Comparison between a mythical story and a short story Essay

Comparison between a mythical story and a short story - Essay Example He challenges any knight to hit him once if he could return the blow with in a year. Gawain takes up the challenge. He chops off the head of the Green Knight, but the Green Knight picks up his head and rides away. Gawain has one year and one day to make it to the Green Chapel in order to fulfill his agreement. The trip was treacherous and far. Finally, he comes to a castle, where the Lord is Bertilak de Hautdesert. Gawain and Bertilak make a deal. Everything Gawain earns in a day he will exchange with Bertilak for everything he captured hunting. In three days, Gawain gains kisses and a girdle from Lady Bertilak. He gives Lord Bertilak the kisses, but keeps the girdle due to its magical powers. Gawain goes and meets the Green Knight. He only gets nicked on the neck due to the girdle. After the blow, the Green Knight reveals he is Lord Bertilak. The whole quest was set up by Arthur’s sister. Gawain felt that he failed in his mission for not keeping his word and keeping the girdl e. In â€Å"A Worn Path†, Phoenix starts out on a day’s journey. She is an lder black woman. Phoenix is described as small, frail, and almost blind. Her troubles are the wooded area that she is traveling. Thorn bushes grab her dress, but she patiently frees herself without ripping her dress. A scarecrow frightens her, but she keeps going.

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Personal Statement Example Nursing Positions Held In the Past Five Years I have worked in several capacities in the past five years. I served as an ICU/CPU nurse. This position entailed provision of complete nursing care to patients in critical condition by closely observing them. Secondly, this position involved administering approved medicine to patients and collaborating with other medical practitioners in service delivery. It also entailed provision of support and education to families. Finally, it involved respiratory, speech and physical therapies, patient assessment and delivery of treatment in various leadership roles. The second position was a case manager or admission nurse in a hospice setting. This involved performing and reviewing admissions, evaluations and assessment. The third position I served in was in a case manager hospital setting. It involved constant support through comprehensive assessment and ensuring patient quality management by ensuring cost effectiveness. Finally, I served in as a staff nurse in a long-term care facility (LTAC). I helped physicians with bedside procedures, infection control, wound care and overall examinations. Personal and Professional Goals Over the Next Five Years My personal goals are to improve my education level thereby sharpening my knowledge and skills in the field. I plan to advance my education in the NSN Family Nurse Program. Once I complete the BSN program that I wish to pursue to increase my practice in the nursing career, I will have the relevant knowledge and skills to fit in the expanded role of FNP. My professional goals are focused towards developing my skills and knowledge. I plan to be attending seminars and educational forums to work on my skills. I purpose to be reading nursing and healthcare journals and periodicals to stay in touch with any changes in the practices. I plan to be playing an active role in the political affairs relating to professionalism practice organizations and insightfully seek DNP. Finally, I seek to acquire an entry level to practice in a FNP position and practice in an institution where I can serve families. Reasons Why I Chose the FNP Role To begin with, FNPs (Family Nursing Practitioners) have been known t have a long history of helping patients understand their illnesses and assist them in making improvements. This role is becoming increasingly dominant, most of the nurses are going for this option.The FNP role has grown immensely since its inception, and career opportunities are not limited to the hospital setting. This role is subject to professional longevity since FNPs will play an important role in expansion of health care service provision. This role enables me to provide primary and preventive health care services. Additionally, I will prescribe medications, diagnose and treat minor illnesses within the scope of practice. Additionally, this role encourages collaboration with physicians. This helps me to serve family and patients better. There are financial benefit s accruing from this role owing to increasing marketability in the profession. Although I appreciate the pay, it is not the sole reason why I chose to advance the practice role of an FNP. How I Will Utilize FNP Training Over the Next Five Years The FNP training will be of a positive impact in my career over the next five years. This training will help me identify past and current issues in the health care sector

Development Administration Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Development Administration - Coursework Example â€Å"This type of administration or management adapted for the particular needs of developing countries has been referred to interchangeably as development administration or development management†¦Ã¢â‚¬  GSAPS-2008 www.ginandjar.com Some standard processes in development consist of planning, implementation , monitoring of projects. However, the question that one may ask is how well the role of monitoring is done as regards development processes. Phil Bartle expounds on the monitoring aspect in planning and implementation of projects. He emphasized the following: â€Å"A project is a series of activities (investments) that aim at solving particular problems within a given time frame and in a particular location The investments include time, money, human and material resources, Before achieving the objectives, a project goes through several stages: Monitoring should be executed by all individuals and institutions which have an interest (stake holders ) in the project. To effectively implement a project, the people planning and implementing it should plan for all the interrelated stages from the beginning.† As defined by World Bank, an NGO is a non-profit making, voluntary, service-oriented /development oriented organization , either for the for the benefit of members ( a grassroots organization) or of other members of the population (or

