Ginseng :: Botany

Ginseng Ginseng has long been recognized as an herb possessing great value. The first written record of the use of ginseng can be found in a Chinese Herbal dated in the 1st Century B.C. This Chinese Herbal, Shen-nung pen ts'ao ching, was surely preceded by a long verbal history of ginseng for in ancient China, ginseng was always held in the highest esteem as a powerful drug (5). History shows that early Chinese emperors placed great value in ginseng. Early emperors proclaimed its roots as having many uses, primarily as a tonic or stimulant for both physical and mental disorders (9). In addition, it was used for increasing fertility and sexuality, and most importantly for strengthening the body. In fact, ginseng was so esteemed as a botanical drug that it was an important trade commodity, at times serving as payment for ransom and as payments of tribute to the Chinese government (3). As the demand for ginseng increased, cultivation of the plant was initiated to offset the dwindling supply of wild ginseng. The earliest plantations were in southeastern Manchuria and what is present day North Korea (5). Missionaries in China during the early 1700s became aware of ginseng and subsequently their knowledge of its commercial value spread to eastern North America. The export of wild ginseng root from America to the Orient began in the early 1700s. In 1773 the sloop "Hingham" sailed from Boston to China with 55 tons of ginseng on board. The first shipment of ginseng to China after the American Revolution is reported to have been made by John Jacob Astor from New York in 1782. The root from that shipment was said to have been sold for three dollars a pound. As in Asia, wild American ginseng became scarce. Its cultivation began in the 19th Century with much of the plant being grown in Wisconsin and Ohio. It has been reported that nearly 21,000 tons of American ginseng has been exported between 1821 and 1983 (1). Ginseng is the common name of two species of Panax of the family Araliaceae. Panax ginseng is the Asian species and Panax quinquefolius is the American species. Harding (1972) describes four varieties of P. ginseng and three varieties of P. quinquefolius (4). Shorter forms of the common name ginseng, "sang" and "seng", are used in the United States. Other common names include red-berry and five fingers. Ginseng is a perennial herb 60-80 cm tall.

Jean-Paul Sartre: Conscience to the World Essay -- Biography Sartre Es

Jean-Paul Sartre: Conscience to the World At the time of his death on the fifteenth of April, 1980, at the age of seventy-four, Jean-Paul Sartre’s greatest literary and philosophical works were twenty-five years in the past. Although the small man existed in the popular mind as the politically inconsistent champion of unpopular causes and had spent the last seven years of his life in relative stagnation, his influence was still great enough to draw a crowd of over fifty thousand people – admirers or otherwise – for his funeral procession. Sartre was eminently quotable, a favorite in the press, because his statements were always controversial. He was the leader of the shortly popular Existential movement in philosophy which turned quickly into a fad for the disillusioned post-World War I generation, so even when the ideas criticized were not the ideas of Sartre’s Existentialism, he still came to the public mind. Sartre was alternately celebrated and vilified, depending on which side of the issu e the speaker or writer was on, and whether or not Sartre had early espoused – and possibly later turned against – the ideals in question. Despite Sartre’s many political and philosophical about-faces, fellow Marxist political philosopher Herbert Marcuse said of him, â€Å"He may not want to be the world’s conscience, but he is.† [Hayman, 458] Poulou Jean-Paul Sartre was born on June 21, 1905, and lost his father a little over a year later. His mother, Anne-Marie was raised uneducated in an educated family and moved back in with her own father, the teacher Karl Schweitzer, uncle of the famous philosopher and missionary, Albert Schweitzer. She promptly lost control of her infant son. Jean-Paul became the immediate favorite of his g... ...eye’s blindness – and he consistently lived his life in connection with his views on freedom. He strived, even while he worried about class struggles, to be an â€Å"authentic man,† the ultimately free man of his early plays. Sartre was precocious, brilliant, controversial, changeable, stubborn, self-involved, arrogant, hated, worshiped, versatile, magnetic, and had an enormous effect on the world he lived in. In short, he was a creator. Bibliography Gerassi, John. Jean-Paul Sartre: Hated Conscience of His Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989. Hayman, Ronald. Sartre: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987. Madsen, Axel. Hearts and Minds: The Common Journey of Simone de Beauvoir & Jean-Paul Sartre. New York: Morrow Quill Paperbacks, 1977. Priest, Stephen. Jean-Paul Sartre: Basic Writings. London; New York: Routledge, 2001.

