College Essay Topic - Is It Appropriate to Use the Topic of Whining in Your College Essay?

College Essay Topic - Is It Appropriate to Use the Topic of Whining in Your College Essay?If you are going to write a college essay on whining, don't put it in there! Even if the topic is based on personal experience. But, if you are looking for a way to use the topic of whining in your paper, here are a few tips to help you out.The first thing you should know about writing a college essay is that it should not be based on personal experience. That's just plain silly. College students have grown accustomed to thinking that whining is acceptable is downright embarrassing. Therefore, in your college essay, you should keep this in mind.Okay, so what is a whining college student? They are those students who whine about everything, including grades, stress, and life in general. Oh, sure, they are likely intelligent. They may even be smart as heck. But, as always, the real test of a person is not their intelligence but their character.So, in this case, if you want to write a college essay on whining, don't even touch that subject. How do you know this? Well, ask yourself this: Would you go through life without complaining about anything?Now, if you go through life without complaining about anything, then probably you would write a good college essay on whining. So, when it comes to writing a college essay on whining, you don't want to use the topic in your topic.Also, when you write a college essay on whining, you shouldn't talk about the time you were sick or had a bad day at work, or went to a party and had a bad time. Or, you should talk about the time you had a great day and have had a great vacation. You should never use a story about the whining itself in your essay.The last thing you want to do with a college essay on whining is to use the subject as a reason to rant about how horrible the whining was. You should realize that if you use the subject of whining as a means to whine, then the reader will not learn anything from your essay.As a result, you should a void using the topic of whining in your college essay. Instead, if you are going to whine, go with the theme of the title of the essay, 'A Guide to Doing a Good Business Decision.' That is a great title for your essay, because it only focuses on doing a good business decision.

An Example of Essay Topics

An Example of Essay TopicsA good example of essay topics is the kind of topics that help us in getting an upper hand over our rivals. It helps you become the best in your field, and it also increases your grade. These topics include World War I, the Social Safety net, etc. For instance, you are writing an essay on social safety net, and you have a little research work done and you have learned some things which can be useful for you in this subject, you need to write on this topic.One of the easiest ways to research about a subject you have chosen is to work on a work-study program or volunteer work. The assignment you do here can be a good example of essay topics. The student has to be able to determine if a subject which is related to his/her area of interest is related to the needs of the society as well. It is the kind of assignment that helps in getting an idea about something about which you will be able to write about.Academic is not always easy, and we all need to face many d ifficulties from time to time. One of the best ways to get through such times is to discuss the difficult things that you have encountered while going through the difficult times. This can be a good example of essay topics.However, since the topic for this essay might be difficult, it is a must that you consider writing a short essay with a short essay topic. This way, you can deal with the difficult subject without having to spend too much time on the subject.There are many other topics you can discuss and include in your work. Some of the topics you can think of are: new research trends in science and technology, action/history, career paths, gardening, etc.It is essential to make sure that you include your ideas in your academic essays that you write. The best way to ensure that you discuss the idea properly is to use examples to show the topic you are talking about.Examples of essay topics are great ways to increase your grades. By being able to write an article that is intellig ent and interesting, it is a sure way to obtain better grades. All you need to do is focus on writing an essay that will improve your grades, and you will notice your grades will start increasing.

The Effects Of Alcohol On The Brain - 3698 Words

One of the most significant cause of motor vehicle fatalities, injuries and risk of car crash is drinking and driving (Chou et al., 2005). Alcohol impacts the brain by slowing down the procedure of receiving and processing information from eyes and directing actions, and the capability to function efficiently (Transport and Main Roads, 2010). Furthermore, it decreases clarity of vision, ability to see far and in dark, ability to make judgements, induce sleepiness and increase likelihood of risk taking behaviour. These effects of alcohol have a significant impact an individual’s ability to drive safely and securely while intoxicated with alcohol. Drink driving does not only impact the driver themselves, but also those who are victims of accidents caused by drink drivers. In Australia, drink driving continues to remain as one of the highest contributors to road fatality and injury, even though it has reduced remarkably since the 1980’s (Terer Brown, 2014). This paper wil l discuss some of the findings from an external interview (refer to Appendix A), and compare them to literature on the impacts and consequences of drink driving, a theoretical framework that supports a countermeasure to effectively reduce drink driving behaviour in society. Our interviewee’s opinion regarding drink driving was that it is a high concern in road safety. Findings from Transport and Main Roads (2012) report demonstrate that alcohol related crashes were the highest contributors in fatal crashes inShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Alcohol On The Adolescent Brain1585 Words   |  7 Pagespsychiatrists, PhD students and adolescent alcohol researchers, I obtained current information, where there were scarce secondary sources which explored the effects of alcohol on the adolescent brain. This process was highly beneficial because it increased the reliability of my research and substantiated emerging Key Finding 1 – that adolescent neuroplasticity increases their susceptibility to alcohol related mental illness. For example, Fiona