Economic significance Essay

Another key turning point that changed the course of football forever, occurred on the 11th may 1985, when Bradford city should have ended the season on a high. For once after a long line of defeats and triumphs they had made it to the third division. However, the day ended on one of the worst footballing disasters in the world. Just before half-time, someone noticed smoke coming up through the wooden floor of the main stand, which had served the City fans for 77 years. The alarm was raised, but nobody had realised that a pile of rubbish had ignited below the seating and within 5 minutes, the whole stand was ablaze. Tremendous feats of heroism from fans and staff alike were witnessed by the television cameras that were at Valley Parade, as attempts were made to rescue people from the stand with the roof alight and raining burning material from above. In total, 56 people lost their lives that sad day and 200 suffered burns. Following a report into the fire, safety was tightened up at grounds across the country to ensure that a disaster like this would never happen again. The report by Lord Justice Popplewell stated that old wooden stands like the one at Valley Parade were clearly a fire hazard and recommendations for the safety of football grounds were made.  All clubs with wooden stands were forced to provide exits in case of fire. In the early weeks of the following season exits had been made from the seats to the old style paddocks. Similar measures were taken at Reading’s old Elm Park ground. Nowadays stands are made of non-combustible materials like concrete and steel. In more recent times, the security that follows large scale events such as the world cup has seen many new security features, to irradiate football hooliganism and terrorist threats. Since the atrocities of September 11th 2001, security has never been higher. Now fans have to go through metal detectors and not carry any glass bottles etc. This is to ensure that no â€Å"weapons† are introduced into the stadium and therefore it remains a safe and secure environment for all concerned. Economic significance Football without a doubt is one of the worlds most important sports ever played. Participated by millions upon millions of people every year and watched by even more- football is the most widely known and participated sport. Through which a considerable economic activity is generated. The contribution to the economy through football can be measured in the following ways; Number of employed within the industry, participation during leisure time and money generated via football. Employment  The number of people employed in football cannot be totally measured due to its constantly changing scale of volunteers that offer their services for free as they enjoy the game so much.  However, data taken from the â€Å"FIFA big count† survey has enabled people to make rough estimation on about the number of people involved within the sport. In total it has been estimated that an outstanding 30 million people officiates and referees are employed to make the game as accessible and enjoyable as it is today. In total with the added 16 million professional players of both sexes that are employed within the industry of Football it is estimated that an outstanding approximately 45 million people worldwide generate economic income via football. Furthermore, as part of another piece of research conducted by the sports council, it estimates that around 220 million a year would be generated if volunteers revived an average wage of 8.31 an hour for the kind of work that they conduct; making it the second most valuable sport behind the leader’s bowls.  In addition to the direct employment of football organisers etc, subsequent employment is generated from large scale events such as Euro 2000 which alone created approximately 4000 full time jobs per year, through the various occupations that are needed to host such large scale events. For example, hotel workers that are needed to accommodate the large number of fans. Participation  People from all backgrounds; rich/poor, black/white actively participate in football through various forms. Some participate in the game via a quick game in the park, where as some participate in a local team or organisation. Either way they all help to contribute to the economy. The majority of football is played on a casual basis according to the recent surveys conducted into the level of which football is played. In basic terms this means that football is the sixth most participated game in the world with the nearest rival cricket. In terms of numbers, there are currently 220 million men and 20 million women which actively participate in the game of football. In terms of how much that represents the population percentage, it represents that around 4%. Or in other words one adult in twenty five plays football on a casual basis with no qualification nor membership to a team. In addition to the number of people which participate on a casual basis there is also an additional 12.5 million people that play for the 1.5 million teams of the 300,000 clubs worldwide. This not including the additional 15.5 million male juniors and 2 million women juniors which also play as part of a team set-up to the grand total. Thus it can be concluded that an approximately 3o million people play football in an organised manner. Either in a team or club. While it can only be looked at in terms of population percentage as half percent, on another hand it can be looked as the entire population of Canada. The final participation category is youth football, which without a doubt is where most of footballs participants lye. In the world there are approximately 120 million children/youth players which play in a casual and organised environment. Of which 15 million boys and 2.2 million girls play the beautiful game. This is an ever increasing number that sets to get larger as the population gets ever bigger. The effects of which are set to generate a greater income to the economies of the world as they get older and have greater amounts of disposable incomes that they can spend on football.

Black Power Movement Usa

Cultural Diversity Black Power From the start of our country African Americans had been beneath white society. The civil rights movement of the south put an end to segregation and gave African Americans the same rights as an Anglo American legally. Racism and black segregation were still very much alive though, and if African Americans were ever to be treated as equals they would need to liberate from white society and truly empower themselves. This was the Black Power Movement. The movement for Black Power started during the civil rights movement in the 1960s.The movement was made up of several different organizations and spoke persons with a variety of ideas and views differing from that of Martian Luther King and the civil rights movement. They felt that the civil rights movement to end segregation was not enough and many black power advocates rejected the civil rights movements’ ultimate goal of assimilation. They believed that white racism and institutional discrimination would always be a part of American culture and society, and did not want to be integrated into the very system that for centuries oppressed, denigrated, and devalued blacks.The Black Power movement was built around ideas of racial pride and Black Nationalism with groups working to increase African American control over schools, law enforcement, welfare programs, and other public services in black communities. They felt that to be equal they must liberate and truly empower themselves on there own terms in order to gain power and stand up to the dominant group. Advocates of Black Power were open to the use of violence in order to achieve there goals, which was in direct contrast to the non-violent approach demonstrated by Martin Luther King jr. ,leader of the civil rights movement.The first popular use of the term Black Power as a social and political slogan came from Stokely Carmichael, an organizer and spokesperson for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) a group as sociated with the civil rights movement. The SNCC was made up mainly of younger members who over time became more violent and outspoken in the belief of Black Nationalism. During the civil rights’ March against Fear there was a division between those aligned with Martian Luther King jr. and those aligned with Stokely Carmichael each having there own respective slogans of â€Å"Freedom Now† and â€Å"Black Power†.During the March a man by the name of James Meredith was gunned down and Carmichael is quoted in saying â€Å"This is the twenty-seventh time I have been arrested and I ain't going to jail no more! The only way we gonna stop them white men from whuppin' us is to take over. What we gonna start sayin' now is Black Power! † From then on the SNCC was for the Black Power movement and Black separatism from whites. The goal of Black Nationalism was also held by the Black Muslims a religious group under the Nation of Islam fighting for Black Power.The Bla ck Muslims were a well known organization within the movement. They were angry, impatient, outspoken, and did more then just talk. There goal was to develop the black community economically in order to supply jobs and gain capital solely by using their own resources, which would help them deal with the white society from a more powerful position. One of the best leaders of the Black Muslims and of the Black Power movement was Malcolm X. He was a very well known and heard man who studied under Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam.Malcolm X believed in black independence from white society and brought his strong views against white racism and discrimination to the public eye more so then maybe any other leader of the movement and became a threaten figure to white America. Malcolm X was later assassinated in 1965 not due to conflicts with white society, but due to conflicts within the Nation of Islam, specifically those dealing with leader Elijah Muhammad. The SNCC and Bl ack Muslims looked at white society as one and in turn formed there own racism and prejudice to all whites and believed in Black separatism and Black Nationalism.The Black Panthers however were a well known group of the Black Power Movement and believed in neither Black separatism nor Black Nationalism. Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seal, founders of the Black Panthers believed in creating a political group for the people, one that would stand up for the opposed against those who oppose them. They felt the national government not white society was holding them down and the struggle for blacks came more from economic exploitation then from racism.Here is a quote from Bobby Seal as writing in his book Seize The Time â€Å"In our view it is a class struggle between the massive proletarian working class and the small, minority ruling class. Working-class people of all colors must unite against the exploitative, oppressive ruling class. So let me emphasize again — we believe our fight is a class struggle and not a race struggle. † Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seal believed in something bigger, something along the lines of a revolution with the strength of numbers and will power of the people leading the way.Newtown and Seal received much harassment from law enforcement because of this message, so much so that Newton was convicted of killing a police officer and thrown in prison causing much uproar in the legions people he stood up for. The Black Panthers are still very much alive today and continue to stand up for the people. Here is a statement from there website, â€Å"We know now, more then ever before, that the will of the people is greater than the technology and repression of those who are against the interests of the people. Therefore we know that we can and will continue to serve and educate the people†.All three of these groups had significant role in the black power movement and there anger and aggression both directly and indirectly helped pa ve the way for black politics. The National Black Political convention was held March 10-12 1972 in Gary, Indiana and was a huge milestone for black politicians to come and we now have a black man in office. In close, looking at the situation I feel there are both pros and cons. I believe the movement for Black Power helped open the worlds eyes to inequality and inspired movements to come such as women’s rights, red power, and gay/lesbian rights to name a few.The movement gave the black community a sense of pride to be black and helped cure the pains left by years of slavery and segregation. In turn though this caused more racism both from blacks and whites alike due to such a strong emphasis on race and black segregation. This racism is still easy to see in present time, although the discrimination is definitely lower. I believe if the civil rights and Black Power movements could have worked as one, things would have turned out better for the black community overall.This is an image of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two American track athletes who placed first and third respectively giving the Black Power salute on the podium at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. This caused great controversy and both were kicked out of the Olympic village and were expelled from the games by the IOC. Both men were booed by the crowd when they left the podium and Smith later stated â€Å"If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight†.Bibliography . Black Panthers, www. BlackPanther. org . Black Muslims, http://www. infoplease. com/ce6/society/A0807794. html . Malcolm X, http://www. malcolmx. com/about/bio3. html . SNCC, http://mlk-kpp01. stanford. edu/index. php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_student_nonviolent_coordinating_committee_sncc/ . Black Power wikipedia, http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Black_Powe r . In search of African America, http://www. hoover. archives. gov/exhibits/africanamerican/blackpower/index. html . Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class 5th edition Pg. 256-258 [pic][pic]

