Fashionably Loud Essays - Fashion, Television Advertisement, Model

Time Management Action Plan Essay Example For Students

Time Management Action Plan Essay For me it appears as though there is such a large number of undertakings to finish and occasional sufficient opportunity. Powerful and proficient time the board is something that I have opportunity to get better on and have extraordinary utilization of. I began by taking a period the executives review. #1 Accept Problem My outcomes from this symptomatic overview on time the board guaranteed me that my time the executives abilities are low. The study uncovered that I am on the base of the size of time the executives. There were two areas of the overview. One segment estimated your time the executives abilities in an office setting and the other area estimated your time the board aptitude in your own life. By having two segments you can think about your time the executives aptitudes for the two unique settings. The all out score quantifies your general time the board abilities and it likewise places the score in a class. My scores of 27 focuses for individual life and 31 focuses for office settings joins to a 58 point absolute score. My consolidated score falls in to the least class that proposes that preparation is essential and will extensively upgrade my viability. We will compose a custom paper on Time Management Action Plan explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now The initial step of taking care of an issue is distinguishing it. In the wake of taking this study I have verification that my time the executives aptitudes are low. Time the board has been quite a while issue for me. I have constantly discovered reasons for not getting things done on schedule or running late. My principle pardon is being engaged with such a large number of things as an understudy. The entirety of this is valid, yet it shouldnt be a reason. I presently fill in as a lifeguard between classes, mentor evenings and ends of the week, work at a bar ends of the week, I hold a VP position in American Marketing Association, I am a citizen for Human Resource Management, group chief for Cleveland States division I swimming club, and I am co-president for Student Athletic Advisory Board. Great time the executives is required for every one of these additional items. In the event that I could improve my time the executives abilities I figure I would show signs of improvement in many things that I do. I would have the option to improve my evaluations in school and be better in the workforce. I would be increasingly loose and have a vibe of control. #2, Goals and Priorities The initial phase in adequately overseeing time is to build up an announcement of long-go objectives. This announcement of objectives will permit you to set short range objectives and to organize explicit exercises as indicated by the amount they add to your objectives. Defining these long-go objectives might be troublesome. The procedure can drive you to stand up to choices that you have been putting off, or esteem gives that you dont need to deal with. My drawn out objectives, middle of the road, and momentary objectives could look something like this: Long haul Career Goal: Vocation as a Small Business Manager/Owner (6 to 8 years). Transitional Career Goals: Enter a MBA program in Business Management (3 to 5 years). Graduate Assistantship at the Bachelors level (2 to 4 years). Momentary Personal Goals: (Present): Major in business. Courses in the board, financial matters, and bookkeeping. At any rate a 3.5 normal for my lone wolves degree. Improve my profession best swim times. #3, Daily, Weekly, and Semester Scheduling To be compelling in time the executives, week after week time association is important. A semester-long schedule to spread out the entirety of your significant commitments is a decent apparatus too. Without having unmistakably characterized objectives, booking will be hard for two reasons. To begin with, there won't be any rules to use for organizing your exercises; and second, there will be inconvenience discovering inspiration to finish the assignments in the calendar. I may, for instance, be enticed to go out to see a film as opposed to examining bookkeeping. Two general ways to deal with week after week planning can function admirably. The first is genuinely basic and includes a day by day rundown of things ought to be achieve that day. .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 , .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 .postImageUrl , .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 .focused content region { min-stature: 80px; position: relative; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 , .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914:hover , .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914:visited , .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914:active { border:0!important; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 .clearfix:after { content: ; show: table; clear: both; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 { show: square; progress: foundation shading 250ms; webkit-change: foundation shading 250ms; width: 100%; murkiness: 1; change: mistiness 250ms; webkit-progress: darkness 250ms; foundation shading: #95A5A6; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914:active , .