Religion A Means to an End or Just a Delusion Essay

Over the years, people have held different opinions about religions around the world. Many believe in the existence of a divine being like God, while others worship idols and other images that they consider as their god(s), without concrete proof that these beings do exist. Based on the statement by Sigmund Freud that â€Å"Religion comprises a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality†, one may come up with several arguments about religion. This notion held by Freud, which he contends that religion is merely a human delusion forms the basis of this paper among other views. It is in human nature to seek and understand the meaning of life and through the use of intangible concepts, religion attempts to provide answers to satisfy human curiosity. Burke believed that different religions provide a framework by which people can understand the meaning of human life and the world. Each religion prescribes possible remedies to correct what it views to be fundamentally wrong and unsatisfactory about people’s existence (Burke 126), making religion an attractive way to attain satisfaction in life. However, the basis of such remedies lies in a realm that is transcendent of ordinary human experience, that is, more on the realm of supernatural (Burke 141). For example, monotheistic religions point to a supreme being who judges which people gets eternal life based on their obedience to his law. Religions of Indian origin on the other hand, provide an escape from an eternal destiny of suffering and limitation brought by the unending cycle of birth, death and rebirth (Burke 161). Such influential notion that obedience to a religion could give fulfillment may cause people to accept and believe in religious concepts wholeheartedly, wit hout tangible proof. Monotheistic religions describe an omnipotent and omniscient supreme being who governs human life through a set of laws. Believers may seek solace, comfort and the purpose of life by obeying this set of rules, often to gain good judgment from their God. However, such belief in a supreme being is typically based on human faith rather than concrete evidence of divine existence. For example, people in these religions believe that their God created the Earth and therefore, human existence. This notion can be challenged by modern scientific theories that explain the origin of the universe and human existence through logical and factual means, such as the Big Bang theory for the origin of the universe and evolution for how humans came to be. Religions of Indian origin deal with the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Rebirth is the religious or philosophical idea that the spirit or soul, after natural death, can start another life in another body (Burke 163). This never-ending cycle is brought by human’s self-centered desire, and brings eternal suffering to humans. Human existence therefore is to liberate one’s spirit from an egocentric self to end the cycle of birth, death and rebirth and free oneself from suffering (Burke 236). This largely deals with the spiritual dimension and is nothing more than a philosophical concept, which again is based on human belief and not concrete evidence. There has been no account of people who have been reincarnated, or proof that a soul does exist. It is another way to explain the meaning of life, which gives people purpose of living. In conclusion, people hold different views about religion. In any case, religious views are just analogies, by the assistance of which we attempt to comprehend a shared phenomenon. However, the absence of convincing proof for the existence of God and the soul, and the presence of more plausible explanations for religious phenomena, prompts Freud and other skeptics to dismiss religion as merely a human delusion. References Amstrong, Karem. Islam. London, United Kingdom: Orion Publishers, 2011. Print. Burke, Thomas P. The Major Religions: An Introduction with Texts. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. Print. Trungpa, Chögyam, and Judith L. Lief. The Heart of the Buddha: Entering the Tibetan Buddhist Path. Boston, Mass: Shambhala, 2010. Internet resource. Source document

Leading as a principle of management

Andy Grove, Intel’s former legendary leader who oversaw this company in the time of its rising to its prominent position, has a remarkable leadership style. His style is really democratic, but forceful and demanding. As a result, a unique culture of â€Å"constructive confrontation† arose at the company that is a direct result of Grove’s managerial traits (Intel Corporation). He allowed his subordinates to insist on their views and arguments at the time of the discussion, but once a decision was reached, everybody was expected to demonstrate the highest level of commitment.As a leader, Grove is remarkable for several major traits that make him stand out from other leaders. First, he is superb in his skill to â€Å"align strategy and execution as the forces of globalization were creating enormous discontinuities in the business environment† (Garten 2005). He was always on the alert for whatever actions the competitors might take to challenge Intel’s dominance and kept a hold on the treacherous IT business environment. Managing the external environment of the business is an important skill that does not come easily to leaders; it takes years of experience and a highly focused personality able to keep an eye on what’s going on in the marketplace.In relationships with employees, Grove excelled in striking an important balance between disciplinary action and support of initiative. In giving his employees freedom to act, he maintained their zest for innovation that can only flourish in a democratically arranged corporate environment. At the same time, Grove maintained rigid discipline in terms of performance evaluation. He demanded measurement of every detail of the performance and was relentless in his requirements. The company executives introduced the so-called â€Å"management by objectives† in which an employee’s performance is evaluated against about 10 objectives all of which are gauged with quantifiable measures (Intel Corporation).Grove can also be applauded for his ability to preserve the flexibility in Intel’s operations at the time when the company was experiencing dramatic growth. Sheer size is often the problem for major corporations who lose market to more nimble competitors. Grove created a company that remains highly adaptable despite its mammoth proportions. Grove also built Intel’s corporate culture on values that have turned it into â€Å"very strong immune system† (Pandya et al. 2004).Grove is the kind of leader who does not get depressed in the tough times and continues to see the silver lining even in the times of a serious recession. In an interview with Business Week reporter he advocates the sizzling future of the tech industry despite temporary difficulties, insisting that â€Å"we can't even glimpse the potential† of the IT industry, even in the aftermath of the tech bubble and the general downturn in the business (Andy Grove: We canà ¢â‚¬â„¢t†¦).Grove’s optimism stems from his ability to manage change at the company. A particular instance of change at Intel involves the switch from memory chips to microprocessors in the 1980s. The field was entirely new for Intel, and yet the company emerged with dazzling success, turning into the global leader. Another example relates to the large-scale recall of Pentium chips after problems with their functioning surfaced in 1994. Andy Grove dealt with the issue with efficiency and initiative that worked to save the company’s damaged reputation. Andy Grove led the company towards success in the market for microprocessors and was able â€Å"to build the Intel brand (through the famous â€Å"Intel Inside† campaign) and used his savvy in managing risk to steer the company clear of antitrust regulators† (Pandya et al. 2004).Andy Grove spent an impressive 11 years as chief executive officer at Intel, continuing his leadership stance as chairman. Fin ancial data confirm the success of his leadership style and his ability to manage the company, taking it to a level of state-of-the-art perfection. A 31.6% annual rise in stock price, twice the speed of S&P 500, growth in revenues from $1.9 billion to $25.1 billion, doubling of the workforce to 64,000 people demonstrate the achievements of Andy Grove as a leader (Garten 2005).These are only dry numbers, and the main breakthrough was qualitative. Intel has been fully transformed into a leader of the global IT industry. First, it has become a truly international corporation, deriving a major portion of its revenues from abroad. Second, the corporation â€Å"became central to the growth of personal computers, cell phones, genomic research, computer-aided design, and virtually everything else that characterizes this age of digitalization and the Internet† (Garten 2005). Intel succeeded in a highly competitive environment of the IT industry, becoming an icon of success for many be ginning companies. Intel’s name is a brand worth millions of dollars, and its products like Pentium chips remain the symbol of the industry.Andy Grove has done a lot to translate his convictions for the board operation into real changes in its work. It took Grove six years to â€Å"make Intel's board exemplary† (Shlender 2004). In his own words, he highly evaluates his role â€Å"in developing the work environment and culture at the company and with the directors† (Shlender 2004). Andy Grove firmly believed in the independence of the board and the separation of the functions of the CEO and chairman. He put his burning conviction that the board should have an important role in making the good governance principles work in his books and lectures on the topic. His work as Chairman of the Board has made Intel’s board a reliable safeguard against management’s sloppy or immoral actions.Thus, Andy Grove was a great leader able to combine rigor with attent ion to others’ opinion and balance between giving his subordinates freedom to innovate, combined with the need to commit to the already taken decisions. His emphasis on discipline, strategic vision for growth, handle on the market and ability to manage change account for his personal success as a leader and impressive performance of Intel Corporation.BibliographyAndy Grove `We can`t even glimpse the potential`. Business Week 3846, Aug 25, 2003. 19 Sep. 05 .Garten, Jeffery E. â€Å"Andy Grove Made The Elephant Dance†. Business Week 3928, April 2005. 19 Sep. 05 .Intel Corporation: The Evolution of an Adaptive Organization. 19 Sep. 05 .Pandya, Mukul, et al. Best of the Best: Inside Andy Grove's Leadership at Intel. Prentice Hall PTR, Dec 10, 2004. 19 Sep. 05 .Schlender, Brent. `Inside Andy Grove`s Latest Crusade` Fortune 150.4, Aug 23, 2004. 19 Sep. 05 < http://www.fortune.com/fortune/ceo/articles/0,15114,678520,00.html>.

