained a competitive advantage in the marketplace (Rutan 1996). The Balanced Scorecard is therefore a strategic measure of performance, not only from the financial point of view but from a more broad based perspective that also enables accurate projection of future goals and the degree of adherence of the business to those goals. The concept of performance measures was earlier developed by Peter Drucker as Management by Objectives (Birnbaum 2000:43-52). Employees in every department were to set out short-term objectives, which were to be achieved within a certain deadlin e. Companies such as General Motors and RCA Foods adopted this method of management, but it was found to be ineffective due to the failure to take into account the unpredictable human factor in actual practice. There are two underlying principles that drive the Balanced Scorecard. The first one is that adhering to strictly financial measures hinders a company’s ability to formulate long term value. The second principle is that what gets measured is what actually gets done. (www.tqe.com). Therefore, while the Balanced Scorecard retains traditional financial measures, it also includes such factors as customers, suppliers, technology, process, employees and innovation. Therefore, this strategy identifies four distinct areas that need to be analyzed: Kaplan and Norton advocate the design of a comprehensive set of develop a scorecard, to evaluate the status of the business and what needs to be done to improve or enhance the scorecard to make it balanced in all the four fronts

The Business Environment of Tesco Plc Case Study

The Business Environment of Tesco Plc - Case Study Example In its website, Tesco Plc clearly identifies its mission by the statement "Our core purpose is to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty" (Tesco Plc 2008) This statement is in recognition that the success of the giant retailer is highly dependent on two key identified stakeholders-"the people who shop with us and the people who work with us" (Tesco Plc 2008). Thus, the company also expresses its two core values which are focused on the satisfaction of these two groups of stakeholders. For customers, Tesco maintains that in their stores "No-one tries harder for customers," (Tesco Plc 2008) while for its employees, it stresses that it would "Treat people as we like to be treated" (Tesco Plc 2008). This analysis will focus on three stakeholders of Tesco Plc, two of which are already identified above as its customers and employees. It should be noted that the success of the business organization is dependent on the customers' decision to purchase in the retail store. This in part is attainable only through the direct cooperation and effort of its employees to pursue its overall strategy of providing good products, excellent service, creation of a convenient shopping atmosphere and making shopping as enjoyable as possible. The mission of Tesco to retain loyal people both its customers and employees is created in recognition to this fact. Since the mission statement revolves around customers and employees, the company's values are also geared towards the satisfaction of these stakeholders. Tesco further expounds on how it satisfies its customers by identifying the direct ways on how to boost customer value: "Customers have told us what they want-clear aisles, to be able to get what they want at a good price, no queues and great staff. We call this our Every Little Helps Shopping Trip for customers and use it every day to ensure we are always working hard to make Tesco a better place to shop, at home and abroad" (Tesco Plc 2008). The identification of customers as key stakeholders of Tesco becomes a primary importance when it formulated its values. For its employees, Tesco Plc is committed in making the company a "great place to work" by listening to what its workforce wants: "Our staff have told us what is important to them - to be treated with respect, having a manager who helps them, having an interesting job and an opportunity to get on. Helping achieve what is important to our staff will help us to deliver an Every Little Helps Shopping Trip for our customers" (Tesco Plc 2008). Recognizing that Tesco's customers can be satisfied by its staff, the retailer also focuses on the satisfaction of its people to look after and deliver value to its customers. The four pronged objectives of Tesco Plc together with the identified mission and values altogether work for the maximization of the wealth of its other key stakeholders-its shareholders. Every business organization pursues the same goal and that is to be able to generate a sizable profit for its

