Business blue print document Essay

Recurring payments/deductions infotype (0014) in which you capture the details of periodic/regular earnings or deductions. For Mastek, Indian payroll, they will be Medical Reimbursement, Reimbursement of Books, Leave Without Pay, Guesthouse Deduction, Personal Courier and Personal STD/ISD Phone Call.   Additional payments infotype (0015) in which you capture the details of annual or irregular earnings or deductions. For Mastek, Indian payroll, they will be LTA and Performance Pay.   Contract elements infotype (0016) Monitoring dates infotype (0019)   Family details infotype (0021). Membership fees infotype (0057), which you can also set up to make payments to third-parties in particular cases Cost distribution infotype (0027), which you can also set up to assign the internal order number if the cost of the employee is to go to the internal order number. You can also assign the percentage so that only that percentage of cost goes to the internal order. If this infotype is not maintained or the percentage assigned to the internal order in this infotype is not 100 percent, then the system picks the cost center assignment from infotype 0001 to attach the cost. Personnel IDs infotype (0185) These infotypes have been modified to handle Indian requirements. India-specific infotypes containing payment information: – These infotypes have been created for India payroll only: –   Previous employment tax details infotype (0580)   Housing (HRA/CLA/COA) infotype (0581)   Exemptions infotype (0582)   Car & Conveyance infotype (0583)   Income from other sources infotype (0584)   Section 80 deductions infotype (0585)   Investment details (Section 88) infotype (0586)   Provident fund contribution infotype (0587). Other statutory deductions infotype (0588)   Long term reimbursements infotype (0590) * Nominations infotype (0591) 1. 7 POSTING TO ACCOUNTING Purpose Reporting for posting payroll results to Accounting, otherwise known as posting to Accounting, is a subsequent activity that is carried out after a successful payroll run. It usually takes place for each payroll period. During posting to Accounting, all posting data for the payroll results is selected, summarized, formatted, and then posted to the integrated components in Accounting. You can also archive the data created in posting to Accounting. Integration Different R/3 components are involved in posting to Accounting, and these components have different data requirements: –   Payroll (PY)   Financial Accounting (FI)   General Ledger Accounting (FI-GL)   Accounts Payable (FI-AP)   Accounts Receivable (FI-AR)   Special Ledger (FI-SL)   Controlling (CO) INTEGRATION OF THE COMPONENTS IN POSTING TO ACCOUNTING Payroll (HR) The principal organizational concept in Payroll is the wage type. A wage type classifies personnel expenses according to tax, insurance, labour legislation, pay scales and other operational characteristics. In Payroll, wage types are also used for saving additional information in the payroll results, for example, in the form of cumulation wage types (total gross amount or gross tax amount), or in the form of wage types for other important amounts (statutory net pay or transfer amount). The organizational assignments valid for all periods are also created within Payroll as well as special cost assignments, and the wage types are assigned to this information. During payroll, additional wage types are created to provide data for cost accounting and these are saved in the payroll results, for example, the portion of the wage that is not applicable on public holidays. Financial Accounting (FI) Financial Accounting is responsible for the flow of payments. The payment flows are posted to particular accounts depending on the type or identity of the receiver, and on the due date of the payment. Cost Accounting (CO) Cost Accounting splits the costs according to the type (cost type = G/L account) and assigns them to cost centers or to other cost assignment objects (additional account assignment). Posting to accounting allows you to post costs to the following account assignment objects: –   Position in customer order Implementation Considerations To ensure that the process of posting to accounting is completed successfully and without problems, please make the following settings: – Customize the components involved (wage types, accounts, other account assignment objects)   Customize Reporting for posting to Accounting. The individual components involved in posting to Accounting can be organized as follows:   All components are in the same clients of the R/3 System.   The accounting components are in a different system to the Payroll application component. This could be a different R/3 System, an R/2 System, or a third-party system. If the individual components are distributed in various systems, see setting up Posting to accounting.   Reporting for posting payroll results to Accounting   Posting documents In Customizing for Cross-Application Components under Scenarios ‘Posting payroll results to Accounting’. Features Posting to Accounting allows you to perform the following functions: –   Post retroactive accounting runs Pension Fund report for exempted Trusts (Though this is not applicable for Mastek, this is for the information only): – 1. Form 4 – Return of members leaving service 2. Form 5E – Return of the members leaving service during the month 3. Form 6 – Statement of contributions for the month ESI Reports 1. Form 6 2. Form 7 These reports are generated every half-year, in the months of October and April for the preceding contribution period. Professional Tax (PTax) Reports Payroll-India caters to the PTax Reports for the following states: – 1. Andhra Pradesh (Monthly) – Not applicable for Mastek 2. Gujarat (Monthly) – Not applicable for Mastek 3. Karnataka (Monthly) – Applicable for Mastek 4. Maharashtra (Monthly) – Applicable for Mastek 5. West Bengal (Monthly) – Applicable for Mastek 6. Tamil Nadu (Half-Yearly) – Applicable for Mastek 7. Madhya Pradesh (Annual) – Not applicable for Mastek These reports are to be generated at the relevant frequency for those states where PTax is applicable. The selection screen captures the following information: – 1. The PTax report can be generated for a PTax grouping created for the Personnel Subarea. 2. The report is printed in the relevant format for each state as applicable and for those employees for whom the PTax and return is applicable. Labour Welfare Fund Reports Payroll-India caters to Labour Welfare Fund reports for the following states: – 1. Gujarat (Half-Yearly) – Not applicable for Mastek 2. Using the standard SAP – ADP link the gross payroll results shall be uploaded to ADP for the final processing. The SAP US Payroll allows MSI to process payroll for employees in the United States, using data from SAP Personnel Administration and Benefits under a wide variety of configurations. The SAP Payroll system also offers a number of standard payroll reports. The Tax Reporter component will allow MSI to generate all required state and federal tax forms, such as SUI reports and W-2s. Further reports can be generated using Ad Hoc Query in conjunction with an SAP Payroll Infotype. However bulk of MSI requirements for legal reporting etc shall be met by ADP as the net payroll processing will be in their domain. Integration The Payroll component is integrated with other SAP HR components, such as Personnel Administration and Benefits. There are also interfaces to other SAP modules such as Financial Accounting and Controlling. 2. 1 COMPENSATION FOR USA PAY SCALE TYPE During the discussions it was realized that across Mastek Group, the compensation paid to the employees is divided into the following classifications: – 1. Technical – Professional 2. Technical – Semi-professional 3. Non-Technical – Professional 4. Non-technical – Semi-professional 5. Others – Professional 6. Others – Non-professional The same will be configured as the Pay Scale Types in the SAP R/3 system. PAY SCALE AREA The Pay Scale Area will remain same as we have defined our Personnel Areas. Therefore the following will be the Pay Scale Areas in the SAP R/3 system: – 1. Santa Clara 2. Dallas PAYROLL AREA & PAYROLL PERIOD In MSI, a semi monthly payroll period shall be used for running the payroll. Hence the payroll area defined in the SAP R/3 system for MSI is: – 02 – Semi Monthly – USA PAY SCALE GROUP The Pay Scale Group will be in terms of grades in the organization. The list of Pay Scale Group that is to be customized as under: – 1. T2 2. T3 3. G2 4. G3 5. G4 6. G6 7. G8 8. G10 9. G12 10. G14 11. G16 12. G18 13. G20 14. Project Trainee 15. Temporary PAY SCALE LEVEL There is no sub-classification of Pay Scale Groups, which can be mapped to the Pay Scale Level. At Mastek the salaries are defined in terms of Total Annual Gross (TAG) and then the money is divided into the various wage types of the employee. For the purpose of customization, one Pay Scale Level will be defined For the US compensation, Dallas has been taken as base location. The location is also considered for the US compensation package. To start the compensation review, first Mastek has to map the US Grades with the Indian Grades. The US Grades are as follows: – D2 D1 C2 C1 B2 B1 A2 A1 How they are mapped: – Indian Grade US Grade G4 D2 G6 D1 G8 C2 G10 C1, B2 G12 B1 G14 A2 G16 A1 The salary survey is done by an external agency and the salaries are fixed based on that. There are four major heads under which the salary is fixed for the review: – 1. Base Salary 2. Location Allowance 3. Skills 4. Performance Pay NOTE: MASTEK has decided that Indian grades shall be applicable globally and the US grades shall be mapped to equivalent Indian grades. However MASTEK is yet to provide the mapped list of grades for the same. The Reviewed salary is paid as Base salary and the relevant amounts are paid under the other heads. Thus the salaries are finalized for each and every employee in USA. It is to be noted that the salary survey report is Grade based in USA. As Dallas is taken as Base location, the amount for Location Allowance is fixed on the basis of the location the employee is scheduled to work in. For finalizing the location allowance the following factors are taken into account: – 1. Accommodation Cost, 2. Transportation Cost, 3. Tax Rate, and 4. Food Cost. All this is relevant to the Indian employees who visit USA from India. There is no information available as to how the compensation review takes place for the US nationals in USA. 2. 2 USA SPECIFIC BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION COBRA COBRA stands for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. It requires the vast majority of employers to offer continuation of coverage to covered employee and their dependents who, due to certain COBRA qualifying events, lose group health plan coverage. Infotype 0211 COBRA Qualified Beneficiary Infotype 0212 COBRA Health Plan Infotype 0270 COBRA Payments > MSI pays 100% for its employee’s health insurance premiums. Employees’ dependents are eligible to participate in the same health insurance, however it’s the employees’ responsibility to pay the premium costs. > Anthem Health provides both Medical and Dental insurance for MSI employees and their dependents. LIFE INSURANCE > MSI provides life death and dismemberment insurance coverage for all of its employees through UNUM Life Insurance Company effective from the date of joining MSI. > The beneficiary will receive two times the employees’ annual base salary. 401 K PLAN > All employees are eligible for this plan > MSI does not make any contributions to this plan > Employee can contribute up to 25% to a maximum of USD 10,000 per calendar year. CAFETARIA PLAN > Also known as Section 125 Plan. > Employees can pay for medical and dependent care expenses with Pre Tax Dollars to avail of tax benefit under this plan. > Employees may choose to have designated amount of their income directed towards this plan. > This is solely and employee contributed benefit. 2. 3 STANDARD SAP US PAYROLL FEATURES SAP Payroll allows MSI to run payroll for employees in all states. Requisite statutory reports, such as Federal forms 940, W-2, W-3, and all state SUI forms are also supported by the SAP system. Payroll does not just involve the calculation of remuneration, but consists of a variety of processes that are becoming increasingly important due to the employer’s increased obligation to supply benefits and medical welfare. You can also control the financial system of third-party providers. The System calculates the gross and net pay, which comprises the individual payments and deductions that are calculated during a payroll period, and are received by an employee. These payments and deductions are included in the calculation of the remuneration using different wage types. However, since MSI has out sourced its net payroll processing to a third party called ADP. Hence only the gross payroll shall be run and an interface shall be provided to send data to ADP for net payroll processing and deduction of Taxes etc. After the remuneration payroll you can carry out various subsequent activities, for example, you can see to remuneration payment or the creation of various lists, and make evaluations. The Gross Payroll component processes employee master data from SAP Personnel Administration and generates wage types and amounts to be used by the Net Payroll component, or to be exported to a third-party product for net calculation. Pre-tax deductions and earnings are processed within the Gross Payroll component. Integration. The Gross Payroll component is closely integrated with the SAP Personnel Administration and SAP Benefits components Payroll in Dialog Mode Purpose The payroll program is run at a specific point in time, not only to calculate an employee’s basic remuneration but also any special payments, overtime payments or bonuses that must be effected for the period in question. You can follow the procedure of payroll directly in dialog mode. Payroll in dialog mode is particularly suited to simulate a payroll run for an individual payroll area or individual personnel numbers. Payroll in a Background Operation Use When you have checked all the settings for the payroll run, and have tested the run in a simulation run, you can perform the payroll run in a background job. Off-Cycle Activities Purpose As an addition to regular payroll, which carries out payroll at fixed regular intervals, this function enables you to carry out specific off-cycle payroll activities for individual employees on any day. You can issue a check to replace payments that were originally made to an employee by check or by transfer but which the employee did not receive, or if the check is in an unusable condition (for example, torn). You can reverse payroll results that were created by a regular or off-cycle payroll run. You can enter a check number into the system retrospectively for a payroll result for which you have already issued a check manually. 2. 4 MSI US PAYROLL – GROSS PROCESSING Purpose The Gross Payroll component processes employee master data from SAP Personnel Administration and generates wage types and amounts to be used by the Net Payroll component, or to be exported to a third-party product for net calculation. Pre-tax deductions and earnings are processed within the Gross Payroll component. Integration The Gross Payroll component is closely integrated with the SAP Personnel Administration and SAP Benefits components Payments The individual payments form the basis for the calculation of an employee’s gross remuneration, which is the core part of payroll. Gross remuneration is the starting point for the calculation of social insurance and tax payments, and also for the calculation of net remuneration. Structure In the R/3 System, payments are split into the following categories according to their characteristics: Basic pay. Basic pay consists of the fixed wage and salary elements that are paid in every payroll period. You enter them in the form of wage types in the basic pay (0008) infotype. Recurring payments and deductions Recurring payments and deductions are paid or retained with fixed frequency. The system determined the payments using factors such as overtime, leave or substitutions. The wage types that illustrate these factors are entered in the recurring payments and deductions (0014) infotype. In the processing stage the system uses the Customizing settings representing the collective agreement.   Additional Payments. Additional payments are remuneration elements that are not usually paid in each payroll period, and that are not paid at regular intervals. You enter them in the Additional Payments (0015) infotype. Benefits Integration to Payroll Purpose Users of the R/3 Benefits component can use Benefits Integration to streamline the payroll calculation process for their employees. The Benefits Integration component allows benefits-related deductions and contributions entered in master data to be processed during net payroll processing. Integration This component integrates the Payroll component with the Benefits component. Deduction and contribution amounts can be remitted to benefits providers using functionality from the Third Party Remittance component. 2. 5 THE PAYROLL PROCESS 2. 6 US PAYROLL REPORTING Introduction The R/3 HR Payroll System provides all regulatory and tax reports required by U. S. federal and state law, such as SUI reports for state unemployment agencies, W-2 reports for the federal and state governments, and the Multiple Worksite Report for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additional payroll reports are available for other business purposes, such as the New Hire Report. These reports allow efficient evaluation of payroll data and ensure compliance with government regulations. Integration Payroll reports access information from all HR Infotypes and evaluate data from HR Time Management and HR Organizational Management as well as HR Personnel Administration. Features R/3 Payroll offers numerous internal and regulatory reports, including: New Hire Reporting Tax Reporter for federal and state reports Law requires companies to report the results of their payroll calculation to several tax authorities, including the federal government and many state and local governments. This component enables you to produce regulatory reports for government authorities in the format required by each authority. Reports that Tax Reporter supports include Form 940 – Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Return, Form 941 – Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, Form W-2 – Wage and Tax Statement, the 1099-R form and the Multiple Worksite Report. NOTE:-In case of MASTEK the above reports may be provided by ADP since ADP shall be responsible for running net payroll and doing all calculations and deductions for the same.

