Consumer Behaviour a Purchase Decision Process

Types and forms of FDI Essays

Types and forms of FDI Essays Types and forms of FDI Paper Types and forms of FDI Paper Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a direct investment into production or business in a country by an individual or company of another country, either by buying a company in the target country or by expanding operations of an existing business in that country. Foreign direct investment is in contrast to portfolio investment which is a passive investment in the securities of another country such as stocks and bonds. Foreign Direct Investment as any flow of lending to, or purchase of ownership in a foreign enterprise that is largely owned by the residents of the investing company. It may take the form of Cash, securities, plant, equipment, and other factors of production, such as managerial skills, technology, or know how. FDI usually involves some combination of the above. The transfer of this package of capital assets as well as the retention of control is what distinguishes FDI from portfolio investment. Foreign Direct Investment is generally classified into fives types which is: 1. Inward Foreign Direct Investment 2. Outward Foreign Direct Investment 3. Horizontal Foreign Investment 4. Vertical Foreign Investment 5. Platform Foreign Investment Inward FDI: An inward investment involves an external or foreign entity either investing in or purchasing the goods of a local economy. A common type of inward investment is a foreign direct investment (FDI). This occurs when one company purchases another business or establishes new operations for an existing business in a country different than the investing companys origin. In this case investment of foreign resources is local resources. The factors encourages the growth of Inward FDI contains relaxation of existent regulations, tax breaks, loans on low rates of interest etc. Outward FDI : A business strategy where a domestic firm expands its operations to a foreign country either via a Green field investment, merger/acquisition and/or expansion of an existing foreign facility. Employing outward direct investment is a natural progression for firms as better business opportunities will be available in foreign countries when domestic markets become too saturated. Outward Foreign direct investment is also referred to as direct investment abroad. In this case it is the local capital, which is being invested in some foreign resource. Outward FDI may lso find use in the import and export dealings with a foreign country. Horizontal FDI : Foreign direct investment by a firm to establish manufacturing facilities in multiple countries, all producing essentially the same thing but for their respective domestic or nearby markets. Horizontal FDI refers to the foreign manufacturing of products and services roughly similar to those the firm produces in its home market. This type of FDI is called horizontal because the multinational duplicates the same activities in different countries. Horizontal FDI arises because it s too costly to serve the foreign market by exports due to transportation costs or trade barriers. in multiple countries, each producing a different input to, or stage of, the firms production process. Vertical FDI refers to those multinationals that fragment production process geographically. It is called because MNE separates the production chain vertically by outsourcing some production stages abroad. The basic idea behind the analysis of this type of FDI is that a production process consists of multiple stages with different input requirements. If input prices varies across ountries, it becomes profitable for the firm to split the production chain. Vertical FDI consists of two groups: backward and forward vertical FDI. In case of backward FDI multinational enterprise establishes its own supplier of input goods which delivers inputs to the parent company. Conducting forward FDI, the firm builds up a foreign affiliate, which draws inputs from the parent company for own production, thus staying after the parent in the production chain. Platform FDI : Foreign direct investment from a source country into a destination country for the purpose of exporting to a third country. Horizontal FDI decreases international trade as the product of them is usually aimed at host country; the two other types generally act as a stimulus for it. Green Field Investment direct investment in new facilities or the expansion of existing facilities. Greenfield investments are the primary target of a host nations promotional efforts because they create new production capacity and Jobs, transfer technology and know-how, and can lead to linkages to the global marketplace. However, it often does this by crowding out local industry; multinationals are able to produce goods more cheaply because of advanced technology and efficient processes) and uses up resources (labor, intermediate goods, etc). Another downside of greenfield investment is that profits from production do not feed back into the local economy, but instead to the multinationals home economy. This is in contrast to local industries whose profits flow back into the domestic economy to promote growth. Mergers And Acquisition occur when a transfer of existing assets from local firms to foreign firms takes place, this is the primary type of FDI. Cross-border mergers occur when the assets and operation of firms from different countries are combined to stablish a new legal entity. Cross-border acquisitions occur when the control of assets and operations is transferred from a local to a foreign company, with the local company becoming an affiliate of the foreign company. Unlike greenfield investment, acquisitions provide no long term benefits to the local economy even in most deals the owners of the local firm are paid in stock from the acquiring firm, meaning that the money from the sale could never reach the local economy. Nevertheless, mergers and acquisitions are a significant form of FDI and until around 1997, accounted for nearly 90% of the FDI flow into the United States.

