Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Collective Bargaining Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Collective Bargaining - Essay Example Collective bargaining is the bargaining or negotiation taking place between an employer and a group of workers so as to determine the circumstances of employment. These negotiations occurring, results in a collective agreement. The employees are represented by the union leaders at the negotiation. Federal and state laws govern collective bargaining. When federal and state law overlaps, state laws are enforced. (collective bargaining) Collective bargaining can also be defined as a tool used by people to end a conflict, in a way that both parties can have the benefit from negotiation. It is widely used in organizations to settle various issues between the employee and the employer. It is a technique in which the negotiation taking place between two parties, result in an official or unofficial agreement. It is a process of the human resource system in which the employee or their representative take part in the discussion with the higher authority or the employer and put forward the claims and the demand of their co-workers. Collective bargaining has served as an important apparatus for providing a democratic organization to the employees where they can barter with the employer for their basic needs. It has helped solving many organizational issues like reducing inequality, increasing pay rate of employees and improving the organizational environment for employees. It is the system which gives the authority to a skilled worker to put forward his demand at the industrial level. This system was the result of the influence of the rapidly advancing organizational structure, which also illustrated the importance of the rights of labor. EXAMPLE: Some workers or employees have to carry pagers during the off-duty hour, in order to respond to the emergencies. As the result of collective bargaining agreements, all the employees carrying pagers during the off-duty hours were given extra pay of five weeks,  whether they are paged or not. If an

Monday, October 28, 2019

Global Hybrid Electric Vehicle Market Essay Example for Free

Global Hybrid Electric Vehicle Market Essay A hybrid electric vehicle combines two energy sources, one of which is mechanical (ICE) and the other electrical. The size of the gasoline engine in a hybrid electric vehicle is smaller than that in a traditional vehicle. The combination of the two power sources helps to achieve better fuel economy and performance. Hybrid electric vehicles use efficient technologies such as regenerative braking that charges the battery by converting kinetic energy into electric energy. Many hybrid electric vehicles have start-stop systems that shut down the ICE when idle and restart it when needed, thereby reducing idle emissions. Covered in this Report This report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the Global Hybrid Electric Vehicle market for the period 2014-2018. To calculate market size, the report considers the unit shipments of the following types of hybrid electric vehicles in the market: †¢HYBRID ELECTRIC CARS †¢HYBRID ELECTRIC TRUCKS †¢OTHER HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES Key Regions †¢JAPAN †¢NORTH AMERICA †¢EUROPE †¢CHINA †¢ROW Key Vendors †¢FORD MOTOR CO. †¢HONDA MOTOR CO. LTD. †¢HYUNDAI MOTOR CO. †¢TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. †¢VOLKSWAGEN AG Other Prominent Vendors †¢NISSAN MOTORS †¢GENERAL MOTORS †¢DAIMLER †¢VOLVO GROUP Key Market Driver †¢INCREASED POPULARITY OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES †¢FOR A FULL, DETAILED LIST, VIEW OUR REPORT. Key Market Challenge †¢HIGH COST OF HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES †¢FOR A FULL, DETAILED LIST, VIEW OUR REPORT. Key Market Trend †¢INCREASE IN RD INNOVATIONS †¢FOR A FULL, DETAILED LIST, VIEW OUR REPORT. Key Questions Answered in this Report †¢What will the market size be in 2018 and what will the growth rate be? †¢What are the key market trends? †¢What is driving this market? †¢What are the challenges to market growth? †¢Who are the key vendors in this market space? †¢What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? †¢What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors? For more insights, view our Global Hybrid Electric Vehicle Market 2014-2018 report.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Describe how Alfred Noyes in The Highwayman creates a stereotypical Ess

Describe how Alfred Noyes in The Highwayman creates a stereotypical melodramatic atmosphere of romance, treachery, heroism and death (Literature: Response to pre 1900 poetry. Assignment: Describe how Alfred Noyes in "The Highwayman" creates a stereotypical melodramatic atmosphere of romance, treachery, heroism and death (Literature: Response to pre 1900 poetry. Objectives 1, 2, 3). Alfred Noyes was born in 1880. The Welsh coast and mountains where he grew up were an early inspiration for his work. Noyes started writing poetry in the early 1900's, his most popular yet is "The Highwayman", a touching story of love, tragedy and jealousy in which two lovers are parted by death. It is a beautiful romantic poem, where the words flow like silk and from the first line you are entranced. He is one of the few contemporary poets who have been fortunate enough to write a kind of poetry that is not only saleable but popular with many classes of people. "The Highwayman" is indeed stereotypical in its representation of a fairytale romance which comes to life in the dark of night. Noyes creates an exciting secret love affair between a traditionally unlikely couple. This forbidden relationship makes the plot more intense, drawing the reader in. Noyes uses stereotypical characters who's roles are instantly recognisable as either good or evil. Bess, a landlord's daughter and the love object of the poem is typically beautiful and desirable. She is "Red-lipped" with "long black hair" which is described as a "cascade of perfume". The highway man is also particularly stereotypical because he is handsome, charming and brave. A heroic gentleman, he is perfect in both appearance and manner. His boots are fitted with "neve... ...ir fate. Bess is "Black-eyed" and "plaits a dark red love-knot into her long black hair" whilst the highwayman always rides during the darkest hours. Another sign that both lovers will die is the phrase "There was death at every window". The "purple moor" and the "red-coat troop" are symbols of blood which is often associated with death. Although 'The Highwayman' is very stereotypical there are some factors which oppose this view. For example Bess is not portrayed as a feeble woman waiting to be saved. She takes matters into her own hands and acts very heroically to save her lover. It is also important to recognise that the use of the colours black and white are reversed. Instead of white symbolising goodness and purity it is used to describe Tim's evil face. On the other hand, Bess, the heroin and innocent character is associated with the colour black.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Zulu Culture Essay -- Anthropology

The Zulus tribe is an independent clan and the largest ethnic group in South Africa. The Zulu clan reputation is well known for their proud, fierce, and barbaric behavior. According to Ethnologies, in 1816 a new chief Shaka Zulu conquered and created a nation that was named after him. His descendants made up the Zulu clan. During the year of 1820, Native Africans did not have any political rights. The king of the Zulu ethnic groups or clans was the only one allowed to have judicial and legislative power. Zulu chiefs steadily demanded increasing tribute to taxes from their acquired great wealth, commanded large armies; in many cases a Zulu military status allow men to achieve distinctions chiefdoms. The kinship in the Zulu family is extremely important. The Zulu people are traditionally both pastoralists and agriculturists. As with many African tribes, reciprocity is important and the Zulu people are known for being extremely generous and even allowing guests to eat off their dinner plate as a gesture of friendship. In Zulu culture, women are supposed to dominate cooking only. As a result of socialization this habit teaches males at an early age that the mothers and sisters are suppose to cook for them. Some men who break the rules and learn how to cook are challenge as being weak. Olfami, Kuni (2008) Zulu clans were organized into patrilineal. Their kinship also extended to people who were not blood related, inheriting property was only through a male and his father. If a child’s real parents pass away, they were not put away as an orphan other parents took over the responsibilities. As children get older they have kids on their own, but they are also required to start taking care of their parents as they reach an eld... .... The Zulus are considered as the most traditional pastoralists and agriculturist’s people. Interestingly, most ancient Zulu tribes practice pastoralist and lives in more arid lands. The reason is natives of the Zulu tribe have always inhabited desert lands to remain traditional because their territory is not much valuable and desired to be confiscated by outsiders. References Flint, Karen E. Healing Traditions: African Medicine, Cultural Exchange, and Competition in South Africa, 1820-1948. Athens, OH, USA: Ohio University Press, 2008. p xi. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/Doc?id=10472432&ppg=11 Elliott, Aubrey. "THE ZULU Traditions and Culture." Cape Town: Struik Publishers. 1986. http://library.thinkquest.org/27209/History.htm Olfami, Kuni. "African Tribes" Indigenous People of Africa 2008 http://www.african-tribes.org/

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Fashion Blogging †the Impact on Sales Essay

