Research Paper Essay

Organisation’s Profile and Management Approach8 Report Content and Quality9 Range of the aspects of performance reported11 Performance Indicators11 Conclusion14 References16 Part 1 – An analysis of a published academic paper Introduction We have evaluated a published academic paper – â€Å"Corporate sustainability: historical development and reporting practices† (by Andreas Christofi, Petros Christofi and Seleshi Sisaye, 2012). The purpose of the paper was to compare the disclosure requirement between the two widely used sustainability reporting instruments  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes (DJSI World) and Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guidelines (GRI-G3 Guidelines). These two instruments are similarities in the content but their disclosure requirement are different and the depths of the complexity of sustainability indicators are vary. The authors suggested that sustainability reporting framework needs undergo further standardization and enforcement of the disclosure indicators to avoid any negative impact on investors and consumers in case of corporate failure or mismanagement in the upcoming future. There is growing concerns associated with whether organisations have to report their sustainability performance from the early 1990s. Fortunately, there are many corporations are voluntary elect to employ and report their sustainability performance. Nevertheless, there is no indication of any development of formal international recognised legislation to enforce corporations to report its sustainability performance. The authors believed that part of the recent corporate failures were caused by corporate mismanagement mostly a human error and failure moral-hazard system risk control. Hence, the motivation of this academic paper was to recommend that an adequate risk control was necessary to be put in place, and a meaningful and accurate corporate sustainability disclosure to be required. The paper suggests that Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) should actively work on a standardised sustainability reporting. Theoretical Concepts There are theoretical and practical rationales in this research. The theoretical concepts examined in the paper are stakeholder theory and public interest theory. There are many organisations that voluntary report their sustainability performance to the public. There are different reasons for them to adopt this reporting strategy. This may due to an entity is more likely to focus on meeting the expectations with a particular group of stakeholders such as investors, employees, customers, regulators and other specific groups. Usually an organisation has the responsibility to account for the right of their stakeholders such as ‘right to information’. If an organisation fail to meet the expectation of the public and stakeholders, this may result lose their support from the community and the opportunity to run their business locally. Therefore â€Å"alignment of company reporting with the expectations of key stakeholders serves to improve the quality of a company’s relationships with such stakeholders and thus protect and enhance the value of the organisation† (G100, 2003). Therefore it is critical for an organisation to address the needs and expectation from their identified stakeholders. On the other hand, the authors analysed the disclosure indicators between GRI and DJSI. In 2009/2010 there were 317 global organisations listed on the DJSI. In 2009 there were 1299 registered reports with GRI. Among these 1299 reports, the authors discovered that the level of compliance with the GRI guidelines were inconsistent. In general, there are three levels in GRI Guidelines to determine what the degree of compliance that a reporting organisation has account for their disclosure on materiality. Level A is intended for advance reporting organisations. Suppose these ‘Level A’ reporting organisations are expected to report a thorough materiality process in response and communication with their stakeholders. Lower compliance level is Level C that includes those reporting organisations are at lower compliance level. However, the authors found that there were only 31% of the reporting organisations were with great process towards sustainability implementation. In addition, there were 25% of the reporting organisations were most likely not to adhere to the disclosure guidelines. The reason for this are either (1) reporting sustainability are voluntary so they don’t need to adhere all the requirements, (2) some aspects may not be relevant to a particular organisation or the organisation choose not to report part of the requirement, (3) they have combined/used other sustainability instrument to report their sustainability performance. The authors reveal the above were some of the limitation to the current G3 Guidelines. As GRI Guidelines are non-regulatory and non-binding disclosure requirements, as well as missing ‘enforcement’ that require those reporting organisations have to comply with. The authors believed that legislation is necessary to be put in place by an authority and/or professional bodies. They said legislation is needed in order to maintain a stable capital market, and refinement and early detection of any corporate mismanagement. As a general rule, the introduction of regulation is to rotect investors as well as the public. It is believed that regulations are initially to benefit the society as a whole and it is an instrument to create confidence to the society in relation to the capital market. However, there are arguments about the cost-and-benefit to the increasing of regulations. These regulations may create huge cost to companies but with less corresponding benefit and it may crea te a false sense of security to the society. This may be one of reason why there is uncertainty for other organisations to employ the sustainability development. Comparison We have found that the authors have compared the GRI reporting guidelines with the DJSI World disclosure indicators and the report revealed some difference between the GRI-G3 Guidelines and DJSI World: (1) Data Availability and Accessibility: The DJSI covers the top 10 percentage of the biggest 2500 companies in the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index (DJGTSM) that pursue economic, social, and environmental reporting (DJSIs, 2009). Each year, the index components will be announced by the SAM Indexes GmbH, a Switzerland-based investment group. It serves as a reference point to the global rating agencies and investors. On the other hand, the GRI Guideline is designed and developed through a process of multi-stakeholder consultation including individual, professionals and non-governmental organisations (NGO). According to G100, 2003, â€Å"Internationally, the most prominent, comprehensive and generally accepted guidance is that published by the GRI. † The GRI-G3 Guidelines provide reporting framework to an organisation of any size, sector or location to prepare their sustainability report. 2) Objectives: The DJSI defines corporate sustainability as â€Å"a business approach that create long-term shareholder value by embracing opportunities and managing risks deriving from economic, environmental and social developments. † (DJSIs, 2009) and that can be quantified and screened for investing purposes. On the other hand, the GRI guidelines are based on the notion that transparency and accountability about economic , environmental, and social impacts are of interest to a diverse group of stakeholders (GRI, 2008). 3) Application disclosure information: The authors utilize sample firms from both standards to draw inferences on sustainability indicators of performance. They discovered that the content of both standards are similar but the disclosure format method and the depth of indicators are differences. For example, they have compared the ‘social responsibility’ between both standards. The authors find that GRI Guidelines have better disclosure indicators especially in the systemic risk of moral hazard such as anti-corruption and anti-trust practices. As a result of the above findings, the authors believe that DJSI’s information is focus on an investment perspective. Alternatively, GRI Guidelines are more focus on a wider group of stakeholders. Although both standards are served for the same purpose that is to enhance sustainability measuring and reporting. However, these two standards are with different scope of data availability, accessibility, objectives and indicator measurement. The authors suggested it is necessary to further standardization sustainability disclosure and enforced by a professional body such as Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Implications & Conclusion The implications of the above findings indicated that it is significant to form a standard sustainability guideline that appropriate to any size of corporations to employ their sustainability development. The quality, content, as well as the disclosure indicators are the critical factors; this is to determine the level of risk and materiality related to the financial and non-financial information. In particular, to certain an entity’s sustainability development can create an opportunity for an entity to sustain itself through risk management in the long run. The research paper written by Christofi A. , Christofi P. , and Sisaye S. as discussed about historical development and reporting practices of corporate sustainability. To be exact it gave an overview of how and why sustainability reporting has been developed and moreover it discussed reporting instruments such as GRI and DJSI. We understand the reason why organisation will voluntary to report their sustainability performa nce as well as how important of the disclosure indicators are. According to GRI, 2008 – â€Å"A sustainability report should provide a balanced, objective and reasonable representation of the sustainability performance of a reporting company – including both positive and negative contributions†. We will take into account of all these factors when we  evaluate the sustainability report of our chosen organisation – Samsung Electronics. Part 2 – A Critical Evaluation of an Organisations’ Sustainability Report Introduction Samsung Electronics Co. , Ltd. is found in 1969 in Suwon of Korea. They are the first Korean company included in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World in February 2011. In 2010, they was ranked 19th in the Interbrand’s Best Global Brands. Their main business is manufacturing and sells a wide range of electronic goods, communication devices, and semiconductors. They have one global headquarter in Korea and nine regional headquarters worldwide, which consists of 199 subsidiaries, and they have employed 178,732 full time staff and 11,732 contractors at the end of 2010. As they are one of the largest manufacturing corporate in the world, so we are interested to evaluate their sustainability performance. Vision & Strategy Since 2009, they set their long term corporate vision for 2020 as ‘Inspire the World, Create the Future’. The objectives of their core strategy are harmonising among diverse stakeholders by (1) protecting the environment, (2) improving the social conditions in their service regions, and, at the same time, (3) generating economic performance (as per the CEO report in 2011 sustainability report). They believed that integration of sustainability development is essential for sustainability growth. To achieve their sustainability development, they have categorised their strategies into six areas: talent management, integrity management, green management, social contribution, partner collaboration, and product and services. In recent years,  Samsung has built their organisation structure into eight divisions, including visual display, IT solution, Digital Appliance, Mobile Appliance, Mobile Communications, Network, Digital Imaging, Semiconductor, LCD divisions. The goal of organisation structure is help managers to implement and control the system facility and efficiency. Furthermore, the new structure enhances global competitiveness and more effectiveness organisation management. Samsung has established successfully the corporate governance to implement and monitor the sustainability strategy across the company. As seen in the annual sustainability report, the company has suggested three significant strategic approaches; visions for industry, vision for society and vision for employees. To ensure the accuracy of implementing and monitoring these approaches, Samsung has established creative management, partnership management and talent management. The responsibilities and roles of each department are increasing the external capabilities, partner collaborations, satisfying the expectation of its stakeholders. Organisation’s Profile and Management Approach Furthermore, Samsung has set up the management systems to ensure the company continuously obtaining future probability and sustainability, which is based on main direction of creation, innovation and change in consistent with the global economy. Their scope and tasks to achieve their sustainability development, that reflecting significant influences to employees, societies, partnerships, and customers as a whole, are classified in the following areas: * Talent management: employee value, work-life balance. * Integrity management: corporate ethics, fair trade compliance and intellectual property protection. Green management: emphasis on climate change, develop eco-products, encourage Eco-Friendly workplace, green communication. * Social contribution: pursuing a happier society, partnership programs. * Partner collaboration: global competitiveness. * Products and services: customer enjoyment service and customer trust. In January 2009, Samsung built the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Liaison Office that is responsible for reporting directly to the CEO and the Sustainability Management Committee. Report Content and Quality There are four principles for defining report content: materiality, stakeholder inclusiveness, sustainability context and completeness. (1) Materiality: We found that the level of information provided form Samsung sustainability report is not detailed enough. For example, information about global network gives us an understanding on how many departments of production, research and development and sales in each region and the report also provided information about how many people are working in each region; but it is missing further information on how many people work in individual division. This is key information for us to compare with the accident rate. It seems they are not complied with this principle. (2) Stakeholder Inclusiveness: In both of their reports, they have identified their stakeholders into eight groups – customer, business partners, shareholders/investors, non-governmental organisations, employees, local communities, government and press. In order to meet with the needs from their stakeholders, they will identify all relative issues and will follow up with communication activities. In addition, they have expanded social network services to strengthen communication with both internal and external stakeholders. In essence, Samsung has satisfies this principle. (3) Sustainability Context: Samsung has categorises its sustainability issues into 6 areas – talent management, integrity management, green management, social contribution, partner collaboration, and product and services. At the end of the report, it contained performance highlights, short-term plan for the next year and performance indicators. Basically, Samsung has satisfies this principle too. (4) Completeness: Overall, Samsung has provided general information in their reports. By looking at the table of the content of the report, the reader can find that all important topics. Yes, Samsung has satisfies this principle. There are six principles for defining report quality:   balance, comparability, accuracy, timeliness, clarity and reliability. (1) Balance: The balance of the information provided by Samsung is enough but they are relatively emphasised on those positive aspects. In the negative aspects, for example, in the area of product and service, they have employed outside agency to conduct a global customer satisfaction survey and used it for setting improvement targets, but it is missing further information about the effect of the survey. Another example is they have disclosed that they have 57 million customer inquiries and grievances (Korea: 34 million, overseas: 23 million) on their product and after sales services, again, there is no further information. It seems they are trying to meet the disclosure requirement. In general, they have relatively emphasised on the possible aspects, like awards, partnership program in social contribution, economic performance and so on. It is obviously, Samsung has failed to meet with this principle. 