Covey Principles Essay Example for Free

Covey Principles Essay In a society where everything is quick-fix and modeled after the fast food restaurant it is no surprise that corporate America faces the current dilemma of failing management and disinformation. Covey reminds us we must be willing to get personally involved with our job, life, family, and so on. This essay will discuss four principles needed not only in business but everyday life as well; Security, Guidance, Wisdom, and Power. Security does not mean what it used to twenty years ago. In times past, a hand shake could seal a business deal. Now, there are multiple copies of signed pages holding each party to their word. Also, a man was as good as his word in years gone by. Today it is more difficult to establish some level of trust enough to do business on a long term basis. Identity and personal integrity are just a couple of the issues that have to be proven to potential business partners. Identity plays such an important role in every day life that if we are not yet established as a person who knows themselves others will take notice. Not only is it difficult to perform in the business world, but the lack of this character trait can significantly hurt any personal relationship we hope to gain. There are various degrees of security which are, for the most part, dictated to us by the circumstance in life. However, being human, we have the ability to control how our integrity is substantiated. If we are careful when approaching this aspect of our daily lives we will soon be known as a person others can trust. This is security. Not just security for business prospects, but in the day to day grind of every-man-for-himself it will be the defining factor of all of our relationships. We can gain a great deal of insight on life if we develop a secure lifestyle. This mode of living guides us to the next principle of the four I mentioned above. The direction we receive in life is also a choice we make and comes from all the different forms of information that we allow to infiltrate our minds. It is inevitably this that shapes who we become. Covey recognizes this and offers a lot of practical insights for those who are brave enough to live life to its fullest. A person can live either on the low, middle, or the high end of this continuum. The low ultimately causes an individual to focus on themselves and what’s in it for them. Self-centered people are an example of this end of the continuum. Those focusing on traditions or human institutions are the result of the middle continuum. Then there are people who are inspired and inspire others to reach their potential in life. We choose the type of guidance we follow. Some may think that circumstance dictates their guidance, but it is impossible for anyone to be on a certain level of the continuum without consciously choosing to do so. We may not want to accept that as a truth, but the proof is easily seen by the manner of our lives. People who try to control the information shaping their lives are the people Covey calls wise. To have balance in life is to be able to see things as they really are and not to allow the facade of humanistic attitudes to dictate our life responses. Everything from inaccurate life maps to fuzzy principles will make fools of us all, and will be the source of all our frustrations. Judgment and comprehension can add a level of success in life that is measured not by income alone, but also by friends and family relationships. Things that might bring temporary pleasure are fleeting and the wise seek pleasure that is true joy. Joy gives an ability to adjust to life and recognize any power that we might possess. Power is only a good thing if coupled with wisdom and can be described as the authority with which we act. The best way to see if the power you exercise is truly helpful is to hear others’ opinions of you. While it is not recommended that you live your life or change any aspect of it by the things you hear, it can bring satisfaction or warning if rightly interpreted. People with power are demonstrative, yet not in an offensive manner. The true character of man is best told when he is alone. This is where the true power an individual possesses is recognized. These four principles; security, guidance, wisdom, and power, have given many people a large number of satisfying days at work and at home. I like to think they have influenced my life to enable me to make logical, sensible and wise choices knowing that these choices will determine my lot in life. At this venture of my life, though, it is wisdom that dictates where I go intellectually and helps me choose those things that are wholesome and right for me. Even with all the mistakes I make in life, wisdom continues to grow in me and helps guide future actions. References Covey, Stephen R. (October 1, 1992). Principle Centered Leadership. 1st edition. New York, NY: Fireside, imprint of Simon Schuster.

Mother Daughter Relationships - Mothers and Daughters in Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club :: Joy Luck Club Essays

