Agra city Essay

AGRA FORT Also renowned as the Red Fort of Agra, Agra Fort is located near to the Taj Mahal gardens on the banks of River Yamuna. The real specimen of architectural marvel, this fortress was constructed in the 15th century. The construction of this mammoth structure started during 1565 during the Great King Akbar and continued the developments up to the period of King Shah Jahan, the grandson of Akbar. The fort, in a length of 2.5 km marvelous enclosure walls, is built in red sandstones and encloses many monuments which are real architectural wonders. Many exquisite palaces such as the Shah Jahani Mahal, Jahangiri Mahal and the Khas Mahal, and audience halls named Diwan-i-Am and the Diwan-i-Khas are enclosed in the fortress. Other monuments include the Fish Pavilion, the Nagina Masjid, Garden of Grapes and the Pearl Mosque. FATEHPUR SIKRI Fatehpur Sikri is a town located about 40 km away from Agra and is one of the renowned World Heritage site by UNESCO. The city was built during the period 1571 to 1585 by great Mughal emperor Akbar. The city in red sandstone was built to celebrate the birth of his son Salim and also to honor the Saint Sheikh Salim Chisti. Fatehpur Sikri was the capital of Mughal Kingdom for few years, during which the city reached at the pinnacle of its developments. The architecture of the city is a mixture of Islamic and Hindu styles of constructions. There were places complexes and Mosque complexes in the city. TAJ MAHAL One of the Seven wonders in the world, a must see place in India, Taj Mahal is situated majestically in Agra. It is acclaimed as one of the three World Heritage Sites in Agra and is the living specimen of romantic love life of Shah Jahan and his favorite beautiful wife Mumtaz Mahal. Located at the bank of majestic River Yamuna, the Taj Mahal is a masterpiece of architectural design and excellence in finishing. Ustad Isa, the renowned Persian Architect, led the construction. The most famous marble structure in Agra, in fact the most beautiful and fascinating monument all over India, completed the construction in 1653 AD. The Mughal King Sha Jahan built this as the final resting place for the queen Mumtaz. It is believed that it took nearly 22 years to complete the grandeur palace. There are 22 small domes over the Taj Mahal, denoting the 22 years and the verses of holy Koran are inscribed on the domes. DAYAL BAUGÂ  Dayal Bagh area is located towards the north of Agra city. The place constitutes an extension of the city. The place lies at a distance of about 13 kms from the city center. Although it forms the peripheral regions of the city but the place has a good influence of the city. The place is one of the many tourist destinations in Agra. The place is sacred to the followers of Radha Swami faith. The prime attraction of the region is the memorial of Swamiji Maharaj. The structure is a blend of mosque, temple and gurudwara architecture. Built in white marble the construction of the lofty structure started on 1904 A.D. and is believed never to be ended.

