Legalization of Marijuana: Should be Approved? Essay

American people have debated over the legalization of marijuana for many years. This discussion is an example of how the united states have struggled to reach an agreement about the use of marijuana. In recent year’s drug policy have been increasingly challenged, especially in America. In the United States a group of nearly twenty states has allowed the medical use of marijuana, even though neither the federal government nor the United Nations Convention recognize that marijuana has medical uses. In the election of November 2012, Washington State passed a referendum, and Colorado an amendment to its Constitution, which allow the recreational use of marijuana. A result of the legalization of recreational use in Denver, Colorado, have entered more than $ 1.2 million with a mechanism for maximum sales per consumer than an ounce profit status, worth $ 200, a strategy that is used to regulate the individual consumption. For instance, according to Jacob Sullum (2013), author of The Cannabis Is Out Of The bag, â€Å"People 21 or older already are allowed to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.† Nowadays Marijuana users in the United States may finally, starting this January 1, legally have it for recreational purposes in two states in the West, Washington and Colorado. Probably the most controversial news until today is that many companies would begin to distribute marijuana in vending machines as if they were sodas this will be addressed to the public who use marijuana for medical purposes, a patient with a serious medical condition that approaches a vending machine to get a dose of marijuana to cope better with certain symptoms of their disease or treatment is an increasingly common act thanks to the progress achieved by the automatic distribution. But you can still go further. Hence Smart Ventures, a company that invests in mining projects in medical marijuana and playful side, has signed an agreement with Mobile Vending, dedicated to developing mobile technology for control of vending .The objective of this joint venture is to expand and renovate the distribution process with the latest equipment and advanced techniques of identification in order to cash in on the recent legalization of marijuana  and the resulting high demand in the state of Colorado. Both formulas will drive new technology payments and cashless biometric identification methods, either through credit cards, electronic wallets and mobile payment. The new company is called Cannabis Funding Group, Inc. and is now a subsidiary of activity as Smart Ventures. One person who is clearly opposed to medical marijuana is Scott M, Arden. He suggests that there is no incentive to fund clinical trials nor advocate the use of marijuana for medical purposes. he expressed her views in the article †Å"Clinician Reviews† journal. For instance, he says, The negative side effects of medical marijuana pale in comparison to the laundry list associated with numerous prescription drugs that are FDA approved—not to mention tobacco and alcohol, much more addictive products on the market that possess no medicinal value, only detrimental. Additionally, currently available pain medications have been proven highly addictive, and their use and proliferation have led to an epidemic of chemical dependence and related crime. If the big players in the industry had significant potential gains from medical marijuana, it would have been legalized at the federal level years ago. What Scott M. Arden is saying is that it makes no sense the idea of medical marijuana. So, obviously that it will be the same as with the other drugs on the market that are addictive. There are some people who think that more states should legalize at least medical marijuana for the people who really need it. One of the strong supporters of medical marijuana is Karen Bender. She is sure that with additional research medical marijuana may benefit many people. In fact, she says, â€Å"Medical marijuana, like prescribed drugs, may benefit people with MS†. What bender means is that, if the American government is willing to continue prohibiting medical marijuana, American people would never know if is the right thing to do. It is simply means that laboratories and people specialized in the field of medical marijuana should do more research to determine the good things about it and the bad things and how will affect society. Second, another controversial reason to support or oppose legalization of marijuana is based in the economics of execution. Legalizing marijuana will save the government $ 41.3 billion a year in law-enforcement and generate $ 46.7 billion in tax according to The Libertarian Cato Institute but Chris Kennedy a spokesman of the journal â€Å"NEWSWEEK† tells that â€Å"all of our scholars definitely support an end to drug  prohibition.† He thinks that instead of prohibiting marijuana government should legalized it, according to The Libertarian Cato Institute. It is simply means that legalizing marijuana is the best thing to do for economic reasons, that’s why there’s so many controver sy in the economic execution, too much money involved. There are not many people, who support the legalization of marijuana, mostly because they think is not going to help American economy. Most people care about the national security because of terrorists and drug dealers. One person who clearly opposes legalization of marijuana is Pat Buchanan, an advisor to presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan , he sure believes American people is financing terrorists and drug dealers. He expressed his opinion in â€Å"NEWSWEEK† journal. For instance, he says, How does one win a drug war when millions of Americans who use recreational drugs are financing the cartels bribing, murdering, and beheading to win the war and keep self-indulgent Americans supplied with drugs? There are two sure ways to end this war swiftly. Milton’s way and Mao’s way. Mao Zedong’s communists killed users and suppliers alike, as social parasites. Milton Friedman’s way is to decriminalize drugs and call off the war. What Buchanan is really talki ng about is that most Americans are supporting and financing the cartels, and that Americans are arguing at the same time for the security when they are the cause of drug cartels having power, that’s why criminals continue enriching illicitly. There are not that many politicians who support the legalization of marijuana. One politician who supports the legalization of marijuana is Tom Tancredo who was running for governor of Colorado on the constitution party ticket. He declares that marijuana should be (Legalize it. Regulate it. Tax it) He expressed his opinion in â€Å"NEWSWEEK† journal. For instance, he says, With regard to marijuana, I have no plans to push for its legalization. I simply believe that taking money away from the drug cartels, taking the incentive out of pushing marijuana to kids by imposing the most serious penalties possible on those who do so, focusing our resources on stopping illegal aliens and hard drugs from entering the country, and reducing t he corruption now eating away at our law-enforcement establishment has merit and deserves to be debated. Another main argument has to deal with the Mexican border. There is another politician who supports the legalization of marijuana. It’s Grover Norquist, president of Americas for tax reform, he declares that the legalization of marijuana will  end with drug cartels. For instance, he says, First, there is the mess that is Mexico. Narcoterrorism is made possible by our drug prohibition in the U.S. Then there is the cost of incarceration, Proposition 19 has the opportunity to be the domino that could bring about rational drug policy nationwide. What Norquist is really taking about is that next vote in California for or against Proposition 19, which seeks to legalize the use, distribution and sale of marijuana has led, in the United States and Mexico, a debate on the legalization of drugs. Proposition 19 also plans to allow the cultivation of marijuana by adults in an area not exceeding 25 square feet in their homes and allowed local governments to regulate and collect taxes on commercial production and distribution of the drug. The Uni ted Nations (UN) estimates that one third of the cannabis consumed in the U.S. is produced domestically. Under the new laws of legalization, marijuana stores should produce their own cannabis, and will take several months for some power to make its first crop of recreational marijuana. $ 600 million annual leave year the sale of marijuana in Colorado. A study by Colorado State University estimated that the market for legal marijuana state will be about 600 million dollars annually and generate about $ 130 million in new taxes. The study also estimated that Colorado residents consume about 100 grams of marijuana per capita annually, under the new rules. One person who clearly declares that combating drugs is not the way to solve all problems related with drugs as violence, is James A. Inciardi, a director of the center for drug and alcohol studies. He expressed his views in the book, The Drug Legalization Debate. For instance, he says, â€Å"War on Drugs† is not the answers to the many problems of drug abuse in this country. I reach this conclusion by observing that during the entire time the country has been at war against drugs there has been no attempt in any administration to place the federal agencies and the American people on a wartime status. There are several characteristics of a country at war that have not been met. Although it is very obvious for most people, Legalization is not a magic formula to end violence, it may resolve other serious problems in the country but it is a necessary step in the right direction for a new paradigm that means more security. Marijuana it’s not the illegal drug that leaves more profit, but it is the most trafficked and consumed in the world. The blow to organized crime by removing these revenues vary, according to estimates, 15% to 60% of  the â€Å"profits† of t he drug. The opinion of the people in this area is very diverse, from which there are radically opposed to it until its legalization there are supporters unconditionally. These views depend on many factors, such as age, as the person it’s older the more is opposed to the legalization of these substances, another factor that determines a lot is its political ideology. The people on the left political side tend to approve the legalization of these drugs and the right side tends to reject it, it also depends on the sex gender, men usually supports more its legalization. Also people are influenced by the fact that they tried the drug before. Most of the people who have tried the drug before tend to support the legalization of marijuana. Legalizing cannabis would have the advantage that we can all imagine, a greater product quality, if we smoke or use marijuana as this should not be adulterated because going through some health checks, a much lower cost, as there would be many intermediaries as there are now and also end with the black market and drug trafficking networks. While many of these benefits would not be such, because, for example the black market and drug trafficking networks would not disappear, but still try to sell the cheapest product to make the competition to the government. The failure of prohibitionist and punitive strategy against illicit drugs, we still see an overview of production and consumption worse than in the beginning. It is necessary to create useful tools to combat drug use, which must be accompanied by a more flexible-but not libertarian-use and production perspective. Works cited Conant, Eve. â€Å"Pot and the GOP.† Newsweek 1 Nov. 2010: Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. Sullum, Jacob. â€Å"The Cannabis Is Out Of The Bag: Why Prohibitionists Have an Interest in Allowing Marijuana Legalization.† Reason Aug.-Sept. 2013: 12. Academic OneFile. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. Arden, Scott M., and Meg Helgert. â€Å"Opposing Views of Medical Marijuana.† Clinician Reviews Apr. 2011: 2. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. Bender, Karen. â€Å"More Support for Medicinal Marijuana.† Momentum Spring 2011: Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. Inciardi, James A. The Drug Legalization Debate. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1991. Print.

