Networking in Business Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Networking in Business Organizations - Essay Example A leader must be fully equipped with social networking skills in order to gain further information and a proper reference list of who to go to with what problem (Alt & Flesch, pg. 395-401, 2001). The article’s main purpose is to educate leaders and future managers about the benefits of networking and how to become accustomed with the process. It aims to facilitate and inspire leaders by informing them of the peaks of success that they can accomplish with networking skills and the consequences suffered by a lack of them. The article clearly explains the importance of networking by illustrating a few examples from real life leadership situations in which leaders have lost out on promotions or the ability to stop an acquisition or merger because they did not take out enough time for networking or socialization. The article states that many leaders find networking as a useless or unethical activity. They believe it to be an activity of using acquaintances for your own advantage or â€Å"taking favors from strangers†. Hence, such leaders do not find it worthwhile or feasible to engage in networking activities. Discussion The article describes the three forms of networking which include personal networking, operational networking, and strategic networking. ... articular emphasis upon the skills required to properly network, but also gives a few tips through illustrative stories of real- life executives and how they overcame their lack of social skills (Ibarra & Hunter, 2007). Hence, it provides a solution to the problem instead of just stating the problem. Moreover, it shows us how bookish knowledge and technical expertise are not the only sources of information for a business executive and how important who-you-know is compared to what-you-know (Balkundi & Kindoff, pg 400, 2006). While the article gives sound information upon the acquisition of social skills and the importance of acquiring them, it does not mention how to use these skills and when it is not appropriate to use them. Networking should be used up to a certain extent; however, it does carry some ethical implications with it (Novak, pp. 29-33, 2008). These ethical considerations must be taken into analysis when using personal networks to your advantage in a business organizati on. Moreover, the article is well-organized but does not have a proper sequence to enhance the understanding of the reader. The information in it is repetitive to some extent and lays too much emphasis upon the value of networking opposed to knowledge and intelligence (Bartol & Zhang, pg 389, 2007). However, it does provide insight into an unexplored realm of leadership which may not have been considered just as important previously. It lays emphasis upon the acquisition of skills which were considered irrelevant or time-consuming without much benefit. The article uses simple language and is quite informative in its respect to what a leader should have. Opposing, the article lays too much emphasis upon the formation and use of networks and criticizes those leaders who have chosen not to

The Censors, by Luisa Valenzuela Essay -- Satire, Symbols, Analysis

â€Å"The Censors† by Luisa Valenzuela The short story â€Å"The Censors† by Luisa Valenzuela is set in Argentina during the dictatorship of Jorge Videla who reigned from 1976 to 1983. Juan, the protagonist of the text, starts the story by writing a letter to his old friend, Mariana, at her new residence in Paris. He had received Mariana’s new address from a confidential source and was too excited to think of his actions before writing and sending the letter. Later, Juan’s â€Å"mind [was] off his job during the day and [he couldn’t] sleep at night,† thinking of the letter (Valenzuela 966). He believes the contents to be innocent and irreproachable, but the censors of the Argentine government â€Å"examine, sniff, feel, and read between the lines of each and every letter† (Valenzuela 966) for the signs of uprising among the people. He then thinks of the censorship offices and the extremely few letters that are actually sent. He ponders the months or years that a single letter cou ld take to be delivered and all that time â€Å"the freedom, maybe even life, of both the sender and receiver [are] in jeopardy† (Valenzuela 966). Juan is troubled for Mariana’s well being. He knows that the â€Å"Censor’s Secret Command operates all over the world [and] there’s nothing to stop them from going [to the] obscure Paris neighborhood [and] kidnapping Mariana† (Valenzuela 966). Soon he decides his course of action is to join the Post Office’s Censorship Division and retrieve his letter to save Mariana. Juan was hired immediately as there was a great demand for censors and no one â€Å"bothered to check on his references† (Valenzuela 966). He was content to be working; all he could do to retrieve his letter was being done. Even when he was sent to Section K where envelopes were ... ...ack to destroy Juan. Since he didn’t find the letter to be important, he acted carelessly and discarded it and was â€Å"one more victim of his devotion to his work† (Valenzuela 968). Although many people would not go as far as to essentially commit suicide through the government, Valenzuela is making the point that secrets are dangerous. At the same time, Valenzuela is showing the average person can always be corrupted and caught up in their government if said government is corrupt. The most innocent person will always be tainted and destroyed by an iniquitous government. Through Juan’s letter and actions, Valenzuela depicts the satirical theme of how anyone can be corrupted by a perverted government. Works Cited Valenzuela, Luisa. â€Å"The Censors.† Elements of Literature: World Literature. Trans. David Unger. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2006. Print.

