Managing Public Relations in Nonprofit Organizations Case Study

Managing Public Relations in Nonprofit Organizations - Case Study Example Further secondary research was done on a database of the consumer media and national science. The reason for this research was to broaden the scope of the target audience following the announcement. Consequently, the stakeholders identified were prominent science reporters. However, quantitative research involving telephone interviews with the reporters to ascertain their reliability produced negative results. To this end, a content analysis was undertaken on the BNL website. The purpose was to deliver a high amount of information pertaining to the upcoming conference and public announcement. The evaluation measures employed involved the measuring of communication output. In this case, part of the objective was to achieve a mass advert of their product and elicit positive media reactions. To this end, the company surpassed their expected communication output whereby over 700 million coverage was achieved. In addition, the public relations firm employed the measure of outcomes as an evaluation. Consequently, the whole public announcement aspired to receive positive reviews from the public and media. Moreover, these reviews were supposed to spur the government in increasing budgetary allocation without arousing political aspersions on its public announcement. As a result, the firm was able to receive positive reviews from the media and public. Moreover, these reviews factored in on the increase of budgetary allocations. In addition, the public relation firms employed the measure of institutional outcomes as an evaluative tool. Consequently, BNL had an objective of increasi ng a budgetary allocation for its project. As a result, the institutional outcome was achieved through an increased budgetary allocation of $ 13,400. The planning process entailed developing of a media list in which media outlets were identified. The aim was to achieve target audience for the impending announcement. To this end, the media list developed

Geographical Layout of an Area on Its Politics Essay Example for Free

Geographical Layout of an Area on Its Politics Essay What is the effect of the geographical layout of an area on its politics, society, and economy? Physical characteristics of a specific area can have a substantial impact on its history. Regardless of how close one area is to another the outcome of the civilization could be completely different because of how the people have had to adapt to live in their respective areas. This issue would explain how intertwined history is with geography. Europe’s geography provided many disadvantages and advantages which have been the factors for its many successes and failures. Since the majority of Europe is surrounded by water it was a peninsula. This made it so they could trade with ease. The many rivers and mountain ranges of Europe most certainly aided in protecting certain civilizations from invasion or being involved in wars. The wildly vast and diverse geographic features in Europe set the tone for trading routes to prosper, long-lasting cultures to develop, and battles to occur that would change the identity of the region indefinitely. A region’s geographic shape is instrumental in determining what a region will become. Due to Europe’s geographical shape it became a hotspot for any and all trade. With natural resources plentiful Europe was constantly bustling with business. The Iberian Peninsula gave Spain and Portugal easy access to trade with foreign countries. The Balkan Peninsula gave many countries along the Aegean Sea the effortless option to trade. The many Peninsulas provided great advantages for Europeans due to the plentiful food the oceans supplied. These advantages molded many European civilizations into what they are today whether they isolate themselves from others or interact. The specific geographical features within a region provided protection, but also could have provided isolation. The many rivers and mountain ranges of Europe provided many people with fertile soil and a feeling of safety. However, the mountain ranges could stop trade between countries and slow the advancement of technology and knowledge between these regions. The rivers on the other hand would encourage trade and it would flourish. The physical characteristics of a region affect the decisions people greatly. Europe has a wide variety of terrains. Some help the people who live there, while others force people to adapt. These features influenced the development of many areas. For example the Alps acted as a barrier throughout the Punic Wars. It was perhaps the Roman Empire’s greatest asset. Several times Hannibal was forced to attack by sea instead of being able to invade from the North. This is not the only time in history was affected by geographical features. Climate overcame Hitler’s forces in the Invasion of Russia. The cold winter air killed off many of Hitler’s forces. That event alone could have changed the entire turnout of WWII. Europe’s features both hindered and kindled its growth as a world power. People’s choices have always been affected by their surroundings. The geographic features found in Europe were a commodity and the reason Europe succeeded the way it did for so long. Europe is filled with a wide variety of natural resources and geographical features. Sometimes their surroundings were beneficial and other times it was detrimental. Geography affected the choices of everyone. These features are what caused certain trade routes to emerge, cultures to find their identities, and wars to take place where they did.

Comparing the Concepts of Seeming and Being in Relation to Political Po

Comparing the Concepts of Seeming and Being in Relation to Political Power and Leadership in The Prince and The Republic 9. Machiavelli says the prince only has to seem good, not be good. Socrates insists that seeming is bad, being is good. Is it better to remain in the cave with Machiavelli, or see the light with Socrates? Write three pages for Machiavelli and against Socrates, write another three pages against Machiavelli and for Socrates. Both Niccolà ² Machiavelli and Plato, in their works The Prince and The Republic (respectively), address the concepts of seeming and being in relation to political power and leadership, however they do so in two distinct manners. In the Republic, Socrates insists that seeming is bad, and being is good. Using a parable of people in a cave, he states that the only way to know the difference between what seems and what actually is reality is to experience it in its purest form, instead of through images. Machiavelli, on the other hand outlines the different ways that a prince could rise to power, and justifies any and all means that a prince could take. He states that a prince only has to seem good when it fits his purposes, not actually be good. He encourages an aspiring prince to be deceitful and conniving in order to gain and maintain power. Before concluding which political theorist is correct, it is interesting to examine whether it would be better to remain in the cave wit h Machiavelli or see the light with Socrates. The citizens of Socrates’ Republic are divided into three classes. Those who are deemed fit to rule, the philosopher/rulers, are those who have been chosen to pass through several stages of training and preparation. They are the most fit to rule, because the... ...ity really is, and if they don’t have the wisdom to do this on their own, there are people who will guide them. It can only be concluded that seeming good, as Machiavelli advocates, is bad because it is essentially deceives the citizens. Additionally, when one seems, they are acting in the interest of only themselves. Being good, as Socrates promotes, is the better of the two, because when one is actually good, they will act in the interest of society as a whole, instead of merely their own selfish interests. It is a far better thing to emerge from the cave with Socrates, to see the light, to gain the knowledge, and the ability to share it with others. Works Cited Plato. The Republic. Trans. Richard W. Sterling and William C. Scott. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. Machiavelli, Niccolo The Prince New York: Oxford University Press, 1952