Growth Performance Management Essay

In this report I have given a lot of research into the relevant subjects. I think that the way I have looked at the possibilities will help Helen Marsh and Brian Taylor overcome some of the obstacles in their organisation in order to make there business successful. Suggestions on what you should be specifically looking at in order to make your business a success, in my view would be the try to improve employee attitudes and training for employees. I think I have covered all the points that you have given me in depth if I have not apologies on my behalf. Introduction- Aims of the Report The aim of this report is to show Helen Marsh and Brian Taylor the problems of their business in more detail than the report give (case study). I will outline and investigate further into the following matters: * Growth * Performance Management * Performance Appraisal Systems and Motivation * Motivation * Rewards * Employee Turnover/Retention * Training and Development * Communication Growth To consider the growth of Brian and Helens company, we will look need to examine into the PEST (Political, Economical, Social and Technological factors) and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis for this company, this will help us identify if the company should continue to grow. By understanding about the SWOT and PEST analysis this will show us key information and help us identify some of the problems with the business. SWOT Analysis: SWOT Analysis is a very effective way of identifying your Strengths and Weaknesses, and of examining the Opportunities and Threats you face. Carrying out an analysis using the SWOT framework helps you to focus your activities into areas where you are strong and where the greatest opportunities lie. SWOT Analysis is a strategic method for identifying your businesses’ Strengths and Weaknesses, and to examine the Opportunities and Threats. These are just some of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats there may be more if you feel that there are, pleases do not hesitate to call me we can discuss these further. By reading the report that you gave me (case study) I found more weaknesses than strengths. This is not ‘bad’ as this shows you that you can improve on these to make your business a success. Read more:  Difference Between Performance Management and Performance Appraisal PEST Analysis: It is very important that an organisation considers its environment before beginning the marketing and decision planning process. In fact, environmental analysis should be continuous and feed all aspects of planning. The SWOT analysis shows a lot of weaknesses in the business, the points that I have mentioned in the SWOT analysis affect the future growth of the business. I think that if you over come the weaknesses that are outlined in the SWOT analysis this will help improve and develop the company significantly because the employee would contribute to the full potential and would also create a good working environment which means less staff turnover. I suggest that you should postpone in growing for the moment and consider improving on the weaknesses that I outlined in the SWOT analysis. I suggest that you should consider growing in the future rather than now. I found out that: †Weakness are not necessarily indicating bad things of the organization but showing a path to a better future†¦.† ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR (1990) Northcraft. G page 437 You should consider improving the weaknesses into strengths as this would be beneficial in the future when you should consider to grow (it is not necessary yet) by improving weaknesses the business would function better and more advantages would be gained such as more share and profit. Performance Management In the report given to me (case study) I see that you have a problem on monitoring the ‘field based’ staff. This is a important issue as the staff may or may not be doing what you have told them this would cause all sorts of issues with your company for example you may be losing money, valuable resources and time. Field based staff may be difficult to manage but there are ways. Staff that work in the office are easier to evaluate on what and how that are doing. When managing or monitoring employees you have to be aware of their privacy and not to breach that mutual line as this may inevitably cause conflict in the work place. But When you can’t be present to observe employee performance, be sure that you have the right processes in place through which you can learn about how they’re doing this can be undertaken for ‘field based’ staff also. These processes should be open, fair, and understood by everyone. Options for obtaining input about performance in your absence may include, but are not limited to, the following: * Evaluate the output and products of the employee’s work. * Have routine one-on-one meetings with your employee and include discussions of performance. * Every so often review and discuss with your employee the standards of performance for his or her job and your expectations. * Ask your employee to do periodic reports and share them with you for discussion. * Obtain feedback from customers – in writing when possible. * Do brief stand-up check-ins or phone calls to ‘field based’ staff as well as ‘office based’ staff. * Ask an appropriate person who is present day-to-day to serve as a work leader or give the person authority to act in your stead, and ensure that everyone understands the person’s role. * Perform routine spot checks of the employee at work. * Ask for confidential evaluations of employee performance by peers (or direct reports of supervisors). This process should be clearly understood by everyone and applied fairly to all. Performance Appraisal Systems and Motivation Performance appraisal systems are designed to serve the company’s and employee’s interests. They are used to inventory the abilities and resources of employees and to let an employee know where he stands so that he will be stimulated to improve his performance. Employee motivation can be enhanced and performance improved with the monitoring of employees’ performance level and the use of feedback to advise those employees about their effectiveness. Performance feedback exchanges can be ongoing and informal, on a day-to-day coaching basis or on a formal basis, annually. I found this statement: ..Employers want to be sure their employees are doing a good job, but employees don’t want their every sneeze or there trip to the toilet logged†¦ Managing People 2nd edition Tomson. R I think that employee monitoring is acceptable to a reasonable level but should nod be exceeded. I used to work at ‘KFC’ (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and the manager was constantly monitoring me and other staff that work there. I can understand this as people in other restaurants have tampered with food for example a ‘Mc Donald’s’ restaurant in USA Mississippi once was shut down because of food tampering. So to some degree a lot of monitoring needs to be undertaken. But I think you should use some of the procedures I have given for example I would recommend these: * Perform routine spot checks of the employee at work. * Obtain feedback from customers – in writing when possible some sort of feed back sheet of possibly a questionnaire * Do brief stand-up check-ins or phone calls to ‘field based’ staff * Ask your employee to do periodic reports and share them with you for discussion. Motivation Staff motivation is the one of the most significant factors in managing people. No one style is better than another for motivating employees, but it is essential that leaders are aware of their staff motivation style and are able to adapt for different circumstances. Some circumstances will call for a strong direction to inspire staff motivation other circumstances will call for staff motivation to be influenced by a more advice-giving approach. The necessary skill is in knowing what motivates people and satisfying the needs of individuals and groups at a given time. Staff motivation in regard to reward and recognition means taking account of and balancing the needs of the organisation and its objectives as well as the needs of the people expected to achieve those objectives. One of the worlds most successful Software and Hardware entrepreneurs stated: â€Å"When we create a desirable workplace and find good ways to have work/life balance, we’ll attract and we’ll retain the best people and that’s our competitive advantage.† Lewis Platt, CEO, Hewlett-Packard (1001 Ways to Reward Employees 2000) Source: www.nelson-motivation.com/hpackard/ceo Hear is an example of a motivational theory: Douglas McGregor, was a American social psychologist, he proposed his famous X-Y theory in his 1960 book ‘ The Human Side of Enterprise ‘. Theory X and theory Y are still referred to commonly in the field of management and motivation. Mc Gregor’s X-Y Theory remains a valid basic principle from which to develop positive management style and techniques. McGregor’s XY Theory remains central to organisational development, and to improving organisational culture. McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y THEORY X THEORY Y 1. Workers must be supervised as closely as possible, either through direct oversight or by tight reward and/or punishment systems. 1. People usually do not require close supervision and will, if given a chance to control their own activities, be productive, satisfied, and fulfilled. 2. Work is objectionable to most people. 2. Work is natural and enjoyable unless it is made offensive by the actions of organisations. 3. Most people have little initiative, have little capacity for being creative or solving organisational problems, do not want to have responsibilities, and prefer being directed by someone else. 3. People are ambitious, desire autonomy and self-control, and can use their abilities to solve problems and help their organisations meet their goals. Creativity is distributed â€Å"normally† across the population, just as is any other characteristic. 4. People are motivated by economic factors and a need for security. 4. People are motivated by a variety of needs only some of which involve economics or security. Figure Obtained from: MANAGING PEOPLE R. Tompson, 2nd Ed, Pub: Institute of Management I think that employee motivation in regard to reward and recognition means taking account of and balancing the needs of the organisation and its objectives as well as the needs of the people expected to achieve those objectives. I think that motivation should also have been included in the SWOT analysis. I think you should also consider how you can motivate staff you could use the web site I have given above for more information. The more you motivate staff the better they will work, this will also help with the monitoring of employees. You should also consider looking at the various patterns used by managers to encourage motivation in the work place, for a good example see Appendix 3. Rewards There are a staggering amount of reward types and schemes, you just have to make sure you have the right ones chosen for your business because performance of staff is the key to the success of any organisation. One of the main rewards that I think is relevant for your business is PRP (Performance Related Pay) One of the key contributors to effective performance is a well-designed performance management process. Such a process should incorporate objective setting, the day-to-day management of performance, the review or appraisal of performance, and rewarding performance. Your employees are your most important asset, they are the people who shape and form the company’s future. Rewarding staff can develop healthy in-house competition between individuals, teams or even departments. Another major factor in rewards are employment benefit packages. Reward and incentive programs are a popular part of employee benefit packages. Many employees value such offerings as flexible scheduling, tuition assistance, and child care in order to satisfy personal needs and professional development. I think that you too should consider re designing your employment package. Nowadays society, it is becoming more and more common to support these reward systems with the overall business strategy of an organisation in order to satisfy business needs and to improve shareholder value. In addition, many organisations are developing or restructuring their rewards programs based on employee performance. This trend is likely to continue as costs continue to increase and competition continues to thrive in a highly unpredictable economy. Some other useful reward types that can be used are as follows: Social Rewards: Which include praise, employee recognition, and social acceptance within the business. Psychic rewards: Which include self esteem, job satisfaction, and feelings of accomplishments You could also give piece-rate pay, commissions, merit pay and bonuses. When I was talking about the business and how it will grow in ‘Conclusion of Growth’ in the first part I think that in order for the business to grow you need the best employees you can get. So you would need to have the reward schemes that the employees are looking for. I the way you are rewarding employees at the moment is not working in fact ‘I know it is not working’ I think you should use the PRP (Performance Related Pay) method, and also consider giving annual bonuses. Also if you give PRP (Performance Related Pay) you will sort out the problem you have with the monitoring of ‘Field based staff’ as they too will be attracting more customers for the business. You should also give bonuses if the company is making a stable profit as this would encourage more work to be completed. Employee Turnover/Retention One of the most difficult problems companies had to cope with in the increasingly volatile business climate of the 1990’s was the high rate of employee turnover. When employees, particularly long-term employees leave a company that has made a substantial investment in them, they take with them training, skills, experience, and productivity. Output is inevitably diminished during the training process of new employees, no matter how qualified. additionally, a high level of workplace turnover rends the types of social bonds that encourage other employees come to work and maintain their normal levels of productivity. ..In today’s workplace, employers are not only having a hard time attracting employees, but are also having a difficult time keeping them.. (Harkins, 1998) I found out that employees leave for a variety of reasons, including poor supervision, unchallenging positions, limited advancement opportunities, lack of recognition, limited control over work, perceived pay inequity, and the perception of more favorable opportunities in other companies. Measuring Absence Obtained from: MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES J. Weightman, 2nd Ed, (1996), Pub: Cromwell Press This overall figure, however, leaves many questions unanswered. For example, is the absence rate a reflection of a few employees suffering from long-term ill-health or are a substantial number of employees being regularly absent for relatively short spells? A more in depth way to monitor absence and retention is give in Appendix 1. Hear I found some of the ways in which to help with retention: * Align your employees with company goals and visions * Establish department goals and standards * Set employee goals and performance measurements * Conduct performance reviews that test the established goals * Train managers to effectively coach their staff * Identify barriers & find strengths to build upon * Isolate key performance gaps and craft a plan to improve performance * Define the relationship between job satisfaction, goal alignment and individual performance growth I suggest that you should consider some of the points above in order to combat turnover/retention. You should regularly try to monitor staff absence. Try to make the rate as nearer to 8.5 % as possible if it goes over this may be critical to the business. You should have a maximum number of days for employees to comply by, for example I work as Safeway Petrol station in the Penn, employees there are only allocated 50 hours off of work (excluding sick or acceptable absence). You should check out Appendix 1 in how to measure turnover and retention in your organisation. Training and Development There are a number of advantages to training and development and this is another point that was added in the SWOT analysis that needed to be improved in order for the business to function properly and effectively. Training has become the most important feature of a successful organisation. Training is necessary because it improves profitability and/ or more positive attitudes towards profit orientation. Enhances the job knowledge and skills at all levels of the organisation. The work force gets a high morale. Due to proper training employees can identify with organisational goals, corporate image gets improved. Training fosters realism, openness and trust. A boss an the subordinates get to work in a better environment and relationship. Some typical reasons for employee training and development can be initiated for a variety of reasons for an employee or group of employees, for example: * When a performance appraisal indicates performance improvement is needed * To â€Å"benchmark† the status of improvement so far in a performance improvement effort * As part of an overall professional development program * As part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a planned change in role in the organisation * To â€Å"pilot†, or test, the operation of a new performance management system * To train about a specific topic I found out some key topics for employee Training and Development they are as follows: * Communication- The increasing diversity of today’s workforce brings a wide variety of languages and customs. * Computer skills- Computer skills are becoming a requirement for conducting administrative and office tasks. * Customer service- Increased competition in today’s global marketplace makes it critical that employees understand and meet the needs of customers. * Diversity- Diversity training usually includes explanation about how people have different perspectives and views, and includes techniques to value diversity * Ethics- Today’s society has increasing expectations about corporate social responsibility. Also, today’s diverse workforce brings a wide variety of values and morals to the workplace. By giving the appropriate training and development you can gain a lot of advantages. The general benefits from Employee Training and Development are: * Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees * Increased employee motivation * Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain * Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods * Increased innovation in strategies and products * Reduced employee turnover * Enhanced company image, e.g., conducting ethics training (not a good reason for ethics training!) * Risk management, e.g., training about sexual harassment, diversity training I think that training aids in developing leadership skill, motivation, loyalty, better attitudes and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display which we discussed earlier in the report. The quality of work is also increased and so is the productivity. Its cost effective as well, it cuts costs in different areas e.g. production, personnel, administration etc. it develops a sense of responsibility to the organisation for being capable and knowledgeable. Labor management is also improved, as workers instead of feeling ignored, feel taken care of which develops a sense of loyalty Communication Effective communication skills are vital for success in a business environment with most business people being engaged in some form of communication activity most of the time reading, listening, writing or talking. Business communication is, however, different from educational or literary writing and speaking it requires precision, clarity and efficiency since business people just do not have the time to savor an idea or an expression. †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Moreover, unethical behavior in the workplaces arising from the lack of ethical communication by the top management to the first-line supervisors proves the fact that employees are either directly or indirectly rewarded for unethical acts or harshly abandoned for going against the norm of practicing corruption†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Zimmerman: Jansen and Von Glinow, 2001, p. 119). As explained in this text that I researched into, Jansen and Von Glinow through their in-depth study that encouraging â€Å"counter norms† in an organisation is also a form of promoting corrupt standards in a company in order to save the firm’s name or to avoid charges by this means reflecting the decreasing ethical communication in organisations. There are many factors that help establish an organisation’s ability and skill in maintaining the stability and organisation among its employees/members. One of these factors includes attaining an organisational communication process through effective communication skills. The most prominent forms used by most organisations are the development of verbal and non-verbal communication since these are the most obvious ways of communication that provide a dialogue for employees and the management in an organisation. However, what is not realized by both the employees and management is that listening is one important communication aspect that precedes verbal and non-verbal communication. I think that in order to attain effective communication verbally or non-verbally, communicators must first learn to listen in order to assess carefully the issues at hand and the required action that must be taken. If you have a look at Appendix 2 it shows you different types of communication processes. I would recommend that you try to focus on the ‘complete network’ as this would make communications in your business better. Overall Report Conclusion and my Recommendations I think overall this is what we should be doing in order to maintain and run a successful business: * Growth- we should not be growing just yet as there are to many problems as indicated in the SWOT analysis. We should be improving on the weaknesses and consider to grow and expand in the future. * Performance Management- monitoring needs to be undertaken but only to some degree that is acceptable by you and the employees. But I think you should use some of the procedures that I have indicated in this previous section (please refer to Conclusion for Performance Management). * Performance Appraisal Systems and Motivation- Performance appraisal systems are designed to serve the company’s and employee’s interests. * Motivation- You have to consider Douglas McGregor Theory X and Theory Y. to offer the best motivation go through the chart that I have drawn and consider what you can do to have a successful motivated staff. Look at Appendix 3 for patterns of managerial approaches to motivation. * Rewards- if you offer better rewards and better benefit packages then Turnover/Retention will be low, and employees will work more and contribute their highest potential. * Employee Turnover/Retention- you need to make sure that you monitor employees sickness and absenteeism and make sure it dose not go over 8% Check Appendix 1. * Training and Development- if you train and develop employees better the function of your business will be better, you should try to encourage more employees to gain different skills and knowledge. You should also try to offer recognised qualifications. * Communication- look at Appendix 2 I recommend that you try to bring in the process of complete network communication. There are numerous factors that help conclude an organisation’s ability and skill in maintaining the stability and organisation among its employees/members, one of these factors includes attaining an organisational communication process through effective communication skills.    References I recommend that you look at the following text as this will help you improve on the factors mentioned in this report and also help you with difficult decisions about your business. I recommend looking at this text: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: INDVIDUALS, GROUPS AND THE ORGANISATION I. Brooks (1999) 1st Ed, Pub: Financial Times HUMAN RESOURCE STRATAGIES Salman, (1998) Pub: The Open University MANAGING PEOPLE R. Tompson, 2nd Ed, Pub: Institute of Management ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: A MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE G.B.Northcroft & M.A.Neale (1990), Pub: Ronda Colour PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT GA Cole, 4th Ed (1997), Pub: Ashford Colour Press MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES J. Weightman, 2nd Ed, (1996), Pub: Cromwell Press The following Web-Sites are useful also: www.bized.com www.hrmang.co.uk www.humanrecourses.co.uk/text/hrissues www.resourcemanage.co.uk

