Corporate strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Corporate strategy - Essay Example Understanding PwC Strategic Resources Tallman (2009) argues that resources and capabilities are the sources of internal strengths and weaknesses for a firm because its profitability, growth, and success largely depend upon unique strategic resources that it possesses. Thus, strategic resources need to be unique to create competitive advantage over competition. Moreover, strategic resources play a much vital role in the success or failure of the organization, especially when the organization is a services company. Organization’s capabilities such as managerial abilities, learning proficiencies, fast delivery and ability to find proper solutions to the issues are some of the factors that play a key role in formulating strategic choices. PwC is purely a services company active in the numerous fields such as audit and assurance that include internal audit, financial statement audit, corporate reporting, IFRS reporting, risk assurance, actuarial insurance, capital markets, corporat e treasury solution; consultation services that include services in finance, operations, technology, risk, people and change; deals that include mergers and acquisition tax, corporate finance, business recovery services, transaction services, valuation and strategy; family business services; and human resource services that include talent management, human capital measurement & benchmarking, social security, and many more. A vast human talent pool that PwC has developed over the years is a major driving force in growth of the organization and making the organization one of the most coveted auditing and consulting firm in the world (PwC, 2013). Tackling Today's Challenges – A Capability Perspective Ever since the concept of globalisation has made rapid strides the firms have been facing an increasing challenge to build competitive advantage in the market place. Under the changed scenarios, the firms have been compelled to make strategic collaborations or partnerships; mergers or acquisition to enhance synergy in their operations and reduce their overall costs. In the most dynamic and ever-changing world, organisations need to show enough resilience and adjust to the new situations quickly. Tallman (2009) emphasises that dynamic capabilities of the firm help resolve emerging issues more effectively. PwC is an auditing cum consulting services firm of a long standing. Overtime, the company has acquired numerous capabilities and strategic concepts that have put the company into the forefront in the global audit and consulting business worldwide. The key strength of PwC is a capacity to tackle today's challenges based on depth and breadth of its capabilities. The company serves to the largest of the multinational corporations to small and medium-sized enterprises. The company's clients are from the different geographical areas working in their own business environment to meet their objectives. It would be interesting to explore how PwC has been successfully a ccomplishing various tasks through the following example. Enterprise Architecture– A True Capability Assessment In 2012, International Data Corporation (IDC), a market research firm, conducted vendor assessment of the enterprise architecture (EA) practices of large consulting firms. The assessment took into consideration qualitative and quantitative aspects of the services provided based on certain assigned criteria. IDC analysts framed standard

The future of Cloud Computing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The future of Cloud Computing - Research Paper Example Emerging information technologies have fully transformed the way businesses, institutions, and governments operate. The technologies have come along with high levels of efficiency and reliability, significantly cutting the operational costs of the users. Vendors of these technologies have taken advantage of this adoption and have engaged in competition with each other, much of which benefits the end user. Cloud computing is one the latest technologies. Cloud computing is better viewed as a model, bringing together a combination of existing technologies that facilitate running of businesses in a different and better way. Examples of such technologies include virtualization and utility-based pricing which have been in the market for quite some time. It combines these technologies to cater for the increased technological and economical requirements of the current field of information technology. Cloud computing is a model that offers a convenient access to a large pool of shared configurable computing resources, which can be shared with the least management effort since they are only released on demand. The resources include servers, networks, services, storage, and applications. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are the largest vendors of cloud computing. The technology has been necessitated by the rapidly increasing need for processing and storage of data. The internet has made it possible to develop such a technology. In cloud computing, resources such as CPU and storage are categorized as general utilities that can be hired out to other users through the internet, in a fashion known as on-demand.in this technology, there are infrastructure providers who are tasked with the management and leasing out of the cloud platforms (Zhang , Cheng & Boutaba, 2010). There are also service providers, who, on the other hand, rent resources from the infrastructure providers to the end users.

