The Importance of Improving Communication Skills in the Business World

My biggest challenge while trying to move up the corporate ladder is interpersonal communication with co-workers and presentation speeches in front of the owners and financial managers. During my childhood, I did not have the opportunity to communicate with my parents or examples of loud arguments and negative personal attacks. Humans develop language and social skills from its surroundings so I guess I can blame mine on my dysfunctional family. At least I did almost five years ago. When the Director of Finance promoted me to senior accountant, his only constructive criticism was to attend different communication courses to groom me for the Assistant Director of Finance position. The frustration of feeling misunderstood and being unable to make ourselves understood by another person is my a constant hurdle for me and considered a barrier of communication (anything that blocks the meaning of what is being said) that many humans experience. Great communication can be compared to the way we build our buildings, one brick at a time. The foundation of the house is trust and we develop trust with personal interaction not as a group. It is said that to speak effectively, a person should be open, direct and bold; however, that is what got me into these classes in the first place. The classes teach how to balance finesse and respect with boldness and direct communication. As mentioned earlier, constantly conquering and rising above the barrier of communication. To name some of the barriers that arise daily are stereotyping, language, showing approval or disapproval, and becoming defensive. In my opinion, stereotyping is the biggest obstacle amongst people. Stereoty pe is a label or typecast of another person based on an oversimplifie... ... is an important variable--if there were never any time pressures, collaboration might always be the best approach to use. In addition to time pressures, some of the most important factors to consider are issue importance, relationship importance, and relative power: †¢ â€Å"Issue importance - the extent to which important priorities, principles or values are involved in the conflict. †¢ Relationship importance - how important it is that you maintain a close, mutually supportive relationship with the other party. †¢ Relative power - how much power you have compared to how much power other party has. â€Å" (Whetten 2002) Finally, learning the importance of interpersonal communication and effectively utilizing it daily as part of my normal daily routine, the Assistant Director of Finance in a multimillion dollar hotel is mine, which has been my goal for the last five years

