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Article About My Purdue Experiences - by Jeff Crites [2007]

I greatly value my time at Purdue University and friends that I've made at Purdue University. I expressed this in an article that I presented to become an Embassador for the College of Technology. I called this article, "Old Purdue Gold.". To see and read the article for yourself, just click here: More...

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Purdue Review, Articles - by Jeff Crites

[12-2006]

The Pursuit of Leadership Leadership is an elusive concept, but there are definite traits and qualities that make a good leader, and sometimes completely different things that make a leader good. I basically discuss how a leader may be made, what to do, and what not to do. More...

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[11-2006]

Foglesong on Leadership: What's better than "learning by doing?" To learn from those who have done it. And since more speakers are coming to Purdue University, students are starting to get more opportunities to do just that... "Leadership is the most fundamental aspect in an organization," Dr. Foglesong said. One day you might be, "the person setting at the head of the table taking a group of ordinary people to do extraordinary things." More...

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Entrepreneurship - by Jeff Crites [2006]

I've written and presented a couple of presentations to Management and Organizational Leadership and Supervision students on student entrepreneurship at Purdue University. In one of my classes I was even able to poll the students over a period of one semester regarding their ideas for improvement in the program. To see what they suggested select here: More...

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I've also written several business plans. My group in ENTR201 - Entrepreneurship and Innovation II wrote a business plan for a conceptual company that would assume the risk and provide the expertise in the return, exchange, specialty order and reverse logistics areas of retail, commercial and online environments. This business plan is partially shown here (because it's much bigger): EZ Return, LLC.

During one semester at Purdue University my assigned group in ENTR200 - Entrepreneurship & Innovations class wrote a small import/export business plan called AroundTheGlobeOnline, LLC. This company provides crafts, clothing, cultural decorations, and specialty items from all over the globe, online, with secure, fast and user friendly services. And it provides Asian craftsmen access to international markets. More...

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BASi (Bioanalytical Systems, Inc. is a local biotechnology firm. I performed a business analysis project for them during the summer of 2005. This is just the executive summary and introduction as most of the paper is confidential. This is a really great company and they were pleased with my research, findings and recommendations. I was happy to help. Read More... about it here

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Politics - by Jeff Crites [2004]

Ok, so by now you probably know that I ran for State Representative for the Indiana district 27 area in 2004. There were many unique ideas, presentations, and other things that are written and associated with a campaign. My great campaign staff (who I'm forever indebted to) and I created a pamphlet and a power point presentation. "I really had a great time during the campaign and I still value the many friendships developed over the course of the campaign." More...

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My focus in recent years has changed to include leadership ethics. I've taken many Organizational Leadership & Supervision (OLS) classes at Purdue University - many of them were very good. This section presents some of my better articles and papers.

Ever wonder why Toyota is now the number one car manufacturer in the world – as of April 2007, after the first quarter results were published on the world’s exchanges. Here's a paper I wrote for OLS456 - Global Leadership in which I explain that Americans, and a growing number of people around the globe, are concerned about high quality at a low price, coincides very closely with the “Toyota Way” of continuous improvement. Notably, Toyota is known for excellent reliability, great prices and fantastic service, and this will help the company to retain its new rank as the industry leader. The paper is here. Although I believe that groups are an instramental part of any company, I also realize that sometimes it is difficult to work in groups.

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Jobs in the global marketplace, whether American, British, or Korean, are moving to China and India – places where there are many workers willing to work for very low wages. Following the money explains why this is the case (Strate, 2007). There are advantages and disadvantages to such an employment movement. American and European companies have one perspective, while the Indian government may have another. This is both fair and unfair for the workers within developed countries, but it is a natural phenomenon of the global free market economy. Here's a short article I wrote about titled: "India: The Employment Black Hole of Cyber Space?"

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Ellen Moore in Bahrain is an article review I wrote that talks about how global cultural issues play a significant role in international business. Ellen Moore experiences this in Bahrain. Both values and culture are important factors in management positions in different regions of the world. Read more about it here.

