Christopher Columbus Essays (601 words) - Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus is the most well known explorer by most school age children. When children are young, teachers tell them that Columbus was a very good person, a hero even. To be politically correct though, Christopher Columbus brought death and destruction with him to the Americas. He stole , killed, and tortured the natives. Christopher Columbus was not a true explorer, but he was a conqueror of people. When Christopher Columbus set out on his voyage(August 3rd, 1492) to find a new route to the Indies there was no way that he could know that it would turn out the way it did. When he landed at the Caribbean Islands(October 12th, 1492), the people there were scared, but still friendly toward him. This next quote is from Columbus journal: As I saw that they were very friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force, Weapons they have none, nor are acquainted with them, for I showed them swords which they grasped by the blades, and cut themselves through ignorance. But they seemed on the whole to me, to be a very poor people. They all go completely naked, even the women, I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold. Seeing some of them with little bits of this metal hanging at their noses As you can see it was very easy for Columbus to take them over and treat them badly because they ha d no protection. That is a good example to show how cruel Columbus could act toward people he knew couldnt fight back. This is one proof of Christopher Columbus being a conqueror. In the movie we watched in class, it told us how Columbus was just out to get gold, and riches. He ordered the natives to proclaim him governor of the lands. Since he was governor he made a law that said the natives had to bring him one bag of gold dust every three months. If they did not give him this gold(simply because their wasnt that much gold on the islands) he would order to have their hands cut off, and they would bleed to death. If they escaped, then he would hunt them down with dogs. Christopher Columbus also ordered his men to hang and burn some natives that wouldnt do exactly as he told them. Diseases also spread at this time. Many of the natives never encountered sickness before, and didnt have the immunities. Some people died from the flu! The population decreased from 1 million to 1,000 in the matter of 100 years from Christopher Columbus orders. Columbus tried to use the natives as slaves but they were too frail. They werent used to that much physical labor as was expected of them on the plantations. This opened up the slave trade in Africa. More than 11 million slaves were taken from Africa by the 1800s!!!! As you can see through my essay, I believe that Christopher Columbus was a conqueror of people. There is an old saying that says,Might makes right, and the explorers back then, would go sailing around with this idea in their heads, that as soon as they came to a land that they had never seen before, they could just put up their flag and claim it. This is not exploring, and this is exactly what Christopher Columbus is recognized every October 11th for. Columbus was not a true explorer, but he was a conqueror or people.

attribute associated with the Business Entrepreneur and researched in the context of one noteworthy entrepreneur The WritePass Journal

A written project on the theme of one selected characteristic/attribute associated with the Business Entrepreneur and researched in the context of one noteworthy entrepreneur Abstract A written project on the theme of one selected characteristic/attribute associated with the Business Entrepreneur and researched in the context of one noteworthy entrepreneur ). This study will investigate the main factors that innovation should possess, and the reasons behind its success among the consumers. The main critical analysis is going to be presented in the literature review. This will lay the foundation for further investigation. Practical evidence will demonstrate the case study in relation to the researched theories. Finally, the findings from the literature review and practical evidence are going to be juxtaposed in the analysis section. Literature Review Recent research suggests that innovation is an outcome of creativity. This implies that innovation may occur, when a person realizes stimulating and new ideas, which he or she, has (Austin, Devin and Sullivan, 2012). Some companies tend to shape the work environment in order to produce the conditions that work well in terms ofthe development of the creative ideas. This is primarily associated with the integration of the particular   practices, which allow the person to relax, and, therefore, generate ideas. Hopkins, (2010) suggests that innovation is a discipline. This implies that   management of innovation may be compared with   management of   quality, where each detail is essential. This also implies that, after generation of the idea, it is important to focus on the efficient development of production, supply chain, distribution and marketing. The process of innovation development is also interlinked to the production of   business model.   