Modern Family Tv Show free essay sample

Holidays are always beautiful events in our life even if we only have it once a year. It’s the time when families enjoy been together. It is a time when we all happy and forget all concerns during the year. It is the time to apologize if we have done something wrong. But the most important is been with the people you love the most. Modern Family is a really fun TV show they have thought something important about the holidays. Since most of them would not at home during Christmas Day they decide to have an express Christmas. Christmas day it is important for people that celebrate this holiday, for others is just another regular day. But, even if people don’t celebrate Christmas they have a holiday that could be the same when they enjoy and gather together with their family. For Modern Family, it was important for them to make this express Christmas because they wanted to have a family reunion and celebrate together. We will write a custom essay sample on Modern Family Tv Show or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They all put their effort to accomplish their goal by buying the tree, putting the colorful lights, wrapping the presents and making dinner. Modern Family shows us that if we really want something it must be done if you really desire it. We saw that most of them have complications doing what they have to do. The Christmas tree was crash by two cars, the turkey was trade for a Christmas present, and the angel that goes on the tree fly over the window and broke. They all thought that it was a waste of time in doing the express Christmas. But, one of the members of the family says that even though the plan fell they all are together and it was the most important. It was true, they have their family, love and they are all happy about what they have. For many people Christmas could be a melancholy day where they don’t have any family or they do but they are far away. So, they don’t feel like celebrating since this type of holidays is to be with your family and love ones to celebrate. But, Modern Family, though us that even if something go wrong there is people out there that love you, care and support you. There is always someone out there that is willing to make them happy. Modern Family tries their best to come up with the plan and have their Christmas presents and celebrate it before. But, things didn’t go very well and the fun part was that they enjoy doing it anyways. Because they did it together as a family and that is what family is for to support each other. Holidays are the most precious events for most of us, because is the time to be with the family and also is the time to a new beginning.

Jane Fonda in North Vietnam - Myths of Womens History

Jane Fonda in North Vietnam - Myths of Women's History They started coming in the winter of 1999: emails asking me to do something about the book, written by Barbara Walters, already published and the basis of a television special reviewed on this site: 100 Women of the Century. (Ive never been clear how one does something about a book thats already been published and sold. I dont think these people really wanted to seize and destroy all copies, did they?) The protest was over the inclusion of Jane Fonda in the book and special. Id quoted Fonda in my review, this way: Who did Jane Fonda say popped into her mind as the most influential woman of the century? Coco Chanel! Fonda explains: And heres why: She freed us from the corset. Frankly, I thought anyone reading that quote was likely to come away with this conclusion: Jane Fonda was not exactly the brainiest commentator on the history of women in the 20th century, and not exactly a prime candidate for selection as one of the 100 most influential women of the century! But, I guess because I included Jane Fonda in that review, these Jane Fonda emails started to pour in. There are fewer of them now, though they continue to come, and unfortunately I suspect Ill get more after publishing this article, from correspondents who dont read carefully. An example of one I received, after writing the above words, from a Carl R. Brucker, includes these words: How can a woman who patronized the Vietnamese Army during war time be honored? You media publicicts need to have your heads examined and your patriotism questioned, maybe even your citizenship! What upset these writers so much? Heres the email that they sent to me - its also reproduced in many places on the web: Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the 100 Women of the Century. Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during Vietnam. Part of my conviction comes from personal exposure to those who suffered her attentions. The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot. The pilots name is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat. In 1968, the former Commandant of the USAF Survival School was a POW in Ho Lo Prison - the Hanoi Hilton. Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and dressed in clean PJs, he was ordered to describe for a visiting American Peace Activist the lenient and humane treatment hed received. He spat at Ms. Fonda, and was clubbed and dragged away. During the subsequent beating, he fell forward upon the camp Commandants feet, which sent that officer berserk. In 78, the AF Col still suffered from double vision (which permanently ended his flying days) from the Vietnamese Cols frenzied application of a wooden baton. Col Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/DO (F-4Es). He spent 6 years in the Hilton - the first three of which he was missing in action. His wife lived on faith that he was still alive. His group, too, got the cleaned/fed/clothed routine in preparation for a peace delegation visit. They, however, had time and devised a plan to get word to the world that they still survived. Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his SSN on it, in the palm of his hand. When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a camera man, she walked the line, shaking each mans hand and asking little encouraging snippets like: Arent you sorry you bombed babies? and Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent captors? Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her their slivers of paper. She took them all without missing a beat. At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer in charge... and handed him the little pile of p apers. Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Col Carrigan was almost number four. But he survived... which is the only reason we know about her actions that day. I was a civilian economic development advisor in Vietnam, and was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam in 1968 and held for over 5 years. I spent 27 months in solitary confinement, one year in a cage in Cambodia, and one year in a black box in Hanoi. My North Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Ban me Thuot, South Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border. At one time I weighed approximately 90 lbs  - my normal weight is 170 lbs. We were Jane Fondas war criminals. When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, I was asked by the camp communist political officer if I would be willing to meet with Jane Fonda. I said yes, that I would like to tell her about the real treatment we POWs were receiving, which was far different from the treatment purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by Jane Fonda, as humane and lenient. Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees with outstretched arms with a large amount of steel placed on my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane every time my arms dipped. I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda for a couple of hours after I was released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on TV. She did not answer me. This does not exemplify someone who should be honored as part of 100 Years of Great Women. Lest we forget...100 Years of Great Women should never include a traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many patriots. There are few things I have strong visceral reactions to, but Hanoi Janes participation in blatant treason is one of them. Please take the time to forward to as many people as you possibly can. It will eventually end up on her computer and she needs to know that we will never forget. For starters: any email that says Please take the time to forward to as many people as you possibly can is probably at best an exaggeration, at worst an outright scam. (I always check similar emails at  http://urbanlegends.about.com  before passing them along, and I check out allegations of viruses at  http://antivirus.about.com  as well. Most of those panicked forward this everywhere emails are hoaxes or long-expired petitions.) Checking It Out When I started getting these Jane Fonda emails, I forwarded one to David Emery, Abouts Guide to Urban Legends.  David carefully checked out the stories  in the Jane Fonda  email,  and discovered that  the first two are false  - the ones where servicemen actually died. I repeat -   those stories have been debunked, and their falsehood confirmed by the supposed sources of the stories. The last one - where a serviceman was beaten because he said hed meet with Jane Fonda and tell her honestly about conditions in a POW camp - is confirmed as  true,  but did not involve Fondas direct action at all. Its fascinating, though, to see how persistent these Jane Fonda legends remain, despite the attempts of Davids site and others to debunk them. I vividly remember Jane Fondas trip to North Vietnam, as reported in the media. I remember proponents and opponents of the war alike finding her actions distasteful, ill-thought-out, and profoundly disrespectful of Americans serving in Vietnam. But I certainly didnt think that her act would generate such energy nearly thirty years later. When I wrote the review of Barbara Walters book in 1999, I thought that including Jane Fonda as one of the most influential women of the twentieth century was rather silly, an example of the preference for entertainers that Walters showed in her selections. Barbara Walters included several women even more notorious than Jane Fonda: Madame Mao and  Leni Riefenstahl, for instance. The book was about influential and important women - not simply wonderful women who should be held up as role models. Walters says in the book that she included Fonda for her contribution to bringing exercise into wide practice among women - not for her political views! Nevertheless, I didnt think Jane Fonda deserved inclusion as one of the 100 most influential women of the century. But the persistence of this Jane Fonda email, and the clear passion of the many who continue to distribute it and who continue to believe that Jane Fonda should be tried for treason for her trip to North  Vietnam,  have convinced me otherwise. Jane Fonda is influential far beyond what Id  thought,  if she can continue to generate this level of activity! The  whole  story on this email legend and why the first two-thirds is not believable:  Hanoi Jane Rumors Blend Fact and Fiction Update As of this writing, several years after first publishing this article, the waves of distribution of the Jane Fonda email have diminished somewhat. Perhaps this article has been able to play a part in getting people to think more carefully about an issue that carries a lot of emotional  weight. But whenever Jane Fonda is in the news, the erroneous emails return. To use the example of Mr. Brucker, whose email I excerpted on page 1 of this article: Hes still apparently convinced that Im honoring Fonda despite reading an earlier version of this article, failing to understand the difference between writing about someone and honoring them (or still being confused about the difference between myself and the author of a book I mentioned). Worse than his misunderstanding is the implication that anyone who publishes something about Fonda may need to have their citizenship questioned. What an insult to those people who have served in Americas military, thinking they were doing so to promote a free society, in which dissent is possible, and certainly where the writing about a controversy isnt reasonable grounds for challenging ones citizenship or patriotism. Whats next? Burn Barbara Walters book, bringing to mind  Fahrenheit 451? Burn Barbara Walters, bringing to mind medieval witch hunts or the Inquisition? I wish I could say that Mr. Bruckers tirade was unusual, and indeed some correspondents do read and write more carefully and without advocating closing down free speech. But unfortunately, too many seem to have difficulty understanding two major points: (a) listing several people as influential is not necessarily an honor, much less mentioning that a book listed someone as influential;  and in this case  the continuing venom only demonstrates Fondas continued influence; and(b) even if someone did honor Fonda for her other achievements, proposing to punish disagreement with the authors perspective by removing a writers citizenship or shooting the writer is not exactly in keeping with the reasons that many served bravely in Americas wars. On the other hand - whether Jane Fondas actions in North Vietnam fall into the realm of treason is still a matter of debate. The 2002 book  Aid and Comfort: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam,  by attorneys Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer (compare prices) comes down on the side of yes. Fondas had few defenders recently - her fitness videos of the 1970s and 1980s (compare prices) have largely been replaced by newer videos by new fitness gurus, and Thomas Kiernans 1982 biography,  Jane Fonda: Heroine for Our Time  (compare prices), is out of print. Barbara Walters 1998 book,  100 Most Important Women of the 20th Century  (compare prices), in which Jane Fonda plays a minor role, is still a readable if light version of 20th century womens history, in which celebrities play a disproportionate role and which includes a few women who were influential but not exactly positive role models (Madame Mao and  Leni Riefenstahl, for instance). A Later Update This story has unfolded over many years.  I get far fewer emails now - because the email has morphed since the 2008 election into a story about Barack Obama instead of me co-writing this book with Barbara Walters.  I think I should be honored to be transformed into a President.  Dont believe that Obama is responsible for this, either.  Its you who will look ignorant.

