Reflections on Styles and Context of News Reporting Essay

Reflections on Styles and Context of News Reporting - Essay Example This meant that events happening would take several hours or even days before becoming public knowledge. Presently, great changes have occurred and this reflective essay reviews these changes and advances in my own eyes and experiences. Reflections My experiences in journalism, news, and event reporting include using multimedia like video, photos and recorded voice to capture news, which I then send to the editorial office from whichever location through the world wide web and sometimes live via satellite television. The news is quickly edited before being relayed to audiences as ‘breaking news’. I have experienced live events being simultaneously shown to audiences through different media including television, cable and on the internet while the events are happening as happened during the Soviet revolution in the early nineties. I can use my mobile phone or portable to capture, edit, and send news all over the world via social networking through the internet and relay l ive pictures and commentary, occasionally just a few seconds behind the real event as Zahid (2010) avers. This is unlike the earlier days of journalism when reporting involved using notebooks and a camera or a video recorder with tape which was followed by sometimes a long journey to the main office, upload pictures (or develop them if taken on film), edit video using a long cut and paste process before compiling a news feature. Events occurring yesterday are reported as today’s news. Technology has changed all this, as I am now able to post news articles online, have a quick electronic version of the print newspaper posted on the news company’s web page where people can read the news and even post their own comments and views. So while in the olden days news reporting used to be a one way communication system (at least in the short term) where people just read what was printed and comments would take from days to weeks, presently readers can comment on news through bl ogging and comments on the web 2.0 platform. Watching and following the Egyptian revolution, I not only saw and experienced people power but importantly, but at a personal level experienced a new way in relaying information and following events that have forever changed my journalism practices. I can integrate news and information using the internet, mobile phones as well as traditional telephone and print media to distribute information, cheaply confirms Krotoski (2011). Through the Egyptian revolution, I have come to discover that not just governments and editors have control over what news and the public consumes information; the cost of distributing and sharing news has been greatly reduced thanks in no small part to technology and web 2.0. I can capture and share news with the world using only a cell phone with a decent camera. I have discovered that consumers of news, be it through print or electronic media, want news as they are happening and want to be able to easily alert f riends and other people instantly on what is happening so they can also view what is happening. The advent of the internet makes this possible; I could be relaying breaking news from the news site using my cell phone onto the newspapers’ or TV stations’ Twitter, Facebook or You tube page, and a reader logged in gets the news and tweets or chats with their friends about what is happening, all in just a few seconds. The news is transmitted so fast and in real

Just-In-Time Inventory Practices Essay Example for Free

Just-In-Time Inventory Practices Essay The Just in Time inventory system is the one which aims at reducing the cost of inventory at nay organization by monitoring the holding cost of it. It aims at reducing all the costs that are associated with inventory management and to enhance the production of products. The philosophy aims at the production of goods â€Å"at the right place, at the right time and in the right quantity† (Muller, 2003). History of Just In Time Inventory System Just in Time inventory system is another name of lean production system. The creator of the philosophy of Just in Time Inventory was Taiichi Ohno, the father of Toyota Production System (TPS) in Japan. The TPS systematizes production and logistics for the vehicle manufacturer, together with communication with the suppliers and customers. The system was between the years 1948 and 1975. As it was previously called the Just In Time Production, the TPS was basically built on the writings of Edward Deming and the famous car manufacturer Henry Ford. When the founders of Toyota visited United States, they were not impressed by the assembly line of Ford which focused on the concept of mass production, however, when they visited the super market, they were very impressed by the system of resupply and replenishment of drinks only when one drink was consumed. They adopted this system and named it â€Å"The Toyota Way†. Characteristics of Just in Time Inventory System Just In Time system gained popularity. It focused on many aspects of production and helped many organizations reduce their costs on their inventory. The basic characteristics of Just in Time inventory system are that it reduces the inventory accumulation in any organization. The holding cost of inventory goes down and hence the production costs are reduced by large figures. As opposed to the mass production system, lean production or Just in Time production system focused on production of goods in batches. The production is done in smaller lots and sizes. It also focuses on the aspect of quality control and inspection. The smaller lot sizes give the advantage of better inspection of the production batches. The production or the assembly line is divided into work cells, the system step by step production system which saves the capacity and saves the time to move from one step to the other. The most important characteristic is waste minimization at all times. With lesser inventory accumulation, the costs reduce, the inventory does not go obsolete and costs of warehousing and safety does not incur. Currently, organizations that have maintaining their supply chain are effectively making the use of Just in Time inventory system (Hugos, 2006). Benefits of Just in Time inventory System There are lots of advantages in implementing JIT lean manufacturing. JIT makes manufacturing operations competent, cost efficient and customer responsive. It allows producers to acquire and collect materials just before theyre needed, thus lessening the cost and trouble of administrating redundant parts. With the constantly changing demand JIT is apt to the producers’ needs of purchasing new inventory all the time. By acquiring only a limited and certain amount of inventory, the costs are saved and if the demand of a product goes down, the manufacturers are saved from huge losses they might incur from extra inventory that has gone outdated. Not only the inventory problems, producing the right quantity of goods saves the companies from accumulating capital in unsold inventory. Hence, there is no waste during production and demand is accurately met (Muller, 2003). Demerits of Just in Time System Even though the Just in Time system has some advantages, it lacks at some points. Just in Time system if not kept well can disrupt the whole supply chain of an organization. The companies which produce goods that have fluctuating demand can find it difficult to implement Just in Time. The demand does not allow the manufacturers to rely on a certain quantity of material. If the demand is too low, their inventory can go in waste, and if the demand is too high, they might not be able to fulfill the demand completely in a single batch of production (Sharma Narayan, 2010) (from UIU Library). Just in Time has got some major risks associated with it. In countries like Pakistan and India where labor strikes and political instability makes it difficult to ascertain the demand and if the supplies don’t reach the factories and plants on time, supply chain can disrupt. However, these issues can be overcome by making sure that transportation and logistics are well looked upon and alliances are built with suppliers to ensure that supplies are received right on time. Moreover, the concept of safety stock also comes into existence as the risk out running out of stock increase (Muller, 2003). Practical Application  JIT is a philosophy and can not be implemented as a complete science. However, with minor changes, it can be effectively put into practice. Dell, a famous computer manufacturer has made a successful application of JIT system. The company produces customized PCs and laptops for its customers only when it receives the order. The manufacturer to customer model of selling has also made it very successful and it has also helped the organization to establish its unique selling proposition effectively (Piasecki, 2003). Wal-Mart is another organization with an excellent supply chain and is the world leader in whole sell. It has also made a successful implementation of JIT system. Another organization that is very famous for its initiative of JIT system is none other than Toyota. Toyota has made the use of JIT as well as other philosophies such as Kanban and Kaizen. Their concepts of continuous improvement and card system have made their assembly line produce the car at cheap rate. It might seem that with low cost cars, quality might not be as satisfactory as it supposed to be, but, Toyota has implemented some major quality control system. Six sigma is the foundation of their quality. They have come up with different terms that identify how well the work is going on in the organization. Hence, Toyota is an example that can not be eliminated from the success given by JIT system (Monden, 1998). Conclusion JIT system is highly successful of implemented with complete knowledge and care. The idea of the system is to eliminate waste and save costs that are stuck with several kinds of waste during a production process.

A Rose Or Marguerite By Any Other Name :: essays papers

A Rose Or Marguerite By Any Other Name So goes the quote by William Shakespeare, and many people believe this is true. However, to many of African-American descent, both past and present, to be â€Å"called out of your name†, is one of the greatest insults imaginable. â€Å"Mary,† a chapter from volume one, â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,† of Dr. Maya Angelou’s five-volume autobiography, details the horror and rage she felt, and the retribution she administered, at such an act.The year was 1938, and Dr. Angelou, then going by her birth name, Marguerite Johnson, was 10 years old and working as a maid & cook’s helper for a white woman named Mrs. Viola Cullinan, the daughter of wealthy Virginian parents. According to Miss Glory, the cook whose family had been slaves for the Cullinan’s, she had married beneath her to a man whose money â€Å"didn’t ‘mount to much†. Marguerite pitied Mrs. Cullinan because she was old, fat, and ugly and couldn’t ha ve children, though it was well known that her husband had two beautiful daughters by a colored lady. She tried to feel Mrs. Cullinan’s loneliness and pain, and tried very hard to make up for her barrenness by coming to work early and staying late. One evening Marguerite was asked to serve Mrs. Cullinan and her women friends their drinks on the closed-in porch. When asked her name, Mrs. Cullinan answers for her, â€Å"Her name’s Margaret.† A close pronunciation, but incorrect, nevertheless. Americans are particularly inept, I think, at pronouncing anything that has a foreign flair to it, or a foreign sound to it, and it's much easier for people to say â€Å"Margaret†, than â€Å"Marguerite†, or â€Å"Andrea† instead of â€Å"Andrà ©ica.† It is well known that the sweetest sound in any language is the sound of one's own name, so we don't take it mildly if somebody makes fun of our names or belittles us because of our name, or mispronounces our name. We proclaim ourselves with a name and we're very defensive about them, it is a major part of our identity. â€Å"Well, that may be, but the name’s too long. I’d never bother myself. I’d call her Mary if I was you,† said the speckle-face friend who had asked the question. The very next day, Mrs. Cullinan called Marguerite by the wrong name, and her dignity and pride, forged amid poverty and racism, became at stake.