Milk Production Linear Programing Essay

Abstract – A Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is proposed in this paper that targets the optimal production scheduling in a single milk production line. The model takes into account all the standard constraints encountered in production scheduling (material balances, inventory limitations, machinery capacity, labor shifts and manpower restrictions). Furthermore, it considers special features that characterize milk production, which are limitations in production sequencing mainly due to different fat contents and flavors of various products and sequence-dependent setup times and costs. The objective function that is minimized considers all major sources of variable cost that depend on the production schedule, i. e. changeover cost, inventory cost and labor cost. The model is applied to a milk production line of a Sala industry in Iran and the results are presented and discussed. Keywords: Production scheduling; Mixed integer linear programming; Sequence-dependent setups. 1. Introduction Several restrictions encountered in everyday production complicate the scheduling problem. The available machine time and man hours constitute a significant restriction to the problem. Another issue in the scheduling process is accomplishment of the production targets. There are several possible modes of operation and the choice among them depends on the goal sought, which could be the optimization of production earliness or tardiness or the optimization of the incurring production profit or cost.. There could also be limitations in the production sequence. Technical issues can arise due to configuration modifications in the machinery during transitions or due to changes in the packaging materials. Both require a changeover time,during which the production is seized. In some cases the equipment has to be cleaned during transitions,which additionally creates a changeover costdue to losses of product quantities and consumption of utilities. Much of the scheduling research is directed towards problems with sequence-independent transitions. A scheduling methodology that incorporates sequence-dependent changeovers would be closer to reality and increase its effectiveness to a great extent. This can be justified as follows:If a sequence of operations requires excessive changeover time,it should not be preferred,despite the fact that its setup cost may be small. Setup cost in this situation would be high; setup time would vary depending on the cleaning procedure. A comprehensive review of scheduling problems that consider sequence-dependent transitions between products can be found in Reklaitis(2000) and Allahverdi et al. (1999). Another important issue that must be considered in milk production scheduling is the rather short life-cycle of the products that must be consumed in a matter of weeks or even days. Furthermore, customers prefer that the milk they buy is as fresh as possible. This pushes towards a just-in-time mode of operation,which makes the supply chain more susceptible to fluctuations in demand. All the above factors need to be taken into consideration in the design and implementation of the scheduling process. (Schuermann &Kannan, 1977; Sullivan & Secrest, 1985) + Corresponding author. Tel. : 09183601930 ; E-mail address: h-javanmardha@iau-arak. ac. ir 318 1. 1. Nomenclature Indices †¢ †¢ i days j, k, l products N scheduling horizon (days) P number of products demand(i, j) demand for product j on day i (ton) csetup(j,k) changeover cost from product j to productk (â‚ ¬) tsetup(j,k) changeover time from product j to productk (h). Cstorage storage cost (â‚ ¬/1000 cups/day) costs for the three shifts (â‚ ¬/h) u(j) machine speed for product j (ton/h) openinv(i, j), tarinv(i, j) opening and target inventory level of product j at the end of day i (ton) M(j), l(j) maximum and minimum production lots(ton) prod(i,j) produced quantity of product j on day i (ton) inv(i, j) inventory level of product j at the end of day i(ton) Time(i) total utilization of machine, including changeover times on day i (h) BIN(i, j) production of product j on day i (1/0) BINSETUP(i,j,k) changeover from product j to product k on day i (1/0). The rest of the paper is structured as follows: In the next section the motivating example that led to the development of the model is briefly described. 1. 2. Parameters †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ 1. 3. Decision variables †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ 2. Problem definition – model formulation. The problem that is examined in this paper has the following structure: Given †¢ the daily demand of each product, †¢ the starting inventory, †¢ setup costs and times for the transitions between products, †¢ the production speed of each product, †¢ the inventory holding cost, †¢ the labor cost for the three working shifts, †¢ the sequencing limitations 3. objective of the model is to decide and calculate the products to be manufactured in each day and their respective quantities, †¢ the machine time (starting time and ending time) utilized by each product †¢ the inventory quantities of each product at the †¢ end of each day. At the same time, the constraints of the problem should be met. There are restrictions in: †¢ production demands, †¢ due dates of orders, †¢ sequencing of operations, †¢ available machine time and man hours. †¢ More precisely, the basic characteristics of the proposed scheduling tool are the following: †¢ †¢ 3. 1 3. 2 319 Model formulation and time representation: The formulation that is presented in this paper uses binary variables to indicate whether setup between two products takes place or not. The total scheduling horizon is separated into discrete-time periods, whose length isequal to one day. Within each time period, continuous- time formulation was preferred in order to reduce the size of the model and the required solution time and increase the accuracy of the model regarding time representation. †¢ Food industry-specific: The methodology that is presented in this work is oriented towards the food industry, as it takes into consideration a set of production restrictions that are frequent in food and especially milk production practice. Moreover, transitions between products are sequence dependent, meaning that both changeover times and costs are considered as sequence dependent. One more industry-specific requirement is the fact that at the endof the day all the equipment must be cleaned. So, production is seized at the end of each day. (P. Doganis, H.Sarimveis / Journal of Food Engineering 80 (2007) 445–453 447). †¢ Demand satisfaction: Demand is product-specific and is considered daily, that is, there are product orders and due dates within the scheduling horizon, often multiple within the week. Early production is possible but tardiness is not allowed. †¢ Decision variables: A number of model characteristics are not fixed or pre-determined in order to allow the solution algorithm to search for a combination of their values that would optimize the objective function. †¢ Objective function: The objective function not only takes makespan into consideration, but also includes setup costs, standard and overtime labor costs and inventory costs. The model is formulated as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem, which is explained in details in the sequel. 3. 3 Parameters †¢ scheduling horizon, †¢ number and sequencing of products, †¢ demand of each product for each day, †¢ setup time and cost for each possible transition, †¢ storage cost of a unit of product for a day, †¢ labor cost for each shift, †¢ machine speed for each product, †¢ opening inventories and target inventories at the end of the scheduling horizon. 3. 4 Decision variables The optimal values of the decision variables are provided by the solution of the optimization problem and can be grouped into continuous variables and binary variables. For each day in the scheduling horizon, the optimal values of the following variables are obtained: †¢ 3. 5 Continuous variables The produced quantity of each product. The inventory level of each product at the end of the day. †¢ The total utilization of the machine including the setup times. Binary variables †¢ Binary variables (one for each product) indicating whether the respective product is to be produced in the particular day. †¢ Binary variables (one for each possible transition) indicating whether the respective changeover will take place or not. †¢ †¢ 3. 6 4. Objective function – minimization of The objective function represents the production cost, variable cost csetup(j,l). BINSETUP(i,j,l)+ inv(i,j). cstorage +?cost . Time(i) which is comprised of the setup costs, the inventory holding costs and the labor costs for all days of the scheduling horizon. Raw material and utility costs do not depend on any particular schedule and are not included in the objectivefunction. 320 4. 1 Constraints The constraints that must be satisfied are expressed by the following set of equations. The names of the parameters and variables are explained in the nomenclature. 4. 1. 1 Relationship between continuous variables and binary Variables Prod(i, j)? m(j). bin(i,,j) Prod(i,,j)?  µ(j). bin(i,,j) where m(j) and  µ (j) indicate the maximum and the smallest lot sizes allowed. The above inequalities express the restriction that production of product j in day i is allowed (prod(i, j) > 0) if and only if the binary variable BIN(i, j) takes the value of 1. Similarly, product j is not manufactured in day i (prod(i, j) = 0), if and only if the binary variable BIN(i, j) takes the value of 0. 4. 1. 2 Total material balance for each product throughout the scheduling horizon Openinv(j)+? prod(i,,j)=? demand(i,,j)+inv(N,,j) The summation of produced quantities of product j throughout the production horizon plus the initial inventory must equal the sum of demand of all days plus the inventory of product j at the end of the last day. †¢ Earliness is possible, but no tardiness is allowed Inv(1,,j)=openinv(j)+prod(1,,j)-demand(1,,j) Inv(1,j)? 0 Inv(i,j)=inv(i-1,,j)+prod(i,,j)-demand(i,,j) i>1 Constraints (5 and (6 calculate the daily inventory levels for each product j, while at the same time require that daily demands are satisfied and no tardiness is allowed. At the end of the first day, the inventory must equal the initial inventory plus any produced quantity, reduced by the demand of that day (Eq. 5 On any other day, the inventory must be equal to the inventory level of the previous day plus any produced quantity, reduced by that day’s demand. †¢ Satisfaction of the target inventory level at the end of the scheduling horizon Inv(N,,j)=tarinv(j) The inventory levels at the end of the scheduling horizon must meet the targets. 4. 2 Case study. The case study presented here concerns a specific milk production line, where 4products are produced. The products are indicated in Table 1 along with the production speeds. The problem for a six-day schedulinghorizon. The proposed tool was utilized to calculate the optimal production schedule for a week, for which the complete list of data are shown in Tables 1–5 Both opening and target inventories are set to zero for all 4different products in this case study. Setup constraints We need the binary variable BINSETUP(i, j,l) to take the value of 1 if and only if there is a changeover from product j to product l on day i. This is achieved by the following set of inequalities:where k is a sufficiently small number. It is shown that for each case there is only one possiblevalue of BINSETUP (i, j, l), which is becoming equal to 1, only if BIN(i, j) is 1 and BIN(i,l) is 1 . The MILPoptimization problem that was formulated was solved using the LINDO 6. 1The optimal production schedule, daily machine utilization and daily inventory levels are depicted respectively in Tables 6-8e production schedule contains the decisions concerning the products to be manufactured every day and therespective quantities. As can be observed, 321 production is accommodated towards the minimization of cost. Table 8 gives the daily machine utilization time allocated to each product. Additionally, the total time that the machine is utilized every day (including the changeover times) is shown in the last row of the same table Table 1 Production sequence and machine speed Priority Product Machine speed (in ton) machine speed 1 2 3 4 PRODUCTION P Pasteurized milk Sterile milk Homogenized milk Coco milk U(j) 36 30 24 18 Table 2 Changeover costs (in â‚ ¬) PRODUCTION Changover costs 1 2 3 P Pasteurized milk Sterile milk Homogenized milk Sterile 130000 Homogenized 520000 520000 Coco 650000 650000 790000 Table 3 Change over times (in h) PRODUCTION Changover times 1 2 2 P Pasteurized milk Sterile milk Homogenized milk Sterile 0. 8 Homogenized 0. 3 0. 3 Coco 0. 4 0. 4 0. 5 Tale4 Maximum & minimum production on day(in ton). PRODUCTION Capacity of production 1 2 3 4 p Pasteurized milk Sterile milk Homogenized milk Coco milk  µ (j) 18 15 12 9 m(j) 288 240 192 144 Table 5 Production demand during the scheduling horizon (in ton) Production Daily demand Wednesday Thursday 150 150 100 60 28 19 15 sum 550 420 160 135 P Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Pasteurized milk 50 200 Sterile milk 27 150 83 Homogenized milk 20 25 53 43 Coco milk 42 20 30. Table 6 The calculated production schedule (in ton) Production Daily production Wednesday Thursday 150 18 100 15 14 28 sum 550 420 160 135 P Saturday Sunday monday tuesday Pasteurized milk 288 94 Sterile milk 72 150 83 Homogenized milk 20 12 12 12 Coco milk 42 56 Table7 Daily production time including setup times (in h) 322 Production Daily production time.rized milk Sterile milk Homogenized milk Coco milk Saturday 8 2. 4 0. 8 2. 3 Sunday 2. 6 0. 5 3. 1 Monday 5 0. 5 Tuesday 2. 8 0. 5 0. 5 Wednesday Thursday 4. 2 3. 3 1. 6 0. 5 0. 5 4. 3. Table 8 Inventory levels beyond the safety limits at the end of each day (in ton) inventory P Pasteurized milk Sterile milk Homogenized milk Coco milk saturday 238 72 Daily inventory sunday monday 94 tuesday Wednesday Thursday 104 56 In these charts both production times for the different products and changeover times between products can be observed. Finally, Table 8 provides full knowledge of the inventory profile throughout the scheduling horizon. 5. Conclusions. The problem of production scheduling for a milk productionline of a dairy industry was studied in this work. The specific restrictions of the milk production process were taken into consideration in the formulation of a production scheduling optimization problem. The problem contains only linear equalities and inequalities, so that the global optimum solution is reached in a very short time. Another important aspect is that the optimization criterion is not restricted to time consideration (i. e. production time or earliness/tardiness), but includes production sequence dependent costs, labor costs and inventory holding costs, in order to represent more realistically the production cost while achieving production goals. The model produces the complete production schedule for a selected future horizon, including the sequence of products that should be produced every day and the respective quantities and the inventory levels at the endof each day. Ultimately, a production planning system that would include all production lines in a plant, including raw material and inventory capacity considerations, would offer a complete scheduling tool for the dairy industry. FinanLP OPTIMUM FOUND AT STEP OBJECTIVE FUNCTION VALUE 1) 46920000 6. References 32 [1] Allahverdi, A. , Gupta, J. N. D. , & Aldowaisan, T. (1999). A review of scheduling research involving setup considerations. Omega, 27(2),219–239. [2] Nakhla, M. (1995).. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 15(8), 73–88. [3] Pinto, J. M., & Grossmann, I. E. (1998). Assignment and sequencing models for the scheduling of chemical processes. Annals of Operations Research, 81, 433–466. [4] Kohansal(2007),national congeress of food technology,1-5 [5] Reklaitis, G. V. (2000). Overview of planning and scheduling technologies. Latin American Applied Research, 30(4), 285–293. [6] Schuermann, A. C. , & Kannan, N. P. (1977). A production forecasting and planning system for dairy processing. Computers and Industrial Engineering, 2, 153–158. [7] Sullivan, S. , & Secrest, S. C. (1985). A simple optimization DSS for Interfaces, 15, 46–53. Philip DOGANIS(2007)journal of food engineering,445-453. 323.

