Evaluate the Causes of World War I Essay

World war one is one of the most important events in world history. It took place in Europe in 1914-1918. The whole world participated this war. So everyone had some responsibility. There are more than one reasons for the outbreak of this war. Mainly, it was the expansion form of nationalism & the alliances system. Other issues played a major part too, such as imperialism, the industrial revolution, naval race and domestic factors. One of the main long term causes as I said before is Nationalism. Nationalism is the patriotic feeling when people believe passionately for their countries. The extreme feeling of nationalism is called ethnocentrism and it leads to fascism. Nationalism also, promoted the war because nationalists wanted to reestablish their nation’s power. Th e majority of people before and during the world war one, wanted to have a larger territory. Flags are created to represent a country. The three countries that formed the Triple Alliance was formed by different ethnic groups. Above all, Austria’s – Hungary’s ethnic groups wanted their independence. These groups were, Slovaks, Serbs & Czechs. They wanted to rule themselves and have their own state. Particularly, many Serbs in different territories wanted to join the neighboring state of Serbia. Italy was also formed from a collection of smaller states, aiming at having its government established. The trigger cause of world war one was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinard & his wife also by a Serbian nationalist. This happened in June 1914 while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia which was a part of Austria – Hungary. This assassination was in protest to Austria – Hungary having control of the region. This was the extreme form of nationalism as I said above, that killed the prince of Austria and world war one began. Another cause which cause the war is imperialism. In other words, the competition among powerful countries to extend their power. All the countries were looking for ways to conquer oversea colonies. There was a competitive feeling about it. They also needed more resources. Naval bases for Germany & Britain were also of paramount important. For example, France & Russia prepared to face any German invasion. Germany took from France an important industrial area of Alsace – Lorraine. In 1890 Germany has a New Kaiser who was very active. Germany seized control of Chinese ports & wanted more oversea colonies as Britain & France had. Italy also wanted more oversea colonies and that’s a reason it joined the Triple Alliance. Furthermore, there is another cause, the alliances. Alliances existed to support â€Å"friends† and threaten enemies. The promoted their own culture. Alliance’s movements are like gangs. They used violence and technology weapons. Alliances active role before the war was to understand the progress of the war & country’s movements. So before world war one Russia defended Serbia. Serbia’s territories were controlled by the state of Austria – Hungary. Serbia started the war against Austria – Hungary and Russia got involved. France & Russia had a close friendship. A response to get back its land Germany attacked France through Belgium. In 1884 the Triple Alliance we formed with Germany, Italy and Austria – Hungary to support each other militarily in case of an attack. The Triple Entente that formed in 1904 with Britain, France and Russia. The last cause of the war was the industrial revolution, in other words militarism. Militarism is associated with technology weapons. Such as cars, bombs, machine guns, submarines, bullets, dynamites etc. Industrial development was very important in order to be powerful. In this new war armies used cars and not horses. Another point is the radio, was used for propaganda. Everything was moving very fast. Military includes submarines, airplanes and machine guns. France & Russia worried a lot for Germany’s development. Loans from France helped Russia to develop industries. Germany’s navy plan named â€Å"Navy Code† was increasing their navy. This plan worked as a threaten to Britain. Germany’s development of their navy was apparent. It become one of the world’s most powerful navy in 1980 with Britain first. In 1914 German industries was second in the world only to that of the USA. Serbia was also becoming a powerful force in Balkans. France also built up their industries & army. Russia was the largest of all six powers however it was the most backward and least developed. As a result of this war there was devastation across Europe. Eight millions of people died & twenty – nine millions injured. The use of the word destruction includes issues we are not able to see. It’s not only the destruction of buildings, the lack of education and the economic decline. It’s also the lack of ideas, family issues, the psychology of the crowd, propaganda and much more. Even after the world war one for decades the leaders changing politics, changes & public opinions. In my opinion preserving the peace was neither Triple Alliance’s or Triple entente’s priority. What if the countries did not show off or compete for power? I believe that nationalism was the most important cause for causing the war. Consequently all the countries were reacting in extremely nationalistic ways and unreasonably. I also think world war one was a result of leader’s antagonism towards other countries which was sustained by the increasing nationalism of European nations. The assassination of Archduke worked as the immediate cause that triggered a domino effect of reactions among all these countries. If this wouldn’t happen, they would have find another cause to start the war. I suppose everything’s happened because of the selfishness leader’s had. They didn’t inspire the crowd & this prove that there was the failure of diplomacy.

