Many Ways To Define The Best

Many Ways To Define “The Best” Some parents wrote to me and asked me to contribute my opinions to a College Confidential thread about the pressure to load up on AP classes. Obviously my response is directed to parents, but I thought it was important enough to post it here as well: As with most of my posts in the parents forum, Ill try to respond both as an MIT adcom and also as a parent. Thisll be sortof long, sorry. First, the MIT adcom perspective. I dont know the exact numbers; I couldnt tell you even if I thought it would be helpful. Numbers mean nothing to us because ~70% of our applicant pool is qualified in those terms. Based on the thousands of apps I saw last year both in selection committee and as a reader, I can tell you that the average # of APs for admitted kids was 5 or 6 (thats total for all 4 years of HS i.e. 1-2 per year if evenly distributed). Many admits (most likely the majority) had no college classes. The most common APs taken were in math and science (no surprise, its MIT). The overwhelming majority got 4s and 5s on all tests. Ill pause here to add that I frequently saw kids with perfect SAT scores and perfect grades and a gazillion AP classes get rejected. Why? Because often these kids knew how to grind, but brought nothing else to the table. And thats not who were looking for at MIT. We admit kids who show genuine passion. Sure APs can be one of many passion indicators but I emphasize one of many. When I was on the road, kids asked me repeatedly whether or not they should take a given AP class. Well, Id respond, would you be taking it because you genuinely want to, or simply because you think it will get you into college? Sometimes they didnt know the difference, which is a tragedy that deserves its own thread. But I digress. And this is where you all start saying that adcoms are talking out of both sides of our mouths: we encourage kids to follow their hearts in the choices they make, and then as adcoms we want to see that theyve taken the most challenging courseload. To which I say: guys, I work for MIT! If a kid doesnt want to be taking a challenging courseload in high school, that kid is certainly not going to be happy here. Quite simply, the students who are happiest here are those who thrive on challenge. Most of our admits have taken AP math and science because they would have been bored silly in the regular classes. Indeed, they genuinely wanted to take those classes. They dont look at MIT as the prize; they look at MIT as the logical next step. Its an important distinction. That said, APs are not the only way to demonstrate that one is passionate and likes challenge. Read Anthonys story for an example. When faced with the choice, we will always choose the right match* over numbers. Were not lying when we say that. Youve heard me beat that sentiment to death in other threads, so I wont do so here. (*Match = mission, collaborative spirit, hands-on, balance, character, and passion, among others.) But the reality is that when you have 10,500+ applications for ~1000 spots and 70% of the pool has great numbers, your pool is going to have plenty of kids who have the passion and the match and the scores/grades/APs. So we admit those kids what other choice do we have? But then (understandably) you guys say Look! You need X, Y, and Z to get into MIT! To clarify, we dont require those things; many of our admits just happen to have them. And, I might add, for the right reasons. This brings me to the more important part, where we toss my affiliation with MIT out the window and I give you my thoughts as a parent. There is only one coin. There are many sides to the coin, but there is only one coin. And you can flip it however you like. So when a parent says to me, Why does HYPSM (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, etc.) put so much emphasis on APs? I reply Why do you put so much emphasis on HYPSM? When a parent says My kids value as a person/student shouldnt be measured by how many APs he/she has taken I say and your kids value as a person/student shouldnt be measured by whether or not he/she goes to HYPSM. I could go on and on. There are literally hundreds of amazing colleges and universities out there (some of which actually admit kids with no APs!). Many of them would actually be better matches for your child. Many of them would provide your child with a better education. Most importantly, many of them would ultimately give your child a greater sense of happiness and fulfillment. The right match will do that. And the match goes both ways. We try to determine if your kid is a good match for MIT. Your kid should be trying to determine which school is the best match for him/her. As a parent, what are you doing to help him/her figure that out? Heres a hint: if youre spending time obsessing that a lack of APs is going to keep your kid out of Stanford, youre missing the point. As I told the kids in my blog, I had a wonderful college experience that I wouldnt trade for anything, at a school that is currently only #23 on the USNWR LAC list (The HORROR!). I got a phenomenal education and can certainly hold my own against any Ivy grad. Bonus: I even got to grow up, get married, have kids, buy a house, land a great job, and enjoy life. I took one AP class in high school. Make sure your kids are choosing their schools for the right reasons. Name, status, brand these are not the right reasons. Let your kids be kids. Let them follow their hearts. Encourage them to have a present, not just a future. Dont let them define themselves by which colleges accept them and dont let them define themselves by doing things only to get into certain colleges. The machine is fed from all sides. USNWR, the media in general, the GCs, the parents, the colleges and universities, the high-priced independent counselors, the test prep people My kids are still many years away from college, and Im no expert on the parent side of this process. But I do know one thing: I will fight to protect them from all of this, to help them with perspective and clarity. Because if I dont, who will? Because if we dont, who will? Just my 2 cents, for what its worth. More often than not, what society deems the best is not actually the best for most.

