The Social Justice Issue Of Poverty - 963 Words

RESEARCH THE SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUE What is it: Many describe poverty as an economic deprivation, or lack of income. However, this alone does not incorporate the different social, cultural and political aspects of this unfortunate reality. Poverty is not only a deprivation of economic or material resources but a violation of human dignity. The general scarcity, lack, or the state of one without a specific amount of material possessions or money. It is a versatile concept that may be defined as either absolute or relative. Time and again, poverty is a call to action, for the poor and the wealthy alike, it is a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities. How is it Impacting on that society? Although many people do not realize this, poverty has a great impact on out society. The rapid increase of death rate, crime rate, and environmental destruction have everything to do with the horrible state of poverty. These problems are booming all over our society today causing many speculations, but the reason many just be clear and simple. Poverty. As our world settles for more poverty more and more complications are created, starting with the increasing death rate. As families get poor, it is difficult to sustain a livable life while taking care of others. They begin to die without adequate water and food, while bringingShow MoreRelatedThe Social Justice Issue Of Poverty1890 Words   |  8 PagesAs an advocate for social change, I chose to focus on the Social Justice issue of poverty. I realize that the issue of poverty is a critical and very sensitive area because so many residents of low-income status are faced with reality of living in an unfortunate and rather disadvantaged financial situation. Those whom struggle with being effected by poverty are also faced with having limited availability to resources as well as power and a sense of security because of deprivation of privilege. FromRead MoreSocial Justice Is More than a Definition 1189 Words   |  5 Pagespermanently with just one meaning, Social Justice definition goes beyond what it states. The dictionary’s defines Social Justice as â€Å"the ability people have to realize their potential in the society where they live.† However, Social Justice and what it entails for people who are interested in learning about it, and practicing it would have to dig even deeper to have a better understanding. According to Christopher Merret’s Social Justice: What Is It, Why Teach It? Social Justice â€Å"can be defined in termsRead MoreCriminal Justice: the Right Job for You Essay787 Words   |  4 PagesUnit 7: Criminal Justice: The Right Job for You I am going to be talking about 3 key social issues contributing to the need for criminal justice practitioners and providing examples for each issue. I will also be explaining the role of the criminal justice professional in serving individual and societal needs. Lastly I will explain how key social issues impact the role of the criminal justice professional and provide 2-3 examples to support my position. One key social issue contributing toRead MoreWhat Does Human Justice And Injustice Look Like?1318 Words   |  6 PagesBefore answering the question of â€Å"What does human justice and injustice look like?†, we ought to firstly define the two words. First we give an informal, contemporary definition of the words. The word justice can be defined as being treated with fairness or fair behavior, the word justice is also commonly linked with peace and good. On the other hand, the word injustice can be defined as the opposite of justice and absence of fairness and justice. Theses two words are commonly linked and correspondsRead MorePoverty And Exclusion From Accessing Quality Education812 Words   |  4 PagesPoverty and Exclusion From Accessing Quality Education Poverty, which is a barrier to quality educational attainment for the marginalized children, is a high leveraged problem of practice that needs attention. Poverty is beyond financial scarcity, as it leads to the inability to contribute in the public production (UNESCO, 2009 Arbour, 2006). Lack of enough education implies â€Å"poverty.† Poverty deprives human dignity, excludes the poor from fundamental human rights including freedom. It createsRead MoreSocial Justice and Ending Poverty Essay1044 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Justice is about making society function better – providing the support and tools to help turn lives around. This is a challenging new approach to dealing with poverty in all its forms. It is not about income poverty alone.(SJS) Throughout this essay I will explore why Poverty is a primary issue when striving for Social Justice and how, we as professionals, can attempt to overcome this by working together to achieve a fairer more just society. So cial Work, Primary Education and Community LearningRead MoreSocial Workers Code Of Ethics1110 Words   |  5 PagesSocial worker’s code of ethics â€Å"is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty† (NASW Code of Ethics). In the lobbying days with social workers, we introduced three bills that are very important in our community, mainly our most vulnerable population whose power has been taken away by the superior groups. Unfortunately, many of this bills and lawsRead MoreSocial Justice1736 Words   |  7 PagesQuestion ‘Social justice ... is neither the exclusive terrain of social welfare nor of crime control. Indeed, the boundaries between these two domains tend to be mobile and porous’ (Book  1,  Social Justice: Welfare, Crime and Society, p. 168). Explain and illustrate this with reference to examples drawn from at least  two  chapters from Book  1. According to Newman amp; Yeates (2008) Social Justice is a device that can be called upon to challenge particular forms of inequality or unfairness andRead MoreAnalysis of the SNAP Program Essay1512 Words   |  7 Pageslarger issue: poverty. SNAP has assisted over 46 million Americans living in poverty. In 2007, the United States experienced a major economic downturn. This caused unemployment rates to increase. These unemployment rates lead to an increase in poverty. Nearly fifteen percent of Americans were living in poverty at this time. While SNAP has proved to be a very beneficial program, it has not yet addressed the larger issue of poverty. There are still millions of Americans living in poverty thatRead MoreThe Systemic Symptoms Of Poverty Americans Essay1533 Words   |  7 Pagesfamilies live below or at the poverty threshold in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). At 15.7 percent, the nation’s poverty rate has steadily increased since the early 1970à ¢â‚¬â„¢s. According to sociologist Mark Rank, â€Å"nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 60 will experience at least one year below the official poverty line during that period and 54 percent will spend a year in poverty or near poverty† (Rank, 2013, p#). The systemic symptoms of poverty Americans experience have

Matthew Best Course Culminating Activity - 500 Words

Matthew Best Course Culminating Activity May-22-14 â€Å"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men,† quoting historian Lord Acton. Before reading the quote, I never noticed the relationship between power and corruption in the real world. I thought of power as a form of recognition for hard work, that in turn is a positive outcome. After putting some thought into it, I realized my mistake Power is the ability to make people say and/or do things. It is the ability to get whatever you want. Power is necessary in any society, otherwise all would break loose; leaders must be established. When taken to an extreme, power is†¦show more content†¦even books from libraries or stores, were not respected. The Bush administration has got away with so much because its been controlled by Republicans, and his brainwashing about the War on Terrorism. Congress did not stand up to the Bush administration and allowed them to take a huge amount of power away from Congress. Bush was scaring the citizens about the terror attacks in New York, and using the attacks as a reason to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush fed off the fear of Americans, Bush had the power to wiretap anyone suspected of being a terrorist, but the people who determine a person is a terrorist is the Bush administration, giving him the power to make anyone who went against Bush a terrorist. Bush could claim that a person is a suspected terrorist and wiretap their house and search it in secret as well. The threat of another terrorist attack is always great, but ever since 9/11, people have been aware of their surroundings. The agencies in charge of terrorist plots are doing their jobs much better, so the Patriot Act was just a way to have more power, and not be subject to any check in power. I feel that former President Bush had too much power over the citizens, and took many peoples civil rights away. Watergate wasnot only about the wiretapping of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters, but abusing power. Bush had more power than anyShow MoreRelatedSpiritual Formation Across the Lifespan Essay7723 Words   |  31 Pagesspiritual beliefs might be explored in a practice course. One aspect of the growing self-awareness of social work students might be focused on their personal faith or spiritual experiences, including awareness of their own beliefs, and the 145 146 Hope Haslam Straughan impact of these on the people and their environments with which students will interact. Finally, one might argue that spiritual development content must be included in a course in which community is considered, as many religiousRead MoreThe Role of Women in Japanese Society Essay4821 Words   |  20 Pagesissued in 1637 by the ruler of Japan that closed off Japan to the rest the world as it became a closed country, nobody out, nobody in. Thus Japan became as a time capsule; a time capsule that would not be opened until 1853 with the arrival Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States. This opening then forced Japan into the modern world. This forced entry into the modern world left Japan with a societal structure, which appeared backward and feudal to the western world, which was barely discernable fromRead MoreInsight to Coach Carter Film7710 Words   |  31 Pagesschool basketball takes more than skill, perseverance, discipline and teamwork – especially when you play for Coach Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson). 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The new Google and Starbucks cases should arouse keen student interest, and may even inspire another generation of entrepreneurs. A fair number of the older cases have faced significant changes in the last few years, for better or for worse

