Analysis and Meaning of Dante Gabriel Rossettis The Bocca Baciata Essay

Analysis and Meaning of Dante Gabriel Rossettis The Bocca Baciata - Essay Example Bocca Baciata can be said to the beginning of Rossetti’s shift in terms of style and medium in his paintings that later became the signature of his work. Bocca Baciata marked Rossetti’s beginning of painting singular female figures that evoke seduction and earthly pleasure. According to a fellow cofounder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood William The painting, just like Rossetti’s previous painting bore inscription that wrote; Bocca baciata non perde ventura, anzi rinnova come fa la luna. ‘The mouth that has been kissed does not lose its savour, indeed it renews itself just as the moon does2 II. Evolution of Dante Gabriel Rossetti as an Artist To fully understand, appreciate and decipher the meaning of Bocca Baciata on how it relate to Rossetti, it would be necessary to understand Rossetti as an artist to contextualize the meaning of the Bocca Baciata and fully understand the painting in the process. Rossetti as an artist did not employ a single theme in hi s works although the nature of his subjects primarily centred on women. His subject (the female) and how they were depicted evolved and it served as a mark on Rossetti’s growth and maturity as an artist and this has a significance in understanding Rossetti’s final paintings (Bocca Baciata was one of them) that became the signature of Rossetti’s work. ... hift of style is significant because Rossetti was not only one of the most accomplished artists during his time but also cofounded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which was a movement towards a particular painting style of stressing the importance of nature3. Bearing in mind Rossetti’s involvement with the Pre-Raphaelite movement is important because Rossetti’s later works that include the Bocca Baciata was still assessed under the standard of the artistic style of the brotherhood of whom he cofounded even when he attempted to depart from it. This resulted to the harsh criticism of his later works that led many critique of the Victorian painting to judge that the best of Rossetti’s works were those whom he had painted earlier. a. The first phase (from 1848 to 1853) The female has always been a central subject among Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s work. This was already evident from his very first public artwork which was The Girlhood of Mary Virgin. What differed from Rossetti’s later work such as the Bocca Baciata is not how the subject changed but rather, on how the rendering of the subject shifted. Bocca Baciata can be said to be similar with Rossetti’s first major work The Girlhood of Mary Virgin in many aspect although not necessarily on how the women were depicted. Bocca Baciata was Rossetti’s first work that marked his shift in terms of rendering the female while The Girlhood of Mary Virgin was Rossetti’s first work that made him prominent in having the female as subjects. Rossetti as an artist during the first evolution of his works can be likened to the growth of a boy to a man where the perspective about the female change as the boy grows to puberty and become a man. In The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, Rossetti’s boyish and impressionable nature was

Chocolate by Joanne Harris Essay Example for Free

Chocolate by Joanne Harris Essay If we were all to rebel against what weve always known to be accepted, if we were to completely ignore the teachings of our elders and do the things weve been taught to be evil and sinister, what would happen? This situation is one which occurs in a small and tranquil French town in the extract from Chocolat. Throughout the extract there are a variety of juxtapositions, polarizations, and much contrast building the subject. Joanne Harris creates a compelling story, but not without exaggerated or overstated situations. Through reading the extract and analyzing each significant line of literature, we are able to understand the narrator and the young girls character to a more advanced degree. In the extract, we first encounter Vianne with her daughter Anouk as they brave the harsh wind and settle into the new village. We came on the wind of the carnival. The quoted piece of literature displays the sly exotic wind, a rather unusual one for February. To some extent, the wind presents the characters of Vianne and Anouk as they are independent and wild, the same as the wind that brought in the carnival. Reminiscent of the carnival, the narrator and her daughter are very bright and lively which is ironic as they settled the grey village during the time of the carnival. This piece of text also shows polarization; Light vs. Dark and Lively vs. Dull, as well as contrast between the towns people and the carnival. The polarization of Lively vs. Dull can be seen in the extract through the mentioning of fanciful tales. A dragons head on a shield, Rapunzel in a woolen wig, a mermaid with a Cellophane tail, a gingerbread house all icing and gilded cardboard, a witch in the doorway. Seeing that most of us have matured with the impression that fairy tales are magic- blissful, bright and fantastic, as we read this passage we can see how Vianne trys to keep magic alive in Anouk as well as in herself. Their itinerant from town to town represents this burning flame; the magic she is striving to keep alive. Not only does Vianne attempt to keep magic flourishing in herself and Anouk, she also aids the parishioners. The extract is an enchanting brew of confections and humanity. Vianne, a shaman-like woman rides the North wind casting her spell of kindness to  those in need; she visits town after town seeking battles with those who would take advantage, and attempt to lord over other poor souls. Carrying on a tradition of lifting the spirits of the downtrodden, with her magical unrefined cocoa and special chili pepper in the form of delicious chocolates. This shows great contrast amongst Vianne and the villagers for the reason that, the personality of Vianne is much di fferent than that of each person in Lansquenet. We also notice this contrast out of the text through Her silk scarf fluttering at her throat; the child in yellow Wellingtons and sky blue mac. Their coloring marks them. Their clothes are exotic.. Unlike the towns people, Vianne is more insightful and exotic as well as observant but nevertheless logical. This is shown in ..knowledge is currency here.. and I feel their gaze As for Anouk, she is able to see beyond the truth. At first, we witness this during the carnival. But at six the world retains a special luster. Then, at the mentioning of a mermaid. ..a mermaid with a Cellophane tail.. She can still see the real witch, the real magic. Joanne Harris used a great juxtaposition here; magic vs. functionality. Not only does Joanne Harris use juxtapositions to build her subjects, she also employs contrast, polarization, connotations, sensuality/austerity (priest, villagers) plus flamboyant passages along with descriptive ones used to paint an image in the readers mind that appeals to our senses. For example, to appeal to our tastes Joanne Harris uses very descriptive words that are enough to make you drool. ..hot greasy scents of frying pancakes and sausages and powdery-sweet waffles.. This also creates wild images in the readers mind, tying in contrast amongst the carnival and towns people. The fact that Vianne arrives in town on the day of the carnival just prior to lent shows great significance- Contrast to people and village is Lively vs. Grey/Dull, which ironically is seen a lot throughout the passage. The carnival also acts as a connecting thread though means of a new beginning. More precisely, a new beginning between Vianne and the villagers; almost like a float. In addition, the carnival sets mood and personality; the fact that everything is not always as is seen, especially when it comes to Religion where the church is a means of control. This control is used as a juxtaposition, repression, and emphasis throughout the movie as well as the passage. All the factors mentioned in the essay; character, language, connections, significance, tie in to create the  subject. The subject of how the towns people judge Vianne and Anouk which then leads to tolerance- how the author creates the subject.