Allocation of Seats in a Theatre :: Papers

The aim of my project is to make the task of the allocation of seats in a theatre in a much more efficient manner than writing down on a piece of paper, which will allow calculations to be taken to show the overall costs against profit for the whole show. This will also allow the spreadsheet to also take into account the fixed costs of show, the projected profits from program sales, confectionery sales and other miscellaneous costs and profits from the show and quickly and efficiently calculate them. Background A ------------ Mr Brown, owner of Brown Theatres puts shows on fairly frequently, so he requires a simple solution, that is quick and easy to adapt to and simple to understand. The problems faced by him is that the current solution is to write down all the information by hand and use a calculator to work out costs, expenses and profit. He wants the solution to be able to do all this in and instant, and in a simple, understandable format. Mr Brown also believes that this new system will allow his company to expand, and become more profitable, he believes that this new, efficient way of calculating will allow him to accurately calculate everything he needs in a matter of seconds. Alternative strategies for solving the problem A/B -------------------------------------------------- Non-ICT solution The non-ICT solution would be similar to one Mr Brown uses at the moment, that being pen and paper. He could create a notebook in which there is a graph where the person fills in the appropriate box relevant to where the person is sitting and whether he/she is an adult or child. After this has been done, this must all be calculated to the price paid by the person, multiplied by the number of other people of the same type and seating position, then added to all the other seating arrangements and classes of people, and then subtracted from the cost of the show. This would probably only be useful to a small

Hotel Reservation System Essay

I – Introduction A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in time past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cup board, a small table and washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms and air conditioning or climate control. The cost and quality of hotels are usually indicative of the range and type of service available. Due to the enormous increase in Tourism worldwide during the last decades of the 20th century, standards, specially those of the smaller establishment, have improved considerably. Hotels are independently assessed in traditional systems and these rely heavily on the facilities provided. Today, most of the Hotels provide goods and services using computer system. It helps to perform task in an easy way with less time consumed. Some companies are become fully automated while others strive for the similar setting. Computer programmers develop things like computer system that the rest of us could use. The computer programmers tell the users what to do. They make programs that users can easily used or understand. The advent of new technology gave rise to easy and hassle free interaction between and among humans. Whether it is business, science or whatever task a person takes on the quality and speed of carrying it out are enhanced with automation at the core of this efficient. Today, many systems have used an automation process like using computer system, due to the efficient and accuracy. Hotel Reservation System is a transaction processing system. In this system there are more advantages rather than a manual Hotel Reservation. II Background of the Study The proponents wants to know the reasons of hotel in using manual reservation. The proponents conduct a study towards the topic because they notice some of the hotel still use manual reservation. The study will emphasized the effects of using manual reservation and how a computerized reservation will be substituted. Therefore, the proponents purported to find out how to increase the number of customers using computerized reservation. Interaction and individual stimulation have always been linked to the technological availability of the time and place. With the transition to an information based society, computes and transactions have evolved from manual transaction. One of the solutions or alternatives to the problems that a hotel is facing, a system was being developed which can edit, delete, filter, monitor , store and secured the records of the customers. Hotel Reservation System is a transaction processing system that solves the problem encountered during the manual Hotel Reservation. The computerized Hotel reservation system aims to simplify the manual Hotel Reservation fastest and accurate. Database is shared thru Local Area Network (LAN). The proponents make use of some tools and techniques to build the project. The system uses Graphical User Interface (GUI) to help the user give instruction to the computer. The system once implemented it will solve the most common problems that the Hotel Reservation encounter. Statement of the Problem Based on the research conducted, the proponents found out the problem of this study are: How will this system help the management and the staff to have an accurate service at the same time to monitor the records of the customers? General Problem: The main problem of this study is the inaccurate reservation of the customer. Specific Problem: 1. Low in security 2. Time monitoring 3. Less data integrity 4. Difficulty in searching and retrieving files 5. Possible loss of records and retrieving files 6. Difficulty on finding the availability of rooms Objective of the study This study intends to develop a Hotel Reservation System. General Objectives This study aims to solve the problems encountered and to change the manual reservation. Specific Objectives 1. To increase the security between the management and staff. 2. To lessen the time consume. 3. To highly integrated data. 4. To spend less time in searching and retrieving files. 5. To create a back up of files in every successful transaction. 6. To become make easier to find the availability of rooms. Scope and Delimitation This study is conducted to know the reason behind the proponents on how will their purposed systems will help the Hotel Management. Hotel Reservation System is fully scalable and designed extensive flexibility and varied choices. Typical hotel reservation and e-commerce hotel system software reservation solutions currently in place and available today are technically designed to achieve only one objective function, which is connect the buyer to seller. Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature and Studies This chapter contains related literature and study needed by the proponents. The following had been reviewed to identify the scope and importance of the chosen research topic. Local Literature In accordance to an article entitled Foreign Literature â€Å"â€Å"A well organized reservation system allows hotels to ensure a steady flow of guests into their properties Furthermore, â€Å"Profitable business ventures rely on effective marketing, which includes reviewing people who require hotel products and services, determining their specific needs, developing products and services that meet those needs, and making a profit on the sale of those products and services(James Bardi, 2010, Alvinos Voskos p. 136).

