Fast Food Nation Essay Example for Free

Fast Food Nation Essay Many feel that the fast food industry is providing a valuable service by catering to consumer needs; that it is inexpensive and easily accessible. For people who dont have time to prepare meals, for households in which both parents work, theres no question it provides a service. But all of this for what cost? The cost is the lives of those people who work in the meat processing plants. Meat packing is now the most dangerous job in the United States. The men and women that work in the slaughterhouses now are often low paid, poor immigrants, who have not completely learned English and are practically illiterate. These workers make a knife cut every two or three seconds, which adds up to about 10,000 cuts per eight hour day. One of the leading causes of the high injury rate in the slaughter houses is the speed at which the meat is disassembled. Hearing this, it is no surprise that lacerations are the most common injuries suffered by the men and women working in the meatpacking industry. Workers are under tremendous pressure to work fast and not report any injuries that may occur. The annual bonuses of plant foremen and supervisors are often based in part on the injury rate of their workers. Instead of creating a safer workplace, the supervisors pressure workers not to report any injuries and as a bonus, they would be moved to an easier job to give them some time to heal. Often, in this industry, supervisor pressure is not the only reason that injuries go unreported; the immigrant workers usually do not know enough English to complete the paperwork that goes along with filing injury reports. This manner that runs the lives of slaughterhouse workers is completely unethical. In any business, stopping an employee from receiving due compensation for injuries is unfair and unethical. It seems like that in any other business, if a worker is injured, and does not receive fair compensation, they have the ability and drive to enforce the law; but in the case of the slaughterhouse workers, that are often illiterate, this rarely happens. The fast food industry both feeds and prays off the young. Pioneers in developing marketing strategies to target children, the fast-food chains have even infiltrated the nations schools through lunchroom franchises and special advertising packages that answer public educations need for funds; in every way possible, giving the children a loyal friend to rely on. In many franchises, teenagers are perfect candidates for low-paying, low-skilled, short-term jobs and constitute a large part of the fast-food chains workforce; and often practically run individual locations, having more responsibility than most adults. The intense advertising and responsibilities is not the only thing we saw in Fast Food Nation that effected children. The quality of the meat that is fed to children in school and at the fast food restaurants is in some cases horrendous. Children are not the only age group that eats this tainted food, but they are more greatly harmed by it. E. coli is now the leading pathogen causing kidney failure among children in the US. The E. coli problem begins in the feedlots. The situation we see for these cattle is disgusting. Cattle are forced to eat out of manure filled pits that are likely to carry E. coli (which can be live for 90 days). To add to that, cattle are often fed remains of other animals such as sheep and even other cattle. If feedlots were more humane and sanitary, the infected herds would not infect others, and the meat that is fed to children would less likely give them E. coli. There are ethical concerns in about every business, but none seem to be as intense as the ones found in the meat packing and fast food industry. These issues concern the actual well being of the employee not just finances or material things. I dont know if it will ever be possible for the fast food and meatpacking industries to be safe environments to work in, but I do hope that someday the lives and needs of the workers are considered. There are not many things as important as a human life, hopefully someday; all the components of these industries that endanger these lives are changed, from E. coli to fatal packing plant injuries.

Vampires Essay -- History, Hollywood, Lamastu, God Anu

When the word vampire is said it evokes Hollywood images of handsome men and beautiful women, seductive creatures with fangs that lure in their prey with their hypnotic stare along with their good looks, wit and charm. Once the prey is seduced the vampire goes straight for the throat, biting down and draining their blood and ultimately their life. More recently the images may be of the sexy Vampire who is trying to pass as human in some high school setting that is amazingly fast, and strong, yet trying to be sensitive. Some sparkle in the sun and others must avoid it altogether, while still others wear some enchanted ring or jewelry in order to walk in sunlight. Oh yes, and let’s not forget their ability to go on living forever because one of the most incredible qualities is a vampire’s immortality, unless they have a wood or silver stake driven through their heart, or end up decapitated and burned, which would swiftly end there immortal rain. Whichever version of vamp ire you envision will depend on the most recent book, movie, or television series you are intrigued by. These images are the glorified Hollywood images that are spoon fed to us daily, but these are not the true definitions or characteristics of a real vampire. As much as most people believe that the image of the vampire was spawned from the story of Dracula written by Bram Stoker that is certainly not the case, the story of the vampire started thousands of years ago and span the globe, and continue to engross society today. Every culture has their own story and origination point and these stories have spawned a growing fascination with vampires. It is important to look back and see where it all began in order to uncover the truth of real vampires today. One of t... ...astical ability’s to pass onto their victims through their bite or blood. Just because they are not the vampires we read about or seen on the big screen does not make them any less real. As with anything, Hollywood, and pop culture have become very good at taking the ordinary and making it bigger than it really is or more fantastical which can be with how witches, robots, and housewives are portrayed. Hopefully one day we will be able to separate the fantasy from the reality and see them for what they really are; people like you and me, going to work each day, living life a day at a time. They could be your doctor, friend, teacher or even your neighbor. People fear what they don’t understand, therefore if you look for the truth you will understand that the Real Vampires of today are not to be feared, they just have different energetic needs than the rest of us.

