Another Napoleon :: essays research papers

Most historians portray Napoleon's return to France as an example of his disregard for hundreds of thousands of lives in order to satisfy his outsized ambition. We at Napoleon on the Net, however, view the `Hundred Days' as an example of the Emperor's superior charisma and the love for him that it inspired. The support of the common people of France was the basis of Napoleonic rule. The generals and the politicians did not rush to support Napoleon's new adventure, but, as we will show, the front-line soldiers and the common people were determined to uphold the basic principle the Revolution: that it is the people's right to decide the form of their government. Vincent Cronin, in his acclaimed biography of Napoleon, entitled Napoleon Bonaparte: An Intimate Biography (William Morrow & Company, 1972, pp. 391-392), describes Napoleon's first major confrontation with French troops sent by the Bourbon regime to kill or capture him. "Napoleon had 1,100 men against about 700. But he did not want bloodshed. The abhorrence of civil war he had felt twenty years before in Provence remained as strong as ever and, on landing, he had given Cambronne strict orders that not a shot was to be fired. What he did now ws to order his hundred Polish lancers to advance slowly. At this Delessart withdrew his men, in good order, to new positions. The Polish lancers were told to wheel and come back. Napoleon then had the tricolour unfolded and told the Guards' band to play the Marseillaise, which he had described in Elba as `the greatest general of the Revolution'. Forbidden since the return of the Bourbons, the stirring tune had the effect, said one observor, of `electrifying' the Grenoble soldiers. Napoleon started riding towards the men of the 5th. At pistol-shot range he dismounted and walked towards the 700 loaded muskets. He was wearing his grey campaigning overcoat, familiar to every Frenchman. Captain Randon, twenty years old, of Grenoble, called to his men, `There he is! Fire!' After taking a few steps, Napoleon stopped and drew apart the lapels of his overcoat, exposing his white waistcoat. `If you want to kill your Emperor,' he called in loud voice, `here I am!' Back came a tremendous shout of `Long live the Emperor!' The men of the 5th, waving their shakos on bayonets, rushed cheering towards him. `Just see if we want to kill you,' shouted one soldier, rattling his ramrod up and down the barrel of his empty musket. In a matter of minutes the soldiers had whipped from their haversacks the old tricolour

What would happen if he ate McDonalds for 30 days straight?

Morgan Spurlock wanted to see what would happen if he ate McDonalds for 30 days straight. Every meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he was not allowed to eat or drink anything that was NOT from McDonalds. He has to eat everything on the menu at least once. And, on top of all that, if they asked him to supersize it, he had to do it! His journey has begun.Morgan weighed 185 pounds at the beginning of his journey. His girlfriend is a vegan chef, which is someone who does not eat meat, fish, dairy products, or eggs. She completely disagrees with the choice that Morgan has made, and thinks that he is going to kill himself doing it.The fattest nation in the world, you could guess, is America. The fattest state is Mississippi. The fattest city is Houston, Texas. Texas has 4 of the top 10 fattest cities in the Nation. And in Manhattan alone, there are 83 McDonalds. Every day, more than 46 million people are served worldwide!It is predicted that in the future, obesity will be the leading caus e of death, behind smoking. People who eat McDonalds once a week are called ‘heavy users’. Nutritionists say that never eating McDonalds in your entire life is the healthiest choice you can make.Morgan gained 25 pounds over 30 days of eating McDonalds. At second weigh in, he had gained 18 pounds, which was 203 pounds. At third weigh in, Morgan had actually lost one pound, putting him 202 pounds. At his fourth and final weigh in, Morgan had gained another 8 pounds, putting him at 210 pounds. Over this 30 day period, Morgan had consumed about 30 pounds of sugar.Eating fast food is very unhealthy. It can also be very addicting. These huge fast foods have all the money in the world to pay for advertising to attract a variety of age groups to come and buy their products. Every company does this, they have to advertise in order to stay in business!

