Human Resource In Disneyland Essay

What extent do you feel it is useful to distinguish between different â€Å"levels of analysis† (i.e. global, regional, national and organizational) in understanding IHRM? Provide examples as appropriate. With the ever-increasing economic activities and inter-connections with other countries, the international integration is obvious. (Coase, 1937)IHRM is now confronted with different issues toward the cross-cultural configuration which the political, economic, social and legal systems among different countries are involved.(Mendenhall, M, 2000) Different levels of analysis can provide a framework for analyze and evaluate the IHRM practice, resource allocation or leadership style in making response to the internationalization process. For the global level analysis, it is based on the geocentric approach which is perceived as a worldwide stance which the best policies and the most qualified individuals to staff the operations.(Dowling and Schuler, 1990) Because of the increased complexity and operation scope with global operations, good understanding can benefit the multinational organizations in finding the most appropriate employees for the job. Nevertheless,lack of knowledge transfer and information flowmay be incurred from the complex global setting. Market information, cultural-dimensions and demographic issues are hard to obtain, especially in predicting the data from universal trend.(Sparrow, 2009) For example, Disneyland isdifficult to assess the flow of customers as leisure industry is of great seasonal variation. (The Walt Disney Company, 2010) Regional level analysis is based on the regiocentric approach on a particular geographic region. IHRM mangers can have the right and independence on making decisions as well as developing regional staffs. (Dowling and Schuler, 1990) For instance, HSBC is likely to develop the regioncentric approach to recruit personnel within a specific region like Europe, Asia, and India. (HSBC, 2010) National level analysis is based on the polycentric approach which the subsidiaries are treated as different national entity which is involved with some degree of autonomy. (Dowling and Schuler, 1990)According to Hofstede’s research, different cultural distance may be incurred from the operation in host countries. (Hofstede, 2001) This socio-cultural barrier is likely to fail the business. A polycentric approach is closely related to local responsiveness which brings advantages to the coordination between subsidiaries and increases cost efficiency.For  example, the world’s largest furniture retailerIKEA adopts the polycentric approach in Chinawhich is managed by host-country national. Employing local Chinese as managers to avoid inter-cultural management is performed withinIKEA’s operations in China. (China Daily, 2010) Organizational level analysis is based on ethnocentric approach which strategic decisions are made at the parent organization. (Dowling and Schuler, 1990) Managers can hence implement the strategy at a lower labour cost in favour the organizational goal. Overall, different level of analysis can be implied from operational requirement, strategic coordination or business systems. Distinguishing the level of analysis between one another cangreatly benefit the strategy formulation and implementation. (439words) References: China Daily, 2010. ‘IKEA to double stores in China’, Available: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-12/16/content_11711019.htm (Accessed: 2011, March 10). Coase, R., 1937. The nature of the firm. Economica, 4, 386-405. Dowling, P. and Schuler, R., 1990. International Dimensions of Human Resource Management, PWS-Kent. Hofstede, G., 2001. Culture’s Consequences – Comparing Values, Behaviors. Institutions and Organizations across Nations. Second Edition. London: Sage Publications. HSBC, 2010. ‘HSBC Holdings plc: Annual Report and Accounts 2010’, Available:http://www.hsbc.com/1/PA_1_1_S5/content/assets/investor_relations/hsbc2010ara0.pdf (Accessed: 2011, March 5). Mendenhall, M, 2000. Mapping the terrain of IHRM: a call for ongoing dialogue, Paper presented at 15th Workshop on Strategic HRM, Fontainebleau, France, and 30 March-1 April. Sparrow, P., 2009. Handbook of international human resource management: integrating people, process and context. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. The Walt Disney Company, 2010. ‘Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Financial Report and Shareholder Letter’, Available: http://amedi a.disney.go.com/investorrelations/annual_reports/WDC-10kwrap-2009.pdf (Accessed: 2011, March 2).

