Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox free essay sample

Ursula Burns was born on the lower east side of Manhattan, New York on September 20, 1958. She was born of Panamanian immigrants, raised by her mother, where she lived in public housing. Although her mother was very poor, Burns attended Cathedral High School and received her bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of NYU in 1980 and a master of science in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. Her internship at Xerox provided her with the graduate degree from Columbia. Ursula became a permanent employee in 1981 and worked in various roles in product development and planning throughout her twenties. While in a meeting with Wayland Hicks, a senior executive, Burns was offered her a position as an executive assistant for nine years in different departments and learned the business. During this time she married Lloyd Bean and was named vice president for global manufacturing in 1999. (Iqbal, 2013) In 2000, Burns was named a senior vice president and began working closely with soon to be CEO Anne Mulcahy, in what both women have described as a true partnership. We will write a custom essay sample on Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Nine years later, in July 2009, she was named CEO, succeeding Mulcahy, who remained as chairwoman until May 2010. Analyze the CEO’s Leadership Style and Philosophy, and How the CEO’s Leadership Style Aligns With the Culture. Burns was hired as an intern in the engineering department as an African American women in 1980 when diversification was not the norm. Xerox is a company that is all about diversity and was like that before many other companies. Training is an important factor to Xerox since xerography requires technical training. Then there is training about how to work in a team. So what does that have to do with the culture of Xerox. Burns is considered to be a straight shooter with words and perceptions at crucial times. The time that she partnered with her predecessor, Anne Mulchany gave her the experience and wisdom as when to speak up and/or speak out. They dont want to hire you and change you into something else or even change you to be like the other engineers. Burns believes that her attributes were the calling card that Xerox wanted. She was intelligent, urban, black, and a woman. Burns believes that Xerox wanted her approach to things and a certain way of speaking and thats what they wanted. The culture of Xerox is about hard work that becomes a success story. It is not about money; its about accomplishing a lot. Its leaving behind in the workplace, the communities you work in and the clients that you work for — more than you take away. Xerox engages a client by initially understanding the problems that present and how to solven that says Xerox was a great experience. Burns says that the Xerox approach is what clicked with her and brought her happiness about the job she does. Burns is fearless and expects all employees to be the same. (Doherty, P. , 2012) Examine the CEO’s Personal and Organizational Values. Ursula Burns feels that her success gives her the opportunity to give advice to young women who are asking her for words of wisdom on achieving their career goals. These are her quotes in response to several questions. In her own words; She tells them: 1. Find a good (older) husband. Burns met her husband, Lloyd Bean, while working at Xerox. A scientist and researcher, he was also 20 years her senior. â€Å"He had already gone through this ‘growing up’ stuff,† she says. The age difference proved advantageous when Burns’s job later required her to travel frequently and leave their two young children at home. Her husband retired, allowing Burns to focus on advancing her career. â€Å"So the secret,† she jokes, â€Å"is to marry someone 20 years older. † 2. Redefine work-life balance. It’s a â€Å"fool’s journey† to try to achieve perfect balance between one’s professional and personal lives, Burns says. Instead, she suggests women get comfortable with the idea of taking â€Å"your entire life to find balance. You should have balance, on average, over time – not in a day or in a month. † 3. Be selfish sometimes. Burns advises â€Å"checking out† occasionally to put personal needs ahead of career and family. â€Å"Think about your health, physically and mentally,† she says. A failure to do so, she warns, can put everything else at risk. 4. Don’t take guilt trips. Mothers often feel pressure to be present for their children all the time, but such expectations are neither realistic nor necessary, Burns says. â€Å"Kids are pretty resilient,† she says. â€Å"You don’t have to be at every volleyball game. We can’t guilt ourselves. † Her own mother missed many of her extracurricular activities, she adds, â€Å"and I’m fine. † 5. Don’t take life too seriously. â€Å"Ninety percent of this stuff is just not that serious,† she says. â€Å"We get crazy about it. † Burns says she often thinks back to her mother’s advice to stay grounded. â€Å"Continually go back to the basic stuff,† she says. â€Å"Be prudent. Enjoy it. † Burns contributes to the other organizations by serving ed on numerous professional and community boards, including Exxon Mobil Corporation, American Express, Boston Scientific, FIRST, National Association of Manufacturers, University of Rochester, the MIT Corporation, the Rochester Business Alliance, and the RUMP Group. She will serve as Vice Chairwoman of the Executive Committee of The Business Council in 2013 and 2014. Evaluate How the Values of the CEO Are Likely To Influence Ethical Behavior Within the Organization. Ursula Burns states that as her career progressed, she learned to appreciate and really value the other attributes that define a companys success beyond the PL: great leadership, long-term financial strength, ethical business practices, evolving business strategies, sound governance, powerful brands, values-based decision-making. † Dreams do come true, but not without the help of others, a good education, a strong work ethic and the courage to lean in. That’s why I spend so much time with organizations that help minorities and women gain the education and self-respect they need to take risks, to dream big and, hopefully, to someday pay it forward.

