Hip Hop Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Hip Hop Music - Essay Example The term hip hop was coined by a rapper known as Keith Cowboy who was a group member of the Grandmaster flash and the Furious five band. He did this when he was teasing a friend who had joined the U.S. army by singing these words i.e. hip hop hip hop in a manner that imitated the rhythm of marching soldiers. He then used the hip hop rhythm in a part of his performance on stage from where other artistes picked. The word first appeared in print form in a book titled Village Voice that was authored by Steven Hager. Hip hop music is a music genre that is comprised of two major components, which are, rapping which is also referred to as MCing or it also goes by the name DJing; and record scratching. Rapping utilizes vocals where the performer speaks rhythmically to supportive beats which are in most cases generated from some bits of other songs. The history of hip hop has it that it has evolved through two main eras; the era of old school hip hop that ranged from the year 1970 and lasted till the year 1985. The new age or golden era of the hip hop school began in 1985 and lasted till the year 1993 Rappers are also known to recite poems in the course of making the hip hop performance. The other components include graffiti which is usually made on the clothing wore by the performers, and break dancing. Some instrumentals played in the version or trend that depicts hip hop are also categorized into this group hence regarded as hip hop. It is worth noting that hip hop music is part of the larger hip hop culture that comprises of fashion, music and art. Hip hop is characterized with a drum beat that regularly takes up the 4/4 time signature. It might be accompanied with vocal bit of the music which might also be ignored. The hip hop music might be presented by a live band or as produced music Roots of hip hop lyricism The roots of hip hop can be dated back to the 1970's. They can be found in music that was played by the West African and African Americans that were living in this era. These West African hip hops fore fathers also known as the griots played songs and made poems that had a musical style that was suggestive of hip hop music. They were composed of a group of singers and poets and they were engaged in much traveling and singing as their career. This group of singers also forms part of an oral tradition that existed hundreds of years past (Flores 2000P24). The other fore fathers of rap were found in the New York City who made their performances in a similar manner as the griots. They gave performances of a poetic nature as well as music that suggested hip hop. They held the traditions known as talking blues; signifying the dozens and jazz poetry- all of which makes part of oral tradition. Some other groups of people who made great contributions to the roots of hip hop include a group popular for poetry and that was known as the last poets, and a poet known by the name Jalal Mansur Nurridin who was vocal even in the 1960s The popularization of the block parties in the New York City during the 1970s led to the greatest development of the hip hop music. This can be attributed to the fact that music especially of the funk and soul music nature was often played heavily in these parties. Frequent playing of this music led to the discovery of a means of playing the percussion breaks in songs that had formed part of the most popular hits during those days. This was after it was realized that the parts that were isolated were the most danceable parts that entertained crowds the most. DJ Kool Herc has been famed as

Performance Appraisal Essay Example for Free

Performance Appraisal Essay Performance Appraisal is a formal management system that provides for the evaluation of the quality of an individual’s performance in an organization, and is usually prepared by the employee’s immediate supervisor, and the procedure typically requires the supervisor to fill out a standardized assessment form that evaluates the individual on several different dimensions and then discusses the result of the evaluation to the employee (Grote, 2002). According to Grote, too often, performance appraisal is seen merely as a once-a-year drill mandated by the personnel department, but in organizations that take performance appraisal seriously and use the system well, it is used as an ongoing process and not merely as an annual event. To obtain the best information possible if performance appraisal data must be used, four phase model of performance appraisal must be used, and these are through, performance planning, performance execution, and performance review. In performance planning, this is usually set at the beginning of the year, the manager and individual get together for a performance-planning meeting in which they discuss what a person will achieve over the next 12 months. In the performance execution, the manager provides coaching and feedback to the individuals to increase the probability of success and creates the condition that motivate and resolves any performance problems that arise and in the midway through the year, they meet to review the individual’s performance thus far against the plans and goals that they discussed in the performance planning meeting (Grote, 2002). In performance assessment, the manager reflects on how well the subordinate has performed over the course of the year, assembles the various forms of paperwork that the organization provides to make this assessment, and fills them out, and the manager also recommend a change in individual’s compensation based on the quality of the individuals work (Grote, 2002). The completed assessment form is then reviewed and approved by the appraiser’s boss, department head, or the compensation manager. In performance review, the manager and the subordinate meet, usually about an hour, and they review the appraisal form that the manager has written and talked about how well the person performed over the past 12 months, and at the end of the review meeting, they set a date to meet again to hold a performance-planning discussion for the next 12 months, at which point the performance management process anew (Grote, 2002). Self-ratings fit to this approach in the way that, it is needed by the manager in the performance assessment to be able to fully evaluate the employee.

