Corporate social responsibility Essay

Social responsibility is an ethical theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems. Businesses can use ethical decision making to secure their businesses by making decisions that allow for government agencies to minimize their involvement with the corporation. Critics argue that Corporate social responsibility (CSR) distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses; others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window-dressing; others argue that it is an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful corporations though there is no systematic evidence to support these criticisms. A significant number of studies have shown no negative influence on shareholder results from CSR but rather a slightly negative correlation with improved shareholder returns. Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable responsible business/ Responsible Business) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. In some models, a firm’s implementation of CSR goes beyond compliance and engages in â€Å"actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law. CSR is a process with the aim to embrace responsibility for the company’s actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders. FUNCTIONS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The function of corporate social responsibility is for corporations to hold themselves accountable for the ethical, legal, societal and ecological impacts of their business practices. Corporate social responsibility practices are self-monitoring, meaning there aren’t laws requiring corporations to behave in a socially responsible manner. Rules regarding corporate responsibility practices are generally written into the corporate bylaws, mission statements and employee handbooks. Ethical Function Ethics are one of the most important aspects in corporate governance and therefore have an important function in corporate social responsibility. A company must have internal controls regarding the expected ethical behavior and consequences of unethical business practices of its top executives and employees. Behaving ethically makes the company as a whole accountable to its investors, shareholders and consumers. The ethical function of corporate social responsibility helps to prevent conflicts of interest between earning corporate profits and maintaining the integrity of the company and the goods and services it produces. Legal Function The legal function of corporate social responsibility is to encourage transparency in a company’s business practices and financial reporting. Maintaining high levels of legal business practices, such as adhering to Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, regulations promotes goodwill toward employees. Maintaining high levels of legal financial practices maintains good will among investors, stakeholders and government financial-reporting regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Societal Function The societal function of corporate social responsibility is to respect and invest in the communities in which the company operates. Companies are aware of how the production of their products affects the local community. These companies take necessary actions to diminish the negative impacts of factors such as increased traffic, noise and pollution for the communities in which they operate. The societal function of corporate social responsibility also includes companies reinvesting in the communities in which they operate, such as donating money to local charities. Ecological Function The ecological function of corporate social responsibility is to not only respect the immediate environment in which the company operates but also to respect the company’s effect on the global environment. Companies are aware of the environmental impact the production of their products have on their local communities. In corporate social responsibility, these companies adhere to strict standards in an effort to diminish the negative impact of the environmental byproducts such as air and water pollution from the production of their products. Having such standards impacts both the local and global environments. CHARACTERISTICS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The idea of Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, first appeared in the late 1960s in response to the need for businesses to address the effect of their pursuits on the environment and society, in addition to the interests of their shareholders. CSR attempts to portray corporations as responsible citizens who are concerned with issues of social and environmental welfare. The Public CSR argues that corporations bear responsibility for the effect they have on other sectors of society. The activities of corporations have an impact on individuals who don’t work for them and don’t buy their products, through, for example, secondary economic impacts and degradation of the natural environment. CSR acknowledges this, and attempts to make the interactions between corporations and society positive and productive. This can be done by consulting with neighbors and citizens who are affected by corporate activities and by striving for transparency in corporate pursuits so that the public knows what is going on. The Environment Increased knowledge on the part of the public about declining resources, toxic waste and global warming is compelling companies to make more efforts to be more environmentally benign. The traditional view that the natural world is merely a source of materials and an equally convenient dump for waste is being challenged from many quarters, and CSR is an attempt by corporations to respond to these concerns. The sincerity of changes being made on the part of corporations includes some serious efforts to achieve sustainability and other efforts that are essentially â€Å"greenwashing,† activities in which corporations put more effort into appearing green than into actually being green. Clients CSR challenges the traditional wisdom that the interests and needs of the clients of a corporation will be adequately protected by the market itself. Because the free market has been severely compromised by a combination of government subsidies and manipulative marketing practices, CSR attempts to remedy this situation by installing practices into corporate life that will monitor the interaction between corporations and their clients in an attempt to ensure that nobody is being exploited or cheated. Consumer protection can be enforced by the government or voluntarily pursued by companies, the latter course have clear advantages for the public relations of the company. Staff Staff and employees of corporations have a right to expect fair pay, safe working conditions and meaningful work. CSR is one aspect of a transformation in the corporate world that attempts to overcome archaic views of workers as mere means to an end on the part of shareholders. Particularly in less developed countries that are often the sites of intensive resource extraction, the treatment of labor is frequently substandard. CSR is intended to promote the rights of all workers and to ensure that corporations respect these rights and make whatever changes are required to prevent the exploitation and mistreatment of labor. FOUR TYPES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY As large corporations begin to dominate the world economy, it raises questions about the importance of corporate social responsibility in business. A variety of types of corporate social responsibilities have emerged in public discussions, and understanding their implications is important. Environmental Responsibility People expect businesses to exhibit environmentally responsible behavior, as evidenced by a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey that found that the No. 1 issue for companies in the future, according to U. S. respondents, is carbon emissions reductions. Specific environmental issues that affect businesses include global warming, sustainable resources and pollution. Businesses are being urged by environmental groups and governments to reduce their carbon footprint, to obtain their materials from sustainable sources and to reduce their pollution. Human Rights Responsibility The 21st-century marketplace is highly global. This means that when a product is purchased in the United States, for example, it may have been produced in China, or have components from South America. The ethical issue for corporations is ensuring that human rights are respected throughout all levels of the supply chain. Major companies have received criticism for their use of sweat shops and for sourcing resources that are harvested by unfairly treated workers. This has lead to a push for the use of strict labor standards to be applied to suppliers, and a demand for fair trade products such as chocolate and coffee. Financial Responsibility Financial responsibility is an important issue in corporate social responsibility. In the wake of the accounting fraud perpetrated by Enron and Arthur Andersen and Ponzi schemes orchestrated by the likes of Bernie Madoff, businesses are questioned about the accuracy of their financial reporting by increasingly skeptical shareholders and government officials, as evidenced by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Employees are expected to act as whistle blowers in such situations, and white collar crime is seeing high-profile prosecutions like that of Martha Stewart or former Worldcom CEO Bernie Ebbers. Political Responsibility Trading with repressive regimes is a difficult issue in corporate social responsibility. Some businesses argue that working with these regimes will help to advance them and bring rights to the countries. People and governments have demanded that businesses stop trading with repressive regimes, which was most notably observed when several western governments launched an embargo against the Apartheid government in South Africa during the 1980s. Shell Oil received considerable consumer backlash during the 1990s for its complicit involvement with the Nigerian government that murdered anti-oil activists. These issues make doing business with certain governments an important consideration for corporate social responsibility. PROS & CONS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Corporate social responsibility is generally perceived as a positive business ideology in the 21st century, despite some challenges. A significant expansion of basic business ethics, CSR establishes guidelines for ethical and socially responsible behavior. It addresses how companies that want to satisfy government and societal requirements should treat key stakeholder groups, including customers, suppliers, employees and the community. Pro 1: Social Responsibility and Customer Relationships One of the foundational elements of CSR is that it causes companies to reason beyond basic ethics to consider the benefits of active involvement in communities. In his article â€Å"The 7 Principles of Business Integrity,† business strategist Robert Moment argues that 21st-century companies must prove themselves to customers to build long-term, trusting relationships. They must also get involved in the community to give back. This community connection endears your company to the local markets in which you operate. Pro 2: Motivated Employees Employees are a company’s most valued asset. This is the premise of a company’s obligation to this key stakeholder group with regard to CSR compliance. This means treating employees with respect and offering fair working conditions. It also means establishing fair hiring practices and promoting a non-discriminatory workplace. This improves morale within the workplace and encourages teamwork. Additionally, a writer on the As You Sow website stresses the importance of managing a diverse workplace so that you can benefit from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences. Con 1: Expenses The main reason any company would object to participating in CSR is the associated costs. With CSR, you pay for environmental programs, more employee training and efficient waste management programs. Proponents of CSR agree that any expenses to businesses are ultimately covered by stronger relationships with key customers. However, David Vogel indicates in his Forbes article â€Å"CSR Doesn’t Pay† that investment in CSR programs may not necessary result in measurable financial results. Con 2: Shareholder Expectations Another challenge for companies when considering CSR is the possible negative perception of shareholders. Historically, publicly-owned companies had a primary focus of maximizing shareholder value. Now, they must balance the financial expectations of company owners with the social and environmental requirements of other stakeholder groups. Some shareholders are happy to invest in companies that operate with high integrity. Others may not approve of the aforementioned expenses of operating under CSR guidelines. IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Social responsibility is so important to current and long-term business success that corporate social responsibility, CSR, has become a widely recognized business process in the early 21st century. An entrepreneur point out that CSR is an evolution of corporate ethics because it involves balancing the social expectations of all stakeholders, including shareholders, citizens, providers and customers, along with environmental responsibility. Basic Integrity Most experts and CSR analysts agree that this broad business concept is an evolution of basic business ethics and integrity. Entrepreneur and business strategist Robert Moment â€Å"The 7 Princes of Business Integrity† agree that treating stakeholders with respect and earning trust of customers through ethical business operations is the CSR foundation. Leading advocate of corporate accountability, the As You Sow Foundation, also stresses the importance of internal business controls that mandated ethics from corporate leaders and employees. Community Relations The word â€Å"social† is key to understanding how CSR goes beyond basic integrity. Moment states in one of his seven principles that as a CSR adherent, you must â€Å"remain involved in community-related issues and activities thereby demonstrating that your business is a responsible community contributor. † This community involvement and participation shows your marketplace that you are interested in more than just taking money from their pockets. In the long run, this strategy leads to a stronger public reputation and more profitable business relationships. The Environment Another reason CSR is much broader than conventional business ethics is its necessary inclusion of environmental responsibility. Once an opportunity for companies to add value and enhance their brand image, green-friendly operations are now a societal requirement with