Convenience Store and 7-eleven

7-Eleven in Taiwan Yuko Matsumuro National Chengchi University Abstract Nowadays, convenience stores have become more and more common in Taiwan. If you just look around everywhere, you will soon find there are a lot of convenience stores surrounding your town. Among several convenience store chains, 7-Eleven, or the President Chain Store Corporation, is the most popular one now. The paper focuses on why 7-Eleven is so successful in Taiwan and pursuits what is behind it.At the beginning, to understand the position of 7-Eleven’s parent company Uni-President Enterprise Corporation (UPEC) in Taiwan, and investigate how it influence the success of 7-Eleven. Also, based on the data which showed the consumers’ satisfaction towards 7-Eleven’s service, to consider how 7-Eleven’s service performances are evaluated by consumers and what kinds of management manuals they have. In last, the paper will discuss the influences of 7-Eleven’s special marketing geograp hical strategy and their advertisement effects on consumers.These information will help us know why 7-Eleven can continue to improve. Why 7-Eleven succeed in Taiwan? Introduction According to the article â€Å"Taiwan Convenience Stores 2010†, â€Å"In 2009, Taiwan’s four major convenience store chains such as 7-Eleven, Family Mart, Hi-life, and OK operated a total of 9,184 stores around the country, a density of one store per 2,500 people, making Taiwan the densest market in the world in terms of convenience stores. † Among several convenience store chains, 7-Eleven is the most popular one in Taiwan now.To think about the history of Taiwanese convenience stores, according to the article â€Å"The Development and Trend for Convenience Stores† from Managing Convenience Stores Theories, the Uni-President Enterprise Corporation (UPEC) had contributed the great role to the development of convenience store in Taiwan (Department of Economy, 2000). â€Å"In May 27, 1979, UPEC stated with fourteen chain stores and in this year, UPEC cooperated with the Southland Corporation, having the longest history and the biggest chain convenience store Company in South America, imported 7-Eleven to Taiwan† (Department of Economy, 2000).The first 7-Eleven in Taiwan opened in 1980 with 27 stores and the sale of this year was just only NTD 1. 2 billion. Although 7-Eleven grew 62 stores in 1984, the sale still did not improve a lot, and 33 stores had been closed in this year (Lu and Luo, 2010). Nevertheless, the 7-Eleven company did not stop to increase the number of stores; in 1987 they started to work 24 hours with all 168 stores. Since this turning point, 7-Eleven started to expand their business and in April 2010, 7-Eleven expanded with 4733 chain stores with a sale of NTD1017. 6 billion in a year (Lu and Luo, 2010).This paper will explore these following questions: 1. Why 7-Eleven is so successful in Taiwan? 2. Does 7-Eleven’s parent†™s company the Uni-President Enterprise Corporation (UPEC) role relates to the success of 7-Eleven? 3. What kinds of strategies 7-Eleven has? It is valuable to study why 7-Eleven can continue to improve and understand their strategies and backgrounds. What is the Uni-President Enterprise Corporation (UPEC)? First of all, to understand the position of 7-Eleven’s parent company Uni-President Enterprise Corporation (UPEC) in Taiwan, and investigate how it influence the success of 7-Eleven.According to the article â€Å"The Revenue for UPEC in April is 41. 92 billion and increasing annually by 7. 41%†, â€Å"The whole profit-making of UPEC in April recorded NT41. 92 billion, its increased 7. 41% from last year at the same time† (Yang, 2011). Uni-President Enterprise Corporation (UPEC) is the only company in Taiwan, which has many kinds of food manufacture branches, and dozens of products can be made through only one branch (Chang, 2006). Major domestic subsidiarie s of UPEC are such as 7-Eleven, Starbucks Coffee Company, Mister Donuts, Muji (Taiwan) Co. , President Drugstore Business Corp. COSMED), President Transnet Corp. , Semeur De Pain and so on. We can see there are so many subsidiaries under the UPEC and each of them quite popular companies in Taiwan now. â€Å"While adequately integrating the subsidiaries of retail, logistics and recreational service companies within the group, rapidly expanding its business territory† (Uni-President, 2007). The subsidiaries of UPEC’s business tie-up increased their business territory, and made UPEC more powerful company. In 2005, the profit-making of the food industry UPEC exceeded over NTD 1,000 billion† (Chang, 2006).The food industry of UPEC is one of famous company in Taiwan, if you look around 7-Eleven’s food categories, you will soon found a lot of them are from its company. Now, we know such big food industry behind 7-Eleven, is it related to the success of 7-Eleven? Food is important role in convenience store In the article â€Å"The Almighty Convenience Store, 7-11 and Family Mart Competes†, E-IPC, the research of Taiwanese people whose frequency to visit convenience stores which stated from 1988, suggested those who answered once a week was 53. % in 1995; in 2009, those who answered to go there every week was 84. 7%, among them, the sum of those who answered three times a week and once a week was 50%, answered going everyday was 34%, surprisingly, those who answered visited over twice a day was 7. 3% (Marketing. chinatimes. com, 2010). The age of main consumers who spend money in convenience store is 13 to 64, the E-IPC in 2006 to 2009, shown that those who answered visiting there every day was increased 30. 8 to 34% (Marketing. hinatimes. com, 2010). From the data, we can see nowadays people visit the convenience stores more often than before. Then, what kind of people have become regulars nowadays? The article shows that the Taiwanes e population is mostly working class; they at least buy two takeout meals per day, and these two meals are mostly breakfast and lunch (Marketing. chinatimes. com, 2010). Now, we know the main consumer of convenience store is the working class people and their needs are food.According to the article â€Å"Local Convenience Stores' development and future in 2008†, the data of â€Å"The Private Brand of four big convenience stores in Taiwan†(Table 1) shows that 7-Eleven’s main products such as â€Å"Drinks, fresh food, snacks, coffees, daily commodities†, all of them comes from UPEC company or their own 7-Eleven brands (Wang. 2008). As to Family Mart, their main products are the â€Å"Fresh food and drinks†, Hi-Life’s are the â€Å"Fresh food and dairy products†, and OK is the â€Å"Fresh food† (Wang. 2008).Only Fresh food come from their own brands in Family mart, Hi-Life, and OK, and we can see 7-Eleven has more many kinds of ma in products than others because of the support of UPEC. Table 1 The Private Brand of four big convenience stores in Taiwan (2008) |Company |Brands |Main products |Notes | |7-Eleven |7-11 |Drinks |All products come from UPEC company or their | | | |Fresh food |own 7-Eleven brands | | | Snacks | | | |CITY CAFE |Coffees | | | | |Daily commodities | | |Family |Fami |Drinks |Fresh food comes from their own Fami brand | |Mart | |Fresh food | | |Hi-life |Hi-life |Drinks |Fresh food comes from their own Hi-life brand | | | |Daily commodities | | |OK |OK |Fresh food |Fresh food comes from their own OK brand | â€Å"Extended menu offerings have successfully increased the importance of convenience stores foodservice offering. The company derives its share from its convenience stores, under the brand 7-Eleven. At the end of 2009, there were 4,750 outlets,† 7-Eleven may be considered to be the pioneer in introducing convenience stores fast food in Taiwan, and has since constantly in novated with the launch of new products (Euromonitor international. 2010). Besides, â€Å"Family Mart said the sale of fresh food items currently accounts for only 12 percent of its revenue. In Taiwan, the industry average is 20 percent† (Business weekly. 010), compared with other convenience stores, Family Mart provides less food and it may give distance with 7-Eleven’ high sale because people’s needs are food. Then, how does the CVS chain store attracts the customers and creates non stopping motives for them to buy? There are two prospective on this; one is the products that they are currently selling. With the penetration of the stores, expanding their takeout meals market is also an important marketing strategy (Marketing. chinatimes. com, 2010). Therefore, the convenience stores’ targets the timing to do marketing strategies or other promotional plans. For example, in 7-Eleven, drinks and breakfasts are only 39 NTD to promote their products (Marketin g. chinatimes. com, 2010). Internal business management of 7-ElevenAccording to the date of â€Å"The Benchmarking Companies of Digital Service in 2011†, 7-Eleven, or the President Chain Store Corporation, ranked the top in retailer category, it can say consumers are satisfied to the services of 7-Eleven (He and Yang, 2011). From this date, we can consider why 7-Eleven’s service performances are evaluated by consumers and what kinds of management manuals they have. According to the book of â€Å"Successful CVS Strategies† by Chen Kuang in 2006, stated the detailed and specific personal management is 7-Eleven’s basic concept. There are three main management concepts of 7-Eleven such as work refinement, formal management, and the core value to the consumers. First of all, the feature of 7-Eleven’s staff management is refinement work.For example, as to cleaning, â€Å"there are many stores are required to do cleaning but less stores have cleaning pro cess and every department has its own regulations, 7-Eleven is such convenience store†(Chen, 2006). Even though cleaning which parts in what time, the way or the order to clean, using which tools to clean, all of which are written in their management regulation, and workers should be follow it every day. Their regulation is including such as cleaning of doors, floors, around of sales counter, electric lights, parking areas, public telephone outside the store, and so on (Chen, 2006). As to formal management, â€Å"Working Progress reports are written by every staff everyday, which can make the staff clearly understand when to do what at where and how† (Chen, 2006).Also, 7-Eleven execute working progress report for every worker once a time, which includes evaluation of oneself or other workers (Chen, 2006). Also, the customers' core value is to provide and support how 7-11 should run the business. They consider to receive the consumers’ heart is important for their value and the growth for the company. â€Å"For example, 7-Eleven’s staff cannot answer â€Å"I don’t know† for their consumers’ question. They should say ‘Could you wait me for a while, I’ll check it’, or ‘Can I ask your phone number? I’ll contact you if I know the result’† (Chen, 2006). They also have seven technical words which should say if they meet the consumers such as regular greetings, please watch your step, and take care.We can see the 7-Eleven’s personal management is really detailed which increase their work efficiency; also their regulation requires staff to be precise in work and have the right behavior toward the consumers. Such 7-Eleven’s management may lead to the consumers’ satisfaction. Staff training and evaluation are also the important part of 7-Eleven’s internal management. 7-Eleven has three training center in Taiwan such as Taipei, Taizhong, and Kaoshiung , where trains the new staff’s knowledge, attitude, skills, and abilities. â€Å"The new staffs take training classes for the first four and a half day and one left to do retail sales practice†(Chen, 2006).In addition, â€Å"7-Eleven training materials are renewed in every six months† which we can see 7-Eleven changes their management manual depends on the society condition or people’s need. As to managers' training and evaluation of promotions, â€Å"the 80% to 90% of 7-Eleven’s senior management employees were raised from the basic unit staff to be promoted† (Chen, 2006). For example, if a graduate college has performed well in the basic unit staff, he will be the vice manager in three years (Chen, 2006). Employing people in the promoting way, which can maintain stable management, decrease employees’ fluidity. The workers done need to worry about their future at the same time training rich experience staff workers. Marketing Geograp hical of 7-Eleven Taiwan is a high dense populated region, it has limited for the growth of big stores, and they cannot establish their companies easily. However small stores, especially convenience store, has more possible to be future development mainstream† (Department of Economy, 2000). As we know convenience stores in Taiwan has been increasing their marketing territory nowadays. According to the article â€Å"The Comparison of 7-11 President Convenient Chain Stores, Family Mart Convenient Chain Stores and Hi-life Convenient Chain Stores†, the research of the main convenient chain stores in Taiwan in 2007 showed that â€Å"7-11 President Convenient Chain Stores was on the top of the rank, which owned 51. 87% of the market; Family Mart Convenient Chain Stores owned 24. 6% of the market, and Hi-life Convenient Chain Stores owned 14. 33% of the market† (Workshop of Starting your own business with joining Chain Stores, 2008). 7-Eleven shares more than half of th e convenience store market in Taiwan, and has raised its publicity. However, they are not only increasing the number of stores, but also having the strategies to set up it. â€Å"According to the Statistic suggested that the condition of location influences the store’s success of 60%† (Chen, 2006). To see 7-eleven’s geographical condition and learn their three important strategies such as confirmation of business place, Choosing the right place, and address and evaluations.Confirmation of business place refers â€Å"the basic investigation of business place and know their competitive market† (Chen, 2006) For example, the residential area is more stable for stores’ profit. The next, choosing the right place means that 7-Eleven always set in the consumers’ daily routes such as on the way of going to the work or school, parks, and so on. Also, address and evaluations is that the condition of population density or using the rate of success to ca lculate if the store should be establish or not (Chen, 2006). 7-Eleven always investigate the place deeply, to understand either the place can lead 7-eleven’s success or not. Moreover, the central construction is also one of 7-Eleven’s geographical strategies.It will consider four major effects from central construction that is decreasing the budget of advertising, increasing the image of the business, being controlled better and the quality would be better, and increasing the efficiency of delivery and decrease the amount of money and time spend on it (Chen, 2006). For example, our school National Chengchi University, we can find three 7-eleven inside the school campus and two outside of school. There are five 7-Eleven around our school; some of stores are running together because we sometimes see the employees go 7-Eleven in this store or move to that one. It can help each stores business and can cause great advertising effect for 7-Eleven. AdvertisementIf you watch any commercials on TV for a while, you will soon be aware that it is easy to find 7-Eleven advertisements. Recently, 7-Eleven’s commercials have increased, do these advertisements really influence the increasing of their profits? The article indicated that â€Å"After several failed attempts, 7-Eleven came out with the low price City Cafe in 2004. However, with the success of commercial advertisements in 2007, 7-Eleven has been selling 30 million cups of coffee a year† (Taiwan insights, 2010). Whatever strategy does 7-Eleven used and rises up its profits? Since November of 2009, the usage of hiring celebrities with different impressions to be with representatives, to have a strong stands in the coffee market.According to the article â€Å"The Report of Reaching ‘The effect of advertisement’†(Table 2), in the data of December, 2009, â€Å"the rank of ‘Effective dose of advertisement’ in coffee from chain stores and fast food restaurants , ‘7-11 CITY CAFE’ is on the top. † With the airing 157,846 times on screens 7-11 CITY CAFE’ commercial have the highest budgets of 9,710,000 NTD. In return, CITY CAFE’ has helped 7-11 to earn back a revenue of 17 times bigger than the actual costs being used for the campaigns. However, Family Mart has only an airing of 65,670 on screens, their advertisement effect is ranked the fourth (Liao, 2010). From the data, we can see 7-Eleven’s commercial on the screen increases their profits. Table 2 The ranking of effect of advertisement in December, 2009 Ranking |Products |Airing times |Seconds |Times on the screen|Effect of ad | |1 |7-11 CITY CAFE |2,974 |89,205 |157,846 |9,707 | |2 |Mc CAFE |2,268 |68,040 |145,500 |8,378 | |3 |Hi-life Brown CAFE |2,532 |53,175 |130,442 |7,717 | |4 |Family Brown CAFE |3,159 |32,880 |65,670 |4,124 |Moreover, according to the date from â€Å"CVC industries from May to October in 2009 ‘The rank of Advertisement effect in 2009’†(Table 3), top ten among seven are UPEC, the top is 7-Eleven’s advertisement whose airing is 1,057,969 times, compared with the second rank 524,102 times of Family Mart, it is greatly high (Liao, 2010). As we know commercials costs money, but if you do not put action to increase your publicity, you will decrease the opportunity to introduce your products to people, and also cannot earn a lot of revenue. The data shows large number of 7-Eleven’s advertisements on TV, and they make use of commercials sufficiently to lead their successful of business. Table 3 The rank of Advertisement effect in May to October, 2009 Raking |Products |Airing times |Seconds |Times on the screen |Effect of ad | |1 |7-11President Convenient Store |29,460 |626,140 |1,057,969 |70,208 | |2 |Family Convenient Store |16,804 |262,650 |524,102 |32,250 | |3 | 7-11Slurpy |15,109 |247,160 |485,738 |30,341 | |4 |7-11 CITY CAFE |11,162 |242,160 |414,309 |28,442 | |5 |Welcome Supermarket |7,098 |141,960 |290,317 |19,631 | |6 |7-11OPENchan recharge card |5,398 |134,950 |240,821 |16,729 | |7 |7-11general lunch box |9,002 |139,100 |256,977 |16,417 | |8 |7-11Onigiri |6,734 |148,795 |261,237 |16,117 | |9 |Family fabulous bread |8,900 |119,840 |229,083 |13,659 | |10 |7-11SMOOTHIE |3,218 |96,510 |184,137 |13,005 | | |photosynthesis | | | | | Conclusion After the research of 7-Eleven, we can understand the 7-Eleven’s background and there are many kinds of strategies behind them.The 7-Eleven’s parent company Uni-President Enterprise Corporation (UPEC) has a lot of subsidiaries whose business tip-up make each company’s development. For example, the food industry of UPEC supports 7-Eleven’s variety of food products, and increases their outlets than other convenience stores. Especially, for the working class people whose purpose to visit convenience store is for the food, it can say the food industry of UPEC’s support relate to the success of 7-Eleven. Also, the detailed internal business management of 7-Eleven makes worker can understand clearly how they work and behave, and following its regulations which increase the efficiency of each stores.Employing people in the promoting way also give them more faith for their work. If the management does not give the stable work condition for employee, they also cannot give a good response to the upper levels. Moreover, 7-Eleven’s geographical marketing or large number of advertisements which also raising up their publicity and become the one of strategy for the success. If we do not know what is hiding behind 7-11, we will never understand why they are so popular in Taiwan and how they succeed. To the success of one company, the managements should consider a lot of possibilities to make their business more efficient and always observe people’s mind.For instance, â€Å"7-Eleven’s training materials are renewed in every six months† (Chen, 2 006), from there we can see they always change their materials depending on the passage of the time, it also makes 7-Eleven’s continual improvement. In 1984, 7-Eleven closed up 33 stores because of the crisis of management, and their brand of City Cafe in 2004 recorded low prize; nevertheless, the history of 7-Eleven is not always successful but they come up with new ideas to solve the issues. What can we learn from 7-Eleven is that even though the result is a failure, you forge ahead and try next without giving up. References Chang, A. , Chien, H. , & Hsu, J. (2010, June 30). Taiwan Convenience Stores 2010.Retrieved from http://www. chilealimentos. com/medios/Servicios/Normas_internacionales/Normaotros_paises/Normativa_Taiwan/Taiwan_Convenience_Stores_2010_Taipei_ATO_Taiwan_USDA. pdf Business Weekly. (2010, December 31). Magazine digest — Convenience stores' new focus. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved from http://focustaiwan. tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail. aspx? ID=201012310013&T ype=aMAG Chang, C. (2006, April 21). 58 â€Å"UPEC's food industry profiting billions rooting in China†. . Retrieved from http://tw. nextmedia. com/applenews/article/art_id/2552607/IssueID/20060421 Chen, K. (2006, April). 7-11. Taiwan: . Department of

