Essay on Gender in the Odyssey - 1002 Words

Odysseus values and character traits serve as a paradigm of the ideal Homeric Greek man. The god-like Odysseus is crafty, valiant, wise, and eloquent. He gains much of his knowledge through travel, the meeting of different cultures and peoples and learns from suffering and mistakes. He is an aristocrat and a warrior of all warriors. We first learn of many of these traits in Homers Iliad. Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek army always calls on Odysseus for assignments that required someone cunning and brilliant. Agamemnon sends Odysseus to ask Achilles to return to the army and sends him with Diomedes into the Trojan camp to attain information. Odysseus has to be sly and quick so the Trojans do not catch him. Homer describes†¦show more content†¦He follows Hermes exact instructions and when the goddess attempts to strike him with her sword, he lunges at her. Odysseus draws his sword and says, Swear me a great oath that there is no other evil hurt you devise agains t me.(Homer, Book X, Line 344) Homer has Odysseus draw his sword at this moment; perhaps he aims to show how a womans appeal and sexuality is a threat to male dominance. Such interactions between men and women add a certain dynamic to the epic and make it more interesting and easier for the reader to identify with the story. Although, Odysseus is very sly and resourceful, many times even he finds himself lost when he is in these types of situations with seductive women. Odysseus was so infatuated with Circe that he remained on her island for a year, completely forgetting about his nostos or homecoming, until his men convinced him to leave. Another moment when we see the importance of gender to the project of the Odyssey is during Odysseus seven-year stay with Kalypso on her island. When Odysseus relays the the story of Kalypso, he changes the story slightly to give the perception that he was held prisoner and lamented the entire time he was there. However, Homer gives us some insight when he says; the nymph was no longer pleasing to him, (Book V, Line 153) which implies that at some point Odysseus did enjoy himself with the goddess on the island. Kalypso offered him immortality and a life of ease.Show MoreRelatedAthena And Gender Roles During The Odyssey1776 Words   |  8 PagesAllen Professor T. Carlisle English 212-044 October 05,2017 Research paper intro and thesis and work cited Athena and Gender Roles in the Odyssey The expectations of gender roles had a great impact on women in classical Greek society. In Ancient Greece, women were banned from entering the battlefield because warfare was seen more suitable for men, it is where they would show their strengths, physical courage and power. Women had no power or say as far as giving orders, their role was to stand behindRead MoreEssay about The Odyssey - Gender Roles893 Words   |  4 PagesThe Odyssey is the product of a society in which the dominant role was played by men. In ancient Greece, just as in the whole of the ancient world, and in America and Western Europe until the last century, women occupied a subservient position. Society was organized and directed by men, and all of the most important enterprises were those which men arranged and implemented. Women were valued, but they participated in the affairs of the world only when they had the tacit or open approval and permissionRead MoreGender Roles Throughout History : The Odyssey, Romeo And Juliet1515 Words   |  7 Pages TITLE: STUDENT: GRADE: YEAR: SUBJECTS:  First Tesina Draft: Gender Roles throughout History Have you ever been told you couldn’t do something because of who you were? Have you ever felt inferior to someone else for something that was out of your control? Women have always rebelled against their traditional role in society. An illustration of this is how women have succeeded in a male dominated field such as science. We today have evolved greatly socially from the periods of ancientRead MoreFemale Characters Of Women During The Odyssey By F. Scott Fitzgerald1499 Words   |  6 Pagestranscribed The Odyssey, women were not even allowed to participate in the theatrical performances; male actors played the female characters. Despite these conditions, female characters are very prevalent in the epic, and many of them even exert their independence outside of traditional gender norms at the time. At the same time, however, these women still exhibit a level of subservience, representative of the social constraints. Even though various women play strong, importa nt roles in The Odyssey, theirRead MoreMale Stereotypes In The Odyssey Of Homer701 Words   |  3 PagesMale Gender Stereotypes Gender stereotypes has been around for many decades, and have been passed on from generation to generation. These gender stereotypes play a big role in how people are looked upon in society. The ancient Greeks portrayed masculinity as being brave, strong, powerful, superior to women, and in no way feminine. Some of these male expectations are still maintained in society today. In the book â€Å"The Odyssey of Homer† written by Richmond Lattimore, there are many of the male expectationsRead MoreHelen Of The And The Odyssey1342 Words   |  6 Pagesnarrator is constantly