Organizational Planning Verizon Wireless Essay

Organizational Planning: SWOT Analysis for Verizon Wireless Before planning can begin, a framework should be built to guide the decision making process by identifying what the overall goal is to be. At Verizon Wireless, the mission statement, or credo, is broken into 5 sections that are the pathway for leadership within the company, as well as for internal stakeholders, to ensure the success of the company. Verizon Wireless identifies strengths as being a high quality provider of communications services, being committed to customers through teamwork, and acknowledging that just being the biggest is not the same as being the best. By identifying weaknesses such as being reactive to competitor offerings, pricing structure of plans, and the perceived lack of a global presence, reviewing the credo can initiate change to address these weaknesses and create opportunities from them. Identifying the opportunities of network infrastructure growth, simplification of pricing plans for both busi nesses and consumers, and providing varied equipment pricing options allow the company to address some of the weaknesses. Threats are identified as competition from other providers, market penetration for services, and proposed regulations from the F.C.C. with regard to net neutrality. As a whole, these identified areas provide the roadmap to achieve success for both the internal and external stakeholders. When setting a long term goal, or strategic plan, the credo is consulted to ensure that the areas identified in the SWOT are being addressed. With a strategic plan in place, Verizon Wireless can set long term goals on how they plan to broaden their strengths, lessen their weaknesses, capitalize on their opportunities and minimize the threats. One of these strategic plans in place is to grow market share by gaining additional customers. Long term growth of customers is fundamental to the longevity of the company. Without new customers the company becomes stale and profits may fall. Both the internal and external stakeholders would be unhappy if Verizon Wireless did not provide a value to them either  monetarily or through the service itself. Review and confirmation of programs being offered to customers is constantly being revised as changes within the marketplace dictate. This long term strategic planning will be fluid as the needs of the customer change. An operational plan has a shorter time line to achieve the goal. The target of initiating new growth through new products and service can be accomplished through the Verizon Wireless Partner Program. The adoption of new technology and integration of devices ensure Verizon Wireless to achieves this goal going forward by partnering with companies to provide equipment and services. According to â€Å"Partnerships – Verizon† (n.d.), † Verizon’s award-winning Partner Program focuses on better serving the needs of customers by enabling them to simplify how they consume communications and IT services in a way that best meets their needs, while giving them access to the full Verizon portfolio. Whether teaming with Verizon directly, indirectly through program members, or as a hybrid, customers can take advantage of Verizon’s next-generation services portfolio.† (2). These types of partnerships build from the commitment that Verizon Wireless has stated, â€Å"We hold ourselves to a very high standard of performance. We prize innovative ideas and the teamwork it takes to make them happen. We never stop asking ourselves how we can make the customer experience better, and every day we find new answers.† (Commitment & Values, n.d.) In this operational plan, the internal stakeholder is satisfied because the company is initiating new growth, and the external stakeholder is satisfied because the new products and services are providing additional revenue. With both strategic and operational plans in place, Verizon Wireless is poised to achieve success in both the near term as well as far into the future. Reference Verizon Wireless. (n.d.). Commitment & Values. Retrieved 2/28/15 from http://verizonwireless.com/about/commitment-values Verizon Wireless. (n.d.). Partnerships – Verizon. Retrieved 2/28/15, from http://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/partnerships/ (2)

