Monday, September 30, 2019

Managing Multicultural Teams

Key Issues Cultural differences affect teamwork and the damage often precedes intervention. Proper knowledge is needed in managing these differences, or more damage occurs. Communication plays an integral part in cultural differences. Direct communication can be perceived by some as clear communication, but for others it may be embarrassing. Indirect communication, in turn, can result in miscommunication. Accent and fluency differences can be barriers to effective teamwork, unless team members choose and put effort in learning and using the preferred language of the team. Authority and hierarchy are also regarded highly by some cultures, while others do not. This may become offensive for cultures who regard the chain of command as important. Decision-making style is another factor. Some cultures decide fast, while others drag on. There are four strategies that can be used for managing multicultural differences in the workplace: adaptation, structural intervention, managerial intervention, and exit. Adaptation works when team members are open about the differences and chooses to work around them. Structural intervention is used when team members are resistant to acknowledging and working around their differences. In many cases, this may require sub-grouping. Managerial intervention may be necessary when the managers are needed to be involved so that one culture’s management may resolve the conflict with the other culture’s management, avoiding embarrassment and conflict on not following hierarchies. Exit is a last option, and it may be voluntary or management-requested. It does not help with the difference, but it allows the team to move again with new people. There is no one fool-proof strategy; its use is dependent on the case in hand. When the management discusses multicultural differences with team members beforehand, the team will be able to pull through the job with less problems. When team members are open about the differences and works with them, involvement of the higher management becomes unnecessary and the project becomes easier. Analysis Multicultural teams are essential for many companies, especially those engaging in international deals, but it is an investment that needs careful understanding and management. There are many issues that may arise within teams composed of people from differing beliefs and practices, and communication is only one of these issues. Perceptions on different corporate items such as hierarchy and decision making equally affects the performance of a team and its members. Oftentimes, managers will have to take a stand and face the problem. There are four strategies in which the issue of multicultural team conflicts may be resolved, and the most appropriate strategy depends on the difference that needs to be addressed. Also, the strategy to be used is dependent on how well the team members are willing to participate in solving the problem within the team. In hindsight, problems can be pre-empted by managers when the issue of multicultural difference is discussed beforehand, before the team starts working together. This way, the members will have a foreknowledge of why their members from the other culture is working the way they do. Members should also be cooperative, willing to cope with and understand the differences. This can be solicited by he manager, but it should also be automatic among the team. When culturally-different team members are cooperative and understanding, it is possible for them to co-exist and work their way to the accomplishment of their given tasks.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe

China Achebe, has achieved textual Integrity through a set of core Ideas which are developed through the characters and events In the novel. The novel shows the drastic effect of white missionaries who colonies an African clan of Bib people; bringing with them a new religion as well as laws, punishments and very deferent customs. Events described In the narrative highlight that a community and or an Individual must at some point adapt to change and a new environment or face being marginal's by the society.Awoken also works ere hard to show his strength, as an individuals fear of failure and social humiliation may influence their behavior in society as well as isolate them. Particular characters In the novel manifest how religion and spirituality create a sense of safety and stability In society as well as something to fear. Achebe has portrayed these concepts in the community of the Bib people through the coming of the missionaries and the downfall of the protagonist, Awoken. A commu nity and or individual must at some point adapt to change and a new environment or face being marginal's by the society.When the white missionaries come to the village of Ambulant they eventually build a hospital and a school, and welcome everyone to ]Olin In their beliefs bringing the Isolated and the deserted together and giving them meaning in their lives. This is in harsh contrast to Awoken who wants to resist and bring back the familiar and known ways of the clan. â€Å"Awoken said that ‘until the abominable gang was chased out of the village with whips there would be no peace†. This harsh statement conveys his unbending personality and his narrow view of the way the situation should be dealt with: as he its contrary to his clansmen.This inability to adapt and accept the changes in his community lead to Ginkgo's ultimate downfall. â€Å"That man was one of the greatest men In Mafia. You drove him to kill himself;† The white Commissioner was blamed for the de ath of Awoken; blamed for his seclude. At some point it becomes a necessity to change adapt or even simply accept new arrivals and change or face not being able to live. An individuals fear of failure and social humiliation may influence their behavior in society as well as isolate them. Awoken has worked his whole life to be different to is father and show the strength he has in him.It plays a huge part in his personality and affects how he treats people and how he reacts to things; always trying to be the opposite of his father who in his eyes was a failure. â€Å"Fortunately among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father. † Achebe's dramatic irony reveals Awoken has nothing to fear as his people will only Judge him on his individual worth and not his fathers actions. Awoken never showed weakness or any emotion that was not anger. He had no patience for ND a temper, which his family lived in fear of. But his whole lif e was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness†¦ It (his fear) was not external but lay deep within himself†¦ It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father†. This consuming fear of himself dominated his life, made him who he was and influenced his behavior so much so it lead to regrettable mistakes. Religion and spirituality create a sense of safety and stability in society as well as something to fear. â€Å"It (Muffin) was feared by all it's neighbors. It was powerful in war and in magic.The fear of magic is strong and protects Muffle from war, and well as defends it. Their religious beliefs gave them strength when it came to their enemies; no one wishes to wage war with a magic so powerful. This creates a fear driven law abidance. â€Å"She (The Priestess of Cabala) was full of the power of her God, and she was greatly feared†. Spirituality can give an individual power and a revered status. The Priestess of Cabala Juxtaposes other women in this book, differentiating herself from the crowd with her ability to communicate with the spiritual realm and the Goddess Cabala.Spirituality and religious beliefs constitute an unquestionable power and a fear no one can contradict. One must be able to accommodate change and conform to society to a certain extent to allow improvement in oneself and even ones culture which is ever changing, ever improving otherwise one can face being left behind, being marginal's or unable to endure the lasting effects. Awoken could not change or accept the changes in is community, he concentrated on not failing himself and avoiding social humiliation and keeping a stable and respected status in community which can influence ones behavior in society, or lead to isolation.Spirituality creates a sure sense of balance and security and a fear that establishes order in a society which Achebe provokes through the novel and states the idea in many forms as to be accessible by all . Achebe's novel ‘Things Fall Apart' has these core concepts which achieve its textual integrity and are displayed through the Bib people in Africa however can be expanded and applied to the whole. ‘Things Fall Apart', a novel by China Achebe, has achieved textual integrity through a et of core ideas which are developed through the characters and events in the punishments and very different customs.Events described in the narrative highlight in the novel manifest how religion and spirituality create a sense of safety and stability in society as well as something to fear. Achebe has portrayed these concepts welcome everyone to Join in their beliefs bringing the isolated and the deserted personality and his narrow view of the way the situation should be dealt with; as he men in Mafia. You drove him to kill himself;† The white Commissioner was blamed or the death of Awoken; blamed for his suicide.At some point it becomes a a man was Judged according to his worth and n ot according to the worth of his his ‘lazy son Known and always ran his household with a tough and hard set of rules something to fear. â€Å"It (Muffle) was feared by all it's neighbors. It was powerful in that a community and or an individual must at some point adapt to change and a war and in magic. † The fear of magic is strong and protects Muffin from war, and men in Comfit. You drove him to kill himself;† The white Commissioner was blamed

Saturday, September 28, 2019

What do Ain't I a Woman and Address to the People of the Free States Essay

What do Ain't I a Woman and Address to the People of the Free States by the President of the Southern Confederacy tell us about the divisions between people in United States during the 1860s - Essay Example Division between black and white people was on the basis that, black people were considered slaves while white people were considered citizens. Black people at that time did not enjoy any individual rights as citizens they were property to be owned. However, white people were full citizens with rights, and they owned black people as their own property. Davis in his speech said â€Å"†¦.in the Southern Confederacy†¦.slaves and their children†¦.considered as property†. Truth said, â€Å"†¦negroes of the South†¦are talking about rights†. The division caused white people to see black people as being lesser of humans and thus making them properties and slaves. Ethnicity and hatred, between blacks and white escalated due to the division among them (Rodriguez 110). Women during the 1860s fought to have same rights as men did. In this case, both black and white women suffered. White women were oppressed in the South with their husbands same as the way Negroes were also oppressed in the South. Women together with Negroes were denied rights because of they were less educated. Truth says â€Å"a man in black†¦says women cannot have rights as men†. The division caused women to be seen as the weaker sex in capable of doing duties on their own. On the women side, they started fighting to have same rights as men and overcome male chauvinism (Rodriguez 105). The division between the people living in Northern and Southern United States came as a result of declaring slavery to be illegal in the Northern part of the United States. Abraham Lincoln declared slaves to be free in the all the Northern states in America. This made the Southerners separate with the Northerners since in the South slavery was still legal. According to Davis â€Å"..Lincoln has declared that slaves†¦may be incorporated in the Army and Navy†. Truth asserts that â€Å"the negroes in the South†¦women, in the North, talk about rights†. The division between the South

Friday, September 27, 2019

Politics of development Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Politics of development - Article Example Globalization reduces rather than contributes to inequalities giving low developed nations a chance to progress and grow, acquire new technologies and innovations in all spheres of life. Globalization has both positive and negative impact on the third world countries identified by the development stage and economic possibilities. For the third world countries, positive effects of globalization involve free trade and integrated economic relations, low barriers to trade and cultural communication, political unity and easy travel, technology transfer and labor turnover. Governments take measures to make their economies more or less attractive to global investors. In addition, nation-states have retained control over education, infrastructure, and, most importantly, population movements. Indeed, immigration control, together with population registration and monitoring, has often been cited as the most notable exception to the general trend towards global integration. (Friedman 2000). Although only 2% of the world's population live outside their country of origin, immigration control has become a central issue in most advanced nations. Many governments seek to restrict population flows, particularly those originating in the poor countries of the global South. Even in the United States, annual inflows of about 600 ,000 immigrants during the 1990s reached only half the levels recorded during the first two decades of the 20th century (Stiglitz 2002). Finally, the series of drastic national security measures that were implemented worldwide as a response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 reflect political dynamics that run counter to the hyper-globalizers' predictions of a borderless world. Some civil rights advocates even fear that the enormous resurgence of patriotism around the world might enable states to re-impose restrictions on the freedom of movement and assembly (Wade et al 2006). At the same time, however, the activities of global terrorist networks have revealed the inadequacy of conventional national security structures based on the modern nation-state system, thus forcing national governments to engage in new forms of international cooperation (Hirst and Thompson 1999). Following Stiglitz (2002): "Globalization can further be defined as the arrival of 'self-generating capital' at the global level: that is, capital as capital, capital in the form of the TNC, free of national loyalties, controls, and interests. This is different from the mere internationalization of capital, which assumes a world of national capitals and nation states; it is the supersession by capital of the nation state (p. 10). At the outset of the 21st century, the world finds itself in a transitional phase between the modern nation-state system and postmodern forms of global governance (Yip 1995). Regional clubs and agencies have sprung up across the world, leading some observers to speculate that they will eventually replace nation-states as the basic unit of governance. Starting out as attempts to integrate regional economies, these regional blocs have, in some cases, already evolved into loose political federations with common institutions of governance. On a global level, governments have formed a number of international organizations, including the UN, NATO,