Performance Management Essay

Activity 1: The business life today becomes more challenging for the companies and employees, where the organizations want to attract employees with high qualifications and professional experience with lower salary. On the other side the employees looking for jobs develop their qualifications with high (or reasonable) salary. And here is the challenge. This challenge could be managed by something called performance management, where it will give the balance to the relationship between the two sides. Performance management is process used to recognize, encourage, determine, evaluate, develop and reward the employee performance. And this will grease the circle and shrink the gap and toward achieving the organization objectives. Any effective performance management system must include these components: 1. Performance Planning: Performance planning is the first crucial component of any performance management process which forms the basis of performance appraisals. Performance planning is jointly done by the appraise and also the reviewer in the beginning of a performance session. During this period, the employees decide upon the targets and the key performance areas which can be performed over a year within the performance budget. This is finalized after a mutual agreement between the reporting officer and the employee. 2. Performance Appraisal and Reviewing: The appraisals are normally performed twice in a year in an organization in the form of mid reviews and annual reviews which is held in the end of the financial year. In this process, the appraisee first offers the self filled up ratings in the self appraisal form and also describes his/her achievements over a period of time in quantifiable terms. After the self appraisal, the final ratings are provided by the appraiser for the quantifiable and measurable achievements of the employee being appraised. The entire process of review seeks an active participation of both the employee and the appraiser for analyzing the causes of loopholes in the performance and how it can be overcome. This has been discussed in the performance feedback section. 3. Feedback on the Performance followed by personal counseling and performance facilitation: Feedback and counseling is given a lot of importance in the performance management process. This is the stage in which the employee acquires awareness from the appraiser about the areas of improvements and also information on whether the employee is contributing the expected levels of performance or not. The employee receives an open and a very transparent feedback and along with this the training and development needs of the employee is also identified. The appraiser adopts all the possible steps to ensure that the employee meets the expected outcomes for an organization through effective personal counseling and guidance, mentoring and representing the employee in training programmes which develop the competencies and improve the overall productivity. 4. Rewarding good performance: This is a very vital component as it will determine the work motivation of an employee. During this stage, an employee is publicly recognized for good performance and is rewarded. This stage is very sensitive for an employee as this may have a direct influence on the self esteem and achievement orientation. Any contributions duly recognized by an organization helps an employee in coping up with the failures successfully and satisfies the need for affection. 5. Performance Improvement Plans: In this stage, fresh set of goals are established for an employee and new deadline is provided for accomplishing those objectives. The employee is clearly communicated about the areas in which the employee is expected to improve and a stipulated deadline is also assigned within which the employee must show this improvement. This plan is jointly developed by the appraisee and the appraiser and is mutually approved. 6. Potential Appraisal: Potential appraisal forms a basis for both lateral and vertical movement of employees. By implementing competency mapping and various assessment techniques, potential appraisal is performed. Potential appraisal provides crucial inputs for succession planning and job rotation. Good performance management will result to good motivation for the employees. Such thing will take us to discusses theory x and theory y. If we assumes the employee is lazy and doesn’t like to work, where he will avoid taking responsibili ties and duties, and he works for getting the salary only. Then the attitude toward the employee will be similar to mind image, So, there is a hidden guidance line will prove that imagination in the real life. And the opposite thing is right. Where if we considered the employee is responsibility seeker and challengeable and like the work. We will consider him as creative, where we will motivate him and develop his career and knowledge to be innovative in the work. In the performance management system the organizations relies on the appraisal system to build the appropriate reward theme for employees who are under evaluation. Where the reward is the result of the employee performance and it will represent the pleasure of that performance by the organization or in other words it is the return on investment of the employee’s skills, time and efforts. The fair and reasonable reward will lead the employee to be in motivation situation, and on top of that it will give the feeling of loyalty in the organization, also the fair reward system w ill increase the satisfaction level and will make innovative culture in the organization. The reward that is given to the employee could be financially and could be non-financially. For example the financial rewards could be cash compensation, commission or bonuses which are considered as direct compensations, on the other hand there are non-financial rewards one example of them is the life insurance for the employee himself only or his family as well. We know that the performance management is a process not an event. Performance management is not another term for personal appraisal. It is a process that brings together and manages all the factors that affect performance, treating the individual as a vital component but not the only component in a multifaceted aspect of management Well, in the performance management, the key elements to be considered while managing the poor or good performance are: * The level of performance to be achieved. * the competences needed to achieve this level of performance * the activities and resources needed to motivate and empower people * the monitoring and review mechanisms that measure performance and compare results with targets * the measures taken to improve performance and attain best practice * the measures taken to ensure