Business
1	The name of the business: Jupiter Graphic Design.
2	Structure (Simple, Bureaucracy, etc.)
	The structure will be simple yet effective.
3	Number of Employees
	The number of employees will be 14.
4	Work Specialization
	The activities will be subdivided into 4 separate areas of responsibility. I will have a group led by a Chief Operating Officer; a group led by a Chief Marketing Officer, a group led by an Information Officer and a group led by a Chief Talent Officer.
5	Departmentalization
	The jobs will be grouped together by marketing activities; technology operations; development activities and growth and market penetration. I will also have a Human Resources Manager who will be responsible for paperwork related to hiring, promoting, etc. This person will also serve as the “go to” person for employees who may have an issue that they would like to have resolved.
6	Chain of Command
	I will have a staff of web and graphic designers who will report directly to the Chief Talent Officer and the Chief Marketing Officer. The Chief Talent Officer and the Chief Information Officer will report directly to the Chief Operating Officer. The Chief Operating Officer will report directly to the President.
7	Span of Control
	Because we are small business owned and operated, both the Chief Talent and Marketing Officers will have only 4 employees each that they will be responsible for effectively and efficiently directing. The Chief Information Officer will not have any employees to direct and all employees will be directed under the Chief Operating Officer.
8	Centralization and Decentralization
	To avoid any confusion that could take place if there were more than one individual who was able to make decisions, I am only going to grant the Chief Operating Officer the authority to make decisions. The other officers can bring ideas and suggestions to the table but the ultimate decision will lye in the hands of the Operating Officer.
9	Formalization
	We will have a formal set of policies to include rules and regulations that pertain to how the business will run and will be used as guidance by each employee and manager. These will be considered the laws of the land and each employee will have an understanding of these rules and must abide by them or they may be terminated.
10	Summary
	I believe that my employees will respond very positively to my organizational structure and the overall employee behavior will be good. They will know in the beginning what is expected of each of them and they will be provided with the rules and regulations. I think they will be happy that there is a person who will be a part of the team that is there to assist them with personnel issues or any concerns that they may have.

Is the organizational structure appropriate for the business selected?

Yes. Fourteen employees do not make the business very complicated thus, a simple structure is enough and appropriate.

2. Do other structural elements, such as work specialization and span of control, seem appropriate for the business selected? Why or why not?

I have an understanding that the business is small and having a very simple organizational structure. However, the other structural elements such as work specialization and span of control seem to contradict the idea of “simple structure”. As small as the business, I do not find it very advisable to complicate the structure with all the necessary posh titles such as Chief Talent Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Operating Officer or Human resource Manager. All these aristocratic titlings make the business sound bureaucratic. Moreover, the number of employees should be taken into consideration. There are only 14 of them. For now there are already four BIG leaders. Big leaders or officers mean they have sub-leaders and lots of subordinates. How can they divide the remaining ten employees under the supervision of four persons? There respective titles does not make it proper to lead only two (2) or three (3) individuals.

3. Does your classmate’s business use a mechanistic or organic model?

The business model is absolutely mechanistic although it does not have a bureaucratic structure. I can see the rigidly organized bureaucracy in the presence of all the “officers” mentioned which is one of the qualifying factor of a mechanistic organization model.

4. Would you like to work at your classmate’s company? Why or why not?

No, I do not like to work on this. I prefer to work on a simple organizational structure with simple structural elements. As I have mentioned, the rest of the components of the organization is a little complicated to understand.

Communicating at Work emphasized, as the title says, the importance of communication in the work place. The art of communicating is often lost in the workplace as everyone is very busy and occupied with their respective jobs. Moreover, the organizational ladder in an entity or an organization is a barrier that separates everyone. The lower level employees are too timid to approach someone that is holding a higher position. These are the usual observations in the workplace. The book has emphasized that understanding the meaning of the words is very important because these words or phrases or sentences may mean something else. Ambiguous sentences can cause a lot of interpretation errors. No one knows what these ambiguous sentences really imply.

