International Business and Global Strategy Essay

International Business and Global Strategy - Essay Example As labor productivity rises, cost of production falls and producers profit rises (Baumol & Blinder, 2010). This leads to hike in overall wage rate in the economy. With rise in profit, there is technological advancement in the productive process and also capital per worker rises since the producer gets the incentive to expand production. This again boosts labor productivity (Bruce, 2004). When NAFTA was signed this fact raised concern since with lower productivity per worker the Mexican industries would deteriorate under free trade. 2. The Heckscher-Ohlin theorem explains that when a country engages in trade with another country, it would export those goods that utilize higher quantity of those factors of production, that are available in abundance in the country and would import those goods, production of which require relatively higher amounts of factor that is relatively scarce in the country (Arora, 2007). In simple terms, a country would export capital intensive commodities if th e capital to labor ratio is higher in the country compared to labor to capital ratio (Cherunilam, 2008). However, there is considerable debate regarding the validity of the Heckscher-Ohlin theorem. ... , although the United States has been acknowledged as a capital abundant country since the time of World War 2, it imports capital-intensive goods while exporting labor-intensive goods (Iastate, n.d.). Several economists have tried to provide an explanation for this paradoxical result, including Leontief himself. One reason behind this result is the notion of demand reversal. According to this concept, the US has relatively higher preference for capital intensive commodities. This raises price of capital while the price of labor is ultimately lower than capital. This indicates that US follows the H-O theorem while exporting labor intensive goods. Secondly, it is also argued that the US is a skill abundant country. Therefore, following the H-O theory the US exports labor intensive commodities. Although these explanations corroborate the H-O theorem, it is undoubted that the theorem in its own accord falls short of describing the pattern of international trade. Most of the assumptions underlying this theory are not realistic, such as; all countries do not have identical technology of production and all production processes do not follow constant returns to scale. Hence, according to my opinion, the H-O theorem needs to be reframed so as to be able to make more accurate predictions about international trade. 3. Flexible exchange rate system refers to the monetary system in which rate of exchange between two currencies belonging to two different countries is determined by market forces, i.e., the â€Å"forces of demand and supply† (Siddaiah, 2010, p. 43) existing in these countries. This system of determination of exchange rate between two currencies allows the foreign exchange market to determine actual worth of a currency. Therefore, changes automatically occur in the

How Tim OBrien Shows the Negative Side of Vietnam Essay Example for Free

How Tim OBrien Shows the Negative Side of Vietnam Essay In Tim OBriens The Things They Carried, OBrien talks about all the parts of the Vietnam War. It shows all the horrors and negative sides of the war and what it can do to men. Many men lose their lives as well as their best friends and comrades. War also changes the soldiers into something else thats not themselves, something evil. The Things They Carried shows the negative side of war through the imagery of the shitfield, the mental affects of the war, the hatred that can be shown by each person, the way war changes people, and the loss of companions. In the shitfield one sees everything that is bad about the war. Its dirty and mucky and its just depressing all around. While in the field the soldiers are bombarded my artillery fire so they have to sink into the muck to hide themselves. One of the soldiers, Kiowa, gets hit with one of the shells. Norman Bowker tries to pull him out of the muck but he cannot. All the men try to pull him out but they cannot. They lose a friend in Kiowa, who is lost and buried in the field, and it scars all the men for life especially when they try to pull him out of the muck. The loss of a good friend stings for OBrien. OBrien even says that he went down with Kiowa that day and he lost a part of himself in that field. Everyone lost a part of themselves there. OBrien describes what he saw of Kiowa as he was going down under the muck. Kiowa was almost completely under. There was a knee. There was an arm and a gold wristwatch and part of a boot. There were bubbles where Kiowas head shouldve been (OBrien 168). OBrien going down with Kiowa shows that there are other negative effects such as mental ones. The mental effects of the war are also very negative in The Things They Carried. War messes with peoples heads and Tim OBrien shows it in his book. I couldnt sleep; I couldnt lie still (Chen 77). This is a cause of all the blood and gore the soldier has seen. And this doesnt just speak for the one soldier who said it, it speaks for all the soldiers. The first stage is not being able to sleep, the next stage is losing your composure. Then men start to become paranoid during the war and some go crazy. Rat Kiley is a good example of this. He is a medic and he starts to go crazy. He says he hears noises in the night that arent there. He says that he hears the voices of the people dying at night. OBrien thinks its from all the gore and blood he sees day in and day out and its just getting to him but either way he loses it. Rat tells someone he is going to shoot himself so he can get out of there because of an injury. The next morning he shot himself (OBrien 223). Rat Kileys plan works and he gets to leave, but he apologizes to all the men for losing it and in turn they dont rat him out for what he did. Not only does the war mess with peoples heads during the war but also at other times. The mental effects also extend to after the war. The awful memories of war stick with some of the men long after they return home from the war. The post war stress is too much for Norman Bowker. He finds that when he returns home that its not the same to him and he cannot find his place in society. He feels empty inside and ever since the shitfield he feels incomplete. The lingering memory of not being able to pull Kiowa out of the muck sticks with him. He feels that he died there with Kiowa and this causes him to be depressed. He often talks about it with his dad saying that he wishes he could have