There Is No Doubt That The Death Of Francisco Franco, Dictator Of Spai

There is no doubt that the death of Francisco Franco, Dictator of Spain for thirty-nine years, was a great watershed in Spanish history. From 1939 to 1975 Francos regime controlled religion, the media, education, the working and even the private lives of Spanish citizens. His death undoubtedly paved the way for the commencement of a transition to democracy. But in order to fully analyse this transition, and the extent to which it was one of compromise, we must examine both the years following his death and the gradual evolution of Spanish society in the years preceding 1975. V?ctor M. P?rez-D?az argues that the gradual emergence of liberal democratic traditions of institutions and values in civil society preceded, and prepared the way for, the political transition of the 1970s (The Return of Civil Society, p.3). The main cause of this shift towards liberal democratic traditions originated from a decision of the regime itself. After years of being an insular society which attempted to achieve self-sufficiency, Franco, under immense pressure from the Opus Dei, opened up the Spanish borders to the international markets. He did not foresee the far-reaching consequences this move would have. Foreign capital poured into the country creating the economic miracle of the 1960s. This allowed Spain to develop industry and services and to rush through a pattern set by many countries before it. Agricultural labourers became industrial workers. The workforce as a whole became more urbanised and they enjoyed a higher standard of living. Education in both rural and urba n areas improved and agriculture was modernised. While many Spaniards immigrated to other European countries, Spain experienced a massive influx of tourists. Foreign culture and democratic ideas began influencing the people of Spain and they gradually began to adopt the liberal thinking of their European counterparts. All of this took place within the framework of a military dictatorship. That the totalitarian regime allowed this change to occur was the first compromise of the transition. It was the beginning of the decline in Francos power over society. In his final years Franco began to prepare for the inevitability of his death. He wished to ensure the survival of Fascism and named Luis Carrero Blanco as Prime Minister and the man who would guarantee continuismo. The assassination of Carrero by ETA terrorists in 1973 was undoubtedly a key factor in the emergence of Spain as a democracy. However Franco remained confident that his regime would endure. This was in part due to Juan Carlos who had taken over from Franco when he became too ill to rule the country. Franco had supervised the education of Juan Carlos as a young prince and Juan Carlos has pledged in a television ceremony to support Francos political principals. Franco could be forgiven for believing that everything was safely tied down (atado y bien atado). However, following Francos death there was widespread uncertainty as to the direction which Spanish politics would now take. The Francoist institutions remained, but it was unclear how long they would last. The government, under the control of Carlos Arias Navarro, failed in its attempts to introduce reform and Navarro resigned shortly afterwards. Adolfo Su?rez Gonz?lez then took over the reigns. Su?rez was only forty-three at the time and had worked in different capacities for the regime all his life. He seemed to stand for everything that went against the spirit of the time. A newspaper article published at the time of his nomination summed up the reaction of the public; ?Qu? error! ?Qu? inmenso error! (Los Nuevos Espa?oles, p.50) But Su?rez emerged as a politician of incredible skill and realism. He knew that if a transition were to take place, it had to be within the boundaries of Francoist legality. This is the essential compromise of the Spanish transition. Instead of attempting to make a clean break from the existing regime, Su?rez began a painstaking process of reform within the Constitution of 1936. This move was an attempt to ensure that the army would not get involved as, after many years of being seen as the guardians of the Francoist regime and its Leyes Fundamentales (Constitution), it was feared they would step in if these were threatened. In his efforts at reform, Su?rez proposed the

pop up ads essays

pop up ads essays Pop-Up Ads: Technology isnt Always a Good Thing by Jud Peterson I. Introduction.....................................................................Page 1 A. Joe Internet User and Pop-Ups..............................Page 1 B. Some Companies Cant Live With em.....................Page 2 C. Some Companies Cant Live Without em ................Page 3 III. Conclusion....................................................................Page 4 D. References............................................................Page 6 As more and more companies go online these days, they need more and more ways to advertise their products and services. The most popular method, unfortunately, is the use of pop-up advertising. For those of you reading who are not in the know, a pop-up ad is an advertisement that appears on the computer screen out of nowhere, mostly when the pop-up victim is surfing the internet, but sometimes they will appear when the victim is not surfing the internet at all. They appear on my computer when Im not even there, but enough of my life story. Lets get back to the issue at hand. Love them or hate them, pop-up ads are here to stay. The majority of todays internet users are doing everything in their power to stop them, but somehow pop-up ads are still an effective advertising tool, so they cannot be stopped just yet. To understand the reasoning behind this, one has to see the issues from a consumers viewpoint as well as a businessmans viewpoint. Most consumers want to do away with pop-up ads, as do many businesses. However, several businesses make the bulk of their income with pop-up ads. Assuming whoever reads this is most likely a consumer who does not like pop-up ads, I will start by discussing this viewpoint and far people will go to stop pop-up ads. I am one of these consumers that wishes pop-up ads would di...

