I Love India Essay

In a land where diversity originates, where success can be found in loss, and where the heart is bigger than the house, one needs no more explanation to hesitate in saying the name. Yes, it is INDIA. A very pleasant morning/afternoon to all the teachers and my dear friends. I Khadija from 1st standard is here to speak a few words about my country. India is the seventh largest country in the world. India became independent in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of our Nation. India is the world’s Largest democracy. From Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, India has 28 states and 7 Union Territories. It has many beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers and deserts and it is home to the sacred River Ganga. India has many historical places like Taj Mahal, Char Minar, Qutum Minar, Red Fort. Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World is in my country. The diversities of this beautiful country vary from state to state. The diversities are in terms of the languages spoken, religions followed, food habits all of which add to rich Indian culture. Four of the world’s major religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated in this country. Many festivals like Diwali, Holi, Eid, Christmas are all celebrated by sharing sweets with family, neighbours and friends. One of the most outstanding thing is the culture and manners youngsters are taught here, the way they respect their parents and all elders. India is the homeland of various dance forms, both classical and folk. Some of them are Bharatnatyam, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi and Manipuri. Inspite of all these diversities, we all love and respect each other as Indians. Thus, setting India as a living example of secular harmony and Unity in diversity. Proud to be an Indian and â€Å"I love my Country†.

Who am I and why do I want to be a social worker Essay

Just like most children, I had my fantasies and wishes of becoming a medical doctor so I could help alleviate the sufferings of many. Although this desire was not actualised as I ended up studying engineering but i always felt a big vacuum and an unquenchable desire which i couldn’t explain until I became a care support worker In my early years as a growing young girl in Africa, abuse and injustice happened on a daily basis and nothing was done about it. Female genital mutilation was a tradition and many female children died in the process. A tradition where women were treated like slaves, children suffered abuse and neglect and not even the government could stop it. Although I did not go through any of this because my parents were educated and civilised, but these horrible incidents happened right before me to those my friends, neighbours and relatives and the sight of these oppression and injustices broke my heart but being that I was only a child, I couldn’t intervene. However, this encounter kept playing like a video in my mind till now that is has become clearer that my pursuit of becoming a social worker will answer my many questions. My interest in pursuing this career was birthed when I worked alongside some charitable organisations in Nigeria during my National Youth Service. My service was in the health care setting where I had the opportunity to help people with diverse family problems, health challenges, domestic violence, rape etc, and liaising with other non-governmental agencies to work with the less advantaged to achieve better lives. This experience went a long way in healing my broken heart as a young innocent girl that grew up where injustice thrived. I have always been of the opinion that, if, everyone contributes positively towards the society by way of giving help and support where needed, this world will be a better place. I further developed a keen interest to train in this career over the years because of my work and experience as a support worker and work with young homeless people in Germany. As a support worker, I worked with older people with learning disabilities and supported them in their own homes and in residential settings. During my residence in Germany, I pioneered a charity organisation that was responsible to organise music concerts in the hospitals settings, residential homes for both the elderly and young people. I am deeply passionate, patient, and tolerant and enjoy the service of humanity. Since arriving here in UK, I have had the opportunity of working as a support worker and have further acquired and improved my skills in areas such as communication, psychology and total well-being of individuals. I have also been able to work effectively with older people with disabilities by providing continuous support to them. Being a support worker has also helped to improve my confidence, patience, interpersonal skills, and initiative. Supporting and empowering people have always been my passion and becoming a social worker will mean actualising my long awaited dream. According to Open University (2013) [internet], social work is a profession which aims to protect children and adult from harm whatever their age, gender and cultural background. Social work thrives on social justice which is based on the concept of equality, human right, fairness, mutual obligation in the society and helping to reduce poverty in the society. The latest issue on poverty according to Department for work and pension and Department of education (2013) [internet], there are almost 300,000 households in the UK where none of the adults has ever worked and 300,000 children with parents going through drug issues. What will become of these children being raised in such a precarious situation? To deal with these issues, there is a need for solving the problem from its root rather than approaching it on the surface. Helping these troubled families turn their lives around is paramount because children in such homes will have their chances of success reduced and this will be passed on to their next generation. I believe that while trying to improve the lives of adults and youths especially those with drug and alcoholic problems, helping children overcome poverty without waiting for it to escalate into bigger issues is appropriate. Family instability leads to poverty not just to the concerned families but to the whole nation in general. Social justice is also about making family, community and society function better without prejudice, oppression, discrimination and inequality, providing the support and tools to help make life more comfortable. Some of the challenges encountered in the society have its roots traceable to early life. Evidence suggests that children tend to enjoy better life, become successful, and thrive better both psychologically and developmentally when the same two parents are able to support and protect them through childhood stage. Attachment theory proves that the earliest bond between children and their parents have a tremendous long lasting impact that continues throughout their life time. How we are depends on how we experience this early relationship. Payne, M (2005). Another burning issue on my mind is people with disabilities and how they are being treated. Having an African background, my experience with children with disability is heart breaking. Africa has one of the largest populations of children with disabilities in the world. Their predicament which is swept under the carpet is also characterised by an exclusion from social service, inaccessible infrastructure as well as neglect and abuse. In fact, there’s no program or assistance for the disabled in Africa both old and young. Taken into consideration that we live in a diverse society where we encounter people with different culture, backgrounds, race, believes, values etc, there’s every need to accommodate, tolerate and celebrate each other regardless of these differences. As a would be social worker, I intend facilitating change in some areas where lesser attention is paid. I am very passionate about family welfare and ensuring healthy relationship between children and their parents. I will ensure that I put into practice the social work values and ethics which will be acquired during my course of study combining it with my own values.

American football

Into the world is a concept that represents Journey, change, and going from the old world into a new world. To go from old to new, one must first experience a disruption or a catalyst, and go through a process of obstacles such as parents, culture and the society In order to adjust and fit in the new world. This adjustment can have either positive or negative consequence on the self and others around. The film bend It Like Beckman (BILL) effectively explores this concept as the audience can easily relate to the characters and with apparent themes that define a person going into the world.Pl ) In the film bend it like Beckman Jess-minder is not comfortable, but dissatisfied with her life because she's restricted by her parents that want her to be a typical Indian girl compared to her older sister. (UP) In the opening scene of the film it is shown Jess-minder dreaming of her self-playing football with Beckman and as it goes on to the panel of the commentators, her mum is also there and says that Jess- minder should not be playing football but should be at home doing house duties.This shows how her parents are restricting her from fulfilling her dream. Pl) Jess- minder Is also confined by her cultural expectations, which requires her to be a traditional Indian girl that does household tasks; (UP) A Juxtaposition of a costuming theme Is showing her sister and mother wearing cultural dresses, which reflects their adherence to their culture but Jess-minder wearing tract suit. This highlights her dissatisfaction with the cultural expectations that are being forced on her.It is these restrictions and expectations that act as a barrier that force Jess-minder not to ruse her dream of playing a professional football; these limitations can be defined as a disruption or a catalyst which drive her to go into a new world and furthermore creating audience engagement and there for it is effective in exploring the concept into the world. (Pl)Jess-minders Journey to the new world was affected by the obstacles she had to face along the way. Her process of going into the new world meant that she had to be defiant against her parents, her culture and the stereotypical society. 2) This is shown effectively In the scene of her family leaving to go church and her In her sleeping robe calming to be sick; but as her parents leave she removes the robe and out she reveals herself dressed In a football gear. The removing of the robe is an apparent symbolism of Jess-minder turning a new leaf in her life because she was being sickened or limited by the robe of parents. Jess- minder is being defiant, evidently draws in the audience making it effective in exploring the concept into the world. Pl) A montage of Jess-minder and Jules racing football in the set against the scene shot of Jess-minder performing traditional duties; (UP) demonstrates the expectations that act as obstacles to Jess- minder realizing her dream as well as Jules whom is an alliance in her Journey. (Pl ) Jess-minder's defiance and journey to the new world had a clear consequence on herself and others around her. Becoming a professional football player, she achieved her goal and changed her surroundings.To achieve this she had to be assertive and not give up In her pursuit and as a result her two worlds to become one; this Is Leary shown In a long shot of Jess-minder going up tosses In her traditional clothing and (UP) the close-up of her father watching her play football and chanting along with exploring the concept into the world is because it clearly displays the consequence of going into the world, as a result from a disruption or catalyst and the process of obstacles faced, through its filming techniques and they are easily identifiable and the message that it carries is universal, that everybody is dissatisfied with their parent's intuitions. American Football A game is an activity involving one or more players. Games are played primarily for entertainment or enjoyment, but may also serve as exercise. Everyone in this world has their own favourite games, so do I. My favourite game is football . I often play this with my friend in the evening. I like this game because it is exciting and challenging.Football is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players each. It is a ball game played on a rectangular grass field with a goal at each end. The objective of the game is to score by manoeuvring the ball into the opposing goal. The winner is the team which has scored most goals at the end of the match.Football is played at a professional level all over the world, and millions of people regularly go to football stadium to follow their favorite team, whilst millions more avidly watch the game on television. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations; it is therefore often claimed to be the most popular sport in the world.There are many worldwide international competition of football. One of the major international competitions in football is the World Cup organized by Fà ©dà ©ration Internationale de Football Association,[FIFA] Over 200 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament, which is held every four years, now involves 32 national teams competing. The next World Cup takes place in Brazil, 2014.The star I admired most in football is Lionel Andres Messi, nicknamed Leo Messi, is a former Argentine football player and thought by many to be the finest player of all time. Often considered the complete attacking player, he was completely two-footed, a prolific finisher, exceptional at dribbling and passing, and was a remarkably good tack ler for a forward. He was also famed for his speed and strength on the ballThere is many reason football is my favorite game. I wish to become a professional football player. I learnt teambuilding, discipline as well as teamwork through playing football. American Football A game is an activity involving one or more players. Games are played primarily for entertainment or enjoyment, but may also serve as exercise. Everyone in this world has their own favourite games, so do I. My favourite game is football . I often play this with my friend in the evening. I like this game because it is exciting and challenging.Football is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players each. It is a ball game played on a rectangular grass field with a goal at each end. The objective of the game is to score by manoeuvring the ball into the opposing goal. The winner is the team which has scored most goals at the end of the match.Football is played at a professional level all over the world, and millions of people regularly go to football stadium to follow their favorite team, whilst millions more avidly watch the game on television. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations; it is therefore often claimed to be the most popular sport in the world.There are many worldwide international competition of football. One of the major international competitions in football is the World Cup organized by Fà ©dà ©ration Internationale de Football Association,[FIFA] Over 200 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament, which is held every four years, now involves 32 national teams competing. The next World Cup takes place in Brazil, 2014.The star I admired most in football is Lionel Andres Messi, nicknamed Leo Messi, is a former Argentine football player and thought by many to be the finest player of all time. Often considered the complete attacking player, he was completely two-footed, a prolific finisher, exceptional at dribbling and passing, and was a remarkably good tack ler for a forward. He was also famed for his speed and strength on the ballThere is many reason football is my favorite game. I wish to become a professional football player. I learnt teambuilding, discipline as well as teamwork through playing football.

