Writing and Barking Blondes Essay - 1460 Words

Intro: This essay will investigate and explore the similarities and differences between the linguistic and presentational techniques used to have an effect on the reader used in two articles with the shared topic of pets. The first article is by two women who call themselves Barking Blondes, the use of the word Barking having two meanings: one relating to the sound dogs make and secondly referring to madness. This may be because they are slightly eccentric dog lovers. The formal online newspaper blog article is called Dealing with the death of a pet, and it informs, advises and entertains the two audiences of pet lovers and non-pet lovers; non pet lovers simply just finding it entertaining to read about the extremities that†¦show more content†¦Chris Pascoe also uses an anecdote in his article on his job as a cat sitter, ‘I saw a fellow cat sitter parked in a neighbours drive recently’. Similarly to the Barking Blondes article the pronoun ‘I’ builds a relationship with the reader as it feels like the writer is telling the reader his personal memories, and the noun ‘fellow’ creates a sense of community as the word means someone in the same group. The use of the phrase ‘fellow cat sitter’ may have also been used as a way of the writer making himself feel better about his somewhat ridiculous job with the fact that he is not the only person who has chosen ‘cat sitting’ as a career. Even though both texts use a pronoun and create a sense of community for the animal lover audience in both quotes, the ways in which they produce an effect from the reader are different. The ‘Cat Sitter’ article uses the pronoun ‘I’, which makes the article self-indulgent, and makes the reader think that the writer is letting them in on his personal life and job, which as you read on becomes apparent that it is not as interesting as made out. Unlike the ‘Barking Blondes’ arti cle that uses ‘we’, which connects to the reader in a more communal way. Language para 2: One factor in both articles that will always have a positive effect on aShow MoreRelated Why My Life is Less then Perfect Essay1766 Words   |  8 Pagesglade she is leaving because I get her room! nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;My oldest brother, John Jr., is a junior this year, he plays all the macho sports like football and lacrosse and wrestling, you know all those sports that include the coaches barking like dogs and making the team growl like a pack of hungry wolves ready to kill. I personally think it makes them look really stupid. But I guess I should be happy for him he already has scouts looking out for him. All the girls at school go ga-gaRead MoreVampire Diaries61771 Words   |  248 Pageswas sleeping, but she watched me at dinner with a funny look on her face. Ive got to see the crowd today, though. Were supposed to meet in the parking lot before school. Is that why Im scared? Am I frightened of them? Elena Gilbert stopped writing. She stared at the last line she had written and then shook her head, pen hovering over the small book with the blue velvet cover. Then, with a sudden gesture, she lifted her head and threw pen and book at the big bay window, where they bounced offRead MoreEssay on Fall of Asclepius95354 Words   |  382 Pages 24 hours before complete worldwide infection... The sun peaked over the green maple tree forest line next to the road. Its rays caressed Thomas face as he lay against the bus window. Thomas was eighteen, the oldest in his grade. He had dark blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. Thomas was not in that great of shape, but he did not have a weight problem either. He wore the standard school uniform, that being- black pants and a white shirt with the schools emblem on the left breast. The sunsRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagesedition of Organizational Behavior! Long considered the standard for all organizational behavior textbooks, this edition continues its tradition of making current, relevant research come alive for students. While maintaining its hallmark features—clear writing style, cutting-edge content, and engaging pedagogy—the fourteenth edition has been updated to reflect the most recent research within the field of organizational behavior. This is one of the most comprehensive and thorough revisions of Organizational

The Gospel Of John Is One Of The Four Gospels Within The...

The Gospel of John is one of the four gospels within the New Testament. Throughout the Gospel there are many themes that are apparent. Many of the themes are associated with Jesus and him being deemed as the â€Å"son of God.† Within the New Testament there are reoccurring themes such as love, power, and sacrifice, but specifically in the Gospel of John, there are eternal life and dualism. The main focus however for this gospel is eternal life of Jesus. Dualism is a term meaning opposites and that of two parts. In this gospel there are many two parts, but two that stick out are lightness and darkness. Within the primary source readings, two quotes exemplified the idea of Jesus and the lightness that he brings. One quote stated, â€Å"I have come†¦show more content†¦Another representation that can be related to the Gospel of John is that of the Allegory of the Cave’s lightness and darkness between worlds. When the prisoners were chained to the wall all they kn ew was that of the wall. When one of the prisoners escaped, he got to experience the â€Å"real† light of the world and that of the real beauty of the world. This is the same for the followers of Jesus. When his followers believed in him he let their eyes experience real light, the light of the son of God. This is what John, one of Jesus twelve apostles, believes to be the reason that Jesus had many followers. Jesus had many oppositions, but the important one that sticks out is the Roman Empire. The question within the Roman Empire was that of if Jesus was the Messiah or not. Jews before the Romans were enslaved people, but after the Roman Empire took over, many believed that a new Messiah came along. A quote from Kind David stated that, â€Å"I will prolong forever his royal dynasty; he shall find in me a father, and I in him a son.† (7:13-14) Many after this started calling Jesus the â€Å"son of God.† When Jesus hears that he is being called the â€Å"son of God† he states that â€Å"Is it not written in your law, `I said, you are gods ? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came †¦ do you say of him whom

