Task One

While evaluating Company G's attitude toward social responsibility it seems they made some decisions based on the severe lack of revenue over a period time, which motivated them to close a couple of stores. Those stores, which were located in a major metropolitan area, were also characterized as high-crime areas. By closing those stores, it no doubt had a negative economic impact both directly and indirectly on the people in those store locations. For the now unemployed people they will eave to look for another source of income and benefits.The community members that relied on those stores for groceries, will now have to travel to another store possibly at a longer distance and will have to commit more time and money. Company Q also listened to years of requests from its consumers to offer better options for the health-conscience consumers. The product selections were limited and were known as high margin items, which meaner they are more expensive to produce and the company won't se ll as many. There is usually is very little intention with these products and so they can afford to hold on their inventory for more time.When the local food bank asked to give day-old product, Company Q opted to get rid of the food because they were worried about being swindled by their employees. The company perhaps has seen poor choices and conduct from their employees which may have led to deciding it was best to dispose of the food rather than deal with the possibility of fraud. Company Q doesn't trust it workers to make good choice's with their resources I recommend three steps to help increase the

The Ministry of Defense of Belarus and Russia

This paper is a comparative treatment of two ministries of defense of substantial strategic importance to the world, that of Russia and Belarus. Both countries have had strained relationships with the United States and the western world and have been actively pursuing activities with those countries hostile to western imperialism such as China and Venezuela.This paper will, first, summarize the basic structure and relations of the two ministries, and then compare and contrast them. A conclusion will attempt to bring these insights together. The Ministry of Defense of Belarus:Interestingly, the Defense Ministry of Belarus has its roots in the reaction to the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. This disaster is one of the main reasons the two republics it affected, Ukraine and Belarus (as the city is on their border) declared independence from the USSR several years later. In fact, the very first piece of legislation establishing this ministry (in 1992) was explicitly titled the â€Å"Reactio n against the Affects of Chernobyl† and acted as a form of public mobilization against the tremendous health risks of the airborne radiation (â€Å"Legislative Basis,† 2009).But in the era of 1991-1992, historic in that it was the era of the fall of the USSR and the independence of the Warsaw Pact nations and the former Soviet Republics, saw the Belorussian state declare independence from the defunct USSR and develop its own institutions, chief among them was the ministry of defense. Several issues presented themselves: first, about half of the Belarusian republican army was of Russian descent, and second, that thousands of Belarusian troops were serving the former USSR in countries abroad.The newly formed independent Belarusian government then implemented programs that re-Belarussianized the armed forces and brought those expatriated soldiers home (Global Security, 2008). The structure of the Defense ministry is not civilian, and in fact, a major issue in Belarusian po litical culture is the means by which the purely military aspects of the Ministry and its civilian contacts could be regularized. But at the moment, the entire staff of the Ministry are uniformed officers. Currently, the Minister of Defense is Col. Gen.Leonid Maltsyev (appointed 2001), and he is supported by a general staff that includes the following offices: the chief of staff of the armed forces of the republic, the deputy minister, a ministry dedicated to armaments and acquisitions, then Logistics, army command and lastly, the air command and the air defense. As Belarus is landlocked, there is no naval force. The structure of the Ministry in terms of a chain of command is that the Defense Ministry is a part of the Council of Ministers, itself directly under the President of the Republic, currently the wildly popular Alexander Luksahenko.The General staff serves directly under the Defense Minister, and under him stand the land, air and support staffs in a position of equality. Fi nally, under the land forces stand logistics. Hence, the doctrine here is that Logistics and strategy stand under the land army, while the air corps follows orders. Hence, the equality between land and air forces is theoretical only. The tradition of the ministry is that land forces should predominate, and air forces act as an auxiliary to them. The mentality and culture of the Ministry follows a very specific doctrine. Its main points are the following:a) that the ministry is dedicated to a â€Å"balanced† cooperation among states. There is to be strict neutrality in terms of â€Å"power blocs,† and cooperation will not follow and specific â€Å"ideological† bent, but what serves the mission of the ministry in terms of the defense of the republic. b) that this ministry will never seek to acquire nuclear weapons. c) that it operates in accordance with a strict equity with other states (â€Å"Military Doctrine,† 2009). In addition, the â€Å"Military Doct rine† of the Republic is an important source for the basic functioning of the Ministry.The most interesting elements of this more or less bureaucratic document are the conditions that must prevail for the military services of the republic to respond if the republic is threatened. The document itself calls this the â€Å"political-military† situations that permit the usage of armed force in general, but are obviously applied to Belarus specifically. Hence it is a sort of a moral blueprint where force can be used, though it does not specify the amount of force in each case. These are: a) the lack of effective political mechanisms to solve political problems.b) economic imperialism , that is, the desire for advanced countries to use their economic and political clout to exploit smaller and weaker states; c) the domination of a few major powers over the resources of the globe d) the development of new technologies that threaten the typical military balance in the world e) t he use of propaganda to overthrow states (in other words, the use of a controlled media to manipulate public opinion over and above normal democratic channels) f) the manipulation of ethnic groups in order to create a volatile situation (â€Å"Bases,† 2009).Needless to say, this official doctrine of the defense ministry makes perfect sense given the small size and vulnerability of the republic. Belarus is a part of the non-aligned movement, which brings the Ministry of Defense, Foreign Affairs and the Presidency into regular co-operation. Since Belarus has regular treaties with Venezuela, Russia, Vietnam and China, the policy here is to co-operate fully with the president and the foreign ministry in developing a â€Å"non-aligned† movement that seeks to alter the current â€Å"uni-polar† nature of global power.Hence, the Defense Ministry is following directives placed by the presidency and the Foreign Ministry in developing a place in the world for smaller, weak er powers who seek to create a power balance with the west rather than have the west dominate them. Hence, the Defense Ministry has adopted a defense policy that is completely in line with that of the presidency, the council of ministers, the foreign ministry and the nature of being in charge of the defense of a small country. Lastly, since Belarus economically is one of the most dynamic countries in the world, the funding of the military forces has never been an issue (IMF, 2009).The fall of the USSR meant that many of the Russian forces in the Warsaw Pact countries were backed right into Belarus, leading to a situation where Belarus was one of the most militarized countries in the world. President Lukashenko sought to reduce the number of forces, end conscription, and hence, reduce the strain of the armed forces on the budget. Today, the armed forces are a fraction of what they cost in 1992, leading to a smooth relationship with the finance ministry and the presidency. Thus, in co nclusion, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus is a model for the developing world.It seeks no political power, since it already is directly represented in the council of ministers and the ministry itself is run by uniformed officers appointed by the President. It cooperates fully with the foreign ministry in developing a military doctrine in line with the â€Å"non-aligned† movement. It seeks a balanced co-operation with the world and a reduction in the number of both nuclear and conventional weapons systems in world politics. It has been steadily reducing its cost to the ministry of finance, leading to–to say the least–a smooth working relationship. The Defense Ministry of RussiaThe structure of the Russian Ministry of Defense is largely civilian. The Minister himself is Anatoly Serdyuvkov, who, significantly, was a former tax official under Putin. However, immediately under him is a uniformed officer, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, who was the former com mander of the Siberian military district. This is significant for one major reason, it is the post that places the Russian armed forces in direct connection and communication with the Asian powers, especially China. Under the Minister and General Makarov, there is a First Deputy Minister and a States Secretary for Defense.Under him is a woman, Lyubov Kudelina, who is in charge of the relationships between Finance and Defense. While the Minister himself is a former tax official, Mrs. Kudelina also worked at Finance and was deeply involved with tax collection. It would be noted that at the fall of the USSR between 1990 and 1993, tax collection almost completely bottomed out. The money and institutions for collection no longer functioned, and taxes were reduced to protection money from the local criminal gangs. Vladimir Putin, financed by oil money, reversed this trend.Hence, there should be no surprise that two major figures in the defense ministry have little military experience, but were both close to the financial and taxing apparatus (â€Å"Senior Officials,† 2009). Under the Defense Ministry’s Finance representative lies, not surprisingly, the chief of armaments, the chief of Logistics and another deputy minister. Since logistics and armaments procurement are costly productions, their subordination to the finance representative is no surprise. This structure seems eminently rational. It builds in inter-agency cooperation within the Defense Ministry itself especially within the all-important financial end.What is more important, however, is how the agency views itself, its mission and its role in the government. Like in the Belarussian case, the Russian Defense Ministry, in cooperation with the presidency and the ministry of finance, has developed a comprehensive understanding of itself in the world and in the Russian, and post-Soviet world. First and foremost, before any other consideration, the Ministry of Defense makes it clear that its numb er one priory in the defense of Russia is to maintain a high level of deterrence. It seeks to defend Russia by making any attack on it of painfully high cost.After this, combat readiness is the next priority, and within this priority is the concept of high mobility. Speed and the efficient use of resources is a major part of the Russian defense strategy. It is cheaper and more efficient to maintain small numbers of infantry, but backed by the highest in technology in terms of missile defense, the air corps and intelligence (â€Å"Development,† 2009). After this, three elements come into play: first, the nature of high-technology weapons, the war on terror and the protection of the environment.This latter even has its own office, under a General trained in economy, General Alevtin Yuruk in a rater unique arrangement where his office interfaces with the rest of the Russian government to loosen up funds and manpower to repair any environmental damage caused by the action of the armed forces, and most importantly, the safe keeping of the nuclear stockpile. After Chernobyl, the environment is more than just a saccharine slogan, it is a matter of life and death (â€Å"Environmental Protection,† 2009). But apart from the above strategic considerations, there is another, moral, sense of Russia’s defense ministry and its place in the world.The fall of the USSR made it clear that the Russian Federation was to recreate its mission, its identity and its interaction with the outside world. Hence, the ministry has, in communication with the past three presidents of the post USSR world, created a moral sense of itself, one based on the following ideas: a) the creation of a democratic international order where a few major powers do not control the world’s resources; b) force can be used only with the express permission of the UN c) forces worldwide should be decreased to a minimum and used solely for defense d) to create the infrastructure for Russ ia’s new mission as a major powere) international cooperation necessary for the war on terror, drugs and mafia activities f) co-operation, not confrontation wit the USA g) Asia is the future, and hence, building strong ties with China and Vietnam become of paramount importance (â€Å"Global Cooperation,† 2009). Several conclusions can be drawn from this. First, Russia clearly sees its defense role as a great power, not as a second tier force. Second, it seeks to create an international order based on equity, around the security council of the UN and its decisions where Russia has a veto. It sees China as central to its future security.And, lastly, it sees China, or more specifically the Russia-China Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a means of balancing its relations with the US, NATO and the EU. Hence, balance and cooperation over confrontation seems to be the theoretical grounding (â€Å"Global Cooperation† 2009). The mission of the Defense Department in Russia is mirrored by the two other agencies (other than finance, which are intertwined deliberately), the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry. In a speech dated January 18, 2009, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov laid out the foreign policy goals of Russia, and these consist in the following ideas:a) the rebuilding of the financial system fo the globe on a more democratic basis. The Russian government has made clear that it is the â€Å"imbalance† of the system that caused the meltdown,. Too much mon3y in too few hands, both in terms of stats and individuals is the cause of the meltdown. The post-World War II system needs to be dismantled and rebuilt on an equitable basis. b) The unilateral recognition of the â€Å"independence† of Kosovo and the US/Israeli support of Georgian aggression against the Ossetians prove the need for a real democratic world order, not one controlled by the US and its few allies.Russian intervention to repel the Georgian invasion of Ossetia (who voted for independence and union with Russia) was meant to help create the infrastructure for a new international order, since Georgia would not have invaded had the US guaranteed diplomatic support. c) Lavrov states â€Å"the era of national egoism is over. † d) he seeks what he calls a â€Å"polycentric world order. † e) and, as seen above, cooperation with the EU is as important as cooperation with China. China is not mentioned in Lavrov’s speech, which is significant (Lavarov, 2008).On the other hand, the foreign policy concept of the Russian Presidency stresses China far more than the EU. Medvedev makes the claim that China is a major, if not the major, priority of Russian foreign policy. Polycentrism is again stressed, and again, that the imbalance of the world financial system–too much money in too few hands–is the cause of the recent meltdown. Lastly, the foreign policy ideas of the new president seek to establish strong environmental standards, energy security and a price structure that is fair and steady and that all economic growth be environmentally sustainable (Medvedev, 2008).Several things derive from this comparison: there may be a coalition of defense and Presidency against the foreign ministry over the issue of China. While it remains that President Medvedev and the Defense Ministry treat China as the number one priority (and several recent summits between Peking and Moscow over military matters reflects this), Lavarov seems to think that the EU should have this role. However, these agencies seem to have more in common than anything else, and these commonalities should be taken as basic ministerial policy: Russia as a great power, polycentricity, economic democracy and basic international equality.Conclusion: Comparison of Belarus and Russia in Defense Policy It does not take a genius to figure out that both Belarus and Russia are responding to American pressure and military adventurism. Both countries are threatened by American expansionism in both the economic and military spheres. Hence, their defense ministries reflect this. And of course, since Russia and Belarus are politically and ethnically connected, as well as vulnerable to American pressure, their defense policies will overlap in several areas.However, the size differences of Russia and Belarus will also be the cause of some differences in policy, especially since Belarus makes no claim to great power status, but in fact, would like to see the concept of â€Å"great powers† disappear. The main similarities of the two defense departments are their stress on international equity and polycentricity. The world order should reflect diversity in nations and interests, not the domination of the US and its allies in world politics and finance. Both ministries would like to see drastic reductions in the arms of the world, and arms to be used solely for defense, not for offense.Both ministries see a balanced foreign polic y as central: that Asia should be used to balance Europe and Europe to balance the US. Both Belarus and Russian military brass are visiting China and Venezuela on a regular basis, and both countries have signed arms deals with Peking and Caracas. Needless to say, this is a means of balancing US hegemony and the US involvement in Iraq, Africa and the Balkans. It might be surmised that the Belarusian ministry is purely military because Belarus is small and very vulnerable. Hence, the military forces must have direct access to state power in order to act quickly.This was made especially important when threats of invasion came from the McCain presidential camp. The Russians, less vulnerable to assault and attack, can afford some space between civilian and military personnel, though the second in command of the ministry in Russia is the chief of staff. It is curious that the Minister of Defense for Russia has little military experience, but much financial experience. This suggests that t he ministry really is designed to interface with the rest of the government to create an integral policy, while actual military decisions are in the hands of the second in command, General Makarov.This sort of interfacing is certainly a good beginning for further research in this field. References: This paper used mostly primary sources in its construction. The most important were: On Belarus: (www. mod. mil. by) Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Administrative Board. † Belarusian Defense Ministry Portal. 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Legislative Basis. † Belarusian Defense Ministry Portal. 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Military Doctrine of the Republic of Belarus. † Belarusian Defense Ministry Portal. 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"The Bases of the Military Policy of the Republic of Belarus. † Belarusian Defense Ministry Portal.2009 International Monetary Fund. â€Å"The Republic of Belarus and the IMF. † Executive Board Consultation, 2009 One Secon dary Source: Global Security. â€Å"Ministry of Defense [of Belarus]. † In Defense Policy and Programs, 2008. (Globalsecurity. org) On Russia: Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Development. † In Military Insight. Published by the Russian Ministry of Defense, 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"War on Terrorism. † In Military Insight. Published by the Russian Ministry of Defense, 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Global Cooperation† In Military Insight. Published by the Russian Ministry of Defense, 2009 Ministry of Defense.â€Å"Environmental Protection† In Military Insight. Published by the Russian Ministry of Defense, 2009 Medvedev, Dimitri. â€Å"Strengthening Dynamic Partnership with the Asia-Pacific Region. † In Articles of the President of Russia. (Kremlin. ru), 2008 Lavarov, Sergei. â€Å"Transcript of Remarks and Response to Questions by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov at Press Conference on 2008 Foreign Policy Outcomes. † MFA, January 16, 2009 Ministry of Defense. â€Å"Deputy Minister of Defense for Financial and economic Issues† In Senior Officials. Published by the Russian Ministry of Defense, 2009