Relationship With God And With Your Family Religion Essay

Relationship With God And With Your Family Religion Essay As we begin our worship pilgrimage together, perhaps it will be best to try to get at the core meaning of worship. The word worship itself is fascinating. It is a shortened English version of the old Anglo-Saxon word weorthscipe, which is transliterated Worth-ship. It simply means worthiness. Thus to worship someone means to recognize and to declare that persons worth (Basen 1999:17). Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16:2193, LASB). There have been a great many definitions of worship, some of quite recent origin, yet, it is my main purpose to analyse the different forms of worship. To worship, finally implies to do or to work, so let us reflect on each worship experience and give ideas on how our churches should facilitate worship. ASSIGNMENT 1 1. Experience of a liturgical worship service. a. Briefly describe the service event by event. On Sunday 15 August 2010 I went to the Lutheran Church with one of my colleagues. He is the Reverend of that specific Lutheran Church. The service began with opening sentences from Psalm 124: If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel now say. The Reverend then followed by saying The Lord be with you. This was followed by a prayer of confession and then by a biblical word of comfort and an absolution. The absolution is confession that you are a sinner, humbling yourself before God. Thereafter followed the singing of the Ten Commandments, sometimes done in two segments with a prayer in between. Up to this point, the service had been led from the Communion table. Now, either during the singing of the second hymn, the Reverend took his place in the pulpit. First he would offer a prayer for illumination, read the lesson for the day and preached the sermon. Then the collection of Alms takes place. Following the sermon, the R everend offered a lengthy prayer of intercession, which concluded with the Lords Prayer. The Apostles Creed was said or sung at the conclusion of the prayer. Psalm 138 was sung and there followed a prayer of thanksgiving. The people were dismissed with the benediction. b. Discuss how it facilitated worship as revelation and response. Revelation and response for the Lutheran Church entails the following: Although the liturgical worship is structured very formal, the people are called to worship with sentences taken from Scripture. They use the Scripture of Isaiah 6:1-9, where Isaiah sees a vision of the Holy God, and confesses his sin and finds forgiveness when an angel burns his lips with a burning coal from the altar. The aim for the Lutheran Church is that the people may bow before the transcendent glory of God, that is, to praise Gods greatness and power. When you have experienced Contemporary worship, by comparison, the closeness of God receives much less emphasis. In this worship, they see it appropriate to feel Gods greatness more than His nearness. They observe God from a distance, not up close. In Liturgical worship the service moves from adoration to confession to absolution to commission. They do everything in a fitting and orderly way. H ymns of praise and adoration are used to highlight the greatness and glory of God, not the worshipers thoughts or feelings about God. They do the corporate confession of sin by reading Scripture passages, the call to worship and the benediction also do the same. In the Lutheran Church, the congregation performs the Lords Prayer or repeats the Apostels Creed as a confession of faith. 2. Experience of a traditional worship service. a. Briefly describe the service event by event. On Sunday 22 August 2010 I went to the Reformed Church with my Mother in Mokopane (Potgietersrus). First it is interesting to note that in the Reformed Church the organ plays the most important part before the service commences. The organ is the only instrument used to create worship and praise. Also very interesting is the pulpit in the middle front of the church with the elderly and the deacons sitting on each side of the pulpit. The deacons come in first, then the elderly together with the Reverend. Before he gets onto the pulpit, he first prays at the foot of the pulpit. The service begins with one of the elderly blessing the Reverend. The Reverend then follows by giving the Opening Prayer. This was followed by a song from their hymn books, consisting of Psalms and Songs. Then everybody says out loud the Apostles Creed and the Ten Commandments. Then the collection of Alms takes place. Before the Reverend starts his sermon, he gives a lesson on the Scripture that he is going to us e for the day. The Reformed Church uses the Old Testament more than the New Testament. Again he then prays before he commences with the sermon and then a prayer. After the sermon they sing a song again from the Psalms and Songs hymn book and then everybody stands to receive the blessing or grace from God. b. Discuss how it facilitated worship as revelation and response. Although less formal than the Liturgical style, traditional worship still follows a planned and structured order. Gratitude and preaching dominate traditional worship. The overall purpose is to lead the congregation to thank God for His goodness and to hear God speak through His Word. The Reformed Church demands that Psalms, not hymns, were to be sung and the organ were to be played in the service. Their preaching includes exegetical preaching for the week to insure that every worshiper was confronted every week with the promises and demands of God. In this way heartfelt worship can occur. 3. Experience of a contemporary worship service. a. Briefly describe the service event by event. On Sunday 29 August 2010 I attended my own Church (Living Word Church) in Brummeria. Our Church starts with the Pastor welcoming everybody in the building. Then the praise and worship starts with a band and a lead worshipper. Our music is gospel and contemporary Christian songs that stirs the emotions and prepares the heart for the sermon. We sing first the praise songs and then the worship songs. Usually the praise songs speaks about revival and renewal, stressing the need for God to visit His people in power, such as Lord, Send a Revival or Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. There is singing, clapping, and shouting praises to God. Then we go over to the worship songs that prepare us for a connection with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. During the worship people might lie on their faces or bow down seeking the face of God. Others will dance before God seeking to have a personal