It is especially intensifi ed in the context of   entrepreneurship. Drucker, (2002), suggests that innovation is sourced from the knowledge and hard work. This suggests that in order for   innovation to be successful, it is necessaryto monitor the market, to interact and seek out   opportunities to seize. As a result,, there is a small chance for accidental innovation that might emerge (Austin, Devin and Sullivan, 2012). However, given the conditions of contemporary market and situation, this chance is slim. This is correlated to the evolutionary theory, which suggests that the process of innovation production is interlinked with the dynamism of the environment and acquired knowledge and skills. Furthermore, it was added that the success of innovation is sourced from the learning abilities and behavioural traits of the entrepreneur. This implies that the values, cognition and the aims of the individual directly impact the process of innovation development (Metcalfe, 1998; Dosi, 1997). According to complexity theory, Anderson, (1999) states that the creative ideas are sourced from the environmental changes. This suggests that   individuals and companies tend to take into   account the environmental dynamism, thus shifting their perceptions, according to the global and/or domestic changes. This is further interlinked with the evaluation of the information, which is sourced from these dynamical changes. This, in turn, results in the development of the innovations. This theory is based on the estimation that the innovation should evolve, as part of the constant environmental dynamics. Contrary to this, Brown and Eisenhardt, (1998) suggest that innovation is driven by experimentation rather than evolution. This implies that the individual should always experiment, in order to create some innovative solutions. This is attributed to the â€Å"trial and error† pathway. This pathway is regarded to be quite effective as demonstrated in the recent research. It is primarily interlinked with the hard work and discipline, which is noted in the study by Hopkins, (2010). Damanpour, (1992) disagrees and states that there is no definite practice that would allow efficient production and management of the innovative products and/or services. This suggests that there are four main factors that affect the possible success of the innovation. These factors are attributed to the type of innovation, stage of innovation, scope of innovation and   organization. Given the technology industry, the scope of   innovation is not easy to define at the startup stage of innovation. It has been identified by Rothwell and Dodgson, (1995) that there is a small difference between the development of   innovation in small companies and   large corporations. It has been estimated that the process of innovation development in small companies tend to be of a behavioural nature, whereas in large corporations – of a materialistic nature. Additionally, it has been added that the process of the development of innovation in the smaller companies tends to be dependent on the industry. It is assumed that, in the technology industry, the degree of innovation’s success is increased, due to the large pool of opportunities. However, as Hopkins, (2010) has pointed out, it does require a discipline. Freeman and Soete, (1997) agree that the innovative products and services depend on the scope of RD activities. This suggests that there is a greater chance for larger corporations to implement the innovation, due to the large available funds. However, as the recent res earch demonstrates, there are a lot of entrepreneurs, who have been successful in production of innovation with limited investments (e.g. Mark Zuckerberg; Steve Jobs). Littler, Leverick and Bruce, (2003) argue that the innovative product development is associated with high risk, which is dispensed across the production and Research and Development areas. As the result, it has been proposed in the same source that increased collaboration is required in order to achieve the objectives, in relation to the innovative solutions product. These scholars have also added that the main factors that affect the increase of the risk degree is attributed to the utilization of the new technology.   Practical Evidence This section focuses on the presentation of the practical evidence of the key theories that have been analysed in the literature review section. This section is based on the integration of the case study about Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg, 28 is the founder of the world’s largest social networking website, Facebook. It was launched back in 2004, in the dorm room of Harvard University (CrunchBase, 2012). Prior to this, Mark Zuckerberg has tried to launch another two programs, namely a music recommendation program, Synapse and peer-to-peer client, Wirehog. However, he left them at the startup point (TechCrunch, 2012). Along with that, Mark Zuckerberg also launched Coursematch and Facemash programs during his studies at Harvard University. Facebook was originally developed for   students to interact, however it has been further extended to a global scale. As a result, Facebook has become a success internationally (New Yorker, 2010). Prior to the development of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg studied computer science, however, he has another degree in psychology. This suggests that he understands both the computer technology and human behaviour (New Yorker, 2012). With regard to the personal characteristics, Mark Zuckerberg has been described as