Asylum law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Asylum law - Essay Example The objective aspect will examine at the objective principles of the claim and also the subjective principle will examine whether there is any presence of a fear of the objective conditions. (Harvey: 237). Thus, a refugee should demonstrate with concrete proof that they would suffer harassment if they return to their mother land. They should demonstrate that they would be subject to harassment or humiliation on logical grounds of persecution due to nationality, race, political ideologies and religion. In Adan v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Lord Slynn observed that well –founded fear must be present at the period when the claim for refugee status is to be determined. In Sivakumaran 1case, House of Lords observed that the fear of persecution must be a contemporary fear if it is the well founded. Thus, the most crucial factor in deciding the refugee status in UK is the Home Secretary’s evaluation of the narrations in the refugee application which will be considered in relation to the situations that existed in the applicant’s country of origin. (Harvey: 240). In Sivakumaran case , the issues pertains to Tamils in Sri Lanka and the House of Lords turned down the Court of Appeal’s acceptance of two tire test favoured by United States jurisprudence . The first is whether the individual is a refugee and the second is that would their freedom or life be in jeopardy. The Court of Appeal applied a composite standard of reasonable likelihood of real risk or harm to prove whether or not a fear was tenable or well-founded and prevented return to their mother land. In other parlance, the judges regarded the meaning of â€Å"well-founded fear† instead of â€Å"persecution.† The above decision did not meet the end of justice, given the incidence of atrocities unleashed on Tamil youths in Sri Lanka at that point of

