Write an analytical business report on what ethical consumerism means Coursework

Write an analytical business report on what ethical consumerism means for businesses (CO-OPERATIVE BANK) - Coursework Example The ethical consumerism concept is characterised by customers’ patronising products that are sold by society-friendly companies (Berman, 2011). The same concept includes the customers’ buying services that are sold by environment-friendly. Likewise, the concept emphasises shying away from products that wreak damage or unfavourable effects on the environment or on society (Langen, 2012). For example, the ethical customers must avoid lead-tainted canned food products. Lead contaminates the canned products. The contaminated canned products may trigger unhealthy effects on the uninformed current and future customers (Bertagni et al., 2010). Further, ethical consumerism is grounded on morality (Devinney et al., 2010). Morality is the object of ethical standards. Consequently, ethical consumerism can be described as consumers incorporating their own ethical standards in the purchasing or using of certain products or services. For example, companies should not intentionally sell defective products to customers. The consumers include both the current and future customers of the companies. Ethical consumerism may include the implementation of fair trade processes. Fair trade is synonymous with the laissez faire economy. Under this type of economy, all entities and individuals can freely join their chosen market segments. All competitors in the same market segment are given equal opportunities. Policies that favor one entity or group should be prevented. Furthermore, equal opportunities include equal possibilities to be the top net profit performer in the same market segment. Equal opportunities may include giving all entities the same sustainability chances. All entities and individuals are given the same chances to achieve one’s prescribed goals, objectives, missions, visions, and other previously defined targets (Guido, 2009). Consequently, the ethical consumers act responsibly in their use or purchase

Challenges in Lobbying strategies Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Challenges in Lobbying strategies - Coursework Example One may wonder where to start. It is imperative to first know the policy maker before meeting him or her. This would involve identifying his or her interest in the policy issue and the connection to the topic of interest (Mason et al., 2011). His or her webpage would offer more insights on this. Additionally, in order to create interpersonal relationship with the policymaker, it is advisable to be ready with a brief and easy to understand message about the state of the current child obesity policies within the state. Since the elected officials often meet their constituents, it is imperative to make a long-lasting impression by getting the policy maker understand child obesity and how it has become a health concern among the people (Bailey et al., 2007). It is through this engagement that creates interpersonal relationships and allows the policy maker to understand the issue at hand. It is also essential to have facts ready in order to use them as the terms of reference. Policy makers like real life examples and references. The best approach to communicate to a policy maker would be enlightening him or her of the prevalence of child obesity in his state or region and how soon this may get out of hand (Bailey et al., 2007). Giving simple statistics about the effects of such an issue would offer a starting point and would engage the policy maker more. Therefore, since effective communication is vested on interpersonal relations, the best approach when communicating to a policy maker on childhood obesity would center on first understanding the law maker and creating personal

Ethnomusicology: Developments of Māori Music

Ethnomusicology: Developments of MÄ ori Music Music in Context A: Ethnomusicology Discuss some of the more recent social, cultural and technological developments that have informed studies in ethnomusicology Introduction For this essay I will be focusing on the MÄ ori people of New Zealand, and looking at the changes and developments in both their traditional music and that of their modern popular culture, much of which is adopted from American and European sources. I will include the work of several ethnomusicologists who have experience in the areas of MÄ ori music, modern New Zealand popular culture, and American rap music and its sphere of influence. The MÄ ori people Have had their own traditional songs since they first inhabited New Zealand. However, there have been changes to the cultural situation of the music and how it is received by both the white public and MÄ ori youth. In this essay I will focus on three points, the transcendence of MÄ ori traditional music, the changes made as a reaction to this and the influence of other modern genres and styles, specifically American rap, to discuss these changes and how they have informed ethnomusicology either positively or negatively. In doing so I hope to show that a vibrant musical continuum is working in New Zealand youth culture, informed by both their traditions and outside influences, and yet is making original new music because of this. Song loss and researching traditional music The MÄ ori have inhabited New Zealand since the 14th century when they arrived from other Pacific islands seeking new lands to migrate to and cultivate. It is hard for an ethnomusicologist to find or have found any songs surviving from the earliest parts of MÄ ori history, for several reasons. Firstly, as many MÄ ori songs are to do with traditions and practices, when those traditions or practices become obsolete or go out of use, then the songs will be lost with them.For example, when canoes started to be replaced with sail ships, all songs about canoeing were either lost, or modified to talk about sail ships instead. Secondly, because of superstitious beliefs, many songs have restricted performances, where only certain members of the tribe or community are allowed to attend and listen or join in. This also limits the number of MÄ ori who will learn theses songs, as they are taught purely by oral tradition. The teaching itself is a point of interest, as traditionally the folk songs of MÄ ori are taught in a very strict sense,as they are not meant to change organically or be re-interpreted, apart from if the community as a whole learns a new version in line with a new meaning, as with the canoe/sail ship example above. In most cases, the songs will be passed down through generations, preserved as accurately as possible, which would in fact make it easy for an ethnomusicologist to discover these antiques of folk song. However, these traditions were cut abruptly short by the intervention of European missionaries. The missionaries were accepted to a degree by MÄ ori curiosity, and arrived decades before the treaty of Waitangi in 1840,which signified the taking of New Zealand by the English under queen Victoria and the official surrender of the MÄ ori as a people (though conflict did continue for years). These missionaries took it upon themselves to educate the seemingly primitive MÄ ori tribes in every aspect of Christian and European ideals. This included their music, as the Europeans found their traditional folk chants ‘idolatrous, ‘indecent and even ‘lascivious.The missionaries set about their task quickly, so much so that by 1830, a letter sent from a missionary to his brother-in-law at home in England read; Quietness and good order has succeeded to their native wildness; we never hear anything of their songs or dances. In place of their traditional music, the missionaries taught them hymns and church music. In doing so, they also taught the rudiments of western music theory, which they encouraged the MÄ ori to adopt as their new musical language. This meant that many new MÄ ori songs were created, using traditional words and stories, but with diatonic harmonies that made them listenable and distinguishable to a European ear.Though this was widely acknowledged and followed through to the MÄ oris own teaching, some traditional songs were kept hidden and secreted in both MÄ ori text collections and those of curious westerners. One such was John McGregor, a guard of captured MÄ ori warriors held in a beached hulk at Auckland harbour. John ‘collected and later published a large number of songs written down by the captives.He could be said to have been one of the first to research and record MÄ ori traditional music, yet this white interest in the music did not start to reappear until t he twentieth century. This change occurred on a grand scale over the next century, and to this day MÄ ori music is seen as synonymous with hymns and European-based melodies. This view has been widely held by the white general public for all of the twentieth century, though many MÄ ori know it not to be entirely accurate. Ethnomusicologist Mervyn Mclean stated that among the public at large, however, such songs are a mostly hidden tradition.A revival of the MÄ ori culture began in the 1960s, dubbed the MÄ ori renaissance,and with it came both the technology and the motivation to record and preserve the traditional songs that were left among the populace. This made the job of collecting and studying MÄ ori music a lot easier for ethnomusicologists, as up until this utilisation of new recording technology, they had been hard pressed to source singers and songs out. Mclean mentions that ‘preparations for fieldwork took an inordinate amount of timein the late 1950s, and mentions that without th e huge advantage of meeting several willing MÄ ori Elders I would not have had the resources to survive in the field. Changes and modern learning The traditional MÄ ori song forms, as well as being non-diatonic as previously stated, were in fact completely incompatible with western tonal language. Though the melodies sung could be transcribed into musical notation, they were not in a fixed time signature or particular key as we would understand it. The lack of harmonic movement mystified witnesses to performances in the nineteenth century, as the MÄ ori music relied more on repetition, both rhythmic and harmonic, and different performance approaches by different singers, for the colour and variety in their music.

Essay --

Philosophy is derived from Ancient Greek as â€Å"philosophia† which means â€Å"love of wisdom† (Liddell). In Western Philosophy, there are two predominant schools of ethical thought and these are: categorical moral imperative and consequentialism. In this essay, some background descriptions on each theory are provided, and I will provide justifications for using categorical moral imperatives. The categorical imperative is one of the central philosophical concepts that were developed by philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant moral philosophy is deontological; it rests on the notion of duty or obligation from the Greek word ‘Deon’ (Kant, Immanuel). Kant formulated the categorical imperative in three different ways: The first universal law formulation â€Å"Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that is should become universal law†. (Kant, Immanuel) In other words, any moral law or maxim you choose to adopt, it has to have rational sense to be implemented for everyone else to adopt is as well. If so, then this moral law can guide whatever course of action is open to you. The second humanity or end of itself formulation â€Å"Act in such a way that you always treat humanity whether in your own person or in the person of any other never merely as a means but always at the same time as end† (Kant, Immanuel) In other words, this al most follows the golden rule treat people with respect, so that they can treat you with the same courtesy. Moreover, treat thyself with the same respect as you would treat others. The third kingdom of ends formulation â€Å"Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends.†(Kant, Immanuel) In other words, we should treat eac... ...s a life at stake. Going back to the example, I can also argue that is not necessary for the person at the house to tell the stranger where the family relative is. It is true that he is not allowed to lie, but he can also choose to stay quiet. If he doesn’t say anything he has neither lied nor told the truth to the murderer. Kant’s categorical imperative can provide a set of rules to formulate what a good person is and should do. Kantian philosophy is deontological and it requires people to always do their duty. Kant does not forbid feeling good or happiness, but it must be the case that each person can fulfill their duty even if they did not enjoy doing it. In summary, in order to determine whether or not a particular act is good or bad, morally speaking, we must apply the categorical imperative and I have provide justifications to use it in our daily day lives.