The Vision Failed

The Vision FailedQuestion 1:If I were to consult with the HTE board of director soon after Harold started making changes, I would advise them, regarding the transformational perspective, to follow carefully how Harold is implementing these. In fact, to benefit from those changes and achieve Harold’s goal, the board of director should encourage him to adopt a transformational leadership.First of all, to be such a leader, Harold would have to be an example in the company. As a leader, he should inspire trust and communicate a clear vision on the changes he wants to make in the company and why. Moreover, those changes would rather emerge from the common interest and not from Harold only. The board should encourage Harold to review his vision with employees’ that inspire them.Then, I would explain to the board of director that a leader’s influence is inseparable from follower’s needs. Meaning that, all the changes, implemented by Harold, must be accepted by al l employees. I would advise them to warn Harold to take into account all employees’ needs and not favor some among others. Unfortunately, designing changes with only a few senior managers may have created a feeling of unfairness for those left aside. Consequently, they could be reluctant to the reorganization.Furthermore, the board should expect Harold to promote collaboration and rewards. As a result, employees would be able to innovate, improve their efficiency and commitment to work.To finish with, I would explain the significance of Harold’s behavior in order to achieve their goal because people are not always at ease with changes at work. They need someone to rely on to face their fear of uncertainty. That’s the role I would advise the board of director to help Harold with.Question 2:To answer the question, I think Harold had a clear vision for HTE but I assume he did not know how to implement it.As we can read in the case, Harold’s vision, was:† to prove new technologies  and advanced management techniques could make HTE one of the best manufacturing companies in the country†. We can say it is an â€Å"attractive, realistic, and believable future† (Bennis and Nanus, 1985). This clear vision is simple and understandable. In fact, it should create energy and motivation for the employees to take part in this change. Unfortunately, this vision did not come from the whole company but only from Harold. He chose to reorganize things that would more reduce employees’ efficiency than improve it. Because he did not take intoaccount all employees’ opinion he did not took the accurate decisions. As a consequence, it is challenging for the employees to support something they did not participate in. Over and above, the changes did not correspond to employees’ needs. They did not identify themselves in this vision and rather consider it as a forced change.Then, even if the vision seemed clear to Haro ld, his role in implementing it wasn’t a success. While Harold wanted to positively transform HTE the result was that the company felt apart. Harold lost his employees’ trust. They needed a sense of identity within the organization and a sense of self-efficacy (Shamir et al., 1993) that Harold did not clarify it. To finish with, the sentence â€Å"no one understood in which direction they were going† highlights doubts among employees. As a matter of fact, the vision was only correct and appropriate for Harold but he did not know how to shape the company’s future.Question 3: From my point of view, Harold wasn’t effective as a change agent or a social architect for HTE.In most cases, a change agent comes out as a strong role model for employees. They are the competent agent articulating the organization and expressing strong ideals. Harold failed this mission. He wasn’t able to fit together different parts of the organization. Whether Harold s hould have created trust and be predictable, he was a mystery and an arbitrary manager. In addition, to be a reliable change agent, they have to listen to followers and accept criticisms. Harold should have cooperated with his team for them  to trust him and believe in his ideas. On the contrary, at one point Harold appeared careless to employees’ concerns, which is the opposite behavior of an effective change agent.To continue, we should define a social architect: â€Å"This means they created a shape or form for the shared meanings people maintained within their organizations† (Peter G. Northouse chapter 9 â€Å"Transformational leadership p197). A social architect is also here to help people find their role in the new company’s identity. They need to understand how to contribute to the vision of the organization. Unfortunately employees lost this vision because of Harold actions. Employees couldn’t identify themselves to him and disconnected to HTE. They did not know which future, or new values and norms to expect for the company. Harold lost his employees whereas he was supposed to lead them into this transformation. To finish with, an active change agent, as a social architect, would appear effective by working with others by listening to them, encouraging them and celebrates their accomplishment. On the contrary, Harold often failed to listen to his employees ‘anxieties and misunderstood their needs.Question 4:If Harold had the chance to return as president of HTE, I would advise him to always take into account his employees’ needs.I would recommend Harold to build his identity as a leader using: – Idealized Influence: He should develop his charisma and act as a strong role model for employees. Harold must provide them with a sense of mission and reduce uncertainty. He would rather have evaluated impacts of changes before implementing them, by asking employees† advice.– Inspirational Motivati on: Harold’s behavior should inspire employees to commit themselves in the organization and achieve a common goal. Instead of appearing as an â€Å"enigma†, Harold may have gain to stick to his vision, to his statement as being a democratic leader and a hands-on manager instead of being arbitrary.– Intellectual Stimulation: I would advise Harold to encourage employees being creative and innovative in order to become the best manufacturing company in the country. By using employees’ ideas, Harold would implicate them in the implementation of changes. In other word, the  employees would become a part of the shared vision of the organization. Moreover, they would feel responsible for the success of this vision they contributed to create. Furthermore, they would develop their fullest potential in their work.– Individual Consideration: Harold could win followers by providing a supportive climate in the organization. Followers may need help in their pe rsonal challenges. They require someone to talk to and rely on.As a conclusion, I would remind Harold that change is a good thing but changing on your own won’t make any difference. Harold may have good ideas for the company but he necessitates to be followed by his employees. In fact, employees’ needs are inseparable from Harold success as a leader.