Business Leadership Development Agenda Personal Development Essay

Business Leadership Development Agenda Personal Development Essay Current research shows that knowledge and skills are the two important elements in the field of leadership that makes people more effective leaders. I want to be an effective leader who has all the capabilities of building an efficient leadership strategy. Based on my evaluation from my observers I feel that I need to work on the areas where I can show others how their interests can be realized and how they can share a dream of their future. Based on Boyatziss intentional change model of self-Directed learning (Savage 2010) I have used this model in my own research as my individual action plan. I found that my leadership behavior ranking based on average observers score and my personal score differs. I think improving one weakness of my leadership behavior will change the hidden behavior in me that I cannot realize. Ideal Self Initially, I want to be remembered as a leader who can solve conflicts between the employees by acting as an effective mediator and thus gaining respect from them. I would hope that others recognize my interpersonal skills and being motivated and emulate such behavior. I would like to be known as someone who is more generous with praise and kind words of encouragement. I also would like to be remembered as a legacy leader who empowers the employees and the people around. I want to recognize as a person who foster power in people for use in their own lives, their communities and in their society, by acting on issues they define as important. As discussed in my leadership legacy and taking on such a leadership role, I want to garner respect and admiration from those around me. For my leadership legacy, I would want to be known as a successful leader who wants to hold onto and hold out, for everyone to see, their vision and their values. I want to create opportunities and positive influence on others to be inspired and to understand and accept leadership roles.  I want to be remembered as the leader who tirelessly advocated for the differences in people as essential building blocks to creating a learning community and consistently calibrated their journey into excellence by modeling accountability and responsibility for their leadership roles, and encouraged others to do the same. Finally, I would like to act as a mentor to my colleagues by teaching them what I have learned through my experiences. I would like to leave behind the tools for holding, creating, influencing, advocating and calibrating the solid input to make decisions about when to step up, to step back, and to step off the action which would impact future. My real self Based on the feedback I received from Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), Influence Strategies Exercise (ISE) and essential Enneagram, I believe that I have the strong motivational power that drives the success and encouragement. In my leadership legacy statement, I stated that I always want to empower people and motivate them to foster power in peoples lives. This characteristic feature represents me as a type 3 (The Performer) on the Essential Enneagram. As a performer, I want to develop a goal ahead energy of self-deception to match the image of success and approval. In addition to this, I want to encourage people to feel good about them and show them the appreciation on something they have accomplished. Moreover in the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) 2010, I found an additional overlap between my ideal self and myself. Previously I mentioned in my leadership legacy statement that I want to be an effective mediator who is able to view concrete situations from many different points of view. In the LPI, my observers and I rated myself highly in the practice, Enable Others act. I personally believe that every individual should be treated with dignity and respect and each individual has its own strengths and weaknesses which make them different from others. The understanding of what people can do well and what they do less well is important both to the person and organization. The differences should be valued and used to the full advantage. Leadership Gap analysis: While analyzing my ideal and real self I identified some gaps that include both my strength and weaknesses. In my leadership legacy statement I would like to be remembered as a legacy leader who empowers the employees and the people around recognize my interpersonal skills and being motivated and emulate such behavior. As a type three mediator on Essential Enneagram, I tend to focus and concentrate on things to get job done. I also stated that I want to be remembered as a leader who has the ability of solving conflicts between people by acting as an effective mediator. However, I sometimes have problems in making decisions and I think I also need somebody to discuss the resolution to the problem because sometimes it appears to me equally good and important. In addition to that, I also found some gaps in the area of inspiring shared vision on the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) (Kouzes Posner, personal communication June 14, 2010). Furthermore, as I identified in my leadership legacy statement I want to create opportunities and positive influence on others to be inspired, understand and accept leadership roles. I feel I will have considerably difficulty in showing others how their interest can be realized and described as a compelling image of the future. However, as the Performer, Enneagram and Leadership (Savage, 2010). I can become inspiring example of excellence and authenticity or blindly pursue success and status but I feel I will have to struggle with the concept of pursuing things more effectively and efficiently even there is a chance failure. My ideal self allows me to admit mistakes and listen to suggestions for improvement but sometimes I feel not making any mistakes and accomplish task more efficiently. Initially, I thought I might be type 1 The perfectionist, Enneagram and Leadership (Savage, 2010) because I do believe I can change myself and my environment to fit my ideas and organize things logically but I still feel that type three is more of my style because my first priority in accomplishing my goal is to concentrate more efficiently and get things done more quickly. The last gap I noticed was related to Bargaining Influence Strategies Exercise (Hay group, 2007). The purpose of bargaining is to gain support by negotiating a mutually satisfactory outcome; exchanging favors, sharing resources, making concessions Influence Strategies Exercise (Hay group, 2007). For me I always want to make sure that I am taking everybodys decisions and needs into consideration, I may not keep my needs or agenda into my consideration while I am listening to the suggestions and opinions from people. Based on what I have heard I will create an opinion. Typically I will not avoid the situation where there is a conflict infact I will try to resolve the conflict and come up with the resolution that best fits the needs of people and their concerns. Sustaining Leadership Strengths According to the LPI my strengths are in the area of encouraging confidence, enabling diversity and modeling the values and consensus. The 10 observer groups rated me high in encouraging confidence. The other was enabling diversity which was next in line. Builds consensus around organization value was the last because my observers rated me the third highest in this area of strength (Kouzes Posner, personal communication, June 14, 2010). When it comes to organizational skills, I believe that any administration should be organized and punctual. For example, the administration of ACCESS in Ashland University, these characteristics should be present. It is my belief that having good organizational skills means a better way of doing things. We all have learning differences and find some methods easy than others but how do we go about developing those skills. Leadership by encouragement is one of my practical interpersonal skills that can help in raising Emotional intelligence. In order to create that leadership strategy within the ACCESS it is important to review the administration strategy for implications for new leadership requirements. For the development of this leadership behavior, it is a good suggestion to have a team of experts that will analyze the problem and that are familiar with the processes of acquiring, retaining and development of good organizational development. I believe that I am not still an expert with this requirement and that the university still needs people who are very adept on this. My organizational strategy shall begin with the identifications of drivers of strategy that will help me in analyzing the key choices that includes my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. These factors shall be analyzed comprehensively. It is my goal to make a unique strategy that can be used by ACCESS which can understand what the things essential to the students are. It is very important to accomplish a collective leadership for