Acute Exacerbation of Asthma

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Case study - assignment question answer Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case study - question answer - Assignment Example As such, they decided to offer higher than the original prices to benefit the workers and to enable them maintain their jobs. The following statement from the text, â€Å"...harangued the Japanese team about their hypocrisy...† referring to the British boss, clearly reveals the anger and disappointment that the boss had towards the Japanese negotiators. Additionally, the aspect of emotion also appears from this statement, â€Å"...offer you an additional fifty cents a tonne above the price that you originally asked for...†. This statement by the chief Japanese negotiator is a reflection of the Japanese feelings towards the proposal forwarded by the British negotiators. Indeed, they had mixed feelings. The decision made by the Japanese negotiators triggered excitement though it was accompanied by a lot of surprise. According to Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory, effective intercultural communication plays a very significant role in creating understanding among different cultures and therefore preventing any cultural difference. Miscommunication is caused by lack of cultural understanding and poor communication skills, which can only trigger cultural conflicts. Hofstede suggested some cultural dimensions like uncertainty avoidance, collectiveness and individualism among others. Accordingly, Hofstede claims that these cultural dimensions, when put into use, assist in overcoming cultural differences. Arguably, the Japanese negotiators, listening to their counterparts and weighing the consequences of what they were about to do, enabled them solve their cultural differences and stabilized the situation. Accordingly, the British negotiators were very much interested on the interest of the South African workers. As such, they focused on their main reason of setting the prices and maintaining their position concerning the price. The British boss, having been disappointed by the Japanese negotiators, decided to be

Cross-cultural management & HRM Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cross-cultural management & HRM - Research Paper Example IHRM is concerned about managing the human capital at the international level at multinational companies (MNC). It is especially requisite to manage three types of employees’ i.e. domestic employees, host country employees as well as employees of the different countries. For this reason, it is a vital challenge for the human resource manager to handle the diversity effectively along with efficiently. This is because it is effectively related to the productivity of the organization when working collectively with the people of different cultures. According to Bernard Baruch stated regarding cross-cultural communication that â€Å"We did not all come over on the same ship, but we are all in the same boat† (Hord & et. al., 2009). In accordance with today’s working culture for the effective implementation of globalization, it is rapidly becoming enormous, as the business environment has expanded to the various geographical locations. Therefore, it is a major challenge for the HR managers of the MNCs to understand the cultural aspects of the different countries and geographical locations to promote the business and expand the market share, along with interacting and collaborating across boundaries using global communication technologies (Self, n.d.). However, there are also enormous positive aspects of cross-cultural diversity in the organization because it considers creativity along with innovation as well as provides various advantages which include helping an organization to enter the international arena. ... According to Bernard Baruch stated regarding cross cultural communication that â€Å"We did not all come over on the same ship, but we are all in the same boat† (Hord & et. al., 2009). In accordance with today’s working culture for the effective implementation of globalization it is rapidly becoming enormous, as the business environment has expanded to the various geographical locations. Therefore, it is a major challenge for the HR managers of the MNCs to understand the cultural aspects of the different countries and geographical locations to promote the business and expand the market share, along with interacting and collaborating across boundaries using global communication technologies (Self, n.d.). However, there are also enormous positive aspects of cross-cultural diversity in the organisation because it considers creativity along with innovation as well as provides various advantages which include helping an organisation to enter in the international arena. Diver sity among the team also is very helpful to improve elasticity and ensure quick response to any kind of challenges. A company with a diverse workforce can better serve and compete in the assorted market exceptionally beyond their imagination. Nevertheless, managing cross cultural elements in the organisation is very challenging, for this reason there is requirement to established open communication among all, supporting ongoing training and monitoring the various programmes to achieve the organisational targets (Crowe& Hogan, 2007). Therefore, the objective of the essay is to discuss the topic of measuring process in terms of workforce diversity taking care of national as well as organisational

Social Science & Social Changes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Science & Social Changes - Essay Example Slowly and gradually, these cities came closer forming different nations of the world. In this way, along with the growing population, the societies grew into civilizations and prospered over hundreds of years. The social orders that initially comprised a bunch of people, with the passage of time became large communities and large nations. Now, the whole world is coming closer day by day and is becoming one big global village. The current global trend supports globalization that emphasizes on living like a one big global community. With all these changes in societies, along the course of time, there came many opportunities, new possibilities and broader horizons, but with that equally came many risks, threats, uncertainties and crises. Cultures changed and so did people. With the new developments there came better education, better health, better life style, better communication and transportation, better techniques, procedures and processes, in fact, a whole new way of life; and with passing time, this process of evolution of the societies is becoming faster and faster that the way the social changes have bombarded us in last five decades, it had never done before. If we look at the life of the human being not very different from us who lives fifty years ago, we find such huge differences that it becomes very difficult to compare. Science and technology has prospered so much that the diseases that were thought of as completely incurable can now be treated using advanced techniques and processes. Treatment of life threatening diseases like cancer or life endangering situations like failure of a vital organ of the body is now possible and thus more and more precious lives can be saved. The new researches promise better education and better learning in a vast variety of areas. Researches are being conducted in practically every field of life. Science and technology has made life so easy that many tasks can easily be accomplished by just a flick of your finger over a button so the work that used to take weeks can now be done in days. So many things that man could only dream of as something miraculous are now a part of our every day lives. Life has become automatic; automatic cars, automatic machines, automatic gizmos and gadgets, even automatic homes. All one has to