Hospitality sales and marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Hospitality sales and marketing - Case Study Example Since it is a vital component of marketing, product development determines whether or not a business succeeds in its industry. In this context, the term product development incorporates services, hence its application to service-based industries. Since the beginning of the 20th century, firms have become increasingly reliant on the superiority of their products to gain and maintain competitive advantage. Lee (2013) argues that the importance of the product is evident in theoretical and practical knowledge, typified by the notion that the product precedes all other requirements for starting a business. The product is also considered by many scholars to be the most important of all Ps (Cunill, 2012). It, therefore, follows that product development is a fundamental aspect of business growth. This leads to one of the most common business practices and a major source of competitive advantage: integration. When companies integrate, they do so to encourage expansion and domination in a specific industry. There are two types of integration that can be used by any company to give a company greater more presence in any market: horizontal and vertical integration (Evans, Campbell & Stonehouse, 2012). This literature review will lean towards the latter as it is relevant to the subject. According to Fazlollahi, Franke & Ullberg (2012), historically, firms used vertical integration to influence access to limited resources. In the contemporary business setting, companies are disintegrated both internally and externally, and they engage in numerous joint ventures and strategic alliances as part of their growth strategies (Lahiri & Narayanan, 2013). It has even become common for corporations to outsource even those processes that are usually viewed as key. Some of the best examples of vertical integration can be found in the oil sector. In the 70s and 80s, numerous firms were involved in the pro specting and

What contribution can 'Lean Thinking' make to the contemporary Essay

What contribution can 'Lean Thinking' make to the contemporary challenges of public service delivery - Essay Example However, sometimes you find that once businesses hits the quality mark at the onset stages of production, they tend to relax and things slow down, making the delivery slip back into the low quality conditions. This is an undesirable phenomenon especially in the competitive business world of the century we live in. As a result of businesses losing their clients because of slackness in the quality level of their products and services, most have resorted to affecting the total quality management concept. The concept presents a number of underlying advantages to the businesses and organizations that run it. The concept of total quality management (TQM) an al the underlying sub-concepts of this process will be analyzed in full in the next discourse. Here, the definition of TQM and the philosophy underling the TQM will be carried out. Also, the elements of TQM, benefits, effectiveness as well as the TQM frame work will be looked into. Lastly, the paper will close by discussing the quality standards and offering the universally acceptable quality of standards. Definition and philosophy of TQM Hawkes and Adams define the TQM as the practice of integrating the various components of the various inputs that are used in the production of high quality products or services that are designed to meet or even surpass the expectations of the clients (32). According to Tari, being in agreement of this definition, TQM also encompasses the issue of involvement of all the various components that make this delivery of quality products or services to be enabled (182). For the delivery of quality products, the management team of the company, the employees, the different levels of contact between the management and the employees such as the suppliers as well as the customer are all involved. Each person or level of involvement plays a very keen role in ensuring that the quality of the product or services, measured using certain pre-ordained measurements is not compromised. To keep the n otation of TQM constant, the concept operates under a certain philosophy. This is the philosophy that guides the level of involvement of the various components that translates to the delivery of quality products and services. The philosophy of TQM states that if quality is maintained and upheld in all areas of the production process at all times, there is no doubt that this builds up an organizational culture that is largely responsible for meeting the various needs of the customer. In other words, the philosophy of TQM employs the use of effective management to develop a constant habit that allows for constant and consistent production of various products and services of a company (Petersen, 468). Elements of a quality management system For the TQM process to be successful, a number of elements have to be employed in such a combination that allows for easy and effective application. These processes offer a guideline onto how the TQM will be appraised once a certain organization dec ides to operate under this concept. The recognized elements under TQM will be analysed in the following discussion. There are eight elements of TQM as shall be noted herein. The first element of TQM is the element of ethics. Ethics, by definition, is the a code of ethics prescribed in an organization that largely governs the way employees in a certain organization behave or relate with each other inside their organization as well as with other people outside the organization (Zink, 394). Different organizations have different rules and regulations that govern their employees. As a result, the behavior of employees in one organization could be quite

