Do Children Benefit When Their Teacher Speaks Their Second Language Research Proposal

Do Children Benefit When Their Teacher Speaks Their Second Language - Research Proposal Example This report talks that biculturalism refers to a process wherein individuals learn to function in two distinct socio-cultural environments: their primary culture, and that of the dominant mainstream culture of the society in which they live. Setting these two worlds apart is their language. Language barriers not only hinder or slow down the learning process, it also inhibits the child’s socializing capabilities. There is a sense of alienation that sets in, inside the classroom that manifests in myriad ways, like aggression, extreme shyness and the eventual drop out situation. This essay makes a conclusion that teachers who understand and appreciate culturally different strengths and funds of knowledge are more likely to provide enriching and responsive learning environments that celebrate and capitalize on children’s cultural differences. As students themselves, most teachers were socialized in mainstream schools for at least 12 years and often attended teacher preparation programs grounded in the mainstream culture. Beginning the journey toward increased cultural competence requires teachers to rethink their assumptions and consider life’s issues through the lenses of people who come from cultural backgrounds different from their own. Teachers cannot hope to begin to understand who sits before them unless they can connect with the families and communities from which their children come. To do that it is vital that teachers and teacher educators explore their own beliefs and attitudes about non-white and non-middle-class people.

Answering quistions regarding to the personal statment Essay

Answering quistions regarding to the personal statment - Essay Example In view of this self-awareness would give me the impetus for being employed since I would be able to properly articulate my knowledge ability and skills set to prospective employers succinctly without stuttering. From the feedback, I have learnt that my communication skills, especially in giving specific details about me are quite poor and therefore need to be improved greatly to give the right impression to prospective employers. I have also learnt that I have a great potential in me of being an effective communicator by concentrating on the major issues through pin pointing the specifics of the issues I am talking about rather than applying generalizations. Another important lesson from the feedback is that there is urgent need for me to do a thorough research of the specificities of the practical nature and varieties of possible job openings in my field of specialization and their specific entry requirements. In relation to my key strengths, I would have indicated that as an electrical and electronics engineer, my personal organization skills would be helpful in prioritization of tasks allowing free flow of operations that my work supports. Responsibilities in electrical and electronics engineering involve the application of diagnostic expertise and tests for identifying and determining the sources of electrical faults and interpreting the error codes and in-built indicators of faults. Other crucial tasks involve design transformation into actual outcomes. . These tasks require high level of organization and keenness. My ability to handle pressure would enable me deal with situations like total collapse of systems quickly without any delays, to restore maximum performance of systems in the shortest time possible. I will achieve this through quick and accurate interpretation of circuit diagrams. My high standards of excellence would be instrumental in accurately analyzing information in

The Crisis in Darfur

The Crisis in Darfur Maddie Palmer The War in Darfur, a region in Sudan, has been the reason for mass slaughter and rape of Darfur men, women, and children. The U.S. named it The Genocide.Powersearch The war in Darfur has been called the worst humanitarian crisis of the century and its effects are still seen today. The UN wanted to help so the UN Security Council visited the President to try to get approval. The Crisis in Darfur is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan due to the Sudanese burning villages murdering, raping, and more. The UN Security Council visited the President wanting approval to end human rights violations taking place in Darfur. Muslim festivals are timed to local sightings of various phases of the moon. Revolution day in Sudan is a national holiday, that commemorates the bloodless coup of 1989. Revolution day is on June 30. The African nation in Sudan is a country with strong Islamic and Christian influences. Partially ruled by Islamic law, the type of clothes worn in Sudan is similar to those worn in the surrounding nations of Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia. The climate also usually affects how the dress. The UN has warned that violent attacks on international peacekeepers and civilians in Sudans conflict-torn Darfur region have been increasing, forcing tens of thousands of people out of their homes. Darfur has been turmoil since 2003, when ethnic Africans revolted accusing the Arab domination Sudanese government of discrimination. Hassan Hamid Hassan, Sudans deputy UN ambassador, told the Security Council that the violence and displacements were mainly due to tribal clashes and attacks by rebels, not government forces. In the past twenty years, Darfur has been in a disastrous famine. Darfur is affected by poor rainfall, resulting in sudden market fluctuation, livelihood changes and displacement. The May 2010, West Darfur Food Security Monitoring Survey reported that the cost of a minimum health food basket has increased 14% between February and May of 2011. In recent years, the percent of food insecure households has decreased but it was still a staggering 45% in 2008. Access to clean water in 2007 stood at 76%, while 3 million conflict-affected people had access to basic health services. The Bush administration invested heavily in negotiating an end to the north-south was, and the signing earlier this year to a formal peace agreement-however limited and flawed-must be recognized as a major foreign policy achievement. But precisely because of the administrations investment in a north-south agreement, including the appointment Senator John Danforth as a special envoy to Sudan, there was a widespread reluctant within the State Department to hold Khartoum accountable for the genocide that was clearly unfolding in early 2004, when north-south negotiations had entered their final phase. The thinking by U.S. officials involved in the negotiations, and their British and Norwegian counterparts, was that pressing the National Islamic Front regime too hard on Darfur would undermine the chances of consummating the north-south agreement. But this diplomatic strategy was of course transparent to Khartoum and thus perversely provided an incentive for the regime to extend negotiations as long as possible-always promising a light at the end of the diplomatic tunnel.(People Involved) The last issue of substance between Khartoum and the southern Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement was resolved in a protocol signed by all parties in late May 2004. Two weeks later, following months of terrifying reports from human rights groups, the State Department announced that it would begin an investigation to determine whether Khartoum was guilty of genocide in Darfur. The close sequence of dates was not a coincidence. But a tremendous amount of the violent destruction in Darfur had already been accomplished by June 2004; indeed, this marks the approximate point in the conflict at which deaths from malnutrition and disease began to exceed those from violence. Moreover, Khartoum continued to use the north-south peace agreement as a threat, declaring with brazen confidence that if it were pushed too hard on Darfur, the negotiated agreement might be endangered. The agreements final signing ceremony occurred in Nairobi on January 9, 2005; the inauguration of a new government took place six months later, on July 9, 2005; the killing in Darfur, of course, continues. The AU began to deploy a small number of monitors to Darfur following a ceasefire signed in April 2004 in NDjamena, Chad. A commitment in late summer 2004 to increase the monitoring force to approximately 3,500 went unfulfilled for over half a year, and during this time the AU was unable to secure from Khartoum a mandate for civilian protection-only a mandate to monitor the largely nonexistent ceasefire. Recently, the AU has said it will increase its force to 7,700 by September, and possibly 12,000 by spring 2006.(The AU deployed) As many have recognized, the AU is quite unable to deploy to this force-level with its own resources and NATO, as a consequence, has very recently agreed to provide logistics and transport capacity. The bigger problem, however, is that even with NATOs help, the nascent AU Peace and Security Commission is simply not up to this mission if the goal for Darfur is adequate protection for civilians and humanitarian operations.(NATOs help) Works Cited Darfur Crisis: Death Estimates Demonstrates Severity of Crisis, but Their Accuracy and Credibility Could Be Enhanced: GAO-07-24. GAO Reports (2006): 1. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 7 Feb. 2017. Darfur. Britannica School, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 15 Jun. 2015. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/28769. Accessed 6 Feb. 2017. Jumbert, Maria Gabrielsen. Third World Quarterly 35.2 (2014): 284-99. History Reference Center. Web. United Nations Childrens Fund. Funk Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. N.p.: World Book, 2016. 1p. 1. Funk Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 7 Feb. 2017. Van De Walle, Nicolas. Making and Unmaking Nations: War, Leadership, and Genocide in Modern Africa/From War to Genocide: Criminal Politics in Rwanda, 1990-1994. Foreign Affairs 95.3 (2016): 189. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 7 Feb. 2017.

The Pearl Essays -- Literary Analysis, John Steinbeck

In history there are a variety of tragic events that influence everything that surrounds them, such as World War II. World War II changed societies, recast intellectual assumption, altered racial and gender relations, and more. (Lee 5) Because of World War II, it helped the author John Steinbeck into writing the novel The Pearl. In the novel the main setting of the story took place in Mexico, as well as the Gulf of California. This setting was chosen by the author because â€Å"Indians of Mexico had been under the domination of people of Spanish decent† (Barron’s14). In the story you can see the different styles of living compared to rich and poor. Kino and his family didn’t have much money and were established at the bottom of the social class. Kino lived where â€Å"across the brush fence were other brush houses, and the smoke came from them too, and the sound of breakfast† (Steinbeck 2). On the other hand the upper class live a different lifestyle compared to Kino. Where the doctor lived he had money and was located â€Å"where the brush houses stopped and the city of stone and plaster began, the city of harsh outer walls and inner cool gardens† (Steinbeck 5). The reader can clearly see the two different styles of living in the novel. In the novel the characters are div ided into different social classes depending on how much money they have. Steinbeck created characters that fit the setting. In order for Steinbeck to figure out what kind of characters he wanted in his story he was an â€Å"observer of human nature† (Barron’s 1). The majority of Steinbeck’s characters were â€Å"down and out, isolated and oppressed† (Barron’s 1). The author wanted to show the struggle between the rich and the poor. By keeping this theme Steinbeck created the charac... ...any money. I, I alone in the world supposed to work for nothing† (Steinbeck 7). This shows the doctors greed for money. All the doctor cares about is if his patients have the money to pay for his work, otherwise he doesn’t have any sympathy for anybody especially Kino’s race. The doctor grew up as â€Å"a race which for nearly a hundred years had beaten and starved and robbed and despised Kino’s race† (Steinbeck 6). Cleary the doctor is similar to the Americans and how they treat other ethnicities because of their differences. Kino was treated the same way the Mexicans were. They both were judge for who they were and their own beliefs. Clearly there was a similarity to what happened in World War II and The Pearl, Kino and the Mexicans were mistreated throughout and had to face the hardships in life struggling to survive with their families.