2) Comparability: We found that the two reports were inconsistent, the format and level of information provided are different. In 2011 report was with more information with performance highlights, indicators as well as a short-term plan for next year. In 2010 report is with more information in the individual areas, for example, they have included their company code of conduct in their integrity management. Besides, we found that it is quite difficult to compare their report with other company especially in the same industry. Because the format and information are vary from one company to others. We believe that this is caused by lack of a standard sustainability reporting framework. Therefore, their report does not comply with this principle. (3) Accuracy: In general, Samsung as a big corporation have responsibility to provide accurate information. We believe the information they have provide are accurate and reliable, and stakeholders assess their company’s performance. Yes, Samsung satisfies this principle. (4) Timeliness: Organisation should make report available on time for the stakeholders to make informed decisions. In general, Samsung has provided their reports on a regular schedule and information is available in time. Their reports are generally available around early of June. Yes, Samsung satisfies this principle. (5) Clarity: In general, everybody can assess Samsung sustainability information from their company website and can obtain a PDF format of the sustainability report. Besides, their website provides information and contact details of their CSR office and stakeholders can contact them for any queries on their report. Yes, Samsung satisfies this principle. 6) Reliability: Basically, the level of information in Samsung’s report is quite general. However, it still can subject to examination and that establishes the quality and materiality of the information. Range of the aspects of performance reported The range (breadth) of the aspects of performance reported for these two years are adequate. In these two reports, they have categorized their sustainability development into six s egments which are talent management, integrity management, green management, social contribution, partner collaboration, and product and services. In the 2011 sustainability report, they have presented the highlights of progress, a three year performance indicator, and a short-term plan for each of the segments. The level of information provided in each segments is sufficient. However, due to there are lack of standard requirement of what level of information should be presented, we found that the information between the two years are difference and inconsistent. In addition, there are no comparisons with other companies or with industry average. Sometimes, it may be difficult to know how a particular company compares with another one. As a reader, we would like to have more meaningful information and progress in regarding to their economic, environmental and social performance. Performance Indicators In 2010 sustainability report, Samsung has set number of the action plans for year of 210 and they are:- * Sharpen competitive edge in core businesses * Promote open innovation * Develop new businesses and new markets * Expand partner collaboration and establish green leadership * Establish market-driven system * Foster a creative organisational culture We will use the above as short-term goals and will evaluate their sustainability performance. As Samsung is one of the largest manufacturing corporate. We are interested to understand their disclosure indicator in the social performance of (1) labour practices and decent work and (2) society. (1) Labour practices and decent work: Overall, Samsung has demonstrated the results of performance against goals in this area. Information has been covered in the area of talent management. They have set the objective to attract and retain top talent with promoting worker diversity and fostering a creative organisational culture through strengthening employee competencies. The level of information is met with requirement in the performance indicator related to employment and occupational health and safety. Employment status by region| Region| 2008| 2009| 2010| Korea| 84464| 85089| 95662| Other| 77236| 72612| 94802| Total| 161700| 157701| 190464| In 2010, their sales and profits has been boost even though there are weak euro stemming from debt crisis in Europe and they have expanded more business subsidiaries in overseas. Their workforce has been increased significantly. Some of their contractors have been transferred as permanent staff especially in the peak season. However, this situation may arise with some restraint in the labour budgets, overall staff management when the global continuous economic downsizing more severely in the upcoming years (2) Society: As per requirement from G3. 1, society performance indicators focus on any impacts that will arise from the local communities in where they operate, and disclose any risks that may arise from interactions with other social institutions of which are managed and mediated. Risks including bribery, corruption, undue influence in public policy-making, and monopoly practices. In the 2011 sustainability report, it has demonstrated the result of performance against the above plan. They have opened 3 more subsidiaries in 2010 from a total of 196 to 199. The movement of their subsidiaries are as follows:- Global Network| Production| Sales| R&D| Other| Total| Year 2010| 40| 50| 18| 91| 199| Year 2009| 39| 53| 24| 80| 196| Movement| 1| -3| -6| 11| 3| Once their new business subsidiaries are in operation, they will implement their sustainability strategy in the area of social contribution and integrity management. In the social contribution, Samsung has incorporated their corporate social responsibility philosophy: â€Å"leverage Samsung legacy of technology innovation to change our communities and human life and offer new opportunities to more people by preserving the environment for future generations†. In return, Samsung has developed various contribution programs through, partnership, donations and volunteering, which are tailored to each local community and aim at deliver real change to these local communities. Result in 2010 is positive. The number of people participating in volunteering is increased significantly. However, the dollar value on social contribution which is only KRW239 billion. When we compared it with the sales KRW154 trillion and net income KRW16. 1 trillion, the percentage to sales is less than 0. 15% and to net income is 1. 5%. It seems their dollars value contribution to the society is so little. Samsung has identified organisational risks of unlawful activities and violation of the laws in each region, in order to minimise these risks. Samsung has established its own code of conduct outlining ethical standards that require all employees has to comply with. Besides, they have introduced different compliance programs such as compliance education, integrated training through self-inspection to raise awareness of compliance among employees to follow. Any unlawful activities such as bribery, corruption and influence in public policy-making and monopoly are strictly prohibited. Although they have integrated different compliance programs, however wrongdoing activities are still happened. In 2010, 28% of the people who were disciplined were dismissed by Samsung. Besides, Samsung has been fined with KRW16 billion with violation of collusion on system air conditioners in Korea and $145. 73 million Euros with violation of DRAM price collusion in overseas. It seems their controlling system is inefficiency and we believe they need a tightening monitoring system in order to minimise their business risks. Conclusion Based on our evaluation on our chosen organisations’ sustainability report, we are of the opinion that their sustainability reports have covered enough information and this information can be easily accessed. However, the level of detail in their information provided in their report is very general. Their compliance program, for example, is an essential for any company, and does not provide the necessary information for us to properly analyse their integrity. The report roughly covers the data. As a reader, we would like to know more details of how problems occur, instead of what, and how they are going to rectify or prevent it. Besides, when we referring to their report, the currency they are using is South Korean Won which is quite difficult for us to understand the monetary effect. We would suggest an appropriate international currency should be used. The clarity of change between the two years reports are inconsistent. The 2010 report was with more information such as code of conduct, value system which is a useful insight, and the 2011 report was with more information such as short-term plans, performance highlights and more performance indicators. We are trying to compare Samsung’s performance with other company that is in the same industry. However this is quite difficult as the format and level of information are different from Samsung to the other company. This may be a restraint of a voluntary report. These different indicated the current limitation of sustainability development, that is lack of standard sustainability reporting. Currently sustainability reporting is a non-regulatory and non-binding requirement. After we evaluated Samsung’s sustainability report, it seems their â€Å"voluntary sustainability report may more about public relations than about increasing the transparency and accountability of corporations with respect to their sustainability performance† (Cho, 2012). We believe that â€Å"the development of CSR standards could become a major influence on global trade and investment. Questions of effectiveness, transparency, accountability and democratic participation are important for any new manifestation of regulation or governance† (Bendell, 2011). As per the insight from KPMG 2011 â€Å"while the GRI Guidelines will continue to be the de facto standard, we believe that global CR reporting would benefit from further global standards that enable the benchmarking of the quality of the information and quantitative performance in CR activities†. We believe that an organisation should initiative to ensure they have made every effort to listen and meet the needs from both their internal and external stakeholders, through incorporated the sustainability development this should be the best channel for an organisation to improve the communication with both their internal and external stakeholders. Finally through sustainability on economic, environmental and social, this will benefit to the organisation, people as well as the planet too. Word count: 4022 References 1. Bendell, J. , Miller, A. , Wortmann, K. (2011), â€Å"Public policies for caling corporate responsibility standards: Expanding collaborative governance for sustainable development†, Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Vol 2 Iss: 2, pp. 263-293 2. Cho, C. , Michelon, G. , Patten, D. , (2012), â€Å"Enhancement and Obfuscation through the Use of Graphs in Sustainability Reports: An International Comparison†, Sustainability Accountin g, Management and Policy Journal, Vol 3 Iss: 1 3. Dow Jones Sustainability Index, available at: http://www. sustainabilityindex. com/Ethibel Sustainable Index, available at: http://www. thibel. org/subs_e/4_index/main. html 4. Dyllick, T. , Hockerts, K (2002), â€Å"Beyond the Business Case for Corporate Sustainability†, Business Strategy and the Environment, 11,2; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 130 5. Giannarakis, G. , and Litinas, N. , Sariannidis, N. , (2011), â€Å"Evaluation of Corporate Social Responsbility Performance Standards†, African Journal of Business Management, Vol 5(17), pp. 7367-7374 6. Global Reporting Initiatives, available at: http://www. globalreporting. org/Home 7. Hammond, A. , Adriaanse, A. , Rodenburg, E. , Bryant, D. , Woodward, R. 1995), â€Å"A Systematic Approach to Measuring and Reporting on Environmental Policy Performance in the Context of Sustainably Development†, World Resources Istitute 8. KPMG (2008), â€Å"Count me in – The re aders take on sustainability reporting† (4/15/2008) 9. KPMG (2011), â€Å"KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Report 2011† (11/7/2011) 10. Stiglitz, J. , Sen, A. , Fitoussi, Jean-Paul, (2009), â€Å"Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress† 11. World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) (1987), Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford

Impact of online shopping on shopping centres in Australia Essay

Module 2 How would you define the industry to be analysed? Is the industry global? Is the organization mentioned Australian or overseas based? Can you make any inferences about the industry value chain from the article? What are the key product and services segments in the industry that are mentioned in the article? Are you able to identify the stage of the industry life-cycle from the facts in the article? What have been the remote environment trends that have driven the industry to its current state? Are these factors changing? What will be their impact on future growth in the industry? Remember an article may only make reference to some of the factors in the remote environment. What are the forces within the industry that determine the current profitability of the industry? Are these forces changing? What will be their impact on the future profitability of the industry? Again, remember an article may only make reference to some of the forces in the external industry environment. Does the article make any reference to the different customer market segments in the industry, and can you make an assessment of what drives customer demand in them? Given your remote and industry environment analyses, and your customer and market analysis, are you able to assess the basis of competition in the industry? What are the key factors that are critical for the organisation to do well in order to be successful? Are there any strategic groups that organisations in the industry compete in? Analyse the competitors if mentioned in the article, to gain a clear and specific profile of each major competitor in the industry. Module 3 Who are the key stakeholders of the organisation, and what are their  expectations from the organisation? What is the current business strategy of the organisation? Are you able to assess how the organisation has performed to date in meeting its objectives based on the given facts? Identify the capabilities of the organisation in the context of the competitive environment, and analyse them to determine whether these capabilities are strategic capabilities. Determine whether there are any inconsistencies (gaps) between the current business strategy and the remote environment, the industry environment and the performance of the organisation compared to its key competitors. Review the current business strategy against the expectations of the key stakeholders, the organisation s performance and the capabilities of the organisation. A review of these gaps, and an extended SWOT analysis, may reveal some possible alternatives and strategies that the organisation could pursue. These will often relate to improving the operational side of the organisation, while strategic growth options usually fall into the category of new products and/or new markets, which is discussed in Module 4. Module 4 Consider whether the organisation has leveraged its existing capabilities to its maximum market position and market penetration. Does the article indicate any strategy regarding development of new products or expanding its markets to remain competitive and/or to grow? Or is it possible that the company is taking another approach to growth (e.g. vertical integration)? If the organisation is considering new product development, review the important aspects to consider, including the key success factors for new product development. If the organisation is considering new market development, is the organisation trying to enter a new customer or geographic market, or both? Review the important considerations for new market development, including the strategic objectives for new market entry, evaluating the attractiveness of new markets, the key success factors for new market development and the advantages and disadvantages of different modes of market entry. Consider the accounting challenges that moving into new products or markets are likely to bring. Module 5 Evaluate each of the strategic options, such as different product and market options, on the basis of appropriate criteria, having regard for effective management of the organisation’s portfolio of projects. What are the risks assessed for each of the strategic options? Scenario planning should be undertaken in order to quantify and compare the variation in their potential outcomes. Evaluate each of the strategic options in terms of their consistency with the organisation’s external and internal environments, the feasibility of successfully undertaking the option and the competitive advantage it will give the organisation. Make the recommendations to key decision makers of which strategic options to adopt, demonstrating the alignment of the options to the business strategy and providing information on the benefits, risks and key steps in implementing the options. Module 6 What challenges is the organisation likely to face, or is currently experiencing, in implementing its strategies? How has the organisation performed in its implementation of the strategy? Determine the fit between the desired strategy and the business systems of the organisation, the organisational structure and the internal politics of the organisation. Is there a good fit between the desired strategy and the organisational culture? Consider any cross-cultural issues for the organisation. How is and/or should the process of change be implemented in the organisation? Module 7 Has the organisation considered any misalignments with all the interconnected 7- aspects of the implementation plan? Review the nature and the scale of change required to gain an understanding of the type of leadership required to lead it. How has, or should have, the leader performed in their strategic analysis, selection and implementation role?