Griffith stated that â€Å"the brain is going through a major upgradeRead MoreThe Effects Of Alcohol On The Brain And Body866 Words   |  4 PagesAlcohol causes many psychological and physiological problem s in heavy drinkers and light drinkers alike. A few well-known consequences of alcohol on the brain and body have been proven. This includes: cognitive mood and memory disturbances, injury to the gastrointestinal and intestinal tracts, and injury to cardiovascular, all of the body’s normal functions. Fetal alcohol syndrome is a growing problem. Fetal alcohol syndrome occurs when expectant mothers drink during pregnancy. This condition afflictsRead MoreThe Effects Of Drugs And Alcohol On The Brain846 Words   |  4 Pagesor how others become addicted to drugs and alcohol. This has been an ongoing issue still current in today’s society. â€Å"It is often mistakenly assumed that drug abusers lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior† (Understanding Drug). Same thing goes for the use of alcohol. It is up to the mind, whether or not to prevents the power such toxic substance if abuse, such as drugs and alcohol. The mind is the main focus in individualsRead MoreThe Effects Of Alcohol Addiction On The Brain1774 Words   |  8 PagesAbraham’s addiction to alcohol could be caused by processes in the brain, such as neurotransmitters and by hormones, it has been proven that alcohol addiction can be caused by genetics. There is also a gene that affects the amount of alcohol that people drink, this means that some people like Abraham may have a predisposition to drink a greater amount of alcohol that other people. There also a difference in the genetics factors, regarding alcohol consumption and alcohol dependency. Also in studiesRead MoreEffects Of Alcohol On The Human Brain793 Words   |  4 Pagesin the world are marijuana addicts and alcohol addicts. Both substances have been around for several years, but recent studies show, and have shown alcohol has more of a negative effect on the human brain, and body overall, than marijuana, while other activities, that are not considered as addictive, can have the same addictive features, and more dire consequences. Unlike the temporary effects of marijuana, Alcohol can have very consequential long term effect Alcoholic fatty liver, Alcoholic hepatitisRead MoreThe Long Lasting Effect of Alcohol on The Brain1208 Words   |  5 Pagesfrom alcohol-related causes, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in our country† (Alcohol Facts 1). Alcoholism is a major controversy in the United States, and many debate whether alcoholism is a disease or choice. Accordingly, based on scientific evidence, alcoholism is a disease because it has major long-term effects on the brain, it is an addiction, and it is treated medically. The first major reason alcoholism should be considered disease is the long-lasting effects it hasRead MoreEssay on Effect of Alcohol on the Human Brain1953 Words   |  8 PagesEffect of Alcohol on the Human Brain http://www.alcoholism.tqn.com/library/weekly/aa022697.htm?pid=2750cob=home. Whether a crime was committed intentionally or unintentionally has great bearing on the decision of a jury in finding a person guilty of a crime and/or on the judges choice of punishment. You might have heard of husbands apologizing to their wives the day after theyve beaten them. Their apology might sound something like, Im so sorry. I did not mean to hurt you, I swear! DoesRead MoreThe Effects Of Long Term Alcohol Use On The Brain1482 Words   |  6 Pages Alcohol is the result of the chemical process known as fermentation, which is essentially the putrefaction of yeast and sugar into a consumable intoxicant. The earliest examples of alcohol consumption were evidenced by beer recipes from Mesopotamia, written in Cuneiform on clay tablets. These tablets are considered one of the earliest forms of written language. Alcohol has long been considered an integral part of society, but its effects on physical and mental health, and social standing continueRead MoreEffects Of Alcohol On The Body s Organs And Brain Activity1350 Words   |  6 PagesAlcohol is a recreational drug which contains ethanol (Drugfreeworld.org, 2016), a depressant that prolongs the messages from the brain to the body affecting the way one thinks, feels and behaves (Alcoholthinkagain.com.au, 2014). Excessive alcohol consumption can have many negative effects on the body’s organs and brain activity. Major health problems such as cardiovascular disease, cirrhosis, depression, gout and pancreatitis can occur as a result of consuming large quantities of alcohol and haveRead MoreAlcohol and the Brain989 Words   |  4 PagesAlcohol and the Brain In chemistry terms, alcohol is any organic compound where a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom, which is has single bonds to three other atoms. The type of alcohol that can be consumed is called Ethanol which is a liquid and psychoactive recreational drugs. If a person drinks Ethanol, or alcohol, it affects the central nervous system, which causes decrease in activity, anxiety, tensions, concentration, and judgement. There are also several cases of memory loss due to

Theme in ‘Shakespeare in Love’ Free Essays

Describe one idea worth learning about in the text. Explain why it was worth learning about. John Madden’s Shakespeare in love is a ‘romantic comedy’ set in sixteenth century England. We will write a custom essay sample on Theme in ‘Shakespeare in Love’ or any similar topic only for you Order Now Through its two unfortunate protagonists, Will Shakespeare ‘a lowly player’ with writer’s block and wealthy Viola De Lesseps who dreams of ‘love as there has never been in a play,’ it explores the idea of ‘the truth and nature of love’ in the Elizabethan era. Madden portrays the harsh realities of the time through filmatic techniques such as dialogue, motifs and costuming to constantly remind the viewer throughout the film that the romance that is shared by Will and Viola cannot last in sixteenth century England. This is worth leaning about because as a 21st century viewer I become more able to appreciate the struggle faced by the two protagonists, especially Viola as a woman, in the name of love. Madden makes it clear to the viewer from the beginning of the film Shakespeare in Love, that the truth of love in sixteenth century England which is based on the idea of marriage as a method of obtaining social or financial gain divides the two protagonists who are separated by the class system. Madden enhances this key idea through the use of dialogue in Will and Viola’s conversations. Viola is quicker to come to terms with the