relationship with God, getting into the Holy of Holiest. We all kn ow that praise and worship is very important, but the sermon is actually the main event for the day. The congregation then hears an evangelistic message calling everyone present to get saved or sin and redemption. After the sermon the Pastor will pray and then start with the call for unbelievers in the worship service to make a personal decision to follow Jesus Christ. The invitation is sometimes lengthy in order to allow unbelievers to recognize their need of Jesus Christ. b. Discuss how it facilitated worship as revelation and response. Our Church uses informal methods that speak about exuberance, zeal and sometimes aggressive preaching, but it is still generally planned and structured. This style of worship seeks to turn lost sinners towards a merciful God. The informal mood of the service directly impacts the emotions, so that we will feel Gods presence during worship. Our worship also motivates us as believers to live godly lives in an ungodly world and to share our witness with unbelievers. Worship in our Church incorporates both revelation and response. As God reveals His power, we respond in wonder. As God reveals His grace, we respond in humility and prayer. 4. Personal reflection on the three experiences. a. Discuss how Parretts teachings and the three experiences have impacted your own understanding of worship. Let us first look at the style of worship: Parrett (Parrett 2008:22) says the following: There is no such thing as the correct style, whether traditional, contemporary, mystical, or liturgical. All our styles of worship must be submitted to the test of substance is God plainly revealed through the elements of worship, and are the worshippers assisted in response to Him? Our worship must be God-focused and Christ-centred! It must include elements of revelation and response that are Biblically informed and Biblically faithful (Parrett 2008:23). The liturgical worship service for me has got many strong points. The formal structure takes the congregation to God because He is worthy to be praised in majesty and honour. Magnifying Gods transcendence brings to mind in the worshiper a sense of amazement. Their Scripture reading enfolds the liturgical service more than it does any other worship style. The only thing that bothers me is the fact that the God who is worshipped in the liturgical service seems unapproachable. Although I grew up in The Reformed Church, the traditional worship service for me is somewhat predictable and boring, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. Why do I say that it is predictable and boring? The service is formal and for that reason you sometimes struggle to warm your heart for whats to come. But yes, they worship God who is Great and Good, Holy and Helpful. The problem with traditional worship service is the fact that the young believers think this style is boring. Contemporary worship service makes it almost impossible to sit still. The music excites you and you just want to worship God. Everything is excellent, the only problem that I experience is that Christians begin to think that the only way to please God is to be saved and baptized, even if they have already done so before. So often people also feel guilty of not serving God every minute of the day. It impacted my understanding of worship in the following way: Diverse cultural backgrounds and personality types make it highly unlikely that one worship style will fit all people. What seems genuine and meaningful to some strikes others as false and blasphemous. Worship styles isnt really the primary issue, it is absolute essential that the Church keep God as the subject of worship since to be Christian means to believe that God revealed in Jesus Christ is everything to us, Creator, Provider and Sustainer. We must always remember that God has called us to be His people and that our ability to respond to that call in worship is totally the gift of Gods grace. I think the only aim is to please God, whether by adoration and praise, prayer and proclamation, confessions and offerings, thanksgivings and commitment, or all these actions combined. b. Indicate how you believe your church could broaden its understanding and practice of worship. Dawn (1995:124) gives the following on what people want and need: My point is that people want worship to be more meaningful, but they often need careful instruction to make it so. Children, teenagers, young adults, senior citizens all will gladly receive more depth, especially because so much is our world is superficial and trival or else deep in a way that is painful and tragic. Here are a few ideas on how the Church should broaden its understanding and practice of worship: First of all, there can be no worship if we dont deal with our inner self. All Christians are supposed to be faithful, however, some do have a continuous struggle with doubt. The Churches must remember, good worship heals a sinful, selfish congregation and enables it to assume the burden of discipleship. Worship fosters the attitudes and convictions that enable people to worship. The churchs calling is to bring people to an awareness of the true nature of the things that steals our spiritual energy and to provide them with appropriate nourishment (food for the soul). Worship leaders facilitate worship by guiding people in the use of their senses and thoughts, they must also clear away the obstacles and distractions that hinder focused prayer and meditation. We should remember that services of worship are constructed by human beings, and like all things, they deteriorate and need renewal from time to time. Before Christians set about renewing their Churches and reforming their worship , they need to over think the implications of the fact that they have no power to save themselves, only God has that power. A congregation that fails to insist on the very highest standards in its worship is demonstrating not charity, but blasphemy. No Christian community should ever even think of offering God anything but the best of which it is capable (Frankforter 2001:146). CONCLUSION I have reflected on three worship services, discussed how it facilitated worship as revelation and response and tried to broaden my understanding and practice of worship. We should always remember, the success of worship is not measured by its entertainment values, nor is its success the sole responsibility of the leaders. We the Church should never sit passively waiting for worship to happen, we must practice the discipline of prayer and meditation. There should always be the willingness to make personal sacrifices to serve God.