Non-disclosure agreement

Limited Liability Company  «XXX » (address), represented by its Director Name Name, and hereinafter referred to as â€Å"COMPANY†, on the one hand, and _ (address)___, hereinafter referred to as â€Å"EMPLOYEE†, have concluded this Agreement upon the following: – 1. Subject. The Agreement is concluded in order to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of Confidential Information as defined below. The parties agree and acknowledge entering into a confidential relationship with respect to the disclosure of certain proprietary and confidential information (hereinafter termed as â€Å"Confidential Information†).   This Agreement shall govern the conditions of disclosure. 2. Definition of Confidential Information. For purposes of this Agreement, â€Å"Confidential Information† shall include all technical information, business information or material that has or could have commercial value or other utility in the business in which the COMPANY is engaged. It includes all methods, processes, formulae, systems, techniques, inventions, patents, trade secretes, computer programs, research projects, business methods, financial data, etc. Confidential Information may be in form of electronic documents and files, physical documents and oral communications. If Confidential Information is transmitted orally, the COMPANY shall indicate in writing that such communication be constituted as Confidential Information. Confidential information also includes any written works, which were produced by the EMPLOYEE at the COMPANY’s demand.   The COMPANY shall label or stamp all written documents with the wording â€Å"CONFIDENTIAL†, acting as an indicator. 3. Exclusions from Confidential Information. EMPLOYEE’s obligations under this Agreement does not extend to information that is: (a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Publicly known at the time of disclosure, or subsequently becomes publicly known through no fault of the EMPLOYEE; (b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Learned by the EMPLOYEE through legitimate means other than from the COMPANY or COMPANY’s representatives; (c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is disclosed by COMPANY with COMPANY’s prior written approval; or (d)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is produced by the EMPLOYEE before the COMPANY actually discloses it to the EMPLOYEE. 4. Obligations of EMPLOYEE. EMPLOYEE shall hold and maintain the Confidential Information in strictest confidence, for the sole and exclusive benefit of the COMPANY.   EMPLOYEE shall carefully restrict access to Confidential Information to other employees, contractors and third parties as is reasonably required and shall require those persons to sign nondisclosure restrictions at least as protective as those in this Agreement. EMPLOYEE shall not, without prior written approval of COMPANY, use for EMPLOYEE’s own benefit, publish, copy, or otherwise disclose to others, or permit the use by others for their personal benefit or to the detriment of COMPANY, any Confidential Information. EMPLOYEE shall return to COMPANY any and all records, notes, and other written, printed, or tangible materials in its possession pertaining to Confidential Information immediately, if the COMPANY requests it in writing.   EMPLOYEE shall return to the COMPANY all material and documents that contain Confidential Information, and shall not retain any of these copies.   EMPLOYEES shall not disclose CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION to future employers or use it themselves, at any time even after termination. 5. Relationships. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be deemed to constitute either party a partner, joint venturer or employee of the other party for any purpose. 6. Severability. If a court finds any provision of this Agreement invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this Agreement shall be valid and interpreted so as best to effect the intent of the parties. 7. Integration. This Agreement expresses the complete understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter and supersedes all prior proposals, agreements, representations, and understandings. This Agreement may not be amended except in a writing signed by both parties. 8. Waiver. The failure to exercise any right provided in this Agreement shall not be a waiver of prior or subsequent rights.   COMPANY will be entitled to obtain an injunction to ensure that no infringement of this Agreement occurs. This Agreement and each party’s obligations shall be binding on the representatives, assigns and successors in interest of such party. Each party has signed this Agreement in WITNESS. ________________________________________ (EMPLOYEE’S Signature) ________________________________________ (Typed or Printed Name) Date: _____________________ ________________________________________ (COMPANY’S Signature) ________________________________________ (Typed or Printed Name) Date: _________________ ______________________________________________ (Witness 1 Signature) ________________________________________ (Typed or Printed Name) Date: _________________ ______________________________________________ (Witness 2 Signature) ________________________________________ (Typed or Printed Name)    Date: _________________ References: http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=inventors&cdn=money&tm=347&gps=197_10_588_283&f=00&tt=14&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.inventnet.com/nondisclosure.html http://www.inventionconvention.com/ncio/inventing101/003.html http://www.ilrg.com/forms/non-disc.html http://www.score.org/downloads/NonDisclosureAgreement.pdf   