Original writing – annual camping holiday with the scouts

It was the 3rd of August 2002 and we were going on the annual camping holiday with the scouts, after a whole year's planning and waiting excitedly hoping it would live up to the greatness of our last few camps. There was me, Oliver, Clutz, Pookie, Callem, David and Damien who was also known as Ginger Monkey. We named Damien Ginger Monkey after he had climbed a gigantic tree in the church yard without any struggle; the ginger bit came from the colour of his hair. We arrived at Waddecarr around 10am. Waddecarr is about 20 miles from Blackpool. On arrival first impressions were not good, the place was waterlogged and nothing could be seen for trees and a big stone lodge. Beyond the lodge were limestone paths' leading off from the car park and a river was flowing freely in the distance. The air was quite cold and slight dew hung to the grass. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and there wasn't a breeze. We left our tents and other belongings in the land rover and minibus and went to find our site. The site was a large one. The ground was all freshly cut grass and there was a small limestone path running by. At the back of the site was a row of trees in front of a small ditch in which a small stream lied. To the left of the site was a small wooden building with a small door which was open and to the right was more trees. The DB tent was planned to be placed next to the trees at the back, on the left we were to have the leaders' sleeping and eating tents and on the right our sleeping and eating tents. A DB tent is where we keep all the equipment and food for the week. The DB tent was the biggest, so we put this up first. It took 15 men to lift up the tent while a little scout went running round shoving each bottom pole into the ones being held by people. When the DB tent was up we stared at it for a while then split from the leaders to put up our own two tents and the leaders put up theirs. We had the tent with all the broken pegs and strings which fell down six times before we had it erected fully. The tents were done after four hours and we were very bored of looking at each other, which wasn't a pretty site, so we went looking for a bit of totty round the camp site. Totty is just a word we use for good looking females because it's easier to say. We found some totty but we had a problem because we were all too chicken to talk to them, I think it's a fear of rejection thing, so we sent the no fear zoo animal, Ginger Monkey in to talk to them. Ginger Monkey's a bit special, he'll talk to anyone, even himself or a tree. Anyway he did well so we rewarded him by petting him like we would pet a dog or a cat but some of the petting was too hard and he fell to the ground. Twist is quite over weight and he fell on Ginger Monkey while he was on the floor which must have hurt considering he size of Twist and the noise that Ginger Monkey made when Twist rolled over onto his arm. Ginger Monkey made a big scene and screamed like a little girl and started throwing a paddy like he was having a fit on the floor. We dragged Damien by his wrists and dragged him back to our site through mud and puddles because of the embarrassment this child had caused us. When we arrived back he was filthy and he smelled like a wet dog. We had tea in the cooking tent while Ginger Monkey ate his on the grass looking at the trees. After tea there was the task everybody hates†¦ washing up. This really did suck when you were washing pans, about 20 mess tins, plates, knifes and forks. Ginger Monkey was washing in one bowl and Callem was rinsing in another. I didn't trust Ginger Monkey at a job like washing up so I volunteered to help wash up to check if they were doing right. Ginger Monkey was complaining about his arm that Twist had rolled on and was refusing to do anymore washing up, so I grabbed the arm and stuck it in the water. Ginger Monkey let out a big cry and went running towards the path. What Ginger Monkey didn't know was me, Clutz and Twist had put a piece of rope around our site to stop kids running through and Ginger Monkey ran straight into the rope which was at his neck height. The rope stopped him running and took him to the floor. Ginger Monkey lay still on the floor for a while until someone ran over to see if he was alright. Me, Twist and Clutz were laughing our hearts out at this moment but stopped when he didn't move. Was he dead? We should be so lucky. He got up when everyone ran over and looked at us over his little gold glasses with evil eyes. If looks could kill, I wouldn't be here today writing this story. Nobody knew Ginger Monkey's arm was broken yet, so we carried on as normal, sitting around chatting and playing stupid games which weren't even fun but we did them anyways' before going to bed at around 11pm. That night Twist, Clutz, Pookie and I went on a little walk around the site while everyone was asleep before retiring to our sleeping tent and chatting some more. After a while everything was quiet because some old guy had told us to be quiet and Twist said he could feel something warm and wet on the bottom of his feet which made me and Clutz crack up with laughter but Twist looked worried. I took a look at Twist's feet and saw Ginger Monkey there licking his feet. Twist kicked Ginger Monkey hard to stop him licking his feet but Ginger Monkey bit his big toe. Oliver screamed and woke everyone up. We threw Ginger Monkey out of the tent in his sleeping bag into the sludge and pouring rain to sleep out there. Later that morning around 3am Twist needed the toilet so he stepped outside the tent forgetting all about Ginger Monkey and peed on his head. Ginger Monkey never moved and just opened his mouth, Twist by this time realised Ginger Monkey was there and started aiming at his mouth. This was day one of Waddecarr 2002 Camp. What did the rest of the week have in store for us? We had fun throughout the week with all the activities which led to Pookie accidentally nearly shooting himself with a rifle, Gary Ward nearly drowning in Blackpool swimming baths, pulling Pookie's shorts down in front of a few good looking girls, Twist rolling down the beach taking out an old lady, me and Clutz pulled two sexy ladies on the next site and some other scouts tied Twist to a fallen tree over the river. This was a really good scout camp after all. I can't wait for next year.