The World Of Athletics Has Been Built Around A Binary View

The world of athletics has been built around a binary view of gender. The distinction between genders is obvious: there is women’s sport and there is men’s sport. However, in reality, gender biology is not black and white – there is a multitude of ways to be human. The separation of men’s and women’s sport leads to a large population of athletes getting stuck in the middle. There is a growing social acceptance of transgender and intersex individuals in society, however, when it comes to sport these individuals are often left isolated on an island of controversy. The majority of this controversy surrounds the debate of whether or not transgender and intersex females should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Society does not have a†¦show more content†¦It means we must be open to its permutation, in the name of nonviolence.† (Butler) . This practice would help support the reality of transgender and intersex people. We must, as a society, realize that gender is not black and white, but rather it comes in a multitude of shades. If someone does not fit in the traditional categories of gender it does not mean that they are inhumane - they are humans who deserve equal rights to those in the majority. In order for transgender athletes to be given an equal opportunity to pursue their athletic goals we must first reconstruct our notions about gender to create a society that accepts intersex and transgender individuals as equal counterparts. Transgender females identify as women and should therefore be allowed to compete as women. Actively excluding transgender and intersex women from competing in women’s sport, the gender they identify with, would be a step in the wrong direction for both intersex and transgender rights. The primary opposition to the allowance of transgender and intersex females in women’s sport, argues that these individuals should be excluded because they are not ‘real’ women. Sex segregation in sport exists because it ensures fairness for women. If men and women were to compete against one another it is undeniable that sportShow MoreRelatedDiscrimination Is Not A New Controversy1974 Words   |  8 PagesDiscrimination in sport is not a new controversy, discrimination in all forms has been happening since the very beginning of physical activity and sport. Some forms of discrimination in sport include sexism, gender stereotyping, homophobia, and racism. All forms of discrimination affect everyone involved in sport, from athletes to coaches, spectators to owners. To fully comprehend the effects of discrimination in sport, we must understand the definition of discrimination. 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Essay about Sigmund Frueds Psychology - 1339 Words

Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 in Frieber, Moravia; his father was a wool merchant and his mother was twenty years younger than his father. Freud had two step brothers which were around the same age as his mother; one stepbrother had a son who became Freud’s playmate growing up (Sigmund). Around the age of four, Freud and his family moved to Vienna where he stayed for a majority of his life. (Boeree) When Freud’s family moved to Vienna, they lived in an area that was highly populated with Jews (the Leopoldstadt slum) but the city around them was majority Catholic. Their housing was extremely cramped and they moved numerous times. Vienna had a better education system and business opportunities than most other places around them.†¦show more content†¦He died from cancer of the mouth and jaw. (Boree) Freud is the father of the Psychodynamic Model which is â€Å"the oldest and most famous of the modern psychological models† (Comer, 2011, p. 37). Psychodyna mic theorists believe that people’s behaviors are driven by underlying psychological forces; these forces come from the unconscious mind (Comer, 2011, p. 37). He developed what is known as psychoanalysis: â€Å"a way to treat certain mental illnesses by exposing and discussing a patient’s unconscious thoughts and feelings† (Sigmund). Freud was a heavy believer in hypnosis which he learned most from Joseph Breuer; Breuer claimed that he successfully treated a woman by hypnotizing her and tracing back her symptoms to the traumatic experience of her father dying (Sigmund). Freud later dropped the idea of hypnosis and started analyzing dreams believing that many unconscious desires could be found through dreams (Sigmund). Freud developed psychoanalysis further by determining the most powerful unconscious force; he believed that sexual desires at an early age were shut down by the conscious but remained heavily in the unconscious (Sigmund). 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Anorexia is an irrational

North Sea Oil and Gas Free Essays