Overcome the Identified Weaknesses and Threats

Performance SWOT analysis IKEA is amongst the biggest retailers of furniture in the world. It has grown rapidly since it was founded in 1943. It sells more than 10,000 furnishing products from well over 300 stores in around 40 countries. The company has in excess of 600 million visitors to its stores, and it is very successful website attracts in excess of 600 million visitors every year. IKEA is a Scandinavian company famous for furniture from living rooms to children's bedrooms. The majority of IKEA's furniture is flat-pack, ready to be assembled by the consumer. Strength IKEA is an environmentally friendly business with a keen focus upon sustainability. In years gone by the company had been accused of encouraging wastefulness since it made a very large numbers of furniture products at low prices. As part of an integrated public relations campaign – IKEA now focuses on sustainability and made it an underpinning principle of its business philosophy. * A democratic design reac hing an ideal balance between function, quality, design and price. IKEA Cost Consciousness means that low prices are taken into account when each product is designed from the outset. * IKEA likes satisfied customers.The business manages to score highly in customer satisfaction surveys. Many marketing research companies rank IKEA in their top 10 companies for customer satisfaction. They managed to enhance their brand association with such great results. * IKEA has maintained long-term partnerships with its suppliers. By committing to buying large volumes over a number of years IKEA can negotiate lower prices. This ensures that the company has access to high-quality materials at reasonable prices. This also benefits the suppliers because they enjoy the greater security of having guaranteed orders. Weaknesses The business is experiencing problems in one or two home markets. For example in the European market of the United Kingdom, IKEA has recently opened more stores which means that t he number of visitors is divided by a greater number of retail outlets. So in the past the consumers would travel many miles to visit stores and each store had a large number of visitors, now these consumers have not really increased in number, but are now able to visit a more local store. This has reduced the footfall per store and any sales density * The size and scale of its global business. This could make it hard to control standards and quality.Some countries where IKEA products are made do not implement the legislation to control working conditions. This could represent a weak link in IKEA's supply chain, affecting consumer views of IKEA's products. The IWAY code is backed up by training and inspectors visiting factories to make sure that suppliers meet its requirements. * The need for low cost products. This needs to be balanced against producing good quality. IKEA also needs to differentiate itself and its products from competitors. IKEA believes there is no compromise betw een being able to offer good quality products and low prices. Opportunities * IKEA can further capitalize on the â€Å"green† movement and IKEA's customers' desire to have less of an impact on the environment to denoting the demand for cheaper and greener products .* IKEA has a number of areas of focus to its work with sustainability, each of which it supports in various ways such as offers tips and ideas online for costumers to create a more sustainable home , developing strong social responsibility by giving to a wide range of different charities and reducing carbon footprint by packing in less material. IKEA is traditionally famous for its diversification strategies. For example in the past they have sold food products and opened restaurants in their stores. So the online opportunity of trading through highly advanced e-commerce technologies is an ideal avenue for IKEA. Obviously this helps the business to overcome problems with out-of-town stores since consumers can stay at home to shop and then request that goods are delivered to their doorstep. Threats * Businesses such as IKEA will struggle against the larger portfolio suppliers such as Tesco in the United Kingdom and Walmart in the United States.For example Tesco's sells not only groceries, but TV sets and mobile phones, so it is only a matter of time before the business diversifies into a range of bedroom furniture or kitchens. * Like any global marketing company IKEA has to compensate for the global economic situation. The business needs people to move through the family life cycle. Empty nesters need to equip their homes with furniture. So interest rates need to be low enough so that they can afford to borrow money to equip their new homes. There needs to be plenty of low-cost housing for them to be able to do this.Do they have job security? The changing economic environment will impact and influence IKEA’s furniture business. * IKEA is trading in relatively mature consumer markets, an d has entered all plausible free markets countries. The new and emerging nations of India and China sometimes make it difficult for IKEA to embed itself as a supplier to new consumers. For example, there are often foreign ownership rules which mean that IKEA might have to take a local business partner. The new partner could take more than 50% of its business and this is not always acceptable to its board.

Samuel BeckettS Waiting For Godot Essays - Theatre Of The Absurd

Samuel BeckettS Waiting For Godot Essays - Theatre Of The Absurd Samuel BeckettS Waiting For Godot Nothing to be done, is one of the many phrases that is repeated again and again throughout Samuel Becketts Waiting For Godot. Godot is an existentialist play that reads like somewhat of a language poem. That is to say, Beckett is not interested in the reader interpreting his words, but simply listening to the words and viewing the actions of his perfectly mismatched characters. Beckett uses the standard Vaudevillian style to present a play that savors of the human condition. He repeats phrases, ideas and actions that has his audience come away with many different ideas about who we are and how beautiful our human existence is even in our desperation. The structure of Waiting For Godot is determined by Becketts use of repetition. This is demonstrated in the progression of dialogue and action in each of the two acts in Godot. The first thing an audience may notice about Waiting For Godot is that they are immediately set up for a comedy. The first two characters to appear on stage are Vladimir and Estragon, dressed in bowler hats and boots. These characters lend themselves to the same body types as Abbot and Costello. Vladimir is usually cast as tall and thin and Estragon just the opposite. Each character is involved in a comedic action from the plays beginning. Estragon is struggling with a tightly fitting boot that he just cannot seem to take off his foot. Vladimir is moving around bowlegged because of a bladder problem. From this beat on the characters move through a what amounts to a comedy routine. A day in the life of two hapless companions on a country road with a single tree. Beckett accomplishes two things by using this style of comedy. Comedy routines have a beginning and an ending. For Godot the routine begins at the opening of the play and ends at the intermission. Once the routine is over, it cannot continue. The routine must be done again. This creates the second act. The second act, though not an exact replication, is basically the first act repeated. The routine is put on again for the audience. The same chain of events: Estragon sleeps in a ditch, Vladimir meets him at the tree, they are visited by Pozzo and Lucky, and a boy comes to tell them that Godot will not be coming but will surely be there the following day. In this way repetition dictates the structure of the play. There is no climax in the play because the only thing the plot builds to is the coming of Godot. However, after the first act the audience has pretty much decided that Godot will never show up. It is not very long into the second act before one realizes that all they are really doing is wasting time, Waiting for...waiting. (50) By making the second act another show of the same routine, Beckett instills in us a feeling of our own waiting and daily routines. What is everyday for us but another of th e same act. Surely small things will change, but overall we seem to be living out the same day many times over. Another effect of repetition on the structure of Godot is the amount of characters in the play. As mentioned before, the play is set up like a Vaudeville routine. In order to maintain the integrity of the routine, the play must be based around these two characters. This leaves no room for extra characters that will get in the way of the act. To allow for the repetition of the routine to take place the cast must include only those characters who are necessary it. The idea that the two characters are simply passing time is evident in the dialogue. The aforementioned phrase, Nothing to be done, is one example of repetition in dialogue. In the first half-dozen pages of the play the phrase is repeated about four times. This emphasizes the phrase so that the audience will pick up on it. It allows the audience to realize that all these two characters have is the hope that Godot will show up. Until the time when Godot arrives, all they can do is pass

