Strategic Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Strategic Management - Assignment Example Rumelt has severely criticized the contemporary concepts of strategy, which is largely followed by strategists, marketers and leaders. According to Rumelt, a good strategy consists of a specific plan for solving a defined problem or challenge. It involves multiple stages and tedious development of expertly and thoughtfully implemented policies. This strategy is designed focusing on the obstacles and the appropriate procedure to mitigate them. A major differentiating factor between Rumelt’s good strategy and other contemporary strategy is that his strategy stresses upon intelligent utilization of resources in order to solve specific issues, rather than distributing the resources without proper research.According to Rumelt, bad strategy is not necessarily the reverse of good strategy. In general, bad strategy has emerged from specific leadership dysfunctions and specific misconceptions. Bad strategies are characterized as follows;1. Fluff: It means filling slogans with trends an d popular buzzwords rather than important insights, thereby rendering the slogans empty. Here, aims or objectives of an organization are bluntly put in their strategies, without adding creativity or streamlining the same with business function or target customers. Most of the mediocre and traditional organizations follow the similar unproductive approach.2. Failure in facing challenges: It is impossible to create a strategy if leaders fail to identify as well as isolate the major issue or challenge faced.

Gender and sexuality Essay Example for Free

Gender and sexuality Essay Gender and sexuality has permeated the character of Latin American nations throughout history. Latin America has demonstrated examples of the manipulation of gender as a means of a nations government asserting its political and social control, and the history of the Cuban Revolution shows that Cuba is among such nations. Since its infancy in 1959 and through the 1990s, the Cuban revolutionary government has managed to achieve a well-documented history of oppressive practices that has made the Cuban government the subject of much worldwide criticism and scrutiny over the years. Among the root of this oppression is a commitment to political and social control along gender lines for a greater nationalistic cause. Not unlike other Latin American nations, gender roles as they are recognized in Cuba have been constructed and forcefully prescribed by the government. The citizens of the nation have been socialized to discern between masculine and feminine traits, as well understand why certain traits are desirable while others are not. These determinations have had far-reaching consequences in the cultural realm of Cuban society. Social circles are designed partly upon a person’s recognition of and adherence to specific gender roles. A part of the Cuban revolutionary government’s use of gender for political and social control is its attitude toward and relationship with male homosexuality. The systematic persecution of homosexuals in Cuba has been used by the state in an insular fashion against its citizens for the purpose of controlling them, but also as an outward political maneuver of serves to uphold national dignity and honor as part of a Cuban national identity that is to be recognized and respected throughout the rest of the world. In addition to this paper’s thesis being based on the Cuban revolutionary government’s use of gender and sexuality as a tool of political and social control, the notion of patriarchy is a theory that is central to this thesis. Part of Cuba’s national identity is the patriarchal nature of its government, which not only applies to the relationship between the state and its citizens, but also applies to the relationship between Cuba and other nations. Dominance and strength, two factors upon which patriarchy is based, are what Cuba stands to project to larger, more powerful nations as a symbol of an exalted position in the world. As discussed in the paper, Cuba’s patriarchal government uses its rejection of homosexuality outwardly as a tactic of resisting and rejecting the systems and ideals of nations that the Cuban Revolution finds itself to be fundamentally at odds with. Evidence of this can be found in works such as Ian Lumsden’s Machos, Maricones, and Gays: Cuba and Homosexuality. The arguments made in this paper are written around various primary documents that not only support the central thesis, but also serve as a base for extended discussion of certain elements that have contributed to a greater part of a nation’s history. One such element is the notion of gender roles and norms being defined and prescribed by the state, which in turn affects its society’s views. This includes the legal and penal mechanisms through which the prescriptions are upheld. Legal enforcement leads to a second element, which is nationalism as the motive for the state’s manipulation of gender and sexuality. This control of the Cuban people is part of a greater political agenda: ensuring the success of the Cuban Revolution. A part of this political maneuver is maintaining the honor of the nation and defending its worldwide image. A third and final element is the concept of cultures and governments undergoing change over a period of time. Such changes include the state’s gender-based ideas and prescriptions, as well as the catalysts for such change. These changes are ultimtately reflected in the attitudes of a nation’s people. The film â€Å"Fresa y Chocolate† is one of the primary sources that this paper is written around. Set in Cuba circa 1979, â€Å"Fresa y Chocolate† reflects the attitudes toward homosexuality that were the norm in Cuba during the first couple of decades of the Cuban revolution, and also depicts the government’s use of gender and sexuality to advance its own political agenda. What qualities make or do not make the revolutionary? What place does a homosexual have in the Cuban revolution? What is homosexuality supposed to mean to the communist youth? These are questions that â€Å"Fresa y Chocolate† raises and helps answer. The other primary documents that this paper is written around are the writings of controversial gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas. This paper discusses some examples of the persecution that Arenas endured as a homosexual coming up during the Cuban Revolution. From physical attacks and censorship to arrests and imprisonment, Arenas symbolized to the Cuban revolutionary government the classic threat to the patriarchal state that the government feared and aimed to neutralize. Although writings from a persecuted homosexual in Cuba stand to possibly reflect certain biases, it is important to look at alternate points of view with the purpose of still supporting the basic arguments conveyed herein. For that reason, this paper will also discuss the works of writers such as Rafael L. Ramirez and Rafael Ocasio, who did not emerge from a situation similar to that of Arenas’s. Ocasio explains that Reinaldo Arenas initially expressed interest in the Cuban Revolution, having left home at the age of fifteen to become a guerilla fighter for Fidel Castro. (14) Arenas was rejected due to his young age and the fact that he had no firearms. His enthusiasm for supporting Castro eventually waned, however, and it was the sexual repression that Arenas encountered at his boarding school that began his discontent with the Castro regime. (17) Ocasio cites the reprisal that students faced if caught committing homosexual acts. In addition to expulsion, school officials also went as far as detailing the nature of student’s transgression in school records, thereby barring these homosexual students from other state-run schools. According to Ocasio, Arenas stated that arrest and incarceration could also result from certain instances of such activity. (17) This made Arenas aware of politically-related persecution of homosexuals as an adolescent. Systematic, state-sanctioned persecution of homosexuals is further exemplified by the nighttime roundups of homosexuals organized by Cuban police, a practice that traces back to 1961. The earliest documented case of this is known as the Night of the Three Ps (prostitutes, pimps, y pederasts). Gay playwright Virgilio Pinera was among those who were arrested. (Ocasio 24) These raids were purely politically-motivated, for as Salas explains, police targeted anything they found in these raids that appeared to be antisocial or non-conformist, including clothing or hairstyles deemed inappropriate. In support of this, Salas cites an instance in which a Young Communist League leader was arrested in one of the raids despite not being involved in any homosexual activity. Police targeted him because of his long hair, which was cut by authorities. The man was released once he confirmed his identity. (155) Homosexuals targeted in these raids were considered part of a greater antisocial element that the government sought to eliminate. Ocasio explains that while officials assigned prostitutes to schools where they could supposedly be rehabilitated, Castro stated that homosexuals would be barred from the possibility of having any influence in cultural life, schools, or the arts. (24) The aforementioned roundups of homosexuals organized by Cuban police had an affect on Cuba’s intellectual community, and was only one example of the Castro regime’s politically-inspired oppression. Various official statements were made by the Cuban government against homosexuals as part of a nationwide campaign promoting proper ethical policies that fostered acceptable revolutionary behavior. It was clear that writers such as Arenas and artists such as Pinera were not seen by the new regime as conducive to the political achievement to which the Cuban revolutionary government aspired. This is supported by Castro’s famous â€Å"Words to Intellectuals† speech, which Ocasio cites as the first official statement made by the Cuban revolutionary government that determined the boundaries within which revolutionary writers and artists were to operate: â€Å"What are the rights of writers and artists, revolutionary or not? In support of the Revolution, every right; against the Revolution, no rights. Homosexual persecution rooted in the Cuban revolutionary cause is indicative of the revolutionary government’s concept of what it referred to as the New Man. In Social Control and Deviance in Cuba, author Luis Salas discusses the state’s concept of the New Man as Cuba’s ideal revolutionary, which allows no place for a homosexual in the revolution. (166) According to Salas, such a question was clearly answered by Fidel Castro with the following statement: â€Å"Nothing prevents a homosexual from professing revolutionary ideology and consequently, exhibiting a correct political position. In this case he should not be considered politically negative. And yet we would never come to believe that a homosexual could embody the conditions and requirements of conduct that would enable us to consider him a true revolutionary, a true Communist militant. A deviation of that nature clashes with the concept we have of what a militant Communist must be. † Salas contends that to the Cuban revolutionary, the New Man represents strength, honor, and â€Å"connotes maleness and virility. †(166) Conversely, homosexuality is considered to represent weakness, a classically feminine trait. The strength needed to be a true revolutionary is something that the Cuban revolutionary government saw in the uncorrupted youth of Cuba. The youth of the nation was regarded by the state as â€Å"one of the most treasured possessions of the nation† that was expected contribute to the success of the revolution, and as such, was to be protected from â€Å"a group viewed as seducers of small children. †(167) This aforementioned political attitude with regards to homosexuals in relation to the communist youth of Cuba was reflected in the film â€Å"Fresa y Chocolate. † In the film, David is a young communist university student who initially views an older homosexual artist named Diego as someone who is to be avoided and not to be trusted. David’s roommate Miguel is even more militant in his revolutionary, homophobic stance, and resorts to using David to spy on Diego due to his belief that Diego is a danger to the revolutionary cause and thus cannot be trusted. Although Diego eventually befriends David, there is a mutual understanding between both characters of the dangers that such a friendship can pose to a young communist like