A Separate Peace Essays - Phillips Exeter Academy, A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace Breaking The Mold In John Knowles, A Separate Peace, there is a transformation in all the key elements in the book, from the rivers to the tree to the seasons to the characters. The transformation is specifically seen in Leper, Gene, and Phineas. These three young men experience a change not just because of the transitions through adolescence. These changes also come about because of the war, the school, and an injury. Leper Lepellier is a very odd young man. He is quiet and is finds himself always taken by surprise. He really is not popular and that does not concern him in any way. Leper really has no true friends at the Devon school, but talks to Gene. He entertains himself by collecting snails, looking for beaver damns, and skiing. His personality does not allow him to depend on anyone for help. As time progresses and the other boys start the winter session he decides to enroll in the war. A couple of months later Gene receives a telegram from Leper saying he is in his Christmas location (131) This is the first sign that Leper demonstrates that he needs people. He realizes the happiness, fear and anger have to be shared with others. Leper then tells Gene I escaped (135) and he says he did it to please himself. He is starting to realize things that are going on in the world. He no longer lives in his bubble. Gene Forrester is a quiet, envious, introverted, and lonely young man. His insecurities are especially seen when Finny is around. There is a constant rivalry through Genes eyes between them. He always chooses to compete or argue with Phineas. The first example of his competitive personality is seen when Phineas asks him to jump out of the tree. Phineas says, you were very good, once I shamed you into it. .. I am good for you that way. You have a tendency to back away from things otherwise. and Gene states you didnt shame anybody into anything. I never backed away from anything in my life. (10) Gene would have never jumped off the tree if it were not for Finny. Gene depends on Finny as his security blanket. As time progresses the rivalry increases and the tension in Genes head is gets worse. When Gene can not take anymore of Finny and his abilities his jealousy takes control and he jounces the limb. As a result, Gene makes him fall and injuring his leg. When Finny falls it is as if all of Genes prayers have been answered. Finny has to leave Devon for the rest of the summer session and part of the winter session. During this time Gene finds out who he truly is. His transformation occurs, he finds himself making decisions on his own, like when he chooses to go shovel snow on the railroad. Not just that but he also finds himself not second guessing every move he makes. By the end of the novel he no longer sees Finny as a demigod but a normal human being. After his transformation to a mature, confident adult he states, I could see the amount of fear I had lived in. (2) On the other hand Phineass transformation is more of a lost than a gain. At the beginning of the novel he is a confident , athletic, and a handsome young man. He is seen like super natural God in the eyes of many, especially his peers and teachers. Gene describes Finny as the essence of this careless peace. (17) Whatever Finny says to do people follow it. He created the Super Suicide Society, made a winter carnival at Devon and invented the sport of Blitzball. This sport brought about his own athletic gifts to their highest pitch. this right here demonstrated his godly abilities. (31) Another example of his this inner confidence is when he breaks the swimming record. Gene is the only one to witness Fiiny breaking the record. The thing is Finny does not want he broke the record. Phineas knows his ability but wants to keep it a secret. When Gene pushes Finny of the tree the beginning of the transformation occurs. It was as if his godliness was taken away when he injured his leg. He came down to normal humanity with the fall, as if an angel lost its wings. In conclusion, just things everything changes with time so

Teach for America - Profile on the Teach for America Program

Teach for America - Profile on the Teach for America Program What is Teach for America: Part of Americorps, Teach for America is a national program for new and recent college graduates where they commit to teach for two years in a low-income school teaching disadvantaged students. The mission of the organization according to their website is to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nations most promising future leaders in the effort. Since its inception in 1990, 17,000 individuals have participated in this rewarding program. Benefits of Participation: First and foremost, participating in Teach for America is a service organization where new teachers can truly make a difference right from the start. Over the course of the two years of involvement, teachers recive five weeks of intensive pre-service training and then ongoing professional development for the course of the program. Participants receive the pay and benefits of a typical teacher for the region where they are working. The program also provides teachers with loan forbearance along with $4,725 at the end of each year of service. They also provide transitional grants and loans ranging from $1000 to $6000. A Little Bit of History: Wendy Kopp presented the idea for Teach for America as an undergraduate at Princeton University. At the age of 21, she raised $2.5 million dollars and began recruiting teachers. The first year of service was in 1990 with 500 teachers. Today over 2.5 million students have been affected by this program. How to Get Involved: According to their website, Teach for America seeks a diverse group of promising future leaders who have the leadership skills to change the prospects of students.... Those recruited do not have to have any prior teaching experience. The competition is stiff. In 2007, only 2,900 were accepted out of 18,000 applicants. Applicants must apply online, participate in a 30 minute phone interview, and if invited attend a full-day face-to-face interview. The application is long and requires a lot of thought. It is suggested that applicants spend some time preparing for the application process before submitting. Issues and Concerns: While Teach for America is in many ways an excellent program, there are some concerns of which teachers should be aware. While according to studies including a recent one by the Urban Institute, teachers who work with Teach for America are in fact more effective than their traditional counterparts. On the other hand in terms of the experience for teachers, some new TFA teachers feel unprepared to be thrown into such a challenging teaching environment. It is important for any potential participant to fully investigate the Teach for America program and if possible speak with those who have actually participated in it.