trying to fit her into the box created the legacy of Helen of Tory/Odyssey. However, Helen of Omeros’ strong will and personality and overall uniqueness is still able to shine through, despite the narrator’s biases, and we are able to see the individual differences between the two women and their connection to the evolution of Helen throughout history. We only catch a glimpse of Helen in the Odyssey, but Helen in Walcott’s Omeros is portrayed much deeper. The word/name Helen, in generalRead MoreThe s The Odyssey, Lysistrata, And Clytemnestra1530 Words   |  7 Pageslike housework. While some works of the time presented women as mere housewives, others often put them in the position of political leaders, heroines, and murderers. The women that receive major roles in the stories such as Penelope in Homer s The Odyssey, Lysistrata in Aristophanes Lysistrata, and Clytemnestra in Aeschylus Agamemnon are major characters with important roles, thus breaking the traditions of normal culture during this time period in Greek history. Not only are these women strongRead MoreMasculinity And The Ideal Man969 Words   |  4 Pagespoem the Odyssey and the Netflix television production House of Cards these ideals of masculinity, who assigns them, and their evolution or lack thereof can be explored and determined. This analysis reveals that while activity is an enduring trait of the masculine ideal, the idea that men need to be dominant over women has been, for the most part, eradicated from the portrait of â€Å"the ideal man† by modern society. Activity is a trait of ideal masculinity that is pervasive in both the Odyssey and HouseRead MoreEssay about The Pride of Men, Their Prejudice Against Women812 Words   |  4 PagesThe society of the ancient Greeks in The Odyssey, by Homer, is different than the one that we know today. The currency, transportation, and technology were all different. Another part of society that was also different was gender roles. For instance, women were bound to the home and men were able to do pretty much anything they pleased. Double standards arose—a man could travel by himself and be praised for getting to see the world, while a woman who did the same was berated and reckoned by othersRead MoreEast Vs. West Literature Essay931 Words   |  4 PagesThe Odyssey, and similar characteristics are also in Gilgamesh.   These types of literatures are so rich in their text and have so many different beliefs.   The Eastern and Western Literature compares throughout topics like gender roles, the influence of family, and afterlife beliefs. A stereotype or a set of normal that one does and is appropriate for their sexuality, gender roles. Comparing gender roles between the East and West, there are epics that prove this culture, such as, The Odyssey, Beowulf

Respect vs. Disrespect Free Essays

Respect Vs Disrespect By Osita Onyebuchi Respect vs. Disrespect Have you ever met someone who was rude to you and didn’t hold you with much regard? How did you feel? Did you feel angry? What do you think respect is? How is respect earned? Respect is an important way of being kind and good to other people. We live in a society that respect is earned not given. We will write a custom essay sample on Respect vs. Disrespect or any similar topic only for you Order Now With respect there is also an opposite side of disrespect. The definition of respect is to consider worthy of high regard. There are different forms of respect, the word respect is defined as the condition of being esteemed or honored. Disrespect, on the other hand, is defined as a lack of respect. Respect has great importance in everyday life; everyone wants to be respected. Even those who do not give respect expect to be respected by others. We may also learn that how our lives go depends every bit as much on whether we respect ourselves. The value of self-respect may be something we can take for granted, or we may discover how very important it is when our self-respect is threatened, or we lose it and have to work to regain it, or we have to struggle to develop or maintain it in a hostile environment. Some people find that finally being able to respect them is what matters most   Ã‚  It is acknowledged widely that there are many different kinds of respect. Respect may come in different forms, but it will still be perceived as respect. Respect in your family household is very important for a child and any other individual. For example, a child may choose to obey their parent because their parent is very strict and the child doesn’t want to get on their bad side. This form of respect could also be perceived as fear because the child is worried about how the parent will react if they choose to misbehave. Read also Twitter Case Study The child would also respect their parent in a way that if they were to request something, the parents will grant the favor. Another example is a police officer respecting the rights of a man they just arrested. This form of respect is leaning towards unalienable rights. The police officer have to give you the respect that you deserve even when you are the one wrong in the situation. The respect goes a long way in our legal system because it’s the foundation on how criminals should be treated. Everybody