Slavery in the American Colonies Essay - 966 Words

1. In the American colonies, Virginians switched from indentured servants to slaves for their labor needs for many reasons. A major reason was the shift in the relative supply of indentured servants and slaves. While the colonial demand for labor was increasing, a sharp decrease occurred in the number of English migrants arriving in America under indenture. Slaves were permanent property and female slaves passed their status on to their children. Slaves also seemed to be a better investment than indentured servants. Slaves also offered masters a reduced level of successful flight. 2. Most American slaves came from the coastal region of West Africa. 3. Around 10 or 11 million African slaves were brought to New World. Only about six†¦show more content†¦Blacks made up a minority of the population and the lower South comprised only roughly half the population. 6. The â€Å"Americanization† process of slaves brought to America is one that has been debated. Some say the slaves brought to America quickly abandoned most of their African ways and adopted the dominant culture against those who stress the continuing African cultural legacy among black Americans. The Africans that were brought to America involuntarily essentially remained Africans at heart. The descendants of Africans that were brought to America were not like the original Africans or white Americans. They were heavily influenced by the behavior of their masters but maintained some of their African culture. They formed a new culture known as African-American. 7. Slave women that were imported from Africa tended to continue the African tradition of breastfeeding for the first two years of life, while those born in America rapidly adapted to the local custom of breastfeeding for one year. The number of African names decreased over time, even though American-born slaves were able to mostly name their babies. Biblical names became more common among slaves born in America. The persistence of African folkways into the 19th century produced slave dancing in New Orleans. Nighttime dancing was so popular among African-born slaves in early New Orleans that city officials set aside a squareShow MoreRelatedSlavery During The American Colonies Essay1537 Words   |  7 PagesSlavery in the American colonies had greatly shaped the nation as we know it to be today. After the discovery of the New World, Spanish conquerors intended to enslave Native Americans, but punishment, overwork, and diseases such as small pox and malaria decreased their population rapidly. The only solution was to kidnap African Americans from their homeland and transport them on ships under poor, unsanitary conditions, many of which died of yellow fever, dysentery, or suicide. 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