Federal Administrative Procedures

â€Å"While Section 556 refers to the â€Å"burden of proof,† the APA fails to define the term.  Ã‚   Traditionally courts distinguish between the burden of persuasion and the burden of production, although the term, â€Å"burden of proof† is often used loosely to encompass both.Where distinguished, the â€Å"burden of persuasion† indicates which party must satisfy the decision maker in order to avoid losing on a given issue.   In contrast, the â€Å"burden of production, sometimes called the â€Å"burden of going forward with evidence,† refers to which party must initially come forward with evidence on an issue.   At times, while thesedistinct burdens are often borne by the same party, at times one party may have the responsibility to step forth with evidence concerning some issue (burden of production) while the other party maintains the responsibility to satisfy the decision-maker with respect to that issue (burden of persuasion).There are two c ases that are probative on the issue.   The first is NLRB v. Transportation Management Corp, 462 U.S. 393 (1983) which held that the â€Å"burden of proof† in 556 (d) refers only to the â€Å"burden of production†.The second case, Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs v. Greenwich Collieries, 512 U.S. 267 (1994) reached an opposite conclusion and broke with long-established holdings and the first case, to define that, â€Å"burden of proof† and â€Å"burden of persuasion† are the same and opposite from the â€Å"burden of production†.In the case of EES however, since a federal agency issued the license in the hearing, the federal APA will apply procedures consistent with the procedures established by case law:   the agency has the â€Å"burden of proof† (also, the â€Å"burden of production†) and must come forward with the proof of the issue.   The EES then has the â€Å"burden of persuasion†, and must come forward with evidence that outweighs the agency’s. evidence.2.   Requesting an Administrative Judge under the Florida Administrative Procedures ActThe EES’s request for an administrative law judge would be in response to an initial ruling in the agency’s favor.   Robert C. Downie II   in his article, â€Å"Florida Administrative Procedures Act remedies survey† (Downie II, 2003), explains that a request for an administrative law judge is a challenge to any initial ruling in favor of the agency (which is analogous to our case: the EES seeks to challenge the agency’s decision.In his article Downie II also states that according to Fla. Stat. section 120.569(2)(a):â€Å"All rule challenges are filed at the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) and are assigned to an administrative law judge (ALJ) for a formal evidentiary hearing. A hearing is essentially a non-jury trial. Following the hearing, the ALJ will issue the final order, which may be appealed to the appropriate district court of appeal.Generally, a rule can be challenged on three basic grounds, or any combination thereof: procedural errors, lack of authority, and substantive deficiencies. These grounds collectively are referred to as â€Å"invalid exercises of delegated legislative authority.†3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     The Fairness of the Hearings Process:   Differences between Federal APA andFlorida APAAccording to the federal APA there is a series of steps to determine if adjudication is required.   They are as follows: § 554(a) – The Test: Formal adjudication only required when the agency’s statute requires determination on the record after a hearing. * If so, use  § 556-57.   Then, after determining that formal adjudication is required, certain procedural rules come into play, which according to  § 554 requires the use of procedures typically used at trial.Notice.  § 554(b) Opportunity to reach a settlement.  § 55 4(c)(1) Must be conducted in accordance with  § 556 and  § 557.  § 556 – Addresses the hearing procedures; authorizes use of ALJs ( § 556(b) – (c)) and places the B/P on the agency. Any decision must be based on the evidence in the record.  § 556(d) Also, agency decisions of fact in formal   APA proceedings are reviewed under the substantial evidence standard.   This means that the reviewing court will only hold an agency’s actins unlawful in six instances, when based on a review of the facts the court finds the agency’s actions have been:(1)  Ã‚   unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed; and (2)   conclusions found to be— (A) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; (B) contrary to constitutional right, power, privilege, or immunity; (C) in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations, or short of statutory right; (D) without observance of procedure required by law ; (E) unsupported by substantial evidence in a case subject to sections 556 and 557 of this title or otherwise reviewed on the record of an agency hearing provided by statute; or (F) unwarranted by the facts to the extent that the facts are subject to trial de novo by the reviewing court.In making the foregoing determinations, the court shall review the whole record or those parts of it cited by a party, and due account shall be taken of the rule of prejudicial error.   APA  § 706However, in contrast as we’ve seen under Florida’s APA, adjudication is required in three circumstances (procedural errors, lack of authority, and substantive deficiencies), at the request of the party who seeks to appeal the decision. 2. Fairness in the Administrative Procedures:   Florida’s APA v. The Federal APAI think the Florida’s APA is much more fair than the federal APS because it allows for review of a broader range of issues, while the federal APA has narrowed the range of issues that it will review regarding an agency’s decisions.  Ã‚   In effect, I feel that the difference allows for bias in favor of limiting the review of agency decisions.   Further, there is one other way in which the ability to review agency decisions, is biased to favor the agency according to the federal APA, which has to do with the scope of judicial review that the agency must withstand:   the scope of the judicial review of an agency’s decisions depends on the agency’s choice of procedures.References Asimow, Michael. (2003).â€Å"A Guide to Federal Agency Adjudication,† American   Bar Association .   Retrieved February 23, 2009, from Google books.Downie II, Robert C. (2007). â€Å"Florida Administrative Procedures Act remedies survey†Ã‚   Retrieved February 23, 2009, from  Ã‚   http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/JNJournal01.nsf/4f0361bef4af101e85256f4e

