The Essentiality of Open-Minded Discourse by Christine Smith Essay

The Essentiality of Open-Minded Discourse by Christine Smith - Essay Example I would first raise this issue in the class discussing the form of the letter's arguments and, next, with the letter's author, my friend. I would then reflect on whether I indeed practice the principles of tolerance that I preach to others. My initial response to the letter in question and the particular discussion in my class characterizing the letter as an example of bad argumentation would be to acknowledge that, yes, the letter presents immature and imprudent arguments against homosexuality. To do otherwise would ignore the obvious. I would then attempt to prevent the class from estimating the quality of my friend from the quality of his arguments, as a good person can have misguided opinions and make flawed arguments. And, equally abhorrent to arguments based on biases and prejudices is passing judgment on a person before taking the time to understand his or her many facets. Indeed, it is precisely this sentiment that I would then carry to my friend, the author of the letter. Since he is my friend, and has been for quite some time, I naturally care about him, his feelings, his perception of the world, and other's perceptions of him. I would advise him that, regardless of his personal opinion of homosexuality, his method of presenting his views was harsh and injudicious, passing rash judgment on homosexuals and on those readers who do not agree with his perspective. I would endeavor to be understanding and patient with my friend, attempting to convey to him the benefit of healthy discourse rather than mere blind contentions about controversial issues. Finally, after having discussed with my classmates and with my friend the advantages of healthy argument and open-mindedness, I would spend some time quietly and sincerely reflecting on whether I practice those qualities myself. I would like to think that I am tolerant and nonjudgmental, and that I was indeed in a moral position to discuss the value of forbearance and open discourse. To be sure, I would re-read my friend's letter, evaluate my initial reaction to it, ponder on whether and how I would write it differently if I felt the need to express my opinion on the subject of homosexuality, and consider whether the entire incident had changed my feelings for my friend or for my classmates. It is through this type of self-reflective process that I can be satisfied that my response to my friend's letter was honest. In sum, one cannot minimize the importance of open dialogue to flesh out the many perspectives our society maintains. Some arguments are better presented than others and, by definition, no one's opinion, though perhaps misguided, can be wrong. Indeed, critical to wise discourse is the ability to express one's opinions and listen to those of others openly and without bias. With hope, then, maybe one person who would otherwise belligerently convey preconceived, negative and baseless opinions will reflect and, instead, embrace a wise and healthy method of expression. Topic Outline I. Introduction A. Acceptance and tolerance lead to healthier expression and debate B. First, discuss the form of the letter's arguments with classmates C. Second, discuss the form of the letter's arguments with friend D. Third, reflect on whether I am tolerant and

Islamic, Ancient Egyptian, and Ancient Greek Art Essay Example for Free

Islamic, Ancient Egyptian, and Ancient Greek Art Essay Elisabeth Siddiqui has written: â€Å"Art is the mirror of a culture and its world view. There is no case to which this statement more directly applies than to the art of the Islamic world. † Seeing that Muslims are believers in only one true God of the universe, they have been advised by Prophet Muhammad not to make pictures of human beings, for these pictures may often turn out to become idols for people, thereby turning them away from the Lord of the universe. Hence, Islamic art has focused on anything other than the human form. Muslims have used Arabic calligraphy to express their creativity in countless art works. â€Å"Arabic script lends itself wonderfully to decorative use,† writes Siddiqui. It is the language of the Qur’an, even if it is used to write something other than the Qur’anic verse. The choices are limitless. Thus we find a beautiful piece of calligraphic art as an inscription on a carved wood panel from a door that was made in the late medieval Islamic period (See Appendix). The inscription on the panel consists of the signature of its maker. The script is monumental, with large and rounded proportions. The seven words of the inscription are deeply carved in three horizontal registers. These are set against a scrolling leaf background (Late Medieval Period, 2004). Contrary to the believers in the unseen God, the ancient Egyptians were Pharaoh worshippers. The king of ancient Egypt was the Pharaoh, who appeared larger than life in the art works of the period. Ti Hunting the Hippopotamus is a wonderful depiction of the subject (See Appendix). Carved on a surface of a stone, this is a relief using the typical ancient Egyptian style of frontalism, in which the head is drawn in profile while the body is seen from the front. In this ISLAMIC, ANCIENT EGYPTIAN, AND ANCIENT GREEK ART Page # 2 picture, Ti is enormous as compared to his slaves as well as the animals. He is the god of both slaves and animals, and is therefore shown as a higher being as compared to the lesser beings. The slaves in the picture are relaxed. So are the animals. Moreover, the animals shown are more realistic than all humans, perhaps because of the ambivalence felt by the artist toward both the â€Å"higher† and the â€Å"lower beings† within humans (Kremen, 1996). Lastly, the ancient Greeks, who also had plenty of gods and goddesses, downplayed the divine aspects of their gods, unlike the Egyptians, by giving their gods a typically human form. There did not have to be higher or lower beings in ancient Greek art. Instead, the most perfect of figures created were recognized as gods naturally. The ancient Greek civilization enjoyed the beauty of the human form, including the naked human form which was admired for its harmonious proportions. The Torso of Apollo is one of the most perfect examples of this art (See Appendix). Made in 2nd century AD, the torso of marble shows young Apollo, the Greek god of light, music, archery, healing, atonement, prophecy and flocks and herds. The figure was popular with both Greeks and ancient Romans. It is an unclothed manifestation of splendor and courage, only expected to be shown of Apollo, who wears a belt over one shoulder to which a quiver of arrows were attached at his back (Torso of Apollo). By showing the god as distinctly human, the artist inspires into viewers the spirit to take Apollo for a courageous model and turn into heroes themselves. Thus all art appears as a mirror of its culture and the worldview. References 1. Kremen, Lisa. (1996, December). â€Å"Understanding Egyptian Art. † Egyptian Art. Retrieved from http://www. bergen. org/AAST/Projects/Egypt/egyptian_art. html. (10 February 2007). 2. â€Å"Late Medieval Period. † (2004). Islamic Art. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Retrieved from http://www. lacma. org/islamic_art/intro. htm. (10 February 2007). 3. Siddiqui, Elisabeth. â€Å"Islamic Art. † MSA. Retrieved from http://www.colostate. edu/orgs/MSA/index. html. (10 February 2007). 4. â€Å"Torso of Apollo. † DIA Galleries Ancient Art. Retrieved from http://www. dia. org/collections/Ancient/ancient. html. (10 February 2007). ISLAMIC, ANCIENT EGYPTIAN, AND ANCIENT GREEK ART Page # 4 Appendix Islamic Art Ancient Egyptian Art ISLAMIC, ANCIENT EGYPTIAN, AND ANCIENT GREEK ART Page # 5 Ancient Greek Art.

An Edition Of The Rover :: essays research papers fc

An Edition of The Rover   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This project grew out of an exercise designed primarily to give graduate students practical experience in the processes of textual bibliography. It was continued and completed based on two beliefs: first, that the errors found amoung extant editions are significant enough to warrant further revision, and second, that the existence of a text with format and language accessible to modern readers is essential to the survival of this important work. With these aims in mind, we have worked to produce an edition of The Rover that respects not only the believed intentions of the author and the integrity of the earliest texts, but also the needs and concerns of contemporary students, teachers, actors, directors, and audiences of all sorts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The version of the play chosen as the copy text for this edition was the second issue of the first edition, printed in 1677. The first comparison text was an issue of the second edition that was printed in 1697. The second comparison text was a 1915 volume edited by Montague Summers. Summers’ text was chosen because it is based primarily upon a 1724 collection of Behn’s dramatic pieces--a collection that, according to Summers, is â€Å"by far the best and most reliable edition of the collected theater.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of the changes documented in the textual notes stem from substantive discrepancies between these three texts. Often these discrepancies are the result of words or phrases being inverted from one edition to another. Note 44, for instance, concerns the stage directions in a scene where Florinda hugs Belvile and his vizard falls off. In the earliest edition, the hugging precedes the unmasquing, but in the 1697 edition, the masque falls off before the embrace. The order in which these actions are performed have significant consequence for the audience’s understanding of Florinda’s motivations: is she hugging Belvile because she thinks he is Belvile, or because she thinks he is someone else? Other noted discrepancies are cases where words were omitted in one or more of the editions. In the 1677 and 1915 versions, for example, Philipo delivers the line in Act III, â€Å"Blame me not, Lucetta†; yet in the 1697 version, the line reads â€Å"Blame not Lucetta† (note 32). Again, the difference is substantial; is Philipo attempting to shift culpability from himself or from Lucetta? In these cases, unless the context of the action suggests that the changes of the later texts were logically sound (see note 61), the copy text was taken as the authoritative version.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In some instances, accidental changes were also cited in the textual notes (see notes 28, 58, and 65, for example).