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914:hover { obscurity: 1; progress: haziness 250ms; webkit-progress: haziness 250ms; foundation shading: #2C3E50; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 .focused content region { width: 100%; position: relati ve; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 .ctaText { fringe base: 0 strong #fff; shading: #2980B9; text dimension: 16px; textual style weight: intense; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; content enhancement: underline; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 .postTitle { shading: #FFFFFF; text dimension: 16px; text style weight: 600; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; width: 100%; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 .ctaButton { foundation shading: #7F8C8D!important; shading: #2980B9; outskirt: none; outskirt sweep: 3px; box-shadow: none; text dimension: 14px; textual style weight: striking; line-tallness: 26px; moz-fringe span: 3px; content adjust: focus; content embellishment: none; content shadow: none; width: 80px; min-tallness: 80px; foundation: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/modules/intelly-related-posts/resources/pictures/basic arrow.png)no-rehash; position: total; right: 0; top: 0; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914:hover .ctaButton { foundation shading: #34495E!important; } .u4995cd75c65 edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914 .focused content { show: table; tallness: 80px; cushioning left: 18px; top: 0; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914-content { show: table-cell; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; cushioning right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-adjust: center; width: 100%; } .u4995cd75c65edfaeb1f6bbefcd8cf914:after { content: ; show: square; clear: both; } READ: Mccarthyism And The Crucible Essay In request to utilize this technique, objectives are fundamental. What exercises and commitments are fundamental for the following a little while? This will permit you to make an every day list and adjust and organize with an away from of your present moment and day by day objectives. This sort of approach bids to me since I dont like to be secured in 60 minutes by-hour plan. Following is a case of a two-day time frame utilizing the day by day .

Hair Loss as a Bipolar Medication Side Effect

Hair Loss as a Bipolar Medication Side Effect Bipolar Disorder Treatment Medications Print Hair Loss as a Bipolar Medication Side Effect By Marcia Purse Marcia Purse is a mental health writer and bipolar disorder advocate who brings strong research skills and personal experiences to her writing. Learn about our editorial policy Marcia Purse Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on December 28, 2015 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on January 19, 2020 Bipolar Disorder Overview Symptoms & Diagnosis Causes Treatment Living With In Children Your Rights Peter Cade Collection / Getty Images Its fairly well known that Lithium and Depakote (valproate) can frequently cause hair to start staying in your brush or comb instead of on your head. Some other medications prescribed for bipolar disorder also may cause thinning hair (alopecia).?? The list includes: Tegretol (carbamazepine) (less common)Prozac (fluoxetine) (less common to rare)All the tricyclic antidepressants (rare) Some other drugs that are reported to cause hair loss are: Trileptal (oxcarbazepine)Lamictal (lamotrigine) And these may have thinning hair as a rare side effect: Haldol (haloperidol)Zyprexa (olanzapine)Risperdal (risperidone)Klonopin (clonazepam)BuSpar (buspirone) In these cases, hair loss or thinning hair are not listed on the labels as a known side effect, but many people report problems with hair falling out on these medications. The American Hair Loss Association lists other antidepressants in addition to those above that can cause hair loss or thinning hair.?? Antidepressants That Can Cause Hair Loss Why Hair Loss Occurs Lithium can cause thyroid problems which are associated with losing hair. Other than that, it isnt specifically known why certain drugs cause thinning hair, but what happens is a process called telogen effluvium.?? Normally, most hair is in the active growing phase, while a much smaller proportion is in the resting, or telogen, phase. Growing hair pushes the resting hair out. When a medication causes many more hair follicles to enter the resting stage than is usual, there is less hair growth and more to be pushed out or pulled out, whether by shampooing, brushing and combing, or just running your hands through your hair. How Hair Grows What You Can Do Experts say the best remedy for medication-induced hair loss is to reduce the dosage of the problem medication or discontinue it. Thus, your first step should always be to discuss the situation