Beer Wars Essay

Beer Wars is a documentary film directed and produced by Anat Baron and released in April of 2009. It focuses on the struggle between the dominating corporate businesses of Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing Company, Coors Brewing Company, and the smaller independent businesses of â€Å"craft beers† such as Dogfish Head Brewery, The Boston Beer Company, and The New Belgium Brewing Company. The film covers many aspects of the beer â€Å"wars† between the companies such as competitive advertising, product quality, price, distribution, and government regulations. Because of the enormous status and power of the big three, the ability to advertise and market their wares is significantly easier than for most other breweries. From being able to hire top dollar marketing experts to running multimillion dollar commercials during the Super Bowl, they dominate the beer advertising market. With their lack of ability to buy â€Å"shelf space†, smaller companies are often pushed out of the way and driven to less marketable places in the aisles of stores nationwide. Rhonda Kallman, owner of The New Century Brewing company, known for its craft beer â€Å"Moonshot†, talked about how she often would put up a poster advertising her beer one day only to find it replaced by a competitor’s poster the next day. This is a glimpse at the competitiveness that small breweries face day to day. Today, The New Century Brewing company is currently shut down due to the FDA’s banning of caffeinated beers; Moonshot fell victim to this regulatory axe. This is what happens when the bread and butter of your company can no longer be produced. The fall of Kallman’s company, however, is just another tragic story in the long history of beer manufactures. By the late 70‘s and early 80‘s, many people turned towards homebrewing to meet their taste needs because of the bland taste of the larger breweries products. Charlie Papazian was one of those people. A nuclear engineer at the University of Virginia, he started experimenting with homebrewing soon after it was legalized in 1978. His main focus was quality and diversity when out of his house he started the American Homebrewers Association; now a nationwide association of over 36,000 members with it’s own magazine. While giving a tour of his prized collection he made sure to point out that what he cared about most was â€Å"Quality. Not necessarily quantity, but quality. † Papazian was not the only one who desired quality over quantity. Samuel Calagione was yet another man focused on quality. In 1995 he founded the company Dogfish Head Brewery naming it after Dogfish Head, Maine where he spent summers as a child growing up. Starting out as a fledgling company in Delaware, and growing by nearly 400% between 2003 and 2006, it now is one of the most successful craft breweries in the U. S. A. The film went into great detail on the various struggles that small breweries went through. From the competitive advertising to the rules and regulations of the trade, small breweries are faced with many challenges day to day. After the Prohibition in the 1930’s, a three-tier system was set up by many states in order to control the flow of alcohol from producer to consumer. However, this proved to be often times a problem for fledgling companies with little buying power. In order to get their beers out there and known, they must go through a wholesaler distributer first. The problem though is that often times the wholesalers favor the Big Three or other large companies because of their buying power. When it came down to having to choose whether to ship a Coors Light or a Moonshot, often times the well known brand would be chosen not only for it’s popularity but also because of the pay that the larger companies could give for their favor over others. Kallman learned that shelf space is yet another difficulty faced by the craft beer companies. If you’re most seen, you’re most bought and the Big Three knew this. Another difficulty faced is the temptation to sell out to the big companies. Over the years, Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors all have been buying up the little companies as soon as they showed promise; all in order to try to get a bigger piece of the pie that is market share. If they couldn’t buy you, they would try to destroy you. So in conclusion, Beer Wars is one of the first documentary films to go into great detail on the battle for survival and power between the various beer companies of America; showing the struggles of the craft breweries against the big companies and the fight for power among the larger companies and their major competitors. Sources http://beerwarsmovie. com/tag/rhonda-kallman/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ http://www. cnn. com/FOOD/resources/food. for. thought/beverages/alcohol/homebrew/papazian/.

Cultural Competency Essay

Cultural competency is defined a set of personal and academic skills required for increasing understanding and appreciation of cultural differences. Actually, becoming culturally competent is a developmental process taking lots of time. Cultural competence helps to shape behavioral patents as well as it affects health care delivery. Culturally competent pharmaceutical providers should appreciate family ties and realize that family and behavioral values are determined by peculiarities of culture. Apparently, cultural competence relates to pharmacy, because it suggests pharmaceutical provider-customer relations meaning that health care providers should find individual approach to every patient requiring treatment. The goals of cultural competence are to increase cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skills and cultural encounters. Cultural differences should be appreciated and accepted and, therefore, it is necessary to seek out new world views of diseases and medicines. Cultural knowledge helps pharmacy to promote better understanding between cultural groups. Cultural competence promotes assessing patient without relying only on written facts. It means that there is a need to find another perspective, to reduce resistance and defensiveness and to acknowledge interactive mistakes. Pharmacy suggests meeting and working directly with people of different cultures and, thus, developing cultural competency helps to dispel stereotypes and to contradict academic knowledge. Pharmacy requires gathering cultural knowledge which is often neglected. Cultural competency welcomes cooperation and collaboration instead of insulting other culture’s perspectives. For example, physicians belong to cultural group possessing their own beliefs, customs, practices and rituals. This includes definitions of illness and health, systematic approaches, compliance, prevention through annual exams, the superiority of technology, etc. Therefore, cultural competency plays crucial role in medicine. Works Cited Spector, R. Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness. Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1996.

The concept of genre in studying Die Hard. (1988) Assignment

The concept of genre in studying Die Hard. (1988) - Assignment Example 67). In order for a successful Action film, the expectations of the readers ought to be fulfilled to enable the listeners to be fascinated and interested. Action is the most appropriate genre that I have chosen with respect to the Die Hard film of 1988. The entire movie is an action genre movie. Genres in respect to film are diverse forms of recognizable classifications of films recurrent with similar acknowledgeable patterns, syntax and filming conventions that include: backgrounds and props, substance and subject matter, themes, period, mood, motifs, structures, plot, circumstances, central narrative events, recurring icons, characterizations and stars. Numerous films are viewed as hybrids because they include multiple film genres. With regards to definitions, genre itself is a French word meaning type or kind. It can, therefore, be said the kind of a movie is principally the type or category a movie falls into for instance Comedy, action, western, thriller, horror and numerous others (Wright, 2004 p. 35). Genres are also sub-classified according to unique qualities for example horror genre, sub-classes are the supernatural, gothic, ghost films, occult, monster movies, slashers, psychological horror, body horror, gore movies, splatter and many others (Dixon, 2000 p. 101). Some film professionals develop new genres and sub-genres to explain amalgamation of films such as action comedies. Universally, nonetheless, many films created in a given type, for instance, film noir follow the fundamental construction and plot shapes of that particular kind. Genres assist the audience in movie choice as well as indicate for whom a given film was created and what they should anticipate seeing for instance in an action film such as the Die hard, the audience expect to see hard work that involve, use of heavy artillery, use of choppers, massive destruction of vehicles,

TLMT 441 Assignment Article Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TLMT 441 Article Review - Assignment Example It will majorly be for all of them to create value that will be of benefit to all of them. In line with this, it is a fact that, these companies also need to have the right players in the market which they will collaborate with as their partners or players. With good partners or players in various sectors, it becomes very easy for each company to achieve their goals and objectives as they carry out businesses that promote each others welfare. The third right which requires the companies or businesses involved in supply chain design is the right roles. These companies need to evaluate all their roles for each other and only have the right roles for themselves. When a company is seeking to find another company with whom they would collaborate in the supply chain design, it is required to look at the roles of that other company. They need not have conflicting roles as they will not aim at achieving similar objectives. They will then not be compatible in operations. The managers should also take their time to critically evaluate the companies readiness to compete. In the analysis of this article, the five game-changers that are emerging are explored as they represent the potential supply chain design points of inflection. Amongst the analyzed include borderless supply chains, additive manufacturing, the big data and predictive analytics, material science as well as autonomous vehicles. The articles then go ahead to discuss the four forces impeding the transformation of higher levels that the value co-creation can attain. It is important to mention also that these four forces include bad understanding of the ‘luxury nature of initiatives of the corporate social responsibility (CSR), security required during the supply chain, the fact that there is no trust within the governance mechanisms, and failure to manage change appropriately. In a nutshell, the article has its strengths in explaining where the successes of the firms are intended to come

Nazi Deception and the Demoralization and Dehumanization of Eliezer Essay

Nazi Deception and the Demoralization and Dehumanization of Eliezer and his Fellow Prisoners - Essay Example When Elie Wiesel first reached the concentration camp in Auschwitz a sign caught his attention that said "Arbeit macht frei" which translated into â€Å"work makes you free† (Wiesel 40). There was a great deal of irony within that phrase. Like in all other concentration camps, in Auschwitz, Jews were persecuted and forced to work for the Nazi forces. The working conditions of these concentration camps were inhumane, and the death of these workers due to starvation and exhaustion were a common sight. Hard work in these concentration camps never paid off in terms of freedom. In fact, Jews in these camps were even deprived of basic needs such as food water and in some cases even shelter. The Nazis used the sign as a mode of deception, and they were well aware of the fact that providing freedom to Jews was never an option. The sign was put up to provide a fake incentive to the Jews to work harder for them. The concentration camp located in Auschwitz was well famous for the amount of work that was forced upon the Jews and the torture that was brought upon them as well. Different works were assigned to the prisoners at the concentration camp. Some were forced to dig huge craters and few of the prisoners Elie saw carrying bags of sands â€Å"Prisoners were at work. ... According to the author the idea of deception was to confuse the prisoners into ensuring that then they would not be able to trust anyone. In the book the Nazis provided the prisoners with false hope regarding their freedom. They realized that the Nazis were not planning to keep their promise about ensuring their freedom prisoner’s trust in other individuals was also shattered. This led to the prisoners losing value in relationships with friends and family and anyone close to them. Eventually, these prisoners would fall into a state where they would act in a completely non-human manner. Once in a non-human state these prisoners started attacking everyone and anyone that they felt was a threat to them or they felt possessed something that might be of value to the attacker â€Å"Dozens of inmates were there to receive us, sticks in hand, striking anywhere, anyone without reason† (Wiesel 35). In short Nazi’s deception had such a powerful affect on the prisoners that it primarily dehumanized their fundamental nature and forced them to act as animals. Night and has been compared with the likes of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, and If This is a Man by Primo Levi (Franklin). There has been a great deal of controversy regarding the content. A number of scholars believe that Wiesel’s book night may not be completely a memoir and that parts of the books may be fiction (Franklin). Nevertheless Night has been one of the best books to have been written recounting the holocaust. The book gave an account of how concentration camps did not just inflict physical torment on the Jews there but were also subjected to mental torture as well. Nazis gave prisoners within the concentration camps a false hope of freedom and gave them an incentive to work harder at these

Legal Status of Comfort Letters in South Africa Essay

Legal Status of Comfort Letters in South Africa - Essay Example According to the report in the Kleinworth Benson case, the court said that in order to determine whether the comfort letter created an enforceable obligation on the part of the maker or issuer, legal construction of the words or language used in the comfort letter should be made. If the words or language strongly suggest that the comfort letter is promissory in nature which is evident on the face of the letter itself, the maker or issuer is obliged to perform an obligation under the comfort letter. In this case, the court held that the comfort letter is not enforceable because the terms only represented it was the â€Å"practice† of the company to provide financial support and with no indication in the letter that the policy would continue in the future.From this paper it is clear that  if the maker or issuer does not intend to be binded by the comfort letter, he or she must include a disclaimer or a clear statement on the face of the letter that he or she does not intend to give rise to any legal obligation whatsoever. Otherwise, in the absence of the disclaimer, the comfort letter is intended to be legally enforceable. This view somehow was utilized by a court in deciding a case in 2002 when it held that the plaintiffs’ reliance on the comfort letters was unjustifiable because the disclaimer language expressly stated that they were ‘not to be used, circulated, quoted, or otherwise referred to for any purpose, including but not limited of the purchase or sale of securities†.