Political Forces in the Glass Ceiling Free Essays

Despite all of the political forces on the side of women who attempt to break through the glass ceiling, limited progress has been made. Numerous studies lament the virtual absence of women in the elite tier of corporate positions: chief executive officer, chairman, president, and executive vice president. Unfair employment practices strengthen the glass ceiling and hinder the advancement of women in the workplace. We will write a custom essay sample on Political Forces in the Glass Ceiling or any similar topic only for you Order Now These practices include sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, and pregnancy discrimination. Although activists have succeeded in getting stronger laws passed, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1991, true progress eliminating the glass ceiling must be based on private sector initiatives. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 gives women considerable more clout in their defense against discrimination than did the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination against women who successfully filed suit against their employers for unfair practices. The Act also states that these women can only receive back pay and reinstatement in their old jobs. However, the 1991 Civil Rights Act, incorporated previous laws while also easing the burden on employees suing to prove job discrimination. Within the new law, a successful litigant can collect monetary damages, as well as, request a jury trial, sue in conjunction with others who have received similar unfair treatment in the workplace, and request the courts to judge the case based on the reasonable woman standard as opposed to the reasonable man. The 1991 Act also places the burden of proof on the employer, rather than the employee. â€Å"Indeed, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and other recent court decisions have given women new clout in the workplace† (Morris 61). An example of this clout is the intense publicity surrounding the Anita Hill v. Clarence Thomas hearing. Hill, a black law professor at the University of Oklahoma, electrified the nation when she charged that Clarence Thomas, then a Supreme Court nominee, had sexually harassed her when she worked for him in the early 1980s. Hill testified before the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee about her discomfort when Thomas insisted on describing pornographic movies and made sexual advances. An all-white and all-male Senate sought to discredit Hill, some of who accused her of lying or being delusional, but her testimony elicited nationwide support. The Senate confirmed Thomas† actions were inappropriate, but Hill†s testimony was almost entirely disregarded. The hearing angered women, especially those who had suffered similar experiences of sexual harassment in the workplace, and it also empowered many others to come forward with similar allegations. â€Å"The furor that ensued was just the fuel need to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1991† (Stith 187). In recent litigation, women have begun testing the extent of their employment rights beyond the rights guaranteed to them in the Civil Rights Acts. An example of this is a group of eight women employees of the Stroh Brewery Company in Detroit. These women charged that their employer had created a working environment that was hostile to women. As part of their allegation, they pointed to sexually offensive commercials that Stroh†s aired featuring the Swedish bikini team, scantily clad young women with large breasts. The Stroh plaintiffs contended that the ads were proof that the company sanctions sexism. â€Å"The company has defended its ads as simple entertainment protected by the First Amendment†s guarantee of free speech† (Vilanch 7). The plaintiffs in the Stroh case won their lawsuit and created a landmark decision for challenges of this type, particularly due to the fact the courts must now decide based on the reasonable woman. Although the presence of strong laws is powerful ammunition to fight to eliminate discrimination in the workplace, litigation is not the most effective solution to the problem. Women who experience workplace discrimination are often reluctant to file official complaints for a variety of reasons including; feelings of inadequacy, fear of reprisal, and fear of being labeled troublemakers. Some women also fear retaliation from their employers as well. In regard to the latter, other women simply do not have the money to carry out a lawsuit that may take years to settle or reach court. In sexual harassment lawsuits, the prospect of going to trial is enough to scare off many women, particularly once they realize how vulnerable their credibility is in legal matters concerning sexual activity. â€Å"Many labor experts believe women are held back from jobs because of subtle sexual harassment. Only the concerted efforts of enlightened companies, not litigation, can eradicate this form of injustice† (Morrison 15). One enlightened company, Du Pont, has made efforts to help women managers overcome the glass ceiling. Du Pont has established a staff position to focus on advancing the careers of promising women and minorities. â€Å"If a division is looking for the manager of affirmative action and upward mobility then Du Pont is the example to follow† (Gallagher 88). Such a staff position is needed to provide support, counseling, and advocacy for women who find their career advancement has stalled due to subtle discrimination. Despite the efforts of some companies, gender diversity is still sorely lacking in Corporate America. A recent study revealed that of America†s 500 largest companies, women held only 10 percent of the top executive positions. â€Å"For all the bravado of the past decade, women in most organizations are not much further along. The glass ceiling has not shattered† (Himelstein 64). Although some companies are diversifying their executive workforces, most companies prefer to initiate these diversity efforts on their own, rather than being forced into it by legislative quotas or affirmative action. For example, Coopers and Lybrand, whose all-male corporate management committee was confronted by its female employees last year, regarding the absence of women in management, preferred to resolve the situation themselves. At issue, was the fact that women only accounted for 8 percent of the firms† 1,300 partners and only 3 percent of the firm†s 70 regional managers. The confrontation which occurred during a management meeting where it was revealed that gender myths about women†s performance as managers still persisted. For instance, the male partners assumed that the women were reluctant to engage in business travel and informal business gatherings. As a result of the confrontation, Coopers and Lybrand initiated programs to address diversity issues. These programs included mentoring and formal training. â€Å"Coopers and Lybrand proclaimed that 30 percent of their new partners by the year 2000 would be women, up from 17 percent in 1999† (Glover 16). Eliminating the glass ceiling requires zealous planning efforts by corporations that are committed to diversity. The first step involves setting goals. â€Å"A few companies are achieving success in the battle to get women into the executive suit. They have backed sound strategies with effort, money, and long term commitment† (Weiss 191). Various companies base their goals on census data, desiring their workforce to reflect the gender demographics of the surround region, while other companies eschew quotas and internal goals, but seek the same results, increased diversity. Diversity goals can help but women into the pipeline through the hiring process. The presence of women in senior positions tends to attract women who hold similar aspirations. Once employed, women must receive the training that will allow them to move into the corporate ranks. For example, Colgate-Palmolive favors fast tracking its employees through cross training. Cross training exposes the employee to a variety of functions within the organization; the broad base of knowledge acquired is critical to success as a future manager. The efforts that corporations are putting into diversifying their workforces is bearing fruit. An example is J.C. Pennys, which initiated a drive in 1988 to fill 1,000 management positions (created by the relocation of company headquarters) with qualified women. After setting numerical goals and establishing formal networking and mentoring programs. â€Å"Pennys was able to increase its percentage of senior managers who are women from less than 12 percent in 1990 to more than 35 percent by 1997† (WIBC 103). The glass ceiling that prevents women from advancing to top positions will only be shattered by the combined efforts of political activists and the private sector. Strong legislation provides women with the power they need to litigate unfair employment practices. Private sector initiatives help create a climate that is supportive for women to develop their skills and make it to the top. Women have made key victories, both in the political arena and in Corporate America. Thousands of women managers are in the pipeline and on the right track to assume their rightful places in the ranks of corporate executives. If current efforts bear fruit, the glass ceiling will no longer be a limiting factor for women of the 21st century. How to cite Political Forces in the Glass Ceiling, Essay examples