pulled harder to get Kiowa out but he just couldnt because of the smell. Norman wrote Tim OBrien a letter about his last book. He said it was very good book but that he should have put a chapter in about the shitfield. OBrien finds out that eight months later Norman killed himself. Normans writes OBrien a letter saying there was no letter and he hung himself with a jump rope. Tim OBrien kills a man while hes in Vietnam. He still feels the effects of killing the man and the guilt years later. He remembers it very well when his daughter asks him a question. The question was if he had ever killed someone. OBriens guilt over the man he kills comes from questions his daughter asks him about the war. He feels the sting years later (Martin 2). OBrien also revisits the site of the shitfield with his daughter. He starts to remember all the bad things that happened and it hurts him. OBrien hates the bad memories; he hates a lot of things. Some of the men start to show hatred toward people who usually arent hateful. The men start to turn on each other in stressful situations when they would have never done it before. Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen got into a fistfight. It was about something stupid, a missing jackknife, but even so the fight was vicious. Strunks nose made a sharp snapping sound, like a firecracker (OBrien 62). The men show hatred in the fight and over nothing important at all. In other circumstances it mightve ended there. But this was Vietnam, where guys carried guns, and Dave Jensen started to worry. It was mostly in his head (OBrien 62-63). Dave Jensen starts to get paranoid and he hates Strunk for it. One afternoon he began firing his weapon into the air, yelling Strunks name. late that same night he borrowed a pistol, gripped it by the barrel, and used it like a hammer to break his own nose (OBrien 63). This just shows how hate is a part of Vietnam. OBrien also shows hate toward some of his comrades. In a firefight OBrien gets shot and needs help from the new medic Bobby Jorgenson, but Jorgenson freezes because hes too afraid and forgets to treat OBrien for shock. This causes him much more pain over the months because the wound wasnt treated right and in time. OBrien hates Jorgenson for it. I wanted to hurt Bobby Jorgenson the way hed hurt me (OBrien 200). Months later OBrien and Jorgenson talk. OBrien realizes that Jorgenson is really sorry and he cant bring himself to say how he feels about it and just says its ok. I hated him for making me stop hating him (OBrien 200). This isnt like OBrien to be hateful. He has become something hes not. The war changes the men into bad things, things that arent themselves. OBrien talk about how the war changes himself and his personality at times. Id come to this war a quiet, thoughtful sort of person. Id turned mean inside. Even a little cruel at times. Its a hard thing to admit, even to myself, but I was capable of evil (OBrien 200). OBrien also talks about how one comes over innocent and but one leaves with a different identity. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterwards its never the same (OBrien 114). Other authors talk about how OBrien shows the physical and mental devastation caused by the war. Nowhere in The Things They Carried does OBrien explain more clearly the psychic devastation wrought by wartime trauma (Neilson 193). One sees the effect of the trauma even if the characters previous personalities arent known. The killing also has a big affect on OBrien. OBrien also talks about how the man he kills changes him because it is such a big deal to take a life. The author describes the soldier he kills. He describes everything from his wounds to his figure. He was a slim, dead, almost dainty young man of about twenty. He lay at the center of the red clay trail near the village of My Khe. His jaw was in his throat. His eye was shut, the other eye was a star shaped hole. I killed him. (OBrien 203). Once OBrien killed this man he was broken in to Vietnam. He no longer was clean, he was now dirty. His first kill hastens his loss of innocence (Herzog 133). The soldiers in the war arent the only ones who were changed by Vietnam. One soldier brings his girlfriend from the states to visit him in Vietnam. He has her flown in through cargo planes and brought to his camp. At first she is glad to see her boyfriend and one can tell they are in love because they spend every minute together. She begins to get curious though and wonders off camp many times to explore. Then one night she goes missing and she is gone for a couple of days. She returns with the Greenies or Green Berets. She tells him not to ask and not to worry about it and acts like she has done nothing wrong. This happens many other times and the soldier can tell that he is beginning to lose her. When she begins disappearing with the greenies and taking part in the night ambushes, she melts into a small, soft shadow' (Chen 90). She becomes something she originally wasnt. Mary Anne starts to become one with Vietnam and she totally forgets about her boyfriend. In the end she is lost forever to Vietnam. It becomes impossible to distinguish between Mary Anne and Vietnam (Chen 91). Her boyfriend loses her and she is lost to Vietnam. Just one of many casualties of the war. But in his final story OBrien moves from his concern with moral corruption and war to one even more universally human: death (OGorman 306). OBrien also loses many things in the war. The worst part of the Vietnam War that OBrien shows is his loss of companions and friends. The author talks many times about his comrades throughout the book. He loses many people close to him personally and physically. There are five deaths in the novel. Ted Lavender, Curt Lemon, Kiowa, Linda, and the slim Vietcong soldier (Martin 1). The worst is the loss of his good friend. OBrien loses his good and best friend there, Kiowa, in the shitfield. This death is the most devastating to him because of how it happened in the muck and because he was a good friend. Kiowa was gone. He was under the mud and water, folded in with the war: Kiowas death actually makes him a part of the shitfield (Chen 93). It is also very devastating because all of the men feel guilt about it because they couldnt pull him out in time to possibly save him. Kiowas death is also pointless and has no purpose except to cause pain to his friends. In the story of Kiowas death, we find a combination of senselessness of war with the guilt that must be carried by other (Martin 2). This death affects everyone in the platoon but not all deaths are gruesome and ugly. An accident kills one of the young men, named Curt Lemon, and