with your doctor. Is it possible for you to change to another medication that does not cause thinning hair? A 2000 study (Mercke, et al) found that [d]iscontinuation of the medication or dose reduction almost always leads to complete hair regrowth.?? Be aware that it may take 6-12 months for hair to recover fully. Alternative treatments which some have found effective for thinning hair include these supplements: Minerals: zinc, selenium, ironVitamins: A, C, E, B6, and B12 There are also some Chinese herbs used to treat alopecia. Too much of almost any vitamin or mineral can be dangerous. Discuss any supplements you want to try with your doctor or pharmacist to make sure they wont interact negatively with your medications. A detailed reference guide to several of the supplements mentioned is available from the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.?? Above all, do not stop taking any medication on your own just because you notice falling or thinning hair. The risk to a person with bipolar disorder is just too great. Work with your doctor to find the best solution for you. Learn More About Medications to Treat Bipolar Disorder

A Death Of One s Own - 968 Words

A Death of One’s Own sheds light onto the controversial issue regarding end of life decisions, providing a few examples of people struggling with these choices. The film tells the stories of three particular individuals, Jim, Kitty, and Ricky, each with a unique end of life situation. Jim suffers from ALS and has specific care requests, 56-year-old Kitty struggles with her uterine cancer and constant pain, and Ricky is a patient dying from severe liver failure who can no longer speak and make decisions on his own. All of these individuals present different, yet similar issues regarding end of their life care. This film describes the importance of advance directives, the arguments surrounding physician assisted suicide, and this prompted me to form my own opinion on preparing my own directives and thoughts on these tough decisions. This film explains the legal role of advance directives in end of life issues. An advance directive is â€Å"a written document directing how medic al decisions are to be made in the future when the patient lacks decisional capacity and is unable to decide and choose† (Hanlon, End of Life Issues, Slide 28, Bullet 1). All three of the cases demonstrate the importance in filling out some form of directive. When there is nothing to go off of, it makes decisions extremely tough for families and medical providers. Having legal documentation of patient wishes helps understand what treatments they would or would not consent to. In cases likeShow MoreRelatedGilgamesh s Death Of The Epic Of Gilgamesh1536 Words   |  7 Pagesmore godlike as to escape death. Already two-thirds god, Gilgamesh wishes to eliminate the part of him that forces him to face death. Death becomes a large issue for Gilgamesh, one that cannot be overcome or avoided due to the fact that while he is part god he is also human, and as part human he must succumb to the fatal flaw of all humans, death. However Gilgamesh s fear of death does not surface until he wi tnesses Enkidu die. Enkidu s death causes Gilgamesh s fear of death to arise along with manyRead MoreDickinson’S Infatuation With Death.Emily Dickinson Is Well-Known1363 Words   |  6 Pages Dickinson’s Infatuation with Death Emily Dickinson is well-known due to the fact that she uses an immense amount of death in her poetry; she is also known as being reclusive and death-obsessed. Although other poets don’t typically use large amounts of death in his or her own poetry, Dickinson decided to take her own path in order to get her point across; meanwhile, some found her obsession with death rather disturbing. On the other hand, death could be interpreted through variousRead MoreThe Death Of The Red Death By Edgar Allan Poe1633 Words   |  7 Pagesof the Red Death written by Edgar Allan Poe is a Prince of his kingdom who escapes and eludes the Red Death sweeping throughout his kingdom killing all it comes into contact with. Prospero s fight or flight reaction, a built in mechanism inside all humans and his reaction to fear of his own death ultimately lead to his downfall and instead of keeping him alive prove unable to beat the elutable and all mighty red death. Picture a scenario where you are put to the test to see your own flight or fightRead MoreHero Hamlet And His Jumbling Journey1527 Words   |  7 Pagestypical Archetypal hero s journey but throughout its course he causes the death of multiple characters. Hamlet receives supernatural aid from his deceased father, answers but chooses to delay his call to action, suffers in the belly of the whale, and leaves behind a legacy of truth and justice to restore peace to the kingdom of Denmark. Prince Hamlet arrives home from college only to learn that his father, King Hamlet, had died from an apparent serpent s sting and that the king s brother Claudius ascendsRead More Fences by August Wilson Essay977 Words   |  4 Pagesinevitable day of our death. In this play, Fences which was written by the well known playwright, August