Vacant Chapter 1 Alone

I grew up in a small house in a lower-class neighborhood, just my dad and me. My old man worked a blue-collar job with shit benefits. I can't complain too much though, because I never went hungry and always had a roof over my head. No, my dad didn't hug me every night or read bedtime stories by the glow of a nightlight, but he fed me, clothed me, and didn't knock me around. That's more than some of my friends had, so I was grateful. I hadn't known then, growing up, that there was anything more in life to want. I was fifteen when my father left just after dinner to buy a pack of cigarettes. He never came home. My dad was shot in a convenience store parking lot after he gave the wrong guy the wrong look. He walked down to get some smokes and didn't take his wallet, just five bucks for the cheapest pack he could get. He was shot at point-blank range, no cigarettes or money found on his person. He was listed as a John Doe at the morgue. There was no burial and no identity when he moved from this life to the next. I was on my own for a week before anyone realized I was alone. I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut, to get up and go to school every day. I figured I had at least three or four months before a bill collector came knocking, but the nosy bitch across the street hadn't seen the old man in a week and was â€Å"worried.† That's when I began my life in the system. It's not like on TV; when you're an orphan in an after school special, they ship your ass off to a relative and everyone lives happily ever after. In real life, though, if you don't have family that wants you – or family at all, you become a ward of the state. Sure, they have foster homes and pretend families that some kids get to live with, but there are a shit-ton of homeless kids and few foster families available. Many foster parents are in it for the money, so they aren't exactly the best option, either. Typically, you're stuck in a group home with other kids in the same messed up situation as you and a revolving door of caregivers. However, I had a bed to sleep in, clothes on my back, and I was not a victim of abuse. It wasn't all that different from living with my dad. At eighteen, Children's Services kicked my ass out. There were lots of kids to take care of and not a lot of money. Luckily, I'd gotten a job at a grocery store as a bag boy at sixteen and began saving. I wasn't stupid or naive enough to think the state was going to take care of me forever. I was fortunate enough to have graduated from high school before I got the boot; some kids had to worry about finishing school in addition to being homeless. My father told me many times I couldn't depend on anyone but myself, and I never realized how right he was before the day I was truly on my own. With my savings in hand and a promotion to stock-boy, I got my first place. It was the cheapest place I could find in a neighborhood without bars on the windows. It was small and dirty, but it was mine. There weren't gunshots whizzing by my windows or the sounds of screaming every night, so I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. My life hasn't changed much in the past three years. I get up every morning, walk to the grocery store, clock in, work a ten hour shift, clock out, come home, mind my own business, and do it again the next day. I don't have friends because they create lots of complications and drama. I spend my time at work smiling at the customers and doing my job. Co-workers ask me out from time to time, but the truth is I don't have extra money to have a few beers with the guys or take a girl on a date. I'm always careful with my rejection. There's no sense in hurting anyone's feelings when it's not necessary. Plus, it would lead to questions I'm not willing to answer. I'm sitting alone at my thrift store kitchen table, staring down at a day-old cookie. It's my twenty-first birthday today. I don't have any plans, and there are no cards in my mailbox. I'm having dessert for breakfast, a treat to myself, and I'm thankful for what little I have. It's sad as hell, but I don't have any candles so I light a match and jam it in the middle of the damn cookie. I don't even make a wish before I blow out the tiny flame so it doesn't burn down and ruin my treat. No sooner than the flame's gone out, there's a knock at my door. I look at my dollar store wall clock and see it's only nine. I can't imagine who would be at my door this early on a Saturday morning. Most of my neighbors sleep in after a late Friday night. Even though I'm twenty-one, I tend to think of myself as more mature than most people my age, so when I open the door and see a girl, petite and fragile in appearance, I automatically think she's young. She may even be my age, maybe younger, but my experience makes me feel like I'm over thirty, so she seems like a girl to me. She's standing there smiling as if she doesn't have a care in the world, obviously not knowing people around here don't smile. I peer at her through the ripped screen of my front door as the heat and humidity of the day filters in. â€Å"Hey, what's up? I'm Emily. I just moved in next door.†