Authentic materials as supplementary materials

Authentic materials as supplementary materials Plagiarism is a practice that involves the using of another person’s intellectual output and presenting it as one’s own’. This includes the presentation of work that has been copied, in whole or part, from other sources (including other students’ work, published books or periodicals, or unpublished works or unauthorized collaboration with other persons), without due acknowledgement. A student found guilty of plagiarism will be subject to some or all of the following: Referral to Course Coordinator for: counseling; submission of further work; use of the services of Student Learning Unit; the placing of a record of the alleged infringement on the student’s file. Referral of the matter to the Head of School for: issuing of written warning; re-submission of work for assessment or the undertaking of another form of assessment such as an oral or unseen examination; allocation of a fail grade to part or all of the assessment; allocation a fail grade to th e subject. Referral of the matter to the Dean for: suspension from the course; official disciplinary action by the University Disciplinary Committee Student Declaration I declare that this assignment is original and has not been submitted for assessment elsewhere. I declare that this assignment is my own work and does not involve plagiarism or collusion. I give my consent for the electronic version to be examined by relevant plagiarism software programs. I have made a photocopy or electronic copy of my assignment, which I can produce if the original is lost for any reason. Signed: ___________ ____________ Dated: / / How to submit Your assignment Students are required to submit their assignment to their lecturer. This should be done in class, but can be done via email or via the mail with prior agreement from the lecturer. Students should ensure they are aware of how and when to submit their assignment by checking with their lecturer before the due date. How to Collect Your Marked As signment Your work should be collected from the lecturer in class or from the VU-HANU Program Coordinator in HCM City, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha or in Hanoi, Ms. Nguyen Thai Ha. If work is not returned in class or prior to the end of semester please contact your lecturer or the program coordinator (Mr. Martyn Brogan ) More information about Plagiarism is available from the Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development Student Information Website: http://www.vu.edu.au/Faculties_and_TAFE/Arts_Education_and_Human_Development/Current_Students/Undergraduates/Faculty_Student_Forms/indexdl_88408.aspx TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I Introduction Research questions CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW Text book 2.1.1 Textbook Description 2.1.2 Textbook Evaluation 2.2 Authentic materials for ESP course book 2.2.4. The role of reading materials 2.2.1. Definition of authentic materials 2.2.2. The role of authentic materials 2.2.3. Advantages of authentic materials 2.2.5. The criteria of selecting readin g authentic materials 2.3. Applying authentic materials in extensive reading program 2.3.1. Applying authentic materials in extensive reading program 2.3.2. Post-reading activities 2.4. Motivations 2.4.1. Definition of motivation 2.4.2. Factors effecting motivation CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Kind of research 3.2 Participants 3.2.1 The researcher 3.2.2 Selection of the subject 3.3 Data collection instruments

Automotive Vs. Computers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Automotive Vs. Computers - Essay Example The paper is going to focus on Toyota and Dell as the products of these industries. Toyota has in the past been depending on its o its major supplier in Japan. However, Toyota being the current leading automotive supplier of cars in the world embarked on a competitive strategy that involved the production of quality cars hence utilized a reliable approach. In addition, Toyota’s supply chain called for responsiveness and efficiency. Moreover, its supply chain necessitates decentralization therefore many production units in various locations all over the world. However, these decentralized units must also the interlinked. This ensures that information flows consecutively throughout all available units. In fact there are four key feature of Toyota’s supply chain. These features include, inventory, transportation, facility and information. Therefore, it is prudent to conclude that Toyota involves numerous production plants; a number of storage facilities, a well-defined tra nsportation mechanism, and reliable information relaying procedures. ( Dudovskiy). This chain ensures that the end consumer gets a quality product and on time regardless of their location since decentralization takes care of it. On the other hand, Dell relies on an exceptional supply chain whose strategy depends on information gathering from its large customer capacity. As such, Dell uses a direct- sale strategy and the information attained are passed on to both the sales and the procurement sections in addition to its external suppliers. The advantage of an information approach strategy is that it allows for timely supply of the product. More so Dell has identified two channels, through which information is acquired such as amongst the customers and the sales personnel’s, and equally, amidst the sales, procurement and suppliers departments. Hence, this approach has helps the company to sell its products in large quantities and with required quality since there is information flow (Gilmore). The automotive industry can be said to stick to its unique supply chain because of the nature of its product. Automotive is bulky, this makes expensive to assemble in a single location. Moreover, car models are rigid to change because there are a variety of models that a customer can chose from. More so, car parts are expensive to make hence changing any part will most likely result to recalling all previously produced vehicles. Therefore, an automotive industry remains competitive only if it produces different car model that suits the needs of its many customers. In addition, the quality, engine performance and fuel consumption are the factors that customers are after in any car mode. Therefore it is only through decentralization that an automotive producer can understand well the needs and requirements of the market. On the contrary, computer producers are better place to use an interactive supply chain approach because their products can be produced from a central location and easily transported to the consumers. Hence, such compa nies will invest more in both the sales and procurement teams to get the market requirements and they will deliver easily on such demands. Consequently, this is an industry that deals more with technology hence they are aware that technology is dynamic. When it comes to the product, the producer mainly evaluates the production cost. In this regards, automotive produce

Book Market Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Book Market - Assignment Example Memo Introduction: Since the higher education market is clearly grouped we have to use stratified random sampling So that each strata (group) gets properly represented by the sample selected and give a more precise estimate of the entire population. In stratified random sampling the entire population is divided into strata and samples are picked from each strata. There can be three types of stratified random sampling Proportionate Disproportionate Optimal Proportionate stratified random sampling: the ratio of-the number of elements chosen from a particular stratum (n1) to the total number of elements in that particular stratum(N1) is equal to the ratio of -the number of elements chosen from all other strata to the total number of elements in those strata. n1/N1=n2/N2=---------nn/Nn Disproportionate stratified random sampling: the ratio of the number of elements chosen from a particular stratum (n1) to the total number of elements in that particular stratum (N1) is not equal to the ratio of the number of elements chosen from all other strata to the total number of elements in those strata. n1/N1 not equal to n2/N2 This is used when separate statistical analysis for particular strata are required.Suitable ratios are thereafter used to restore original proportions. Optimal stratified random sampling: due to cost concerns the researcher might want to achieve maximum accuracy that is minimum variance while keeping the costs minimum. This can be done when high degree of precision is not required but only a fair amount of idea can serve the purpose. Advantages and Disadvantages of the above three methods: Advantages Disadvantages Proportionate stratified random sampling The sample represents the true population... Disproportionate stratified random sampling: the ratio of the number of elements chosen from a particular stratum (n1) to the total number of elements in that particular stratum (N1) is not equal to the ratio of the number of elements chosen from all other strata to the total number of elements in those strata. Optimal stratified random sampling: due to cost concerns the researcher might want to achieve maximum accuracy that is minimum variance while keeping the costs minimum. This can be done when high degree of precision is not required but only a fair amount of idea can serve the purpose. Since in this case a fair enough estimate is required as the company is just entering the book market and lack of precision will not cause harm as it is not a quality check but only a overall market estimate, optimal stratified random sampling is recommended.