Pros and Cons of Genetically Modified Foods Essay

Our ancestors first cultivated plants some ten thousand years ago. They domesticated animals later and then selectively bred both plants and animals to meet various requirements for human food. Humans discovered natural biological processes such as fermentation of fruits and grains to make wine and beer, and yeast for baking bread. Manipulation of foods is not a new story, therefore. The latest agricultural discovery uses genetic engineering technology to modify foods. Farmers and plant breeders have been changing crop plants to improve characteristics such as size, resistance to disease and taste. Plants which grow well, have a higher yield or taste better are selected and bred from. This is still the most widely used technique for developing new varieties of a crop, and is limited by natural barriers which stop different species of organisms from breeding with each other. Genetic modification is very different to these traditional plant breeding techniques. Genetic modification is the insertion of DNA from one organism to another, usually by molecular technologies. Genetically Modified Foods (GMF) are animals or plants that have had genetic modification. This changes the characteristics of the organism, or the way it grows and develops. Jim Maryanski from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, had the following to say in an interview published on the FDA’s website. “There are hundreds of new plant varieties introduced every year in the United States, and all have been genetically modified through traditional plant breeding techniques–such as cross-fertilization of selected plants–to produce desired traits.” (Robin)Current and future GM products include:a)Food that can deliver vaccines – bananas that produce hepatitis B vaccineb)More nutritious foods – rice with increased iron and vitaminsc)Faster growing fish, fruit and nut treesd)Plants producing new plasticsIn so many respects, genetic modification is perfect for today’s society. It would help agriculturalists overcome all headaches associated with growing large crops, and basically tailor the food growth industry to mass consumption by the general population. The famous frost-resistant tomato example is perfect in illustrating this point. With a tomato that  resists frost, the season for growing them would be longer and therefore a farmer would be able to produce more tomatoes in one year than they were able to do in the past. Gene technology not only gives us the potential to select the exact characteristics we want in an organism, but it also enables us to cross species barriers. For example, we can take an insecticide-producing gene from a bacterium and insert it into a plant, making the plant resistant to insect attack. This new-found ability to cross species barriers is what makes gene technology such a powerful tool. Producing enough food for the world’s population without using up all the available land is an enormous challenge. One solution is to develop crops that yield more with fewer inputs; that are more resistant to diseases; that spoil less during storage and transport; that contain more useful nutrients; and that can grow in agricultural land that has been degraded. Gene technology gives us the potential to do this. Genetically modified foods have been available since the 1990s. The principal ingredients of GM foods currently available are derived from genetically modified soybean, maize and canola. The first commercially grown genetically modified food crop was a tomato created by Calgene called the FlavrSavr. Calgene submitted it to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for assessment in 1992; following the FDA’s determination that the FlavrSavr was, in fact, a tomato, did not constitute a health hazard, and did not need to be labeled to indicate it was genetically modified, Calgene released it into the market in 1994, where it met with little public comment. Considered to have a poor flavor, it never sold well and was off the market by 1997. However, it had improved solids contents which made it an attractive new variety for canned tomatoes. Transgenic crops are grown commercially or in field trials in over 40 countries and on 6 continents. In 2000, about 109.2 million acres (442,000 km ²) were planted with transgenic crops, the principal ones being herbicide- and insecticide-resistant soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola. Other crops grown commercially or field-tested are a sweet potato resistant to a US strain of a virus that affects one out of the more than 89 different varieties of sweet potato grown in Africa, rice with increased iron and  vitamins such as golden rice, and a variety of plants able to survive extreme weather. Between 1996 and 2001, the total surface area of land cultivated with GMOs had increased by a factor of 30, from 17,000 km ² (4.2 million acres) to 520,000 km ² (128 million acres). The value for 2002 was 145 million acres (587,000 km ²) and for 2003 was 167 million acres (676,000 km ²). Soybean crop represented 63% of total surface in 2001, maize 19%, cotton 13% and canola 5%. In 2004, the value was about 200 million acres (809,000 km ²) of which 2/3 were in the United States. In particular, Bt corn is widely grown, as are soybeans genetically designed to tolerate glyphosate herbicides. Future applications of GMOs include bananas that produce human vaccines against infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B, fish that mature more quickly, fruit and nut trees that yield years earlier, and plants that produce new plastics with unique properties. The next decade will see exponential progress in GM product development as researchers gain increasing and unprecedented access to genomic resources that are applicable to organisms beyond the scope of individual projects. Biologist Stephen Nottingham explains the risks of GMF:“Experimental trials with transgenic organisms are usually conducted strict regulations to minimize the potential spread of genetic materialÂ…Even given these regulations, however, no field trial can be said to be 100% secure. This was illustrated when flooding struck the American Midwest in July 1993 and an entire field of experimental insect-resistant maize was swept away in Iowa. Â…once released accidentally into the environment, plant material may prove difficult to recover. (Bragi)Unique ecological risks have been associated with virus-resistant transgenic crop plantsÂ…leaving crops more vulnerable to virus attack and risking the spread of virus susceptibility to other plants. Genetically modified foods are unlikely to present direct risks to human health. There are two main areas of concern:a)The possibility of allergic reactions to genetically modified foods, andb)The possibility that bacteria living in the human gut may acquire resistance to antibiotics from marker  genes present in transgenic plants. Proponents claim that a genetically-modified potato is as safe as one modified the old-fashioned way, through generations of selective breeding; biotechnology just gets the job done more quickly. Critics are concerned that mixing together genetic material from different species might produce unexpected allergic reactions in the person who eats or drinks it. For instance, if an individual consumer who is allergic to broccoli eats a banana that just happens to have a little broccoli DNA under the peel, that person might get sick. Some studies on animals indicate that consuming genetically-modified foods may cause allergic responses, compromise immune systems and inhibit organ growth, although no proven cases of widespread reactions have been definitively documented. Opponents of biotech foods want other questions answered, as well. Will