Wilson, we have the story of Troy Maxson and his family. Fences is about Troy Maxson, an aggressive man who has on going, imaginary battle with death. His life is based on supporting his fam ily well and making sure they have the comforts that he did not have in his own childhood. Also, influenced by his own abusive childhood, he becomes an abusive father who rules his younger son, Cory?s life based onRead MoreEssay about Facing Death662 Words   |  3 PagesFacing Death Works Cited Not Included In today?s modern society we have a certain distaste for the subject of death. There are people in society feel uncomfortable with the subject of death. The subject of death is a reality that we need to face everyday. There is nothing any of us can do about death, and there is no virtue in dwelling on it or trying to penetrate its mystery. Is it possible to prepare for death? In our day and age as we know it, there have been astounding advancementsRead MoreI Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died Essay1330 Words   |  6 PagesDickinson s â€Å"I heard a fly buzz when I died† is an elegy written from the perspective of the speaker who is already dead and who is reflecting back on the last moments of her life and the moment of her death. The speaker tells the story of his/her own deathbed scene: describing the final experiences and sensations before the exact moment of death. The poem uses specific language, descriptive visual and aural imagery, and other poetic devices to convey the confusion and frustration that speaker s experienceRead More The Failure of Technology in White Noise by Don Delillo Essay1055 Words   |  5 Pagesin White Noise by Don Delillo One particularly unfortunate trait of modern society is our futile attempt to use technology to immunize ourselves against the fear of death. The failure of technology in this regard is the general subject of Don Delillos book White Noise. Throughout this novel, technology is depicted as the ominous messenger of our common fate, an increasing sense of dread over loss of control of our lives and the approach of inevitable death in spite of the empty promises ofRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet767 Words   |  4 PagesTheir End Everyone in the world has experienced love on at least some level. Romeo and Juliet from William Shakespeare s famous play Romeo and Juliet were so deeply in love they took their own lives in order to avoid separation. Yet, who is to blame for the early deaths of Romeo and Juliet? Is it their ancestors fault? Their parent s? Or are Romeo and Juliet the only ones to blame? The characters of Romeo and Juliet are Paris, Capulet, Lady Capulet, Juliet, The Nurse, Montague, Lady MontagueRead MoreEssay on The Neurology of Near Death Experiences 1027 Words   |  5 Pagesexperienced a near death experience or NDE. While being involved in a near death experience there are reports that consist of involving one or more of the following: having an awareness of being dead, having an out of body experiences, feelings of euphoria, seeing a tunnel of light, and meeting deceased people. After experiencing this phenomenon, the near death survivor often reports a non-fear of death. They may experience feelings that death is not the end, but a new beginning in which one lives in euphoria

The Guilt that Kills in Kate Chopin´s The Story of an Hour

The Guilt that Kills â€Å"The Story of an Hour† (Chopin 353-354) by Kate Chopin, is a short story about a young lady, Louise Mallard, who has her life turned upside down in an elapsed time of an hour. Louise has just been informed of her husband, Brently’s, death due to a railroad disaster. Louise has heart trouble and this tragic news begins to take a toll on her. Louise’s sister, Josephine, is aware of her heart trouble so naturally becomes concerned when Louise starts to sob and locks herself in her room. Desperately trying to get Louise out of her room before she becomes ill, Josephine finally gets her out and they continue to walk downstairs. Just as they make it downstairs, the front door opens and in walks Brently, alive. Doctors eventually arrive and explain how Louise has died from a heart attack brought on by happiness. In Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, it is said that there is a â€Å"joy that kills† (354). Is it the guilt from having any remote feeling of joy that kills, or truly the joy itself that kills? It is in fact, the guilt that kills. In S. Selina Jamil’s essay â€Å"Emotions in the Story of an Hour.