Separation of Powers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Separation of Powers - Essay Example Montesquieu echoes Aristotle's arguments that having the mixture of the traditional governing bodies would balance the power and authority. Further more, he references Aristotle in his book by saying; "The inhabitants of a particular town are much better acquainted with its wants and interests than with those of other places; and are better judges of the capacity of their neighbors than of that of the rest of their countrymen. The members, therefore, of the legislature should not be chosen from the general body of the nation; but it is proper that in every considerable place a representative should be elected by the inhabitants" (Montesquieu). Aristotle, Montesquieu, and Locke all support the notion that civil society originates when, for the better administration of the law, men agree to delegate legal functions to certain officers. They are all against a "monarchy" government as it does not support a civil society. It by definition corrupts the individual who is given all of the power. Both Aristotle and Montesquieu allow for a balance between the oligarchy/monarchy and the democracy by allowing an "executive" element who's function is to balance that of the legislative/democratic element. 2) Aristotle believed that there were three classes. At the bottom were the farmers, laborers, and poor. As this class of people did not have the leisure time to pursue education, they would make a meager ruling class. The ruling class Aristotle argued should be comprised of the leisured classes, and the "middling element". He clarifies that the governing body with a larger "middling" element is more stable as they relate best to both of the extreme elements and are less concerned with power so as not to become corrupt. This combination of the "leisure class" and the "middling element" Aristotle referred to as citizens; "Citizens are distinguished from other inhabitants, such as resident aliens and slaves; and even children and seniors are not unqualified citizens (nor are most ordinary workers). After further analysis he defines the citizen as a person who has the right to participate in deliberative or judicial office" (SEP) Montesquieu viewed class as an outcome of the ability of the legislative body. He acknowledges that people are born into different circumstances, but argues that "the laws should disguise as much as possible the difference between the nobility and the people, so that the people feel their lack of power as little as possible" (SEP). In other words, the nobility who are likely the majority of those elected to be in the governing body should exercise care in order to not alienate those subjected to their rulings. When they fail to do so, the nobility will lose its spirit of moderation, and the government will be corrupted. 3) Montesquieu believed that "it is the masterpiece of legislation to know where to place properly the judicial power" (SL) According to Vile, Montesquieu was not the first philosopher to separate the judicial from the legislative but rather his writing was published at a time which

Ethics and policies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Ethics and policies - Essay Example The intense and dynamic nature of business pressures may not provide enough time for reflection and with the high stakes involved it may be tempting to compromise on ideals. Moreover, well-minded people often exhibit major differences in opinions about what constitutes ethical behavior and how these ethical decisions need to be made, further compounding the complex nature of the subject. A lot of evidence that we discuss in this paper shows that the advantages gained in taking an ethical stance are well worth the efforts taken in this often tricky path. This paper identifies the inherent long term benefits of actively managing the business ethics process in organizations and explores the value in ethical leadership especially in the air travel industry using relevant examples. The ethical issues that have afflicted companies like Enron, WorldCom and Tyco have brought the impact of ethics violations to the popular attention in the United States. Parmalat, Adecco, Ahoid and Skandia have grabbed the media focus in Europe. In all these scandals involving breach of corporate ethics, revelations have been followed by investigations, accusations, claims and counter claims. Legal wrangling involving formal investigations, testimony, evidence trials, verdicts and punishments have gained relentless media coverage. The resulting damage done to the reputation of these businesses is enormous. As a result, the employee morale becomes very low in this worrisome, suspicious and discouraging environment. May International, a management consultation firm, recently conducted a survey of businesses in US and in Italy to determine how business owners viewed corporate ethics. Concern for business and personal reputation was the reason most often (54% of respondents) stated by Italian business owners for concern about ethics. The most common reason (43%) noted by U.S. business owners for their ethics concern was the basic belief that

Manufacturing strategy and operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Manufacturing strategy and operations - Essay Example The adoption of this approach has a number of benefits to an organisation and the overall consumer satisfaction. In analysing this option of production, the paper will provide a case study of Nike, a company that has operated sweatshops in various parts of the world including Asia and South America. The benefits of this geographically distant manufacturing strategy adopted by the company will be evaluated in line with the principles of this approach. Geographically-distant low cost manufacturing impacts on global customer service expectation The current crave with geographically-distant low manufacturing location has led to the emergence of manufacturing units in china and other countries. This is attributed to the low cost of labour and materials in these countries, which lead to production of low cost goods. Through this approach of manufacturing, a number of organisations have significantly increased production of low cost goods and services, which has affected positively on the o verall costs of the product (Tengstam, 2008). Nike through its units in Asia and other parts of the world where the cost of labour and materials are low, have increased its production of low cost footwear. As one of the largest manufacturers of sports footwear in the world, the company has improved its global customer satisfaction through 100% outsourcing of its production processes. Through this process, the company focuses on research and development and leaves the engaging processes of manufacturing and large-scale production to offshore-outsourced companies. This ensures that the company presents well designed and consumer taste based footwear, which improves the organisation’s market influence (Kumar, 2001). One of the open costs of long distance manufacturing processes to customers is the low cost of goods produced due to the low production costs and raw materials. As a company that uses raw materials from china, Indonesia and India, Nike has increased its market contro l due to the relatively low costs of its products. The intensive cost of installing and maintaining a production unit increases the overall cost of production and this is responsible for increased cost of products in a number of multinationals. This does not however occur with Nike as it focuses on research and development processes which results into production of high quality-low cost goods. The capital costs of installing more production machinery are thus bypassed and this enables the business to produce low cots footwear and other sport accessories (Harzing, 2005). Nike’s logistic and manufacturing strategy The manufacturing strategy of Nike has remained its core strength and reason for dominance in the global market as it has enhanced its core competiveness. As an approach that seeks to eliminate initial capital and the need to manage production cost, Nike developed the use of offshore sweatshops operated in Asia and southern America. These contracted companies have the capacity to produce high quality footwear and sports accessories, which enhances its competitive strength in the market. Within these sweatshops in Asia and South America, Nike monitors the production quality and sends expatriates to these factories to manage their production proces

Final Project Plan for IBM Company Research Paper

Final Project Plan for IBM Company - Research Paper Example In November 2014 they announced a global partnership with Twitter. These organizations had different but functional information systems that must be integrated into the IBM system. An effective integration of the information systems at the company must be done based on an implementation plan that will ensure support for an enterprise wide business process integration and standardization. ERP systems can be complex and difficult to implement, but a structured and disciplined approach can greatly facilitate the implementation. The IBM Company is a huge company that has several branches all over the world, communication and maintenance of autonomy is one of the major factors that must be considered in implementing the integration of information systems. Additionally, IBM is one of the largest suppliers of technology hence there must be accuracy in the inventory and all transaction activities in all the branches and affiliates of the company. Finally, the company always ships all the purchases to different destinations in the worl hence the need for accuracy and follow up in shipping of all products from the company. Tis report is an implementation plan for the integration of the new information systems at IBM. The works include the overview of existing system and subsequent identification of the applications and resources needed for implementation of the integration plan. It also includes the identification of the tasks, responsibilities and the time frame for completion of the tasks. The project involves an assessment of the current enterprise integration in the company. The identified integration plan is laid out and the steps are clearly elaborated. The different responsibilities are assigned and the resources and time schedules are allocated to the different tasks and activities. Upon completion of the project the results expected include the improvement of service provision at all IBM branches,

African American Studies Essay Example for Free

African American Studies Essay The three topics I have picked for this reaction paper are â€Å"Hurricane Katrina, The Bombing Of Black Wall Street And Gangs†. I’ve picked these topics because I believe that to this day everything is still about being in control, racism and a touch of slavery which leads to gangs. Hurricane Karina: was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. Most notable in media coverage were the catastrophic effects on the city of New Orleans, La. , and coastal Mississippi. Criticism of the federal, state and local governments’ reaction to the storm was widespread. The bombing of Black Wall Street: community was the sight of a happy, affluent Black community but was too much for angry, jealous Whites in Tulsa, Okla. , in 1921, a false rumor was enough to spark a mass riot that left hundreds of African Americans dead, and a swath of black homes and business burned to the ground. The saddest fact associated with this historic atrocity is that the U. S government and local media were complicit in the death and destruction. Gangs: the word â€Å"gang† comes from â€Å"gonge† a term meaning a journey, but later referring to a â€Å"gonge† of sailors in the fifteenth century. Gangs originally began in the 1800’s which meant kids of the street. But US had other predecessors than unsupervised street urchins. There were four kinds of gangs which were predecessors of the street gangs of today 1. Secret Societies, 2. Gangs of outlaws and in the Wild West, 3. Racist like the Ku Klux Klan, and 4. â€Å"Voting Gangs† tied mainly to the Democratic Party in large cities. Many gangs if armed men were racially mortivated. Racial tensions in the cities like New York were constant, and racist conflict was almost everywhere more violent than nativism.. On May 31. 921 a nineteen year old Black male accidentally stumbled on a bumpy elevator and bumped into a seventeen year old White elevator operator who screamed. The frightened young man was seen running from the elevator by a group of Whites and by the afternoon the â€Å"Tulsa Tribune† reported that the girl had been raped. Despite the girl’s denial of any wrong doing, the young man was arrested and a large mob of 2000 White men came to the jail to lynch the prisoner. With a defenseless Black community before them, the white mob advanced to the greenwood district where they first looted and then burned down all Black business, homes, and churches. Any black resisters were shot and thrown in fires. That’s how it became â€Å"The Bombing of Black Wall Street†. It all comes to what’s going on now with, if you are in a gang you can’t go in one neighborhood if you are not affiliated with that neighborhood gang, just like back in then when blacks wasn’t allowed in white people areas or if blacks were allowed, they were segregated. After the Tulsa riot, White inhabitants tried to buy the Black property and force the Black people out of town. No Tulsa bank or leading institution would make loans in the riot-marred Greenwood district, and the city refused all outside assistance. However, racial pride and self determination would not permit the Greenwood owners to sell. Since African Americans could neither live among Whites as equals nor patronize White business in Tulsa, Blacks had to develop a completely separate business and community, which soon became prosperous and legendary. Black dollars invested in black community also produced self-pride, self –sufficiency, and self-determination.

