Mckinsey Accounting and Engineering Advisors Essay Example for Free

Mckinsey Accounting and Engineering Advisors Essay The firm was founded in 1926 by university of Chicago professor, James (â€Å"Mac†) McKinsey, it was called â€Å"accounting and engineering advisors†. Mac started recruiting experienced executives and training them in the integrated approach he called his General Survey outline. In Saturday morning sessions he would lead consultants through an undeviating sequence of analysis – goals, strategy, policies, organisation, facilities, procedures and personnel – while still encouraging them to synthesize data and think for themselves. McKinsey’s mission was to help clients make positive, lasting, and substantial improvements in their performance and to build a great firm that is able to attract, develop, excite, and retain exceptional people. Bower’s vision of the firm was: â€Å"one focused on issues of importance and top-level management, adhering to the highest standards of integrity, professional ethics, and technical excellence, able to attract and develop young men of outstanding qualifications, and committed to continually raising its stature and influence. Above all, it was to be a firm dedicated to the mission of serving its clients superbly well. Bower also articulated a policy that every assignment should bring the firm something more than revenue – experience or prestige for example. Bower and his colleagues believed that well-trained, highly intelligent generalists could quickly grasp the issue, and through disciplined analysis find its solution. The firm grew extraordinarily domestically in the 1950’s which provided a basis for international expansion that accelerated the rate of growth in the 1960’s. Offices opened in London, Geneva, Amsterdam, Dà ¼sseldorf and Paris. McKinsey was now a well established and highly respected presence in Europe and North America. To Gupta the task of knowledge development had become much more complex over the past decade or so due to three intersecting forces: †¢ In an increasingly information and knowledge driven age, the sheer volume and rate of change of new knowledge made the task much more complex †¢ Clients expectations of and need for leading edge expertise were constantly increasing †¢ The firm’s own success had made it much more difficult to link and leverage the knowledge and expertise represented by 3800 consultants in 69 offices worldwide. Gupta believed that knowledge is the lifeblood of McKinsey. How does knowledge create value for McKinsey and Company? Creating value for a firm means performing activities that increase the value of goods or services to consumers. McKinsey does this by trying not only to ‘serve its clients but also to develop its consultants’. Bower and his colleagues believed that well-trained, highly intelligent generalists could quickly grasp the issue, and through disciplined analysis find its solution. Because of the use of knowledge management one of McKinsey’s clients managing director reflected on a certain outcome that â€Å"their value added was in their access to knowledge, the intellectual rigor they bring, and their ability to build understanding and consensus among a diverse management group.† In 1980 when Gluck joined the central small group that comprised the firm office he proposed that â€Å"knowledge development had to be central, not a peripheral firm activity; that it needed to be ongoing and institutionalised, not temporary and project based; and that it had to be the responsibility of everyone, not just a few†. Gluck was trying to build a shared body of knowledge throughout the firm. Even though doing this may be costly Gluck was hoping the benefits would outweigh the expenses. Knowledge had created value for McKinsey and Company through that its client’s impact studies indicated that the new knowledge structure led to a longer-term focus on deeper understanding of issues. McKinsey and Company’s use of knowledge throughout the firm helped build long lasting client relationships. Gupta believed that knowledge was the core factor in being successful in the long run. Knowledge is a fundamental value for the McKinsey and Company. Even though focusing on developing knowledge throughout the firm may lead to less client work Gupta argued that it was still worth it and would increase value for the firm in the long term. Critically evaluate the company’s soft knowledge management strategy. I.e people. Soft knowledge management is â€Å"less quantifiable and cannot be captured codified and stored easily† (Kidd, 1994; Skyrme, 1998) Tacit knowledge is an example of soft knowledge. Tacit knowledge â€Å"cannot be easily communicated and shared, is highly personal, deep rooted in action and in an individual’s involvement within a specific context. It is commonly referred to as ‘the knowledge in people’s heads†. â€Å"Soft knowledge becomes accepted by virtue of informal authority and consensus within the group.†(Hildreth, Wright and Kimble, 2005). Gluck felt that there was a need to adjust the firm’s knowledge development focus. He believed that â€Å"knowledge is only valuable when it is between the ears of consultants and applied to clients problems.† Knowledge is less effectively developed through the disciplined work a few than through the spontaneous interaction of many. He changed the more structured â€Å"discover-codify-disseminate† model to an â€Å"engage-explore-apply-share† approach. Which is, a more loose approach. Even though McKinsey had adopted hard knowledge approaches, it still relied heavily on soft knowledge components, such as personal networks, old practices like cross-office transfers and strong ‘one firm’ norms like helping other consultants when they called. Unlike the hard knowledge approach the transfer of knowledge with the soft approach is not through databases and ‘Knowledge Resource Directory’s† it is a more informal method. It is when the older staff of the firm helps and teaches the new comers by sharing their experience an d knowledge.