How Women Are Portrayed in Lynx and Cosmo Essay

‘Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at’ – John Berger, ‘Ways of seeing’. For my research investigation I intend to explore to what extent specific media products use similar representations of women to appeal to their target audiences. The examples I have chosen to focus on are the iconic, international women’s fashion and lifestyle magazine ‘Cosmopolitan’ and Lynx’s controversial ‘beach campaign’. I will therefore be exploring what similarities and differences they embed due to their oppositional target audiences and content. Throughout my research the main theory I will be linking to my texts is that of Laura Mulvey, her theory explores ideas of sexism and male gaze within the media industry. Hearst the publisher of Cosmopolitan describes the magazine’s target audience as ‘Fun, Fearless Females’, the alliteration of the ‘F’ sound connotes a sense of attitude and fierce behaviour. Alongside the brand proposition ‘celebrates†¦a passion for life and inspires young women to be the best they can be’ consciously supporting women by portraying a sense of empowerment and ambition. In contrast, Unilever, owners of the Lynx brand state their brand prospect is that all their products are ‘designed to give our customers the edge in the mating game’ establishing itself as ‘UK’s leading male grooming brand!’. Cosmopolitan are iconic for telling their audience about two main topics; lifestyle and sex. Just by looking at the magazine covers, it is clear that these two topics dominate. I researched the April 2012 cover of Cosmopolitan, it follows the generic conventions of a typical magazine format for a women’s fashion and lifestyle magazine. In terms of the colour scheme – the pink fonts and neutral clothing convey a sense of femininity and perhaps the everyday domestic lifestyle of women, although the lifestyle aspect of the magazine seems overpowered by the topic of sex. The cover features an attractive women – in this case the iconic Megan Fox, posing some mildly alluring body language, showing a lot of skin, all whilst looking directly at the camera (audience) with a sexy, serious facial expression with the eyebrow promiscuously raised, and suggestive parted lips. Although the model is simply posing the latest fashion, the low cut, tightly fitting dress connotes an over sexualised view of the celebrity who is universally known as a sex symbol in the media world, taking her place in FHM’s sexiest women each year and continuously playing the role of the sexy female in various popular films. It is clear that Cosmopolitan use bold sexual connotations surrounding women, although argue that their intentions are in fact to empower women through their sexuality. Notice the models strong body language , the hand on hip look used alongside taglines such as ‘Naughty or nice? You decide†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, and sexual puns are even added in regarding none sexual subjects such as career advice ‘You on top’, these are bold sexual connotations implying that woman should dominate to get what they want, mostly regarding the topic of sex. Perhaps fighting the controversial debate of sexism towards women in media by surprisingly embracing La ura Mulvey’s theory of ‘male gaze’. Cosmo put across the idea that if men find women attractive then it should accredit them by making them feel good about themselves, knowing that they look sexy and attractive. The magazine are conscious to do this in a sophisticated manor, opposed to other trashy and over sexualised magazines. Mediaknowall.com state that ‘Women’s magazines have moved on and offer visions of independence and confidence as well as beauty and domestic concerns, yet women are still encouraged to look good’. Body image and size have become a growing issue in society in result of magazine content. The overuse of petite, photo shopped models throughout magazines has resulted in these images becoming the dominant ideology. Over the years images printed in women’s magazines have contributed to this universal feeling to look good and be a certain size. Lynx are known for their voyeuristic product advertisement, this element of the company is what attracts their buyers, yet is also their downfall. Lynx have been publicly criticized for their overuse of objectifying women, using sexualized and provocative imagery and overall blunt sexism. The BBC news state that ‘in 2011 six of Lynx’s advertising campaigns were banned after mass numbers of complains were made’ they added that ‘the 113 complaints said it was sexually suggestive and demeaning to women’. I researched Lynx’s recent TV advertisement and accompanying print advert titled ‘The cleaner you are, the dirtier you get’. Although I believe this is one of Lynx’s milder sexualised adverts even the title itself contains a sexual pun, suggesting the promise of sex if you shower with the product. The girl on the print advertisement is no doubt an attractive young female, fitting the iconic ‘blonde bombshell’ look. The girl’s enticing facial expression creates the impression she is inviting the audience (male) into the shower with her. Although the girl’s expressions look confident, there is a contrast between this and her body language. For example the way she has to cup her bikini top to stop it from falling. This vulnerability of the woman standing half nude for a male audience completely visually depicting her as a female, making her a passive object of male visual pleasure. A comment by Jean Killbourne (a popular media activist) backs up my point by stating that ‘women’s bodies are often dismembered into legs, breasts or thighs, reinforcing the message that women are objects rather than whole human beings’. Killbourne suggests that women have become dehumanised into erotic objects for male pleasure. One element of Lynx’s campaigns which continues throughout is the idea of fake portrayal. In each advert the male role is played by your everyday, not overly-attractive man, contrasted with the female role being a desirable, young beauty. In an everyday world the changes of the male role attracting that type of woman are very slim. Despite this the main message that Lynx put across to their audience throughout their advertisements is that if men wear the product – women will find them irresistible – False portrayal. Of course this element adds humour to the advertisements, although all at the expense of objectifying women in the process and promoting the gender role of the dominant male. Bibliography Websites: www.mediaknowall.com Hearst, http.//www.hearst.co.uk/magazines/Cosmpolitan/5-about.htm Cosmopolitan, http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/exclusive/megan-fox-april-cover-cosmopolitan Exploring the media: representations and responses

Changes in the Workplace Essay Example for Free

Changes in the Workplace Essay I believe the work environments can be positive or negative on the psychology health and workplace. The work environment has many properties that can affect both psychological and physical well-being, which is important to understand those aspects of work environments as well as identifying psychosocial characteristics of the workplace, which can affect his or her health. The first step is to create a psychologically workplace, which takes commitment and time to develop a strategy to effect changes at the workplaces to improve the health of all employees. For example: the choices that each person makes and how the individual treats his or her bodies; not only affects the individual health but also the individual mental health, which can be carried over to the workplace causing unwanted stress. Also lack of sleep making it hard to concentrate, irritated with the employees, and unable to do his or her daily tasks that the job requires, which can make the workplace more difficult. Unhealthy diet can make the individual sick and unable to complete the job that’s needs to be done, as well as mental stress that can cause more health problems. Studies on relationships between health and psychology has become more establish in recent years because researchers have provided insight into how an individual’s psychology and health. Such as the individual personalities, personal relationships, and the individual mental and biological processes are all factor in relation to health psychology, which needs to be considered when trying to maintain or to balance his or her health, is to find the correct balance of treatment choices, such as circumstances or other alternative that may be adding to the cause of physical health issues. I believe that lifestyle choices that can affect psychology and health in the workplace can be poor diet. For example: When an individual chooses to skip breakfast in the morning can have a difficult time concentrating, or become ir ritable. The individual may also develop physical symptoms such as headache, dizziness, or nauseas. When the individual becomes irritable, this can lead to lack of communication with other employees as well as loss of production on everyone’s schedule. I also believe when making poor choices can develop problems that can affect the workplace, also leads to psychological, behavioral, and physical difficulties. To enhance health and prevent illness is to improve his or her allover health, even if the changes are  small; it can make a big difference by enhancing his or her health and to prevent illness. For example: having well-balance meals that includes breakfast and a healthy diet can provide energy, which will also lower the risk of certain disease, such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and hypertension. To maintaining a healthy body, and a health weight, is to have a healthy diet and physical activity to decrease the risk for cardiovascular disease, and reducing the heart rate. However, taking care of our body is a big step toward emotional and mental health because the mind and the body are linked to each other, and when the individual improves his or her physical health, well the individual will experience greater mental and emotional well-being (Lifestyle to enhance Health and Prevent Illness). Changes in the Workplace. (2016, Oct 02).

Financial Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Innovation - Essay Example Evidence adduced in this paper illustrates various instances of financial innovations that exempted regulation. The consequence has been economic crisis. Introduction The performance of the financial sector is crucial to the economy of the country. Innovation in the financial sector can contribute to the growth or destruction of the economy. The economic growth over the past few centuries demonstrate that effective approach to financial innovation could create prosperity of the nations. However, the issue of financial innovation has drawn criticism from some economists who believe that frequent economic crises experienced in the recent years are due to financial innovation. This paper seeks to debate the question should the potential benefits of financial system innovation deter regulators from imposing restrictions on the activities of financial institutions. Financial regulations serve to regulate the activities of financial institutions against plunging the financial market into c haos. For instance, the Federal Reserve requirement dictates the base lending rate that a financial institution should observe when lending in the public. However, it is evident through the recent financial crisis that financial innovation that led to deregulation exposed the economy to erosion. Economists have observed that banks and other financial institutions in the money market are in constant competition (Anderloni 56). This competition influences the practices that a financial institution would employ in conducting its business. Thus, financial institution practices must observe a given limit in innovation. For instance, studies on the cause of great depression have indicated that financial innovation practices subjected the economy to high-risk behavior whose consequence was the great depression (Calomiris 6). Critics to financial innovation have argued that benefits of financial innovation have failed to yield the anticipated growth because of the risk factors, which the in novation creates in the financial sector (Meessen 199). Most financial innovation leads to excessive risk taking or failure of the financial institutions to predict the financial behavior in the future. For instance, speculation by financial institutions prior to the 2007 US economic crisis led to high risk lending by most financial institutions leading to the collapse of many institutions because of credit defaults. Innovation practices are beneficial to the growth of the economy when the operations are within some control. The Federal Reserve Act 1913 sought to cushion banks from risking foreclosure during financial constraints (Anderloni 156). The idea behind the Federal Reserve is to promote practices that promote the interest of the society. The Commission Inquiry on Financial Crisis report indicated that lack of transparent practice among banks led to unscrupulous lending in the subprime mortgage leading to the financial crisis (A.C.S.1). Lending laws set some base lending whi ch protect the interest of the investors. For instance, the Volcker Rule influenced the banking practices by influencing the operation of the financial institutions within a ring fence. The rule defined the operation of the banks within national and foreign category. The category of these financial institutions enables a given banks within the ring fence to operate a particular financial activities (Calomiris 3). On the contrary, failure to categorize the banks within particular operating spheres exposed the public to risks because large financial institutions collapsed with investment of the majority of the public. Financial innovation should be subject to regulation because some of the innovation practices or proposals fail to reflect the real effects that they would