Research Philosophy :: Ontology, Epistemology

Research philosophy, refers to the development of knowledge adopted by the researchers in their research (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). In other words, it is the theory that used to direct the researcher for conducting the procedure of research design, research strategy, questionnaire design and sampling (Malhotra, 2009). It is very important to have a clear understanding of the research philosophy so that we could examine the assumptions about the way we view the world, which are contained in the research philosophy we choose, knowing that whether they are appropriate or not (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009), three major ways of thinking about research philosophy are examined: ontology, epistemology and axiology. Each of them carries significant differences which will have an impact on the way we consider the research procedures. Ontology, â€Å"is concerned with nature of reality†, while epistemology â€Å" concerns what constitutes acceptable knowledge in a field of study and axiology â€Å"studies judgements about value† (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009, p110, p112, p116). This study is intent on creating some â€Å"facts† from objective evaluations which are made by the subjects. Therefore, epistemology will be chosen for this study as the way of thinking about the research philosophy. More specifically, epistemology also contains three philosophical positions: positivism, realism and interpretivism (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). Positivism stance usually supports investigating or studying an observable social reality and the final production could be â€Å"law-like generalisations similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientists† (Remenyi et al. cited in Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009, p113). It is effective to generate a research strategy to collect the creditable data which comes from observable reality therefore contributing to developing hypotheses (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). In this study, we aim at exploring the creditable and measurable results from individuals in order to understand the influence of surprise on viral marketing via social media in perspectives of message characteristics. Thus, the philosophy of positivism will be adopted in this study for collecting creditable data from the subjects to prod uce some â€Å"law-like generalisations†. However, it is always difficult to decide whether interpretivism should be applied to conduct a deeper analysis relating to subjects’ attitude for the sake of enhancing the precision. More complicated, such a dilemma would often lead to the reflection of realism, which is divided into direct realism and critical realism (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009).

Orensic Anthropology Field School Essay

Assignments: Detailed descriptions, expectations, and grading rubrics will be posted for each assignment and made available for students to download from blackboard. Late Assignment Policy: Late assignments will not be accepted. Students will receive a 0 for any assignment not turned in on time. Hard copies of assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date (except for labs, which are due at the  end of the lab class). If you are ill and have a doctor’s note, you may email the assignment to me prior to the class in which it is due. Policies regarding religious holidays and accommodations for religious activities from Section 3.1 of the 2006-2007 Faculty Handbook: Absent for Religious Holidays: †¢ The general tenor of the University’s policy regarding accommodations for religious observances is that no student should suffer academic penalty because of the observance of their faith. For example, students may wish to be excused from classes or examinations for religious reasons on Holy Days or on the Jewish Sabbath (one-and a-half hours before sunset Friday to one-and-a-half hours after sunset on Saturday), or on Friday at 1:00 p.m. for Muslim community prayers. †¢ Students have a responsibility to alert members of the teaching staff in a timely fashion to upcoming religious observances and anticipated absences. Every effort should be made to avoid scheduling tests, examinations or other compulsory activities at these times. If compulsory activities are unavoidable, every reasonable opportunity should be given to these students to make up work that they miss, particularly in courses involving laboratory work. When the scheduling of tests or examinations cannot be avoided, students should be informed of the procedure to be followed to arrange to write at an alternate time. †¢ While the University’s policy makes no special provision for Holy Days of other faiths, the same general consideration is understood to apply: no students should be seriously disadvantaged because of their religious beliefs. Final Grades: Final grades will be calculated according to the weights listed in the Grading Scheme. There will be no make up assignments or extra credit assignments. The grades you earn on your assignments are the grades you will receive. The breakdown of percentages into letter grades, GPA, and grade definitions is viewable here: http://www.artsandscience.utoronto.ca/ofr/calendar/rules.htm#grading Student Participation Policy: Students are expected to do the required readings before attending lecture/lab. There will be no time to read the text before starting the lab. Each lab is based upon text and assigned materials. Lectures will NOT be posted online. It is the student’s responsibility to come to class and take notes. A handout listing tips on efficient note taking is linked in the recommended reading section, below. Students are encouraged to take advantage of workshops in note taking and other study skills provided by The Robert Gillespie Academic Skills centre. Student questions are encouraged during lecture and lab. Course Rationale: This course provides students with theoretical knowledge and practical skills related to searching for, documenting, and recovering human remains and associated exhibits from outdoor scenes. Crime scene protocols and the role of the forensic anthropologist during crime scene investigations are emphasized. This course encourages students to develop their critical thinking skills and focuses on a reflective learning approach to create an experience-based learning opportunity. Goals and Learning Objectives Goals: ââ€" ª Introduce students to the main techniques used in a forensic anthropological search, recovery, and analysis of human remains at outdoor scenes ââ€" ª Highlight the importance of collaboration and teamwork in forensic science ââ€" ª Show students how to incorporate the scientific method in crime scene analysis and reconstruction ââ€" ª Help students develop public speaking skills and professionalism ââ€" ª Emphasize the importance of ethics and safety in forensic anthropology and forensic science ââ€" ª Build critical thinking and reasoning skills through an iterative process as new variables are introduced Learning objectives By the end of the course: ââ€" ª Students will have the skills to volunteer as members of a search team  in cases of found human remains and missing persons presumed dead ââ€" ª Students will be able to verbally explain their rationale for adopting particular protocols ââ€" ª Students will gain knowledge and understanding of the proper methods of processing a crime scene Required Reading: Gardner, R. 2005 or 2012. Practical Crime Scene Processing and Investigation. CRC Press. Please see the class schedule for assigned readings for each lecture. Recommended Reading: How not to plagiarize: http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html) Writing tips and study skills (including note-taking, referencing, lecture listening, test writing): http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/asc/Students/tips.htm E-Culture Policy: Students should treat email as professional correspondence, using a formal tone and phrasing questions clearly. Email without ANT306 in the subject line will not be answered. Students must use their UTOR email to ensure that their messages get delivered and is not filtered out as spam. Blackboard will be used to inform students of important course-related information. It is the student’s responsibility to check the website regularly. Statement on Learning Technology: Laptops are permitted in class for word processing only. Due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter, the use of voice recorders, digital photography and video recorders is prohibited. Classroom Conduct: Disruptive behaviour during lectures (e.g. cell phones ringing, chatting,  text messaging, etc.) is a show of disrespect to the speaker, as well as an academic offence (see Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters), and as such, will not be tolerated. If someone is being disruptive, he/she will be asked to leave. During the field component of the course we will follow briefing and debriefing protocols – students are expected to be aware when the person in charge of briefing enters the room and should immediately give that individual their undivided attention. Note taking is permitted and expected. What I expect from students: Students are expected to arrive at lecture/lab prepared to work on their mock cases. In this context, prepared means having read the assigned textbook chapter; generating and bringing relevant data sheets, such as inventory forms; etc. Forensic anthropology is a field requiring attention to detail, professionalism, careful, and critical analysis. I expect students to bring these qualities to the field and the lab What students can expect from me: I will provide as complete, organized, and detailed an overview of the process of a forensic anthropological search and recovery, including crime scene protocols, as possible to give you the most realistic experience possible. I will make your health and safety a priority, outlining the potential hazards one can encounter at a crime scene, and addressing the ethical issues associated with the excavation and recovery of human remains in a medico-legal context. I will emphasize professionalism and help you achieve a professional note taking style, demeanor, and manner of public speaking. I will be available to discuss your course work and career goals during office hours or by appointment. I want you to do your best and will support you in your efforts to achieve success. Academic