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Do you think the world is flat or going to get flat? Here's a short article I wrote about Thomas Friedman's interpretation of our world as "flat". I understand where he’s coming from, but I see the world and its citizens as more enabled, in a more three dimensional, global way. Friedman sees this when he says, globalization means that, “It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more people on more different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of the world,” (Friedman, 2006) and this is a good thing. Read more about it here.

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Here's an article review I wrote based on Kelly Spors article in the Wall Street Journal "Breaking into the market in China as a startup" - about businesses venturing into the Chinese economy. There’s no arguing that Asia, and specifically China, is experiencing a great economic boom. But, the Chinese economy has a long way to go before it will be the powerhouse of the future that most think it will be. And, it is still relatively difficult for a company, especially a small company, to break into the Chinese market. There are many large and costly risks that a company will face if it wants to operate in the Chinese market. There are many obstacles and challenges for the business that tries to operate in the Chinese economy. However, if a business has access to the resources and does its due diligence than there are plenty of opportunities for profitability in one of the worlds expanding economies. Read more about it here.

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Here's an article I wrote for OLS456 - Global Leadership comparing Helen Deresky's book "International management: managing across borders and cultures" to Thomas Friedman's book "The world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century." The global manager should understand that culture influences the business globalization process and it is one of the most important powerful interdependent factors that must be taken into consideration – according to Helen Deresky the other factors include political, economic, legal, and technological (2006). Friedman would agree with this notion and even adds more factors, which he refers to as “flatteners” (Friedman, 2005) and I like to call “enablers.” From the global business perspective culture is important. “According to numerous accounts, many blunders made in international operations can be attributed to a lack of cultural sensitivity. (Deresky, 2006, p.82). Additionally, economic and political issues are important. Read more about it here.

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Here's everything you ever wanted to know about how Reebok handles it's human rights issues in an ethical manner that makes money for the company. This is a good case study for anyone who is considering managing or leading in the global economy. Team Case Analysis I – Reebok: Managing Human Rights Issues “Ethically”? Please note that even though our team offers suggests Reebok has made tremendous inroads to solving human rights issues that face the company both in the past and currently, and the company is well positioned to do so well into the future. The company has developed its own assessment strategy and continues to refine it. We would just like them to consider our suggestions. Read more about it here.

There is also a presentation that we gave here. The actual presentation had lighter backgrounds on some pages.

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I've always tried to work hard while at university. I've taken many management classes. Some good and some bad. I'll try to highlight some of the better articles and papers here.

The MET546 Midterm was basically a summary of the texts we have read for the class, presenters comments, tours, and our thoughts thus far in the semester. MET546 - Industrial Applications of CIM Technology is a course that examines the problem of integrating technology, business systems and people is an important issue now facing many manufacturing companies. Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) includes sets of techniques of operation that can help a manufacturing company sustain a competitive advantage over its competition in the marketplace. Technology graduates preparing for a career in manufacturing must have a fundamental understanding of this important approach to the management of the company's resources, how CIM is implemented, and how companies have used CIM to improve their competitive position. This course takes a business level "operations view" of CIM and its impact on a manufacturing company.

I wrote a paper on group motivation that highlights some of the issues when working in groups. Although I believe that groups are an instramental part of any company, I also realize that sometimes it is difficult to work in groups.

There are many types of businesses out there. But, when everything is all said and done, there are basically only two different types of environments in a business. I wrote this paper on the Elements of the Internal Environment. It is a very basic paper, but it's informative.

In an effort to better understand American capitalism in the world economy I wrote American Businesses in the Global Economy. It's based commentary by Paul Maidment titled " Just Another Day In The Global Economy" that was published in Forbes on 06.23.05.

As it turns out, I believe that leaders may be made and anyone can learn how to be a good leader. But, to actually "lead good" a leader needs to apply the concept of leadership well - and not all leaders can do this. I wrote this paper on leadership in college. It explains why I think leaders can be made and this had led to my attempts to become a better leader.

During the 2006 elections in the United States there were many concerns regarding illegal immigration brought to the forefront. I gave this presentation in one of my classes. It explains the negatives and positives of "illegal" immigration in America.

Here's how I thought that the NBC Universal merger in 2004 would increased market concentration and allow them to obtain larger profit margins.

