Grand Bazaar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Grand Bazaar - Essay Example Much desired because of its favorable location, the city has often been a reason for military tension. It has also changed several names, such as, for instance, Byzantium, Nova Roma and Constantinople. Another interesting fact is that it has been a capital of two powerful empires - the Byzantine and the Ottoman. The old wooden Grand Bazaar was built by Sultan Mehmet II, who conquered Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine Empire in 1453, and also named the city Istanbul. The Bazaar was getting bigger quickly. Presently it covers 30 hectares, and comprises about 4000 shops, forming a real labyrinth with its numerous arched passages. There are also banks, mosques, police stations, fountains, and restaurants. Twenty two gates lead into the Bazaar out of different streets (Historical places of Istanbul). Mark Twain depicted the place as follows: "We went to the grand Bazaar in Stamboul, of course, and I shall not describe it further than to say it is a monstrous hive of little shops--thousands, I should say--all under one roof, and cut up into innumerable little blocks by narrow streets which are arched overhead". For a tourist it must seem very difficult not to get lost, however, there is no need to panic: the street signs and tourist information signs are everywhere. The Bazaar also plays a role of unofficial financial centre: different currencies are exchanged by most shopkeepers. At Grand Bazaar one f... The vendors try to attract customers by telling history of the buildings construction, local legends, suggesting the most interesting places to visit and to take pictures of. Some European tourist might feel tired with the constant invitations. Travel guides claim it is better to say thank you and firmly make through crowd ahead, in case you are not interested. If one tries the free drinks and talks to the vendors it does not mean, though, he has to buy the goods. Bargaining is expected and often it is possible to lower the price about 20%. It is a good idea to learn the local price for the items you wish to buy, for once it is discovered you do not have a clue, you are likely to pay the so called tourist price. Grand Bazaar seems all sparkling and glittering. Jewelry stalls with gold and silver, as well as displays of colourful lamps and lanterns make it like this. Flickr and other servers are full of the bright images of such stalls, uploaded by the thrilled travellers. It is believed that Grand Bazaar offers the biggest variety of jewelry in the world. Olivia Wells in her "Secrets of the Grand Bazaar" names best jewelry shops. She describes Kafkas as the most luxurious one, where it is possible to purchase true treasures without being afraid of swindle, and where the security and anonymity is guaranteed: "From the outside, Kafkas looks much like the hundred or so other jewelry stores lining the street, though I'm keenly aware of the suited men (alertly) loitering outside the closed door as Serkan pulls out a necklace of Kafkas's own design: forty-one carats of rose-cut diamonds scattered around the neck of its black velvet display form". She also finds the price attractive, claiming it to be the third of

An Unpredicted New kind Of Warfare Essay Example for Free

An Unpredicted New kind Of Warfare Essay World war one continued for four years across a vast and stretching from the English Channel to the northern Swiss border. In 1914 the prediction was that the war would be over by Christmas. At the beginning of the war, The Germans thought they could capture France before invading Russia therefore preventing a war on two fronts. But because of the failure of tactics they couldnt succeed, and this was one of the main reasons the war lasted for such a long period. It was no longer each side trying to capture the other in the war but stopping the enemies movements in trench warfare and using new technology to soften up enemy, if it didnt back fire. Defense was now the key to winning the war and was far superior than the offensive. The trenches were hard to capture by advancing troops because of increasing firepower from machine guns. Crossing no-mans land was committing suicide for the troops as machine guns could inflict enormous damage on advancing infantry. The realization of the advantage of defense resulted in the enhanced rate of advancing technology. This was one of the core reasons for stalemate upon the Western Front because technology was advancing at such a rapid rate and new inventions were being introduced in a hasty manner. Many of the new inventions were not sufficiently tested and many of the ideas were not thoroughly thought through which resulted in unnecessary delays. Aircraft at the start of the war was used primarily for reconnaissance work, spotting enemy trenches and movements before a possible attack. But this alerted the enemys attention and gave them time to prepare resulting in the attackers job being more costly and difficult to undertake. Barbed wire was massed produced on an industrial scale by both sides as barbed wire entanglements were unbreakable for troops, stopped cavalry in their tracks, and slowed troops down completely. Attempts were made to destroy barbed wire with shellfire but the barbed wire is just lifted and often ends up in a bigger mess than before. Chlorine gas was first introduced in April 1915 by the German army against the French army. Chlorine gas destroyed your respiratory organs and you had a long slow death. But poisonous gas was an extremely unreliable method of attack as the direction of the wind may change at any time and return the poison in the direction of the attacker killing your own troops. Also, as with many other weapons that were developed it can only be used once to an advantage, as their element of surprise is lost. Gas masks were quickly distributed to both sides and gas was not such a great fear as it was first thought Tanks were invented to be the technical solution to the major problem of both barbed wire and machine guns. They had an armour plate to protect troops whilst attacking and caterpillar traction to allow them to cross-hilly and muddy ground. But the first Mark I tank was a weak and variable weapon. It was used at the Somme in 1916 but neither their performance nor numbers could help win the battle. It was not until Cambrai in 1917 that tanks were used on a large scale. They crunched their way over the barbed wire and German trenches creating a huge hole in the German defenses. A General on horseback commanded his armies in battle up until 1914. After 1914 telephones were working. Battles could be safely won from far away behind a desk. But though this development in communications may seem a great success, but telephones in reality were useless in attack, because the commanders didnt have a good perspective of the war and didnt know everything as they would be if they were sitting on horse and overlooking the battle which led to troops often pulling back because of lack of communications and broad view of the battle. In 1914 neither the French nor the British armies were trained for trench warfare. They had to adapt which took them several years and accounted for several of their failures and delays. French generals felt infantry charges were a necessity to win the war despite the huge advances in technology. And Germen generals thought that with enough ammunition and man power and gradually wearing down the enemy they would win the war. Eventually in 1917 the French army refused to attack any more, only to defend because of the horrific numbers of casualties lost for only a few miles gained. A term to explain this was the cannon fodder. The battle of Somme in 1916 is a good example for a shocking case of awful miscalculations by the leadership of both sides; Britain lost around 419,000 men for only a strip of land about 25 km long and 6km wide. These huge loses were due to bad planning. The men were untrained and advanced towards the enemy walking and carrying heavy packs on their backs. These big pushes which was a belief shared by British Kitchener and Haig were mere execution of sides troops as they were walking straight into machine gun fire. The first World War was the first war between two vastly industrialized economies and factories on both sides mass-produced inconceivable amounts of artillery and ammunition. Industry was under an incredible amount of strain and it was not until 1917 that the munitions industry was able to produce adequate quantities of ammunitions. Railways played a major part in the transportation of troops form one area of the western front to the next along with food and other supplies. Both sides were also both able to keep going because of the huge numbers of men and supplies continuously brought by trains and trucks. Basically both the central powers and allies were never in a drought of resources. At the outbreak of war on the Western Front, the Allies and the Germans were relatively equal in their strengths and weaknesses. Bad leadership held up many of the British and French attacks resulting in unnecessary numbers of casualties. Germany spread its men out over many of the fronts not only in the eastern front, but also in the Western Front. One argument is that if perhaps they had concentrated on only one front they may have had a chance of success as opposed to spreading out the troops over a large area. The deadlock ended in 1918 when it was broken by eventual collapse of the central powers. It was ultimately attrition that proved the crucial decider but it was a series of events and inventions that had not happened before which gave way to the end result. The submarine campaign was important as it brought America into the war with fresh troops and much needed resources and resulted in a huge blow to the German morale. In conclusion, there was no one true reason for deadlock on the western front, but that it was due to several problems. Technology advanced too rapidly, generals were not adequately trained for trench warfare. As one quote would say The great war was fought with 20th century weapons and 19th century tactics. The war was able to be kept going due to the fact they were both vastly industrialized economies and neither side was able to eliminate the other since and the governments of both sides directed the industries towards mass production of uniforms, ammunitions, ships, explosives etc

Whats Wrong With Cheating? Essay -- Cheating Essays

In a poll taken at Iowa State University, 53% of the upper-class students cheated on a test or plagiarized a paper while at Iowa State, 91% know someone who has, and 18% know someone who has been punished for cheating. (Bishop) What is driving this increase in academic dishonesty, and what are the effects of an academic career that thrives on cheating? There are numerous reasons why people cheat, but, regardless of whether they get caught or not, there are negative consequences. The motives students have for cheating are varied. No matter what the individual reason for someone to be tempted to cheat, their motives can generally be categorized as either based on a fear of failure or pressure to perform. Whether the student simply forgot to study and still desires a good grade, is afraid that they aren’t intelligent enough to pass without cheating, or is too lazy to do the work required to succeed, the underlying cause is a fear of failure or from pressure to perform. Once the line is crossed, and temptations become actions, there are other factors that come into play. In our current society, strong ethics are not highly valued. There is a prevalent attitude that claims: everybody is doing it, it doesn’t hurt anybody, and this material isn’t really important to me. These people don’t possess a profound and thorough understanding of how cheating will harm them. We are consumed with the concept of instant gratification. Our society is near-sighted. Technology makes cheating so easy and convenient, but we often can’t perceive what the long term effects will be if that line between working for your grade and taking the easy way out is crossed. Most people believe that the consequences of cheating are co... ..., fear of receiving a low grade, or pure laziness, the results of cheating are severe. Even though getting caught and corrected may seem like the most obvious consequence of cheating, it almost seems insignificant when compared to the alternative. In reality, ramifications of getting away with repeated cheating are even more daunting. Maybe if students understood all the implications of cheating then it would not be considered as an option. Works Cited What's wrong with cheating? Professor Michael Bishop Chair of the Iowa State University Department of Philosophy and Religion http://dsa.csupomona.edu/judicialaffairs/whatswrong.asp What are the causes and effects of cheating on an exam? https://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=14078 Cause and Effect Essay - Plagiarism and Cheating http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080218113757AAxt2cx

