Thursday, December 26, 2019

Benefits Of Small Coffee Shops Essay - 1438 Words

While larger coffee shops franchises have the benefit of offering fairly predictable beverages at every location, local coffee shops tend to be the favorites of citizens of any particular town. The cozy atmospheres offered at these coffee shops are often what draw their customers, along with their unique takes on traditional coffee shop beverages. For anyone visiting or living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, here is a list (and descriptions) of the top three independently owned local coffee shops: Shades of Brown: A favorite for people of all backgrounds, Shades draws its customer base from both Tulsa University and Oral Roberts University students as well as many other local Tulsans. Described in one word, Shades could be referred to as chill. Located in the Peoria/Brookside District of Tulsa, many of the customers of Shades may best be described as the artsy type, with wardrobes that would seem more at home in Portland, Oregon than Tulsa, Oklahoma. The lighting in Shades of Brown is dim, prov iding for a cozy atmosphere. Most of the furniture inside is vintage and the music played tends to be from a wide variety of acoustic artists. Free wireless internet is available. The food items for sale are advertised as being mostly healthier and made from organic products. The drink prices at Shades of Brown are around average or slightly on the higher side for a coffee shop, with one of their specialties being their soy chai tea. Dà ©cor at Shades changes regularly, as the wall artShow MoreRelatedStarbucks : Ethical And Ethical Issues Essay1089 Words   |  5 Pagestheir core practices. However, no matter how flawless their code of ethics is; they, too, face ethical issues and commit unethical acts. First, they are responsible for putting small, local coffee shops out of business which creates a uniform retail culture throughout cities. Second, they advertise to provide 100% fair trade coffee when it is not truly 100% fairly traded. Third, they use hormone added milk that is d etrimental to the human body as well as the environment. Fourth, they set unrealistic,Read MoreTims Coffee Shop1355 Words   |  6 PagesAnalyze Report for Tim’s Coffee Shop AB299-02 01/19/2011 Nicole Badgley Executive Summary The coffee shop can become more profitable with some minor changes. The business is open 20 hours per day. It would be wise to expand the business hours to 24 hours per day. While the competition, Queequeg’s Coffee has more locations, Tim’s Coffee Shop is the closest to the railways and the university. By opening all night, those late night study cram sessions could turn profitableRead MoreSwot Analysis Of Peet s Coffee And Tea1339 Words   |  6 PagesPeet’s Coffee and Tea Peet s Coffee and Tea is a well-known and loved coffee shop with three stores here in Colorado. Although the prices and work space isn t the best they offer great, quick drinks served by friendly employees. The store is a place for a comforting, warm place to sit. Peet s Coffee was started by Alfred Peet in 1966 and his coffee was unlike any other coffee shop. He brewed in small amounts, always had fresh beans, a great quality, and a dark roast. This all producedRead MoreEthical Issues in Marketing1566 Words   |  7 Pagesconduct, or a body of such principle. In the coming pages two companies have been taken into consideration in regards to whether their behavior is ethical towards their stake holders. 1. The Body Shop ( A cosmetic products producer and retailer) 2. Green Mountain coffee roasters ( a coffee retail company). An August 1996 edition of Marketing Success briefly covered some issues of ethics which might be of relevance to marketers, using the 4Ps of the marketing mix as a frameworkRead MoreCoffee Drinking, And Being Raised A Mormon Essay1225 Words   |  5 Pagesheard reasons for and against coffee drinking, and being raised a Mormon I was always taught that it was bad. Upon doing research for this paper, I have come to find that it is quite the opposite. Granted, there will always be adverse affects for varying people who drink it, but the health benefits far out weigh the negative association these beans have been ground up to be. First, I will start with the negative side affects since they are minimal. Drinking coffee can cause irritability, nervousnessRead MoreEssay On G. C. Murphyy1124 Words   |  5 PagesClinton Murphy in McKeesport in the year of 1906, where the first store was opened. Soon after the first one opened, several more were opened in the cities of L atrobe, Greensburg, Jeannette, Ligonier, West Newton and many more small and thriving towns. These stores were common in small towns that depended on mining or factory work, such as West Newton. Murphy’s was a five and dime store where you could buy anything from your lunch to any supplies or groceries you needed. George Murphy died in 1911 and hisRead MoreCoffee Shop1526 Words   |  7 PagesSample coffee shop business plan A sample business plan for a coffee shop which can be used to create your own business plan or help you assess the risks and benefits of opening a coffee shop or similar business. Sponsored Links [pic][pic]    |If you are planning to open a coffee shop, the very first thing you need to do is write a business plan. This is useful in many | |ways: it will allow you time to consider all your options before committing as well as put down on paper your goalsRead MoreCoffee Is The Best Caffeinated Beverage Of The World Essay1223 Words   |  5 Pagesof the many beauties of coffee. Coffee’s diversity can accommodate any individual’s life-style and taste. This naturally memorable caffeinated drink is well-known for many cultures and is highly effective. Coffee is the best caffeinated beverage in the world. This diverse beverage is made from roasted ground seeds of a tropical shrub. The most common species of bean is from Ethiopia which is located in western and central Africa. It is well known because many of these coffee beans are planted in overRead MoreExplain the Factors Involved in Planning the Monitoring and Assessment of Work Performance1084 Words   |  5 Pages | |Simon Smith has been running a small coffee shop business (Simon’s) for the last three years in a busy area of London popular with | |tourists. The company now owns the original coffee shop and two others within a 3 mile radius. | |The business is owned by Simon and two other business partners who do not take much of an active role in the business day to day. There | |is a small management team that is made up of the original ownerRead MoreStarbucks s Case For Starbucks Essay914 Words   |  4 PagesAs someone who was born and raised in Seattle, I am very proud to say I am from the â€Å"home† of Starbucks coffee. The company of Starbucks, started in Pike Place Seattle in 1971, has become a globally known company. It is known for putting customers first, taking critique and fixing the issue, and treating its employees very well. I have worked for Starbucks in past years and I have found all of these to be true. The company of Starbucks has expanded into â€Å"more than 21,000 stores in over 65 countries†

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Maturity in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

Maturity in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn To live with fear and not be afraid is the greatest sign of maturity. If this is true, then Mark Twains Huck Finn is the greatest example of maturity. Huck is the narrator of Twains book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In the book Huck, a young boy from the American South, travels down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. The two encounter many adventures and meet many different people. Along the way, not only does Huck mature, but he also becomes a kind and loyal person, sometimes going against the values of society. This is shown through his many experiences with the Duke and the King, the Peter Wilks scam, and Jim.†¦show more content†¦He feels bad for the three daughters, because the Duke and the King are trying to take their late father, Peters, money. While talking to the eldest daughter, Mary Jane, Huck establishes himself as a kind and compassionate person in general. Miss Mary Jane, you cant a-bear to see people in trouble, and I cant--most always. (28). This shows that, no matter who the person, Huck can not stand to see anyone go through pain. Later, in the same situation, Huck becomes close to these girls and can not bear to see the two frauds take advantage of the girls any longer. Huck resolves to expose the two. He says to Mary Jane, I got to tell you the truth, Miss Mary...These uncles of yourn aint no uncles at all; theyre a couple of frauds.(28). Although Huck has not known the Wilks girls long, he still has a kind heart toward them. In terms of society, Huck should keet allegiance to the two frauds, because he has known them for a while and they are treating him well. However, Huck is able to foresee the pain that this will cause the girls later. Such kindness is rare in a human. Finally, Huck displays not only kindness, but great loyalty, towards his best friend, a runaway slave named Jim. This man is not even seen as a person in Hucks society. After staging his death and running away to Jacksons Island,Show MoreRelated Growth and Maturity in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain1190 Words   |  5 PagesGrowth and Maturity in Huck Finn The theme of growth and maturity is portrayed heavily throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain which centers on Huck Finn, a rambunctious boy whose adventures with a runaway slave build him into a mature young man. The novel is a bildungsroman because it depicts the development and maturing of a young protagonist. In the first part of the story, Huck is seen as very immature. He struggles between doing what he wants and what society would haveRead MoreAnalysis Of The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn 1679 Words   |  7 PagesAnalysis of an Important Character Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a story about growing up, facing the world, and fighting for what’s right. Huckleberry Finn matures greatly throughout the book, and Tom Sawyer plays an important role in showing this change. His character allows the reader to see Huck’s increase in maturity throughout the story. Tom is the constant, his immaturity not changing from the beginning to the end of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, while Huck is the changing variableRead MoreHuckleberry Finn Persuasive Essay1571 Words   |  7 Pageslarge matter- ‘tis the difference between the lightning bug and lightning.†(Mark Twain). Mark Twain, the author of an extraordinary yet controversial novel; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn had a great way of capturing moments in time and bringing them to life through the use of meaningful and direct diction. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been a vexed novel for it s a use of the â€Å"N-word†. However, many schola rs and associations have devised a â€Å"solution† for this problem such as, completelyRead More The Immature Huck Finn in Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1723 Words   |  7 PagesThe Immature Huckleberry Finn      Ã‚  Ã‚   Maturity is not a fickle expression such as happiness or frustration, but rather an inherent quality one gains over time, such as courage or integrity. Before maturity can be expressed, the one who expresses it must have significant confidence in himself, since self-confidence is the root of maturity. Being flexible and formulating ones own opinions or ideas are aspects of maturity, but neither is possible without self-confidence. The greatest aspect ofRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn s Life And The Book1313 Words   |  6 PagesTom Sawyer plays a huge role in both Huckleberry Finn’s life and the book. His character allows the reader to see Huck’s increase of maturity throughout the story. Tom is the constant, his immaturity not changing from the beginning to the end of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, while Huck is the changing variable. Tom’s head is in the clouds when we first meet his character. He imagines daring adventures of rob bing Spanish merchants and rich Arabs, and we see Huck fantasizing over the same thingsRead MoreEssay Symbolism: the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1207 Words   |  5 Pages(Dictionary.com). Numerous authors use the same denotations to illustrate different thoughts or ideas. Mark Twain uses various symbols, such as the river and the land to expose freedom and trouble in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, uses various concrete objects, such as rivers, to symbolize a diverse range of feelings, emotions, and even actions. The ultimate symbol in the novel is the Mississippi River. Rivers often times symbolizeRead MoreEssay on Symbolism in The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn1212 Words   |  5 Pages(Dictionary.com). Numerous authors use the same denotations to illustrate different thoughts or ideas. Mark Twain uses various symbols, such as the river and the land to expose freedom and trouble in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, uses various concrete objects, such as rivers, to symbolize a diverse range of feelings, emotions, and even actions. The ultimate symbol in the novel is the Mississippi River. Rivers often times symbolizeRead Morehuck finn introduction7490 Words   |  30 Pages Huckleberry Finn’s Road to Maturation Huck states to Judge Thatcher Please take it, and dont ask me nothing—then I wont have to tell no lies† (16). That quote is said by Huck to Judge Thatcher when Huck finds his pap is in town and pap will try to take his money. The Maturation of Huckleberry Finn is important because its about Huck making the right decisions to help him and Jim to freedom. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, begins with Huck introducing himself. He is wild andRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1005 Words   |  5 Pages In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain in the 19th century is about a young boy named Huck Finn and Jim, a runaway slave who go on an adventure. The two travel on a raft along the Mississippi river creating a bond and making memories. Mark Twain presents Huckleberry Finn as a dynamic character who at first views Jim as property and eventually considers Jim as a friend, showing a change in maturity. In the beginning of the book, Huck Finn clearly sees Jim as nothing more thanRead MoreThe Ethical Maturity Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain844 Words   |  4 Pages Mark Twain s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† is a novel about a young boy’s coming of age in Missouri during the mid-1800, is pre-Civil War era. The protagonist, Huckleberry Finn, spends much time in the novel floating down the Mississippi River on a raft with a runaway slave named Jim. On the way to Huck and Jim’s destiny, the two go through many adventures encountering many situations as well as very odd people along the way. Although this novel has adventure and interesting situations,