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail Essay

Those who fail to plan, plan to fail, or at least plan not to improve, according to the management literature. Look at school improvement, and there’s similar agreement pretty much across the literature that the schools that improve are the ones that plan. They establish a clear educational vision and consequent shared mission; identify goals or objectives that enable them to achieve that mission and thereby realise that vision; audit themselves, thereby identifying areas for improvement; and develop and implement educational programs on the basis of leadership 57 that audit that address areas for improvement n ways that help them achieve the mission. That process, much of the literature suggests, is recursive or cyclical. The key in the school improvement literature seems to be that there’s a first step, identifying your vision and shared mission, that then informs the next step, the planning process of identifying goals or objectives aligned with the vision and mission. Whether you look at the management literature or the school improvement literature, at its simplest, goal setting is a way of asking what do we want, do we have what we need so that we can develop and implement what we plan, do our various goals elate to one another or are any in conflict, and is there anything we’ve overlooked, including internal and external blockers? There, in 200 or so words, you have the whole easy-peasy school improvement planning story, and can stop reading and go and get that coffee right now. Or not. The problem, if you’re still reading, is that planning and goal setting can sometimes lead to fragmented, uncoordinated programs with conflicting objectives that actually work against one another. Yes, setting specific, challenging goals, and developing and implementing educational programs to meet them can drive school mprovement, but as Adam Galinsky, author with Lisa Ordonez, Maurice Schweitzer and Max Bazerman of ‘Goals gone wild,’ in the 58 teacher june/july 2009 Journal of the Academy of Management Perspectives, told the Boston Globe’s Drake Bennett, goal setting ‘can lead to crazy behaviours to get people to achieve them. ’ ‘We contend,’ write Ordonez, Schweitzer, Galinsky and Bazerman in ‘Goals gone wild,’ ‘that goal setting has been over- prescribed. In particular, we argue that goal setting has powerful and predictable side effects. Rather than being offered as an â€Å"over-the-counter† salve for boosting performance, oal setting should be prescribed selectively, presented with a warning label and closely monitored. ’ Tunnel vision To be fair, Ordonez, Schweitzer, Galinsky and Bazerman have their eyes set on performance management, and its tendency to an outcome orientation like a defined sales target, say, or reduced time spent on a process, rather than school improvement, and its tendency to the systemic development and implementation of programs. Nonetheless, people in a school who want to improve it will end up setting, or having set for them, some kind of performanceoriented goal. The message from Ordonez, Schweitzer, Galinsky and Bazerman is that they should pursue that goal with care. Let’s consider why goals, as Ordonez and colleagues put it, go wild. The first reason, they argue, is that a goal might be inappropriate or so specific that in pursuing it, people ignore important elements of their behaviour, and maybe even their attitudes and values, that are not specified by the goal. ‘Suppose that a university department bases tenure decisions primarily on the number of articles that (academics) publish,’ they write. ‘This goal will motivate (the academics) to accomplish the narrow objective of publishing articles. Other important objectives, however, such as research impact, teaching and service, may suffer. ’ Worse, say Ordonez and colleagues, referring to Barry Staw and Richard Boettger’s ‘Task revision: A neglected form of work performance’ in the Academy of Management Journal, goals can give us tunnel vision. In their study on the effects of goals, Staw and Boettger asked students to proofread a paragraph that contained both grammatical and content errors. They found that those asked simply to ‘do your best’ corrected both grammatical and content errors, while those who were asked specifically to correct grammar gnored content, and those who were asked specifically to correct content ignored grammar. The reason? Goals ‘inform the individual about what behaviour is valued and appropriate,’ argue Staw and Boettger. The goal-setting problem, Ordonez and colleagues add, is that when we plan we tend to latch on to specific, measurable standards rather than complex sets of behaviours, and the attitudes and values that underlie them, precisely because specific standards are easy to measure and complex sets of behaviours are not. Command performance The goal-setting problem, essentially, depends n whether a goal is set by command or by consultation, negotiation or – horror – genuine collaboration. Goals set by command are, by definition, set by those with the power, whether you like it or not, to set them. The risk of such goal setting is that, first, it may lead to goals that are inappropriate or overly specific and, second, that leaders and their followers can be prone to what could be called target fixation or what Christopher Kayes, calls ‘destructive goal pursuit’ in Destructive Goal Pursuit: The Mount Everest disaster, to which Ordonez and colleagues also refer. As they note, ‘Kayes identifies warning signs of leaders who have become excessively fixated on goals. These occur in leaders who express narrowly- defined goals, associate goals with destiny, express an idealised future, offer goal-driven justifications, face public expectations and attempt to engage in face-saving behaviour. ’ It’s a useful checklist to use to audit yourself or a leader in your institution, but remember, we tend to latch on to specific measurable things rather than complex sets of behaviours, and the attitudes and values that underlie them, precisely The goal-setting problem s that when we plan we tend to latch on to specific, measurable standards†¦ because specific standards are easy to measure. leadership 59 because the specifics are easy to measure and complex sets of behaviours are not. Performance anxiety Of course, one of the main planks of the education policy of this and the previous Commonwealth government is the standards agenda – the benchmarking of student achievement outcomes, which educators and schools then strive to achieve, and which at their worst could end up as ‘league tables. ’ Whether you’re a fan of the standards agenda or not, it’s clearly the mother of all oals in Australian education, and worth considering in terms of goal setting. Ordonez and colleagues have some interesting observations to make, particularly about what they call the serious side-effects of setting challenging or so-called stretch goals. These, they argue, can lead people to choose riskier strategies and to cheat, and can create a culture of competition that erodes cooperation. On ethics, they argue, ‘The interplay between organisational culture and goal setting is particularly important. An ethical organisational culture can rein in the harmful effects of goal setting, but at the same ime, the use of goals can influence organisational culture. Specifically, the use of goal setting, like â€Å"management by objectives,† creates a focus on ends rather than means†¦. Goal setting impedes ethical decision making by making it harder for employees to recognise ethical issues and easier for them to rationalise unethical behaviour. Given that small actions within an organisation can have broad implications for organisational culture, we postulate that aggressive goal setting within an organisation will foster an organisational climate ripe for unethical behaviour. That is, not only does goal setting irectly motivate unethical behaviour, but its introduction may also motivate unethical behaviour indirectly by subtly altering an organisation’s culture. ’ Handle with care If the bad news of the government-mandated standards agenda is that there’s a risk of a form of goal setting that creates a focus on ends rather than means, the good news for schools is that the school-improvement literature puts a premium on one thing that’s evident in the first 200 words of this story: collegiality. With any luck, your school- improvement planning process and the goals that you consequently set are the result of onsultation, negotiation and collaboration, not command and, if they are, chances are yours are learning goals, not performance targets. As Ordonez and colleagues observe, performance goals inhibit learning. ‘When individuals face a complex task, specific, challenging goals may inhibit learning from experience and degrade performance compared to exhortations to â€Å"do your best. † An individual who is narrowly focused on a performance goal will be less likely to try alternative methods that could help her learn how to perform a task†¦. Overall, the narrow focus of specific goals can inspire erformance, but prevent learning. ’ As Edwin Locke and Gary Latham recommend in ‘Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey’ in American Psychologist, we should be setting ‘learning goals’ in complex situations rather than ‘performance goals. ’ The problem, as Ordonez and colleagues note, is that, ‘In practice, however, managers may have trouble determining when a task is complex enough to warrant a learning, rather than a performance, goal†¦. The goal of setting the right goals is itself a challenging affair. ’ Perhaps it’s time for a new axiom: those ho fail to plan carefully, plan at their peril.

Quantitative Analysis of Salicylates by Visible Spectroscopy

Introduction: The purpose of this lab was to learn how to use a spectrophotometer to measure the amount of light absorbed by different concentrations of salicylic acid, compare those concentrations to our unknown sample and to use the data collected to compile a graph showing the levels of absorbance of the different concentrations. Methods and materials: In this lab we used a spectrophotometer, a test tube filled with water to be used as a blank, six test tubes with different concentrations of salicylic acid ranging from 0 mg/dL to 5 mg/dL and one test tube with an unknown concentration of salicylic acid.We set the spectrophotometer to a wavelength of 540 nm. We adjusted the transmittance to 0%. Next we placed the test tube with the water into the spectrophotometer and adjusted the transmittance dial to 100%. We removed the test tube containing the water and replaced it with the first concentration of 0 mg/dL. We recorded the absorbance and repeated the test for a total of 5 reading s. We did this for each concentration. We then calculated the average of each concentration’s absorbance readings and plotted the averages onto the graph.Once we had gathered the data for our known concentrations we then repeated the procedure for our unknown concentration. We again took the average and plotted that on the absorbance curve to determine the concentration of the unknown. Observations and Data: Calibration Standard| Absorbance Reading 1| Absorbance Reading 2| Absorbance Reading 3| Absorbance Reading 4| Absorbance Reading 5| AverageAbsorbance Reading| 0 mg/dL| 0. 007| 0. 010| 0. 007| 0. 005| 0. 006| 0. 07| 0. 5 mg/dL| 0. 032| 0. 036| 0. 037| 0. 041| 0. 038| 0. 037| 1. 5 mg/dL| 0. 098| 0. 100| 0. 098| 0. 099| 0. 096| 0. 098| 2. 5 mg/dL| 0. 150| 0. 149| 0. 153| 0. 154| 0. 150| 0. 151| 3. 5 mg/dL| 0. 234| 0. 239| 0. 237| 0. 250| 0. 229| 0. 238| 5. 0 mg/dL| 0. 286| 0. 287| 0. 288| 0. 292| 0. 291| 0. 289| Unknown A| 0. 241| 0. 238| 0. 239| 0. 241| 0. 241| 0. 239| Base d on the data from the known concentrations I found our unknown to be a concentration of 3. mg/dL. Conclusions: We used a spectrophotometer to determine the concentration curve for the known samples then used both the spectrophotometer and the concentration curve to determine the concentration of the unknown sample. This technique can be used by toxicologists to determine the amount of drugs in a person’s blood. This can be helpful if there was an overdose or if the district attorney needed to know the concentration of drugs in someone’s system.