Marketing Planning Essay

INTRODUCTION Unilever started its operations in Vietnam in 1995 and do business in fast moving consumer goods area. It has developed an extensive local network of distributors and retailers with commit to â€Å"make Vietnamese lives better† through the provision of a wide range of international quality and affordable priced products in health, hygiene and nutrition. Unilever Vietnam was developed the wide range of business services and products, with more than 20 brands name, Unilever has become one of the biggest multinational in Vietnam and South-East Asia. 1.1 Review the changing perspective in Unilever marketing planning Nowadays, when demand and customer satisfaction are foundation of business, there are more companies follow the market – led orientation strategy instead of product orientation. In this task, we will learn about some reason why many companies had changed product orientation to market – led orientation. Product orientation: Few years ago, when product orientation strategy was popular, the companies choose to ignore their customer’s needs and focus only on efficiently building a quality product. This type of company believes that if they can make the best product their customers will come to them. The basic focus of a company with a production orientation is toward maximizing production output. They want to produce as many products as possible to reduce the price without caring about customer needs. Market – led orientation: Currently, product orientation strategy is not popular anymore. It was replaced by market – led orientation strategy which is squarely foc used on the consumer. For the company to follow this strategy effectively, they have to approach to customer and approach to advertising. In addition for market led orientation, every employee of all the departments will be responsible for marketing the products. The main purposes of changing product orientation to market – led orientation are: * Making a long term relationship with customers: the product which is satisfy customer needs will belong to them in a long term. Thus, it is important for company to do surveys carefully so that they can know exactly what customer want and start the production. * Building brand awareness and customer‘s loyalty: a market-oriented company carefully cultivates a brand in the minds of potential customers through advertising activities in an attempt to influence them to buy its products instead of a competitor’s products. * Bring customer the value of product: If the company can understand the customer needs and meet their dem and, it is easier for company to bring customer not only the quality of product but also the intangible value. For example: Unilever Vietnam towards market – led orientation strategy by doing surveys about customer needs, produce good quality products and invest on promotional activities. This strategy is the most suitable with the company doing business in fast moving consumer goods in branded home & personal care and food categories. They do surveys on a regular basis to make sure that the product launch on time and satisfy customer needs. Besides that, Unilever spends a great deal of money on advertising to build awareness of customer about the product and they will come to buy it. 1.2 Evaluate Unilever capability for planning its future market activity. As you know, Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods in branded home & personal care and food categories and its products touch the lives of over 2 billion people every day – whether that’s through feeling great because they’ve got beautiful hair and a radiant smile, take care of their home, or by enjoying a great cup of tea or healthy snack. But whether they can do more than that in the future? This task will evaluate Unilever’s capability for planning its future marketing activities. The product innovation: Look at the selection Unilever’s top brands; we can see the company’s efforts in creating new products over 18 years. They not only create pioneering products but also bring the quality and make their customer’s life better (For example: Sunlight, Cif, Knor, Lifebuoy, etc. That the reason why the most of their br ands become popular brand in Vietnam. So we can certain about their capability for producing outstanding products. The vision of leaders and activity oriented: This is one of important factors that affect to Unilever’s capability for planning future marketing activities. The great vision of leader will lead to great future for Unilever. ‘’ We work to create a better future every day† (Unilever, 2013). They recognize that global challenges such as climate change concern us all, so in the future they will not only focus on double the size of their business but also reducing their environmental footprint and increasing their positive social impact. Potential Human resource: Unilever has more than 1600 employees who are carefully selected. Moreover, they offer their employees many ways to take advantage of development opportunities, they encourage creativity with attractive reward, benefits packages and many others so that we can always attract and retain the b est talents to work for them. By owning many talents in the company, it is easy for them to make more pioneering products in the future. After analyzing every related aspect, we can see that Unilever has the capacity to develop their products and overtake their competitors. We can know that not only through their current efforts but also their purpose of protecting environment in the future. 1.3 Examine technique for Unilever auditing and analysis of external factors that affecting the marketing planning in Vietnam Unilever makes a number of different products in Vietnam so it is very important to determining and recognize problem areas, opportunities so that the company can offer solutions and rational decisions for next step. In this task, we will examine 3 techniques for Unilever auditing and analyzing external factors that affect marketing planning including: the product life cycle (PLC), the Porter Five Forces and BCG Matrix. The product life cycle (PLC) Lifebuoy soap: Lifebuoy Royal Disinfectant Soap was launched in 1894 as an affordable new product in the UK and it is one of Unilever’s oldest brands. Lifebuoy witnessed a steady decline in market share at 15% (www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com). Because of its long appear on the market with the low market share so Lifebuoy is in Decline stage. Wall’s Ice cream: In 1997, Wall’s Ice Cream was a famous brand name (Unilever’s own) in Vietnam with 52% market share and annual turnover of â‚ ¬5 billion (www.webcache.googleusercontent.com). But in 2004, after realizing the economy as well as the situation of that moment is not consistent with the development of Wall’s Ice Cream, Unilever decided to let Kinh Do company to own this brand within 5 years. Then, the brand name Wall’s Ice Cream came back in an unexpected way after 5 years absence in 2009. Since that, Wall’s Ice Cream warmly welcome by customer. In addition, it also expanded distribution network with 130 distributors and 4,000 retail outlets (www.cyvee.com). Wall’s is an international brand of ice cream and is one of the most profitable units of Unilever (www.commerceplus.blogspot.com). Thus, Wall’s Ice Cream could be considered in the stage of Maturity from product life cycle. Lipton ice tea: Lipton ice tea has become a famous brand in Vietnam and wants to make a big splash in the global beverages market. They not only produce tea but also help customer to improve vascular function, combat fatigue, reduce cholesterol levels and increase feelings of vitality. Moreover, Lipton is the global market leader in both leaf and ready-to-drink tea, with a global market share nearly three times larger than its nearest rival. Thus, Lipton ice tea is in the stage of Maturity. BCG Matrix: Lifebuoy soap: Lifebuoy soap is lying in BCG Matrix at Question Mark point. The market share value of Lifebuoy is low at 15% (www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com) and its market growth rate is high at 85.03%. Nowadays, there are more kind of soaps come into the market and they are not only protect users to bacteria but also bring intangible value to customers. However, the market that Lifebuoy doing business in is a potential market. At this point, company makes their investment on this product to get the point of cash cow and star in BCG matrix. Wall’s Ice cream: Wall’s Ice cream was come back to Vietnam market with an unexpected success. They have a big distribution network with 130 distributors and 4,000 retail outlets (www.cyvee.com) to meet the demand of customer in Vietnam. Moreover, ice cream market is a potential market in Vietnam so it is great opportunities for Wall to expand its market. According to Euromonitor, Vietnam cream industry value will reach $125 million this year. Thus, with high market share and high market growth, Wall is lying in Cash Cow. Lipton ice tea: Lipton Ice tea is the world’s leading brand of tea with high market share by occupying a half of the global market (www.strategy.vn). About the market growth, Mr. Kamimura Yosuke ( NGK Kirin Company’s head of Marketing) said that for 2004-2010, the beverage market Vietnam has very few brand to create explosive opportunities for green tea market. At that time, with the introduction of many new products, green tea seems to have the market saturation point. However, this market has yet to step into the setbacks and has even been considered as a potential market in the future. Thus, Lipton Ice tea is lying in Cash Cow. Porter Five Forces Brand / Force| Lifebuoy soap| Wall’s ice cream| Lipton Tea| Bargaining of Buyer| HighAlthough Lifebuoy bringscustomer some benefits to protect their health with the low price, there are many its competitors that not only brings health benefit but also intangible value to customer. Moreover, it does not require the switching cost when customer change using Lifebuoy to another one| HighRecent, there are many cafà © shop that offer ice cream in menu or ice cream specialty shops (ex: Baskin Robbins) indirect compete with Wall. Moreover, the switching cost is low and the young customers have trend to eat ice cream outside in the crowded places with music and their friends instead of staying at home with popsicles. | High The competitor of Lipton such as Nestle and THP seem to have a better marketing strategy than Lipton so these competitors will build the image of brand in customer mind. Besides, customer will find easy to change to Nestle or THP if Lipton can not satisfy their de mand with low switching cost.| Bargaining of Supplier| HighLifebuoy focus on accessible hygiene and health solutions for customer on production line that makes its difference. Thus, it will effect to product’s quality if Lifebuoy change to another supplier. Besides, the leak risk about the way to make product and the switching cost are high. Moreover, the supplier may produce and sale their own product directly to consumer and ignore Lifebuoy. | HighIf Wall change to another supplier, they will not sure about the quality of the new one. It will lead to losing customer if the quality is worst. In addition, risk and switching cost is high. Moreover, the supplier may produce and sale their own product directly to consumer and ignore Wall. | High In order to compete with Nestle and THP, Unilever has decided to use the tea leaf from Europe to produce the Lipton tea so they cannot change to other supplier. Risk and switching cost are high. Moreover, the supplier may produce tea and sale their own product directly to consumer and ignore Lipton. | Rivalry of existing competitor| MediumIt is different than other products in area by protect customer’s health with the low price. Besides, this area is potential, and its market growth rate is high at 85.03%. There are a lot of competitor which provide the same product of Lifebouy.