Find appropriate title Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Find appropriate title - Essay Example related to the way work was distributed, planning and organising work, types of skills possessed by employees, measuring and rewarding performance, standardization of best suitable methods of working and defining the role of each employee, group, function and/or unit. Subsequently, the Managerial Grid was proposed by Blake and Mouton (1964/1971) in which the interplay of three organisational universals, i.e. people, production and hierarchy, is studied through a grid depicting different ways how managers are concerned about production and people and their impact on each other. A transition of management perception towards human relations begun with Hawthorne studies conducted by Elton Mayo, which proved that variations in external environment impacted performance of the workers; variations in pay in the form of performance incentives motivated workers to perform better; increased social interactions that occurred between work motivated workers in turn leading to higher productivity (Dixon, 2003). These theories and others explain how different perspectives, i.e. planning and organising work, organisational structure and systems, and human relations, have an impact on effective management, contrary to my approach which has more often been authorit ative and less inclined towards human relations. The most essential requirement for effective management is ‘leadership.’ For a manager to be successful he/she should exemplify qualities of a leader; however, a person may not be in a managerial position to emerge as a leader. Hence, leadership qualities such as the ability to influence, create a vision, and ability for doing the right things help a manager to become more effective. For instance, Tripathi (2008) sums up leadership as characterized by existence of followers; involving a community of interests between leader and the followers; unequal distribution of authority; and guiding followers towards the right direction. However, management focuses on

Different Approaches To Completing Tasks

Different Approaches To Completing Tasks Imagine that you work for a multinational IT company and have been transferred to Japan for five years project. You want to adjust yourself culturally to the new environment so that you do not have cross cultural problems. Which aspect of the local culture would you wish to observe and understand in order to avoid problems of cross cultural communication? INTRODUCTION Communication is the process of exchanging ideas, facts and figures from one person to another. The term cross cultural implies interaction with people of different cultural, ethnic, age and class backgrounds. Communication is interactive in nature and is greatly influenced by our relationship with others. Different words may mean different meanings to different people. In addition to this what makes cross cultural communication really difficult is the difference in language even the same word can mean different things. Cross cultural communication is a form of global communication which describes how people of different culture communicate and interact with each other in different ways among themselves. Cross cultural communication is a field of study that draws various ways that we have learned to speak and gives non-verbal messages. Thus miscommunication is likely to happen when it involves significant cultural differences among the communicators. This is what known as Cross Cultural difference. FUNDAMENTAL PATTERNS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES There are six different cultural patterns that tend to vary from one person to another person. These are discussed as follows: Varying communication styles The way people communicate varies widely within people of different cultures. What may mean to one person may have a different meaning to other person. This aspect of communication style is known as language usage. Some words carries different meaning across different cultures. Another aspect of the communication style is the degree of importance given to verbal and non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication not only includes gestures and facial expressions but also involves sense of time, personal distance etc. Different approaches to completing the tasks Approaches to completing tasks vary from culture to culture. The reason behind this is different judgments of the rewards associated with the accomplishment of the task, different notions of time and access to resources available. For example Asian culture tends to give more importance to the developing relationships and emphasize more on the task completion towards the end as compared to the European-American culture. Varying attitudes towards conflicts Some cultures see conflict in positive manner while others view it as something to be avoided. In the U.S conflict is not considered to be desirable however people often are encouraged to directly face conflicts as they arise. In eastern countries conflicts are considered to be embarrassing; a written exchange might be favorable means to address the conflict instead of speaking. Different styles of decision making The role played by an individual in decision making process varies from culture to culture. For example in US decisions are frequently delegated i.e. an official assigns the responsibilities to the subordinates associated with the task while in Japan consensus is the preferred mode. Different attitudes towards disclosure In some cultures it is not considered appropriate to be open about emotions, personal feelings and information or a conflict or misunderstanding. When you are working with others or dealing with a conflict questions like what was the conflict about? Or what was your role in the conflict may seem natural to you but may seem intrusive to others. Varying approaches to knowing Differences are likely to occur among cultural groups when it comes to knowing things. For example European culture tends to consider information acquired by measuring and counting rather than the other ways of coming to knowing things. Compare that to African cultures preference for affecting ways of knowing things including rhythm and symbolic imagery. Some of the common aspects and challenges that he observed in Japanese culture are discussed as follows: Rules and etiquettes Japanese adheres closely to rules and regulations. It was clearly evident from the low crime rates. Aspects of etiquettes include vocabulary, grammar for polite conversation, Principles for exchanging gifts and greeting others. This made him aware that Japanese are very certain about their rules and regulations. Hierarchy In Japan a strong hierarchical structure still exists with respect, responsibility and authority being rewarded based on age, status and experience. When communicating with Japanese it is considered wise to pay attention towards the face. Face is closely linked with personal pride and forms the basis