Advertising Images, Industry and Audience

Advertising Images, Industry and Audience Advertising Slim, sleek and smooth; these are not adjectives that describe a human being. These are words presently used to advertise products, be they cars, laptops, mobile phones and the like. How a product is described creates consumer curiosity and this leads to taking a step further in creating the look that goes with the description as suggested by Berkowitz et al. (1994).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Advertising: Images, Industry and Audience specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Product designers have to work consistently in creating an image of a product that will go beyond the customer’s imagination and, therefore, entice him/her to prefer that particular product to the competitor’s product. This goes agrees with the saying; image is everything. How a product is presented to the audience is far more important than the emphasis on its technological or feature prowess. This is because consumers ar e more focused on the looks rather than the performance as most of them would forego the former for the latter. This is exactly what Samsung Galaxy SIII has adopted. Advertisers have adopted the phone’s amazing features and performance and added a magic touch by presenting it as a phone with human capabilities. This does not mean, however, that the phone has adopted Artifical Intelligence (A.I.) technology. Rather it has come up with innovative technology that has an encompassed an array of verbal and facial features in a phone. This is the punch line of the phone. It captures the consumer’s wildest imagination. Probably the inspiration behind this feature was to come up with a phone that could understand the human language; one that was capable of having a ‘conversation’ with the user. With the voice recognition feature, one can actually speak an instruction and the phone complies accordingly. Therefore, in line with this capability, advertisers are marke ting the phone with the slogan: designed for humans, inspired by nature. Target Audience The physical description used is similar to the three words above, slim, sleek and smooth. It has rounded edges and a very solid look. The large 4.8 inches-high definition display has created a friendlier user interaction experience as the user can open different window tasks and work on them concurrently. This has also been aided by the 1.6 GHz processing speed of the device that enables faster processing of tasks. These are qualities that every busy executive will be attracted to. The price tag further indicates that the phone is not available for just any individual in need of a phone. Rather, it is available for those that can comfortably pay for it and maximize its full potential. A magazine review of the phone has indicated that the innovative phone is targeted for the middle class.Advertising Looking for essay on advertising? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is because these are individuals who try and collect ‘new arrivals’ that validate build their image in the eyes of their peers. In one way or another, they are innovators as they tend to purchase items that have been recently introduced in the market. The digital spark marketing blog has also indicated that the main target market of the phone is the millennial category. These are individuals who keep up with changing trends to ‘stay’ ahead of others. Hard-selling the Samsung Galaxy SIII According to Jobber (2000), hard-selling approach tries to convince customers that one product is superior over another based on direct comparison. This is what Samsung Galaxy SIII has adopted. The technological giant has embraced the hard-selling tactics in selling the Galaxy SIII. The main reason for this approach is the ongoing battle for market share in the smart phone industry. The main rival of Samsung is Apple. The latter has a lso come up with innovative products that have a particular appeal to the younger generation. This is a segment that cannot be ignored as its huge market potential boasts of up to billions of sales. This is the market that Samsung has been trying to tap into. The Galaxy advert, particularly, goes head to head with the competitor in trying to portray the superiority nature of the Galaxy to the competitor’s product, the latest iPhone 5. This has been evidenced by signifying one of the phone’s features that of direct file sharing. Two young men are shown transferring data by simply touching their phones in front of the iPhone 5 purchasing line. This advert clearly creates product differences and the superiority of the phone in the minds of consumers. This product demonstration sends a signal to the customer that the Galaxy phone is more superior, based on demonstrating one powerful key feature: data transfer. The fact that it has been shot in front of the iPhone purchasin g store is no accident as it shows the phone is more powerful than that of the competitor. ‘Exciting characteristics’ According to Hanna and Newman (2001, p.153), the Kano Model suggests’ excitement characteristics’ are features, characteristics or benefits that go beyond the customer’s wildest expectations and offer them unparalleled user experience. This is a supplement of the ‘must-have’ characteristics which are features or benefits that if a product does not have then it is not a product that services the customer needs. It is widely known what ‘must-have’ characteristics a phone should possess. These include texting capabilities, a call log, an organizer among other attributes. This is what the Galaxy has capitalized on.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Advertising: Images, Industry and Audience specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Besides the essentials o f a phone, Samsung has gone further to introduce features that are way beyond the customer’s imagination. For instance, the phone can share data in the form of files, music or photos directly to another Galaxy phone by simply touching the two phones. This means that one does not have to go through the tedious process of using Bluetooth data transfer, such as activating, searching for devices, inputting codes and finally transferring. This is a lengthy process that has been eliminated hence faster data sharing. Another exciting characteristic is the phone’s stunning picture taking ability. Despite having a 4.8 inches- high definition display that freezes images as they are and the 8 Megapixels capacity, the user can flip the picture and write a note on the back, just as one would do at the back of real photos for memories sake. Such characteristics create an appeal towards potential users of the phone hence translate to increased sales as individuals would want to exper ience such unique experiences. Advertising variables The Galaxy SIII is a sleek phone and makes a statement by itself. It simply cannot be classified as just any other phone as its technological features and stylish looks have placed the phone in a class of its own. Of course, everybody would want a piece of the pie but the shiny price tag detail makes the whole difference. The phone fetches a retail price of around 650 to 700 dollars. This not affordable to everyone and therefore creates a class element. This goes with its target market, the middle class. Moreover, promotion strategy of the phone aims at targeting the youth aspect of the population, particularly the student group. This is characterized by the back-to-school discount offers that present themselves every September for a limited period of time. Press conferences as well as social media tactics aim to focus on delivering the message of â€Å"buying the phone† equals â€Å"join the cool group†. Samsung has recognized the huge teen potential in influencing market buying trends.Advertising Looking for essay on advertising? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is in accordance to Zollo (1989) who indicates that teens in particular are big spenders of their personal or their parents’ money. Based on this analysis, the Galaxy SIII purchase can also be viewed in terms of gender. This is because it has been shown that boys earn more than girls due to a variety of reasons hence become more inclined to buying the phone than compared to girls of lower income revenues. Samsung Galaxy SIII versus Apple’s iPhone 5 Both Galaxy and iPhone have recognized the importance of brand design and have proceeded to creating ‘Slim, Sleek and Smooth’ phones. The products have exquisite designs that have appealed to potential customers based on their appearance hence offering similar advertising strategies. Technological innovations Technology is rapidly changing and every firm must come up with innovative ideas that portray the company as in line with the changing demands of technology for their survival. This is a major factor t hat has been embraced by both Samsung and Apple. These two technological giants are big on innovation and encourage it in their products. This is seen by the innovative features manifested in the Galaxy and iPhone 5. Everybody likes to be associated with the current trends and, therefore, advertising these products as technology leaders translates to increased market sales. Friendly customer experience Both products offer a friendly customer experience to users as their products are easy to use. For instance, the Samsung SIII has an inbuilt user manual that helps users navigate through the phone with ease. iPhone 5, on the other hand, has touch screen â€Å"gestures† meant for zooming and scrolling through the 4 inch display. However, one advertising strategy difference that sets the iPhone 5 apart from the Samsung Galaxy SIII is the use of speculation to create customer interest. Apple is very good at maintaining secrets for as long as it is necessary in order to keep people guessing. This has worked very well as the media is always looking out for the next new thing. This is particularly true for iPhone products. Apple uses this strategy and evokes further speculation by providing virtually no information. People want to know how the new iPhone differs from its predecessors and look out for new innovative features. The media speculation and buzz helps create free consumer interest and when the product is finally released, the product is the next sought after thing in the market. This is characterized by the long queues witnessed at the purchasing stores on the sales date. The information provided above shows the importance of advertising strategies for firms that are keen on getting their products to the market and the variables affecting such strategies, particularly the image, industry and audience. References Hanna, R. Newman, K., 2001, Integrated operations management , Adding value to customers, Prentice Hall, New York. Jobber, D., 2000, Princip les and practice of marketing, McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York. Berkowitz, E., Kerin R., Hartley S Rudelius W. 1994. Marketing, Ohio, South-Western College Publishing. Zollo, P., 1989, As the century turned, McGraw-Hill publishers, New York.

