Alternative Perspectives on Business

I am not sure if the way I felt is common in the society. But I would imagine it would be because of the individualistic mindset that most people have. Even my friends resist help if they can manage it. The parents, the school and other social institutions are helping perpetuate this kind of self-sufficiency and self-reliance. This is perhaps a crucial part of being part of the society. Deep down, I may be afraid to admit that I need help. Perhaps other people feel the same way too. My self-worth is dependent, in part, on my ability to make decisions for myself and do things for myself.If that is taken away from me, then I would feel like I lost my worth. I wanted to air my annoyance to the manager, which I promptly did. I was not really surprised that I acted as such because I am used to acting based on what I think is my right. I also felt like asking the lady directly to desist from following me was a bit rude. So I had to talk to her manager instead. It is so much easier to talk to a superior than to a subordinate. If I talked to the lady, myself, I might have condescended and reprimanded her harshly. I did not want to make a scene so I just talked to the manager.My motives were that I wanted to be discreet while making sure that my experience at the store was not spoiled. I know that I acted in my best interest and also in the interest of the store. If they followed my advice and just let their customers choose what they want while standing there patiently waiting and congenially for anything the customer asks, the sales might be a little better and customers will be happier. I would not have liked to behave otherwise. That would mean just letting go of what I felt was an affront to my shopping experience. I do not like sitting still when I felt that things are not going according to my liking.I was conscious that I was a customer and therefore I deserved the best possible treatment in the store. The mall and the store is designed for the customer to have the best experience in shopping. From the arrangement of products and the colourful promotional items, the customer or shopper is made to feel as if he is at the centre of the mall’s universe. Anything that suggests otherwise would therefore be treated like it was an intrusion into the personal life of the shopper. Managers also are being seen as the keepers of the ranks in the sense that they have the power over their subordinates in helping them do their jobs properly.They can also reprimand employees who do not perform according to the pre-agreed standards of behaviour within the organization. As such, the manager is seen as the ally of the customers in making sure that their shopping experience is protected and ensured. Synthesis There are power relations in almost all social settings. Even in the seemingly business-centred environment of the mall and department stores, there are power relations between and among the owners of the store, the managers, the employees and th e customers who visit the stores (Pred, 1996).While the customers have considerable power by virtue of the money that they will be using in purchasing products and services, the organisation also displays its power in dealing with the customers. The customers have the money and therefore they command the respect of the attendants and the managers in the store. This is also why the store is arranged in such a way that the customers’ shopping experience would be superb. Anything that could disrupt that is met with strict reprimand (Cuthbert, 2003). A store that cannot make a sale is close to being worthless and is on its way to bankruptcy.One thing I noted though is that there are more women on the stores than there are men. Quite probably, the men are working â€Å"behind the scenes† and are tasked with moving large boxes and other things that need to be moved every now and then. I could not rightly say that this is discrimination but perhaps, there is a preferred gende r when it comes to choosing attendants in particular areas of the store. This also opens up a whole new dimension of power relations. The manager I encountered was a middle-aged male who had the look of authority on him (Harding, 2004).While I felt nothing more than a coincidence during the incidence, it now dawned on me that perhaps the power relations within the store are arranged that way so that it would be easier to subdue the attendants for anything that might have been seen or reported as inappropriate behaviour. In addition to this, the customer is, most of the time, given a big deal of power in dealing with the attendants at the store. There are customers who are treated like spoiled brats while there are difficult customers who insist on having their way even in violation of store policy.Stores and malls arrange their space or architecture to maximize the purchasing power of buyers. As such, the products and services are arranged in such a way that customers will be entice d to buy. In exchange of this, customers also exert their power over the attendants and employees of the store so that they get something extra out of the money they will shed out as payment. The attendants, employees and managers also act as safeguards of the interests of the store while at the same time encouraging the customers to buy and spend on the stores. This kind of power relations or network is always at work within the store.What seemed like a simple act of buying something at the mall is actually a complex pattern of relationships involving a number of factors. For example, managers tend to act as guards for the owners of the store as much as for the customers. Most of the time, it is the employees who are caught in the middle. With the concepts I learned in the course, I manage to identify these power relations much more clearly than if I was just using my common sense. Because of my cultural affiliation and the way I treat shopping as a commonplace affair, I have becom e inured to it.The concepts discussed in the course helped me become more critical and draw on various theories in explaining what seems like commonplace behaviour, not only in the malls but in different social settings and situations. Reference Cuthbert, AR (2003). Critical Readings in Urban Design. New York: Blackwell Publishing. Harding, SG (2004). The Feminist Standpoint Theory Reader: Intellectual and Political Controversies. London: Routledge. Pred A, (1996). â€Å"Interfusions: consumption, identity and the practices and power . relations of everyday life† Environment and Planning A 28(1) 11 – 24.

Tanyag Na Manunulat

Intro to internet What is Internet The  Internet  is a global system of interconnected  computer networks  that use the standard  Internet protocol suite  (often called TCP/IP, although not all applications use TCP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a  network of networks  that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical networking technologies.The Internet carries an extensive range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked  hypertext  documents of the  World Wide Web  (WWW) and the  infrastructureto support email. Advantage & Disadvantage of Internet Advantage: Faster Communication The foremost target of Internet has always been speedy communication and it has excelled way beyond the expectations. Newer innovations are only going to make it faster and more reliable. Now, you can communi cate in a fraction of second with a person who is sitting in the other part of the worl Information ResourcesInformation is probably the biggest advantage that Internet offers. Internet is a virtual treasure trove of information. Any kind of information on any topic under the sun is available on the Internet. Entertainment Entertainment is another popular raison d'etre why many people prefer to surf the Internet. In fact, the Internet has become quite successful in trapping the multifaceted entertainment industry Social Networking One cannot imagine an online life without Facebook or Twitter.Social networking has become so popular amongst youth that it might one day replace physical networking. It has evolved as a great medium to connect with millions of people with similar interests Online Services The Internet has made life very convenient. With numerous online services you can now perform all your transactions online. You can book tickets for a movie, transfer funds, pay utility bills, taxes etc. , right from your home. Some travel websites even plan an Itinerary as per your preferences and take care of airline tickets, hotel reservations etc. -commerce The concept of e-commerce is used for any type of commercial maneuvering or business deals that involves the transfer of information across the globe via the Internet Disadvantages: Theft of Personal Information If you use the Internet for online banking, social networking or other services, you may risk a theft to your personal information such as name, address, credit card number etc. Unscrupulous people can access this information through unsecured connections or by planting software and then use your personal details for their benefit.Needless to say, this may land you in serious trouble. Spamming Spamming refers to sending unwanted e-mails in bulk, which provide no purpose and needlessly obstruct the entire system. Such illegal activities can be very frustrating for you as it makes your Internet slower and less reliable. Virus Threat Internet users are often plagued by virus attacks on their systems. Virus programs are inconspicuous and may get activated if you click a seemingly harmless link. Computers connected to the Internet are very prone to targeted virus attacks and may end up crashing.Pornography Pornography is perhaps the biggest disadvantage of the Internet. Internet allows you to access and download millions of pornographic photos, videos and other X-rated stuff. Such unrestricted access to porn can be detrimental for children and teenagers. It can even play a havoc in marital and social lives of adults. Social Disconnect Thanks to the Internet, people now only meet on social networks. More and more people are getting engulfed in virtual world and drifting apart from their friends and family.Even children prefer to play online games rather than going out and mingling with other kids. This may hamper a healthy social development in children. Thing you needs to have Inter net: To connect to the internet you simply need a modem, an ethernet cable, and a high speed internet connection. the connection can be set up by your cable company, phone company, or a private Internet provider. Of course a computer is needed to view the internet but to connect you simply need the three things above. To connect to the internet you need an ip address, a subnet mask and a default gateway Tanyag Na Manunulat Intro to internet What is Internet The  Internet  is a global system of interconnected  computer networks  that use the standard  Internet protocol suite  (often called TCP/IP, although not all applications use TCP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a  network of networks  that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical networking technologies.The Internet carries an extensive range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked  hypertext  documents of the  World Wide Web  (WWW) and the  infrastructureto support email. Advantage & Disadvantage of Internet Advantage: Faster Communication The foremost target of Internet has always been speedy communication and it has excelled way beyond the expectations. Newer innovations are only going to make it faster and more reliable. Now, you can communi cate in a fraction of second with a person who is sitting in the other part of the worl Information ResourcesInformation is probably the biggest advantage that Internet offers. Internet is a virtual treasure trove of information. Any kind of information on any topic under the sun is available on the Internet. Entertainment Entertainment is another popular raison d'etre why many people prefer to surf the Internet. In fact, the Internet has become quite successful in trapping the multifaceted entertainment industry Social Networking One cannot imagine an online life without Facebook or Twitter.Social networking has become so popular amongst youth that it might one day replace physical networking. It has evolved as a great medium to connect with millions of people with similar interests Online Services The Internet has made life very convenient. With numerous online services you can now perform all your transactions online. You can book tickets for a movie, transfer funds, pay utility bills, taxes etc. , right from your home. Some travel websites even plan an Itinerary as per your preferences and take care of airline tickets, hotel reservations etc. -commerce The concept of e-commerce is used for any type of commercial maneuvering or business deals that involves the transfer of information across the globe via the Internet Disadvantages: Theft of Personal Information If you use the Internet for online banking, social networking or other services, you may risk a theft to your personal information such as name, address, credit card number etc. Unscrupulous people can access this information through unsecured connections or by planting software and then use your personal details for their benefit.Needless to say, this may land you in serious trouble. Spamming Spamming refers to sending unwanted e-mails in bulk, which provide no purpose and needlessly obstruct the entire system. Such illegal activities can be very frustrating for you as it makes your Internet slower and less reliable. Virus Threat Internet users are often plagued by virus attacks on their systems. Virus programs are inconspicuous and may get activated if you click a seemingly harmless link. Computers connected to the Internet are very prone to targeted virus attacks and may end up crashing.Pornography Pornography is perhaps the biggest disadvantage of the Internet. Internet allows you to access and download millions of pornographic photos, videos and other X-rated stuff. Such unrestricted access to porn can be detrimental for children and teenagers. It can even play a havoc in marital and social lives of adults. Social Disconnect Thanks to the Internet, people now only meet on social networks. More and more people are getting engulfed in virtual world and drifting apart from their friends and family.Even children prefer to play online games rather than going out and mingling with other kids. This may hamper a healthy social development in children. Thing you needs to have Inter net: To connect to the internet you simply need a modem, an ethernet cable, and a high speed internet connection. the connection can be set up by your cable company, phone company, or a private Internet provider. Of course a computer is needed to view the internet but to connect you simply need the three things above. To connect to the internet you need an ip address, a subnet mask and a default gateway