David, and David makes it clear to Diego that they are not to be seen together in public. This depiction is indicative of the state’s effort to socialize its youth towards anti-homosexual sentiment by portraying homosexuals as political obstacles and enemies of the state in order to influence public opinion and sway political action in the government’s favor. As Leiner explains, homosexuality played a role in Cubas prerevolutionary tourism economy, for the widespread solicitation of male prostitutes by gay tourists contributed to the economy. Furthermore, the stratification of prerevolutionary Cuba also lured many heterosexual working-class men into the underworld of homosexual prostitution in order to earn a living. According to Leiner, the homosexual bourgeoisie largely controlled this underworld as did American organized crime, which managed the lucrative, but seedy occupational sector based on prostitution, drugs, and gambling. Such an aspect of prerevolutionary Cuban history is indicative of fears present among state officials in revolutionary Cuba, who perceived homosexuality as fertile ground for the re-emergence of American imperialism, the bourgeoisie, and classism in Cuban society. This is consistent with Lumsdens contention of revolutionary Cubas regulation of gender and sexuality in Cuba being a part of the state’s willingness to overcome underdevelopment and resist American efforts to prevent the revolution from succeeding. (xxi) According to Salas, gays were a remnant of capitalism in the eyes of the militant Cuban revolutionary. According to the Cuban government, the New Man was not motivated by the decadence and wanton lusts that characterize homosexuality, which the government believe was associated with the selfishness that marked capitalist societies. In a speech given on July 26, 1968, Fidel Castro characterized the revolution’s ideal New Man as possessing an altruistic and humanistic nature: â€Å"In a communist society, man will have succeeded in achieving just as much understanding, closeness, and brotherhood as he has on occasion achieved within the narrow circle of his own family. To live in a communist society is to live without selfishness, to live among the people, as if every one of our fellow citizens were really our dearest brother. † In addition to the idealism of Castro’s statement, there is also the character of the language behind his statement that is undoubtedly male as well as overwhelmingly exclusionary. The ideals promoted by Castro in the above excerpt can just as easily be prescribed to women for them to live by such ideals, but the â€Å"macho/socialist amalgam questioned whether male homosexuals could. †(Leiner 27) Leiner explains a study conducted by esteemed commentator Lourdes Casal, who analyzed the influence that the Cuban revolution had on Cuban literature. According to Leiner, Casal discovered a general disdain for homosexuals reflected in over 100 novels. Casal contended that the rejection of homosexuality was the rejection of femininity. Accusing a man of being a homosexual was to be considered an assault on that mans masculinity, and was considered synonymous with deeming that man a female who is devoid of strength and unworthy of holding power. (23) Such a meaning prescribed to the title â€Å"homosexual† underscores the nature of the Cuban governments patriarchal structure, in which power is directly associated with being a man both physically and sexually. Leiner also explains that in revolutionary Cuban society, the perception of homosexuality – and therefore, femininity – went beyond mere sexual preference. Physical weakness and lack of muscularity, a lack of interest in physical competition, the display of a quiet demeanor, or a gentle, nurturing or sensitive nature were enough to raise suspicion of homosexuality. According to Leiner, such qualities were perceived as weak and inferior, and therefore effeminate. The strong, abrasive, and competitive male was above suspicion of homosexuality. (22) The question of why homosexuals were perceived by the state as counter to the revolution remains partly unanswered. In addition to the Cuban government’s belief that homosexuals possessed undesirable qualities such as weakness, cowardice, and perversion, the state’s view of homosexuals as a danger to the institution that is the traditional family further compelled the state and the society it influenced to write homosexuals off as â€Å"antithetical to a socialist society. †(Leiner 25) Lesbian playwright Ana Maria Simo was jailed for four-and-a-half months in 1965 and also suffered shock treatment to correct her simply due to her associating with people who were suspected of being homosexual. She was not a lesbian at the time. She states that she and her friends were political individualists and anarchistic, and that is what bothered the government, not their being gay. (Ocasio 30) According to Leiner, lesbians were no cause of concern for the revolutionary government. Leiner states that Lourdes Casal found no mention, or even the vaguest hint of evidence of concern over lesbianism in either the pre- or post-revolutionary literary works that she analyzed. This is a manifestation of the Cuban government’s patriarchal structure in that the government’s complete absence of concern over the lesbianism in Cuba is indicative of the government’s â€Å"relegation of women as secondary, lesser others. (Leiner 23) Unlike homosexuals, lesbians posed no threat to the Cuban revolutionary cause, for the revolution never looked to women for signs of strength or power upon which the government could rely in order to ensure the success of the revolution. However, lesbians, even those who displayed overly masculine qualities, were still considered women just as homosexual males were, and both were deemed unqualified for revolutionary status by the state. Standards of gender and sexuality were prescribed and legitimized by the revolutionary state, thus criminalizing homosexuality. The government’s enforcement of its prescriptions has been carried out via formal as well as informal means. A prime example of a formal method of this enforcement is penal legislation. Such legislation involving homosexuality can be found in two sections of the Cuban statutes. In one section of the statutes, legislation involves the relation between homosexuality and the state’s concept of social dangerousness. Article 73 of the Cuban Penal Code regulates social dangerousness, and cites behavior deemed antisocial as its target. In Cuba, homosexuality has been legally deemed antisocial. (Salas 151) Lumsden cites the use of the word antisocial as a code to describe displays of homosexuality deemed ostentatious. (83) According to Salas, anti-homosexual legislation was considered a preventive measure, for the display of so much as even an attitude that authorities perceived as antisocial justified police intervention. (Salas 153) These laws stem from government fears, such as the fear of the threat that homosexuality poses to the traditional family structure. There is also the government’s fear of homosexuality hindering the success of the revolution, of which the fear of homosexuals corrupting the nation’s youth is a part. (Salas 154) The latter fear can explain homosexual males receiving much harsher punishments for having sex with underage boys compared to the punishments that males faced for having sex with underage females. (Lumsden 82) The fact that laws pertaining to homosexuality are in a section of the Penal Code that pertains to violations against sexual development and sexual relations that are considered normal is indicative of the state’s perception of homosexuality as a condition that is contagious and leads to pedophilia. For this reason, Article 317 also includes the act of propositioning an adult for homosexual sex in its permanent barring of convicted sex offenders from the teaching profession and any other field in which such an adult stands to have authority or potential influence over children. (Lumsden 84) Aside from the Cuban revolutionary government’s fears related to the issue of homosexuality, the eagerness of some government officials to enforce anti-homosexual law is also indicative of their determination to remain above suspicion of being homosexual for their own fear of legal and social reprisal at the hands of the government. Examples of this are provided by Reinaldo Arenas in his highly acclaimed autobiography Before Night Falls, in which he discusses various sexual encounters he had with homosexual government officials in Cuba. Arenas cited an incident in which a police officer with whom he had just had sexual intercourse actually arrested Arenas â€Å"for being queer. † â€Å"Perhaps he thought that by being the active partner he had not done anything wrong,† Arenas stated. This statement by Arenas is a clear reference to the commonly held perception of the active, penetrating partner in a sexual act between two men not being a homosexual because his dominant position is considered a product of masculinity and power. This perception is diametrically opposed to the perception of the penetrated partner, for this partner assumes a role that is subordinate to the dominant penetrator, thus representing the role of a woman. In Arenas’s aforementioned discussion of his arrest, he stated that at the police station, the arresting officer attempted to explain his arresting Arenas by falsely accusing Arenas of groping him. However, Arenas managed to prove the officer’s involvement in the homosexual act by quickly admitting to the other officers that he still had the officer’s semen on his body, thus making the officer the subject of much surprise and scorn from his colleagues and work superiors. As part of his account of this incident, Arenas alluded to the revolutionary government’s belief that it is not possible for a homosexual male to possess the qualities that makes a true revolutionary. At the same time, Arenas also made a reference to the belief of a homosexual male being equivalent to a woman: â€Å"They ended up saying it was a shame that a member of the police force would engage in such acts, because I, after all, had my weakness, but for him, being a man, there was no excuse for getting involved with a queer. † Because he managed to achieve a position as a police officer in the Cuban revolutionary government, which included a convincing display of the masculine traits that the Cuban government believed were instrumental to the composition of a true revolutionary, the police officer was undoubtedly a â€Å"man† in the eyes of the state, whereas Arenas was not. The engendering of the passive and active partner in homosexual intercourse is not exclusive to Cuban revolutionary society, however. In What It Means to Be a Man, Casper and Ramirez cite the bugarron, a term used in Puerto Rican society to describe a male who is always the one to penetrate the male partner, yet always considers himself heterosexual. The bugarron blatantly dismisses the notion of his partner’s masculinity, and confirms his partner as the â€Å"woman† of the situation by calling his partner names such as mujer, mami, mamita, or loca. (96) Furthermore, the bugarron’s â€Å"usage of sexuality is highly ritualized to conserve his manhood and avoid being questioned about it. †(Casper, Ramirez 97) The desire to only be a penetrator and never a recipient of penetration serves as a political metaphor. The perception of a penetrator as heterosexual and undeniably male is underscored by masculine traits such as strength and dominance. Pingueros, a name given to male prostitutes in Cuba who only penetrate and refuse to be penetrated, represent the conquering of foreign bodies when solicited by gay tourists. (Chant, Kraske 139) This representation mirrors the notion of Cuba not just fending off but successfully invading and â€Å"screwing back† the imperialist, capitalist nation that has – or might wish to – exploit Cuba for its own self-interests. Just like the concept of prescribing gender to an active and passive partner in sexual intercourse between two men was reached over time by way of changing attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions, attitudes and behaviors toward homosexuality in general changing over time is also to be considered. Cultures are not static; they change over time, as do the notions of gender and sexuality in a culture. (Casper, Ramirez 27) Over the past decades, Cuba has witnessed a certain degree of change in attitudes and actions toward homosexuality on behalf of Cuban society at large as well as on behalf of the state.