Macroeconomic Terms

What I took away from week two's objectives after discussing and the topics that I feel comfortable with are the relationships between productivity and the cost of production. Productivity is being able to bring forth or produce goods and services. Understanding that there are many different types of cost that business' incur during the production cycle. It's important for firms, owners or managers, etc. To know about the various costs (I. . Fixed costs, variable costs and total cost).Also that accounting focuses on explicit cost and revenue; while economics focuses on both explicit and implicit cost and revenues. The topics that I struggled with are the understanding of economies of scale, discomposes of scale and understand the shape or the different reasons that would make the curve shift. The topics relate to my field because in the healthcare industry, the company has to be productive in order to stay afloat and they are constantly looking for ways to lower the cost of services that are provided to linens in order to increase the company's overall profit.Cherishes Whittier During week one, we discuss the difference between supply and demand and the affects that it has on prices and quantity. Example of shifts in demand would be taxes, expectations, income, and other goods. Examples of a shift in supply would be price inputs and technology. I believe that I am comfortable with supply and demand; however, I struggle with the graphs and the visuals of the shift. By taking macroeconomics before this class, in ways has prepared me to have a better understanding of microeconomics and how the economy is studied.Joan Ashcan Gathering from chapter one reading, it states â€Å"a key element in getting people to recognize that lunches aren't free is the concept of opportunity cost-every decision has a cost in forgone opportunities. ‘ The economists' model which helps you understands not only the opportunity cost numerically and graphically but this model helps us understand why a person specializes in what they do. From this I can apply to why the economy is very important in my personal decision making process because, it dictates my buying power, the market and my investing power.If the economy is good, sales and Job security will be secure. Paul Parker This week focused heavily on the basics of economics. The topic that interested me most what about the supply and demand curve and what makes them change. We have so many different factors that drive consumers to buy or not buy an item. This is going to be a very interesting aspect of class as we go through the five weeks. Another interesting topic from week one was opportunity costs. We always have to make sacrifices to choose between multiple options. We have to choose the best option that will provide the most benefit at the time.

AIDS in the World

AIDS is the fast becoming and the worst human disease disaster the world has ever seen. It is clear that in the next ten to fifteen years, AIDS will claim more lives than any other epidemic. As a matter of fact, every year and a half, it claims more human lives than the Holocaust. Nothing can be compared to the drag that AIDS has caused to human life.There is just no human suffering and devastation as worst as it is. In the year 2002, there have already been 28 million recorded deaths due to AIDS and that is only the paltry beginning. The United Nations Security Council has labeled AIDS as a global security threat.According to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, terrorism is not the most serious problem faced by the world today, but the AIDS epidemic. It is more than anything else destabilizing the entire planet (Hunter 2003).History of AIDSThe Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or commonly known as AIDS was first observed in 1981. When it was first observed, it gained little attention as an infectious disease among experts. Accordingly, the first report was by Dr. Michael Gottlieb from the University of California Los Angeles. It was nothing from the AIDS that we know today. He described it as a rare form of pneumonia among homosexual men.At the same time, there were also other reports referring to the same disease saying it was a rare kind of cancer (Conner et al 2007). Furthermore, the most mainstream case would be what happened in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where they publish an article entitled â€Å"Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report†.In this article, experts described the case reports of five young men at three different hospitals in Los Angeles. All five of them were sexually active and gay. Also, all five of them are suffering from a lung disease.Furthermore, there were also case reports on 26 young homosexual men from New York and California that were diagnosed with Kaposi Sarcoma that was on the extreme level accompanied w ith skin and mucous membrane lesion.It is observed that most of the victims were homosexual men so scientists asked what practices the homosexual community is engaged in that made them contract the disease. They postulate that a drug called amyl nitrate used by homosexuals to increase sexual pleasure may be the culprit.There is also a theory that there are certain organisms in the homosexual body that caused the disease. By 1983, aside from the United States, there were already 16 countries that reported AIDS cases alongside more than 1000 Americans that were positively diagnosed (Weeks and Alcamo 2006).This situation is often compared to that of the story of the six blind men and the elephants that is familiar to all of us as children. The elephant was the disease and the six blind men were the scientists and doctors that were grappling with its emergence.They still do not have a clear idea what AIDS is, so they were treating the epidemic piecemeal. What physicians observed was tha t patient’s immune system was literally suppressed but they do not have any idea it was the very cause of the disease. Before 1984, the situation worsened.There were no clear definition for AIDS, no test available to affirm the diagnosis, and certainly no cure was in sight (Weeks and Alcamo 2006).Despite the pessimisms among the people, researchers were beginning to unravel the mysteries of the disease that soon they call AIDS.   The observed symptoms were then later on labeled as AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome mainly because the symptoms were consistent with damage to the immune system among healthy people.Furthermore, it was also learned that the disease was not congenital nor was it inherited but acquired from an infection of a virus. As of the present, the disease has become a prominent fixture in everyday language as its common name AIDS (Conner et al 2007).Basic research on AIDS was primarily done in the United States by two of the leading governmental in stitutions: the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH). There were also studies conducted in Western Europe by Pasteur Institute.The Pasteur Institute was famous for their specialization in virology because it started out as center to combat rabies, the most horrible of all viral diseases. Prior to this, scientists in this institute has also done other viral discoveries such as that of Constantin Levadati who discovered the polio virus, Amedee Morrel who studied animal onco-viruses, and Felix d’Herelle who discovered bacteriophage.They are part of the team who had will soon develop the field of molecular biology and soon understand the biological strategy of the AIDS virus (Grmek et al 1993).The Pasteur virologists first encountered AIDS during a controversy about the Institute’s production of hepatitis-B vaccine. The process required a massive amount of human plasma. In 1981, they purchased around 2, 500 liters of plasma from the United States blood banks.A third of these were mixed to European plasma in order for them to prepare vaccine. When the product was tested to the chimpanzees, one of them developed hepatitis, and another died out of arbovirus infection (Grmek et al 1993).In September 1982, Jacques Leibowitch, a physician working at the Raymond Poincare Hospital in Paris had been convinced that AIDS is caused by an exotic virus of African origin that affected T4-cells transmitted by blood.The description of the virus was similar to that of HTLV retrovirus. He gave a seminar at Cochin hospital and informed the French task force about it. The French Task Force was pretty much convinced that the retrovirus might be the probable cause of AIDS. They were also –persuaded that it could be transmitted through blood (Grmek et al 1993).Other scientists believe the agent came from a virus that causes African swine fever since the same virus can result to immune suppression of pigs. Others believed that i t was cause by a slow virus, one that is multiplying at an extreme low rate that it only affects and manifests itself in the body after a few years.Another group believes that the agent is a vital escapee from a genetic engineering laboratory. There was also speculation that says that it came from a failed biological war against Cuba (Grmek et al 1993).In the United States, the group of Robert C. Gallo identified a virus in the blood of 48 patients with virus. They named the virus HTVL-III. They have published their works on the Science. In a few months that followed, there has already been a rivalry between the American and French experts each claiming that they were the first one who isolated the virus.They contested that they should be one who’ll receive international awards, research grants, and millions and billions of dollar patent rights. Until, they have settled after some time that the virus that they have been examining were of the same type. The United States for i ts part have a