Contrasting Differences in Family Life in USA and Mexico Essay

The family is the basic unit of any particular society or community. It is therefore imperative that for the society to exist the family has to be there to produce members into the community. The community or national character any particular country is basically determined by the nature of the family values. An individual is shaped in the early ages by the family. In the contemporary society there are increased diversity changes in the family a characteristic of the many changes in culture, political, economic, social, and psychological and even the environment. The content definition of has not been agreed upon because of the great changes that are so accommodating. In the previous many years the family was considered as the people who are related by blood. This definition based on the kinship ties has been revoked due to the influence of many forms of families which has stripped off the family its actual definition. For instance there can husband and wife who do not have any kinship ties and they go ahead to adopt children. Another case that has changed such a definition of the family based on kinship ties is the increasing number of intermarriage within the context of race or ethnicity. This brings out a mixture of offspring and therefore it is difficult to trace the family bonds based on kinship ties. The issue of who is next to kin is no longer important in the current families. The most common aspect in the current families is the bonding based on mutual understanding. The many changes of husband and wife have been changed by the introduction of lesbianism and gay. These try to go against the grain of opposite gender type of marriage. The concept of marriage has changed from opposite gender type of marriage to a mixture of gay, lesbianism and opposite gender marriages. These are some of the dynamisms that are facing the contemporary families. This paper shall give an indebt analysis of the family, the changes in roles and functions of the families and the general effects of such changes to the contemporary families. A close reference and examples shall be drawn from the US and Mexico, the countries that border each other geographically. The contrasting differences I n family issues shall be pointed out clearly. Family life in the United States The family relationship in the United States has undergone several transformations due to the effect of globalization. Race and ethnicity are the most significant factors in shaping the variety of values, attitudes and behaviour amongst the families in the United States. There are a number of changes in families in the United States. These changes range from political, social, economic, and psychological to spiritual. The social dislocations have given rise to new ideas and values especially there is increased individualism among the members of the community. In the US there increased diversity in the organizational structures. There are many cases of divorce and separation in the United Stated which has grabbed the family the unity and love that is supposed to be enjoyed. Most the single families that are common in the US are as a result of divorce and remarriage due to greater democratization. (Hines & Morrison, 2005) Cultural diversity in the US is accounting for the many different types of families that have emerged in the recent past. The United States constitutes almost all races and ethnic groups in the world. For this reason there are diverse cultural values as a resulting of this contact. The factor that there are free intermarriages between these diverse races and ethnic groups has made the US to have diverse cultural values which transcend the native culture. The immigrants who move to the United State try to maintain their native language despite the fact that they are forced to learn the official language of the United States, which is English. The immigrants from Spanish speaking countries (Hispanic) when they move to the United States they try to maintain their languages. The culture of the people is usually transmitted through language and due to the numerous languages in the United States there exists different cultures. This means that there are very many family clusters formed through the sharing of the languages. For instance most of the Hispanic immigrants have formed family clusters in the sides of Florida. The black American speaks a variety of English as they identify themselves as belonging or originating from one family. These disparities have affected the notion of the family because these people are allowed to mix freely with people from different cultures. The concept of the family in the United States is changing even the more during the advent of the green card where people from different pasts acquire citizenship. Many people from different races and ethnic groups have found their way to the US and as such most of them are allowed to move with their families. The nuclear family still remains an ideal source of the society in the United States. The United States families are characterized by the great social stratification. In the United the families are organized according to different classes. Among these classes there are great disparities in terms of economic value. The choice of families has not taken shift from mutual understanding to materials and resources. This has affected relationships from a sociological point of view. This issue of the class is a dominant phenomenon among the families in the United States as those who are rich wants to maintain the status quo. This is done through the inheritance that is passed within the nuclear families. The nuclear families in the United States are created and broken up and then reconstituted. This has led to the decline of family values which consequently affects the family patterns. This diversity in family pattern has been identified as the cause of problems such as violence, crime and drug use in the united state. The parents are usually very busy with their duties (United States, Congress, 1992). The increasing cases of divorce and separation in the United States have a negative effect on maintaining the ideal norms of the nuclear family value. The families that are exposed to values outside the parental domain are likely to deviate from norms. The human rights in the United States are considered fundamental. There is protection of the universal human right which is a recipe to the process of democratization. This the reason why the US government invest huge amount of money in education health and other basic sectors so as to enhance the promotion of the human rights among the citizens. The Family Life in Mexico Most people have preferred to live in Mexico for a variety of reasons such as social, political, economic and even good climatic reasons. Living in Mexico requires one to learn the Spanish language so as to increase effective communication. This is because the families are socialized in the Spanish language. The Mexican people are extremely warm and friendly as they are organized in smaller communities that come from the mutually intelligible families. This means that the socialization process is high since there tow much contact between the families. The family bonds are tightly held together and for this reason there is cultural uniformity. The society per se is integrated under common cultural values through the common language shared. Piped water is relatively inexpensive, but not always potable (drinkable). Decades of under-investment, combined with an attitude of impertinence towards paying water bills, has left Mexico’s mains water system in poor condition. As a result, most people purchase bottled water, often in 20L containers. Bottled water is very expensive. Rents in Mexico can be higher than in equivalent-sized US towns or cities if the place is popular or fashionable, particularly places within easy reach of the US border. Mexico has a centralized economy: that is, most of the country’s economic activity revolves around. The Mexican pace of life is relatively slower than in the US Especially when the life in major cities is given consideration. The families in Mexico are closely tied as most of the families have time to attend to their families. There is a high degree of parental responsibility among the families. This transcends to greater heights of good values that the society enjoys. Mexico’s culture has a rich history in a consolidated family religion, people and tradition. The Mexican people are proud of their culture that they keep on passing from one generation to another. This is because there is little infusion of the foreign cultures. The family is the basic unit in Mexico and a cornerstone to the maintenance of the culture. The rate of socialization and interaction among these people is too high. It is a usual phenomenon to meet two or more families meeting for a common interest or for a special event. This part of the family function in Mexico, people in Mexico have free time to visit resort centers for the purpose of relaxation which is not a common phenomenon in the United States, where people are too busy. (Heymann, 2006) The Mexican People are too religious which is a big contrast with the United States where people feel that they are in control; of their own life. A large number of people are Christian and they are usually committed to going to church. When you walk in the Mexican homes it is easy for you to see the religious images. In America people stay a non-religious life thus an effect of religious intermingling that has made it difficult for the people to which religious practice to adopt. Thus they resign from subscribing to any of the religious practice. The social stratification is not prevalent in the Mexican family as it is in the United States; people are seeking for money the Mexican people strive for titles. The professionals in Mexico prefer to be addressed with the titles that they deserve. This is as a result of the traditional emphasis given to the tittles within the family domain. The economic living standards in Mexico are slightly lower than in the United State. There are many poor people in Mexico than in the United States. The impact of these high levels of poverty in Mexico has necessitated the immigration of most Mexican families to the United States in search of better jobs and pay of most illegal immigrants from Mexico have gotten their way into the United States through the Mexican borders. These immigrants have settled in cities such as Florida. Working in the United States gives them better pay. This aspect of brain drain is lowering the general development of the families in Mexico as most of the people move leaving behind other family members Basically the cost of living in Mexico is lower than that of the US particularly for agricultural produce. Other sectors such as transport and communication are also lower in Mexico than I n the United States. Other utilities as electricity are more expensive compared to the United State. Working families in the United States, observing how parents struggled to find a balance between caring for children and earning a decent income. When parents split and one of the parents went from Mexico to the United States and was no longer available to give the necessary care, families suffer. What significantly exacerbates the problem is when the borders are so tight that they prevent families from reuniting. This has been a common phenomenon when the immigrants are not given the opportunity by the America to even visit their families in back home in Mexico. (Poole M. et al, 1993) Globalization of the economy created increased pressure for workers to accept lower labor standards, accept lower wages, longer hours, fewer benefits, and less paid leave. Both Nations likewise feel pressure from economic globalization not to implement family-friendly policies, such as paid leave for illness or when a child is sick, or paid parental leave. And that leaves working families struggling to balance work and their care-giving duties. The globalization process has affected families in both Mexico and United States economy was transforming the relationship between work and care-giving in similar ways everywhere. Globalization has forcing both countries to at a very high pace as far as labor standards and social policies are concerned hence leaving working parents with less and less time to raise their children. Parents’ work has shifted markedly around the world and that goes for every region. The child rearing process has been left in the hands of maids who offer supportive care while the parents are away working till late hours of the day. Men in particular have been moving away from one place to another in search of better jobs especially in various industries. Globalization has made men and women to work day and night and this has made them move away from their homes to go work in various places. A good example is that of outsourcing where people work in shifts where some work during the day and others at night. Women, likewise, have moved into the paid labor force and away from the home. From the period between 1960 and 2000 the number of women in the labor force went from 26 to 38 percent in America. The percentage of women in the workplace has increased both in the United States and Mexico. This has adversely affected the family care services that were provided by the women while their men were working in various sectors. This is a result of civilization which been brought about by the factors such as education, religion, work, urbanization among others. These factors have changed the various roles that were supposed to be executed by the family so as to prepare an individual to be a responsible member of the society. (Cecil, 1992) What has happened is that the world has seen women get better job opportunities which has assisted then them raise income to cater for their families. The increased number of single parent families has made it possible for the women to struggle to get money for rearing their families. While this is was going on there is also massive urbanization occurring all across the world. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as people who move from very poor rural areas to urban areas often get better jobs, and become less dependent on, for instance, a good rain to feed their families. (Rowntree, Lewis, Price & Wyckoff, 2006). References Hines D. A. , Morrison K. (2005) Family Violence in the United States: Defining, Understanding, and Combating. Sage Publisher. Heymann J. (2006) Forgotten Families: Ending the Growing Crisis Confronting Children and Working Parents in the Global Economy. Oxford University Press Poole M. et al (1993) Family: Changing Families, Changing Times. Allen & Unwin publisher. Robinson, Cecil. (1992). No short journeys: The interplay of cultures in the history and Literature of the borderlands. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Rowntree L. , Lewis M. , Price M. and Wyckoff W. (2006). Diversity amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development. United States, Congress. House America’s (1992) Families: Conditions, Trends, Hopes, and Fears: Family policy. United States, Congress, House publisher.