Principles and practice of Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

Principles and practice of Human Resource Management Essay In 21st century, the organization which considers its employees as an asset rather than cost has competitive advantage. The term suggested for employees is human capital. It refers to productive potential of ones knowledge and actions. In todays knowledge economy, efficient management of human capital ensures success for the organization. This tells the importance of human resource management. It is about managing human capital in the same way as asset management or financial management. Actually human resource management acts as a medium of exchange between employees and organization. Employees offer knowledge, abilities, skills, efforts, time, motivation, commitment and performance to the organization in return for job security, empowerment, generous pay for performance, training, promotion and trustful relationship. Thus human resource management is considered as a matching process that is matching organizational goals with employees needs in order to satisfy both optimally. The more formal definition of human resource management is the activities undertaken by the organization to attract, develop and maintain an effective workforce within an organization. (Daft, 1982) Thus attracting an effective workforce for an organization, developing it to its potential and finally maintaining it are the three main goals of the human resource management. And all the strategies are developed by the human resource department for attaining these three goals and these strategies tend to be organizational wide in order to support the overall corporate strategy. The skills required for attracting the workforce includes human resource planning, job analysis, forecasting, recruiting and selecting; skills for developing the workforce includes training and performance appraisal; and skills for maintaining the workforce includes wages, salaries, benefits and termination. Organizations especially perform human resource management in order to tackle the issues related to human resource proactively rather than reactively. ( Price , 2007). Having developed the concept of human resource management, we will now talk about the different approaches taken by the organization for pursing HRM. Read more:Â  Managing The Human Resources The first approach is hard HRM developed by Michigan business school and the second one is soft HRM developed by Harvard business school. (Fombrun, Tichy and Devanna, 1984) Both approaches are opposite as they are based on different sets of assumptions. (Storey 1992) Soft HRM has humanistic edge in managing employees while hard HRM considers employees as resources which have to be managed in the same way as capital equipments and raw materials. That is hard HRM is bit more technical and mechanical in its approach which involves in obtaining as cheap labor as possible that should be fully exploited. Soft HRM advocates unitary perspective which means employees and organization needs and interest are coherent which leads to mutual goals, influence, respect, rewards and responsibility. The outcome is therefore employee commitment and organizational success (Walton 1985). On contrary, pluralist perspective sees differences in employee and organization goals as a cause for conflicts and problems. Management’s task is to induce the appropriate behavior in workers so that their actions accomplish the company’s goals, not their own. This paves the way for showing direction and coercion by management. This perspective underlies hard HRM. .( Price , 2007) Mc Gregor in 1960 gave Theory X and Theory Y about the nature of employees. Theory X depicted employees who dislike work and try to avoid it when they can. People have to be coerced to work and have to be closely directed and regulated thus leading to tight managerial control. On the other hand theory Y depicted employees who like to work and exercise self direction and self control if they are committed to the goals and objectives. In this case there is loose managerial control and managements function is to foster individual growth and development. Apparently soft HRM is associated with theory Y which emphasizes employees commitment through trust, open communication, training and development and autonomous work environment. This will produce employee behavior which is self directed and this is the main reason for organizations competitive advantage. Whereas hard HRM contingent to theory X, focuses on quantitative, calculative and strategic aspects of managing HR as for any other factor of production. The practices of hard HRM consist of strict performance appraisal, supervision and external control over individuals activities. Now we will examine how soft and hard HRM approaches lead to different kinds of activities and outcomes at different stages of human resource lifecycle. The first stage is of attracting the potential employees. This requires human resource planning by forecasting HR needs and matching the individuals with expected job vacancies. The soft HRM will seek to forecast needed employees in order to complete a work unit or finding the best mix of employees for the team in order to elicit commitment from team members by setting of good team norms and strong cohesiveness. Whereas hard HRM will look to minimize the need for additional employees and will try to reduce the head count. This will lead to incomplete work unit. The job vacancies will not be fully matched with potential employees, which will lead to incomplete work outcomes or delays in achieving goals deadlines. However hard HRM is best suited in condition of financial crisis and economic recession. In these conditions companies are incurring losses and they cannot afford hiring of new employees. Hard HRM is helpful in minimizing external hiring and shifting and relocating existing employees within organization. This will make existing employees loyal because they were not laid off by the organization when downsizing is the only option that remains during financial crisis. (Fombrun, 1984). The recruitment and selection is the most important process in hiring of employees. It requires analysis of both job applicants and job itself. We have to look for desired characteristics in applicants so that he must make a good match with particular job requirements. If his skills, education and experience are not adequate for the specific job then it will lead to frustration and confusion. The result will be poor performance, job dissatisfaction and high turnover. Both soft and hard HRM approach will provide realistic job preview and job description so that employees can judge their potential for a specific job. However soft HRM approach will be more insightful as it will look into the hidden personality traits, attitudes and beliefs of the applicants so that they can be better integrated into overall corporate culture, norms and values. Whereas hard HRM will only look to match the applicants skills with the technical specification of the job. Soft HRM give more attention to the human processes such as communication, sharing of knowledge, cohesiveness and trust among employees. Interviews, paper pencil test etc are the most common selection devices and are used by both approaches. However soft HRM approach has additional selection devices such as personality test, psychological test, case studies and different types of surveys. The second stage in HR lifecycle is development of effective workforce which includes training and performance appraisal as the two most important activities. Soft HRM approach will be more inclined towards training for individual advancement and career development. Soft HRM will go for various types of training techniques such as on the job training, class room training, computer assisted instructions, conferences and case discussion groups. Employees will be made to learn multiple skills so that they can be rotated among various jobs in order to reduce monotony and introduce variety. Hard HRM will see training as an expense. It will usually design job which leaves little room for showing discretion and creativity. The job is monotonous and set rules and procedures are there to perform the job. So training is limited to learning those specific job procedures which limits career advancement. This reduces employee motivation and cause job dissatisfaction and high turnover rate because of increase in monotony. The practice of hard HRM is most suitable in assembly line work. However it will fail in work demanding creativity and originality and whose environment is more unstable and uncertain, for example, film industry. While considering the activity of performance appraisal, hard HRM is more stringent in its appraisal process. The poor performance is mostly attributed to individuals lack of ability and no consideration is given to various external factors influencing the individuals performance. External factors are outside individual control and includes pathetic work environment, work place conflicts, distrust, no sharing of information and resources, bad relations and poor communication with top management. (Drucker , 1954 ) On the other hand soft HRM gives objective feedback on employees performance. It also uses the technique of 360 degree feedback that uses multiple raters and self rating to enhance the reliability and credibility of feedback in the eyes of employees. Multiple raters can include customers, co workers, supervisors and subordinates. Employee is also given a chance to explain his point of view and give explanation if his performance is not up to the standard. At the end of the appraisal top performances are also rewarded with bonuses, recognition and promotion. The feedback style of soft HRM is such that employees are motivated to improve their performance further. It enhances employees self efficacy by making clear role expectations and removing role conflicts and role ambiguity. This approach is therefore best suited for organizations whose culture encompasses total quality management. TQM stresses for customer satisfaction by providing better quality product or services through dedication to training, continuous improvement and teamwork. The third and last stage in HR life cycle is maintaining of workforce so that they continue to work for the organization over the long run. This stage consists of four activities such as rewards management, industrial relation, occupational health and safety and termination. In soft HRM approach rewards are such that it recognizes individual’s accomplishment as well as teamwork. Rewards are administered in such a way that it promotes collaboration and cooperation among employees so that they work as a unit for the overall goals of the organization. The focus is on creating the synergy so that different department of organization works coherently and in alignment of corporate strategy. Ivancevich, 2003). Soft HRM approach also gives rewards which increases intrinsic motivation of employees. Intrinsic motivation to work comes from the internal satisfaction and honor one feels when he completes some meaningful work which makes the difference for the organization. These types of rewards increase employees’ sense of meaningfulness, competence, progress and choice. Intrinsic rewards which increase intrinsic motivation are important for increasing employees’ commitment to organization’s goals and mission. The hard HRM has tight control over rewards. Apart from basic salary, less effort is made to recognize individual performance. However calculated yearly bonuses are given when year end profit target is achieved. In other words no effort is made in hard HRM’s reward system to increase employees’ commitment to work. The main problem is that hard HRM follows corporate strategy in rewarding employees and no analysis is done about employee’s needs and desires. Soft HRM is good enough as its rewards system makes a best fit between employees’ needs and rewards. Moreover the other organization dynamics which affects rewards system is employees’ perceived equity of rewards. If the distribution of rewards is not considered equitable by employees then motivating effects of rewards will vanish. There will be feeling of cognitive dissonance in employees and to remove this feeling, he will either alter his inputs to the work or will demand changes in rewards. The soft HRM approach dealing with human processes designs reward system to improve employees’ perceived equity while hard HRM fails to do so. According to Herzberg, working conditions, pay, good company policy and interpersonal relationships are called hygiene factors and their presence removes job dissatisfaction. The hygiene factors are well cared by soft HRM approach. The hard one fails to provide hygiene factors because its main objective is to accomplish a task in most economical terms as possible. It is only the soft HRM approach that has clear and functional policies and procedures about occupational health and safety. (Noe, 2003). Soft HRM approach looks to build long term relationship with employees. It opens all channels of communication such as upward, downward and lateral. Moreover grapevine and management by objective techniques are also used by managers to delve deeper into employees’ problems and requirements. Hard HRM only uses formal and hierarchical communication channel. This is also the cause for many communication breakdown and distortion. The most important feature of soft HRM is of mentoring and socialization which greatly helps in building cooperative and trustful corporate culture and environment.