Disc Platinum Rule Assessment

â€Å"The ultimate goal of the Platinum Rule is personal chemistry and productive relationships† (Alessandra). The University of Phoenix creates learning teams in each online classroom setting. Individuals bring different behavior styles when they come together in a group. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the different behavior styles as defined by the DISC Platinum Rule assessment and how it relates to learning team members. The DISC Platinum Rule breaks out into four dimensions of behavior. Each different dimension has strengths and weaknesses and no dimension is better than another. The four different dimensions are the dominance style, the interactive style, the steadiness style, and the cautious style. Dominance Style The dominance style has two main governing needs. These needs are the need to control and the need to achieve. People who fit into the dominance style are goal-orientated go-getters. They find themselves most comfortable when they are in charge of people and situations. People with the dominance style are fast-paced, task-oriented, and work quickly and impressively by themselves. They are annoyed by delays and challenge outdated thinking and ideas. Alessandra) The four sub styles of the dominance style are the director, the adventurer, the producer and the pioneer. The director questions authority, takes more risks, and is motivated by new opportunities. The adventurer, wary of people who may take advantage, is result-orientated and is motivated by dominance and independence. The producer chooses to be involved in chosen activities from start to finish. They resist people who are obstacles and are motivated by accomplishing bigger and better goals according to their internal timetable. The pioneer tends to focus on the future and is driven by a quest for unique accomplishments to avoid boredom. Holding a position to direct and redirect task accomplishments motivates them. (Alessandra) Tijuana Muse and Nessa Little, two members of the learning team, both fit into the dominance style behavior dimension. The snapshot of their sub style report marked them both as â€Å"The Producer. † The assessment described them as less guarded and less direct then most other dominance styles. The assessment also stated their primary goal is to achieve bigger and better goals. Weaknesses presented in the assessment include impatience and taking themselves to seriously. Strengths presented in the assessment include the ability to juggle tasks and a high energy level. Tijuana agrees with these results as they describe her work patterns and behavior. She needs goals to be set to help motivate her to achieve a higher level of performance. Even though she does not like timeframes, she prefers to work at a higher pace. Her behavior style effects the learning team by providing results quickly and timely if given a set goal. Nessa agreed with the results of her assessment. She will use the weaknesses presented as areas for improvement. She wants to broaden her point of view when it comes to goals. She becomes very focused on the task at hand and will forget that other things need her attention also. She needs to learn to be more flexible and show more confidence in other people. These observations from the assessment affect the team because she knows to ask others to share ideas and to will become more tolerant of the differences in others. Interactive Style The second style is the interactive style. People in this behavioral style are friendly and enthusiastic. They prefer to be in the middle of the action and thrive on admiration, acknowledgment, and compliments. People in the interactive style are more relationship-orientated and less task-orientated. Their main strengths are people skills and communication and they do so with enthusiasm, charm, persuasiveness, and warmth. Good communication skills help them influence people and bring them together to accomplish goals. (Alessandra) The sub styles of the interactive style are the socializer, the helper, the impresser, and the enthusiast. The socializer has a natural tendency to meet people. They speak freely about their thoughts feelings, and experiences, and receiving social approval from others motivates them. The helper has a natural dislike of pressuring others or telling them what to do. They seek close personal relationships that focus on caring and sharing and they are motivated by friendship. The impresser feels taking shortcuts to accomplish a goal is cheating. They become impatient with procrastinators and winning with flair motivates them. The enthusiast enjoys symbols of authority and prestige and is uncomfortable with confinement or restriction of freedom. Influencing others provides them motivation. (Alessandra) CooKie, a member of the learning team, fits into the interactive style behavior dimension. The snapshot of her sub style marked her as â€Å"The Impresser. † The assessment described her as seeing winning as an all-or-nothing proposition, judging people by their ability to make things happen, and working harder when there are bigger risks and rewards at stake. Weaknesses presented in the assessment included disorganized, careless, exaggerating, and poor follow through. Strengths presented in the assessment included persuasiveness, optimistic, motivating, and enthusiastic. CooKie agreed with how the assessment described her characteristics at work. She likes to go above and beyond expectations to complete a task. She often collaborates with co-workers in order to ensure the goals of the company are achieved efficiently. This causes her to be considerate of co-workers’ feelings when working on projects. As deadlines approach she tends to overreact that they will not be met. This is her reason to avoid procrastination. Her behavior style affects the learning team by providing a high attention to detail and being mindful of the other team members’ feelings. Steadiness Style The third style is the steadiness style. Individuals with this style are warm, supportive, and nurturing. They are excellent listeners, devoted friends, and loyal employees. This makes them the most people-orientated of the four styles. With a relaxed disposition they are approachable, which allows them to develop strong networks of people. People in the steadiness style do not like risk. They may tolerate bad situations rather than risk changing the status quo. They prefer to maintain their personal composure, stability, and balance. They exhibit behaviors of courtesy, friendliness, and a willingness to share responsibilities. People in this style are good planners, persistent workers, and good with follow-through. Because of their need of security, need to avoid risk, and desire to include others; Individuals with the steadiness style are slow decision-makers. (Alessandra) The four sub styles of the steadiness style are the relater, the specialist, the go-getter, and the harmonizer. The relater is threatened by changes that jeopardize relationships or surroundings, prefers to deal with concrete situations and data rather than theory, trends, or conjecture, and is motivated by personal stability. Specialists prefer to focus on their own interests. The excel in conditions that are stable and allow for steady, incremental gains and are motivated by doing what they know and only knowing what they do. The go-getter is a good short-term planner with an ability to identify roles, resources, and time lines. They are highly self-reliant and are motivated by a desire for a steady flow of more accomplishments. The harmonizer