Introduction Apple, Inc Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Introduction Apple, Inc - Research Paper Example was incorporated on January 3, 1977,  in  Cupertino, California (About-apple.com, 2015). In December 1980, Apple went public by launching an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The IPO was a smashing hit and raised more money than any other IPO since Ford Motor Company’s IPO in 1956. Many of Apple’s employees became instant millionaires by virtue of their stock options (Deffree, 2014). In January, 1984, Steve Jobs unveiled the Macintosh, a computer equipped with graphical user interface. A strained relationship with John Sculley, the then CEO, led to Steve Job’s resignation from Apple Computer, Inc. in 1985 (Siegel, 2011). Apple Computer, Inc. did not fare well after Jobs departure and the company nearly collapsed. It reported one of its worst financial performances in the last quarter of 1996 and the initial phase of 1997. The top management decided to bring back Steve Jobs (Hemert, 2010). Thereafter, there has been no looking back for the company. Apple Computers launched a series of immensely successful products including the iPod in 2001, iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010. Since the company expanded its product portfolio, Apple Computer, Inc. was renamed Apple, Inc. in January 2007 (Honan, 2007). As of today, Apple, Inc. is a well-renowned name in the world of consumer electronics, personal computers and software (Apple, 2015). Deffree, S. (2014). Apple IPO makes instant millionaires, December 12, 1980.  EDN Network. Retrieved from http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/edn-moments/4403276/Apple- IPO-makes-instant-millionaires--December-12--1980 Hemert, K. (2010).  25 Years Ago Today, Steve Jobs Left Apple.  Gizmodo. Retrieved 20 February 2015, from

Barnes and Nobles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Barnes and Nobles - Essay Example The mission of the company is to operate the best specialty business in America, regardless of the product they sell; a value statement of the company is that as a bookseller they are determined to be the very best in the business regardless of the size, pedigree, or inclination of their competitors (Barnesandnoblesinc, 2011). The company wants to serve its customer and become a valuable resource to them. The vision, mission, and value statements of the company will be validated in the research paper utilizing various techniques. The first step in the investigation will be thoroughly analyzing the information the company offers in its corporate website. The corporate website of a corporation is a valuable resource that provides important and relevant information for users of financial information and the other stakeholders of the company. I will research secondary sources to validate the company’s claim that the firm is the top bookseller in the world. Obtaining information re garding the market share of the company is a good way to determine how much reach and business activity a company has. To test whether the company’s customer are happy with the level of service they receive from Barnes and Nobles the use of primary research would be very useful. Two techniques that can be used to test the customer service the firm provides are questionnaires and mystery shoppers. Even though I do not work for the company which inhibits my ability to actually perform the primary research the strategic paper will include a template of the questionnaire and an action plan of how to implement the mystery shopper research. The week six strategic plan will include both internal and external environmental analysis. One of the primary sources that will be used to perform the internal analysis of the company will be the annual report of the firm. The annual report is a business report that must be filed by all public companies once year as mandated by SEC regulations. The annual report discusses the financial, operating results, and strategic path of the company. The corporate website of the firm is also a good resource to evaluate the internal environment of the company. Other secondary research will be performed on the company using the internet and other professional databases. I will search within the firm’s website to see if the firm published a corporate social responsibility report. The external environmental analysis will use various sources. One of the sources that will be used is the expertise of Team C. During week two for our team’s innovation project I suggested a company called Papyrus Australia that everybody liked. I suggested the company hoping it would be chosen because I foresaw how the product this company developed would be an excellent opportunity for Barnes and Nobles. Papyrus Australia invented a new type of paper called banana ply paper made up of the truck of banana trees. The week 2 team paper will be used as a source document to develop an alternative solution for Barnes and Nobles. I will investigate using secondary research the status of the industry in 2011. A database that might very useful for this task is the Plunkett Research database. Another technique that might be useful during week six to facilitate the external environmental analysis is benchmarking. Benchmarking allows an investigator to compare the best practices in other industries to find solutions for the company.