Coral Eugene Watts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Coral Eugene Watts - Essay Example Approaching the age of twelve, he started visualizing the torturing and killing of girls and young women. When he reached his teens he started stalking girls and there is a popular perception that he is believed to have killed his first victim before the age of fifteen. He was not a very good student and often received failing grades. He had also suffered a lot of harassment at school. During his eighth standard, he suffered from meningitis accompanied with extremely high temperature; which further affected his studies and he was unable to cope up with his class fellows. It is still not clear if this was the consequence of his brain damage or the persistent sleep problems that he faced after his illness. He was also having violent dreams in which he was trying to kill women, but these could not be considered nightmares because he enjoyed them. At the age of 15, he felt an urge to fulfill his dreams. During his psychiatric assessment, he admitted that he felt better after having one of those violent dreams. Coral finally graduated from high school in 1973, despite his poor result. He was brilliant in sports and found this an adequate way to release his built-up aggression. After graduation he got a football scholarship to Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. He got expelled only three months later on the charges of pestering and mugging women. He was also mix up in the atrocious murder of a female student but could not be convicted because of lack of concrete evidence. He was also arrested on the allegation of the sexual assault of Joan Gave aged 26 on June 29, 1969; while en route on his paper delivery and sentenced to a mental hospital in Detroit, the Lafayette Clinic. Upon evaluation he was found to have been enduring from a mild mental retardation. He had an I.Q. of 68 and has delusion thought processes. He was released from the Lafayette Clinic five months later. He worked for nearly a year at the Detroit Wheel Company as a mechanic. He then

Recognize the relationship of the general journal to the general Essay

Recognize the relationship of the general journal to the general ledger - Essay Example General journal usually records the transactions that are not recorded in other journals thus they are non routine transactions such as depreciation, bad debts, sale or purchase of non-current assets. In short, it would be right to say that the transactions for which there are no specific journal, they ended up with general journal. The main purpose of general journal is adjustment (Gilbertson and Lehman, 2012). General ledger is the summarized version of all the entries. It serves as the main record for financial accounts. Ledger breaks accounts by their nature and type such as inventory purchases, office supplies, and equipment purchases. Thus each account reflects particular information regarding a specific group of transaction. It includes the involvement of cash as purchases and payments. The general ledger should include the date, description and balance or total amount for each account. It acts as the backbone of any accounting system which holds financial and non-financial data for an organization (Porter and Norton, 2011). Thus the difference between the two is that general journal is the place where the transaction is first recorded where as general ledger is the group where all similar transactions are recorded together. But there is a significant relationship between the two, as for the preparation of general ledger, the information derived from general journal serves as an input. As each general ledger account does have a debit and credit account in it which is the result of general journal entries. When accountants are preparing general ledger entries, they need to refer to general journal first (Gilbertson and Lehman, 2012). Both of these accounting tools have some specific purposes. Businesses depend on ledger when it comes to monthly reporting. It shows the total expenses for the month. However, few details are lacking from the transactions. For example off setting. On the other hand, General journal shows the amount of total sales for

What evidence is there of application of the materiality concept in Research Paper

What evidence is there of application of the materiality concept in the report - Research Paper Example The most conspicuous evidence of the materiality principle in the preparation of JB Hi Fi’s financial report is minimal disclosure overload. According to the International Accounting Standards (IAS), most of the listed companies are expected to follow the structure as presented in paragraph 114 of IAS 1. However, JB Hi Fi is a conglomerate and deals with large volumes of financial information. Therefore, the company deals with complex financial information that requires sophisticated and alternative structures of presenting financial information. The company’s structure is different from the one proposed by international accounting standards, and better communicates the links between different pieces of information. Consequently, the company has enhanced its reflection of the financial position as well as the risks associated with the operation of the business. IAS proposes that listed companies should list intangible assets followed by trade and other receivables and finally trade and other payables when preparing the balance sheet. However, JB Hi Fi has a different order of items when preparing its balance sheet. The company lists trade and other receivables, intangible assets and trade and other receivables in an ascending order. JB Hi Fi bases its list of the balance sheet items on the importance of information presented in the financial report. Furthermore, the company cautions users of financial information not to read the financial statements in isolation. Rather, the company suggests that users of financial information should analyze financial statements in additional to reading notes to financial statements. The company’s statement of financial position has the three standard categories including assets, liabilities and equity. Each of these categories contains information about items related to each other for the sake of

Accounting does not communicate reality, it constructs reality Essay

Accounting does not communicate reality, it constructs reality - Essay Example Accounting is a language of business through which the information is passed to the users of the financial statement. The users then can on the basis of those information can their own decision and plan of action. Thus it can be defined that accounting is not merely a method of keeping records but a method for taking decision on the basis of the information that is provided by accounting (Bion, 1968). An effective medium of communication is required by the entity handling its employees, clients, suppliers. Accounting is considered as an intrinsic an important element of the entity. Accounting helps the business entity in preparation of budget, reporting and also in recording of income that is required by the managers as well as others. There are different users of accounting which can be mainly classified as the external users that includes investors, taxing authorities, customers and creditors and the internal users that includes the management and the employees (Drury, 2008). Accounting mainly communicates variety of information to various parties that are interested in the information supplied by accounting with the help of different mode of communication such as by publishing of annual report, internet, social report and applying various mediums such as by adding pictures, charts, narratives, graphs. The accounting communication is considered as an important aspect as it provides a clear picture to the various things. Accounting communication is verbal as well as non verbal. Accounting communication is required for management accounting. The art of communication applied in management accounting is mainly backed by the need and demand. There are mainly two different ways of communicating financial information is Business Intelligence and costing data (Keele Management School, 2012). Accounting same as that of advertisement can be perceived as mythological and as a metalanguage in which the signs are used to explain the mythical meaning. Accounting

Health Care Business Plan Proposal Research Paper

Health Care Business Plan Proposal - Research Paper Example This business plan proposal will include a succinct examination of the market of the proposed center and the services to be provided and the equipment to be used. The business plan proposal will also describe the organizational structure of the health care center, which will include an examination of the organizational structure and a complete analysis of the employee makeup and remuneration practices. The next part of this business plan proposal will be focused on a marketing analysis of the proposed health care center. This will include the business demographics of the organization, the target market and the marketing techniques that will be used. This will also include a competitor analysis, which will be analyzed in the context of business growth and breaking into the current niche. The last part of this business plan proposal will outline a financial analysis of the proposed health care center. The financial analysis will outline the expected types of revenue, which includes an analysis of the service provided, the labor to be used, suppliers, space requirements, and other income statement items. This will help in determining the profitability of the new venture. This is a new company targeted at providing health care services to the part of the population affected by HIV and AIDS. This will be done by providing testing, counseling, and follow-up services for the afflicted patients. The company will be family oriented, meaning that the whole family is encouraged to turn up for the tests and care provided by our organization. The initial funding for the organization will be found through a partnership of two directors, who will henceforth work as equal partners in the organization. Therefore, the main service provided by the proposed health care center include testing, counseling and the provision of medicines, mainly Anti-retroviral, to the patients visiting the center. As already stated, the main services provided by our health care center