Thus, we first investigate whether blogging activity leads to (differential) market outcomes. We then examine whether managerial communication (magazines advertising) and blogging are synergistic. We assemble a unique data set from fashion containing market outcomes (sales), new media (blogs) and traditional media (magazines advertising) for a brand of clothing, and a brand of shoes. Each category has at least one product launch during the duration of our sample periods. We specify a simultaneous equation log-linear system for market outcomes and the volume of blogs. Our results suggest that blogs are predictive of market outcomes, new and traditional media act synergistically, pre-launch magazines advertising spurs blogging activity but become less effective post-launch and that market outcomes have some effect on blogging. We find detailed support for some of these findings via a unique and novel text mining analysis. We discuss the managerial implications of our findings. I-Introduction Consumer generated media (CGM) such as blogs (a contraction of the term â€Å"Web logs†) have witnessed explosive growth in the last few years. For example, the number of blogs worldwide is estimated to be 184 millions with a readership of 346 million (March 2010). In contrast, in March 2003, the number of blogs was essentially zero. Other types of CGM have also seen similar growth patterns, e. g. , Facebook, which started in February 2004, now has about 400 million members worldwide (February 2011). There are also indications that blogs are now being seen as similar to mainstream media sites – the number of blog sites in the top 100 most popular sites (blogs and mainstream media) worldwide was twenty-two in 2008 and blogs were being viewed by consumers as â€Å"sites for news, information, gossip etc. † (2008). In 2010, four of the top ten entertainment sites were blogs (March 2010). It is clear from these statistics that there is considerable activity (multi- media posting, blogging, visits, traffic etc. ) on the part of consumers. However, an important question, from a managerial perspective, is whether this activity leads to (differential) business outcomes such as sales or profits. In addition, little is known about the relationship between traditional or old media (where the company creates content and delivers it to consumers) and consumer generated, or new, media (where consumers create content and there in an exchange of this content between other consumers and potentially, the company). That is, are there any synergies between new media and old media? In this research, we take the first step towards answering these questions. Blogging is perhaps the most established and largest form of consumer generated media at this point in time. The total worldwide viewership of blogs is estimated to be about 346 million (March 2010). Wikipedia defines as a blog as â€Å"a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blogging is a worldwide phenomenon with the two biggest blogging markets being the United States and Japan. The number of blogs in the United States is about 23 million (about 12% of all US Internet users) and about 8 million in Japan (about 5% of all Japanese Internet users) in 2009. However, if one examines the total number of posts by language, Japanese language posts account for 37% of all posts worldwide followed closely by English language posts at 36%. Fina lly, readership of blogs in these two markets is ery high – about half of all Internet users in the US and about one-fifth of all Japanese Internet users have read a blog in the past year. While there are many informal opinions on the effectiveness of CGM in general (and blogs in particular) vis-a-vis market outcomes, there is limited empirical research that sheds light on this issue, especially for the launch of new products. The majority of the existing research has focused on online chatter (newsgroup postings, reviews and ratings) and its effect on market outcomes. There is some evidence that volume of online user ratings is positively correlated to sales. Blogging, on the other hand, has been seen as a unique type of user generated content as being a highly personal, non-directed communication tool. As Kumar (2005) note, blogs are unique for sociological reasons – they comprise a â€Å"highly dynamic, temporal community structure† that â€Å"focuses heavily on local community interactions† – and for technical reasons – blogs â€Å"offer us a ready-made view of evolution (of content) in continuous time. † In addition, blogging activity was probably the most pervasive CGM activity on the web during the time of our data. Given these unique characteristics of blogs as opposed to reviews, it is not obvious that bloggers’ activity should affect market outcomes. Surprisingly, there is very little research that has tried to quantify the effect of blogs on market outcomes, especially in the presence of traditional media and/or an examination of pre- and post-launch changes in the role of old and new media. Two recent empirical papers have focused on blogs and market outcomes. Dhar and Chang (2009) explore the relationship between music album sales (imputed via sales ranks on Amazon. om) and online chatter (as seen in blogs and on social networks). Using 108 music albums in early 2007 (before four weeks and after four weeks of their release), they find a positive correlation between both the number of blogs and Myspace member intensity with future music sales. Gruhl (2005) propose a new methodology to automatically generate a query of blog keywords to detect spikes in Amazon. com’s book sales rank. They conclude that their new algorithm could adequately predict the changes and spikes of future sales ranks. Thus, while these two studies suggest that there may be a correlation between blogging activity and market outcomes, they do not use actual sales data but only sales ranks from Amazon. com. To the best of our knowledge, the second issue that we outline above – the positive relationship between traditional media and new media – has not been investigated in the literature. Our expectation is that there will be a positive correlation between the quantity of traditional media and new media as traditional media is likely to provide discussion materials for bloggers. From a managerial perspective this issue is crucial, as managers have no direct control over CGM (blogs in our case). However, if there is indeed a synergistic relationship between traditional media, which are under managerial control, and new media, which are outside managerial control, then managers can leverage this relationship. Specifically, they can carry out â€Å"better† resource allocation and media planning (to traditional media) as they can take the spillover effect (from traditional to new media) into consideration. We examine the role of new media with respect to market outcomes as well as the relationship between new media and traditional media using data of two different clothing and shoes brand that are both promoted in fashion blogs. We consider the number of units sold, customers or subscribers (all a proxy for demand) as market outcomes, blogs as representations of consumer generated media and magazines advertising as traditional media. We specify a simultaneous equation model that links sales to advertising and blogs as well as a model that links blogs to advertising. Our results, after controlling for many temporal and cross-sectional factors, suggest that first, the volume of Blogstock (cumulative sum of past blog posts) is positively correlated with market outcomes (volume of clothing sold, and the volume of shoes sold) post launch. Second, the interaction between blogs and magazines advertising has a positive effect on market outcomes. Third, we also find that traditional media (magazines advertising) positively affects new media (the volume of blogs) pre launch. In other words, bloggers consume advertising, independent of the product, and this ncreases their blogging activity. Finally, we find that the effect of blogs varies between pre and post launch. In general, the positive relationship between magazines advertising and the volume of blogs pre-launch becomes weaker after launch. This result suggests that while magazines advertising can independently increase blogging pre-launch via the provision of information and content, post-launch (i. e. , once the product is available), consumers may rely less on traditional media, leading to a much weaker relationship between new and old media at that point. These last three sets of results shed light on the possibility that, broadly speaking, advertising and blogs act synergistically (with the relationship changing somewhat post-launch). The process explanations for our findings is not obvious. We take the first step in eliciting process explanations by carrying out a novel text mining analysis of the blog posts for the two markets (shoes and clothing) for which we have access to the textual content data. The findings from the text mining analysis suggest that blogs may affect market outcomes as they represent a rich source of product information and consumer opinion for other consumers. Also, bloggers do use advertising as a subject for blogging pre-launch but turn their attention to product attributes post-launch. II-Data Our data come from fashion market. We consider data from two brands – clothing and shoes. We first describe the market outcome data for each product market and then we describe the measurement of traditional and new media. III-Market Outcomes The daily sales of clothings were made available for the total fashion market based on a nationally representative consumer panel. The data include daily sales of two new pieces of clothing introduced in the period from January 2013 to March 2013. For shoes, the outcome variable we use is based on the same principle. We have data of two new models that were released (launched) in the period from January 2013 to March 2013. IV-Traditional Media The traditional marketing variable we use is magazines advertising. This was measured in units of daily or monthly Gross Rating Points (GRPs). There are some differences in the patterns of magazines advertising pre and post launch across the two brands. For clothing, most of the advertising is post launch. Typically, commercial ads in this market begin to air about five days pre launch and then the heavier advertising kicks in post launch. In contrast, for shoes, pre-release magazines GRPs are larger (on average) than the post-release magazines GRPs. Specifically, peak advertising for shoes was, not surprisingly, a week before its launch date in order to generate high demand at the time of the opening. V-New Media We obtain blogging data from blog 1 (www. leblogdebetty. com) for clothing data and blog 2 (www. sorayabakhtiar. com) for the shoes data. Both the brands scan and index the two blogging sites on a daily basis using keywords with coverage of about 64% of all blog articles. They then aggregate the data and provide the count of the daily number of blogs that mention a particular keyword on a specific temporal period such as day or month (multiple mentions in the same temporal unit are counted as one). As is typical for most blogs, its contents appear in a reversal chronological order and also include the blogger’s profile, â€Å"trackbacks† (links showing other websites, typically other blogs, that a blog is linked to), and comments. Buzz Research archives the contents of all blog posts. It also carries out lexical analysis of the contents of each tracked blog by using a proprietary text- mining method and classifies each blog as positive, negative and/or neutral with respect to a given keyword. We therefore have access to the actual content of all posts as well as the daily percentage of positive, negative and neutral blogs for the movies and cellular phone service markets. There is big increase in the average number of blogs per period post launch in all two brands. Interestingly, for the two brands markets where we have valence data, the biggest growth is in the percentage of neutral blogs post launch. To illustrate the relationship between marketing outcomes and both traditional and new media, we pick a product across our two brand markets. The figure suggests that magazines advertising, blog volume and shoes buyer are temporally correlated. Dividing the data temporally at the date of release we see that magazines GRPs and the number of blogs exhibit an increasing trend pre-release, but a decreasing one post-release. While we illustrate a typical data pattern through this example, the pattern is not identical for all brands across product markets. In conclusion, these data are novel in the sense that they combine marketing data for both traditional and new media along with market outcomes from a market where new media have proven to be important (at least in terms of activity). Our data are also novel in the sense that they enable us to focus on new product launches. In addition, the fact that we have data from two different brand markets (frequently purchased consumer goods) with varying characteristics (e. . , more versus fewer new product launches) will help us determine if the relationship between market outcomes and new media as well as the relationship between new media and traditional media generalizes across product markets. Finally, the availability of the actual blog post text (for two categories) opens up the possibility to conduct a deeper text-mining analysis. VI-Managerial Implicati ons So far, we have discussed the findings purely from a statistical point of view. However, it may be useful to translate these findings in a manner that uantifies the effect sizes from a managerial point of view. We therefore ran two experiments – the first to get a sense of how managers could change resource allocation and the second to see how managers could use blog data to improve sales forecasts. In the first experiment, we use the estimates from the clothing market data. To illustrate short-term effects, in the experiment, we assumed there were only three periods, two in the pre-release and one in the post-release. Recall that blogging is outside the control of managers. We therefore used the marketing instrument under managerial control in our data set – traditional magazines advertising. In the experiment, we increased the Adstock by one percent in the first pre-release period. The output we measured was the percentage increase in the size of the daily volume sold in the post-release period. A ten percent increase in the Adstock results in a 3. 3 percent increase in the number of blogs at the second pre-release period. As a result of this increase in the Adstock, we find that the net increase in the sales volume is 2. 1 percent. A decomposition of this overall increase due to traditional media versus new media suggested that the increase in the Adstock directly enhances the sales by 0. 13 percent while the interaction between blogging and advertising increases the sales by 0. 1 percent. Furthermore, the largest and most significant increase in the sales volume at post-launch is led by the indirect impact from advertising via blogging activity, which accounts for 1. 9 percent. Similar experiment for the other product markets also support these findings with the overall effect being slightly smaller for shoes (0. 4%). In addition to simulating the short-term effects of advertising, we use a simulation setting similar to the above experiments and expand the time horizon from one period to ten periods. The largest indirect effect of the ten percent increase in Adstock decays slower than do the other two effects across two product categories. The peaks of the indirect effects are located at the third period for t he clothing and at the second period for the shoes. These are resulted from the larger estimates of the carry-over constants of Adstock and Blogstock at post-launch in the blog equations. In the second experiment, we hold out the last observation from each brand and re-estimated the model. We then use the model estimates for prediction and computed the difference in the predicted value and the actual data across all the held out observations. We do this for the full model and a restricted version of the full model where the response coefficients for the number of blogs and the cumulative number of blogs were set to zero. Thus, the difference in prediction (based on the Root Mean Square Deviation) between these two models shows the extent to which the use of blog data can improve sales forecasts. The improvement in RMSD is very high for shoes, and modest for clothing. VII-Conclusion, Limitations and Directions for Future Research This paper adds to the very limited, but rapidly growing field of research into the effectiveness of new media, especially in the case of new product launches. Using a unique dataset from two product markets (a major new media market), we are able to combine into a single source, data on market outcomes, traditional media (magazines advertising) and new media (volume and content of blogs). We used a simultaneous equation model to capture the effect of new media on market outcomes and the effect of market outcomes on new media. While this in itself is somewhat novel, we were also able to include the major marketing activity (mgazines advertising) in both equations, both directly and via interactions. Thus this allows us to investigate two open questions in this domain – (a) whether new media (blogging activity in our case) leads to (differential) market outcomes and (b) whether traditional marketing actions (i. e. , magazines advertising) and new media act synergistically. We also make a first attempt, to the best of our knowledge, to use the content of the blog posts to shed â€Å"process† light on our econometric findings via a careful and methodical text mining analysis. Using data from clothing, and shoes brands, we find that patterns across the two categories showing clear linkages between traditional media, new media and market outcomes. In general, we find that cumulative blogs (Blogstock) are predictive of market outcomes, blogs and magazines advertising act synergistically, pre-launch advertising spurs blogging activity (that is predictive of marketing activity) but becomes less effective in inducing blogging activity post- launch and market outcomes also do have some effect on blogging activity. Our text mining results provide additional support for some of these findings. From a managerial point of view, in the experiment using clothing estimation results, we find that a one percent increase in the traditional marketing instrument (magazines advertising) leads to a median increase in market outcomes of 0. 2%, with a majority of the increase coming from the increase in blogging activity generated by the advertising pre-launch. Our analyses do also have a few limitations (driven mostly by the nature of the data). First, as noted earlier, the aggregate nature of our data makes it very hard to offer micro-level causal explanations of the effectiveness of new media and the synergistic relationship between new and traditional media. While our text mining analyses shed some light on our findings, it would be very beneficial to obtain datasets that link individual activity to market outcomes for a larger variety of new media. Second, our measures of new media are at present limited to blog content – volume – and in two product markets, keywords and valence. ). Third, our model could be improved with the potential use of non-parametric models to model the effects of both old and new media and the associated interactions. Finally, our data do not contain information on all marketing instruments and hence we use proxies (such as lagged sales in the case of distribution). We hope that with better data, future research will be able to address these limitations.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Fiji Geography Information

