Friday, March 28, 2008

Factors that motivate your employees at work

There are five factors that must be present in your workplace for your employees to be glad and motivated at job. Your employees need regard, to be members of the in-crowd, to affect decision making about their jobs, to get the chance to rise and produce, and access to rational leadership.
  • Respect is the fundamental right of every employee in every workplace. If people feel as if they are treated with respect, they usually respond with respect and dignified actions. Part of respect is praise and feedback so people know how they are doing at work.
  • Employees want to feel as if they are members of the in-crowd. This means that they know and have access to information as quickly as anyone else in your workplace.
  • Employees want to learn new skills, develop their capabilities, and grow their knowledge and careers.
  • Making developmental opportunities available to each employee demonstrates your commitment to helping them develop their careers. They appreciate this.
  • Employees want to have an impact on decisions that are made about their jobs.
  • Employee involvement and employee empowerment help to create engaged employees willing to put forth their discretionary energy for the business.
  • Employees do want leadership. They want a sense of being on the right track, going somewhere that has been defined and is important. They like being part of something bigger than themselves. Employees like to know that someone, who is trustworthy, is in charge.
If these factors existed in ever workplace, productivity, motivation, and happiness would soar.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Advantages of Pay Per Click Management

Pay Per Click advertising (PPC Management) offers is a new and effective way of attracting potential customers to the business. If you have a site or not you can use PPC management to reach customers online. PPC campaign programs are useful in building brand awareness and to turn visitors into buyers and are a great complement to your existing online and offline ad campaigns.

Advertising is most effective if right audience is targeted. PPC allows focusing advertising on specific geographic region. If the business is local, it helps to target that metro area. If products or services are more widely available, it can be expanded to reach for potential customers. PPC Management gives chance to connect with the online customer market by creating a simple online ad that highlights products/services. One PPC ad usually gets into an entire network of online yellow pages and local business search sites. This helps to gain immediate access to millions of potential customers.

With traditional offline advertising methods it is difficult to know if ad is reaching the intended target audience and if it’s inspiring them to take action. PPC makes it easy to track the customer response rate. It gives instant feedback on who is responding to the ads and how many of those contacts are converting to sales. With monthly metrics, who is clicking on ad can be found and can update the advertising strategy to maximize the results accordingly. It can be used to test and tweak adverting creatives, placement, categories and even Website landing page to meet the needs of the customers more precisely. A quick feedback can be incorporated immediately. The total control on the cost of PPC will in the hands of advertiser. One can set their own periodic budget for the ads.

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The Origin of the Oscar

“Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” presents the Annual awards of merit in the U.S. Louis B. Mayer and others formed the Academy in 1927: to raise the standards of film production, and its first awards were presented in 1929. The awards (nicknamed Oscars) recognize excellence in acting, directing, screenwriting, and other activities related to film production.

The root of the name "Oscar" is contested. One biography of Bette Davis claims that she named the Oscar after her first husband, bandleader Harmon Oscar Nelson. Another claimed origin is that of the Academy’s Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, who first saw the award in 1931 and made reference of the statuette reminding her of her Uncle Oscar. Columnist Sidney Skolsky was present during Herrick’s naming and seized the name in his byline, "Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette 'Oscar'”. Both Oscar and Academy Award are registered trademarks of the Academy, fiercely protected through litigation and threats thereof.

There are a few stories as to how the Oscar got its name:

  • The Academy librarian and executive director Margaret Herrick said that the statuette reminded her of her Uncle Oscar.
  • Bette Davis claimed she noted aloud the resemblance of Oscar's backside to that of her husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson.
  • The first documented mention of the name was in 1934, when columnist Sidney Skolsky referred to Katharine Hepburn's first Best Actress Oscar. He says he was tired of writing "the Golden Statue of the Academy," and fell back on the name Oscar from an old vaudeville joke he had heard.
  • The statuette weighs 8.5 lb/3.9 kg and is 13.5"/34.3 cm tall. It takes three to four weeks for a team of 12 to cast 50 statuettes. Each one is handled with white gloves.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Reasons Why You Need To Volunteer

There is much to be gained when you volunteer. However, the following list is particularly relevant to any student moving towards a career: Develop skills, gain skills and knowledge that may help you get paid work. Also develop qualities useful in all workplaces: punctuality, dependability, the ability to work on a team and the ability to handle pressure. Everyone needs practice in decision-making, problem solving and leadership.