Causes of Childhood Obesity Essay

Causes of Childhood Obesity Childhood Obesity has become a growing problem with children today. Obesity now affects 17% of all children in the United States-triple the rate from just one generation ago (CDC). There are multiple reasons that more and more children are becoming obese. The decrease in physical activity, along with increased amounts of television, computers, and video games is one. Higher calorie and sugar intake is another reason for the rising numbers. Childhood obesity is a major concern for the next generation. If the public is not educated on the dangers of childhood obesity it will continue to increase and endanger the lives and future of the children of the tomorrow. Why is the obesity increasing in today’s youth? More families have both caretakers working outside the house now than in the past years. Which means that children are more likely to get driven to school rather then walk or ride their bikes and after school it either leaves children home by themselves, or at after school programs. One third of children are not getting the recommended levels of moderate or vigorous activity, 10 percent are completely inactive (IOM). Children of today are spending more and more time sitting inside not doing anything physical compared to a few generations ago. They are also taking in too many calories due to the larger portion sizes, and high sugar intake. In the last, few years schools are trying to or already have succeeded in decreasing the amount of recess or play time the children have during the day, along with cutting after school sports and activities (HHS). Only about one-third of elementary children have daily physical education, and less than one-fifth have extracurricular physical activity programs at their school (YRBSS). Forty years ago, kids had playing fields to play on, parks to run around, there was no problem with traffic so they used to go out on the street to play, but that was the past (Fiona MacRae). Today, kids come home because they do not have, or cannot get to a park, or recreation center, and it is not as safe to play outside as it was years ago so there is no physical activity. Without regular daily cardio exercise, studies have shown that children are putting themselves at risk for more heath related problems, which can lead to shorter lifespans. The way children eat today is much different from even one generation ago. Children are taking in more calories, sugars and eating more foods that are less healthy. Since parents are working when children come home after school, there is no one to monitor what or how much they are eating. Families are also not eating as healthy as they were in the past. Children are eating dinners that are microwaved, or come out of a box; they are eating â€Å"Supersized† fast food meals that have little no nutritional values. School lunch programs are also to blame for the rise in the numbers of overweight children. Research has demonstrated that buying lunch at school significantly increases the risk of becoming overweight. The pervasiveness of school a la carte and vending programs that sell foods and beverages that are high in calories and low in nutrients is well-documented. However, the food provided is constrained by budgetary and regulatory issues largely external to public health concerns. US Department of Agriculture guidelines require school food programs to provide minimum quantities of specific nutrients over a 3- to 7-day span but do not address maximum food amounts (Wilkinson). Television is playing a big part on how and what are children are eating. They see commercials for drinks that sound and taste good, but the reality is that are loaded with sugars and High consumption of sugar drinks, which have few, if any, nutrients, has been associated with obesity (Vartanian). Thirty years ago, a bottle of Coke was 10 ounces. Today, a kid can get a 64-ounce Big Gulp and when inflation is taken into account, it is cheaper. â€Å"Economically, we really encourage people to over consume,† Stang says. She compares portion sizes in 1957 and today: hamburger patties have gone from one ounce to six; muffins have gone from 1 1/ 2 ounces to half a pound; and movie popcorn has ballooned from three cups to 16 (Cross). Academically, childhood obesity affects how children preform in school. When compared with children who were never obese, boys and girls whose obesity persisted from the start of kindergarten through fifth grade performed worse on the math test, starting in first grade, and their lower performance continued through fifth grade. For boys whose obesity emerged later (in third or fifth grade), no such differences were found, and for girls who became obese later, poorer math performance was temporary. In addition, for girls who were persistently obese, having fewer social skills explained some part of their poorer math performance. In addition, for both boys and girls who were persistently obese, feeling sadder, lonelier, and more anxious also explained some of their poorer math performance (. Childhood obesity can lead to serious short and long-term health conditions, physical and psychological illness as well as a lower quality of life. Obese children are more likely to have respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, as well as ear nose and throat conditions. As obese children get older, they have a greater chance of becoming obese adults, which leads to heart disease, stroke, and several types of cancer (Deckelbaum). The immediate consequence of being overweight as perceived by children themselves is social discrimination and low self-esteem. In a recent, study by Schwimmer, et. al. 2003), obese children rated their quality of life with scores as low as those of young cancer patients on chemotherapy. In the study, 106 children aged 5 to 18 filled out a questionnaire used by pediatricians to evaluate quality of life issues. Children were asked to rate things like their ability to walk more than one block, play sports, sleep well, get along with others, and keep up in school. The results indicated that that teasing at school, difficulties playing spo rts, fatigue, sleep apnea and other obesity-linked problems severely affected obese children’s well-being.

MERCEDES BENZ Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MERCEDES BENZ - Research Paper Example Mercedes Benz Automobile industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the present world. Mercedes Benz is considered to be one of the leading automobile manufacturing companies around the globe which deals in luxury automobiles, buses, coaches and trucks. The company is owned by the Daimler Group which has made substantial earning amounting to total revenue of 61,660 million Euros in its performance during the year 2012. Mercedes Benz is undoubtedly one of the oldest and most liked automobile brands currently operating across the globe (Scribd Inc., 2013). Theories of Motivation Compare and Contrast The two Theories of Motivation, which can be evidently related to the work environment of Mercedes Benz, are the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and McClelland’s Achievement-Power-Affiliation theory. These two theories are being compared and contrasted in the following discussion. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Abraham Maslow assumed that people are motivated by need s that are not fulfilled. According to Maslow’s theory of needs, if a need is not fulfilled, people feels motivated to meet that need or in other word, individuals strive to perform better to satisfy the unrealized needs. This particular theory also notes that once a need is satisfied, it is not considered to a motivational factor. Figure: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (McLeod, 2013) As identified in the figure above, the physiological needs of the people signify their basic needs for survival in terms of food, water and shelter. It is at this particular stage that people tend to work to earn their living and can be regarded as basic motivators. At the next level, the security needs are postulated as those needs of a person which keeps them free from harm. It basically includes personal security, well being and safety; thus, adding a certain degree of comfort to their economic position. Correspondingly, the belonging needs basically include the desire for love, friendshi p and companion which deciphers the social needs of people. This need is usually accomplished by people when they spend their time with their family or someone whom they are very close with. Hence, in the managerial field, this need essentialises a better work-life balance. Moving towards a higher level, the self-esteem need generally includes an individual’s desire of gaining recognition and respect from other. Praise and acceptance by people in public or in workplace often helps in meeting this need. Last but not the least, the self-actualization need is considered to be the final need of any person. It is a desire to live up to your full potential which is attainable through best performance at work as well as at home (Certo, 2013). McClelland’s Achievement-Power-Affiliation Theory In contrast to the five needs identified by Maslow in his motivational theory, McClelland’s theory of achievement-power-affiliation theory, three basic needs are identified that pe ople develop and acquire from their life experiences often serving as a motivational factor. As propagated in the theory, the person who has a high need for achievement is willing to take challenges to attain those needs. Accordingly, feedback from the superiors is perceived to be an important component that facilitates employees to