Dance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Dance - Essay Example Beyonce’s video is only a modern version of Fosse’s, with differing dance moves. Inspiration is important; every artiste takes his inspiration from his favourite and most liked work. However, there is a stark difference between being inspired and plagiarising. There is no reason to â€Å"borrow† work from another, and if one is doing that, he is supposed to credit the person. Beyonce has a reputation of originality and unique work and I agree with that reputation. This video, however, did bring doubts to my mind and every time I will watch her video now I will stop to ponder whether it is her original idea or a borrowed one. Fosse’s Rich Man’s Frug has been a sensational video and one of the best works of Fosse. Space, timing and effort qualities are three choreographic tools very much visible in the video. The groups of dancers, whether just standing or moving as well, perform perfectly together; the way the dancers move around in sync and unison; and the very vigorous and sharp dance

Fundamental elements of business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fundamental elements of business - Essay Example Cost of equity does not necessarily involve repayment of funds raised unlike debt. It basically involves rising of funds through interests which not mount pressures on the organization. More pronounced is the fact that cost of equity gives the business organization a sense of expression which allows the organization room to go to all ends to acquire funds. They are not restricted by debt or anything. If a company is successful, the higher the cost of equity which will definitely leave the company little. There is no stipulated cost of equity; it therefore depends on the interest rate which renders the company rather helpless. In this case the cost of equity of a company puts the organization in the position of always requiring votes from shareholders before taking certain decisions "wise use of debt may lower a firms weighted average cost of capital (WACC) during inflation debt is repaid with 'cheap dollars'". In this case raising debt capital is easier and less complicated because the company is not required to comply with state, federal security's laws and regulations. "Interest and principal must always be met when due regardless of a firms financial position, also poor u

Case Assignment 2 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignment 2 - Case Study Example It goes without saying that Lynn Tilton carries a sense of charisma around her multifaceted personality, which is a combination of impressive glamour and a stark sense of business and an inspiring vision that seldom fails to impress people. People mostly end up getting enamored by her leadership skills and her resource savvy sense of management. One big thing about Lynn Tilton that makes her an astute manager and an insightful leader is her ability to carry and exercise authority. As a leader she is vehemently dedicated to her goals and does not mind being stringent if the need be. 2. One big positive leadership trait evinced by Lynn Tilton is her panache for being what she actually is. She does not mind cracking jokes about her personal life, affiliates to a glamorous sense of dress up in a corporate setup, decorates her office with somewhat bizarre seeming artifacts and art. It would not be wrong to say that people could not help being impressed by her straightforwardness and chari sma. However, this very same quality and traits could also be considered to be a negative aspect of Lynn Tilton’s leadership persona in the sense that she tends to too much mix her personal preferences with her business style. This could many a times could send wrong messages to the employees and colleagues and may disorient or confuse them. ... s that her style of leadership is somewhat dictatorial as she herself admits, which if taken too far may lead to suppression of individuality and free opinion amongst her employees. 3. Lynn Tilton does evince a situational approach towards leadership while managing the rusted assets she invests in. She pays a lot of stress on impacting and influencing the organizational culture of the company she tends to manage, so that she could make the company a success by introducing a new management and new products. Lynn Tilton is considered to be tough on the former employees of the companies she purchases. Perhaps this is so because being an astute situational leader she is very particular about gauging as to how every employee fits into her vision and the scheme of things to come. Moreover Lynn comes out to his employees as a humorous person and she is a good actor as she well understands how to adapt her leadership style to the situation at hand. Lynn evinces a great sense of self confiden ce and is not scared of being public about her life and preferences. She is a great believer in herself and the companies she happens to invest in. 4. Lynn is a transformational leader as she is internally motivated and uses her innate motivation and drive to influence the companies and assets she invests in. That is why Lynn has been able to convert many rusted assets she invested in into thriving and successful businesses. Like a true transformational leader, Lynn has the courage and the ability to make tough business decisions. The former employees of the companies she purchases tend to be weary of him because they know that she would not hesitate from making tough decisions if the need be. The big thing about Lynn is that the tough decisions she makes yield results because they align