Fiji Geography Information Population: 944,720 (July 2009 estimate)Capital: SuvaArea: 7,055 square miles (18,274 sq km)Coastline: 702 miles (1,129 km)Highest Point: Mount Tomanivi at 4,344 feet (1,324 m)Fiji, officially called the Republic of the Fiji Islands, is an island group located in Oceania between Hawaii and New Zealand. Fiji is made up of 332 islands and only 110 are inhabited. Fiji is one of the most developed Pacific Islands and has a strong economy based on mineral extraction and agriculture. Fiji is also a popular tourist destination because of its tropical landscape and it is fairly easy to get to from the western United States and Australia. Fijis History Fiji was first settled about 3,500 years ago by Melanesian and Polynesian settlers. Europeans did not arrive on the islands until the 19th century but upon their arrival, many wars broke out between the various native groups on the islands. After one such war in 1874, a Fijian tribal chief named Cakobau ceded the islands to the British which officially began British colonialism in Fiji. Under British colonialism, Fiji experienced the growth of plantation agriculture. Native Fijian traditions were also for the most part maintained. During World War II soldiers from Fiji joined the British and the Allies in battles at the Solomon Islands.On October 10, 1970, Fiji officially became independent. Following its independence, there were hostilities around how Fiji would be governed and in 1987 a military coup took place to prevent an Indian-led political party from taking power. Shortly thereafter, there were ethnic hostilities in the country and stability was not retained until the 1990s.In 1998, Fiji adopted a new constitution that specified that its government would be run by a multiracial cabinet and in 1999, Mahendra Chaudhry, Fijis first Indian prime minister took office. Ethnic hostilities continued, however, and in 2000 armed soldiers staged another governmental coup which eventually caused an election in 2001. In September of that year, Laisenia Qarase was sworn a s Prime Minister with a cabinet of ethnic Fijians. In 2003 however, Qarases government was declared unconstitutional and there was an attempt to once again install a multiethnic cabinet. In December of 2006, Qarase was removed from office and Jona Senilagakali was appointed as the interim prime minister. In 2007, Frank Bainimarama became prime minister after Senilagakali resigned and he brought more military power into Fiji and refused democratic elections in 2009.In September 2009, Fiji was removed from the Commonwealth of Nations because this act failed to put the country on track to forming a democracy. Government of Fiji Today Fiji is considered a republic with a chief of state and head of government. It also has a bicameral Parliament that is made up of a 32-seat Senate and a 71-seat House of Representatives. 23 of the House seats are reserved for ethnic Fijians, 19 for ethnic Indians and three for other ethnic groups. Fiji also has a judicial branch that is comprised of a Supreme Court, a Court of Appeal, a High Court, and Magistrates Courts. Economica and Land Use In Fiji Fiji has one of the strongest economies of any Pacific island nation because it is rich in natural resources and is a popular tourist destination. Some of Fijis resources include forest, mineral and fish resources. Industry in Fiji is largely based on tourism, sugar, clothing, copra, gold, silver and lumber. In addition, agriculture is a large part of Fijis economy and its chief agricultural products are sugarcane, coconuts, cassava, rice, sweet potatoes, bananas, cattle, pigs, horses, goats, and fish. Geography and Climate of Fiji The country of Fiji is spread across 332 islands in the South Pacific Ocean and is located closest to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Much of Fijis terrain is varied and its islands consist mainly of small beaches and mountains with a volcanic history. The two largest islands that are a part of Fiji are Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.Fijis climate is considered tropical marine and therefore has a mild climate. It does have some slight seasonal variations and tropical cyclones are common and typically occur in the region between November and January. On March 15, 2010, a large cyclone struck Fijis northern islands. More Facts About Fiji Fijis official languages are English, Fijian, and HindiThe literacy rate in Fiji is 93%Ethnic Fijians make up 57% of Fijis population while Indo-Fijians make up 37% References Central Intelligence Agency. (2010, March 4). CIA - the World Factbook - Fiji. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fj.htmlInfoplease. (n.d.). Fiji: History, Geography, Government, Culture -Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: infoplease.com/country/fiji.htmlUnited States Department of State. (2009, December). Fiji (12/09). Retrieved from: state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1834.htm

Monday, October 21, 2019

How to Use a Thesaurus - Word Reference Books

How to Use a Thesaurus - Word Reference Books A thesaurus is a tool you can use to search for synonyms and antonyms of other words. There are different types of thesauri and different methods for accessing information from them. Thesauri can come in the form of a book, an electronic device, a web site, or a word processing tool. When to Use a Thesaurus How many times have you struggled to find the best word to describe a feeling, a scene, or an impression? A thesaurus is used to help you become more precise (if you are working on a technical paper) and descriptive (if you are writing a creative piece) in your writing. It provides a list of suggested â€Å"replacements† for any word you have in mind. The thesaurus helps you zero in on the best word choice. A thesaurus can also be used as a vocabulary builder. You can use a thesaurus to discover new ways of expressing yourself. Accessing a Thesaurus If you are typing a paper in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, you can access a thesaurus at any time by searching under the â€Å"tools† list. You may also right-click on a word and find alternate word suggestions.If you are working on a computer with Internet access, you can visit Thesaurus.com and conduct a word search.You can purchase a handbook or an electronic thesaurus and carry it along in your backpack. When You Shouldnt Use a Thesaurus Some teachers ask students to limit their use of a thesaurus. Why? If you rely too much on a thesaurus as you write a paper, you can end up with a paper that sounds amateurish. There is an art to finding a perfect word; but the nuance of expressions can work against you as easily against you as it could work for you. In short: don’t overdo it! Be a little parsimonious (thrifty, prudent, economical, sparing, careful, penny-wise, skimping, sparing, frugal) when using a thesaurus.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Henry VIII persue new foreign policies Essay Example