| MediumAlthough Wall has some of direct competitor such as Kido and indirect competitor such as cafà © shop and ice cream specialty shops, this area is very potential because of the demand of customer is higher. Thus, Wall still has opportunities to win the market.| MediumLipton Tea has certain competitors in Vietnam such as Nestea and O Degree. On the other hand, the soft drink industry is reputation industry so Lipton still has a lot of opportunities to reach to customer.| Threats of new entrants| LowTo compete with Lifebuoy, it requires lots of things like finance, production, human resource and the distribution as well. Government barriers are high for products in soap area. Unilever can apply economic of scales to produce costs and create barriers for new firms. Without these of support above, it seems so hard to join the market and compete with Lifebuoy. | LowTo launch a new brand in this area, the company has to have finance, big distribution network, create new flavor and the reasonable price strategy to compete with Wall. High barriers from existing rivals: Wall’s, Kido are very famous and strong brands for a long time with a large of loyal customer. | LowIf a company wants to come and compete with Unilever in the Tea market, it requires of having the better flavor, better quality of tea-leaf and doing well p romotion like Unilever has done. Strong capital is required in investigate and manufacturing. Accessibility to distribution channels is low because it is hard to built good relationship with the consumers like 0 Degree tea and Lipton tea| Threats of substitutes| LowThe customer might use instant sanitizer gel instead of Lifebuoy but it is not very popular. | HighThere are some substitute products such as cocktail, yogurt or soft-drink with the same available and cost to Wall’s. | HighIn current scenario, the Lipton Tea has so many substitute products, such as the soft-drink from Pepsi, Coca-Cola, or even the energize water | 1.4 Carry out Unilever auditing and analysis of external factors that affecting the marketing planning in Vietnam Doing SWOT analysis on Unilever’s business is an essential step in the process of branding and marketing its product or service. It also helps the company come up with business strategies. Moreover, SWOT analyses help the company to identify and capitalize on strengths. In addition, it makes awareness and protects Unilever to avoid the threats. Strength: * Unilever has own a strong financial so they can expand the market in nearly 190 countries in the world. Besides, they also have 270 manufacturing sites worldwide (www.ukessays.com) that is how they can achieve economy of scale easily. It gives competitive advantage to company. * Unilever has own many famous brand name in fast moving consumer goods area such as: Surf, Dove, Ponds, Sunsilk, Knorr, Wall’s ice cream, P/S, Close up, etc (www.unilever.com.vn). All of these brand names known as multinational brands with affordable price and good quality. * Dynamic work environment, staff and intellectuals have responsibility for the company’s overall objective (www.unilever.com.vn). Besides, policies to attract talent of Unilever are effective so they can get more ideas for the company development. * Modern technology inherited from the global Unilever, delivered quickly and remarkably effective. Weakness: * Lack of direct connection with final consumers because of dependence on retailers and wholesalers. * There are some technology are not applied to Unilever Vietnam because of high cost. Besides, they have to import the machine from abroad so it is not take advantages of abundant labor resources and capacity in Vietnam. * As a company with European roots, promotional strategy of Unilever products is not suitable for Asian culture. * Unilever have a huge number of product brands (over 1600 brands) but 400 brands make up over 90% of Unilever’s total sales (www.zimbio.com) good. As a consequence, the ineffective brands make them money but not very profitable and become one of their weakness point Opportunities: * The domestic market (wholesale, retail, goods flow †¦) has a bigger change compared with several years ago. Besides, politics of Vietnam is considered stable so Unilever will get more opportunities to develop the business. * Vietnam has abundant and cheap human resources (http://www.goinglobal.com) so that the company can reduce the cost. * Vietnam is a country of religious freedom to the distribution; promotional products are not subject to more stringent constraints than many other Asian countries. * Vietnam has a young population structure and popular model extended family. Moreover, the fast moving consumer goods market is the potential market in Vietnam so it will bring Unilever high market growth to develop. Threat: * Unilever has many strong competitors such as: Nestle, P&G, etc. These competitors have their own famous brand name with big market shares, huge product line and millions of customers. * There are a lot of substitutes product in fast moving consumer’s goods markets today is a big threat of company. * Commercial law also has many disadvantages for foreign investors, especially tariff policy and high taxes levied on goods considered â€Å"luxury†. * In the context of supply is bigger than demand, many new companies invest on the market and fierce competition with Unilever. . 2.1, 2.2 Assess the main barrier in marketing planning and how Unilever may overcome * Confusing marketing tactics and strategy: In fact, ‘tactics and strategy’ is two word that easily make people confuse about them, even some managers in big company, who face with them every day without meaning to, may be Unilever’s managers have the same problem. Because the content of them is abundant, thus sometimes strategies and tactics are discussed as they are the same. The common reasons that people are usually confused, firstly managers may make mistake about the purpose of using of them, such as they are confused between the long-term and short-term of tactics and strategy when they make plans. Finally, sometimes they may even think they are still able to get their targets if miss one of them. Solution: The manager of Unilever must make sure that they understand clearly about tactics and strategies. For example, in usually strategy is term use for long-term plans (3 – 5 years plans), and tactics is short-term plans (1-2 years plans). Besides that, they must ensure that they can able to make good strategies and tactics to achieve the target of company. To create a good tactic, they have to answer the question â€Å"how†: How are you going to get the job done? Who is going to do it? When? To make a good strategy they must answer the â€Å"what†: â€Å". (And sometimes the â€Å"what not†.) What exactly needs to be done? Moreover, they should communicate the importance of making strategies and tactics to employees, from that employee can have a clear understanding, then they can provide right information or their idea to make best strategies and tactics together to develop Unilever. * Confusing marketing ‘function’ with ‘concept’: In this barrier, it arise when a firm attempts to introduce a marketing orientation but thinks this can be done simply by creating a marketing department. For Unilever, to achieve satisfaction of customers, the company needs to do some changes of their mode of operation. In addition, there are some general misunderstandings about what marketing really is. Without a corporate driving force centre on customer satisfaction, arguments about where to put marketing are of course pointless. Even when top management of Unilever is joined a realization of the need to take account of the customer, they also take mistake about this. So they usually receive complaints from customers and the company needs to give them a reasonable explains. Solution: To bring the real value to customer, quality must be available in all process. For example, Knorr has advertises that not reflect the product quality so either product quality improvement or they lose their customer. * Lack of Knowledge and Skills: For a company that enters to new market, this barrier is very common. For perennial problems, they have always focused around customer behavior and market segmentation. So this may be difficult concepts to grasp even at the cognitive level. For Unilever, knowledge and skills are very important. The company needs to train a good staffs who can enough knowled ge and skills to meet all demands of customers. Because without an understanding of at least some of the basic tools of marketing, the chance of coming up with strategies based on sustainable competitive advantage for Unilever is small. Solution: To overcome this barrier, Unilever has to ensure all those responsible for marketing in the organisation have the necessary marketing knowledge and skills for the job. In particular, ensure they understand and know how to use the more importance tools of marketing effectively. * Lack of a systematic approach: At times lack of data or information and inappropriate systems may greatly impede marketing plans. For instance, lack of a market survey forces the marketing team to rely on guesswork to determine the best marketing approach for the targeted market. Solution: Before decided to do advertise, Unilever should research information about the culture, behavior or customer needs to make sure that the advertisement is appropriate for each market segment. CONCLUSION Through the analysis of this report, Unilever can have a clear overview about Vietnam market, then analyzing external factors or barriers that affect marketing planning. Based on that, Unilever can identify capability and have solutions for planning its future market activity to make their business more and more developed and become the winner in Vietnam market. REFERENCES 1. â€Å"Capacity management† (2013). [Online] Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia. Available at . [Retrieved 13.8.2013] 2. â€Å"Capacity Planning† (2010). [Online] Slide share present yourself. Available at . [Retrieved 12.8.2013] 3. â€Å"Differences Between Marketing Orientation & Production Orientation†. N.d [Online] Small business. Available at . [Retrieved 12.8.2013] 4. ‘’Growth-share matrix’’ (2013). [Online] Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia. Available at .[Retrieved 14.8.2013] 5. Kalsoom, K (2013) â€Å"SWOT analysis for Unilever†. [Online] Blog spot. Available at . [Retrieved 16.08.2013] 6. Lynch, Richard (2009). [Book] Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 97, Pearson Education. [Retrieved 14.8.2013] 7. McLaughlin, J â€Å"Production Orientation: Definition, Examples & Quiz†. N.d [Online] Education Portal. Available at < http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/production-orientation-definition-examples-quiz.html>. [Retrieved 12.8.2013] 8. â€Å"Power of suppliers analysis†.N.d [ Online] Oxbridge writers. Available at . [Retrieved 15.8.2013] 9. â€Å"Strategy capacity for planning†.N.d [Online] Operation management. Available at . [Retrieved 13.8.2013] 10. â€Å"The BCG Matrix/ma trá º ­n quá º £n là ½ há º ¡ng má » ¥c kinh doanh cá » §a Boston Consulting Group† (2008). [Online] Cyvee connecting professional. Available at . [Retrieved 14.8.2013] 11. N Nayab â€Å"Isolation of marketing function†(2011). Bright hub. [Online] Available at

International Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Company Valuation Model and Application On Royal Bank of Scotland Plc Essay

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The importance of addressing corrections to a group of students Essay

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Organisational Performance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Organisational Performance - Assignment Example Competitors, business managers, academicians, researchers and other observers constantly kept on asking the same question that what is the secret being Toyota’s impeccable success? The fact is that consistency and quality in Toyota’s vehicles, which also make it as the most trusted and reliable vehicle all over the world, is a direct result of the operational excellence that the company has achieved in the past few decades. In fact, Toyota has intelligently converted that operational excellence into their strategic weapon to outclass the competitors (Liker and Franz, 2011, p. 510).   Partly, this operational excellence is a result of frameworks, tools and approaches that it introduced in the manufacturing world, such as Kaizen, just-in-time manufacturing, once piece flow, Jidoka, Heijunka and others. These techniques also ended up providing Toyota a unique lean manufacturing system, which is discussed latter in the paper. Important here to understand is that mere appl ication of these frameworks and techniques is not what makes Toyota great but it is its continued success at employing these principles is what makes the difference. Toyota has indeed made them a part of its business philosophy, which also places great deal of importance on understanding their workers and their motivational dynamics (Simons, 2011, pp. 390-392).   This paper will briefly explore the strategies that Toyota employed to achieve this operational excellence. Many observers have cited this as the â€Å"The Toyota Way†.   ... s that mere application of these frameworks and techniques is not what makes Toyota great but it is its continued success at employing these principles is what makes the difference. Toyota has indeed made them a part of its business philosophy, which also places great deal of importance on understanding their workers and their motivational dynamics (Simons, 2011, pp. 390-392). This paper will briefly explore the strategies that Toyota employed to achieve this operational excellence. Many observers have cited this as the â€Å"The Toyota Way† or the â€Å"Toyota Production System† which would be the focal point of the paper. Discussion Much of the success that Ford and General Motors enjoyed in the US market during the early 1920s until the late 1950s was primarily because of their ability to use mass production system and leverage the economies of scale by producing as much as possible. On the other hand, Toyota emerged in the small Japanese market after the Second Worl d War where it could not employ the small techniques (Magee, 2008, p. 545; Shingo, et al., 1989, pp. 20-21). Instead, in order to satisfy the customer and their demands, the organisation had to be more flexible by creating the different automotives on the same production lines. This is where Toyota learned and made it its core flexibility to keep lead times shorter and be as flexible as possible. Furthermore, by watching the American counterparts and their mass production systems closely, Toyota realized that the system has the inherent disadvantage of providing too much waste, extra inventory and early wear and tear of the machines, all of which lead to greater costs and lesser efficiency (Vidler, 2001, pp. 226-228; May and Roberts, 2011, 52-53). When Toyota started penetrating into the American market,

Preferential Liberalization to Trade in Services Research Proposal

Preferential Liberalization to Trade in Services - Research Proposal Example On the hand, the broad possibilities of trade make it easy on the multilateral trade facilitation basing on clarification on the eradication and omitting of the measures which enhance trade facilitation activities. Hence, the economic outlook on the binding norms and standards on important impediments to trade facilitation ended rising to (Mattoo 2002) different question on the border procedures making it hard and challenging. Additionally, the various moves to ease unnecessary costs of the applied rules and regulation of trade facilitation on tariffs. According to the report conducted to encroach on the crucial matters such as health food safety thus, public are created awareness of health and environmental changes towards risks brought by trade facilitation. On the other front, tariffs are regarded as a substitute for border measures that are quantitative limitations on other instruments that are aimed to economic implication on trade. Tariffs are viewed to keep on incurring extra costs, therefore, inhibiting cross-border trade in the course of duplicative and multiplication requirements whereby duplication necessary does not have common results liked the other standards rather they become national laws if enacted. Thus, the varieties of national regulatory prerequisite are in compliance with duplication (Maur 2011). According to researcher Sengupta 2008, he depicted trade facilitation as preferably deal which leads to certain transaction costs and hurling services thus economic transportation cost is reduced due to a steady and fast growth of technology that spends on transportation infrastructure and the cost sustained have been lowered. While in trade facilitation technology advancement has lead to merchandise trade in their value of goods reducing the revenue in early years.  

Writing Assigment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Writing Assigment - Essay Example In fact, it can be considered to be one of the most controversial topics with regard to law in a civilized society. The United States along with many countries in Asia still have laws that can sentence a person to death unlike most European nations, where this practice has been abolished. Even within country, not all states adhere to this law. Sixteen states in the country including the District of Columbia have removed death penalty as a form of punishment, but all other states still consider it lawful. In other words, a majority of the states still follow this form of punishment. This practice was accepted in the country during the time of colonization from laws that existed in the host countries of the colonizers. They then became accepted or rejected among the different states as mentioned above. There are strong proponents and dissidents with regard to capital punishment. These attitudes could be based on religious beliefs, social customs, or their personal viewpoints. Those who are for capital punishment put forth the following arguments as justification. Their primary reason is that members of the society have to be protected from criminals who commit more serious crimes like murder and capital crimes. It is the duty of the government to protect its citizens and that by providing death penalty; a capital crime will not be committed by the same person again. Their second reason is that this form of punishment will act as a warning and deterrent to other people with criminal tendencies. A death penalty risk will act as a strong deterrent and can help to prevent similar acts by other members of the society. The third argument is that the relatives and loved ones of the victims are entitled to retribution. If someone has murdered a member of the family, then the members can o nly obtain justice, if the murderer is treated in the same manner. There are strong arguments against death penalty from various

Life in Navy Boot Camp Essay Example for Free

Life in Navy Boot Camp Essay It was a warm summer evening as I packed for Navy Boot Camp. I carefully went down the list of things I could take and ensured I didn’t have anything else. A little nervous I went to talk to my parents about my move to becoming my own man. I looked at their faces and could tell that although they were proud they were a little nervous about their only son leaving home for the first time. My mom tried to smile but she was proud yet nervous because I had always been her little guy so she was having a hard time letting go. After a short conversation with my parents I decided to try and rest for the long journey ahead. Its now 5 o’clock in the morning and I’m up to shower and get ready for the trip, I didn’t sleep very much because I was so nervous. I showed and got ready for the trip to the Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) for my final swearing in. My first trip included my initial processing and medical screening and now it was time to put all that into action. As my parent drove me to the station the car was very quiet. As we pulled up my parents got out and hugged me and wish me well. I walked in and looked back at them and it was like the cord was being cut between us, now it was time for me to make them proud and show them what I’d learned from them. The officer swore us in and we all boarded the bus starring out the window like lost kids. Hours later we arrived at Boot Camp in Great Lakes, Michigan. As we pulled up Company Commanders ran out yelling and screaming at us to put all our stuff in one hand and line up on the footprints. My heart was beating super fast and I was like what have I done. We marched into this room where they asked us to take out all our stuff, they went through it and told us what we could keep and what had to be sent home. After feeding us, they took everyone to the barber shop and shaved all our heads. They then issued us our initial uniforms and began indoctrination. After marching back to our dorms, we were told how the bed should be made, stenciled all our gear, showered and went to bed. The first night I can honestly say I missed my folks and at one point wanted to cry but I pushed on. I knew I had to do this for me and them, I had to show myself first and them second that I had what it took to make it. Day two and forward we woke up at 4 am with yelling and screaming that we had 15 minutes to shower, shave and get in line for physical training and breakfast. Everything was 15 to 20 minutes including eating; you learn to eat real quickly. Training was tough but as the weeks went on it got easier. Then around week 4 we had to swim, I was never a strong swimmer so I was nervous but I made it through. Around week five it seemed they got a little easier and then explained that the toughness was to help us rely on each other and build the necessary teamwork within us all. As time went on we had learned the entire Chain of Command, proper Navy rules and how to properly wear all the uniforms and the seasonal changes for whites and blues. As the 8th week came we got ready for graduation. Everyone was ready to show their parents how much they had grown up in the last two months. Part of growing up was proper grooming, making our beds and being responsible and accountable for each other. Some of the guys in my company sat around the night before talking about some of the hard times in boot camp. I talked about the hard part for me was the fire fighting training and taking off that gas mask, my eyes burned so bad and I coughed like I was going to die. We laughed so hard about that and having to jump off that diving board that seems like it was 100 stories tall. So now its graduation day and I’m so excited to see my parents and so they can see how I’ve turned from their little boy to this young man. We march out on the field and the guide yells â€Å"eyes right† and I look over and see my parents. My mom was crying as usual and my dad had the biggest smile on his face, it was a time I will always remember. Their little guy was finally a man.