Sustainable energy in norway Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sustainable energy in norway - Essay Example Renewable energy forms the basis of sustainable energy which is only trying to meet the energy requirements of the present generation without affecting how future generations will get their energy. In order to embrace sustainable energy, countries should move away from fossil fuels and start developing renewable energy sources. Norway is one country that has been pushing for setting up of renewable energy centers worldwide. Among the renewable energy sources, hydropower contributes the largest percentage of energy. Hydroelectric power provides approximately one- fifth of the total energy consumed in the world (Gonzalez, Aygun & Weidmann, 1). Hydropower will play a crucial role in the sustainable energy development. Norway produces approximately 99% of its electricity from hydropower. This is aided by the abundance of water reservoirs in the country. Norway is endowed with many rivers and the geographical shape of the state favors the production of hydroelectric power. Norway is considered the sixth largest hydroelectric power producer in the world (Gonzalez, 12). Norway is concerned with developing efficient and friendlier ways of harnessing hydroelectric power. . The generational plants are owned by government, local authorities and the private sector. In dry spells the production of hydropower goes down and during rain seasons, Norway is able to export energy produced to other countries. Norway expor ts power to different countries among them Russia, Finland and Sweden. According to Gonzalez et al (2011), renewable energy contributed approximately 13% of the total energy consumed in 2008. Hydropower had a significant contribution. Wind and solar offered a minimal contribution to the total energy supplied. This shows that renewable energy contributed a tiny percentage to the total energy consumed in the world (Gonzalez et al, 4). In the subsequent years, the development of these sources has led to the increase in the percentage of energy

Reflective Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reflective Paper - Essay Example s unit, for sure, every company will not work on its optimum for the reason that HRM operates to an aim of improving the effectiveness of the company through its main resource, its people (Gospel, 2009). In order to meet the company’s goals and objectives, the human resource management takes into account a lot of domains. Above all, it should strategically plan on how all these will be met. In this strategic planning, first, the human resource needs must be taken into consideration. There are different views on the strategic aspects of human resource management. Various existing literatures have their own perspective of HRM. Likewise, many definitions of strategic human resource management exist. In 2001, Kazmi and Ahmad discussed the different approaches to strategic human resource management. According to them, definitions of strategic HRM vary depending on the particular approach. The strategic approaches to HRM are strategy-focused, decision-focused, content-focused and implementation focused. Specifically, the strategy-focused approach as considered by Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Mills and Walton (1984) claims that human resource management is strategic by its very nature. This approach greatly believes that all elements that make HRM are connected strategically. For Devanna, Fombrun and Tichy (1981), the decision-focused approach, on the one hand, are based on three decision –making levels such as operational, managerial and strategic. While for the c ontent-focused approach, Torrington and Hall (1995) stated that the strategic human resource management occurs only when there is a match between the elements of HRM and the strategy of the organization. Lastly, implementation-focused approach of strategic human resource management is when each system of HRM facilitates in the designing business strategies and of course, its implementation (Miles and Snow, 1984). However, my real learning of HRM has emerged through my personal experience as a nurse employee.

How can an Asian society preserve its traditional culture while Essay

How can an Asian society preserve its traditional culture while modernizing - Essay Example East Asia is presented by Inoguchi and Newman (1) as a value system in the context of an East-West dichotomy. Their thesis maintains that cultural values have underpinned the growth rates of East Asian countries and conditioned the orderly social and political characteristics of the region. Of cause, there are some common "Asian values", such as celebrating the community over individualism, the family as the basis of society, frugality, respect for learning, hard work, public duty, teamwork. Mahathir bin Mohamad cited in Inoguchi and Newman (1) notes that some explorers usually demean their argument by contrasting these with the breakdown of the family, decadence, hedonism, excessive individualism, lack of teamwork, fecklessness, and ill discipline in the West. At its most nonsensical, the dynamism and cohesion of East Asia is contrasted with the West's "moral degeneration" and its imminent social collapse, no less. Inoguchi and Newman (1) suggest an ascendancy of the "Asian way" of strong government, social conservatism and free market economics. The renaissance theme is common. It is interesting that some political leaders in the West have begun to "learn from the East" and use the rhetoric of this agenda in response to the perceived excesses of individualism and social deterioration. Reinvigorating community values and the public spirit is a popular theme. As China Daily (3) writes, culture, as heritage, includes both material or "built" aspects of culture such as sites, buildings, landscapes, monuments, and objects, as well as non-material or "living" heritage embodied in social practices, community life, values, beliefs, and expressive forms such as language, arts and handicrafts, music, dance and poetry. Non-material cultural heritage is characteristic of certain nationalities and is passed from generation to generation. A nation rich in cultural resources, China has an ocean of non-material cultural heritage including folk art, literature, opera and dance. But many of these precious traditions are under the threat of extinction with the modernization of the country. There is not enough awareness of what these cultural heritages are, let alone the necessary personnel, funding and legislative efforts to rescue and protect them. What's more worrying is that random tourism development in many local areas have misled people's understanding of aboriginal culture and have proved to be destructive to the maintenance of the original cultural ecology. (China Daily 3) China's long history has made the country heir to countless intangible cultural assets, but modern times have sent folk arts into a decline, as China Daily (4) writes. As the master craftsmen grow old and die, many of their precious traditional arts die with them. Pop songs are replacing local operas and cartoons are killing off shadow puppet plays. Most people see a centuries' old residential compound as shabby housing, while a section of an ancient city wall is merely an obstacle to traffic. The importance of traditional holidays such as the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival are waning, too. In contrast, imports such as Christmas and Valentine's Day are gaining widespread attention. To those who are blindly enchanted by all that is new,

Banking Industry in Recession Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Banking Industry in Recession - Coursework Example Since that time, concerned officials have been attempting to come up with solutions to the difficulties that the banking industry as well as the global financial system is facing. The banking industry has also been going through a process of reformation lasting over two decades. Market liberalisation, as well as the induction of latest information technologies led to a strong trade growth resulting in several mergers and acquisitions in addition to off shoring potential. Seeing the trends of previous years, reformation in financial institutions is persistent. Reducing the consequences of this recession has been easier for nations and workplaces with well-built channel of communication (Downey, p. 94, 2011). The recession started several mutual projects of social associates. During the year 2009, 93 percent of the companies within the banking industry initiated joint bargaining against an average of 84 percent within other industries. Another consideration within the banking industry is that a works council covers 97 percent of companies that have more than 50 workers. Markets will have to go through a period of reformation to consider the facts of the impact of recession. Bank liquidity is currently known as being a lot more significant within the banking concept than in the previous years, when banks gave unsatisfactory attention to the need to expand financing sources. Market participants should become responsive to the changing wave within the banking industry as well as adjust their policy and approach consequently. A need for stronger guideline is predictable as an increase in guideline is the rational outcome of a recession. Now, there is only the aim to inflict more guidelines on the banking industry although its precise form is not as confirmed yet. The most competent approach would be for the United States as well as for the European Union to synchronize their course of action; or else, â€Å"banks will concentrate operations in the jurisdiction with the least restrictive regime† (McLean, p. 36, 2010). In the initial instance, the market requires to stay away from the development of another ‘Shadow Banking system’. Moving ahead, one can look ahead to that any organization that takes influential positions within financial instruments will be positioned under the control of the state supervisory body. Any business or legal entity that operates like a bank or operates like a channel for a bank will be put through the regulatory system. Barclays resisted the financial recession by declaring solid returns; regardless of the banking industry recession, Barclays made pre-tax returns of ? 1.6 billion during the last quarter in the year 2009. This takes its earnings of the same year to ? 4,646 - 18 percent less than a year ago - because of ? 5.9 billion of bad debts (McLean, p. 36, 2010). However, while Barclay's United Kingdom retail section witnessed returns tumble, its investment as well as commercial banking divisi on goes on to do well. Moreover, with the profits from the sale of its International Shareholders division still to come, Britain's second largest bank seems to heading in the right direction for a record-breaking year.

Housing Industry in America Essay Example for Free

Housing Industry in America Essay The American housing industry forms a vital component of the American economy as homes are the basic necessity for everyone. The industry offers jobs for various people from different professions including carpenters, masons, architects, engineers, technicians, interior designers, civil engineers, designers, artists, etc. The entire industry is distributed over several small companies rather than one single large company. However, in the US, there have been several mergers and acquisitions of the smaller companies recently. Most of the people in the US actually live in homes or apartments constructed by the housing industry and hence they have a huge stake in the market. The American housing industry constructs variety of homes including apartments, townhouses, single-family house, custom-build house, etc. A small number of people in the US actually live in houses build by themselves. Most of the houses constructed in the US are build on-site and a fewer number are fabricated in the factory and late transported to their actual site. The construction material used in various areas of the US is also different based on the geographic requirements, local resources available, etc. It may be cheaper and easier to build homes in one region of the US compared to another. Besides, the material used by the housing industry has changed over the last century since the housing industry came into picture. Earlier the housing industry used a lot of wood, asbestos, tiles, and lead-rich paint. Today the construction industry is using greater amount of concrete, steel and plastics (Muldin, 2008). Due to the recent recession and economic slowdown, the housing industry in the US has experienced a significant drop of about 3. 1 %. In more than 43 states the cost of homes has dropped by about 8 %. One of the main reasons for this is the difficultly for consumers to pay loans and mortgages (Muldin, 2008).