Mothers and Daughters in The Joy Luck Club The first three stories in this section are talking about the relationship between mothers and daughters and the last one is concluding the whole book "The Joy Luck Club".   By examining this section, there is one moral in these four stories, which is the relationship between daughters and mothers, is very strong and mothers and daughters have similar fate and face.   The plots in these four stories can prove the moral above.   In "Magpies", when An-mei hsu thinks about her daughter's marriage is fallen apart, she recalls her mother and how she followed her mother to Tientsin.   An-mei also recalls the conflict between her mother, Wu Tsing and Second wife of Wu Tsing.   She remembers how Second wife lied to her mother and how Wu Tsing forced her mother to become his Fourth wife.   Finally, An-mei's mother died by taking too much opium.   An-mei realizes her mother's situation is as same as her daughter, both of them cannot save their lives very well and they like magpies.   In "Waiting between the Trees", Ying-Ying St. Clair recalls her story in the childhood, when she sees signs in her daughter's house.   Ying-Ying recalls how was her first marriage, how she met her first husband and final result on her first marriage.   Ying-Ying also talks about her birth year of Tiger and the relationship between she and Clifford St. Clair and how both of them become equally. Ying-Ying realizes the relationship between her and Clifford St. Clair is also as same as her daughter and her husband.   Ying-Ying also talks that her daughter is as same as a Tiger.   At the end, Yin-Yin know her daughter will go upstairs when her daughter fight with her husband and she will wait for her coming.   In "Double Face", when Lindo Jong looks at her daughter's face, she compares American faces and Chinese faces.   Lindo Jong recalls what her mother had told her fortune by looking her face.   She also remembers how she moves to America and she realizes that her face becomes American face already.   In "A pair of Ticket", Jing-Mei Woo talks about her feeling before she meet her two sisters.   Also, Jing-Mei talks about the meeting in the Airport with her father and aunt.   In the meeting, Jing-Mei's father talks about Jing-Mei's mother and how she escaped when Japanese came to China and how she leaves her two daughters on the rail.