quiet, unassuming gentleman, who focuses on hard work and achievement of the objectives. This shows that he doesn’t take anything for granted, thus focusing intensively on further development of Facebook operations. To date, Facebook has generated $1.26 billion, however, it has reported a recent loss, which is associated with the inability to develop the mobile advertising sector (CNCWorld, 2012; Information Week, 2012). The primary source of   income is attributed to the advertising since Facebook is free to subscribe. This implies that there is still   room for improvement in the mobile advertising area, whereas the main competitors already enjoy the generated prof its from this sector. The mobile advertising area has been overlooked by Mark Zuckerberg, given the recent rise in the access   to the Internet from mobile phones (New Media Trends, 2012). This implies that the modern consumers tend to utilize the mobile applications more, which is supported by the recent data that states that the number of mobile Internet users has doubled. Information Week, (2012) demonstrates that there have been 75 % of social networking users, who have accessed Facebook via their Android-supported mobile devices in U.S.A,   in March, 2012. Facebook management agrees that there is still a room for development however, the main problem is attributed to the inability to provide high resolution advertisements on small mobile screens (Information Week, 2012). This is assumed to be surprising, in the light of Mark Zuckerberg’s ability to develop the new social media platform, during the rise of the Internet. This implies that Mark Zuckerberg tends to seize the opportunities, once they arise. The main aim of Facebook, to   date, is regarded to be a willingness to make the globe a more open place, by   means of social interactions (New Yorker, 2010). However, contrary to this, Mark Zuckerberg, himself, is characterized as being private, thus not sharing a lot of information about himself. This is supported by the fact that he does not give a lot of interviews and/or make public appearances (CrunchBase, 2012). With regards to the work environment, that is managed in Facebook headquarters, it has been estimated in the recent research that the workers are driven to educate themselves while working. This is interconnected with the fact that Facebook was founded at the University so, Mark Zuckerberg is trying to transform the workplace into the educational institution in order to drive the creativity’s emergence. The design of the Facebook offices promotes openness as the key feature of Facebook program (Business Insider, 2009). This implies that   employees are not limited by the cubicles’ boundaries. Additionally, the working hours are flexible. This suggests that the employees may choose their own hours in order to deliver the best product solutions possible. Furthermore, Mark Zuckerberg tends to promote openess in interaction, suggesting that the employees are able to walk around the headquarters, thus interacting with others (Business Insider, 2009). The main aim of this i s to promote the development of the creative ideas, which would be applicable to the Facebook (Business Insider, 2009). Along with that, the main negative comments have only been attributed to the distant location of the Facebook headquarters. Additionally, some employees have stated that it is difficult to concentrate while working in the open areas. Therefore, the promoted openess does not work for everybody (Business Insider, 2009).   Analysis This section is based on the production of the links between the main theories and the key findings, derived from the practical evidence. It had been estimated that Facebook was developed, during the period, when internet, as a communication channel was starting to gain the popularity amongst the public (New Media Trends, 2012). This shows that Mark Zuckerberg had been following the evolutionary theory related to the innovative development and given his specialized knowledge and learning abilities, he scanned the environment for opportunities and dynamic changes (Anderson, 1999). In 2004, there was a limited amount of social networking platforms, presented on the market that would allow enjoyable social interaction. As a result, he developed   Facebook in order to meet the educational needs, with the limited resources available. It was based purely on the knowledge and skills he had obtained. One of the main benefits was that he could combine his technology-related knowledge with the education degree he received in psychology (Time, 2012). This has allowed the development of the social networking platform that would suit the needs of   consumers. Furthermore, the theoretical frameworks suggest that there is supposed to be a creative and relaxing environment in order to produce the innovative idea. At that time, Mark Zuckerberg has been studying in the university, which suggests that he was associated with the young and educated people with a lot of aspirations (New Yorker, 2010). Normally, in this environment, the most innovative ideas are born, so, this supports the theoretical evidence. Evolutionary theory is also supported by the fact that Mark Zuckerberg also tried to integrate other social media products but he failed to succeed with some of them. This demonstrates a certain degree of learning, integrated in the process