Opsec

What is OPSEC and Why Do We Have It What is OPSEC? It’s a process of protecting little pieces of information that might grouped together to give the bigger picture. It is also protecting critical information deemed mission essential for military commanders. It is simply denying your adversary the information that they might need to harm you or the mission. The AR that covers OPSEC is AR 530-1 and goes over purposes, responsibilities, policy, procedures, training requirements, OPSEC review, assessment, survey, contract and subcontract requirements and special access programs.The reasons why we have OPSEC is because any vital information that the enemy can get their hands on can give them an advantage on the battle field or operations. Those little pieces of information could show the enemy the full picture of what it is that we plan to execute. Most don’t know what is considered vital information. Think about it, what would you like to know about your enemy and how to in filtrate, interfere or stop their objective. How about where you are going, when you are going, how are you moving, what equipment that you will be using and even what paths have you taken before.Even your unit’s job association can be a part of the information they can gather on. Certain identifying marks such as your unit patch, or any other unit/ battalion identifiers can even give information. For instance the enemy is looking at the patch and can look up through Google and find out what unit you are with and keep open eyes and ears to see if they can get any information on what your purpose is and where you will be. Even taking pictures in certain places can give the enemy a layout of an area.It’s not wise to take pictures of equipment, it would not be hard with the information highway to find out all they need to know about certain functions of our equipment and their weak spots as well. In this day in age we have the social media network that can also help the e nemy track and get information. How OPSEC affects family and social networking We all have friends and family that want to know what you are doing but there are only so many things that you can tell them without violating OPSEC.You are not the only one who needs to understand why there is OPSEC, your family needs to understand its importance as well. Any information you give them and they put out there can affect you and them. The military offers family members who are curious about OPSEC classes and briefs at the FRG meetings. They go over what it stands for and why it’s so important in the military. There are also links on the internet that explain and answers a lot of questions they may have.There is also a Facebook page that family members can go on, it’s called Army Operation Security. Your family has to understand that there is only so much you can tell them and even what you do tell them they don’t need to be telling others or posting it on Facebook. With out thinking they could accidently put the information out without knowing if the person they told is the enemy or a spy. You know what they say keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer.The enemy thinks the same way and will do whatever it takes to get the information they need to plan and infiltrate our operations. Families are the biggest target for our enemies to infiltrate and get information. One more important thing to think about is the enemy could be anyone, American or even your family you never know. There are many reasons why we have OPSEC but not taking the proper measures can result in serious injury or death to personnel, damage to weapons systems, equipment and facilities, loss of sensitive technologies and mission failure.The process of OPSEC There is a process to OPSEC as well the subjects that are covered are identification of critical information, analysis of threats, analysis of vulnerabilities, assessment of risk, an application of appropriate OPSEC measures and assessment of insider knowledge. Identification of critical information is the process of identifying what information is needed by the enemy, not so much protecting everything that is classified or sensitive unclassified, but protecting what is more vital and would be more useful to the enemy.Analysis of threats is the research and analysis of intelligence, counterintelligence and open source information on the likely enemies of a planned operation. Analysis of vulnerabilities is to examine each and every aspect of the planned operation and try to identify certain OPSEC indicators that could reveal critical information and then compare those indicators with the enemy intelligence collection capabilities used in the previous actions that they have taken in the past.Assessment of risk is where they first analyze the vulnerabilities identified in the previous action and see what OPSEC measures can be taken to prevent the opportunity of the enemy getting information, and t hen those measures are selected for execution based upon a risk assessment done by the commander and staff. Application of appropriate OPSEC measures is when the command implements the OPSEC measures selected in the assessment of risk, action, or in the case of planned future operations and activities, which includes the measures in specific OPSEC plans.Assessment of Insider Knowledge is assessing and ensuring employees, contractors, and key personnel having access to critical or sensitive information practice and maintain proper OPSEC measures by organizational security elements; whether by Open Assessment or Covert Assessment in order to evaluate the information being processed and / or handled on all levels of operation ability (the employees/mid-level/senior management) and prevent unintended/intentional disclosure. These are all important steps that are taken to implement those measures to use as soldiers.All this information that they gather and analyze gives us the understand ing of what the enemy is looking, what they have done in the past and what they may plan in the future. We have briefs annually that go over such information that they gather and the measure to prevent them from happening again. We even sign a nondisclosure agreement after we are briefed on what we are not supposed to do when we have information that is mission critical. Basically they go over the does and don’ts in this brief and we are bound in contract not to disclose any of this information to whom it doesn’t concern.Later in this essay, you will know the consequences to violating the nondisclosure agreement. Indicators and Vulnerabilities There are other forms of analyzing ways that the enemy would get information and create weak spots in our operations or mission tasks, they are Indicators and Vulnerabilities. Indicators, consists of five characteristics which are signatures, associations, profiles, contrasts and exposures. A signature can cause certain indicator s to be identifiable and stand out.If a signature is unique and stable, it reduces the unclear and uncertainty of a particular indicator and reduces the number of additional indicators that must be observed in order to determine the significance. If the indicator’s signature is stable, meaning that the behavior is constant and repeated, an adversary may accurately predict future actions. By varying the pattern of behavior, the signature’s stability can be interrupted and increase the uncertain information of an enemies observations. An association is the relationship that an indicator has to other information or activities.Adversarial Intelligence Analysts spend a considerable amount of time comparing current observations with past observations, which may reveal possible relationships. For example, an observer may note a particular employee report to work after hours. Though previous observation, the Analyst is aware of that employee’s position as an on-call com puter forensics analyst. Given the association between those two observations, the Adversarial Intelligence Analyst could conclude that the organization has suffered a computer breach of some sort.An association can also take the form of a pattern. For instance, if it is observed that we do a test fire on our weapons before rolling out the gate to go on mission, an analyst may be able to accurately predict these procedures. Lastly, an association can take the form of organizational patterns, particularly in military units. The analyst may be aware that a particular unit is comprised of Headquarters Company, a maintenance company and a transportation company.If one of these elements is detected, the presence of the others would be strongly suspected. A profile is the sum of multiple signatures, and what that means is when multiple signatures are detected, the combination therein would be more or less unique to a particular mission or task. For instance, if signatures are detected tha t indicate that aircraft fueling capacities are in place, as well as air traffic control, personnel and weaponry, a profile can be compiled indicating future air-based operations.If a unique profile is observed, an analyst may be able to accurately determine which type of operation is in progress, minimizing the need for additional observation and analysis. Contrasts are any differences between the established pattern and current observations. Contrasts are the most reliable indicators because they depend on differences in established and repeated profiles, and need only to be observed rather than understood. A contrast can take many forms; for instance leaving work at a different time or the presence of vehicles or aircraft that were not previously observed.When noting a difference, the analyst will attempt to determine if the change is isolated or widespread, if the change has occurred previously (and has a matching association), if anything significant has occurred since the chan ge and what the change may represent. The exposure of an indicator refers to the length of time and the time frame in which the indicator is observed. If an indicator is allowed to be observed for a long period of time, it will be assimilated into the profile and be assigned a meaning. If an indicator is able to be observed for only a short period of time and does not repeat, it is less likely to attract attention.However, if the indicator is observed for short periods of time, but is repeated frequently, it will begin to be seen as a contrast to a normal profile. These can be found on OPSEC professionals. com. Vulnerabilities, is the information and indicators that can weak spots to infiltrate and disrupt the mission plans or operation. Finding and preventing the vulnerabilities can reduce the affect that it may have on missions and operations that are planned and executed. For instance, your path that you take to a given destinations, and the terrain were they could plant IED†™s.If someone was to give out information as to where the mission was going and when, it could give the enemy the time to organize a plan of attack on that convoy or mission of operation. Convoy and Equipment security Convoy security is a very important part of our job and there are techniques that we have in the way we pull security and make ourselves less known to the enemy as well. For example, when we have to halt the convoy for complications that arise, we will turn off our lights to make ourselves less know. We also, put spaces between us to eliminate more damage in the event that we are hit with either small arms fire or an IED.Identifying marks on the vehicle is not permitted because it can be traced and monitored by the enemy and observe and predict the way we move and how we operate. These techniques that we have shouldn’t be spoken to anyone as well. If the enemy was to know this information it would give us an even more disadvantage in completing our mission. Ev en the classes that we take like (Crow, Puma, Crew, etc. ) should not be shared information, the enemy would love nothing more that to understand our equipment and the way it works.They will try to find the weakness in anything that we use to plan, secure, and complete our missions and tasks. Radio frequencies are another very important part of information that could be very valuable to the enemy. With that information they could pretty much get just about anything that they would possible need to know to infiltrate us, harm us, equipment and the very mission itself. All this information and more is vital to our very purpose here and simply if the person to whom at anytime you are speaking with or if there are others around and they do not need to know don’t say anything.One other thing that is important to remember there are a lot of DOD contractors around that know and understand about OPSEC, and they are listening around you and will report this information that they hear. Even our battle drills we go over on how we respond and operate under certain conditions can be considered valuable information to the enemy, and something they could use against us. How to Conduct an Operations Security (OPSEC) Assessment OPSEC Assessments are conducted to evaluate an adversary's or competitor's ability to access your critical information, intellectual property, proprietary information or personal information.OPSEC Assessments directly benefit anyone desiring to protect information or assets from disclosure. Operations Security (OPSEC) Assessments enable insight to your predictable indicators, exploitable processes and procedures while presenting specific measures to counter potential vulnerabilities. Assessments can be conducted by internal representatives from each department or can be performed by external experts and typically run from 1-3 weeks.Step 1: Identify information critically important to the organization, mission, project or home [intellectual proper ty, mission details, plans, R&D, capabilities, degradations, key personnel deployment data, medical records, contracts, network schematics, etc. ] Step 2: Identify the relevant adversaries, competitors or criminals with both intent and capability to acquire your critical information. Step 3: From the adversary's, competitors, or thief's perspective, identify potential vulnerabilities and means to gains access to results of step 1. Interview a representative sample of individual.Step 4: Assess the risk of each vulnerability by its respective impact to mission accomplishment / performance if obtained Step 5: Generate / recommend specific measures that counter identified vulnerabilities. Prioritize and enact relevant protection measures. Step 6: Evaluate measure effectiveness, adjust accordingly. This was reference at http://www. wikihow. com/Conduct-an-Operations-Security-%28Opsec%29-Assessment There are many tips when conducting a Operations Security (OPSEC) Assessment here are a cou ple. Don’t try to perform all analysis on your own, obtain threat data from the experts.The cost of OPSEC money wise would be prohibitive to attempt to protect information that is already accessible to the public so focus on what you can protect than what is already publicly accessible. Even though 100% awareness of OPSEC is realistic, zero vulnerabilities are not. Your critical information list should not be secret and inconspicuously posted near PC monitors, phones, copiers, etc. You should keep your list to about ten items. Those aware of what to protect have a better chance of protecting sensitive information as opposed to those unaware of its value is a general rule.Regular assessments ensure your best protection. OPSEC often provides low cost solutions to high tech problems. Instead of a long drawn-out report on observations, findings and proposed counter measures can be formatted in a presentation template. To mitigate vulnerabilities you should include a plan of actio ns and milestones (POA&M) in the brief to decision makers. Consequences to violating OPSEC There are many consequences to violating the nondisclosure statement that all soldiers, NCO’s and Officers are obligated to adhere and follow. This is a direct order from your chain of command.This statement informs you of the obligations and responsibilities concerning OPSEC procedures and consequences that will occur if violating this statement. OPSEC involves vital and important information on mission operations. This includes dates, times, cargo, number of personnel and vehicles, even the rout and destinations of missions. Violations of OPSEC can happen many different ways especially with current technology. Cellular phones are the easiest and most convenient method of use getting and giving information. However, another method would be the internet.People who make random posts on facebook or other forms of social media pages or write blogs about things they do in combat areas revea l types of information without realizing what they have done. Revealing this type of information, whether it was intentional or not can have severe consequences from the Military Judicial System. These consequences include UCMJ, Article 15, Military Court Martial, and separation from the military and loss of all VA benefits. Another and more substantial result of the violations is the loss of people’s lives because the enemy found this information from unsecured communication networks.The first course of punishment is an Article 15 of the UCMJ. A Soldier will receive the maximum punishment from an Article 15. Which would be 45 days extra duty, 45 days of restriction, loss of pay and reduction of rank. If the information the Soldier revealed results in the convoy getting ambushed and Soldiers die, that Soldier may have to appear before a Military Court for a Court Martial Hearing. If the Courts finds the Soldier guilty of the charges they have been accused of. This will result in a Dishonorable Separation from the Military.A Dishonorable Separation from the Military may result in future difficulties in civilian life after you are released from the Military. The main problem might be trying to attain a civilian job. When employers see a dishonorable discharge from the military service and the reasons to which you obtained this action. They will be less likely to employ such a person who they can’t trust in. Along with the dishonorable discharge, you will loss all benefits and entitlements. The Bureau of Veteran affairs will also give soldiers loans to buy a house or brand new vehicle.This will also be taken from, because due to the soldier’s indiscretion to reveal vital information and risk the lives of their fellow comrades. References Operation Security on Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Operations_security Operation Security AR 530-1: www. fas. org/irp/doddir/army/ar530-1. pdf OPSEC Indicators: www. opsecprofessionals. org/artic les/indicators. htm How to Conduct an Operations Security (Opsec) Assessment: http://www. wikihow. com/Conduct-an-Operations-Security-%28Opsec%29-Assessment