Irans Past and Future :: Iran Social Change History Essays

Iran's Past and Future â€Å"Does this look like love?!† Janet yelled at her mother-in-law, shoving the dented gold bracelet towards her. Her mother in law didn’t notice; she was talking as well, â€Å"He even threatened me, saying that if I or anyone else asked him about his personal life, they wouldn’t be allowed to come to his house any more.† Neither woman was listening; Janet just kept talking, â€Å"Last week, I caught him burning his hand with a cigarette in the basement.† Both women were talking about Ben, Janet’s husband. A few minutes before, he had left their six thousand square foot home in the foothills outside Tehran, Iran while Janet lay unconscious on the floor, bruised from the latest of his beatings. While Janet continued yelling about her husband to her in-laws who lived next door, he was headed to her parent’s house for reasons that would take her years to understand. Janet wasn’t actually at the scene of the crime, but she remembers the stories and the court testimonies later. She knows what happened. She knows that her parents got in the car with Ben after he drove to their house. She knows that he told them that he had beaten their daughter to death with his bare hands and she knows that her father reacted as most fathers would, he was angry beyond words. He pulled his knife and let it fly. She knows that her mother tried to stop him; her hand was sliced and bandaged later. And she knows that the car wrecked and that it was her father that called the police. She knows all of this because she spent too much time living it and too much time thinking about it. But what she doesn’t know is why it all had to happen to her. A lithe, middle aged Armenian woman whose smile overshadows her worry lines, Janet Lelham was unable to handle her story, her nightmare, until just a few years ago. Now she can tell you as much as you’d like to know. She can tell you the five minute, abbreviated version, focused on the horrors of running from her home and hiding in foreign countries as a refugee. Or, if you have the time, she can tell you a little bit more of the story, this time replete with images of the death of both her husband and her father.