the planned targets and competences are the right ones for the organization and its stakeholders Performance Review & Development Plan is an evaluative tool to be used for all administrative staff and managers. It allows on an annual basis for each supervisor and employee to: Clarify and define areas of responsibility; jointly set performance objectives for the next review period; set measurable standards for performance; review objectives and performance; and identify and address developmental needs. In terms of potential outcomes of a performance review, high ratings (significantly exceeds expectations) will result in the recognition of extremely strong performance and lead to the identification of performance objectives or other assignments which may provide additional opportunities to obtain further skills and experience, as well as the establishment of development goals to continue the employee’s professional/personal development and growth. With moderate ratings (fully meets expectations), the supervisor and employee identify upcoming performance objectives and outline the ways in which job expectations and standards could be exceeded in future. Development goals that will support the employee to reach greater achievements should be established. In the event of low ratings (needs improvement), the supervisor and employee should clearly identify areas where performance can be improved, review what support and assistance may be required in order to realize such improvements, and establish development goals stemming from that discussion. During the course of the following review period, particular attention should be placed on areas needing improvement, with ongoing communication between the supervisor and employee regarding progress made. Frequency and Timing Performance reviews are conducted on an annual basis and should be completed by the immediate supervisor and submitted to Human Resources no later than August 1 of each year. All new employees undergo a performance review by the conclusion of their probationary term, and on an annual basis by August 1 thereafter. The supervisor may waive an annual performance review if it falls within three months of the probationary review Process 1. Setting Performance Objectives and Development Goals for the Review Period At the beginning of the cycle, the supervisor and employee meet to review the employee’s position and key responsibilities and establish performance objectives and development goals for the review period. Performance Objectives: * should establish between 3 and 5 objectives for a given year; * should be specific, measurable, and attainable within the time frame identified (multi-year objectives should be broken down into smaller components); * should be reflective of the employee’s role level; * should not be above and beyond the employee’s current duties, but reflective of his/her responsibilities within the context of the department’s goals and priorities for the upcoming year. Development Goals: In establishing new development goals, the supervisor and employee should consider: * areas of performance requiring improvement; particularly those with ratings of needs improvement; * training needs arising from the performance objectives set for the following review period, including situations where there are anticipated changes to responsibilities or technologies and where an employee may be assisted to gain the necessary skills and/or knowledge; and * Areas of personal interest for professional development and growth, as they relate to future potential opportunities at the university. The development plan should identify specific and measurable goals with a recommended course of action. Such goals may include: providing additional or more focused direction and guidance to enhance current performance; providing specific training opportunities related to job responsibilities; supporting enrolment in formal educational programs related to job responsibilities; encouraging the reading of publications related to work performed; supporting participation in professional organizations related to areas of responsibility; and/or delegating assignments to provide opportunities to acquire new skills. Throughout the year, employees should be provided with the necessary supervisory guidance, direction and feedback. Performance objectives should be periodically reviewed to ensure they remain valid and realistic and, if required, modified or removed. 2. Preparing for the Performance Interview: In late May or early June the immediate supervisor should: a. provide a copy of the Performance Review & Development Plan Guide and Form to the employee; b. schedule a review meeting with the employee with a minimum of two weeks’ notice; and c. prepare for the interview. 3. Conducting the Performance Interview The purpose of the interview is to promote increased communication and understanding between immediate supervisors and employees through discussion of the following: the accomplishment of performance objectives identified in the previous review, and any factors affecting their attainment; the degree to which development goals were met; strengths and weaknesses related to the performance factors; the development of performance objectives for the next review period; and the establishment of new development goals for the next review period. 4. Completing and Filing the Documentation – Comments and Signature by Immediate Supervisor and Employee – Approval stage. Activity 2: The discussed issue was the reduction in sales level from the side of excellent employee in the organization, where the employee has some strength such as he is well organized, answering too many queries and continues following up with the customers issues. On the other side he faced a problem where he was alone for last six months in the call center, where his colleague left the job. So, the overload was handled by only one employee, where it was terrible thing. But the weakness in the whole story was the bad communication from the employee to the management, where he kept quiet and didn’t report the problem to the management. After the discussion we agreed to give him promotion because of his great performance regardless the reduction in the sale, and he will follow a development program in communication skills. As well as that, I agreed with the management to hire another two employees with him to hold some duties with him. Here we can say that the problem solved and we guaranteed to do not repeat again, and established a development program to the employee to improve his skills. Reference: 1) C.LEATHERBARROW, J.FLETCHER and D.CURRIE (2010), Introduction to Human Recourse Management, a guide to human recourse practice. Second Edition. London, Chartered Institute of Professional Development.