The Fine Arts are Essential for the Attainment of Human Excellence Essa

The Fine Arts are Essential for the Attainment of Human Excellence Fine art exists since the beginning of time. Its creation does not begin with that of mankind, for, verily, nature is the origin of all art; the ultimate of all artists. Humans, however, are not blind to it at birth. Since the bestowal of vision, both physical and that of the mind, man is expressing the desire to make corporeal that which it beholds. Evidence of this is found in ancient cave paintings, an attempt to immortalize a moment from the past, depicting one from another life. Undoubtedly there have also been drawings in the sand made by the tough-skinned fingers of the primordial ancestor. This urge to reincarnate the sights beheld by memory remains in the being of the present-day homo-sapiens. And between now and then, those with this trait dominant have been the creators and fashioners of paintings and sculptures sometimes revered as divine. Furthermore, these occupations require such skill, such craft knowledge, and finesse, that any other employment performed with a similar degree of these attributes is often given the status of an art. Indeed, the pursuit of the philosophy can also be deemed as such, as it requires just those graceful actions in the form of thought. The two are in fact much closer to being the same than not, and thus, the idea that they work together in complimentary engagement, is not so far fetched. The proceeding examination, therefore, lays the foundation in inspecting what art is, its function, and where its boundaries lie. Secondly, the endeavor extends into an analysis o how fine art can and does help to further the cause that is philosophy. The final conjecture here is that the fine arts are positively necessa... ...irdly, the achievement of human excellence is deemed to occur through the practice of philosophy. Finally, due to the before mentioned, the focal practice of art is essential for the attainment of human excellence through philosophy. Works Cited Herrigel, Eugen. Zen in the Art of Archery. Trans. R. F. C. Hull. New York: Vintage. 1981. Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching. Trans Stephen Mitchell. New York: Harper. 1988. Plato. Euthyphro, Apology, Crito. Trans. F. J. Church. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. 1948. Strong, David, and Eric Higgs. â€Å"Borgmann’s Philosophy of Technology.† Technology and the Good Life? Eds. Eric Higgs, Andrew Light, David Strong. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2000. Strong, David. Lecture. Introduction to Philosophy and Religious Thought course. Rocky Mountain College, Billings, MT. Spring semester, 2000.

The Jesus I Never Knew

What takes place when an esteemed Christian journalist chooses to put his presumptions aside and take a long look at the Jesus depicted in the Gospels? How does the Jesus of the New Testament measure up to the †new, rediscovered Jesus — or even the Jesus we suppose we know so well? In The Jesus I Never Knew, Yancey delved into the life of Jesus, as he elucidates, â€Å"‘from below,' to come to terms with as best I can what it must have been like to observe in person the extraordinary events unfolding in Galilee and Judea† as Jesus journeyed and taught. In fact, he stumbled on himself further and further detached from the person of Jesus, diverted in its place by flannel-graph figures and scholarly assessment. He single-mindedly used his journalistic flair to approach Jesus, in the perspective of time, surrounded by the context of history. Yancey investigates three essential questions: who Jesus was, why he came, and what he left behind. Step by step, scene by scene, Yancey explores the culture into which Jesus was born and matured to adulthood; his moral fiber and calling; his teachings and miracles; and his legacy not just as the historical account explained it, but as he himself planned it to be. This book by Philip Yancey is faith-building look at Jesus' life–his family, his teachings, the miracles, and his death and resurrection. Phillip Yancey says, â€Å"The Jesus I got to know in writing this book is very different from the Jesus I learned about in Sunday school. † In a number of ways he is more reassuring; in some ways more startling. Yancey puts forward a fresh and singular perspective on the life of Christ and who he was and why he came. Linking the gospel events to the human race and our cosmos that we live in today, The Jesus I Never Knew provides a poignant and invigorating description of the preeminent figure of history. With an eagerness to undertake the complex matters in the Gospels, Yancey comes across at the uncompromising words of this itinerant Jewish carpenter and inquires whether we are taking him earnestly enough in our own day and age. According to Yancey, â€Å"No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same. †

Cost Effectiveness And Commitment

Human resource managers in organizations have various tasks to carry out in an organization. One of the tasks is carrying out cost effectiveness in an organization. They also have the responsibility of ensuring that there is commitment both at the individual level and organizational level. Carrying out cost effectiveness in an organization has got its own effects both positive and negative. Human resource managers need to ensure that the consequences of cost effectiveness and commitment are reconcilable. In each and every organization, there is normally the pressure of reducing cots so that profits are maximized.As human resource managers develop a cost reduction strategy, it is important that there be some reconciliation with the commitment in the organization. Before looking at the extent that consequences of cost effectiveness and commitment reconcile one has to have the broader picture of the effects of reducing costs within an organization. (Condrey, 1998) Cost reduction or cost effectiveness can be carried out through various means. One of them is through minimizing the number of employees within the organization.There are some cases where human resource managers are compelled to carry out retrenchment of some employees in order to minimize costs. This means that the few employees that remain in the organization have to carry out multitasking. Cost effectiveness in an organization can also be implemented by reducing employee’s bonuses and allowances. This includes scraping off of medical allowances from employees’ salaries. The other way that cost effectiveness is carried out by human resource managers is through introducing of technology. This includes having computers and internet in an organization.Instead of having messengers in an organization, use of emails is incorporated. This is very cost effective. Human resource managers also increase employees’ working hours so that there is more productivity in an organization. All these ventures carried out with the motive of enhancing cost effectiveness have got various consequences to an organization. For instance when retrenchment is carried out, there is a likelihood that that the remaining employees will do their best at work. When salaries are reduced and also allowances and bonuses reduced, this can greatly de-motivate employees. Maund, 2001)Research indicates that it is a very tricky venture to incorporate cost effective practices like the ones that are listed above without affecting or compromising the organization’s growth potential by having employees being less committed. While carrying out cost effectiveness in an organization is a venture of trimming the fat, human resource managers have to be very careful such that they do not cut into the bone too. This simply means that everything carried out within an organization to help minimize costs has to be very well planned and the consequences of the same well evaluated.Many human resource managers just carry out cost effectiveness without having any buy in from the employees in the organization. Even as this venture is carried out, there is the need of identifying the core competencies in relation to improving the entire efficacy within the organization. Outsourcing is also one of the consequences or the outcomes of cost effectiveness. This has got adverse effects on the general commitment of employees. Employees can feel that they are not that important or rather qualified to carry out the tasks within the organization.That is why it is important that consequences of carrying out cost effectiveness within an organization be clearly evaluated such that they do not have such adverse effects on employees’ commitment. (Wintermantel, 1997) There are various steps that can be taken by human resource managers in the motive of implementing cost effectiveness. This includes contracting out some of the business in the organization that is not very core in nature. One has to und erstand the consequences of these ventures can affect the company’s relationship with customers such that they change focus and become less committed to the company’s products or services.In this case, whatever step that is taken has to be done with great caution and after very extensive consultation such that an equilibrium state can be reached. This is whereby there is cost effectiveness and yet the organization continues to experience growth. The extent to which the consequences of cost effectiveness and commitment can reach a reconcilable state is ensuring that proper planning is carried out. Cost effectiveness as many scholars say is not rocket science. It is said that anyone can actually carry out cost cutting in an organization, but very few do it well such that the organization suffers a great deal.For the consequences of cost effectiveness and commitment to reconcile the whole process has to be carried out very efficiently and effectively. The following consid erations have to be put in place. †¢ One has to remember that money is not everything †¢ Change has to be carried carefully When costs in an organization are cut, there is great realignment that occurs in an organization. Cost effectiveness sometimes means elimination of departments, people, customers, research and development projects and even initiatives.This affects the Company’s activities and therefore human resource managers need to know that it is not just an issue of what or who to eliminate. Rather it is an issue with adequate preparation for the same, anticipation and consequences of the changes that help in overall determination of the success within an organization. The extent to which the desired consequences of cost effectiveness and commitment can merge is just having an initial focus in the whole venture. The human resource manager has to clearly ascertain that the desired change in cost effectiveness in the organization is actually very necessary â € ¢ How the success will be measured†¢ The areas that have priorities be clearly defined †¢ How the consequences of cost effectiveness will be managed The other way through which the consequences of cost effectiveness and commitment can be merged is through building of local support within the organization and also simple listening to the local voices within the organization. It is said that good listeners are quite hard to find. This is where there is picking up of messages that are conveyed through gestures, expressions silence and behavioural cues.This is quite important when carrying out cost effectiveness in an organization. Carrying out cost effectives in an organization is known to be a very difficult task. This is the case especially when employees or team members speak different languages and come from different cultures. For instance in multilingual environments, problems are bound to occur in relation to intent and meaning of speech. Human resource managers ha ve the hard task when carrying out cost effectiveness such that not only people from a certain tribe have to be laid off.This has got its own effects on the commitment of employees that remain in the organization. Human resource management consequences of commitment and cost effectiveness are only reconcilable when various measures are put in place. This includes empowering employees in the organization to develop solutions which can be owned locally. Human resource managers need to set the vision and then have the team coached. This allows the local stakeholders to own the whole process of ensuring cost effectiveness. This makes employees be held to their commitment.Cost effectiveness change can only be effective or successful when the projects have people who are empowered in control and planning of the whole process. (Thomson, 2003) Commitment can be build to ensure success among employees, vendors, customers, local managers and partners. It is good that good communication networ ks be carried out so that so that commitment of the stakeholders within the organization is enhanced. Human resource managers have to clearly understand that success within an organization is not just in monetary values. It is also through commitment of stakeholders within the organization too. Wintermantel, 1997)Top human resource manager in an organization has to demonstrate simultaneously the commitment to listening, cost reduction and listening from employees and other stakeholders within the organization. One of the critical tools is having effective communication. This helps a great deal to maintain the commitment of employees within the organization even if ventures of cutting costs are implemented. Cost reduction is known to be a matter of survival for very many organizations. While there can be consensus on this issue, the challenge normally lies in delivering the whole process of cost reduction. ConclusionThe desired human resource management consequences of commitment and cost effectiveness are reconcilable. This is when proper measures are considered when implementing cost effectiveness within the organization. Communication is a very important factor that has to be considered when carrying out cost effectiveness. Proper communication has to be carried out to the various stakeholders within the organization like customers, vendors and employees. Change even if it is in line with cost effectiveness has to be carried out carefully. Human resource managers need to know that success in an organization is not just in monetary terms only.

