Toyota Ethics case study

Identification of ethics and social responsibility issues facing the company Toyota Motor Corporation is an international automobile and financial company, respected for its quality and reliable products; to remain competitive; the company’s management makes timely decisions. In all operations, the company aims to be ethical; it also extends a hand of appreciation to the public through corporate social responsibilities (CSRs). When determining the operation base and the CSRs to undertake, the company considers different issues likely to influence the direction of the projects or decisions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Toyota Ethics case study specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There has been come ethical issues faced by the company, for example in early 2010, Toyota Company was faced by a problem when some fault vehicles got their way to the market and lead to deaths particularly in the United States of A merica. The company was considered not to be taking good care of its customers and the public. The brands of vehicle could accelerate themselves to an uncontrollable level they even led to death. The move or the experience that the company got at the time forced the management to appraise in person on the case and recalled all faulty automobiles. The case of Toyota was broadcasted in international and national media a point that made the sales of the company reduce ((Habisch, Jonker and Martina 1-123). Toyota being in the automobile industry has been blamed for environmental damage; the damage has been attributed to the company’s products, vehicles, which use fossil fuels to run. When fossil fuels are burnt, they produce green house gasses that have been a major talk in environmental debates, for the reason the company has been considered unethical. However, despite the moves and criticism gotten from environmental conservatisms, the company has continued to improve its produ cts and has innovated battery vehicles (electronic vehicles). Identification of key stakeholders and explanation of their involvement and influence There are a number of stakeholders in Toyota as far as ethics and corporate social responsibilities plans are concerned. The stakeholders are both internal and external players; internally Toyota is divided into departments performing different tasks. Internal team is expected to be creative, inventive and innovative to come up with approaches to ethical and CRS programs.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The company has embarked on enforcement of its operating strategies: the company operates under five principals, they are Kaizen (continuo’s improvement), teamwork, Challenges, Respect and Genchi Genbutsu (go and see): to be ethical, the company aims at fulfilling the above objectives. Another set of the company’s st akeholders that affect the ethical code of business in the company is the external environment like customers and the society; there is a level of quality that customers expect from the company, the level forces the company to adopt high ethical operations. The company takes social corporate responsibilities as advertising and marketing tools, they offer the company a competitive advantage as communities value the efforts made by the company. The government and community-based organizations are other stakeholders; the main areas that these organizations get involved is in offering a minimal base and rate of operation that the company should uphold, for instance the environment movements require some level of emission from the company’s products and operations. When the company is compiling with such regulations, then it has to conduct its businesses ethically. International bodies and regulations are other stakeholders which the company has as stakeholders, there are a number of international conventions, protocols , and agreements that define the way business should be conducted, they include Kyoto protocol, Stockholm agreements, Doha round of talks, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992, European Commission, and The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). However, these organizations are more concerned on pollution matters and environmental protection. The company is listed in Asian stock exchange whereby the public can buy shares in the company. The employees have a policy that ensures that they also have shares in the company, all this are stakeholders. The government and the public also would like to get ethically correct products from whichever the company and thus are included in the context of stakeholders. Shareholders are recognized by paying them dividends and the government by taxes. The public benefit from social corporate responsibilities programs (Habisch, Jonker and Martina 1-123) Identification of company’s stance Al though Toyota has been concerned on ethical and CSR issues, it waited until 2005 when the company developed a CSR policy, in the policy the company’s stance which is â€Å"CSR POLICY: Contribution towards Sustainable Development.† The policy team section has been upgraded to full departmental level managed by team of experts; the sector looks into economic, social, political and environmental issues in the company. The department has been successful in innovating environmental technologies in both products and processes.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Toyota Ethics case study specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The stance is seen as a combination of pragmatic, ethical, or strategic stance; the broad approach of the stance offers flexibility in country. The success of the structure can be seen in different areas which include development of products that are internationally accepted and automating its process to meet international standards. The stance is not limited to guidance in CSR and ethical issues but takes massive research to advice the company on consumers expectations. The following are the policies that are contained in the stance: Contribution towards a prospectus 21st century society Pursuit of environmental technologies Voluntary actions and Working in corporation with society The above action policies are implemented using the framework of: Action plan Toyota Green purchasing Guidelines Biodiversity guidelines Initiative at the new Toyota RD center Let us evaluate the success of the company using a Carroll’s Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility. Carroll Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility is as follows: At the base of the pyramid, the company profit objectives; when the company economic welfare has been looked into, the company lays the base of other corporate responsibilities and ethical code of conducts. The pyramid can be expanded as fo llows:Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Basic policy action guideline Economic responsibility the company has futuristic actions and strategies that target the continuity of the business, according to the CRS plan, the company aims at improving its products and improves the quality of the products to meet the demands of 21st century. When doing this, the company aims at maintaining harmony with the environment. Legal responsibilities It is the company’s policy that it should comply with national and international ethical standards; when the standards are being developed, it is one of the companies consulted for their inputs, it advises these organizations with customer as the main concern. Ethical responsibility The company has ethical policies that it should attain in its operations, the ethical responsibilities include the need to conserve the environment and create harmony with the environments its is operating. Philanthropic responsibilities the company has created good citizenship with the communiti es it is operating in, it aims at adding value to stakeholders. The efforts of the company look into all areas of ethical concern, the major drive of the company is to have products that are accepted internationally and whose connect with the people (Toyota official website). The automobile industry is quite demanding as far as ethical and social responsibilities are concerned, they are at the point of focus by national and international bodies more so when it comes to the issues of environmental conservation and being efficient. Mitsubishi is another international automobile company; it has ethical and corporate social responsibility functions at it heart, in every automobile it produces, it ensures it meets international accreditation of quality, before releasing to the market, the company quality team has to ensure that ever thing is intact. The efforts have not gone untested; the company’s Glanti model has been accused of brake failures and color fades. There are a num ber of corporate social responsibilities that the company has embarked on; they include environmental conservations, public educations, and has embarked on massive automation to facilitate ethical business. According to environmental report 2009 by US Environmental Agency, Mitsubishi has reduced its water wastage by 50%, this is through recycling and proper water use. The recycling is seen as a move to conserve the environment in line with EU environmental rules and Kyoto protocol. US Environmental Agency has congratulated the efforts taken by Mitsubishi to conserve the environment. It is of the view that if other motor industries follow the same trend, then the world is likely to reduce emissions by half. Pollution from Mitsubishi Motors Corporation can be controlled as a form of corporate responsibility (internal) or a company can embark on massive cleaning of the environment. Mitsubishi is also a key player in carbon emission reduction through: Adopting fuel efficient production methods like use electricity instead of coal when heating, this is estimated to reduce its in factory emission by 20% A project to develop electric motor vehicles is in an advanced stage The company has embarked on improved technology on it vehicles to ensure that they are fuel efficient The company have started making bio-diesel engine vehicles; they are seen as the breakthrough to future environmental conservation When comparing Toyota and Mitsubishi, Toyota is doing better; this is so because of the massive innovations that it has come up with in products and processes. Although Mitsubishi is having effective CRS, its coverage is lower than that of Toyota, this may be agued its because of the differences in operating base, since Toyota is the world largest automobile maker while Mitsubishi comes in as seventh (Mitsubishi Corporate website) The areas that both companies should look into are weak points and leakages in the company resulting from lack of 100% seal of holes that mi ght result to unethical businesses. The company’s quality report of 2009 has almost claimed that the company’s products quality is incomparably high, however, it was a matter of time before they believe failed the test of time. The five operating policies adopted by the company are strong source of drive and should shape the company’s direction, when it comes to ethical matters, the policies should be adhered to the dot. Advocators for good citizenship acknowledge the benefits that can be acquired from continuous improvements; they are of the view that businesses need to undertake research in their line of business to invent and innovate better ways of working than the current ones. Summary From the course, I have appreciated the benefits that a company can derive from being ethical and the power of corporate social responsibility as a marketing tool. Previously, I had less interest in CSR programs and their effect on a business, after the course I clearly under stand the benefits and the approaches it should take. The course was an eye opener; I now can tell companies that are ethical, them who respect stakeholders and those who have no interest. The efforts made by Toyota can be applauded, the company has automated its internal structures and is making products that are ethically accepted; to attain the ethical objective as required by the policies; the company is constantly innovating and inventing other ways of operating that are environmentally friendly. Some of the projects that the company has implemented as corporate social responsibilities have continued to change lives; for example the company’s education programs in developing countries has eradicated poverty and assisted communities. Such systems have a life touching effect; other programs that are aimed at environmental conservation are building to much needed sustainable development agendas attainments. The efforts made by Toyota has slightly made me respect the company and wish I would get a chance to work with the compact; at least it has made efforts and the efforts are yielding positive results. On paper and according to Toyota code of conduct, the company complies with internationally ethical values and has CSR efforts. The processes that the company has adopted in the efforts of being ethical are a great blessing to the company and societies; they include automation, recycling processes and refurbishment of products. The moves are compliant with international environmental conservation measures; the invention of electronic motor vehicles (EMVs) is seen as a major breakthrough in energy industry which has been threatened by increasing use and chances of depletion of oil reserves. on the other hand emissions from motor vehicles have been a major contributor to green gasses, the invention is expected to assist in a great deal. The company has embarked on quality management policies, they include TQM (total Quality Management), Six Sigma, and CR M (Customer relations management) policies; although the policy has made the company more profitable, its spillovers are ethically accepted moves like reliable, affordable and efficient automobiles. Conclusion In modern contemporary societies, there is a growing concerns on environmental conservation, management and restoration; this has been facilitated by enlighten among consumers and other business stakeholders calling for companies to act ethically and involve themselves in corporate social responsibilities. Toyota has embarked a number of measures to make its compliant with international ethical code of conducts. To act ethically, the company is guided by its CSR Policy document of 2005 and guidance of its implementation team. Works Cited Habisch, Andrà ©, Jonker Jan, and Martina Wegner. Corporate Social Responsibility across the Europe. Heidelberg: Springer. 2005. Print Mitsubishi Corporate website. Mitsubishi,2011. Web. Toyota official website. Toyota, 2011. Web. This essay on Toyota Ethics case study was written and submitted by user Knox T. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Behind A Convicts Eyes, Behind Prison Walls in a Modern American Prison essays