wants to be the person wanted and needed by others. They are motivated by the acceptance and approval gained from helping others. (Alessandra) Cautious Style The fourth behavior dimension is the cautious style. People in this style are analytical, persistent, and systematic. They enjoy problem solving and are detail-oriented. This causes them to be concerned with content over style. They enjoy working toward tangible results and perfecting the processes to achieve them. This type of person controls their emotions and tends to be uncomfortable amongst out-going people. Even though they tend to see the serious and complex side to situations, their intelligence and ability to see different points of view allows them to be quick and present a unique sense of humor. People in the cautious style can be over-critical because of having high expectations of themselves and others. In extreme cases their tendency toward perfection can cause paralysis by over-analysis. They do research, make comparisons, determine risks, and calculate margins of error before making decisions. This causes them to be slow and deliberate decision-makers. Some main strengths of the cautious style are an eye for detail and accuracy, dependable, independent, persistent, and organized. (Alessandra) The four sub styles of the cautious style are the thinker, the master-minder, the assessor, and the perfecter. The thinker has a preference for privacy, has a natural talent for deliberate decision-making and is motivated by the desire to be correct. The master-minder expresses his or herself more by what they do than by what they say. They choose to work alone and are motivated by increased opportunities for unique and significant personal accomplishments. The assessor is a quick thinker and can deal with many inputs simultaneously. They are motivated by accomplishing goals with excellence. The perfecter pays attention to key processes and details. They are methodical, thorough, dependable, and is motivated predictable results. (Alessandra) Anthony Cosenza, another member of the learning team, fits into the cautious style behavior dimension. His snapshot of sub style report marked him as â€Å"The Master-Minder. † His assessment described him as more guarded and less direct than most other cautious styles. The assessment also described his primary goal that motivates him is to increase opportunities for unique and significant personal accomplishments. His tendencies include being very alert to conflict and resistance, appearing focused and self-controlled with people, taking some calculated risks when making decisions, preferring to work alone, becoming overly analytical, and possibly procrastinating when under pressure. Weaknesses presented in the assessment include perfectionistic, critical and unresponsive. Strengths presented in the assessment include planning, dependability, problem solving, and systematizing. Anthony agreed with most of his assessment as it described many of his behaviors. During stressful times he does become withdrawn and focuses on tasks and the processes to complete them. He wants to be right and does depend heavily on data collection. He prefers to work alone and has good problem solving skills as the assessment identified. His behavior style affects the team by providing an awareness of the situation and being able to solve issues. Conclusion The DISC Platinum Rule assessment identifies a person’s behavior style. When working in a team each member will have a different style. Each style provides the team with unique characteristics that provide strengths and weaknesses. An effective team will utilize each team member’s strengths and look out for and correct weaknesses. By doing this a team will be highly effective in accomplishing goals and achieving success. Disc Platinum Rule Assessment â€Å"The ultimate goal of the Platinum Rule is personal chemistry and productive relationships† (Alessandra). The University of Phoenix creates learning teams in each online classroom setting. Individuals bring different behavior styles when they come together in a group. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the different behavior styles as defined by the DISC Platinum Rule assessment and how it relates to learning team members. The DISC Platinum Rule breaks out into four dimensions of behavior. Each different dimension has strengths and weaknesses and no dimension is better than another. The four different dimensions are the dominance style, the interactive style, the steadiness style, and the cautious style. Dominance Style The dominance style has two main governing needs. These needs are the need to control and the need to achieve. People who fit into the dominance style are goal-orientated go-getters. They find themselves most comfortable when they are in charge of people and situations. People with the dominance style are fast-paced, task-oriented, and work quickly and impressively by themselves. They are annoyed by delays and challenge outdated thinking and ideas. Alessandra) The four sub styles of the dominance style are the director, the adventurer, the producer and the pioneer. The director questions authority, takes more risks, and is motivated by new opportunities. The adventurer, wary of people who may take advantage, is result-orientated and is motivated by dominance and independence. The producer chooses to be involved in chosen activities from start to finish. They resist people who are obstacles and are motivated by accomplishing bigger and better goals according to their internal timetable. The pioneer tends to focus on the future and is driven by a quest for unique accomplishments to avoid boredom. Holding a position to direct and redirect task accomplishments motivates them. (Alessandra) Tijuana Muse and Nessa Little, two members of the learning team, both fit into the dominance style behavior dimension. The snapshot of their sub style report marked them both as â€Å"The Producer. † The assessment described them as less guarded and less direct then most other dominance styles. The assessment also stated their primary goal is to achieve bigger and better goals. Weaknesses presented in the assessment include impatience and taking themselves to seriously. Strengths presented in the assessment include the ability to juggle tasks and a high energy level. Tijuana agrees with these results as they describe her work patterns and behavior. She needs goals to be set to help motivate her to achieve a higher level of performance. Even though she does not like timeframes, she prefers to work at a higher pace. Her behavior style effects the learning team by providing results quickly and timely if given a set goal. Nessa agreed with the results of her assessment. She will use the weaknesses presented as areas for improvement. She wants to broaden her point of view when it comes to goals. She becomes very focused on the task at hand and will forget that other things need her attention also. She needs to learn to be more flexible and show more confidence in other people. These observations from the assessment affect the team because she knows to ask others to share ideas and to will become more tolerant of the differences in others. Interactive Style The second style is the interactive style. People in this behavioral style are friendly and enthusiastic. They prefer to be in the middle of the action and thrive on admiration, acknowledgment, and compliments. People in the interactive style are more relationship-orientated and less task-orientated. Their main strengths are people skills and communication