Analysis of Creating Blue Oceans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analysis of Creating Blue Oceans - Essay Example The title of the reading, Creating Blue Oceans is effective and relevant since it relates to the reference company. Indeed, authors reckon that blue seas emanate from red seas through the expansion of existing industries as seen in Cirque du Soleil’s marketing strategy (Kim and Mauborge 5). The authors are informative, rational, and unbiased since they address all aspects of the topic. In fact, they introduce the merits, demerits, challenges, and risks of creating blue seas. Moreover, they complete the discussion on a positive note by informing the audience on how to formulate and implement a blue ocean strategy by presenting the principles and analytical frameworks that will guarantee success in creating blue seas (Kim and Mauborge 19-21). The authors derive more understanding on the topic by describing the motivators that drive the need to create blue seas (Kim and Mauborge 8). The reading also explains how companies like Cirque du Soleil moved from red seas by making strategic moves that define the benefits of blue sea strategic moves (Kim and Mauborge 10). Just like in other businesses strategies, the reading recognizes value innovation as the foundation of a blue ocean strategy (Kim and Mauborge 12-14). In fact, the reading offers a clear description of how Cirque du Soleil created a blue ocean based on innovation to gain a competitive advantage in the market. The reading compares Red Ocean and blue ocean strategies to justify why Cirque du Soleil created a blue ocean.

Labor Supply and Demand Scenario Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Labor Supply and Demand Scenario - Essay Example The latter sector constituted by men and women without reference to age and educational attainment, as long as they possess high quality of English proficiency and/or other foreign languages, depending on the destination countries. This happens due to the decision of industrialized countries to concentrate on advanced technologies and thereby setting aside the communications side of their companies. Since the latter eats up much of the investment of companies, and considering further that citizens of these countries demand high salaries, international companies opted to shift this demand for labor to countries where salaries are relatively lower. Since outsourcing requires a fixed cost for communications, it is on salaries that companies limit on the cost. If the communication cost is below than the critical level, outsourcing would increase the aggregate output of business service. Trade in business services increases the productivity of semi-skilled labor in the consumer service if the number of business partners is greater than the percentage increase on the fixed cost. This scenario led to the increase of salary scale of the semi-sk

Furniture Manufacturing Company Management Essay

Furniture Manufacturing Company Management - Essay Example Company Act 2006 Sec 177 requires all directors of a company to avoid conflicts of interest by declaring their interest in a proposed arrangement or transaction. Such declaration must be made by a written notice, a general notice or in a meeting of the directors. Company Act 2006 under Sec 182 (1) requires the directors to declare their interest in any transaction or arrangement that has been entered in to by the company whether direct interest or indirect interest in a transaction. In the above case, Tom has contravened Company Law provisions on duty to disclose conflict of interest in awarding Computers4Us the ICT contract. Section 175 (1) which deals with conflict of interest requires all directors to avoid all situations which have either direct or interest which conflicts or may conflict with the interest of the company. The above case is a situational conflict of interest since Tom’s father is the owner of Computers4Us which will lead to transactional conflict since Tom is in a position to benefit from the ICT contract. Tom is criminally liable for breach of Company Act to avoid conflict of interest thus is liable to a fine. While Company Act 2006 does not give a definition of â€Å"interest†, the duty to avoid conflict of interest will apply in situations that can lead to exploitation of information, opportunities and company property. Tom is both an executive director and significant shareholder in Imperial Ltd and his connection with Computers4Us has the potential may be adverse to the Imperial Ltd interests since it will influence the decisions made by the company. Although not expressly included in Company Act 2006, Tom should have declared his interest in Computers4Us since the term â€Å"connected† in the Act is wide enough to include spouses, step-children, director’s parents and civil partners of the directors. Tom and Harry are both executive directors and shareholders of Imperial Ltd. Possibly; Tom’s sharehold ing influenced the decision to award Computers4Us the ICT contract. Tom as an executive director is fully aware that his father owns Computers4Us. In the above case, Tom should have declared his conflict of interest and the fact that his father owns Computers4Us to the board of directors either during the meetings, in writing or by just a general notice. Harry is free to sue for the cancelation of the contract since it contravenes the provisions of Company Act 2006 (Worthington and Sealy 2007). For private companies formed before 1st October 2008, the directors have not automatic powers to approve any conflict of interest unless they amend the articles of association or pass a resolution to grant the directors such powers. For private companies formed on or after October 1st 2008, the board of directors has the powers to authorize a conflict of interest unless it is invalidated by the articles of association of the company (Davies 2010). However, in deciding to authorize the above c onflict of interest, the directors of any private company must comply with Company Act 2006 provisions including the duty to promote and safeguard the welfare of the company. Additionally, the resolution to authorize the conflict of interest should be done