Presence of Death in Literature Essay

Literature often contains themes that allow the reader to relate to the characters. From suicide to murders, death is an inevitable theme seen time and time over not only in real life but also in many types of literary works. It is used by many authors as a main driving force behind the plot as well as a method to add emotions in various works. The presence of death is a reoccurring subject in almost every type of literary work such as novels, short stories as well as plays. Firstly, death is seen in many different novels and is present in almost every genre. Death is even present in many novels aiming for younger readers such as William Golding’s â€Å"Lord of the Flies† and others. In the novel â€Å"Lord of The Flies†, death is a very common subject throughout the story as seen with the deaths of the little’un, Simon and Piggy. For starters, already in the first few chapters, death makes its first appearance as one of the little’uns disappears. â€Å"That little’un-’ gasped Piggy – ‘him with the mark on his face, I don’t see him. Where is he now?† (William Golding, p. 46) The little’un was earlier spotted playing in the forest near the mountain top where an accidental forest fire broke out just few moments after. The little’un with the mark on his face is now nowhere to be found and is presumed dead burnt in the fire. Moreover, death is seen a second time later on in the novel when Simon is attacked by all the boys. After his encounter with The Lord of the Flies, Simon manages to make his way back to Jack’s feast only to find a group of boys caught up in frenzy. In their bewildered state of mind, the savage boys descended upon the innocent child thinking he was the best and violently killed him. â€Å"At once the crowd surged after it poured down the rock, leapt on the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore† ( William Golding, p.169). Finally, towards the end of the book, death is seen for the third and last time when Piggy and Ralph visit the Castle Rock in hopes of retrieving Piggy’s glasses. However, at the castle rock, the duo encountered and unexpected twist of events which led to Piggy’s death after being crushed by a big boulder of rock thrown by Roger. Although death is seen multiple times in novels, it is also a recurring theme seen in other shorter literary works. Secondly, death is also seen quite often in short stories. Countless authors including Edgar Alan Poe use death as one of the main driving force in there plot line. As a matter of fact, death is seen in almost every Edgar Alan Poe short stories some examples being â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† and â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue†. To begin with, the theme of death is seen throughout the story â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† as the main character plots to kill the old man. At the begging of the story, the main narrator explains that he can no longer stand to look into the elderly man’s fake eye and for that reason he must kill him. After a week of planning, the main character finally puts his plan in motion as he rushes in the old man’s house and crushes him to death under his own bed. â€Å"He shrieked once — once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done.† (Edgar Alan Poe, p.5) Likewise, the presence of death is also present in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† where the main character Montresor vows revenge to his foe Fortunato for the thousand injuries and bane he has caused him in the past. In that short story, Montresor lures Fortunato in the catacomb where he is then entombed alive and left to starvation. Furthermore, death is also seen in â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue† but this time in a funnier and more farfetched way. In this play, an unnamed narrator and his friend investigate a crime scene only to find out that an Ourang-Outang was in fact the murderer behind the crime. The monkey wield with a razor had completely cut off the head of an old women in her own apartment. â€Å"The throat of the old lady was not merely cut, but the head absolutely severed from the body: the instrument was a mere razor† (Edgar Alan Poe, p.20). Albeit death is constantly seen in many books meant to be read, it is just as present in other literary works meant to be acted out such as plays. Lastly, death is not only seen in books but it is also frequently seen in many known plays. For the past few decades, the presence of death in plays has been seen time and time over by some of the most eminent playwrights including Shakespeare. From suicide to murder, death is present in almost all of Shakespeare plays some of which are â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†, â€Å"Macbeth† and, let’s not forget, â€Å"Hamlet†. In the first place, the presence of death is seen several times throughout the play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† many of which are resulted in combat such as the deaths of Mercutio, Tybalt and Paris. Although many deaths occur in the pay â€Å"Romeo and Juliet†, the play is most commonly known for the deaths of the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. After Juliet drinks a potion to make her seem dead for 2 days in the hopes of escaping a forced marriage, Romeo finds her corpse. â€Å"O my love, my wife! Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.† (William Shakespeare, Act 5, Scene 3). Thinking Juliet was actually dead; Romeo commits suicide by drinking poison. At Juliet awakening, she is devastated to see her lover’s dead body beside her and decides to stab herself to death. In the second place, death is also seen multiple times throughout the play â€Å"Macbeth†. In this play, in order make the witches prophecy come true, the main character Macbeth killed the King Duncan so as to inherit the throne all and become the new King of Scotland. â€Å"I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell. That summons thee to heaven or to hell.† (William Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 1) Later on in the play, Macbeth then hired murderers to kill one of his former friends as well as a many other noblemen threatening his crown. In the third and last place, the presence of death is also seen in the popular Shakespeare play â€Å"Hamlet†. This play is known for its many deaths throughout the plotline. In the end, almost every round character has been killed. Out of the 12, 10 were either poisoned or drowned. Thus, death is also frequently found in plays. All in all, the theme of death is a major and reoccurring subject that is present in literary works. It is often found in various types of literary works such as novels, short stories and plays. This theme has been used by some of the best authors to ever write for it evokes many emotions. However, there are many other ways the author can use to induce these. Hence, one can wonder about the variety of techniques they use to relate to the readers. Annotated bibliography Mabillard, Amanda. Violence in Shakespeare’s Plays. Shakespeare Online. 2000. (30/10/2012) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/violenceinshakespeare.html > This website describes every death linked to violence in Shakespeare plays all in separate categories (Suicide, murder, killed in combat, etc†¦) in addition to a brief description of every death. This website helped me not only find the deaths I wanted to talk about in my essay but also helped me find quotes for every cases of death. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Capricorn Books, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1954. The book Lord of the Flies was really helpful to me to find quotes for my first argument as well as to make links with deaths in literature for a novel. Because of the novel’s pretty high count of death, I was able to establish a multitude of different links to my essay that bears with the presence of death. William Shakespeare, ed. Cyrus Hoy. Romeo and Juliet (Norton Critical Editions). New York: Norton, 1992 The Shakespeare play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† was helpful for my essay because it was one of the plays I used to link to the presence of death. In addition, â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† is home to the most famous death in literature and had to be inserted in my essay. William Shakespeare, ed. A. C. Bradley. Shakespearean tragedy: Macbeth. New York: Penguin, 1991. The Shakespeare play â€Å"Macbeth† was useful to my essay for many reasons. For starters, I had just finished reading this book before writing my essay which made it easy to make links between the presence of death in literature and this book. Also, like most of Shakespeare plays, â€Å"Macbeth† contains a lot of death’s which made it even easier for me to link it to my essay. Weller, Philip. Hamlet Navigator. Shakespeare Navigators, (21/11/2012). < http://shakespeare-navigators.com/hamlet > This website contains all information that there is to know about Shakespeare (quotes, themes, scenes etc†¦). Although I did not use this site for a lot, it helped me make my annotated bibliography for every Shakespeare play I used in this essay. SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on Poe’s Short Stories. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. (18/11/2012) < http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section5.rhtml > This website is a summary of Edgar Alan Poe’s â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue† which was really helpful for me to understand the plot of the story without having to read the entire short story. I also found quotes on this website.