This is actually one of the first homework assignments I had in Biochemistry at Purdue University. In it I wrote about Cellular Structures, Sizes, Polar & Non-polar Characteristics. The most important part of this paper was the section on "The Importance of Polar and Non-Polar Cellular Characteristics." This general information would eventually lead me to my research in cellular resonance theories.

This is A Review of: Derivatives of Erythropoitin That Are Tissue Protective But Not Erythropoictic that I wrote. The scientists involved in this research found that carbamylated EPO is neuroprotective and therefore introduces a new class of neuroprotective cytokines that lack erythropoietic activity yet engage a tissue-protective receptor. (Leist, et al. 2004, p.239).

Here's a good example of the first honor's chemistry homework I did at Purdue University. It's from Silberberg, Chapter 1: Sections 1-6, and covers the keys to the study of chemistry. We also had laboratory classes associated with the lectures. Here's another good example of one laboratory titled: Are All Acid-Base Indicators Created Alike? This lab was taken from Are All Acid-Base Indicators Created Alike?, Chemistry 125 Laboratory Manual, Fall 2003, pp. 31-38. The format is as detailed in "Outline for Formal Laboratory Reports," Chemistry 125 Laboratory Manual, Purdue University, Fall 2003, p. xix.

During my Sophmore year I worked in a biology laboratory doing research in F-Actin motility. I used many of the current technologies and programs to create images of the protien structures utilized in the laboratory. The final paper for this project and my time in the lab was on "Ribbons and Graphics in a Molecular Laboratory: Instructions For Producing Ribbons -based Molecular Diagrams" and provided a kind-of instruction manual for those who would follow in my footsteps. I really enjoyed this experience and it still benefits me today.

I was first drawn to "In Praise of Imperfection My Life and Work" by Rita Levi- Montalcini when I read the title. I did not know that she won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1986 for her work in neurobiology. I did not know that she was an "ebreo" (the Italian word for Jew) in Italy during Italy's fascist regime. And, I did not know the challenges that women have faced in biomedicine throughout history. Here is my book review of her text.

I've always been interested in the various types of cancers and the quality of life of the patients after treatment. I gave a presentation in one of my psychology classes titled: "Quality of Life at the End of Primary Treatment of Breast Cancer" that shows the psychological problems associated with such quality of life issues. I'll always remember this when working to solve various disease problems.

I often find myself in stressful situations because of my entrepreneurial spirit. So, I've always been interested in how people deal with stress. I believe that stress is often misplaced. Stress may actually be overrated in today's workplace, but I believe that attention should be given to the causes of the stress, not the stress itself. Basically, it's not the work and home environments themselves that cause the stress, it's the inability of people today to deal with stress. Here's the paper I wrote on this subjext.

I've had some pretty good history professors and classes in college. I've written a couple of papers highlighting historical comparisons between the movie and what really happened. I'll list some of them here:

• The 13th Warrior Historic Comparison. This movie is very loosely based in medieval European history during the time that Muslims were discovering and migrating into Europe.
• The movie Braveheart is based on "Blind Harry" a 1722 epic poem by Hamilton.
• Religion - The Medieval Power of Women, Margery Kempe Style is a paper I wrote that shows that the day-to-day lives of medieval women of all classes and life-styles were understandably different from the lives of women today.
• Here's a video review of American Visions - The Promised Land. (1997) PBS Video Presentation by Robert Hughes.

I've always done well on my history exams. It could be because I prepare well for them. This is an example of how I prepared for my final exam in my last history class.

English articles will go here.

My friends and I really enjoy playing RISK® during the long, cold winter school days. Occasionally we would all get together in the basement of the Wesley Foundation to play a game that would go well into the evening (no surprise there)... During the fall of 2004 I designed a new type of RISK game we called: Saga of the Volungs RISK.

We spent many fun hours playing the game - so it's "play tested." Everyone really enjoyed the game and most of the kinks have been worked out. You might notice that some of the names are "made-up" and some are not. All the people who helped me play test the game (mostly my friends), the professor, and the TA all have islands named in their honor.