Thursday, September 26, 2019

A review and comparison of legislative,regulatory and institutional Essay

A review and comparison of legislative,regulatory and institutional reform in the US and UK - Essay Example The regulation of financial markets and its implications have been a topic of considerable interest among researchers and policy makers for a long time.On the one hand, it is argued that the regulation of financial markets has welfare benefits due to the existence of market imperfections On the other hand, it is argued that financial market regulation imposes significant costs to an economy that outweighs the benefits (Benston, 1998).It has been argued that the inappropriate regulatory measures combined with many other factors have resulted in the recent economic crisis. Given this, essay examines the regulatory, institutional and legislative reforms in US and UK in the pre crisis, crisis and post crisis periods. The main aim is to compare the reforms in these periods and their impact on the capital markets in US and UK. This essay is organized as follows. Section 2 discusses the theoretical arguments regarding regulation, section 3 discusses the reforms in pre crisis period, section 4 discusses the reforms in the crisis period, section 5 discusses the reforms in the post crisis period and section 6 concludes the essay. 2. Theoretical Arguments Financial market regulation is mainly aimed at correcting market imperfection and ensuring allocative efficiency of resources (Giorgio et al, 2000). Based on these the three main reasons for financial market regulation are identified as (i) ensuring microeconomic and macroeconomic stability (ii) equitable resource distribution and (iii) allocative efficiency of resources. 2.1. ... ations on integrity requirements etc and other regulations like portfolio investment limits, regulations on off balance activities etc(Giorgio et al, 2000). 2.2.Equitable Resource Distribution Based on the objective of equitable resource distribution, the financial market regulation is aimed at making the markets and intermediaries transparent and to protect the investors (Giorgio et al, 2000). In this regard, the measures include takeovers and public offers regulations, regulations of insider trading, manipulation, price discovery mechanisms, which are aimed at equal treatment, and business conduct rules aimed at non-discrimination etc. 2.3. Allocative Efficiency of Resources Based on this objective, the financial market regulation is aimed at enhancing competition among the financial intermediaries through regulating the competitive structure of the markets as well as regulations of concentrations etc (Giorgio et al, 2000). This view supports competition by arguing that competition helps banks to earn great market share and high efficiency(Demsetz,1973 ). Based on this view, competition and concentration are not in opposite directions. Rather, competition promotes concentration and hence bank efficiency. However, this theory assumes that there are no efficient barriers to entry. According to this view competition increases concentration only if the banks, which have high market share have a special advantage in developing output which are not available to other banks. In such a case, it leads to increased efficiency of the banks, which have this advantage (Demsetz,1973 ). Here, the profits will not be reduced by competition since it will be very difficult for other banks to overcome the superior performance using their inputs. This is because, in this case, it is not

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Birthday Project Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Birthday Project Assignment - Essay Example So my natural curiosity to research the historical importance of my year of the birth had become vital part of knowledge that would reveal how the year has significantly contributed towards making history. The research has divulged a plethora of information that has significantly shaped the future. The year started with it being declared as the World Communication Year (UN). The United Nations realized the importance of communication for socio economic development of under developed and developing countries. 1983 was proposed as World Communication Year for developing effective communication infrastructure across the globe. The computer giant, IBM also introduced PCDOS operating system for home computers and Microsoft had launched the MSWORD, the user friendly word processing software(IBM; Microsoft). Apple Computers also introduced new home computer, LISA with graphic interface (Apple Lisa). But the most important event of the year was the launch of first 1G network in Chicago, US with the first hand held mobile handset, Motorola DynaTac (bbc, 2003). The leap into the new communication system became the highlight of 1983. The cellular phone was accessible to the common man. This year will also go down in history for many of the Congress decisions for its serious commitment to eliminate racial discrimination. It was a year when the President Ronald Reagan signed a bill for declaring a public holiday to commemorate the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Junior is one of the greatest leaders of twentieth century who was able to make significant contribution to the civil rights of the African Americans. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi of India, his belief in the value system and intrinsic faith in non violence became his biggest strength. He took up the cudgel to fight for the equal rights for all human being and became an

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Corporate governance, reporting and regulation Essay

Corporate governance, reporting and regulation - Essay Example independent directors are also appointed in order to have some added benefits in terms of additional knowledge and experience which would be useful for achieving better results by the company. There has always been a debate about the relevance of the independent directors in improving the performance of the company. This project is an attempt to identify and analyse the relevance of the independent directors in improving the organisational performance. The paper discusses the extent to which the appointment of independent director can influence the performance of the company and whether the independent director can improve the performance of the company or not. The meaning and the reasons behind the appointment of the independent directors have been studied and discussed in order to have an idea about the independent directors moreover the role and responsibilities of the independent directors have also been analysed to assess the independent director’s scope in improving the organisational performance. The executive directors are employed by the company therefore the company has a control over them. The concept of the independent director came from the thought of having someone in the board who would think only for the betterment of the company without being influenced by someone. Thus the decisions taken by such person would be unbiased and free of any personal interest. Hence the independent director would be someone who cannot be controlled by the company or its management and could not interfere in the work of the independent director. Hence an independent is a director who was not an employee of the company or any of the related party of the company in the last five years. The independent director should not be the company’s advisor or should not have any contract of personal service where the company or any of its related members is a party to such contract. The independent director should not be related to any non-profit organisation to which the

Monday, September 23, 2019

Critical Discussion Paper Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical Discussion Paper - Dissertation Example While a wide array of pedagogical techniques and tools are available, this paper discusses the three major ones, viz. Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and Mastery Learning, Direct instruction and General case programming. The strengths and weaknesses of each of these strategies are highlighted. ABA is today a vast treasure trove of theory, concepts and models and has evolved through systematic research and refined theories (Graziano, 1971; Maurice, Green & Luce 1996). It is a scientific breaking down of skills and tasks into small, manageable, distinct components which are taught in a hierarchical fashion. This approach establishes a relationship between the antecedent, behavior and consequence. Behavior change and improvement is attempted through reinforcers such as positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, differential reinforcement of other behaviors, non contingent reinforcement and differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors (Cooper et al., 1987; Fischer, Iwata, & Mazaleski, 1997). Rewards are used to reinforce desired behaviors, redirect or discourage inappropriate behaviors. ABA is now recognized as the most effective type of therapy for children with Autism and related disabilities (Lovaas, 1987; McEachin, Smith, & Lovaas, 1993; Maurice, Green, & Luce, 1996). Over the past thirty years, several thousand published research studies have documented the effectiveness of  ABA  across a wide cross section of populations, interventionists, settings and behaviors. The various ABA techniques in use are the ABC method or discrete trial instruction, behavior chains and backward chaining, high probability requests, behavioral contracts etc. The major strengths of this approach are that it facilitates identification, observation and measurement of behavior. ABA is structured and highly sequential. Alternative explanations are ruled out which fosters unambiguous, clear learning. Problem behaviors can be easily and effectively countered through a wi de array of interventions. Measurement on the efficacy of the learning approach is easy and replication is also possible. The downside of ABA is that a behavioral intervention emphasizes control and exclusively utilizes reinforcers such as punishment. Each of the three schools of thought – humanist, behavioral and cognitive, has merits and shortcomings and may not work well in all situations (Tomei, 1998). The humanistic approach of Maslow and Rogers suffer from absence of clear design or direction in the classroom. There are also structural constraints in the information to be delivered. Behaviorism uses rewards for learning and this might discourage the student from learning for its own sake. Individual student attention span may also be impacted. The cognitive perspective featuring the "age stages" propounded by Piaget and Erikson, does not clearly explain the progress and movement from one stage to the next and how the various stages are linked to maturation. Lack of soci al influence is also a clear weakness. Mastery Learning is based on the concept of achieving mastery over one concept or skill before moving on to the other. The major positives of this technique are that it is highly scientific and the tasks are structured and ranked, according to the level of difficulty. It ensures that the student masters a concept before moving on