Characters in The Girl Watcher and The Human Chair :: Tayama Katai Edogawa Rampo

Uncanny Reactions to Modernization Sugita Kojo of Tayama Katai’s â€Å"The Girl Watcher† (1907) and the chair maker in Edogawa Rampo’s â€Å"The Human Chair† (1925) react to new ways of life in a similar, vulgar manner. Both stories include aspects of society new to that time: Trains and chairs, respectively. These pieces from the Meiji & Taisho period, a period where stories began to express the character’s thoughts, depict the importance of understanding novel and foreign aspects of daily life by showing how these modern ways of living may be used inappropriately. Sugita, the protagonist in â€Å"The Girl Watcher,† has several responsibilities: his job, wife, and children. However, his passion is watching young, wealthy girls on trains. Yes. Why does he choose this particular â€Å"hobby†? These girls attend expensive high schools and can be considered modern in both age and appearance. According to lecture, trains were a new space where people of different social classes mixed, and people had to learn to act appropriately and how to look at other passengers. Right! With much practice, Sugita has figured out how to watch young women on trains, abusing this new form of travel: â€Å"It’s too direct to watch them face on, whereas from a distance it’s†¦likely to arouse people’s suspicions; therefore, the most convenient seat to occupy is one diagonally opposite† (Katai, 175). Yes. This is one of my favorite quotes in the story. Sugita is not an ordinary man, his walk is odd and he is unpleasant to the eye. However, he lives a mundane and depressing life writing for a magazine. Sugita watches girls to restore his passion for life, to engage in the modern world: â€Å"was there no one who would embrace him in her white arms? If only someone would, then he was sure †¦he would discover life†¦in hard work. Fresh blood would flow through his veins† (page 180). He wishes he could be rescued. Young women remind Sugita of his youth, of things he wanted to do but never did, such as make passionate love. Katai may be saying that once things modernize, one must become entirely modern to survive in society. Sugita lives in a modern house, wears western clothes (considered modern at the time), but he does not live a modern life: â€Å"he was coming out †¦in his same old way along his same old route, wish his same old hat†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Katai, 170).

Junk foods and healthy foods Essay

Junk food contains very high fat and sugar. . Also junk food has preservatives, chemicals, artificial colours and flavours. But healthy food is not containing these substances. However, both junk food and healthy food are delicious but junk food has more delicious than healthy food. The price is compatible with the pocket money for most of the kids and the teenagers who frequent the joints and it also is a great buy to makeup for the shortage of time. It is often quicker to eat or prepare than healthy food. HEALTHY FOOD ï Å  But healthy food is rich with nutritional value. junk food has affected the body’s health and causes dangerous diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and sometimes poisoning. On the other hand, healthy food preserves and protects a body from diseases.Junk food is an unhealthy food, food with poor nutritional value; Junk food can be found in fast foods, frozen foods and other foods which have chemical contents. In contrast, healthy food is fruits, vegetable, meat, nuts, seafood and dairy food. Also junk food contains less or sometimes no proteins, vitamins and fibre. But healthy food contains high proteins, vitamins and fibre. Junk food tastes good, but it contains copious amounts of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, the ingredients that often cause obesity, illness and diseases. Having too much sugar, whether in drinks or food, can lead to your teeth rotting and falling out. Fruit and vegetables have a high vitamin, mineral and fiber content – these nutrients are vital for your body to function well. Several studies have proven that a good intake of fruit and vegetables may protect from developing heart disease, diabetes type 2, and cancer