Healcare policy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Healcare policy - Assignment Example However, this law has been applauded for reducing cost of healthcare as it is anticipated by research conducted by different scientists (Hertel, 2011). The implementation of the law will be affect the access to healthcare in the US since it will make healthcare accessible to many people who had no access before due to cost. However, the law will lead to detriment to quality of healthcare offered to Americans since little resources will cater for a huge number of patients (Hertel, 2011). The increased number of patients seeking healthcare will lead to increased numbers of healthcare practitioners compromising nursing standards. This will create a problem for oversight bodies in maintaining quality healthcare practices (Gray, 2011). Every American has a right to access quality healthcare and this law gives an opportunity to all Americans to access quality healthcare. In my own opinion, I think there should be a law that looks into the welfare of mental patients and a law should be created to provide mandatory healthcare to these patients. A policy should be implemented to create nursing standards and practices that cater for mental p atients under a universal healthcare

Analysis Of A Leader Management Essay

Analysis Of A Leader Management Essay Isadore Sharp is the Founder of The Four Seasons Hotels Resort. Currently he is serving as the Chairman and CEO of The Four Seasons Hotels Resort. He was born in Ontario, Canada in October 8, 1931. Sharp is one of Canadas most successful businessmen. He completed his graduation in architecture from Torontos Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. After working in real states for five years, he decided to take a new direction and pondered the idea to build a hotel on his own. He was just 29 years old when he opened his first 125 room motor hotel (motel) in Toronto which was profitable and popular (Martin R, 2009). Mr. Sharp has build and managing a chain of 83 hotels that includes some of the worlds most impressive properties across 35 countries in 5 continents. Doing thing in own way Sharp has transformed the idea of service and quality of hotel industry. Mr. Sharp was not interested in following his competitors path; he developed his own management techniques and style which facilitated him to build the worlds largest chain of luxury hotels. Sharp was mainly focused on quality not the quantity. He believed in building medium sized hotel with excellent service and quality. In 2009, he authored a book name Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy, which gives an insight of the story of his successful five star Four Season Hotel chain (Morassutti W,2009). Mr. Sharp has obtained and earned so many achievements and awards in his field till now which includes Order of Canada, the second highest honor for merit and many more Lifetime Achievement Award .He is Honorary Director of Scotia bank, Clairvest Group Inc., Canadian Unity Council, Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, and Mount Sinai Hospital. Mr. sharp has given Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from University of Guelph, 1992, University of Toronto, 1994 and York University, 2009 (Businessweek, 2012). Leadership makes and allows a viewpoint for what must be done, why it is important, and how it can be achieved. It is someone who is aware of current government and company circumstances, possibilities, and issues. Leadership needs therefore having the right mind-set along with the right viewpoint. Leadership is an important function of control which allows to improve performance and to accomplish company objectives. Leadership is very important in taking effort, motivating, offering support, creating assurance, creating relaxation, creating fantastic office, and co-ordination. Leadership is important in every organization at every level to improve their growth win the competitors. Organizations want leaders, who are value inspired individualities, who can control the circumstances by making the surprising happens ,develop organizations, win the employees commitment with the DNA i.e. purpose, viewpoint and ethical concepts, create better design with proper work way of life and lead the individuals towards the success of company objectives and objectives (Saxena S, 2010). Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behavior and work of others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. Leadership is the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal. Leadership is the potential to influence behavior of others. It is also defined as the capacity to influence a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders are required to develop future visions and to motivate the organizational members to want to achieve the visions (Anonymous, 2009). According to Keith Davis, Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined objectives enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and motivates it towards goals.(asiahotelier, 2010) Leadership and management are often considered to be the similar term. Leadership is very important in order to have effective management. Leadership focuses on building an environment in which each and every employee should be able to develop and excel. Leadership is basically influencing and driving the group efforts towards achieving the goals. A manager should have certain leadership qualities. Leaders formulate strategies that are competitive and which can give them a competitive advantage in the present as well as in the future. Therefore it is necessary for Organizations to have strong leadership and strong management for maintaining organizational efficiency (md, 2012). All the good leaders are good mangers but not all the good managers are good leader, its not necessary that an effective manger can be a good leader. Many Administrators, supervisors and executives are performing their duties and responsibilities in effective way without being a good leader. Managers follow what has been told by their leader, they think about their department where as a leaders thinks about the whole organization. Managers deals with ongoing, day to day challenges and complexities of organizations. Managing requires costing and planning and leading requires creating a mission and vision for the organization. Good leaders lead their people towards ultimate vision and help as well as motivates them in obstacles whatever come in the way (Coleman P, 2007). Good leaders are able to develop their work as a team. The first and most important function of a leader is to create and maintain that he and a pleasant working environment by needs a close look at his subordinates abilities, needs and potential capabilities. The second function of a leader is to serve as a labor representative. The head of a working group to work as a liaison and coordination between the group members and senior management. The desired condition, a leader is expected to communicate problems and complaints with their subordinates to senior management. The third function of leaders is to act as a consultant to help in the work for his people. Here are a leading company expects will accompany and