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Impact of Cloud Based Erp in Business

Question: Describe about the Impact of Cloud Based Erp in Business? Answer: Introduction: Background of the study: Business is defined as the organization which trades in goods and services to the consumers. The business enterprises are mainly owned privately and its objective is to maximize the profit for the producers. The business environment is dynamic in nature which means that the knowledge of the workers forms a crucial part of the business operations. The role of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is considered to be important and effective for an organization. The ERP forms the important infrastructure of the information systems of organization that will support them to perform well coping with the current economic conditions. The ERP helps the business to operate in a systematic way (A Cloud Computing-Based ERP System under The Cloud Manufacturing Environment, 2012). There is a high rate of the failure in the implementation of the ER in the business due to the lack of management approval, selection of ERP vendors and the inefficiency in the correct blend of software packages. The or ganizations are alarmingly adopting the cloud based ERP for the observation of the organizational activities by the ERP vendors. The ERP system helps the organizations to carry out the basic functions like buying raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, marketing, human resources, selling of goods and delivering customer service. The cloud based ERP saves time and money and has the ability to acquire increased number of users with the expansion in the business (A. Al-Johani and E. Youssef, 2013). The study is important to analyze the effect of the cloud based ERP on the businesses. Research Rationale As discussed above, the implementation of the cloud based ERP system is not prevalent in most of the business enterprises. The cloud based ERP are gaining importance among the corporate users. Cloud based companies like the Salesforce.com are posing the threat to the largest software vendors like the Oracle Corp. and SAP SE are transforming the applications of the system so that the customers can access them online without the costly data centers. There are many large companies that have adopted the cloud based ERP in their business as they help them to manage human resources activities, managing inventories, billing process and several other business processes that will alter the profitability of the business (Andrzej Partyka, 2009). The companies who have embraced the technology are reluctant in using them as they consider the risk relate to the unreliable internet connections and the intervention of the third parties for the management of the computer servers. This research will h elp the companies to operate efficiently and accurately. On the other hand this research can also help to achieve the objective of the business in different industries. The purpose behind the section of this type of research is mainly due to the trepidation of different small as well as large industries towards the implementation of the cloud based ERP systems. Research Aims: The aim of this research is to develop advanced understanding about the implementation of the cloud based ERP systems in the business of all types of sector. The study emphasizes the importance of the cloud based ERP system along with the evaluation of the significance of the implementation of the system (Metaxiotis et al., 2005). The cloud based ERP system could be proved to be the best information technology system that will smoothen the process of business operations. The aim of this research proposal is to enlighten the owners of the businesses about the positive as well as the negative impact of the cloud based ERP. Through this research the companies would be able to recognize the importance of the cloud based ERP system in business. Research Objectives: The objective of this research is to establish the importance of the cloud based ERP system in the business sector. The following are the objectives of the research: To analyze the current status of the cloud based ERP system in the business environment To compare and contrast the ERP system with the cloud based ERP system in the business sector To identify the benefits of the cloud based ERP system in the business sector To identify the challenges of the cloud based ERP system in the business sector To recommend cloud based ERP solutions which are useful for the business sector Research Questions: Following are the research questions that would help to address the objectives of the study: What are current practices of the cloud based ERP systems in the business sector? What are the differences that exist between the ERP system and the cloud based ERP system within the business sector? What are the benefits and challenges of the clod based ERP system in the business environment? What recommendations can be suggested so that the effectiveness of the cloud based ERP can be enhanced? Research Scope: There are many large companies that have adopted the cloud based ERP in their business as they help them to manage human resources activities, managing inventories, billing process and several other business processes that will alter the profitability of the business (Andrzej Partyka, 2009). The companies who have embraced the technology are reluctant in using them as they consider the risk relate to the unreliable internet connections and the intervention of the third parties for the management of the computer servers. This research will help the companies to operate efficiently and accurately. On the other hand this research can also help to achieve the objective of the business in different industries. Literature Review: Introduction: Cloud based ERP has been gaining importance in the business environment especially in the field of customer relationship, human resources and finance. The Cloud based ERP is the enterprise resource planning (ERP) which is developed at the expense of the cloud computing services which in turn enables the business to engage in the transformation process flexibly. The ERP is a business oriented term which is supports the business to manage the important functions of the business like purchasing, managing the inventory, packaging and selling (Mozammel-Bin-Motalab and Al Mamun Shohag, 2011). ERP application also has the ability to manage the finance and human capital of the business. The cloud computing aspect commits to transform the business and its expectation from the information technology. The cloud based ERP application can eliminate the need to purchase the server and storage hardware. In this regard, the data and information would be stored on site which will decrease the operati onal expenditure (OPEX). Some industries have identified some of the defects in the system but the cloud computing ERP systems is beneficial for the business startups and new organizations. Empirical Review: The large and multinational companies have extracted positive benefit from the implementation of the cloud based ERP systems in different fields of business. The small companies also have the benefit from ERP cloud computing systems as it helps to lower the barriers to the ERP systems usage. The small companies are now able to run the ERP systems within the organizations without the hiring of the IT consultants (Feng and Huang, 2009). According to the research commenced by LA Barge (2012), many advantages are identified by the organizations when the cloud computing ERP systems are implemented. One of the major advantage of the cloud based ERP is the flexibility in accessing this type of technology. The database of the ERP system can be easily accessed through the use of ID and passwords. The second advantage that can be derived from this advanced information technology is the relevance of the database management system. Dsouza et al (2012) had defined that the services related to the ERP have to be maintained by the owners of the ERP and engage in provision of hardware, deployment, configuration updating and hosting under the ERP system. Magal and Word (2011) analyzed the concepts of the applicability of the ERP system in the real business world (Ha and Ahn, 2013). They found out that the tools of the cloud based ERP system consists of a common process and a data model which entails the end-to-end processes which includes finance, distribution, manufacturing, HR, supply chain and service (Newell, Huang and Tansley, 2006). The ERP success in organization had been examined by Chuck et al (2010) which states that there is a need for a full lifecycle perspective which must be embraced by the companies to adopt the cloud based ERP. Thus, the study identified the success of the implementation of the cloud based ERP in the business sector. ERP and organizational performance: The different business process like the order fulfillment from the customers, shipping and billing is a part of the business process which is difficult to handle but with the implementation of the cloud based ERP the business process can be automated. When a customer service agent takes the order from the customers then they require all kinds of information available at the tip of their finger which is possible only through the ERP systems. The benefit of the ERP system is that each and everyone can access the customer database for new order and all other information about the customers (Dezdar and Ainin, 2011). The members of the organization can access the database through a single ID and password. The process of the registration doesnt end, when the task of one department completes the task, the ERP systems automatically routes the task to the next department. The cloud based ERP systems also has the feature to track the order down in some steps. The problem of errors and delay in transferring the orders and the delivery of the orders to the customers have been minimized due to the implementation of the cloud based ERP systems within the organization. The benefit of the ERP systems is not only confined to the logistics department but the benefits can also be felt in the HR and finance department like the employees retention, employees benefits and employees information along with the financial accounting and reporting (Schniederjans and Yadav, 2013). Cloud Based ERP Implementation The basic requirement of the implementation of the cloud based ERP is the access to internet. The ERP systems include different kinds of software deployment models and other applications such as Software-as-a-service (SaaS). Cloud computing in this respect is described as access to the hardware, software and other resources through the usage of internet in order to perform the business activities (Chen, Liang and Hsu, 2015). The cloud based ERP are implemented through the virtualization and load corresponding technology which permits the application to record resources and deploy across various servers. The role of the cloud computing in the ERP system is to make the organizational activities and operations to be flexibly changed. The trading potentials of the businesses are released and realized through the implementation of this type of innovative cloud computing ERP systems. Among the functions of the cloud based ERP include employee empowerment, substantial control over the busin ess and in the maintenance of strengths of the business. the implementation process is denoted by the following chart: Factors that influence the cloud based ERP implementation The implementation of the clod based ERP is a crucial step of any business that involves cost and risk factors (Chauhan and Jaiswal, 2015). There are other factors that impact the ERP implementation along with cloud computing are discussed below: Planned goals- The organization must be focused about their goals so that the implementation of the ERP is directed towards the goals of the organization. Satisfying the users, empowerment of the employee, support to the suppliers and supporting the different business operations requires the implementation of the ERP. Assistance and commitment from higher authorities- it is important for the top management to realize the need for the cloud based ERP within the organization. Once they are convinced, a management planning committee must be formed fro the proper implementation of the ERP . ERP team skills, composition and compensation The project on the implementation of the ERP within an organization must cover all the functional areas. The success of the ERP implementation depends on the effort and collaboration of the business and technical experts as well as the end users. The ERP projects must also include the mentors, vendors and the consultants who are also critical for the success of the implementation (Chen, Law and Yang, 2009). The project members must be the best people of the organization so that they can foster innovation and creativity in the implementation process of the clod based ERP. It is required for the project members to devote full time to project of ERP implementation till the completion of the project (Carroll, 2002). The project members must be empowered so that they can make swift decision and their compensation would depend on their performance. The team members of the project must be balanced and cross functional and they must engage in sharing information to build partnership trust (S heldon, 2005). Critical Review The critical review has been conducted in which several empirical studies emphasized the role of the ERP on the value of the business. In this regard, Poston Grabski (2001) evaluated the effect of the ERP systems on the performance of the firms over 3 years time period by establishing a comparison between the financial performance of 50 ERP adopters before and after the implementation of the ERP systems. The results of the study proved that there was only a significantly decline in the ratio of the cost of goods sold to revenues. This result was obtained only after three years of the implementation of the ERP whereas there was no significant decrease in the ratio for the first two years of the ERP implementation. The study also revealed that there was no significant increase in the ratio of selling, general and administrative expenses to the revenues as well as no increase in the residual income. There was also a decline in the employee to revenues for the three consecutive years af ter the implementation of the ERP. Hence there is a clear contradiction in the theory and the practice. The ERP systems are generally regarded as the efficiency gains in some fields and affect negatively in other fields. Another study by Hunton et al (2003) was conducted by comparing 62 firms that have adopted ERP systems with peers who have not adopted (Chen and Techakittiroj, 2011). The outcome of the study was such that there was a significant increase in the return on assets, asset turnover and the return on investment over the three year period for the firms that adopted the ERP system as compared to the non-adopters (Vimalkumar, 2012). Research Gap Researchers have been investigating the pre- and post- implementation of the cloud based ERP in the organization with minimum costs. The researcher had included several studies on the factors affecting the ERP implementation, the