Du Telecom in the UAE Analysis Essay Sample

Du Telecom in the UAE Analysis Essay Sample Du Telecom in the UAE Business Essay Example Du Telecom in the UAE Business Essay Example At the present time, communicative technologies are the driving forces of economy and business. One can name many companies that offer similar services. As a result, a high competitiveness is present in this business. It is necessary to mention that one cannot imagine any company without mobile connection, fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV services. Such services benefit promotional and distributional policies of the organizations. Du Telecom is a bright example of success in offering telecommunication services in the UAE. The company differs from others because its missions are not only to gain profits but to contribute to the community, create innovation and business excellence and delight customers (About Du Telecom, 2014). Current paper intends to explore the activity of Du Telecom in Dubai, its business, industry structure, its external environment forces, management and financial performance of the company, as well as strategic issues. Moreover, present essay gives the recommendations how to overcome the occurred problems. Du Telecom Company Description Du Telecom is the company that has been operating in the UAE since 2000. It has a wide variety of services in the industry that is the heart of social and economic transformation. Du Telecom brings businesses and people together offering IPTV services, broadband connectivity, fixed and mobile telephony all over the UAE. The strength of the company is that it offers a data hub, carrier services, satellite services for broadcasters and internet exchange facilities. Du Telecom is a rapidly-growing business where 2,000 employees provide comfort and quality of the services. Customers of the company are from 60 countries, and such cultural diversity proves the popularity of Du Telecom in the world and its international level. The employees of this company can serve their customers in many languages. It is necessary to mention that 50% of employees are UAE nationals, but the working environment of Du Telecom is cosmopolitan. The company offers its services to 70, 000 businesses, 180,000 home services subscribers, 555,000 subscribers and 6.5 million mobile customers. These numbers prove the unbelievable success of Du Telecom. Its annual revenue is AED 10 billion. The vision of the company is noble as it tries to enhance customers life anytime and anywhere. Its values are innovations, honesty, friendship and confidence. To understand better the peculiarities of companys management and marketing it is necessary to analyze the industry structure and major competitors of Du Telecom (About Du Telecom, 2014). The Industry Structure Du Telecom consists of service centers in the UAE that provide assistance both locally and online. The head office of Du Telecom is in Dubai but the company has a complex structure. Despite a reputation and success at the local market, Du Telecom has many competitors that are driving forces of this company. They are the Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company, the Mubadala Development-owned Satellite Company and Etisalat. Without a doubt, these companies are leaders at the UAE market. It is necessary to mention that telecommunication business depends on high competitiveness and innovation (Burda, 2005). The Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company, the Mubadala Development-owned Satellite Company and Etisalat are the most recognizable telecommunication companies in the UAE. Each of them has its advantages comparing to Du Telecom. For example, the Mubadala Development-owned Satellite Company is stronger in Internet services comparing to Du Telecom. It means that Du Telecom should find the possibilities to improve its Internet opportunities. Etisalat has more international value than Du Telecom as it is extremely popular at the French market. As a result, Du Telecom should integrate at the foreign markets in order to be more competitive. To reveal the advantages and disadvantages of Du Telecom, it is necessary to conduct an internal analysis. The Internal Environment of Du Telecom The marketing strategy of Du Telecom is to win the international market the same as Etisalat. Moreover, it has all chances for doing it. The internal environment is favorable for the development of new services and implementation of the innovative technologies. One can say that Du Telecom depends on high demand and technology. First of all, the customers want mobile connection, fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV services at moderate prices. Modernization must be the main strategy for Du Telecom as innovative technologies cannot stay at the same level. Customers varying needs are the driving forces for the changes. New possibilities, challenges and situations occur under the influence of customers and lead to sustained growth. The threat of substitutes is another essential component of the internal environment. It makes Du Telecom be on the alert and ready to high competition. Competition between telecommunication systems is a natural phenomenon and that is why the company should find a possibility to use it for further development and successful operation not only at the domestic market. At the present time, customers do not doubt in the quality of Du Telecom services. The company exceeds customers expectations, making it a key to success. The experience of the company is one of the most fulfilling and richest comparing to the Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company, the Mubadala Development-owned Satellite Company and Etisalat. Moreover, Du Telecom demands additional financing and investments for collaboration with the foreign partners (Cohen, 1995). Internal Forces and Trends Considerations: Strengths Providing services that will satisfy customers needs. To locate telecommunication centers not only in big cities but small towns, as well. Implementation of Business Intelligence system for controlling the situation within the company. Creative and talented employees. Providing a broad variety of services. Successful leadership is the basement for good marketing and management. Weaknesses Contradictions between companies offerings and customers tastes. The customers can ignore telecommunication services for the sake of other companies. Additional costs and losses. Movement of labor forces. Low potential of human resources for fulfilling goals. High competition between leaders that may result in following their interests rather than companies ones. Opportunity To implement new telecommunication services. Increasing of profits. Possibility to control profits and spending. Training and learning of human resources. Improvement of services quality. Conducting trainings. Threat Spending the additional costs that could not be profitable. Changes in the structure can lead to companys issues. Inability of employees to work with it efficiently. Refusals of employees from training. Complaints and possible lawsuits. Poor leadership can lead to the failure of the company. Trend Focusing on the global market and widening its possibilities. Offering services at moderate prices, making them affordable in multiple quantities. Innovation. To develop knowledge management. Developing services and human resources. A democratic leadership. In general, the internal environment of Du Telecom benefits its development and allows its operating at the global market. However, in order to understand the probable challenges for the company, it is necessary to analyze its external environment. The External Environment of Du Telecom Economic, political, environmental, legal, technological and sociocultural factors influence the external environment of Du Telecom. Legal factors relate to paying taxes and following all governmental laws concerning telecommunication. The company should provide the security of its clients and their privacy. It means that Du Telecom should protect customers rights when they deal with using of its services. Following the legal requirements is the basement for a good image of the company. In the UAE, the governmental regulations are crucial and that is why Du Telecom should collaborate with other legal institutions. Economic factors of Du Telecom refer to the economic state of the country and such phenomenon as an economic crisis, Gross Domestic Product and unemployment. However, if the economy is at the peak of its development, it can be a driving force for selection of human resources and gaining of high profits. Another way to increase profits is to integrate at the global market and operate in the USA and the UK. Technological factors concern changes in management process and innovation in services. TV packages, mobile plans, implementation of the latest models of phones and modems are the ways of the development. The strength of such factors is that they allow the implementation of the innovative technologies. However, progress and changes demand spending additional costs. Creating a qualitative connection is another top priority of Du Telecom. The mission of the company is to improve constantly, which means that the company is on the way to innovations and technological progress. Development of human resources, satellite services, Internet exchange facilities are the driving forces of technology. Social factors of Du Telecom concern negative influence of telecommunication services on the human health. The company should conduct meetings devoting to healthy lifestyle propaganda. They create a reputable image of Du Telecom. People become more health-conscious and choose a healthy lifestyle. As a result, healthy lifestyle propaganda will serve as a promotion and advertisement for the company. Environmental factors refer to creating an ecologically friendly image of the company. Du Telecom should participate in the events promoting environmental protection and act as a sponsor, as well. Competitive Forces As to the power of buyers, Du Telecom depends on high demand of customers and technological progress. Varying needs of customers motivate Du Telecom to healthy work environment. Internship, sponsorship programs and work skills programs motivate employees to work here. The available systems of reductions and qualitative connection of telecommunication services attract customers to Du Telecom. Threat of substitutes is another dilemma of Du Telecom. The Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company, the Mubadala Development-owned Satellite Company and Etisalat can substitute Du Telecom. For this reason, it should find the ways to offer more efficient and quicker means of communication. Threat of new entry is another issue for Du Telecom that demands development of the brand image and human and financial resources. Competitive rivalry is an evident problem, but it is necessary to use it as a key factor for the innovation and changes. Du Telecom is a competitive company that has high capital costs, distribution channels, economies of scale, proprietary technology and high level of telecommunication industry (Porter, 1985). Supplier power is another factor that defines the place of the company at the market. Supplier power of Du Telecom is sufficient because it collaborates with many telecommunication companies that are its partners. Buyer power is also an important aspect in the telecommunication business. In this sphere, the company deals with individual and industrial buyers. One cannot say that power of industrial and individual customers is high. That is why it can negatively influence selling of the company. Related and supporting industries of Du Telecom include but are not limited to the phone and computer manufacturing companies. Management Performance Management performance is a tool used to benefit Du Telecom. Employees are essential assets of the company. Therefore, it is important for managers to ensure that their workforce is always effective and efficient. The performance appraisals of employees and team performance are the ways of improving management performance. Du Telecom uses the Balanced Scorecard, the Business Intelligence System, as well as the Evaluation Management System. They are perfect innovations in the world of business that benefit and contribute to the development of performance management. They help overcome weaknesses and reinforce strengths of the company. It is recommended to use the measurement performance systems in the organizations. The following systems provide an opportunity for Du Telecom to develop and innovate (Rumelt, 1980). It is evident that the management performance of Du Telecom is not perfect and has some drawbacks. Du Telecom deals with such human resource issues as productivity, arranging and carrying out training, recruiting employees and preventing discrimination. Productivity of the company can be low due to the incompetence of employees or high competitiveness at the market. Management of Du Telecom is diverse, and the cases of discrimination are not typical for the company. Management team of Du Telecom includes experienced managers such as Osman Sultan, Farid Faraidooni, Fahad Al Hassawi, Ananda Bose, Amer Kazim and Ibrahim Hassan Abdulla Nassir. Management activity of Du Telecom refers to the improvement of human resources, strategic planning, talent and knowledge learning and training (Barney, 2012). Financial Performance Du Telecom financial success is defined by the revenue earned from sales of products and the provision of services. After having analyzed the financial results of Du Telecom, it is evident that the company has high performance. The increasing number of competitors is a basis for further development of Du Telecom. This table of revenue and profit reveals that Du Telecom shows colossal growth. Such drastic increase proves that the right business strategy is applied by the company. Though Du Telecom is a young company, it can become one of the leading and competitive companies in the market due to its hard work, persistence and constant development. It is evident that the annual revenue of the company is constantly growing. It should be noted that the main goal of Du Telecom is to move in the same direction. Du Telecom needs a rapid expansion from the local market to the international one in order to keep its success. The operating income loss is the result of the increased market costs. The use of an aggressive subscriber acquisition strategy can help Du Telecom increase its revenue. Strategic Issues of Du Telecom Du Telecom can deal with complaints of customers regarding price, employees service and telecommunication quality. It means that the company should find the compromises with customers in order to avoid lawsuits. There are services that are priced higher than in its competitors and it can lead to losing customers. The wrong price strategy can result in decline of profits and that is why Du Telecom should regulate its prices. One cannot say that Du Telecom is successful in its distribution strategy in full measure. Du Telecom can have delays or lateness in delivering the products and services. Du Telecom promotion can cost more than expected and as every business wants to minimize its spending. The wrong promotion strategy can lead to decreasing of Du Telecom brand value. Weaknesses of Du Telecom Expensiveness Some telecommunication services are not cheap. Hence, demands for the services of Du Telecom may decrease due to its expensiveness. The company should adapt its prices to its customers. It can propose and put in practice a flexible system of reductions. Service Quality The clients of Du Telecom may complain about the quality of services. It means that Du Telecom should take care of its reputation and satisfy all needs and demands of its clients. It can be stated that products and services of Du Telecom are not of low quality; though, sometimes unpleasant situations with products and services may occur, thus damaging the reputation of the company. Recommendations Du Telecom should use the Balanced Scorecard, the Business Intelligence System, as well as the Evaluation Management System as they are perfect innovations in the world of business that benefit and contribute to the development of the performance management. They help overcome weaknesses and reinforce strengths of the company. The company should use various surveys to determine the level of customer satisfaction. It means that the company is interested in high quality of its services and products, as well as customer satisfaction. Du Telecom should orient on the global market development. The company should follow a global strategy that is aimed at offering products interesting for customers from all over the world. Du Telecom should open new service centers and improve telecommunication quality. Customer should be at the first priority and that is why it should satisfy their personal desires concerning communication. Du Telecom should pay more attention to fast services and collaborate with companies regarding mobile connection, fixed telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV services. Du Telecom has a valuable opportunity to develop the services that will be advantageous and innovative. Production strategy of the company deals with creating of new locations for its telecommunication services. Consequently, the company builds capacity with demand and, as a result, it has not evident losses but very high profits. One recommends opening more locations, streamlining, launching new products as the ways for winning of international marketing. Du Telecom should have a competition-based pricing. One recommends offering a flexible system of reductions. Du Telecom should be sensitive to competitors prices and offer better products with similar prices to competitors as it will attract more customers. The pricing strategy has to reflect the value of a service or product. In detail, the value of the product should determine if the quality provided falls on a higher or a lower budget product scale. Expected Trends in the Future One can distinguish the following marketing objectives of Du Telecom for 2015: Becoming more competitive in the UAE. Providing available prices. Implementation of new services. Opening new locations. Development of new technologies. Attraction of more customers via promotion strategy. Du Telecom should look for new suppliers as new supply chains will benefit the production of more qualitative services. Integration into the global market is a new way to development. Du Telecom should communicate with the clients in order to know their tastes and to collaborate with competitors in order to reveal their marketing strategies. Information about Du Telecom, as well as about its products and services, is available via direct mailings, Internet and in person. Such aspect is aimed at satisfying different customers’ needs and at attracting customers from other countries in the result of marketing globalization.