Benefits of a C Corporation Essay Example for Free

Benefits of a C Corporation Essay Firstly, a C Corporation can be defined as a legal unit of business that has its own separate identity from its owners or the persons that form it. To use the general legal term, it is a â€Å"body corporate†, a â€Å"legal entity†, which simply means a corporation can be treated just like an individual in law, it can sue and can be sued. This singular characteristic does not only make it quite unique but also gives it an edge over other business entities such as sole proprietor, partnership, limited liability Company to mention but few. However, the two major types of corporation, which are the C Corporation and S Corporation. The C Corporation has quite numerous benefits; the most technical of these is its ability to guard its owners’ personal assets from judgment against the business. Owners can also split profit and loss with the business for a lower overall tax rate. Yet another benefit is that it has no limits in number of shareholders and owner. Again, Owners do not need to be U. S. citizens or residents; both foreign and local are equally allowed to share in its ownership. A C corporation also has the flexibility of being owned by yet another business entity, rather than an individual or several individuals. Finally, the C Corporation has a package of much greater tax advantages over any other business entity, for it was primarily designated for tax purposes, while the â€Å"S† corporation passes it tax to the shareholders, the C Corporation on the other hand acts as it own tax entity. Reference Bakan J. , 2004, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power. USA

Challenges for SMEs in Vietnam and Korea

Challenges for SMEs in Vietnam and Korea Recommendations for the government/policy makers Properly aware and assess the roles of SMEs and start-up firms in the national economy system The Korean government soon realized the roles of SMEs, especially start-up firms in economic reform after the financial crisis is 1997. They published some Law and Regulations on SMEs support since the end of the Korean War, some of which are the SMEs Bank Law (July 1961) and the SMEs Cooperation Law (December 1961). In addition, the governmental institutions and banks to support SMEs were born really soon, they were able to merge into a comprehensive and trustworthy â€Å"system† to maintain the health of SMEs. This reflects the early awareness of the Korean government in the roles of SMEs. In Vietnam, the roles of new enterprises need to be further considered. Besides the measures to enhance the performance of state-owned enterprises, we need to have intensive measures to support SMEs, especially start-up firms because they are the strategic instrument in economic growth. Obviously, when joining WTO – an international playground, SMEs in Vietnam in its current state w ill find it hard to compete.. To fully aware of the condition as well as roles of these enterprises, we need to conduct surveys and researches to find out at which proportion SMEs have contributed to the country’s GDP and other growth indexes. Further, we based on these indexes to evaluate the potential and at what extent the establishment of new firms can reinforce the growth rate of the economy as a whole. Create a suitable environment for SMEs and start-up firms Since the very beginning state of economic reform, regulations concerning SMEs and start-ups activities were clearly and specifically declared. They were also improved through times to adapt to the economic and social conditions of each time phase. Besides the synchronized legal environment, they also own a set of solutions for SMEs: since they start the business till dismissal. The Korean government always tries to create favorable business environment for the growth of start-up firms and SMEs. To minimize the gap between chaebol firms and start-up firms, the government established many institutions and associations to support start-ups firms, namely SMBA, SMBC, KOTEC†¦ as well as provide guarantee for these firms to receive funds from commercial banks with preferential interest rates. When SMEs encounter hardship during operation, the government also comes up with business incubators to help them overcome problems by legal consulting, opening fairs, malls to increase the chanc e of trading and finding business partners. For any nation in the world, favorable business environment is the basic factor, not only for SMEs, but also for big corporations to grow. Vietnam is no exception. Nowadays in Vietnam, the business environment is thriving more than ever before. Business law, finance law, credit monetary trading, labor situation have been improved a lot with the foundation, adjustment, supplement of the Business Code 2005, Investment Code 2005, State Bank Code and Credit Institutions Code 2003†¦ These Codes basically have no discrimination among different business sectors. Moreover, we also have other regulations concerning the operation of SMEs, namely Official Letter No. 681/CP-KTN on June, 26th 1998 by the Government Office on strategies orientation and SMEs development policies, Decree No. 90/2001/ND-CP on November, 23rd 2001 on support SMEs. These regulations only emphasize on the most basic matters and have yet compete or consistent. Also, the management level is still not flexible in apply ing those regulations, leading to redundancy in procedures and confusion in dealing with the legal system. Discrimination between big corporations and SMEs is another factor with negative impact on the business environment. Although the policies of the government clearly state that all business sectors needed to be equally treated, there still exists discrimination from some government officials in bank loans, access to preferential policies, land use, information access on exporting