Essay --

Language and Masculinity The art of communication was always dominated by the innovations happened in the art of language. The human race has always been communicating among itself and formed various societies, developed relationships, brought new ideas etc. Language was utilized to define the sexuality, the culture, the social aspect and it all happened in terms of gender. The dominance of the masculine gender through the utilization of the language was always known to the mankind. The male population receives power by dictating certain social norms. The masculinity is a part of the male gender and in terms of linguistics it conveys masculinity with great power and force. According to some philosophers the males unjustly and deliberately construct such a society which is male-centered and it caters to the supremacy of the masculinity described above. It will be interesting to find the relation among language, masculinity and gender. If we discuss it any further we will find out tha t throughout the history it was the human race which has brought innovation to the language. Language was used to gain power with the use of male power. As a result the language was also used to dictate social norms. They also became successful in gaining the women’s cooperation by using the power of masculine language. Some of the scholars assume that language is visible and it exists in this form without any doubt. They also further assume that language can be compared with other forms of visual phenomenon. In this regard the linguistic analysis is in fact a kind of perception of visual way. In other way one can see the language and in particular in its treatment of grammar. â€Å"In "Language and Masculinity," Victor Seidler writes, "Oppressed peopl... ...on which you will appear has been asked to discuss Victor Seidler's "Language and Masculinity" and Maxine Hong Kingston's "No Name Woman." You are to present and defend the ideas and observations of one writer against the ideas and observations of the other writer. You may choose to argue that your writer's ideas prove or disprove the ideas of the other writer, but in either case you will be expected to defend your own claim with quotes and examples from your writer's text. In building your case, you should consider how your opponents will respond with specific quotes or examples that might contradict your argument. You should then build a counter-defense into your own conclusions about how gender, language, and power are related in your writer's essay and about how that relationship stands with or against the basic concepts of the other writer's essay.† References

Reduction in Force

More Beer Reduction in Workforce Exercise More Beer, Inc. is a 25 million dollar a year micro brewing company heavily involved in the direct marketing of its various micro brew products. In order to cash in on the internet selling boom, More Beer, Inc. opened two new marketing and direct distributions channels (www. morebeer. com & www. iamthirstyformorebeernow. com). Soon after these websites went live, technology problems, together with sluggish sales killed the company’s profits. As a result, the company has decided to abandon its new direct marketing plan and to reduce its workforce.You are the Vice President (VP) of HR for More Beer, Inc. The President of the company has asked you to terminate the employment for a number of employees. He has given you a list of people to consider and has charged you with writing a memo describing which employees to terminate, the reasons for each termination, what, if any severance is to be offered and what risks might be inherent with ea ch particular employee in terms of post termination litigation. Your job as VP of HR: Â   You must fire 3 of these employees.Two may be folded into existing openings in the rest of the company. The company could make room for all 5 employees but doesn’t have a true need for them. Assume that the company could justify keeping all or none with current needs. Your job as VP of HR: Â   You must fire 3 of these employees. Two may be folded into existing openings in the rest of the company. The company could make room for all 5 employees but doesn’t have a true need for them. Assume that the company could justify keeping all or none with current needs.

Essay on Craig Hawkins PS 2

Essay on Craig Hawkins PS 2 Essay on Craig Hawkins PS 2 Craig Hawkins Prof. Sante 11/16/14 Theory of Democratic Peace Throughout the world there are numerous countries that are ruled by different political systems, in which every country is entitled to do so. Although some systems are viewed more favorably than others, in this paper the political systems discussed will be the democratic, authoritarian and totalitarian systems. These political systems will be analyzed in relation to the Theory of Democratic Peace. This theory argues that nation-states governed by democratic regimes do not have conflicts with other countries that would lead to wars. Through the analyses of the Theory of Democratic Peace in relation to the democratic system: United States, authoritarian system: China and totalitarian system: Iraq, I find this theory to be inaccurate. The United States is a country governed by democratic rule. As a democratic country the U.S. emphasizes rights, liberties and justice. Since 1776 the United States has only evolved through democracy along to a population that now holds â€Å"316,128,839 million people† (quickfacts.census.gov). â€Å"The majority of the population is made up in 77.7 % Whites, 17.1 % in Hispanic/Latinos and 13.2 % in African Americans (quickfacts.census.gov). The United States economy has many liberties and opportunities for financial gain. The United States itself is projected to earn â€Å"5.7 trillion dollars in revenue during the year of 2014† (usgovernmentrevenue.com). The United States economy is sustained mostly through taxes. Sources of revenue that come from taxes are income taxes, social insurance taxes, ad valorem taxes and business taxes. â€Å"The United States is the third largest country in the world and borders two other countries: Canada and Mexico† (geography.abo ut.com). The United States climate changes throughout the course of the year, entering all four seasons. â€Å"The United States was recognized as an independent nation by Great Britain in 1783 following the American Revolution† (1775-1783)(usa.gov). The Declaration of Independence represents freedom the United States won, on July 4th the U.S. celebrates this day. Major following events to come The Civil War between northern and southern states from 1861-1865 which ultimately led to Barack Obama being elected the first black President of the United States† (infoplease.com). Within the United States lies the core of how the country is governed starting first with the Constitution. The United Sates is governed through three different branches, The Executive Branch: where a great deal of power is held by the President, The Legislative Branch: consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate and The Judicial Branch: â€Å"courts systems that harbor the judgment resp onsibilities for what is considered fair and considered justice† (whitehouse.gov). Country based decisions are made within these branches by the people within the Congress and Senate. Congress is made up of the House of Representatives (435 elected members) and the Senate (100 Senators). The constitution grants Congress to make legislative decisions. The senate agrees to pass laws and send them to the President for approval. †Both the House and the Senate must pass the same bill by majority vote† (whitehouse.gov). Together these different parts of government work together to uphold the democratic system in place. China is a country governed under authoritarian rule. Authoritarian ruled countries â€Å"are governed by a small group that do not attempt to control everything, instead limiting individual freedoms in favor of hierarchical organization of command, obedience and order† (Roskin 97). Under authoritarian rule China has grown it’s population to 1,355,692,576 billion people. 47 % of the population are between the ages of 25-54 years of age, 17.1 % of population are between the ages of 0-14 years of age, (indexmundi.com/china). The economy is very much profitable in terms of creating revenue for

Free Essays on Womans Suffrage

There where many differences between the reformist and radical woman’s suffrage movements at the turn of the century. The reformist suffrage movement was known as the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and was run by Carrie Chapman Catt. The radical suffrage was call the National Woman’s Party (NWP) and was headed by Alice Paul. Although both groups worked hard to get woman the right to vote, they want about it in very different ways. The NAWSA was formed in 1890 with the union of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). The NAWSA separated the traditional association of woman’s rights with the rights of blacks in order to gain support in the South without much success. Carrie Chapman Catt gained the presidency of the NAWSA in 1900, and attempted to appear more conservative by developing â€Å"the society plan† which tried to recruit college educated and politically influential woman into the woman’s movement. Catt resigned as president in 1904 to care for her sick husband but returned to the presidency of the NAWSA in 1915. In 1912 the progressive movement gave the NAWSA new life when labor, trade unions, socialists, and working woman started to back the woman’s suffrage movement. The cotton and liquor industries try to weaken progressivism and woman’s suffrage. Catt wanted to use state level organizations and tough neg otiation in order to convince President Wilson and individual states to support the woman’s suffrage movement. Catt set aside her pacifist views and supported the war effort in World War I in order to gain political leverage for the NAWSA. Catt remanded non-partisan in her efforts towards woman’s suffrage and was willing to fight the long fight in order to obtain her goals. Alice Paul started the National Woman’s Party (NWP), after returning from working on woman’s suffrage in Britain. The NWP was a much more radical grou... Free Essays on Womans Suffrage Free Essays on Womans Suffrage There where many differences between the reformist and radical woman’s suffrage movements at the turn of the century. The reformist suffrage movement was known as the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and was run by Carrie Chapman Catt. The radical suffrage was call the National Woman’s Party (NWP) and was headed by Alice Paul. Although both groups worked hard to get woman the right to vote, they want about it in very different ways. The NAWSA was formed in 1890 with the union of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). The NAWSA separated the traditional association of woman’s rights with the rights of blacks in order to gain support in the South without much success. Carrie Chapman Catt gained the presidency of the NAWSA in 1900, and attempted to appear more conservative by developing â€Å"the society plan† which tried to recruit college educated and politically influential woman into the woman’s movement. Catt resigned as president in 1904 to care for her sick husband but returned to the presidency of the NAWSA in 1915. In 1912 the progressive movement gave the NAWSA new life when labor, trade unions, socialists, and working woman started to back the woman’s suffrage movement. The cotton and liquor industries try to weaken progressivism and woman’s suffrage. Catt wanted to use state level organizations and tough neg otiation in order to convince President Wilson and individual states to support the woman’s suffrage movement. Catt set aside her pacifist views and supported the war effort in World War I in order to gain political leverage for the NAWSA. Catt remanded non-partisan in her efforts towards woman’s suffrage and was willing to fight the long fight in order to obtain her goals. Alice Paul started the National Woman’s Party (NWP), after returning from working on woman’s suffrage in Britain. The NWP was a much more radical grou...