If one of the employees or a supervisor tells "Let's get together sometime" how one can understand it or derive meaning from this sentence? It can mean a thousand things. For one, according to Dr. Alessandra, it may “mean your colleague wants to get together, maybe this afternoon for lunch, or is this just a superficial phrase for politesse?”

The author have emphasized that there is something heavy at stake. The lack of communication in the workplace may mean “botched plans, political in-fighting, lost productivity, lost profits, and, ultimately, lost jobs. This ambiguity is the foundation of errors, misunderstandings, and strained relationships.” Interpersonal skills that are effective are very important, both at home within families and at work within co-workers. These skills can either be through verbal or non-verbal, personal, written or by phone communications. Proper communication helps ease out tension between and among persons as well as improves their relationships to each other making them more efficient and effective in the workplace.

The book, overall is a great guide for everyone in terms of business communication. It tries to help readers in enhancing their communication skills and eventually making them a better communicator in the workplace.. Since the book have real-life illustrations, readers can easily relate to it. Furthermore, the book offers instructions in memo-writing, presentation-making and productive meeting guides. Finally, the book tackles some necessary telephone skills and etiquette, body language interpretations and on personal communications.

Reference
Alessandra, A. (2008) The Art of Communicating at Work. Accessed 16 May 2008 from

The title itself caused prejudice upon my mind on the theme of the story. I have been expecting, from the very beginning, the idea that indeed “a good man is hard to find” theme would be all throughout the story. Indeed my insights were correct. The reasons why my perceptions have stayed intact and have not been swayed can be attributed to the way the story itself have progressed. In fact, at the start, I never had the faintest idea how and why Flannery O’Connor gave such title to her story. With the presence of the “wicked grandmother” in the story as I may say, I have drawn conclusions on how humanity or a person can really be bad.

In the story, I have observed the absence of heavenly guidance on the characters, especially to the old woman, the grandmother. In her alone, I have imagined the reality of an evil act and evil’s existence. Moreover, I have learned that in many occasions, human beings cannot really make better decisions and how their thinking can be influenced by the things they believe and by their ambitions: materialism. I have seen this specific situation when the old woman believed that nicely dressed men are better and good-hearted than those that are haggard looking and dirty ones.

Moreover, I can see the bulging ego of the characters and how material world have influenced the lives of humanity in general. I see egocentricities and heavy pride in the old woman as well in the dominant hard character of the son. In the presence of the Misfit, I have perceived lack of respect and a strong absence of beliefs to the supreme being.

Again, a good man is in fact difficult to find. Man is generally evil, proud, materialistic and lost. Only with God’s grace and guidance they can be led in a correct pathway of life. In the story, these ideas were emphasized making me stay with my thoughts regarding the story. As the grandmother and the Misfit found something uncommon, it was actually not as uncommon as they have thought. It was sin and suffering in life. Certainly the grandmother “would have been a good woman… if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.”

Reference
Castle A. (2007). “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. The Literary Encyclopedia, 14 October 2007. Accessed 16 May 2008 from .

Various relationships get cold at times for no reason other than misunderstanding. In this regard, communication plays a very important role in every creature’s existence, especially for human beings. This paper focuses on the human being’s interpersonal communication system and how the current modern world with the availability of all the “quick” options to communicate affects their relationships. Furthermore, this paper gives emphasis on intimate and close family relationships in relation to their use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and electronic communication.

In the world of today, where technology reigns, and the communication industry has developed several kinds of long-distance communication devices aside from the traditional land lines (telephones). To mention a few, and the most common and popular, there are the mobile phones and the Internet. With mobile phones, someone can call and send notes or written communication or images and videos through the mobile phone network’s short messaging service (sms, commonly known as “text messaging”) to anyone around the world who has a mobile phone device (turned on and with network signal), telephone or Internet connection. With the Internet on the other hand, to communicate, electronic mail has been so popular, not to mention chatting with messenger services utilizing web cameras and voice chats simulating a face-to-face (FtF) communication.