Structure & Strategies for success Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Structure & Strategies for success - Coursework Example The matrix organization will use the teams of employees to accomplish the set work and take advantage of the strengths and make up for the weaknesses of functional and decentralized forms as we are providing more than one product and service. A strong or project matrix will be adopted where a project manager will be responsible for a particular product. Functional managers will provide technical expertise and assign resources as needed. The format used in the organization will ensure successful implementation of the organization’s purpose and function. The organization will be led by a Chief Executive Officer and will have seventy five employees. Under the executive officer will be the various departmental heads. The organization will have six major departments which include; Product Management, Information and Communications Technology, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing, Finance and Human Resources. Under product management each product and service will have a lin e manager and staff under him or her who will be in charge of all operations of the product from its development to the distribution to the customer. Each product or service will be handled as an independent item but may be combined for promotional purposes. The chief executive officer will oversee the overall implementation of the organizations goals and objectives. The chief product management will ensure that all products and services are developed to the satisfactory of the customer. The chief information and communications technology will handle the needs of the company as well as work in liaison with research and development department and product management in coming up with new products or improving existing ones. The chief research and development will ensure continued innovation of products and services and enhancement of existing products. Chief sales and marketing will be responsible for the marketing of the products and achievement of sales targets set. The chief financ e officer will be in charge of the organizations budget; revenue, costs and expenses while the chief human resources will be in charge of the personnel or work force. Organizational Structure CCC Marketing Strategies for success Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term (Johnson & Scholes 17). The company’s strategic plan will help determine where the organization is going over the next five years. A goals-based planning will be undertaken and will focus on the organization’s mission, vision, values and goals and will be adopted by all departments to ensure success of the organization. Strategic planning will be conducted at least once a year to facilitate setting of goals in the coming year. Factors that will be considered in the strategies for success are the products, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence. Products and Services The company is offering a wide range of products and services which include satel lite dish and broadband set up for home and business, IP phone set up, Pdq (credit card machine), satellite television and satellite networking. The products are functional as need for internet use is paramount and on the increase both from home and office. Cable television is also in high demand. Support after installations will be offered for the client and warranty for the equipment will also be given. Price and Place The products and serv

Ethical Leadership Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Ethical Leadership - Dissertation Example The intention of this study is leadership as considered a core aspect in the functioning and success of n organization. Basically, ethics assists an organization in fostering good relations with the public and maintaining sales and good returns. Furthermore, ethics ensures that an organization operates according to the expectations of the public and maintains quality productions. In the past, organizations were basically faced with management problems due to the theoretical belief on the practice. However, due to the rising concern over leadership and its effectiveness, need for ethics arose. This led to the need for regulations of employees’ behaviors and decision within an organization. Level of competition has also increased and this led to emergence of unethical practices. This is because organizations were working towards gaining of competitive advantage unfairly. Intense competition in the market also led to emergence of technology in operation. This required organizatio ns to effectively evaluate their operation system and transform it to suit changes in operation so as to avoid losses and increase their market share and level of income in the long-run. However, ethical leadership is traced way back from Plato. This is because ethics emphasize on reputation and Plato was so much concerned with reputation. Furthermore, Chester Bernard traces the source of ethics to executive. This is because he spoke of executive responsibility which conforms code of morals. They are presently k

Analytical Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analytical Paper - Essay Example Via the characters they come across on their mainland trek, Granado and Guevara witness personally the injustices, face the deprived as well as meet the people and social-classes they could have never came across before. To their astonishment, the road portrays to them a real and enthralling image of Latin-American identity. Consequently, the trip correspondingly establishes the beginning of cognitive dissension and revolution within Guevara Ernesto, who apparently would later consider armed revolution as a technique to confront the continent's widespread economic disparities (Drinot17). In Cuba, Guevara discovered that the peasants had no electricity, schools, accessibility to healthcare and that 40% of the grown-ups were uneducated. Guevara established workshops to impart military tactics, health clinics as well as a newspaper for information disseminating. Guevara was instrumental for devising novel strategies for Cuba’s political, social as well as economic development. Gu evara ensured revolutionary justice against the traitors; he also instituted the Agrarian land-reform as well as the Agrarian Reform Law. This resulted in land redistribution and equality. Guevara was instrumental in instituting universal accessibility to higher education through introducing ‘affirmative action’ to institutions of higher education (Elena 45). Guevara is portrayed in The Motorcycle Diaries as a first-timer tourist:  a freshman finally wriggling out of his upperclass bubble and understanding the world as it is.  Eduardo Elena’s article â€Å"A  Point of Departure† contests this by indicating that this was not Guevara’s first voyage (26). In the movie, Guevara tells Granado that he had not traveled before, though Elena articulates that Guevara’s upper middle-class social rank gave him the chance to travel on holidays with family, and he  travelled as a youth before getting on this specific expedition. Elena  emphasizes that it is this tour in all over South America that is broadly thought to have opened Ernesto Guevara’s eyes to the miseries of the publics as he departed from his accustomed life in Argentina from  1951 to 1952. Guevara’s trips had him witness the divide between the haves and the have-nots (Drinot 10). The Motorcycle Diaries portrays Guevara persistently disregarding his fortunate social status to go through his explorations as an ordinary person. Elena supposes that this transpired as one approach in which Guevara started to display his non-conformist outlook towards a conventional community; his non-conformist explorations had a reflective impact upon how Guevara viewed the society around him.  Ernesto had the aptitude to decide to  rough-in, and this provided him with a distinctive perspective  to see the  predicament of the underprivileged he came across on his explorations (Drinot 11). Guevara’s discoveries made him have a negative attitude towa rds the prevailing upper and middle class standards, cultural expectations, as well as the political tendencies of the 50s. Elena states that  this was Guevara’s choice,  as demonstrated many times  in the movie through his endeavors to interact with the common people they came across in their exploration rather than renting home services or lodging (34). While Granado sought to exchange their skills for food and shelter, Ernesto

The pie chart Essay Example for Free

The pie chart Essay This pie chart shows us the percentage of immigration from Russia between 2003-2008. From different sources of information there are five different countries which contain a large number of immigrants from Russia. Nowadays we can easily change our place for living. Somebody is searching for a highly paid job, another wants to have a luxury life, to learn foreign language or give their child good education. The main reasons why our compatriots immigrate are: In search of a new job and implementation 39% ; Refugees 22 % ; Study 20%; Married 15%; Others 4%. There are several countries whither Russian immigrants go more often. For the 2003-2008 years period the total number of immigrants was 229,579 thousand people. The first place of immigrants from Russia takes America (85.748 people) it is 37, 35%. They choose this country because salary is quite good, easy to move from one city to another and famous universities for example Massachusetts Institute of Technology or Harvard University are there. The second place takes German. 53.338 immigrants lived there. The main reason why people emigrate to this country is high-quality medicine and high standard of living. As regard to Canada, it is one of the beautiful countries which in rich in natural resources. The total number of immigrants from Russia is 20.015 it is 8,71%. As for Greece, you can see fruits which are growing on the street. Beaches, perfect weather, all what you need. The total numbers of Russian immigrants was 9940 people. The total numbers of our compatriots in Spain was 507 7 people. If you have some income, you will be able to wear clothes made ​​qualitatively and eat fresh food. The other countries are Italy, Norway, France, Great Britain and Sweden. Which consist 23%.