Centered Play Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Centered Play Therapy - Essay Example By playing out feelings, it brings them to the surface. The child must face them and learn to recognize and control them. The goal is to help the child realize their own power within in him/her self. They then realize they have the right to be their own person and they have the power to make a decision about how they will behave. In making such decision the child becomes psychologically more mature and capable of selfhood and self control. The realization of selfhood, via ones own map, is the primary goal of child-centered play therapy. When this is established, more directive play allows the child to discover his/her power to make appropriate choices, use self control and problem solve. The Key concept of child-centered play therapy is that the therapist must accept is that the child is a unique person and worthy of respect, children are resilient. They have an inherent tendency toward growth and maturity and they are capable of positive self-direction. The therapist must develop a warn and comfortable relationship with the child. It is important to establish this rapport as early as possible in the therapeutic process. Part of this rapport is that the therapist accepts the child exactly as he/she is. The therapist must establish a feeling of permissiveness in the relationship to allow the child to express his/her own feelings. It is also important that the therapist stay alert to recognizing the feeling the child is expressing in the plan and they the therapist reflects those feelings back to the child to enable the child to grain insight into their own behavior. The therapist must not attempt to direct the child’s play or conversation in anyway. The child is the leader and the therapist follows. There should be not attempt on the therapist’s part to hurry the therapy along. This is a gradual process and the therapist must respect that. The only

BP petroleum company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

BP petroleum company - Case Study Example ude corporate branding and position, ethics and social responsibility, engagement of stakeholders, corporate affairs, strategic thrust and sustainability (Achenbach, 107). The main strength that the company had was that of changing the name from British Petroleum to BP and then tried to rebrand the name to Beyond Petroleum. The rebranding was a signal to stakeholders that it was focused on sustainability and the need to move beyond nonrenewable sources (Andrews, 89). The rebranding that was given to the petroleum company made it focus on sustainability and the need to move beyond nonrenewable energy sources. The company also presented itself as being committed to invest in renewable energy. This has gained a great deal of popularity among consumers and other members of society concerned about the future of the planet. There are problems that the company has faced in its history such as bankrupting the founder due to lack of well implemented strategies that the company had. BP has also experienced controversies regarding business practices hazard to workers, damages of the environment and greenhouses gases (Andrews, 108). These factors made the company to have an image that was not good to the consumers. BP Petroleum Company tried to position its products that support the sustainability and other social responsibility and the concern of other social responsibility. The claim that they have made is that of maintaining a product that is authentic and trustworthy (Benoit, 35). This has been put to improve the image of the company to attract more consumers. There have been many threats that the company has experienced such as explosion that occurred in Texas injuring many people which made it guilty for violating the safety of citizens. The threat has also continues as there are other accidents that the company has involved in with the main outcome being pollution of the environment (Gurney and Company, 78). The company has also been charged with violating Clean