Every business or industry is prone to various risks which include floods, earthquake, terrorists which the industry should put mechanisms in place to avoid such. Effective contingency planning has been of importance to most industries that embrace the idea. North Sea oil and Gas has for a long time been prone to the problem of changing weather conditions which is especially experienced in the sea. We will write a custom essay sample on North Sea Oil and Gas or any similar topic only for you Order Now The companies that exploit the North Sea oil and gas have put a lot of emphasis on risk management and most of the companies have set up risk management departments (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). Numerous deaths had occurred during the exploitation of North Sea oil and gas in the 1970s and 1980s and this called for effective contingency planning to reduce the losses incurred by loosing workforce and by spillage of oil and gas due to buckles. The companies that exploit the gas and oil have invested in the contingency planning as a way of way of managing the risks (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). North Sea oil and gas has been a source of wealth to the countries that exploit the resource. North Sea oil has been used to refer to the oil and natural gas exists beneath the North Sea. The countries that exploit the North Sea oil and gas include Netherlands, Norway, Germany, United Kingdom and Denmark. Most countries and especially companies that have been given license to exploit the resource have taken proactive measures of risk. Mining beneath the sea has led to many deaths of the people involved and this has called for heavy investment in risk management projects undertaken by the companies. The pipes that transfer the oil and natural gas from underground reservoirs to processing plants which are mainly located some distance from the sea must be strong to withstand the waves in the sea. Depending on weather changes, waves differ in their height and this call for contingency planning otherwise heavy losses are incurred by the particular company (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). In the 1970s, the North Sea oil a gas companies took proactive measures to avoid heavy losses that resulted when waves exceeded the height of 3 meters. The operators laid many pipes which assumed the shape of S to maintain smoothness between the large barge and the ocean floor. The operators used bow anchors to further buckles by raising and resetting the pipes at the barges. The operators had to be keen because improper lowering of pipes would result into a pipe buckle which presented a serious threat in laying the pipes. The excessive height of waves which exceeded the anticipated height resulted in further risk of pipe buckles due to uncontrolled lowering of pipes. The companies therefore had to purchase a large number of steel pipes to avoid delays incase of any pipe buckle and this methods was not cost effective as the company would have desired. Any proactive measure that is taken to manage risk should be cost effective, utility effective and must therefore be maximizing benefits for the company while minimizing cost (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). An effective contingency planning in managing risks in project requires good planning and coordination of all the stakeholders in the project to ensure maximum desirable result. Risk management involves taking measures in dealing with uncertainty. The North Sea and oil contingency planning that was adopted in 19790s involves dealing with uncertainty because in favorable weather conditions, there is less cost involved in dealing with risks since pipe buckles will be few and hence very few new pipes will be required to be laid. However, since it’s hard to predict the height of the waves in the sea which can cause heavy losses if unchecked, the companies that explore the oil and gas in the areas must take precautionary measures (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). Exploration of North Sea oil any natural gas involves making wealth for the companies that are undertaking the projects. The importance of contingency planning in the exploration project is very essential in risk management because it’s used to assess the possibility of bad weather condition which is a threat to the project. The assessment is consequently used to reduce the possibility of underperformance that may be realized when no measures are undertaken to reduce or avoid the pipe buckles. The cost of replacing buckled pipes reduces the profit margin that is realized in the project and therefore effective contingency planning help to manage the risk. Effective contingency planning helps to capture the benefits of fair weather. Uncertainty about weather conditions is a threat that faces the North Sea offshore pipe laying. If effective contingency planning is observed, long periods of bad weather can be sustained because the project major should be able to recognize and deal with the bad condition threat which is inevitable. The project managers should ensure there is plenty supply of pipes during bad weather condition to avoid delays in replacing the buckle pipes. The project managers should observe good contingency planning by ensuring that the oil and gas pipeline are complete before the bad weather sets in and this will assist in reducing the costs associated with contingency planning. Laying pipelines in time helps in avoiding major delays in the project which may result in heavy monetary losses. Contingency planning for reducing possible threats that are associated with North Sea and oil exploration could be a possible way of increasing income to the companies that are undertaking the project. American project management institute (PMI) argue that there is a possible opportunity associated with the risks that threaten the project in winter, bad weather conditions has been known to lead to gas shortage in most cities which due to law of demand, the prices increase. This could be an opportunity for those companies that are concerned with the project. Effective contingency planning in managing risk North Sea oil and gas has created an opportunity to the companies undertaking the project. This is attributed to the precautions taken by the companies in anticipation of bad weather threat. The project involves paying for delivery before the contract begins. Most companies that want to protect