Marriage Under 18 Years Old

â€Å"She may do nothing against God’s will, but many things she must against her own will if her husband require her. † Population council said more than 51 million girls younger than 18 are already married in 2003. In the world teenagers are making a family when they are so young. God created and created family to feel happiness, rest and peace. Marriage was not men idea, only God’s idea. So God thought â€Å"To provide a helpful mate for Adam, it was not good that man should be alone. † Marriage is a very blessing by God to men. But many people don’t worry about importance of marriage. May be some of these couple will have difficulties. But some people strongly agree that teenagers are able to marriage by their decisions. God always gave people choice about marriage. In the world teenagers became immoral. They get much information which they don’t need from TV, internet, friends and many things. People usually learn and practice that information. Teens are usually not prepared for marriage, spiritually, mentally and physically. Maybe only handful can be. Before marriage especially man must be grown enough by his spiritual life more than physically. God created man to lead his family, not woman. So man must be responsible with everything. Some man became adult but he is baby by his spiritual life. This guy never can be good husband. Because the marriage is not only sex or playing a game. In other word teenagers are young and if they are not prepared for spiritual they will have so many difficulties. In real life many teenagers are not outgrown and irresponsible. So if they are married at time they must continuing school it would be barrier for them. Therefore early married is reason of problems will come one by one because of they couldn’t get education. For instance: The biggest problem is exactly going to face with financial problems. Especially in Mongolia, it is not easy to get good job with high salaries if they are not educated. Young couple’s one of the most important problem is children. One of ways for the young couples to overcome their financial difficulties is that they both have well jobs and that they participate in making the family budget. In case, at that time they have a child that would be hard for them. So men’s obligation will grow. Women needs care more than before when they are being at gestation. If they are face with unwanted pregnancy, all of the young couples decide to do abortion or adopt their children. Reasons for divorce are formed because they didn’t learn how to deal with different problems. Their tension problems get to divorce with bad results. For example: Children orphan hood, couples hurt, wasting times, using drugs and alcohols etc. After that they will remarried with someone and divorce again. That will make them unhappy, unfaithful feelings and they begin to refuse themselves. Even though younger couples surely face with many problems, there are advantages. For example: When younger couples got adult age their children will be grown already. It makes them spend royalty times rest of their life. So they took already big experiences from life and passed away worries. Teen couples probably figure that because they feel like they are in love, they should take that extra step. In my opinion parents have to be responsible for their children when they are teenager. Because if children will make one mistake in the future result may be not a good. When I will be father if my son or daughter is ready to marriage I could agree him or she. But they have to be older than twenty. Under eighteen years old means they are still in authority of their parents. They should imitate their parents about how they understand, support, love, care of each other. If they could learn from their parents they might be well. Finally teenagers must to prepare for their future by their spiritual life, education, mental and physically.