The Nature Of Strategic Management Journal Commerce Essay

The Nature Of Strategic Management Journal Commerce Essay Strategic management is ideas and injunctions that enable the organization achieve its objective or long-term target to perform a better performance. The purpose of strategic management is to seek the opportunities for better future of the organization. Generally, good strategic management practices can improve the organization performance and achieve the organization target objectives. The strategies on an organization are made by the management itself to ensure the successful of the organization. The strategic management process consists of three stages which are strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation. 1. INTRODUCTION Today, there are many definitions of strategic defined by various authors and by refer to Mintzberg et al. (1998), the definition of strategic is universal and there is no single. The others author, Chandler (1962) as the American business historian is the first person that defined strategic as determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out those goals. In the context of construction, Channon (1978) defined strategy in term of the extent of diversification, international activity and acquisition policy. Mintzberg (1994) portrays strategy as a plan a direction, a guide or Strategic Management Practices in Malaysian Construction Industry 142 course of action into the future and as a pattern, that is, consistent in behavior over time. Strategic management has evolved into a more sophisticated and potentially more powerful tool (Stoney, 2001). The strategic management stages need a person who is competent to handle this process more effectively and to make sure that its success (Stahl and Grigsby, 1992). To ensure firm success and can overcome any barriers that occur during strategic management process, the top management of an organization must play their roles through involvement in the process, through dialogue and participation. The aim purpose of the process is to achieve the understanding and commitment from top management and employees. 2. Strategic Management in General STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN GENERAL There are many definitions that are defined by various authors. According to David (1997) strategic management is the art and science of formulating, implementing, evaluating cross functional decision that enable organization to achieve its objectives. Wheelen and Hunger (1984) say that strategic management is a set of managerial decisions and actions that determines the long-run performance of an organization. It includes environmental scanning (both external and internal), strategy formulation (strategic or long-range planning), strategy implementation and evaluation and control. Wheelen and Hunger (2003) noted that people at all levels, not just top management, need to be involve in strategic management; scanning the environment for critical information, suggesting changes to strategies and programs to take advantage of environment shifts, and working with others to continuously improve work methods, procedures, and evaluation techniques by working with other people in the organiz ation. 3. FINDINGS Stages in Strategic Management Strategy Formulation The first phase is strategy formulation. Certo and Peter (1991) stated that strategy formulation want to ensure that the organization achieve the objectives that they have been made. David (1997) said that strategy formulation includes the decision on what business to conduct, how to allocate the resources, and whether want the business join or enter to international market. Besides, David also stated that strategy formulation phase includes developing a vision and mission, identifying an organization external opportunities and threats, determining internal strength and weaknesses, establishing long-term objectives, generating alternative strategies, and choosing the best alternative strategy to be pursue. He also said that issues in strategic management includes deciding what new business to enter, what business to abandon, how to allocate resources without hostile takeovers, whether to expand operations or diversity, whether to merge or form a joint venture, whether to enter intern ational markets and how to avoid a hostile takeover. ROLES OF INTELLIGENCE IN STRATEGY FORMULATION Good intelligence is not necessarily going to make a great strategy while successful strategies are derived from good intelligence concerning a companys total business environment including the competition. There is some intelligence role in strategy formulation. Among them are: Describing the Competitive Environment. Intelligence analysis must to carry out their responsibilities, so that the company can compete with the challenging environment over time. Besides that, intelligence should also determine the causes of the companys competitive environment, including competitors, customers, products, the structure of the industry in which they all perform, and the type of competition, such as price performance, and technology. Forecasting the Future Competitive Environment Intelligence department can provide predictions of future business for the company, especially in the competitive environment in which the company is likely to find itself. Business intelligence estimate is the most appropriate intelligence products to reflect the competitive environment in the future, as being one entirely different from the business environment that it competes in today. Identifying and Compensating for Exposed Weaknesses. Companys own weaknesses and vulnerabilities can be identify and assess by using intelligence department. Usually when a company is about to launch a new strategy or enter a market or business that it has never participated in before, this ability is particularly valuable because the competition is likely to have assessed the newcomers strengths and weaknesses and will exploit those weaknesses that are truly vulnerabilities. Before entering the new business arena, companies must be aware of his own weaknesses before the occurrence of a competition. This is to ensure that the company is always ready to take corrective action or formulate new strategies so that the company is not affected. Using Intelligence to Implement and Adjust Strategy to the Changing Competitive Environment. After the new strategy have been designed and tested, then it goes through two distinct phases of implementation. Initial implementation of the first phase is when competitors began to detect and respond to the strategys salient features. While the second phase is developing a more complete and appropriate set of actions to counter your strategy. The intelligence that you gather during both distinct phases of implementation are critical to the long-term viability of your new strategy because comprehensiveness, timeliness, objectivity and analysis are required in these two phase. Few US companies are capable of managing such effective business intelligence operations and thus formulating the appropriate ongoing business plans necessary to continually adjust their strategy to the changing competitive environment. DESIGNING A STRATEGY FORMULATION PROCESS FOR NEW, TECHNOLOGY-BASED FIRMS: A KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH When open innovation models are being introduced in the industry, innovative firms must taking more and more open forms, so that a firm can create the innovation process in a knowledge-based society. In addition, the firm also can   build porous borders to incorporate their own knowledge and competencies with others. The first step is to identify useful knowledge among employees and stakeholders of the NTBF (new technology based firm), so that they do not require further discussion. However, in the external environment, identify useful knowledge is not as easy as I thought. There are several questions that must be answered to proceed from knowledge identification to transfer knowledge :- Who has the requested knowledge? This question is more relevant when searching among the members of the NTBF but also a who knows the whereabouts of the requested knowledge? which is more relevant when the requested knowledge lies outside the firm. What are our relations with the actor holding the requested knowledge? Question like this is to identify ways to strengthen ties in the relation with the actor/partner holding the requested knowledge. What drives this relationship? Is it based on friendship, a strategic alliance, a mutually-beneficial business relationship, or a potential partnership etc.? What is the nature of the requested knowledge? The third question is related to the knowledge complexity that determines the ability to accomplish the knowledge transfer because it is has to be regarded within the framework of a specific knowledge transaction, between specific persons in a specific context. How can we transfer this knowledge and what is the compensation requested for this transfer? The fourth question related to the readiness of the owner knowledge to share knowledge because knowledge transfer process cannot be determined in advance, and this depends on the complexity of knowledge and the absorptive capacity of the recipient to make the transfer. Apart from compensation, are there additional costs associated with the transfer? The fifth question tries to examine the non-monetary cost associated with the transfer of knowledge. As mentioned earlier, a NTBFs resources are limited and valuable and the cost to absorb a knowledge transfer might prove costly in terms of man days of key members of the NTBF. Does this