Management Information Systems At Access Fulfillment Ltd The WritePass Journal

Management Information Systems At Access Fulfillment Ltd Introduction Management Information Systems At Access Fulfillment Ltd IntroductionManagement Information Systems at Access Fulfilment LimitedManagement Information Systems for Decisions on New Warehouse LocationsManagement Information Systems for Decisions on Alternate FinancingManagement Information Systems for Decisions on Maintaining CompetitivenessManagement Information Systems for Decisions on Employee welfare PoliciesThe Relationship between Management Information Systems and Other Information SystemsConclusionRelated Introduction In an organizational setting, the main application of information is in making sound decisions and finding the best remedies to a problem. These practices are closely related, and form foundations of all successful companies (Oz, 2008: p.8). In order to achieve this, most organizations have embraced different information systems. By definition, an information system is a collection of related company resources, which aid in retrieval, processing and distribution of information that supports the decision making process. (Heijden, H., Heijden, M. and Govardus, 2009: p.3). It obtains data as input and uses it to process and output useful information for decision making. In this paper, we explore on the application of Management Information Systems by Access Fulfilment Limited, a distribution company for a wide range of products, based in Kent, U.K. Management Information Systems at Access Fulfilment Limited According to Sadagopan (2004: p.1), management information systems (MIS) are computer based systems which provide access to data, which is speedy and flexible. There are several management areas where the management information systems have been used to make strategic decisions at Access Fulfilment Ltd. Management Information Systems for Decisions on New Warehouse Locations In an effort to expand the company, new offices and branches are often opened in different locations. To identify the most ideal locations, management information systems often aid in this analysis. Before a final decision is made, internal company information, as well as environmental information is generated by a management information system. This information includes both the shot and long term aspects that should be considered before setting up the new branch. These include the market and changeability, which is a prediction of the possible market response at the tine the branch is set up and the government policy, among others. For the warehouse branches that have been opened in the recent past, which are at Suffolk and Bristol, this system has provided the management team with the necessary information they need to execute the correct strategic decisions. As stated by Sadagopan (2004: p.14), strategic management information systems require mechanisms necessary for the assimilation of environmental information. This is necessary for influencing strategic decisions systematically. Management Information Systems for Decisions on Alternate Financing In every business, the decision for alternate financing is one of several strategic decisions that need sufficient information before being arrived at (Depamphlis, 2010: p.209). At Access Fulfilment Limited, a summary of status information about the internal financial status of the company is made. This summary is then referred to when such decisions are being made. This summary includes details on payrolls, the company budget, overruns, and variance analyses. In addition to this, external information, which is critical to the long-term status of the company, is also considered. The knowledge of these components of the business environment has enabled the managers of the company to make strategic decisions on this issue. This strategic decision, which applies the management information system, has turned out to benefit the company. For more than ten years that Access Fulfilment Limited has been in business, it has experienced substantial growth. One of the contributions towards this is alternate financing decisions. Management Information Systems for Decisions on Maintaining Competitiveness Competition is one of the major challenges faced by every business organizations (Waters, 2010: p.6). For Access Fulfilment Limited, the main sources of competition are other distribution companies that were in business even before it was founded. Having an advantage of a broader customer base as compared to Access Fulfilment Limited, these companies were difficult to compete with. Thus, decisions that had to be made by management to overcome this were very significant for the company. Management information systems aided in making decisions. Through the application of this information system, vital information about these competitors was obtained. This information comprised of the competitors’ present and future strategies for their distribution businesses. This information was quite helpful to the company. Since the managers were aware of what their competitors had planned, strategic decisions about advertisement and all other marketing functions of the company were arrived at. This enhanced Access Fulfilment Limited’s competitiveness in the market. It has also helped the company survive and grow for the period that it has been in the market, as is hopeful for further growth. For this reason, the application of the management information system has been beneficial to Access Fulfilment Limited. Management Information Systems for Decisions on Employee welfare Policies Any decision that concerns an organization’s welfare policy is among the strategic decisions that are taken by personnel management. In order to execute this decision successfully, internal information about the staff members is vital (Sadagopan, 2004: p.15). At Access Fulfilment, the information that influences such decisions includes staff size, quality of staff, their salary enumerations, motivations, and many more. However, what really governs this decision in the organization is the future vision and plans that the managers have. It is also governed by the probable labour market conditions in the business environment. By the application of management information systems, both the internal and external information needed by Access Fulfilment is obtained. This system has been quite resourceful in terms of setting the salaries for employees and motivating them. This strategy has enabled the company to retain most of their pioneer employees. Had the company failed to apply this system, probably the external job market could have been promising for the employees without the knowledge of the management team. Thus, failure or delay in adjusting the welfare of the employees to match or surpass the external market could prompt some of them to leave. The Relationship between Management Information Systems and Other Information Systems At Access Fulfilment Limited, several information systems are applied. Apart from the management information system (MIS), there is the executive support system (ESS), decision support system (DSS) and the knowledge management system (KMS), among others. One common thing about these information systems is that they all contribute towards the making of sound decisions that will see the company grow. What differentiates these systems is the level of management in which they are used and when they are used. The executive support system, for instance, is used by top level executives in decision making (Stair Reynolds, 2011: p.446). Thus, for this company in as much as management information systems are used on various management levels, executive support systems are exclusive to the top management. Decision support systems, on the other hand is a support system for the management, with more capabilities than the management information systems (Janakiraman Sarukesi, 2004: p.26) Conclusion Access fulfilment has been experiencing reasonable growth ever since 2000, when it started business. Although this cannot be entirely attributed to management information systems, it has been shown that these systems have had their contribution to its success. As aforementioned, this support system has been of great aid to the company in terms of strategic decision making. The aim of management information systems is to offer the right information from company reports (Sarukesi, 2004: p.26). Among the several strategic decisions that this system has helped make, this paper has addressed decisions for new locations, employee welfare policies, alternate financing and maintaining competitiveness in the business. On evaluating of this system at Access Fulfilment Limited, it can be concluded that it has been of a positive impact to the company. REFERENCE Depamphlis, D. 2010. Mergers and Acquisitions Basics: All You Need to Know. Oxford: Academic Press. Heijden, H., Heijden, M. and Govardus, J. 2009. Designing Management Information Systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Janakiraman, V. S. and Sarukesi, K. 2004. Decision Support Systems. Delhi: PHI Publishers. Oz, E. 2008. Management Information Systems. Massachusetts: Cengage Learning. Sadagopan, S. 2004. Management Information Systems. Delhi: PHI Learning. Stair, R. and Reynolds, G. 2011. Principles of Information Systems. Massachusetts: Cengage Learning. Waters, T.J. 2010. Hyperformance: Using Competitive Intelligence for Better Strategy and Execution. California: John Wiley Sons.

Grad. Student Essay

Grad. Student Essay Grad. Student Essay Tracey Renee Paxton 3700Kingwood Drive #2523 Kingwood, TX 77339 713-530-9807 TrPaxton81@gmail.com Objective * Seeking to obtain an opportunity where I utilized my earned degree; while looking for a challenging position in the field of human service where I can maximize my skills in an effort to help others help themselves; thus give back to the community. * Areas of Strengths Skills * Communication: Oral Written Case Management * Customer Service Proficient with Internet Explorer, Excel and Microsoft Word Mentoring Currently studying Spanish to become bilingual * Team Building Education Sam Houston State University – Huntsville, TX Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice - May 12, 2007 Employment History Logan’s Roadhouse February 2012 – Present * Provides customer service as server/waitress * Knowledgeable of menu and food items which enables suggestive selling and up selling * Operations of closing of business Victoria’s Secret, Sales Associate-Cashier November 2010-February 2012 * Assisted with customer relations and excellent customer service * Awareness and knowledgeable about products, new items, sales and promotions * Promoted new products by using suggestive and persuasive selling techniques National HME, Customer Representative June 2009- November 2010 * Responsible for placing and receiving orders for medical equipment for patients and hospices * Responsible for providing excelling customer service via telephone correspondence, filing, weekly timesheets and any other duties as assigned Sheldon ISD, Substitute Teacher October 2007-June 2009 * Responsible for carrying out the teacher’s duties in her absence and or providing assistance to teacher as needed * Assisted students with assignments and behavior

Dr. Francis Townsend, Old Age Public Pension Organizer

Dr. Francis Townsend, Old Age Public Pension Organizer Dr. Francis Everitt Townsend, born into a poor farm family, worked as a physician and health provider. During the  Great Depression, when Townsend himself was in retirement age, he became interested in how the federal government could provide old age pensions. His project inspired the 1935 Social Security Act, which he found inadequate. Life and Profession Francis Townsend was born on January 13, 1867, on a farm in Illinois. When he was an adolescent his family moved to Nebraska, where he was educated through two years of high school. In 1887, he left school and moved to California with his brother, hoping to strike it rich in the Los Angeles land boom. Instead, he lost almost everything. Dejected, he returned  to Nebraska and finished high school, then began to farm in Kansas. Later, he started medical school in Omaha, funding his education while working as a salesman. After he graduated, Townsend went to work in South Dakota in the Black Hills region, then part of the frontier. He married a widow, Minnie Brogue, who worked as  a nurse. They had three children and adopted a daughter. In 1917, when World War I began, Townsend enlisted as a medical officer in the army.  He returned to South Dakota after the war, but ill health aggravated by the harsh winter led him to move to southern California. He found himself, in his medical practice, competing with older established physicians and younger modern physicians, and he did not do well financially. The arrival of the Great Depression wiped out his remaining savings. He was able to obtain an appointment as a health officer in Long Beach, where he observed the effects of the Depression, especially on older Americans. When a change in local politics led to the loss of his job, he found himself broke once again. Townsend’s Old Age Revolving Pension Plan The Progressive Era had seen several moves to establish old-age pensions and national health insurance, but with the Depression, many reformers focused on unemployment insurance. In his late 60s, Townsend decided to do something about the financial devastation of the elderly poor. He envisioned a program where the federal government would provide a $200 per month pension to every American over the age of 60, and saw this financed through a 2% tax on all business transactions. The total cost would be greater than $20 billion a year, but he saw the pensions as a solution to the Depression. If the recipients were required to spend their $200 within thirty days, he reasoned, this would significantly stimulate the economy, and create a â€Å"velocity effect,† ending the Depression. The plan was criticized by many economists. Essentially, half the national income would be directed to the eight percent of the population over the age of 60. But it was still a very attractive plan, especially to the older people who would benefit. Townsend began to organize around his Old Age Revolving Pension Plan (Townsend Plan) in September 1933 and had created a movement within months. Local groups organized Townsend Clubs to support the idea, and by January 1934, Townsend said 3,000 groups had begun. He sold pamphlets, badges, and other items, and financed a national weekly mailing. In mid-1935, Townsend said that there were 7,000 clubs with 2.25 million members, most of them older people. A petition drive brought 20 million signatures to Congress. Buoyed by the immense support, Townsend spoke to cheering crowds as he traveled, including to two national conventions organized around the Townsend Plan. In 1935, encouraged by the massive support for the Townsend idea, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal  passed the Social Security Act.  Many in Congress, pressured to support the Townsend Plan, preferred being able to support the Social Security Act, which for the first time provided a safety net for Americans too old to work. Townsend considered this an inadequate substitute and began angrily attacking the Roosevelt administration.  He joined with such populists as the Rev. Gerald L. K. Smith and Huey Long’s Share Our Wealth Society, and with the Rev. Charles Coughlin’s National Union for Social Justice and Union Party. Townsend invested much energy in the Union Party and organizing voters to vote for candidates who supported the Townsend Plan. He estimated that the Union Party would get 9 million votes in 1936, and when the actual votes were less than a million, and Roosevelt was reelected in a landslide, Townsend abandoned party politics. His political activity led to conflict within the ranks of his supporters, including the filing of some lawsuits. In 1937, Townsend was asked to testify before the Senate on allegations of corruption in the Townsend Plan movement. When he refused to answer questions, he was convicted of contempt of Congress.  Roosevelt, despite Townsend’s opposition to the New Deal and Roosevelt, commuted Townsend’s 30-day sentence. Townsend continued to work for his plan, making changes to try to make it less simplistic and more acceptable to economic analysts. His newspaper and national headquarters continued. He met with presidents Truman and Eisenhower. He was still making speeches supporting reform of old age security programs, with audiences mostly of the elderly, shortly before he died on September 1, 1960, in Los Angeles. In later years, during a time of  relative prosperity, the expansion of federal, state, and private pensions took much of the energy out of his movement. Sources Richard L. Neuberger and Kelley Loe, An Army of the Aged. 1936.David H. Bennett. Demagogues in the Depression: American Radicals and the Union Party, 1932-1936. 1969.Abraham Holtzman. The Townsend Movement: A Political Study. 1963.