Work and Organization systems

Work and Organization systems The four frames In almost every discipline-embracing leadership, people devote themselves into publishing numerous volumes of articles on leadership theories. Amid the intense amount of work done on leadership theories, a thorough scrutiny of the existing literature surfaces four crucial frames deemed ample for the purposes of cute understanding of the organizational structures and leadership within such organizations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Work and Organization systems specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More â€Å"These frames are structural, human resource, political and symbolic frames† (Bolman Deal 2008, p.27). The paper points out three of the priory-identified frames in relation to facilitating successful implementation of a project despite an unsupportive environment presented as a case study 2005-3 by Raymond Young, available at Macquarie graduate school of management. In addition, the benefits and the limitations of taking each frame perspectives in facilitation of implementation of the agency’s IT project receive a thorough treatment. Finally, through consideration of benefits and the limitations of the three frames, the most amicable way of managing processes of change at the agency in future projects implementations will acquire some introspection. In addition, the leadership deemed vital for meeting the challenge of more successful approach to project implementation and change management in the future will receive some glance. Human resource frame Introduction From a human resource perspective, people are the central tools that an organization has in order to achieve its goals and objectives. As a repercussion, the human resource manager endeavors to ensure that he or she responds to the needs coupled with goals of employees as one crucial step toward ensuring that he or she gains the necessary loyalty and commitment of the employees to do the work of an organizat ion. â€Å"This leader empowers people through participation and attempts to gain the resources people need to do the job well but also confronts when deemed appropriate but tries to do so in a supportive environment† (Hersey et al. 2007, p.12). Tech-media is under immense transformation process. The organization desires to put into place a new system that makes it compliant to the Y2K technology. The CEO of the company sees this as an amicable opportunity to raise funds that would see the company listed in the stock exchange.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Senior managers of the company led by the CEO come together to form a steering committee with the chief intention of weighing various options for achieving the realization of successful implementation of the system. The committee agrees on ERP system. The implementation is within time and budget constrai nts. However, there is the need for an ample human resource. Implementation process For the agency, it is evident that the finance staff was totally unmotivated and unwilling to take up their responsibilities. According to the Young (2005), â€Å"most agency staff considered the finance department something of an inconvenience and largely irrelevant to the operational business of the agency† (p. 4). In addition, Young reveals that, the agency had already acquired an international standard for over decades. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, once a need is satisfied, it ceases to be a motivator anymore. Intentions to maintain excellent status in this case was not a motivator any more. Since, workers motivation falls under the human resource sphere de-motivation was a substantial impediment to the success of the implementation of the agency’s IT project. With reference to Bolman and Deal (2008), â€Å"the human resource framework places people first, which is remarkably similar to stewardship or servant leadership where participation in decision making and problem solving are primary components of the model† (p.34). Consequently, decision-making requires hefty inputs of the human resource management to instill the spirit of ‘yes you can’ to those charged with roles in an organization. For the new agency’s finance director, this was largely absent until when the chairperson of the MIS steering committees intervened. Young says, â€Å"the chairman firstly helped by reaffirming his confidence that she had the ability to drive the initiative through† (2005, p.7). This way, the finance director could overcome the criticisms emanating from Mark Black. This perhaps well exemplifies the absence of contributions of the human resource towards maintenance of the workers morale within the agency.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Work and Organization systems specifically for you for onl y $16.05 $11/page Learn More The framework of human resource lie on the foundation that individuals form an organization and that these individuals have different perceptions, have personalized biasness as well as potential and skills which are evidently different for different people. This fact served as a major impediment to the implementation of the agency’s project since some of the workers would forecast success; other would see failure of the project at the end. In addition, unfortunately, the new finance director realized that â€Å"the MIS project failed because no one from senior management had taken the risk of championing the project even though the head of the agency had initiated it himself† (Young 2005, p.7). Consequently, one of the noble functions of the managers was largely absent: leading. Another function of the human resource that was absent was the job design and work management. This responsibility calls for the human resource mana gers to decide on whom to allocate a certain job, and at what time. The new director claims that she â€Å"needed the right people to be under her if the implementation of the project was to bear success in terms of making financial decisions. Inasmuch as direction was required, it is somewhat evident that this agency was at advanced stages in terms of performance in implementing projects. It is thus arguable that every employee of the agency was well acquitted and experienced with his or her duties. Majority of the staff knew much well that delegation was the prime mover of their motivation. This may reveal itself because the new director claims that everybody kept asking her when she was finally going to make the financial decision over the corridors. This decision was essential in order to give permission to proceed. On the other hand, the chairperson had much hope on the agencys human resource especially in terms of achieving their delegated chores. To this ends, he laments tha t the â€Å"MIS did not fail technically but because of lack of sponsorship† (Young 2005, p.6). Support from all stakeholders was vital for the success of the project. Under the human resource frame, individuals get the capacity to learn to defend the existing old attitudes coupled with beliefs about certain ways of doing things.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This fact stands in the IT project implementation by the agency. The agency hired no consultants. The technicians received textbooks to read and thereof decide on what to do. Various staff members also expressed their worries that the project might end up being a horror story of failure. It was evident in some other organization. As it may be deduced from the above discussion, human resource frame is fully dependent on the capacity of the workers to get fully compliant with the objectives of an organization and appreciate that, in as much the organization demands they also need the institution too. One benefit of the human resource frame is that, more yields are obtainable for the employees upon the deployment of the appropriate strategies to ensure work satisfaction and motivation among workers. However, determination of essential motivators relies on the position of the employee needs in the hierarchy of needs as established by Maslow and Herzberg. Since human needs are continuous ly evolving and dynamic in nature, ensuring maintained workers morale and positive altitudes towards work calls for the inculcation of some new tactics to maintain the motivation of a given worker. Unfortunately, not every worker would attain the highest hierarchical level, since not all people can fit in the most top management level in an organization. Consequently, at any instance, there will always be unmotivated workers who might be in excessive need for promotion. Another drawback is that the human resource framework sees people as subjects of manipulation through some ways. However, people are different and have different feelings and emotional attachments. Consequently, opposed to what human resource management theories suggest, what may motivate one worker may not give equally similar effect to another worker. There is the warranty for the assumption that organizations serve human needs. Conclusion Change management is crucial for the evidently volatile and yet dynamic busi ness environments of today. A change of human resource management perspectives consequently stands out inevitable. More precisely, change is a process, which from human resource perspectives entails changing the manner in which people execute their duties, habits and beliefs. In one way or another, this would entangle removing people from their accustomed comfort zones. People are widely reluctant to adopt change. However, taking human resource perspectives implies the need to address such issues. Structural Frame Introduction When one thinks of an organization, perhaps what comes to mind is the pyramidal structure that depicts the hierarchical position of every member of that organization. Adopting a structural framework in the implementation of organization’s projects implies that â€Å"the structural manager tries to design and implement a process or structure that will be appropriate to a problem and circumstances† (Jensen Meckling 1994, p.5). The procedure would include clarification and setting of the overall goals of an organization, taking proactive strategies to ensure that the external environment is well controlled, ensuring the development of transparent structure that is appropriate with respect to the environment and tasks also putting into place the objects of authority. In addition, vital to consider would entail â€Å"focusing on tasks, facts and logic rather than on personality and emotions† (Jensen Meckling 1994, p.7). The structural framework, drawn from sociological considerations, places more emphasis on the need of following formal relationships within an organization. Structures that are created deserve to be consistent with the existing state of technology and the environment. In this frame, it is the responsibility of an organization to â€Å"allocate responsibilities, create rules, policies and management hierarchies to coordinate diverse activities† (Bolman Deal 2008, p.45). More often than not, proble ms arise in case the established structures fail to be coherent with the existing situations. Implementation process In case of the agency, certain roles are placed within a group of peoples: some forming the heads of the departments such as finance and technical among others. The responsibilities for each structural unit strictly lie within that structure so that the policy making process takes a cascaded format. For instance, Young claims, â€Å"most agency staff outside finance department has professional or scientific backgrounds while most of the agency finance staff has clerical backgrounds† (2008, p.1). For effectiveness, all the existing structures’ workers ought to posses some general knowledge concerning what happens in other structures. Why? A problem here is obvious. Some omissions are likely to occur when the users of the output of a given structure are not present during formulation and implementation of a given project level. For instance, considering th e agency’s IT project, it calls for heavy expenditure and commitment of resources. Consequently, subtle budgeting is essential. Supposing some bailing was omitted, and only discovered when some certain allocated funds remains. The result would end up being a frustration to the project since chances are likely that additional costs would be incurred in terms of time and other resources to correct the errors that the agency could have avoided. This was possible if the entire team making the policies sat on a rounds table as opposed to over the window approach. According to Bolman and Deal (2008), in structural frame work, the chief focus is on â€Å"how to find some arrangement-a pattern of formal roles and relationships-that will accommodate organizational needs as well as individual differences† (2008, p.50). However, following this framework in the implementation of the new IT project would end up being problematic to the agency. From experience, some other projects h ad failed tremendously when this approach was used. For instance in case, â€Å"the finance branch (a structure) implemented five separate information systems (AP, AR, GL, inventory, HR), which even though the systems worked, they were not integrated. Significant manual intervention was required to produce the statutory financial reports† (Young 2008, p. 2). This is perhaps well depicts the significance of incorporating knowhow from all structures within an organization. It is fascinating to learn about such failure while the agency had apple IT knowhow. For successful implementation of the agency’s IT project through the entire agency, it calls for a breakdown of such structures to make the policies regarding the project across all departments while borrowing the support and technical knowhow of all members of the organization. However, initially the finance department was reluctant to give an incorporative hand in the IT project. They claimed that they did not like à ¢â‚¬Å"waste of money on financial systems, the track record in finance branch was poor. There was no reason to anticipate the agency would not be the next horror given the dreadful experience of their colleagues in other public agencies† (Young 2008, p.9). Conclusion Adopting a structural approach would pose a problem since it is required that the organization be split up into independent unit. The challenge would be to ensure coherency and coordination between these structures upon splitting them up. Some separate units will