Business Simulation Game Essay

The aim of the Competition and Strategy course is to provide students with deep knowledge on strategic decision-making in a business environment and the strategic principles behind it. Within this course my team members Kristijan, Yaniv, George and me (Team KUGY) had the opportunity to apply our academic and theoretical understanding and knowledge in an online business simulation game, wherein we created our own car business and competed on the European car market fictionally. This paper aims to elucidate the advance of our strategic decision-making, observes the reasoning behind it and examines the following implementation of our approach. Founded on the definition of strategy being â€Å"A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim†, we questioned ourselves in the commencement of the game what our strategy would be (Andrews, 2010). Subsequently, after considering the theories studied in class we decided that we needed to express our own and coherent strate gy in less than 40 words, fitting to the restrictions objective, advantage and scope (Tregoe, Zimmerman, Schuster, 2008). â€Å"Attaining maximised profitability by carefully trying to get to know our customers’ needs, consequently adapting our products to suit their expectations to an extent where we would stop serving and start appreciating, so as to charge a premium price† (Yaniv, George, Kristijan and Ugo). The theoretical model we chose to establish our strategy was Porter’s generic strategy, that led us to a differentiation-focused strategy. Given to Porter, a competitive strategy is about differentiation (Andrews, 2010). Thus we thought that we should differentiate our business best by concentrating on a narrow target, hence, few market segments and decided that differentiation would be our competitive advantage. Furthermore Porter claims that decent strategic decision-making necessitates compromises and is slightly about what not to do rather than what to do (Porter, 1997). Based on this statement and our differentiation-concentrated strategy we decided to serve only 4 out o f 16 offered market segments, medium cars for 25 to 40  year old customers, medium cars for 41 to 55 year old customers, large cars for customers over 55 year old and finally luxurious cars for 41 to 55 year old customers. So as opposed extending our products over the whole market to realise maximised revenue KUGY decided to concentrate on three different segments with customers sharing similar needs, form three strategic business units whose goal it is to get to know the customer’s wants and needs to offer greater customer value and allow us to charge premium prices. Regarding finance, KUGY’s started position was up to  £500 million in the bank. In the first three rounds, KUGY took out two loans in the first 3 rounds so as to have enough capitals to finance our very cost concentrated strategy. Our expenses for research and development, competition market research, product, and marketing were considerable over all five years, which is replicated in significant fixed cost figures over all five years. However the data acquired on market perception and competition allowed us to get more familiar to our customers but also to design our products and put marketing efforts in harmony with thei r needs, by either adding and dropping product features, replacing research investments and distinguishing our products from the competition. Furthermore, KUGY increased the prices of all four models every year, which allowed us to increase revenue progressively over the five years of the game. KUGY has preferred to limit its production to small quantities because a limited target market is one of the most fundamental parameters of a focus strategy (Andrews, 2010). In the segments KUGY served, quantities demanded tend to be small in comparison with segments whose customers demand is based on less price demanding cars. Hence, if revenue is defined as R = Q * P, price was definitely the main factor in creating revenue instead of selling important quantities. KUGY tried to adapt production to such a level where our team would not have any car in stock at the end of each business year and normally succeeded in this concern with minor exceptions. Moreover KUGY tried to decrease its labour cost and invest in automation instead. Our team decided it will suit our company strategy and image and to have three extremely technologized production plants, with small but very skilled labour forces. We achieved further trade-offs concerning our marketing efforts. In regards to the four Ps, including price, product, place and promotion, KUGY took the decision to focus on all four would have opposed our strategy implemented in the  beginning. Hence, we focused our marketing strategy on product and promotion. As previously mentioned, we have invested significant sums in the development of our products, by investing in research and development over the rounds of the game, but also by adding and dropping features into sectors that seemed to be of significance to our customers and hence rose perceived benefits of our products from year to year. In addition to this advertising expenses were similarly high too, because of the fact that KUGY recognized communicating the benefits of both our efforts and our products to generate superior customer value as a first priority. George constantly highlighted that even the greatest product in the car market would not sell if its ascendancy or predominance were not communicated effectively. Given to Porter if a corporation decides upon a generic strategy, the corporation is best informed by thoroughly sticking to this strategy so as to remain differentiated (Andrews, 2010). According fact that we decided to focus on a relatively narrow target market, KUGY decided that trying to study more segments could jeopardize our current business. When presenting a new model KUGY stuck to segments whose customers’ needs are comparable so as to avoid â€Å"being stuck in the middle† as Porter cites it (Andrews, 2010). We all agreed that changing our strategy could lead our team to fail. Regarding the company decisions and overall performance we decided to stick to this strategy. Nevertheless, according to the fact that we defined every model to be one separate market based strategic business unit, the production and marketing activities achieved within the business units varied to an extent. The strategy used to every SBU was also a focus strategy. However the methods used to attain differentiation varied. For instance, we decided to reveal our luxurious car model by using newspapers and dealer incentives instead of TV advertising that we used for our medium and large car models. Additionally, we decided upon less radical price rises for our medium and large cars in comparison with our luxurious model. KUGY’s achievement can be measured thanks to its profits. Furthermore, in the second year, our corporation’s profits have been rising yearly, which signifies a good tendency in achievement. When looking at our overall profit calculation, as Pr = (P*Q – Q*VC – FC), with P (Price), Pr (Profit), Q (Quantities demanded), FC (fixed cost) and VC (variable cost), the most significant factor on revenue was the constant annual price rises as contrasting to  quantities demanded that raised regularly. Concerning the cost, overall cost was mostly defined by elevated fixed costs for marketing/advertising, product research and development, and competition and market research. KUGY’s competitive advantage was based on these considerable investments that allowed us to raise prices. According to the fact that we were making profit, our strategy appeared to work quite well, but it was unexpected to what extent price was receptive when comparing to all the efforts we put into our marketing and products. We were amazed how little we could raise the price keeping in mind how much money and effort we put into perceived customer value/benefits and the quality of our products. It would not have been fair to contest the elasticity used for profit calculations by the creators of the game, according to the fact that we lack the mathematical understanding to do so. Though it was quite disappointing when realising how little difference measures such as increased research and development, optimised marketing efforts and improved features made in comparison to changes in price. After comparing this business game with the real life, businesses that obey to the differentiation focus strategy such as Porsche or LVMH are making a lot of profits. Nevertheless, these firms have been into their business for decades and have invested considerable resources and efforts to attain their profit margins and their position within the market. I assume that if we would have played this business game for a longer period of time, applying a differentiation-focused strategy could have possibly resulted to a higher profit margin overall. However, theory and practice are very different. Particularly in very competitive industries such as the car industry and especially in times of considerable economic fluctuations, price seems to be the main factor when it’s about making purchasing decisions. Moreover, in my opinion, trying to attain maximised profitability by a cost leadership method in this business game is perhaps easier and less time consuming in comparison to KUGY’s strategy according to the fact that the players do not have to change the same amount of parameters and pay as much attention to few variables besides quantit ies demanded and price differences. While observing the data from both competition and market reports, trying to draw conclusions and also conducting endless amounts of test was sometimes very exhausting but at the same time very addictive. I have to admit I have very benefited from contributing in this business game  experience. My group work with George Yaniv and Kristijan was on of the rare first good teamwork experience I had in the last three years at Richmond University and even if we ran into some problems over the simulation game, we always took time to talk about it and try to find solutions to those issues. The fact that we were meeting on a regular basis has really facilitated the cohesion into our group. Moreover, everyone has contributed equally to the overall outcome, concerning creative inputs, estimating data, drawing conclusions and essentially trying to put it into decisions. I sincerely appreciated working with my group members and after every round of the game we sometimes had extra discussions on this topic. We all agreed that the key issue with implementing a strategy was that there is no right answer and hence no fundamental truth in this topic area. There are a lot of different methods to attain profitability and uncountable factors within the ever-changing industry environment that can affect a company’s profitably. When implementing a strategy all those factors need to be taken into consideration so as to allow the company to react properly to modifications in its environment. The theoretical part of implementing a strategy remained difficult, while the practical achievement were even harder. When KUGY understood that we could not be able to raise prices to the extent we hunted so as to to attain estimated profit margins, we started to question our approach and wondered if the decisions we took in the beginning were still suitable. We finally decided to stick to our strategy and accomplished a reasonable work with it even if it could have been better, but especially after we ended round three with a important loss, I really felt like we were not applying the good strategy and after brainstorming with our team and while everyone was trying to convince each other what to do we finally decided to stick to our first plan. I believe that managers in real firms who need to communicate and defend their strategic decision to their superiors, board of directors or employees cope with real difficulties. However, contributing in this business simulation game was a fun and very addictive experience and I really think I benefited a lot from it. I also hope that the experience I gained from it will at some point be useful in the future me when I will have to take my first strategic decisions. Bibliography Tregoe, B., Zimmerman, J., Schuster, S., 2008. Top Management Strategy? Harvard Business Review April 2008. Available at: http://www.nickols.us/strategy_definitions.pdf/ [Accessed 13 April 2014] Andrews, K., 2010. The Concept of Corporate Strategy, 3rd Edition. Financial Times Prentice Hall. [Accessed 13 April 2014] Porter, E., 1997. What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review Nov-Dec2008. Available at: http://www.nickols.us/strategy_definitions.pdf [Accessed 13 April 2014]

