Make Better Decision Essay Example for Free

Make Better Decision Essay That the current era of economic uncertainty may have been ushered in through a series of poor government and corporate decisions is implied through the rear view mirror. Could some of the events that shaped todays crises have been avoided through better decision making processes? Thomas Davenport (2009, p. 117) presents examples of â€Å"decision making disorder† evident in both the public and private sectors and offers a framework to guide managers in making better decisions in the future. His premise lies in the ineffectiveness of the individual decision-making process resulting in dire consequences for the organization. Davenport provides a framework to guide managers in adopting a more analytical and systematic approach, resulting in greater effectiveness. He posits that the use of data, especially analytics embedded in automated systems can be powerful tools when balanced with informed human judgment. Davenport presents no new information entailing the decision making process. He does, however, raise the question of why the majority of organizations continue to rely on intuition and ignore proven tools and methods without regard for the evidence pointing to their effectiveness. The author warns that without proper prioritization and systematic review of the decision making process, success remains a gamble. Article Highlights According to Davenport (2009), allowing individual managers to make decisions without a systematic analysis has severe consequences that result in languishing profit margins. In spite of the resources available, most organizations fail to implement the recommendations that would help managers employ better decision making processes. The author notes that while these processes do not guarantee better outcomes, they certainly increase the potential (p. 118). Davenport (2009) outlines a four-step process to improve managerial decisions, the components of which are identification, inventory, intervention and institutionalization. He suggests mangers begin by prioritizing the top decisions required to achieve a goal. He states: â€Å"without some prioritization all decisions are treated as equal, which probably means that the important ones won’t be analyzed with sufficient care† (p. 118). He goes on to stress the importance of identifying key decisions in in order to examine all variables through an inventory process to determine effectiveness and lay the groundwork for organizational communication. Subsequent to identification and taking inventory, considering all parameters of the decision, the appropriate intervention should rise to the surface. The final step is the institutionalization of the decision making process, for which Davenport (2009, p. 119) recommends hiring â€Å"decision experts† in guiding managers through the process. Davenport (2009, p. 119-122) cites two examples of organizations who improved the decision making process: Educational Testing Service (ETS) and The Stanley Works. Meeting with great success, ETS has expanded the new processes to evaluate and prioritize all product changes as well as apply the methodology to handle new prospects. A center of excellence was developed at The Stanley Works that created an analytical tool for sales data and new potential sales opportunities. According to the author, due to automated decision processes created by the center of excellence, the company realized a 6% growth in gross margin. Although highly in favor of analytical tools, Davenport (2009) warns of reliance solely on automation, and cautions managers to use their expert human insight to monitor how well analytical tools are working. The decision making process should always be a human endeavor with analytics only a part of the overall toolbox. Significance of the article Davenport (2009) raises a universal concern encompassing the impact of poorly thought out organizational as well as individual decisions. The decisions of today are the realities of tomorrow, and in spite of the myriad of excellent resources available, â€Å"few organizations have reengineered their decisions† (p. 117). The author presents an excellent argument for the necessity of a systematic decision making process as well as the use of analytical tools to provide reliable information in order to make sound decisions. Corporate CEO’s exist that agree with the concepts and actively ngage in systematic decision-making processes. Donna Thompson, CEO of Access Community Health Network in the Chicago area is one example. She shares her ritual of going through the same decision-making process before taking any action, and offers â€Å"good decision making isn’t as much about having all the right answers as is using a process to ask all the right questions† (Reed-Woodard, M. A. 2006p. 164). Gully, Stainer and Stainer (2006), in their study on moral decisions within organizations, have also found a systematic process to yield the best decisions. The authors describe an organized â€Å"balance sheet† designed to prevent disordered thinking as a model of cooperative business behavior. Their