Evaluation on the Validity of the Claim That American Public Education Essay

Evaluation on the Validity of the Claim That American Public Education Has Been Consistently Lowering Its Standards and Expectations - Essay Example According to the survey conducted by ‘The National Assessment of Educational Progress’ (NAEP), the result known as â€Å"Nation’s Report Card,† depicted the positive outcomes of the students belonging to 4th, 8th and 12th grade standard on an international basis. Whereas, in contrast to the reports that presented by NAEP, it can be viewed that the scores of the US were much of lower standard in the worldwide context (Gropman, â€Å"Waning Education Standards Threaten U.S. Competitiveness†; Alexander and Leticia 325-327). It has been further argued that the aspect of ‘Downward Mobility’ is haunting the education system of America. The students in the US are avoiding in attending schools and colleges with a fear that their juniors possessing greater education background will be much more educated as compared to them. Further details on the argument for the stand i.e. ‘American Public Education’ is getting consistently lowered in terms of its standards along with expectations have been cited with certain valued observations. For instance, Andreas Schleicher, who is regarded as a special advisor related to education at ‘Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’ (OECD) proclaims that "It's something of great significance because much of today's economic power of the United States rests on a very high degree of adult skills - and that is now at risk," (Coughlan â€Å"Downward mobility haunts US education†). This reflects a clear picture about the prevailing education system of America. In support of the argument, the survey report of OECD revealed that the young adults are being more educated than their parents based on the ratio of 1:5. According to the viewpoints of Miles... This paper stresses that it will be a fallacy to judge the failure of American Public education system due to the persistence of various dissimilar viewpoints about the concerned subject matter. It is the result of the series of activities and the political interferences that eventually deprived the public education system of America from being flourished. In the study, it has been argued that racial discrimination, depriving the middle-class families, inequality and rise in the education expenditures are few of the reasons that contributed in consistent failure of American public education system in terms of lowering its standards along with expectations. The author of the paper talks his own oppinion on the problem of American public education which based system have not declined in recent days. There are several governmental policies levied upon the education sector, proving the effectiveness of the American public education system. It is the teachers who play an effective role in determining the development of education system of any nation. This report makes a conclusion that on contrary to the failure of the American public education system, the government is taking initiatives to implement changed rules and policies for improving the same. Furthermore, it has been viewed from the study that public education system of the US greatly affects five vital security fronts that comprise economic growth along with competitiveness, physical safety of the nation, US global awareness and US unity along with cohesion. Thus, it is necessary for the US government to formulate policies on immediate basis to develop the existing public education system of America.

Legal Rights of Students with Disabilities Term Paper

Legal Rights of Students with Disabilities - Term Paper Example IDEA incorporates six key components (Mash & Barkley, 2006). Firstly, IDEA provides that each disabled child have access to â€Å"Free and Appropriate Public Education† (FAPE), where the parent is not obliged to contribute financially. This ought to be in the normal public schools. However, the child can receive the care in other specialized schools or at home, due to the fragility of his health. Additionally, a child suspected to have a disability ought to undergo an appropriate evaluation by a team of trained personnel. Besides, the multi-disciplinary team ought to employ various relevant sources in the appraisal process. The child should not undergo unwarranted tests that have a racial and cultural bias. Additionally, the evaluators should gear their tests towards scheduling for the child’s suitable education (Mash & Barkley, 2006). The concerned personnel should be able to determine the child’s eligibility, once they conclude these tests. Evaluation is impera tive, since it helps in documentation of the child’s disability. Therefore, all children suspected of any disabilities ought to undergo the process despite the way it is apparent. The parent should also recognize the usefulness of the information. Moreover, after the evaluation, the child ought to receive personalized education, owing to their exceptional needs. As such, a team of experts places the child under â€Å"Individualized Education Program† (IEP). Besides, if a child is below 3, the multidisciplinary team as well as the parents arranges for an â€Å"Individualized Family Service Plan† (IFSP), where he or she receives exceptional care within their home settings. Additionally, the parents are equal constituent of the team, and they ought to be actively involved in all processes of the program. In addition, IDEA aims to ensure that the disabled child has a favorable environment for education, which should be free from restrictions. This improves the child ’s learning capacity, thereby reducing chances of being disadvantaged. Besides, experts recommend that children with disabilities should opt for normal school system as their first choice and interact with other children without disabilities. Moreover, IDEA advocates for LRE, where the child with disability learns together with others for the longest time possible. The act explicitly provides for all learning institutions to educate all children, disregarding their disabilities nature. It is unlawful to discriminate children with disability. Before IDEA implementation, children with disability encountered such discrimination that hampered their development. The fifth principle of IDEA implies that parents and the disabled student (where possible) should actively become involved in the formulation of decisions concerning the education plan of the student (Mash & Barkley, 2006). In addition, parents or caregivers ought to receive notice from these trained personnel in cases whe re teachers and other trained personnel change the education plan for the child. The parents and guardians have the obligation to play a part in all meetings and thereby contribute fully in all decision-making processes. The last principle champions for both the parents’, as well as the child’s rights in provision of care and education to the disabled

Policy Paper To The European Commissioner Essay

Policy Paper To The European Commissioner - Essay Example The role of innovation can be found to be extremely significant in the area of the digital economy which seems to be the future of the economies of all developed and developing nations across the world. Innovation can be built up by mobilizing and allocating the available resources in the economy, and boosting creativity by forecasting and responding to the demands in the most value reaping and competitive manner. As such, the inclusion of the innovation factor in the aspects of all the growth drivers of the competition policy would help to enhance the effectiveness of the policies in the contemporary economic situations. Thus, it can be summarized from the above discussion that the innovations and modifications in the policies of the European Union, especially in the competition policies can act as critical drivers for the success of the economy in the contemporary environment. The factor of innovation can lead to added efficiency and impacts of the existing competition policy of th e Union and as such, distinct changes should be made in the competition policy as a way of delivering better results and negating the economic risks like market failures, redundancies in the economic constructs and competition distortions in the economy. However, the European Commission should make sure that the competition policies are formulated in a manner such that the aids can be provided to the entities functioning in the economy in a transparent, unbiased and nondiscriminatory manner and all the strategies.