Banking Industry Structure essay

Banking Industry Structure essay Banking Industry Structure essay Banking Industry Structure essayTwo regulations that had a particularly strong impact on the banking industry in the United States were the Glass-Steagall Act (GSA) passed in 1933 that prohibited banking organizations to get involved into both investment banking and commercial banking industry, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) passed in 1999 that repealed the prohibition of GSA to combine investment and commercial banking. The critics of the GLBA state that it was the cause of the banking industry crisis and financial recession in 2007-2009, and that repealing the GSA was a mistake. However, analysis shows that the key factors that caused the crisis were unaffected by the GLBA and that the passage of the GLBA in fact reduced the impact of crisis on the banking industry due to greater diversification of banking services and portfolios. So, repealing the Glass-Steagall act was not a mistake, but rather a correct and timely measure that made the banking industry more competitive an d helped alleviate the impact of the crisis to a small extent.In order to evaluate the consequences of repealing the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, it is necessary to consider the prerequisites of this legislation and the economic context that led to the creation of this Act. The considered time period is between 1927 and 1933 (Heakall, 2003). Initially, the Glass-Steagall Act was created to prevent banks from committing fraud and misusing public trust. The major events that shaped the economic context for the GSA were the economic boom in the 1920s followed by the Great Depression that started in 1929 (Heakall, 2003). One of key causes of the Great Depression was commercial speculation performed by banks – banks took huge risks to get rewards and used shady schemes to encourage their clients to invest into risky assets (Cftech.com, 1998).In 1933, commercial speculation was considered the major cause of the crisis. However, in several decades economists came to the conclusion th at the key factor of the recession was economic depression itself, while security speculation was only a minor catalyst of the financial decline (Cftech.com, 1998). Another supposed key cause of the Great Depression was the lack of nationwide banking system – banking operations in the 1920s were performed by unit banks within states (Cftech.com, 1998). Moreover, Senator Glass who was the main ideologist of the GSA 2 years later came to the conclusion that the GSA was an overregulation and attempted to have it repealed (Cftech.com, 1998). So, GSA regulations were excess and too strict from the very beginning. However, in 1956 Congress extended the GSA and created one more barrier between insurance and banking (Heakall, 2003). So, the banking industry was strongly regulated until 1999.It is also important to analyze the economic context in 1999 when the GLBA was enacted and the barriers created by the GSA were repealed. First of all, banking segment became more globalized as w ell as investment capital, so the barriers between national and foreign investments were blurred (Tatom, 2011). Furthermore, banking institutions used many ways of diversifying its trading portfolios outside the GSA regulations – for example, investment banks were allowed to trade and hold such risky assets as derivatives, debt obligations, mortgage-backed securities, etc. (Calabria, 2009).Large banking organizations emerged and gained power despite the presence of GSA regulations because of consolidation and integration processes going in the banking industry (Wallace, 2014). Therefore, the context in which the banking industry operated changed, and the GSA provisions made American banking system less diversified and less flexible compared to international players. Furthermore, the GLBA repealed only one section of the GSA – the prohibition to combine investment and commercial banking, so its impact on the whole development of the banking industry was not so â€Å"de regulatory† as the supporters of Occupy Wall Street movement claimed (Tatom, 2011).Finally, it is necessary to consider key causes of the financial recession that took place in 2007-2009 and the interrelationship of the GLBA with these factors. According to Brook Watkins (2012), the institutions that resorted to risky borrowing and investment practices were Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, AIG and Merrill Lynch; however, none of these organizations was influenced by the GSA repeal. Furthermore, those commercial banks the activities of which were expanded by the GLBA went into trouble due to investing into mortgage-backed securities and residential mortgages (Wallace, 2014). However, the GSA did not prohibit commercial banks to use the above-mentioned securities, so the repeal of the GSA did not contribute to the failure of commercial banking either. In addition, the number of financing holding companies that actually used the GLBA benefits and combine d commercial and investment banking was quite low in the pre-crisis years (Calabria, 2009).The research conducted by Collins, Kwag and Yildirim (2003) shows that the actual impact of the GSA repeal on the banking industry was the following. Banking organizations received more opportunities to diversify their portfolios, which allowed them to shift and diversify risks (Collins, Kwag Yildirim, 2003). As a result, banking industry became less risky both for stockhodlers and for regulators (Collins, Kwag Yildirim, 2003). At the same time, no significant wealth redistribution was noted, which means that the attractiveness of the considered financial sector did not increase compared to other sectors of financial industry. Collins, Kwag and Yildirim (2003) suggest that this fact can be explained by the long-term evolution of competition in the financial industry. In other words, the GLBA did not lead to excess wealth creation or commercial speculation, but instead it allowed to reduce sy stemic risks and therefore benefit both the customers and the organizations in the banking sphere.These conclusions are in line with the findings of Calabria (2009) who states that few financial holding organizations took advantage of the GLBA and combined investment and commercial banking. According to Calabria (2009), the repeal of the GSA might even have mitigated the consequences of the crisis for the banking system. In any case, repealing the GSA division between commercial and investment banking in 1999 was a timely and appropriate measure that corresponded to the demands of the economic environment.Despite the fact that there are numerous advantages of GLBA, it is important to note that there still might emerge conflicts of interest in banking involving commercial and investment banking, and it might be necessary to have proper regulation in place in order to identify such cases and to prevent speculation and fraud. However, the need for regulating potential conflicts of inte rest does not mean that banks should be prohibited to engage in commercial and investment banking as it was in the GSA times. Rather, it is necessary to pass more specified and more flexible regulations that would target conflicts of interest without affecting the ability of the banking sector to diversify portfolios.

My Last Duchess Questions for Discussion

My Last Duchess Questions for Discussion My Last Duchess is a famous dramatic monolog by poet Robert Browning. It first appeared in Brownings 1842 essay collection Dramatic Lyrics. The poem is written in 28 rhyming couplets, in iambic pentameter, and its speaker is a Duke talking about his late wife to the father of his second wife-to-be. They are negotiating the terms of the second marriage to come when the Duke reveals a portrait of his first wife (the Duchess of the title), which is hidden behind a curtain. And when the Duke begins speaking about her, what appears to be a poem about a man mourning his first wife becomes something else altogether by the end of My Last Duchess.   Discussion Questions Can you determine what the Duke is really saying to his future father-in-law?   Here are a few questions for study and discussion, to gain a better understanding of this important literary work:   How significant is the title of the poem toward our understanding of the Duke, and of his late wife?   What do we learn about the personality of the Duchess?   Is the Duke a reliable narrator? Why or why not?   How does Robert Browning reveal character in My Last Duchess? If you were going to describe the Duke, what adjectives would you use?   What are some symbols in My Last Duchess? How can we interpret the lines I gave commands/ Then all smiles stopped forever?   Was the Duke responsible for his first wifes death? If so, why would he admit this to his future father-in-law?   What is the theme of this poem? What was Browning trying to portray in the character of the Duke? Would you let your daughter marry this Duke?   How does the poem compare to other works from the Victorian period? How is My Last Duchess similar or different from Brownings other poems?

Israeli Prime Ministers Since Establishment of the State in 1948

Israeli Prime Ministers Since Establishment of the State in 1948 Since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the prime minister is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful figure in Israeli politics. Although the president of Israel is the countrys head of state, his powers are largely ceremonial; the prime minister holds most of the real power. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala, is in Jerusalem. The Knesset is the national legislature of Israel. As the legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the president and prime minister, although the prime minister is ceremonially appointed by the president, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government. Israels Prime Ministers Since 1948 Following an election, the president nominates a member of the Knesset to become prime minister after asking party leaders whom they support for the position. The nominee then presents a government platform and must receive a vote of confidence in order to become prime minister. In practice, the prime minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the governing coalition. Between 1996 and 2001, the prime minister was directly elected, separately from the Knesset. Israeli Prime Minister Years Party David Ben-Gurion 1948-1954 Mapai Moshe Sharett 1954-1955 Mapai David Ben-Gurion 1955-1963 Mapai Levi Eshkol 1963-1969 Mapai/Alignment/Labor Golda Meir 1969-1974 Alignment/Labor Yitzhak Rabin 1974-1977 Alignment/Labor Menachem Begin 1977-1983 Likud Yitzhak Shamir 1983-1984 Likud Shimon Peres 1984-1986 Alignment/Labor Yitzhak Shamir 1986-1992 Likud Yitzhak Rabin 1992-1995 Labor Shimon Peres 1995-1996 Labor Benjamin Netanyahu 1996-1999 Likud Ehud Barak 1999-2001 One Israel/Labor Ariel Sharon 2001-2006 Likud/Kadima Ehud Olmert 2006-2009 Kadima Benjamin Netanyahu 2009-present Likud Order of Succession If the prime minister dies in office, the cabinet chooses an interim prime minister, to run the government until a new government is placed in power. According to Israeli law, if a prime minister is temporarily incapacitated rather than dies, power is transferred to the  acting prime minister, until the prime minister recovers, for up to 100 days. If the prime minister is declared permanently incapacitated, or that period expires, the President of Israel oversees the process of assembling a new governing coalition, and in the meantime, the acting prime minister or other incumbent minister is appointed by the cabinet to serve as an interim prime minister. Parliamentary Parties of the Prime Ministers The Mapai Party was the party of the first prime minister of Israel during the formation of the state. It was considered  the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the modern-day Labor Party in 1968. The party introduced progressive reforms such as the  establishment of a welfare state, providing a minimum income, security, and access to housing subsidies and health and social services. The Alignment was a group of consisting of the Mapai and Ahdut Haavoda-Poalei Zion parties around the time of the sixth Knesset. The group later included the newly formed Israel Labor Party and Mapam. The Independent Liberal Party joined the Alignment around the 11th Knesset. The Labor Party was a parliamentary group formed in the course of the 15th Knesset after Gesher left One Israel and included the Labor Party and Meimad, which was a moderate religious party, that never ran independently in Knesset elections. One Israel, the party of Ehud Barak, was made up of the Labor Party, Gesher and Meimad during the 15th Knesset. The Kadima was established towards the end of the 16th Knesset, a new parliamentary group, Achrayut Leumit, which means National Responsibility, split off from the Likud. Approximately two months later, Acharayut Leumit changed its name to Kadima. The Likud was established in 1973 around the time of the elections for the eighth Knesset. It consisted of the Herut Movement, the Liberal Party, the Free Center, the National List and Greater Israel Activists.