Frost free essay sample

A freezing cold day began when I tried to open my eyes. My eyelashes were frosted together, my mascara adding pounds of weight. I could feel tiny icicles formed on the edges of my eyelids. They made my eyes feel so heavy, as heavy as my broken heart that kept sinking lower in my chest. I felt it pound in my chest, and was thankful for somehow it still beats. There were times before that Id wish it stop and freeze. Once it almost did I couldnt bear the burden. All my agonizing pain would cease, but I now know that isnt going to happen. Slowly the frost melts, it runs down my cheeks as if they were chilling tears. But I no longer can cry, my tears have been used up to make a lake upon my pillow. By weeping until I can weep no more is how I slip into sleep. We will write a custom essay sample on Frost or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I sit up slowly seeing colors dance at the edges of my vision and I know something is wrong. I know I will faint if I stand up. I wait. I sat for awhile ontop of my haggard bed breathing in ice, and seeing my breath run away with the bit of soul I had left. Carefully I stepped off the bed and it collapsed in a heap behind me. I sighed a sigh wishing the weight of my life had vanished. I was wistful for my old house, the one before it happened. The divorce that broke my heart and made me the way I am. I missed that house. This new one was completely ramshackle and it could blow over after the slightest breeze. They left each other because of me. Me I was the reason this horrible nightmare happened. The fought over me constantly. They left because of the chronic fighting that occured almost every day. They both said things and backed those things up by saying I want what is best for you. Which of course was what they said. How was I supposed to choose? I know it is nice that they love me, but they dont realize I love them the same. One of them always has to win. Someday. Maybe someday they will transcend their old way s. Because this Christmas we wont be together like everyone else in the world. The way we should be. I was on the outside looking in. I didnt understand how any of this could happen so fast. I had just met my new friend, she didnt really have anyone to go to. I remember the first time I met her dad. He was angry, angry at the world. I was having fun you know making purses and all that jazz. Of course siblings dont get along. My friends little sister wasnt very aware of a guest in the house. She would always follow us around, at first I thought it was cute but then she wasnt being nice to us. Finally my friends dad stopped her but you know who he yelled at? My friend. Right in front of me. It scared me how angry he was. I could reach out and grasp the tension floating in the air. I wished I could stop the swelling of the wound, but I wasnt a divorce doctor. I couldnt fix the emotions coursing around. I wanted to loose contol, and throw my two cents out into the solid air, but all it would do is make a loud clank in choas. I left straightly after that. I walked home freezing even whe n the sun was shining for the rest of the world. It changed me, illustrated the world and how cruel and solid it was. Stones were hard and some people had hearts of stone. Then I thought of the soft things in nature like spongy rainforest trees and clouds, the tobjects none of us can reach all the time. The fantasies that lie in the world, and above. Waves crash upon the stones or gently lap at our toes. How extreme the world was. I couldnt imagine having one suitcase to travel with no real home. Pack up everything and move on, be near different friends, different buses, meals, and atmospheres. Nine days living with my mom who I loved. Then four with my dad that I loved deep inside but who I believed was the antagonist. Because of his behavior towards me, I had choosen. Perhaps inside I already had a while ago. My mother was innocent in my eyes, and still today she is. I am not sure if my father and I have made up or if he knows I believe in my mother. One day I will get tired of this. One day Ill have to choose. Because they will make me, and maybe thats what they want. Which one is better. To be the favorite parent. Last year I felt like my mom was my choice, like mother like daughter. This year I am not so sure. I love them both. I love spending time with each, I do. Coming home to nothing upsets me, as I walk into my dads house, a hole opens up in my heart. My mom is there when I shout I am home. She has a snack ready or a hug for me. I miss the time when we were together. Now my best friend is acting. I love acting as much as I possibly can. It is in my blood. I am me, a crazy actress. I am uncertain, my life is insane. Im caught on a giant rollercoaster, and quite frankly I have no idea where I am going. I have no idea why, I am just listening to my heart. And following the yellow brick road. What if it is just being played?

Perception and Treatment of LGBT free essay sample

This aggression can be sexual in nature or the effects can closely resemble those of sexual harassment and then can constitute sexual harassment. Middle and high school students are dealing with verbal and physical bullying in school to where these students are either dropping out or transferring schools or even becoming a home schooled student so that they can avoid being harassed about their sexual orientation. Bullying is an aggressive behavior that is intentional and it involves the imbalance of a persons power or strength Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender LGBT) youth, or those individuals that is perceived to be LGBT may be teased and bullied by their peers in schools as well out in public. Our educators, health professionals, parents, and any other concerned adult can make a difference in the lives of our LGBT youth. Often, bullying towards LGBT youth targets their non- conformity to gender norms. This type of bullying can be considered to be a form of sexual harassment and this harassment is covered under Title IX of the Education Amendments ot 1972. We will write a custom essay sample on Perception and Treatment of LGBT or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Research nas shown that our bullied L T youth are more likely to skip school, smoke cigarettes, use alcohol and drugs, or even engage in other risky behaviors (Ponton, 2001) The lesbian, gay or bisexual youth are more than twice as likely as other youths and children to be depressed and think about or will attempt suicide (Ponton, 2001). These risks are the same whether our youth are LGBT, are heterosexual but are wrongly perceived to be LGBT, or they will even choose to hide their sexual orientations. Our schools need to develop a clear policy on bullying of any form that can be onsidered by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to their bullying policies (Office of Civil Rights, OCR, 2010). By applying these policies, it tells all students to treat everyone equally, regardless of their sexual orientation (Get Busy, Get Equal, 2006). Schools that already have an anti-bullying policy can consider to make it clear that bullying based on sexual orientation is against school policy (Get Busy, Get Equal. 2006). Like every human being, those individuals that are LGBT, they have parents and family that love them for who they are or what their sexual orientation ay be. When a person is rejected because of his or her own sexual orientation, everyone in the family can suffer the effects unnecessarily Just like those or are LGBT. For those individuals that are rejected, the consequences are often and can be very tragic. Regardless of their sexual preference, these individuals still need their families unconditional love and acceptance, and those who receive it have a greater chance of living a happy, healthy and fulfilling life. In fact, sexual orientation of all kinds, including heterosexuality, is an innate trait, not a lifestyle choice. But if you are straight, the question is, when did you decide to be attracted to the opposite sex? To be LGBT in orientation is a normal and natural human characteristic, and it is Just one of the many ways that people are different. Both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association have recognized that homosexuality is not a mental disease or an emotional disorder. Therefore, there is no cure for a persons sexual orientation. Most of the emotional disturbances that have been experienced by gay men and lesbians all around the world with their exual identity is not based on physiological causes but rather is due more to a sense of alienation and to the unacceptance in todays environment.

Word Choice Program vs. Programme - Get Proofed!