Compare and Contrast the Reasons Essay Example for Free

Compare and Contrast the Reasons Essay Suppose you are taking a course on 19th-century America, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: Compare and contrast the reasons why the North and South fought the Civil War. You turn on the computer and type out the following: The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons, some of which were the same and some different. This weak thesis restates the question without providing any additional information. You will expand on this new information in the body of the essay, but it is important that the reader know where you are heading. A reader of this weak thesis might think, What reasons? How are they the same? How are they different? Ask yourself these same questions and begin to compare Northern and Southern attitudes (perhaps you first think, The South believed slavery was right, and the North thought slavery was wrong). Now, push your comparison toward an interpretation—why did one side think slavery was right and the other side think it was wrong? You look again at the evidence, and you decide that you are going to argue that the North believed slavery was immoral while the South believed it upheld the Southern way of life. You write: While both sides fought the Civil War over the issue of slavery, the North fought for moral reasons while the South fought to preserve its own institutions. Now you have a working thesis! Included in this working thesis is a reason for the war and some idea of how the two sides disagreed over this reason. As you write the essay, you will probably begin to characterize these differences more precisely, and your working thesis may start to seem too vague. Maybe you decide that both sides fought for moral reasons, and that they just focused on different moral issues. You end up revising the working thesis into a final thesis that really captures the argument in your paper: While both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppression, Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their own right to self-government. Compare this to the original weak thesis. This final thesis presents a way of interpreting evidence that illuminates the significance of the question. Keep in mind that this is one of many possible interpretations of the Civil War—it is not the one and only right answer to the question. There isnt one right answer; there are only strong and weak thesis statements and strong and weak uses of evidence. Lets look at another example. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twains novel Huckleberry Finn. This will be easy, you think. I loved Huckleberry Finn! You grab a pad of paper and write: Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel. Why is this thesis weak? Think about what the reader would expect from the essay that follows: you will most likely provide a general, appreciative summary of Twains novel. The question did not ask you to summarize; it asked you to analyze. Your professor is probably not interested in your opinion of the novel; instead, she wants you to think about whyits such a great novel—what do Hucks adventures tell us about life, about America, about coming of age, about race relations, etc.? First, the question asks you to pick an aspect of the novel that you think is important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write: In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore. Heres a working thesis with potential: you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation; however, its still not clear what your analysis will reveal. Your reader is intrigued, but is still thinking, So what? Whats the point of this contrast? What does it signify? Perhaps you are not sure yet, either. Thats fine—begin to work on comparing scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Hucks actions and reactions. Eventually you will be able to clarify for yourself, and then for the reader, why this contrast matters. After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write: Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twains Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave civilized society and go back to nature. This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Diversity Management In Coca Cola

