America before columbus Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

America before columbus - Research Paper Example The period before the arrival of Christopher Columbus is known as pre-Columbian. Pre-Columbian is a term used to refer to the culture of the â€Å"New World†, as per Columbus description of America, in the era prior to European influence. The indigenous cultures before civilization continued to develop until Europeans challenged it though many centuries after 1492 when Columbus discovered the New World (Wulffson 52). This paper seeks to explore deeply on what America was like before arrival of Columbus. A lot of literature suggests that Columbus was not the first one to discover America as it is perceived and explained by Europeans. According to Mroueh (1) Muslims from Spain and West Africa were before him by about five centuries. They started their journey in the mid-tenth century during the reign of Umayed Caliph Abdul-Rahmna III only to return later from a strange land thought to be America (Mroueh 1). In addition, there are higher chances that Amerigo Vespucci, discovered America. Both of them set out at different times in their navigation ventures. Columbus had planned to go to Asia but without knowing, he headed to the West Indies. Throughout the journey, he believed he was headed for Asia but that was not the case. According to Wulffson (98), Columbus died still thinking that he was headed for Asia while Amerigo Vespucci was so certain that he had found a new land. America is therefore named after Amerigo Vespucci as the person who discovered it. Before Columbus arrived in America, America was sparsely populated due to the nomadic nature of the natives (Mann 465). They lived in highly stratified, complicated and perfectly organized societies. In his new book titled "1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus," Charles C. Mann compiled evidence of the sophistication of pre-Columbian America (Crabtree 1). According to him, the urban revolution took place way before the Europeans settled in America. As a result, there was the growth of ver y refined cities that have existed, grown and spread all through the American continent. As a result, the people practiced agriculture and domesticated crops and animals; this was done 5,000 years prior to arrival of Columbus. Funny enough, with the domestication of plants and animals, the health of the people was on a decline instead of improving. This was attributed to growth of the population as well as government policies that favored urbanization (Crabtree 1). However, there were still big portions of land that were highly underutilized before agriculture was introduced. When it was introduced, the populations exploded as many people sort to make use of the widely unused land. Diseases outbreaks were widespread in America that made the people to consider resettling into large, less complex and disorganized communities. This did not still solve the issue. The re-emergence of industrialization and urbanization led to trade and migration. Incidences of pollution increased from ind ustrial emissions and the population was faced by a challenge of housing due to explosive population numbers. As a result, infections were on the rise as most of the people congregated and squatted in cities, hence the disease outbreak experienced in the 1400s was the highest that has ever been recorded. The death rates increased and hence, the lives of the people became unbearable. All this was a product of pre-Columbian efforts to industrialize and urbanize America. The people suffered from degenerative joint disease, trauma,

Employees' Development plan supporting individual and organizational Research Paper

Employees' Development plan supporting individual and organizational effectiveness in an organisation - Research Paper Example Introduction The global financial crisis has turned some companies to scrimp on their budgets just keep them afloat in these difficult times. Many people have lost their jobs as a result of the budget cuts. For employees left to work to help their companies rise above the economic crunch, training and development are ensured in the expectation that it will contribute towards the betterment of not only the individual employee but of the whole organization as well. Employee development has been identified as key to improving overall organizational effectiveness. Jacobs and Washington (2003) have defined it as: â€Å"Employee development refers to an integrated set of planned programs, provided over a period of time, to help assure that all individuals have the competence necessary to perform to their fullest potential in support of the organization’s goals† ( 344). One organization that continues to reap success in spite of the economic crisis is McDonald’s Food Co rporation. This company has gained a reputation for excellent standards in food and service. Recently, it is also being known as a supportive employer offering a remarkable employee development program. Background of the Organisation McDonald’s was first developed by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald in 1940. They concentrated on just a few products with their juicy hamburgers as their main seller. In 1954, Ray Kroc was appointed by the brothers to be the first franchisee in San Bernardino, California. He opened his first restaurant the following year in Des Plaines, Illinois and the McDonald’s Corporation was created (McSpotlight.org, 2010). The company upheld the highest quality in food, service, cleanliness and value that Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value (Q.S.C. & V.) became the company motto since 1957. In 1961, Ray Kroc bought all rights to the McDonald’s concept from the McDonald brothers (mcspotlight.org). He also opened the Hamburger University in El k Grove, near Chicago where people intending to be in the business were given high quality training and development. Since then, McDonald’s kept growing in terms of business and innovative products and concepts that attracted the international market to acquire franchise stores in their countries. The awards reaped by the company throughout the years prove that McDonald’s is one company committed not only to the highest standards of excellence in the food service industry but also to being a great employer that motivates its employees to strive for their best performance. Literature Review on Learning and Employee Development Nowadays, people have more access to learning. More and more training courses are developed and offered in schools and online for people who want to go further in what they know to gain skills and knowledge in their own areas of interest. The term learning may be defined in a myriad of ways. â€Å"Learning is the act or process by which behaviora l change, knowledge, skills and attitudes are acquired† (Boyd, Apps, et al., 1980:100-101). Learning is not limited to schooling, especially for adult learners who seek knowledge from many sources other than schools. Knowles et al. (2007) theorizes that adult learning is organized around the notion that adults learn best in informal, comfortable, flexible and nonthreatening settings. Employees who engage in further learning have their own motivations that urge them to carry on. The motivation to learn is affected by the