Information systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Information systems - Essay Example For Aalsmeer Flower Auction the first thing that needs to be done is to analyze and obtain the information requirements for the auction site. In order to do this they must first device a strategy for information gathering. An information strategy is defined as the process for capturing, integrating, processing, delivery and presentation of information in a constituent in a timely manner (Majid, 2007). Thus, information and requirements gathering forms the foremost and the most important part of the development process. The first step in gathering information is to conduct user surveys and a companywide review so that the development team can gain a better insight on the problem domain and the kind of solution it requires (Hansen et all, 1999). The development team will conduct meetings with the board of Aalsmeer flower auctions to determine what kind of auction strategy they will follow and what key features will be needed in the end product. The case study requires us to develop an online auction for buyers and sellers to interact, place orders, set prices and then receive goods through a distribution channel. Aaslmeer has to record the data for the financial transactions, customer details, distribution channels and ratings for individual customers and suppliers. The prices in the online auction will be set using the demand and supply mechanism. Buyers will bid on the products and sellers will determine the best the bid and then sell the products to the highest bidder. The auction will start off with a base price, which is then increased consequently when buyers bid on the product. The bidding process ends after a stipulated time and the highest bid becomes the selling price. The prices of different products will be stored in a database. The prices will usually follow world prices for flowers and related products, which

Luxury Vehicles Are Exported To China Research Paper

Luxury Vehicles Are Exported To China - Research Paper Example This controversial business opportunity has been caused by the fact that the same luxury cars are sold at very different prices in China where customers in china can only get the same cars with almost three times the prices in USA. For instance, as Grossman (para 1) says, a BMW X5xDrvive35i is sold by BMW at an average of $56,025 in USA and the same car sells at $153,176 in China. These big differences in price between the two countries mean that individuals and even companies in the USA can buy a car and ship it to China, sell it at slightly lower price than the amount BMW is selling it in China and make a huge profit of over a hundred percent of what it costs them to buy and ship the car to China. The government has cramped down on this business, in most cases freezing the bank accounts of the people associated with these business. The fact that the buyers involved in this business are not breaking any laws but only taking advantage of a market loophole means that there is nothing that is not legal in what they are doing. Cramping on them and freezing their bank accounts is something that is against the constitution of the United States that gives every citizen maximum liberty. There are firms which have been set up to buy cars from the US Auto dealers and then shipping them from the US to China. To avoid suspicion, the companies train people to be buying the cars for them and them handing over the car to them. An individual is hired and recruited on how to buy the cars from the dealers. As Goldstein (para 28) reports, these recruits are trained so that they can buy the cars on behalf of these firms without raising suspicion. The buyers then walk into a dealership and buy the car they have been instructed to buy, go home with it and stay with it for some time. The person gets paid a few hundred dollars and the company takes the car from them so that they can ship it to the target market. These buyers who act as agents of these

Are women better of today than they were fifty years ago Research Paper

Are women better of today than they were fifty years ago - Research Paper Example A brief account of how women were treated and hat their position was five decades ago from now, can be obtained with reference to Betty Friedan’s writing in the book titled â€Å"The Feminine Mystique†. Critics have been arguing regarding the contribution of the book in Women’s liberation movements back in the 1960s. Undoubtedly, the book had been a benchmark in feminist literary developments to make the society realize what the actual problem was in positioning women as a strictly homely character. THESIS STATEMENT This thesis aims to elaborate on the position of women fifty years ago in comparison to that their social position now. Betty Friedan’s arguments and discussions in her â€Å"The Feminine Mystic† have thus been referred in this context. Providing a rational account, this thesis aims at obtaining an insight as to whether women were better five decades ago or they are now. DISCUSSION Life Of The Women In The Past Decades – As narrat ed in Betty Friedan’s â€Å"The Feminine Mystic†, the life of the women in the 20th century revolved round their family. Their ambitions and desires were not treated with importance in the society. In a poignant manner, the book verses about the weak self-consciousness and the dominated position of women in the later period of World War II until the 1960s. Women were, back then, portrayed as a character who either willfully or through social pressures were obligated to sacrifice and abandon their career for the sake of their family. The book by Friedan was extensively credited fifty years ago for kindling the women movement of the 1960’s in order to obtain a better accomplished life. The women of the 20th century were not given equal status in the society; they were lacking self-motivation and the support from their family for a better life outside their personal boundaries, such as in politics. The traditional believe that women cannot pursue any career and tha t they are better off as wife and mother, restricted them from taking initiatives to be independent before five decades. During that period, women also lacked attitude that they can be a decision maker and that they can lead an independent life. They had a dependent mentality and hence lacked the feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment (Coontz, â€Å"Why Gender Equality Stalled†). As argued by Friedan in her book, the real problem for women being dominated fifty years ago was their weak self-consciousness; in other words, the problem was more within the then women than it was within the orthodox social structure. Addressing the inherent feminist issue in the 1960s’s society, the book by Friedan undoubtedly works out a juncture for the development of women; their personification and the way they used to be pictured. Subsequently, it contributed to the Women’s liberation movement in the 1960s, rewarding a breakthrough in the approach and attitude of women. When going through the book now, one can easily codify the antiquated societal structure 50 years ago, which many will argue to have changed extensively in today’s world, while others may not. As was obvious in the later period of the 20th century, a certain change in the attitude and behavior of women was observed along with their attempt to augment their self-esteem in comparison to the male members of the society. Indeed, the

Critically evaluate the achievements of feminism's first wave Essay

Critically evaluate the achievements of feminism's first wave - Essay Example One of the major achievements for this â€Å"first wave† was securing the vote for women (also known as suffrage), occurring in 1918 (and extended to younger women in 1928) in the United Kingdom (Fisanick, 2007) and at similar times in many other Western countries. The purpose of this essay is to explore women’s suffrage in the U.K. and the U.S. from the perspective of the achievements made by feminism’s â€Å"first wave†. To do this, many of the achievements of feminism’s â€Å"first wave† will be critically examined in their historical and modern context to evaluate their success in the wider frame of feminism. Firstly, it is important to define â€Å"first wave† feminism. Walby (2011) suggests that the â€Å"first wave† of feminism, in Britain at least, had ended with the winning of women’s suffrage in 1918 and 1928, as described above. Walby (2011) also describes a wave as being present in many areas of sociology, imp acting the discipline by making it more relevant to the input of interest and achievements during the â€Å"wave†. Taking this into account, we can understand that the â€Å"first wave† of feminism is therefore an input of ideas, research and action into feminism that led up to the winning of women’s suffrage in the early parts of the 20th century. ... The origins and starting dates for â€Å"first wave† feminism are more difficult to define. Some scholars believe that â€Å"first wave† began with the influence of the Enlightenment and changes in Protestantism (Apetrei, 2010). These changes in society as a whole led to more liberal thought that was based around humanism, although these changes were not limited to the position of women (Apetrei, 2010). Within the U.S., the feminist movement can also be linked to changes in society as a whole, such as the anti-slavery movement which sought to equalize individuals within the state. Squire (1993) suggests that there are many similarities between the lives of slaves in parts of the United States and that of women around the same time, such as the inability to vote and lack of property rights. Despite these early signs of feminism and debates about the official start date for â€Å"first wave† feminism, obvious changes had been made to the lives of women in the U.S. and the U.K. One of the first important documents for women was the Seneca Falls Declaration from 1848, which discussed a number of female-related rights issues. One important conquest for the Seneca Falls group was the Married Women’s Property Act, passed in 1848, which allowed a woman the right to keep property that was her own, rather than it automatically becoming part of her husband’s estate (Fisanick, 2007). Eisler (1987) suggests that this was a huge gain towards the equalization of women in society, particularly as it allowed women to participate in the economic sphere on a more equal basis. However, this achievement for â€Å"first wave† feminism was not received particularly well and was a minor gain (Apetrei,

Do cultural differences influence HRM practices Essay

Do cultural differences influence HRM practices - Essay Example The same extends to the human resource management practices as they were presumed free from external factors and constraints. Earlier research had revolved around one geographical area leaving many gaps in case an organisation went globally. This brought the need for extensive research, which indeed proved that cultural difference influenced human resource practices (Moran, Harris and Moran, 2011). Adapting an organisation’s customary ways of operation is crucial when setting up new institutions in different environments, as it enables the transfer of efficiency and rules into another geographical position. It is also vital to observe the cultural practices carried out in the new place of establishment. With the world increasingly moving towards being a global village, expansion of businesses across borders has been prioritised to ensure maximum profits. They have also realised that the human resource management practices have to be adapted in the cultural settings suitable to the relevant socio-cultural environments rather than imposing their own (Muratbekova-Touron, 2008). What are these cultural practices and how do they influence human resource management practices? Cultural practices are notions, values and premises in a society, established through conditioning throughout people’s lives and help to mark them out from others in a different society (Milikic, 2009). These notions and beliefs play a key role in an individual’s life; therefore, an organisation should be keen on ensuring that they are not overstepped. With the introduction of new members in a group, a culture may undergo some alterations, but some invisible and unconscious components that lie within may not change. Cultural practices differ from one society to another as human resource management practices differ from one organisation to the other (Muratbekova-Touron, 2008). Human resource management practices are described as the activities and decisions, which relate to t he act of managing employees at all tiers in the business enterprise. They are also concerned with the elaborate execution of strategies and schemes aimed towards achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage (Stone and Romero, 2008). As a result, it is essential for organisations to formulate a culture that promotes of appropriate work practices. A few of the human resource management practices include, remuneration systems, recruitment exercises, staff-appraisal systems, and work flexibility arrangements among others (Milikic, 2009). Employees perceive human resource management practices differently due to the separate cultural values and identities. Some employees react differently towards certain practices and the degree to which they commit to their jobs and the organisation relies on the familiarity with the ongoing activities. The training and recruitment of people with diverse cultural interests, backgrounds and nationalities, would be a difficult task especially when lo oking into their cultural differences. However, studies have led to discovery of theories that enable easier analysis (Stone and Romero, 2008). Managers are likely to encounter cultural differences that might hinder effective management frequently, especially in this multicultural worldwide business environment. Studies indicate that successful comparisons between different cultures can be made by testing Hofstede’