Why Marjane Satrapi Graphic Form Free Essays

Why Marjane Satrapi chose to tell her story Persepolis in the graphic form The graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was written in the graphic medium to appeal to a wider audience. Literary critic, Manuela Constantino, proposes that â€Å"the combination of a visual representation and a child’s point of view makes the story easily accessible and therefore attracts a wide range of readers. † (Constantino, 2008: 2) Another plausible reason for Satrapi’s choice to do the novel in this medium is the apparent popularity graphic novels enjoyed at the point of the memoir’s publication. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Marjane Satrapi Graphic Form or any similar topic only for you Order Now Writing the novel graphically, brings the Middle Eastern novel closer to its Western readers. As Constantino wrote; Satrapi emphasizes â€Å"the universal qualities of her child narrator and the details of her experiences that would be familiar to her Western readers. † (Constantino, 2008: 2) Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi in the graphic form deems effective because it is written in a form that is recognizable to her target readers, written in somewhat a ‘universal’ language. Satrapi chose to tell her story in the graphic form to better connect with her readers. It is apparent that Satrapi’s targeted audience are mainly Western Christians. Over forty percent of the world’s population who practice a religion are Christians. The religious stature of the main characters made the novel accessible to its non Muslim readers. Being able to observe Christians in a predominantly Islamic country, opens a window to a life Satrapi’s readers could only dare to imagine. A world where u are told what to believe and what to think. It is therefore logical to target the sensitive majority of the population to educate about the Iranian political struggle and to get her story across. The novel in itself is about driving away the West from the conservative Iranian nation. Driving away the things her targeted readers consider their norm. Westerners and others around the world try to â€Å"seek insight into a country and a nation that have been deemed â€Å"evil† and an imminent threat to Western society. † (Malek, 2006: 10) To aid the West in its quest to â€Å"seek insight† into the nation of Iran, Satrapi wrote the novel in a medium that is very closely related to and very familiar in the Western culture. As demonstrated in: â€Å"†¦ They found records and videocassettes at their place, a deck of cards, a chess set. In other words, everything that’s banned. The scene leads the reader to feel unwanted and driven off alongside Marji, an Iranian who embraces the reader’s culture as demonstrated in page one hundred and twenty six , from her Iranian world. The reader and Marji form a special bond – they become a unit. This common ground builds a stronger connection between Marji and the reader leading the au dience to feel a stronger form of empathy towards the child, as they are now part of the cultural issue. Satrapi also chose to relate socio-political issues, conflict and loss to Arabic writing; as demonstrated in page eighty seven, in the panel where in two women are arguing. Satrapi, 2003) Their banter is written in a language unfamiliar to her targeted readers leading the reader to classify fighting and arguments as foreign and that the very presence of these women and their conflict is alienating. Another instance is when Pardisse reads her letter to her dead father, a letter written in the same foreign writing – grief is then related to this alien language. (Satrapi, 2003: 86) And on page one hundred and thirty two, in the panel where The Guardians of the Revolution (women’s branch) were introduced, one will observe the same unreadable writing resembling Arabic on their vehicle. Satrapi, 2003) Her use of all these subtle details in the graphic aspect of the novel adds to the effectiveness of the medium in that it forces the reader to lose all sense of familiarity with the antagonistic characters. The visual aspect of this novel aided in Satrapi’s depiction of Marji as someone who embraces the western culture, the reader’s culture, with the familiar images of Nike sneakers, jeans, jean jackets, and chocolates, as well as Kim Wilde and Iron Maiden songs. (Satrapi, 2003: 126) This brings another dimension to the relationship between Marji and her readers. Writing the novel in graphic form brings the Middle Eastern graphic novel closer to its Western neighbours because it is in a medium that is recognizable in the West. In addition, Satrapi’s depiction of Muslim leaders as â€Å"uneducated, primitive, and narrow-minded brutes† strengthens her connection with her Western readers whose perception of Muslim extremists might indeed be quite similar to the one crafted in the autobiography. (Constantino, 2008: 4) The novel Persepolis is effective because it was written to please a specific type of community. It uses language and cultural barriers in the illustrations and text to further separate the reader from the antagonists. â€Å"Satrapi’s Persepolis appeared, significantly, at a time when memoirs have been experiencing a great surge of popularity. † (Malek, 2006: 8) The time of the publication of the memoir deemed critical to its success. It was published around the time where graphic novels were coined â€Å"the most important narrative mode of our contemporary culture. † (Miller, 2000: 421) It shared the lime light with other graphic novels, the likes of Craig Thompson’s â€Å"Blankets† and Joe Sacco’s â€Å"The Fixer†. Time, 2003) Satrapi chose the perfect time to debut her graphic memoir as she was able to ride ‘the literary high’ comics were experiencing at that point in time. A probable reason why Satrapi chose to tell her story in the graphic medium is the effectiveness and popularity of graphic novels at the point of the novel’s publication. Writing the novel in graphic form and through the eyes of a child allows the issue to be digested with fewer objections by the reader. The novel written through the eyes of a child makes it easier for the reader to comprehend the situation. It gives the story a comedic approach to a devastating period in Iranian history. â€Å"Readers of all ages can identify with the child, feel for her, and learn with her about the complexities of national and international politics. †(Constantino, 2003: 4) The connection shared between Marji and the reader strengthens their bond and heightens the effectiveness of the story. It is a medium closely related to fun. Writing the novel in graphic form ‘dumbs down’ the brutality of the whole situation. A frame on page fifty two illustrates Ahmadi’s gruesome fate in prison: chopped into several pieces. Satrapi, 2003) Another panel depicting the same kind of ‘turned down’ brutality is a scene on page seventy six where a woman is being stabbed on the leg. These otherwise gruesome scenes can be better understood because the reader can look at it, take it as it is, and envy the child’s innocence and simplistic thought process. Constantino adds: â₠¬Å"The text is easily accessible and seemingly transparent. It makes many people feel that they are educating themselves while they are being entertained. † Although the text might seem, in a way due to its graphic medium, juvenile, its purpose is to educate and tell an ‘untold story. Some might argue that depicting critical situations such as the Islamic Revolution in a form of graphic medium takes away the severity of the circumstances however; it can definitely be counter argued by the undeniable phrase ‘it’s so simple it works. ’ The visual element allows her to include the offstage action as part of the main narrative flow. Instead of having to impart information as separate incidents, where its impact is reduced by removing it from the context of the story, we see things as they happen, increasing the emotional mpact of the moment. The directness of her work allows her to do two things excellently: to distinguish between individuals easily with just small strokes of the pen and make her depiction of horrors, death, torture, and anguish, emotionally realistic without being graphic or gruesome. Perse polis was written in the graphic form to create a stronger connection with the material and its readers. Persepolis is a powerful story about a person’s struggle for self identity. The different occurrences in Marji’s life that define her for who she is was written in the graphic medium to make it easier for her audience to connect with her as people in search of who they are. Writing the novel in graphic form offers a sense of familiarity with Satrapi’s targeted Western audience. It brings the unfamiliar Iranian world, issues and their traditions closer to the West’s classification of ‘normal’. It uses religion (specifically Christianity) in illustration and text to even deepen the connection between Marji and her audience. It forms a common ground, a sense of belonging to the same movement. It is also plausible that one of the reasons why the novel was written in the graphic form was to ride the growing popularity of comics at that particular point in time. Publishing the graphic novel to a community who openly accept comics as a form of sophisticated literature presented an opportunity for the novel to succeed. And lastly, it was written in graphic text to make it easier for the reader to comprehend the situation as these instances don’t usually happen to her targeted Western audience. It makes watching people die a little bit more bearable as it is depicted in a way that a child might perceive death. Satrapi choosing to tell her story in the form of a graphic novel not only shows us how far that medium has come as a means of expression, but allows us a glimpse into a world that few of us know anything about. Word Count: 1707 Citation Arnold, Andrew. â€Å"The Best and Worst: 2003. † Time. November 13 2010. Website. ;lt; http://www. time. com/time/bestandworst/2003/comics. html;gt; Malek, Amy. â€Å"Memoir as Iranian Exile Cultural Production: A Case Study of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis Series. † Iranian Studies: Journal of the International Society for Iranian Studies 39. 3 (2006): 353-380. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. Print. Manuela Costantino. â€Å"Marji: Popular Commix Heroine Breathing Life into the Writing of History. † Canadian Review of American Studies 38. 3 (2008): 429-447. Project MUSE. Cameron Library, Edmonton, AB. 17 Aug. 2010. Website. ;lt;http://muse. jhu. edu/;gt; Nancy Miller, â€Å"But Enough About Me, What Do You Think of My Memoir? † Yale Journal of Criticism 13, no. 2 (2000): 421. Print. Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Pantheon Books. 2003. Print â€Å"World Religions. † The World Almana c and Book of Facts  ©2010. 2010. Print. How to cite Why Marjane Satrapi Graphic Form, Papers