Systems Analysis and Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Systems Analysis and Design - Essay Example The most crucial security issues facing organizations today are data security, employee security, health risks, and physical security. A 2012 report by statistics organization Securitas showed that organizations, irrespective of size, dealt with data security issues most seriously (Wisegate 5). Dangers to data originate from rival companies, hackers, and espionage attempts. Employee security is the protection of employees from other workers, and internal and external dangers. Health risks companies deal with today often are contagious illnesses that perpetrate within closed rooms such as offices, unhygienic restrooms, defective wiring, and electrical structures. Physical security is protecting the organization’s property from theft or harm and access to all its premises and facilities (Shelly and Rosenblatt 502). Companies can prepare for security dangers and issues in the future by raising awareness and teaming amongst employees, making the information technology department the â€Å"First Adopter† of disruptive innovations, system segmentation, and system visibility. System segmentation is having all key applications of an organization under a single data setting where the degrees of dangers or effect that domestic workstations can have. System visibility is the analysis of ongoing in an organization’s network through solutions that determine system traffic patterns and note irregular patterns (Wisegate 6, 7,

Corporate Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Corporate Communications - Essay Example Corporate Communications In today’s work educational institutions, organisations, dynamic and cultural environment require employees and students to work together in groups at certain coordinative and tolerant levels. This will provide vast experience of working in teams or groups. Members of the team should apply reflective practice for the success of the team. In everything we do we learn from experience. After analysing previous experiences it gives us deep understanding of what was done, why it was a failure or a success, and what could have been done for better results. Reflection enables teams, groups, and individuals to improve working practices and move forward. It reinforces sense of accomplishment and competence at the same time helps in recognising areas of weaknesses. The concept of practice is where an individual has an active idea which reflects on various events and use what they learn from them to improve future events. Reflective practice has been recognised as essential skill for ind ividuals who are required to evaluate and analyse their professional or personal performance. An effective teamwork is both difficult and simple; this is because there might be lack of cooperation, limited resources, and misunderstanding between group members. Factors, which affect the groups and teamwork, are both in the work environment and within the team itself. The team should understand the targets and goals and commit themselves to attain them. This is a clear agreement and direction as purpose and mission are essential for effective groups and teamwork. This will enable the team to have clarity as reinforcement in an organization having clean and precise expectations for the group’s goals, accountability, outcomes, and work. In many groups I have participated and experience; they collapse or get poor results due to lack of understanding on the goals of the team or group. The first thing the team or group should do is to set goals and targets such that they will fight to meet the goals. This will lead to better results and findings as each and every member of the group will have understood and commit themselves on the task for achievements. A team creates a comfortable environment where people or members can take reasonable risks in advocating positions, taking action, and communicating. Team members should not be punished when they disagree; this will discourage them in participating on future events or even leading to the collapse of the team. The disagreement should be treated as weaknesses on the team and look for solutions for successful group work in future. Communication should be respectful, honest and open in the team discussions. In many groups, some members do not have freedom to express their points. This will lead to contribution of points by few members; this is a weakness in the team as there will be limitation in the ideas contributed. In many groups minority members are not given time to contribute, they are suppressed by the lea ders and this is a major problem which should be urgently addressed (Cornelissen, 2004, p. 38). These minor members might have important points but due to the suppression, they are not heard. The team members should be given time to ask questions for clarifications, in this regard, they will spend their thought listening keenly and not forming rebuttals when another member is speaking. The team members have a

Underage Females Working in Brothels via Sex Trafficking Research Paper

Underage Females Working in Brothels via Sex Trafficking - Research Paper Example Underage Females Working in Brothels via Sex Trafficking The results are tragic because in most cases, the underage females that are working in brothels are victims of sex trafficking. They feel frustrated and worthless, seeing no prospect of escaping their wretched lives. Sad to say that even parents that are supposed to show love and protect their children, often contribute to the climate of permissiveness, because they claim that poverty led them to sell their children into prostitution. Widespread depravity and rampant barbarous pedophile cannot be controlled by law enforcement. However, influential personalities recognize the devastating effects of child prostitution by sex trafficking. In fact, nation leaders considered this as a barbarous crime. Thus, working alongside with government agencies, officials and legislative bodies, they are doing their earnest efforts to stop the problem. Yet, despite their noble intentions, sex trafficking of minors is still growing. How extensive is the problem of sex trafficking today? What leads to this horrific situation? According to Sex trafficking Fact Sheet, â€Å"sex trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under the age of 18 years†. The Fact Sheet declares that considering sex trafficking as a serious violation of Federal law, Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, or TVPA, is being ratified. TVPA defines ‘commercial sex act’ as any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. It also recognizes that sex traffickers customarily use psychological and physical coercion, such as making threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person, using any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause the victim to believe that failure to do the command action would result in serious harm. The Fact sheet enumerates the various types of sex trafficking. The victims are forced into different forms of commercial sexual exploitation such as prostitution, pornography, stripping, live-sex shows, mail-order brides, military prostitution and sex tourism. Sex trafficking operation usually takes place in a more underground systems such as closed-brothels that operate out of residential areas. It also can be found in a variety of public and private locations such as massage parlors, spas, and strip clubs. Additionally, Fact sheet specifies the common patterns of traffickers for luring the victims, such as, a promise of good job in other country, a false marriage proposal which turned into a bondage situation, parents willful intent of selling their children into sex trade, and others being kidnapped by the traffickers. Frequently, traffickers subject their victims to debt-bondage, the expenses incurred by their travel which include food and transport, thus they must pay the debt by their sex services. Traffickers will use various methods to condition their victims to perform sex acts, such as starvation, confinement, physical abuse as beatings, rape, gang rape, threats of violence to the victims and to their families, forced drug use, and the threat of staining their reputation by revealing to their friends and families friends their nature of work. What an awful situation these underage victims are facing! So far, trafficking is considered to be one of the leading

Professional Accountant assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Professional Accountant assignment - Essay Example The method is highly structured, punitive and paternal. The intention of the Act is to ascertain that the process of financial reporting is done effectively. It also seeks to reorient accountants back to ethical ways. Furthermore, the approach focuses on maintaining corporate governance at the top. A principles-based approach is the domain of the UK. The Cadbury report defines the UK’s method of corporate governance. It states that corporate governance is a mechanism for directing and controlling companies (Cadbury, 1992). This document was later followed by others like the Combined Code. In essence, all these reports seek to place corporate governance responsibilities in the hands of company boards. An institution must alter corporate governance issues in accordance with their context. Furthermore, individuals are expected to make their choices known to their shareholders. Therefore, in the rules-based approach, as practiced in the United States, parties answer to external bo dies while in the principles-based approach, institutions answer to their shareholders (Tricker, 2008). While the United Kingdom places the responsibility of oversight on individual firms, the United States has an accounting oversight board which acts independently and ensures compliance. The US even has rules governing how the external auditor needs to behave. Conflict of interest is prohibited while appointment of new auditors is done under strict rules. The manner in which those audit reports are reported is also stipulated in law. Financial reporting is strictly enforced in the rules-based approach. Here, almost all parties have responsibilities under the law. Executive members must ensure accuracy and promptness of financial reports. Managers need to create internal controls for reporting while accountants must act honestly when reporting. Cases of alteration, falsification or concealment of information are all severely punished. In certain respects, punishment may be instituti on-wide. Here companies that do not ascribe to rules laid down by the Securities Exchange Commission will be delisted (SEC, 2003). Conversely in the United Kingdom, after a board has settled on a particular principle, it must comply with it or explain to its shareholders why it has not done so. Usually, the principles selected may emanate from the Cadbury Report, the Combined Code or general governance practice. The main reasoning behind this strategy is that corporate governance is not something to be policed. Instead, it should be done proactively by businesses. This demonstrates faith in organisations and their ability to practice these principles. The most glaring difference between these two systems is that in one punishment is clear. It is handled by specific bodies and the process by which oversight authorities come up with those punishments is well documented. These consequences also happen speedily, especially after non compliance in the US. Conversely, the effects of poor corporate governance are ambiguous in the principles-based approach. It is assumed that exposure of these unhealthy practices would damage the credibility of an organisation and hence its long term viability. Therefore, results may manifest after relatively long periods of time, and may not always be predictable. One key failure in the rules-based system is the tendency to establish very low standards of practice (McNamara & Banff, 2012). In order to ensure that members of the corporate community abide by rules in the US governance system, members have to agree on certain standards. In an effort to obtain consensus, these standards may be too low for concerned