A study to determine how managers and leaders can motivate a multicultural staff

Cox and Beale (1997 cited Harvey and Allard 2005) define diversity as a group of people in a social system that has different group ties. On the other hand, Thomas (1999 cited Harvey and Allard 2005:p3) defines diversity including not only differences but also similarities, indicating that diversity is â€Å"individuals who are different in some ways and similar in others†.As it was mentioned before, diversity in a workforce includes employees with a variety of backgrounds in terms of race, gender, education, sexual orientation among others. This study will be focused on the understanding of a cultural diverse workforce with the aim of examining its influences on management styles.For this, it is necessary to point out some important definitions and topics that are relevant to management style in an international and heterogeneous business environment to motivate employees. Hofstede, Trompenaars and Hall & Hall are three of the most important and significant contributors in wh at culture and workplace differences regard (Mullins, 2005).General Overview and History of the TopicThe term managing diversity is nowadays becoming more important to organisations, not only because they are interested in diverse groups or they are up to date with the Equal Opportunities legislation and policies, but because they are facing important challenges related to the management and development within a diverse workforce in order to survive in today’s global marketplace (Edwards, 1991 cited Henderson 1994).Ten years ago, the majority of organisations did not think about diversity in the workplace with the intention of having benefit from it. Today, a vast percentage of organisations take advantage of diversity initiatives to enhance organisational performance and most important, they are committed to it (Berrios, 2003 cited Liberman, 2003).According to Mor Barak (2005), managing diversity is basically to bring together employees from different backgrounds. However, t his definition does not take into account the influence that it might have on management behaviours.According to Harvey and Allard (2005), diversity can affect people’s interactions in the workplace since it requires changes not only in the way people interact within each other, but also changes in the functionality of the organization, hence in the business’ performance.Rationale For The StudyManaging diversity is a reality that all Multinationals and International companies are facing. Most organisations nowadays are adapting programmes to manage a culturally diverse workforce in order to fulfil their objectives and gain place in the global competitive marketplace, making the most of its employees potential.Globalisation is one of the reasons workers are moving across borders, increasing the heterogeneity of organisations and development of cross-cultural interaction in order to enhance alliances that go beyond differences such as race, gender, and others (Harris et al, 2004).Not going much further, the European Union is the most important phenomenon of cultural diversity that has happened in the last 20 years. With 25 different countries as members where all of them has different cultures, the EU has faced the challenges that globalisation has brought in order to reach common objectives such as encouraging innovation and business investment through Union identity and national diversity (European Union, 2006).In the early 21st century, organisations have been through important changes related to this trend of globalisation where not only factors such as international competitive pressure and business activities have taken place, but also the diversity of human capital from all around the world where cross-cultural interaction has been in expansion (Mullins, 2005).Therefore, it is important that these companies identify their strategies when managing cultural differences in order to have the right opportunities to gain competitive advantage (Sch neider and Barsoux, 2003).Nevertheless, there are also some risks than can bring difference of cultures in the workplace or business activities; consequently, it is vital that organisations understand that different cultures execute procedures differently (Pooley, 2005; Adler, 1983 cited Miroshnik, 2002).Furthermore, and being more specific, the management of these ethnically diverse workforce has been on the spot of many authors. As Tayeb (1996; p180-181) says â€Å"the first step in the management of a diverse workforce is to recognise and value such diversity†, then he argues that â€Å"once the diversity is recognised, the next step is to ensure that it is effectively utilised and handled†.In this case, utilising those differences contributes to an effective management, thus to bring opportunities for organisational learning and innovation creating competitive advantage in the global marketplace (Schneider and Bardoux, 2003; Mor Barak, 2005).To gain this, managers must have the needed skills to manage a multicultural workforce, this includes, having the ability to recognise and accept cultural differences between their workers as well as coordination, cooperation and communications (Lane et al, 1997; Ravlin et al cited Earley and Singh, 2000).Significance and the Importance of the StudyManaging culturally diverse workforce is nowadays a challenge for international managers. On one hand, diversity represents both differences and similarities that exists on individuals and which make them be unique from one to another (Buelens et al, 2002); and on the other hand Parekh (2000) defines culture as â€Å"a system of beliefs and practices in terms of which a group of human beings understand, regulate and structure their individual and collective lives†.Thus, cultural diversity is a variety of cultural differences that requires awareness, understanding and acceptance of those differences by managers, making the most of them in order to gain po sitive outcomes (Scarborough, 2001; Littrell, 2002; Harris et al, 2004; Smith and Peterson, 2005).Cultural differences might have some influences in the way managers manage and motivate their culturally diverse team, and those ways or styles that are carried out in one culture are difficult to be implemented in another due to the difference of traditions, ways of doing things and values of that culture (Hofstede cited Evans et al cited Jackson, 1995).Therefore, further investigation is recommended to be developed to minimise cultural shock in management which could affect business performance. However, this study has been done to offer an up-to-date source of information about multicultural workforce and its influences on management style to motivate employees, which is going to be executed through secondary research.Hence, factors such as cultural diversity and management style should be analyzed in-depth in order to comprehend what may constrain managers of any multinational organ isation to adjust strategies to maintain the business addressed to its objectives.In this case, there have been other studies more related to the influence or impact of organisational and national culture on management styles and although managing diversity is a topic that has been researched for various authors, it can be said that managing and motivating a culturally diverse workforce is a relative new approach.Therefore, the purpose is to do academic research by studying the related existing literature reviews to analyse and understand the influence of a multicultural workforce in the management styles.Finally, a secondary aim of this research is to encourage people to take similar investigation so as to offer useful up-to-date sources that can help both organisations and researchers to acknowledge what is happening in international business and what forces are influencing the changes within organisations. A study to determine how managers and leaders can motivate a multicultural staff Cox and Beale (1997 cited Harvey and Allard 2005) define diversity as a group of people in a social system that has different group ties. On the other hand, Thomas (1999 cited Harvey and Allard 2005:p3) defines diversity including not only differences but also similarities, indicating that diversity is â€Å"individuals who are different in some ways and similar in others†.As it was mentioned before, diversity in a workforce includes employees with a variety of backgrounds in terms of race, gender, education, sexual orientation among others.This study will be focused on the understanding of a cultural diverse workforce with the aim of examining its influences on management styles.   For this, it is necessary to point out some important definitions and topics that are relevant to management style in an international and heterogeneous business environment to motivate employees.Hofstede, Trompenaars and Hall & Hall are three of the most important and significant contributors in what culture and workplace differences regard (Mullins, 2005).a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   General Overview and History of the TopicThe term managing diversity is nowadays becoming more important to organisations, not only because they are interested in diverse groups or they are up to date with the Equal Opportunities legislation and policies, but because they are facing important challenges related to the management and development within a diverse workforce in order to survive in today’s global marketplace (Edwards, 1991 cited Henderson 1994).Ten years ago, the majority of organisations did not think about diversity in the workplace with the intention of having benefit from it. Today, a vast percentage of organisations take advantage of diversity initiatives to enhance organisational performance and most important, they are committed to it (Berrios, 2003 cited Liberman, 2003).According to Mor Barak (2005), managing diversity is basically to bring together employees from differe nt backgrounds. However, this definition does not take into account the influence that it might have on management behaviours.According to Harvey and Allard (2005), diversity can affect people’s interactions in the workplace since it requires changes not only in the way people interact within each other, but also changes in the functionality of the organization, hence in the business’ performance.b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rationale For The StudyManaging diversity is a reality that all Multinationals and International companies are facing. Most organisations nowadays are adapting programmes to manage a culturally diverse workforce in order to fulfil their objectives and gain place in the global competitive marketplace, making the most of its employees potential.Globalisation is one of the reasons workers are moving across borders, increasing the heterogeneity of organisations and development of cross-cultural interaction in order to enhance alliances that go beyond differe nces such as race, gender, and others (Harris et al, 2004).Not going much further, the European Union is the most important phenomenon of cultural diversity that has happened in the last 20 years. With 25 different countries as members where all of them has different cultures, the EU has faced the challenges that globalisation has brought in order to reach common objectives such as encouraging innovation and business investment through Union identity and national diversity (European Union, 2006).In the early 21st century, organisations have been through important changes related to this trend of globalisation where not only factors such as international competitive pressure and business activities have taken place, but also the diversity of human capital from all around the world where cross-cultural interaction has been in expansion (Mullins, 2005).Therefore, it is important that these companies identify their strategies when managing cultural differences in order to have the right opportunities to gain competitive advantage (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003).Nevertheless, there are also some risks than can bring difference of cultures in the workplace or business activities; consequently, it is vital that organisations understand that different cultures execute procedures differently (Pooley, 2005; Adler, 1983 cited Miroshnik, 2002).Furthermore, and being more specific, the management of these ethnically diverse workforce has been on the spot of many authors. As Tayeb (1996; p180-181) says â€Å"the first step in the management of a diverse workforce is to recognise and value such diversity†, then he argues that â€Å"once the diversity is recognised, the next step is to ensure that it is effectively utilised and handled†.In this case, utilising those differences contributes to an effective management, thus to bring opportunities for organisational learning and innovation creating competitive advantage in the global marketplace (Schneider and Bardou x, 2003; Mor Barak, 2005).To gain this, managers must have the needed skills to manage a multicultural workforce, this includes, having the ability to recognise and accept cultural differences between their workers as well as coordination, cooperation and communications (Lane et al, 1997; Ravlin et al cited Earley and Singh, 2000).c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Significance and the Importance of the StudyManaging culturally diverse workforce is nowadays a challenge for international managers. On one hand, diversity represents both differences and similarities that exists on individuals and which make them be unique from one to another (Buelens et al, 2002); and on the other hand Parekh (2000) defines culture as â€Å"a system of beliefs and practices in terms of which a group of human beings understand, regulate and structure their individual and collective lives†.Thus, cultural diversity is a variety of cultural differences that requires awareness, understanding and acceptance of th ose differences by managers, making the most of them in order to gain positive outcomes (Scarborough, 2001; Littrell, 2002; Harris et al, 2004; Smith and Peterson, 2005).Cultural differences might have some influences in the way managers manage and motivate their culturally diverse team, and those ways or styles that are carried out in one culture are difficult to be implemented in another due to the difference of traditions, ways of doing things and values of that culture (Hofstede cited Evans et al cited Jackson, 1995).Therefore, further investigation is recommended to be developed to minimise cultural shock in management which could affect business performance. However, this study has been done to offer an up-to-date source of information about multicultural workforce and its influences on management style to motivate employees, which is going to be executed through secondary research.Hence, factors such as cultural diversity and management style should be analyzed in-depth in or der to comprehend what may constrain managers of any multinational organisation to adjust strategies to maintain the business addressed to its objectives.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Entrepreneurship and Innovation - Essay Example Bibliography†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.12 8. Appendix I Reflective Commentary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.13 Entrepreneurship and innovation Introduction Human activity has reached its height in XXI century. Therefore, there is a need to develop and facilitate spheres of human activities. Business is a sphere of human activity, which requires constant development and dynamic change. Under conditions of overall globalization processes, business activities have to adopt constant changes in order to satisfy diverse needs of customers and producers. Thus, innovation in the business field is required. Entrepreneurship is an integral part of the modern business world. A need for innovation in this field is a sign of constant development of the bus iness world and reflects a dynamic nature of all participants of the business world (Bessant & Tidd, 2009). This research paper discusses intrapreneurship as an innovative type of entrepreneurship. Intrapreneurship implies entrepreneurship activity of employees within a certain organization. This phenomenon has been often studied from theoretical and practical perspective, but there is a need to study positive and negative effects of intrapreneurship. ... An intrapreneur propagates and supports his ideas thus creating a gap between organizational goals and his own goals. The best scenario for an intrapreneur is to gain support from the organization where he works. In other cases, he has to quit from his job and set up his own business. A well-known example of intrapreneurship is separation and propagation of the ideas developed by the developers of Adobe, John Warnock and Charles Geschke (Literature Review, 1990). These engineers were hired by Xerox and their innovative ideas were not supported within the organization. Finally, they established their own business and currently annual turnover of Adobe rises up to $3 billion. Literature review on intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship At first glance it may seem that intrapreneurship is rather easy and uncomplicated process of business doing. Very often, one attempts to reveal characteristics of entrepreneurship in intrapreneurship: the former business doing implies innovation and creat ive thinking and things are considered from an innovative perspective. Enterpreneurship is able to take a risk and accept failure. An intrapreneur is focused on the search for new opportunities that will result in profits increase. Intrapreneurship is a perfect way for organizations to increase their profits and develop creative thinking of their employees. Intrapreneurship is a way for innovation, reinvention and improvement (Carrier, 1996). A creative potential of employees is the core rod of company’s innovative and successful development. Currently, studies on entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship are focused on comparative-contrasting analysis of these activities. More educated employees with a richer experience were not involved in intrapreneurship