Pibrex Russia free essay sample

Then plant lacks a strong organisational culture; communications within and between departments are poor; there is inequity between in wages, working conditions and training and problems with motivation and employees is prevalent. Pibrex International is losing interest in the Russian operation and two sub-cultures exist within the Pibrex Russian organisation. The new General Manager, Elena Michasilova must develop an action plan that can turn the operations around to breakeven point by the year 2000 at minimal cost to the company. This report outlines to Elena Michailova considers both the external environmental (Political, economicsocial and organisation factors affecting Pibrex Russia and analyses why the plants are underperforming in a difficult economic environment and outlines four different unique strategies retrenchment, price leadership, quality leadership and export orientation) makes recommendations that Elena Michailova can implement to overcome the numerous organizational and financial challenges that the company faces.It establishes a viable export orientate strategy and industry leading restructuring programme, called Challenge 2000 that Elena can quickly implement to overcome these challenges she faces managing Pibrex Russia at minimal cost to the company. Implementation of both will lead Pibrex back to profitability by the year 2000 This report illustrates what the management team has done to begin a turnaround of the firm and the problems that remain. In particular, the company must reassess its management strategies and take steps to masintain its competitive positionIntroduction: This report considers both the external environmental and organisation factors affecting Pibrex Russia and analyses why the plants are underperforming in a difficult economic environment and makes recommendations that Elena Michailova can implement to overcome the numerous organizational and financial challenges that the company faces. It establishes a viable strategy and industry leading restructuring programme, called Challenge 2000 that Elena can quickly implement to overcome these challenges at minimal cost to the company.Background. Pibrex is one of the world’s largest producers of petrochemical based polymers for the plastics market. The company has purchased a plant in Russia and after three years of serious operating losses and has appointed a new general manager of the plant. The plant lacks a strong organisational culture; communicatio ns within and between departments are poor; inequity in wages, working conditions, and training exist but motivation and retention problems are prevalent.Pibrex headquarters is losing interest in the Russian operation and two sub-cultures exist with Pibrex Russian organisation. Two subcultures exist within the company because there is two separate manufacturing plants. The first plant is Pibrex KAZ, which is one the site of the original plant in Kalingrad. The other plant is the recently purchased (1993) Pibrex KZ plant which is just outside Moscow. In addition Pibrex opened a sales and marketing office in St Petersburg (called Pibrex AO) and a head office in the capital city of Moscow (called Pibrex Russia).In contrast to the two manufacturing facilities Pibrex AO and Pibrex Russia were staffed with people from Pibrex’s other overseas operations and enthusiastic young graduates such as Elena. In 1994 Pibrex KAZ, Pibrex KZ, Pibrex A) and Pibrex Russia were grouped together into Pixbrex Region Europe North. However, within Pibrex’s decentralized governance structure, the regional subsidiaries were able to decisions autonomously In 1997 the management of PREN Europe North took steps to stem the losses at Pibrex KZ. Pibrex Russia was shut down and the sales and marketing department merged with Pibrex KZ. At Pibrex KZ over half the production workers were laid off and prices were raised to increased margins, but this only had the effect of eroding sales even further. A macroeconomic shock came in the form of the Russian Financial Crisis (RFC). This preceded the Global Financial Crisis. As a result of the RFC, Pibrex’s sales slipped even further and management was now fully involved in crisis management with the ultimate goal being survival.Whereas in the past Pibrex had relied on a decentralized governance structure, on this occasion, Pibrex formed a â€Å"steering committee† to direct strategy in its Russian operations. The steering committee reassigned Elena as the new Financial Controller and asked her to perform a financial audit on all of Pibrex’s Russian operations. They also decided to concentrate on reducing costs and increasing profits wherever possible. Sales activity was limited to only the largest and most profitable of customers. Also, the steering committee took various steps to control all finances as well as reduce all expenditures.The steering committee as Elena to serve as Managing Director and Financial Controller of all Pibrex’s Russian operations pending a submission of a full set of key issues facing Pibrex and a clear set of recommendation on Pibrex with the view to reaching breakeven point by 2000. This is that set of recommendations. Identification of Key Issues and Challenges. Pibrex Russia is faced with a multitude of problems and challenges that it needs to deal with as it progresses through 1988 and 1999, if it is to break even by the year 2000. ?The following is a synopsis of the most critical issues a)The Financial Situation in Russia Pibrex Russia faces very challenging external factors that make for a very difficult external environment as a result of the Russian financial crisis The unstable financial situation bought about by the RFC means that Pibrex Russia is strugging to increase its revenues and reduce its costs due to rampant inflation; a dramatically devalued Russian currency, the ruble; the evodus of foreign investment funds; the financial collapse of many Russian small to medium enterprises, multiple bank faces and an increasing unskilled, unmotivated and cynical workforce.This unstable financial situation means that Pibrex’s costs (particularly of raw materials) is going up and increasing company failures will mean it will be more difficult to make sales. It will have difficulty finding plant finance and to attract and retain employees with the right skills. (b)Difficulties in the Internal Operating / Accounting Environment. The internal operating environment of the company also seemed very chaotic, like the external environment. There was a lack of internal accounting controls, which I assume would eventually impede the dire to drive down costs and increase revenues c)Difficulties in the Legal / Regulatory Environment. Since reentering Russian in 1992, the Russian government has imposed a number of operating conditions on PR that undoubtedly prevent PR from operating at optimal efficiency. Russian law required each of Pibrex’s subsidiaries to maintain separate bank account and pay local taxes (p125). There were also many other bureaucratic hassles (d)Difficulties with Organisational Issues. Organisational obstacles included PR never being legally registered as the Russian mother company.The Russian subsidiaries were opened at different times and were therefore registered as different entities. Also the distance between the subsidiaries were substantial leading to taxation constraints. (e)Difficulties with Old and Poorly Maintained Plant and Buildings. The old plant and poorly maintained and buildings reduces the effectiveness of production, potentially creates health and safety concerns for the workers but more than that, it severely affects the morale of the workers who see it as ineptitude on the part of management and indicative of how they value the production workers. f)Poor Management and Employee Relations There are old and deeply held resentments between factory workers and middle management whom the factory workers believe â€Å"stole† the workers share of the company when privatization. This resentment has never gone away. The workers were also deeply resentful of the dual wage structure whereby sales and management staff who were transferred Pibrex AO (the Moscow sales and marketing office were given shiny new facilities while the production workers had to work in cold and outdated factories. (g)Cultural Conflict within Pibrex RussiaIn my opinion the main problem facing Pibrex is the cultural conflict between the factory workers and the company’s management. There are many subcultures at play within Pibrex Russia. This arises because Pibrex Russia itself is a merger between the old Pibrex Russia, Pibrex AO, Pibrex KZ and Pibrex KAZ. As a result of being part of the old Soviet Russia there is a rigid, bureaucratic and authorita rian culture which affects the production workers, and management. Characteristics of this culture included strong power distance, adherence to authority, belief in hierarchy, clear lines of communication, and strong uncertainty avoidance.Under this environment top managers did not delegate, middle managers did not make the decisions that they need to, whereas production workers looked for clear direction. This authoritarian culture was a complete contrast to, and did not fit well with Pibrex’s usual practice of decentralization and delegation. The highly complex and decentralized structure of PREN (Pibrex Region North Europe) which involved two business areas and four functions did not fit with this traditional, authoritarian culture at Pibrex KZ which favoured a more straightforward bureaucratic structure.After the Merger between Pibrex AO and Pibrex KZ there was a definite cultural conflict between the younger, more urban, more entrepreneurial sales and marketing staff from Moscow and the older established production staff and establis hed management staff from Pibrex KZ. (h)International Management losing Interest in Pibrex Russia As a result of all of the above problems listed above, it seems that Pibrex in Gothenburg seems to have lost patience with Pibrex Russia. Accordingly, Pibrex Gothenburg has a firm directive that it wants its Russian operations to return to profitability by 2000. General External Environmental Analysis Pibrex Russa is in the Russian plasticsand chemicals industry. Polymers and resins produced by Pibrex Russia are found in a large number of different Russian industries including packaging, construction equipment, furniture and consumer goods. It was expected that demand for Pibrex’s resins and polymers would remain strong as a result of the need to rebuild Russia’s infrastructure (after the fall of Communism) and to supply the Russian military. Although there were numerous overseas competitors, none of them had established themselves in Russia.Also, there was a strong research