The Integrated Arts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Integrated Arts - Essay Example Collections are often secretive, sometimes fetishistic, and can consist of the mundane and disposable, fragments of nature or urban waste (Meecham and Sheldon, 2000, p. 190-192). Art through the eyes of an artist represents the different moods, features, and aesthetics of the contemporary world. The same cannot be said of the spectator, who like many before and after him, see art as a piece of sexuality and provocation. Any discussion on art brings one noting the Greeks. The Greeks during the high classical age (470-430 BC), created standing sculptures of human figures, carved out of limestone and marbles, adapting seventh century Egyptian models. These sculptures were stiff, rigid, decorative, subordinate elements of tombs and temples rather than true sculpture. The range of depictions on heroic nude male (often in athletic contests) and draped female figures were prominent1. Each figure of the period reflected the artistic marvel and importance to this form of art. The sculptures were true living representations of the lifestyle and culture enjoyed by the prominent people of that age. In continuation on the subject of art and artists, this paper focuses on two distinct artists and their way of presenting contemporary world to their audience. First, the paper looks at the works of Fred Wilson and Conceptual Art, and then it's the turn of Judy Chicago and Feminist Art. Fred Wilson is a2.0 Fred Wilson and the Conceptual Art Fred Wilson is a conceptual artist; he doesn't paint, sculpt ortake photographs as he used to, but works with museums, culling through their collections and selecting objects to make his point. He arranges these exhibits against the backdrop of selective wall colors, display cases, lighting and wall labels to communicate with his audience. At an exhibit for the Maryland Historical Society, he juxtaposed fine silver service with slave shackles, and four period chairs lined up to observe a whipping post. He was more than convincing in conveying the message of white oppression over the black; the refined products of white society such as the silver service and chairs against slave shackles and whipping post. Wilson uses the objects to great effect, and this particular exhibit strongly reflected the white society's oppression of the black community. Most of his exhibitions harbor on racism. As a conceptual artist, Wilson takes pain to gather as much relevant material as possible from dif ferent places, and then using his artistic excellence, recreates images that has a longstanding impression on the viewer. In the 'Colonial Collection,' Wilson mocks a museum display, using a row of street-bought African masks with their eyes covered with pieces of the British flag. In a display case in front of the masks are insects and lithographs showing the British infantry fighting native Africans. Wilson has been quite critical of museums and the way they projected artifacts. In many cases, museums have kept materials of historical relevance from public viewing or importance. In 'Old Salem: A Family of Strangers,' 20 or so color photographs of cloth dolls made by blacks during the 19th and 20th centuries were left undisclosed from public viewing from the collection of a southern museum. Wilson has left no stone unturned to

Analysis of Mortgage Crisis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Mortgage Crisis - Research Paper Example The roots of the current US subprime lending crisis can be traced back to the spiraling housing prices in the first half of this decade. Extremely low lending and borrowing rates increased the demand and supply of existing and new houses. Several institutions started offering subprime mortgages, to borrowers who had an unfavorable credit history, at lower than normal repayment interest levels with little or no down payments. Many investment banks and hedge fund owners began to bet on this new aspect of the US economy. This had allowed investors to avail themselves of loans at low interest rates and invest them in higher yielding avenues. But soon with the US Central Bank (Federal Reserve) initiating a series of interest rate hikes leading to the increase of cost of borrowing to 5.25%, which is the maximum since the last half a decade, and a simultaneous decrease in housing prices, the subprime mortgages were reset at high rates leaving the borrowers to foreclose their accounts and mi ss payments. As an outcome, financial institutions and banks with mortgage securities incurred huge losses and had to trade their assets leading to the subprime lending crisis. Â   Prime debtors are the ones who are considered creditworthy. Subprime debtors are the ones with impaired or no credit history. Subprime lending can be defined simply as lending that involves higher credit risk. While prime loans are typically made to borrowers who have a strong credit history and can demonstrate a capacity to repay their loans, subprime loans are typically made to borrowers who are perceived as deficient on either or both of these grounds. Since this involves the risk of non-payment by the client, it is usually offered at a higher interest rate. The subprime mortgage financial crisis refers to the sharp rise in foreclosures in the subprime mortgage market that started in the US in 2006 and became a global financial crisis in July 2007. The subprime lending storm did not break out overnight. The clouds had been gathering strength for the past few years. Low-interest rates and ample liquidity led to unbridled credit expansion, asset growth and an increase in demand for collateralized debt.

Abelard Meets Heloise-Dante and the Three Kingdoms Essay

Abelard Meets Heloise-Dante and the Three Kingdoms - Essay Example This particular piece depicts purgatory, hell, paradise on earth (the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived) and the earthly spheres. Michelino took the name of his teacher and used it as his own Leighton was the son of an artist by the name of Charles Blair Leighton. Edmund was born in London and was known in his adult years for his extremely skillful craftsmanship. He central medium of use was paint and he mainly focused on works depicting regency and medieval subjects. His particular piece known as Abelard and His Pupil, Heloisa depicts a taboo encounter between an instructor and his pupil. The painting shows a beautiful Heloisa leaning slightly into the left side of her seated master Abelard. The body language is the indicator of the manner of their relationship. This particular love story is said to be the saddest love story to ever be told. Raffa, Guy P. â€Å"Dante World: A Reader’s Guide to the Inferno† Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2007. This particular work is specific more to understanding the almost otherworldliness which Dante’s writings contained. This writing was then translated into numerous forms of medium and are still assimilated with religion today. Understanding the premise for Dante’s views allows the observer to discern more detail and meaning in the recreation of Dante’s world done by Michelino. Snell, Melissa. â€Å"Peter Abelard: Article from the 1911 Encyclopedia† The New York Times, 2008. This particular article provides details as to who Abelard was. It describes him as a scholar of Philosophy who eventually fell in love with his pupil, Heloise. By understanding this love affair and who these individuals were, one can better grasp and appreciate the artistic rendering of them by

