Digital Fortress Chapter 35

Becker stared in shock at Rocio. â€Å"You sold the ring?† The woman nodded, her silky red hair falling around her shoulders. Becker willed it not to be true. â€Å"Pero†¦ but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She shrugged and said in Spanish, â€Å"A girl near the park.† Becker felt his legs go weak. This can't be! Rocio smiled coyly and motioned to the German. â€Å"El queria que lo guardara. He wanted to keep it, but I told him no. I've got Gitana blood in me, Gypsy blood; we Gitanas, in addition to having red hair, are very superstitious. A ring offered by a dying man is not a good sign.† â€Å"Did you know the girl?† Becker interrogated. Rocio arched her eyebrows. â€Å"Vaya. You really want this ring, don't you?† Becker nodded sternly. â€Å"Who did you sell it to?† The enormous German sat bewildered on the bed. His romantic evening was being ruined, and he apparently had no idea why. â€Å"Was passiert?† he asked nervously. â€Å"What's happening?† Becker ignored him. â€Å"I didn't actually sell it,† Rocio said. â€Å"I tried to, but she was just a kid and had no money. I ended up giving it to her. Had I known about your generous offer, I would have saved it for you.† â€Å"Why did you leave the park?† Becker demanded. â€Å"Somebody had died. Why didn't you wait for the police? And give them the ring?† â€Å"I solicit many things, Mr. Becker, but trouble is not one of them. Besides, that old man seemed to have things under control.† â€Å"The Canadian?† â€Å"Yes, he called the ambulance. We decided to leave. I saw no reason to involve my date or myself with the police.† Becker nodded absently. He was still trying to accept this cruel twist of fate. She gave the damn thing away! â€Å"I tried to help the dying man,† Rocio explained. â€Å"But he didn't seem to want it. He started with the ring-kept pushing it in our faces. He had these three crippled fingers sticking up. He kept pushing his hand at us-like we were supposed to take the ring. I didn't want to, but my friend here finally did. Then the guy died.† â€Å"And you tried CPR?† Becker guessed. â€Å"No. We didn't touch him. My friend got scared. He's big, but he's a wimp.† She smiled seductively at Becker. â€Å"Don't worry-he can't speak a word of Spanish.† Becker frowned. He was wondering again about the bruises on Tankado's chest. â€Å"Did the paramedics give CPR?† â€Å"I have no idea. As I told you, we left before they arrived.† â€Å"You mean after you stole the ring.† Becker scowled. Rocio glared at him. â€Å"We did not steal the ring. The man was dying. His intentions were clear. We gave him his last wish.† Becker softened. Rocio was right; he probably would have done the same damn thing. â€Å"But then you gave the ring to some girl?† â€Å"I told you. The ring made me nervous. The girl had lots of jewelry on. I thought she might like it.† â€Å"And she didn't think it was strange? That you'd just give her a ring?† â€Å"No. I told her I found it in the park. I thought she might offer to pay me for it, but she didn't. I didn't care. I just wanted to get rid of it.† â€Å"When did you give it to her?† Rocio shrugged. â€Å"This afternoon. About an hour after I got it.† Becker checked his watch: 11:48 p.m. The trail was eight hours old. What the hell am I doing here? I'm supposed to be in the Smokys. He sighed and asked the only question he could think of. â€Å"What did the girl look like?† â€Å"Era un punki,† Rocio replied. Becker looked up, puzzled. â€Å"Un punki?† â€Å"Si. Punki.† â€Å"A punk?† â€Å"Yes, a punk,† she said in rough English, and then immediately switched back to Spanish. â€Å"Mucha joyeria. Lots of jewelry. A weird pendant in one ear. A skull, I think.† â€Å"There are punk rockers in Seville?† Rocio smiled. â€Å"Todo bajo el sol. Everything under the sun.† It was the motto of Seville's Tourism Bureau. â€Å"Did she give you her name?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Did she say where she was going?† â€Å"No. Her Spanish was poor.† â€Å"She wasn't Spanish?† Becker asked. â€Å"No. She was English, I think. She had wild hair-red, white, and blue.† Becker winced at the bizarre image. â€Å"Maybe she was American,† he offered. â€Å"I don't think so,† Rocio said. â€Å"She was wearing a T-shirt that looked like the British flag.† Becker nodded dumbly. â€Å"Okay. Red, white, and blue hair, a British flag T-shirt, a skull pendant in her ear. What else?† â€Å"Nothing. Just your average punk.† Average punk? Becker was from a world of collegiate sweatshirts and conservative haircuts-he couldn't even picture what the woman was talking about. â€Å"Can you think of anything else at all?† he pressed. Rocio thought a moment. â€Å"No. That's it.† Just then the bed creaked loudly. Rocio's client shifted his weight uncomfortably. Becker turned to him and spoke influent German. â€Å"Noch et was? Anything else? Anything to help me find the punk rocker with the ring?† There was a long silence. It was as if the giant man had something he wanted to say, but he wasn't sure how to say it. His lower lip quivered momentarily, there was a pause, and then he spoke. The four words that came out were definitely English, but they were barely intelligible beneath his thick German accent. â€Å"Fock off und die.† Becker gaped in shock. â€Å"I beg your pardon? â€Å"Fock off und die,† the man repeated, patting his left palm against his fleshy right forearm-a crude approximation of the Italian gesture for â€Å"fuck you.† Becker was too drained to be offended. Fuck off and die? What happened to Das Wimp? He turned back to Rocio and spoke in Spanish. â€Å"Sounds like I've overstayed my welcome.† â€Å"Don't worry about him.† She laughed. â€Å"He's just a little frustrated. He'll get what's coming to him.† She tossed her hair and winked. â€Å"Is there anything else?† Becker asked. â€Å"Anything you can tell me that might help?† Rocio shook her head. â€Å"That's all. But you'll never find her. Seville is a big city-it can be very deceptive.† â€Å"I'll do the best I can.† It's a matter of national security†¦ â€Å"If you have no luck,† Rocio said, eyeing the bulging envelope in Becker's pocket, â€Å"please stop back. My friend will be sleeping, no doubt. Knock quietly. I'll find us an extra room. You'll see a side of Spain you'll never forget.† She pouted lusciously. Becker forced a polite smile. â€Å"I should be going.† He apologized to the German for interrupting his evening. The giant smiled timidly. â€Å"Keine Ursache.† Becker headed out the door. No problem? Whatever happened to â€Å"Fuck off and die†?