knowledge transaction contribute to the formation of a collaborative competitive advantage? The final question concerns the examination of the probability that this knowledge transaction is part of the formation of a knowledge-based strategic alliance forming a sustainable competitive advantage that is difficult to imitate. Strategy Implementation The second phase is strategy implementation. In this phase, Sharplin (1995) said that all the organization activities or business strategies must be based on the strategic plan made. Organization must establish the objectives and policies of the company so that all the employees know what they should do to achieve the company objectives. Besides, the company also needs to do something to ensure that all the employees are motivated to do the job, and resources need to be allocating to execute formulated strategies. Effective strategy implementation is really important to the organization. Based to Certo and Peter (1991), effective strategy implementation is really important to get the benefits of performing an analysis of organizational, establishment of organizational direction and formulating. APPRAISING THE ROLE OF STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION IN EXPORT PERFORMANCE: A CASE FROM MIDDLE EAST They are various point of views to define and describe the strategy implementation. Strategy implementation may be define as a process inducing various forms of organizational learning, because both environmental threats and strategic responses can make something happen for organizational learning processes (Lehner, 2004). Strategy implementation is a combination process of implementing strategies, policies, programs and action plans that helps a firm to take the benefits of opportunities in the competitive environment by using wisely and usefully its resources (Harrington, 2006). Strategy implementation is also can be described that the companies can identify the future opportunities as a lively process (Schaap, 2006). On the field of studies in strategy implementation, it must be done with the international perspective. In Hrebiniak conceptual framework there are some suggestion about the key factor for strategy implementation which include of leadership, facilitating global learni ng, developing global managers, having a matrix structure and working with external companies for international environment. Besides that, there are other framework introduced by Yip, that involved organizational structure, culture, people and managerial process (Okumus, 2003). There are two groups of variables which is operational (budgeting, structure) and managerial (culture, leadership) that had been identify in this study of measuring the strategy implementation. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL During an action, strategy implementation is a managing forces and focuses on efficiency. It is primarily an operational process, requires special motivation and leadership skills and requires the combination among many individual. There are some several of issues that involve in strategy implementation which is : Strategies are not lead to action and have to be activated through implementation. Plan should be lead in strategies. Result of plan in different kind of programmes. Formulation of projects must lead to programmes. Separate allocation of fund is requires and it must be completed within a time given. The needed infrastructure for the day-to-day operations create of Projects create within an organization. Strategies implementation is not limited to formulation of plans, programmes, and projects. Resources would require in projects. After it has been provided, it would be essential to see a proper organizational structure is designed, systems have been installed, devised the functional policies, and various behavioural inputs are provided to make sure the plans may work. Below is the issues in strategy implementation that are to be considered : Project implementation Procedural implementation Resource allocation Structural implementation Functional implementation Behavioural implementation THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN EFFECTIVESTRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION: PERCEPTIONS OF SOUTH AFRICAN STRATEGIC LEADERS The effectiveness and importance of strategy implementation In some of organizations from South African, it was found that the strategy implementation is more important than strategy formulation and can be see that the ability to implement a strategy in an organisation is more likely important than the ability to formulate a strategy in an organisation. Strategy implementation can be more difficult than the strategy formulation. This study was founded that the effectiveness of strategy implementation in South African organizations can help the organisation to gain the effectiveness of organisation. It can show that, the strategy implementation more effectiveness to be used it within the organisation. Barriers to effective strategy implementation There are some barriers to achieve the effectiveness of strategy implementation : The workforce are poorly to understanding of the strategy and the most of important barriers to effective strategy implementation is there are an ineffective communication of the strategy among the workforce Another major barrier to an effective strategy implementation is strategic leadership is not perceived. Drivers of strategy implementation The importance of the drivers of strategy implementation : The most important driver of strategy implementation is strategic leadership. Strategic leadership contributes positively to the effective implementation of a strategy within an organization Many all of authors stated that the key of strategy implementation is strategic leadership (Hrebiniak 2005; Collins 2001; Useem 1998, 2001; Locke Kirkpatrick 1991; Freedman Tregoe 2003; Hitt et al. 2007; Hsieh Yik 2005; Bossidy Charan 2002; Thompson Strickland 2003; Hussey 1998; Kaplan Norton 2004). In fact, the effectiveness of strategy implementation is based on the strategic leaders of the organisation and to get the effectiveness to implementing strategy within the organisation, it is only through effective strategic leadership. (Hitt et al. 2007). The role of strategic leadership actions in strategy implementation The most important role in effective strategy implementation is the strategic leadership. The other of the important roles in strategy implementation is development of human capital, the exploitation and maintenance of core competencies. The development of social capital is the strategic leadership action is to play the least important role in effective strategy implementation. Strategy Evaluation The last phase of this management process is evaluation. Weiss (1972) define the purpose of evaluation as measuring the effects on given task whether it is according to the goals and objective of the organization. Thus, an improvement or corrective action should be taken after the evaluation has been made. It is really important to use a SWOT analysis to figure out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for both external and internal factors. This may require taking certain precautionary measures to change the entire strategy. Research methodologies need to be used to quantify the outcome from the evaluation against the goals that has been made to create a success. Weiss agree that goals are really important in an evaluation to improve the performance. Evaluation done by reviewing current strategies, measure the performance and take the corrective actions. The need of an evaluation is to know the success of the organization. Certo and Peter (1991) stated that the evalua tion needs information about strategic performance to compare it with existing standards. Balanced scorecard (BSC) is an example of one of the popular approaches to evaluate the organization performance. It was first introduced by Kaplan and Norton (1992. 1996a). The BSC typically is a method that allows an organization to indicate its vision, develop and communicate a strategy to achieve the established vision and convert the developed strategy into action. 4. Conclusion In general, strategic management can be used to determine mission, vision, values, goals, objectives, roles and responsibilities. Strategic management is important in the organization to know the objectives and the aim of the organizations. The nature of strategic management also involve about the process or stages. This study was focused on the strategic management process. Strategic management process has three stages which is strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation. The strategic management process is becoming more widely used by small firms, large companies, nonprofit institutions, governmental organizations, and multinational conglomerates alike. It represents a logical, systematic, and objective approach for determining an organizations future direction. All the three stages of the process were important for all the organization. This is because those process are more likely as a guideline to the organization to manage their organization. Without a proper strategy the successful and the effectiveness cannot be occur. A good strategist plans and controls his or her plans, whereas a bad strategist never plans and then tries to control people. We can conclude that the strategy is important within the organization which as a direction for organization to manage their management. Without a strategy, an organization is like a ship without a rudder, going around in circles. Its like a tramp; it has no place to go. Joel Ross and Michael Kami