Virginia School Of Polygraph

Virginia School Of Polygraph The purpose of this paper is to address abnormal behavior and various psychological disorders so polygraph examiners may have a better realization and understanding when conducting polygraph examinations on such individuals. There will be occasions when a polygraph examiner will have to conduct polygraph examinations on individuals who posses abnormal behavior and psychological disorders. If the polygraph examiner has knowledge and is aware of the signs and symptoms associated with abnormal behavior and personality disorders and what types of charts the examinee may produce, the polygraph examiner will be able to determine to what extent the examination can offer. The polygraph examiner should also recognize the safeguards and incorporate precautions when questioning these types of examinees. The polygraph examiner who is very familiar with abnormal behavior and psychological disorders is better suited to recognize examinees that may have not been diagnosed with a disorder. The polygraph examiner will be able to generate a better examination when interviewing these individuals. ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSHYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS There will be examinees, which have a psychological disorders to perform well on the polygraph examination and produce good charts and others that may not do well resulting in poor charts. A bad chart can have a greater area of tracing impurities or artifacts. Artifacts that might possibly arise in subjects who posses psychological disorders could be: excessive movement, talking, audible sighs or laughing. The polygraph examiner who can recognize the symptoms associated with these disorders would be able to gather from the physiological activity on the polygraph exam that the examinee could be undergoing psychological problems. The examiner should then advise the examinee that he needed to be evaluated. A determination should be made by the examiner if the examination should be postponed until the examinee is better equipped to produce clearer charts on the polygraph examination. The polygraph examiner will not be able to obtain better chart readings until the physiological issues ca n be somewhat resolved. By addressing these issues to the right care takers in the field of psychiatry, the examinee would be better suited for a re-examination. Once these safeguards are in place for the different psychological disorders and all parties involved understand the importance of quality charts needed from the examination, there would be no wasted time and effort. Because of these disorders, it is very important that the polygraph examiner be able to recognize psychological disorders in examinees and those who may be using deceptive characteristics. ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS Abnormal behavior and various psychological disorders will be defined in this research paper and the appropriate instructions will be given to better prepare the polygraph examiner when administering examinations. (Matte, 1996) Defining the word abnormal can be sometimes difficult, but to most psychologists, it simply means to deviate from the norm. This can present a complex problem to psychology because you have to ask: what is normal, what guidelines, for what age, for what culture. Many would say that what is good is normal and what is bad is abnormal. This however can be a generalized statement. There are other ways of determining a more objective reference point. One method of determining abnormality is statistical deviation. In the bell-shaped curve below, one can recognize that the majority of human characteristics can be easily recognized. (http://www.purgatory.net) A standard bell curve ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS People who fall to the far left or to the far right from the chart division in the middle could be considered abnormal. The misconception of this meaning however can cause disagreements over the meaning of abnormality. It does not identify other variables such as those who have an above than average IQ. It does not identify common but maladaptive behavior like people who use tobacco products or those who use alcohol. Strategies using this approach can be very useful in science and statistics. (http://www.purgatory.net) An easy way to classify abnormal behavior is by ones personal stresses. Simply stated, if a person is happy with their life, then there would be no problems concerning the mental health profession. But, if ones thoughts or actions are causing personal conflict or sadness, they would be characterized as abnormal. Another way to identify abnormality is through maladaptive behavior. In maladaptive behavior, there are two viewpoints. First, is maladaptive to ones self. Second, is maladaptive to society. Maladaptive to ones self, is a persons failure to obtain personal objectives or to work through the pressures of everyday life. Maladaptive to society is when a person causes problems or issues to the whole of society thus causing dysfunction This explanation permits tremendous manageability. It allows space for a person to conform their behavior to societys norms. It also allows for deviant behavior if the person ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS does not attempt to harm themselves. This allows the terminology of abnormality to be identified the way it should be by resting on the fact that each individuals life experiences and environment are different. There are some classifications of behavior that testifies to the possible threats to the lives and livelihood of people. The following examples explain the various stages of these classifications: extended episodes of discomfort, inability to function, unexplained behavior, and disruptive behavior. Extended periods of discomfort are classified as things such as worrying about a test or if a loved one dies. The discomfort is real and threatens the individual but in time, the discomfort goes away. If these feelings continue and appear not to be coming from these examples a person could be considered to have a disorder. Impaired functioning may be when a person who has a very high IQ, but has difficulties passing tests. Unexplained behavior is when people do things that others find strange. The body piercings and clothes that teenagers get in todays society are unexplainable to the older generation but are explainable by sociologist due to the fact everyone wants to be in style with their preferred peers. Unexplained behavior has no explainable theory other than the individual appears to be mentally impaired. Disruptive behavior is when a person displays sporadic and uncontrollable behavior that disrupts the lives of others or deprives them of ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSHCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS their human rights on a regular basis. This type of behavior is characteristic of a severe psychological disorder. There are many psychological disorders that the polygraph examiner must be aware of and they are as follows: Anxiety, Mood, Personality, Schizophrenia, Delusional, Sexual, Somatoform and Dissociative. Anxiety disorders are disorders in which anxiety is the main symptom (generalized anxiety or panic disorders) or anxiety is experienced unless the individual avoids feared situations (phobic disorders) or tries to resist performing certain rituals or thinking persistent thoughts (obsessive-compulsive disorders). Also includes post-traumatic stress disorder. Mood disorders are when a person may be extremely depressed or may change between periods of elation and depression. Personality disorders are long-standing patterns of maladaptive behavior that exhibits immature and inappropriate ways of coping with stress and solving problems. Antisocial personality disorder is an example. Schizophrenia is a group of disorders characterized by loss of contact with reality, marked disturbances of thought and perception, and bizarre behavior. At some phase delusions or hallucinations almost always occur. Delusional disorders are characterized by excessive suspicions and hostility, accompanied by feelings of being persecuted; reality ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS contact in other areas satisfactory to the norm. Sexual disorders include transsexualism, sexual interest in children, impotence, premature ejaculation and sexual performance. Psychoactive substance abuse disorders include excessive use of alcohol, barbiturates, amphetamines, cocaine, and other drugs that alter behavior. Marijuana and tobacco are also included in this category, which is controversial. Somatoform disorders are physical but no organic basis can be found and psychological factors appear to play the major role. Included are conversion disorders (for example, a woman who resents having to care for her invalid mother suddenly develops a paralyzed arm) and hypochondriasis (excessive preoccupation with health and fear of disease when there is no basis for concern). Dissociative disorders are temporary alterations in the functions of consciousness, memory, or identity due to emotional problems. Included are amnesia (the individual cannot recall anything about his or her histo ry following a traumatic experience) and multiple personality (two or more independent personality systems existing within the same individual). (Harcout Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1993) The majority of people always feel a little nervous sometimes. However, people with anxiety disorders feel an abnormal amount from common things. In all types of anxiety disorders, anxiety is the main symptom. There are four major types of anxiety disorders: ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS generalized anxiety/panic disorders, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and post traumatic stress disorder. A person with a general anxiety disorder lives in a state of constant nervousness. People with this disorder usually overreact to any type of stress. Typically, individuals have trouble making decisions and when they actually do this it usually only causes additional worries. Sufferers of general anxiety tend to have panic attacks. Some theorists think that this disorder is caused by a learned anxiety. For example, being nervous once about something and learning to avoid that something. A phobia is a fear of a specific stimulus or situation. The sufferer of a phobia usually knows that the fear is irrational but cannot do anything about it. Phobia has three sub-classes: simple phobia, social phobia, and agoraphobia. A simple phobia is a fear of a specific thing or situation. A person may have one phobia but be normal in all other aspects. However, in serious cases, a perso n may have multiple phobias that interfere with their everyday life. Social phobias are when people have an extreme fear of social situations and of embarrassing themselves. The most common types of this phobia are public speaking and eating in public. This type of phobia creates an irrational fear of unfamiliar situations. People with agoraphobia avoid open spaces, crowds, traveling, and in extreme cases do not even leave their home. It is also the most difficult to cure. Obsessive-Compulsive ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS disorders are the persistent intrusions of unwelcome thoughts, images, or impulses that cause anxiety. A compulsion is an irresistible urge to carry out certain acts or rituals that reduce anxiety. These two things are often linked together. Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder know that their behavior is irrational, but are unable to resist. The resistance only causes them to become anxious and only the carrying out of the act will relieve that anxiety. Compulsion has many forms, but the two most common are washing and checking. The obsessive-compulsive disorder is related to the phobias in that both cause severe anxiety and a patient may suffer from both disorders. Post-traumatic stress disorder is caused by a traumatic event that overwhelms a person and ruins their ability to cope with a situation. It can cause flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, and/or guilt. It is usually extremely long lasting. (Harcout Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1993) In Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic-depression, there are swings in mood from elation to depression with no discernable external cause. During the manicky phase of this disorder, the patient may show excessive, unwarranted excitement or silliness, carrying jokes too far. They may also show poor judgment and recklessness ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS and may be argumentative. Manics may speak rapidly, have unrealistic ideas, and jump from subject to subject. They may not be able to sleep or sit still for very long. These symptoms are predominant for a specific period of time lasting for a few days or even a few months. Hospitalization can often be necessary to keep the person from harming themselves and others. The other side of the bipolar coin is the depressive episode. Bipolar depressed patients often sleep more than usual and are lethargic. This contrasts with those with major depression, who usually has trouble sleeping and is agitated. During bipolar depressive episodes, a patient may also show irritability and withdrawal. Manic episodes can occur without depression, but this is very rare. Bipolar disorder is relatively uncommon, occurring in less than 1% of the population. Many researchers believe that it has an organic basis, as it is more common among identical than fraternal twins and may reflect an excess of norepinephrine which is a neurotransmitter believed to play a part in depression. (Harcout Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1993) Schizophrenia is a class of disorders that are identified by loss of contact with reality, marked