akes mistakes especially criminals so you should always resect them even if you don’t approve of what they did. We are not in the place to judge anybody regardless of what they did. Everyone’s rights are respected regardless of merit. Another example is a child respecting and looking up to a celebrity. The child is in awe and therefore respects the celebrity. Besides those three examples, there is also religion. In different religions and culture comes major respe ct. The gestures you make with one culture is different with other cultures and religions. The culture of the people of China and Africa demand respect. For example, taking off your shoes before you enter into a house is very big in China but not as big in the United States. Another example would be calling your elders â€Å"aunt† or â€Å"uncle†. In Africa that is major respect, you can’t walk into somebody house and don’t greet them by saying â€Å"aunt or uncle†, Religious tolerance does not mean one cannot express his own beliefs. It does mean that seeking to undermine or attack the religious faith and beliefs of another has always been a short road to  trouble. It doesn’t matter if you dont worship the sam GOD the person next to you, just have respect for their religious beliefs. Cultures and religions are very important to people, so therefore respecting them is also very important. The last example is respect in the workplace. When you are at work there are so many rules you have to follow when it comes to respecting your co-workers. For example, there’s is a various amount of beautiful women at your workplace and you tend to gain interest in the person other than business relationship. I would advise not to do it due to the fact that it may come off as a form of disrespect. When it comes to building a relationship in the workplace it just doesn’t work out so try to stay away from that. Aside from respect, there is also disrespect. From being slapped by someone to being publically humiliated, disrespect is alive and well in today’s society. Just like respect, disrespect also comes in different forms. Verbal disrespect is a form of disrespect seen virtually everywhere. Raising your voice to an adult in public, using harsh words towards one another are some examples of verbal disrespect. Verbal disrespect does not always appear to be disrespect. For example, cutting someone off while they are speaking and lying and manipulation. When you cut somebody off when they are speaking that shows the person that you are not listening to them and don’t care about what they have to say. Many people are being verbally disrespected but do not notice it because it is not always as harsh as other forms of disrespect. Another form of disrespect is technological disrespect. Many people are disrespected and humiliated on social networks such Facebook, Twitter, and etc. But it doesn’t stop there, emailing texting, and even when talking on the phone can lead to technological disrespect. There is a lot of disrespect on the internet such as Facebook, both male and female can comment on somebody picture and say something sexual that the person would take offensive in disrespect. On twitter people can tweet something sexual and the only reason people are doing it because of fear so they hide behind a computer. Aside from technological disrespect is an even bigger issue of disrespect, physical disrespect. We’ve all heard about violence, not just in relationships but violence in general. Some examples of physical disrespect is violence in a relationship, physically hurting your children or family, or physically harming yourself. Physical disrespect is probably one of the worst forms of disrespect because it not only affects you physically but also emotionally and cognitively. One example of Physical disrespect is the bus driver incident that was over the news. A man should never put his hands on a female regardless of any circumstance. Physical abuse leaves scars that will not go away. In a relationship if you are getting physically disrespected, you should not be in the relationship than, no relationship is worth getting hit all the time. There are many variables when it comes to respect and disrespect. If you always respect a person it is likely that they will disrespect you. In this society that we live in treat others the way that you want to be treated. Respect goes a long way in life. Respect is to consider somebody that is high worthy. Everybody should be high worthy to you , just go by the guidelines provided below and you will be a respected person and also know how important it is to respect somebody else. Work Cite Page Koppelman, A. (2010). How Shall I Praise Thee? Brian Leiter on Respect for Religion. San Diego Law Review, 47(4), 961-986. Colker, J. (2012). THE DANGER OF DISRESPECT. Smart Business Chicago, 9(11), 10. How to cite Respect vs. Disrespect, Papers

The Value of Performance Related Pay free essay sample

