The French Terms of Order of Events

The French Terms of Order of Events The English word then has two distinct meanings: one related to consequence and the other to time. These two meanings translate differently into French, and the various synonyms fall roughly into two groups: Words commonly used to explain the consequences or effect of an action, like  ainsi,  alors, and  donc,And terms used to indicate the sequence of events, such as  aprà ¨s,  ensuite, and  puis.   Cause and Effect Ainsi 1. so, thus, therefore  (adverb)   Ainsi, jai dà ©cidà © de partir.   So I decided to leave.Jai perdu mon emploi, ainsi je ne peux pas acheter la voiture.   I lost my job, so I cant buy the car. This use of ainsi is roughly interchangeable with donc (below). 2. this way, like that Si tu vas agir ainsi, je ne peux pas taider.   If youre going to act like that, I cant help youCest ainsi ; tu dois laccepter.   Thats the way it is; you have to accept itAinsi va la vie.   Such is life.Ainsi soit-il.   So be it. 3. ainsi que:  just as, like, as well as  (conjunction) Ainsi que javais pensà ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚  Just as I thought†¦   Je suis impressionà © par son intelligence ainsi que son honnà ªtetà ©.   I am impressed by his intelligence as well as his honesty. Alors 1.  then, so, in that case  (adverb)   Tu ne vas pas la fà ªte ? Alors, moi non plus.   Youre not going to the party? Then I wont either.Elle ne comprend pas, alors il faut laider.   She doesnt understand, so we need to help her.Je nai pas mangà ©, alors il est difficile de me concentrer.   I didnt eat, so its difficult to concentrate. When used in this way, alors is more or less interchangeable with the first meanings of ainsi and donc; however, alors is not as strong in its cause-effect.  It means so or then rather than therefore. In other words, ainsi and donc indicate that something happened, and specifically because of that, something else happened. Alors, on the other hand, is more well then I guess this will/did happen.2.  so, then, well  (filler)   Alors, quest-ce quon va faire ?  Ã‚  So what are we going to do?Alors l, je nen sais rien.  Ã‚  Well, I dont know anything about that.Et alors ?   And then? So what? 3.  at that time Il à ©tait alors à ©tudiant.   At that time, he was a student. /  He was a student at the time.Le prà ©sident dalors Bill Clinton†¦Ã‚  Ã‚  The president at that time /  Then-president Bill Clinton†¦ 4.  alors que: at that time, while; even though  (conjunction)   Il est allà © la banque alors que je faisais les achats.   He went to the bank while I did the shopping.Il est sorti alors que je ne voulais pas.   He went out even though I didnt want to. Donc 1.  therefore, so, thus  (conjunction)   Il nest pas arrivà ©, donc jai dà » manger seul.   He didnt arrive, so I had to eat alone.Je pense, donc je suis (Renà © Descartes).   I think, therefore I am. This usage of donc is interchangeable with the first meaning of ainsi. The only difference is that donc is a conjunction and, in theory, must join two clauses, whereas ainsi can be used with one or two clauses. In reality, donc is often used with just one clause as well: Donc je suis allà ©Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ So I went†¦ When used in this sense, both ainsi and donc indicate a cause-effect relationship. 2.  then, it must be, in that case Si ce nest pas Philippe cest donc Robert.  Ã‚  If its not Philippe then it is (it must be) Robert.Jai perdu mon stylo donc celui-ci est toi.  Ã‚  I lost my pen so this one must be yours. 3.  then, so  (intensifier or filler)   Donc, elle à ©tait enceinte ?   Was she pregnant, then? So was she pregnant?Voil donc notre conclusion.   So here is our conclusion.Qui donc à ªtes-vous ?   So who are you?Allons donc !   Come on (already)! This usage is similar to the way so is used in English. Technically, so indicates a cause-effect relationship, but it is often used colloquially as a filler. For example, you might greet someone and say So I bought a car or So, are you going out tonight? even though nothing was said previously that the so is linking back to. Sequence of Events Aprà ¨s 1.  after  (preposition)   Il a tà ©là ©phonà © aprà ¨s toi.   He called after you (did).Aprà ¨s avoir tout lu†¦ (past infinitive) After having read everything†¦ 2.  afterwards, later  (adverb)   Viens me voir aprà ¨s.   Come see me afterwards.Quest-ce qui sest passà © aprà ¨s ?   What happened later/afterwards? Aprà ¨s is not interchangeable with ensuite and puis. Those adverbs indicate a sequence of events, whereas aprà ¨s simply modifies a verb to say what will/did happen at a later time. There is no sense of progression from one action to the next when using aprà ¨s. 3.  aprà ¨s que: after  (conjunction)   Aprà ¨s quil est mort, jai dà ©mà ©nagà © en Belgique.   After he died, I moved to Belgium.Je vais le faire aprà ¨s quil arrivera.   Im going to do it after he arrives. Aprà ¨s que is followed by the indicative, not the subjunctive. However, when describing something that has not happened yet, the verb after aprà ¨s que is in the future, rather than in the present, as it is in English. Ensuite 1. then, next, later  (adverb)   Jai mangà © et ensuite je me suis habillà ©.   I ate and then I got dressed.Je suis allà © la banque et ensuite au musà ©e.   I went to the bank and then (to) the museum.Il ma dit ensuite que†¦   And then he told me†¦, / He told me later that†¦ Puis 1. then, next  (adverb)   Jai mangà ©, puis je me suis habillà ©.   I ate and then I got dressed.Je suis allà © la banque et puis au musà ©e.   I went to the bank and then (to) the museum.Puis il ma dit que†¦   Then he told me†¦ This meaning of puis is interchangeable with ensuite, except for the sense of later, which only ensuite has. They do not indicate a cause-effect relationship; they simply relate a sequence of events. 2.  et puis: and besides, moreover (conjunction) Je nai pas envie de sortir, et puis je nai pas dargent.   I dont feel like going out, and besides, I dont have any money.Nous devons à ©tudier, et puis toi aussi.   We have to study, and so do you.