Gain work experience volunteer jobs provide hands-on learning experience and give you the opportunity to apply your academic knowledge. In addition, you gain practical experience and qualifications to enhance your resume. Find out about the work world discover the realities of the work world. You’ll gain practical knowledge about organizations and how they work on a day-to-day basis.

Learn to market yourself. Marketing your best assets will be easier after filling out job application forms and going to interviews in the volunteer world. Explore career options. Volunteering gives you a chance to discover whether or not you’re really suited to a particular line of work. To explore select assignments that place you in the type of setting you want to learn about; ask for as much training as you can get; ask to be promoted to more challenging tasks; and work side-by-side with professionals who can answer questions about their careers.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

How to Move to a New Apartment

Moving to a new apartment is always fun and exciting adventure but at the same time we have to do lots of work-not to mention very stressful. When I am moving the Miami apartment I experienced by the same problem. Here are some suggestions that might make your transition a little easier.
  • Get boxes from grocery stores rather than buying them. Don't forget about the value of large plastic trash bags - just be careful not to throw them out!! And also choose boxes in sizes that will be easy for one person to carry, just in case you find yourself moving most of it on your own.
  • Start the moving process as soon as you can find time to. The more dispensable items you can pack as early on as possible, the less you'll have to worry about when it gets down to the wire.
  • Keep the breakable items (dishes, knick-knacks, pictures, et cetera) in old newspaper, towels, bed sheets, even clothing.
  • And label your boxes as you pack - kitchen, living room, bath, etc. Also make a list of contents on each box, to make it easier to find certain things when unpacking. And also label in breakable items.
  • After packing your belongings take the decision of hiring movers. Before you select the movers ask their secure policies.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Bridge The Generation Gap

One of the thoughts that go through any team member’s head while forming a team would be the composition of the team members age in a team. Does the team need any experienced, say old guy, or it can happen by all the young guns. But who is this generation Y? Does any team really have to have them? Each generation can feel that the other is all messed up in one way or another and that things would be better if they were done as they should be. Next, mutual respect, teamwork, and flexibility are quickly replaced with rice bowls, stovepipes, and cold shoulders. When you get down to basics, the generation gaps aren’t that wide.

Everyone wants to be able to trust the people they work with, no one really likes change when they think they’re going to lose from it, everyone likes feedback and everyone wants to learn. Even when differences become apparent roadblocks, teams should embrace them. That diversity can be the catalyst for true growth and for expanding into new horizons! To break down the generational barriers and get down to team basics, try these strategies.

Play some team building games. Any simple one can do - building a structure from playing cards, an office scavenger hunt like games can quickly break down barriers, engage people toward a common purpose, and lighten the atmosphere. Take time at each team meeting to spotlight a team member and get to know that person as a person - where they are from, what their hobbies are, and what they liked to do when they were young. Team members will quickly find out how much they have in common vs. how much they think they are different. Do a Freaky fun day! Take a day and let team workers switch roles and responsibilities so they get a comprehensive view of what the other deals with. A decent walk in another’s shoes will usually help with clarity!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Local Government Of The United States