Media Stereotyping

IndividualFinal Project| Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper that answers the following questions: * In what ways does the media perpetuate stereotyping and prejudice? Provide examples to support your assertion. * In what ways does the media help foster appreciation for diversity? Provide examples to support your assertion. * How might individuals and the United States work together to reduce prejudice and increase appreciation for diversity? * How might you change your own behaviors to be more inclusive and pluralistic? | Day 7| 10| ————————————————- *In what ways do the media perpetuate stereotyping and prejudice? Provide examples to support your assertion. America is a relatively young country born in war and to this day continues to struggle with its identity. What makes this country strong is the ideals of freedom and equality. â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evi dent that all men are created†. This is the ideal makes America strong, that no matter where you come from rich or poor that you as an American can achieve the American dream. We have had our struggles, but that is what makes us strong. It is not been an easy journey, we have paid dearly for our freedoms and our way of life.Some people have paid more than others to struggle for the freedoms guaranteed from being an American. Diversity can be traced all the same lines as civil rights movement in America. There is been a fierce battle for independence of different peoples spread across this land. From the deep South and the marches of Martin Luther King Jr. to the Northeast and the persecution of the Puritans. The Southwest has become the new battleground for diversity with the battle against illegal immigration. Some of the information about diversity United States is on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.To truly understand the struggles of the civil rights movement and the role of diversity in the southern states throughout the 50s and 60s, you really have to go and see the bus seat of Rosa Parks. You have to see the soda fountain counter and the fire hose used to what a young black man down the street in Birmingham Alabama. I think that the most important point about diversity and one that cannot be silenced as the voices of the people that live this struggle every day, and the forums like this class that bring people from all walks of life from around the globe together to expose the ignorance of racism and prejudice and discrimination.Have you learned something new about your own racial, ethnic, or cultural history? * My history is of Irish decent we came to America for better life. We paid that price in hard work and blood. We came here as indentured servants that we had to work our way to freedom, never once was the American dream promised to us we earned everything. I think that the struggle that we had to go through game us a s ense of pride in America. It was the Chinese and the Irish that built the railroads across this country. We dug the coal that fired the furnaces of the steel mills and we came from places like Hell's kitchen New York City.What this forum has done for me has given me a sense of pride that just not the Irish and the Chinese struggle for the freedom but it seems as if all of the in one way or another had to fight for everything that we have accomplished. Trends in immigration will continue to shape the demographics of the United States. What will the U. S. population look like in the year 2050? Why do you think so? Everybody around the world wants what America has because we have the ideals of freedoms and the dreams of success the great immigration to America will continue.At the present time America has about 20 million immigrants from Mexico and South America. As economies of Third World country continue to deteriorate more and more people will come to America. Everybody wants what America has but because of the agendas of Third World country politicians and the corruption of governments and the war over illegal criminal activities the safe haven of America will still be the priority of people around the world. The demographics of the United States we will continue to move to a change in diversity from a white majority to really know majority at all.The Hispanic population continues to grow in America while the white population continues to decline. The African-American population has already moved from the largest minority to the second largest minority be replaced by the Hispanic minority. If this trend continues by 2050 we can see the Hispanic population become the majority of the largest minority and other people who have not had to fight for civil rights may now find themselves as a beneficiary of those civil rights battles fought by other minorities. What challenges does the United States face due to the diversity of its people? The first issue that come s to mind is language.If the Hispanic population becomes a majority will we see a change in the language that is not only taught but spoken in America. Many merchants and government agencies now speak Spanish as well as English. The challenge of communication is going to be getting everyone on the same sheet of music. I recently been into a store that is predominantly Hispanic and many of the labels are printed in Spanish I have also been a store where the labels are printed in Arabic in order for America to maintain diversity without separation we will have to have a common language that is spoken and written by everyone.Any area of civil rights those court cases that were settled with the idea of a white majority and other minorities may now be referred as a white majority will find itself as a minority. So with that in mind will we see affirmative action for white people? What will be the reaction of the minorities and those court cases are turned around and used against them. Wh at are the benefits of such a diverse society? The benefits of a diverse society is one that a brings equality everyone. With a more diverse society we should not see the need for racial, sexual or disability court cases.More diverse society will be a more understanding society by that I mean that we should not have to force a building or company to put in a wheelchair ramp it will simply be understood that one is needed. The more understanding society will bring about the benefits of less crime less people in prison which will save us all tax dollars and the burdens that are put upon society by hate crimes. The benefits of this society will only continue to get better as the ignorance of discrimination is eliminated from our mindset.How can we foster a climate of acceptance and cultural pluralism in the United States? * The foster a climate of acceptance in United States we will need to revamp our education system. We need to bring more exposure of different races into the schools of our children. We will never defeat the closed minds of the ignorant until we put those prejudices to the test of a person to person encounter. To say that we hate black people when we have never met black people and we're only going on what we see on TV, we are basing our prejudices on what other people want us to believe.If we are going to defeat discrimination and bring about cultural pluralism we will need to put those thoughts in the minds of our children. Education and first-hand experience is the only way they were going to bring about pluralism in the United States. There are too many rural communities where prejudices still exist today based upon ideals from 50 years ago. In what ways do the media perpetuate stereotyping and prejudice? Provide examples to support your assertion.

A company without individuals Essays

A company without individuals Essays A company without individuals Essay A company without individuals Essay We cannot conceive of an organization or a company without individuals assuming the leadership roles. All myriad tasks that a particular organization performs from planning, organizing, leading to managing, require the skills and ability of a good leader or manager. This is especially true in strategic planning wherein most of what will happen in an organization’s future depends on the quality of the strategies planned during the planning. John M. Bryson (2004, p. 297) emphasized that strategic planning is not a substitute for effective leadership, otherwise put, there is no substitute for effective leadership when it comes to planning. He further adds that whether strategic planning helps or hurts depends on how leaders at all organizational levels use- or misuse it.Since the readings’ primary topics are centered on public and non-profit organizations and the relevance of strategic planning to it, it should be emphasized that these will not be successful without the gu idance of a good leader. This reflection is aptly stated on the subtitle of chapter 11 of Bryson’s book which reads as â€Å"leadership roles for making strategic planning work.† Strategic planning and good leadership go hand in hand towards the attainment of organizational success, nevertheless this still requires the cooperation of all members/employees of the organization concerned.It has been explained that â€Å"planning organizational success is complex because it should involve representatives from your partners, internal clients, external clients, and society. Before any major adventure, such as climbing a mountain, experts agree that there is a process of preparing to plan, including considering whether you should climb the mountain in the first place. This step mitigates the danger of rushing into action without thinking about implications, consequences, and potential scenarios.† (Kaufman, et. al. p, 82) We can observe from the readings that there is a direct interrelationship between the higher level management and the subordinates of each manager. A particular organization will not be successful in its endeavors if without the support of all. So it is advised, as one key to effective strategic planning and implementation, to understand the people involved in implementing the strategies planned. In addition to this, it is important also for a leader to know his very self, his capabilities and strength. Why? The answer is that â€Å"understanding oneself and others is particularly important for developing the strength of character and insight that invigorates leadership and increases the chances that strategic planning and implementation will help the organization.† (Bryson, p. 299) In addition, leaders should seek to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the people who are or should be involved in strategic planning and implementation, including them.Strategic planning is a complex process, the management must have d efinite points wherein they will start their actions based on the plan. By doing this, all concerned will act in accordance to these starting points. A concerted fluidity of actions will materialize going on the same direction. This method eases the burden of solving problems, conflicts of ideas and defines the results needed to be achieved within a particular frame of time. As was explained, â€Å"if you want to solve any problem, it is important to get the language and definitions right. If we fail to define our terms, we will fail to communicate. Shared meaning about a significant problem, its causes and solutions is based on well-defined terms. (Kaufman, et. al., p.113) In addition to this, assessment comes into play here again. As what I have learned earlier, I agree that assessment is indispensable in every endeavor of the organization. To be specific, Roger Kaufman, et. al., (2003) enumerated the importance of assessment. These are; 1) assessment define problems and needs an d state them in measurable performance terms, 2) assessment brings rigor to the identification and solving of organizational and human performance problems related to strategic, tactical, and operational directions, 3) this serves as the foundation for proactive planning, and 4) assessment asks the critical questions that help to resolve conflicts and problems of the organization.Basically, all the prerequisites for a successful strategic planning have been enumerated. Hence, the next thing to do is to start with strategic planning. It is a good lesson based on the readings, specifically John M. Bryson’s, that when strategic planning is to be started it must â€Å"start where you and the other people who might be involved in or affected by the process currently are.† Doing this would be efficient because the individuals already are comfortable with their tasks and functions and they already know the intricacies of their jobs. Therefore, what remains to be done, is just the implementation of the strategies. He further adds that wherever you start, you must also keep in mind where the participants currently are. Other involved or affected parties are likely to need some education concerning the purposes, processes, and products of strategic planning. If they are important for the formulation or implementation of strategies, you will need to bring them along so that they can be effective supporters and implementers.For brevity, strategic planning must be initiated where the individuals concerned are comfortable with, and their must be a collaboration between the leaders and the members of the organization on the formulation of strategies in order to make the strategic planning relatively easy.An organization will not survive without a good leadership guiding it. Therefore, a leader must have the necessary skills needed for him to serve as everyone’s guide when problems and challenges meet head on with the organization. And one way to overcome challenges is through strategic planning. Management leaders must be at the forefront of this planning endeavor. Strategic planning helps in conceptualizing answers to problems before they even happen and provides alternative solutions to these problems.