Using MySQL Connection Code in Multiple PHP Files

Using MySQL Connection Code in Multiple PHP Files Many website owners use PHP to enhance the capabilities of their webpages. When they combine PHP with the open-source relational database MySQL, the list of capabilities grows immensely. They can establish login credentials, conduct user surveys, set and access cookies and sessions,  rotate banner ads on their site, host user forums, and open online stores, among many other features that are not possible without a database. MySQL and PHP are compatible products and are frequently  used together by website owners. The MySQL code can be included directly in the PHP script. Both are located on your web server, and most web servers support them. The server-side location provides reliable  security for the data your website uses. Connecting Multiple Webpages to One MySQL Database If you have a small website, you probably dont mind typing your MySQL database connection code into the PHP script for a few pages. However, if your website is large and many of the  pages require access to your MySQL database, you can save time with a shortcut. Put the MySQL connection code in a separate file and then call the saved file where you need it. For example, use the SQL code below in a PHP script to log in to your MySQL database. Save this code in a file called datalogin.php. ?php // Connects to my Database mysql_connect(your.hostaddress.com, username, password) or die(mysql_error()); mysql_select_db(Database_Name) or die(mysql_error()); ? Now, whenever you  need to connect one of your webpages to the database, you include this line in PHP in the file for that page: //MySQL Database Connect include datalogin.php; When your pages connect to the database, they can read from it or write information to it. Now that you can call MySQL, use it to set up an address book or a hit counter for your website.

Logistics Term Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Logistics Term Paper - Essay Example However, to realize these benefits, shippers must meet the growing task of dealing with customs and compliance issues surrounding their participation in free-trade agreements. Promoting key relationships with shipping and intermediary partners is a necessary strategy in cross-border transportation between the US and Mexico. As the growth of NAFTA cross-border traffic regulations for Mexico continues to drive trade growth between the two countries, compliance and security issues continue to challenge transportation and logistics providers as well as shippers (Villarreal 67). There are considerable impediments for the efficient good movement between the two countries. Major hurdles derive from transaction costs which reduce and often eliminate the benefits gained from the removal of tariffs resulting from NAFTA. Transaction costs in this paper refers to cost not linked with direct transportation expenses like freight rates, but those that emerge from complying with security, safety and customs procedures, delays at border crossings and those linked with extra handling of goods as a result of lack of a harmonized transportation system (Lederman, Maloney, and Serven 112). These costs increases prices for traded goods and affect the demand for goods manufactured in these countries. Transaction costs arise from regulatory and infrastructure issue that add costs to the movement of goods. According to Frittelli (36) their quantifying is hard given the wide range of factors that affect trade and transportation in North America. A recent study estimated the total delay costs along the U.S.-Mexico border, at nearly $80 million (Tsui 9). It is hard to distinguish costs as a result border security regulations from those that are due to poor infrastructure or lack of harmonization. Particularly, as security regulations continue to evolve as emerging

Statistical concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Statistical concepts - Essay Example Regression has diverse applications in my professional life and an understanding of factors to team work is one of the scopes in which it can be applied. This is because of the skills ability to develop models of relationships among variables (Ott and Longnecker, 2010). I have also improved on my descriptive statistics skills, skills that relate to identification of main features of a data set. Major improvements are application of statistical software to facilitate computation of the statistics, and differences between the statistics and their corresponding parameters. Descriptive statistics skills such as ability to compute and interpret mode and standard deviation is applicable to understanding trends of occurrences in my daily life activities such as time spent on traffic, and time and money spent on leisure over a period of time. The skill is then applicable in budgeting for efficient utility and conservation of resources in my personal life. Like regression analysis skills, des criptive statistics skills are applicable in problem solution towards passing examinations that test the skills, either directly or indirectly. The skills are also applicable in understanding data in professional scopes towards effective managerial decisions. I have also developed competence in skills related to test of hypothesis, a concept that evaluates validity of occurrences. Even though they have limited application in my personal life because precision is not a necessity, the skills are important in ensuring accurate decisions in professional decisions, such as effectiveness of training on employees, and helps in passing examinations that test related concepts (Ott and Longnecker, 2010). Probability and sampling are concepts whose skills I... Statistical concepts This paper discuses some of the concepts and their possible roles in my personal life, my academics, and my professional life. The course has been instrumental to my knowledge of mathematical skills through introducing me to new concepts and helping me to review previously learnt concepts. Some of the skills that I have acquired or improved on during the course are skills on regression analysis, descriptive statistics, and test of hypothesis. Regression analysis is a mathematical skill for estimating relationships among variables and ascertaining significance of the relationships. It develops models of best fit for relationships by estimating coefficients of independent variables. With an established model, a dependent variable can be estimated, provided values of its associated independent variables are known. The mathematical technique helps in understanding relationships and in forecasting. In my personal life, regression analysis is fundamental to understanding categories of my e xpenditures and their respective burden on my total expenditure. Explored on from periodic expenditures, the skill can help me to understand expenditure categories that are significant to my total expenditures and the degree of significance of each category. This can then help me to review my preferences and align my expenditures to reflect on my preferences and needs. The skills are applicable to decision making processes in my personal and professional lives, and aid my academic competence.

M4A1 PART A Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

M4A1 PART A - Essay Example Schein (2010) has rightly affirmed that a common pattern of basic assumptions should be shared among the group members so that they can effectively solve the problems; when everyone has the same set of values and norms, then internal integration and external adaptation becomes easier and it has worked positively for the overall organization. The new members of an organization should be taught the same way of perceiving, thinking and feeling about the problems so that the conflicts are avoided. Hence, it is stated by Schein that an effective manager has to ensure that he/she advances in the organizational studies by observing the real behavior of the workforce which are labeled as values, assumptions and artifacts (Bohlander & Snell, 2007). According to Jung et al. (2009), Schein categorized the signals of cultures and subcultures in three stages; the first stage is known as ‘artifacts’ which are the attributes that are evident as they can be heard, felt and seen such as dressing style, communication medium, tone of voice, stories and etc. Artifacts are in the form of company’s mission, slogans, written communication mediums and slogans; all of them are easy for observation but challenging for deciphering (Cameron & Quinn, 2011). The second stage is known as ‘values’ which is slightly complicated in nature but are observable to a certain extent. For instance, during the interview process, a manager can make some judgment about the candidate’s values by observing him/her. Finally, in the third stage which is known as ‘basic assumptions’ are the most difficult ones to be observed as they are deeply embedded in the person’s behavior. They behavior becomes evident when the person starts working in the organization. Hence, all of these stages combine to define the attention aspect for the HR manager because it

Risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Risk management - Essay Example The risk in investing in real assets is different from investing in financial securities because the rates of revenue generation associated with the two are different. Generally, real assets investment requires a lot of factors that determine profit. Some of these factors, which include staffing could be expensive and if not done well affect the revenue fortunes of the company. The risk with real assets is therefore higher. Question 2 In terms of acquiring the Latvian logistics business, the company faces business risk, which is posed against the market performance of the acquiring company. With reference to this particular risk, it is advised that â€Å"good fundamental analysis and careful selection of equities are the best ways to minimize this risk† (Noble Trading, 2009). Valuation is another risk that is associated with the Latvian acquisition. The company must be in a position to undertake comprehensive valuation that factors in the unseen cost of risks so that the final quote of the project will be one that assures value for money. With reference to the Kazakhstan subsidiary investment, some of the risks associated are inflation and interest rate risks, and market risk. This is because this investment is going into an existing business that is founded by the company in question. The single reason why it is important to have an integrated risk mitigation strategy is that the company is undertaking two different forms of investments which need an integrated strategy that caters for all the different investments. Question 3 Knowing that the risk-return trade off principle generally deals with the corresponding rises in return when there is an increase in risk, it would be right to argue that the management of working capital is the ultimate risk-return trade off for financial managers because the working capital is the single most reliable source of funding that financial managers can boast of. All other funds such as credits only come in as liabilit ies that need to be defended. Therefore, the harder financial managers try to take risk with their capitals and try to overcome the risks, the more they will count their returns. It is advised that the working capital of the company should be managed in such as way that it would have a correspondence with market dictates. This means that the company should pump in much fund into real asset investment if that sector shows signs of market boom. The switch should go to financial securities if that sector also shows signs of good performance. In simple terms, the working capital of the company should chance gloomy market. Question 4 The CAPM model distinguishes between specific risk and systematic risks because of the parameters under which each of these risks occur. Generally, specific risks are more attributed to managerial and other human control risks such as mismanagement which causes variation in the aggregate of productivity whiles systematic risks are associated with â€Å"vari ation in an asset's value caused by unpredictable economic movements† (cooper, 2012). To the investors, there is an implication which is, there are moments that their own actions can create risks and so as much as possible, they should always look for ways of minimising such specific risks.

