Human Atrocities Essay

In the age of terrorism and nuclear wars, one of the greatest challenges that the human community is facing right now is to curb human rights violations that is occurring in almost all parts of the world. Even the citizens of the most democratic of nations are not spared from a certain degree of human rights violations or atrocities. This is a fact that all citizens of the world must face and bravely address. But the bigger question is this: who is responsible to curb human atrocities? More specifically, what can the international and local community do to intervene in such atrocities? To answer these questions, I believe we must first arrive at a definition of human rights violations or atrocities. According to Wikipedia, human rights refers to the universal rights of all human beings –regardless of race, color, nationality, religion gender and culture. From the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is basically based on inherent human dignity. Concurrently, human atrocities are violations of rights inherent to an individual. Normally, it is a term used when a government violates national or international law related to the protection of human rights. (Wikipedia, 2007) I am of the opinion that the international community has an inherent responsibility to stand up against any form of human rights abuse. International courts such as the International Criminal Court and international organizations such as the United Nations must be vigilant in protecting the rights of each human being. They must be the first to safeguard the interest of each person against any crime that may be done against them by either the military in their respective government or their government per se. For instance, the International Criminal Court is designed to bring into effect those peremptory norms of international law which safeguard such fundamental values as human dignity, the respect for life and limb of innocent persons, and the protection of ethnic, religious or racial groups. (Cassesse, 2007) In addition, the International Criminal Court must bring to justice any state which violates the dignity of its citizens. Doing so will uphold the most important international values, including the respect for human rights. Moreover, taking these steps will uphold and vindicate community rights. International non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch is an indication of what the international community can do in order to help curb the rise of human atrocities in any country. They have the resources to let the international community know of any wrongdoings being done in certain areas of the world. They can mobilize other local organizations to stand up against these atrocities by mobilizing public opinion. For instance, Amnesty International has worked and is further exerting its efforts for the protection of those detained because of their non-violent opinions and is seeking that Articles 18 and 19 of the UDHR be recognized globally. On the other hand, Human Rights Watch opposes basic human rights violations like death penalty and sex discrimination. It is an advocate of freedom relating to fundamental human rights like freedom of religion and the press. Another significant player in the bid to curb human atrocities is the local community. One cannot overemphasize on the power of the locals to intervene in such problems. Setting up international organizations will not solve the problems that are festering a country. Healing must come from within. The local community must always be on the look-out for any atrocities being done and must bravely report this to the authorities. As noted in the website of the Crimes of War Project, each international institution will need the support and cooperation of other institutions and, most significantly, of States themselves and local communities for that matter. For example, local community can be a source of vital information related to the patterns and mechanisms of the problems in the community that can help solve an international crisis. (Cassesse, 2007) I also believe that the power of media can be best utilized in addressing the realities of human rights violations. Since the media can effectively capture the attention of many people, the local and international media should make it their responsibility to report any news of wrongdoings or injustice. (Cassesse, 2007) This will also help in making each community –whether local or international—to be more vigilant in such cases. It must be understood that the measures to be taken by the international community will have no significant bearing without the support of the local community. No amount of intervention will be effective if the local community will not render its support. As noted by Antonio Cassesse in an article entitled â€Å"A Big Step Forward for International Justice†, the best response to atrocities lies in a prudent and well thought-out combination of various approaches both local and international. (Cassesse, 2007) He writes, â€Å"international criminal law is a branch of law that, more than any other, is about human folly, human wickedness, and human aggressiveness. It deals with the darkest side of our nature. It also deals with the way societies organize themselves to stem violence and viciousness as much as possible. Clearly, given the magnitude of the task, no single response may suffice. Instead, a broad array of responses, each tailored to specific circumstances, is needed effectively to fight international criminality. † (Cassesse, 2007) Hence, intervention of human atrocities is both a local and international responsibility –one that must be taken seriously and diligently by all societies in the world. Cited Works Cassesse, Antonio. crimesofwar. org. â€Å"A Big Step Forward for International Justice. † 7 March 2007. Wikipedia. â€Å"Human Rights. † 7 March 2007.