Affirmative Action v. Quotas, disparate treatment and disparate Coursework

Affirmative Action v. Quotas, disparate treatment and disparate impact, employment at will - Coursework Example Quotas, on the other hand, refer to a set number or percentage for the representation of people of a given group. The main difference between affirmative action and quotas is that while affirmative action has no set minimum percentages for the representation of a protected group, quotas provide this. This makes quotas easier to monitor considered that the criteria for determining whether or not an institution has complied is predetermined. Disparate impact is easier to prove compared to disparate treatment. While disparate impact involves focuses on discriminatory consequences, disparate treatment looks at discriminatory intent. One would, therefore, suppose that it is easier to establish the consequences of discrimination than to establish the intention of discrimination. Proof of discriminatory motive does not, therefore, is not part of the disparate-impact theory. This implies that establishing the consequences of discrimination within an institution does not involve the contributions of an institution’s management as it is the case with establishing the motive behind discrimination. The employment-at-will doctrine refers to the common rule that an employment contract with no defined duration can be terminated by either the employer or the employee at any time without the party terminating the contract having to provide good reasons for doing so. This doctrine goes against the â€Å"good will† requirement advocated by employee unions. Unlike the at-will doctrine, the good will requirement supposes that employers need to demonstrate that it is for a good cause that they intend to terminate an employee’s

Recent Advances in Mechanical Micromachining Essay

Recent Advances in Mechanical Micromachining - Essay Example There are much considerations to be taken when machining small pieces due to the imperfections per unit volume that are due to the size effect of the work piece and the strain effect that is caused by the size effect during machining of the small pieces of work pieces (Dornfeld & Takeuchi, 2006). An example is energy dissipation that has been neglected or along time in micro machining that resulted to significant subsurface plastic flow to the shear zone under the machined surface. 2. One of the micro geometries created through micromachining is the fabrication of multi level mold inserts for micro molding of a microwave system. This involved combination of micromachining with deep etches X-ray lithography that resulted to creation of micro molds with features in the range of 60Â µm in height and 50Â µm wide. This portrayed the possibility of stacking several mold so high aspect ratio parts (Dornfeld & Takeuchi, 2006). 3. Micro tooling refers to using the correct tools in micromachining. The cutting edge of radius of a crystal sharpened diamond for example is on the order of 10nm and the depth of such a tool is in the submicron range. Micro tools are fabricated by ion beam process. An example is the gallium focused ion beam that generates a number of cutting edges and tool end clearance and machined surface with the same as eh diameter of the tool. The use of wire electric discharge grinding (WEDG) (Dornfeld & Takeuchi, 2006) is also common in tool fabrication. WEDG involves a sacrificial wire that replaces the turning tool in conventional turning. Material is then eroded from the rotating tool with electrical discharges. The sacrificial wire in this case is fed around a reel and takes up system that would prevent discharges from worn out regions and this increases the accuracy of the tool shape (Dornfeld & Takeuchi, 2006). Micro tools are usually made from tungsten wire due to

Customer relations Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Customer relations - Coursework Example Currently, evaluating HSBC operations in not only at its country of origin but also globally at this bank has established approximately 7,000 centers in 81 states, which is a tremendous transformation (Bentahar, 2013). However, HSBC despite reputed with the use of intricate and up to date technological knowhow, it ought to devise effective strategies towards maintaining high aggressive edge in the market. 1. CRM Platform at HSBC based on the Actors-Strategy and Tools HSBC’s platform comprises of segmentation approach evident from varied categories of clientele. These embrace both local and global customers whereby each category has varying distinct subcategories based on their respective needs like Premier group, which the bank has ensured a specialized team with an executive to cater for their varied financial needs. Mainly, this mode of segmentation is to ensure the bank avails effective and appropriate services to clients based on their needs. Hence, get feedback and act on it promptly, which is an essential strategy in every global firm aspiring to thrive in a competitive market. Mainly, diverse segmentations usually grant the bank an elevated platform whereby it is capable of knowing exactly clientele needs, hence use current technological knowhow as a tool in acting promptly. ... 2. Service/Sale Profile that fits with HSBC Where, ERP - Enterprise resource planning ODS – Operational Data Store CIF – Cost Insurance and Fleight 3. Recommendations meant to enhance CRM quality at HSBC HSBC in its quest to maintain high aggressive edge in the market, it ought to embrace fully current technology in all its aspects. These encompass initiating instant communication, which will enable clients irrespective of their locations globally interact with departments or bank’s sections of their interests. This is especially to make consultations and inquiries concerning varied issues pertaining to services offered by HSBC (Bentahar, 2013). Hence, act as a one-stop-shop whereby customers are capable of managing their finances as well as other services like insurances wherever they are instead of allocating time meant for physically visiting varied branches globally. I would also suggest the Bank to increase numerous and varied options for its clients. This i s because people have varied and numerous preferences when it comes to banking or managing their respective wealth. Because this will make HSBC be in a better position to beat all other players in the market by offering their respective clients more flexibility than other banks. Some options that may be appropriate to clients in availing adequate flexibility embrace, payment methods, delivery of parcels, online money transfers at considerable costs, and receiving of financial statements at predetermined intervals suggested by clients. Hence, prompt HSBC focus its attention in fulfilling clientele’s interests, which not only contribute to high customers’ retention rate but also attract others who may be seeking similar services. In addition, HSBC after implementing CRM

The spirit of 1968 politicised everyday life. Discuss Essay

The spirit of 1968 politicised everyday life. Discuss - Essay Example From the streets of First World cities like Memphis, London and Paris to Communist ones like Belgrade and Warsaw, protests, many of them violent, marked the year that was 1968. Civil right protesters, students and instructors, professionals, labour union groups, all trooped to the streets to denounce what they saw was imperialistic, oppressive, repressive and simply unjust status quo. In short, 1968 was simply a year of chaos and anarchy. The Guardian called it the ‘Year of the Revolt’ and that was not an exaggeration. The events of 1968 were in themselves overwhelming, but more so because media, principally television, brought the images of these events into the intimacy of homes. The spirit of 1968 succeeded in changing the world chiefly because it changed the everyday life of people. It empowered, it prodded and it inspired people to take stock of their political world and go out in the streets and have a say on how things are done, whether rightly or wrongly. It simply politicised everyday life. Students became a power to be reckoned with, rattling and changing government policies and perspectives. Students, professionals, and the working-class were all part of the rampaging social segments that made 1968 the year that changed the history of the world. To start with, 1968 was no ordinary year. The global scene was awash with arresting and dramatic political developments that would have naturally stirred attention and emotions. At the very first month of the year, the North Vietnamese Army and the Vietcong caught the Americans by surprise when they launched the Tet Offensive, so called because it was made on the 31st of January, which happened to be Tet Nguyen Dan or Vietnam’s first day of the year and its most important holiday. The Vietnam War that the US government was waging had previously already earned mounting protests at home and overseas because Americans felt it was not their war to fight and people abroad

First Crusade Military Perspectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

First Crusade Military Perspectives - Essay Example 72). At the beginning of 1113 A.C., Baldwin, the King of Jerusalem, raided into the seigniory of Damascus. Unable to oppose him single-handed, Toghtakin, the Lord of Damascus, invoked the assistance of Moudud of Mosul (Irwin 1998, p. 75). In July 1113 the combined forces of the Lords of Mosul, Damascus, Sinjar2, and Maridin marched into Palestine. In a battle near Tiberias, the Franks were routed with terrible loss, and a large number of them were drowned in the lake and in the Jordan. In June 11193 they were again defended at a place called al-Balat by Ilgazi, the Lord of Maridin. Even the Egyptians won some successes on the sea coast (p. 77). But the Crusaders had the whole of Europe at their back; the reinforcements which poured in for them from all parts of Christendom, the assasincation of Moudud, who was stabbed by a Batinia after the battle of Tiberias, and the division of the chiefs, all helped them to recover their grounds (p. 78). Sultan Muhammad died in 511 A.H., and this death was not without effect on the fortunes of the Muslims and Christians. He was succeeded in the over-lordship by his brother Sanjar, the last hero of a heroic race, and in the succession of his private dominions of his son Mahmud. In 516 A.H. Zangi obtained from Sultan Mahmud the city of Wasit as an appanage, and the post of Commissary4 at Basra. Four year later the government of Mosul and Upper Mesopotamia was conferred on him, with the title of Atabek ("Prince Tutor"5), and he was confirmed in this dignity by the letters patent of the Caliph (p. 80). In 1128 A.C., on the invitation of the people of Aleppo, who had suffered terribly from the depredations of the Crusaders6, he took possession of their city. Hamah followed the example of Aleppo (p. 81). The following year Zangi routed the Crusaders under the walls of al-Asarib, and captured the castle after a stout resistance. A short truce between Joscelin, the Count of Edessa, "the greatest demon of them all"7, enabled Zangi to take part in the inevitable civil was which broke out on the death of Sultan Mahmud (p. 85). Atabek Zangi did not long concern himself with the troubles in the East. His great work lay in Syria. The Crusaders were again in ferment; they had received large reinforcements from Europe, and had been joined by a Greek contingent under the personal command of the Emperor John Comnenus. They captured Buzaa, put the sword all the male inhabitants, and carried into captivity the women and children. They they marched upon Shaizar (Casarea), a day's journey from Hamah. The castle of Shaizar, the birthplace of Usamah8, was almost impregnable (Philip 2000). Usamah's works offer a mesmerizing counterpoint to Christian stories of their own conduct and the responses of their opponents. Actually, Usamah's amity with a number of the Franks set him aside to recover from revengeful insult, and his expressions on the inquisitive thoughts and behavior of the Franks remain a precious resource. Mystifying are the workings of the Maker, the Creator of everything! When one comes to relate cases about the Franks, he cannot but praised God