Behind A Convict's Eyes, Behind Prison Walls in a Modern American Prison essays 1950's films about babes behind bars' aside, even Hollywood has had difficulty fully romanticizing the experience of prison. Even Hollywood shows a prison that eviscerates the human soul in a horrific fashion, as seen in films such as "Hurricane" and "Animal Factory." The protagonists of both films are changed forever because of their prison experiences. They are, and this is perhaps the Hollywood' element of their story, changed for the better. But the changes come more along the lines of a what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' line of narrative argument, rather than because prison fulfills an essentially rehabilitative function. It would be nice if prisons could rehabilitate as well as destroy. But the nature of the system seems to do more to keep individuals whom are harmful to society, away from the rest of so-called law abiding society, rather than to really change the ineffective life patterns and emotional coping mechanisms that exist within the structural life patterns of criminals. Behind A Convict's Eyes does little to alter this sense of prison as a holding cell' of the human soul, a site of stasis rather than of shifting consciousness for most. Perhaps this is because the central protagonist will never leave the prison whose existence he discusses. But it may also be because of the nature of the incarceration system as a Behind A Convict's Eyes as a real-life depiction of life in modern American prison lacks even the Hollywood touches of a protagonist denied justice, or the solidarity that ostensibly exists behind bars. There is a prison culture,' the book makes clear. Just as a criminal culture encouraged individuals to participate in criminal activity while they were living on the outside,' similarly there is also a culture of the criminally incarcerated that exists on the inside of prison walls. But the sadness and the hopelessness o...