Organisations and Behaviour Essay

The Purpose of management is to set collective goals for the organisation and communicate to members of the organisation. They make sure these goals are met organisational structures and systems are designed to make members ‘pull’ together and so that resources are utilised efficiently and effectively. They also create and sustain a corporate identity and culture; they look after the interests of the organisation’s stakeholders too. Managers need to control what goes on in their department, they also need to make sure that everything is co-ordinated otherwise things wont happen properly and problems will start to occur. They are very commanding in order to get jobs done properly and on time and also to show that they are the ones with the authority, i.e. the one who is in charge, what I say goes. Management are given many different types of authority so that they can then implement what they have to do in their role as a manager. They have power, which is the ability to do something or get others to do it. Their authority gives them the right to do something or get others to do it. Along with these comes responsibility, which is where the liability of a person is called into account for the way authority has been exercised. Finally there are also able to delegate, this means that they give a subordinate authority over a defined area of which is within their own scope of authority, they hand over work to someone else but and not rid of the responsibility and work fully. Read more:  Explain the Nature of Groups and Group Behaviour Within Organisations Managers have a number of roles; they consist of interpersonal, informational and decisional. A man called Henry Mintzberg in 1973 identified these roles. An interpersonal role is one that shows leadership, and consists of figurehead, leader and liaison. The interpersonal role has a very important factor known as ‘coaching’. According to Needham et al (1999 p214) â€Å"Coaching is an ongoing process in which one person works closely with another to develop skills and abilities†. An interpersonal manager would need to be a good coach I order to be effective. They build one-to-one relationships with the people they work with in order to build up loyalty and support and at the same time they unleash their full potential. The informational role is an administrating role and consists of monitoring, disseminator and spokesman. Managers in this role are supposed to be able to process information with confidence. They are also supported by information technology in this role, they need to be able to adapt to the changes that happen to rapidly in this environment. The decisional role is a kind of fixing role and involves entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. The managers in this type of role have to make decisions; this means they need to choose courses of action from a set of different alternatives available. There are two main type of decisions, programmed and non-programmed. Herbert Simon (1957, cited in Needham et al 1999 p214) says that Programmed decisions â€Å"are straight forward, repetitive and routine, so that they can be dealt with by a formal pattern† and that Non-programmed decisions â€Å"are novel, unstructured and consequential. There is no cut-and-dried method for handling situations that have not arisen before†. Over the years the way people thought about management and the way they implemented different strategies has changed vastly. To start with back in the early 1900’s there was a scientific approach to management brought about by a man called F W Taylor. Each work process was to be analysed and then by a scientific method it was possible to find the best way for people to do their task or job. Taylor’s thought was that in the same way that there is one special machine that was best for doing one certain job, there is one specific way by which people should undertake their jobs. They would get what was described as a fair days pay for a fair days pay. If workers were to take up Taylor’s methods of working their wages would increase due to it being a more efficient and productive way of working and thus they would become more motivated. However, when actually implemented there became strong criticisms and reactions to his scientific management methods as workers actually found the work boring and weren’t interested, as it required very little skill from them. The workers saw this as disempowerment of them and didn’t like it. So although this was one of the very first approaches to management Drucker (1976, cited in Management and Organisational Behaviour, 1999 p52) says â€Å"Taylor’s greatest impact may still be ahead †¦. The need to study Taylor anew and apply him may be the greatest in the developed countries† suggesting that we may still need to use this theory in present day organisations. Moving on into the 1920’s brought Webber and Fayol with their classical administration/bureaucracy approach to management. This type of management brought sets of official positions, with rules for experts and rules for officials. It showed clear hierarchical authority structure. Impersonal actions by managers in dealing with clients and other workers were seen in order to get rational judgements and a good performance of duties. There are four main features of the bureaucracy theory, they consist of: 1. Specialisation – of the job, so that should the current jobholder leave the job can still continue to function. 2. Hierarchy of authority – a very clear and sharp distinction is made between the workers and the management. And then within the management there are clear ranks between levels of authority, just like what can be seen in current day armed forces. 3. System of rules – this is where the ‘impersonal’ bit comes in as they were set to provide efficient, impersonal operation. These rules are set to provide a stable environment, even though some of the rules are open to change. 4. Impersonality – The rules set down above in number 3 are used to allocate privileges and exercise authority. The characteristics of impersonality are a feature of bureaucracy. Stewart, R (1986, cited in, cited in Management and Organisational Behaviour, 1999 p55) says â€Å"A bureaucracy should not only be impersonal but be seen to be impersonal.† This impersonal-ness in relationships leads to a lack or responsiveness with some incidents and problems. There was also an over emphasis on the rules and procedures in bureaucracy method. Caulkin (1988, cited in Management and Organisational Behaviour, 1999 p56) criticises this over emphasis by saying â€Å"The overemphasis on process rather than purpose, fragmented responsibilities and hierarchical control means that it’s all too easy for individuals to neglect the larger purposes to which their small effort is being put† People then began to recognise about this impersonal-ness and came upon the fact that the workers needs had to be recognised somewhat. This was known as the human relations approach and brought about by Blake, Mouton and Hertzberg in the 1920-1930s. The human relations theory was a major turning point as it started to take into account the needs, values and relationships of the workers. The workforce became more motivated and satisfied job wise, as the human relations approach recognised the importance of informal organisations. They emphasised the needs of wider social needs of individuals and gave recognition to social organisations. The importance of groups and values was emphasised which influenced their individual behaviour at work. All of this led to continued attention being paid to matters such as job satisfaction, group dynamics, participation, leadership and motivation. However, certain criticisms of the human relations approach were that it was not scientific enough and it ignored the role of the organisation itself in how society operates and so another theory was introduced, called The System’s theory. Katz and Kahn introduced the System’s theory in the 1960’s. The systems approach tries to reconcile the theories of Webber and Fayol with that of Hertzberg. It focuses on the interrelationships of structure and behaviour within the organisation. There are two types of systems, an ‘open’ and a ‘closed’ system. A closed system is one that is shut off from its environment. Whilst an open system is usually business related organisationally and it involves continual interaction with its broader external environment. They take in influences from ‘outside’ as INPUTS and produces/influences the environment using OUTPUTS. Every system can have many sub-systems, some including marketing, sales accounts departments etc. INPUTS PROCESS OUTPUTS Materials, Labour, Machinery, Land. Products, Services, Profit. As we moved on into the 1970’s along came the contingency approach, mainly Burns and Stalker brought this to us. The contingency approach shows the importance of structure as a significant influence on the organisational performance. It is also seen as an extension to the systems theory. There is no on optimum state in this approach. The structure and success of an organisation is dependant on the total picture of internal factors and external environment. This type of approach shows that not one style of organisational structure is suitable for all types of businesses, it all depends on the circumstances and structure at that particular moment in time. This theory suggests that an organisation should not seek just one best type of structure to use but that they should look at the present situation and relevant background factors that influence management decisions. The final and most current management theory came about in the 1980’s. This is known as the chaos theory and was brought to us by Tom Peters. The chaos theory tries to make organisations emphasise on the fact that they need to prepare themselves for turbulence, rather than having a rigid, inflexible structure with fixed conditions. It incorporates the contingency approach as it suggests that you should prepare for the unexpected with contingency plans. You can see that the chaos theory is working in current day situations as shown by Peters. Peters, T.J and Waterman, R.H (1982, cited in Management and Organisational Behaviour, 1999 p58) â€Å"found that excellent American companies achieved quick action just because their organisations were fluid, and had intensive networks of informal and open communications†. Part A – (2) Two organisations that I am going to compare are Irwin Mitchell Solicitors and Signfab. Irwin Mitchell Solicitors is a formal, geographical organisation as it has branches across the UK and is run through a partnership. Whilst Signfab is a small local, informal organisation which is run by a sole trader. There are many different approaches to management that could be taken by an organisation, one would be the Theory X and Theory Y approach brought about by McGregor. The main principle of Theory X is based on direction and control through a centralised system of the organisation and the exercise of authority. Whilst Theory Y bases itself on the integration of individual and organisational goals. These Theories influence a range of managerial behaviours and strategies. Managers of Theory X take an authoritative approach and those of Theory Y use a more democratic one. Signfab seems to take a Theory Y approach to its management. In Theory Y management they would check peoples attitudes and skills rather than their references, they would also have frequent informal contacts with their employees rather than consulting them through trade unions. Also the pay scheme for Theory Y is mainly based on a salary and profit related pay, whilst Theory X uses piece rate pay and a personal performance related pay. If you look at the theories that Fayol and Mintzberg took to management we can compare them to what managers currently take in modern day organisations. In the organisation Signfab I would say that they seem to use Mintzberg’s managerial roles. Mintzberg says that there are 10 different roles of managers. Interpersonal, which consists of a figurehead, leader and liaison. Informational, which consists of monitor, disseminator and a spokesperson. And lastly decisional roles these involve entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and a negotiator. On an average day Signfab the owner of Signfab would take on almost all of these managerial roles. He would become a figurehead, leader, monitor, spokesperson, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. He uses all of these roles because he takes on the jobs of selling products to consumers, sorting out the finance for daily, weekly, monthly running of the business, he briefs his employees on new tasks they have to do and daily jobs that need finishing. He also has to ensure the equipment is safe and working properly for them to use, he takes care of the advertising and takes orders for items to be made and places orders for new stock that they need and then he also gets involved in the making of the products himself on a daily basis. There is also the Chaos theory; this is where the organisations need to be able to move with the turbulent world that we live in today. When the unexpected happens they need to have a plan of what to do so that things are not to badly disrupt and their organisation may still function properly. A key concept of the Chaos theory is that tiny small changes in the input of the organisation and environment result in overwhelming differences in the output. According to Needham et al (1999 p201) â€Å"clearly the emphasis for the modern organisation should be on thriving on chaos. This requires forward-thinking and adaptive structures†. In the organisation Irwin Mitchell Solicitors the managers had a more empowering approach to their management. If you take the theories of Henri Fayol you can see that his theories have a more hierarchical structure to management. Managers have 5 main functions in Fayol’s theory; they consist of – planning, co-ordinating, organising, control and command. The planning function means that they had to decide what needs doing and then make a plan of action. The co-ordinating meant that they were harmonising all the activities and effort of the organisation in order to make possible its working and success. The organising meant that they provided material/human resources and building the structure in order to carry out the activities of the organisation. The controlling was checking that everything was occurring in accordance with their plans, instructions and established principles. Finally the commanding meant that they were maintaining the activity among personnel, getting the best return from all employees in the interest of the whole organisation. Irwin Mitchell’s had a very strict set of procedures and plans for what needed to be done in time for the end of the financial year. Their managers were all very co-ordinated in that each department was in some way connected to the one next to it and they quite often had meetings to see how they could get their teams to work more efficiently between them. There was a very big sense of control over the workers in that your manager checked everything you did. The managers were also very commanding as they hardly ever did the work you did they were more into dictating what needed to be done and then expecting it to get done without their assistance. There was a very long chain of command style structure, as you reported to and any problems to your team leader, who then reported it to her/the department manager, who in turn reported it to the site manager who then reported to the directors of the Sheffield branch. The managers had a lot of authority and unity of command in this organisation. Their approach was very structured and hierarchical, in