Diversity Management In Coca Cola With the globalization of trade and investment, organizations are increasingly faced with diversity in their workforce. Firm gets more internationalized, both with implantation abroad and by trade with companies in different countries. With the rapid progress in the field of communication it is now possible to meet in real time with people of different nationalities around the same project. These changes lead to complex relationship with new clients, suppliers, employees and other stakeholders of cultures. The rebirth of the influence of intercultural in management is in fact quiet recent. Whatever your work, the meeting of different cultures is a daily reality in a growing number of companies. In fact many companies have indeed understood the cultural diversity of their customer, which called diversity in the ranks of their own employees. This diversification strategy of human international resources in company is to better meet the expectations of its customers, to enhance its brand image and its legitimacy, a vital condition if it wants to remain competitive. Moreover diversity allows increasing productivity and innovation making easier the resolution of problems. Diversity leads to ethnicity, and ethnic diversity implies heterogeneity in languages, religions, races and cultures. If years ago we talked about multidisciplinary team which aggregate different professionals skills, the differences are now more prominent in multicultural team. Multicultural teams require close collaboration between individuals belief, value, and opposite behavior. The difficulties for the team increase since the differences are not only about professional dimensions but also about values and individuals standards. It is necessary to precise that kind of intercultural relationship can also be a source of incomprehension, misunderstanding, and can quickly cause tension. In this configuration the role of the manager is not only to perform his own work but also to both prevent damage and ensure harmony in his team in matter to increase the efficiency. Consequently, the effective composition or diversity of teams and the way to manage them has become an interesting topic of research in the last few years. THE MULTICULTURAL TEAM: WHAT IS IT? Multiculturalisms notion As a concept and policy, multiculturalism has been developed in the United States and Canada. It refers to the institutional recognition of multiple cultural identities, ethnic or social within the same society. It recognizes the legitimacy of these identities, their ability to transform, and rejects the assimilation process which is generally called principle of monoculturalism. Multiculturalism is a major social phenomenon, both a source of enrichment and conflict, especially in a world of globalization with high mobility generated including migration, legal or not. Of course, our world is multicultural. Nowadays, almost all countries are multicultural, due to migration and the symbolic presence of other cultures (such as consumerism, individualism and materialism). Many individuals are also multicultural. To have an example, we can take the case of the inhabitants of Eastern Spain which are fully bilingual in Spanish and Catalan, two languages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹of the Iberian Peninsula. In our business case, multiculturalism refers to a community or a team with members which have different cultures. We talk about cultural diversity. Multiculturalism focuses on two important points which are interactions and communication between the various cultures in order to achieve a common goal and to be efficient (among others) Definition of a multicultural team Before giving a definition of multicultural team we should see what a team is. A team: it may be defined as a collaboration of two or more people who work together to achieve common goals. A team is a set of characters having complementary specific skills united by one or several common objectives among which each feels mutually responsible. According to Mister Schermerhorn (Managing organizational behavior author), a team: Is a natural phenomenon within the organization Has a beneficial effect on the individuals and the organization Stimulates the innovation and the creativity Allows, in different situations, a better decision-making Obtains from members that they make a commitment to apply the decisions which are taken in common. Teams are good for both organizations and their members, helping to accomplish important tasks and to maintain a high-quality workforce. A teamwork: A teamwork is collaboration between internal or external actors to the company to reach a common goal. The conception of these teams can answer different objectives: decision-making, development of activities, coordination à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ With a working team, company can: Problems solving Accomplish tasks faster Healthy competition Developing Relationships Teamwork has many advantages such as the effect of synergy, motivation or support. These effects resulted from good exchanges between colleagues. In a team work, everybody brings its own qualities and skills. It permits to the team to be more efficient in a work. With a team, it is also easier to generate creativity through sharing skills and ideas of each. However, its members must be mindful of the importance of internal communication, time management and especially respect for others. Teamwork requires a lot of patience and take into account the opinions and advice of other members. To define what a multicultural team is, we must first understand the difference between this team and the monocultural team. In a monocultural team, members arise from the same social and cultural context. They share the same values, style of communication and language. Generally, they also have the same management. It is not really the same thing in a multicultural team. Indeed, in this type of team, members come from various cultural contexts, different country. Members have fewer elements in common compare to a monocultural team. Due to their nationality and thus their culture, they dont have the same perception of the teamwork. This difference can have an important impact on the organization. The work with this type of team can be factor of productivity. However, if the team is not well managing, this work can also drive to differences of opinion, tensions and conflicts. These points will be developed a little further in the report. (See section II.1 and II.2) Different type of team. Multicultural team is a general term, but to be more precise we can define different type of multicultural team. Token team : In this case, everybody has the same nationality, the same culture and speaks the same language, except one. This can turn out to be a problem because this one will not have necessarily same interpretation, same solutions as the other teams members. Being in minority, this person is not sure that his opinion has a lot of impact. Bicultural team : Only two cultures are present in this team. This type of team is formed generally following a fusion, an alliance or following a joint-venture. A bicultural team has very often a big potential of synergies but also conflicts because there is always a part which want to be in a strong position. This one is then going to impose more its ideas, strategies, working mode and its language. Feelings of superiority and inferiorities are frequent, as well as a competition between both. It is necessary to be careful to set up clear and accepted rules of functioning by all the team members and to appoint a leader who has a big multicultural sensibility to well manage the team. Multicultural team: It is about the most current shape. The members come from at least three different cultures. Contrary to the bicultural teams, the problem of power and the competition is less important. The members propose a multitude of ideas, strategies and working modes and seem to adapt more easily. We often speak about intercultural courtesy. A common language (generally English) and a leader (often stemming from the culture of the warehouse) are more easily chosen and accepted. Virtual Multicultural Team: Traditionally teamwork is together, at the same time, at the same place. People physically meet. Now with the new technologies of information and communication, in particular Internet, the teams work at a distance on a precise project and can so gather resources, skillsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the whole without moving! Thats why they are called virtual multicultural team. The main benefits to the organization are initially greater efficiency due to economies of transport, reducing office space, or the reduced cost in labor when wages are adjusted to the local market. Another advantage is having access to a pool of human resources who are familiar with the areas in which they operate. On the organizational level, the most important problem is certainly the loss of synergy that usually results by exchanges between colleagues. Performance is not always there: skills and knowledge are more easily scattered. The team development is an additional challenge due to the distance and lack of contact between the members. On the individual level, learning opportunities, often related to sharing experiences with others, are reduced in a virtual operation. It allows also a considerable saving of time. We say that with this social structure the 24 hours of day can be completely used. Indeed, the Japanese manager who will have worked 8 hours on the project can then pass on it to his colleague in Spain. He will spend also 8 hours there and to pass on the whole to the American colleague, which, when he will have finished, will pass on transmit again his work to the Japanese colleague. Thanks to the time difference! How build your team? A multicultural team is more effective than a monocultural one, but you will have to pick different profiles or your team will be inefficient. The planner: he will bring his methods to make the team effective. He will be able (when its needed) to refocus the debates and the goals. The federator: he will unify the team and use every skill at its best. The innovator: he will suggest ideas to the group and propose original solutions. The network member: he will help the team by using his external partners. The impartial member: he will analyze and evaluate ideas, and he will be critical. The facilitator: he will listen to his mates, make the work easier by increasing communication, and keep cohesion when the team is in troubles. The guarantor: he will maintain the team on its goal and prevent from mistakes. The motor: he will be dynamic and focus the attention on the main issues. You dont have the obligation to have one of each in your team, bu you have to be sure that you have varied profile. When you decide to build up a multicultural team, you will have to wonder some questions, and try to answer, taking into account specificities of your colleagues. At the beginning, you will have to define your goal, what is it, how precisely you have to reach it, what are the objectives, how can you measure themà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ by taking into account specificities: some person will focus on goals, others on process, some may have more consideration for status other will look at skills,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ You also have to focus on your priority: time, quality, or budget. After that you have to structure the mission and fix the matter of agenda, the importance of deadline (are they fixed? Does it matter if there a lateness? What happens if deadline are not respected?), the role of every member (Should there be a leader? How should he be chosen? Who needs to be at which meeting?). This was for the creation of your team. Then you will have to manage it, you will have to choose the time you will take to social activities and workshops to build the team spirit, which is the language of your group (and how you deal with the gap of knowledge in this language). To perform your group to work effectively you have to promote some means of communication and the computing format you are waiting for. You also have at the deal with conflicts as a manager: why are there conflict? Who are the protagonists? At the end of your mission you will have to evaluate performances of your team. You have to decide when you will do it, how you will take account feedback, how you show them your report (individually, or not) To answer all these questions you have to know how they are usually working: the size of the hierarchy, if they are always working all together or if they are sharing work and then working on their ownà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ You have to understand the way they follow rules, the importance they tend to human contact, if they are more individual collective. THE PROS CONS OF A MULTICULTURAL TEAM Why to set up a multicultural team? The first reason is to answer to the evolution of our world economic. Everybody knows that the internationalization became major for the companies which wish to remain in the competition. Be present on a new market, to merge with other companies, to develop joint venture on unknown territories à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ here is so many reasons which incite the company to master the cultural dimension. Furthermore, we note that the pressure of the environment and the competition encourages companies to turn to the international by hiring employees who come from diverse countries and have different culture. Indeed, many are the companies which have to go out of their national frame to face a strong competition and to develop their activities. Companies so gradually became multicultural groups where express themselves the social and cultural characteristics of the diverse nationalities which compose it. One of the main advantages of the cultural diversity would be the obtaining of synergies due to the creative mix of the various cultural approaches in the resolution of given problems (technical, commercial, human). Studies showed that the multicultural teams often allow a better resolution of problems considered as complexes, thanks to their cultural diversity. The cultural diversity becomes consequently a fundamental axis of the management of companies. Multicultural teams constitute a strategic force. They allow combining and developing synergies with a view to progress, original solutions in terms of strategies and skills. Innovation and anticipating changes are at the heart of the achievements of multicultural teams. In an optical marketing, multicultural teams develop a facility to adapt to the local markets evolution as well as political and legal differences. (By contacting the specific cultural) Theory. At first, there is this equation: Actuel productivity = potential productivity losses due to faulty process When you manage a multicultural team, the potential productivity is higher than a regular team, and the potential productivity is also constant. What the manager can influence is the losses due to faulty process; this one only depends on the manager skills. If he fails to make his team work as one, losses due to faulty process will be higher than the increase of the productivity linked to the multicultural aspect. How do cultural differences improve the competitiveness of a company? Different points of view lead to different opinion First of all, diversity team have different cultures and different ways of mind, thats why they will settle issues faster than usual teams, especially when these problems are complex. When they every member of an multicultural team meet each other, they have to open their mind to accept their differences and to go through to build relationships. Thats why they will also fit faster with new components and new issues: because they are more open to originality. Due to their varied backgrounds members will create more ideas, more inventive alternatives, more arguments. As a manager of a globalized company you should also notice that multicultural team will make product that will fit to all your clients (from China to Europe, and South America) Different point of view avoid groupthink Furthermore, diversity able a team to avoid Groupthink which is a major source of ineffectiveness in a team: Groupthink is the fact that every body in a team think in the same way. This kind of team will have neither creativeness nor originality. They are many symptoms of groupthink: overestimating the teams power and morality, closed mindedness, pressure toward uniformity Compared with monocultural team, multicultural counterparts are less likely to engage in this counterproductive behavior because they will note subconsciously limit their mind, or if they do so, they would not have the same limit since they dont have the same culture. Groupthink leads to many problems. Self censoring: people wont express their ideas if there are too innovative, in order to stay in the majority and in the consensus. An illusion of unanimity: since every member will think that his colleagues are sharing his point of view; they wont be any debate and no exchange of ideas. The team wont be able to take into consideration every detail, every risk, every weakness of a new project and it will lead to a failure. People may also feel more pressure on their shoulder which will create stress and less efficiency. What are the difficulties? At first, when you create your team, you have to build the team to create a spirit between your teammates. Its the most difficult parts and the most important one, if you succeed then your team will be very efficient but if you fail, you will have to deal with mistrust, miscommunication, and stress. How to build up a team spirit? When you build up an multicultural team, you will have to face stereotypes and clichà ©s. If you dont want it to poison your team and make it unable to work united, you will have to do things to make your co-worker trust each other. The first thing is to make your member meet each other, talk to each other, open their mind to other culture and make them accept differences. We are always using more distance communication like phone and email. Some members of your team may see each other only twice a year. But it is really important to make them speech together, because its much harder to build a relationship through electronic devices. Some managers may find it useless to waste time just to chat about our life, but you better have to lose a few hours now than many days later (because you chain of command failed,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). This time of speech may also help the manager (aka you) to understand the habits of work of his colleagues. The relation they have with their boss, the way they take decisions, the way they try to reach their goalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ If you want to be a good manager and to understand their acts, you have to know these things. Otherwise you may get angry at one of your team member for no reaso n (like Gavin in the video who ask his Chinese colleagues to hurry up, but it is his boss that he should have asked). Every culture has a different value of the time and its implication, the influence of authority, different behavior toward riskà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ To build your team you can use several tools: Workshop: to make people speech to each other about value they share, or hobbies they have in common. Its important for them to see that they have similarities. But avoid some conflict themes like religion, politics, and dont talk about work. Serious game: As its a game, people will have less pressure on their shoulders, but they will learn to work as a team, they will solve problems (even if its not real cases). And its also a way (for the manager) to know the role of each member of the team (who naturally try to lead, who is the facilitatorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) and it will be useful for the rest of the mission (to delegate work more efficiently). Outside activities: many companies offer activities their employees (week end of fishing, or trip to a ski stationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). For most of them its even obligatory to do their assertiveness training every year. Advantages of these activities are that they make people meet out of work, with no pressure, just to talk about their life, so they will understand their colleagues more easily and their work will be improved. On the other side these activities are very expensive, but manager should take into consideration benefits due to an increase of productivity after these activities. During these activities, your goal is to create links between your teammates, but you should take care to downward slides: dont take any risk of accidents, incidents arising from alcohol, romantic relations between staff (whether extra-marital or not)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ If you dont succeed to build up your team spirit it will lead you to other problems. Problems of mistrust are generally due to a poor knowledge of your team member. If you dont know enough his culture it will lead to misunderstanding. Since he is from a different country with a different background, he also has other habits and you should take it into account and not consider it as if it was the reaction of someone of your own culture (for example, when an Indian is acknowledging authority, he is looking down, what European and American can perceive as a lack of trustworthiness). Risks link to mistrust are a bad communication between member, an inaccuracy of stereotypes, and it will lead to less efficiency in your team. In your team, people from the same country may speak their native language when they are together, but as the manager, you have to be sure about the common language of your team. To avoid problems of miscommunication you have to be sure that every document is in the same language. You also have to be sure that people dont stay with those from the same country. These two worries will make the team less efficient as the team will be split in many pieces. This could slow the information between every member of the team; you will have translation problems and redundancies due to a lack of communication. Finally, as an international manager you have to be sure that all these methods and way to work doesnt stress your partners. Some people, who dont have the habits to work in a multicultural team, may feel a bit overwhelmed. Stress may also be linked to a lack of integration of its members. Then, they might have the feeling to work alone or perceive the other members as competitors. This would imply counterproductive behavior (such as retention of information) or tension between your team mates Hofstedes cultural dimensions theory We will now talk about Geert Hofstede a social psychologist and a Dutch anthropologist who study the interactions between cultures. He has been awarded many times for his research on the interactions between cultures in the world. One of his achievements is the establishment of a theory of cultural dimensions provides a evaluation of the differences between nations and cultures. According to him, there is nothing like a universal management method or management theory, valid throughout the world. The theory was one of the first that could be quantified, and could be used to explain observed differences between cultures. It has inspired a number of other major cross-cultural studies of values, as well as research on other aspects of culture, such as social beliefs. Hofstede has found most of its data on cultural values through global surveys conducted by IBM, an American company specializing in technology and consulting. The theory is based on the idea that the value can be placed on six cultural dimensions: Power distance: Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This dimension analyses the feelings of people. A low score in power distance indicates a culture expects and accepts that power relations are democratic and that its members are perceived as equal. A high score means that the members of society who have less power accept their condition and realize the existence of a form of hierarchical position. Individualism vs collectivism: The degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. This dimension has no political connotations and makes more reference to the group than the individual. Individualistic cultures give importance to the achievement of personal goals. In collectivist society, the groups goals and well-being have greater value than the individual. Uncertainty avoidance index: a societys tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. This dimension measures how a company handles situations unknown, unexpected events and anxiety about change. Cultures that have a high index are less tolerant in term of change while companies whose index is low are more open to change, have fewer rules and laws, and guidelines are more flexible. Masculinity vs femininity: The distribution of emotional roles between the genders. This dimension measures the level of importance a culture places to male stereotypes values such as confidence, ambition, power and materialism, as well as feminine stereotypes values such as the emphasis on human relations. Long-term orientation vs short term orientation: called Confucian dynamism. In the long term: values oriented towards the future, as to save money and be persistent. Short term: values oriented towards the past and the present, like respect for tradition and fulfilling its social commitments. Pleasure vs moderation: This dimension measures the ability of a culture to meet immediate needs and personal desires of its members. To understand management in a country, you should have the knowledge and empathy with the local society as a whole. However, the point of the unique statistical study that Hofstede conducted should warn everyone that people in other countries may think, feel, and act very differently, even when they are confronted with basic problems. Hofstede emphasizes that cultural dimensions are only a framework for evaluating a given culture, and guide to a better HOW TO MANAGE A MULTICULTURAL TEAM? Multicultural Managements notion The difference between people has always existed even if all of them come from the same country. For example even in a small country like France, you can feel diversity. People from the north can be easily compared with German people, and the ones that live in the south have a whole different mentality that can fit with the Spanish one. And that can also be found in a smaller range, just like a family! Everyone isnt the same, there are male/female and among these two parts, you can also find diversity if you look the characteristic of each individuals, it can be very different. You can take the example of teachers. They are dealing with young people, and they can come from all around the world as easily as if they belonged to the neighborhood. It could be that most of them are too young to have already a strong culture and strong differences, but the teacher can already feel it. After all its a management job too! In fact, multicultural management -that is more global- is the same as in monocultural management -neighborhood student- with even more diversity because difference rate can increase a lot, when we put together people that come from all around the world. As already said before, if you have to deal with people with a high rate of diversity, you will need to prevent all the problems that could come from the origin of stereotypes that comes from every culture. Thats why, if someone ask us what is Multicultural team management is really about. We wont hesitate saying that it is about Management! Once we have agreed with that, we can focus on the diversity/Multicultural side of it. And now we will talk about some key points that need to be correctly filled to work efficiently in multicultural groups. Or in other words, what behavior should have a good Multicultural manager. What vision a good Multicultural Manager should have ? To work efficiently with a multicultural group and having the best productivity, the manager should follow some different rules. His attitude is essential for the best cohesion in the team. Human Resources should never judge the new potential employee according to a physical aspect. It has been proved that judging physically the people in a team wont maximize the effectiveness of the group. This service should not judge the people according to his origin, but only on his abilities. To maximize team effectiveness, members should be selected homogeneous in ability level (thus facilitate accurate communication) and heterogeneous in attitudes (thus ensuring a wide range of solutions to problems) Its called the Task-Related Selection. Indeed you can compare that effect to the effect of Synergy. Synergy in terms of management and in relation to team working refers to the combined effort of individuals as participants of the team. Positive or negative synergy can exist. The condition that exists when the organizations parts interact to produce a joint effect that is greater than the sum of the parts acting alone. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_Concept_of_synergy) Thus to sum up in an example, according to what is written upper, it would be a great idea to bring people that have nothing in common to work as a team to get the biggest variety of characteristics. Such as a team composed with: Physically Differences: boys, girls, young, old, pretty and ugly Background Differences: Asian, European, American and African. Values/Opinion Differences etc. However, as strange as it can seems in the first hand, people should maximize their cultural difference in the team. Be careful that team should not act as if the team was a monocultural one. Indeed, If diversity is ignored it will lead to a dead-end and the productivity will be lower. The manager has to form all of the people in the group to avoid ignorance of the cultural difference and so lead them