Human Communication Interface Comparison Assignment Essay

Human Communication Interface Comparison Assignment - Essay Example The physical user interactive display enhances the richness of the media content being displayed, making it more motivating for a customer to search through such content with much ease. This paper will compare the physical interactive user interface in Netflix.com and Hulu.com in determining which interface presents better user interactivity in movie watching and streaming. A good interactive physical user interface makes it easy to use for audience with different abilities. Fitt’s law and Hick’s law of interactive user design will be used in comparing between the two websites. Interface Description Netflix.com and Hulu.com are two movie streaming and TV content streaming sites respectively, used by movies lovers and those who like streaming digital content directly. In this paper the desktop interactive interface presented by Netflix.com and Hulu.com will be compared in investigating the system that has been designed according o the principles of interactive design, an d according to Hicks and Fits design laws of interactive design. ... Interaction Description Both Hulu.com and Netflix.com require member subscription where in order to access the content, one has to sign into a private account. This implies that they both charge varying subscription fees to their members and are considered cheaper alternatives by many movie lovers and in TV content streaming. Both Netflix.com and Hulu.com are accessed over the internet and use a broadband to stream digital content. Therefore, the display of the film graphics, online TV shows, documentaries among many digital contents that are stored and streamed from the two sites either through a free service for Hulu.com, or through subscribed services for both Hulu and Netflix. The main difference is that Hulu Plus is mainly dedicated to TV shows, with its user interface display being made of a wide collection of TV shows and documentaries, while Netflix mainly focuses on movies, with its user interface portraying the numerous movies that can be obtained from the service, all in a n interactive graphic (Kanouse, 110). Hulu.com will thus attract more TV and documentary lovers while Netflix has its audience across both TV lovers and movie lovers. The main interaction in the two websites takes place as viewers access the sites, log into to private accounts, and search for the required contents to watch. The desktop before logging into private accounts is thus critical in guiding and assisting the viewer through the available contents to make searching easy , speedy with the least number of non-repetitive actions required to access such content being critical in determining the ease of use in each website. Users are required to use a few tools in

The objectification of women in online advertising Essay

The objectification of women in online advertising - Essay Example This "The objectification of women in online advertising" essay outlines how media and ad are using women to attract men audience. Women are being used by men and their bodies are glorified in images in the interest of male population. Adverts fully comply with the standards of female beauty by showing slender and exquisite women who are meant to instantly catch the eye of a male viewer. Call it sexism or objectification, this kind of online advertising is an open threat to women because it reinforces their inferiority to men. It makes these arguments that women can be handled by men like submissive automatons more emphatic because women, in deed, appear to be submissive given the way they are made to strike myriad poses for the male gaze. The purpose of this essay is to explore how subtly media through online advertising seeks to spread the ideology of male dominance in the society by objectification of women. The following discussion will also scrutinize a collection of adverse inf luences executed on women by this manipulative practice. It is suggested that female objectification is actually an iceberg and sexual objectification is only the visible tip of this iceberg (Goh-Mah, 2013). While some see no problem with the media environment in the US which is sexually charged and adamantly defend singularly offensive poses in the name of liberalism, others refuse to believe in this hypocritical charade and question its potential to adversely affect giant masses of women across the globe. Many, acutely distressed by the way women are presented to promote various products and brands, even call for the force of law to prevent the way by which media seeks to further its horrendous interests which have grave social repercussions. The female body parts are made way more pronounced than the product promoted because advertising aims to promote women as sexual objects (Pardun, 2013, p. 116). Not only these images make a point of accentuating different parts of a female body to make them â€Å"fit into an ever narrowing ideal o f female beauty† (Goh-Mah, 2013), they also attempt to add a hint of sarcastic humor to them. In this way, the online advertising producers end up creating such images which not only unreasonably expose a woman to even promote products like beer or a shoe, but also present objectionably weird poses which help men derive satisfaction from them. A kind of media environment which places less emphasis on sex is required to ensure â€Å"better public health for American youth† (Pardun, 2013, p. 116) which is the main target of these advertisements. However, this end cannot be achieved if even ads meant to sell jeans display skinny models in panties whose breasts are magnified by photoshop techniques. It is suggested through creators of such ads to women that by getting their jeans, they too can have bodies â€Å"that any woman would want to see and touch† (Pardun, 2013, p. 116). Such is the ideology upon which modern online advertising is based. There are many hidden aspects of the issue of sexual objectification in online advertisements. This issue started around the 1970s, but is rampant in the present age (Heldman, 2012). These aspects need to be properly explored to dispel the ambiguousness enveloping myriad riddles which have been the source of discomfort for women and feminists for quite long now. Many approaches have been used by scholars over the years to understand and analyze different media through which women are exploited