Carl Eugene Watts aka The Sunday Morning Slasher Speech or Presentation

Carl Eugene Watts aka The Sunday Morning Slasher - Speech or Presentation Example Therefore, learning about serial killers is a significant aspect of legal practitioners in order to separate the myths from the truths. In this case, it is important for legal practitioners to learn about different serial killers in American history. Based on the foregoing, this expose elucidates  on the life and times of  one of the  most prolific serial killers in  America known  as Carl Eugene Watts, nicknamed as â€Å"The Sunday Morning Slasher.† According to Walter and White (2008), Carl Eugene Watts  was born  on 11 July 1953 to Richard, a private in the army, and Dorothy Mae, a kindergarten teacher, in Killeen, Texas. However, the parents separated when Carl was less than two years old leaving him at the care of his mother. Consequently, her mother moved to Inkster, Michigan where she married a mechanic called Norman Caesar, with whom she bore two daughters. However, Bell (n.d.) noted that Carl did not like his stepfather and consequently had problems adju sting to this new lifestyle, which arose from the fear of losing his mother. During his child, Carl developed a fantasy to torture and kill girls and young women. Indeed, he attacked a young woman aged 26 years while at the age of 15 years as he delivered newspapers (Bell, n.d.). Consequently, Carl underwent a psychiatrist evaluation whereby he talked of his strange dream. However, Hewitt, Stewart, and Cosgriff (2002) reported that Carl responded that the strange dreams and fantasies he experienced were not disturbing him and he derived satisfaction once he had these dreams and fantasies (as cited in Bell, n.d.). At school, Carl had difficulties in learning, although he excelled in baseball, due to an incident of meningitis he suffered at the age of 8 years old. Indeed, at the age of 16 years, Carl was at third grade level of reading. However, his mother guided him and tutored him whereby he  graduated from high school at the age of  19 years. Although Carl recorded poor grades in school, he excelled in sports, which was a way of releasing his aggressive behavior. Eventually, Lane College, in Jacksonville, awarded him a football scholarship although he left school after several months in school once he suffered minor leg injuries (Bell, n.d.). As earlier explained, Carl’s first encounter with the law was at the age of 15 years when he assaulted a 26 year old named Joan Gave. Consequently, Carl underwent trial and his subsequent sentencing was to a mental facility in Detroit called Lafayette Clinic where he underwent a psychiatrist examination. During the examination, the results indicated that Carl suffered from a mild form of mental retardation with an IQ of 75 (Walter & White, 2008). However, a police officer, who interviewed Carl after arrest, indicated that Carl had an â€Å"excellent memory† and appeared to be â€Å"very intelligent† (Leung, 2004). Carl’s career as a serial killer started in 1974 at the age of 20 years wher eby he kidnapped potential victims from the comfort and safety of their homes, tortured them, and finally killed these victims (Walter & White, 2008). According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (n.d.), a serial killing is â€Å"a series  of three or more killings, not less than  one of which  was committed  within the United  States, having common characteristics such as to suggest

Psychology article summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psychology article summary - Essay Example This is an important source of physiological stress for them because of the risk for dehydration. So the two experiments here rely on the toads sensitivity for detecting the composition of fluids around him and the stress it feels when conditions arent suitable for it- which leads to changes in both his heart rate and in its attempts to avoid these conditions and run away. Researchers therefore used an amount of sodium chloride which neither caused the toads to gain weight or loss weight, to create a "neutral" situation and then test their responses. A pilot experiment showed an increase in the heart rate of toads, which is important to set off their attempts to flee the environment. It used two solutions, one was good for the toads and the other wasnt. This technique was also good to evaluate the functional significance of conditioning (like in Pavlovs experiment with the dogs) in the context of water balance. During the experiment, researchers put the toads in Plexiglas cages, added water, changed the chemical composition of the water and lastly drained the tank. Toads were either put with another toad in the tank or placed there alone. There were mostly insignificant differences between the groups, but one significant find was that the toads placed with another toad in a tank learned to expect the reinforcement better. The toads showed learning abilities, as they anticipated the changes in water composition after it was done to them several times. Their anticipation could be witnessed by their increased heart rate. They managed to avoid losing weight almost as well as the toads never exposed to the different solution in the water. This experiment added another feature- an added compartment in the Plexiglas tank in which there was no altered solution. The toads could escape there to avoid being in contact with the solution. The results showed that all toads showed a consistent weight loss and did learn to avoid being in