The Major Alliances of World War I

The Major Alliances of World War I By 1914, Europes six major powers were split into two alliances that would form the warring sides in World War I. Britain, France, and Russia formed the Triple Entente, while Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy joined in the Triple Alliance. These alliances werent the sole cause of World War I, as some historians have contended, but they did play an important role in hastening Europes rush to conflict. The Central Powers Following a series of military victories from 1862 to 1871, Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck formed a German state out of several small principalities. After unification, Bismarck feared that neighboring nations, particularly France and Austria-Hungary, might act to destroy Germany. Bismarck wanted a careful series of alliances and foreign policy decisions that would stabilize the balance of power in Europe. Without them, he believed, another continental war was inevitable. The Dual Alliance Bismarck knew an alliance with France wasn’t possible because of lingering French anger over Alsace-Lorraine, a province Germany had seized in 1871 after defeating France in the Franco-Prussian War. Britain, meanwhile, was pursuing a policy of disengagement and reluctant to form any European alliances. Bismarck turned to Austria-Hungary and Russia. In 1873, the Three Emperors League was created, pledging mutual wartime support among Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. Russia withdrew in 1878, and Germany and Austria-Hungary formed the Dual Alliance in 1879. The Dual Alliance promised that the parties would aid each other if Russia attacked them or if Russia assisted another power at war with either nation. The Triple Alliance In 1882, Germany and Austria-Hungary strengthened their bond by forming the Triple Alliance with Italy. All three nations pledged support should any of them be attacked by France. If any member found itself at war with two or more nations at once, the alliance would come to their aid. Italy, the weakest of the three, insisted on a final clause, voiding the deal if the Triple Alliance members were the aggressor. Shortly after, Italy signed a deal with France, pledging support if Germany attacked them. Russian Reinsurance Bismarck was keen to avoid fighting a war on two fronts, which meant making some form of agreement with either France or Russia. Given the sour relations with France, Bismarck signed what he called a reinsurance treaty with Russia, stating that both nations would remain neutral if one was involved in a war with a third party. If that war was with France, Russia had no obligation to aid Germany. However, this treaty lasted only until 1890, when it was allowed to lapse by the government that replaced Bismarck. The Russians had wanted to keep it. This is usually seen as a major error by Bismarcks successors. After Bismarck Once Bismarck was voted out of power, his carefully crafted foreign policy began to crumble. Eager to expand his nations empire, Germanys Kaiser Wilhelm II pursued an aggressive policy of militarization. Alarmed by Germanys naval buildup, Britain, Russia, and France strengthened their own ties. Meanwhile, Germanys new elected leaders proved incompetent at maintaining Bismarcks alliances, and the nation soon found itself surrounded by hostile powers. Russia entered into an agreement with France in 1892, spelled out in the Franco-Russian Military Convention. The terms were loose but tied both nations to supporting each other should they be involved in a war. It was designed to counter the Triple Alliance. Much of the diplomacy Bismarck had considered critical to Germanys survival had been undone in a few years, and the nation once again faced threats on two fronts. The Triple Entente Concerned about the threat rival powers posed to the colonies, Great Britain began searching for alliances of its own. Although Britain had not supported France in the Franco-Prussian War, the two nations pledged military support for one another in the Entente Cordiale of 1904. Three years later, Britain signed a similar agreement with Russia. In 1912, the Anglo-French Naval Convention tied Britain and France even more closely militarily. When Austrias Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in 1914, the great powers of Europe reacted in a way that led to full-scale war within weeks. The Triple Entente fought the Triple Alliance, although Italy soon switched sides. The war that all parties thought would be finished by Christmas 1914, instead dragged on for four long years, eventually bringing the United States into the conflict. By the time the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, officially ending the Great War, more than 11 million soldiers and 7 million civilians were dead.

Which Delphi Files to Store in a Source Control System

Which Delphi Files to Store in a Source Control System Delphi employs a number of files for its configuration, some global to the Delphi environment, some project specific. Various tools in the Delphi IDE store data in files of other types. The following list describes the files and their filename extensions that Delphi creates for a typical stand-alone application, plus a dozen more. Also, get to know which Delphi generated files should be stored in a source control system. Delphi Project Specific .PAS - Delphi Source FilePAS should be stored in Source ControlIn Delphi, PAS files are always the source code to either a unit or a form. Unit source files contain most of the code in an application. The unit contains the source code for any event handlers attached to the events of the form or the components it contains. We may edit .pas files using Delphis code editor. Do not delete .pas files. .DCU - Delphi Compiled UnitA compiled unit (.pas) file. By default, the compiled version of each unit is stored in a separate binary-format file with the same name as the unit file, but with the extension .DCU (Delphi compiled unit). For example unit1.dcu contains the code and data declared in the unit1.pas file. When you rebuild a project, individual units are not recompiled unless their source (.PAS) files have changed since the last compilation, or their .DCU files cannot be found. Safely delete .dcu file because Delphi recreates it when you compile the application. .DFM - Delphi FormDFM should be stored in Source ControlThese files are always paired with .pas files. A DFM file contains the details (properties) of the objects contained in a form. It can be view as text by right clicking on the form and selecting view as text from the pop-up menu. Delphi copies information in .dfm files into the finished .exe code file. Caution should be used in altering this file as changes to it could prevent the IDE from being able to load the form. Form files can be saved in either binary or text format. The Environment Options dialog lets you indicate which format you want to use for newly created forms. Do not delete .dfm files. .DPR - Delphi ProjectDPR should be stored in Source ControlThe .DPR file is the central file to a Delphi project (one .dpr file per a project), actually a Pascal source file. It serves as the primary entry point for the executable. The DPR contains the references to the other files in the project and links forms with their associated units. Although we can modify the .DPR  file, we should not modify it manually. Do not delete .DPR files. .RES - Windows Resource FileA Windows resource file generated automatically by Delphi and required by the compilation process. This binary-format file contains the version info resource (if required) and the application’s main icon. The file may also contain other resources used within the application but these are preserved as is. .EXE - Application ExecutableThe first time we build an application or a standard dynamic-link library, the compiler produces a .DCU file for each new unit used in your project; all the .DCU files in your project are then linked to create a single .EXE (executable) or .DLL file. This binary-format file is the only one (in most cases) you have to distribute to your users. Safely delete your projects .exe file because Delphi recreates it when you compile the application. .~ - Delphi Backup FilesFiles with names ending in .~ (e.g. unit2.~pa) are backup copies of modified and saved files. Safely delete those files at any time, however, you might want to keep the for recovering damaged programming. .DLL - Application ExtensionCode for dynamic link library. A dynamic-link library (DLL) is a collection of routines that can be called by applications and by other DLLs. Like units, DLLs contain shareable code or resources. But a DLL is a separately compiled executable that is linked at runtime to the programs that use it. Do not delete a .DLL file unless you wrote it. Go see DLLs and Delphi for more information on programming. .DPK - Delphi PackageDPK should be stored in Source ControlThis file contains the source code for a package, which is most often a collection of multiple units. Package source files are similar to project files, but they are used to construct special dynamic-link libraries called packages. Do not delete .dpk files. .DCPThis binary image file consists of the actual compiled package. Symbol information and additional header information required by the IDE are all contained within the .DCP file. The IDE must have access to this file in order to build a project. Do not delete .DCP files. .BPL or .DPLThis is the actual design-time or run-time package. This file is a Windows DLL with Delphi-specific features integrated into it. This file is essential for the deployment of an application that uses a package. In version 4 and above this is Borland package library in version 3 its Delphi package library. See BPL vs. DLL for more information on programming with packages. The following list describes the files and their filename extensions that Delphi IDE creates for a typical stand-alone application   Ã‚  Ã‚  IDE Specific.BPG, .BDSGROUP - Borland Project Group (Borland Developer Studio Project Group)BPG should be stored in Source ControlCreate project groups to handle related projects at once. For example, you can create a project group that contains multiple executable files such as a .DLL and an .EXE. .DCRDCR should be stored in Source ControlDelphi component resource files contain a components icon as it appears on the VCL palette. We may use .dcr files when construction our own custom components. Do not delete .dpr files. .DOFDOF should be stored in Source ControlThis text file contains the current settings for project options, such as compiler and linker settings, directories, conditional directives, and command-line parameters. The only reason to delete .dof file is to revert to standard options for a project. .DSKThis text file stores information about the state of your project, such as which windows are open and what position they are in. This allows you to restore your project’s workspace whenever you reopen the Delphi project. .DROThis text file contains information about the object repository. Each entry in this file contains specific information about each available item in the object repository. .DMTThis proprietary binary file contains the shipped and user-defined menu templates information. .TLBThe file is a proprietary binary type library file. This file provides a way for identifying what types of objects and interfaces are available on an ActiveX server. Like a unit or a header file the .TLB serves as a repository for necessary symbol information for an application. .DEMThis text file contains some standard country-specific formats for a TMaskEdit component. The list of the file extensions you see when Developing with Delphi continues .... .CABThis is the file format that Delphi offers its users for web deployment. The cabinet format is an efficient way to package multiple files. .DBFiles with this extension are standard Paradox files. .DBFFiles with this extension are standard dBASE files. .GDBFiles with this extension are standard Interbase files. .DBIThis text file contains initialization information for the Database Explorer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  CautionNever delete files with names ending in .dfm, .dpr, or .pas, unless you want to throw away your project. These files contain the applications properties and source code. When backing up an application, these are the critical files to save.