Division in the nineteenth-century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Division in the nineteenth-century - Essay Example For example, Stephen Dedalus identifies (like his father) with Parnell, the fallen champion of Irish independence (â€Å"Home Rule†), yet he later rejects the Gaelic nativism and nationalism of his college friend Davin. Write an essay that analyzes and illustrates the hybrid postcolonial attitudes toward Irish politics, language, and culture in Portrait. The Christmas dinner scene, Stephen’s conversation with the dean of studies, or his exchanges with Davin are examples of passages you might consider. You havent defined what "hybrid attitudes" are and I dont understand what this sentence means:   "These hybrid attitudes Stephen encounters throughout the novel only help Stephen strive for his own identity and escape the connection the Irish have made with the dominant culture---the English."   I dont know what "hybrid attitudes" could "help Stephen strive for his own identity and escape the connection . . . with .   . the English," which contradicts the whole idea of postcolonial hybridity.   First youd need to tell us what "hybrid attitudes" you mean (Im not aware of any).   The Christmas dinner scene, for example, doesnt show us a hybrid culture; it shows hostility between two different political/religious causes (which youd have to name and explain before wed undestand them):   theyre not "hybrid" in themselves.   Im not sure youre understanding what the question says about "hybridity your statement isnt true: Stephen *cant* "escape the connection . . . with . . . the English."   That he cant escape it is what makes *his* identity hybrid and postcolonial.   And the "attitudes" youre discssuing below arent hybrids:   Mr. Casey  is a Parnellite who  favors Irish independence  (the "native" side); Dante, because of her Catholicism, is anti-Parnellite and therefore sides with British political interests (the "imperial" side).   Both scenes are relevant and yes the xmas dinner

Risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Risk management - Essay Example The risk in investing in real assets is different from investing in financial securities because the rates of revenue generation associated with the two are different. Generally, real assets investment requires a lot of factors that determine profit. Some of these factors, which include staffing could be expensive and if not done well affect the revenue fortunes of the company. The risk with real assets is therefore higher. Question 2 In terms of acquiring the Latvian logistics business, the company faces business risk, which is posed against the market performance of the acquiring company. With reference to this particular risk, it is advised that â€Å"good fundamental analysis and careful selection of equities are the best ways to minimize this risk† (Noble Trading, 2009). Valuation is another risk that is associated with the Latvian acquisition. The company must be in a position to undertake comprehensive valuation that factors in the unseen cost of risks so that the final quote of the project will be one that assures value for money. With reference to the Kazakhstan subsidiary investment, some of the risks associated are inflation and interest rate risks, and market risk. This is because this investment is going into an existing business that is founded by the company in question. The single reason why it is important to have an integrated risk mitigation strategy is that the company is undertaking two different forms of investments which need an integrated strategy that caters for all the different investments. Question 3 Knowing that the risk-return trade off principle generally deals with the corresponding rises in return when there is an increase in risk, it would be right to argue that the management of working capital is the ultimate risk-return trade off for financial managers because the working capital is the single most reliable source of funding that financial managers can boast of. All other funds such as credits only come in as liabilit ies that need to be defended. Therefore, the harder financial managers try to take risk with their capitals and try to overcome the risks, the more they will count their returns. It is advised that the working capital of the company should be managed in such as way that it would have a correspondence with market dictates. This means that the company should pump in much fund into real asset investment if that sector shows signs of market boom. The switch should go to financial securities if that sector also shows signs of good performance. In simple terms, the working capital of the company should chance gloomy market. Question 4 The CAPM model distinguishes between specific risk and systematic risks because of the parameters under which each of these risks occur. Generally, specific risks are more attributed to managerial and other human control risks such as mismanagement which causes variation in the aggregate of productivity whiles systematic risks are associated with â€Å"vari ation in an asset's value caused by unpredictable economic movements† (cooper, 2012). To the investors, there is an implication which is, there are moments that their own actions can create risks and so as much as possible, they should always look for ways of minimising such specific risks.

Happy Endings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Happy Endings - Essay Example attempts to summarize all the possibilities about the affair between two couples: John-Mary and Fred-Madge in a number of six differently outlined simple plots with common endings that â€Å"John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.† (Atwood, â€Å"Happy Endings†) Such simplistic summarization obviously provides Atwood with more legibility to comment on the portrayal of male-female relationship in Atwood’s contemporary fictions or literatures. Atwood’s emphasis on John and Mary’s death hitches her readers down to earth and to reality obviously. It is the reality, in which John (generalization of husband) and Mary (generalization of wife) love each other; sometimes they betray each other. When women like Mary dies lovelorn, other women like Madge revels in love and vice versa. It is the very reality in which some Johns (husbands) love their wives fabulously; some other Johns seduce women for sex. Somewhere else, other Johns swindle their wives. Atwood suggests that the plots in traditional literary works are either these or those: â€Å"Thats about all that can be said for plots, which anyway are just one thing after another, a what and a what and a what.† (Atwood, â€Å"Happy Endings†) But according to Atwood, what is wrong with this â€Å"a what and a what and a what† type of plot is that it does not provide the readers with much scope to ask a question, â€Å"Why and how?† (Atwo od, â€Å"Happy Endings†) Therefore Atwood’s narrator in the story â€Å"Happy Endings† ultimately comes up with the suggestion to interpret how and why the caricatured plots in her story are different though the endings are the same. Indeed Atwood’s suggestion to â€Å"try how and why?† provides her story with extra feminist dimension. Notably in the story, Option A continues to be happy from the beginning to the end. But some characters in other options are not always happy, though they are happy at the end of the story. It is noteworthy to interpret why and how John