How could that nice person have committed such a devious fraud What Essay

How could that nice person have committed such a devious fraud What are the characteristics of prospective fraud perpetrators Can a fraud perpetrator personality be predicted - Essay Example scientists have not been able to identify well-understood and well-defined psychological set of traits that could be used for diagnosing the tendency or propensity of fraud in an individual (Ramamoorti 524). To a large extent, the tendency of an individual to commit fraud or crime depends upon the environment and context. â€Å"Criminal opportunities are presented by those vulnerable environments and opportunistically interpretable scenarios that individuals and groups see as offering attractive potential for criminal reward with little apparent risk of detection or penalty† (Ramamoorti 524). There is a wide range of characteristics of a prospective fraud perpetrator. Prospective fraud perpetrators tend to seek more knowledge and awareness about different matters that they are not seemingly so related to. Prospective fraud perpetrators tend to study the history of an organization and find out about other people who have committed frauds in the past, how they did it, and what was their fate. Fraud perpetrators are suspicious. They may be unnecessarily too friendly and chatty or be excessively silent and socially excluded. Prospective fraud perpetrators are interested in crime stories and movies because they happen to learn a lot of new strategies and techniques to commit fraud in such forms of literature. Prospective fraud perpetrators exaggerate other’s small mistakes and are smart enough to hold others responsible for inappropriate or wrong things that they have themselves done. Prospective fraud perpetrators keep an eye on the latest technology and have a tenden cy to develop skills and competency in the use of new software and technology sooner and quicker than others. Prospective fraud perpetrators often have large networks and channels that they use to commit the fraud. The personality of a fraud perpetrator be predicted. Certain behaviors are commonly found among the fraud perpetrators. These behaviors include but are not limited to lying,

What Are the Results of the Effort of the Civil Rights Movement Essay

What Are the Results of the Effort of the Civil Rights Movement - Essay Example The Southern Christian Leadership Conference started when the Montgomery Bus Boycott that began after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give her seat on a bus to a white man. This incident lasted for more than a year and was pacified and ended by two prominent ministers during that time who were Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King Jr. The black leaders led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from the Southern Part of the United States. The Southern Leaders Leadership Conference fought for their rights and their philosophy to uphold the rights of the African Americans not with the use of force and strength but with the use of propaganda and other forms that ensures nonviolence. Since they initially started in protecting the rights of the Black people in America, they, later on, emerged to also be involved in protecting human rights on a global scope. These people such as Luther and Aberthany along with their followers have this sense of devotion to their country the territory of their state should be equivalent to the boundaries of the nation as well as with the fact that they are proud of their color and they are confident that they have the right to live together with the other Americans. The nationalist ideology has led people to divide people in terms of â€Å"us† and â€Å"we†. The individual has no choice which group he wants to support for there are instances that ethnicity or race becomes the basis for this division. As we all know, a race is a factor we have no control of. Nationalism has this characteristic of universality wherein it establishes the claims as to how the world should be logical or arranged.

Narcotics and Capitalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Narcotics and Capitalism - Essay Example The author says that in the dynamic style of the modern age, people are so busy in their schedules that they can not make up time for their personal leisure and relaxation. All of the time is used up in work, shopping, cultivating relationships or childcare. In such circumstances, drug use provides an individual with instant comfort that he/she longs for. Besides, in the very busy schedule, people are not used to free time and thus free time may put many in distress. Many people experience depression and yet can not locate a reason for the same. Dope addiction provides them with the reason to be distressed as they long to re-experience the first feel of consuming heroin. Modern capitalist society is categorized by time, and drug use enables the individual to break free of the chain of time. Dope addicts are conventionally stereotyped as money-centered and greedy people, but the author suggests that the reverse is true i.e. greedy and money-centered people become dope addicts rather t han dope addicts becoming greedy or money-centered. The author thinks that people whose behavior is perfectly consistent with the requirements of the capitalist society are the biggest and most serious addicts of dope. They generally maintain a bossy, hustling and dominating image in front of the society but from within, they feel ashamed of their ruthless attitude. Their obsession inculcates a deep desire in them to change their identity for good, and dope addiction helps them achieve that. The author connects the reason for buying dope with the intrinsic desire of humans to be cool. When they can not identify smarter or more intelligible means of being cool, they resolve to buy dope because this is one thing they know would cool them down for sure. The author says that despite the fact that dope may be considered as a hipster buy, it is essentially a deal between a seller and a buyer whereby all is said and done. The author sees little difference between loving copping and loving shopping. To him, it is the same activity but in different aesthetic. The author also connects dope addiction with the desire for commodities. The author says that he loved cars because they provided him with an isolated space in which he could find out answers to ultimate questions in complete mental and physical peace. Same is allowed by dope addiction as it disconnects an individual from the world, and he/she becomes lost in an imaginary world where the past, present and future lose their significance. Another important linkage between narcotics and money comes from the fact that consuming narcotics make an individual look rich. Heroin is extremely expensive. I pound of heroin can cost thousands of dollars. This property of heroin as well as most of the narcotics makes their consumption a game of the rich people. Presenting ourselves as rich is one of the most fundamental elements of a capitalist society. In a capitalist society, money is power. The more money an individual has, the more respected he/she is. Thus, dope addicts perceive this habit as a quick and easy way to look rich and be in the league that most people of our society long to be in. In addition to making themselves look rich, they also look stylish. Spending up to $2100 on heroin in just a week, they surprise the richest people around. In everyday life, we spend money wisely and thoughtfully no matter how much money we have. We remain cautious not to waste money, but dope

Strategic Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategic Marketing - Essay Example Impact from uncontrollable variables such as Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors as well as Customers, Competitors, Suppliers, Publics and the company’s internal environment needs to be managed so that the opportunities are capitalised upon while countering any adverse effects. Managing the controllable variables in a company involves the managing of the marketing process. Marketing process involves identifying the consumer needs, selecting the need segments, which the company aims to cater to, and focusing on the selected segments with a well formulated marketing mix. The report aims at evaluating the controllable variables a company uses in meeting the needs of its business environment and analyse the similarities and contrasts between the controllable variables being utilised by two companies engaged in manufacturing and exporting of home accessories to the UK market. The two companies chosen are Zeba Group from India and J.D.Lighting Factory from China. T he analysis will also address the importance levels of each controllable variable to the two companies. With the rapid globalisation process and the increased level of Free Trade, the number of well established exporters to the European countries from Asia has increased substantially over the past decade. The two Asian export giants, India and China are pursuing their export drives aggressively and with the right mix of marketing elements, some companies have become established suppliers to some of the most sophisticated consumer markets in the world such as the UK. Zeba Group from India and J.D. Lighting Factory from China are two such examples of companies that have been successful in marketing their products in the UK home accessory market. Zeba Group, established in 1986 caters to many of the European and American markets with carpets, linens, quilts, cushions and a range of table and bed linen under its own brand name. The products are made available through a host of