themselves from the deficient supply of the resources therefore buy the resources before the contract begins. The high demand has contributed to higher revenue derived from the project and this consequently results to higher profitability (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). Contingency planning which is mainly associated with managing risks should not only focus on the threats that hamper the success of the project but should also view threats as an opportunity to achieve the objectives of the project. Achievement of objectives means the project has succeeded. Therefore effective contingency planning in addressing risks should recognize the close relationship of threats and opportunities. The actions taken by the project manager in reducing the risks should seek to create an opportunity for excellence (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). Effective contingency planning should not focus on managing threats. Instead the project should seek to identify the different sources of risks and consequently how to manage the risks. Focus on risks draw emphasis on the anticipated failure. Therefore, assessing the various sources of uncertainty and how those uncertainties can be a threat to the project and consequently how to manage the uncertainties involves application of effective contingency planning. North Sea oil and gas exploration is associated with many uncertainties which present various threats to the project. Focus on the opportunities created by the uncertainties management can lead to profitability and success of the project. The project manager should identify the origins of uncertainties instead of managing risk first and this will assist in addressing the root of the problem. Most projects have failed to meet the set objectives due to their failure to address the root of the problems. Superficial problem solving has led undesirable results. Therefore identification of the source of uncertainties should be considered as the beginning of the risk management process in effective contingency planning (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). Uncertainty is present in every project and in all stages of the project life cycle (PLC). The uncertainty is contributed by various reasons which are inevitable. All projects success is based on various assumptions which are the main sources of uncertainties. Differences in the performance of project concerning cost, quality and duration that is required to complete the project bring a lot of uncertainties. In laying pipes in the ocean in a way that will avoid pipe buckles involved a lot of uncertainties. This is attributed to the changing weather conditions. Its hard to forecast the height of the waves in the ocean in a particular season and this present source of uncertainties since its hard to know with certainty the cost of dealing with the threat since its hard to tell the amount of pipes to be knocked down and therefore requiring replacement (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). Proactive risk management in the North Sea oil and gas project should be entrenched in both base plans and contingency plans. It’s argued that if a project focuses very much on being cost effective it’s bound to fail on risk management in some occasions. However, crisis management should only be used as principal management in some occasions. However, crisis management should only be used as principal management mode if the risk management fails completely (Leslie and Michaels, 1997). References Leslie, Keith, J. and Michaels, Max, P. â€Å"The Real Power of Real Options†. The McKinsey Quarterly 3 (1997):134-225. How to cite North Sea Oil and Gas, Essay examples

Parents as Teachers Essay Example For Students

Parents as Teachers Essay Throughout my life, I have been lucky enough to have a very good relationship with my parents. They have supported me, given me necessary criticism, and taught me a great deal about how to live my life. Parents can be very important teachers in our lives; however, they are not always the best teachers. Parents may be too close to their children emotionally. Sometimes they can only see their children through the eyes of a protector. For example, they may limit a childs freedom in the name of safety. A teacher might see a trip to a big city as a valuable new experience. However, it might seem too dangerous to a parent. Another problem is that parents may expect their childrens interests to be similar to their own They cant seem to separate from their children in their mind. If they love science, they may try to force their child to love science too. But what if their childs true love is art, or writing, or car repair? Parents are usually eager to pass on their values to their children. But should children always believe what their parents do? Maybe different generations need different ways of thinking. When children are young, they believe that their parents are always right. But when they get older, they realize there are other views. Sometimes parents, especially older ones, cant keep up with rapid social or technological changes. A student who has friends of all different races and backgrounds at school may find that his parents have narrower views. A student who loves computers may find that her parents dont really understand or value the digital revolution. Sometimes kids have to find their own ways to what they believe in. The most important thing to realize is that we all have many teachers in our lives. Our parents teach us, our teachers teach us, and our peers teach us. Books and newspapers and television also teach us. All of them are valuable. .