The above-mentioned scenarios apply to both individual level and/or organizational level, although this paper focuses on the former. This paper however, focuses on the individuals’ level. Technological advances have made communication very easy and convenient although it is apparent that nothing beats the “real” mode of communication which is the face-to-face.
Man is the animal that makes the greatest use of signs and symbols. By the words and gestures he uses in communication, man can be identified as a member or nonmember of this or that culture, this or that group. His effectiveness as a student, a teacher, a follower, a leader depends to a great extent on how he uses or does not use signs and symbols. We understand his behavior, its goals and motivations, largely by what he manages to communicate to us. (Hartley and Hartley 15)

The very simple definition of communication is that it is a "transfer of information, such as thoughts and messages" ("Communication") This definition though is not so much of an interactive interpersonal communication involving relationships between (or among) creatures, or at the minimum at least two souls, and most importantly, between two persons. “Why do you speak with me or talk with me? Why do we discuss?” It is because we all need to be heard and we also learn from listening to or hearing others. We need at least one person to be with us. This is why humans are created in pairs such as the biblical reference for Adam and Eve. Thus, humans are always in the lookout for their potential better half, because communication, at least between two human beings, is very important. This is man’s exit from solitude: to have someone to share his or her thoughts with. Why? For the simple reason that communication is a need for humans who are social beings and because communication is the means by which one person influences another, and is in turn influenced by him, it is the actual carrier of social process, it makes interaction possible and through it men become and maintain themselves as social beings. (Hartley and Hartley 16)

Warning and Friendly Reminder: Plagiarism is a crime. This essay is here to give you an idea or guide you, not to be copied by you. You can look at the references and Works cited provided by this free academic essay and from that you can create your own. Be a smart student,be honest: look for free academic essays anywhere in the web or the Internet but don’t forget to make your own. There are so many free essays online as guides but please do your own. You can also utilize free plagiarism checkers available online.
Why is understanding communication important when identifying the disadvantages of mobile gadgets in interpersonal relationships? It is because it is the “communication” factor that is being “sold” with those gadgets. One has to communicate, thus one must have a mobile phone or Internet connection in his or her personal computer, PDA, Blackberry or laptop and must connect with through the network. In fact, selling communication services is a promising breakthrough in international telecommunications policy. (Grewlich 238)

When we communicate, we relay something, as a sender, and at the same time, we receive and process, as a receiver, the information that someone else, has communicated to us. It is a two-way process with at least a sender and receiver and vice-versa setup. Communication is a process whereby people in groups, using the tools provided by their culture, create collective representations of reality." (Anderson, 5) Thus, it is heavily influenced by factors.
Communication is a process whereby information is bundled and is directed and conveyed or passed on by a sender to a receiver via some medium or a channel. After the receiver has accessed the information, he or she must decode or interpret it and gives the sender a feedback. This is the whole cycle and the receiver becomes the sender this time and the process goes on.
All types of communication must have the basic components: the sender, the message itself, the medium or the channel, and an intended receiver of the message. Feedback happens when the receiver returns to the sender with regards the original message. This paper is concerned about the importance of the medium or channel.

For the purpose of this paper, the main concern is the interpersonal communication. “Interpersonal communication is a transactional process in which humans negotiate the nature of their relationships with others. Through the back-and-forth exchange of interactive and interdependent behavioral messages, individuals create mental representations of themselves, others, and the relationship between them. Thus, interpersonal relationships reside in the minds of relational partners but are transacted through observable exchanges of behaviors. (Biocca & Levy 278)

Traditional communication is done face to face. Even with this very basic communication problems can already happen between the sender and receiver of the message. According to Westcott (), in considering human communication, we blithely state that this phenomenon occurs because of factors influencing the receiver's ability or inclination to hear what we have said. We may attribute the receiver's apparent inattention or misinterpretation of our perfectly clear communication to influences such as background experiences, cultural beliefs, language barriers, educational obstacles, fear (real and imagined), and personal, physical, or mental capacity, among others. When communication can have challenges even at its basic level, how much more if it is via an electronic device?