† (Jamil, 215-220), She talks about how â€Å"Kate Chopin focuses on a late nineteenth century American woman’s dramatic hour of awakening into selfhood, which enables her to live the last moments of her life with an acute consciousness of life’s immeasurable beauty† (215). There is a sort of forbidden joy of having independence and awakening selfhood. In â€Å"TheShow MoreRelatedThe Short Stories Of An Hour And A Pair Of Silk Stockings961 Words   |  4 PagesShort Stories of Kate Chopin The short stories, The Story of an Hour and A Pair of Silk Stockings were both written in the 1800 s. The stories are both written by Kate Chopin, a female author. The period in which these stories were written gave impact on other female writers to produce stories too. The literary devices Chopin uses in both these stories show how educated female writers were at the time. The way the author, Kate Chopin, uses many literary devices in her works, The Story of anRead MoreKate Chopin s The Story Of An Hour980 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Story of an Hour,† Mrs. Mallard is a woman trapped in her own golden cage. Throughout the story, the author, Kate Chopin, shows the true colors of matrimony during that time and what it meant in women’s lives. Women were the only possessions attained after marriage, designated to do house labors and take care of a husband and children. â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin illustrates that marriage is another manifestation of women’s abdication of liberty once they say â€Å"I do†. â€Å"The Story of anRead MoreThe Story Of The Hour Identity Essay1050 Words   |  5 PagesWoman with Identity Issues in The story of the Hour As the title suggests â€Å"The story of the hour† is a story written by Kate Chopin which happens in an hour span of a woman. The story revolves around an ill young woman named Louis Mallard whose husband was involved in a tragic train accident. The author developed many themes around the incidents that happen in that one hour, which are very differently interpreted than the usual norm for the times when this story was written. The themes of life, deathRead More Oppression of Women in Chopins Story of an Hour and Gilmans Yellow Wallpaper 1246 Words   |  5 PagesChopins Story of an Hour and Gilmans Yellow Wallpaper    The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman share the same view of the subordinate position of women in the late 1800s. Both stories demonstrate the devastating effects on the mind and body that result from an intelligent person living with and accepting the imposed will of another. This essay will attempt to make their themes apparent by examining a brief summery of their stories and relatingRead MoreKate Chopin s The Story Of An Hour1921 Words   |  8 Pagesapproaches. For Kate Chopin, the famous author of â€Å"The Awakening† and â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, her most successful approach was to provide audiences with short stories that proposed meaningful and strong messages. However, Kate Chopin’s powerful feminist images that were present throughout her writing has mostly flaunted Chopin as only a â€Å"pioneering feminist writer,† which has led to other messages Chopin incorporated in her writing into bei ng overlooked. In Kate Chopin’s, â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, the shortRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour And A Rose For Emily Literary Analysis1297 Words   |  6 PagesKate Chopins The Story of an Hour and William Faulkners â€Å"A Rose for Emily tells the story of women who face isolation and struggle with their own terms of freedom upon the death of a male figure in their life. Louise and Emily come from different time periods, backgrounds, and have different experiences, yet both share commonality in that they have let themselves be affected by the unrealistic expectations placed on them as traditional ladies. Both of these characters are commonly misconstruedRead More Comparison of Kate Chopins Story of an Hour and William Faulkners A Rose for Emily1437 Words   |  6 Pagescitizens. The Napoleonic Code stated that women were controlled by their husbands and cannot freely do their own will without the authority of their husband. This paper shows how this is evident in the Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. In both stories, the use of literary elements such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and significant meaning of the titles are essential in bringing the reader to an unexpected and ironic conclusion. The background of bothRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour And The Story Of An Hour2009 Words   |  9 PagesWomen are taught from a young age that marriage is the end all be all in happiness, in the short story â€Å"The Story of An Hour† by Kate Chopin and the drama â€Å"Poof!† by Lynn Nottage, we learn that it is not always the case. Mrs. Mallard from â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and Loureen from â€Å"Poof!† are different characteristically, story-wise, and time-wise, but share a similar plight. Two women tied down to men whom they no longer love and a life they no longer feel is theirs. Unlike widows in happy marriagesRead MoreFeminism During 19th Century American Short Stories4097 Words   |  17 PagesKaylee Gould Ms. Henderson 3rd period Feminism in Late 19th Century American Short Stories Research Question: How is feminism revealed through the divergence of women’s roles in society and their own personal desires in the American short stories â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper,† â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† â€Å"The Storm,† and â€Å"Life in the Iron Mills†? Introduction Literature changes as current events change and as the structure of society begins to shift. American feminist literature started to become prevalent