Optional Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Optional - Essay Example Shanghai city has drawn the attention of the globe because of the following reasons: it has one of largest and ever busy seaport, it has dynamically advanced in technology and it is the biggest financial and trade center of China (French, Paul & Matthew, 2010, Pg. 15). Its location is at 121Â °29 east longitude and 31Â °41 north latitude. On the literal ground, it is situated on the southward of river Yangtze and on the eastward side of the coast region of China. It is bordered by Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces on the westward side and on the eastward direction there is a Sea, and on the south there is Hangzhou Bay (French, Paul & Matthew, 2010, Pg. 25). The city is centrally located along the coast of China. Its geographic location is central, and it is connected to various parts of China and also to the World. The rich connection aids commercial activities to take place in it and other places where it links. The availability of sea ports has increased local and international trade activities; it is playing a vital role in development of the global economy. Most of the land of shanghai is flat except some hill areas which are located on the southwest region. The city covers the alluvial plain which is served with water from river Yangtze. The p lains support agriculture that feeds the people of the city and other parts of the country. Shanghai city has many resources of water including rivers and lakes with it with water for both domestic, industrial and agriculture purposes (French, Paul & Matthew, 2010, Pg. 30). Shanghai city has the highest population in China. The number of people who permanently reside there are more than 23 million which comprise of 1.2% of the total population of China. The population density of the city is 2,060 per square kilometer. All the ethnic groups of China are represented in the Shanghai city with the minority group having a population of 105,523 people. Due to the development progress of Shanghai, the

Do cultural differences influence HRM practices Essay

Do cultural differences influence HRM practices - Essay Example The same extends to the human resource management practices as they were presumed free from external factors and constraints. Earlier research had revolved around one geographical area leaving many gaps in case an organisation went globally. This brought the need for extensive research, which indeed proved that cultural difference influenced human resource practices (Moran, Harris and Moran, 2011). Adapting an organisation’s customary ways of operation is crucial when setting up new institutions in different environments, as it enables the transfer of efficiency and rules into another geographical position. It is also vital to observe the cultural practices carried out in the new place of establishment. With the world increasingly moving towards being a global village, expansion of businesses across borders has been prioritised to ensure maximum profits. They have also realised that the human resource management practices have to be adapted in the cultural settings suitable to the relevant socio-cultural environments rather than imposing their own (Muratbekova-Touron, 2008). What are these cultural practices and how do they influence human resource management practices? Cultural practices are notions, values and premises in a society, established through conditioning throughout people’s lives and help to mark them out from others in a different society (Milikic, 2009). These notions and beliefs play a key role in an individual’s life; therefore, an organisation should be keen on ensuring that they are not overstepped. With the introduction of new members in a group, a culture may undergo some alterations, but some invisible and unconscious components that lie within may not change. Cultural practices differ from one society to another as human resource management practices differ from one organisation to the other (Muratbekova-Touron, 2008). Human resource management practices are described as the activities and decisions, which relate to t he act of managing employees at all tiers in the business enterprise. They are also concerned with the elaborate execution of strategies and schemes aimed towards achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage (Stone and Romero, 2008). As a result, it is essential for organisations to formulate a culture that promotes of appropriate work practices. A few of the human resource management practices include, remuneration systems, recruitment exercises, staff-appraisal systems, and work flexibility arrangements among others (Milikic, 2009). Employees perceive human resource management practices differently due to the separate cultural values and identities. Some employees react differently towards certain practices and the degree to which they commit to their jobs and the organisation relies on the familiarity with the ongoing activities. The training and recruitment of people with diverse cultural interests, backgrounds and nationalities, would be a difficult task especially when lo oking into their cultural differences. However, studies have led to discovery of theories that enable easier analysis (Stone and Romero, 2008). Managers are likely to encounter cultural differences that might hinder effective management frequently, especially in this multicultural worldwide business environment. Studies indicate that successful comparisons between different cultures can be made by testing Hofstede’

''It's complicated'' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

''It's complicated'' - Essay Example It was the graduation of their son when they had to get together in a hotel; Jake, Jane, the three kids and the fiancà © of their eldest daughter. The two finally had their moment to talk to each other and discuss things around them casually when they got drunk one night and apparently, decided to sleep together. Jane hardly believes that he slept with his ex-husband who is now married. Hence, she now considers herself as the mistress. It just happened that Jake felt his feelings rekindled for Jane and is again asking for another chance. On the other hand, Jane is confused because she knows for a fact that there is still a room for Jake in her heart but she is afraid to get in trouble with Jake’s own family. In addition to the complications of Jane’s life is Adam, his architect, who is asking her out and started to get to know each other personally considering that Adam helps Jane to design her house for renovations. The scenarios throughout the affair and the love tri angle made the whole film to be defined by its title, ‘It’s complicated’. The movie ended up choosing between Jake and Adam and explaining to her kids what happened between the two of them. A sad part comes into the scene when the three kids discovered that their parents are having an affair and it gave them false hopes of getting back together as one family. Although Jane felt the happy with the affair, she still chose to be with Adam because that is what she thinks is right and what her heart tells her. The lighting in the movie did pretty well. The movie is not categorized for a family because there are adult scenes and languages that are not suitable for kids. The lighting director worked well because the shots are taken on various times and the audience could really distinguish the lights used such as the scenes in the hotel, outdoor shots, bedroom, parties and other. Generally, the lights are used according to the needs

Ethics & defined Essay Example for Free

Ethics defined Essay Ethics is commonly defined as the rules or standards governing the conduct of people. Gender is the social dimension of being male or female. Most people acquired gender identity by the age of three. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities. No nation can be expected to wage war with one hand tied behind its back, but ethical issues of most profound nature are raised anytime. Once the actuality of possibility of war becomes the context within which we live, men and women are forced into set roles. Gender serves as a medium or vector for war’s presence in our innermost social settings. This essay will discuss these ethical issues in war and their link to gender. Discrimination is one of the ethical issues in war. Women have always participated to some extent in combat, but several recent wars have seen them fighting on the front lines. While the roles of female ex-combatants vary widely the women seem to share one unfortunate characteristic, limited access to benefits when peace and demobilisation come. This is also true for girls abducted for sexual services and the families of ex-combatants in the receiving community. These groups are often neglected during mobilisation and reintegration; or at best women, girls, and boys may receive equal benefits but are treated as a homogenous group which prevents specific needs being addressed. (Goldstein, 2001 pg207-212) Sexual violence especially on women especially rape has its own brand of shame to recent wars. From conflicts in Bosnia, Peru and Rwanda women have been singled out for rape, imprisonment, torture and execution. Systematic rape is often used as a weapon of ethnic cleansing. More than 20, 000 Muslim girls and women have been raped in Bosnia since fighting began in 1992. Impregnated girls have been forced to bear the enemy’s child. (Human Rights Watch, 2000 pg12) Sexual violence of women erodes the fabric of community in a way that few weapons can. Rape’s damage can be devastating because of strong communal reaction to the violation and pain stamped on entire families. The harm inflicted in such cases in a woman by a rapist is an attack on her family and culture, as in many societies women are viewed as repositories of a community’s cultural and spiritual values. (UN, 2005 pg8) In addition to rape, girls and women are also subject to forced prostitution and trafficking during times of war sometimes with complicity of governments and military authorities. During World War II, women were abducted, imprisoned and forced to satisfy the sexual needs of occupying forces and many Asian women were also involved in prostitution during the Vietnam War. The trend continues in today’s conflicts. Nearly 80 percent of the 53 million people displaced by wars today are women and children. Refugee families frequently cite rape as the key factor influencing in their decision to seek refuge. (Alison, 2007pg78-83) The high risk of inflection with sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, accompanies all sexual violence against women and girls. The movement of refugees and marauding military units and the breakdown of health services and public education worsen the impact of diseases and chances for treatment. The exchange of sex for protection during the civil war in Uganda in the 1980’s was a contributing factor to the country’s high rate of AIDS. (UN, 2005 pg131) Women suffer a double victimisation, in that they were compelled against their will to join the armed forces and today they are victimised by society for having played a combative role in the conflict. They are treated with hostility suspicion for ‘breaching’ both gender and sex roles. These women are largely excluded from disarmament and reintegration programmes of Sierra Leones peace process which favour men and boys. This especially occurs in Sierra Leone. (Human Rights Watch, 2000 pg7) Men and boys are also victims of gender based sexual violence during war. Women are raped as a way to humiliate the men they are related to, who are often forced to watch the assault. In societies where ethnicity is inherited through the male line, ‘enemy’ women are raped and forced to bear children. Sexual violation of children has devastating effects. The experience of captivity and sexual destroys a girl’s sense of home and security, of self worth and power of the possibility of safe interpersonal relationships, indeed of any future at all. Men tend to greatly underreport experiences of sexual violence. They may have doubts about their sexuality and fear infertility. (Carpenter, 2003 pg 661-694) A war is only just if it is fought for a good reason. A country that wishes to use military force must demonstrate that there is a just cause for doing so. Just war theory is the most influential perspective on ethics of war and peace. For a war to be just there must be a just cause, right intention, proper authority and public declaration, proper authority and public declaration, a last resort, probability of success, and proportionality. Pacifism is also an ethical issue in war. Pacifism rejects war in favour of peace. It is not violence in all its forms that the most challenging kind of pacifism objects to: rather is the specific kind and degree of violence that wars involves which the pacifists objects to. They object to killing in general and particular mass killing for political reasons, which is part and parcel of the war time experience. Most women are generally pacifists as compared to males. People are pacifists for one or some of these reasons: religious faith, non-religious belief in the sanctity of life and practical belief that war is wasteful and ineffective. Pacifism cannot be national policy as it only works when no one wants to attack your country or if the nation with whom you are in dispute is also committed to pacifism. Because most societies regard going to war as fulfilling a citizens’ ethical duty, they honour those who give their lives in war. If there is believe in war governed by ethics we should only honour those who give their lives in a just war and who followed the rules of war. It should be wrong to honour dead soldiers who killed the enemy or wounded or raped enemy women. (Harris and King, 1989 pg78) (Goldstein 2001) defines war as lethal inter group violence and feminism as an ideology opposing male domination and promoting gender equality. Cross cultural consistency of gender wars is pervasive and not universal. Women have fought in wars but are portrayed as exceptions to the gender rule that men are warriors. Gender exclusion from combat is by policy choice not by physical ability, women can and do fight. There is no support for arguments regarding predisposition to aggression and little support for the hypothesised link between testosterone and aggression. Gender is portrayed as a weapon to humiliate a military opponent or to discredit peace activism and political dissent from military policy. A recent example is, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfield’s remark about â€Å"media mood swings† in regard to criticism of the war in Iraqi, a reference clearly intended to evoke the archetype of the â€Å"irrational† menstrual/menopausal women. Rape in war as well as military homophobia underlies exclusion of policies aimed at sexual minorities. Neither men nor women benefit from war at the expense of the other, both genders lose in war. Neither genetics per se, nor hormones (males or female) nor male bonding nor women’s innate pacifism explain gendered war roles. (Suzzane, 2002 Pg 407). The interdependence between war and gender is obscure. However it is clear that it is not soldiers who make war but societies that make war. War does not happen without women’s knowledge cooperation, and participation, however few or many actually take up arms and engage in battle. War is based on a dominatory approach to relationships in which the usual overriding aim is to get the better of or overcome the other who is framed as an opponent or competitor. Gender as we know it, which positions men as dominant and characterises them as aggressive and heroic, is fundamental to the culture of domination of which war is an expression. The human resources of moral sensibility and decency have been buried or seriously depleted. The impetus towards peace that is so necessary in ending of violence conflict is diminished by the discouragement of half the population from active participation. A gendered perspective of human security enables a more advanced understanding of the perspectives of those involved in conflict including victims’ perpetrators and decision makers.(Zeigler and Gilbert, 2006) References Alison, M. (2007) Wartime Sexual Violence: Women’s human rights and questions of masculinity, Review of International Studies Pg 75-90 Carpenter, R. C, â€Å"Women and Children First†: gender norms and humanitarian evacuation in the Balkans, International Organization 5, 7, 4, 2003, Pg 661-694 Cohn, C â€Å"Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defence Intellectuals, Signs, Vol. 12, No. 4 1987 Pg 687-78 NO1101 Harris, A and King, Y (eds) Rocking the ship of state: Towards a feminist peace politics, Bovider, C. O West view press 1989. Human Rights Watch (HRW) 2000: Rape as a weapon of Ethnic cleansing HRW, March 1. Jousha S. Goldstein (2001) War and Gender: How Gender shapes the war system and vice versa. Cambridge University Press Pg 201-213. Moser N, and Clark F (eds), victims, Perpetrators or Actors: Gender, Armed Conflict and Political Violence; London Zed Books 2001, V. 64. Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women’s studies Gender Issues. Rosemarie Skaing (1999) Women at War: Gender issues of Americans in combat: McFarland and Company: North Carolina and London ‘Symposium on war and Gender, (2003) (Reviews of Goldstein’s Book) Perspectives on policies, 1, 2, 330-347 The state of World’s Children 1996. UNICEF United Nations (2005): Africa Renewal â€Å"Sexual Violence, an ‘invisible war crime’ Warren, J and Cady, L (1994) Feminism and Peace: Seeing connections’ Hypatia special Issue on Feminism and peace Pg 7-14. HQ1101. World Bank (2002) Addressing Gender Issues in Demobilisation and Reintegration Programs, Africa Region Working Paper Series 33 Zeigler, S and Gilbert, G (2006) The Gendered Dimensions of Conflicts Aftermath; A