have separate responsibilities allocated to them. This constitutes an enormous challenge especially while implementing an IT project since, such projects constitutes a set of activities so interrelated that a bug in one of the activities would truncate itself throughout the entire project with consequences of posing future troubles. Need for standardization of skills is yet another drawback. Human beings are different and talented differently and have dif fering capabilities that aid them in accomplishing certain objectives and tasks. More important is the fact that, â€Å"hierarchy and top-down structures tend to work for ordinary and stable tasks† (Bolman Deal 2008, p.56). In situations of complex environment, it is desirable for the structures to adapt. In case the agency used the structural frame, more emphasis would be placed on varying the structures to respond appropriately to the existing dynamics. It is also evident that for a structural frame, â€Å"few groups have flawless members: the light structure can make optimal use of available resources† (Bolman Deal 2008, p.70). The need to embrace group accountability would also emerge as an important issue. Symbolic Frame Introduction Visions coupled with inspirations forms essential components of a leader deploying the symbolic frame. The frame borrows widely from cultural and social anthropology. It â€Å"treats organizations as tribes, theatre or carnivalsâ⠂¬  (Bolman Deal 2008, p.89). The organizations are characterized by cultures driven by heroes, rituals, myths and policies while not negating authority. Problems typically emerge when â€Å"actors play their parts badly, when symbols lose their meaning and when ceremonies lose their potency† (Bolman Deal 2008, p.99). People normally give more concerns to those organizations, which give them unique identities and make them have a feeling of impeccable significance. According to Bolman and Deal (2008), â€Å"these leaders often rely heavily on organizational traditions and values as the basis for building a common vision and culture that provides cohesiveness and meaning† (p.109). Implementation process In the implementation process of the agency’s IT project, some symbols of failure were imminent. Young remarks that, â€Å"this period ended when Henry and another opponent took a leave and finally left the agency† (2005, p.10). The issues surrounding th e departure of Henry and his colleague, in fact, rendered the implementation of the project delayed by six months. Henry’s perceptions about the IT project to incorporate internal reporting systems rather than not just external reporting systems relied on the need to enhance the existing system rather than making additions, which would result to complication of the project. In this context, symbolic frame was essentially constructed by myths about failure, which prejudiced the intents to try some new ways to better the effectiveness and efficiency of the reporting systems with pragmatism. The weird part of adopting a symbolic approach is that, when people hold and advocate for certain beliefs, they normally have the tendencies to translate them into norms. An ideology that a certain way of executing certain organizational roles cannot work, sparingly without any practical proof, would, thus, serve to undermine development of better systems within an organization. Cultural con texts within work places are enormously valid depending on the number of cultures that are brought together for one single reason: attain the organization’s goals and objectives. Consequently, the central concern that a leader need pay impeccable attention to is the need to consolidate cultures, beliefs and myths and establish some compromise that only takes affiliations that are congruent with the optimistic anticipations of the organization in question. However, this does not mean that criticisms fuelled by symbolic frames should be kept at bay. They are indispensable especially when it comes to evaluation of the other side of the story. Nevertheless, the agency’s IT project implementation was not characterized by symbolic of cultural stigmatizations; something that perhaps resulted to the success of the implementation process despite the project being extensively complex. Conclusion Cultural considerations of the organizations’ workforce calls for some inculc ation of strategies that see the entire workforce recognize the relevance of cultural diversity. These are essential since, more often than not, such people come from different cultures. One way to accomplish this is shunning away from stereotypical racial inclinations that perceive some people as better than others, not based on their talents and cognitive abilities endowments, but rather on their color and bodily appearances among other racial traits. Benefits and limitations of the four frames Introduction The frames presented by Bolman and Deal play vital roles in contributing towards the change of ways in which people look at the manner in which work and organization are supposes to be managed. As discussed in the previous section, the four frames are political, structural, human resource and symbolic frame. This section points out the best possible ways of managing processes change by looking at the necessary leadership for successful implementation of projects in the future. The best Possible ways of managing the processes change As discussed in the previous sections, each frame has its pros and cons. A brilliant manager would, therefore, and according to Bolman and Deal (2008), â€Å"adopt the frame works that will most be appropriate for a given situation† (p.140). The nature of the organizations is characterized by deception, ambiguities, surprises and incredible complexity. Multiple frames can promote versatility with repercussion of improvement of understanding about a situation facing a manager. Bolman and Deal are for the opinion that â€Å"Multiple frames enable us to reframe-to view the same thing from multiple perspectives† (2008, p.157). This way the erroneous indulgences of the managers in narrow thinking would dwindle. Additionally, this would serve to the advantage of work and organizational systems. Organizations established within a society fragments them into discrete structures possessing some symbols that identify and th oroughly distinguish them from all other structures. Furthermore, such structures are mostly for individuals who have certain perceptions, feelings and prejudices. This makes it vital for such future agencies to incorporate the strategies of human resources. On a different account, organizations subject themselves to political influences especially when formulating certain policies (Frost 1986, p.29). Consequently, future agencies call upon managers who are part of the projects implementation committees to consider political frames in an endeavor to ensure that neutral positions are established among all stakeholders. In fact, it is impossible to align all stakeholders of any IT implementation project to the goal of an organization if they embrace differing political opinions especially bearing in mind how information technology project involves incredible investments in terms of technological knowhow amid large commitments of organization’s funds. It is pertinent to note als o that political frames embrace arriving at decisions through bargaining, jockeying and negotiations emanating from contributions of different coalition parties forming the entire decision making arm of an organization. Inasmuch as political frame consideration is paramount, arriving at decisions may take quite a long time following the need to provide political views agreement, failure to which they would form subtle catalysts for coercion (University of Melbourne 2003, Para. 3). Consequently, multiple frames stand out as the way out for the future IT project implementations. If future projects are to be implemented with excellence, â€Å"it requires whole some redefinition, perhaps, excellent firm do not believe in excellence- only in constant improvement and constant change† (Frost 1986, p.4). Such excellence may not be achieved through consideration of only a single frame when approaching the nightmare of future project implementations. Implementing changes demands commit ment of energy in an attempt to learn new approaches in development of new skills and capacities to handle emerging challenges. Therefore, future management requires managers who approach organizational challenges from multi-frames approach. Necessary leadership for successful implementations of projects With complexities in technological sophistication, it is anticipated that implementation of future projects would pose many management and leadership challenges. One radical shift that is vital is looking at leadership out of the old contexts. Leadership is not synonymous â€Å"to power also, it is a distinct form authority† (Bolman Deal 2008, p.167). Leadership also differs from the traditional managerial roles in that requires a leader to look beyond the existing personal jurisdictions thinking from a long-term dimension. The leader must possess political skills coupled with an incredible emphasis on renewal, acting as vision carrier of an organization. According to Frost (1986), â€Å"leaders are expected to persuade and inspire, not coerce† (p.78). The future leaders deserve to appreciate that their noble roles in organizations entail making policies vital for future prosperity of an organization. However, they should be flexible enough to allow policies shape them. They are not enforcers. Leaders, who will be at a position to lead and foster successful implementation of projects, will have to embrace high qualities of leadership. One of such qualities is characterized by visions and focus of the organizations future positions in terms of short term and long terms goals and objectives realization. To certify this requirement, leaders predominantly deserve to establish their standards of performance, set clear and precise directions, and seek the guidance of both practical and abstract images of the future position of the organization (Bolman Deal 2008, p.167). Deep emotional attachment and commitment to work toward the people who are charge d with doing the organizations work goes a long way in portraying the leaders passion to work and organizations functions. Other qualities of exemplary leaders include â€Å"technical competency, perceptive, holistic thinking, well endowed with communication skills and intuitive about undercurrents of mood or changes† (Hersey et al. 2007, p.93). These qualities arguably are consistent with calls for future leaders to incorporate multi-frames perspectives. With reference to Hersey et al. (2007), it is impossible that â€Å"managers will provide the necessary support to match the new demands they are making of their employees and employees are expected to emerge from the womb running without any visible means of support† (p.105). Bolman and Deal criticize the traditional approaches of leadership claiming that leaders operate and execute their responsibilities in an organization as if there is only one frame. The emphasis here is that, for successful implementation of fut ure projects, the leaders need to establish foundations that would ensure coherency in the way the stakeholders involve themselves in the implementation process.   They also need to know how they perceive and attach their anticipations to the entire project. A competitive leader needs to possess the ability to make the workforce and the heads of various organizational structures see the endeavors of an organization to implement projects that would translate to increased effectiveness of the organization from a positive dimension: enthusiasm for success despite failures of past attempts in other sectors. Such leaders appreciate the need to learn from such failures and use it to bench mark their organization projects implementation. This way replication of errors committed by other institutions may be avoided. All they need to do is to convince their workers that they can do things in a different way and succeed. Conclusion Making organizational decisions on implementation of vital projects that see an organization change its ways of operation and handling of work, calls for bold leaders. These leaders not only deserve to look at all issues entangling the implementation of projects from political, structural, symbolic and human resource frames collectively but also posses high qualities of leadership. The future leaders, who will perhaps handle intricate projects in future, are called to have high integrity and open-mindedness that prompts them to be open to logic and reason. This measure has the capacity to make them accommodate varying views of the people he or she leads irrespective of whether such views are instigated by political perspective, symbolism, structural frames or even human resource concerns. The success of implementation of projects squarely lies on the manager’s ability to consolidate and practice his or her roles: leading, controlling and monitoring, effectively. As discussed in the paper, adopting a specific frame while making essent ial projects implementation decisions exposes a manager to some situations, which curtails his or her efforts to look at the situation from varying latitudes and dimensions. Consequently, the paper advocates for a multi-frame approach while making management decisions especially by noting that people have different motivators, political affiliations and come from multiethnic society. In this perspective, organizational leadership has been discussed in the paper as complex, unpredictable and deceptive responsibility. References Bolman, L., Deal, T., 2008. Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Frost, J., 1986. Power, Politics, and Influence: In L. W. Porter and others (eds.): The  Handbook of Organizational Communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Hersey, P., Blanchard, K., Johnson, E., 2007. The Management of Organizational  Behavior. Upper saddle river, NJ: Prentice Hall. Jensen, C., Meckling, W., 1994. The Nature of Man. Journal of Applied Corporate  Finance, 7 (2), pp. 4-19. University of Melbourne., 2003. Managing the Educational Organization. Available at: http/: www. University of Melbourne. Young, R., 2005. Against the odds: how an executive project sponsor influenced a project to succeed despite unsupportive environment; MGSM case study 2005-3. Macquarie Graduate School of Management, 1(1), pp. 1-19.