Current Event Article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current Event Article - Essay Example As of now, Wal-Mart is the biggest retail store chain in the United States and employs nearly 1.4 million workers in various positions. But most of the employed workers are store-assistants, who are not generally well-educated. This is the backdrop for Wal-Mart top management to collaborate with American Public University, which offers online higher education degrees. Workers of Wal-Mart, with reasonable work experience with the company and positive performance reviews from their managers, special college credits will be awarded, which will expedite the process of completing the degree. The author of the article Miguel Bustillo does not critically scrutinize the real intentions behind this program. The article can only be considered a ‘press release’ issued by the Wal-Mart top management on the occasion of the program’s initiation. Hence it is important to place this Wal-Mart initiative in the context of the company’s general reputation with respect to corporate philanthropy. Given the long list of employee grievances against Wal-Mart top management, this initiative should be viewed with skepticism. For example, it is a well-documented fact that Wal-Mart does not provide adequate medical insurance and reasonable wages for its employees. The cheap prices offered to the consumer are as a result of savings made through such means. Moreover, since most of the retail store assistants are employed on a part time basis, they are not eligible to get employer sponsored health insurance and other benefits. Further, a few years back, the exploitative nature of Wal-Mart manufacturing contracts with companies in the Third World came to light. For example, for every $20 shirt sold in a Wal-Mart store, the Bangladeshi worker who tailored it, gets paid only a fraction of that price. The conditions under which they work and the subsistence level wages they get can only be described as exploitative. Similarly, Wal-Mart’s shoddy record with

What are the common types of leadership that most organizations now Essay

What are the common types of leadership that most organizations now use - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that your identity is who you really are—and your image is how much of that real people understand the daunting boundaries of language and culture. The paper tells that corporate image and identity comes hand in hand to make up a desired audience perception towards the corporation. The image and identity that is projected towards the market, most significantly to its target consumers, create a reputation about the corporation that would eventually become the basis of the people’s decision of availing the services of the corporation. Just as any other corporations present in the community, pedagogical institutions are not exempted from this common situation in the community. It is necessary for any organization to project a good image and identity towards the community since it is considered as one of the best strategies that any organization should take into consideration. The present research has identified that leadership fo r that matter plays a detrimental role. As simple as these two ideas may seem yet, in reality, this is one of the most difficult and the most complex challenges that a business may face that concerns management these days. In order to address this challenge, every organization must understand and recognize the important leadership and become aware of which type of leadership will prove to be effective for the organization. ... Corporate identity and leadership digs deeper as to the process and the ways in which the company creates its own value in the community where it markets its products and services (Managing Image in a Dynamic Corporate Environment). On the other hand, corporate image has to do something with the people who had availed of the corporation's products and services, their impressions and associations towards the corporation as perceived through their experiences with the company. Generally, these impressions and association that the consumers have developed within themselves can however be controlled by the corporation. Everything that the consumers have to go through is capable of being controlled by the corporation to a greater or lesser degree. This "may include the tone and manner of its employees, its pricing structure, the quality of its customer service, the publicity it receives from the media, its social responsiveness and its activities in the community" (Managing Image in a Dynamic Corporate Environment). It is and has been conceptualized largely in terms of the visual aspect it projects to the people. In business management studies, they also suggest that leadership style is determined mostly by the organization and is presented to the employees in both verbal and visual form (Moffit & Williams, 1997). Thus by maintaining the most effective type of leadership, the company is assured that the desired reputation of the corporation towards its target consumers is achieved (Managing Image in a Dynamic Corporate Environment).

How global warming affects animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

How global warming affects animals - Essay Example The current literature blames the inability of policy makers and politicians to design measures that can help curb further destructions on climate. In fact, most nations lack political will to mitigate the impacts global warming poses on animals. The current literal works of researchers underscore on the need for the world to focus its activities towards protection of the environment but does not say about the future and uncertainty surrounding animals as global warming gets to its extreme. This paper takes the assumption that the situation of global warming is typical fight between cases of survival for the fittest against the selection of the fittest by Global Warming. This means that with time, every animal species in the globe will adapt to global warming in varying ways. For example some animals will undergo genetic regeneration whereas others will simply die. I plan to organize my paper by discussing the main points as earlier stated while giving a detailed analysis concerning the impact of global warming on animals on such matters as habitat displacement, breeding, hibernation and migration behaviours. in this regard, the points will be arranged chronologically. Melting ice in the polar region has caused flow of water disturbing natural habitats of polar bears in the arctic regions. In addition, the breeding environments for waterfowl in the prairie pothole region of north Iowa and central Alberta has been adversely affected due to rising temperatures in the springs. Animals often move into new habitats whenever their current habitats become elusive to their survival. However, the current human population limits this movement since land that would otherwise have been suitable in accommodation Global warming raises temperatures within the arctic regions of the world which is the main habitat of polar bears. In addition, raised temperatures in the springs destroy breeding conditions of waterfowl

The importance of analysis and analitical skills to the manager making Essay

The importance of analysis and analitical skills to the manager making decisions in business - Essay Example Business opportunity of get fit quick Competition, coupled with increased changes in the business environment, has combined to execute powerful impact on the way managers and their different organizations conduct businesses. In this regard, organizations have been forced to develop and implement the most sophisticated decision-making techniques in order to ensure available resources are economically and optimally utilized. In order for business to get fit quickly and successfully, managers are required to explore the different available alternatives of decision-making. The alternatives should have the ability to outline, in the most efficient way, how the organization can make use of the available resources in a way that differs from competitors and give returns that enable the business to create competitive advantage (Casey and Capella University 2006). Available resources in an organization can be used in ways that provide opportunity for the organization to achieve maximum utility. However, this is possible through selecting the best alternatives of decision-making as it pertains to resource utilization, environmental scanning, and goals to be achieved. Approaches of decision-making process Management literature depicts that decision-making process can benefit greatly from the four main approaches that are generally used in making decisions. As a result, in order for decision-making process to be successful and productive, managers are either to select one or multiple approaches that include logical systems approach, contingency approach, quantitative approach, and the qualitative approach. Logical systems of decision-making are premised on the rationality essence that is needed to make decisions (Wysocki 2010). In this case, an individual (manager) is perceived to have rational set of stages that should be followed before arriving at the appropriate conclusion regarding decision (Wysocki, 2010). Contingency approach on the other hand categorizes or program alternatives that can be used to achieve decision goals (Sengupta and Bhattacharya, 2006). A problem is presented to have different ways of solving it and this lead to development and evaluation of different ways of finding solution. On the other hand, quantitative approaches dictate that, decision-making process succeed when concept such as project management are adopted (Anderson, 2011). In this way, figures are seen to possess great ability of providing management with chances of finding solut

Case Study#1 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

#1 - Case Study Example In the state of Florida, it can be found out that most of the wildlife has been safeguarded by one or the other law. Such laws of Florida have been enacted by the governments at the various level including local, regional, state or federal (Schaefer, Tucker & McGurie, â€Å"Laws that Protect Florida’s Wildlife†). The other law regarding that of two weeks counselling prior to marriage, for the interracial couples, has been enacted for the best interest of the couple. As, the involved individuals in such marriages are often from a very different cultural and economic background, so it can be identified that such counselling would help the future husband and wife to know each other better. Though it seems that the both the law statutes have been enacted for the greater good of the society, one to reduce the pollution content and save the ecological balance by protecting the extinct species of blood and the other contributing towards post marriage harmony but one might not like the statutes. The person travelling from outside the state of Minnesota might feel that he has to incur extra cost in lieu of pollution resistant device in his vehicle. The interracial couple can also have reservations as they are adult and the state can not impose them the counselling sessions. In such cases, the affected parties might appeal to the higher court of law i.e. the court of appeal. If the legislation permits, they can also appeal to the apex court i.e. the Supreme Court. As discussed earlier, the law of the land should not impose certain statutes upon the mature adults. If any of the individual decided to choose upon his life partner, who happens to be from a different race, the legalities of the nation should not compel him to have mandatory counselling session for two weeks. As matured individual adults, they have the right to get married to the person they want to. Also, it is very hurting

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

English - Essay Example However, in 2008, this type of household, at 36%, still represents the biggest cohort among all the other different types in Great Britain. The percentage of families with dependent children has stayed relatively steady; while the composition of single parent families in the overall study decreased at a relatively small change rate, over the years. This latter cohort also represents the smallest group. Other types of households, which comprise of same sex couples and civil partners, have increased from 19% to 25%. Overall, people in private households have increased over the decades from 53.4 million to 58.8 million. Let us now take a deeper look at the size of households using the second table. This table looks at the size of households based on the number of persons living in them, from 1 person up to 6 or more. This study also covers nearly 40 years from 1971 to 2008. The biggest group in these cohorts is comprised of two people households, which is related to the couples and fami lies with no children data shown in the earlier table. Starting at 32% in 1971, this category has increased marginally to 35% in 2008. One person households have increased significantly over the decades also, going from 18% in 1971 to 29% in 2008. This single group, in fact, represents the biggest chunk in the overall increase in households that Great Britain has seen since 1971. It is interesting to note that all the other categories of households of more than two people, including households with three, four, five and more than six people, have decreased in the past decades: three people households have decreased from 19% to 16%; four people households have decreased from 17% to 13%; five people households have gown down from 8% to 5%; and households with 6 or more people have decreased from 6% to a mere 2%, maintaining its status as the smallest group. This data concludes effectively that the size of the average household in Great Britain has decreased from 2.9 persons to 2.4 per sons from 1971 to 2008. The contributing factors to this change are a) the increased number of one and two person(s) households, and b) the decreased number of households with 3 or more persons. Assignment 2: Examine the argument that neighbourly relations are characterised by friendly distance. Neighbours make a very important component of societal life: how neighbours behave and interact with each other has a direct effect on the type of communities that are established; whether these communities have cordiality, understanding and generosity or aloofness and mistrust is dependent on how neighbourly relations are. This essay attempts to describe the various characteristics, components and manifestations of strong and good neighbourly relations to shed light on the question of whether these relations are best when friendly but at a distance. The word ‘neighbour’ is used to describe the person living right next door to another person; in speaking terms, neighbours includ es people who reside close together on a street or residential area. A ‘neighbour’ holds an intrinsic social identity (Taylor, p. 167) and associations based on a neighbour’s role. Having good neighbours or a ‘nice neighbourhood’ is a very important characteristic of fruitful social life. However, the definition of a ‘