The Role Of The 1870 Forster Education Act Education Essay

The Role Of The 1870 Forster Education Act Education Essay This Act provided a network of elementary schools for filling the gaps in the provision from church-run charity schools which were available for the poor, while the rich could afford private tutors. They only wanted all the children to have the basic education, not to change the class basis of education. Forester Education Act made state education compulsory up to the age of 10 and so they were taking childrens out of employment. The childrens families did not like that because they would have less money with childrens not working. The writer H. G. Wells describe this an act to educate the lower class lines, and with specially trained, inferior teachers. However, the Act signified the first general acceptance, which leads in schooling being paid from state taxations and resulting in a link between the state and education that exit today. The 1870 Act, also explain the cause of so many old primary schools existing from 100 years ago, many of them being build in the years following the Act. There were some reasons for introducing this Act such as an economical benefit like educated workforce beneficial for society and also for maintaining global position. Philanthropic reason, because it was wrong to have childrens working from young ages, seen as being antirevolutionary, appearing to bring equality which will also be beneficial to society and to individual. Another reason could be that it seemed that the school provided some kind of social control through education by teaching people how to behave. This Act was introduced also because of political functions being in need for educated population (Taylor P, 1995), (Wilson P, 1989). Taylor P, R. J. (1995). Sociology in focus. Bath: The Bath Press. Wilson P, K. A. (1989). Sociology for GCSE and modern studies. London: HarperCollins. Identify the differences between formal education and the hidden curriculum. Make reference to the functionalist and the Marxist viewpoint. In schools childrens are learning a lot of things that are not part of their timetable of official lessons. The hidden curriculum term is used to refer at what children learn indirect from the manner in which the school is organised and also from their teachers. In most of the schools hidden curriculum include punctuality, obedience to authority, appropriate dress, co-operation, honesty. These values and others are communicated by teachers in assemblies. The formal education, comparing with the hidden curriculum, refers to the skills that a person already has, that are prescribed, fixed and it cant be changed. Marxists argue that it creates subservient workforce who are trained to be compliant and bored but the functionalists argue that this is beneficial for the society, they argue that society needs to be in balance, to work together(Guy, C., 2012). Guy, C., (12.12.2012), Hidden Curriculum-Formal Curriculum, Handout Describe and evaluate the tripartite system of education. There were theories that there were different types of pupils, with different abilities and aptitudes and that they could identify a childs type by intelligence testing. Because of this theory, the 1944 Act had introduced a national test called the 11 plus test for allocating childrens to one of the three types of secondary school. Those three types of secondary school were technical schools, secondary modern schools and grammar school. These three were known as tripartite system of secondary education. Grammar school were aiming for children who were classified as bright and academic good at solving logical problems. These childrens were meant to study science, mathematics and difficult subject in order to prepare for GCE exams. There are records showing that less than 20 % of the school population went to study in grammar schools. The technical schools were meant to be for children with abilities in technical subjects with an attendance of 5 %, but most of the children went to seco ndary modern schools. They received basic education with an opportunity in taking an external examination until CSEs was introduced in 1960. The tripartite system was meant to provide separate but equal types of schooling geared for those children with particular abilities. Some of the ideas of the Act were to have equal status, similar equipment and staffing, but that did not worked in practice. There were children that did not participated in the tripartite system at all. Also the private sector of education was being excluded from the scope of the Act and the independent schools continued to charge fees. There were some criticisms of the tripartite system because they provided low self esteem for children making them to think that they are not cleaver enough or they did not tried enough. Another criticism was that provided social class division in society because even though the fees were abolished, working class children were less likely to go to a grammar school that those from middle class. Because of the criticisms about 11 plus examination, the tripartite system was rejected. (Taylor P, 1995), (Wilson P, 1989). Taylor P, R. J. (1995). Sociology in focus. Bath: The Bath Press. Wilson P, K. A. (1989). Sociology for GCSE and modern studies. London: HarperCollins. Describe and evaluate the comprehensive system. Comprehensive system is based on the principle of one type of secondary school for everyone. Children from all kind of social backgrounds and with all kind of abilities could attend the same type of school, being provided with the same chances and opportunities to obtain training and qualification. The age 11 entrance exam does not exist. Legislation from 1980s provided parents with large choices of schools. The movement from selective to comprehensive school remains a political matter. The political left and the Labour party favourite comprehensive schools because in their opinion this was the only school that provided equality in education. In contrast with this, the right and the Conservative Party were very concern about providing appropriate education for everyone. In 1965 the Local Education Authorities were asked by the Labour government to reorganise secondary education on comprehensive lines. The trend of comprehensive slowed down after 1970 allowing grammar schools to exist at the same time as comprehensives. With the election of Labour government was also introduce a legislation requiring all LEAs to go comprehensive. By the end of May 1979, 80% of secondary school children were attending comprehensive. Comprehensive schools failed to meet their originals aims because some public opinions opposed comprehensive education; a broad social mix in a school