BRAND MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

BRAND MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH - Essay Example To be able to become a market leader it is vital to guide or, to a certain extent, control the customers. If the firm, by means of the obsolete portion of marketing theory, merely follows what the customers want, the brand will certainly, in the future, be surpassed in the market. The explanation is that unless there is a zero turnaround time, or the possibility of delivering immediately what is demanded for, the firm will fail to keep up (Nilson 2003). By the time the firm has created, manufactured and delivered what the customers requested for, they possibly have modified their preferences or a competitor may have by then introduced something into the marketplace satisfying the demand. Moreover, it is not possible for a customer to identify what a producer can offer. Merely listening to customers is to abandon the brand to the consumers and the management of the firm—and abandoning accountability is seldom a way to develop a strong brand identity, value, image, and positioni ng. The objective of this essay is to analyse in detail the McDonald’s brand in terms of its identity, value, image, and positioning. The Brand The significance of brand management is simply described by John Stewart, the CEO of Quaker Oats (Armstrong & Kotler 2007). He stated that â€Å"If this business split up I will give you all the bricks mortar and land and I would keep the brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than you† (Armstrong & Kotler 2007, 214). This evidently means that a strong brand can be more priceless than all the assets of a firm which make brand management very crucial. According to De Chernatony (2006), â€Å"a successful brand is an identifiable product, service, person or place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique, sustainable added values which match their needs most closely† (p. 13). A brand, in addition, can be defined as a system of signs and symbols that engages the customer in an invent ed or symbolic process that provides tangible value to a product or service (Kapferer 2008). The symbol of McDonald’s, which is an arching M, is only an M until every brand message has been sent or received by the potential customer. Herbert Rotfeld (2008) examines further the other abstract advantages and values branding can put in to a product or service. Similarly, Kapferer (2004) claimed that the brand is a mark whose objective is to express the hidden aspects of the product or service which are not readily available to the senses. McDonald’s is considered as one of the most popular brands across the globe. This essay will show how McDonald’s tries to constantly improve its brand by focusing on both its customers’ and brand owner’s perspectives. It also acknowledges the various stages in the branding and marketing process. Branding builds an identity and image for an organisation, product, or service. In particular, the brand image implies how customers distinguish or recognise the company. The mechanism of brand management will only be effective when a company performs and communicates itself in a trustworthy way (Nilson 2003). Techniques of marketing communication, such as advertising and promotions, are used to build brand identity, images, appeal, and methods which provide the brand its particular image (p. 49). This is represented at McDonald’s by its Golden Arches. The McDonald’s Brand McDonald’

Human Resource Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human Resource Information Systems - Essay Example The HR departments came under pressure with routine work trying to cope with administration and providing more services online, that they could not provide value-added services such as knowledge management, culture management, and strategic direction and renewal. Gradually the focus shifted from playing a purely technical administrative role to being actively involved in the strategic planning and management of an organization. It became essential to add value to enhance competitive advantage. The second perceived need was to incorporate IT in HRM practices. HR functions were transferred to digital formats and even though technology is underutilized, it is increasingly being used in functions such as recruitment, selection, training, promoting, terminating and in complying with legal requirements. IT systems led to the introduction of e-HRM which saves time and costs particularly with online recruitment and training systems. While HRIS can bring substantial savings to an organization , it is necessary that the managers and employees understand the benefits of the new system and are actually ready to use it. Getting the system to adapt to a new system is the greatest difficulty according to Beulen (2009). E-HRM can increase the amount of information provided to people as they obtain online access to HRM policy and practice handbooks. Online notification of holidays and other events facilitate strategic processes while people can even register for training courses online (Paauwe & Farndale, 2004, p11). E-HRM enables help people be constantly ready for change while encouraging online training and learning activities. It also facilitates collaboration between individuals through discussion groups and video-conferencing. It is also known to enhance employee interaction, work-life balance as they can deal with certain personal tasks while at work. In addition to improved accuracy, timely and

Launching New Ventures Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 1

Launching New Ventures - Dissertation Example In order to identify and develop a business opportunity, it is necessary to follow certain processes. These processes are analytically described below. At a first level, it is necessary to choose the approach on which the processes will be based. The effectual approach of decision-making has been chosen under the terms that the future conditions of the market involved cannot be precisely defined in advance – taking into consideration the strong market turbulence because of the global recession. Each of the phases of the processes is justified using relevant literature; additional literature is analytically presented in a separate section. 2.1 Effectual approach The effectual approach of the decision-making process is based on the proposition that since certain elements of the future are known, there are measures that can be taken for controlling it, even if its precise characteristics are not known. In the terms of the business environment, the above approach means that the future performance of business plans can be guaranteed – at an important level - by taking measures which are appropriate in terms of the common market conditions. The above approach is not based on the perspective that the exact future conditions of the market can be known, a perspective accepted in the causal approach of decision making. For this reason, the effectual approach has been chosen as most appropriate for checking a business opportunity, since this approach has the following benefits: a) it does not require accurate decisions but just effective plans; emphasis is given on the construction of the business projects and not on the development of a series of decisions; this fact can help to save time in realizing the projects, b) it does not require precise goals or stable market environment; this fact is an advantage of the effectual approach taking into consideration the turbulence in the global market, c) it does not require extensive market research, a fact that could also save time/ resources in the completion of the business project involved(Doke et al. 2007).

Apple Inc Business Organization Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Apple Inc Business Organization - Assignment Example Apple Inc. has international operations which are operated from its California based headquarters. The company is headed by a team of top executives who are responsible for making strategic decisions which affect the company’s future operations. The management of the company and its activities are directed by a group of board of directors. The company’s business operations are divided into various functionalities which include consumer electronics arm, personal computers and software and mobile phones. The business activities are effectively designed into design, manufacturing or development, sales and marketing, development and research. Since the company operates in several markets across the world, it has varying levels of management and organizational or business activities.The strategic environment within Apple’s business environment can be analyzed through the application of Porter’s five forces for competitive advantage of a company. According to Po rter (1985, p. 54), the threat of new entrants into the market poses a significant challenge to the competitive of a company. Since Apple operates in many markets across the world, it is evident that the company is challenged by the new companies which arise in these markets and provide products and services similar to those of Apple. Examples of new entrants into the Apple’s business environment include new mobile phone companies, telecommunication service providers and manufactures of computer systems and mobile phones. which comprise of the services and products that the company provides. The threat of new entrants is more significant when these new operators provide services at a cheaper price than a specific company (Porter, 1985, p. 65). The power of buyers who represent the consumers of Apple’s products is a significant force that determines the company’s strategies for competitive advantage. The information and communication industry as well as the mobile phone and telecommunication sector across the world is very dynamic. This means that the needs of consumers change frequently in relation to their tastes and preferences (Porter, 1985, p. 72). It is in this sense that Apple Inc employs a strategic plan that focuses on fulfilling or meeting the needs of consumers. This is because consumers comprise of the most important stakeholder for any business. Hannagan (2009, p. 43) points out that the power of suppliers play a significant role in defining the business strategies that are employed by a company for strategic advantage within the market. The suppliers of Apple’s raw materials determine its success in production and assurance of quality for its electronic, computing and mobile phone products. It is in this sense that the company is mandated to ensure that in all of its markets especially where its production processes are situated has access to suppliers. More importantly the company ensures that it maintains a positive relationship with its suppliers so that it would maintain their loyalty. In this light, the company is able to become strategically competitive within its business environment by producing the best quality of products and services. Hannagan (2009, p. 29) says that the threat of substitute products within a company’

The Positive and Negative of pay for Performance Essay

The Positive and Negative of pay for Performance - Essay Example Nowadays, the utilization of this scheme is widely used not just in the United States but all over the world as documented by the Harvard Business School. While others have strongly supported the view that performance based compensation will promote efficiency and satisfaction in the business organization, some empirical experiments failed to display its significance. In line with this, this report will look at the pros and cons of pay for performance. This paper will apply pay for performance both for employees work on their own and those working within a team. Pay for performance is based on the premise that money is a motivational factor. This premise assumes that in order for individuals to work harder, monetary incentives should always be present. Pay for performance is a system which directly links money to higher and more efficient performance. According to Pinto, performance based is the best from of compensation in this knowledge-based business environment. He argues that the â€Å"old archaic systems and processes of lax reviews and annual automatic pay increases across the board†¦ results in increasing jeopardy for employees whose pay has escalated over the years to a level that simply cannot compete in the modern global environment† (Pinto 6). This is supported by empirical results the most famous of which is the GE experience. It should be noted that Jack Welch significantly improved the performance as GE as the entire workforce â€Å"shaped up as nobody wanted to be at the bottom† (5). In some situations, money can function as a primary motivator in the case of workforce in the developing countries. An increase in their salary almost always motivates to work harder to finance their families’ expenditures. Performance-based compensation is also favored because of its relative simplicity. This system is regarded to give immediate and meaningful feedbacks. Also,