for an individuals status and reputation. Damaging face through over confrontation can be disastrous for business relationship in Japan. Concept of time Time is one of the major challenges while working in Japanese culture as Japanese are very strict regarding the punctuality. While working being early or on time for all appointments, meetings whether formal or informal is a show of respect and sincerity towards the task while any event of being late requires an apology. Communication styles Understanding communication style is another biggest challenge that is often faced while working in Japanese culture. Japanese have a preference for indirect and high context communication. They emphasize more on the impact of body language, developing relationship, emotions and other non-verbal communication. Harmony In Japan there is more emphasizing on collectivism rather than individualism. They place significant emphasize on loyalty towards the group. In Japanese culture it is important to understand that praising or prioritizing any one individual over others is likely to be embarrassing. Excessive hard working attitude Japanese people are highly dedicated to their work. For them, there is no day-night, hunger-thirst. When they are determined to achieve something, they achieve it any cost without thinking about any kind of comfort. For example if in India, 10 cars are manufactured in a day then in Japan, that number is 100. So, this is also a major challenge. OVERCOMING CROSS CULTURAL DIFFERENCES No matter whom you are or where you live or which culture you come from it is important to recognize that although other people may dress like you or even work for the same company they are not just like you. Some of the common aspects that Mr. A observed and decided to follows in order to overcome cross cultural differences are discussed as follows. The key to effective cross cultural communication is knowledge. It is very essential for people to understand the potential problems of cross cultural communication and to be prepared to adjust your behavior accordingly. Try to learn from generalizations about other cultures, but do not use those generalizations to oversimplify your ideas about other persons. One should practice and practice because the more effort you put in observing and learning about other culture more easily you can overcome cross cultural difference. One should not assume that his way of communicating is the only right way of communication in fact one should keep questioning about his assumptions about the right way to communicate. Try to listen actively and empathetically. By putting yourself in the other persons shoes especially when other persons perceptions and ideas are completely different from your own, you might need to operate at the edge of your own comfort zone. Another key ingredient that helps in overcoming cross cultural difference is developing awareness about an individuals culture. This is because if you dont have understanding about different cultures than how do you communicate to someone who understands and relates to the world differently to you. Reflective listening plays an important role in overcoming cross cultural differences. It is very helpful in checking out the meaning of what someone says by repeating back what you have heard which in turn helps you to confirm what has been said accurately. Another important point that one must keep in his mind at workplace is to be wise. People need to be aware how to interact with people with respect and knowledge. One must show maturity of thought and action in dealing with people. Thus working across different cultures requires a diverse skill set and a different business approach from business in general. When bridging the cultures both similar and foreign to our own certain strategies are crucial for the success of international project which are briefly described as follows. Learning about the project beforehand This helps to get a feel for the atmosphere, attitude and the angle that the business has. Observing new environment One must carefully observe how people act, dress and treat each other. This will keep a persons observation skills engaged and alert to elements that will help you to adjust in new environment easily. Allow more time Working across different culture takes more time to adjust. Communication may be slowed and logistics may be different. Give yourself more time to process information before taking any decision. Learn to tolerate uncertainty Definitive and concrete answers may not always be given especially when you working with Japanese culture with high tolerance for uncertainty.

Aids Epidemic :: Free AIDS Essays

HIV/Aids Epidemic HIV/AIDs is a huge epidemic still plaguing society today. The lack of knowledge and technical advances has caused an increasing number of cases. It has made its way around the world since the 1940s, causing countries to join together in the fight against AIDs. With all the campaigning that has been done the numbers of cases continue to rise. Countries have separated the disease into three patterns to make it easier to distinguish the effects that AIDs has on different regions of the world. As well as what subtypes sprout from what areas. HIV/AIDs can be spread in many different ways. The future is still uncertain for the victims whom lives have been dramatically changed by this deadly disease. It started back in 1940 when the virus jump from an animal to a human, it came from either a monkey or chimpanzee. A man who is unknown, still today, went to a hospital in Leopoldville, Africa which is now know as Kinshasa. The unknown man gave blood in a clinic for a study on blood diseases. It was then frozen in a test tube and forgotten about. Nearly a quarter of a century later, around the mid 1980s, scientist took a look at the blood again due to the growing AIDs epidemic. They discovered the man had the HIV virus which causes AIDs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AIDs has several different subtypes of the virus, all which can be traced to the Leopoldville man. The variety of types makes it hard to find a cure for the disease since it is constantly changing and mutating it’s self. The president of the United States and the prime minister of France announced in 1987 that they were going to join together to fight against the issue.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The virus has been divided up into three patterns. Pattern 1 is the type of AIDs in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. In these parts of the world AIDs is spread mostly by homosexual intercourse and found in homosexual and bisexual men most often. The number of cases has drastically dropped from blood transfusion due to routine screenings. The sharing of needles by intravenous drug abusers seems to be becoming a huge problem in helping to spread the disease faster. Since homosexual and bisexual men seem to be at a greater risk for the virus, the ratio of men to women is 20:1 in the pattern 1 countries.