Environmental Uncertainty Essay Example

Environmental Uncertainty Paper Environmental Uncertainty in Organization. Define environmental uncertainty and resource dependence. Describe the major ways in which managers can deal with high environmental uncertainty and resource dependence. A good answer would base the analysis of environmental uncertainty on Dunces approach, which characterizes uncertainty in the stable-unstable and simple-complex dimensions. It should identify buffering, boundary spanning, organizational differentiation and integration as responses to growing uncertainties. As to management of resource dependence, the student should refer to inter-organizational linkages (ownership, strategic alliances, interlocking directorates, executive recruitment) and boundary spanning. The modern organizations do not live in the vacuum. They are open systems, which must interact with the environment. It must continuously change and adapt to the environment. Organizational environment is defined as all elements that exist outside the boundary of the organization and have the potential to affect all or part of the organization. The environment of an organization can also be understood by analyzing its domain within external sectors. An organizations domain is the chosen environmental field of action. Domain defines the organizations niche and defines those external sectors with which the organization will interact to accomplish its goals. The environment comprises several sectors or subdivisions of the external environment that contain similar elements. Ten sectors can be analyses for each organization: industry, raw materials, human resources, financial resources, market, technology, economic conditions, government, acculturation an d international. We will write a custom essay sample on Environmental Uncertainty specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Environmental Uncertainty specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Environmental Uncertainty specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The environment influences the organization by two essential ways, first, the need for information about the environment; second, the need for resources room the environment. The environmental condition of complexity and change create a greater need to gather information and to respond based on that information. The organization also is concerned with the scarce material and financial resources provided by the environment and with the needs to ensure the availability of resources. Environmental uncertainty means that decision makers do not have sufficient information about environmental factors and they have a difficult time predicting external changes. Uncertainty increases the risk of failure for organizational responses and sakes it difficult to compute costs and probabilities associated with decision alternatives. Characteristics of the environmental domain that influence uncertainty are the extent to which the external domain is simple or complex and the extent to which events are stable or unstable. Simple and complex dimension The simple-complex dimension concerns environmental complexity, which refers to heterogeneity, or the number and dissimilarity of external elements relevant to an organizations operations. In a complex environment, many diverse external elements interact with and influence the organization. While in a simple environment, as few as three or four similar external elements influence the organization. MBPS is good example for the organization in a complex environment. It must cope with the customers, which is the potential students, competitors, which is the other business school such as LBS, Cornfield, and it must cope with government as well. We can also add alumni, MBA association To this list. In a word, a large number of external elements thus make up the organizations domain, creating a complex environment. Comparing with MBPS, a community middle school is rather living in a simple environment. As in the same community there are no other competitors, it also need not to attract potential students for all the students are assigned to this school. Stable-unstable dimension The stable-unstable dimension refers to whether elements in the environment are dynamic. An environmental domain is stable if it remains the same over a period of months or years. Under unstable conditions, environmental elements shift abruptly. Take competition for example, instability may occur when competitors react with aggressive moves and counterforce regarding advertising and new products. The simple-complex and stable-unstable dimensions are combined into a framework for assessing environmental uncertainty. ( Daft 137) There are four kinds of external environment uncertainty. A simple stable environment has low uncertainty. There are only a few outside elements to concern about and they are very stable which makes it to be easy to predict. Container manufactures are a good example under this environment. The whole market for container is 2. An a complex but stable environment the uncertainty is somewhat greater than the above one. A large number of elements have to be scanned, analyses, and acted upon for the organization to perform well. But as the external elements do not change rapidly or unexpectedly, it is not difficult for the decision maker to predict future change. Hospitals are under this 3. The simple but unstable environment has greater uncertainty than complex but stable environment. Although there are small numbers of external elements and they are similar, they are hard to predict and they react unexpectedly to organizational initiatives. Most e-commerce companies are in this kind of environment. They focus on a specific competitive niche which are not complicated. But the elements in this environment are not stable. The taste of customers is changing all the time; the competitors will introduce new product from time to time, even the government will set some regulation unexpectedly. The greatest uncertainty for an organization occurs in the complex, unstable environment. A large number of elements impinge upon the organization, and they shift frequently or react strongly to organizational initiatives. When several sectors change simultaneously the environment becomes turbulent. We have countless examples under this environment Most of the international company sees are facing Environmental uncertainty represents an important contingency for organization structure and internal behaviors. Organizations facing uncertainty generally have a more horizontal structure that encourages cross- functional communication and collaboration to help the company adapt to changes in the environments. Organizations need to have the right fit between internal structure and the external environment with respect to positions and departments, organizational differentiation and integration, control processes, and future planning and forecasting. 