Evaluation of Leadership Development Plan of Maersk Oil in Qatar

1.0 Introduction One of the biggest challenges of the modern business era is the retention of a talented and skilled workforce for business organizations, and the development of future leaders within a company. Business organizations are required to employ a dynamic strategy to respond to the needs and aspirations of their workforce. A smart, well-designed employee development program can benefit a business organization to great extent in this regard and shape the future of the company by individually shaping the leaders of the future. Prior research indicates that employee development program is linked to higher levels of performance and output. It can create a reservoir of knowledge that can enable business organizations to do better than their competitors. The most important development aspect of any employee is training them in leadership skills which can benefit the business as a whole. Transformational Leadership is a framework which, according to Barling, Christie and Hoption, promotes the qua lities of â€Å"idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration† (reference). By displaying motivational qualities and attitudes a leader can improve the efficiency, proficiency and well-being of employees. The aim of the proposed dissertation would be to investigate employees’ leadership development plan at ‘Maersk Oil’, particularly in reference to transformational leadership training. Maersk Oil has been operating in Qatar since the 1990s as a major oil company. It works on the Al-Shaheen Field which produces significant amount of petroleum. The company’s current production level stands at 300,000 barrels of oil per day. As a result of that, Al-Shaheen Field is predicted to be the biggest contributor to oil production in Qatar, making the company significant for the Oil industry and the overall economy of the country. Maersk Oil is a multinational company which is part of A.P. Moller â€⠀œ Maersk Group, operating in various parts of the world. Like any major multinational firm, Maersk Oil Qatar has a diverse workforce belonging to various nationalities (Maersk Oil, 2012). The diverse workforce present in the organization needs to be managed in an efficient and effective manner. The dissertation will try to identify the importance of a leadership development plan, investigate the current practices of the company, evaluate its effectiveness, and identify common obstacles for employee’s leadership development plan at the company. The dissertation will also propose some recommendations based on its findings for creating a viable improvement to the leadership development program. The dissertation will be divided into five chapters. The first chapter will be comprised of the introduction, overview of the research, background, and research objectives. The second chapter will detail the research methodology. The third chapter will present a literature review and the oretical background of the research. Fourth chapter will present the findings and analyze the data. Finally, chapter five will present the results and conclusions of the research. 1.1 Research Objectives Investigate to what extent does the company care for its employees through its leadership development plan Identify the significance of employees leadership development plan Investigate practices of employees leadership development plan Evaluate the effectiveness of employees leadership development Identify most common barriers for employees leadership development plan 1.2 Research Questions What is the employees’ attitude towards the company regarding its transformational leadership development program? Is transformational leadership more efficient than other forms of leadership? How does the transformational leadership benefit the objectives and goals of the company? What is the significance of the transformational leadership development plan for both the company and its employees? To what extent do the employees consider the development plan at the company efficient? What are the common barriers associated with the transformational leadership development plan at the company ? 1.3 Rationale for the Current Research Although there is a large array of literature on human resource development, practitioners often come under criticism for doing very little to evaluate the learning and development solutions that have been designed to deliver whereby significant and often scarce resources are allocated blindly in development plans that are considered to be effective (Harisson, 2005). When undergoing financial stress, organizations often downsize human resource development budgets. Human resource development personnel undergo tight scrutiny in justifying their expenditures and are required to prove the effectiveness of their employee development plans. Thus evaluation of employee leadership development plan is a viable solution. The importance of evaluation in further signified as the learning and development theory and practices in the modern day is undergoing a considerable change in order to keep up with new circumstantial requirements. In fact, one of the major changes occurring nowadays and in th e upcoming years is the organizational changes driven by ‘higher integration between coaching, organisational development (OD) and performance management’ (CIPD survey, 2010: pg.6). Similarly Sloman (2007) made several important propositions regarding the ongoing change in the employee development practices and approaches (see appendix 1). The shift in the learning and development approach and employee development practices signifies the importance of evaluating the current practices of an organization to see whether they are abreast with the prevailing best practices. Additionally, employee development approaches and practices of the oil and gas rich Middle Eastern countries and the Gulf Nations is an under-researched area in HRM literature. Moreover, the available literature regarding employee development practices generalizes the Middle East and the Arab World rather than addressing individual countries or companies (Harry, 2007). The existing gap in the literature p ays way for the current proposed study to evaluate the leadership development plan at Maesrk Oil in Qatar. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 Definition of employee leadership development Employee development plans have been defined as a set of planned efforts by an organization which facilitates the learning and acquaintance of knowledge, specific skills and behaviors for its employees; all of which are essential for them to be successful in their current jobs (Goldstein, 1993). Dotta (2009) defines it as a â€Å"sequence of concurrent activities, initiatives and programs that an organization is involved with to maintain, improve and enhance the skills, capabilities and performance levels of its workforce and other staff members†. Employee development plan encapsulates various individual development plans. A leadership development plan goes one step further than this: as well as providing all of the support listed above the employee is also being trained for a management role through the subtle development of the most desirable qualities. According to Department of Defense of USA (2006), an individual employee development plan is â€Å"a tailored written plan developed by the supervisor and employee outlining the employee’s developmental objectives and the developmental activity for achieving these objectives. The purpose of an employee development plan is to increase the current proficiency, development, and progression of the employee through a systematic development plan†. The personal progression of an employee can only be realized if they have been instructed in the transformational leadership qualities which will optimize the business as a whole. Based on aforementioned definitions, several important points can be stated: Employees’ development plan is aimed at enhancing the capabilities and competencies of an organization’s workforce. Employees’ development plan is also crucial for the progression of a career path. Through leadership development it is common for organizations to train and develop their employees to occupy critical positions in future. A transformational leadership development pro gram helps employees to understand the key roles of leadership and develop qualities which will make them an inspirational motivator to their workforce. 2.2 Significance of transformational leadership development In today’s business environment, which is characterized as multi-faced, highly complex, extremely competitive, and dynamic, organizations are required to be very flexible and adaptable in order to survive and succeed. Employee development, a practice that seeks to assist organizations in meeting their business goals through continuous learning and development (Harisson, 2009) is a critical element for achieving that flexibility and adaptability. So much that often human resource development personnel are qualified as ‘agents of change’ (Harisson, 2009). It is only through continuous, effective learning and development of employees that modern day organizations can acquire the essential competencies to adapt to a new conjuncture. Transformational leadership is significant as it not only benefits the leader in question, but also the morale of the employees. Candidates for the development program will be taught the traditional methods of leadership, such as how to ta ke responsibility and effectively manage a team, while also being taught to be motivational, inspirational and influential among their colleagues (Barling, Christie and Hoption). 2.3 Best Practices in Employee Development Plan Numerous studies have recommended several successful approaches towards employee development programs. There is a general consensus among researchers regarding the foremost need for an organization to conduct an analysis of its existing needs and requirements (Jacobs and Jones, 1995; Clegg et al, 2005). According to Jacobs, (1995) an employee development can be rendered meaningless if it does not respond to the organizational needs. Existing needs and requirements can be identified through an effective market analysis, analysis of existing and future labor trends. (Clegg et al, 2005). Since every organization needs to secure its’ future in the business industry it stands to reason that leadership is a high priority in the organizations needs, and transformational leadership can arguably give the best opportunity for employees to grow and develop along with the requirements of the company. Apart from the needs’ assessment, several best practices have been identified by h uman resource practitioners and researchers. A survey of best practices of 71 companies practicing employee development activities identified three underlying factors important for an effective employee development plan. These are: (1) individual development plans should be developed for key and high potential employees with the ability to become future leaders (2) the individual development plans and practices should be strictly aligned with organizational strategies and goals, with the future of the company in mind and (3) the entire workforce should be facilitated for its progression through the developmental process (Reynolds, 2005). 3.0 Research Methods and Approach 3.1 Research Philosophy Identifying a research philosophy is imperative for designing a viable research method as it determines the manner in which information regarding a research problem/question is collected, evaluated and applied. Researcher have identified mainly three research philosophies namely positivist and interpretivist and realist (Galliers, 1991). A positivist research philosophy perceives reality as a constant phenomenon; something that can be perceived objectively (Levin, 1988). It is a stance of a natural scientist. According to Hirschheim (1985 p.33), â€Å"positivism has a long and rich historical tradition. It is so embedded in our society that knowledge claims not grounded in positivist thoughts are simply dismissed as ascientific and therefore invalid†. Interpretivism, on the other hand, seeks to understand reality from a subjective perception in order to make sense of motives, actions and intentions of those that they study. They emphasize the social construct of the reality (H usserl, 1965). Interpretivists contend that reality and its perceptions can be better understood by placing people in their social contexts (Hussey and Hussey, 1997). Realists believe that the existence of reality is independent of human thoughts, emotions and beliefs. The research philosophy underpinning the proposed research is interpretivism. The research aims to evaluate the employee leadership development plan of Maersk Oil through the perceptions, attitudes and beliefs of its employees, managers, and executives; thus it aims to gain subjective insights for evaluation. 3.2 Research Approach and Strategy A research approach can be either deductive or inductive. The premise of a deductive approach is to test a hypothesis, explain casual relationships and enable generalization of a theory. On the other hand, inductive approach focuses upon building a theory by understanding a phenomenon seeking an answer for a question. The approach adopted for the proposed research is inductive, as this study will look to identify the weaknesses or strengths or the current employee development plan at Maersk Oil Qatar, and answer several proposed questions pertaining to its evaluation. The research strategy for this study will be exploratory as it will aim at providing insights and understanding of the nature of the phenomenon under study in new light. Within the exploratory approach, this study will utilize both qualitative and quantitative data. On one hand, statistical analysis will carried out for the survey responses which will be distributed among the employees of a company, whilst interviews wi ll be conducted with some senior officials and employees in order to gain insights regarding the evaluation of the employee development program. It will complement the understanding gained through the data analysis results. 3.3 Data Collection According to Yin (1994), there are five ways of collecting data; these are â€Å"experimental, surveys, archival analysis, history, and case studies†. This research will utilize a survey strategy. According to Kelley et. al, (2003) â€Å"the survey strategy refers to the selection of a relatively large sample of people from a pre-determined population, followed by the collection of data from those individuals. The researcher therefore uses information from a sample of individuals to make some inference about the wider population†. For the purpose of evaluating the employee leadership development plan, a questionnaire will be prepared, reviewed, and distributed to a random sample of Maersk Oil Qatar employees and people in leadership roles. Survey strategy will allow the researcher to collect a large amount of data within in short time with minimum costs and efforts (Naresh et.al, 2003). Interviews, the qualitative form of collecting data within survey method will be use d concurrently. Semi-structured interviews will be designed and conducted of several senior officials at the company. References CIPD (2010), ‘Annual Survey Report : Learning and Talent Development’, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, {online} http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/BC060DD1-EEA7-4929-9142-1AD7333F95E7/0/5215_Learning_talent_development_survey_report.pdf (cited on 13th September, 2012) Clegg ,S. et all, 2005: Managing Organizations: An introduction to Theory and Practice. Sage Cohen N., 2002?Pressure on AP Moller to Be Open,† Australasian Business Intelligence, April 23, Department of Defense of USA (2006) The individual development. {online} http://www.usuhs.mil/chr/idp.pdf (cited on 13th September, 2012) Dotta, P.(2009) ‘What Is an Employee Development Plan?’ {online}: http://www.ehow.com/about_5161579_employee-development-plan.html (cited on 13th September, 2012) Goldstein I. L., 1993 â€Å"Training in Organizations† (3rd Ed.) Pacific Grove, California: Books Cole Harrison, R. (2005) Learning and development. 4th ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Harrison, R. (2009) Learning and development. 5th ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development . Harry. W (2007) Employment Creation and Localization. The crucial human resource issue for GCC. Int Journal of Human Resource Management. Vol. 18, no.1, pp 132-146. Husserl, E. (1965), Phenomenology and the crisis of philosophy, New York: Harper Torchbooks. Hussey, J. & Hussey, R. (1997), Business Research: A practical guide for undergraduate and post-graduate students, London: MacMillan Press Ltd Jacob, R L and Jones, M J. (1995) Structures on Job Training- Unleashing Expertise in the Work Place. San Francisco. Berrett Koehler. Kelley, K., Clark, B., Brown, V., and Sitzia, J (2003) Good practice in the conduct and reporting of survey research. Int. Journal for Quality in Health Care. Volume 15, Issue 3 Pp. 261-266. Levin, D. M. (1988). The opening of vision: Nihilism and the postmodern situation. London: Routledge. LSA Global (2008) ‘Top 10 training best practices for effective learning and development programs’. {online} http://jobfunctions.bnet.com/abstract.aspx?do cid=375846 (cited on 13th September, 2012) Maersk Oil (2012) ‘About Us’ {online} http://www.maerskoil.com/ABOUTUS/Pages/AboutUs.aspx (cited on 13th September, 2012) Naresh,M. et.al.,(2003) Methodological issues in cross-cultural marketing research. International Marketing Review. 13 (5) 7-43 Reynolds, S.(2005) Training and development managers share best practices and courseware through LearnShare. Toledo Business Journal. 5(2) 155-163. Sloman, M. (2007) ‘The changing world of the trainer: emerging good practice’, Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Yin, R. K. (1994) Case Study Research. Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.

A look at methods that can be used to improve learning in disabled kids

A look at methods that can be used to improve learning in disabled kids Practicum Write Up As a teacher, we have specific moral/ethical and legal responsibilities for educating students with disabilities. Laws, such as IDEA, have been created to ensure that each student receives a free appropriate public education, the least restrictive environment, an individualized education program, procedural due process, nondiscriminatory assessment, and parental participation. We have to be highly effective teachers who understand our obligations and duties to help our students. Working with a student with an IEP during my field experiences was very rewarding. I learned so much about Tier 1 and 2 interventions, and I feel much more confident in the referral process for IEPs and how to implement them in real life. Reading and discussing about accommodations is so great in helping us learn the foundation, but actually preforming interventions with a real kid increased my understanding tenfold. At one point, I was getting a little frustrated that Talon couldn’t understand the fraction conversions while I worked with a small group, but I decided to take a step back and try a different angle, and it clicked! He finally was able to do the assignment, and this experience helped me see that every child is different. Every kid has unique challenges and is doing what they can to do their best. I feel like my perceptions of disabilities has changed after this experience. My student has an IEP, but he is so much more than an IEP. He’s motivated to do his best, and I can see how hard he works. I have been in Mrs. Young’s class before and never would have guessed that Talon had an IEP. Kids with disabilities are kids first. Their IEP or disability does not define them. This experience is helped me focus on the children as children.

KNOWLEDGE-BASED ASSET MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

KNOWLEDGE-BASED ASSET MANAGEMENT - Essay Example The company should be able to build on its capital and asset base within the first year to actually realize its full potential of meeting its goals. It should be able to formulate a policy to accomplish this objective The second year will in essence revolve around setting up a growth strategy and formula to promote company growth in all the necessary sectors. This approach would ensure that the enterprise strengthens its asset base and share value within that set time frame of a year. In the third year the company’s mandate would be to open up and expand all its communication channels within the third year. This move would guarantee that the enterprise strengthens its client base by upgrading all its communications systems thus improving its communications network. During the forth year its focus will be strengthening its administrative base and leadership to streamline service delivery. By overhauling the entire organizational setting, the company is injecting new life into its core to ensure efficient service delivery. The fifth year would encompass rebranding and formalizing new business practices within the enterprise. This strategy would ensure that the enterprise can present itself as an entirely different and fresh entity with a new identity and a new objective. To espouse the out and out implementation of the tenets ascribed to each year of the knowledge-based asset management process, certain essential modus operandi would enable Waveriders’s journey to excellence. Highlighted herein guidelines for consideration in the Excellence Model: It is important that the organization set up a planning committee with immediate effect. This committee would help in organizing affairs as well as creatively bringing up suggestions and ideas of benefit. The committee would also change the order of the planning stage. This would enable the board to return and address the problem at a later stage when it is of more benefit. Furthermore, the committee would also

Mortgage markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mortgage markets - Essay Example In general the beliefs of the people on the mortgage bonds may affected by the interest rate shock. The interest rate shock can be absorbed when the bonds are backed by Government. The size of the GSE mortgage portfolios coupled with discipline in the market helped by interconnectivity of the international financial institutions, led to the possibility of a result that is not precedent. These bonds can become liquid when the firms unwind their positions due to losses. The other firms loss will create liquidity in the illiquid GSEs. The trends that affect the mortgage market is the losses and gains in the international markets as they are interconnected.The danger of long term investment that rely on the presumption of liquidity are important for transparency. These help in disclosure also. The complexity is considered as enemy of stability in case of mortgage bonds. The confidence in hedging strategies may lead to complacency and produces the opposite effect in the absence of liquidi ty. Yet times it is considered that the complexity also helps in stability of mortgage bonds and capital markets. The paper focuses on the trends of the market and the complexity that can result in stability. The mortgage bonds would be more stable when the financial markets and the guarantee of liquidity depend on the risk management also. As a single firm is considered it can be termed as complex. There will be a division of labor in the case of interest rate risk management. The portfolios can be comprised with fixed rate mortgages as loans or mortgage backed securities. 2. Trends in Financial markets The markets of major equity have resumed growth in 2006 as regaining levels reached before May June correction. This trend is due to the healthy corporate balance sheets and robust earnings growth. The low default rates and investor sentiment has remained positive. These are capable of increasing tension in the markets due to the turbulence and somewhat increased levels of historical and implied volatility. Name Value Change 100 6,649.3 -15.2 250 11,797.5 -39.7 techMk 1,601.8 -1.4 All Sh 3,435.1 -18.8 Sm Cap 4,095.5 -14.5 The above statistical chart is obtained from http://www.moneyweek.com/file/14905/how-us-mortgage-debt-could-cause-a-global-financial-crisis.html The central banks of different countries have withdrawn liquidity and short term interest rates are raised. These have not been matched at the long end. In case of mortgage bond markets regarding corporate organizations the past turbulence may spread to the 2007 or declined. These spreads have a chance of spreading in 2007 and these should be maintained at low levels. The major corrections in the equity markets internationally spread fears of increasing inflation in the concerned countries. As the higher interest rates decreased growth and increased inflation all over the globe, this can be termed as turbulence or liquidity in the mortgage or bond markets. In 2006 some major markets dropped back to levels of 2005 and implied losses. Though there are losses the steep gains in the previous market neutralized the present ones. These results are recorded in Japan or in Euro area. In the second half of 2006 the euro area broad market index fell back to January 2006 levels. In the same per iod the broad market index of US is slightly less than 9 percent. After that the volatility of major indices increased and continued to rise. This is in spite of regaining in the markets. The volatility decreased after July and remained at previous correction levels. This indicates the increased uncertainty on the part of investors. As all the major indices have remained below the stock market volatility, the forward looking measure can corroborate the view

Ethnic Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Ethnic Studies - Essay Example The film presents a compelling love story about a couple from different races. Jihah is in pursuit of the American dream and delineate s himself from the Korean culture. He makes Sophie happy by giving her a child, which is her lifelong dream. The film is not about who Sophie ends up with, but rather if she becomes happy. She gains her self-fulfillment through the relationship with Jihah, who she contracts to make her pregnant and save her marriage. Even so, they are both strangers who have sex, but desperately try to avoid intimacy. In their loveless encounters, the two visibly seem to fight the need to bond. Eventually and inevitably, they find themselves in a relationship despite the commercial nature of their relationship. Although Sophie is a well-to-do woman, her infertile husband, who is also Korean, puts her in an awkward position in which she cannot be a mother. The fact that she hires someone to inseminate her makes it lean towards a cross-class relationship, but the later romantic relationship means that it is an interracial relationship. In addition, Sophie dates a wealthy Korean man and this signifies their interracial relationship. Although there is the exchange of money, a late-blooming passion alters the happy conclusion of the film. None of them bargained for the emotions that accompany their interracial