The Impact in Your Life

* Please describe the impact your adversities have had on your life. When my sisters and I first came to the United States I had trouble understanding American English. Though we had been taught English in our school in the camp we were not prepared to learn in a completely English environment in a completely new culture. The transition was quite a challenge for us, not to mention starting well into the second half of the school year, but we pressed through and managed to get good grades.Everything has been completely new for me and my family and although we have received help, life here has been full of its own challenges. I sometimes become depressed when I am stuck at home do nothing. This new world has been especially challenging and complicated for my parents because they don’t understand or know how to speak English. They are learning, however, by taking classes. Currently, they are learning how to say all the food names in English.Another trial for us right now is the f act that my parents don’t work because they don’t know how to speak English and so it has been nearly impossible for them to find jobs and so support our family. When I think about all our challenges, new and old, I usually became frustrated and depressed even though I can understand and speak English well, but when I think about my parents and the fact that they don’t even understand what everyone else here is saying, I wonder how they must feel.Sometimes I listen to the conversation between my mom and dad about being very depressed and worried. Being a daughter I try to make them feel better by serving as an interpreter for them so that can function wherever they want to go. We also try to take them to meet other people who are also from Nepal so that they can share their feelings and try to find relief in this new country. *

Sir Isaac Brock essays

Sir Isaac Brock essays Hometown Hero: Sir Isaac Brock and the Battle of Queenston Heights Growing up in the Niagara Region of southern Ontario is filled with rich historical benefits. There are numerous landmarks of Canadian history, such as the Welland Canal, the Canadian Falls, and the Royal Canadian Henley or Henley Island; these are but a few of the great heritages Canada holds that are still fully accessible today. In addition to those mentioned above, and arguably one of the most important historical landmarks in the Niagara Region is Queenston Heights and Sir Isaac Brocks monument commemorating the War of 1812. Known to historians as the man who saved Canada Brocks remarkable ability to inspire confidence in his men made the battle of Queenston heights influential in the marshalling public opinion against Americans at the beginning of the War of 1812. In demonstrating the determination of the Crown and the general public to defend British North America, Brock contributed to the development of Canadian national consciousness. Isaac Brock was born on the small English Island of Guernsey on October 6th, 1769; he was the eighth son of 14 children. Brocks father died while he was just a young boy, leaving the family independently wealthy. In following the lead of three older brothers, a tall, robust and athletic Brock entered into the 8th or Kings Regiment at the age of 15 as an ensign. Brock quickly rose up the military ladder - he purchased a lieutenancy in 1790, served in Jamaica and Barbados until 1793, rose by successive steps until he had reached the senior lieutenant colonelcy with less than thirteen years' total service. During a lull in the fighting in Europe, Brock was ordered to bring his regiment to Canada, where he arrived in 1802. Brocks capabilities as a commander were well known by this point. He was a demanding but fair and humane officer who had earned the sincere respect of his men. Broc...

Ruth Benedict essays

Ruth Benedict essays The explorations into the enculturation of human beings and its numerous variations have molded the groundwork of anthropology. A field so entrenched in the comparative study of human societies and cultures, anthropology has facilitated the understanding of how humans have adapted to their environments and themselves. When comparing an advanced institutionalized culture to an isolated primitive one, key similarities and differences can de delineated. What is deemed morally right and deserving of exaltation can conversely be seen as an abomination in another culture. Moreover, inherent to human culture are ethical categories of normalcy (societal acceptance) or abnormality (social deviance). Ethics, the grounds for moral validity, are culturally relative to ones society of enculturation. By studying the similarities and differences amongst cultures, Ruth Benedict, anthropologist and author of Anthropology and the Abnormal, illustrates how morality is culturally distinguished. Additionally, Benedict asserts that normality is culturally defined, or what is considered normal is different in varying societies. The varying definitions of normality and abnormality can be seen in the phenomena of trance, homosexuality, and catalepsy. In India, the extreme psychic manifestations of trance and catalepsy are both regarded not only normal but is sanctified. However, in many modern cultures, this trait is seen as a deviation of the norm and is not valued. Homosexuality, in the contemporary society, is seen by many as abnormal but amongst Native American tribes, men who took on the characteristics and behavior of the female gender were held high on the ethical plane. The institution of the berdache, the men-women served as a tribes leader in womens occupations, good healers , and as genial organizers of social affairs. From a specific human behavior to a mode of thinking can be an abnormality where an indivi...