Communicating with each other can be done verbal, through a body language or through art. These various media can be either traditional (FtF) or electronic. Electronic communication, such as the mobile phone and the Internet compose the non-traditional media. Internet can relay almost all kinds of this information through simulation and the same can be done with the mobile phones although to a lesser extent. One can easily relay a song via the Internet or the mobile phone, the only difference is that, they became “electronic” and not any longer in person.
Without a doubt, electronic communication methods, or technologically-induced communications are very good and use, thus they sell. The question, however, is, are they promoting the positive growth in relationship of individuals or they are only short-term, yet damaging in the long-term communication solutions? These alternatives can be commonly referred to as “Telecommunications” or “highly technological communications” in general and for purposes of this paper. The following lays-out information about Telecommunications:
It is very interesting to learn that telecommunications "not start with Alexander Graham Bell" (Regli 40) but even earlier than his time and that the first device was not the telephone but the telegraph. And the earliest use of the telephone is very far from what the current generation could imagine. According to Regli (p. 41)

…only one person could communicate with no more than one other person, or one wire could connect to many people, in which case only one person could "communicate" and everyone else would have to wait to communicate with everyone else. For that reason, the initial applications of the telephone were for what would be called today, "broadcasting" (Pool, 1977). Much like cable television today (though certainly not like the cable television of the future), a central source that sounds through the wired network to all the receivers who subscribed to the service.

From the above beginnings, the mobile world has evolved although thirty years ago it was not as revolutionary as in the last ten to twenty years. “The mobile phone revolution has transformed our lives." ("What Do You Think" vii) In the 20th century, new information technology has the potential to influence the lives of ordinary citizens and many of the countries in Europe, North America, and Asia, the majority of individuals and households are using personal computers, the Internet, and mobile telephones. (Kraut, Brynin, and Kiesler 3)

Talking about communication, one can easily grasp the importance of high technology (hi-tech) communication media. Looking at its original intention, in terms of communication, they offer “quick and fast long-distance” contact. This is a very good alternative. As an alternative, the Internet and mobile devices are good but as a main mode of communication, this papers stands that it is not a very good for relationships. Why is that? Traditional electronic communication such as email, instant messaging, conference calls, and videoconferencing were not enough to convey the non-verbal expressions that are essential in creative collaboration. (Awazu, Baloh, Desouza, Wecht, Kim & Jha par. 31)

Obviously, high-tech communication has taken over the normal face-to-face importance. It does not however replace the real face-to-face communication. How popular is it? According to Pauley & Emmers-Sommer (par. 3), computer-mediated communication (CMC) is redefining how people engage in relationships of all types. Considering the pervasiveness of email, Internet chat programs, electronic bulletin boards, and Internet video- and teleconferencing, it is apparent that CMC is common. “Approximately 63% of American adults with Internet access, 48% of them send electronic mail in a typical day." (Kraut, Brynin, and Kiesler, 2006, p.4) The most significant change during the past few years has been that the youngest households have begun to prefer mobile phones over landline phones and the change has been both rapid and effective. Younger people are considered to be a significant factor in the mobile phone business, because they have quickly learned how to use mobiles as fully as possible. As a matter of fact, the position of younger people could be even stronger if Internet connections did not require conventional phone techniques. If people could use their PCs without wired lines, they would not need traditional phones at all." (Puro 20-21)

In a different study, they are able to show that students who are assigned to meet in an Internet chat room grow to like each other more than those who first meet face-to-face. Whether the very short-term interactions that participants have in the laboratory experiment can be generalized to the longer-term development of social relation- ships, however, is an open question. (Kraut, Brynin, and Kiesler 16) In this experiment, participants are randomly assigned to communication either over the computer or through another modality and they have the advantage of unraveling the causal direction in the link between communication modality and strength of social relationships. The experiment’s main conclusion is that there are few unqualified effects of using the Internet. Although they believe Internet communication can have transformational effects, these depend on individual differences in personality and motivations and on the nature of the online groups to which they become attached. (Kraut, Brynin, and Kiesler 16)