Important Events in the European History That Changed the European Society Essay

The changes are an integral part of progress and development. It is a well-known fact that in order to gain a new level the society should go through the series of different transformation. These transformations are not always pleasant and peaceful but, in general, they are useful for the society and help it to become a better one. In this work I am going to explain how, the European world changed dramatically as a result of a series of stresses in the late 13th to the mid 15th centuries and how such events as Black Plague, the One Hundred Year’s War and the collapse of Papal Power influenced the Medieval European society. The transformation of the Medieval society was long and painful process, which lasted approximately 150 years. The development in the years 1000-1300 brought the positive changes in agriculture, finance and trade. Growing food supply, the creation of guilds, the development of urban life, commercial revolution, the new life of learning – all these changes influenced positively on the society (Beck et al. 387-392). This is the first reason why the later changes were so dramatic for the society. They were so much unexpected that the people were simply not ready for them. The Black Plague, which is also known as the â€Å"Black Death† was probably among the most dramatic events, which constantly changed the face of the Medieval World into the new one. When the historians talk about â€Å"The Black Death,† they mean the specific outbreak of plague that took place in Europe in the mid-14th century. The Black Death came to Europe in October of 1347, spread swiftly through most of Europe by the end of 1349 and on to Scandinavia and Russia in the 1350s† (Shell, â€Å"The Black Death†). This epidemic also came back several times during the rest of the century. These events were followed by mass fear and hysteria. The main changes in social life brought by the plague were the rise of marriage and birth rate, the increase of violence and the upward mobility. The economic effects also were quite dramatic. First of all, â€Å"surplus of goods resulted in overspending; it was swiftly followed by a shortage of goods and inflation† (Shell, â€Å"The Black Death†). The second effect was lack of laborers. The level of trust to the Church also decreased. The One Hundred Years’ War was another historical even, which influenced on the society in the Middle Ages. It â€Å"was a long struggle between England and France over succession to the French throne. It lasted from 1337 to 1453, so it might more accurately be called the â€Å"116 Years’ War† (Wheeler, â€Å"The Hundred Years’ War†). Actually, it was the series of smaller wars and included several battles. The war involved two countries, England and France, which were among the leading ones in Europe during the Middle Ages. Nothing special, that such a massive struggle, which involved a large amount of people during the extremely long period of time, resulted into the drastic demographic, economical and political changes. England lost most of its continental territories and the insanity of the King brought it into the series of internal conflicts. On the contrary, France was able to strengthen its positions. The third important point, which initiated the changes in the European society and brought it to the new era of development, was the collapse of Papal Power. In the Middle Ages the belief that there is one Pope, who rules the church, was extremely strong. That is why the division of the Papacy into the two ruling points, one in Avignon, France and one in Rome was a great tragedy for many people as everything that they believed in, was destroyed. Despite the fact that finally the power was re-united in Rome, â€Å"it never recovered entirely from its stay at Avignon, and from the Great Schism. The power of the popes was never again as great as it had been before the quarrel between Boniface VIII. and the King of France† (Harding, â€Å"The Story of the Middle Ages†). The respect to the Church, which was among the most important factors, which influenced the Middle Ages, was destroyed. That is why these events are so important for the formation of the new society. To sum up, the European society went through the series of dramatic changes from the late 13th century to the mid 15th century. One of the most important factors, which influenced the changes, was the high speed of it. Such events as the Black Death, The Hundred Years’ War and the collapse of Papal Power were the events, which were â€Å"the beginning of end† for the Middle Ages. After them, the society required changes in order to adapt to the new conditions of life.