A Raisin in the Sun Book Review Essay

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a truly exquisite piece of literature that has influenced readers, young and old, for generations. It gives us a very realistic view of racial tension, as well as the socioeconomic struggles, African Americans faced during the late 1940s-50s. In this play we meet the Youngers, a lower-class, diverse-minded, African American family simply trying to survive in 1950s South Chicago. Together they face economic hardship, racial discrimination, and the constant struggle to keep a fragile family together as each member searches for their version of the â€Å"American Dream†. Hansberry did an excellent job in creating the Younger family to represent lower class African American families in the 1950s. The Youngers live in a rundown, two-bedroom apartment. The family consists of Mama, Walter, Ruth, Travis, and Beneatha. The economic aspect of the play is centered around the insurance check Mama will be getting for her late husband, the author uses this to create a foundation for the Youngers story; the money elicits conflict between the characters as each has their own idea on what to do with money that does not even belong to them. A major motif in this play is racism, the author allows for a bit of foreshadowing in the beginning of the play with the bombing of another African American family in Clybourne Park, a mainly white community and the area where Mama eventually buys the new family house. Hansberry uses Walter to tie these two themes together. After losing all of the money Mama gave him to invest in his business and to save for Beneatha’s college fund, he then goes to get more money by selling back Mama’s new house: he can either overcome the racism and be the man his mother always knew he could be, or he can take the money for another chance to pursue his dreams but at the same time he would essentially be selling his soul to the devil. Walter must choose to either satiate his thirst for wealth or maintain the pride of his race. Finally, Hansberry acknowledges the importance of family unity during  these times. Ruth and Mama are the two main characters attempting to hold everything together. Hansberry made these characters strong and full of hope, despite their situation in life. Created any other way and we would probably see the family fall apart as the story began to unfold. Money and racism are also huge tests on the strength of this family as they struggle through the hardships of poverty and realize the shortcomings of some of the family members. All in all, A Raisin in the Sun is a very well written book. It is written in such a way that really puts you in the cramped, living conditions with the Youngers and helps readers to understand what it meant to be a poor African American family in the 1950s. Hansberry did a great job in creating solid characters which help to develop the story smoothly and realistically. It was a play I thoroughly enjoyed reading and would readily suggest to anyone looking for a good read.

How advertising strategy for luxury brand changing to take account of Dissertation

How advertising strategy for luxury brand changing to take account of using internet for customers - Dissertation Example One of the reasons for the importance of online channel is the popularity of internet and its boundary less feature that has made the world a global village. Part of this has also been responsible due to the immense popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as sites like you tube that are extremely popular among the target market audience (Weening, 2011, p.4). The luxury goods industry is also expected to have a very deep relationship with e-commerce and internet marketing. A research report shows that most of the consumer segments for the luxury brand category are essentially net savvy and are influenced by internet marketing. The report also quotes the Chinese market that is considered to be one of the largest markets for luxury brands as an example to show the importance of internet marketing in case of luxury brands (The Levin Institute, 2011). A research report conducted by KPMG also shows that internet has been one of the factors that has been resp onsible for the growth of luxury brands especially in nations like India and China where the spirit of Westernisation and luxury brands have been propagated using the internet (Schwarz & Wong, 2006, p.31). These findings provide a sufficient reasoning behind analysing the topic of present study as internet marketing can help shape up the business prospects and fuel growth of the luxury brands in the market. Literature Review The advertising strategies for commodities pertaining to the luxury class would certainly differ from normal day to day use products. Anderson and Vincze (2006) state in this regard that advertising activities in relation to luxury products endeavour to focus more on making the product exclusive to the public eyes.... The paper tells that the advertising strategies for commodities pertaining to the luxury class would certainly differ from normal day to day use products. Anderson and Vincze state in this regard that advertising activities in relation to luxury products endeavour to focus more on making the product exclusive to the public eyes. Thus in order to reflect the exclusiveness of the product the marketing and advertising campaign in relation to such products proceeds to tie up the product image with other events like sports and also in relation to other popular luxury brands. In regards to an example it is found that how Ferrari the luxury car company in order to highlight its new models have increasingly tied up such with leading jewellery brands. Moreover in another advertising strategy using the help of billboards the company tends to reflect the new launches upon a shinning silver background. Such billboards are planted in highly popular places to attract large number of viewers. To en hance the exclusiveness of the luxury brand the marketers also tend to focus on selected target audiences rather than going over investing on mass market advertisements. This focus on selective markets helps in creating a niche market which would thereby help in enhancing the sales of the product. Luxury Brands like other common brands also was found to take resort to the use of print and visual media for the advertising of their products. Shay observes that the luxury brands in order to gain a more exclusive sphere in the consumer’s eyes carved out a more strategic approach while tending to advertise via the print media.

Organizational review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organizational review - Essay Example All these factors and a lot of other factors are discussed which allows both the employee and employer to improve the productivity of the employee which in turn improves the efficiency and profitability of the business. Wal Mart has made its place in the Fortune 500 and on the basis of revenue Wal Mart has advanced its position from the second largest company in 2006 to the largest company in 2007. This can only be possible with the help and complete satisfaction of the employees of the company. This report aims at discussing how the company builds and sustains job satisfaction among the employees. Also the main focus is going to be on the pay system that the company used and how this helps in the employee motivation to be improved. The following section will deal with the background of the company which will allow for an understanding of the kind of company Wal mart is and the extent to which the company has grown. Further this, the company and its employee will be discussed, which will help gain a brief perspective before moving on to the techniques used by the company to improve and sustain customer satisfaction. Wal-Mart has been in the industry since 1962. The company was started with a vision of becoming the world leaders in retailing. Over the past years the company has been able to gain the position of the world’s largest retail company and is thrice as big as its closest competitor. The company’s mission has always been to provide the customers with best products and services at reasonable prices. The company’s main values and beliefs are – respecting individuals, service to the customers and striving for excellence. The company’s signature for almost five decades has been ‘Everyday low prices’. The company’s main stakeholders are the shareholders, customers and employees (Wal-mart, 2008). This report

In what respects has sovereignty been redefined in the post-Cold War Essay

In what respects has sovereignty been redefined in the post-Cold War era - Essay Example The fierce cold war between United States and former Soviet Union created lot of tensions across the world during that period. The superiority of these political powers forced other countries to align towards either of them for their safety and security. At the same time, such polarization towards either of these superpowers was forced other countries to formulate their foreign policies and economic activities strictly in accordance with the interests of the superpower related to them. In other words, during cold war era, countries which sought the protection from either of the superpowers lost their sovereignty and they forced to support all the actions of the superpower under which they aligned or polarized. Thus the individuality, freedom, and identity of such countries were in question during the cold war era. Many changes happened in international politics during the post cold war era. Many countries which were once sidelined under the banner of these superpowers, started to bre athe free air and experience freedom. For example, countries like Poland, Bulgaria and Rumania were under the Soviet banner during the cold war era and after the destruction of Soviet Union, these countries started to embrace democracy and experienced the value of human rights and freedom. Such countries started to speak in their own language on international political affairs instead of speaking in the language of communism or the Soviet Union after the cold war era. They restored their sovereignty and individuality.

Marketing to consumers in saudi arabiawhich facets of their multiple Article

Marketing to consumers in saudi arabiawhich facets of their multiple identities do they use when - Article Example Despite the fact that cross border trade of various entities like people, products, ideas, etc. have resulted in cultures getting mixed up and losing their core identity, yet the foreign element in the home culture has not fully revamped the local culture anywhere in the world; the glimpse of the home culture remains there no matter how much the foreign culture influences it. However, this phenomenon does lead to the outcome that culture is no more a static variable but is dynamic and continues to grow as embedding of culture takes place. This dynamicity and the cross border trade has actually led individuals into behaving differently in a differing set of circumstances or simply put, they tend to portray different culture or cultural identities in different situations. Observations reveal that this is a major issue with immigrants in particular as they face dual challenge; adapt to the local environment and retain their identity. Subsequently, the arising phenomenon leads to the out come that consumers tend to utilize varying facets as they come across different situations. The purpose of this research is to analyze and differentiate between situations and circumstances that make consumer use one of the facets and prefer one over the other defining a varying consumer and consumption pattern. This research is to be conducted in the environment of Saudi Arabia. In particular, this research is aimed at investigating and highlighting the cultural variables that derive the process of marketing communication, perception of quality of service, and choice of consumption in the various categories of products and/or services. Consider the example of a young lady in Saudi Arabia; the first consideration when going out would be towards religious concerns in terms of meat and choice of restaurants. The same lady would definitely move beyond religious considerations when choosing an institute to study, for example. Even when the female goes towards shopping, the consideration and precedence for fashion and societal acceptability might be on the higher side. Similarl y, her attraction to an advertisement may be totally opposite to what her clothing or religion or institute depict her personality to be. Understanding, comprehending and investigating the variables that derive these patterns of choice and consumption is the underlying aim of this research. Saudi Arabia has a different and unique set of characteristics that are associated with its dynamics and other variables. Some of these are listed as below: Firstly, the population constitutes various nationals present, and some of them tend to be influential due to the background or their strength. Secondly, the fact remains that Saudi Arabia is an expatriate driven economy, and the expats there have strong affiliation with their nations as they cannot gain the citizenship status therewith. Thirdly, Saudi Arabia nationals have this tendency of traveling overseas and interacting with individuals from various customs, backgrounds, religions, cultures, norms, etc. Another point of consideration is the tremendous growth that is currently

Examining Your Communitys Source of Energy Essay - 1

Examining Your Communitys Source of Energy - Essay Example Finally, this paper estimates the energy requirement for San Diego households and therefore recommends solar energy as the best feasible renewable energy to the community mainly due to low installation and operation costs and less impact on the environment. Energy is vital lifeblood of the San Diego community since it enhances business operations, used in operating machinery, moves goods and people, makes homes comfortable and powers the infrastructures that underpin the communities. In this regard therefore, the current energy supplies as well as future demand for energy are key issues in the binational region’s future. It is also important to note that the energy choices that are made today will significantly impact on tomorrow’s environment, economy and quality of life of the residents. Policy makers must therefore ensure that energy production, transmission and distribution do not impact on the environment and quality of life of the community living in San Diego. This paper focuses on the major sources of energy that powers San Diego’s community, how they impact on the environment and the alternative sources of energy that may be viable for the community. The major energy sources for the communities within San Diego ca are natural gas contributing to about 50%, coal contributing to 18% and nuclear contribution to approximately 15% of the overall energy supply (United States Power Report, 2014). The rest are large hydro electricity 10% while renewable sources of energy amount to 8% in total (United States Power Report, 2014). The major sectors that lead in energy consumption in San Diego include transportation accounting to over sixty percent followed by household, commercial and industrial sectors. As stated by United States Power Report (2014), this is a reflection of San Diego’s economy where since most residents within the community work in private automobiles with up to two occupants thus are commuters from home to work. Generally,