Taking a Closer Look at Thailands Free Trade Agreement Essay

Taking a Closer Look at Thailands Free Trade Agreement - Essay Example The term "free trade" has become very politically loaded, and it is not uncommon for so-called "free trade agreements" to impose additional trade restrictions. Such restrictions on trade are often due to domestic political pressure by powerful corporate, environmental or labor interest groups. Free trade agreements are a key element of customs unions and free trade areas. The details and differences of these agreements are covered in their respective articles (Wikipedia Website). The spate of Thailand's bilateral FTAs had sprung from its intense need to supply more markets for its own exports after the failure of the WTO negotiations in the Doha Development Round. For others, this represents a shift in the Thai trade policy from multilateralism that Thailand advocated for two decades since it became a GATT member in 1982. Either way, new challenges abound for all parties due to this recent policy change leaning towards bilateralism and regionalism instead of multilateralism (Chirathivat & Mallikamas, 2004 p. 37). Before this, Thailand already built bilateral and regional trade ties with a number of trading partners in Asia and the world. In further improving the nature of its FTA policy, there will be implications for the country since many businesses there are not broadly multilateral. With regards to the impact of the FTAs, costs and benefits, and adjustment mechanisms are still being scrutinized. However, the government is strongly determined to realize these alternative liberalization paths and incorporate it as an integral part of Thailand's new trade strategy. To elaborate more on Thailand's pivotal decision of adapting new strategies in its FTA, Chirathivat & Mallikamas (2004, p. 40) mentioned that the financial crisis of 1997-98 could be the main reason. Thailand and generally the East Asian region felt the need to promote closer economic co-operation. Although regionalism is regarded as the second-best policy, many countries have started to explore this alternative. The effect of competitive liberalization contributed in a way to the rise in regionalism worldwide and also in East Asia and Thailand. The advantages should maintain "competitive liberalization" that would open up favorable markets and ease the regulations within the group, which would put an outsider country in a possible unfavorable situation. As a result, foreign companies with a presence in Thailand are currently shifting strategy to take advantage of its FTAs. For instance, Toyota Motor Corp. is shipping manual transmissions for pickup trucks from India to Thailand, and sending Corolla knockdown kits back the other way for assembly in India. Both items benefit from the lower tariffs of the FTA and greatly help increase Toyota's price competitiveness (Nagao, 2005). In addition, Japan is pressuring Thailand to eliminate import tariffs on cars with 3000cc engines and luxury cars over 3000cc before the seven-year period offering by Thailand. It seems Japan wants to increase import quotas of Japanese cars by 1-3 per cent of total production in Thailand. In fact, Japan has warned Thailand that its proposal on luxury cars is the most important

The Effects on Cyberbullying Essay Example for Free

The Effects on Cyberbullying Essay Studies show that cyberbullying incidents have quadrupled in past five years (Ross). Cyberbullying has become a huge issue recently. Every time you turn on the news there is another bullying, or a suicide related to bullying, incident being reported. â€Å"Love is louder† has been a common phrase among celebrities and influential figures lately. They are trying to send out a message to their followers saying that bullying is not right and should not be tolerated. The growth of communication technologies is widening the way bully’s can torture their victims. The fact of the matter is, technology is not going anywhere, so we need to figure out a way to put an end to cyberbullies. Cyberbullying is becoming a major problem and we all need to do our parts in figuring out what can be done to stop cyberbullies in their tracks. Cyberbullies will continue to be a threat to today’s youth until we take preventive measures against them. Before putting a stop to cyberbullying we must understand why and how a cyberbully works. After researching and analyzing informative articles on the topic, this research paper aims to inform and answer questions such as: what a cyberbully is, how they work, whom they target, and how to stop them. By understanding how a cyberbully works we will be able to better protect youth populations as technology grows. Just about half of U. S. students are impacted by traditional bullying each school day (Ross). Cyberbullying is technology powered and as technology expands it is getting harder and harder to see and prevent bullying from happening. Bullying over the Internet makes it easy for the bully to get away with their destructive behavior without any consequences. The article, â€Å"What is Cyberbullying: Bullying Comes Home† states, â€Å"Bullying is not new but thanks to the Internet teens are now being bullied at home. Online harassment is a serious problem† (Hardcaslte). Although the Internet has opened many doors to new opportunities, it has unfortunately taken bullying to another level. As the article, â€Å"Cyber Bullying Facts† states, â€Å"as the number of households with Internet access approaches saturation and cell phone ownership expands to the 100 million mark, so do the ways kids bully each other† (Ross). Anything sent out into cyberspace is very difficult, sometimes impossible, to remove. Therefore, being cyberbullied can sometimes be much more severe than traditional bullying. Ann Frisen in he article, â€Å"Cyberbullying: A Growing Problem† states, â€Å"This type of bullying can be more serious than conventional bullying. At least with conventional bullying the victim is left alone on evenings and weekends† (ScienceDaily). What exactly is ‘cyberbulling’? The author of the article, â€Å"What is Cyberbullying: Bullying Comes Home† explains it as, â€Å"any harassment that occurs through the Internet† (Hardcastle). Cyber-bulling messages can be sent through text, e-mails, instant messaging, web pages, blogs, chat rooms, or any other information communication technologies. For example, Michigan’s assistant attorney general, who is a grown adult, has been harassing the University of Michigan’s openly gay student body president. Andrew Shirvell, assistant Michigan attorney general, created a blog in April of 2010 targeting Chris Armstrong, University of Michigan’s student body president. On this blog he has posted many rude, untrue, and unnecessary comments towards Chris Armstrong, along with distorted pictures. According to the article, â€Å"Assistant Michigan AG targets openly gay college student† the author states, â€Å"Shirvell has published blog posts that accuse Armstrong of engaging in ‘flagrant sexual promiscuity’ with another male member of the student government; sexually seducing and influencing ‘a previously conservative male student’ so much so that the student, according to Shirvell, ‘morphed into a proponent of the radical homosexual agenda’† (Steward). Mr. Shirvell is clearly a first-hand example of a cyber-bully and this article goes to show that it’s not just kids bullying each other in school anymore; it’s much bigger than that. There have been at least three teen suicides in September after experiencing homophobic cyber-bullying. Who are the main victims targeted by cyber-bullies? According to the article, â€Å"Cyber-bullying Facts† Middle school and High school girls are twice as likely as boys to display cyber-bullying behaviors in the form of email, text, and chat, and only 20% of cyber-bullying victims tell their parents about the incident (Ross). Cyber-bullies target students, coworkers, neighbors, and even friends. Lately, there have been many reports of suicides related to bullying. For example, the recent death of Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, is an extreme case of cyber-bullying. The article, â€Å"Rutgers student death: Has Digital Age made students callous† informs, â€Å"Mr. Clementi killed himself on September 22nd, 2010. According to prosecutors, a few days earlier his roommate, Dharun Ravi, and another student, Molley Wei, used a Web cam to secretly transmit images of a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man. They intended to do so again on September 21† (Khadaroo). With cyber-bullying a bully can pick on people with less risk of being caught. People who you would not see bullying someone in school don’t have a problem using the Internet to bully their victims because you can’t see their initial reaction. Bullying cannot only hurt the victim emotionally it can also cause them to have frequent headaches, indigestion and vomiting, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, paranoia, and suicide. In Tyler Clementi’s case he was so overwhelmed by what had been done to him that he jumped off of the George-Washington Bridge. It is important for college campuses to promote tolerance for differences, including homosexuality. From the article, â€Å"Rutgers student death: Has Digital Age made students callous† the author states, â€Å"We are tempted to think that social-media technology drove the behavior, but as a truly ethical matter, the behavior has to be and should be considered human-driven, not technology driven† (Foulkrod). Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania recently blocked the use of social media for a week to prompt discussions about its role in everyday life. Nobody wants to see this happen again; therefore, we need to come up with a solution to the problem. Some observers of today’s youth and media culture believe that today’s media environment could be desensitizing young people to the hurtful effects of their actions. What can be done to prevent cyber-bullying? Parents can start by talking specifically about cyber-bullying and explain that is harmful and unacceptable behavior. Talk regularly with your child about on-line activities he or she is involved in, keep your home computer in easily viewable places, such as a family room or kitchen, and consider installing a filtering or blocking system (Ross). Also, you can â€Å"outline your expectations for responsible online behavior and clearly explain the consequences for inappropriate behavior† (Ross). The most important thing that can be done to stop a cyber-bully harassing you is to just not respond to the bully. Do not play into the bully’s games. Ignore the bully and tell a parent or teacher. While ignoring the bullying make sure to save all of the evidence so that if police need to be involved you will have it ready. In the article, â€Å"What is Cyberbullying: Bullying Comes Home† states, â€Å"Repeated or excessive harassment via email, forums or chat rooms is harassment and should involve the police. Threats of violence should also be reported to the police. Try to save all messages as evidence† (Hardcastle). Treat a cyber-bully like you would any other bully and they will lose their power. Another important way to prevent cyber-bullying attacks is if you see something going on don’t just be a bystander and let it happen, report it before anyone gets hurt. In conclusion, with the expansion of the Internet and social networking technologies cyber-bullying is becoming more common and more severe. The information presented in this research paper should give people a better understanding of what a cyber-bully is, how harmful they can really be, and how to prevent cyber-bullying from happening. This paper can be used to help victims realize they are not alone and should not give into a bully’s dangerous behaviors. This research paper is to inform society about what has been going on lately and how unacceptable and dangerous it is. Kids are killing themselves over photos, web posts, and videos posted by bullies using the Internet. Cyber-bullying is technology powered and will only get worse as technology becomes more widespread. Hopefully, this paper will help to inform today’s youth and parents. If you see any kind of bullying happening in front of you, stop it if possible, and then report it.