Revolutionary Footware Product Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Revolutionary Footware Product - Assignment Example These statements shall then be used to determine if the project is viable or not. To bring out this details, the report shall develop a marginal costing statement that clearly points out the cost per unit of producing each item of the new footwear product, a break even analysis table and graph that shows the time that the project will take to break even, a cash budget that shows how cash will be utilized across the first 12 months, a forecast income statement that shows how much profits will be made from the project within the first 12 months and a forecast balance sheet that shows the project’s assets and liabilities as at the end of each of the first 12 months of operation. The new footwear product that will be developed is a sports shoe that is made of alligator skin combined with goat skin which is known to be light and comfortable as well as durable enough to fit the potential expected for this project. Alligators are rare species and as such the portion of alligator skin used on each shoe will be minimal. On the other hand, goat skin is readily available therefore the supply of the same is expected to be sufficient (Boer Goats 2011). The footwear product shall be referred to as the ‘sporting’ Financial projections The products revenue forecasts, the profits and the cash flows are based on the following assumptions The goats skin shall be readily available and each alligator skin available shall be utilized to the maximum, Due to the revolutionary nature of the product, the monthly sales are expected to be 50,000 units with a monthly growth rate of 2%. The market for the product is expected to be readily available due to the number of shoe distributors available The footwear product has a high growth potential in the United Kingdom due to its light weight and durability which will make it stand out from the rest of the footwear products available in the United Kingdom and eventually the world at large. The price of the footwear product is expected to be ?40 per unit which is priced based on the quality of the footwear and the competitors as shown by the price of footwear in the UK and the US (All footwear 2011). The production capacity of the production process is expected to run at the optimal point from the beginning of the project (West, Hussey and Bendrey, 2003). Marginal costing cost statement (Evans and Michael 2011). The price of the new footwear product will be equal to ?40 as shown in the marginal cos

Hammurabi's Code Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hammurabi's Code - Essay Example Subjects of Hammurabi’s code of laws would thus, benefit from the justice and fairness provided by the code. The Phrase â€Å"an eye for an eye† represented Hammurabi code of laws. The phrase may sound harsh, but it means more than its literal meaning. The code differentiates punishments for wealthy persons, commoners and even slaves. It outlines the terms and conditions for purchasing and selling slaves (Jarus, 2013). Hammurabi’s code deals many important topics that concern the Babylonians. The code provides rules for witnesses and persons making accusations of crimes. It also highlights processes to handle thefts and destruction of property and offers guidelines for trading and solving business problems. Subject of the Hammurabi’s codes would benefit so much from the justice and fairness the code details. In most cases, the rules are reasonable and clear to give Babylonians a framework to live with order. Justice and order among people is the basis for the formulation of the Hammurabi’s code. The code would also benefit Babylonians when comes to solving family matters such as marriage, divorce, and issues of adoption. Surprisingly, the code also outlines payment layouts for doctors and other professionals. Other important components covered in the Hammurabi’s code that would benefit its subjects are those related to farming and keeping of animals. Agriculture was the main human activity in Mesopotamia. Developing laws that ensured justice and fairness for farming activities would greatly benefit people in Babylon. The code also benefited women. The code gave women certain rights including the right to buy or sell property as well as the right to seek a divorce. In addition to justice and fairness, Hammurabi’s code emphasized honest for all parties in a trial or court (Jarus, 2013). A codified set of laws are well organized and written in a logical manner. Codified laws e.g. the Hammurabi’s code is easier to locate and follow.

Critically evaluate the effectiveness of performance appraisal as a Essay

Critically evaluate the effectiveness of performance appraisal as a means of identifying and meeting employee development needs - Essay Example Performance appraisal therefore is very evident especially in total quality management. Quality is of higher significance especially in industries where there is a need to come up with competitive advantage. In the case of car manufacturing industry for instance, quality assurance is of high interest because the output or product offerings should be enough to convey customer’s trust and loyalty. Thus, an organisation belonging to this industry must be able to come up with performance appraisal among its employee to constantly check quality and organisational performance. This evaluation is centered to an individual’s performance and potential development (Singh et al., 2008). It is clear that employee performance appraisal is one of the bases in which the company has corresponding idea on how to determine employees’ given compensation and other privileges. However, despite the presence of performance appraisal in almost every company or organisation, there still a need to evaluate if it actually helps identify and meet employee’s development needs. Performance appraisal defined Evaluation is very important especially in the corporate world because it is a way in which corporate performance is known at a specific significance. The case of evaluating employee performance is a complex task depending on the nature of business operation. Employee is naturally under evaluation and it may be monthly, quarterly or annually depending on the organisation. The evaluation is said to be formal because it determines an employee’s career in the organisation. This evaluation is known as the performance appraisal and it actually helps the company decides of one’s career opportunity (Randhawa, 2007). It is a form of assessment in which an employee’s strengths and weaknesses are identified and observed for the purpose of enhancing, improving or commending performance for potential development (Landy and Conte, 2009; Aswathappa, 200 5). Performance appraisal is very complex because it involves specific standard that if not properly understood, it would result to a certain level of confusion and unnecessary feedbacks (Sandler and Keefe, 2003). Thus, it is important that employees must be able to understand what performance appraisal is all about and what it is for (Landy and Conte, 2009). The role of performance management Managers have important role to play when it comes to performance management process. One of the most and obvious role of performance management is to create a business environment that supports development and effective coaching for individual performance (London, 2003; Podger, 2009). With performance management, there is a considerable feedback that can become the basis of evaluation and control. The case of Investors in People is a good example because it is about business improvement and it tries to coach organisations to achieve their full potential. They target to help businesses improve their performance by knowing their priorities. There are many priorities that an organisation should focus. The Investors in People accredited organisations have significant priorities which include managing change, increasing efficiency, maximising profitability, increasing sales, improving productivity and strategic leadership. All of these priorities are eventually integrated with understanding the essential potential of company and its employees. Citing the case of AA Security Ltd, quality