re-engineering a plant or animal to serve a specific end, such as improving taste, decrease its nutritional value? Will consuming genetically-modified food products make a person more resistant to antibiotics, which are widely used to treat bacterial infections? Does consuming milk or meat from livestock that has been injected with growth hormones (a form of biotechnology that is different from genetic modification) subject consumers to early puberty, cancer, and other ailments?Since neither side has been able to provide definitive answers, the jury is still out on food safety; after all, genetic technology itself is barely decades old. So one can condense the issue into a single question: should we move forward with new technologies that might help provide higher crop yields, new and interesting types of food products, and more profits for the companies that own the technology; or play it safe and wait until we better understand the health and environmental consequences of manipulating life forms that took generations to develop?Multinational Corporations benefit because GMF can be very profitable. GMF have taken hold quickly because multinational corporations with the resources to make large financial investments in research and development can profit directly. Multinational companies can spread out the benefit and profit to many branches of their businesses. Many such corporations combine the following: an agrochemical company, a seed  company, a pharmaceutical company, a food processing company and sometimes businesses involved with veterinary products. Developments in one part of the corporation can be used t o sell products in another branch. Farmers benefit in the short term because they can grow and sell more crops with fewer problems due to weeds, pests, fungi or frost. The genetically modified seed is designed to resist these traditional enemies. Food processing companies benefit from a ready supply of raw food ingredients designed for specific processing needs. Genetically modified tomatoes and potatoes, for instance, have higher solid contents and yield more sauces and French fries. These foods take longer to ripen and rot. Thus less food is spoiled and more gets processed. Supermarkets benefit for the same reasons. The fresh produce lasts longer on the shelves and is more profitable. Consumers, to date, haven’t benefited. GMF have been developed for the convenience of the producer and processor. Yet they cost more to produce and the costs get passed along to the consumer. Eventually there will be some kind of designer novelty foods for shoppers to try. Nottingham adds that there are many other concerns including ethical questions involving animal welfare, whether DNA is actual life, and intellectual property rights and genetic resources from the Third World. (Bragi)The world’s poorest nations account for around 95.7% of the world’s genetic resources. Traditional farming practices involve farmers retaining seeds, from the harvest of one year’s crop, for planting in the following year. This practice saves money on buying seed and in itself represents a continuous selection for yield and resistance to pests and diseases. However, with genetically modified seed, royalties are payable to the companies holding the patent for the seed. Under world trade agreement rulings, farmers have to make substantial royalty payments to multinational companies if they keep seed for replanting, even if the crop happens to be native to their particular country. Genetic engineering is a valuable new technology that can develop more plentiful and nutritious foods, with great potential benefits for humanity and the environment, and this new scientific discovery needs to be implemented as quickly as possible for humanitarian reasons. As with every new scientific technology, harmful side effects of genetic engineering are inevitable and great care should be taken in its implementation, including carefully controlled long-term tests on human health and environmental impacts. All genetically engineered foods have been thoroughly tested and demonstrated to be safe before they are released into the marketplace. However, this testing is typically conducted only on rats and other animals, by the companies involved. Very little of this research has been reviewed by independent scientists and then published in scientific journals. Genetically engineered foods are usually â€Å"substantially equivalent† to other foods, with no increased risk to human health, and no need for the lengthy and expensive human testing demanded of, for example, new food additives. However, the unpredictable disruptions in normal DNA functioning caused by genetic engineering can produce unanticipated and unknown side effects for human health, including unknown and unpredictable toxins and allergens, and these possibilities can only be definitively assessed through human testing. Genetic engineering is a scientific and technological process, and its evaluation and governmental regulation should be based on purely scientific and objective criteria. To have a purely scientific evaluation of genetically engineered foods, we need more science, especially human studies and environmental studies. Moreover, purely scientific assessment of genetic engineering ignores the fact that, for many people, food has cultural, ethical and religious dimensions that must also be considered. Alan McHughen, author of Pandora’s Picnic Basket: The Potential and Hazards of Genetically Modified Foods, in the introduction he states:†Make no mistake: I am in favor of an orderly and appropriately regulated introduction of some GMOs into the environment and marketplace, and I  adamantly oppose others. There are good reasons to ban certain products of genetic technology, and good reasons to allow, with management, certain others; some may require no extraordinary regulation at all. If your opinion differs from mine after reading this book, I hope you will be able to justify, if only to yourself, why we disagree. My philosophy is to be skeptical, be critical, even cynical of claims by business interests, government agencies, and activist groups. But also keep an open mind and then decide for yourself.† (Internet 7)ThereÂ’s no doubt that the GM food supply should be closely monitored and regulated, but that doesnÂ’t mean it should all be banned. I believe that genetic engineering of plants, animals, and humans has much to offer as long as we are aware of potential benefits and side effects. And thatÂ’s true even for more traditional methods of farming, animal husbandry, and medicine. Work Sited: 1.Cummings, Michael R., and Williams S. Klug. Concepts of Genetics. New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2004. 2.Dubey, R.C. A Textbook of Biotechnology. New Delhi: S. Chand, 20063.Kumar, H.D. Modern Concepts of Biotechnology. New Delhi: Vikash Publishing House, 20034.Purohit, S. Agricultural Biotechnology. India: Agrobios, 20055.Purohit, S. Biotechnology: Fundamental and Applications. India: Agrobios, 2004Internet Reference:1.Bragi, David. “Food Savior Or Frankenfood? The Debate Over Genetically Modified Foods”. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2001/06/25/healthwatch.DTL2.Robbin, Adria. “What Are We Eating?” http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f00/web1/robbin.html3.Schultz, Norman. http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/fact_finding_limits/4.Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/genetic_engineering5.Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia. http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/genetically_modified_food6.“Genetic Engineering: The Controversy”. http://www.genetic-id.com/prosncons/index.htm7.http://www.foodmuseum.com/issues.html