its described by OBrien as an almost beautiful death. They were just goofing. There was a noise, I supposed, which mustve been the detonator, so I glanced behind me and watched Lemon step from the shade into bright sunlight.when he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms. (OBrien 70) The two soldiers are just playing a simple game and it all ends so suddenly. He is playing a game with another soldier, a game of toss with a smoke grenade, when he accidentally steps on a landmine (Martin 2). Lemon and OBrien werent as good as friends as him and Kiowa but it was a bothersome death because Lemon was so young. OBrien speaks of him stepping into the light, and then the blast sucks him up into the trees.what bothers OBrien is that Curt Lemon is just a kid (Martin 2). The death isnt all-beautiful. OBrien describes the mess that is made by the accident. The white bone of an arm.pieces of skin and something wet and yellow that mustve been the intestines (OBrien 89). Another casualty happens because of bad luck. Lee Strunk dies in battle during a firefight. OBrien describes the wound that Strunk gets. In October Lee Strunk stepped on a rigged mortar round. It took off his right leg at the knee.then he panicked. He tried to get up and run, but there was nothing left to run on (OBrien 65). Strunk didnt die right away but not all death occur right after the accident happens. Later we heard that Strunk died somewhere over Chu Lai (OBrien 66). The last death happens because of carelessness. Ted Lavender was always doped up and this in the end leads to his death. While going to the bathroom in the woods Lieutenant Cross is daydreaming and not keeping watch for enemy soldiers. While coming back from his bathroom break Lavender is shot in the head and killed on the spot. Cross never forgives himself for his death because he was daydreaming about girls and one of his men was killed. Several incidents in The Things They Carried reveal moments when the male soldiers cannot communicate with one another (Vernon 171). Death is only a small part of the whole picture. Tim OBrien shows many of the negative sides of the war to the reader in ways that the reader can see how bad war is. He uses the examples of his friends dying, the whole ordeal in the shitfield, how war changes the men including the mental effects, and by showing how hateful one can become because of the stressful situations and the things one sees. OBrien feels that he has to show all the negative sides of the war because he never wanted to go to war in the first place. Men go to war to fight battle that could be worked out peacefully and they fight and die for no reason. He feels that war is a bad thing and wants to show the reader that its a terrible thing and he does this very well. Even today war is a problem. Many young men are dying for no reason and it needs to stop. Works Cited Chen, Tina. Unraveling the Deeper Meaning: Exile and the Embodied poetics of Displacement in Tim OBriens The Things They Carried. Contemporary Literature 29.1 (spring 1998): 77-98. Herzog, Tobey C. Vietnam War Stories Innocence Lost. London: Routledge, 1992. Martin, Paul L. 24 March, 2008. http://plmartinwrite.blogspot.com/2007/11/things-they-carried.html Neilson, Jim. Warring Fictions. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1998 OBrien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1990. OGorman, Farrel. The Things They Carried as a Composite Novel. War, Lit, and the Arts. Vernon, Alex. Salvation, Storytelling and Pilgrimage in Tim OBriens the Things They Carried. Mosaic (Winnipeg) 36.4 (2003): 171+. Questia. 19 Mar. 2008 http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=od=5002093009.

Market Entry Strategies of Wal-Mart

Market Entry Strategies of Wal-Mart Founded in the year 1962, by Sam Walton, Wal-Mart was a single discount store in Rogers situated in the state of Arkansas. Then the growth of the Wal-Mart chain of stores has been tremendous. Initially the chain consisted of 9 stores amounting to a total sale of 1.4 million US dollars and the growth exploded with a overall sale of 118 billion US dollars in the year 1998 and the number of stores amounted to over 2,316 stores. The company also includes discount stores, warehouse outlets offering deep discounts, the whole sale club, supercenters of Wal-Mart. The success story of Wal-Mart is unique in the history of retailing and this success could greatly be attributed to the dynamic leadership of Sam Walton. Its innings in the international arena started when the company inaugurated a store in Mexico in the year 1991. Then the international chain kept on expanding to many nations like Argentina, Canada, Germany, South Korea and Brazil. By the year 1998 the number of international store s of Wal-Mart alone amounted to over 600 and these stores generated a revenue of over 7.5 billion dollars (Wal-Mart Annual report, 2008). The lines of merchandise of Wal-Mart is inclusive of electronics for consumers, goods related to sports, house wares, items for the lawn and the kitchen, apparels, paints, hardwares, items for repairing the automotives and their maintenance, games, grocery, toys, fashion items for homes, goods related to other types of maintenance activities. In the region of the United states, the company plays an important role in the generation of jobs and the number of jobs created by the company amounts to over 800, 000. Apart from this the company is also involved in the supporting of many types of manufacturing jobs in the US and this is being facilitated through the campaign called America first (Wal-Mart Annual report, 2008). International presence of Wal-Mart The company is involved in the serving of over 179 million people in one year and it also possesses over 2 million associates all over the world. The number of stores possessed by Wal-Mart numbers to over 7, 343 and its Sams Clubs are also present in over 14 markets. Hence it is not surprising that it is the biggest retailer in the whole of United States. From the year 2002 the company has been topping the list of fortune 500 list and in the year 2006 it was pushed to the second place, next only to Exxon- Mobil due the rise in the price of oil in that year. In the year 2008, the annual revenue generated by Wal-Mart was over 378 billion dollars (Wal-Mart Annual report, 2008). Hence the company continues to be successful in many nations exploiting the human resources as well as the other resources in the nations. Its idea is to capitalise on the strategy set by the company for global expansions and the present targets of Wal-Mart are the big nations with huge human resources like Russi a and India (Newsweek, 2007). There are lot of strategies employed by the company and it has had a huge impact on the local culture of the retail in every nation it has occupied so far. The major strategies that are used by the company before it ventures into another company are as follows: Establishment of partnership with the organisations and business that are present locally Working in close association with that of the governments of the states and nations Trying to exploit the flourishing purchasing power of the people in the middle class (Newsweek, 2007) Strategies for global expansion The strategy used by Wal-Mart at the multinational level is being modified in such a way that it becomes the transnational strategy and the key aspects of this strategy includes response at the national level, operations at the international level and also taking lessons from the operations that are being conducted on a global scale. The aim of the company in following such an approach is that it should become the best choice for goods that are low cost in the United States as well as the whole world (Fishman, 2006). As the company is basically a retail company it stresses on the concept of orientation of the consumers by acquisition as well as distribution of goods at a low cost and at the same time facilitating learning on a global scale by the process of decentralisation, tackling competition over the borders and by sharing its acquired knowledge. But still in the global business arena, the company is relatively new and on its way to become a leading player. The stress placed by t he company on the concept of national response has to an extent, brought about reductions in the operational efficiency of the company because it was not able to accomplish economy of scale which is enjoyed by the customers when it comes to the products that are standardised. The company is involved in the formulation of blueprints for the managers when it comes to the strategies which they are supposed to follow (Coleman, 1999). According to the needs as well as the culture of the people there is a high level of adaptation and the company has its location which is proximal to its market. The company also shows a lot of sensitivity when it comes to individual needs of every nation and also responds in an appropriate manner to these needs. There is also close contact and co-operative working shown by the company with the respective government so that every rule or legislation that has been passed by the government could also be taken into account while designing the strategies. The company is also involved in a lot of community works by provision of sponsors for the student community and contributes its share to the welfare of the people in the nations where it has its operations. Success factors of Wal-Mart Each of the stores operated by Wal-Mart is from that of the product being stocked by the company which would move towards the equipment at the front end and this would go a long way in helping checkouts in a rapid manner with the philosophy set by the company in place- provision of goods at low prices every day and at the same time providing customer services that are of top quality. Hence the added advantage of the low costs is that the expenses incurred in organisation of promotions for sales could be cut down to a large extent. Moreover the predictability of sales also increases. The company firmly believes in the system of cross docking inventory system and hence has invested a lot in the same. The process of cross docking has led the Wal-Mart to attain economies of scale and this has in turn brought about considerable reductions in the costs that are incurred for sales. In the system followed by Wal-Mart, there is a continuous delivery of the goods to the stores in a time of max imum two days and at times there are no requirements even to inventory them. Hence the shelves of Wal-Mart are refilled faster than four times of the existing competition in the market (Thomson, 1998). This is a particular advantage possessed by the company when it comes to competition. The power of buying of Wal-Mart is leveraged by means of purchasing in bulk quantities and also the company takes care of its own distribution. Hence every day low prices are guaranteed by the company and hence it has become a one stop shop. Hence at present the company owns stores in a variety of companies like argentina, mexico, brazil, Canada, UK, Korea china and also in Germany (Nelson, 1999). Single business strategy The major reason behind the success of Wal-Mart lies in the fact that the company believes and concentrates on the strategy of single business. This is the strategy that has been providing the company with success over a period of over 30 years. In the three decades the company has never believed in the concept of diversification for the sustenance of its growth and also its advantages at the competitive level. Hence the services provided by the company and the low prices offered are the major reasons behinds its success. The concentration on one particular strategy also poses a threat to the company because it is equivalent to place all the eggs in one single bucket (Richter, 1998). Supply chain, distribution The competitive advantage gained by a company depends on the efficiency existing in the system of operation of the company and also on the degree of efficiency of the supply chain. The chain of stores owned by Wal-Mart is highly successful only due to the ability of the company in the distribution of the merchandise from that of a huge network of distribution centers that are modern and are in turn served by means of truck fleet that is private. Wal-Mart has also been highly efficient in the maintenance of a good position in terms of the instock and also in the filling of the shelves that are in the new stores being established by the company every year. This is evident from the fact that though Wal-Mart has increased its sales by 30 in a time of two years, there was only a 12 percent increase in the inventory value at the cost of replacement in the same period of time (The Bay Area Economic Forum, 2003). Hence the strategy of leveraging a chain of supply for the purpose of restricti ng of the growth of the inventory continued to be followed by the company and during the first quarters resulted in a 14 percent increase of the inventories and a subsequent 3 percent increase in the inventories. Wal-Mart was also highly efficient and capable of investing in distribution capacities that are new and particularly this is true in case of the foods sold which is one of the areas responsible for a major portion of the growth shown by the