inevitable idea that their love is ‘too flattering sweet to be substantial. The two are living in a brief ‘dream’, which can only last until Viola’s marriage to Wessex. â€Å"Master Will, poet dearest to my heart, I beseech you, banish me from yours –I am to marry Lord Wessex-a daughter’s duty. † However Will and Viola continue to pursue their risky love, getting caught up in the romance and Will boasts to Viola â€Å"for one kiss, I would defy a thousand Wessexes! † As a twenty-first century teenag er, the concept of a class system preventing two people who love each other from being together was new to me. However I admired and appreciated the two protagonists for going against the rules of society and seeing each other in secret trying to convince themselves that â€Å"love knows nothing of rank or riverbank. † Throughout the film we are reminded through the various recurring motifs, that Will and Viola’s love is one that will not last the expectations and realities of Elizabethan England. The river Thames is a constant setting focus in the film, being the large body of water that not only divides Will and Viola, but The Rose Theatre and The Curtain Theatre. The Thames is spoken of and shown in large establishing wide shots throughout the film. This helps to remind the viewers that Will and Viola are separated, not just by the river but the laws of society that forbid one of the lower class masses to love a wealthy upper class woman. â€Å"Oh Will, as Thomas Kent my heart belongs to you but as Viola the river divides us and I must marry Wessex a week from Saturday. † Often when Will and Viola are together they are shown with the river as a background always highlighting the rift that the class system has created between them, they can never openly be together. This is also shown in the extensive use of disguise used throughout the film. Viola dresses as a boy, ‘Thomas Kent,’ so she might act in Will’s plays. Will also disguises himself as a woman so he can go with Viola to Greenwich. This motif is an allusion to the play that Will Shakespeare would later write, Twelfth Night, but its main purpose is to remind us that in order to be together in public they must appear as disguised forms of themselves, they cannot openly declare their love. The only occasion when Will and Viola can express their love for each other in public is in the opening performance of Will’s new play Romeo and Juliet. This shows the viewer that only in the theatrical world can these two really be together, this was interesting to see as the nature of love in sixteenth century England means that the two protagonists will fall in love but the truth of love in this era means that if they are not from the same class in society then they cannot be together. It was worth learning about the risks Will and Viola take in order to try and fit into each other’s worlds as it made me invest much more emotion into their relationship. Shakespeare in Love won an academy award for its use of costuming in the film, which is reflected when we see Viola throughout the film. She is dressed immaculately in elaborate gowns with intricate beading often shown in regal colours such as red and gold which highlight her wealth and status and remind the viewer that she is too above Will for their relationship to be acceptable in Elizabethan society. This is contrasted when we first see Will, he is clearly one of the masses in his worn workman boots, plain white hirt and ink stained hands. He relies on his words for a living. Viola and Will are from separate worlds and are only equals in the opening performance of Romeo and Juliet where Will is dressed in equal amounts of finery as Viola. This shows that only in the make-believe world of the theatre can these two be equal and accepted. The idea that they cannot marry each other even though they are in love is hard to grasp in the modern day and is the reason why many were unsatis fied by the ending of the film. However it is worth learning that â€Å"love can spring between a queen and the poor vagabond who plays the king. † We see Will and Viola defy â€Å"rank and riverbank† in an awe-inspiring way but we learn that despite their risk taking, there is not always a happy ending. An unfortunate life is particularly likely for Viola because as a woman, during this era she had fewer rights. â€Å"Will she breed? †¦Yes, if she does not send her back. † Women also suffered greater consequences if they were to be caught acting in the theatre. This was a foreign idea for me to be learning about because as a twenty first century girl seeing actors regarded as ‘two-a-penny’ in the Elizabethan era was strange and hugely contrasting to the celebrity status actors enjoy today. So it can be seen that the truth of love in Elizabethan England separates the two protagonists who are without control over their own relationships and life choices, a reality for the time that is hardly seen in twenty-first century New Zealand making this theme in the film almost alien to a modern teenage girl like myself. John Madden successfully portrays the constrictions of Elizabethan England and the trials Will and Viola must undergo to be together through his use of dialogue, motifs and costuming. Even the queen ‘cannot part a couple who have been joined before God† and it is worth learning that we don’t always get a happy ending in life. How to cite Theme in ‘Shakespeare in Love’, Essay examples

Live Art free essay sample

â€Å"Live Art† is a compilation of tunes from live shows performed between 1992 and 1995. For those who dont know, the Flecktones sing a popular type of music known as jazzgrass, which combines stylistic elements of jazz and bluegrass. Prior to the release of â€Å"Live Art,† the band members spent time in Korea, the Philippines, Mongolia and Africa, giving the album its international musical spectrum. Although each song on the two discs is its own showcase of talent, my favorites include â€Å"Stomping Grounds,† â€Å"Bigfoot,† â€Å"Far East Medley,† â€Å"Amazing Grace,† â€Å"The Sinister Minister,† and â€Å"Flight of the Cosmic Hippo.† Because of its happy, upbeat rhythms and downright enjoyability, â€Å"Stomping Grounds† is the song I wake up to every morning. â€Å"Bigfoot† is probably the greatest song (musically) on the album and features incredible solos. â€Å"Flight of the Cosmic Hippo† is a banjo solo that concludes the album. This CD is a must for any hardcore musician, especially if you play bass guitar. We will write a custom essay sample on Live Art or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The eclectic blend of sounds will appeal to almost anyone who listens, so buy this album and go to a show!