CSR. As You Sow discusses the importance of preserving the environment, optimizing efficient use of natural resources, such as renew, reuse and recycle, and reduction of waste as important to the environmental component of CSR. Companies that do not consider these initiatives draw the ire of the government, public and consumer watch groups. Bottom Line The underlying question is whether CSR operations improve a company’s bottom line performance. David Vogel argues in his 2008 Forbes article that â€Å"CSR Doesn’t Pay. † Vogel argues that operating under CSR guidelines is not likely to produce higher tangible profits for a company throughout time. Now that socially responsible behavior is expected, it goes largely unnoticed, argues Vogel. He does agree, though, that companies that ignore CSR may experience public backlash and negative business consequences. Still, many advocates of CSR believe that companies can still profit in the long run through stronger business and customer relationships. PRINCIPLES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The main principles involving corporate social responsibility involve economic, legal, ethical and discretionary aspects. A corporation needs to generate profits, while operating within the laws of the state. The corporation also needs to be ethical, but has the right to be discretional about the decisions it makes. Levels of corporate social responsiveness to an issue include being reactive, defensive, responsive and interactive. All terms are useful in issues management. Selecting when and how to act can make a difference in the outcome of the action taken. CSR has inspired national governments to include CSR issues into their national public policy agendas. The increased importance driven by CSR has prompted governments to promote socially and environmentally responsible corporate practices. Over the past decade governments have considered CSR as a public issue that requires national governmental involvement to address the very issues relevant to CSR. The heightened role of government in CSR has facilitated the development of numerous CSR programs and policies. Increasingly, corporations are motivated to become more socially responsible because their most important stakeholders expect them to understand and address the social and community issues that are relevant to them. Understanding what causes are important to employees is usually the first priority because of the many interrelated business benefits that can be derived from increased employee engagement (i. e. more loyalty, improved recruitment, increased retention, higher productivity, and so on). Key external stakeholders include customers, consumers, investors (particularly institutional investors), and communities in the areas where the corporation operates its facilities, regulators, academics, and the media. The debate, on whether responsibility of a business enterprise is only to its shareholders (owners) or to all stakeholders, including environment and the society at large, is an on going one and continues. In received literature â€Å"Stakeholder†, as an expression is fairly recent in origin, reportedly appearing first in an internal memorandum of the Stanford Research Institute in the year 1963. According to a definition given by Edward Freeman â€Å"A stakeholder is any group or individual who can effect, or is affected by the activities and achievements of an organization. † Friedrich Neubauer and Ada Demb in â€Å"The Legitimate Corporation† identify six groups of distinguishable stakeholders (not necessarily in this order) as follows a) Providers of funds b) Employees c) General public d) Government e) Customers and f) Suppliers An increasing number of companies are reporting publicly on their social, environmental and ethical performance, both as a communication to stakeholders, and as a management tool. However, as this practice has only become more widespread since the mid 1990s, there is as yet no standard format to address the type of information companies choose to report, or how that information is collected, analyzed and presented. At the same time, many stakeholders are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the type and quality of information they are demanding from companies. In an effort to meet these demands – as well as to strengthen the credibility of their social and environmental reports – some companies are choosing to have their reports externally verified. In doing so, companies recognize that verification by a third party can add value to the overall social and environmental reporting process by enhancing relationships with stakeholders, improving business performance and decision-making, aligning practice with organizational values, and strengthening reputation risk management. Social Responsibility Principles The Corporate Social Responsibility is based on the following principles: Legal Compliance Principle: The enterprise shall comply with and understand all applicable, local, international, written, declared, and effected laws and regulations, in accordance with fixed, specific procedures. Adherence to Customary International Laws Principle: The enterprise shall adhere to international and governmental agreements, executive regulations, declarations, covenants, decisions, and guidelines, when setting its policies and practices pertinent to Social Responsibility. Respecting Related Stakeholders lefts Principle: The enterprise shall acknowledge and accept the diversity of related stakeholders’ lefts and interests, and the diversity of the major and minor enterprises’ activities and products, among other elements, which may affect such related stakeholders. Transparency Principle: the enterprise shall clearly, accurately, and comprehensively declare its policy, decisions, and activities, including known and potential effects on environment and society. Moreover, such information shall be available to affected persons, or those who are likely to be affected materially by the enterprise. Respect for Human lefts Principle: the enterprise shall execute policies and practices which shall result in respecting existent human lefts in the Universal Declaration of Human lefts. Because CSR can influence economic, environmental and social factors in a variety of ways, there is no â€Å"one size fits all† approach. An effective CSR strategy must consider alignment with the organization’s business strategy, commercial added value, and sustainability of impact. The benefits of an effective CSR approach to an organization can include: Stronger performance and profitability Improved relations with the investment community and access to capital Enhanced employee relations and company culture Risk management and access to social opportunities Stronger relationships with communities and legal regulators CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AT RELIANCE POWER LTD Reliance Power Limited is part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, one of India’s largest business houses. It was established to develop, construct and operate power projects in the Indian and international markets. Reliance Energy Limited, an Indian private sector power utility company and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group promote Reliance Power. With its subsidiaries, it is developing 13 medium and large-sized power projects with a combined planned installed capacity of 33,480 MW. Reliance Natural Resources merged with Reliance Power in 2010, shortly after its initial public offering. The group operates across multiple sectors, including telecommunications, financial services, media and entertainment, infrastructure and energy. The energy sector companies include Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power. Reliance Power has been established to develop, construct and operate power projects both in India as well as internationally. The Company on its own and through its subsidiaries has a portfolio of over 35,000 MW of power generation capacity, both in operation as well as capacity under development. The power projects are going to be diverse in terms of geographic location, fuel type, fuel source and off-take, and each project is planned to be strategically located near an available fuel supply or load centre. The company has 1,540 MW of operational power generation assets. The projects under development include seven coal-fired projects to be fueled by reserves from captive mines and supplies from India and elsewhere; two gas-fired projects; and twelve hydroelectric projects, six of them in Arunachal Pradesh, five in Himachal Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand. Reliance Power has won three of the four Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) awarded by the Indian Government so far. These include UMPPs in Sasan( Madhya Pradesh),Krishnapatnam( Andhra Pradesh) & Tilaiya(Jharkhand). UMPPs are a significant part of the Indian government’s initiative to collaborate with power generation companies to set up 4,000 MW projects to ease the country’s power deficit situation. Besides these, Reliance Power is also developing coal bed methane (CBM) blocks to fuel gas based power generation. The company is registering projects with the Clean Development Mechanism executive board for issuance of Certified Emission Reduction (CER) certificates to augment its revenues. Reliance Power in its continuous efforts to positively impact the society, especially the areas around its sites and offices, has formulated policies for social development that are based on the following guiding principles: Adopt an approach that aims at achieving a greater balance between social development and economic development. Adopt new measures to accelerate and ensure the basic needs of all people. Work towards elimination of all barriers for the social inclusion of disadvantaged groups- such as the poor and the disabled Give unfailing attention to children for in their hands lies the country’s future. It is for their sake that health, education and environment get topmost priority in our programs and investments. In areas around its power plant sites in Sasan,Rosa,Krishnapatnam,Butibori,Chitrangi and others, Reliance Power has been actively involved in various social and environmental organizations to address the issue of sustainable development and social uplift. The Company in discharge of its responsibility as a corporate citizen actively contributes to community welfare measures and takes up several social initiatives every year. Reliance Power Ltd. has been closely working with institutions and social organizations and supporting their programs for social development, adult literacy, adoption of village, tree plantation schemes etc. HEALTH Health and safety are of universal concern across the spectrum of communities. As a company, we are not only committed to compliance with legal norms but its is our endeavour to voluntarily go beyond that and provide quality healthcare facilities in the regions around our site. We are committed to providing all possible support to create awareness on various health related issues impacting the local people. We believe in a multidimensional approach that considers the needs of the area leading to an effective plan to address all issues in consultation with the local administration, community workers and NGOs working in the area. At its various project sites, Reliance Power sites runs medical facility center, physiotherapy center, and mobile medical vans that dispenses free medicines and provide free health check-ups. Also periodically we come up with health camps like general health check up camps, gynecology camps, eye check up camps and corrective surgery camps for disabled children. EDUCATION Education is a basic tool to bring development to an area and its people. We aim to create an awareness pool of human resource both within and across our area of operations. We are committed to bridging the digital divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ in educational infrastructure and facilities. Exposure to technology along with a sustainable education model could be strengthened through partnership with government and quasi-government agencies. Reliance Power is involved in a surfeit of activities that have changed the lives of the people residing at the sites or the PAFs (Project Affected Families). Education is the main thrust of these activities. Major contributions made in the area include building of a DAV school at the site for the children of the PAFs and the children of the villages around the sites, free school bus facility for the students, stipend to every child who attends school (a boy child gets Rs. 250 per month while a girl child gets a stipend of Rs. 300 per month), free uniforms, study tours for children, teaching aids to the teachers, training of teachers, as well as night schools for uneducated adults etc. EMPLOYMENT Community is an integral part of the business environment and the basic commitment lies towards augmenting the overall economic and social development of local communities by discharging our social responsibilities in a sustainable manner. Reliance Power invests significantly in skill up gradation of people around the sites. The trained manpower available for construction will ensure quality and accident free working. CIDC, a Government of India initiative has been engaged and has trained about 300 project affected youths as electricians, welders, carpenters and masons and bar benders in batches of 40 each. To further encourage them we paid them, a monthly stipend of Rs. 1000 per month. In addition efforts are on to enroll the oustees in short term courses at the ITI operating in the region. Apart from these, training is also provided are: Computer coaching centre English speaking classes Personality development classes Physiotherapy training center Training by NAC (National Academy of Construction) and use them for future requirement of the construction. For the women folk of the villages, in an effort to empower them the company trains them in soft skills like tailoring and poultry farming etc. Reliance Power provides assistance to women keen on starting their own businesses. THE HUMAN TOUCH BEYOND POLICY IMPERATIVES Although the main thrust of Reliance Power’s CSR lies in providing quality education, health care and livelihood, we don’t restrict ourselves to it. In order to better lives around our areas of interest and business, we strive to provide basic amenities like electrification in the villages, augmentation and development of roads connecting the village to the main roads, old age support for senior citizens of the project affect families, development of the grazing lands for the cattle of the villagers, afforestation and veterinary camps for domestic cattle. Moral and financial support is extended during social occasions like marriages, community prayers, funerals and other such occasions.