company. The first centre for distribution of food by Wal-Mart located at Clarksville is only 10 years and there are twelve other centers for food distribution which are very new (Economist, 2006). WAL-MART IN INDIA Wal-Marts entry into India The nation of India is very different from the other nations in many ways. Being aware of the historic challenges and changes that have shaped the nation, the Indian government as well as the private sector existing in India have been taking rapid steps for the better shaping of the retail sector that is evolving at a rapid pace. Hence the changes taking place in the sector of retail should be considered keenly by the retailing giants. In the structure of the Indian retail transformations are continually being introduced and it is expected that the retail sector would grow towards 635 billion dollars by the end of the year 2015. The growth of the Indian population compounded by the escalation in the disposable incomes of the people of India is the basis for this boom in the sector of retail. Particularly the retailing of food is experiencing growth by leaps and bounds and the Grocery and Food segment contributes to around 60 percent of the whole of the market of India (Franklin 2001) . It was in the year 2005 that Wal-Mart began to look for ways to venture into India.. This was possible due to the decision of the Indian government to relax the regulations pertaining to the opening of foreign direct investment in India. The initial plan of Wal-Mart was the launching of whole sale stores in the country by means of joint ventures by the year 2008. it also had the initial target of expanding to over 75 nations in time of 7 years. But since the company faced a lot of opposition from the Indian side, they had to hold up their plans. However in the year 2008, there were three stores opened by Bharti retail in the stated of Punjab under the name of Easy days. Sunil Mittal from Bharti also mentioned that the local markets would be the source of over 90 percent of the goods and this combined operation would also lead to Wal-Mart increase its sourcing at the global level from the nation of India. The aim of the joint venture between Bharti and Wal-Mart is that Bharti would su pply Wal-Mart with the products it buys directly from that of the agriculturists, artisans and craftsmen (Goetz and Swaminathan, 2006). The challenges facing Walmart in India India was rated as one of the top international investment destination in 2005 amongst 30 other emerging markets that were short-listed for mass merchant and food retailers who wished to internationalize (Business Credit, 2006). Compared to other countries, India is seen as a rapidly accelerating economy whose gross domestic product (GDP) is rising at an average annual rate of about 7.5 percent continuously for the past three years (Choi, 2006; Economist, 2006) while its retail market has witnessed a growth of 10 percent on average (Business Credit, 2006). It is stated that the Indian retail market with a projection of $250 billion annually, is actually the worlds eighth largest market and it is expected that this will reflect a growth of more than 7% yearly (Dutt, 2005). These factors reflect that it is the strong economic conditions of the country that draw the attention of companies such as Wal-Mart who are interested in starting operations in the Indian retail market. Despite deregulations which have seen the rapid rise of the Indian economy, the retail economy is protected from foreign competition as rules disallow direct foreign investment in this sector. The multi-brand retailers cannot invest directly in the country and are not even allowed to open and operate their own stores (Kravilanz, 2006). This rule has forced Wal-Mart to enter into a partnership venture with Bharti Enterprises, which in turn is an Indian business group that is a leader in countrys telecom sector. This joint venture between Wal-Mart and Bharti has resulted in them managing the supply chain together while it is Bharti Enterprises that will act as franchisees to conduct the retail operations (Lakshman, 2006; Mukherjee, 2006). This particular model in India that has been selected by Wal-Mart will throw open likely challenges pertaining to ownership as well as internalization dimensions of the model. This particular model is not the way Wal-Mart operates in other countries s uch as Germany and South Korea. Thus the company needs to take care that the definition of the model is in tandem with the partnership entered into with Bharti as well as the strengths that are associated with Wal-Marts classic operating model. There have been cases wherein partnerships have failed. This would require Wal-Mart not only to manage its joint -venture closely but simultaneously work patiently with Bharti. Wal-Mart also needs to protect well the huge amount of supply chain and information technology intellectual property that it has introduced in the joint venture. As far as India is concerned this is a big challenge and there is a requirement on part of Wal-Mart to comprehend in detail managing the relation in this context at least. As far as the location is concerned, the size of market undoubtedly makes India an attractive destination which however is limited by many facets that need to be managed in order to ensure success. The present population of India is more than a billion. Despite having a large population that is relatively poor, the strength of Indias middle class population is around 300,000,000 people, which makes the number much larger in comparison to the total US population (Choi, 2006; Economist, 2006). This will prove advantageous to Wal-Mart as it has a large potential to which it usually caters to. The Indian market may be large but is typically characterized by intricate variety and difference. The complexity is clearly visible by differences that exist in religion, language, dialect, value system, food habit, economic buying power, clothing selection, fabric, tradition, and access to transportation. Indeed markets in India comprise of several sub-markets. The main factor will be how successful Wal-Mart is in segmenting the market as per different facets. The ability of Wal-Mart to build merchandise that is local and its ability to locate and supply approximately 75,000 products that are usually sold in a typical supercenter will be put to test (Dutt, 2005). The standards of Indian shoppers are difficult to meet as the Indian middle class customer is usually a value-conscious shopper. This is clearly reflected in the Indian customers mindset of expecting products that meet global standards albeit at process those are Indian.