The Great Rock Mountains By Thomas Jefferson - 1092 Words

At the time when Thomas Jefferson was president, the U. S. had bought new land in France. He had Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition to the New Lands who turned to Wiliam Clark to be the Co-commanding captain which turned into the Lewis and Clark expedition. It was 1803. Thomas Jefferson was the president and he guided a piece of foreign diplomacy through the U.S. senate. After the Louisiana treaty was made, Jefferson took power of an exploration on a new purchased land beyond the â€Å"Great Rock Mountains† In the west. Jefferson wanted the expedition to travel through the Missouri River, up the rocky Mountains, and then down the Columbia River into the Pacific. His plan included gathering information on animals, plants, and minerals in†¦show more content†¦As the men traveled up the Missouri river, Lewis occasionally went ashore to discover all of the amazing animals he could see. He wrote in his journal saying â€Å"I do not think I exaggerate when I estimate the number of buffalo which could be comprehended at one view to amount to 3,000† At spring in 1805, the waters were raised and there was wonderful weather. The Lewis and Clark expedition set out further. They traveled up Missouri, Montana, and wisely chose the Jefferson River. By September they had their first encounter with the Indians. A small group of the explorers went ashore to talk to a group of Sioux Indians and offer them gifts. After a while, the Indians were demanding more gifts and did not let Clark go back to the boat. They soon let him go when the explorers showed they were ready to fight. When October came, they met a group of Mandan Indians who were really nice. The expedition decided to build a Fort next to their village and stay there for the Winter. During the winter, a trader named Toussaint Charbonneau and his wife, Sacagawea, a Shoshone, joined in on the expedition. The journey continued on April 7, 1805. The explorers were traveling in two dugouts and six canoes. Lewis and Clark sent a few men back on the Keelboat because the river hadShow M oreRelatedThe Founding Fathers Of Our Country Essay1062 Words   |  5 PagesCharles kanneh American History Thomas Jefferson is one of the founding Fathers of our country. Jefferson was one of the most inspirational members of history that led me to doing a research project about him. Thomas Jefferson was born to Peter Jefferson on April 13 1743. Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor which was a very important job back then. This meant he had some type of wealth to his name.Thomas Jefferson mother was Jane Randolph who was the daughter of a well know family withRead MoreMount Rushmore National Memorial: A Shrine of Democracy Essay1341 Words   |  6 Pagesmonument on Stone Mountain to attract tourists. 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