Explore These Free Online Macroeconomics Textbook Resources

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Organizational Culture - Assignment Example Center of discussion in this paper is organizational culture as a â€Å"set of shared beliefs and experiences that essentially defines the identity of an organization and ultimately guides its behavior†. Today, most organizations are reconsidering and reconstructing their organizational culture for it is perceived as one of the important determinants of success in terms of influencing individual behavior. Furthermore, the culture’s role in the organization is indispensable because it is a lifetime result of weaknesses, strengths, failures, and experiences of people. In fact, it is frequently cited in the different versions of cultural studies that if an organization is planning to implement a change process, it must first understand its organizational culture because failure to do so will make the process unsuccessful. This idea was seconded by the study of Kotter and Heskett when they presented that organizational culture is one of the barriers in implementing a succes sful organizational change effort because culture or experiences are learnt over many years. In addition, a company’s invention or development of systems or procedures will too often fail because â€Å"cultures do not support the newly learned concepts, values, or assumptions†. â€Å"Generally, culture studies are conducted at different levels of analyses (for instance, organizational versus societal) using different methodological approaches (conceptual, quantitative, and qualitative) and a variety of associated constructs†.... Moreover, the positive relationship between culture and performance is supported by several research studies (Peters & Waterman, 1982; Denison, 1996; Marcoulides & Heck, 1993). Culture is also considered as a strong competitive advantage; thus, beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors of people in an organization are highly regarded (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2008, p.3). For example, if business practices are not aligned with the corporate culture, profits will fall, wider range of facilities will not be fully utilized, and there will be no unity and cooperation in the organization. Theories and Conceptual Models in Defining the Style of Management Organizations are expected to be proactive with their actions or strategies and update them based on current market trends. However, changing an organizational culture is a complicated process because of the concept’s nature wherein â€Å"the stronger the culture, the more resistant it is to any form of change† (Kaliprasad, 20 06, p.29; Thompson & Luthans, 1990). Therefore, the organization’s greatest challenge is to create a strong and powerful culture, which is at the same time susceptible to environmental disturbances (Schein, 1992). Thus, several culture theories and models are proposed to have a good or in-depth understanding of the increasing perception that organizational culture and success/effectiveness have a positive linkage. These associated models and cultures are also created to determine the different aspects of culture in different analyses, approaches, forms, and dimensions, particularly in organizational behaviors. Edgar Schein’s Model of Organizational Culture and Leadership (1980s). Having a powerful and flexible organizational culture is considered

Tito Puente Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Tito Puente - Research Paper Example Tito Puente is a multi-faceted genius with versatility, innovation, experimentation, flamboyance and attitude. Above all, he was a great human being. Without throwing light on these aspects, any portrait sketch of Tito remains incomplete. Tito, born on April 20, 1923 in New York City’s Spanish Harlem, was seven years old when he was enrolled in 25-cent piano lessons (Hispanic Heritage). Fascinated by Gene Krupa, drummer, he started the study of percussion at the age of ten and first performed at the age of thirteen. In his teens, joined Noro Morales and the Machito Orchestra. After completing his study at the Julliard School of Music, he formed his group ‘the Piccadilly Boys’ which later became ‘the Tito Puente Orchestra’ (Puente, Tito). His 1958 album ‘Dance Mania’ was placed among the 25 most influential albums of the 20th century by the New York Times. Key to the City of New York (1969), James Smithson Bicentennial Medal, a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1990), National Medal of Arts (1997) and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2003) were just a few of the innumerable honors conferred on him. Tito is considered to be the godfather of Latin jazz and salsa. However, to say that Tito is an artiste associated with salsa and Latin jazz is a simplistic statement. It presents things in too narrow a light to give an accurate and objective evaluation of Tito’s place, at large, in the world of music. Firstly, it would be injustice to Tito’s soul to brand him just a musician considering his notion that ‘if there is no dance, there is no music’. It is amusing to know that his original dream was to become a dancer. Eddie Torres felt it was a privilege to be identified as the Tito Puente Dancers (Salsa Dancing – New York Style). Then, as a musician, to limit Tito to mambo and jazz is a very inadequate description. His versatility ran the gamut of piano, conga drums, claves, bateria, tap drums along with saxophone and even clarinet. As for the nature of his music, it was only the roots that were Latin. These roots were aesthetically integrated with several other components like the Cuban sounds, the African sounds, the black jazz, the big band swing, bebop, Yoruba tradition, the vibes, the Oriental influence and Kenton progressive style. The integration was done in such a manner that the end product would be appealing to music lovers. It appealed first to a white audience and then to the entire world. Tito defied the Spanish cultural tyranny over Latin music. He brought the African percussion to the mainstream and thus ended the prevalent animosity towards African music. Thanks to his style, the black musicians could shed their inhibitions. Tito’s method was a skilful manipulation of the Afro-Cuban pattern to fit into the framework of the American big band prototype. He was adept in incorporating Latin rhythms in jazz and popular music. The song ‘Hong K ong Mambo’ from the album ‘Dance Mania’ illustrates Tito’s skill in bringing together Latin music and Oriental melody (McNeese 84). In the song ‘Varsity Drag Mambo’, he blends swing jazz of the Big Band style with mambo rhythm. Tito was known for his inclination to experiment with music. But in this process he was cautious not to interfere with the absolute beauty of music. When he went for improvisation in his orchestration, there were three ways in which he would do that. In the first type, the original melody would be completely adhered to. Only a

On Spirituality and Feminist Liberation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