Although it was easy to form a relationship, the Internet does not always support everything that is needed in the long run. Thus, it causes failure. In fact, it was noted that, in the same Journal article authored by to Pauley & Emmers-Sommer (par. 22), after establishing that online relationships are common, that the unique features of online-relationship development strongly imply that the motivation to maintain an online relationship and the rationale for developing an online relationship are different when compared to FtF relationships. The incorporation of new technology in an online setting may actually hinder the development of these unique relationships more than it helps. (Pauley & Emmers-Sommer, 2007) Aside from the fact that CMC has a lot of shortcomings compared to FtF, which will be eventually laid out in this paper, CMC also offers more options for breaking a relationship such as the following:

…her husband's "cheating" on her with another woman. While she certainly sees his actions (communication via email, pager, and cell phone) as a betrayal, he believes that since nothing "physical" happened, there was no betrayal. (Hertlein, and Webster par. 38)

Whether or not one accepts that notion, it is nonetheless clear that networking is having an impact on a wide-ranging set of practices. And it is very popular impact. These include changes in interpersonal communication, sociality, and community (Saco 9 cited Rheingold 1993 cited Jones 1995); in courtship and romantic relationships (Saco, 9 cited Ullman 1996) and even in divorce (Saco 9 cited Quittner 1997). Another author agrees with this observation. "Computer-mediated communication alone could be expected to have a dramatic impact." (Warschauer 7)
In terms of mobile phones, which is also very obvious that almost everyone utilizes its services, aside from its functionality, another factor that makes mobile phones popular among users from the time it was evolving is its being “personal” in nature. According to Harkin, the highly personal relationship that has developed between mobile phone users and their devices is most visible among teenagers. That mobile phones are usually under personal ownership (in contrast to land-line phones, which are considered a family or public utility) appeals to the young who are often anxious to escape their parents' supervision, and reinforces the links between the device and personal identity.

Maintaining the same stand that the use of high-tech communication media such as the mobile phones and the Internet are not good in the long-run, the following lays out six samples of the obvious disadvantages of mainly using these media with a romantic partner or with family member or members:

a. lack of “real” eye-contact: The importance of eye-contact in relationships is very important. Based on the notion that eye-contact denotes honesty and sincerity, it is not possible either with the mobile phone or even with the most sophisticated web cameras. “Honesty and attractiveness judgments can be made depending on a variety of visual cues such as eye contact, head movements, smiling, blinking, self touching, and hand gestures, or audio cues such as speech rate, tone-of voice, and speech pauses” (Zuckerman, DePaulo; Atoum & Al-Simadi, 2000).
b. absence of intimacy and closeness: Intimacy in CMC exchanges is potentially limited by textuality and asynchronicity, when nothing but texts themselves exist to establish contact between people as the structure of CMC alters the possibilities for intimacy; this structure limits intimacy most particularly if we are unaware of its workings, and attribute its limitations to ourselves or our communicative partners. (Rooksby 114)
c. both parties cannot literally “feel” each other: Since the orientation is long distance, physical contact is absent.
d. cost considerations: The “psychological closeness does not reflect intrinsic properties of the communication media but instead reflects the marketing and regulatory decisions in the United States that lower the cost of Internet communications.” (Kraut, Brynin, and Kiesler 16) The Internet cost is no question all right but how about mobile phones? "This is all the more the case since, in surveys, of those who have dropped their service for mobile phones excessive bills caused by inattentive consumption" (Katz and Aakhus 5)
e. impersonal: "Initial research into interaction using computer networks seemed to confirm that this cues-filtered-out quality led to an impersonal perception of CMC. Much of this work was laid on the foundation established by social presence theory (Short, Williams," (Wood, and Smith 80) "Social presence is the degree to which we as individuals perceive another as a real person and any interaction between the two of us as a relationship." (Wood, and Smith 80)
f. many limitations: Looking at the above enumerated limitations, CMC is not a smart tool in maintaining relationships with an intimate partner or with a family member.

Looking at the above list and brief description or explanation, the first four may actually belong to one big disadvantage that is being “impersonal” and “full of limits” as they all sum up to these two weak areas of CMC. Moreover, CMC is impersonal in a sense that it “lost its real meaning and real touch”. Most mothers would prefer receiving a bunch of flowers and a simple “happy mother’s day” card than receiving the same bunch of flower and an online electronic card or an sms/text message or email. Limitations mean that when there is a need to, people may hug each other. This function is not offered electronically however. Indeed there are thousands of smiley’s and e-hugs but for sure they do not feel the same as real smiles and real hugs.