and development base In Russia for the development of resins and polymers In late 1990s the external environment in Russia is influenced by the downfall of communism and the RFC. The environment, particularly financial, was characterized by instability and unpredictability. This instability can be traced back to the soviet reforms of â€Å"Glasnost† and â€Å"Perestroika. † Russia embraced a programme of rapid economic reform and liberalization which involved removal of financial regulations and freeing up the Russian financial system.Largely, this prgramme of financial and economic reform was not successful and this, in my opinion was one of the main factors leading to the RFC. There was also contagion from the Asian Financial Crisis. The RFC resulted in a currency devaluation , bank and company failures the collapse of the Russian stockmarket, the exit of foreign investment and this lead to a â€Å"black market† economy. Chaos in Russia was not limited to the economy. There was extensive political and social instability as well. The post soviet government was still establishing itself. On a social level this economic and political upheaval led to many social ills and discontent e. g. increased alcoholism. S. W. O. T Analysis A S. W. O. T analysis Strengths A key strength that Pribex has is it’s relationship with its parent company. This relationship is important because Pribex can leverage of the parent company’s international reputation, tacit knowledge, its existing supplier relationships, their research and development facilities and manufacturing processes as well as its customer service and safety standards.Additionally I believe the parent company may be able to provide Pibrex Russia with financial backing, which is particularly important given the financial and economic environment described above. Pribex AO is a strength to Pribex Russia. Their culture is not as divided and its staff and highly trained and motivated. Additionally it is where Elena has come from so it has a history of effective management. Elena herself is a critical strength to the company.She is one of the key managers and is materially contributing to the fdinacial well being of the company. Weaknesses As mentioned before the company, the company has a number of operational weaknesses. The major one is the conflicts that arise in the various subcultures of the company but there are other weaknsses as well such as ineffective financial controls over revenues and costs, poor relations between management and employees generally, a divisive dual wage system and a absence of top management support.The two factories Pibrex KZ and Pibrex KAZ old, use outdated technologies and are not very pleasant to work in. The factories have also been poorly maintained so for these reasons production output is poor. In addition to production weaknesses there are also some financial weaknesses. The company is having difficulty increasing revenues in the current economic environment and reducing costs. The company has been losing money for many years and there is little prospect of returning to profitability Opportunities:Pribex Russia has an opportunity to establish itself as a market leader in the building polymer and resins industry and as the rebuild of Russia infrastructure gets into full swing, it should be able increase revenues and decrease certainly its fixed costs and this may lead to profitability. Additionally Pribex Russia, with its existing research and development facilities has an opportunity to pioneer new polymer applications and establish itself as an innovator in the market. As the Russian economy is reformed Pibrex Russia has the opportunity to improve its financial situation and develop a reputation as an innovator in the industry.Threats: The macroeconomic analysis above in dicated that the RFC and the instability and uncertainty that it brings to the financial sector as the major threat to Pibrex. It is a threat because it makes it more difficult for Pibrex to increase revenues and reduce costs. The RFC also threatens the company’s ability to raise capital and to reward its works appropriately leading to resentment amongst workers. The other major macroeconomic threat is the political instability that exists within Russia and makes it difficult for Pibrex management to forward plan and affects confidence.If Pibrex pursues a â€Å"price leadership strategy† then it faces threats from competitors, both domestic and foreign, who can produce products cheaper and therefore charge lower prices than pribex thus undermining their price leadship strategy If Pibrex pursues a â€Å"product leadership† strategy based on quality it faces competitive threats from both domestic and foreign competitors who can beat Pribex’s current quality standards (which are affected by their aging, inefficient plants).Four Strategies that Can Be Implemented at Pibrex Elena should recommend the following four quite different strategies to the management of Pibrex. 1. Retrenchm ent Strategy. Under this strategy Pibrex Russia should retrench its operations and closing the aging loss making Pibrex KZ plant and focus on modernizing its Pibrex KAZ plant. This would eliminate all of the problems associated with the older Pibrex KZ plant mentioned above and this would help restore confidence in Pribex Russia with the parent company.The downside is that it would minimize opportunities for further growth and expansion 2. Price Leadership Strategy. To minimize the macroeconomic risks mentioned above and return the company to profitability the company could pursue a competitive strategy based on price leadership. Under this strategy Elena would aggressive pursue domestic production from both manufacturing plants through a low price strategy, which would provide more work for the current production workers.To implement a successful price leadership strategy Pibrex may need to draw up on the financial resources of the parent company. Pibrex would aggressive pursue and develop new customers though aggressive advertising (with support from the parent company). In order to adapt a successful price leadership strategy PR would need to aggressively control costs, establish strict financial controls and eliminate the vtwo tier wage structure 3. Quality Leadership Strategy. To minimize the macroeconomic risks to the company it could pursue a strategy based on quality.Under this strategy it would draw on the parent company’s tacit knowledge and research and development facilities to become a quality leader in the area of building polymers and resins. Elena would lead an aggressive sales strategy based on world leading research and innovation and become a centre of excellence based on quality. This sales strategy would be to mainly domestic customers and the strategies relies on a considerable upswing in sales, as a result of infrastructure building to correct the company’s financial situation and return to profitability by the year 2000.To assist in selling to the rejuvenated domestic market, Elena would draw upon the sales `skill s and sales teams already existing in the parent company. Pibrex Russia would become a domestic leader based on this Quality Leadership strategy. 4. Export Focused Strategy. Under this strategy Pibrex would split its manufacturing plants so that the older plant, Pibrex KZ would supply solely the domestic market, and the more modern plant Pibrex KAZ would supply the export market. The more modern plant would be chosen to serve the export market because more quality and innovation is required.Success in export markets would require additional attention to the company’s quality management processes. This dual strategy should ensure there is enough work for all the factory workers. Additionally an export led strategy would benefit from any currency devaluation. This dual strategy and the increased attention to quality control may, in the short term require additional capitl funding that the parent company would need to provide. Overall Implentation Plan for Elena. It is recommended that Elena implements an export focused strategy.This strategy would take advantage of the company’s strengths (being the parent company’s knowledge, reputation, resources and sales strategies) as well as minimizing its weaknesses (under-capacity, bitterness between workers and culture conflicts). It would reduce the tensions between workers, increase production and reduce the overcapacity problem. This export focused strategy does not initially minimize all of Pibrex’s weaknesses (such as poor financial controls and lack of head office commitment) but these weaknesses maybe corrected over time. To successfully implement this export focused strategy I recommend implementing a change programme called â€Å"Challenge 2000† which will draw on Pibrex’s strengths and minimize the company’s weaknesses. Challenge 2000 will be led by Elena as well as supported by the Steering Committee and PREN management. Challenge 2000 will have eight distinctive steps that will ensure success: 1. Demand sufficient capital investment from the parent company to allow for the repair and upgrade of the Pibrex KZ plant, implementation of a new sales incentive sub-programme and a quality sub-programme based on research and innovation. . Complement the increased efficiency at the Pibrex KAZ and the upgraded Pibrex plant by removing excess layers of management 3. To this reduction in management layers by creating an efficiency sub-programme bthat implements inventory, cost and revenue controls throughout Pibrex russia 4. Alleviate employee resentment and bitterness by eliminating the dual wage programme, and implementing an aggressive bonus incentive programme that rewards both local export sales. 5.Implement the export focused marketing strategy but aggressive pursue all domestic leads as well 6. Develop a marketing plan as part of this marketing strategy for both the domestic and export markets. 7. Have Pibrex aggressively pursue all sales leads in domestic and export markets. 8. Co-ordinate production schedules to the marketing plan using just in time inventories Conclusion. This paper outlines four different implementation strategies that Elena Michailova can chose and recommends an export focused strategy for Pribesx Russia.The successful implementation of this export focused strategy complemented with the eight step Challenge 2000 program will ensure that Pibrex will be restored to profitability by the year 2000. Challenge 2000 is a viable low cost change program that will certainly impress PREN management. The successful implantation of both will be replicated in Priex’s plants throughout the world which will see Elena Michailova, the once young bright inexperienced manager, rise over time to be the world wide Chief Operating Officer for Pirbex