A case study on Harley-Davidson.Com Essay Example for Free

A case study on Harley-Davidson.Com Essay I. Statement of the Problem Although Harley Davidson dominates the market in North America, it has been the smallest in Europe and the 4th in Asia/Pacific region which is dominated by Japanese brands. One reason for Harley’s smaller market share in Europe and Asia region is that the company cannot produce enough motorcycles to meet demand and its prices tend to be higher than competitive models. Shortages of Harleys lead many consumers to purchase competitive bikes as there are 2-year waiting lists for some Harley models. The researcher of this study seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is the best way to advertise or market Harleys in the Europe and Asia/Pacific region? 2. What improvements shall be done in Harley-davidson. com website? II. Objectives of the Study This study seeks the following objectives: to be able to understand the market share of Harley Davidson from the case study to determine which advertising is best for Harley Davidson in Europe and Asia to know whether the official website of Harley is good enough and competitive enough to give the best solution to increase market share and sales of Harley in Europe and Asia/Pacific region III. Scopes and Limitations of the Study. The study includes the current situation of Harley Davidson Company, the nature of the company, the background, its market share in different countries and the effect of its official website on consumer behavior. The study however, is limited with only secondary data available from the text and from the official websites of Harley and its competing brands. This study has recommendations and points of view that are based from my own perspectives and thinking as a marketing student. IV. Nature of The Research A. Harley Davidson Harley-Davidson, often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression. Harley-Davidson also survived a period of poor quality control and competition from Japanese manufacturers. The company sells heavyweight (over 750 cc) motorcycles designed for cruising on the highway. Harley-Davidson motorcycles (popularly known as Harleys) have a distinctive design and exhaust note. They are especially noted for the tradition of heavy customization that gave rise to the chopper-style of motorcycle. Except for the modern VRSC model family, current Harley-Davidson motorcycles reflect the styles of classic Harley designs. Harley-Davidsons attempts to establish itself in the light motorcycle market have met with limited success and have largely been abandoned since the 1978 sale of its Italian Aermacchi subsidiary. Harley-Davidson sustains a loyal brand community which keeps active through clubs, events, and a museum. Licensing of the Harley-Davidson logo accounts for almost 5% of the companys net revenue. B. Global Competitors Honda motorcycles, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha are some of the major competitors of Harley Davidson. C. Motorcycle Buyers The demographic profile of motorcycle buyers has changed over the years. According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, 61% of buyers are over 35 years old whereas in 1980, only 27% has reached this age. In 1980, only 2. 4% of motorcycle buyers had incomes of $50,000 or higher, whereas in 1998, over one third were in this income group. White-collar professionals are the largest group of new bike riders, accounting for 36%. Many are former riders now stepping up to their dream machines and state that motorcycle riding helps reduce stress in their lives. D. Motorcycle Company Websites. H. D. management believes that the Internet is a powerful marketing tool. Its website is affectionately called the â€Å"anti-websites† since it encourages visitors to get offline and onto their Harleys. The website includes detailed information on the company and its products. It has nearly 1. 5 million visitors in 1997 alone. V. Areas of Consideration A. Competition All of Harley’s major competitors have products other than motorcycles on their websites including cars (Honda, Suzuki, and BMW), outboard motors (Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki), and jet skis, snow mobile, boats, generators and power equipments. However, Harley’s website is devoted exclusively to motorcycle-related information about its products, experience and the company itself, including financial data. This may be a competitive advantage for Harley because it illustrates that the company is focused only in the motorcycle industry. B. Market Share The following table shows the market share of Harley and its global competitors in different regions: |COMPANY |NORTH AMERICA |EUROPE |ASIA/PACIFIC | |BMW |2. 70% |13. 40% |4. 30% | |HARLEY |48. 50% |6. 4 |15. 6 | |HONDA |20. 5 |24. 1 |28 | |KAWASAKI |10. 2 |10. 7 |22. 1 | |SUZUKI |10. 3 |17. 2 |7. 9 | |YAMAHA |4. 8 |16. 3 |16. 6 | |OTHERS |3 |11. 9 |5. 5 | VI. Alternative Courses of Action/Recommendation A. Harley Davidson should invest in Market Penetration in the regions where it is very sluggish. The company should supply enough units in the countries of Europe, Asia and the Pacific with competitive and affordable prices. B. The official website must be improved with good brand image through the use of better marketing colors and especially with cultural influences for Europe and Asia and not just for American consumers. VII. SWOT Analysis Recommendation: Market Penetration †¢ Strengths increase of market share in Europe and Asia availability of supplies in Europe and Asia more name recall increase of good brand image †¢ Weaknesses risky fast production of supplies for the regions is costly defects upon production are inevitable †¢ Opportunities H. D. may be the most popular brand of motorcycles in the world May and will conquer the highest/largest market share of Motorcycle Industry in the whole world †¢ Threats outcome may be negative sales may not meet expenses. production of supplies may be time-consuming VIII. Conclusion After carefully analyzing the case of Harley Davidson, the best solution I can give is to go on Market Penetration. Even if the company has already established its name and brand, most European and Asian countries still prefer those brands that are most available and affordable in their areas. One very relevant reason why H. D. has a small market share in these regions is its being expensive. While there are a lot of competitive brands mostly made from Asia, H. D. still has an edge and an advantage among these brands. Unlike the others, H. D. specializes on motorcycles alone and this may be a competitive advantage for Harley because it illustrates that the company is focused only in the motorcycle industry. The improvement of its website through the use of better colors and images might be a very good idea to increase sales and brand consciousness on consumers. But the best improvement for the website that I could suggest is to add cultural touches from Asian and European cultures. With that, consumers from all countries may be able to relate with the brand.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act Implementation