findings include the need for systematic decision-making and state â€Å"the moral decision making maze needs ordered steps of asking questions and providing answers that can readily be applied to solving problems and dilemmas in business† (p. 194). Davenport’s (2009) article continues with accolades for analytical tools within automated systems as long as managers thoroughly understand the models. Jim Ciampaglio CEO of NeoSpire exuberantly claims the success of an analytical sales tool used to manage leads and store sales information and states this tool â€Å"helped us change who we are as a sales organization† (McKay, L. 2010). Executive decisions lay the foundation for business strategy: poorly thought out decisions lead to less than optimal results and systematic decision making takes the emotionality out and puts the issue in an objective framework, leading to better outcomes. Organizations integrating this type of framework reduce the risk of moving ahead with a faulty plan. Davenport (2009) states while managers are buying and most likely reading resource material providing the basis for better decision making, few actually adopt the recommendations (p. 118). Conjecture rather than interviews with key decision makers is offered to support this particular viewpoint with the implication that this may be due to the failure to connect bad outcomes to faulty decision making Conclusion Davenport (2009) does an excellent job of tying the process of decision-making to an organization’s ultimate failure or success. His thought provoking discussion as to what exactly transpires during the individual decision making process and why organizations need to gain some control over this process makes intuitive sense. The success of the author’s suggested framework for making decisions is well supported by the organizations cited in his work, with confirmations easily found in other studies such as Gully et al (2006). Further research is recommended examining the decision making processes generally employed by organizations before conclusions that support Davenport’s (2009) negative assumptions can be drawn. The author does not support his claim that only a few companies employ a systematic process and is biased in his perception of the† poor calls made in both the public and private sectors† in recent years. Overall, Making Better Decisions provides food for thought and raises the question that if Davenport’s (2009) assumptions are in fact correct, why is it that corporations continue to allow managers to use more intuition than systematic processes to arrive at decisions that impact the organization’s bottom line?

Inclusive Education Essay example -- Education

What is inclusive education? Inclusive education is concerned with the education and accommodation of ALL children in society, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, or linguistic deficits. Inclusion should also include children from disadvantaged groups, of all races and cultures as well as the gifted and the disabled (UNESCO, 2003). Inclusion tries to reduce exclusion within the education system by tackling, responding to and meeting the different needs of all learners (Booth, 1996). It involves changing the education system so that it can accommodate the unique styles and way of learning of each learner and ensure that there is quality education for all through the use of proper resources, suitable curricula, appropriate teaching strategies and partnerships within the community (UNESCO, 1994). Inclusion will not happen instantaneously but requires careful planning and thinking, positive attitudes and behaviour and utilising the necessary specialised support, accommodations and adaptations to ensu re all children become part of the school (Burstein, Sears, Wilcoxen, Cabello & Spagna, 2004), actively participate in the education system and later become fully contributing members of society (Department of Education, 2001). Inclusive education is about ensuring that schools can meet the needs of all learners. It is thus the responsibility of an inclusive school to embrace the diversity and special needs of all its learners, (Flem, Moen & Gudmundsdottir, 2004) identify and minimise the barriers to learning (Department of Education, 2001) and create a tolerant and respectful atmosphere in which people are valued and stigmatisation is minimised (Carrington & Robinson, 2004). All children thus need to be given the su... ...eps: Stories on Inclusion in Early Childhood Education. Received from the World Wide Web on 20th July 2005. Web Address: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001102/110238eo.pdf UNESCO. (2001). Including the Excluded: Meeting Diversity in Education. Received from the World Wide Web on 20th July 2005. Web Address: http://dit-fs1.hq.int.unesco.org/ulis/docs/0012/001226/122613eo.pdf Van Kraayenoord, C. (2003). "The Task of Professional Development." In International Journal of Disability, Development and Education 50 (4): 363 - 365 Wong, A. I. P, Pearson, V & Kuen Lo, E. M. (2004). "Competing philosophies in the classroom: a challenge to Hong Kong teachers."