Traditions and Beliefs

A  tradition  is a practice, custom, or  story  that is memorized and passed down from generation to generation, originally without the need for a  writing system. Traditions are often presumed to be  ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, though they may sometimes be much less â€Å"natural† than is presumed. Some traditions were deliberately invented for one reason or another, often to highlight or enhance the importance of a certain institution. Traditions may also be changed to suit the needs of the day, and the changes can become accepted as a part of the ancient tradition. Folk Beliefs, otherwise known as â€Å"Superstitious Beliefs†, forms part of a people's value systems and culture. They basically reflect the customs, traditions, and mores of a group, which has been based on religious beliefs, opinions, or popular old practices. Also they tell of how a people view the unknown and the Means to appease the gods that control the future. Filipinos still adhere to numerous widely-held folk beliefs that have no scientific or logical basis but maybe backed-up by some past experiences (yet can be dismissed as mere coincidence). Some are still practiced to this day primarily because of ‘there's nothing to lose if we comply' attitude while the others are totally ignored for it seemed downright ridiculous. A number of Filipinos have Folk Beliefs about life, family, luck, wealth, etc. Some of which were presented by the four groups last Monday, April 26, 2010. I have noticed that almost all groups presented folk beliefs about courtship and marriage. Courtship is one that is still being practiced among the strictest of the Filipino families. This is performed by the male (who is the suitor since it is wrong to do it the opposite way) visiting the home of the female. In the olden days, courtship doesn't start until the male suitor had obtained permission from the parents. This was done with the male suitor being accompanied by another respectable elder and approaching either the father or the mother of the female and obtaining permissions days in advanced to visit at a particular day and time. Nowadays this form of getting the parent's permission is still being practiced in the provinces, however, due to western influences, there are ome variations more adaptable to the modern times. One alternative is to make a phone call, asking for the parents' or guardian's permission through an elder to schedule a visit. Another way is for the suitor to approach the parents in a public place, and informally asking for permission to visit. Either way, it is to show proper respect to ask for permission prior to the formal visit. Proper ly greeting the parents by placing the back of the right hand of the parents to the suitor's forehead is practiced to show respect. This is called pagmamano in Tagalog. When the permission has been granted, the suitor whether accompanied by a friend or an elder will visit the girl's home and offers gifts. Gift bags or boxes of goodies or Filipino snacks purchased from a local store and flowers are generally given. The snacks or other goods are offered to the family of the girl then the flowers and special sweets (like chocolate or candies) are given to the girl. In a strict Filipino home, during courtship, the parents are present during the first visit. This is the opportunity to get to know each other. This is sometimes called courting the parents first and winning their hearts and approval then letting the boy or suitor court the girl. Subsequent visits are then scheduled if all went well during the first visit and, depending on how long the courtship will last; the answer is given by the girl with the parents' knowledge as well. After the courtship stage and the girl decides that she also would like to take the suitor's offer of love and commitment, then the girl will give the favorable answer to the suitor. At times it takes months before the answer is given. In the olden days, strict parents would sometimes give a series of tests, having the suitor do some chores like fetching some water from the well, cutting firewood to be used for cooking dinner, helping the father of the girl do some yard or farm work. Nowadays, a more modern approach is being performed by the suitor whereby he offers gentlemanly help to the parents, sometimes carrying groceries as he sees them walking down the streets, offering them a ride if he happens to be driving their way, doing other favors that can help win their favor and better his chances of getting the girl's love as well. After the girl announces to the parents that she is ready to be engaged the parents would be around to congratulate the suitor. From then on, the suitor is treated like a member of the family. Sometimes, even before marriage, the suitor is introduced to the friends and relatives of the girl's immediate family as future part of the family or future son-in-law. Engagements may take longer than a year, and then the date shall be set for marriage. During the waiting period they are free to go on dates, at times with a chaperone. Nowadays, after the first few chaperoned dates they can date on their own, especially those who live in the cities where it is not as strict as in the rural areas of the country. When the two decides that they are ready to get married, then the pamamanhikan (official request of the male and his parents or guardians for the girl's hand in marriage) begins. This is usually done in the evening after dinner. Then, if the parents of the girl agree, they will give them their blessings and set the date of the wedding. The engagement sometimes last from several months to a couple of years due to extensive preparations. The majority of Filipino weddings are now Catholic weddings, but some native traditions remain. Most have special â€Å"sponsors† who act as witnesses to the marriage. The principal sponsors could be godparents, counselors, a favorite uncle and aunt, even a parent. Secondary sponsors handle special parts of the ceremony, such as the candle, cord and veil ceremonies. Candle sponsors light two candles, which the bride and groom use to light a single candle to symbolize the joining of the two families and to invoke the light of Christ in their married life. Veil sponsors place a white veil over the bride's head and the groom's shoulders, a symbol of two people clothed as one. Cord