and they do so with enthusiasm, charm, persuasiveness, and warmth. Good communication skills help them influence people and bring them together to accomplish goals. (Alessandra) The sub styles of the interactive style are the socializer, the helper, the impresser, and the enthusiast. The socializer has a natural tendency to meet people. They speak freely about their thoughts feelings, and experiences, and receiving social approval from others motivates them. The helper has a natural dislike of pressuring others or telling them what to do. They seek close personal relationships that focus on caring and sharing and they are motivated by friendship. The impresser feels taking shortcuts to accomplish a goal is cheating. They become impatient with procrastinators and winning with flair motivates them. The enthusiast enjoys symbols of authority and prestige and is uncomfortable with confinement or restriction of freedom. Influencing others provides them motivation. (Alessandra) CooKie, a member of the learning team, fits into the interactive style behavior dimension. The snapshot of her sub style marked her as â€Å"The Impresser. † The assessment described her as seeing winning as an all-or-nothing proposition, judging people by their ability to make things happen, and working harder when there are bigger risks and rewards at stake. Weaknesses presented in the assessment included disorganized, careless, exaggerating, and poor follow through. Strengths presented in the assessment included persuasiveness, optimistic, motivating, and enthusiastic. CooKie agreed with how the assessment described her characteristics at work. She likes to go above and beyond expectations to complete a task. She often collaborates with co-workers in order to ensure the goals of the company are achieved efficiently. This causes her to be considerate of co-workers’ feelings when working on projects. As deadlines approach she tends to overreact that they will not be met. This is her reason to avoid procrastination. Her behavior style affects the learning team by providing a high attention to detail and being mindful of the other team members’ feelings. Steadiness Style The third style is the steadiness style. Individuals with this style are warm, supportive, and nurturing. They are excellent listeners, devoted friends, and loyal employees. This makes them the most people-orientated of the four styles. With a relaxed disposition they are approachable, which allows them to develop strong networks of people. People in the steadiness style do not like risk. They may tolerate bad situations rather than risk changing the status quo. They prefer to maintain their personal composure, stability, and balance. They exhibit behaviors of courtesy, friendliness, and a willingness to share responsibilities. People in this style are good planners, persistent workers, and good with follow-through. Because of their need of security, need to avoid risk, and desire to include others; Individuals with the steadiness style are slow decision-makers. (Alessandra) The four sub styles of the steadiness style are the relater, the specialist, the go-getter, and the harmonizer. The relater is threatened by changes that jeopardize relationships or surroundings, prefers to deal with concrete situations and data rather than theory, trends, or conjecture, and is motivated by personal stability. Specialists prefer to focus on their own interests. The excel in conditions that are stable and allow for steady, incremental gains and are motivated by doing what they know and only knowing what they do. The go-getter is a good short-term planner with an ability to identify roles, resources, and time lines. They are highly self-reliant and are motivated by a desire for a steady flow of more accomplishments. The harmonizer wants to be the person wanted and needed by others. They are motivated by the acceptance and approval gained from helping others. (Alessandra) Cautious Style The fourth behavior dimension is the cautious style. People in this style are analytical, persistent, and systematic. They enjoy problem solving and are detail-oriented. This causes them to be concerned with content over style. They enjoy working toward tangible results and perfecting the processes to achieve them. This type of person controls their emotions and tends to be uncomfortable amongst out-going people. Even though they tend to see the serious and complex side to situations, their intelligence and ability to see different points of view allows them to be quick and present a unique sense of humor. People in the cautious style can be over-critical because of having high expectations of themselves and others. In extreme cases their tendency toward perfection can cause paralysis by over-analysis. They do research, make comparisons, determine risks, and calculate margins of error before making decisions. This causes them to be slow and deliberate decision-makers. Some main strengths of the cautious style are an eye for detail and accuracy, dependable, independent, persistent, and organized. (Alessandra) The four sub styles of the cautious style are the thinker, the master-minder, the assessor, and the perfecter. The thinker has a preference for privacy, has a natural talent for deliberate decision-making and is motivated by the desire to be correct. The master-minder expresses his or herself more by what they do than by what they say. They choose to work alone and are motivated by increased opportunities for unique and significant personal accomplishments. The assessor is a quick thinker and can deal with many inputs simultaneously. They are motivated by accomplishing goals with excellence. The perfecter pays attention to key processes and details. They are methodical, thorough, dependable, and is motivated predictable results. (Alessandra) Anthony Cosenza, another member of the learning team, fits into the cautious style behavior dimension. His snapshot of sub style report marked him as â€Å"The Master-Minder. † His assessment described him as more guarded and less direct than most other cautious styles. The assessment also described his primary goal that motivates him is to increase opportunities for unique and significant personal accomplishments. His tendencies include being very alert to conflict and resistance, appearing focused and self-controlled with people, taking some calculated risks when making decisions, preferring to work alone, becoming overly analytical, and possibly procrastinating when under pressure. Weaknesses presented in the assessment include perfectionistic, critical and unresponsive. Strengths presented in the assessment include planning, dependability, problem solving, and systematizing. Anthony agreed with most of his assessment as it described many of his behaviors. During stressful times he does become withdrawn and focuses on tasks and the processes to complete them. He wants to be right and does depend heavily on data collection. He prefers to work alone and has good problem solving skills as the assessment identified. His behavior style affects the team by providing an awareness of the situation and being able to solve issues. Conclusion The DISC Platinum Rule assessment identifies a person’s behavior style. When working in a team each member will have a different style. Each style provides the team with unique characteristics that provide strengths and weaknesses. An effective team will utilize each team member’s strengths and look out for and correct weaknesses. By doing this a team will be highly effective in accomplishing goals and achieving success.