Arthur Miller ‘s presentation Essay

By focusing on three or four scenes, examine Arthur Miller ‘s presentation of John Proctor’s moral journey. A crucible is defined in the dictionary as ‘a severe test or trial’. Throughout this play, John Proctor’s morals and beliefs are challenged to a great extent as we watch his character develop and admire his strength to do what is right whatever the consequences. A moral journey is the development of someone’s morals and beliefs as they are tested by certain situations and react to them in different ways. I wouldn’t say it was a mapped out journey, more one that is likely to change without warning. Salem was a very religious and close-knit community. The strict creed meant that its inhabitants lived very monotonous lives and continuously feared doing wrong by God. Many people found they could not live with the pressures forced upon them by the church as religion was preached so vigorously and people were discouraged from forming their own opinion on life. This caused the community to become very repressed. The way everyone reacted to the accusations of witchcraft stem from this. People suddenly became very paranoid of everybody else’s actions and also became suspicious that they may be a witch. They also used the right to call somebody a witch as vengeance. The fact that Proctor was willing to go against the church and the rest of the community to follow his views of descent conduct makes him stand out. I will be studying several extracts of the play to illustrate Proctor’s moral journey. John Proctor is often seen as the main character in the play and the first point where we are given any information about him is in the early stages of Act 1. Here, Miller directly intervenes and provides us with a lengthy passage on John Proctor giving us information on his background and character. This is essential, as otherwise, we have no knowledge of his values before he enters the stage. Miller’s script: â€Å"But as we shall see, the steady manner he displays does not spring from an untroubled soul. He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own vision of descent conduct. † This quote also backs up the idea that John does not need to be punished for sins he has committed, as he is his own worst critic. At first Miller portrays him in a harsh light. When he enters in the first act, he reprimands his servant for not being at home helping Elizabeth and orders her to go immediately. The stage directions here allow us to see the effect of John on others. He obviously has a sense of authority as Miller describes Mary Warren’s reaction when he enters the room as follows: ‘She can barely speak for embarrassment and fear’ After the departure of Mary, John is then left alone with Abigail and Miller presents us with a scene full of hurt, desire and tension. Abigail is a very useful character when analysing John’s morals. She is very manipulative and tests his will power to reject her. John, at first, is not aware of Abigail’s determination to win his love. He says impulsively some things that Abigail interprets in her own, yet wrong, way. She then seems very confident about what she is saying and feels she is being lead on. Proctor: â€Å"Ah, you’re wicked yet, aren’t y’! (A thrill of expectant laughter escapes her, and she dares come closer, feverishly looking in his eyes)† The stage directions at this point are very important, as they are essential in the understanding of how Abigail is feeling. After this move of Abigail’s, John realises that she is serious and is still holding hope for him. He decides to put this right by making it quite clear to her that he is not willing to continue their relationship. Proctor: â€Å"Abby I may think of you softly from time to time but I will cut off my hand before I reach for you again. † This shows that Proctor has learnt from his mistakes and although he is tempted, he is not willing to commit the same sin again. This is quite extreme for him to state and shows that he is serious about what he is saying. It is also evident from the stage directions that John is ‘(angered-at himself as well). ‘ This shows that he has admitted to himself that he was wrong and now he is feeling guilty and angry with himself for all the trouble he has caused in his relationship with Elizabeth. The stage directions are very powerful in this extract as they show the characters emotions and they explain the situation well. This extract shows a very important part of John Proctor’s moral journey as he manages to resist Abigail’s advances. It must have taken a lot for him to do this, as it would be hard both mentally and physically for him. This shows how his character is starting to develop as he has learnt from previous experiences and is beginning to face and correct his sins rather than just ignoring them. The next extract I will be examining is in the early parts of Act two. This is set eight days on from the last scene and there is a very different atmosphere. Instead of passion and heat, this scene is awkward and tense. It shows how Proctor is not being honest with his wife, Elizabeth, and instead there is a lot of pretence. This is an important time in Proctors moral journey as it shows us how he is coping with his relationship with Elizabeth. It is evident that Proctor is still in denial and is not facing up to his actions. He doesn’t realise that the lies and secrets he is keeping will affect so badly what happen in future events. At the beginning of this Act, Miller sets the scene effectively using stage directions. He describes the room as ‘low, dark, and rather long living-room of the time’. This immediately changes our mood and calms us down in anticipation of a more sombre and serious scene. In this scene dialogue, as well as stage directions, play a very important part in portraying the characters feelings. The stage directions especially help us to interpret how certain lines should be said (as this is a play) and how characters should act. Proctor is not truthful to Elizabeth in this scene. He firstly lies about his interview with Abigail as he feels she won’t understand. He tells her that he has been working on the farm in hope that he will sympathise with him. This is part of his moral journey as it shows he is still in denial and feels that time will sort his problems out. He is prolonging the consequences of his actions that he knows one day he’ll have to face.