The cultural and social challenges faced by IHRM

The cultural and social challenges faced by IHRM Now we going to introduce the challenges that IHRM had to face. We know the main challenge was to convince the mangers that the culture is different, the social system is different, the legal principles are different etc. Overall its a completely new environment and it is a challenge for the international HR manger to identify these changes and adopt accordingly. This is the main difference between HR and IHRM, in IHRM the manager operates in an alien environment which makes decision making and implementation much difficult. Thus the recruitment and training of these mangers, communication between the head office and the subsidiary becomes more important than in a local operation. The IHRM is focuses more on how to select, recruit and retain managers for international operations, rather than focusing on how to manage international employees. Now , we moved along, expatriates. An expatriate is an employee who is working and temporary residing in a foreign country (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.5). The fundamental difference between domestic HR and IHRM is that staff are moved across national boundaries, thus expatriates e are born. Hence it is natural in an IHRM subject to focus more on handling these expatriates. There can be three types of employees in an international firm. Employees from where the firm is headquarted is known as Parent Country Nationals, employees from where the subsidiary is located are known as Host Country Nationals, other country nationals are known as Third Country Nationals (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.5). Now it started to make sense, IHRM is more complex and complicated than domestic HRM, because now you not only have to have a thorough understanding about the host country, you also need to decide who are we going to use as employees HCNs, PCNs or TCNs, or a mixture of them. If so in what proportions? How can the organization select the right person? How is training, compensating and other activities are carried? we hope to find answers for these questions during the report. Cross-cultural communication Similarly, among various countries cross-cultural communication is very necessary so that they can understand each others through religion ,culture, art , literature, foreign policies ,fiscal polices ,etc. such type of bridges of understanding will help to lessen and minimize the gap between two culture. Thirukkural , a noted tamil poet ,who has been translated in more than twenty five languages and who had been famous for ethical themes and brevity, has very aptly remarked on power of speech: The goodness called goodness of speech IS goodness which nothing can reach Since gain or ruin speeches brings Guard against the slips of tongue Weight the words and, speak, because No wealth or virtue words surpass. They overspeak who do not seek A few and flawless words to speak (Gupta .reprint 2004) It is said that speech is grater than words ,mind is greater than speech ,will is grater than mind consciousness is greater than will ,meditation is greater than will and power of understanding is greater than meditation.sanakumara ,surmonzing narad atma vidya or brahmavidya (knowledge of the supreme) says : power of understanding beings sine quo non for proper meditation ,thats is greater than meditation . if we cannot correctly understand and discriminate good and bad ,truth and untruth and discriminate between good and bad ,truth and untruth , and the like pairs of opposites ,how can we meditate? Thus there is no doubt that the power of understanding is linked with speech ,one of the tools of communication. point 02 Cultural Differences That culture played a major role in IHRM as it involves understanding and handling a new culture and a new social system. what aspects should an international HR manager should focus on and how he should respond to cultural differences in an international arena. But the topic had lot more to offer than what I initially anticipated. Culture is the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas (Trompenaars Turner, 2002, p.g.02). There are so many elements in a culture and there is no one way of understanding or defining a culture. But it was evident that having a thorough knowledge about it was essential for those who are engaged in IHRM. In order to give meaning and understanding to the culture there were several models discussed. However the one that looked most promising and attractive was the Hofstedes five dimensions. He developed a model that focused ways of measuring a national culture and how these measures might work differently in different context. The cultural values that are important in a national culture, could be reflected in the way business within that country are operated and organized (Hofstede, 2006). According to the Hofsteds there are 5 cultural damnations. Power distance this is the extent to which power is distributed unequally among the employees in between the higher positions and the lower positions. Eg- India is a high power distance culture ( even have a cast system) and USA is a lower power distance culture. Individualism vs collectivisms In a individualistic country people would priorities them self ( USA) where as collectivism country people would priorities group needs. Uncertainty avoidance People would try to minimize risk they face in a situation ( avoiding paralysis through analysis ) usually countries with long history and traditions have a high uncertainty avoidance. Countries such as USA well come higher risks. Masculinity / femininity Masculine- tough value dominant Eg; success, money, satiates, competition Feminine- tender values dominant such as personal relationships, care for others, quality of life etc. When we take Sri Lanka for a example I think we have feminine culture even though have many masculinity futures. The best example for this is during the tsunami situation whole county get together to help the tsunami victims within ours. This is an excellent model where you can get a quick idea about something complex as a national culture. we believe this simplicity itself is the major short coming of this model. Hofstede selected a country and gave marks to each dimension, thinking that the culture is static. But we all know that in todays context culture is anything but static, it changes at a rapid pace, thus a country which was once collectivist could now be individualistic due to many reasons such as economic pressure, government policies etc. And also Hofstede never took into account the complexity of the task. For an example USA is an individualistic culture, but certain complex projects and operations may force an individual to work as a group to succeed in that particular project. Thus the complexity of the task has forced someone with individualistic character to be collectivistic. But overall the model is excellent to get a glimpse of what an unknown culture would look like, but we do not believe that you can make sound business decisions based on this model. Now we had understanding about how to analyze a national culture, and also the importance of culture to employees and international HR managers. It was evident that this should be the starting point of any international HR plan. Decisions should be taken where culture is kept at the center, as the success of implementation will depend on how well international employees accept your plans. point 03 The Organizational Context All the previous section discussed about the external environment and this topic discussed how the internal environment should be arranged in accordance to international operations. Again we touched upon areas such as importance of culture in HRM and also the organization strategy and HRM etc. Although these areas are very interesting we found it difficult to see the practicality of it. For an example in one point it was said that if a certain culture is high in power distance and have respect for authority then the authority should be centralized and if not it should decentralized. But in practice it is not the culture that influences the structure most but the objectives and the task of the organization (manufacturing companies are more centralized while service oriented companies are decentralized). The most interesting form of structure for us it was the Matrix structure; it was different from all other traditional structure and had certain unique features. A matrix structure creates dual lines of authority and combines functional and product departmentalization (Robbins, Millett, 2004, p.g. 475). The most interesting part about the Matrix structure was that it broke the departmental boundaries and goes against the unity of command where now one employee reports to two