It is even a very good probability that intimate relationships can be broken caused by reliance in hi-tech communication methods. With this reliance, both parties may think that it is all right to continue using such devices but at the first chance of having someone to “touch” or have contact with “in reality” causes either of them to betray the one that is not present.

Not all these factors mentioned are attainable via the Internet or with the mobile phone of two persons who are developing or are in an intimate relationship. In fact, in a long-distance communication, there is always the factor that the parties, the sender and receiver, are actually “looking at the machine” and although it may seem that they look into each other’s eyes, it actually does not give the “real” purpose and effect of the act itself.

Nothing beats the real thing. Thus, it is nothing but normal to promote “real” communication with family-members, friends and loved ones over the use of electronic devices in conveying a feeling, a message or information to them. In fact, even "theorists and researchers concerned with CMC generally view FTF as the ideal form of interpersonal communication." (Biocca & Levy 286). Aside from these affirmations, human beings are aware that FtF communication has a different meaning and different effects for both parties. There is a sense of “real and personal touch” to it than just bubbling into a machine.

Furthermore, if hi-tech communication methods are encouraged, humans may end up alienated. Even at the current rate, a lot of children are already alienated and aloof to their parents and siblings caused too much attachment and/or addictions to technological gadgets and programs. Young (1997) found that 83% of addicts had utilized such technology for less than one year, concluding that new comers were more vulnerable to developing PIU. In a recent survey conducted by IntelliQuest, an Austin-based research firm, Snider (1997) reported that an estimated 11.7 million plan to venture on-line within the next year.

Although this issue is not directly concerned with this paper, it is important to note that it is one aspect of the virtual world as well and if the parents are present to always have the FtF communication with these children, similar problems would be avoided.

Continuous usage and encouragement of media devices in interpersonal relationships would eventually make people out of touch and out of reach aside from becoming cold to each other with lack of real interaction. When there is no more FtF interaction, community cannot be formed. As a result, the loss of sense of community which is often seen in the context of the urban milieu where advanced communication technologies such as interactive cable, optical fiber, direct broadcast satellites, computers and the like would impact with high degree of future shock.

CMC has also fueled long distance relationships (LDR). Online dating is so rampant these days. Research suggests that as many as 1 million people annually report being in a long-distance romantic relationship (Aylor 128 cited Maines, 1994). It is further noted that changes in technology and the workforce have led to record numbers of commuter marriages and other types of distance relationship. In 1998 a report from the Employee Relocation Council shows that approximately 10% of all job relocations in the United States resulted in LDRs, and 52% of employers in 1998 expected to see the number of job transfers increase. (Aylor 128). Even with the support of CMC not all LDR succeed, almost half of them get hurt in the end. In one of the cases Armour (p. 133) presented, of the 170 subjects in the study only 55% were currently in an LDR. The remaining 45% reported having terminated an LDR within the past 6 months

The use of electronic devices in interpersonal relationships as a substitute communication mode is tolerable. However, if people tend to use these devices as long-term or permanent replacement to the traditional FtF communication, this would be unhealthy and at times can cause these relationships to break. Too much usage of electronic devices in communicating with family-members, friends and loved ones are not encouraged to prevent human beings from becoming detached from the real world. Finally, this paper concludes that communicating with electronic devices in close interpersonal relationships on a long-term basis has qualitative negative effects and is considered as one of the many pitfalls of the communication technology.