Bicentennial Man free essay sample

Furthermore, another human vocation is that humans are called to happiness and holiness; Andrew showed that he was happy when he was with the people he loved, like Little Miss and Portia. He showed happiness when he was making clocks and it showed that he enjoyed it. The vocation that states that humans have passions or feelings is something else that is shown by Andrew in BiCentennial man. For example, when Andrew is told to jump out the window, he realizes that it is not the best feeling in the world so later, when he is asked if he wants to look out the window he refuses, because he feels fear. Also, when he learns that Portia is engaged he feels jealousy because he does not want her to be with anyone but him. Another vocation that Andrew displays is where it states that humans are rational and free. For example, in the movie Andrew shows that he wants to be free, free from being in the service of his owner, which he eventually gets consent for. We will write a custom essay sample on Bicentennial Man or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Additionally, he also shows that he is rational and sensible when he asks for the Martin family’s consent to free him rather than just leave. Throughout the movie Andrew shows many emotions, feelings, and thoughts that make him human emotionally if not physically. In conclusion, Andrew’s 200 year quest to become human was finally achieved, by the end of the movie.

The Halo Effect free essay sample

In business world, things happen fast, markets emerge, markets disappear, and competition is keen. Therefore, business managers would like to find a formula, or at least some factors, to explain the success and failure of corporations and companies. But as the business world is so complicated, and becoming more complicated and uncertain in todays globalized world, it is hard to determine factors and solid solutions to business problems. Even massive data are gathered and with long time of studies, secrets of success are still not easy to uncover. So it is tempting for giving the promise of breakthroughs and secrets and quick fixes. From journalists to academics, people are searching for ready-made answers, plug-and-play solutions and marriage of convenience. When a company adopts a new initiative, a new strategy, it would a brilliant strategy if it is successful, and would be concluded as a bad move when it fails. So when Lego, the toy firm, failed its launching of Harry Potter figures, people criticized it was drifting from its core. We will write a custom essay sample on The Halo Effect or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But when GE successfully went to launch the financial services then, nobody criticized it was straying from the core. So whether it is a good thing or bad thing to stray away from ones core business? There are lots of business writings, no matter they are from press or academic journals, use the ends to justify the means. We see what we want to see. And we are deceived by delusions. The fundamental problem is we all like to read stories, not only reports. Many good researches about company performance, which are carefully done, tend not to provide clear and definitive guidelines for action. These are reports to show the facts we dont like to read. We want clear implications for action, we want to explain things. A bestselling business book, Good to Great, which brings fame and fortune to the co-author Jim Collins, is one of those business books full of halo effect. One of the â€Å"great† companies focused by the book is Fannie Mae. But we can see from Figure 2, its stock price soared sharply before the book was written and reached its peak during when the book published. But after that, the performance of Fannie Mae was quite disappointing. Even we don’t include the current sub-prime mortgage crisis which made its stock price dived to new low, the stock price was in a downward trend. The good to great strategies featured by Jim Collins wasn’t effective at all. Are all those promises, strategies and focuses suggested by one of the best selling business books are only delusions? Figure 2. The stock price of Fannie Mae from 1999 to 2008 (Source: Bloomberg) The Halo Effect provides the answers. It is a book to show the common delusions of the business writings. And to show us how to avoid these delusions and be critical to read the business researches. Most management book ask the first-order question: What leads to high performance? But this book tries to answer a different question: Why is it so hard to understand high performance? A message like, you, too, can transform your good company into a great one, is very comforting. But the business world is not as simple as that. In this report, we will show that how The Halo Effect leads us to an uncomfortable war against cliches and delusions. What Does This Book Talk About The story of Cisco From the Bloomberg graph in Figure 1, we can see that by