mangers. This type of structure is ideal for a large matured organization. When an organization grows its information processing capacity could get overloaded, under a matrix structure this can be changed as it allows the flow of communication and greater flexibility. But what we found out was even large complex organizations are reluctant to move along with a matrix structure. First of all it is a complex structure, and secondly breaking departmental boundaries has its own repercussions such as there is greater room for conflicts, there will be constant issues about span of control and level of authority and there will always be a struggle for power among managers etc. What was clear for us is that its difficult to look at an organization and say this is the best structure for you. Whatever the structure selected it must be flexible enough to change according to situations and most importantly factors such as national culture, employee behavior must be taken into account prior to deciding on a structure. An organizations structure is the spine that allows it to stand still, the HR activities of the organization and all other activities will depend on the support it gets from the structure. Thus HR has a greater responsibility in designing the structure, the structure should be strong enough not only to stand still against the internal environment but also against the external environment as well. That is why in IHRM we look at aspects such as national cultures, work practices, ethics, norms, behaviors etc. So that HR managers can design a structure that is suitable for the external environment. Lesson 04 HRM in the Host Country Context Host country is the place where the subsidiary is going to be set out. HRM in host country is how you organize your employees, recruit them, train them and compensate them once the subsidiary is operational. But as always the subject went a step further than what I anticipated. Certain type of questions an international HR manager would ask himself. Such as should pay for performance be implemented? Should EEO be practiced here? How far are we going to distribute authority? We feel that we always focus on big areas such as compensation, recruitment, training etc. that we somehow consider the above questions as irrelevant. But we believe in todays context those questions are the burning issues. Before deciding on training and compensation we need to outline the way the organization is going to operate. This way could be the overall corporate strategy, or may be the vision of the organization, whatever it is, it should be the platform of the new subsidiary. Why we call it as the platform is because, once an organization have outlined how it plans to operate such as should it implement pay for performance or should it practice EEO etc. Then the organization has created a clear path for it to travel. Now that the core areas have been outline we can decide what our recruitment policy is going to be like, or how we are going to compensate. For an example lets say that we decided to go along with pay for performance and EEO. Now the HR manager knows what exactly to do, he can design a compensation package that would compensate according to the way employees perform. Also he can design a recruitment policy where applicants are given an equal chance of getting selected. But then there were several other questions that came up. How can an organization decide whats the best path to move forward for it subsidiary? Should it depend on the corporate strategy or the environment of the host country? These were answered quickly by the next few discuss. The topic is trying to teach to us how an organization should look for host country specific factors that will have a direct impact over the operations of the organization. As an example it might be the corporate strategy to use a pay for performance system but certain legal and social conditions in the host country will not allow an organization to use such a strategy (like in Japan where pay is according to the seniority). An organization has a choice when it comes to selecting the way it plans to operate. It can either standardize work practices where parent country standards are maintained globally. Or it can localize the operations according to the host country. These two factors are like two extremes of a continuum, the challenge is to find the point where both options are blended in correct quantities. But in reality we feel organizations do not wish to localize operations and are keen in standardizing as much as possible. From a managers perspective this is completely agreeable as it would solve lot of problems at the corporate level. But when it comes to the operational level it will create ambiguity and confusion. But still in order to ease the pressure at the corporate level and to save time, organizations are more attracted towards standardizing. And this is one of the key reasons why expatriates are used so frequently by multinationals. Apart from many other benefits they bring to the subsidiary they most importantly help the parent country to have a greater control over the operations, thus allowing them to standardize operations to a greater extent. point 05 Sustaining International Business Operations To our knowledge staffing is just one aspect of IHRM and in order to sustain, there are so many other factors that needs to be discussed (such as management style, distribution of power and autonomy etc.). There are several ways approaches to staffing available for MNE. Ethnocentric is where the subsidiary is given little autonomy and key management positions are held by foreign nationals (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.58). There can be many examples found here in Sri Lankan for this particular staffing policy such as Hilton, Suntel, IOC, Laughs etc. Polycentric is where each subsidiary is treated as a distinct national entity with some decision making autonomy (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.59) examples could be Airtel, Dialog etc. Geocentric is where the MNE takes a global approach to its operations. It is accompanied by a worldwide integrated business and nationality is ignored in favor of ability (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.60) e.g -: United Nations, HSBC. Regiocentric is like the geocentric approach, it utilizes a wider pool of managers but in a limited way (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.62) e.g -: Unilivers. However what we going to understand how important the subsidiary is to the organization. The higher the importance the greater the control the organization requires over the subsidiary, thus it is more likely that they would go ahead with an ethnocentric or any other similar approach where they can have greater control. That is why we see mature organizations such as Suntel and Hilton still using an ethnocentric approach. And a new subsidiary like Aitel Sri Lanka using a polycentric approach tells us that it is not of significant importance to the group. Regeocentric and geocentric approaches are separate from the above two, because in order to practice these approaches the MNE should be large and spread across many countries. Our observation may not be 100% true for all organizations, but it would apply for many MNEs especially small and medium once. point 06 Recruitment and Selection for International Assignment When recruiting and selection you asked your self was what should be so different in selecting a domestic manager and an international manger. After all if youre successful as a domestic manger you just have to apply the same thing abroad with a bunch of foreigners. This time we was completely wrong, we soon found out that there was a significant difference in selecting a domestic manager and an international manager. The first thing we realized about an international manager is that his task is lot more complicated than of a domestic manager. There is a lot expected from an expatriate, he will have to perform in an unfamiliar environment, he will have to play different roles in different situations (e.g-: an interpreter, a boundary spanner, an agent, a negotiator etc.), the support of the family and friends maybe absent, he is expected to be flexible and adopt to the host country situations quickly etc. An important point we want to understand, expatriate failure. We found it very interesting because we was unaware of this term and also when we looked deep in to it; it is something practically experienced by many MNEs. Expatriate failure is defined as the premature return of an expatriate (that is, a return home before the period of assignment is completed) (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.86). There were several reasons highlighted for expatriate failure, the most common issues are the inability of