Advantages of Studying Abroad and Being Bilingual Person Essay

Advantages of Studying Abroad and Being Bilingual Person - Essay Example I have noted that learning abroad and being multilingual helps a person in acquiring new contacts. In these days, people are advancing by creating a network of friends and acquaintances. As such, it will be easier to be connected to friends and acquaintances especially when looking for greener pastures (Cressey 127). Similarly, this is an avenue of making lifetime connections with people across the globe. This will be vital in getting updates from all over the world. As such, I will have new experiences in different parts of the world. Studying abroad is an avenue of advancing in academics and education. I have noted that people who have attended school in the world’s renowned institutions have a high quality of education. This is owing to the resources and high quality of tutors in the schools. Apparently, studying abroad is an advantage as most of the learners have all the required pieces of equipment and resources at their exposure. This makes learning easier and effective. Similarly, people that are educated abroad have a higher chance of getting well-paying jobs in the world. Since such people are bilingual, it makes working in different parts of the world easier (Cressey 111). In addition to this, learning abroad is a way of enhancing career development. The diversity of an individual in language and learning is an advantage.  

Is Radical Enhancement of the Human Species Ethically Justified Term Paper

Is Radical Enhancement of the Human Species Ethically Justified - Term Paper Example To discuss on this topic, this essay shall compare and contrast two texts; ‘Humanity’s end’ by Nicholas Agar and ‘Better than human’ by Allen Buchanan. Arguments for this paper get based on the works of the two authors who get to provide a little more insight into bioethics. In ‘humanity’s end’, Agar argues against radical enhancement of the human species. He explains the destructive consequences that may arise out of radical enhancement of the human species. In his book, Agar argues against the ideas proposed by four radical enhancement thinkers (Agar 11). He explains that the results of radical advancement may have more negative outcomes than positives proposed by the four thinkers. Agar argues that some radical enhancements, especially germline engineering, may end the human species. In ‘better than human’ Allen Buchanan argues for radical enhancement. He proposes that human beings should become open to the idea of getting better than they already are since the human body design does contain flaws. He argues that radical enhancements could make the human species smarter, stronger, have more stamina, live longer and have better memories. Buchanan argues that people reject biomedical enhancements due to a poor understanding, misleading information or false assumptions (Buchanan 19). In his book, Agar argues against radical enhancement by claiming it has the potential to destroy human species. Agar argues that radical enhancement technology may re-speciate human beings (Agar 46). He claims the advances made by technology can define a new breed of human species. This species will pose a threat or endanger the already existing human species that belongs to Homo sapiens. Agar argues that there is no evidence that creation of post humans through radical enhancement will share values, relationships or culture with humans. There is the possibility that gene mutations may occur later and significantly a ffect the enhanced species. Meanwhile in his book, Buchanan arguing for radical enhancement postulates that making small changes to the structure of humans does not mean that the entire human structure gets changed. He also argues that alterations to the human species do not entirely mean that it would have a negative effect to the species. He states that these alterations become simply targeted at creating and improving the performances of current human capacities (Buchanan 65). He views enhancements as a means of relieving pain and suffering from human lives and not species endangerment. Enhancements according to Buchanan will be a way of improving the quality of human life. According to Buchanan, radical enhancement makes human life to be easier. He argues that through radical enhancement, human beings get to be able to improve their operation capacities. He argues that radical enhancement will increase human intelligence, physical strength, and lifespan (Buchanan 139). Buchanan questions why humans should be against these advances when they are only going to improve their life. He argues that radical enhancement will make life become more convenient for humans. Arguing against these advances, Agar pinpoints that human beings may in the process loose a valuable human experience. By increasing human intelligence levels and lifespan there is the possibility that human beings will delete experiences of great value from their lives (Agar 140). Increasing human in

Comparative Corporate Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Comparative Corporate Governance - Essay Example There are several causes that have been cited for the crisis, including the conflicts of interests of Board members and auditors. (Deakin and Konzelmann, 2003:583). But the most relevant one that has been offered is the inherent defects in the shareholder model that the Company had adopted. This model focuses on maximization of shareholder value to the exclusion of other strategic corporate interests. The other major corporate governance model – Rhineland Model, on the other hand, is known as the stakeholder model because it is less susceptible to the kind of financial crisis that afflicted Enron due to the financial manipulation that was taking place. This essay will examine the proposition that the Enron financial scandal might not have occurred if the Company had implemented the Rhineland model rather than the Anglo Saxon model. The Anglo Saxon system of corporate governance places its emphasis upon â€Å"free market operation†, where the ultimate objective of organizational function is the achievement of shareholder value.(Berghe and deRidder, 1999:40). The German system which is based on the Rhineland Model, is much more concerned with a â€Å"socially corrected market economy.†(Berghe and deRidder, 1999:40). This Model attributes a much wider role to the corporation than the maximization of shareholder value. Attention is also directed to other stakeholders in the corporation in terms of objectives, criteria for performance as well as the corporate governance structure and processes. The basic assumption of the Rhineland model is that both labor and capital are necessary and cooperation between the two is important. As a result, it is not only the interests of the shareholders that will be of paramount importance, but also those of employees, customers and suppliers (Vitols:337). When there is a conflict of interest, the interests of the enterprise will take precedence over the interests of shareholders. Hence, the major difference

E-business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

E-business - Essay Example Any form of internet based service comes with security issues. Anything online is accessible to every part of the world with an internet connection. Frauds do happen and can be hard to track immediately. This is one of the main factors which deter some people from using online banking. Users who are new to managing online accounts or are not familiar with the risks involved can be tricked pretty easily. Hackers are always on the prowl for that careless internet user to steal information from. The advances in technology over the years have developed several forms of security features. However an equivalent number of hacking techniques have shown up as well. Emails are the easiest way to access users and ask them for their account information, while posing as banking personnel. This is termed as phishing and works pretty easily on those who are not aware of it. History has shown hackers to break into different kinds of confidential accounts. The security of online banking websites does fall short in this regard. However it is decent enough to provide a certain standard of protection if the user takes some personal measures as well. Every online account is password protected. Users should be encouraged to choose passwords which are complex enough. Using combinations of characters should be enforced while passwords with obvious words should be rejected completely. Using more the one password for each transaction, application of digital signatures for authentication and a combination of both are some techniques that are being used nowadays. A basic research on the bank’s web based security features will reveal how safe your money is. If their website does not have an SSL security built into every page, or allows an easy access to your personal information without multiple stages of authentication or has an option for easy password access, it is better to use traditional banking methods. The legitimacy of all operations co-ordinated by