Ghost Story of Haunted Row House: Philadelphia Essay -- Ghost Stories

Haunted Row House: Philadelphia The particular story I collected takes place in Philadelphia, where ghost stories are plentiful. Philadelphia is an old city with a rich cultural heritage, and our founding fathers made history in the place that was once our nation’s capital (Eidmann). Many believe that their spirits and spirits of those from colonial times still lurk around. It is easy to feel like spirits are around when in a place where many people have lived and died before, and in a place that is filled with old buildings and landmarks. All of these factors make this city a perfect place for a ghost story. This story was told to me by a close friend, in my dorm room on a cold rainy day in April. My friend is a female of Columbian descent, 20 years old, who lives off campus in Silver Spring, Maryland. She is a sophomore and is currently studying journalism at Maryland. She heard this story about a year ago while she was with her mom, and it was told to them by a co-worker of her mother’s at a national magazine. This story was collected by tape recorder, which was held by the teller. So this past year I heard a ghost story from my mom’s coworker and friend. Her daughter recently purchased an old row house in Philadelphia. She lives there with her husband and they have a daughter, who was about two years old. They started to notice REALLY [eyes get large] weird things happening around the house, it was really eerie and started to make them nervous. Their daughter has a playroom in the attic, and she used to say, actually, she still says that there is somebody up there. She describes him as an African American male--well she says it’s a â€Å"Black man†--and she says he sits there and watches her play. When she told her parents... ...just another person who wants to be friends and not think the ghost will hurt them or that there is anything scary about it. The tale capitalizes on the fact that an adult would be uneasy thinking that a child can play with a ghost without thinking twice, and even more uneasy that a child can see what they cannot, since adults are supposed to be wiser and more able to explain things. The imagination of a child, which can create some astonishing things, is a scary entity. Works Cited Bouldin, Paula. â€Å"An Investigation of the Fantasy Predisposition and Fantasy Style of Children With Imaginary Companions†. Journal of Genetic Psychology. 2006. 167(1): 17-29. Eidmann, Frank. â€Å"Philadelphia: The Capital City† National Park Services. 7 Apr. 2006. http://www.nps.gov/inde/phila.html. Juliano, David. â€Å"The Shadowlands† 7 Apr. 2006. http://www.theshadowlands.net/.

Exploring Police Officers Use of Discretion Essay -- Criminal Justic

Discretion is used by officers throughout the country; it gives them the choice to carry out law word by word, based on the input of the situation and surrounding circumstances around the officer it also gives them the choice to disobey the written law which usually ends up in tragic instances. This is why discretion is such a hot topic in the United States and throughout the world. One side argues that police officers are ill trained to properly carry out split second decisions. The other side of the argument claims that discretion saves countless lives of many civilians and police officers. The abuse of power by the police is well documented. From Timothy Thomas, Roger Owensby from Cincinnati, Ohio or Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo in New York, many believe this was a direct cause of the officer’s personal belief about race which can’t be brushed aside so easily. If we all look at the criminal justice system we can tell from the cases and documents that the majority of men that are injured killed or imprisoned by the law are black males. Discrimination isn’t new to police officers around the country, in 1976 the city of Chicago was found to have discriminated against black, Hispanic and female police officers in hiring and in promotions to sergeant in its police departments. This level of dislike is common throughout America, so they say; it runs deep within a police station, against co workers. Many propose that new and harsher punishments should exist in law enforcement but I believe in order to drastically reduce these occurrences from happening would be to enroll these officers in classes that would get them comfortable with races and beliefs other than their own. This is a huge factor in every major case; a maj... ...eyes of a criminal. It would also give the failed assumption that killing an officer or threatening their lives wouldn’t have repercussions’ on the scene. In reality, this argument can last for many years due to what the law covers or doesn’t in regard to what an officer experiences in the field. There may be instances where the law may be clear. Laws are written in ways that could expand for future issues. Police encounter many people and behaviors, some of which would be completely new to an officer, where no laws have not been thought out. But on the other hand police have been known to do well with their discretion by choosing another option besides an arrest. We all should keep in mind the stresses that they deal with on a day to day basis and can cause an officer to become paranoid there for leading to instances where they use excessive force.

“Broken Lives” By Estelle Blackburn Essay

The chapter â€Å"Another Gun, Another Unlocked Door† is a chapter from Estelle Blackburn’s expository text Broken Lives. This chapter focuses on one night of Eric Edgar Cooke’s murderous sprees where he steals a rifle and shoots a baby sitter, once again leaving the city of Perth in the hands of fear and danger. The purpose of this chapter is to fight for Cooke’s guilt. It shows that he had no fear of being caught and was a devious man when it came to him stealing, killing and the plans he came up with. Through particular aspects of its construction including point of view, structure, language, personality presentation and tone, our response to the ideas conveyed are able to be shaped and moulded to the ideas that are presented The point of view in â€Å"Another Gun, Another Unlocked Door† is from a third person omniscient view, looking in on the world surround Cooke. However the point of view is no ordinary third person point of view, it is in fact shifting, jumping from one character to the next so that we can get into the minds of all the characters and the emotions they are experiencing at the time of the ‘gunman’s rampage.† The point of view is shifting as to present the views of the many characters we come into contact with throughout the chapter. All people views on Cooke come to fruition and to our realisation. The fear that Cooke spread throughout Perth is exposed and our response to him and our feelings moulded. He shoots an innocent girl studying, through the point of view we can look in on his emotions and thoughts and the evil side of him. â€Å"†¦ He had a rifle and was in a killing mood †¦Ã¢â‚¬  This suggests that Cooke had been in this mood before when he has killed people previously and asks us the question, what sort of man is he if he gets in a killing mood. If Broken Lives was written from a first person point of view, we would not see the same emotions and feeling that we do from a third person omniscient view. The language goes hand in hand with the point of view. The sort of language that is used in â€Å"Another Gun, Another Unlocked Door† is one to convince people of Cooke’s guilt when it comes to these murders and shows how much of  a crazed killer he really was. It also proves how he enjoyed the fear of being caught and the fear that someone could see him. â€Å"†¦ He could see a short woman sitting in the lounge. He loved the risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬  What is this saying about Cooke? That he is a quiet, well-mannered, law abiding citicen? Or that he is a crazed madman that enjoyed the risks of robbing people and killing them without any remorse. The language even describes the look on Cooke’s face or the way in which his heart was beating. Even though some of this is fictionalized, it has been incorporated to shape our response towards Cooke so that we feel the same way in which Blackburn does about him. â€Å"Another Gun, Another Unlocked Door† is structured in such a way so that many points of view and characters are presented. The chapter jumps from one character to another, which results in many feelings and attitudes being presented. Through the numerous amounts of characters being presented we are able to see that it was not only a handful of residents of Perth that feared for their lives, but it was all people, ranging from the better off people to those that weren’t as well off. Through the way she has structured â€Å"Another Gun, Another Unlocked Door† Blackburn has successfully conveyed many ideas into one small section. By structuring the chapter in this way, Blackburn can also select the details that she wants to include, those that will support her view, and exclude other, those that will contradict her view. By selecting certain details from certain characters, Blackburn’s point can be made stronger without her need to fictionalise or fabricate some of the ‘facts’ that she is presenting to the reader. The way in which the characters are presented in â€Å"Another Gun, Another Unlocked Door† shapes our response and how we react when Cooke take the lives of people. When we are first introduced to Shirley Martha McLeod we are told of how she is a hard working science student at St Catherine’s College. She is presented in such a way that sets visual pictures in our  head of just what McLeod would have been like. â€Å"†¦ She had a satchel of books with her and told Dowd how she planned to work very hard for The rest of the university year†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This sets up an image of a young girl who concentrates on her school work and is well mannered and polite. â€Å"†¦ Dowd felt comfortable leaving baby Mitchell  in her care†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The way in which McLeod is presented sets up the fact that Cooke stole the lives of innocent, caring people that he did not know and had everything going for them. This proves that it was a case of wrong place, wrong time. By giving us this information, Blackburn can shape our response by playing on this. Blackburn can emphasise how much of a caring young lady McLeod was and ask us to question how Cooke could take the life of a person so innocent. Then there is also the way in which Blackburn portrays Cook’s personality. She describes him as a monster that was only out to kill and nothing else. â€Å"†¦ The feeling of power began to come over him as  ran his fingers along the barrel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is describing the feeling that Cooke got when he found the .22 rifle that would eventually lead to his demise. Through describing Cooke like this, Blackburn is reinforcing her previous opinion of Cooke’s personality. By doing this we are once again being shaped into responding in a particular manner. Does Blackburn know how Cooke felt or has she once again fictionalised sections to fight for the innocence of John Button? By putting a serious mood and tone to â€Å"Another Gun, Another Unlocked Door† Blackburn is setting up the fact that this was all real and it was not something she made up. Some sections of Broken Lives have a good-natured feel about them, especially when they are speaking of John Button. An example of this is â€Å"Life’s a Ball† where the tone is less serious as Blackburn is describing John Button and how he was a fine upstanding member of society. However by using a more serious mood and tone when speaking of Cooke, Blackburn is shaping our response to the ideas she presents. If â€Å"Another Gun, Another Unlocked Door† was presented in a lighter mood such as â€Å"Life’s a Ball† the chapter would not be as effective in proving Cooke’s guilt. Seeing as the purpose of Broken Lives is to assure us that Cooke was guilty and Button innocent, Blackburn would not go and put a humorous tone on something as serious as a young girl being murdered, especially when it was Cooke that murdered her, the one she is trying to prove guilty. â€Å"Another Gun, Another Unlocked Door† succeeds in it’s purpose of assuring us of Cooke’s guilt. Blackburn does this be presenting particular characters in particular aspects. Or including certain information that supports her argument or even just through the language she chooses. This chapter argues for Button’s guilt and just proves what type of a man Cooke really was. These particular aspects of narrative construction all shape the way in which we respond to the ideas the Blackburn is presenting.