success and failure of the ERP implementation, conditions for the implementation of ERP and the steps that are related to the implementation of the ERP in the business (Chofreh, Goni and Jofreh, 2011). The evaluation of the ERP systems regarding the organizational performance depends upon the financial conditions of the organization. The studies critically failed to analyze the ERP impact on the overall organizational performance rather than just the financial performance. Empirical evidence disclose that there is limited research on the impact of the cloud based ERP on the most of the crucial business sector like the agro based industries. Thus the background of the goal of the study is to develop the impact of the cloud based ERP on the business sector and evaluate the organizational performance of the different sectors of business. Research Methodology: Introduction The research methodology is defined as the process through which the research is conducted by emphasizing the problem statement of the study. The methods for the research selected are in compliance with the research aims and objectives so that the conclusion of the research matches the objectives of the research. The researcher also focused on the validity of the research so that the readers are able to interpret and connect the outcomes of the study with the research objectives. Each of the components that are included in the research is equally important for the commencement of the research so that the impact of the cloud based ERP in the business sector. Research Design The research design is a time-based planning activity that is important for any research as stated by Cooper and Schindler (2003). The research design is based on the research questions, source selection and the information that are obtained about the research aim. It also depends on the framework for identification of the relationship among the variables of the research. The research design are of three types; exploratory, explanatory and descriptive. The exploratory design is related to background information in order to address the problem statement. The explanatory design refers to identify the reason behind the problem within the research (Jha, 2008). Lastly, the descriptive design is related to the objectives of the research to obtain the outcomes of the study. Thus, the research design is like the blueprint of the study that will guide the researcher at all the stages of the research. The researcher will incorporate the descriptive research design and employ case study analysis along with interviews of the members of the organization. This type of research design is chosen because the study requires in-depth understanding of the impact of the cloud based ERP on the business sector. Types of Investigation There are two types of investigation for conducting the research. The first is the casual study in which the researcher delineates the cause of the problem related to the research. The second type of investigation is the correlational study in which the researcher delineates the variables that are associated with the problem. The researcher here commences the casual study in which he outlines the impact of the cloud based ERP system on the business. Data Collection Method There are two types of data collection methods in research which is the primary and secondary data collection methods. The researcher had emphasized on the primary data collection method for the present study. The topic is to evaluate the impact of the cloud based ERP in the business sector. This type of research requires the involvement of the employees of the organization for the purpose of data analysis. The employees are the ones who will be able to describe how the business operation in their organization has been impacted on the implementation of the cloud based ERP systems. The primary data is collected through the research instrument which is through the questionnaires. The questionnaires would be distributed to the respondents who are the managers, the employees of the procurement and logistics department, customer service and information technology. The questionnaires are of two types close ended as well as open ended responses made by the respondents. The purpose of the cl ose ended questions is to be focus in the data analysis (Kumar, 2005). The open ended questions will enable the researcher to obtain in-depth understanding of the research aims. Sampling Method The sampling method is the selection of the respondents for the purpose of the data collection of the study using the appropriate data collection method. In this study the data collection method is the primary type so the respondents are selected for the purpose of the commencement of the survey. There are two sampling methods which is the probability and non-probability method of sampling (Metaxiotis, Psarras and Ergazakis, 2003). The researcher has considered the non-probability sampling method and to be more specific the researcher used the convenient sampling method. The convenience sampling method is used y the researcher to reduce the impact of deviation in the responses of the respondents which is crucial for the purpose of data collection in the study. The researcher had initially collected 100 respondents from a agro based company where the scope of the cloud based ERP is limited. About 90% of the respondents which is 90 respondents participated in the survey. Since the size of the sample is large, the convenient sampling is used to reduce the deviation in response. The data collected through this sampling method is desirable and fulfils the purpose of the researcher (Welman et al., 2005). Accessibility Issues Shuy (2012) described that the collection of primary data from the field survey is very difficult part of the research and is considered to be the time consuming part of the research. In this research, the researcher faced the problem of accessibility to data that is required for the research process. The researcher had selected 100 respondents from the agro based company but 90 of them participated in the survey out of which responses of only 72 respondents could be considered for the purpose of the research (Kim, Lee and Gosain, 2005). The 10 respondents who did not participate in the survey were because they did not have any time for the survey and was in a hurry (Zhang and Li, 2006). Among the 18 respondents who did participate in the survey but their responses could not be considered as either they did not answer all of the questions or they had skipped some of the relevant questions and some of them did not return back the questionnaire. Thus, out of 100 respondents only 72 of them literally participated in the survey and provided relevant data and information. Ethical Issues In order to conduct the survey in a systematic way the researcher must consider the ethical issues. The researcher had explained the nature and the purpose of the research to the respondents and had provided them with the consent form. The consent form is used to provide approval for the participation of the respondents in the survey. The consent form is necessary to avoid any problem related to the survey by the respondents. The questionnaires that are provided by the researcher do not have any personal questions related to the managers, employees and the customer service. The absence of the personal questions would prevent the deviation of the response from the desired outcome. The ethical consideration of the respondents implies that the data so collected are reliable and valid for the purpose of the research. It is the duty of the researcher to maintain the confidentiality of the data of the respondents. Referencing style has increased the validity and reliability of the readers (Zhao, Shi and Sun, 2014). Data Analysis Plan: After the completion of the data collection through the filled up and returned questionnaires, the collected information will be further considered for editing purpose. The editing will imply that the survey is completed and the code and the entries can be made into the Statistical package (SPSS) for the purpose of data analysis. The coding is defined as the process through which raw data is changed and transformed into tabulated format which will be helpful for the purpose of data analysis. This transformation of the data into different categories will serve the purpose of data analysis. The data set would then be sent for the verification of the correlation of the captured data with the estimated data obtained through the statistical software package SPSS. In this research the researcher will be able to analyze the data using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive analysis will be commenced by the researcher to collect the primary data. The researcher will als o use the mean and standard deviation to calculate the central tendencies and dispersion of the data collected. The data will be presented using the frequency distribution table and the appropriate explanations of the results obtained would be provided by the researcher. Limitation of the study There are few limitations of the study which is crucial for the researcher may consider as challenges when he conducted the survey and the interview. The first limitation of the study is the dependency of the research on the primary data. The emphasis of the study is on the primary data and the focus is lost from the secondary data collection as well as the case study survey. There are very study on the ERP implementation and the benefit of the organization. The authenticity of the data is compromised in this section as the different employees have different perception about the ERP system which might influence the opinion of the other employees. The major limitation of the study is the collection of data is not so large, which pose as a constraint on the research. Conclusion The Cloud based ERP systems are being adopted by most of the small scale business whereas some of the large scale businesses are being skeptical about the benefit of this type of system. Limited studies o the success of the implementation of cloud based ERP systems within the organizations to speed up the operations of the business. On the other hand there are several studies that have been discussed in this study which reveals that ERP have led to the decline in the performance of the organization. The studies that were commenced on the ERP had emphasized only on the financial performance of the companies. Therefore it is recommended that more studies be initiated which would evaluate the entire organizational performance pre- and post- implementation of the cloud based ERP systems in different sectors of business. References A Cloud Computing-Based ERP System under The Cloud Manufacturing Environment. (2012).JDCTA, 6(23), pp.126-134. A. Al-Johani, A. and E. Youssef, A. (2013). A Framework for ERP Systems in SME Based on Cloud Computing Technology.International Journal on Cloud Computing: Services and Architecture, 3(3), pp.1-14. A. Al-Johani, A. and E. Youssef, A. (2013). A Framework for ERP Systems in SME Based on Cloud Computing Technology.International Journal on Cloud Computing: Services and Architecture, 3(3), pp.1-14. Andrzej Partyka, A. (2009). Risk Factors in ERP Implementation Projects for Process Oriented.Contemporary Economics, 3(3). Carroll, B. (2002).Lean Performance ERP project management. Boca Raton: St. Lucie Press. Chauhan, S. and Jaiswal, M. (2015). Exploring factors affecting service quality of ERP on cloud: a revelatory case study.IJBIS, 19(1), p.87. Chen, C., Law, C. and Yang, S. (2009). Managing ERP Implementation Failure: A Project Management Perspective.IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 56(1), pp.157-170. Chen, C., Liang, W. and Hsu, H. (2015). A cloud computing platform for ERP applications.Applied Soft Computing, 27, pp.127-136. Chen, X. and Techakittiroj, R. (2011). The Factors Affecting Successful Implementation of ERP in Nanjing Manufacturing SMEs.International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management, 2(3), pp.15-26. Chofreh, A., Goni, F. and Jofreh, M. (2011). Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Implementation Process: Project Management Perspective.AMR, 338, pp.152-155. Dezdar, S. and Ainin, S. (2011). Examining ERP implementation success from a project environment perspective.Business Process Mgmt Journal, 17(6), pp.919-939. Dezdar, S. and Ainin, S. (2011). Examining ERP implementation success from a project environment perspective.Business Process Mgmt Journal, 17(6), pp.919-939. Etezady, N. (2008).The impact of ERP investments on organizational performance. Feng, Q. and Huang, Y. (2009). Knowledge Management Based on ERP.IJBM, 4(3). Ha, Y. and Ahn, H. (2013). Factors affecting the performance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in the post-implementation stage.Behaviour Information Technology, 33(10), pp.1065-1081. Jha, N. (2008).Research methodology. Chandigarh: Abhishek Publications. Kim, Y., Lee, Z. and Gosain, S. (2005). Impediments to successful ERP implementation process.Business Process Mgmt Journal, 11(2), pp.158-170. Kumar, R. (2005).Research methodology. London: SAGE. Metaxiotis, K., Psarras, J. and Ergazakis, K. (2003). Production scheduling in ERP systems.Business Process Mgmt Journal, 9(2), pp.221-247. Metaxiotis, K., Zafeiropoulos, I., Nikolinakou, K. and Psarras, J. (2005). Goal directed project management methodology for the support of ERP implementation and optimal adaptation procedure.Info Mngmnt Comp Security, 13(1), pp.55-71. Mozammel-Bin-Motalab, A. and Al Mamun Shohag, S. (2011). Cloud Computing and the Business Consequences of ERP use.International Journal of Computer Applications, 28(8), pp.31-37. Mozammel-Bin-Motalab, A. and Al Mamun Shohag, S. (2011). Cloud Computing and the Business Consequences of ERP use.International Journal of Computer Applications, 28(8), pp.31-37. Newell, S., Huang, J. and Tansley, C. (2006). ERP implementation: a knowledge integration challenge for the project team.Knowl. Process Mgmt., 13(4), pp.227-238. Sammon, D. and Adam, F. (2010). Project preparedness and the emergence of implementation problems in ERP projects.Information Management, 47(1), pp.1-8. Schniederjans, D. and Yadav, S. (2013). Successful ERP implementation: an integrative model.Business Process Mgmt Journal, 19(2), pp.364-398. Shatat, A. and Udin, Z. (2013). Factors affecting ERP system effectiveness in post-implementation stage within Malaysian manufacturing companies.IJBIS, 14(3), p.348. Sheldon, D. (2005).Class A ERP implementation. Boca Raton, Fla.: J. Ross Pub. Vimalkumar, P. (2012). Implementation of Erp in Business Process Based On Cloud Computing.IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 3(1), pp.45-50. Vimalkumar, P. (2012). Implementation of Erp in Business Process Based On Cloud Computing.IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 3(1), pp.45-50. Welman, C., Kruger, F., Mitchell, B. and Huysamen, G. (2005).Research methodology. Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Zhang, L. and Li, Y. (2006). Theory and practice of systems methodology in ERP implementation.Syst. Res., 23(2), pp.219-235. Zhao, L., Shi, M. and Sun, Q. (2014). The Research and Practice of ERP Implementation Methodology Based on Hall Three Dimension Structure Model.AMM, 543-547, pp.4604-4608.