Case Study on Cultural Differences Essay Example for Free

Case Study on Cultural Differences Essay Cultural differences can pose problems for health care workers. In the case of Linda Gorman, she is faced with the decision to report a woman for child abuse, or chalk it up to cultural differences. The question shouldn’t be whether or not she should report Mrs. Saeto, but rather, are Mrs. Saeto’s actions really considered child abuse? The answer to this can get muddled in cultural beliefs. For Americans, her actions qualify as abusive because Mrs. Saeto is unnecessarily causing harm to baby Marie by burning her. To the Mien culture, this is merely an act of protecting the child and curing her from an ailment. It really depends on what viewpoint one looks at it from. In the Mien culture, practices like this burning ritual are commonplace. The Mien culture believes in spirits and rituals that can cure ailments. To some outside of the culture, these practices may seem barbaric, but to them, some of American practices may seem barbaric as well. For example, Linda mentions the differences between burning a child and causing a child pain by giving them a shot. Both cause the baby to cry, and to both cultures, both are considered to be helping the baby stay healthy. To anyone outside of the American culture, American medical practices can potentially seem just as barbaric as burning a baby. This is directly related to cultural relativity, or â€Å"the view that practices and behaviors can be judged only by the cultural standards of the culture in which those practices occur,† (Hachen, n. d. ). According to David Hachen, â€Å"rejecting cultural relativity implies that there are universal standards by which the practices in all cultures can be evaluated,† (Hachen, n. . ). If Linda assumes that Mrs. Saeto’s beliefs are barbaric and should be reported, she is practicing ethnocentrism, or â€Å"the view that one’s own culture is the superior culture and therefore its standards are the ‘universal’ ones that should be used to judge behaviors in all cultures,† (Hachen, n. d. ). Linda needs to decide whether her practices and beliefs are superior to Mrs. Saeto’s, and therefore the standard by which to compare Mrs. Saeto’s actions. Should Linda find Mrs. Saeto’s actions unacceptable in the American culture, how should she proceed? Should she report Mrs. Saeto for child abuse, or should she confront her in the hopes to change Mrs. Saeto’s opinions concerning Mien cultural cures and medical practices? If Linda decides to confront Mrs. Saeto, she should probably explain to her that in America, most people would consider her actions abusive to baby Marie and that she should probably not continue to â€Å"cure† her in this manner. This poses another ethical dilemma. By imparting this knowledge to Mrs. Saeto, Linda is, in a sense, assimilating Mrs.  Saeto to American culture. How far is too far? If Mrs. Saeto gives up this practice, and similar ones, in order to not seem abusive to her American peers, what else will she have to give up from her culture? Linda’s best options for handling the situation are to talk to Mrs. Saeto and try to explain the dilemma to her. She should convey that she understands the cultural differences, but that if another doctor who does not understand sees the burns, it may be misconstrued as child abuse. She shouldn’t threaten Mrs.  Saeto with reporting her, but should rather allow Mrs. Saeto to see both sides of the story, as Linda is seeing them. Hopefully, this will allow Mrs. Saeto to make an educated decision in her own time, regarding the practices. Neither side is right, nor wrong, in this case, however, Mrs. Saeto must be made aware of the potential danger she could face by continuing her Mien practices in America, where the wrong person may see and not understand and make a rash decision that could harm Mrs. Saeto’s family in the long run.