lucid dreaming :: essays research papers

Lucid dreaming means dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming. The term was coined by Frederik van Eeden who used the word "lucid" in the sense of mental clarity. Lucidity usually begins in the midst of a dream when the dreamer realizes that the experience is not occurring in physical reality, but is a dream. Often this realization is triggered by the dreamer noticing some impossible or unlikely occurrence in the dream, such as flying or meeting the deceased. Sometimes people become lucid without noticing any particular clue in the dream; they just suddenly realize they are in a dream. A minority of lucid dreams (according to the research of LaBerge and colleagues, about 10 percent) are the result of returning to REM (dreaming) sleep directly from an awakening with unbroken reflective consciousness. The basic definition of lucid dreaming requires nothing more than becoming aware that you are dreaming. However, the quality of lucidity can vary greatly. When lucidity is at a high level, you are aware that everything experienced in the dream is occurring in your mind, that there is no real danger, and that you are asleep in bed and will awaken shortly. With low-level lucidity you may be aware to a certain extent that you are dreaming, perhaps enough to fly or alter what you are doing, but not enough to realize that the people are dream representations, or that you can suffer no physical damage, or that you are actually in bed. 1.2 IS LUCID DREAMING THE SAME AS DREAM CONTROL? Lucidity is not synonymous with dream control. It is possible to be lucid and have little control over dream content, and conversely, to have a great deal of control without being explicitly aware that you are dreaming. However, becoming lucid in a dream is likely to increase the extent to which you can deliberately influence the course of events. Once lucid, dreamers usually choose to do something permitted only by the extraordinary freedom of the dream state, such as flying. You always have the choice of how much control you want to exert. For example, you could continue with whatever you were doing when you became lucid, with the added knowledge that you are dreaming. Or you could try to change everything--the dream scene, yourself, other dream characters.