The Occupational Safety and Health Act Implementation Construction activities and work site is considered to be a high-risk occupation, with large number of fatalities and injuries every year, this inevitable truth suggests that having safety programs and procedures in construction sites is of great importance. Following the Occupational Safety and Health Act, safety planning in construction industry has improved significantly; Nowadays most of contractors have safety programs that is Adoption of attitudes and the provisions of resources within an organization to mitigate the risks involved in any activity necessary for the achievement of organizational aims (Osama Ahmed Jannadi, October 2003) and implement them on construction sites. Safety plans include specific elements which have been proven to be effective for a safety program in order to help reduce number of fatalities and injuries and make construction sites a less hazardous working environment. It is important to notice that only having a well written and comprehensive safety and health plan is not enough to have a safe and low-risk working environment, there are other elements that contribute to this goal. Factors such as how supportive is upper level management of a company towards the safety programs, Presence of a safety manager on site to direct implementation of safety plans, and selection of subcontractors that demonstrate a history of performing safe work, etc. are also important. Upper level management usually has an intention to see the components of work as cost; Risk and safety as a means to mitigate it also can be represented in numbers related to cost. Studies show that cost of accidents as a percent of total cost of construction has been in creasing in the past decades and it can be between 8 to 15 percent of total cost of a new construction that is a significant figure (Everett Peter B., Costs of Accidents and Injuries to Construction Industry, 1995). From a construction company perspective safety programs as a means of mitigating risk involved in the work should contain a subset of these elements that is found to be more relevant and effective to the companys type of work, this is usually done based on intuitive and experience of person/group in charge of providing the program. But recently there have been studies trying to use Risk Assessment Models (RAMs) (Osama Ahmed Jannadi, October 2003) or analytical research tools such as Delphi method (Hallowell Gambatese, 2009)in order to provide better understanding (for safety managers in construction) of important factors in a safety plan. In this paper different contributing and relevant elements and issues from a construction companys perspective are investigated. Safety regulations and standards were established formally in 1970 under Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) title 29, Chapter XVII Occupation Safety and Health act. The act is broken into different parts for different industries and part 1926 covers regulations related to construction. In addition to federal laws each state may provide its own regulations for construction activities under OSH act that is applied to construction work in that state. As of now every employer who works in Construction environment that is construction, repair, alternation, painting and decorations needs to comply with the regulations specified by part 1926. OSHA requirements for safety represent minimum standards for safety and the implication for any company is that if necessary take actions towards safety that are beyond OSHA regulations, for instance in a structural steel erection to comply with OSHA standards there is no need to provide fall protection at 6 feet but many companies feel the need to prov ide such personal protective equipment and measures for their employees at 6 feet, because they know that it will help provide a less hazardous work environment and reduce risk of falling for the workers. One example is Continental Building Systems that follows these beyond OSHA programs for fall protection or working near power lines (Continental Building Systems). As a construction company it is important to recognize hazards associated with any work and try to provide the best program in order to avoid it. It is often usual in construction work sites that different crews from different subcontractors work at the same working area with general contractors workers. For these Multi-Employer sites OSHA has certain rules and regulations effective from December 1999. It is important to note that in multi-employer sites if there is a hazardous condition that is a violation from OSHA standards, First role of each of employers in the site needs to be determined, By OSHA standards employers can be creating, exposing, correcting, or controlling the unsafe conditions; The definitions of each role is thoroughly described in OSHA regulations (OSHA Directive number CPL 2-0.124, (29 CFR OSHA 1926, 2009)). If an employer falls into any of these categories in a working site the responsibility is to take sufficient actions that meet OSHAs obligations. It is important for the General Contractors that are usually controlling employer in work sites to take reasonable actions in order to protect hazardous co nditions, but not as frequent as the specialty worker crews and subcontractors that are creating the hazard or exposing their employers to it. As a construction company who hires other subcontractor a major effort to lower the risks is to investigate history of the subcontractors and try to choose subcontractors that have well executed safety plans for their work. The later with respect to safety and lowering risks has two implications. First is the extent of experience that applicant has in the field of work he or she applying for, since experience helps the person to be more able to recognize and identify hazards and also to know the steps that are to be taken in order to mitigate risk and hazard. Second implication is to have a pre-employment testing for the applicant, the extent that a company wants to have applicants tested depends on many factors such as type of work, location of job site and its conditions, size of the employer, etc. and it may include Physical Examination and Laboratory Testing (Philip D Parks). For example one of the most critical Physical problems in construction is lifting heavy items and an employee should be able to lift or carry typical construction weights if it is in his responsibilities, injuries that can be aggravated or worsen due to lifting need to be diagnosed so that employee is not exposed to such condit ions, and reduce risk of injuries and probable compensation claims. Safety Training for Employees Employee training is an integral part of any safety program; Employees who are trained and have learned safe work practices are less likely to show hazardous behavior and subsequently will result in lower rate of incidents and injuries. It is important to note that for a training program to be effective, it needs to be based on a thorough analysis of the task and safe work practices. One of major issues in job-sites for host employer is to ensure that any person who is involved in the working zone is familiar with site-specific safety issues. For construction sites with multiple subcontractors, General contractor or host employer should require the subcontractors to train and explain their employees about the hazards associated in their work and safety measures that are required to perform the work in a safe and low risk manner. Daily briefing for employees on the work that needs to be done that day and safety issues related to it has been proven to be helpful in reducing risk of incidents (Hislop, 1999). OSHA provides training programs for private sectors through OSHA Training Institute (OTI) and also extends its training reach to workers through its various Outreach Training Programs. In these programs qualified individuals who have completed OSHA trainer course and are authorized to teach other students can teach workers 10-hour or 30-hour courses on construction safety. Nowadays numerous training programs are available for construction companies to train their employees with relatively low prices either online distance education or with instructors for a live class. This makes it more affordable to have frequent safety trainings for employees at one year intervals to make sure they are up to date with recent safety issues. Qualified and Competent Person On-Site A competent person is someone who, through training and/or experience, is knowledgeable of the various Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) standards that apply to their workplace, is capable of identifying workplace hazards relating to their specific operations, and has the authority invested in him or her by their employer to correct the hazards to protect workers. Therefore it is employers responsibility and based on employers judgment to determine who can be a competent person with needed skills and qualifications for a certain type of task. If a person has knowledge and experience in different construction tasks he or she can be a competent person in different types of tasks. Identifying causes of incidents include two major components; first is the Work Element that is act or condition that directly caused the incident, this direct cause needs to be identified quickly and be corrected. Second component is the Root Cause of the incident that is the failure in system that allowed the deficiencies to occur in the work element. Identifying root cause may need a more thorough investigation but seems necessary to avoid recurrence (Incident Investigation Process and Exercise). As a construction company after any incident the investigation needs to be done properly in order to identify working element and root causes of incidents and follow up on them to ensure they are corrected. Also it is important to identify any trend in incidents and accidents in job site. OSHA Recordkeeping Defined by OSHA 1904.1 all employers who are covered by OSH act have to keep OSHA injury and illness records unless they are exempt, a common exemption is for employers with 10 or less employees at any given time. Regulations require employers to keep record of fatalities, injuries, illnesses that meet certain criteria described in section 1904.4(A) by recording in log of work-related injuries and illnesses (Form 300) summary of the incident (Form 300A) and injuries and illnesses incident report (Form 301) (OSHA Record Keeping Handbook (OSHA 3245-01R), 2005). Recordable Incidents somewhat are based on companies policies, some companies may decide to record incidents that are not necessarily recordable based on OSHA regulations. This is proven to be a beneficial safety approach in order to identify trends and plan preventive safety measures (Davoudpour, 2010). Workers Compensation Workers compensation insurance was enacted in order to protect injured employees by providing medical care for any injury, and in many cases, monetary payments to compensate for resulting temporary or permanent disabilities. Construction companies are required to subscribe to insurance for workers compensation; but the premiums for construction industry is higher than most of other industries (Agarwal Everett, 1997), therefore it is an important cost issue to know how to reduce associated cost with workers compensation. The cost also varies in different states and trades and crafts. Suggested strategies in order to reduce cost of insurance are formation of industry groups for insurance and effective safety programs because cost of insurance is directly related to companys history of injuries and fatalities or in other words safety performance. There are several safety performance indicators but the most commonly used is Experience Modification Rate (EMR) as will be discussed, other safety evaluation criteria include Recordable Incident Rate (RIR), Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR), Workers Compensation Claims Frequency Indicator (WCCFI) among others (Hancher, Carza, Eckert, 1996). Researchers have recommended different strategies in order to manage the workers compensation and its cost; these strategies include education of employees and their representatives about workers compensations effects on business, contractors taking active role in interfacing with insurance companies and medical care providers, Modifying work for injured employees in order to keep them p roductive without risk of aggravating their injuries (Hancher, Carza, Eckert, 1996). Experience Modification Rate Experience Modification Rate is used to modify insurance premium for construction companies and is in essence an incentive for companies who have a history of performing safe and low risk as opposed to companies that have safety issues and more frequent injuries and fatalities. EMR is calculated using different parameters that include: actual primary losses (sum of costs below 5000$/injury), actual excess losses (sum of costs above 5000$/injury), weight (provided in state manuals), expected excess loss, expected losses and ballast. Sensitivity analysis shows that frequency of injuries and incidents has a greater impact on EMR compared to severity of injuries; Also EMR is noticeably reduced when hourly wages and total wages paid per year are increased (Hinze, Bren, Piepho, 1996). Understanding EMR and its impact on calculating workers compensation insurances cost will help employers and companies to manage and reduce associated cost and make use of incentives as much as possible. Also it is important to consider that the cost of a serious incident or a bad year will show up after 2 years because of the way EMR is calculated and be paid off over three years (Everett Thompson, Experience Modification Rating For Workers Compensation Insurance, 1995), so companies end up paying for their own losses over the time and with some delay, this can be a management and financing factor for companies in order to split this cost in their overhead for different projects in a long period. Main goal of elements discussed in this paper has been reduction of accidents and risk associated with it by using effective safety measures and programs. In reality an accident is inevitable and it has direct and indirect cost for the company these costs vary for insured and uninsured work. Main elements of costs for insured companies include direct costs workers compensation insurance, public liability insurance, and property insurance; and indirect costs such as loss of productivity, disruption of schedules, administrative time for investigation and report, training for replacement personnel (Everett Peter B., Costs of Accidents and Injuries to Construction Industry, 1995). On the other hand in uninsured cases costs include direct costs such as product and material damage, Legal costs, Fines, medical costs and indirect costs such as lost production time, investigation time/administration, supervisors time, loss of expertise/experience, loss of morale, and bad publicity. For examp le in construction of a supermarket that is a typical construction project an accident caused a total damage equal to 700000 Â £ (8.5% of project price), in this case uninsured total costs were 11 time more than insured costs that is a considerable amount and considering bad publicity for future work, insurance is the rational way of planning for accidents and damages (Higginson). Drug Testing Drug testing in workplace is gaining widespread acceptance in the construction industry in the past 3 decades. Due to high rates of alcohol and drug use between construction workers, and nature of construction work that is sensitive to safety issues and hazardous conditions can always be present drug testing and prevention strategies are parts of a safety plan for a safe work environment. As of 2000 about 50 percent of full-time workers are subject to some form of workplace drug testing, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As a construction company perspective, considering research results on this subject that shows that companies that use drug-testing methods for their employees experience a 51% reduction of incidents within 2 years of implementation and its significant effect in reduction of workers compensation experience modification rate, it is necessary to have drug-testing for new employees and periodical tests for workers. Indirect gains other than reduction in incidents and insurance costs is improving productivity of workers in a drug-free environment and also reducing absenteeism (Gerber George, 2001). Return to Work Policies Companies need a return to work policy for employees who have been injured to return them to employment as early as it is physically possible for the employee to continue work after the injury and the working conditions would not aggravate his or her injuries. In order to speed recovery and reduce insurance costs. In some cases, transitional temporary positions may be offered to the employee due to his or her conditions until full recovery. The job requirements should meet physicians restrictions, and the employee cannot return to his or her routine job without a release from the attending physician. Immigrants comprise an increasingly larger percentage of the total construction labor force in the United States, 2.4 million, or around 24 percent (US Census Bureau 2006), of workers are foreign born. Most of immigrant workers in construction are Hispanic, near 1.4 million (Center of Construction Research and Training 2002), with more than half of them being from Mexico (American Community Survey, PUMS 2004). Studies show that injuries and illnesses of Hispanic workers compared to other ethnicitys workers such as non-Hispanic whites and blacks are higher (Robinson, 1989). Therefore in order to have an effective safety program it is critical to consider non-English speaking workers, main factors affecting safety in job site for immigrant workers is lack of training in their mother tongue, communication problems with non-Hispanic workers especially in safety issues, and lack of understanding of safety signs and written procedures. Recent studies suggest increasing designers and engineers role in construction safety. Proposed elements to be considered in design include reviewing the designs to ensure that the designs provide a reasonable level of worker safety (since the design is usually governed by criteria such as cost or function)and creating design documents for safety such as providing points of anchorage for fall arrest systems or points of anchorage for scaffolding (Toole, 2005). In order to reach a safe design designer should become more knowledgeable in construction safety and with OSHA standards and stay current with safety issues (Richard J. Coble, 1999). Site-Layout can play an important role in safety in a construction job site. In crane operations safety protection against falling objects is required by OSHA, a further step is to plan site-layout to locate trailer and site offices and other high occupancy facilities out of the range of crane operations. Other element of safety in site-layout is location of storages for hazardous material such as explosives, toxic and flammable material or radioactive materials. Storages should be located in a manner that there is adequate separation between material or equipment that result in a hazardous combination, for example flammable material and power lines. Furthermore it is important in planning a site-layout to locate routes of equipment, vehicles and workers movement in a safe manner to reduce collisions especially at intersections (Rayes Khlafallah, 2005).