CLA birth god female Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CLA birth god female - Essay Example Attention should be paid to their birth, first of all. It is worthy to begin with Aphrodite since she is known as the oldest Olympian god, at least according to Hesiod, a Greek poet whose works are a major source on  Greek mythology in general. According to his version, Aphrodite appeared from the sea foam (aphros) which gathered around Titan Ouranoss severed genitals. Ouranoss son Kronos revenged his father for seducing his wife and castrated him. Thus, it is believed that Aphrodite grew from Ouranoss blood and semen. As it also appears from this story, Aphrodite has no parents, in fact. Nevertheless, another version may be found in works by Homer, the author of the  Iliad  and the  Odyssey who lived around the same time as Hesiod. According to him, Aphrodite is a daughter of Zeus, the ruler of the Olympians, and goddess Dione who is sometimes claimed to be an ancient Zeuss wife. Diones personality is hard to define. In some myths, she is a Titaness. In others, she is referr ed to as an Oceanid. It is possible to mention some other myths which explain how Aphrodite was born, though Homers version still remains the best-known one. Athenas birth is believed to be among the strangest ones in ancient mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and his first wife Metis, an Oceanid and the Titan goddess. It is also possible to assume that Athena and Aphrodite are sisters. According to prophesy made by an oracle of Gaea, Metis would give birth to a girl, whose wisdom and strength would be equal to Zeuss own, and then to a boy who would later overthrow Zeus, which had actually happened to his father and grandfather. This worried Zeus and he decided to prevent the threat. He opened his mouth and then swallowed his wife and their unborn child. Nine months later Zeus felt a strong headache which made him scream out of pain. Hephaestus tried to help and opened Zeuss skull with an ax. Zeus was not hurt, and the moment later

Youth transnationalism backpacking and tourism in Thailand Essay

Youth transnationalism backpacking and tourism in Thailand - Essay Example The reality is that record numbers of tourists are choosing to travel internationally, many for extended periods of time. While the traditional short stay vacation of one week in a resort style of facility will likely remain, there has been a tremendous surge in the number of individuals, particularly young people, who choose to take several months off from their existence in their home country to travel around and explore new cultures foreign to their own. Commonly referred to as ‘backpackers’, these travellers are more interested in the local culture and people of the countries they choose to visit, and are less interested in the fancy resorts and holiday destinations that have long been considered the backbone of the tourist industry (Allon, 2004). Backpackers today greatly contribute to the local customs of their country of choice, as they tend to blend into the community life, in many cases choosing to work for a few months, and generally contribute to overall youth tourism market exploding internationally. Perhaps few regions of the world are as notorious for backpacking journeys than the nations of Southeast Asia. The region, having been opened up for tourism in recent decades, is ripe with culture and tradition that attracts young people from around the globe who want to leave behind the Western lifestyle for a time and experience something new. Owing to its openness to foreigners and its relatively carefree lifestyles, Thailand is perhaps the best country to study for this phenomenon. Over the years, the tourism market for backpackers in Thailand has evolved into its own sector of the overall hospitality industry in the country. Backpackers are present in nearly every region of the country, many choosing to say for multiple months, and they have almost become integrated into the overall landscape of the country as well. This study will examine the recent youth tourism movement in Thailand by focusing specifically on backpackers. Current tr ends and factors driving the growth of the backpacker movement will be analyzed, along with an exploration of various strategic opportunities to further develop the backpacker and working holiday option for the tourism industry in Thailand moving forward. 1.2 Trends in the Global Backpacker Phenomenon The trend of backpacking around the world has gained such momentum, that many tourist agencies are launching campaigns specifically targeting this particular demographic. Research indicates that backpackers tend to spend more money during other traditional types of tourists, largely due to the fact that they stay longer in one region (Hampton, 2013). Backpackers do tend to be more adventurous than other types of travellers, so regions of the world that have a great deal to offer these particular individuals are the ones that typically go after their business. Australia is perhaps the best example of this. New South Wales, in fact, specifically targets backpackers on their website and t hroughout various industry trade shows around the globe. In doing so, they hope to highlight the numerous cultural and adventure type activities that should attract and lure the average backpacker to spend a considerable amount of time in the area (Allon, 2004). New South Wales, and many other areas around the globe, see considerable advantages in attracting backpackers to their location. While many of these factors will be discussed in Chapter Two, it bears mentioning that the average backpacker does need to be marketed to in a slightly different manner than other types of travellers. To begin, the trend that has been realized recently is that backpackers tend to lean towards budget accommodation. Because of the longevity of their

CLA birth god female Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CLA birth god female - Essay Example Attention should be paid to their birth, first of all. It is worthy to begin with Aphrodite since she is known as the oldest Olympian god, at least according to Hesiod, a Greek poet whose works are a major source on  Greek mythology in general. According to his version, Aphrodite appeared from the sea foam (aphros) which gathered around Titan Ouranoss severed genitals. Ouranoss son Kronos revenged his father for seducing his wife and castrated him. Thus, it is believed that Aphrodite grew from Ouranoss blood and semen. As it also appears from this story, Aphrodite has no parents, in fact. Nevertheless, another version may be found in works by Homer, the author of the  Iliad  and the  Odyssey who lived around the same time as Hesiod. According to him, Aphrodite is a daughter of Zeus, the ruler of the Olympians, and goddess Dione who is sometimes claimed to be an ancient Zeuss wife. Diones personality is hard to define. In some myths, she is a Titaness. In others, she is referr ed to as an Oceanid. It is possible to mention some other myths which explain how Aphrodite was born, though Homers version still remains the best-known one. Athenas birth is believed to be among the strangest ones in ancient mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and his first wife Metis, an Oceanid and the Titan goddess. It is also possible to assume that Athena and Aphrodite are sisters. According to prophesy made by an oracle of Gaea, Metis would give birth to a girl, whose wisdom and strength would be equal to Zeuss own, and then to a boy who would later overthrow Zeus, which had actually happened to his father and grandfather. This worried Zeus and he decided to prevent the threat. He opened his mouth and then swallowed his wife and their unborn child. Nine months later Zeus felt a strong headache which made him scream out of pain. Hephaestus tried to help and opened Zeuss skull with an ax. Zeus was not hurt, and the moment later

Discuss how the learning of organisation theories can be of help for Essay

Discuss how the learning of organisation theories can be of help for practitioners, in particular Human Resource Management professionals, based on leadership and organisational culture - Essay Example HRM has materialized to become and grown as one of the most significant aspects of business practice and science. It has not been created in seclusion but quite in the perspective of economic growth and industrial change (Cascio, 2006). The distinctiveness of human resource methods requires a totally separate type of focus from business managers. Human Resource has aspects that offer the greatest challenge together with chances. An organizations HR is delicate with fragile relationship, coupled with unforeseen contributions and permanency is unsure. The important inputs among other elements to a business are its labor resource; individuals bring their skill diversity, expectations, goals and needs. They become mixed into an organization through recruitment with and constant performance in the organizations operations. The perception that organizations possess culture has been recognized through research in developing social environments. Environment and cultures are essential elements of an organization. Organizational culture can be defined as the framework of shared importance carried by people that sets apart one organization from the other. Organizational culture offers workers with a clear meaning of the manner in which business is done in an organization (Ravasi and Schultz, 2006). The idea of culture is viewed as a kind of gap between the business and the individual. Culture creates differences between organizations; it portrays senses of uniqueness for current roles. Culture also improves the creation of loyalty and improves stability of societies. Most importantly culture acts as a control process and a meaningful making. Research into the relationship between organizational culture and its efficiency is narrow by lack of concurrence about the suitable indicators of effectiveness. Researcher’s Peters and Waterman noted that organizations with