Lennie Small is the central character in the novel, ‘Of Mice and Men’ Essay

Lennie Small is the central character in the novel, ‘Of Mice and Men’. The American John Steinbeck wrote the story about Ranch life in the 1930s. Lennie is perhaps the most interesting character in the novel. He is likeable and even loveable, maybe because he himself is so keen to show affection. There is a huge part of Lennie that means no harm, however he is definitely not harmless. He is both villain and victim, caring and destructive. He is complicated, even contradictory. At the time the novel was published the American stock market on Wall Street crashed catastrophically. This led to a massive economic depression in the 1930s when increasing mechanisation was driving agricultural labourers off the land. California was filling with official and unofficial refugee camps. Drought and over-farming were reducing the amount of fertile land. This meant owners in Oklahoma and Arkansas were going bankrupt and banks were repossessing their land. Banks themselves were collapsing and all of it was worse if you were black. America was still a highly racist and segregated society. The American Dream was dead. Poverty and starvation stalked California and other stricken states. Migrants were worst of, there were no unions to protect workers, the bosses held on to their own wealth. The rich stayed rich and the poor stayed poor. There was no more unclaimed land, striking gold was extremely rare and wages were so low no one could afford to save any of their money. Many people in society didn’t have jobs – there was a 30% unemployment rate. Everyone was suffering and everyone just wanted to have a better quality of life. The whole world was a mess. The depression affected Europe economically too. And politically, Europe was slowly descending into chaos, especially because of the rise in fascism in Germany, Italy and Spain. In 1937, when Steinbeck wrote ‘Mice and Men’ civil war broke out in Spain in an attempt to suppress fascism. The Nazis were in power in Germany and becoming increasingly repressive, world war two was not far off. Although Steinbeck’s novel isn’t about any of these things specifically, in a world filling with chaos and economic depression, here was story that almost everyone could identify with. So unsurprisingly it sold, and sold, and sold†¦ Lennie is a huge grown man, but he is also very childlike. He is a brilliant farm labourer because he is a powerful man with huge hands. He may grown up physically but he hasn’t grown up mentally, as Slim says, ‘he’s jes like a kid.’ Lennie is innocent, and doesn’t really know how to behave; he asks a lot of innocent questions. Slim says he can see immediately that Lennie ‘ain’t mean’. Lennie does not seem interested in other people, apart from beautiful women. He takes orders from George, and he can also take orders from Slim about petting his new puppy. It is clear that Lennie doesn’t want to disobey anyone or do anything wrong. He takes orders and can slave away, like a machine. He is a very useful person for George to have teamed up with, because he’ll earn loads of cash. Curley’s wife calls Lennie a ‘dumdum’. Earlier, Slim says he seems a bit of a ‘cuckoo’- ‘crazy’. But George quickly denies it- Lennie is very slow but he’s not insane. However, when we see what Lennie does during the course of the novel, you begin to wonder. He is subject to violent fits and may be mentally ill, but these things weren’t properly diagnosed back then. Lennie identifies with animals; he looks like a bear, and walks like one – ‘he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.’ He also eats and drinks like a hungry animal. He slavers and drools over beautiful women (e.g. Curley’s wife). It seems like he can’t control some of his animal instincts. Since childhood he has befriended animals before people – and it has to be cuddly animals. His Aunt Clara used to give him mice to play with. He is stubborn and very possessive over his animals, for example, over his mice, his puppy and his dream of tending his own rabbits. He never wants to let the animals we see him with out of his sight. But he is not very good at deceiving George – he knows whenever Lennie’s got one hidden in his coat or in his pocket. Lennie is always on the lookout for a pet, a mouse, a rabbit, a puppy or maybe a ‘purty’ woman. Lennie loves tame and friendly animals, that’s mostly what he is himself, tame and friendly. The mother of his new brown and white pup allows him to handle the others -‘she don’t care. She lets me.’ Animals seem unusually comfortable and unthreatened by him. However, there is another side to this obsession with animals. He’s also got a male animal’s sex drive. This expresses itself in his desire to stroke soft things, the lady in Weeds dress and Curley’s wife hair, for example. This seems sexual, but Lennie’s not mature enough to understand it. In both cases, whatever the motivation, the consequences were very bad. Lennie is dependent on George in both body and mind. George has virtually adopted him after Aunt Clara died. Lennie couldn’t survive on his own. He has none of the independence or practical skills of most adults. He wouldn’t be able to sort out food and shelter for himself. This is despite his repeated offer of going of on his own and living in a cave. In some ways he is animal-like but he probably wouldn’t survive a week out in the wild. George is the only person to stimulate Lennie’s mind, filling it with the dream of owning and farming their own land. Lennie is, in a way, addicted to this vision – pleading with George to tell him about it whenever he gets the chance. He gets himself into scrapes and he needs George to tell him about it whenever he gets the chance. He gets himself into scrapes and he needs George to get him out of them – like with Curley. He’d probably have been lynched or locked up years ago if George hadn’t stepped in. George is his parent, his brother, his guardian and his friend. He always there for him. George knows Lennie inside out. Lennie can’t keep secrets from him, like hiding mice in his pockets. Perhaps this isn’t surprising; Lennie has been with him for a long time, he has been independent on him for a long time. Lennie does however, give something in return, he is a good worker, he can do the work of two men. This is very useful for George. It helps them get and keep work, until Lennie mucks it all up. Lennie is also a killer. This is one of the key things in the whole novel. The gentlest man is also the most destructive. He is dangerous, and a violent killer. He attacks Curley, Curley’s wife, kills mice and throws his pup onto the barn floor in anger. He is not intentionally malicious. He doesn’t want to cause pain, when he fights Curley he’s actually encouraged by George: ‘Get ‘im Lennie!’ Lennie actually says afterwards he ‘didn’t wanta hurt him.’ Lennie has little self-restraint. He does everything in extremes. He’s liable to panic when someone else does, with Curley’ wife. In these panic attacks things tend to happen too suddenly, one minute he’s stroking Curley’s wife’s hair, the next he’s broken her neck. And even George can’t get him to stop crushing Curley’s hand. This is the tragedy of Lennie’s life; friendliness turns to aggression. As George says he ‘don’t know no rules’. But Lennie’s aggression is innocent, what’s what makes it different from the others’. Like others on the farm, Lennie is doomed to failure. Although his frequent violence is often unintended it still gets into trouble. For example, holding that girls dress in Weed, squashing mice and the puppy, and killing Curley’s wife. According to George Lennie is not malicious but he ‘don’t know no rules. But Lennie has sudden fits of anger, like when he hurled the puppy across the barn and he killed it. This suggests Lennie is not quite as innocent and blameless as George says he is. People pick on Lennie because he is stupid. Curley picks on him from the moment they meet. As does the boss, Curley’s wife and Crooks. His stupidity gets in him constant trouble. Because he can’t think for himself, he lives by his senses. That’s partly where the stroking comes in. he knows it feels nice, he doesn’t wonder why, he just does it. In the novel names are often symbolic. Steinbeck uses names to drop hints about the characters. Lennie’s surname is Small. Carlson makes a joke about it. But although he is huge height-wise, Lennie is fairly small in the brains department, so in a way it is not so ironic. Lennie is a complex, contradictory character. He is a large stupid, violent, strong, childish man who is very animal like. He always travels with George, he may be big and strong but it is very clear he is very slow. His main dream in life is to ‘tend the rabbits’ and ‘live off the fatta the lan’.