The Carribiean Nations - Focusing on Haiti Essay

The Carribiean Nations - Focusing on Haiti - Essay Example To put it simply, the history of the European colonization in the Caribbean tends to be a saga of economic exploitation and repression. There is no denying the fact that the dynamics of the agricultural dependency of the Caribbean is closely linked to the colonization of the Caribbean by the Europeans. The Europeans to a great extent reconfigured the financial potential of the Caribbean by introducing the plantation system (Parry, Sherlock & Maingot 18). It goes without saying that the human dynamics introduced in these plantations by the Europeans also to a great extent shaped the dynamics of the social hierarchy in the Caribbean. The arrival of the Europeans in the Caribbean and the shaping of the socio-economic landscape of the Caribbean by them through conquests and invasions to a large extent diluted the essentially cohesive world of the indigenous people of the Caribbean. Before the European colonization, the Caribbean predominantly happened to be a secluded place on the globe, being home to a simple, but rich and multifaceted civilization, to a large extent insulated from the machinations rampant in the outside world. However, the advent of the Europeans in the Caribbean exposed the indigenous civilization and people to the outer world, thereby making them subservient to the trends gushing in from Europe, America and Africa. As the tentacles of the European colonization began to expand their span in the Caribbean to plunder the native wealth of the region, they also brought in their wake a system of social hierarchy that assigned a specific place and scope to an individual on the basis of one’s race and position in a well entrenched system of economic exploitation (Parry, Sherlock & Maingot 122). As it is known that with the advent of the Europeans there unfolded an era marked by a sharp decline in the indigenous population, on most of the islands comprising the Caribbean, this indeed created a problem for the European settlers, who were perpetual ly looking for viable sources of affordable and docile labor, so as to optimally exploit the natural resources inherent in the region (Parry, Sherlock & Maingot 17). The solution that the Europeans contrived for this death of local labor eventually translated into the import of slaves from Africa (Parry, Sherlock & Maingot 17). There is no denying the fact that the advent of first the Europeans and then the Africans in the Caribbean, wrought out an utter transformation of the societies of the Caribbean. To begin with, the Caribbean people ended up being victims to a hoard of deathly and debilitating diseases and epidemics like measles, dysentery, malaria and smallpox, introduced to these hitherto isolated lands by the Europeans and the Africans who arrived as slaves (Parry, Sherlock & Maingot 10). The social and political norms and organizations of the indigenous people were reinvented and restructured in the name of spreading the good news. Christianity emerged as the single most p otent shaping influence in the socio-political framework of this part of the world (Parry, Sherlock & Maingot 130). The simple lives of the native people and the imported African slaves were stringently regimented by slavery, plantation culture and other institutions introduced by the Europeans, whose intentions were primarily commercial and profit oriented in their approach. (Parry, Sherlock

Health and Nutrition in Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health and Nutrition in Schools - Essay Example Breakfast and lunch programs raise the average cost of production and serving school breakfast and lunches by approximately 37 cents and 7 cents respectively. This is a challenge to many schools, but cost changes do not affect all schools. Schools with menus that emphasize whole grains, non-starchy vegetables, and fruits made fewer changes; thus, the cost of implementation in the schools were lower than average. The overall cost of implementation is also higher in schools that offer more breakfasts relative to lunches than in schools that do not offer breakfast. School Food Authorities cover for the increase in preparing and serving school meals. This is because they have a variety of funding sources. Most schools also have a number of flexibilities and options within available, operational approaches and revenue streams that help balance resources and costs. Some of the recovery channels of increased costs in breakfast and lunch programs are student payments of la carte foods, and l ocal and state government sources.In the new breakfast and lunch program, the state board took into consideration the unique needs of the children. Not all people take the same diet mainly because of medical reasons. This program caters for children roughly between five years and eighteen years. The program puts this into consideration and takes care of all special needs of the children. Children are divided into different age groups to cater for their different nutritional requirements. This is critical because their bodies are at different growing and development stages and interference or inadequate feeding compromises growth and development of children. The program also caters for children with medical conditions who are on a special diet. This implies that the program introduced a wide variety of a balanced diet for children because of their particular nutritional and development needs. Children choose from a wide variety of foodstuff provided and this caters for the diverse ne eds of children. Dietary salt has also been reduced in school meals. Therefore, the program takes into consideration children with cardiovascular diseases and hypertension (Bartfeld, 2010). Figure 1: Table Showing Different Age groups with different Menus GRADE AGE K-5 5-10 years 6-8 11-13 years 9-12 14-18 years Process Involved in the Program Implementation of breakfast and lunch program involved different steps and decisions. Before finalization of changes, many considerations were put into perspective. For example, schools had to take a survey of the children's needs, age, health and medicinal requirements before implementation. Parents were to provide medical records for children who needed individual attendance. Nutritional experts formulated a food menu and advised schools on the best economic food choices as outlined by the requirement in the program. Schools also introduced certain hygiene checks that would ensure children get better services. This facilitated the introducti on of an entirely new procedure to cater for diverse nutritional needs in schools. The implementation process was an essential because every change

Basic elements in behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Basic elements in behavior - Essay Example Neurons are regarded as the fundamental elements of human behavior. Neurons or nerve cells are the basic elements of the nervous system (Feldman, 55). The basic structure of neuron consists of a cell body with a nucleus in the center that controls the entire nerve cell; About one trillion neurons are held together by glial cells present within each cell; these are also responsible for nourishing the neurons. At one end, a neuron has fiber like structures called the dendrites and at the other end it has a long tube like structure called axon with a small bulb like ending called terminal buttons. The former function as receptors of messages and the latter is responsible for transmitting the messages to dendrites of the next neuron. The entire neuron is insulated with specialized fat and protein cells called the myelin sheath. Neurons are capable of communicating with other cells and transmitting information across very long distances. The length of dendrites and axons also vary from fe w millimeters to 3 feet (Feldman, 2008). With this simple structure, neurons play complex roles in the human body and help in functioning of the brain; in turn they control the functioning of human body to internal as well as external stimuli. The basic process involves transmission of electrical messages from one neuron to the next until the message reaches the target organ. This transmission happens in the form of synapse, which is the signal transmitted through neurotransmitters, chemical substances discharged by the terminal buttons of axons. Sometimes signals may be transmitted even without the neurotransmitters required to bridge the gap. These neurotransmitters interact with the dendrites, thereby activating or constraining the subsequent neurons; this process is referred to as firing or graded potential (Wittig, 2000). Although more than 50 types of neurotransmitters have been found, some of the important ones include endorphins responsible for pain

The Japanese and Chinese economic models Research Paper - 1

The Japanese and Chinese economic models - Research Paper Example The economic models perform two basic functions, which include selection of information on the basis of econometric study and simplification of the gathered information. Economic models can be classified as stochastic models, non-stochastic models, qualitative models, quantitative models, equilibrium, and non-equilibrium models. If we talk about some of the benefits of having the economic models, we can say that economic models are widely used for a variety of purposes in the economic environment of every country. Some of main uses of economic models include guiding resource allocation decisions, forecasting the economic activities, planning the functions of economy, and making appropriate decisions related to the economy. All of these uses make economic model one of the most important models for the development of any country. Let us now discuss planning functions of the economic models of China and Japan, which are two of the most progressive and well-established economies of the w orld. Chinese economy has seen significant success and development over the last decade. The communist government of the People Republic of China has been successful in developing a strong Chinese economy, which has started developing its roots in most of the Asian, European, and American markets. â€Å"Although the politics of China remains communist, the economics might be called Advanced Mercantilist† (SNS 2010). Chinese economists have analyzed the perfects ways to deal with the west by considering the cases of South Korea and Japan and have come up with a well-designed economic modal, which has the ability to make the Chinese economy one of the most stable economies of the future world. If we talk about the Japanese model of economy, we can say that Japanese economic model has proved to be a very useful tool not only for the analysis of the current economic situation of Japan.

Research and Analysis of Business Problems in AMR Corporation Paper

And Analysis of Business Problems in AMR Corporation - Research Paper Example In our project, we begin by identifying the position of the company that we are studying. In this, we use mainly the vision, mission, core values, and the stakeholders of this organization. This has been actually necessary since it helped us to understanding the decision-making framework of this company that we later used in the problem identification and problem finding. We also identified the decision making model used by this company and some of the human factors that affects the decision making process in this organization. After this, we later identified the problems that are faced by this company and analyze their importance, severity, and urgency to help us in the prioritization of those problems. After prioritization, we identify the one that requires to be addressed first and we go on in identifying the possible alternatives to this problem. We later analyze our alternatives to obtain the solution to our problem and thus decide the implementation process we will undertake. W e later analysis the implementation process using feasibility analysis, cost/benefit analysis and ethical screening to determine whether the implementation process is worth undertaking. ... However, in this research I did not include the budget of the implementation process and the actual cost that the company might expect to incur during the project undertaking. I thus would like to propose that a small research on the materials and equipment needed and their costs be done before implementation to give the company the actual cost of undertaking this problem solution. Position AMR Corporation is a group of companies operating in the aviation sector.This corporation has two airline subsidiaries, which are American Airlines and AMR Eagle Holding Corporation. These two subsidiaries have various divisions. The key person in this Corporation is Thomas W. Horton who is both the president and the CEO. AMR Corporation is a public companythat offers transportation services majoring in airline services. It has very high operating cost and net income that results to high total income. It has a property in London as well as other places.Previously it has acquired several certificat ed airline holdings to expand its operations. Moreover, being a public organization it has several stakeholders like employees, shareholder, passengers, NGOs and government bodies (American Airline 2012). Vision Statement The Vision of AMR Corporation is to have a sustainable future where it could minimize its operation cost, while maintaining high quality and reliable services to its customers and at the same time offer good working environment for employees. Mission statement Providing exceptional services and amenities in order to provide an enjoyable, comfortable and convenient experience on our airline (American Airline 2012) Mission statement of

