Oprah Winfrey Commencement Speech Essay

Oprah’s audience was very receptive of her mainly because she is a respected icon known all over America. The audience was a group of diverse faculty, staff, graduates, family and friends. When Oprah started her speech welcoming the audience, she gave them an icebreaker saying she wanted to let them in on a secret to personalize her speech. She lets the audience know that her god daughter Kirby attends Stanford and she is very proud of her. Oprah uses humor throughout her speech as she says the name â€Å"Stanford† engaging the audience as she speaks. She gives personal experience in her speech to show her audience that she too had experiences throughout college that could have hindered her from being the icon she is today. Oprah uses great eye contact throughout her speech. She did not read word for word what was on her paper because most of her speech was based off her experience as a student in the past at the beginning of the speech. She gave quotes of her father and B.B. King about learning that is beautiful. She lets the graduates know that your education had just started. Her speech lead on to elaborate on how the world has so many lessons to teach. She lets the audience know that earth is like a school and our lives are the classrooms. Life will have detours and road block but the secret to learn to be open to the lessons. Self improvement will help evolve as human beings. Oprah speaks with an inviting tone keeping her audience engaged. Even though the speech is lengthy, Oprah was not repetitive. She explained a few life lessons of her own journey but still gave humor as she spoke about the main lessons of her speech. The audience was still engaged throughout her speech. Oprah was very familiar with her speech content. She spoke as if she was graduating herself and speaking like she would want to be spoken to as a graduate. Oprah’s posture was appropriate and the gestures she uses with her hands and tone of her voice made the speech stand out more towards her audience. The overall tone of the message was exciting, funny and receptive. Oprah’s speech was spoken to relate to those who were not graduates also. She wants  the audience to understand that a degree is important and you can not allow yourself or others to defer you of a goal or dream. The speech Oprah gave was ethical. She realized the majority of her audience was of the white race and she included her own racial experiences in her speech with the stories she shared. Her own experiences made up the entire speech. The graduates seemed like they were listening and understanding the speech based off the feedback they gave after she spoke. There were interactions from the audience when Oprah spoke about how she made it as the icon talk show host. Oprah conveys to her audience to learn that life is more than just making money. You have to earn it and making money has to have meaning. If you do not have meaning in making your money and making a difference to the world then money doesn’t matter. Oprah shows much inspiration in her speech that should make the audience aspire to be like her or even more. Overall, Oprah did a great job catering to the diverse audience with her speech. It did not seem rehearsed, she gave eye contact and her audience seemed engaged in her speech for the 30 minutes I analyzed it. She did a great job and kept me engaged myself.

Career Stages

A career is defined as a sequence of positions occupied by a person during the course of a lifetime. A Career mentioned above, includes many positions stages and transitions just as a person’s life does. It can easily understand if we think of career consisting of several stages. Most of us have gone or will go through the under mentioned five stages: * Exploration is when individuals are exploring possible career options and making critical choices. * Establishment begins with the search for work and getting that first job. Mid-career is when an individual is no longer seen as a â€Å"learner. † * Late career is when an individual can share his or her knowledge with others in the organization. * Decline is when an individual leaves the work force. Exploration: This is the career stage that usually ends in one’s mid twenties as one makes the transition from college to work. What we hear from our teachers friends ad relations our own observation of careers of our parents shape our future career choices at this stage.From an organizational standpoint this stage has least relevance as it takes place prior to employment. However the organizations can still track the minds of young people by offering internships to them or offering on the job training to bright students. For the individual this is the stage of self exploration seeking answers to various puzzling questions about careers. Example of external and internal events on a profession of lecturer and suppose that I adopt this profession. Establishment: The establishment period begins with the search for work and includes getting your first job.It includes the first experience on the job peer group evaluations personal tensions and anxieties that confront a person trying to make his mark. This period is characterized by committing mistakes, learning mistakes and assuming increased responsibilities. Mid career: Mid career is a stage that is typically reached between the age of 35 and 50. At this point one may continue to show improved performance, level off or begin to decline you are no longer viewed as a learner. Mistakes committed by you would be viewed seriously and may invite penalties as well. If you are good enough you may grow and turn out good results.If you do not have the same fire in the belly when you started your career the best thing would be to hold on to what your have. Technically speaking plateaued career stares at you more or less happy with that comes your way, the organization can place you on jobs that require experience and maturity. The organization can’t discount your worth and treat you as deadwood, since you still retain the flavor and continue to show reasonably good performance But then what would happen to those employees who have employees which have both interests and productivity at work?Organizations often show them the door or shift them to less important jobs. Late Career: This the stage where one relaxes a bit and plays the part of an elder statesperson. For those who continue to grow through the mid career stage this is the time to command respect from younger employees. Your varied experiences and Judgment are greatly valued and your word will carry weight undoubtedly you can teach others and share your experiences with others.For those who have stagnated or deteriorated during the pervious stage, the late career brings the reality that they are no longer required t run the race and its better to redirect the energies to family, friends and hobbies. Decline During this period person’s attention may turn to retirement. The achievements of a long career and the frustrations an anxieties the go along what that phase are left behind. Regardless of whether one is leaving a glorified career or dismal job, one has to make adjustments and get along with people and things.