Aol Time Warner- What Went Wrong

In January 2000, AOL announced that it would be acquiring Time Warner through a complete stock deal to create the largest media company in the world. Not only was the merger the biggest ever in the media industry, it was also one of the biggest in the history of the corporate world. As per the merger agreement, AOL and Time Warner stock was converted to AOL Time Warner stock. AOL shareholders received one share of AOL Time Warner for each AOL share owned and Time Warner shareholders received 1. shares of AOL Time Warner for each Time Warner share they owned. While AOL shareholders owned 55% of the new company, the remaining was held by Time Warner. The merger was soon being talked of as the beginning of a new trend: the coming together of traditional and new media companies. According to a report, AOL was ‘a turbo-charged engine' that would bring old media giant, Time Warner, into the Internet century. The merger was expected to result in a 30% increase in profits, amounting to over US $ 40 billion in revenues in the first year itself. The new company had 100 million paid subscribers, which included the customers of AOL's dial-up service and subscribers of Time Warner's cable and magazine divisions. A major setback to the success of the merger was the bursting of the Internet bubble, which was expected to rule the media and entertainment industry in the 21st century. When the Internet bubble burst, there was a steep decline in subscriber growth for AOL, which led to a steep decline in its advertising revenues. Time Warner merged with America Online in 2001 at the height of the dot-com boom, with AOL using its inflated stock as a currency for the transaction. But the marriage of old and new media behemoths baptised quickly went sour as the benefits promised to shareholders failed to materialise. AOL was valued at more than $US150 billion when the ill-fated merger was announced, but its worth collapsed dramatically as the dot-com bubble burst. Time Warner was forced in 2002 to massively write down the value of the Internet unit and the AOL name was removed from the group's corporate title in 2003. As a consequence of this not only lost AOL subscribers to their Internet service but also their portal lost importance leading to a loss in opportunity to promote AOL Time Warner content. As a further consequence income from advertising is decreasing. 3. 0 BCG Matrix of AOL-TIME WARNER 4. 0 ALTERNATIVES REVIEW AND TURNAROUND STRATEGIES After the merger, AOL Time Warner was indeed the unquestioned number one worldwide media company, especially with the phenomenal box-office successes of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Some of the anticipated synergies have actually come about and the company has successfully met a number of its goals, according to industry observers. On the Internet side, AOL must prove it can maintain its paramount position by signing deals across the entire cable industry while it opens its Time Warner cable pipes to competitors. If it can’t, AOL’s position as the undisputed leader in the consumer Internet business could begin to slip. According to published reports, AOL has more than 33 million subscribers worldwide, 25 million in the U. S. and analysts expect AOL to sign 6. 2 million new members for the year. AOL’s Pittman believes that eventually between 90 million and 95 million U. S. homes will be connected to the Internet. In 2001, AOL Internet subscribers spent $33 billion online, 67% more than they spent the year before. America Online has thrived by making it cheap and easy for millions of people to get onto the Internet using a standard open-access phone line and modem. With all of the hype about broadband, nearly all of AOL’s current subscribers still use dial-up â€Å"narrowband† connections, which are far too slow to accommodate the growing demand for rich media that consumers increasingly want from the web. 4. 1 AOL-TIME WARNER TURNAROUND STRATEGY The problem faced by Time Warner after its merger with AOL is an issue which merits discussion. The AOL-Time Warner merger in 2001 resulted in the largest media company in the world. AOL joined hands with Time Warner to create synergy between its online businesses and Warner's media business. Two significant factors affected the post merger company. One, the dot-com burst meant adverse effect on AOL’s advertising revenues. And two, dial-up subscribers decreased thereby affecting revenues and overall profitability of AOL. A key element in the turnaround strategy should be to offer free content on its portal. This strategy will benefit AOL in attracting more online users and advertising revenues. When AOL began operations it soon became the leading company for-pay online subscriber service, bringing easy-to-use Internet service to more than 30 million users. AOL was mainly based on around its dial up business. With customers shifting to broadband, AOL was losing subscribers rapidly. The dial-up segment though profitable, was declining in revenues having lost 2. 