Prose Text Assignment Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Prose Text Assignment Of Mice and Men Essay Of Mice and Men is about two basic needs the need for companionship and the need to have something to look forward to. I agree the above statement, all of the characters in the story all experience some form of loneliness. Every one of the characters has a different dream in each one is trying to fulfil it in a different way. The story of Of Mice and Men was set in the period of American history called the Depression. This period of history lasted from roughly from 1930 to the start of World War 2 (1939). In this period nearly all the companies and banks went bust the stock market crashed and peoples savings disappeared when the banks closed. People very suddenly where very poor. Most people where unemployed, and with unemployment came poverty, hunger and homelessness. It was very difficult to buy food or pay the rent. In America during the Depression men travelled in order to find work. Few travelling men could form lasting friendships because they had to keep moving on. A man travelling alone was more vulnerable to being attacked imprisoned or just very lonely. Of Mice and Men is a story based on two men who travel America together looking for work. George travels with his mentally handicapped friend called Lennie. The pair of them has nothing of their own, only the clothes they stand in and each other. Together they share a dream, that one day they will own some land of their own. They find work in a ranch in Satinas Valley, California. They meet of few people on the ranch but find it hard to make new friends. Their dream is soon ruined as Lennie misunderstands the difference between love and cruelty and becomes a victim of his own strength and power. He becomes friends with the only women on the ranch and forms a good friendship with Curleys Wife. Their friendship soon turns to love and they start to develop a physical relationship, Lennie doesnt know his own strength and grabs hold of her to hard and strangles her. Everyone finds out and Lennie is threatened with the prospect of being locked up in a mental institution or being executed by the government, so George saves him from this by shooting him. Crookes works as the sable buck hand on the ranch. He first appears in the story on pages 66-82. He is a crippled old man who gets his name from the way his spines bends (crooked). He has deep eyes and looks intense with his face, which is lean and wrinkled. On the ranch he is of a minority as he is the only black person on the ranch, which means he suffers a lot of prejudice remarks from other people. He is a very lonely man, and can often be bitter towards people he doesnt trust. Particularly white people, as hes not sure he can trust them. Crookes has is own room on the ranch, as none of the other men want him to stop in the bunkhouse. The only person Crookes can talk to is Lennie, although Lennie doesnt understand what he is saying as he is mentally handicapped. Crookes seems to like tormenting Lennie and sometimes says some very nasty things to him. Crookes however has more possessions than the other men has he has been on the ranch nearly all his life. He has little money but still has managed to gather some things of his own e.g. books and a dictionary. He is a very proud man and doesnt like to ask anyone for anything, even though he is crippled he still manages to keep his room neatly swept and is quite aloof. Crookes suffers from a lot of loneliness, as he is the only black person on the ranch. However he often has the chance to avoid loneliness but rejects it, Lennie tries to speak to him and befriend him but instead of trying to make friends he wallows in self-pity. He is very critical of other people an their dreams and hopes. He tells Candy he will help him fulfil his dreams, but afterwards when he has built his hopes up he tells him he was messing around and wont help him at all. He has probably spent all of his life on the ranch and thinks there is no way for him to leave, so he has given up hope and lost ambition. George along with Lennie is the main character in the story. He is a short man but is very quick. He is dark of the face and has eyes, which appear very restless. He is described as sharp and strong with body parts that are small and strong. His arms are slender and strong and he has a thin boney nose. George wears the same clothes as his companion Lennie; black hats, denim trousers and coat, and carries a blanket over his shoulder. George is rather a unsung hero of the story, he certainly lacks no courage. He has looked after Lennie for a long time, and spares his friend from loneliness. He stops Lennie from being locked up in a mental institution or being executed by the state government. He shoots Lennie but for his own good. Some people may think he did it for selfish reasons as h has looked after Lennie for a long time and is fed up of him. He did it because he cares about Lennie and didnt want him to suffer loneliness and depression. He cares about Lennie and saved him from what he knows would be worse than death. George would have probably been able to make a good life for himself if it wasnt for Lennie. George is an intelligent good thinking man, who is very sensible and used to taking charge. He cares a lot about Lennie and is always looking out for him, he is very cautious and warns Lennie about drinking the dirty pond water and tells him to be careful of the bedding at the bunkhouse in case he catches lice. George accepted the burden of looking after Lennie when Lennie Aunt Clara asked him. Without Lennie George would be very lonely, he and Lennie share a big brother-little brother kind of relationship. George has loyally stuck by Lennie throughout everything and having someone to look after and that depends on him makes George feel a better person. Georges longs for independence and would love to be his own boss. George is a kind hearted and compassionate person he sometimes gets frustrated but doesnt have a bad temper. He is very careful on who he trusts and is very careful when he meets people. He has to be a good judge of character and know who to trust and who not to, because of his and Lennies past. George is kind to everyone but he hates Curley he knows that he is nothing more than a bully. He tells Lennie to keep away from him as they cant afford to loose their jobs. However he encourages Lennie to stand up for himself against him. The only thing in life holding him back is Lennie. Lennie is a big man; he has a shapeless face and big pale eyes. He walks slowly but heavily, emphasising how slow his mind is. He has very strong instincts and has bad feeling about staying at the ranch and pleads with George for them to leave. He shows a cunning side and often uses it in getting his own way with George. In the first part of the story Lennie shows us this by using emotional blackmail. George looses his temper so Lennie tells him he is going to live in the woods alone, so George feels sorry for him so he tells him to come back. Lennie has a lot of animal-like qualities, which shows us his strength. He looks up to George like a father or big brother and often copies his ways. As Lennie is mentally handicapped he is unaware of the he is a victim of prejudice remarks and is unable to elate to many people, this often makes his behaviour childlike. Lennie would rather have the company of animals. However is his made to be a likeable character, Candy likes him and even Crookes warms to him. Lennie doesnt understand he needs to be careful with fragile things and is very heavy handed and doesnt learn from his mistakes. He reacts very much like a child and often panics. Lennies major problem is that he doesnt know the consequences of his own strength. Lennie doesnt understand loneliness but if he knew what it meant then he would probably be very lonely but because he is mentally handicapped he has no understanding of this feeling. He understands the need to have something important to look forward to. Lennies dream is very important to him; he nearly knows it all his self. He his always-getting George to tell it him over and over again like a child who loves to be told a bedtime story. At the end of the story Lennie has two hallucinations, one with his Aunt Clara in and the other with a giant rabbit in. This could be the authors way of outlining the abuse Lennie has suffered through his life. Or it could be Lennie conscience telling him that he has done wrong, even though he doesnt understand how it was wrong. Curleys wife is an important character in the story, but the author is showing ho little the men think of her by giving her no name. She is seen to be nothing more than one of Curleys possessions. When we are first introduced she is dressed up as if she is going out somewhere important when in fact all she is doing is staying on the ranch. She has large lips which are emphasised by the red lipstick she wears, she wears lots of make-up, red nail varnish, red shoes, red ostrich feathers and has her hair fastened back in curls. She wears a lot of the colour red, which shows a lot about her. Red is a colour, which is associated with lots of different things, mainly blood that is a clue, her death is near. It is also associated with danger, which is telling you do not get involved with this person she is bad news. Red is commonly regarded as a sexy colour, she is probably trying to show her self to the men as in the story she is displayed as a Scarlet Women. Often she pretends to be looking for her husband but the men know that she is just looking for an excuse, as she is looking for company, as she is lonely, although the men see it as she is just flirting with them. She is the only woman on the ranch, which is a disadvantage, and often gets little attention from anyone including her husband. Many people may think she has it all a husband and a house, but she is just as lonely if not more than any worker on the ranch. She doesnt think a lot of her husband, which probably means she just married him for the sake of it, the only things they have in common is that their both very selfish. Slim is one of the only people to be kind to her, George feels sorry for her but is worried on the effect she has on Lennie. However her and Lennie get on well and start to develop a physical relationship. Lennie who doesnt know how to be careful with fragile things takes things to far and ends up strangling her. Candy is the first person George and Lennie meet when they arrive at the ranch. He is the swamper, which is like a cleaner, the lowliest job on the ranch. His name is even belittles him, its a girls name. He is a tall man who only has one hand. He is a victim also of prejudice remarks because of his age and disability. He is careful of everyone because he doesnt want people to tease him. He never sticks up for himself, the only time he did was with Curleys wife. He has a lot of dignity, which shows the kind of person he once was. Candy has lots of gossip on everyone, which could be seen as getting is own back on people who has upset him by making comments about people behind their back. He always tells the newcomers the gossip on everyone. He is a lonely person and the only companion he has is an old dog. The animal is old and probably needs to be out down but means a lot to candy as he is so lonely. Candy would love to leave the ranch and when he finds out about George and Lennies plan he wants to help, and offer to give them his savings, which would easily cover the cost of over half the farm. George, Lennie and Candy thought that in only a couple of weeks their dream to leave the ranch and own a farm would come true. All of the characters in this story are lonely the person I think is the most lonely is George. He has no real friends the only person he has to talk to is Lennie but he doesnt fully understand what he is saying.