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Importance of Dreams in The Death of a Salesman Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Dreams in The Death of a Salesman Essay The play essentially portrays The American dream, how it can work and also how sometimes it doesnt. The American dream represents how if a man is willing to work hard all his life, he will get some where. Willie, a husband and father of two, has worked hard all his life, but now, old and tired wonders where his promised fortunes are. He lies to his family about his pay, and dreams about his glorious past, in a glorified way. Willie is just an ordinary family man trying to survive in America, he is a typical man with nothing special about him, and he has never done anything special which any other man couldnt do. He thinks however if he works hard enough he will make something of himself, just as his brother Ben did. The story tries to illustrate the point that there are many men in Willies situation: Pop, Im a dime a dozen and so are you. This is autobiographical in a sense as Miller changed environments during the depression and found how hard his father had to work and didnt earn much. Dont say hes a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. Hes not the finest character that ever lived. But hes a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. Hes not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally paid to such a person. The story of his brother making a fortune really drives him to work harder, his brother is seen in many of his dreams, it is one of his most vivid dreams, and unlike any other is repeated throughout the story, Willie is first drawn in by the American dream because he sees how it can work in Ben, he idolizes him to such an extent that he cant remember much of what he says just: When I was seventeen, I walked into the jungle. And by twenty-one, I walked out. And by God, i was rich! Willie is old and going senile, he cant come to terms with why he cant make more money and how others around him are. He thinks that the well liked will get further than those that arent well liked, we can see this in how he thinks his son will get further in life than his neighbors son. We see this in a dream of his past, but as the story moves back into the future we realize who actually achieves in life. Willie doesnt like his neighbor and in the past regularly talks down about him but as time moves on he depends on him, he borrows money off Charlie and doesnt pay him back. Willie is to proud to let anyone help him, when his Charlie asks if he needs help he is quick to refuse the offer of a job, even though he needs it. Dreams are used as a way of comparing the past and the future. Willie uses it to compare how great everything was and how bright the future was, the reader also sees this. Biff in the past is portrayed as a strong leader with an ambition, this is shown as him as the Football captain and trying to get into college. In the present he is shown in a completely different light, he is unemployed and doesnt know what he wants to do with his life. Willy also uses his dreams to relive the things he did wrong, he feels guilty and blames himself for how Biff turned out. After Biff found out about the affair he loses his ambition and calls Willie a fake, Willie sees some truth in this and is hurt. He always exaggerates about how much people like him; we know this by how he confides in his wife about how he thinks people laugh at him. Hap and Biff both see Willies dream as sign of him going senile and want to help him, Linda on the other hand has accepted it and just wants to get on with life, she sees it as him coming to terms with their current situation, this is a bad thing however as she is just fueling his dream and not letting him give up, she is caught up in Willies lies, she also doesnt allow Biff to show Willy what he is doing. In trying to help she is destroying, this is ironic as the mother is usually thought to be the creator and nurturer. The story shows how time changes and breaks a man, if Willy loman of the past and present were switched they would not be able to survive, the present Willy loman would never be able to be the idol Biff and Hap loved. They are in essence two different people. Biff through time has also changed considerably, hap once behind Biff in everyway has worked hard and is now ahead of Biff in how much he earns. Willy takes the American dream in a totally different light as Biff, Willy thinks that by working hard he will climb the ladder and earn money, the money making him happy, Biff on the other hand doesnt enjoy working hard and moving up in the business world, he instead finds happiness working outside earning just enough to get by. Biff can see past the riches Ben has acquired, which Willie is striding for and knows not everyone is as lucky as he is: To suffer fifty weeks a year for the sake of a two-week vacation. He can see how much his father has worked for the dream but looks beyond that and knows Willie is working for the wrong dream: He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong. After Willy dies we see the two brothers, one following in his fathers footsteps and taking the exact same route, maybe culminating in another death and Biff ready to work outside after seeing the tragedy of the American dream. Hap is starting to live the American dream but is already starting to see its flaws: My own apartment, a car, and plenty of women, and still, goddamit, Im lonely. Willie ultimate aim is to life the end of his life a success, he wants to die like Ben. He views Ben as his Idol, near the end of his life, he can see his dream being unreachable and suicide is close to his mind: He died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers After many years of hard work Willie in the end understands how misguided his efforts really were, he realizes the only way for him to rectify the situation is by killing himself. After all the highways, and the trains, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive. Before he does so he plants some seeds, even though he knows the land is infertile as a sign that maybe one day his sons may achieve where he failed, effort is worth nothing if its not well placed.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Creative writing about George and Lennie Essay Example for Free

Creative writing about George and Lennie Essay Stumbling through the wet grass the two came frantically running, looking behind them at every few strides, breathing hard, disturbing the green grass and disrupting the harmony of the birds sitting in trees chirping and whistling the final songs of the day, while dogs barked and people shouted far behind them. A voice could be heard shouting above the crowd Theyre headed for the fields, comon! George grumbled, breathing frantically Damnit! comon you crazy bastard, they near got us! Im trying George, I swear but Is tired Lennie wheezed. The two were passing fields, when they came to an irrigation ditch, George thought about it and he pulled lennie into the ditch with him. Get your head down! George shouted but lennie didnt do a thing, George annoyed, shoved him under the murky water, they could hear the shouts getting closer and the dogs growling. A man said Where the hell did they get to? another close to him said The dogs ave lost the scent they musta went thru that ditch and off into the woods, no way we could get them now Damn ok everyone back to the town for a head count then we can all go home, its getting late With these words saw George give a sigh of relief as he gently surfaced bringing lennie with him, George taking his hat began to wring out the water, lennie copying his movements did the same, George set his crease and made his way quietly up the bank of the ditch, peering over the edge he watched torch light and man slowly disappear toward weed under the setting sun, he turned back to lennie, Now why the hell did you touch that gals dress? Comon you better have a good excuse or Ill clobber ya! Lennie was whimpering like a fearful puppy Honest George I dint mean no wrong, I jus wanted to feel her dress George yelled why? Lennie? Hmm? What so good about that dress? lennie cowered in his jacket his shoulders covering his cheeks It was so purty George, it was red colored and soft as a rabbit, you know how I likes rabbits George Seeing the glow in his face when he said it made George calm down, he remember who lennie was, he settled down do a smile Ya big lummox, one day your gonna get us some real trouble, but youre my responsibility so we gotta stick close lennie returned a half hearted grin still slightly frigtenened Ok George George got up to look around once more, he spotted an old barn not far from the ditch they were in. Right comon now we get us some shut-eye then try and get us some work, some place Lennies face lit up remembering what this all lead up to An I get to tend the rabbits George! Huh? Huh? Yeah, yeah but we gotta get us a stake first George replied George and lennie had settled down in the old barn, its walls were white with paint peeling, the roof was held up by 3 beams across the top and toward the ground, the winds outside made the barn creak eerily and lennie was having trouble sleeping, the ground was scattered with straw and the only thing in the barn was some sacks, tools and a work bench, it was less a barn than a shed. George? George you asleep What? George cant you do somethin about the wind? No, now go to sleep, have to wake up early tomorra' George said still half asleep Sorry George lennie said, eventually the morning came. lennie! Lennie! Wake up! Comon we gonna miss the damn bus! ok George, ok lennie said as he packed his bindle and sorted himself, and hurried off with George They had gotten to the stop just in time, they paid their fare, and were on their way to get some work at.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Reflective Essay on Leadership | Critical reflection