this. I should have clear implications for what a leader like me should do well in order for an organization to succeed in leadership strategies. It is therefore important that my focus should be primarily on the implications primarily on the implications in leadership strategy that has to be more specific reflecting the actual opportunities and issues surrounding the key drivers. After the implication has been identified my next step will be to develop the leadership strategy in order to assess the current leadership situation and compare it to the desired future. Once the implication has been confirmed and extracted as a team through various ways within the organization, then the leadership developmental strategy should be addressed which will then follow the specific recommendations regarding approaches to be taken to develop current and future leaders as well as the organizations leadership, in line with the leadership strategy. Other thing that needs to be taken on to consideration while developing the strategy is an iterative process involving a team. Because this process will produce a useful conversations that have never taken place before. Those conversations themselves may act as interventions that will help in dealing with the issues within the organization. In creating a leadership strategy it is important to know the leadership culture that is required to implement the strategy and also interfere with effective performance. Once again, it is not how many leaders are in place, it is what actually do they determines whether the organization succeeds or fails. Cultural change that has a negative impact on the working environment should also be addressed. This is the present condition on the ACCESS department within Ashland University. . Due to the less number of staff and with the increased number of students, students are not able to explore the new environment because they are not getting opportunities to share their views and know the different culture. Director of the International student advisor who is currently running the ACCESS department will be my mentor with whom I talk about the situation and discuss the solution of the problem. Pesek is the only person who I can talk and gather information regarding the problems and can provide me with the resources and can serve my advisor and counselor throughout the whole process. In order to diagnose the current problem, it is necessary to diagnose the current status of the problem and to evaluate the organizational change gained through the experimentation and survey feedback. Due to the absence of program Director the organizational culture within the ACCESS is not effective. The staff and faculty have no control over the conflicts and work problems that arise. My approach to the problem will be to create effective leadership strategies and change the way the organization looks currently and implement those areas which need to be focused and monitor every change that results. Leadership Development Goal My main goal in developing my leadership ability is to be more sensitive with the issues surrounding my organization. As a part of the ACCESS Department in Ashland University, it will be my task to be keen in observing what needs to be changed and improved. By doing such, I will be impartial. I shall hear both sides of the story in order for me to weigh my judgment evenly. Another goal in developing my leadership skills is to be flexible in dealing with all circumstances. By being flexible, I believe that I can be an effective leader since I know I can deal with any situation and be on top of things. Finally, I want to be leader that communicates. Communication is very important in leadership. Benefits in Attaining this Goal The first goal which I mentioned is being sensitive with issues surrounding my organization. The benefit of being able to attain this goal is that I will be keen with any issues that my organization shall face. By being such, I can be developed into a proactive leader. This means that measures are continuously done in order to prevent the rising of a crisis. This will not only benefit me but also the entire organization. Alongside with this is being an impartial leader. Being such a leader should benefit the organization as well as all members of it since a just leader earns respect and that ensures that the organization is geared towards success. The benefit of being a flexible leader is that he or she can be able to face all issues and still be on top of things. I want to be that kind of leader. Many organizations fail or drowned in issues because some of its leaders are not able to adapt in certain issues. By being a flexible leader, I believe that I can be effective since I can lead my organization in any issue that it will face. Finally, a leader that communicates is an effective leader. Good communication between leaders and subordinates ensures that messages are conveyed clearly, therefore, good results can be expected. Obstacles in Attaining this Goal There will be obstacles that I know that I will come across in attaining the goals that I have set. Some of these are external factors such as some members of the organizations are unsupportive. This is because some members may not be at ease at being handled under new leadership styles. Other obstacles may be difficult circumstances that will tempt me in utilizing old but cooked leadership styles. In this situation, it is very important to stick with my principles in becoming an effective leader. Resources and Support in Achieving this Goal The resources that I tend to utilize in achieving the goals that I have mentioned are attending trainings and workshops that will tackle the leadership characteristics which I set to develop. These trainings shall help me in developing these characteristics wherein I cam learn from a team of experts as well as peers that are leaders themselves. Support from other organization members is very important for me in attaining these goals. Knowing that my peers from the organization support that such development is necessary for the growth of the organization will give me the strength and inspiration towards achieving such goals. Action Plan Goal: To be able to develop myself as a proactive, flexible and communicating leader. By being such, I can gear my organization towards a working environment that is conducive and that is driving towards success. Table of Action Steps Action step Measurement Timeline My main goal is to become an effective leader that includes the characteristic of being proactive, flexible and a good communicator. I will ask my peers to do an appraisal for me in terms of the characteristics that I mentioned. By the end of September 2010 I will analyze the data I collected from my resources and evaluate it. I will attend trainings and workshop on being proactive. After the training, an appraisal shall be done again for this characteristic. By the end of September 2010. I will attend trainings and workshops on being a flexible leader. After the training, an appraisal shall be done again for this characteristic. By the end of September 2010. I will attend trainings and workshops on being a good communicator. After the training, an appraisal shall be done again for this characteristic. By the end of September 2010. Implement the leanings that I have gained from these trainings on the organization. I shall establish a feedback system in order to monitor the performance. By the end of September 2010. Impart the learning and leadership style by means of succession plan. Create measures and criteria on whom is qualified on becoming a next leader in the organization. Year 2011 onwards. Conclusion I want provide a positive feedback that will help me to present creative and inspirational image of the students at Ashland University. Different people have different personalities and I think I have an ability to change behavior which shows that I am type 3 on Enneagram (Savage 2010) which says I can become an inspiring example of excellence and authenticity or blindly pursue success and status. I believe that it is important to listen to the suggestions what people say about my behavior it is possible that I may not notice changes in my behavior while perceived by others. In order for me to become a successful leader I need to interact with my followers, peers, seniors, and others; whose support will help me to accomplish my goals. For gaining the support of my peers and seniors I must be able to understand and motivate them and know the human behavior. Human behavior plays an important role in leadership strategy and they behave according to certain principles of human nature. As a leader I must understand these needs because they can be powerful motivators. I have learnt multiple facets of leadership from an interdisciplinary perspective. I am investigating my leadership behaviors, to be more reflective in their responses and make plans to improve the effectiveness. I am able to determine exactly what goals I want to target and how I can strategically limit and focus my efforts and develop an individualized leadership developmental plan.