Henry VIII persue new foreign policies Essay Example Henry VIII persue new foreign policies Paper Henry VIII persue new foreign policies Paper Essay Topic: History When accessing how far Henry VIII pursued new foreign policies in the period 1509-1514, it is important to take into account the idea of change and continuity. Henry VII established some very strong and clear foreign policies, however Henry VIII wanted to very much distance himself from his fathers work and ethos. It is essential to look at the policies that Henry VIII changed and the reasons behind this, but also whether he kept any of his fathers strategies. It is vital to remember that many factors contributed to the characters of both Henry VII and Henry VIII. I will continuously focus on the theme of their childhood and upbringing, and how these factors may have contributed to their behaviour in adulthood, and how well they were prepared for the role of a king. Henry VII was perceived as a miserly character, whose enigmatic and distant nature caused him to be disliked by many. He was, however, very independent and was governed by none, which ensured that everything was overlooked by him. Similarities between Henry VIII and his father were that they were both good at networking and highly intelligent. On the other hand, Henry VIII enjoyed spending his money on the nobility and lavishing himself with a hedonistic lifestyle. In my opinion, this major difference stemmed from the fact that their upbringing was so different. Henry VII grew up and gained training as a king not only in a studious way, but he also had the chance to experience court politics and learn through gossip and observations. His mother was a great influence over him, and she fully supported her sons political interests. Henrys uncle, Jasper Tudor, was the only constant figure in his life, and always gave Henry stability, loyalty and a political role model. Henry VII fought for the crown, against the Yorkist king Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth. He had a fierce determination to become king, and become secure dynastically. Henry VIII on the other hand, was guarded against the exposure of having to take responsibility. His older brother Arthur was expected to be heir to the throne, and therefore Henry was untrained as king and left to enjoy his youth. I believe that this is very influential over the methods in which Henry VIII dealt with the decisions of a king, especially when concerning foreign policies. Henry VII believed that securing the throne was the most important contribution that he could make, as did Henry VIII. However the way in which they went about doing this differed. Henry VII always maintained a peace policy. He realised quite rightly that foreign relationships had to be secure, in order to decrease the chances of being attacked and overthrown. Henry VII used peace treaties to his advantage. He ensured that Britain became a nuisance to France, and so France was forced into having to sign the Treaty of Etaples, if they wanted to get rid of Henry and his army. This helped Henry greatly, as the treaty meant that war was avoided with one of Englands closest neighbours. Henry also signed the Treaty of Medina del Campo, which promoted peace between England and Spain. Henry was very much aware of the importance of these treaties, as they encouraged trade, protected pretenders and most importantly, improved the relations between foreign countries. Henry VII realised that a strong king coincided with the idea of a rich king, and so a peace policy meant a cutting down on the expenses of war. Henry VIII was opposed to his fathers idealistic view on foreign policy. Even though Henry VIII wanted to secure the throne to provide a reassuring and safe life for his heirs, he went about seeking to provide this in a different manner. He wanted glory. He wanted to be seen as the warrior king. I believe that this is where the influence of his childhood is most significant. Henry VIII was brought up with the idea that past family members, in particular Henry V, were extremely victorious in wars. This affected Henry so much, that not only did he want a parallel glory to Henry V, but he also commissioned a translation of a book about Henry Vs early life. Henry VIII was also made aware of the fact that it was only 80 years since Henry VI had been crowned king of France, which meant that according to him, he rightfully inherited the French crown. Unlike his fathers peace policy, Henry believed in a more traditional interventionist policy. Henry wanted prestige and military glory, which he gained when winning the battle of the spurs. This was very successful through Henrys eyes, as it was the first territorial gain in France for 75 years, and did much to heighten his popularity. Henry persued this idea of being militarily successful, but I do not believe he achieved this. Henry was in France whilst James IV was victorious at Flodden, which made Henrys gains become overshadowed by James IV victory in England. Even though this was a victory for England, it is questionable as to whether it was a victory for Henry. The treasury became bankrupt and to maintain territorial gains would result in great financial cost. However, Henry was mainly concerned about his reputation, and instead of being cautious with finance, spent his money lavishly. In fact, the war with France (1512-1524) cost i 892,000, a startlingly large amount during the Tudor period. This clearly shows how determined he was to persue a new foreign policy of military power a foreign policy that was completely set apart from his fathers. To ensure the throne was as protected as possible, Henry VII was very adamant that it would be arranged for his son, Prince Arthur, to marry the king of Spains daughter. Henrys eldest daughter, Margaret, married James IV of Scotland, which was intended to bring future peace between Scotland and England, both renowned for being traditional enemies. Henry himself also married Elizabeth of York, a woman who was a Yorkist. This enabled him to reduce the possibility of future Yorkist claims to the throne, which was significantly important after the War of Roses. Henry VIII was slightly more reckless with his heart. Even though he aimed to carry on his legacy, he had in total six wives. He viewed the point of marriage as being able to produce legitimate heirs to the throne, however unlike his father, he enjoyed courting and charming the women in his life. This could possibly be because not only did women constantly surround him, but also his bedroom was also next to his fathers and 100 servants. This undoubtedly allowed him to witness many things and possibly shape his strange outlook on women, as well as put his own interests first, above the idea of marrying for dynastic security. On the other hand, he did marry Catherine of Aragon (though this was his fathers idea) which he understood was necessary. I believe in this way he persued and maintained this element of foreign policy, and continued his fathers ideas on the importance of international relations through marriage. The nobility affected Henry VIIIs decisions towards foreign policy. They supported his policy of aggression, and were determined to go to war. Henry was generous with patronage, and gained the nobilitys support through a subtle form of bribery. The nobility welcomed this, as it was a large difference to the way that Henry VII treated them. Henry VII through the learned council was very harsh with bonds and recognaisances. He did not want the nobility becoming strengthened, and so held back with patronage. He used Empson and Dudley to collect taxes from the nobility. Henry VIII changed this policy by executing Empson and Dudley, the two men that worked so closely with his father. This gained a lot of respect with the nobility and clearly signified the fact that his way of ruling, and deciding upon policies was opposite to his father. Henry VIIIs need to persue new foreign policies, and in fact domestic policies, stem from the fact that he could see how unpopular his fathers way of ruling was. It is thought that Henry VII was hanging by a thread, and by the end of his rule was not at all secure. Henry VIII wanted to distance himself from this, and expectations were upon him to act differently to his father. He persued foreign polices that were dissimilar to Henry VIIs, and, apart from the idea of continuing and securing the Tudor dynasty through arranged marriages, every other policy was a contrast. I believe that this is due not only to society expectations at the time, but also Henry VIII had clear expectations for himself from an early age. Growing up in the shadow of his older brothers legacy may have been difficult for Henry, and so when he was given the power, he used it to the maximum, always with full determination, sometimes with naivety. As a child, he was constantly thinking of the past generations, and their glory and patriotism, and how they were respected and adored, usually due to their military connections. It is no surprise that Henry VIII persued the foreign policies that he did. Regardless of whether they were successful or not, he did everything in his power to follow his own path, and neglect his fathers legacy.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Relevance of marketing concept to the 21st century business of Essay

Relevance of marketing concept to the 21st century business of sainsbury - Essay Example Marketing is science of choosing the target market via market segmentation and analysis and also getting the insight of the consumer buying behaviour and giving them superior and better customer value (Roe, 2004). Description of the Marketing Concept The marketing concept is goal oriented and integrated concept that producers of services and goods practice and the basic focus is upon the satisfaction of needs of the consumers over needs of the company that is producing (McCarthy, 1960). The marketing concept says that the needs and the desires of the target market should be determined and fulfilled so that the goals of the producer can be achieved successfully. The major role of marketing is to assist in the identification, satisfaction and retention of the customers. The loyalty of the customers can be gained by constantly delivering the competitive advantage. A general term that is used for describing the various kinds of options that are available to the company for bringing their service or product into the market is known as marketing mix (Fletcher, 2004). There are four Ps that come in this marketing mix that mean product, promotion, price and place. The value added selling concept is gaining importance day by day for quite some time now. So many services and products in the market today are considered to be commodity and therefore the addition of value to them is absolutely important. It is very important to provide a high professionalism level and an expert advice. (Ferrell et al., 1998). Packaging, service levels, frequent buyer programs, recognition and rewards, transitions, education, qualititative presence, speed of service and delivery, insider information and dedicated personnel are all important things when it comes to adding value (Wrigley, 2000). Market segmentation is also an important phenomenon as the buyers of the service or a product are not members of a homogenous group. In actual all the buyers have their own specific needs, characterist ics, preferences etc (Assael, 1992). The common characteristics help in the development of standard marketing mix for all similar customers in a segment. Some of the researchers have regarded segmentation as the strategy for conquering the markets by dividing them. Target Market is a term that describes the segment of the market o which the specific service or good is marketed. This is mainly done on the basis of gender, age, geography, demographics and socio economic grouping etc. Target marketing relates to the market breaking up into segments, and after that concentration of the marketing efforts upon a single or few of the key segments. The process of target marketing makes the process of pricing, promotion, distribution much easier and much more cost effective. It provides a focus on all the marketing activities (Smith, 2001). Positioning relates to the way the potential buyers visualize the product and it is the position that your brand has in the minds of target consumer. Dom estic marketing involves the marketing strategies that attract and impact the customers within a country’s political boundaries. In the international marketing

Friday, October 18, 2019

Cryptosporidium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cryptosporidium - Essay Example The division of the organism occurs rapidly with 12-14 hours being the time taken for one generation. This rapid division results in large accumulation of the organism within the intestinal tract of the hosts beginning with the ileum and followed by infection of the duodenum and the large intestine. In case of individuals with a suppressed immune system the organism can also colonize in the stomach, biliary and pancreatic ducts and respiratory tracts. The major clinical signs of cryptosporidiosis are watery diarrhea, loss of weight and cramping of the abdominal region, nausea, vomiting, anorexia and headache. Individual can also have a low-grade fever during the infection stage. In addition, immunocompressed individuals can also suffer from electrolyte imbalance. The time taken for the oocytes to be shed in the feces is about 4 days and they can be shed in the feces for 6-12 days in case of healthy individuals and for a longer period in immunicompressed people (Aquatic pathogens). In the case of healthy individuals, the organism will generally disappear within a month of infection. In case there is severe diarrhea and dehydration anti-diarrheal drugs and rehydration therapy is given to patients. The treatment regimen for immunocompressed individuals could be more elaborate especially when the infection becomes chronic resulting in chronic diarrhea, dehydration, wasting and even death (Aquatic pathogens). As the diease is principally a water-borne disease, the parasite can exist in untreated water which is contaminated with the feces or other sources containing the organism. Proper water treatment methods undertaken by municipal and public water carriers can help to disinfect the water and kill the organism. As the organism is resistant to chlorine treatment, the watersheds can be protected through hygienic maintenance and proper coagulation and filtration methods. Use of ozone or UV radiations for water treatment can also provide additional