History of Russian Thought Essay Example for Free

History of Russian Thought Essay Russian political and social thought remains a mystery to many historians, often insisting that Russia neatly follow western European categories of development and thought. Rejecting this odd sort of Euro-centrism is the first task of the intellectual historian, and from this point of view has Walicki made his career as the west’s premier historian of Russian political theory. Given the fact that this book is 467 pages, it is not this review’s intention to summarize the contents of this work, but rather to concern itself with method and the approach to this complex and ill-understood subject. A good place to start might be the basic class distinctions in Russian society. It is no accident that the book begins with two highly related objects: the rise of â€Å"enlightenment† thought under Catherine II (the Great) and, concomitant with this rise, the development of an elitist, aristocratic opposition to the crown. This start of some sort of Enlightenment-based criticism of monarchy derives both from western sources, that specifically of Montesquieu, as well as ancient Russian sources, that specifically of the ancient boyar duma, or elite assembly of the land. Hence, the stage is set for the remainder of the book: the constant fluctuation, often confusing, between modern, western models of political critique pleasantly seasoned with large doses of ancient political institutions. It is never made clear, and it is likely impossible to make clear, which element took center stage, the â€Å"west† or the ancient institutions. Among the Russian Slavophiles, major critics of Peter the Great and his western reforms, it is made clear. The Slavophiles, a specifically mystic, and Christian movement, almost Rousseauian in its basic social theory, based their approach on the criticism of the crown on the ancient Russian institutions of the peasant commune, the boyar Duma and the ancient piety of the Russian Church. Hence, early on, Walicki crates a typological distinction that defines the entire work: that between the more or less western-style, liberal rejection of monarchical absolutism, and a more peasant-based and communal criticism of the centralization of royal power. Neither approach rejects monarchy per se, but they criticize the development of the Petrine state, that is the centralized, expensive, militarized and bureaucratic absolutism introduced into Russia by Peter the Great as incompatible with Russian traditions. In terms of this typology, the most extreme of the first group might be the Decembrist movement, especially in the radical masonic societies of Paul Pestel. Unlike many historians, Walicki refuses to ignore the powerful part played by Masons in 18th and 19th century Russian history. The Decembrists, like nearly all opposition movements in the mid 19th century, was both Masonic and aristocratic, having few roots among the common people. Ultimately, Pestel rejected monarchy altogether, demanding an aristocratic based popular assembly elected by full and universal suffrage without property qualifications. He promised Poland its independence, and even became the first Russian Zionist, holding that Jews who refused to assimilate into the new Russia would be sent to Palestine to create a new Jewish nation with government assistance. He was joined in the revolutionary effort by the Society of United Slavs, also aristocratic and military based, who fought with Pestel over ideological concerns, chief of which was the place of old Russian institutions in the new society. The United Slavs, slightly less radical then Pestel’s organization, sought to base the new democratic order on the old Russian institutions of the duma and collective farming arrangements. Now, while the Decembrists ultimately failed, largely due to internal divisions and their lack of understanding of Russian conditions, the real significance of these movements was to give the aristocracy a public program run by semi-secret organizations, in the Decembrist case, military societies. The very fact that these groups were wealthy and aristocratic proves their limitations, and does show, as Walicki insists, that there is no distinction between class and political ideology, since political ideology was largely dictated by class status, at least in the sense that Russian nobles viewed themselves as heir to old Russia rather than to Petrine Russia. But just what they meant by â€Å"old Russia† is another story, and itself is a powerful subtext to this work. The approach to Freemasonry in Russia is worth a review in itself. Rarely dealt with in a serious way, the Masons are depicted by Walicki as the last refuge of the old aristocracy both accepting and rejecting the western Enlightenment. The failure in this otherwise excellent section is whether or not the public statements of the Masonic organizers were truly the belief of the order, or were simply exoteric utterances of the â€Å"initiated† speaking to a â€Å"backward† society. Nevertheless, Masonry (and Walicki holds that these were mostly funded by foreign sources) became a sort of pseudo-religion for the alienated old aristocrats long pushed out of power by the distant, upstart Petersburg bureaucracy. It is clear that the Masons were strictly clubs for the wealthy, sought to usher in a new â€Å"golden age† of history and looked down upon finance. These rather odd confluences of ideas simply tell us what little the Masons ere willing to speak about in public, or, even more, the fact that the aristocracy was using Masonry to challenge the organization of the Petersburg bureaucracy. Either way, masonry was a means whereby the old aristocracy could organize their forces and pool resources, but whether there was a political program that was basically agreed upon is another matter. Pestel’s group came the closest. It is rare that the western Enlightenment is imported wholesale into Russia. In fact, Pestel is an exception in that regard. At first, the famed Russian polemicist Peter Chaadaev held that western Europe should be imported to Russia, since, as he became famous for saying, â€Å"Russia has no history. Chaadaev made himself infamous in Russia by holding that there was no â€Å"Russian history† until Peter the Great made elite Russia European, slyly assuming that historical nations are European, technically advanced and based on baconian scientific models of administration. But his fascination with such things faded early on in his career, as both the revolutionary fervor of France and the dominance of the bourgeois repelled him. For Chaadaev, â€Å"Old Europe† was that of the medieval aristocracy rather than the modern, revolutionary bourgeois. Later figures like Alexander Herzen began their own careers with the same approach, only to actually live in England and France in exile, eventually returning to Russia with a loathing for European fashions and political ideologies. But all of these distinctions can be brought under our original methodological heading: the aristocratic opposition to the crown and the forms that this upper class agitation can take. The problem with this approach is that it leaves out the peasantry as a politically active part of the population. The fact that Walicki has no reference to the Old Believers and their strict, Russian Orthodox anarchism that numbered about 20 million followers by the middle of the 19th century is a major, glaring fault in the work itself. But, without saying so explicitly, this work seems to revolve around the aristocracy and the modes that their opposition to the Petrine state took over time. But the positive side to this approach is that it proves, contrary to typical courses in political theory, that radicalism in Russia was an upper class phenomenon and had few roots with the peasants, who were inclined to the Old Belief. Class status here meant that the higher one found oneself in the economic or aristocratic hierarchy, the more you were inclined to oppose the state (which itself, was based on a service bureaucracy rather than the old aristocracy) and the more one was to lean to radical theories of either economics or politics. The smattering of detail this review offers seeks to suggest that the aristocratic splits in Russian society are responsible for the development of its political ideas. Even more, if a thesis of this work can be found, this is likely it. Masonry, materialism, communitarianism, and even Marxism (though much later) all stem from the various battles among aristocratic and otherwise upper class factions. What they had in common was that they were wealthy, urban and sought to bring about a semi-utopia by force and revolution, bringing the â€Å"dark masses† to a â€Å"true knowledge† of their destiny and social importance. Hence, all of these movements opposed the monarchy in one sense or another. With very few exceptions, these movements all began rather enamored with western ideas, only to be repelled by them once actual contact with westerners became a fact. But the enlightenment was not rejected, only dressed in Russian clothing. Only the Leninists broke this mold, importing Marxism from Germany with few modifications, without the slightest concession to Russia as a cultural entity. The very fact that Leninism was so bizarre in Russian history shows how alien it was from currents of even the most radical thought in Russia and hence, how it was forced to impose itself by violence. What seems to link all Russian radical ideas together is that they were not Leninists, in the sense that they all looked to Russian tradition for the germs of radical institution-building. Hence, one can conclude by holding that Russian radicalism sought to build enlightenment ideas on old Russian institutions. A project destroyed by Lenin, largely never to be revived.