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To: Mr. Supervisor

From: Associate Director &The Department Hiring Personnel

Date: July 31, 2010

Re: Biases and Judgment in the Hiring Process

Recently, a new case manager for the radiology department in the hospital was hired. In order to maintain the good name of the hospital, our honored organization, and for it to stand for its very highly valued services and unequalled reputation, it is only inherent that we evaluate our practices. In this regard, yours truly is making a self-evaluation process as to the dignity and reasonability on the decision to hire Mr. Smith as a case manager over the rest of the eight final candidates.
Deciding as to which one to choose among the many outstanding candidates was a difficult ordeal. Aside from this obvious task on selecting which, among the original seventeen (17) applicants, and narrowing them into eight (8) final candidates, is the best and the most suitable case-manager-to-be, there are other issues at hand that need to be addressed given my position. The two most dominant of these issues that yours truly needed to strongly consider are biases and egocentrism. Although Barton (2001) noted that "everyone has biases”, it is not an excuse not to minimize it or be aware of it and prevent it from happening. On the other hand, egocentrism happens when one “can only view the world from their perspective and finds it difficult to understand any other". (Oakley 18) Biases and egocentrism are so inherent that they need to be warded off every time a major decision, such as hiring a key organization manager, is to be made.

Combating one’s bias is not simple but as long as there is patience, it can at least be reduced to its minimum level. In the case of yours truly, the following major measures are applied in order to succeed in eliminating or at least minimizing bias:

a. Identifying the issue at hand and getting informed as much as possible,

b. Not adhering to stereotyping and discrimination (age, gender, sexual orientation, physical appearance, ethnic origin, etcetera; and

c. Applying the “scientific method”

Once a person has enough knowledge about something, he or she is not easy to be deceived, especially by his or her own biases. Stereotyping and discrimination is so strong in this society, thus, yours truly always make a checklist in avoiding all these types of biases or causes of biases. The “Scientific Method” always works in reducing or eliminating bias. This means that yours truly always see to it to ccollect useful data by means of observing and experimenting, then formulate and test hypothesis. Even though this may sound so technical but it can be applied on almost every situation.

As for egocentrism, almost the same procedures are applied in order to eliminate it during a decision-making process. Moreover, one simple rule applies here as well: the Golden Rule while stepping into someone’s shoes. For situations where yours truly believe that egocentrism may takeover, the idea comes to mind carrying the solution. This solution is in the form of inner examining voice asking, “If I am in his or her situation, how would I like to be treated?” Thus, it is a mixed golden rule and empathy. The answer to the question always reduces/eliminates egocentricity.

Decisions by expedience are considered as foundations of this organization. Decisions based on reflections give this organization its emotion and meaning. Thus, yours truly also utilize both, around 80% of decisions are expedience-based and the rest are based upon reflection. It is always important though, during the entire decision-making process to "ensure that subjective decisions about omitting some subjects from the analysis do not cause bias" (Peat, 2001, p. 200)

Decision-making is difficult and determination is important in succeeding. There are also factors deterring a person to perfect his/her decision-making abilities but once these factors are identified and admitted by the decision-maker, there are various ways to combat them.

References

Barton, G. (2001, December). Patriotism and the News. The Quill, 89, 18+.

Oakley, L. (2004). Cognitive Development. London: Routledge.

Peat, J. K. (Ed.). (2001). Health Science Research: A Handbook of Quantitative Methods. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin.

Alexander: A Review

Alexander, the film released in 2004 under Warner Brothers, is everything but a misleading portrayal of history. Although the film is so short to portray the real life of the legendary conqueror and king, it is not an excuse to misrepresent historical facts and show it to the public, who, in turn, without the correct information, would later on believe that what the film has depicted, is a reality instead of a fiction.

If someone is both aware about history and psychology, that person would understand that the film has been portrayed more from a psychological perspective than being historical having the former more prevalent all throughout the film, though subtler, than having the battles mixed up and incorrect. History indicates that there were four battles against the Persians and not like what the film depicted where Darius lost in a single(first and last) battle. But who puts emphasis on all these details aside from historians? Thus, the public can be easily misled as to the facts because after all, it is not their main concern as the film's purpose is supposed to entertain more than to educate by having it in the “commercial film” category. Consequently, the film did not become a box office hit despite its lead actors. This is a clear indication that people, having implied notions that the film is strict historic, have lost interest in watching it.