that the higher up the scalar chain you were the more authority, power and command you had. Part B – (1) Organisational culture is known as the way we do things around here. A more detailed version according to Miner (1971, cited in Management and Organisational Behaviour, 1999 p803) would be that organisational culture is â€Å"†¦the collection of traditions, values, policies, beliefs and attitudes that constitute a pervasive context for everything we do and think in an organisation†. Organisations reinforce culture through their rites and rituals, patterns or communication, the expected patterns of behaviour and the informal organisation. Schein (1985, cited in Management and Organisational Behaviour, 1999 p803) suggests â€Å"a view of organisational culture based on distinguishing three levels of culture: artefacts and creations, values and basic assumptions†. Level 1 – The Artefacts: These are the most visible aspects, the physical and social environment. They include things like physical space and layout, management style, technological output, written and spoken language and the behaviour of group members. Level 2 – The Values: These are solutions for how to deal with a new task, issue or problem, which are based on convictions of reality. If the solution works it is often then transformed into beliefs. These values and beliefs then become part of a process whereby group members justify actions and behaviour. Level 3 – The Basic Underlying Assumption: When the solutions to problems mentioned in level 2 work repeatedly it gets taken for granted. These assumptions actually guide behaviour and determine how the group member perceive, think and feel about things. There are four main types of culture, these consist of Power, Role, Task and Person. * Power culture is also sometimes known as club culture. A key feature of this type of culture is centralisation of power. Power culture is often found in small organisations where control lies with one single person or a small group of individuals. The power culture structure can often be seen to be drawn as a spider’s web style diagram. This is because there is a central power source and rays of influence spread out from there. In power culture decisions are made by high-status individuals, rather than a group of people, because of this the decisions can be made extremely quickly. A bad point about power culture is that other workers in the organisation may feel demoted by a lack of challenge and suppressed by those with the power. The web may crack if they support to many activities . a good example of this would have been the Ford Motor Company , up until the early 1980’s its approach to management was functional specialisation, with hierarchy and tight control. * Role Culture, a typical example of a role culture organisation would be a bureaucratic one, where they are divided into layers of offices and officials, with sets of functions that get determined by sets of rules and procedures. Organisations like this operate by using logic and reason. They would also be arranged according to different functions, such as marketing, human relations and finance. In role culture, power is hierarchical and determined by the employees’ position, like in the armed forces with generals, colonels and majors. A job description and set of communication procedures determine the relationship between each role. Position is ‘the’ source of power and the main source of influence are the rules and procedures. There is little scope for individual initiative and recognition making jobholders feel cramped and no room for development, this being a major disadvantage to the role culture organisations. * Task culture is team oriented. Needham et al (1999 p251) describe this type of culture as â€Å"A task culture is job- or project-oriented and emphasis is placed on completing a specific task†. The ‘task’ states the way in which the work is organised as oppose to the individuals or rules like in power and role cultures respectively. Task culture is often illustrated in the form of a net, with some strands being thicker then others and most of the power and influence laying at the interstices of the net. Task cultures are rewarding environments to work in because the employees have a large amount of freedom and flexibility. All this lack of authority can make management and control of this type of culture difficult though. In today’s work force we can increasingly see more and more emphasis placed on team working style cultures. * Person culture is rarely found in a profit-related organisation as they exist only to serve those within their own organisation. You are most likely to see examples of person culture in co-operatives, barristers’ chambers and architects’ partnerships. This is because you usually see a cluster of individuals all operating at the same level in person culture. Hierarchies are not possible in person culture, unless by mutual consent, given a choice though most people would opt for this type of culture. Each organisation will use their own choice of culture , some larger businesses will use a mix of cultures. There are many things that influence the development of corporate culture. Some of these influences are: * History – the age, values of owners and way in which the organisation was originally formed all effect the culture. A merger or reorganisation of management also change the type of culture used. * Primary functions and technology – The businesses’ primary function affects the culture. Primary function of an organisation is the nature of methods of undertaking work, this effects the culture but also the structure too. * Goals and objectives – An organisation will want to be profitable but they will also have to give their objectives and goals attention, the resultant strategies of their objectives will effect and be effected by the change in culture. * Size – Rapid growth or decline in size and the rate or growth and all the results that come from these, like staffing procedures influence the structure and culture. * Location – The geographical and physical characters of an organisation have a major influence on the culture of the organisation. * Management and staffing – Top managers, directors and executives all have a considerable effect on the nature of the corporate culture. * The Environment – An organisation must be responsive to external environmental factors in order to be an effective business. So from all this we can see that the culture of an organisation is an important thing for them to have stated. It helps to account for all sorts of variations among organisations and managers, on a national and international scale. As Oliver, J (1977, cited in Management and Organisational Behaviour, 1999 p807) mentions â€Å"it helps to explain why different groups of people perceive things in their own way and perform things differently from other groups†. Part B – (2) Irwin Mitchell Solicitors Structure: There are four different areas of the UK where this organisation exists. I have focused on the Sheffield one, as that is where I was. However, they all the other sites were run in the same way that the Sheffield branch was. To look at the structure, there was a group of four to six directors for each location. Then there at Sheffield there was two sites each having their own overall/building manager. The building had about 4-5 floors where each floor had about 4 teams of workers, each floor had a supervisor who was in charge of all the departments/teams on that floor and then each department/team had a department/team leader who had typically 8 people in their team. The personnel department was located in one of the Sheffield branches and each location had their own IT technicians. So we can see from the diagram of their structure that they are a geographical organisation operating on a combined line and staff organisation structure. There is a presence of task culture at the bottom where it is in teams and yet power culture at the top where the directors of the company make all the decisions and are seen to be very high-status and powerful. The employees of this organisation are grouped by function, this means that they are divided into sectors according to what they do, for example a sales, an accounts and a quality control department. This is good because specialists are able to work in an area with like-minded people and each part of the organisation is then pursuing their own primary function, making contributions to the overall well being of the organisation. However, it can be bad to organise things like this because it means individuals can not move easily between departments, the organisation gets bigger and the communication channels become distorted between levels of people and also the different departments may pull in opposite directions, causing the company to focus too much on one specific area. They are also grouped by the type of customer in some areas/cases, as they offer a service which is designed differently for depending on the customers circumstances and each different product like accidental injury area, a divorce section are in their own little divisions. This type of grouping shows clearly that each department can concentrate on its own needs, also the customer will fell more inclined to go to your company as you deal with different problems in different areas and more specifically and its easier to check on the performance of their individual product/service. Although having them grouped in this way may mean that each division will compete with each other for the companies resources, this type of structure is costly to set up and more accounting and administrative services are needed. The structure above is a very formal structure; this means that the structure is based on the employees’ official roles. It also has a fairly narrow span of control. A span of control according to Needham et al (1999 p236) is â€Å"The span of control of an individual is the number of people he or she manages of supervises directly†. If an organisation has a narrow span of control this can be good because it enables close supervision and fast communications. However, it also means that the organisation might be too ‘tall’ meaning there is too many levels of management, this usually makes it very costly to run and also means that supervisors get too involved in their subordinates work. A wider span of control would show a much greater amount of trust in the subordinates and also mean having fewer managers; this still allows a hierarchy yet it gives fewer levels. Signfab’s Structure: Signfab is a local sign makers which consists of the owner and two employees, they all partake in the general making of the signs but the owner/manager takes on all the accounts, advertising, purchasing, payroll and general running of the company. From the structure above you can see that this is a much less complicated structure, with a lot fewer employees. There is hardly any span of control as it only consists of the owner and two employees. This is however a good thing because it means they have direct contact and communications with their boss/manager. It is a very flat structure with only two levels. A matrix structure/organisation consists of a combination of functional departments that are specialised and in a permanent location with ones that integrate activities of different functional departments such as a project team, product, programme and system basis. So you can see that the matrix organisation is shown through a grid with a two-way flow of responsibility and authority. Organisations that chose the matrix structure are opting for this because it means that they don’t have to choose one type of grouping over another. I would say that the above structure is a matrix organisation, as it is not grouped in any specific way. There are signs of power culture as all the authority lies with the owner and he makes all the decisions very quickly. So in this structure the owner has a lot of power and authority over his/her employees/subordinates as he/she is the owner and there is no one else higher than him to constrict his reign of power. Whilst in the solicitors structure there is a great deal of restriction in the amount of power they are allowed to have over their subordinates as there is always someone higher up the structure than them that has power over them and what they can and cannot do. The Signfab organisation is centralised as you can see that it is easy to implement policies for the organisation, the organisation on a whole is very co-ordinated, the subordinates are independent but not to a great extent, the decision making is very efficient as there is not compromise of authority when making them and they have a greater use of specialisation in what they do as an organisation. Whilst Irwin Mitchell Solicitors is more decentralised as their administrative services are close to the services they provide so that they can be more effective, opportunities for training in management arise very frequently, the staff are very encouraged by this and therefore morale is very high. Also the decisions can be made closer to the operational level of work. Part B – (3) Irwin Mitchell’s structure and culture are related to the organisations performance as their structure is a very tall structure and this means that they are less customer responsive as the communications between the managers and the employees are more complicated and not as good as they would be in a flatter structure. If their structure were more flat the managers would be nearer to the consumers and be in a better position to see and adapt to what their needs are. This is what Hertzberg suggests in the Human Relations approach. That the employees should not be treated as another part of the machinery their values and relationships should be seen and heard, this improves the morale of the workforce as they are at last being acknowledged. This acknowledgement of the workers and their values brought about an increase in their motivation and so the performance of the organisation would increase too. Irwin Mitchell solicitors take in to account the human relations approach to some extent as the workers values, relationships and suggestions are taken into account. This is seen by the fact that they hold functions at Christmas time for the employees to attend where they are rewarded for their hard work throughout the year. There is also more delegation in a flat structure as there is usually less managers and they would not necessarily be able to carry out all the work that double their amount of managers would have and therefore delegate some of this work to their subordinates, this improves the employees morale and is a good way of motivating them in to working harder so that the businesses performance will also increase. As Irwin Mitchell Solicitors has a tall structure their employees are less motivated and the morale is not always very good within the teams, meaning that the organisations performance is not as good as it could be. They do operate a Kaizen culture though, this is where the employees can suggest things that they think would help or improve the organisation. These are usually small things and are implemented gradually so that the performance of the firm will to improve gradually. This type of culture improves the employees moral, motivation to the company as they are rewarded for the ir efforts/suggestions if they succeed. Bibliography The books I used for reference in this assignment are: Business for Higher Awards 2nd edition by Needham et al published in 1999 by Heinemann. Management and Organisational Behaviour 5th edition by L J Mullins published in 1999 by FT Prentice Hall. HNC HND Business Core Unit: 3 Organisations and Behaviour 1st edition by BPP Publishing in September 2000.