Woodstock Festival Essay examples

Woodstock Festival Essay examples Woodstock Festival Essay examples Kim Novick MUS-150-SL History of Rock ‘n Roll May 12, 2015 Three Days of Music, Peace and Love In 1969 the most memorable music festival and art fair in America happened on August 15 thru August 18. This three day long gathering was called Woodstock Art and Music Festival. This event was not just about the music, it was an event that changed America. In the early 60’s the United States was in turmoil over the Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Civil Right Movement. There was also assassinations of four influential men such as Robert Kennedy, J. F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King. Sick of the violence and millions of deaths, many young men and women of their late teens to mid-twenties took their stand by rallies, protests, and attending concerts. It appeared to this young generation that the world their parents had made for them was a world full of hate and war and they wanted to distance themselves from it, creating a hippie counterculture. Calling themselves hippies because to be hip was one who is aware. They believed that they were fully aware of what they wanted, what they believed in and how they perceived the world. They wanted egalitarianism between races, peace among men and its country, and they wanted to be heard without being persecuted by the â€Å"The Establishment† which was any sort of government institution that ordered them to fight for a war they did not believe in. In 1964 the draft began for the Vietnam War. The youngest age for the draft was eighteen. It bewilder these young people that at the age of eighteen they were old enough to die for their country, but could not vote until the age twenty-one. This led to many antiwar protest. These rebellious hippies turned to music and drugs. Their choice of music was folk music and psychedelic rock. They used drugs that gave those means to explore alternate state of conscious such as LSD and marijuana. They used the â€Å"crow’s foot† designed by Gerald Holtom in the 1950s that protested against nuclear arms, as a symbol of the antiwar movem ent which by the end of the decade became the international symbol of peace. Their means of transportation was the VW bus, it was big enough to pile many friends and hitchhikers in, and so they could attend protest, concerts, and festivals. These VW buses were always painted with bright colored flowers, peace signs and messages of love or antiwar. With the introduction of birth control in the 60’s, it helped women to explore their sexual liberation. All these events helped pave the way to the three days of peace and love that become known as Woodstock Music and Art Festival an Aquarian Exposition in White Lake, New York. Michael Lang was one of the co-founders, age twenty-five, while in New York to promote a band he was managing, met and quickly become friends with fellow Brooklyn native, Artie Kornfeld. Artie Kornfeld, age twenty-six, was the youngest vice-president of Capital Records. These two self-motivated men had big ideas, one wanted to open a recording studio in Woodstock, New York and the other wanted to have a series of concerts to finance it. The only thing holding them back was neither one had the capital for such events. This is where John Roberts, age twenty-three, an inheritor of a wealthy family-owned business and Joel Rosenman, age twenty-six, whose background was in law, came into play. These two friends had ideas of their own. They wanted to write a television series about two pals with more money than brains, which every week would get into some nutty business ventures. The only problem was they could not think of any plots of their own, so they decided to put an ad in the Wall St reet Journal and in the New York Times that read: Young man with unlimited capital looking for legitimate investing opportunities and business propositions. This ad was to only look for ideas and plots for their television series. However, Lang and Kornfeld saw the ad in Wall Street Journal and though this might be

Timeline of US-North Korean Relations

Timeline of US-North Korean Relations Take a look at the US-North Korean relationship from 1950 to the present. 1950-1953 WarThe Korean War was fought on the Korean Peninsula between the Chinese supported forces in the north and the American supported, United Nations forces in the south. 1953 CeasefireOpen warfare stops with a ceasefire agreement on July 27. The peninsula is divided by a demilitarized zone (DMZ) along the 38th parallel. The north is the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the south becomes the Republic of Korea (ROK). A formal peace agreement ending the Korean War has not yet been signed. 1968 USS PuebloThe DPRK captures the USS Pueblo, an American intelligence gathering ship. Although the crew is later released, the North Koreans still hold the USS Pueblo. 1969 Shot DownAn American reconnaissance plane is shot down by North Korea. Thirty-one Americans are killed. 1994 New LeaderKim Il Sung, known as the Great Leader of the DPRK since 1948 dies. His son, Kim Jong Il, assumes power and is known as the Dear Leader. 1995 Nuclear CooperationAgreement reached with the United States to build nuclear reactors in DPRK. 1998 Missile Test?In what appears to be a test flight, the DPRK sends a missile flying over Japan. 2002 Axis of EvilIn his 2002 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush labeled North Korea as part an Axis of Evil along with Iran and Iraq. 2002 ClashUnited States stops oil shipments to DPRK in a dispute over the countrys secretive nuclear weapons program. DPRK removes international nuclear inspectors. 2003 Diplomatic MovesDPRK withdraws from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. So-called Six Party talks open between the United States, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea. 2005 Outpost of TyrannyIn her Senate confirmation testimony to become Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice listed North Korea as one of several Outposts of Tyranny in the world. 2006 More MissilesDPRK test fires a number of missiles and later conducts a test explosion of a nuclear device. 2007 Agreement?Six Party talks early in the year lead to a plan for North Korea to shut down its nuclear enrichment program and allow for international inspections. But the agreement has still not been implemented. 2007 BreakthroughIn September, U.S. State Department announces North Korea will catalog and dismantle its entire nuclear program by the end of the year. Speculation follows that North Korea will be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. More diplomatic breakthroughs, including discussion of ending the Korean War, follow in October. 2007 Mr. PostmanIn December, President Bush sends a handwritten letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. 2008 More Progress?Speculation runs high in June that President Bush will ask that North Korea be removed from the U.S. terror watch list in acknowledgment of progress in the six-party talks. Removed From ListIn October, President Bush formally removed North Korea from the U.S. terror watch list.

Country analysis ( Singapore) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Country analysis ( Singapore) - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, the country is criticized for running a system that churns out punishments for acts perceived to be anti-social; however, the country’s use of capital punishment that is applied mainly for drug trafficking offences hailed for stopping the growth of narcotics syndicates. A. Introduction to Country Analysis Singapore uses Singaporean Dollar (SGD) and has a total area of about 714 sq km. According to Singapore Department of Statistics, the 2009 population estimates stood at 5.18million (comprising of 3.26 citizens 0.53 million permanent residents 1.39million other foreign residents) with the population density revolving around 6671.7 sq km. Singapore government represents republic and parliamentary democracy with the official Singaporean languages include Mandarin, English, Malay, and Tamil. The major religions in Singapore include Buddhism (33%), Christian (11%), Taoism (11%), Catholicism (7%), Islam (15%), Hinduism (5%), other religions 1%, and no religion at17% ( Jancloes-Schneider, 2012). Chinese make up the bulk of Singapore population (more than 75%) while Malays (13%) and Indians (9%) make up the rest. Singapore has also a significant composition of foreign workers. This diversity has translated into a distinct mix of religions, languages, cuisines, and cultural traditions. The successful integration of these elements has fashioned stable, accommodative relations depicted by mutual respect and that promotes social cohesion (World Trade Organization, 2000). Although Singapore is predominantly a multi-party nation, the People’s Action Party has dominated the political scene since independence from Malaysia in 1965. Singapore’s vibrant economy remains largely propelled by financial services and electronics industry (Parker, 2012). B. Economic Indicators Singapore possesses a developed market-based economy that has historically centered on extended entrepot trade. Singapore GDP (constant prices, National Currency) in 2010 stood at SGD 284.561 billion (and US $238.2 billion in 2011) while GDP (current prices, US dollars) in 2010 stood at US $222.699 billion. As per 2010, Singapore GDP growth ranged around 14.471% while GDP (PPP) in 2010 stood at US $291.937 billion (GDP PPP was US $327.557 billion in 2011) (Healy Consultants,2012). Singapore’s GDP per capita (constant prices, National currency) in 2010 stood at SGD 55, 093.67 while GDP per capita (current prices, National currency) in 2010 stood at SGD 58,790. 97. In 2011, the GDP per capita stood at SGD 63,050, which amounted to US $50,123 (Jancloes-Schneider, 2012). The inflation rate in 2010 stood at 2.823% while, in 2011, the inflation rate stood at 5.2% and is estimated to be 3.5% in 2012. Unemployment rate in Singapore decreased to about 1.9% within the third quarter of 2012 right from 2% registered in the 2nd quarter of 2012. In 2011, Singapore enjoyed an annual growth of around 5.2% with the benchmark interest rate last recorded by the Monet ary Authority of Singapore standing at 0.1%. After an outstanding rebound in 2010, the Singapore economy slowed down a bit in 2011 owing to tighter economic policies and the slowdown witnessed in international trade (Jancloes-Schneider, 2012). C. Main exports and Imports Singapore’s geostrategic location, plus its developed port facilities means that a significant volume of Singapore’s merchandise exports involves entrepot trade with close to 47% of exports comprising of re-exports. The total value of exports in Singapore in 2010 stood at