Underdog Play Characters and Summary

Topdog/Underdog Play Characters and Summary Topdog/Underdog is about the men who hustle cards and take money from fools. But these characters are not as slick as the con-men in David Mamet’s scripts. They are soured, worn-out, self-reflective, and on the brink of destruction. Written by Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog  won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002. This two-person drama is filled with gritty dialogue and age-old themes, rooted in a long tradition of fraternal rivals: Cain and Abel, Romulus and Remus, Moses and Pharaoh. The Plot and Characters Two brothers in their mid-to-late thirties struggle to eke out an existence in a shabby little rooming house. The older brother, Lincoln (also known as â€Å"Link†), was once a skilled Three-card Monte con-artist who gave it up after the untimely death of his friend. The younger brother, Booth, wants to be a big shot – but spends most of his time shoplifting and awkwardly practicing the art of card hustling. Their father named them Booth and Lincoln; it was his dismal idea of a joke. Booth talks about his many goals and dreams. He discusses his sexual conquests and his romantic frustrations. Lincoln is much lower-key. He often thinks about his past: his ex-wife, his successes as a card hustler, his parents who abandoned him when he was sixteen. Booth is impulsive throughout most of the play, sometimes reacting violently whenever frustrated or intimidated. Lincoln, on the other hand, seems to let the world step all over him. Instead of grifting, Lincoln has settled into a very odd job at a carnival arcade. For hours on end, he sits in a display box dressed as Abraham Lincoln. Because he is black, his employers insist that he wears â€Å"white-face† make-up. He sits still, reenacting the final moments of the famed president. The â€Å"real† Lincoln was assassinated by a man named Booth as he watched the play, My American Cousin ). Throughout the day, paying customers sneak up and shoot Link in the back of the head with a cap-gun. It’s a strange and morbid occupation. Link gets lured back into card hustling; he’s in his natural element when hes working the cards. Seething Sibling Rivalry Lincoln and Booth share a complex (and therefore fascinating) relationship. They constantly tease and insult one another, but alternately offer support and encouragement. They both pine over failed romantic relationships. They were both abandoned by their parents. Link practically raised Booth, and the younger brother is both envious and in awe of his elder. Despite this kinship, they often betray each other. By the play’s end, Booth graphically describes how he seduced Link’s wife. In turn, the older brother swindles Booth. And even though he promised to teach the younger brother how to throw cards, Lincoln keeps all the secrets to himself. Conclusion of "Topdog/Underdog" The inevitable conclusion is as violent as one might expect, considering the names of the two characters. In fact, there is something disturbingly voyeuristic about the final scene. The explosive ending feels very similar to the unpleasant job that poor Link has at the arcade. Perhaps the message is that we the audience are just as blood-thirsty and macabre as the carnival patrons who pretend to shoot Lincoln day after day. Throughout the play, the brothers exhibit very shady, misguided, and misogynistic characteristics. Yet, through it all, they are very human and very believable as brothers who have been through so much together. It seems the climactic violence stems not so much from a believable progression of the characters, but from the author forcing these deadly themes onto her creations. Is the ending predictable? Somewhat. Predictability is not entirely a bad thing in drama. But the playwright could give us one more throw of the cards so that we could be fooled again.

Self-Reflection on Working at a Group Presentation Essay

Self-Reflection on Working at a Group Presentation - Essay Example Preferably the group aimed a postcode with numerous cases of crimes and an equal presentation of all forms of crimes. Hanger hill was selected as a collaborative decision. All members supported the decision since the postcode was known for its crime rates and it presented numerous talking points that would increase the creativity in the project. In addition, the location was researched friendly since most of our group members have visited the place which minimized the challenges that may be presented. After the creation of the group, we embraced the assumption that the arrangement provided us with an opportunity to exploit the abilities of each member(Finch & Fafinski, 2012). For this reason, each group member was provided with specific responsibility and a time framework before they could present their works. However, the activities were conducted in a collaborative manner. For instance, the group member in charge of coming up with online data on the selected postcode requested for website suggestion and all group members obliged to the request. After all, responsibilities were presented, the croup would then convene and discuss the results and date collected. At this time, presentation ideas were presented as a collective selection on the idea was reached. However, minor differences were experienced as group members disagreed on the ways of collecting data, the time margin provided and the mode of presentation. In addition, the group lacked motivation and this was a major hindra nce to the quality and completion of the project. The group dynamic makes it easy to complete projects since one is able to specialize in one activity and the rest of the members handled other requirements. Research for the presentation was conducted mainly from online sources. Through online sources, updated data could be easily obtained (Finch & Fafinski, 2012).