Integrity: From the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters: It shall be an offence for a student knowingly: (d) to represent as one’s own any idea or expression of an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work, i.e. to commit plagiarism. Wherever in the Code an offence is described as depending on â€Å"knowing†, the offence shall likewise be deemed to have been committed if the person ought reasonably to have known. The full policy can be found here: http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/behaveac.htm Plagiarism is considered an academic offense and will be dealt with according to the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. Please be advised that while it is necessary and desirable to work in groups to complete the mock case, generating discussion and leading to additional learning opportunities, each student must write his/her own reports. Copying sections from someone else’s report (with or without a few word changes) is considered plagiarism. Drop Policy: Nov 5, 2012 is the final day to drop this course from academic record and GPA. By this time students will have completed 45% of their final grade. Academic Support: Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre: The Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre (Room 390, Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre) offers a range of workshops, seminars and individual consultations to help students develop the academic skills they need for success in their studies. For more information on the Centre’s services and programs, go to www.utm.utoronto.ca/asc or phone 905-828-3858. AccessAbility Policy: â€Å"Students with diverse needs are welcome in this course, although it is physically demanding. The UTM AccessAbility Resource Centre offers services to assess specific student needs, provide referrals, and arrange appropriate accommodations. Students with questions about disability/health accommodations are encouraged to contact their instructor and/or the  AccessAbility Resource Centre when the course begins. The AccessAbility Resource Centre staff can be contacted by phone (905-569-4699), email (access@utm.utoronto.ca) or in person (Room 2047, South Building).†

Collaboration and Communication in Business

Increasingly, employees are in jobs where interaction is their primary value-adding activity (Laudon & Laudon, p. 90). List and describe collaboration and communication tools that you use regularly. How do they improve your work both in terms of the process and the product? What is the approach that organisations could adopt in relation to these tools to improve organisational performance?Fortunately (or unfortunately), I have been working with the same organization for the last 19 years. As a result, I have been witness to the evolution of my organization globally in terms of being â€Å"tech savvy† towards effective use of communication and collaboration tools. In my opinion, the more the business is facing turbulence in terms of market and/ or competitors, the higher the need emerges for collaboration and communication.In the good old days of 90’s, when we used to do business in countries, with little or insufficient IT infrastructure and capabilities, we used to sti ll manage effectively the customer relationships and profitability of the business through telecommunication links like fax and telephones as well as F2F meetings with the stakeholders involved. Somehow, it appeared to be relatively easier to make business dealings under such circumstances.Although, it is worth mentioning, that the core value proposition of the products and/ or services during those times were considered by our customes, to be due to the high technology and streamlined product development processes of our company. With the advent of internet as a viable channel of communication and information sharing and the diversification of business into different market segments and geographical regions, it became imperative for the organization to look for easier ways of communication and collaboration.Moreover, the decline of experts with know-how or knowledge of the entire value chain of the product/ service, also calls for involvement of experts with specific domain knowled ge, who need to communicate and collaborate on a regular basis, within the framework of certain rules. Starting from end nineties, we started using Lotus Notes as one-stop tool for both communication and collaboration. Since this was primarily driven by the operational level, lots of other strategic and operational tools for communication and collaboration were built around this tool. However, due to various reasons like re-organisation, diversification, cquisitions etc, this tool went on to assume a mammoth shape, lost connectivity to more up-to-date state of the art tools and was dragging down the business globally in terms of communication and collaboration. Moreover, the hierarchy of the organization was also responsible for taking a pragmatic approach towards decommissioning of this tool and creating a more flexible IT architecture, which can be agile and can integrate with state of the art tools across the various areas of business like marketing, product development, product delivery, logistics and supply chain and