American Women Leaving the Home and Going to Work Essay -- Working-Wom

One of the most significant sociological changes in the nation's history began in the last decade of the nineteenth century and the ramifications are still being felt today. This change consisted of the large numbers of women who entered the work force. This dramatic change in American society was accompanied by a great deal of controversy and prejudice directed towards women. It was predicted that female employment would bring about the downfall of society and the change of the American family. While a large portion of the public was appalled by the thought of independent young working women, they were also fascinated. Therefore, the attitudes of the public toward these women can be seen in the literature that was produced at that time. The works of Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser immediately come to mind as dramatizations of the life of women of this period. Slowly, attitudes began to change. The employment opportunities for women enlarged and women began to slowly gain their rights as full citizens, finally receiving the right to vote in 1920. The attitudes of the women in the work force also changed as time progressed. At first, they struggled for even the opportunity to work. As the century progressed, they became more active in union activities and, as newspapers from the period demonstrate, they fought to achieve better working conditions and better wages. By 1900, many poor and working-class young women, mostly of Northern white extraction, were leaving the confines and moral structures of their families and elders and venturing forth to the large industrial cities such as New York (Lunbeck 781). There they became enthusiastic participants of the new pleasures that were offered to consumers in the brand-new century. Essentially, these young women added a stage to the female life cycle that had not previously existed à ±adolescence (Lunbeck 781). In the 1890s, female factory workers were seen as a serious economic and social threat. Because women generally worked at the bottom of the pay scale, the theory was that they depressed the overall pay scale for all workers (Kessler-Harris 98). Many solutions were suggested at this time that all revolved around the idea of these women getting marriedà ³the idea being that a married woman would not work for wages. Although this idea seems ludicrous from a modern perspective, it should be noted that t... ...Times (1913): 12 January, p. 7. Connell, Eileen. "Edith Wharton joins the working classes : 'The House of Mirth' and The New York City Working Girls' Clubs," Women's Studies, v26 n6 (1997): November, pp. 557-604. Dreiser, Theodore. "Sister Carrie". Dover Publications, 2004. Fennell, Dorothy E. "Common Sense and a Little Fire: Women and Working-Class Politics in the United States, 1900-1965," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, v49 n4 (1996): July, pp. 773-774. Keep, Christopher. "The cultural work of the Type-Writer Girl," Victorian Studies, V40 n3 (1997): Spring, pp. 401-426. Web. 26 May 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3829292?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Kessler-Harris, Alice. Out to work: a history of wage-earning women in the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982). Web. 26 May 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2150229?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Lunbeck, Elizabeth. "The 'girl problem': female sexual delinquency in New York, 1900-1930," Journal of American History; June 1996, Vol. 83 Issue 1 Web. 26 May 2015. http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/48102053/the-girl-problem-female-sexual-delinquency-new-york-1900-1930

What Heidegger Wishes To Transcend: Metaphysics Or Nietzsche :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

What Heidegger Wishes To Transcend: Metaphysics Or Nietzsche ABSTRACT: In this paper, I shall focus first on Heidegger's attempt to tackle the problem of 'metaphysics' and his wish to transcend it. Then, I shall try to evaluate his thoughts about transcending metaphysics in connection with his interpretation of Nietzsche's anthropology, which he considers to be the highest achievement in metaphysics. In my presentation today I shall focus first on Heidegger's attempt to tackle the problem of "metaphysics" and his wish to transcend it. Then I shall try to evaluate his thoughts about transcending metaphysics in connection with his interpretation of Nietzsche's anthropology which he considers to be the top achievement of metaphysics. At the beginning of his main work Being and Time Heidegger has made clear that his aim in writing it, was to deal with the meaning of Being in a concrete way and posed the question of Being as the primary question of philosophy today. Therefore it would be useful, as a first step, to take a look at the main reason which has led Heidegger to this assumption and consequently to the inquiry into the meaning of Being. Heidegger asks the question of the meaning of Being with respect to a fact which, to his mind, characterizes our times and which he calls "homelessness". This fact is due to "the oblivion of Being", as a result of which Being "has abandoned us". (1) The basic problem that worries Heidegger is related just to the recognition of this fact. He maintains that although Being has been investigated since ancient times in different periods, it has not yet been elucidated, because the question about the meaning of Being has been neglected. (2) Due to this negligence of the meaning of Being, man has lost almost all his connections with Being and lives now in a technical, artificial world: man has lost his "ground", he is "homeless" . (3) Heidegger tries to find a way to help man to transcend this homelessness, which he considers to be dangerous for the present and the future of the human being. This is the reason why Heidegger, already in 1929, asks the question of "what is metaphysics?". He thinks that this question itself can open the way he is looking for, because it plays a very important role in putting the question of Being correctly and in settling the problem of homelessness of the human being.