Comparing Stories: The Astronomers Wife & The Chrysanthemums :: essays research papers

Recently, I saw a movie about female tennis champion – Billie Jean King, and although I have never been into the feminism (neither can I say that I quite understand it), her character woke up some other kind of sensitivity in me. After this – to me significant change – I could not help myself not to notice different approaches of John Steinbeck and Kay Boyle to the similar thematic. They both deal with marital relationships and it was quite interesting to view lives of ordinary married couples through both â€Å"male† and â€Å"female eyes†. While Steinbeck opens his story describing the Salinas Valley in December metaphorically referring to the Elisa’s character, Boyle jumps directly to Mrs. Ames’s inner world. Although both writers give us pretty clear picture of their characters, Boyle does it with more emotions aiming our feelings immediately, unlike Steinbeck who leaves us more space to think about Elisa Allen. Mrs. Ames from â€Å"The Astronomer’s Wife† and Elisa Allen from â€Å"The Chrysanthemums†, two women in their best ages, did share similar lives. They were loyal wives, of decent beauty and good manners. They were married for some time, without any children and they were fighting the dullness of their marriages. At first, it looked like they were just caught in marriage monotony, but after the surface has been scratched deeper, it was clear that these two women were crying for attention: but they had different reasons. While Boyle describes Mrs. Ames as elegant, gentle, and quiet, Steinbeck gives to Elisa more strength. Her face was â€Å"lean and strong†, and her figure looked â€Å"blocked and heavy in her gardening costume†. Both women find their own ways to cover lack of happiness in their everyday lives. The astronomer’s wife is managing the house finding the silliest things to keep her busy: â€Å"†¦from the removal of the spot left there from dinner on the astronomer’s vest to the severe trashing of the mayonnaise for lunch†. Elisa spends her days in garden raising chrysanthemums â€Å"bigger than anybody around here.† The fact that these two women did not have any children can mislead us to the conclusion that they were both trying to satisfy the instincts they were probably having at the age of thirty-five. While this is the case with Elisa, the astronomer’s wife had different problem: the lack of communication with her husband and inca pability to understand the world he was in.