Word Choice Program vs. Programme - Get Proofed! Word Choice: Program vs. Programme The Atlantic Ocean is quite big. And with such a large amount of water between the US and the UK, we shouldn’t be surprised that there are differences between us. One of those differences, it seems, is that British people like to make spelling more complicated than it should be. There are lots of examples of this, but the one we’re looking at here is â€Å"program† and â€Å"programme.† Despite the extra â€Å"-me† at the end of the British version, these words essentially mean the same thing. But, at the same time, the British use â€Å"program† and â€Å"programme† in different ways. Defining â€Å"Program† In American English, we use â€Å"program† for all senses of the word. As a noun, this includes: A series or group of activities (e.g., a training program) A broadcast (e.g., a television program) Software (e.g., a computer program) A pamphlet outlining an event or series of events (e.g., a theater program) It can also be used as a verb, where it usually refers to programming a computer. We sometimes talk about â€Å"programming† a series of events, but this is less common. The British Way The extra letters in â€Å"programme† come from French. Weirdly, this is a newer spelling than â€Å"program† (unlike other words where the American English is a simplified version of the British spelling). It seems the British just decided the French spelling looked better during the nineteenth century. Even weirder is that British English uses â€Å"program,† but only in relation to computing. As such, in England, you can install a â€Å"computer program† on your laptop, but you watch a â€Å"TV programme.† So if streaming a TV show on your computer, you can watch a programme via a program in Britain. There are signs â€Å"program† is catching on in other contexts lately, but â€Å"programme† is still the standard version. In summary: British people are weird, especially when it comes to spelling. Program or Programme? Unless you’re writing for a British audience, you should use â€Å"program.† Even places like Australia and Canada, which do use British spellings in some cases, favor â€Å"program† for this word. The only other exception seems to be New Zealand, where â€Å"programme† is still common. But unless Britain and New Zealand conquer the world soon, we don’t see this spelling catching on elsewhere! It must be something about living on tiny islands.

The Handmaid's Tale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Handmaid's Tale - Essay Example Offred From her point of view, the story is narrated taking the audience through flashbacks, asides, and digressions to highlight her relationship with other characters and show the change in the society. She was disunited from her family following her capture and sentencing to the indoctrination centre. As a handmaid, Offred is forced to have relations with her master so that she can bear offspring for the infertile wife of the commander. She is depicted as an intelligent, perceptive kind woman, who bears enough faults to make her human. She is a single mother and feminist whose determination has seen her survive the worst of days in the new rule. Offred has a dark sense of humour, which helps her absorb the shock of the prevailing oppression and injustices. Moira is illustrated as a dear friend to Offred with their relationship dating back to college years. She is depicted as fiercely independent and capable of defending herself against the odds that face her as demonstrated when s he demands for her rights at the Centre. Moira is regarded as the logical one and offers the voice of reasons to uplift the spirits of her friends. As such, she represents courage and hope in a bleak future, traits that seem rare under the prevailing conditions. In addition, Moira is demonstrated as athletic, tenacious, irreverent and enormously resourceful. She also provides an alternative to the meek subservience and embrace of one’s fate with a rebellious nature as she defies Gilead values. Moira rejects male-female sexual interactions to instil defiance over authority since the Gilead rule does not support gay tendencies. Her problem with authority is cemented by her rebel actions against the fear that grips the society and escapes from the Centre. Moira’s personality can be equated to that of Offred’s mother who seems to have a kind of authority over the narrator. Offred and Moira have the will to live despite the losses they have experienced with the regim e change. They engage each other to uplifting their spirits and keeping the faith that all will be well despite their current predicament. This illustrates the level of care and compassion held by the two characters. They both are active feminists seeking freedom as they yearn for normalcy and the end of the social injustices. However, Moira has had successful attempts while Offred seems contend after she meets Nick, the Commander’s chauffeur. The Commander He is described as a grey-haired, semiretired military official to whom Offred is assigned to as a handmaid. He is illustrated as an intelligent man with a collection of books, which he enjoys reading as a scientist and a market researcher before the coup. The commander is among the founders of Gilead and as such is responsible for the current suffering and oppression in the society. However, he bends the rules helped forge by engaging Offred in a clandestine relationship where she visits his office. He is illustrated as a sympathetic man towards Offred and he seeks her companionship, though for selfish reasons. The commander is lonely and unhappy in his marriage; therefore, the relationship he establishes has selfish motives and does not care about the risk he puts Offred in. In this way, the commander plays the victim and prisoner, from which he seeks solace. He is morally conflicted as contemplates abdicating his role in the Gilead government,

The Country of Asia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Country of Asia - Research Paper Example In India, as majority of the states possess different culture of people speaking different languages, dealings in business often becomes difficult. However, most of the business transactions in the global circuit are carried out in English language. One of the major differences of business culture between the two countries is the process of operation in business dealings while finalizing all the aspects of business. The business culture of America revolves around monetary transactions and solving problems along with finalizing dealings (Fox, 2011). The transaction of business carried out between two countries can be demarcated on the basis of greetings and introductions. From the Indian point of view, it can be stated that greetings are conducted among officials for transaction in business or in meetings, by saying ‘Namaste’. On the other hand, Western countries particularly in the US, men and women use handshakes as a mode of greeting along with using generally the firs t name of a particular individual irrespective of the position he/she possesses in the organizational hierarchy (Jhunjhunwala, 2012). In the context of taking food items during the period of business meetings, teas are generally offered for drinking purposes in India. While both non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks are offered while conducting business meetings in the US. It is also been observed that there are no arrangements in terms of seating for informal meals, but for formal meals it can be signified as a custom in India (Martin & Chaney, 2008). The nature of meetings conducted in the two nations is not similar due to individualism and collectivism dimensions present in US and India respectively. Give and take policy in business is given... From the above description, it can be comprehended that business culture of both nations are in certain instances distinct in the context of business perspectives. It is been viewed that more essence is given to time by the US while conducting business dealings than India. Moreover, in India certain traditions and customs are strictly adhered while conducting business transactions. This report makes a conclusion that the nature of meetings conducted in the two nations is not similar due to individualism and collectivism dimensions present in US and India respectively. Give and take policy in business is given much preference than discussing in organizations on an open basis in the US. On the other hand, in India, meetings for business purposes are held for avoiding conflict situations among employees in the organizations and for providing every one equal chance to show their talents in the productivity of business. However, major discussions usually occur through communication process on a one-to-one basis. In the context of attire and appearances, it can be stated that both nations are generally identical in their approaches, i.e. men wear a suit and tie combination, while women are dressed in pantsuit, especially during business meetings. The issue of gender differences is quite distinctive among the two countries. The illiteracy rate is higher in India as co mpared to the US, especially amid the female gender. Even in case of employment, segregation among men and women can be identified in India as compared to the US.