the expatriate to adapt to the host country and family concerns. Why we say is that when an expatriate is selected, the organization makes sure that he has performed well domestically. This certifies that he has the necessary technical competencies. So the reason for not performing internationally is not because he lacks technical skills, its just that he doesnt know how apply his knowledge to that particular culture. And also humans are social animals; they always want to be a part of a group and a community. But when an expatriate is send abroad he gets cut off from his community and gets isolated. This adds tremendous physiological pressure on the expat. That is why we believe that these two factors are the most common reasons for expatriate failure. Lesson 07 Training and Development Now we want to understand how important it is to select the right person to head an international operation. Being successful in a domestic environment does not guarantee the success in an international environment. But selecting the candidate with all these factors is difficult. So it was my understanding that if organizations cannot find individuals with the desired characteristics, they must use training and development to bring those individuals to the desired level. Before this discussion starting this we want to identify and understand the difference between training and development. As explained by Stone (2005, p.g.335) training emphasizes immediate improvement in the current job performance, while development involves those activities that prepare an employee future responsibilities. Thus the correct word to be used in IHRM would be development. The interesting thing in this discussion that expats are in most occasions going act as trainers themselves. This is a true fact; one of the main reasons of using expatriates is because they have certain skills that host country employees do not. Thus they will in time teach these new skills to host country employees. Now we had idea about how important training of expatriates really is. Not only should an organization train them on handling cross cultural instability and breaking the language barrier, they should also be trained to handle the trainers position (a person who trains host country nationals). Many expats fail due the inability to adapt to host country environment. Thus having a good cross cultural training session is vital to a successful international operation.It was also mentioned that preliminary visits should be a key area in cross cultural training. I totally agree with that statement, the expat should be given a chance to experience the host country for himself, which is more effective than any class room session. And language has been a huge barrier for many expatriates to perform well, thus it should also be a part of the cross cultural training. We strongly feel that there should be some concern given in developing the expats technical skills as well, especially if hes going take on a new management position which was absent in this chapter. point 08 Performance Management, Re-entry and Career Issues we had an understanding about performance management from a previous discussion but re-entry was a new area. So we were going to looking forward to identifying the link between these two topics. What performance management really is and how it can benefit an organization.This is because there are so many other factors that needs to be taken into consideration when assessing an expat, things like the host country environment, the culture, employee behavior etc. And another significant difference in IHRM performance appraisals is that it takes into account factors such as the expats ability to connect with the host country culture and social values, ability to understand its employees etc. Our understanding is that having a thorough, fool proof performance appraisal and conducting it correctly is vital for an organization. This is the best point where the organization can do a thorough audit about the performance of the expat. As explained earlier expatriate failure is a major issue in most of the international organizations. This can be avoided to a greater extent if the organization carries out a thorough performance appraisal. Repatriation was a interesting area. The interesting part was that most international manager after a successful international operation upon re entering to the host country underwent certain issues. This was so common that it is been included into the expatriation process. From we want to feel there two sides to this story. One being that the manager who is returning after a long time will find it difficult to adopt to his culture and environment after being away from it. Secondly issues related with the work environment such as change in positions, change in reporting styles, change in organization culture, new recruits etc. I believe the change in the work environment is the one that affects the most. Our understanding is that in order to avoid this, the expat should constantly keep in touch with the parent country during his assignment. point09 Compensation People work because they know that at the end of the day they are paid a decent amount. So if an organization wants to keep its best employees intact it must make sure that they compensate accordingly. We thought that this same rule applied in IHRM. We knew that international mangers are paid much better than local mangers, and our understanding was that it is because the task they handle is difficult. But compensating in IHRM is lot more complicated than in HRM. First of all we want to discuss about a topic that we found very interesting. There are two ways an organization can compensate an employee. The going rate approach is where the salary structure is in parallel with the host country standards (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.144). The balance sheet approach is where the salary structure would be similar to home country standards (Dowling Welch, 2004, p.g.146). Our understanding is that the salary structure is always designed to benefit the expat. For an example if an Australian manager is transferred to Sri Lanka they would adapt the balance sheet approach since Australians are paid better than Sri Lanka. If a Sri Lankan manager was to go to Australia then they would adapt the going rate approach. The reason for this as we understand is that most expats are sent to handle senior management positions, and it is most likely that they would have to start lot of things from starch such as accommodation, schooling, furniture etc. Thus the organization must make sure that not only they are paid better than their subordinates but also it should be equal or better than what theyre paid in their parent country. Otherwise an organization will not be able to attract talented individuals. The important thing to understand as we feel is that it is very difficult for someone to accept an international assignment. There is change in culture, living standards, family issues, re location issues, fear of moving into uncertain territory, career issues are some of the things that an international manager will have to face. Despite all this, if an organization wants an individual to accept an international assignment the best way of breaking the above barriers is by compensating them accordingly. we believe that is the reason why expats always gets the benefit when it comes designing their salary structure. Another important area in compensation as we found out was allowances. As we want to understand it has two purposes. Firstly an allowance makes the remuneration package attractive, thus managers will be attracted in accepting international assignments. Secondly it will help to increase the living standards of an international manager. Especially senior managers have a certain image to maintain, they reflect not only their standard but the standard of the entire firm. Hence an allowances will help senior managers to protect that image. point 10 Business Etiquettes and Social Customs There were always something new to learn in etiquettes, because every culture has their own unique way of conducting business. The important thing that we want to understand that no matter how qualified and well equipped a manager maybe he can mess the whole thing up by just doing something that is not excepted in that culture. That is how important etiquettes are. By doing things according to the hosts culture you show that you respect them and their culture. Handling these etiquettes should be one of the factors discussed in the expatriate training programs. As it will help the future expats to handle business smoothly, since then they know what they should do and what they shouldnt. The interesting part is that you can damage a relationship by doing something, or by not doing as well.