Coursework for Data Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Coursework for Data Analysis - Essay Example Growth: the coefficient for growth is given as 0.48663, this means that there is a positive relationship between growth and vote and as such for every unit increase in the growth, the dependent variable (vote) increases by a factor of 0.48663 and vice versa. Goodnews: the coefficient for goodnews is given as 0.64031, this means that there is a positive relationship between goodnews and vote and as such for every unit increase in the goodnews, the dependent variable (vote) increases by a factor of 0.64031 and vice versa. War: the coefficient for the war is given as -2.66658, this means that there is a negative relationship between war and vote and as such for every unit increase in the war, the dependent variable (vote) decreases by a factor of 2.66658 and vice versa. person: the coefficient for person is given as 3.04593, this means that there is a positive relationship between person and vote and as such for every unit increase in the person, the dependent variable (vote) increases by a factor of 3.04593 and vice versa. b) Perform tests for the statistical significance of the parameters of the independent variables inflation, growth and goodnews using the critical value of the corresponding t-distribution and the test p-value. Interpret the tests results. Inflation: the computed t-distribution is given as -1.37 whose |-1.37| is 1.37 a value less than the critical value of 2.0423, meaning that we fail to reject the null hypothesis. Similarly using the p-value we get that the p-value is 0.183>0.05 (significance level), leading us to accept the null hypothesis and thus concluding that the parameter of inflation is insignificant in the model at 5% significance level. growth: the computed t-distribution is given as 3.03 a value greater than the critical value of 2.0423, meaning that we reject the null hypothesis. Similarly using the p-value we get that the p-value is 0.006

Economic evaluation (comparing scenarios) Assignment

Economic evaluation (comparing scenarios) - Assignment Example In the current society, it is considered to be an analytical tool that focuses on managing issues ascribed to uncertainty. Base Case: In the case that financial resources amounting to 1029.8 dollars, are used to solve challenges ascribed to acquisition of PEP, an incremental value of 258.6 dollars would be spend to cater for improving the quality of life leading to 21.418 quality life added year. However, the value of QALY would reduce to 21.399 if only 771.2 dollars are spent to solve HIV challenges without PEP. Worst Case: In the case that an amount of 1098.5 dollars is directed towards solving HIV issues by use of PEP, the QALY would reduce to 15.958 with an incremental cost of 1033.7 dollars. However, if the challenges associated with HIV are solved by investing 62.2 dollars, there would not be incremental costs with an increased QALY of 15.993. Best Case: 2614.6 dollars is directed towards purchasing PEP to solve HIV challenges the QALY would increase to 36.488, with no increased incremental. However, if other methods rather than PEP is used, the costs would rise to 9046.8 dollars with an incremental value of 6432.2 dollars with a relatively lower QALY value

National Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

National Government - Essay Example The Constitution as the supreme law of the land empowers the government to the legal rights to control the operation of the businesses. There has been a rise in government regulation with time. Still, the business community has considerate freedom of action. Understanding the US Government business relations requires acquaintance with the characteristics of the economy itself. The United States has a well-diversified economy with an industrial base. It is a capitalist type of economy with bantam public enterprises and lots of privately owned corporations. The success of the economy is due to control rather than the ownership by the government. These corporations are far-reaching in search for markets, operating in openness, and judicial processes take a center stage in conflict resolution. Great respect is however owed to the existing legal and economic structures (Porter, 3) The government regulation is licensing and permission. Enterprises are required to be registered to start operations. The US also has a large number of corporations who, as a prerequisite, require a charter to commence operations. The same is required for the partnerships and limited liability companies. The policy makers, therefore, monitor the operation of these enterprises. The US economy experienced a total economic change in last three decades. In the 1974 Summit Conference on Inflation, thirty prominent economists made a report to the then President Ford together with the congressmen. The report gave strong recommendations to enhance the economy. These included restructuring pricing and doing away with obsolete legislations that resulted in inefficiency. These policies helped develop and strengthen the banking, transportation, telecommunications and insurance sectors (Porter, 10). In 1789, George Washingtons farewell speech had one important message concerning US foreign policy, "avoid entangling alliances". To some, these words were wise,

International Debt Essay Example for Free

International Debt Essay a) What is meant by the problem of international debt? (6 marks) b) Discuss the main policies that a country can use to reduce the problem of international indebtedness (i) in the short run and (ii) in the long run (7 marks + 7 marks) a) The Balance of Payment account shows all monetary transactions between our country and the rest of the world over a period of time. It is made up of the current account (trade in goods and services), capital account (Investments, Saving, Borrowing) and the balancing item, which represents the total of all errors and omissions from the above values, which are estimates. When a country spends more than it earns i.e. it imports more than it exports (Current account), or it saves and invests more abroad than other countries save and invest in that country (Capital account), it is said that the country has a current account deficit and a capital account deficit respectively. The country facing a BOP deficit must take actions to rectify it. It usually borrows money from other countries or international financial institutions. The accumulation of debt from loaning from abroad because of a recurring BOP deficit is known as international debt. International debt developed into a problem for many developing countries, Third world countries, which are the poorer countries of the world. These are countries in Africa, Asia and South America and they represent the largest group of countries in the world both in area and population, but the lowest in income and wealth. The cause of the international debt in LDCs is their chronic balance of payments problems. They owe huge sums of money and they need to pay large sums in interest. As a result, in the world as a whole, there is a net transfer of funds from the poor countries to the rich. b) i) The Balance of Payment account shows all monetary transactions between our country and the rest of the world over a period of time. When a country spends more than it earns i.e. it imports more than it exports (Current account), or it saves and invests more abroad than other countries save and invest in that country (Capital account), it is said that the country has a current account deficit and a capital account deficit respectively. The government of a country may take actions to rectify this deficit. In the short run a country can borrow from financial institutions and other countries to correct its Balance of Payments deficit. An alternative would be to use its reserves (Gold and foreign currencies) to correct its deficit. These are temporary ways to correct the deficit and do not fight the source of the problem, they do not stop it from occurring the following year. ii) In the long run the country can take actions that would eliminate the problem that cause the BOP deficit. A country can use many different policies to correct and reverse the deficit. If the government increases taxes and, or, decreases public expenditure, there will be less money circulating in the economy and the aggregate demand would decrease. People will have less money to spend on imports, imports would decrease and the BOP deficit will be corrects. Nevertheless, a decrease in aggregate demand also affects the domestic industries. Less of their products would be demanded, they will produce less and as a result they will cause unemployment. The government can also decide to increase interest rates. This will attract inflows of Hot money (Short term investments of large sums of money that investors move from country to country in search for the best interest rates) into the country correcting the BOP deficit. The downside of this will be that the high interest rates will make borrowing more expensive and as a result consumers will borrow less for consumption and firms less for investment. Protectionism policies may be applied. These are policies to prevent trade between countries and decrease imports so that the BOP deficit is corrected. Unfortunately some protectionist policies such as import tariffs or imports quotas are usually not in the disposal of countries members of custom unions such as the European Union. A devaluation in the countrys currency will lower its value and make the countrys exports cheaper for foreign countries to buy and at the same time the imports into that country will be more expensive. As a result exports will increase and impost will decrease, thus the BOP deficit will be corrected. This is not possible for members of the ERM of the EU. In the long run a country may decide to improve the competitiveness of its Industries through supply side measures such as regional policies. Nevertheless, these policies are very time consuming and will take a lot of time to work. The country can also demand through the IMF a debt rescheduling and or new loans. This involves lowering the interest rates on existing loans, lengthening the repayment period and, or, canceling part of the debts. The IMF can provide additional loans or arrange so that financial institutions do it, with a guarantee from the IMF. In order for the IMF to do these it sets certain conditions and structural adjustment programmes that the country must follow. These conditions and programmes involve most of the policies discussed above. A further, policy would be to encourage commercial banks to finance private sector development. If governments spend too much they have a budget deficit and their income is less than their expenditure. This deficit is financed by borrowing large amounts from commercial banks and as a result not many funds are left to lend to the private sector. The IMF wants commercial banks to lend more money to the private sector, which is expected to make better use of the funds for development projects.