Reflective Essay on Leadership | Critical reflection This report will discuss the importance of leadership in an organization. To achieve an objective, an organization will rely on individuals it employed. These individuals will then have to collaborate with each other in order to perform a task. However, there is a need for those involved to be directed and motivated to perform this task. The directing and motivating of the personnel is being done by an individual or a leader. The leader is important as they will ensure that the objective or goals of the organization can be achieved within the scope and time limit. The leader must be able to influence and motivate the people around him. This report will briefly explain some model or theories that leader can use to achieve the task. The first section of this report will discuss on the literature review about the leadership and team work. I will discuss various research articles in relation to leadership, management strategies and team work theory. Although there are numerous organizational behaviour based articles available, my literature review will focus on the following five areas which are Lewins Leadership Styles, Blanchards Situational Leadership Model, Transformational Leadership, Thamhains Nine Ways to Influence on Projects and Tuckmans Model to Team Development. I will also include some additional related published materials which will help me to fully understand the whole concept of leadership and team work strategies. Based upon the theories implied within the literature review, I will discuss the type of leadership my peer possesses. In this section I will discuss the leadership and management style that my peer used in order for us to complete the task. The discussion will also take into consideration on how my peer influences, and the method used to motivates the other team member. I will also discuss the positive and negative side of his leadership style and some recommendation based upon the leadership theories presented in the literature review. In the next section, I will reflect upon my whole team performance based upon the literature review. The process will take into consideration on how the Tuckmans Group Development Model is used to explain the development of my work group. I will also discuss the importance of having an effective team and how our project team can be identified as an effective team. In the last section, I will conclude my report based on my personal observation and findings on the whole leadership and team work process. The opportunity to work together as a team for 12 weeks has also broadened my perspective on leadership and on the importance of having an effective team. Literature Review Good leadership is essential for businesses, groups and organizations to succeed in achieving their goals. Nelson and Quick (2006) defines leadership as the process of guiding and directing the behaviour of people in the work environment. Leaders can influence others through their ability to motivate, inform, inspire and communicate effectively. There are a number of different leadership styles and strategies that can be used to accomplish their organizations goals and objectives. Each style or strategy of leadership can be used depending on the situation or organization. This section will discuss on literature review based upon Leadership Theories. The literature review is based upon the articles provided by the unit instructor, printed materials, electronic databases and search engines such as Google Scholar. Leadership Styles Theory The earliest researches on leadership style were conducted by Kurt Lewin who identified three basic styles of leaders that are autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire (Nelson Quick, 2006). These three basic styles of leadership can be use on a team and it may be changed accordingly based upon the situation. The autocratic leader usually rules based upon strong discipline and controlling in nature. This type of leader will usually dominate the group and is suitable if the group is newly formed and still lack of direction. The democratic leader on the other hand is more responsive, and takes into consideration the ideas from their subordinate. A democratic leader will encourage members within the group to actively participate in giving out ideas and helps in setting the direction of the group. This type of leadership is helpful in creating strong relationship between all members. The laissez-faire style leader usually did not implement authority and responsibility and let the subordi nate do all the things. This type of leadership is useful especially when all the team members are highly skilled and fully understands their objective. Leadership Strategies Theory Leadership Strategies is about how the leader can influence the performance of the group. One of the approaches suggested in this unit is to use the Situational Leadership Model developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard. This model can be adjusted or changed as the project progress. This model is done by matching the leadership style to match the readiness of the group members based upon two characteristic of the leader, which are task behaviour and relationship behaviour (DuBrin, Dalglish, Miller, 2006). In the task behaviour, the leader will spell out the duties of each individual or group. However, in the relationship behaviour the leader will engage in personal communication which includes listening, encouraging and coaching. This results in four styles which are identified as Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating. A leader should use the telling style where the follower is unable and not willing to do the task. This includes providing direct instruction while closely monitoring the individual or group. When a follower is unable but willing to do a task, the leader can use the selling style where he/she will explain decisions and provides opportunity for the follower to seek clarification. In the participating leadership style, the leader involves the group in the decision making process. The delegating style is where the leader delegates responsibility to the group and is informed of the progress. However, based upon numerous researches done on Situational Leadership Model, it does not really work in reality (Graeff, 1997;Thompson Vecchio, 2009). The model which was first introduced in 1969 underwent a few changes in order to adapt to its critics. However, as Graeff (1997) discovered in his research, there are a few inconsistencies between the two version of the Situational Leadership Model which creates more confusion. Another group of researcher, Thompson and Vecchio (2009) conducted research by comparing the versions of Situational Leadership Theory plus an additional version. It was found that based upon the feedback, this model is applicable only to certain type of employees. In comparing the multiple version of the model, they also discovered that the revised version was a poorer predictor of subordinate performance and attitude than the original version. In summary, they recommend that Situational Leadership Model be taught as a starting point in discussing the interac tion between the leader and the follower. Liz Lee-Kelley (2002) discuss in her published article about the situational approach which is not in direct relation to the Situational Leadership Model. In the article she discusses about the possibility for a leader to change style to manage based upon the situation. Lee-Kelly suggested that from the evidence, there is no single style that is right for every manager under all circumstances. The study also confirms that a managers ability to control and influence the team or situation have impacts on his management style. Research in leadership field is ongoing as it is an important aspect of the organizational behaviour. Two types of leadership style which was recently introduced are the transactional and transformational leadership style. Transactional leadership is characterized by leaders and followers being in exchange relationship (DuBrin, Dalglish, Miller, 2006). This type of leadership relies on rewards and punishment to deal with followers. Meanwhile, the transformational leaders rely more on their personal attributes to inspire and excite followers to high level of performance (Nelson Quick, 2006). Bass (2010) encouraged organizations to train their leaders to be a transformational leader as it will greatly impact the motivation and work ethic of the employees around them. By having the transformational leaders within their organization, it will boost up their corporate image not only internally but publicly as well. This leader will attract more intelligent prospects to join the organization which in turns increase the value of the organization. Management Strategies Theory Employees have choice in their work life, if they dont like the job, they can leave or switch department. In order to be successful, organization must be able to retain the people to do the job, as training new people will consume more time and other related resources. As pointed by Schwalbe (2007), H.J. Thamhain and D.L. Wilemon conducted a research on the approaches a Project Manager use to deal with workers and identified nine influence bases available for them: Authority the legitimate hierarchical right to issue order Assignment the project managers perceived ability to influence a workers later work assignments Budget the project managers perceived ability to authorise others use of discretionary funds Promotion the ability to improve workers position Money the ability to increase a workers pay and benefits Penalty the project managers perceived ability to dispense or cause punishment Work challenge the ability to assign work that capitalizes on a workers enjoyment of doing particular task, which taps an intrinsic motivational factor Expertise the project managers perceived special knowledge that others deem important Friendship the ability to establish friendly personal relationship between the project manager and others. It is also found out that project are likely to fail if the project managers relied too heavily on using authority, money or penalty to influence people (Schwalbe, 2007). However, if the managers use work challenge and their expertise to influence the people, the project were more likely to succeed. Art Pretty (2009) in his e-book writes about why a Project Manager needs to develop their leadership skills in order to succeed. Leadership according to him is learned through practise and a leader must not be afraid to try it in their work environment. Pretty also touches on the term of culture sensing where the project manager must be able to quickly understand the how things happen or work within an organization. His e-book also highlights the importance of communicating effectively up and down the organizational ladder. This will help a Project Manager to successfully and effectively manage the whole project. A project manager whom possesses leadership qualities will drive the project towards success is also emphasized in the article written by Ruffin Veal III (2004). Veal addresses four project management processes that can be used to promote success. The processes are creating an agenda, developing a team, execution of the agenda and evaluation of the outcome. He also clearly outlined the differences in terms of responsibility, function and activity between the management and leadership for each processes. This guidelines will definitely helps an individual appointed as the project manager to evaluate his/her own capability. Team Work Theory To achieve success within an organization, each individual must work as a team. By establishing an effective team, work can be done faster and with higher quality. A work team is identified by Hayward (1998) as a group of people who have responsibility for completing a task or project, or reaching a particular goal. Bruce Tuckman in 1965 introduced a four stage model of team development which is forming, storming, norming, and performing. In the forming stage, members get to know each other and start to learn to work together. In the storming stage, there will be differences and conflicts reappear. The team will focus on managing the conflict in the norming period. The group will work together to accomplish the goals during the performing stage (DuBrin, Dalglish, Miller, 2006). Based upon this four-stage model, various researches were undertaken and most of it confirms the model. Later, in 1977, the model was modified to include an additional stage which is called adjourning (Tuckman Jensen, 1977). In this adjourning stage, the group which was created through the initial four stage model is dissolved. Tudor Rickards and Susan Moger (2000) suggest that in terms of creating an innovative product or solution, the Tuckman model had no way of explaining what is regarded as outstanding creative performance. What is lack is the Creative Leadership which will enhance the team capabilities. Parker (2008) suggests that there are four team player styles that are critical to the success of any team which are the contributors, collaborators, communicators and challengers. He also described in detail the 12 characteristics of an effective team and how each characteristic has been impacted by the changing team landscape. Characteristics of an Effective Team as described by Parker are: 1. Clear Purpose The vision, mission, goal or task of the team has been defined and is now accepted by everyone. There is an action plan. 2. Informality The climate tends to be informal, comfortable, and relaxed. There are no obvious tensions or signs of boredom. 3. Participation There is much discussion and everyone is encouraged to participate. 4. Listening The members use effective listening techniques such as questioning, paraphrasing, and summarizing to get out ideas. 5. Civilized Disagreement There is disagreement, but the team is comfortable with this and shows no signs of avoiding, smoothing over, or suppressing conflict. 6. Consensus Decisions For important decisions, the goal is substantial but not necessarily unanimous agreement through open discussion of everyones ideas, avoidance of formal voting, or easy compromises. 7. Open Communication Team members feel free to express their feelings on the tasks as well as on the groups operation. There are few hidden agendas. Communication takes place outside of meetings. 8. Clear Roles and Work Assignments There are clear expectations about the roles played by each team member. When action is taken, clear assignments are made, accepted, and carried out. Work is fairly distributed among team members. 9. Shared Leadership While the team has a formal leader, leadership functions shift from time to time depending upon the circumstances, the needs of the group, and the skills of the members. The formal leader models the appropriate behaviour and helps establish positive norms. 10. External Relations The team spends time developing key outside relationships, mobilizing resources, and building credibility with important players in other parts of the organization. 11. Style Diversity The team has a broad spectrum of team-player types including members who emphasize attention to task, goal setting, focus on process, and questions about how the team is functioning. 12. Self-Assessment Periodically, the team stops to examine how well it is functioning and what may be interfering with its effectiveness. Reflection on my peers Leadership First of all it is hard to choose who in our group should be elected as the project manager. It is hard to make the appointment as all of us did not know each other well. However, in order to complete our task, we have to work as a team and therefore we must have someone to lead us. From my view point, a leader should be the one who must have trust and respect from the other group members. Based upon the Belbins Personality assessment conducted within the tutorial, we have agreed to elect the person who is categorized as a Coordinator to be the leader. We strongly believe that the leader should be a well organized person and is trustful. As per described in by Belbins personality test, our group leader performs well in managing all the group activities and keeping track of all our documentation. He introduces www.zoho.com which is a website where we were able to collaborate and upload all our resources. He organizes the folder so that all the related materials are kept organized. All the documents edited or modified have to be versioned correctly so as to ensure that no one reads or retrieved the out dated ones. He encourages us to have our discussion via a web forum and thus reducing the need to make a phone call to each team members. This is being done to ensure that we are able to trace back whatever points that have been discussed prior to submitting the final product. From my view, he is also very much influential in terms of motivating us to furnish the best ideas. We are able to come out with good ideas and suggestions with his direction. As our project manager has experience in broadcasting, he is able to share his knowledge on how things are done. His ability to communicate effectively in terms of the overall project requirement makes each and every team member understands what is expected out of them. From my observation, our Project Manager employed a democratic leadership style where hes the one who set the overall direction of our team. He also encourages us to participate actively in all the decision where we all have to vote for the best available option. Although the decision is group-based, he still has the full authority to have the final say. I really think this is good in our team as we are all able to raise our ideas and concerns. However, as everyone tend to speak out their ideas, not all ideas are work related and thus we waste much of our time arguing irrelevant ideas. This is I think the areas he lacks, controlling the individuals within the group. I would say that he sometimes have to assert his authority especially when things are out of control. In terms of the completing the task, the project manager have outlined or broken up the tasks into several sections. This is done prior to the team meetings. Initially, he would ask each individual to which task they are comfortable to work with. This is to ensure that each team members knows their responsibility and thus can concentrate to the task at hand. Apart from dividing the task, each individual member is also assigned additional task which to check on another team members outcome. The evaluation or corrective task was delegated based upon the ability of the individual to read and write well in English. The project manager will then be the last person who will consolidate and check the overall output. Each task was also provided with separate timelines. The project manager put a very high priority on meeting the deadline set. If an individual is unable to meet the deadline, he will personally look into the individuals assigned task and provides some solution on how to tackle the issue. This would in turn makes the individual somewhat felt embarrassed of his inability to meet the deadline and thus ensure that he/she wont be making the same mistake again. During our group meeting, I also noticed that our Project Managers leadership style or strategy changed from time to time. In the first few weeks, our Project Manager adopts a style where he is the one who have total control of all documentation, set the direction of the team and closely monitors our progress. This is somewhat in relation to the telling style as mentioned in the Situational Leadership Model by Hersy and Blanchard. At a later stage, the team leader use the selling style when each of us is individually assigned a task with the knowledge that we can have him clarified on how to do the task. At one stage, the project manager acts as the facilitator when every team members presented their ideas which are similar to the participating style suggested by the model. During the last stage, as each team members already knows what they are supposed to do, our Project Managers leadership style changes to the delegating style. By employing this style, each team member is able to p ropose their own ideas and at the end all present it to the team. By doing this, each member feels that they are fully responsible of their own work and in turn makes them feel important to the team. Reflection on my Project Teams Performance In this section, I will discuss on the reflection of the teams performance. In our initial meeting, we simply try to get to know each other and try to bond. Based upon the Tuckmans Group Development Model, this phase is called forming. During this stage, everybody seems to carefully choose their words and try not to offend each other. Questions are asked based upon individuals experience especially in relation to their studies. There are also questions based upon the requirement of the project and what each members can contribute. Once we got to know each other, we progress to the second phase in what is called the storming. Based upon the Tuckmans model, this stage is when conflict emerges especially in the issue of who is to become the leader or project manager. However, as we are all able to think collectively and openly plus with the help from the tutor, we were able to stick as a team. During this stage, we are still unable to agree upon the meeting schedule as every team member is busy at work during the day. As the day progress, we arrived to the next stage which is the norming stage where we were able to set the direction of the project team. We were able to understand each individual strength and weakness and try to work around it in order to achieve our goal. During this stage, we are more open to each other and argument is made for the sake of the project. Once the overall team structure was set and agreed upon, we are able to think collectively and the group is ready and motivated to works towards the objective. This stage is described by Tuckman as the performing stage. Based upon our initial group meeting, we have agreed that we will spend most of our time discussing issues on the forum, email or website. The meeting which was set up to be about two hours every Monday and the agenda will focus more on issues that cannot be resolved online. After about 12 weeks working with the team, I can conclude that my team is an effective team based upon the 12 characteristic of an effective team specified by Parker (2008). We all have the clear purpose of the vision, goals and each individual understands and was able to finish their assigned task. Our meeting are conducted in an informal way where the environment is comfortable and relaxing. We were all able to listen, understand and argue each others ideas and if there was disagreement, we try to resolve it by compromising. Most importantly, every decision made was by a consensus decision. The way our group work was that each individual was assigned a task and required to upload the write up on the collaborative website. Once it is uploaded, each team member is required to check the other team members submission and write a comment on the forum. By providing the feedback online, it will help the team member to reply to the feedback at any time convenient for him/her. Another major advantage on posting the feedback on the forum was that each individual will have the time to really read and understand the posting. This