Prehistoric Medicine Essay Example for Free

Prehistoric Medicine Essay They used herbalism; the practise of using herbs to heal people. In each tribe there were shamans who would ‘exorcise ill people’ demons’ and apothecary. They had medicine men who were shamans and witch-doctors. They would provide supernatural treatments like charms, spells and amulets to ward off evil spirits. If someone was ill the medicine man would initiate a ceremony over the patient where they would use magic formulas prayers and drumming. People thought that the medicine men could contact the spirits or Gods so people looked up to them. They used healing clays to heal their internal and external wounds and just after surgery. Prehistoric people also used trepanning mainly in Peru. This was when they would drill a hole in a person’s skull to relieve pressure. It was mainly done as an emergency operation after a head wound to remove shattered bits of bone. They believed it would treat epileptic seizures, migraines and mental disorders. They would keep the bit of skull around their neck as they thought it would ward off evil spirits. Nowadays people use a modernised trephine instrument in a corneal transplant surgery. Early medicine for Greeks and Romans: Hippocrates: Born 470 BCE ‘Father of Modern Medicine’ He had a theory of the 4 humours. He thought that the human body contained 4 important liquids called humours. They thought if the humours became unbalanced then people would become ill. The 4 humours were black bile, yellow bile blood and phlegm. His theory was wrong but it was a breakthrough in medicine because it made people think that illness was caused by something natural inside your body instead of the Greek Gods. Quote from a book in the Hippocratic Collection of books: ‘Man’s body†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦has blood, phlegm, yellow bile and melancholy (black) bile. These make up his parts and through them he feels illness or enjoys health. When all these elements are truly balanced and mingled, he feels the most perfect health. Illness occurs when one of these humours is in excess or is lessened in amount or is entirely thrown out of the body.’ Hippocrates invented the Hippocratic Oath which was taken by all physicians; this is still in use today. Herophilus: He was the 1st anatomist. He introduced the experimental method to science. He discovered that the brain controls how the body works, not the heart by dissecting human bodies. He also identified parts of the stomach. He did a lot of work on nerves. Claudius Galen: He was the Roman Emperor’s doctor. Galen’s work was based on the Hippocratic Collection. He was one of the Great surgeons of the ancient world. He added his own theory to the 4 humours theory. He developed a theory called the ‘treatment of opposites’. So if an illness was caused by heat he would cool them down and vice versa. Galen also emphasized the importance of clinical observation and would take detailed notes on his examination of his patients. He was one of the 1st physicians who used experiments in his medical investigation. Through that he proved that urine was formed in the kidney as opposed to the bladder. His most important discovery was that the arteries carried blood but he never discovered circulation.