Cross Cultural Management

The purpose of this essay to demonstrate the cultural differences between the UK manager going to work as an expatriate manager in Colombia. By taking into consideration Hofstede, Bond, Trompenaars and other cross cultural management researchers to advise the UK manager about the Colombian culture, taking into consideration the differences between leadership styles, decision making, recruitment and selection, motivation, planning and team versus individual working. The reason for selecting Colombia was that according to the results by Geert Hofstede, these two countries are very opposite to one another.Therefore it will be good to compare the differences and the similarities between the countries’ culture. According to Adler (1983) Cross Cultural Management is defined as the study of the behavior of people in the organizations located in cultures and nations around the world. It focuses on the description of organizational behaviour within countries and cultures, on the compar ison of organizational behaviour across countries and cultures, and perhaps most importantly on the interactional of people from different countries working within the same organization or within the same work environment.As an advisor to a UK company opening a subsidiary and to send an expatriate Manager to work in Colombia, the best way is to enter the country with an acceptance to what is the culture of Colombia, as it is always better to accept and then expect. Hofstede defines culture as â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another Culture, in this sense, includes values; systems of values are a core element of culture. (Mead et al, 2009) From further research on Hofstede’s culture dimension, we can state that there is a huge different between the UK and Colombian culture. (Hofstede, 2009) Power Distance is the extent to which members of a society accept the unequal distribution of power among individuals. (Ball et al 2004) On the Power Distance dimension (PDI) Colombia scored a comparatively high score of (67). Hofstede, (2011) the score reveal that Colombians are reliant on authority and have leadership that is regularly in a paternalistic approach.This is predictable by workers, they are often loyal and the assumption is that all authority and accountability is at a higher level. Here subordinates are to treat those in positions of authority with particular respect, meaning it is a society that has a very low level of tolerance for uncertainty. The manager knows everything and is all powerful. Harris et al (2004) Management here is seen as being authoritarian, the theory X managers as defined by McGregor. Netmba, (2011) In Colombia the lines of communication in organisation is vertical, subordinates will normally know whom to report to.Companies here are characterised by a less formal controls and fewer layers of management. (Mead et al, 2004) According to Geert Hofstede’s c ulture dimensions scores, UK has the score of (35) This shows that the UK has a very low power distance, which means that it society de-emphasises the differences between citizen’s power and wealth. It places more emphasis on opportunity and equality for everyone. Managers and subordinates are treated equally. Hodgetts et al, (2003). Here the management style as more of the theory Y manager, as managers are more flexible. (Netmba, 2011)Trompenaars views Individualism and Collectivism dimension as the conflict between groups and individual interest. Triandis, (1994) this reflects the underlying arrangement of society integrated, tight social arrangement involving collective responsibility. (Jhon Martin, 2005) UK has a score of (89) on the Hofstede’s finding, this score indicate that UK has a high score on individualism and a high gross national product and also a free political structure. Here the society are more individuals and are expected to look after themselves an d their immediate families only. Mcfarlin et al, 2011) On the other hand Colombia has a score of (13), this indicates the opposite of UK, meaning that Colombia is a collective society, where a favourite for a strongly tie social framework in which citizens are integrated in groups, they expect their clan, families, or other in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning reliability.Colombian’s societies are strongly from birth onwards integrated into strong groups, this is often extended family. (Hofstede and Bond, 1988) Colombian people would openly express emotions even in business circumstances, whereas the British would consider such display nprofessional. (Helen Deresky, 2003) UK managers separates work, relationships and personal issues, they compartmentalise their private lives and work, they are more direct and open, whereas in an diffused oriented cultures, such as Colombia, there is spill over from work into personal relationships. (Helen Deresky, 2003) A ccording to Edward Hall Britain is a monochronic time society. To British citizens time is precious and limited resource, it is to be scheduled, saved, and also spent with precision, for the British time is money, and the clock is at all times running.Therefore, schedules and deadlines must to be met, and when others are not on time for meetings, British may feel insulted, when meetings digress from their purpose, British tend to become impatient. (Mcfarlin et al, 2011) However in Colombia attitude toward time is â€Å"manana† meaning tomorrow. From Edward Hall research, Colombian is a polychonic time society. Despite the fact that the British frequently regards a deadline as a firm commitment, Colombians often regards deadline imposed on them as an insult. They feel that important things take long time and therefore cannot be rushed.Colombians are not known for punctuality. They may arrive at a business meeting 15 or 20 minutes late, since this is considered the norm. (Mcfar lin et al, 2011) The UK manager going to Colombia must be careful not to offend Colombians as they misunderstand the local language of time. Polychronic cultures take a more flexible view of time and this may be hard for British to understand. The procedure of relationship building is regarded with much more importance in most part of the globe. It is important for a cross culture manager to be aware of the influence of culture on decision making styles and process. Deresky, 2003) According to Harris et al, (2004) British negotiators are in general speaking objective regarding the precise issue at hand and usually would like to waste no time in getting down to business and making progress. They understand the other’s position, and are marked by tolerance and compromise. Managers here are seen as being one dimensional, mechanistic and caught in a short term transitional approach. They focus more on formal rules than relationships. According to trompenaars’ dimensions UK is seen as being a high universalism society, However Colombia is seen high on particularism.Hodgetts et al, (2003) Colombian managers would like to take sufficient time to build trust and respect as a basis for negotiating contract. In Colombia personal commitment to individuals, rather than the legal system, form the basis for the enforcement of contracts. UK manager must be aware that relationship building is in fact, the first phase of negotiations with the Colombian. Looking at Trompennars dimension of diffuse vs specific, Colombians are known to have an indirect communication style and they rely on facial expression. With the Colombians it is considered polite to keep close eye contact during conversations.With close friends, women could kiss each other on one cheek or clasp forearms. Men often hug and hit each other’s back. This particular hug is known as the â€Å"abrazo. † (Cultural taboos, 2010) Colombians will also ask numerous polite questions and go throu gh other pleasantries; UK managers should expect inquiries as to your trip, family, friend and health, when greeting Colombians you don’t not rush them, as it is considered callous and disrespect to rush greeting. The standard greeting is the handshake upon introduction and departure. Cultural taboos, 2010) In the other hand communication in the UK will be more direct and reserved; they avoid high pressure tactics and confrontational behaviour. (Harris et al, 2004) Language can also be a pitfall for a British expatriate manger going to work in Colombia. Inability to speak local language can be a challenge; therefore the British manager must learn Spanish when going to work in Colombia as this will help. In Colombia selecting a leader or a manager from a company is the most crucial decision, as they will normally want to know them personally and probably establish friendship.They make decisions on the basis of feelings, rather than experience or empirical evidence of other fac ts. Cultural taboos (2010) In Colombia before starting a meeting, there will always be a small talk, this is necessary in as its gives manager and subordinate the time to get to know each other personally. It is seen as a good way to establish relationship this is seen as a high priority than just doing business. Most time other cultures doing business with Colombian should wait for them to initiate the business discussion. (Charles, Trompenaars, 2004)At the end of the meeting, do not hurry off; wait a little longer to continue talking with the work colleague or business partners, Colombians will find it impolite and disrespectful to leave immediately following a meeting, this to them suggest that you have better things to do. Therefore a British expatriate manager should take this into consideration as mentioned above, time is not an issue for Colombians, and Meetings will last as long as they need to last, and establishing trust is very important first. (Charles, Trompenaars, 2004 )Management nowadays must make sure that they are understanding and being understood across cultural borders. As a UK manager working as an expatriate in Colombia, there are many things to take into account as the two countries are very different when it comes to cross cultural differences and in cross cultural management. Dealing with different culturally teams can be a challenge. The expatriate UK manager going to Colombia must consider and respect that Colombian’s management is totally different from the one from UK; therefore the expatriate manager must show appreciation and consideration of Colombian culture.Uk manager should show tolerance, in respecting Colombian’s cultural views, beliefs and have tolerance for their difference working practices, as mentioned above in the views from Trompenaar, Colombia is seen as a high particularism society, they focus is more on relationship than formal roles, in Colombia the business set is very formal and the expatriate man ager from UK will be more successful if he bears in mind the importance of being polite at all times. And treat people in positions of authority with respect.It is better to make an error on the side of being excessively formal rather than to jeopardize a business relationship by being too informal and appearing flippant. Cultural taboos (2010) whereas in the UK this is not the case. British society is seen as high universalism, they focus is more on formal rules than relationships, here business contract are adhered to very closely, and they believe that â€Å"a deal is a deal†. (Hodgetts et al 2003) The UK expatriate manager must also have the knowledge of the Colombian organisational culture and history, as this will help him know exactly what to expect from the Colombian working trategy, and learn who has the authority to decide on settlement and on the decision making. He must also take whatever step that is necessary to gain an in depth understanding of Colombians, and how they negotiating styles, views of process, and cultural values may come to play. Another important issue that the UK expatriate manager should consider is language, the lack of foreign language skills will put the British manager at a disadvantage, as verbal communication is important.In Colombia business is done in English and in Spanish, therefore the British manager should consider learning Spanish before taking the challenge of working in Colombia. In Conclusion a manger moving to work from one country to another, must know that it is not an easy issue but a challenging one. Cross cultural manager must learn the differences management styles between the host country and the visiting country. Taking into consideration their cultures differences, value, beliefs and norms.References Dereskey, E. (2011). International Management, 7th Edition. Prentice Hall Dereskey, E. 2003). International Management, 4TH Edition. Prentice Hall Mcfalin, D. , Sweeney, P. (2011). International Man agement, 4th Edition. New York Harris, P. Robert, T, . Moran, S, . Moran, V. (2004). Managing Cultural Differences, 6TH Edition. USA Hampden, C, T, Trompennar, F. (2004). Building Cross- Cultural Competence. UK Hodgetts, R. Luthans, F. (2003) International Management, 5TH Edition Mead, R. , Andrews T. (2009). International Management, 4th Edition Wiley Nancy J. (1983). The Academy of Management Review Cross-Cultural Management Research: The Ostrich and the Trend Cultural taboos (2010) Available at: http://www. circlesofexcellence. com/blog/? tag=cultural-taboos&paged=2 [accessed: 21 March, 2011]. Colombian culture tips Available at: http://rw-3. com/tag/colombian-culture/ [accessed: 19 March, 2011]. Intercultural Management, UK. Being a Manager in United Kingdom http://www. kwintessential. co. uk/intercultural/management/uk. html [Accessed: 20 March, 20011]. Theory X and Theory Y Available at: http://www. netmba. com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcgregor/ [accessed: 19 March, 2011]. APENDIX G eert Hofstede Culture Dimension See: http://www. geert-hofstede. com/hofstede_dimensions. php? ulture1=94&culture2=19 High Context vs. Low Context Take a look how members of high and low contextual cultures see themselves and their opposites: High Context Communication †¢polite †¢respectful †¢integrates by similarities/harmony †¢not directLow Context Communication †¢open †¢true †¢integrates by authenticity †¢direct High Context claims Low Context †¢impolite †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"cannot read between the lines† †¢naive †¢no self discipline †¢too fastLow Context claims High Context †¢hiding information †¢not trustable †¢arrogant †¢too formal †¢too slow