Different view of Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Different view of Death - Essay Example Although death has been part of life for a long time, people have failed to acknowledge that death is inevitable. Living in denial concerning death has, therefore, existed as a common aspect of humanity. Lack to accept that death is an inevitable part of humanity is a major aspect that characterizes the two poems. This essay will, therefore, investigate the different views of death according to the two poems. Although the two poets agree on the inevitability of death, they have varying views concerning people’s preparedness towards death and our role in waiting for the inevitable death. According to Mary, death is the main challenge that affects humanity. Mary considers humans as helpless creatures in relation to death. Therefore, the only thing that people can do is to wait or prepare for their death. The poem When Death Comes shows that the author is concerned about the nature of life when death finally finds her. Unlike Mary, Donne considers death helpless thing though inev itable. According to the poet, people have a chance to challenge death. The poet view life as an opportunity to challenge death (Online-literature web). The work that people do during their life is a form of preparation for our death. The poet argues that people have a chance to challenge death by not dying as poor people. ... Unlike Mary Oliver, John Donne believes that life is a form of transformation from one form of life to the other. On the other hand, Mary has different views towards life and death. Her poem shows uncertainty about life and death. In the third line of When Death Comes, it is claimed, â€Å"death comes like a bear in autumn† (Panhala web). This line implies that she is not concerned with life after death as much as she is concerned with the nature of her death. Although death is inevitable, it is the only chance that humans have to come close to nature. Despite the numerous technological developments about humanity, it has been difficult to find or come up with a remedy for death. The two poets reflect this phenomenon. Death is the only thing that human beings have in common with the rest of nature. People start life the same way as the rest of nature but go through different process as compared to other living organisms. However, like other living organisms, we all have to mee t our death. The basic reason why people investigate death results from the fear that people have concerning death. Although most people do not fear their own deaths, it is evident that people fear losing a loved one. The fear of death is a common aspect that differentiates the views of the two poets concerning death. According to Donne, people should not be afraid of death because they have a chance of dealing with it. Donne considers people to have a chance of facing death or doing something about death. This indicates that the poet is not afraid of death or implications of death in his own life or the life of a loved one. On the other hand, Mary’s poem expresses her fears concerning the inevitable death and its implication in her life and the life of

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Another 10 questions about china law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Another 10 questions about china law - Essay Example A and European Union, China had violated the national treatment in the China’s Auto parts case as it followed protectionist policy for its domestic auto-industry. United States of America and European Union have filed a case in WTO under dispute settlement mechanism alleging the unfair treatment of China towards foreign auto parts. China’s complex tariff system is the main reason for favoring domestic industry and damaging the interests of foreign auto companies. However it may not be true completely as some analysts find political reasons behind this complaint. Majority car making companies in China are having collaboration or joint venture with foreign firms and hence will get the benefit of low cost domestic spare parts that result in lower manufacturing costs. Hence they will not prefer purchasing higher cost imported spare parts from foreign companies. The term â€Å"like product† means the product that is identical to the dumped import, or in the absence of such a product, another product that has characteristics closely resembling the dumped import (Article 12 of the Anti dumping regulations of PRC, 2004) . According to Article 3 of the Anti dumping regulations, 2004 of PRC, The term â€Å"dumping† means that an import is introduced, in the ordinary course of trade, into the market of the People’s Republic of China at an export price less than its normal value. Hence its meaning is almost similar to that of WTO definition. The margin of dumping is the amount by which the export price of an import is less than its normal value (Article 6). The margin of dumping shall be established on the basis of a comparison of a weighted average normal value with a weighted average of prices of all comparable export transactions or by a comparison of the normal value and export price on a transaction-to-transaction basis. According to the Anti dumping regulations of PRC, 2004, The term â€Å"injury† means material injury or threat of material injury caused by

The Republic of Honduras Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Republic of Honduras - Essay Example Spread over approximately 1, 12,090 square kilometers of land, the country's population presents a solid picture of unity in diversity. As per the census of July 2002, Honduras population stood at 65, 60,508 and in terms of ethnic composition, its population consists of Mestozos, Amerindians, Black Africansand Whites representing 90%, 7%, 2% and 1% respectively. In terms of religious composition, Roman Catholics are in majority with 97% of the population hailing from this group. The Whites mostly live in the areas of northern coast and are proud of preserving their culture which they have inherited from their ancestors. It must be noted that Honduras was initially part of the British Empire and later on came under the Spanish rule gradually. Garifuna people, belonging to a minority community, also live along the northern coast in harmony with many Afro-Latin Americans. There are also some people of Asian descent in Honduras and most of them are Japanese and Chinese origins. Hundreds of families can still find their origins in the with the Jewish minorities constitute the highest income groups in Honduras and are in control of politics and economy. Some sections of people have relations with families in Spain as Spain also ruled the country for a long time. But the beauty and greatness of the country is that the indigenous natives of Honduras are spread all over the country and all people live in perfect harmony. Tribal people like Chortis (Mayan descent), Payas, Pech, Tolupanes or Xicaques/Jicaques, Lencas, Sumos or Tawahkas, and Olmecas live in utter poverty as they live in far off and remote places. It seems that the Government is unable to do anything for their upliftment because of lack of budgetary funds and poor funding by the developed countries. Following is the map which shows Honduras and its neighbours.(Map source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Honduras_sm04.png) 3 Historical figures Honduras has a great historical figure. He is Florencio Xatruch who had led the country's armed forces and fought successfully against an attempted invasion by North American filibuster William Walker in 1857. A Honduran can be proudly called by the nickname of Catrocha or Catrocho which is inspiringly derived from the last name of

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Another 10 questions about china law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Another 10 questions about china law - Essay Example A and European Union, China had violated the national treatment in the China’s Auto parts case as it followed protectionist policy for its domestic auto-industry. United States of America and European Union have filed a case in WTO under dispute settlement mechanism alleging the unfair treatment of China towards foreign auto parts. China’s complex tariff system is the main reason for favoring domestic industry and damaging the interests of foreign auto companies. However it may not be true completely as some analysts find political reasons behind this complaint. Majority car making companies in China are having collaboration or joint venture with foreign firms and hence will get the benefit of low cost domestic spare parts that result in lower manufacturing costs. Hence they will not prefer purchasing higher cost imported spare parts from foreign companies. The term â€Å"like product† means the product that is identical to the dumped import, or in the absence of such a product, another product that has characteristics closely resembling the dumped import (Article 12 of the Anti dumping regulations of PRC, 2004) . According to Article 3 of the Anti dumping regulations, 2004 of PRC, The term â€Å"dumping† means that an import is introduced, in the ordinary course of trade, into the market of the People’s Republic of China at an export price less than its normal value. Hence its meaning is almost similar to that of WTO definition. The margin of dumping is the amount by which the export price of an import is less than its normal value (Article 6). The margin of dumping shall be established on the basis of a comparison of a weighted average normal value with a weighted average of prices of all comparable export transactions or by a comparison of the normal value and export price on a transaction-to-transaction basis. According to the Anti dumping regulations of PRC, 2004, The term â€Å"injury† means material injury or threat of material injury caused by

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Article Critique - about a Private School Issue

Critique - about a Private School Issue - Article Example Through review and analysis of available literature concerning education, Shaw (2010) shows that education is a bad public good whose inefficiency as well as infectiveness can only be solved by competition from the private sector (education is also a private good). The article began by highlighting an economist’s assumption that at least education is in portion a public good. Since it has spillover benefits enjoyed by people although they do not pay for; and as result they are probable to be ‘free riders’ on the offered education. Under the present (or at least latest) economic theory, there is an assumption that education will be provided sub-optimally. As a result, the likely under-provision has resulted to the support of the concept that government should intervene to offer education. Today, education at all levels (apart from the initial few years after birth); the government substantially provides education almost everywhere in the world beginning with the Un ited States (Shaw, 2010). The design of the study bring into perspective studies that have discovered that the problem inherent in this development is quality of services provided by the government, education inclusive, is always poor. Provision of services by government is categorized as a public good. The government offers many services whose beneficiaries do not pay for. Those beneficiaries have a tendency of becoming free riders. They therefore do not offer the monitoring quality they would offer if they paid directly for the service. Roberts and Simpson (2011) have shown that the professional standing of education board members reflect on the overall state education ranking. This illustrates where the poor quality of the public good partly emanates from in support of this the argument that a public good is a bad public good. Referring to the impact of higher education, the author says that â€Å"contemporary education has stunted a whole person’s