A New Zealand Automotive Workshop Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

A New Zealand Automotive Workshop - Assignment Example This paper will discuss the eight core areas and will give examples of the areas in terms of how they operate in reality. Introduction There is a wide variety of approaches to having an automotive shop in New Zealand. There are independently owned shops, franchise owned shops, and franchise shops that are independently owned and shops tied into automotive dealerships. There are also those who perform automotive repair on the side out of a person’s home. There are many options for those looking to enter into the automotive repair industry and looking for an automotive shop in which to get their repairs completed. Some examples of franchise automotive repair shops in New Zealand are Midas and Sears Automotive. While independently owned shops include Bell Automotive and Automotive Solutions. Franchise shops are those that can be found in multiple locations and often in multiple countries. They tend to have the same policies from location to location and operate in the same manner . Independently owned businesses tend to only have one or maybe two locations and are usually unique to the town or city in which they are located. The policies vary greatly from shop to shop and the services and procedures followed by each shop will differ. It is important for the consumer to find out the policies of each shop they are considering prior to selecting a shop to perform their repairs. Examples of policies that automotive workshops will develop that could vary from shop to shop are the time limit that a consumer has to bring their vehicle back if they are not satisfied with the repair work, the procedures for dropping off or picking up a vehicle and the refund policy. Automotive business owners will want to have these policies clear in both writing and practice and consumers should ensure that they are aware of the policies prior to determining who will perform their repairs. There are also specific options available in terms of the type of automotive repair business. A person can choose to open a shop specializing in a specific type of car, such as only working on Volkswagens, or foreign cars. Someone can also choose to only perform specific work such as brakes, repairing body damage or transmissions. There are also those that specialize in aftermarket products such as accessories for four wheel drives, tires or paint. Again, consumers must determine where they would prefer to get their repairs done based on their personal needs and beliefs about auto repair. Whatever a person may choose in terms of operating their automotive business, there are eight core areas that must be considered and well planned prior to taking on the start of an automotive repair shop and continuing on throughout the life of the business. These areas are banking/finance, accounting, insurance, advertisement, out sourcing, supplying, buildings and council regulations. Core Areas Bank and Finance Anyone operating a business of any kind must have a plan for their financing. An automotive workshop requires tools and specialized equipment so having the business finances in order is especially important. Equipment for the automotive repair business can be quite costly, so banking and financing is an important area to have in order. There are many options for financing including credit unions,

Summary of article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary of article - Essay Example The article focuses on a comprehensive discussion of the market at the bottom of the pyramid. Unique characteristics of this market form a significant part of the explanation. According to Prahalad and Hart, bottom of the pyramid market segment has an estimated 4 billion people who live in abject poverty. Notably, the population in this market segment represents a potential market for goods and services. Active involvement of private firms at the BOP is a significant factor in generating inclusive capitalism (6). Private firms’ engagement in the BOP segment of the market enhances completion of the market will redirect attention to the poor as consumers. Prahalad and Hart assert that each group that gives close attention on poverty eradication such as the World Bank, developed countries offering aid, charitable organizations, federal governments, and private firms – has its an overriding justification. Prahalad and Hart explain that MNCs suffer the effect of strongly est ablished reason in relation to cost structure, consumers and BOP sector (12). As a result, donors view the private sector as malicious and exploitative of low-income society members. None of the well-known organizations perceive that market inclined solutions can result into poverty alleviation and economic growth. Prahalad and Hart turn to a discussion of products and services for the BOP. They assert that it requires an innovation perspective of product development and creativity in accordance with the realities of the BOP market. Based on this assertion, the writer identifies a number of principles that should guide innovations for the BOP market segment (9). The aspect is price performance. It is essential for quantum jumps in the price performance. The second factor focuses on hybrid solutions: advanced and evolving technologies that innovatively merge with available and increasingly developing infrastructure. Another important aspect is focusing on conservation of resources

Research paper over a specific theme portrayed in the sotry Essay

Research paper over a specific theme portrayed in the sotry - Essay Example The involvement in the scenes becomes more and more thorough, and the collective partakers become a social group where in the person experiences identity problems. At first, the unison of the collective is embodied through the expression ‘we all’; afterwards this unison assumes a virtually individual character (Holland 2001). The collective retreats and the centralized responses are disrupted merely when it is stated about Emily that â€Å"she carried her head high† (Holland 2001, 29). The expression...... At the onset the group of partakers of the narrator appears to be distinguished by the collective ‘first person (I)’ because it emerges beside ‘older people’, ‘the ladies’, and ‘people’ (Staton 1987, 88). Afterwards the sentiments and ideas of the ‘we’ circle quite totally mix with those of another group that the notion of a bigger group surfaces, a united group which involves majority of the town folks. At a different scene the entirety of the town, initially called as ‘our’ is evidently denoted as ‘we’. The individually feeble ‘our town,’ which gives the storyteller some extent of detachment from the group, opens up the ‘our’ which permits the storyteller to unite completely with the group (Kirszner & Mandell 1994): â€Å"The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom† (Kirszner & & Mandell 1 994, 78). The involvement in the scenes becomes more and more thorough, and the collective partakers become a social group where in the person experiences identity problems. At first, the unison of the collective is embodied through the expression ‘we all’; afterwards this unison assumes a virtually individual character (Holland 2001). The collective retreats and the centralized responses are disrupted merely when it is stated about Emily that â€Å"she carried her head high† (Holland 2001, 29). The expression ‘some ladies’ function separately, so as to provide supplementary thrust to the event. From then on the communal ‘first person’ once more emerges; the common purpose is hence enhanced and acquires more focus. Soon after the town government, which

Right to Die for Terminal Illness Essay Example for Free

Right to Die for Terminal Illness Essay Historically, the Greeks and Romans were tolerant of assisted suicide. If no relief could be provided to ease the suffering of a dying person, it was acceptable for that person to request help to end their suffering (Voluntary, 1). If you look throughout the world today, there are only three countries whose governments have initiated policies legalizing the right for their terminally ill citizens to request voluntary euthanasia, those countries being Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands (Euthanasia, 1). In the United States, there are only three states that have successfully passed similar legislation giving a person this right. Oregon in 1997 and Washington and Montana in 2009 passed into law an assisted suicide law for the terminally ill (Frequently†¦). As supreme ruler for the month, I would adopt Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act on a federal level and take it a step further by legalizing euthanasia under extreme circumstance for the terminally ill. We live in a country where abortion, whether you like it or not, is legal. If we as a society allow pregnancies to be aborted, then why wouldn’t it be acceptable to legalize a person’s choice to request assisted suicide from a terminally ill disease? Just for clarification, I do not believe in or condone suicide. It is in the extreme circumstances of a terminally ill disease where all other resources have been exhausted that I find this as a vial alternative. I am not an advocate for abortion either. The unborn are not given a choice but it is legally practiced for the time being. With assisted suicide for the terminally ill, they at least can be given the choice to end their personal suffering on their own terms. I therefore, under these circumstances, find assisted suicide (euthanasia) more humane and legally acceptable due to the precedence set by abortion. The program that I would pass into law would be very similar to the Death with Dignity Act currently used by the State of Oregon. In this Act, a competent patient, 18 and older, diagnosed with a terminally ill disease with less than six months to live with no life-saving alternative available may request their physician to provide them with a lethal dosage of narcotics for self-administration (Frequently†¦). The patient will be evaluated by a second physician and a psychological exam is performed if necessary to legitimize the request (Frequently†¦). If the person is found to be of sound mind and it is determined all medical avenues ave been exhausted, the patient will be granted access to the life ending medication. The patient at any time retains to the right to withdraw the request (Frequently†¦). If the patient’s physician finds this morally objective, they retain the right to remove themselves from the case but cannot inhibit the request if all criteria have been met (Voluntary, 3). In this case, a new physician will be assigned to the case to oversee the life ending treatment. As a second part of this Act, a Medical Power of Attorney (MPA) euthanasia clause will be exercised to expedite the death process at the request of the patient. In the advanced stages of death, one who has accepted their fate but is no longer competent, if granted through the MPA by the patient and absence of personal gain by the MPA, this clause will be included in the Act to administer life ending medication or euthanize the patient by the physician at the request of the MPA. In lieu of further hospice treatment or as part of, such as morphine, the MPA may exercise their right to request life-ending drugs be administered to the patient. I see this as an extension of the DNR. In cases where a patient has been removed from any medical treatment and death is imminent, hours or days, per multiple physicians prognosis, and the patient is more or less unresponsive, the MPA may exercise the euthanasia clause in lieu of further pain treatment or medical induced coma. Again, in the case where the physician finds this act immoral, they have no obligation to comply but if all the criteria have been met at the patients documented request, the physician will be required to remove themselves from the case and an alternate physician be assigned to see out the request. A patient’s request for assisted suicide or MPA euthanasia must be documented and recorded through the hospital system and with the local authorities (Frequently†¦). This request can be included in the patient’s living will, DNR request, or on a separate legal document. The documentation process of the requestor must be witnessed by two or more persons with only one witness being of blood relation (Frequently†¦). A full psychological evaluation of the patient may be performed by the hospital or legal authority to ensure the requestor is of sound mind when the documents are executed (Frequently†¦). The legal authorities must also be notified when a requestor will be exercising their right to assisted suicide before any life ending medication can be administered or released to the patient. According to ELDR Magazine, a study released in May 2008 reports these â€Å"death with dignity† laws are gaining national momentum (Elder, 1). This study goes on to explain many of the respondents would choose to be placed in medical coma even if it were to quicken the death process and even more would choose to be taken off life support measure if they were in a vegetative state (Elder,1). It also states that over 80% of respondents felt the right to die is a personal decision and not one to be controlled by the government or religion (Elder, 1). This being the case, by implementing a federal Die with Dignity Act, it would grant people the freedom to die in a manner that reflects their personal choice, and the physicians who administer these requests would not be subject to legal ramifications. On a personal note, in the last two years, I have lost my father to cancer and my grandfather to a fatal stroke, both of whom I was very close with. I was the main caretaker for my father over his last six months and watched over him through a lot of painful times, especially towards the end. I often wonder if there were laws that allowed the freedom of choice towards expediting the death process, would my father have exercised this right? It’s hard to lose a loved one but it’s also hard to watch them experience such great suffering. You emotionally suffer right along with them. When my time comes, will I want my children to feel helpless? To suffer along with me to the last breath? Or will I be able to grant them the power to ease my suffering and theirs?