See:http://globthink. com/2009/06/24/indirect-communication-and-indirect-leadership-in-asia/ Cross Cultural Management CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT Under these conditions it is obvious that corporations very often operate in different countries and deal with people from other nations. The Company that makes business outside the home country encounters some difficulties. There are significant differences among countries according to their culture and this affects their relationships between trade partners or cooperating companies. This subject very often is described by Lisbeth Clausen. She is a professor that associates with Department of Intercultural Communication and Management at Copenhagen Business School and she is also affiliated with Asia Research Center. In the International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 2007 Vol 7(3): 317-332 we can find an article titled: Corporate Comunication Challenges – A Negotiation Culture Perspective, written by Lisbeth Clausen. The article is based on her research project, which examines communication between Danish companies and their headquarters/alliances in Japan. The main interest in this research is related to communications between people in organizations with a global perspective. The author for a year and a half was part of the international news flow research team at Keio University in Japan where she was observing political decision-making processes in the newsrooms at the public service station NHK and also the commercial station TV Asahi. She has interviewed forty journalists, foreign correspondents, editors and famous anchors and the five Japanese national news producers about their production of international news and also she has compared studies of Danish and Japanese news programs. Her project is supported by the Danish Research Council (LOK). She also has interviewed fifty global managers from Denmark and Japan, paying attention to their cooperation, their cultural challenges in communication and implementation of strategies in Japan. In her article Corporate Communication and Challenges-A Negotiated Culture Perspective is the essence of her long term studies and hard work. The author’s main thesis is that business culture cannot be defined only in terms of nationality. By the examination of Danish-Japanese business relationships she tries to show that there are other factors like industry, organizational and professional knowledge that shape culture. However that does not mean that national characteristics and values are not important. The article is very well organized. It includes a little introduction to the problems. Lisbeth presents results of her research that she did while being in Japan. She applies concept of negotiated culture to empirical data at both organizational and contextual levels in intercultural encounters. Communication is viewed as a complex, multi- issued, and dynamic process in which global managers exchange meaning (Clausen, 2007). The fact that she based her article on the theories of intercultural communication and negotiated culture and after that lead readers through information obtained from managers engaged in Danish-Japanese business to get to conclusions that support stated by her thesis, strengths this article, makes it clearer and more reliable. Based on the analyses of strategic and operational communications that occur in the business relationship between Denmark headquarter and its alliance partner in Japan, Lisbeth indicates how the western view of communication processes differs from the Japanese and how many challenges are brought about by the globalization. As mentioned earlier the theoretical foundation for these studies is a theory of negotiated culture. According to Brannen and Salk (t2000): national origin is a source of values and norms for managers, but is not a determinant of communication outcomes negotiated culture appear when members from different national and organizational cultures deal together during cooperation between corporation from two different countries emerge the specific attributes of a headquarters/partners relationship cultural differences may affect task related issues in unexpected ways The fact that the author indicates all the sources from which she has obtained information presented in the article makes this articlea more valuable source of knowledge about intercultural communication. Lisbeth has collected data for her studies in April 2004 in Denmark and in September-November 2004 in Japan. She refers to the company she was examining as the Shoe Company. She conducted fifty interviews in five companies as part of a larger project on management, communication and competence. The goal of interviewed made i n both Denmark and Japan was to achieve a good understanding of the viewpoints of both the headquarters and the partner. In Denmark Lisbeth has focused on the production of new prototypes and has met people in the factory. In Japan she has visited several shoe stores and has spent some time in the showroom. She has thoroughly interviewed managers and directors from so many departments. Besides that she has also interview via telephone the managing director of Asia (Danish) stationed in Hong Kong (Clausen, 2007). It seems like Lisbeth has put so much effort in obtaining all the information that let her be as objective as possible. The article is well organized. Every problem that is discussed belongs to different paragraph, with a header to make it easier to understand. The author describes different issues step by step without mixing them together. Everything together is connected in the reasonable article and all the conclusions are drawn from all the information presented in there. It gives me an impression that Lisbeth has broad knowledge about the problem of communication according to the culture differentiation. Besides that the language that she uses even if she talks about some theories is rather always clear. Because all businesses involve communication therefore ability to communicate with people from other culture is crucial in global world of business. Communication becomes more difficult when partners come from different cultural background and speak different language (Adler, 2002). There are no doubts that managers and expatriates have big challenges dealing with their partners across the borders. Culture in certain way shapes the communication. To explain better the relationship between culture and communication the author is so precise and describes first the notion of communication, considering more than just one perspective. I think that this is one of the proofs that Lisbeth tries to be very objective. Western approach is concerned on communication as a transmission of information from sender to receiver, what is understood as a possible to control process. From the other side she also presents eastern perspective that emphasizes a role of cooperation. Besides that she also focuses on explanation of culture. She presents different theories of culture at the end she puts essence of all of them in a conclusion. She sees culture as a part of relationship rather than in predetermined structure. Lisbeth very good presents the base on which she draws her conclusions. To support her thesis about influence of cultural differentiation for business relationship she presents all the facts that she has recorded while interviewing managers in SHOE Company. That also includes the information about development of the cooperation between Denmark and Japan in the SHOE Company. Danish Company makes business with Japanese on the base of licensing. According to her interviews the author indicates as many areas that show differences in culture as possible. The culture of the SHOE Company is influenced by the founders. Headquarter director always has his vision and his own way of doing things. The Company even posses a book with 25 culture Maxims. Danish managers highlight some of them, still paying attention for role of entrepreneur. Japanese from the other side respect Danish rules and business philosophy, but they cannot incorporate everything into a Japanese business setting. Even if Danish managers made so many trips to Japan to get know better Japanese culture and customs the author emphasizes the fact that there are still big differences that force Japanese to modify Danish business philosophy. To convince readers about differences in Danish and Japanese culture Lisbeth gives so many examples from Companies life. SHOE Company has an office in Honk Kong. The managerial director (Danish) is the only person from this office that deal with Japanese. He lives in Honk Kong. He is kind of mediator between Danish managers and Japanese. He has much better abilities to communicate with Japanese than his Danish coworkers. On the base of this example, Lisbeth proofs that there are different cultures in Denmark and in Japan. The fact that managerial director in Honk Kong can better communicate with Japanese is a result of cultural learning and adaptation of the Asian managerial director. The author very good presents a base for her conclusions. She discusses variety of factors that affect her final opinion. According to organization of communication she presents Danish and Japanese perspectives. Japanese complain that they have to move toward a more western style of management in Japan. Danish asses this a little bit different. They say that Japanese are too much conservative and spend too much time making sure that everything is perfect before they launch the product. Moreover dominating there vertical hierarchy does not support empower employees. The lack of freedom, independence and personal responsibilities makes business slower and less developed that it could be. Another important issue discovered by Lisbeth during her studies was lack of agreement on distribution channel. There is intermediary system of distribution in Japan, which in Danish’s opinion makes selling prices to go up. Unfortunately the power of wholesalers is overwhelming in the Japanese market, and many department stores are depended on them. Japanese tradition of wholesalers is not possible to change. I think that this example strengths Lisbeth’s article because proofs the assumption that different markets have different cultural heritage, what definitely affect the way of doing business. To make her arguments even stronger Lisbet’h took closer look at Product, Brand and Marketing strategy in the SHOE Company. The main strategy of the Corporation is that local subsidiaries and factories around the world make as many decisions by them self as possible. However there are still many disputes. Denmark wants to promote its shoes as Danish as comfortable, which is accepted by Japan, but Japan, does not want promote slow and comfortable life that in Japanese opinion is an attribute of Danish people. This totally does not fit to the Japanese life style in a big metropolis. There are so many areas of disputes that results from different tradition, culture and lifestyle. Japan accepts and implements only 50% of Danish ideas for marketing. Similar situation appears if it comes about brand strategy. Living in the global world Danish tries to apply one global strategy to its products, however Japanese do not agree. Japan has its own history and position of its market. Japan is not so open for changes. While in Denmark change of manager usually results in the change of strategy, in Japan new managers try to learn company strategy overrules. (Clausen, 2007) Lisbeth also indicates the diversity between Japanese and Danish cultures that are very visible during the joint meetings. That is connected with different style of negotiation presented by each country. For Danish the most important are results that are based on the number of business decisions made during the meeting. They are very active, talk a lot sometimes even interrupting his coworkers. They try to discuss as many new ideas as possible. Participation is not very formal. Japanese act totally different and value other things. For them every business meeting it has a form of formal ceremony. It is extremely important for them to attend the meeting. Japanese do not talk too much, the listen. They comment only if they are asked to do it. For Danish people this is not so easy, because to be successful making business with Japanese they have to follow their ritual and be very patient. The author also indicates diversity of work culture. Japanese are always very well prepared and pay lots of attention for small details. They focus on the relationship building. Very often they meet after the business meeting to go out together for dinner. Danish are not like that. For them business is business and free time is separated from it. They do not enjoy spending their private free time for meeting people from work. Lisbeth Clausen has done a very good job collecting all this data and information from her interviewed. For me her article seems like a very good and reliable source of knowledge about the intercultural communication on the base of Danish-Japanese cooperation. Her deep research provides so many examples of diversity of cultures between these two countries. Numerous analyses of certain facts and behaviors let readers better understand stated problem. Examination of the situation that she personally experienced is a good way of delivering proof for her thesis. I think that for me as a student of businessadministration this article is very valuable. It makes me realize that culture of each country is not the same, sometimes not even similar. Differences in culture affect the way of communication. In the century of development of globalization there are many challenges in making business across the countries. Maybe one day I will work for a Company that performs global and I will have to deal with managers from different culture. Lisbeth indicates that it is important to know culture and tradition of other countries while making business with them. She introduce to reader Danish and Japanese style of negotiation. If one day I will have to deal with someone from these two countries I will already have some knowledge about their culture. I totally agree with Lisbeth thesis that culture shape communication. References: Adler, N. J. (2002) The International Dimension of Organizational Behavior, 4th edn. Canada: North-Western Brannen, Y. and Salk, J. E. (2000) â€Å"Partnering across Borders: Negotiating Organizational Culture in German-Japanese Joint