A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business †Small Business Research Paper (500 Level Course)

A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business – Small Business Research Paper (500 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business Small Business Research Paper (500 Level Course) Abstract The balanced scorecard is a performance management system that enables businesses to drive strategies based on measurement and follow-up. Since the early 1990s the balanced scorecard has been applied in numerous large organizations resulting in many positive results that have been chronicled in the management literature. However, there are few studies addressing the use of a balanced scorecard within small companies. Hence, this paper presents a discussion of the key elements of the balanced scorecard and its applicability to small business. Executive Summary The balanced scorecard (BSC) approach helps organizations manage the implementation of their strategies. The BSC measures an organization’s performance from four key perspectives: financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth. The BSC approach logically links these four perspectives. Improvements in employee learning and growth result in improved internal business processes, which create better products and services and, therefore, higher customer satisfaction and higher market share, leading to enhanced financial results for the organization. Thus, a good balanced scorecard identifies many cause-and-effect relationships within the business and helps employees and managers appreciate the roles of employee and task as well as the importance of each result to the overall corporate effort. For a decade, large firms have subscribed to the BSC approach, with mixed results. Most failures follow an inconsistent or half-hearted application of the BSC, or an unwillingness to consider the BSC a dynamic process of self-improvement. The successful implementers of BSC agree on its usefulness for translating strategy into a coherent, linked, limited set of under-standable, measurable operational goals. Small firms can benefit from the BSC approach by avoiding pitfalls of large firms whose BSC implementations failed. While small firms may deploy measures of performance covering fewer processes, and collect less data to evaluate performance, in the end, the methodology is the same and benefits will inure to small firms willing to treat BSC as a dynamic self-improvement process. Thus, firm size is not a barrier to the successful implementation of this important measurement and follow-up tool. A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business Elite companies successfully apply performance measurement to gain insight into, and make judgments about, the organization and the effectiveness and efficiency of its programs, processes, and people (Amaratunga, Baldry, Sarshar, 2001). One criticism of such programs is their failure to measure and monitor multiple dimensions of performance by focusing almost exclusively on financial measures (Brignall Ballantine, 1996). Studies by Dixon, Nanni, Vollman (1990), Ernst Young (1998), Neely (1998), and Daly (1996) suggest that a comprehensive performance evaluation system has greater predictive validity than one that is purely financially oriented. Recognizing the difficulties of an overemphasis on financial measures, Kaplan and Norton (1992; 1993; 1996a; 1996b; 2000), advised that long-term organizational excellence can be achieved only by taking a broad, holistic, and balanced approach and not by focusing solely on financials. Using the balanced scorecard (BSC) approach managers are encouraged to take a â€Å"balanced view across a range of performance measures† (Amaratunga et al., 2001, p. 180) including â€Å"†¦financial and nonfinancial measures relating to a company’s critical success factors† (Chow, Haddad, Williamson, 1997, p. 7). Hence this paper discusses BSC as a tool applicable to small business to improve their performance and is structured in several sections. First, we outline the BSC approach and illustrate some applications. Next, we present the context, strengths, and challenges of a BSC approach. Then we discuss the applicability of a BSC to small business and what it might look like for a small organization. A summary concludes the paper. The BSC The BSC is an integrated set of financial and non-financial measures. It is an integral part of an organizations strategy execution process that emphasizes communicating strategy to the members and providing feedback to help attain objectives (Mendoza Zrihen, 2001). The score-card can be used at different levels: the total organization, a sub-unit, or even at the individual employee level as a â€Å"personal scorecard.† For each level, the BSC approach identifies the key components of operations, sets goals for them, and finds ways to measure progress toward achieving these goals. Taken together, the measures provide a holistic view of performance both inside and outside the organization, and allow each constituent of the organization to see how his or her activities contribute to attaining the organizations overall mission. As Richard Quinn, Vice President of Quality at Sears, has observed, â€Å"You simply cant manage anything you cant measure† (Lingle Schiemann, 19 96, p. 61). This trend toward seeking better measurement systems is well documented. Birchard (1995) and Kurtzman (1997) report that most US companies seek improvements in the performance measurement area. The shared concern of these companies is that measurement systems that focus on the wrong aspects of performance can undermine the organizations strategic mission by perpetuating short-sighted business practices (Hoffecker Goldenberg, 1994). As a measurement system, the BSC is based on several underlying notions. The first is that financial measures alone inadequately measure the health of a company and that a single-minded pursuit of financial objectives could lead to long-term ruin. The second is that BSC focuses on process, not metrics. As such, it is forward-looking (e.g., â€Å"How can our organization retain its best customers?†) rather than backward-looking (e.g., â€Å"What were our organization’s earnings per share last quarter?