Reflective Assessment on Mathematics and Calculus

Reflective Assessment on Mathematics and Calculus Relearning the calculus, relating it to real-life Mela Aziza Background I have loved doing mathematics since I was in elementary school. However, this feeling changed a little bit when I was at secondary school. My mathematics teacher asked me to memorise many formulas and principles related to advanced topics without knowing when I can use those in my real-life. I thought that an advanced topic was really hard to learn because it was commonly abstract concept. Consequently, a student like me would find difficulties how to make it concrete and connect it to the real world. In addition, my mathematics teacher only encouraged us to study mathematics hard in order to achieve high scores in examinations. She rarely explained about the application of mathematics in our daily life. This situation made me less enjoyed learning mathematics. For example, while I was learning calculus that I assumed as an advanced topic, I did not know when I can use it in my life so that I was not motivated to learn it. At the time, I guessed calculus was useless. Calculus was ju st about patterns, formulas, and calculations without knowing why I needed to learn it. Therefore, this experience has been inspiring me in how I should teach my students in the future. I hoped to explain and show my students about how powerful and useful mathematics can be. Unfortunately, it was really hard to find the connection between mathematics and daily activities, especially for the calculus. My students were questioning when they could use calculus in their life. I became confused and could not give the appropriate answer because I have not known the application of calculus that was relevant to my students life. I taught calculus using the similar method to my previous mathematics teacher, solving any kind of calculus questions from my own textbooks using the formulas or rules. However, I am interested in exploring and developing the usefulness of calculus in daily life because I want to establish answers for my own previous question, when I can use it. Hence, when getting the chance to take the developing subject knowledge course, I was excited to focus on some calculus questions using real-life contexts. Solving calculus problems I started my independent learning by solving the max box problem given by my personal tutor (see Appendix A). This problem about the paper which has side a, then I was instructed to make a box by cutting a square with side x from each of the four corners. I have to find the value of x so that I can make the biggest box. I tried to find the x value for creating the biggest box by doing some algebraic equations and finally, I obtained the pattern for finding the x value. Finding out the answer gave me an opportunity to relate it to the concept of differentiation. It was a new thing for me and when I searched on the internet, found it was popular in teaching and learning mathematics related to the calculus topic. However, I did not know why I found Indonesian mathematics teachers rarely used this practical question while teaching the concept of differentiation. Next, I moved to how to introduce the first principle of differentiation, f'(x), from function f(x). I started by drawing a graph of the function, then formulated gradient of two adjacent points using the gradient of a straight line and limit concept (see Appendix B). Finally, I found that the first derivative equals with the gradients of a point from the function. Then, I tried similar calculations for some different functions, and finally, I established the pattern of the first derivative. While doing this, I was thinking which I should teach first, gradient or differentiation, in order to make students understand where the first derivative comes. Furthermore, a noticeable point for me by solving this problem, I was aware that as a teacher I can teach mathematics through using algorithmic/algebraic/analytic/calculating, visual (image/graph), and inductive (pattern) thinking. For example, when finding the maximum value of the function, I acquired the same answer by using two differe nt methods, graphing and calculating. In addition, I explored how to draw the graph of the first derivatives of different functions by using gradient concept (see Appendix C). I drew both common and uncommon functions. I felt those were interesting and challenging because I could create the graph of the first and the second derivative just by looking at the graph of the original function. However, when I want to find the first derivative function, I have to calculate using an algebraic method. Although I could not get directly what the function of the first derivative f(x) through drawing, I could differentiate when the function reached maximum value, (when f (x) f (x) > 0), and neither maximum nor minimum value (when f (x) = 0), for instance, f(x)= x3-6x2+12x-5 having an inflexion point (see Figure 1). I also tried to find the gradient of uncommon functions such as an absolute function (f(x)=|x|) by plotting the graph manually and checking it using software GSP (The Geometers Sketchpad), then I found that there was a point on the |x|function that cannot be differentiated (non-differentiable point) that was when x = 0, but for other points, those were differentiable (see Figure 2). Furthermore, I explored six common mistakes (Cipra, 2013) that students made in doing calculus related to how they solve some routine problems and understand a concept of finding the area of function by integral concept (see Appendix D). The students mostly just calculated the area using formula without drawing the function so that occasionally they found a negative area. The area will be never negative. The students should know that the area above x-axis will be positive because y-axis values are always positive while the area below x-axis will be negative because of y-axis negative values (Stewart, 2016). Hence, students have to multiply the area of function below x-axis with negative (-) in favour of becoming a positive area. Reflection During this course, I relearned calculus concept by solving some problems. I felt back a sense of doing mathematics when solving the problems both routine and real-life problems. This sense made me excited to find the solutions for every problem that I faced. I became aware that abstract concepts cannot be separated from calculus. Although routine problems are commonly abstract, students will be able to learn the importance of symbol concepts in calculus through solving these problems. I also tried to connect calculus by solving some real-life problems which use real-life contexts and can be imagined as daily experiences (Gravemeijer Doorman, 1999), for instance, the max box problem that can be connected to a manufacturer. After doing some real-life problems, I agree that these problems should be taught in the classroom (Gainsburg, 2008). Teachers are able to use these problems to enhance students motivation and to develop reasoning as well as problem-solving skills of students in l earning mathematics (Karakoà § AlacacÄ ±, 2015). Therefore, the teachers will be able to make mathematics become more meaningful for their students through real-life problems. On the other hand, I think not all real-life problems are practicable for students because the problems do not relate to their life directly. I have done some problems from some websites and a textbook of calculus (SMP, 1973), but not all problems were relevant to a real context and could be solved. I encountered there was a problem when some facts are abandoned in order to make students understand the question easily. A problem which is relevant to one students life may not be relevant for others. Therefore, teachers should check the effectiveness of the problems by asking students first (Burkhardt, 1981), and then they will notice the good problems that can be used in the future. In addition, calculus is advanced knowledge for most students because they find it difficult to concretise so that occasionally it should remain abstract (Wilensky, 1991). Furthermore, teachers need to consider the time when they give the students real-life problems. They cannot give them these problems fo r every meeting because they also should provide opportunities to students for learning all calculus concepts, both concrete and abstract. Thus, most teachers assumed the nature of mathematics topic and the time may become limitations for connecting it to the real-world (Karakoà § AlacacÄ ±, 2015). Teachers can motivate students to think inductively in learning mathematics. They may involve students to find the first derivative pattern by using the gradient of a straight line and limit concept. They should not give a pattern f'(xn) =nxn-1 directly to students when introducing differentiation, but they ask students to establish the first derivative pattern by their own self. In addition, I found that teachers are able to use a slope of zero (f'(x)=0) for figuring out what is the maximum or minimum value of the function quickly. However, teachers also have to ask students to check the graph or the second derivative of the function to find the exact category of the x value (maximum, minimum, or inflexion point). Hence, as a mathematics teacher, I should deem some factors before deciding an effective teaching method that encourages my students to understand calculus concepts easily. I assumed that using technology can make sense of calculus for students. I considered using GSP while teaching to draw a graph of the function and to look closer whether the function can be differentiated for every point. Furthermore, I think that mathematics teachers may be able to explore any kind of calculus questions on websites such ashttps://www.math.ucdavis.edu andhttp://www.dqime.uni-dortmund.de which I assert as resources for finding real-life mathematics problems using the English language. However, teachers who come from non-native-English-speaking countries should be careful in understanding the meaning of the problems because there was a specific English term of mathematics that sounds unfamiliar or synonymous. For instance, I was confused to distinguish between two words that felt to be synonyms like capacity and volume. I firstly thought that those two words had similar meaning, however, capacity related to how much liquid held while volume related to how many material s needed (solid) in the container. Teachers also may adapt examples of the calculus projects and the application of calculus videos that are provided on the internet. Personally, I obtained the new perspective by watching some videos showing activities that teachers did like creating a group project related to the application of calculus. However, teachers should consider about the time because doing a project or watching a video will be time-consuming. Teachers require looking at why students made the mistakes and analysed what they should do to prevent similar mistakes among students. Students solve calculus problems using algorithms involving symbol concepts but they commonly forget to crosscheck the use of the symbol in their works. As a result, they made mistakes in using symbols which are shown in Appendix D. Furthermore, visual thinking is an important skill to abandon mistakes in finding solutions for calculus problems especially to find the area of the function. It happened because they did not draw the graph of the function. Meanwhile, students only will be able to identify the position of the graph either above or below the x-axis when they look the graph directly. Hence, teachers should be more aware that algebraic, symbol, and drawing the graph or visualisation are crucial concepts in learning calculus. Implementation in Indonesia One of the reasons why I wanted to explore the usefulness of mathematics and how to teach it in the classroom is the aim of teaching mathematics in Indonesia. Indonesia has adopted RME (Realistic Mathematics Education) from the Netherlands, and then known as PMRI (Pendidikan Matematika Realistik Indonesia) which correlates to teaching mathematics in real contexts and emphasises the application of mathematics (Sembiring, 2008). However, RME does not mean teachers have to involve the students in real activities but create a meaningful learning activity so that students can imagine it like they do reality (Van den Drijvers, 2014). Even though some previous researchers found that the implementation of PMRI in Indonesia had positive effects on students mathematics achievement (Armanto, 2002; Fauzan, 2002), Indonesia has not made relevant PMRI curriculum materials (Sembiring, 2008). Therefore, Indonesia still needs to develop some resources related to the implementation of PMRI. In addition, Indonesian mathematics teachers ability itself will be a difficulty in implementing teaching mathematics in real contexts. Although one of their concerns is connecting mathematics to the real world in order to encourage students to deal with their daily life problems (Zamroni, 2000), some of them are only able to teach instrumental understanding (Skemp, 1976) in the classroom so that students learn calculus as formulas without realising how they use it. Students just follow teachers instruction; memorising formulas, understanding the examples, and then solving the exercises. Undeniably, students own negative perspectives on mathematics, including the calculus, are due to this fact. Thus, teachers should find ways to improve these students perspectives in order to enhance their understanding and achievement in mathematics. Mathematics teachers can develop realistically applied mathematics in the classroom through the collection of realistic problems (Burkhardt, 1981) that provide an opportunity for students to apply their mathematical skills. Personally, there are some real-life problems that Indonesian teachers can use such as Max box. I am curious what will happen when I and other teachers use this problem before introducing calculus to the students, maybe, we will recognise kinds of methods from the students that we have never imagined before. Furthermore, Indonesian mathematics teachers should explore resources on the internet and use software like GSP in order to stimulate students sense of learning calculus. However, they may encounter further difficulty in using GSP or e-based learning method because not all of them can operate it and not every school has technological equipment as well as internet connection. Another point that Indonesian mathematics teachers should deem is students common mist akes in learning calculus. Teachers should be aware that students have to check their own work to find the mistakes because if they check by themselves, they likely will not repeat the same mistake. Teachers also have to check their students mistakes to analyse the reasons, then reviewing and correcting the misconceptions that student have from the mistakes. Conclusion Despite the fact that it is common that students feel calculus is difficult to be understood, solved and applied, I think there will be some solutions that teachers can do such as giving both realistic and unrealistic problems, using software, and watching application of calculus on videos. Besides these ways being likely to motivate and encourage students to learn calculus, these ways also can stimulate students using it in their real-life. However, teachers have to consider the practical problems for students and keep giving some routine problems to look closer what some misconceptions or mistakes that they made in doing calculus.

Why Planning Is Necessary. :: essays research papers

Adding a Town Planner to Your Staff Planning in any town is an important part of the growth, development and sustainability of the citizens and businesses in that town. I believe that your town council could greatly benefit from adding a planner to your staff. Planning suggests a systematic attempt to shape the future. It attempts to link scientific and technical knowledge to actions in the public domain, and processes of societal guidance and of social transformation. Planning entails making decisions and informing actions in ways that are socially rational. Planning serves a public or general purpose, such as ensuring the stability and growth of the economy; undertaking selected public investments and, in the absence of private sector interest, inducing desired actions on part of the private sector through various forms of subsidy; restraining private sector actions to safeguard the well-being of the population at large; redistributing income on grounds of equity; protecting individuals and businesses against the uncertainties of the market; and so forth. The planning process must continuously pursue and faithfully serve the public interest. Why is planning necessary? 1. To guide the overall economic stability and growth in a community - achieve a sensible and attractive land-use pattern - preserving or improving that which all ready exists - encourage economic development 2. To provide public services to meet the general needs of the community - location of public facilities - make sure that all are served with adequate toads, water, and sewer facilities - protect the general public health; minimizing threats to human health and life 3. To protect the environment - guide and manage development to minimize environmental damage - acquiring or developing land for parks or open space; achieving aesthetic and recreational goals - preserving resources for future use - saving nonrenewable energy sources The Origins of Planning Before the American Revolution municipalities appointed strong powers to control land use, thus shaping their own forms of â€Å"planning.† These powers came out of a European tradition that treated the town or village as an independent corporation, which might own, control, or dispose of most of the land within its boundaries. Many U.S. communities started as grants to individuals or groups, which then, by virtue of the grant, had the power to dispose of land within their borders. Thus colonial towns had formidable powers to shape their pattern of development. Quite obviously, the Revolution ended the practice of creating municipalities through the mechanism of royal grants to individuals. More important, it placed the bulk of political power in the hands of the states.

The Partys Denial Of A Persons Natural Rights :: essays research papers

The novel 1984 touches on many disturbing aspects about the denial of a person's natural rights. In today's society people are granted certain rights which the government or anyone else can not take away. These rights are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In the novel 1984 the government which the people of Oceania live under has taken away all of the rights of people, including natural rights. The right to life has been taken away in the sense that a persons life is the party. A person is born for the party, works for the party, and dies for the party. Liberty is taken away by not allowing the privacy of thought or action. To coin the phrase "Big Brother is watching you". The right of a person pursuing happiness is unquestionably taken away because all forms of pleasure (games, sex, laughter) are illegal. The government promotes hate and unhappiness. The life of a person living in Oceania is strictly controlled. A person does not choose what they do for a living, or who they associate with. The party is the center of everybody's life. The only reason anyone marries or has children is so that the children can live for the party. The children grow up learning how to defy and betray everyone for the party. Children will tell on anybody, even their parents if they see them acting in a unorthodox or peculiar way. When Winston was in the Ministry of Love he discovers that a co-worker of his, a man by the name of Parsons, who had been turned in for thoughtcrime by his own daughter. This is a quite disturbing incident because Parsons was proud of his child and happy that he had been sent to the Ministry of love before he had committed any other thoughtcrime. He is a prime example of a person whose entire life was for the party and for Big Brother. Even though Winston and Julia were enemies of the party their lives were still spent doing work for the party. They would still participate in the two minute hates and would still do their jobs, which both helped the party brainwash more and more people. No one ever outwardly betrayed the party. Liberty can be defined as exemption from control of another, freedom from external restraint, and the power of choice. All of these definitions defy the very basis of the party.