psych essays

psych essays The five journal articles I examined were all from a journal titled Developmental Psychology, May 2000. The first journal article that I observed was Sleep Patterns and Sleep Disruptions in School-Aged Children. This study assessed the sleep patterns, sleep disruptions, and sleepiness of school-age children. Sleep patterns of 140 children (72 boys and 68 girls; 2nd-, 4th-, and 6th-grade students) were evaluated with activity monitors (actigraphs). In addition, the children and their parents completed complementary sleep questionnaires and daily reports. The findings reflected significant age differences, indicating that older children have more delayed sleep onset times and increased reported daytime sleepiness. Girls were found to spend more time in sleep and to have an increased percentage of motionless sleep. Fragmented sleep was found in 18% of the children. No age differences were found in any of the sleep quality measures. Scores on objective sleep measures were associated with subjective reports of sleepiness. Family stress, parental age, and parental education were related to the child's sleep-wake measures. The next article I observed was Shared Caregiving: Comparisons Between Home and Child-Care Settings. The experiences of 84 German toddlers (12-24 months old) who were either enrolled or not enrolled in child care were described with observational checklists from the time they woke up until they went to bed. The total amount of care experienced over the course of a weekday by 35 pairs of toddlers (1 member of each pair in child care, 1 member not) did not differ according to whether the toddlers spent time in child care. Although the child-care toddlers received lower levels of care from care providers in the centers, their mothers engaged them in more social interactions during non-working hours than did the mothers of home-only ...