Geert Hofstede vs Fons Trompenaars

Geert Hofstede vs Fons Trompenaars Introduction How do we market in different cultures? Although we have done many researches about the different cultures, marketing, which is as a discipline, has lagged behind other researches in recognizing the need for it. Before we have found the importance of marketing in different cultures, usually, the approach for marketing was too simple, and we often use the economic theory to explain facts and solve problems, however, international marketing and management is a kind of practical work, which is different from the economic research. Firstly, we always assume that tastes, preferences, and habits are transferable between different countries; secondly, it also implies that we can do the trade freely in different countries. In the end of 20th century, we began to lay more emphasis on the influence of cultural differences, and more research have been done about the cultural differences. Take wine as an example, even now wine has become a global product, it still takes the French at least ten t imes longer to chose the right vintage and grape combination than it does the Dutch, who tend to be more focused on price. If we ignore this kind of difference, wine producers cannot success in both countries. The researches about cultural differences of marketing are still a new field. The first serious book on the subject of the cultural aspects of marketing was written by Jean-Claude Usunier in 1997. In this book, he mainly compares the differences between cultural systems and refers that culture is also a factor affecting business, like other socio-political,. financial, ecological, and legal factors. However, Usunier does not resolve the dilemmas and offer practical solutions. Culture, based on our research at Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, is different from what describe in Usuniers theory, which is not simply a factor like most processes in the transactional environment. The factor of culture challenges the fundamental strategy of marketing, customer relations management, definition of product, price, advertisement and other business processes. In short, culture is all pervading. However, so far there are a few famous approaches to the whole subject of cultures and their classification and generalization, that can be employed in developing a truly transnational approach to marketing. The ones that we are going to discuss and compare further are those of Geert Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars. Geert Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars: biographies and theories Geert Hofstede He is a dutch psychologist and writer who was born in 1928. Hofstede was interested in the influence of culture on peoples behaviour. He was inspired by the Culturalism (a trend which dominated the American sociology from the 1930s to the 1950s). The culturalists qualify culture as the way of thinking, feeling and acting of a human group, which was acquired and transmitted by symbols and which represents its specific identity. (donner sources de la citation) Geert Hofstede explains the origins of the differences in behaviours, which can tend to problems. As we grow up and live in a multi-cultural world, we have to understand why people from different nations act differently. This question is very important in business when a company from a certain country has to deal with a company from another country, or even within a company which is composed by employees from different nations, we have to know how to act and communicate. Hofstede wrote several books: Cultures consequences (1984), Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind (1992), co-authored by his son Gert Jan Hofstede. To explain and solve the problems engendered by people from different cultures living or working together, he included 5 factors of cultural differentiation: individualism/collectivism, masculinism/feminism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and long term/short term orientation. According to Hofstede, these 5 criteria explain the disparities between the nations and the individuals. He applied his theories to all the countries in the world. Hofstede used his culture dimensions by examining work related values in employees of IBM during the 1970s. Fons Trompenaars Fons Trompenaars is a Dutch author in the field of cross-cultural communication. His books include: Seven Cultures of Capitalism (1993), Riding the Waves of Culture (1998), Building Cross-Cultural Competence (2000), 21 Leaders for the 21st Century (2001) and Innovating in a Global Crisis (2009). Trompenaars studied Economics at the Free University of Amsterdam and later earned a Ph.D. He experienced cultural differences first-hand at home, where he grew up speaking both French and Dutch, and then later at work with Shell in nine countries, where he worked for 7 years as the director of the Human resources. At this moment, he wrote The Multi-cultural company (1993) in which he explains his theories. According to him, international companies tend to standardize their management functioning because of globalisation, and impose this way of thinking to their subsidiaries. Problems in companies appear as they dont take care about the cultural differences of employees and certain ways of managing are not appropriate to certain cultures. He defines culture as the way a human group solve its problems. Taking the example of Geert Hofstede and modifying his theories, he invented with Charles Hampden-Turner the 7 dimensions of cultural differentiations: universalism/particularism, individualism/communitarianism, affective/neutral, specific/diffuse, achievement/ascription, sequential/synchronic, internal/external control. These are the 7 criteria of cultural differentiation which have an impact on the management trends. He shows how to manage complexity in a heterogeneous environment, which is a major challenge for todays international managers and corporate leaders as well as a critical component of long term success. He explains how to reconcile cultural differences, which will lead to competitive advantage. Trompenaars wrote The Seven Cultures of Capitalism in which he applies his methods to 7 countries (France, Germany, US, Japan, Netherlands, UK and Sweden). Hofstedes dimensions of culture It is often said that, deep inside, all people are the same. But they are not. Actually, everyone is very different from the others. For those who work in international business, it is sometimes very hard to adapt, because people can live in very different ways. Therefore, if you go abroad and make decisions based on how you usually operate in your own country, there are obvious chances you dont act properly. Geert Hofstedes researches permit us to understand easier other cultures, so we can be more effective when interacting with people all around the world. For example, in some coutries, à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½yesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ means à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½I hear youà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ more than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½I agreeà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Stereotyping can have intense negative effects, especially when managers make fewer attempts to involve those of other cultures. Hofstede led a study on the IBM employees, in more than 50 countries. Its goal was to identify the major differences in mental programming. This worldwide analysis made him realize that there were five fundamental differences between the societies, which he called five dimensions: Low vs. High Power Distance Index (PDI) This dimension measures the degree of equality, or inequality, between people of one society ; and how much the less influent members accept the hierarchy. The institutions or organizations where less powerful members accept power is distributed unequally will have a high PDI. This is also often indicating that the governments allowed inequalities to grow within the society (ex: Malaysia). Those countries will be more likely not to allow significant upward mobility of its citizens, because they accept autocratic and paternalistic relations. A low PDI indicates the society tends to reduce the differences between citizens power and wealth. In those cultures (ex: Austria, Denmark), people expect power relations that are more democratic. They relate to others regardless of formal positions, such as if they were consulting them. Subordinates are more comfortable with contributing to and criticizing the decisions of those who are hierarchically higher. Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV) It focuses on how much people of a society define themselves apart from their group, and on how much the country emphasizes individual or collective achievements. A High Individualism ranking indicates that people are expected to develop and to be proud of their personalities and their choices. People often tend to form a higher number of looser relationships in those societies. A Low Individualism ranking typifies societies where the individuals are more likely to act as a member of a group (ex: family, town, profession). This collectivist nature tends to develop relationships between individuals, and reinforce à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½extended familiesà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Masculinity vs. feminity (MAS) This dimension measures the degree the society reinforces the traditional masculine work role model (as understood in most Western countries) or not. A High Masculinity ranking indicates the country gives a high importance on traditional male values (such as ambition, accumulation of wealth and power). Those societies emphasize high gender differentiation. In these cultures, males dominate a significant portion of the society, while females are under domination. In the opposite case, a low MAS will indicate that the society de-emphasizes the gender differentiation. In those countries, females are treated equally to males in all aspects of the society. The valuable things are relationships and quality of life. This strong opposition between the quantity values (masculine societies) and the quality values (feminine societies) led many users of Hofstedes work to rename this index the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Quantity of Life vs. Quality of lifeà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Low vs. high Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) It focuses on the level people try to cope with stress by fighting uncertainty and ambiguous situations within the society. A high UAI indicates a rule-oriented society, where citizens prefer explicit laws, rules and controls, in order to reduce the amount of uncertainty (ex: religion, food industry). A Low Uncertainty Avoidance ranking indicates the country has less concern about ambiguity and has a greater tolerance for informal situations. This is reflected in a society that is less rule-oriented, where people value implicit or flexible guidelines. Michael Harris Bond subsequently found a fifth dimension which was originally called à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Confucian dynamismà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Hofstede later integrated this into his dimensions of culture as : Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation (LTO) It focuses on the degree a society attaches importance to a future oriented perspective rather than a short-term point of view. In other words, this index describes the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½time horizonà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ of a society (future vs. past and present). A high LTO characterizes countries where people value the behaviors that affect the future, such as perseverance, thrift and shame. (ex: Asian countries). Those societies are often superstitious or based on many truths or faiths. Cultures scoring low on this dimension believe in absolute truth. They (ex: Western countries) have a short-term orientation and a concern for immediate stability, which means they value actions that are affected by the past or the present (ex: normative statements, respect for tradition and reciprocation of favors and gifts). Those five dimensions describe tendencies and not precise characteristics of individuals. Consequently, a societys score should not be interpreted without no further reflection. Trompenaarss dimensions of culture According to Trompenaars, culture is a way a group of people act to solve problems. From three basics which are the relationship with others, time and environment, Trompenaars identifies seven fundamental dimensions of culture. His definition of culture is a mix between organizational and national cultures. He proceeded by using a database which contained more than 30000 survey results so that he could analyse the seven dimensions of culture. Universalism vs. Particularism In universalistic cultures, people share the belief that general rules, codes, values and standards are much more important than needs, claims and relations. On the contrary, in a particularistic culture, people think that human relationships are more important than rules and codes. They are not against rules, they just aim at showing that everybody can count on their friends. Rules come after human aspects. Individualism vs. Collectivism (Communitarianism) In individualistic cultures, people place the community after the individual, which is definitely the contrary in a communitarian culture. People are autonomous in the first case, they can take decisions, they can take care of them and their family on their own. In the second case, people are responsible for the good functioning of the society and are the representation of the health of a society considering his degree of involvement in the development of the society. Neutral vs. Affective Relationships People in an affective culture can show up there emotions and their feelings. They do not have to hide them and people from this type of culture sometimes interpret less explicit signals from neutral cultures. People in a neutral culture think that it is not correct to show emotions and feelings even if they have it. It is the degree of manifesting it which is limited and controlled. They might interpret signals from an affective culture as excited and too emotional. Specific vs. Diffuse Relationships People in specific cultures always start analyzing by small details, specific elements to finally put them together to have a global idea. They concentrate on facts, standards and contracts. They have a larger specific sphere than the private one (which is very difficult to enter in. On the contrary, people in diffuse cultures start analyzing the whole and then the elements, but in a perspective of the whole because all elements are linked to each other. In fact, the elements matter less than the link between them. They have a large private sphere and a small public one. Achievement vs. Ascription This cultural dimension is similar to the power distance dimension of Hofsede. In achievement cultures, people respect their colleagues basing their respect on anterior demonstration of knowledge and previous achievements. They do not look at the title of peoples job. In ascription cultures, people use their titles of job and respect their hierarchical superior. Time orientation He shows that meanings of past, present and future depend on cultures. For instance, people who have a past-oriented culture respect older people and are quite traditional whereas people who have a future-oriented culture enjoy discussing potential and future achievement. There is a second division of cultures possible thanks to time orientation which compares sequential and synchronic cultures. This dimension looks like a distribution of tasks in the time in a culture. People who have a sequential culture tend to do one activity at a time by following plans whereas people who have a synchronic culture can do many tasks and activities at a time by changing the subject at any time. Human-nature relationship: Internal vs. external control This last dimension lays the stress