There are 87,000 local governments, including 3,034 counties, 19,498 municipalities, 16,500 townships, 13,500 school districts, and 35,000 other special districts, which deal with issues, like fire protection. To a greater extent than on the federal or state level, the local governments directly serve the needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation, and housing.
About 28% of the people live in cities of 100,000 or more population.
City governments are chartered by states, and their charters detail the objectives and powers of the municipal government. But in many respects the cities function independently of the states. For most big cities, however, cooperation with both state and federal organizations is essential to meeting the needs of their residents.
Types of city governments vary widely across the nation. However, almost all have some kind of central council, elected by the voters, and an executive officer, assisted by various department heads, to manage the city's affairs.
There are three general types of city government: the mayor-council, the commission, and the council-manager. These are the pure forms; many cities have developed a combination of two or three of them.
Mayor-Council. This is the oldest form of city government in the United States and, until the beginning of the 20th century, was used by nearly all American cities. Its structure is similar to that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch and an elected council that represents the various neighborhoods forming the legislative branch. The mayor appoints heads of city departments and other officials, sometimes with the approval of the council. He or she has the power of veto over ordinances — the laws of the city — and frequently is responsible for preparing the city's budget. The council passes city ordinances, sets the tax rate on property, and apportions money among the various city departments. As cities have grown, council seats have usually come to represent more than a single neighborhood. (Ex. Tampa, Florida has used a Mayor-Council system of government since 1983.)
The Commission. This combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected citywide. Each commissioner supervises the work of one or more city departments. One is named chairperson of the body and is often called the mayor, although his or her power is equivalent to that of the other commissioners.
Council-Manager. The city manager is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems, which require management expertise not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of the executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager.
The city manager plan has been adopted by a growing number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up the city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with his or her work
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Tuesday, January 8, 2008

County Vs. Municipal Government In US

All the states are divided into counties (referred to as boroughs in Alaska and parishes in Louisiana) though only a portion of Alaska is so divided. Connecticut and Rhode Island have completely eliminated county government, and Massachusetts has partially eliminated it. These can exist both for the implementation of the state government's policies, and also as local governments in there own right. The locality that houses the county’s main offices is known as the county seat. Municipalities are generally formally incorporated entities in built-up areas. They usually operate with a degree of autonomy.
Both types of government often operate in the same area, albeit with different responsibilities. Generally in heavily urbanized areas the city government will have considerable powers, with the county government conversely having relatively few (or even none).
Unlike in some other countries, both types of government often have powers to tax both local residents and businesses and to incur public debt. In some areas this means the power to raise a local income tax. County governments in some states also have the ability to add a percentage to the state sales tax. In California, Proposition 13, a 1978 amendment to the state constitution, strictly limits the taxation power of municipalities. Responsibilities of county governments generally include local highway maintenance as well as the provision of refuse collection and recycling facilities in unincorporated areas. Municipal governments are usually responsible for public safety (policing and the fire department).In most states county and municipal governments exists side-by-side. There are exceptions to this, however; in Virginia, for example, a number of major urban areas exist as independent cities, which exist outside the county framework; similarly, some states have merged city and county governments for some of their biggest cities (examples of this are Carson City in Nevada and San Francisco in California). In Connecticut, Rhode Island, and parts of Massachusetts, counties exist only to designate boundaries for such state-level functions as park districts (Connecticut) or judicial offices (Massachusetts). In areas lacking an incorporated municipal government, the county government is generally responsible for providing all services.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

GNSS Augmentation

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is the standard generic term for satellite navigation systems that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. A GNSS allows small electronic receivers to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude) to within a few meters using time signals transmitted along a line of sight by radio from satellites. Receivers on the ground with a fixed position can also be used to calculate the precise time as a reference for scientific experiments.
As of 2007, the United States NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only fully operational GNSS. The Russian GLONASS is a GNSS in the process of being restored to full operation. The European Union's Galileo positioning system is a next generation GNSS in the initial deployment phase, scheduled to be operational in 2010. China has indicated it may expand its regional Beidou navigation system into a global system. India's IRNSS, a next generation GNSS is in developmental phase and is scheduled to be operational around 2012.
GNSS Augmentation involves using external information, often integrated into the calculation process, to improve the accuracy, availability, or reliability of the satellite navigation signal. There are many such systems in place and they are generally named or described based on how the GNSS sensor receives the information. Some systems transmit additional information about sources of error (such as clock drift, ephemeris, or ionosphere delay), others provide direct measurements of how much the signal was off in the past, while a third group provide additional navigational or vehicle information to be integrated in the calculation process.
Examples of augmentation systems include the Wide Area Augmentation System, the European Geo-stationary Navigation Overlay Service, the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System, Differential GPS, and Inertial Navigation Systems.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

What Is Globalization?