PHI201 MOD 3 SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

PHI201 MOD 3 SLP - Essay Example Out of these circumstances, I have observed that senses are often put to doubt when tested by personal encounters of various stimuli to respond to. On one occasion, I was about to cross the street where pedestrians have become accustomed to the defective traffic lights. Like them, I would rather trust my instincts and be sensitive to the natural sound an approaching automobile creates. That scheme has typically worked until one broad daylight when a passing truck was caught by my peripheral vision, I felt all along that the vehicle was significantly far from view that I did not at all hesitate to start making the first step across the lane. Then the next thing I knew – shock paralyzed my entire body and held me from where I stood having realized that the truck in great speed just swished by when I was barely an inch from the point of contact, the moment of sure dread. Owing to my lousy attitude that day, I was thankful that God and my sluggish pace spared me from the life thief where no doubt I would have been hit had I stridden or quicken forward with less than half my second step. It was so hard to believe I kept on as king and exclaiming to myself ‘How could that be?!’ The manner by which I perceived the incident told me nothing more than to be confident about the coming of truck from a distant spot. Hence, while I still count on my senses, such near-death experience has since changed the way I treat perceptual efforts in relation to physical and emotional security. Others testify to a case in which they tell of seeing yet eventually admit that they merely have mistaken what is seen for something else already at the back of their heads. Perceiving an object by means of projecting it from a recurring image in mind readily deceives one who has learned to be perceptive and establish dependence on common occurrences from which the person may associate someone or something to another

The nature and scope of marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The nature and scope of marketing - Essay Example Marketing is about developing winning offers to each segment of customers. Furthermore, marketing is about managing productive customer relationships by attracting new customers and retaining existing one through offer of quality goods and services as well as satisfying them. They also measure the level of company’s brand image and customer’s satisfaction level. Selling and marketing have to be differentiated clearly. Selling mainly focuses on the sellers needs while marketing focuses on satisfying the buyer’s needs through product and everything that is linked with its creation, delivery and consumption. There are four pillars that support the marketing concept and they include; the target market, the needs of the consumer, integrated marketing and profitability. The marketing concept unlike selling takes a unique perspective. It begins its focus on a market that is well defined, focuses on the various needs of consumers, organizes activities that influence the consumers and makes profits through customer satisfaction. The fundamental marketing concepts include; marketing analysis, customer behavior, marketing instruments and marketing strategies. The nature and scope of marketing Over the past years, the argument on marketing nature and scope has continued to build up. This issue has resulted in newer definitions being introduced in some of the marketing textbooks. However, it is the obligation of the marketers to clearly give a clarification on what they would like the scope of their field to be like. This requirement results from the definition of marketing. It is referred to as a declaration of the scope of the field that has to be decided in a way that benefits the subject’s theoreticians, practitioners, and even teachers. In order to define the marketing scope in a logical way, standards ought to be established. These standards will provide useful guidance in testing all the marketing definition. Usually marketing task is perc eived to be that of creating, promoting and delivering different products and services to various consumers and businesses. Marketing is a wide subject involving a number of activities, which are aimed at increasing market share, retaining customers and adding new customers. The scope of marketing is classified to include; first, the study of the needs and wants of a consumer, the aim of production of goods is to satisfy different human wants. Therefore it is the obligation of every marketer to study consumer’s needs and wants. Consumers are motivated to buy the goods and services by their needs and wants. Secondly, marketing concern itself to the study of behavior of the buyer and competitors. The study of an individual buyer behavior is emphasized in the modern marketing. For market segmentation and market targeting, a marketer has to carefully analyze the customers’ pattern of behavior. The study of competitors helps a business entity to establish own competitive ad vantage and explore the strengths to win more customers. Thirdly, marketing involves planning and development of product. In marketing, product remains to be the core. The planning and development of a product begins with product idea creation and ends with the product commercialization and development. The decisions such as branding, packaging, labeling and grading comes under the product planning. It also covers existing product lines expansion or

Deregulation of the Financial Sector in Japan Essay - 8

Deregulation of the Financial Sector in Japan - Essay Example Thomas Friedman in his book, â€Å"The World is flat†, described this process as â€Å"Glocalization†. What this means is the marriage of globalization with localization or adapting global practices to local needs. In the case of ML, it means that its managers if they are to get a share of the 1.2 Trillion in household savings, they have to re-orient their strategies towards the local market. The strategic challenges that confront global managers are how to work around the complex set of laws that govern capital movement in the countries in which they operate. Though many countries have joined the WTO (World Trade Organization), they have not yet fully embraced the conditions that govern this trade organization. For instance, in many of the countries, full capital account convertibility is not allowed and only partial convertibility is allowed. Global managers in the global economy need to go beyond the straitjacket attitude towards business that proclaims â€Å"one size fits all† approach. Instead, they have to ensure that their companies make tailor-made products for each country and each region. This has been illustrated in the case involving ML when the company tried to set up branches in the retail space and had to withdraw them later in the face of mounting losses. This was a clear instance of a global company retreating in the face of sustained local regulations over which it had no control. One reason multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the IMF prescribe policies that guarantee uniformity of regulations is to ensure that the local economy benefits from competition. However, this has led to demands for level playing fields from local companies. Hence, global managers have their task cut out when they present their case for uniform regulations. The best strategy would be to convince the regulators to liberalize the financial sector while keeping the checks and balances in place. Another point that the case highlights are for global managers to be tuned to the changes in the country’s regulatory and financial environment.

Consumer Behavior Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumer Behavior - Research Proposal Example While scholars like Rallapalli (2008) considered globalization as a blessing for the customers considering the increase in the number of options for decision making, Weinberg & Gottwald (2006) stated that the traditional buyer-seller relationship is changing because of globalization. Considering these sentiments, the primary focus of this research will be to analyze the influence of globalization on the behavior of the customer towards the multinational brands entering into the market. The aim of the research is to assess the influence of globalization on the customer behavior in respect to the multinational brands. The researcher also intends to evaluate the changes brought in the buying process of the customers as a result of globalization and identify the factors that are influencing the decision making process of the customers in the contemporary market scenario. The extent of globalization as a theoretical concept and reality is dominating the international business place. The concept of developing a unified market place for sustainable growth of the business houses and their customer base has taken a new shape, as the strategic aims of the business houses have altered from profit earning to accumulating customer base. On the other hand, the reaction of the customers towards the changes in the market place is mixed in nature. While some groups of customers are considering globalization to be one of the most advantageous alternations in market structure, others are finding it difficult to comprehend the developments in the market. In the words of Fornell (2007), globalization is not only for the business houses, it has given immense power to the customers by increasing the transparency in the market place. However, it is quite evident that despite having a larger market scope, many of the multinational firms are facing it difficult to perfor m in the new market places. This shows the contradictions in the nature of the business process and the

Competitive&strategic analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Competitive&strategic analysis - Essay Example A study by Fleisher and Babette (20) posits that a marketing manager requires applying strategic positioning through serious inventions. He requires coming up with new services by keeping up with the market trends. This is not easy because it calls for a lot of creativity and learning the competitor’s operations. The company as a whole requires understanding the market trends in order to set a strategic position. This includes thorough research from the competitors and from the consumers. This success can only happen through enhancing this company’s online marketing which lacks in the company. It should create strong websites with relevant information both existing and potential in relation to marketing. The company should set aside some funds in order to create a strong online presence through wed-designs and development. This is because research shows that 97% of the consumers use the web to search for local and international businesses. After creating the website, the company should consider its Search Engine Optimization (SEO) since study shows that 80% consumers use it for researching products (Fleischer & Babette 30). Every company requires harmonized decision-making, and it is important to include all employees in decision-making. Online marketing is the most popular marketing strategy in the current business world. For this reason, this company requires coming up with a strong internet presence in order to capture a larger

Consumer Behavior Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumer Behavior - Research Proposal Example While scholars like Rallapalli (2008) considered globalization as a blessing for the customers considering the increase in the number of options for decision making, Weinberg & Gottwald (2006) stated that the traditional buyer-seller relationship is changing because of globalization. Considering these sentiments, the primary focus of this research will be to analyze the influence of globalization on the behavior of the customer towards the multinational brands entering into the market. The aim of the research is to assess the influence of globalization on the customer behavior in respect to the multinational brands. The researcher also intends to evaluate the changes brought in the buying process of the customers as a result of globalization and identify the factors that are influencing the decision making process of the customers in the contemporary market scenario. The extent of globalization as a theoretical concept and reality is dominating the international business place. The concept of developing a unified market place for sustainable growth of the business houses and their customer base has taken a new shape, as the strategic aims of the business houses have altered from profit earning to accumulating customer base. On the other hand, the reaction of the customers towards the changes in the market place is mixed in nature. While some groups of customers are considering globalization to be one of the most advantageous alternations in market structure, others are finding it difficult to comprehend the developments in the market. In the words of Fornell (2007), globalization is not only for the business houses, it has given immense power to the customers by increasing the transparency in the market place. However, it is quite evident that despite having a larger market scope, many of the multinational firms are facing it difficult to perfor m in the new market places. This shows the contradictions in the nature of the business process and the