Organizational Transformation Q&A Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizational Transformation Q&A - Essay Example â€Å"The human capability for creative thinking, creative behaviour, and innovation is a major source of organizational change† (Levy and Merry, 1986, p.221). This reinforces that the people are integral to the development of any organization. This is an on-going process that requires the participation of the members of the organization for its efficiency and must be for the common benefit of all. These innovations are illustrative that the organization places individual growth as a part of its policy. Leadership is an important characteristic which guides the direction of the organization and is oftentimes the make or break catalyst which could either propel success, keep the status quo or lead to its demise. Many great leaders have become the cornerstone of their organization and have often been simultaneously the face which identifies the company. The leader is the one who is in the forefront of creating, managing and sustaining innovation. In the same light, he fosters th e kind of culture that is adopted by each member of the organization. Adair outlines the duty of a good leader which is necessary in implementing innovation, â€Å"It is your job as a leader at any level in the organization to facilitate desirable change and to encourage that attitude throughout the management team† (2007, p.17). ... Even ethical standards may at times differ in such a way that what is acceptable to one may be utterly deplorable to another. But this also is imperative in the continuing growth of an organization because it is important to stimulate creativity and hard work, and this could only be positively done through a reward system. The individual reward system gives the best sense of fulfilment to an employee and this may not be dispensed with. Schein proposes a logical ascertainment of this system, â€Å"Every group must develop a system of sanctions for obeying or disobeying its norms and rules. There must evolve some consensus on what symbolically and actually is defined as a reward or punishment and on the manner in which it is to be administered† (2010, p.107). This responds to the ethical implications that will necessarily exhibit because of the reward system. By creating clear-cut rules supported by an innovative and unyielding leader, the conflicts will be mitigated or at the v ery least they will be amenable to such rules. I will describe my organization as innovative because it incorporates the necessary tools that would define one to be adoptive to change and open to creativity. Admittedly, there are times when people may be butting heads and there are those who are not wholeheartedly supportive of the decisions and the policies of the management but I deem these to be necessary to the growth of the organization. Not everyone can be in good terms all the time because the company is essentially composed of people with different backgrounds and education that differences are inevitable. The policies of the company promote individual rewards which can be immensely gratifying not only on a

How Environmental Factors Can Affect the Business Organization Essay

How Environmental Factors Can Affect the Business Organization - Essay Example By 2005, it had over 80 employees and several customers, which ranges from supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, and households. The company will be used as a case study to answer the questions in the subsequent paragraphs. Open system approach to organizations An open approach system to organization implies that an organization interacts with its outside environment, which in turn influences the structure and operations of the organization. The fact that an open system interacts with the outside environment implies that an organization is an open system should always adapt to changes in the environment. For a long time, Icy Foods Ltd. has been operating on informal basis judging, by the way, operations are loosely divided into five departments with no clear-cut framework. Moreover, the company used to accept orders with less or no regard to quality or quantity specifications of the product. This lack of organization explains why the company lacked customers from major supermarket chains . The other apparent misgiving that characterized Icy Foods Ltd. is the lack of clear division of labor and specialization. This fact is inherent in the way the company conducts job rotations (Weiner, 2002). Job rotation is not a good concept because it does not give the employees the chance to gain experience in a given line of duty. The fact that the company did not embrace quality and efficiency in its operations negatively affected its business performance. Before the takeover by Megastores Plc., the company had adopted an organic organization structure in managing the various operations. The management, prior to the takeover, operated an open-door policy. The management was keen on hearing employee’s ideas on new products and operational improvements. There was also a flexible approach to handling employees’ issues such as working hours and leave. After the successful takeover, the management came up with a raft of new changes that were more bureaucratic as oppose d to the organic system that the management had used to all along. The company adopted strict operational procedures that all the workers were compelled to follow to the latter. The new management placed much emphasis on operational efficiency, and work was based on performance. Decisions at the company were made unilaterally by the management without any consultations whatsoever, with the stakeholders. The human-resource department was formed to manage the human-resource issues. This bureaucratic approach to management led to high turnover at the organization. Moreover, it resulted in low motivation levels among the employees (Cassidy & Kreitner, 2009). It is worth noting that bureaucratic approach to management of the organization has one critical advantage, which is an improvement of efficiency in operation and management of the resources of the organization. Since the adoption of the bureaucratic leadership style at the organization, the efficiency at the organization has improv ed by a whopping 35%. How environmental factors can affect the business organization The year, 2005-2010 saw several changes in the business environment that adversely affected the business performance of Icy Foods Ltd. The fact that major supermarket chains dominated the ready foods market drove out of the market the smaller retail outlets from a business.  