Emergence Of The Buddha Essay Example for Free

Emergence Of The Buddha Essay A). Outline the social, political and religious background from which Buddhism emerged. (10) Buddhism is one of the major religious traditions of the human race today. Buddhism was influenced by many different cultures over the thousands of years. This essay will outline the social, political and religious issues surrounding the background and the emergence of Buddhism in Indian Society. In the 1920s archaeological excavations of the ancient cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa in North West India revealed the existence of an urban civilisation. This is called the Indus Valley Civilisation. (Buddhism Dominique Side) The background from which the Buddha emerged from stretched as far back as C2700 in a place called the Indus Valley. This was the first sign of civilisation to live on the Indian subcontinent. People were attracted to the Indus Valley because of the of the River Indus. The River provided a good source of vegetation; there was also flat land, stones and trees. The Indus Valley was an Egalitarian society, which meant that everybody living inside the society were all equal and they worshipped both Gods and Goddesses. They believed and worshiped in Brahman, who they believed was the most looked up to and modest God. Archaeologists found statues with engraved scriptures of Gods and Goddesses on; the finding of these pots is where it is believed that the Religion began, although there were never any findings of temples to prove this. Artefacts show its Religion to be related to the forces of nature the worship of a mother Goddess, sacred trees and fertility symbols. (Buddhism Dominique Side) The valley was believed to have been a strong central government and to have two main political centres, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. The Indus Valley civilisation began to move out, many people today still believe this was because of a natural migration. After the civilisation of the Indus Valley had left, Aryans then began to set up home on their land. Aryans were nomadic; they travelled around a lot, never staying in one place for very long. They brought animals with them and built up a strong military. They were thought to be good at building and carpentry. The official religion of the Aryan conquerors of India is referred to as the Vedic religion after their holy books or Vedas (knowledge). The priests of this religion were known as Brahmans or Brahmins and are often mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures. The Aryans were unquestionably tough people, military strong, and they were fierce and war like. Their culture was oriented around warfare, and they were very good at it. The Aryans were a new start in the Indian culture; they adopted almost nothing of Harappan culture. They built no cities, no states, no granaries, and used no writing. They worshipped a pantheon of gods and were mostly connected with forces of the natural world, especially those powers on which humans were dependent. (Buddhism Denise Cush) The Indian caste system began to develop and the civilisations were placed into the category that they belonged too. Each mans duty was to follow the profession suitable for his social class. (Buddhism Dominique Side) Even today the values of the caste system are held strongly, it has kept a sense of order and peace among the people. The caste consists of six different levels, and as a pyramid starting from the highest and working down. The highest being the Brahman, then Kshatriya, Valishya, Shudra, Harijans and the Untouchables. Within each of these levels are the actual castes within which people are born, married and die into. They all have their own place among each other and accept that it is the way to keep society from disintegrating to chaos. The system has worked well for Indian people and still has a major role in modern India. The Aryan society was patrocol, which means it was all male. It was now no longer an egalitarian society. Indus Valley people and Aryans began to mix, which is how the Indo-Aryans were formed, this was the beginning of Hinduism, which was a mixture of Indo and Aryan beliefs and practices. From these two religions they made a relationship and formed the Indo- Aryan people. Like a mighty river, created from mainly tributaries that fed it, Hinduism is an amalgamation of the beliefs of the many people who settled in India in ancient times. (A beginners guide to Buddhism, Gillian Strokes) People now did not sacrifice animals for their religion but would now give gifts to their God called offerings; these would consist of flowers and vegetables. The Indo Aryans did not have or worship a holy scripture, however they did have Vedic hymns that were sang and collected, and which were later written down in the Veda. This means they have a cultural importance. They also worshipped a pantheon of gods. They believed in the highest form of God, the Brahman who was the highest level of the caste system. There was an amalgamation of Indo and Aryans that became the religion Hinduism. Women now did not have any power; men now did everything, women were now considered inferior to men. As a belief in the caste system, you were only allowed to marry within your level of the caste system. The political organisation was hierarchical and centralised. Kingdoms varied in size and kings were no more than village leaders. Some people believe that Hinduism began with the Indo-Aryans, while others believe that it began with the Indus population. Hinduism has no founder and no single moment of beginning. The emergence of Buddhism was now falling into place. Hinduism is the largest religion of India. The religion is based on prayers and believes in many gods and goddesses. However, one God named Brahman was more significant than the others. There were special priests known as Brahmin who were used to help you worship this special God, they helped to channel peoples faith. Asceticism defined as the practice of self-disciple, voluntary undertaken, in order to achieve a higher or spiritual ideal began. People didnt agree with Brahman priests, they wanted to live a simple life in the forest. Hinduism also believes in reincarnation, this is rebirth the cycle of life. It consists of Birth, Life, Death and Rebirth; you undergo the cycle over and over again. It is thought that if you live a good life you will be born into a better caste in your next life. You will achieve good karma if you do your duty well which is determined by the caste you are born into. Good karma means a good next life and bad karma means a bad next life. The only way to get out of the cycle is to have continuous good rebirths, which means you will enter Nirvana. All these backgrounds lead to the emergence of Buddhism in some way. Ascetics would move away to the forests and leave all their family and objects behind, even the idea of the caste system. They wanted peace of mind and to achieve enlightenment. The best way to do this was to meditate. They also wanted to get out of the life cycle and achieve Nirvana. Siddhartha Gautama was an ascetic, he was born a Hindu but wanted to escape the life cycle. He emerged as the Buddha after achieving enlightenment and people began to follow his way of life. Political aspects were that people did not use the caste system and also rejected social and political values. They wanted an egalitarian society where everyone was equal and treated with the same amount of respect. One of the effects of these changes was the creation of new professions, such as state officials and traders, which had no place in ancient caste system. (Buddhism Dominique Side) Therefore in conclusion I can see how Buddhism has emerged over thousands of years and that Buddhism now does not have any thing in common with the earliest religion found. Buddhism needed the other religions to be in place in order for it to exist and without the other religions; it might not have existed today. I think Buddhism has become the fairest religion, as it believes in equality. Therefore it has adapted out of the many religions that came before it. B). The Buddha turned his back on all the Religious teaching of his age. Assess this view (10) Buddhism is an Eastern Religion that is over two thousand years old. Buddhism as a religion was influenced by this historical context. The origins of Buddhism are closely connected with the origins of Hinduism. Buddhists dont believe in a God they just worship the highest in the caste system, the Brahmin. The Buddha is a highly respected person in the Buddhists Society. Buddhism is an amalgamation, an adaptation of Religions over time. This part of the essay requires assessing the view of how the Buddha turned or didnt turn his back on the religious teachings of his age. The Buddha lived and taught in the Northeast India about 2,500 years ago and the development of the Religion was influenced by this historical context. He lived for around eighty years, somewhere between the 4th and 6th centuries BCE. Siddhartha Gautama developed most of his ideas for Buddhism from Hinduism. He changed and developed them to suit his new religion. He took some but changed them. He was born a Hindu and born into the Kshatriya Caste. He became an ascetic. I believe that the Buddha turned his back on his religious teachings for an important reason; therefore I believe this is because he wanted to get himself out of the life cycle. The Buddha wanted to go to the forests to meditate and reach Nirvana. The Buddha did not want his teachings to be taken as something sacred in itself, but as a means to an end. He made it clear that any teachings, including his own were not to be accepted without noticing but with faith and reverence, but should not be tested out in experience. The Buddhism religion was not just something to believe in or discuss, but something to try out to see if it worked. When you have tried it out it could make you a better person or takes you nearer to your spiritual goal. Siddhartha Gautama did turn his back on the previous teachings are the Caste system; the Caste system was a very important part of the social and religious life within India and Hinduism. When Prince Siddhartha went to find enlightenment he forgot all about the ideas of the caste system even though he was born into a good Varna. The Buddhas invitation was to come and see for yourself, join him in his meditation to reach Nirvana. The Buddha wanted to get out of the cycle of; life, death and rebirth and be enlightened to discover a new life. He didnt completely want to get rid of rebirth; he wanted to incorporate it into Buddhism. He believed in renunciation, which is what the ascetics believed in. They renounced with the Buddha to the forest. They gave up there existence. The Buddha did not want to pray to Brahman anymore, he wanted to break away from the priestly religion and become personal. Men and women both did this. Personal is being spiritual instead of Religious. The Buddha also incorporated Karma into Buddhism because its still the action needed for rebirth. He couldnt change that. He did turn his back on the caste system though as it was seen as a social class factor and not needed for the religion, as everyone was equal for him. The economic developments destabilised the Brahminical order. Prince Siddhartha still believed in the ideas of rebirth and the cycle of life, but came up with a way of escaping the circle.