The Control of Female Sexuality

The Control of Female Sexuality The sexual revolution opened the way for greater expression and practise of female sexuality, at least in Western cultures. However, society has historically and still does exert control over female sexuality. This control, in fact, underlies mens general control of women in society. Such control is accomplished through gender definition and social pressure, and economic and political oppression. First, women are conditioned to certain, often oppressive, gender roles by hegemonically male society. Connell (1995) first introduced the term ‘hegemonic masculinity’ as a description of the most valued definition of manhood in a given society. He held that whilst in any society there are many possible types of masculinity, only a few will be the most valued or ideal (Connell, 1995). Society then provides power and benefit to males fitting in this hegemonic definition, establishing their dominance in relation to what is considered feminine and in relation to other, less ideal masculinities. As such, hegemonic masculinity becomes justification for both the hegemonically masculine man’s domination of women and over other men (Cohn and Weber, 1999). For example, Butler (1990) found that most women are trained from early childhood that caring for a home and family are appropriate womens activities. She describes how little girls are given dolls and encouraged to nurture, versus little boys who are given blocks and encouraged to build things. Certain behaviours are also considered acceptable for girls but not boys, and vice versa. Girls are allowed to cry and be more emotionally expressive in their gender roles. Boys are allowed to be more aggressive and assertive (Butler, 1990). In terms of female sexuality, girls are often taught to be little ladies, who do not spread their legs whilst wearing a dress or express their sexuality. Female sexuality is presented as something to be guarded, and young women are encouraged to be good girls. Such gender roles are reinforced by various authority figures, such as teachers and parents. Barnes (2003) finds social workers, for example, will often assume a â€Å"disciplinary gaze† to c ommunicate their understandings of appropriate behaviour for women, typically reinforcing traditional gender roles (149). Gender roles tend to be more strongly reinforced and womens sexuality typically more constrained when opportunities for women outside the home expand. For example, during World War II, when many women occupied jobs traditionally held by men, there is strong reference in the media regarding chaste women as patriotic (Hegarty, 1998). Promiscious female sexuality became a prime target during wartime (Hegarty 1998, 115). Acceptable male behaviour of the same period, however, included drinking, gambling, fighting, and picking up women (Hegarty, 1998, 121). Hegarty (1998) describes in society how the virtuous wife / mother and virginial daughter, devoted to domestic pursuits in their place the home is often presented as a symbolic measure of social stability (113). Sexually open women, in contrast, are considered deviant and refered to by negative language such as slut, whore, and prostitute. There are few negative words in the English language that refer to a sexually open man. Male virgins are often a subject of ridicule in movies and television, whilst promiscious women have historically been portrayed in the media and in culture as destructive to individuals and society, and as spreaders of venereal disease (Hegarty, 1998). These gender roles, embedded in Western society and reinforced through family, authority figures, and the media, create social pressures that exert control over womens sexual activity. Whilst there has certainly been a relaxation of attitudes towards sex in recent decades, women are still expected to exert more restraint and control than men regarding their sexuality and sexual practices, and are more likely to be judged or condemned for sexual openness. Economic and political oppression is another way that female sexuality is controlled. In some cultures and countries, this is through political legislation or religious rules. For example, women in many Arab countries, such as Saudia Arabia, are not legally allowed to vote, drive cars, or own property (Berk, 1985). Religious restrictions in some Muslim countries even prevent women from wearing anything but a very loose garment or from uncovering their heads in public, lest they entice a man. This strongly portrays such reaction from men to womens appearance as the womans fault. Such practice occurs in Western society to a lesser extent, although not regluated by legislation. Victims of rape, for example, are often portrayed as enticingly dressed or loose in their sexual expressions as justification for such crimes (Butler, 1990). A number of countries with strong religious foundations for their governments also directly legislate birth control and abortions, thereby exerting political control over female sexuality. Many countries with Muslim or Catholic foundations to their government restrict the use of birth control and do not allow abortions for any reason (Butler, 1990). As such, these governments control female sexuality, as women must then be concerned regarding unwanted pregnancy, often curtailing their sexual activity. Men obviously do not face such issues, and are therefore less curtailed by such laws (Butler, 1990). Economically, unequal vocational opportunities and a social responsibility for housework place many women in a dependent state on the men in their lives. A woman with small children and little work experience, for example, is in a much more difficult economic condition to leave her husband or make decisions contrary to his wishes (Berk, 1985). Baxter (2001), in review of multiple studies on gender and housework , concludes â€Å"women do a much larger proportion of child care and routine indoor housework tasks than men, regardless of marital status,† educational attainment, or vocational duties (19). Such duties leave them in an economically dependent state, where their sexual wishes are often subverted to accomodate the men on whom they depend (Oakley, 1974). Acceptable expression of sexuality, therefore, becomes one that is either controlled by or designed to serve men (Butler, 1990). For example, pictures of attractive women provacatively dressed in popular magazines serve as both a reinforcement to women that their attractiveness to men is of prime importance, and provide men with stimulating pictures. Hawkesworth (1997) contends that many men would be happy to look at such pictures, but not for their wives or daughters to dress or portray themselves as such in public. As such, women are constrained to dress or behave a certain way at the bidding of men, not as a direct expression of their own wants or desires (Hawkesworth, 1997) Such social pressure, political and economic oppression allow not only control of womens sexuality, but of a more general control of women by men in society. As social systems were typically designed by men and with their best interests in mind (such as the wife staying home to serve her husband, whilst he participates in career and other interests and even equally employed women retaining responsiblity for many hours of unpaid household labour each week), the control of women and keeping of them in their place becomes a need in regard to stability (Oakely, 1974, Hegarty, 1998). Expressions of women that conflict with such traditional power relationships, including that of female sexuality, therefore threaten both the fabric of society and the power position of men within it. REFERENCES Barnes, A. 2003. Social Work, Young Women, and Femininity. Affilia, Vol. 18, No. 2, Summer 2003, pp. 148-164. Baxter, J. 2001. Marital status and the division of household labour. Family Matters, Vol. 58, Autumn 2001, pp. 16-21. Berk, S. F. 1985. The Gender Factory. Plenum: New York. Butler, J. 1990. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge: London. Cohn, C., Weber, C. 1999. Missions, Men and Masculinities. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 1999, pp. 460-475. Connell, R. 1995. Masculinities. Polity Press: Cambridge. Hawkesworth, M. 1997. Confounding Gender. Signs, Vol. 22, No. 3, Spring 1997, pp. 649-685. Hegarty, M. 1998. Patriot or prostitute? Sexual discourses, print media, and American women during World War II. Journal of Womens History, Vol. 10, No. 2, Summer 1998, pp. 112-36. Oakley, A. 1974. Housewife. Pantheon: London.