Monday, December 2, 2019

The Hound of the Baskervilles Argumentative Essay Example For Students

The Hound of the Baskervilles Argumentative Essay â€Å"Perhaps when a man has special knowledge and special powers like my own, it rather encourages him to seek a complex explanation when a simpler one is at hand. † This quote by Sherlock Holmes, the most famous fictional character of A.C. Doyle, describes not only Sherlock Holmes but also his creator. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was an interesting man and his writing were influenced by many things. Specifically, the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, was influenced by Doyles family and his life experiences. Doyles aristocratic background and upbringing influences his writing by agreeing very much with Englands nobleman and commoner status quo. The family of A.C. We will write a custom essay on The Hound of the Baskervilles Argumentative specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Doyle greatly influenced his novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. By having noble and even royal blood flowing through his veins, Doyle was better able to write about the noble Baskerville family. The aristocrats in the story were also portrayed as the good chracters which shows the reader Doyles opinion of the noblemen. Doyle knew about nobility and he was able to pass this personal quality onto his characters. The Baskerville family was a very respected one, especially after Sir Charles took control over Baskerville Hall. â€Å"Though Sir Charles resided at Baskerville Hall for a comparatively short period, his amiability of character and extreme generosity had won the affection and respect of all who had been brought into contact with him.† (Doyle 19) The noble Baskerville family is very likely a reflection of what Doyle thought, or knew, about his own family. Another thing that is evident in the book is Arthur Conan Doyle’s chivalrous side. The characters of Sir Henry Baskerville and Sir Charles Baskerville continually show that they are honorable men. By providing for his neighbors and friends, Sir Charles showed that he was willing to put others first and that he genuinely cared for others. The help given to Ms. Laura Lyons also shows Charles’s chivalrous side. He helped her financially after she was forced to leave her home by her father and she requested help from Charles a second time, knowing his generosity. Sir Henry continued on in the same tradition and started to refurbish the Baskerville Manor and give help to the people who needed it most. Sir Henry was also able to show his chivalrous side in another way. It was in his pursuit of Miss Stapleton that he showed his romantic side. The chivalrous and romantic Baskervilles were a mirror image of Doyle. He was raised by his mother to be chivalrous and he truly listened to what his mother said. By passing these characteristics onto his fictional characters, Doyle was able to write about something he believed in.Arthur Conan Doyle’s life experiences also influenced his novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles. As a child enrolled in boarding school, Doyle excelled in many things. Particularly, Doyle was very athletic and he did very well at many sports. The character of Sherlock Holmes demonstrates the same athletic ability as Doyle did in his boyhood years. Watson says about Holmes, â€Å"Never have I seen a man run as Holmes ran that night. † (Doyle 158) More importantly though, Doyle’s time in medical school at the University of Edinburgh and the time he spent as a doctor greatly influence this novel. The character of Dr. Mortimer shows a great deal of knowledge about medicine. He was the one who took care of Sire Charles until the last minute and diagnosed his problems. Also, Dr. Mortimer was a specialist in skulls. Throughout the novel, Mortimer shows off his knowledge at various times. The deduction skills given to Sherlock Homes and Dr. .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 , .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 .postImageUrl , .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 , .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63:hover , .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63:visited , .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63:active { border:0!important; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63:active , .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63 .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u7e344ba2b76e2f8bf6b33f82c63fca63:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Scientific method Essay Watson are also derived from the medical knowledge of Arthur Doyle. Holmes and Watson can figure out just about anything from a few clues. They are able to reach conclusions from examining objects and speaking with people. By examining the walking stick of Dr. Mortimer, Holmes was able to figure out where he worked, what kind of dog he owned, and why he left his job. Watson was even able to figure out that Barrymore was holding the candlelight at the window each night as a signal. The baronet and Watson found out the truth

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Read and Understand Measurements in House Plans

Read and Understand Measurements in House Plans Its easy to purchase house plans from a website or house plan catalog, but they hardly ever come with directions for reading floor plans. What are you buying? Will the completed house measure up to your expectations? The following hints come from an architect who designs luxury house plans and custom homes. He wants you to know about measuring. - ed. Key Facts About Measuring area: measured in square feet (or square meters), the rectangular length times the width; the area of a triangle is one-half the base times the heightvolume: the length times the width times the heightarea of a composite: for an irregularly shaped room, divide the room into regular shapes (rectangles and triangles) and sum the areasgross area: measured from the exterior wall foundation, so the area includes wall thicknessnet area: measured from interior walls; area of the living spacearchitect scale: a three-sided measuring device with six measuring edges (described as prism-shaped), similar to a ruler, but used to interpret the true size of a line drawn to scale on a floor plan or blueprint Size Up Your House Plan When you compare house plans, one of the more important characteristics you’ll consider is the area of the floor plan - the size of the plan - measured in square feet or square meters. Heres a little secret. Square feet and square meters are not measured the same on every house plan. Any two house plans that appear to be of equal area may not really be. Does this make much difference when you’re choosing a plan? You bet it does! On a 3,000 square foot plan, a difference of only 10 percent might unexpectedly cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Question the Measurements Builders, architects, real estate professionals, bankers, auditors, and appraisers often report room sizes differently to better suit their particular needs. House plan services also vary in their area-calculation protocols. In order to compare floor plan areas accurately, you’ve got to be sure that the areas are counted the same. Generally, builders and real estate professionals want to show that a house is as big as possible. Their goal is to quote a lower cost per square foot or square meter so that the house will appear more valuable. In contrast, appraisers, assessors, and county auditors usually measure the perimeter of the house - a typically very rough way to calculate area - and call it a day. Architects break the size down into components: first floor, second floor, porches, finished lower level, etc. To arrive at an apples-to-apples comparison of house areas you’ve got to know what’s included in the totals. Does the area include only heated and cooled spaces? Does it include everything under roof? Even garages? What about closets? Or do the measurements include only living space? Ask How Rooms Are Measured But even when you’ve discovered exactly what spaces are included in the area calculation youll need to know how volume is counted, and whether the total reflects the net or the gross square footage (or square meters). Gross area is the total of everything within the outer edge of the perimeter of the house. Net area is that same total - less the thicknesses of walls. In other words, net square footage is the part of the floor that you can walk on. Gross includes the parts you can’t walk on. The difference between net and gross can be as much as 10 percent - depending on the type of floor plan design. A traditional plan (with more distinct rooms and therefore more walls) might have 10 percent net-to-gross ratio, while a contemporary plan may have only six or seven percent. Likewise, larger homes tend to have more walls - because larger homes generally have more rooms, rather than simply larger rooms. Youll probably never see the volume of a house plan listed on a house plan website, but the number representing the area of a floor plan often depends on how the volume is counted. Typically, the upper area of two-story rooms (foyers, family rooms) isnt counted as part of the floor plan. Likewise, stairs are only counted once. But not always. Check how volume is counted to be sure you know how big the plan really is. Plan services that design their own plans will have a consistent policy on area (and volume), but services that sell plans on consignment probably dont. How does the designer or plan service calculate the size of the plan? Sometimes that information is found on the services website or book, and sometimes you have to call to find out. But you should most definitely find out. Knowing how area and volume are measured can make a very big difference in the cost of the house you ultimately build. Conclusions Leave the Building to Builders. Damian Gillie/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images The guest writer, Richard Taylor of RTA Studio, is an Ohio-based residential architect who creates luxury house plans and designs custom homes and interiors. Taylor spent eight years designing and renovating homes in German Village, an historic district in Columbus, Ohio. He has also designed custom homes in North Carolina, Virginia, and Arizona. He holds a B.Arch. (1983) from Miami University and is an active blog writer on social media. Taylor says: I believe that above all, a home should create a quality living experience as unique as the people that live in it, shaped by the owners heart, and by his image of home - thats the essence of custom design. Construction designs can get complicated, so let your building crew decipher the symbols the way they are trained to do. A couple of things for the homeowner to keep an eye on include the orientation of the building on the lot (where is south and the sun? where are the doors and windows?), the HVAC symbols (where is the ductwork?), and for future reference its good to know where your load-bearing walls will be located. And how big will your new house measure out to be? According to the U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Construction, the average new single-family American house was 2,392 square feet in 2010 and in 1973 it was 1,660 square feet. A small home is considered 1,000 to 1,500 square feet. And tiny homes? Could you live in less than 500 square feet? Thats the plan!