Origins of World War II Essay Example for Free

Origins of World War II Essay After the end of the First World War, the statesmen of all the major countries felt that such alarming war must anyhow be averted in order to ensure international peace, security and safety. This is why the League of Nations was set up and it was believed that such a ‘multinational’ organization would be able to peacefully settle all international disputes and guarantee peace and security in the international sphere. However, the success or failure of the League actually depended upon the attitude and activity of its members, particularly the Big Powers. But, unfortunately, soon it was found that the major Powers were at cross purposes. They adopted their foreign policy in their own interest and showed little respect to the principles underlying the League of Nations. Particularly, the dream of three allies – Germany, Japan and Italy was fundamentally different from the ideals of the Western Powers and Soviet Russia. The Trio (Germany, Japan and Italy) intended to have some share in the Afro-Asian areas which had already been divided among the Western Powers. Thus, it was really a conflict between two policies – â€Å"status quo† and â€Å"New Order†. Flouting the League The first shock to League of Nations was given by Japan. In 1931 Japan violated the League Covenant and the Kellogg Pact by occupying the Chinese territory of Manchuria and setting up a puppet state there. China appealed to the League which condemned this act of aggression and appointed a commission under Lord Litton to report. But the fulmination of the League had no effect on Japan who, when the commission’s report went against her, withdrew from the League in 1933. The defection of Japan was a serious blow to the League. But worse was to come when Germany had begun secretly rearm to arm as soon as Hitler came into power. But after the failure of the Disarmament Conference, Hitler came into the open. In 1935, he repudiated those clauses of the Treaty of Versailles which had imposed limitations on her armed strength, and reintroduced conscription. In the next year he denounced the Locarno Treaty and re-occupied and refortified those zones of the Rhineland, which had been demilitarized by the Treaty of Versailles. The Great Powers were at cross purposes and so nothing was done to resist Hitler’s insolent violation of the treaty obligations. Italy under Mussolini pursued an imperial policy and in 1935 made an unprovoked attack upon Abyssinia, a member of the League. The emperor of Abyssinia, Haile Selassie, appealed to the League against the act of wanton aggression. The League declared Italy to be the aggressor and recommended the application of economic sanctions. The Italian campaign was short, swift and brutal. After some resistance Haile Selassie fled abroad and his capital Addis Ababa was occupied by Italian troops. The King of Italy was proclaimed Emperor of Abyssinia. Italy withdrew from the League of Nations in 1936. Foreign Policies and International Relations When Hitler came to power he was pledge to recover for Germany the position of power and importance which she had held before the First World War. He envisaged the formation of a ‘Third Reich’ or empire which would include all Germans in a new or greater German state. This involved the ultimate absorption of Germans in a new or greater German state. This involved the ultimate absorption of German-populated regions of Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The dictated treated treaty which Germany had been forced to accept stood in the way of realizing his ambition. Hence Hitler was determined to tear away the Treaty of Versailles which had imposed humiliating restrictions upon Germany, and to make her a power to reckon with. His first significant step in this direction was to withdraw from the Disarmament Conference and to announce a program of conscription. Next he left the League of Nations and openly flouted it by occupying the demilitarized Rhineland. England, France tamely acquiesced in this violation of treaty obligation and so Hitler was encouraged to take larger risks. The Phony War-the events of Europe especially the civil war associated with Spain prove beyond doubt that the shadow of Fascism was falling across Europe, long before the actual outbreak of World War II. The Spanish civil war which broke out in 1936 was an event of utmost importance. It has been aptly called the ‘Little World War’ because it involved all other powers. The Spanish civil war was a prelude to World War II. In Spain, Italy and Germany is defiance of the principal ‘Collective Security’ undermined a democratic government and Britain and France demonstrated a complete callousness which resulted in the victory of Fascism in Spain. The outcome of Spanish Civil War foreshadowed that, in future, Fascisms might apply the same tactics on a bigger scale. The smoldering discontent against monarchy forced Alfonzo XIII of Spain to leave the country in April 1931. Immediately afterwards President Zamora declared Spain to be republic. In Spain the extreme republicans started anti-clerical riots and centrifugal tendencies demonstrated themselves in the attempt to establish autonomy in Catalonia and certain other provinces. The election of the Constitutional Assembly on June 28, 1931, showed a definite landslide for republicanism and in the Cortes the socialists with 117 seats became the largest single group. Spain adopted a radical republican constitution based on German, Soviet and Mexican model with a president and a cabinet responsible to the Cortes. The Church was deprived of its hold over education and civil liberties were guaranteed. Expropriation of the large landed estates proceeded apace. Most of these reforms were carried out by the radical minister Manuel Asana. In the election of 1933 the Asana government fell the Cortes was dominated by a moderate coalition ministry which did not enforce the laws against landed estates and church. Premier Lerroux tried to establish a pro-Fascist government and suppressed the radical opposition. President Zamora now dissolved the Cortes and ordered fresh election in 1936. In the election of February, 1936, the popular Front parties composed to republicans’ socialists and communists secured 258 seats and the right parties 215. Asana became the president and Santiago Cascaras Quiroga became the Premier. The government had to face immediate opposition from unruly groups like Spanish Phalanx and the Army. The attempt of the Government to steer a middle course failed to quell disturbances and the Fascists after careful preparation staged a military revolt on June 18. Military revolts took place in a number of garrison towns in Spain and Spanish Morocco. During the Spanish imbroglio Hitler had learnt all he needed about the weakness of the victors of Versailles. He had found that this intervention in Spain had not met with any resistance from the powers and so he was emboldened to embark upon a policy of naked aggression. He turned his attention to Austria whose union with Germany had been expressly prohibitive by the treaty of Versailles. He encouraged Nazi agitation within Austria, bullied the Austrian chancellor into appointing a Nazi minister and forced him to agree to conduct foreign affairs as Germany’s dictator. Germany and Italy were naturally interested in installing a Fascist power in Spain. The Salazar government of Portugal saw in the radical republic the germs of Bolshevik state and activity aided and abetted in its downfall. Italy and Germany saw in the rise of a Fascist Spain great advantage to their cause. Ideologically the adherence of Spain would help the spread of Fascism and materially it would weaken France increase the possibility of exploiting Spanish mines and raw materials in a future war against democracies and strengthen the hold of Italy in the Western Mediterranean. The Labor opposition strongly urged help to Government legally constituted. But Stanley Baldwin and even Churchill, who opposed the Nazi aggression on every other issue, felt that nothing could be done for helping the Republicans. The behavior of the French government during this period was an enigma to the rest of the world. The Republic was in dire need of more arms but contrary to all expectations the French Popular Front government prohibited all export of arms to Spain on July 25, 1936. This was a violation of an earlier agreement whereby France had undertaken to supply arms to Spain. The British government was steering a middle course. It was unwilling to alienate Italy whose friendship was earnestly sought for as a counterpoise to Nazi Germany. When Blum suggested the formation of a Committee of Non-Intervention it was welcomed. This committee was formed in August 1936, with twenty seven nations. The purpose of the committee was to enforce the agreement reached among powers to hold a ring around Spanish Civil War so that others might not be involved in it and to prevent any military aid on either side. The Fascists power had no intention of letting down Franco and while Britain and France meticulously applied the principle of non-intervention to prohibit export arms to Spain, the rebels received planes, munitions and men from Germany, Italy and Portugal. Thus while the legitimate government of Spain was deprived of all aids from outside and ran short of the sinews of war, in the name of non-intervention, the rebels secured active foreign aid. The League Council passed a resolution in May 1936, and directed all other states not to intervene in the Spanish Civil war. The Fascist powers were now free to act as they liked Spain. Men and arms poured to the rebels while the legitimate government suffered from lack of supply due to the intervention of the Committee of Non-intervention. The dubious role of the Non-Intervention Committee merely provided a shield for Fascist aggression in Spain. Italy and Germany were allowed to strike another blow at the democracies. Next in 1938 he poured troops into Austria and incorporated it in Nazi empire. Till now Italy had been the most effective protector of Austria, but she was now busy with her own acts of aggression in Abyssinia and so did not interfere with a fellow aggressor. The ease with which Hitler had annexed Austria whetted his territorial appetite and encouraged him to further acts of aggression (Paul 59). Czechoslovakia an artificial creation of the peace treaties contained a considerable element of German population. Hitler first began a ‘war of nerves’ by a bombardment of accusation, abuse and menaces and then declared that his patience had been exhausted. He peremptorily demanded that Sudetenland which was predominantly inhabited by the Germans should be ceded to the Reich and that he would take it by force it peaceful means failed. At that time, Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, tried to persuade Hitler to resist himself. Soon the Munich Pact was signed by the Big Powers and they intended to satisfy Hitler by giving him Sudetenland of Czech-Slovakia. As Fleming observes, â€Å"Nations have often being conquered by enemies, but never before a proud and worthy people been bludgeoned into submission by its own allies† (Fleming 56). Thus, Hitler was encouraged to proceed towards Poland and soon the crisis further aggravated. Original of world war II- having taken Memel Hitler began to mature plans for an assault upon Poland. He demanded the Danzig should be incorporated in the German Reich and the Polish Corridor should be ceded to Germany. This was the last straw. Chamberlain gave up his policy of appeasement and announced that in the event of an aggression on Poland, Great Britain would come to the rescue the Polish government. Thus, when Germany attacked Poland, the Second World War broke out, because Britain and France now realized that the policy of appeasement ended in a fiasco (Ray 112). So long, Hitler had intended to neutralize Britain and had signed a non-aggression Pact with Soviet Russia. Naturally, he thought that now he would find little resistance against his plan of occupying the Polish Corridor. In fact, he desired to localize the the Polish war on which he had set his heart. To isolate Poland, Hitler now attempted to win Great Britain. In a message, delivered verbally to the British Ambassador, Sir Neville Henderson, he expressed his desire to solve in his own way the question of Polish Corridor and Danzig, but at the same time, he pledged himself for the continuance of British Empire. He even expressed his readiness to render German assistance, if required, to Britain. On August 28, the British Government proposed direct negotiation for resolving the differences between Poland and Germany. Hitler in reply demanded that Warsaw should send an emissary with full powers to negotiate with German government. The proposal had no chance of being accepted and the British government in reply sent a counter-proposal of a restoration of normal contact. It was presented by Neville Henderson to Foreign Minister Ribbentrop on August 30. On September 1, the German army marched into the Polish territory to execute ‘Case White’. A last-minute effort for peace by Mussolini failed and the Anglo-French Powers declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. Conclusion Thus, the outbreak of the Second World War was not at all a surprising affair. In fact, the Big Powers pursued different policies in self interest and when their unity was badly needed, they differed with from one another. Soviet Russia alone emphasized on the policy of a united stand, because it believed in the doctrine ‘peace is indivisible’. However, the capitalist countries like Britain and France talked with it for common safety but, in reality, they adopted a half-hearted policy. While France was directly involved in a rivalry with Germany, Britain intended to keep a safe distance. As Winston Churchill, the former British Prime Minister, held â€Å"Clemenceau or Poincare would have left Mr. Baldwin no option† (Churchill 154). In other words, France intended to fight against German militarism, but Chamberlain was not ready to join it. America was outside the league at that time, and hence, it had no responsibility to prevent the Global War. The Spanish Civil War and the weakness of France actually encouraged Hitler to continue his aggressive policy (Fleming, The Origin of the Cold War, 62). Moreover, Italy and Japan were longing for some territorial advantage against the wishes of the Western Powers. In such circumstances, a Global War was the only inevitability.