The value of performance related pay Currently, many companies are utilizing the performance related pay (PRP) scheme. The PRP is often regarded as an effective method to achieve a better performance in both individual and collective terms. In the study of Cutler and Waine (1999), PRP affords employees with opportunities to increase return after the performance appraisal. It is quite different with certain salary schemes, such as those offering an automatic increase in pay but despite employees’ real performance. The PRP scheme is usually designed to increase employees’ commitment and motivate employees through implementing an incentive system and assessing employees’ work performance (Varone and Giauque, 2001). The reasons for utilizing PRP scheme are various. Apparently, it is vital for the management layer to maintain a high level of consistency between employees’ and employers’ interests. Unless the two originally separate interests being aligned, can the corporation operate normally. Since it is difficult to attribute the output to individuals, PRP is an appropriate approach to make the incentives of the company and employees consistent (Kruse, 1996). We will write a custom essay sample on The Value of Performance Related Pay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Besides, the intent to maintain the stability in the employment acts as another reason for the utilization of PRP schemes. The research by Chelius and Smith (1990) indicates the fact that the enterprise with a PRP scheme can have a higher level of stability in the workforce. Also, PRP’s effect on the enhancement of individual employee’s effort towards tasks and the corporate productivity promote its implement to a rather large extent. PRP’s effect on individual employee, team, organizational motivation and productivity The PRP scheme can affect a wide range of subjects. In terms of individual employees, the company with a PRP scheme tends to be more attractive and it is more probable for them to increase the input (Lazear, 1986). Since the pay level is related to the different levels of work performance and employees believe better performance would be accompanied by a desirable return that is valued by them, staff may be more willing to exert an effort  towards the task allocated. Moreover, the staff is more motivated to better the work performance due to the financial incentive and further achieve a higher level of job satisfaction. However, the function of PRP on a team-based task is often argued by different studies. For example, it may be difficult to distinguish the individual contribution levels when the job is completed as a consequence of the teamwork (Campbell et al, 1998), so the effect of PRP on the integral team can be weakened. Apart from that, Gielen et al (2006) state that it is possible for the team members to become a free-rider, due to the difficulty in evaluating the individual performance in a team and thus the a group-based PRP scheme may just have little effect on individual performance. In contrast, Varone and Giauque (2001) argue that the problem can be resolved if the reward is on a collective basis rather than an individual one. The reason is that if the reward can be important to the entire team, the team members’ involvement and motivation would be improved. Also, the PRP has an effect on the organizational motivation, but the situation is very complex. According to the expectancy theory proposed by Vroom (1964), when the management can meet the requirements, that employees have enough capacity to fulfill a task and the fulfillment of the task is related to certain outcomes that are valued by employees, staff can be motivated to accomplish the job. Therefore, if the PRP system is carefully designed and associated with returns which are needed by the staff, the company can achieve the goal of motivation. However, since the process of performance appraisal involves other subjects, the assessment outcome may be subjective. If the employees do not believe outcome of performance assessment, the aim to motivate employees may fail. Therefore, whether the PRP’s impact on motivation can be achieved or not depends on the objectivity of the performance appraisal. Many scholars believe PRP can produce positive outcomes towards organizational productivity. The enhancement of organizational productivity is fulfilled through the increase in individual or team productivity. The reasons for PRP improving the labor productivity are: in the case of asymmetry information regarding employees’ capacity and effort, the PRP can encourage the staff to exert an appropriate level of effort (Prendergast, 1999); besides, when employing new staff, the PRP scheme can act as a screen, merely attracting the able employees to compete for the job vacancy (Lazear, 1986). With the employees of high quality and their expectations about the rewards generated by accomplishment of the task, the organizational productivity can be increased to a higher level. Two classic PRP models Talking about the PRP models, the profit sharing plan and the merit pay plan tend to be the most influential. In terms of the profit sharing plan (PSP), it is defined as an agreement that can be freely entered into, through which staff can get a fixed amount of shares from the profit of the company in advance (Schloss, 1907). To be more precise, PSPs are usually designed and implemented for a variety of purposes. The PSP can be used to induce the staff to work for enhancing the corporate remuneration, thereby acting as a replacement for the employee