Saturday, November 23, 2019

The Integrity of Oscar essays

The Integrity of Oscar essays Academy Awards: The Integrity of Oscar The envelope please, along with and the Oscar goes to... are phrases that have become staples of American society due to the intent interest in the annual award show in which members of the film industry are recognized for excellent work. According to their own web site, the Academy Awards, or Oscars, have been given out since 1927, when a non-profit organization the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was formed. The 5,607 voting members of the Academy select their peers to be recognized for achievement in filmmaking. The Academy is made up of professionals from every aspect of film production, from actors and directors to sound technicians. This is the voting process according to the Academy web site. Academy members are separated by profession, and are allowed to chose from a large list of eligible films to select who they feel should be nominated for awards in their respective field. Actors and actors alone decide who is nominated for acting awards. After the nominees have been selected, a second ballot is mailed out to all voters. This ballot has the nominees for every category on it, not just the area in which the voter is trained. After selecting one choice in each category, the voters then mail their ballot back to the academy. The voting is done in an informal manor, and ballots are usually mailed to and from the home of the voter. However, the tallying process is much more tedious. Each year the accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Cooper secures and counts the votes. They insure every count is correct, and that the results remain a secret up until the envelope is opened on national television. There has never been any question that voting procedure is fool proof, and that the vote count is accurate. But there has been much dispute over whether or not the voters are knowledgeable of the films they are voting on, or the areas i ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The film the Red Violine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The film the Red Violine - Essay Example The involvement of many cultures and use of many languages could be said to be the strengths for the movie because it stirs up interest in audiences around the globe. I could say that the movie has been ingeniously produced to the full satisfaction of every movie. What could have been the drawback for the movie are some shots which took so much of the time like the many changing faces in the monastery who played the violin when the very message that was portrayed there was the length of time it stayed with the monks. The character I most identify with is the violin maker as he was a perfectionist, demanding the best that he wants and working hard on things rather than easily giving up. In addition, he is passionate with his works, giving his best even his heart and soul to create the master piece he desires to have for his unborn child. Also, he is a determined man, knowing what he wants in life for his wife and unborn son. He is extraordinarily zealous for his loved ones, and defini tely a true lover to his wife which is most admirable to me.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Krean kimchi culture research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Krean kimchi culture - Research Paper Example This is why kimchi is a special dish for them. In America and in other parts of the world, the dish has gained quite a following. By conducting research on my Korean friends, I discovered that kimchi as a culture is getting popular no matter in Korea or America. This is not only because of its tastes, healthy ingredients, nutritional value and its history, but also because it represents the spirit of the Korean people and culture. The world now is full of health products. Their manufacturers say the products will help clean people’s bodies, prevent diseases or sicknesses or help people live longer. Some of these products are supposedly organic while some come in the form of capsules or tablets that are made from chemicals. I find this fact ironic because I do not think chemicals can be good for the body. As for eating organic food, I have yet to appreciate the taste because sometimes it can be very unfamiliar to the taste buds. Hanging out with several friends from Korea, I found out that Koreans do not care for organic food or food supplements because they have their own â€Å"health dish†. This is what they call kimchi. I was further intrigued by kimchi when I discovered that it was being enjoyed around the world by non-Koreans, too. Health enthusiasts around the world have found out that the ingredients in the dish bring a lot of nutrition to one’s body. To find out more about this Kor ean delicacy, I conducted some research and personally interviewed some of my Korean friends. This paper is a collection of my friends’ experiences about kimchi. A non-American living in the United States cannot avoid eating fast food. The country is known for its McDonald’s, Burger Kings and iHops. These chains make eating convenient for the busy people in the country, foreigner or not. Koreans are no exception. However, since the K There are various kinds of Kimchi according to what main

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Social Factor Essay Example for Free

Social Factor Essay War Child is a network of independent organization, working across the world to help children affected by war. Theyre a social organization to advance the cause of peace through investing hope in the lives of children caught up in the horror of war, which is mainly their number one aim. Employees of War child has a big influence in the organization, because their all there for the same reason to help the organization reach their aims. What is also a social factor of War child is that anyone can volunteer and take part of the important events to save those kids. Employees can move to different countries where they can set up camps to build programs for war affected kids, the only thing that can go wrong is if an employee doesnt want to go or even work together as a group, this can both cause conflict and also can become public to donators and cause a downfall in the organization. But of course they would only send qualified employees to do to go into post conflict areas for their safety and health. War Child believes that interplay between physiological and social factors is consisting of healthy emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual development, which includes social integration. As a social factor they implement either or together with their partners, progress to protect and empower children and young people. War Child is a right-based organization committed to the fulfillments of children rights! Comparing the organizations As you can see that both companies are not that far from each other, they all can perform well so long the economy is going good and positive. The only difference really with the both organization is that for MS aims for profit and War child for a good cause by helping war affected children. But both of this company can get into to problems with the economy for example if theres an economic crisis, people will not spend as much money, .sales will go down and even have to fire people from their jobs and with War child is the economy is still being greedy by wanting more diamonds and causing war in places such as Angola and Sierra Leone. One the social part there are not too far from each other nearly the same, they all needs to work together to achieve their organizational aim. So long there is the right communications and respect amongst each other, then conflicts can be avoided. Because of the globalization, the economy changes and the society, there will always be changes if there can. For example government regulations and the standard of living the people has paid a price for. The external factors do have a lot of influences on these companies. If the economical crises arise can cause the company to close some stores or even come to debts and could case war not only from war affected kids but the whole society in general.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Narrativity, Modernity, and Tragedy: How Pragmatism Educates Humanity :: Argumentative Persuasive Philosophy Essays

Narrativity, Modernity, and Tragedy: How Pragmatism Educates Humanity ABSTRACT: I argue that the modernist notion of a human self (or subject) cannot easily be post-modernistically rejected because the need to view an individual life as a unified 'narrative' with a beginning and an end (death) is a condition for asking humanly important questions about its meaningfulness (or meaninglessness). Such questions are central to philosophical anthropology. However, not only modern ways of making sense of life, such as linear narration in literature, but also premodern ones such as tragedy, ought to be taken seriously in reflecting on these questions. The tradition of pragmatism has tolerated this plurality of the frameworks in terms of which we can interpret or 'structure' the world and our lives as parts of it. It is argued that pragmatism is potentially able to accommodate both the plurality of such interpretive frameworks-premodern, modern, postmodern — and the need to evaluate those frameworks normatively. We cannot allow any premodern source of hu man meaningfulness whatsoever (say, astrology) to be taken seriously. Avoiding relativism is, then, a most important challenge for the pragmatist. 1. The idea that "grand metanarratives" are dead is usually regarded as the key to the cultural phenomenon known as postmodernism. We have been taught to think that the Enlightenment notions of reason, rationality, knowledge, truth, objectivity, and self have become too old-fashioned to be taken seriously any longer. There is no privileged "God's-Eye-View" available for telling big, important stories about these notions. The cultural hegemony of science and systematic philosophy, in particular, is over. Nevertheless, as even some postmodern thinkers themselves keep on insisting, we still have to be committed to the grand narrative of our individual life. (1) We cannot really dispense with the modernist notion of self, and the one who says we can forgets who she or he is. From the point of view of our own life, no postmodern death of the subject can take place. On the contrary, my death transcends my life; it is not an experienceable event of my life — as Wittgenstein also famously pointed out at Tractatus 6.4311. Most (perhaps all) of us feel that one's own death is hardly even conceivable from within one's life. On the other hand, somewhat paradoxically, death must be postulated as the imaginary end point, the final event, of the story of my life. If there were no death (i.e., the annihilation of my self) to be expected, I could not even realize that I am leading a specific, spatio-temporally restricted human life.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Little Albert