Vivisection: Progress as Paradigm :: Animals Science Papers

Vivisection: Progress as Paradigm "Progress is an optional goal, not an unconditional commitment, and its tempo has nothing sacred about it. A slower progress in the conquest of disease would not threaten society, but would be threatened by the erosion of those moral values whose loss, possibly caused by the too ruthless pursuit of scientific progress, would make its most dazzling triumphs not worth having." –Hans Jonas, bioethicist, 1969 I. Introduction The debate over animal experimentation for scientific advancement is serious and highly controversial. It brings our assumptions about the value of human life and scientific advancement into question. Analysis of this controversy does not purport any easy solutions: there are many points of view. However, it is apparent that the tones are shifting to entertain alternative methods. In allowing the interests of our own species to override the greater interests of members of other species, can we be equated with racists? Sexists?[1] To oppose the use of live animals in scientific experimentation do we not oppose all cruelty to animals, and should we not all be vegans? Should we not charge congress on all fronts for every connection between us and non-human animals? All of these questions will be touched on in this paper, but I will focus more directly on the vivisection controversy, for which I will borrow the Animal Liberation Front's definition: "Any use of animals in science or re search that exploits or harms them." I will give a brief history institutionalized experimentation and challenge the antagonistic viewpoints presented about the efficacy of the use of live animals in research, and offer some budding alternatives. II. History of Institutionalized Experimentation Experiments involving animals for scientific interests began centuries ago, but became institutionalized with Francois Magendie (1787-1855). Magendie was known as a hardworking and brutal physiologist. Barbara Orlans describes some of his experiments in In the Name of Science: Issues in Responsible Animal Experimentation: "Magendie isolated a section of the dog intestine so that it was attached to the rest of the body only by a single artery and vein. This of course was done without anesthesia. Magendie injected various powerful poisons including prussic acid into the intestinal segment and found that the animal was poisoned just as if the normal connections had been intact. He obtained a similar result by injecting a leg detached except for its crural artery and vein.

Bbmdoc.233

CHRIST UNIVERSITY Hosur Road, Bangalore Department of Management Studies Course Plan-2012-2013 Subject/Code: Organizational Behaviour/BBM 232 |Name of the faculty | Email | |Dr. Jain Mathew |[email  protected] in | |Mr. John Paul |john. [email  protected] in | |Ms.Mary Thomas |mary. [email  protected] in | |Ms. Vinita Seshadri |vinita. [email  protected] in | INTRODUCTION To provide students with thorough knowledge in theory and concepts of organizational behavior, also to equip them to address the contemporary changes related to the behavior and performance of people in organizations today.Teaching and learning approach Each week's teaching sessions will comprise: Four- Hour lecture including student centered activity During which you will be introduced to the topic for that week. It is important to note that the coverage of each topic during the lecture will be incomplete unless you read the references provided and attempt the tutorial questions that cover that topic. It is important to note that for each topic a set of objectives is given and it is your responsibility to ensure that you meet those objectives.Recommended text books Stephen Robbins, Timothy A. Judge, Seema Sanghi, Organizational Behavior, 13th Edition Pearson Education, Journals Human Capital MBA Review HRM Review ICFAI HR HBR Review Case Folio Lecture Schedule: 1. MODULE – Introduction to Organizational Behaviour 1. 1 Objectives †¢ Understand the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace. †¢ Describe the manager’s function, role and skills. – Week |Topics |Hour |Methodology | | |Nature, importance and purpose of organizations |1 |Discussion | | | | | | |Nov 5 – Nov 10 | | | | | |Managerial Skills by Robert Katz |2 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Management Roles by Mintzberg |3 |PPT; video showing various roles | | |Effective versus successful Managerial Activities|4 |Group discussion and reflections | | |- | | | | |Luthan’s study | | | 1B. 2 Objectives: On completion of the material you would be able to: †¢ Define Organization Behaviour †¢ Trace the historical roots of organization behaviour †¢ Explain OB Model †¢ Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB †¢ Identify the challenges and opportunities managers have in applying OB Concepts Week |Topics |Hour |Methodology | | |Introduction to Organization Behaviour – OB Model|1 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | | | | | |Nov 12 –Nov 19 | | | | | |Challenges in handling OB |2 |Group discussion and reflections | | |Contribution from other disciplines |3 |Concept Mapping | | |Case Study |4 |Use as a tool to explain how to approach OB case | | | | |studies | 1+. 2 Reference Prerequisite readings – Chapter 1 Stephen Robbins, Timothy A. Judge , Seema Sanghi , Organizational Behavior, 14th Edition Pearson Education 2. MODULE – II Personality 2. 1 Objectives: On completion of the material you would be able to: †¢ Define Personality, describe how it is measured and factors that determine n individual’s personality †¢ Identify Personality Traits relevant to OB and it’s applications in the workplace |Week |Topics |Hour |Methodology | | |Meaning & Determinants of personality |1 |Concept Mapping | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Nov 20 – Dec 4 | | | | | |Theories of personality: Type and Trait theory |2 |Activity: ‘Favourite Personality’ | | |The ‘Big Five’ Personality Traits |3 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Experiential Exercise: Big Five Personality |4 |Questionnaire | | |Trait | | | | |Myers-Briggs Indicator |5 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Psychoanalytical theory |6 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Erickson’s personality |7 |Lecture (C/PPT); Handout | | |Group Activity9-+ |8 |Write up on various personality +-+traits of famous | | | | |personalities | | |Case Study |9 |Case discussion/Written Analysis | 2. 2 Reference: Prerequisi te readings –Ch. 4 Stephen Robbins, Timothy A. Judge , Seema Sanghi , Organizational Behavior, 14th Edition Pearson Education 3. MODULE- III Learning Meaning of learning –– Learning theory of Organisational Behaviour-Classical- Operant conditioning- Cognitive- Observation Theory 3. 