Transitive unaccusative1 verb constructions in Mandarin Essay

Transitive unaccusative1 verb constructions in Mandarin - Essay Example 1. Perlmutter (1978) and Bwzio (1986) suggested that the class of intransitive verbs is non-homogenous, and it is composed of two subclasses: unaccusative and unergative verbs. This paper focuses on unaccusative verbs. The cases of unergative verbs are different with unaccusative, which will be discussed in Section 4. In Mandarin, there also exits an alternation of unaccusative verbs into transitive verbs (here we do not limit it to causative verbs, because we do not know its syntactic representation yet) without inserting a verb. We make a hypothesis that the syntactic configurational approach to event structures for the transitivity alternation in English (Hale and Keyser 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999) can apply to the structure of transitive unaccusative verb constructions in Mandarin. Next, we will give the reason for this hypothesis, and check our hypothesis by Mandarin data. The body of research created by Hale and Keyser (1991, 1993, 1997, 1999) implies that relevant syntactic configurations predetermine event structures the event structures of VPs and NPs’ thematic status inside them. Hale & Keyser state that deriving of English deadjectivals and denominals subjected to complex syntactic structures; thereby, the rules of UG, such as ECP, affect the relevant derivations. Basically, Hale & Keyser’s assumption implies that syntactic means affect derivation of lexical units, while syntactic operations insure derivation of the argument structures. Hale &Keyser virtually exc

Integrating Design and Production Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7750 words

Integrating Design and Production - Coursework Example The intense competitiveness in the market has caused a rapid increase in the demand for integrated design and production tools and techniques. However the modern manufacturing firms have been known to offer new products to the customers at a lower cost but with high quality. Thus, integrating design and production can be considered on three different theoretical concepts, such as ontological (metaphysical) assumptions, a theory of production and a theory of management in order to manage and integrate of design and production of projects. It was Ohno, a production engineer at Toyota, who for the first time broke through the conventional barrier between design and manufacturing and introduced the concept of production design in the manufacturing industry as a useful tool. Project process or life span is defined as "the sequence of phases through which the project will evolve" (Monden, 1992). The project process matters in design planning and final execution phases. The time cycle is directly associated with the life span of the project so that from the time of design the project till its final phase of full implementation the life cycle will evolve from one phase to the other. However the life cycle is directly related to the structure of the project and therefore some projects require approval at the end of each phase. Thus planned sequences or phases involve corporate operations of the new project and therefore management should focuses on the significance of skills, resources and organizational controls in managing the project.Lean construction is a method applied in the process of project delivery and is based on a waste-minimizing and value maximizing production management principle. The phrase "Lean Construction" was first coined by the International Group for Lean Construction at its inaugural meeting in 1993. In the construction industry this principle acquires a still lager dimension in that the approach is adopted through the whole process of manufacturing process design, planning, supply management and assembling (Shingo, 1989). Lean production as associated with management is a systemic approach to minimizing losses or waste and maximizing value creation so that the subsequent techniques are refined to achieve a degree of sophistication in preconceived management settings. The following four aspectual phases have been suggested in modern literature on the subject as more perceptive in terms of design, performance, delivery and control. The construction facility and its delivery have to be designed and planned in a manner that takes into consideration the customer's purpose and need. The rationale for positive iteration is emphasized so that negative iteration is minimized as far as possible (Brookfield, & Skaysbrook, 2004). Designing the structural perimeters of the project in a manner to achieve value at the highest possible level and minimize waste at the delivery stage. This is essentially associated with the process facilitation because when construction projects are designed processes become complex as the delivery phase comes closer. Total performance concept is emphasized as a measure aimed at improving the qualitative outcomes. Thus project performance as a whole is much more important than cost reduction measures and relative speed. Controlling processes and systems is central to the monitoring task in lean construction. Thus there is

Health Promotion Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health Promotion Theory - Essay Example Women’s and men’s health is also part of community nursing because community nursing seeks to deliver health services to all members of the community – men and women included. It caters to the needs of these men and women as members of the community, and most especially, within their families and in relation to the roles they play within their family and community (Lundy, Lundy, & Janes, 2009). Community health nursing focuses on health promotion and prevention at its most basic level, and involving each member of the community. It seeks to establish caring relationships with the different members of the community, based on a larger and more interactive community context. Based on such general functions and relationships, this paper shall discuss the role of the community health nurse in men and women’s health. More specifically, it shall identify the action areas as outlined in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and discuss, through examples, how the se are applied within men’s and women’s nursing practice. It shall attempt to discuss community health nursing and its applications to the roles which men and women play in the community and in their families. This study is being undertaken in an effort to come up with a comprehensive and scholarly understanding of community health nursing. The different action areas identified in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, as confirmed by the Jakarta Declaration on Leading Health Promotion into the 21st Century include actions: to build healthy public policy, to strengthen community action; to develop personal skills; to create supportive environments for health; and to reorient health services towards preventing diseases and promoting health (WHO, 2010). First and foremost, men’s and women’s health can be strengthened through community action. At the very center of this action is the empowerment of communities – giving them â€Å"ownership and

E# 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

E# 3 - Essay Example By rising such awareness, government can raise awareness on the nature of the ecosystem thus limiting human interference with the marine ecosystems thus increasing the chances of sea turtle increasing their population. Animal conservation campaigns have heightened globally with the developed countries championing for the creation of effective animal sanctuaries in order to care for some of the endangered animal species. While the wild hog is not endangered, it has some rare species that require effective conservation in order to increase diversity. The book therefore provides effective population genetic techniques that will safeguard the interests and longevity of the unique species of the wild pig. Additionally, the book describes the relationship between wild pigs and other animals thus informing the nature of conservation of such animals. This book makes a perfect reference for Ian Frazier’s story, Hogs Wild since it analyses the life of yet another fundamental author who wrote books on the same animals. The autobiography thus describes the life of Frank Broyles as he lived in the wild studying the unique wild mammals. The author of the book provides vivid descriptions of Broyles’ interaction with the wild pigs a feature that does not only portray Broyles’ inherent personality features but also portray the wild pig’s aggressive features. Such revelations are therefore vital in Ian Frazier’s story in which he strives to portray the wild nature of the animals. Edwards, M. A., & Zoological Society. . (1982). Animal disease in relation to animal conservation: The proceedings of a symposium held at the Zoological Society of London on 26 and 27 November 1981. London: Acad. Pr. Disease prevalence is yet another fundamental feature that influences the interaction between wild pigs and humans besides other animals in their ecosystems. Diseases are some of the natural disasters that threaten the population of different animals