Spinster – A Commentary

Spinster is a poem which juxtaposes the order and disorder of the seasons and how exactly this affects the persona's desperation to keep control. The title ‘Spinster' implies that the persona has a chosen a life without men, which also implies that she wants full control over her life. Stanza one begins very formally, ‘During a ceremonious April walk/ With her latest suitor'. Lexis such as ‘ceremonious' and ‘suitor' creates a very formal atmosphere, therefore creating more structure, which is also implied by the use of the word ‘suitor', which suggests very little or no feeling towards him. The stanza continues to imply that the woman can hardly stand disorder, ‘intolerably struck/ By the birds irregular babel/ And the leaves litter'. The poet uses alliteration and positive alliteration to suggest that the woman can not handle disorder with words such as ‘irregular' and ‘litter'. Then, in stanza two, Plath stays detached from the poem, and the whole stanza implies disorder. ‘Observed' suggests that the woman in the poem was watching from a distance, and therefore the writing is very detached and as if a step has been taken back in order to see things as a whole. Also, the whole stanza implies disorder with lexis such as ‘unbalanced', ‘uneven', ‘wilderness' and ‘disarray', all of which suggest disarray and no order. Almost all of these words are relating to nature, ‘Through a rank wilderness of fern and flower/She judged petals in disarray' The use of ‘rank wilderness' implies that the female persona believes that nature, shown by the ‘fern and flower' is dirty and scary because she does not know anything abut it, as implied by ‘wilderness'. Moreover, the poet is again detached from the poem with use of ‘judged', which sounds like she is not involved with what is going on. The whole of this stanza is based around nature, which the persona (and therefore poet) clearly dislike as a consequence of the disorder and that it can not be predicted. In contrast, stanza three is full of lexis based upon order, which is suggested by ‘Scrupulously', ‘order', ‘white and black', ‘ice and rock' and ‘discipline'. This language is very perfected, and also separated out into clear and completely different groups, as shown in ‘black and white'. The stanza begins with telling the reader what this stanza is about, namely, winter. ‘How she longed for winter then!' The use of ‘longed for' suggests that the persona is desperate for winter, which is implied in the onomatopoeic quality of ‘longed for', and this also suggests that winter is a very long time away. Moreover, the writer uses words such as ‘austere' to explain winter, which suggests that winter is more simple an there is little to it and it, is therefore not confusing. Also, the writer suggests that the persona has complete control over her, ‘hearts frosty discipline'. This implies that the persona even has complete control over her feelings, but the only way to keep this control is by having none, implied by ‘frosty', which suggests that the persona is cold emotionally, or that she has no feelings. However, in her attempt not to be emotional, negative feelings are created about emotion, which completely defeats her objective. Stanza four is similar to stanza two, as a lexis implying disorder is used such as ‘unruly and ‘vulgar motley'. As soon as the stanza begins, there is a hint of regret with ‘But here' and this implies that what is coming in this stanza, the persona regrets a lot. The line is finished with the word ‘burgeoning', which implies blossoming and growth. This suggests that because growth is uncontrollable, the persona regrets it because is mean that she would have no control. The poem goes on to say, ‘Unruly enough to pitch her five queenly wits/ into vulgar motley'. The use of ‘five queenly wits' implies that the persona believes herself to be above all of the disorder and disarray in spring, and that she is therefore superior. Also, the use of ‘vulgar motley' implies that spring is common and repulsive, but the persona is scared of this because she does not know much about it. Generally, the whole of the two lines implies that spring forces the persona to feel, which is not something she wants to do, implied in stanza three with ‘heart's frosty discipline'. Then, the writer implies that people who like spring are idiots with, ‘Let idiots/ Reel giddy in bedlam spring'. This is very derogatory because it implies that all people who like spring are idiots, and the use of ‘reel' suggests that disorder again. The stanza ends with a juxtapose line to the rest of the stanza, ‘She withdrew neatly'. This gives a queenly imagery which emphasised her control as the persona regains her composure after suggesting that spring makes her loose it. The final