History And Background Of Google Inc Business Essay

History And Background Of Google Inc Business Essay Google Inc. began in 1996 as the brainchild of two bright computer science grad students, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They met back in 1995 at Stanford University where they were doing their PhDs and they came out with creative ways of finding and organizing large datasets (Hoovers Inc, 2010). After that, they developed a technology called PageRank which enables them to analyze a particular websites relevancy. It occurred to them that a search engine that is based on the PageRank algorithm would be much more effective at obtaining better and accurate results than existing search engines. Thus, that idea became a basis for their soon-to-be famous search engine that was launched on September 15, 1997. Google Inc. was formally incorporated on September 4, 1998 at a friends garage in Menlo Park, California. Google got its name from googol, the mathematical equivalent of the number one followed by a hundred zeros, which was a misspelling of that mathematical term (Google, 2005). This refl ects on the founders original mission to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful (Google.com, 2010). The core competency of their business, the Google search engine has become so successful that it attracted a loyal following among a growing number of Internet users, who liked its simple design and useful results. In 2000, Google began selling text-based advertisements associated with search keywords in order to maintain an uncluttered page design so that speed is maximized when loading a page. Their innovative advertising system, comprised of its AdWords and AdSense products, is so successful that 99% of their revenue is derived from it (Google, 2005). However, the technological industry demands constant innovation and Googles strong focus on continuous improvement is reflected in the companys ever expanding line of innovative services and products which includes webmail (Gmail), blogging (Blogger), and interactive maps (Google Maps). Googles s trong organizational culture that includes values such as creativity, simplicity and innovation plays a huge role in their tremendous success and gives them a huge competitive advantage over their rivals in the search engine market. Content The Google Culture Google is well known for their organizational cultures distinctiveness and uniqueness compared to their immediate competitors. On the Google corporate website, they have listed down 10 core principles that guides the actions of the entire organization. These are the values and assumptions shared within the organization. These values are also termed as espoused values, where it is not necessarily what the organization actually values even though the top executives of the company embraces them. Here are some of a few of their core principles which will provide a look into Googles management philosophy and the type of culture they want to possess: Focus on the user and all else will follow Google strives to put the end users interest ahead of shareholders when making corporate decisions. Google promises to deliver the best user experience possible by providing a clear and simple homepage interface, relevant advertisements and fair placement in search results. Its best to do one thing really, really well Google focuses on its core competency, which is search. Google continues to solve complex issues and provide continuous improvements to search. New Google products such as Gmail and Google Maps are the results of Googles dedication in improving search. Fast is better than slow Google understands that time is valuable to its users and strives to please them by increasing the efficiency of retrieving the users search results. Now the average response time to get a search result just takes a fraction of a second. Google is the only company that aims to have the users leave its website as soon as possible. The need for information crosses all borders Google is founded in California but the existing mission is to enable access to information for the entire world and in all languages. And because more than half of Google search results originate from outside the United States, the organization has offices in dozens of countries and offers the Google search interface in more than 110 languages. As a result, the variety and quality of services Google offer are much more improved. You can be serious without a suit The founders built Google around the idea that work should be challenging, and the challenge should be fun. Google believes that great and creative things are more likely to happen with the right company culture and thus emphasizes on team achievements and pride in individual accomplishments. Google employs energetic, passionate people from diverse backgrounds with creative approaches to work, play and life. Great just isnt good enough Google always strives to make its employees deliver more than what is expected. Google does not accept being the best as an endpoint but rather a starting point. Through innovation and iteration, Google aims to take things that work well and improve upon them in unexpected ways. Google also anticipates users needs and set new standards with new products and services that can make a difference and change the world. [Adapted from www.google.com] In Google, the daily organizational life is distinctive and is one that thrives on informal culture. The rituals that portray the organizations culture as unique and possesses a small-company feel are portrayed daily at lunchtime, where almost all employees eat together at the many various office cafà ©s while at the same time having an open, relaxed conversations with fellow Googlers that come from different teams (Google.com, 2010). Also, because one of the Google cultures main pillars are the pillar of innovation, every Googler are very comfortable at sharing ideas, thoughts, and opinions with one another in a very informal working environment. Every employee is a hands-on contributor and everyone wears several hats (Google.com, 2010). Sergey and Brin also plays a big part of laying the foundation on what the Google culture is and the founders have continued to maintain the Google Way by organizing a weekly all-hands TGIF meetings for employees to pose questions directly at them (Google.com, 2010). In Google, the motivated employees who live the Google brand and are aligned to the company call themselves Googlers. Even former employees of Google have a name which they refer to themselves as Xooglers (Garret, 2005). This shows that in Google, their employees are so involved in the organization that they have their own symbolic name that mirrors the organizations name and image, which is a sure sign of an existing strong cultural values that are present within the company. After tremendous growth in Google, the organization moved from a humble office building in Palo Alto, California back in its early days to its current office complex bought over from Silicon Graphics. The complex is popularly known as the Googleplex, which is a blend of the word Google and complex (Googleplex, 2005). Googleplex is the result of a careful selection that serves to establish Googles unique and individualistic culture in the eyes of the employees and the public. The corporate campus is built to provide a very fun, relaxed and colorful environment both inside and outside. Innovative design decisions provides Google employees 2000 car lots underground so that open spaces above and surrounding the building are filled with unique and interesting architectures that includes an on-site organic garden that supplies produces for Googles various cafes, a bronze casting of a dinosaur fossil, a sand volleyball court, heated endless pools and also electric scooters along with hundre ds of bikes scattered throughout the complex for Googlers to get to meetings across campuses (Google, 2009). Googleplex is a significant departure from typical corporate campuses, challenging conventional thinking about private and public space. This also points out the alignment of values that are present in Googles culture such as innovation, fun, laid-back, creativity and uniqueness that clearly shows that their organizational culture is truly unique and different from that of their competitors and other organizations. Within the Googleplex, a truly attractive, fun and extraordinary workplace environment exists for Google employees. The interior of the headquarters is furnished with items like lava lamps and giant rubber balls while sofas, Google color coded chairs, and pool tables can be found at lounges and bar counters to express Googles laid-back working atmosphere. The lobby contains a grand piano and a projection of current live Google search queries (Google, 2009). The employees various needs are also taken care of by facilities such as the 19 cafes on campus which serves a variety of food choices for their diverse workforce, a gym, massage parlor, laundromats, and even micro kitchens, which provides snacks for employees who want a quick bite (Google, 2009). This ensures that employees can be more productive and happy without ever leaving the workplace. A manifestation of Googles creative and innovative culture is shown by the unconventional building design with high ceilings to let natural light in, durable floors made of tiny quartz stones, working British phone booths splashed in Google colors, and lounges that also serve as DIY libraries with cleverly placed low-reach book racks adorned with colorful Lego sets and cubes (Google, 2009). All these innovative, creative and colorful designs are symbols of Googles unique organizational culture that emphasizes on continuous innovation. Google engages their employees by applying adaptive culture in the organization. From their core competency in search engine technology, Google has responded to customers change in needs by expanding onto the mobile market. The employees analyze, anticipate and seek out the opportunities to improve the organizations performance by being proactive and quick in coming out with new technologies and solutions for mobile services. It aims to help people all over the world to do more tasks on their phone, not to mention the several different ways to access their Google search engine on a mobile phone (Google, 2008). In addition, Google recently entered the smartphone market by launching the Google Nexus One smartphone in response to customers increasing need for smartphones, which is gaining ground on popularity because everyone is going mobile in the Information Age. This is the result of Google employees common mental model that the organizations success depends on continuous change to s upport the stakeholders and also that they are solely responsible for the organizations performance (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). The employees also believe that by entering into other markets beyond their core competency, the change is necessary and inevitable to keep pace with an ever changing and volatile technological market. Googles organizational culture places a huge importance of trust and transparency by having an informal corporate motto namely Dont be evil. This slogan has become a central pillar to their identity and a part of their self-proclaimed core principles. It also forms the ethical codes of the organization where Google establishes a foundation for honest decision-making that disassociates Google from any and all cheating. Its ethical principles means that Google sets guiding principles for their advertising programs and practices, which is where most of their revenues come from. Google doesnt breach the trust of its users so it doesnt accept pop-up advertising, which is a disruptive form of advertisement that hinders with the users ability to see the content that they searched (Stahl, 2004). And because they dont manipulate rankings to put any of their partners higher in their search results or allow anyone to buy their way up the PageRank, the integrity of their search results are not c ompromised. This way, users trust Googles objectivity and their ethical principles is one of the reason why Googles ad business had become so successful. The founders of Google believe strongly that in the long term we will be better served, as shareholders and in all other ways, by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains. Content An Introduction to Organizational Culture Every organization is unique in the sense that each and every one of them has their own distinct way of going about doing their business. This unique style of doing business that is different in every organization is made out of a complete combination of the artefacts, values, attitudes and shared assumptions of that organization whereby it is known as organizational culture. According to McShane and Von Glinow (2008), organizational culture consists of shared values and assumptions that guide the way that employees within that organization think and act and how they react to opportunities and solve problems. The employees of that particular organization are directed and guided by the right way of doing tasks and learn how to prioritize tasks that are important and to differentiate those tasks with other less important tasks. The employees also have certain beliefs and ideas about what kinds of goals they should pursue in the organization and their own ideology about the appropriate kinds or standards of behavior they should use to achieve these goals (Hill and Jones, 2001). The Elements of Organizational Culture according to Schein (1985) Organizational culture consists of a few elements. According to Scheins study (as cited in McShane and Von Glinow, 2008), he defines culture as consisting of several levels that are made out of 2 primary categories that drive the organizations action. The categories are made out of the visible elements of culture and also the underlying assumptions underneath, which in other words is the invisible element of culture. Figure 1. (Based on Scheins Levels of Culture. Schein, 2004, Organizational culture and leadership, 27). Visible elements are the artefacts that are found in the culture, which is the physical elements of an organization that is observable (Schein, 2004). The visible element of culture is also said to be a manifestation of the cultures invisible values (Schein, 2004). Artefacts can be stories, legends, rituals and ceremonies, organizational language and also the physical structures of the organization (Schein, 2004). The invisible elements of the culture are made out of espoused values, shared values and shared assumptions. Espoused values are essentially the philosophies, goals and strategies that are stated by the management (Schein, 2004). In addition, shared values which are values that employees in the organization believe in and prioritize at the top of their hierarchy of values and also which they all share in common (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Along with shared values, another deeper element of culture, which some experts say is the real essence of culture, are shared assump tions which consists of unconscious, taken-for-granted perceptions or beliefs and also thoughts and feelings of individuals within organizations (Schein, 2004). Organizational Stories and Legends Stories are a part of the organization that shows the existence of a strong culture. Stories can be tales that talk about courageous things done by an employee of the company, or to ridicule past events that had strayed from the firms core values (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). The stories and legends serves as powerful social reminder about the way things should or should not be done. In addition, stories play an important role in communicating the organizations distinct culture in terms of the employees individual standard of performance, the corporate beliefs and also criteria of getting fired (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Stories in the organization can evoke emotion in those that hear these tales which will serve as a permanent reminder to the employees to uphold the organizational culture. Stories is also the greatest way to communicate the culture when it is about real people, real situations and known by employees throughout the firm (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Rituals and Ceremonies Rituals are a dramatized version of an organizations culture by the customary activities of daily organizational life (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). This can include how visitors are welcomed, how often does senior executive s pay a visit to their subordinates, how much time does the employee take lunch and how the employees communicate with each other. Ceremonies on the other hand are more formal than rituals. Ceremonies are activities that are carried out especially for the benefit of an audience (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Among the examples are product launches, press conferences and webcasts. Organizational language Organizational language is defined as the so-called language of the workplace (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). It speaks volumes about the companys culture and can portray distinct, unique and important features of an organizations culture by defining the way employees address their colleagues, greet their stakeholders and describe their customers. It is also a cultural artifact and highlights values that are held by organizational subcultures. How terms are used to describe something and how employees communicate with each other determines the character of an organizations culture. Physical structures and symbols Former British prime minister, Winston Churchill once said that buildings both reflect and influence an organizations culture. Physical structures and symbols such as buildings and the company logo does and can reflect or influence an organizations culture (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). The characteristics of the building such as the age, the shape, size, and location can also reveal the values that a company practices such as emphasizing flexibility, teamwork, environmental friendliness or any other values. The company logo characteristics such as the color, symbolic meaning, shape and characters can also portray the organizations culture. Physical artifacts such as desks, chairs, office space, and wall hangings can also denote cultural meanings (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Importance of a Strong Organizational Culture According to McShane and Von Glinow (2008), a strong organizational culture is very important to a company. It is so valuable and precious to a company because it can give a sort of competitive advantage over other competitors. Companies with a strong culture are likely to succeed, but success is not guaranteed for a company with a strong organizational culture and it is subject to a particular set of conditions. One of these conditions is the strength of the organizational culture. It is referring as to how widely and deeply employees are holding the companys dominant values and assumptions. In a strong organizational culture, most employees across all subunits maintains the dominant values (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). The values are also difficult to change because they are institutionalized through artifacts. In addition, strong cultures are often put in place by the company founders values and assumptions. In contrast, weak cultures exist when dominant values are only held by a few people at the top of the organization and are short-lived. Some experts like Kotter Heskett, Tidball, Cremer, Besanko, Dranove, Shanley (as cited in Muafi, 2009) have established that organizational culture has a significant effect on an organizations long-term sustainability, economic performance and outcomes such as profitability, turnover and commitment. They also indicated that congruence of values and beliefs seems to create a unifying force that boosts organizational performance. In Pfiffner and Sherwoods study (as cited in Mahal, 2009), they suggested that there is a positive relationship between the culture and effectiveness of a firm. Wilderom et al., (as cited in Mahal, 2009) described that there is a significant relationship between organizational culture and effectiveness. Culture helps to reduce conflicts in the organization according to Gales study (as cited in Mahal, 2009), and make the organization more participative and zealous. Adaptive Cultures Adaptive culture is defined as an organizational culture that exists when employees places their customers and stakeholders changing needs as a top priority and giving their support to initiatives that keep pace with these changes (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Embedding Ethical Values According to Hellriegel and Slocum (2009), organizational culture involves a complex interaction between formal and informal systems that may support ethical or unethical behavior. Formal systems include policies, structure, leadership, orientation, training programs, reward systems and decision-making processes. On the other hand, informal systems include rituals, stories, heroes, myths, sagas, language and norms (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2009). McShane and Von Glinow (2008) also shares a somewhat similar view with Hellriegel and Slocum (2009) on the possibility that organizational culture can affect and influence ethical conduct. This is logical because good behavior are influenced and directed by ethical values that are present in the individual. Therefore, organizations can guide the actions and behaviors of its employees by planting ethical values in its culture (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). In a similar way, Hellriegel and Slocum (2009) also thinks that the organizational cultu re seems to affect ethical behavior. For example, the culture that upholds and places importance on ethical norms is a culture that encourages ethical behavior. Furthermore, the founders also play an important role in enforcing ethical behavior by exhibiting the right behavior. Pros and cons in applicable theories and models for Google Satisfied employees not only increase productivity and reduce turnover, but also enhance creativity and commitment (Chen, Yang, Shiau, Wang, 2006). Based on the findings, Google is already having a playful variation culture in the organization for the employees. This can enable the employees to have an enjoyment environment and this will be able enhance the relationship between the employees and strengthen their bond to work as a team. An enjoyment environment definitely can let the employees to feel satisfied and subsequently will increase productivity. Apart from that, this will shape a convenient work process for the employees that will smoothen the decision making process for the management team. Google already identified the employees are the organizations internal customers and this is the reason why it has been constantly giving employees a sense of purpose, enhancing their self-esteem and sense of belonging for being a part of the organization. The company was reorganized in to small teams that attacked hundreds of projects all at once. The founders give the employees great latitude, and they take the same latitude for themselves. Eric Schmidt says that Google merely appears to be disorganized. We say we run the company chaotically. We run it at the edge. This can adapt the culture Google and therefore they can individually to generate the ideas on their own. On the other hand, Google hires employees that have good academic results but without practical experience and this will be a threat to Google in terms of their organizations operation. Google is a results-driven organization and if employees with only creative ideas but lacking of skills to realize the ideas they have initially planned, this will absolutely reduce the productivity of the organizations. Google had been public listed on year 2004 and therefore Google had to take the shareholders views into consideration before making any decision. The shareholders had been strongly emphasizing on reducing the employee benefits due to the high cost invested on it. This leads to the organizational culture would be degraded and the employees would feel less satisfied and affect their produced results. Employees are very important asset the Google while the shareholders also the contributor of funds for Google. The management team has to weight the importance of both of the stakeholders f or the Google as this will create a different organizational culture. Recommendation We recommend Google to hire more experienced people instead of the good academic results for the good future of the organization. More experienced employee had already encounter different cultures from other organizations and would be able to inject a better culture for Google. Due to the fact that more experienced employee can also be a mentor for those younger new employees to enhance the productivity throughout the company. Explicit and tacit knowledge are both very important by being acquired by all the employees. Most of the Googles employees they graduate from university with flying colour result, it means they have sufficient explicit knowledge which the knowledge is organized and can be communicated from one person to another. But they are lacking of tacit knowledge which is not documented and it is action oriented, tacit knowledge can only be acquired by taking action or from someone who has experienced before. Apart from that, Google also can implement a cultural assessment for the organization to investigate to ensure that the organizations also maintaining and keeping the core value in this competitive business environment. After assessing the cultural in the organization, the management can come out with a new set or standard of operations so this will create leverage between the shareholders and employees. Hence, the stakeholders of Google would eventually feel each and every of them are fairly treated. All the employees in Google are highly independent, they work independently because they are given very high power in making decision, and this is a good culture of having this organization structure but an invisible competition and conflict among employees are underlying. Furthermore, according to Bakar, Salleh, Ling (2008), a need for a more controlled bureaucratic culture is necessary. A high score on bureaucracy means the organisation is power-oriented, cautious, established, solid, regulated, ordered, structured, procedural and hierarchical. Conflict increase with the level of interdependence, in order to minimize dysfunctional conflict might need to minimize the level of interdependence between the parties. We recommend the organization to use human buffers who serve as intermediaries between interdependent people or work units who do not get along through direct interaction. Conclusion After reviewing information about organizational culture and doing the case study on Google, it is shown that the company does have a unique culture that is begins with the founders of Google. Sergey Brin and Larry Page has established the Google culture that is based on informality, creativity, innovation and fun (Google, 2010). This can be seen throughout the company through the artifacts that are present in the company. The way how employees greet and refer to one another as fellow Googlers, where the headquarters of Google are located in a unique and fun place that looks more like a campus than an office, or the way Google treats its employees by providing perks and benefits for them. The importance of organizational culture has shown through the example of the Google case study. Employees have high motivation at the company because they have a heightened sense of purpose and mission at the company. This is why even some employees who became millionaires are still working at Google (Stahl, 2004). Because the founders of Google set the mission to improve the world and to organize the worlds information, that the employees have similar values and beliefs and therefore find themselves aligned with the company. Nevertheless, not every company can apply the Google culture in their organization. The findings of Bakar, Salleh, Ling (2008) suggests that not all types of corporate culture could invoke an increase in the employees job performance. The study concludes that overall corporate culture does have a significant and positive correlation with job performance. Nevertheless, not all types of corporate culture produce significant correlation with the job performance. Here, only entrepreneurial, bureaucratic and competitive cultures are statistically significant in correlations with the job performance. Thus, an organization that strives to improve their employees job performance should inculcate innovative culture that creates an exciting and dynamic environment in which entrepreneurial and ambitious people thrive in this environment. Therefore, it is clearly shown that Googles culture is a unique organizational culture that cannot necessarily be applied in other organizations successfully, especially for organizations that reside in different industries other than the information technology field.