Teaching Philosophy :: Free Essays Online

Teaching Philosophy My teaching philosophy is that teachers need to relate the concepts that students learn to the world around them. Students attend an educational institution to prepare for future employment and to enter the real world. The basic skills that are needed to survive in society are taught in the classroom like reading and writing, but students must also be taught that the concepts that they are learning in the classroom will prepare them for the rest of their lives. The concepts that a student is learning must affect his or her life directly. To be more specific, students should be able to feel as if the subject matter that he or she is learning is somehow related to them and has an affect on the world that they live in. Students need to be able to relate to their school work to supplement further engagement. The more that a student feels they can relate to a specific subject, the stronger the possibility that the student will continue to be eager to learn the subject. For example, in an English classroom, students should be able to see themselves in an aspect of the literature they are reading. A group of seventh graders may have a hard time relating to a book about someone who is 5 years younger then them, but they may be eager to find similarities between themselves and a character that just happens to be of the same age. Showing your students that you care about their world allows your students to see that you care about them. If a teacher cares enough to relate the subject matter to a situation that may be occurring in his or her student’s lives, then the student will appreciate it. It motivates a student to excel and makes the teacher seem more approachable to the students. For example, the teacher should chose

Managing Culture and Change Essay

The present scenario has made the future of organizations uncertain. Companies that are excelling in their relevant industries right now may be pushed out in the near future by upstarts with better ideas and more versatility than them. It has happened so often in the past that the only certainty is that it will keep on happening in the future. The only long term sustainable competitive advantage that organizations can hope to create is through their people, and the behaviour of these people is largely determined by the corporate culture in which they are immersed. A successful corporate culture will see the organization through the near future, but unless the organization is proactive in its bid to keep on adapting to the changing business environment, that same corporate culture may sound the death knell for the organization in the future. CORPORATE CULTURE AND PERFORMANCE The question on every entrepreneur, every CEO, and on every member of the Board of Directors’ mind since before the inception of the concept of an organization as an institution has been: how to make more money? Once this fundamental urge has been recognized one can comprehend the reason behind the actions of the above-mentioned in ensuring the success of their respective organizations, as the evidence of past decades have proved that organizational success is the key determinant of greater financial reward for them; hence stemmed the need to identify the factors that would translate into success for an organization. The idea that an organizations culture would influence its performance is hardly new. ‘Search of Excellence’, published in 1982 and authored by Waterman and Peters made the concept famous, and in 1992 in ‘Corporate Culture and Performance’, Hesket and Kotter compared various organizations and the relation of their performance within a time period with their cultures. But with increasing research being conducted on the correlation between an organizations vision and the employees’ actions, doubt is cast on the efficacy of expecting that an organizations culture will determine its performance. Instead, consensus is being established that a few core values largely determine the success or failure of organizations. SUCCESS Success of an organization can be defined differently depending on the industry in which the organization operates. An organization in a high risk industry can view success as the ability to survive all these years. Another organization may view continuing growth over and above competitors as success, while still another might seek to become the market leader in its particular industry in order for it to be considered a success. Pyramid of Organizational Development Whatever the perception an organization has, in order to be successful an organization needs to follow six steps or tasks at each level of its growth in order for it to succeed at all of those stages. It needs to determine its market niche in which it will operate, develop the product/service accordingly, acquire the relevant resources be they land labour or capital, develops a system of standardized procedures for operations, and then the same for management, and finally, develop a corporate culture that management perceives as being important to lead the firm. Before any further discussion can be carried out, corporate culture must be defined as, a structure of collective values and beliefs that work together with the systems, the organizational structure, and the employees to produce norms, which then turn into what is necessary to the organization, and the processes of getting things done – the how and the why. It is an intangible aspect of an organization that cannot be seen, touched, heard or smelt, but is present nonetheless and which ultimately determines whether that organization will succeed or not. It is the core values that were mentioned earlier, to produce the norms that determine the behaviour of the employees, which ultimately determines the productivity and thus success of the firm. The steps taken together are framed as a hierarchical model into a pyramid of organizational development that emphasizes the importance of each step for the organizations development depending on the stage of growth the organization is in at that point. The last three of the steps form the structure that will be the sustainable competitive advantage of the firm, inimitable by competitors, thus ensuring long term success for the firm. ROLES OF CORPORATE CULTURE Corporate culture by itself plays several roles in the organization. It develops a cultural identity in an employee by establishing a commitment of the employee to achieving the organizations goals and objectives. That identity serves to increase the devotion and involvement of the employee by making him/her reconcile the organizations success as his/her own. Corporate culture also uses a deductive approach to align an employee’s behaviour with acceptable norms that have been already determined by the organization so that it need not worry about policing the employee to do what is right according to the organization. Instead of the management having to interfere now the employee’s peers can bring a maverick back in line with acceptable behaviour as determined by the values of the organization. In addition to these, an organizations culture acts as a motivational tool that is more effective than managerial insistence. However, if the organization’s stated values are out of sync with the culture that is being promoted the employees will become disillusioned with the organization and its stated commitment to quality of work life as the rewards will be based on the stated values as opposed to what the prevailing organizational culture promotes. TYPES OF CORPORATE CULTURE Strong The desired roles that the culture of the organization is to play and reality may starkly differ depending on the type of culture that is prevalent in the