†). The third is that the scorecard is an analytic framework for translating a company’s visions and business strategies into specific, quantifiable goals and for monitoring performance against those goals. When fully deployed, the BSC transforms strategic planning from an academic exercise into the nerve center of an enterprise (Figure 1). Kaplan and Norton further describe the innovation of the BSC as follows: â€Å"The BSC retains traditional financial measures. But financial measures tell the story of past events, an adequate story for industrial age companies for which investments in long-term capabilities and customer relationships were not critical for success. These financial measures are inadequate, however, for guiding and evaluating the journey that information age companies must make to create future value through investment in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology, and innovation† (1996b, p. 7). Across organizations, the relevant BSC components vary depending on the organization’s specific goals and circumstances. However, there is some agreement that a typical BSC would include the following four components in some form (Horngren, Foster, Datar, 2000): Learning and growth perspective: Can the firm continue to improve and create value for customers? Internal business process perspective: In which capabilities must the firm excel? Customer perspective: How do customers see the firm? Financial perspective: How does the firm look to providers of financial resources? Inherent in this model is the idea that â€Å"gains in the learning and growth perspective lead to improvements in internal business processes, which in turn lead to higher customer satisfaction and market share, and finally to superior financial performance† (Horngren et al., 2000, p. 467). Thus, the BSC scheme is organized and rational and identifies for employees and management the importance of each perspective as a feeder of success into the next perspective. Insert Figure 1 about here The learning and growth perspective This perspective includes employee training and corporate cultural attitudes related to individual and organizational self-improvement. In a knowledge-worker organization, people- the only repository of knowledge- are the main resource and should be in a continuous learning mode. Appropriate metrics can guide managers in focusing training funds where they can help the most. Frequently cited BSC measures for the learning and growth perspective emphasize employee capabilities (e.g., employee education and skill levels, employee satisfaction scores, employee turnover rates); information systems availability (e.g., percentage of front-line employees with on-line access to customer information, percentage of business processes with real-time feedback); and motivation and empowerment (e.g., number of suggestions per employee, percentage of employee suggestions implemented, and percentage of compensation based on individual and team incentives). Kaplan and Norton (2000) emphasize that learn ing includes not only training, but also mentoring, ease of communication among workers, and technological tools. The internal business process perspective Metrics based on this perspective allow managers to evaluate how well their business is running, and whether its products and services conform to customer requirements (the mission). These metrics must be carefully designed by those who know these processes most intimately; with firms’ unique missions these cannot be developed exclusively by outside consultants. Frequently cited BSC measures for the internal business process perspective include the innovation process (manufacturing capabilities, number of new products or services, product development times, and number of new patents), operations process (yield, defect rates, product delivery time, on-time deliveries, average time taken to manufacture orders, setup time, manufacturing down time), and post sales service (time taken to replace or repair defective products, hours of customer training for using the product). The customer perspective Recent management philosophy has shown an increasing realization of the importance of customer focus and customer satisfaction in any business (Chabrow, 2003; Holloway, 2002; Needleman, 2003). If customers are not satisfied, they will eventually find other suppliers who will meet their needs. Poor performance from this perspective is thus a leading indicator of future decline, even though the current financial picture may look good. In developing metrics for satisfaction, customers should be analyzed in terms of kinds of customers and the kinds of processes for which an organization is providing a product or service to those customer groups. Frequently cited BSC measures for the customer perspective include market share, customer satisfaction, customer retention percentage, penetration of targeted market segments, and time taken to fulfill customer’s requests. The financial perspective Kaplan and Norton do not disregard the traditional need for financial data. Timely and accurate funding data will always be a priority, and managers will do whatever necessary to provide it. Often there is more than enough handling and processing of financial data. With the implementation of a corporate database, more of the processing can be centralized and automated. However, a non-BSC emphasis on financials leads to an â€Å"unbalanced† situation with regard to other perspectives, implying a need to include additional data such as risk assessment and cost-benefit data in this category. Frequently cited BSC measures for the financial per-spective include operating income, revenue growth, revenues from new products, gross margin percentage, cost reductions in key areas, economic value added, and return on investment. An example of these four perspectives in an actual business is presented in Figure 2 (Mair, 2002). As can be seen, once the strategy is identified, tactical objectives and performance standards in support of the strategy within the four perspectives are clearly delineated giving an organization a balanced measurement system. Insert Figure 2 about here Extant BSC implementations Recent articles and books discuss the advantages of the BSC and its application in the for-profit sector (e.g., Hoffecker Goldenberg, 1994; Kaplan Norton, 1992; 1993; 1996a; 1996b; 2000; Kurtzman, 1997; Maisel, 1992; Migliorato, Natan, Norton, 1996; Newing, 1994; 1995). Among the numerous successful users of the BSC are the AM R division of Mobil Oil, Tenneco, Brown and Root, ATT, Intel, 3Com, and Elf Atochem. Philips Electronics has used the BSC to align company vision, focus employees on how they fit into the big picture, and educate them on what drives the business (Gumbus Lyons, 2002). As an essential aid to communicating business strategy, the BSC works as a vehicle to create a quantitative expression of the business strategy from key financial indicators. In fact, Philips Electronics’ management team uses it to guide the quarterly business reviews worldwide in order to promote organizational learning and continuous improvement (Gumbus Lyons, 2002). Adopters in the service