on the fact that cultures think that they control their environment and others think that they are controlled by it. In an internalistic culture like the United States, people believe that what happens to them is their own doing. Many Asian countries have an external culture in which the environment shapes their destiny. Because they dont believe they are in full control of their destinies, often externalistic people adapt to external circumstances. Comparison and criticism Hofstedes aim was to evaluate work values, while Trompenaars Hampden-Turners questionnaires inquired into respondents preferred behaviour in a number of both work and leisure situations. What both studies have in common is that in both questionnaires the focus is on the ultimate goal state, and that the underlying values, the underwater part of the culture iceberg, are derived from a series of questions about more outer layers of the culture onion, closer to the top of iceberg. Trompenaarss system appears focus-oriented; it speaks a lot about what is on peoples minds and what is in their sight, it speaks about the logical organization and framework of their behaviour (specific vs. diffuse, internal vs. external control, universalism vs. particularism) and relationships (individualism vs. collectivism; achievement vs. ascription; neutral vs. affective). Hofstede, on the other hand describes some of values present in people and finally affecting their behavior. The difference therefore is that Trompenaarss investigation lies on the surface of the investigation of the persons culture, showing exactly the choice and manner in which the actions are planned and handled, while Hofstede tries to go in the very deep of culture layers and lets us make our own forecasts of peoples behavior based on the knowledge of the hidden part of iceberg. Taking a closer look into the comparison between the dimensions themselves, we can notice similarities between the two theories. One of these is the closeness between the notions of collectivism vs. individualism of Hofstede and communitarianism vs. individualism of Trompenaars. For a marketer, from our point of view, there is close no difference which index to use. There is some degree of similarity in Hofstedes power distance index and achievement vs. ascription. One values the accepted degree of high class/low class lifestyle and secondary characteristics difference, while the other measures the motivation of the low class to move higher. A marketer can infer that customers are better evaluated with the high power distance index in relation of selling status-emphasizing products (like luxury brands), while Trompenaarss index is better used when selling low cost practical business tools (like cheap PDAs). We would advise to use the two indices together as they complement each other. Long-term vs. short-term orientation index of Hofstede has got something in common with the past/present/future orientation of Trompenaars. That is in the way, how i.e. short-term oriented cultures will show the same tendency to be populist, tradition-oriented as the past- and present-oriented cultures. After taking a look into evaluations of different cultures one can find that the results, obtained by the two theories are often counter logical. German corporate culture is hierarchical, as is claimed by Trompenaars in his studies. Whereas Hofstede identifies Germany as relatively low in terms of Power Distance. These differences in the approach attracted some serious criticism over the years. One of the most prominent points often criticized is Hofstede perception of culture as a static characteristic of societies and their representatives. This approach does not take into the account the cultural drift that can easily be observed as the time passes by. As a vivid example, one can take the comparison between, say, the UK of the Victorian age and the Post Second World War UK and just try to assess the Power Distance Indices. Apparently, over this period of time peoples behavior has altered enough to allow a society with a lot lower power distance, the expressions of which found their way in the art of the time as well as in the politics (Rise of the Labor Party in 1945-1951) people of lower class were have become conscious to demand equality in these dimensions with the former unapproachable higher class, the expression of wealth and power and respect to it have decreased, as well as PDI. S imilar drift patterns can now be observed today in some of the underdeveloped countries, like Mexico, where former strong collectivist communities are dissolving, as their member become more individualistic, pushed by their desire to be successful in the new highly commercialized society. The same can be said about political influence on the culture (transition from Communist to Capitalist values). In other words it is easily observable that through time cultures evolve. Therefore the estimations for indices are slowly becoming outdated. Hofstede was later pushed by this evidence to regularly update his Index database, still retorting that cultural evolution is a very slow process. However the problem that may be hard to identify is actually not the quantitative, but rather the qualitative obsolescence of the framework itself, that will sooner or later present itself. I.e. what was reasonable and precise description in the 1970s can be an incomplete, flawed and vague characterizatio n for 2010, and even more so for future. That is however just one of the many debatable things. Among the others are: Question interpretation of the surveyed, i.e. will the question really be a precise way to determine the culture, as the culture and personality may directly affect the way the question is translated and thus produce errors in the resulting evaluation. Researchers background diminishes the completeness of cultural description and offers one-sided look at the problem. This way it would be preferable for marketers to have a marketer, not a manager, to make the proper evaluations framework, which would be more suited for marketing decision making. Ignoring the ethnic group and communities presence, national culture fragmentation. Just saying that Germany has low UAC index may totally confuse the policymaker, as this does not differ between East, West and especially Turkish communities. Moreover, a study carried out only in only one company (Hofstede) cannot give an outlook on the entire cultural system of a country. The cultural dimensions in international marketing Why marketing uses the cultural dimensions? The Hofstede and Trompenaars cultural dimensions can be a useful tool for several themes, such as within the organization and the structure of a company or when trading with other countries. In fact, for those who works in an international business is essential to know the differences between countries and cultures. And moreover, cultural dimensions are also a helpful instrument for marketing purposes due to the fact that they facilitate the design of an optimum strategy. Each society has developed through the history a different culture where it is extremely important to take into account the different ways of communication and the usage and the meaning of the language. Actually, the markets can be segmented by cultural dimensions; consequently we can develop a marketing plan to exploit the common elements of these segments. Thus, we can affirm that in the international marketing, the success or failure of a campaign depends on the prior analysis of the environment. The cultural analysis can also provide various guides to develop the marketing strategy, in fact, when a company is entering in a new market, in a foreign market, it is necessary to study the population and the society, the history and the culture. There is some data that we can obtain by public sources of information, and other data that has to be collected by the company itself. Concerning the culture and the habits of the society in a certain country, we can use the cultural dimensions theory developed by the two professors as a guideline, but it is also necessary to make a specific study, for the reason that every product is different and it is important to analyze which is the greatest manner to promote a new product in a foreign country regarding the different cultural dimensions. How to apply the cultural dimensions in a marketing context? For instance, we know, thanks to the theory elaborated by Geert Hofstede, that United States has low power distance, in marketing terms that should be translated in commercials and promotions where the communication must be informal and friendly. In countries where the situation is totally different, the message for a new product must communicate that the product is well accepted in the society. These assumptions are the starting point, a part from them, the company will have to analyze the culture of the specific country itself taking into account the new product to be launched and thus create a commercial and a campaign with great results in that market. However, a company has two options: to adapt the marketing strategy to each culture by using the cultural dimensions or to try to change the culture. For example: in Japan, people is used to subtle publicity campaigns, nevertheless , when Procter Gamble started to sell its products there, the company launched a very aggressive campaign that first shake all the Japanese society, but later it was copied by other Japanese companies. Procter Gamble changed part of the culture. Contribution of culture in international marketing In our fast moving world, local markets are not big enough for companies willing to have more profits. The future of each company that wants to be more important than its competitors is to go internationally. Selling a product wont be the more complicated things that companies will have to face while going internationally but the cultural adaptation will be the hardest thing. There are different kinds of adaptation, the product adaptation, the administrative and law adaptation and the cultural adaptation that means the situations where you meet a client or you create a subsidiary elsewhere. The five dimensions, which are (cf 1, 4 in bibliography) PDI, IDV, MAS, UAI and LTO come from an analysis done by Geert Hofstede while working at IBM and trying to understand the employees attitudes at IBM worldwide. Actually, it is important to know that the 5 cultural dimensions of GH help individuals and companies to understand, analyse and compare the culture of different countries. With the GH analysis, we are trying to define the culture. One of the goals of GH is to help to take into consideration the differences in the way of thinking, to react and act between the different people in the world. According to GH each country generates its own management system. Example with Accenture Bands: For Luxembourg, United-Kingdom, France. * With the Fons Trompenaars analysis (cf. 3 in biblio.), we are seeing that even if each culture owns its main features, it remains a cultural identity toward each individual, as for each company, which allows to adapt into every context. By completing itselves, these different cultural orientations (for instance in the relationship with the group, with the individual, with the environment or even with the time), are no more impediments for the common work (within different groups) but become on the other hand the best key factors to carry out successfully. FT helps more the companies to develop and create their own intercultural management. Each company has indeed its own management style or cultural organizational structure. The use of both theories The Use of Fons Trompenaars theory In Fons Trompenaars theory, there are two kinds of people, which is universalism and particularism. Americans, Canadians, Australian all belong to the first group, and Chinese, Korean and other Asian all belong to the second group. Take ERP as an example, the first group will accept the ERP system as the best way to conduct the project, and members of the second group will think that they are different from each other, so when ERP works in China, it is most important for the managers to deal with average workers, if not so, the whole system may fail at last. And the theory is also applicable in the field of education, for example, English education in Chinese schools and other western countries is different since the different culture and language system. It is the same with other fields, like business, communication, the cultural differences are more and more important. The use of Geert Hofstede theory According to Geert Hofstede theory, there are different ways of management because of different cultures, for example, American cooperation always pay more attention to the individuals, and the third world countries is the opposite, so if an American firms operating abroad, it must consider the this kind of cultural differences, taking the employees into consideration and emphasize the loyalty, which can help to get success. The structure of organization is also influenced by the cultural differences, for example, Germans always avoid the risk, so rules and regulations seems to be more important, however, in America, people prefer to taking risk, so people enjoy more freedom. According to the theory, Hofstede also shows that if the manager ignore the cultural differences, there will be something wrong with the communication, morale and have a negative effect on the final result in the end. Conclusion As described in this paper, there are several approaches to the classification of the cultures of different nations. The ones that were observed closely here are Geert Hofstedes and Fons Trompenaarss classifications, so-called cultural dimensions. These, as shown have a number of things in common and many differences as well. Thus, a marketer has to make a decision, which part of which study is to be used to develop a successful strategy. However there is little doubt that some way of adapting the strategy to the local culture is to be used. We may live in a globalized enviroment, however, so far there is no mundial culture and different clusters of people, whether they are separated geographically, historically or socially; some may choose one product instead of the other because of their culture and values. All of that is to be taken into consideration. And there are so far not many standartised approaches to the culture evaluations, other than Hofstedes and Trompenaarss, which eco nomise time and enable the creation of a consolidated strategy in approach to culture. It is not surprising that some of the companies nowadays are already fully involved in applying these methods in their decision making, and the amount of them will inevitably grow as the studies of the theories are being held in many Universities and Business Schools, from wich the future excecutives will come. However one has to rememember, that both these method are quite controversial and obviously imperfect, therefore we should learn learn to use the questionnaires and the databases responsibly. Only in this way can they provide precise, trustworhy and calculated assistance to people learning to work effectively in other countries. Bibliography/Information Sources/Webography Books and articles Hofstede, Geert. Cultures Consequences, Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations across Nations; Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications 2001. Geert Hofstede, Cultures and Organizations, Software of the mind, 1992. The multicultural company, Fons Trompenaars, 1993, Paris, Maxima. Global marketing and advertising. Understanding cultural paradoxes; Marieke Mooij; edition of 2009 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½The Use and Misuse of Questionnaires in Intercultural Trainingà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ article by John W. Bing à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Hofstede Culturally questionable?à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ article by M. L. Jones, 2007 Oxford Business Economics Conference à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Intercultural/Cross-Cultural Training: Rejecting Hofstede and Trompenaarsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½- arti