On Spirituality and Feminist Liberation - Essay Example Christianity is considered as one of the world’s oldest agents of transformation as a factor in progress and development of humanity. The reasons, evidences and principles involved in understanding the issue of spirituality and its patriarchal nature had been extensively documented and debated upon since time immemorial. Since the predominant structure from early Christian era is patriarchal in nature, this paper will try to explore and analyze the historical role of women in religion by looking into the belief systems, myths, ad archetypes from ancient civilizations to the advent of religious feminism. The analysis would be thorough in depth discussion and reasoning on its philosophical and psychological implication with emphasis on female metaphysical structure. The predominantly patriarchal structure of church, though not inclusive, significantly shaped the role of women in religion and spiritualty. During the early Christian era, it is evident that women’s lives and spiritualties are constantly challenged as they are continually restricted in all aspect of life, considered inferior in essence compared to men and have very little access to knowledge. Accordingly, women is shaped and affected by their conditioned role and to conform and be dependent to the patriarchal structure of society (Melanchthon 303)... In essence, there should be emphasis on the various kinds of religion in looking into the role of women in terms to spirituality and relationship with the divine. However, as suggested by Howell, religions basically presets common purpose such that the primary is to stabilize the immediate society from any possible conflict and destruction through implementation of best practices and the secondary purpose is to control women in such a way that they will continue to reproduce and satisfy the male biological and physiological demands for sex. Though some women are worshiped for their beauty and beyond their domesticated propose, men remained in charge as predetermined by the patriarchal society. According to Melanchthon, feminism is the major ideology that liberates women from several decades of oppression and injustice brought about by the patriarchal nature of society through transformation. Looking at several historical data, it can be noted that women really experiences oppression and injustice and the advent of spiritual feminism liberated them from such (308). Women as Spiritually and Religiously Oppressed For most women, spirituality and religious undertakings became their source of inspiration and from part of in their personal relationship with the divine they worship and to achieve spiritual holiness women strive to continually achieve it through religious works and deeds. However, until 1920’s or before the advent of feminist spirituality, women cannot express their affection and relationship with the divine and were constantly being the subject of injustices and oppression. Among the injustices and oppressions women experienced in the past include; undervalued essence and other oppressions brought about by the patriarchal system, unrecognized

Listening Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Listening Interview - Essay Example I learnt that J.P has been in the business for quite a long time and I felt he was the right person to interview since I believe he has more than enough experience (Kumar 2007). I am interested in this business because it involves games and since I love games, I believe if I can venture in it, I will be able to generate some income for myself and at the same time have fun as my main aim is to know how I can enjoy myself while I do the business. I wanted J.P to give me with full details on all the tricks of successfully making it in the business since it is a business, I have always dreamt of. After the interview with J.P, I learnt so many things that are needed to be able to make it in the games business industry. I learnt that in this business involving games stores, there are varieties of games types and most of them vary in terms of demand. I learnt from him that the business is different currently from that practiced back in the years because, today in business, the most important thing a person needs is enough space. J.P says so much space has since been taken over by other games. I also learnt that when there was a serious global crisis this business was not left out either, and because of the way J.P had mixed products in his stores he was able to survive the crisis somehow, and this has taught me that I should not ignore anything that I know has something to do with games. This means I should include all the items that are meant for sports even if they are dormant as they save situations once in a while. J.P made me know that if I want a successful business, I will have to be unique and different. When other stores are selling what they believe to be new and in high demand, I should have some items but mix them with the original ones including those that may be thought by people as dead products. I learnt that I would need to make an effort to have just everything in the store and have it as a one-stop store where a client is able to

On Spirituality and Feminist Liberation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

On Spirituality and Feminist Liberation - Essay Example Christianity is considered as one of the world’s oldest agents of transformation as a factor in progress and development of humanity. The reasons, evidences and principles involved in understanding the issue of spirituality and its patriarchal nature had been extensively documented and debated upon since time immemorial. Since the predominant structure from early Christian era is patriarchal in nature, this paper will try to explore and analyze the historical role of women in religion by looking into the belief systems, myths, ad archetypes from ancient civilizations to the advent of religious feminism. The analysis would be thorough in depth discussion and reasoning on its philosophical and psychological implication with emphasis on female metaphysical structure. The predominantly patriarchal structure of church, though not inclusive, significantly shaped the role of women in religion and spiritualty. During the early Christian era, it is evident that women’s lives and spiritualties are constantly challenged as they are continually restricted in all aspect of life, considered inferior in essence compared to men and have very little access to knowledge. Accordingly, women is shaped and affected by their conditioned role and to conform and be dependent to the patriarchal structure of society (Melanchthon 303)... In essence, there should be emphasis on the various kinds of religion in looking into the role of women in terms to spirituality and relationship with the divine. However, as suggested by Howell, religions basically presets common purpose such that the primary is to stabilize the immediate society from any possible conflict and destruction through implementation of best practices and the secondary purpose is to control women in such a way that they will continue to reproduce and satisfy the male biological and physiological demands for sex. Though some women are worshiped for their beauty and beyond their domesticated propose, men remained in charge as predetermined by the patriarchal society. According to Melanchthon, feminism is the major ideology that liberates women from several decades of oppression and injustice brought about by the patriarchal nature of society through transformation. Looking at several historical data, it can be noted that women really experiences oppression and injustice and the advent of spiritual feminism liberated them from such (308). Women as Spiritually and Religiously Oppressed For most women, spirituality and religious undertakings became their source of inspiration and from part of in their personal relationship with the divine they worship and to achieve spiritual holiness women strive to continually achieve it through religious works and deeds. However, until 1920’s or before the advent of feminist spirituality, women cannot express their affection and relationship with the divine and were constantly being the subject of injustices and oppression. Among the injustices and oppressions women experienced in the past include; undervalued essence and other oppressions brought about by the patriarchal system, unrecognized

General Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

General Management - Case Study Example Sales took place in software service but big hardware and software were sold occasionally and not at a regular interval which led to fluctuation in profitability. In addition, economic conditions and internal problems also led to major setback for the firm. Constraints Main constraint for the firm was that the customer demanded low cost product and the sale of its hardware’s and software’s were pretty less as compared to the sale of software packages which resulted in loss of money in the company’s ongoing services. The external factors also acted as one of the major constraint in the working of the firm. Objectives Personal objectives and corporate objectives are important for organizations as the personal objectives would help the members of the organization to stay maintained and disciplined towards the work and working environment and the corporate objectives would define the goals and target that are to be achieved. Both personal and corporate objectives are somehow linked with each other. Corporate objectives usually mean to achieve a set goal like to capture market share of 10%, customer satisfaction and other factors n relation to the business. Therefore personal objectives would help to achieve the corporate objectives of the firm. Industry Analysis The industry analysis would take into consideration tools such as SWOT analysis which would look at the strength and weaknesses, the internal issues along with the firm’s opportunity and threats referred to as the external issues both for software industry and the firm. SWOT Analysis Strength: The partners of the firm, Dave had extensive programming experience and had worked for many software firms. The firm’s software package was highly praised by its customers and this it can be said that the strategy was highly successful adding it to be one of the strength of the company. The software industry had distributors according to the size and need of the customers. Weakness: The hardware and software because of their high price were not sold at regular interval which impacted the profitability of the firm. SWO primary source of income did not provide SWO with stable source of income. The firm was also financially unstable as a result banks refused to offer loans also lack of consistent data entry proved the internal issues of the firm. Opportunities: opportunity for SWO in the future is to either sell of the firm or to expand the business in order to stay competitive in the software industry. In addition marketing sector can also be improved to create awareness. Threat: A major threat came from the competitors of SWO as competition in the software industry is quite stiff. ACCPAC, IBM and Arthur Anderson were the leading competitors in the software industry. Key Success factors According to the distributors, better inventory and accounts management was the key success factor for the firm to regain its position and make a mark in the software industry. Co nsumer Analysis I II III IV Who Business form Computer parts Small distributors Mid size customers What distributors distributors distributors distributors When business Why bankrupt Unhappy with SWO service Receivables problems N/A How Provide effective service Provide service with the problem Market size N/A N/A N/A N/A Implications: Individuals Professionals