6 million subscribers in a period of one year. The share price of AOL Time Warner fell by 60% after the merger. The merger was heavily criticized from all quarters. Growth in advertising business came with AOL establishing itself as a support service rather than an internet access provider. Seeing AOL’s success Google entered into a global advertising partnership with the AOL. Google acquired a 5% equity stake in AOL for US$ 1 billion. In broadband, to be able to beat the competition they should be the first organization to define the category of streaming broadband, bringing relevant content and relevant programming into the broadband household so as to let people search for the video and music they want to view and listen to. Provision of other a la carte and premium services, such as being a place for people to store pictures, documents and e-mails they create or receive while they're on the Web. It makes sense. What people want is all their assets available all the time, regardless of where they are. This is especially important for multichannel users, who will be a larger and larger portion of our customer base. Part of the day, people will need to access AOL from their laptops or at home on high-speed DSL or cable, or a smart phone or communication-enabled PDA. The organization should be re-energized. There should be a reaffirmed commitment, a new management team on the field. Positioning the brand and regaining trust are all smart things to do and it will serve as the litmus tests for the decisions to be made. Now, they must be able to recognize emerging trends and stake out our role in them before they take hold among consumers. The overall success of this business long-term will be their ability to integrate best-in-class technology and programming and create compelling value for each of its targeted customer segments. As a technologist, could you ask for a better role? Every decision matters. 5. 0 CONCLUSION The credo of the combined AOL Time Warner was synergy, the idea that the companies would be greater than the sum of their parts because each of the divisions would help market the others. But the dream never materialized. The fast-growing AOL online service was supposed to be the juggernaut that would cause the whole company to grow at 30 percent a year. It turned out that AOL was unable to sustain its own growth rate, much less carry Time Warner. In the end, however, the true success of the AOL Time Warner merger will be won or lost, on the company’s ability to leverage its promising collection of cable networks into something more than just a way to see the latest episode of miniseries. That will only be done by bringing AOL’s online expertise into alignment with Time Warner’s stable of media properties, and adding a broad vision of the next chapter of the Internet. This means being the first to create an invisible high-speed grid to deliver interactive services and entertainment to consumers without muss or fuss †¦ anywhere, anytime, over any device. If AOL Time Warner can do that, the company may be able to create the most ironclad and lucrative relationship with the consumers of the future. â€Å"

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 5

Leadership - Essay Example (Ryan, 2002)Young aspirants for managerial roles are keen to be selected either as project manager or executive manager in a business firm as they will have the scope and proper opportunity to exercise their leadership qualities, explore their talents and lead the firm to prosperity. An executive manager is required to look after development and proper application of both business and strategic goals of an organization. On the other hand a project manager is responsible for fulfilling a project’s deadline within the scheduled period. (Ireland, 2006, 4) To ensure these tasks, both executive manager and project manager supervise and evaluate performance of the subordinates on a regular basis. Team leaders also execute important roles for proper governance of a business house. These managers evaluate performance of the team members as well as the team leader and appraise them according over their performance. At the individual level, they are not only regarded as leaders but at t he same time, for successful functioning of an organization, each of them has to satisfy the roles of leader. Depending over the strong foundation of their leadership an organization receives a perfect ascent. This paper aims at focusing over various theories that deals with the role of a leader and definitions of leadership. It also aims at providing substantial focus over qualities of a person, who wishes to develop as a leader in the field of business management. Effectiveness is the main thing for any style of leadership. Still there are ‘X’ factors which are associated with it. Among them the personality of the leader obviously plays a great role. Other than this, the leader should have a well-established image. This can be taken as ‘greatness’. (Covey, 2004) Currently, the management theories are putting a great deal of emphasis over the factor of greatness in a