Economic Effects Of U. S. Sugar Subsidy Policy Essay Example for Free

Economic Effects Of U. S. Sugar Subsidy Policy Essay Economists have for a long time studied and discussed the various effects of government subsidies and government support for specific industries and markets. In fact, in many colleges and universities, there are specific courses that are dedicated to the effects of public policy to both private and public firms as well as the overall market in which these firms operate in. These economic concepts, in turn, help policymakers make sense of the causes and effects of various incentives that are driven by government interventions to the market. However, as we shall soon discover in the discussion in our paper, even the science and economics have conflicting theories regarding such public incentives and support to industries. In fact, over the decades in the development of public policy and micro economic choice, steps have been made so much so that various domino effects work experience. However, this does not mean that any theoretical or conceptual model could not be applied to real world situations even various market imperfections where in traditional economic theories break down. In fact, even with the assumption of perfect markets which is a basic impossibility especially in todays complicated economy and arena of public policy economics may be able to predict and forecast various results from decisions that are made by the government with respect to incentives and disincentives within industry. In this paper, we shall be looking at the effects of the United States sugar subsidy policy. In order to do this, we would be using the three basic analytical tools that come from the larger body of micro economic analysis. The first is by using a comparative static model of incentives within a market by government intervention. The second analytical framework that we shall use is another comparative static model with regards to the median voter theorem and its effects to public choice in sugar subsidy policy in the country. The third framework which we shall be using is that which has been developed by recent Nobel Prize in economics winners in the analysis of government support and its overall effect in the arena of globalization and international trade. By using these analytical frameworks, we hopefully could be able to capture the economic effects of the United States sugar subsidy policy not only in the industry itself but also in the country as well as the consumers living in the country as well. Comparative Static Analysis of the United States Sugar Subsidy Policy in an Economic Market The first analysis that the papers shall be using is a comparative static analysis of a subsidy granted by the United States government to the sugar industry in the country. A comparative static analysis is simply an analysis of an economic incentive or even a disincentive while holding all other things constant. In the real world, a comparative static analysis may be difficult to implement and make sense of especially because variables affecting the market, the industries, or even individual firms, interact with each other all the time. However, if we are to integrate all the variables involved perhaps using econometric estimation and lean your regression analysis in order to indicate these variables we still would not be able to segregate the effects of a single factor in this case a policy which gives the sugar industry subsidy the overall economy. The discipline of economics usually makes use of such all other things held constant rule in order to make the analytical framework more clear and the analysis more concise by segregating just one variable. The analysis of the sugar subsidy policy uses a micro economic model of the firm. In this micro economic model, we assume a horizontal demand curve because the firm is a price taker and imposition of the marginal cost, the average cost, the average variable cost, and the total cost curve. In such a situation, sugar firms would choose to produce at that point where in price equals marginal revenue equals marginal cost. In such a condition, the affect of aggregating all the firms in the sugar industry would give us the traditional perfect market situation downward sloping demand curve upward sloping supply curve. This is a situation where in there is not yet any subsidy which the government had chosen to implement in the sugar industry. However, in the case that the government chooses to give subsidy to the sugar industry, the effect would be to significantly reduce the average cost and total cost curves of the firm by reducing the fixed costs. In a partial equilibrium model, it would result to the shifting of the supply curve to the right and therefore the ability to produce higher quantities by the firm while at the same time effectively decreasing the price of sugar. This is the approach using traditional analytical frameworks of microeconomics in order to understand the subsidy that is made by the government. In fact, this analysis may be implemented into any kind of industry which is subsidized by the government in order to produce its final output. However, we must remember that this is approach only using an economic model. In order to understand the applications of such a theory and to prove it, economic researchers have estimated and made various studies to show that this is indeed the case that the curse in real-world events and could have a significant effect even considering all variables into the analysis. Of course, in order for the theory to hold, econometric estimation must also be able to prove that subsidies do in fact affect the supply curve of the industry. This is exactly what has been constituted in the larger body of research regarding government interventions to specific industries. As early as a study made in 1977 which analyzed the equilibrium effects of United States sugar policy, significant supply curve shifts were estimated by economists after such super policies regarding subsidies had been implemented by the government (Gordon Gemmill, 1977). In fact, as the research noted, although there was only a minor influence on the price that was implemented after subsidies had been injected into this sugar industry, quantities significantly change as a result of the increased supply that was allowed by the subsidy. Earlier in 1970, there was already indicate that legislative bias for the United States sugar program which involved a high degree of domestic protectionism which simply means that injection of policy by the government to sugar producers. However, an interesting thing to note in such study is that not only were the policy recommendations for the domestic sugar industry but also for international and foreign countries sugar industry as well locations which have comparative advantage in sugar production and which could directly benefit the United States in the long run if such industries were conducted. This analysis would be integrated into the third concept and discussion of our paper. What is important that this research is pointing out, however, for this section, is that sugar subsidies do indeed increase quantities of sugar producers because of the lowering of costs as a result of the subsidy. In fact, such quantity increase effects are not only segregate into the United States but other countries as well. In many developing economies, and in economies which are significantly different from the United States, an increase in market subsidy to the sugar industry also increases quantity in those countries, showing that such economic effects are not only segregate into one geographical location and one kind of economy but also to the spectrum of economies of countries as well (Nelson Panggabean, 1991). In such a partial equilibrium analysis, perhaps the immediate conclusion that could be made is that it is beneficial to consumers as a whole. Using the framework, it would be obvious that the lowering of price and the lowering of the production cost of sugar in the sugar industry would be beneficial both for sugar farmers as well as the consumers who would be buying sugar. However, a negative effect that a subsidy may make in such a framework is that it could be unfair to those directly competing against the sugar markets. However, such an argument may not be so strong. The arguments against the subsidy is made by the United States government to the sugar industry could be further developed in the second and third section and analytical framework of the paper. The Median Voter Theorem and Why There Are Sugar Subsidy Policies in the United States An argument that has been developed by economists which goes against recommendations for implementing subsidies on certain industries is the implementation of the median voter theorem. Remember that subsidies are basically policy recommendations that are made by individuals such as lawmakers, legislators, and the greater body of politicians. According to standard economic theory, these individuals in a representative government are selected by the population through the mechanism of voting. And if we consider the population distribution to be a perfectly normal bell curve, there are individuals in extremes of the issue in this case not to implement a subsidy and to implement full subsidy but a larger number of people in the median area of the population distribution. However, the median voter theorem also states that there are discrepancies within the voting situation. A powerful group which has lobbying power, although would derive less benefit from the summation of all consumers, could be able to conceivably shape electoral results because of such lobbying powers and financial support since they are the ones who have a larger incentive in the choosing of a certain candidate which would eventually approve a sugar subsidy policy. For example, consumers would not give a few dollars each in order to lobby against support for a certain policy, but the sugar producers, who have enough incentives, maybe both lobby themselves to carry out such a vote. Even though the elected body of government representatives may in fact be the winner of the elections, it is not necessary that they won because they have the largest and best purpose of the consumers into mind. There are literature regarding such topic proving that the median voter theorem indeed does work in society where in there are individual lobbying powers and incentives for groups. In 1991, a study was made on electoral and voting process where there are specific preferences for individuals with larger incentives and the aggregate society. This study points out that even though there are larger benefits and welfare implications for the whole society if a specific policy is not implemented, having less incentives than those wishing to implement the policy would eventually drive the vote towards those with greater incentives (Caplin Nalebuff, 1991). Another article published earlier in 1989 presented such a theoretical model in the analysis and determination of the level of Social Security that is provided to individuals. Again, they use the median voter theory in a representative democracy and capital market. As has been shown, there are more incentives for some individuals to lobby against the policy and even though Social Security increase would benefit the society greater, it was not implemented fully because of such lobbying power of specific sides (Boadway Wildasin, 1989). Trade Theories and the United States Sugar Subsidy Using standard economic trade theories and frameworks, we could perhaps be able to develop the best argument against the government implementing a specific policy for protection reasons or for any other reasons that are offered in the legislative body. Instead their trade theory, implementing a protectionist policy such as the subsidy would lead to a less efficient comparative advantage situation in the sugar industry in the United States. Although it would definitely be able to provide short run increases in the income of producers, there are much worse effects. The first is that prices would be much higher in the domestic market. A subsidy together with a protectionist policy would make and force consumers to buy sugar at a higher price than that is offered in a global competitive market without such protectionist policies. If it was the subsidy alone, then it could be perhaps beneficial to the consumers while there are certain losses in the government model. However, usually, and specifically for the United States sugar policy with regards to subsidies, protectionist policies are also implemented. This means that consumers are forced to buy sugar at higher prices in the domestic market than they would otherwise pay if sugar was imported by countries which offer the same goods at lower prices in a perfectly competitive model of trade. As an overall result, there would be welfare increases for the side of the producer surplus but decreases in the consumer surplus and the government revenues. However, the dominant argument made by past and even some precedent economists is that some industries have to be protected because they do not have comparative advantage to other producers of sugar taking into consideration the implementation of free trade in the world today. Such arguments for example are the import substitution industrialization that had been put forward by two German economists in the 1960s which says that by protecting domestic industries in the short run, they would be able to catch up to the ventral comparative advantage. In fact, it is not only the United States sugar industry which implemented such policies but domestic agricultural goods all over the world especially in third world and developing countries. At first, this might have seemed like a good idea. However, eventually, it was found that implementing a specific subsidy to the sugar industry might have long term problematic effects. For example, by implementing such a subsidy, local domestic sugar producers would not have enough incentives in order to improve such sugar production technology. In fact, this has been proven to be the case. In the implementation of local production protection of sugar, less and less farmers were willing to innovate in the productive capacity given that there are even available technologies for such an improvement. The reason for this is that they are already enjoying lower production costs because of the subsidies. Such a framework eventually results in the shifting of the production frontiers of sugar in other countries while the production function of sugar in the domestic economy remains the same. The lack of incentives is a direct result from the lack of competition in an industry and the result is after a few years perhaps a decade productive technologies and capacities by other sugar markets would eventually overtake that of the domestic protected market. It is in fact already an interesting point that the United States is even implementing such sugar subsidy policies even though past economies and studies have been made regarding its detrimental effect to the long-run profitability of the market and the welfare of producers (Pollitt, 1997). In fact, we do not even need to look so far away for sugar subsidy policies have been implemented in the United States and the historical proof of the infectivity of such subsidy policies have already been well documented and studied by economists and policymakers (Horton, 1970). Even recently, trade liberalization policies were studied between the United States and the European Union sugar trade industry and were found to have detrimental effects in one market implemented a specific policy on the production of their sugar supply (Won W. Koo, 2002). Conclusion using these three frameworks, we could be able to conclude that by implementing a subsidy in the United States sugar industry, the country may be able to see short-term benefits because of price reduction and the welfare increase of sugar farmers and producers as low as those involved in the sugar market distribution. However, in the long run, as our analytical framework and even the practical research in previous literature and references have shown, implementing such a sugar policy is not only inefficient because of the actual background of decision-making through the median voter theorem, but also would be able to hurt the farmers and sugar producers themselves in the long run because of implementing a protection industry and the continuous decrease of comparative advantages as a result of the increase in technology in perfectly competitive markets which have not been subsidized by the government. To this end, economics teaches us that a subsidy, although helps in the long run producers, would hurt short run government revenues and consumers as well as long-run profitability of sugar markets from all aspects. References Boadway, R. W. , Wildasin, D. E. (1989). A Median Voter Model of Social Security. International Economic Review, 30(2), 307-328. doi: 10. 2307/2526649. Caplin, A. , Nalebuff, B. (1991). Aggregation and Social Choice: A Mean Voter Theorem. Econometrica, 59(1), 1-23. doi: 10. 2307/2938238. Gordon Gemmill. (1977). An Equilibrium Analysis of U. S. Sugar Policy. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 59(4), 609-618. doi: 10. 2307/1239388. Horton, D. C. (1970). Policy Directions for the United States Sugar Program. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 52(2), 185-196. doi: 10. 2307/1237489. Nelson, G. C. , Panggabean, M. (1991). The Costs of Indonesian Sugar Policy: A Policy Analysis Matrix Approach. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 73(3), 703-712. doi: 10. 2307/1242822. Pollitt, B. H. (1997). The Cuban Sugar Economy: Collapse, Reform and Prospects for Recovery. Journal of Latin American Studies, 29(1), 171-210. doi: 10. 2307/158075. Won W. Koo. (2002). Alternative U. S. and EU Sugar Trade Liberalization Policies and Their Implications. Review of Agricultural Economics, 24(2), 336-352. doi: 10. 2307/1349764.