monitoring system. For instance, with the use of the PSP, the staff may be motivated to monitor the co-workers’ performance in order to ensure the higher earnings (Bradley and Estrin, 1992). Besides, the management layer may utilize PSP as a tool to enhance the corporate outcomes, such as motivation and productivity (Art and Turner, 2004). However, despite the various expectations on the PSPs, its effectiveness is argued for a long time. Although some corporations may think that the increase in its productivity and profitability is due to the use of PSP, no one can give clear evidence to establish a link between PSP and the organizational performance. Besides, the PSP is often criticized by the fact that, due to the profit increase covering a large number of employees, the enhancement in individual rewards generated by the personal effort is usually of rather small amount and can be nearly neglected. So to exactly confirm the effectiveness of PSP, more studies and researches need to be completed in the future. When it comes to the merit pay plan (MRP), it is defined by Heneman (1992) as the procedure of distributing pay increase according to the individual work performance, which is often determined by the outcome of performance assessment. The MRP is a tool frequently used by the company to induce staff to exert a higher level of effort and achieve the organizational motivation to increase the amount of corporate earnings. Theoretically, poor performer would either be discouraged or attempt to enhance the performance to acquire the merit pay (Brody et al, 2001). By contrast, able staff would get a clear perspective of the relation between performance and rewards, and maintain a high level of productivity (Brody et al, 2001). However, being similar with the case of PSP, the function of MRP is also arguable. McGinty and Hanke (1989) suggest that the MRP can increase the corporate performance, but they do not work all the time. Researches have indicated that the criticism against the MRP is not related to its design in most cases but is linked to the process of performance assessment. Due to the involvement of the supervisor as the third party, the assessment outcomes can be subjective and unfair to certain employees being assessed sometimes. Although the company attempts to avoid the disadvantages, the subjectivity during the assessment process is somewhat inevitable due to some elements, such as leniency (Brody et al, 2001) and favoritism (Salimaki and Jamsen, 2010). PRP plan utilized by Suning Appliance The best example to support my arguments may be Suning Appliance, a retailer of electronic products in China. The reason to use this company is that my father previously worked there as a salesman. As he told, in the year of 2000, a certain amount of first-line salesmen were dissatisfied with the salary they received, since they thought they work much harder than others but merely got a same amount of pay. The motivation of the staff decreased dramatically and the sales of company were also affected. The thorny problem was not solved until the introduction of a new merit pay system in which the employees’ financial return was related to the work performance. Although the performance appraisal was sometimes criticized by the employees, it never triggered a big issue like the one happened in 2000.

The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down essays

The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down essays In the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, a child named Lia Lee is taken away from her parents by Child Protective Services and placed in foster care. Because they arent giving her medication for epilepsy. Although resulting in some medical benefits those benefits were lost because of destructive psychological and emotional damage to Lia. Dr. Neil Ernst decided to call child protective services when Lia Lees parents Nou Kou and Foua were reluctant to give her her medicine. Dr. Neil Ernst said: I felt it was important for these Hmongs to understand that there were certain elements of medicine that we understood better than they did and that there were certain rules they had to follow with their kids lives. I wanted the word to get out in the community that if they deviated from that, it was not acceptable behavior.(pg. 79 Fadiman). Dr. Ernst could have also been arrested for not reporting it. There were some alternatives to calling Child Protective Services such as my favorite one; having a nurse visit the Lees three times daily to administer the medications, but this thought did not occur to Dr. Ernst and/or seemed unreasonable at the time. Although Fadiman does not mention what Dr. Ernst thought about this course of action, I can only suspect that it would have been too expens ive to have a nurse visit three times a day. Also they shouldnt be rewarded for their noncompliance by having someone else administer their daughters medication. It might have also provoked the Lees to anger because they didnt like to give Lia the medicine because of how the medicine made her depressed and sullen. After Lia was taken away for a period of a few weeks, Nou Kou almost beat an interpreter named Sue Xiong who was interpreting for a CPS ...