Personal Masters Learning and Development Portfolio Essay

Personal Masters Learning and Development Portfolio - Essay Example Moreover, there is also a reflection on the prerequisites of achieving my goals in Mastership, in terms of both attitudes and skills. Another section presents a response to the tutor’s assessment or feedback, including what I would do differently and key improvement areas. A final section is a reflective statement about what I have learned from my attendance at Cornwall residential and how it contributed to my development. Strategic Rationale, Masters Objectivity and Self Analysis The question as to whether or not one must pursue a Master’s Degree is an issue that almost every graduate face. At times, even one who has experienced working in a certain company begins to question himself with respect to whether or not he or she must pursue a Master’s Degree. I have decided to pursue Masters Degree after my work experience in the Middle East Specialized Cables Company for six years. A number of processes were involved with respect to my decision. First, I went throug h a decision making process in order to ascertain my need for a master’s degree. I also consulted my family, most especially my wife with respect to my decision to pursue post-graduate studies. ... Simply put, I believed that pursuing a maser’s degree will open a new horizon for me. I expect it to change my limited thoughts toward open end of ideas. I would like to learn more and gain professional skills to be able to progress along my chosen career path. I would also like to obtain a work in a leading position so that I can make a good contribution in the area of business management, especially once I return to my home country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Before deciding to pursue my master’s degree, I came across a number of articles on the World Wide Web which emphasized the need for a master’s degree. Pheifer’s (2009) article entitled â€Å"Why Pursue a Masters Degree† mentioned that interest in pursuing a master’s degree is relatively increasing. This is because the acquisition thereof enables people to achieve something more which would likewise result to the accomplishment of their goals. Of course, a number of sacrifices come a long with the decision to pursue a Master’s degree – such as experiencing a major impact in one’s family ties, work and social life. Nevertheless, Pheifer (2009) elaborates that enrolling in a graduate school has a lot of merits. Aside from Pheifer’s (2009) article, I also came across ones which have been written by Faranda (n.d.) and Allison (2002). All these articles have shown me three important advantages that one may receive from pursuing a master’s degree. In sum, these advantages are as follows: (1) knowledge and perspective, (2) options and advancement and (3) societal development. In relation to knowledge and perspective, the authors previously mentioned pointed out that pursuing an advanced degree expands

Banking System in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Banking System in America - Essay Example In the United States of America, separate financial regulatory structures are in place to regulate the Insurance and financial securities aspects of the banking sector at the State and the Federal level and. these regulatory agencies are controlled by the Federal government in conjunction with the State governments. In the United States of America, there are laws that are enacted to prevent money laundering, anti-terrorism laws, laws that are meant to prevent usury lending, anti-fraud and privacy laws, and laws to promote lending of money to people with small incomes, all this fall under the banking sector. This paper discusses the performance of the banking industry in America. In effectively discussing this aspect, this paper will give the industrial characteristics of the banking sector in United States of America. It will review the pricing, efficiency and profitability of the banksin America as well as analyze environmental factors that drive the Banking sector in America and th ereafter access there impacts. This paper seeks to answer the following questions, What are the industrial characteristics of the Banking sector in United States of America? How efficient is the banking system in United States of America in providing services to its people? What are the environmental factors that influence the performance of the banking system in America and what are its implications? The banking system in America is regulated by The National Banking acts of 1863 and 1864 and they are responsible for the creation of the banking system in the United States of America and any other legislation created, needs to be in accordance to this laws. This act promoted the development of a currency that could be used all over the United States of America and it supported withholding of bank assets which includes financial securities offered by the treasury of the United States of America. The National Banking Act recognizes the office of the treasury regulator whose role is to control the value of the United States currency and ensure that banks don’t collude to manipulate the American currency, the dollar. Banks in United States of America are characterized by the notion of relationship banking. This characteristic of the United States Banking system is for the purposes of maintaining profitability . Relationship banking refers to a situation where banks provide financial services through an intermediary. In the United States of America, banks practice these aspects of financial system. The main aim of banks in applying the principles of relationship banking is to enable them acquire information about a client to be used in the long run. These aspects of banking is important because it reduces the cost of gathering information about a client through many transactions and the information gathered, banks can use them to introduce other services in the economy and finally through this system of relationship banking, banks and their clients build a re putation through constant financial interactions and therefore facilitates negotiations of low cost loans. The American banking system is also characterized by emergence of private banks. American banking system allows expansion of commercial banks opened by individuals or companies. This was made possible by the requirements of The National banking act of 1863 which allowed competition in the

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 17

Philosophy - Essay Example The criminal whom the officer did not arrest may end up harming another person. Taking a bribe is, therefore, not a good thing to do. It only benefits the officer, while harming the public or the society. Furthermore, the officer may lose his or her job. Taking of bribe will only lead to happiness within a short run, but in the long run, it will lead to grief. However, refusing a bribe is beneficial to the officer and the society. The officer will arrest the criminal, and reduce crime within the society. This leads to much happiness within the community, and chances are high that the officer may get promotions. Based on this example, carrying out an activity that leads to the happiness of the society is beneficial. This is because the effects of the action will last long, and it will also benefit the society, and the individual himself. Basing on the example of the police officer, refusing a bribe led to the reduction of crime, and also to his or her promotion. It is, therefore, important to conclude that an action that results to the general good of the society, will lead to more happiness. It is the right thing to

Learning Team Assignment Production Essay Example for Free

Learning Team Assignment Production Essay Business General Business 1. Learning Team Assignment: Production Plan for Riordan Manufacturing  · Write a paper of at least 1,050 words discussing strategic capacity planning and lean production for the new process design and supply chain process for the electric fans at Riordan.  · Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. Whatever financial assistance package pays for your first year should not be set and then forgotten. Revisit your opportunities every semester. Picking up work-study vacancies, part-time jobs on campus and getting department scholarships can all replace loans to reduce your post-graduation obligations. Never take out a loan your first year and then run it out all through college if you can get better money. This file OPS 571 Learning Team Assignment Production Plan for Riordan Manufacturing Part 4 4 includes overview of the following parts: Production Plan for Riordan Manufacturing New Process Design Lean Production Supply Chain Process Conclusion Business General Business 1. Learning Team Assignment: Production Plan for Riordan Manufacturing  · Write a paper of at least 1,050 words discussing strategic capacity planning and lean production for the new process design and supply chain process for the electric fans at Riordan.  · Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. Whatever financial assistance package pays for your first year should not be set and then forgotten. Revisit your opportunities every semester. Picking up work-study vacancies, part-time jobs on campus and getting depar A+ tutorial you will find here https://bitly.com/12CiYCx Whatever financial assistance package pays for your first year should not be set and then forgotten. Revisit your opportunities every semester. Picking up work-study vacancies, part-time jobs on campus and getting department scholarships can all replace loans to reduce your post-graduation obligations. Never take out a loan your first year and then run it out all through college if you can get better money. Business General Business 1. Learning Team Assignment: Production Plan for Riordan Manufacturing  · Write a paper of at least 1,050 words discussing strategic capacity planning and lean production for the new process design and supply chain process for the electric fans at Riordan.  · Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Pathophysiology Disease Body

Pathophysiology Disease Body Ulcerative colitis. Pathophysiology is the study of disturbance of normal mechanical, physical and biochemical functions either caused by a disease or resulting from a disease or abnormal syndrome or condition that may qualify to be called a disease. Its defined when something disrupts the normal physiology and it enters in to realm. Pathophysiology looks at the detailed malfunctioning that causes diseases. Pathophysiology deals with the how the body reacts incase of a pathogen in the digestive system. Pathophysiology of Ulcerative colitis is the most common inflammatory bowel disease affecting most people in the world and mostly in Australia. The inflammatory process of ulcerative colitis begins at the rectum area of the anal canal and progresses proximally to other body parts within the digestive system. After analyzing my patient, i found out some symptoms in him which are in ulcerative colitis. They included ; Frequent visit to the toilet with 7-8 visits during the night, diarrhea and the diarrhea p rogressed to have blood stains, loss of weight by 10 kg, loose of appetite, he was weak because of dehydration he experienced ache in the legs and this resulted to fatigue. These are the common symptoms in ulcerative colitis and this patient happened to have the symptoms after i diagnosed him. In most people the disease is confined to the rectum and sigmoid colon. Although ulcerative is untreatable, it has long-term debilitating manifestations which disrupt lifestyle. Some of the common signs and symptoms of this disease fall under two categories that is internal manifestation and external manifestation. Some examples of the internal manifestation include; include; inflammation at the base of the crypt of lieberkun in the large intestine which is connected with the inflammation on the thick lining wall of the rectum it also happen to other parts of the digesting track. It is also characterized by remissions and exacerbations involving the inflammation of the rectum and colon. Blood stained stool with mucus also is another symptom for ulcerative colitis. Abdominal pain, tiredness and weight loss, mouth ulcers, malaise and malnutrition, frequent diarrhea with small passage of blood and purulent mucus, some people experience fever in the body some patients may start vomiting or have nausea other patients may experience pain in the anus while passing stool. Chronic inflammation leads to a trophy, narrowing and shortening of the colon, with loss of its normal haustra. Pseudo polyps, tongue like projections of bowel mucosa into of the bowel regenerates. The disease is also severe in the rectum and sigmoid colon. Loss of the absorptive mucosal surface and rapid colonic transit and this causes large volumes of watery diarrhea, anemia. Many of the external manifestation may be missed as the sign of Ulcerative colitis examples of external manifestation include; joint pain oral lesions, arthritis, osteoporosis and skin manifestation e.g. Erythemanodusum. Some other external manifestation may be in the eyes and liver. Other signs are anorexia, fatigue and weakness in the body. Some people may have frequent visit to the toilets which can equate to 6 to 10 visits per day with bloody stool. All these symptoms differ with normal health because when one is healthy he or she does not visit the toilet frequently, diarrhea, has blood stool, vomit or has fatigue and weakness in the body. When the gastrointestinal is normal, digestive system is a lso good and the colon and rectum function properly. Chronic inflammatory is caused by abnormal gastrointestinal. Gastrointestinal process is important because it strengthens the mucosal lining of the rectum this results to better absorption of vital nutrients and thickening of the colon wall. After various medications failed, some of the visible effects of the current medication (cyclospororine) are; mild increase in transaminases, thrombocytopenia, and pancytopenia. This suggests that the therapy with VGC is effective against CMV in organ transplant. Also the current medication had fatigue problems the body was involved in a lot of metabolic processes and got exhausted because of that medication. This has led to general energy loss in the body as a whole. Although has negative impact to energy that is not reflected to weight has weight remained constant. The patient was not allergic to the medication and neither of his body parts responded negatively to the medication. Diarrhea has not stopped so the patient still administers predisone drug because it helps in reducing diarrhea. To avoid some of those effects the patient is supposed to medication that is suitable to his body. The medication i can recommend to the patient is the current drug because although it has so eff ects but it is helping the patient greatly. is an immunosuppressant for the treatment of the disease. Cyclosporine acts as an inhibiting lymphocyte which is important for propagation of inflammation. Apart from other immunosuppressive agent, this medication does not suppress the activity of other hamatopoetic cells References

Organizational Psychology :: Graduate Admissions Essays

Organizational Psychology I worked throughout high school and college. Consequently, I know the frustration of squandered effort, perceived inequities in reward systems, and lack of job satisfaction. I also know the triumph of excellent performance, intrinsic job satisfaction, and the piece of mind that accompanies work well designed. The ultimate goal of Industrial/Organizational Psychology is to reduce the margin that exists between how people could feel about their work, and how people do feel about their work; while integrating the organization's and the individual's needs. Because of my varied work experience, I am able to offer strength and diversity to your program. Before attending the University of Northern Iowa, I was employed in the music industry, construction, restaurant management, and sales. I view these years as invaluable, as they have shaped my motives, compelled me to appreciate the need for goal orientation, and allowed me to experience the triumphs and frustrations of the "real" world. Consequently, I entered my college career with a strong sense of purpose. This sense of purpose is reflected in my activities relevant to Industrial/Organizational Psychology, which have been under the continuous and invaluable guidance of Dr. Dave Whitsett, Professor of I/O Psychology, University of Northern Iowa. In January of 1993, I approached the Human Resource Department of John Deere Tractor Assembly Division, Waterloo, Iowa, with the intention of gaining hands-on experience in a manufacturing setting. I have, under the supervision of Marshal C. Chesmore, Senior Human Resource Representative, researched Self-Directed Work Groups and served on the "Changing Role of the Supervisor" committee. I am continuing my involvement by serving on a subcommittee responsible for developing a training needs analysis for the Central Training Division of John Deere Waterloo Works. Feeling a need to diversify my experience, I approached GMAC Mortgage of Waterloo, Iowa, about the possibility of a credited internship. I am currently reviewing their personnel processes via interviews with appropriate personnel and examination of existing documentation. This project will culminate in a modal description of these processes, and recommendation for process/organizational modification. I have prepared myself academically for advanced graduate study in I/O Psychology through relevant college course work, such as Organizational Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Principles of Psychological Testing, Statistics for Psychology, and Research Methods in Psychology. I have conducted research, under Dr. Augustine Osman, Clinical Psychologist, University of Northern Iowa, on the psychometric properties of the "Inventory of College Students in Recent Life Experience.