market, staff training Moreover, the social environment also has trong impact on business operation of highly sensitive firms like start-ups and SMEs. That is because there still exists some obsolete prejudice on these firms such as counterfeited goods, smuggling or commercial fraud. Support start-up firms in terms of financing It is safe to say that funds is the most severe problem for entrepreneurs when starting their own business. There are already countless enterprises each year failing to come alive or going bankrupt since the very beginning of operation due to lack of capital. Therefore, support from the government is highly essential for SMEs, especially start-up firms. These support can be implemented by a number of ways, suggested as below: Develop finance investment firms and establish credit guarantee funds It is clear that we soon need to establish credit guarantee funds for SMEs and start-up firms, for them to access to finance when they do not have enough resources for mortgage, pledge, or lend from banks and credit unions as raised in Decree 90/2001. The credit guarantee funds like KCGF, KOTEC and SMBC in Korea are able to guarantee start-up firms for short-term, mid-term and long-term loans for the feasible ideas and business projects. At the same time, they share risks with credit institutions in case of default risk from SMEs The lessons from Korea and other developed countries like America, Taiwan show that credit guarantee is considered one of the most effective measures to improve the capital of an enterprise, and Vietnamese enterprises are no exception Loosen the lending requirements Our government should adjust policies on mortgages for loans. Currently, most start-up firms find it hard to access to commercial bank funds because they own no or little assets. In addition, the requirements on mortgage is too high to meet. One example is most commercial banks use land use right as mortgage, which is quite impossible to afford for these types of firms. The recommendation for this is, in some specific cases, banks can assess the potential and value of feasible business projects to minimize their risks. Banks in Vietnam can learn from KOTEC in Korea, where they have a set of technical and commercial criteria to rate a firm before providing funds. Firms guaranteed by KOTEC also have higher chance to survive in the long run, which means their assessment is highly effective and we can learn a lot from their system. Besides, venture investment funds should be encouraged to grow, especially foreign investment funds. Expand forms of financial lease Expanding forms of financial lease is a useful solution for firms to overcome their own problems on financing for technology. Financial lease is an intermediate form of long-term credit, where those demanding funds do not receive cash to purchase equipment and asset but directly receive the demanded asset. The leasee periodically pays fee and buys the whole asset after a specific amount of time. However, in Vietnam, both the government and enterprises have yet aware the strength of this form, so it has not been fully developed. According to the studies â€Å"SMEs development process† of the Development Loan Program for SMEs in Vietnam, there currently exists many obstacles in developing financial lease: (i) lack of legal procedures, regulations and policies for this matter. The funds of the leasors are also very limited due to the strict regulations of the State Bank of Vietnam, (ii) the enterprises are still short in full knowledge and awareness of this practice’s adva ntages, (iii) lack of complete agreement between the leasors and the government as the base to develop policies on this. Towards the current state as mentioned above, the government needs to look into and adjust the regulations to ensure a competitive yet favorable business environment for the financial lease corporations, which can solve the financing problem for SMEs. Develop other financial services Commercialize the debt market: Currently, corporations have increasingly appropriate funds of others, making lots of SMEs fall into the â€Å"artificial funds shortage† situation. Sometimes, commercial banks have to hold loans but cannot receive principal before maturity date. Commercializing debts will help SMEs escape from the pressure of variable capital, for instance, through discounting financial instruments like negotiable certificate of deposit. In many other countries in the world, this practice is quite popular but it is fairly new for enterprises in Vietnam Boost the performance of financial institutions: we can do this by increasing the equity of credit institutions, creating capacity to improve performance and adapt to risks. Simultaneously, they can completely handle overdue debts by developing mortgage handling enterprises and buying back mortgages, collateral from commercial banks. This research applies a remote-monitored system towards the financial markets on the basis of international standards. Encourage the growth of financial consulting services, accounting, auditing and related services for financial problems of SMEs Preferential tax, charges policy The government can also establish more preferential policies for SMEs on credit, tax in a simple way. We should also avoid excessive yet inefficient tax policies, which leads to difficulties in manage and implement those policies. Recommendations for start-up firms/SMEs Build their own finance capabilities Besides the government policies and support on finance, start-up firms also need to take advantage of this opportunity or else it will go to waste. Currently, the roles of SMEs and start-up firms are gradually realized by the government and the society. The social development strategy nowadays also pays special attention to SMEs. Therefore, those firms need to take good advantage of these