Development of the German Industrial Relations System

Development of the German Industrial Relations System The management of employees, both individually and collectively, remains a central feature of organizational life (Blyton Turnbull, 2004). This statement, taken from the book The Dynamics of Employee Relations, generally reflects the necessity organizations are facing. Regarding the central role employees are playing in business, the implementation of systems which regulate the working process in order to protect and restrain both employees and employers by installing rules, policies, and guidelines are essential. These systems are called employee relations and are put in place globally. Yet, these systems differ accordingly among different economies according to nation and culture. The subsequent is divided into three major pillars: First, it will provide a description of the core characteristics of the German employment relations system. The second pillar regards the existing systems of collective bargaining and participation and discusses their development since the 1980s. The third and last part gives an outline of the major recent trends and will focus in detail on the most significant recent issue of the German employment relations system. Main Body Core characteristics of the German human resource management/employment system Being one of the most successful economies in Europe (Mà ¼ller-Jentsch, Keller, Jacobi, 1998), the German industrial relation system is regarded to encourage workplace cooperation in high-quality production and the economic prosperity contributes in general to a peaceful and collaborative work-environment. According to Mà ¼ller-Jentsch, the German model of industrial relations is based on five pillars, which will be explained in the following. The most significant pillar is regarded to be the dual structure of interest representation. This implies a separation of workers representation at the workplace-level from the collective bargaining system. Hence structural conflicts between labor and capital are dealt with in two arenas, separated according to interests, actors, and modes of enforcement (Mà ¼ller-Jentsch, Keller, Jacobi, 1998): While collective bargaining deals with issues such as working-hours and wages on a more general level and therefore follows a quantitative approac h, in the workplace these are specialized and more of qualitative nature. Although both parties are legally independent from each other in formal terms, they reveal certain interdependencies in reality. Keller (1998) states that unions and works councils are reliable partners within a network of stable co-operation. It is for example often the case that Unions train members of the works-council and provide them with legal advice, while works councilors are in many cases also trade unionists and participate in policy-making and recruiting members for their Union. The two institutions of trade Unions and Works Councils, as well as collective bargaining, will be described in more detail in the following and at a later stage. As the second pillar, Mà ¼ller-Jentsch (1998) reveals the importance of the law. Existing on a profound legal basis, the dual system of Germanys industrial relations puts emphasis on a detailed regulation of labor conflicts on the one hand and industrial relations at the workplace on the other. For instance, this implies the fact that works councils do not have the right to strike. Penalties for breaches are high, which calls legal exports to action, who therefore gain more and more influence on the workers side. The third pillar mentioned is the degree to which the institutions of collective representation encompass their constituencies. As the unions and works councils are able to make decisions in the name of the whole workforce, they are obliged by law to represent the interests of all employees. Next and fourth important feature is the fact that the named institutions are of intermediate character (Ferner Hyman, 1998). According to its legal constitution, the works council follows explicitly the economic goals of the company. Trade unions have become so called mediators between the interests of labor and capital, and bulwarks of the tradition of social partnership (Mà ¼ller-Jentsch, 1998). The fifth and final major pillar of the Germa n model of industrial relations is the relative centralization of collective bargaining and the according coordinated bargaining policies, which will be explained in greater detail in the second part of this essay. The two parties of the German dual system are, as already described above, the trade unions and the works councils. In Germany, trade unionism goes back to 1945, when the German Trade Union Confederation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund) was put in place, providing a single organizational structure for workers of different status. In 1995, the confederation had a total of 9,354,670 members coming from sectors such as the metal industry, public service, chemicals, construction, banking, rail, police, wood and plastics, media, textiles, food drink and tobacco, or education and science for example. Although German unions are not formally affiliated to any political party, the German trade Union Confederation shows links to the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). These patt erns of political alignment result from tradition, yet they appear to be weakening more and more over time. In addition, there are two other significant confederations in Germany: the German Salaried Employees Union (DAG) and the German Civil Servants Federation (DBB), which resulted from the Weimar Republic. The trade union density in Germany in 2007 was at 19.9% (OECD.2008). In comparison, the UK shows a density of 28%, whereas the United States reveal 11.6%. The second part of the German dual system are the works councils. In Germany, works councils are mandatory for in all private firms with five or more employees. They possess rights of information, consultation, and co-determination (Mà ¼ller-Jentsch, Keller, Jacobi, 1998). Co-determination implies social matters such as principles of remuneration and payment methods, performance related pay, daily and weekly work schedules, regulation of overtime, holiday arrangements, or the use of technical devices to monitor employees pe rformance. In specific circumstances there is even the right of veto over individual cases of hiring, grading, transfer, and dismissal. Additionally, the employer is obliged to inform the works council about the economic situation and financial affairs. Works councilors are elected for four years and are by law independent from the unions, representing the whole workforce. In general, works councils deal with the following employment relations: technological change, functional and numerical flexibility, as well as influencing the formal company structures. As already pointed out above, technological change implies for example the implementation of new technological instruments or methods to monitor employee performance. Concerning the functional flexibility, an article from the Industrial Relations Journal can be stated: Works councils are constituted on the basis of working together with the respective employer/management in a spirit of mutual trust to reinforce the achievement of functional flexibility (Lumley, 1992). The numerical flexibility roots in a legal event. The Employment Promotion Act was introduced by the German government in 1985. After successful lobbying of employers, legislative changes in employment relations were introduced, facilitating an increase in fixed-term contracts, temporary employees, and part-time workers in a mixed way. This enabled employers to be able to react more promptly to economic crises or peak-times, for example. Especially times of economic pressure generate a demand for more flexibility by organizations in how work is conducted. There is a need for flexible structures and work processes, allowing companies to adjust their labor resources to meet rapidly changing market demands, for instance the current global economic crisis which also strongly hit the German economy. Competitive conditions are leading to a decentralization of the German employment relations system on multiple levels, particularly within enterprises ( Berg, 2008). At the same time, workers desire more flexibility in when, how, and where they work. The increase in female labor, the rise of dual earner couples, and the cost of child rearing have altered the balance between work- and non-work roles and contributed to a variety of flexible work arrangements, especially in Germany (Berg et al. 2004). Another significant aspect of the German employment relations system is how business in the country is organized. There are three basic types of organization which can be distinguished: The chambers of Industry and Commerce, Business Associations, and Employers Associations (Harzing Van Ruysseveldt, 2004). The Chambers of Industry and Commerce are local organizations with a formal legal status, which makes membership necessary for all affected firms. The term affected implies all firms belonging to the respective field of operations of the Chambers. The task carried out by the Chambers are for example licensing and regulating trade pract ices and managing occupational training programs such as apprenticeships. These are a popular instrument for German high-school graduates who are willing to directly enter into working or simply do not have the possibility to go to university. Business Associations are organized by industry, in local associations affiliated to sectoral peak associations (Mà ¼ller-Jentsch, Keller, Jacobi, 1998). They are concerned with such matters as technology, production, marketing, and research. In Contrast, Employers Associations are responsible for negotiating the multi-employer collective agreements, which, according to Mà ¼ller-Jentsch (1998) are covering the vast majority of employees. Finally, the following facts about the German economy and its industrial relations will provide a further insight on how the countrys relations look like. The information is taken from the European Industrial Relations Observatory. The trade union density in Germany, where the number of trade union members is compared relative to the overall number of employees, is at around 22%. The employer organization density is at 63%. Here, the number describes the percentage of employees employed by companies who are members of an employer organization. In 2007, the country employment rate, regarding people from 15-64 years, was at 6.4%, whereas the unemployment rate for the same age-group reached 8.4%. Another significant figure is the number of working days lost through industrial action, per 1,000 employees. Here the average from 2004-2007 was at 5.62 days. The European average was at 37.47 days, which shows that Germany is significantly below the average (EIRO, 2009). Furthermore, the industrial relations in Germany, in cooperation with many other factors of course, result in a stable and advanced economy, which is to be regarded as very advanced and on a high level. Yet, there is still room for improvement left, also in industrial relations. Here, the cooperation of trade unions, works cou ncils, and employers could still be further improved. Existing systems of collective bargaining participation and their development since the 1980s Collective bargaining can be defined as a process of decision-making between parties representing employer and employee interests. Its purpose is the negotiation and application of an agreed set of rules to govern the substantive and procedural terms of the employment relationship (Windmà ¼ller.1987). In detail, the functions of collective bargaining are determining the terms and conditions of employment, as well as the allocation, distribution, and transaction of cost-saving issues. Furthermore, it also aims at countervailing the power of management and conflict-resolution. A significant prerequisite is the mutual recognition of the actors as representatives and the general willingness to bargain. The parties need to be aware of the fact that, within a defined area, future problems and issues are to be resolved jointly. Collective bargaining takes place within the field of the terms and conditions of employment. Specific topics are the price of labor, work rules, individual job rig hts, enforcement procedures, and the issue of management and union rights. (Zagelmeyer, 2010) The relationship between the two parties (employers and employees), can significantly influence the outcome of the bargaining. This accounts on a general as well as on an individual level. The probability to achieve a win-win situation throughout the bargaining process is certainly higher if the overall climate between management and employees in the company is positive and if the individuals get along with each other. It also affects the respective strategies and tactics and determines the general atmosphere of the whole process. Another important aspect is the term of bargaining power. According to Chamberlain and Kuhn (1986), it is defined as the ability to secure anothers agreement on ones own terms. It is the driving force underlying the bargaining relationship. The structure of collective bargaining can be either formal or informal. In a formal structure, the participants are legally bound by the terms of the agreement, whereas an informal bargaining structure is defined as the employers or employees who are affected by the results of a negotiated settlement through either pattern bargaining or other non-binding processes (Zagelmeyer, 2010). The process of collective bargaining can take place on different layers. Starting at a work group, department or company level, the single-employer bargaining functions in a decentralized way. Multi-employer collective bargaining embodies the local single industry, regional economy, or even a national economy, which reveals the highest possible degree of centralization. To draw the line to the German system of collective bargaining, Berg (2004) states the Germany shows a trend towards a further decentralization of collective bargaining, meaning that employment relations issues are increasingly being resolved on a single-employer level. Keller and Jacobi (1998) refer to the German Collective Agreement Act, where the parties t o a collective agreement must be unions on