Race and your Community Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Race and your Community - Research Paper Example The population of New York City is about 8 million people. All of them belong to different races and ethnic groups, so some of them look like me, but the majority of the population differs greatly (Crenshaw et al 1996). Diverse world views cause persons to selectively attend to information and to perceive similar information differently, though the same kinds of information are potentially available to each person regardless of race. Thus, racial identity models propose that the earlier stages (or the mono-racial types) are associated with poorer adjustment than later stages because in the earlier stages, the person has to expend considerable energy in screening out or denying potentially identity-shattering information (Schaefer 2006). Ethnic diversity is a historical process in New York so the majority of people treat other people as equals (Aronson, 2007). The leaders within my community treat white people the same way as other races and nationalities paying no attention to racial differences. Racial identification issues per se are not likely to be the primary concerns. Although racial issues will not automatically disappear from her or his life, she or he is not afraid to tackle them when they occur. Moreover, her or his life issues are now centered around becoming the best person he or she can become rather than the best Black person because such dichotomies no longer have meaning for her or him. In seeking a counselor, the Internalizing client may prefer a Black counselor, but he or she will judge the counselor regardless of his or her race on the basis of the quality of her or his demonstrated skills. Likewise, the Internalizing counselor no longer regards the clients race as either a major asset or deficit. It just is (Crenshaw et al 1996). Consequently, he or she attempts to help the immigrant resolve presenting problems and/or become self-actualized, but recognizes that