organization. A Strong Culture is reminiscent of an organization that spends a significant amount of time and resources in communication and reinforcement by management of the values of the organization to the various employees. This is facilitated by having well-defined vision and mission statements that have been established with the help of both the top and bottom rung of the organization. In addition, these statements and their espoused values are adopted by top management and thus succeed in their task of influencing the employees by convincing them of their commitment to the organization and its value system. Weak On the other hand a Weak Culture is quite the opposite, in its lack of cultural identity and the divergence of employee behaviour and organizational goals. A weak culture also involuntarily imparts an image of punishing those employees that might be working towards organizational success, through the actions of their peers who have this weak corporate value system ingrained into them. Thus there is little allegiance to the organization and little unity inside it. Unhealthy An Unhealthy corporate culture rests on the basis that change is undesirable. In such an environment risk-taking and experimentation for the sake of innovation is frowned upon, and so the organization has to seek ideas outside the firm for better practices and approaches. This is a costly result of the politicized environment that prevails in such an organization, where decisions are made based on the power wielded by the participants and not on the value of their respective input. Adaptive The fourth type of culture in an organization is an Adaptive one which is contrary to the unhealthy culture in its regard for entrepreneurial activities. Such an organization is a proactive entity that actively seeks out innovative and experimental solutions to any issues that might have to be faced. Risk taking is encouraged to the extent that employees might be funded to bring their ideas to life, in the recognition that successful adaption to the environment through risky enterprises enable the organization to prosper over its competitors. CONFLICT IN CORPORATE CULTURE An organizations culture is influenced by the social power of relationships, more specifically, the potential loss of those relationships. This invokes cognitive dissonance in a person more than does any other action, and thus motivates us the most to make sure that such a situation does not arise. From this motivation an organizations culture is developed as a means to protect these relationships, leading to the theory of conflict resolution and culture development. Social influences in the form of formal and informal networks, family networks, relationships with leaders, and legal regulations are what determine the behaviour of a person in an organization with regards to conflict resolution. Although conflict invariably leads to closer bond in relationships than before, it can also lead to rejection or coercion by one or both party. The conflict can only be resolved when both parties either cooperate in or reject the relationship. The eventual conflict resolution results in a differing viewpoint held by the onlookers as either a matter of public discourse or of private thought, which viewpoints are shared with others depending on the closeness of their relationship. And while cooperative conflict resolutions foster greater trust and unity, competitive conflict resolution in hierarchically dominated organizations, where management often passes judgement rather than mediates, results in a chasm between formal and informal cultures that causes a drop in organizational performance. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGERS Human Resource Management has become an increasingly important function in organizations with the findings of several researches supporting the relation between high-performance and HR practices. The recognition through these researches that the only long term sustainable competitive advantage that an organization enjoys is the capabilities of its human resource has further caused organizations to reinvent this previously neglected function as well as resulted in an increase in the perceived advantages of a strategically-focused Human Resource Department. Amongst these, cultural management is an important benefit that pertains to the development, communication, reinforcement, and change of the corporate culture to the employees. SUCCESSFUL CORPORATE CULTURE An organization’s corporate culture can either hinder or contribute to the success of a firm by influencing the behaviours and attitudes of employees with respect to the overall organizational strategy. A corporate culture that promotes behaviours that are aligned with the company’s values provides guidance to the employees with respect to the accepted norms of the organization and reinforces those peer actions that support the desired culture. The HR as the manager of the corporate culture aligns its own practices in an effort to increase commitment amongst employees towards achieving the desired vision of the organization by reaching their performance targets, and by engaging in adaptive and innovative entrepreneurial activities. A successful corporate culture is one which supports the organizations execution of its strategy, with the help of HR managers, who align the desired values of the organization with the values that are actually prevalent. While some organizations seek to prescribe specific corporate values that will lead to greater performance, it has been discovered that instead it is the fit of these values to the internal and external realities of the organization – the employees’ behaviour and the business environment – that the HR must focus on as a culturally compatible management system. To do so, the practices of the HR Management, more specifically, the staffing, training and development, incentive and payment packages, performance appraisals and job design, all become areas where HR can influence the cultural communication strategy. As a company that dedicated its existence to the production and sale of coffee, Starbucks has experience phenomenal growth to reach its current market leadership position. From generating sales of $122 million in 1993, Starbuck’s has grown to such an extent that its competitors have less outlets in all of the United States than Starbucks has in California. And the stated reason by its CEO, Howard Schultz, for this success is its people. â€Å"The way we treat our people affects the way they treat our customers and, in turn, our financial performance. † In lieu of this statement Starbucks offers good quality of work life to its employees, adopts diversity as an integral part of doing business, maintains a high standard in its production processes, develops its customers, engages in Corporate Social Responsibility, and recognizes the importance of maintaining profitability as a means of continued success. NOT-SO-SUCCESSFUL CORPORATE CULTURE Unfortunately, discovering the right fit of values that an organization can use as a component of its successful corporate strategy can become ‘the winner’s curse’ if left unmonitored, for while it is difficult to change any culture in any organization, changing a seemingly successful culture is next to impossible. No one wants to mess with a winning formula, whether due to superstition, the belief that it will weather any competition, or due to inability to accept that the environment has changed. Whatever the reason, history is replete with examples of how successful companies were brought to their knees by a more versatile competitor. The US automobile industry was indifferent of the lower-costing, higher-quality Japanese cars until it was