To investigate the resistance of a wire Essay Example for Free

To investigate the resistance of a wire Essay In this experiment the factor to be investigated is the resistance of a wire in a circuit when the wires length is altered. This means that all other factors must stay the same or else this would not be a fair test. I am going to investigate how different lengths of wire affect the resistance in a circuit. I am using a voltmeter and an ammeter to measure the current in the circuit after the length of wire is changed. I am going to use five different lengths of wire and in order to make sure that this is a fair test and the results are accurate, I will repeat each experiment three times and work out the average. The results will not be completely accurate as the length of wire may not be accurate. I also may not have put the voltage on the power box exactly on the right voltage. Other factors that affect the rate of reaction are Electricity. When the electricity is increased, the readings on the voltmeter and ammeter immediately change. If by accident anyone touches the knob on the power pack, the electricity given out into the circuit changes, therefore making the experiment unfair. I will work out resistance in Ohms by using Ohms Law, which is: V=IR (Voltage = Current x Resistance) The whole experiment must be as fair as possible. I will measure out the wire correctly and keep the power pack on the same voltage, in order to keep it a fair test. I will also repeat each experiment three times to make sure it is accurate. I will then draw the graph using the averages. Prediction I predict that the longer the wire is, the more resistant it will be. I. e. If the wire is 5cm, more electricity will get through the circuit than if it were a 45cm piece, at the same voltage. This is because in a long length of wire, there is more space for the electrons to move and so the more times the free electrons will collide with other free electrons. In a short length of wire, the electrons are close together and have a lower collision rate than those in a long piece of wire. This theory is backed up by Ohms law, which Apparatus Method   Collect Apparatus as shown in diagram.   Set up apparatus as shown.   Make sure power pack is set to 3v.   Measure out 15cm of wire. Clip the crocodile clips onto each end of the measured length of wire. Turn on the power pack.   Look at readings on Ammeter and Voltmeter and write down results.   Re measure and repeat two more times before moving on to next experiment.   Work out average of each experiment and use that in the graph. Safety To keep myself and others around me safe, the following should be followed: Not do this experiment near water, as people could get electrocuted. People should not touch the wire while the experiment is taking place as it could be hot and it could burn them. Girls with long hair should tie it back as they may knock something over with their hair. Results Experiment 1 Wire (cm) Readings of Ammeter Readings of Voltmeter 1Experiment 2 Wire (cm) Readings of Ammeter Readings of Voltmeter 30cmExperiment 3 Wire (cm) Readings of Ammeter Readings of Voltmeter. 17 Experiment 5 Wire (cm) Readings of Ammeter Readings of Voltmeter 75cm 0. 23 3. 23 75cm 0. 21 3. 22 75cm 0. 22 3. 23 I have worked out the averages of each experiment with a calculator to one decimal place. Here are the averages of each experiment: Wire (cm) Averages of Ammeter readings Averages of Voltmeter readings 15cm 0. 85 2. 65 30cm 0. 49 2. 96 45cm 0. 34 3. 08 60cm 0. 26 3. 16 75cm 0. 22 3. 20 Using the averages from the experiments, I have worked out the resistance of the wire. This is shown on the graph. Wire (cm) Averages of Resistance (Ohms). Conclusions My results agree with my prediction. When the length of wire is longer, there is more space for the electrons to move through the wire, therefore there is a higher chance of them colliding with each other and creating resistance. I have also seen that, through the course of the experiments, the Ammeter readings decrease, and the voltmeter readings increase. Evaluation My experiments all went well, except the Graph shows that the results are close to perfect apart from the last experiment. I noticed that through the course of the experiments, the Voltmeter readings seem to get higher in value and the Ammeter readings seem to decrease. If I had more time, I would have done the experiments more times each for a fairer test. I would also use more accurate and new equipment, as the equipment I used has been used many times before and may not measure the resistance perfectly. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.

Why Firms become Multinational Enterprises

Why Firms become Multinational Enterprises Introduction One of the important aspects of globalization is the international transformation of the companies around the world. The companies have evolved from being a domestic firm to a multinational corporation and being present almost everywhere in the world either physically or via internet. These international companies are regarded as true MNCs only if they have made substantial direct investment in foreign countries and have actively and continuously taken part in the management of these assets (Barlett, Ghoshal, p2). Though the companies had started the internationalization process as early as in the seventeenth and the eighteenth century when the developed nations moved towards the under developed ones for acquiring key resources and in search for markets, but the latter part of the twentieth century and the beginning of twenty-first century witnessed a huge expansion in the extent to which the firms go international  (Barlett, ghoshal, p1). The internationalization process has trans formed greatly due to the evolution of the motives and the way firms integrate and expand their businesses around the world. There are both proactive and reactive motivations for a firm to go international. Proactive motivations are evident in firms that see a need for a strategic change and want to go international; whereas reactive firms are those that go international because they have to in order to deal with the competition from the domestic firms growing internationally as well as the foreign players entering the domestic market. (Czinkota, The Export Marketing Imperative, 2004, pg 4). This essay discusses these motives for firms to become MNEs and how they go about it. Why firms become Multinational Enterprises In the increasingly global business environment, many companies cannot afford to be under the assumption that their domestic markets will always be profitable. For this reason, many companies start with selling their existing products to the countries which have more number of consumers (e.g. China and India) or where consumers have more purchasing power (e.g., USA) (Rennie, Michael W, 193). This arises from the primary profit-seeking motive of the companies but also helps them to increase their brand identity and global presence (Czinkota, p4). These companies then customize their product line according to the country in which they are selling in order to expand their customer base and tackle the competition from the domestic players. So increased sales are a major motive for a companys expansion, and in fact, many of the worlds largest companies including Volkswagen (Germany), Ericsson (Sweden), IBM (United States), Michelin (France), Nestle (Switzerland), and Sony (Japan) derive more than half their sales from outside their home countries (UN Conference: Promoting Linkages, 2001). Another motive, which arose from the firms going international, was seeking cost effective resources to propel production for local and foreign markets. As the firms expanded geographically, they needed to attain competitive advantage over other foreign as well as the domestic companies. This drove them to invest abroad in countries where resources needed for production were available at low cost (Cosmin Sabau). In the earlier days, these resources included mainly the natural resources like rubber, steel, aluminum, etc., for example, crude oil was sourced from gulf countries to meet the shortfall in the domestic supply of crude oil. Today, it includes low cost land, labor and capital as well. This helped in lowering their cost of production and offering competitive prices to the customer. Sports good companies like Rawlings rely largely on labor in Costa Rica, a country that hardly plays baseball, to produce baseballs (Philip Hersh, 2009). The motivations to expand internationally however changed gradually in response to the great organizational and technological forces (Barlett, ghoshal, p6). One of the major contemporary motives is achieving economies of scale. It was first noted by manufacturers in the military aircraft industry in the 1920s and 1930s that direct labor costs decreased by a constant percentage as the cumulative number of aircraft produced doubled. By increasing the cumulative output and exporting to a larger market, the companies can bring down their cost of production by 20-30 percent (Ghemawat). Many companies establish foreign research and development (RD) facilities to tap additional scientific resources, sometimes acquiring useful knowledge in the process (Heather Berry, 2006, p 151-168). Avon, for instance, applies know-how from its Latin American marketing experience to help sell to the US Hispanic market (Nery Ynclan, July 23, 2002:EI). Yet another motive for companies going international was shortening PLCs (Barlett, ghoshal, p6). As the life of a product became shorter, adequate returns for all the research and development done for the product could be made only by introducing the product to multiple larger markets. In addition companies nowadays aim to launch the product simultaneously in as many markets as possible to enjoy the maximum returns before more firms start producing substitutes. How firms become Multinational Enterprises Internationalization is a very crucial and strategic decision that a company takes in its lifetime. Certain prerequisites need to be met before a firm can think of nationalizing and becoming an MNC. The first one is high country attractiveness. The country should be able to offer something that will promise a competitive advantage for the company or something that can help the company sustain its existing competitive advantage. Another prerequisite is the ownership of strategic competencies. The company should have some competencies that will help it counter balance the incognizance of foreign markets and environmental conditions. Also, the company should have some organizational capabilities that will increase the ROI by leveraging the companys strategic strengths intensively. These three prerequisites are essential for selecting the mode of internationalization and the mode of country entry that will help the company compete in world business. (Barlett, Ghoshal) There are many methods adopted by companies to internationalize and conquer foreign markets. The earliest method used by firms in their process of becoming MNEs was exports and imports. This may include both merchandise exports and imports and service exports and imports. Service exports and imports may be tourism and transportation, service performance and asset use. Some services earn payment for the companies for the performance of those services. For example, the companies may pay fees for turnkey projects which are transferred to the owner once they are operational. Management contracts also earn the companies fees for the performance of general and specialized management functions for another. Asset use includes Licensing, Franchising, etc. Licensing is the process of allowing another company to use its intangible assets like patents, trademarks, copyrights, or expertise, under contracts known as licensing agreements for which they earn royalties. Example. Franchising is the pr ocess of business in which a company permits another company to use the trademark as an asset of the franchisees business. The franchisor will help the franchisee by supplying raw materials, management services etc. and also will lay down guidelines and standards that are to be followed by the franchisee. For example, McDonalds has franchised its outlets in many countries like UK, India, etc. In many circumstances, a multinational with an exclusive technology may fear that a licensing contract lead to dissipation of its proprietary knowledge. In that case, setting up a foreign subsidiary is a preferable strategy. (http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/CP167.pdf) Another method of expanding globally is by making investments on the foreign countries. Foreign investment implies ownership of foreign property in exchange for a financial return. There are two forms of foreign investment: direct and portfolio. The foreign direct investments (FDIs) confer the investor with a controlling stake in the company. For example, when Nintendos CEP bought the Seattle Mariners, the baseball team became a Japanese FDI in the US. Although the control in the foreign company need not be full; even with a minority stake and the remaining ownership widely dispersed, the foreign investor can take decisions that cannot be vetoed by any other owner. When the ownership of the company is taken by more than one company, it is called as a joint venture. Today, at least 61,000 companies worldwide control over 900,000 FDIs in every industry (UN Conference: FDI from Developing and Transition Economies, 2006, p 30-31). On the other hand, the foreign portfolio investment is a non controlling interest in a company or ownership of a loan made to another party. This can be in the form of stocks in a company or loans to a company in the forms of bonds, bills, or notes purchased by the investor. They are comparatively safer than FDIs in terms of risk. Conclusion The changing extent, character and geography of MNE activity over the past two decades is itself a reflection of a series of path-breaking technological, economic and political events. But internationalization is not a one size fits all approach have different motives to go global and do it in the way that best suits their business models and gives them maximum returns. Whichever method a company adopts, it goes through a learning process and increases its knowledge throughout the process. Internationalization has indeed become the need of the hour for companies to sustain their businesses in the long run and develop companys strategic and organizational capabilities.