Re-Branding Sunsilk Back Into the UK Hair Market Essay Example for Free

Re-Branding Sunsilk Back Into the UK Hair Market Essay Originally launched in the Netherlands in 1956, Sunsilk provides haircare solutions in 80 countries around the globe. No matter the hair type or problem, we have the products and the know how to make your hair feel and look beautiful. Our passion in life is to help women celebrate looking beautiful everyday, anywhere. Bad hair days are history Take on life with confidence and consign bad hair days to the bin with Sunsilk. Our range of products incorporates various natural ingredients and extracts with their own specific properties; chamomile for cleansing without limpness, ginseng extract for strength and more for any and all requirements. Get great advice and tips on hair care from us too. Key facts * Number 1 in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East * Sales of more than â‚ ¬1 billion a year * Sells in 80 countries * Also sold as Elidor, Hazeline, Seda and Sedal * Recent awards: Holds the Guinness world record for the most heads of hair washed and styled in one day Sunsilk is a hair care brand, primarily aimed at women, produced by the Unilever group, which is now considered the worlds leading company in hair conditioning and the second largest in shampoo[1]. Sunsilk is Unilever’s leading hair care brand, and ranks as one of the Anglo-Dutch conglomerates â€Å"billion dollar brands. Sunsilk shampoos, conditioners and other hair care products are sold in 69 countries worldwide. Sunsilk is sold under a variety of different names in markets around the world including Elidor, Seda and Sedal. The brand is strongest in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and is the number one hair care brand in India, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand. * 1954 – Sunsilk first launched in the UK.  * 1955 – First advertisement of Sunsilk appeared on TV. * 1964 – Launch of Sunsilk hair spray. * 1968 – Sunsilk shampoo re-packaged in PVC bottles. * 1971 – Launch of Sunsilk conditioner. * 1975 – Sunsilk became the biggest name in hair care. * 2003 – Sunsilk glossy magazine launched in Argentina. * 2008 – Social networking site Gang of Girls was introduced in India. First advertising Sunsilk began advertising in 1955 with a campaign that focused on specific hair issues. In the UK, the campaign focused on shiny hair. During the 1960s, a television commercial of Sunsilk featured a tune composed by John Barry, â€Å"The girl with the sun in her hair†, which proved so popular that it was subsequently released as a pop single. Sunsilk radio commercials were aired in 1969 featuring Derek Nimmo to support the new Sunsilk Herb shampoo for problem hair called â€Å"Hairy Tales†. In the early 1970s, Sunsilk was advertised with the slogan â€Å"All you need is Sunsilk†. Celebrity associations Madonna, Shakira, Marilyn Monroe, and Marian Rivera all featured in Sunsilks 2008 advertising campaign â€Å"Life Can’t Wait†[3] which launched with a Super Bowl XLII spot. The philosophy behind the campaign was about girls taking positive steps to gain better control of their lives â€Å"Hair On = Life On†. Actress and former Miss World Priyanka Chopra is the brand ambassador for Sunsilk in India. [4] In 2009, singer Delta Goodrem was announced as the face of Sunsilk in Australia. The singer and her music have since featured in several Sunsilk adverts.[5] In 2007, British girlband Girls Aloud launched a campaign for Sunsilk after securing a sponsorship deal worth over  £1,000,000.[6] Members Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Cole, Kimberly Walsh and Sarah Harding all represented the brand, which included shooting a television commercial. Sunsilk also sponsored their following tour. Magazine In 2003, Sunsilk (Sedal) launched the first hair only glossy magazine in Argentina aiming to communicate to the professional hair industry. More than 800,000 copies are published each month. The magazine focuses on hair, fashion and beauty issues as well as showcasing hairdressers’ work. It is sold locally on news stands and distributed to hair salons. Gang of Girls In 2008, Sunsilk India launched a social networking site called Gang of Girls [7], which offered its users access to a variety of local and global experts to address various hair care needs through its content, blogs and live chat room. The site includes rich content of hair care and fashion, and users can also take part in interactive games and quizzes.In 2011, Sunsilk was listed in The Brand Trust Report published by Trust Research Advisory. Co-Creation collaboration From 2009 Sunsilk started working with a number of professional hair experts to develop new and improved products. Each hair â€Å"issue variant links to an expert† with the relevant specialist hair knowledge. For example, Dr Francesca Fusco, a New York dermatologist, co-created a â€Å"hairfall† variant for the brand. The line up also includes: Jamal Hammadi for Black Shine, Rita Hazan for Vibrant Colour, Teddy Charles for Plumped Up Volume, Thomas Taw for Damage Reconstruction, Ouidad for Defined Curls and Yuko Yamashita inventor of Japanese hair straightening process YUKO for Perfect Straight. Availability Sunsilk is available in over 60 countries worldwide. However Sunsilk products seem to be no longer available in the United States. The Sunsilk website has a list of countries where their products are sold, the USA is not one of them.

ToyTime Company Management Principles

ToyTime Company Management Principles Yuhong Dai Abstract This report shows the some management problems in the ToyTime company. I will using SWOT model analyze the problem (Question 2) and I will talk about management tools: KPI and SMART principleto solving the problem in the future. (Question 3). I will also mention some of my own opinions in the end. Introduction The company in accordance with the situation in previous years want to launch new toys. However, in the process is not very smooth.They expect sales to increase by 10% this year,but because the marketing manager Jacob Marks lack of communication with the production manager McConklin so because the raw material is not enough to lead,the ToyTime company can not supply new toys on time. Body of work QUESTION 1: What management problems are apparent in the ToyTime Company? Why have these problems occurred? Are the reasons related more to planning issues or to organizing issues in the company? -First of all, the biggest management problem is that the production of new toys can not satisfy market demand,I think it is because the marketing department and the product department did not achieve a common goal .Because of the introduction of new toys and the most positive response in the last five years,so the marketing department have projected that sales will be 10% higher this year than last.However, the product department just planning to raise inventory ,they do not have more communication with the marketing department.So that the raw materials not enough and new toys production can not meet the market demand.In my opinion,ToyTime Company tend to be management planning issue rather than other functions issue. Question 2: What is likely to happen to the company this year and in future years if the problem is not resolved quickly? -In this question ,we can use the SWOT model analyzing the problem in ToyTime company .S-strengths,W-weaknesses,O-opportunities,T-threats.I will use these four ways to analyze: Strengths: 1-Innovation. 2-Popular products. 3-Popular brand. 4-More clients. Weaknesses: 1-The goal is inconsistent. 2-The supplier is single. 3-All departments lack communication Opportunities 1-New toys development. 2-Demand is big. Threats: 1-Competitor. 2-Change in customer demand. According to analysis,we can see these main issues;the supplier is single,lack communication,there maybe competitors in the future .if the company not resolved quickly,then the companys economy will fall and they will lose potential clients.This would have a serious impact on the company. Question 3: Using the management tools discussed in your course, give examples of how each could be used to help solve the companys problems. -I will using Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to help solve the companys problems. Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. First of all, assign tasks in different departments and determine the performance indicators of the employee inside the department. This can strengthen employees motivation. For example, if the ToyTime company uses KPI as a management tool, firstly we suppose one goal: overall profit growth is 10%.So each department manager has to achieve a consistent goal .Marketing manager set the goal for sales growth of 10%.At the same time ,production managers are targeting a 10%increase in production.Various departments work in accordance with the unified strategic goal to help goals to achieve.And they can uses the SMART principle :S-specific means the goal must be specific.M-measurable means the goal must be measured.A-attainable means the goal must be achieved.R-relevant means the goal has to be related to other goals.T-time-based means the goal must have a clear deadline.As we know,whether it is set up by a group or a persons personal work goals they can choose the SMART principle Question 4:What would you recommend right now that can help resolve the problems being faced by ToyTime? What should it do to avoid the same type of problem in the future? I will recommend two ways :one for short-term solutions and the other for long-term solutions. The best solution in short-term : Looking for some temporary raw material suppliers,make sure the new toys are available on time. The company can hire temporary employees because work has to be done in a short time.Make sure employees work hours. The best solution in long-term: 1.The departments will communication together, set a clear goal, assign tasks and work together and they should make contingency plan in the future . 2. ToyTime company could introduce one more new toys next year to attract children . Work with advertisers and TV , get the topic . Conclusion Above all, it is suggested that the ToyTime Company can use KPI management tool to help solve the companys problems and also can be identify by the SMARTprinciple.The departments are working in one direction to achieve the companys goals. Executive Summary Teamwork is the main ingredient in a company.Communication is the most part of teamwork,communication can solve the problem and the problem in the ToyTime company are mainly the lack of communication between the various departments.If this company want to solve the problem quickly I think they need to change some management methods.KPI and SAMRT principle are very useful management tools to change management methods.But this is my personal opinion. References List https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/articles/what-is-a-key-performance-indicator http://wiki.mbalib.com/wiki/SMART%E5%8E%9F%E5%88%99