General Electrics Two

General Electrics Two The Present Strategies of General Electric Marketing/Sales General Electric provides a great variety of products and services to its customers. They include home electric appliances, engines for airplanes, medical equipment, software solutions, etc. Apart from that, the company has established several water cleaning facilities throughout the world (General Electric, 2010, unpaged). At the core of marketing strategies, employed by the management of this organization lies the idea of diversity.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on General Electrics Two-Decade Transformation: Jack Welchs Leadership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is one of the strengths of this enterprise: decline in demand for a certain type of product will have catastrophic effects on the company. However, one should bear in mind that this organization has a very high turnover rate among marketing personnel is very high, and this can be viewed a s a weakness since continuous rotation of the personnel can eventually decrease the performance of the marketing team. To some extent, the turnover rate is the heritage of Jack Welsh’s reign. Manufacturing Operations The manufacturing operations of this enterprise rely on the idea of the so-called â€Å"boundaryless company† in which there are no barriers between manufacturing and engineering (Bartlett Wozny, 2005). Largely, the concept of boundaryless company exemplifies a matrix organization, in which the employees closely cooperate with one another. Furthermore, this company advocates the importance of the lean production and reduction of labor costs. Finance/accounting At the given moment, the net revenue of this organization constitutes the total revenue of this organization $ 157 billion, while the cost of revenue is $ 65,3 billion (General Electric c, 2010, unpaged). It should be noted that in the companies in 2010 the financial performance of this organization has deteriorated especially in comparison with two previous years (General Electric c, 2010, unpaged). General Electric pursues transparent accounting policies. In particular, it reports include not only the information about revenues and operational costs, but also the data about cost of revenue, inventories, debt, long-term reliabilities, and so forth. This transparency enables an investor to better evaluate the efficiency of this organization.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Human Resources/Personnel The principles of HR management in General Electric were laid down by Jack Welsh. The company pays close attention to the assessment of employee’s performance. Overall, this company greatly relies on the so-called vitality curve, in which the workers are divided into five ranks or groups in terms of their performance (Bartlett Wozny, 2005, p 13). The t hing is those employees, who are continuously put in the third category (C) are most likely to be dismissed. This strategy can be viewed as both strength and weakness of the enterprise. On the one, it allows the management to retain only well-performing employees. However, it also results in the high turn-over rate and tension among employees and poor teamwork. Another important feature, we need to mention is the tendency to downside and delayer the personnel. Innovation At this point, RD (Research and Development) efforts of this organization are aimed at the development of nanotechnologies and more eco-friendly technologies (General Electric, 2010, unpaged). On the whole, such an approach to RD can be explained by the fact that the management wants to secure a leading position in these two burgeoning industries. Management The management of this organization has been significantly influenced the strong personality of Jack Welsh, who has radically transformed the company during eig hties and nineties. We can several out several features of the management in the company. One of them is the so-called philosophy of â€Å"Stretch† (Bartlett Wozny, 2005, p 9). It urges the managers and their employees to continuously improve the financial performance of their departments. Secondly, we need to mention that the management of this enterprise always involves the front-line employees into decision-making. Even though Jack Welsh retired in 2001, its successor Jeffry Immelt do not try to alter his managerial policies and policies. Other It is also important to discuss the quality control in General Electric. The company adopts the so-called Six Sigma approach, which relies on interdepartmental cooperation, orientation toward customer needs, the use of numerical and qualitative methods to assess the quality of products and services. (Bartlet Wozny, 2005, p 11).Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on General Electrics Two-Decade Transformati on: Jack Welchs Leadership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More New Product/Market Opportunity Alternatives There are several areas to which the management of this organization should pay more attention to renewable energy industry, for example, they may need to engines that would be able to use biofuels. One should remember that in the near future, the demand for eco-friendly technologies would only increase both in the United States and in Europe. Another industry, which could be of great interest to General Electric, is nanotechnologies, since it has applications in various spheres such as electronics, healthcare, IT and so forth. External Threats The increasing importance of renewable energy. General Electronic actively participates in oil production and transportation while a great number of modern manufactures as well as customers are willing to decrease their consumption of oil-related product as it is both expensive and harmful to the e nvironment (General Electric, 2010, unpaged). The adoption of new technologies can greatly diminish the revenues of this corporation. Legal restriction imposed on oil extraction. Again, we need to emphasize an idea that the company is very dependent on the demand as well as supply of oil. In the light of the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the extraction of oil will become even more difficult especially in the United States. The increasing competitiveness in the software market. The company has to compete with such international corporations like IBM, Honeywell International, Microsoft, Apple, etc. IT is one of those industries where the number of market players continuously increases. Mission Statement To formulate the mission statement of this company, we can use the words of its former CEO, Jack Welch, who wanted General Electric to become the â€Å"the most profitable and highly diversified company on earth† (Bartlet Wozny, 2005, p 2). Thus, we may argue that the mi ssion of this enterprise is to retain the status of the world’s leading manufacturer that can respond to the abrupt changes in political, economic , technological and cultural environment. It is also possible to single out several objectives: To strengthen the firm’s position in such industries as renewable energy and nanotechnology. To decrease the turnover rate in the organization. To broaden the range of products and services. Strategies The management can adopt different strategies to achieve these objectives: One of the first tasks is to abolish the use of vitality scales as means of assessing employees performance. To purchase or merge with those companies which specialize in the production of nanotechnologies and renewable energy systems. To invest more capital in the research and development. Internal Environment Analysis The internal environment for GE can be identified through a strengths and weaknesses analysis – the two internal aspects of SWOT a nalysis. Such can be identified with various elements such as management, human resource (HR) strategy, and financials of the internal environment. For GE the first strength include a sound HR strategy that rewards employees based on performance measures that take care of wide array of contribution – e.g. the four E’s (Energy, ability to â€Å"energize others†, edge and execution) (Bartlett Wozny 2005).Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Secondly, the entity’s strength lies in a committed leadership with Welch leading from the front, and the support of the management team that he had established. Commitment of leadership team to the values and vision of the organization is identified as a key driver to establishing organizational transformation (Cohen 2004). Thirdly, the strength of the organization lies with its diversification into service businesses that offer enhanced value to the customer. Such services offer the company the opportunity to increase customer satisfaction, an antecedent to establishing long-lasting customer relationships (Gronroos 2004). Finally, the entity’s strong financial performance is critical for supporting its expansion programs across the globe. The entity’s weaknesses on the other hand arise from a centralized decision-making process with Welch at the center of each decision. Such a process is disadvantageous in a number of ways. Firstly, it could limit effective tr ansition with prospective successors being used to a culture of a â€Å"father-figure.† Secondly, such a strategy is limited with the globalization strategy the entity embarked on. With its operations extending into global regions, such a strategy limits the speed of implementation at overseas subsidiaries and may face cultural and political barriers where the organization is perceived to benefit â€Å"foreign† players more. Fig 1:  GE’s Internal Environment During Welch’s Two-Decades at the Helm Strengths Weaknesses Human resource strategy – sound strategy with well-outlined measures of performance and rewards. Management – committed to the organization’s values and vision. Product diversification – Creation of value-adding units e.g. service businesses that could increase customer commitment reading to a long-term relationship. Financials – strong financial performance (appendix for financial ratios). Improved profitability over the period Welch was in leadership. Corporate strategy – centralized with CEO being at the center of all decision-making processes, could affect transition, affect global operations e.g. implementation of strategies may take time if controlled from a centralized place, may also face cultural barriers if not specific to a certain region’s environmental and cultural attributes. External Environment Analysis External environment analysis can be assessed through the opportunities and threats an entity faces – the two external aspects of SWOT. On the threats end, aspects of a political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental nature may affect an entity such as GE. Alternatively, external environment may be assessed for competitiveness based on the porter’s