disturbances of thought and perception, and bizarre behavior. Sometime in the ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS persons life there will be delusions or hallucinations that almost always occur. Schizophrenia is among the most debilitating and complex of the psychoses. Approximately 1% of the world population is affected with this mental illness. Emil Kraeplin first identified the illness in 1986 when he distinguished it from the mood disorders. Kraeplin believed that all psychiatric disorders were caused by organic factors, and his experience suggested to him that the onset of the disease occurred early in the life of the individual. Hence, he called it dementia praecox, which means a premature deterioration of the brain. (Harcout Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1993) Emils thoughts were later disputed by many psychiatrists. One of these was Eugene Bleuler, an eminent Swiss psychiatrist, who, in 1911 found that the onset of the disease could in fact occur in the later years. He also reported that schizophrenia was not characterized by the progressive deterioration over the life of the patient, but rather that most patients, after an original severe deterioration, tend to stabilize and remain at the same point in their psychosis for extended periods of time. Bleuler also felt that in order to avoid any misunderstanding of the nature of the illness by the now obvious misnomer attached to it; the disease would be much better served if it was referred to as ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONSON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS schizophrenia. Bleuler invented the word by combining two Greek words meaning split and mind. This emphasized a splitting apart of the patients affective and cognitive functioning, which are heavily affected by the disease. (Harcout Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1993) There are two types of schizophrenia: Type I (Reactive or Acute Schizophrenia and Type II (Process Schizophrenia). Reactive schizophrenia is usually sudden and seems to be a reaction to some life crisis. Since the premorbid history is usually good, when the disease does manifest itself, it is in the early phases. Reactive schizophrenia is a more treatable form of the illness than process or chronic schizophrenia. Reactive Schizophrenia is also referred to as poor premaid schizophrenia. It is characterized by lengthy periods of its development with a slow deterioration and negative symptoms. It doesnt seem to be related to any major life change or negative event. Usually this type of schizophrenia is associated with loners who are rejected by society, tend not to develop social skills and dont excel out of high school. The principal disturbance in the schizophrenics thought processes is multiple delusions. This is divided into two sub-categories, persecutory delusions (in which the sc hizophrenic believes that he/she is being talked about, spied ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS upon, or their death being planned) and delusions of reference (which is when the schizophrenic gives personal importance to completely unrelated incidents, objects, or people. Other common delusions include thought broadcasting (they believe their thoughts are visible to the outside world) and thought insertion, which is what most people perceive schizophrenia as consisting of (their thoughts are not their own and are in truth being inserted into their minds by some outside force). Other delusions, such as believing one to be Jesus Christ, may appear in extreme cases. (Harcout Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1993) The Delusional Disorder is from time to time is referred to as paranoia. The delusion may manifest itself as any of the following types: The persecutory type is when the individual believes he or she is being threatened or mistreated by others. The grandiose type is when victims of the disorder believe they are extraordinary important people or are possessed with extraordinary power, knowledge or ability. The jealous type is when the delusion centers on the unfaithfulness of a spouse. The eroticmatic type is when a person convinces themselves that a popular or well known celebrity is in love with them and letters are ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS exchanged between the two. The somatic type is when a persons false belief that is focused on a delusional physical abnormality or disorder. (Harcout Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1993) Sexual disorders include problems of sexual identity, sexual performance, and sexual aim. There are three major categories of sexual disorders: sexual dysfunctions, paraphilia, and gender identity disorders. Sexual dysfunctions prevent or reduce an individuals enjoyment of normal sex and prevent or reduce the normal physiological changes brought on normally by sexual arousal. These dysfunctions can be classified by the phase of the sexual cycle in which they occur. It is important to keep in mind that the diagnosis of sexual dysfunction is made only when the disability persists. Any of these could occur occasionally or be caused by a temporary factor such as fatigue, sickness, alcohol, or drugs. (Harcout Brace Jovanovich., 1993) Paraphilias are sexual behaviors in which unusual objects or scenarios are necessary to achieve sexual excitement. Eight paraphilias are recognized which are grouped into 3 broad categories: Preferences for nonhuman objects, Preferences for situations causing suffering, Preferences for nonconsenting partners. ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS There are two types of preferences for nonhuman objects: fetishism and transvestism. A fetish exists when a person is sexually aroused by a nonliving object. It can manifest in two ways, one more extreme than the other. One form associates coitus with some object like womens underwear. It is relatively harmless if the action is taken playfully and is acceptable to the persons partner. Certain parts of the body besides pleasurable foreplay can become fetishistic in its hold on the individual. (Harcout Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1993) The most extreme form of fetishism is when a nonliving object substitutes for a human partner, such as underwear, shoes, or delicate objects as velvet or silk. In this state, sexual gratification is achieved when the person is alone, fondling the object. Transvestism exists when the person achieves sexual excitement by cross-dressing. This is very rarely found in females so the male side of this paraphilia will be used as the example. Two different purposes seem to be associated with this act in different individuals. In one aspect the person seeks to intensify sexual excitement in intercourse with a partner by only partially dressing as a woman. In the other form, the male moves about in full female regalia, which suggests some type of gender identity disorder but not necessarily homosexuality. ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS Preferences for situations causing suffering from the reported violent exploits of the Marquis de Sade. Sadist is applied to those who derive sexual excitement from the pain of others. The term masochist was derived from the writing of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch whose characters sought out women who would beat them. Masochist is applied to those who derive sexual excitement through their own pain. Hence, sadists and masochists go hand in hand, one depending on the need of the other. The danger of these needs is that each may need successively more brutal treatment to satisfy their sexual needs. Preferences for nonconsenting partners are separated into three types: exhibition, voyeurism and pedophilia. All three are considered crimes in this country and are almost entirely male crimes. Exhibitionism is the exposure of ones genitals in a public place. It is the most prominent sexual offense leading to arrest and makes up one third of all sexual crimes.1 From the psychological point of view, there are three characteristic features of the exhibition. First, it is always performed for unknown women; second, it always takes place where sexual intercourse is impossible, for example in a crowded shopping mall; and third, it must be shocking for the unknown woman or it seems to lose its power to produce sexual ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS arousal in the individual. Exhibitionists are not assaultive and are considered more of a nuisance than an actual danger. Voyeurism is Looking at sexually arousing pictures or situations are a relatively common, apparently normal activity. The difference between this and voyeurism is that in normal watching, the viewing is a prelude to normal sexual activity. In the voyeur or Peeping Tom the experience replaces normal sexual activity. Nevertheless, voyeurism may exist in a person who also engages in normal heterosexual activity. Pedophilia is the act of deriving sexual excitement through the physical contact of children. This paraphilia is radically different from exhibitionism and voyeurism in its severely damaging impact on the nonconsenting partner, a child. Ordinarily, the pedophiliac is someone who has ready access to the child. The child or parent would have no reason to suspect that the individual has a pedophilic orientation. A gender identity disorder exists when a person, male or female, experiences confusion, vagueness or conflict in their feelings about their own sexual identity. There is a struggle between the individuals anatomical sex gender and subjective feelings about choosing a masculine or feminine style of life. Children can distinguish the difference between males and females by the age of two and by their fourth birthday can recognize the different roles ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS that each sex plays in society. By the age of fifteen or so a person can relate to what arouses sexual feelings in themselves. Those with a gender identity disorder may have a problem with one or all of these aspects of identity. (Harcout Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1993) The most common characteristic of the somatoform disorder is the appearance of physical symptoms or complaints of such without any organic basis. Such dysfunctional symptoms tend to range from a specialized sensory or motor diability to hypersensitivity to pain. Four major somatoform disorders exist: conversion disorder (also known as hysteria), hypochondriasis, somatization disorder, and somatoform pain disorder. The two somatoform disorders are conversion disorder and hypochondrias. The primary symptom for conversion symptom is often a lack or change in physical functioning. The diseased often react with an attitude of indifference, showing an amazing lack of concern. However, the primary symptoms which may include suc h serious ailments as blindness, amnesia and paralysis, are used as a defense mechanism by the person to escape from a stressful situation. In addition, there may be an awareness of the gains possible through the use of the symptom, which may prolong the symptom. Symptoms are grouped as follows. A conversion disorder is divided into three symptoms: Sensory symptoms, motor symptoms, and visceral symptoms. Sensory symptoms include anesthesia, excessive sensitivity to ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS strong stimulation (hyper anesthesia), loss of sense of pain (analgesia), and unusual symptoms such as tingling or crawling sensations. In motor symptoms, any of the bodys muscle groups may be involved: arms, legs, vocal chords. Included are tremors, tics (involuntary twitches), and disorganized mobility or paralysis. Visceral symptoms consists of trouble swallowing, frequent belching, spells of coughing or vomiting, all carried to an uncommon extreme. In both sensory and motor symptoms, the areas affected may not correspond at all to the nerve distribution in the area. Hypochondriasis has no real illness, but is overly obsessed with normal bodily functions. They read into the sensations of these normal bodily functions the presence of a feared disease. Dissociative disorders are disorders can no longer answer questions such as who they are, where they are at and what they are doing. People with a dissociative disorder remember information about their identity, memories or consciousness. These individuals dissociate from a specific point of reality. There are four categories of Dissociative Disorders: Depersonalization, Dissociative Amnesia, Dissociative Fugue, and Dissociative Identity Disorder. Depersonalization is a change in an individuals perception of themselves. They say to themselves things like, I feel like Im in a dream because their connection to reality feels as though they are not in complete control over their own actions or feelings. ADMINISTERING POLYGRAPH EXAMINATIONS ON CLIENTS WHO POSSES ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS Dissociative Amnesia is when a person experiences a loss of memory about specific events, people, places or objects. Dissociative Fugue is categorized by a sudden or unexpected departure from home or work place. Dissociative Identity Disorder is also referred as Multiple Personality Disorder. This disorder is very rare, but is the most dramatic of all the dissociative disorders. People with this disorder alternate their personalities personifying a different person with different personalities. (Matte, 1996) The most important aspect to remember concerning individuals with an acute mental disorder, is that the polygraph examiner should postpone an examination until it is determined the state of the persons mental health. If the polygraph examiner knows in advance the state of the examinees mental condition and if a polygraph examination is required, the polygraph examiner should obtain written permission from the examinees medical care provider. (Matte, 1996)