sponsors drape the yugal (a decorative silk cord) in a figure-eight shape–to symbolize everlasting fidelity–over the shoulders of the bride and groom. The groom gives the bride 13 coins, or arrhae, blessed by the priest, as a sign of his dedication to his wife's well-being and the welfare of their future children. The four groups, as far as I can remember, presented more beliefs and traditions about death, marriage, life and luck. These were: †¢ The table should not be cleared while an unmarried woman is still eating because she might end up an old maid. †¢ Do not sweep your floor at night or else you are sweeping your luck out of the house. †¢ If one cuts his fingernails at night, a member of the family will die. †¢ One must not organize teams of 3 or 13, otherwise one member will die. †¢ Eating Pancit on their birthday will enable them to live longer. †¢ The use of the word â€Å"Po† or â€Å"Opo† means â€Å"Yes† in a very polite manner. It is usually said by a young person to an elder. Holding a family reunion to celebrate a birthday in the family, fiestas, for Christmas or New Year's Celebration. †¢ One must be able to have â€Å"handa† during feast days. The first belief tells me that when you clear the table while an unmarried woman is still eating, that woman will stay single all her life. I still don’t believe in such belief because I have met and seen single women getting married even if this clearing of tables while they ate happened to them. This is also my very first time to hear such belief. The second belief is one I heard when I was still very young. I was at my grandfather’s house at Negros Oriental one summer. One night, there housemaid swept the floor and was scolded by my grandfather’s sister for doing such act. I wondered why and so I asked my parents about it. They, too, didn’t know why sweeping floors during night was not allowed. Now, I know why. I still don’t believe in such belief although luck in that house has gone in and out. I believe it’s just coincidental when someone sweeps during the night and then you become very unlucky in the future. The third belief is somehow coincidental for me when you cut your fingernails and someone in your family dies. I have also tried a lot of times already cutting my nails at night and I have also tried losing a member of my family already but I don’t think it was because of what I did. I don’t see any connection between cutting fingernails during the night and death. With the fourth belief, I have heard this since I was in my grade school years. I still hear such until now. I usually go around with two of my very close friends. We always take pictures of ourselves yet not one of us has died, fortunately. I was told that whoever is in the middle will die first. It sounds pretty scary at first especially when I was still very young and innocent. However, as I grew up and hear such, it becomes lame to me and somehow funny because I have had lots of experience already with having two friends with me. The group presented this by three people who was about to take a picture of themselves and then their friend told them they shouldn’t be three otherwise the one in the middle will die. And so they invited more people to join them so they wouldn’t be three. The fifth belief tells me that eating Pancit will make your life longer. I always hear such especially during festivities and celebrations. On birthday celebrations, there is always pancit on the table because it is said that this will make you live longer on earth. They always say â€Å"pansit, pampahaba ng buhay†. I’m pretty sure it is such because pancit is long. We don’t usually practice such tradition in our family. The sixth belief shows respect to the older people when you say Opo or Po. It is our tradition to say such. We also â€Å"mano† or kiss the right hand of an older person when we greet them. Actually, you don't really kiss that hand. You just bow a bit, and gently take the older person's right hand with your right hand, and move it towards your own forehead. Sometimes, it's the back of their hand that touches your forehead. In our family, we practice such tradition as a sign of respect. When we got to our province in Negros and get to meet with the very many relatives of ours, we â€Å"mano† every older relative. Other relatives of ours especially my aunts and uncles who are in their late 20’s and early 30’s wont let us â€Å"mano† them because they don’t want to be â€Å"old†. The seventh and eight traditions have been practiced for years by almost all Filipinos. These happenings bring family members together especially those who are living away or are working in different places and rarely have the chance or time to come home. The presence of family visitors and reuniting members delight the other members of the family, aside from stories and gossips to tell. And, if a visitor is a foreigner or a relative who comes from abroad, the family is very proud especially when the neighbors are around, and offers everything just to please the visitor. Once the visitor is gone, the family will either praise or mock the visitor. It’s mostly not the presence but the presents. We always celebrate feast days by having handa and inviting people to eat inside the house. In our family, we do the same during our village’s fiesta. We invite friends, relatives and neighbors to dine and celebrate with us. Such tradition brings families and friends closer and patches up the times you missed together. With the very many traditions and beliefs of the Filipinos, I can say we only practice a few. Our family is not the type who believes in such beliefs. We only practice those traditions that are very common like celebrating festivities and occasions and giving of gifts during special days. I don’t believe in these beliefs because they sound ridiculous for me but I respect them and the people who believe in them. We were not raised believing in folk beliefs because they are mere stories and doesn’t have any connection with the real world. Sometimes, I wonder why people have made so many beliefs. Is it their way of scaring people especially beliefs about death and misfortune? I believe it is only you who can bring luck to yourself and it is not harmful to believe and practice such beliefs and traditions. I just learned that folk beliefs are not real and not practical and one’s life must not always work around with beliefs.