Anastasia Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anastasia   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Anastasia, Grand Duchess of Russia, was a very mischievous little girl with a sharp sense of humor (McGuire 18). She was always described as having long fine fingers and baby blue eyes. As she grew older, her personality changed drastically because of her dramatic childhood. Her eyes and fingers remained the same but her wonderful personality had disappeared (Klier and Mingay 193). The daughter of Czar Nicholas II, Anastasia, may have survived the Russian Revolution, but what became of her, baffled historians. Czar Nicholas was the last emperor of Russia and ruled from 1894 until 1917. Throughout his life Nicholas lived within the shadows of his father (Lieven 1). Nicholas took the throne in 1894, he was easily influenced by others and quickly became a poor leader (Pipes 12). Right after Nicholas took the throne he married Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt. Alix became the Grand Duchess of Russia. Her name was changed to Alexandra. Her religion was also changed to Russian Orthodox (King 77). The Czar and Czarina had 5 children. The youngest, Alexis had hemophilia. He was to be the next ruler of Russia, but unfortunately, the day never came (McGuire 31). During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Russia’s government began to decline. Czar Nicholas went against his advisor’s advice and led the Russians through the battle (Lieven 3). Nicholas was at war and had no idea what was happening in Russia. People were not getting enough food, and as a result became very violent; Worst of all Russia was losing the war (Pipes 65). Alexandra said, â€Å"This is the first time in my life I have no idea how to act. Until now god has shown me the way. Right now tho’ I cannot hear his instructions.† (Klier and Mingay 5). Alexis’s poor heath drastically increased. As a result, his mother had horrible mood swings and became very depressed (McGuire 31). Rasputin, a peasant healer from Siberia freely gave his advice to the Imperial family. â€Å"He came dressed in his crude country boots and caftan, from the start he was strangely at ease with the royal couple. He greeted them like old country cousins.† (Halliday 69). While Nicholas was away, Alexandra became very attached to Rasputin because he had healed Alexis from hemophilia and mended her broken heart. The Czar felt that Rasputin was an authentic voice of... ... no romantic legend. The two Anastasias represent the two faces of the twentieth century. One is a century that really existed, full of war and the slaughter of the innocents. The second is the century we longed to have, peace and family pleasures, and the dreams of any little girl who would close her eyes and become a princess.† People have been trying to find out what really happened to the Imperial Family for 75 years. The secrets of the family are no longer hidden among the dark trees of the Koptiaki forest outside Ekaterinburg (King 379). Many researchers say the real truth died with Anna Manahan. Historians are still baffled today because the bodies of Anastasia and Alexis were never found (McGuire 90). Many historians are still baffled today, and the bodies of Anastasia and Alexis were never found (McGuire 90). The real truth died with Anna Manahan. Biblography McGuire, Leslie. Anastasia; Czarina or Fake?. Minneapolis: Greenhaven Press, 1989. Pipes, Richard. A Concise History of the Russian Revolution. New York: Knopf, 1995. Lieven, Domnic. â€Å"Czar Nicholas II.† Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. CD ROM. Washington: Bloomsbury Publishing Place, 1999.

Leadership in Thoughts from the Tao-te-Ching and The Qualities of a Pri

Leadership in Thoughts from the Tao-te-Ching and The Qualities of a Prince Lao-Tzu’s â€Å"Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching† and Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Qualities of a Prince† both have the ultimate goal of making better leaders. The tactics that each writer chooses to present as a guide for the leader are almost opposite of each other. Today’s American government would benefit from a combination of the two extreme ideas. Lao-Tzu’s laissez-faire attitude towards the economy, as well as his small scale, home defense military is appealing to a liberal person. Machiavelli’s attitude towards miserliness and lower taxes, while being always prepared for war, would appeal to a conservative person. The writers are in agreement on some issues, such as taxes, but other ideas, such as government involvement in the everyday lives of citizens are completely opposed to one another. Lao-Tzu believes in moderation and small government. He states that a leader should stay within his country and govern his people only. He stresses that when the maser governs, the people should hardly be aware that he exists. A leader who is loved is better than one who is feared. The worst is one who is despised (22). Lao-Tzu also believes that war is not necessary when all follow the Tao. He states that â€Å"violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon itself;† therefore, if you have a neutral position, you will not be harmed (24). He believes that people are inherently good and not greedy. Man’s greed...

The Blooding :: essays papers

The Blooding As centeral as the environmentalist issue is to the&lsquo blooding&rsquo is more about a boys painful search for identity. Col&rsquos search for his own identity is a bigger issue it the blooding as he is a very confused teenage boy, who is torn between the community of Cornwall and the greenies. Col was brought up being very protected by his mother. As Col was brought up his mother made sure he had the best of everything. She would knit him all his clothes, like the city children wore and this made him an outsider as the other children in Cornwall would tease him for his clothing, his mother, as she is Irish and a Catholic who goes to church. Col came from a family which was normal for the community of Cornwall. His father worked as a tree logger and in the mill, as his father had and his father had and so on. Col had been horn in hope that he would follow his family foot steps and keep the tradition in the family going, by working in the mill. Col lead a double life - with the gang and the forest. Col would go into the forest and would stay in a special which was called The Palace for hours. His grandfather has shown him this special place in the forest. This Palace was the originally place of the settlement, that Col&rsquos great grand father had been at until a land slide had landed on his great grandfather. The settlement people them moved on, to a new place, which is Cornwall. Which he had visited nearly every day. This also made Col an outsider to the rest of the kids in Cornwall. The thing that transformed Col from an outsider was when he had a fight with Scott (who was the best fighter), and he won the fight. A copper called Golden Gloves, who is the best fighter in Cornwall then asked Col if he wanted him to train him. After the fight Col was accepted by the other boys and was no longer an outsider but a friend on the other kids in Cornwall. Then the greenies arrived to Cornwall, challenging the mills and the logging of the forest. Col has mixed emotions towards this issue.&lsquo Anyway I thought the old was right about the greenies, but I secretly agreed with the greenies about the trees&rsquo. (p.7) This quote shows how Col is confused about what he thinks and wants to think what other people do, but he know that he thinks differently. Col does not want to

Inclusive Instructional Strategies & Accommodations Essay

Diana Pastora Carson is a special education teacher and founder of Ability Awareness in Action organization. She always had an interest in changing the lives of disabled people from pitiful life and exclusion to inclusion and life full of dignity and hope. The concern in Diana’s nature came from presence of a brother who was preserved from others as a disabled and dependent human being. Diana’s Brother, Joaquin, was diagnosed with Autism at an early age. While he was in school, he had been placed in an exclusive classroom for students with significant mental retardation. He was twice placed in a state institute due to misunderstanding of his character and his attempts to communicate with his services. Currently, Joaquin resides in a state institute, where he is ill, emotionally and physically, from being locked up in a building away from his friends and family. He expressed his feelings about living in such environment to his sister in a painful way as he once said: â€Å"Diana, people are so boring here†. His family has been trying to get him out of there as soon as possible. They have also taken his case to the court and are waiting for the final decision to be made. They want to get Joaquin out of there and bring him in a home of his own with people who love him instead of staying in that institute any longer. The training, titled ‘Inclusive Instructional Strategies and Accommodations’, is about including all children, whether they have a disability or not, in general education classrooms specifically, and in the community, generally. Everybody deserves to belong to and live in their communities. A teacher has an enormous role in making all students belong to that classroom through her knowledge about each and every student of his/hers, and through recognizing uniqueness in each one of them. This should make the teacher create a supportive environment that meets each student’s needs, and an atmosphere that promotes acceptance of differences and diversity, learning, hope, and collaboration. Moreover, the teacher is responsible for building a curriculum that meets each student’s level and accommodates tests and homework. A great teacher would avoid labels that discriminate individuals with disabilities to avoid lower expectations. Those labels may help professionals recognize what disabilities the students have, in order to provide them with services that meet their needs. However, people within the same label or disabilities may vary; therefore, we cannot always judge someone based on the labels. Moreover, it is very unprofessional to address someone by his/her disabilities as no one likes to be looked at for something that they did not choose for his/her self and it may affect his/her self-confidence. Students’ dignity must be preserved by the teacher and whoever is around, for instance, peers, and family. Professionals working with disabled people should advocate the community about appreciation of diversity and encourage students to speak out their thoughts, make choices, and blend in the society. Most importantly, the teachers should listen to students attentively; look at their body language, written expressions, and vocalization for effective communication. During the training, many strategies and activities to develop a classroom community were shared by Diana, such as setting roles for the classroom, encouraging reading books that promote diversity and discussions, and different cooperative games. Diana also explained how a customized lesson should be designed as a teacher must know her/his students in order to alter lessons based on each student’s needs. Teachers should also know how to model, guide, and measure students’ independent achievements through knowledge of students’ strengths and limitations. Diana enlightened the importance of giving students’ time to process new information, retrieve old information, and speak out their answers. It is very important to break the lesson into smaller parts along with asking questions in between to check students’ comprehension and to encourage discussions about the lesson. It is very essential to bring movement and interaction into the curriculum, serve the different types of intelligences and most importantly honor every student for who he/she is and be aware of the impact teaching will have on his/her future life. Furthermore, visual aids can assist students in organizing their thoughts, memorizing them, and make learning more enjoyable and personal to them. Finally, commitment to learning, inclusion of all children, and building a quality future for each child is a must step for developing a loving community where everyone belongs. By having a brother with a disability, whose community isolated him from others by not providing him with education programs that serves his needs, making public places inaccessible for him, and not advocating the public about disabilities, Diana has learned to honor diversity and anyone who is working towards treating people with disabilities with dignity and respect. It has encouraged her to change the lives of those who are different from normal people, whether with a disability or not. It has motivated her to include all of them in a classroom that promotes collaboration, understanding, and hope. Furthermore, it has opened her eyes to the importance of advocating the society about disabilities and their inclusion, to change the image and future of the disabled in the community.