My Fieldtrip

My Visit to Muir’s Chapel On February 28, 2010, I went on a fieldtrip to a Methodist church called Muir’s Chapel United Methodist Church (UMC). The church was founded in 1822 when Jeremiah Dodson, a local preacher from the west, held services under brush arbors and the shade of oak trees on the grounds. The church grounds were located behind where the current building is located at 314 Muir's Chapel Road Greensboro, NC 27410. After his services and charge began, the charge was organized and passed on to the Reverend Thacker Muir.Reverend Muir cut the first log for the first structure known as the â€Å"Log Meeting House. † In Reverend Muir’s honor the name was changed to Muir’s Chapel. After the deterioration of the log structure, it was replaced in 1875 by a one-room weatherboard building. Weatherboard is the cladding or ‘siding’ of a house consisting of long thin timber boards that overlap one another, either vertically or horizontall y on the outside of the wall, thus making the building waterproof.This building was eventually moved across the street to the cemetery when the present sanctuary was constructed in 1903. During the years of 1929 thru 1932 the Log Meeting House was enlarged, remodeled and brick-veneered, along with the first landscaping of the grounds. There is a replica of the Log Meeting House remaining on the grounds today. In the honor of Reverend Thacker Muir, the current building is still known as Muir's Chapel. In 1940, the first educational building, called the Smoak Building, was built and the following year the church received its first full-time pastor, W.Kenneth Goodson. There were annual Camp meetings at harvest time held in the Smoak Building until they were replaced by revivals, which were replaced at the turn of the century by Pre-Easter services. In the fifties, The Smoak Building was attached to the church, although it was then and currently still considered the educational wing of the church, it still carries the name â€Å"The Smoak Building,† which now houses the church offices. Year 1960, there was another addition added to the church called the Boren Building.This building was also dedicated to Reverend Thacker Muir in 1960. Since 1960 the Church has been rebuilt and remodeled several times, with the present sanctuary being completed in 1980. The latest addition to Muir’s Chapel is the Kale Christian Center which houses the Playschool, classrooms, and the contemporary worship auditorium. After doing careful research, I am still which I not sure when this addition began and when it was completed.Now that my readers have learned a little history of the church I visited for my field trip, I am now going to talk a little about what I experienced at Muir’s Chapel, which was a great experience I might add. As I was on the way to the church I made sure I did not have any pre-conceptions of my visit to this church. I wanted to be open-minded so that I could take in my experience and learn from it no matter if was good or bad. When I pulled into the parking lot I noticed there were not many â€Å"luxury† cars.In my opinion, this was the first sign of the members being non-materialistic. Then the church itself looked to be old with quite a few new additions, yet it is really appealing on the outside. But, when I got out of my car there was a white lady walking through the walkway across the lawn that immediately stopped and asked me how I was doing, and if I needed help. I immediately felt welcomed and I had only met one of the members of this church. She told me how to get to the sanctuary for the â€Å"Traditional Service† which started at 8:45 A. M.Once in the sanctuary and sitting down, a senior gentleman who looked to be around fifty or sixty years of age, as most of the congregation seemed to be, tapped on my shoulder and said it is good to have you here this morning, and if you do not already have a c hurch home please come back here with us. As readers can see this was the beginning of a very warming experience for me. The service began a little different from what I am used to. For starters there were only about 25 people at this service and they were all Caucasian, as I am used to an all African-American congregation.Nevertheless, the service began with the welcoming of the congregation and congregational concerns as I had never seen this in a Sunday morning service before. At my church I am used to praise and worship team singing songs of praise to open the service. There were no concerns, so immediately they went into song. The choir director stood in the pulpit directing the congregation to sing, not an actual choir, but the congregation. Still, I could not believe the choir director was directing from the pulpit. Later I was told congregation is the choir as there is no choir for this service.As I listened to the song and tried to take part in the singing of the song, I fo und it difficult to follow as it was sung like an opera song; very high-pitched. But once the preacher began to preach, by the way he preached on the strength to forgive, which by the way was the title of his message. Everyone became extremely quiet and sat still as possible. Me being Black, I was definitely not used to this. I am used people talking back to the preacher, saying for example: â€Å"You better preach preacher, tell them what the word says! At Muir’s Chapel it was a quiet as could be. Needless to say I did not say anything back to the preacher while he was preaching. In case some of my readers are wondering how I managed to choose this church being African-American and this church being predominately white, I was invited by my classmate Lisa Tanico who is one of the ministers of this great church. Anyway, once the service was over I met with Lisa and she began to take me on a tour of Muir’s Chapel. What I saw was amazing.Lisa and I had to pass through th e fellowship hall where there were refreshments offered such as coffee, juice, and biscuits with a side of bacon or sausage. This very rarely happens at my church unless it is a special occasion of some sort. I was astonished to find out there were several different refreshments served after each service. Lisa then took on a quick tour of the rest of the church as she needed to readily available to the members if one needed to talk or maybe ask for prayer. So we scurried on to the Contemporary service that was going on in one of the newer parts of the church.I was in this service for only about 15 minutes as this service started at 9:00 A. M. , and the Traditional service I attended started at 8:45 A. M. What little I saw was interesting. There was an actual choir at this service, and the choir had a Pop sound, which is closer to what I am used to hearing. At the end of this service Lisa had to leave to attend to some of the members of the church and I had to go to a dedication at m y church. But before my departure, Lisa did tell me that Muir’s Chapel was very involved in the community.This church is part of the Urban Ministry, inviting homeless and the less fortunate to come in and eat on certain days of the week. Muir’s Chapel also has several educational, sporting and biblical programs for the community, or just any one who may want to take part in participating. I am not sure which days, but either way just to know this church extends its arms out to the community in such away as this, if for no other reason at all makes me feel welcomed and privileged to have had the chance to visit this great Methodist church known as Muir’s Chapel.

Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Media - Essay Example These can be inappropriate and offensive information. Since the media plays an important role in informing society, it is necessary to review the information let out. This is on an effort to reduce propaganda, violence and cases related to false media reports. This paper seeks to discuss the violence portrayed by the media, the impact and censorship of the media. The paper also discusses a viable solution to the problem of violence in the media. It is a common case of children trying to imitate what they have seen on the television in reality. The children are the most vulnerable group to thee violence depicted in the television. In one instance, after viewing a movie on the television, a teen-aged boy and his fellows went ahead to lie down along the centerline of the highway. These teenagers were imitating a scene from a movie they had previously watched. This prompted touchstone pictures to remove the scene from the movie since it had caused fatalities. This tragedy is one among ma ny others that children view violent material in the television and try to emulate. In another instance in Ohio, a child set his parents’ house on fire resulting to the death of her sister who was trapped in the house. A program in MTV, Beavis and Butthead, prompted this act. Austin Messner a five year old is a victim of the free media. Media to some aspects does not make considerations before airing some programs. Although MTV did not claim responsibility to this tragedy, they restructured their program schedule and Beavis and Butthead was put on a late night slot. From these examples is that human beings are passive and are easily influenced by what they see. On another perspective is that people have different shared experiences and will think and react in the same way. This informs that common concept that television viewing is a way of knowing the self and the people around the self. Censorship, therefore, is an important issue and it should be upheld in every societies. Clearly, it is only through censorship that the young, vulnerable and innocent are protected (Cottle, 2011). This is based on the premise that most people do not know what is good or bad content. The society has shaped certain norms that many come to agree with, but in the real sense, they are detrimental. There is too much violent and explicit content in the media today, but people ignore this and do not consider the long-term effect this can have to the society. There also exist the dilemma of differentiating between fantasy and the true reality. This pollutes the minds of the viewer and eventually they emulate what they see on the media content. The media has been linked to developing violence in the society. Studies, however, prove that there is no direct link between violence in the society and the media (Cottle, 2011). A number of studies propose that TV violence does not encourage violence in children. From these studies, it is quite clear that the relationship between viole nce and the media is null and void. However, censorship goes beyond the freedom of choice. It does not allow people to view what they want and develop their personal judgments. Violence or the weird behaviors children develop should be blamed on the parents (Ho?chli, 2010). In a child’s life, the parents are the role models and the light. They should guide the child from wrong at all times. For the case of Austin Messner, the blame cannot be put on the media, but the parents themselves. When it

Effective Persuasion Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Effective Persuasion Skills - Essay Example However, in order to persuade him effectively, I had to listen to him elucidate the year’s theme for the show and the manner that he wanted me to communicate the theme to the audience using the hairstyle. One important lesson that life has taught me pertains to the importance of listening in order to give a well thought-out response. Allow me to briefly explain my journey towards working with Mr. Clark. I used to be a performer in the show choir directed by Mr. Clark throughout high school. Typically, a show choir has forty performers who can sing and dance at the same time. Nonetheless, I attended Aveda Fredric’s school, a cosmetology school, after my high school graduation and learnt the skills important to a hairstylist. Upon completing the course, I obtained a license with the Ohio State Board of Cosmetology to practice cosmetology and, fair enough, I became the hair stylist for my high schools show choir under Mr. Clark. As the choir’s hairstylist, I have to design a new hairstyle each year r epresenting the year’s theme using my creative skills. In this regard, Mr. Clark approached me with this year’s theme. He explained the idea behind the year’s show, the design and concept of the costumes, all-important aspects that should go with the hairstyles design. Moreover, Mr. Clark informed me that the group would be participating in the World Choir Games this July at Cincinnati. It is important to point out that each year has a new concept and theme for the show and it requires creativity (a skill I have perfected overtime) to incorporate the hairstyle to the show’s theme. In this regard, the theme to this year’s show was â€Å"Around the World in 80 Days† and the hairstyle had to match the theme. Once he explained every detail of the future show, I knew that the time had come to assert my authority and use my creativity in designing the year’s hairstyle. However, I knew this was a herculean task, although not an insurmountable one. I said to him, â€Å"With all due respect, sir, there is need for us to be more creative and think beyond the horizon this year. We need to come up with different hairstyles representative of each country’s cultures and ethnicity where the group will be performing.† Knowing Mr. Clark as a conservative who likes maintaining things in a neat, clean, and uniform approach, I had to ask him to allow changes that will make the group more successful this year. In my previous two years of working in the group, I had noticed that designs have been uniform and easy all through for both groups. This formed my opinion to have a different hairstyle this year. You realized that I mentioned two groups; it is pertinent to point out that Mr. Clark is an accomplished director in charge of another group, known as Pure Elegance, an all-girls high school group well in their fourth year of performances. I had to convince Mr. Clark that we had to ha ve a different hairstyle for this year’s shows. In this regard, I told him that we had two choices to consider. As for option number one, I explained to him that we would have to go with the conservative approach of the usual uniform hairstyle with no changes. However, this was not the ideal situation, since it would be challenging to the audience to understand the relationship between the theme and the hairstyle. The second and the ideal option to my mind, as I explained to him, was a suggestion of moving and thinking