Strategic management: TESCO

Strategic management: TESCO TESCO was founded in 19th century by John Edward Cohen. It is the leading super market in the UK and an international retailer. Its main competitors are Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons etc. TESCO has 2,482 stores and employs 287,669 people in UK. It firmly focused on grocery retailer and further manages petrol forecourt business. It also operates a website for selling Real estate to the people. (TESCO, 2010) The retail outlets of TESCO run in six formats: TESCO Extra [larger and stocks almost all Tescos product ranges]. TESCO Express [neighbourhood convenience stores and stocking high margin food products]. TESCO Metro [located in city centres and on the high streets of towns]. TESCO Home plus [ stores having varieties of non-food items] One stop [the word TESCO is not included in its name and included some of the smallest stores] (TESCO, 2010) TESCO was just a grocery stall, which undergoes several changes and now it is one of the best supermarket dealing not only with food and drink but also diversified into areas like home, clothing, telecommunication, financial services, electronics, car, internet services and many more. (TESCO, 2010) What is change? It is the process of getting from where you are to the outcomes you wants (Wikipedia.org, 2010). Every company need strategic change in order to compete in this world of technology. Similarly, TESCO has undergone several strategic changes, this report will going to discuss one of its change that is Self-checkout machines. It was first introduced in East Dereham, Norfolk in 2003; this AUTOMATED CHECKOUT MACHINE (ACM) is created by Production Solutions (PSI). .According to PSI, TESCO is testing ACM 700, which has original conveyer based lane design. It is easy to use and customer friendly because of its full colour touch screen. TESCO becomes the second chain to operate this system which allows the customers to scan and pay for their shopping without any interference of the staff (Decisions news media, 2010) According to Richard Dodd, Response by both customers and staff has been overwhelmingly positive. Customers are telling us that the ACM self checkout is simple to use and they are using it for both large and small orders. Our staff is telling us its exciting, fun and they welcome the increased opportunity to interact with customers.(Richard Rodd, 2010) TESCO claims that their system of self check out can handles large and small orders at any day time whereas marks and spencers system was for small orders only. (TESCO, 2010) After its success in East Dereham, TESCO has introduced it to other stores also. Now 6,000 self service tills are working in its 1,200 stores. This is a great improvement since the self check out was first implemented. A spokeswoman said Many customers actually prefer using our self-service checkouts as its sometimes the quickest way to pay, particularly if you only have a few items.(independent.co.uk, 2010) THE NEED FOR THIS CHANGE: Why TESCO need this change of introducing self check machines? There are various reasons for this which is as follows: For business development To increase the sales To reduce the congestion on checkouts To compete with its competitors To accelerate the checkout processes To cut the labour cost with point of sales To save the time of customers To utilize the latest technology (scribd.com, 2010) THE FACTORS DRIVING NEED FOR THE CHANGE: There are certain external and internal factors which drives this strategic change in TESCO, which are discussed below: CUSTOMERS VALUE: It is making shopping experience interesting for the customers and retaining existing customers and attracting the new one. GROWING CUSTOMER BASE: The customers were getting irritated by standing in long queues so to ease overcrowding on checkouts especially when they are buying few items. TECHNOLOGY: Technology is playing an important role in the success of the organisation. TESCO enhancing its technology and improving its operational efficacy with the implementation of self check out machines. COMPETITORS: The use of self-checkout system is distinguishing TESCO from the other retailers and its attaining competitive advantage against its competitors PROFITS: The self checkout system gives profit to TESCO by cutting the labour cost for instance instead of hiring five cashiers only one cashier will be enough for five self checkouts. (scribd.com, 2010) THE RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS OF NOT RESPONDING THE CHANGE: EMPLOYEES: People fear and resist change for a variety of reasons. For example, the self check out machines is not much appreciated by the employers because of fear of losing their jobs. They should be motivated to learn and encouraged to improve their approach to customers. FINANCIES: Company needs funding for its strategic change like involving stakeholders. The stake holders have financial expectations that will influence an organisations business strategies. It all depends on what kinds of funding are required. TESCO want to introduce these machines in all its stores, for this it needs money and financial support. TECHNOLOGY: Introducing self checkout machines is a technological change. The management need to focus on technical skills which are required to operate these machines and making them easier to use for the customers. The success or failure of strategy of an organisation depends upon the ways that technology is developed, organised and funded. (scrbd.com, 2010) 1.4 MODELS OF INDIVIDUAL CHANGE, TEAM CHANGE, AND ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE: ADKAR MODEL [ a model for individual change] (changemanagement.com) This model is developed by Jeff Hiat, CEO of Prosci Change management in 2003.Accordig to him; this model has five actions which are working as building blocks for the individual change. These are as follows: Awareness for the of change: With the help of this step an individual (employee) will fully understand why the change is necessary. It is the first key aspect of successful change. Desire to participate and support the change: This step is building desire in an individual to support and be part of the change and this can only happen after full knowledge of the need for change is established. Knowledge on how to change: This step explains two types of knowledge that the individual need to know. Firstly, knowledge on how to change and secondly, knowledge on how to perform once the change is implemented. Ability to implements required skills and behaviours: The froth step is about the actual performance of the individual which needs to be supported. It can be achieved through training, coaching and practice. Rein enforcement to sustain the change: The final step is about making sure that changes stay in place and it can be attained through positive feedback, measuring performance, incentives and taking corrective actions. (changemangement.com) LEWINS FORCEFIELD MODEL [An organisational change model] (consulpivotal.com) This model is developed by Kurt Lewin in 1951.It suggest that there are two kinds of forces one is the driving force and the other is the resisting force which keep the systems of an organisation in an equilibrium state. Lewin also suggested a three-stage theory of change, these stages are as follows: Unfreeze-creation of motivation to change: This stage is about moving the entire business towards inspiration for change.it gives the understanding of why change is necessary and it is the time to get ready for the change. Change or transition: After the first stage now the people are moving towards a new being. It is difficult part for them as they are unsure or even fearful. Support like coaching and training is really important here. Freezing or refreezing: It is about reinforcing the change and ensuring that it is accepted and continues into the future. Without this stage, the people can go back and star doing the work that they used to do in the past. (umfortu.net, 2010) TUCKMAN FORMING STORMING NORMING PERFORMANCE MODEL [Team model change] (hubpages.com,2010) Dr Bruce Tuck man published his Forming Storming Norming performance model in 1965.its four stages are as follows: Forming stage 1: In this stage, team is built and the task is assigned to the team members. The team gets to one another and learns about the opportunities and challenges. They agree on goals and begin to face the tasks. Storming stage 2: In this phase, relationship between team members will be made or broken this phase can be very damaging for the team. Norming stage 3: In this stage, every member of the team takes responsibility and has the desire to work for the success of the teams goals. Performing stage 4: The high performing team reach this phase. They are now competent and can make most of their decisions without supervision. (businessballs.com, 2010) RELEVANCE OF THE MODELS TO THE CHANGE IN THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE: In current economic climate, change is widespread among all the organisations. It has become an everyday part of an organisational dynamics. Change is not something which can be done overnight. Organisation can use various models of change to apply change successfully in an organisation. According to Collerette, in todays business environment, the only thing that appears to remain constant is change (Collerette, 2002). Companies constantly face pressures to change in changing economic conditions. It is necessary for the organisations to anticipate the change and prepare for it through planning. Adkar Model: The high failure rate of all business change initiatives is because an organisation emphasis more on the process rather than people. Adkar model plays a vital role in handling this kind of situations. For example, in self checkout system, employees need to be motivated and to make them aware of how important this change is for the business for TESCO. This model helps the company to involve employees in the change, as the result of it they get interested in it. Bruce tuck mans model: In the current economic situation change can be successful in an organisation with mutual understanding of team members. Team leader needs to have interpersonal skills which help the members to achieve their goals. People are very sensitive about their work so they need to be given security to work in a team. Kurt Lewins model: This model moves the entire business towards motivation for change. TESCO should reinforce the change (self check out system) ensuring that the desired change is accepted and maintained in the future. It is necessary because if the change is not freeze people can start doing the work in the same they use to do it in the past. 1.5 STRATEGIC INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES: These intervention techniques teaches how to set goals, ways to overcome obstacles in your life, how to reform their thought patterns to turn negative thoughts into positive patterns and to educate effective communication skills which are essential to business of all types. There are various strategic intervention methods such as: Role playing: This part of training is very essential for TESCO which enables individual to handle the given situations. It prepares them to perform without involvement of managers. (strategicintervention.com, 2010) Survey feedback: It is important for TESCO to collect information from personal interviews and survey questionnaires and share it with its employeers.This effective feedback should be understandable and encouraging receivers. (strategicintervention.com, 2010) Team development: This can help TESCO to set goals and to examine the way a group is working. This helps to give a view to the relationship among the people working together. It also assists to change the culture of the organization (strategicintervention.com, 201o) MBO approach: MBO (management by objectives) techniques of performance evaluation are results-oriented. Its important for TESCO to measure the performance of its employees and solve interpersonal problems peacefully. (management4you.blogspot.com, 2009) Proactive and reactive: Managers cannot directly change employees attitudes. Therefore they need to motivate them in directly by improving work conditions and becoming more operative leaders. For example, Managers had to organize workshops to motivate cashiers who have the fear of losing their jobs. (Foodanddrink.com, 2010) 1.6 SYSTEMS INVOLVE STAKEHOLDERS IN THE PLANNING OF CHANGE: STAKEHOLDER: Any group or individual who can affect or {be} affected by the achievements of organisational objectives.(Business Strategy, 2002, p.2) The stakeholders are divided into two kinds of categories: External Stakeholders Customers Shareholders Suppliers Trade bodies Governments Competitors Local community Internal Stakeholders Employees Directors Employees representatives for example Union Trades (Business strategy, p.27) When any company undergoes change, a lot of people for top to bottom are involved in it. Therefore in order to implement the change successfully you need to involve them otherwise it will be a failure. For the self check out system TESCO can adopt stakeholder analysis and engagement (systems to involve stakeholders). 1.8 DEVELOP A CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY WITH STAKE HOLDERS: Without involving external and internal stakeholders, TESCO cannot introduce this change of self checkout system. There are two major approaches to stakeholder management. One is stakeholder analysis and the other is stakeholder planning. The steps of stakeholder analysis are explained as follows: Identify your stakeholders: Tesco needs to first identify who their stakeholders are, for their strategic change. In this change of self check out system, both external and internal stakeholders are involved such as employers, customers, the press, managers, shareholders, financers, suppliers etc. Prioritize your stakeholders: Then we have to classify them by their power over work and by their interest in work. High power and high interested people for self checkouts are customers, employers, senior managers etc. these are the people we should get fully engaged with and make the greatest efforts to satisfy them. High power and low interest people, the company should satisfied them but not so much that they become bored. Less power and high interest people, TESCO keep them informed as they can be helpful in the change. Less power and less interest people, company should monitor them. Understanding your key stakeholders: TESCO needs to understand what financial interest they have related to the change. How you can motivate them and what information they want from you? If they are not likely to be positive what will win them around to support your project? In order to answer these questions TESCO should talk to them directly. By engaging the right people in the right way in your project, you can make a big difference to its success and to your career.(mindtools.com, 2010) Now they need to engage stakeholders in their strategic change. The most effective way to involve stakeholders is communication strategy. The company should talk to them in a very friendly and co-operative manner. Customer satisfaction should be given the first priority by making self check out systems easy and usable for them. For this they can do a survey feedback and can get their support. Senior managers need to be given training for these machines so that they can mentor their employees. Staff should be given a clear vision of why these machines are important for the companys strategy. It is normal to experience resistance whenever there is change. It is good because it can make the company to check their assumptions. The company should understand what their employees are feeling and thinking. Due to this self checkout machines employers are feeling very in secure about their jobs. Therefore TESCO can arrange various workshops for them to guide how these machines are used and to provide them job security. The company can talk to the financiers that how successful they are running and show them the profits you are getting from them. Thats how they can more involve in change and can help TESCO to introduce these machines in all of their stores. They can do advertisements of these machines by involving press. Developing good relation with the stakeholders will help TESCO to implement the change more successfully. (Wikiadapt, 2010) PLAN TO IMPLEMENT A MODEL FOR CHANGE: Tesco needs to involve external and internal stakeholders in the planning of change. The learning theory of Peter Senge can be used to for self check out machines in TESCO. He explains its theory in five points which are as follows SYSTEMS THINKING: TESCO needs to think about its systems as a whole. They dont have to blame others if the things are not right instead they should see how they operate and why things are going wrong. They should seek the system for it. PERSONAL MASTERY: It is something which is related to the intrinsic motivation and the people who are deeply committed to their work. In order to accept change they should have motivation from their inside which makes resist to the change. BUILDING SHARED VISION: TESCO should give its stakeholders a clear vision of a future they seek to create through this change. It can be done by providing a good understanding about the change.it will help to combine the vision of a company with the vision of stakeholders. TEAM LEARNING: TESCO should provide stakeholders an opportunity to learn in a team. Each member of team task must undertake to link with other team members so that everyone is fully informed. They can perform skilful discussions to achieve their tasks. MENTAL MODELS: TESCO should provide a safe environment in which employees feel comfortable. They should help employees develop their skills of reflection and inquiry. (Peter M. Senge, 1990) 1.10 DEVELOP APPROPRITE MEASURES TO MONITOR PROGRESS: Self check out system is a big change for TESCO. Although it is working successfully in stores but TESCO needs to put effort to solve the problems employers and customers are facing. They need to know why they are facing problems and what they can do for it. They need to motivate and guide the customers so that they can deal with the problems of customers. Tesco needs to think about the machines outlook also as it seems to be very complicated for some customers. It may be happening because the method of how to use it is not introduced to them effectively. They should hire some technical employers to deal with these machines. They need a very co-operative management which can train the employers who can later help their customers they need a cultural change as it is something new for the customers to use and replacing the old methods of shopping. They need to do some survey feedbacks and then they go further of how to overcome these problems related to the change. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Although this system of self check out system is running successfully in all stores of TESCO but still there are some problems which company needs to focus on. Customers often get frustrated because they have to go through the self check out menu mostly who dont have the knowledge of information technology. Most of the customers are not using it because they are afraid of using it. Another problem is of mis scanning which then creating problem and the customers have to ring the bell for help. In order to overcome these problems TESCO needs to put some extra employers to assist people if they face any problem using it in order to save their time and energy. They can provide information making it very simple and easy of how to use these machines through internet and newspapers it will help those customers who are afraid of using it. There is a need of making them more user friendly and reducing their faults. BIBILIOGRAPHY: Tesco(2010), change management Tesco at http://www.scribd.com/doc/38560002/Change-Management-tesco [accessed: 22 November 2010] Decision news media(2010), Tesco begins self check out trials at http://www.foodanddrinkeurope.com/Retail/Tesco-begins-self-checkout-trial [accessed: 24 November 2010] Lewis Smith(2010) at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/selfservice-or-merely-selfserving-the-revolution-at-the-tills-2059363.html [accessed: 24 November 2010] Adkar(2003), Adkar model at http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-adkar-overview.htm [accessed: 26 November 2010] Lewins(1951), Lewins change management model at http://www.consultpivotal.com/lewinHYPERLINK http://www.consultpivotal.com/lewins.htmHYPERLINK http://www.consultpivotal.com/lewins.htms.htm [accessed 24 November 2010] Lewins(1951), Lewins force field model at http://www.unfortu.net/~rafe/links/change.htm [accessed: 25 November 2010] Tuck man (1965), Team reforming model, at http://www.businessballs.com/tuckmanformingstormingnormingperforming.htm (accessed: 25 November 2010] Krabenhoft Alan(2005), A model of strategy and organisational development interventions at http://www.allbusiness.com/management-companies-enterprises/1187765-1.html [accessed: 27 November 2010) Abhishek Kumar Sadhu(2009), Interventions for change at http://management4you.blogspot.com/2009/11/interventions-for-change.html [accessed: 27 November 2010] David J. Campbell (2002); Business Strategy, Oxford, Elsevier science and technology, 2nd Edition. Mind tools (2010), Map Influence at http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_83.htm [accessed: 30 November, 2010] Wikiadapt(2010), Stakeholder Analysis and a t Engagement http://wikiadapt.org/index.php?title=Stakeholder_analysis_and_engagement Accessed: 1November 2010] Peter M. Senge(1990), The Fifth Discipline at http://baudson.cute-ice.de/serendipity/index.php?/archives/35-The-Fifth-Discipline-Peter-M.-Senge,-1990.html [accessed:1 November, 2010]