too late, believing that the Japanese cars were just a momentary novelty. In the same way, until sales started decreasing fast Sears remained ignorant of the changes brought to the organizations environment by Wal-Mart. The McDonnell Douglas Corporation is another example of a company that failed to adapt to the changing environment, and was acquired by Boeing. Core Rigidities Inducting the use of Standard Operating Procedures as a means to increase production by cutting down on wastage of time and resources, while beneficial in producing economies of scale can be harmful to the future success of the firm as well. These procedures and routines can serve as a source of suitable solutions to any problems that might be faced, but in doing so negate the possibility of searching for knowledge and innovation outside the organization. Consequently the core competency of the firm is transformed into the core rigidity as exploration is shelved for exploitation. In addition to which, the feedback from the use of SOPs is ignored due to selective filter of already existing procedures which siphon out any corrective measures that the feedback might have been trying to highlight. This is largely due to the fact that no firm can keep changing forever. There is an absorptive capacity for every organization beyond which it is incapable of adapting to any more change. Crisis The only way to break out of such a potentially hazardous ‘advantage’ is for there to be an existence of a crisis that jolts the organization out of its routine. Some companies even try to introduce the perception of a crisis in the organization in order to stimulate innovation, such as Hewlett Packard, following the story by Sturgeon, ‘Microcosmic God’ in which Sturgeon talks of a miniature world which is introduced to numerous difficulties such as earthquakes, and droughts, and whose inhabitants are forced to either evolve or die out. While such practices might seem unethical it is disputed whether it is more advisable to let a firm fail because the leader of the organization could not bring it upon himself/herself to fool the employees for their future benefit. CONCLUSION If an organization’s successful culture eventually ends up costing the organization in the future, can it really be deemed a ‘successful’ corporate culture? Up to the limit of an organization’s absorptive capacity, a successful corporate culture should be redefined as a culture that while maintains all the characteristics as mentioned previously, is also a culture that can recognize that no matter what the fit of the organization’s culture is at present, that fit can change, and the possibility of that change should not be ignored, rather it should be actively sought out. And while it is a difficult thing to change a culture at any point, the organization should be ready to do so if it is to maintain its competitive advantage and not be replaced by a more nimble and recent competitor like Sears was by Wal-Mart. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cummings, T. G. & Worley, C. G. (2005) Organization Development and Change. USA. Thomson South-Western. Davenport, T. H. & Prusak, L. (2000) Working Knowledge. Harvard Business Press Hassard, J. & Pym, D.(1993) The Theory and Philosophy of Organizations. Routledge Hitt, M. A. , Hoskisson, R. E. & Ireland, R. D. (1998) Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization. Cengage Learning Kono, T. & Clegg, S. (1998) Transformations of Corporate Culture. Walter de Gruyter Kotter, J. (1992) Corporate Culture and Performance. Free Press. Thompson, A. A. Jr. , Strickland III, A. J. & Gamble, J. E. (2006) Crafting and Executing Strategy. United States. McGraw-Hill Balkaran, L. (1995) Corporate Culture. Find Articles [Internet]. Available from [December 19, 2008] Denison, D. How your corporate culture can impact your business performance. IMD Webletter [Internet]. Available from [December 19, 2008] Flamholtz, E. & Hua, W. (2002) Strategic Organizational Development and the Bottom

Line Managers Essay Example

Line Managers Essay Example Line Managers Essay Line Managers Essay 3HRC Understanding Organisations and the Role of Human Resources Activity 2 The following report contains information on how Human Resources support the organisation, line managers and staff. Human resources can be seen as a medium between employee and employer to maintain that all policies and procedures are completed correctly and fairly. Looking after your workforce, but complying with business strategy to ensure business goals and objectives are achieved. During the time of your employment, interaction with the human resources department is almost on a daily basis. There are numerous activities that HR do to help a business thrive. Recruitment Selection. The ability to attract candidates with the right knowledge, skills and attitude is an important function of HR. The business needs the drive from talented individuals that can take on board the business goals, and make them a reality. This involves writing detailed Job descriptions, interviews, and conducting background checks. HR and line managers, through right hiring add value to the organisation through productivity and service. Learning Development. In any organisation, continuous learning means growth through learning events and experiences for individual employees as well as teams. HR play an important role in developing a culture of continuous learning and identifying the training needs of the business. In house training such as inductions help new starters on their Journey and help them to understand the working life and culture of a organisation. Out house training can improve skills, and discover hidden talents, making your workforce more confident and diverse. HR are also responsible to collect training requirements and coordinate specific training. Appraisals, compensation and benefits. Because HR involves the management of people, it must show value to get the best ut of the workforce. The best organisations are the ones who invest well in their staff. Incentives such as pay rises, bonuses for good performance and various benefits is essential to maintain employee satisfaction and keeping them motivated. HR have to make sure that all the rewards are fair and correspond with the level of input and output of each employee. Benefits such a private healthcare, also show that as an employer, the organisation cares not Just on a professional level, but also for personal well being. of HR is to help line managers utilise people in the best possible was to influence est practise in all areas of the business. HR tend to support line managers in various ways. Coaching Not only do line managers have to deal with an every day workload, they also have to dedicate the time to people manage. Line managers need training to improve their coaching and development skills in order to execute HR responsibilities. Having the correct tools gives line managers the confidence to have effective conversations regarding difficult subjects such as grievances, redundancies, a source of counselling for employees, performance reviews and complying with HR process. HR need to take ccountability for the relevant training and support made easily available. Advice Support HR play a key role in implementing business conduct and strategy. Line managers typically need to seek advice from HR to carry out these responsibilities. Line managers need to know that HR are there as a tool to help advise and support. even after training, it is important for managers to know that they can contact HR at any time when they have queries regarding people management. This also eliminates the risk of wrong decision making, and causing bad practice in the workplace. Communication