Was Mozart the Greatest Composer Ever? :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Was Mozart the Greatest Composer in History?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has to be the greatest composer to ever live. He and his sister were both considered very gifted child prodigies. He started composing music when he was four and he started to write minuets by the age of five. When Mozart was around eight or nine, he started to write symphonies. Mozart also played quite a few instruments. When he was three years old he was already playing the harpsichord. He also was very talented on the keyboard and played the violin very well. Mozart was so naturally gifted when it came to music that when he was blindfolded, he was able to recognize the played notes. This was said that he had â€Å"perfect pitch.† Another reason why he has to be the greatest composer is that he had the ability to write all the notes of the Miserere score from memory. His first opera was performed when he was eleven years old. It would only take him about two weeks to write an entire symphony or concerto. How many composers can do a n entire piece in such little amount of time? He wrote twenty seven piano concerti, which he also invented. Mozart was never a very healthy person, in fact, he was suffering some sort of illness. I believe that this makes him even more admirable because doing anything when your health isn’t good just makes things even more difficult. One time Mozart gave a series of twenty two piano concerts and conducted a few of them in a five week period. After his father died he became very depressed and his music turned dark and depressing as well. This makes him great because he would write from his heart and that showed in his music. He wouldn’t let a setback like his fathers death keep him from doing what he loves which is composing music. Mozart never stuck to one genre, he wrote many different types of music such as concertos, symphonies, and German style operas to name a few.

Comparing Home in Richard Fords I Must Be Going and Scott Sanders Hom

Comparing Home in Richard Ford's I Must Be Going and Scott Sander's Homeplace Most people define home as a comfortable setting which provides love and warmth. In Scott Sanders â€Å"Homeplace† and Richard Ford’s â€Å"I Must Be Going† the concept of home is defined in two different ways. Sanders believes that by moving from place to place, the meaning of home has been diminished. Sanders believes that America’s culture â€Å"nudges everyone into motion† (Sanders 103) and that his â€Å"longing to become an inhabitant rather than a drifter† (103) is what sets him apart from everyone else. Ford prefers to stay on the move. His argument is life’s too short to settle in one place. He believes home is where you make it, but permanence is not a requirement. Sanders argues that â€Å"in our national mythology, the worst fate is to be trapped on a farm, in a village, or in some unglamorous marriage† (Sanders 102). Ford is a prime example of someone who believes this myth. In all of Ford’s moves from place to place, he has been in search of something better. He says that all of his moving is a result of â€Å"longing that overtakes me like a fast car on the freeway and makes me willing to withstand a feeling of personal temporariness† (Ford 109). Ford acts on his feelings without realizing that he will only be there for a short time. Sanders associates yearning for some other place as being wrong. He quotes Henry Thoreau saying, â€Å"The man who is often thinking that it is better to be somewhere else than where he is excommunicates himself† (104). Ford does believe staying in one place is normal, â€Å"One never moves without an uneasiness that staying is the norm† (110). However, Ford blam es growing up in Jackson, Mississippi as his reason for wil... ...t people Rushdie mentions here. Ford is the person who â€Å"roots† himself in ideas because he is always looking for that special place but can never find it. Sanders would rather commit himself to one spot because he feels any one place is as good as any. Sanders gains this mentality based on the discoveries of Copernicus and that Earth is not the center of the universe. He believes, â€Å"any point is as good as any other for observing the world† (Sanders 103). Ford finds no truth in this statement as he continues to move â€Å"toward someplace we badly need to go† (Ford 111). Works Cited Sanders, Scott â€Å"Homeplace.† Seeing and Writing. Donald McQuade and Christine Mcquade. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2000. 101-104 Ford, Richard â€Å"I Must Be Going† Seeing and Writing. Donald McQuade and Christine McQuade. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 109-111

Romanticism Paper

The art of romanticism evolved during sass's, The art focuses on different human emotions, natural environment, a person's experience, differences among people, traditional way of life and on the unique talent that every artist possess. The art of romanticism is present in literary works, poetry, performing arts, and music. During the period of romanticism, poetic creations were focused on nature's attractiveness and individual experiences in a locality. One illustration is the â€Å"Song of Myself†, a poem created by Walt Whitman.In this poem, he compared nature with errors like things and other beings. One of the lines Is crafted this way, â€Å"My tongue every atom of my blood, and form from this soil, this air. † What Whitman wrote was based on his own individual experience but it speaks about no particular person. This kind of art shows feelings not only through the written words but also through the imagination that the reader has at the time that one reads the po em. Paintings during the romanticism period show liberty in social and artistic laws.The capacity of colors and lines were maximized to give the painting creation a unique and emotional theme. One painting that portrays a true to life story is the â€Å"Execution of the Citizens of Madrid†, The portrait showed how Madrid forces opposed the army of Napoleon who were invading their country. Upon scrutinizing the portrait it is not difficult to pinpoint the details that the painter wants to emphasize. It is clear that a man wearing a white shirt was about to be killed.Dark red, orange, and black colors were also used to show the negative and heavy feelings that the Individuals felt during that period. Geometric figures were also utilized to enhance the image shown in the painting. Through color blending and figure organization, the romanticism painters were able to showcase emotions and events in their art creations. Dance movements during the romanticism period show emotions th rough the different coordination. Ballet is one of famous dance movement that was developed during that time.Two major persons behind the development of romanticism dance are Audiophile Gaudier and Carlo Blasts. Gaudier is both a poet and a critic. He once said that dance was a visual performance that depicts attractive creations through graceful movements. For him, dancing is an art like how painting and sculptures ere classified as art works. On the other hand, Carol's disposition on dancing is particular and procedural. For him, dancing is a combination of structure, position, and training. Ballet, for example has to have the starting point, the climax, and an ending.He is not giving his dancers the option to create their own set of movements but all of them have to adhere to what his rules are. His dancers would have to portray the emotions that Carlo wants them to portray. Gaudier is different. He wants his dancers to think outside the box to create a unique coordination. Gaudi er allows is dancers to freely express themselves though dance movements and for him, it is where art is. Both of them have their own point of view about how dancing should be called an art and their contributions in the field were considered significant.Symphonies, piano, and opera are few of the music that was developed during the romanticism period. Beethoven was one of the significant persons during romanticism period in the field of music. He was a classical composer and was well- rounded in creating a piece out of the different instrumental sounds. His pieces were loud and full of energy. A person listening to his creation would imagine watching a dramatic play or feeling uneasy for an intensified problem. An opera can both have a serene and piercing theme.This depends on the song and the instruments being used. Opera music is not a stand-alone art. It can be played during a ballet performance or during a stage play. Opera can enhance the emotional expressions that an act shou ld portray. To give a concrete example, imagine an act during a storm; the opera singer will sing a fast and loud song to add intensity to the act. If the act is at a lake with a swan, the opera singer will sing in a slow and calm tone to ad peacefulness to the scene. Playing piano can enhance the imagery of a particular scene.Even if it is played alone, the sound that a piano creates can stimulate emotions of the listeners. Indeed, the music during the romanticism era creates a variety of moods. To sum up, the period of romanticism focuses on expressions and moods. The art in the field of music, painting, poetry and dancing were greatly affected by the art evolution during this era. These effects can be seen from different works that were introduced during the period. Reference Spore, D. J. 0. Reality Through The Arts

Analysis and comparison of the presentation of the prologue Essay

The prologue is the introduction, which gives an overview of the play. It tells us what happens at the end of the play, in this case in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ it is told in the introduction, for example the lines, ‘a pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life’, ‘doth with their death bury their parents strife’. These two lines say that Romeo and Juliet both deep in love with each other, die at the end of the play, the reason being that their parents hated each other. It also sets the scene of ‘Fair Verona’ and it explains the contents of the play, ‘Two households’, and ‘break to new mutiny’. The prologue is said by the chorus. This means it is an idea of a group of people taken from ancient Greek tradition. The prologue does not introduce the audience to the characters in the play; it just talks briefly about the events within the play. A prologue at the beginning of a play is a style commonly used by Shakespeare to open up a play. It is also common that Shakespeare uses the use of a sonnet to produce the prologues. A sonnet always has fourteen lines in total. It is a very precise piece of poetry. The rhyme scheme is very tight and controlled- a,b,a,b,c,d,c,d,e,f,e,f,g,g. They consist of three quatrains with a final rhyming couplet. It is very controlled, yet very subtle. You would tend to notice the story telling first and then later realise that it is a poem with rhythm. There are ten syllables in each line, a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. It is self consciously dramatic. It emphasises its purpose in telling the story, ‘Is now the two hour’s traffic of our stage. ‘ It directly tells the audience to pay attention, ‘The which if you with patient ears attend, what here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend,’ and the play will develop from what the prologue has been revealing. In Franco Zefirelli’s production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the prologue is very brief and short. The film starts off with the details, the opening credits. The font to the credits is in white and in a quite gothic style of writing making it fit in with the traditional theme. While the details are slowly appearing on the screen, around the screen there is a thin border of orange geometric shapes on a yellow background. As the border is so bright and colourful, it is able to immediately catch the audience’s eyes and therefore grabs their attention. The border suggests a very sixties styles. You would probably expect a more formal, dark edged kind of border. A soft and slow melody played on a harpsichord plays quietly in the background. The effect that Zefirelli tries to create here is to create a nice calm beginning to the play. In shot one, you can see the camera panning over the city of ‘Fair Verona’ and slightly out of focus. The light is blue and hazy, gradually brightening up as the camera pans, suggesting that it is dawn. The colour of the light in the sky shining over the city, creates a dreamy and peaceful effect, and adds to the beauty of the city that is being shown. You could only just make out the tops of tall buildings and churches at first, but as it gradually gets lighter, the buildings and other features become more into focus. The rooftops of houses, church spires and a river are seen clearly. You are able to feel the quietness of the city in the early morning, which again gives the effect of the city being very calm and peaceful. The camera pans round the whole city, and then moves up towards the sun and stop with the sun being directly in the middle of the screen shot. The sun suggests the hot foreign climate of a hot foreign country, such as Italy. Shakespeare’s name appears when the camera has stop panning and focused on the sun. All of this equals one continuos shot. The panning is slow, and the brightening of the day is slow, creating a slow pace to the shot. It gives me the impression of a slow climax to the prologue, getting more and more intense as it goes along, and stopping at the sun gives me the impression that it represents the end, with an either tragic end or a very happy end. I think that it is trying to relate to the whole play itself, with the gradual climax with an intense ending. Throughout shot one, the speaker slowly recites the prologue in a poetic style. He speaks slowly going with the steady flow of the slow motion of the panning of the camera, so that it would not effect the background’s creation of peace. The speaker of the prologue is a man whose voice is gentle, soothing and rhythmic as he echoes the prologue. He still speaks when going into the second shot. Shot two is of a medieval courtyard. In front of the courtyard there is the city wall with battlements made of stone and brick, which gives the impression of the setting being in the medieval times. The camera stops moving and shows the shot of the courtyard while the speaker finishes reciting the prologue. As he completes his speech of the prologue, the camera moves slightly round to the left, which shows that where the camera is next to the city wall, it is also one of the ends of a busy marketplace. The sun’s golden bright morning light shines over the city wall and through the street of the marketplace, representing that it is the start of a new day. The sound of the hustle and bustle of a busy marketplace gradually builds up and the first act of the first scene begins there. This effect is to bring in the play with a more calm start and not rushing into the play with a different shot, bringing the audience into a slow and calm beginning. Zefirelli does not create any huge special effects. The title of the play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ appears as the speaker says the words ‘star-crosse’d lovers’. Zefirelli’s purpose of having the title and the words ‘star-crosse’d lovers’ coming up at the same time, is to reinforce visually and aurally the main point of the play that it is a tragic story about the lovers Romeo and Juliet. Baz Luhrmann’s version of the prologue is done in much more detail and is emphasised a huge amount more. Luhrmann tries to grab the attention of the audience with very fast moving screen shots and very lively music. The first shot that comes up on the screen is of a TV with a blank screen, and the distance between the camera and the TV is very far, making the TV look very small in the distance. The first sound is the fuzziness of a TV, and then on the screen of the TV, the opening credits are displayed on white tiles with a black background. The contrast between the colours gives a very sharp effect. This gives a very different first effect on the audience compared to Zefirelli’s opening shot. Luhrmann’s first shot of the bold white tiles with a black background, gets the audience’s attention straight away. After the credits, a female newsreader appears on the TV screen, and she reads aloud the prologue. She says the prologue like reading aloud a news report rather than in a poetic sonnet way. This makes the prologue subtle and it makes the audience think twice before realising that it is the prologue that she is saying. The subtle speaking of the prologue differs with Zefirelli’s make of the prologue being obvious to opening up the film. Beside the newsreader in the background, there is a small picture with some text underneath it. As the camera is in the far distance, it makes it hard to see what the picture and text are, which makes the audience wonder what it is. While the newsreader is saying the prologue, the camera subtly zooms in directly towards the screen, and the picture in the corner gradually comes into focus. The picture is of a broken ring with the text underneath it saying ‘Star cross’d lovers’. The symbolism of the broken ring is that the lovers end up being torn away from each other. After the newsreader says the twelfth line of the prologue, the camera suddenly picks up speeds and zooms right into the TV screen, through a high street. At the same time the words, ‘Fair Verona’ constantly flashes up in white with a black background. From the zooming, it has merged from one background into another. This sudden pick up of speed would as if wake up the audience and shocking them as the screen had suddenly gone from one shot to another. This is very unlike Zefirelli’s presentation of the prologue, as he keeps his prologue simple and calm all the way through, whereas Luhrmann uses the effect of zooming and flashing words up creating a dramatic scene. The reason of flashing the words, ‘Fair Verona’ while the camera rushes down the high street, is to make the audience understand the comparison and realise exactly how ‘fair’ Verona really is in his version of the film. It shows a decaying urban landscape contradicting ‘fair Verona’. The font style of the writing is bold like Arial, and is in block capitals, making it clear to the audience what it says. In Zefirelli’s, as the camera pans over the city, you can see that Verona is very pretty and fair, as the prologue says it is. As the camera reaches the end of the street, the camera is suddenly focused on the face of a statue, which was far in the distance from where the zooming into the street began. Very dramatic music starts to be played loudly, which produces a bigger effect on grabbing the audience’s attention. The camera then pulls back to view the tops of two corporate buildings with the statue in the middle. The buildings have big signs on the top of them. They are the names of the two households, Capulet and Montague. They are in different colours, Capulet in red and Montague in blue. The differences in the colours emphasise the difference between the two. The effect of having the statue splitting the two buildings up is to make the point clear, that the two households need something or someone to keep them apart to avoid causing major trouble in the city, as they absolutely despise each other. The statue shown actually represents Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who is trying to control the families and bringing some peace to the city. In Zefirelli’s version, the point that the two families cannot stand each other is not emphasised. As the prologue is said in the same tone and way all the way through and the pictures are just of how fair Verona is, does not give a definite and clear point that the two households are major enemies. Luhrmann makes it visual to the audience, the hate between the two families. The next part of the introduction to Luhrmann’s production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, is of a rapid chain of clips from one to the other including clips of police cars with ‘VBPD’ on the side of them standing for ‘Verona Beach Police Department’. This is shown to tell the audience that this is ‘Verona Beach’ and not fair ‘Verona’. The chain of clips also includes clips of helicopters, clips of the disaster from different viewpoints, some far up in the sky, some close up to casualties who were injured, and the damage done to the city by this one disaster brought up because of the hate between the Capulets and the Montagues. The disaster is emphasised in this rapid succession of clips, to stress how much damage can be caused by one incident done by the two families. It also makes the audience think and imagine if this one incident caused so much damage, the amount of damage that they probably had done to the city in the past and what would be done in the future. The prologue is said once again while another variety of images using other media of newspaper articles and magazine covers appear. This time, the prologue is said by a character whom is actually in the play, referring to how the prologue is traditionally said by the chorus. The character who speaks the prologue is Friar Lawrence, and he says it in a poetic way, and this time the rhythm of a sonnet is emphasised. A man with a soft, gentle and low voice speaks the prologue like it is in Zefirelli’s production. This is one similarity that the two productions have. As he speaks, some words of the prologue is emphasised by magazine headlines appearing, using the effect of spinning one on top of the other. The headlines include ‘New Mutiny’ and ‘Civil Blood Makes Civil Hands Unclean’. These headlines are to tell the audience and remind them the symbolism and reasoning behind each word in the prologue. There is also a faint background of burning flames when these headlines appearing as if showing the damage done. The images however, some are of like modern day newspapers and magazines. The camera slowly pans through a rack of different covers, and the headline of each newspaper and magazine are all referring to the feud caused between the two households, emphasising that they produce big issues in the city. Other images in this group of images include police taking charge of the situation in a live kind of view, showing how fast the police and other services had to respond to reduce the risk of more damage happening. The police and fire departments had to work into the night with the clearing up of the situation. This is known as the images are taken from broad daylight into the dark night. These images give the audience a visual understanding of how bad it is of the two households hating each other, which can cause so many innocent people in the city to be harmed. As the speaking of the prologue comes to an end, with the two lines ‘A pair of star cross’d lovers, take their life’ with the lines shown in white writing on a black background. This effect by now would be recognised by the audience by now as it had been used before to state the words ‘Fair Verona’. This effect of repeating jogs the audience’s memories reminding them again and again the importance of the lines in the prologue. As the prologue stops being spoken, the same dramatic music becomes loud again. Each of the main characters are shown one by one with a pause on each with the text describing who each of the characters are and how they are either related to Romeo or Juliet or what the purpose of the character is in the film. This presentation of the character echoes the style of how it was done in famous program called ‘Dallas’. In Zefirelli’s version, the characters were not introduced and the film got right into the first scene once the prologue was spoken. A shot of Romeo looking through the narrow gap of a door appears, and then the camera immediately changes its angle to show what he see, which is a church aisle with blue neon crosses and candles. The angles that these two shots were taken were both through a narrow opening of the door. The first shot was taken from the inside of the church looking at Romeo, the man standing outside the door, and the second shot was taken from the outside of the door looking into the church. It emphasises what Romeo had seen, which the audience can assume is Juliet lying on the alter at the end of the aisle, Romeo thinking that she had really died. It also symbolises with that it was the conclusion and the end, viewing Romeo and the crosses, show that they were linked together and producing the idea of death. There was one more series of fast moving clips and a rush of lines as a final wind up to the prologue. There are a variety of different clips of things that happen from the beginning of the play to the end. The repeating of the clips again and again produce permanent images into the minds of the audience. The prologue ends with the words ‘take their life’ and move onto the first act. The words ‘take their life’ are stated to tell the audience that the story line would conclude with something relevant to it. I think that it is a new technique Luhrmann has used. He uses the technique of grabbing the attention of the audience and makes them concentrate. The prologue being reinforced by being presented for the third time, does not makes the audience get bored and tire of the clips being seen and seen again, but make them more excited about the film. I think that both Zefirelli and Luhrmann were trying to represent ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in a different way, with different techniques. The prologue was of course interpreted differently. Zefirelli presented the prologue in his production in a gentle and calm way all the way through giving the audience a good idea of the peace and beauty of Verona. Luhrmann of course presented the prologue in a different way, almost a complete contrast to what Zefirelli did. He changed ‘Fair Verona’ into urban sprawled Verona. I think that the presentations of the prologue were both appropriate for their interpretations because Zefirelli wanted to keep his production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ original and alike Shakespeare. Luhrmann wanted to interpret the play into something slightly more modern and unlike Shakespeare’s original version. In Luhrmann’s production he emphasised the complications between the two households and the alterations he had made to the film, like how he set his production in an urban city and called it ‘Verona Beach’ instead of setting it in the original city of Verona in Italy.