The performance management plan paper

Southfield is now in the process of hiring and gaining his 25 employees so now is the time for a performance management plan. Landslide Limousine Service should use this to cover four key components in the company. The plan should give chauffeurs constructive feedback, the driver's ability levels, the process which the drivers ability is measured, and a plan implemented to improve trouble areas for this type of performance. The company will use the plan to keep the business above everyone else in this industry.Southfield doesn't Just want â€Å"perfect† customer service he wants this excellence to be repeated on a day-to-day basis to make sure business or clients return. In this industry the chauffeurs are the most important part of the business so their contributions have to be the best for the company to thrive. Landslide is Just starting out and they need to hire the best employees to make sure that they gain interest by the public eye, this means customer and employees. Th ey can't win on the money front Just starting out but they can hold the employees and customers to a high standard.Bradley and his management team will have to provide training to some of the new drivers and when it comes to the experience ones, they will Just have to learn the Landslide's way of doing things. When it comes to all staff members they will be Judged by the service they give. Surveys will be issued to each customer to let management know where each employee stands. The staff that takes calls, and the driver's survey will differentiate exponentially but they will be grade by them the same. Any one employee performance that drops under a average of 5 for the month will be dealt with accordingly.The scale will go from one (being bad) and 10 (being great) service. The totals will be added and averages at the end of every month to make sure that each employee performs their Job in a satisfactory fashion. Other checks will go into this grade at the end of the month like dres s code, facial appearance, vehicle's condition. Clothing must be ironed, shoes clean (shined optional for drivers), faces must be cleanly shaved no big piercing (small earrings, nose rings, etc are k), finally the vehicle conditions must be in shape o pass the checklist provided.Anyone not following these guiltiness are on a three strike basis meaning warning, write-up, and fired. The performance plan will stay in line with the vision of the company providing the best customer service in the industry. The company will be in the negative to start out but should be on the comeback by year two. The turnover rate will be high at first but with these high standards set in place the customer will be happy which will generate more money into the company thus paying more to the drivers.Once this catches on the chauffeurs will recognize their worth and want to stay with a company that keeps them up to a high standard because the respect the craft and the results that it brings. If the plan i s followed correctly Landslide Limousine Service will have well trained high standard drivers. This type of setting will only help the business gain traction and help when providing guidance for new employees in the future. The staff needs clear direction when it comes to what is expected of them on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annually basis.As employee one does a better Job when they realize why the need to do a better Job and what the benefits are. For this the managers should come up with a checklist for staff to keep them on track on a everyday basis. Every day, before and after each Job is done, will have to check a few things to make sure that they are stay up to the Landslide standards. Uniforms will have to be ironed on a daily basis along with clean shoes. The chauffeurs will have the option to shine shoes because they are being seen by the customers so they deed to look the best of the best.When they come in in the morning they need to check the vehicle, inside and out. Drivers need to make sure that they check from tires to windows and make sure that they give the client the email address so they can leave the survey. The survey will as specific question on how the driver performed and how the vehicle up keep was to determine grades for the service provided. With the company Just getting off the ground they will have to do a lot to make their mark in the industry.With a good basis of standards and policies put in lace the company will do Just fine in the beginning stages and only get better from there. Putting in place a good performance management plan will help with this because it gives the company a good starting point for what expected each and every one of the employees entering in the company and lets them know, with clear direction, what they can do to fulfill their task on a day-to-day basis. Reference ASCII, W. F. (2013). Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits (9th De. ) Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Larkin.