What Stimulates Entrepreneurship In Large Organizations Commerce Essay

What Stimulates Entrepreneurship In Large Organizations Commerce Essay This paper discusses how large organizations deal with entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurship Is often associated with small firms. These small firms are more flexible, they dont have problems with bureaucratic structures and as a consequence they are more speedy in coming up with new inventions. On the other hand, Peter Drucker (innovation and entrepeneurship) states that entrepreneurship is based upon the same principles, whether the entrepreneur is an existing large institution or an individual starting its own venture. So the nature of entrepreneurship is the same in both cases. To succeed in todays unpredictable world, companies large and small must be agile and able to respond quickly to fast-moving markets (Taylor 2001). In this case we will focus on the large companies who have to encounter a lot of problems if they want to implement corporate entrepreneurship. In the first part, we do a literature review concerning corporate entrepreneurship. Here we will look for constraints of and solutions to corporate entrepreneurship. In the second part we combine theory with practice. Through in depth interviews I would like to learn how a large organization (Barco) manages corporate entrepreneurship, what problems they have and if they get result from their actions. ( A big ship isnt easy to turn). I will do this by following a structure based on the framework of Morris (1998). This framework includes the following aspects: systems, structure, strategic direction, policies, people and culture. For every aspect I would like to have an interview with a responsible to get insight on how Barco applies corporate entrepreneurship. By considering every aspect I want to learn which methods Barco applies and which it doesnt apply and why this is the case. Taylor Bernard (2001), From corporate governance to corporate entrepreneurship, Journal of Change Management, 2:2, 128-147 Literature Review Definition: What is corporate entrepreneurship? Definitions of corporate entrepreneurship vary a lot. Some authors speak of intrapreneurship (Gifford Pinchot, 1985), others form corporate venturing (Chesbrough, 2002). von Hippel (1977) defines corporate venturing as an activity that aims at creating new businesses for the corporation through the development of external or internal corporate venture. Corporate entrepreneurship is a term used to describe entrepreneurial behavior inside established organizations (Guth Gingsberg, 1990). Damanpour (1991) states that at a basic level corporate entrepreneurship involves the generation, development and implementation of new ideas and behaviors by a company. Zahra (1991) argues that corporate entrepreneurship can have formal and informal activities aimed at creating new businesses inside of established companies through product and process innovations and market developments. From all the definitions we may conclude that there is no real consensus of what corporate entrepreneurship exactly is. Maybe a definition is to narrow to describe the whole process of corporate entrepreneurship. Corporate entrepreneurship is not an exact science and every firm adapts it in other ways. This is why we may not see this definitions in a strict way. Therefore we will look at corporate entrepreneurship as a system-wide activity undertaken within the context of existing firms. Pinchot, Gifford III, Intrapreneuring: Why You Dont Have to Leave the Corporation to Become an Entrepreneur (1985). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigns Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Historical Research Reference in Entrepreneurship. Chesbrough, H.W. (2002) Making Sense of Corporate Venture Capital, Harvard Business Review, March von Hippel, E. (1977). The sources of innovation. New York: Oxford University Press. Guth, W. D., Ginsberg, A. (1990). Guest editors introduction: Corporate entrepreneurship. Strategic Management Journal, (Summer),11, 5-15. Damanpour, F. 1991, Organizational Innovation: A Meta-Analysis of Determinants and Moderators, Personnel ( September): 28-36 Zahra, S. (1991). Predictors and financial outcomes of corporate entrepreneurship: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Venturing, (July),6, 259-285 Motivation: Why engage in corporate entrepreneurship? Today firms are struggling to reinvent themselves and find ways how they could survive. For some companies its already too late but for others corporate entrepreneurship may be the key to survive. The way of doing business has tremendously changed in the 21st century. Today companies must survive in a fast changing global environment where uncertainty is higher than ever. Firm nowadays need to become flexible and adaptive. One way by doing this is by stimulating entrepreneurship within the organization. Authors argue that entrepreneurship becomes key in the sustainability of large firms ( Baumol, 1996; Audretsch Thurik, 2001). The dynamic that drives real competitive advantage is entrepreneurship and innovation. Previous research also supported a positive relationship between intrapreneurship and growth, profitability, or both ( Covin and Slevin, 1986) for large firms in general, as well as for small firm performance in hostile environments ( Covin and Slevin, 1989) Other reasons for stimulating entrepreneurship are that you take advantage of the in-house genius ( Adams 1996 ) and that you can exploit new market opportunities ( Eggers 1999 ) Baumol, W.J. (1996), Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive, Journal of Business Venturing, 11(1), 3-22 Audretsch, D. B., Thurik, A. R. (2001), Whats new about the new economy? From the managed to the entrepreneurial economy , Industrial and Corporate Change, 10(1), 267-315 Covin, J.G., and Slevin, D.P. (1986), The development and testing of an organizational-level entrepreneurship scale , In R. Ronstadt et al., eds., Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research. Wellesley, MA: Babson College. Covin, J.G., and Slevin, D.P. (1989), Strategic management of small firms in hostile and benign environments, Strategic Management Journal 10(January):75-87. Adams, R. V. (1996). Inspiring innovation. International Business, 9, 56-58. Eggers, J. H. (1999). Developing entrepreneurial growth. Ivey Business Journal, (May),63, 76-81. Obstacles for corporate entrepreneurship A lot of large companies started to see the importance of corporate entrepreneurship. These companies were mostly used to work in old bureaucratic ways with a lot of control and hierarchical structures. Nowadays these companies realize that they have to change into entrepreneurial entities. The change from corporate governance to corporate entrepreneurship could be seen as a large problem because it has to deal with all the organizational aspects. To bring in corporate entrepreneurship in an organization everything has to be right. There are a lot of obstacles for corporate entrepreneurship. Given the large number of potential constraints, it is helpful to identify general categories into which they can be grouped. Morris ( 1998) captured obstacles and divided them in six groups: culture, strategic direction, structure, systems, policies and people. This way of structuring seems interesting because we can then think of solutions in a planned way. By considering every aspect we are more focused and keep an overview of different processes who often work together. In this paper I will use and extend the framework of Morris to handle most constraints of corporate entrepreneurship and look how a large company applied solutions to these problems. Let us look at each of the categories in more detail. CULTURE Cornwall and Perlman (1990) define culture as an organizations basic beliefs and assumptions about what the company is about, how it members behave, and how it defines itself in relation to its external environment. Many authors have identified the critical role that corporate culture plays in the organizational process (e.g. Deal Kennedy, 1982; Martin 1992; Sackmann 1992). Cornwall and Perlman (1990) have written that culture is a key determinant of, and the first step in fostering, entrepreneurial activity within an organization. For instance, Sonys success in product innovation has been largely attributed to the success with which the company has inculcated its Sony Spirit in employees (Quinn, 1985). Although setting up a culture may not be that straightforward. Firstly, a culture that is risk averse, or very process driven, is almost by definition discouraging employees from being entrepreneurial. ( Morris, Kuratko Covin, 2011). Kriegesmann et al. (2005) have noted a tendency within companies to develop zero error cultures as competitive strive to meet high performance standards in a hypercompetitive marketplace. Managers therefore wrongly believe that zero errors are proof of high performance standards. Secondly, companies often cant make clear what they stand for, or do not achieve a consensus over value priorities (Morris, 1998). To stimulate entrepreneurship there should be a clear focus on what the company is about. The elements of a culture should be in line with the vision, mission and strategies of an organization. Thirdly, culture itself is very complex and cannot be easily changed. For example, a non-innovative firm could bring in an extremely entrepreneurial CEO, and it could take seven to ten years (or more) to realize a substantial cultural change (Morris, Kuratko Covin, 2011). Fourthly, The culture itself may be too strong or too commanding. In this manner, homogeneity is stimulated and people are not allowed to think outside the cultural box. This can lead to stagnation and a reduced ability to adapt changes in the environment (Cloke and Goldsmith, 2002). As corporate entrepreneurship asks for change and diversity, a culture that is too imposing could be tremendous for corporate entrepeneurship. Lastly, individualism-collectivism would also appear to be an important dimension of organizational culture (Morris, Davis Allen, 1994). A culture that focuses too much on individualism or collectivism may not be encouraging for corporate entrepreneurship. The result will be modest levels of entrepreneurship (Morris, Davis Allen, 1994). A high individualistic culture may produce strong incentives for entrepreneurial behavior, but will also result in gamesmanship, zero-sum competition, sequestering of information, and the chaotic pursuit of tangential projects having little fit with the organizations competencies or overall direction. (Maidique 1980; Quinn 1985; Reich 1987; Rosenbaum et al. 1980; Steele 1983). Furthermore, individuals will more likely use organizational resources to satisfy self-interests and many tasks will be left incomplete as individuals are unable to obtain cooperation from those have the expertise. (Morris, Davis Allen, 1994). On the other extreme, a strongly collectivist atmosphere may actually give rise to an anti-entrepreneurial bias. Companies therefore may suffer from free-riding or social loafing syndromes. (Earley 1989; Jones 1984; Albanese and Van Fleet 1985). The way in which a firm sets up a good corporate culture and handles the above problems will be determining for the firms entrepreneurial success, as culture gives people direction and keeps the whole organization together. Morris, M. H. 1998. Entrepreneurial Intensity ( Westport, CT: Quorum Books) Deal, T., Kennedy, A. (1982), Corporate cultures. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Martin, J. (1992). Cultures in organizations: Three perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sackmann, S. (1992), Culture and subcultures. An analysis of organizational knowledge. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 140-161 Cornwall, J. and Perlman, B. (1990) Organisational Entrepreneurship, Homewood, ///.: Irwin. Macmillan. Quinn, J.B. (1985). Managing innovation: Controlled chaos. Harvard Business Review, 73-84 Cloke, K. et al., 2002. The end of management and the rise of organizational democracy, Jossey-Bass. Michael H. Morris, Duane L. Davis, Jeffrey W. Allen (1994), Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship  : Cross-Cultural Comparisons of the Importance of Individualism versus Collectivism, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol.25, pp. 65-89 Earley, P. Christopher, (1989). Social loafing and collectivism: A comparison of the United States and the Peoples Republic of China, Administrative Science Quarterly, 34: 565-81 Jones, Gareth, (1984) Task visibility, free riding, and shirking: Explaining the effect of structure and technology on employee behavior. Academy of Management Review, 9: 684-95 Albanese, Robert David D. Van Fleet. (1985), Rational behavior in groups: The free-riding tendency, Academy of Management Review, 10: 244-55. Kriegesmann, B., Kley, T., and Schwering, M. (2005), Creative errors and Heroic Failures: Capturing Their Innovative Potential, Journal of Business Strategy, 26(3): 57-64 STRATEGIC DIRECTION Michael Porter (1996) draws a critical distinction between strategy and operational effectiveness, arguing that managers are increasingly preoccupied with the latter and ignorant of the former. As operational effectiveness could be effective in the short run, it fails in the long run. Therefore, firms need to find strategies for long run survival. Firms that want to engage in successful corporate entrepreneurship need to have an entrepreneurial orientation. Entrepreneurial orientation refers to the strategy-making practices that businesses use to identify and launch corporate ventures (Dess and Lumpkin, 2005). In the absence of an entrepreneurial orientation, the goal of corporate entrepreneurship may not be reached. Furthermore, entrepreneurship in a firm may not be achieved if there is no meaningful direction from the top. This requires good leaders with a clear vision and commitment to entrepreneurship. Instead, top management is often more cautious with new opportunities. This could be a major problem because with no top management support, nobody will feel to engage in entrepreneurial activity and take risks. Hence, middle-and lower-level employees are strongly influenced by the role models found at the top of the firm. In the absence of specific goals for product and process innovation and a strategy for accomplishing such goals, entrepreneurship will only result accidentally or by chance (Morris, Kuratko Covin, 2011). Besides that, firms could also have problems to define a strategy that encounters both exploration and exploitation. As exploration and exploitation are often two opposing forces, the strategy of a firm needs to find a balance between these two. This mental balancing act can be one of the toughest of all managerial challenges -it requires executives to explore new opportunities while working on exploiting existing capabilities (OReilly Tushman, 2004). A final note is that strategy formulation itself is not enough. The actual execution of a strategy is as important as the strategy itself. Implementing the strategy requires adequate structures, systems, procedures and human resource practices. Gregory G. Dess, G.T. Lumpkin (2005), The role of Entrepreneurial Orientation in Stimulating Effective Corporate Entrepreneurship. OReilly C. Tushman M., (2004), The ambidextrous organization, Harvard Business Review, 74-81. Porter, M.E. (1996), What is Strategy?, Harvard Business Review, 74(6): 61-78. STRUCTURE Structure typically depends on a number of factors