has rarely been achieved as schools reflect their catchment area; New Right claimed that academically capable children were held back (Taylor P, 1995). Taylor P, R. J. (1995). Sociology in focus. Bath: The Bath Press. Wilson P, K. A. (1989). Sociology for GCSE and modern studies. London: HarperCollins. What is marketization in education? Explain and evaluate how league tables can play a part in marketization. Marketization in education represent the way the school make them buyable by the parents who want a good school for their childrens, a school that provide high standards of benefits such as school that provide a swimming pool, a meal, a music room or a sport club. The League Tables were introduced to provide information about the schools. Also because of the existence of League Tables, parent were able to make a better choice in which school to enrol their children, meaning that there was a competition created between school named as marketization; parents wanting to sent their children to schools that appeared successful in League Tables (Wilson P, 1989). Taylor P, R. J. (1995). Sociology in focus. Bath: The Bath Press. Wilson P, K. A. (1989). Sociology for GCSE and modern studies. London: HarperCollins. Describe and evaluate the role of vocational education in the UK today. Vocational education means training for a specific job. Because the industry needed skilled work forces, they made these vocational education schools in which pupils were trained in vocational courses because some of the childrens responded better to courses related to work. Some of the recent initiatives are; youth training scheme (YTS), employment training (ET), national vocational qualification (NVQ). This is another attempt to raise standards. Evaluating the vocational education, some argue that dont leave equal opportunities, some vocational courses are not highly valued and may be considerate as second rate. Some are saying that are unfair because are set when childrens are too young; also this may be a way of paying law wages and there may not be a job at the end. From Marxist point of view, the industry is failing. He argues that it is more about training for low wages. However, universities have been open to vocational qualification, but not all (Guy, C., 2012). Guy, C., (05.12.2012) Vocationalism, Handout Describe and evaluate the Assisted Placed Scheme. This scheme sponsors academically gifted children, helping them to pay the fees for their independent schooling. It was initiated in 1980 by The Education Act and operates by the Secretary of State for Education. The parents who had childrens at independent school were given help in paying the fees. They wanted to give a chance to gifted children who had less affluent parent at having a high academically education. By 1985, 17,500were using the scheme and by 1990, 34,000. In 1988 and 1989, the cost of the scheme was  £50 millions. As an overall the cost was small. The scheme weakens the state sector of education but reinforce the private sector. The selection process involves interviews with parents and children, procedure which can affect childrens with parents from working class backgrounds. There is an assumption in the scheme that the schooling offered by the independent schools is better that that from the state system (Taylor P, 1995). Taylor P, R. J. (1995). Sociology in focus. Bath: The Bath Press. Wilson P, K. A. (1989). Sociology for GCSE and modern studies. London: HarperCollins. Analyse and evaluate the role that the Public School System plays in Britain today. The public schools were categorised as agents of moral and spiritual development. They are still following their tradition, they have special attire. They are controlled by democratic authority and administration. In public schools, people can be seen as constituents meaning, they have a legitimate say in how the school should be run. In a way it can be said that private school are run by the parents who pay fees for their childrens (Holborn, 2004). The Public Schools term is commonly used in England and Wells referring to a group of 10 per cent of independent schools. The Public Schools are more prestigious schools such as Eton, Harrow and Rugby because they had always prepared pupils for important public offices. From 2000 independent schools, 200 are public schools. Holborn, H. a. (2004). Sociology-Themes and Perspectives, sisth edition. London: HarperCollins. Taylor P, R. J. (1995). Sociology in focus. Bath: The Bath Press. Wilson P, K. A. (1989). Sociology for GCSE and modern studies. London: HarperCollins.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight :: Arthurian Legends English Literature Essays

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight An anonymous contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the 14th century. It was written in a Northern dialect and uses alliteration similar to the Anglo-Saxon form of poetry. Alliteration is characterized by the repetition of consonants and a sharp rhyme at the end of each section. The story begins as King Arthur's court celebrates the New Year for fifteen days. The lords and ladies of the court are having a great time dancing and feasting. The story describes the lavishly served feast with all the trimmings. Each guest is free to partake in the royal meal. However, King Arthur will not eat on such a high holiday until someone tells a fascinating or adventurous tale. LINK TO A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THIS SEGMENT Suddenly, a giant man on a horse rides into the hall. Both the imposing man and his horse are entirely green. He is, of course, the Green Knight. Even his clothing is described in detail as entirely green. In one hand he holds a large ax and in the other he holds a holly bob. The Green Knight asks to see the leader of the crowd. King Arthur stands up and speaks to the Green Knight, obviously excited by the thought of the tales that this stranger will tell. The Knight offers a challenge to anyone brave enough to accept it. The Green Knight will allow his opponent to strike his neck with the large ax that he holds. The opponent must travel to the Green Knight's castle in one year to accept a similar blow in return. When none of the knights volunteer, Arthur rises to accept the Green Knight's challenge. Sir Gawain, the youngest of King Arthur's knights, asks to be allowed to stand in for his king. The Green Knight doesn't move or flinch as he offers his bare neck to Gawain. Gawain grabs the Green Knight's ax firmly and chops off his head. The head falls to the ground and rolls past the feet of many of the people in the court. To the shock of everyone, the Green Knight gets up, grabs the head by the hair, and mounts his horse.