Free Essays on Imagination

Imagination The imagination builds fantasy landscapes and experience and then moves into them to see what they’re like. A great deal of us imagine thing we can not control. For example when we dream or when our mind gets away from us we cannot control the out come or what’s going to happen next. Then there are those imaginations we can control. For example you are sitting somewhere, anywhere and you spot this special some one you start thinking should I go over there and talk to that some one, but then you think what if. Your mind goes into this fantasy role play mode. Now remember you are controlling this imagination. So you get to decide what the out come should be to best fit you. I most cases our imagination is a lot more desirable then the real world. Sometime people take there imagination to far they start affecting they’re bodies. I think the best example for this is people who are anorexics. A lot of people, mainly young woman have this imagine of them tha t society put of them to be skinner. So these young women will change there bodies to what they think society what them to look like and these young women will start making them self throw up after every time they eat because it is easier and less pain full then surgery. But the problem is that they don’t stop. They just think I’m to fat I need to be skinner.... Free Essays on Imagination Free Essays on Imagination Imagination The imagination builds fantasy landscapes and experience and then moves into them to see what they’re like. A great deal of us imagine thing we can not control. For example when we dream or when our mind gets away from us we cannot control the out come or what’s going to happen next. Then there are those imaginations we can control. For example you are sitting somewhere, anywhere and you spot this special some one you start thinking should I go over there and talk to that some one, but then you think what if. Your mind goes into this fantasy role play mode. Now remember you are controlling this imagination. So you get to decide what the out come should be to best fit you. I most cases our imagination is a lot more desirable then the real world. Sometime people take there imagination to far they start affecting they’re bodies. I think the best example for this is people who are anorexics. A lot of people, mainly young woman have this imagine of them tha t society put of them to be skinner. So these young women will change there bodies to what they think society what them to look like and these young women will start making them self throw up after every time they eat because it is easier and less pain full then surgery. But the problem is that they don’t stop. They just think I’m to fat I need to be skinner....

Japanese Management Essays - Employee Relations, Administration

Japanese Management Essays - Employee Relations, Administration Japanese Management Abstract As we know, Japan?s economy, situation, and condition was totally destroyed during the World War II. But surpassingly, Japan now become one of the powerful countries in the world especially in the economic in only took for less than fifty years. This the reason why I choose this topic. In this Paper we will look at how are the Japanese managing their company that is one of the key of their success in the business. Also I will comparing the Japanese way with what the western country way of how to manage. The possibility of us in putting in the Japanese Theory in our (western) world are also discussed in this paper. 1.0. INTRODUCTION As we know, Japan had a very amazing growth in economy in the 70?s and 80?s. We remembered that before Japan had this growth, Japan?s economy was really destroyed by the World War Two. Japanese bounced back from disaster to one of the most powerful countries. Two reasons Japanese firm became so successful is how h well managed their firms are. They blend their own culture with others in operating their firms, as a result, they come out with their own unique way of management. They are also successful in the way they develop their human resources. The Japanese business and management system is strongly rooted in Japanese culture and tradition. Japanese have a very unique relationship between institutions and state , between individuals and the state, and between individuals and individuals. These relationships are linked to culture and traditional values. The Japanese is a plural homogeneous society. They have varieties of people but instead of individualism, they tend to form a group and there are no competition between group. They have very good loyalty in a group. Lee and schwendian wrote in their book," When a Japanese man asked his occupation, he will usually answer that he is a Sony or Hitachi man, not that he is an accountant, sales person, or business manager. (Japanese Management, 1982. pp 9). The Japanese also tend to look a non-Japanese as an outsider. They will treated non Japanese differently until they are learned how Japanese culture works. The Japanese often refer to their nation as our country (waga ku! ni) and non Japanese as outside people (gaijin). (Lee and Schwendiman, 1982. pp. 7). In the Japanese psyche is a concept of inside (uchi) and outside (soto) that not only defines one?s membership, in a group but determines how one speaks to and interact with others. (Iwata 1977, pp. 60-65). 1.1. CULTURE INFLUENCE The Japanese have a very unique culture. They are good at mixing other cultures with their own. As a result of this blending, they come out with their own identity. China was the most importantly influenced. Buddhist and Confucian philosophy are the basic framework the Japanese use to develop their way of thinking. Buddhist was contributing the way of life. The Confucian taught the Japanese about traditional value, external values, and harmony within the society, while at the same time emphasizing the collective aspect of the social order. These systems are the most important thoughts of Japanese management system. The Japanese used these influences to reject individualism. They prefer the natural order represented by people living in human community, rather than by individual living in the state of nature. Even though Japanese culture had a lot of influence by others, Japanese still use their own culture to develop their management system. One of the Japanese traditional values is the samurai. Samurais are a leader in a society. They have three codes: first, giri, social obligation, second, on, the concept of benevolence and thus obligation to the lesser status, third, ninjo, a human felling- a kind of tolerance for human nature. These three characteristics are known as the code of ethics in a professional?s life. Beside these three, samurai are also known for the loyalty to their landlord. Today?s Japanese dedicate their life to a corporation for their work. These system in their society are well known and apparently will be used as long as this form of elitism justified itself through legitimate behavior. Japanese firms used ringi-sei to make a decision regarding firm decisions. Ringi-sei is a document circulated from