Stem cell research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Stem cell - Research Proposal Example The Mbd3/NuRD complex needed for the above conversion is needed for the development of pluripotent cells. Kaji K, Caballero IM, MacLeod R, Nichols J, Wilson VA and Hendrich B carried out further research and showed that ES cells lacking Mbd3, though viable, were unable to silence the gene expression prior to embryo implantation. Yamanaka and Takahashi converted adult somatic cells in mice to iPS cells through the forced expression of four factors, Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc. I hope to further investigate the role that epigenetic silencing plays in pluripotent cells. This field of research still remains open for the purpose of further study and I would like to work on a cell line of mouse ES cells that have retained their pluripotent nature to understand the underlying process of gene silencing and defined genetic program repression in them. The role that the Leukemia Inhibitory factor (LIF) plays in developmental lineages would also be a part of the research

Church Growth ideas which can be applied to Churches that i have Essay

Church Growth ideas which can be applied to Churches that i have encounted - Essay Example Among the strong holds of the church is the prayerful nature of the church. Through its various ministries the church has been able to bring many people to Christ. Growth of the church is not a one time thing, but rather takes a process before the people receive the calling and receive the gospel. Thus, churches not having instant growth should have faith in God and wait for their faith to be rewarded (Dortch 2010, p. 64). For this church to attain the maximum growth posible several aspects have to be adapted to aid in the growth of the church. One of the ways to ensure church growth is to modify the church services to suit the whole congregation including first time visitors. The visitors should be able to feel comfortable in the church even, though it is their first time in church (Dortch 2010, p. 65). The service should be fairly short for all to enjoy the service both the praise and worship and the preaching. The long services at the church scare away visitors as they concentrate on the amount of time spent in the service instead of listening to the preaching thus the church is unable to complete its mission of preaching the word of God. Thus the church should reconsider its practices in the service to ensure they reduce the time in the service if possible to be a short as two hours. The time allocated for the preacher is also to be considered to ensure the other activities do not take much of the church service. The main purpose of the congregation attending the service is to receive the message of the day that the pa stor has prepared for them, thus the preaching should be the main agenda of the service thus being allocated a substantial amount of time. The preacher can also check on time to have some time left for evangelism after the preaching. Professional marketing of the church is of importance when opening up a new church in a

Community Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Community Nursing - Essay Example The plan proposes various measures that would promote good health in a wider sense. There are various strengths that are highlighted and areas where improvements need to be made and all these seeks to have a health promotion program that will become a success. The teaching program is to be initiated in a community where there are elderly people and individuals who are unable to take care of their health or those who have no health insurance. This teaching program would ensure that the members of the community are well endowed with the information they need in order to make them responsible for their own health. The project also addresses the kind of engagements that would lead to the actual learning process taking place and the very important tools that would be needed for this project to be a success. Key among the things outlined in the plan is the resources that would be needed for this kind of a venture just for the purpose of having a process that is above board. In conclusion, the plan addresses the objectives and aims of this teaching program and what would be achieved after such a noble course. Epidemiology Rationale for the Topic The problem of lifestyle diseases has been a major concern for the community in Georgia. Diabetes has been the leading illness in the lifestyle diseases with obesity being a key concern. ... As for the lifestyle diseases, the elderly had cancer as a big challenge to those aged 65 and above. Diabetes was found to be a serious challenge affecting everyone across the board; the old people to younger people. Obesity among the young people and smoking habits was a major cause of diabetes among the young people. For these urgent care had to be initiated to help those already affected and those who are likely to be affected. Statistics from the health superintendent of the Georgia center for disease control and prevention in the state of Georgia has provided very shocking results about people who are affected by the lifestyle diseases like diabetes (Stroup & Teutsch, 1998). The results showed that: 35% of the adults in old age had diabetes. 40% of the young adults had diabetes 33% of the teens were diabetic and had obesity with heart complications 40% of those above the age of 65 years had cancer disease 50% of those in old age around 75 years had heart disease Evaluation of Te aching Experience The experience of teaching in the community was an interesting affair that really opened my eyes to various possibilities. At first, I thought that the experience was going to be a tough one and I was very nervous at some point, as I did not know what was going to be about my teaching experience. My experience in the community and having to interact with different groups of people was one that remained painted in my mind for the longest time ever. The fear of the unknown once again caught up with me in an unprecedented manner as I prepared myself for the teaching exercise. The responsibilities which I was to teach the people on the benefits of primary prevention or health promotion, and I knew it was not going to be an easy task even though I