Three Strikes Youre Out Law Essays - California Law, Criminal Law

Three Strikes You're Out Law Three Strikes You're Out Law We have all heard of the newest anti-crime law, the "Three strikes and you're out" law. It wasn't easy getting this law from the bill stage in Sacramento to the law stage, because it is not a criminal friendly law. Meaning that this law's purpose is to bring pain, suffering, and intimidation to criminals. Our state government was basically ran by the Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, now mayor of San Francisco. Brown had the power to choose who sat on what committee in the house, and using this he could terminate any bill he did not agree with. And with this attitude it took a lot of patients and perseverance by the people trying to pass this bill. But how did the bill become a bill? I will answer this question with help of the Kimber Reynolds story. Monday, June 29, 1992 in Fresno, California a young woman was brutally murdered outside The Daily Planet, a restaurant patronized by the local young people. The girl was visiting home for the summer after being in the Los Angeles area attending school. Her and a friend were getting into their car when two guys on a motorcycle rode up next to Kimber Reynolds blocking her in, taking her purse, and beating her into submission. The story made the 11 o'clock news only minutes after her father had gone to bed. When police ran a background check on the two suspected men, Joeseph Micheal Davis and Douglas Walker, both men had recently been released on parole with multiple offenses on their records. Unfortunately Davis was never brought in because when police were attempting to arrest him he began firing, wounding unsuspecting police officers and ultimately being killed. Douglas Walker was convicted of accessory to murder. Mike Reynolds, Kimber's father, went on the radio on a local radio show called the Ray Appleton Show, KMJ 580. There he would discuss his outrage about how he was sick of repeat offenders being locked up only to be released after a fraction of the sentence was completed. He swore to the people listening that he was going to do something about the problem, even if it takes him forever. Listening to that show was Fresno Assemblyman Bill Jones (R). He was interested in the issue and arranged a meeting with Mike. They discussed ideas about how they could solve this problem. With that in mind Mike used some connections and gathered one superior, one appellate, and one municipal court judge, as well as a well-known local defense attorney, a representative from the Fresno Police Department, an expert in juvenile justice and Ray Appleton. The men did some research and drew up some ideas. Their final legislative proposal was as follows: Double the sentence for a conviction of any felony if there is a previous serious or violent felony conviction. Triple the sentence or twenty-five years to life, whichever is greater, for any combination of two prior violent or serious felony convictions coupled with any new felony. Probation, a suspended sentence, or a commitment to a diversion program as a substitute for serving time in prison is prohibited for felons with at least one prior conviction of a serious or violent felony. Any felon with at least one prior serious or violent felony conviction must serve any subsequent felony sentence in a state prison (as opposed to a county jail). Terms are to be served consecutively, rather than concurrently. Maximum allowable time off for good behavior is reduced to 20 percent. Juvenile convictions for serious of violent felonies count as prior convictions if the felony was committed when the juvenile was sixteen or seventeen years old. When a defendant has at least one prior conviction for a serious or violent felony, the district attorney is required to plead and prove all known prior felony convictions. Prior felony convictions cannot be used as part of a plea-bargain. Now that Mike had the proposal he had Bill Jones submit it to the state legislature. Right away the bill was sent to the Assembly Public Safety committee to be approved. This committee is known as a killer of tough-on-crime bills, and consisted of eight members, Paula Boland, Richard Rainey, Tom Umberg, Tom Bates, John Burton, Barbara Lee, and committee chairman Robert Epple. Both Boland and Rainey were Republicans while the rest were Democrats, and one vacant seat due to unknown reasons. This committee was moderate or even moderately conservative, but because Willie Brown had the power to choose members of the committee he chose those people whom he thought would sway the vote towards