Report on Organisational Change and Multiculturalism in IKEA

Report on Organisational Change and Multiculturalism in IKEA The following is an integrative report on organisational change brought about by multiculturalism in organisations with specific emphasis on the concept of diversity management in relation to organisational culture. With the help of a study on IKEA, the international chain of home and office furniture stores, the report will attempt to analyse the challenges faced by international managers in the process of keeping up with the demands of multiculturalism, a direct consequence of globalisation. Although the values and practices of IKEAs corporate culture will be discussed in general, in order to narrow the geographic area of research, the report will focus more on IKEAs franchise in Dubai, UAE. The report will make extensive use of relevant literature in order to understand the issues in question by applying the literature to the organisation and by doing so, will attempt to make further recommendations and meaningful conclusions. I.1 IKEA Background: IKEA prides itself to be the most successful and largest furniture retailer in the world, and boasts provision of everything and anything for a home, having products suited for people of all ages, and all this at low prices. The company promises excellent value for money spent with all of their products designed with an emphasis on natural colours to bring a light and airy atmosphere within a home. This concept is based purely on IKEAs Swedish origins, where people pride themselves in living in harmony with nature with simple home designs which offer maximum efficiency in all weathers (http://www.iamaceo.com/marketing/ikea-brand-success-strategy/). IKEAs vision, to create a better everyday life for the many people is reportedly largely aimed at the global middleclass which is also evident from their business idea, to offer a wide range of well designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford the m (http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/press_room/student_info.html). With 265 stores worldwide, where 235 are owned by the IKEA group while the remaining 30 by franchisees outside the group, the extent of IKEAs expansion is obvious (IKEA, 2007). IKEAs corporate culture is based on the concept of shared values, some of which, as the organisation proclaims, are togetherness, cost-consciousness, respect, and simplicity. These values project a very democratic form of leadership where considerable freedom is given to employees to contribute to the companys success. IKEA claims to treat all employees, no matter what rank they carry, as partners in the business. The company also boasts no restrictions upon employees in using their own initiatives and offers full support to meet each individuals needs, ambitions and capabilities. I.2 IKEA Dubai and Al Futtaim Trading: The IKEA franchise in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) was first initiated in 1991 with the local Al Futtaim Trading Company taking ownership. This collaboration has been, since its inception, a major success story in the UAE and other parts of the Middle East, as many new IKEA outlets have been strategically opened over the years by the group and have achieved great competitive advantages and overall productivity. The Al Futtaim group was first established in the 1930s as a trading company. Headquartered in Dubai, the group has seen a rapid progress in its operations not only within the UAE but in more than 65 countries across the Middle East, and in various sectors of business. The group attributes its success to its ability to respond to the changing needs of customers and the societies in which it operates through an entrepreneurial and customer focused approach. Employees of the group enjoy a democratic culture made possible through clearly defined objectives and values, enabled through clear flow of information via a decentralised structure. Al Futtaim also prides itself for the ability to proactively manage change whilst upholding the values of integrity, service and social responsibility. (http://www.al-futtaim.ae/content/groupProfile.asp; http://www.ikeadubai.com/content/aboutUs.asp) Apart from managing many of IKEAs retail operations in the UAE, the Al Futtaim group carry the sole responsibility of recruiting personnel for the franchise, and also providing valuable information about changes in the local political scene, culture, economy and other issues like new technologies, threats of competitors, legal issues etc, effectively conducting internal and external analyses (SWOT and PESTEL) for IKEA. This contribution has greatly helped the IKEA group over the years to align their regional operations according to changing environments, effectively creating a strategic fit between the organisation and the environment (http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/16374.html). I.3 The Culture Change Problem: For an organisation that boasted fairness in employment and empowerment to employees through a democratic leadership and structure, and flexible organisational culture, IKEA had initially employed an ethnocentric approach of management where only Swedes were recruited for management positions so as to ensure the original Swedishness of the organisation. But this approach eventually met with criticism and a temporary setback in IKEAs overseas operations, where the organisation was faced with the task of revising its overseas recruitment policies in order to meet the demands of local cultures and employment laws (Kling and Goteman, 2003; Kochan et al, 2002). According to Bjork (1998), every time IKEA was faced with a struggle due to internationalisation, new cultural management policies would be implemented, the latest being Diversity Management. IKEA is well known for having a rapid internationalisation process from its Swedish origins as a result of globalisation and its rapid expansion into countries with cultures very different from its original Swedish national culture (Hollensen, 2007). Although owned by franchisees in some countries, like the UAE, the IKEA concept and trademark are solely owned by Inter IKEA Systems B.V in Netherlands, giving the group considerable authority over franchises. This means Inter IKEA Systems B.V is the franchiser for all IKEA stores within or outside of the IKEA group, ensuring uniformity of corporate values, and the IKEA concept of self assembled furniture right from the centre (IKEA, 2007). IKEA has had to rapidly transform itself from an ethnocentric corporate culture to an organisation that embraces people of all backgrounds, and has in many communiquà ©s expressed the importance of having a culturally diverse workforce in order to obtain competitive advantage on the global scene. This is evident from the organisations recruitment websites in various countries, where emphasis is given for potential employees to be themselves, but at the same time adhere to shared corporate values such as simplicity, cost-consciousness, hard work etc, but almost all of the websites show a picture of a man and woman of Scandinavian origin (Bjork, 1998). This has created a paradox within the IKEA Groups core values, where there is still a strong emphasis on the companys Scandinavian background. Setting up operations in multicultural societies like Dubai meant the IKEA group has had to go through a rapid process of internal culture-change. This means a complete internationalisation of organisational culture, where key positions are not restricted to Swedish nationals, and communication systems had to be introduced to break geographical and cultural barriers. The partnership with Al Futtaim has played a major role for IKEA in achieving this change. In the following sections literature related to organisational culture-change, international recruitment processes and the inevitable resistance to culture will be studied and analysed. II. LITERATURE REVIEW: The purpose of this section is to acquire a deeper understanding of culture and its characteristics by means of metaphorical representation of organizations with the help of relevant literature. This may help us understand the significance of culture change, not just to gain competitive advantage, but for the very survival of an organization in an ever-changing environment. II.1. Organization and Society: Drawing the Parallels Within the process of cultural evolution there is a significant amount of similarity in the manner in which culture is manifested in business organizations and in society in general (Rollinson, 2005; Morgan, 1998). To understand cultural diversity in organizations, it would be helpful to understand its roots at a sociological level. Cultural diversity at the workplace is a direct result of multiculturalism in the society. A multicultural society simply denotes a society in which there exist several cultures (Watson, 2002). Culture is defined as, A pattern of shared assumptions a group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you think, perceive, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein, 2004). The above definition suggests that culture is a shared activity of overcoming external and internal factors through methods that have been taught down to the group as acceptable and functional. A general view of cultural differences is that they affect intercultural encounters, usually by leading to misunderstanding or conflict, at both the individual and group levels (Larkey, 1996). Larkey explains that at the individual level, as different values, beliefs or worldviews are manifested in communication behaviours and as culture creates differing expectations and differing styles or patterns of speech, interpersonal misunderstanding and conflict can arise. At the group level, inter-group processes can be triggered by, for instance, an individuals non-verbal behaviour or ways of speaking which stereotypically represent a group (1996). It then becomes the responsibility of the leadership of the core society to introduce a culture and/or change its existing core culture to accommodate th e various differences brought in by the subcultures in an integrated manner, where these differences are acknowledged and valued (Neuliep, 2008). When the above sociological aspects of culture are compared to a business organization, the organization is the core society, and its culture, the core culture. We all refer to this as organizational culture. Analogically speaking, the organizational (core) culture should be designed in such a way that the employees of the company share a basic set of values and assumptions, which tie them to that particular organization. But, on the individual or group levels, each employee has his/her own cultural norms and practices beyond those they share with other members of the company, which can be safely termed as the subcultures within the organization (Bate, 1995). II.2 Cross-Cultural Communication: We all have an internal list of those we still dont understand, let alone appreciate. We all have biases, even prejudices, toward specific groups (Lantieri Patti, 1996). The above phrase sums up the main challenge in cross-cultural communication, the fact that we still dont understand the people we talk to on a daily basis. Communication is an intrinsic part of our daily lives, whether it is at our homes, at the workplace, in the groups we belong to, or in the community, and we can identify that its hard (DuPraw Axner, 1997). According to DuPraw and Axner (1997), culture is often at the root of communication challenges, and our culture influences how we approach problems and participate in groups and in communities. Anthropologists Avruch and Black expand the above views and argue that Ones own culture provides the lens through which we view the world; the logic by which we order it; and the grammar by which it makes sense (1993). DuPraw and Axner (1997) suggest that, becoming more aware of our cultural differences, as well as, exploring our similarities, can help us communicate with each other more effectively, and that cultural differences do not necessarily have to divide us from each other (1997). In an