Reading and Studying Literature - Compare and Contrast Essay

Reading and Studying Literature - Compare and Contrast - Essay Example Wordsworth’s extract from the Prelude, and de Quincey’s extract from Confessions of an English Opium Eater have one feature in common: they both demonstrate a truly romantic sensibility. Beyond this central similarity, however, there are some major differences such as genre, national/international perspective, and proposed levels of social and moral behaviour which the â€Å"autobiographer† persona claims to embody. The Romantic movement was essentially a continental European phenomenon when it first emerged, through the works in French and German by writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1749-1832). In Britain it flourished in literature first, and then later spread to music and other arts. It is seen in connection with some important developments in European history such as the Enlightenment, with its emphasis on scientific discovery, and the use of logic and reason to make sense of the world, and the Industrial Revolut ion, which saw a widespread move of populations from rural areas to the cities in search of work in factories which had begun to spring up. The French Revolution of 1789 was evidence of great changes in political understanding also. In some ways the Romantic movement was a reaction to these seismic events: a key characteristic of this period is that writers began to focus on â€Å"the powers and terrors of the inner imaginative life† (Watson, in Watson and Towheed, 2011, p. 3) In the Wordsworth text, the power of the inner imaginative life of the author is presented as something positive, sweet and pleasant, citing â€Å"visionary things, and lovely forms/And sweet sensations†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wordsworth, ll. 61-62). He speaks of the power of his own former years, (Wordsworth, l. 51) and depicts the task of capturing them in writing as a form of â€Å"honourable toil† (Wordsworth, l. 53). Wordsworth’s early life is presented as an idyllic scene, painted for the re ader under a shining sun, evoking strong emotions for their edification and enjoyment, in a timeless English countryside. De Quincey also aims to arouse the emotions of the reader, but in his text the emotions that he evokes are somewhat more extreme, and tinged with danger and excitement, since he mentions for example that be might â€Å"shock† his readers with the revelations that are to come. Both personas are presented as something out of the ordinary, in order to captivate the interest of the reader, and this also is a feature of the Romantic sensibility: â€Å"The idea of the writer as an original genius, an exceptional man ahead of his time, possessed by inexplicable, spontaneous, visionary inspiration, first became dominant in the Romantic period.† (Watson, in Watson and Towheed, 2011, p. 7) Both men introduce themselves to the reader as older, wiser individuals who have retired from their busy life to devote themselves to inner contemplation and recording thei r innermost thoughts about their own experiences. Wordsworth displays his academic credentials through lofty abstract terms such as â€Å"inquiry† (l. 55), â€Å"knowledge† (l. 57), and â€Å"judgements† (L. 59) while de Quincey finds it necessary to spell out the fact that he has been reading various very academic writers, and that he is â€Å"

Proposal to determine if standardized testing is an effective method Research

To determine if standardized testing is an effective method to measure student learning - Research Proposal Example Application of the SAT test later extended to evaluation for entry into colleges and universities, becoming popular among the institutions. The tests are however not limited to application for entry purposes into colleges and universities, as use of common standards in the education curriculum requires standardized tests for evaluating students. While standardized testing may offer a basis for evaluation, consideration of such factors as disabilities and special needs undermine the equal opportunity concept. Disparities in environmental factors are also threats to standardized tests. A study, for example, noted that students may perform poorly in a standardized test that is developed in a foreign environment with such factors as language barriers being significant (Wood, Eichner-LeFrank, Wood, S., and Braus, n.d.). Standardized tests are used to evaluation students’ intelligence for grading and comparison with other students. While need for equal opportunities is one of the reasons for standardized tests, allowing for evaluation on the same baseline, differences in potentials, some of which may be induced by natural factors, undermine the fairness objective. Relative significance of the factors to performance in mathematics identifies the need to understand effectiveness of standardized tests in understanding students’ potentials in mathematics. Mathematics, according to Claro, Cabello, San Martin, and Nussbaum (2015), is more sensitive to environmental factors than reading is and this suggests difference in effectiveness of standard tests between the two. Economic, social, and cultural statuses, among students from Chile, have greater effects on mathematics skills than on reading skill and this means that the factors influences effectiveness of standardized tests for mathematics among the students and others. Students with similar level of competence in