The Role of the Quantity Surveying Profession within the contemporary Built Environment

Before discussing the role of the quantity surveyor, it’s very important to get an idea about the built environment where the quantity surveyor works. Simply the built environment means human made buildings, cities, roads and surroundings etc.. that could provide an environment for their activities. The concept of the built environment was introduced in Greece in many centuries ago in the process of developing their cities using grid plans. But the modern concept of built environment is far more complex than that. Considering the contemporary built environment, with huge increase of the population in the world over the last century human desires are risen up and became more complicated. Similarly necessity to have houses, cities, roads, which is called built environment, has become compulsive aspect of human life. Since the Quantity Surveyor is a significant character of constructing that built environment, he/she has to play a vital role in it. The Origin of the Quantity Surveying What is the quantity surveying? According to the Seeley (1997), Quantity Surveying is a profession which would prepare an accurate bill of quantities to be priced by tendering contractors and who would measure and value any variations that might occur during the progress of the works. But when considering the history of this profession, the origin of quantity surveying carries us way back to the 17th century. In 1666 after the Great Fire, London was under restoration process it needed huge no. of workers like masons, carpenters and other tradesmen. Before the 1666 all the workers mentioned above got paid daily basis. But the large amount of labor needed to restore the city after the fire, it made governors to think twice and decided to pay each worker for the quantity of work they had done. It meant on behalf of the salary workers had been paid for the amount of carpentry, masonry and other works they had done. Therefore one person had to read the drawings of the buildings and take off the quantity of work each and every trade in the construction and at the same time he had to prepare an estimate for the total cost. And the Quantity Surveying profession was evolved to the current status after that incidence. History of the Quantity Surveying In early 70’s there was a misunderstanding about the profession that believing the â€Å"valuation† and the â€Å"measurement† are covering the whole area of quantity surveying. Therefore quantity surveying profession was highlighted only for its â€Å"Technical† role throughout that period. But measurement and valuation are only two functions performed by quantity surveyors. Because of this nature, many people believed that the functions done by the quantity surveyor can be undertaken by any person or machine that can perform arithmetic calculations, like a computer. â€Å"The QS is not a necessity in the order of things. Any convenient and cheap method of multiplying drawings and specifications and placing copies in the hands of each estimator would answer the same purpose and get rid of the QS for good† (Anon, 1889 cited in Wood, 2008). Changing roles of Quantity Surveying Despite all the above doubts quantity surveying profession was survived and presently regarded as one of the most expensive profession in the construction industry. Also quantity surveying is being known as a dynamic profession and its skills section had gone for different changes over the last decade or so. Smith (2004) mentioned that the quantity surveying profession has faced to considerable changes over the last decade in terms of scope and the type of contributions provided within and outside the construction process. Ashworth (1981) pointed out the changing role of the quantity surveyor in recent past has been significant. Traditional roles of Quantity Surveying Quantity Surveyor Is the person who giving advices and preparing documents regarding cost estimating and financial section of the construction process. Thirty years ago the role of quantity surveyor was to prepare Bill of Quantities and providing Final Accounts only. â€Å"The traditional role of quantity surveyor is the professional who provides advice about cost and financial management for the construction process. The traditional services provided are considered to be of a technical basis, such as preparing the cost plan and the bills of quantities, tender documentation and tender appraisal, interim payments, measuring and valuing variations, advising on anticipated final costs and preparing the final account† (Burnside and Westcott, 1999). Competencies of Quantity Surveying Quantity surveyors are also well known as a construction economists who perform various and wide range of duties to support the cost effective construction projects. The core competencies of quantity surveying profession such as determining the budgets of projects, measuring project quantities, preparing Bills of Quantities, cost control documents, administrating contracts, and preparing final accounts, etc.. should be maintained and enhanced in order to adapt to changes in many areas of the construction industry since the quantity surveyor’s success depends not only the skills which he/she has. Practitioners need to be far more adaptable and willing to change their standard work practices than in the past (Smith, 2004). Also the RICS has introduced and highlighted some basic and optional core competencies that required of quantity surveyors to enhance their ability to face the varying construction industry and they are as follows. Competencies required of Quantity Surveyors for professional Competency (RICS) Basic competencies Core competencies Optional competencies Personal and interpersonal skills Construction contract practice Arbitration & other dispute resolution procedures Business skills Construction technology and environmental services Development appraisal Data, information and information technology Economics of construction Facilities management Professional practice Procurement and financial management Insolvency Law Insurance Measurement Project management Mapping Property investment funding Research methodologies and techniques Valuation Taxation allowances & grants Apart from that, Information Technology has made huge impact on quantity surveying profession as though it is spread out all over the construction industry. Smith (2004; 2006) keep emphasized that all the professionals should have the knowledge of how to use the AUTOCAD properly and accurately and be an expertise in the field of construction without delaying. (Odeyinka, 2008) Stated that, commercially developed software packages are available worldwide to improve the performance of quantity surveyors. Frei, (2009) also stated that with the intention of developing the productivity and high performance of the industry it is necessary to invest in information technology (IT) and information communication technology (ICT). RICS (1991) In 1990s and 2000s, Quantity Surveyors should be more innovative, more pro-active and more mobile to solve the problems and the changing of client requirements. New skills and services will be progressively developed from continuous research and developments of new techniques. Evolving roles of Quantity Surveying The quantity surveying profession has been able to evolve and diversify into new areas of practicing, providing a wider range of services, with the modern quantity surveyor covering all aspects of project cost management, procurement and contract management (Lee, Trench and Willis 2011) (Menaha Thayaparan, et.al2011) â€Å"Deviating from its traditional â€Å"technical† role, during mid-80’s RICS has promoted the role of the Quantity Surveyor as â€Å"the Building Economist†, â€Å"Cost Engineer†, â€Å"Procurement consultant† and as a â€Å"Cost Consultant† (RICS, 1986; RICS, 1991). These roles have attributed more of a â€Å"managerial† image to the quantity surveying profession.† Since that dynamic nature of the profession, it has been shaped up to provide timely needs such as cost and value management, project management, procurement consultant, quality management, risk management, arbitration, and many more non-traditional services of the construction industry without limiting to its narrow scope. QSBC (2009) Has been suggested that the role of the quantity surveyor has outspread over time beyond its main scope of financial based concerns not only to cover the knowledge of values, cost, labor and materials, but also to include legal and contractual matters, like wise being a consultants on construction business and also has to be concern about developers, the government, contractors and the general project management. According to the facts which I have discussed so far, it has declared that Quantity Surveyors not only have to perform traditional roles by offering traditional services nevertheless also have to play contemporary roles by granting non-traditional or additional services to fill up the demand of this innovative and mutable construction industry. Apart from those cost concerned aspects discussed above, quantity surveyors are also needed to be conversant in construction management and procurement, contractual administration and legal aspects of construction within the modern built environment. Therefore it’s important to discuss about management knowledge of quantity surveyor which gives the ability to adapt to divers conditions and to solve problems emerge in financial and contractual sectors which are very unique for each and every construction projects. In the recent past years it has been not rare for quantity surveyors to widen their scope of profession and put themselves in a position of project manager with the amount of experience they have got. The importance of the Project Management is growing worldwide and it has huge impact on productivity and quality of the project. By using this art of leading and coordinating material and human resources in construction process called project management, Quantity surveyor will be able to complete project on time within the budget. â€Å"Is a quantity surveyor an estimator, contract manager or project manager? The short answer to this question is yes, yes and yes. People from a quantity surveying background may find working environment compatible with any of those roles because the training qualifications acquired from the quantity surveying create the pathways† (Donald Towey ,2012, pp.110) It is possible to list about 5 main evolved roles of the quantity surveying profession from the information mentioned above. 1. Client advocate and representative 2. Construction designing and economics 3. Construction planning and procurement 4. Construction administration and management 5. Project management Emerging roles of Quantity Surveying Not limiting to discussing about the changes that already has made an impact on the profession, it’s better to address about changes which are going to happen in near future to the quantity surveying profession. Due to the latest economic climate over the world, there are very fewer resources available to commence new building projects. But it has become viable with the finding of new ways to handle building project more cost-efficiently by modern quantity surveyors who has given the traditional and contemporary monetary roles. Whence, future changes of quantity surveying profession seem to be more compulsive and its influence to the construction industry should be more explored by the quantity surveyors. Sustainability, whole life costing and the building information modeling (BIM) are the three main emerging roles of quantity surveying profession. When it comes to the whole life costing, it is a technique that use intentionally to improve efficiency, sustainability and also it provides clear information to the client whether the project is going to be financially viable or not after built. Calculating the costs of building and the items included for its whole life is called whole life costing assessment. By carrying these assessments prior to any other works which has been taken into count maintenance, operational and demolition costs of the project with the consideration of the inflation, client will be able to get best value for his money. The concept of sustainable construction is becoming more significant in the world as we are trying to bring down the environmental pollution and the greenhouse gases globally. By using recycled material, installing innovative natural sourced systems (solar systems) and introducing efficient material, labor and waste management, Sustainability can be admitted to the construction industry. Building Information Modeling (BIM) compares all details about projects design and its construction and operation process to meet the maximum efficiency at any stage of the project by using a computer generated model. (BIMIWG 2011) Furthermore, capability of identifying number of variations in design and compare them with traditional measures in a second, reduces the workload of the quantity surveyor. Also the changes has being made to quantity surveying profession with BIM is enforced by the UK government as 3D-BIM modeling will be essential component of every project by 2016. (BIMIWG 2011) Conclusion In brief, this report has done a critical discussion on traditional and contemporary roles of quantity surveying, origin and history of the profession, key and core competencies of quantity surveying and also changing, evolved and emerging roles of quantity surveying profession. Due to the changing nature of client’s and the market demand the quantity surveying profession has evolved continuously during recent decades. Clients not only ask for traditional services but also request for nontraditional services like project management, procurement, construction administration in contemporary built environment. Also there are some emerging aspects like whole life costing assessments, sustainability and BIM that could add more changes to the quantity surveying profession in near future. Therefore, in order to develop their skills and practice Quantity Surveyors should be well aware of these changes and has to adapt to them quickly.