Case Study-Cooper Tire and Rubber Company Essay

Introduction â€Å"Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, founded in 1914, specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of rubber products for consumers. Products include automobile, truck and motorcycle tires, inner tubes, NVH control systems, automotive sealing, and fluid delivery systems.†(http://www.coopertire.com/about/). The case study on Cooper mainly concentrates on the tire industry, and  Therefore the following analysis will be based on this. Cooper Tire & Rubber co. has enjoyed much growth and strong returns. However, with intense competition and developments in new technology, Cooper must follow suite to maintain competitive advantage by balancing efficiency with cost specifically in the Replacement Tire Industry. To set the right strategies it is important for Cooper to first analyse the external environment, both on a macro and micro basis, and then assess the resources and capabilities/competences in order to get a detailed overview of the company. The External Environment The Macro environment; PEST framework Political/Legal Analysis The introduction of NAFTA and GATT has created new opportunities for tire manufacturers for the supply of cheap labour. Companies can reduce their costs by producing their tires in low-cost labour countries such as Mexico. The foreign trade sub zone status, which reduces the company’s duty payments on imported raw materials, benefit smaller companies like Cooper greatly as it allows them to compete on an international level with relatively smaller budgets. The tire market is a heavily unionised industry, by URW the industry’s union. Over the last years the union has won, after long strikes, increased wages and benefits for workers. Economical The industry as a whole is influenced by the economic demand for vehicles, this is characterised by the strength of the economy and the disposable incomes of the consumers. The early 90’s recession had a major effect on the industry. The decline in the car industry meant that the competition for replacement tires increased, whilst the original equipment demand fell. This resulted in many companies diversifying into the replacement market in a bid to compete. The gasoline prices have an effect on the tire industry, due to the number of miles driven by drivers. After many years with fluctuating gasoline price, the price is now reasonable and stable. Social In the tire industry, the standard of living has a direct effect on the demand for tires. An example of this is found in the sub urbanisation of the US community, which resulted in more wear and tear on tires, thus a need to change tires. In addition to this the transport industry, buses, taxis, and trucks were proving more popular than the rail system, thus increasing the demand for tires. Vehicle owners are often reluctant to spend money on replacement tires, as they do not want to spend money on an old car with the ambition to purchase a new vehicle in the short term. This social attitude has lead to low-cost tire producers being more attractive in the replacement tire market. Technology Customers in the OE market often set special requirements for tires. Due to improved technology, the companies can easier produce products tailored to customers’ needs. The introduction of new technology has also lead to companies being able to produce new, better quality products at low costs. This has lead to the importance in having the latest technologic equipment in order to compete in the market. The Microenvironment; Porter’s Five Forces Model Threat of Entry by Potential Competitors New entrants in this industry may be deterred to enter the industry, due to the high fixed cost investments needed in plants and equipment. The incumbent companies have also achieved economies of scale through mass production and production know-how as they have moved down the â€Å"learning-curve†. The brand loyalty is quite moderate, but consumers do not face any cost in the eventuality they decide to switch from an incumbent manufacturer to a new entrant. When considering all these factors as barriers to entry, the barriers to entry for new competitors would be moderate/high. Rivalry among established companies The OE market is highly consolidated with Goodyear, Michelin and Bridgestone dominating the slightly growing market. The competition is fierce, and the players in the market compete mainly on price and product technology differentiation. The replacement market is more fragmented, and cost reduction is used as the  key competitive strategy. In both markets, competitive structure results in more rivalry as tire manufacturing companies have to fight to maintain revenues and market shares. The exit barriers present in the industry lock incumbent companies from leaving the industry when profits are low. Main barriers are the investment in plants and equipments, pensions and insurance for workers. The competitive structure and the high exit barriers show clearly that the rivalry among established companies is fairly high. Power Of Buyers In the OE market, the buyers are the automobile and truck manufacturers that buy tires in large quantity and are relatively few compared to the tire companies. They have the possibility to switch orders from one supplier to another in order to get the most convenient deal (quality products at low prices). As for tire manufacturers loosing one single buyer would mean loosing a large market share, and therefore the power of buyers is high. In the tire replacement market, the buyers consist of independent tire dealers, service stations, major department stores and automobile dealerships. Independent dealers are the most powerful retail channels as they satisfy almost 66 percent of the replacement market and have been proved to have the ability to influence customers’ choice, they will have the power to agree convenient deals with tire manufacturers. However, the power of retail channels is fairly low, as they buy in relatively small quantity secondly and the tire firms can easily switch to other solutions such as manufactured-owned retail stores or simply other dealers. Power of Suppliers The power of suppliers of raw material is low. The main reason is that â€Å"all of the raw materials are commodities, available in bulk from a variety of  sources on world markets.