sector include the international accounting firm Ernst and Young (Vitale, Mavrinac, Hauler, 1994), the Bank of Montreal (Birchard, 1995), Allstate Corp. (Birchard, 1995) and Cigna Insurances property-and-casualty division (McWilliams, 1996). Even non-profit organizations such as universities (e.g., U. of California at San Diego) and governmental agencies (e.g., Department of Commerce) have embraced the BSC to help them become more effective (Relyea, 1998; Haddad, 1999). Context, strengths, and challenges of the BSC Context According to Abernathy (2000, p. 31), the typical employee does not understand the organization’s strategy and consequently fails to focus on the right things; does not know his or her personal role in accomplishing the strategy and as a result does what is required, not what is needed; and does not know how well he or she is doing or how to improve strategic results and thus, assuming performance is adequate, does not try to improve. In addition, employees in many organizations pursue personal rather than organizational goals, because of disharmony between employee and organizational strategies and goals, and because of existing reward structures that focus on individual or sub-unit achievements rather than the achievement of corporate goals (Kerr, 1975). In such a corporate environment, organizational suboptimization is the result of sub-organizational optimization. Frigo and Krumwiede (2000) suggest that the BSC can help remedy this situation because it requires organizatio ns to engage in several beneficial activities. These activities delineate the major strengths of the BSC, as outlined in the following section. Strengths The first strength the BSC approach is a focus on the company’s strategic direction. A BSC approach helps management communicate the companys mission by linking performance measures to its mission and strategy. While the idea of tailoring the company’s performance measurement system to its strategy is almost commonsensical, several studies conducted over the years note that too many firms fail to implement it properly. Kerr (1975), for example, described how many companies’ performance measurement systems rewarded behaviors other than the ones they hoped to obtain from their employees (e.g., firms often hope for teamwork but reinforce individual effort). Another advantage is the implementation of performance measures for each perspective that clearly relate to each other and to the mission of the organization. Thus, although the measures are necessary, communicating the importance of each activity as a crucial link in the larger organizational chain of events offers employees an appreciation of the context in which each task is performed and the context in which each result will be evaluated. The BSC approach limits the number of measures of performance used. Thus, it avoids a proliferation of measures and focuses management attention on measures crucial to the success-ful implementation of strategy. The BSC avoids the tendency to engage in the â€Å"majoring in the minors† characteristic of many organizations and managers (Busby, 1999; The Nielson Group, 2003). Finally, implementing the balanced scorecard is a beneficial activity because it responds to common questions raised in annual employee motivation surveys, such as How does what I do every day fit into the bigger picture of the company? The BSC enables employees to under-stand what they need to do on a daily basis to impact results (Gumbus Lyons, 2002, p. 49). Challenges of the BSC In many cases, the BSC no doubt delivers improvements over what existed before. But almost any organizational intervention triggers the Hawthorne effect (Kenny, 2003), named for experiments conducted in the 1920s and ’30s on a group of production employees at Western Electric. Those studies showed that attention placed on the activities being measured invariably led to performance improvements. Hence, many of these early BSC successes may simply be a manifestation of this phenomenon. Although the BSC is comprehensive in its coverage of perspectives, it might be that an organization, based on its particular strategy, might do better by focusing on one or more of these measures rather than having a balanced emphasis in each of the four areas, because different strategies have different requirements for success. Indeed, Slater, Olson, and Reddy (1997) argued that the scorecard should be â€Å"unbalanced,† based on the strategy of the business. Using Treacy and Wiersemas (1993, 1995) â€Å"value disciplines,† they asserted that product leaders should emphasize the innovation and learning perspective; customer-intimate companies (those that excel in customer intimacy) should emphasize the customer perspective; the operationally excellent should emphasize the internal business perspective; and all of the value disciplines should pay attention to the financial perspective. Their rationale was that each value discipline has a performance perspective that is a leading indicator of its financial performance. This â€Å"unbalanced† perspective is supported by Olson and Slater (2002) who found that as a group, prospectors (organizations seeking to locate and exploit new product and market opportunities; Miles Snow, 1978) emphasized the innovation and growth perspective more than any of the other strategy types, and high-performing low-cost defenders placed greater emphasis on the financial perspective than did low-performing ones. High performers that have adopted this competitive strategy also placed significantly lower emphasis on both the customer perspective and the innovation and growth perspective than did low performers. This suggests that attempting to get close to their customers and pursuing innovation and market growth detracted from low-cost defenders’ quest for efficiency. Thus, a balanced approach may not be appropriate for all organizations, and benefits can be derived from matching an emphasis in the scorecard to strategy type. McAdam O’Neill (1999) likewise suggest that the BSC method is potentially so broad that it may divert resources from those few areas that really are vital to shareholder return and does not readily weight the relative importance of the metrics it uses. While the four categories may have been right for Analog Devices (the first organization to use the BSC approach) at the time, they are not necessarily right for all organizations in all situations. The applicability of the BSC to small business Many large organizations have identified the BSC methodology as their chosen approach for deploying strategic direction, communicating expectations, and measuring progress towards corporate objectives. According to a recent survey by Bain