Mgc1 Study Guide

Strategic Management (Chapters 4 & 9) 1. Identify elements of the external environment and internal resources of the firm to analyze before formulating a strategy. a. External Environment: Industry and market analysis (industry profile, growth, and forces), Competitor analysis, Political and Regulatory analysis, Social analysis, Human Resources analysis, Macroeconomics analysis, and Technological analysis. Also forecasting future trends b. Internal Resources: Financial analysis, marketing audit, operations analysis, other internal resources analysis (such as research and development, management information systems, engineering and purchasing. ), human resources assessment. 2. Define core competencies and explain how they provide the foundation for business strategy. a. Core Competencies: A unique skill and/ or knowledge an organization possesses that gives it an edge over competitors. A core competence is something a company does especially well relative to its competitors. b. Think of core competencies as the roots of competitiveness and products as the fruits. c. It can provide a sustainable advantage if it is valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and well organized. 3. Summarize the types of choices available for corporate strategy. a. Concentric i. focuses on a single business competing in a single industry. b. Vertical Integration i. involves expanding the domain of the organization into supply channels or to distributors. Vertical integration generally is used to eliminate uncertain-ties and reduce costs associated with suppliers or distributors. . Concentric Diversification i. involves moving into new businesses that are related to the company’s original core business. ii. Often companies such as Marriott pursue a strategy of concentric diversification to take advantage of their strengths in one business to gain advantage in another. Because the businesses are related, the products, markets, technologies, or capabilities used in one business can be transferred to another. Success in a concentric diversification strategy requires adequate manage-ment and other resources for operating more than one business. d. Conglomerate Diversification i. a corporate strategy that involves expansion into unrelated businesses. For example, General Electric Corporation has diversified from its original base in electrical and home appliance products to such wide- ranging industries as health, finance, insurance, truck and air transportation, and even media, with its ownership of NBC. Typically, companies pursue a conglomerate diversification strategy to minimize risks due to market fluctuations in one industry. 4. Discuss how companies can achieve competitive advantage through business strategy. . Two different business strategies generally lead to gaining a competitive advantage: Low Cost Strategies and Differentiation Strategies b. Low Cost Strategy: Businesses using a low- cost strategy attempt to be efficient and offer a standard, no- frills product. (i. e. Walmart and Southwest Airlines). To succeed, an organization using this strategy generally must be the cost leader in its industry or market segmen t. However, even a cost leader must offer a product that is acceptable to customers compared with competitors’ products. c. Differentiation Strategy: With a differentiation strategy, a company attempts to be unique in its industry or market segment along some dimensions that customers value. This unique or differentiated position within the industry often is based on high product quality, excellent marketing and distribution, or superior service. (i. e. Nordstrom’s commitment to quality and customer service). The most competitive strategy is one that competitors are unwilling or unable to imitate. 5. Describe the keys to effective strategy implementation. a. Step 1: Define strategic tasks. Articulate in simple language what a particular business must do to create or sustain a competitive advantage. Define strategic tasks to help employees understand how they contribute to the organization, including redefining relationships among the parts of the organization. b. Step 2: Assess organization capabilities. Evaluate the organization’s ability to implement the strategic tasks. A task force typically interviews employees and managers to identify specific issues that help or hinder effective implementation. Then the results are summarized for top management. In the course of your career, you will likely be asked to participate in a task force. c. Step 3: Develop an implementation agenda. Management decides how it will change its own activities and procedures; how critical interdependencies will be managed; what skills and individuals are needed in key roles; and what structures, measures, information, and rewards might ultimately support the needed behavior. A philosophy statement, communicated in terms of value, is the outcome of this process. d. Step 4: Create an implementation plan. The top management team, the employee task force, and others develop the implementation plan. The top management team then monitors progress. The employee task force continues its work by providing feedback about how others in the organization are responding to the changes. e. *Strategy must be supported by structure, technology, human resources, rewards, information sys-tems, culture, leadership, and so on. Ultimately, the success of a plan depends on how well employees at low levels are able and willing to implement it. Participative management is one of the more popular approaches executives use to gain employees’ input and ensure their commitment to strategy implementation. . The 6 Barriers to Strategy Implementation (or Silent Killers) a. Top- down or laissez-faire senior management style: With the top team and lower levels, the CEO/ general manager creates a partnership built around the development of a compelling business direction, the creation of an enabling organizational context, and the delegation of authority to clearly accountable individuals and teams. b . Unclear strategy and conflicting priorities: The top team, as a group, develops a statement of strategy, and priorities that members are willing to stand behind are developed. c. An ineffective senior management team: The top team, as a group, is involved in all steps in the change process so that its effectiveness is tested and developed. d. Poor vertical communication: An honest, fact- based dialogue is established with lower levels about the new strategy and the barriers to implementing it. e. Poor coordination across functions, businesses, or borders: A set of businesswide initiatives and new organizational roles and responsibilities are defined that require â€Å" the right people to work together on the right things in the right way† to implement the strategy. f. Inadequate down- the-line leadership skills and development: Lower- level managers develop skills through newly created opportunities to lead change and drive key business initiatives. They are supported with just- in-time coaching, training, and targeted recruitment. Those who still are not able to make the grade must be replaced. 7. What are the steps in the strategic planning process? Why should companies engage in strategic planning? a. Step 1: Establishment of mission, vision, and goals b. Step 2: Analysis of external opportunities and threats c. Step 3: Analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses d. Step 4: SWOT Analysis and Strategy Formulation e. Step 5: Strategy Implementation f. Step 6: Strategic Control 8. What are the components of a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis? a. SWOT analysis: A comparison of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that helps executives formulate strategy. b. Strengths and weaknesses refer to internal resources. i. For example, an organization’s strengths might include skilled management, positive cash flow, and well- known and highly regarded brands. Weaknesses might be lack of spare production capacity and the absence of reliable suppliers. . Opportunities and threats arise in the macroenvironment and competitive environment. i. Examples of opportunities are a new technology that could make the supply chain more efficient and a market niche that is currently underserved. Threats might include the possibility that competitors will enter the underserved niche once it has been shown to be profitable. 9. What is the difference between strategic vision, strategic intent, strategic objectives, and strategic mission? a. Strategic vision: The long- term direction and strategic intent of a company. b. Strategic Intent: The direction a company intends to go c. Strategic Objectives: d. Strategic Mission: The mission is a clear and concise expression of the basic purpose of the organization. It describes what the organization does, who it does it for, its basic good or service, and its values. 10. What is the value chain concept? a. A value chain is the sequence of activities that flow from raw materials to the delivery of a good or service, with additional value created at each step. b. A value chain describes the way in which value is added to various areas of an organization. Porter’s value chain model categorizes an organization into five primary and four support activities. Primary activities include inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing, and service. Support activities are company infrastructure, technology development, human resource management, and procurement. c. According to Porter’s model, you can achieve competitive advantage by reducing costs or restructuring one or all primary activites to gain a cost advantage. 11. What is the purpose of the value chain analysis? a. Managers can add customer value and build competitive advantage by paying close attention to their organization’s value chain— not only each step in it, but the way each step interacts with the others. 2. Describe Porter's Five Forces model. a. Michael Porter provided a framework that models an industry as being influenced by five forces. The strategic business manager seeking to develop an edge over rival firms can use this model to better understand the industry context in which the firm operates. i. Force 1: Rivalry 1. DEGREE OF RIVALRY a. -Exit barriers b. -Industry concentration c. -Fixed costs/Value added d. -Industry growth e. -Intermittent overcapacity f. -Product differences g. -Switching costs h. -Brand identity i. -Diversity of rivals j. -Corporate stakes ii. Force 2: Threats of New Entrants & Barriers to Entry: It is not only incumbent rivals that pose a threat to firms in an industry; the possibility that new firms may enter the industry also affects competition. In theory, any firm should be able to enter and exit a market, and if free entry and exit exists, then profits always should be nominal. In reality, however, industries possess characteristics that protect the high profit levels of firms in the market and inhibit additional rivals from entering the market. These are barriers to entry. 1. Absolute cost advantages 2. Proprietary learning curve 3. Access to inputs 4. Government policy 5. Economies of scale 6. Capital requirements 7. Brand identity 8. Switching costs 9. Access to distribution 10. Expected retaliation 11. Proprietary products iii. Force 3: Buyer Power: The power of buyers is the impact that customers have on a producing industry. In general, when buyer power is strong, the relationship to the producing industry is near to what an economist terms a monopsony – a market in which there are many suppliers and one buyer. 1. Bargaining leverage 2. Buyer volume 3. Buyer information 4. Brand identity 5. Price sensitivity 6. Threat of backward integration 7. Product differentiation 8. Buyer concentration vs. industry 9. Substitutes available 10. Buyers' incentives iv. Force 4: Threat of Substitutes: The competition engendered by a Threat of Substitute comes from products outside the industry. The price of aluminum beverage cans is constrained by the price of glass bottles, steel cans, and plastic containers. These containers are substitutes, yet they are not rivals in the aluminum can industry. 1. -Switching costs 2. -Buyer inclination to 3. substitute 4. -Price-performance 5. trade-off of substitutes v. Force 5: Supplier Power 1. Supplier concentration 2. Importance of volume to supplier 3. Differentiation of inputs . Impact of inputs on cost or differentiation 5. Switching costs of firms in the industry 6. Presence of substitute inputs 7. Threat of forward integration 8. Cost relative to total purchases in industry 13. How does Porter's Five Forces model influence strategic planning? 14. Discuss why it is critical for organizations to be responsive. a. Responsiv eness is the quickness, agility, and ability to adapt to changing demands. b. Businesses today must be responsive because of the fast-changing business environment. 15. Describe the qualities of an organic organization structure. . The organic structure stands in stark contrast to the mechanistic organization. It is much less rigid and, in fact, emphasizes flexibility. The organic structure can be described as follows: 1. Jobholders have broader responsibilities that change as the need arises. 2. Communication occurs through advice and information rather than through orders and instructions. 3. Decision making and influence are more decentralized and informal. 4. Expertise is highly valued. 5. Jobholders rely more heavily on judgment than on rules. 6. Obedience to authority is less important than commitment to the organization’s goals. 7. Employees depend more on one another and relate more informally and personally. b. People in organic organizations work more as teammates than as subordinates who take orders from the boss, thus breaking away from the traditional bureaucratic form. The more responsive a firm is, the more responsive it will be to changing competitive demands and market realities. 16. Identify strategies and dynamic organizational concepts that can improve an organization's responsiveness. a. New and emerging organizational concepts and forms include core competencies, strategic alliances, learning organizations, and high-involvement organizations. b. Participative management is becoming increasingly popular as a way to create a competitive advantage. c. High-involvement organization: high- involvement organization, top management ensures that there is a consensus about the direction in which the business is heading. The leader seeks input from his or her top management team and from lower levels of the company. Task forces, study groups, and other techniques are used to foster participation in decisions that affect the entire organization. 17. Explain how a firm can be both big and small. a. Historically, large organizations have had important advantages over small organizations. Today, small size has advantages, including the ability to act quickly, respond to customer demands, and serve small niches. The ideal firm today combines the advantages of both. It creates many small, flexible units, while the corporate levels add value by taking advantage of its size and power. 18. Summarize how firms organize to meet customer requirements. a. By using Customer Relationship Management (A multifaceted process focusing on creating two- way exchanges with customers to foster intimate knowledge of their needs, wants, and buying patterns. ) b. By continually changing in order to connect with customers, even without waiting for customers to make the first move. c. Research and development focus on innovation and new products. Inbound logistics receive and store raw materials and distribute them to operations. Operations transform the raw materials into final product. Outbound logistics warehouse the product and handle its distribution. Marketing and sales identify customer requirements and get customers to purchase the product. Service offers customer support, such as repair, after the item has been bought. d. Utilizing Total Quality Management e. Firms have embraced principles of continuous improvement and total quality management to respond to customer needs. Baldrige criteria and ISO 9001 standards help firms organize to meet better quality specifications. Extending these, reengineering efforts are directed at completely overhauling processes to provide world-class customer service. Total Quality Management (Chapters 5 & 9) 1. Define total quality management. a. An integrative approach to management that supports the attainment of customer satisfaction through a wide variety of tools and techniques that result in high- quality goods and services. 2. Discuss Deming's 14 points of quality. a. Deming’s â€Å" 14 points† of quality emphasized a holistic approach to management that demands intimate understanding of the process— the delicate interaction of materials, machines, and people that deter-mines productivity, quality, and competitive advantage: 1. Create constancy of purpose— strive for long- term improvement rather than short- term profit. 2. Adopt the new philosophy— don’t tolerate delays and mistakes. 3. Cease dependence on mass inspection— build quality into the process on the front end. 4. End the practice of awarding business on price tag alone— build long- term relationships. . Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service— at each stage. 6. Institute training and retraining— continually update methods and thinking. 7. Institute leadership— provide the resources needed for effectiveness. 