Ensuring a Creative and Innovative Workforce Essay

Ensuring a Creative and Innovative Workforce - Essay Example The recent shift from industrial to knowledge economies has been rapid and abrupt, leading to a series of novel discoveries and innovation in various fields across all sectors of the economy, thereby drastically increasing the significance of creating and developing a highly creative workforce. The fact that innovation is the key to human survival, has been reasserted over the years, with a wide range of creative and innovative ideas being generated and applied for human consumption. Companies today rate creativity and innovation as highly essential pre-requisite of strategies, designed to achieve their organizational goals. Various challenges can be overcome and addressed through sheer creativity, which are faced by the 21st century, such as global warming and sustainable economic development to name a few. Organizational creativity is one of the most promising issues, which is now being probed by managers and leaders, and its relevance and significance is acknowledged by the emerge nce in the recent decades. Definitions: Creativity is defined as the development of novel and useful ideas (Hemlin et al., in Mumford, 2011). According to Plucker et al., (2004) the term creativity is defined as "...the interaction among aptitude, process, and environment by which an individual or group produces a perceptible product that is both novel and useful as defined within a social context". According to Ford (1995) "Creativity is a context specific, subjective judgment of the novelty and value of an outcome of an individual's or a collective's behavior (West, 1997, Pp. 2). Innovation in generic terms refers to the development and application of novel ideas, products or services, or technologies in an organization. According to Van de Ven (1986) the process of innovation is defined as "the development and implementation of new ideas by people who over time engage in transactions with others within an institutional context. This definition is sufficiently general to apply to a wide variety of technical, product, process, and administrative kinds of innovations. From a managerial viewpoint, to understand the process of innovation is to understand the factors that facilitate and inhibit the development of innovations" (Sisaye, 2001, Pp. 105). In a nutshell, the concept of creativity entails the application of a mental as well as a social process which is fuelled by an insight regarding the future demands and requirements of consumers, and generating ideas and concepts in response to the meet the requirements of the same. Innovation on the other hand, refers to the successful application of the said ideas and concepts with a view to generate profitable outcomes. In order to successfully create and develop innovative products and ideas, it is essential for the management to hire and recruit a highly creative workforce and develop a highly productive workforce by encouraging creativity and innovation within organizations. Significance and relevance of the co ncepts as applied to organizations: Creativity is the first step or foundation of innovation, which can be achieved through the successful implementation of the creative ideas generated by the talented workforce. Innovation is one of the crucial and inevitable elements of organizational success, more so in the highly advanced society, which is practically driven

The Anthropology Days and Berlin Olympic Games Essay

The Anthropology Days and Berlin Olympic Games - Essay Example he comparison of the two events that took place show how each competition was aimed towards showing the advancement of the white race in comparison to all other races. The goal of each was to show that whites were the advanced race of people and would be excel far greater than any other. Early in the twentieth century following the United State’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory a special type of Olympic games were held. The events held at the St. Louis State Fair in 1904 were known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and the competitors were over three thousand indigenous people from all over the world that came in order to compete, entertain, and be research subjects for the American Anthropologist Association. WJ McGee, the head of the LPE Anthropology Department primarily wanted his exposition to be key in understanding Native peoples in the modern age and how race correlated with athletic ability.