Venture†, Human Relations 53(4):451-87. Cross Cultural Management CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT Under these conditions it is obvious that corporations very often operate in different countries and deal with people from other nations. The Company that makes business outside the home country encounters some difficulties. There are significant differences among countries according to their culture and this affects their relationships between trade partners or cooperating companies. This subject very often is described by Lisbeth Clausen. She is a professor that associates with Department of Intercultural Communication and Management at Copenhagen Business School and she is also affiliated with Asia Research Center. In the International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 2007 Vol 7(3): 317-332 we can find an article titled: Corporate Comunication Challenges – A Negotiation Culture Perspective, written by Lisbeth Clausen. The article is based on her research project, which examines communication between Danish companies and their headquarters/alliances in Japan. The main interest in this research is related to communications between people in organizations with a global perspective. The author for a year and a half was part of the international news flow research team at Keio University in Japan where she was observing political decision-making processes in the newsrooms at the public service station NHK and also the commercial station TV Asahi. She has interviewed forty journalists, foreign correspondents, editors and famous anchors and the five Japanese national news producers about their production of international news and also she has compared studies of Danish and Japanese news programs. Her project is supported by the Danish Research Council (LOK). She also has interviewed fifty global managers from Denmark and Japan, paying attention to their cooperation, their cultural challenges in communication and implementation of strategies in Japan. In her article Corporate Communication and Challenges-A Negotiated Culture Perspective is the essence of her long term studies and hard work. The author’s main thesis is that business culture cannot be defined only in terms of nationality. By the examination of Danish-Japanese business relationships she tries to show that there are other factors like industry, organizational and professional knowledge that shape culture. However that does not mean that national characteristics and values are not important. The article is very well organized. It includes a little introduction to the problems. Lisbeth presents results of her research that she did while being in Japan. She applies concept of negotiated culture to empirical data at both organizational and contextual levels in intercultural encounters. Communication is viewed as a complex, multi- issued, and dynamic process in which global managers exchange meaning (Clausen, 2007). The fact that she based her article on the theories of intercultural communication and negotiated culture and after that lead readers through information obtained from managers engaged in Danish-Japanese business to get to conclusions that support stated by her thesis, strengths this article, makes it clearer and more reliable. Based on the analyses of strategic and operational communications that occur in the business relationship between Denmark headquarter and its alliance partner in Japan, Lisbeth indicates how the western view of communication processes differs from the Japanese and how many challenges are brought about by the globalization. As mentioned earlier the theoretical foundation for these studies is a theory of negotiated culture. According to Brannen and Salk (t2000): national origin is a source of values and norms for managers, but is not a determinant of communication outcomes negotiated culture appear when members from different national and organizational cultures deal together during cooperation between corporation from two different countries emerge the specific attributes of a headquarters/partners relationship cultural differences may affect task related issues in unexpected ways The fact that the author indicates all the sources from which she has obtained information presented in the article makes this articlea more valuable source of knowledge about intercultural communication. Lisbeth has collected data for her studies in April 2004 in Denmark and in September-November 2004 in Japan. She refers to the company she was examining as the Shoe Company. She conducted fifty interviews in five companies as part of a larger project on management, communication and competence. The goal of interviewed made i n both Denmark and Japan was to achieve a good understanding of the viewpoints of both the headquarters and the partner. In Denmark Lisbeth has focused on the production of new prototypes and has met people in the factory. In Japan she has visited several shoe stores and has spent some time in the showroom. She has thoroughly interviewed managers and directors from so many departments. Besides that she has also interview via telephone the managing director of Asia (Danish) stationed in Hong Kong (Clausen, 2007). It seems like Lisbeth has put so much effort in obtaining all the information that let her be as objective as possible. The article is well organized. Every problem that is discussed belongs to different paragraph, with a header to make it easier to understand. The author describes different issues step by step without mixing them together. Everything together is connected in the reasonable article and all the conclusions are drawn from all the information presented in there. It gives me an impression that Lisbeth has broad knowledge about the problem of communication according to the culture differentiation. Besides that the language that she uses even if she talks about some theories is rather always clear. Because all businesses involve communication therefore ability to communicate with people from other culture is crucial in global world of business. Communication becomes more difficult when partners come from different cultural background and speak different language (Adler, 2002). There are no doubts that managers and expatriates have big challenges dealing with their partners across the borders. Culture in certain way shapes the communication. To explain better the relationship between culture and communication the author is so precise and describes first the notion of communication, considering more than just one perspective. I think that this is one of the proofs that Lisbeth tries to be very objective. Western approach is concerned on communication as a transmission of information from sender to receiver, what is understood as a possible to control process. From the other side she also presents eastern perspective that emphasizes a role of cooperation. Besides that she also focuses on explanation of culture. She presents different theories of culture at the end she puts essence of all of them in a conclusion. She sees culture as a part of relationship rather than in predetermined structure. Lisbeth very good presents the base on which she draws her conclusions. To support her thesis about influence of cultural differentiation for business relationship she presents all the facts that she has recorded while interviewing managers in SHOE Company. That also includes the information about development of the cooperation between Denmark and Japan in the SHOE Company. Danish Company makes business with Japanese on the base of licensing. According to her interviews the author indicates as many areas that show differences in culture as possible. The culture of the SHOE Company is influenced by the founders. Headquarter director always has his vision and his own way of doing things. The Company even posses a book with 25 culture Maxims. Danish managers highlight some of them, still paying attention for role of entrepreneur. Japanese from the other side respect Danish rules and business philosophy, but they cannot incorporate everything into a Japanese business setting. Even if Danish managers made so many trips to Japan to get know better Japanese culture and customs the author emphasizes the fact that there are still big differences that force Japanese to modify Danish business philosophy. To convince readers about differences in Danish and Japanese culture Lisbeth gives so many examples from Companies life. SHOE Company has an office in Honk Kong. The managerial director (Danish) is the only person from this office that deal with Japanese. He lives in Honk Kong. He is kind of mediator between Danish managers and Japanese. He has much better abilities to communicate with Japanese than his Danish coworkers. On the base of this example, Lisbeth proofs that there are different cultures in Denmark and in Japan. The fact that managerial director in Honk Kong can better communicate with Japanese is a result of cultural learning and adaptation of the Asian managerial director. The author very good presents a base for her conclusions. She discusses variety of factors that affect her final opinion. According to organization of communication she presents Danish and Japanese perspectives. Japanese complain that they have to move toward a more western style of management in Japan. Danish asses this a little bit different. They say that Japanese are too much conservative and spend too much time making sure that everything is perfect before they launch the product. Moreover dominating there vertical hierarchy does not support empower employees. The lack of freedom, independence and personal responsibilities makes business slower and less developed that it could be. Another important issue discovered by Lisbeth during her studies was lack of agreement on distribution channel. There is intermediary system of distribution in Japan, which in Danish’s opinion makes selling prices to go up. Unfortunately the power of wholesalers is overwhelming in the Japanese market, and many department stores are depended on them. Japanese tradition of wholesalers is not possible to change. I think that this example strengths Lisbeth’s article because proofs the assumption that different markets have different cultural heritage, what definitely affect the way of doing business. To make her arguments even stronger Lisbet’h took closer look at Product, Brand and Marketing strategy in the SHOE Company. The main strategy of the Corporation is that local subsidiaries and factories around the world make as many decisions by them self as possible. However there are still many disputes. Denmark wants to promote its shoes as Danish as comfortable, which is accepted by Japan, but Japan, does not want promote slow and comfortable life that in Japanese opinion is an attribute of Danish people. This totally does not fit to the Japanese life style in a big metropolis. There are so many areas of disputes that results from different tradition, culture and lifestyle. Japan accepts and implements only 50% of Danish ideas for marketing. Similar situation appears if it comes about brand strategy. Living in the global world Danish tries to apply one global strategy to its products, however Japanese do not agree. Japan has its own history and position of its market. Japan is not so open for changes. While in Denmark change of manager usually results in the change of strategy, in Japan new managers try to learn company strategy overrules. (Clausen, 2007) Lisbeth also indicates the diversity between Japanese and Danish cultures that are very visible during the joint meetings. That is connected with different style of negotiation presented by each country. For Danish the most important are results that are based on the number of business decisions made during the meeting. They are very active, talk a lot sometimes even interrupting his coworkers. They try to discuss as many new ideas as possible. Participation is not very formal. Japanese act totally different and value other things. For them every business meeting it has a form of formal ceremony. It is extremely important for them to attend the meeting. Japanese do not talk too much, the listen. They comment only if they are asked to do it. For Danish people this is not so easy, because to be successful making business with Japanese they have to follow their ritual and be very patient. The author also indicates diversity of work culture. Japanese are always very well prepared and pay lots of attention for small details. They focus on the relationship building. Very often they meet after the business meeting to go out together for dinner. Danish are not like that. For them business is business and free time is separated from it. They do not enjoy spending their private free time for meeting people from work. Lisbeth Clausen has done a very good job collecting all this data and information from her interviewed. For me her article seems like a very good and reliable source of knowledge about the intercultural communication on the base of Danish-Japanese cooperation. Her deep research provides so many examples of diversity of cultures between these two countries. Numerous analyses of certain facts and behaviors let readers better understand stated problem. Examination of the situation that she personally experienced is a good way of delivering proof for her thesis. I think that for me as a student of businessadministration this article is very valuable. It makes me realize that culture of each country is not the same, sometimes not even similar. Differences in culture affect the way of communication. In the century of development of globalization there are many challenges in making business across the countries. Maybe one day I will work for a Company that performs global and I will have to deal with managers from different culture. Lisbeth indicates that it is important to know culture and tradition of other countries while making business with them. She introduce to reader Danish and Japanese style of negotiation. If one day I will have to deal with someone from these two countries I will already have some knowledge about their culture. I totally agree with Lisbeth thesis that culture shape communication. References: Adler, N. J. (2002) The International Dimension of Organizational Behavior, 4th edn. Canada: North-Western Brannen, Y. and Salk, J. E. (2000) â€Å"Partnering across Borders: Negotiating Organizational Culture in German-Japanese Joint Venture†, Human Relations 53(4):451-87.