Social Implications of Business Ethics Essay Example for Free

Social Implications of Business Ethics Essay In this task I will be looking at various business practices in any area of activity and explain how those actions have an effect on society as a whole, the areas of activity I will be discussing in this report are: Ethics in finance, e.g. bribery Ethics in human resource management e.g. discrimination Ethics in production, e.g. animal testing Ethics in sales and marketing, e.g. spamming Ethics in intellectual property, e.g. software privacy I will also be investigating how my chosen business Timberland considers these issues and addresses them. The Timberland company was set up in 1955 by the Swartz family. Originally a shoe store based in Abington, Massachusetts the small family business has grown into one of the most easily recognisable brands of modern times. Since its inception in 1955, be it either under the Abington shoe company brand name or under the Timberland company brand name, one thing has remained the same, its business Code of Ethics Charter. Timberland Code of Ethics Charter Timberland has a site dedicated to their beliefs of ethics and explains what is expected of their employees and what consumers should expect from Timberland as a business regarding ethics. Their mission statement reads, We believe the honest and ethical conduct of our employees is an essential prerequisite to our success as a company. There is a direct relationship between the code of conduct of the company and the employees, and the attainment of our corporate missions and goals. Maintaining the highest standard of ethical behaviour is consistent with our core values of Humanity, Humility, Integrity and Excellence. Area of Activity: Ethics in Finance In regards to ethics, when most people think of ethics they think of various scandals and illegal trading which appears to be ever present in the news such as insider trading, bribery, lobbying and executive pay. Some of the more recent unethical actions which have happened are the MPs expenses scandal which occurred in mid 2009 and the banking crisis which started in late 2008. This is a concern for ethics as individuals want to know who they are doing business with and if they can trust them, for example If a business is accused of being unethical because they bribed a member of parliament in order to gain an unfair advantage over competitors so they could evade paying a certain amount of tax or VAT then not only are they giving themselves a bad name but they are also ruining the reputation of their business associates and partners who may decide they no longer wish to provide their service to that business in order to save their own credibility. NEED TO WRITE AN INTRODUCTION EXPLAINING WHY THIS AREA IS A CONCERN FOR ETHICS.CHECK YOUR NOTES! There are several key areas where ethics can be questioned in terms of finance and these include: * Insider trading is the illegal trading, buying or selling of corporate stock based on information received which has not been made public and is supposed to remain confidential; insider trading is a common law broken by employees. The Timberland Company set up its Code of Ethics Charter to provide assurance to its customers but also to provide guidelines to employees so that they can clearly understand what is expected of them from the business. The Timberland Code of Ethics Charter clearly states that the securities laws set up within the business strictly prohibits insider trading and tells employees what to do if they are in doubt as to what information can be shared and what to do if they are in any doubt as to what information can be shared and what information must remain private. Employees and directors may not trade in or even recommend company stock whilst in possession of any information. Timberlands insider trading policy applies to all employees and directors. * Bribery is a form of corruption in which an individual or business may offer a payment or gift to a person in a position of trust in order to gain an unfair advantage over other competitors. On the 20th of July 2010 the UK ministry of Justice announced that a new, modern and comprehensive bribery act will be brought into force in April 2011. The new act replaces the existing legislation known as the Prevention of Corruptions Act of 1889 1916. The Timberland Companys general principles, Code of Ethics Charter and compliance guidelines state their policy on bribery is that they are not permitted in any circumstances and that they believe a bribe can be anything from a simple gift or an undercover payment. Their general principles also state that any individuals suspected of accepting or being involved in bribery in anyway will be held accountable in a court of law and will be dealt with by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. BRIBERY NEED TO DISCUSS * Executive pay is the financial compensation paid to an executive official within an organisation, most executives would receive their basic salary along with added incentives such as share options, annual bonuses, salary rises and pension schemes. Many employees in a business may feel disheartened by the gulf in salary between them and their chief executive, especially in the middle of a recession as the public are being made more and more aware of the bonuses many executives are receiving whilst other employees are being made redundant. Many people regard this to be unethical as it is taking money away from a bunch of employees and putting it into the pocket of one executive who may not even work as hard as the individuals who may be regarded as below them in the hierarchal structure of the business. Recent news reports suggest that the new chief executive of the bank Barclays Bob Diamond is in line to receive a bonus of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½8million despite only being in the job for just 9 days, the story so far has caused outrage amongst Barclays employees who feel the money should be given to existing employees or pumped back into the economy. The Timberland Company dont currently have any publicly viewable policies or corporate guidelines regarding