Reserch paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reserch paper - Essay Example Obesity rates have doubled in the past two decades. There are several health risks that are associated with obesity such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of obesity in the US and in other countries can be attributed to the unhealthy eating habits of the generation today. People today are faced with two options, eat healthy or eat junk. The choice to eat healthy or junk starts from having to know what exactly is healthy food and what is junk food. Health and nutrition experts say that junk food is bad and healthy food is good. For non-nutritionists, junk foods are chips, processed foods, hamburgers, pizzas, French fries, doughnuts, sodas and candies (Unp.me). These are food that are very high in calories and loaded with unwanted fat (Unp.me). On the other hand, healthy foods are fruits, vegetables, and lean meat (Unp.me). So, how does one know the difference? The major difference between junk food and healthy food is the nutrient content. Junk food is referred to as â€Å"foods of minimal nutritional value† because they go through several processes, with high sugar, sodium and artificical additives content. Because of too much processing, which includes excessive heat and exposure to air, the food nutrients are lost. There are approximately 4000 artificial additives that may be found in different types of junk food. Additives may be artificial sweeteners and colors, preservatives and chemically-altered fake fats. Some of these additives have side effects while others are not yet fully-tested. Unlike healthy food, junk food does not help build one’s stamina. Junk food may give one the feeling of instant energy but in reality, an overdose of junk food results in a deficiency in energy (Unp.me). Eating junk food is disadvantageous to an individual because it leads to poor concentration unlike healthy food, which sharpens one’s concentration skills (Unp.me). A high cholesterol level is an end result of consum ing too much junk food. On the contrary, healthy food helps maintain the blood cholesterol level (Unp.me). Compared to healthy food, junk food is usually cheaper than healthy food. The reason behind this is because junk food is mass-produced, has a lot of preservatives & it can be stored for a longer period of time. Furthermore, the ingredients used in junk food may come from low quality food sources which are cheap. Healthy food is nutrient-rich and helps in preventing diseases. It should have a high fiber content, minimal added sugars, zero or low in saturated and trans fat and low in sodium. Pasta or bread, to be considered healthy should be composed of whole grain instead of refined wheat flour. When it comes to sugar in food, sugar in fresh fruit is always a better alternative than refined sugar or artificial sweeteners. Healthy food should be low in sodium; thus, eating canned or packaged food such as deli meats, soups, hotdogs and chips is equivalent to eating junk food. With regards to fat, healthy food should contain monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats that one can get from nuts, seeds and some fruits such as avocado. One category of healthy foods is organic food. Organic fruits and vegetables are those that did not use synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, and did not originate from other genetically modified seeds. These types of food are considered healthy food because less chemicals go into it; thus, less chemicals will also be absorbed by the body. Organic foods are therefore regarded as

Dead Mens Path by Chinua Achebe SUMMARY-RESPONSE (revise,fix for Essay

Dead Mens Path by Chinua Achebe SUMMARY-RESPONSE (revise,fix for resubmition) - Essay Example His wife Nancy decides to support him by turning the school yard into a beautiful garden. Mr. Obi and his wife Nancy put their whole lives into the work of creating a school with modern, high standards and Nancys dream garden. One evening as Mr. Obi was admiring his work, he sees a woman from the local village walk through the flower beds. Scandalized by seeing this woman walking by his school grounds, he asks a teacher for an explanation. The teacher informs him that for years, people from the near village have walked along this path that connects the village shrine with the burial place and the schoolyard. Mr. Obi sees this path as the same old-fashioned superstition that he wants to get rid of from his school. Also the Government Education Officer is coming soon to inspect the school and he wants to impress him with the transformation of the new modern school. This path is jeopardizing his chance to make this great impression, so he orders to build a fence to block the path.   When the village priest realizes that the path was closed he meets with Obi and politely explains how important the path is for the villagers and asks him to unblock the path. Michael refuses to reopen the path and makes fun of the villagers tradition. The villager priest doesnt say a word and leaves. A couple of days later a woman in the village dies in childbirth. Achebe writes the consequence of Mr. Obis decision and the reaction of the villagers, "A diviner was consulted immediately and prescribed heavy sacrifices to propitiate ancestors insulted by the fence".   Mr. Obi wakes up the next morning and sees the ruins of his work. He wakes up to see the schoolyard devastated, the flowers trampled to death, one of the school buildings pulled down and the beautiful hedges torn up not just near the path but right around the school, as the narrator reports, â€Å"The beautiful hedges were torn up not just near the path but right round the school, the flowers trampled

Fina 307 assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fina 307 assignment 2 - Essay Example These offer many range of credit, banking and investment products and services to customers. The clients have been empowered to have access to a franchise network that stretches coast to coast through 32 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Real Estate Services on the other hand provides real estate products to its customers. Consumer Real Estate Services products include fixed and adjustable mortgage services for loans and residential acquisition. The Global Banking services are intended to provide a range of lending-related products and services, integrated working capital management and treasury solutions to clients, and underwriting and advisory services through the Corporation’s network of offices and client relationship teams along with various product partners. Global Banking’s lending products and services include commercial loans, leases, commitment facilities, trade finance, real estate lending, asset-based lending and direct/indirect consumer loans. Global Markets offers sales and trading services, including research, to institutional clients across fixed income, credit, currency, and commodity and equity businesses. Global Markets product coverage includes securities and derivative products in both the primary and secondary markets. Global Markets provides market-making, financing, securities clearing, settlement and custody services globally to institutional investor clients in support of their investing and trading activities. The global wealth and investment management allows for the provision of a comprehensive wealth management solutions to many of its customers. These services include investment and brokerage services, estate and financial planning, fiduciary portfolio management, cash and liability management, and specia lty asset management. The study carried out a comprehensive statistical analysis of returns of shares of a bank of America