the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000, the stock price of Cisco sky-rocketed to US$80 from around US$30 in few weeks. Then the business press and the academics all praised that Cisco was doing everything right Cisco had a great and visionary leader, John Chambers (who is still the CEO of Cisco currently); Cisco was remarkably skilful in acquiring companies (Fortune observed Cisco excelled at digesting acquisitions smoothly); and Cisco was credited with extreme customer focus. Fortune wrote that, â€Å"no net-workers have ever had the laser focus on customers that Cisco has had from day one. And John Chambers became the best CEO in the information age. However, the reversal at Fortune arrived in less than one year. Tech stocks began to slide in mid 2000. By November, Cisco stock was trading at just US$50 and by April 2001, Ciscos stock worth only US$14. More than US$400 billion vanished in just one year. Now Fortune reported Cisco was doing everything wrong – Cisco had exhibited a cavalier attitude toward potential customers; Cisco was failing at acquisitions and forecasting; and its senior management, including best CEO John Chambers, were arrogant and basking in a culture of confidence. From the story of Cisco we can see that, for all the attentions that Cisco received, for all its prominence in the press over several years, even experienced journalists and respected academics had trouble identifying with any precision the reasons for Ciscos outstanding success or its stunning decline. Figure 1. Stock Price of Cisco from 1999 to 2008 (Source: Bloomberg) The Halo Effect As George Bernard Shaw said, The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how shes treated, the business press offered reasonable explanations for Cisco when it was successful or when it failed. The same management style or technique can be good but suddenly turns bad in less than one year. Obviously, the business reporters descriptions of the company were colored by the stories they want to tell. Facts were assembled and shaped to tell the story of the moment, whether it was about great performance or collapsing performance. Journalists have deadlines, they have to file their stories in short timeline. So it is hard to blame them for convenient opinions. Sometimes journalists will have their conclusion first and then find the facts to support this conclusion. And they will surely try to write things people love to read. And people love to read story, things with clear causal relationship. The Halo book explains, it is a natural tendency to make inferences about specific traits on the basis of a general impression. Like the Cisco case, as long as it was growing and profitable and setting record for its stock price, journalists and professors inferred that it had wonderful abilities to listen to its customers, a cohesive corporate culture, and a brilliant strategy. And when the bubble burst, observers were quick to make the opposite attribution. Our evaluations depend on whether we think were seeing a lady or a flower girl. Sometimes we may not know whether it is an attribute that makes a company successful, or it is because the company is successful, so it could afford that attribute. Like good people, we dont know whether it is the good people lead to a successful company or it is a successful company which could recruit good people. As so many things we commonly think contributing to company performance are often attributions based on performance. Beside this halo effect, there are other kinds of delusions which are quite common in business writings described by the book which listed in Appendix 1. The author concluded, for a company to perform, only two things matter – strategy and execution. But there are no â€Å"sure-win† strategies, as strategy always involves uncertainty and risk. Each company must formulate its own least risky strategies base on its internal and external situations. For execution, there is also no â€Å"flawless† execution in the world. And what works in one company may not work in the others. And real life is much more complicated than just few simple steps. Critiques of The Halo Effect This book itself is a critique itself, pointing out that there are no quick fixes and winning formulas in the business world. And it makes us rethink how much a business bestseller, like Good to Great and Built to Last could really tell us. We must say the contents are very insightful and critical. However, after all the finger-pointing, this book doesnt clearly show us the way what should we do next. The just pointed out what we should not do and what we would not be possible to do. He didnt show what he would do differently or how should the business research should be conducted. He only said it would be very difficult to eliminate the halo effect. It seems the Halo book try to point out that most of the business books and business press don’t tell use much, if not useless. But we think spending time to do some researches with possible biases, is better than not doing any research at all. Flaws maybe in most articles and researches, yet they still could give us some stimulation and