Operations Management in Action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Operations Management in Action - Essay Example These are the same operational issues affecting Zorro Organization. Operations management has the sole role responsibility of ensuring that an organization’s business operations are both efficient and effective. Efficiency is directed on reduction of wastage, delays and improvement of services and goods offered to a client such that they are of high quality. This requires designing a system that will ensure smooth running of operations. As Lee (2009) clearly puts it, the very first stage is to design an operations system. Here, Zorro Organization determines the kind of service they are going to offer as per the client’s instructions. The service to be offered in such a way that it will not overuse the organization’s resources, but it should also be operational and satisfy the customers’ needs. The next thing is planning how the resources available will be used to ensure that the service offered is up to the customer’s standards. To offer some services, more resources in terms of staff and time are required. The management plans this during this stage so that the customer gets all the required services on time. The very last stage is working with the various staff or teamwork to offer the service. This information was obtained from the human resource manager of Zorro Organization. Having looked at how the operations management system of Zorro Organization works, let us now look at some of the problems, issues and challenges it encounters. One of the major problems is globalization; there are so many regions in the world and in each region, there is a difference in operations management. Each region has its own unique strategy in operations management. This leaves the organization with the question whether their facilities in different parts of the world should use their own operation management systems or uniformity should be inherited from the mother company. For instance, in some

Reaction Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reaction Paper - Essay Example Throughout the film, there are several events where the characters are shown to suffer or endure discrimination. The author uses multiple strategies to show and influence the viewers that prejudice should have no place in the society. These strategies, on a personal note, are effective in conveying the message about prejudice and racism. The story is a product of three different periods in the history of African Americans. In the short film, Mildred Taylor talks about her family’s own experiences during the era of slavery, and gives background information regarding the basis of her characters in the story. Taylor’s own family members were slaves in Mississippi. Interestingly, the main protagonist in her story, Cassie Logan, is also born from a family of former slaves. It can be said that the stories Taylor present in the film have a solid and first-hand basis because of her personal experiences during the era of slavery. Going through the experiences Taylor relays throu gh the characters’ stories, one can say that she is an admirably strong woman, and it makes me wonder how many more like Mildred Taylors suffered the same racism and discrimination without having the chance of being heard or recognized. Despite the sad outcome of the story, one can see a glimmer of hope in the ending. T.J.’s sentencing actually is not so harsh because of the many betrayals he earlier did. It is still wrong, however, because we know that he is sentenced not due to what he did, but due to his skin color. Personally, though, the outcome of this story also leaves people with a sense of cautious optimism that it is possible for whites and blacks to work together, as shown in their act to put out the fire in the cotton farm. The story can serve as a tool in teaching children of any race and ethnicity a significant part of history: that the generation of â€Å"Cassie Logan† served as a great influence in furthering the Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s. Booker T. Washington: The Life and the Legacy Booker T. Washington is a very famous personality particularly of the African American history. He is known to have risen from the bondage of slavery and gone through emancipation and became the most powerful African American during his time. His life and legacy are clearly shown in this film with its dramatic and realistic reenactments coupled by original photos taken during Mr. Washington’s time. Aside from learning the intricate details of this phenomenal man’s life, it is also interesting to learn more about the controversy surrounding his methods and strategies in dealing with the problems and issues due to racism. In the film, Mr. Washington encounters people who are not so much into his way of emancipating the African Americans. One good example of this is W.E.B. Dubios. Mr. Dubois opposes Mr. Washington’s idea of progress for the blacks. For Dubois, he believes that confrontational means are necessa ry, and ultimately more effective. Washington believes otherwise. I believe that this is primarily due to his Southern upbringing, which is circled around the dominant religion of Baptism. His ideas are gentler perhaps, and his thoughts could even be more forgiving of the whites. This is most probably why his methods and strategies are towards giving blacks education and career. Washington’s other opponent, William Monroe Trotter, has ideas similar to that of Dubois. The way the controversies surrounding