Company, approximately 50% of Fortune 1,000 companies in North America and about 40% in Europe use a version of the BSC (Gumbus Lyons, 2002). Heaney (2003) indicates that the BSC is used by over half of the companies in Fortune’s Global 1000 companies. These data suggest that the BSC is primarily used by large organizations. This is regrettable since small businesses represent more than 99% of all employers, and employ more than half the private work force (American Small Businesses, 2003). Small business entrepreneurs create more than two out of every three new jobs and generate about 50% of the nations gross domestic product. Furthermore, more than three million minority-owned small businesses are providing job opportunities for millions of Americans in thousands of communities across America (American Small Businesses, 2003). Small business, then, is important to America and activities to improve these organizations are of critical importance. Large international firms tend to face more turbulent and competitive environments, have more dispersed and varied products and processes to coordinate and monitor, and have more resources for undertaking change initiatives. In comparison, small or local companies may have different needs, and what works for large companies may be ineffective or unnecessary for them (Chow et al., 1997). However, the benefits of the BSC can be just as significant for small businesses. Indeed, they may be more important since small companies focus mostly on financial goals, because they are often fighting for survival and it is difficult to make plans for the future when most of the effort is directed to making ends meet in the present (DeFeo, 2000). Most small firms require lower volumes of information to carry out their operations and evaluate their performance than do their larger counterparts. Nonetheless, the value of the information, and the communication of that information within the small firm, is crucial to the success of the small firm. Therefore, while the scope and magnitude of performance evaluation across the firm may be less in the small firm, the need for, and the benefits of, an effective system of performance evaluation is vital to all firms. Small firms enjoy innate advantages in their ability to achieve consensus and impart to employees news of change. The smaller number of interested internal parties reduces challenges to effective communication and facilitates corporate-wide team participation. It is easier to get ten people on board than it is to get ten thousand people on board, and it is easier to identify a party or parties not on board within a group of ten than within a group of ten thousand. The underpinnings of the BSC approach are as relevant to the small firm as to the large. Small firms have employees performing operational tasks and processes. If the employees are effective and efficient (i.e., sufficiently trained and motivated), then internal business processes will be efficient. Efficient operations run by effective employees should generate higher quality output, which will attract and keep satisfied customers. Repeat customers contribute marginally more to the firm’s bottom line than do new customers who must be wooed. In short, the BSC can work as well for the small firm as for the large firm. The BSC’s complexity may be diminished and its formality may be dampened in the context of a small firm, but neither its importance nor its utility suffers negative consequences related to firm size. Concluding remarks The BSC emphasizes measurement in four key business areas or perspectives. These four perspectives provide for a more comprehensive evaluation of the organization than the traditional emphasis on tangible and financial assets of the organization. Incorporating these perspectives in the BSC offers a framework for translating strategic objectives into performance measurements that gauge the effects of implemented strategies and provide feedback on the performance of strategic initiatives. We believe that the BSC offers some useful generic performance measurements that apply to practically all organizations. Companies, small or large, need to know how they measure up to their own goals and standards, and the BSC can give them the advantage they need to evaluate themselves accurately and, as a result, place themselves in a better position to compete. The main goal for small business is to manage their overall performance so that they make a profit. Birch (1998) said it best when he indicated that â€Å"The key point to remember is that what get measured gets managed† (p. 45). References Abernathy, W. B. (2000). Managing without supervising: Creating an organization-wide performance system. Memphis, TN: William B. Abernathy. 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Using the balanced scorecard to develop companywide performance measures. Journal of Cost Management, 8, 517. Holloway, A. (2002, October 28). It’s all about relationships. Canadian Business, 75, 80. Horngren, C. T., Foster, G., Srikant, M. D. (2000). Cost accounting: A managerial emphasis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1992, January-February). The balanced score card- Measures that drive performance. Harvard Business Review, 171-179. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1993, September-October). Putting the balanced scorecard to work. Harvard Business Review, 135-147. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1996a). The balanced score card. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1996b, January-February). Using balanced scorecard as a strategic management system. Harvard Business Review, 75-85. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (2000). The strategy-focused organization: How balanced scorecard companies thrive in the new business environment. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kenny, G. (2003, March 5). Strategy: Balanced scorecard- Why it isnt working. New Zealand Management, 50, 32-34. Kerr, S. (1975). On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management Journal, 18, 769-783. Kurtzman, J. (1997, February 2). Is your company off course? Now you can find out why. Fortune, 135, 128-130. Lingle, J. H., Schiemann, W. A. (1996). From balanced scorecard to strategic gauges: Is measurement worth it? Management Review, 85, 56-61. Mair, S. (2002, November-December). A balanced scorecard for a small software group. IEEE Software, 21-27. Maisel, L. S. (1992). Performance measurement: The balanced scorecard approach. Journal of Cost Management, 6, 47-52. McAdam, R., O’Neill, E. (1999). Taking a critical perspective to the European Business Excellence Model using the balanced scorecard approach: A case study in the service sector. Managing Service Quality, 3, 191-197. McWilliams, B. (1996). The measures of success. Across the Board, 33, 16-20. Mendoza, C., Zrihen, R. (2001, April). Measuring up. Financial Management (CIMA), 26-29. Migliorato, P., Natan, N., Norton, D. P. (1996). A scoring system for creating JVs that survive. Mergers and Acquisitions, 30, 45-50. Miles, R., Snow, C. (1978). Organizational strategy, structure, and process. New York: McGraw-Hill. Needleman, T. (2003, May). Customer satisfaction is supreme. Internet World, 9, 6. Neely, A. (1998). Measuring business performance. London: Economist Books. Newing, R. (1994). Benefits of a balanced scorecard. Accountancy, 114, 52-53. Newing, R. (1995). Wake up to the balanced scorecard. Management Accounting, 73, 22-23. Olson, E. M., Slater, S. F. (2002). The balanced scorecard, competitive strategy, and performance. Business Horizons, 45, 11-16. Relyea, S. W. (1998, June). From gutter balls to strikes: UCSD’s balanced scorecard program. National Association of College and University Business Officers Business Officer. Retrieved August 4, 2003 at nacubo.org/website/members/bomag/9806/ scorecard.html Slater, S. F., Olson, E. M., Reddy, V. (1997, July-August). Strategy-based performance measurement. Business Horizons, 40, 37-44. The Nielson Group. (2003, April). The Nielson report, 3, 1-4. Retrieved August 1, 2003 at nielsongroup.com/newsletter/vol3issue4.pdf Treacy, M., Wiersema, F. (1993, January-February). Customer intimacy and other value Disciplines. Harvard Business Review, 71, 84-93. Treacy, M., Wiersema, F. (1995). The discipline of market leaders. Reading, MA: Addison- Wesley. Vitale, M., Mavrinac, S., Hauler, M. (1994). D. H.: The chemical division’s balanced scorecard. Planning Review, 22, 17-45. Research Papers on A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business - Small Business Research Paper (500 Level Course)Open Architechture a white paperAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaThe Project Managment Office SystemIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalResearch Process Part OneInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesPETSTEL analysis of IndiaStandardized TestingThree Concepts of PsychodynamicRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and

Spanish Expressions Using Ir

Spanish Expressions Using Ir Like its English counterpart to go, the Spanish verb ir can be used with an incredible variety of meanings. The meanings of phrases using ir cant always be determined logically merely by knowing the meanings of the individual words, so they are best learned through actual use or memorization. Using ‘Ir A’ as a Type of Future Tense By far the most common expression using ir is ir a followed by an infinitive. For most purposes, it is the equivalent of the English to go to followed by a verb. Thus voy a estudiar means I am going to study. This use of ir a is extremely common in Spanish, so much so that in some parts of Latin America it is the de facto future tense. It even has a name- the periphrastic future. (Something periphrastic uses more than one word.) Where it is in common use, it all but replaces the standard or conjugated future tense in standard speech. In other words, a sentence such as Vamos a comprar la casa can be translated as either We are going to buy the house or We will buy the house. Other Phrases Using ‘Ir’ Many of the other expressions using ir are formed by following ir with a prepositional phrase. Following are some of the most common. Keep in mind that some of the expressions here can also be translated literally. For example, while ir de has two idiomatic definitions given here, it can also be translated literally. For example: Mi tà ­a va de trabajo a trabajo. (My aunt goes from job to job.) ir a (or, less commonly, ir para) destination: to go to (a place). Fuimos a la playa. (We went to the beach.)Quienes fueron a Espaà ±a? (Who went to Spain?) ir en vehicle: to travel by (type of vehicle). Less commonly, the preposition por can be used instead. Voy en autobà ºs. (I am traveling by bus.)Nos iremos en taxi, porque no quisiera depender de nadie. (Well go away by taxi, because we dont want to depend on anybody.) ir para infinitive: to go to verb, to go in order to verb, to go for the purpose of verb. Vamos para conocer a mis padres. (We are going in order to meet my parents.)Quiero ir para aprender espaà ±ol. (I want to go in order to learn Spanish.) ir para type of job or career: to go to become someone with the stated type of job. Pablo va para mà ©dico. (Pablo is going to become a doctor.)Debe ir para el candidato presidencial. (She should go become a presidential candidate.) ir gerund: to be doing something, usually with the connotation of doing so gradually or laboriously. Voy aprendiendo la leccià ³n. (I am slowly learning the lesson.)Él va construyendo la casa. (He is gradually building the house.) ir tirando: to manage or get by. Vamos tirando por mucha ayuda. (Were getting by with a lot of help.)Ahora con la crisis las cosas estn malas, pero vamos tirando. (Things are bad with the crisis now, but well manage.) ir andando, ir corriendo: to walk, to run. Va andando a la escuela. (He is walking to the school.)Fue corriendo a la escuela. (He ran to the school.) ir de: to be about or be the subject of (when said of a book, movie, speech, etc.) El seà ±or de los anillos va de un hobbit. (The Lord of the Rings is about a hobbit.)Romeo y Julieta va de amor. (Romeo and Juliet is about love.) ir de: to think of oneself as. Roberto va de inteligente. (Roberto thinks hes smart.)Los jovenes de esa escuela siempre van de invencibles. (The teens at that school always think theyre invincible.) ir de, ir con: to be dressed in. Él va con camisa blanca. (He is wearing a white shirt.)Ella va de azul. (She is dressed in blue.) ir de compras: to go shopping. Fuimos de compras. (We went shopping.)Es imprescendible que vaya de compras antes. (It is vital that he has gone shopping earlier.) ir por: to search for, to go in search of, to go for. Vamos por una casa nueva. (Were off in search of a new house.)Mis hijos iban por un regalo para mà ­ y ya no regresaron. (My children went to get a gift for me and still havent come back.)  ¿Cà ³mo indirect object pronoun ir?: How goes it (for you, him, her, etc.)? This concept can be expressed colloquially in many ways.  ¿Cà ³mo te va? (Hows it going?) ¿Cà ³mo le va a à ©l? (Hows it going for him?) irse por las ramas: to beat around the bush, to get sidetracked. El testigo se fue por las ramas. (The witness beat around the bush.)Ella solà ­a siempre irse por las ramas y nunca llegar al grano. (She would always ramble on and never get to the point.)