Martin Luther King (Business Ethics) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Martin Luther King (Business Ethics) - Essay Example In order to love enemies, it is better to focus only on their qualities rather than accepting their evils. The most excellent way that the speaker suggests to demonstrate one’s love towards one’s enemies is to skip the opportunity to defeat them. Furthermore, one should help enemies in the best way possible to overcome their difficulties. The idea of loving enemies is relevant to business field as well because modern business involves broad and collaborated knowledge sharing and problem solving. Traditional business was subject to personal management; and therefore, lacked integration and teamwork. In business, the practice of King’s idea of love for enemies can enhance business sustainability as the ‘win win’ approach would become a competitive approach to business firms. As far as I am concerned, the idea of loving enemies is not practical in normal way of thinking because immature feelings like jealousy and selfishness prevail over human nature th at persuade them to hate their enemies. This speech has influenced me to reshape my perceptions regarding the feeling of hatred towards the enemies. 2. Unfulfilled Dreams The speech, ‘Unfulfilled Dreams’ by Martin Luther king is a subject of great significance in the life of every individual. As the speech says, it is natural for man to have his own dreams and struggle for attaining those dreams. Despite the determination and effort, most of the dreams remain unfulfilled. It says that one of the main reasons which impede the efforts is the inappropriate choices we make in our lives. The sincere efforts to dream fulfillment is likely to be rewarded by God and blessed with the required ability to fulfill it. The height of the dream and the obstacles associated with it do not matter when the aspiration derives from the depth of heart and efforts through the right path. In business also one’s strong determination to fulfill the dreams and desires can be regarded as t he key to success. The paucity of strong willpower and divergence from predetermined strategies lead to business failure. As the time passes and situations turn unfavorable, the determination to fulfill dreams becomes feeble. The sparkling speech of Martin Luther King has imbued me a lot with new outlook towards life-goal and choices I would make in future. 3. A knock at midnight ‘A knock at Midnight is yet another motivational speech delivered by Martin Luther King in 1963. The speech had a social significance in the period during which he delivered it. The essence of the King’s speech is that mankind lives in midnight amidst various evils. He points that world nations fight each other in order to attain supremacy; and they use scientific achievements for the destruction of the whole world. In his opinion, the midnight night in the social life refers to retardation of the human values. He adds that the midnight will not continue for a long term; instead, there will be rather long hours of light. These words of King reflect his hope toward achieving social equity in America. New business ideologies of profit maximization have challenged all basic human values. Modern businesses employ every possible malpractice so as to achieve market dominance; and it often severely hurts all fundamental human interests. Therefore, it can be clearly conclude that the modern business world also is in darkness as it undermines human values. From my moral point of view, the cut-throat competition has weakened the

Lupin Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Lupin Marketing Plan - Essay Example Perceptual map has also been prepared to analysis the competitor’s position in the industry so that Lupin can implement strategies accordingly along with the 4Ps. Finally to measure the effectiveness of the business plan, balance scorecard will be used which will determine the working and effectiveness of the strategies adopted and if any changes to be made in the business plan. Contents 1.Executive Summary 2 Contents 3 2. Introduction 5 3. Situation Analysis 5 4. SWOT Analysis 8 5. Evaluation of Alternative Strategies 10 6. Objectives 11 7. Recommended Strategy 12 8. Economic Evaluation 15 9. Implementation and Control 16 9.1 Managing, measuring and controlling 16 9.2 Contingency plan 17 Reference 18 Bibliography 19 Appendix 20 25 2. Introduction With globalization acting as a permanent as well as irreversible part of the economy and economic life providing the firms with both opportunities as well as challenges to prove themselves and compete in the competing market environm ent. Therefore international expansion has become one of the prominent strategic responses towards global dynamics for organizations. International expansion can be defined as a process through which the multinational enterprise enters and also invest in some foreign country in pursuit of strategic objectives (Luo, 1999, p. 5). The project report highlights the process of internationalization and the benefits involved in the process of going global. The company taken into consideration is Lupin pharmaceuticals which is among the top five pharmaceuticals companies in India. Lupin Pharmaceuticals plans to enter America with its product generic, specialty and API. The reason behind choosing America is that US is the largest market for pharmaceuticals and is also global leader in biopharmaceutical research. The US market provides a free pricing market and a favorable and also regulatory environment (Select USA, n.d). By entering the US market particularly America, Lupin aims to capture the market share and build in brand value in the international market. 3. Situation Analysis 3.1 Business Environment Political Pharmaceutical industry has over the years gathered political focus as well as pressure from the government across the globe and its impact has been highly experienced in US industry. The US pharmaceutical industry tends to operates differently as compared to other national industries. Consumers and patients do not pay for their drugs directly, but receive them through government run healthcare systems. Political factors play a huge role in the regulation of distribution, manufacturing and also sale of the pharmaceutical with regards to safety of its consumer. The Food and Drug Administration is the regulatory body in the US and sets a standard of quality (Castner, Hayes & Shankle, 2007). Economic The US pharmaceutical industry has been for decades among the most profitable and also growing sector encountered by the American economy.