of the innovation development. This implies that after the failure of his previous innovations , he has advanced the process of innovative solutions production, based on the mistakes he had made (CrunchBase, 2012). Additionally, the process of innovation production has been supported by the acquired and/or natural behavioural traits of the entrepreneur. This suggests that Mark Zuckerberg has always been a hard worker whilst eliminating the need â€Å"to take everything for granted† (Time, 2012). Therefore, he has always been focused on the achievement of his objectives. The elements of the accidental innovation may be followed once Facebook had become popular outside the university. This shows that, despite the primary educational objectives related to the Facebook platform, Mark Zuckerberg accidentally met the needs of a wider international audience (Austin, Devin and Sullivan, 2012). This was the starting point   of Facebook’s success. At the moment, being a large corporation,   Facebook constantly updates the website with new applications, as a result of the evaluation of the consumer needs and environment. However, some subscribers tend to be confused with the constant changes that Facebook integrates (Guardian, 2010). In this case, the aspects of experimentation are demonstrated. These can be traced inthe theory of â€Å"trial and error†, which suggests the evaluation of the most profitable products and services based on experimentation (Brown and Eisenhardt, 1998). This is proved to be effective, however it also drives a larg e degree of confusion amongst the subscribers. Another critical aspect is attributed to the problem with the mobile advertising, which has resulted in the decrease of the revenues of Facebook, recently (Business Insider, 2012). This suggests that management of the company failed to scan the environment in order to integrate the necessary solutions with regards to the emergence of the new trend. As the result, this has negatively resulted in the poor company’s performance (Business Insider, 2012). This is said to be especially surprising, given the ability of Mark Zuckerberg to seize the opportunities and the scope of the modern Facebook corporation. This is supported by the literature review findings, which suggest that it is much easier for larger corporations to integrate innovative solutions due to the large funding available for Research and Development activities (Freeman and Soete, 1997). In this case, at the moment, Facebook failed to do that. Recent data demonstrates that another reason behind this, is attributed to the lack of clear strategic vision. This implies that Mark Zuckerberg aims at the delivery of accidental innovations rather than the result of a clear strategic vision (Business Insider, 2009). He expects the innovation to appear as a result of the management of the creative environment. It has been estimated in the literature review that it is necessary to promote the discipline during the process of innovation development (Hopkins, 2010). However, with regards to Facebook’s work conditions, it is not necessarily applicable. This implies that the company aims to integrate open interactions and flexible working hours. This is said to be appealing for the majority of employees. However there are some employees, who   state that it is hard to concentrate while working in this sort of environment. As a result, Facebook aims to promote the casual and relaxing environment, which would allow development of creative solutions. Conclusion This paper was aimed at discussing research on innovation within the entrepreneurship context. It focused on the exploration of the Facebook case and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. The main theories have indicated that there are several patterns of innovation development, namely accidental innovation production, evolutionary, experimental and complexity theories. The Literature review has also demonstrated that environment also plays a large role in the process of innovation development. Other scholars suggest that the success of innovation depends on the entrepreneur’s personal characteristic and actual characteristics attributed to the innovation. The main findings, based on the analysis of one of the greatest entrepreneurs, have demonstrated that the innovation’s production process incorporates   elements of accidental process and both experimental and evolutionary processes. Additionally, it has been estimated that the dynamics of the environment and personal chara cteristics of the entrepreneur tend to play a large role in relation to the worldwide success of the innovation. However, it is essential to further update the innovations in order to stay on the market. This, in turn, may also incorporate the elements of the experimentation. However, one of the main factors is related to the ability to seize the opportunities. References: Anderson, P. (1999). Complexity theory and organization science. Organization Science, 10, 3, 216 – 232 Austin, R., L. Devin, and E. Sullivan. (2012). Accidental Innovation: Supporting Valuable Unpredictability in the Creative Process. Organization Science, 23, 5, 1505-1522. Brown, S. L. and K. Eisenhardt (1998). Competing on the Edge Strategy as Structured Chaos. Harvard Business School Press: USA Business Insider, (2012). From $0 To $1 Billion In Two Quarters – Facebooks Mobile Ad Business Is Suddenly Huge. Available from: businessinsider.com/starting-from-0-facebook-has-created-a-1-billion-mobile-ad-business-in-just-two-quarters-2012-10 (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Business Insider , (2012). What Is It Like Working At Facebook?. Available from: businessinsider.com/what-is-it-like-working-at-facebook-2009-12?op=1 (Accessed on 13/11/2012) CNC World, (2012). Facebook ADs revenue rises. Available from: cncworld.tv/news/v_show/28730_Facebook_ADs_revenue_rises.shtml (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Crunch Base, (2012).   