such as the nature, the size, the strategies and environmental conditions of a firm (Burns, 2005). Although there is no one best structure, it is generally argued that a companys structure follows from the strategy. If entrepreneurship and innovation are integral part of the companys strategy, then inconsistencies with certain general types of structure can be problematic. Morris, Kuratko Covin (2011) state that a hierarchical structure is a typical problem in large organizations. A hierarchical structure seems to be problematic because this reduces the ability to identify market opportunities and to take risk. Entrepreneurship suffers the farther away decision making becomes from everyday operations. Other entrepreneurial barriers within a hierarchical structure are top-down management and restrictive communication channels. In contrast, as an organic structure may be more preferred to stimulate corporate entrepreneurship (e.g. Morris and Kuratko, 2002) , organic structures may also have some pitfalls. For instance, if teams almost work autonomously, this can result in anarchy. Additionally, there is a tendency to continually narrow the span of control of managers over subordinates. The result is over-supervised employees with little room for creativity. To finish, structures that give responsibility for entrepreneurial activities to managers without delegating a certain amount of authority also constraints corporate entrepreneurship as managers will feel frustrated. Therefore, some hierarchy, that gives managers some authority could be desired. Burns P., (2005), Corporate Entrepreneurship: Building an Entrepreneurial Organisation, Palgrave Macmillan Morris, H.M. and Kuratko, D.F. (2002), Corporate Entrepreneurship, Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers. SYSTEMS Large organizations typically depend on a number of formal managerial systems that have evolved over the years. These systems were needed to coordinate the increasingly complex corporate environment and were focused on stability, order and coordination. Within this focus, entrepreneurship is discouraged (Morris, Kuratko Covin, 2011). The question here arises in what way the old systems are obsolete for corporate entrepreneurship. As corporate entrepreneurship requires other systems, companies are forced to try new things. In what way could the old system be used and in what way are new systems required? For example, how do companies use control, budgeting and planning systems that foster innovation and entrepreneurship? Control systems have historically placed a heavy emphasis on efficiency, sometimes ignoring or even undermining effectiveness (Morris, Schindehutte Allen, 2006). Probably, control systems may be too strict for corporate entrepreneurship. Budgeting systems provide no flexibility for the funding of experimental projects and tend to reward the politically powerful. Planning systems are often too harsh and become prescribed, they focus on the planning document rather than the planning process, and often use professional planners instead of relying on the people who really are involved (Morris, Kuratko Covin, 2011). Lastly, these systems could be supported by new technologies. The way in which firms use information and communication technologies could help them achieve a better environment for corporate entrepreneurship. If information systems are absent or deficient, innovation could be slower. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES First of all, it should be clear that policies and procedures are a smaller part of the larger control system. Policies and procedures are in fact the underlying elements of how control systems work. For example, inflexible policies and strict procedures will result in rigid control systems, which, as I have discussed, are tremendous for entrepreneurial activity. The procedures that people have to follow when they want to introduce new entrepreneurial activity may be too strict. Two of the most costly side-effects of detailed operating policies are complex approval cycles for new ventures and detailed documentation requirements (Morris, Kuratko Covin, 2011). This could be seen as red tape for entrepreneurial activity. If procedures are very complex, people are blocked and give up their ideas. Nevertheless, some procedures are definitely required for making decisions about which project may be initiated and which may not. The fact is that those procedures are often too severe. For example procedures often impose unrealistic timetables and performance benchmarks on entrepreneurial programs (Morris, Kuratko Covin, 2011). They way in which firms can overcome these strict policies and procedures will lead to better corporate entrepreneurship. PEOPLE Al of the entrepreneurial activity depends on the people, it are the people who have to do it. The treatment of people is done by human resource management. Human resource management is responsible for the recruitment, training, motivation, evaluation and rewarding of people. When a firm engages in corporate entrepreneurship, human resources also need to apply new methods. The main problem with people is that they have a natural tendency to resist change. This is a big problem as entrepreneurship requires a lot of change. How does HR helps to change people minds in the direction of corporate entrepreneurship? What problems do they face? Next to that, people are afraid of failure. It is important for HR to see failure as a process of learning. The way in which HR treats failure may therefore be important for the entrepreneurial people. Another people-related aspect is the lack of skills and talent in the entrepreneurial area. Therefore recruitment and training of qualified people may be very important. A different aspect of corporate entrepreneurship is that people should have some freedom in their work. For example 3M was the first company that introduced organizational slack as a key factor for corporate entrepreneurship, enabling their engineers and scientists to spend 15% of their time on projects of their own design. As a result of this many inventions came out of 3M (e.g., Post it Notes and Scotch Tape). CASE Google. How do other companies do this? Do they also give some time to work on own projects or do they use other methods? How does HR deal with autonomy of their people. Autonomy is necessary for people to work on entrepreneurship. But what is a good autonomy. Shouldnt there be some control? Furthermore, corporate entrepreneurship often requires to work in teams. How does HR helps to form decent teams? How do they encounter the problem of free-riding? One more aspect of HR is that they are responsible for rewarding people. How does HR give bonuses for new entrepreneurial activity. Especially the rewarding of teams may not be that easy. Breaking through the obstacles The way in which an organization can deal with the above obstacles will be determining for their entrepreneurial success. In this section we will look at research that offers solutions to overcome the problems and constraints of corporate entrepreneurship. CULTURE In this section we will look at the literature concerning solutions to set up a decent culture that stimulates entrepreneurship within a firm. First of all, an entrepreneurial culture should have some basic values concerning entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship therefore requires a culture built around risk, innovation, emotional commitment, autonomy, and empowerment, among others (Cornwall and Perlman 1990; Peters 1987; Pinchot 1985; Waterman 1987). It is important that a culture is open for risk-taking and sees failure as an opportunity to learn from. In that way, culture can help to overcome peoples natural tendency to fear failure. For example Nokias culture states that you are allowed to have a bit of fun, to think unlike the norm, where you are allowed to make a mistake (Leavy, 2005, p. 39). In the factories of BMW there is a flop of the month award, given by the senior executive for successful failures (Kriegesmann et al., 2005). Here it is recognized that failure is needed to innovate and learn. Next, a culture needs a clear vision about what the company stands for. It is here that leadership comes into place. It is difficult to build a culture without someone having a vision about the future. According to Covin Slevin (1991), top management values and philosophies are essential variables of firm-level entrepreneurship. There should be a clear voice from top management that gives direction towards an entrepreneurial culture. Moreover, vision, mission and strategy should be aligned. For example, you cant have an entrepreneurial vision when your strategy is imitating competitors. As a final point, the culture should find a good balance between individualism and collectivism. Corporate executives must recognize and proactively manage this dimension of culture. The highest levels of entrepreneurship will occur when a fairly balanced amount of consideration is given to the needs of the individual and the collective (Morris, Davis Allen, 1994). Individuals are needed to provide the vision, commitment, and internal salesmanship because otherwise nothing would be accomplished. But as the process unfolds, the entrepreneur requires teams of people with unique skills and resources. Cornwall, Jeffrey T. Baron Perlman, (1990), Organizational entrepreneurship. Homewood, ///.: Irwin. Peters, Thomas. (1987), Thriving on chaos, New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Pinchot, Gifford, ///. (1985), Intrepreneuring, New York: Harper and Row. Waterman, Robert H, (1987), The renewal factor: How the best get and keep the competitive edge, New York, Bantam Books. Leavy, B. (2005), A Leaders Guide to Creating an Innovation Culture, Strategy Leadership, 33(4): 38-45. Jeffrey G. Covin, Dennis P. Slevin (1991), A Conceptual Model of Entrepreneurship as Firm Behavior, Baylor University STRATEGIC DIRECTION Many fast-growing young corporations attribute much of their success to an entrepreneurial orientation. By illustration, 3M is a good example of how a corporate strategy can induce internal venture development. Every aspect of 3Ms management approach is aimed at new venture creation and 3Ms policies create a climate of innovation and entrepreneurial development. (Dess and Lumpkin, 2005). Dess and Lumpkin (2005) emphasize the role of entrepreneurial orientation towards successful corporate entrepreneurship. The dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation include autonomy, innovativeness, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness and risk-taking. Moreover, Geller (1980) argued that a risk-taking, highly venturesome, and innovative top management style is appropriate in invest/grow situations. In a study of Barringer and Bluedorn (1999) a positive relationship was found between corporate entrepreneurship intensity and scanning intensity, planning flexibility, locus of planning, and strategic controls. These are all part of the strategic management practices. Environmental scanning refers to the managerial activity of learning about events and trends in the organizations environment (Hambrick, 1981). Planning flexibility refers to the capacity of a firms strategic plan to change as environmental opportunities/threats emerge. Flexible planning systems allow firms to adjust their strategic plans quickly to pursue opportunities and keep up with environmental change (Stevenson and Jarrillo-Mossi, 1986). The term locus of planning refers to the depth of employee involvement in a firms strategic planning activities. A deep locus of planning involves a high degree of employees from all hierarchical levels in the planning process (Barringer and Bluedorn, 1999). Strategic controls base performance on stragically relevant criteria, contrasting to objective financial information (Gupta, 1987; Hoskisson and Hitt, 1988). Examples of strategic control measures include customer satisfaction criteria, new patent registrations, quality control, etc. Next, the challenge to balance exploitation and exploration could be seen as a major task for the top management. The companys leaders must decide if they should house mainstream and newstream activities in physically separate units within the organization (spatial separation approach) or if major innovative activity should be periodically performed within mainstream units (temporal separation approach) (Baden-Fuller and Volberda, 1997). According to Morris, Kuratko and Covin (2011) organizational ambidexterity is encouraged when top-level managers assume direct responsibility for both mainstream and newstream. By placing themselves in roles where they directly interact with both the exploitation-focused and exploration-focused sides of their organizations, top managers can more effectively balance the resource commitments needed to achieve current and future competitiveness. Finally, top managers help create ambidextrous organizations by setting explicit goals for innovative outcome. For example 3M wants at least 25 percent of its annual sales coming from products introduced over the preceding five years. Lastly, the implementation of a firms entrepreneurial strategy relies largely on middle-level managers. According to Kuratko et al. (2005), Middle-level managers endorse, refine, and shepherd entrepreneurial opportunities and identify, acquire, and deploy resources needed to pursue those opportunities. Baden-Fuller, C., and Volberda, H. 1997. Strategic Renewal: How Large Complex Organizations Prepare for the Future, International Studies of Management Organization, 27(2): 95-120 Geller, A. (1980), Matching people to business strategies, Financial Executive, 48(10), 18-21. Bruce R. Barringer, Allen C. Bluedorn, The relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and strategic management, Strategic Management Journal, 20: 421-444. Hambrick, D.C. (1981), Specialization of environmental scanning activities among upper level executives Journal of Management Studies, 18, pp. 299-320. Gupta, A.K. (1987), SUB strategies, corporate-SBU relations, and SBU effectiveness in strategy implementation, Academy of Management Journal, 30, pp. 477-500. Hoskisson, R.E. and M.A. Hitt (1988), Strategic control systems and relative RD investment in large multiproduct firms, Strategic Management Journal, 9(6), pp. 605-621 Kuratko, D.F., Ireland, R.D., Covin, J.G. and Hornsby, J.S. (2005), A Model of Middle-Level Managers Entrepreneurial Behavior, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(6): 699-716. STRUCTURE Structural context, according to Burgelman (1983) refers to the various administrative mechanisms which top management can manipulate to influence the perceived interest of the strategic actors at the operational and middle levels in the organization. The corporate entrepreneurship and the innovation literatures indicate that one method of managing the uncertainties of innovation is through organizational structure (Burgelman, 1983, 1984; Nielsen, Peters Hisrich, 1985; Tornatzky et al., 1983). In general, results indicate a link between higher levels of innovation and more organic structures (rather than mechanistic structures) characterized by decentralization, lack of formalization, open communication, broader span of control and high levels of complexity ( for example: Covin Slevin, 1990; Burns Stalker, 1961; Pierce Delbecq, 1973; Tornatzky et al., 1983). Supporting a flexible/fluid organizational structure that minimizes bureaucracy and maximizes adhocracy; and by evaluating innovative schemes in terms of their contribution to a coherent str