1 Objectives: On completion of the material you would be able to: †¢ Define and understand what is Learning †¢ Four theories which explains how learning takes place †¢ Learning principles which needs to be observed in any training programme †¢ Its impact on individual behaviour and organization Week |Topics |Hour |Methodology | | |Meaning of learning |1 |Concept Mapping | | | | | | | | | | | |Dec 5 – Dec 21 | | | | | |Learning process |2 |Discussion | | |Classical conditioning |3 |Lecture (C/PPT) & video | | |Operant conditioning |4 |Lecture (C/PPT) & video | | |Cognitive Theory |5 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Social Learning Theory |6 |Group discussion – ‘Role Models’ | | |Group Activity |7 |Presentation on videos depicting various learning | | | | |styles/skits | | |Principles of Learning-Reinforcement and |8 |Lecture (C/PPT) | |Punishment | | | | |Learning Curve |9 |Discussion | | |Case Study |10 |Case discussion/Written Analysis | 3. 2 Reference: Prerequisite readings – Chapter 9 K. Aswathappa, 9th edition, OB-Himalaya Publishing House / Chapter 4- Kavitha Singh-OB Text and Cases-Pearson Education / Chapter 4-OB- Hellriegel & Slocum- Thomson 4. MODULE- IV Attitudes Meaning, Characteristics and functions- Components-the ABC Model- Formation of attitude Meaning, Charecteristics, Components and Formation of attitudes. Change in attitude- Barriers to change- How to minimize the barriers. 4. 1 Objectives On completion of the material you would be able to: †¢ Contrast the three components of an attitude †¢ Discuss attitude and attitude formation †¢ Relate attitude to behaviour Week |Topics |Hour |Me thodology | | |Meaning, Characteristics and functions |1 |Concept Mapping | | | | | | | | | | | |Jan 2 – Jan 12 | | | | | |Components-the ABC Model |2 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Cognitive Dissonance; Job |3 |GroupDiscussion | | |Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction | | | | |Formation of attitudes- Changing attitudes |4 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Barriers to change, How to minimize the barriers |5 |Video | | |Case Study |6 |Case discussion/Written Analysis | 4. 2 Reference: Prerequisite readings – Ch 3 Stephen Robbins, Timothy A. Judge , Seema Sanghi , Organizational Behavior, 14th Edition Pearson Education 5. MODULE – V – PERCEPTION Meaning and definition – Need, Factors influencing perception, perceptual consistency, Context and definition,. 5. 1 Objectives: On completion of the material you would be able to: †¢ Understand importance and factors contributing for perception †¢ Understand the concepts in perceptual Organization Understand factors contri buting towards the interpretation of data |Week |Topics |Hour |Methodology | | |Meaning, nature and importance of Perception |1 |Concept Mapping | | | | | | | | | | | |Jan 21 – Jan 31| | | | | |Factors influencing perception |2 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Experiential Exercise 1 |3 |Story telling based on pictures | | |Perceptual Process |4 |Group discussion | | |Interpersonal perception 5 |Video | | |Case Study |6 |Case discussion/Written Analysis | 5. 2 Reference Prerequisite readings – Chapter 6 K. Aswathappa, 9th edition, OB-Himalaya Publishing House 6. MODULE –VI Group Behaviour and Group Dynamics 6. 1 Objectives: On completion of the module you would be able to: †¢ Analyse the different stages of group formation and development. †¢ Differentiate formal and informal groups. †¢ Know the factors that increase or decrease group cohesiveness †¢ Differentiate between groups and teams. †¢ Discuss the conditions for building successful teams. Week |Topics |Hour |Methodology | | |Meaning and types of groups |1 |Concept Mapping | | | | | | | | | | | |Feb 1 – Feb 12 | | | | | |Formation of groups |2 |Activity + Reflection | | |Characteristics of Groups (Size, Norms, Status, |3 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Roles) | | | | |Characteristics of Groups (Cohesiveness, |4 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Groupthink, Groupshift) | | | | |Group decision making |5 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Groups vs Teams |6 |Discussion | 6. 2 Reference: *Aswathappa –Ch. 14 and 15, Organizational Behavior (Text, cases and Games), 9th Edition, Himalaya Publication 7. MODULE – VII Leadership 7. 1 Objectives: On completion of this module you would be able to: †¢ Differentiate Leadership and management. †¢ Leadership styles and their impact on followers. †¢ Transformational leadership, women as leaders and charismatic leadership are emerging issues in leadership. Week |Topics |Hour |Methodology | | |Meaning, concept and Differences wit h managers |1 |Concept Mapping | | | | | | | | | | | |Feb 13 – Feb 23| | | | | |Leadership Styles |2 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Managerial Grid; Situational Leadership (Hersey &|3 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Blanchard) | | | | |Tannenbaum and Schmidt; Path Goal theory |4 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Transactional, Transformational & Charismatic |5 |Presentations by students | | |leaders | | | | |Communication: Meaning and importance, barriers |6 |Discussion | 7. 2 Reference: *Aswathappa –Ch. 18, Organizational Behavior (Text, cases and Games), 9th Edition, Himalaya Publication 8. MODULE – VIII Motivation 8. 1 Objectives: On completion of the material you would be able to: †¢ Identify major content theories of work motivation Explain the major process theories of work motivation †¢ Understand theories of motivation and evaluate their applicability today |Week |Topics |Hour |Methodology | | |Meaning and Concept of motivation |1 |Concept Mapping | | | | | | | | | | | |Feb 25 – Mar 4 | | | | | |Content Theories of Motivation – Two factor |2 |Presentations by students | | |theory, Theory X & Y | | | | |Alderfer ERG Theory; McClleland’s need |3 |Presentations by students | | |classification | | | | |Process Theories- Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, |4 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Porter-Lawler theory | | | | |Case Study |5 |Case discussion/Written Analysis | 8. 2 Reference: Prerequisite readings – Chapter 11- K. Aswathappa, 9th edition, OB-Himalaya Publishing House / Chapter 6- Stephen Robbins, Timothy A. Judge , Seema Sanghi / Chapter 8- Fred Luthans- OB- 9th Edition Mc Graw Hill. 9. MODULE-IX- Organizational Change 9. 1 Objectives: On completion of the module you would be able to understand †¢ The nature, level, need and types of change. †¢ The reasons for change in organization. †¢ The reasons why people resist change in organization. †¢ The change process. Week |Topics |Hour |Methodology | | |Nat ure and Levels of Change |1 |Concept Mapping | | | | | | | | | | | |Feb 25 – Mar 4 | | | | | |Types and Forces for Change & Lewin’s Model for |2 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Change Management | | | | |Change Process ( Six Stages) |3 |Lecture (C/PPT) | | |Resistance to change (RTC) and methods dealing |4 |Discussions | | |with RTC | | | 9. 