will also help in gathering everyone opinion towards one particular issue where everyone had the opportunity to post a reply. By providing positive feedback toward each others work, it will reduce the conflict and create a more openness for the group. In our group, we also have a diverse team player type which helps in getting the work done in time and of high quality. The diversity is required as it will produce a check and balance to each and every task performed by members. Questions will be asked if the submission is unclear or does not relate to the main task. The fact that each individual team members work really hard to finish their task on time made the management of this group fairly easy. Each individual are prepared to help each other in trying to finish the project early before time. Some team members were also helpful in finding out resources although it was not within his/her job scope. Based upon the action described above, we were able to finish the project on time. Although the draft version of the whole document was prepared a few weeks earlier, we were still not able to finalize it a few days before date of submission. This was due to the fact that we have to ensure that each individual write up is free from spelling and grammatical error. The reason was that our entire team member comes from Asian countries where English is our second language. We also have problem where the team member could not communicate well in English and it takes us a while to understand what they are trying to say. However, this does not hamper them from providing the best solution and with the other members help, they were able to communicate is clearly. Another negative side of this team work is that we had to wait for reply as most of team member were busy with work during the day. It also frustrates the individual who posted his/her work earlier and have to wait for feedback. However, as the time progress, some team members especially the project manager was able to influence the whole team member to finish the job within the time frame with his excellent work ethic. Conclusion Today, in most organizations, team are set up to work together to identify and discuss solution to completing a task or project. Everyone in the team need support and direction from time to time. It is up to the project manager to lead the team. Ones leadership style and personality will affect the outcome of the team. Leadership style can be changed according to the status or situation of the team. In the beginning, the leader has to be somewhat autocratic as he has to set the teams direction and ensure that each individual within the team knows the objective. Once the team have bond together, the leader should be more diplomatic and let all team members participate in the decision making. This is to ensure that each team member contributes and feel that they are a valuable asset to the team. The leader must be able to influence and encourage the team member to think out of the box. The leader in our group applied some of the leadership style based upon the style mentioned in the literature review section. There are changes in his leadership style based upon the situation. At times he uses the autocratic style especially when the group is somewhat disorganized in the beginning. Later, when all team member starts to build trust with each other, he adopted the democratic style where all of us get to discuss on how to complete our task. It is also important to note that personality of the leader also plays an important factor to the success of the team. Our leaders ability to organize the work really helps in supporting the team. His work ethic encourages each member to emulate this and in turn promotes them to work effectively. The leader also encourages us to make full use of the technology available on the Internet. He introduces us to the collaborative website where each member is able find and share resources easily. For an effective team, every team member must have clear direction about the objective of the team. The teams structure and communication setup will effect on the way members interact with each other. The most important aspect in having the team to work together is open communication and trust. Each team members must be able to participate freely in the decision making process. Although individually, each member has their own set of strength and weakness, the team must be able to use that to their advantage. In working together, each individual member should have the chance to choose which task suits them as this will contribute to the projects success. Although there are conflicts during the decision making process, it can easily overcome as the team member discuss it openly. The leader also has the role in resolving this conflict by taking authority over the issue. In our working team, I found that we are able to work as a team as there is trust and open communication between the five of us. We are able to discuss openly and informally on any issues in relating to the task. Each individual is assigned an appropriate work load and managed to deliver their task on time. Initially the task is not at the highest quality with lots of spelling and grammatical error, however the team work together to solve it. By using Skype, the team was able to communicate even late at night to get the work done. It is great to see that each individual was willing to work together via the Internet. As a conclusion, leader plays an important factor that can influence and motivate a group in achieving its goals. A great leader should be able to change his leadership style based upon the situation or organization. However, having a good leader does not necessarily translate to an effective team. For a team to be able to work effectively, it must have a clear vision of its goals or objectives. Team members must be able to communicate effectively and openly with each other. Based upon my 12 week experience working together as a team, I can say that I have good leader within my team. With this team, we are able to effectively achieve our task. Barclays Bank: PEST, SWOT and Five Forces Analysis Barclays Bank: PEST, SWOT and Five Forces Analysis Jump to: Barclays Bank PEST Analysis | Barclays Bank SWOT Analysis | Barclays Bank Porters Five Forces Barclays bank is providing its services in India in some their selected business divisions. Barclays bank now wants to expand its services in India with other corporate units. This report is a helping tool for their expansion as it provides basic information needed for this expansion. External Environment Analysis by the help of PEST, SWOT and Porters five forces provides essential information for the management of Barclays bank while making and implementing business strategies with more knowledge, authority and control. Task 1: Business Structure of Barclays Bank: Barclays is one of the leading British based multinational banks having branches in 5 different continents across the world. Barclays bank has strong position due to its asset estimation of more than 2.3 US dollars. Banking structure of Barclays is divided into Personal and corporate banking, Investment banking, Investment management and the unit of credit cards. The main headquarter of Barclays is located at London and the customers base of Barclays bank is more than 48 million in different continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America. The basic structure of Barclays is divided into two clusters: 1. Corporate and investment banking plus Wealth and investment management. 2. Retail and Business Banking The further business units division is already explained. Barclays bank also plays part in providing consultancy services for people in operating their small scale business. The unit of personal banking provides its services to manage the investment of small scale businesses. The security and easy access ability level for borrowing purposes makes Barclays one of the standard financial service sectors. The business unit provides consultancy for personal banking borrowing. They provide innovation to start different small level businesses and provide attractive financial services and opportunities for personal loans. Corporate banking is one of the profitable units of business unit of Barclays as it has more than 50,000 customers in five different continents. Risk management unit is also important to provide advisory for businesses which have potential to invest and get profit and also provide opportunities for investment. Wealth and Investment management unit works in more than 20 countries to provide its services. The basic functions of this unit are international and private banking services, investment management services, fiduciary services and brokerage services. Business structure of Barclays bank allows world class banking solutions for corporate customers as well as personal banking clients. Using up to date technology in term of online banking solutions and mobility services provide an edge on competitors due to the latest procedures used in these services. Barclays rely on its global relationship approach. Different relationships teams work across the world to add value to the business of corporate and personal clients. Impact of Market Structure The basic purpose of Barclays is to increase its business in term of customers and profit, looking for potential customers all around the world, looking for growing economies and to expand in such economies to fulfill its vision of growth. Barclays bank is working in India for more than three decades. Investment banking division was the initial business of Barclays banking in India. Now Barclays bank is providing its corporate and personal banking services in India. This technique of using selected divisions is because of the market structure of India which is different as compared to Europe, Africa or America. People hesitate to deposit in banks and also there was less focus on borrowing from banks. The trend is changing due to awareness and availability of latest technology. The businesses of selected divisions in India shows that market structure have impacts while working in international economy. Changes in business structure while working internationally are basic requirements due to different values, structures and perceptions of the customers living in international market. Task 2: Causes of Globalization The change in the trends of international economy damaged the working of different organizations. The negative trend of economy of different European and American business environment allows organizations to look for new markets, customers and better economic regions. This is one of the biggest causes of globalization. The other cause is the advancement in technology and the availability of easy ways of doing business. People came to know about latest processes, new innovations in products and services, the differences in the quality of products and services and new ways of communicating. These cause international companies to expand their business across the borders to target the needs and wants of such customers. The concept of international free trade also caused globalization to take place due to the incentives associated with free trade. Availability of better suppliers in the international market causes organizations not to rely on domestic suppliers. Availability on quality su ppliers on competitive basis is a reason of globalization. Lower wages rates in other regions as compared to domestic labors in Europe and America encouraged organizations to expand their business in Asian countries which are less costly for infrastructure and low rate employees. All of the above mentioned reasons are primary causes for globalization. Advancement in technology, use of internet, emails, mobiles, and better traveling provided the basis for globalization to take place. The advancement in online technology provides basis for improved Management Information System to collect and analyze data all around the world to make investment decisions. Implications of Globalization Better business control through internet, mobiles and MIS provides comfort for organizations to handle business from anywhere in the world. This has made strategic decision making easy and fast as response from customers and management is speedy as compared to previous systems. The improvement in the living style and standard are implications of the availability of international standard products and services in those regions. People came to know about the variety and quality of products due to increased and reliable products and services as a result of international expansions. One can now see and buy products through online websites, emails and mobiles phones as these are easy and less costly way of communication now days. Now people have more choices in term of products, services and prices. One can compare product quality and prices by the help of internet and websites to buy more reliable products according to their budget. The other implications of globalizations are E-Commerce , better procedures, improved manufacturing techniques, computer simulations and low cost products and services due to availability of reliable suppliers and processes in region. World Trade Organization There are different causes and implications of globalizations but still there was a need of laws and procedures for globalization and international business. WTO is an international organization to provide standard rules and regulations for global businesses. Providing guidelines for business expansions in other countries by taking inputs from host and guest countries. Providing a list of social, legal and moral responsibilities to both parties for better business is one of the tasks of World Trade Organization. Different members across the world have provided their inputs and suggestions to generate standard laws for global businesses. Every organization and country has to wok according to these laws. Providing soft barriers for investment organizations and implementing the concept of free trade for global business are the major tasks of World Trade Organization. (THE ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES, 2011) Task 3: PEST Analysis of Barclays External Environment Analysis of Barclays Bank Analysis of business environment through PEST analysis, SWOT analysis, Force Field Analysis and Porters Five Forces provides authentic and important information to decision making unit before formulating or implementation of business strategies. The macro and micro forces can impact the strategies of management due to their dynamic nature. External environment analysis is not a onetime process; it is a continuous process to make changes in strategies according to external environment. (T R JAIN, MUKESH TREHAN, RANJU TREHAN, 2009) PEST Analysis Analysis of Political, Economic, Social and Technological elements which can affect the strategies and decision made by management is done under PEST analysis. (P)olitical Analysis India is a country where people choose their members of parliament through elections in a fix time period. The member of parliament makes policies for foreign investors and multinational companies. There is no clue of intervention of any third power in the political system. Opposition provides suggestions for policies. So, there are fewer chances of changes in the policies for foreign investors which are a good thing for Barclays bank. (E)conomic Analysis One of the growing economies of the world with have emphasis on research is an attractive place for foreign investors to invest. The continuous growth in the GDP for the last 10 years provides opportunities for Barclays and other foreign companies to expand in India. (S)ocial Analysis One of the countries having high population and high growth rate of population in future provides opportunities for Barclays bank to have more targeted customers. Increase in literacy rate and awareness about latest and up to date services in region provides opportunities for Barclays bank to invest in India. (T)echnological Analysis Use of internet banking, mobile banking, ATM, credit cards, e-commerce and social media provides a lot of opportunities for Barclays bank to introduce their up to date and latest services in growing economy of India. Barclays can provide their services to improve banking operations in India which is the reason why India allowed Barclays operations three decades back. SWOT Analysis of Barclays Bank (BARCLAYS BANK PLC.)Using strengths of Barclays bank in term of latest technology and operations to get benefits of opportunities available in India in term of large term of customers and markets can be possible by having knowledge about these internal resources and external business environment. SWOT analysis provides this information. (S)trengths Global Leader in providing financial and investment services in five major continents. Strong brand name in corporate banking system having more than 50,000 corporate clients all over the world. High credibility in the growing market of Pakistan which is also based in Asia. Personal banking with no limit on minimum deposit provides an edge on majority of competitors. Focus on risk management. (W)eaknesses Need of bailout in UK due to economy crises in recent past. Bad impact on image due to government funding issue in Zimbabwe. Less innovation in marketing campaigns related to Indian culture. Barclays is working in India for a long time but they fail to adopt market orientation related to Indian culture (O)pportunities Past business experience of India provides an extra advantage to make an expansion decision. Growing banking sector of India, focus on corporate banking and increased personal funding due to reliability and credibility of Barclays bank. Investment opportunities in IPL and other Indian leagues due to corporate image of these leagues can provide global promotional opportunities for Barclays bank. India is a country with wide geographical area and second highest population. India can provide a lot of potential corporate and personal customers by making an expansion decision in other parts of India. (T)hreats Increase in interest rates has decreased the funding from personal banking sector. Government banks and investment policies provides more attraction for personal investors due to bigger output of these services. Domestic banks with cultural related strategies is a threat for Barclays More international banks are moving towards Indian market due to the availability of business and customers. It can increase the scale of competition in India. Porters Five Forces Entry Barriers The entrance of new multinational banks like HSBC and other are expanding their businesses in India due to soft barriers of entering and availability of customers. This situation can increase the competition scale and number of saturated markets in India. Rivalry with Industry Services provided by different local and international banks are of the same type. So, it is important to change interest rates and services charges to attract more customers as compared to other banks. The switching of financial services for customers to other banks is easy and not much costly so banks need to develop latest and up to date processes to facilitate customers. Threat of Substitutes Innovations in the products and services provided by banks, including car financing, house financing and education financing provides opportunities for bank to focus not only on traditional banking system. The local financing institutes with less interest rate for personal borrowing are also a threat for banks in India. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Reserve bank of India takes actions regarding monetary suppliers which impact the supply of money in the economy. Customers provide supplies in deposits for personal banking and majority of banks are offering same interest rates. So, there is a need of innovation in services to attract financial suppliers. Bargaining Power of Buyers Providing alternative services in term of finance for car, houses, education, businesses and consultancy can bring the bargaining power of customer low as all the banks are providing same type of services with same interest rates. (Barclays, 2008) Task 4: Business Objectives of Expansion Capturing the potential customers in other attractive regions in other cities Boosting the current market orientation of Barclays bank in India Increasing the number of divisions working in India to capture more opportunities Investment in Global promotional opportunities in tem of Indian Premium League and other Leagues which have global impacts Focusing on international revenue to carryout domestic and international operations. India can provide opportunities for larger scale of revenue due to its population and geographical area as compared to domestic branches in UK Providing E-Commerce services in India due to increased level of interest showed by Indian customers for online operations Capturing corporate customers of India as Barclays bank has strong base and experience of dealing with corporate customers. These customers can provide vast opportunities for revenue as compared to personal or investment banking. Having more than 50,000 corporate customers is good enough experience for Barclays to target corporate banking in India India is growing economy as compared to major European countries so it can provide more opportunities for business in India. There are number of corporate sectors in India and number of Billionaires businessmen who can provide a lot of opportunities for Barclays bank through their operations Resistance from Employees Making any change in the business structure or operations can help to bring employees out of the comfort zone. This is the reason why some of employees resist against any type of change in structure of operations. Making an expansion decision in Indian market means there will be a lot of changes to be made to formulate and implement strategies for new geographical areas and segments. Altering the operations of employees to take their assistance in expanding operations can bring resistance from employees. Providing them incentives associated with successful expansion of Barclays bank can help to bring down any resistance from employees. Expansion can bring a lot of opportunities for managerial positions in new branches. Good human resource management can communicate these opportunities with existing employees by giving them attractive growth and career paths for potential employees to bring down the level of resistance from employees. (T R JAIN, MUKESH TREHAN, RANJU TREHAN, 2009) Recommendations Focusing on promotional activities associated with global marketing can help Barclays in Indian and international market. Recent Olympics, Indian Premier League, Formula race and other global events in India can provide a lot of help for Barclays in their promotional activities if they use these events for marketing purposes. Proving online services in domestic languages can provide a differentiation edge and USP for Barclays to target more customers. Barclays should invest in social activities of education and green environment to build a better corporate social image in India Focusing on innovation in term of substitute products can help to bring more revenue and customers to Barclays bank.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Analysis of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee :: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Essays