chances. In the meantime, start-up firms can have easy access to the credit funds from banks, financial institutions, financial lease firms The enterprises can also increase their funds by seizing investment opportunities from other sources. Through the foundation of feasible and persuasive business plans, firms can entirely raise funds from venture investment funds or crowd-funding. By cooperating with other firms, SMEs can enhance their manufacturing process by solving the obstacles together with each other, best exploiting their capacity and cooperation, developing the domestic and foreign business network, as well as jointly combating the competitive pressure from big corporations. Raise their management capacity SMEs need to have their own business strategies to enhance the human resources and management capacity in a global economic context. One of the weaknesses of SMEs in Vietnam is the human resources problems. They lack properly trained labor to meet the requirements of technology application, foreign language, business knowledge, Internet access†¦ The business management system is pretty obsolete and incomprehensive. Therefore, business owner and the management level need to apply modern management system, focusing on knowledge on market, the legal system, technology application and building their own business culture and ethics: honest about the products, fair competition, compliance with the law, responsible for the customers and the society, and build trust with the customers. For the labor force, we need to have scheme to train them properly with the most update techniques and information possible. The enterprises also need plans to attract highly-trained employees by their salary, bonus, allowance, promotion†¦ policies. Besides, strong business culture is also necessary to establish and develop. Actively access technology Firms on their own should actively seek new opportunities to get access to new technology and equipment. Then, they can flexibly apply technology transfer to create more added value. Also, focusing on developing technology infrastructure to apply e-commerce business is popular in the recent years. On material, one way to exploit this is to make full use of the global sources of material, another is to consider using existing materials, which means diversity and stability sources of materials for manufacturing. On technology, SMEs need to go in full swing and use their existing dynamic spirit to grasp and seize rare opportunities on technology. One huge obstacle for enterprises in this matter is limited capital, however, as mentioned, SMEs have many ways out. They can use the government support, cooperate with other larger firms, transfer from foreign enterprises, participate in science fairs†¦ In specific, SMEs need to construct and develop their own information infrastructure to push information technology application and apply e-commerce. Investing in these is proved to cost reasonably but bring high efficiency. It can saves energy and cost for an enterprise, which lifts the management efficiency but at the same time, it can quickly grasp and exploit the market’s information, helping the business activities more professional and flexible. Focus on market research, export promotion, brand and image building Focusing in market research Start-up firms and SMEs need to vigorously improve on market research after Vietnam has joined WTO. Only thorough and detailed market research brings a well-rounded business plan. In the context where resources and capabilities is limited, they need to cooperate with the authority and government in pushing e-commerce, searching for market information through the Internet, as well as joining in knowledge sharing in different prestigious association. Enhance brand investment Almost SMEs in Vietnam are not fully aware of the importance of brand building and protection. In the next few year, when we penetrate more into the global economy, this can be a huge risks as there will certainly be many more conflict and disputes on brand. Therefore, SMEs need to have their own strategy for brand right now. Those enterprises need to have well-rounded knowledge about brand. Training for staff to aware of the importance of brand and reputation is vital. In the global context as it is today, when the brand of SMEs in Vietnam have yet owned a strong position in the domestic and international market, support from the government and other large corporations in brand building in of great importance. Ignoring this stage in the business plan means they actively put themselves in difficult situation later. Their competitors may use this to destroy the company. Actively apply international standards in business activities As analyzed, one of the biggest challenges for SMEs in Vietnam to penetrate into the international market is the international trade standards. Every countries and trade organizations in the world have their own set of regulations concerning the products’ standards. During the integration process, it is compulsory that start-up firms and SMEs in Vietnam should compel with these regulations. The lessons from Korea shows that, applying international standards in manufacturing and trading helps raise the export volume of SMEs in this countries. Therefore, it is essential for enterprises to actively apply these standards in their business activities. Depending on the requirements, the selected countries’ rules and the firm’s capacity, the firms can freely choose the standards like TQM, ISO 9000, HACCP, GMP, ISO 14000, SA 8000†¦ Besides, we need to understand and adapt to standards in hygiene, safety, rules on packing and marking†¦ These international standards can be an obstacle for SMEs in Vietnam in the short run but they will definitely bring practical value for them, helping them to strongly thrive in this most stable way.