Questions Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Questions - Speech or Presentation Example The Industrial Revolution planted the seeds for the erosion of the employment-at-will doctrine. When employees began forming unions, the collective bargaining agreements were formed and the unions had to negotiate with employers frequently because the agreement had provisions in them that required just cause for adverse employment actions, as well as procedures for arbitrating employee grievances. The 1960s marked the beginning of Federal legislative protections (including Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act) from wrongful discharge based on race, religion, sex, age, and national origin. These protections reflected the changing view of the relationship between employer and employee. Rather than seeing the relationship as being on equal footing, courts and legislatures slowly began to recognize that employers frequently had economic advantages when negotiating with potential or current employees. The recognition of employment as being central to a person’s livelihood and well-being, coupled with the fear of being unable to protect a person’s livelihood from unjust termination, led to the development of common-law, or judicial, exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine beginning in the late 1950s. Employers should use gender neutral terms when advertising for staff. For example, adverts for a postman, waitress, salesgirl, which use a job description with a sexual implication, are likely to violate the Sex Discrimination Act. Occasionally, however, an employer may be able to lawfully discriminate on grounds of sex or race, for example, a department store could legitimately advertise for male applicants to play Father Christmas. On the basis of above facts it is quite clear that Muhammad pursue a claim for discrimination against Joes Bakery since the discrimination has been made on the grounds of racial discrimination by refusing him the

A Model for a State Surveillance and Militarization Essay

A Model for a State Surveillance and Militarization - Essay Example While this sounds to be very appealing for an effective and efficient state and government, this brings about the concern of the state as being totalitarian in nature. To maintain order in society, the government must keep close monitoring of its citizens and create a strong-armed force and police to defend that social order. The view of this form of state and society is very familiar to the totalitarian form government. State surveillance and a highly militarized state are, after all, distinct characteristics of nation or country under totalitarianism. The question that could be asked right now is whether Plato would support state surveillance and militarism based on his writings and ideas found in his work the Republic. Does this mean that Plato's ideal system of government curtails certain rights of citizens to maintain order and justice? Discussion of this matter will be discussed further in this paper with a few real-world examples of totalitarian states as references. At the same time, such examples will be analyzed and placed into context with Plato's idea of his Republic. With the ever-growing threat of terrorism, both internationally and locally homegrown, and the possibilities of uprisings or revolutions, it is not a surprise that many governments of the certain nations around the world have created their own state security agencies or organizations and highly strengthened military. There are various reasons as to why such state groups were set up by different national governments. Contemporary times and recent history shows that many governments have been very concerned and active when it comes to counter-insurgency and counter-revolutionary activities. It can also be considered that governments develop such organizations to prevent terrorist or revolutionary from even having the chance to form up.  

Oral Language and Code-Related Precursors to Reading Essay

Oral Language and Code-Related Precursors to Reading - Essay Example Juan describes his interests as playing basketball, swimming, and fishing, which he normally undertake with his family, particularly his father and brother. He claims to have a big difficulty in school though, specifically in reading and writing English words. He says that way back in Mexico, he used to appreciate Science, but right now where every subject matter including Science needs to be learned and understood in the English language, he begins to dislike the subject matter. He has average scores in Math concepts exhibited by his scores in quizzes and long examinations. He is however poor in word attack and English vocabulary, which affects his performance in other subjects including Science, which used to be his favorite. Â  I was able to talk to Juan’s aunt once, upon visiting Juan and gathering information from his family about things related to his reading progress. This is where I found that both of Juan’s parents live in Mexico and had little schooling. The aunt related that both boys frequently scan their notes upon arriving home and practice reading orally. However, there are some questions that she could not answer, such as the correct pronunciation of a word or the meaning of a particular word, or if the sentence the boys have just uttered is grammatically correct, since she herself has a limitation in the English language as she just migrated to the United States five months ago. Juan is thus left with only the school to rely on when learning to read. Â  Juan appears to be persevering during reading sessions and tries hard to understand each word. Often, when he could not pronounce a word, he approaches me and asks how it is pronounced. He repeatedly utters the new-learned word until he thinks it sinks in.