Political science (you can find the topic from sources) Essay

Political science (you can find the topic from sources) - Essay Example Anti-Federalists were alarmed that the Constitution would demolish civil liberties and genuine democracy if the states yield significant power to the new national government. They asserted that representation should be fair in all terms of directness and intimacy, with the government representing as many interests as possible. Politicians must then be substantively like the people they represent. They may not necessarily be the political elite, but instead, ordinary people who were educated enough to participate in political affairs. Anti-Federalists based this assertion the logic that those who were more responsible were less self-interested and those who knew their accountability were less prone to corruption. The people were more responsible than the political elite because they were more in touch of the realities of their local communities. They were less prone to corruption because they would be less vulnerable to damaging their representation to the local populace where they ca me from. The Anti-Federalists, furthermore, intended to have an outcome where there were small constituencies with many representatives, where the axis of power is on the states or local bases, not the national base of collectivity or community of interest. They wanted strong powerful states, not a powerful national government. These powerful states could make decisions regarding their political, social, and economic affairs without intrusion or intervention from the national government. With these goals, outcomes, and processes, Anti-Federalists were leaning more toward descriptive and participative forms of representation. The Federalists believed, on the contrary, the representation is a nationally-determined public good. They did not reject the states’ rights to representation, though they focused on a political arena of substantive representation. The states could represent themselves in Congress and to some extent, in Senate, but they should not be concentrated on their state

Japan Town in San Francisco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Japan Town in San Francisco - Essay Example The Japan Center, though looks quite conventional, has many delightful restaurants and shops, stairways and open courtyards and is considered as the focal point of Japanese culture in the middle of San Francisco. The Peace Pagoda, designed by the famous Japanese architect Yoshiro Taniguchi, is a five-storied stupa which is a contribution by the people of Osaka, Japan to San Francisco. San Francisco's Japantown share its borders with California, Geary, Octavia, and Fillmore Streets. It has about 150 small and medium sized businesses with plentiful affordable housing complexes for seniors. It also has non-profit organizations like the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, Kimochi Senior Center, Nihonmachi Little Friends (preschool), national headquarters for the Japanese American Citizens League, the Japantown Task Force, the Japanese Benevolent Society, and the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America. (2000 Census, 2006) History: The first Japanese also called as Soko' resided in San Francisco during early 1860s. Initially they lived in Chinatown and in neighborhoods south of Market Street. Post the disastrous earthquake and fire in 1906, these Soko's started moving to the Western Addition where they opened their own centers of prayers and typical Japanese shops and restaurants. The area slowly started to look Japanese in every manner and was soon looking like a Ginza which was later known as Nihonmachi, or Japantown. It was the dawn of San Francisco's Japanese American community. San Francisco, California houses the largest Japantown in United States of America. However, it is smaller than the one which was prevalent in United States prior to the World War II. It so happened that after the invasion on Pearl Harbor by Japanese, the US authorities took Japanese Americans into custody and put them in concentration camps. At the same time, African Americans encroached on the vacant neighborhood. These thousands of African Americans had come in search of wartime industrial jobs. However, after the war, Japanese Americans returned along with Japanese immigrants closely followed by investments from the Japanese government as well as Japanese companies. Owing to the redevelopment plans by Justin Herman in the 1960 to 1980, the African Americans were relocated to places like Fillmore district in the west, Tenderloin in the east and Hunters Point in the south. At this point of time, many residents of San Francisco decided against returning after the World War II resulted in forced captivity of Japanese Americans - some being probably second or third generation Americans since 1942-45. About one-third of the internees decided to relocate themselves in the East and Midwest after the encouragement of the War Relocation Authority. During the period of 1950's, JapanTown was negatively impacted by this redevelopment due to the widening of Geary Boulevard and the obliteration of scores of Victorians for the construction of the boulevard and the Japan Center Mall. Inspired by the conventional Japanese pedestrian walkways, the famous Webster Bridge was also designed. The Miyako hotel at Post and Laguna has a charming Japanese garden. Also seen is one of the favourite destinations, the twin origami-style fountain in the middle of the one block open air mall which extends from Peace Plaza north toward Pacific

Visual Arts and Film Studies. Memento 200, Truffauts 400 Blows, Essay

Visual Arts and Film Studies. Memento 200, Truffauts 400 Blows, Casablanca and The Spirit of the Beehive - Essay Example The story is contrasting, as one part of the story in forward motion while the other one is in backward motion. It is refers to as one memory inside the other memory. The movie is a complicated challenging adventure where we see Leonard striving to avenge the death of his wife. This is complicated by the fact he had lost his memory, hence, was unable to recall the way the events took place from day to day. He attacked and took the life of one of the attackers that led to the death of his wife. He can only remember his wife dying from the attack from the gang. Because of this pain suffered inside, he vows continue until he gets the second man who was involved in the killing of his wife. This movie changes from the black and white flow and continues in the sequential order. The two colors coincide at the end of the story in forward and reverse manner. He describes how it is vital to have written notes that constantly remind him of the killers of his wife, written in a part of his arm, John G, the man who raped and murdered his wife. He continues with his narration and tells when he met Sammy during the time he became an investigator. Sammy has a condition that did not pass as mental disorder but he was rather unable to learn by conditioning. The life of Leonard focuses on trying to unravel the truth; this brings him to meet Mrs. Jankis who he tells that Sammy was in a position to come up with new memories. Leonard discuses with the caller, as to why the police did not buy hi story of the attackers that killed his wife. Fortunately, the person whom Leonard was seeking to turned out to be a police officer, and he gives him more clues towards his quest for his killers. Soon Leonard sets up a meeting with Joe at the lobby, who is an undercover police and prefers to be called teddy. The film then continues with the flow in contrast to the first part. Here we see teddy convincing Leonard that jimmy was the man he was looking for in connection to the killing of his wife. Natalie and Leonard go to the house and agree to stay together. She then tricks him to go and beat a man who had harassed her off her money, but before he could do that, teddy warns him of the plans of Natalie, and he leaves her. The truth is slowly becoming known, and in the morning, Leonard leaves and hide in Dodd’s’ motel, beating him senselessly, before calling teddy who persuade him to elope from the country. Leonard decides to spend the night with Natalie, as a thanks giving for helping him get Dodd. Finally, Leonard puts the clues together, and discovers that teddy was indeed the second killer of his wife. In deep aggression, he shoots teddy right in the head. Conc lusion The story reflects the quest for Leonard to find the truth of the death of her wife. He is surrounded by the main culprit, Teddy who tries to derail him in his findings. Leonard despite of his mental condition finds his way and puts clue together to finally know that teddy was the killer. Truffaut’s 400Â  Blows Question 2 This film demonstrates the steps taken by the 12 year old Antoine who was in bad terms with his parents and teachers, is seen descending into delinquency. Antoine is preparing to go to reform school, since the teachers and his parents, plus the squeezed house and classroom imprison him mentally and physically in his village. He often runs to his favorite spot where he hides fro the rest of the people. This leads him to participate in the game of hooky, which takes him to the streets where he enjoys the freedom of moving about far from the authorities. This continues to worsen as he gets more trouble both at home and school. In addition, the more trou ble he creates at

Hofstedes framework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hofstedes framework - Essay Example Ineffective management of productivity, on the other hand, deters productivity.The theory thus provides for effective ways of managing cultural diversity thus influencing the formation of an effective cross-cultural communication that will enhance the interaction in organizations. Culture is an important social feature that influences individual values; this implies that cultural conflicts are likely to result in the conflict of values a feature that will definitely affect the productivity at the workplace. In developing effective cross-cultural communication, Hofstede vouchers for an understanding of the cultural differences. A manager must understand the differences thereby understanding the differences in the values. This way, it becomes easier to appreciate and acknowledge cultural differences thus influencing the development of effective and considerate communication channels in the organization. Human resource managers must always strive to develop cohesive workforces that func tion seamlessly. Creating such a workforce requires the acknowledgment of the cultural differences since they influence the difference in the individual values. This way, the managers can readily discourage the manifestation of the negative personality features that may arise from the cultural differences. With such an in-depth understanding of the cultural differences, Hofstede asserts that it becomes possible for managers to barn particular behaviors while encouraging positive interpersonal skills that enhance productivity.