8. Drive out fear— people m ust believe it is safe to report problems or ask for help. 9. Break down barriers among departments— promote teamwork. 10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and arbitrary targets— supply methods, not buzzwords. 11. Eliminate numerical quotas— they are contrary to the idea of continuous improvement. 12. Remove barriers to pride in workmanship— allow autonomy and spontaneity. 3. Institute a vigorous program of education and retraining— people are assets, not commodities. 14. Take action to accomplish the transformation— provide a structure that enables quality. 3. Discuss Six Sigma. a. One of the most important contributors to total quality management has been the introduction of statistical tools to analyze the causes of product defects, in an approach called Six Sigma Quality. b. The product defects analyzed may include anything that results in customer dissatisfaction— for example, late delivery, wrong shipment, or poor customer servi ce, as well as problems with the product itself. When the defect has been identified, managers then engage the organization in a determined, com-prehensive effort to eliminate its causes and reduce it to the lowest practicable level. At Six Sigma, a product or process is defect- free 99. 99966 percent of the time— less than 3. 4 defects or mistakes per million. Reaching that goal almost always requires managers to restructure their internal processes and relationships with suppliers and customers in fundamental ways. 4. Identify ways that firms organize around different types of technology. . Small batch: Technologies that produce goods and services in low volume. b. Large Batch: Technologies that produce goods and services in high volume. c. Continuous Process: A process that is highly automated and has a continuous production flow. 5. Define reengineering. How is reengineering important to an organization's success? a. The principal idea of reengineering is to revolutionize key organizational systems and processes to answe r the question: â€Å" If you were the customer, how would you like us to operate? The answer to this question forms a vision for how the organization should run, and then decisions are made and actions are taken to make the organization operate like the vision. b. Reengineering is not about making minor organizational changes here and there. It is about completely overhauling the operation, in revolutionary ways, to achieve the greatest possible benefits to the customer and to the organization. 6. What are the benefits of implementing a total quality management system? a. Total quality management (TQM) is different from the old concept of quality because its focus is on serving customers, identifying the causes of quality problems, and building quality into the production process. b. When it is properly implemented, this style of management can lead to decreased costs related to corrective or preventative maintenance, better overall performance, and an increased number of happy and loyal customers 7. What is continuous improvement? a. Continuous improvement, called kaizen by the Japanese, requires that the company continually strive to be better through learning and problem solving. Because we can never achieve perfection, we must always evaluate our performance and take measures to improve it. 8. What are the steps for building a quality management system? a. 1. Customer focus — learning and addressing customer needs and expectations. 2. Leadership — establishing a vision and goals, establishing trust, and providing employees with the resources and inspiration to meet goals. 3. Involvement of people — establishing an environment in which employees understand their contribution, engage in problem solving, and acquire and share knowledge. 4. Process approach — defining the tasks needed to successfully carry out each process and assigning responsibility for them. 5. System approach to management — putting processes together into efficient systems that work together effectively. 6. Continual improvement — teaching people how to identify areas for improvement and rewarding them for making improvements. 7. Factual approach to decision making — gathering accurate performance data, sharing the data with employees, and using the data to make decisions. 8. Mutually beneficial supplier relationships — working in a cooperative way with suppliers. . What is the difference between quality assurance and quality control? a. Quality control is the set of activities performed to ensure that the products or services meet the requirements as defined during the earlier process for assurance of quality. These activities are done during the manufacturing process and once the product is manufactured. b. Qual ity guarantee or assurance is the set of procedures developed and activities done before the product or service is manufactured or delivered to assure of good quality to the customers. This is a proactive approach. 10. What is a quality audit? When is it used? Entrepreneurial Perspective (Chapter 7) 1. Summarize how to assess opportunities to start new companies. a. You should always be on the lookout for new ideas, monitoring the current business environment and other indicators of opportunity. Franchising offers an interesting opportunity, and the potential of the Internet is being tapped (after entrepreneurs learned some tough lessons from the dot- bomb era). Trial and error and preparation play important roles. Assessing the business concept on the basis of how innovative and risky it is, combined with your personal interests and tendencies, will also help you make good choices. Ideas should be carefully assessed via opportunity analysis and a thorough business plan. 2. Identify common causes of success and failure. a. New ventures are inherently risky. The economic environment plays an important role in the success or failure of the business, and the entrepreneur should anticipate and be prepared to adapt in the face of changing economic conditions. How you handle a variety of common management challenges also can mean the difference between success and failure, as can the effectiveness of your planning and your ability to mobilize nonfi-nancial resources, including other people who can help. 3. Discuss common management challenges. a. When new businesses fail, the causes often can be traced to some common challenges that entrepreneurs face and must manage well. You might not enjoy the entrepreneurial process. Survival— including getting started and fending off competitors— is difficult. Growth creates new challenges, including reluctance to delegate work to others. Funds are put to improper use, and financial controls may be inadequate. Many entrepreneurs fail to plan well for succession. When needing or wanting new funds, initial public offerings provide an option, but they represent an important and difficult decision that must be considered carefully. 4. Explain how to increase your chances of success, including good business planning. a. The business plan helps you think through your idea thoroughly and determine its viability. It also convinces ( or fails to con-vince) others to participate. The plan describes the venture and its future, provides financial projections, and includes plans for marketing, manufacturing, and other business functions. The plan should describe the people involved in the venture, a full assess-ment of the opportunity (including customers and competitors), the environmental context (including regulatory and economic issues), and the risk (including future risks and how you intend to deal with them). Successful entrepreneurs also understand how to develop social apital, which enhances legitimacy and helps develop a network of others including customers, talented people, partners, and boards. 5. How does an organization cultivate entrepreneurship within the organization (intrapreneurship)? a. Intrapreneurs work within established companies to develop new goods or services that allow the corporation to reap the benefits of innovation. To facilitate intrapraneurship, organizations use skunkworks— special project teams designated to develop a new product— and allow bootlegging— informal efforts beyond formal job assignments in which employees pursue their own pet projects. Organizations should select projects carefully, have an ongoing portfolio of projects, and fund them appropriately. Ultimately, a true entrepreneurial orientation in a company comes from encouraging independent action, innovativeness, risk taking, proactive behavior, and competitive aggressiveness. 6. What role does entrepreneurship play within an organization? 7. Should organizations encourage an entrepreneurial spirit within their organization? Why or why not? 8. What is the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship? a. Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of lucrative opportunities by enterprising individuals. . Entrepreneurship is inherently about innovation— creating a new venture where one didn’t exist before. 9. What are the common characteristics of an entrepreneur? a. 1. Commitment and determination: Successful entrepreneurs are decisive, tenacious, disciplined, willing to sacrifice, and able to immerse themselves in their enterprises. 2. Leadership: They are self- starters, team builders, superior learners, and teachers. Communicating a vision for the future of the company— an essential component of leadership that you’ll learn more about in Chapter 12— has a direct impact on venture growth. 7 3. Opportunity obsession: They have an intimate knowledge of customers’ needs, are market driven, and are obsessed with value creation and enhancement. 4. Tolerance of risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty: They are calculated risk takers and risk managers, tolerant of stress, and able to resolve problems. 5. Creativity, self- reliance, and ability to adapt: They are open- minded, restless with the status quo, able to learn quickly, highly adaptable, creative, skilled at conceptualizing, and attentive to details. . Motivation to excel: They have a clear results orientation, set high but realistic goals, have a strong drive to achieve, know their own weaknesses and strengths, and focus on what can be done rather than on the reasons things can’t be done. 10. Do the financing issues that new businesses face differ from those faced by a well-established business? How? Conflict and Change (Chapters 14, 16, 7 18) 1. Identify ways to manage conflict. a. Managing lateral relationships well can prevent some conflict. But conflict arises because of the sheer number of contacts, ambiguities, goal differences, competition for scarce resources, and different perspectives and time horizons. Depending on the situation, five basic interpersonal approaches to managing con-flict can be used: avoidance, accommodation, compromise, com-petition, and collaboration. Superordinate goals offer a focus on higher- level organizational goals that can help generate a collaborative relationship. Techniques for managing conflict between other parties include acting as a mediator and managing virtual conflict. 2. Identify different conflict styles. a. Avoidance, accommodation, compromise, competing, collaboration 3. Discuss the role of a mediator. a. A Mediator is a â€Å" third party† intervening to help settle a conflict between other people. Third- party intervention, done well, can improve working relationships and help the parties improve their own conflict- management, communication, and problem- solving skills. 4. Explain the difference between avoidance, accommodation, compromise, competing, and collaboration as conflict styles. a. Avoidance: A reaction to conflict that involves ignoring the problem by doing nothing at all, or deemphasizing the disagreement. . Accommodation: A style of dealing with conflict involving cooperation on behalf of the other party but not being assertive about one’s own interests. c. Compromise: A style of dealing with conflict involving moderate attention to both parties’ concerns. d. Competing: A style of dealing with conflict involving strong focus on one’s own goal s and little or no concern for the other person’s goals. e. Collaboration: A style of dealing with conflict emphasizing both cooperation and assertiveness to maximize both parties’ satisfaction. 5. Describe four types of control systems. a. Bureaucratic Control: Bureaucratic control is the use of rules, regulations, and formal authority to guide performance. It includes such items as budgets, statistical reports, and performance appraisals to regulate behavior and results. b. Market Control: Market control involves the use of pricing mechanisms to regulate activities in organizations as though they were economic transactions. Business units may be treated as profit centers and trade resources ( services or goods) with one another via such mechanisms. Managers who run these units may be evaluated on the basis of profit and loss. . Clan Control: Clan control, unlike the first two types, does not assume that the interests of the organization and individuals naturally diverge. Instead, clan control is based on the idea that employees may share the values, expectations, and goals of the organization and act in accordance with them. When members of an organization have common values and goals— and trust one anotherâ₠¬â€ formal controls may be less necessary. d. Dynamic Control: 6. What types of control systems have you seen in operation in your organization (or one you know well)? 7. What is functional conflict? Describe the conflict process. 8. What are some conflict-resolution techniques that can be employed in an organization? 9. What is the controlling function within an organization? 10. What are the steps in the control process? 1. Setting performance standards. 2. Measuring performance. 3. Comparing performance against the standards and determining deviations. 4. Taking action to correct problems and reinforce successes. 11. What are the stages of change within an organization? a. Unfreezing: breaking from the old ways of doing things b. Moving: instituting the change c. Refreezing: reinforcing and supporting the new ways 12. What strategies can mangers use to overcome resistance to their change initiatives? a. Understand why people often resist change (inertia, timing, surprise, peer pressure/ self interest, misunderstanding, different assessments, management tactics) b. Force- field analysis: involves identifying the specific forces that prevent people from changing and the specific forces that will drive people toward change. c. Education and Communication: Management should educate people about upcoming changes before they occur. It should communicate not only the nature of the change but its logic. d. Participation and Involvement: change requires reflection and dialogue. It is important to listen to the people who are affected by the change. They should be involved in the change’s design and implementation. e. Facilitation and Support: Facilitation involves training and other resources people need to carry out the change and perform their jobs under the new circumstances. This step often includes decentralizing authority and empowering people, that is, giving them the power to make the decisions and changes needed to improve their performance. . Negotiation and Rewards: When necessary and appropriate, management can offer concrete incentives for cooperation with the change. Perhaps job enrichment is acceptable only with a higher wage rate, or a work rule change is resisted until manage-ment agrees to a concession on some other rule ( say, regarding taking breaks). g. Manipulation and cooptation: One form of manipulation is cooptation, which involves giving a resisting individual a desirable role in the change process. The leader of a resisting group often is coopted. For example, management might invite a union leader to be a member of an executive committee or ask a key member of an outside organization to join the company’s board of directors. As a person becomes involved in the change, he or she may become less resistant to the actions of the coopting group or organization. h. Explicit and implicit coercion: Some managers apply punishment or the threat of punishment to those who resist change. With this approach, managers use force to make people comply with their wishes. Human Resource Mgmt & Diversity (Chapters 10 & 11) 1. How do companies use human resource management to gain a competitive advantage? a. To succeed, companies must align their human resources to their strategies. Effective planning is necessary to make certain that the right number and type of employees are available to implement a company’s strategic plan. It is clear that hiring the most competent people is a very involved process. Companies that compete on cost, quality, service, and so on also should use their staffing, training, appraisal, and reward systems to elicit and reinforce the kinds of behaviors that underlie their strategies. 2. Give reasons companies recruit both internally and externally for new hires. a. Some companies prefer to recruit internally to make certain that employees are familiar with organizational policies and values. In other instances, companies prefer to recruit externally, such as through employee referrals, job boards, newspaper advertising, and campus visits, to find individuals with new ideas and fresh perspectives. External recruiting is also necessary to fill positions when the organization is growing or needs skills that do not exist among its current employees. 