I will upload the topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

I will upload the topic - Essay Example In the film, The World, Jia’s character depicts these paradoxical results clearly. In his film, he focuses on the isolation of shifted persons in the urban setting and the collapse of the society. In the film, Jia undermines the attempt by government to globalize the country without the Medias democracy. In this regards, Jia attempts to give the implication the government is trying to globalize the country without any form of questioning. This situation gives a very huge gap between the government perfect society and the Chinese experience. Jia gives different perception to the Chinese society in terms of their place in the world, their uniqueness and their actual segregation from international society Film production has been internalized, gained popularity and more so gained popularized screen plays in international basis in the last few years. In this regard, Jia tries to bring out the inter-modality. Inter-modality contains subtitles and digital media used to show up film characters to convey the modern life, and more so create some understanding. Jia uses China to convey all the problems that all persons worldwide face i.e. both the Chinese and the foreign audience. Basing my idea on Tao, a character in the movie The World, who has a relationship with a Russian dancer by the name Anna and also has romantic moments with Taisheng i.e. Kin-Yang Szeto’s study reveal, â€Å"Set amid this grand image of national transformation, the film tells a story of romance between Tao and Taisheng, two young adults who work at an existing tourist attraction in Beijing called World Park.† Jia Zhangke uses subtitles for cross-cultural intermediation that enable his film to fit into different social backgrounds. The use of this has given Jia a chance to avoid Chinese government restriction. In addition, use of subtitle has enabled his film to be shown in different parts of the world without any official authorization. In the process, people worldwide get to know the new

Zeal Optics case analyze Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Zeal Optics analyze - Case Study Example To realize this, the company has to overcome some particular limitations that may come in the way of realizing this dream. Some of these challenges include how to raise the growth capital, improve marketing in the social media and how to expand its distribution among optical stores and sports retailers. For this reason, they invited some Fortune Small Business experts to help them plan the way forward. The first challenge that the Jacksons have to deal with is that of distribution. How best to expand their distribution network to more optical stores and sports retailers around the country. The company has immensely benefited from the network that it already has with sports and fitness companies. These partnerships have helped achieve the high performance despite the current domination by the top three brands that own about 70% of the market; Oakley, Mar and Smith and Costal del. With the expansion of the distribution centers, it is possible to reach a larger audience across the country (Gilson and Altman). It will also improve the discoverability of the items being sold by retailers. Zeal has also established links with some professional athletes that have served as Zeal spokespeople. Independent sales reps handle other outdoor-gear accounts that Zeal has made use of in the past. However as Scott Jaeger (a senior analyst at Leisure Trends Group) observed, the company has the poten tial to open up to 2,500 retail doors across the country. He also emphasized the fact that is of paramount importance to maintain a close relationship with the sales reps as they to ensure that they are carrying out their duties as required. Scott also proposes that the Jacksons consider focusing on the products that had the best sale values. The view comes from the fact that Zeal Optics had achieved a 86% sales growth in goggles, a product that that, in general, was down by 14%. The

Personal finance proposal Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personal finance - Research Proposal Example Should the product by any chance meet or exceed client expectations, a repeat is likely as the stimulus is reinforced. On the contrary, failure of the product to meet customer expectations it has dropped and in the end, only beneficial products purchased which goes a long way in generating profits for the company. Although behavioral principles are looked at with a modest look into marketing practices, positive feedbacks are likely to be reinforced unlike negative ones (Michael & William, 1981) For our study purposes, we shall focus on long distance learning whereby a student is forced to access virtual libraries upon payment of a fee. Research indicates that most consumers tend to lack personal awareness on what product and services they need, it is, therefore, imperative for an organization to help discover what they need. This is where the Happy comes in hand by profiling the expenditure of consumers and look forward on how they can meet and exceed consumer need and wants (Lynch, Zimmer & Mccloskey, and N.D) Thaler H.R & Sunstein R.C (2011)Â  where is behavioural economics headed in the world of marketing?

Nutrition and dietetics Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nutrition and dietetics - Research Proposal Example The research is therefore important to other researchers who may be interested in any of the study’s variables, care personnel, and patients with obesity. Researchers can use the study’s findings and conclusions to frame and advance more focused studies while care personnel may apply the developed knowledge to improve efficiency of their services to patients with insulin related complications. Introduction into the study also identifies review of literatures that the authors suppazised and applied in justification of the study and in formulation of the study’s objective. The researchers aimed to investigate the relationship between â€Å"vitamin D and glucose abnormalities in severely obese individuals,† who had not reported irregular glucose metabolism, an objective that is clear and precise. The objective could further infer the following research question and hypothesis, though the researchers did not state any (Bellan, et al., 2014, p. 1). Sufficient details exist on the research procedure to allow for replication as the authors describe applied steps into data collection as well as measured variables and applied tools in data collection. A quasi experimental design was implemented on a single center study in which laboratory procedures were used to collect data. there was however no control group. Description of data collection procedure and instruments is not specific as it does not specify the types of tests that were conducted and the specific instruments that were used in the tests. There is also no explicit discussion of the dependent and independent variables in the study but inference from the study’s objectives identifies vitamin D status as the independent variable and glucose homeostasis as the dependent variable. adults with grade II or grade II obesity formed the study’s population and this limits

The importance of the British Council in Britain's cultural diplomacy Essay

The importance of the British Council in Britain's cultural diplomacy - Essay Example Cultural diplomacy is imperative for states in order to achieve opportunities and broader prospects of business, education etc. from different parts of the world. It will not be incorrect to state that cultural diplomacy is as important for a country as its foreign policy. It is due to the fact that both maintain peaceful international relationship of a respective country with other countries in terms of politics, economics, education etc. British Council is one of the renowned cultural diplomacy tools of United Kingdom that has had a prestigious history of marinating peaceful relationship of UK with other countries. This paper aims to discuss the role of British Council in conducting cultural diplomacy for UK. The analysis would be done by closely looking at the historical highlights and achievements of British Council. Furthermore, its significance would also be studied in the paper within the context of its foreign policy. British Council is referred to the international cultural body of United Kingdom that was initiated in order to represent UK’s culture in different parts of the world. British Council is basically an independent council which is public in its scope. It should be noted that British Council is closely working with government. The role of government in administrating British Council is in terms of selecting countries where cultural diplomatic activities can be undertaken (Taylor, Cultural Diplomacy and the British Council:). The goals and missions of British Council have common agenda of conducting cultural diplomacy for UK in international world order to develop a positive image of UK (Ager). British Council is also considered as an intermediary of foreign policy department of United Kingdom as its concept was discussed and passed at the foreign diplomatic organization of UK. British Council was initiated at the time when many other cultural organizations from France and counterparts of Europe were actually becoming victorious in conducting cultural diplomacy across the globe. It can be said that British Council was initiated as an inspired project from the existing cultural organizations of French and Germans in late 1920s (Hecht and Donfried). In actual terms, British Council was initiated in 1934 in order to introduce different countries with Britain’s standard of education and its culture. The core goals of representing education and cultural standing of Britain were achieved by organizing expedition tasks, concerts, art exhibitions, tutorials and lectures etc (Hecht and Donfried). The primary focus of British Council in the initial stages was to give coverage to the Middle Eastern countries and underdeveloped countries of Europe where much assistance for education was needed during 1950s (Thomas). The working process of British Council was majorly indirect in its initial stages until it started to operate in its own offices. Earlier, a number of consulates were being worked through by British Council which relatively slowed down its working mechanism. Obviously, it was a very crucial stage for British Council to begin operating from its own offices in different locations of the world (Levermore and Budd). It was for this reason that the organization collected information regarding different communities of the world at the first place to give preference to location. After getting an augment idea through research regarding different communities, British Council resumed its operation through offices opened abroad. In this series, the first office of British Council was opened at Egypt. It should be noted that the working criteria of British Council got complicated as international politics was heading towards World War II (Levermore and Budd). A great deal of barriers was noted in the working process of British Council as World War II led in the closure of most of its offices in Middle East and Mediterranean countries. It should be not

American government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

American government - Essay Example United States is still recovering from the most recent economic recession which requires proper formulation and enactment of policies. The government targets a Gross Domestic Product increase of 2.5 per cent in 2014. This paper therefore targets to discuss various reforms and strategies the government can undertake to improve the current economic situation. The first strategic government intervention towards economic growth can be reform of the immigration sector. It is difficult for foreign entrepreneurs to stay in the country because the government has set very many conditions that restrict their entry. Bureaucracy in allowing entrepreneurs and skilled immigrants into the country is so complex to the extent that it is delaying economic recovery. Bureaucracy is costing the nation job opportunities hence reducing the country’s GDP and also harming the nation’s international leadership in entrepreneurship and innovation. The government should adjust its policies on granting green cards to promising entrepreneurs and skilled graduate students. Moreover, it needs to pass the Dream Act to allow law abiding people brought to the United States as children to become citizens. The second government intervention can be cutting costs incurred in healthcare. In the recent years the government’s expenditure on health has risen with a very big margin. The country cannot afford to ignore this trend anymore. If this system persists, a large proportion of the countries income will be deviated to medical care which may not sustainable and will creates a burden on the future generations. The government should initiate a vigorous campaign for healthy lifestyle; develop new ways to manufacture drugs at a lower cost and a technology that can reduce expense on doctors and other medical personnel. This can be achieved through technological advancement and financing research