Entrepreneurial Strategy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Entrepreneurial Strategy - Term Paper Example According to Amit, Brigham and Markman â€Å"entrepreneurial strategies let people to be innovative, creative and responsible for decisions they make† (Meyer & Heppard, 2000).As a result of pursuing entrepreneurial strategies, companies put themselves in a situation to frequently and systematically recognize and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities.Enterpreneurial strategy involves a persistent, managerially sanctioned pattern of innovation related activities and resource allocations that compose a component of the company’s inclusive corporate strategy (Russell, page 640). This thesis will dwell majorly on entrepreneurial strategy concerning its importance/significance, opportunity recognition; .Current theories on economic literature explain strategy adoption according to forces of the competitive environment. Importance of Entrepreneurial Strategies Designing of business plan An entrepreneurial company develops innovations slowly.Explotation tends to force out explo ration and the company hits a performance crisis. Small companies have to balance exploration and exploitation. At some point in small companies at the start of the lifecycle design and innovation capability gets relegated in order to bring in the profits from the idea on which the firm was founded. Successfully spotting change factors, assessing their significance, reacting and adapting creates long term values. This can only be achieved by having a entrepreneurial strategy. Innovation The global environment moves faster all the time, innovation and its partner change are requirements for survival and success. Innovation often the foundation of creations is vital for any company to compete effectively in the twenty first century. Building on the importance of entrepreneurial action, Smith and DiGregorio explain that the fundamental nature of entrepreneurialship is newness, new resources, new clients, new markets, new combination of existing resources and clients. They put forward t hat equilibrating actions are based on both existing and related resources that modify existing knowledge about markets. In dissimilarity disequilibrating consequences are based on both existing but unrelated resources that are incompatible with existing mental methods. Execution of corporate entrepreneurship strategies is important and can play a major role in the success of efforts to produce innovation in companies. The development of a new proposal requires the recombination of existing knowledge and its extensions (Bettis & Hitt, 1995). Creating new businesses requires new knowledge which is necessary because new businesses are based on technologies that differ from currently employed companies. These new businesses function in new markets, making it a necessity for the company to develop knowledge of how to use new technology and compete effectively in the new market. Their work explains the inertia that sometimes occurs with larger successful companies. Many companies are usi ng alliances and networks to acquire knowledge that is critical for innovation and implementation. Entrepreneurial Resources Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial companies identify and exploit opportunities that competitors have not discovered or underexploited. An appropriate location of resources is needed to identify entrepreneurial opportunities with the utmost potential returns and to be used as a disciplined approach to exploit them (McGrath & MacMillan, 2000).The entrepreneurial s

Animation Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Animation Critique - Essay Example Fred Moore was different from the other animators because of his style of drawing. He was ranked in a different league because he gave charm, emotion and appeal to his characters. By doing this his characters looked more substantial while performing their actions. Fred had the 14 points of animation which he kept in check while working. He concluded that the character should have appeal, interesting depiction, entertaining, presence of creator in character, advancement of character, two-dimensional clarity, three-dimensional solidity and four-dimensional drawing (Duggan, 99). Moore was famous for portraying womanhood with great flair. His drawing of Snow White did not impress Walt hence he was given the responsibility to create the dwarfs. Moore designed the look and personalities of the seven dwarfs and also animated the famous scene of Snow White kissing Grumpy dwarf (Lenburg, 342). Animation history is full of world class animators. Another famous individual known in field is Pete Burness, who is well known for creating the character of Mr. Magoo (Lenburg, 39). The most famous character in the world of animation is Walt Disney. He was a legend who gave us Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Snow White and Bambi. He was known for his innovative thinking and perfection. His animated characters have and will always be alive among us (Krasniewicz,

Academic Summary Essay Example for Free

Academic Summary Essay In the article, How unethical are you? , Banaji et al. (2003) investigate four factors that result in unethical decision taken by managers: Implicit forms of prejudice, bias that favours ones own group, a tendency to over claim credit, and conflict of interest. The authors believe that the implicit prejudice is an unconscious judgment which originates from unintentional tendency to create relationships in the past. The implicit bias brings about social and economic effects which may eliminate capable people from doing the right job. Another reason is a tendency that benefits members of a group. This happens when those in minority are treated differently and less supported by the larger group only because they are a small group. Unaware exaggeration of their own talents is another influencing factor in which individuals rate themselves highly competent and exaggerate ones own cooperation in the group. Wide ranging opinions is the next factor stated by the authors which can also distort coming to a fair decision. See more: Homeless satire essay A bias in which there is tendency toward people with the same or similar idea causes disagreements and lead to unintentional immoral attitudes. Banaji et. al claim that by putting the conscious mind into use and paying more careful attention, managers would be able to confine the power of their conscious mind. They propose collecting data, shaping the environment, and broadening the decision making as the three main solutions to formulate conscious techniques. Banaji et. al point out that one way to decrease unintentional tendency is gathering information and making organized decisions. Moreover, they believe that implicit tendencies can be created by key signs in the environment. In order to reshape the existing bias, the person can put himself in an opposite situation in which the typical bias is being doubted. Expanding decision-making is another solution proposed by the authors which is achieved by disregarding your own identity when making decisions that may benefit specific groups of people more than others. Finally the authors state that managers who believe that they are unbiased must question the hypothesis that they are objective.