Strengths and Weaknesses of Bureaucracy

Strengths and Weaknesses of Bureaucracy The advent of 21st century, the global economy has dramatically undergone changes. Developed and emerging economies are converging to one gigantic global economy; this has directly impacted the businesses compelling organisations around the world to competitive at the international level. The protection shield enjoyed by the organisations behind a closed economy earlier under the cloak of the government restricting entry for foreign players are getting slimmer each year. Consequently, organisations have to compete in their home country against MNC with vast resources, and search for opportunities elsewhere. However, there are numerous other factors which have influenced organisation world wide to reconsider their strategies in the wake of the changing global business dynamics. Free trade area agreements, creation of trading blocs such as the European Union, South East Asian countries (ASEAN) and other similar existing and ones which are still under consideration have immensely pressurized companies, and exposed them to the competition. The competitive and comparative advantages enjoyed by these organisations earlier are now threatened by the new foreign entrants. As a result to survive and grow in the 21st century most organisations either adapted or withered away to the changing conditions. The ones which survived the strong wave of forced adaption have learned their lessons that change is a constant factor in the global business environment, and being reflexive and adaptive is the only way out. Technological innovation is another aspect that has influenced change in the organisation. Technology is evolving at a rapid pace warranting organisation to absorb the changes at the same speed. Other influential factors : Intensity of international competition; presence of key competitors in all key international markets; internationalization of product standards; stronger push by international bodies such as the world Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) increasing level of international trade between countries ; increase in Intra-firm trade ; Technological intensity. At the organizational level, there is continuous pressure to perform in the new business economy; factors such as availability of scarce resources, Value Added Activities, presences of Propriety Technologies, Management Skills , Marketing Skills, creation of strong brand equities, Production know-how , achieving economies of scale , productive capability and presence of low labour costs centres( India , Chain and etc.) and many others. 1.b Strengths and Weaknesses of bureaucratic organizations: BUREAUCRATIC organizations functions well and are suitable for environments which are stable in nature and involve routine tasks and minimal technological changes. A Bureaucratic organisational structure is often centralized; they have a clear, well defined vertical hierarchy of command, authority and chain of control. Productivity and efficiency are achieved through standardization of processes. Emphasis is given to specialization of processes and is most often formalized. As a result of these factors, the tasks in a bureaucratic organisation often results in rigidly defined jobs, process , applications of technology leaving very less or often no space for creativeness or innovative inputs into the system. Since every tasks, process are predetermined and predictable by strict standard operating procedures, the system resemble a machine (Max weber, 1978, cited in Beetham, 1996). According to Max Weber (1978), Strengths and Weakness of a bureaucratic organisation are as follows: Strengths Strict rules and regulation regarding work , behaviour and employee code of conduct Impersonal orientation specific sphere of competence Continuity in uniformity of operations Less impact of any changes to the organizational structure or management Rational allocation of tasks Division of labor based on various specialized functions Membership constitutes a career Promotions are usually based on experience and technical knowledge and competence qualifications tested limited discretion of officers legally based tenure Educational and technical qualifies are tested periodically Prescribed chain of authority and legal compliances Weaknesses Very less or often no space for creativeness or innovative inputs into the system Highly rigid decision making system. Participation is based on defined authority There is a severe lack of empathy or rationality. The origination is highly regulated by set rules and regulations. Productivity and efficiency are achieved through standardization of processes Rigidly defined jobs, process , applications of technology Slow reaction to unexpected crisis Bureaucratic organizational step up is not suitable for industry or companies which are under great pressure to perform and compete in the market. Neglecting group thinking and initiatives 1. c Alternative forms of organizational development: Organisation development is a planned intervention. The primary intention of OD is to improve the current organisational functions to create a strong foundation for strengthens; work towards reducing weakness ; address threats arising due to various factors influencing the business internally or externally; to mitigate risk or at least reduce the exposure or damage, and all these ultimately results to reflect the changing business environment. There are multitudes of intervening areas within the organisation warranting intervention on regular bases, and also at times of contingencies or unexpected crisis. Organisation intending for a higher level of changes often adopt a full range of interventions. This would also include aspects such as the transformation of employee behaviour and attitudes to towards their roles responsibilities and in general, towards the organisational boarder objectives. On the other hand, partial attempt in change management would result in organisational le vel failures. Subsequently, operating policies, personal policies, management structures and organisational skills sets would fall short of it expectations. Typically, organization development programs will implement multiple interventions simultaneously. There are various methods / types of organization development interventions considered for change management: structural interventions, third party peace-making interventions, Intergroup team building interventions, process consultation interventions, forced field analysis Kurt Lewin, Team interventions, and process consultation interventions. Structural Interventions: It is also known as techno structural interventions and mainly focuses on changes in tasks, organisational structure, technological processes, quality circles, TQM, restructuring and work/job design. Intergroup team building interventions: These interventions advocate in the improvement of intergroup relations between work teams, facilitate effective communication. The steps involved are: OD practitioner meets the group leaders and study their requirements. Groups meet separately and encourage noting down about perceptions, related problems, attitude towards each other. This also involves group anticipating each others expectations. This process helps in improving interaction between individuals and groups; find solution to unresolved problems; and minimize the communication gap. Team Building interventions: These interventions are focused on improving team organizational processes, Task accomplishment, Problem diagnosis and establishing strong team relationships. The process involves analysing the purpose of teams existence, objectives and team preparation for task accomplishment. Human Resources management interventions: involves employee performance and assessment management, employee wellness and reward systems, organisational diversity management and many others. Third party peace-making Interventions: various methods and techniques are used , such as the confrontation technique, Insist on exploring possible solutions, Efforts to overcome negative feeling, solving interpersonal conflict Differentiation phase understand differences of perspectives , Integration phase sharing of positive feelings and thoughts. Other intervention areas are team building, self-designing organizations, facilitating, organizational restructuring, conflict management, training, coaching, and organizational transformation, cultural change and strategic management. Key Stakeholders in My Chosen Organisation My chosen organisation for Change Management Process is a local grocery supermarket located in Bangalore, India. It was founded in the year 2001. Initially the retail store supplied only stationery and foods items; however, over the years, more products were added to their portfolio. Today, the retail store known as Naveen Supermarket has range of products such as house hold goods, food items, electronic items among other products commonly found in general grocery stores. Naveen Supermarket has about 20 to 25 employee working in different shifts around the clock. The employees are divided into three main sections, the first group manages the supermarket floor, the second group is engaged with the stock management, and the third group manages telephone orders and delivery system. The supermarket store is situated in a convenient location, surrounded by huge residential complex, transportation points and also major educational and business institutions. Since its inception as a small retail store in 2001, it has now grown into a busy 24 / 7 store serving over 5000 customers every week. From the last few years, world economy has seen a dramatic change in its location. While Naveen supermarket experienced exponential growth, it also faces increasing competition from new entrants especially, large supermarkets, transforming the market into highly competitive business. The usual old ways of attracting and retaining customers have been found ineffective, and consequently, the supermarket is seriously planning to have a major overhaul in the organisational structure, and also business functions to reflect the changing conditions in the market. Change in demographic profile of the surrounding population has also mandated changes including the product portfolio to accommodate multi-cultural food products, different age group especially increasing student and higher working class population. Apart from this, the management of the supermarket is also envisioning of opening similar stores in other locations in Bangalore. Bangalore is known as the second silicon valley of the world, and emerging as one of the major metropolitan city in India, consequently, today the city has adapted a culture similar to other major cities around world attributed by fast moving busy life style. Opportunity A study done by Davies (2001), point out that food customers in UK are not interested to cook food in their kitchen. The quote of Davies stated: Food manufactures should address the need of this fast moving, time starved generation. This can be done by making branded and own label products that fits the changing lifestyle of new era family. Speed is required while preparing food as there is no time to cook. Healthy and convenient food is in demand. The similar trend is rising in India as well. So Naveen Supermarket has the tremendous opportunities to expand their chain across India. Analysis of the type of Change Company is initiating The organization is going to have recent development of the operational change consists of the operational modifications will change the techniques of on-going operations of the company, like the automation of the various operational processes. The operational changes would help Naveen supermarket in improvement in supply chain management practices, increase in revenue, improvement in quality of service and products by applying Total quality management and Kaizen systems for continuous improvements. The main aim of implementing to have cost-cut in long run and achieve competitive edge in the higher competitive market conditions. The change proposed for the automation of transaction and operational activity will also lead to quick decision making and helps in the analysis of current situation. Now, these four different types of changes as per consultant David A. Nadler and management professor Michael L. Tushman together developed an instructive topology of organization change as shown in the diagram shown below. (Kreitner, 2007) Four types of organization change topology Incremental Strategic Anticipatory Tuning Re-orientation Reactive Adaption Re-Creation Based on this model shown in above table, the company is doing Re-creational change. The change is reactive in the sense the company is growing and wants to optimize the operational activities by taking advantage of automation and changing strategic vision of company. Changes Appropriate for Naveen supermarket. 1. Provide quality in its product and services focusing on improve personalized dispositions; improve the order placing and delivery mechanism including online platform. 2. Aggressively market by introducing various promotional offer to match other competitors especially MNC. 3. Control operating costs thereby saving could be too transferred to the customer as increased services or price reduction, and thus building a strong competitive advantage over the time. 4. Recruit professionals in the field retail management, so as represent a fair mix of talents in the organisation representing wide background. 2. B Analysis of models for stakeholder engagement Stakeholder engagement models and its analysis/application: Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management are the important aspects of Change Management Process to garner support for change in the organization. This technique can be used to identify the key areas of change, and affected persons in the implementation of the change. Stakeholders are an important asset to the organisation, and therefore its imperative to consult the stakeholder prior to the implementation of change to achieve the desired outcome. Disagreement or partial commitment would jeopardize the entire undertaking, eventually, resulting in unwanted conflicts and disagreement. The stakeholder analysis tool would assist Naveen Supermarket to comprehend and gain an early support from the stakeholders especially the influential ones. This requires that the management educate the stakeholder on the transpiring conditions that the business is surrounded with, which lead to the decision of undertaking change management in the organisation. The stakeholders should clearly be exp lained about the consequences of both options considering and not considering change in the short and long run. Winning the support of the influential stakeholders, and eventually others is the key to the successful implementation of change. The key stakeholders of Naveen Supermarket are: Management Staff Customers Suppliers Investors Government Municipal corporation Community (General Public) The following questions can provide an understating about the key stakeholders thoughts: What is expectation in terms of monetary or emotional? Optimistic or destructive? What is the key inspirational aspect of the project to them? What facts are they looking for? What is the most effective way to communicate the message to them? What steps are required in the management of their objections and opposition? Creating a platform for effective communication with the stakeholders would yield their exact thoughts and feelings of the project, and would enable how much of the support it can gather eventually. In case of objections, what step needs to be taken to turn around the objections into constructive support need to consider? This process can start with establishing an effective communication system, tailoring the information or message to suit the end receivers. Organise training programs, consult and include the stakeholders according to the proportion of their interests in the new development. Stakeholder mapping is a powerful tool allows a quickly analysis of the stakeholders impact, and how to improve the support system. (SVQ, 2007). Stakeholders mapping Stakeholder mapping matrix (MayersVermeulen, 2003) A- Key Players Management Employees Suppliers B- Keep Satisfied Government Local councils C- Keep Informed Customers Investor D- Minimal Effort Community High Interest Low H I GH Power L O W High power, highly interested Stakeholders: These key players should be actively engaged in the project and more efforts should be put to satisfy their curiosity and requirements in the project. High power, less interested Stakeholders: Keep them interested however avoid over indulgence. Low power, highly interested Stakeholders: These players should be kept informed regularly about the developments of the project. Though they constitute low in the power play matrix, their collective number or size has immense influence on the project. Low power, less interested Stakeholders: They dont have direct impact; however, they form the part of the entire system and therefore would require their inclusion in a constructive manner. Task 3: 3A Change models appropriate for my chosen organisation. CHANGE MANAGEMENT MODELS There are many models of change management such as Learning organization approach (LOA), Hope and Hope theory of competition in the third wave, the Kaizen approach to improve the quality of service, Business process re-engineering (BPR), de-layering, downsizing etc. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) BPR is one of the important steps prior to the implementation of ERP in an organisation. Basically BPR is the fundamental reconsideration of the organisational processes and involves radical thinking. It helps the organisational to improve various business operations dramatically so as to achieve excellence in customer services, reduce operating costs, and transform itself into a global competitor. BPR according to Hammer and Champy (1993), the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed. The greatest approach to implement change is to understand that change is the only constant in the dynamic business environment and embracing it is the key to survival and future growth. BPR is a methodical training process to enable companies to conduct feasibility evaluation for managing vibrant change. (Erpwire, 2010) John Kotters 8 step change model Kotter (2002) describes a methodical process to change management. Kotter suggests that for change to be successful, at least 3 /4 of the companys management need to embrace the change factor positively. The Kotters 8 step change model illustrated with a diagram in the context the supermarket.Identify short priorities and set achievable objectives Focus on accomplished and future milestones. Strengthen the importance of fruitful change via employment, promotion, and intertwine change into the organisational culture. Construct the regulatory team Repeatedly and robustly with the stakeholders Establish a simple vision and strategy within the team. Inspire people to move Allow positive feedback and tons of backing from leaders reward and recognize improvement and accomplishments. 8. Make change stick 7. Build on the change 6. Create the short-term wins 3. Create visualization for change 2. Construct the regulatory team 1. Increase urgency 4. Communicate the Vision 5. Remove Obstacles Kotters 8 step change model Kotters 8 step Change model, Source: www.Leadershiphub.com 3.b Implementation of change model in my chosen organisation In my opinion, Kotters model would the purpose of implementing the change management to achieve desirable results for Naveen Supermarket. According the model followings steps need to be undertaken: Create the sense of Urgency Step One Sense of urgency should be created among the stakeholders especially ones with most influence on the Naveen supermarkets business. This would include the shareholders primarily, employees, customer and other as deemed fit into the system for the change management. Form a Powerful Coalition Step Two Naveen supermarket must create effective leadership platform to implement and monitor change in the organisation. This requires coalition and support with key employees who can initiate and control and monitor the change process through its life. Create a Vision for Change Step Three To get employee and other stakeholders participating actively, Naveen supermarket should have clear and transparent, comprehendible vision about the change and its implications. Otherwise the enthusiasm would fade slowly from the epicentre of the core activities of the change management as it moves away and as time pass by. This would require that the leader regularly reinstate the vision to the employee to keep them altered of its progress and active involvement. Communicate the Vision Step Four Naveen supermarket should communicate the vision to the participants effectively through various channels such as media, training programs, organisational announcements. The more the emphasis on the key points in the vision the better the influence of it on the stakeholders. The vision should be comprehensive, cover every operations of the business that need change, influence and motivate the employee to be part of the change management. Remove Obstacles Step Five There are likely chances of obstacles crippling into the implementation process very often. However, the organisation should remained focused on the key action plans, closely monitor, get regular feedback and undertake any necessary actions required to adjust to the changing factors of the environment. Obstacles can come from internal source or external. Naveen supermarket should take speedy actions to restore the plan on its due course of execution. Obstacles that can be removed should be eliminated, others which tend to remain and deeply rooted must be accommodated without actually diluting the vision or jeopardizing the actions plans. Create Short-term Wins Step Six The Naveen Supermarket store must identify tasks, which can be accomplished easily. The results achieved would encourage further involvement and motivate others to join the effort whole- heartedly. Proper compensation and reward system should be built in the change management process. Employee who contributed considerably should be recognized and rewarded accordingly, thereby, setting an example of the personal benefits from its involvement. Short term achievement should be communicated effectively to the stakeholders to keep them interested. Build on the Change Step Seven This is one of the important steps. Naveen supermarket should build on the change, evaluate every winning factor and leverage on it. Failures should be identified and corrective steps need to be taken, so as to avoid similar failures in the future. Success got at this stage should not be assumed as the final victory rather, it must enable deep thinking, and serve as input to the next stage of change management after all change management is a continuous process. Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture Step Eight In a long and continuous effort of change management, the process should eventually be observed into the main stream culture of the organisation. For changes to be a part and parcel of the organisational culture, the leaders should regularly alert and create awareness about the existence of the change management that is deeply rooted in every organisational activity. The perception of change management should become an inseparable part of the organisational culture in a long run; this in turn would create a platform and facilitate any major undertaking in the future. Desirable Outcomes of Change Program The change management would eventually yield desirable outcome if it is undertaken constructively and effectively throughout its various implementation phase by the Naveen supermarket management. The three key areas of noticeable changes are: Operational changes The operational changes would help Naveen supermarket to improve various business operations. The changes should result in considerable improvement in the near future in the online orders and delivery mechanism which it is planning to launch very soon, floor management, supply chain management practices, improvement in quality of service and products , employee performance, reduction in operating cost resulting in increased revenue generation. Strategic changes Changes in the areas will give clear vision and direction to all the stakeholders of Naveen Supermarket. In a long run it will create value and ethos that is conducive for achieving growth and increase performance. Cultural changes Key values and ethics in business operations created along during the process of the changes would be imbibed into the organisational culture. It would serve as motivation and sense of purpose for the employees and other stakeholders to achieve and contribute to the organisational goals. The success achieved would drive home a message that, organisation to survive and grown in the highly competitive business environment mandates change, and the stakeholder, especially, the employee are the agents and catalyst to the change management process. In a long run the process would reflect that organisational culture is based on change management philosophy for success. Conclusion The change in organization generally also brings several issues. To make the change process a success it requires a lot of effort from the change leader. The change management model chosen by company needs to be thoroughly monitored and implemented. It is also measure and controls the success of the change process. Changes often result in individuals taking on greater responsibilities, retraining, performing new tasks and developing new skills and new ways of working. Individuals are taken out of the comfort zone they have operated in for some time. The anxiety and stress that can be caused if the process is not well managed will manifest itself in resistance to change. Greater degree of consultation and worker participation, both in the development of the strategic vision and the implementation of change, should increase ownership, thus reducing anxiety and stress that often drives resistance to change. Failure in most change processes can be traced back to poor communications and f ailure to appreciate the amount of retraining that is required. To conclude, I found that the scope of change is too wide and I would suggest that company should bring changes in different phases such as first of all bring the change of automation of some operational activity and later on when this change is successful implement other change.