Getting back to the lack of historical factuality and having its emphasis on Alexander’s oedipal complex, and Alexander’s feat for conquering fear, the film also emphasizes the legend’s sexuality. Some of the comments on these factors can be noted from the following reviews of the film. "Alexander's ability to master his fears than he is about his military exploits" (Meladze, 2006) and "Alexander and Hephaistion do not get much further than lingering glances and manly hugs that will hardly cause straight guys to throw up."(Carver, 2005) The film is, aside from being fictionalized history, is focused on emotions rather than action. All the same, the viewers have at least the general, though inaccurate, notion of how it was during Alexander’s time.

References

Carver, T. (2005). Oliver Stone's Alexander Warner Bros. and Intermedia Films . Film & History, 35(2), 83+.

Meladze, V. (2006). America's Apocalyptic Rebirth Fantasies in Contemporary Films. The Journal of Psychohistory, 33(3), 232+.

The book Woodsong is a memoir by the award-winning author and novelist, Gary Paulsen. It is a vivid recollection of his experiences with sled dogs done in two parts. The first part showcasing his adventures running sled dogs in Wisconsin and later Alaska, and the second part tells of his gruelling experience participating in the 1, 180-mile dog-sled race which is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The book opens with Paulsen's first ever witness of wolves killing and devouring a doe. This experience has opened his eye to the rawness of survival in the wilderness and the harsh reality that is nature. He talks about his experience of poverty having little resources and being unable to abundantly provide for his wife and son. He has undergone being a beaver trapper and his interest with sled dogs sparked when his neighbors gave him a few old sled dogs because he was hard of transportation. He studied and bonded his dogs and was later adept in running them. He recounts episodes where he learnt life lessons from his dogs, including being saved by them and their many exploits in the cold wilderness.

The second part dwells on his preparation and participation in the Iditarod race. Paulsen does a great job in detailing how he battled the wilderness and was pushed to his physical limits. Sleep was never a luxury for him during those times and it almost made him give up because it gave him hallucinations. Despite the horror and pain, he and his dogs pushed on with the race and finished. His heart leapt having seen his wife meet him at the finish line even when he had to drag one of his dogs to finish.

Woodsong is a worthy read for adolescent students because it illustrates the relevance of not giving up. Paulsen's drive to finish what he has started inspires one to pursue aspirations. It regards life hurdles as necessary to develop strength and that physical pain brought about by these hurdles is nothing that can be cured. With the power of belief in one's self coupled with perseverance, the inner person can never be pierced.

Kids are very attracted to visual treats. Therefore, the usual trend in kid's menus are usually bright and catchy themes. The most colorful, the better. Famous characters such as hello kitty, dora, and spongebob are the usual subjects used to tweak a certain product. This is a great way to attract the attention of kids because they watch these characters everyday and are very entertained by them. Since they are recognized by kids anywhere, I think that it is a good idea to make a character that would be distinct and will embody the restaurant that whenever kids see it, they will definitely recognize it and think of the restaurant.

For Rusty Schooner, my idea of a kid's menu would give the effect that a kid would undergo an undersea adventure and will feature a female diver serving as the guide. My female diver will exude charm as I will design it with a cute face and form together with other sea creatures who will look very friendly and fun. Putting in a little bit of dialogue and maybe putting in names of creatures would add to the informative aspect of the menu. This would be a good technique and will make the menu cohesive to the coastal atmosphere of the restaurant. Since kids love to brag, the pieces of information they can get from the menu is something that they can share with other kids and by word of mouth, more kids would want to eat food out of the cool menu. In addition, a mascot of the female diver will be a fun addition and selling accessories and stuff that are inspired by the restaurant's products and characters will increase sales and improve marketing.

To Marcia, Dora the Explorer is such a big hit with kids. Not only do kids learn from it, but they are very entertained. The illsutrations are bright and colorful and I think that this adds a lot to the appeal. Your idea is agreeable since I think that visual stimulation is very important and before you can educate, you need to catch the attention of the subject first and foremost.

To Laneet, I think that the idea of an interaction with a kid and the parents during eating time is really good. It can be a venue for a parent to teach the kid a thing or two while bonding. However, you have to make sure that the games should be changed every now and then because loyal customers who keep coming back may tire of the same stuff when there are not new ones.In addition, the game should not take up a lot of time as it will keep the kid's attention away from eating.