The Minimum Wage Should Be Increased :: Argumentative Essay, Minimum Wage Essays

Since its inception, the minimum wage has been a hotbed for debate. If today’s leaders could manage to increase minimum wage, millions of families would benefit. A person working at minimum wage will only make about $10,700 a year. When rent, groceries, bills and gas are all added up, it appears to be a nearly impossible task to keep a family afloat. But working 40 hours a week at $5.15 an hour, one makes less than $206 a week after taxes. Making $206/week, one brings home about $824/month. Adding 17 gallons of gas at $2.20 a gallon in a car; the cost ends up to be about $38 a week, $152/month. The gas and electricity bill about $120, $50 for cable, $147 for property taxes, $45 for the telephone bill, $25 for water, and $42 for house insurance. All this totals about $580 (Abrams, H). Making it difficult to afford cable, and make the smallest payment possible on all the bills causing one to slip into debt. This is reality for many of the people in the United States. At the current minimum wage level, a full time, year round minimum wage worker in 2005 will earn $5,378 less than the $16,090 needed to lift a family of three out of poverty (Min imum). Today the federal minimum wage is $5.15, but should be about $8.50 if Congress had adjusted it for inflation over the past 35 years. While $5.15 may not seen that bad, when factoring in such variables as sky rocketing gas prices, budgets can get pretty tight. David Shepard, a sophomore at Wayne State University, worked at a Meijer Retail and Grocery Superstore for over two years while in high school. At the time Shepard lived with his parents and didn’t have to worry about paying rent or buying groceries, all that he had to pay for was filling up his gas tank and paying for his car insurance. Shepard recalled, â€Å"It was all I could do to pay for the basics like gas and bill’s, I barely had any money to have fun on the weekends†. This is only an example of a high school student that can nearly slip by on minimum wage with only a few expenses. There are 1.8 million people in America with children under the age of 18 that would benefit from an increase in m inimum wage (Minimum).

Boys Will be Boys in Tom Sawyer :: Tom Sawyer Essays

Boys Will be Boys in â€Å"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer† Mark Twain uses â€Å"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer† to reveal his own childhood; thus, many specifics in the book, such as the characters and the setting are very dear to his heart. It is the story about life in a boy’s world, and it discloses the feelings of Mark Twain concerning his boyhood, his town, and the people there. The time period is about two decades before the Civil War, and the setting is in St. Petersburg, Missouri, a small village on the Mississippi River. The main character in the book is Tom Sawyer, of course. Throughout the book, the author compares himself to Tom and his adventures. Tom is all boy, meaning that he is about as rambunctious and mischievous as a little boy can be. He despises anything that places restrictions on his boyhood freedom including school, church, and chores. Not only does he despise these restrictions, but he also will do anything to get out of them. For example, he skips school, and he cons friends into doing his chores for him. While he detests the restraints of life, he loves the liberating parts of life. He longs to take advantage of nature and all it has to offer. A quote from the book that exemplifies Tom Sawyer’s attitude toward life is when the author reveals his philosophy, â€Å"that work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.† The other characters in the story revolve around Tom’s character. Tom lives with his Aunt Polly because of the death of his mother. She tries to keep Tom in line, but she struggles because she has such a soft spot in her heart for Tom. When she does discipline Tom, she feels terrible, and in a way, she punishes herself. Sidney is Tom’s half brother who seems to always be making Tom look bad. While Tom is the so-called bad boy who is always getting into trouble, Sidney is the good boy who always does what he is told. However, Tom is presented in a compassionate way, but Sidney is portrayed as a tattler and a deceiver. He is shown to be deceitful when he allows Tom to take the blame and punishment for the broken sugar bowl even though he is the one who broke it.