Interracial Marriages Essay Example for Free

Interracial Marriages Essay In any marriage relationship, it is usual or rather natural to have some adjustments in its early stage. This is so because there is a high degree of expectations in both parties; and so, because these expectations are mostly â€Å"unrealistic,† to modify or adjust them are somewhat difficult to both sides. It is a fact that when two individuals come into a marriage union, they bring with them two different perspectives in almost all respects, and this is no different with interracial marriages. However, there are more at stake when racial backgrounds or ethnicity is the core issue, as studies reveal. Marriage and the fruit of the union – the family – is the basic unit of society and regarded as one of the most principal institutions of the social order. When marriages fail and families disintegrate, there is without a doubt a â€Å"ripple† effect on the community’s functioning in terms of that community’s solidity, and law and order. Although many facets of the relationship operate as components to the enjoyment and development of the marriage bond, the common and usual fundamental rationale for the union is intimacy. It is this vital ingredient that draws couples from different persuasions, race, or creed together despite the potential drawbacks and heartaches that will soon shake the very foundations of that union. This paper dwells on these potentialities in terms of the advantages and disadvantages of interracial marriages. The author believes that despite the difficulties and at times the impossibilities that complications beset interracial marriages, for as long as both parties or the individuals involved have explored beforehand the complexities, and settled for the facts and realities, their relationship is off to a better start. This paper then offers to describe and explain the polarities that entail in a marriage coming from two different ethnic or racial backgrounds. Definition demographics In US history, many things that speak of the American way of life are deeply affected and influenced on the issue of race and especially on cross-cultural marriages. Since its â€Å"pioneer† days, being attached with another not your own color, creed, or race is neither new, nor surprising. A study of endogamy’s other extreme, i. e. mixed marriage then and now is still quite of interest to many (Rosenfeld, 2007). To tackle the subject matter that this paper endeavors to explore, the author starts by defining the main concepts used throughout the study. Definition Marriage is defined as a â€Å"socially recognized and approved union between individuals† with the idea that both will commit themselves to a lifetime of togetherness in the hope that there will be stability and happiness that the couple will enjoy in their intimate relationship (Microsoft Encarta, 2005). Such relationship has legal, cultural, economic, moral, and psychological dimensions that may impinge on its eventual longevity and permanence. Miscegenation or â€Å"intermarriage between races†, according to Encarta, is defined as â€Å"marriage or cohabitation between people of different races† (2005). Demographics According to a study by Kara Joyner, assistant professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell and co-author of a study on interracial relationships in a recent issue of the American Sociological Review (Vol. 70:4), â€Å"Hispanics had the highest rate of interracial relationships: 45 percent of 18- to 19-year-olds and 33 percent of 24- to 25-year-olds were in interracial relationships in the early 2000s, compared with blacks (20 and 14 percent, respectively) and whites (16 and 12 percent, respectively† (Lang, 2005). Although Asians are comparatively the same with Hispanics in the aspects of interracial union in Joyner’s study, the ethnic group was not included due to lack of research yields when it comes to as when they likely get into their liaisons and when these end. However, in some studies, the case of Asians engaging in interracial marriage, demographics painted a different picture. Whereas in the case of Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites who intermarry, the surveys say that as they age, the tendency of these relationships’ potential to last dwindles, the Asians’ marriages tend to increase and last longer (Lang, 2005). The US Bureau of the Census points out that intermarriage is still â€Å"relatively uncommon† basing on a 2002 survey because only 2. 9 percent of all marriages come from interracial unions (Lang in Joyner study, 2005). Review of Literature Family Values Every home has its set of beliefs or tradition that they hold in high esteem. This is referred to as family values. Anything that the family believes is important comprises a family values system. This paper attempts to explain what family values are and how people uphold their beliefs and what makes them hold on to those beliefs in a highly individualistic country such as ours. Among the values an individual possesses, the most important I believe is that a person must regard most his/her values about family as the most significant. Many people don’t usually pause and contemplate what their values are. They may not know whether these values they already have are still practical or useful in a modern day world. Moreover, they do not think how their values fit in with their kind of milieu that they evolve in. (â€Å"Values: what are they? †2007). There are families that take time out though to impart to their children what had been passed on to them when they too were yet very young. The values may not be as strong as when were yet children because the person may have adapted to his world and adjusted his values that others may be accommodated. Through the years, a family value system may be a combination of what had been passed on to an individual and the values system of one’s friends or colleagues at work. Why are family values important? The primary reason is that what we hold as important affects how we use time, money and energy or how we interact with people. If a family believes the importance of education then parents try to save for the schooling of their children which includes books among others. Family values influence how we spend our resources and make decisions. Parents then need to communicate what their own family values are, why these are important and the specifics of what are most essential that the children must also adopt or follow. Children also need to respect others who have dissimilar value system as compared to their own. Most likely values will evolve but when parents lead the children and model these beliefs, their children will be able to learn and pass these on to the next generation (â€Å"Values: what are they? †2007). Social Clock The belief that there are descriptive and prescriptive age norms concerning adults during their developmental shift involves the concept of the social clock. The social clock hinges on its description of society’s expectations where time to get married and have children at the same time attaining more of life’s burdens. For example, the traditional or what has been considered as the perception of women who have not yet entered into matrimony as individuals who are negatively appraised during their middle adulthood stage in contrast to the young adults. Social clock has something to do with an expectation that a person must somehow behave or conduct him/herself according to established developmental milestones or else, risk the consequences that may happen because the individual has allowed it to slip through (Altenbernd, 2004).