Case Study#1 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

#1 - Case Study Example In the state of Florida, it can be found out that most of the wildlife has been safeguarded by one or the other law. Such laws of Florida have been enacted by the governments at the various level including local, regional, state or federal (Schaefer, Tucker & McGurie, â€Å"Laws that Protect Florida’s Wildlife†). The other law regarding that of two weeks counselling prior to marriage, for the interracial couples, has been enacted for the best interest of the couple. As, the involved individuals in such marriages are often from a very different cultural and economic background, so it can be identified that such counselling would help the future husband and wife to know each other better. Though it seems that the both the law statutes have been enacted for the greater good of the society, one to reduce the pollution content and save the ecological balance by protecting the extinct species of blood and the other contributing towards post marriage harmony but one might not like the statutes. The person travelling from outside the state of Minnesota might feel that he has to incur extra cost in lieu of pollution resistant device in his vehicle. The interracial couple can also have reservations as they are adult and the state can not impose them the counselling sessions. In such cases, the affected parties might appeal to the higher court of law i.e. the court of appeal. If the legislation permits, they can also appeal to the apex court i.e. the Supreme Court. As discussed earlier, the law of the land should not impose certain statutes upon the mature adults. If any of the individual decided to choose upon his life partner, who happens to be from a different race, the legalities of the nation should not compel him to have mandatory counselling session for two weeks. As matured individual adults, they have the right to get married to the person they want to. Also, it is very hurting

Production and Operations Management. Lenzing AG Case study

Production and Operations Management. Lenzing AG - Case Study Example The company had its base in the town near Salzburg since long and never felt the need to spread out far from there. The company was content with its operations and business till the year 1978 when the zeal to spread out internationally was initiated in Lenzing. The initiation or the possibility was triggered by a phone call which was made by an entrepreneur of Indian origin named Ashok Birla. The Indian entrepreneur came up with an idea of structuring a manufacturing unit in Indonesia. Initially, this proposal was turned down by the management of Lenzing owing to their lack of experience in foreign joint ventures as well as investments. However, with time Lenzing was able to identify the immense potential of the enormous and unexploited market of textile in Indonesia which made the Chairman ultimately initiate a joint venture with Birla. The outcome of the venture was a new firm named South Pacific Viscose (SPV) which was also the first foreign associate of Lenzing (Spar & Et. Al., 2 008). Problem Statement or Issues The joint venture resulted to be quite successful and in a short period of time the firm SPV started earning huge profits by being a contributor of rayon fiber to the flourishing textile trade of Indonesia. It was found that there was a huge demand of the rayon fiber in the country and the firm efficiently exploited this opportunity which resulted in the augmentation of their profits by around 15 percent every year. In the year 1988, another production plant was set up by Lenzing due to the impressive profits. The second plant was established so as to enhance its production ability from 32,000 to 73000 tons each year. With the taste of success in Indonesia, Lenzing started spreading even out of Europe by way of initiating quite some fresh projects. The experience achieved with the help of its joint venture, SPV assisted Lenzing to expand. In the year 1992, a third plant for the purpose of rayon production was acquired by the company at Tennessee. It also started its manufacturing operations in China in 1994 by way of entering into a contract with the government of China to build a manufacturing plant of rayon around Beijing. These various investments and expansions helped Lenzing acquire the reputation of the sole rayon company across the world which boasted of a factual global presence (Spar & Et. Al., 2008). The company’s joint venture with Birla in Indonesia was functioning quite productively and profitably by the year 1994. This made the company Lenzing think yet once again of expanding more with the help of starting a third manufacturing plant of SPV which would facilitate to enhance up the production to 109,000 tons. It was also planned by the company that the third plant would focus on manufacturing rayon fibers of the most exceptional quality. The company was aware of the fact that with the addition of the third manufacturing plant, the firm SPV would be placed amongst the biggest facilities in rayon manufacturi ng and would be ranked in the second position after the Austrian plant owned by Lenzing (Spar & Et. Al., 2008). Along with the profitability factor, there were other important factors too which were considered to be significant as they would majorly contribute towards the expansion. The other aspects that were measured to facilitate the expansion were the strong recognized associations with the firm’s downstream customers and also the admirable working association with the Indonesian local partner. The location of the firm in Indonesia was considered to be the major inducement behind the expansion owing to the country’s potential of turning into a motivating force for the international textile industry. Apart from the advantages that triggered the

Information Communication Technology Ethics Essay Example for Free

Information Communication Technology Ethics Essay Reflection (1) Philosophy Ethics; â€Å"allows us to breakout of prejudices and harmful habits that we held since we were too young or too naà ¯ve to know better†. Also allows us to see and appreciate other views of the world and study it to see â€Å"the consequences of our views†, because what we think know might not be right â€Å"inconsistent†. What is Ethics? â€Å"Ethics deals with what we should and should not do, what acts are â€Å"good† and â€Å"wrong† â€Å". Ethics in my point of view is a very crucial yet sensitive controversial topic (Fluffy?). As humans there are defiantly dos and don’ts since the day of our birth, but since this is molded and inferred by ones culture, community, circumstances. These rules tend to change from one place to another (region, family culture, religion), also from times to others (eras). It is important to have ethics in our lives to co-exist as humans and have predictable consequences. The difficult part is the sensitive part, where the people are not open enough for change, sometimes not open minded enough for simply discussing their ethics, believes or their code of life, and just want to impose believes, culture, any form of ethics on others who don’t want to follow (you can’t please everyone when it comes to ethics). I personally follow somewhat a mixture of Deontological, virtue Ethics. Reflection (2) There is a difference between your molarity and your professional morality, where your morality doesn’t it always corresponds to the morality that your profession dictates. On the other hand the reason that a person would chooses a certain profession is because of its attractive value system that matches his/her morality and values, but it’s not always the case as discussed in class some people have the ability to switch entirely between their personal and professional lives, and some might be put in a position that opposes their morality and they are fully responsible for their actions and fully aware of the consequences that might follow. Ethics in information communication technology discipline is quite new, mainly because the major advancement in this system is fairly new as well, where it’s constantly changing and developing. The discipline now also occupied a huge rule in our daily lives, where we are almost always in contact with technology from the moment we wake up till the moment we sleep. Digital media significantly now alters our ethical responsibility on one another, because now we live in the digital world â€Å"we can’t assume that our ways work for everyone†, since the world not too long ago wasn’t that close, actions and data didn’t travel that fast, people and cultural ethics were preserved and rarely affected. In the meantime now data is flying everywhere the once local is now global in minutes maybe seconds and it’s just too soon unstudied cultural shocks and misunderstanding occur more often, but with this misunderstanding with the right people is corrected for good and others misconceived for good. By these experiences some therefore ethically knowing the cultural difference would tend to rethink before doing something offensive or controversial to avoid troubles. Reflections (3) Privacy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ we are our data† I do believe that. I also believe that if we are our data we can’t be denied the freedom of using, sharing or hiding it, because it’s a part of you. In this era of computer technology our data can be our thoughts regardless it might be moral or not it still belong to us, where in any other age than ours, it would have been kept the way you choose it to be, but now you can’t help but to feel stalked or judged. The floating â€Å"malleable† â€Å"greased† data privacy is a two edged sword, it can protect from evil and can cause evil and misfortune. And since evil and misfortune always exists and always will, the way it was before is known, which the freedom of our privacy choices is and that is because it will at least control one known evil which is this data misuse. Reflections (4) Intellectual freedom is a basic human right for all humans of all cultures and believes. This freedom has to be respected and protected universally. Furthermore I believe even if this is a basic human right, it must not be abused, and that’s where ethics and morality acts in, because even though you are entitled to your own opinion the person must bear in mind that words are very powerful and can do harm. The controversy between censorship and intellectual freedom, where one of the requirements of intellectual freedom to be fulfilled is that â€Å"the society makes an equal commitment to the right of unrestricted access to information and ideas regardless of the communication medium used, the content of the work/and the viewpoints of both the author and receiver of information.†