Assignment One – Mini Lit Review. The Little Albert Study. Not everyone believes that biology is our destiny. Many scientists whole-heartedly believe it is our experiences in life that count. They believe that it is our up-bringing, education, and our environment that form our behaviour, beliefs and characteristics. Chief among scientists in this field of thought is psychologist John Watson. Watson developed a theory that we are not restricted to our genetic make-up, but instead we arrive into the world as a blank slate and all our information is learned.There is continuous dispute over this theory with the nature nurture debate strongly in play (McLeod, 2007). On the nature side of the debate, it is believed that individual’s differences are determined by their unique genetic make-up. They argue that all other characteristics that develop later in life are caused by maturation (McLeod, 2007). The other side is nurture which John Watson strongly supports. This side says that we come into the world as a blank slate and through experiences our slate is gradually filled (McLeod, 2007).To support the theory that environment is more powerful than genetics, Watson designed an experiment on an infant commonly known as the Little Albert experiment. This experiment focused on Ivan Pavlov’s process of classical conditioning. Watson believed and wanted to prove that all human psychology can be explained by this process (McLeod, 2008). The other studies that I will be comparing the Little Albert experiment to will be â€Å"Elevated fear conditioning to socially relevant unconditioned stimuli in Social Anxiety Disorder† (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et all, 2008) and the study of Pavlov’s dogs (Pavlov, 1928).These studies will enable me to make a justified evaluation of the Little Albert study by making comparisons to these two other studies. The Little Albert experiment was conducted by John Watson and Rosalie Rayner in 1920. They chose nine mo nth old Baby Albert for the study because Albert had been reared almost from birth in Harriet Lane home for Invalid Children where his mother was a wet nurse. Albert was deemed extremely stable and well developed which determined his suitability for the experiment (McLeod, 2007).The focus of their study was to continue on from Pavlov’s experiment involving the classical conditioning of dogs, and determine whether this empirical evidence was also evident in humans (Watson, 1924). More specifically, they were focusing on conditioned emotional responses. In determining these aspects they conducted a series of different tests involving a variation of stimulus. Before the experiment commenced, they gave Albert a sequence of baseline tests to determine his initial fear responses to stimuli.They presented him with burning paper, a monkey, a dog, cotton wool, a fur coat (seal), various masks and a white rat. During the baseline, Albert showed no initial fear to these items. Throughou t the study these items (fluffy white objects) served as the independent variables. The dependant variable was whether or not Albert cried or showed distress. During the study Albert was positioned on a mattress on a table. Albert was presented with a white rat and just as he reached out to touch it, a metal bar was struck with a hammer behind him.Albert jumped and fell forward, burring his head into the mattress, but did not cry. After these two stimuli were paired on several occasions, Albert was presented with only the white rat. As the rat appeared in front of him he became distressed and turned away, puckered his lips, began to cry and crawled away (Watson, 1924). From this, it became obvious that Albert’s fear had been conditioned. Albert had associated the white rat with a loud noise producing fear, thus having conditioned fear of the white rat. The experiment showed that Little Albert generalized his response from furry animals to anything furry.Albert showed the same reactions as the initial experiment when Watson presented him with a furry dog, seal-skin coat and even a Santa-Claus mask (Watson, 1924). The way in which Albert’s responses were measured was through the amount of distress to the stimuli he presented. The Little Albert study is a highly popular study especially across the field of Psychology. Although the study has provided valuable knowledge and understanding of learned behaviours and the development of phobias, it’s procedures considering ethics are questionable.The fact that Albert was only nine months old deems this study unethical. Albert’s mother was obviously desperate for money to support her son, so the bribe of money probably out-weighted the possible harm caused to her son. Albert’s mother probably wasn’t entirely aware of the potential risks involved. Albert’s fear was supposed to be extinguished at the end of the experiment, but he moved away. Other ethical codes that have bee n violated in this study are that of the distress that it caused.Little Albert was never desensitized from the conditioning undergone meaning that because he had a conditioned fear of white furry objects, he would forever be terrified of white furry objects (Watson, 1924). In today’s code of ethics, the welfare of the participant/s is the most important factor and under no circumstances should this protection be hindered, unless the participant has given consent to be put under this distress. It is also now deemed unethical to purposely cause distress to a participant in laboratory circumstances (Weiten, 2008).These unethical procedures could have been corrected quite simply. In the study of fear conditioning in people with social anxiety disorder, they conducted what called an extinction process where the participants were desensitized from any fear conditioning that took part throughout the experiment (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et al, 2008). This experiment is clearly ethical as it was only conducted in 2008 and would have had to have been passed by the ethics board in order to be conducted. The Little Albert study is a valid study; however it was not measured effectively.The way in which Little Albert’s fear was measured was just whether or not he cried or showed distress. The way in which they measured this could have been improved in order to get more valid and reliable results. In this case, the studies operational definition was not valid. The Little Albert study could have used apparatus in order to get more valid results. For example, they could have measured Albert’s fear by assessing his skin conductivity. This would have measured Albert’s distress through measuring the arousals in his skin i. e. weat. They also could have used the blink-startle response measurement as used in â€Å"Elevated fear conditioning to socially relevant unconditioned stimuli in Social Anxiety Disorder† (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et al, 2008). T his method measures how much the participant blinks when presented with a stimuli. If the participant is startled (scared) by something, they will blink a lot more than if they are not startled. The reliability of the Little Albert study is not strong. If the same study was conducted today, the same results would not be found.Little Albert’s responses to the stimuli that he was presented with could have been a result of his general fear of animals, not that he conditioned a fear of white fluffy objects. Most people would agree with me when I say that if you were a nine month old baby and an animal was jumping up at your face, you would be scared and would become distressed. Being a nine month old baby, Albert also could have just been tired, bored, and hungry or just missed his Mother. None of these factors were accounted for during the trials.If the same study was conducted today, it would become extremely obvious that times have changed and so too should the design of the s tudy. The reliability of the experiment is hindered by the fact that the method of measurement is simply observation and there is no concrete evidence being analysed. For example if they were to measure brain activity or use the blink-startle reaction measurement, these results would be a lot more concrete and therefore the study would be classed a lot more reliable.In comparison, the 1928 study of Pavlov’s dogs (Pavlov, 1928) is a lot more reliable even though it is only a few years newer than the Little Albert study. If Pavlov’s experiment was replicated today, very similar if not the same results would be found. The fact that Pavlov used concrete methods of measuring his data deemed his study a lot more reliable. If he was to measure the amount that the dogs salivate by just observing them, it would not be as valid.To conclude, through the evaluation of the Little Albert study and comparison to â€Å"â€Å"Elevated fear conditioning to socially relevant unconditio ned stimuli in Social Anxiety Disorder† (Lissek, Levson, Biggs, et al, 2008) and Pavlov’s dogs (Pavlov, 1928) it has come to my attention that the Little Albert study does not comply to today’s code of ethics, the reliability is not strong and could be improved on however it is a valid study, but the operational definition could be improved.I feel that the contributions to knowledge of conditioned fear are valuable to society and has proved useful in various situations and other studies. Future studies on this topic would prove extremely valuable to society and our understanding on fear conditioning. References McLeod, S. A. (2007). Simply Psychology; Nature Nurture in Psychology. Retrieved 3 April 2012, from http://www. simplypsychology. org/naturevsnurture. html McLeod, S. A. (2007). Simply Psychology; Pavlov. Retrieved 3 April 2012, from http://www. implypsychology. org/pavlov. html McLeod, S. A. (2008). Simply Psychology; Classical Conditioning. Retrieved 3 A pril 2012, from http://www. simplypsychology. org/classical-conditioning. html Pavlov, I. P. (1928). Lectures On Conditioned Reflexes. (Translated by W. H. Gantt) London: Allen and Unwin. Watson, J. B. & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1, pp. 1–14. Weiten, W. (2011). Psychology: Themes and Variations. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