Driverless Cars Are the Present, Not the Future. Essay Example for Free

Driverless Cars Are the Present, Not the Future. Essay With the advancement of technology in today\s world, the driverless car was introduced, and it has been a dominating headline topic within these few years. Many car manufacturers, such as BMW, Volvo, and Audi, have been investing in the development project for the autonomous vehicle. This might prove that driverless car might be the leading car industries in the future. This will lead to a question whether if the driverless car is better than the human-driven car. To have a clearer view of the comparison between them, we can consider these 3 aspects: safety, time and road optimization. Firstly, everyone knows the importance of safety when driving on the road but what makes the driverless car safer than a human-driven car. The driverless car is safer than the human-driven car because of its technology, the driverless car makes use of sensors such as cameras, radar, lasers, ultrasonic sensors, GPS, and mapping technology to determine its position and navigate on the road safely. In contrast, in a car driven by human the drivers make use of their senses, such as eyes, ears and touch to navigate their way on the road. With the increase of travel time, their fatigue level will also increase, this might cause the driver to lose concentration or even fall asleep while driving. Some driver might even consume alcohol before they travel, making it unsafe for other road users as well as themselves. Recent studies of the traffic accident in Singapore 2016 show that causes of human-driven car accident such as failing to keep a proper lookout, failing to have proper control, fai ling to give way to traffic with right of way and changing lane without due care resulted in more than 2500 accident cases. (Singapore Police Force 2016). Whereas for the driverless car in 2016 there is only one case of an accident that happens where the driverless car collided with a lorry at one north which was suspected due to software anomalies in the driverless car (Strait times 2016). Secondly, the time taken to drive from point to point can be quite a hassle, for example, a country like the United State of America where the land is so much bigger than Singapore, traveling from one states to the other would take more than 3 hours or even more. in a car driven by a human, the driver will need to stay focus and concentrate on driving the car to their destination. Whereas for a driverless car the experience will be totally different, the hours of time traveled can be utilized to do more stuff such as reading a newspaper or you can even take a nap while traveling without the need to control your car since the driverless car will take you to your destination. The driverless car will be able to save a lot of our time, it is like adding the extra hours to our hectic life. Lastly, in term of road optimization, there are many traffic lights on the road the human-driven car must stop when they encounter traffic light this will cause traffic congestion, whereas for a country with all driverless car on the road, traffic light is not needed anymore the driverless cars will be able to seamlessly merge to the other lanes easily. Allowing traffic to flow smoothly across intersections. There will be neither time delay nor collision. In conclusion, the driverless car has more advantages in term of safety, time and road optimization as compared to a human-driven car, with the minimal amount of road accident occurs, a large amount of time-saving and the non-delaying road optimization. This futuristic vision is becoming reality with the advancement of technology which will prove that the driverless car will be the leading car industries.

Green Supply Chain Management In Manufacturing Industry Environmental Sciences Essay

Green Supply Chain Management In Manufacturing Industry Environmental Sciences Essay In this section, this chapter will be continued to discuss about the previous chapter which is focus on green supply chain management (GSCM) in manufacturing industry. Meanwhile, this chapter will review on an overview and definition of green supply chain management, barriers of implementation of green supply chain management, factors that influence of the operation of green supply chain management and benefits of green supply chain management. 2.1 Overview and Definition of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) In business today, the environment has become a critical issue in manufacturing industry and it has been increasing in consciousness of the environment in the last few decades. Nowadays, people are aware of the worlds environmental problems such as toxic substance usage, decreasing in non-replenish resources and global warning. This problem if no deal with well it has the potential to lead to the extinction of mankind on earth. To promote these environmental problems, government has to organize relevant campaigns to public. As a result, there have several organizations start to apply green principles to their industry. For example the organizations will use environmental friendly raw material, using recycle papers for packaging and reduce the usage of petroleum power during implement operations. According to Sheu et al (2005), with increase in environmental concerns during the past decade, a consensus is growing that environmental pollution issues accompanying industrial development should be addressed together with supply chain management thereby contributing to green supply chain management (GSCM). Green supply chain management it has roots in environment management and supply chain management literature. Adding the green component to supply chain management involves addressing the influence and relationships between supply chain management and the natural environment. Besides that, green supply chain management also defines as integrating environmental thinking into supply chain management including material sourcing and selection, product design, manufacturing processes and delivery of the final product to the customers as well as end-of-life management of the product after its useful life. In addition, green supply chain management is a concept that is gaining popularity in the South East Asian region. For many organizations in this region it is a way to demonstrate their sincere commitment to sustainability (Bacallan, 2000). Furthermore, many realize that customers and other stakeholders do not always distinguish between a company and its suppliers. If an organization has environmental liabilities, stakeholders may often hold the lead company in a particular supply chain responsible for the adverse environmental impacts of all organizations within a specific supply chain for a particular product. Rao and Holt (2005), reported that green supply chain management also can promote efficiency and synergy among business partners and their lead corporations and helps to enhance environmental performance such as minimize waste and achieve cost saving. Meanwhile, the most far- reaching approach of environmental management is to create value through greening the supply chain (van Hoek, 1999). Figure 1: Functional model of an organizational supply chain with environmentally influential practices ( Sarkis, p.400) As illustrated by figure 1, the green supply chain model shows the various points where wastes occur and opportunities exist to limit waste by reuse, recycling and remanufacturing. In a green manufacturing environment, the supply chain decisions include the possibility that a process can use certain renewable materials, the ability to utilize reusable or remanufactured materials and the reduction of wastes. This diagram is typical for a single organization. According to Sarkis (p.399) states that environmentally friendly innovations may best be utilized during the manufacturing stage of the supply chain, as this part is the most internally focused and the organization can more directly see the benefits of implementing environmentally friendly process. On the other hand, green supply chain management also involves conventional supply chain management practices which are integrated manufacturing process wherein raw materials are manufactured into final products then delivered to customers via distribution, retail or both. (Beamon, 1999). However green supply chain management has ranged from green purchasing to integrated supply chains flowing from supplier to manufacturer, customer and reverse logistics which is closing the loop as defined by supply chain management literature. (Zhu and Sarkis, 2004). Characteristics Conventional SCM Green SCM Objectives and values Economic Economic and ecological Ecological optimization High ecological impacts Integrated approach Low ecological impacts Supplier selection criteria Price switching suppliers quickly Short term relationships Ecological aspects (and price) Long term relationships Cost pressure and prices High cost pressure Low prices High cost pressure High prices Speed and flexibility High Low Table 1: Differences between the conventional and green supply chain management Based on table 1, we can differences between the conventional and green supply chain management. Overview on this table showed that green supply chain management can provide highly innovative and an efficiency environmental management to manufacturing industry whether on supplier selection, prices, speed and other characteristics. 