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee:Â   An Analysis Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a fully documented account of the annihilation of the American Indian in the late 1800s ending at the Battle of Wounded Knee. Brown brings to light a story of torture and atrocity not well known in American history. The fashion in which the American Indian was exterminated is best summed up in the words of Standing Bear of the Poncas, "When people want to slaughter cattle they drive them along until they get them to a corral, and then they slaughter them. So it was with us_. " Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a work of non-fiction, attempts to tell the story of the American West from the perspective of the indigenous population, The American Indian. That in itself makes Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee an important work of literature as it is one of the few books supporting the Indian cause. This is done through the use of council records, autobiographies, and first-hand accounts. Each of the book's nineteen chapters deals with a certain tribe, battle, or historical event. Brown goes into deep and explicit detail throughout, as evidenced by the book's nearly 500 pages. However, while some may complain Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee is boring or text-book-like, I believe the opposite is actually true. Generally, very little is known about this terrible genocide and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a wonderful and interesting learning tool. Brown has written many books about the life of the American Indian, including Creek Mary's Blood and Killdeer Mountain, but Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is clearly his greatest work. Brown made sure to include songs, quotes, and portraits sprinkled throughout the book. These are very important as they break the monotony of page after page of text. The portraits are well selected and placed, as are the quotes, and help present a wider picture of the point in history. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee helps to open a door into our past. It forces us to look at the dark side of our American history and