E-Tourism in Sri Lanaka

E-Tourism In Sri Lanka E-Commerce Infrastructure University Collage Dublin Student Name: Madushanka W. H. M Student Number: 11294574 E-mail: madawa. [email  protected] com About Sri Lanka Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka commonly known as the pearl of the Indian Ocean or as Ceylon is one of the exquisite Island in the world Sri Lanka set in the Indian Ocean in south Asia near to the equator which is a great home to 8 UNESCO world heritage sites.Not only that this great Island has unspoiled beaches, waterfalls, pure rivers, 15 national wildlife parks, lagoons with indigenous aquatic birds, 250 acres of botanical gardens, hot water wells and so many unique things. Because Sri Lanka is a multinational country; Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Moors, Indian Tamil, Sri Lankan Tamil, all these ethical groups lives in this small Island. Sri Lanka is a place where the original soul of Buddhism still flourishes (Buddhist 69. %) but it is not a problem to friendly people in this country becau se there are Muslims (7. 6%), Hindu (7. 1%), Christian (6. 2%) & some other religions people living happily within area of 65,610Km. Country has three main geological divisions. In the lowlands, up to an altitude of 100m to 150m, the mean annual temperature various between 26. 5 0C to 28. 5 0C. In the highlands, the temperature falls quickly as the altitude increases. The mean annual temperature of Nuwara Eliya, at 1800 m sea level, is 15. 9 0C.The coldest month of the country is January, and the warmest months are April and August. Agriculture plays an important role in Sri Lankan economy. Main agricultural product is rice but Tea, Rubber & coconut brings more foreign currency to the Island not only that but also Spices export brings foreign money as well. Sri Lanka's economy today is mainly based on the service and industrial sector. However Tourism and the related services industries are also growing in Sri Lanka. Madushanka W. H. M 11294574 madawa. [email  protected] com What is E-TourismWhen we consider about manual processes regarding tourism, there are so many things including air ticket or Cruise ticket reservation, hotel reservation not only that every person must need to obtain a permission before entering to a country (Visa). Just think if a tourist or travel agency had to do all those things manually; definitely it will take nearly one month or more. So E-tourism is the best option for all those time taken processes. It’s a combination of e-commerce and tourism & it helps to maximizing the efficiency of tourism sector.Tourism has closely been connected to progress of ICTs for over 30 years. The establishments of the Computer Reservation Systems (CRSs) in the 1970s, Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) in the late 1980s and the Internet in the late 1990s have transformed operational and strategic practices dramatically in tourism (Buhalis, 2003; Buhalis & Law, 2008). The tourism industry at first focused on utilizing computerized systems (e. g. , CRS, GDS) to increase efficiency in processing of internal information and managing distribution.Nowadays, the Internet and ICTs are relevant on all operative, structural, strategic and marketing levels to facilitate global interaction among suppliers, intermediaries and consumers around the world (Buhalis & Law, 2008; Egger & Buhalis, 2008). E-tourism is a really great concept because it includes business management, information systems & management and the tourism. As an example it has main electronic business functions such as e-commerce, e-marketing, e-accounting etc http://www. srilankan. aero/welcome. html? local e=en_us. ttp://www. srilankan. aero/welcome. html? local e=en_ushttp://www. srilankan. aero/welcome. ht ml? locale=en_ushttp://www. srilankan. aero/wel come. html? locale=en_us. srilankan. aero/welco me. html? locale=en_us http://www. starcruises. com/newweb/homepage. aspx Madushanka W. H. M 11294574 madawa. [email  protected] com Key Players In E-tourism E-tou rism provides great opportunities for numerous key players in tourism industry to expand their businesses. Also because of the E-tourism numbers of new players have come into the tourism industry.Mainly there are several key players; 1. 2. 3. 4. Airlines Hotels Tour operators 7 Travel Agencies Particular country(In here Sri Lanka) 1. Airlines When we considering about the airlines long time ago reservations were made by using a manual process. It’s a really time consuming work because reservations were made on manual display boards, where passengers were listed. Travel agencies had to locate the best routes and fares in manuals and then check availability and make reservation by phone, before issuing a ticket manually.World’s first automated reservation system called SABRE (Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment) was introduced by American Airlines and IBM jointly during 1962. It enabled American Airlines to replace the handwritten passenger reservations system o f the 1950s with the automated reservations system for the future. Currently SABRE global distribution system is used by more than 400 airlines, 55,000 travel agencies, 88,000 hotels, 13 cruise lines & etc.In Sri Lanka currently Sri Lankan airlines has earned great revenue and won series of international and national awards in fields ranging from passenger transport to marketing and internet technology including Platinum Award from the International Air Transport Association as one of the first airlines in the world to introduce a major innovation to tickets. Madushanka W. H. M 11294574 madawa. [email  protected] com SriLankan Airlines made significant investments in technology during last year, the carrier contracted with Calidris(since acquired by Sabre Airline Solutions) to help ensure seats are not occupied by false or spurious bookings .The solution looks at business problems including: Ticket time limits, Fake names, Duplicate bookings and duplicate segments within a booking , Fake or duplicate ticket numbers. 2. Hotels One of the most important player in travel & tourism sector which has a long history, nearly 1300 years. World’s oldest hotel is â€Å"Hoshi Ryokan† which is founded in 717. Sri Lanka’s oldest hotel is â€Å"Galle Face Hotel† which was founded in 1864 by four British entrepreneurs. Now a day hotels in other words E-Hospitality plays major role in E-Tourism.During 1970s due to the airlines Computer Reservation Systems (CRSs) and ICT developments forced hotel industry to develop hotel CRSs in order to maintain good customer friendly environment with rapid response time to customer. By using CRSs in hotel sector, it’s enable travel & tourism trade to access accurate information on availability and to provide easy, inexpensive, efficient and reliable way of making and confirming reservations. Switch companies such as THISCO and WIZCOM emerged also to facilitate interconnectivity between dedicated or interna l hotel system and GDSs (Emmer etal. 1993; O’Connor, 1995, 1999) The development of switch companies Switch Companies CRSs/GDSs Madushanka W. H. M 11294574 madawa. [email  protected] com â€Å"Galileo† is one of the well-known CRS in the world which provide Hotel room reservations, Airline bookings etc. Galileo RoomMasterâ„ ¢ is supper solution by â€Å"Travelport† company which provides hotel shopping and booking solution. By purchasing Galileo RoomMasterâ„ ¢ it provides Galileo-connected subscribers with direct, real-time access to relevant hotel system for shopping and bookings of hotel’s properties.Also it enables to connect with more than 190,000 travel agency workstations, as well as corporate and consumer/ecommerce users throughout the world. Most of the Sri Lankan hotels also are now available for online reservations by using those systems & some of them are inbuilt solutions by the hotels. 3. Tour operators & Travel Agencies Tour operator s organizes, arranges leisure packages including flights & accommodation. They pre-book tourism products and distribute them through advertising in travel agencies.Major tour operators use internet based communication system in order to reduce information handling costs and to increase the speed of information transfer with agencies and the customers. Currently some of the established tour operator’s business are made, in other words packages are booked through online. Thomson Holidays is one of the world famous tour operator company which only accept reservation made through Thomson’s open-line Program (TOP). In Sri Lanka huge number of tour operators like JF tours, Miracle Sri Lanka, Nalro tours use Ecommerce based techniques to attract travelers & advertise about their packages. Madushanka W.H. M 11294574 madawa. [email  protected] com 4. Sri Lankan Government After 30 years of the civil war, tourism is one of the main considering areas of the Sri Lankan governmen t. As mentioned in previously, county has lot of tourist attractions. So currently government has invested in several areas to develop travel & tourism industry. Sri Lanka Tourism Board (SLTB) former Ceylon Tourist Board which is under the Ministry of Economic Development has the main responsibilities to develop country’s travel & tourism. As a country still Sri Lanka couldn’t reach up to good place in E-Tourism. but SLTB doing its best to improve E-tourism.They have an alliance with ICTA (Information and Communication Technology Association of Sri Lanka) to develop E-Tourism. Also SLTB re- launched their web site (http://www. srilankatourism. org/) with new look & currently Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau which is under SLTB trying to use the best technologies to promote about the Sri Lanka (http://www. srilanka. travel/). Social networking (Facebook icon) on the page Ministry of Economic development has long time tourism development strategy (20112016). They have mentioned use of the internet & E-commerce are key objectives to be achieved through the 5 year strategy.Madushanka W. H. M 11294574 madawa. [email  protected] com E-Tourism Benefits to Key Players 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Help to understand about the customers & help to build a good customer relationship. Make direct communication between customers. Ability to respond in quick and efficient way to customer. Reduces communication, advertising cost due to eMarketing. Help to increase interconnectivity among the key players. 24/7 of the business time Less of labors. E-Tourism Benefits to Customers 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Can do the business directly without interpreters. Reduces time Accessible at any time Due to competition can obtain good ervice or great product at low price. Can know Up to date information. Wide range of selections. Ability to customize products or services. Online auctions. Future developments in E-Tourism E-tourism has reach to great place in the world but when con sidering with E-commerce there are so many ways which can develop. ? ? ? E-tourism in world or Sri Lanka, still haven’t any major developments in field of mobile, mobile advertising. So developing that kind of product will help to earn more revenue than now. When considering other online products travel & tourism sector need to more think about social networking.As a country Sri Lanka should need to develop several telecommunication technologies such as speed of the internet, wireless internet access etc. †¦ Madushanka W. H. M 11294574 madawa. [email  protected] com Bibliography 1. Department of Meteorology – Sri Lanka (2012) Climate in Sri Lanka [online], available: http://www. meteo. gov. lk/index. php? option=com_content=article=106 d=81=en [07 Feb 2012]. 2. Dodson, B (2011) ‘PEACOCK PROUD’, ascend, available: http://www. google. lk/url? sa=t=j=sabre%20in%20srilankan%20airlines= web=1=2=0CCgQFjAA=http%3A%2F%2Fwww. abreairlinesolutions. co m%2Fima ges%2Fuploads%2FPeacockProud_APR_2011. pdf=6Lk0T87BIYnPrQe13rC6 Dw=AFQjCNGqQUEN5z3krOlHuO4v41AcGRi3wA=rja [06 Feb 2012]. 3. Gartner, W. C, Lime, D. W. (2000) Trends in outdoor recreation, leisure, and tourism: New wave of technological evolution, London: CABI publishing. 4. Glowatz, M (2011) ‘Emerging Infrastructure Trends ’, E Commerce Infrastructure (SL), 9 Feb 2012, University Collage Dublin, Unpublished. 5. Hotelmule(2008)The development of switch companies[Image online], available: http://hotelmule. com/management/html/83/n-2183-9. html[06 Feb 2012]. 6. IBM