Sensory Perception Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sensory Perception - Essay Example With regards to my grandfather’s farm, I had only recently traveled back to this place within the past few months. As a child I had spent many a happy summer as well as interspersed individual weekends playing around the familiar sights that the farm had to offer. As such, the setting itself was one which provided me with a great many happy memories that were, and continue to be, seared on my memory. When I recently viewed the farm again, a virtual flood of memories came back to me. Many of these memories seemed as if they were happening at the exact moment or merely a few minutes prior to me seeing the old sights again. It was as if I was transported, via the sense of sight, to a different dimension in which time and the long absence from the farm that had intervened, meant little if anything as it all seemed so close and personal rather than removed and distant. The familiarity and the positive connotations of the sights doubtless had a lot to do with such an interpretation. Similarly, my old neighborhood has had a similar visual perceptional effect on me. Due to the different perspective that I had when I was younger, the sights themselves seemed as something a bit foreign. Everything was much smaller than it had been; some things seemed unnaturally out of place or entirely different. In this way, the sense of sight and my perception thereof were seemingly arguing with the memories that I had etched into my mind. This disjuncture between memory and reality was a unique aspect of my visual memory that I had never before experienced and was a unique and different feeling. Finally, with respect to my primary school and the effects that visual perception have had on me once I have been back to visit such a place, the perception of sight was one in this case that sought to bring forward a host of other emotional feelings and worries that were unique to that particular time of my life. For instance, as I walked the halls, I no longer felt the sense of insec urity or judgment that I had so strongly felt before. While my eyes acquainted themselves with the classrooms with the loved and hated teachers I had had, the level to which sight was providing an entirely alternate reality to me was something unique that I cannot quite describe yet I know precisely how it felt to experience. Each of these experiences has helped to inform the author with regards to the various memories, feelings, and emotions that exist within the context of the sights that have herein been represented. Due to the fact that each of the five senses is directly linked to strong memories within the brain, the exemplification of but a simple sight, sound, smell, or touch is enough to bring back a flood of memories to the individual within the given experience. As has been detailed, the thought process that takes place a a result of this perception is not one that is always voluntary; rather, something as simple as seeing an object or a group of objects that have long si nce been absent from the life of the viewer can begin something akin to a mental chain reaction that culminates in distinctive memory patterns and understandings of what things may have changed in life since the last time that such an object or group of objects was objectively

Example of an Compare and Contrast Essay Example for Free

Example of an Compare and Contrast Essay My grandmother and I are like dust and dawn, complete opposites. We have different points of views; we come from total different generations; we have different interest. My grandmother was born in Atlanta, GA and married at a young age. She and my grandfather later move up to Jersey City, New Jersey when she was pregnant with my eldest aunt. Life was a lot different in the 1940s than it is now. After sitting down with my grandmother, talking to her about different stuff made me see her in a new light. I spoke with her about how the music was then and now was different. She grew up in a Christian home, so all they listened to was Gospel. I asked her â€Å"what do you think of the Gospel music today?† She answered â€Å"I’m not a big fan of it but I only listen to Mary Mary before I would listen to anything else. They add too much into it and think that because you say God or Jesus it’s a Gospel song. Mary Mary are true Gospel singers.† So, I asked her about the Gospel music that she grew up with, and she had a twinkle in her eye as she explained it to me. She truly loved Gospel from the 1950s to the 1980s. she explained how they had a true meaning and how they had a true message. Technology from then and now is really different. My grandmother declared that their television’s looked like big boxes with a screen on them and cameras were huge. Now, in the 21th century, we have flat screen TV’s and small cameras that can fit in your pockets and can print wirelessly from the printer. Phones were all wired and you couldn’t really move around the house with it; presently, we have wireless cellular phone that you can contact someone from half way around the world without an issue. The environment was a lot safer than it is today; also, that prices were more affordable than they are, that’s why more people are depending on public assistants. My grandmother indicated that you could walk in the grocery store with $20 and leave out with about 35-40 items. As of now, you walk in the grocery store with $20 walk out with 3-5 items. During the 1960s the environments setting weren’t as bad as they are now. The crime rate isn’t as high as they are now. That’s why she chooses to leave out early in the morning to run arranges because she feels safer. The generations has changed and progressed in different ways. Things were easier than they are today. Before you don’t really worry about much, now some people fear to leave the comfort or their home. Maybe if I was alive during that time, I maybe would have gone through as much as I am today. If you had a chance to live in that time zone, would you?