Change Process Management Case Study: Baskin Robbins

Change Process Management Case Study: Baskin Robbins There are many definitions of change. Change can bring meaning to cause to become different or to alter or convert. Change can also mean to undergo alteration or replacement or to pass from one phase to another. Change has always been a necessity in an organization. People react, respond and adjust themselves to the change. Some people in the organization may resist change from happening, and some will follow without protest. Below is the basic cycle of change where people behave when changes take place. From the above, we can say that when changes take place in an organization, there will be denial, emotions, resistance, and acceptance towards the changes. Denial is where the leaders who want to make changes communicate the 5Ws and H that is who, when, where, what, why and how. Changes must also be communicated through various formats so that every people in the organization can aware of the changes. Examples are like email, newspapers, and television, besides using notice board in the organization. In this stage, leader must also state mutual benefits while acknowledging risks. Emotion is the stage where people react when they heard about the changes. A leader must accept that emotion is part of the human condition and they must acknowledge people’s feelings. Emotions can be in term of happy, sad, angry, calm, and others. Leaders must invite feedback from the people around the organization and accommodate their requests, postpone or explain obstacles. Resistance is where people refuse to change. It is a neutral concept and is best dealt with by respecting it, rather than downplaying, avoiding or suppressing it. People usually don’t resist change, but they resist pain or the possibility of pain. They are afraid of the unknown, for example, whether they will be fired, promoted, or even step down from their current position. Acceptance happens when people have no other choice other than accept the changes made by the organization. In this stage, the leader must hold whatever they have achieved or accomplished in the negotiation. They must also follow up all promises they made before implementing changes and reward and recognize the behaviour change when necessary. For example, if the organization promises to give bonuses to the employees that give their best in performance, the leader must make sure that the employees get what they deserve. Below is the illustration of 8 steps of change cycle. This change cycle can be illustrated as an action plan by Baskin Robbins to implement the necessary changes for the organization. The first step in the change process is performance gap. Performance gap means when there is a lack of performance from one organization, and then changes will take place. Based on Baskin Robbins, their mission is to make the Baskin Robbins neighbourhood store a tasty, fun place for our customers. Nowadays, Baskin Robbins has good customer service, online service, quality product and the others. Based on this performance, Baskin Robbins can provide a delivery good services online as a company changes. This changes can satisfy the customer need and wants, it also makes the customer happy in the future. The second step in the cycle of change is to identify a designed future where the changes are made to make sure the organization have a better prospect. In this step, Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins as the owner of Baskin Robbins for sure plan to expand their product to the nationwide in the future. To expand it, the organization should make all the people know about their product, they can provide the delivery online service to the customer and perform better in future. More and more customers prefer buying goods and services on the internet as it provides greater flexibility, speed and choice. As a result, organisations are adding more and more content to their websites, which is fuelling the customers thirst for knowledge. From there, recognize the need for making the changes in the organization. More and more customers prefer buying goods and services on the internet as it provides greater flexibility, speed and choice. As a result, organisations are adding more and more content to their websites, which is fuelling the customers thirst for knowledge. After recognizing the need for making the changes we can then go to the fourth step, which is problem diagnosis. This is where the manager will have to evaluate and understand the problem that the company faces which requires changes. For example, the problem in the company is due to unsatisfied employees such as not on time delivery, wrong delivery places, wrong delivery products and others. In this case, managers need to understand why employees are not satisfied and come out with several ways or methods to solve the problem. The fifth step in the change process is to seek environment alternatives, where managers have to find other alternatives to solve the problem. For example, rather than fire the unsatisfied employees which bring troubles to the company, managers can help the employees to understand the environment of the organization and make them comfortable. From the available alternatives, the manager will have to make a selection or seeking the alternative selection. After selecting the appropriate alternative to solve the problem, the manager will then carries out the plan or implement some action to solve the problem. The action may affect the organization. Whether the implementation is a success or not, managers have to evaluate the outcome of the action they have taken in making the changes. This is the last step in the change process. This is where managers will see whether the outcome or results match with the purpose of the change. Usually, when the company is going through the process of changes, there will be resistance among the members of the organization. This may be caused by their self-interest where they afraid on how the changes will give impact to them. Besides that, people resist changes because of lack of trust and they often feel comfortable with the old ways the organization has operated. The change cycle is the process that can be implemented for all organizations that want to make changes in the organization’s management. For overcoming the resistance to change, there are several methods that Baskin Robbins, who is in charged to implement the change, can take to make sure that the process runs smoothly. First is to educate and communicate with the members of the organization about the changes that they will go through. For example, Baskin Robbins must give enough information and ensure the change is clearly communicated to those it affects. This way, members of the organization can prepare themselves for the changes that will affect them. The second way to overcome the resistance to change is ensuring the participation and involvement of all members of the organization. For example, when there are meetings or activities held by the organization for the changes process, the managers must ensure that all members participate and involve in the activities and make them comfortable with the new changes. Thirdly is by negotiating and make an agreement. Negotiation is where there is an understanding dialogue or meeting between two parties, for example, the organization that want to implement changes and the members or employees. After these two parties have negotiated, they will come to an agreement between the unions and organization. In conclusion, the change cycle process can help the Baskin Robbins to make changes in the organization. When there are changes, there will be resistance by those who don’t want to come out from their comfort zone. Leadership in a change process involves helping people accept the current realities and make effective choices. One can then be helpful in assisting them in taking responsibility for pursuing these choices. However, Baskin Robbins may make the changes at any time because there is no perfect time to make changes in the organization.

Do Video Games Enhance Selective Attention in Children?

Research: Observing children using gaming consoles can be quite entertaining due to their deeply embedded interest and love for video games. Young boys in particular seem to partake in the interactive environment that gaming allows them to join. Whether it’s Nintendo, Xbox, or Playstation, males of all ages always seem so captivated by the virtual world portrayed on their television set. When one focuses on a specific aspect of a scene while ignoring other aspects, such as focusing on the video game you are playing in the same room as many people are speaking, a concept of selective attention is introduced (Wikipedia, 2006).A normal attention span seems to develop in three stages in children. First, the child’s attention is said to be overly exclusive. This is a term used by psychologists to describe attention that is focused on a single object for long periods while tuning out all other stimuli (Child Development Institute, 2006). Second, a child’s attention dev elops to where it is overly inclusive. This refers to a â€Å"wide span of attention that is constantly and rapidly changing from one object to another such as a toddler who is running from one toy to the next never able to stay with any one toy for any period of time† (CDI, 2006).A child who is stuck at this stage might be diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder. Third, the child develops selective attention where he or she is able to shift the focus whenever he or she pleases from being inclusive to being very exclusive. This is considered a mature pattern of focus and concentration which is needed in a classroom setting. Some reasons a child may have poor attention, concentration, and impulse control are due to anxiety, depression, slow psychological development, learning disabilities, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, low motivation, and especially boredom due to lack of challenge (CDI, 2006).Boredom due to a lack of challenge definitely cannot be a characteristic of video games to the male population who spend hours a day playing; especially not the nine year old Austin who I have babysat for or Brian, another boy I know who is ten years old. Video games were first introduced in the 1970s. â€Å"By the end of that decade they had become a preferred childhood leisure activity†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Cesarone, 1994). Advocates of video games imply that they may be a friendly way of introducing children to computers, and may increase children's hand-eye coordination and attention to detail.