1 Positions and departments As the complexity in the external environment increases, so does the number of positions and departments within the organization, which in turn increases internal complexity. Each sector in the external environmental sector requires an employee or department to deal with it. One of the traditional ways to cope with uncertainty is to establish buffer department, whose main task is to absorb uncertainty from the environment (this can be called buffer role) so that the technical core, which performs the primary production activity of the organization can keep relatively stable and internal efficiency. For example, the human resources department buffers the technical core by handling the uncertainty associated with finding, hiring, and training production employees. Recently a rather new approach is to drop the buffers and expose the technical core to the uncertain environment. The advocates of this approach insist that being well connected to customers and suppliers is more important than internal efficiency. While opening up the organization to the environment makes it more fluid and adaptable, the organization must have good way to keep balance between reaction to the environment and internal efficiency. It requires the organization have more efficient communication and learning system. Another important role of organization to avoid uncertainty is boundary- spanning roles which link and coordinate an organization with key elements in the external environment This is a two directions role, on one hand detecting and bringing into the organization information about changes in the environment, on the other hand to send information into the environment that presents the organization in a favorable light. In this changing world, organizations have to react to environment very fast, otherwise the organization will die. One of the fastest growing areas of boundary spanning is competitive intelligence. Companies large and small are setting up competitive intelligence departments or hiring outside specialists to gather information on competitors. And then the organizations can adapt its own activity according to the information. The boundary task of sending information into the environment to represent the organization is used to influence other peoples perception Of the organization. In the marketing department, advertising and sales people represent the organization to customers. If the department does not deliver the right information about organization to the external environment, the organization will meet some problems. Organizational differentiation and integration Organization differentiation is the differences in cognitive and emotional orientations among managers in different functional departments, and the difference in formal structure among these departments. The external environment and main challenge for different department within organization is different which makes organizational departments become highly specialized to handle the uncertainty in their external sector. Sometimes, those expertise even seem opposite. The conflict between sales department and finance department is not rare in our life. This naturally introduces another important approach to uncertainty: organization integration, which is the quality of collaboration among departments. Integration mainly involves in coordination among department. As the different departments have different goals, different ways to cope with external environment, coordination between different departments become more and more important. The main role of coordinator is to improve the immunization between departments, maintain common goal of the organization, and so on. Facing the highly uncertain external environment, the organization has to have a high level of differentiation and integration, which help organization keep both flexibility and efficiency. If the uncertainty level of external environment is low, the best strategy for organization is to have a relatively low level differentiation and integration which will be more efficient. 3. Control processes Organization will perform better when the levels of differentiation and integration match the level of uncertainty in the environment. Here we come to another related issue: what kind of control processes is suitable for the organization. This depends on The organization with a high level of differentiation and integration should has looser, free-flowing, and adaptive organization structure. 4. Future planning and forecasting Framework, (Handout 4. 6) organization design under different external environment. Now we turn to the second way the environment affects organization: the need for scarce material resource and financial resource from the organization. Organizations need resources from environment to support velveteen. Resource dependence means that organizations depend on the environment but strive to acquire control over resources to minimize their dependence. Two strategies can be adopted to manage resources in the external environment: 1 . Establish favorable linkages with key elements in the environment; There are five main ways to establish favorable linkages with key elements in the environment. Namely, ownership, formal strategic alliances, interlocking directorates, executive recruitment and buffer spanning. Ownership: companies use ownership to establish linkages when they buy a art of or a controlling interest in another company. This gives the company access to technology, products, or other resources it doses t currently have. Formal strategic alliances: when there is a high level of complementary between the business lines, geographical positions, or skills of two companies, the firms often go the route of a strategic alliance rather than ownership through merger or acquisition. Such strategic alliances reduce uncertainty through a legal and binding relationship with another firm. Almost everyday we can hear the news of merge of big companies. Toshiba is en of the most successful companies, which established market strength through merge. It became the top maker of large-scale memory chips through a joint venture with Motorola. Interlocking directorates: interlocking directorate is a formal linkage that occurs when a member of the board of directors of one company sits on the board of directors of another company. The individual is a communications link between companies and can influence policies and decisions. Executive recur tenement: transferring or exchanging executives also offers a method of establishing favorable linkages with external organizations. This provides another channel of influence and communication between organizations serves to reduce financial uncertainty and dependence for an Buffer spanning: as I mentioned above, buffer spanning role involves transfer organization information to external environment. A further effort of buffer spanning is try to establish favorable relationships with external environment so that the organization can occupy more resources. 2. Shape the environmental domain. In addition to adapt to the environment, organization also sometimes try to change the environment.