Success and failure factors of BPR

Success and failure factors of BPR Business Process Reengineering is a complex process that intends to bring about radical transformations within an organization. This particular study is a pilot project on BPR that studies a store belonging to Argos, one of UKs prime retail chains. It interacts with the employees out there and observes various processes in order to come up with a framework for BPR implementation. Before getting into the fieldwork, a detailed literature review has also been undertaken through this study involving various success and failure factors of BPR and related issues like six sigma, benchmarking and importance of total cycle time. This study consists of mainly qualitative analysis with a bit of quantitative portions wherever necessary. The primary modes of data collection includes a open ended interview involving six questions asked to six respondents working at different levels of the store that was assigned for this purpose. This interview was used as the foundation to proceed with further analysis of various processes within the store with active help from the organization. It was seen through the interview that the employees do have reservations about certain operating issues within the organization. But at the same time they are a bit wary of potential changes and hence are not willing to freely talk about the whole issue. It basically shows two main areas of improvement namely in supply chain and inventory management and also in the field of customer relationship management. Further analysis of the processes has shown that due to the usage of multiple outdated legacy software, the supply chain has become slow and unable to handle the recent growth. That is why Argos is working with Oracle and Accenture to overhaul the software system. Along with these technological modifications, some strategic changes have been proposed through this study regarding the inventory replenishments strategy. It has proposed a more frequent replenishment backed by cutting edge business forecasts and other related measures. As far as customer service issues are concerned, a problem with delays in delivery has been observed and hence more automation in the process along with some amount of outsourcing is suggested in order to save costs as well as increase efficiency by reducing cycle time. Throughout this study, it has also been seen that the proposed BPR processes can meet with employee resistance owing to their own insecurities and practical problems. That is why it has been advised to have a more compassionate HRM policy ensuring proper training and support for the employees. Nevertheless, it has to be accepted that due to time and resource constraints a few important aspects could not be analyzed or implemented in through this study including the implementation of a Six Sigma process and its implementations. A longer duration for implementation and observation of these issues could have generated more insights. Nevertheless, this study has provided with an opportunity to venture into this complex topic of reengineering a retail outlet and we hope that it would be a good foundation point for the future researchers. Introduction Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a complex process that calls for almost a radical redesigning of the core business processes inside an organization in order to achieve rapid developments in terms of productivity, quality as well as cycle times (McAdam and Donaghy, 1999). In this process, companies start with an open mind without any presumptions and rethink the whole process in an effort to deliver better value to the clients. They bring about revolutionary changes in their value system and put extra emphasize on the customer needs. They also restructure the organization and do away with unproductive activities especially in two important areas. Firstly, the functional organizations are redesigned into different cross-functional teams. Second, modern technologies are used to improve dissemination of knowledge as well as decision making. Business Process Reengineering proposes five major steps to be taken by the managers to achieve dramatic changes in their organizations. These steps include, refocusing on the company values based on customer needs, redesigning the core processes using modern information technology, reorganizing the teams across function by attributing end-to-end responsibility to them for a whole process, rethinking existing organizational as well as people issues, improve business processes across the organization (Peppard and Fitzgerald, 1997). Business Process Reengineering is used by the companies in order to achieve certain results that reduce costs as well as cycle time. Business Process Reengineering reduces costs and cycle times by eliminating the activities as well as the employees who obstruct productivity (Ranganathan and Dhaliwal, 2001). When the teams are reorganized, it decreases the layers in management and removes hierarchical boundaries thus accelerating information flows which redu ce defects and errors in the whole process. It also helps in improving overall quality by decreasing fragmentation of work by establishing clear responsibilities as well as ownerships of processes. So, the workers at every level get responsibility for respective outputs and can also measure their own performances based on regular feedbacks. For this particular study, UK based retail chain Argos is being used as the subject upon which the principles of BPR will be tested. Argos is a fully owned subsidiary of Home Retail Group, UK. Argos is the pioneer of Multi channel business retail. With 33,000 employees working to support over 700 stores in UK and Ireland, Argos is a  £4.3 billion company. The intention is to see how operational efficiency can be improved within the organization through BPR and for this purpose a certain Argos store was picked up for the preliminary study. It was done with active support from Argos side and for last few weeks I have worked with close cooperation with the store manager. The retail industry is a business that is fast moving, complex, and constantly changing. It is an industry where only the most innovative and well managed organisations can survive and succeed (Ranganathan and Dhaliwal, 2001). The retail industry generates revenues through the sales from supermarkets, cooperatives, co nvenience stores and nowadays even through online stores etc. Traditionally, there were various marketing strategies that allowed the retailers to continually promote their companies by attracting new customers. But the fierce competition in the contemporary markets has necessitated better consumer relationships and the capacity to follow up with them (Peppard and Fitzgerald, 1997). The increase in disposable income as well as the changes in lifestyle of these consumers have opened new vistas in retailing and have also increased competition. The managers in the retail sector must be innovative as well as prudent enough to survive in this cut throat environment making sure that every necessary step towards managing change has been taken and they should be ensuring delivery of quality standards in customer service so that the firm builds strong brand loyalty among the consumers towards them. Here, we have to see that the process of BPR is closely associated with project management and hence we should also take an overview of project management before getting into further details. A project is a temporary business activity, one having a well defined beginning and ending. They are undertaken to accomplish particular goals and objectives (McAdam and Donaghy, 1999). The temporary nature of a project, as against the more repetitive functions like operations, requires a different management approach. Project Management is a management discipline concerned with the planning, organization and managing resources for successful implementation of a business strategy which meets all its goals and aims. This particular study is also a project that has been undertaken to see the impact of the business process reengineering process on the supermarket chain Argos. The primary objective of Project Management is to achieve all the project goals within the pre defined resource constraints. As such, it shares many tools and techniques with Business Optimization and Modelling (Peppard and Fitzgerald, 1997). The generic constraints of any project are time, scope and cost; also referred to as the project triangle. For my project, the constraints are time: 3 months, scope: a specific utility within the operations function which is yet to be allocated to me by the company and cost: I would have to work incurring no financial costs for the company; as such the only costs incurred are my time and efforts. I would be working under these constraints to optimise the reengineering project. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a management approach that aims at implementing improvements by elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the business processes. The fundamental strategy adopted by organizations in this area by looking at their operations from a cl ean state. More specifically, they are looking at what can be done in a better way if the whole process function were to start from scratch. Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and the radical redesign of business processes to achieve dynamic improvements in the areas of cost, speed and quality of service (McAdam and Donaghy, 1999). Many of the recent developments in the management sphere can be attributed to reengineering. The cross functional team is one such illustration, developed out of an effort to reengineer the separate functional departments to a mutually coordinating and interdependent process utilities. The Management Information Systems, ERP, Supply chain management, Knowledge management and many others have been developed by reengineering (Ranganathan and Dhaliwal, 2001). BPR derives its existence from various interdisciplinary components, though the four most affecting areas are: Strategy, Technology, People and Organization (Peppard and Fitzgerald, 1997). A process is viewed as common framework, considering these dimensions. Michael Hammer and James A Champy were the first proponents of this concept. They began by criticizing the rigid departmental approach in many organizations. In a series of publications: The Agenda, Reengineering the Corporation, Reengineering the management, they argued that a single team that works under diluted responsibility and reporting structure would be more useful to the organizations. The result was the development of Cross Functional Teams. They later expanded their arguments to include Suppliers, Customers and distributors. Reengineering is very difficult to implement in an organisation. It causes widespread discomfort among the employees and usually experiences a strong resistance to change. The primary reason being that, over the years, BPR has been used effectively by organizations, however, the first thing that BPR results in is the layoffs. BPR, though a powerful organizational thinking, has