† Therefore, tire manufacturers can easily switch from one source to another. Furthermore, tire firms can eventually vertically (backward) integrate the processes to obtain the raw materials they need. On the other hand, it would be less likely for suppliers to threat tire manufacturers forward integrating into tire manufacturing as they would have to face the high barriers to entry the industry. Complements The demand and profitability of the tire industry depends critically on the oil and auto/truck manufacturing industry. Lower gasoline prices increase the number of miles driven by vehicles, which lead to more wear and tear on tires and an increasing demand for replacement tires. If the number of new cars sold declines, it means that drivers are holding on to their cars longer, and the demand for replacement tires increases. The demand for OE tires is directly related to the number of new vehicles produced and sold. The number of new vehicles produced worldwide has been stable the last years. Substitutes The retread tire market segment is a substitute of the replacement tire manufacturing industry, because it serves a similar consumer need. However, the retread market is not a threat to the tire industry anymore. In 1996 the sales of retread tires started declining, due to the fact that buyers could purchase new, more reliable tires for a slightly increase in the price. Cooper’s resources, competences and competitive/business strategy As Hill & Hones argue, â€Å"a distinctive competency is unique strength that allows a company to achieve superior efficiency, quality, innovation or customer responsiveness and thereby to create superior value and attain a competitive advantage†. Cooper with its distinctive competencies is achieving substantial low costs compared to that of its rivals through its key resources and capabilities. Key resources and competences Intangible Resources and Competences A key intangible resource has been identified through Coopers distribution. This involves Coopers relationship with its wholesalers as it sells half of its production as a private label to store-chains, mass merchants and discounters, while the other half is sold under the Cooper brand through independent tire dealers. Cooper has achieved superior customer responsiveness by developing a good relationship with their distributors through valuing them instead of competing against them. Cooper’s inventory system is a key resource that has helped them in cut costs even further, when using the capability of buying ahead to get cheaper deals. Cooper has the competence of bringing their products quickly to the market by outstanding service to the distribution channel with an efficient automated material handling system. Cooper knows that it is pointless to compete against the largest players in the market like Michelin and Bridgestone when it comes to R&D. Instead they copy and imitate the largest companies. â€Å"Instead of pioneering its own design, the company often waits to see what sells well†. In addition, Cooper use their efficient technologic manufacturing equipment so they can produce products at higher standards tailored to meet customers requirements. Cooper also concentrates on implementing new ideas, and innovation is developed through the manufacturing of new production lines. This no frills approach of manufacturing its products, aided by product innovation leads to reduced costs. Cooper has a low marketing expenditure, compared to their competitors. They focus their marketing and promotional strategy towards their most important customers, which are dealers and distributors. The TQM (Total Quality Management) Concept Gorr, chief executive of Cooper supports the TQM concept, and argues that the company’s corporate philosophy is to â€Å"produce value and quality, as defined by the customer†. Top quality management is an intangible resource, which gives them the capability to produce products that are superior to their competitors. It also creates efficient production methods while delivering excellent service to its distribution channel. This is represented in their strategic â€Å"Cooper 21† plan. Cross-functional teams have also been developed within the organisation, where employee skills and know how can be easily switched from department to department. The decision making although undertaken by management were made in consultation with all members of the company, as employees implement ideas in the most effective way. Cooper is therefore capable of developing and producing tires at a lower cost relative to those of its competitors. In addition Coopers innovative compensation system where by wages rise or fall due to the individual’s performance further contributes to motivation and overall productivity. An effective measure of efficiency is employee productivity, and Cooper is much more efficient than their competitors (see Appendix 1). Coopers, recruitment process in aid with its screening test is also designed to â€Å"team players†, which is designed to identify people with the â€Å"right attitude† to fit the job. This improved quality maintained by Cooper means that costs decrease because of less rework, fewer mistakes, fewer delays, and batter use of time and materials. Consequently productivity improves as â€Å"better quality leads to higher market share† (Hill and Jones, Strategic Management, 2001). Tangible Resources Cooper’s plants