Do Woman Make Better Leaders Essay

However, when women leaders are putting glorious greatly, they need to sacrifice their parts of life to earn such a success. Mostly, they need to work overnight and hard like their male fellows, they are single or divorced, and they may need to take care of both of their career and children. Actually, female leaders are facing some practical problems in their emotion, career and family. Many females are suffering in balancing these factors. Do women make better leader than men? Or specifically, are women playing a better role in managers? What are issues women leaders facing? In order to solve these problems and leave no doubt, I write this essay to analyze this topic. 2. 1 Leadership According to the professional definition, â€Å"leadership is the process of influencing an organized group toward accomplishing its goals. †(Roach & Behling, 1984) There are certain basic qualities or characteristics that most people associate with leadership, such as self-confidence, persistent, integrity, ambitious and determination. People would agree that who own these qualities can be labeled as â€Å"leaders†. However, it is usually hard to recognize a proper leader with a standard measurement. Human traits are quantized immeasurable. In daily works, a good leader is normally judged by people he or she leads. Unfortunately, these opinions are always subjective and biased. Work performances may consider being comparable. However, in reality, only similar works can provide comparable performance results which limit the number of comparable cases. Insufficient parameters cannot provide a reliable analysis. Due to these difficulties, this essay will compare female and male leaders in other factors which are not specialized and quantized for leaders but also providing references for good leaders. These factors include effectiveness, intelligence and attitude which compare leaders in the aspects of performances; psychical and psychological; values and reliability, respectively. Before comparison and analyzing, it is more reasonable to realize the current situation about gender and leadership which will also give readers a general idea. 2. 2 Men are still the major force in leaders Actually, majority of world still consider that domination of power is in man’s hand, though women leaders are increasing rapidly recent years. As statistics show, woman account for 51 percent of population and 46. 5 percent of labor force while their numbers in manage level are negligible. In fact, in more powerful positions, women only account for 7. 3 percent of Fortune 500 corporate line officers; only 4. 1 percent of top earners are women. (Catalyst, 2001) The true situation is like what Oakley ,J. G. said,† The overall percentage of women on corporate boards surpassed the 10% milestone for the first time in 1996, however, 105 out of the 500 companies surveyed still had no women on their boards. †(Oakley, 2000; Dobrsynski, 1996) In making such a males’ world, social and environment factors play critical roles. Traditionally, women are told to be less competitive and ambitious when they are still girls, when they start their careers, mostly, environment and themselves keep suggesting them to be more unleader-like and docile. This attitude is formed in a long period and by surrounding environment, and it actually becomes part of female’s character. Attitude toward leadership is stronger predictor of leader emergence than masculinity. (Kolb, 1999) This theory is even more reasonable when biology theory is abandoned. Generally, majority of leaders is still male , the roles that women are told to play and attitudes they are suggested to own is signaling to be â€Å"second class†. 2. 3 Woman leaders show great potential It is undoubtedly men are traditionally leaders in the society; nevertheless, women are catching up in an amazing speed. Especially in recent years, woman leaders are showing their great power. In a long period before, people believe that women lack of managerial skills and they define it as â€Å"female deficiencies† as a reason why few women have made it to the top. Steven, Lynda and Joanne, 2003) However, many professors have proved the irrationality of this stereotypical concept, Davidson and Burke (Davidson&Burke,1994) have contended that almost all the evidence shows little or few difference in the traits and abilities of managerial skills among women and men. Furthermore, Ferrario(Ferrario,1994), Carless(Carless,1998) and Komives (Komives,1991) have studied and proved that gender does not determine who should get the leadership. According to above statements, it is easy to realize that gender is not physical or psychical obstacle for female leaders. Moreover, Kent and Moss suggested the possession of feminine characteristics does not decrease an individual’s chances of emerging as a leader as long as the individual also possesses masculine characteristics. If women are more likely to be androgynous, they may have better chance of rising to leadership status. (Kent and Moss, 1994) Kent and Moss’ words can be explained related to women’s own characteristic. Normally, women are more approachable and modest. The advantage is obvious above; male leaders cannot combine female’s good personalities which will be considered to be sissy while females will treat androgynous as a merit which show their potential. So, in some kinds of careers which require managers to be more mild and communicative, such as teachers and nurses, woman leaders are more preferred. To sum up, women’s characteristic advantage is seen as particularly important in light of the trends toward flatter organizations, team-based management and increased globalization. Oakley,2000; Adler,1993;Rosener,1995) Undoubtedly, woman leaders have predominance in some specific works than man leaders 2. 4 Gender and the leadership 2. 4. 1 Intelligence comparison Intelligence is defined by Cronbach as a person’s all-around effectiveness in activities directed by thinking. (Cronbach, 1984) Intelligence can divide in two parts, academic intelligence and emotional intell igence. In the aspect of academic intelligence, it is well accepted that there is no difference in academic intelligence between men and women. Furthermore, people with high academic intelligence don’t mean they are good leaders. Obviously, traditional view about intelligence is quite narrow. Current research has denied the theory of IQ as the only measure of intelligence. In 1920 Thorndike hypothesized that true intelligence was composed of not only an academic component, but also emotional and social components. (Barbara& Shilpa, 2003) Bar-on argued that emotional and social intelligences were better predictors of success in life. (Bar-on, 1997) According to Barbara& Shilpa’s statistic analysis, the mean transformational leadership score of females and males are roughly the same (65. 21 and 63. 31 respectively). The mean emotional intelligence score for females was higher than the mean emotional intelligence score for females (109. 58 and 98. 31 respectively). (Barbara& Shilpa, 2003) Although the results of the current study suggest that females have scored higher than males in emotional intelligence, it is possible that women as compared to men scored higher on empathy or social skills and low on motivation or self-regulation. However , male and female’s leadership score is very close which can prove that different genders have differences in EQ, but no capability difference in leadership. To sum up, there is no specific gender difference in academic intelligence. Females have a higher score in emotional intelligence and males have an equally emotional leadership score with females. 2. 4. 2 Attitude comparison Attitude means a general and enduring positive or negative feeling about some person, object or issue. (Kalliath, 2010) Normally, we divide attitude in two parts, one is the affective component, and the other one is the behavioral component. Actually, leadership is affected by attitudes in the sense that a leader’s attitude about their subordinates is dictated by theories X and Y. Theory X in the simplicity means leaders view their subordinates as pessimistic. They believe that the best way to treat subordinates is by manipulating for they think subordinates are lazy and unmotivated. Theory Y thinks oppositely, leaders of theory Y feel that most people are motivated and afraid of punishment. (Kalliath, 2010) Normally, leaders with a positive self-concept and a Theory X philosophy tend to be bossy, pushy and impatient; they also generally take on a dictatorial leadership. Leaders with a negative self-concept and a Theory Y philosophy may seem afraid to make decisions and self-blaming. Hughes, Ginnett& Curphy, 1993) Related to above apart, women’s attitude is an obstacle for their leadership. This disadvantage is caused by environmental and cultural factors. All stereotyping views towards woman will affect them when they are becoming leaders. However, according to theory X and Y, they generally talk about two types of leaders. It can be seen that gender i s not the major factor in attitude. To sum up, woman leaders are normally have more problems in their attitude and valuation than their man opponents. 2. 4. 4 Effectiveness comparison Effectiveness is understood in terms of leaders’ facilitation of a group or rganization’s ability to meet its goals. (Hunt, 1991; Mumford, 1986) It is stated that there is no difference in effectiveness, although some situations favor women and others favor men. (Powell, 1993)However, some people point out that female leaders may be less effective when they are doing stereotypically masculine jobs. It is easy to understand that women may violate conventions concerning appropriate female behavior. Female leaders will be subjected prejudiced reactions, which included biased performance evaluations and negative preconceptions about future performance. Consistent with research on self-fulfilling prophecies (Geis, 1993), negative opinion towards women’s leadership can diminish their performance. Even though, some professors argue that role conflict for female leaders might also be minimized by adopting a relatively feminine leadership style that would meet people’s traditional expectations about female behavior. (Eaglly, Makhijiani, Klonsky, 1992) They assert that it is unfair to value the effectiveness in leadership roles that are rarely occupied by women and in which most of their evaluators are male. (Eaglly, Makhijiani, Klonsky, 1995) In order to analyze this issue, two perspectives are introduced: alternative perspective and contingency theory based perspective. As a matter of fact, alternative perspective also have two parts, the first one is a structure view suggests that men and women are equally effective in leadership. (House, 1991&Hunt, 1991) Another alternative view takes into account the different selection of men and woman for leadership. Besides gender equality opinion, it also points out that women may be superior performers, especially in the longer run as they may erode negative thinking about their work. Craig &Jacobs, 1985) The second perspective is of contingency theories of leadership, suggests that leaders’ effectiveness depends on their style of leading. (Bass, 1990) It focuses more in the aspect of leadership style. It insists that effectiveness of different gender is related to corresponding factors in leadership methods, not gender. In a word, although male leaders are considered more effective in traditional masculine jobs, female leaders are more effective than males in less masculine terms. Effectiveness is a reliable proof of the woman leadership is not worse than man leadership. Although some people still believe woman leaders are using some inefficient management methods when they are most in masculine works. It can be expected that females will fare at least as well as men in an increasing range of leadership and managerial roles. 3. Conclusion From the days of old to the modern world, people who have the opinion that men are born to lead and women should serve as followers are out of date. No one can deny the gender equality in the current society. Leaders are no longer the exclusive privilege for men, but also for excellent females. We start to realize the importance of analyzing this topic and have taken a close look at some of the most basic qualities needed in a successful leader, such as attitude, intelligence and effectiveness. While some qualities seem to be more present in males than females, such as attitude, there are still many females owning the necessary characteristics to be better leaders, such as effectiveness in feminization jobs. This essay collects studies that analyzed leadership under rigorous researches and we have also taken a close look at some of the more recent studies on this topic.