Barton Case Study Essay

After analyzing the case, the theories and concepts that relate are: 1. 1 Evidence-Based Management (EBM) theory uses the best available evidence for making managerial decisions. The basic problem that Karen Barton faces with Dave Palmer is that he focused only on the reports that contained mostly qualitative benefits from the programs and did not contain much quantitative benefits and accordingly made his decision of cutting the budget. Whereas Organizational Behavior (OB) states that a manager should use all the three approaches of intuition, faddism and systematic study together. It states the use of evidence to inform the intuition and experience. 1. 2 Dave palmer also faces Overconfidence and Availability Bias, as he believed too much in his ability to make good decision when it was outside of his own expertise. As he was convinced after the telephonic conversation with Barton that there was nothing more left to discuss even though the last-and the-only executive education program he attended was ages ago in 1980. He even emphasized on information that was most readily at hand and ignored the fact that in-house program if introduced, could reinforce Stockton’s three-pronged agenda and it would smoothen the integration process. 1. 3 Equity theory explains that employees indulge into comparisons of the ratios of their own outcomes and efforts with those of others to check whether they are treated more or less favorably. Similarly in the case Karen compared her executive education budget cut by more than 75% to training for lower-level employees by only 10% which made her feel under-compensated and less favorable and secondly when Freita pointed out that he had to demonstrate the bottom line impact for every budget cycle Karen pointed out that If he could spend money on equipment maintenance, modification and improvement, Why couldn’t she do the same for people. This inequity motivated her to attain her goal. 1. 4 â€Å"Adjustment function† of attitudes enables a person to bend according to a new situation and to conclude how to act in future so as to attain benefits from such situations in future. In the case we see Karen was disappointed, judgmental and aggressive initially but later on her attitude changed towards the situation and she started to be more practical and relaxed in her approach, as it was critical for her to get the best out of the case that she would put forward in front of Palmer. 1. 5 Attribution Theory in social perception is when we see others behavior we want to understand why people behave the way they do. Karen similarly wanted to understand how Palmer’s mind worked and so she scanned through Palmer’s bio to decide on how she should make her case to get him on her side so that he approves it. 2. HOW SHOULD BARTON MAKE HER CASE FOR EXECUTIVE EDUCATION? From Barton’s chat with Freitas and Palmer we can infer that palmer is a clear-headed person who believes in performance and evidence. We also get an idea from her conversation with Freitas that her ambitious budget may create an interdepartmental rivalry within the firm. Keeping all these points in mind Barton requires a presentation that demonstrates both the qualitative as well as quantitative advantages of the executive education program and answers why does Zendal need these programs the most when the firm is dealing with recession and a merger. Firstly she will have to convince Palmer that the executive education programs have come a long way since 1980’s and that the executive education programs are not the same that they used to be when he attended them. She may cite the example of Dreyer’s Grand Ice cream firm. This will obviously not convince her boss, but will help her in getting the needed attention and seriousness from Dave Palmer’s part. She should start her case by showing Palmer the studies that clearly demonstrate a link between executive education, performance in management and shareholders value. She must tie up executive education programs with the business drivers of the firm and explain how the programs will help the firm in achieving them fast. Then she should talk to Palmer about the kind of leaders he wants in his organization. ‘Are the leaders of Zendal better than its competitors? What is unique about Zendal’s leaders? The aim of this would be to try to make Palmer realize how an in house executive education program will help Zendal in creating leaders that are different and better than its competitors. Also, the managers of the firm need to formulate fresh strategies to deal with recession and since a new firm has been acquired, the new executives should be made familiar with the existing culture of Zendal as they may find it hard to adjust according to their culture, which would ultimately lead to an inefficient performance from their part. Both these problems can be solved with a single stroke of an in-house executive education program. She must also state in her meeting that the employees who would attend these programs will be closely monitored and it will be made sure that they use the acquired knowledge. For the quantitative part she may follow the following