Forbes and the Power of LinkedIn for Job Seekers

Forbes and the Power of LinkedIn for Job Seekers Yet another article has come out in Forbes confirming the power of LinkedIn for job seekers. In LinkedIn Still Rules As The Top Job Search Technology Tool, Survey Says, Susan Adams reports on a new survey of North American job seekers, hiring managers, recruiters and HR executives. The word from Right Management, who conducted the survey, is that â€Å"almost 100% of job seekers use LinkedIn as their number one social media site for job hunting. Hiring managers also prefer Linked in over other sites by two to one.† Additional findings, some related to LinkedIn and some on other topics, include: 18% of job seekers say they have had video interviews in the past year – more than double the percent from a year ago. 45% of hiring managers say they expect video resumes to become more common. And 2/3 predict video interviews will spike in the next three years. 22% of job seekers use smartphone job search apps. Just 34% of job candidates report that they have a land line! (I seem to be living in the dark ages on this one). 94% of job seekers say they prefer LinkedIn as their chief job hunting tool, followed by Google+ then Twitter. Gen X candidates rank Facebook, Google+ and Twitter evenly. Hiring managers also rank LinkedIn first, followed by Facebook, then Google+, with Twitter in a distant fourth place. Social media sites like LinkedIn are the top way to search for candidates. Hiring managers and recruiters also still use company websites and employee referrals. In contrast, job boards and even recruiters themselves are on the decline, though 65% still use job boards. More than half use social media to post jobs and three quarters use it to find possible hires. Networking is still the best way to find success as a job seeker! This is one thing that doesn’t change over time. Don’t make the mistake of using technology to the exclusion of human contact. Ms. Adams emphasizes that â€Å"it’s essential to have an up-to-date LinkedIn profile so hiring managers and recruiters can find you. It can also be useful to hunt for openings using LinkedIn job listings or company sites. But it can †¦ be more effective to figure out what you want to do and where you want to work and to find a way in before a job is listed.† Ms. Adams’ recommendation and mine: If you see a job listing for a position of interest, use your networks, both online and off, to make human contact. It’s not unusual for a job seeker to submit hundreds of applications without receiving a single response. So pick up the phone and set up a face-to-face meeting. Talk to people, make a human connection, and find out more about the position before you apply. LinkedIn is still the place to start with your job search. But it’s not the place to finish.