Sample Appeal Letter for a College Rejection

Sample Appeal Letter for a College Rejection If youve been rejected from college, you often have the option of appeal. The letter below illustrates a possible approach for appealing a college rejection. Before appealing, however, make sure you have a legitimate reason for appealing a rejection. In the majority of cases, an appeal is not warranted. If you do not have significant new information to report to a college, do not write an appeal. Also, make sure the college accepts appeals before writing one.   Features of a Successful Appeal Letter Address your letter to your admissions representative.Present a legitimate reason for appealing.Be respectful and positive, not angry or whiny.Keep your letter brief and to the point. Sample Appeal Letter Ms. Jane GatekeeperDirector of AdmissionsIvy Tower CollegeCollegetown, USA Dear Ms. Gatekeeper, Although I was not surprised when I received a rejection letter from Ivy Tower College, I was extremely disappointed. I knew when I applied that my SAT scores from the November exam were below average for Ivy Tower. I also knew at the time of the SAT exam (because of illness) that my scores did not represent my true ability. However, since I applied to Ivy Tower back in January, I have retaken the SAT and improved my scores measurably. My math score went from a 570 to a 660, and my reading score went up a full 120 points. I have instructed the College Board to send these new scores to you.I know Ivy Tower discourages appeals, but I hope you will accept these new scores and reconsider my application. I have also had the best quarter yet at my high school (a 4.0 unweighted), and I have enclosed my most recent grade report for your consideration. Again, I fully understand and respect your decision to deny me admission, but I do hope you will reopen my file to consider this new information. I was tremendously impressed by Ivy Tower when I visited last fall, and it remains the school I would most like to attend. Sincerely, Joe Student Discussion of the Appeal Letter As stated above, before writing a letter of appeal, you need to make sure you have a  legitimate reason to appeal. You must also make sure the college allows appeals- many schools do not. Theres a good reason for this- nearly all rejected students feel they have been treated unfairly or that the admissions staff failed to read their applications carefully. Many colleges simply dont want to deal with the flood of appeals they would receive if they allowed applicants to argue their cases. In Joes case, he learned that Ivy Tower College (obviously not the real name) does accept appeals, although the school discourages appeals. Joe addressed his letter to the Director of Admissions at the college. If you have a contact in the admissions office- either the Director or the representative for your geographic region- it is best to write to a specific person. If you dont have the name of an individual, you can address your letter with To Whom It May Concern or Dear Admissions Personnel. An actual name, of course, sounds much better. Now on to the body of Joes letter. Note that Joe is not whining. Admissions officers hate whining, and it wont get you anywhere. Joe is not saying that his rejection was unfair, nor is he insisting that the admissions office made a mistake. He may think these things, but he isnt including them in his letter. Instead, in both the opening and closing of the letter, he notes that he respects the decision of the admissions folks. Most important for an appeal, Joe does have a reason to appeal. He  tested poorly on the SAT, and he retook the exam and brought up his scores dramatically. Notice that Joe makes mention of being sick when he first took the SAT, but he is not using that as an excuse. An admissions officer is not going to reverse a decision simply because a student claims some kind of testing hardship. You need actual scores to show your potential, and Joe comes through with the new scores. Also, Joe is wise to send along his most recent grade report. He is doing extremely well in school, and the admissions officers will like to see those strong grades. Joe is not slacking off senior year, and his grades are trending upward, not down. He is certainly not revealing signs of senioritis, and he has avoided the issues in this weak appeal letter. Note that Joes letter is brief and to the point. Hes not wasting the time of the admissions officers with a long rambling letter. The college already has Joes application, so he doesnt need to repeat that information in the appeal. Joes letter does three important things in a concise manner. He states his respect for the admissions decision; he presents the new information that is the basis for his appeal, and he reaffirms his interest in the college. Were he to write anything else, he would be wasting the time of the admissions officers. A Final Word About Joes Appeal It is important to be realistic about an appeal. Joe writes a good letter and has significantly better scores to report. However, he is likely to fail in his appeal. The appeal is certainly worth a try, but the majority of rejection appeals are not successful.

Average Cost Curves Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Average Cost Curves - Case Study Example These critical business decisions will be made with the help of Average Cost Curves. These graphs will convey information about optimum production levels and the most beneficial expansion scheme. Total Average Cost is the average fixed cost plus the average variable cost. The Short Run Average Cost (SRAC) is the average cost of the product when at least one input variable remains fixed. This is usually the building or the plant used in manufacturing. The Long Run Average Cost (LRAC) is the average cost over a longer time period when all input variables have changed. It takes into account new plants, buildings, and large capital investments. Though these curves will vary depending on the individual product and situation, for a successful business they will almost always assume the same general shape. The shape of the SRAC curve and the LRAC curve are influenced by the changing input variables plotted against differing production levels. As Acme begins production, the cost of the first few units is heavily influenced by the fixed costs such as the lease on the building. The graph will start at a high average cost per unit. As they increase production levels, the fixed costs become spread out over more units and the SRAC begins to fall. At this point, the graph will begin to slope downward as the quantity rises. The SRAC will continue to decrease as production increases toward full capacity, as both fixed and variable (due to material volume) cost per unit declines. This period of declining SRAC is known as the economy of scale. When the factory has reached full capacity, its resources are being optimised and the total average cost per unit has reached a minimum. Manufacturing beyond this point will begin to increase the average cost as variable costs rise, and the process will enter a period of diseconomy of scale. Added expenses such as temporary labour, overtime, and additional management are a few of the factors that can contribute to the rising variable cost. Here, the graph turns upward reflecting the higher average cost. As more units are produced, the average cost continues to rise dramatically reflecting the inefficiencies involved with over capacity production. This is known as the law of diminishing returns. A key component and indicator on the graph of the SRAC is the Marginal Cost (MC). This is the total cost of producing the next unit. With an efficient factory running near capacity, this will be at a minimum, and less than the average. However, going beyond this point will cause the marginal cost to spike upward on a steeper slope than the average. When the marginal cost line crosses the average, production is at its most efficient. As marginal costs rise, it pulls the SRAC curve up with it, though at a less responsive rate. Acme could remain profitable in this area of increasing costs and diminishing returns as long as MC is below the selling price. However, to maximise resources it is desirable to keep the SRAC at a minimum. The point at which the marginal cost begins to rise and cross the SRAC is the point at which Acme must consider expanding their production capabilities. Acme has already planned for this expansion. They are no where near market saturation and the product design has a long life ahead of it. Their sales are increasing and they have studied various plans on the