Tall Organisational Structure And Power Culture Commerce Essay

Tall Organisational Structure And Power Culture Commerce Essay Culture is a systematic programme run in the mind which can be used to differ one set of people from another, and an organization structure is a breakdown of the organisational subordinate entities to pursue a common goal. Different modes of the Cultures would be Power Culture, Task Culture, Person Culture and Role Culture. The importance of understanding these concepts is that an organizational structure leads the organisational culture to flow across the organisation. Therefor a proper understanding of the functionality of these concepts is vital. There could be several types of structures as follows. Tall organisational Structure and power Culture A tall organisational structure is where the span of control is narrowed due to the higher number of management levels resulting in many managers being employed by a company and the commands are first informed to the top level managers and then the information flows in to the subordinates. Under this structure, it is likely that culture is unchanged and the informal commutation is applied because of the lower level subordinated work under a tall structure. Most organisations especially manufacturing and task oriented uses this method to make sure without any interference the task is done the correct person is on the correct chair. Tall structure always provides the systematic approach to planning and controlling mechanisms this is because the decision making is done at the top and then the decisions are flown downward and being (Naoum,2001:p.165). Figure1. Tall organisational Structure of a production company Source: The times 100 web magazine (http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/british-gas/roles-responsibilities-and-career-development/introduction.html#axzz2Dl7IBSzR) Power Culture is where one individual dominates the entire decision making only by himself. Power culture always allows the head of the business (Entrepreneurs) to make the decisions. Therefor power culture always bounded to a particular individual. In the current context Sir Richard Branson is a perfect example where he dominated the entire decision making of the group by himself and the success of the company is where he always retained the decision making power and the retention of the control under himself according toVirgin-Richards Block website (2012). Under this culture it is very difficult for others to poke into the decision making and the subordinates always have to follow the decisions. Figure2: Decision making represents the middle of the circle Source: http://www.mindtools.com/ Flat Organisational culture and Role Culture Flat organisational culture consists lower number of managers due to the lower number of management levels making the span of control wider. This might lower the interest of the top level managers feeling that they might lose out the control. Flat organisational structured entities are having greater innovation ability as the functional levels are given the authority from the top level. The swiftness of the communication is higher as opposed to other structures. The level of motivation of the employees will stay high as they are not been pressured more and the formal level of communication arises because of that (Warner M., Joynt P.2002:p260). Figure3. Flat Structure with minimum number of managers Source: Madura J. (2007:p279) Role Culture commands the employees to stick to their job description. This mainly happens in large entities where the particular job has its own guidelines. Under this approach the innovativeness is questionable as employees tend stick to their work boundaries and stifle the innovativeness. In this approach most of the Human Resource activities are done in order to chair the proper personnel. When every employee carries out their duties, the entire companys pillars are strengthening. Therefor in this approach the importance of understanding of the role of each person is highly important (Martin, 2005:P.493). Hierarchical organizational Structure and Task Culture Hierarchical Structure represents a pyramid shaped structure i.e. the power and responsibility are defined according to the position they possess in the organisational hierarchy. Under this approach the main objective is to retain the power and to get the task done through the divisions. In this approach it is likely that the span of control is retained at the divisional levels which lead to better communication where one reports to the other (Turner and Simister, 2000) Figure 4. Hierarchical Organisational structure in military organisation (Source: God, Quantum physics, Organizational structure and Management style, 2009:p.45) Task Culture gets the correct people and getting them to work together will be the key aspect of this approach. This culture mainly focuses about the team work for the accomplishment of a company objective. Through this approach it is likely that the company moves forward with market dynamism and market complexity as this approach gets the company people to discuss the changes in order to meet the complexity. Managers must make sure the level of commitment is achieved because of the distance and freedom they are given (Smith and Mounter, 2008:p.36). 1.2 Organisational culture and performance Organisational culture always has an impact on the organisational performance. In a strong culture (high norms, high Values) the bonds of the management with the employees are quite strong, the performance of the entity tends to be in a good position. According to Lussier and Kimball (2009) a weak culture will definitely stifle the connection of employees and management. Culture types such as Power and person, will limit the performance of an organisation due to the lack of democracy whereas role and task culture will improve the democracy. Employee performance will therefor directly impact the company performance the glue will be the culture. But it should also concluded that a strong culture will ease the mergers or alliances, where as a weak culture will be very difficult to maintain in a dynamic environment. b) From the current context Semco is a company build in brazil owned by Ricardo Semler who took the business from his father who are in to the manufacturing of mixers, pipes. Owner allowed employees to make use of the organizational resources in the way he would like make sure the correct inspection is provided at requirement. The considerations provided for the effort were well provided by Semler as a result company could increase profit up to 500 per cent. Therefor it is noticeable that a strong culture with more values and believes will contribute to a greater performance (Dickson, 1993:p.13). 1.3 factors which influence the behaviour individual at work According to the Mullins (2009) he has noted several factors which could influence an individuals behaviour at work as follows. Values Skills Personality Leadership Perception Demographic Factors Attitudes When an individual possess good values towards the work, the work will become more and more easy. Having good skills will always make the employee to feel comfortable with the tasks they carry out. When an individual comes with a better personality it is unlikely that the company influence the person but rather person will take it up by himself. Better leadership always has a significant impact over the work where the better leadership influences the person and getting the task done. According to Nelson and Quick, (2008:p.128) Better work conditions will always improve the perception of the individuals towards work. Demographic factors such as age, gender, will create some awkwardness towards work if the working environment tends to be challenging to them. Motivational Factors such as better work conditions will always improve the attitudes of the individuals. Therefor it is evident that above factors will have an impact over work conditions. Task 02 Introduction to Management and Leadership In simple terms Management is the way of deciding what to be done through planning, organizing, communication and controlling and leadership is the way of getting things done from subordinates by providing directions. Therefor clear-cut understandings of these theories are vital and Kurt Lewin has identified several styles as follows (Armstrong and Stephens, 2005:p.11). 2.1 Authoritarian Style Authoritarian approach is where the decisions are only taken by the leader himself and no input will be obtained for the decision making from the employees. This type of leadership is mainly found in task oriented organisations such as military organisations. Leader must know in and out of the tasks very well and must be able to communicate clearly the job to be done. This type of leadership is so vital when the employees lack the desired level of knowledge about the task (Iqbal, 2010:p.11). Democratic Style This is another way to lead people with more coordination, consultation and participation with the employees in the decision making process (Woods, 2005:P.2). The main objective of this approach is to obtain the best practical solutions to solve the problems. Through this approach the innovativeness, cohesiveness among the group will improve and companies requiring a lot of coordination to their decision making, will adopt this approach as the decisions will be more practical in comparison to the autocratic approach. This will allow entities to come up with better solutions in a complex and dynamic environments. Laissez-Faire Style With reference to Bass and Bass (2008) the laissez-Faire French term means completely hands-off. This approach is much similar to a delegated, but yet the instructions from the leader are less and the effort from the group members will need to be highly improved. In this approach the focus will be to provide maximum freedom with very little margin of inspections. For a company with lot of Skilled labour whom aware of the task deeply, will be suitable to carry out this approach. But it is advised that this method is the least productive because rarely find highly skilled and efficient employees. b) From the current context A popular biker and an actor Paul Teutul Jr. together with his father Paul Teutul Sr. has started the Orange County choppers which has twisted the American modified bike market. Father and son have every time looked to penetrate the decision making all by themselves. This has mainly reasoned the experience and the charisma these two possess. The authoritative style has benefited them in many ways. Mainly the task oriented stuff are done at a larger scale. With their prior experience of the market and the sense they have on the dynamism has benefitted the success of this biking company (Official website of orange bikes). Mr. Carlos Ghosn the President and CEO of Renault France; and the president and CEO of Nissan Japan has the approach of the democratic leadership. In tough situations especially when Renault and Nissan were faced by the high competition he believed his employees and the capabilities of them made the companies to profit from inception to now. He always believed that the decision making should always be generated from the lower levels. This has resulted Renault to come up with much better designs and the Japanese company could compete with Toyota and Mitsubushi perfectly with economical vehicle models (Magee, 2003:p. 13). 2.2 Organisational theory and Practise of Management Organisational theory explains how the study of the organisation should be done in order to solve problems prevailing in the current system and to meet the stakeholder likings with efficiency. One way of achieving the organisational theory would be the Classical approach where the emphasis is given to the scientific methods and bureaucracy to improve the productivity. Under the neoclassical view the employee behaviour of the organisation and in the environmental view the contingency is looked at and the effectiveness of the leadership will be situational (Linstead, 2004). Practise of Management indicates the ways in which management has controlled overtime and they should be subjected to high productivity and also the measurement must be done through indicators (Centrepiece Summer 2005 Magazine). The organisational theory underpins the Practise of Management in the following way. Better organisational theory will look to improve the management practises more realistic and swift. This is mainly due to the perfect understanding will provide the platform for a better understanding of the behaviour of the company and the best practises then can be implemented. Especially under the scientific way the main focus is to attract, recruit and retain the employees in a systematic way and the management will therefor find it easy to carry out their policies. Under the bureaucratic way the management is fairly less complex as the correct person will chair. Having a good understanding of the human behaviour though it is quite unpredictable, the easiness is there for the managers in terms of decision making (Crowther and Green 2004:p.51). 