Symbols and Symbolism - Flowers as a Symbol in John Steinbecks The Chr

Flowers as a Symbol in The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck      Ã‚  Ã‚   In romantic or sexual context, a woman is often said to be as beautiful as a flower. In John Steinbeck's short story "The Chrysanthemums", Elisa Allen never receives this recognition. Although she is a strong woman, she is frustrated because her husband will not admire her romantically in any way. This frustration only deepens because she is childless and feels the need to be a mother. She discovers an outlet for her frustration in a flower garden where she cultivates beautiful chrysanthemums. Steinbeck uses these elegant flowers as a symbol to represent the tender, inner-self of all women, including Elisa. First, the chrysanthemums symbolize Elisa's children. She tends her garden and handles the chrysanthemums with love and care, just as she would handle her own children. Elisa is very protective of her flowers and places a wire fence around them; she makes sure "[n]o aphids, no sowbugs or snails or cutworms" are there. "Her terrier fingers [destroy] such pests before they [can] get started" (240). These pests rep... ...s and her emotional needs. The encounter with the tinker reawakens her sexuality and brings hope to Elisa for a more exciting and romantic marriage, but her realization that her life is not going to change is crystallized when she sees the flowers thrown on the road. It devastates her completely to have to settle for such an unfulfilling life. Work Cited Steinbeck, John. "The Chrysanthemums." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. 239-47.  

American Home Products Essay

Pharmacy had not reached the heavy competition yet during early 1980s, AHP was still the early adopter in the industry, however, the nature of the market will change very quickly follow by the globalization and fast developing of medical technology, efficiency of information communication and financial industry. The competitor will able to launch variously strategies, with wild coverage of products via extended channels in more regions/counties. †¢ Because of debt free strategy, the company had limited investment in R&D. Even they can provide the â€Å"me to product† but the industry will change with more related regulation to be generated from government, that will require each pharmacy company spend longer time, more money to do the testing before launch to the market, â€Å"me to product† will slow down the process to catch the new market segmentation. †¢ Brand risk, due to the company was only focus on the interest of shareholders; lack of CSR (corporate social responsibility) will be another risk. †¢ Over centralized power in the leadership even $500 expense need approved by CEO. Not easy money system and not enough flexibility. b) Financial risks Debt free strategy Case Study/American Home Products Corporation 1 †¢ †¢ Will cause the lack of confident from institutional investors and individual investors due to the low leverage. Inflation! According the public information, the inflation rates from 1979 to 1981 was 11. 22%, 13. 58% and 10. 35%, that means holding money equals losing money. 729m+593m+494 =1816 m which was the total cash AHP was holding, times the averagely discount rate of inflation 11. 72%, they company lost 212. 8 million in 3 years. http://inflationdata. om/inflation/inflation_rate/historicalinflati on. aspx †¢ †¢ †¢ Mismatch between AHP’s performance and stock price, as there was not financial strategy. High tax High dividend payout ratio. 30%-70% debt of total capital †¢ Could possibly downgrading the bond credit level from AAA to AA at beginning 2) Can AHP create value for its shareholders by changing the level of debt? What capital structure would you recommend as appropriate for AHP? What are the advantages and disadvantages of leveraging up this company? The simple answer is â€Å"Yes†. We propose the multiple steps to achieve better leverage. Targeting 30% debt in the first year, because our competitor uses that ratio too, that can be use as benchmark to convince shareholders. Second year we can go for 50% and 70% in the third year. Advantage: Case Study/American Home Products Corporation 2 †¢ Use the excess cash to repurchase common stock will reduce common shares from 155. 5(30% debt) m to 118. 9m (70% debt), as the result that will increase the earning per share as well as the stock price. †¢ Will increase the tax efficiency, the income tax can be reduced to 383. 7m from 455. 2 m. Even the debt interest rate is at 14%, but comparing with 48% tax rate that is very low. †¢ Debt is a good tool to against inflation, as mentioned before, the average inflation rate from 1979-1981 was very high, borrowing money is good way to maintain the company’s assets to staying valuable. Disadvantage, †¢ †¢ †¢ AHP might lose it AAA bond rate Shareholders and senior management team will disagree/agree, and that will split the team at the top of management Potentially risk to bankruptcy with less cash, and easy to be attacked by competitor or financial institutions. 3) What are the possible ways for leveraging AHP? Besides to repurchase the common stock, other ways are: †¢ †¢ †¢ Buy government bond or financial institutions’ bond.