Example Answer On Multinational Corporations And Complexity

Example Answer On Multinational Corporations And Complexity Multinational corporations (MNCs), in their effort of globalisation normally face complexity that caused by multiculturalism and geographic dispersion. There are three characteristics of complexity in globalisation. 1) Multiplicity reflects the need of MNCs to be responsive to different viewpoints, public opinion concern and government rules and regulations. 2) Interdependence will means all operation and business activities are interrelated that can not be treated alone. 3) Ambiguity means the lack of information clarity that will lead to difficulty in interpreting events and people. Complexity in the international operating environment will then lead to various global challenges. It is difficult for MNCs to achieve organizational effectiveness and sustainable competitive advantage locally as well as globally if it is operating without an efficient and systematic HRM practices that align with the business strategy. Paine Co. which is building its international presence is facing some HR issues and challenges that typically will happen in MNCs. From the case study, the following main HR issues had been identified. TABLE 1: MAIN HUMAN RESOURCE ISSUES FACED BY PAINE CO. A. Communication Do not have a clear view of the corporate mission statement and vision set within the group. Lack of communication channel between the management and the employees. Do not have get-together among staff for idea exchange and employees feedback sessions. B. Recruitment, selection and retention Decentralised recruitment policies. Do not have good image branding and company reputation. C. Performance management and reward system Do not have well designed performance review and appraisal system. D. Training and development Do not provide staff intensive training for all new employees. Do not have further on-job or off-job training for improvement of skills and knowledge. Do not have interchanging of staff between subsidiaries. Communication being one of the most important components in human life is also the key of success for HR management. Effective communication is essential throughout an organization to ensure transpire of all information and knowledge sharing can be achieved. Communication is also vital for the organizational objectives setting. Effective communication between the employer and employees can lead to a greater understanding in achieving organizations goal. Study by Lindholm, N. (2000) found that it is important to communicate the company goal and job objective clearly to the host-country employees in MNCs to increase their job satisfaction. Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric Co. (GE) had introduced the informal culture across the company. The Informal by Jack Welch means violating the conventional chain of command, creating communication across all layers of the organization and everyone can talk to the boss. During his tenure as GEs CEO, Jack Welch organized a lot of corporate events that provide opportunities to all the employees to get-together and at the same time the management can communicate the company values and vision effectively to the employees. Besides that, Jack Welch also made unexpected visits to plants and offices abroad as well as scheduled luncheons with his managers to achieve good leading, guidance, and influence the behaviour of complex organization. The weakness in communication within Paine Co. can be seen in a few contexts. The communication problems started from their international expansion with some of the subsidiaries running on decentralised basis. There are no common strategies and objectives been set and communicate across all subsidiaries in the overall business operation. There is also no interchange of people between subsidiaries which can help to promote knowledge sharing and team spirit. Collecting workplace feedbacks from employees can facilitate in creating two-way communication which is important in an organization. Annual staff opinion survey is one of the methods that can be introduced to collect feedbacks from employees. In Paine Co., the occasion that consultants from France made direct complaints to their MD bypassing their local manager had shown the lack in proper channel of communication within the organization. Besides that, Ferguson as the MD of Paine Co. did not emphasize on knowledge sharing and t eam work but only see personal results and performance as the key factors of determining the business success. Therefore, overall synergy can not be achieved for a greater sustainable competitive advantage. Human assets are important for service industry as their people are core part of the source of services that have direct visibility from a customer point of view. Stringent recruitment and selection processes must be implemented to ensure the right people are to be engaged. Employers reputation and corporate branding are other crucial factors that will affect the recruitment and selection process. Highly talented people are always looking for their employer of choice in seeking their job for better career advancement. Singapore Airlines (SIA) for example had been the employer of choice for many educated young people due to their reputation as a service leader in the airline industry. On the other hand, SIA adopts a highly rigorous and stringent selection process which the applicants are required to meet various criteria from outlook appearance, age ranges, academic qualifications as well as physical attributes. The stringent selection process is to ensure the right people bee selecte d for the right job and at the same time improve the service quality of the organization. In this case, Paine Co. failed to carry out the best-practice in the recruitment and selection strategies. The company has had problems in developing a brand with a good company image in Germany, both for clients and staff. While facing the problem in recruiting good staffs, at the same time it also fails to retain the talented young employees. These have affected the efficiency and smoothness of the project and business operation and at the same time will incur higher cost for recruitment purpose. As recruitment and retention of employee is another challenging task in IHRM. Employers need to select the right people and put them to the right jobs, as well as managing their performance effectively and at the same time retain the quality employees from leaving the organizations. Only the right people will take the organization where they need to go. Hadhiphanis (2010) highlighted three issues that need to be considered by management when recruiting employees: Value of experience and s kills for the proposed position; behavioural and technical competencies based in making hiring decision; and pre-screen candidates before interview. While for retention of staff, Hadhiphanis (2010) again suggested that three strategies need to be carefully implemented in order to ensure the company provide better value to their employees as compare to their competitors. Options of remuneration, fringe benefits and rewards system to employees. Clear in communicating expectations and ability to gauge the performance against expectations. Rotational assignments, career development and planning as well as financial support (job-related and non-job related) to employees. The implementation of good staff recruitment and retaining strategies will not only build good employees capability for today but also for the future. Paine Co. should identify the needs of their employees and should not assume employees in every country having the same needs. Most of the time, the employees needs are reflected in the social-economy and culture of the country. Besides that, employees needs will not be the same all the time and review should be carried out periodically to ensure the HR practices are being implemented correctly to suit the current conditions. As for the performance management and reward system (PMRS) in Paine and Co. Although employees bonus and rewards are performance based, the final decision still subject to the senior management discretions without going through a proper appraisal and performance review system. Therefore their bonus system is not well-regarded. Performance management (PM) was defined as a HRM process involving constant evaluation of individual and corporate improvement progress against the predetermined objectives which are correlated to the company business strategy (Dowling et al., 1999 cited by Lindholm, N., 2000). The extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, understanding of job task and job satisfaction of the employees are mainly influenced by PM practices of a company (Lindholm, N., 2000). PM that is properly planned and implemented will also help in the objectives setting, reducing job errors as well as maximizing employees satisfaction and motivation in achieving not only individual job objective s but also align with the companys business strategy in achieving organizational goals. Evidence from research had shown that cultural differences among countries will affect the elements in implementing PM. PM practices will not be successful if MNCs implement and standardize their PM policies at both home country office and the overseas subsidiaries without consideration the cultural differences among the countries. Hofstedes cultural dimensions theory had been applied by researchers in their studies in relationship between the cultural differences and the transferability of PM as well as job satisfaction in MNCs. Lindholm, N. (2000) suggested that PM system should be modified to suit to the culture of host-country. Modular type PM system that can suit to different cultures in different countries can be developed to improve the job satisfaction and performance of host-country employees. Besides that, the design and implementation of a fair performance evaluation system by taking host-country employees feedback into consideration is crucial to create job satisfaction o f employees in MNCs. IHRM issue is one of the greatest challenges for all MNCs. Even world class companies like General Electric Co. and Black Decker Corp. will face some challenges in managing HRM issues when it first going global. Mendenhall, M.E et al, (2003) had identified the following Big Five global HR challenges for MNCs. Enhancing global business strategy Aligning HR issues with business strategy Designing and leading change Building global corporate cultures Developing global leaders The implementation of good IHRM practices has become very crucial in the success of all organization regardless their sizes and industry (Ulrich, 1997, cited by Nicolaou, N. and Costea, E.S). The fit of this type of culture HR system shall be given more attention in order to create an effective organization. In todays highly competitive globalization business environment, human resource become the main assets of an organization and therefore the implementation of IHRM strategy is the key to the success of the organization and its continuous competiveness in the global market. ANSWER FOR QUESTION 2: Barlett and Ghoshal (2000, cited by Harzing, A.W and Ruysseveldt, J.V., 2004) highlighted the three types of strategic objectives for MNCs are: meeting the challenges of global efficiency; multinational flexibility, and worldwide learning. Porter (1990, cited by Truong, et al, 2010) pointed out that the most significant source of competitive advantage for an economy is a skilled, flexible and well-educated workforce. While Heneman et al. (2000, cited by Truong, et al, 2010) stated that HR is important for all types of organizational sustainability. Many companies had realised the importance of strategic HR practices but only a few can implement it strategically in conjunction with the business strategy to gain competitive advantage (Schuler R.S MacMillan I.C, 1984). The following table shows the core components of HR practices that had been identified and the proposed HRM strategies in order to help Paine Co. in building their corporate business strategy to gain long-term competitive advantage. TABLE 2: CORE HRM COMPONENTS, CURRENT STATUS AND PROPOSED STRATEGIES FOR PAINE CO. HRM Core Components Current Status Strategies Recruitment and Selection Recruitment and selection procedures not regulated or standardised Do not have clear and stringent criteria in selection To use value-based hiring method To carry out proper job analysis and description Specification of minimum criteria in selection Standardisation of recruitment and selection procedures (i.e. interview, psychometric test and social test) Compensation and Benefits Remuneration system not standardised or according to industry standard To carry out industry remuneration review To introduce profit sharing scheme Performance Management and Reward System Do not have proper appraisal review system Rewards do not reflected on the individual performance No relationship between reward policy and corporate business development strategy To carry out KPI as PMRS To create link between goal-setting and performance achievement Training and Development Do not have proper training and development program To have intensive training for new staff To provide continuous training throughout employment Retention of Talents Lack of support from management to staff Lack of communication between employer and employees Lack of motivation Do not have succession plan To create multiple channels for information sharing To rewards the staff with innovative ways To carry out employees satisfaction survey To develop career advancement plan for employees Schuler R.S and MacMillan I.C (1984) suggested two ways for HRM practices to help in gaining organizational competitive advantage: by helping themselves and by helping others. They also clarified that good HRM practices should be first be targeted within the company before implement to the external parties (i.e. customers, suppliers, distributors). Strategic HRM practices should be ideally integrated with the business strategy of an organization in building long-tern competitive advantage. Wirtz, J., et al, 2007 believed that The wrong people are liability. Recruitment and selection is an important process in HRM that will decide whether the right person will be doing the right job at the right place. Value-based hiring method can be utilised by Paine Co. in their recruitment and selection process. A detail job analysis and job functions description should be carried out before determining the selection criteria in their recruitment exercise. Other than qualifications and experiences, criteria like physical attributes, social and emotional competency should also be considered when selecting their consultants who are the front-line staff that serve their clients. Therefore, other than structured interviews, psychometric tests and social competency tests should also be included in the screening process to ensure high quality consultants are recruited. By having stringent selection criteria, the uncertainty of hiring the right applicants with the expected qualities will be reduced. In long run, the cost for recruitment and selection process can be reduced due to the increased in efficiency of recruitment and selection process. Besides the selection and recruitment process, Paine Co. also facing problems in managing their compensation and benefits as well as PMRS. It is suggested that profit sharing scheme to be introduced to the consultant advisers and senior consultants. This will encourage employees to be part of the business partners and increase their commitment towards the company performance. While for PMRS, Paine Co. should implement the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) system to ensure fair evaluation of performance review and structured appraisal throughout the whole group. Implement of KPI system will not only guarantee fair treatment to all staff but also make the objectives setting and performance management process more effective. Training is one of the key components of success for service industry like Paine Co. For organizations that are seeking competitive advantage through HR, Khandekar, A., and Shama, A. (2005) suggested that they should design their HR systems so that human resources can be utilised efficiently and enabling knowledge been used by employees to maximize their organizational competitive. In this situation, Paine Co. is suggested to plan and provide an intensive training program to all its new employees before they carry out their duties. Intensive training programs are effective HRM tools because it can help the newcomers to master their jobs which probably causing fewer anxieties among them. Besides that, company values, objectives and the expectations from the employer can also be clearly communicated across to the new staff through intensive training. Subsequent off-job and on-job trainings should be planned and provided regularly throughout the employment period to improve knowledge and skills of employees. The training and development program is part of the strategic HR management that is essential for Paine Co. to obtain sustainable service excellence and long-term competitive advantage in the industry. Last but not least, the talents retention is another area that needs to be strategically implemented. Tobia, P.M (1999) mentioned that lowering turnover of staff will increase profits of a company. Besides that, only employees who are motivated and satisfied with their working conditions are able to produce good services and products for better competitive advantage in the industry. Many young consultants in Paine Co. left the company by joining the competitors proofed that its employees are not satisfied with their working conditions as compare to the competitors. Paine Co. need to improve the provision of resources to the employees in carrying out their duties. Implementation of some long-term retention programs such as innovative and fair PMRS; people friendly policies and carry out employees feedback survey will definitely help in reducing staff turnover rate. Opportunity for career advancement is another determinant of retention success. Succession plan and career path plannin g is important to retain talented employees and increase productivity. By implementing all the above proposed HRM strategies will not guarantee the ultimate success of the company in achieving the long-term business competitive advantage if there are no continuous reviews and improvement plans on its strategies. Besides a good HRM systems, products and brand differentiation; focus orientation; global thinking; a sensitive radar system; perpetual spirit of innovations; social and environmental responsibilities are some of the other criteria for MSCs to become a real World Class Company and achieve long-term business competitive advantage. All the above mentioned criteria will need to link people with the strategic needs of the business as people is the most valuable asset of an organization. If the business needs of an organization can be clearly identified and be integrated effectively with the HRM practices, long-term sustainable competitive advantage will not be far from achievable. REFLECTION Planning and formulating the HRM practices with business strategy for competitive advantage will be meaningless if the management do not understand the basic needs of their employees. Therefore, communications play an important role in the analysing and understanding the employees behaviour so that the right HRM practices can be strategized. All employers know what the company goals are, but not everyone is able to articulate their products or services with the market-place effectively to determine the types of employees needed. The needs-matching process to get the right person to do the right job is another great challenge in HRM. Another concern will be the consistency in the implementation of the best HRM practices in an organization. Only long-term consistency in the practices can bring great results and achieve sustainable competitive advantage instead of just short-term success. Commitment from the top management is an important factor that will determine the success. Total organizational commitment can not be achieved without starting from the top and working down. If the top management started to demonstrate good practices, concern and commitment to their job and products, the employees will also begin to follow the same practices and further synergizing their contributions to perform for sustainable competitive advantage. END ABBREVIATIONS GE General Electric Co. HRM Human Resource Management IHRM International Human Resource Management KPI Key Performance Indicator MD Managing Director MNCs Multinational Corporations PM Performance Management PMRS Performance Management and Reward System SIA Singapore Airlines