stanza is the solution to disorder, in which the persona implies that she can not handle relationships, or feelings, and therefore her only solution is the title, ‘Spinster'. This is suggested through out the stanza, but starts on the second line, ‘barricade of barb and check'. The barricade is to stop the progression of emotion, and the writer sues monosyllabic words in order to force her point across, such as ‘barb and check', both of which also have a very hard sound to them. This forceful comment suggests that the persona wants love, but has built a ‘barricade' around her in order to not let anyone in. The stanza finishes with ‘Or love, either', which implies that the barricade she has created will not ever let love in, but because it is an afterthought, it also makes love sound insignificant. The structure of the poem is very ordered, as it stops regularly at the end of each stanza, the lines are regular lengths and the words are in similar patterns throughout each stanza. It is clear that the attempt to maintain order shown in the words of the poem is also shown by the structure as the persona is desperate for control and regulation. Overall, the poem is very detached and sounds almost factual due to the lack of emotion throughout. Also, the poem has a feminist undertone, in which the persona swears to keep men out of her life by being a spinster. Moreover, the poem is very juxtapoic with the cross between order and disorder throughout. However, the whole poem suggests that deep down the poet wants love; it is just that they are too scared to find it.

Love Styles - 1231 Words

Love Styles Ginnina Pleze American Public University System Instructor John Hetherington COMM285 February 14, 2015 Love Styles ï  ¶ Using sociologist John Alan Lees love styles (refer to pages 261- 263 of Intimate Relationships, and pay special attention to Table 8.7 Styles of Loving found on the top of page 262) from chapter eight of Intimate Relationships, what is the predominant love style for most of the characters presented in the book, Confusing Love with Obsession. Using John Alan Lee’s love styles as a reference it seems that the characters from, â€Å"Confusing Love with Obsession† mainly fall in the mania category when deciding what their style of loving is. The fourth style mania defines that†¦show more content†¦In her mind there had to be something going on, well why else would her husband not want her to go all of a sudden? Although there was no proof of cheating she just figured that cheating was the reason behind him not asking her to go. Nancy goes crazy, going through his things in search of the truth, because she does not want to do anything that will push him away she just went looking for something that would validate her beliefs. The thing is any person that feels like something is going on in their relationship would be more likely to address it with their partner, and if the situation calls for an end to the relationship then so be it. However as Nancy goes through her husband’s things she finds out what she already knew to be true, but because she was obsessed she did not just trust her instincts it had to be proved to be true. ï  ¶ What character if any did you identify with most from the book? This can be either yourself or someone you know. I found that after reading chapter 4 the character that reminds me of someone that I know is the story that of Kate it reminds me of a couple of old friends (Kevin and Meka). They are not married and she is raising 3 kids. The two of them have firecracker anger streaks and when an argument happens they pull out the big guns cutting clothes, breaking anything that is breakable pretty much going crazy. I remember when we were still friends telling them that they needed toShow MoreRelatedLove Styles1292 Words   |  6 Pagesthat includes six different love styles: eros, ludus, storge, pragma, mania, and agape. These love styles were orginially developed by John Lee in 1973 and then further expanded by Clyde and Susan Hendrick of Texas Tech University throughout the mid 1980’s. All six love styles are significantly different but everyone has experienced atleast one throughout their life. In my case, I’ve experienced all six at one point or another in my life. These models of how people love indicate the different waysRead MoreThe Six Different Love Styles1039 Words   |  5 PagesLove according to the book is said to be about the number 4 thing people said they need to be in a healthy relationship(Welch 2010). Even though the undefinable emotion is commonly used throughout American culture as a simple verb it has more meaning. We love food, dogs, learning but what is love according to relationships and what does love look like. One researcher , John Alan Lee developed six different love styles