Shareholder Vs Stakeholder Theory Management Essay

Shareholder Vs Stakeholder Theory Management Essay His views reflect Adam Smiths view that firms operate solely for the purpose of making a profit which contributes to the overall well being of society. Any business activity is justified as long as it increases the value of the firm to its shareholder (Cochran, 1994). Friedman (2005) acknowledges one reason for the existence of firms and that is to make a profit for its shareholders. According to Friedman, firms do not exists to change the world or to do good. He pushes the Shareholder Theory to the extent that he declares as theft or violation of management responsibility any form of donation by the firm, be it in time, in kind, or in monetary measures, by the managers from the investors o the firm (Ruf et al, 1998). Shareholder theory has been widely misinterpreted and quoted in its extreme sense. Carroll (1998) qualifies that although Friedman does insist that the only responsibility of the firm is to record profits for its shareholders, he goes on to state that the firm must operate within acceptable legal and societal parameters. The Shareholder perspective of a firm has been widely challenged over the past years. Authors such as Low and Cowton (2004) and Agatiello (2008) argue that the sole mission of firms to be profit maximisers is incorrect and inappropriate. Todays modern organisation is so complex that reducing it to such simple terms and motivations oversimplifies the same nature of the commercial organisation. Spence (2001) writes that the Stakeholder Theory has emerged as an alternative for the Shareholder Theory of the firm. According to Freeman (1984), the term stakeholder can be traced back to management literature of 1963 when the term was defined as those groups without whose support the organisation would cease to exist. Stakeholder theory recognises that firms have a much wider base of interested parties other than the shareholders and holds that the firm must honour its duties and responsibilities towards all of the parties. The shareholders are simply one group of the several groups which has a claim on the firm (Heath and Norman, 2004). Deck (1994) gives an interesting interpretation of the Stakeholder Theory. While he recognises that the objective of an organisation is to create wealth and distribute this amongst its investors, he explains how the investors are not only represented by the shareholders, but, in fact can and do take the form of other groups such as employees and the society in general, who invest knowledge and skills in the firm. Indeed Halal (2000) argues that the resources invested by stakeholders are roughly tenfold that invested by the shareholders. Post et al (2002) claim that risk is not only limited to financial exposure but also includes risks to employment, career opportu nity, environmental impact and quality of products and services. If a firm fails, employees lose their jobs and possibly also their retirement plans. In line with this argument, firm benefits should not only be distributed to the financial investors, but profits should be divided amongst all those bearing risk within the organisation. 2.2 The Triple Bottom Line A win-win outcome for organisations and stakeholders is that created by the Triple Bottom Line (Elkington, 1998). This is an attempt to shift business towards a stakeholder-based approach. The idea behind the 3BL paradigm is that a corporations success should be measured not just by the traditional financial bottom line, but also by social/ethical and environmental performance (Norman and MacDonald, 2004). The People, Planet, Profit triangle postulates how profit is to be perceived from three perspectives. A positive triple bottom line reflects an increase in the companys value, including both its profitability and shareholder value and its social, human and environmental capital (Savitz, 2006). Even if the three aspects of sustainability environmental, social and economic already existed, Elkingtons principle played a crucial role in shaping initiatives such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (Berkovics, 2010). The novelty of the 3BL lies i n the contention of its supporters that the fulfilment of its obligations to communities, employees, customers and suppliers should be measured, calculated, audited and reported, just like financial performance had been for the past hundred years. The major fallacy of the 3BL approach is that whilst authors speak of the benefit of measuring the benefits accruing from three perspectives, no one has suggested how to use the data on social performance to calculate some form of net social bottom line. Adding up the financial pluses and deducting the minuses is much easier than summing up the environmental achievements and shortcomings of a firm (MacDonald and Norman, 2004). 2.3 Defining CSR In his seminal work entitled Social Responsibilities of the Businessman, Bowen (1953) defined CSR as the entrepreneurs obligation to pursue those policies, to make those decisions or to follow the lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of society. It is because of this work that authors such as Carroll (1999) and Windsor (2001) have declared Bowen to be the Father of CSR. In todays world of increased globalisation, environmental awareness, recessionary pressures and high insecurity, there are increasing pressures on entrepreneurs and organisations to deliver increased societal value (Jenkins, 2006). Weber (2008) posits that although the concept of CSR is widely discussed, a universally accepted definition still needs to emerge (Turker, 2009). Further Van Marrewijk (2003) claims that a one solutions fits all explanation of CSR is virtually impossible as the concept takes on a different meaning for each organisation, depending on the levels of awareness and ambition of the firm itself. In the 1970s authors of the subject began to indicate that the emphasis on responsibility implied accountability. That, according to Carroll (1979) was too narrow and static an interpretation in order to fully picture the social efforts of the firms. As a result of this criticism two new concepts emerged: Corporate Social Responsiveness (CSR2) and Corporate Social Performance (CSP). CSR2 links CSR with strategic management and stresses the proactive approach required from companies. CSP offered a managerial framework to deal with CSR and attempted to measure it. Frederick (1994) refers to CRS2 as a conceptual transition from the philosophical aspect of CSR to the more action-oriented approach. Several authors such as Ackermann and Bauer (1976), Vallentin (2009), Sethi (1979) also support this view. Others like Carroll (1979) however argue that the term responsiveness is not an appropriate replacement for responsibility. He argues that any action which is not the fruit of reflection and responsibility is not exactly a refinement of a concept which merely encourages responsibility. Firms may indeed be responsive and irresponsible! CSP emerged as a multidimensional concept which embraced the interaction of social responsibility, social responsiveness and the policies corporations designed to address such issues (Watrick and Cochran, 1985). CSP therefore focuses attention from corporate motivations to corporate action and implementation. Although the term CSP tends to give a more dynamic and pragmatic interpretation of the concept it has not been left uncriticised. Authors such as Davenport (2000) look at CSP as a theoretical creation of the scholars. The terms CSR, CSR2 and CSP are often used interchangeably and today, much of the literature simply uses the single term CSR to mean both the firms acceptance of responsibilities and the actions and policies it undertakes in the area (Ciliberti et al 2008). The writings of McGuire (1963), Davis (1960), and Sethi (1975) all concur that CSR describes the responsibilities of a firm which extend beyond what is the legal obligations of the firm. In other words, CSR starts where the law ends. Carroll (1979) is also in support of this view and in his work in 1991 presents a Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibilities to include all, economic, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibilities which emanate from the existing operations of organisations. Although Carroll presents his model in the form of a pyramid with the economic concerns of the firm as the base, he tells us that his model does not, in fact portray a continuum and that the four facets of organisational responsibility are not mutually exclusive. Discretionary Responsibilities Be a good corporate citizen Ethical Responsibilities Be ethical Legal Responsibilities Obey the Lay Economic Responsibilities Be profitable Figure 2: The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility Carroll (1991) In 2003 Schwartz and Carroll presented the different facets of CSR in a different format. This time they moved away from the pyramid structure which seems to have implied some form or natural progression from one level to another and presented their model in the form of a Venn diagram. Furthermore they only included three of Carrolls earlier CSR aspects. Schwartz and Carroll (2003) represented the economic, legal and ethical responsibilities but omitted the discretionary category. Indeed it is inappropriate to regard discretionary and philanthropic activities as responsibilities. Purely Ethical Purely Legal Purely Economic Ethical / Legal Legal / Economic Ethical / Economic Legal / Economic / Ethical Figure 3 : The Three-Domain Model of CSR Schwartz and Carroll (2003) 2.4 A Modern Interpretation of CSR In 2001 The European Union presented a Green Paper entitled Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility. In this paper CSR was defined as a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. Pivato et al (2008) argue that this is one of the most common interpretations of CSR and it is consistent with recent academic literature. Stakeholder theory gained importance in the 1990s and continues to maintain its position as a focused area of study in CSR (Wang, 2008). More recently, in October 2011, the EU Commission published a new policy on CSR wherein it states that for a firm to meet its social responsibility it should have in place a process to integrate social, environmental, ethical and human rights concerns into their business operations and core strategy in close collaboration with their stakeholders . The EU also put forward a new definition of CSR as the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society. The EU intends that firms will abide by their responsibility when they respect the applicable legislation and aim for collective agreements between social partners. Another important aspect of the new EU approach to CSR is the fact that the emphasis is not only on the private sector firms only, but the maximisation of the creation of shared value for society is now also expected of public sector firms. This new policy advances an action agenda for the three year period up to 2014 covering eight distinct areas which detail how the EU intends ensuring that firms embrace this CSR concept. This action plan aims to enhance the visibility of CSR and the dissemination of good practices; improve and track levels of trust in business; improve self-and co-regulation processes; enhance market reward for CSR; improve company disclosure on social and environmental information; further integrate CSR into education, training and research; emphasise the importance of national and sub-national CSR policies and better align European and global approaches to CSR. The EU commission reports that small and medium sized firms are the predominant form of enterprise in the European Union (EU Commission, 2012). The EU further claims that if Europe and its enterprises are to reap the full benefit of CSR, then it is imperative that SMEs engage fully in CSR and are recognised for their initiatives. This is very challenging as CSR has traditionally been the domain of the corporate sector, but recognition of the increasing importance of the SME sector has led to an emphasis on their social and environmental impact (Jenkins, 2004) 2.5 CSR and SMEs Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are the engine of the European economy. They are an essential course of jobs, create entrepreneurial spirit and innovation in the EU and are thus crucial for fostering competitiveness and employment (Verheugen, 2005). In 2003 the EU revised its 1996 definition of an SME and within the 27 member states, today an SME is a firm with fewer than 250 employees and with a turnover of less than à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬50 million or balance sheet totals of less than à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬43 million. Apart from these quantifications, firms must be independent, i.e. separate from an economic group that is stronger than itself. Medium Sized Firms Small Firms Micro Firms Enterprise Category Head Count (Annual Work Unit Turnover Balance Sheet Totals à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬10 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬10 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 50 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬43 million OR OR OR OR Figure: 4 EU Definition of an SME Source: EU Commission (2003) The EU reports that even in 2012 SMEs have kept their position as the backbone of the European economy, with around 20.7 million firms accouting for more than 98% of all enterprises of which 92.2% are firms which employ fewer than 10 people (Wymenga et al 2012). Wymenga (2012) reports that in 2012 SMEs accounted for 67% of total employment, at around 87 million people and 58% of gross value added. The Maltese economy is one of the smallest economies in the EU: this implies that the relevance of SMEs for the domestic economy is indeed crucial. There are a little less than 30,000 firms in Malta, and with the exception of 44 large firms, the rest employ less than 250 workers. In fact, the economy is dominated by micro-sized firms (95.1%). Small and Medium-Sized firms in Malta account for 4.7% of business organisations, employ 41.8% of the labour force and account for 38.3% of the islands value-added. Micro firms employ 34.4% of the labour force in Malta and account for 26.3% of the value added (EU Commission, 2012). Medium Sized Firms Small Firms Micro Firms Enterprise Category Head Count (Annual Work Unit Turnover Balance Sheet Totals à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬10 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬10 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 50 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬43 million OR OR OR ORFox (2005) contends that all organisations impact on society and the environment in a number of ways through their operations. For this reason, CSR is important in large and small firms alike (Moore and Spence, 2006). The importance of SMEs in CSR literature has, however been overlooked (Perrini and Minoja, 2008; Ciliberti