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Twelfth Night Essay: The Necessity of Cross-dressing -- Twelfth Night

The Necessity of Cross-dressing Twelfth Night      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The action of Twelfth Night begins shortly after a damaging tempest shipwrecks the heroine, casting her upon foreign shores. Upon arrival in this strange seaport, Viola--like the Princess Leonide--dons male disguise which facilitates both employment and time enough to orient herself in this unfamiliar territory.    Viola's transvestism functions as emblematic of the antic nature of Illyrian society. As contemporary feminist and Shakespearean scholars are quick to point out, cross-dressing foregrounds not only the concept of role playing and thus the constructed or performative nature of gender but also the machinations of power. Viola can only make her way in this alien land if she assumes the trappings--and with these garments the--privileges of masculinity. Her doublet and hose act as her passport and provide her with a livelihood, a love interest, and friendship (just as Leonide's breeches allow her passage into Hermocrate's garden).    Viola's male masquerade also calls attention to the more general theme of masking. As Cesario, Viola suggests that things are not always as they seem, that identities are protean, that self-deception rivals self-knowledge and that only Time can untie complicated "knots." Coppelia Kahn points out that the cross-dressing in Twelfth... ... Critical Interpretations, ed. Harold Bloom (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987) 43. For further discussion on renaissance gender performance and identity politics among Shakespeare's cross-dressed heroines, see Michael Shapiro's Gender in Play on the Shakespearean Stage: Boy Heroines and Female Pages (Ann Arbor: The University of MIchigan Press, 1994). 6- Elliot Krieger, "Malvolio and Class Ideology in Twelfth Night," Modern Critical Interpretation, ed. Harold Bloom (New York: Chelsea HousePublishers, 1987) 24. 7- J.M. Lothian and T.W. Craik, "In troduction," The Arden Shakespeare: Twelfth Night , ed. Lothian and Craik (New York: Routledge, 1991) lvi.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Math Project

Name: Math Manisa No. : 10740 Project 2 Regression Line The following table shows (for the years 1965 to 2000 and for people 18 and over) the total percentage of cigarette smokers, the percentage of males who are smokers, and the percentage of females who are smokers. Percentage of Smokers _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Year Total Population All Males All Females _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 965 42. 4 51. 9 33. 9 1974 37. 1 43. 1 32. 1 1979 33. 5 37. 5 29. 9 1983 32. 35. 1 29. 5 1985 30. 1 32. 6 27. 9 1987 28. 8 31. 2 26. 5 1990 25. 5 28. 22. 8 1992 26. 5 28. 6 24. 6 1993 25. 0 27. 7 22. 5 1995 24. 7 27. 22. 6 2000 23. 3 25. 7 21. 0 Part one 1)Using Excel, draw a Scatter Plot and generate a regression line for the percentages of males who are smokers versus time. Part two 1) The Regression Line for the Percentage of Males who are smokers is (just copy the equation from your Excel spread sheet ) Y= -0. 7766X+1575 2).By the model in 1), the percentage of Males who are smokers in the year 2002 is: 20. 85=21% 2) Using Excel, draw a Scatter Plot and generate a regression line for the percentages of females who are smokers versus time. [pic] Part Two 3). The Regression Line for the Percentage of Females who are smokers is (just copy the equation from your Excel spread sheet ) Y= -0. 4134x+847. 64 4) By the model in 3), the percentage of Females who are smokers in 2002 is: 20. 01=20% ———————– [pic]

Monday, September 16, 2019

Sociolgical Imagination

Sociological Imagination Sociological Imagination can be defined as the ability to notice a difference in people due to their social circumstances, how their â€Å"social norms,† influence their lives. Sometimes these situations can lead to an outcome and it gives you an understanding as to why things happen the way they do. You understand what causes led to that specific outcome. Basically, you understand peoples lives because you can see how the outcome effects their lives and the people around them.Having an understanding of sociological imagination helps in the field of sociology because it alps you have a different perspective on peoples lives. I started dating a guy at the beginning of my senior year of high school. Not long after, we become inseparable. It didn't take very long for me to think I was in love. When I felt like it was the right time, we decided to have sex. I never thought that I would get pregnant the first time because we were safe, and I was on birth co ntrol. Fortunately, I didn't. As the months went on we would risk not using protection and I was still not getting pregnant.Stupidly, I thought well maybe I Just can not get pregnant since it has not happened to me yet. After about a year of dating, I missed my birth control for a week. About eight weeks after that I get really sick and can not keep any food down. My grandmother takes me to the doctor and I will never forget that moment when the doctor came back in and said the words I thought I would never hear. I was pregnant. My sister had gotten pregnant while she was still in high school, so my mother really depended on me to be the daughter that finished college and then started a life of my own. She was so disappointed in me.But the rest of my family viewed it as normal that I had gotten pregnant at 18. Many of my cousins started a family instead of going to college. 9 out of 11 of my cousins were teen parents. Along with the younger generation, my grandparents, aunts, and un cles also started their families very early. While I did not purposely try to start a family at my age, my family did not see it as a bad thing. My boyfriend stepped up in this situation and decided early on that he was not going to be like every other young dad and run off. He has changed every part of his life to give our baby the best life possible.A long time ago getting married at a very young age was socially acceptable, now it is morally wrong in many ultras. Since girls were married at a young age, teen pregnancy was accepted, also. In this generation teen pregnancy is still Just as common as it was then, but without the girls being married or even in a relationship. â€Å"1 . 3 in 10 teen American girls will get pregnant at least once before ago 20. That's nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies every year. 3. Less than 2 percent of teen moms earn a college degree by age 30. 5. The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the western industrialized world. 10.Al most fifty percent of teens have never considered how pregnancy would affect their lives. (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy) Due to teen pregnancy rates being so high, Americans have to learn to accept and adapt to this being a new custom. â€Å"Based on a teen survey his organization conducted in 2009, a vast majority (eighty-seven percent) of teens who watched the MAT show 16 and Pregnant reported that they felt the show helped demonstrate to them the true hardships that teenage pregnancy can bring to both girls and boys. In contrast, very few (seventeen percent) felt the show actually glorified teen pregnancy. (Silvers) These shows help to show the struggles that all he young girls starring in them face. By putting their stories out there they are helping to reduce teen pregnancy rates. Even though there are shows to help try to reduce teen pregnancy, there are also movies and shows that make being sexually active teens look â€Å"cool,† or â €Å"popular. † Many movies show the virgin being made fun of for not being sexually active. Making sex look fun or cool results in teens having sex, which may lead to teen pregnancy. The social norm for young people is to graduate high school, go to college, get a career, and start a life of their own.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