Factors Influencing Strategy Implementation

Factors Influencing Strategy Implementation The aim of this module is to produce a 4000 word research proposal that would be capable for supporting the preparation of a Masters dissertation. The project report would include an introduction including a title, which would highlight the content of this business document providing a background, informing the reader of the problem / issue at hand and the context of the situation that would be discussed. The research issue would be provided highlighting the importance of the issue in todays ever-changing and competitive, cut-throat business environment. Adequate linkages would be provided to co-relate the research aims, research objectives, research questions and the hypothesis as such generated. A coherent and critical literature review would follow demonstrating the knowledge of the literature available and linking it to the situation which would be investigated. A research design and methodology would be adopted to investigate the concerned issue providing a rationale as to how the research objectives are to be accomplished explaining the selection of the research paradigm. The research design would include the methods of data capture, the data access issues, the analysis and the interpretation means that would be used to assess the situation and appropriate reasons would be provided for the choice of research tools used. Relevant ethical issues underpinning the research objectives would also be discussed along-with the resources required to complete the research proposal. The last part of this management report would include a timetable that would provide the time that it took to complete each part of the research proposal along-with a list of references utilized to complete the report. INTRODUCTION TITLE: FACTORS INFLUENCING STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION BACKGROUND The title of this research proposal is factors influencing strategy implementation. Before we discuss the issue and highlight the importance of the issue in the context of the report it is of prime importance to understand the concept of strategy implementation itself. It is the process by which the business strategy formulated is put into action. It includes the design and management of organizational systems to achieve the best integration of people and structure, allocating resources, managing human resources and developing information and decision processes to achieve organizational objectives. Pierce and Robinson  note that to effectively direct and control the use of the firms resources, mechanisms such as organizational structure, information systems, leadership styles, assignment of key managers, budgeting, rewards, and control systems are essential strategy implementation ingredients. After the creative and analytical aspects of the corporate strategy have been formulated the priority of the management is to convert the strategy into operationally effective action. A strategy is never complete, until it gains a commitment of the firms resources and becomes embodied in its organizational structure. Strategy implementation is an iterative process of implementing strategies, policies, programs and action plans that allows a firm to utilize its resources to take advantage of opportunities in the competitive environment (Harrington, 2006). There is no one definition of strategy implementation as seen from the above citations but for the purpose of this report, taking into consideration the definitions above we can define strategy implementation as an iterative, dynamic and a complex process, which comprises of series of decisions and activities by the management and the administration those affected by many interrelated internal and external factors, to turn strategic plans into reality in order to achieve the objectives of the firm. RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY This part of the report would highlight the aim and the objectives of the research, discussing the issue chosen and its importance by proposing a research question and providing an answer to it in the literature review. Many studies have acknowledged that business strategies often fail not because of inadequate strategy formulation, but because of an inappropriate implementation strategy. This report would study the factors that enable or impede effective strategy implementation. This report would highlight how strategy implementation has been researched so far and how this field may be moved forward so as to help in effective execution of a business strategy. As a result of the literature review undertaken, the report has found nine critical factors for strategy implementation that will be discussed further in the literature. Formulation of an effective strategy, making the strategy work and implementing it throughout the company is a difficult task (Hrebiniak, 2006). Many factors potentially affect the process by which strategic plans are turned into organizational action. Unlike strategy formulation, strategy implementation is more of a craft, rather than a science. After successful formulation of the business strategy, difficulties usually arise during the subsequent implementation process. If the business strategy formulated is not applied correctly to all the aspects of the organisational structure the business model would fail, thus harming the organisation in many aspects, the major being the financial capability of the firm, which would take a huge blow. It is of prime importance to get the implementation right otherwise there would be huge losses for the firm. Noble (1999b) notes, the best-formulated strategies may fail to produce superior performance for the firm if they are not successfully implemented. This issue is of utmost importance in todays day and age because of the cut-throat competition in the ever-changing business world where each firm needs to keep re-modelling their policies and procedures to keep up with the change in the external and internal business environment. There are combination of issues that influence the success of strategy implementation, ranging from the people who communicate or implement the strategy to the systems or mechanisms in place for co-ordination and control. How can we better understand these issues and their importance for successful strategy implementation? In this report we try to respond to this question by the critical analysis of the existing research on the factors that influence strategy implementation. An analysis has been conducted of the most widely used literature databases to identify key factors influencing the process of strategy implementation, to surface current areas of agreement and disagreement on the topic. LITERATURE REVIEW In the following section, the report would review the study sources and assess their research context, theoretical bases, their main results and the research methods used as well as the analytical techniques which are employed for the study. The examined organizational levels and organizational types are the two elements of the research context. The core of the literature review, would concentrate on the nine factors identified through rigorous analysis of the study sources, that play a role in influencing strategy implementation success, as well as the frameworks or models that aggregate or relate the relevant factors to each other. This is followed by the discussion of the theoretical bases of the reviewed studies. Finally, the research methods and analytical techniques adopted will be reviewed to see which methods are still underutilized in the context of strategy implementation. By carrying out a literature review of the existing studies, the report found two types of strategy implementation studies: one that highlight the importance of the individual factors for strategy implementation and the second that emphasize the big pictureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ of how the single factors interrelate and form a strategic implementation environment. The research would highlight nine recurring, individual factors that influence strategy implementation. They are namely the strategy formulation process, the strategy executors (managers, employees), the organizational structure, the communication activities, the level of commitment for the strategy, the consensus regarding the strategy, the relationships among different units/departments and different strategy levels, the employed implementation tactics, and the administrative system in place. THE NINE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE STARTEGY IMPLEMENTATION 1. Strategy Formulation If the corporate strategy drafted by the business is a poor or a vague strategy, then it can limit the implementation efforts dramatically. Good execution cannot overcome the shortcomings of a bad strategy or a poor strategic planning effort (Hrebiniak, 2006). Several studies mention the fact that the kind of strategy that is developed (Alexander, 1985; Allio, 2005) and the actual process of strategy formulation, namely, how a strategy is developed (KimMauborgne, 1993; Singh, 1998) will influence the effect of implementation. Alexander (1985) believes that the need to start with a formulated strategy that involves a good idea or concept is the most crucial and critical factor which helps promoting its successful implementation. As Allio notes, good implementation naturally starts with good strategic input: the soup is only as good as the ingredients (Allio, 2005). 2. Relationships among different departments and different strategy levels Many studies in the concerned field have stressed that the institutional relationships among different units/departments and different strategy levels play a major role in the outcome of strategy implementation (Walker Ruekert, 1987; Gupta, 1987; Slater Olson, 2001; Chimhanzi, 2004; Chimhanzi Morgan, 2005). Walker Ruekert note that marketing policies, inter-functional structures and processes, corporate-business unit relationships and processes are a major influence on business strategy implementation. In addition, allocation of resources, functional competencies, inter-functional conflict, decision-making participation and influence, and coordination also have different effects on the implementation of various kinds of business strategies. Implementation effectiveness is negatively affected by conflict and positively affected by interpersonal communication and not written. Such interdepartmental dynamics are affected by senior management support informal integration and joint re ward systems. Other relationships that have received attention to a lesser extent include finance, manufacturing, engineering, quality, marketing, accounting, and sales. 3. Executors Executors comprise the top management, middle management, lower management and non-management. Effectiveness of strategy implementation is, at least in part, affected by the quality of people involved in the process (Govindarajan, 1989). The quality refers to the capabilities, experience, skills, attitudes, and other characteristics of people required by a specific position (Peng Litteljohn, 2001). Findings indicate that strategy implementation effectiveness, critically depends on the human or people side of project management, and less on organization and systems related factors. Top management refers to the senior-level leaders including presidents, owners, and other high ranking executives (CEO, CFO, COO etc.) and senior-level managers. Hrebiniak and Snow (1982) report that the level of interaction and participation among the top management team typically leads to greater commitment to the firms goals and strategies. This, in turn ensures the successful implementation of the strategy. Gupta and Govindarajan (1984) note that greater the marketing and sales experience of middle managers, the greater would be their willingness to take risk and successfully implement the strategy. Heracleous (2000) also finds that if middle management do not agree with the strategy, or do not feel that they have the skill set to implement it, then they would sabotage its implementation. Middle managers expect the direction from the top management but frequently feel that they are in a better position to start and evaluate alternative courses of action. Also, the lack of shared knowledge with lower-level management and non-management employees would create a barrier to successful strategy implementation. 4. Communication Many researchers have emphasized the importance of adequate communication channels for the process of strategy implementation. Alexander (1985) notes that communication is mentioned more frequently than any other single item that promotes successful strategy implementation. Communication includes explaining what new responsibilities, tasks, and duties need to be performed by the employees in order to implement the strategy. It answers the why behind the changed job activities, and explains the reasons why the new strategic decision was made. Rapert and Wren (1998) find that organizations where employees have easy access to management through open and supportive communication channels outperform those with more restrictive communication environments. Effective communication is a fundamental requirement for any effective strategy implementation. Organizational communication plays an important role in training, knowledge acquisition and applied learning during the process of implementation. In fact, communication is vital in every aspect of strategy implementation, as it relates in to the organizational context, organizing processes and the implementation objectives. 5. Implementation Tactics Nutt (1986) stipulates four types of implementation tactics used by managers in making planned changes: intervention, participation, persuasion, and edict. Intervention refers to strategy adjustments made during the implementation stage by introducing new practices and norms. Participation includes formulating strategic goals and nominating a task force that can develop and propose the corresponding implementation options. Persuasion is the tactic which uses involved parties to convince the employees about the desired course of actions. The issuing of directives is the main focus of the implementation tactic edict. Lehner (2004) considers the implementation tactics as genuine organizational behaviour based on the assumption that implementation in general is dependent on the environment, and various strategic and corporate variables. 6. Consensus Nielsen (1983) notes that firms must achieve consensus both within and outside their organization in order to successfully implement business strategies. The consensus about a firms strategy may differ across the operation channels within the company. If the employees of the company are not on the same information level or if information passes through many layers in the organization, a lower level of consensus would result. This lack of shared understanding may create obstacles to successful strategy implementation.(Noble, 1999b). Floyd and Wooldridge (1992a) label the gulf between strategies conceived by top management and awareness at lower levels as implementation gap. Strategic consensus is the agreement between the top, middle, and lower-level managers on the fundamental policies of the organization. Strategic decisions are initiated by a team of top managers and then mandated to the rest of the organization, overlooking the importance of securing consensus with and commitment to the organizational strategy with the lower level employees, which is a big barrier for effective strategy implementation. 7. Commitment Strategy implementation process may fail if the strategy does not achieve support and commitment by the majority of employees and the middle management. Shared understanding without commitment would result in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"counter effort and may negatively affect the organisational performance. The understanding between middle management and those at the operational level to that of the top management teams strategic goals is of prime importance to successful implementation. Noble Mokwa (1999) have put forward three dimensions of commitment that are central factors which directly influence strategic outcomes: organizational commitment, strategy commitment and role commitment. Organizational commitment is the extent to which a manager identifies with and works toward organization-related goals and values. Strategy commitment is the extent to which a manager comprehends and supports the goals and objectives of an implementation strategy. Role commitment is the extent to which a manag er is determined to perform his individual implementation responsibilities, regardless of his personal beliefs about the overall strategy. 8. Organisational Structure The type of strategy adopted could differ in many ways and have different requirements regarding an adequate organizational structure. Factors relating to the organizational structure are the second most important implementation barrier according to Heide GrÃÆ' ¸nhaug Johannessens (2002) study. Drazin and Howard (1984) stipulate that a proper alignment of the strategy with the organisational structure is an important pre-requisite for successful implementation of a corporate business strategy (Noble, 1999b). They note that changes in the competitive environment require adjustments to the organizational structure. If an organisations realignment strategies are lacking, it may exhibit poor performance and be at a major competitive disadvantage. 9. Administrative Systems Roth, Schweiger Morrison (1991) study suggests that organisational business units make use of three administrative mechanisms which are formalization, integrating mechanisms, and centralization, to create operational capabilities of configuration, managerial philosophy and coordination, to support business strategy implementation. Some researchers have also focused on the control systems which are one of important ingredients of administrative systems (Drazin Howard, 1984; Nilsson Rapp, 1999). Drazin and Howard (1984) discuss about the role of formal control system in the process of strategy implementation, and suggest that the fluidity of control system contribute to strategy implementation (Noble, 1999b). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY This part of the project report would focus on the research design and methodology adopted to carry out the research of the issue chosen which is the factors influencing strategy implementation. The following literature would highlight the components of the research paradigm chosen to accomplish the study. This section of the project report would provide a detailed rationale on how the study would achieve the research objective put forth in the title. This part would explain the methods of data capture used and the issues which would arise in gathering the required information along with the analysis and the interpretation techniques employed to achieve the research aim. Limitations would be included in the following report to make the reader aware of the shortcomings of the chosen methodology; the relevant ethical issues would also be discussed in the proposed research design along-with the resources required to complete the proposed research. The choice for the research methodology adopted is in congruence with the strategic issue chosen for the research proposal. The selection criteria to choose articles for inclusion in the research analysis: The articles which contain the keywords strategy implementation or strategy execution have been included in the literature .From this; further articles were identified using the references sections of the previously retrieved articles. In this way, the report also includes the articles which treat strategy implementation as one of the major subjects even if their title or keywords did not include the terms strategy implementation or strategy execution. As a final selection criterion it was checked whether the articles explicitly discuss factors impeding or enabling strategy implementation success. Data Collection Secondary Sources In order to identify the factors that enable or impede effective strategy implementation, the report has analysed relevant academic, peer reviewed journals such as the Strategic Management Journal, the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Management Studies, Long Range Planning, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Executive, Human Relations, Sloan Management Review, Journal of Marketing, etc. using the literature databases of EBSCO Host, ProQuest ABI, Science Direct, JSTOR and Wiley Interscience. Information has also been sourced from Google Scholar and books, newspapers, trade journals, industry portals, government agencies, trade associations, monitoring industry news and developments. The research data would be collected in different organisations or units of an organisation. The organisations were mainly professional service organisations, from both public and private sector. For example, finance, insurance and telecommunications companies, and government departments would be included. The size of the units under study would be 100 to 500 employees. The study would be qualitative in nature, main research method being semi-structured interviews. Primary Sources and Sampling In each organisation or unit, representatives would form three groups, namely the top management, middle management, and lower level personnel, would be interviewed using the questionnaire provided below. Altogether twenty-five interviewees per organisation would be randomly chosen: 2-5 persons representing the top management level, 4-13 persons the middle management level, and 8-17 persons from the lower level personnel. The interviewees would be chosen randomly, ensuring however that different tasks, work groups, and departments were represented equitably. The general topic of the interviews would be strategy implementation. During the interviews, the interviewees would fill out questionnaires, in which they would evaluate the various problem statements. The questionnaire has been given below: Q1. How do you define the concept of strategy implementation? Q2. What kind of issues would you associate strategy implementation with? Q3. How do you participate in the strategy implementation process? Q4. How are the policies pertaining to strategy implementation communicated within the different levels of the organization? Q5. Describe your own role in the process of strategy implementation. Q6. Evaluate the degree of the strategy implementation problems in your organisation. Data Access Issues Some data access issues might arise in the research journey, which could be the unwillingness of the employees to participate in the planned interviews hampering the information gathering capabilities of the subsequent research report along-with lack of co-operation from concerned companies which might not give permission to carry out interviews with its employees fearing a possible leak of its corporate strategy to its competitors. Also finances required for the successful completion of the information gathering process might not be adequate. Data Analysis The results of the questionnaires would be assessed, as well as the comments of the interviewees for the statements would be analysed. The main data analysis method employed would be content analysis of the interviews. The transcribed interviews would be coded accordingly to the central issues of the research. The analysis method would include historical trend analysis and linear regression analysis using software tools, judgmental forecasting, and conjoint analysis. Limitations of the Research Design The approach in conducting the literature review has shortcomings which should be acknowledged. The following are the limitations in the methodology adopted. Collection of articles has been carried out by relying on the databases of EBSCO Host, Science Direct, JSTOR, Wiley Inter Science and ProQuest ABI and the report thus may have overlooked some critical viewpoints on strategy implementation included in monographs or specialists books. Some selective articles in the review, however, rely heavily on concepts from advanced books on corporate strategy thus making up for the shortcoming to a certain extent. The articles have been located using the keywords strategy implementation and strategy execution. This procedure of gathering articles may omit some important articles. The report also excludes some very specific strategy implementation contexts, such as post-merger integration implementation. The research has discovered that most of the conducted studies in the subject focus on the influence of middle managers on strategy implementation. There is no special research relating to lower management and non-management, even if several authors have stated that it is important to consider their effects on strategy implementation as well. Another major research challenge incudes, a lack of understanding between the relationships among the nine reviewed factors, for example, there are major disagreements about the relationship between the variables of communication, commitment and consensus which the report fails to highlight. Also a limiting factor is that there are very few studies that systematically examine how different organizational units and strategy levels can influence strategy implementation, which the report has not included. Strategy implementation involves many theories including agency theory, social learning theory, expectancy theory, organization theory and social system theory. Because of the limited word count it was not feasible to include such theories in the text presented which is also a shortcoming. The lists of journal articles selected are not comprehensive enough, as many other issues could potentially affect strategy implementation. Such other factors, however, are less mentioned or not analysed in-depth, as many of them are also hard to control and modify. Research Ethics For research to be carried out successfully there are many ethical issues that need to be taken into consideration. It is very important to secure the permission and interests of all the people involved in the study. The people involved would be given assurance that any information obtained during the interview process would not be misused as this is the moral responsibility which would be maintained towards the participants. It is the duty of this research to protect the rights of the participants of the study as well as their privacy and sensitivity. The confidentiality of those involved in the observation would be maintained at all times, keeping their anonymity and privacy secure. Resources required for effective research The resources required to carry out the proposed research would require the support and co-operation of the supervisor in charge so as to provide guidance for submitting an effective research analysis report. Also would require permission from the industries chosen for the study of the research issue and the co-operation of its employees for conducting interviews. Adequate financial support would also be required to assist in the completion of the proposed research analysis report to cover the cost of commuting and resultant transportation fares. TIMETABLE TASK SELECTION OF INDUSTRIES FOR RESEARCH FOCUS DAYS 1-5 6-10 10-15 16-20 21-25 25-30 LITERATURE REVIEW/ CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SECONDARY SOURCES OF DATA INTERVIEWING PROCESS INDEPTH STUDY OF VARIOUS SOURCES ASSESSING RESOURCE FOR CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK COLLECTION OF SECONDARY SOURCES OF DATA DEVELOPMENT OF RATIONALE FOR STUDY FINALLY FORMULATED RESEAERCH PROPOSAL