et al, 2008, Moore and Spence, 2006 ). A study carried out by Jenkins in 2004 reveals that much of the thinking about CSR in SMEs is based on unfounded assumptions. It is erroneously assumed that large companies are the norm and therefore, as a consequence all CSR approaches have predominantly been designed and are intended for large firms. Further, it has been presumed that small firms are little large firms differentiating themselves from large corporations merely on the basis of size (Jenkins, 2004). It is clear that SMEs are not miniature large companies, and as such the same practices which have been designed for large firms are difficult to fit to small org anisations (Williamson et al, 2006). A study of Swiss multinational companies (MNCs) and SMEs reveals that contrary to what is perceived by much of the literature on the subject, small firms possess several organisational characteristics that could promote the integration of CSR practices as core business functions, while MNCs possess the disposition to enhance communication and reporting on CSR. CSR is therefore not a function of company size, but rather of company characteristics (Spence, 2011 et al). Structure is one of the factors that distinguishes large from small firms. While large firms tend to organise themselves with a bureaucratic structure and formalisation, small firms are characterised by loose informal working relationships (Perez-Sanchez, 2003). The behaviour of small firms is strongly dependent on the characteristics and management style of the owner himself, whilst in large firms this is not so strongly felt (Tilley, 2000). Perrini (2006) argues that small firms are mostly owner-managed and are run on personal relationships. Gond and Igalens (2008) pin the level of CSR commitment by SMEs as directly dependent on the personality and personal convictions of its managing director. Age plays a significant role here, with the younger owner/managers display greater CSR awareness; gender has no impact on CSR deployment (Ede et al, 2000). Some authors are in disagreement as to whether the educational background of the owner/manager has any bearing on the level of CSR activ ity. (Ede et al, 2000; Spence et al, 2000). Spence et al (2007), confirm this claim and go one step further by asserting that it is the directors vision for the future of his business and his understanding and perception of internal resources which determine CSR engagement in SMEs. Bonneveux et al (2012) report that the capacity of a director to locate and integrate new resources is fundamental to the integration of CSR measures and initiatives. The correlation between CSR engagement by SMEs and the perception and motivation of the firms director and how he sees and reacts to CSR issues is thus reinforced. Ownership and management in large firms are more separate and distinct than they are in small firms. In small firms, control remains in the hands of one of the owners, possibly putting him in a position where he can make personal choices with respect to the allocation of resources (Spence and Rutherfoord (2001). Given this particular management characteristic, the choice of CSR engagement in SMEs is mostly determined by the personal attributes of the owner/manager. A study of US SMEs employing between 5 and 500 workers suggests that efforts to influence owners and managers to implement environmental CSR initiatives such as for example waste reduction need great focus on changing individual attitudes (Bennington et al, 2012). Stewart et al (2011) also confirm the link between leadership and the successful uptake of CSR and sustainability in SMEs. According to the shareholder perspective postulated by Friedman (1970) the owner of a small business has the right to follow their own ethical beliefs in the allocation of organisational resources as they own the business and therefore it follows that they are using their own funds to finance any CSR activity. This is not so in large firms where ownership and control are separate and the investor of the funds does not have any say on how the funds he has contributed are being divested. In support of CSR engagement even based on a shareholder perspective of the firm, Stewart et al (2012) report measurable results in terms of business performance which can be directly attributable to the SMEs greater social and environmental engagement. The study highlights the relationship between learning, the development of organisational values that underpin CSR and improved business performance within the SME context. Perrini (2006) contends that SMEs are, at many times stretched by multitasking, troubled by the limited cash available, and controlled by an informal mechanism. On the other hand, large firms are more likely to engage in carefully planned, formal, strategic management (Jenkins, 2004). Jenkins (2004) tells us that most SMEs are more likely to be concerned about the day-to-day survival then by understanding concepts such as CSR. He contends that the term CSR alienates some of the small firms and that the language used needs to be simpler. In this respect, the European Commission has propo9sed the term Responsible Entrepreneurship in lieu of social responsibility of SMEs. Jenkins research however reveals that small firms regards CSR as an all embracing concept involving three pillars: sustainability; awareness of and responsibility towards a range of stakeholders, the relative importance of whom varies from one firm to another. This implies that most SMEs describe CSR on the lines of the stakeholder theory. Jenkins (2004) reveals that SMEs are consistent in their identification of stakeholders and point towards the environmental management, employees, the community/society, and the supply chain. It is not at all surprising that SMEs focus their initiatives on the loc al community. SME owner/managers usually live in the same area in which the firm operates (CSR Europe, 2003). SMEs, in fact, rely much more that large firms on the prosperity of the community in which they operate as most of their customers and employees come from the surrounding area. Castka et al (2004) confirms that SMEs and large firms are not only different in nature but also in the way in which they approach CSR. They found that small businesses approach CSR informally and do not usually have pre-determined objectives or formal procedures for measuring the performance of objectives to external stakeholders. Further, large firms are more likely to adopt formal instruments to design CSR initiatives such as codes of conduct, ISO certification and social reporting (Graafland et al (2003). Large firms tend to integrate CSR as part of their business operations whilst SMEs consider CSR as an add on activity (Jenkins, 2004) and conduct CSR on an ad-hoc basis usually unrelated to their business strategy. Jenkins (2004) argues that the motivation for CSR engagement differs between large and small firms. Jenkins (2006) explains that the growing visibility and the increased impact of large firms globally have called for greater accountability and transparency. On the other hand, small firms remain largely invisible and are not driven by external pressures, but rather by an internal drive to do the right thing or putting something back or showing entrepreneurial spirit (Jenkins, 2004). The force which drives SMEs to engage in CSR activities is therefore more ethical rather than commercial. Gupta et al (2012) conducted a study of Indian SMEs in which they highlight the many benefits which accrue to SMEs engaging in CSR initiatives. Small and medium-sized firms actively engaging in CSR were reported to enjoy an endless list of advantages amongst which were improved image, reputation, trust and understanding. Firms also secured a better market position and improved financial performance; in creased attractiveness to potential recruits, increased employee motivation, cost savings and increased efficiency, efficient risk management systems and more business overall. CSR can be the stimulus for increased motivation and productivity amongst a firms workforce (Salquin et al, 2007; Berger-Douce, 2008). An awareness and understanding of the challenges posed by CSR can actually form an excellent basis for organisational differentiation and competitive advantage (Kechiche et al, 2012). Not all academics concord and Jenkins (2006) asserts that SMEs undertake CSR simply for its own sake and refrain from using it as a method of self promotion as the large firms do. According to Fassin (2008), CSR is a rather informal action, and therefore more intuitive rather than strategic and for this reason, SMEs will hardly enjoy all the benefits that CSR engagement implies. Jenkins (2004) emphasises that owner/managers of small firms are mainly preoccupied with the economic viability of their firms and spend a large part of their time and energy focusing on this aspect of their business. One main feature of SMEs is that the owner/manager is the person who deals with the day-to-day operations of the firm as well as other projects. This is distinct from large firms, where there is a dedicated CSR department with resources being specialised for this function. For this reason, time and resources are identified as the greatest constraints which SMEs face with respect to investing in CSR initiatives. Gupta et al (2012) also claim that the initial cost of CSR is at times higher for SMEs as they conduct small business and they justified request for government assistance and support in the implementation of CSR in the firm. The owner/managers of the UK firms studies by Jenkins revealed that they difficulties trying to convince reluctant employees to involve them selves in CSR activities. Furthermore, the excessive number of short term projects, the lack of information (Berger-Douce, 2008), the problems with measuring intangible benefits and the difficulties of making connections in a small community where other common adversities faced by SMEs. SMEs also meet difficulties which are related to the market, particularly restrictions in applying environmental and/or societal legislation because of its complexity and the rigidity of procedures. SMEs complain of the lack of adequate support services and infrastructure (Kechiche et al, 2012). Despite the adversities faced, Castka et al (2004) reveal that SMEs acknowledge that there is a need for them to conduct business in a socially responsible manner. When researching Swedish SMEs, Pettersson et al (2012) found that CSR activities become more important for some stakeholders, particularly in times of difficulties and revealed an increased need for CSR engagement. They report that SMEs can strategically use CSR activities in order to develop a competitive advantage through differentiation by creating societal advantage. They claim that CSR activities become more important for some stakeholders, particularly in times of difficulties. Jenkins (2004) posits that SMEs are often active members in their community. In support of this Perrini (2006) reports that 50% of European SMEs are engaged in socially responsible activities. He explains how there is a positive correlation between the degree of involvement and the size of the enterprise with 48% of very small firms, 65% of sm all and 70% of medium sized firms being engaged in CSR activities. A study of Danish SMEs carried out in 2005 (Danish National Labour Market Authority) identified seven areas of CSR deployment, namely, the workforce, the environment, stakeholder engagement, marketplace activities, supply chain activities, internal management activities and charitable and voluntary activities. The study revealed that work-force related CSR activities were most diffused with 54% of all CSR activities, environmental activities occupied 51% of all initiatives and supply chain activities only occupy 22% of all initiatives. On the other hand, the barometer of sustainable development within French SMEs (CROCIS, 2007) reports that 96% of firms in the Paris area had implemented sustainable development measures while 47% of these firms had good links with the community through sponsorship deals, charitable events, back-to-work/employability schemes etc. Other academics, (Saulquin et al, 2005; Berger-Douce, 20 08) are in support of this picture and confirm that employees appear to be well treated in the majority of SMEs. Fox (2005) reports that the most likely reason for SMEs to engage in environmental management is when this becomes critical in attracting and retaining business either locally or internationally. Saulquin et al (2010) affirm this by reporting that there is great sensitivity by SMEs to the wellbeing of their employees and their community links. In support of this, other authors claim that large companies influence the behaviour of small firms in their supply chain in particular in relation to environmental protection, labour and human rights, health and safety (Jorgensen and Knudsen, 2005). Worthington et al (2006) tells us that UK SMEs invested in a range of CSR activities and the most common forms of CSR deployment ranged from donating to local causes and charities, sponsorships of local events and organisations, support for local schools and colleges, environmental init iatives, ethical purchasing and staff related activities. 2.6. Capability Maturity Model Fassin (2008), contends that most SMEs regard CSR as rather informal action and refers to it as an intuitive initiative rather than strategic process. On the other hand, Spence et al (2011) affirm that MNC are often seen to assume responsibility by implementing CSR-related organisational practices and structures which permit them to interact directly with civil society. Further, however, MNCs are often accused of using CSR as a front to cover up the more real business practices. Indeed it is important to analyse the depth and effectiveness with which organisations embed CSR within their operations so as to distinguish between CSR talk and CSR practice (Spence et al, 2011). The Capability Maturity Model is an organisational model which describes five evolutionary stages in which a firm manages its processes. An organisation which treats CSR as an ad hoc activity will be at the initial stage. As the firm matures in its approach to CSR and embraces CSR more and more as part of its core business practice it starts to progress through the next four levels, namely: managed, defined, qualitatively managed, optimizing. The maturity levels offer a structure to the discipline needed for continuous improvement. This paradigm is useful to determine the reason behind different levels of organisational CSR commitment and what it takes for a firm to progress to the next level of commitment. Level 1 INITIAL Level 2 MANAGED Level 3 DEFINED Level 4 QUANTITATIVELY MANAGED Level 5 OPTIMIZING Process unpredictable, Poorly controlled and reactive Processes characterised for projects, and is often reactive Processes characterised for the Organisation and is proactive Process measured, and controlled Focus on process improvement Figure 5: The Capability Maturity Model Humphrey, 1989