ancient mid-east history Essay -- essays research papers

History, or at least the study thereof, as shown by class, is divided into three specific categories: remembered, recovered and invented--each having their own benefits and downfalls. The main purpose of studying history is to gather information about the past; to see the cause and effects of different situations; to see how this information can be applied to our lives, to understand why and how and others think in certain ways; and thus eventually lead to a better appreciation different peoples—one way or another. It is also inprotant to realize that history is not just about ‘what-really-happened-in-the-past’, but is a complex intersection of truth, bias and hopes. Realizing that the major importance of history is rooted upon ideas or principles and not facts, dates or names, this course was designed not to address the material as the history of X region from X date to X date, but rather in an order and a manner that the student (in this case, me) could retain the most valuable ideas possible and learn them in a fashion most aptly suited to the students understanding of certain ideas and principles. I also realize the importance of the ideas and processes of history over the actual facts, names or dates within our study. Thus, in composing this capstone, I will attempt to use specific examples of course-material to exemplify what I thought was the main theme (themes) of the class, rather than attempting to go section by section and enumerate the material within. After all, I already have print copies of all of the course notes; if I wanted to go back and look at the any of the material covered, I can use those (note to my long-off-as-of-yet-self); therefore, it would be pointless for me to attempt restate all that was learned in all of the courses sections. With that stated, let us first look at one of the first cases of history as a science to see an exaple of the first type of history, remembered. Because he is one of the first men that we have found to attempt to record the past, we say that Herodotus is the â€Å"Father of History.† Herodotus’s works, â€Å"The Histories†, which are of form of both a remembered and invented are a record of primarily two things: the Persian Wars, and the Greeks’ double defeat of the mighty forces led against Greece by the Persian kings Darius and Xerxes. Just as any good entertaining story would, the histories are full of gos... ... Schliemann liars, because we do not trace our own personal values back to them—if they are found discreditable, that does not mean that anything that we believe in, or even ourselves, is threatened. However, put something that we cherish, for example the Christian Church, into the spotlight, and we quickly become very defensive and uncomfortable. Perhaps this says something about human nature, and more so, possibly says something about how our view of history could become perverted. Thus we see that history is much more than the study of â€Å"Dead White European Males†; it involves men and women from many different cultures, of many different lifestyles, the study of other related subjects such as language, writing and religion, it even at times requires one to be an expert on ceramics (as is the case of Denise Schmandt-Besserat's theory on the origins of cuneiform). The course has also provided invaluable information that has revealed the common background shared by some of the most dramatically contrasting civilizations of today. It is now up to the individual to use what he or she has learned from this class to better current society, and as an aid to comprehending other matters.