Dictionary of Old and Obsolete Occupations - S

Dictionary of Old and Obsolete Occupations - S The occupations found recorded in documents from prior centuries often appear unusual or foreign when compared to the occupations of today. The following occupations beginning with S are generally now considered old or obsolete. Saddler  - maker and repairer of saddles and bridles Saddle Tree Maker - one who creates  the wooden frame for a horse saddle Salter  - one who makes or deals in salt Sandler - sandle maker Savant  - servant Sawbones  - physician Sawyer  - sawer of wood; carpenter Scabbler  - person who uses a scabbler (pick) to trim the sides of a tunnel Scappler - responsible for rough-shaping stone before final dressing by a stonemason   Schumacker  - shoemaker or cobbler Scribler / Scribbler  - minor or worthless author Scrivener  - scribe or clerk; professional or public copyist or writer; notary public Scrutiner  - election judge Scutcher / Skutcher - one who beat flax to extract linen fibers from flax stems Seinter  - girdle maker Servitor - a clerk or secretary Sewer rat  - a bricklayer who specialized in making and repairing sewers and tunnels Sexton - a church caretaker, sometimes responsible for digging graves Sharecropper -  a tenant farmer who is allowed to farm (and sometimes live on) anothers land in return for a percentage share of the crops produced on their portion of land Shearer - sheared wool from sheep Shearman  - one who raised the surface of woolen cloth and then sheared it to a smooth  surface; cutter of woolen cloth; sometimes a cutter of metal Shepster - dressmaker or sheep shearer Ship chandler -  a dealer in supplies and equipment for ships and boats, known as ship stores Shrieve / Shriever  - sheriff Shunter - railway worker responsible for coupling train cars and carriages; also known as a switcher Sickleman  - a reaper Silk drawer -  one who drew silk from silk waste for spinning Skepper / Skelper - beehive maker or seller   Skinner - a flayer of animal hides for leather Slagger - a worker in a steel mill responsible for removing slag from a furnace during the smelting process. Slater / Slatter  - roofer; tiler Slopseller  - seller of ready-made clothes in a slop shop Slubber - a worker in a cotton or textile mill, responsible for  removing the slubs or imperfections in the yarn prior to weaving Sluicer - one who tended the sluice in a mine (often a gold or silver mine) Smith - a metal worker, usually a blacksmith. See also the surname SMITH. Snobscat / Snob  - shoe repairer; cobbler Sojourner - a traveler or traveling merchant; sometimes used to refer to a temporary (non-permanent) resident of a parish Soper  - soapmaker Sorter  - tailor Sperviter - a keeper of sparrow hawks Spicer  - a grocer or dealer in spices Spinster  - unmarried woman; spinner (female) Spit boy -  Ã‚  a kitchen worker responsible for turning spits in the fireplace so food would cook evenly Spittleman  - hospital attendant Spurrer / Spurrier  - maker of spurs Squire  - country gentleman; farm owner; justice of peace Staymaker - a maker of bone stays for corsets Stevedore  - a dock worker or laborer who loads and unloads ships cargos. Stoddard - a breeder or keeper of horses Stone cutter - possibly a stone mason, but often a carver of tombstones Stoner - mason Stuff Gown  / Stuff Gownsman  - junior barrister Surveyor - one who estimates or measures areas of land Switcher  - railway worker responsible for coupling train cars and carriages; also known as a shunter Explore more old and obsolete occupations and trades in our free Dictionary of Old Occupations and Trades!