located in small towns and Mexico are one of its key tangible resources. Its plants have provided the company with cheaper resources including plants and labour. When Cooper want to expand its capacity, buying old plants and refurbishing them are very cheap. This tangible resource has helped cooper to create superior efficiency of resources as it permit to  reap savings over the company. Cooper’s own designed equipment is a valuable tangible resource for the company. Its own production equipment meet better the company’s own needs and specifications than commercial equipment. Cooper’s custom machines have helped to create superior efficiency and productivity in the production process by increasing production capacity at a reduced time. Its computer technology has not only enabled Cooper to keep up with its competitors but also reduced its costs. Contribution of Key Resources and Competences to the Value Chain To gain competitive advantage on its competitors, Cooper Tire focuses its strategy on what are its key resources and capabilities. It is really about maximising and concentrating all the key strengths of the different organisation’s primary and support activities, as represented in the value chain diagram. One of the strongest advantage for Cooper Tire is its ability to produce good quality tires at low cost, and this is the result of a winning combination of key resources such us technological machinery and key capabilities such as low-cost production know how and an efficient product distribution. In terms of value chain Cooper Tire creates its value with an efficient and consistent production, marketing and sales activities and at the same time with a well-organized company infrastructure. For these reasons Cooper Tire pursues a cost-leadership competitive/business strategy that will enable the company to maximise profit and expand. As Hill & Jones stated: † A strategy is an action a company takes to attain one or more of its goals/(superior performance).† Therefore, once established that Cooper’s goals are to produce good quality products at the lowest costs possible, maximise profit and expand the company, therefore the strategy will consist of the actions taken to achieve these goals. One of the main resources that contributes to Cooper’s low-cost strategy is  the company’s cheap plants and labour. In particular, as Cooper operates mainly in the replacement tire market where it is not vital to pioneer in product innovation and design, its competitive/business strategy is mainly based on a low level of product differentiation. Very little is invested in product R&D and tires designs and characteristics are adapted in relations to other companies’ already successful products. On the other hand much more attention and investments are dedicated to implement the distinctive competency of effective manufacturing and materials management. More in details, the effective manufacturing and materials management consist in adopting high computer technology for â€Å"product design and development, machine design and mold design†. Technology enables Cooper to produce high quality products quicker than most of its competitors and therefore adds much value to its products. Cooper are characterised by its shared norms and values attained from employee quality and innovation (TQM) with employee recruitment tests for â€Å"team players and communicators† undertaken by Cooper. This has been reflected in its organisational culture. As a result value is added as competitive advantage is attained because it is difficult to imitate staff operations and efficiencies in decision-making, which is reflected in its Source Award for its quality. Company No. of Employees Estimated Capacity (units per day) Output per employee Goodyear 22830 366900 16.07 Michelin 17505 216000 12.34 Bridgestone 9145 129900 14.20 Cooper 4300 126000 29.30 Continental/General 4509 87600 19.42

Popuarity of fast food outlets Essay

10. Discuss the causes of popularity of fast food. In recent years, there have been many studies conducted on fast food. According to the results of these studies, fast food has become an indispensible part of human life and has become quite popular. There are numerous reasons for the popularity of fast food restaurants among which the two most important ones are that they are cheap and easily available. To begin with, one of the most significant reasons why many people today opt for fast food restaurants is that fast food is cheap. That is to say, because the cost of the ingredients of fast food is low, the prices are also low . Therefore, as expected, people have more of a tendency to eat fast food. For instance, students have generally limited pocket money and they tend to spend their money carefully. Thus, this situation compels them to eat fast food because it is more affordable for them. Briefly, the cheapness of fast food is one of the leading causes of its popularity. Another important reason why fast food restaurants are so popular is that they are easy available. In other words, today fast food branches are very widespread and people can find them almost everywhere. People can eat food without searching for a restaurant for a long time and when they find it, they don’t have to wait for long. To illustrate, students have limited time between classes and they can easily get fast food such as toasts and hamburgers in a place close to their school. In short people do not need to spend much time eating thanks to fast food. In conclusion, there are a myriad of reasons why fast food restaurants are very popular. We always focus on the neglect effects of eating in fast food restaurants but actually we need to examine the causes of its popularity. Two main reasons are that fast food is affordable and easily available. Nevertheless, people, especially children, should be well informed about negative effects of fast food.