Monday, October 14, 2019

Culture in North East India

Culture in North East India Historians maintain that the boundaries of ancient India roughly coincide with those of the present day South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). There are some who believe that except for the period under the British rule, India has never been a nation state. Other historians disagree and maintain that India has always been a cultural and economic entity and the North East has always been an integral part of India. There is also a school of thought which maintains that the population of North Eastern India has greater affinity with the people of South East Asia than with those from the rest of India. The political and cultural isolation of the Seven Sisters has spawned these observations. Perhaps, it is because of such divergent views and the prevailing situation that it is not very uncommon to hear the Indian leaders emphasising the importance of early integration of the people of the North East into the national mainstream.   The North East is a magnificent tragic tapestry of people, events nature. You can be touched by its rivers, rain mist, overwhelmed by the seeming gentleness of its people stirred by its powerful evocative history. There are not less than 220 ethnic tribes in the eight states comprising the region with a population of about forty million people. There are communities with kin in the neighbouring countries. There are sensitive and complex problems that have defied solution for as long as independent India has existed. The population is about three percent of the national figure. Its people are an anthropologists delight an administrators nightmare. A settlement in a district that satisfies one group will alienate a handful of communities in another part of the same district, not to speak of the state. There are special laws, constitutional provisions such as the Sixth Schedule Article 371A which seek to protect the traditions, land rights of various hill communities. North Eastern India has been facing increasing challenges as it copes with pressures emanating from its ethnic diversity. The rising challenges of ethno-nationalism and erosion of the state authority pose an increasing threat to the national security. The present socio political scene in the North East thus underlines disturbing trends. According to an estimate, there are more than 40 insurgent groups operating in the region. Absence of credible conflict management mechanisms is evident from the situation which is deteriorating by the day. Widespread poverty and unemployment, increasing economic disparities as compared with the rest of the country and those within the region and growing corruption in public life are further adding fuel to the fire. Increasing mobilisation for economic and political space by more and more socio-economic groups is causing turbulence in an environment of limited resources and constrained capabilities of redistribution of wealth. Thus, the fear of identi ty is further compounded by a social security factor, which essentially boils down to protecting the land from outsiders and in some cases within the region from other ethnic groups. Social, Cultural Educational Background Of People Of The North Eastern States Assam The people of Assam inhabit a multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious society. They speak languages that belong to three main language groups: Indo-Aryan, Austro-Asiatic, and Tibeto-Burman. The large number of ethnic and linguistic groups, the population composition and the peopling process in the state has led to it being called an India in miniature. Ethnic Groups. Tai-Ahoms were historically the dominant group of Assam and were the ethnic group associated with the term Assamese. More recently, the Assamese language speaking ethnic group has been associated with the term Assamese. Bengalis are another major group of Assam and are a majority in the Barak Valley. Bengalis are often stereotyped by many ethnic Assamese as Bangladeshi illegal immigrants, especially if they are Muslim. Bodos are the dominant group in Bodoland. They mostly speak the Tibeto-Burman Bodo language and live in Bodoland. Culture Of Assam. The culture of Assam is traditionally a hybrid one, developed due to cultural assimilation of different ethno-cultural groups under various politico-economic systems in different periods of pre-history and history. With a strong base of tradition and history, the modern Assamese culture is greatly influenced by various events those took place in the British Assam and in the Post-British Era. The language was standardised by the American Missionaries with the form available in the Sibsagar District (the nerve centre of the Ahom politico-economic system). A renewed Sanskritisation was increasingly adopted for developing Assamese language and grammar. A new wave of Western and northern Indian influence was apparent in the performing arts and literature. Assamese culture in its true sense today is a cultural system composed of different sub-systems. It is more interesting to note that even many of the source-cultures of Assamese culture are still surviving either as sub -systems or as sister entities. In broader sense, therefore, the Assamese cultural system incorporates its source-cultures such as Bodo (Boro) or Khasi or Mishing (Micing) but individual development of these sub-systems are today becoming important. However, it is also important to keep the broader system closer to its roots. Some of the common cultural traits available across these systems are:- (a) Respect towards areca-nut and betel leaves. (b) Respect towards particular symbolic cloth types such as Gamosa, Arnai. (c) Respect towards traditional silk and cotton garments. (d) Respect towards forefathers and elderly. (e) Great hospitality. (f) Bamboo culture. Status of Women in Assam. (a) In Assam, the status of women is high in comparison to the women of some other States of India. (b) There is greater gender equality in Assam. The society doesnt suffer from practices like dowry, child-marriage and bride-burning. This could be due to the fact that the Assamese society evolved partially from a tribal background and has thus retained some of the original value system of equity. (c) In the field of education, women in Assam are in a better position than the all-India average. As per 2001 census the literacy rate for Assam is 64.28 per cent as against 65.38 per cent for India. While male literacy is 71.93 per cent (India-75.85 per cent), female literacy stands at 56.03 per cent (India-54.60 per cent). (d) Female work participation is another indicator of womens status in the society. Assam has a largely rural agrarian economy, which is characterized by high rate of work participation of women. Though Female Work Participation Rates (FWPR) are high, as it is subsistence farming, women do not benefit economically, though they share a disproportionate share of the work burden. Nagaland Nagaland is almost entirely inhabited by the Naga tribes except some Kukis, Kacharis, Garos, Mikris, Benglas, and Assamese etc. in the plains sector. Originally, the Nagas were not known by the names of the tribes as they are known now, but by the name of a group of villages. Gradually they have settled down to the tribe names as are found now, but still then the process of amalgamation or separation is still going on. According to the census report, there are 16 Naga tribes and four non-Naga tribes inhabiting Nagaland. Society. The people are simple, straight-forward, hard-working and honest people with a high standard of integrity. They possess a strong sense of self respect and rarely submitted to anyone who roughshod over them. A hallmark of their character was their hospitality and cheerfulness. The Naga tribals have an egalitarian society, and the village is a closely knit unit consisting of households of different clans. The Village. They traditionally live in villages. The village is a well-defined entity with distinct land demarcation from neighboring villages. Each has a dialect of its own and as such there is a strong sense of social solidarity within it. The people in it are held together by social, economic, political and ritual ties. The villages have their own identity but not in isolation as there are interdependent relationships with neighboring villages. The impact of modernization is slowly but steadily eroding the centrality of villages as a social unit as large commercial towns are rapidly coming up in every region of the Naga hills. This is bringing about drastic changes in the values, lifestyles and social setup of the people. The Family. The family was the basic unit of the Naga society. Marriages were usually monogamous and fidelity to the spouse was considered a high virtue. Marriage within the same clan is not permitted and it amounts to incest. Incestuous couples used to be ostracized from the villages. The family was the most important institution of social education and social control. There used to be a deep respect for parents and elders. Material inheritance, such as land and cattle, is passed on to the male offspring with the eldest son receiving the largest share. Status Of Women. In the classless, caste-less Naga society, women have traditionally enjoyed a high social position, with a pivotal role in both family and community affairs. However, being a patriarchal society with strong warrior tradition, it is considered an honor to be born as a man. The traditional culture and customs expect a Naga woman to be obedient and humble; also expect her to perform the roles of wife, mother, child bearer, food producer and household manager. She also supplements the household income by weaving colorful shawls, an activity which is done exclusively by women. Women are highly respected and given a great deal of freedom, however, they are traditionally not included in the decision-making process of the clan or the village. Social and Cultural Heritage. The cultural traditions of the Nagas include features which are common to all the tribes like head hunting, common sleeping house for unmarried men which are taboo to women, a sort of trial marriage, or great freedom of intercourse between the sexes before marriage, disposal of dead on raised platforms, the simple loom for weaving cloth etc. Life in Nagaland is replete with festivals throughout the year as all the tribes have their own festivals, which they greatly cherish. They regard their festivals sacrosanct and participation in them is compulsory. Most of these festivals revolve round agriculture, which is still the mainstay of the Naga society. Over 85% population of Nagaland is directly dependent on agriculture. Transformation And Challenges.  The Naga society is undergoing tremendous transformation. The spread of Christianity, the growth of education and developmental programs undertaken by the government have all unleashed forces which are churning up the tribal society and rapidly changing its complexion and character. The modern set up of detached nuclear families is fast catching up with the people as they have greater intercourse with the modern world. This is leading to the erosion of the role of the clan and the village as agents of social control. Manipur Manipur is a place where different waves of races and culture met through the ages, which ultimately mingled together. The main population of the people is of Manipuries known as Meities. The Meitei speak Manipuri language, which is in Kuki chin group. They are divided into seven endogamous groups locally known as Salai. The general characteristics of the Meiteis are of Mongoloid type small eyes, fair complexion, rudimentary beards etc. generally they are thin built with well-developed limbs. The men among them do not exceed 57 in height and women on an average about 4 shorter than their counterparts. Society. The society is patrilineal though the women bear the major yoke of labour. Women share the responsibilities of earning and are not confined only to household duties. The household is a true social unit ant the head of the family has to perform certain religious duties. Their families consist of man, his wife and unmarried children. They practice both types of marriage by engagement and elopement. Though monogamy is the usual rule, there being more women than men, the practice of polygamy is also not uncommon. Meitei women have always enjoyed high economic and social status in Manipur, and today they work in nearly every social and economic sphere of society. In particular, they control traditional retail, including the Meitei markets and the trade in vegetables and traditional clothing. The Meitei people are well-known for their sporting prowess, hockey and polo are traditional and the Meitei form of martial art, thang ta, has recently been recognised as one of the official forms of international martial arts. Culture. Agriculture is the main stay of the people. About 88% of the total working population in the hills and about 60% of the working population in the valley depend entirely on the agriculture and allied pursuits like animal husbandry, fisheries and forestry. The people of Manipur have inherent love of performing art with lyrical beauty and rhythm. Their rich culture and tradition are also reflected in their handloom, tasteful clothes and in finer workmanship of handicrafts. Weaving among them is a traditional art of women and finds an easy market. They are deeply sensitive and their unique pattern of life with inherent love of arts is reflected in their dance and music. Their dances, whether folk or classical or modern, are devotional in nature.   Tripura The Tripuri people are the original inhabitants of the Kingdom of Tripura in North-East India and Bangladesh. The Tripuri people through the Royal family of the Debbarmas ruled the Kingdom of Tripura for more than 2000 years till the kingdom joined the Indian Union in 1949. The Tripuris live on the slopes of hills in a group of five to fifty families. Society Culture. The indigenous Tripuri people comprise various hill tribal communities who migrated to this land in successive waves in the ancient past. Each community had its own elementary social and administrative organization starting from the village level and up to the chieftainship of the whole tribe. The tribes enjoy their traditional freedom based on the concept of self-determination. The Tripuri people have a rich historical, social and cultural heritage which is totally distinct from that of the mainland Indians, their distinctive culture as reflected in their dance, music, festivals, management of community affairs, dress and food habit has a strong base. Mizoram Historians believe that the Mizos are a part of the great wave of the Mongolian race spilling over the eastern and southern India centuries ago. Mizo comprises of 5 major tribes and 11 minor tribes known under the common name Awzia. Mizos are of Mongoloid origin, speaking a dialect of Tibeto- Burman origin. The Mizos came under the influence of the British missionaries in the 19th century and today the majority of the Mizos are Christians by faith. The literacy rate is the second highest in the country. The people are mostly non- vegetarian and their staple food is rice. The Mizos are a close- knit society with no class distinction and discrimination on grounds of sex, status or religion. They are hospitable, sociable and love music, singing and dancing. Mizos are agriculturists all their activities revolve around this cultivation and their festivals are connected with such agricultural operations. Society And Cultural. A gregarious and close- knit society, they evolved some principles of self-help and co- operation to meet social obligations and responsibilities. Constructive social works were executed through voluntary community works. Every family was expected to contribute labour for the welfare of the community. The Mizos are a distinct community and the social unit was the village. Around it revolved the life of the Mizo. The Mizos have been enchanted to their new- found faith of Christianity with so much dedication and submission that their social life and thought- process have been altogether transformed and guided by the Christian church organisations directly or in directly and their sense of values has also undergone drastic change. No class distinction and no discrimination on grounds of sex are not seen in Mizo society. 90% of them are cultivators and the village exists like a big family. Birth of a child, marriage in the village and death of a person in the villag e or a community feast arranged by a member of the village are important occasions in which the whole village is involved. Arunachal Pradesh There are 26 major tribes and a number of sub tribes living in the state. Most of these communities are ethically similar having derived from an original common stock but their geographical isolation from each other has brought amongst them certain distinctive characteristics in language, dress and customs. Society and Culture. The whole population of Arunachal can be divided into three cultural groups on the basis of their socio- politico religious affinities.For about 35% of the population of Arunachal Pradesh, agriculture is the main occupation. Festivals are an essential part of the socio- cultural life of the people. The festivals are usually connected with agriculture and are associated with ritualistic gaiety either to thank God or to pray for bumper harvest. Summary Of Characteristics Of People Of The NE States Having seen the characteristics of the social, cultural other factors pertaining to the people of insurgency effected North Eastern states, it is imperative that the peculiarities be summarized. It is difficult to profile such a vast diverse anthropology, however for the ease of the study, certain basic similarities could be clubbed together a basic framework of behavioural attitudinal pattern could be listed as under :- (a) People have a strong affinity to their race, ethnicity have strong inclination for preservation of the same. (b) In the rural areas, where people reside in their particular ethnic group, there are stringent rules, customs traditions to be followed flouting them is taken very seriously. (c) As the people belong to the lesser developed part of the country, their basic culture beliefs are intact there is less proliferation of modernity in their values. (d) They have strong values regarding respect to the elders, women and could go to great extent to preserve their honour. (e) They are basically agrarian community, hardworking, innocent socially active within their own community. (f) They have rich cultural heritage bonds which gives them a sense of exclusivity belongingness. (g) The various societies are religious and secular. (h) The division of societies is not based on caste system. It is based on ethnicity, in a particular tribe, everybody is treated as equal. (j) Women have a pivotal important role to play in their communities. Few of the societies are male dominated but most of them have equal status for women in the respective society. (k) Education awareness is on an increase over a period of times have reached even the remote areas. (l) The languages / dialects spoken are specific to a tribe it does not have any semblance with most of the languages of rest of the country.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

I am going to research how supermarkets use ICT to have an impact on :: ICT Essays

I am going to research how supermarkets use ICT to have an impact on society. Unit 12: Impact on Society My chosen area is a supermarket. I am going to research how supermarkets use ICT to have an impact on society. Since the introduction of ICT in supermarkets, everything has become much more efficient. Supermarkets have improved tremendously by using the following things in stores:  · Online Shopping  · EPOS  · EFTPOS  · Credit Cards  · Loyalty Cards  · Cash Back Question 1: Ways in which ICT is used in a supermarket are: Ø Online Shopping Online shopping is a way in which ICT is used in supermarkets. It enables the shopper to be able to buy things online. This is a quick and easy method of purchasing goods and therefore has an impact on society. [IMAGE]This affects me because is somebody in my family is unable to go to the supermarket for some reason, we just order the products online. We do this because we find it easy and also we find it helpful as products can be delivered to our home. This affects the community because more and more people will shop online because it is very simple therefore the supermarket will have more customers and therefore they will have bigger profits. If somebody is poorly, they can buy their shopping online. People can compare prices of products online and you can shop at any time you want. All the main supermarkets use online shopping. For example, Tesco and Asda. These websites allow customers to browse through all the products and they also allow the customer to compare prices of products with other supermarket prices so that you can buy the cheapest one without having to go onto other websites. Ø EPOS (Electronic point of sales) EPOS is an electronic system, which enables the supermarket to automatically deduct stock from the stock level. This also enables people to buy things quickly. People working on the checkout do not have to check for any price labels. They just scan the barcode, which gives them the price and automatically deducts the product off the stock. EPOS has an affect on me because it makes it easier and faster to scan products therefore I can be served a lot quicker. This affects the community as well because if they are happy with the service then they will keep coming back for more products. Also, supermarkets are putting local shops out of business because most people are going to supermarkets to buy their shopping. This is because the corner shops are not able to compete with supermarkets. Also, nobody is ordering milk from milkmen anymore because they just go and buy milk from a supermarket once a week. I am going to research how supermarkets use ICT to have an impact on :: ICT Essays I am going to research how supermarkets use ICT to have an impact on society. Unit 12: Impact on Society My chosen area is a supermarket. I am going to research how supermarkets use ICT to have an impact on society. Since the introduction of ICT in supermarkets, everything has become much more efficient. Supermarkets have improved tremendously by using the following things in stores:  · Online Shopping  · EPOS  · EFTPOS  · Credit Cards  · Loyalty Cards  · Cash Back Question 1: Ways in which ICT is used in a supermarket are: Ø Online Shopping Online shopping is a way in which ICT is used in supermarkets. It enables the shopper to be able to buy things online. This is a quick and easy method of purchasing goods and therefore has an impact on society. [IMAGE]This affects me because is somebody in my family is unable to go to the supermarket for some reason, we just order the products online. We do this because we find it easy and also we find it helpful as products can be delivered to our home. This affects the community because more and more people will shop online because it is very simple therefore the supermarket will have more customers and therefore they will have bigger profits. If somebody is poorly, they can buy their shopping online. People can compare prices of products online and you can shop at any time you want. All the main supermarkets use online shopping. For example, Tesco and Asda. These websites allow customers to browse through all the products and they also allow the customer to compare prices of products with other supermarket prices so that you can buy the cheapest one without having to go onto other websites. Ø EPOS (Electronic point of sales) EPOS is an electronic system, which enables the supermarket to automatically deduct stock from the stock level. This also enables people to buy things quickly. People working on the checkout do not have to check for any price labels. They just scan the barcode, which gives them the price and automatically deducts the product off the stock. EPOS has an affect on me because it makes it easier and faster to scan products therefore I can be served a lot quicker. This affects the community as well because if they are happy with the service then they will keep coming back for more products. Also, supermarkets are putting local shops out of business because most people are going to supermarkets to buy their shopping. This is because the corner shops are not able to compete with supermarkets. Also, nobody is ordering milk from milkmen anymore because they just go and buy milk from a supermarket once a week.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