Discuss critically the future of small business credit and its Essay

Discuss critically the future of small business credit and its regulation - Essay Example Its backed loan threshold was increased from a maximum of US $ 2 million to US $ 5 million in 2008 by President Obama to support the cause of small businesses. Small businesses have really suffered in their need to access loans especially during the recession that happened in America and that extensively affected the rest of the industrialized world between December 2007 and June 2008. This gravely interfered with the ability of small business to access credit since the recession was mainly caused by reckless lending by rogue banks mostly to the real estate industry. The loans were poorly assessed for risks involved and there were many cases of over-inflated asset prices that led to a speculative bubble which was marketed around the world. The bubble did burst and thus loan losses set in, leading to the recession. This paper explores the options left open to small businesses in a world in which credit has become decreasingly available and whether they still stand a chance of getting loans sustainably in the future. The paper also explores other channels of credit open outside the normal formal ones such as banks and government lending that may assist small businesses into the future. The viability of these alternatives is also closely examined. A small business can be defined as a privately owned and operated enterprise with relatively few employees1. According to the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, a small business in the United States consists of 500 or fewer employees. The number of employees is 50 or below in the European Union. Generally speaking, any business organization that is privately owned and has few or no branches with less than 500 workers is a small business2. Despite their small size and relatively small scale operations, the contribution of small business towards national economic development cannot be gainsaid. Small businesses provide 64% of all national employment3. This is a figure that

Political Dynamics of the Keystone Pipeline Research Paper

Political Dynamics of the Keystone Pipeline - Research Paper Example This expansion accomplishes several goals. The first one would be to expand the line from Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico, alleviating a current bottleneck of oil, sitting in Cushing, OK. At the other end on the Gulf Coast of Texas, there are plenty of refineries to handle this oil and get it out for transportation and export (State Impact web). In the second part, there would be a new section built, running from Alberta to Kansas, which will pass through the Bakken Shale region of North Dakota and Montana and, subsequently, pick up oil currently being extracted, and add it for transport. In Texas, the new expansion would cover 16 counties in the northern and eastern sections. The Texas Gulf Coast pipeline, known as the Southern, is already being built, as of January 2014 and the Phase III section, but the big controversy is the future plan to carry heavy Canadian tar sands oil within the next year. Currently, it transports 700,000 barrels of U.S. light crude oil and the plan is to bring the transport up to 830,000 barrels daily, about the time that the tar sands oil component is added (State Impact web; Fitzsimmons web). The President has been stalling on making a decision, primarily because he wants to know more about the tar sands situation and whether this will compromise the environmental safe air regulations currently in place. The extra pipeline, the Northern, for which the northern section also crosses international borders, requires a Presidential Permit that will pass through the State Department. TransCanada points out that it is â€Å"50 feet of pipe† for the one section (State Impact web). The current Southern pipeline which crosses the border from Alberta, ending in Oklahoma, is due for Presidential review (See appendix A for map). The Issue of Tar Sands Oil. Canada has the largest supply of tar/oil sand which is mined on the surface, and represents about 75