five forces (Dagmar Recklies 2001). These forces are buyers’ bargaining power, suppliers bargaining power, new-entrant’s threats, threat of substi tutes and competitive rivalry between existing players (Dagmar Recklies 2001). From the case study, such aspects that are applicable to GE can be identified on a matrix format. Fig 2:GE’s External Environment Opportunities Threats Expansion to global environments e.g. via acquisitions enhances economies of scale and reduce susceptibility to country-specific macroeconomic shocks, economic meltdowns that provide the company the opportunity to purchase going concerns with a potential at reduced prices as it has previously done (Bartlett Wozny 2005). E-business opportunities – use Internet, social media tools to better customer engagement thus get important feedback to improve its services and product offerings. Use virtual technology to support virtual teams that could have cost-cutting effects. Political – Globalization strategy exposes the entity to different political systems. In countries where there’s political instability, the entityâ⠂¬â„¢s business is affected Economic – though economic downturns provide the entity with buying opportunities, they also present barriers to increased revenues, e.g. in its oil and gas businesses. Socio-cultural – through its expansion into various continents where cultural orientation differs from its home country, GE’s faces a threat of cultural barriers especially with its centralized management that could lead to preference of local providers to the entity. Technology – technological differences in areas the entity operates in may limit the standardization of entity’s process. Such could affect the long-term sustainability of boundaryless strategy that Welch initiated. Environmental – various activities of GE are subject to adherence to set standards for carbon emissions. As environmental policies change (e.g. when emissions trading schemes become altered), the entity could be presented with the pressure of maintaining its business opera tions within allowable limits. Fig 3:Competitiveness Buyer’s power Buyers’ bargaining power is high in a number of its businesses. Customers of rail services and energy products for instance may be governments, which wield high bargaining power. Strategy – form relationship with buyers with high bargaining power such as governments. Supplier’s Power High supplier power in areas such as labor Strategy – enter into agreements with worker’s unions. New Entrants High in some businesses – e.g. credit services by its finance (consumer and business options) could be taken up by many microfinance institutions coming up in many global locations. Low in others – e.g. in rail, oil and gas, and aviation that require high capital investment. Strategy – dependent on the business Substitutes High – e.g., locomotive trains are rivaled by automobile industry in many countries. Water treatment systems can be s ubstituted with chemical purification methods. Strategy – create value-addition services around its products and avoid price wars. Competitor Rivalry GE’s competitors are wide ranging. Financial services have competitors better suited to offer services in that area since it is their core business. Electric distribution – individual countries could have state owned companies that are under protection by the governments. Strategy – invest in competitors, buyout competitors where possible, sell-out to competitors where long-term sustainability is not possible. Conclusion and recommendations Transformational leadership is a core characteristic of successful organizations in the increasingly competitive business environment. This paper evaluated GE’s two-decade transformation during the leadership of Welch (1981-2001). Core strengths of the company noted during the transformation process were a sound human resource strategy, management commitm ent to values and vision of the entity, creation of value-adding units, and strong financial performance. Its centralized management approach during Welch’s time, was however a weakness that could have negatively affected transition and global expansion. Opportunities for the business lie in expansion to foreign markets to enhance economies of scale and reduce susceptibility to country-specific macroeconomic shock, e-business opportunities brought about by increasing impact of the Internet in people’s lives, and using such technology to enhance customer engagement that would help it improve its products. The entity’s threats include political, legal, economic and social aspects brought along by its expansion to global locations. Due to the wide array of businesses that GE is involved in recommendations are wide ranging. In products where the buyer power is high, e.g., where the government is the buyer, GE should create relationship with such buyers by offering i ncentives that would make it the preferred provider. Such incentives could include committing to programs that aim to improve the livelihood of people living in such areas. Similarly, where competitor rivalry is high, GE could evaluate purchasing stocks in local companies that are protected by home-country government policies References Bartlett, CA Wozny, M 2005, GE’s two-decade transformation: Jack Welch’s leadership, Case 9-399-150, Harvard Business School. Cohen, AR 2004, ‘Building a company of leaders’, Leader to Leader, pp. 16-20, influencewithoutauthority.com/images/Building%20a%20Company%20of%20Leaders%203-05.pdf. Dagmar Recklies 2001, Porters 5 forces, Recklies Management Project GmbH, themanager.org/pdf/p5f.pdf. Gronroos, C 2004, ‘The relationship marketing process: Communication, interaction, dialogue, value’, Journal of Business Industrial Marketing, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 99-113. General Electric 2001, GE annual report 2000, ge.co m/annual00/download/images/GEannual00.pdf. General Electric. (2010). The Official Website. Accessed from fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/General-Electric-Company-Company-History.html General Electric. (2010). General Electric Company (GE) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest. Accessed from wikinvest.com/stock/General_Electric_Company_%28GE%29/Data/Income_Statement#Income_Statement Pillai, R Williams, EA 2004, Transformational leadership, self-efficacy, group cohesiveness, commitment and performance’, Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 144-159. Pretorious, M 2009, ‘Leadership liabilities of newly appointed managers: arrive prepared’, Strategy Leadership, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 37-42. Rowold, J Heinitz, K 2007, ‘Transformational and charismatic leadership: Assessing the convergent, divergent and criterion validity of the MLQ and the CKS’, The Leadership Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 121-133.

How did Witte's and Pobedonostsev's visions of Russia and its path Essay

How did Witte's and Pobedonostsev's visions of Russia and its path differ Could either of them have saved autocracy - Essay Example Ivan III wiped out the idea of democracy by annexing territory of both principalities of their kingdom, ensuring that no united political power would be able to oppose their total authoritarian rule. The leader drew a firm support of the Russian Orthodox Church to legitimize an autocratic rule (MacKenzie & Curran, 2001). The people of Russia would therefore feel the effects of this rule in later years during the time of reign of both Alexander III and Nicholas II of between 1880 and 1905. Many Russians suffered due to autocratic rule at these times and later it resulted to the Russian Revolution. During the time of these two rulers, the people of Russia ran to extreme poverty due to existence of famine, lack of education, the people lived under poor working condition in cities, there were limited industries even though society that is more agrarian could be noticed no development could be hastened. Due to autocracy, the Russian empire was deteriorated politically, economically, and socially. There were no industries and most of the people were peasants with high level of illiteracy. Most of the citizens were still under the slavery of wealthy property owners. The government still had no defined legal or constitution as well as parliament thus as a result no elections could be conducted. For efficient and smooth run of the entire vast empire, the Tsar appointed various ministers to help him rule. People were denied freedom of speech thus grievances could not be aired to the Tsar. The first round in the struggle to define a direction of Russia’s development was between the conservative stability proclaimed by Pobedonostsev, which elaborated on maintenance of Russia’s natural institution and massive industrial change driven by Witte that emphasized on the introduction of European institutions (MacKenzie & Curran, 2001). The two men experienced a reversal of their early

Quantum mechanics of atoms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Quantum mechanics of atoms - Essay Example This paper hence sets basis on the comprehensive and extensive discussion of the concepts behind this entire topic. It tries to bring out the general understanding as well as the practical application of this ultimate topic. Quantum mechanics of Atoms refers to the scientific study of smaller segments of scientific principles ascertaining on the behavioral properties of matter and their ultimate relations with energy based on the atomic scale as well as the subatomic particles [2]. The Classical physics describes energy and matter on a given scale that is recognizable to the human experiences such as the behavior regarding the astronomical bodies. It is the key element towards measurement for the greater part of the technology and modern science. However, scientists have since discovered the phenomena in both macro and micro worlds that cannot either be explained by classical physics. The Scientific Revolutions structure that often comes to terms with such limitations has led to major revolutions within the physics concept thereby creating a shift regarding the original paradigm involving the relativity theory and the quantum mechanics development [6]. This paper hence describes the way various physicists revealed various limitations of the classical physics as well as the development of the primary concepts regarding quantum concept that restored it in early 20th century decades. Quantum generally refers to the minimum quantity regarding any form of physical entity that is involved in a process of interaction. Light often behaves like particles at times and like waves in other respect. Matter thus refers to the particles including the atoms and electrons, and also tends to exhibit a wavelike behavior on the other hand. Some of the light sources that include the neon lights usually emit certain discrete light frequencies. The Quantum mechanics indicates that light as well as

The importance of having a safety program in an organization Term Paper