2.2 Activities in green supply chain management Green supply chain management (GSCM) is defined as green procurement+ green manufacturing+ green distribution+ reverse logistics. Green supply chain management is an idea used to minimize waste such as energy, solid and hazardous wastes, natural resource and environment pollution along supply chain. Inventory Inventory (Material) Defects (Product) Manufacturer Customer Production Supplier End of life products Plant Reuse/ Recycle/ Refurbish Reuse/ Recycle/ Re- Assembly Materials Products Reuse/ Recycle Materials Waste Figure 2: Activities in green supply chain management Green Procurement Green procurement is an environmental purchasing with involve the reduction, reuse and recycling of materials in the process of purchasing. The procurement decision is very important because it will impact the green supply chain during purchase of materials. Besides that, it is also a solution for environmentally concerned and is a concept of selection of products and services that can minimize environmental impact and eliminate waste. As an example during implement of green procurement, manufacturers will purchase materials only from green partners and consider supplier who acquire ISO 14000 and OHSAS 18000. Green Manufacturing Green manufacturing is a production processes which use materials with low environmental impacts, highly efficient and minimize waste or pollution. Green manufacturing is a very important area in green operations, because it can lead to minimum energy and resource, provides a lower raw materials costs and reduced environmental impacts. For detects materials, usually manufacturers will reuse, recycle or reassembly it before produce to product. It can help organization to minimize of waste. Green Distribution Green distribution also is an important operational that will affect the green supply chain. Green distribution consists of 2 components are green packaging and green logistics. Size, shape and materials of packaging are very vital because it can impact on distribution due to affect on the transport characteristics of the products. Better packaging is along with rearranged loading patterns, can reduce materials usage, reduce the amount of handling required and increase space utilization in the warehouse. When implement of green distribution, manufacturers will use green packaging materials, adopt returnable packaging methods, deliver directly to customer site and distribute products together rather than in smaller batches. Reverse Logistics Reverse logistics is a last part of activities in green supply chain management. Reverse logistics is the process of returning the end of life product from end user back to the supplier. The supplier can plant, reuse, recycle and refurbish the material. These activities also include collection, selection, re-processing, redistribution and disposal. According to Rogers and Tibben-Lembke (1999), a well managed reverse logistics program can result in savings in inventory carrying transportation and waste disposal costs as well as improving customer service. 2.3 The barriers of implementation of green supply chain management With increasing pressures of environmental impacts, manufacturing industry faced many barriers or problem to implement of their product or services. So those, organization need to find out the barriers which impede organization to implementation of green supply chain management. According to Perron (2005), there are 3 barriers of organization to implementation of green supply chain management. Attitude and perceptions barriers Attitude and perceptions is one of the barriers for organization to implementation of green supply chain management. To implementation of green supply chain management, top management plays an important role in organization because it can affect the development in organization. For example, for top management who have bad attitude it can influence the relationships organization with supplier or customer during they make decision making. Information related barriers The second barriers that faced by manufacturing industry is information related. There have some organization are often lack of awareness and information about how to implement green supply chain management. Besides that, they may not be aware of what is going wrong and not understand the environmental impacts of activities in organization. Other than that, lack of exposure also is another barrier that faced by manufacturing industry because they dun have any information related with green supply chain management had been taken by other organization. Technical barriers Technical also is a barriers that impede organization to adopt green supply chain management. Some organization is usually cannot get a state of the art information about new technology, materials, operations and processes. Besides this, lack of technical expertise of employees also is a major barrier because they unable to fulfill the design for environment requirements. 2.4 The factors influence of the operation of green supply chain management Green supply chain management is an effective motivated to improve the efficiency and effectively of environmental management, but there have some factors that influence of the operation of green supply chain management. The main factors that influence of the operation of green supply chain management are market and competitor. Nowadays, the competitive among organization is very high because have so many organization was develop in Malaysia. So that, organization needs to make them standing out with other organization and to give a good impress for customers. Being environmental friendly also is one of the ways to differences them from the competitors. Besides that, the role of the government involves in green supply chain management has been getting increasing attention. In the United States, there have a large number of government agency controlling guide line, regulation and law. These agency and organization are responsible for either similar or different issues such as pollution, chemical waste and product material. For an example, one of the government agencies is Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Environmental Protection Agency is a government organization established to protect human health and the environment. The focus on EPA is developing the best practices of green supply chain management and bringing awareness of those practices through guidebooks and manuals. (US EPA, 2000). Last factor that can influence of operation of green supply chain is decision making. Decision making involves a wide range of knowledge because it includes many factors such as environment, commercial performance, the benefits of a lot of behavior subjects and others. According to Nagurne (2003), the members decision behaviors of green supply chain are utilized the network model to set up the corresponding multiple goals decision model and provided the corresponding algorithm on the problems that asked. Manufacturer also needs to make decision when choosing supplier because collaborative relationships between manufacturers and supplier is very important to organization to implementation of green supply chain management. 2.5 The benefits of green supply chain management The benefits of green supply chain management are can provide a lower environmental load, achieve cost savings and reduce pollution to manufacturing industry. The principle of green supply chain can be applied to all departments in the organization and the effects of green supply chain management are can be develop to all area, both tangibly and intangibly. According to Stevels (2002), the benefits of green supply chain to different roles of supply chain including environment and society in terms of different categories such as material, immaterial and emotion. Benefit for Benefit category Environment Supplier Producer Customer Society Material Lower environmental load Lower cost price Lower cost Lower cost of ownership Less consumption of resources Immaterial Overcoming prejudice and cynicism Less rejects Easier to manufacture Convenience, fun Better compliance Emotion Motivation of stockholders Better image Better image Feel good, Quality of life Industry in on the right (green) track Table 2: The benefit matrix for green supply chain cooperation Based on table 2, it showed that for material, green supply chain management helps lower environment load for environment, lower cost price for supplier, lower cost for producer, lower cost of ownership for customer and less consumption of resources for society. On the other hand for immaterial, green supply chain management helps overcoming prejudice and cynicism for environment, less rejects for supplier, easier to manufacture for producer, convenience and fun for customer and can provide a better compliance for society. The last one is for emotion, green supply chain management helps motivation of stockholder to environment, better image for supplier and producer, feel good and quality of life for customer and makes industry in on the right track. As a result of this table show that different categories of material, immaterial and emotion can provide a benefit for environment, supplier, producer, customer and society. 2.6 Environmental Management Systems Environmental management systems is a strategic management approaches that define how an organization will address the impacts on the natural environment and how the organization using environmental management system to challenge their supplier networks to become more environmentally sustainable. (Bansal and Hunter, 2003; Darnall, 2006). Besides that Sarkis (2001) reported that the operational capabilities necessary to adopt an environmental management system may also assist an organizations efforts to reduce its environmental impacts throughout its supply chain. 2.61 Relationship between environmental management system (EMS) and green supply chain management (GSCM) Relationship between environmental management system and green supply chain management has potentially complementary and it is important for an organizations environmental sustainability because they will provide the definition and establish sustainability among network of organization together. As a result, relationship of e environmental management system and green supply chain management can to minimize impact to the natural environment, reduce waste, increase profits and achieve environmental sustainability goals for all manufacturing industry in Malaysia. 2.62 ISO 14001 ISO 14001 is an international standard requirement for an environmental management system which can be employed by an organization to measure, reduce the environment impact of activities, products and service and its can improve the environmental performance continually. To implement this certification requirement, company can demonstrate their commitment to environment and profit from the guidance the standard provides on more effective environmental management. Below are some benefits to an organization in adopting of ISO 14001: Enhanced image Reduced risk of environmental incidents Improved relationships with customers, government and the general public Better use of energy and resources Achieve cost savings Compliance with environmental rules and regulations Enhanced workplace health and safety Access to markets or company that demand ISO 14001 certification