after sales services to customers.In the last 2 years our organization has moved to MS based office tool suite including tools for communication and collaboration. The legacy systems of LN are getting decommissioned and huge LN DB’s were converted and transferred to more easily manageable and accessible DB systems. Right now we are using Passport based tool suites where individual applications communicate with each other and augment the ongoing, required collaboration among the various entities of the organization.It is true that most part of the organization is adding value to the communication flow through the effective use of tools, but at the same time, more emphasis is put on sharing and storing key, useful information to be used by anybody in the organization, who may need it, e. g. by creating internal blogs or Wikis with managers motivating and/ or incentivizing information and know-how sharing. Useful collaborative tools like Live Meeting, Telepresence etc can ensure participation from different locations at different time zones, sharing the same level and content of information.Collaboration, the ability to work together especially in business is raising key concerns for organizations taking on new approaches to improve performance and outcomes. Because leaders are looking for positive signs that acquiring collaboration tools will impact the bottom line, an organization may also need to consider its communication and collaboration practices. According to research and best practices, the combination of several factors may help steer collaboration to achieve business results, through empowerment, culture, and technology.Some practical examples of each of these factors that are causing collaboration to work in business are mentioned below: Empowering People through Communication and Collaboration Empowerment is a form of approval for individuals and teams to make decisions. Starting with executive collabor ation, key leaders of your organization may need to support shared goals for empowering people if they don’t already, through communication and collaboration. The reality of collaboration for leadership is through empowerment.By embracing a model of operational coordination across teams and departments, collaboration can basically drive motivation and engagement. In Harvard Business Review’s Aligning Strategy with Technology, the chapter â€Å"Empowered† dives into an example of empowered sales teams to develop sales solutions using video at Black & Decker. Video as a communication form is extremely popular. Because of the complexity of Black & Decker’s many different products, the sales staff is able to document challenges in the field and quickly communicate how power tools are used on job sites.As the authors Josh Bernoff and Ted Schadler pointed out, these useful bits of information also benefit senior management, corporate marketing, and public relat ions. Bernoff and Schadler use the phrase â€Å"highly empowered and resourceful operatives† – dubbed HEROs as characteristic of empowered teams like this example at Black & Decker. In fact, the authors’ research study shows a high proportion of information workers, by industry and job type, especially marketing & sales in technical products and services that are empowered to create similar customer solutions.Creating Value in Collaborative Culture The collaborative culture of an organization stems from its’ shared beliefs, values, and business practices. Author and business consultant, Evan Rosen says collaboration is about creating value. In Bloomberg Businessweek, Evan Rosen emphasizes every worker contributes knowledge to the business. Using an example at Dow Chemical, he writes, â€Å"The day’s sales and inventory numbers are shared with everybody in the company, including the people doing the heaving lifting on the front lines.Dow acknowledg es that people will do a better job when they know their actions contribute or detract from business results. † Taking a step further, former CEO of Campbell Soup, Doug Conant, is famous for handwritten notes to employees celebrating their contributions. Recognition through these and other high value communication practices further strengthens a collaborative culture. Establishing a Technological Framework for Collaboration Collaboration tools essentially provide a technological framework to enable people and groups to work together.But adding new collaboration tools into the enterprise does not change things overnight. Where does an organization begin to design a technological framework? A gap analysis of workflows is often necessary and can help in redesigning processes. Furthermore, an organization’s specific data, based on activity in the organizational network, including sales, customer services and support, product development, and even external resources, can be collected, analyzed, and better routed to teams.This social intelligence can help everyone be informed. Tony Zingale, CEO, of Jive Software ‘sees change the way work gets done’ – referring to the communication and interactivity of social software like Jive. And reports are showing cost efficiencies, speed to market, and greater pool of ideas and innovation through collaboration, which are passed on to the customer through cost savings and better products.