Business and transport Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business and transport - Essay Example The second part of the paper will deal with modes and types of transport and travel around the world where examples of sole traders may be found. The paper will also suggest potential remedies to overcome the inherent issues that a sole trader operating in transport sector would face. Part I Sole Trading When a person individually initiates and operates his/her own business, it is called sole trading. This form of business may have one or more employees. It generally involves fewer amounts toward capital investment as compared to other modes of business ventures. It is best fitted to people with innovative business ideas and sufficient capital for running their business. The main benefit of this system is that the businessman owns everything what he acquires from the business. Moreover, with the feasibility of self guidance, the individual can grow without restrictions. In addition to this, as Tonkin (2006) states, sole trader can start the business with minimum set up cost and can c ontinue operations without a tax file number. He is also exempted from many other legal charges and superannuation. The most competitive strengths of a sole trader is that he can easily offer specialist services to customers and cater the needs of local people. On the other hand, sole trader is not free from risks as he is the only person responsible for any loss incurred in the business. A series of legal obligations may also drag him out of the line; sometimes he needs to pay provisional taxes and hence his annual tax returns may become more complicated. It has been identified that sole proprietorship is the most common form of ownership in the UK. In UK, sole traders are legally required to keep proper business accounts and records for assisting Inland Revenue to collect the tax on profits. Public limited company In UK, a public limited company is ‘legally abbreviated to plc with or without full stops’ and it may either be ‘an unlisted or listed company on stoc k exchanges’ (Company formation). However, some exceptional public limited companies, mainly nationalised concerns, which have incorporated under special legislation, do not need to bear any of the identifying suffixes. When a new company plans to commence its operations in England, Wales, or in Scotland, it has to register with Companies House. Although a public limited company is not compulsorily required to offer its shares to the public, many such companies do so and these shares are generally traded either at the London Stock Exchange or at the Alternative Investments Market. In UK, a minimum of two directors is essential for the formation of public limited company. Under this system, many persons jointly invest their capital for the formation of company at the time of its registration. Before a public limited company commences its operation, it should issue its shares to the value of at least ?50,000 and out of which ?12,500 must be paid up. Similarly, a company may inc rease or decrease its authorised share capital by passing an ordinary resolution. The public limited company may issue different types of shares like bearer share, cumulative preference shares, ordinary shares, preference shares, and redeemable shares. Nowadays, most of the UK companies are formed electronically with the help of Company Formation Agents. During the company formation, documents such as Memorandum of Association, Articles of

Economy Industry Company Analysis Research Paper

Economy Industry Company Analysis - Research Paper Example This growth has enabled the potential investors in bonds, stocks and other investing opportunities, to establish their investments tremendously in the country. The gross domestic price that was analyzed at the first quarter of the year shows that it has grown for about 1.3 percent. This is the best indication of the economic growth and I will advice Johnnie to do an investment in this country. Gross domestic products, is a technique used to show the economic growth and stability of any given country. In Australia where the Crown head quarters is found, had a gross domestic product of approximately 918 billion united states dollars, with a growth rate of 2.3 percent, and the income per person or per capita income of40,800 in the fiscal year 2011. The standard rate of interest in Australia was previously indicated at 4.25 Percent, which was determined by the Australian reserve bank of panel. The graph shows that the rates of interest of the year 2010 and 2009 had a drastic fall. It has also increased gradually and encounters small decrease recently. This is a clear indication that the Economy of Australia, and the performance of the currency is in its stage of recovery. The estimate is that it has a moderate increase in the near future as it is indicated by the tendency of the graph. Increase in the interest rates means that the investors will benefit from the consequential increase in the amount of dividends that they will receive1. Given the fact that Jonnie is looking for an investment that will last for ten years, This is a favorable time to invest in a booming company in Australia. This is because during this period, there is an economic recovery and such will lead to better economic performance of all the factors discussed above. The ten year bond in Australia has also jumped to reach 3.02 percent increase. For a potential investor like