How Will Ethical Issues Affect Leadership in a Business

Contemporary and Pervasive Issues â€Å"How will ethical issues affect leadership in a business? † Word Count: 5671 In this essay I am going to discuss how ethical issues can affect leadership in a business. In order to answer this question the essay will start by giving a brief introduction into the two topics; leadership and business ethics. I will then aim to successfully link them by considering the argument of whether leaders should concern themselves with ethical issues or whether making as much money as possible should be their main consideration. Leadership has many different meanings and there have been numerous different classification systems used to define the dimensions of leadership. Infact as Stogdill (1974) pointed out, â€Å"there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it. † One popular definition used for this subject is that â€Å"leadership may be considered as the process (act) of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement†(Stogdill, 1974). This definition suggests that it is not a characteristic but is an event that takes place between a leader and his or her followers and that there are three aspects to leadership. Firstly, it involves influence in that leaders induce their followers to behave in a certain way. The second aspect is that leadership occurs in a group context and finally that leadership includes attention to goals, which a leader must direct their followers to achieve. Over the years there have been many studies and theories formed on leadership. The first, which dominated until the late 1940’s, was the Trait Approach, which focused on leaders and not followers. It assumed that leaders had certain traits, such as intelligence and integrity and that they are born and not made. However, this approach failed to take situations into account and recent research has proven that traits alone cannot account for effectiveness. Following this was the style approach, which focuses on what leaders do and how they act towards subordinates rather than characteristics. This era defines leadership styles as either Autocratic, democratic or laissez faire. However, this approach fails to find which of these leadership styles is most effective in every situation. Following this was the situational and contingency theories, which assume that different situations demand different types of leadership. However it assumes that people can learn to become effective leaders and does not adequately explain the link between styles and situation. The Situational theory ‘relates four leadership styles; Directing, Coaching, Supporting and delegating to followers readiness for them† (Gill, 2006:48). However, the model assumes both flexibility of style and the ability to diagnose the situation and the style that is needed. In 1980’s the New Leadership approach was introduced, which compromises visionary, charismatic and transformational leadership theories. â€Å"Transformational leadership occurs when leaders raise peoples motivation to act and create a sense of higher purpose† (Gill, 2006:36). Similarly and published around the same time was the theory of Charismatic leadership, who act in unique ways that have specific charismatic effects on their followers. This stage provides a broader view of leadership that augments other models and places a strong emphasis on leaders needs, values and morals. However, â€Å"due to the wide range that it covers it lacks conceptual clarity and it is difficult to define the parameters of transformational leadership† (Northouse, 2004:185). Finally, in the late 1990’s Post-charismatic and Post-transformational theories emerged, which focuses on leadership as a community and both leaders and followers working together. Leadership is a process that is similar to management in many ways and many of the functions of management are included in the definition of leadership. This was argued by Yukl (1989), who said â€Å"when managers are involved in influencing a group to meet its goals, they are involved in leadership. When leaders are involved in planning, organizing, staffing and controlling, they re involved in management. Both processes involve influencing a group of individuals toward a goal attainment. † Both management and leadership involve influence, working with people, meeting goals and many other similar functions. However, there is a distinct difference between leadership and management and the main functions of the two are quite dissimilar. It was argued by Kotter (1990) that the â€Å"function of management is to provide order and consistency to organizations, whereas the primary function of leadership is to produce change and movement. † Whilst managers plan and budget, a leader creates a vision and sets strategies, instead of controlling and problem solving a leader motivates and inspires his followers. In addition to this, Bennis and Nanus (1985) made the distinction very clear, â€Å"managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right things. † Although it argued that the two are very different it is for this reason that both are needed for an organization to be a success. Without management outcomes can be meaningless or misdirected and without leadership the outcome can be stifling and bureaucratic. This was the opinion of Warner Burke (1986:68), who said that â€Å"For clarity of goals and direction, managers need leaders. For indispensable help in reaching goals, leaders need managers. † A further question that is often raised on the topic of leadership is whether leaders are born or made? Whilst some would argue that â€Å"It is not a matter of whether leaders are born or made. † They are born and made† (Conger 2004), it is a topic that has caused great debate. Many would argue that leadership is innate (inborn) and that the character, style and competence needed to be a leader is infact genetic and it cannot be developed. However, others have argued that leadership is not down to genetics alone but that it can infact be developed over a period of time through environment and experiences. This is the opinion argued by Winston (Winston 2003), who says that â€Å"we are not merely the product of our genes: environment has a huge impact but in a mysterious way. † A further aspect to this question is whether leadership can be taught. There are many opinions on this matter but the â€Å"tendency is towards agreeing that, while little if anything can be taught, it can be learnt through development, growth and practise† (Gill, 2006:272). A business operates according to the vision and values of its leader. A leader has many roles within an organization, which can be key to its long-term success. The first of these is to provide an overall direction by â€Å"defining and communicating a meaningful and attractive vision of the future and a mission through which the organization will pursue it† (Gill, 2006:96). This direction which may stem a long way into the future will need to consider competitors, changes in tastes and current standing in the market. In relation to this it is a leader's responsibility to create a strong and positive organizational culture with its followers having shared vision and values, which can result in an effective organization. A further role of a leader is to â€Å"develop, get commitment to and ensure the successful implementation of strategies† (Gill, 2006:176). This is one of the most important roles for a leader and involves them planning where they want to be in the future and how they are going to get there, for example by acquisitions or moving into new geographical markets. Another role of a leader in business is to empower employees to be able to do what needs to be done. In order to do this a leader must give them the knowledge, skills, authority and freedom to manage themselves and be accountable for their behavior. If a leader successfully empowers his employs it can lead to both job satisfaction and enhanced organizational performance in many ways. Similarly it is an important role of a leader to influence, motivate and inspire employees to reach the companies goals. One of the key factors that will determines whether it is achieved or falters will be the ability of the leader in these three areas. Finally if an organization is to continue to prosper, people development must be high on a leader's agenda, by identifying the most talented people coming through and making sure that they are developed for major roles in the future. Ensuring that there is a continued stream of talent developed is a key factor in sustainable progress and achievement. An effective leader has the ability to successfully carry out all of these roles. The second topic that this essay involves is business ethics, which has been described by some as ‘a passing fashion which will come and go and can therefore be safely ignored or dismissed† (Vallance, 1995: 4) However, business scandals of the late 1980’s such as Guiness and Blue Arrow and the results of these have made businesses aware of the importance of their reputation and the need to think seriously about ethical issues. There have been numerous definitions of ethics, which involves systemizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong behaviour and includes principles and values of what is fair or unfair and proper or improper. It has been argued that â€Å"there is only one ethics, one set of rules of morality, one code that of individual behaviour in which the same rules apply to everyone alike† (Drucker 2007). A popular definitions is that â€Å"Ethics deals with values, with good and bad with right and wrong, we cannot avoid involvement in ethics, for what we do-and what we don’t do- is always a possible subject of ethical evaluation† (Singer, 1993: v). There are various theories and approaches to ethics and ethical decision-making but the two major view points that appear are consequentailism and non-consequentialism. Consequentialism is where â€Å"ethical decisions are based primarily on calculating the good in terms of consequences† (Preston, 2007: 36). The most widely accepted form of this is Utilitarianism, which was introduced by Jeremy Bentham in the late 19th century. This theory emphasises happiness or utility as a desirable goal for human choice or action and argues that moral rules should seek to secure â€Å"the greatest good for the greatest number of people† (Preston, 2007: 36). However, there have been some objections to this theory and the question as to how happiness and utility can be measured. It also works against the interests of â€Å"minorities and groups that do not measure up to the criteria of usefulness and can justify the violation of human rights† (Preston, 2007: 36). An example of this is the exclusion of a disabled child from a school as they are disruptive. This would be justified on utilitarian grounds as to leave such a disruptive child in the class would not be beneficial to the majority of students. The second of these points that occurs in ethical theory is non-consequential. This â€Å"enjoins us to do the right thing, simply because it is the right thing, intrinsically† (Preston, 2007: 40). The most influential figure promoting this view was Immanuel Kant. He argued that as â€Å"individuals we intuitively know what is right or wrong, through the categorical imperatives, which are: Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, always as an end and never as a means only †¢ Act only on the maxim through which you can at the same time will that it be a universal law. †¢ Act only so that the will through its maxims could regard itself at the same time as universally law giving – refer ence† (Preston 2007:41) This Kantian theory has been very influential, especially concerning the debate of rights and justice due to the importance that it places on every individual and because it is not open to persuasion by pragmatic considerations. However, there have been some criticisms to Kants approach as he places too much reliance on human rationality. Furthermore, it does not provide an answer to the problem of how to decide between two conflicting duties and how to obey different bur equally absolute rules. For example, ‘do not break promises’ and ‘do not kill’ are absolute rules, however it is possible for a situation to occur where these rules conflict and that by not breaking a promise, someone is killed. The focus of this essay is on Business ethics in particular. Though the theories that have been mentioned are relevant, they are â€Å"concerned primarily with personal ethics and do not address directly the kind of ethical problems that arise within a business context† (Vallance, 1995:4). Within an organisation, ethics is seen as everyone’s business and can be complex and have more than one meaning. Firstly, it is the application of general ethical rules to business behaviour and secondly, it can be the rules of business by which business activities are judged. Business Ethics can be defined as â€Å"coming to know what is right or wrong in the workplace and doing what is right – this is in regards to effects of products/services and in relationship with stakeholders’’ (McNamara, 2006:7) and can cover a wide range of aspects from quality and treatment of employees to pricing. When it comes to business having an ethical responsibility, many would argue that this is not the case. Indeed Milton Friedman (Friedman, 1970) said â€Å"only people can have responsibilities. A corporation is an artificial person and in this sense may have artificial responsibilities, but â€Å"business† as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities, even in this vague sense†. With this in mind, it would also be argued that it is of little importance for leaders to consider ethical issues when making decisions. Infact, leaders who have ethical consciences have been described as â€Å"unwitting puppets of the intellectual forces that have been undermining the basis of a free society these past decades† (Friedman, 1970). This argument is that a business and therefore its leaders have one purpose, and that is to make as much profit as possible, with everything else being secondary. Freidman said, â€Å"He (the executive) is an employee of the owners of the business. He has direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom† (Friedman, 1970). He believed that this was the case for all businesses with the only exceptions being schools and hospitals where a leader's objective would be the rendering of services. One of the beliefs of this argument is that â€Å"ethical responsibility as preached and practised by many marks an acceptance and endorsement of views and demands mostly presented by anti business groups that are hostile to the market economy and are far from representing the general view of the average consumer† (Andersen, 2004: 22). In addition to this fact a further problem is that in order for a leader to have an ethical conscience it usually comes at some cost to the business and therefore is not in the interest of the owners of the organization. An example of this is that a leader would refrain from increasing the price of the product in order to contribute to the social objective of preventing inflation, even though a price increase would benefit both the corporation and its owners. A similar example is that ay leaders use great amounts of money and resources to reduce pollution beyond the amount that is required by law in order to meet its responsibility to the environment and gain a reputation as being an environmentally friendly company. This was a measure taken by Satellite broadcaster BSkyB who have been carbon neutral since May 2006 through a combination of using renewable energy and offsetting its remaining emissions, but at a cost to the company. In each of these examples and in the case of other et hical activities a great amount of money is either spent or compromised. Many would argue that by doing this a leader is spending other people’s money for a general social interest, which could be viewed as extremely unethical. For example, carrying out an ethical activity that would have a high cost, such as reducing emission would reduce profits and therefore stockholder would see a reduce in their returns on investments. In addition to this if a leaders ethical actions raise the price to customers, he is spending the customers' money and if the cost of the leader's actions have to result in lowering the wages of some employees, he is spending their money. In these cases it would be fair to say that not only would it be having a detrimental effect on the company profits but would also have a negative and unethical effect on both internal and external stakeholders, who may desert the company for a competitor that less scrupulous in exercising their social responsibilities. In addition to this it means that a leader in effect becomes a public employee even though he remains in reality