Mark Zuckerberg. Available from: crunchbase.com/person/mark-zuckerberg (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Damanpour, F. (1992). Organization size and innovation. Organization Studies, 13, 3, 375 – 402 Dosi, G. (1997). Opportunities, Incentives and the Collective Patterns of Technological Change. The Economic Journal, 107, September Drucker, P.F. (2002). The discipline of innovation. Harvard Business Review, 80, 8, 95-102 Freeman, C. and L. Soete (1997). The Economics of Industrial Innovation. Third Ed., London: Pinter Guardian, (2010). How to Confuse a Facebook User. Available from: guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/feb/11/facebook-readwriteweb (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Hoovers, (2012). Facebook Company Information. Available from: hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.Facebook_Inc.f1fe73cc6a208e18.html (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Hopkins M. (2010). Innovation Isn’t ‘Creativity,’ It’s a Discipline You Manage. MitSloan Management Review, February Information Week, (2012). Facebook Hits 1 Billion Users: Now The Hard Part. Available from: informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/social_networking_consumer/240008527/facebook-hits-1-billion-users-now-the-hard-part (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Littler, D., Leverick, F., Bruce, M., (2003). Factors affecting the process of collaborative product development:   a study of UK manufacturers of information and communications technology products. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 12, 1, 16-32 Metcalfe, J. (1998). Cognitive optimism: Self-deception or memory based processing heuristics?. Personality Social Psychology Review, 2, 100-110 New Media Trend Watch, (2012), Available from: newmediatrendwatch.com/ (Accessed on 13/11/2012) New Yorker, (2010).The Face of Facebook. Available from: newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/20/100920fa_fact_vargas (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Rogers, M (1998).   The Definition and Measurement of Innovation. Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, p.6, The University of Melbourne: Australia Rothwell R. and M. Dodgson (1995), Innovation and Size of Firm, in Dodgson, M. and Rothwell, R., eds., The Handbook of Industrial Innovation, Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 310-324 Tech Crunch, (2012). Mark Zuckerberg: Our Biggest Mistake Was Betting Too Much On HTML5. Available from: http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/11/mark-zuckerberg-our-biggest-mistake-with-mobile-was-betting-too-much-on-html5/ (Accessed on 13/11/2012) Time, (2012). 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Choose a Psychology-related JOURNAL ARTICLE Essay

Choose a Psychology-related JOURNAL ARTICLE - Essay Example Creativity constitutes the dependent variable for this research; however, the authors acknowledge that the directionality of the relationship between the two variables is not so obvious. Providing a conceptual and operational understanding for the concept of creativity, the authors clearly explain several essential personality traits such as tolerance of ambiguity, self-confidence and intrinsic motivation. They also use the theory of five personality traits (McCrae, & Costa, 1999) that they believe correlate with creativity. Maddux and Galinsky believe that precisely openness to experience is the most significant of these traits, which is fully congruent with their hypothesis. The literature review provided in the introductory section also describes some essential characteristics of multicultural and diverse experiences, especially the experience of living abroad. The findings of the present research are based on analysis of five empirical studies that seek to explain how foreign experience might be relates to creativity. Creativity is measured through the performance of participants on different creativity tasks in different studies The first two studies focus on the question of how does the duration of time spent abroad impacts on creativity. The first study involves a sample size of 205 university students. Among the independent measures there were the age, gender, nationality and if the respondents have ever lived or traveled abroad and the duration of they staying abroad. The dependent measure of the study consisted of classification of result of creativity task. The authors revealed statistically significant association between performance of the individual on creativity task and the duration of living abroad. Besides, they revealed a significant and negative association between the duration of traveling abroad and the creativity as measured through task performance. Such finding is in line with the