Criminal Trial Process Paper :: essays research papers

Criminal Trial Process Paper Introduction:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Canada, our criminal trial process is based around an adversarial system. What this means is that the disputants are represented by professionals in the field of law. These professionals are called lawyers. The lawyers work so that the truth of the trial is brought forward and justice is served for the greater community. In the adversarial system it is believed that the search for truth is best served by the parties themselves, through their lawyers and not through the judge. This means that lawyers determine the issue in dispute and decide the best way to argue them. Judges generally play a very passive role in the trial process. Their job is merely to ensure a fair trial for the accused, and to make an unbiased, neutral decision at the end of the trial. This decision is based upon the evidence brought forward by the two teams of lawyers during the criminal trial. Key Players:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the adversarial system there are three, and sometimes four key players that make up the criminal trial process. These key players are the Crown attorney, the defence attorney and the judge or justice or the court. There is however in some cases juries involved in the trial process as well. The Crown attorney represents what is seen as the king or queen of the country, however they in actual fact represent the police officers and other law enforcers as well as the general public. The Crown has a very difficult and burdening job. They must find the accused, which is the person being charged, guilty of committing the crime. This decision must be considered and thought to be without a reasonable doubt. Reasonable doubt is a very hard concept to define. It is based around the â€Å"golden thread† of English law, the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty by his or her accuser. The courts, themselves can not even come up with an exact definition, but have tried their best through this explanation. The concept of whether or not the general public would see as a calmative group a bona fide and required limit on the situation. This limit must be logical and for the purpose of a greater good. Thus the Crown attorney carries an extremely heavy burden when attempting to find the accused guilty of his or her charges. This is thought to give the accused the fairest trial possible.

An Investigation of Literary Greatness: Still a Battle of the Sexes :: Argumentative Persuasive Literature Essays

An Investigation of Literary Greatness: Still a Battle of the Sexes "'I am an experienced writer and have some sense whether an idea can work or not...I wasn't sure it would work and I really thought about it for nine months before I put pen to paper. But I didn't feel intimidated by Melville's accomplishment. I felt inspired by it.'" Naslund quoted by Jamie Allen (CNN Interactive Senior Writer)(1999) For most people the mention of "great literature" stirs up the classic images of such authors as Shakespeare, Twain, Hemmingway, Salinger, Fitzgerald, and Melville among many others. Without belittling those very talented authors I would like to question their superiority over lesser acclaimed or widely known authors. What makes great literature and who gets to decide what qualifies? Perhaps a book such as Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund could be a "greater" book than its famous precursor, Herman Melville's Moby Dick. But who can one say that one book is greater than another? In the end the question of greatness comes down to who is measuring it. Well first off, what does it mean to be great at anything? Perhaps it means to have succeeded gracefully at whatever goal there was in mind. Perhaps it is to be liked by others, or to be meaningful. Perhaps it is represented by being carried on through time. Or perhaps greatness is whatever people make it to be and can never be fully defined. Most likely any or all of those things contribute to greatness. Given a flexible definition of greatness, what is great literature? Is it literature that has meaning (doesn't it all), invokes thought, is it defined by being likable, or achieving the authors goal, is it marked by the span of time and influence that the story has, or is a broad equation encompassing any or all, perhaps even none, of those characteristics? Many would say that Melville's Moby Dick is great literature. Moby Dick is a classic novel that surely has had, and continues to have, a huge influence on the collective evolution of writing and literary thought. Melville's story of madness and obsession combined with his realistic old English style of writing has been mimicked and transformed to give rise to hundreds, possibly thousands, of new stories and an infinite number of thoughts have been born. There is no question that Moby Dick has been a very influential book. Does that mean it's great?

Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management Essay

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the nurse ratios and how management and leaders effectively incorporate theories, principles and leadership styles and qualities that are effective in providing quality leadership and management to staff. There are differences in leaders and managers, in the styles, goals and qualities that define leaders and managers. The effects of the nurse patient ratio can be seen as well as felt on multiple levels of the facility. As far as nurse managers, they are on the closest level besides bedside nurses to see the effects of ratios. Studies have shown that higher nurse patient ratios lead to higher adverse outcomes for patients, lower patient satisfaction as well as higher nurse turnover , which increases costs to the facility. The article in the Journal of Clinical Nursing (2011) investigates the relationships between nurse staffing, nursing activities and adverse patient outcomes in the acute care setting as reported by nurses in Finland and the Netherlands. The study was performed using a cross-sectional, descriptive questionnaire. The study discusses tasks performed by nurses, as well as tasks performed by LPN’s and other staff. The studies show that nurses with higher patient ratio’s have higher incidence of medication administration errors, patient falls as lower patient satisfaction. The nurse manager has direct impact on the development and implementation of tools such as the staffing matrix, acuities scores and what is the policy for staffing. The nurses should be able to go to the managers with concerns regarding staffing issues. Nursing leaders look at the bigger picture, such as patient satisfaction but are also required to look at fiscal responsibilities that the facility has, as well as community events and support projects. Leaders look to improve and promote positive changes that will benefit the community served by the facility. Nurse leaders can evaluate how the policies and procedures are working, if they need to be changes to provide better quality of care. Nurse leaders also assist in educating staff on the reasons change is necessary and the steps that can be taken to effectively implement changes. Nurse managers are there to provide direction on daily tasks, support and as a resource  to staff. Typically, nurse managers deal with day to day running of the floor and issues that arise with staff and/or patients. Managers typically see issues that arise with current policies, provide direction to staff. It is understandable how management can be pulled in opposite directions such as what is best for nursing staff and patients may not be the same as what is good for the facility. Upper management does not always seem to have a grasp on the reality of the floor, the day to day issues of providing patient care and just what is necessary to maintain patient satisfaction. The theories and principles that best describe this writers philosophy is a mix. One theory or principle does not fit. A mix of situational, servant and participative includes the theories followed. Different situations can bring out different needs. An example in my facility is, with concerns regarding financial changes occurring in healthcare, rising costs to healthcare, a poor economy and decreased reimbursments, the leaders have to look at all those aspects, and evaluate the risk vs. benefits to nurse ratios. The nurse managers have to follow the rules set forth, and try to comply with the demands from upper management. It is expected by me that nurse managers look at the reality of the floor while keeping the needs of the facility in mind. Floor nurses are the advocates for the patient, and have a unique perspective of the needs of the floor. Managing staffing, acuities and patient care while also dealing with physicians, and upper  management requires effort and active participation. Leaders need to think outside the box, look at the bigger picture and then convince everyone that the changes are necessary, needed and beneficial. Both positions require skills such as good communication, good listening, being able to lead without dictatorship or by fear. Creating a positive environment while maintaining authority is not an easy task. Creating an atmosphere conducive to change while providing high quality care and keeping everyone happy is an even more difficult task. But both of these tasks require a relationship, trust and communication between all parties or departments involved. Staffing ratios have been studied, as seen in the study regarding work satisfaction (Nursing Economics, 2012) discusses the first staffing law that went into effect in California in 2004. The study showed that nurses with a lower nurse to patient ratio had a higher job satisfaction rate, as well as better patient satisfaction. The costs associated with high nurse turnover include more than just monetary costs. The safety risks to patients can not be ignored. Nurse managers can evaluate the effectiveness of the policies as they are closest to the floor nurses and patients. Nurse managers have a different and unique experience, as do nurse leaders. Both areas require active participation with daily interaction with staff. The staff needs to feel a part of the team, respected and listened to. To have an effective unit, collaboration between all levels needs to be in place. Effective managers and effective leaders can work together to achieve goals, while providing high quality patient care. References Hinno, S., Partanen, P., & Vehvilà ¤inen-Julkunen, K. (2012). Nursing activities, nurse staffing and adverse patient outcomes as perceived by hospital nurses. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 21(11/12), 1584-1593. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03956.x Tellez, M. (2012). Work Satisfaction Among California Registered Nurses: A Longitudinal Comparative Analysis. Nursing Economic$, 30(2), 73-81.