the workers side and single employers and or employers associations on the other. Company collective agreements are mainly to be found in smaller firms and cover a small minority of employees. Yet, the overall collective bargaining coverage in Germany ranked at 61% in 2007 (EIRO, 2009). In comparison to 2004 (68%), this percentage has decreased by 7% and can probably be drawn back to the current trend of decentralization of collective bargaining in Germany, which, on average, does not cover as many of the overall number of employees than the centralized approach including multi-employer collective bargaining. Indust ry wide and sectoral agreements contribute to a high degree of standardization of wages and other working conditions, as does state regulation (Mà ¼ller-Jentsch, Keller, Jacobi, 1998). It is also the case that, although sectoral bargaining is taking place at a regional level, collective bargaining in Germany is centrally direc ted by the national organizations on each of the two sides. Several pilot-agreements, especially from the engineering industry, function as role models for influence all other industries. An example is the so called IG Metall, which therefore enjoys a high degree of awareness in the German economy. According to the pacemaker of IG Metall, there are three different kinds of collective agreements to be distinguished: First, there are wage agreements. These set the level of wages and periodic alterations. Next there are the so called framework agreements, specifying wage-payment systems. Last, there are umbrella-agreements, which regulate all other conditions of employment such as working time, overtime, holidays, and dismissals. Another significant aspect of the German way of bargaining is described by Tallard (1988): The German collective bargaining process follows a certain sequence. A more or less extended period, depending on the industry and complexity of the issue to be discusse d, leads to agreement in the majority of the cases. If negotiations fail, both parties try to resolve the conflict through mediation procedures. These are established by union-employer agreements instead of government interventions. If mediation also fails, the conflict might result in a strike or in a lockout, which are the two last legal weapons of the union side in order to achieve their goals (Keller. 1997). Although there is a trend towards decentralization of collective bargaining, the system still needs mechanisms to adapt general conditions of collective agreements to the circumstances of individual establishment (Berg, 2008). Furthermore, it needs to be pointed out that civil servants are excluded from collective bargaining. The conditions of employment for this group of employees are set by legislation. Still, there is an influence of the relevant unions who function as consultants for the government. Another aspect of German industrial relations is that the scope of indus trial regulations is not closely related to union membership, as it is the case in other countries (Ferner Hyman, 1998). Roughly eighty percent of the employees are covered by collective agreements, which is three times the number of union members. Currently, the majority of collective negotiations is concerned with pay. This has been a development over the past decades and the focus of collective bargaining has changed over time. During the 1970s for instance, non-wage issues have received the most attention. During the late 1970s, for example, there had been a trend in bargaining across industries which considered the protection of employees against rationalization. During the 1980s, working-time arrangements played a dominant role (Ferner Hyman, 1998), where collective bargaining mostly aimed at regulating the working-time of employees as a strategy for job-creation. In the focus of discussion between unions and employers was the claim that the effect of shorter working hours r esults in an increase in employment. Since the early 1990s, especially after the Unification of Eastern and Western Germany, collective bargaining turned to the issue of wages. Since the efforts of the unions have not been very successful (Mà ¼ller-Jentsch, Keller, Jacobi, 1998), strikes emerged over several industries. Mà ¼ller et al. (1998) also make the point that collective bargaining seems to have had only a limited impact on income differentials. It was not a subject of priority to German unions. Yet, through the introduction of common pay scales, the gap between management employees (white-collars) and manual employees seems to be closing. In order to demonstrate the development and the outcome of collective bargaining in Germany, two other aspects need to be taken into consideration. During the 1950s annual holidays in Germany were two weeks, on average. Until the 1990s, this was increased to a total of six weeks, due to constant union-efforts (Ferner Hyman, 1998). The o ther aspect considers the amount of weekly working hours. Again during the 1950s, employees worked on average 48 hours per week. In the 1990s the efforts of the unions resulted in a total of 37.5 hours per week, on average. Taking a closer look on the development of collective bargaining in Germany, the following can be conclusion can be drawn. Due the historically more nationwide structure of bargaining, which had been introduced to a certain extent already in the Weimar Republic, the main process of bargaining happens at a more nation-wide, multi-employer stage. The development since the 1980s has shown that most bargaining-procedures follow the role model of the above described IG Metall and the major issue has become the topic of remuneration. A current example was the ongoing, publically held discussion about minimum-wages in several industries. Yet, there is a certain trend towards the decentralization of bargaining on a single-employer level which will be further discussed in the following. It is also of a high significance that the nationwide role-models are carried out to the single-employer levels, where often adjustments are made and the centralized outcome is often adapted to individual situations of companies. As a last aspect to be discussed referring to collective bargaining is the extent to which political parties in Germany take influence on the bargaining process. The IG Metall for example has an obvious affinity to the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), whose major target group are people belonging to the general workforce. This can certainly be of advantage for the majority of employees in case that the SPD takes legislative influence in favor of issues the IG Metall is concerned with. Current major trends and the decentralization of the German human resource management relations system The following part of the essay will provide an outline of current trends regarding the human resources management relations system in Germany. The previously described trend of the decentralization of bargaining structures will be regarded in greater detail, since it seems to be a significant development in German employment relations over the past years. One trend, which is not only occurring in Germany but in nearly all major industrial economies of Europe, is described by Streeck and Kluge (1999). In their study, it becomes evident that employers are tending to have a growing interest in a reliable and constructive relationship with trade unions on a company level. They state that the aim is to get along in a more productive manner than as it had always been the case. Being aware of the fact that this saves time and efforts, employers try to act more on a partner-level (Streeck Kluge, 1999). In case of Germany, the employee-side has the opportunity to react on static negotiation s with the employer by introducing strikes and lockouts. Yet, regarding the fact that employers are now obviously showing an increased compliance, at least on a perceived level, unions also tend to adopt a higher potential of compromise and push back a strike as the last opportunity since it harms the company on a general level. Another notable trend over the past years in Germany has been the growth of temporary work. With growth rates that are significantly higher than the rates of standard employment (Mitlacher, 2008), temporary work has attracted both public and academic attention. This trend can obviously be drawn back to times of economic recession and a certain divergence in business fluctuations. Employers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are often depending on the ability to react to the current situation. In peak-times they are able to adjust their workforce upwards, whereas in times of crisis they can easily downsize their workforce accordingly. This situat ion surely comprises a negative connotation towards employee rights, yet it is a very useful application for employers although it might be regarded as exploitation of the workforce. To go a bit more into detail, it can be stated that on the one hand, temporary or triangular employment relations offer the possibility to reduce labor, hiring, and training costs. On the other hand it might also be stated that agency jobs are also associated with low wages, minimal benefits, negligible job security, little training, and no job prospects (Mitlacher, 2008). Here it becomes clearly evident that the advantage of triangular work is on the employers side, whereas employees have to get along with it. In general, Jahn (2005), who is quoted by Mitlacher (2008), states that the proportion of young people and foreigners is much higher among temporary agency workers than in the overall economy. Furthermore, 30% of the temporary workers are low-skilled and only a quarter of all temporary workers ar e women (Federal Employment Service, 2005). A further trend which can be regarded in Germany is the issue of privatization. It is an issue since the 1970s when the Social Democratic Party was governing and refused privatization on grounds of political principle (Ferner Hyman, 1998). Due to the issues of the perceived increase in profitability and flexibility coming along with privatization, the trend has developed during the 1980s, when the Christian Democratic Party of Germany came to power and created the legal grounds for privatization. Although all public sector unions and major interest organizations have offered strong and coordinated resistance to privatization and have caused serious social conflicts (Mà ¼ller-Jentsch, Keller, Jacobi, 1998) , the trend kept on developing over time. A famous recent example for privatization is the Deutsche Bahn AG. Apart from the above mentioned current issues, there is another significant trend in Germanys employment relations. According to a study of the Max-Planck-institute, the employment relations in Germany undergo a change which can be allocated to a steady increase in internationalization, which has started to grow considerably during the 1990s. Besides the danger of facility-shifts to financially more feasible countries, employment relations are mainly affected by another aspect. The increasing degree of Americanization brings along a growing shareholder-orientation. Industrial Relations and codetermination are reacting on the competitive environment of international markets by adapting to a decentralization of collective bargaining (Max-Planck-Institut-fà ¼r-Gesellschaftsforschung, 1999). This is development is also supported by the unification of Germany, when two independent economies were merged together. The area wide-wage agreement has been in the centre of Germanys system of collective bargaining. Individual wage agreements have led to more moderate wage developments, whilst collective agreements wit h individual firms, and agreements at the production unit level, have not had this moderating effect. On the other hand, collective bargaining has become more flexible, leading to greater pay differentiation. The further decentralization of collective bargaining, although desirable, has given rise to objections based in constitutional law and to resistance from employees and employers (Ochel, 2005). As already described above, there is a trend from multi-layer collective bargaining to a decentralized structure, with a single-employer structure, taking place from work unit-levels to corporation-levels. As revealed by Mà ¼ller-Jentsch et al. (1998), there is no necessary interconnection between deregulation initiated by the government and flexibility, which is pursued by assertive employers. Yet, both coincide in practice and contribute to the process of decentralization of labor relations. Therefore the actors at the company level gain importance, whereas the actors on a sectoral le vel, unions and employers associations lose some of their former power. Coming along with the above described shift of competence and influence, a new institutionalized balance of power (Ferner Hyman, 1998) has developed. Still, nationwide pacemakers such as the IG Metall are still powerful and maintain a significant influence. Referring to this issue, an example is presented by Ochel (2005) is provided, who bascically refers to so called Wild-Cat Co-Operation. In detail , this means that works councils often agree to overtime working, which enhances the earnings of their constituents while allowing the company to increase production without the long-term commitments involved in taking new workers. This contradicts with the policy to which the unions are strongly committed, to restrict overtime and encourage additional recruitment in order to reduce unemployment. The divergence between interests is the following: Unions, having a nationwide, multi-employer perspective aim reducing the overall unemployment. Works Councils instead aim at achieving the most suitable solution for the individual company, since they have a more decentralized focus and a single-employer point of view. Conclusion To come to a final conclusion it can be stated that the German industrial relations system has undergone a constant development over the last decades. The dual system, embodying unions and works councils, is based on tradition and represents the two parties of collective bargaining. Due to internationalization and other globalizing aspects, a major development in the German system is a shift towards decentralization, laying more decision power on the individual employers perspectives. As pointed out above, this bears opportunities as well as challenges.