The importance of having a safety program in an organization - Term Paper Example Thus it is the responsibility of the organization to protect its employees from safety and security concerns. The safety program helps to build an atmosphere of peaceful and steady work where employees are able to concentrate on their job without being concerned over the possible issues of their safety (Alston, 2003). Importance of safety program in an organization The employees are the most valuable assets of an organization. Apart from the employees, the workplace of an organization also constitutes of the customers, the employees of the customers, agents, suppliers and the general public. Any injury or accident in the workplace is a highly undesired event that could break the flow of workplace activities of the organization. The disruption of work due to events of violence or accidents would not cause losses of daily work output but would also affect the human resource of the organization. The cost of such danger situations is unexpectedly high for the organization that demands es timation and subsequent measures. The implementation of safety programs in an organization is an important step to safeguard the employees, internal and external stakeholders and other valuable assets of the organization for sustainable healthy operations. ... The parameters of job security and job satisfaction are among the highly rated criteria that employees look for fulfillment. The role on safety measures by the organization keep the employees loyal to the organization with higher level of satisfaction and feeling of care taken by employers. The safety program to be set up by the organizations is also a legal requirement. The laws and regulation of the federal, state, locality and community are enforced so that no compromise is done on the acts of safety. The research on safety issues of the organization indicated that 80% of the reported accidents in workplace are due to unsafe behavior rather than the unsafe environment. Thus the safety programs included focus on the unsafe behavior of participants in the workplace which is a proactive approach rather than identifying the causes of unsafe environment and waiting for the changes to produce a safe environment. Ways for successful implementation of safety programs The various ways of s uccessful implementation of safety programs in an organization are given as follows. The implementation of successful safety programs of an organization depends majorly on the initiative of the various levels of management of the organization. The management should be accountable to exhibit exemplary behavior to their employees in the workplace. The rules on safety in workplace should be abided by the entire workforce with high level of mutual respect and co-operation at work. The expectation on safety standards are required to be set among the employees in order to bring out responsible behavior in the workplace. While entering into contracts with

International Business Essay Example for Free

International Business Essay Q.2 a) Evaluate the different ways in which Bata has interacted with foreign political systems in its investments and operations abroad. ANS Multinational enterprises (MNEs) like Bata must operate in countries with different political and legal conditions, so the political impact on the foreign investments is very important. This paper explains this issue based on the Bata case in three parts. The first part evaluates the different ways in which Bata has interacted with foreign political systems in its investments and operations aboard. In the second part, the advantages and disadvantages, which MNEs bring to their company and the host-country when doing foreign direct investment, are analyzed relating to the Bata case. And the last part gives a detailed analysis of the complex political impact on international business with reference to the political environment in general; also supply the way of formulating effective political strategy. * Batas effective organizational structure and managing style With activities in 60 countries, Canada-based Bata Shoe Organization has much operational experience both in developed countries and developing countries and can deal with different political systems. It has an effective organization structure, which consists of  · Bata Limited located in Toronto, Canada, acts as headquarters of the operating companies. Regional offices exist in Toronto, Mexico City, Singapore, Paris, Calcutta and Harare.  · The International structure: a decentralized organization, where operating companies are independent businesses, supported by a global management team.  · Private Ownership: Bata shoe organization companies have also entered into a number of joint ventures, retail franchising and brand licensing agreements [1]. By and large Batas operations are independent units established in each country where the firm does business. As such, Bata is able to decentralize control of its politica l strategygiving subsidiaries significant autonomy in managing relations with their respective government. b) Should Pizza Hut put more of its efforts in expanding in Brazil or somewhere in South East Asia? Why? ANS – Pizza Hut, one of the most popular food chains, opened their 10000Th shops in the Brazilian market in 1994. Pizza Hut’s parent company is PepsiCo. PepsiCo was trying to penetrate in Brazilian market in various ways. However, the path was not as easy as assumed. Pizza Hut faced decline in the Brazilian market. Experts said that there were two probable reasons for this. One is Pizza Hut’s less successful introduction of new products and the second is the low price strategy of the competitors. However, Pizza Hut had a high hope to make Brazils their second or third major market because Brazil had many location specific advantages like urbanization, size, population, Gross National Product etc. Brazil endured erratic political situations since 1964. After a long