Models of Personality and Effect in Organisations

Models of Personality and Effect in Organisations Saarthak Sankalp INDEX Topic (Jump to) Personality Personality Models Predicting Personality with Social Behaviour Importance of Corporate Brand Personality Traits Role of Personality factors in Coping with Organizational Change Challenges and Concerns with Personality Assessment in Indian Context Conclusion Bibliography Personality The work personality is derived from the Latin word persona, which was used to describe the different roles or disguises performed by theatrical performers. Personality can be defined as an individual’s unique characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Gordon Allport defined personality as – â€Å"the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment.† Personality Models Many models have been given by various researchers to analyse the personality. The latest personality models are as follows :- Myers-Briggs Type Index (MBTI) The MBTI is a personality ideal based on Jung’s theory of psychological kinds developed by Briggs and Myers and consists of four dimensions of preferences which are as follows:- Extroversion (E) vs Introversion (I). This dimension gives an insight about the orientation of the individual. Extroverts are said to be more concerned with the practical realities than with the inner thoughts. Introverts, though, gaze more into the inner-self and are pre-occupied with their own thoughts. Sensing (S) vs Intuition (N). Persons who have more sensing dimension rely more on that can be observed and are considered to be bent towards what is real. Persons having more intuitive dimension rely extra on their non-objective and unconscious perceptual processes. Thinking (T) vs Feeling (F). A preference for thinking indicates the individual uses more of logic and rational procedures to make decisions and action. People having more feeling dimension gave more emotional replies to events and give preference to established subjective processes. Judgment (J) vs Perception (P). The judgement-perception preferences were developed to indicate if rational or irrational judgments are dominant after a person is interacting with the environment. In decision making the judgmental person uses both the thinking and feeling, while the sensing and intuition processes are used by the perception people. The Big Five Personality Model The Big Five is the commonly used term for the model of personality which describes the five fundamental factors of our personality. It was defined independently by many researchers based on the factor-analyses of the personality traits. The five traits are commonly referred as OCEAN. The five personality traits are as follows:- Openness to Experience: It is the openness to innovative ideas, new experiences, curiosity, adventure, appreciation for emotions and art. Conscientiousness: Tendency to be coordinated and dependable, display self-discipline, target for attainment, acts dutifully and does not prefer spontaneous behaviour. Extraversion: Affirmative emotions, sociability, assertiveness, energy, talkativeness and the tendency to pursue stimulation. Agreeableness: Traits of a person who is obliging and compassionate rather than dubious and antagonistic towards others. It is additionally a measure of one’s helpful and trusting nature, and whether the person is calm and composed. Neuroticism: It refers to the degree of emotional stability and impulse control in a person. The traits to easily give in to anger, anxiety or depression. Score on all the five factors are used to describe a person’s personality Kolbe Conative Index (KCI) KCI is considered a personality model which is different from MBTI and FIRO-B as it measures instinctive behaviours of an individual that appear while that he/she tries to achieve goals. The KCI classifies the instinctive behaviours into four categories: probing, patterning, innovating and demonstrating. Each category has its corresponding ‘Action Mode’ which are as follows: Fact Finder (FF): Probing instinctive behaviour is given by this action mode. This mode is related to the information gathering. Fact finders are concerned with strategies, research and details. They establish priorities for making decision by collecting and analyzing data. Follow Through (FT): Patterning instinctive behaviour is given by this action mode. This mode is related to structure. People controlled by FT seek structure, and plan and schedules in advance. They react in a sequential manner. Quick Start (QS): Innovating instinctive behaviour is given by this action mode. This mode is related to the way to deal with risk and uncertainty. Quick starters initiate changes, take risk, and they are innovative. Implementor (IMP): Demonstrating instinctive behaviour is given by this action mode. This action mode is related to the way to handle space and tangibles. People having this action mode are good at using space and materials, develop constructs, and easily use hand on equipment. Kolbe Action Modes Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behaviour (FIRO-B) Schutz developed the FIRO-B personality model. The intensity of the interpersonal needs of inclusion (I), control (C), and affection (A) are measured by this model. The individual’s social need of interaction and belongingness is defined as Inclusion. The need for power and influence is defined as Control, and can be related to leadership. The need for intimacy and friendship is defined as Affection. How much each of these three needs can be described into 2 dimensions of expressed (e) or wanted (w). The degree to which one behaves in that way toward others is defined as expressed while the degree to which one wants others to behave that way toward oneself is described as wanted. The FIRO-B model can be explained by the interaction of expressed and wanted dimensions with the three interpersonal needs, resulting in six categories of interpersonal needs as described in the figure below. Each category is measured with a 10 point scale (0-9). FIRO-B Model Latest researches related to Personality The latest researches related to personalities are as follows:- Predicting personality with social behaviour Personality is a trait which influences the behaviour of a person with other people. Social behaviour can give us a good insight about the personality of an individual as they behave showcase a normative (or normal) behaviour in social interactions. To understand this within the scope of a social behaviour, we consider the actions in the following main groups:- Nextwork Bandwidth (NET): The active involvement in the social networks, the time spent there and activity distribution (uniform or bursty). Message Content (MSG): The variety and amount of messages they are sending, whether they are the links or URLs of websites or the forwarded messages etc. Pair Behaviour (PAIR): How they behave with their friends and relatives, the statistical measures of standard deviations and average of various actions across different followers and friends. Reciprocity of actions (REC): Levels to which there actions are reciprocated by their friends. Informativeness (INF): Information that could be gained from the behaviour with the friends, whether there is same type of behaviour with every friend or whether some friends are favoured over others in specific actions. Homophily (HOM): All the previous features computed for the person’s friend to understand her social circle. Importance of Corporate brand personality traits Corporate brands create a particular image in the minds of the customers and other constituents which can help the corporate to differentiate their brand from others. A number of factors will be responsible for the corporate image like the products a company makes, the actions it takes, and the manner in which it communicates to consumers. A new very important component of corporate image is the corporate brand personality. 60 US brands have been examined and are found to fell into the following five main clusters, â€Å"(1) Sincerity, (2) Excitement, (3) Competence, (4) Sophistication and (5) Ruggedness. Corporate Personality Traits Corporate brand personality is defined as how customer perceives a particular brand – characterstics of consumers who are using it. It can be seen as a means for the customer to express what they really expect or want. Corporate brand personality is more about the perception of employees – both the customer facing and the senior management as they constitute the whole organization. It reflects the actions and values of all the employees of the organization. Corporate brand personality of a 21st century business can be grouped into three dimensions which are as follows:- Heart – It consists of two traits: compassionate and passionate. Mind – It consists of two traits: Creative and disciplined. Body – It consists of two traits: Agile and collaborative. Role of Personality factors in coping with organizational change In reference to the research paper written by R. Ravi Kumar, change is inevitable to any organization. Both external and internal factors can bring about changes to an organization. The work environment is affected to a large extent by external factor such as changing expectations about quality, customer satisfaction and new work force demographics. It is also affected by the internal factors such as the mergers and acquisitions, financial constraints and the necessity to improve productivity. Personality plays a very important role in the job performance of an individual when changes in an organization take place. The personality factors which affect the performance are as follows:- Demographic Variables Age – Age has a negative impact on any kind of change in an organization. As the age increases people don’t like change and try to resist it. Education – The level of education has a positive impact on coping with the organization changes. As more educated can handle the uncertainties better and are more ready for new challenges and opportunities. Tenure – It has negative effect on coping with changes in an organization. People who have served longer in any organization resist the change more than a newly joined. Seniority – Employees at higher level understand the importance of change better than the employees at lower level. One important reason for this is that changes are implemented with the active participation of the senior staff. Independent Variables Self Esteem – It is positively associated with coping changes in an organization. Self esteem consists of two major constituents – ‘competence’ and ‘worth’. Individuals with high self esteem handle the adverse conditions better. Optimism – People who are optimistic are able to accept the organizational change better than pessimistic people. They are able to deal with the adversities with more strength and perseverance. Perceived Control – It is the belief that one can determine one’s own internal state and behaviour, influence one’s environment and/or bring about the desired outcomes. Change Self- Efficacy – There is a very little difference between self efficacy and self esteem. People having self efficacy feel confident in adverse situations. Self-efficacy is their perceived ability to handle change in a given situation to function better. Challenges and Concerns with Personality Assessments in Indian Context In the modern business, personality assessments as part of recruitment process have become vital for the selection of the right candidate matching the organizational objectives. They provide inputs which could be used for the 360 degree feedback and to measure their performance in the organization. In entry level roles like sales and customer relationship personnel in finance, banking and insurance sector, personality is a very important discriminator for job-success. So, there is a huge need for these personality assessments. These days many multi- national companies are conducting non-Indian personality solutions for recruitment in India. But there are many challenges faced by these International solutions in Indian context which are as follows:- Problems in understanding English – The level of English in these international personality assessments is quite is high and most of the Indians are not able to comprehend the exact meaning of the words. For example, a typical question will ask a candidate to choose between sympathetic and empathetic. Most of the candidates could not differentiate between these words. Not in context with Indian Population – Many questions are out of context for the Indian population. One of the questions in such an assessment asks whether they would prefer a holiday in Las Vegas. Average Indian does not understand what it means to have a vacation there. Not in context with entry level candidates – The questions in theses assessments pose situations which favour the candidates who have already worked in that area before, which makes it very difficult for an entry level candidate to get selected. No consideration for cultural differences – People in the west use words like ‘Thank you’ and ‘sorry’ much more frequently than Indians. But that doesn’t mean those Indians which don’t use these words that frequently are any less polite. The assessments fail to understand such socio-economic and cultural differences of India. Not much use for recruitment with little validation – Many such inventories being used have not been validated if they are suitable for job recruitment. Also, some of them are very easy to fake in the process. Conclusion Personality gives a very coherent picture of an individual’s psychological behaviour and differences. It also gives an insight about the human nature and the similarities between them. A lot about personality can be perceived from the social behaviour of an individual. In modern business personality plays a very important role in assessing the right candidate for the right job profile. Performance of an individual in any organization is also dependent on his personality traits. Bibliography Ki-Young Jeong, Bozkurt, Ipek, Sunkara, Surya T.(2012). Creative effective project teams using personality models. Northeast Region Decision Sciences Institute (NEDSI) Proceeding, p403-414. Pittenger, David J. (1993). Measuring the MBTI†¦ And coming up short. Journal of Career Planning and Employment, v54 n1 p48-52. Adali, S., Golbeck, J. (2012). Predicting Personality with Social Behavior. Advances in Social Network Analysis and Mining (ASONAM), IEEE/ACM International Conference, p302-309. Keller, Kevin Lane, Richey, Keith. (2006). The importance of corporate brand personality traits to a successful 21st century business. Journal of Brand Management, Vol.14 Issue  ½, p74-81. Young-Ei Kim, Jung-Wan Lee Yong-Ki Lee. (2008). Relationship between Brand Personality and the Personality of Consumers, and its Application to Corporate Branding Strategy, Journal of Global Academy of Marketing Science, 18:3, p27-57 R. Ravi Kumar, T.J. Kamalanabhan. (2005).The role of personality factors in coping with organizational change. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 13 Issue 2 p.175 – 192. Aggarwal, Varun. (2009). Challenges and Concerns with International Personality Assessments. Retrieved from the Aspiring Minds website: http://www.aspiringminds.in/docs/challenges_with_international_personality_assessments.pdf Major, Debra A., Turner Jonathan E., Fletcher Thomas D. (2006). Linking Proactive Personality and the Big Five to Motivation to Learn and Development Activity. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 91, No. 4, 927-935.

Historical Perspective Essay examples -- Bloody Sunday History Essays

Historical Perspective Unfortunately, all most Americans know about the event known as Bloody Sunday, they learned from U2's smash hit, "Sunday Bloody Sunday." The source of this song's popularity stems from its ability to evoke widespread sympathy for Irish by painting an unforgettable picture of death and despair in the minds of each of its listeners. So what is unfortunate about this song being the primary source of historical knowledge concerning Bloody Sunday for most Americans? It is unfortunate not because of its lack of information or authenticity, but because of its lack of historical perspective. Essayist Jane Tompkins addresses this idea of perspecitivism by citing the changing representation of colonial American Indians in historical texts dating from 1964 to 1978. According to Limerick, in historical texts from the early 1960s, Indians weren't represented at all; they were "simply beneath notice" (65). By the late 1960s Indian culture, albeit "an inferior culture" (65), was finally acknowledged. In the early 1970s Indians "were the more or less innocent prey of the power-hungry whites" (65), but not until 1978 did Indians become "complicated, purposeful human beings, whose lives were spiritually motivated to a high degree" (66). Tompkins argues that because every historical account is a product of its author's perspective, it is important to analyze varying sources, including those of the traditionally under-represented. What I found in my research of Bloody Sunday is that in our efforts to account for the traditionally under-represented perspective, we have absentmindedly omitted the dominant perspective instead. This omission will undoubtedly cause the same problems that omitting the traditionally under-repr... ... Unlimited Special Reports. 20 Oct. 2000. <http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/bloodysunday/article/0,2763,184927,00.html>. Limmerick, Patricia Nelson. The Legacy of Conquest. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1987. 35-54. McClean, Raymond, M.D. The Road to Bloody Sunday. L'Derry, Northern Ireland: Guildhall Press, 1997. 120-130. Morrison, Matt. "Remembering Bloody Sunday." The Irish People. 25 Jan. 1997. 1 Oct. 2000 <http://larkspirit.com/bloodysunday/witness.htm>. Tompkins, Jane. â€Å"’Indians’: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History.† in â€Å"Race,† Writing, and Difference. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1986. 59-77. Winchester, Simon. "13 Killed as Paratroopers Break Riot." Guardian Unlimited Special Reports. 20 Oct. 2000. <http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/bloodysunday/article/0,2763,184928,00.html>.