Corporate Culture Essay -- Essays Papers

Corporate Culture Introduction How one chooses to dress, the physical distance one keeps from others, speech patterns, where one looks while talking, and similar factors are taken into consideration when identifying what composes a certain culture. In order to distinguish right from wrong, culture provides the individual with boundaries of acceptable behavior. According to one definition, "culture is the set of learned behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, and ideals that are characteristic of a particular society or population" (Ember & Ember, 402). These accepted behaviors are learned in all cultures (Ember & Ember 20). Specific cultures dictate behaviors for certain environments ranging from massive countries to small organizations. Each culture provides the individual with the comfort of knowing what is expected from him or her, which in turn allows the society or group to function. Certain theories developed through anthropological research about culture may be applied to developing a culture within an organization. Comprehending what differentiates groups of human beings is useful because such clarity helps to avoid misunderstandings between people. Exposure to anthropological theory [co-cultures, constraints (established through norms), action chains and culture shock/adaptation] can help alleviate some of the misunderstandings that arise from unconscious between people of different cultural groups (Ember & Ember, 11). By recognizing the role that culture has upon the individual as well as the group, the members of a group could apply these principles to create a stable community. In cultural anthropology, there are theories and terms that explain why people act the way that they do and what actions elicit ... ...tive difference?" Business and Society Review v104.i4 (1999): p104. Williams, Kelly. "How do you keep good employees? With perks." OfficeSolutions v17.9 (2000): p26. Yetzer, Elaine. "Piecing it together: Recruiting, retaining employees doesn't end when a job opening is filled." Hotel & Motel Management v216.1 (2001): p44. Young, Cheri A., and Craig C. Lundberg. "Creating a good first day on the job: allaying newcomers' anxiety with positive messages." Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly v37.6 (1996): p26. Zemke, Ron. "Employee orientation: a process, not a problem." Training: the Magazine of Human Resources Development. Aug. 1989: 33. Zion, Lee. "Small business big on retention." San Diego Business Journal 14 Aug. 2000: 33. Zyska, Patricia. "Loyalty, not perks, helps to retain employees." Computing Canada v26.18 (2000): p28.