Irony in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay -- Heart Darkness ess

Irony in Heart of Darkness      Ã‚   The use of irony within the ‘The Heart of Darkness’ by Conrad is an important notion.   Irony in this novella helps to bring about encapsulating self-discovery and enlightenment of the self.   Furthermore the use of characters and what they represent also brings about communicating what it means to be civilised.   Thus these two facets shall be the focus within my essay. Firstly each of the main characters in Heart of Darkness plays a significant role in the overall theme of the novel, as mentioned above. The central character is a thirty two year old sailor, Charlie Marlow. He is a dynamic character who essentially controls the development of the theme. Through Marlow's experiences and revelations, the author illustrates how forces of light and darkness serve to weave the human soul together; thus, essentially how both good and evil are reflected within the individual. Marlow's journey leads him in an urgent search for Kurtz, the one man who can provide him with the truth about himself. One central theme that prevails throughout the novel is mankind's capacity for good and evil. Illustrated in the evolution of the two central characters, Marlow and Kurtz. Both symbolize the two conditions of human nature. "Kurtz represents what man could become if left to his own intrinsic devices outside ... ... startling use of characterisation is that of the black slave with white pearls around his neck, this example of semiotics epitomises how black innocence personified in trapped beneath white materialism.      Works Cited "The Congo" Created December 07, 1997 (Accessed 12 February 2002). Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Penguin Books, 1983. "The Fear" Created December 07, 1997 (Accessed 12 February 2002). "Heart of Darkness: A systematic evaluation of the darkness inherent in men's souls" "The Perfect Native" Created December 07, 1997 (Accessed 12 February 2002). "The Setting" Created December 07, 1997 (Accessed 12 February 2002).

Teaching Practices Essay -- Education, Politics

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role that state standards play in the classroom. The topics that I will include in this paper will be an overview of the usage and role that state standards play in the teaching and learning of students and a summary of a discussion with my guiding practice teacher about standards and data from observing him. In addition, I will analysis how my guiding practice teacher uses standards to help instruct his students. Furthermore, through the lens of the reflective cycle, I will reflect on the intelligent action I plan to incorporate into my future classroom. Role That State Standards Play in the Teaching and Learning State standards impact the way that teachers’ instruct in the classroom in a control manner. The standards are state mandates for the topics that need to be cover in the class. The standards serve as an outline of topics for the teachers to teach to the students. They are uniform instruction of a subject that covers all public schools in the state. Additionally, the standards should provide a structure-learning environment in the classroom. Standards help teachers by providing an outline of instruction for the class. Falk (2000) suggest that â€Å"the capacity of standards to provide guidance toward and images of possibility of what quality work can be; the opportunity that standards present to initiate collective conversations and inquiry about shared values, purposes, goals, and expectations† (p.164). Standards help the teachers find a starting point for an instructional lesson. Standards also help to create uniform instruction across the district as well as the state. According to Ravitch (1991), â€Å"[curriculum] must teach the core democratic values that enable ... ...learning as the students need (p.234). While teaching my lesson, I must be present in the moment. I do not need to be thinking about the last class period, next period, or what needs to be done for tomorrow classes. I need to focus on the instruction that on the class that I am teaching to help them be successful. Another intelligent action, I would include in my classroom is feedback. I would include structure feedback in my lesson. At the end of instruction, I would ask the students what they have learn today in class. I would do this as a way to assess their learning and see what the students receive from the class lesson. Additionally, I would ask the students what could I have done better in class or what they believe did not work in class. This would help me plan future lessons to know what work with the class as well as what did not work with the class.