Channeling My Energy

At nine years old, I wouldn’t walk into supermarkets; I would fly. I would grip the cool metal handles of the towering shopping carts with my childishly hot hands and push off with one foot, propelling myself into infinity. The only thing that could bring me back to earth were my mother’s disapproving looks and barely successful attempts to make me â€Å"Slow down!† or â€Å"Come back here† since I might â€Å"plow into someone.† At school, the poster-plastered walls seemed to close in after long days, edging closer and closer until I felt energy-induced claustrophobia creeping up my spine. The blue and green and yellow of the carpet and walls and finger paintings tumbled and blurred as I turned myself upside down and shifted my weight onto my surprisingly steady palms. â€Å"No handstands in the classroom!† my teacher would admonish, kneeling beside me and gently lowering me to the floor, afraid my precarious center of gravity would soon destabilize. â€Å"You have to learn to stay seated.† To little me, this seemed just too much to ask; sitting down for such long periods seemed a feat only someone as grown up as she could accomplish. It wasn’t long before my teachers started making other comments. Soon it wasn’t just â€Å"You need to learn to stay seated,† but things like â€Å"Paige is slightly immature and behind the other children socially† and â€Å"Maybe you should consider keeping Paige back a grade so she has time to mature and settle down.† My mother knew she had to do something. Suddenly I was sitting in an over-air-conditioned room with a smiling lady who showed me flashcards of dogs and fire trucks and houses, and prompted me to repeat as many as I could remember. She gave me different samples of sounds, testing how long I could remain focused on the voice crackling through the recorder. I was too young to know that she was testing my attention span and mannerisms for ADHD. After I was positively diagnosed, my mother enrolled me in gymnastics to address my overabundant energy. I was mesmerized by the many ways I could contort my body and the countless flips I could execute in midair. The possibility of moving into the advanced group with the older girls motivated me to spend my boundless energy tumbling and balancing in the gym, instead of sprinting and rolling in the supermarket. I soon realized that this solution could be applied to other areas of my life – even those that weren’t physical. After all, I didn’t merely have an excess of physical energy, but mental energy as well. The world seemed to me an incredibly complicated tapestry, and I wanted to unravel its mysteries thread by thread. When I was 10 years old, my brother introduced me to the wonderful world of the fiction novel. From that day on, I was hooked. Stories of vampires and werewolves and witches and warlocks from other worlds swirled in my mind; I constantly had my head in a book. To this day, I continue burning my mental energy on novels, although my tastes have transitioned from teen fiction to classics like Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. But merely reading words on a page wasn’t enough. Somewhere inside me, I had created my own worlds, unbeknownst to my conscious mind. The day that my hand picked up a pen and put it to paper remains blurry in my memory; it is almost as though it happened of its own volition. I soon became addicted to the beauty of the English language, to the way hard consonants could be combined to elicit a sense of urgency and anger in a reader, and the way liquid consonants could be melded to coax out a sense of calm and happiness. High school came speeding toward me like a freight train, and instead of fully embracing the four years to come, I felt my excess energy – whether it be physical, creative, or inquisitive – made me different from everyone else. I was that teenager who pored over classic literature and wrote poetry for fun. The summer of eleventh grade, fate brought me to the moment when I discovered I was not alone in these pursuits. It was the first hot summer night of the Iowa Young Writer’s Workshop, and listening and observing the other teens around me, I felt the sense that I’d arrived at my intellectual home. Here were peers whose minds were always buzzing and whose hearts were always open. They were propelled by the same abounding energy that I was. They too understood the law of physics stating that energy could neither be created nor destroyed, only changed. And they, like me, had chosen to channel it into something positive.

A case in point was DMG's campaign for Volkswagen Study

A in point was DMG's campaign for Volkswagen - Case Study Example For example, DMG’s founder, Dan Mintz soon realized that China is a highly conservative society where people and businesses are controlled by stringent rules and restrictions as opposed to most Western cultures (Chiang, 2000).Consequently any business that would have tried to obey all the regulations and rules rather than find a way around them would have probably failed to achieve its objectives because in China, restrictions are virtually everywhere. There are a number of serious ethical issues that are likely to arise when using guanxiwang as a means of getting things done in the Chinese society. For example, the reciprocal nature of relationships and connections involved can potentially pose a serious ethical challenge in the event that a partner requests the business to return a favor. This therefore suggests that a Western business that is committed to ethical standards should always set some limits when using guanxiwang to ensure that it does not amount to

Evolving evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evolving evolution - Essay Example The article offers the three constructs of Darwinian theory that include natural selection, heredity, and variation. Darwin believed that evolution was a gradual process where randomized changes to genetic profiles occurred while the organism sought â€Å"favorable variations† (Rosenfield & Ziff, 2006, p.1). Thus, Darwin believed that evolution consisted of unpredictable conditions that would best suit the organism for adaptability to a changing environment. However, advancing researchers such as Mendel began to recognize tangible genetic characteristics in organisms that were directly related to evolutionary changes with a new emphasis on genetic heredity. Not wanting to completely refute Darwin position, a new variation on Darwinian theory known as Modern Synthesis was released in the 1940s that began to recognize genetic importance in evolutionary patterns. Brakefield (2006) refers to the neo-Darwin knowledge of genetics as a catalyst for what Darwin believed as random muta tions as genetic morphology, the real constraints on classical natural selection theory. The article then describes further contemporary knowledge of the nature of the double helix as an explanation of how biological mutations occur, which in this case supported Darwin’s view that evolution occurs over time. The article describes Darwin’s view on the complexity of the eye as a means of describing certain knowledge inconsistencies during Darwin’s time period in an attempt to ascribe eye evolution to his classical view of natural selection. Offers Lamb (2011), a contributor to Scientific American, the eye is often regarded by opponents of evolution as â€Å"a system that cannot function in the absence of any of its components and therefore cannot have evolved naturally from a more primitive form†. Darwin, himself, argues that such complexity makes it difficult to support classical evolutionary theory, but acknowledges that elongated periods of time made such adaptations probable

Discussion Questions and Participation Question wk 4 Essay

Discussion Questions and Participation Question wk 4 - Essay Example Sometimes the floor or direct labor employees have great insight into how to make process improvements due to the fact of their experience work in the production line. A person’s leadership style has a tremendous influence in his / her behavior in the workplace. There are different types of leadership styles such as transactional, transformational, and charismatic. A transactional leader whose followers have the necessary exchanges for achieving routine performance agreed between leaders and their followers (Schermerhorn & Hunt & Osborn, 2003). Such leaders do not get too close to their employees and they avoid developing personal relationship with their co-workers. Another type of leadership style is transformational leaders. Transformational leaders broaden and elevate the follower’s interest and stir followers to look beyond their own interests for the good of others (Schermerhorn, et. al., 2003). I agree with you that leaders should use power and control to exert leadership between the person and the workers. The employees have to recognize that the manager represents the controlling figure they must follow. A good manager will open the lines of communications with the workers in order to encourage greater participation and involvement. When the workers do not respect the manager in charge organizational conflict may arise. A good corporate culture includes an atmosphere in which the workers and managers mutually respect each other. The personality of the leader affects the person’s ability to influence the behavior of others. A leader with an outgoing personality is better able to captivate the imagination of the workers because this type of manager will have greater communication with the staff. A manager that keeps to himself is the type of manager that is not able to connect with the workers because his silence might be interpreted by the workers that the

Exploration of Healthcare and Immigrants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Exploration of Healthcare and Immigrants - Essay Example However, facts and figures show that, compared to the native-born, expenditures for immigrants’ health services are much less, and their contribution to Medicaid is much larger. Moreover, Immigration Reform could improve the situation with the shortage of the medical personnel. Immigrants are an integral part of the American life, society and economy. Currently, our country is experiencing another increase of immigration. In 2005, the foreign born population made nearly 36 million, where 35% were naturalized citizens, 33% were documented immigrants and 31% were undocumented immigrants. Children consisted 16% of the undocumented immigrants, and nearly two-thirds of them are U.S. citizens by birth. Expectations are that by 2050 about 80 of 120 million of the U.S. population will be the direct or indirect effect of immigration (King 2007, p.4). Though, contributing largely to the prospering of the country, these people experience many hardships in obtaining vital services. Access to health care system became one of the greatest problems they face. Looking back, we may suggest that the trouble started, for the reason that health care system of the US revealed its weak sides. Propaganda played its role. It was easier to misinform the public than to reform the whole health care system. Documented and undocumented immigrants were blamed for the trouble. Misinformation gave birth to numerous myths. These myths led to the restrictions in legislation concerning immigrants’ access to the health care service. In 1996 the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was past, establishing that recent legal immigrants to the country were to wait five years for the eligibility for Medicaid and other public benefits programs. The same eligibility restrictions were included into the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, put in force in 1997. Further, another law was enacted as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, requiring that US citizens

Porters Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Porters Management - Essay Example This essay stresses that the management styles or the fourth factor that was described by Porter has become very blurred. A dynamic approach is required towards management of organization and it has become imperative to follow a management practice that is sustainable. It has been observed that shareholders have become very demanding and the excessive reliance of the business enterprises on the capital market have made it important for organizations to depend on information in a timely manner. This paper makes a conclusion that the case of national competitive advantage over comparative advantage, an idea created by Porter has both been a source of debate and discussion. A discussion in this topic reveals that the traditional competitive model described by Porter using the developed countries can also be extended to certain other developing countries as well. The case of Ireland, India, Singapore, Korea and Saudi Arabia has revealed that Porter’s model of national competitive advantage is still relevant to explain competitiveness of these nations. All of these nations have developed their competitive advantage over time and provides a thriving climate both for domestic and international businesses. However, there are certain aspects of Porter’s model that is not relevant in present case. For instance, the management styles that have been described by Porter for specific countries are no longer valid in the present organizational structures. The financial cris is of 2008 has revealed that excessive speculation can be extremely dangerous.