not been able to achieve the expectations for the following treasons: The primary assumption of the BPR system is that the single most factors affecting an organizational performance is the inefficiency of its operations. True, processes can always be improved at any level, but that doesnt mean that they are inefficient. It disregards the status quo by looking at an organization from a clean state. It is not an effective tool to focus the improvement strategies on the organizational constraints. As a matter of fact today most organisations are facing great challenges in this regard and they are feeling the need to become more and more competitive through a special focus on organisational design, knowledge management, hierarchical structures performance management as well as quality control. It has always been difficult to find a strategy that encompasses every aspect of this issue. Experts have suggested a number of strategies to manage changing times in organizations. The concept of BPR is one of the latest in this league. We have seen various facets of BPR earlier. Collectively, we can now define BPR as the fundamental rethinking as well as radical redesigning of the business processes that intends to achieve revolutionary improvements in critical aspects of the business with contemporary measures to improve various aspects of performance such as quality, service level, cost and speed (Hammer and Champy, 1993). As this definition suggests, it is desirable on part of the or ganisations to do away with their archaic practices as well as processes, policies, principles as well as structures that negatively affect the performance of the organization. That is why BPR is primarily about redesigning the processes within an organization (Balle, 1995). BPR can also be defined as the re evaluation or redesign of the firms business processes as well as organisational structures in an effort to achieve marked improvements in certain critical success factors namely cycle time, quality, productivity as well as customer satisfaction (Tapscott and Caston, 1993). This particular definition differs from the previous one as it makes a specific reference to the process (Poh and Chew, 1994). It can also be defined as the analysis as well as design of workflows and processes inside the organizations. BPR is basically a tool for planning as well as controlling change (Morris and Brandon, 1993). It offers redesigning and improvement both in depth (i.e. organizational roles and responsibilities, organisational structure, use of technology, appraisal and incentives, shared values as well as skills) and in breadth (i.e. activities that are performed with long term goals in mind) (Hall et al., 1993). Some of the experts take it a step further and explain that BPR is just a part of the necessary steps in the radical alteration of processes (Davenport, 1993). So, there is a need for process innovation in BPR that can lead to new strategies and designs and mobilize both people and technology towards a singular objective (Poh and Chew, 1994). So, we can see that definitions of BPR vary for person to person but overall it involves a renewal of existing processes and involvement of technology as well as strategic thinking. Research Objective: The primary objective of this study is to analyse how implementing BPR can improve process efficiency. BPR involves revamping a process function to a great extent. The process architecture and the associated quality manuals are changed. Implementing such an extensive strategy comes with high initialization costs and time. Customer Service will also be affected during the transition period. I would be performing a cost benefit analysis of the proposed BPR implementation. Secondly, many organizations have been using Business Modelling software based on the concept of Six Sigma. Six Sigma, though very instrumental in being able to improve operational efficiency, is very technical in nature. It is often criticized that it neglects the human factor in a business process and totally focuses on process automation. I have tried to show that BPR and Six Sigma can go hand in hand. These strategic initiatives are to be used by organizations in a complimentary fashion. Research Problem: The research problem that this particular study wished to investigate was to see how process efficiency can be improved within Argos. For that purpose, I worked in the operations function in one of the retail stores of Argos which was allocated to me by the company. I have adopted the principles of Project Management and Business Process Reengineering during this study in order to analyze and then suggest modification in the existing structure. I have prepared a To- Be architecture of the process function, and compared it with the as -Is and proposed recommendations on how the process can be improved with the help of these understandings. Research Questions: Throughout this study, I have sought to answer the following research questions: What are the current drawbacks in the process utility within Argos? Argos has been successful and has done well over the last couple of decades in its field of operations. But that does not mean it has nothing to improve. With time, everything changes and hence even the successful organizations must make certain changes. Moreover, the initial observation of the existing system and interaction with some of the employees there has given some ideas about what is lacking in the situation. How can BPR be used to improve process efficiency within Argos? Here the study will explore the fields that can be targeted for a BPR initiative. This can be the supply chain or the store layout or the organizational structure. It has to be seen which requires it the most and which would suite these procedures. What are the challenges involved? This study would also see the possible difficulties in this implementation procedure and if possible, would try to suggest remedies for the same. How to manage service delivery during the transition stage? Another important issue is to ensure that the system does not become unproductive while going through a transition because it will have significant negative impact the business. So, it would be seen how to manage these issues. About Argos: Argos serves over 130 million customers growing at an annual rate of 20%. 26% of these transact online or through the phone. 18 million families or about two thirds of the English population have an Argos catalogue. It is amongst the most respected Brands of the UK and before being acquired by Home Retail Group, even featured in the FTSE 100 league (Antony and Banuelas, 2002). With over 170 different product groups, Argos is a revolution which has single handedly changed the meaning of cost effective retailing over the past decade. Offering home enhancement and general merchandise products, Argos works on an innovative business model. Customers can browse through the entire catalogue online, buy and pay online. Alternatively, they visit any of the 700 branches, browse through the physical catalogue, check the product availability via the in house kiosks with the product ID, order, pay and collect over the counter. Business turnaround at Argos happened in March 1999, when it was acqui red by GUS plc (Antony and Banuelas, 2002) At that time, Argos was primarily a single channel, store based retailer, selling a smaller range of general merchandise, concentrated primarily on toys, jewellery, house wares and electrical. In 2000, Argos, the GUS home shopping business, Reality UK operations were restructured to form the current business model. In 2000, a financial services wing was set up to offer credit and warranty products to the customers of Argos. Argos is a pre-eminent retail brand in the UK and Ireland. The business runs by leveraging on the economies of scale. This is reflected by the fact that the average transaction size is just around  £30, while the transaction numbers are around 5 per customer in a year (Schroeder, 2003). Leadership in multi channel product distribution continues to be the prime forte of Argos and is the key differentiate to the customers shopping experience, as compared to the competitors, by enabling the customers to shop the way they want. Around 40% of the total sales are through multi channel internet and phone/ store for home delivery. The fastest growing channel, over the years, has been the online reservation for in store collection. The feature is available at every store. Business Process Reengineering: Having explored multiple definitions of the business process reengineering, now let us see various implications of the same. Simply speaking, BPR is a basically a management approach that intends to enhance organizational performance by enhancing the efficacy of business processes across the organizations (Watson, 1993). BPR looks at the existing business processes remaining unattached to them and tries to determine how these processes can be aligned in order to optimize the ultimate performance of the business. Impact of BPR on Business: The prime motive of any business process is to improve productivity and lead to better profitability. BPR is also a way of reorganizing the processes within the business organizations in order to break the traditional barriers in various processes that have been built over the years and hence are very difficult to do away with (Hall et al., 1993). By this process of diluting the functional divisions, BPR makes the businesses more responsive, betters customer services and improves quality. BPR brings about visible structural changes throughout the organization and often obliterates existing frameworks (Hall et al., 1993, Shin and Jemella, 2002). The conventional hierarchical thinking process is removed from the organizations and a process oriented view takes over the organization with the implementation of BPR. So, the work is now defined in terms of the set of processes instead of the functional boundaries in which they exist. This tactical shift can be attributed to changing busines s goals in recent times (Tonnessen, 2000). But it has to be noted that a degree of risk can always be associated with these changes. For example diluting the functional barriers within an organization can disturb existing structure, confuse people and also create insecurity in the upper echelons of the organizational hierarchy. The emergence and prominence of Information Technology has also played an important role in development of BPR process. It has enabled sophisticated re-designing processes which were not possible earlier due to technical or resource limitations (Tonnessen, 2000). So, the business processes must be analyzed with respect to the changes and improvements that IT can provide to them in order to solve existing problems. IT can also increase the value of the information exponentially by making it easier to collect, compose and categorize. Moreover, BPR ultimately redefines the job descriptions in the organization. It might also create a new breed of employees to handle new technologies and make another breed of employees obsolete by replacing the manual systems with technology (Hall