Consumerism essays

Consumerism essays Specific Purpose: To persuade the class to stop being members of a consumerist society, and to help turn our society from consumerism Introduction: Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life. That we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption...We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing rate. From Victor Lebow. Hello, my name is Will Burns, and I am here today to talk to you about consumerism and the hold it has on America and other industrialized countries. I. First, a look as to what consumerism is and how it affects everyone in our society. A. The definition of consumerism according to www.dictionary.com is an attachment to materialistic values or possessions. 1.Consumerism is noticeable in the unending purchase of new goods and services, with little attention to their true need, durability, product origin or the environmental consequences of manufacture and waste from the product. 2.Consumerism is driven by huge sums of money spent on advertising designed to create both a desire to follow trends, and a personal self-reward system based on buying things. Materialism is one of the end results of consumerism. 3.More than $200 billion is spent every year for advertising in the US alone. Advertising is not only limited to adults. Advertising companies spend billions of dollars every year just on children. The average child sees more that 20,000 commercials in a year. And more than 55 a day. B. It is an often stated that the economy would improve if people just bought more things, bought more cars and spent more money. 1.Financial resources better spent on education, nutrition, housing etc. are spent on products of no value and little social return. ...

Cultural and Historical Analysis of Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield Assignment

Cultural and Historical Analysis of Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield at Romanoffs - Assignment Example The extreme part of the photo shows when Jayne; who was seated between Sophie and her dinner companion attempted to pick an object from the table, which left her nipple exposed. Although many would feel that it is jealous that is reflected in the eyes of Sophie, there would be others who would judge that instead of jealous the film star from Italy would have been harboring the feeling of a lack of comfort or disagreement since they held opposite beliefs from each other. Jayne was known for exposing her cleavage and most of the time made a living from it. As such, it may not be everyone including Sophie who would agree with her on that. They exhibit their differences based on the variation in glamour, superiority and high esteem that the American superstars from Hollywood had as opposed to their Italian counterparts owing to the high ratings of their films. The main themes that are brought about in the photo include the feeling of jealousy, which results from the differences in attitudes and personality of people from different areas. It is also contributed by the need for attention by individuals who consider themselves celebrities and would; therefore like to be noticed any time they are in the public limelight. The main theme of jealousy does not begin only at the time that the photo is taken. As is indicated by Buckley (2015), there is a historical influence that creates the difference in glamour between American film stars and the film actresses from Italy. This results in a great difference between the Italian glamour and the American glamour. A general picture about the two film stars in revealed through the opinion of the writer. Owing to the kind of glamour that is exhibited by a film star, the public opinion may also be different. It can be said that the public had a low opinion of the Italian actresses which made them

Opening a restaurant Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Opening a restaurant - Term Paper Example These businesses are believed to have certain weaknesses that Lexus will capitalise in in order to compete favourably in the market. The business will employ a marketing strategy where our sales representatives will visit institutions to show case the products and services we offer. Brochures, fliers, and posters will be developed to be used in marketing strategy with most of information to be accessed through the website page. We aim to capture majority of the market share in the 1st one year. The business is also planning to use several others strategies like product differentiation, pricing, place/location, segmentation and growth strategies. Together with these, the SWOT analysis of the business is to be examined in order to know all the areas to improve in. The proposed business is to be registered under the name â€Å"Lexus Unit Restaurant†. â€Å"Lexus† is a term in Germany translated to mean satisfactory and comfortable surroundings. The decision to use the above name is based on the restaurant’s ultimate goal of ensuring maximum client’s satisfaction in terms of meals served, lodging services in a favourable dining environment. â€Å"Lexus Unit Restaurant† a 1,200-square-foot restaurant will be setup at Outer Drive within Sioux City and it will be the only restaurant business located on the 25-acre tract of city-owned land targeting middle level income earners. The site is supposedly convenient for the business because it serves as the central point with good proximity and accessibility to potential customers with a good infrastructure such as good road network, electricity, water and telecommunication services. The Metropolitan area highly secured and exposed to several customers that tours the city projects hence need for quality meals and favourable environment to dine. The proposed business will be a sole proprietorship form of business sponsored by me and who shall also be the manager of the enterprise. I will keep truck of the