Luxury Store Audit Essay Example for Free

Luxury Store Audit Essay Monaco is a small country, but well known all over the world. All over the world it is known as a place of luxury. Every year a lot of tourists visit Monaco to have a good vacation visiting casinos, luxury restaurants and off course to do a shopping in a most known, luxury brands. In Monaco you can find a lot of different luxury boutiques for every taste; you can find everything from luxury cars to a luxury clothes and accessories. During the course of Luxury audit services we study a lot about the services in luxury stores. So our goal was to divide into groups and to do an audit of few stores. Our group was a big enough for such a mission, so we were thinking how to do it in a better way. And once we got a good idea. According to the information we received during the seminar with Guillaume Rose, in Monaco there are a lot of Russian millionaires, and they are always â€Å"invited guests† in different places. So we decided to split our group on two smaller groups and to compare the experience received in Gucci store and in Celine which are situated in the heart of Monaco, near the Casino and Hotel de Paris. I will share with you the Russian experience. I asked my friend, she is from Russia, for some help in this mission. Our story was that we family couple came from Russia for my friend’s wedding and as we already bought a new skirt for my wife we need to buy a new bag, which must be one of the last collections. And the second part of our group was native French with two different scenarios in two stores. As we will see next we received a little bit different experiences. Gucci store audit Firstly we decided to audit one of the most famous brands in the world, Gucci. At 12. 00 we entered the store. Before entering the store, we noticed that the showcase was clean, with good lighting, but there were no goods exposed. Entering the store, I noticed that the main glass door was all in hand prints and it was just 12. 00. Going to the store and pretending a married couple, we were arguing about the fact that my wife has already a bunch of bags and for what reason she is looking for one new. Staff in the store noticed us at once and ran to the side waving their heads as a greeting. Only the guard who was near the enter greeted us in a very polite form. We were walking through the shop for 3 minutes and a half and it gives us a good opportunity to study the store. We noticed that the reception area was clean as it is required, but there were not enough light, it gives to the store a much groomed look. And also no music and even no fresh flowers in the store. After 3 minutes and a half we meat a sales person who greeted us and introduced himself as a David. He asked us a few open questions in order to know what we are looking for. After he listened our story he was interesting in our previous experience with Gucci brand. We pretend that we don’t know anything about Gucci. He told us some information about the brand about its uniqueness and heritage. After that David proposed a few bags, he explained the value of that model and brought all the colors for that model. Also he guaranteed that the model will be in a trend for the next few years. What was not really very good it’s a careless handling of the bag and he put them on one big heap. And what impressed me very much is that he even don’t show the inner part of the bag, on my opinion it is very important to know how it is inside the bah which you are going to buy for a big amount of money. As I was pretending a husband who is not really happy to buy a new bag, I asked about the discount, and I get an answer in very polite form that there is no discount at all in Gucci store in Monaco. My pretending wife was asking me to buy the bag she liked and I was strong on my opinion. So a after that dialogue with my wife he proposed to book the bag till the evening for the case if I will change my mind. This was very polite from his side. But he doesn’t accompany us to the door and didn’t offer to giva us a business card and to right down us into the customers database. Totally we spend in the store 26 minutes. So in conclusion I can say that the experience I have received together with my pretending wife was far different from the French experience of my group mates. Celine store audit The second we decided to audit was the Celine also situated in the heart of Monaco. Our story was the same, we were looking for a bag which will be good to my â€Å"wife’s† new skirt which we have bought for a wedding we are invited here in Monaco. The showcase was very clean with good exposition of some goods. When we entered the store we noticed staff talking together near the cash machine, although all of them greeted us in their store. The area of the class was very clean , there were enough light, giving a good look to the goods represented in the store. After a minute and 20-30 seconds of waiting we meat a vendor, she was Russian so we were able to speak on our native language. It impressed me very much, so I was ready to buy everything in that store. She was asking a lot of open questions, to get more information about our needs and it was great, because after that she proposed a few models which were facing all our needs. She was very listening, so it helps her to understand our needs. She explained everything about the product, how to clean it and how to use it to leave it in a new condition. Of course she valued the model and showed a few others and different colors. She knows the material and the price for that bag without looking anywhere. But what upset me she didn’t spoke about the brand, because we don’t know anything about that brand, except that it is a luxury and expensive brand. As the bag we liked the most she proposed to book it till the next day midday, so that we can think about purchasing it. She remains courtesy even in the case of not buying that bag. She put our names in database and proposed her help for any other matters. She accompanies us to the door and wish a good day for us. We spend in that store 23 minutes and the felling was like we spend there almost an hour, the experience we received in the Celine store was great dispute of some moments. Conclusion As our group was divided for two smaller groups in order to compare different experiences. As Russian group visiting the Gucci store we received almost a great experience. Points to improve, I would recommend to put some products on a showcases, it is needed to clean the entry glass door and if there is such a need to clean it every hour. They need to put more lights in the store, because it was too dark. Some fresh flowers will do only a good role and some soft music will be very great. And of course some training course for the staff. Celine experience was really great and there is nothing to speak about. I wish them to continue in that way. The experience we received during these audits was one of the greatest. We were participating in the process not just as a customer’s but almost as professionals who can notice almost everything in the store. Thanks to Ozzy Monaco for a great course.

The Pursuit of Happiness Essay Example for Free

The Pursuit of Happiness Essay The 2006 movie The Pursuit of Happyness, featuring will smith and real-life son Jaden Smith received significant financial success both during its original release and subsequent DVD edition. Inspired by the memoirs by self-made millionaire Chris Gardner together with Quincy Troupe, the film features the challenges of pursing the â€Å"American dream†, a challenge more easily associated with foreigners or immigrants to the country. The inspirational value of the movie is one of the reasons for its appeal. In the story, Gardner is portrayed as having employment is al subject to the social change faced by the unemployed. Though the premise of the story is not unique, the films approach illustrating how the collective impact of small social challenges can lead to homelessness highlights the concern of the spiraling social exclusion most middle class Americans have to deal with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gardner’s joke to his son regarding the drowning man who turned down the rescue of two boats in favor of waiting for God himself to save him is a testimony to the philosophy that he believes was key to his success. Similar to the adage that God helps those who help themselves, Gardner points out that one should not be so proud as to accept the help of others even if they do not compare to one’s expectation of the help that one needs. Moreover, Gardner’s story to his son encourages him to see the hand of God behind the opportunities, good and bad that comes his way going beyond corporeal or mystical manifestations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are key moments in the film where this can be most apparent. One of the early moments where this is seen is when he asks a man going out of a Ferrari what he did for a living and how he did it. The encounter, in real life with then top stockbroker Bob Bridges, led to Gardner’s introduction to a career in stock trading. Gardner again illustrates this idea in his interview with the internship position where he had to convince the panel to accept him though he came underdressed to the interview. Another example is portrayed in the daily rush father and son would always have to make at the end of the day to be able to get s a lot in the church shelter as well as the times when he sought â€Å"creative† ways of finding a place to spend the night in with his son which included railway station bathroom, subways and busses. The other scene that brings the deliver the same message was when the light of the bone density machine was being repaired by Gardner. But the most poignant illustrations of the philosophy behind Gardner’s quip are delivered by the conversations between father and son such as in Gardner’s lecture to his son regarding pursuing one’s dream despite others’ negative opinion viewing the city.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At many points in the picture, Gardner is portrayed as someone who is driven to the edge but is able to keep himself from totally falling into despair. His moments of self-pride in the movie are always resolved to have negative consequences such as having to run from a taxi driver and missing a slot in the shelter due to lending his boss cab fare. Often he is shown to have to swallow his pride to seek shelter or care but remains committed to alleviating his situation with his son as best he can and to not be dependent on welfare or the charity of others. Gardner’s view of helping one’s self emphasizes self-reliance but also self-realization. He points out that to be able to triumph from challenges: one has to be able to commit one’s self on doing so and pursuing every opportunity that comes. This implies the need to actively seek ways to accomplish such an objective, improving one’s self and learning from others and to persist regardless of failure. Work Cited The Pursuit of Happyness. Dir. Gabriele Muccino. Perf. Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton. Sony Pictures. 15 December 2006.