Discussion Questions and Participation Question wk 4 Essay

Discussion Questions and Participation Question wk 4 - Essay Example Sometimes the floor or direct labor employees have great insight into how to make process improvements due to the fact of their experience work in the production line. A person’s leadership style has a tremendous influence in his / her behavior in the workplace. There are different types of leadership styles such as transactional, transformational, and charismatic. A transactional leader whose followers have the necessary exchanges for achieving routine performance agreed between leaders and their followers (Schermerhorn & Hunt & Osborn, 2003). Such leaders do not get too close to their employees and they avoid developing personal relationship with their co-workers. Another type of leadership style is transformational leaders. Transformational leaders broaden and elevate the follower’s interest and stir followers to look beyond their own interests for the good of others (Schermerhorn, et. al., 2003). I agree with you that leaders should use power and control to exert leadership between the person and the workers. The employees have to recognize that the manager represents the controlling figure they must follow. A good manager will open the lines of communications with the workers in order to encourage greater participation and involvement. When the workers do not respect the manager in charge organizational conflict may arise. A good corporate culture includes an atmosphere in which the workers and managers mutually respect each other. The personality of the leader affects the person’s ability to influence the behavior of others. A leader with an outgoing personality is better able to captivate the imagination of the workers because this type of manager will have greater communication with the staff. A manager that keeps to himself is the type of manager that is not able to connect with the workers because his silence might be interpreted by the workers that the

Porters Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Porters Management - Essay Example This essay stresses that the management styles or the fourth factor that was described by Porter has become very blurred. A dynamic approach is required towards management of organization and it has become imperative to follow a management practice that is sustainable. It has been observed that shareholders have become very demanding and the excessive reliance of the business enterprises on the capital market have made it important for organizations to depend on information in a timely manner. This paper makes a conclusion that the case of national competitive advantage over comparative advantage, an idea created by Porter has both been a source of debate and discussion. A discussion in this topic reveals that the traditional competitive model described by Porter using the developed countries can also be extended to certain other developing countries as well. The case of Ireland, India, Singapore, Korea and Saudi Arabia has revealed that Porter’s model of national competitive advantage is still relevant to explain competitiveness of these nations. All of these nations have developed their competitive advantage over time and provides a thriving climate both for domestic and international businesses. However, there are certain aspects of Porter’s model that is not relevant in present case. For instance, the management styles that have been described by Porter for specific countries are no longer valid in the present organizational structures. The financial cris is of 2008 has revealed that excessive speculation can be extremely dangerous.