advise his subordinates who face problems in terms of their performance in the workplace problem are not necessarily technical, but may also contain naturally emotional. The fourth important function leader manages time effectively (Anonymous, 2010). The function of leader is to check whether the employees are completing their work within the give time frame and also need to check if the work groups are providing quality and efficiency in their work. The fifth most important function of a leader is using his power in the right way. A leader should be a good observer. A leader should reward his subordinates so that they get motivated towards doing the job which in turn can create a positive and livelier working environment (Malhotra J, 2009). Different leaders have different leadership styles which differ in the manner and approach in which they provide direction to the people, and how they implement the plans and how they motivate the people. The three old approaches of leadership are Authoritarian or Autocratic, Participative or Democratic, Delegative or Free Reign. Leader who informs his employees about what needs to be done and how it needs to be done is an Authoritarian and Autocratic type of leader. Such a leader never takes advice and suggestions from others. This style of leadership is useful in situations when the leader has all the information and resources to solve the problem efficiently and only needs the work to be done by his employees. This style of leadership helps in saving time. This style is successful only when the employees are thoroughly motivated to do the work. A good leader knows when he needs to use this style and when not to (Cherry K, 2000). Leader who involves his employee in the process of decision making by taking their opinions and suggestions in how to do the work, uses the Participative style of leadership. Although he takes the opinions, the final decision remains with the leader and he can chose not use the suggestions if he thinks that it doesnt help the cause (Cherry K, 2000). Mr. Sharp believed that in order to achieve significant productivity gains, he needs to empower his employees to a certain extent. One of the first tasks that he did was to create a united purpose amongst his workers. Sharp knew that neither he nor anyone else could command the dedication of his employees. Leader who uses this style should not be considered a weak leader but on the contrary its a sign of strength. Using this style, a leader gains the respect of his employees. This style is used when the leader doesnt have complete information and other employees have some information which will be useful for achieving the goal. A leader s hould always employ employees who are knowledgeable and skillful as the leader is not expected to know each and everything. This style helps the leader to become a part of the team and it helps in getting towards a better decision (Lewin K., 1939). A leader who allows the decisions to be made by his employees uses the Delegative style of leadership. Although the decisions are made by the employee(s), the responsibility of the decisions rests with the leader since he is the person in-charge. This style should be used by a leader only when he can completely trust the decision making capabilities of his employees and has confidence in their knowledge and skills (U.S. Army Handbbok, 1973). Mr. Sharp believes that in order to gain the success one needs support. Mr. Sharp, the leading luxury hotelier in the world, didnt become so all by himself. In the 50 years of service in the hotel industry, he has developed a leadership style for himself which is unique and has encouraged his employees the world over to completely devote themselves for the betterment of the company in all regards. He has created a working environment which has been built on trust, credibility and integrity. This has inspired his team to work with more dedication to cater to the needs of the guests in all of his hotels across the world. Mr. Sharpe realized very quickly that this is the secret which will help him to get the best results for his company . New approaches of leadership are Transformational Leadership, Charismatic Leadership, Transactional Leadership, People Oriented Leadership. Leaders can posses all of this styles in some manner. Transformational leadership style is very inspiring. This type of leaders expects best from all employees as well as themselves which will lead to a good productivity and involvement of everyone as a team. Transformational leadership is very useful in the organization to take initiatives and add new values. Transformational leader needs support from their people or employess. This type of leaders uses other leadership styles as well depending on the situation and the people (Johnson R, 2010). Charismatic leadership style is one of the modest approaches of leaders to his employees. Charismatic leader shows enthusiasm towards his employees and motivates them to move forward. The only difference between charismatic leaders and transformational leaders is their intention. Transformational leaders wants to transform their teams and organizations where as Charismatic leaders are regularly focused on employees and do not want to change anything. The tsunami crisis in Southeast Asia in 2004 was a good example of Sharps commitment towards his team. Waves pounded the Four Seasons hotel in the Maldives and within 24 hours, all employees and guests were safely evacuated from the island. But, the damage didnt stop there. Resort went to shutdown and hundreds of employees were out of work all of a sudden. Sharp subsequently sent all his employees to other Four Seasons hotels around the world in order to keep them employed (Sharp I, 2008). Transactional leader work through such a structure in which it is clear what is to be done by his employees and what reward they will get after completion of the given task. This leadership style starts with the idea that team members agree to obey their leader when they accept a job. This leadership style clears employees roles and responsibilities (Tegborg M, 2010). In this leadership style employees are given rewards after achieving the goal and same way employees fail to achieve the given task, then they are fully responsible for the failure not the leader. This type of style focuses on short term tasks. The downside of this leadership style is that team members can do little to improve their job satisfaction. It can feel stifling, and it can lead to high staff turnover (mindtools, 2010). People-oriented leader completely focuses on organizing, supporting, and developing the people on their teams. People oriented leader treat every employee equally in a friendly and approachable manner which tends to encourage good teamwork and creative collaboration. Team members of a people oriented leader are often more productive because they know that the leader will provide support if they need it (mindtools, 2010). Same way Sharp has showed his people oriented leadership at the time recession. At that time other organization were downsizing the labor cost to recover the loss and unpressurized the situation, Sharp maximized employees value to show him commitment toward his people (Isadore Sharp, 2009).