Free Essays on Ethernet

Ethernet In early 1970’s, Xerox Corporation introduced a different networking concept called Ethernet. The thick coaxial media system was the first media system specified in the original Ethernet standard of 1980. Today most sites use twisted-pair media for connections to the desktop. Ethernet is designed to run on a single transmission line to which all stations are connected. As with token ring, Ethernet is peer-to-peer; however no monitoring device is requires. Unlike token ring, Ethernet does not require that stations wait for a token to be passed before transmitting. Stations are able to connect directly to one another and pass data any time there is no activity on the network. The 10-Mbps Ethernet media varieties include the original thick coaxial system, as well as thin coaxial, twisted-pair, and fiber optic systems. The most recent Ethernet standard defines the new 100-Mbps Fast Ethernet systems that operate over twisted-pair and fiber optic media. Picture of the first Ethernet There are several LAN technologies in use today, but Ethernet is by far the most popular. Industry estimates indicate that as of 1994 over 40 million Ethernet nodes had been installed worldwide. The widespread popularity of Ethernet ensures that there is a large market for Ethernet equipment, which also helps keep the technology competitively priced. From the time of the first Ethernet standard, the specifications and the rights to build Ethernet technology have been made easily available to anyone. This openness, combined with the ease of use and robustness of the Ethernet system, resulted in a large Ethernet market and is another reason Ethernet is so widely implemented in the computer industry. The vast majority of computer vendors today equip their products with 10-Mbps Ethernet attachments, making it possible to link all manner of computers with an Ethernet LAN. As the 100-Mbps standard becomes more widely adopted, computers are bei... Free Essays on Ethernet Free Essays on Ethernet Ethernet uses a protocol called CSMA/CD. This stands for Carrier Sense, Multiple Access, Collision Detect. The Multiple Access part means that every station is connected to a single copper wire, or a set of wires that are connected together to form a single data path. The Carrier Sense part says that before transmitting data, a station checks the wire to see if any other station is already sending something. If the LAN appears to be idle, then the station can begin to send data. An Ethernet station sends data at a rate of 10 megabits per second. That bit allows 100 nanoseconds per bit. Light and electricity travel about one foot in a nanosecond. Therefore, after the electric signal for the first bit has traveled about 100 feet down the wire, the station has begun to send the second bit. However, an Ethernet cable can run for hundreds of feet. If two stations are located, say, 250 feet apart on the same cable, and both begin transmitting at the same time, then they will be in the midd le of the third bit before the signal from each reaches the other station. This explains the need for the Collision Detect part. Two stations can begin to send data at the same time, and their signals will collide. When such a collision occurs, the two stations stop transmitting, and try again later after a randomly chosen delay period. While an Ethernet can be built using one common signal wire, such an arrangement is not flexible enough to wire most buildings. Unlike an ordinary telephone circuit, Ethernet wire cannot be just spliced together, connecting one copper wire to another. Ethernet requires a repeater. A repeater is a simple station that is connected to two wires. Any data that it receives on one wire it repeats bit-for-bit on the other wire. When collisions occur, it repeats the collision as well. In common practice, repeaters are used to convert the Ethernet signal from one type of wire to another. In particular, when the connection to the d... Free Essays on Ethernet Ethernet In early 1970’s, Xerox Corporation introduced a different networking concept called Ethernet. The thick coaxial media system was the first media system specified in the original Ethernet standard of 1980. Today most sites use twisted-pair media for connections to the desktop. Ethernet is designed to run on a single transmission line to which all stations are connected. As with token ring, Ethernet is peer-to-peer; however no monitoring device is requires. Unlike token ring, Ethernet does not require that stations wait for a token to be passed before transmitting. Stations are able to connect directly to one another and pass data any time there is no activity on the network. The 10-Mbps Ethernet media varieties include the original thick coaxial system, as well as thin coaxial, twisted-pair, and fiber optic systems. The most recent Ethernet standard defines the new 100-Mbps Fast Ethernet systems that operate over twisted-pair and fiber optic media. Picture of the first Ethernet There are several LAN technologies in use today, but Ethernet is by far the most popular. Industry estimates indicate that as of 1994 over 40 million Ethernet nodes had been installed worldwide. The widespread popularity of Ethernet ensures that there is a large market for Ethernet equipment, which also helps keep the technology competitively priced. From the time of the first Ethernet standard, the specifications and the rights to build Ethernet technology have been made easily available to anyone. This openness, combined with the ease of use and robustness of the Ethernet system, resulted in a large Ethernet market and is another reason Ethernet is so widely implemented in the computer industry. The vast majority of computer vendors today equip their products with 10-Mbps Ethernet attachments, making it possible to link all manner of computers with an Ethernet LAN. As the 100-Mbps standard becomes more widely adopted, computers are bei...