2 Reference: *Aswathappa –Ch. 22, Organizational Behavior (Text, cases and Games), 9th Edition, Himalaya Publication Continuous Internal Assessment CIA 1 – Mid Semester Examinations for 2 hours and 50 marks CIA 2 – Comprising of the following 3 components of 10 marks each: i) Article Review – The student will be required to read a specified article and present the review in the following format †¢ Name of the Author, Year of Publication, Title of the article †¢ Objective of the study †¢ Methodology adopted – o Sample (Technique and size) o Tools o Analysis †¢ Findings of the study †¢ Recommendations of the author (ii) MCQ test. (iii) Case analysis – The case must be analyzed in the following manner †¢ Critical analysis o Key facts in the case o Central problem in the case o Theoretical concept it relates to †¢ Answer the Questions †¢ Recommendations/Suggestions + Conclusion CIA 3 – Comprising of the following 3 components of 10 marks each: (i) Written Case analysis of a comprehensive case following the format specified above. (ii) MCQ conducted through LMS (iii) Class participation evaluated through Q, Activities,

Business Model of Amazon

Opening of the internet to commercial activity, the creation of naming conventions for URLs and the development of a user friendly and free interface i. e. the browser were the three major developments that led to the advent of what is known as â€Å"e-business†. As the economy has moved from agrarian to industrial to information age, the focus of the businessmen or the wealthy and powerful has also shifted in terms of the ways of obtaining wealth or doing business. In the agrarian age there was shortage of land which made ownership of land as the determinant of value.Powerful land barons typically accumulated vast tracts of land and coerced people who were bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord into living on and working it. As economy moved from agrarian to industrial age, physical assets owned by a firm became the determinants of value and shortage of raw-materials led the powerful industrialists to conspire to control the supply of raw materials. In this age, the m arket could absorb as much product as the industrialists could produce.The current era in which we live has been defined as the information age wherein relationships and intellectual capital are more important than anything else. One is not worried about physical assets anymore. Companies don’t compete with each other over superior products as they are largely commoditized rather compete increasingly on the basis of value added customer services. The economic battles of today are fought over the mind-space of consumers. In the information age power-play customers are not passive participants, in the way that land and raw materials were in the agrarian and industrial ages.In fact, according to Zang Hailing, it is the customers' time that is in short supply, and therefore for any firm to succeed, emphasis needs to be given to the importance of reducing the customers' time to adopt a new product. Thus, in a world where technology is changing every day and the transformation of c onsumers has happened from â€Å"Price Takers† to â€Å"Price Makers† as they are armed with more options and information; the companies that control more and more customer relationships will be the ones that hold the power in an industry and reap the lion's share of the profits.E-commerce or e-business is an important tool that enables companies to reach out to the global market at low cost and provides abundant information about the consumers’ requirements and preferences easily which was not so easy earlier. Following figure is a glimpse of the promising future that the ecommerce industry holds. The US E-commerce has seen a 40% increase in the sales over the past 5 years as a percentage of the total retail sales in US. Source: http://ycharts. com Now when thinks about e-commerce, the first name that comes to everyone’s mind is that of Amazon. com.Not only most of the people have heard about it but there are many people who have actually used its servic es. Amazon was not only one of the few of the companies that thrived throughout the period in which many dot-com companies struggled to survive but has been constantly performing exceptionally well in terms of revenue per visitor which is one of the key parameters for any commercial website. Amazon has had one of the fastest growths in the internet’s history with revenues reaching $2, 8 billion in the first five years with Google’s revenue reaching only $15bn in the first five years.Now, just like any other traditional business in order to clearly understand an e-business one needs to have information on the following components: a) Business Strategy which determines the products and service offerings by the firm, the firms targeted customers and the firms value proposition. It also helps firms decide on the choices and the tradeoffs that the firm needs to make. b) Organizational form or structure c) Business processes which refer to the unique ways in which organizati ons coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce a product or service. ) Value Chain i. e. the sequence of activities that a firm undertakes to create value, including the various steps of the supply chain but also additional activities, such as marketing, sales, and service. e) Core Competencies which are the collective learning’s of the firms and being distinctive create long term competitive advantage for the firm. From the beginning, the focus of Amazon. com has been on offering their customers compelling value. In the current report filing dated 04/13/12, Jeffrey Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon. om writes â€Å"We realized that the Web was, and still is, the World Wide Wait. Therefore, we set out to offer customers something they simply could not get any other way, and began serving them with books. We brought them much more selection than was possible in a physical store (our store would now occupy 6 football fields), and presente d it in a useful, easy-to-search, and easy-to-browse format in a store open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. † The Value Proposition offered by Amazon. com is â€Å"earth’s largest selection—24/7, at competitive price. † Amazon. om has continuously focused on improving the shopping experience owing to which they substantially enhanced their stores in 1997. Though they started off with books, they now offer customers gift certificates, 1-ClickSM shopping, and vastly more reviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. The company’s stated goal was to â€Å"be Earth’s most