Topic #2 Discuss the role of social medias influence (Twitter, Essay

Topic #2 Discuss the role of social medias influence (Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube) in the lives of children and young teens today - Essay Example Since the social media sites, such as Facebook or Tweeter, gained its significant popularity, much has been said about their potentially negative influence on people, and children and teens in particular as they are the most vulnerable. In this context, among the most disturbing has been the new phenomenon – cyberbullying, which is maintained online. According to the American Humane Association, approximately 42 percent of young Americans are bulled via Internet, but the overall amount of children and teenagers involved in bullying as either perpetrators or bystanders is much greater. ("American Humane Association") Obviously, the following negative experience can lead to the variety of adverse outcomes, such as depression, poor self-esteem, isolation, anxieties, sleep disorders, and even suicidal thoughts. Moreover, it was revealed that social media often plays a role in the development of narcissism among the young individuals. At present, communication via social media comprises of much more than texting and writing messages to a friend. In fact, a great amount of time online is spent on sharing photos, postings, and updates of statuses which are centered on self-promotion and self-glorification. (Stenovec) In this regard, networking becomes a means of crafting personal image in a way that would be appealing to others. The following can result in the growing ego-centrism, inadequate value of personal opinion, and decreased empathy. In addition, a fake image of self can make one confused about personal identity and lead to inappropriate self-perception. Apart from negative effects, social media is also associated with the list of positive influences of children and teenagers. Among the most crucial can be mentioned the rise of cultural and political awareness, which results from the fact of being constantly surrounded by various

Company Overview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Company Overview - Essay Example Mr. Daryl Scholz is a project management coordinator that utilizes project management methodologies to plan, implement, and evaluate projects related to technology for the Information Technology Services department. Scholz works with numerous projects including, curriculum navigator, map works, student dashboard, centralized ticketing, web CMS, and the student portal. Even though Mr. Daryl Scholz is managing many projects, we narrowed it down to his latest accomplishment, the HuskeyNet Student Portal. The purpose of the HuskeyNet Student Portal Project was to create a user-friendly, customizable portal for student to use. It was student tested and students can implement ideas and suggestions to how or what they want the portal to have. Every project come with a challenge and the student portal did not escape to the rule. After working on the student health services and backing up thousands of student files. The student portal appeared at first sight to be an easier project. After meeting with different constituent and stockholder, they soon realize that the task was far from being a small project. Many aspects involved in this project was crucial to the success and satisfaction of students. â€Å" K and his team developed a plan that will help reach their goals. A time has to be set for the project to be delivered as soon as possible for student to be able test and implement it by fall 2012 with a period set , of one year and half, the team started refining and giving life to the project. At first sight the project presented many strength and opportunities. Students were thrill by this new look and were anxious to come and see it coming alive. The student portal was a great opportunity for workers to expand their professional skills. Instead of using it the same skills over and over again they had to master software like java. Despite K and his team was still worried about some weakness and threats that may appear along the way

Date Rape Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Date Rape - Essay Example While majority of date rape victims are women, men can still fall victims to such violation. The rape need not occur during a date, and such things happen even among married couples. It is in fact a bothering estimate of â€Å"14-30% of all adult women have been raped or experienced attempted rape† (Burgess & Burpo, 2012, p.749). It is even more bothering that college-aged women make up the largest share of this percentage. Furthermore, it is not comfortable to know that â€Å"84% of rape survivors knew their assailants† (Burgess & Burpo, 2012, p.749). The staggering number of date rape incidence and all the factors surrounding it such as misconceptions, social stigma, and abuse and misuse of drugs and alcohol should be prevented in order to correct any erroneous beliefs, remove social stigma that silences the victims, and educate other people on the effects of substance abuse and misuse to eventually lessen the incidences of date rape. Interesting Facts 71% of rapes ar e planned or premeditated. Women are the ones most likely to be vulnerable when spending time along with a man. One of the major problems of date rape is that majority of the effects are unseen or even unheard. This means that many incidents may have been left unreported. It is said that less than 5% of college women who are victims of date rape report the incident to the authorities. However, around two-thirds of these victims confide into someone about their ordeal. In another study, 40% of these college-aged victims do not report the date rape because of fear for reprisal or social stigma (Sampson, 2002, p.4). One report states, â€Å"30% of respondents said a woman is partially or totally responsible for being raped if she was drunk† (Grubb & Harrower, 2009, p.63). Furthermore, in a large study, it is reported that 22.8% of college rape victims already experienced some form of sexual assault before. There is also a possibility of that serial rapists are common among date rapists, for there is a report saying that 96 males were responsible for 187 incidences of rapes (Sampson, 2012, p.10). The numbers continue to shock when a National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that 75% of male students and 55% of female students had been drinking alcohol or taking drugs before the date rape. Considering the fact that most date rapes are unreported, there is still an average of 25% females who are reported to be victims of date rape. Passive and Active Causes Misconceptions, social stigma, and abuse and misuse of drugs and alcohol should be looked into as major components of this horrific violence against women, mainly. One, some people have particular prejudice, false beliefs, and even stereotypes about rape, rapists, and rape victims. For example, it is a widespread idea that a woman’s dress may provoke a man to be sexually aggressive. There may also be incidences when flirting may be misinterpreted as interest in having sex. There are also gender ed social roles that makes one think men should pursue women, and that women should be passive and unassertive. Men might erroneously think that women expect aggression or compulsion in sexual acts. Worsening these misconceptions is the lack of knowledge. According to Burgess & Burpo (2012), there is a: number of women who have experienced events that meet the legal definition of rape, but fail to describe these events as rape;