Successful Factors of Malmaison Hotel Chain Essay Example for Free

Successful Factors of Malmaison Hotel Chain Essay I had worked in Malmaison hotel chain for 2 years in various departments taking up different roles, and over the two years, Malmaison hotel chain as an organization has demonstrated potential future market leader quality and showed excellent growth rate, good profitability and increased market share. However, the hospitality industry as a whole, over the past a few years has been far from as optimistic as the Malmaison hotel chain has been. In the West Midlands, for example, it has been common for bars, restaurants, hotels to changed ownership, merged, be acquired, or go bankrupt. Indeed, bars and restaurants are three times more likely to go bankrupt than other businesses in the UK, according to Accountants UHY Hacker Young (2007), Their report revealed that 15. 5% of businesses in the UK hospitality and catering sector (restaurants, pubs, and hotels) fail every year in comparison with just 5. 2 % for the economy as a whole. UHY Hacker Young (2007) had investigated over 150,000 businesses that had failed in the past one year, and found out lots of anecdotal warnings about the high failure rate of restaurants in the first year to be true. In the hospitality industry the owners and managers were struggling with raising second round financing; market research and financial planning were not completed in a proper fashion; loyal customer base that protects against fast changing consumer tastes in bars and restaurants was not developed entirely, all of these have contributed to the high failure rate in the UK hospitality industry businesses. In such an economic and market environment, why Malmaison hotel chain has been a success becomes an interesting subject to study. Malmaison hotel chain was founded in 1994 along with its sister hotel chain Hotel du vin which is also owned by the same company MWB, there are 21 chain hotels that are under the same ownership and there are 3 more hotels which are just opened by the end the 2007 and a further 4 more Malmaison hotels are due to open by the end of 2008. The company is also in negotiation for another 7 sites. Malmaison hotel chain is recognised as the UKs leading lifestyle hotel group that is top of the brands in a recent survey. According to Caterer ; Hotelkeeper (2008), the survey of 2000 business and leisure travellers by BDRC, revealed that 53% of all travellers said they preferred to go to Malmaison as their first choice, 46% chose Hilton and 40% chose Marriott. Malmaison has over 1,500 bedrooms across the UK. The gross value of these hotel property assets in the Groups latest published accounts to 30th June 2007 was ? 553 million, not to mention the reputation which has gained the group a valuable brand image that worth millions. Over the years the group has won a number of awards, such as best hotel groups in the UK, also it won the best place to work for in the hospitality industry 5 years in a row. It is believed that a key reason for Malmaison hotel chain’s success lies in its efficient and developed human resource management system, productivity and performance measurement and monitoring system, market research team work, strategic management, adaptability to changes and its financial control. These will be investigated and discussed in detail later in the research. . 0 Aim The aim of this research project is to explore what has Malmaison hotel chain done to accomplish such a success while operating in the current UK economic and market environment. 3. 0Project Objectives ?To review the current teaching and practice regarding human resource management, marketing management, financial management, and operational management in relation to the hospitality industry. ?To analyze the management fashion and operation processes of Malmaison and their impact on the performance and productivity of Malmaison. To make recommendations to the management team of Malmaison Hotel Chain to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and the performance of the organization. 4. 0 Literature Review 4. 1 Introduction There are obviously a large number of factors, ultimately all contributing to the success of Malmaison, however, in this research, a limited range of key issues will be addressed which are believed to be the most significant contributing factors behind for Malmaison’s success. The literature review research was supported by electronic resources and library research. There has not been much work been done on the reasons for the success or failure of the UK hospitality industry, and there is even far less attention being paid to hotels. Both strategic marketing management and human resource management are broad concepts, it is therefore, necessary to focus upon a few critical issues within these subjects that have particularly been focused upon in the operation and management of the Malmaison group. 4. 2 Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is a critical factor that contributes to better performance, Professor Stephen Robbins’ study shows that happy workers are more likely to be productive workers. As a result, the correlation between job satisfaction and job performance is also rather strong (Robbins, 2007). However, George and Jones (2008, p93) pointed out: â€Å"job satisfaction is not meaningfully associated with job performance†. A study that was conducted by Iaffaldano and Muchinsky (1985) in the 1980s in this area concluded that job satisfaction only accounted for 2 percent of the difference in performance levels across employees. Another more recent review indicated a very similar result that job satisfaction only accounted for 3 percent of the difference in performance level across employees. (Judge, Thoresen, et al. , 2001) George and Jones (2008) also mentioned that work attitudes such as job satisfaction affect work behaviours only when employees are free to vary their behaviours. The study suggested that most of the employees are not free to vary their behaviours at work because organizations spend a considerable amount of time and effort to ensure that members perform their assigned duties dependably regardless of whether they like their jobs or not. However, it is worth mentioning that the hospitality industry might be an exception to this rule simply because the work attitudes of the employees account for a very heavy portion of the level of the service in delivering satisfaction to customers’ needs. It will, therefore be worth carrying out further research to study the correlation between job satisfaction and job performance in this particular industry. 4. 3 Motivation, Job Design and Goal Setting Wagner Hollenbeck (2005) suggested that: â€Å"one way for an organization to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals is to generate a more motivated workforce†, â€Å"a person who is highly motivated will start work sooner and leave work later relative to someone is unmotivated. While engaged at work, a highly motivated person will work faster, take fewer breaks, and be less easily distracted relative to someone who is unmotivated†. Job design and goal setting are two of the major factors contributing towards creating motivation, George and Jones’s (2008) study suggested that: â€Å"Job design can have a profound effect on employee motivation. The specific goals employees strive for and the more general corporate objectives that an organization pursues over time are important sources of motivation for employees. † Wagner Hollenbeck (2005) pointed out that the methods of work design developed with the motivational perspective in mind include job enlargement and job enrichment. Callinan, Forshaw Peter’s (2007) studies showed that a job’s core characteristics, which are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback are believed to be key influences on employee motivation. Goal setting is also considered to be â€Å"communicating accurate information on work performance† and these â€Å"can be positive motivators for employees. † George and Jones (2008) have similar opinions on this subject. They believe that â€Å"two major characteristics of goals that lead to high levels of motivation and performance, one is specificity, the other is difficulty†, â€Å"specific goals lead to higher performance than do vague goals or no goals†, and â€Å"difficult goals (not impossible) lead to higher motivation and performance than do easy or moderate goals. However, there are limits to goal setting theory, Thus, studies by George and Jones (2008) show that there are three particular circumstances under which setting specific, and difficult goals will not lead to high motivation and performance, they are goals which involve employees’ skills and abilities, tasks which require employees’ complete attention and a considerable amount of learning, and when creativity is needed to perform the task. In hospitality, these 3 circumstances do happen very often, this research will be carried out with heavy focus upon these circumstances and issues to review how Malmaison Hotel balance these pros and cons within their organization. 4. 4 Groups and Teams A large amount of work has been done regarding group dynamics and team effectiveness. However, there is one area that is most interesting and related to, not only Malmaison hotel chain, but to the whole hospitality industry, that is the correlation between cohesiveness and performance of groups or teams. George and Jones (2008) suggested there are five factors that influence a group’s level of cohesiveness: 1. Group size, as it gets bigger, members tend to be less satisfied, group between 3 and 15 people are believed to be the right size that promotes cohesiveness. 2. Similarity/diversity of group member, depending on the tasks and situations, similarity and diversity can be beneficial to group cohesiveness. 3. Competition between groups, generally competition will be facilitating group cohesiveness but occasionally it can be dysfunctional and impair effectiveness when there is too much competition within a group. 4. Success, members will be more attracted to a successful group and proud to be a member. 5. Exclusiveness, when it’s difficult to get in a group, and the group has a high status, group cohesiveness tends to be high. However, they also pointed out that occasionally, too much cohesiveness within a group can impair the organization’s effectiveness if the group’s goal is not aligned with the goal of the organization or other groups within that organization, for example waiting staff‘s goals of providing good service in order to get decent tips are aligned with the restaurant’s goal of satisfying customers, but not aligned with bar tending staff’ goals. 4. 5 Leadership Leadership plays an important role in a hotel organization success. Thus, Peter Jones and Steven Gross-Turner pointed out in Managing Projects in Hospitality Organizations, hotels are in a turbulent environment, and â€Å"managers are in fact in the best place to identify what changes need to be made since they are the people who have direct contacts with employees and customers† (Jones et al, 1991). 4. 6 Organizational Structure Centralizing and decentralizing organizational structures are two most used structures nowadays. A decentralized structure will decentralize authority to lower level managers and non-managerial employees, give them the responsibility to make important decisions, keep the problem of slow and distorted communication to a minimum and make the job more interesting and rewarding while, at the same time, fewer managers are needed. (Blau and Schoenher, 1971) However, too much decentralization provides employees with too much authority and they might pursue their own goals at the expense of the goal of the organization. A centralized structure generally has more levels within the organization and provides employees with more opportunities to gain promotion and progress. For the hospitality industry, where employees perform primarily physically, more opportunities clearly will be attractive for those who desire a less physically demanding position. 4. 7 Conclusion Kotler (2001) pointed out that â€Å"today’s successful organizations to a certain degree all have one thing in common, that is they are dedicated to sensing, serving and satisfying the needs of customers in well defined targeted markets†. In the hospitality industry, when service is their major product, this philosophy is obviously critically important. However, how Malmaison strategically positions itself to compete with its rivals is an even more crucial and difficult issue that the proposed research will focus on. 5. 0Methodology 5. 1 Introduction A number of approaches will be taken to collect the needed data and information in order to serve the purpose of this research project, increase the quality of the results and findings and enhance the credibility of the research project. Malmaison hotel chain has over 20 hotels throughout the UK, each individual hotel will be unique and differentiated in terms of their focus and priorities depending on their local customs and culture. However, what this research project will be concentrating on is what the common factors are for the Malmaison hotel chain as a whole that turns the organization into a success. Therefore the Birmingham Malmaison will be the subject of the investigation. Birmingham is a multi cultural city and operating in a multicultural organizational environment has been becoming a trend for organizations world wide. The researcher gained two years working experience in this hotel, and therefore it is especially worthwhile doing the research project in such an environment. (Cox, 2001) To complete this research project, three stages will be taken in order to process the project, they are desk based research, field based research and the preparation of a detailed case study. 5. 2 Desk Based Research At this stage of the investigation, a heavy focus will be upon the articles that address the hospitality industry, hotel management, hospitality strategy, as well as the paper work that states hotel policies, financial and management accounts, board of directors statements, stock control data, and general manager’s letters to all the staff. These secondary data contain enormous amounts of information that indicates the hotel’s management style and attitude and forms the fundamental policy to the customers and market. These data are absolutely the first key for this research and will provides valuable information and evidence on the reasons for the Malmaison hotel chain’s success. In addition to that, some of these data are available to the public and can be quickly and easily collected. Some of these data are not available to the public, but, as a former member of staff, I could still gain access to this information. With the information and evidence collected, the primary data collection work will be much more focused and relatively easier having the support and assistance of the secondary data collected. 5. Field Based Research A series of interviews (8-12 people) will be carried out to gain a first hand insight of the impacts which the management style of Malmaison hotel chain has on its employees, and how it affects the performance of the organization. The interviews will take place in various departments across the organization in order to gain a full understanding of the operation sy stem in the Malmaison hotel chain. Some of the board of directors, the general manager, department managers, sector supervisors, and staff that work at the front line and have direct contact with customers all will be interviewed. The total number of interviews will be between 8 to 12. This will give the evidence and information on how each department functions and what are the impacts of them on each other. One or two suppliers will also be interviewed to provide evidence on how the Malmaison hotel chain cuts deals with suppliers and how they interact with each other and how is it affects the organization financially and what impact it has on the marketing and sales strategy of the organization. However, caution must be taken while conducting these interviews. Thus, Saunders (2002) suggests that it is in the researchers’ own interest to seriously consider the reliability, forms of bias, validity and generalisability of the information obtained. Therefore, carefully prepared interview questionnaires will be used and questions which appear in the questionnaires will also be cautiously selected to gain as fair a view as possible. The framework suggested by Easterby-Smith (1991) may be adopted to make sure that the data generated from the interviews is thoroughly reviewed and evaluated. The stages in this process will include: 1. Familiarisation 2. Reflection 3. Conceptualisation 4. Cataloguing concepts 5. Recording 6. Linking 7. Re-evaluation 5. 4 Preparation of the Case Study A case study will be generated at the final stage of the research by putting together the data that is gathered from the previous stages. The case study will bring up recommendations to the management team of Malmaison hotel chain and also, there will be discussions of to what extent the findings can be generalized and to what degree the Malmaison hotel chain management structure, human resource management policies and operational systems can be copied and utilized by other organizations within, or even outside the hospitality industry. . 0 Ethical Issues While conducting the research and interviews, the financial information of Malmaison will be discussed in the interviews, its financial statement will also be used later in the dissertation to analyse and measure its performance, and such information will be kept confidential. The final report will be identified as ‘Commercial in c onfidence’ and will not be available to a wider audience than those directly involved in its assessment. 7. 0 Task List TaskProblemsSolutions Research literature on hospitality management, current hospitality industry trends analysis in the UK. Limited amount of literature in the area of topic. E- journals, business review magazines, textbooks, newspapers, internet. Review literature and identify relevant and reliable articles. Time consuming to select relevant articles. Time management. Contacting general managers in Malmaison hotel chain to gain access to information. Very difficult to get access to key information and financial report and management accounting report. Utilize my identity as former employee in the organization. Selecting different individuals to conduct interviews. Too many employees to choose fromSelect people who may represent the department and be able to give valuable information and opinion. Arranging interviews with selected staff. Difficult to fit in everyone’s schedule and it’s time consuming since the amount of time between each interview when the person is available is unpredictable. Be patient and positive. Conducting interviews. Response may not be relevant. Textbooks on how to carry out interviews. Transcribe interviews scripts. Time consuming while large amount of information gathered in interviews with limited amount of transcribe skills.