Fate and Pessimism in Far from the Madding Crowd Essay -- Madding

Fate and Pessimism in Far from the Madding Crowd      Ã‚  Ã‚   Fate plays a major role in many of Hardy's novels; both Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge contain various instances where its effects are readily apparent. Moreover, Hardy's novels reflect a pessimistic view where fate, or chance, is responsible for a character's ruin. Far from the Madding Crowd is one of his earliest fiction; here, although it is much more subdued, fate and pessimism are still visible. It is shown throughout the book; Bathsheba Everdene sends a valentine to Farmer Boldwood as the result of her divination by Bible-and-key, Fanny Robin arrives at the wrong church for her wedding with Sergeant Troy, and a wave sweeps Troy out to sea so that he is assumed dead, only for him to return and be shot by Boldwood. Two of the characters, Troy and Fanny, along with her stillborn child, is left dead, and Boldwood is sent to confinement, labeled as being insane.    Nonetheless, fate and pessimism are much more subdued in Crowd than Hardy's later, grimmer works; whereas Tess is put to death, Bathsheba marries Gabriel Oak, the most obvious choice out of the three suitors. Indeed, Crowd is the happiest of Hardy's major novels. As for the more unfortunate characters, it can be said that they were not without fault, especially Troy. In short, Hardy has written a novel with a happy ending, where the protagonists are rewarded and the antagonists are punished.    At least, it would seem so. However, one must wonder if the "punishments" are truly just. And what about Fanny? It would be impossible to mark her as an antagonist. She is young and naà ¯ve, and her fate is unavoidable from the moment she falls in love with Tr... ...was possible. This optimism, balanced with traces of Hardy's early pessimism, makes Far from the Madding Crowd not a failed tragedy but "a significant novel in its own right-a kind of golden mean among the major works" (Carpenter 81).    Works Cited:    Beegel, Susan. "Male Sexuality in Far from the Madding Crowd." Thomas Hardy. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 207-226.    Carpenter, Richard. Thomas Hardy. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1964.    Flynn, Paul. "Sergeant Troy: A `Wicked Soldier Hero' in the Victorian Military." Hardy Miscellany 2 (September 16, 1998). May 12, 2000    Guerard, Albert J. "The Woman of the Novels." Hardy. Ed. Albert J. Guerard. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963.    Hardy, Thomas. Far from the Madding Crowd. New York: New American Library, Inc., 1960.