The 17th and 18th centuries were a time of great political change in Research Paper

The 17th and 18th centuries were a time of great political change in Europe - Research Paper Example To begin with, Hobbes being a scholar, his main aim was to place politics on a scientific grip, hence employing a strict logical method to his work. In contrast, Machiavelli having worked as one of the civil servants of Florentine Republic drew his conclusions, after observing how people behaved instead of how they should behave in an intangible and hypothetical world2. It is this methodology difference, which leads to differing political views of these two authors. Hobbes, writing Leviathan immediately after the end of civil war and unfruitful tries at republicanism in Europe, held less estimation of the nature of human beings that Machiavelli. According to Hobbes, if two individuals have desire of a certain thing, which they cannot enjoy at the same time, then they become enemies3. Hobbes argued that, people living in such state were continuously at war, and they could not differentiate between right and wrong. The two lived a life that was poor, solitary, short, brutish, and nasty. Resulting from his reductionist methodology, taking societal analysis to a position of human nature, he made his conclusion with a main realist assumption (anarchy). In such a state, every individual has his or her natural right for protection against injury or harm4. Therefore, Hobbes’s arguments purports that there must be fundamental laws to avoid the state of war. On contrary, Machiavelli does not reflect a theoretical state of nature like Hobbes. Howev er, Machiavelli argues, â€Å"there is no secret hand, which brings human activities into natural harmony†. Another factor differentiating these two political theorists is their diverging views about governance. According to Hobbes, it was the speculation on how a society functions without set rules. Hobbes felt that individuals would simply be doing things according to their own interests. Regarding how people should act, Hobbes makes

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) - Essay Example Quality control is a process that is employed in order to ensure a required level of fineness and quality in a product or service delivered by a company. Quality assurance, on the other hand, is a process in which products are checked in order to know whether those products will be able to meet customers’ expectations or not. Along with quality assurance and quality control, companies also adhere to the key principles of total quality management, such as, quality oriented management, customer focus approach, and continuous improvement in order to guarantee the development of superior quality products. In recent years, many scholars have researched the role of quality management systems in the success of businesses. There has been a great concern about the use of different quality frameworks and this concern has led many researchers to study the role of those frameworks in ensuring the provision of highest quality to customers. Some key quality frameworks, such as, Six Sigma framework, BEM framework, and ISO 9000: 2001 framework play a vital role in the manufacturing of high quality products. In this paper, we will discuss the role of total quality management in the success of a company or organization. We will examine the way total quality management helps a company improve its performance in market and increase customer base. The paper will include a discussion about the key principles of total quality management, as well as a discuss on quality assurance and quality control. Moreover, the paper will also include a review about the key developments in the evolution of quality and the role of strategic quality frameworks and quality improvement tools and techniques in improved organizational performance and productivity. Quality is the key to organizational success. It refers to the delivery of high quality products to satisfy customers, as well as to improve business performance.

How to Become More Effective Within the Organization Essay

How to Become More Effective Within the Organization - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that people in organizations spend over 75 percent of their time in an interpersonal situation. Thus, it is no surprise to find that at the root of a large number of organizational problems is poor communications. Effective communication is an essential component of organizational success whether it is at the interpersonal, inter-group, intra-group, organizational or external levels (How-to Books, online). For human communication to be high in quality or effective, it must take into account not only the choice of language but also the movement of vocal cords, the reception of sound and its translation into neural signals, syntactic and phonological processing. Even facial expressions and gestures influence the quality and outcome of communication. As for the communication message, social psychologists give it three components: content, context, and treatment. Content is the essence of what one person desires to communicate to another, while the context is the way the communicator presents the content of his message to his audience. As for treatment, it is how communication is arranged and conducted by the speaker, which supports the content and context of the message. In a business setting, empathy is vital in communication. Lack of this element is said to be holding down the success of most organizations, where people spend 75 percent of their time in interpersonal, intra-group, inter-group, organizational and external communication.