Correlational results Essay Example for Free

Correlational results Essay The correlation results show that patronage of Body Shop products because of their being environment friendly is significantly correlated with their being a socially responsible company. This means that patronage of Body Shop products increases as well with positive perceptions of their company as being socially responsible. Moreover, such patronage is also positively and significantly correlated with their expressed support for companies that espouse care for the environment. None of the statements were significantly related to overall satisfaction of Body Shop products, which suggests that there are other determinants of satisfaction apart from espousing environment friendliness and corporate social responsibility. Clearly, based on Schaper’s (2005) nomenclature, Body Shop is a green-green company which deliberately has an environmental vision. He asserts that a true double green company does not exist because it is what experts call the perfect model of what an environmental company should be. He also has cited Body Shop as an epitome of this category, which ecocopreneur Anita Roddick has deliberatly pushed towards a strong environmental thrust. She did not merely intend to make profits but also wanted to have environmentalism as a core value. Moreover, she was successful at reinventing the cosmetics industry into something that conveyed honesty, altruism and environmental stewardship, in stark contrast with its cheating nature (Schaper 2005). Thus, everything about the company espoused this core value. Clearly, the growth of the company was a consequence of Anita Roddick’s social vision. Moreover, there has been a rising trend of consumers who look for merchandise and services that work toward saving the planet and its resources, which has made Body Shop extremely popular and successful (Schaper 2005). To this day, the company continues to espouse the same values. In fact, changes in store at the end of August Customers will showcase the same values that reflect its socially responsible nature, including its environmental, human rights, anti-animal cruelty and community-trade credentials. These are thrusts which they have been pursuing for the past three decades and they intend to influence patrons to be crusaders of the same noble goals. With the death of their founder Anita Roddick, they intend to pursue the same goals of avoidance of testing on animals, utilization of recycled plastic bottles and encouragement of community trade to in developing countries, buying plant-based oils, essences and other ingredients from communities in developing countries (Mah 2008). While the company remains to be competitive, they have to struggle to compete against numerous competitors who just go along with the green bandwagon in the cosmetics industry. They compete with retailers like Lush, Bath Body Works and even companies like bleach-maker Clorox who green washed its image by merging with Burts Bees toiletries company (Mah 2008). The results show that Body Shop has met all its patrons’ expectations except for competitive price of the product; trendiness or fashion sense represented by the product; and the sales promotions used for the product. Moreover, it has been found that patronage of the products of Body Shop is significantly correlated with their being a socially responsible company. This means that patronage of Body Shop products increases as well with positive perceptions of their company as being socially responsible. In addition, such patronage is also positively and significantly correlated with their expressed support for companies that espouse care for the environment. However,   none of the statements were associated with overall satisfaction of Body Shop products, which suggests that there are other determinants of satisfaction aside from being an environmentally friendly and socially responsible company. Chapter 5 Conclusion and Recommendations 5. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction This chapter shall present succintly the conclusions which have been garnered from the current research. Following this are some recommendations for the company and for future research. 5. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusion. The following are the conclusions yielded from the present study: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Body Shop has exceeded patrons expectations on the following factors which affect cosmetic buying choice: quality of the products, the customer service of the store personnel; the variety of product offerings in the store; the convenience of going to the store location; attractiveness of the packaging; the degree to which the product espouses â€Å"natural† rather than artificial; the values espoused by the company who sells the product. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Body Shop has matched patrons’ expectations on the following factors which affect cosmetic buying choice: brand; the degree to which the product is environment friendly; and positive feedback garnered from significant others. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Body Shop, on the contrary, did not meet patrons expectations on the following factors that affect patrons’ cosmetic buying choice:   competitive price of the product; trendiness or fashion sense represented by the product; and the sales promotions used for the product. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The correlation results show that patronage of Body Shop products because of their being environment friendly is significantly correlated with their being a socially responsible company. In addition, such patronage is also positively and significantly correlated with their expressed support for companies that espouse care for the environment. None of the statements were significantly related to overall satisfaction of Body Shop products. 5. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recommendations. The following recommendations are put forth from the results of the present study: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Body Shop should continue to leverage on its exceptional image, both as a corporation and as an employer. Its brand of being an environmentally conscious and socially responsible company is indeed very strong even after the death of its founder. This is a facet that it must carefully preserve for increased competitiveness. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company should look into the factors that have not met the expectations of its patrons, namely price, trendiness, and promotions. It must continuously look for innovative ways of making patrons see the value of paying a premium for natural products, especially now that consumers are becoming increasingly cost conscious. The respondents are very young, and thus are always in pursuit of something novel –this is something that Body Shop must be keen about. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Future researchers may use more complex research designs to ascertain the other correlates of satisfaction with cosmetic products. They may integrate more variables for study, using analysis of variance, factor analysis, or path analytic approaches for a more profound understanding of the topic. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The same study may be replicated in other settings, to determine if culture has some influence on choice of cosmetic products. References As An Employer (2008) [Online] Available at http://www. loreal. com/_en/_ww/disability/our-company/as-an-employer. aspx [Accessed 10 August 2008] Avoncosmeticsnug (2007) A Brief History of Cosmetics [Online] Available at http://avoncosmeticsnug. wordpress. com/2007/12/31/a-brief-history-of-cosmetics/ [Accessed 7 August 2008] Booth, R. (2006) Activists call Body Shop Boycott. [Online] Available at: http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2006/mar/17/retail.animalrights [Accessed 14 August 2008] Bowens J. , Kotler P. , Makens J. (2008) Consumer Markets and Consumer Buying Behavior, Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ Boyd, L. (2008) Brief History of Beauty and Hygiene Products [Online] Available at http://library. duke. edu/digitalcollections/adaccess/cosmetics. html [Accessed on 7 August 2008] Bryman, A. (1992) Reasearch Methods and Organisation Studies. London, Routledge. Bushman, B. J. (1993) Whats in a Name? The Moderating Role of Public Self Consciousness on the Relation Between Brand Label and Brand Preference. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 78, no. 5, pp. 857-861. net/compass/compass_1996/reg/suzuki_noriko. htm [Accessed 14  August  2008] Tips. Net (n. d. ). Choosing the Right Cosmetics. [Online] Available at: http://beauty. tips. net/Pages/T0009_Choosing_the_Right_Cosmetics. html [Accessed 14 August 2008] VersantWorks (2008) Your Employer Brand [Online] Available at  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://explanation-guide. info/meaning/Employer-branding. html [Accessed on 10 August 2008] Webb-Campbell, S (2008). Thank You for Being a Friend The Body Shop. [Online] Available at http://www. thecoast. ca/Blog-3862. 113118-4126. 113118-p19579. 113118-Entry. html [Accessed 13 August 2008] Appendix A – Survey Questionnaire.