Compound Interest and Answer

Name________________________________ UDC – Quantitative Reasoning I EXAMINATION 3 – Personal Finance – Exponential Functions Fall – 2012 Instructions: This exam is worth 100 points. Read each question carefully. Answer each question clearly and concisely. Please, show All of Your Work. Remember, I do not believe in magic!!! A) B) Answer C) D) 1. What is the simple interest for a principal of $620 invested at a rate of 7% for 3 years? $173. 60 $130. 20 $172. 60 $129. 20 A) B) C) Answer D) E) 2. If you borrow $1100 for 5 years at 14% annual simple interest, how much must you repay at the end of the 5 years? 770. 00 $2215. 13 $2117. 96 $77,000 $1870. 00 A)Answer B) C) D) 3. How much interest is earned in 5 years on $2,900 deposited in an account paying 7. 1% interest, compounded quarterly? $1,223. 07 $1,186. 44 $266. 68 $1,029. 50 A)Answer B) C) D) E) 4. Suppose Emily Yu deposited $1300 in an account that earned simple interest at an annual rate of 8% and lef t it there for 4 years. At the end of the 4 years, Emily deposited the entire amount from that account into a new account that earned 8% compounded quarterly. She left the money in this account for 4 years. How much did she have after the 8 years? $2355. 0 $2427. 96 $3233. 87 $2457. 65 $4850. 81 A) B) C) Answer D) 5. If $1,390 is invested in an account which earns 9% interest compounded annually, which will be the balance of the account at the end of 14 years? $11,106,193 $3141 $4645 $21,211 A) B) C) Answer D) 6. Susan bought a 6-month $1100 certificate of deposit. At the end of 6 months, she received $99 simple interest. Find the annual rate of simple interest paid. 18% 16% 15. 0% 9% A) B) Answer C) 7. What lump sum should be deposited in an account that will earn at an annual rate of 8%, compounded quarterly, to grow to $140,000 for retirement in 15 years? 137,052. 73 $42,335. 45 $24,137. 93 D) E) $63,636. 36 $42,669. 52 A) B) C) D) Answer E) 8. How much money should be invested i n an account that earns 6% interest, compounded quarterly, in order to have $7,000 in 5 years? Round to the nearest cent. $5,230. 81 $5,384. 62 $9,427. 99 $5,197. 29 $5,189. 61 A) B) Answer C) D) 10. 9. Suppose $500 is placed in an account that earns 8% interest compounded daily. Find the value of the investment after 5 years. Use the compound interest formula EMBED Equation.BREE4, where P is the amount deposited, A is the value of the money after t years, r is the annual interest rate as a decimal, and n is the number of compounding periods per year. $731. 43 $745. 88 $792. 54 $811. 76 Suppose $5000 is placed in an account that earns 2% annual interest compounded quarterly. What is the value of the investment after 7 years? Use the compound interest formula EMBED Equation. BREE4, where P is the amount deposited, A is the value of the money after t years, r is the annual interest rate as a decimal, and n is the number of compounding periods per year. $5,749. 36 $5,552. 10 $6,320. 84 A) Answer B) C) D) $35,705. 27

Legal age of the American Drinker.

Legal age of the American Drinker. Many of the countries around the world have set the legal drinking ages considerably lower then that of America. After careful examination of the effects that alcohol has on American, as apposed to the people that come from countries with a lower drinking age. I have noticed a lot more maturity and respect for the effects that alcohol has on people in the countries with lower drinking ages. In this, I have concluded that the lack of maturity that American express when they are first introduced to alcohol is due to having such a high legal drinking age.Turning 18 is a major event for all teenagers in America because they are now considered legal adults. Being a legal adult, makes it legally all right buy tobacco products, vote in an election, be tried as an adult, join the military, and even buy pornography. Even though an eighteen year old is considered a legal adult with all of these privileges, 18 to 20 years olds are denied the right to purchase and drink alcohol.Exceptions to Min imum Age of 21 for Consumption of...It has not always been this way. In 1984, the Uniform Drinking Age Act was passed. This law did not force all states to switch to the drinking age of 21, but threatened to decrease federal funding to each responsible enough to receive all the privileges that any other adult would receive, including the consumption of alcohol. Now, because of some misleading facts, people think that 18-20 year olds are too irresponsible to drink alcohol, yet this way of thinking is what is causing all the problems that young people have when first introduced to alcohol. This logic does not make sense. There always will be irresponsible people that will abuse alcohol, but no matter what age is set for the minimum drinking...

Computer Communications and Netwoks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Computer Communications and Netwoks - Essay Example The motivation behind the creation of communication systems is due to the need for the improvement of transmission reliability. This is due to the reduction of errors in the process of sending and the reception of messages. Communications systems also increase the transmission capacity with the ability of sending large sizes of data in a single mode for a short time. In order to enable the exchange of information, there must be the transmission of the information from different devices, through a communication channel. There exists different communication media such as optical fiber and microwaves that possess unique characteristics for optimum performance. The integration of all the components of information technology forms a communication system (Beavin, p. 12). There are various requirements for computer communication. Such components include computer hardware. These are the tangible physical components of the computer. For instance, a Modem is one of the hardware devices that have the ability to send signals from one computer to another over telephone signals. This comprises of the computer inputs for communication purposes. The other component is computer software. This controls the computer operations, according to the instructions of the users. The software allows computers to interact with other computers through the management of resources. Some of the utility software contains language translators for easy communication between computers. Another component is the availability of a database. This is the storage of related data in an organized manner. This enables users to retrieve information when they require, for communication purposes. Through the Database Management System (DBMS), users have the ability to create, maintain, and a ccess a database. The other component is the availability of a network. Computers have the ability to converge telephone networks, in addition to other networks of communication that use both data and voice for

Discuss your most significnt cdemic or personl chievement Essay

Discuss your most significnt cdemic or personl chievement - Essay Example I succeeded to mintin multi-tsk ctivity nd m especilly proud to hve 4.00 grde point verge tht ultimtely llowed me to grdute s sluttorin. I hve lwys enjoyed school nd clsses nd tried to tke s much s it ws possible from every single lesson. I m n ctive student on clsses; I lwys tke n inititive when it comes to nswering techer's questions on regulr clsses or helping other students to keep up with some subjects. Besides cdemic excellence, I try to succeed in the theter production tht occupies the min prt of my extr-curriculr ctivities. I m currently plying led in "You're good mn Chrlie Brown". This role tkes lot of efforts, but I do like plying. My school, prt-time job nd service job leve little time to lern the scenrio tht is why I hve to be relly efficient if I wnt to succeed in the ply nd to mintin my led position. I m therefore continuously performing under strict dedlines nd cn be esily given to stress. However, I mnge my time nd ll tsks ccording to set priority nd time of delivery. In my thetricl performnce it is lso worth mentioning Sn Frncisco By re productions where I prticipted since the ge of three. I hve therefore completed over fifty productions. My chievements in theter lso include three rewrds for the best cting in dult legitimte theter. I hve been the Grnd Chmpion in vocls for the Stte of Cliforni during five yers: 2001, 2002, 2003 2004 nd 2006. Not only m I involved with cdemic nd extr curriculr ctivitie... In ddition to my employment I lso continue to volunteer for community service. I ssist in kindergrten clss every Wednesdy. I hve tied shoes; put on nme tgs, sng songs nd helped the children mke pple muffins. I help the techer with lessons, rt projects, supervising during "ply time," testing nd mny other spects of the creer I hope to hve one dy. It is the most rewrding experience t this pointing in my life. I love children. Wtching them grow nd lern is one of my gretest joys. I hve to sy tht from this wide rnge of experiences I hve gined brod bckground of life. I enjoy working with nd for people. I hve lerned from helping students to keep up with some subjects how to explin things in severl different wys nd not to give up until the student truly understnds the mteril. Multi-tsk ctivity helps me to lern to work under the strict dedlines nd to pprecite the time vlue. fter grdution I hope to become n (nme the position tht Morgn would like to hve). I m committed to this gol s is evident by my record of cdemic ccomplishments nd community service. I m convinced tht ll these fctors mke me good cndidte for the honors progrm.