Domestic versus Foreign Poverty :: essays research papers

Personally, I mostly disagree with this statement although there are a few points in its favour. The bible provides the basis for Christian beliefs and values. The Catechism States: "Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity." This means that all men are equal in the eyes of God, and should be equal in each others. This means that we should treat each others as equal without considering race, nationality, sex or religion. ?All of you are Christ?s Body and each one is a part of it? (1 Corinthians 12:27). Therefore to ignore one man?s suffering is to ignore the body?s suffering as, ?If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it? (1 Corinthians 12:26). To ignore one part of the body?s suffering causes the rest of the body to suffer. You cannot be a true Christian if you leave someone in poverty, as, if everyone is part of Christ?s body and all parts suffer if one does, then you are causing suffering to spread worldwide unchecked and even if you remove it from your community it still exists, so all still suffer. We should demonstrate the qualities set out by Jesus, to love thy neighbour, when we are dealing with anyone. Another important example, the parable of the Sheep and Goats shows the way that Good Christians should treat their fellow men. It says how Jesus ?will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats? (Matthew 21:32-33) This means that he will separate the righteous from the unrighteous. He will put those blessed by God at his right and those who have done wrong against God or their fellow man on his left. In this way does the shepherd separate the sheep from the goats. Jesus is a shepherd of men. He will always protect his flock. This parable shows that we will be judged on the Day of Judgement for our actions on Earth. We must repent of our wrongdoings and help all others.

Integration of faith no name

The Merriam Webster cautionary defines character as, â€Å"the good qualities of a person that usually include moral or emotional strength, honesty, and fairness†. From the beginning of time, people have had the example of negative and positive character. The lesson comes from the Bible in Hebrews 13:18 Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. These qualities, as stated in Hebrews make a successful leader. A successful leader has a victorious team which will produce quality products and attract loyal customers.Kettle and Keller state the vital role for any COM is to instill a customer viewpoint and create a loyal clientele (Kettle & Keller 2012). This is done through marketing and includes everyone in the company to reach to consumers. Within the marketing management the holistic marketing approach of 4 elements carries the workload that all employees should know the needs, wants, and interests of their market. This leads to value and satisfaction. If corners are cut to make a cheaper product the customer will not be happy with the quality.Building or providing high quality goods and services are a sign of character, being honest with good conscience. What would the employee or company do when no one is looking? Would they do the right thing and be honest? Or would they lie, cheat, and steal to close a deal with a customer or client? The best companies will be the ones that give back to the community and help those in need that may be down on their luck. A well known restaurant chain of having a good honest character is Chick-fill-a.As of last year 2014, Chick-fill-a has given over $68 million to education and various charities, working closely with the community. They have successfully built a loyal market. They also value family time and allow their employees a day off, Sunday. By being an example of giving to the community and creating a firm foundation in character, people are attracted to the value s and passion of this restaurant. A mission statement, ‘this is where you breathe real life into the lungs of your organization† (Ramsey 201 1).

Evolution of Hrm

History and Evolution of HRM Personnel Management Personnel departments were once called Health and Happiness departments. The people assigned to deal with personnel issues were often individuals, who were not able to do other jobs efficiently. Personnel Management’s as a corporate field developed in the early 1900s. It was seen as activity, necessary, but unimportant, part of the organization. Over the years personnel management came to focus on efficient procedures and rules for administering large numbers of employees in various firms.Its aim was to manage difficulties, introduce fair systems and reduce costs. It also tended to focus on groups rather than individuals and, incidentally, reinforced labour-management divisions. The History of Human Resource Management The field of HRM as it currently exists has got through lot of transition. Following are the phases in the transition of HRM:- (a) The Individual Revolution: During this phase machines were introduced into variou s organizations and technology made rapid progress.Due to fragmentation and specialization of work, many workers lost their jobs and many workers felt their work to be dull, boring and monotonous. Workers were treated like tools, and moreover employees were keen to increase the production targets rather than satisfy workers’ demands. (b) Scientific Management: With the introduction of Scientific Management given by F. W. Taylor, efficiency in organizations was increased . Work was rearranged according to systematic analysis into smallest mechanical elements which was mot effective combination.Taylor emphasized on the fact that the individuals selected to perform the task should be perfectly matched, physically as well as mentally. Proper training should be given to the employees so that they can do their job more efficiently. (c) Trade Unionism: As the employees become more exploitive, the workers working in the organizations joined hands to fight against injustice done to th em in the shape of Trade Unions tried to improve the problems faced by the workers through collective bargaining.They helped in resolving the grievances of the workers relating to working conditions, pay and benefits, disciplinary actions, etc. (d) Human Relations Movement: The famous Hawthorne experiments conducted by Elton Mayo during 1930s and 1940s demonstrated that employee productivity was affected not only by the way job was designed, and the monetary aspects, but by certain social and psychological factors as well. The human relations movement led to various behavioral science techniques in industry for the very first time.This movement included support for training programs, support and concern for workers, counseling programs for workers, etc. (e) Human Resource Approach: However, but during early 60s the â€Å"pet milk theory†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. that happy workers are more productive workers as happy cow gives more milk †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Of human relations was la rgely rejected. In human resource approach it was recognized that workers are unique in their own way – having individual needs. It was recognized that each employee is a unique and highly complex individual with different wants, needs and values.Slowly but steadily, the trend moved towards treating employees as resources or assets. Evolution of the Concept of HRM The various stages or phases in the transition or evolution of Personnel Management into Human Resource Management are shown below: (a)The Commodity Concept:Labor was regarded as a commodity to a tool to be bought or sold (b) The Factor of Production Concept: labor is like any other factor of production, viz. money, materials, land etc. (c) The Goodwill Concept: Welfare measures like safety, first aid, lunch room, rest room will have a positive impact on workers’ productivity. d) The Paternalistic Concept: Management must assume a fatherly or protective attitude towards employee. It means satisfying the vario us needs of employees as parents meet the requirements of their child. (e) The Humanitarian Concept: To improve productivity, physical, social and psychological needs of workers must be fulfilled and met. (f) The Human Resource Concept: Employees are the most valuable assets in the organization. (g) The Emerging Concept: Employees should be accepted as partners of the organization.They should belong to the organization as they are running their own organization. Scope of HRM The main aim of HRM is Competitive advantage through people. It involves the following points:- (a) Change in Thinking Process: Achieving competitive success through people involves fundamentally changing the thinking of the concerns, that how they think about the workforce consisting of people an the management-employment relationship. (b) Co-operation with Employees: It means achieving success by working with people, not by replacing them or limiting the scope of their activities. c) Strategic Viewpoint: It in volves seeing the workforce as a source of strategic advantage, not just a cost to be minimized. Distinction – Personnel Management/HRM/HRD The sole purpose of personnel management was to attain advantage and best results for the organization. The individual’s interests, desires and aspirations were submerged into the organization objectives and goals. Where as, HRM projects the development of individual in accordance with his interests, desires & aspirations. So that the individuals would be motivated to make their best contribution towards the accomplishment of goals.While personnel function was designed to respond to the organization objectives like profit of maximization, HRM visualized human elements of enterprise as important resources. The term human resources at the macro level spell the total sum of all the components (like skill & creative ability) possessed by all the people, where as the term personnel even at the macro level is limited to only employees of all organization. One must not be under impression that HRM has replaced traditional personnel management rather we can say that HRM has absorbed the personnel function in its refined form.HRD is an integral part of Human Resource Management. Due to the amalgation of Personnel function in its refined way with HRM, it became necessary for every organization to develop skills, talents, potentialities, capabilities and attitude of company work to meet the emerging challenges. Hence HRD policies have been adopted. HRD strategies are supposed to bring forth necessary changes in skills capabilities and attitudes of people who are required to cope with the emerging changes. Thus HRD has become an integral part of Human Resource Management.Personnel Management Human Resource Management Personnel Management | Human Resource Management| | | Labor is treated as a tool which is replaceable| Treats people as a resource or as an asset to be issued for the benefit of an organization | Interests o f organization are upper most | A distinct philosophy aiming at mutuality of interests| A not so important function meant only to hire employees and maintain their records | Integrated into overall straight management | Precedes human resources management | Latest in the evolution of subject|