military dictatorship, a stable political reformation was done by the year 1997.Economically; Brazil has a mixed history as well. It has a very good economic potential. It has access to several natural resources and well knit infrastructures. However, inflation affected the economy very badly. Pizza Hut entered in Brazil in 1988, during the period of high inflation. It followed the practice of corporate franchise. Later, Pizza Hut bought some of the franchises. But still different problems arose like- difference in cultures, cost of maintaining large pool of employees and of course inflation. Gradually, the inflation rate of Brazil normalized. People made more informed decisions and Pizza Hut began to flourish. However, in 1995, sales of Pizza Hut dropped. As a mean of counterattack, Pizza Hut took two different strategies. One was to cut the price by 25% and another was to announce various sales related decisions by mingling with local cultures like Samba dance. But both of the plans failed miserably. In these ways, Pizza Hut struggled to succeed in the Brazilian market. Q.3 a) what factors threaten India’s future competitive positions in cashew nut productions? ANS – Since the opening of China’s doors to world trade in the late 90’s, it has become an emerging super power. Hence, China may be a threat to India’s current competitive position in the cashew nut production because it is also capable to support cashew processing with its abundance of human resources, low-wage rates, and possible training in the manual dexterity required in the premium cashew nut production. China is currently engaging in new markets and providing cheap manual labor to other manufacturing. With this, China can see that the increasing profitable cashew nut industry and decide to enter it because it has the capability to do so. Moreover, the current formulation of the European Union (EU) provides that its members eliminate trade barriers for imports and exports between each other may be a possible threat to India’s United Kingdom market. Since the UK can virtually import anything from its neighboring countries without any cost, it might affect the demand of cashew nuts –the Europeans may divert their attention from cashew nuts to other products popular in its neighboring countries. India’s competitiveness could also be threatened by the increased Research and Development improvement that countries worldwide are engaging in nowadays. Brazilians (India’s most prominent competitor in the cashew nut industry) may possibly find machinery that can be substituted for the needed hand dexterity for the flavor that India’s cashew nut has. b) Should the United States seek to tighten the economic grip on cube? If so, how should it be done? ANS – U.S. should not seek to tighten economic grip on Cuba as it is already a weak economy as compared to U.S. due to the political environment of the country for the past few decades. For U.S. industries and companies Cuba is a very potential market. Also the workforce is efficient, so there is a possibility of efficient labor at lower cost for U.S. industries. Also, other countries of the world started favoring Cuba and also doubted the rationale of U.S. on imposing the embargo. 1. Attitude: An attitude may be defined as a learned disposition to behave in a consistently favourable or unfavourable way with respect to a given object (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). Stated differently, it positions people into a frame of mind of liking or disliking things, of moving toward or away from them‘ (Kolter and Armstrong, 2008: p144). It is acknowledged that people have attitudes toward almost everything religion, politics, clothes, music, food (Kotler, 2003). For instance The demand for life insurance in a country may be affected by the unique culture of the country to the extent that it affects the population‘s risk aversion (Douglas and Wildavski, 1982). Henderson and Milhouse (1987) argue that an individual‘s religion can provide an insight into the individual‘s behaviour; and understanding religion is an important component of understanding a nation‘s unique culture. Also, Zelizer (1979) notes that religion historically has provided a strong source of cultural opposition to life insurance as many religious people believe that a reliance on life insurance results from a distrust of God‘s protecting care. But historically, some form of social insurance existed in Nigerian and Africa society long before the introduction of the modern insurance in Nigeria (Osoka, 1992). These social schemes evolved through the existence of extended family system and social associations such as age grades, and other unions. The simplest form of the â€â€"social insurance‘ was practiced by means of providing cash donations, materials or sometimes organized collective labour to assist members of extended family and members of social or communal associations who suffer a mishap. 2. Lack of Knowledge of Insurance Culture: In a recent study of quality of life in developing countries with reference to South Africa (Moller, 2004), income and social security (own wages, ability to provide for family, insurance against illness/death and income in old age) have been treated as one of the major indicators of quality of life. This standpoint stresses the significance of insurance to human life. Ironically, insurance services seem not to have been so accepted enthusiastically in developing countries. The abysmal level of insurance culture in developing economies has attracted relative interests among researchers and practitioners alike. Risk has been identified as a central fact of life in the rural areas of less-developed countries (Udry, 1994). Some of the problems associated with this have been marketing. For example, Omar (2005) assesses consumers‘attitudes towards life insurance patronage in Nigeria and found out that there is lack of trust and confidence i n the insurance companies. Other major reason for this attitude is lack of knowledge about life insurance product. 