The Awakening :: essays research papers

The Awakening The Awakening by Kate Chopin was considered very shocking when it was first published because of the "sexual awakening" of the main character, Edna Pontellier, and her unconventional behavior. Chopin moved to New Orleans after her marriage and lived there for twelve years until the death of her husband. She returned to St. Louis where she began writing. She used her knowledge of Louisiana and Creole culture to create wonderful descriptions of local color, and she incorporated French phrases used by the Creoles. The Awakening begins at Grade Isle, a vacation spot of wealthy Creoles from New Orleans. Edna is there with her two sons and her husband Leonce who comes and goes because of business. Edna is not Creole, but her husband is. She has never felt like she fits in with their lifestyle. Edna has always done what is expected of a woman, including marrying a man she did not love. He regards her as a possession rather than an individual. While on vacation, Edna falls in love with Robert Lebrun. She often goes to the beach with him. She begins to realize for the first time, at age 28, that she is an individual. Edna feels like one who awakens gradually from a dream to the reality of life. After this discovery, Edna changes. She disregards her husband's wishes and often ignores her children. She learns to swim which also makes her begin to feel more independent. Edna befriends two women, Mademoiselle Reisz, a pianist, and Madame Ratignolle, a motherly lady. Distressed when Robert leaves for Mexico, Edna often visits Mademoiseel Reisz to whom Robert often writes. Edna continues to disregard the customs of society. Her husband becomes Lowe 2 very upset and insists that they must observe less convenance if they want to keep up with society. He tries to get her to attend her sister's wedding, but she refuses. Leonce goes to New York on business, but Edna refuses to go with him. The children are with their grandparents so Edna enjoys her time alone. She starts an affair with Alcee Arobin. He introduces her to the importance of sex, which she did not enjoy with her husband. She closes up her house and moves to a smaller one. Upset, her husband puts a notice in the newspaper, which says that their house is being remodeled. He tries to hide Edna's strange behavior from his friends.