executive pay. EXECUTIVE PAY NEED TO DISCUSS * Lobbying is a form of corruption when a business will use personal contacts, peer pressure, public pressure or political action in order to persuade a politician to make a decision which will benefit the business. Currently lobbying is not illegal which means it is easy for big multi national organisations to get away with changing legislation to benefit them but affected their competitors if they have the right connections to the right people in power. The Timberland Companys policy on lobbying is that no director, executive, officer or manager has the authority to breach or violate any government law in any country that Timberland operates in, nor may they engage in any activity that involves benefiting one individual party whilst others dont have the opportunity to. LOBBYING NEED TO DISCUSS Area of Activity: Ethics in Human Resource Management Human resource management is the management of the workforce of a business to ensure sufficient staff levels with the right skills that are properly motivated and equally rewarded. The human resource department is one of the key elements in Timberlands organisational structure, without it the business would be an inefficient, unproductive business which manufactured sub standard products. The human resource department in the Timberland Company is responsible for overseeing a variety of issues such as contract of employment violations and employee problems and queries. The human resource department of Timberland recently put into place the Fair and Equal Treatment Policy. The policy was designed to promote fairness in the workplace. The code clearly states that no factory employee be disciplined through corporal punishment, harassed, abused or run the risk of employee retribution on the basis of expressing grievances predicted on the violations of basic human rights. To promote equality, Timberlands code prohibits status discrimination based upon race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion or for any other reason. When a candidate is applying for a job and is invited for an interview it is important that Timberland act ethically and treat every individual candidate fairly and equally, they must not discriminate against any candidate in any way, shape or form regarding their age, race, colour, ethnicity, sex, religion or political views. In order to remain as ethical as possible Timberland should look to tweak their recruitment process so that they can ensure no individual candidates will feel targeted throughout the recruitment process and that all the personal information gathered from the candidates remains as confidential as possible. Many employers give applicants various tick boxes to fill in on their application forms, the only answer which appears on every question that candidates can tick is the answer would rather not to say. This cuts down on discrimination as employers can not make pre judgements on any candidates based on the information received in their application which may help the candidate to be successful at their attempt to get the job. To date Timberland has yet to be accused of discrimination, this is due to the high levels of transparency within the business an Timberlands attempts to broaden consumers awareness of what Timberland is trying to achieve as a business and what it is planning corporately. One of the most growing concerns amongst employees is workplace surveillance through CCTV footage, internet activity and email monitoring. Many businesses now offer their own dedicated email service which allows employees to communicate with one another through email rather than passing memos to one another. Although this may seem like the business is offering something positive to the employees, many believe there is a hidden agenda behind it. The administrators who monitor the email service can also go through the individual emails of every employee registered to the service and can view every email without the employee even knowing. Many people argue that this is an invasion of privacy and that employers shouldnt be allowed to pay attention to every aspect of the employees working life however employers argue that it is up to the employee if they wish to work in that environment and it is not a requirement for the employee to sign up for the email service and should not use the email service for personal use. Some businesses tend to overstep the boundaries and may do things which may not seem ethically correct such as firing employees for matters that did not happen during working hours or do not affect the business. An example of this is when 16 year old Kimberly Swann was dismissed from her post at Ivell Marketing Logistics after three weeks of employment for describing her office job as boring on the social networking site Facebook. Steve Ivell of Ivell Marketing Logistics said the decision was made to dismiss Kimberly because she had shown disrespect to her employer and her dissatisfaction undermined her relationship with the business which made it untenable. Many people agreed with Kimberly Swanns response to the statement made by her former employer that she shouldnt be persecuted for a throw away comment made after a tiring day at the office for a 16 year old. Ms. Swann believes that what her former employer did was unethical and she shouldnt have been dismissed for something which happened out of work hours and was written on her personal page whilst in her own time on her personal computer. You also need to discuss the ethical concerns that some have in regards to recruitment. What must Timberland ensure they do to ensure fairness in recruitment (use you unit 13 notes, e.g. same interviews questions, balanced interview panel, etc.) Has Timberland been accused of discrimination in recruitment? If not, include a business which has! You also need to discuss the concerns some have about the increasing level of workplace surveillance why are people concerned? Use the Facebook example we discussed in class! Area of Activity: Ethics in Production The production process involves transferring a range of inputs into the outputs desired by the target market. The production