an employee of a private company. There is a further problem with leaders deciding that a company is to become more ethically aware as it involves great change in the way a company practices, its values and its organizational culture. Many of these actions that need to be taken to implement an ethical practice can incur increased costs that may not be recouped through increased sales and have no guarantee of returns. Furthermore, some decisions and choices made with an ethical conscience can result in short term negative impacts such as a decrease in sales, revenue and profit, increased cost for employee welfare and a decrease in stock prices. Moreover, â€Å"the vast majority of companies are still failing to get their message across† (The Guardian, 2004). With these costs in mind, especially in the current economic climate, the importance of a leader implementing an ethical culture to a business could be questioned. In addition to this leading a business ethically may involve â€Å"compromising short term wins for the sake of a more long term view† (Andersen, 2004: 22). This is not beneficial for a leader who is responsible for immediate results, particularly if the short-term wins that are compromised due to ethical issues risk financial loss or even immediate failure. This may mean that a leader may have to accept higher prices on goods, parts and manufacturing in order to remain ethical. An example of this is that Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket was using an Indian sweatshop to produce its clothes, which was paying its workers just 16p an hour. This supplier was changed in order for the company to appear more ethical and inturn cost Tesco money. This can be particularly hard in a market where there is a large amount of competition at both a national and international level. In order to compete a company needs to be able to offer the lowest price possible to its consumers but in order to keep its ethical stance a company can not compromise on its quality of suppliers and raw materials and therefore sees increased costs. Another consideration is that â€Å"when the corporation grows beyond the direct influence of its leader, we must reckon with the ethical consequence of size and geographical deployment. The control and employment of all policies, but especially that established for corporate ethics, becomes difficult† (Andrews, 1989: 7). This demonstrates that as long as an organisation remains small enough to be directly influenced by the chief executives leadership, certain results, such as ethical approach can be traced to his determination that they occur. However, as the â€Å"organisation grows and becomes decentralised with worldwide operations the power and influence that the Chief Executive has is reinterpreted and diffused† (Andrews, 1989: 260). As a result leaders of have to be appointed in each location and these persons may not share the determination and beliefs of their chief executive on ethical matters. As a result it is hard to standardise a whole company's ethical approach. In relation to this cultural differences and different business practices around the world can present challenges for businesses that are trying to be ethical. Having considered the above argument there are some flaws to Friedman’s approach. He suggests that a leader should concentrate on profit alone as long as it is within the law. However, the law does not define what is morally right and what is legal may be unethical. Many people would argue that this is an important point as ‘good business ethics promotes good business. This was the findings of some well-known authorities such as Baumhart, Brener and Molander, who believed that only those businesses that conduct activities on ethical grounds can develop on a long-term basis. This is also the stakeholder view that businesses will not make money if they do not take heed of their stakeholders; CSR is looking after your stake holders and is good business practice. This is the reason why it is important that leaders are not merely concerned with profit but also with promoting an ethical practise. Firstly, â€Å"leaders who follow the principles of ethics in the conduct of business, motivates others also to follow the same principles† (Paliwal, 2006: 10). This can improve both employees and the organizations motivation and morale, which was discussed earlier as one of the main roles of a leader. This is because conducting business in an ethical manner can produce a feeling of ‘doing things right’ and this can â€Å"become an almost tangible positive ambience within the organisation and can create a culture with a sense of community and belonging for employees,† (Andersen, 2004: 7). The result of this is increased loyalty and productivity, which can result in an improved in competitive advantage. An example of a company that treats its employees well and is benefited in return is John Lewis. All 69,000 employees of the company have a share in it and despite seeing pre tax profits fall by 26% this year they still paid their employees bonuses worth 13% of their salaries. In addition to this if a leader and a company demonstrates that it is unwilling to compromise its ethical values then they are regarded as trustworthy by both customers and their employees and this can promote productivity, innovation, employee development and increase employee attraction, which are again some of the main roles of a leader. This is vital to leaders as a study by Covey discovered that â€Å"the average corporation loses half its employees within four years, and the cost of recruiting, training and getting new ones up to speed can be detrimental to an organisation. (Andersen, 2004: 9). Also it is the â€Å"leaders of a company that are responsible for its conduct and it is their actions that determine the company's ethical standards† (Andrews, 1989: 72). If a leader's strategy is to define and communicate ethical position then it can act as a competitive advantage as it is an effective way of ensuring customer loyalty and also the company’s ability to at tract new customers. Customers are now more discerning and better educated than ever and want a product that not only serves its purpose but also is produced by an environmentally responsible company. If a consumer understands and sees tangible evidence that they are contributing to something beyond the profits a company and its owner, it is a strong motivator for both their custom and their loyalty. An example of a leader who understood the importance of an ethical company and an ethical product was Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop. The company was one of the first to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals, promote fair trade and also channelled a share of the cost of the product back to the original producer of the raw material. By doing this she created a unique selling point as an ethical company and therefore a company that consumers are proud to buy from. Furthermore, if an organisation is known to be ethical it gives the impression to the customer that they too will be fairly treated as â€Å"when ethical conduct is displayed it puts some kind of trust and confidence in relationship† (Paliwal, 2006: 9). An example of this is that prices reflect the real value of what is being bought. As previously mention, being ethical can also help to attract new customer, who will hopefully become loyal in time. This is because customers are exposed to so many marketing campaigns that they are wary of which they should trust. However, if a leader has successfully managed to position an organisation with having ethical values and integrity then customers uncertainty is reduced, they are more trusting of the company and less afraid of purchasing its products, which meets leaders objectives. This was proved in a survey conducted in New York in 1995, which indicated, â€Å"when quality, service and price are equal, 90% claimed that the best reputation for social responsibility would determine their decision to buy. † (Andersen, 2004: 12). Therefore an ethical company should see an increase in sales, which is always part of a leader's strategy. A further factor for leaders to consider is that studies have shown a â€Å"positive link between being ethical and improved financial performance (Maignan, 1987)†, which is ultimately the main aim of an organisation. Ethics in business can be related to quality of management, quality of products, innovativeness and good responsibility towards the community, all of which lead to admiration, good will and a good reputation for the company. An example of leaders who saw the importance of a good ethical reputation are Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry's, who set up the sustainable Caring Dairy initiative to helps farmers and also took measures to reduce energy use. According to Ferrell, Maignan and Loe â€Å"companies that are perceived positively in the market place perform better than others. † (Andersen, 2004: 13). Although this statement and other studies could be questioned as to what extent admiration is due to ethics, it can be said that an ethical approach to business is what contributes to a positive perception and reputation and can therefore be linked with financial improvements. A further example of this is that IAG (Insurance Australia Group Ltd), who work with neighborhoods to improve their facilities and reduce crime. This not only gives them a good reputation as a company that cares about the environment but also benefits them in a second way as it reduces insurance claims and therefore reduces their payouts and equally benefits both the community and the company. Finally, leaders need to consider being a company with ethical values because investor’s and shareholders are now using a company’s ethical stance as criteria to evaluate investments and stocks. An example of this is the â€Å"specifically designed sub index of the London Stock Exchange, the FTSE4Good (FTSE – Financial Times Stock Exchange). † (Andersen, 2004: 19). To be included in this index, constituents must be screened according to the criteria of the FTSE4Good, which covers environmental sustainability, social issues and stakeholder relations and human rights. Therefore having a favourable ethical profile can attract investors and not having one can deter them. In addition to this, for the government ethical standards of a business are now a key factor in the procurement of grants and influence. Having looked at these benefits, a leader also needs to consider the strength of being ethical by looking at the dangers and probable penalties of unethical business behaviour. As a society we have access to a wide variety of information on organisations. As a result, there are constantly court cases against companies for unethical behaviour, for example in 2007 cruise company Carnival was being sued over several cases of mistreatment of workers and the covering up of environmental damage. Settling these claims can cost billions of pounds, can lead to bankruptcy and the damage to reputation can be irreparable. A further example of this is that if a customer is treated unfairly then this bad reputation will be passed on by word of mouth. In relation to this a further factor that leaders need to consider when creating a business strategy is that unethical behaviour in manufacturing can lead to bad reputation. An example of this is the recent case with Primark, who were discovered to be using suppliers in Southern India who were using child labour. Although they claimed that they were unaware of this situation it still created a great deal of bad publicity for the company. Negative publicity can equate to decreased competitive advantage, increased costs as companies have to increase public relations and advertising. It can also have effects on sales, profits, morale and the day to day running of the business. In addition to this a bad reputation cannot be easily changed and it consumers suspicion of a company’s intentions and future actions. In relation to this â€Å"journalists writing about companies tend to fall victim of the so called Halo effect† (Andersen, 2004: 19), which means that a company that has a bad reputation tend to be seen negatively whatever they do. As the media have the power to make or break companies it is essential that leaders ensure that they are ethical and that there reputations remain intact. In this sense ethical behavior can be seen as a form of insurance against regulatory acts. An example of a company that have taken this on board is Mark’s and Spencer, who have recently launched a new Per Una lingerie range that is â€Å"carbon neutral† and is produced in an eco-factory as they become more successful in listening to what their customers want. A final problem to leaders of having an unethical approach is that there are always pressure groups and special interest group such as Greenpeace waiting to launch global campaigns against companies that act unethically, which can affect both the organisation and its chances of survival. An example of this is that in 2003 the Barclay twins, who were the two new leaders of Littlewoods mail order and clothing store, withdrew the companies membership of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), which was put in place to stop companies from using child or forced labor. This not only resulted in the sacking employees but was also provoked large volumes of criticism for charities, unions and government ministers all of which impacted on the company's reputation. This increased government interest can also lead to regulations that create rigid trade and less freedom. Having looked at the two topics: leadership and business ethics in some detail, it is clear to see that there is an important link between the two. A business operates according to the visions and values of its leader and whilst some may see business ethics as a fad leaders need to be aware that there is a high demand for ethical behaviour in our society today. It is fair to say that the objective of most companies, as Friedman said is to earn as much money as possible. Therefore, as a leader, that person is an employee of the owners of the business and so has a primary responsibility to them to conduct the business in line with their wishes. In addition to this there is a strong argument as to why a leader should not consider ethical issues as a vital part of their job. Many people share the skepticisms of Milton Friedman and Adam Smith's about the benefits that can be expected from â€Å"those who affected to trade for the public good. † This is a fact that has been discussed in the essay and the implementing a practicing ethical business can cost a company, for example, spending money on reducing pollution costs and choosing more expensive but ethical suppliers. In Friedman’s book Capitalism and Freedom, he sums up this argument by saying that â€Å"there is one and only one ethical responsibility of business–to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud† (Friedman, 1970). However, the other side of this argument is that in order for organization to survive in a competitive and changing environment, leaders must develop strong ethical standards and successfully implement them throughout the company. By trading in an ethical manner a leader will see a wide variety of benefits and effects on business practices, such as increasing sales, retaining employees, reducing litigation and in some cases increasing a company's profit. In addition to this, another â€Å"testament to its viability is that despite being describes as a passing phase, business ethics which emerged in the 1970’s has constantly gained more and more awareness and support, making it one of the longest surviving management fads† (Andersen, 2004: 24). Having considered this fact and all of the benefits, it is a hard for a leader to argue against the merits of an ethical approach to business. Overall, I believe that in order to remain competitive and to insure the survival of a business an organization must respect and regard their social and ethical responsibility as well as maintaining profitability as a central goal. It is fair to say that good ethics is good business since nowadays it can be directly linked to the company's success. Moreover, good ethics is good business because business partners, suppliers and customers expect and presevere business relationships that are upright and responsible. This is a factor that is going to become increasingly more important as consumers become more aware of ethical issues and the need for them to be considered, e. g. the increase in consumer awareness of carbon footprint. Therefore an ethical reputation will be important to the success of a company and it is a leader's job to ensure that ethics is part of a companies strategy and is successfully implemented. References †¢ K. R. 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