Learning Strategies Essay

In the poem â€Å"Students† by Tom Wayman, it reviews four theories with context on different learning methods. The first theory is the Vaccination Theory of Education†, detailing how once you have learned a subject, you never have to review or touch on the topic again for it is lodged in ones brain for all eternity. However, such a learning technique seems foolish because as time goes on, materials tend to fade in ones brain unless occasionally reviewed. With this in mind, material previously learned would venture from one’s memory and would leave them lacking of knowledge on the subject. For the best learning, many people including myself would prefer the knowledge once learned to be forever held by the beholder, to use in future situations. The next theory is â€Å"The Dipstick Theory of Education. † This theory relates learning to that of a car engine; only needing oil to a certain line, therefore only needing to learn to a certain degree. This again seems unrealistic to the many dreamers out there, who are constantly trying to extend the limits, the ones who do not want to be blocked by barricades. Countless material is available for the public’s access, which means the learning a person can achieve is limitless. This theory seems adequate for those individuals who only want to get by in life. However, the majority of the population who want to succeed and be proud of their success are going to want to stray away from this theory, for it will only prevent you from following the path you truly want to go down. The â€Å"Adopt the Kung Fu Theory of Education†, is the theory that follows next in the poem. It reviews the idea that one can use knowledge as a self defense mechanism. This theory makes complete sense to me. How else would a person be able to back up their statements, ideas and opinions better, than with knowledge? Not only does the knowledge help in that area, it can help a person grasp a better understanding of the world around them, as well as it can improve their common sense. Use knowledge as a supporter, to smooth the bumps in the road before you, so you can travel on a trouble free path. The last theory is â€Å"The Easy Listening Theory of Learning. † It proposes that if a person sits back and observes their environment, they can achieve optimal learning. This type of learning seems only achievable for those who learn best through visual or auditory aids; in settings where they learn most efficiently by viewing or hearing material. However, for those individuals who learn best through hands on tasks, â€Å"The Easy Listening Theory of Learning†, would not be in their favor. It would put them at a disadvantage, and make them fall behind the rest. This theory does not accommodate everyone with learning in the same fashion; therefore, it cannot be used as a universal learning technique for optimal learning in everyone. My own theory however, differs greatly from any of the learning theories displayed in the poem â€Å"Students. † My theory to insure my learning exceeds my own goals is I put in a maximum effort. The goals I set myself are extremely high and almost seem unrealistic. Nonetheless, this is what give me the motivation and strive I need to put in a great deal of effort. Postponing undesirable activities is what I seem to be a natural at, cramming to get them completed when time is limited. It is in that rushed state that I feel my mind works most efficiently. However, we all know this is a poor work method and that is why I set such high goals to make it seem unrealistic. By doing that, I insure I start the activity at a sooner time because it feels as if I have more to complete than actually necessary. That way, I can keep my eye on the target at all times because it makes me feel as if I have much work to do to achieve it still. In reference to this course, the date I began was much later than any applicants should have started. By doing that, it has given me very limited time to get this course completed. It is now that I can truly test out my theory for all that it is worth, because it is now that I feel the completed course expectations are very unrealistic based on the vast material I have to cover by a certain date. However, I plan to be vigilant to get through this course so I can walk the graduation stage at the end of the year. When that dream of mine comes true based on my goals of completing this course, it is then that my theory has once again proved me right in its successfulness.