customer centric company for three primary customer sets: consumers, sellers and developers. † It targeted its first set of customers through its initial retail model where it sold only books.It offered the perfect combination of low prices, large selection and convenience or customer experience. The digital media allowed limitless inventory, boosted c ustomer care and allowed higher margins and hence lowest prices. In 15 years Amazon went from 1 category to 16 main categories of books. Amazon began with books and needed to grow big fast. From 1995-1998, Amazon moved from books to music and again through the same combination moved to become the biggest seller of music in just 120 days! Amazon moved on develop its own digital driven supply chain and distribution network by hiring from the expert: Wal-Mart.Amazon accelerated development through its strategy of â€Å"Build, buy, partner† a) Build: Amazon keeps on creating new categories. For example, Amazon kicked off a new service by the name MyHabit. com in May 2011 that made fashion available to consumers directly from designers and boutique brands. b) Buy: When there is a lot of competition in any area and the competitors have a strong hold, Amazon believes in buying out the incumbent. Few of the acquisitions made by Amazon include Internet Movie Database  (IMDb), Zappos (an online shoe and apparel retailer) etc. ) Partner: Amazon has also entered into a lot of merchant partnerships. It offers its technological service and ecommerce expertise to third- parties. For example in October 2011, Amazon. com announced a partnership with DC Comics for the exclusive digital rights to many popular comics, including Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, The Sandman, and Watchmen. As mentioned before as well, Amazon want to be the â€Å"world’s most customer-centric† company, and so their focus is on the â€Å"Customer Service†. It ensures customer loyalty through three main approaches: a) Recurring usage b) Seamless Integration c) Lock-inThe following table tells us how Amazon uses all above mentioned approaches for its both customers: Sellers and consumers. | Sellers| Consumers| Recurring Usage| a. Developed a customer base close to 615mn users that can’t be ignored by sellers b. Ensures profit through optimized and reliable technology c. Developed a trusted Brand name| a. Created an ecosystem through Kindle b. Stores user’s media library c. Offers personalization to customers d. Gives special offers everyday| Seamless Integration| a. Monitors sellers rating ratings posted by consumers and expels sellers with bad ratings b.Offers Fulfillment by Amazon service(FBA) which allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network| a. For customers, all the sellers are highly commoditized and invisible. They buy it because of the Amazons brand value b. Get benefitted by Amazon Prime and free super saver shipping| Lock-in| a. By controlling or owning the customer accounts b. High level of infrastructure development required to ensure same level of customer service as offered by Amazon| a. By providing digital content that works only on Kindle b. Amazon Prime Program which requires annual subscription| | c. | c. |Amazon developed a value chain of itself for internal appraisal so as to identify its strengths and weaknesses that would help it add value and maintain a competitive advantage. Amazon uses the value chain model from Michael Porter’s book, â€Å"Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. † The first table represents the Primary activities of Amazon which are needed to produce a product or services for the end customers. Inbound logistics| Operations| Outbound logistics| Marketing ; Sales| Service| Avoids the overhead and large amounts of inventory carrying cost because it orders the books from the distributors. Easy and fast payment systems. Online customer systems and feedback. | Operates a number of transportation hubs that they refer to as injection points. Injection point locations are located in heavily customer concentrated areas. | Customer tracking  is an Amazon stronghold through which it provides personalized customers’ experience| Free return policy within 30 days. Uses marketplace to incr ease channel and range of goods through 3rd parties and customers. Highly reduced returns to suppliers (such as unsold books and media) due to available accurate forecasting technology | Customized buyer experience| Ability to aggregate orders bound for specific locations. | Interactive shipping and parceling price calculations. Free delivery based on single transaction spends. | Price comparison of new products with used products in marketplace shops. | Efficiently gathering information about customer experiences to inform service inputs and inventory controls. | 24 hour warehouse operations to meet customer demands. |   Utilizes the capabilities of its supply chain partners to deliver orders directly to ustomers which bypass the Amazon. com internal distribution center network|   Discounts and price reductions made available with suggested product mixes. Similar products recommended to customers interactively. | Offers customers gift certificates, 1-Click SM shopping, and vast ly more reviews, content, browsing options, and recommendation features. | The next table gives information about the various support activities performed by Amazon which help to facilitate or assist its primary activities. | Value Creation| Cost Reduction| Firm Infrastructure| Huge central customer data warehouse available to all business units. Amazon’s single technology platform with services being incrementally distributed to other worldwide locations, reduces costs by leveraging investments | Human Resource Management| Amazon. com has a great training for its employees resulting in talented, smart and hard working group. Offers employees unique benefits such as medical, paid time off and stock grants and relocation allowances and hence attract highly skilled workers| Amazon utilizes independent contractors and temporary personnel to supplement their workforce, particularly on a seasonal basis.Although Amazon has works councils and statutory employee representation obliga tions in certain countries, Amazon’s employees are not represented by a labor union| Technology Development| High investments in technology development (e. g. , Kindle) to best leverage digital products. Innovations such as personalized recommendations, one-click ordering, and search inside the book are all Amazon. com innovations. Highly customized software applications that support their supply chain business model. For example, Amazon. om is linked into Ingram's systems to see Ingram inventory levels when deciding whether to use Ingram to drop ship an order to a customer | Building an IT strategy, IT infrastructure and Data Centre on Linux open source