Cultural References in Ah Mah :: mah

Cultural References in Ah Mah  Ã‚     Ã‚   In almost every piece of literature there can be found references to the author’s or the narrator’s culture. Having an understanding of this culture can help one better understand a literary work. Reading a work that contains references to a culture can also spark interest and inspire the reader to learn more about the culture that is represented in the work. One such piece of literature is the poem "Ah Mah," written by Shirley Geok-lin Lim. This poem contains many references to Chinese culture that are very interesting and inspire curiosity. By researching the culture of China, one can better understand the references to it in "Ah Mah." Then, the poem has more meaning to the reader than if he did not posses any knowledge about Chinese culture. "Ah Mah" is a poem about the author’s grandmother. The author, Lim, describes her grandmother in detail and explains how her grandfather "bought" her grandmother. Lim describes her grandmother as a very small and thin woman (10-11). She gives the impression that her grandmother had a hard life even though it appears that the family had enough money. The fact that the family is Chinese is also very apparent due to the many references to Chinese culture that are made as Lim describes aspects of her grandmother’s life. The first aspect of the grandmother’s life that is a reference to her culture is the mention of silk. In the poem, Lim states that her grandmother "tottered / in black silk" (7-8). This reference may seem unimportant at first glance. However, if one has knowledge of the country of China, it becomes apparent that silk is important. Silk has been a major resource in China since ancient times. A route called the Silk Road was an important path followed by traders who traded goods with the Chinese for raw silk. Silk has been abundant in China for a long time and it was a more common fabric there before it was popular in other places. Silk fabric was still considered a sign of status in China, but it was more easily found there than in other parts of the world ("Chinese Culture"). Another reference to Silk in the poem that is more indirect is "Soochow flower song girl," which is referring to the grandmother (Lim 12). Soochow is a city in China that is also known as Suzhou or Wuxian city.

Analyse the techniques Emily Bronte uses to explore the good and evil that can exist in human nature

In the gothic novel â€Å"Wuthering Heights† Bronte explores a range of emotions, including the theme of good and evil. These emotions are often of a blatant disperse, in which the reader can almost see it coming. However sometimes the novel takes a sudden twist and Bronte shocks the reader by the characters changing there usual attitude and bring out new emotions. This makes the novel more thrilling and mind blowing. Characters also convert their emotions and way of doing things by the way they have been brought up, a typical example of this is Heathcliff. We also see either more, or a change in emotions in the characters when loved ones around them change, or are shockingly took away from them. We know this is a gothic novel because of its features, although we do not have the traditional castle there is a mysterious house and one with hidden secrets. We have a villain, Heathcliff who is passion driven and wilful. The weather plays a part in Wuthering Heights, with the stormy weather and the endless cold nights, this doesn't create a nice image and shows that it is dark and evil. Through Nelly, Bronte tells us of the brutal acts of evil played on by Hindley. In this particular extract he is physically and mentally tormenting his young son Hareton. We can tell Hareton is terrified of his father when Nelly says he was â€Å"squealing and kicking† This relates to the gothic genre of the novel as it seems as if the devil has captured him and he cannot break free. Literary techniques such as â€Å"frighten child into fits† sends shivers through your spine, and you as the reader wants Hareton to be ok and dislike Hindley. However, not all is evil in this event, we see an episode of kindness from a character, which is in fact usual torturer Heathcliff. This sudden act has Heathcliff catch little Hareton from a quick escape, jumping over the banister from his fathers tight grasp. This is a shock to the readers. I also think that Heathcliff himself is astonished by what he has done after all the years of Heathcliff torturing Hareton. â€Å"By a natural impulse he arrested his descent† this just shows that Heathcliff is not all evil, and if someone was truly in trouble, he would come and help them, even if he did despise them. Its not just the characters that display this confusion over good and evil, it also has a lot to do with the atmosphere around them. At the beginning, Lockwood is exploring the â€Å"Grotesque† â€Å"Wuthering Heights†, by first look we would automatically come to the conclusion that it is an evil house, finding all of its â€Å"Grotesque carvings† and â€Å"Shameless little boys†. This displays the uncared for place unfit for a normal human life. He shows the gothic features of the house by saying â€Å"a swarm of squealing puppies† which could relate to the hounds of hell, which makes this house scary and full of hatred. However in the mask of evilness, lays a side of the Heights witch we wouldn't think existed. A clean liveable place, which is not visible from the first look at the house. We know this is a better side of the house by the language Bronte uses such as â€Å"splendidly and immense† which says that the house isn't all gothic and evil and can be a good place, this house is full of secrets. In comparison to the Heights, Thrushcross Grange is an upper class beautiful palace. The language Bronte uses such as â€Å"splendid†, â€Å"beautiful† and â€Å"Heavenly† makes it seem as if the house and the people in it are perfect and could never do anything bad. Something that is quite significant about this house is the amount of crimson, in this time it was deemed you would have this if you where upper class. Below the surface of the â€Å"Heaven† lays a twisted evil side. In fact we find evilness in a little girl, Isabella who lives at the Grange. Heathcliff tells us that she was â€Å"Shrieking as if witches where running hot needles in to her†, this makes it seem as if she is in brutal pain and must lead a horrible life. We then find out that she is really just having a tantrum over a little puppy which is trembling with fright. This shows a different sort of evil, this girl is so spoilt she wouldn't know what it would be like to truly be upset. In the Grange Bronte uses this house to show that the upper class isn't always perfect and there nature can be very false. Overall I think the houses are almost mirror images. The Heights seems gothic and evil on the surface, but when explored deeply shows protection and a sign of kindness. Whereas the Grange seems to be a heavenly place, but the residents have been around luxury for so long, they have become evil, it just shows that not everything is what meets the eye. When Catherine dies we see both a good and evil side to Heathcliff. When we first hear about Catherine dying, we believe that Heathcliff is miserable and so upset to see the person he loves dying in his arms. We can tell he is truly upset when he is â€Å"looking absolutely desperate†. This seems as if Heathcliff is really caring for Cathy when they are â€Å"locked in an embrace. We believe that Heathcliff has changed his usual mean ways and is really upset for Catherine. Even though Heathcliff is trying to protect Catherine we see that Nelly is very upset in this scene as she cannot say the goodbyes to Catherine she wants too, this is because Heathcliff is smothering Catherine, Nelly is describing him as a horrible possessed man, he â€Å"gnashed at me† and â€Å"foamed like a dog†. I would describe this scene as beautifully evil, because even though Heathcliff is showing such evil actions, he is still trying to care for Catherine and doesn't want her to die. This is their passionate goodbye But we couldn't be more wrong; this passion disappears and is twisted. Heathcliff turns on Catherine and becomes evil. He make her seem as if she is worthless and deserves to die. He blames her for everything bad that has happened to him. He snaps at her â€Å"I have not broken your heart – you have broken it† this is nasty and bitter towards Cathy, especially since she is about to die. Cathy sobs for him to leave her alone, begging for his forgiveness. This shows much evil in Heathcliff because he will not let her rest in peace. In conclusion, I believe the theme most dominant in this novel is evil. Although, most of the characters are either good or evil, this is not always dominant as characters such as Heathcliff and Hindley are evil, but we can see a good side to them. On the other hand characters such as the Linton's look really good on the surface, but there evil side can show when something doesn't go their own way. There are many ups and downs in this novel, and each character has a different way of showing there emotions.

Stephens vs Lincoln

Stephens vs. Lincoln In two very different speeches by Alexander H. Stephens and Abraham Lincoln they both argue their points of view on slavery and the opposing side plus how they would like to have the new government to be run. In the first speech by Stephens he states that the ideas of slavery at the time of the old constitution were wrong and that they rested on the beliefs of equality between the races. He goes on to argue that slavery in the south will have its foundations laid upon the ideas that, as Stephens says. the negro si not equal to the white man; that slavery, subornation to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition. † In contrast, Lincoln describes how each person has a different definition for the word Liberty. One side defines it as meaning that they can do what they please with themselves and the earnings. While the other defines it, as Lincoln says, â€Å"some men do as they please with other men, and the product of their men’s labor. â €  Lincoln identifies the central differences between the north and the south as a misconception of the word Liberty, one side called liberty and the other tyranny.Stephens believes himself, and all whites as being superior to African Americans and that it’s the law of nature for it to be so. Whereas Lincoln says that everyone is equal and that’s Stephens and others like him have destroyed the meaning and significance of the word Liberty. These opposing speeches show the points of view on slavery from the north and the south and how each side takes liberty and changes it around to the advantage of their own purposes.