et al., 1993, Shin and Jemella, 2002). This is also a cause of concern because it leads to HRM issue like removing or retraining the obsolete employees. So, the employees must work as part of the team and should be empowered to take decisions. So, BPR also necessitates an effort towards building effective teams that work together with close co-operation and for that reason there must a system encouraging socialization and familiarization among the employees at various levels and functions within the organization. Now, let us have a look at some other important concepts that are closely related to BPR and can be useful in this whole process. Six Sigma: The concept of six sigma was initiated by the Motorola Corporation in an effort to improve their quality measures by redacting the rate of defect to about 3.4/million. Basically it meant that if they produced a million pieces of a certain item, there can be a maximum of 3.4 defected items in the lot (Linderman et al., 2002). It was a marked improvement and in fact and audacious one considering the previous benchmark of For Sigma, which allowed up to 6,200 defects per million (Linderman et al., 2002). But it is not only limited to reduction of errors and defects but also about the improvement of the process. It goes beyond the statistical tools as well as metrics it uses and becomes a philosophy that encompasses every activity within the organization and brings about overall improvement in productivity as well as profitability. This process generally includes five different stages namely definition and quantification of the problem, measurement of the performance and determ ination of the defect levels, analysis of data and performance of root cause analysis, improvement of the quantity of defects and controlling the processes in order to ensure continuous sustenance of the improvements that have been achieved. The success and popularity of this concept can be attributed to several factors. It has received widespread acceptance most because it involves the whole management, makes adjustments according to culture as well as employee attitudes, puts special emphasize on organization structure, boasts of standard training facilities on the six sigma methodology as well as the tools, enhances the skills in project management and links the quality control process to the overall business strategy, HRM strategy and customers satisfaction (Antony and Banuelas, 2002). It is also important to use the structured methods, pick the specific processes for implementation of six sigma improvements, employ specialists to work on it full time and relate the financial results as well as other business benefits to the bottom-line (Schroeder, 2003). Some researchers classify Six Sigma as a method of setting and achieving goals (Linderman et al., 2002) and hence emphasize on the importance of the clear and chall enging goals that are strictly specified and made known to everyone involved. This also necessitates other efforts like performance appraisal, rewards, incentives as well as training for the employees to ensure the desired levels of performance. Six sigma was initially introduced in an effort to control the variations as well as the defects in the manufacturing processes. But over the years, even the service industry has employed it with a great degree of success. Especially the financial institutions as well as healthcare organizations have benefited by using this concept. Success of some iconic companies like Motorola and GE has made it a very significant development in the recent decades but it has to be seen that there are still a lot of many other companies have been dissatisfied with the results from their six sigma projects (Hammer, 2002). These failures have been attributed to the lack of involvement of the customers as well as the supplier, lack of coherence with the overall business goals and the use of it just as a tool instead of a complete organizational improvement approach (Velocci, 2002). Also, some of the six sigma processes are not directly linked to the profit making functions of the organizations and henc e are overlooked by the people (Velocci, 2002). Nevertheless, some researchers opine that six sigma is too analytical and less creative and hence we might not be suitable in every case. Benchmarking: It can be defined as the process of continuously measuring and comparing the business processes inside a certain company to the same in one of the leading organizations in the same sector. This is done in order to get a comparative understanding of its own standards so as to identify the problems and implement improvements (Watson, 1993). The American Productivity Quality Centre (APQC) defines it as a systematic as well as continuous measurement process. It is a process of continuously measuring as well as comparing an organizations business processes against the business processes of the leaders in that industry anywhere in the world so as to gain information that can help the organization in taking action to improve its own performance. Benchmarking can be described as a more sophisticated version of reverse engineering of the successful competitive products. Since then, it has evolved as a process of continuous comparison and improvement in the process as well as strategic levels and also with a global point of view. There are several types of benchmarking that are being used in various organizations nowadays namely, internal, external, competitive as well as generic benchmarking (Watson, 1993). Photocopy pioneer Xerox is often credited using this process in the late 1970s when it applied this benchmarked technique with its Japanese partners. Originating in US, benchmarking has gained worldwide acceptance around the world in the last few decades. In the UK, we have seen the initiatives like UK benchmarking index, and Cranfield Best Factory that have worked exclusively on this (Zairi and Ahmed, 1999). The process of benchmarking at its core is a comparison between multiple organizations and their best practices. As a matter of fact it is performing a gap analysis through benchmarking to understand the procedural and strategic differences between itself and another company that it sees as a successful one. Generally it is done between two companies and procedure is generally simple. But in an effort to reduce complexity, it might lose out on the nuances of the trade-offs that might exist between two companies. A spider-web diagram is a method that is more elaborate and it allows multi dimensional analysis and can analyze multiple aspects for different functions (Ahmed and Rafiq, 1998). There are other such tool but they are beyond the scope of this discussion. Irrespective of the tools used in the benchmarking process, some experts allege that it actually limits the levels of ambition. It just aspires to take the company to the level of the best one in the industry but it would not know how to surpass it. Also it is not easy to unanimously define the definition of the best in the industry becau se the best will depend on what criteria is used to decide and also on which year it is measured (Zairi and Ahmed, 1999). Also, there is an issue with the availability of proprietary information from the companies against which the analyzing farm is benchmarked. They might choose not to disclose specific details in order to maintain their competitive advantage and hence this exercise would not have much value (Pulat, 1994). Nevertheless, a lot of companies have been reported to have achieved significant development in their processes using this practice. Companies like Chevron, Hewlett Packard and Hughes Communications have publicly attributed their success to effective benchmarking processes and consequent transfer of industry best practices. Reengineering: We have defined BPR before. But there are many other aspects to the process of reengineering. It differs from most other process improvement approaches as it does not focus on the existing processes but tells us how they should be in order to achieve better performances (Attaran and Wood, 1999). The intention is not to change or fix the errors in the existing processes but to see whether they are necessary at all and if not then come up with a completely different framework (Zinser et al., 1998). So, the key principles reengineering are ambition, focus on the processes, evaluation and questioning of the fundamental assumptions within the organization and the processes, and use of information at a broader level in order to measure the processes (Peppard, 1999). There is also a need for integrating the redesign process with the corporate strategy as well as organizational visions of the underlying business. It has been implemented by several companies in the past with varied degree of success. Nevertheless, both the service sector (Hall et al., 1993, Shin and Jemella, 2002) as well as the manufacturing sector (Hall et al., 1993, Tonnessen, 2000) over the world has applied it. A success story are largely well documented and available easily in the public domain but it is difficult find the details of the failures and hence are very difficult to analyze (Attaran and Wood, 1999, Hammer and Champy, 1993, Zinser et al., 1998). So, we can say that an improper choice of the processes can result in the failure of reengineering. In general, experts suggest a bigger breadth and depth in the process meaning that they should include as many activities as possible to ensure that every aspect of the organization is improved through the process

My Best Friend Essay -- Friendship Essay

My Best Friend Have you ever had someone in your life who helped you figure out who you were? Someone who showed you the right path. Someone who was there right next you even if you did not take that path. Someone who always seemed to be right, but never held it against you when you were not. Someone whom without your life would most likely be entirely different. I have. Her name was Jessica.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jessica was more than my neighbor. She was more than my mentor. She was my best friend. Jessica lived three houses down from me when I moved into a new neighborhood. She made moving to a new neighborhood a lot easier. She was one of those people who was friends with everybody. She was friends with everyone because she was so special. She was always in a good mood, always had something pleasant to say, and no matter what was going on, she could get you to smile.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jessica was a few years older than me but we were both young. I was in the fifth grade and she was in junior high when we met. She was tall for her age and practically towered over me. She almost always kept her long golden hair pulled back into a pony tail because she was a bit of a tomboy and liked to be athletic. But when she let it down and it waved in the gentle breeze, there was no doubt she was a girl. Her facial features were very soft, yet if you met her once, you would never forget her name. She also had the deepest green eyes that would sparkle so bright when she flashed her pearly white teeth, s...