Learning from Failure Essay Example for Free

Learning from Failure Essay Everyone strives for perfection, for most people failure is not an option. However, the reality is that failure is an unpleasant fact, each day, a person fails in his or her tasks, decisions and ideas and organizations fail in their strategies and policies. In this highly competitive and achievement oriented society, a failure in any aspect of a person’s life is construed negatively and stereotyped as a sign of weakness. Failures are indeed negative occurrences that involve the inability to carry out the desired objective or goal of the individual or organization (Cannon Edmondson, 2005). Failures can be either large scale or small scale, and it can have far-reaching effects than mere criticisms. Small-scale failures are normal consequences of the individual’s actions and decisions form day to day, for example, not being able to come to work on time is a failure on the part of the employee. Being tardy is a negative behavior and failing to be punctual can directly affect the work performance of the individual; however, such tardiness can also have dire effects on the organization. Chronic tardiness results to missed hours of work per week and probably lesser output for the department or unit and the organization as a whole. Such a failure can be dissected and analyzed as a personal failure, but it has varied implications for the organization’s policies and performance. On the other hand, large-scale failures are highly sensationalized and have the potential to lessen the competitiveness and the trust that people have on their organizations (Nevis,   DiBella Gould, 1995). F or example, Martha Stewart’s failure and fiasco in her business enterprise have led to criticisms and stigma and for that time, sales of Martha Stewart’s products were very low. Organizational failures are often not highlighted as a basis for learning; instead, it is covered-up and undisclosed to the public. Learning from failure is not a popular concept in the American reality. Failures have a negative connotation and it is not a thing that is shared to most people. Likewise, organizations steer from the issue of failure and find immediate solutions to such failures and problems without considering the possible learning that the failure brings (Nevis,   DiBella Gould, 1995). For example, mass resignations of pilots in an airline company spell disaster, and the most likely action for the company is to reduce flights. Learning from failure dictates that the airline company should look into the reasons of the pilots for leaving the airline. The result of the survey would be used as basis to institute changes in their policies in order to address the concerns of the pilots and to prevent mass resignations in the future. Organizations however, try very hard to keep their failures from becoming public since it would not be good for their business but making failures public communicates that the organization is willing to accept their mistakes and further commit to the improvement of their policies and procedures to prevent and minimize the occurrence of mistakes (Cannon Edmondson, 2005). Large-scale failures that reach the consciousness of the public become common knowledge and these are used as a learning tool for other individuals and organizations.   The stock market scandals have resulted to clearer and stricter guidelines in the stock market. Thus, failures are not entirely negative; instead, it has the potential for driving new information and concepts and in the development of better policies and guidelines for all. Learning is a process that occurs throughout life, and failures play an important role in facilitating learning. Without mistakes and failure, an individual would not be able to learn what is right and acceptable from what is wrong and unacceptable. Failure is as essential to life as learning; one cannot exist without the other. Learning does not occur in a vacuum, it utilizes whatever information, and knowledge is on hand. However, the best kind of learning is said to come from failures and mistakes as it provides concrete basis for differentiating what is positive and good from what is negative and bad (Nevis,   DiBella Gould, 1995). At an individual level, workers sent on a training workshop to learn new skills in the operation of new equipments would only have a working knowledge of the new equipment. Actual operation of the equipment would test the knowledge of the worker and the amount of learning that he has gained from the training workshop. A failure on the part of the worker would lead to the inefficient use of the equipment, and identifying one’s mistakes and source of failure would result to more learning. At this point the worker can now identify which of his actions had resulted to the mistake and which actions would control for the effects of the mistake and what behaviors he should do to prevent the mistake from recurring. In terms of organizational learning, failures are also a rich source of information that could be used to improve and strengthen the strategies that they already have in place (Cannon Edmondson, 2005). It is important for organizations to learn from their failures as it is a factual occurrence that reflect the true state of the organization (Carmeli Sheaffer, 2008). For example, a miscommunication between departments can bring about significant problems and difficulties in the conduct of the organizations’ activities. The most likely reaction is for the department heads and managers to resolve the problems brought about by miscommunication, but if the organization wants to apply the concept of learning from failures, they should b able to identify the source of the miscommunication and in what channels the miscommunication occurred, then the organization should look into the communication patterns of the organization and take the necessary steps to ensure that the communication systems would be corrected to prevent miscommunications in the future. Even though learning from failures has been found to be a useful tool for increasing the efficiency of organizations and in cultivating a positive culture, one that is open to experimentation and failure, not many organizations have embraced the concept and continue to disregard the learning that could be had from failures (Nevis,   DiBella Gould, 1995). In a discussion of why organizations fail to learn from failures, it was pointed out that organizations fail to utilize failures as rich sources of information because of the lack of critical thinking skills that would identify failures as an opportunity for growth (Carmeli Sheaffer, 2008). Additionally, organizations does not take into account and monitor for failure, instead it is systematically removed and not dwelled upon. Another reason for not being able to learn from failures is the human tendency to reduce the effect or to cover-up the incidence of a failure. Even without undue pressure, individuals have the tendency to downplay failures and mistakes and for most to find excuses and blame the failure on the system, and other individuals (Carmeli Sheaffer, 2008). It is important to recognize that failures present a learning opportunity for organizations and even for one’s personal life, and although it takes courage and a more open and willing perspective, it is not impossible to attain. References Cannon, M. Edmondson, A. (2005). Failing to learn and learning to fail (intelligently): How organizations put failure to work to innovate and improve. Long Range Planning, 38, 299-319 Carmeli, A., Sheaffer, Z. (2008). How learning leadership and organizational learning from failures enhance perceived organizational capacity to adapt to the task environment. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44:468. Nevis, E. C., DiBella, A.J., Gould, J.M. (1995). Understanding organizations as learning systems. Sloan Management Review, 36, 73-85.