Development of Multinational Personnel Selection

S w 9B07C041 Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTINATIONAL PERSONNEL SELECTION SYSTEM Professors Diana E. Krause and Reiner Piske wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality.Ivey Management Services prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmittal without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Management Services, c/o Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail [email  protected] uwo. ca. Copyright  © 2007, Ivey Management Services Version: (A) 2007-12-11On Monday morning at 8:30 a. m. , Dr. Thomas Koch was leaving his luxury condominium on the 28th floor of a building specifically constructed for expatriates and Hong Kong’s wealthier citizens. He was going down to Causeway Bay, towards his office in Hong Kong’s central business district. On the way, Koch listened to the voice mail messages on his cell phone, one of which was from the assistant of the firm’s owner, Peter Koenig. The message stated that Koch was expected to call back before his meeting with the human resources (HR) team that he was leading.The human resources team meeting was scheduled in order to bring together German and Chinese human resource experts to form a crossfunctional project team. In the context of global restructuring, the company, ComInTec AG & Co (ComInTec), had introduced a new region al management level. As a result, 25 middle management positions were expected to be filled in the Asian-Pacific-region (APAC) (e. g. regional head of purchasing, regional head of supply chain management, national chief executive officers (CEOs), national head of finance and accounting, and national head of operations).A new personnel selection system was expected to fill these positions with qualified employees. ComInTec’s own recruitment channels, as well as â€Å"head hunters,† would be hired for the recruitment process. The overall responsibility for implementing the new personnel selection process was the responsibility of the project team. According to the company’s inhouse global localization policy, 90 per cent of the new management positions were filled by individuals who originated from the country they would be working in.The affected areas included sales and marketing, purchasing, supply chain management, and finance and accounting, at locations in H ong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Melbourne, Sydney and Shanghai. The managers’ annual salary ranges between â‚ ¬40,000 and â‚ ¬150,000, depending on the location. The new personnel selection system for APAC was part of the company’s new objective to standardize all human resource instruments for selection purposes around the globe. This new personnel selection system had to be developed internally. Page 2 9B07C041 BACKGROUNDFor several years now, Koch had been finding faults in the design of the individual assessment centres. According to Koch’s opinion, there was only very limited opportunity to influence possible modifications because the individual assessment centres were conducted by external consulting firms. Additionally, Koch questioned the validity of the information obtained from the centres, as well as the personnel selection system as a whole. ComInTec had little interest in empirically evaluating the validity of the assessment centres and statistically analyzing the outcomes of such personnel selection procedures.Koch also felt the need to improve the contents of the structured interviews that were based on the candidate’s current situation, as opposed to the candidate’s previous work experience. Koch firmly believed that what happened in the past was likely to be repeated in the future, and therefore had very little appreciation for selective interviews that did not consider the candidate’s past. Overall, efforts to improve the current selection systems had only rarely been undertaken due to limited time and the budget allotted for personnel affairs — a memorable fact that Koch had already pointed out to the management several times.The development of a new multinational personnel selection system now posed a huge challenge for Koch and his project team. There was one fact, however, which he noticed with relief: there were no expatriates in the new selection system because the selecte d managers were required to be living in APAC. Currently, ComIncTec simply sent those candidates abroad that had the necessary technical skills and experience, regardless of intercultural competencies.Koch remembered how difficult it was at times to find someone willing to move his or her centre of life, including family, to a different country. He also knew from his own emigration experience that no training (e. g. language or cultural norms) was offered to prepare him. With this in mind, he hired staff for his project team that would globally represent the countries involved: a Chinese research assistant who completed a bachelor in HR management, another trainee from China, and a German intern who had completed four semesters in psychology.The team, which also included additional HR managers from the headquarters office, had already been working on the development of the new personnel selection system for four months. Over the past few weeks numerous meetings had been held, yet no significant progress had been made. One reason could be attributed to the fact that there was obvious heterogeneity between the German and Asian team members’ opinions regarding the new personnel selection system. This created an ambiance that was tense and dissent with respect to sharing the workload.For today’s meeting, the goal was to come to a consensus on several important issues: (1) what individual modules the new personnel selection system should contain, (2) whether country-specific adaptations were necessary and feasible for each module, and (3) the implementation process of the new personnel instrument at each APAC location. The APAC-situated plants were the company’s top-selling ones; therefore, any wrong decisions with respect to HR (e. g. personnel selection) were extremely cost-Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. When Ko ch first heard about the above changes, it immediately occurred to him that this would not be easy. He knew that personnel selection procedures currently varied significantly between countries. He also knew that the existing selection instruments were by no means flawless in any specific country. After the application documents were analyzed, structured interviews with the candidates were conducted by a department representative and an HR specialist.If both interviewers came to a positive conclusion on the candidates’ qualifications, the top candidate completed an individual assessment centre in order to point out his/her interpersonal competences rather than his/her professional competencies. The individual assessment centres consisted of biographical questions, case studies on leadership in an international context and participation in a leaderless group discussion. Ultimately, additional references were obtained for each candidate, although different procedures existed in different countries.For example, references gathered in Asia only confirmed a candidate’s previous function and duration of employment according to common employment law. After reference checks were completed, each candidate received written feedback and a report was generated and added to the successful candidate’s personnel file. Page 3 9B07C041 intense. The personnel selection system in APAC, as a whole, would have large-scale consequences affecting the entire company. As Koch was walking in the crowded Causeway Bay area he was not paying much attention.To Koch, who could not distinguish between Asians, it seemed as if they were crawling across the streets like ants, all busy on their phones. As usual, it was a very hot day. For Koch, now 48 years old, this was intolerable. He took off his light-coloured linen jacket and placed his tie, threatening to strangle him, in his brief case. He had returned from a business trip in Sydney the previous Saturday and was still feeling the effects of the lengthy flight. The next business trip was scheduled for the upcoming Thursday — off to Jakarta for a week, Shanghai, then Munich for a meeting of the Global Steering Committee Human Resources.He checked his schedule and remembered the phone call he received earlier from Koenig’s assistant. Koch would be arriving at his office within 10 minutes, which allowed him time to return Koenig’s phone call before the scheduled meeting. It had been 17 years now that Koch had been working in the HR department for ComInTec and three years in the regional headquarters in Hong Kong. After working many years for ComInTec he was currently the HR director, thanks to his determination, networking skills, ability to be highly adaptable to new situations, and his talent to be at the right place at the right time.He was in charge of all HR decisions within ComInTec in APAC. ComInTec was a worldwide leading industrial company with administration, plants, an d sales offices in Central Europe, Eastern and Western Europe, APAC, Central and South America, and North America. Like many other companies, ComInTec was forced to establish downsizing procedures between 2003 and 2006. Worldwide, 900 jobs were cut. Koch was actively involved in the staff cutbacks that had taken place. He had visited the plants, equipped with PowerPoint presentations that had been verified by the executive board to be politically correct.He spoke to the workers and praised ComInTec’s ethics and corporate philosophy, despite the cutbacks. He communicated the cutbacks to the workers as a temporary crisis, pointing out that it was mainly due to natural fluctuations and that it was part-time employees who were cut, with the affected workers being offered fair compensation packages. In consequence of the general economic situation in the years of 2003 to 2006, ComInTec unfortunately had no other option. He additionally thanked the staff for their loyalty and appre ciation with personal gifts and reports in the company’s internal newsletter.Since then, the company had recovered from the crisis. ComInTec employed 23,000 employees worldwide and made more than â‚ ¬5. 8 billion in sales. Koch arrived at the elevator to his office. He was surrounded by Asian colleagues in the best mood, all in uniformly grey suits, greeting each other as they waited for the elevator. When he got off the elevator, there were two of the three Chinese secretaries serving tea and fruits. His appearance always caused a general haste among the secretaries. They all confirmed his daily appointments, signifying that his work day had officially commenced.Koch called on a secretary, who came running on the double, accompanied by a â€Å"Yes, sir! † and a big smile, yet she avoided eye-contact by looking down to the floor. She reminded him that Koenig was waiting for him to return his call. Without being able to name a cause for it, this secretary’s be haviour triggered uncertainty in Koch. All her gestures appeared submissive as she perpetually nodded her head — regardless of praise or dispraise — always understanding and friendly. Koch picked up the telephone and Koenig instantly began speaking: Mr.Koch, you know how much I appreciate your dedication to the company, but I have concerns about the current international selection procedures. We need something that is going to work, and work immediately! And don’t you dare try to offer me this empirical or validity stuff. I don’t give a damn. You have a whole department with highly qualified people. I assume you are capable of filling these vacant management positions. We also need a selection system that works everywhere. We cannot afford to apply differentLicensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 4 9B07C041 procedures in every c ountry. What we need are consistent procedures, something applicable cross-nationally and cross-regionally. You, as a cosmopolitan, should know exactly what I mean. I also expect everything to be documented to a tee. Although Koch shared Koenig’s enthusiasm for an improved personnel selection system, there were many complications that could arise of which Koenig seemed obviously unaware.As sensitively as possible and with all due respect, Koch tried to inform Koenig about possible problems. First, Koch argued that although a multinational personnel selection system could have its advantages, these advantages may become costly when they are not easily implemented in each region. Each country had its own unique economic and education situations, which would undoubtedly become problematic when creating a universal personnel selection system. Koenig should only think of Thailand, for example, where it is more difficult than anywhere else to find qualified managers.With respect to cultural differences, Koch argued that a standardized personnel selection system would also most likely ignore cultural differences and culture-specific circumstances. This would not only affect the individual modules of the system, but also the basic job requirements, the adaptation of modules to specific countries, and the use of specific personnel selection methods. Koch also expressed his concern with Koenig’s lack of interest in testing the validity of the new selection procedures: Mr. Koenig, something that is expected to work should be tested thoroughly.This is the only way to be certain that it will actually work. We will need to test and then evaluate each and every single module in each country. This process will provide a basis on which we will be able to improve the original procedures. Due to all the possible problems that may arise with the new system, it is imperative that we invest in developing it properly. Of course, that wasn’t exactly what Koenig w anted to hear: Don’t tell me about problems, I want solutions, and you should not forget that this is what I pay you and your team to do. You have until the end of this week to deliver final and written conclusions of this matter.If not, I will reduce your team in Hong Kong by half, and I will delegate the development of this new system to global headquarters. â€Å"Mr. Koenig,† Koch replied, â€Å"please keep in mind that my team has been working on this assignment for months, including weekends. † Nevertheless, Koenig underlined Koch’s point of view with the commanding tone typical of him: â€Å"Either you will come up with something useful by the end of this week, or central headquarters will do the job. End of discussion. † Koch responded: Mr. Koenig, we have known each other for 17 years now and you know that I always do what’s best for this company.I strongly believe that as your HR manager, it is my responsibility and duty to inform y ou about possible risks and problems that may exist with an ad hoc-developed and unevaluated multinational personnel selection system. Koch advised Koenig again that his demands could lead to severe difficulties. Koch also added: Mr. Koenig, please remember the problems we experienced a few years ago with respect to staffing cutbacks. You wanted to send employees, who had been working for the Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13.Page 5 9B07C041 company for many years, home without any kind of termination pay. Everything was to be done by us, without any kind of external consulting. I assume you remember that I told you in advance how risky such a staff reduction can be. I am certain that you will also remember that I informed you that the legal process would create a high financial risk to the company with employees with legal action seeking claims for damage s and compensation. At the time you had underestimated the situation, and as a result our legal department had to deal with all the consequences.We were lucky that our lawyers were able to win most of the cases. Koenig was listening to these remarks with irritation and responded: Dr. Koch, I am at the end of my tether with you. You need to stop focusing on the past. It’s all water under the bridge. We are now looking at 25 people we want to hire. This is my company and not yours. I will be participating in today’s meeting via video conference. I expect you to prepare everything at once so that the video conference will be working. And don’t forget that I have put you in charge of the entire new personnel selection system.Koch would need to accept the fact that all of his objections to Koenig’s instructions fell on deaf ears. He knew Koenig well enough to understand exactly what he wanted and that he would not change his mind. For Koenig, endless loyalty t o the company, endurance, a hands-on mentality, and assertiveness were most important. He was known for his strong control orientation not only by the members of the global steering group, but also by the plants’ employees. Two weeks prior, he went to Malaysia unannounced and snuck into one of the plants in order to see the night shift’s work with his own eyes.In addition, every executive knew that Koenig had established staff employees, so called key functionaries, in every country. The task of these key functionaries, or spies as Koch liked to call them, was to report to Koenig about everything that was happening on site in detail, particularly any wrong doing of management. But Koenig did not trust these key functionaries either, with his motto being â€Å"Trust is good, control is better. † Only if there was 100 per cent agreement between headquarters and the key functionaries was he willing to attribute a certain degree of credibility to the situation.Koch could therefore understand the tactics of Koenig because they somewhat resembled his own tactics. Koch, nevertheless, had difficulties with Koenig’s control procedures because they directly affected him and his team. In response to these procedures, Koch had established in APAC that each meeting and each decision that was to be made must be recorded by three individuals. Piles of paper were accumulating in his office as a result, and even special storage rooms were needed to store the paper masses.Furthermore, Koch remembered the intention coming from the central HR department, to standardize all personnel selection procedures including all criteria and approaches around the globe. This matter ended in talk due to conflicts regarding this question. With all this in the back of his mind, and the increasing pressure on his shoulders, Koch remarked to Koenig at the end of the phone call that the meeting would possibly take several hours, and that he assumed Koenig would not like to spend his precious time listening to every single detail regarding APAC’s selection system.Koenig agreed that attending the meeting via video conference would not be in his best interest with respect to time, but instead insisted even more that he receive the final draft of their decisions and the meeting minutes by Friday. Koch was proud to have successfully appeased Koenig’s concerns for the moment, and he next turned his focus to the scheduled meeting. He was horrified when he glanced at his watch and realized that it was already 9:30 a. m. He jumped up abruptly from his desk and left for the conference room.When he arrived, his whole team and an unknown staff employee from global headquarters, probably a key functionary, Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 6 9B07C041 Well, I ask today that you all present results from the past few months of