Free Essays on Richard Buckminster Fuller

As one of America's engineers, inventors, designers, architects, writers, educators, philosophers, and poets, Richard Buckminster Fuller contributed much to America. He is most notable for his use of innovative technology in dealing with global problems against humanity. Fuller was born in Milton, Massachusetts on July 12, 1895. From 1913- 1915, he attended the prestigious Harvard University. In the early '20's, he helped his father-in-law develop the Stockade Building System. The Stockade produced lightweight, insulated, fireproof, and waterproof housing. Later, this company failed. As a result, Fuller searched for new ways to increase the social benefits from using the earth's energy and material resources. The Dymaxion Corporation, founded by Fuller in 1932, helped him to produce a variety of his innovative designs. For instance, his new innovative house was a doughnut shaped structure which hung from a central mast; he also invented a flat map which could be folded into a globe without too many distortions. In the years of 1947-1948, Fuller developed a "synergetic-energetic" system of geometry. It was an architectural consequence of a geodesic dome. A geodesic dome is a network of interconnected tetrahedrons which form a three-way hemispherical grid. The grid evenly distributes stress to all parts of the structure. This invention led to the mathematical study of space-spanning structures. The Ford Motor Company commissioned Fuller, in 1953, to design the Ford Rotunda Dome in Dearborn, Michigan. Also, he designed domes to house military radar. Fuller eventually developed his own philosophy: "I just invent. Then I wait until man comes around to needing what I've invented." In 1959, Fuller established the World Game research team while teaching at Southern Illinois University. This research team searched for ways to protect people and the earth. In 1972, 11 years before his death, Fuller... Free Essays on Richard Buckminster Fuller Free Essays on Richard Buckminster Fuller As one of America's engineers, inventors, designers, architects, writers, educators, philosophers, and poets, Richard Buckminster Fuller contributed much to America. He is most notable for his use of innovative technology in dealing with global problems against humanity. Fuller was born in Milton, Massachusetts on July 12, 1895. From 1913- 1915, he attended the prestigious Harvard University. In the early '20's, he helped his father-in-law develop the Stockade Building System. The Stockade produced lightweight, insulated, fireproof, and waterproof housing. Later, this company failed. As a result, Fuller searched for new ways to increase the social benefits from using the earth's energy and material resources. The Dymaxion Corporation, founded by Fuller in 1932, helped him to produce a variety of his innovative designs. For instance, his new innovative house was a doughnut shaped structure which hung from a central mast; he also invented a flat map which could be folded into a globe without too many distortions. In the years of 1947-1948, Fuller developed a "synergetic-energetic" system of geometry. It was an architectural consequence of a geodesic dome. A geodesic dome is a network of interconnected tetrahedrons which form a three-way hemispherical grid. The grid evenly distributes stress to all parts of the structure. This invention led to the mathematical study of space-spanning structures. The Ford Motor Company commissioned Fuller, in 1953, to design the Ford Rotunda Dome in Dearborn, Michigan. Also, he designed domes to house military radar. Fuller eventually developed his own philosophy: "I just invent. Then I wait until man comes around to needing what I've invented." In 1959, Fuller established the World Game research team while teaching at Southern Illinois University. This research team searched for ways to protect people and the earth. In 1972, 11 years before his death, Fuller...