Genre Theory and John Fords Stagecoach Essay -- Movie Film Films Cine

Genre Theory and John Ford's Stagecoach The analytic theory posited by Robert Warshow in his essay "The Westerner", itemizes the elements necessary for a film to belong to the genre of the "western". Most contentiously, he mandates that the narrative focus upon the individual hero's plight to assert his identity, and diminishes the importance of secondary characters and issues, or any tendency toward "social drama." (431) He states that it is subtle variations that make successive instances of a genre film interesting, yet limits this variety to "minor variations in the characteristics of the actors who play the hero's role." (430) It is my belief that while exhibiting many of the traits itemized by Warshow, John Ford's Stagecoach (1939) also exhibits variations in characterization, symbolism and even moral focus which project it dangerously close to what Warshow would view as a "social" film. It would be nearly impossible to declare Stagecoach a non-western by either Warshow's own generic criteria or the expectations of the genre viewer, yet the film clearly conveys the more individuated social concerns of its director. While Warshow claims that this perversion of the norm threatens to make the genre uninteresting, I believe the contrary to be true. Subverting the expectations of the genre, while still functioning within the language of the "western" is what makes Stagecoach a powerful film, and legitimizes the notion of genre itself. The traits cited by Warshow as compulsory for the "western" are extensive. Most elements concern the figure of the melancholy cowboy hero, who is certainly present in Stagecoach in the personage of Ringo. The hero usually exhibits a certain leisure, an ambiguity of occupation, a noncha... ...r variations within the working out of a pre-established order." (461) However, his theory seems too eager to limit a genre film to achieving the same end in every incidence. I believe that Stagecoach reveals that it can be more constructive to achieve something new through the use of the conventional mode. It seems that it is only through the creation of an ostensibly new product by each recurrence of a generic form that a genre can continue. Theorists who deny the possibility of retaining enough of the original mode to make the film recognizable as part of a genre, while still capitalizing on the full range of variation available through plot, characterization, and style, underestimate the audience's capacity to simultaneously make connections and receive a new product. I believe an audience would rather be challenged than spoon-fed another "creative" recreation. Genre Theory and John Ford's Stagecoach Essay -- Movie Film Films Cine Genre Theory and John Ford's Stagecoach The analytic theory posited by Robert Warshow in his essay "The Westerner", itemizes the elements necessary for a film to belong to the genre of the "western". Most contentiously, he mandates that the narrative focus upon the individual hero's plight to assert his identity, and diminishes the importance of secondary characters and issues, or any tendency toward "social drama." (431) He states that it is subtle variations that make successive instances of a genre film interesting, yet limits this variety to "minor variations in the characteristics of the actors who play the hero's role." (430) It is my belief that while exhibiting many of the traits itemized by Warshow, John Ford's Stagecoach (1939) also exhibits variations in characterization, symbolism and even moral focus which project it dangerously close to what Warshow would view as a "social" film. It would be nearly impossible to declare Stagecoach a non-western by either Warshow's own generic criteria or the expectations of the genre viewer, yet the film clearly conveys the more individuated social concerns of its director. While Warshow claims that this perversion of the norm threatens to make the genre uninteresting, I believe the contrary to be true. Subverting the expectations of the genre, while still functioning within the language of the "western" is what makes Stagecoach a powerful film, and legitimizes the notion of genre itself. The traits cited by Warshow as compulsory for the "western" are extensive. Most elements concern the figure of the melancholy cowboy hero, who is certainly present in Stagecoach in the personage of Ringo. The hero usually exhibits a certain leisure, an ambiguity of occupation, a noncha... ...r variations within the working out of a pre-established order." (461) However, his theory seems too eager to limit a genre film to achieving the same end in every incidence. I believe that Stagecoach reveals that it can be more constructive to achieve something new through the use of the conventional mode. It seems that it is only through the creation of an ostensibly new product by each recurrence of a generic form that a genre can continue. Theorists who deny the possibility of retaining enough of the original mode to make the film recognizable as part of a genre, while still capitalizing on the full range of variation available through plot, characterization, and style, underestimate the audience's capacity to simultaneously make connections and receive a new product. I believe an audience would rather be challenged than spoon-fed another "creative" recreation.

Why Did Wwii Break Out in 1939?

The Second World War started for many reasons but the most important were: the treaty of Versailles and the negative impact it had upon Germany, the foreign policy of Adolf Hitler and what did the other countries do to stop Hitler’s actions. The treaty of Versailles was a very important factor for the break out of war. The treaty took away land from Germany and gave it to Poland, France and Britain. This land included the colonies that Germany had in Africa that was given to France and Britain.It made Germany pay huge reparations that left them in a crisis, and Germany was already in a crisis due to the war which made the germans felt it would stop them from recovering. There were a lot of unemployment and whole families suffered from constant hunger. They had to take blame for starting the war and they did not feel it was fair because it was Serbian terrorist groups that trigger it by killing the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The treaty also ordered the reduction of the German ar my to only 100,000 men and it limited its navy to six battleships.The Germans didn’t feel this was fair because it meant that they were nearly helpless if someone tried to conquer them and they felt bitter as the other countries didn’t had to disarm. They also had to demilitarize the Rhineland. The Rhineland was the border between France and Germany and it was demilitarized in order to protect Alsace-Lorraine. The big three had different opinions on whether how to punish Germany. Woodrow Wilson (America) thought that Germany should be treated fairly because if it was punished too harshly they would want revenge.America did not suffer as much because of the war due to the fact that the war was not fought in America and they joined the war in 1917 so they did not had such many casualties as the other countries. Lloyd George wanted also a fair settlement but the British people, as Georges Clemenceau (France), wanted revenge because all of the soldiers killed in battle and all of the harm they had done to their country. The Germans became vengeful because overall they did not see fair the treaty of Versailles and the sate it had left the country and they had their revenge with the war.The second factor was Adolf Hitler’s foreign policy. Hitler wanted to make Germany a big and powerful country so he could have revenge of the other countries because of the treaty. He started to get back all of the things that the treaty had took from Germany, starting with the joining of Germany and Austria. Hitler sent his troops and made the Austrians hold a vote to join Germany to Austria. The Nazis rigged the vote so that 99% of the Austrians voted for unification.I think that he wanted to unite with Austria because Austrians had German blood so they were part of the Master race, he also wanted Germany to be big and powerful and with Austria he would have more territory and there would be more people working for Germany and it’s army. Then he demanded the Sudetenland region of Austria back to Germany because there were 3 million German people living there and also the Sudetenland had good farming areas and also a lot of raw materials and industries.This meant that there would be more food for German people and its army, the raw materials and the industries could be used for the air force and navy for the German army. After invading the Sudetenland, the German troops invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. I think Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia to have a better chance against the USSR and also to make easier the invasion of Poland by having more land around it. Hitler then made a non-aggression pact with Stalin, they agreed not to fight each other and to share Poland between them.Hitler wanted the land of the Polish Corridor back to Germany because it had cut Germany in two and many German people lived there. But Poland refused to give back the lands because it would mean that they would lose the only access they had to th e sea. Hitler invaded Poland so he could have back that land and to expand its territories. More land meant more men in the army and more space to oppose the USSR. And the last of the most important factors of the breakout of the war was the fact that other countries only reacted and decided to fight back when Hitler conquered Poland.When Hitler began to rearm Germany they didn’t do nothing because they were more worried of the communist invasion and they thought that a stronger Germany could protect Europe from the USSR. Then, when Hitler rearmed the Rhineland they did not do anything because they thought that it was reasonable for Germany to have troops in their own territories, I think that the other countries weren’t as bothered with the treaty as they were in 1919. When Hitler United with Austria and the Austrian leader asked for help Britain, France and Italy didn’t do wanted was peace.In 1938, Britain and France made an agreement with Hitler saying that h e could have the Sudetenland back if he didn’t took the rest of Czechoslovakia. They were so centered on maintaining peace that they didn’t even talked to the Czechs of this. But when Hitler broke this agreement they didn’t help Czechoslovakia because they wanted to evade war by any means and they promised Poland that if they were attacked by Hitler’s army they would help them. They began to prepare for war because they knew that if Hitler continued his invasions then Poland would go next.When Hitler invaded Poland, England and France declared war on Germany but they did not send any troops to help Poland as they had promised because they thought it was too late for Poland. On my opinion, if the other countries had decided to act earlier when Hitler was beginning to expand they would have been able to evade war because he was not powerful enough. I think that if they had actually tried to stop war they would have actually done something because it was ver y obvious that Hitler wanted revenge and he would do more than reversing the treaty of Versailles.If they had done something things could have been very different to what they are now. There wouldn’t have been so many deaths from soldiers and citizens from the cities, and also whole cities would not have been devastated by the bombs. Also there would not have been as many victims from the holocaust were thousands of Jews died in the concentration camps. In conclusion, the other countries could have prevented the WWII from happening easily by acting when Hitler was weaker.