Essay and Research Paper Essay Example for Free

Essay and Research Paper Essay Some young children spend a great amount of their time practicing sports. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. There is a true saying that everyone knows: playing sports is very good for our health. Playing sport helps us stay in shape, builds up our teamwork skill, and makes us consistent players. But there is a truth that not many people can realize: spending too much time on sports may cause some bad influences. Especially when it comes to young children. They need a balanced schedule so that they can take advantage and avoid some disadvantages of playing sports First, playing sports is necessary for everyone to reserve good health. It is proven by scientists that doing exercises or playing sports regularly helps people stay in a good shape, and helps avoid some health problems such as heart attack or blood pressure. For those reasons, young children should spend time in playing sport everyday. But if they spend too much time on that, they will not have enough time to participate in many other interesting and useful activities, such as going on a picnic with their friends or learning to play musical instruments†¦Even worse, they may not spend enough time on study. Second, playing sports helps young children develop their team-work skill. Usually when playing sport, they will be allocated into teams. By trying to connect with other team members to win to the game, they will learn how to get along with people, how to understand other people’s ideas, and how to coordinate with the others to get the best result, not only in sports, but also in study or in a working environment. But still, if they spend too much time on playing sports, there will be a disadvantage for young children, since they spend too much time hanging on with the others in a team, will not know how to handle problems alone, resulting in performing badly when working independently. Lastly, playing sports helps children learn how to stand up after failing, making them competitive in any tournament. It is definite that everyone will fail at least once when they play sport. The desire of being the winner urges them to try more and more. The more they try, the better.they become, but once they are so involved in the game, they somehow become so aggressive. Some will try anything to win, and some will even play unfairly to be the winner. The stories about the soccer players using drugs or the players fighting in a game are clear evidences to the disadvantage of playing sport when it is not under control.