organisational context, the similarities lie in the core organisational culture that is common at the group level. Morgan (1998) explains the significance of effective communication and concludes that every organization is composed of individuals with different cultural traits and individual personalities, and these people are organised in some way or the other through these traits in order to achieve set objectives. Thus individuals are the basic building blocks around which an organization functions, and communication is the effective cement which holds the organization together. This puts forward the importance of an organisational culture that employs clear communication channels to all levels of its structure. II.3 Organization as a Living Being: Adapting to Change, by Aligning with the Environment It can be inferred from the preceding sections that change is necessary in order to promote peaceful existence between different culture groups, in the societal realm. Considering this, it may be safe to assume that similar changes need to be implemented in the organizational realm as well (Robbins and Judge, 2009; Pettinger, 1996). The question that may arise, however, is whether changing the existing culture means changing the entire organization. Culture is such an intrinsic quality of a human being at the individual level, and of a group at the societal level, that even though it may take time to change, it may end up changing more than just a few characteristics (Bate, 1995; Hofstede, 1997). This means that changing an organizations culture implies changing the very behaviour in which it expresses itself. Morgan (1998) interestingly likens an organization to an organism, and explains that, The image of an organism seeking to adapt and survive in a changing environment offers a powerful perspective for managers who want to help their organizations flow with change. (Pg 35) He argues that this analogy encourages us to learn the art of corporate survival by developing active organic systems that remain open to new challenges. In other words, as Brooks (2003) says, it helps us form a more proactive organization with a prospector philosophy of operation. Prospectors, he explains, see their environment as ever changing and seek continual strategic and structural adjustments to cope with those changes. These organizations are continually searching for new opportunities and in the process they may create change and uncertainty for others in their competitive environment. The opposite of prospectors, known as defenders, are more reactive in nature, as they act only when environmental changes force them to do so. This kind always sees stability and continuity all around (2003). Research shows that reactors are more prone to misperceptions of their environment than are prospectors. According to Morgan (1998), this is because different environments favour differe nt species of organisations based on different methods of organising and that congruence with the environment is the key to success. So it is evident that organisations are facing the enormous challenge of changing their internal environments in accordance with the external. II.4 The International Human Resources Function: the International Organisation will be called on to operate across a wide variety of competitive environments and yet somehow balance these diverse social, political and economic contexts with the requirements of the original home context. (Dowling et al, 2008, pg25) The above statement re-iterates all the topics discussed in this report so far, namely, the task of the organisation to be able to operate in different environments whilst staying true to its original corporate objectives. The international human resources management (IHRM) function, a recent extension to the normal HRM function in an organisation, aims to achieve this global competitive advantage by employing innovative recruitment strategies. The three main issues for IHRM are: the management and development of expatriates; the internationalisation of management throughout the organisation; and, creating a new corporate culture that would reflect on internationalising the whole organisation, by focusing on increasing the international experience of staff, to be able to effectively counter the frequency of cross-cultural interactions as a result of investing abroad (Hendry, 1994). As a result, IHRM covers a much wider spectrum of worldwide management of people (Dowling et al, 1999, 2008), and is concerned with how MNCs manage their geographically dispersed workforce by being able to dispose their resources to obtain and maintain local and global competitive advantage (Schuler et al, 2002). This clearly indicates IHRM as a means of strategic importance for MNCs, as it is a key element in achieving a balance between the need for control and coordination of foreign subsidiaries, and the need to adapt to local environments (Adler and Ghadar, 1990 Milliman et al., 1991, cited in Scullion, 2001, pg5). In other words, the need is for the organisation to implement common practices, like structure and technology that transcend national differences and form a commonality as to how the business operates across cultures (Kerr et al, 1973 Hickson et al, 1979 cited in Mullins, 1999), whilst not ignoring the essential differences in how these practices are communicated and applied to the local workforce of a given foreign subsidiary (Hofstede, 1997; Keeley, 2003). II.5 Resistance to Change: When a group seeks change in the way they do things, as with culture, there is the inevitability of resistance to this change. Researchers like have identified a few reasons for such resistance: fear of the unknown, referring to peoples natural tendency to keep away from uncertainty that creates anxiety. Resisting change is one way to reduce the anxiety; fear of failure, referring to peoples fear of whether or not they are up to the challenges being brought in by the change; disagreement with the need for change, where people genuinely believe that change is not necessary; losing something of value, where people fear either losing their dominant positions and/or jobs as a result of the change; leaving a comfort zone, in that people are happy where they are and would not want unnecessary disruption of current state; false beliefs, where people unrealistically believe change is not needed and everything will turn out fine; misunderstanding and lack of trust, where people do not understand the changes being made and/or do not trust the person(s) initiating the changes; and the fact that change may require more time and energy from individuals (Robbins, 1999; Mullins, 2003). Many ways to overcome resistance have been suggested, which include: effective communication and education including training programmes for staff to make them understand the need for change, and its implications; getting people to get involved in implementing the change process, where they can not oppose it later as they were partly responsible for it; negotiating with people certain requirements they may have to get the change underway; and in many cases imposing the change by force whether the people like it or not, as resistance may mean loss of positions/ jobs etc (Robbins, 2009; Mullins, 2003). III. APPLICATION TO IKEA In light of the above discussions, the company headed in the right direction in terms of its emphasis on multiculturalism at the workplace, especially amongst its independent franchisees. IKEA in Dubai working along with Al Futtaim has been successful in achieving this objective by recruiting local, talented individuals reflecting the diverse cultural demographics of the United Arab Emirates. This is in line with earlier literature discussion of societal and organisational cultures where the core culture needs to be designed to accommodate individual personal differences, but should also give employees a common framework. III.1 Changing the Organisational Culture, a Project: IKEAs efforts to change its internal culture to align with external factors in Dubai have been a major project management undertaking. This is because the company has had to effectively integrate its centralised and extremely complex organisational structure (although argued otherwise by the group) with the more decentralised and flexible structure of Al Futtaim. This required giving considerable power to the latter group in making decisions regarding changes to the way IKEA operated in the Middle East. Reduction of organisational levels to form a flatter structure itself is a project with time constraints. Due to the ever changing nature of external cultural factors, and due to the fact that internal cultural change is a slow and gradual process, the project management methodology that IKEA and Al Futtaim may have employed would have been the Adaptive Project Framework. The adaptive project framework works on the basis that the scope for change is variable, but within specified cost and time constraints. This gives the company significant flexibility by setting up periodic milestones, where progress is reviewed at each milestone until the ultimate objective is met. The company has full authority in deciding best business value and has the opportunity to change directions at any milestone if it thinks objectives are not being met by the project. The adaptive framework also works because it is based on the assumption that change is inevitable, and is designed to allow for changes accordingly. This is especially vital when seeking culture change (Billingham, 2008). III.2 Resistance within IKEA: The initial resistance to the changes in IKEAs culture may have come mainly from the fact that the company has had to tone down its emphasis on Swedish culture at the operational level in Dubai. Changing the organisational structure would have meant losing some key positions along the structure to enable integration with Al Futtaims structure. Focusing on recruiting local personnel would have meant redundancy and/or repatriation for existing Swedish international managers. This would have also meant that existing personnel would have had to adapt to working alongside with local personnel, which may have caused communication problems, friction between personnel etc. The best methods used for overcoming above problems would have been to educate existing IKEA personnel regarding local issues like culture, governance etc, educate and train local personnel in return about IKEAs core values and its Swedish roots, and the importance the company places in carrying out the legacy of its founder, provide clear communication between levels, and reducing barriers through effective information infrastructure. IV. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, change management can now be safely coined as a field in itself in modern businesses, especially in multinational organisations. Considering the study, more and more organisations would benefit from being prospectors rather than defenders, as this would prepare them to stay in tune with their market environments. It seems the group has lived up to their own professed comments when they say, We see the diversity issue as a matter of creating a more challenging business atmosphere and of course expanding the recruitment base including everyone and not just Swedish men. It also gives us a diverse workforce with a lot of positive business possibilities (Kling and Goteman, 2003). As far as the project of changing IKEAs culture is concerned, the company has successfully reached its goal of reaching the global middle class with its products. Whether it is through the IKEA group directly, or through franchises like Al Futtaim, IKEA has realised the importance of culture change and has subsequently implemented this change within its infrastructure. The companys extraordinary success, even with a narrow product range, but a range that has been constantly diversified according to the demands of the regions of operation, is testament to the success of the project. Through Al Futtaim, IKEA is now a household name all over the Middle East, thus expanding the range of its brand through undertaking a change in organisational culture.