that people tend to fall into. In this paper I will discuss the six different loveRead MoreThesis: Love Style Experience3420 Words   |  14 PagesMANILA (former City College of Manila) Mehan Gardens, Manila LOVE STYLE EXPERIENCE OF ADOLESCENT WITH AUTHORITATIVE PARENT An Undergraduate Thesis Proposal presented to the Faculty of College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology In partial fulfilment of the Course Requirements In Methods of Research Subject by: Marvin R. Tapit PY 31 APPROVAL SHEET This undergraduate thesis proposal entitled â€Å"LOVE STYLE EXPERIENCE OF ADOLESCENT WITH AUTHORITATIVE PARENT† has beenRead MoreLove Styles of Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet1701 Words   |  7 PagesLove Styles of Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet The heart of many of Shakespeare’s works is love and tumultuous relationships. It is not a difficult task to attempt to analyze the relationships of his protagonists. Many of his characters would fit into at least one of the â€Å"love-styles† presented by John Alan Lee. There are many different types of relationships and John Alan Lee aims to categorize them, or breaking them down into â€Å"different colors,† (Lee, 40). The love-styles can beRead MoreUnique Writing Styles Illuminated Through an Unrequited Love Story887 Words   |  4 Pagestwo short stories, â€Å"Araby† by James Joyce and â€Å"Interpreter of Maladies† by Jhumpa Lahiri, unique writing styles are showcased while relaying similar story lines. Both stories tell the narrative of men who fall for a woman and through a series of hopeful interpretations of interactions with the woman; they end up disappointed and alone. Although both stories have parallel themes of unrequited love, the way in which the authors use certain literary techniques to portray this theme differ greatly fromRead MoreEssay on Structure and Style of To Sir, with Love1013 Words   |  5 PagesDramatic Structure To Sir, with Love embodies a conventional three-act structure. However, the protagonist, Mark Thackeray, is faced with multiple active antagonists. The first act introduces Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) as a Communications engineer who, after many unsuccessful attempts to find employment in his field, takes a teaching position at the North Quay Secondary School. Once he has arrived, Thackeray is informed of the rebellious nature of his assigned students, who mostly come fromRead MoreAttachment Style: How It Affects Love Relationships1255 Words   |  6 PagesIndividual attachments styles can affect the type of love relationships later on in life because one learns behavioral traits as a young child. Robert Sternberg introduced us to his Love Triangle theory in 1988. He explained that the way a person was brought up as a child can affect the way they express themselves as adults. The question remains as to why does this affect one as an adult. If one is taught from right and wr ong then why does one express themselves negatively towards others? AccordingRead MoreLenz, by Georg Buchner856 Words   |  4 Pages‘Lenz’, the protagonist is portrayed as a fallen man, disjointed from society and mentally unstable. Buchner’s portrays Lenz’s fall into madness in his narrative style, the use of realisation and the use of nature. Moreover, one can evaluate their effectiveness in portraying Lenz’s descent into madness. By examining Buchner’s narrative style, one can see that it is dissimilar to other German Romantics. Where Von Kleist seems journalistic in ‘The Marchioness of O..’ the narrative in ‘Lenz’ appearsRead MoreThe Tradition Of Music Through The People Of A Sardinia Runs Deep, And Lortat Jacob852 Words   |  4 Pagesnarrative style allows the author to vividly describe the events to the reader while still maintaining an interesting, engaging purpose. These methods show that the author has opted for a more wholesome, modern view of culture and ethnography. Objectivity is not needed, just a simple set of narrative, yet almost poetic encounters between the author and the subject (yet I almost hesitate to use this word. â€Å"Friend† seems to be a more accurate word in this instance). Personally, I find that this style worksRead MoreComparison Of Hemmingway And Faulkner s Ethos1087 Words   |  5 Pagescreates his characters using complex sentence structure and dialogue, with the main theme surrounding politics and war. Both authors have a different focus and exposure and their setting reflect this style. In order to begin comparing Faulkner and Hemmingway it is important to first identify each author’s style and techniques. Being raised in the south, Faulkner’s theme is usually linked to the civil war and its effects on southern society. He often uses object description parallel to character description