Employee Diversity Assignment

Employee Diversity Contents: 1. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 2. Advantages of employee diversity to organization†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 1. Advantage of Language diversity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦2-3 2. Advantage of Gender diversity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 3. Advantage of Age diversity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3-4 3. The problem of employee diversity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦4 1. Communication problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4-5 2. Gender discrimination problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 4. Solutions to the problem of employee diversity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5-6 1. Solutions of communication†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 2.Solutions of gender discrimination†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 5. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6-7 Reference†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦8 1. Introduction: The employee diversity can be defined as the employment of people with different qualities and back grounds. The most fundamental of the definition of employee diversity are focus on race, gender, nationality, age. According to (Nancy R, June 2005), fast technological change, g lobalization, the demand for skills and education, an aging workforce and greater ethnic diversification in the labor market have greatly influenced the arrangement of diversity today.Today’s definition of employee diversity includes race, age, ethnicity, gender or personality and work style, secondary influence such as religion, socioeconomics and education. Nowadays, employee diversity is very population the work place. It has advantages also accompanied by the disadvantages. 2. Advantages of employee diversity to the organizations 2. 1. Advantage of Language diversity: In the organization if the employees are speaking different languages, it may bring some benefits to the organization.For example, in the one company if the staffs speak not only one language, when the company need some staff to go overseas to join some meetings or do some inspections and research. So the company can only pick up some staffs that can speak those countries’ languages and send them for the meetings or inspections instead of find out some translators or even spend money to hire some consultants. It really can save the expenditure for the company. Nowadays, if a company want to be succeed, it really need to be able to better integrate into this world and also need to broaden their horizons.The employees are the main force of the company; their performances are really affecting the company’s future. The employees’ language diversity can help the company to explore more overseas markets and make them more competitive. 2. 2. Advantage of Gender diversity Gender diversity also has its own advantages for organization. In an era, people change their ways of thinking the gender diversity in the work place. They realized that not only men can do every work in the work place. Now, women are becoming more and more important in organization. Nowadays women have the skill set for the new competitive demands of technical work.Companies agree that they need more tec hnical leaders with varied skills such as interpersonal skills and business skills. 93% of technical leaders in a survey indentified the building of collaborative networks in an organization as a crucial component of leadership (White, B, 2006). Women have the skills to meet the new demands of technological work both in terms of technical and interpersonal skills (Tray, L, 2007). Of course interpersonal skills are really needed in the organization; it is very useful and helpful for running the organization.All those show that women are indeed more suitable for certain parts of organization. These are also the advantages of gender diversity. 2. 3. Advantage of Age diversity Age diversity has its own advantages in the workplace. Nowadays in the work place, there are many different age levels of workers. One part of them is old workers. More and more old workers in the work place are the current trend. Because now, people are retiring much later in life than before and their careers ar e extended in the present day.According to the research by United States Department of Labor shows that between 1977 and 2007 employment of workers 65 and over increased 101 percent, compared to a much smaller increase of 59 percent for total employment (16 and over). For those older workers they all worked long time in the work place, definitely they got more experience and knowledge than the young age workers. Those of them can transfer knowledge and experience to the new workers. It can help the organization save the expenditure for sending the new workers for training.And the old workers’ experience can help the new workers avoid some common mistakes. In the other hand, nowadays in the work place there are also many young age workers. They also can bring the benefits to the organization. Compare with older workers, younger workers are more creative and innovation. They can help the organization to make better decision and improve problem solving (Harvey, Carol P; M. June Allard, 2012). Nowadays, if the organization wants to remain competitive, it should encourage the staff to distribute a variety of ideas which leads to higher levels of innovation.This part of workers is really a new vitality of organization and they can help organization to keep up with the pace of the times. 3. The problems of employee diversity Consider the employee diversity in the work place. Besides the benefits, there are many problems come out as well. And all these problems may lead to loss for the organization. Below two problems are very common in the work place. 3. 1. Communication problem Communication barriers will lead to problems in the organization. For example, if a manager gives instructions about completing a task to a staff.But this staff fails to fully understanding the instructions because of the language barrier. And then the staff may make mistakes if he tries to complete the task without receiving clarify or even don’t know what the task it is. This problem will cause the delay of the task complete or even fail. It will really cause the losses for the company. And if during a team work, the staffs have communication problem. It will affect the efficiency of work and sometimes it will affect the relationships of the teammates.And also because of the employees may come from different countries, so they may have their own work styles and behaviors and those situations also can cause communication problems among the employees. And finally affect the organization’s benefit. 3. 2. Gender discrimination problem Gender discrimination is another very common phenomenon in the work place. According to the traditional thinking, women have been considered intellectually inferior to men and men are more capable than women at work. Thus, in the workplace, under the same conditions men will get more opportunity to be promoted than women.Same as in the management level, women’s suggestion and ideas sometimes will be ignored or una ccepted. Above phenomenon have also can led to the lack of teamwork and inefficiency work. And this is also a reason of pay-gap between male and female workers. Sometimes the gender discrimination even happened in the recruitment. During the interview men really get high chance to get the job than women. According to a survey conducted by the center for Women’s law and legal services of Peking University in 2009 (Women’s Law and Legal services, 2009).This survey researched 3,000 female employees over one year’s time and got the results by analyzing data interviewed some women employees. According to employers set different criteria in recruitment and women have to have excellent performance than their male competitors in interview to get the same job. More than 1/3 of those women said that male employees are easy to get promoted and priority is always given to male employees. This is fully illustrated gender discrimination really happened in the work place and i t becomes a big problem in the workplace. . Solutions to the problem of employee diversity Regarding the problems of employee diversity in the work place, we need to get some solutions to avoid or solve them. In case of these problems damage the interests of organization. 4. 1. Solution to communication problem: ? Training: Employees could be provided proper training to receive in certain language courses if they have language barriers. They also need to be trained how to use the organization internally information system such as telephone system, e-mail system. Set a SOP for staff to check the work has been access properly: Communication problem always caused by misunderstanding and ambiguity and finally lead to loss for the organization. The organization leaders can set some SOPs for staff to make sure the work and information has been implemented properly. In the SOPs may include the instructions of work process and double check procedures. 2. Solutions of gender discrimination: ? Set the relevant regulation of gender discriminations: Make sure the employee handbook includes anti-gender discrimination policies.Create clear examples of gender discrimination to clarify any questions employees may have. And organize the staffs review and test regularly. ? Put reflected box in the work place: In the organization it can be set the reflected box in the work place to encourage and promote the staff to reflect any problems especially the gender discrimination. Once the phenomenon happened, the organization should resolve it quickly and given the appropriate punishment. 4. Conclusion The employee diversity is a reflection of a present trend of this times. Diverse work teams can bring high value and benefit to organizations.Respecting individual differences will benefit the work place by creating a competitive edge and increase work productivity. But work diversity also causes many problems and they also can lead to loss for the organization. Therefore, we need corre ct to face and deal with the employee diversity. Words:1486 Reference †¢ Eisenberg, Eric M. ; H. L. Goodall, Jr. & Angela Trethewey (2010). Organizational Communication (6th ed. ). St. Martin's: Bedford. pp. 250–58 †¢ Harvey. Carol P; M. June Allard. Understanding and Managing Diversity(5th ed) Boston: Person. Harvey, Carol P. (2012). Understanding and Managing Diversity. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.. pp. 51–55. ISBN 0-13-255311-2 †¢ Nancy R, June 2005 , Retrieved 19 May, 2012 (http:web. ebscohost. com. ezproxy. utas. edu. ) †¢ Tay, L. IT goes soft for career oriented women. Computer World, 2007 P18-21 †¢ United States Department of Labor , July 2008, Retrieved 19 May, 2012 (http:www. dol. gov/spotlight/index. html), †¢ White, B, Leading Technical Professionals 2006, P21-22, †¢ Women’s Law and Legal Services (2009, April 16) Workers’ Daily, P. A5,A6