framework to calculate ROI, on which Dave Palmer has been insisting upon. Investment * Tuition * Salary * Cost of not being able to be not be on the job Add all these up and we will get total cost (per participant) Return * NPV of improved capability in 2 years * NPV of improved team skill in 2 years * NPV of improved ability to make judgment in 2 years. Add all these up and we will get total financial results of the project But to employ this type of framework, the project must be first approved. For the time being she can show him all the satisfaction reports that she has been getting filled from employees who attend a program and explain how she is careful about the company’s funds and discourages employees from attending programs that have been rated â€Å"poor† or â€Å"Below average† three times in a row. Lastly to get her funds approved she needs to assure Palmer that there will be no inter departmental rivalry within the organization due to release of huge funds from the upper management. For that, her HR unit must go and talk to each of the departmental heads and understand their problems and design the education program according to their needs. This will help in two ways, firstly this approach will not generalize the program and serve the firm better by being precise and secondly the conversation with departmental heads will make the heads understand that spending of this huge amount is for the good of their own departments, Thus also solving the problem of interdepartmental rivalry. 3. REFLECTION UPON OUR EXPERIENCES OF WORKING IN A GROUP: Working with this group was an enriching learning experience for all the group members. It brought some difficulty and stress, because group members had different views on the case study but with the help of discussions and mutual understanding we decided which view to go with for the report. This was also an advantage of working in a group since we got to know many diverse opinions. The group went through the various stages of formation of a group. In the ‘Form’ stage of the group, the members were Aarti Sharma, Arjun Kumar, Pallav Goel, Sakshi Dixit, Vishal Chaudhary, Vipul and Yamini Arora. During the ‘Storm’ stage, the entire process of working in our group was very systematic in order to avoid any chaos. For the commencement, Aarti called for a group meeting to discuss about the assignment and bring the group together. She invited all members by sending mails. It was then decided that each member would read the case study and analyze the problems of the case study. Sakshi gave the print outs to each group member three days before the group meeting. In the ‘Norm’ stage, the group meeting was held and each member shared their views on the case study, key points were figured out and accordingly work was divided among the members. The task of putting together the entire project was assigned to Pallav. The group then ‘performed’ their assigned duties and in the ‘adjourn’ stage, since this group was created for a one-time task, the group was then dispersed. The whole group describes: * Aarti as an enthusiastic, dedicated and encouraging group member. She was good at analyzing the problems, performed writing and made us work as a whole group together. * Arjun was serious towards the case study and gave every possible contribution to the assignment on his part. * Pallav as proficient and hardworking. He devoted all the required time for the project and helped to bring together the entire project. * Sakshi as a reliable group member who timely completed the assigned tasks and played a role in communication with various non-boarding group members. * Yamini as an active participant in the group meetings and played an important part in analyzing various OB theories and concepts. She also took part in writing the project. * Vipul as a responsible team member as in spite of being unwell, he was in contact with the group throughout and put in his share of work and participated whole heartedly. * Vishal was a part of analyzing the case. The group decided to not elect a leader but selected a coordinator in order to pass information to all group members. Each of us displayed leadership qualities in the group at various times. We influenced each other’s behavior, actions and encouraged each other to dedicate time on the assignment. . Each group member was committed to the group and made contributions according to his/her potential. All inclusive, It was a satisfying experience of working with this group because we worked as a team with planning and learnt to work without any personal prejudices. REFERENCES: * Kesner, I, Burnett, S, Morrison, M, Tichy, N, & Ownes, D 2003, ‘Leadership Development: Perk or Priority? ‘, Harvard Business Review, 81, 5, pp. 29-38, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 20 October 2012. * Bolt, JF 1993, ‘Ten Years of Change in Executive Education’, Training & Development, 47, 8, p. 43, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 20 October 2012. * Traindis, H. C. (1971),Attitudes and Attitude Change,John Wiley and Sons. * Eagly,A. ,and Chaiken,S. (1993),Psychology of Attitudes,NY,Harcourt and Brace Jovanovich.