Do you believe tht the incresing power of dvertising tht these uthors Essay

Do you believe tht the incresing power of dvertising tht these uthors points to is hrmful to mericn culture - Essay Example widely red nd generlly pprecited nlysis of mening in dvertisements is discussed by Glori Steinem where she wlks the reder through gllery of dvertisements nd discusses their ideologicl content. Her own criticl perspective is informed by vriety of theorists, including Ferdinnd de Sussure, Krl Mrx, Louis lthusser, Rymond Willims, Sigmund Freud, nd Jcques Lcn. Steinem's pedgogic objective is to tech the nive reder how to interpret dvertisements long the lines of these theorists, nd mny reders do find tht their criticl bilities re gretly developed by pplying Steinem's theories: dvertisements lose whtever simple qulities they my hve hd nd become insted texts bout production nd consumption in the consumer society, bout the plce of commodities in socil life, nd bout the cretion of needs to service n economic system tht must sell wht hs been produced. In ddition to teching the interprettion of dvertisements, Steinem explins how dvertising constructs the ideologicl principles tht re embedded in it. For exmple, mny dvertisements borrow ides from externl sources ("referent systems") such s culturl history or concepts of nture. In the process of ppropriting, reworking, nd using them, dvertising trnsforms the borrowed ides. The dvertisements for Virgini Slims cigrettes, which frequently refer to the history of women's, struggle for socil nd economic equlity in meric, illustrte this process. Selected events from this struggle re retold nd edited in selected wys, nd progress is depicted s contemporry women's hving gined the right to smoke. Similrly, hundreds of products tht proclim their "nturl" qulities re in relity highly ltered through complex mnufcturing processes. Instnces like these, Steinem clims, illustrte the construction of ideology through dvertisements. The resulting distortions over the long run lter our understndings of th e originl ides tht were borrowed nd (mis)used within dvertising. Steinem's pproch to the interprettion of dvertisements is founded on her gol of trnsforming the reder's skills. She does not tret s problemtic tht uninstructed reders mke whtever sense they do of the thousnds of dvertisements populting their dily lives. Neither does she tke ny gret interest in how the copywriters who produced the dvertisements thought bout their work. Insted, she ssumes tht nive reder's filure to see the issues she uncovers is flse consciousness of their mening, flseness on which dvertising depends to do its work. The pproch hinges fundmentlly on Steinem's own skill in pplying the vrious theoreticl perspectives to the dvertisements. From the outset she bedzzles the reder by observing detils nd ptterns in dvertisements tht ordinrily slip by n udience. She repetedly points out the contrdictions between wht dvertisements seem to sy nd wht they relly men ccording to the vrious perspectives. lthough Steinem considers dvertising's udience nive, she does not ssume tht its members re merely receivers of pckged messges tht emnte from dvertisers. Rther, she rgues, the udience is implicted in the production of mening, collbortion tht dvertising continully invites: [] crucil feture of these odds nd ends of thought used by ds is tht they do not exist "independently" but in our thought: it is we, s subjects, who re ppeled to s providers of these

Portfolio of work Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Portfolio of work - Article Example This medium will allow the company to benefit from direct sales of the publication. Unlike online sources which often rely on advertising revenue, a print magazine can take advantage of both direct sales of the product as well as advertising proceeds. Furthermore, it will be easier to estimate the readership and market share of the product when this format is adopted (Williams, 2009). The magazine will have giveaways and prizes attached, so a tangible medium is the best alternative. Mothers are the target audience for the monthly edition. These women are likely to be educated, working and social. Age may not be a relevant segment because stories will target mothers with teenagers, infants or children of school-going age. Nonetheless, the design of the magazine will be biased towards fun-loving and upbeat personalities. These women will not be one-track minded. They may be administrators at their places of work, members of the local rotary club or volunteers at their churches. A numbe r of them are likely to wear the proverbial ‘many hats’. This explains why the magazine will contain a rich mix of topics. Since the publication will be relatively cheap, it is probable that readers will not belong to one income status. It is meant to be all-encompassing and accessible, even to those who are struggling to make ends meet. This idea is ripe for the local print magazine market because women require an unpretentious and accessible reading item. The current magazines in the market do not cover a wide range of topics like the ones that this magazine will contain. Most of them have very narrow topic selections. ‘Real Mom’ will be different because it will address all manners of lifestyle issues. Furthermore, its emphasis on people’s real-life experiences will make it personal and relatable. The magazine will go for a $1.5, which is much lower than other magazines in the market. Low prices often guarantee a wide reach and thus high circulati on. Furthermore, this amount will lure infrequent magazine readers to try out this new brand. Part 2: Cover letter Dear ‘Real Mom’ Hiring Manager I would like to submit my application for the position of staff writer as described in your newspaper advertisement. Real Mom is a publication that is at the heart of my personal interests. I have been an advent reader of the magazine since its inception. Its engaging topics have always been delivered in a fun and heartwarming manner. As a former writer for ‘Fitness Fanatic’ magazine, I have submitted 150 articles and published 75% of them. I wrote about various lifestyle topics like â€Å"the unpalatable taste of artificial sweeteners†, â€Å"Cheat days," â€Å"Etiquette rules for weight watchers," â€Å"Halle Berry’s workout regimen† and â€Å"Unrealistic expectations at the gym." I relied on interviews, newspapers, books and online authorities for these articles. These topics were often original ideas that I pitched to my superiors. Therefore, I meet one of the requirements you described in the advertisement about conducting research and conceptualizing ideas. Prior to the submission of topics, members of my organization gave the senior editor suggestions on possible areas of publication. Sometimes the magazine leaned towards particular angles, which we needed to build on. I am thus familiar with group dynamics after collaborating with several staff members in such sessions (Conley and Stephen, 2006). This is