Assimilation of Blacks in Song of Solomon, Push and Life of Olaudah Equ

Assimilation of Blacks in Song of Solomon, Push and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano      Ã‚   Our African American texts call for close examination of the status of slaves and subsequent generations of free Blacks, how they fit into American society, and their quest for and denial of the benefits of Americanism. So does one assimilate or resist? But The Melting Pot Theory is not inclusive of Blacks since the process of assimilation could not work its magic on black skin.    In the slave narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African, the capture of Africans, their ultimate enslavement in the Americas, the West Indies, and Europe exemplify the assigned inferior status to Blacks in societies of the alien worlds. Blacks have less than their proportionate share of wealth, power, and social status, and are discriminated against by those in the majority. The yoke of slavery did not sanction inclusion, instead it convoluted their status as immigrants or a colonized minority and that sentiment remained a constant. Equiano's race and his life as a seafaring slave narrowed his opportunity of citizenship in a landed community; consequently, he was neither immigrant or colonized. In fact, he was more displaced that ever, sailing under whatever flag happened to be that of his owner/captain. In Song of Solomon and Push the characters are several generations removed from slavery so the question is not whether the po sition of Blacks is that of immigrant or colonized minority, even though it could appear to be either. More importantly, theirs is the problem of dealing with the ambiguities of being "up from slavery," as the characters come into their own. The su... ...rally fixed neighborhoods, or "sell out" by embracing the dominant culture and sometimes attempting full assimilation (although it is realized impossible) in order to advance one's career, and acquire better housing and/or education for one's children is ubiquitous. Total assimilation is not real for Black people, it never has been and it probably never will be and that is a sad commentary on the state of the country.    Works Cited Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudauh Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African. "The Classic Slave Narratives". Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. McLemore, Dale S. Racial and Ethnic Relations in America. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1991. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: The Penguin Group, 1977. Sapphire. Push. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1996.

Tidal Energy Alleviating Mans Demand for Energy Essay -- Water Hydro

Tidal Energy Alleviating Man’s Demand for Energy ABSTRACT The demand for energy has increased rapidly, while its supply has continued to decrease rapidly. Inventors have only worsened the energy crisis by creating â€Å"energy savers† that run on fossil fuels. Yet, the answer is quite simple and lies in the ocean’s tides that can be used as a safer and alternative for energy. France has invented a tidal barrage that now powers 240,000 homes ten hours a day. Other countries are following France’s lead by beginning the construction of their own tidal barrages. However, the world still needs a longer lasting energy source. INTRODUCTION The demand for energy has increased rapidly, while its supply has continued to decrease rapidly. Inventors have created â€Å"energy savers† such as hybrid cars only worsening the problem with its increase in pollution and incredible energy consumption. Hybrid cars run on petroleum and electricity. Meanwhile, people desperately accept it as the Earth’s fossil fuels are rapidly consumed. Yet, the answer is quite simple and lies in the ocean’s tides that can be used as a safer and alternative for energy. The ocean’s tides run through tidal barrages in which turbines rapidly spin and transform low tides into energy. This energy does not pollute the atmosphere nor does it produce any greenhouse effects. Even though tidal barrages are expensive to build and maintain, they produce a lot of safe and free energy. Of course tidal barrages appear to be the ideal solution for the world’s energy crisis. However, tidal barrages effect the environment. Birds migrate away from tidal barrages in order to find ideal living conditions. Fish are caught and killed by the Tidal Energy 2 spinning turbines.... ...oduction to Ocean Energy. Retrieved July 20, 2005, from National Renewable Energy Laboratory Website: http://www.nrel.gov/clean_energy/ocean.html Economically Viable Energy from the World’s Oceans. Retrieved July 20, 2005, from Eco World Website: http://www.ecoworld.rog/water/articles/articles2.cfm?TID=334 Tidal Power. Retrieved July 20, 2005, from Energy Quest Website: http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter14.html Tidal Power. Retrieved July 20, 2005, from Wikipedia Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_power Tidal Energy. Retrieved July 20, 2005 from Vision Engineer Website: http://www.visionengineer.com/env/tidal.shtml Ocean Tidal Technical FAQ. Retrieved August 1, 2005, from Poemsinc Website: http://www.poemsinc.org/FAQtidal.html, Technology. Retrieved August 2, 2005, form Marine Turbines Website: http://www.marineturbines.com/technical.htm