Explication From Hamlet :: essays research papers

Assignment 1: Explication from Hamlet (1.3.111-137) (â€Å"My lord, he hath importuned me with love† †¦ [end of scene]. Ophelia and Polonius have a father-daughter discussion toward the end of Act 1 where Polonius, concerned father that he is, warns his daughter Ophelia of becoming too involved with Hamlet. This warning comes just as Laertes, brother and son, has bid farewell. Laertes has just warned Ophelia himself of getting involved with Hamlet—this is the first time the audience is alerted to the romance. What have we seen of Hamlet so far? He is deeply grieving his father’s death; he resents the rapid marriage of his uncle and mother bitterly; and he has been told of the ghost of his father. The plot is building faster than Claudius could say, â€Å"I do!† in these first few scenes, and I would imagine the first audience of Shakespeare’s play would have been absolutely gripped to see what it all will come to. Hamlet so far has been portrayed as passionate and earnest, but not necessarily mad. When he says to his mother, â€Å"Seems, Madam? I know not seems†¦Ã¢â‚¬  we are given the impression of a man who is who he is, without pretence or acting. We know little of Polonius so far except that he is a well meaning, good-natured, and for all appearances honourable servant of the king. This scene casts the first shadow of doubt upon Hamlet’s character. It is curious that Shakespeare warns Ophelia twice: once through Laertes, and once through Polonius. Reading Laertes’ speech we can see the perspective of an understanding, though cynical young man. He essentially says, â€Å"Be careful of Hamlet because he’s young and his passions are burning. When the passions die down he’ll realise his desire for you can’t be fulfilled by marriage because of political constraints, and you’ll be left behind, scandalised.† Both Laertes and Polonius recognise that Hamlet, being young and foolish, is also not subject to the same consequences of reckless behaviour as Ophelia: â€Å"with a larger tether may he walk.† But there are two main differences in what Polonius says and doesn’t saw: his warning lacks the political slant, and he attacks Hamlet’s integrity. Ophelia’s first protest to Polonius was that Hamlet had made his affections known to her â€Å"with love in honourable fashion,† and it is this statement that evoked Polonius’ response: â€Å"Ay, springes to catch woodcocks!† A springe is a type of trap or snare.

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield Essay

I. In Greece the polis of Sparta was the number one military authority for the people and for the time period. There was nothing that the Spartans could not do when it came to war. From the time that Spartan men were born, they were evaluated for their future services to the Spartan society. Each baby was sent to have the ten, ten, one test done on them as explained in the novel, The Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. This test was to check and make sure that there were no deformities. If there were the children were killed because they could not help the military, therefore had no purpose in their society as a whole. Sparta was a militarist state. The other helots and Athenians and so on, looked to the Spartans for guidance and often for overall protection during the times of war. Their society as a whole was very separated from the rest of Greece though. For example in the novel when Xeones talks about his dreams to be a Spartan he knows that he would never be recognized, while hi s cousin Diomache wants to be an Athenian she knows that is it possible. One could only call himself a Spartan if he was born of a Spartan in Sparta. The polis also held itself high in importance. In the book, The Gates of Fire Rooster whose mother was a Messenian did not see a need to be honorable to Sparta and protect it either. Rooster would curse it and speak of the gods as if they were nothing. So in the novel Polynikes was going to kill Rooster because there is no need for someone who has no trust and honor for Sparta. The Spartan society was one of a kind. There was no other polis that was quite like Sparta in the matters of how they raised their people. The society had two kings, one military and one religious. They also had the council of elders that helped make decisions. In Pressfields novel Leonidas was the military king of Sparta during the times of the battle of Thermopylae. The polis of Sparta had a system, and overall it worked effectively. The men protected the city, and controlled everything through the council of elders. Then in the times of war when the men were away the women were in control. They took care of the cities everyday matters along with the helots from the surrounding polis. The mens duty to the country was to serve. In fact the  last paragraph of the novel does an excellent job in showing this by stating, Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie. This was referencing the fact that the 300 Spartans died as they were told to by their laws and way of life. Overall the polis of Sparta had an effective system. The military worked as it was supposed to, and most other cities and rulers feared the military of Sparta. The polis also had an effective trade and governing system overall. The women and helots more often than not dealt with the everyday trade and intercity dealings. The council of elders also was effective in governing the city. II. From the beginning of life perfection was the aim and the only way for Spartans. When the children had any imperfection they were either killed or adopted by the helots surrounding the Spartan polis. The men were put up to some of the toughest tests at extremely young ages. At the age of seven they were put into the agoge for their military training. This would prepare them for the military life that they would eventually lead. Pressfields novel explains some of the tests that these young boys were expected to perform. Xeones speaks of the pushing of the tree, in which the boys are expected to push down a huge, old tree with just their muscle and force. This is known to be quite impossible, yet it prepares them for the force needed to fight later on in life. These young boys had to enter this agoge. It was part of growing up in Sparta. They would also have to fight other boys about their age in fist of fist battles as Xeones and Alexandros have to do. The Spartan boys were expected to fight until they could not fight anymore. After these ring fights the boys would also often be whipped until their spines and muscles would show. The boys could tell them to stop, but this would show weakness, so they often would take the beatings until they passed out. This may have seemed harsh and often it was, but this training was what produced the strong military men that Sparta deeply depended on to keep its title as the military power house. Throughout the novel it shows Xeones struggle to be accepted as a Spartan man. This was his dream his entire life, because as  his friend Bruxieus stated, other cities produce monuments and poetry, Sparta produces men.Then men continued to serve in the military until they were thirty years old, when they were finally pardoned of their military duties. The elders in Sparta were upon the most honored citizens. Their age and wisdom were respected more than anyone else. In the novel Xeones honors Bruxieus as he should. Even though Bruxieus is only a slave, with many handicaps that hold him back, Xeones looks past all of this. He sees the knowledge and love that he offers to him and his cousin Diomache in their time of most need. Bruxieus guides and takes care of the children after their town is attacked and their parents and farms are destroyed. So when Bruxieus died Xeones kept his promise that he would go to Sparta and become a Spartan. The women of Sparta were unlike any women from the surrounding areas. The women of Sparta were allowed to be educated, dress as they pleased, exercise and work out, and did many of the tasks that the men did. This exercised the Spartan belief that a man was only as strong as the women that he was born of. The women were not considered equal with the men though. There were many examples of this is Pressfields novel. One being the fact that when Diomache was raped by the military men they told her it was nothing personal, but not to come back because it would happen again. Also it is seen in the fact that women such as Arete though strong in her overall beliefs and her speech she was only this way in the seclusion of her own dwelling. She often would talk to Xeones about personal matters or questions and she would state her opinion, but again this was in the privacy of her own home. Though women were restricted in their power as a gender, they were also greatly respected by the honorable men in their society. This was greatly explored when Dienekes was asking the question of what is the opposite of fear. Dienekes then states, Perhaps the god we seek is not a god at all, but a goddess. He goes on to state that women have more courage and less fear than the men themselves because of all they give to society, such as childbirth. They go on to later state that the opposite of fear is love, which the women show constantly. III.Pressfields novel explores the everyday lives of the Spartan at the time of the battle of Thermopylae. The frame story is a perfect way to tell Xeones story. The first chapter explores Xeones waking up after the battle of Thermopylae and slowly realizing the situation that has occurred. The novel starts out tell the life story of Xeones and how he ended up in the predicament that he did. Pressfield does an amazing job telling the history of Sparta through a personal story. The themes of war, love, society, and spirituality were explored and related to the history aspect of the book. When Xeones starts off his story as a child, the novel shows the harsh side of war. It is one thing for the soldiers themselves to be injured; it is another for a child to see his family and polis destroyed right before his own eyes. Xeones and Diomache then have to forage in the wilderness with Bruxieus, a slave of Xeones that also survived the attack on their polis. The brutality of war and the life Xeones had to live is explored throughout the next few chapters of the novel. The harshest was the rape of Diomache and the internal battle Xeones faces with himself. After being caught stealing his hands are nailed to a board, and Xeones believes they are ruined forever. Eventually he returns to Diomache and Bruxieus, yet he runs off to let himself die because he believes he will never be a Spartan now with his disability. At this point in the novel the spirituality of the time is seen. Xeones sees Apollo the archer who guides him to his chosen career by the gods. Love is seen throughout the entire novel as Xeones craves for his cousins love and acceptance. In the beginning she tells him that he would never be man enough for her to marry and that he is only a silly boy. Yet, throughout the book he seeks her and she could then see in the temple in Athens the real man that her cousin Xeones had become. He was a Spartan, and was a man. Though he loves Diomache and later it is seen she felt the same they both had children and a spouse that came first, before true love. Arete also speaks on the matter and difference of love and marriage to a Spartan when Xeones talks privately with her. She states that she always loved Dienekes even when she was married to Iatrokles his brother. Yet, the society deems arranged marriages more important than the love felt between two people. The battle of Thermopylae was brutal, and heart wrenching. Though only explained through words in this book the blood spill was so life like. The men of Sparta spent days upon days fighting Xerxes men, trying to keep their polis free. The saddest part was the fact that they were fighting so hard, knowing the whole time that they were fighting to just eventually die. They knew they would never again see the site of Sparta or the faces of their children or wives ever again. Yet, that was what kept them going; the love for their country and families and the hope that it would remain free for them and the future generations. So though Thermopylae was a battle of warfare and fighting, it was also a story of the Spartans fighting for what they loved and what they respected. So though the book as a whole focuses on the battle of Thermopylae, it also explores the Spartan society through the eyes of Xeones. He always loved the Spartans and their ways of life. The Spartans were war; it defined them and separated them as a polis. Xeones spent his entire life to become one of these elite men, and eventually through death did so. He died serving the polis that he wanted so bad to become a part of. Yet, through his death he did so. He served the polis and protected his people, and in the end Xeones dream came true, he was honored and named a true Spartan citizen.