Training Methods In A Multinational Corporation Business Essay

Training Methods In A Multinational Corporation Business Essay Since past few decades, it can be known that excellence in human resource plays a vital role for improving productivity, business performance and overall companies growth. To gain best and to maintain its performance of human capital, it is very important to invest in human capital through education and Training. Effective employee training is not only important to raise long term services and economic growth, but it also provides a unique and differentiated position which improves the standard and quality of creation out coming the regular innovation and high productivity and profitability. From an employee perspective, these same factors are crucial and critical for skill development and career advancement (Anderson, 1998). Training is a process of learning through professional development. So understanding that how today international business is can successfully manage their human resources across different countries is a major issue for management practitioners in this fast growing world. This Globalization has placed a platform to many large corporations to increase their business activities internationally. In this topic we are going to discuss the difference between training methods in multinational companies in India and United States of America (U.S.A). We will consider the cross-cultural point of view fundamentals to understand the difference as well as the similarity and the implementation of India and USA which targeted the high expectation of better outcome within their enterprises. This essay will evaluate and give attention to the understanding of the both cultural background as well as their working environment to focus the expectation of each countries. This essay also presents various points of the Training system and explains the how it generally operates within the enterprises; this will help us to know how knowledge transfer is done in a better way to achieve better performance in the workforce. IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING Why Training is important? Training has been a subject of study for management and education literature. For career advancement employee training plays a crucial role in this changing work environment all over the world from past three decades; even training improve performance in their present job, learn new skills and create demand at their workplace. The change in technology, economy, demographic and other forces constantly creates a requirement of learning for the work force (Bhawuk, 2001). Training is important for introducing new concepts to workgroup for bringing in new system which may cover wide range new skills, different working environment, concepts and all the other factors which play an aggressive role for the company. It is must that a complete, effective and consistent training program is developed in order to motivate the staffs for acquiring new skills which is always profitable for the company. A superior training act as a building block of practical and technical skills required for his or her position (J. Monahan). The performance of the team suffers due to lack of skills in the team leaders for any assignment and which has additional impact on the organization in present and even in future. This lack on skills will also affect the work of staff working under team leaders and the staff working in the head offices. So it is important to draw the attention to the need to invest in employees training and development as the organizations performance can be affected by neglecting such a need (Bozionelos Lusher, 2003). Building Multicultural/ Transnational Team The dependence upon the team composed of managers from a range of different culture and countries is now a commonplace practice in multinational firms, and its a future aspect to work in a multitude way (Ravlin, Thomas, Ilsev, 2000). These teams are also known as transnational teams or multinational teams. A multinational team, in contrast to teams from a single culture, entails differences among members in language, interpersonal styles, and a host of other factors. Such differences can create a balance (cohesion and unity) or an imbalance (subgroup dominance, member exclusion, and other undesirable outcomes), depending on how they are handled- Earley and Gibson (2002). To build multinational teams we need to achieve 3 interrelated goals in order to be successful. Create a shared culture. Manage team conflict effectively, and Motivate members to invest time on behalf of the team (Gibson Earley, 2005). Achieving these goals simultaneously is not easy for any team but is particularly difficult for the multinational team. So the multinational companies should train people with cultural differences, learning styles, etc As discussed above. So collectively we can develop a multinational team through experience and even this process can be more strengthen if we keep strong hybrid norms and positive feedback. So building a transnational team is not so easy, it should be even have training for Repatriation, because to retain experienced and successful international managers is much more important to multinational companies. Multinational training practices in India and United States of America In Previous time, parents US based companies controlled the operations of their affiliates or subsidiaries in India by exporting their standardized Human resources management practices into the affiliates to ensure business effectiveness. This is known as an ethnocentric approach (Perlmutter, 1996). Lately the government of India was modernizing the trade liberalisation in the country during the id of 1991.For example an Indian Company i.e. Maruti Udyog, a public sector undertaking which manufactures cars in collaboration with Suzuki of Japan. Maruti Udyog had adopted the Japanese management style of training and building (Sapra, 1995).The uncertainty avoidance according to Hofstede dimensions (Hofstede Homepage), likely that building of trust and being a global player was very much low (Sharma, 1994). As we can see the cultural difference plays an important role in Training people. So from the above analysis we can find out that India is likely to adapt the training methods of US as considering to this essay. After the Boom of IT Industries in India, the Indian training system was the mixture of western style what is called as Hybrid System (Friedman, 2006).The new training system of India is also creating the same environment into relation with the training in USA, this is because the most IT investors are from USA. So the training methodologies are adopted from US companies and implemented in India with slight modification taking cultural aspect into consideration. According to Hofstede, power distance refers to the degree to which a society accepts a hierarchical or unequal distribution of power in organizations. United States of America is ranked as the lowest then compared to India. American Managers have very low degree tolerance of unequal power distance, which is vivid contrast to the managers of India. So the knowledge of Indian managers have relatively greater tolerance of unequal power distribution may be useful in helping us to understand certain training methods, for example lecturing, are more acceptable in Indian managers than their American counterpart. In lecturing, a great power distance tends to exist between the lecture and trainees. According to my personal experience in India is more towards theoretical approach way of learning things, where as America is more towards practical learning. To back up this statement, in my previous company back in India where I worked for a software Industry, as a prominent example, if a new software arrives into a market, Our training session for the new product would be a theoretical based. In India we used to give documents to learn about the new product. Even I had a change to go to USA for a software training program and they have a different approach , they have less theory and more of practical training, as the training was conducted we had hands on experience on the product. The practical way of learning is much easier than the theoretical way. To enhance the productivity they focus more on practical approach of training, this is the major difference I found in multinational companies in India and USA. Design of cross culture Training between India and USA It is very important to focus upon cultural specific training. A study by Hun and Jenkins (2000) will tell the difference in training methods in India and USA. Time Punctuality: In USA the starting time and ending time are very important, but in India it may be considered as exceptional. In India we have got flex timings and which may be acceptable. Linguistic barriers: English has become a business language all around the world, but most translation change with the county context. For example the pronunciation of America significantly differs from Indian way. Secondly certain terms may different meaning in different languages; India has 18 official languages and if it a government organization training it should be translated into official state language . Different meeting practices: When conducting training sections in USA, Hofstede (2001) dimensions like power distance says that USA has a low power distance and employee/ trainee may tend to call the boss/ trainer with their first name while it is impossible in India where it has high power distance. Body language and greeting: The way emotions are expressed in various cultures may differ, for example in India we greet people by joining our hands and say Namaste and where as in USA hand gesture conveys greeting of people (Pandey, 2004). Training programs are more knowledge aquisition programs (Black Mendenhall, 2001). Such training programs can be benifited to both local and parent companies to promote collaboration and knowledge exchange.Even subsidiries with highly skilled will be sometimes unsucessful in transfering his/her knowledge because of lack of training and support. Analysis Looking at both the countries and comparing between the India and USA the difference are: 1. The recruitement process in United States of America are more complex and tough due to their professional point of reference. Which is related to the orentation and introduction in India considered to be much complicated than United States of America (Gupta Govindarajan, 2000).This fact relate with and tell us the amount of time Indian organization spend on training. 2. USA has a more organized and more flexible system and can move across different responsibilities or task, but in India everyone is associated with a specific task and job title and has more job security than USA (Kabst, 2004). 3. India is a multi-religious country of various believes, so in any kind of training there should be not using individualistic visual stances or sexual portrayals of women that can hurt the values of Indian culture, where as in USA we can use those kinds of images (Ahmed, 2000). CONCLUSION: Altering nature of the workplace senses the requirement of additional training program. Globalization, internationalization of economy, employ of multicultural team and increased organizational diversity shows world is turning more cross cultural. In todays world culture plays a chief role in any multinational corporation it cannot be ignored. To face the challenges and meet the requirement in this increased internationalization of business additional training programs are critical. Human resource is a key ingredient in the successful operations of MNCs, without which all other resources could not be efficiently utilized. Training and development program will help us to uses maximum utilization of resources. As many large enterprises are going global, so we need more of cultural training to increase efficiency of any enterprise. It is very important that Human resource manager should be aware of cultural differences in training and development. The comparison between India and United States of America comes to believe that the training methods in Multinational Companies are almost same; the only difference is the cultural background. As we have first discusses generally why training is an important factor of any MNCs. Then we looked how to build Transnational teams with a brief description. We even looked upon the main difference between India and US training differences, which has only slightly change dude to the cultural values of India.