The Muralist Painters of Mexico essays

The Muralist Painters of Mexico essays Mural painting is one of the oldest and most important forms of artistic, political and social expression. Mexican muralists, Diego Rivera, Jos Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros revived this form of painting in Mexico. Their murals were based on the political and social conditions of the times. During the beginning of the 20th century, Mexico went through a political and social revolution and the government began to commission a number of huge frescos to celebrate its achievements. The muralist movement would not only have great effect on their own country but the rest of the world as well. The first modern artists from a Hispanic country in the Western Hemisphere whose art attracted worldwide attention were these painters known as Mexican muralists. The best known of the Mexican muralists, Diego Rivera filled the walls of public buildings in Mexico and the United States with enormous murals praising social revolution. David Alfaro Siqueiros was another of the great Mexican muralists, and also very active with the political revolutions of his country. Jos Clemente Orozco was the third famous muralist and is thought to be more crude and cynical than Rivera and his pictorial language may be less sophisticated, but he is more direct in pointing out social injustices. During the first two decades of the 20th century, Spanish modernists introduced Latin American painters to impressionism, postimpressionism, symbolism and art nouveau. Mexican painter Saturnino Herran used symbolism in his mural project, Our Gods, (1904-18) which nobly posed native Mexicans as powerful symbols of Mexican identify. His mural served as a model for many large-scale murals that were commissioned in the 1920s. The Mexican Revolution (1910-20) also found a voice in the public mural. Diego Rivera as well as others defined this moment in Mexican history. He was influenced by European modernism, studying in Spain and Paris and working ...

The differences between the business plan and lean canvas Essay

The differences between the business plan and lean canvas - Essay Example The lean canvas application, on the other hand, is a simple problem and solution approach that enables the entrepreneur to develop or advance on a step-by-step basis. Although both offer analytical approaches that are vital to the prosperity and success of the business, both have varied criticisms. The business plan fails to take into account the business model management and performance measurement both of which are vital in allowing the continued business success. On the other hand, the lean canvas fails to offer an expected approach in a situation where the solution that is given to the initial problem becomes difficult or unrealistic to attain on the ground. When and why an entrepreneur should use the business plan or lean canvas The lean canvas is a helpful tool that helps the entrepreneur's design businesses. It is an ideal tool since it enables the entrepreneur to define quickly a business without necessarily having to outline a full business plan. The lean canvas utilizes a o ne-page business model that facilitates and helps the early stage startup that will enable the entrepreneur to identify quickly and overcome challenges. It identifies a target market, defines a unique business value proposition, tests the assumptions put forward by the entrepreneur and ultimately arrives at their first iteration. The lean canvas is vital in helping the entrepreneurs to gain clarity about their business ideas that will translate into an approach that is well defined to their markets and potential end users and investors.

Report on Accessible tourism and accessible market regarding visitor Essay

Report on Accessible tourism and accessible market regarding visitor attections - Essay Example me, evaluation of positive and negative aspects of building an Accessible Statement, identifying areas that worked well and recommendations for the next step In order to address aims and objectives of the report, the group utilised a web-based data search and observation. Due to the inadequate resources and time, data was sourced was web-based and comprised; academic literature related to visitor attractions and accessible tourism This definition ignores the quickly changing nature of consumer demand and restricts the attractions included, does not include temporary attractions such as festivals or events (Swarbrooke, 2002). A more comprehensive and broader definition is given by Walsh-Heron and Stevens (1990), where temporary attractions could be classified as visitor attractions. Swarbrooke (2003) suggest that â€Å"visitor attractions at their most basic level they work to attract visitors to an area†. However, visitor attractions have many other pull factors, roles, functions and operate in a much broader sense Fyall et al., (2003): From this, it can be seen that the visitor experience has many different influences unique to an individual, attraction and destination (Buhalis & Michopoulou, 2011). Therefore it can be a difficult task for tourism organisations to get this right, however a full understanding of the above will assist them (Gunn, 2002). A tourism market that is accessible does not differ in that they want to sample what is special to the destination but need a â€Å"street-smart† technique to the ease of access of the destination to accomplish this result (Buhalis & Michopoulou, 2011: 149). An accessible destination must provide: However, all the terms used to describe accessible tourism have similar characteristics, and tend to have the same message that promotes tourism â€Å"†¦ accessible to all people† (Buhalis and Darcy, 2011, p. 10). Accessibility has a large impact on society, due to the Equality Act 2010 and the number of people with