Breaking Away from Stereotype

The United States of America has been called the â€Å"melting pot† of the world. It is a country that is open to diversity and welcomes culture, race and ethnicity of all sorts, for as long as it complies with its laws. United States become a nation rich in immigrants who found new home in a foreign land. Most of the big and key cities in the United States are culturally and racially diversified. This diversity is taught to be an asset of the society. If not understood well, this diversity may also lead to internal and external conflicts such as discrimination and stereotyping. Stereotyping can be as harmless as thinking that Chinese cooks the best orange chicken or Indians have the best chicken curry, but it can also be as destructive as stereotyping Muslims as potential terrorists or Mexicans as potential illegal aliens. Stereotypes come in different forms and it is also apparent in the news, media, television, songs and even literatures. Latino or Hispanic race, for example, has been a hot topic of racial stereotyping. A Latino man behind a cash register may often hear a customer asking â€Å"habla Ingles†. Failure to assimilate to American culture, including language, is one stereotype Latinos are facing. In the story â€Å"Rain of Gold†, written by Victor Villasenor, most of the characters spoke little or no English until they entered the United States. Another literary work, a poetry, written by Pat Mora entitled â€Å"Immigrants† contained lines that read â€Å"before the baby can even walk, speak to them in thick English, hallo, babe, hallo†. There may be some humor to the poem, but it stereotypes the Latino immigrants as having â€Å"thick English† accents. â€Å"Rain of Gold†, written by Victor Villasenor was about the three generations of two Mexican families whose hardship and adventures date back in the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The book chronicled the characters’ escape from Mexico and entry into the United States. It was entitled â€Å"Rain of Gold† because it is the English translation of the characters’ home town of â€Å"La Lluvia de Oro†. In the book, the characters spoke little or no English, which may still be apparent today in our society. However, from the book, we cannot generalize that Mexicans cannot assimilate the way of living or system of other culture. In the book, it was also written that the characters learned to use the survival techniques of Native Americans in order to survive the difficulties they were facing in their environment. The poem â€Å"Immigrants† by Pat Mora also wrote examples on how Mexican try to adapt the American culture by eating hot dogs and apple pie, by naming their children Bill and Daisy, or by buying their children football or blonde dolls with blue eyes. In the modern America, most stereotypes related to the Latino race are exaggerated in the movies or in the media. The movies would often depict Latinos as blue collared workers with little education, family with more than four children, or young Latino with literacy problem. Another stereotype that is attached to the Latino culture is the use of spiritual healing or magic. There are three literary works that took note of the Spiritual healing practice of the Latino culture. â€Å"Rain of Gold† by Victor Villasenor noted that during trying times, the character held on the belief of spirits and asked for their guidance and healing. â€Å"The Curing Woman† by Alejandro Morales was about the power of the traditional healers who use spiritual connection to heal physical ailments. It is about a Spanish woman named Marcelina who learned how to use â€Å"white magic† from her Spanish mother, Dona Marcelina Trujillo. â€Å"White magic† uses herbs, plants, minerals, chants and astrological formulas to cure diseases of the human body. â€Å"Curandera†, a poem written by Pat Mora describes the dependency of a Latino woman to the nature as means of survival and healing of the people. In the poem, the curandera (a woman who practices folk medicine), uses the elements found in the desert, plants, sunlight, and wind to heal other people to survive. Living in a modernized society and the availability of technology used as tools in medicine will create plenty of skepticism and mockery to spiritual healing as a form of cure. The use of spiritual healing will be rejected by most of American populations who grew up with vaccines, radiography, and antibiotics. It will be a challenge for any Latinos practicing this part of their culture to make someone else outside of their race to understand. Another Latino stereotype that affects most Latino men, is the machismo schema attached to Latino men. It is viewed that in Latino culture, men are the dominant gender, and women are submissive to their male counterparts. However, in â€Å"Rain of Gold† written by Victor Villasenor, the character of Dona Margarita, a wife and a mother, possessed strength that was even able to boldly reprimand the character of her husband. Dona Margarita’s strength and support was valued in the book as one of the reason of fulfilling the family’s dreams. She was able to express her anger and frustration on her husband, Don Victor, when he gambled and got drunk. Her family felt hope when she did not give-up her hope that her daughter, Sophia, was still alive. Although she wanted to give the leadership role to her husband Don Victor, the book made it apparent that she is the strength of her family. However, the story also depicted Dona Margarita as a housewife whose primary role is to raise her children and manage the household. Most Latino written works also depicted the common stereotype that Latinos mostly worked blue collar jobs. For example, in the â€Å"Rain of Gold† by Victor Villasenor, most men worked as miners, while some worked as soldiers. In the movies, most Latino females play characters such as nanny, cashier, waitress, or housekeeper. In conclusion, I believe that the Latino race does not only suffer from being stereotyped by people from another culture, but also from the literary works of Latino authors. Pat Mora, for example, used the â€Å"thick English† accent of Latinos to provide some humor to her poetry. In more than two literatures the â€Å"spiritual or magical healing† was also noted, providing a stronger connection between this practice and the Latino race. Personally, I believe that I am a victim of the movies and television programs who effectively instill cultural stereotypes in me. Fortunately, I was able to know numerous Latinos that proved that the stereotypes should not be used as a general depiction of their race. A research study survey noted that the stereotypical images of the Latinos in the media are not accurate and that most Latinos who participated in the survey were able to assimilate well into the US culture (Latino Professional Survey, 2006). The survey noted that 98% of the survey respondents were fluent in English and 80% were college graduate (Latino Professional Survey, 2006). This defies the common stereotyping that Latinos cannot speak English very well and mostly occupy blue collared jobs.