Organizational Culture and Its Counterculture

The authors Joanne Martin and Caren Siehl are focusing on organizational culture and its counterculture. The definition given by the authors for counterculture states that counterculture will most likely arise in a strongly centralized organization that has allowed a reasonable decentralization of authority to take place. The article assumes that cultural systems can emphasize as well as sustain the objectives of the firm’s top management. The main argument here is that in addition to serving integrative functions, culture can express disagreement and address needs for segregation among organizational elements.As a replacement for thinking culture is a huge phenomenon, they explore counterculture’s uneasy symbiotic relationship with the rest of an organization. Finally they tackle the connection between cultural development and managerial action by asking what a leader does, unintentionally or intentionally, that seems to impact the development of a counterculture. Give n said that when a dominant culture and a counterculture takes place it creates an uneasy symbiosis between these two interdependent cultures. There were two books selected for this research, one was by Ed Cray and the other was by J. P Wright on General Motors.The three core values for dominant culture in GM were â€Å"respecting authority†, â€Å"fitting in† and â€Å"being loyal†. J. P Wright talks about how DeLorean’s division in GM has created an uneasy symbiosis relationship between the dominant culture and counterculture. DeLorean’s activities have been studied to see how he has created a counterculture in an organization with such a strong dominant culture. There are several ways to counter the dominant culture and DeLorean has done so by â€Å"questioning deference to authority†, â€Å"finding an alternative way to fit in† and â€Å"opposing demands for unquestioning loyalty†. . There are three types of subcultures; th e first is enhancing, orthogonal and counterculture. This article’s main focus will be on counterculture. According to the authors some core values of a counterculture has a direct challenge to the core values of a dominant culture, therefore creating an uneasy symbiosis. This article has taken two main authors as their references to explore the adequacy of a dominant culture and a counterculture and to find out what values those artifacts put across.The two main authors are Ed Cray, Chrome Colossus: General Motors and Its Times (McGraw-Hill, 1980) and J. P Wright’s description of DeLorean’s activities, On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors (Wright Enterprises, 1979). This article was done on General Motors, one of the main characters that was discussed in this article was on John DeLorean who was a head of one of the division’s in GM. DeLorean was a man who made his way up the corporate ladder which gave him a position of leadership, resources and po wer who in return questioned the dominant culture of GM.There were three main core values of GM that were discussed, the first is Respecting Authority: Jargon and Rituals of Deference. What happens in GM is that the dominant culture gives so much importance to paying reverence to the top corporate management; special jargon was used to refer to these executives. For example, each top manager was assigned a junior executive who will be an assistant, and these assistants were called â€Å"dog robbers† which meant an assigned servant who is responsible to pick up the dogs dropping in a large household.Another type of dominant culture artifact was the ritual, GM had many rituals, this is just one of the rituals; subordinates were expected to meet their superiors from out of the town at the airport and carry their bags, pay for their hotels, meals and chauffeur them around day and night. The second core value found in GM was Fitting In: Communicating Invisibility by Visible Cues. The core value of invisibility was expressed through such visible cultural artifact as dress and decor.An example GM’s dress code was a dark suit, a light shirt and a muted tie so that no single employee stands out. The rule implemented on office decor also states the value of invisibility. All the decor was standardized. In GM if an employee was invisible he was a â€Å"team player†. They engage in public, symbolic acts of conformity to show they are team players. The third core value to the GM way of life was loyalty to one’s boss. They were all expected to be loyal to their bosses and not question them or even point out their wrong doings.One of the examples given was, GM retirement dinner, in this retirement dinner they pay tribute to the retiree by telling his journey story in the past years in GM. These dinner instilled mutual respect, admiration and loyalty. It was important for GM to tell the stories of their retiring employees, simply because these stor ies were true and shows a sequence of events in the company’s history. In one case, DeLorean did not go to pick his boss up from the airport, which was a ritual followed by all GM employees, what happened was DeLorean’s boss was furious and expected DeLorean to not repeat it ever again.In the retirement dinner, they reward the retiree for the past tasks done by ensuring future loyalty, so in DeLorean’s case he would be marked by the others and may be seen as someone who isn’t a team player. The counterculture to these dominant cultures can be seen by DeLorean’s actions. There are three areas to it; the first is questioning deference to authority. DeLorean kept creating stories that were being questioned by other employees, because one story will not make most of the employees buzzing, therefore DeLorean created many situations.For example, he wanted to replace deference to authority with task-oriented efficiency. He discouraged the meeting of super iors at airports. DeLorean himself role modeled the behavior. This incident became an organizational story. He became a controversial and powerful figure. This particular event was significant because it expressed a value that contradicted a core value of the dominant culture. The second counterculture, An Alternative to Fitting In: The Limits of Acceptable Deviance. DeLorean did not agree on the core value of fitting in team play. He instead valued dissent and independence.He backed his values with practices, by changing his divisions’ performance appraisal system. Performance was measured on basis of criteria that were as objective as possible. DeLorean was also able to role model himself by not following the dress code and he also changed the decor in his division, allowing his executives to have their own touch in their spaces. This was his way of declaring independence from the dominant culture. The only way a counter culture can sustain is by implementing the practices as well as being consistent with the preferred value.Opposing Demands for Unquestioning Loyalty is the third counterculture. Articulation of a â€Å"boomerang† challenged the dominant culture. The Corvair was a product of GM that was supposed to be the finest and most appealing product to attract the young. The Corvair story becomes a boomerang, it takes a sudden turn and employees started questioning the safety of the rear engine, but without enough support and evidence that the Corvair was not safe GM management told the employees who objected to join the team or find some other place to work. In the end the Corvair had caused many deaths because of its faulty design.This in return cost GM its reputation and millions of dollars in legal expense, and of court settlements. 3. This argument fits with my experience as an observation that I have seen happen over and over again, it is no other than an public area which most of us are bound to go to in some time in our lives in di fferent occasions, the hospital. It is always said that right after graduating as a doctor, the worst fear for all of them is their houseman ship years. It is a dominant culture that all new doctors who are coming in for their houseman ship are pushed around and are made to work over time.In other words they are bullied by their superiors. It has been a culture that has been happening all around the world and many have come to accept it as a norm. In my opinion I don’t think it should be the case, I believe that there can be an artifact of a counterculture here. Why it is that fresh new graduate doctors allow their superiors to push them around to a certain extreme. For example, senior doctors, will intentionally post questions for houseman ship doctors in front of a patient and then mock them for the answers given to enforce their authority as senior doctors.This can be emotionally damaging depending on the degree of verbal abuse. Another case would be houseman ship doctors are treated as the lowest employees in the hospital during their houseman ship years; they are not only pushed around by senior doctors but by the nurses as well. They are made to do irrelevant work and lots of running around. Another case would be sometimes, senior doctors will make houseman doctors to do their shifts as well, resulting in the housemen to be wore out and exhausted.Some of these housemen will eventually break down, for they are not able to cope with the pressure and stress. Then again this happens over and over again in all parts of the world. In my opinion I think it would make a lot of difference if some doctors have the capability to stand up and make a change in this environment. I believe as time goes by, more and more stories and incidents will occur causing the dominant culture to be questioned and a breakthrough for a counterculture to take place in this particular environment.I am sure there are cases where certain doctors have made a stand for themselves, but with the repetition of the same behavior this dominant culture may be able to change. Where the houseman ship doctors are treated with equal respect and are able to apply what they have learnt over the past few years in their houseman ship years. 3. This argument fits with my experience as an observation that I have seen happen over and over again, it is no other than an public area which most of us are bound to go to in some time in our lives in different occasions, the hospital.It is always said that right after graduating as a doctor, the worst fear for all of them is their houseman ship years. It is a dominant culture that all new doctors who are coming in for their houseman ship are pushed around and are made to work over time. In other words they are bullied by their superiors. It has been a culture that has been happening all around the world and many have come to accept it as a norm. I believe that there can be an artifact of a counterculture here.For example, senior doc tors, will intentionally post questions for houseman ship doctors in front of a patient and then mock them for the answers given to enforce their authority as senior doctors. This can be emotionally damaging depending on the degree of verbal abuse. Another case would be houseman ship doctors are treated as the lowest employees in the hospital during their houseman ship years; they are not only pushed around by senior doctors but by the nurses as well. They are made to do irrelevant work and lots of running around.Senior doctors will make houseman doctors to do their shifts as well, resulting in the housemen to be wore out and exhausted. Some of these housemen will eventually break down, for they are not able to cope with the pressure and stress. Then again this happens over and over again in all parts of the world. It would make a lot of difference if some doctors have the capability to stand up and make a change in this environment. As time goes by, more stories and incidents will occur causing the dominant culture to be questioned and a breakthrough for a counterculture to take place in this articular environment. I am sure there are cases where certain doctors have made a stand for themselves, but with the repetition of the same behavior this dominant culture may be able to change. Where the houseman ship doctors are treated with equal respect and are able to apply what they have learnt over the past few years in their houseman ship years.4. Reference Martin, J and Siehl, C (1983) Organizational Culture and Counterculture: An Uneasy Symbiosis. Organizational Dynamics, pp 52-64

Lucent technology supply chain summary Essay

Lucent Technologies is a multinational telecommunication company which was spun off from AT&T in 1996. Before restructure, as an integrated telecommunications services and equipment company, AT&T had been primarily U. S. -centric market and more than half of income was generated by services in U. S. However, the restructure made Lucent focused on communications equipment globally. When Lucent expand into global market, its flagship product, the5ESS ® digital switch, was a market leader in worldwide telecommunication infrastructure equipment. While the 5ESS ® digital switch provided the company’s more competitive edge in global market. This custom configured, engineered-to-order product made only a portion of its assemblies could be built to stock. Moreover, 5ESS ® digital switch orders from Asian market had continued to grow rapidly, and Asia became an important part of Lucent’s business. U. S. -centric Supply Model Before Lucent’s independence from AT&T, it established some joint ventures in four Asian countries to meet the increasing telecommunication equipment demand in Asian market. But this marketing entry mode just provided access to these markets. Most manufacturing continued to be done in Oklahoma City. The Asian joint ventures only performed final assembly and testing. It was believed that Lucent would benefit from the cost saving from economies of scale in manufacturing in US. However, as tremendous demand growth and intense competition arose from these countries, the delivery costs and lead time became two critical issues in this industry. The long distance inhibited the instant response. Delay means market losing. What’s more, increasing local content by having locally purchased parts would lower the costs and made product more locally attractive. Asian-centric Supply Model After 1996, asset management, product lead time and supply chain efficiency became more and more important for this new independent manufacturing firm. The primary market shifted from U. S to Asian market required a redesign of the Asian supply chain. First of all, it took a â€Å"hub-and spoke† model. Taiwan was the hub of the Asian supply chain. Custom engineering and manufacturing of Asian orders would be manufactured in Taiwan rather than Oklahoma City, and Asian orders were placed with Taiwan rather than U. S. Low volume assemblies remained in U. S. Secondly, different supply modes (inshore or outsource) were decided by different product volumes. And then it used local components (direct procurement) and local suppliers (local procurement). Last but not least, it insisted a strict quality control. Products manufactured by Asian joint ventures had the same quality standards. There were also some barriers for the redesign of supply chain. For example, the new manufacturing center in Asian mean losing job in U. S. The transfer of production to joint venture may reduce Lucent’s profits. And also the sales organization worried about the sales decreased because of losing â€Å"Made in USA† label. All of these barriers were addressed when the benefits of redesigning outweighed the costs. The redesign decreased the lead time, and customer satisfactions had improved a lot. Meanwhile, Taiwan joint venture reengineered its factory to improve the productivity. The increasing productivity and decreasing costs means the firm became more profitable. Also, support of Asian joint ventures helped Lucent win more business in Asia, and the huge capacity of Asian joint ventures can support Lucent’ global customer demand. So the all improvement by redesigning the supply chain made Lucent more competitive in global market. Summary and Recommendations Despite its success in the later 1990s, new challenges have arisen. How to response the changing demand in this complex business environment and how to expand its capacity in other emerging markets? The internet and IT tools caused fundamental changes in business models and traditional customer-supplier relationships. Contract manufacturing company in Asian provides new opportunity for the firm to outsourcing its manufacturing and logistics responsibility. In my view, outsourcing its assembly and component is a better way for Lucent to cope with new challenge. Because 5ESS ® digital switch was reaching its mature period in the product life cycle, and the intensive competition and changing environment forced telecommunication industry to devoted more time to new product research and marketing strategy. In its initial stage, the core product is the key to success and the supply chain redesign facilitate its further success. But nowadays, the product life cycle is shortening and the industry is changing at ever-increasing rate. Lucent has to improve researching, marketing strategy and supply chain management at the same rate to cope with the changing market. In addition, Lucent can use merging and acquisition strategy to integrate available resources to expand its business. Questions for group As Lucent shift its main supply chain from U. S to Asian market, how to compete with domestic rivalry Cisco? As more and more local telecommunication company grew up, how to cope with fierce industry competition with local firms, and some multinational telecommunication firms now target at Asian market, how to compete with them in global market? Should Lucent insist its in-source strategy or use outsourcing for the future supply chain management? Because its flagship products had reached its mature period, is it necessary for Lucent to build a main R&D center in the emerging market like Cisco did?