HTC Marketing

IntroductionThe mobile phone handling is on the rise day after day and it is transforming the field of technology and people’s lives across the world. In today’s modern life; people spend considerable amount of time using mobile phone for various purposes. Thus making it the most wanted gadget that people use most frequently. HTC is one of the biggest brands in mobile phone & telecommunications industry globally.HTC has shipped around 32. 6 million unit of mobile phone accounting 4.6 % of the global market; placing the HTC brand as number 4 mobile phone globally in 2012. The Taiwan based company HTC caters mostly for the middle end segments. HTC has its presence in every segment of the market. It offers the cheapest of smart phones with the most basic features as well as high-end phones with all the latest features and was the first to introduce android. (http://htcsource. com/) The purpose of this assignment is to produce an outline with justification of HTC’s p roduct market decision to the international business under the following topics.What is international marketing? Firms entering international markets Researching international markets & emerging markets International marketing environment International marketing strategies of HTC Product & pricing strategies of HTC The marketing plan of HTC The marketing mix of HTC International marketing culture of HTC International marketing communication strategies This will help how HTC’s way fits in to the theories of International Business Marketing.History of HTCHTC Corporation (HTC) is a Taiwanese operation with the most part of being influential, creative and leading players in global telecommunications with an escalating influence in the industry’s future. HTC is the synonym of â€Å"High Tech Computers† it starts its operation in 1997 and has made a name for itself in the global market and has been identified as one of the fastest brand & technology growing in the fie ld of mobile communication. HTC’s portfolio includes smart-phones and tablets powered by the Android software and HTC Sense operating systems (HTC Annual Report, 2010).It has started marketing its mobile phones under its own brand name (HTC) since 2006. Founded by Cher Wang, HT Cho and Peter Chou, which also reflects their initials in the brand name, the company has been the runner up in several successful operator branded devices, with established close partnerships with key players in the operator dominated mobile markets in Europe and Asia. HTC’s products are the most flourished in the world at the moment and thus since it has launched its own brands which have registered the fastest growth rate in the History of HTC.Its products are highly innovative & predictive of the future market trends, needs and demand with product range includes the full array of multimedia, wireless and web resources. HTC is related to the primary objective of most businesses entity which i s profit maximisation. Surprisingly for many specialists of the mobile phone technologies; HTC has been classified by the Business Week magazine in 2007 as the second best performing Technology Company in Asia while it was the third largest globally in year 2006.HTC has been ahead of one of its competitor Apple by breaking the technology trends in touch screen mobile telephones from 2002 onwards. (http://www. roc-taiwan-hn. com/) International Marketing A company becomes a ‘multinational corporation-MNC’ when it conducts any business function beyond its domestic borders’ (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2010). Internationally HTC has captured markets of Asia & Europe. Their principles are to promote trust, openness, teamwork, and professionalism, and pride as part of their principles across the globe.From a global market share of 2% in 2010, HTC is aiming to hold 10 -15 % of the global smart-phone market share. The CEO of HTC Mr Chou has announced that there are four Americ an telecom carriers have been promoting the device in the U. S. market. This marks the first time that HTC has collaborated with four U. S. telecom operators to simultaneously promote sales of a single HTC handset. Adding to this part of the company's new marketing strategy to enter international markets Source:Gartnerr Research HTC Entering International Market HTC is probably inexperienced with dealing with political issues associated with different countries. Therefore, it is most likely a good idea that HTC decided not to merge with a company that was involved in different world markets such as Apple, Samsung or Nokia. They have instead chosen to take a slower route to internationalization, e. g. the US market which was a difficult market to get through as it is a closed market.Therefore HTC can’t sell its mobile phones directly to customers, so it has to be sold to network providers and then the operators sell it to their customers on behalf of HTC as agreed partnership (http://www. behance. net/). Researching international markets & emerging markets According to thomaswhite. com, whatever the reasons are; the East Asian nations of South Korea and Taiwan have transformed themselves from being the manufacturing backyards of the USA and Japan into high-tech giants in just over a generation.Their expertise in the field of electronics is impressive and all-encircling. The market for mobile phones includes of two significant markets segmentations; 1st the fundamental, ultra-inexpensive mobile phones which offers very little or just the basic function of the traditional communications boundaries. These inexpensive devices come with the basic voice telecommunication and text messaging services.2nd the technologically advanced types of phones are widely referred as smart-phones, they are assembled in and from a variety of technologies, scoping from the internet to video-calling. Both segments of the market are ultra-competitive, although the smart-phones s egment offers slightly better margins. Therefore the emergence of the Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer, HTC which was involved in the design and manufacturing of cell phones for other organisations such as Microsoft and Google, has therefore transformed itself into a mobile phone brand (HTC) in recent years.International marketing environment The major component of external environment that affect businesses in various ways are the forces of globalisation (Paul, 2006) and the way the organisation has go forward from its start to its actual position, shows that HTC own this force at first and foremost. HTC started operations as an individual Brand on the global scale since 2006, thus because of the globalisation, HTC reached its customers on the global marketplace.According to Shelly and Rosenblatt (2009) nowadays organisations cannot operate at all without the use of the internet in a way or another. The internet as an external factor had considerable achievements on the developm ent of HTC at two levels. 1st: HTC was competent to differentiate and improve its smart-phones on the basis of internet, by including one of its key features which is the internet browsing possibility. Other companies on the marketplace manufacturing mobile phones do not have many advanced elements that can be found on HTC smart-phones.Therefore without the external factor of the internet, HTC would have never developed to its current level of brand image and profitability on the international market 2nd: HTC has greatly benefited from internet in the same way that most other business benefited as well. In particular, internet was an external factor that assisted HTC to be ahead of its current level through endow with platform to reach to the global market area, to promote its products globally and to get your hands on strategic partners as well as to correspond with its stakeholders at the global level.International Marketing Strategies The international marketing strategies of HTC have its uniqueness compared to some of its competitors. The marketing management of HTC has helped the organisation to penetrate numerous new markets and carried out efficient changes with rigid formulas within the existing markets. HTC has been identified in the leadership position through the process of adopting innovative approach in production & design and introducing to the market the first tri-band UMTS 3G device on the Microsoft Windows Mobile platform (2006), the first Microsoft Windows Smartphone (2006), the first Tri-band UMTS PDA, and the first spontaneous touch screen to allow finger tip navigation (2007) (Products and Innovation, 2010).By analysing HTC’s strategy, product differentiation and cost leadership are regarded as to be the lane to the market scope; whereas segmentation strategy is a narrow market scope (Porter, 1998) Product expansion is rarely used by HTC when the company introduces new creations to its existing active markets. Recent growth was real ized by the company by introducing the HTC One and previously with HTC Titan as well as the HTC Desires series for the medium-low range  market (htc. com).Product & Pricing Strategies As per Condor (2010) HTC’s marketing strategy is going through massive changes since the company is introducing more low-cost devices. The mid-pricing strategy adopted by HTC has been ultra-successful, since the company believes that its products are specifically customised to gratify customer’s desires. HTC’s customers are willing to pay even a higher price as they believe that HTC’s products has features that worth the premium prices.HTC smart-phones prices vary from a country to another according to the economical status of the country (htc. com). Marketing plan of HTC HTC’s marketing plan was in reverse gear in 2012 compared to 2011, where the mobile phone manufacturer did better according to the company’s annual report 2012. The CEO of the Organisation M r Chou ultimately believes it was HTC's poor marketing that led to disappointment in year 2012. He revealed that HTC can be expected to redouble its promotional efforts in 2013 (http://www. theverge. com/).The chief marketing officer (CMO) John Wang has decided to go for a more passive and aggressive direction with its marketing plan as from 2013 to boost up profit maximisation through innovation and customer satisfaction. Marketing mix of HTC Marketing mix is well thought-out to be the fundamental element of marketing communication. Buhler et al (2009) revealed that marketing mix was at the outset referred to as 4P’s of marketing with the combination of product, price, place & promotion. The 4P’s can be study individually as part of a broad HTC marketing strategy analysis.HTC products are widely known for their range of smart-phones which are innovative in their design and functions. Product HTC’s own brand was developed from the personal digital assistant (PDA ) market to smart-phone products manufacturer (Asemi et al, 2011). It depends on the products specifications and the number and types of functions the product can perform. It also values the segmented market of the product such as low-cost, mid range or high end market. HTC’s products focus on the mid range & high end segment.Prices of HTC products are not unlike dramatically compared to the products of its competitors, such as Apple, Nokia and others, and the price of each individual category of mobile phone. Place in the case of a mobile phone manufacturer is to have the widest possible market share globally. HTC has got a massive presence in Europe & Asia, with emerging markets over USA and Africa. On the Australian continent the Taiwanese manufacturer of cellular phone has also been powerful due to the increasing number of Android software user on the continent.The place element of the HTC’s marketing mix are available from many locations within all forty countries the company has operations in, as well as through the company web-site. Promotional techniques used by HTC to advertise their products are mainly posters promotions via mobile phone shops windows and promotions in popular media such as magazines, newspapers and TV channels to penetrate the larger market. In essence HTC marketing strategy that has allowed the company to enter new markets was based on innovation and ensuring the high level of friendly user interface in its products.International marketing culture of HTC One of the most important factors to consider when penetrating an international market is the local cultural differences which can be a source of massive challenge. HTC usually take into account the cultural factors when engaging in international expansion. Each individual or group of people have different perceptions of life, different life values, beliefs and different ways of doing things. Without any doubts these differences would reflect on how they perceive HTC brand in general, and each specific products in particular as well.These issue are addressed the management of the organisation in the most efficient approach, since international expansion has been identified as the foundation of strategic plans of any company (Gray, 2013. htcsource. com) So far, all the challenge associated with various local cultural differences where HTC has entered has not yet affected HTC negatively. Particularly when the possible issues associated with cultural differences narrate to combine marketing communications efforts of any foreign corporation engaged in business in a country. E. g. the marketing communication efforts in most European countries and USA would at times involve women to feature in their publicity with allusions to their sex appeal.While such type of publicity are perfectly suitable in the western world, the same publicity would be judged to be offensive in some Asian, and Arab countries, due to cultural, religious or else differences. Any global organisation aiming for further international expansion that prefer ignoring such issues in their marketing communications and other aspects of their businesses, would be at risk to attract negative reputation for their brand image, which will damage the value of the brand on the long-term basis.International marketing communication strategies HTC do not take on a â€Å"me-too† strategy and persists not to follow or directly competing with its clients in the market. The mobile phone organisation has put into practice as its marketing communication strategies the transformation of the company from Taiwanese to International by sustaining the silicon-valley culture to promote innovation. This has been implemented by the formation of a global marketing resource team. Their primary target market is the first time smart-phone user.The marketing communication strategy has been driven by the branding strategy and product awareness.HTC’s SWOT Analysis Swot-Internal Ana lysis:Weakness: Leading PDA & Smart-Phone Manufacturer High Manufacturing Cost Strong Research & Development Set-up Low Brand Awareness Strong Relationship with Business Partners Lack of Products in Low Price Category Branded & Perceived as â€Å"Value for Money† Products Do not have own operating system Swot-External Analysis:Opportunity: Threats: Increasing demand for touch screen phones with 3G Technologies Patent Wars Fast Growing & Emerging MarketsLess Customer Loyalty Development of App’s to add value to customers Rapid Technological Change HTC mini tablet could be the next Market sensation Expected competitors tie-up, e. g Google acquiring.Motorola SWOT Critical AnalysisThe brand position of HTC is appropriately perfect; smart-phone is the proper choice of most customers. Without doubt the smart-phone market is a prospective market for HTC to keep investing. However, in significant markets such as China and USA, where most people still use cheap phones the deman ds for mid-range or mass price cell phones are still huge.HTC do have a pricing advantage over Apple and Samsung, but the low brand awareness do not appeal to the young generation or even first time smart-phone users. Therefore having some low price product branded HTC might be a threat to the mid range & high end market, if we take as example the story of Toyota & Lexus, which has disappointed many luxury car customers when they have found that Lexus was a product of Toyota. However as tablets are very fashionable at the moment, HTC could accelerate its research & development in to the manufacturing of an HTC tablet.RecommendationRecommendation 1: As a major player in the telecommunications industry, it is highly recommended that HTC consider opening its own application storefront as this will help creating their own operating platforms which will give them more control over their operations.Recommendation 2: According to the HTC annual report (2012), 5% of its revenue is reinveste d into research & development, they should therefore participate into launching new products range such as tablets and messaging systems; since they already have a strong structure in implementing new product lines.Recommendation 3: The slogan of HTC is â€Å"Quietly Brilliant† and it is recommended that HTC develop an aggressive and noisy marketing campaign to build up their brand awareness and position themselves among Samsung & Apple. Conclusion As a mobile phone manufacturer, HTC has mainly diverse components and do assemble them in an eye-catching way to sell to its customers. Being able to bring to the market the very first touch screen smart-phone three weeks before Iphone, clearly shows the capacity of HTC’s engineers and this is the main reason for their success in the industry.HTC’s management team and engineering team can pride themselves for manufacturing one of the best brand mobile phones on the market nowadays. HTC also have various sources of dif ferentiation such as innovation, style & quality. As outlined above, the competitive advantages of HTC are their Research & Development, customization abilities, and partnerships with software, operators such as Microsoft & Google. This is a more powerful resource for HTC to open its own storefront and build up customer loyalty.