The effect of globalisation on national economies

The effect of globalisation on national economies The assignment is based on the wider implications and effects of European and global integration on organisations. It identifies the effects of globalisation on national economies and the influence of international institutions. We shall try to summarise the role and responsibility of European Union membership on the workplace. In the second partition of assignment focus on investigate the range and effects of environmental legislation, directives and guidance and the processes organisations need to adopt. The economics of adopting a policy of environmental awareness and summarise actions that need to be taken by organisations to maintain the environment. Here we shall also specify the measures that exist to improve workplace health and safety practice. In final partition explore the socio cultural, ethical and moral issues that affect organisations in the current economic environment to establish and implement good practice. Analyse the responsibilities of organisations to improving workforce welfare. Review approaches to the management of diversity and compare organisational approaches to ensuring positive policies of workforce diversity. First Part What is Globalisation? Globalisation can usefully be conceived as a process or set of processes which embodies a transformation in the spatial organisation of social relations and transactions, generating transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity, interaction and power. 1(www.polity.co.uk) Globalisation has four types of change. Firstly, globalisation includes growing social, political and economical actions across political limits of countries and continents. Secondly, it recommends the growth of inter bondness and flows of trade, investment, finance, and society. Third, it is developing extensity and intensity of global inter bondness can be depended to a speeding up of global connections and developments as the progress of world wide actions of transport and communication speed up the flow of ideas, goods, information, investment and communities. Fourthly, the growing extensity, intensity and speed of global communications can be attached with their developing impression such that the results of indistinct actions can be very important else where and yet all the local growth may come to have massive global consequences. It makes the sense, that the boundaries between local affairs and global matters can become increasingly blurred. In total globalisation can be consideration of as expanding, increasing speed up, and developing influence of world wide inter connections. In sum globalisation in this way, it makes possible to draw observe patterns of world wide contacts and business across all type of fields of human activity, from the military to the cultural. What are the effects of globalisation on national economies? Globalisation creates major change on the economic environment of any nation; it changes any nation in terms of economic development policies under national government. The globalisation provides the free movement of trade and investment, labour and assets. Through globalisation nations economy growth globally so it opening up the barriers of international trade which increase the stability and creates positive impact on quality of life with in a nations individuals. Economic growth through Globalisation has both positive and negative impacts on the society. One of the main benefits of economic growth is the higher incomes per capita and higher living standards due to an increase in output. It increase in output has also created employment opportunities which takes the nation towards prosperity. Example The best example of Globalisation is Microsoft Windows which is done in United State of America but the technical support is provided in India which provides support to Indian economy. Job opportunities create in India for IT professionals and governments income increases in terms of Taxes. In same way Toyota cars made some cars others are made in United State of America. The animation on cartoons is done in South Korea. The characters voices are done in the United State of America or in country who buys these cartoons. The native impact of Globalisation is that the revenue earned in the nation is not spend in that particular country for growth of this countrys economic conditions of its people, this revenue is spend in other countries along the globe and the ultimate benefit goes to the companys home country, For Example the American based company Nike is one of the company around the glob where ever in the world Nike products sale the ultimate benefit goes to America but the Nike enjoys the cheep labour and resources of that country. It also eliminates the difference of skilled and unskilled persons. Other main weakness of Globalisation is that it increases possibilities of unintentional motion of diseases between the countries. Globalisation gives attraction towards the money oriented lifestyles and selfish attitudes, which suppose to consumption to be a mean to manage overall economic affluence. As Amartya Sen said in 2002 The market economy does not work by itself in global relations indeed, it cannot operate alone even within a given country Some believer of globalisation has the aim to expand market relations, push back state and interstate interference, and create a global free market. It is a political plan that seen at work in the activities of transnational organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and has been a significant objective of United States involvement. Part of the impetus for this project was the limited success of corporate/state structures in planning and organizing economies. However, even more significant was the growth in influence of neo-liberal ideologies and their promotion by powerful politicians like Reagan in the USA and Thatcher in the UK. The influence of international institutions International institutions are a present feature of many world areas. These institutes include World Bank, IMF, GATT, WTO and OECD. These institutions have the same objective to expand the market relations and create a global free market. World Bank: The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. Its mission is to fight poverty with passion and professionalism for lasting results and to help people help themselves and their environment by providing resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors. 2(www.worldbank.org) The World Bank provides low interest loans, interest free credits and grants to developing countries for a wide range of reasons that include investments in education, health, public administration, infrastructure, financial and private sector development, agriculture and environmental and natural resource management. IMF (International Monetary Fund): This institution has aimed at established a system of multilateral trade and payments compatible with the maintenance of high level of income and employment. The IMF provides temporary funding to its member for balance of payments problems. GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) Treaty organization affiliated with the United Nations whose purpose was to facilitate international trade. The primary actions of the organization were to freeze and reduce tariff levels on various commodities. GATT was created in 1947, and was originally intended to become a part of the International Trade Organization (ITO); however, the ITO failed to be created, so the GATT was left as an independent organization. In 1994, GATT was superseded by the WTO. 3( www.investorwords.com/2152/GATT) The objective of the GATT is to liberalize trade for the mutual benefit of all nations. OECD (The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) The OECD is an organisation that provides for intergovernmental discussion among 24 industrial countries in the field of economic and social policy. The OECD was formed in 1960. It has major objective to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and rising standard of living in member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; to contribute to sound economic expansion in member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development and in accordance with international obligation. While almost are agree that such institutions matter but there is less agree that how much effective. This special issue brings together European Union specialists and international relations theorists who address the latter issue. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · With the rapid spread of Globalization, there are chances for international organizations like World Trade Organization (WTO) to violate both national and international sovereignty. The Role and Responsibility of European Union Membership on the Workplace In particular, we explore the socializing role of institutions in Europe, with our central concern being to better specify the mechanisms of socialization and the conditions under which they are expected to lead to the internalization of new roles or interests. Drawing on a multifaceted understanding of human rationality, we consider three generic social mechanism strategic calculations, role playing, and normative suasion and their ability to promote socialization outcomes within international institutions. This disaggregation exercise not only helps consolidate nascent socialization research programs in international relations theory and EU studies; it also highlights points of contact and potential synergies between rationalism and social constructivism.

Role of Women in the Epic of Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Society Essay

Role of Women in Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Society  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Beowulf, the hero of Anglo-Saxon epic, had many adventures, and many companions and fellow-warriors are mentioned throughout his story. Some of them seem noble and courageous, truly living up to the standards of their culture; some seem cowardly. But all have gained immortality in the words, many times transcribed and translated, of the famous epic. However, the women of the time are rarely mentioned in Beowulf. Still, even from those few women who are mentioned and from other documents of the era, it is possible to see the position of women in of Anglo-Saxon society. In many cases, they enjoyed more rights than women in later Medieval cultures. Both Wealhtheow, Hrothgar's queen, and Hygd, Hygelac's queen, apparently held power in their courts. Wealhtheow's actions in rewarding Beowulf after his battles show the queen's role and position as hostess. She awards him "two arm ornament... ... impact on today's life, goes far toward dispelling notions that the Anglo-Saxons restricted the freedom of women in favor of a purely male-oriented, hero-worshiping society. Works Cited Beowulf and Other Old English Poems. Trans. Constance B. Hieatt. New York; Odyssey Press, 1967. Gies, Frances and Joseph. Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages. New York; Harper and Row, 1987. Page, R.I. Life in Anglo-Saxon England. New York; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1970.

Laughing And Sense Of Humor Essay examples -- essays research papers

Laughing and Sense of Humor â€Å"What is it that differentiates human beings most revealingly? Some say it is their varying degrees of compassion; others say it is amounts of prudence; still others, people's differing appreciations of beauty, or whatever makes them angry. And there are other possibilities worth considering. But in truth nothing is so revealing as a person's sense of humor.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is not very hard to notice the many differences between people. There are thousands of things that differentiate us. Appearance is of course the most obvious but in reality appearance does little to actually distinguish people outside of identifying them. Having blue eyes does not say anything about my attitude, my beliefs, my likes or dislikes. Of course there is no one, single character trait that will best identify a person. Humans are extremely complex. Most of us spend our entire lives trying to figure one another out. (This is especially true when attempting to figure out females.) Clues can be found anywhere. The books a person reads, the movies they watch and the games they play all reveal little bits of their character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is a fair comment though that the most revealing character trait a person has is their sense of humor. Few things are as distinguishable and noticeable as humor. Laughs echo throughout rooms and they are as unique as snowflakes. Jokes have been told and retold for centuries by men and women of all ... Laughing And Sense Of Humor Essay examples -- essays research papers Laughing and Sense of Humor â€Å"What is it that differentiates human beings most revealingly? Some say it is their varying degrees of compassion; others say it is amounts of prudence; still others, people's differing appreciations of beauty, or whatever makes them angry. And there are other possibilities worth considering. But in truth nothing is so revealing as a person's sense of humor.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is not very hard to notice the many differences between people. There are thousands of things that differentiate us. Appearance is of course the most obvious but in reality appearance does little to actually distinguish people outside of identifying them. Having blue eyes does not say anything about my attitude, my beliefs, my likes or dislikes. Of course there is no one, single character trait that will best identify a person. Humans are extremely complex. Most of us spend our entire lives trying to figure one another out. (This is especially true when attempting to figure out females.) Clues can be found anywhere. The books a person reads, the movies they watch and the games they play all reveal little bits of their character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is a fair comment though that the most revealing character trait a person has is their sense of humor. Few things are as distinguishable and noticeable as humor. Laughs echo throughout rooms and they are as unique as snowflakes. Jokes have been told and retold for centuries by men and women of all ...