11 Animal Farm Discussion Questions

Since  George Orwells 1945 novel Animal Farm is such a complex work, you can better understand its themes and plot devices by working your way through study questions. Use these Animal Farm discussion questions as a guide to better comprehending the book, but for context, first, make sure you understand the gist of the story and its related history. Animal Farm in Context In short, Animal Farm is an allegory that depicts the rise of Joseph Stalin and communism in the former Soviet Union. Orwell was dismayed by the favorable image of World War II-era and the post-war Soviet Union. He viewed the USSR as a brutal dictatorship whose people were suffering under Stalins rule. In addition, Orwell was angered by what he viewed as acceptance of the Soviet Union by Western countries. Given this, Stalin, Hitler, and Karl Marx are all represented in the novel, which ends with the famous quote, â€Å"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.†Ã‚   Questions for Review With the context of the book in mind, prepare to answer the Animal Farm discussion questions below. You can review them before you read the book, as you read it, or afterward. In any case, looking at these questions will improve your comprehension of the material. Your answers may reveal why the book has endured for generations. Discuss with your classmates or a friend whos familiar with the book. You may have somewhat different takes on the novel, but analyzing what youve read is a great way to connect with the material. What is important about the title?Why do you think Orwell chose to represent political figures as animals? Why did he choose a farm as the novels setting?What if Orwell had chosen jungle or marine animals to represent the political figures?Is it important to know the world history of the mid- and late-1940s to fully understand what Orwell is trying to portray?Animal Farm has been described as a dystopian novel. What are some other examples of fictional works with dystopian settings?Compare  Animal Farm with Orwells other famous cautionary tale, 1984. How similar are the messages of these two works? Whats different about them?What are the symbols in Animal Farm? Are they easily recognized by readers who dont know the historical context of the novel?Can you discern an authorial voice (a character who speaks the authors point of view) in Animal Farm?How essential is the setting to the story? Could the story have taken place somewhere else and still made the same points?Does the story end the way you expected? What other outcomes could there have been for Animal Farm?What would a sequel to Animal Farm have looked like? Were Orwells fears about Stalin realized?