2.3 Different approaches to management I) Scientific Management F.W. Taylor has invented the approach of how the work should be done scientifically. This include the basic areas such as Recruitment through better job designs, better selection criteria, let the employees to carry out the task and the scientific regular control mechanisms such as performance appraisal are provided in this approach (Sheldrake 2003:p.15).This level of approach is mainly focused on the production where the remuneration is based on the performance of the employee rather than a fixed salary. The effectiveness according to the Taylor F. will improve gradually. II) Classical Administration Approach Henry Fayol (1841-1925) is considered to be the father of this method. He mentioned that every person has to perform management as a profession and found many administrative contributions such as distinguishing perfectly between the technical and managerial skills, elements of the management process such as division of work, leadership, unity of command, centralisation, and etc. Further he divided the organisations in to six categories and defined its common features such as planning, organising, commanding, communicating, and controlling. For an organisation whom into more and more complex and larger scales, can look at this method and can have a good result through the practises as the elements mentioned above provide a good stability to the controlling process as well as planning er becomes lot rational and logical (Singla and Singla 2009p.58). III) Bureaucratic Approach The emphasis of this approach is mainly to identify rational forms of organisation. In the current context even though the term Bureaucracy refers to many negative connotations, Max Webbers theory of bureaucracy understands how the management is successful under this approach. This approach mainly deals with the standard ways with employees. He preferred the specialisation, better organisational hierarchy, job roles and rules, full time appointed officials to make sure better person chair the position and division of labour in order to make sure too much work is not allocated. Mainly the government entities who are more in to formal methodology uses this approach because their main objective is to maintain the respect and pride in the minds of citisen (Gene and Thakur,1996 p.196). IV) Human relations Approach Classical, bureaucratic theories improved the production though couldnt realise that the employee stress and morale downfall. Elton Mayo under the Hawthorne studies realised that the provision of the social needs improved the efficiency as well as the productivity and the level of satisfaction. Therefor under this approach main concentrations are decentralisation, Participatory decision making, enhancing the self-motivation within the human minds. In the current context, innovation and dynamism being dominated the companies, the need of this approach is vital as this approach mainly focus on the basic fundamentals of employee satisfaction every time. Under this aspect employees are seen as human asset rather than human machines (Coffey, 1990:p.261). V) Systems Approach No organisation will profit without employees, assets, management, finance, marketing, and etc. Likewise this approach considers the organisation to be a system and the sub parts are to correlated to the main hub. The main focus in this approach to improve the swiftness and interaction of communication between separate divisions of the organization. Organisations mainly divisionalised tend to adopt this approach as they can result from being interrelated (Jackson, 2000:p.12). VI) Contingency Approach Approach of having no approach to management could be identified as a contingency approach. Under this, the main idea is that the organisation is rapidly changing and the variables of the external market, resources, technology varies day by day. Therefor the correct decision therefor must be taken having considered the pros and cons of each management. Organisations who are in to much more dynamic and complex environments uses this. Sometimes the bureaucracy, sometime the human relations approach depending on the situation (Cole, 2004:p.82) Task 03 Introduction Theories for motivation are highly essential as those have a clear connection to the level of output. Therefore, having a good understanding of the movement of the motivation with the productivity is highly essential. 3.1) Leadership styles in changing environments It is needed to have an understanding about the different leadership styles and their impact on the motivation in a changing context. The above discussed three types could be used to demonstrate this issue. (Johansson, 2004) In a changing context using the democratic approach is really productive where the people get together and negotiate their problems and within teams they tend to find the proper solutions for the dynamism. Unlike that approach, using Authoritarian approach is much different where the top management might not foresee the change which will be detected only at lower grounds. Therefor in such scenarios, using this approach is not suitable as authoritarian approach doesnt improve the innovativeness to cope up with the level of change happening. Yet the Laissez-Faire approach doesnt give any sort of an idea to the subordinates yet the employees at ground levels can take up and do since the main idea of the Change is visible to them (Crawford, Cartwright and Bennett 200 4:p.188). Under the change of trends good leaders also must possess anticipatory skills where they should detect the change before the impact flows in. in such scenarios the level of motivation should be retained by activities such as quality circles, frequent meetings and also gather facts from the lower levels. With the changing trends the tasks may vague. Therefor using the above tasks are essential for the company progress and motivation retention (Christ, 1999 p.280). Therefor the leadership in changing environments are highly challenging and subjective 3.2 Maslows Motivational Theory Abraham Maslow, who had been a psychologist for years, could generate his own way of a motivational style from the facts he had gathered. The main idea here is once you get the primary needs under control the motivation tend to skim to the secondary levels. Under the primary levels, the safety needs and psychological needs are found. In a business organisation just provision of the basic factors might not be sufficient. Most of the manufacturing plants operating in China, India are having the culture of providing free but that wont be good enough. For lower level of employees, these factors are essential (Hoffmann, 2006:p.16). Under the secondary category social, esteem and self-actualisation is found where the social needs are extremely critical. The basic understanding here is that there must be a good social work environment to the employees where the communication must back it up. Every employee comes up with the aim of career progression. In such a situation just providing the normal needs plus the social needs will not be enough. In such a context usage of promotional packages comes in to play as usually human asset would like to improve their state. In such context esteem needs are gradually arises as the esteem needs are looked for a better recognition. Reaching the top of the management will satisfy the self-actualisation resulting in a better satisfaction with the work they perform (Mcshane, 2008 p.153). Figure 5: Maslows Hierarchy of needs Source: Hoffmann, 2006:p.16 3.3. Motivational Theories for Managers It is highly important for the managers to have a good understanding about the motivational levels of the employees. Mainly managers must focus what is the motivational limit. Having a good definition about the motivational levels of different employees, the easy platform is there for the managers to come up with good packages. For some employees, early leave, study leave, will be motivating where as some other employees would look for better recognition such as better career progression, better salaries, non-financial benefit schemes. Therefor managers must define what the best suitable package is for the employees having looked at the theories, experience and etc. (shanks, 2011:p.23) b) I) Herzberg Two-Factor Theory Fredrick herzburg carried out the mayos findings and further investigated that there are two levels of motivation which will result in better satisfaction. He identified Hygine factors and Motivational Facors to be more effective. Hygine fctors are where the factors that employee must be given and any failure will result in demotivation such as team working, better supervision, better salaries and etc. On the other hand motivational factors are those will improve the level of motivation if they posses but the failure wont depress the employees like in the hygiene factors. These include features such as better career progression, better attraction, recognition at work, and etc. Therefor managers must pay attention to define the package each individual would like to have (Green, 2009:p.56). II) Douglas McGregor Theory X and Y Theory X is where the managers believe that the employees are lazy and dislike to work and will be looking to exploit any loophole. Also employees must be carefully supervised and they must be followed day by day. In this context, managers would like to use the authoritarian approach to the work place and all the policy setting and management is based on that. Theory Y is where the managers have the feel that employees enjoy the work they perform, and they are self-motivated, personal progression is another big factor that employees look to deal with. Therefor under this approach, managers like to use the democratic approach to their work place and the concepts of team work will enjoy in this environment. (Koontz et al, 2008:p. 290) Task 04 Introduction Understanding of the mechanisms required to establish and to maintain the team work is much essential as the individuals consisting in the team are different to each other. Also the members may have different approaches to their leaders. Therefor a correct method must be formed. 4.1) Groups and its behaviour within organisations Group is a collection of members who interact with each other with better understanding and who would like to work together. A better group will have essential elements such as group better cohesiveness, high homogeneity, less alternatives which will make the members not to leave but to stay within the group. According to Tuckman (1995) and Cole (2004 p.82) the stages of forming a group would be Forming- Initial gathering of individuals and getting to know each other Storming- Different individuals might contain different perceptions. Likewise with the group there could be many individuals with different ideas and they are clashed in this stage. Norming-This is where the different ideas are blended, clashed and the formation of new ideas are done. Performing- in this approach the group performance takes place. There could be different types of groups as well namely Informal Groups and formal groups. Informal groups are those membership is voluntary yet the clear objective is not there whereas formal grous meet with defined objectives and formal membership is applicable. Better teams will bring their ideas together, blend it and form new and innovative concepts. Organisational tasks will be easy to handle with good groups and special tasks which require coordination, will be the suitable advantages of having a good group for and organisation (Needham, 2004:p.201). 4.2) factors affect the performance of groups There are three different factors which affect the performance of groups according to West (2007) and Hall (2005:p.44) Membership Factors If there are similar people stay within the group then the thinking will be similar and then itll be a good team to work with and the ideas are more improves and innovative. If there many clashes, then the team wont be a successful one. If there are many alternatives with members, then the people will try to leave and join with another. When more people leave, the task wont be productive. If the group is much larger , then the possibility of solving problems is less and vice versa (Hall, 2005:p.44). Environmental Factors If the task of the group is heading, is incompatible and unsupportive with the current organisational philosophy, then the group wont be a productive one. If the management thinking is about the groups are similar to theory X, then the chance that the group will flourish will be really less (West, 2007). Dynamic Factors Understanding the groups given work will make the group to be work well rather than the membership of individuals (Hall, 2005:p.204). b) In the context which I have faced, the recent activity was organising an sports meet in the university, from which many practical aspects are possible. The group consisted close to 50 members and they were of different mind sets. When deciding the venue for the meet, the clashes began to happen. According to the Tuckmans model the storming era began where lot of conflicts arise. Also there were lot of disregards occurred. Therefor membership factors were at a high risk. Also the academic person who was in-charge always discouraged us about the group cohesiveness. The external factors made the task even worst. 4.3) Technology and teams Current technology has made a dramatic impact to the team development. With the penetration of the internet the concepts such as network teams where people with different geographical Ares are brought together, swiftness of communication though video calling and emailing, has increased significantly. Therefor the frequent meetings, quick decision making is now possible according to Gibson and Cohen (2003). Conclusion According to the facts gathered, the knowledge of relationships within an organisation, and its theoretical background, are essential for better human asset controlling. Specially in the parts of teams and leadership, the level of knowledge about the human behaviour in teams and the level of understanding about their motivation are so vital. Therefor the above facts provides a clear understanding about the relationship management essentials.