International and Comparative Human Resource Management Essay - 1

International and Comparative Human Resource Management - Essay Example This essay â€Å"International and Comparative Human Resource Management† analyses potential strategic problems facing Human Resource Managers operating in multi-national companies, by focusing on the Morale Welfare and Recreation, abbreviated as MWR. Management is a form of work which deals with the way an organization organizes its resources and departments in order to provide services or produce goods. Some of the resources used by a company are its employees, money and other equipment. Management will thus require managers to get involved in some of the basic activities that call for getting the best out of the company. These activities include organizing, planning, staffing, leading, and controlling. Management can sometimes turn out to be complex if all the essential rules are not followed to the letter. This is because management calls for making the best decision, communicating well with people that matter in the management process, giving work assignments, delegating, training people, and appraising the employees, based on the job they are doing. When it comes to management, the diversity aspect is always inevitable. In a workplace setting of any company, the aspect of diversity will always be seen in respect to age, gender, race, religion, and other factors. Diversity management is thus a strategy intended to promote a positive environment in the workplace. In most cases, diversity management would be initiated by human resource management professionals and managed by the head of departments and supervisors. MWR, being a program that is intended to serve everybody eligible, irrespective of the differences that may abound, has to include diversity management in its management process. In MWR, the diversity management aspect is based on the idea that diversity is a way that shows the alternative ways of thinking, perceiving, and acting, thus enriching the overall life of the military community and their families (MWR). Diversity in this organizat ion will thus be seen as a way of getting creativity and innovation to the next level. This will act as a way through which the whole aspect of competitive advantage can be achieved, helping in the future developments. The military is made up of individuals of various religious

Competencies for International HR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Competencies for International HR - Essay Example Referring to Stroh and Caligiuri (1998), one of the most critical factors for the success of a company is its management of the human assets. The most important issue for HR in global organisations to decide at present is to decide whether they should depend on convergence or divergence. Convergence refers to developing the same basic rules and regulations for all locations, and divergence refers to allowing diversity according to local requirements. As Amstrong (2006) points out, the decision to make a company centralised or decentralised is dependent on a number of factors. These factors are: the extent to which there are well-defined local norms, the degree to which a unit is embedded in the local environment, the flow of resources from parent company to the subsidiary, and the nature of the industry (ibid). Admittedly, one thing becomes evident from this description: HR has an important role to play in this situation. A study in Malcrum(Alexander et al , 2009) with the support of HSBC looked into the role of internal and external communication in the present day international HR. It is found that the purposes in enhancing internal communication for businesses are creating understanding of the company strategy and direction, supporting organisational change, keeping people informed of company news, building company pride, and helping people to live values (ibid). Thus, it becomes evident that the purposes all are linked to HR. The main purpose of internal communication is employee engagement. Then, the study looked into how this internal communication is linked to external communication. In the present day business world, companies undergo rigorous scrutiny from the part of media and governments. That means companies will have to ensure that they practice what they preach. As Alexander et al (2009) states, if a company makes a public statement, it should make sure that the employees are aware of the same, and vice versa. When this point is discussed, it beco mes necessary to point out how a lack of relationships with external media, governments and local communities can be destructive at times. An example is the crisis faced by Shell Oil in Nigeria. To illustrate, it was during 1990s that Shell Petroleum came under heavy fire from the part of international press and local media for alleged environmental pollution of the delta. Noted public figures like Saro-Wiwa raised their concern against the company, and mass agitation began in no time. The company realised that it had little chance for improving its image or to bounce back to its previous glory as it had not cared to keep relationships with international media or the local community. In order to improve its image, the company took the following public relation initiatives. Firstly, it started balancing its business with active citizenship/working in partnership with communities. Secondly, the company decided to position itself as a company that respects human rights and environment. Thirdly, the company started publicising itself as a law-abiding, non-sectarian company. As Turk and Scanlan (1999) reflect, the company decided to propagate what it did for community and environment. Thus, one thing becomes very evident. International HR needs to be able to keep both internal and external