Individual Differences Essay

INTRODUCTION: The individual differences are a cornerstone effective area in modern psychology, it is referred for the psychology of the person that the differences between the individuals and their similarities. 2000 years ago Plato stated that the two persons are born exactly alike but each differs from the other by natural endowments, where one will be exited for occupation purpose and where as other will be for another perspective. According to the western psychology approach to individual differences is assumed as: Persons will be different in range of psychological attributes. It is possible to measure and study the behaviour of an individual. In history we have come across many theories on individual differences that are Psychology, survival of the fittest, by applying the principles of behaviour scientifically and some by the body language principles. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: In this we can classify the people in psychological forms according to their intelligence and personality characteristics. There are many conflicting theories about individual differences psychology. People have been aware of individual differences in history by gender differences, intelligence differences by religion, status and by education etc†¦ and by the personality differences i.e. by their job satisfactions and organisational competence. In modern psychology it has formalised that the individual differs from their values, personality, self-esteem and attitudes. In this contemporary world the individual differences are fully based on the bonds of organisational sequences like birth, education, work and death. Where a French philosopher Jean Jacques Roussean (1712 – 1778) states that â€Å"man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains†. Where the individuals are shaped by the liberty, equality and fraternity. Where individuals is the concept of identity which cannot be defined easily, other than saying that it refers to the person who is in relation with others in this world by the way he constructs, interprets and understand himself and others. In an organization managers understand the individual differences of their employees by their experience, knowledge and technologies. If manager is capable of understanding the differences of individuals then he can achieve the goals of him as well as the organization goals. Even organizations have their distinct identities. Example: There are two  brothers one like pets and other does not like pets, they both being from one family the likes are different. This tells that human tendencies will not be same in form of thinking and admires. IMPORTANT INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: Values Personality Attitudes VALUES: It is defined about the individual or group about their ethical beliefs for something for which they are emotionally attached. It can also be defined as a set of beliefs and goals that serve as guiding principle in one’s life. Where for managers value is the achievement i.e. values for personal success in a social standards, it may be power also where the managers think about their prestige, status and dominance’s over people. Example a manager of well-known organization thinks about his status and prestige and his control over the people for him these are the values whereas for manager of other organization may not be the same. Where individuals give there more priorities to their values which may differ from one individual to other but everyone has their own values and beliefs. PERSONALITY: It is defined as the stabilised patterns and psychological states of the mind, which explains about the behaviour of the person. Example if there are two persons one is Joe who is extroverts and other person Sam who is introvert, people have tendencies to judge Joe as open minded person and he his fully interactive and all without knowing him. So depending upon personality and behaviour the individuals differ. Where Sam who is introvert can be more intelligent than Joe but his personality is introvert so the attraction goes towards Joe. ATTITUDE: It is known as the collection of feelings and beliefs of a human. There are components of attitude which are: Affective component: where it tells about the feelings of individuals. Cognitive component: individuals have different ways thinking. Behavioural component: the behaviour of individual is different from others. Example a manager has different attitude towards his employees where as he has different attitude towards his f amily and friends because in front of employees there will be a question of prestige and status. SELF – AWARENESS: In an organisation if manager develops the self – awareness in  his employees by motivating them then the relationship between the employees will be better and they will be fulfilling the needs of their and organisations also. If a person comes to know about his self – awareness then he will be having a good relationship with others and his thinking will be in positive way towards one another which indeed help the organisation to achieve the goals. If a manager is capable of knowing his self –awareness and taking the feedback from his staff about his work and behaviour if it is in negative form also and improving on that negative things then he is a successful manager. If a manager keeps the friendly environment with his staff by motivating them and talking with them personally and telling to overcome their demerits and encouraging them in front of everyone for their work then the manager can easily achieve his and organizational goals. If a manager keeps his prestige and status aside and works with a team as one of the member of the team then the team members also feel comfort and the productivity will be enhanced and that type of managers are successful managers. THEORIES OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: This theories are based on the personality of an individual and they are: Trait theory Big five theory Myers – Briggs type indicator theory (MBTI) Socio – cognitive theory Psychoanalytical theory Humanist theory. In this theories the widely used theory is Myers – Briggs type indicator theory (MBTI) which tells about the differences and the similarities of the individual which in turn helps to improvise the self – awareness. This has 4 preferences which helps to know about the individuals that are: Extroversion or Introversion Sensing or Intuition Thinking or Feeling Judgement or Perception. MANAGING DIVERSITY: It is defined as â€Å"the variety of experiences and perspectives which arise from differences in race, religion, culture, mental or physical abilities, heritage, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender  identity and other characteristics†. There are some dimensions which affect performance, motivation, success and interactions with others which is important to understand. Example If you have good relations with your colleagues and with the supervisors of your organisation then you’re managing your diversity. Do you immediately take actions against the people who behaves in a form of disrespect like unwanted talking’s and using offensive terms, if you’re doing this then you are successful manager and with that you are managing diversity. CONCLUSION: This reports says that the individual differences should be accompanied to individual decision to perform organization behaviour. It suggest that if a person follows his value or norms, they would be more likely to perform organizational behaviour. If the managers have the capability to face the problems and come up with the solutions for that problem by team work and forming a self-awareness in his team then the organizations goals can be easily achieved and the manger is successful manager. It says that every individual has his own ethics, values, personality, self – esteem and attitudes and if a person knows about all this then he makes a good relation with his staff and he will be successful human being. REFERNCES: Clegg S., Kornberger M. and Pitsis T. (2011). Managing and organizations. London: Sage. Hickson D. (1997). Exploring Management Across The World. London: Penguin Group. George J. and Jones G. (2006). Contemporary Management: Creating Values in Organizations. McGraw-Hill (in New York).

Discourse Communities Essay

Marketing Discourse Community- most simply defined as â€Å"The management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. â€Å" from business dictionary. Marketers use common language For example, 4 p’s of marketing: something used everyday and defines marketing. Learned the first day of intro to marketing class. Outsiders would not know what the 4 p’s are. For different discrouse communities there needs to be places they can all unite and come together to discuss their field Site I used was by a professional orginazation BMA BMA: The Business Marketing Association (BMA) is a professional association for business-to-business marketing professionals. It began in 1922 as the National Industrial Advertising Association. BMA now has more than 2,200 members in 22 chapters in the US. This BMA site is a place where marketers all over the world meet too: Get information Share information Become a member Find speakers Learn about events Use resources and forums and current buzz Promotiong â€Å"Blaze† global marketing put on by BMA They say â€Å"Our board believes b2b marketing is entering a new golden age, with marketers dealing with change (thus, opportunity) at blazing speed and being asked to take on bigger roles to help blaze paths to greater collaboration, customer focus and growth.† Can tell about this community they are very into getting better and getting more information: VERY interesting for a marketing site it is very straightforward and neutral Not a big production and eye catching like marketing is known for To me this tells me they are very business like in this site and want to learn and communicate. Watch blaze video that incoroporates a lot of marketing techniques (AIDA) attention interest desire action First impression of site White background, red header, black tabs underneath labeled with About, Press Room, Join BMA, Resources, Speakers Bereau, Chapters, Member Directory. Underneath the blaze video and then two columns. One has featured articles with a â€Å"read more† quick link for interested users. Second column to the right has upcoming marketing events with the date, place and time for users. Then far right of page has some different advertisements for viewers. Language of the home page is fairly simple and clear to all users. As navigate away from home page the design stays same but language becomes more specialized. Examples:

Problems Related to Internet Addiction on Children Essay

Internet could be considered as one of the best useful technological invention of our time. One can find every kind of information which s/he looks for on the internet. Because it is very useful, it is used by almost everybody especially by young people. Sometimes using internet too much may cause a serious problem named â€Å"internet addiction†, which affects mostly children. Internet addiction is a serious problem affecting especially children in two possible ways. Firstly addiction to internet influences children negatively regarding their socialisation. Children are affected by internet addiction because it takes too much time. For example, children who spend too much time with computer can not spend enough time with their family. They can not have fun enough with their family. So they evaluate a weak relationship with their family. In addition, spending too much time with computer instead of reading books may cause a weak talking skill. Moreover, not playing classical children games might affect children’s socialisation. Children who spend time with computer instead of playing classical children games with their friends because of internet addiction will probably have weak social relationships in future. Having good childhood friends is vital for having a good adulthood social life. Also, they can not learn how to struggle with real people outside because of lack of playing classical children games. It may cause being unsuccessful in their work life in future. Secondly, using too much internet might contribute to psychological problems in children. Overuse may cause increasing desire to use internet related to insufficient joy. Children addicted to internet can not get the same joy with their first internet using. The jot decreases day by day. They increase their daily internet using time in order to reach the same joy with the joy which they get previous day. Overuse may also cause being aggressive and anxious when being kept away from internet for a long time. These symptoms may even turn into symptoms of depression. Furthermore, children addicted to internet could become not to able to differentiate real life from online life. They may be extremely happy when they reach a higher level in an online game. They do not care about as much as they care about online games. They also identify themselves with virtual characters in online games. To sum up, internet addiction may cause two possible problems on which are related to their socialisation and psychology. Children should be protected from internet addiction in order to be raised as a healthy generation. Parents should make their children attend real activities (such as scouting). They also should limit their children’s internet using time.

Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example Research conducted by Rashad shows that changes in the rate of fertility has occurred in all Arab nations and this change was accepted by Arab nations at a delay as compared to other nations, but the decline has been experienced at a much faster rate as compared to other nations. Rashad asserts that there have been several causes that have contributed heavily towards the slow acceptance of decline in fertility rate among Arab nations and this conforms to the belief that Arab nation and their populations are resistant towards accepting change. In certain nations and people of these fortunate nations experienced fertility decline due to backing of high aspirations and increased opportunities. On the other end, there have been Arab nations that have experienced decline in economic conditions along with issues in creating families have even led to decline in fertility. Socio-economic status of individuals in certain areas has played a motivational role in the acceptance of decline in fer tility at much earlier times as compared to other nations. Acceptance was even driven due to interpretation of Islam which was liberal in nature. People living in certain nations, especially those in the Gulf region experienced slow acceptance of decline because of rational decision making supported with child support programs. Arab nations overall have not been resistant to change, they have experienced differences in accepting change. The researcher asserts that differences in the way change is accepted and adopted in Arab nations and the conditions that drive the changes in the level of fertility in Arab nation is similar and consistent with the changes experienced throughout the world and these findings are dissimilar to the earlier findings of other researchers. This even shows that researchers previously have exaggerated the issue of conformity to culture. The differences in these trends even show that the theories of change that are already in existence have failed to explain the Arab nations case of fertility. On one hand theories are consistent with changes that are developmental and societal in nature, but on the other hand the experience of Arab nations of decline in fertility has taken place under different circumstances. Theories of change of fertility pay emphasis to fertility which is marital in nature, but the case of Arab nation has shown that reduction in the rate of fertility has occurred due to alterations in changes in the frequency of marriages taking place. The researcher further asserts that changes that have already taken place and are continuing to take place as result of changes in the frequency of marriages in Arab nations clearly show that females in the Arab nations are preferring to stay unmarried for a longer period of time and a major percentage of the women population in these regions even accept to stay unmarried throughout their lives. Nations that have experienced highest changes in the timeline of the event of marriage inc lude Libya, Algeria, Syria, Morocco and others. Women in these regions accept to remain unmarried till they reach the age of 30+ and these women account for 10 to 20% of the population of these regions. This has occurred at the same time when the fertility rates of Arab nations are declining, which shows that as marriage rates are delayed and decreased, women are decreasing their involvement in the act of childrearing. This has resulted in

Peter Alexander Promotional Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Peter Alexander Promotional Plan - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that target audience is subdivided into three categories. Differing products are to be designed for each target market. The markets include teenagers, young adults, couples, and kids. Members of all of these audiences shall be satisfied via product differentiation. The marketing mix of the Peter Alexander shall be representative of its overall strategy. Products shall be designed in ways that are differentiable and aimed towards the specific target market. Placement shall be done strategically and strong third-party ties with distributors shall be ensured to ascertain the timely distribution of products to customers all across the country. Promotion shall be done through ATL and BTL. The cost-effective medium of internet shall be the key communication strategy as it can attract customers immediately online and does not add much to the costs. The firm shall use creativity by using the image of Peter Alexander as the brand persona and exploitin g the internet for this purpose. Peter Alexander is an exclusive brand of nightwear that has operations centralized in Australia. Peter Alexander, the man himself, personifies the brand and serves as a symbol for the company. The company has a high brand equity with its followers due to the exclusivity showcased by Peter Alexander. The brand idea came into being when Peter bought a pair of Pajamas in Hong Kong. He was startled by the way in which he was attracted towards them and wanted to identify ways to make these products appeal to other people around him. Today Peter Alexander is one of the top sleepwear brands in Australia and from an online business, it has expanded into stores and continues to operate online.

Common core standards for literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Common core standards for literacy - Essay Example ards includes developing students’ ability to read texts and draw meaning from contexts, ability to â€Å"support arguments with evidence,† ability to â€Å"resolve conflicting views† in literature and the ability to â€Å"solve complex problems with no obvious solutions† (Wahlstrom, p. 4). I address the standards by providing avenues towards realization of the standards’ goals. One of the ways in which I address the common core standards is by promoting readership among students, as well as identifying, and monitoring the developed reading potentials. This motivates reading interest and identifies special cases for personalized assistance. I however rely on offering directions to develop writing skills that includes review of literature to comprehend its contents before writing. Instructing the students on selection of resources, exposing them to a wide range of literature and tailoring writing to achieve a communication role achieves this. I also address the standards by promoting teamwork, developing a â€Å"multiple perspectives† (Bunch, Kibler and Pimentel, p. 6) approach to encountered literature and instilling confidence in ‘self-expression’ within classrooms (p. 1- 8). Bunch, George, Kibler, Amanda, and Pimentel, Susan. â€Å"Realizing opportunities for English learners in the common core English language arts and disciplinary literacy standards.† Stamford University. N.d. Web. 29 July 2012. Wahlstrom, Deborah. â€Å"Common core standards.† Wordpress. September 2011. Web. 29 July 2012.

Personal Assessment and Worldview Concerning Christianity Essay

Personal Assessment and Worldview Concerning Christianity - Essay Example For decades, most Christian social workers have strived to enhance social prominence so as to gain substantial recognition and publicity. Isaiah and Jesus, as depicted in the Biblical Scriptures, advised their followers to worship God in conjunction with the provision of service to God’s creation. According to their message, worship involves some activities such as breaking bread with the hungry, treating employees fairly, inviting into our homes the helpless, and embracing a life of personal righteousness.For decades, most Christian social workers have strived to enhance social prominence so as to gain substantial recognition and publicity. Isaiah and Jesus, as depicted in the Biblical Scriptures, advised their followers to worship God in conjunction with the provision of service to God’s creation. According to their message, worship involves some activities such as breaking bread with the hungry, treating employees fairly, inviting into our homes the helpless, and emb racing a life of personal righteousness.Politically, Christians should not distinguish themselves from other people by country or customs. One of the Christian philosophies states that any individual involved in the material history represents another order or master other than God. Hence, Christians have to engage themselves in political issues so as to influence the world, with no intentions of making the world a paradise, but to minimize the opposition of the world against the Kingdom of God.

The Perversion of the Violent Frontier Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Perversion of the Violent Frontier - Essay Example In turn, the very same media perverted the picture of violence at the frontier. The success and fame of revived the production of American Westerns. Spaghetti Westerns form a significant genre in the history of film industry irrespective of the opinion of the critics. The film by Robert Rodriguez, ‘Desperado’ and the extremely violent action flick by John Woo both are being hailed as ‘modern Spaghetti Westerns.’ Fredrick Jackson Turner is regarded as the father of the advanced study in Western history, he researched some fundamental principles of western violence and found that the ideals of the pioneer have been understood in two forms that are: anti-government sentiment and the other interpretation is the profound faith in egalitarianism. Afterward, Turner explained that the pioneer passionately hated monopoly, aristocracy and special privilege in the social structure. Pioneer had faith in economy, simplicity and in the people’s rule. These people classified the attribute of personal development to be free from government and social limitations. If Turner’s perspective was valid for the situation on the frontier then it would have been easier to accept the conventional concept of the western ‘bad man’ or ‘criminal’ in response to the Turner’s proposition that the Western world was a person’s paradise. The pioneer in Turner’s construct did not have faith in the law and dealt with the matters on his own. Historical research of two about decades brought new theories to explain the relationship between the West and the violence. The book, ‘The Great Plains’ that was published in 1931 and was written by Walter Prescott Webb braided the concept of Western violence into a survey about the entire history of the Great Plains.

TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION TO SPANISH SPEAKERS Research Paper

TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION TO SPANISH SPEAKERS - Research Paper Example There is no doubt that English speaking requires good amount of understanding of consonants and vowels along with dedication and motivation. The research aims to examine what sorts of difficulties are experienced by Spanish speakers while speaking English and how pronunciation difficulties can be assessed and examined resulting in better pronunciation. Spanish language is a part of Indo-European Language family and is spoken by more than 400 million people across the world mainly in Spain, Latin America and the US. On the other hand, English is spoken in almost every country Ladefoged, 2000). However, when Spanish individuals especially students travel to other countries; they face pronunciation issues while speaking and communication in English. For this purpose, a systematic and logical approach of conducting a research will be taken that will help in investigating pronunciation problems of Spanish students along with identifying ways through which these problems can be assessed re sulting in better pronunciation and understanding of English Language. There is no doubt that incorrect pronunciation leads to little understanding of the meaning of sentences and thus creating confusion and doubts (Ladefoged, 2006). At the same time, conversing requires good understanding of English Language in order to facilitate personal and professional growth in English speaking nations. The next part of the discussion presents theoretical issues related to the research topic. Theoretical Issues Related to the Research Topic In order to investigate how English pronunciation can be taught to Spanish speakers, the researcher will focus on understanding of phonetics, production of speech sounds and difference between English and Spanish speakers by referring to a number of academic books, journals and articles. Jenkins (2002) stated that words are pronounced differently in different countries majorly because of the understanding of vowels and consonants. Coe (1988) stated that the re is a great similarity between English and Spanish language that makes learning motivational and easy. Coe (1988) further believed that both English and Spanish languages have originated from different culture and thus it is quite obvious to have pronunciation differences. Spanish language has only five vowels while English has fourteen vowels. The difference in vowels creates pronunciation issues as Spanish speakers often fail to differentiate between English Vowels. Compernolle (2001) stated that Spanish is syllable times language and English is stress timed language. Spanish speakers face difficulties in recognizing end consonants that create pronunciation issues. Moreover, the verb-grammar agreement is also dissimilar in two languages that often affect the correct pronunciation. Spanish speakers have logical association with the sound and spelling of words that lacks in English language. There are very limited double letters word in Spanish while in English, there are a number of double letter words. All these issues create confusion for Spanish speakers while speaking in English. Avexy, Ehrlich (1992) believed that the role of teeth, jaws, lips and tongue is of great importance considering the fact that correct use of lips, jaws and tongue helps in correct pronunciation of words. For this purpose, it is important to understand the role of phonetics in pronunciation of

The Evolution of Walking Upright Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Evolution of Walking Upright - Essay Example However, later scientific evidence clearly suggested that it may not be the case as evolution of walking upright has a history before the full human brain actually evolved. (Wheeler,62) It is critical to note that walking upright has not happened over the night and there were important physiological changes which occurred over the period of time. Available evidence suggests that there are important and critical differences between the physiology of the spines of apes and humans. It is this change especially in the physiology of spines of apes and humans which distinguishes them from each other. It was also this change which allowed humans to walk upright as compared to how apes walk. (Hunt) Physiology of Ape Scientific evidence suggests that early humans were either apes and evolved over the period of time to become humans or used some of the characteristics of apes. The early evidence that the humans actually used the ape like traits indicates that humans might have used four feet t o actually move from one place to another. However, as the time passed by, humans developed the ability to walk upright suggesting a change or transition in the physiology of apes to suit to the human needs. Some of the early evidence do suggests that the apes were bipedal in nature too however, their ability to walk on four feet was limited in nature. Apes cannot walk for longer distances on their two legs thus making it relatively impossible for them to use two legs for covering greater distances. This ability therefore was restricted due to the overall physiology of their spines and how it differed from that of the humans as evolution took place. Though the apes can still walk on two legs however, to become... This report approves that walking upright is considered as the primary and fundamental difference between humans and other animals. This tendency to walk upright however, has evolved over the period of time as humans are believes to be belonging to the same species as that of chimpanzees and gorillas. It is important to note that humans developed this tendency due to the changes in the physiology of their spines as spine of humans is relatively different from that of the spine of other animals. The human spine is relatively upright and supports its natural organs while at the same time supporting humans to walk easily. Human spine is joined with the head from the back whereas the spine of apes is joined from the back. The curve in the spines of apes allows them to carry weight however, restrict their movement. This essay makes a conclusion that one of the important theories of how humans developed the ability to walk upright is called Savannah theory. This theory suggests that humans developed this tendency because the climate change forced them to come down from trees. The global warming as well as cooling reduced the number of forests therefore humans have to come down the trees to survive. The author of the paper talks that this theory however, has been challenged by recent evidence which suggests that walking upright on two feet was made possible because of the difficulty faced by the humans to navigate the difficult terrain of East and South Africa. Further, walking upright conserves the energy thus allowing humans to walk longer distances with relative ease and less energy.