Hofstede Theory of Cultural Differences

Hofstede Theory of Cultural Differences As we know that today we are living in an era of globalization and culture has a very significant impact on the organization in which operates. Thats why so many researchers have placed too much importance to create a good relationship between the practices and culture of an organization in which it operates, but on the other hand according to the Earley (1994), if management practices are not according to the needs and demands of their employees so then the following problems will arise such as de motivation, low productivity and high turnover. So in order to overcome such problems, a very serious attention much is given to improve the culture of an organization as it ultimately effects the development and effectiveness of HRM strategies and policies. For better understanding of the effect of national cultures on development and effectiveness of HRM strategies, firstly the concept of culture must be clearly understood. A pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. Brewster et al (2008), p.14-15 This definition of culture basically defines that culture is a set of believes, norms and values that people acquire and share with others. The basic feature of culture is that, culture is adaptive. It is helpful for those people who are coming or joining a new place and easily come to know about the existing problems in an organization. Another definition for a culture is: the core of culture is composed of explicit and tacit assumptions or understandings commonly held by a group of people; a particular configuration of assumptions/understandings is distinctive to the group; these assumptions/understandings serve as guides to acceptable and unacceptable perceptions, thoughts, feelings and behaviours; they are learned and passed to new members of the group through social interaction; culture is dynamic it changes over time (Milliken and Martins, 1989). This definition by Milliken and Martins basically defines that culture has two characteristics, first is, its a collective phenomenon, everybody used to share it and secondly it shapes the way people of that culture thinks and respond. As discussed earlier, this is an era of globalization, every single nation has its own culture, their way of thinking, perceiving, responding is absolutely different from different nations. That is why every culture has its own set of values, beliefs and norms. And it easily be seen by different examples of nations like wise: if we see USA the rate of freedom is very much high over there similarly independence, individualism and level of competition tends to be very high in USA but on the other hand lets take Japan where much importance is given to belongingness, all the work is done on group consensus, seniority is also taken into account and cooperate with each other as much as they can similarly in Arab countries family harmony and parental guidance is high and much of the authority is given to the senior member of the society. In Asian countries like Pakistan, ratio of hospitality is very high, respect for seniors and aged people are also high, mostly a decision is taken by havin g guidance from a senior member of a family. Most of the cross-cultural researchers like Hodstede and Trompenaars argued that the culture of the society plays a vital role and helps a lot in reshaping the practices of the management. As the society vastly vary in cultures, management has to keep in mind different methods for motivation of the employees from different cultures and sometimes it creates a problem for the management in decision making process. Hofstede Cultural Dimension: Now I will explain in detail that how management practices differs when organization operates in diverse cultures. Taking into consideration the work done by Hofstede (1980), where he carried out a research by analysing the questionnaires filled up by IBM employees in 70 countries. He concluded that cultural differences depend on four factors: Power Distance: Power distance is the extent in which less powerful members of the society or organization enjoys unequal distribution of the power. For instance, Females and Minorities. In organizations where power distance is high, Hierarchy tends to be taller where all major decisions are taken by few members of the top level management and all decision making process is centralised. High power distance also means that low level management cannot challenge the decision taken by upper level management and also it is very difficult to meet them. But on the other hand where power distance is low, decision making process is decentralised, all the big and small decisions are approved by taking help from the low level management. The basic concept over here is the employee empowerment, and these organizations are found with flat hierarchical pyramid. For Instance: Virgin group of companies. Where chairman of the organization have made small departments and they are allowed to take all decisions regardi ng their department, this helps them out in good decision making skills and also the employee empowerment. Uncertainty Avoidance: Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people feel threatened about a typical situation and have created a set of beliefs in order to avoid these situations. High uncertainty avoidance companies or nations tend to have a strong belief on heir experts and their knowledge and their managers are low risk takers and have a high need for security and these countries are usually developed nations. And countries with low uncertainty avoidance tend to be more risk takers. All activities running in an organization are usually unstructured and there are few written rules, as the managers are willing to accept the risk that is why employee turnover is high in these organizations. From the perspective of HR, all employees are open to accept the new ideas and viewpoints. Individualism versus Collectivism: Individualism refers to the extent to which people look after for themselves and their immediate family only. People in individualistic society tend to gain individual rewards and want to take all decisions by themselves. As they are responsible for their decisions only, they also rewarded individually. Countries which are high in individualism tend to be wealthier and developed, where all promotions are made on the basis of market value. But on the other hand, societies with collectivism tend to work in a group and take care for each other in exchange of loyalty. Countries which are high in collectivism tend to be poorer, where individual initiatives are low and promotions are given on the basis of seniority. Hofstede argued that countries like America, Great Britain and Australia tend to be individualistic societies. Where employees are running behind the individual recognition and promotion in an organization is the major motivational force. But countries like China, Japan and Pak istan, tend to be collectivist society, where all decisions are made on group consensus. Everybody take care for each other and employees are more focused towards group recognition. And the most important over here is that, management encourages cooperation and loyalty and they are treated as a family rather than an individual working for the organization. In 1992 Holden mentioned collectivist society as: Japanese managers spend up to 30% of their time, in and outside normal office hours, educating their younger colleagues and initiating them in the lore and wisdom of the company, preparing them functionally and psychologically for the operations outside the firm (Holden, 1992, p.31) Masculinity versus Femininity: A Masculine culture is the one in which basic social values are success, money and things. A country which is high in masculinity, people laid great importance on recognition, advancement, showing off, material achievement and being outward. But on the other hand countries which are high in femininity, tend to be caring and loving. A great importance is laid on cooperation, group decision making, friendly atmosphere and more employee freedom. Organizations which are working in low masculine society, promotions are made on the basis of merits and all employees are treated as a member of one family, but in organization working in high feminine society, rewards are set in such a way so that more and more competition takes place between employees rather than cooperation. Conclusion: It can easily be concluded that, Hofstede shows that national cultures contain at least four dimensions and every organization has to come up with these dimensions as they are working in diverse cultures. After analysing these dimensions a company can easily operate in diverse cultured society as national culture has a significant impact on the organization. Knowledge of different cultures is very much essential for the organizations which are working as multinationals and also for HR Professionals, as people who are going to hired by the organization have different set of beliefs regarding motivation, loyalty, career development and decision making. So a proper match must be there between the organization practices and the national culture, in this way an organization can easily succeed in a society in which it operates. So that there would be a positive impact of national culture on the development and effectiveness of HRM strategies and policies.

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Although the European Union consists of a large variety of institutions, the most important institution is the European Commission. Established in 1958 and based in Luxemburg and Brussels, this hybrid institution (executive and bureaucratic) â€Å"epitomizes supranationalism and lies at the center of the EU political system† (Dinan, 2010, p. 171). It has a substantial bulk of responsibilities and carries out these responsibilities with a vast number of constituents, acting as the executive for the EU. These responsibilities include anything from drafting and initiating policy to managing the financial framework of the EU, and can have a large impact on the other institutions of the EU. In order to â€Å"promote the general interests of the Union,† the Commission strives to unify the interests of the member states and is continually working for implementation and harmonization of EU law (Dinan, 2010, p. 191). Although not the most popular, in the sense that â€Å"Europeans generally view the Commission as power-hungry, insensitive to their concerns, and subversive of national political systems,† the Commission carries out responsibilities that play a key role in EU policy on a daily basis (Dinan, 2010, p. 171-172). These responsibilities include drafting and initiating policy, supervising the enforcement of the acquis communautaire and other legislation, managing the budget, and representing the interests of the EU internationally. Given its core position within the structure of the EU (kind of as an overseer of the EU as a whole), the Commission has developed active relations with the other institutions in order to carry out these responsibilities. Although other institutions also play an active role in the implementation of EU policy, no othe... ...itiate policy, supervise the enforcement of the acquis communautaire and other legislation, manage the budget, and represent the interests of the EU internationally. Although it may not have the final say in arbiting law, it has quite a lot of influence on the Council and ECJ due to its knowledge on the acquis communautaire and EU law. Due to its high volume of responsibilities, the Commission must have a large number of experts in order to fulfill them. If anything about drafting or initiating law is in question, there will always be an expert that can answer it, whether it is a DG or advisory committee. Through this network of responsibilities and experts, the Commission has become the most important institution by being able to effectively â€Å"implement a range of EU policies and programs;† one of the most prominent goals of the European Union (Dinan, 2010, p. 202).