So that others might have the opportunity to play this game also, I thought I would make the instructions, board, piece files, and card files available here. I've saved the instructions (a very long and detailed word document) and the piece files as Macromedia Flashpaper format (.swf) - so you may print it from there. The board is a large jpg file.

Download the instructions first. Read it all, then decide whether or not to try the rest of the files. I no longer support any of these files - as I'm busy with other things now. But, I would be interested to hear anyones comments.

Saga of the Volsungs RISK game files - by Jeff Crites [2004]

Instructions
Map
Pieces

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In the News

Exponent, Opinions - By Brian Postek [08-27-04]

Cheers to those who stand up for gun rights .
In regards to the article on the gun ban debate (Tuesday), I would just like to say, "Cheers!" My compliments to Representative Crites and Professor Koltick for standing up for the law abiding gun owning citizens and pointing out an ineffective law and incorrect views that only adversely affect said citizens, not the criminals that have no regard for laws or life... More...

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Exponent, City - By Brent Forgues [08-24-04]

Local legislators debate assault weapons issue.
...State Rep. Candidate Jeff Crites, R - Lafayette, said he is against having a ban on assault weapons. ... An Air Force veteran who grew up owning a weapon, Crites said his father and Boy Scouts trained him to use it correctly. More...

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Exponent, Opinions - By Bea Miller [07-16-04]

Most students can't afford rising tuition.
...As a voting student, my support will be for the Crites plan, where I will owe less money upon graduation. More...

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Exponent, Campus - By Brent Forgues [07-14-04]

State representatives square off on higher education costs.
... Jeff Crites, R-Lafayette, wants the state to contribute more to public universities.

"Twenty-nine percent of Purdues budget for 2003-2004 came from student fees, 21 percent came from the state and the rest from donations, gifts and other similar items," he said. "What I want to do is reverse the 29 percent coming from the students and 21 percent from the state."

Crites said eliminating Indianas brain drain would allow the state to allocate more funds to public universities ... More...

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The Lafayette Journal and Courier
- By Sophia Voravong [07-04-04]

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The Lafayette Journal and Courier
- By Bob Scott

Group asks pro-choice Catholics be denied communion
...Wykoff said she hopes the U.S. bishops clarify their position on Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. She said that State Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-Lafayette, a Catholic, is pro-abortion. "We would like to see the bishops state that anyone with a pro-abortion record be denied Communion, including Sheila Klinker," Wykoff said. "She voted against informed consent and parental consent. Her voting record is pro-abortion. I was happy she voted to ban partial brith abortion, but she is not an advocate of children who are in danger of being aborted."... More...

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The Lafayette Journal and Courier
- By Beth Hlavek [06-10-04]

Daniels promotes his 'roadmap' at Caterpillar
...Former small business owner Jeff Crites, who attended Wednesday's press conference, said he's drawn upon some of Daniels' "Roadmap" proposals during his campaign against incumbent state Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-Lafayette. He added that he thinks Daniels is the candidate who can make the plan a reality.

"He's helped the finances at Lilly before," Crites said. "He's helped at the presidential level before. He has done a lot of positive things and we can use them."... More...

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Exponent, City
- By Paul Glasser [03-22-04]

Purdue student prepares for state representative race.
A Purdue student is running for state representative and his opponent is a 22 year incumbent. ..."I'm not a politician, I'm just somebody who wants to help," he said. "I'm here to support the small guys and support the students." ... More...

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Exponent, City - Staff Reports [03-03-04]

Student announces plans to campaign.
On Tuesday night, a Purdue student announced he is running against Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-Lafayette. Jeff Crites, junior in the School of Science, said his campaign will focus on creating jobs and cutting property taxes. Crites has operated his own business and said the experience helped him understand the struggles small business owners face. More...

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The Lafayette Journal and Courier
- By Beth Hlavek

Purdue student hopes to unseat Klinker.
...Jeff Crites of West Lafayette, on Tuesday announced his candidacy for the Statehouse before roughly 20 people at Tippecanoe County Republican headquarters. The first-time candidate pledged to make property tax reduction and job creation key issues if elected... More...

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Jeff's Announcement Speech - [04-12-04]