3. Low Level of Education: Educational status of Nigerians has significant influence on their attitude towards insurance. Educated people have more positive attitude to insurance than less educated ones. In a recent insurance conducted in Lagos, Nigeria. The choice of Lagos is due to its nature as a metropolitan city where most Nigerian ethnic groups are largely represented. Fact shows that respondents with higher education outperformed others even though no statistical significant difference was observed with vocational education. 4. Unemployment Issue: Employees working status has a significance effect on Nigerians attitude towards insurance. Retired and Employed Nigerians with means attitude scores of 28.50 and 28.14 respectively outperformed their competitors. No significant difference was observed between retired, employed and Self-employed respondents. On the other hand, self-employed people have significantly higher attitude towards insurance than unemployed, student and part time workers. This result is quite similar to findings in most developed world. In Conclusion, The findings of this study suggest some major implications for marketing of insurances services in Nigerian businesses environment which is a big market. Given that attitude is strongly linked to behaviour, marketers of insurance services targeting Nigerians are confronted with the challenge of encouraging people to embrace insurance institution and its associated benefits. Based on the findings, this article confirms negative attitudes of Nigerians to insurance services further. But apart from this broad finding in respect of the negative attitudes to this line of business, this study suggests some specific findings based on different demographical factors of the respondents. The findings serve as inputs to marketers of insurance services on how they formulate and implement relevant marketing strategies towards addressing the nonchalant attitude of Nigerians to insurance. For instance, specific marketing strategies are required to encourage the young generation below 46 years of age, the divorced/separated, and the less-educated to embrace and appreciate the role of insurance. Since, the basic issue associated with this lack of interest rests mainly in their lack of appreciation of the roles of benefits of insurance services; it is recommended that significant marketing communication activities with instant compensation to both marketers be targeted more at this set of people highlighted. This will help to kindle their interest in the business and brings the insurance institution to the highly exalted position it belongs in their perception.

Ethical and Legal Considerations in Social Work Essay -- Social Work E

Shaniya Robinson arrives at the County Human Services Authority for her monthly appointment with her social worker. Ms. Robinson is a 25 year old African American female who is receiving treatment for schizophrenia from the adult behavioral health services program. During a session the client reports that she is under a great deal of stress because she is having difficulty adjusting to being a new mother. Her five month old baby girl Shanice is teething and cries frequently. Ms. Robinson is also struggling financially because she is currently unemployed; her mental illness makes it difficult to sustain employment long term. And she does not receive support from the child’s father on a consistent basis. The combination of these interactional difficulties is weighing heavily on the client who reports an increase in positive and negative symptoms (i.e. auditory hallucinations and social withdrawal). Because the client does not have insurance she disclosed to her social worker that she self-medicates using marijuana in an effort to manage symptoms. More noteworthy, the client explains that she uses the same method to soothe the baby by blowing marijuana smoke in the infant's face. It is certain that Ms. Robinson divulged such information for several reasons, she wants help and she believes that any information she shares within the context of her sessions are confidential. Confidentiality The expectation in the practitioner/client relationship is that any information disclosed will not be shared with others. Confidentiality is emphasized to provide the client with a safe haven in which to share traumatic events or embarrassing personal information about themselves (Krase, 2013). Disclosing this type of sensitive information... ...). Marijuana and Breast Feeding: Is it Safe to Smoke Marijuana and Breastfeed? Retrieved from http://addictions.about.com/od/legalissues/a/Marijuana- And-Breastfeeding.htm?p=1 Krase, K. (2013). Social Workers as Mandated as Reporters: Conflicted Over Confidentiality? Part IV. The New Social Worker. Retrieved from http://www.socialworker.com/feature- articles/practice/social-workers-as-mandated-reporters%3A/page-2.html Louisiana Children's Code. (n.d.). Retrieved on March 27, 2014 from http://www.nicholls.edu/frc/louisiana-chidrens-code/ National Association of Social Workers (2008). NASW Code of Ethics: Guide to the Everyday Professional Conduct of Social Workers. Washington, DC: NASW. Sheafor, B. & Horejsi, C.J. (2012). Techniques and guidelines for social work practice. (9th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.