Globalization has become a bĂȘte noire for all sorts of people - activists and academics, reformists and revolutionaries. At a time when nationalism is resurgent, we see an internationalization of struggle. And yet confusion reins confusion over our objectives, our ideals, our methods and goals. A confusion that could be fatal if we miss our chance when it is presented to us we might not get another one. We are living in critical times. Therefore in the following pages we examine the background to globalization, the struggle against it and some of the confusions and misunderstandings that surround it. The current trend for opposing globalization appears to have fallen for an inverted version of the same illusion that those in favor of it suffer from - that what is occurring is something new and radically different to what has gone before. The things that are identified as constituting globalization - free trade, the free movement of capital, the growth of international regulatory bodies and institutions, the expansion of multinationals and the creation of one global 'culture' - are new in the sense that they are new forms of organization and structure but in essence they are a continuation of what has gone before.

Capital has always been global. The capitalist system is the most adaptable and voracious in history. From its beginning it has been driven by the need to constantly expand or die; the changes that have occurred in recent years are an expression of this need. Globalization is 'worse' in the sense that it represents an attempt at extending and intensifying capital's grip on humanity, but it is not worse, as some seem to imply, in opposition to a mythical idealized past when capitalism was nice and local and the state intervened to protect us against the markets. The logic is the same now as it always been - to exploit people and nature to the maximum extent possible. The fact that in some previous eras this exploitation may have taken place in a way that was softer or more 'democratic' doesn't change its essential nature.


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Thursday, December 13, 2007

How To Build Commitment In Your Relationship?

Do you know how can a person reduce his/her conflicts and increase relationship commitment? Here are four steps you can use to increase the commitment in your relationship:
  • Take time to validate your partner-- This simple concept seldom occurs when couples are arguing and fighting. If you want to quickly change your relationship, begin by letting your partner know how much you appreciate him/her. Ask yourself the question, "When was the last time I let my partner know how much I loved him/her?"
  • Be honest-- One thing that creates instant conflict is lying or telling partial truths. Honesty is the backbone of healthy relationships. If you want to deepen the level of commitment in your relationship, make sure that you are telling the truth in all of your communication.
  • Be loyal-- When your partner knows that you are loyal to them, their heart is calmed. Loyalty is expressed by supporting them. There is a great story about Nancy Reagan showing support to President Reagan. Peter Robinson reports this. He tells of a story where Nancy was hosting a dinner, while President Reagan was gone. At the dinner two people started discussing something that President Reagan did that caused one of them to not be elected in his race. Frustrated Nancy asked them to stop talking about her husband that way. They acknowledged her, but a few minutes later returned to the conversation. At that point she got up and went to the offending party and directly told him to stop talking about her husband that way. Such loyalty does not go unrecognized.
  • Express your commitment-- You can express your commitment in many ways, none will be more powerful than by your actions. We show commitment by being consistent, reliable, and dependable. Commitment also is manifest when we verbally tell our partner that we want a good relationship. It might sound something like this; "I want to let you know that I love being with you. I am committed to doing whatever I can to make this relationship an outstanding one." People generally don't say things like this, but what would be the outcome if they did?

If you want to reduce the level of conflict in your relationships, discover the power of commitment. You can do so by implementing the four strategies outlined above.

Overview of Facebook

Facebook. You have heard about it by now, whether from your teenager or a friend, or lately you've read about it in the business section. If you think that Facebook is just a Web site for high school and college kids to share funny pictures and stories, you are dead wrong. Facebook is a social networking website, launched on February 4, 2004. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a former Harvard student. Facebook has already become one of the most popular social networking sites in the world, with some 50 million users today, and that number has been doubling every six months. A large and growing percentage of Facebook users are over the age of 23. There are nearly 6 million Facebook users over the age of 23 in the United States, and more than 4 million users each in Canada and the UK. In fact, US users under the age of 24 make up only 30 percent of all Facebook users. Whether or not you completely understand social media or social networking sites, the one aspect you must understand is that they are going to change the way businesses advertise. Facebook is constantly evolving and improving its users' experience with new features and applications.