Indian Culture Essay Example for Free

Indian Culture Essay Welcome to our guide to India. This is useful for anyone researching Indian culture, customs, values and wanting to understand the people better. You may be going to India on business, for a visit or even hosting Indiancolleagues or clients in your own country. Remember this is only a very basic level introduction and is not meant to stereotype all Indian people you may meet! Facts and Statistics Location: Southern Asia, bordering Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km, Burma1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km, Pakistan 2,912 km Capital: New Delhi Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north Population: 1,065,070,607 (July 2004 est. ) Ethnic Make-up: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000) Religions: Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other groups including Buddhist , Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000) Government: Federal Republic Languages in India The different states of India have different official languages, some of them not recognized by the central government. Some states have more then one official language. Bihar in east India has three official languages Hindi , Urdu and Bengali which are all recognized by the central government. But Sikkim, also in east India, has four official languages of which only Nepali is recognized by the central government. Besides the languages officially recognized by central or state governments, there are other languageswhich dont have this recognition and their speakers are running political struggles to get this recognition. Central government decided that Hindi was to be the official language of India and therefore it also has the status of official language in the states. Travelling to India? Why not learn some useful Hindi phrases ? Indian Society Culture Hierarchy The influences of Hinduism and the tradition of the caste system have created a culture that emphasizes established hierarchical relationships. Indians are always conscious of social order and their status relative to other people, be they family, friends, or strangers. All relationships involve hierarchies. In schools, teachers are called gurus and are viewed as the source of all knowledge. The patriarch, usually the father, is considered theleader of the family. The boss is seen as the source of ultimate responsibility in business. Every relationship has a clear- cut hierarchy that must be observed for the social order to be maintained. The Role of the Family People typically define themselves by the groups to which they belong rather than by their status as individuals. Someone is deemed to be affiliated to a specific state, region, city, family, career path, religion, etc. This group orientation stems from the close personal ties Indians maintain with their family, including the extended family. The extended family creates a myriad of interrelationships, rules, and structures. Along with these mutual obligations comes a deep-rooted trust among relatives. Just Cant Say No Indians do not like to express no, be it verbally or non- verbally. Rather than disappoint you, for example, by saying something isnt available, Indians will offer you the response that they think you want to hear. This behaviour should not be considered dishonest. An Indian would be considered terribly rude if he did not attempt to give a person what had been asked. Since they do not like to give negative answers, Indians may give an affirmative answer but be deliberately vague about any specific details. This will require you to look for non-verbal cues, such as a reluctance to commit to an actual time for a meeting or an enthusiastic response. Etiquette and Customs in India Meeting Etiquette Religion, education and social class all influence greetings in India. This is a hierarchical culture, so greet the eldest or most senior person first. When leaving a group, each person must be bid farewell individually.

Trading in Hong Kong Essay Example for Free

Trading in Hong Kong Essay Great business dealings take into consideration the intricacies of the culture into which the business is to be established. Customers need to be studied – their needs, their wants and other demands. Studying the local culture would also help in dealing with local business people. What a business person must first note in studying Hong Kong and Vietnam culture is that both countries have collectivist orientations and interests. They exhibit close family and community ties. Loyalty is a very important value and each member takes responsibility for others in the group. (Taylor, para. 7) People in Hong Kong value â€Å"collective ideals of modesty, moderation, and the value of protecting established, harmonious relationships. The collective culture would reinforce peoples motivation to do a good job, because there is an element of face involved. If one is doing a good job in running a company, he or she not only reaps profits but also gain face †(International Business Ethics, Attitude toward a Corporation section). The concept of â€Å"face† in Hong Kong is roughly equivalent to reputation and integrity. Most Hong Kong companies are owned by families (International Business Ethics, Religions and Traditions section, para. 4). For the Vietnamese, the family is of utmost importance. The groups interests comes first before the individuals. All customs and rituals like weddings and funerals are attached to the village community. Marriages had to meet the interests of family lines and wedding proposals are made to the brides family. (Customs, para. 5) Hong Kong culture is â€Å"somewhere in-between Chinese and American culture† (International Business Ethics, para. 1). In fact, both Chinese and English are considered its official languages. Although Hong Kong is predominantly Chinese, its culture blends the East and the West, as well as the old and the new. â€Å"People here still cling to their roots, to their traditional beliefs and religions. They continue to pray and make offerings at more than 600 old and new temples, shrines and monasteries scattered across the territory.†Ã‚   (Hong Kong Culture, para. 2) Hong Kong is famous for their lion dances, a colorful display of   a dancing large lion usually during festive occasions and are meant to bring in good luck. The Hong Kong Chinese also celebrate the Ching Ming Festival, devoted to honoring their relatives who have died. Ancestors are held in high regard by the Chinese and they are always prayed to for guidance. Another festival that exhibits the Chineses close familial ties is the Moon Festival. It is believed that on that day, the moon is on its biggest, roundest and brightest. The term â€Å"round† implies family reunion in Chinese. There are various religions in Hong Kong, including Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. There are 39,400 Catholics, 300,000 Protestant Christians, 20,000 Muslims and 15,000 Hindus in Hong Kong. All of these religions are deeply involved in education, health care and social services. Homes of Buddhist and Taoist believers have ancestral shrines, â€Å"with images of the most favored of the hundreds of divinities (International Business Ethics, Religions and Traditions section, para. 2).† Generally, Hong Kong has a welcoming attitude to business people from around the world (Hong Kong a Model, para. 6). It could be expected that American-owned businesses would have no problem dealing with the Hong Kong Chinese. In fact, the city already hosts more than 1,100 American firms (U.S.-Hong Kong, para. 4). Despite this, American business people should still take note of the following cultural values and behaviors in order to avoid any misunderstandings with the Hong Kong Chinese: Colors are very significant. Red is considered a lucky color, while white is synonymous with death. It is wise to think about the color of your products. A common way of showing surprise or dismay is by sucking in air quickly and loudly through the lips and teeth. If your customer shows this gesture, it means he is displeased. Gift giving is a sign of thanksgiving. Present gifts using two hands and dont expect that it will be opened in front of you. Religion has a very significant influence on the culture and way of life of the Vietnamese. Their attitude towards family, life and death are greatly influenced by Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism (Religion, para. 1). The predominant religion in Vietnam is Buddhism, with about 10 million followers. The second largest is Catholicism, with about six million followers, but their influence on the   culture is minimal. Just as well, the influence of the two religious sects, Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, are also insignificant. Caodaism is a combination of different teachings of Buddha, Jesus, Confucius, Lao-Tse and others. Hoa Hao, meanwhile, is a reformed Theravada Buddhism. (Religion, Other religions section) There are also Protestants and Muslims in Vietnam but the numbers are not large. As with the Hong Kong Chinese, Vietnam had also opened their trade with the United States. Likewise, it could be expected that doing business in Vietnam would not be too difficult for Americans, just as long as they keep in mind some of the intricacies of this culture. Among these: The concept of face is very important to the Vietnamese. Take caution not to unintentionally cause the loss of face of your customer. Be aware of your words and actions.Complimenting them is a way to give face, while, accusing them of poor performance or reprimanding them in public causes the loss of face. Pass items with both hands. It shows respect. Do not pass anything over anyones head. Do not point using your finger. Point using your hand. Bibliography: Cunningham, J. (2005). U.S.-Hong Kong Economic Relations. Retrieved February 1, 2007 from http://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive/2005/Sep/30-249516.html Customs and practices. (n.d.) Retrieved February 1, 2007 from http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/learn_about_vietnam/culture/customs/ Hong Kong a Model for China, U.S. Consul General Says. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2007 from http://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive/2005/Sep/30-249516.html Hong Kong Culture. (n.d.) Retrieved February 1, 2007 from http://hong-kong.tourism-asia.net/hong-kong-culture.html Huynh, D. T. (n.d.). Religion of the Vietnamese. Retrieved February 1, 2007 from http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Den/5908/religion/religioninvn.html   International Business Ethics: Hong Kong: Culture, Religion, and Tradition. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2007 from http://www.pitt.edu/~ethics/Hong_Kong/culture.html Taylor, S. (n.d.). Geert Hofstede Analysis: Hong Kong. Retrieved February 1, 2007 from http://international-business-etiquette.com/besite/hong_kong.htm