The Business Report of the Australian Major Footwear Retailer

The Australian UGG Company Major Assignment The business report of the Australian major footwear retailer-UGG Table of content 1. 0. Executive summary4 2. 0. Introduction5 2. 1. Background of UGG Company5 2. 2. Assumptions and limitations5 3. 0. Overview of the market5 4. 0. The marketing environment5 4. 1. The Microenvironment5 4. 1. 1. Key competitors6 4. 1. 2. Other environment6 4. 2. The Macroenvironment6 4. 2. 1. Demographic environment6 4. 2. 2. Economic environment7 4. 2. 3. Political environment7 4. 2. 4. Cultural environment7 5. 0. Product7 5. 1. The three level of the product7 5. 1. 1.Core Product8 5. 1. 2. Actual Product8 5. 1. 3. Augmented Product8 5. 2. Brand, packaging and labeling9 6. 0. Target segments9 6. 1. Demographic segment—Gender, Age and life-cycle stage segment9 6. 1. 1. Evaluation the needs and wants of the segment (key users benefit)9 6. 1. 2. The market positioning of the segment10 6. 1. 3. The trend of the segment11 6. 2. Geographic segment11 7. 0. The product categories11 7. 1. Evaluation of the categories11 7. 2. The trend and development of the categories11 8. 0. Conclusion12 9. 0. Recommendations12 10. 0. Reference list13 1. Executive summaryThe following report analyses the demographic segment which is classified by gender and age-cycle is targeted by The UGG Company. Firstly, the report briefly describes the background of UGG. Secondly, it shows a general impression of the footwear market and identifies its microenvironment and macroenvironment. Thirdly, it emphasizes the product of UGG and points out the three levels. Fourthly, it judges the two variable segments and illustrates the demographic segment in detail. Then, the report also exhibits its product categories. Finally, it draws a conclusions sum up and gives the recommendations.The secondary information which has close relationship to marketing is the sources of the report. For example, academic journals, textbook, statistics from formal organizations and company websites and newspaper. There are some assessments to evaluate the field of marketing in The UGG Company after assessing. There are two main recommendations for The UGG Company to improve its business: 1. UGG should improve marketing information system in order to do some research to satisfy customers’ needs and wants. 2. UGG should utilize sustainable material to produce products aiming at undertaking its social responsibility and gaining reputation. 0.Introduction 2. 1. Background of UGG Company The UGG Company was first established in California by Brian Smith, a young surfer from Australia (Deckers Outdoor Corporation, 2009). It was acquired by Deckers Outdoor Corporation in 1995. Thompson (2004) reports that the sale astonishingly increased from $250,000 to $11. 75 million between 2003 and 2004. The brand becomes national and year-round nowadays because of more than 70 shoe styles except its classical-style boots and slippers (Thompson, 2004). He also mentions that the sales project in 2004 was set up at $75 million which was in double growth of 2003’s. 2. Assumptions and limitationsThe limitation of the report is not enough adequate information presenting. With the development of globalization, the company should take actions depending on the varied circumstances to have a strong position in its marketplace. 3. Overview of the market IBISWorld Pty Ltd (2009) defines the footwear retail as a connection between the manufacturing company and customers. It also identifies that the shoe retail is mainly concerned about purchasing and promoting attractive shoes without any change to the customers. Other activities such as customer service, cash handing are also involved in the footwear retail (IBISWorld Pty Ltd, 2009).According to the statistics by IBISWorld Pty Ltd (2009), the industry has revenue of $2475. 0 million between the year 2008 and 2009. But meanwhile, it experienced a real growth of -2. 9%. 4. The marketing environment 1. The Microe nvironment 1. Key competitors Footwear market is a competitive marketplace because of globalization. There are 3,238 retails providing large number of appealing shoes to customers in Australia and there are 48 sheepskin retails among them (Yellow Pages Australia, 2009). Barack (2008) recognizes that in the present environment it is a difficult task for retailing to maintain the same revenue as before.Other famous brands like Chukka boots and Rocky are the direct competitors to UGG (Wikipedia, 2009). IBISWorld Pty Ltd (2009) asserts that Ascendia Retail Pty Limited is the top indirect competitor to UGG because it holds 16% of the Australian market. Followed by that, Betts Group Pty Ltd takes up 6. 8%. And 77. 2% of the market is made up of other companies such as NIKE Australia and Foot Locker. 2. Other environment The footwear retail industry including UGG often depends on resellers which belong to marketing intermediaries like Myer to promote its goods.And the market for UGG is con sumer markets which individuals purchase shoes for personal use. 2. The Macroenvironment 1. Demographic environment According to the research by IBISWorld Pty Ltd (2009), the demand of footwear retail is affected by age which involves three generations: Generation X, Generation Y and Baby Boomers. Generation X and Y stand for aged 32 to 43 and 14 to 31 respectively. The former group accounts for 42. 0% of the footwear sales in the end of 2007; the latter group has 30. 0% of that. Baby boomers which have aged 44 to 62 account for 25. 0% of the share (IBISWorld Pty Ltd, 2009). . Economic environment Consumer sentiment index, trade weighted index and Real Household Disposable Income play vital roles in the footwear retail industry. Firstly, IBISWorld Pty Ltd (2009) points out that consumer sentiment index represent the consumers’ confidence of economy. It also mentions that trade weighted index has a significant effect on customer demand for imported footwear. Furthermore, incom e is closely related to customer’s purchasing power. For instance, wealthy customers have more buying power to choose whatever they like. 3. Political environmentThe Australian government performed a policy which led to an enormous change in the world of Australian footwear retail. It reduced the protection of the Australian footwear sector in the mid-1980s (Webber &Weller, 2001). They indicate that the footwear industry has to restructure in the modern world in Australia because of globalization. 4. Cultural environment Cultural issues also shape the marketing decisions. Wikipedia (2009) asserts that boots was originally invented by the people who live in cold countries to protect their foot in low temperature environment. Australians form a habit of wearing boots in winter to keep warm. . Product Footwear can be classified into the category of shopping products which are evaluated in the aspect of comfort, quality, price and style. 1. The three level of the product 1. Core Product The core benefit that consumers are really purchasing in the market of footwear is to protect their foot. According to what customers actually want, UGG provides sheepskin footwear which can control the temperature of the bare feet to close to the body regardless of the temperature outside, especially in winter in order to keep customers warm (Deckers Outdoor Corporation, 2009). . Actual Product Actual product defines as â€Å"a product’s parts, styling, features, brand name, packaging and other attributes that combine to deliver core product benefits† (Kotler, Brown, Adam, Burton and Armstrong, 2007, p. 388). Deckers Outdoor Corporation (2009) claims that the philosophy of UGG is to provide comfortable, high quality, attainable as well as fashionable products aiming to deliver core benefits. It also points out that UGG ®Australia is relatively well-known brand because it is the world’s largest purveyor of grade-A sheepskin.Furthermore, actual product of UGG includes its relevant sheepskin care product which is a unique product to retain customers. 3. Augmented Product A number of authors propose that augmented product is â€Å"additional consumer services and benefits built around the core and actual products† (Kotler et al. , 2007, p. 388). UGG creates a website to give convenience for customers searching information and knowing more about UGG. Moreover, UGG provides not only sales service telephone number and e-mail address, but also aftersales service to maximize customer satisfaction (Deckers Outdoor Corporation, 2009).These intangible augmented products contribute the value to the core product in order to gain competitive advantage. 2. Brand, packaging and labeling UGG achieves in the selection of brand name because its brand name can be distinguished from its competitor and easy to recognize. Currently, UGG uses brand extension strategy to launch new products in men’s footwear. In addition, UGG labels â€Å" made in Australia† in the packaging to differentiate from others. 6. Target segments Due to differential needs and wants, the market can be divided into three segments: Gender, Age and life-cycle stage and Geographic segmentation (IBISWorld Pty Ltd, 2009).The target group for UGG is the demographic segment which classified by gender and age-cycle. 1. Demographic segment—Gender, Age and life-cycle stage segment 1. Evaluation the needs and wants of the segment (key users benefit) Classifying segments effectively can bring success to the company (Dibb and Simkin, 1991). Kotler et al. , (2007) assert that gender segmentation has been widely used in the business of footwear. Therefore, the category of footwear retail can be categorized into three main parts: women, men together with children and infants footwear.IBISWorld Pty Ltd (2009) evaluates that women’s footwear occupies a dominant position in the market because it holds 50. 0% of the Australian market share. Ho wever, men’s footwear as well as children’s and infants’ footwear has the same percentage which takes up only half of the percent of women’s footwear in the market share (25. 0%). UGG Company uses differentiated market-coverage strategy to target several market segments and offers several different products. UGG sells the shoes of women as well as men, but it started from women boots originally.It seems apparent that the frequency of purchasing shoes for women is much higher than men. Consequently, UGG focuses on women want initially. Women select their desired shoes in the aspect of styles and colors (IBISWorld Pty Ltd, 2009). Typically, women regard the styles and colors as fashion. Most of them will try their best to follow the current fashion. Deckers Outdoor Corporation (2009) declares that providing fashionable products is one of the objects of UGG Company to satisfy the women want of fashion.In the modern world, many famous stars like Julia Roberts wearing the boots of UGG causes a fashion of wearing UGG boots (Blakeley, 2004). Compared with women, men are more concerned with the price and quality of the shoes. According to Deckers Outdoor Corporation (2009), UGG Company offers the footwear which value comfortable and the highest quality in order to attract men customers. It also claims that UGG Company only use the perfect material to produce products such as the highest quality leathers, suede and the world’s finest sheepskin to keep user warm and comfortable.For instance, the company only uses vegetable-based dyes and put shoes in refrigerated container to prevent melting when transfer (Palmeri, 2006). 2. The market positioning of the segment The UGG Company chooses product differentiation as its positioning strategy. Deckers Outdoor Corporation (2009) promises that it produces accessible luxury products to differentiate from other competitors. For example, Women’s footwear of UGG is range from $60 to $400 (H irshlag, 2006). As a result, the behaviors of buyers who buy the products of UGG are affected by their economic situation. 3.The trend of the segment Currently, men prefer casual and fashionable street shoes rather than athletic shoes (IBISWorld Pty Ltd, 2009). This trend brings new opportunity to the company. O’Loughlin (2005) demonstrates that UGG Company expands its business by crossing gender lines to target men. Sales to men of UGG are up to $53. 4 billion in 2006 (Thompson, 2006). 2. Geographic segment IBISWorld Pty Ltd (2009) lists the footwear retailing locations in Australia by states. A number of authors claim that the geographic segmentation brings benefit in satisfying local differential needs (Kotler et al. 2007). For example, Victoria can be thought of a competitive and mature market in terms of high average income. According to the data by yellow pages Australia (2009), there are 13 retails selling the products of UGG in Victoria. 7. The product categories 1. E valuation of the categories The UGG Company supplies a strong market for unique footwear to outwear (Wilson, 2007). In brief, it involves a variety of boots, casual, slippers and accessories (Deckers Outdoor Corporation, 2009). The category satisfies a variety of customers’ desires. The unique boots bring warm and luxury to buyers.The series of casual shoes meet the expectation of customers who prefer casual lifestyle. The slippers and accessories offer a varied choice for customers. Moreover, the company also provides care products for customers to take great care of the sheepskin shoes for the sake of retaining customers. 2. The trend and development of the categories Edelson (2009) reports that the company will focus on its outwear line in future to appeal more customers who seek sheepskin outwear. She also mentions that the company is interested in expanding the collection of accessories and designing handbags for UGG fans. . Conclusion From analysing and evaluating the s tatistics searched, we can conclude that UGG can target the demographic segment which is classified by gender and age-cycle effectively. It takes the microenvironment which includes marketing intermediaries, customers and competitors together with macroenvironment which involves demographic, economic, political and cultural environment into consideration. Furthermore, it identifies the emerging trend of the product categories and discovers the opportunity for attracting potential customers to make the profit as high as possible.However, UGG still lacks efficient information about marketing intelligence and research. 9. Recommendations 1. UGG should improve marketing information system in order to do some research to satisfy customers’ needs and wants. †¢ David (1989) emphasizes that marketing research can assist marketing managers perform and recognize the market segments well. For UGG, the company should design some survey to collect primary data to analysis customer pr eference such as the colors, size and length. 2. UGG should utilize sustainable material to produce products aiming at undertaking its social responsibility and gaining reputation. UGG should continue using vegetable-based dyes and healthy material. 10. Reference list Barack, L. (2008). From Ugg to Utterly Impressive. On Wall Street, 18(9), 64. Blakeley, K. (2004). Foot Fetish. Forbes Global, 7(1), 20. David, C. (1989). Trends of Marketing Research. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 7(9/10), 17-24. Deckers Outdoor Corporation. (2009, September 29). Retrieved November 05, 2009, from http://www. uggaustralia. com. au Dibb, S. & Simkin, L. (1991). Targeting, Segments and Positioning. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 19(3). Edelson, S. (2009).Ugg Taps Nichols for Outwear Line. Women’s Wear Daily, 197(103), 9. Hirshlag, J. (2006). Ugg’s First Boutique Set to Bow in SoHo. Women’s Wear Daily, 192(116), 16. IBISWorld. (2009, October 14). Footw ear Retailing in Australia (G5222). Retrieved from IBISWorld database. Kotler, P. , Brown, L. , Adam, S. , Burton, S. and Armstrong, G. (2007). Marketing (7th ed. ) French Forest, NSW: Pearosn Education Australia. O'Loughlin, S. (2005). UGG Step up Licensing, Tries Appealing to Men. Brandweek, 46(21), 11. Palmeri, C. (2006). Sensitive Soles. Businessweek, 3987, 14. Thompson, S. (2004). Ugg Australia.Advertising Age, 75(44), 19. Thompson, S. (2006). Ugg, others take a shot at gender bending. Advertising Age, 77(21), 4-6. Webber, M. & Weller, S. (2001). Trade and inequality: Australia's textile, clothing, and footwear industries, 1986-1996. Journal of Economic Geography, 1(4), 381. Wilson, B. (2007). Ugg goes for Gold Coast. WWD: Women's Wear Daily, 194(80), Wikipedia Foundation. (2009, November 14). Retrieved December 12, 2009, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Boot Yellow Pages. (copyright 2006). Retrieved November 06, 2009, from http://www. yellowpages. com. au