software thus reducing cost of technology development. Renting computing resources to other companies reduce total cost of ownership Using standard hardware systems from HP to reduce cost of maintenance and compatibility| Procurement| Utilizes a Sales and Operations (S&OP) planning process to determine forecasts for each rodu ct that it stores in its distribution center inventoryUses the strategic business unit – Booksurge to keep a rich inventory of digital copies of books so as to make this readily available for customers through print-on-demand and reduce the time of delivery | Specially built distribution Centers, warehouses and fulfillment Centers to increase the speed of order processing thus avoiding transaction costs of contracting out| In addition to the business strategies the value chain components mentioned above, the success of Amazon. om can be attributed to the entrepreneurial spirit of its founder & chief executive officer Jeff Bezos and the strong inclination of the firm towards bringing about innovation in the business model. Let us discuss both factors one by one. Entrepreneurial Spirit of Jeff Bezos: Jeff Bezos can be regarded as the forward-looking CEO responsible for the success of Amazon. com. He has not only efficiently managed the present but through his long term vision a lways taken steps to create the future. The computer science and electrical engineering graduate from Princeton University moved to Seattle after resigning as a Senior Vice-President at D.E. Shaw, a Wall Street investment bank. At the time Bezos didn’t know much about the Internet but he came across a statistic that the Internet was growing at 2300%, which convinced him that it was a large growth opportunity. Without knowing anything more, he plunged into the world of e-commerce with no prior retailing experience. It was his decision to locate the company in Seattle because it had a large pool of technical talent and since it was close to one of the largest book wholesalers located in Rosenburg, Oregon.Moreover, the sales tax laws for online retailers state that one has to charge sales tax in the state in which one is incorporated. Therefore it was logical to locate in a small state. Under his guidance and logical thinking Amazon. com quickly became the leader in e-commerce. Operating 24 hours a day, the site was user-friendly and encouraged browsers to post their own reviews of books and offering discounts, personalized recommendations, and searches for out-of-print books. In June 1998 it began selling CDs, and later that year it added videos.In 1999 Bezos, looking at the future trends, added auctions to the site and invested in other virtual stores. The success of Amazon. com encouraged other retailers, including major book chains, to establish online stores. As more companies battled for Internet dollars, Bezos saw the need to diversify, and by 2005 Amazon. com offered a vast array of products, including consumer electronics, apparel, and hardware. And with the Jeff Bezos vision to make every book ever in print in any language available to the consumer in 60 seconds, Amazon launched the handheld device called Kindle in 2007.Bezos is the quintessential dot-com icon. He proved to the business world that the Internet was about more than knowledge. He pr oved that it is possible to overcome fears about purchasing online, to drive down transaction costs, and to build an international e-commerce business over the Internet. He had the courage to attempt something that people doubted could be done. . At the age of 35, Jeff Bezos was picked as the 1999 Time person of the year. Describing why it chose Bezos, Time magazine said, â€Å"Bezos’  vision  of the online retailing universe was so complete, his Amazon. om site so elegant and appealing that it became from Day One the point of reference for anyone who had anything to sell online. † Innovation in the Business Model: Amazon survived the dot-com bust because it had a viable and innovative  business model  built around a market-changing customer value proposition and a radical profit formula and over it has been able to sustain its position as the leader in e-commerce by bringing about continuous innovations in its business model. Let us look at some of the differe nt dimensions wherein Amazon. om has been able to bring about business innovation. a) Offerings: By offering a handheld device dedicated to reading, Kindle, Amazon. com revolutionized the books industry. By creating a product like Kindle, the created a perfect, integrated and streamlined customer experience. b) Platform: With Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment By Amazon, and Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon is creating powerful self-service platforms that allow thousands of people to boldly experiment and accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible or impractical. ) Customers: In 2002 Amazon launched a web services platform and identified a new area of potential growth by finding another new customer—the IT community. Serving this new customer's needs required different processes, different resources, and a different profit formula—in short, another  new business model. d) Customer Experience: 1-Click combined with Gift-Click and Wish List made Amazon. com the most convenient, easiest-to-use shopping destination the holiday season.Wish List allows customers to post the gifts they'd most like to receive from family and friends, while Gift-Click allows customers to send gifts easily by entering just the e-mail addresses of their recipients. e) Value Capture: By opening up its storefront to other retailers that were essentially competitors, Amazon transformed its business from direct sales to a sales-and-service model, aggregating many sellers under one virtual roof and receiving commissions from the other companies' sales. ) Supply Chain: Fulfillment by Amazon service (FBA) by Amazon is a classic example of innovating business model through supply chain. FBA allows third party sellers to use Amazon’s large warehouse and distribution network and in the last quarter of 2011, shipped tens of millions of items on behalf of sellers. When sellers use FBA, their items become eligible for Amazon Prime, for Super Saver Shipping, and for Amaz on returns processing and customer service.From the above discussion of Amazon’s business strategy, value chain analysis and the success factors we can conclude that Amazon has a robust Business model. Amazon’s business model fends off all the four threats. It has the costly-to-imitate financial and technological resources, it has developed protection against holdup by seamlessly vertically integrating its both the customers i. e. the sellers and the consumers. Reduced slack by locking-in the customers and the sellers and fights substitution through innovation in business model.