History of the United States :: Technology, Inventions

Over the year’s technology have affected America’s identity. It has been a simple life living without technology. However technology brought many positive things to America. Technology helped America to travel, trade, and gives the lasts news. Technology was good to America.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Living without technology was difficult. It was harder to get new around America because technology was so low. It was harder for the families to talk to each other or to even meet, because technology was invented yet. Not until telephones was invented that the communication in America started to increase. Also news from all over America can be reach through radios. It made people in America live an easier live with telephones and radios.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It wasn’t pleasant to live without light in the house. People in history had to light up candles to see in their houses. It was so inconvenience to lit the candles. In 1752 electricity was invented and it changed the Americans way of living. They were able to have light in the house without burning down their houses. Also it’s easier to have a light bulb then to light a candle. Electricity had a big impact on American lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As for traveling, it was awful because it would take them days to get to where they would need to go. However the railroad came along. It changed everything. People were able to import and export goods and travel farther put of their hometown. Railroad had really made a difference to the Americans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As years went by technology made it ways through. It changed and made the society a better and easier way of living. History of the United States :: Technology, Inventions Over the year’s technology have affected America’s identity. It has been a simple life living without technology. However technology brought many positive things to America. Technology helped America to travel, trade, and gives the lasts news. Technology was good to America.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Living without technology was difficult. It was harder to get new around America because technology was so low. It was harder for the families to talk to each other or to even meet, because technology was invented yet. Not until telephones was invented that the communication in America started to increase. Also news from all over America can be reach through radios. It made people in America live an easier live with telephones and radios.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It wasn’t pleasant to live without light in the house. People in history had to light up candles to see in their houses. It was so inconvenience to lit the candles. In 1752 electricity was invented and it changed the Americans way of living. They were able to have light in the house without burning down their houses. Also it’s easier to have a light bulb then to light a candle. Electricity had a big impact on American lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As for traveling, it was awful because it would take them days to get to where they would need to go. However the railroad came along. It changed everything. People were able to import and export goods and travel farther put of their hometown. Railroad had really made a difference to the Americans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As years went by technology made it ways through. It changed and made the society a better and easier way of living.

Latin America Essay -- essays research papers

Hisotry of Latin America History of the region from the pre-Columbian period and including colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese beginning in the 15th century, the 19th-century wars of independence, and developments to the end of World War II.Latin America is generally understood to consist of the entire continent of South America in addition to Mexico, Central America, and the islands of the Caribbean whose inhabitants speak a Romance language. The peoples of this large area shared the experience of conquest and colonization by the Spaniards and Portuguese from the late 15th through the 18th centuries as well as movements of independence from Spain and Portugal in the early 19th century. Even since independence, many of the various nations have experienced similar trends, and they have some awareness of a common heritage. However, there are also enormous differences between them. Not only do the people live in a large number of independent units, but the geography and climate of their countries vary im mensely, and their social and cultural characteristics differ according to the different constitution of the inhabitants before the Iberian conquest and the different timing and nature of European occupation. Since the Spanish and Portuguese element looms so large in the history region, it is sometimes proposed that Iberoamerica would be a better term than of the Latin America. Latin seems to suggest an equal importance of the French and Italian contributions, which is far from being the case. Nevertheless, usage has fastened on Latin America, and it is retained here. The independence of Latin America After three centuries of colonial rule, independence came rather suddenly to most of Spanish and Portuguese America. Between 1808 and 1826 all of Latin America except the Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico slipped out of the hands of the Iberian powers who had ruled the region since the conquest. The rapidity and timing of that dramatic change were the result of a combination of long-building tensions in colonial rule and a series of external events. The reforms imposed by the Spanish Bourbons in the 18th century provoked great instability in the relations between the rulers and their colonial subjects in the Americas. Many Creoles (those of Spanish parentage but who were born in America) felt Bourbon policy to be an unfair attack on their wealth, po... ...ts was slow to appear in Latin America. Brazil was the most successful, selling automobiles and automotive parts mainly to other developing countries but at times even to the industrialized world. A slightly less satisfactory alternative was the setting up of plants to assemble imported parts into consumer goods that were immediately exported, thus taking advantage of Latin America's low labour costs. Such plants proliferated along Mexico's northern border (where they were known as maquiladoras) but sprang up also in Central America and around the Caribbean. In other instances Latin Americans tried to develop new ("nontraditional") primary commodity exports. Colombian cut flowers were a highly successful example of the latter, promoted from the late 1960s through special incentives such as tax rebates; Colombia became the world's second leading flower exporter. It also assumed a leading role in the illicit narcotics trade. It enjoyed a brief boom of marijuana exports in the 1970s and in the following decade became the world's leading supplier of cocaine, which was processed in clandestine Colombian laboratories from coca leaf paste mostly originating in Bolivia and Peru.

Emergence of Women in the Great Gatsby :: F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Emergence of women and the decline of male dominance in the 1920’s During the 1920’s, the role women had under men was making a drastic change, and it is shown in The Great Gatsby by two of the main female characters: Daisy and Jordan. One was domesticated and immobile while the other was not. Both of them portray different and important characteristics of the normal woman growing up in the 1920’s. The image of the woman was changing along with morals. Females began to challenge the government and the society. Things like this upset people, especially the men. The men were upset because this showed that they were losing their long-term dominance over the female society. Daisy is in a relationship where she is unhappy. Not only is she unhappy, she is immobile and has no say in just about anything that goes on. Relationships in the 1920’s were just like this scenario. Women were dominated by their husbands and unhappy. They were objects that were to be domesticated and be under the command of â€Å"the man†. It was during this time that woman were starting to take a stand and be in charge. They were done with standing on the sidelines while their husband had reign over their lives. In the beginning of the twenties a change was made. On August 18, 1920 the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote. This gave women the chance to have a voice in the government. In 1922 Nellie Tayloe Ross, the nations first female governor, was elected in Wyoming. Giving women the right to vote was the first step to helping them emerge from out of the shadows of a male dominated society. Daisy wanted to drive Gatsby’s car and was cheating on Tom. Jordan was a golf champion. It was usual for the men to be dishonest to their spouses, but not for women. A thing like driving cars was a â€Å"mans thing to do†. Also there were certain sports that women just weren’t supposed to play. Along with the emergence into society, came a new set of morals. Women were beginning to think and act for themselves. They changed the man made stereotypes that they had been brought up to think, into something brand new. â€Å"Never had a drink before, but oh how I do enjoy it†(Gatsby pg.