Body Image Research Paper

Body Image Research Paper Chris Browns Body Image has been a struggle women have been faced with for decades. Recently the fad has changed. Women have been drilled with media and the states of mind that only size zero women are beautiful. With the constant reminder of the skinny fad by models, actresses and other women famous in media women are reinforced of the worlds narrow view of beauty. This desire to be thin has driven many women to do drastic things to their body. There are many shocking statistics showing the amount of women in the world have done something negative to their bodies because they were not happy with them. Body Image has played a huge role in womens lives and has changed through out time, causing women to have low self-esteem, which in some cases develops into eating and health disorders. Through out time societys definition of beauty has changed drastically. In the early 1900s women were praised for having voluptuous bodies; wide hips and large breasts were considered sexy. In 2008 that changed radically adult women were weighing between 90 and 110 pounds; a very unhealthy weight for a full-grown woman. What the worldviews as a beautiful woman is absolutely no body figure, basically the skin and bones look. This thin obsession began as early as the 1800s. In 1840 Doctor Sylvester Graham announced that a diet was the keys of health(Wolchover 2012). Once women started realizing that others were starting to lose weight because of this fad every one else wanted to get in on it. Within the years of 1890 and 1920 womens average body weight went from a voluptuous weight to where fat is pronounced gross by American society. Women have been faced with this issue only in recent years and the struggle to be at peace with their own body has become worse and worse. In previous ag es women did not obsess about every calorie they eat and how much time they spend at the gym. The only mindset they had was to make their family and husbands happy. It all started when dressmakers and seamstresses starting making the average dress size a lot smaller. Women who did not fit into these smaller sizes started to find themselves at less worth and began obsessing over their weight and waistline (Wolchover, 2012). Another factor in the change of womens body figure had to do with the industrial revolution. When dress sizes started becoming standard sizes women became more aware of their size. Starting during the time of the revolution dresses started coming in specific sizes: Small, Medium and Large opposed to dresses coming in number sizes according to the height and width of a womans body. Also America was urbanizing around that time. That meant second-class women had more access to different varieties of food. Slowly this caused the average American to become overweight. In the early 1920s the calorie was discovered. Along with that came the act of counting them as well as fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals. Soon after this discovery American started doing anything they could to start lose weight and burn calories. Soon after America discovered the act of dieting the weight scale was invented to put the final touches on Americans realizing their body mass. Due to this, in the late 1920s, dieting and counting calories became a daily routine in the lives of Americans (Wolchover, 2012). Another contributing factor to the change in beauty was the famous Twiggy. In her times the requirements in becoming a model were not as ridiculous and degrading as they are now. Twiggy was the ideal British model. She was thin, with gorgeous round eyes, long eyelashes, and most importantly her thin body figure. Twiggy is often the blame of the favoring in extremely thin model and appearances. Due to her naturally tiny frame and her great success as a model models in following generations often admire her. Her body figure set the standards for models to be in order to be successful. Even women who are not models are thriving to have a body like Twiggy. She was definitely an icon and narrowed the worlds view of beauty (Examiner.com). Body Image and self-esteem issues are most common among teenage girls but it has occurred in all ages. The reason teenage girls are the biggest target for these issues is because they are the ones who get most caught up in modern media. Among many teenagers the desire to be model thin has driven them to go to extreme measures to obtain that image. Studies have shown that recent T.V. shows have focused on body figure and have been changing the self-esteem of girls as young as 5 (Hueback, 2006). Girls of this new generation are bombarded with images in media of celebrities and models that have this ridiculously thin figure, they feel they need to be the same to be beautiful and have the Hollywood Shape. Teens now feel like they have to live up to the American standards of what they should look like. Young girls look to these anorexic models and celebrities as role models because they appear to be happy with themselves and girls feel like they need to have the paper-thin look to be happ y as well. Mothers also play a huge part in girls body image hundred percent of girls look to their mom as their role model and too often moms obsess over their weight so their daughters follow in their footsteps. Girls who grow up with brothers and dads who have a preference for thinner women are also victims of this issue. There is an overwhelming percentage of young girls who wear body hugging, midriff baring clothes that are envied by the girls who cant ant those girls are the ones who view themselves as ugly. The ones who wear the tight clothes are the ones who are viewed by the biased society as beautiful. A research in 2010 showed that 59% of girls are unhappy with their bodies. The average size that is desired by the 59% of Americans is 13-19% below healthy weight (Wolf, 2012). Media exposure has made the average young woman put appearance and physical appearance at the center of their mindset. It has made young women have a limited constrain on femininity. In the American m ind thinness is now not only about physical appearance but success, self-control and higher socioeconomic status. Women acquire success through having the body they want because it requires work in the gym and eating right to acquire it. It symbolizes self-control because certain foods that are not healthy and being lazy and skipping the day at the gym is tempting but it shows that they can make it through those temptations to obtain the body the desire. Even young girls are obsessing over every calorie intake they consume and this issue is starting in girls as young as nine. That is one motivation for a good body weight. Low self-esteem among teenage girls has led to early sexual activity, substance abuse, and eating disorders and in some extreme cases suicide. 64% of all teens in America are unhappy with their physical appearance and weight. The average height and weight for an American woman is 54 and 140 pounds and the height and weight for an average model is 511 and 117 pounds . Self-Esteem is how much a person likes them selves and how they recognize and appreciate their individual character, qualities, skills, and accomplishments. Like body image, self-esteem is also base on how other people look at someone as a person. Good self-esteem helps keep a positive outlook on life and appreciate the person they are. Women who are thin are often associated with strong, beautiful, independent, hard-working women and on the other hand women who are not are often associated with lazy, sloppy, weak women. More then usual thats not the case. Some women are too busy to go to they gym everyday. Single moms for example are busy taking care of their kids and keeping them on track to worry about their own weight. In other cases women are content with their own body and dont worry or care about what other people think and that is a perfect example of a strong woman. Often body image is how others think of them as a person not only physically. When girls develop low self-esteem because of their weight and physical appearance, often these occurrences lead to eating and health disorders. This issue can also lead to other problems now common amongst teens, such as pressure into having early sexual activity. One out of every college student will develop an eating disorder before they graduate (Wolf, 2012). In this desperate attempt to be skinny women often drive themselves to depression and helplessness. The thought of dieting and exercising religiously has become a daily part of a womans life. A woman discontent with her body is the lead cause of women developing eating disorders. The main factor of eating disorders sparks from low self-esteem. Which also leads to substance abuse among teens. The factors that lead to teen substance abuse are teens thinking they are not cool enough because they are not as skinny as the popular girls so they think if they drink and abuse drugs they will be able to fit in with the others. Studie s have shown that most of the girls that are diagnosed with eating or health disorders and low self-esteem are the ones who are exposed to media and the images of models and celebrities than opposed to ones who are not. This occurs within teens before college level (Wolchover, 2012). Americans on average spend more then 40 billion dollars a year on dieting and exercise products. In an average lifetime 50,000 people will die because of eating or health disorders based on body images (Wolf, 2012). Many young girls are judged and even bullied about their weight if they dont love up to certain standards. This judgment has lead to serious eating disorders among teens in America now. In some extreme cases it once of the main causes of suicide in American teens. Too often girls are obsessing over the fact to be at peace with their body and young girls even starting at the age of nine are going crazy over losing weight. Girls need to know that no matter what shape or size or color of their skin it does not matter because every single one of them is beautiful. In the bible Ecclesiastes 3:11 God says He has created everything beautiful in its way. No ones word can go against the word of God. Everyone who feels insecure needs to read that verse and realize no matter what anyone says it should not have any affect on them because GOD has made nothing that isnt beautiful and that is literally all that matters. Anyone who is putting up with bullies, anything they say should go in one ear a nd out the other. In recent years it is more common among humans to give criticism in a negative way towards other people. It has become a normal part of American life. Even among friends put-downs are normal conversation but sometimes it goes too far and the person on the other end takes it heart. Some become more offended then intended. For example when a group of girls are friends and one of the girls are bigger then the others in the group that one was insecure. Her insecurity would lead to self-harm in some cases that would cause them to go to extremes to feel like they fit in with their friends. This case has occurred more then it used to (JournalOfHealthPsychology). Another insecurity that body image creates is depression. When girls are unhappy with what they see in the mirror it causes them to beat themselves up. Depressive symtomatology is one of the major affects caused by eating disorders. Girls torture themselves mentally by hating what they see in the mirror and hating themselves for what they see. Even a girl who is a size two will think she looks like a size eight and then wants to lose weight. People who work for big modeling agencies and works of that nature have stated Being a size two is the new size eight (Wolf, 2012). Food restriction has been associated with vulnerability (JournalOfHealthPsychology). Too often girls are often too harsh on themselves. They spend so much time judging themselves then actually going out and trying to change that. So many teenage girls are embarrassed or insecure about their bodies. Too often then not they are the ones beating them selves up for being a size 8 rather then being a size 2. Some of the time teenage girls are their own worst enemy. They put thoughts in their heads that they are not worth anything because their not model thin. Another contributing factor to the body image crisis among American women is caused by the fashion industry (Anthony 2012). Each year during Fashion Week designers exhibit their designs through out a series of fashion shows. Each year the upcoming trends are displayed on skinner models then the years before. The usual waistline for the average American woman used to be a healthy fourteen now it shrunk dramatically to a size four. The ideal body image is presented to girls at a very young age. It can tart by what they choose to watch on television and how the girls look that act in them. Another obsession girls are faced with is always looking perfect. They see models in magazines whose facial features are perfect and they want to look like them. Models that have their faces airbrushed and made to look perfect. A lot of models that appear in magazines and advertisement have their faces and morphed to look a specific way that the director wants them to look. A model for Ralph Lauren was a size four and because of her weight problem and was fired. There is a positive way for women to lose weight. Women think by starving them selves they will reach the weight they want. It is a fact that eating healthy is better for you then not eating anything at all. Eating a donut for breakfast is healthier then not eating anything at all. Eating breakfast is the most important meal because it gets your metabolism going for their day. The most effective way to lose weight is to eat foods that are healthy for you and exercise daily. Women dont always realize that there is a positive way to get rid of un wanted body fat. There are also treatments that speed up the process of losing weight. Women need to realize that starving themselves is not the only way to lose weight and there are other options to get rid of un-wanted body fat (Anthony, 2012). Body image has been womens struggle through out all of history. Most recently the struggle has been more outrageous. Women have been drilled with image of the media that the only way to feel beautiful is too be extremely and unhealthily skinny. The media has put the images in the average womans head by actresses, models, and other celebrities that have the extremely skinny look and appear perfect and happy. The obsession to be skinny has driven women to many drastic things to their bodies. Women have gone to extreme measures to obtain this thin appearance. Only they think beauty is only the Medias narrow opinion of it. Body image has played a huge role in the lives of women through out the years and with time, has changes, also causing women to have low self esteem issues and in some cases obtaining eating and health issues (Anthony 2012). Body image is how girls see themselves and their self worth. Poor body image can lead to an unhealthy life style. Girls even at the young age of five can start facing insecurities about their body. The standards of how society views women as beautiful have changed through out the years. These problems often evolve from people picking on them and being blasted by the media that only woman who are a size two are considered beautiful. These issues cause depression and eating disorders among women and some extreme cases the criticism and self-hatred lead to suicide. The media is mostly to blame for these problems and what they say and portray beauty as. Body image has changed and played a role in womens lives through out history, which has cause women to have low self-esteem, and in some cases leads to eating and health disorders.