Evaluate factors that influenced the effectiveness of each interaction Essay

In this piece of coursework I will be analysing and evaluating the factors that influence the effectiveness of each interaction in relation to the one to one set at a GP’s for a patient that has really bad back pains and is complaining about how sharp the pain is. I based the one to one interaction on a patient with back problems and they’ve come to the GP’s for something to be given to them. I thought of this because it’s something I went through and I thought it would be nice to let people know what process I went through and how hard it was. The first factor, I thought that influenced the one to one interaction was the patient and doctor taking turns while talking and not interrupting. Turn taking is a major factor that involves our everyday lifestyle and it’s helpful because you know you will get a turn at having your own say. Turn taking helps out a lot especially if you are with younger children or at a GP. For example, the patient came to her doctor and she told her doctor what was wrong with her and how much she’s in pain, the doctor listened to her while she was talking and didn’t ask questions until she finished talking then, the doctor answered all her questions and asked her own questions trying to figure out what was wrong about that patient and what actions will need to be taken for the patient to feel better. Towards the end the doctor referred the patient to her local hospital for an x-ray to see what’s going on. What’s good about turn taking is that everyone listens to each other and you don’t get interrupted also you know you’ll have enough time to talk while others have a chance to think about questions to ask you. The second factor I realised that influenced the one to one interaction was listening. Listening is letting people talk and you concentrating on just what they are saying, listening is a very important communication skill because if you don’t listen you may misunderstand something which may leads you to thinking differently and feeling insecure. Read more: Describe factors which may influence children’s development essay Listening was one factor that influenced the one to one interaction because if one of us didn’t listen while the other person was talking we may have not heard what they were saying or concentrated enough to understand what they were saying which can lead to giving wrong answers which could be a problem to the persons health that’s why when others are talking you always have to listen. For example, in the one to one interaction Emily was my partner and she helped me concentrate listening to  her because little things distract me easily so I had to make sure I listened to her also, we had our script which was used as a prop if we missed out something we carried on listening to each other while looking at what was said to not give the wrong answer. We listened to each other because we knew how important listening is and we were successful at getting through the one to one interaction without not knowing what was going on because we listened to each other. The third factor that also had an influence on the one to one interaction was respect towards each other. Respecting each other shows you give them pride and you are happy about what they are saying or doing also, respect comes from learning to care about people from older ages because we have to respect people to get along with life if we don’t respect then there could be consequences. Respect is very important because we all have to respect everyone no matter what their race, gender, age or features are we have to because we live in a society that moves with respect. For example, if we didn’t respect the army that looks after the country for losing their lives to make the world a much happier place and for us to be safe then that will be a major consequence because what’s the point of those people dying for us if we can’t have a little respect for them. The reason why I thought respect had a influence in the one to one interaction was because if we didnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t respect each other we wouldn’t have been able to understand each other and we wouldn’t have been able to do the doctor and patient script because a doctor always has to respect their patients no matter what happens they have to so does the patient too. An example of this would be, when the patient walked into the room I felt the respect from the patient by the way they answered me and facial expressions. This had a big impact on the interaction because it made it less awkward to talk with the patient and not only was the patient comfortable with asking questions to do with her illness but as a doctor being able to have enough respect from a patient to ask them what areas of the back hurts and being able to have a look at the patients back to check what’s wrong. The last factor that had an influence on the interaction was how professional I was. Being professional can be difficult because if you’ve always been in an environment that’s unprofessional and you don’t know where to use what language that can be an issue. So being professional was key in this interaction because I was a person that had a reputation,  that had power to help people and look after them. If I didn’t act professional the patient could have not taken me serious but I did. The reason why being professional was an influence in the interaction because I realised the more professional you are no matter where you are you will always be looked up to and that’s why I thought it was an influence because it made the patient feel secure with me, it made the patient understand no matter what happens I will always be supporting the patient which would make both of us happy. For example, the minute the patient knocked on the door I dropped everything I was doing and stood up and shock the hand then I made the patient feel welcomed and asked how they were then they started explaining what the problem was and the actions I was doing showed I was professional.