reference, if not insights. What we should do is to read them carefully and critically, not ignore them at all. Conclusion The Halo Effect is a rare category of business book. It has no solutions to business problems. It doesn’t provide comfort for managers. Yet it is a very important business book. After reading it, we have to rethink what we have learnt in this course, such as the Judo Strategy or the Growth Strategy, could really help our companies. They could, maybe, or they are not suitable to us. This book tells us not to blindly apply what we read and learned, but to think critically whether we could benefit from them. Those books may be the result of halo effect researching. And it shows that there are no winning formulas, no quick fixes and winning strategies in the real world. But we must point out that, even we know some researches or business articles are full of halo effect, it doesn’t mean that they are of no use to us. We just need to be careful in distilling those researches and apply what could be suitable for us critically. To conclude, even strategic management requires thorough analysis and calculation before making decision, it is a subject more of an art than science. And it is much more complicated than reading few business bestsellers. Appendix 1 1). The Delusions of Correlation and Causality Two things may be correlated, but we may not know which one causes which. The challenge is to untangle the direction of causality. Does lower employee turnover lead to higher company performance or does higher performance lead to lower employee turnover? 2). The Delusions of Single Explanations Many studies show that a particular factor leads to improved performance. But since many of these factors are highly correlated, the effect of each one is usually less than suggested. E. g. If market orientation explains 25 percent of performance, and corporate social responsibility explains 40 percent, does that mean that together they explain 65 percent? Are these separate effects and therefore additive? 3). The Delusions of Connecting the Winning Dots If we pick a number of successful companies and search for what they are in common, well never isolate the reasons for their success, because we have no way of comparing them with less successful companies. E. g. In In Search of Excellence, Peters and Watermans studied a sample made up entirely of outstanding companies. Therefore their sample selection based on outcomes, and which is a classic error. The business bestseller, Built to Last, was committing this same classic error, though Jim Collins said they did a very thorough study. 4). The Delusions of Rigorous Research If the data arent good quality, it doesnt matter how much we have gathered or how sophisticated our research methods appear to be. No matter how horough the research, quantity of data is entirely beside the point if the data arent of a good quality. 5). The Delusions of Lasting Success Almost all high-performaning companies regress over time. The promise of a blueprint for lasting success is attractive but not realistic. From a McKinsey study, the golden company that continually performs better than the market, has never existed. High performance is difficult to maintain. In a free market system, high profit tends to decline thanks to what one economist called the erosive forces of imitation, competition, and expropriation. Suggesting that companies can follow a blueprint to lasing success may be appealing, but its not supported by the evidence. 6). The Delusions of Absolute Performance Company performance is relative, not absolute. A company can improve and fall further behind its rivals at the same time. Companies are often described as succeeding or failing on the merits of their actions alone, as if performance were absolute. But in a competitive market economy, the performance of one company is always affected by the performance of other companies, or rivals. Just like Kmart, a retail chain, was performing brilliantly from 1994 to 2002, but it was one of the losers, because if compared with Walmart, its performance was poor indeed. 7). The Delusions of the Wrong End of the Stick It may be true that successful companies often pursued a highly focused strategy, but that doesnt mean highly focused strategies often lead to success. 8). The Delusions of Organisation Physics Stanley Bing wrote in Fortune in 2004, We seek to minimize the feeling that our world is governed not by laws of nature but by mad, impetuous barbarians driven by greed, need, and the desire for maximum power and booty. Company performance doesnt obey immutable laws of nature and cant be predicted with the accuracy of science, despite our desire for certainty and order. Like Built to last, it examined a long time period in a single gulp but could not show how actions taken at one moment led to results at a later time. If the business world really did run with clocklike precision, some promise in the business book like Good to Great would be reasonable. Yet the most important questions in the business world dont lend themselves to the predictability or replicability of physics.