hard work. I am only interested in the results and would like to avoid any long discussions concerning details. Mr. Koenig expects our final decisions in writing this upcoming Friday.In the case that he does not approve our recommendations, this project will possibly be passed on to global headquarters. As a result, we will lose team members. You now know the importance of our meeting today. We need to legitimize our right to exist. The Chinese colleagues agreed by nodding their heads uniformly. Koch noticed that this behaviour was always to be expected when there was an order from a member with higher hierarchical status. From Koch’s perspective, this was a phenomenon reflecting cross-cultural differences (see Exhibits 1 and 2).He often asked himself why his Chinese colleagues seemed to forget all priorities regarding time and content as soon as there was an order coming from someone higher in the hierarchy. How often did he observe his Chinese colleagues change t heir work completely and without any objection according to the orders of someone with higher status? Koch quite often got the impression that his Asian colleagues and co-workers followed the principle â€Å"Seniority is king. † Yue Yu, a Chinese HR employee, rose to speak. In her concise way, she stated: One crucial question concerns the definition of the job requirements and their profiles.After several discussions we have come to the conclusion that the positions to be filled differ in their content. Hence, we plead to define the job requirements specifically for each position, and to allow flexibility of the job requirements for other positions. More precisely, we want to diagnose 15 dimensions: five components that test the candidate’s professional competencies, and 10 dimensions that evaluate social competencies. Andreas Mueller, the German economist who possessed extensive experience in HR management, countered Yue Yu: â€Å"You must be joking.The inclusion of 15 dimensions is not what our team has decided on. That is your opinion, which is not shared with anybody here. I told you many times that the acquisition of 15 dimensions is simply impossible. † â€Å"Yes, that’s what you said earlier,† answered Yue Yu, â€Å"but I find we should establish as many dimensions as possible. † â€Å"Well, I disagree,† Mueller continued, who could not stand being interrupted, â€Å"It is important to define clearly distinguishable job requirements that are measurable, describable, and that are equally relevant in all countries of APAC. Yue Yu, intimidated by her German colleague’s manner, blushed and looked down towards the floor, signaling that she did not dare to say anything further. Yue Yu often found it difficult to cope with negative feedback, particularly when it occurred in front of her colleagues. There had been several times already that she could not stand up to Mueller, which seemed to affect her mor e and more each time. She had once spoken to Koch about her difficulties communicating with Mueller; however, Koch was quickly irritated by the complaint and asked her to wait and hope for an improvement of the situation. Koch assumed the confrontation betweenLicensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. were already waiting impatiently. In order to keep the meeting attendees occupied while they waited, the thoughtful secretary was serving coffee and snacks, resulting in a second breakfast for many of them. Koch welcomed everyone, apologized for being late, and began the meeting, â€Å"We are here today to decide about the future personnel selection system for APAC, which, when complete, will influence the complete international employee selection system within ComIntTec considerably. After these introductory words, he asked the German intern Sarah Goldmann and her Chinese HR assistant Dai Wei to record the meeting minutes. Koch continued, â€Å"I need everything we discuss here today to be recorded in detail. The records must happen with the precision of a surgeon! † The German team members threw disfavouring looks at each other; however, the Asian team members approved of the instructions by nodding their heads. Koch started: Page 7 9B07C041 he two colleagues was generally just a misinterpretation due to cultural differences (see Exhibits 1 and 2), and told her to bring the matter to his attention again only if it was absolutely necessary. Yue Yu never discussed the situation with Koch again. The German, in-house psychologist Sabine Weitmann, who was known for her differentiating thinking, decided to join the discussion: In my point of view, the question regarding the number of dimensions is only secondary. It is important that we first establish the contents of the job requirements. I suggest we replace the term job requirements with the more modern term competencies.In my opinion, a multinational requirement profile should contain competencies such as technical and vocational skills, social competencies, leadership competencies, communicative competencies, flexibility, and adaptability. â€Å"Why these skills and not others? † interjected Dai Wei, the Chinese HR assistant, who was not satisfied with Weitmann’s selection of skills. â€Å"Well, during my studies at the Strategic Human Resource Management Institute in Hong Kong, where I completed my MBA, I learned and experienced that a multitude of skills are inessential in personnel selection.I think we should therefore consider additional skills. For example, stress tolerance, resilience, cooperation skills, willingness to learn, ambiguity tolerance, goal-orientation, problem-solving skills, decision-making skills, and intercultural competencies. † â€Å"But Dai Wei,† contradicted Mueller, â€Å"It is totally obvious that this kind of proposition will encounter problems. That is simply not doable. Besides, the intention to establish more than six job requirements turned out to be problematic in the past.Did you ever think about the difference between intercultural competence and social competence? † Dai Wei was obviously irritated by the criticisms he received in front of the team and was in the process of losing his temper, which was easily detected by looking at his face, which had become flushed. These well-known signs alerted Weitmann, who tried to calm the situation with her objection and who cherished the illusion of having salvaged this precarious situation: â€Å"We should not waste anymore time debating this topic, which we’ve already discussed many times before.Let’s stay focused. † Clearing his throat, Mueller stated, â€Å"It is pointless to discuss the skills and job requirements. We are under time pressure and I therefore suggest that we bring about a majority vote wi th respect to the skills. † â€Å"No,† said the Chinese trainee, who participated in a communication training course last weekend and had been therefore sensitized to group dynamic processes, â€Å"A majority vote is not the solution. It may lead to good decisions not succeeding because certain team members follow the uniform opinion of the majority.We should try to reach a consensus on this issue. † While the Asian colleagues began to nod their heads in agreement, Mueller, who did not like to leave anything to chance, responded, â€Å"Well, I believe there should be six dimensions, namely planning/organization, initiative, adaptability, conflict management, decisionmaking/goal-orientation, and leadership. These dimensions are not only important for a manager’s success in APAC, but on a worldwide scale. † â€Å"Andreas,† countered Weitmann, â€Å"what are your conclusions based on? We need dimensions that have been empirically verified.Altho ugh it is great that you have your opinion, what we need are empirically validated dimensions. † â€Å"Well, I would like to settle this dispute,† replied Bettina Carter, a German lawyer who had lived in California for many years, and who was now ready to explore the world of APAC with her American husband. The always down-to-earth Carter opined, â€Å"Clearly, this is easy. We simply use the German dimensions and adapt them to the management positions in APAC. I am certain that everybody here knows that these are the dimensions mentioned by Mueller earlier. Koch, who was already feeling mentally exhausted from listening to the discussion, said: Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 8 9B07C041 I neither have the time nor the energy to be debating these arguments. Our hands are full and even though we’re going in the right direction, it is only a first step to come up with dimensions. I am in charge of everything here and I would like to avoid losing my head over these debates. Let’s vote. Who agrees with the dimensions suggested by Sabine?Silence took over the room. â€Å"Who will support the dimensions outlined by Andreas? † The vote was suddenly interrupted by a cellular phone ringing in the tone of an alarm system. â€Å"Sorry, sorry about that,† apologized the Chinese trainee, who was no longer writing the meeting minutes, but instead trying to control his cell phone. Koch concluded: There you go! It is official and we agree. I hereby announce that the job requirements for the selection of managers be assessed on six dimensions: planning/organizing, initiative, adaptability, conflict management, decision-making/goal-orientation, and leadership.These dimensions will be used for managers in all departments (e. g. sales and marketing, purchasing, supply chain management, finance, and accou nting) and all locations (e. g. Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Melbourne, Sydney and Shanghai). We will also incorporate vocational competencies. All recorders please write down that statement. Eventually Goldmann, the German intern, remarked with satisfaction that she could finally score with her boss: â€Å"It appears to me that the definition of the job requirements should not be done separately from the new personnel selection system module definitions.I learned in university to define certain requirements for module X and the requirements that will then be tested in another module Y. † Everybody in the room was surprised at this, and even Weitmann and Mueller complimented Goldmann for her suggestion. â€Å"Yes, this is a very good proposition, indeed,† Weitmann said. Mueller, who saw his chance to get back to the topic, added, â€Å"We should continue with a systematic approach. Let’s decide on the modules, and then we can substantiate the job requirements per module. Sabine, surely you will agree with me on this. After the long-lasting debate, which still wasn’t very productive, Koch was now only following the discussion half-heartedly. Similarly, the Chinese trainee was on the verge of falling into a deep trance. Koch decided he would no longer intervene on the discussions, â€Å"Now I am just going to sit in on this meeting,† he thought to himself. These people are beating around the bush and are trying to profile themselves at my cost. I am under Mr. Koenig’s pressure, being spied on by the headquarters’ staff employees, in a city that is still strange to me, and without any hope for improvement.With a loud voice he blurted out, â€Å"What shall it be,† and everybody in the room looked at him in an alienated fashion. â€Å"Is everything OK? † the German intern Goldmann, who found this behaviour extremely strange, asked with worry. She remembered an introductory course of clini cal psychology and believed that this behaviour could be an indication of a pathological disorder. However, Koch replied, â€Å"Yes, of course, everything is perfectly fine,† which temporarily reassured Goldmann.It was now Koch’s intention to fulfill his leading role by trying to motivate his team members to move on to the next important issue: the definition of the modules and the job requirements for each module. Dai Wei responded, We have been working on this question for a very long time, and after several modifications and discussions, we finally agreed. We think as a team that a multinational Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 9 9B07C041 Yes, Dai Wei,† replied Yue Yu, who was always intent to maintain harmony. Weitmann, who was still a bit annoyed because her suggestion regarding the competencies was rejected, stated: Dai Wei , you forgot an important module. When I attended an international conference in Philadelphia, I had the opportunity to meet an internationally-known scientist. Like me, the professor considers it essential to use standardized testing procedures. The professor has shown empirical evidence that validity of personnel selection increases if psychometric testing procedures are used in addition to other modules.For that reason, I advocate for intelligence tests and personality tests to be added to the personnel selection system. We have discussed this before and my suggestion was received positively. Replied Mueller: Sabine, your test knowledge is impressive, but unfortunately such procedures will lead us into a dead-end street. As you know, standardized tests have several disadvantages. They are not generally highly accepted and cultural problems exist. Are you aware of any intelligence or personality tests that can be applied equally worldwide and for which there are test theoretical i ndices available?Weitmann, getting worked up about the topic, responded, â€Å"Well, these are minor problems, and if we need to we can ask our interns, trainees or HR assistants to develop such standardized tests. Or we could assign an external consulting firm to the task. † Carter, who in the meantime was scrolling through her voluminous labour law book, jumped into the conversation: I don’t think we should debate this issue any further. We have already decided several weeks ago to include testing procedures in the selection process. Just to be sure, I will confirm that the testing procedures coincide with the labour laws.We should now concentrate on how the individual modules will look and what skills should be covered in which module. â€Å"That is a good suggestion,† agreed Dai Wei. Increasingly gripped by this trend-setting suggestion, Mueller now cleared his throat and offered to summarize the contents of the modules: After due consideration, we have come to the conclusion that the first step of this multinational personnel selection system will be conducted in a similar manner at all Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. election system for APAC should be two-tiered. The first tier consists of three modules: a viewing of the candidates’ application documents, a telephone conference with the applicants that should be conducted in an unstructured manner, and the obtaining of three references from former employers. Unlike the current procedures, references should not only be used to verify past employment and the duration of employment, but also include a statement regarding the candidate’s personality. Four modules will follow in the second tier.Specifically, a panel interview, a biography-oriented in-depth interview, a simulated group exercise, and testing procedures. Does everybody still agree on these modules and the two-tiered system? Page 10 9B07C041 Koch stepped in, â€Å"Thanks, Andreas for your summary. Dai, could you please illustrate the second tier modules in an equally precise fashion? † â€Å"I will try,† taking a deep breath, Dai Wei said: The second level of the selection process will consist of — as already mentioned — a panel interview, a biography-oriented in-depth interview, a simulated group exercise, and a test.The purpose of the panel interview is to obtain detailed information about the candidate with respect to the required skills Andreas just summarized. That means that the competencies will be evaluated in this module of the selection process. The panel interview is a standardized exercise based on the critical-incident-technique. The candidate describes one critical situation and his or her behaviour in each situation for each of the six job requirements. Instructions and questions for the candidates have already been p repared.I will give you an example for the dimension â€Å"planning/organization. † The instructions will read: â€Å"An efficient manager has to be capable of organizing his or her agenda well in order to achieve specific goals. This includes, but is not limited to, prioritizing competing tasks well and delegating tasks to other employees in a timely fashion. Discuss a time last year when you had to keep a tight and challenging schedule. Also include methods you usually apply for time management. This introductory instruction will be followed by five open-ended questions that have to be answered by each candidate. An example for the dimension â€Å"planning/organization† is as follows: â€Å"Think about an event in which you showed previously discussed skills. Explain the circumstances. Describe precisely what you have done in order to manage this situation. What was the outcome? Who will be able to verify what you have described here? † The candidate will rec eive similar questions for the remaining five dimensions. Each candidate will be given an hour to prepare his or her answers.Afterwards, they will be given 30 minutes to present the results, with panel members given the opportunity for queries. Each candidate will then receive a score for each dimension (e. g. 5 being outstanding, 3 being acceptable, and 1 being unacceptable). The scores will then be Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. locations. Module one, a viewing of the candidates’ application documents, shall be conducted by applying the â€Å"6-eye-method. That is, three persons will be analyzing the applicant’s documents regarding his or her suitability for the targeted position. The result of this analysis is a preliminary selection of candidates. Individual telephone conferences with the remaining candidates will follow. The confere nces will be attended by the candidate and two members of our team: the supervisor at the site in APAC and one person from the German headquarters. The conference shall be conducted in an unstructured manner with everyone having the opportunity to ask the candidate questions.The goal of the conference will be to verify the candidate’s suitability for the position, his or her motivation for the position, and to obtain a general, overall impression of the candidate. If a consensus is reached that the candidate is suitable for the considered position three references from former employers or colleagues will next be obtained. As you all know, the reference system has paid off well in Europe, especially because it enabled us to identify all those cheaters and impostors. This will likely be doable in Asia as well.In the case that the references are predominantly positive, the first level of the selection process is completed. Subsequently, the candidate will have to pass the module s of the second tier. Dai Wei, would you like to illustrate the modules of the second tier in detail? Page 11 9B07C041 â€Å"Let’s move forward to the second module in the second tier: the in-depth biography-oriented interview. † Dai Wei continued: At this stage we verify a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, but the primary objective is to gain insights into the candidate’s private and professional past.The in-depth biography-oriented interview shall be conducted by a psychologist. We are especially interested in the candidate’s expectations, how parents and other family members have influenced him or her, how cultural background affects his or her decisions, and possible untreated conflicts the candidate may have to face. The interview shall not be oriented towards job requirements, but instead consider the candidate’s complete life span and be of a general nature. Following this in-depth biography-oriented interview, a psychological opi nion shall be furnished.This opinion will be filed in our documents, without the candidate having the right to view it. It is important that the interviewer and the candidate have the same cultural background in order to prevent any possible misunderstanding during the interview (e. g. a candidate for a position in China shall be interviewed by a Chinese psychologist). Although this requirement may create additional expenses, we find it justifiable and needed to ensure an accurate expert opinion on the candidate’s qualifications is obtained. â€Å"Dr. Koch,† Dai Wei said, â€Å"What do you think about this approach? â€Å"I am not quite sure at the moment,† Koch responded, â€Å"I think it is very likely that a few of the suggestions just are not feasible given the high costs involved. For now, I am not able to say anything definite. We will have to wait. † Exhausted by the long-lasting discussions, it was becoming more and more difficult for Koch to sta y focused and absorb the arguments. He noticed that Yue Yu had not spoken out on anything, including the rivalry between Weitmann and Mueller Koch was convinced, as he could see in many different situations that a leader should stay out of these issues. One could not change things anyway. Change,† it crossed Koch’s mind, â€Å"Can one change a situation, in one’s life? No, people never change. Neither do circumstances in life. You get thrown in and there is no way out, and it would be a hopeless undertaking to try it. † Koch tried to take control over the situation again: â€Å"Well, let’s move on to the two last modules of the selection system. Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. summarized, forming the basis for the decision as to the panel’s level of recommendation.We discussed for a lengthy time whether we shoul d inform the candidates in advance about the dimensions (e. g. the meaning of each). In order to guarantee transparency for the candidate, we decided to inform them of all dimensions a priori. It is our hope that this will increase a candidate’s acceptance and understanding of the module’s purpose. Furthermore, we discussed whether the critical incidents should be presented in English, or whether they should also be available in other languages. We discussed the pros and cons thoroughly. From my own experience, it is difficult at times to communicate to someone in a second language.We decided it would be best to give the candidates the option of answering the questions in their language of choice. The instructions and questions will therefore be translated by professional translators from English into the particular language. In order to guarantee accuracy in the translation, the instructions and questions will be translated into English again (i. e. the back translati on technique). Although this extra translation step may appear as more work, it is warranted to ensure the translation is indeed reflective of its original content.These extra expenses can offer a tremendous advantage, especially for the Shanghai location. We are certain that we can effectively cover relevant dimensions that are cross-culturally important with this method. A separate pre-test is not designated. Page 12 9B07C041 Sabine, please explain modules three and four. How do they look? What competencies do they include? Are there any culture-specific adaptations that need to be dealt with? † Weitmann eagerly began to inform her colleagues about the modules: I can certainly do that.We are looking at a simulated group exercise and the adoption of standardized test procedures. The group exercise has been integrated in order to acquire typical dimensions, which are usually diagnosed in assessment centres, in a similar way. The assignment of an assessment centre for one or tw o days and the culture-specific adaptations would mean increased expenses. For these reasons, we have excluded this option, and alternatively will be using simulated group discussions. The candidate and three professional role players will participate in the leaderless group discussions. The role layers have to complete a two-day-long training session, after which they will receive an internal certificate stating that they can act as professional role players. Prior to the group discussions, the role players will receive specific instructions containing standardized roles. The role players include the â€Å"devil’s advocate,† whose task is to contradict the candidate’s opinion, the â€Å"supporter,† who is always on the candidate’s side, and the â€Å"viewless one,† who does not participate in the argument, but who will propose opinions that don’t have anything to do with the topic at all.Prior to the discussion, each participant will be informed about the topic. The chosen topic should deal with issues that contribute to the development of the employees in their own department. The topic shall be identical APAC-wide. We have deliberately chosen a topic away from specific skills in order to allow each candidate equal chances for the completion of this task. Naturally, candidates with strong leadership skills will have advantages over those who have only been in a leading position for a short time.The candidate will not be informed that the discussants are role players with specific assignments. The dimensions that will be evaluated in the group discussions include communication, cooperation, stress tolerance/resilience, assertiveness, and ambiguity tolerance. The roles and individual instructions will only be available in English in order to standardize the exercises cross-nationally. The group discussions shall also be carried out in English. The candidate will be given 15 minutes to prepare for the discussion after the topic has been revealed.The whole discussion will be video-taped. This recording will then be made available to three independent observers, who will ideally come from different countries. It is their task to observe the candidates’ behaviour during the discussion, and to assess the candidates’ behaviour with respect to all relevant dimensions and in compliance to the behavioural scale available to the observers. Additionally, each observer has the opportunity to write down his observations qualitatively.The observations of all observers will then be collected and statistically converted into a final score for each candidate. It is important to mention that every observer, who can be recruited from any hierarchical level, must pass an observer training course that teaches the basics of behavioural observation, the meaning and importance of such exercises, the dimensions, behavioural indicators for each dimension, as well as the role players’ assignment s of their specific roles. That concludes all the information we have gathered on the simulated group discussion.Goldmann, interrupted: Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 13 9B07C041 I don’t want to be rude, but isn’t it important to take the candidate’s perspective into consideration, as well? I mean, if the candidate has no clue about the situation in which he or she is in, he or she deserves clarification as well as extensive feedback once the group discussion is completed. I think that extensive feedback, in both oral and written form, must absolutely follow the module. It is nice that you think that,† Mueller countered: Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. But unfortunately nobody cares about th e candidate’s perspective. We are interested in choosing the right person, certainly not in satisfying the applicants. What horseplay — these never-ending discussions on fairness and acceptance. Reality differs significantly from the ideal procedures we are taught in university, my dear.It is really annoying the kind of stuff that is being taught at our renowned universities, and most likely by professors that have not seen much outside of their institutes, let alone in a company. Goldmann, who only wanted to contribute with a suggestion, was obviously upset about the comment. She could barely hold back her tears as she marched out of the conference room. The Chinese trainee followed her with the intention of calming her down, losing the handouts he had prepared for the meeting and that he was supposed to distribute beforehand.Finally, Yue Yu ran out of the room and into the female washroom, where she found Goldmann looking miserable, in tears and close to a nervous br eakdown. â€Å"Dr. Koch,† Carter, who saw herself responsible to demonstrate her judicial knowledge, advised: I think that this argument has merit to it. Candidate feedback is important. Just imagine the consequences and damaging results of not providing feedback. Feedback should not be underestimated. I am particularly thinking about rejected candidates. ComInTec cannot afford these kinds of mistakes. † Koch agreed only partly and replied: Mrs.Carter, now you have subscribed to this view, too. Do you have any precedent? As you know, all candidates receive feedback in writing regarding their overall impression. As you should know further, this feedback does not cover any specific dimension or module, but it offers a very good general conclusion. Should candidates be interested in the impression they made, they simply need to read the report. That should be sufficient. I do not agree that we should focus on unpleasant feedback, or would you like to conduct all of those c onversations yourself, Mrs. Carter?Now the psychologist jumped into the discussion, acting as a mediator. She pointed out the following: The question regarding the feedback should not be our priority. We still need to discuss module four. I am talking about the testing procedures that have to be included in the selection system. As I have mentioned before, it is essential to use psychometric testing procedures. Insofar, module four consists of an intelligence test and a personality test that every candidate has to complete. That gives us indicators for â€Å"general intelligence† as well as for the â€Å"big five. The specific test procedures will be used still have to be specified for each country of course. But I am convinced that we will be able to manage that. Page 14 9B07C041 With the Goldmann still in the bathroom crying, there was only one recorder left, which resulted in much of the meeting no longer being documented. Dai Wei, who had returned to the meeting and was trained in presentation techniques, felt obligated to conclude the points that were most important with the use of a flip chart: If I may conclude, we have decided that the ersonnel selection system consists of two tiers that include several modules. We have specified these modules in content and procedures. Hence, we have achieved the first step of our meeting. We intended furthermore to specify the adaptations for each target country and how to implement those modules. We need to next reach a consensus on the second and third goal of this meeting. Koch commented: Dai Wei, what are you thinking? It is already 1:30 p. m. and that means that the time for our meeting is more than up. We won’t be able to decide on the remaining points today.I expect that the recorders will make a flawless and written report available by 9:00 Wednesday morning. Please pass this on to Sarah and Yue Yu. This will give me time to review all the meeting minutes and finalize any unresolved issues. You should expect a final copy of the resolutions on the multinational selection system to be available by Friday at 9 a. m. With respect to the issues that were not resolved today, I will make the decisions myself and include them in the report. This resolution shall also deal with the questions that we could not look into, due to the lack of time today.I don’t care how you will do it – just do it. Thank you for your attendance at this meeting, Dai Wei, Sabine, Mrs. Carter, Andreas, and honourable sir of staff. † With these words, Koch terminated the meeting. Due to the lengthy meeting, there was no lunch break. This particularly bothered the Chinese team members, but it was not voiced. Koch believed that Asians set a high value on lunch breaks because they highly value food and money. Unfortunately, Koch could not be bothered to worry about it — according to him, food and money were the lower motivators on the Maslow Pyramid of needs.He muttered under his b reath: Those Asians, it’s always just about food, money, and shopping, and they are continuously on the phone — what do they have to tell each other all the time? How often do I see them yelling at each other in Chinese, hard and ruthlessly, whereas they always show me a smile? You never know what they really think, and when I ask them they tell me something positive anyways. Negative remarks in front of the boss are obviously a big taboo, and the word ‘no’ does not seem to exist in their vocabulary.Right after the meeting, Koch went straight to his office and did not come out again for the rest of the afternoon. Koch received the meeting minutes on Wednesday and wrote his final report for Koenig. Koch later received a short notice sent by Koenig via e-mail on Friday afternoon. Koenig informed him that important basic conditions and necessary adaptations had not been taken into consideration sufficiently in the new multinational personnel selection system; therefore, he had handed the case over to global headquarters.In addition, the e-mail stated that there would be staff-related consequences for his department in Hong Kong. In response, Koch sat down to write a long letter to Koenig’s attention. Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 15 9B07C041 Exhibit 1 DIMENSIONS AND INDICATORS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES (HOFSTEDE) Power Distance: Degree to which society members accept an unequal distribution of power.Characteristics of large power distance: Inequalities among people are expected and desired. Less powerful people should depend on the more powerful authoritarian values Organizational hierarchy reflects inequality between higher-ups and lower-downs Centralization is popular Subordinates expect to be told what to do Wide salary range between top and bottom of organization The ideal boss is a benevole nt autocrat or good father Privileges and status symbols are popular Uncertainty Avoidance: Degree to which society members feel uncomfortable by uncertain or unknown situations.Characteristics of strong uncertainty avoidance: Uncertainty is felt as threat, feeling of anxiety Fear of ambiguous situations What is different, is dangerous Suppression of deviant ideas Resistance to innovation Motivation by security Masculinity/Femininity: Masculinity pertains to societies in which social gender roles are clearly distinct (i. e. men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success whereas women are supposed to be more modest, tender and concerned with the quality of life); femininity pertains to societies in which social gender roles overlap (i. e. both men and women are supposed to be modest, ender, and concerned with the quality of life). (pp. 82-83). Characteristics of masculine societies: Dominant values are material objects and success Money and things are import ant Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Men are supposed to be assertive, ambitious, and tough Women are supposed to be tender and take care of relationships Girls cry, boys don’t Live in order to work Stress on equity, competition among colleagues, and performance Resolution of conflicts by fighting them outPage 16 9B07C041 Exhibit 1 (continued) Characteristics of feminine societies: Dominant values are caring for others and maintenance of relationships People and warm relationships are important Men and women are both supposed to be tender and take care of relationships Work in order to live Stress on equality, solidarity and quality of work life Resolution of conflicts by compromise and negotiation Individualism/Collectivism: â€Å"Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look af ter himself or herself and his or her immediate family.Collectivism as its opposite pertains to societies in which people from birth on are integrated into strong, cohesive ingroups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyality. † (p. 51).Characteristics of individualist societies: Individual interests prevail over collective interests Identity is based on the individual Employer-employee relationship is a contract that is supposed to be based on mutual advantages Hiring and promotion decisions are supposed to be based on skills and rules only Management is management of individuals Task prevails over relationship Characterisitcs of collectivist societies: Loyalty for the ingroup (family) Identity is based on the social network to which one elongs Harmony should always be maintained and direct confrontations should be avoided Employer-employee relationship is perceived in moral terms, like a family link Hiring and pr omotion decisions take employees’ ingroups into account Management is management of groups Relationship prevails over task Source: Geert Hofstede, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, London, 1991.Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13. Page 17 9B07C041 Exhibit 2 ASPECTS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: ANGLO VERSUS ASIAN Asian Collectivism: â€Å"related self† Group identity, group achievement & rewards, group loyalty, â€Å"guanxi† High power distance (hierarchy) Low power distance (equality) – Work allocation based on competence, rather – Age/seniority is King! Formal interactions than age – Do without asking – Partnership is encouraged – Empowerment regarded as a threat – Informal interactions – Empowerment is the key to growth Control Harmony – Individuals take control â€⠀œ Be in harmony with others rather than show – Free expressions initiative or take charge – Disagreements and differences are not a threat – Emphasis on politeness, respect and emotional restraint – Difference maintains harmony; equality upsets harmony Secular Religious/spiritual – Keep your religion to yourself – In Muslim countries, workplace, ethics, codes of behavior and dress are guided by Muslim religious teachings – Time off during working hours for prayers for Muslims Circular thinking (high context) Linear thinking (low context) – Circling around the topic – Speech and argument patterns are linear – Colorful and flowery language in India – Ideas backed by explanations and examples – Concise – Hate waffling Shame/Lose Face Guilt – Governed by own conscience and internal – â€Å"What will others say? – Group pressure to maintain group reputation sense of right and wrong – â€Å"Give face† — don’t question your leader – â€Å"Lose face† — look bad when publicly challenged – â€Å"Save face† — don’t own up your own mistakes – â€Å"Gain face† — look good when praised in public – â€Å"Thick face† — no shame, don’t care – â€Å"Show face† — manager visits your home – â€Å"Got face† — speech, behavior, dress reflect status in a family, business, or community – Anglo Individualism: â€Å"separated self† Unique, personal space, goals, achievements Licensed to the University of Regina for use by Professor Sandra Steen in the course â€Å"MBA/GBUS 843 Strategic HR Management,† from 01/07/13 to 04/30/13.