GM Sees Tepid Sales of New Models :: essays research papers

General Motors Corp., already bracing for a tough 2005 because of flagging truck sales, is now showing signs of trouble selling two of the new cars it had been expecting to pick up the slack this year. The company in the last week or so has increased incentives on the Pontiac G6 and the Buick LaCrosse as a result of sluggish sales, and has prepared to scale back production at the factory that assembles the G6. GM recently told workers at its plant in Orion, Mich., that it is reducing the number of cars it wants produced each hour and delaying the start of a second shift of production until after the company's annual plant shutdown in July. The company had planned to start the second shift in the spring. Paul Ballew, GM's executive director of market and industry analysis, said production is ramping up slowly at the plant because not all versions of the G6 are in the market yet, such as a model with a four-cylinder engine. "We don't get the coupes until the summer, and we don't get the convertible until after that," he said. "We've been delayed in bringing some of the the new versions of the G6 out." Mr. Ballew said G6 sales are "pretty good" but acknowledged they are "not off the charts." GM expects to sell about 6,000 G6s this month, up from about 4,000 last month, he said. The slow start of the G6 and LaCrosse sales comes at a difficult point for GM, the world's largest car maker. In 2004, GM lost market share and was forced to cut production as Japanese rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. posted substantially higher sales of mainstream cars. At the same time, luxury-car makers such as BMW AG are expanding further into midprice segments that GM once dominated. In January, GM said 2005 earnings would fall by about a third to between $4 and $5 a share, as a result of a $1 billion increase in health-care costs, a substantial loss in Europe and lower profit at its financing arm. It is also suffering from an aging line of pickup trucks and big sports-utility vehicles, such as the Chevy Suburban and GMC Yukon, that normally generate substantial profit. These sales are falling as GM prepares to launch new versions in 2006. The LaCrosse and especially the G6 were supposed to help smooth the ride in the meantime.

Why He Is Not A Man :: essays research papers

Why He is Not a Man In the story â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man† by Richard Wright, there is a boy named Dave. Dave is a young boy trying to figure out what a man really is. Right now, he believes that a man is someone who owns a gun. Dave needs proper education about guns and needs the knowledge about what a man really is to be a man. Dave needs to be taught what a man really is because he is not a young man just because he has a gun. Dave is a seventeen-year-old boy who wants a gun. He thinks he is almost a man. He thinks that having a gun will make him a man and give him power. Toughness is a common perception of masculinity. A man is not someone who owns a gun, but someone who has knowledge of behaving like a man and owning a gun like a man. He thinks that only a gun will make him a man instead of his actions dictating his matureness to others. He believes it will instill fear into others around him. When one is a man, others treat him with respect. Dave’s parents talk down to him and treat him like a child, when he is trying to develop into a young respectable man. Dave’s mother says, â€Å"Yuh ain nothing but a boy yit!† in the story, proving that they look down on this seventeen-year-old boy. His mother tells him in the story to go wash his hands before he eats. If Dave was a man, then his mother should never have had to say that. In our society today, when a boy is seventeen years old, he is almost a man or considered a young man. In Dave’s society, he is treated like a young boy. If Dave’s parents saw his point of view on having a gun then they might want to look at why he wants it. At this time, they should tell him that a gun does not make a man. His mother does not think he should have a gun. In actuality, if Dave were a man, then he would have not wanted a gun to obtain power over others, but for pleasure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Dave’s actions, he is like a young boy. A man who owns a gun knows how to shoot a gun and knows the right and wrong time to use a gun, unlike Dave. Why He Is Not A Man :: essays research papers Why He is Not a Man In the story â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man† by Richard Wright, there is a boy named Dave. Dave is a young boy trying to figure out what a man really is. Right now, he believes that a man is someone who owns a gun. Dave needs proper education about guns and needs the knowledge about what a man really is to be a man. Dave needs to be taught what a man really is because he is not a young man just because he has a gun. Dave is a seventeen-year-old boy who wants a gun. He thinks he is almost a man. He thinks that having a gun will make him a man and give him power. Toughness is a common perception of masculinity. A man is not someone who owns a gun, but someone who has knowledge of behaving like a man and owning a gun like a man. He thinks that only a gun will make him a man instead of his actions dictating his matureness to others. He believes it will instill fear into others around him. When one is a man, others treat him with respect. Dave’s parents talk down to him and treat him like a child, when he is trying to develop into a young respectable man. Dave’s mother says, â€Å"Yuh ain nothing but a boy yit!† in the story, proving that they look down on this seventeen-year-old boy. His mother tells him in the story to go wash his hands before he eats. If Dave was a man, then his mother should never have had to say that. In our society today, when a boy is seventeen years old, he is almost a man or considered a young man. In Dave’s society, he is treated like a young boy. If Dave’s parents saw his point of view on having a gun then they might want to look at why he wants it. At this time, they should tell him that a gun does not make a man. His mother does not think he should have a gun. In actuality, if Dave were a man, then he would have not wanted a gun to obtain power over others, but for pleasure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Dave’s actions, he is like a young boy. A man who owns a gun knows how to shoot a gun and knows the right and wrong time to use a gun, unlike Dave.