Diminishing Punjabi

Punjabi (Gurmukhi: à ¨ ªÃ  © °Ã  ¨Å"à ¨ ¾Ã  ¨ ¬Ã  ©â‚¬; Devanagari: à ¤ ªÃ  ¤â€šÃ  ¤Å"à ¤ ¾Ã  ¤ ¬Ã  ¥â‚¬; Shahmukhi: : Ù ¾Ã™â€ Ã˜ ¬Ã˜ §Ã˜ ¨Ã›Å') Is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by 130 million native speakers worldwide, making it the 10th most widely spoken language in the world. It is the native language of the Punjabi people who inhabit the historical Punjab region of Pakistan and India. Punjabi emerged as an independent language in the 12th century.Punjabi emerged as an independent language in the 12th century. The Sikh religion originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region and Punjabi is the predominant language spoken by Sikhs. Guru Nanak himself composed Punjabi verse incorporating vocabulary from Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and other Indic languages as characteristic of the Gurbani tradition. In India, Punjabi is one of the 22 scheduled language of India. It is the first official language of the Indian State of Punjab.In Pakistan, Punjabi has not been granted official status at the national level though it is the most spoken language and is the provincial language of Punjab, Pakistan, the second largest and the most populous province of Pakistan. Punjabi is becoming more acceptable among Punjabis in modern media and communications. Punjabi has always been an integral part of Indian Bollywood cinema. In recent years a trend of Bollywood songs written totally in Punjabi can be observed. Punjabi pop and folk songs are very popular both in India and Pakistan at the national level.A number of television dramas based on Punjabi characters are telecast by different channels. Punjabi cinema in India has also seen a revival and more and more Punjabi movies are being produced. Punjabi music is very popular today throughout the world. Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries where Punjabi people have emigrated in large numbers, such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, where it is the second-most-commonly use d language and Canada, where it is the fourth-most-spoken language.There were 76 million Punjabi speakers in Pakistan in 2008, 33 million in India in 2011, 1.3 million in the UK in 2000, 368,000 in Canada in 2006, and smaller numbers in other countries. But now-a-days the trends have changed in India. Western Languages are proving very influential. People try to learn different languages like Spanish, German, French and to prove themselves superior they speak English in gatherings. Even Sikh families have stopped speaking Punjabi because their children learn Hindi and English in their schools and they are not taught Punjabi. Parents when asked that why don’t you speak Punjabi, they have a very simple excuse â€Å" School mein toh hindi sikhate hain bacho ko†¦.punjabi kaha aati hain inhe.†Parents do not take initiative of teaching their child themselves rather put blames on schooling system. Even in Gurdwara’s we find Sikh people talking to each other in Hin di. Whereas this is not the scenario in any other country or even any other States of India. When we go to South of India people speak their native language to everyone they meet. There hardly anyone knows Hindi. In Foreign Countries like France, Spain people speak French and Spanish respectively . They even do not speak English amongst themselves.And this is the only reason why people of different culture and language try and learn their language. Punjabi was very widely spoken in older days when people knew the value of Punjabi Boli. But now number of Punjabi speakers have reduced. If this remains the scenario the time is not far away when Punjabi will be one of the extinct language in the next 15-20 yrs. It should be the responsibility of parents and grandparents to teach children their Mother Tongue and they should not rely only on school and tutions. This will bring children close to their culture and will save Punjabi from becoming extinct.

High School Dropouts Reflection Essay

I believe the dropout rate is so high because, as stated in the article â€Å"High School Dropouts: Costly to American Economy†, â€Å"the teachers [don’t] care, the students [don’t] care.† I believe that lack of interest on both the student’s and the teacher’s part impacts whether a student might drop out. I also believe that factors like, problems at home, bullying at school, etc., also plays an enormous role on the results stated in the articles. Knowing that one of the main reasons of having a job includes, earning money, it leads me to assume that those who drop out do not want to earn less, or be among the 12% of jobless individuals that do not have a high school diploma. Furthermore, I believe that it is evident that a high number or drop outs implies that there are important factors behind what causes an individual to decide to drop out of high school. Looking at the statistics that dropouts cost taxpayers $8 billion annually, and $300 billion dollars in earnings are lost every year due to the decrease in pay of those who do not have a high school diploma, has led me to believe that our state/federal government should eliminate the option of dropping out of high school. It makes no sense that they have not done so, seeing that they have the right, and it is within their power and right to do so. Also, after seeing the statistic that the incarceration rates were 63 times higher among high school drop outs within the ages of 16 and 24, and in an effort to solve two problems: the number of kids that drop out of high school and kids who are behind bars, I believe there should be a greater effort to achieve mass awareness about the negative effects of dropping out of high school early, the same magnitude as the programs and advertisements on breast cancer, and the effects of smoking cigarettes. This plan, although costly, would in turn decrease the amount of high school dropouts, people behind bars, and jobless individuals in this nation. Presidential Election Reflection I believe that out of the five factors listed in the article, the debates are the most important. I believe the debates are important because it allows you to look at each candidate side by side and hear not only their plan on how they plan on turning the economy around, creating jobs, and leading this country on a path that will allow us to decrease this nation’s debt but also to see each candidate’s tactics on using the opposing opponent words or ideas to bash/ or blatantly state why they are wrong. I also believe it is important because you get to actually hear their own words and beliefs, unrehearsed, without a teleprompter, and without being warped in the game of telephone by social media and propaganda. I think that the presidential debates are more important than the electoral map, because the electoral map for the most part generally stays the same and predictable. The ads and messages used to attack the other candidate, or twist the words of another candidate in my opinion are effective, but very childish, immature, and not anything I would imagine a â€Å"president† taking a part of. Propaganda is a very effective way of spreading a message, and getting everyone’s attention, so it’s also important, although not in the same way as the debates are. In my opinion, money is the second most important part of the presidential race. The amount of money a party raises, shows how much they are supported. In the article, it states that â€Å"the Republican Party presidential committees had about $186 million on hand, compared with about $124 million for Mr. Obama and the Democrats.† This shows how both each candidate is supported. I actually have watched one of the debates, as an extra credit assignment for U.S History, and I thought that the debate was interesting, and I liked how the debate was set up.

Answers to Questions on Multicultural Organizations

Answers to Questions on Multicultural Organizations Explain briefly the meaning of organizational culture and ethnic culture and also explain the main difference between those cultures. Provide suitable examples to support your explanation. Culture refers to the following Ways of Life, including but not limited to: Language: The firstborn human establishment and the easier medium of expression. Arts & Sciences: most advanced and refined forms of human expression. Thought: ways in which people perceive, interpret, and understand the world around them. Spirituality: importance of organization transmitted through generations for the inner well-being of human beings, expressed through language and actions. Social activity: shared recreations within a cultural community, demonstrated in a variety of festivities and life-celebrating events. Interaction: social features of human contact, including the give-and-take of socialization, negotiation, protocol, and conventions. Reference (http://www.roshan-institute.org/templates/System/details.a sp?id=39783&PID=474552) Organization culture is build on the value, beliefs and behavioral norms of organizations it is includes values, beliefs dress code, language, way of personality, rules and regulation, policy and the way they work together. For Example: Imagine and spend one full week inside any one organization – from Monday to Friday – and on Friday at 5:00 PM , conclude the most part such as, the eye catching decision-making style, team-based decision-making, process of sharing information, communication, using symbols, individual responsibility, equal opportunities, etc. these all the process and activity based on so many issues. Generally, this function is the part of organisation and role definition. Situation that the thoughts, meanings, beliefs and values people learn as members of society determines human nature. Persons what they are learned. The Optimistic cultural determinism places no limits on the abilities of human beings to perform their task tow ards the organisational goal and/or objective. Ethnic culture: A characteristic of a people, esp. a group (ethnic group) sharing a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the origin, classification, racial, characteristics, etc., Being a portion of an ethnic group, esp. of a group that is a minority within a larger society: for example: ethnic Chinese in New Zealand. Designate or of an inhabitants subgroup having a common cultural heritage or nationality, as distinguished by customs, characteristics, language, common history, etc. Ethnic culture has own group in the organisation for achieving the organisational goal trough the sharing ideas and performing as a team player but for that they should understand the different culture , respect other values, beliefs, tradition, dress code and skills and experiences. For Example: Culture exists everywhere, at various levels of society, and everyone belongs to at least one, at the supranational level (Western and Eastern civi lizations), at the national level (American, French, Japanese), at the ethnic level (Chinese and Maori in New Zealand, WASPS, Blacks and Hispanics in the USA), and so on. Culture can also be applied to other social units such as occupational group (lawyers, accountants, and physicians), corporations (IBM, CALTAX, McDonald) and even tourism sectors (restaurants, hotels, airlines). Question 2:- Select a leadership example from a culture other than your own and: (a):-Explain how cultural perceptions may influence the leadership style and behavior of the individual or organization selected. Give suitable and relevant examples to support your arguments.