The culture of Zulu Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The culture of Zulu - Research Paper Example This led to the Battle of Isandlwana where the British suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Zulus. They were eventually defeated by the British in the battle of Ulundi in 1979 (Dougherty & Sievert, 2008). During the Apartheid years, Zulus were classified as third class citizens and were forced to suffer discrimination at the hands of the state. Zulus have played an important role in the end of Apartheid and in the development of modern South Africa. The two important political parties of the country – African National Congress and the Inkatha freedom party were both formed by Zulus. They also participated in large numbers in the struggle to end Apartheid in both the parties. In this essay, discussions will be focused on the culture of Zulus especially their Religion, political organization of Zulus before the arrival of British and the Gender relations in Zululand (Dougherty & Sievert, 2008). Mode of Subsistence Farming and cattle rearing were the primary modes of subsistence of the Zulus. Cattle especially the Ox was very important for the Zulus. Cattle were also given great significance and there was also a special place for the cattle in the family .The cattle was reared largely for eating purposes. Although all the cattle and the farms were owned by the head of the family who was a man each of his wives was provided with a set of her own farms and cattle which were used by her in order to feed her immediate family (Dougherty & Sievert, 2008). Zulu Religion The Spirit World Zulus placed a lot of importance on their ancestors and their spirits. These ancestors were supposed by them to be living in Unkulunkulu which was considered as the world of the spirits. The ancestors were the link between the living and the spirits. For this reasons they needed to be remembered by the family members, praised regularly and also appeased by maKing offerings to them. In case a family failed to do so, the spirits are were to visit them in the form of trou bles. These troubles can be solved only if the mistake of the family is rectified and the spirits of the ancestors are pacified by some offerings and by showering praises on them. The Sangoma was the spiritual healer and the priest of the Zulus. In case of a mishap such as failure of crops, death of livestock, draught or any other natural calamity the Sangoma was the one who declared the reasons for the calamity. The calamity could have been caused by the unhappy spirits or by witchcraft. If it was the former, the family was supposed to appease the ancestors but if it was the latter a witch-hunt and the elimination of the witch responsible was carried out (Monteiro-Ferreira, 2005). Another important religious person among the Zulus is the Inyanga. The Inyanga can be said to be the doctor of the Zulu tribe. He mostly used local plants and animals in order to find cure of the common diseases like cuts, bruises. The cure was usually followed by religious rituals in which the spirits we re praised and pacified and asked to restore the health of the person who is sick (Monteiro-Ferreira, 2005). It is not only ancestors whose spirits were worshipped by the Zulus. The spirits were also supposed to exist in animals, forests, mountains and caves. Thus animals should be fed properly and cared for, the forest and the mountains should not be made angry or the spirits living in them will have their vengeance on the people. The Zulus are afraid of the phenomenon of lightning. They believed

Managing the Financial Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Managing the Financial Future - Essay Example These are international standardized test used by various schools and universities of US, Australia and UK to select students for various courses. The education sector in general is experiencing a healthy growth rate and on an average 110,000 individuals sit in the tests that will be catered to by Prepgenie. Prepgenie provides the aspirants with test preparatory tools like practice exercises, test papers and online interactive gaming sessions. As a strategy Prepgenie outsources content creation to low cost destinations like Asian countries. Its development centers in India and Vietnam have a pool of English educated, highly qualified yet low cost professionals who create content. It helps Prepgenie in minimizing cost and yet provides quality products. As a unique strategy, Prepgenie also uses multiple platforms to deliver the preparatory and learning tools in order to reduce cost and increase customer retention and interactivity. The online proprietary interactive platform provides better learning experience for the aspirant and also allows Prepgenie to capture crucial data about individual learning preferences learning style. Prepgenie also uses its LMS to create a vibrant online community of test takers. However, an offline mode of content delivery is important - more so for overseas customers where access to the Internet is limited, or is expensive. However, this medium is expensive as it involves publication, stock maintenance and delivery. Digital download is by far the most inexpensive for Prepgenie, thereby enabling it to offer more volume of content. However, this mode suffers from three major disadvantages - possible piracy, higher cost of ownership for the user if s/he intends to print these documents and no interactivity with the company. A combination all three platforms helps Prepgenie to maximize profit, minimize cost and increase interactivity. PrepGenie aims to cater to 1000 students in its first years of operations. Over the next 3 years, it aims to expand its student base to about 5000 students across Australia, UK and US and increase its average revenue per student from the present USD 450 to USD 1000.As on Jan, 2009, Prepgenie has a small team of 17 team members. It plans to increase its team size to about 30 by year end and to 45 by the end of the 3rd year. Prepgenie plans to introduce low cost products as a market penetration strategy. However, within the 2nd year of its operations, it plans to introduce comprehensive, multimedia based preparatory tools that will let PrepGenie charge premium prices. On a long term basis, PrepGenie aims to be the most innovative test prep solutions provider for a range of tests. Question 2 Describe how finances are managed within your department or project, including the nature and use of budgets and how these are established. Explain how your financial management processes fit into the overall strategic and operational planning