The Medias Stereotype Of Women Media Essay

The Medias Stereotype Of Women Media Essay The media is an indispensable part of our lives.  It is not only a form of entertainment, but also a powerhouse which has been granted the authority to influence our environment. And its no wonder, because through television we know, for example, the characteristics of the classic criminal: ugly, dirty, drunken voice and a pistol in hand, or the classic model: fashionable, beautiful, hateful, dull,  and possibly even anorexic. These two representations are examples of what is known as stereotypes the process of applying categorization to groups or individuals. The use of stereotypes is a normal process, seeing as how it reduces the complexity of our environment to a manageable size. It allows us to identify different attributes of people such as happy, sad, well-intentioned, malicious, etc., which in turn reduces the need to look at the particularity of each person. Basically, stereotypes relate one thing with another, and by doing this, they provide a basis by which we interpre t what happens around us. However, not everything is hunky-dory.  Unfortunately, the media has focused on programs and content, which portray a number of stereotypes that only make our society a bit more ignorant. In the course of time, the media has associated the male stereotype with values such as independence, aggressiveness, competitiveness, and strength. All of these concepts are clearly associated with males. Meanwhile, women have been linked to concepts such as affection, dependency, fragility, and concern for others. All of these notions have contributed to the transmission of certain clichà ©s such as those of a wife, lover, or mother.   These stereotypes are almost always associated with qualities like beauty, seduction or attraction. Therefore, the women that are represented in the media, almost always appear as a subordinate of the guys. This sort of patriarchal system persists in many post-industrial countries such as the United States. It was not until recent years that women, somehow, began their integration into society. In todays society, the female role originates and spreads mainly from the media. The media integrates roles, values, norms, and symbols. This process is co nsidered an important instrument in the transmission of values. In some cases, these values become a way to reference certain groups of society. The Medias stereotypes are intended to destroy or direct our desires. We can see examples of these on TV, where the role of men is to be charming, professional, and successful. In the case of soap operas, men are usually shown to be torn between the loves of two women. On the other hand, women are always shown to be more liberal, passive and submissive. People watch programs, series, or movies because they feel the need to identify with something. People with high cultural levels enjoy watching programs that are informative. Women who are housewives like to watch loving family dramas or soap operas while children want to be like superheroes. And so for every person, group, sex, or age the media will always find a stereotype to put them in. In this modern era television plays an important role in the development of stereotypes, including gender stereotypes. Television has the potential to create values and it has the potential to influence people. Among the many stereotypes that it offers is that of the ideal woman. Commercials show happy women who do not contradict what is said. Physically they have perfect features and are slender. Younger women are viewed as sexual objects, while adult women are portrayed in advertisements as housewives, mothers, workers, and patients. These stereotypes about women are transmitted every day on TV and are responsible for several negative traits that do not represent the female gender, except in the minds of men who think of these stereotypes as something natural. Examples of this can be seen in detergent, food, and other household article commercials that feature women as the typical housewife, who is weak, helpless, dependant, delicate and sensitive. Another widely used image of wome n is the vain female consumer, who buys anything just for the satisfaction. This image is widely used by sellers of beauty products and shopping center owners. Consequently, these images have had a huge impact in the way women see themselves and the way they portray their gender. It is important to note that all these stereotypes are false representations of what a woman is, but unfortunately most women accept this image given by the media. Most women believe that these images reflect societys standards about what an ideal woman is. The worst part is that due to the importance that they give to these standards, they comply with them, resulting in low self-esteems. Most women compare themselves with the idealized image projected by the media, which results into a life full of insecurity and discontent. All this dissatisfaction may ultimately lead some women to develop some sort of eating disorder. Fashion, and how its projected in the media, is always changing the attitudes of women, especially young women. That is why it comes as no surprise that the level of anorexia and bulimia have skyrocketed in recent years, especially when girls intend to fit into shirts and pants that are becoming increasingly smaller. Part of this problem is the stereotypes that the media has created. Women will only look good in clothes if they are thin and delicate according to the stereotypes. Consumers of clothes begin to follow the stereotype, and by doing so they gradually devalue their own features, planning to look like that sickly looking model that appears in clothing commercials or runways. The roles played by women in the media are limited to traditional roles like the housewife, the mother, the victim, or the sexual object. The roles of men in the other hand are that of the strongest players in public life. This, however, is not the reality of the situation and it does not help build equa lity in our society. The media has brought into the light the triumph of many female athletes and the stereotypical prejudice that we have against women in sports. Thanks to that, many stereotypes about women who go into sports have been eliminated. For example, the stereotype that all females in sports tend to lose their femininity is no longer seen as true. Or the stereotype that women are not anatomically designed for sports is also considered irrelevant nowadays. All of this was once held appropriate due to the fact that the media focuses more on the physical characteristics of female athletes rather than their level of performance. But now, its not uncommon to see Anna Kurnikova or the Williams sisters in the front pages of sports magazines. Although we live in a culture of gender stereotypes, which apparently puts men over women, the fat is that stereotypes have the potential of affecting society negatively. Some stereotypes can develop patterns which do not allow the development and expression of individual qualities. To avoid setting those kinds of stereotypes, one must analyze the information that the media communicates to us before creating a stereotype. By doing this, people will be able to realize that the ideas that the media feeds are far from reality. The use of stereotypes is convenient to some extent, but it is important to know the boundaries of the line that leads to prejudice and discrimination, a line that is crossed countless times by the media. The process of stereotyping allows people to interact with their environment, to understand it, and to develop their own interpretation of it. But what happens when the amount of information gained is digested without the right amount of evaluation and the stereo types begin to take the place of personal perception? Those stereotypes become our view of the world.

Over Population :: essays research papers

Over Population The world’s population is approximately 5.9 billion, and it is still growing. It has just about doubled in the past forty years. We are now faced with the issue of over population. The problem is very severe, and important. It is controversial how many people this planet can hold. Some are arguing that we have plenty of room, and we could fit everyone on the state of Alaska, if we just put 10,000 people on each square mile. Alaska only makes up about one percent of the earth’s land mass. Other people argue that we need land to grow and supply all the resources we need, and we do not have enough for everybody. Either way the issue is looked at though, many people are being deprived of food, shelter and clothing because of the excess of people. Many countries are reducing their population by family planning. Family planning tries to promote the idea of using some sort of birth control such as condoms, the pill, sterilization, IUDs, or some other method. Over the past three decades, the global percentage of couples using some form of family planning has increased dramatically. It has changed from less than 10, to more than 50 percent. The amount of people who use family planning would increase if everyone had easy accessibility to it. In some rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, it takes an average of two hours to reach the nearest contraceptive provider. Often, people cannot even afford some type of birth control. Also, many governments ban or restrict important methods of contraception. Japan, for instance, discourages the use of birth control pills over the condom. Also, 60 countries require a husband’s consent for all forms of birth control. Even though there are some conflicts with it, I think family planning seems like the best to solve the world’s over population problem. China’s one child policy is generally denounced by a majority of world nations. Many countries feel that it is not right to restrict the number of children a person can have. They believe it is a person’s freedom to choose how many kids they want. China hopes for their fertility rate to be 1 child per woman instead of the 1.85 rate they currently have. Even though China’s policy is very controversial, China thinks this is what they need to do in order for their population growth to drop.

Gender and Society :: essays research papers

Gender is one of the universal dimensions on which status differences are based. Gender is a social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow. Men have subordinated women. All other discriminations are insipid by construct. Why does society segregate the workforce by gender? Women have been single out against in the workforce as minorities, not as women, because they are relatively powerless. Men see women as less profitable. Society stereotype that women are less capable, less productive, and less dedicated to their employers. Women therefore are assigned jobs that are more mind numbing and are paid less. Women are place in the underpaid and underutilized pool of marginal labor works. Women have always had a lower status than men have, but the extent of the gap between genders varies across cultures and time. American women in 1999 earned approximately 77% of what men made, in 2000, according to the Department of Labor. Societies do not consistently define most tasks as either feminine or masculine. With industrialization the importance of muscle power is declining, thus leaving more options and gender differences to further condensed (Nolan & Lenski, 1999). Women do confront barriers in the marketplace, and in some industries, marginal pools of labor are profitable. Gender stratification is unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women. Women were denied the right to vote because many believe that women lacked sufficient intelligence and political interest. (1848) Most people in 1925, doubted that the best women runners could ever finish a marathon anywhere near the time men could. Only ten minutes separate the current world marathon records for women (set in 2003) and for men (set in 2002). This shows most differences between men and women or gender turn out to be socially created. Even the military has an issue with gender. At the outset of World War II, 1940, only two percent of armed forces personnel were women. The War in Iraq by 2003, women represented seven percent of all deployed U.S. troops. Out of that seven percent eight were casualties leaving 452 male casualties. The Coast Guard is the only branch that all assignments are open to women, whereas, the Marines denies women access to two-thirds of their jobs.