Atomic Weight Definition (Relative Atomic Mass)

Atomic weight is the average mass of atoms of an element, calculated using the relative abundance of isotopes in a naturally-occurring element. It is the weighted average of the masses of naturally-occurring isotopes. What Is It Based On? Prior to 1961, a unit of atomic weight was based on 1/16th (0.0625) of the weight of an oxygen atom. After this point, the standard was changed to be 1/12th the weight of a carbon-12 atom in its ground state. A carbon-12 atom is assigned 12 atomic mass units. The unit is dimensionless. More Commonly Known as Relative Atomic Mass Atomic mass is used interchangeably with atomic weight, although the two terms dont mean precisely the same thing. Another issue is that weight implies a force exerted in a gravitational field, which would be measured in units of force, like newtons. The term atomic weight has been in use since 1808, so most people dont really care about the issues, but to reduce confusion, atomic weight is more commonly known now as relative atomic mass. Abbreviation The usual abbreviation for atomic weight in texts and references is at wt or at. wt. Examples The atomic mass of carbon is 12.011The atomic mass of hydrogen is 1.0079.The atomic weight of boron samples collected on Earth falls within a range of 10.806 to 10.821. Synthetic Elements For synthetic elements, there is no natural isotope abundance. So, for these elements, the total nucleon count (sum of the number of protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus) is usually cited in the place of the standard atomic weight. The value is given within brackets so that its understood its the nucleon count and not a natural value. Related Terms Atomic Mass - Atomic mass is the mass of an atom or other particle, expressed in unified atomic mass units (u). An atomic mass unit is defined as 1/12th the mass of a carbon-12 atom. Since the mass of electrons is much smaller than that of protons and neutrons, the atomic mass is nearly identical to the mass number. Atomic mass is denoted with the symbol ma. Relative Isotopic Mass - This is the ratio of the mass of a single atom to the mass of a unified atomic mass unit. This is synonymous with atomic mass. Standard Atomic Weight - This is the expected atomic weight or relative atomic mass of an element sample in the Earths crust and atmosphere. It is an average of relative isotope masses for an element from samples collected all over the Earth, so this value is subject to change as new element sources are discovered.  The standard atomic weight of an element is the value cited for atomic weight on the periodic table.