The Subtext of Violence in Henry James The Wings of theDove: The Sacri

The Subtext of Violence in Henry James' The Wings of theDove: The Sacrificial Crisis A reading of Henry James' 1902 novel The Wings of theDove is particularly fitting for this issue ofSchuylkill for several reasons. This late novel is rife withrepresentations of multiple, often overlapping subject positionsthat the close reader is forced to reckon with. These subjectpositions include, but are not limited to, James as authorand as a self-referring subject of the novel's "Preface,"who perceives and performs outside of the designation of "author."The reader must also consider James' unreliable narrator as asubject who functions as both detached observer and protagonist,and whose equivocal rendering of events includes labyrinthineaccounts of the contents of other character’s consciousness. Andfinally, we the reader, are rendered subject to our own ambivalentinterpretation of events. James complex representation of so manysubject positions has, not surprisingly, earned his late work thereputation of being "difficult." However the student of humansubject formation e njoys a uniquely Jamesian-inspired "jouissance"if he or she is persistent and enjoys a good slow read. In this paper I hope to show how James offers the reader aparticipatory glimpse into the complex mechanics of human subjectformation. I argue that The Wings of the Dove re-presentswhat anthropological literary critic Rene Girard terms the"sacrificial crisis," an act of violence that is endorsed andenacted by a community--a bloody ritual whose sole purpose is to"restore harmony to the community, to reinforce the socialfabric...and establish order"(8). According to Rene Girard in Violence and the Sacred,violence proliferates within a community when social distinctionsamong individuals or groups become confused or are contested. Morespecifically, when the established social hierarchy is challengedthrough rivalries, jealousies, quarrels and acts of dissent,community infighting escalates into reciprocal acts of vengeanceand retribution. Community violence is contained, says Girard, bya collectively sanctioned, climactic event--the blood sacrifice.The blood sacrifice is a unanimous yet limited act of violencevented upon that representative of the community who is deemedresponsible for the eruption of internal discord. In other words, a "scapegoat" is selected by the group. Thissacrificial subst... ...he processof finding a surrogate victim constitutes a major means... by whichmen expel from their consciousness the truth about their violentnature...(82-83). The "bad" violence inherent in Kate’s enterprise has notactually been eliminated--the potential for someone else to deviseand successfully execute a similarly ambiguous plan still existsafter we close the book (in fact such a plan is executed by MaggieVerver, the heroine of James last novel The Golden Bowl--thenovel which has been called "the novel to end all novels"). But inThe Wings of the Dove James contains and controls theviolence temporarily, thus taking the place of and serving the sameancient function as the primitive blood sacrifice. Works cited Allen, Elizabeth. A Woman's Place in the Novels ofHenry James. London: Macmillan Press, 1983. Brooks, Van Wyck. "Two Phases of Henry James." In TheQuestion of Henry James: A Collection of Essays. Ed. F.W.Dupee. New York: Holt, 1945. 120-27. Girard, Rene. Violence and the Sacred. Trans. PatrickGregory. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1972. James, Henry. The Wings of the Dove. Ed. J. DonaldCrowley and Richard A. Hocks. New York: W.W. Norton and Company,1978.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Malard Manufactoring Essay

1. The balance of the structure in Malard Manufacturing is very flat and horizontal, and basically has very little vertical structure at all. Julie Crandell who is the executive vice president, likes to keep very tight control among the organisation in which she controls. Julie demands that department managers check with her before any significant decision are made or changed, by doing this Julie has made her span of control too big for her to handle in the due time she has to complete it by, it’s become very difficult for Julie as she has to deal with new inexperienced department managers, who are becoming uncommunicative and frustrated with each other. Vertical organisational structure means a strict top down structure. Typically this structure has been a favored form for many business and other types of organisations. In such an organisation, the chain of command is usually very important and must be followed. In faster moving, dynamic conditions, a vertical organizational structure can become very inefficient, for example, requiring decisions to slowly go through many people along the vertical chain of command before actions can be made by those who need permission to act. Horizontal organizational structure means a flat or closer to flat organizational. In a perfectly horizontal structure, there are no leaders, so usually this means a structure that is still vertical, but has been made more horizontal than what is typically referred to as vertical, Julie’s structure for example. In general, any large organizational structure has both vertical and horizontal aspects to it and depending on whether it is considered to be more vertical or more horizontal results in what it is called. The communication between executive vice president Julie and the department managers is minimal as stated above. Julie needs to work out a new strategy of horizontal communication that will give her the results she needs, possibly a centralised wheel approach for faster and more accurate communication. Examples of different horizontal communication are as follows. Intradepartmental problem solving. These messages take place among members of the same department and concern task accomplishments. For example: ‘Bec, can you please help us fill out the inventory report form?’ Interdepartmental coordination. Interdepartmental messages facilitate the accomplishment of joint projects or tasks. For example: ‘Bec, please contact the Materials department and arrange a meeting to discuss the specifications for the new product materials, we may not be able to meet there needs’. Change initiative and improvements. These messages are designed to share information among teams and departments that can help the organisation change, grow and improve. For example: ‘We are having a discussing about the budgets of several departments and would like your input for the discussion’. 2. If I were Julie Crandell, I would feel compelled to organise a project meeting with all department managers and discuss a way to create a new strategy or work out the difficulties in the existing one, so that it will be successfully appropriate to attain the result we need as an organisation. Whilst having the project meeting and discussing the new deadline for project CV305 and receiving all department managers input and problems, I would then organise weekly project meetings along with regular progress reports, I would then suggest a decentralised management approach, the advantage is Julie the Senior manager would have time to then concentrate on the most important decisions, as the other decisions can be undertaken by other people down the organisation structure. Some good examples of having a decentralised management approach are, Decision making is a form of empowerment, and empowerment can increase motivation and therefore mean that staff output increases. Empowerment will enable departments and their employees to respond faster to changes and new challenges. Whereas it may take senior managers like Julie longer to come up with a similar response. Staff within departments would sometimes have a greater knowledge of the product their producing and would then be able to make better choices and decisions then say Julie, there for this approach would suit the organisation better then all ways lining up to see Julie for her advice and approval, which may take a long time as Julie had little time to oversee everything with her centralised approach. Another approach Julie could take would be to hire a personal assistant. As Julie is a person that has so much on her plate for example, scheduling management meetings, answering phone calls, dropping letters off to the post office and checking her schedule, as well as many more other duties. These errands could all be done by anyone else like a personal assistant therefore saving Julie precious time so she can concentrate on more important tasks then organising meetings and writing up reports. 3. Julie has made a wrong choice by choosing to go with the centralised decision making structure, instead she needs to find a more appropriate structure that will be able to deliver and suit the companies desired outcome in the time line they have set for the new product. This structure will need to be decentralised, so decisions are made quicker and more accurate as Julie may not have quite well an understanding of the product then say the department manager. A team based approach is what I personally think Julie should use for the development of new future products. One of the best forms of business organisation is the team-based structure. A team based structure is an organisation that groups employees on the same work level into teams that perform specific functions within their job tasks. This structure combines the low-overhead, minimal management structure of a lateral structure with the team efforts common to a hybrid structure. There are numerous advantages to a team-based lateral organizational structure. A team-based organisational structure is similar to a traditional lateral structure, in carrying less overhead management to cause delays in decision-making and implementation of best practices or new ideas. With no need to wait on a lengthy chain of command to receive approval for ideas or changes to the, a team-based lateral structure can make necessary changes on the fly and allow for rapid response to different market conditions. This is especially important in today’s digital economy. By spreading the responsibility among teams involving everyone involved in project CV305 rather than having a single person (Julie) in charge of all decision-making or management of a project, decisions can be reached by a quorum and can take place rapidly as team members can be assigned to research areas of need, implement changes, or work on other problems while other team members continue to focus on the current situation of the project. Decisions made by a team are often better thought out and more effectively implemented than decisions made by a single individual, that being Julie in this case. A team-based organisational structure will eliminate Julie’s centralised flat chain of command, Julie’s centralised approach caused delays and worker frustration with cumbersome communication lines. A team can more effectively raise concerns to management without having to wait a unpredictable time for Julie’s response, This can make individuals more willing to speak out about problems or inefficiency due to not having to wait, and being able to receive their answers quicker. If Julie were to establish a task force or assign a project manager, so they can establish and assist departments in representing them, and to share their information with other departments which will enable coordination. In addition to creating task forces, companies also set up cross functional teams. A cross functional team furthers horizontal coordination because participants from several departments meet regularly to solve ongoing problems of common interest (Mintzberg, 1979).