3. Identify various methods for selecting new employees. . There are myriad selection techniques from which to choose. Interviews and reference checks are the most common. Per-sonality tests and cognitive ability tests measure an individual’s aptitude and potential to do well on the job. Other selection techniques include assessment centers and integrity tests. Background and reference checks verify that the informati on supplied by employees is accurate. Regardless of the approach used, any test should be able to demonstrate reliability ( consistency across time and different interview situations) and validity ( accuracy in predicting job performance). In addition, selection methods must comply with equal opportunity laws, which are intended to ensure that companies do not discriminate in any employment practices. 4. Evaluate the importance of spending money and time on training and development. a. People cannot depend on a set of skills for all of their working lives. In today’s changing, competitive world, old skills quickly become obsolete, and new ones become essential for success. Refreshing or updating an individual’s skills requires a great deal of continuous training, designed with easurable goals and methods that will achieve those goals. Companies understand that gaining a competitive edge in quality of service depends on having the most talented, flexible workers in the industry. 5. Explain alternative selections for those who appraise an employee's performance. a. Many companies are using multiple sources of appraisal because different people see different sides of an employee’s performance. Typical ly, a superior is expected to evaluate an employee, but peers and team members are often well positioned to see aspects of performance that a superior misses. Even an employ-ee’s subordinates are being asked more often today to give their input to get yet another perspective on the evaluation. Particularly in companies concerned about quality, internal and external customers also are surveyed. Finally, employees should evaluate their own performance, if only to get them thinking about their own performance, as well as to engage them in the appraisal process. 6. Describe the fundamental aspects of a reward system a. Reward systems include pay and benefits. Pay systems have three basic components: pay level, pay structure, and individual pay determination. To achieve an advantage over competitors, executives may want to pay a generally higher wage to their company’s employees, but this decision must be weighed against the need to control costs ( pay- level decisions often are tied to strategic concerns such as these). To achieve internal equity ( paying people what they are worth relative to their peers within the company), managers must look at the pay structure, making certain that pay differentials are based on knowledge, effort, responsibility, working conditions, seniority, and so on. Individual pay determination is often based on merit or the dif-ferent contributions of individuals. In these cases, it is important to make certain that men and women receive equal pay for equal work, and managers may wish to base pay decisions on the idea of comparable worth ( equal pay for an equal contribution). Also, the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires that employees have a safe and healthy work environment. 7. Summarize how unions and labor laws influence human resources management. a. Labor relations involve the interactions between workers and management. One mechanism by which this relationship is con-ducted is unions. Unions seek to present a collective voice for workers, to make their needs and wishes known to manage-ment. Unions negotiate agreements with management regard-ing a range of issues such as wages, hours, working conditions, job security, and health care. One important tool that unions can use is the grievance procedure established through collective bargaining. This mechanism gives employees a way to seek redress for wrongful action on the part of management. In this way, unions make certain that the rights of all employees are protected. Labor laws seek to protect the rights of both employees and managers so that their relationship can be pro-ductive and agreeable. 8. Describe how changes in the U. S. workforce make diversity a critical organizational and managerial issue. a. The labor force is getting older and more racially and ethnically diverse, with a higher proportion of women. And while the absolute number of workers is increasing, the growth in jobs is outpacing the numerical growth of workers. In addition, the jobs that are being created frequently require higher skills than the typical worker can provide; thus, we are seeing a growing skills gap. To be competitive, organizations can no longer take the traditional approach of depending on white males to form the core of the workforce. Today, managers must look broadly to make use of talent wherever it can be found. As the labor market changes, organizations that can recruit, develop, motivate, and retain a diverse workforce will have a competitive advantage. 9. Distinguish between affirmative action and managing diversity. a. Affirmative action is designed to correct past exclusion of women and minorities from U. S. organizations. But despite the accomplishments of affirmative action, it has not eliminated bar-riers that prevent individuals from reaching their full potential. Managing diversity goes beyond hiring people who are different from the norm and seeks to support, nurture, and use employee differences to the organization’s advantage. 10. Identify challenges associated with managing a diverse workforce. a. The challenges for managers created by a diverse workforce include decreased group cohesiveness, communication problems, mistrust and tension, and stereotyping. These challenges can be turned into advantages by means of training and effective management. 11. Define monolithic, pluralistic, and multicultural organizations. a. Monolithic: An organization that has a low degree of structural integration— employing few women, minorities, or other groups that differ from the majority— and thus has a highly homogeneous employee population.. b. Pluralistic: Pluralistic organizations have a relatively diverse employee population and try to involve various types of employ-ees ( e. g. , engaging in affirmative action and avoiding discrimination). Conflict is greatest in a pluralistic organization. c. Multicultural: Multicultural organizations not only have diversity but value it, and they fully integrate men and women of various racial and ethnic groups, as well as people with different types of expertise. 12. List steps managers and their organizations can take to cultivate diversity. a. To be successful, organizational efforts to manage diversity must have top management support and commitment. Organizations should first undertake a thorough assessment of their cultures, policies, and practices, as well as the demographics of their labor pools and customer bases. Only after this diagnosis has been completed is a company in position to initiate programs designed to attract, develop, motivate, and retain a diverse workforce. 13. What is strategic human resource planning, and how does it benefit an organization? 14. What legal considerations must organizations consider when hiring employees? 15. What is the job characteristics model (JCM)? a. Hackman & Oldham proposed the Job Characteristics Model, which is widely used as a framework to study how particular job characteristics impact on job outcomes, including job satisfaction. The model states that there are five core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) which impact three critical psychological states (experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility for outcomes, and knowledge of the actual results), in turn influencing work outcomes (job satisfaction, absenteeism, work motivation, etc. ). 16. Why are certain types of diversity protected by law? What are they? a. Female, minorities, immigrants, disabled people. 17. What are some barriers to cross-cultural communication in an organization? a. isunderstandings, inac-curacies, inefficiencies, and slowness. Speed is lost when not all group members are fluent in the same language or when additional time is required to explain things. Sometimes diversity may decrease communication, as when white male managers feel less comfortable giving feedback to women or minorities, for fear of how criticism may be received. The result may be employees who do n ot have a clear idea of what they need to do to improve their performance. 18. When are organizations required to modify their workplace in order to accommodate the needs of an individual employee? a. When the employee is unable to accomplish his job without reasonable accommodation. 19. What is an effective diversity training program? a. A program that has 1. Position training in your broad diversity strategy. 2. Do a thorough needs analysis. 3. Distinguish between education and training. 4. Use a participative design process. 5. Test the program thoroughly before rollout. 6. Incorporate training programs into the core training curriculum. CHAPTER 10 QUIZ QUESTIONS 20. Conducting demand forcasts is the most difficult part of HR planning. 21. Job analysis provides job descriptions and job specifications. 2. Which of these is the most popular selection tool? – Interviews 23. The behavioral description interview explores what candidates have actually done in the past. 24. Which of these is a managerial performance test in which candidates participate in a variety of exercises and situations? –Assessment center 25. The degree to which a selection test predicts or correl ates with job performance is called validity. 26. While laying off 160 employees in a cost cutting move, Peel and Seal, Inc. is also helping these laid-off employees regain employment elsewhere. This is referred to as outplacement. 27. Development involves teaching managers and professional employees broader skills needed for their present and future jobs. 28. The law that prohibits gender based pay discrimination between two jobs substantially similar in skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions is Equal Pay Act. 29. MBO is one approach to results appraisals. 30. The decision that prices different jobs within the organization is pay structure 31. Internal factors affecting the wage mix include compensation policy of organization. 32. Individual incentive plans are the most common type of incentive plan. 33. The use of a neutral third party to resolve abor dispute is called arbitration. CHAPTER 11 QUIZ QUESTIONS 1. What percent of women currently make up the workforce? -46% 2. Rosalie reached the level of regional manager at Bike Tools Etc. nine years ago. Three of her counterparts have been promoted to vice president level. Although Rosalie has more experience and better performance numbers, she has no t been promoted. As a matter of fact, white males occupy all senior positions at Bike Tools Etc. Rosalie appears to have hit the glass ceiling. 3. William was denied promotion because he rejected the sexual advances from his boss, Reba. This appears to be a case of _____ harassment. Quid Pro Quo 4. Minorities and immigrants hold approximately _____ jobs in the United States. –1 out of every 4 5. All of the following statements are true except: African American workforce is growing the fastest in the United States followed by Asian and Hispanic workforces / by 2020, most of California's entry-level workers will be Hispanic / the younger Americans are, the more likely they are to be persons of color / three in ten college enrollees are people of color / foreign-born workers make up more than 15 percent of the U. S. civilian labor force 6. _____ are the largest unemployed minority in the United States. People with disabilities 7. The most common negative effect of diversity is c ommunication problems. 8. A(n)____ is an organization that has a relatively diverse employee population and makes an effort to involve employees from different gender, racial, or cultural backgrounds. –pluralistic organization Organizational Structure (Chapters 8, 9 , 15, & 17) 1. Explain how differentiation and integration influence an organization's structure. a. Differentiation means that organizations have many parts. Specialization means that various individuals and units throughout the organization perform different tasks. The assignment of tasks to different people or groups often is referred to as the division of labor. But the specialized tasks in an organization cannot all be performed independently of one another. Coordination links the various tasks in order to achieve the organization’s overall mission. An organization with many different specialized tasks and work units is highly differentiated; the more differentiated the organization is, the more integration or coordination is required. 2. Summarize how authority operates. a. Authority is the legitimate right to make decisions and tell other people what to do. Authority is exercised throughout the hierarchy, as bosses have the authority to give orders to subordinates. Through the day- to- day operation of authority, the organization proceeds toward achieving its goals. Owners or stockholders have ultimate authority. 3. Define the roles of the board of directors and the chief executive officer. a. Boards of directors report to stockholders. The board of directors controls or advises management, considers the firm’s legal and other interests, and protects stockholders’ rights. The chief executive officer reports to the board and is accountable for the organization’s performance. 4. Discuss how span of control affects structure and managerial effectiveness. a. Span of control is the number of people who report directly to a manager. Narrow spans create tall organizations, and wide spans create flat ones. No single span of control is always appropriate; the optimal span is determined by characteristics of the work, the subordinates, the manager, and the organization. 5. Explain how to delegate effectively. a. Delegation— the assignment of tasks and responsibilities— has many potential advantages for the manager, the subordinate, and the organization. But to be effective, the process must be managed carefully. The manager should define the goal, select the person, solicit opinions, provide resources, schedule checkpoints, and discuss progress periodically. 6. Distinguish between centralized and decentralized organizations. a. In centralized organizations, most important decisions are made by top managers. In decentralized organizations, many decisions are delegated to lower levels. 7. Summarize ways organizations can be structured. a. Organizations can be structured on the basis of function, division ( product, customers, or geographic), matrix, and network. Each form has advantages and disadvantages. 8. Identify the unique challenges of the matrix organization. a. The matrix is a complex structure with a dual authority structure. A well- managed matrix enables organizations to adapt to change. But it can also create confusion and interpersonal dif-ficulties. People in all positions in the matrix— top executives, product and function managers, and two- boss managers— must acquire unique survival skills. 9. Describe important integrative mechanisms. a. Managers can coordinate interdependent units through standardization, plans, and mutual adjustment. Standardization occurs when routines and standard operating procedures are put in place. They typically are accompanied by formalized rules. Coordination by plan is more flexible and allows more freedom in how tasks are carried out but keeps interdependent units focused on schedules and joint goals. Mutual adjustment involves feedback and discussions among related parties to accommodate each other’s needs. It is at once the most flexible and simple to administer, but it is time- consuming. 10. What is the difference between forward vertical integration and backward vertical integration? a. Forward Vertical Integration b. Backward Vertical Integration: 11. What are the benefits and challenges of a matrix organization structure? . Benefits: i. Decision-making is decentralized to a level where information is processed properly and relevant knowledge is applied. †¢ Extensive communications networks help process large amounts of information. †¢ With decisions delegated to appropriate levels, higher management levels are not overloaded with operational decisio ns. †¢ Resource utilization is efficient because key resources are shared across several important programs or products at the same time. †¢ Employees learn the collaborative skills needed to function in an environment characterized by frequent meetings and more informal interactions. Dual career ladders are elaborated as more career options become available on both sides of the organization. b. Challenges: i. Confusion can arise because people do not have a single superior to whom they feel primary responsibility. †¢ The design encourages managers who share subordinates to jockey for power. †¢ The mistaken belief can arise that matrix management is the same thing as group decision-making— in other words, everyone must be consulted for every decision. †¢ Too much democracy can lead to not enough action.