An Economic Perspective of Religious Organizations Abstract Essay

An Economic Perspective of Religious Organizations Abstract In the process of studying religions, we often overlook the secular aspects of religious organizations. This paper examines the basic flows of money in different spiritual organizations, and attempts to correlate the types of income with the structure of the priestly hierarchy. This analysis is by no means comprehensive. In the end, more questions are raised than are answered. Introduction For all the mythological and sociological components of religion, religious organizations operate under the same restrictions as any other secular establishment. Religious organizations can be characterized as multi-generational institutions with distinct rights, privileges, and liabilities; the essential definition of a corporation. While the sources of income and the liabilities are substantially different from a standard company, an economic analysis of religious behavior allows us to compare religions in certain areas. The goal of this paper is to ignore the philosophy, and view religion with a purely economic perspective1. In this analysis of religious organizations, I will attempt to identify the sources of revenue for different religious organizations, explain different hierarchies, and attempt to draw some conclusions of the interactions of money and organization. This topic is expansive, and as such I will often simplify or identify further fields of research, rather than getting too off topic. In the end, I hope to provide a basic understanding of the complexities of religious finance. Revenue The single most important economic means of distinguishing religions is through the source of money. Adam Smith, in his seminal work The Wealth o... ...pter inspired the idea of this paper. Raines, John. Marx on Religion. Temple Univ. Press. 2002 -A primer on Marx’s various writings on religion; a rather condensed work. Marx had some rather complex ideas, and his writing is given to misleading quotes, which is why I do not quote his work. (Author Unknown) â€Å"Evaluation the Evidence: Religious Economies and Sacred Canopies.† American Sociological Review 54 1989 -Sociology papers are difficult for an outsider to read (to say the least), but this paper deals with the topic in a sufficiently interesting manner to merit its mention. Hardin, Russell. "The Economics of Religious Belief and Practice" Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics. 1997. -A basic analysis of (western) religions and their finances. Useful article, and written in a language that I can understand (thanks to a minor in economics).

Essay --

Upon the invasion of foreign powers, the central government secured its authority over China and integrated nationalism into its domestic and foreign policies in order to restore stability, and repel against foreign influences. China, before nineteenth century, existed as a heterogeneous Empire, unified by the 5000 year old â€Å"Great Civilization†; however, upon foreign invasion in nineteenth century, China was forced to re-evaluate their position on the international level. Modern Chinese nationalism is derived from traumas inflicted by European and Japanese imperialists and colonists (Melancon 856-874; Chung 5). The concept of Century of National Humiliation was created in order to commemorate the historic traumas and protect the nation’s sovereignty from foreign powers. Over time, Chinese society has come to embrace their glorious civilization and accepted their weaknesses which had caused them to be victimized in the past. Now, the central government uses strict principles to assure China’s moral position on foreign policies. For example, on April 1st, 2001, there was a mid-air c...

Asb bank

Direct marketing Is selling product directly to the consumer or end-user, rather than through a broker, distributor or wholesaler. Example: Sometimes confusing the matter, direct marketing is also used to describe the sale of food directly to a restaurant, grocery store, caterer, processor, etc. , who will then resell the food to customers. 2. Identify the major forms of direct marketing and the techniques they employ to target customers. Use the template provided below to explain the different techniques each major form uses to target customers. Major forms of direct marketing differentiated in terms of techniques:Forms of direct marketing Target markets: Techniques used to target customers: Face-to-face selling Residential area, People who like to visit in market. Malls, all age group Promotion, door-to-door service, direct approach, offering samples Direct mail Adults & older Post, courier, sent mail Catalogue Sending, attractive image of products, special offer, brief description of product Telemarketing Land line phone holder Special offer, brief description of product, Calling to landlines Print Adults, older & retired people Flier, newspaper, posters, using famous person's faceDirect-response television advertising House wife, retired people stabilize people Saving offer, free home delivery, short time offer, Free call on television advertisement like 0800 On-line Internet user Through the video presentation, Website, social network like Faceable, twitter Mobile technology All age people Mobile APS, social network, text 3. Choose a business you know well or a case study of a business which uses direct marketing e. G. Cafe using Faceable, Salesrooms, a business which uses Trade, Auckland Council, Family Planning, NZ Heart Foundation, CAB Bank, Anyway.Describe it briefly. We have chosen CAB Bank. CAB Bank offers bank accounts, personal and home loans, savvier, investments, foreign exchange, insurance, internet banking, credit cards and online banking. 4. I dentify one growth direct marketing trend that your chosen business uses e. G online marketing, telemarketing, face-to-face, social networking, direct mail. Refer to this trend and the case study you have chosen in your assignment and presentation. The growth of direct marketing trend of CAB Bank offers direct mail service to their customers, online banking or internet banking.They send mail or letter on their postal address to inform about their account and investment. Regularly (once in a month) they send the user bank account statement to their customers. Have chosen? Give 3 benefits for buyers and 3 benefits for sellers. Answer for buyers: Availability of credit. Privacy Time saving Interactivity. Benefits for seller are: Target market selectivity. Ability to build customer relationship. Ability to maintain privacy of marketing programs. Convenience Time saving. – Benefits 6. What are the ethical issues or public policy issues for the direct marketing trend you have chose n?Give 3 examples of ethical issues or public policy issues. Answer- There is four ethical issues that CAB Bank should keep in mind while using direct mail marketing methods: Payment security- Bank must have a very tight security system because in our society there are so many high professional hacker who can do something wrong by take out money from the customers account. Spamming: Bank should make conversation with the customers while someone (customers) doing big amount transaction or send them e-mail regarding their accounts information.Terms and conditions-Bank should tell their customer about terms and conditions of ann. before opening a new account regarding how much they have to pay credit card interest rate and in how many days customers have to pay funds to them, how much transaction takes time. Agreements and contracts-Banks should send all copies of all relevant documents, agreements, contracts and advice of legal rights on the customer's postal address. 7. Explain the u se of digital technology and databases for your direct marketing trend.Answer- CAB bank use digital technology and database for direct marketing trend as in following ways- Digital technology database in direct mail CAB bank uses New Zealand post database to find new customers with quality data including names and addresses as well as new market. CAB advertising in their own website. CAB bank mainly target people of every age group like students, working people, unemployed, and old age people. CAB bank update existing customers database. CAB bank provides several loans to customers such as Business loan, Home loan, Car loan etc. At low interest rates.They offers online and internet banking as well. 8. Thinking about digital technology and databases explain how your direct marketing trend fits into marketing mix strategies. Talk about price, promotion, product, people and distribution. Answer: People- CAB target every age people like students, working people, employment, old age peop le. But they mainly target the people of age group 28-35 because most of on Youth, advertising on the back of bus, at bus stands and we can see big poster on roads. Product- CAB bank provide 100% home loan on low interest rate to customers.Credit cards on low interest rates, debit cards. 9. What products or services are offered by your case study business using the direct marketing trend you have identified in question 4? Analyses the pricing of these rodents – are the prices competitive? Answer- CAB bank offers 100% home loan on low interest rate to customers. Credit cards on low interest rates, debit cards. Competitors of CAB bank are ANZA bank, WESTWARD, and BENZ bank. The prices are very competitive because every bank wants to attract customers by providing loans on very cheap rates and on low interest rates.Fixed Homes lone BANKS For 12 months For 24 months CAB sank 5. 15% 5. 70% ANZA sank 5. 19% 5. 95% So we can see that CAB bank provide home loans on cheap rates. 10. D escribe the segments of the market which are targeted by your direct marketing rend. Explain how different types of promotion are targeted to different markets. (Single segments, multiple segments and aggregate) Answer- CAB bank uses single segment marketing and mainly targets and motivate people of specific age group of 28-35 because their earnings are higher than others and most of the people of this age group are working.CAB Bank offers direct mail service to their customers. They provide all useful information to motivate them in the mail. CAB Bank also provides 100% loans to their customers at cheap interest rate than other competitors in the market. They provide latest or up to date useful information on their website and they update website continuously. They advertise on social network like Faceable, Twitter, Youth because usually young generations use this social website. 1 1 . What level of service would you recommend for these target markets?How will this service build an d maintain customer relations? Answer- CAB bank provide 100% loan to customers for their satisfaction and they give proper information about their services and terms and conditions so that they can make a good relationship with their customers and finally CAB bank have a good reputation in the market. According to us, to attract more customers the service should be very fast, provide 100% security to the customers, prices should be lower than other competitors.CAB Bank build and maintain their customers by hiring more staff so that customers get fast developers and it specialists who can concentrate on security because these are the components with they can get customer loyalty. 12. Explain how products or services advertised by your direct marketing trend are distributed to the target market. Answer – CAB bank have good reputation in the market because they advertise about their services in many different ways: They advertise on social networks to young generation on Faceabl e, Twitter, Youth etc because mainly young use these social websites.CAB Bank advertisement on buses, bus stops and big poster on the roads. CAB bank updates their own website about their services. CAB bank advertise on shops according to the community of people like Indian, Chinese, Maori people etc. CAB bank offer direct mail services to the customers. CAB bank sent account information to their customers once in a month to keep them update or aware about their bank transactions CAB provide loans to customers at cheap interest rate than others in the market. BANKS