process requires two main resources; the transforming resources and the transformed resources. Transforming resources include the building where the product is manufactured, machinery, computers and employees. The transformed resources are the raw materials which compose the end product. To make sure that their production process is ethical a business must look at a range of issues such as: * Genetically modified food Many food producing companies in the US have come under heavy criticism for modifying their products without informing customers. One of the more recent cases was Monsanto An agricultural company which helps farmers develop new technology and produce better quality crop was charged by the California Northern District Court with for producing low quality crop which was to be distributed to countries which forbid the growing of genetically modified crops. Although no charges were ever made against the company, it was a wake up call to other businesses that their practices are being closely monitored and scrutinised. However they argue that in order to protect the food from insects, parasites, weed and unfriendly bacteria it must be genetically modified so that they arent attracted to it in anyway. By keeping the insects away there will be more crop which means more money for the farmers however many people believe this is an unethical tactic used by farmers to get as much money as possible and that the GM food could contain harmful viruses or diseases. you need to tell me what it is and why some believe it is unethical * Product testing on animals Many people believes this to be the biggest argument regarding ethics believing that it is wrong for businesses to use defenceless animals who do not share the same genes and DNA as humans to test their products on. A counter argument to this statement is that in order for scientists to find cures to medical diseases there must be some way for them to be able to test the products without using illegal methods such as trialling them on humans. One of the strongest and most controversial arguments raised from this topic is that why do people believe it to be wrong to test cosmetic products on animals but not medical products which could potentially hurt or even kill them. Timberland have issued numerous press releases stating that they in no way support animal testing nor do they practice it themselves and that 80% of raw materials they use for their products is recycled with plans to use recycled materials 100% on all of their products by 2014. you need to explain what it means, why some are against it and why some people do not mind. * Planned Obsolescence Planned Obsolescence is when a business deliberately design a product which can be sold to the public with a few flaws and can be improved in an upgraded model which will be sold again to the public at a later stage. An example of this is Apples iphone. The first iphone was released on the 29th of June 2007. The original model could ring, send and receive text messages, send and receive email messages, browse the internet with a wifi connection and users could download custom applications. One of the flaws of the original model was the camera didnt have a flash and the internet wasnt fast enough when users didnt have access to a wifi connection. The iphone 3g was then released a year later to succeed the original iphone, the difference between the two models was that now users could access the internet almost anywhere thanks to the 3g connectivity but the camera still lacked flash, optical zoom, auto focus and didnt support video recording. Apple have released a new and improved model of the iphone annually since the launch of their first iphone and released the iphone 4 on the 24th of June 2010. The fourth instalment of the apple iphone was now fully equipped to do everything users could ask for ranging from the internet issues to a new and improved 5 mega pixel camera which supported HD video recording, had digital zoom and had an LED flash. you need to explain what it means with an example, why some are against it and why some people do not mind. * Environmental ethics some questions are raised about how ethical products are produced in terms of the environment. The Timberland Company take this seriously and have introduced the Green index in 2007, a unique calculating tool which can measure the impact manufacturing their boots has on the environment and allows customers to see the carbon footprint Timberland creates. In 2008 Timberland expanded the Green Index programme to include the carbon footprint created from the entire range of Timberland products. Area of Activity: Ethics in Sales and Marketing Businesses such as Timberland manufacture a variety of products and are constantly updating them in order to keep the attention of their audience and maintain its market share. Sometimes a business may decide to use unethical methods to help boost sales and raise the company profile. Some of the unethical techniques a business may use include slandering other businesses or even providing false information when promoting and selling products. In 2001 the supermarket Tesco was charged by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for misleading its customers. Tesco mislead its customers on price comparisons, comparing the prices of rival business Sainsburys with its own prices however the prices shown for Tesco products were all on a discounted promotion at the time but were not at Sainsburys. However, the main types of unethical activities in terms of sales and marketing are: * Product Placement Sometimes a business may decide to place their product in a television programme or in a movie, this is known as subliminal advertising . It is the easiest way for businesses to expose their products to customers without their knowledge. However it can be expensive, some producers may charge the business more than à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1million for their product to be in front of the camera for just a few seconds or even mentioned as part of the dialogue in a script for just one sentence in the entire film. Some consumers believe this to be unethical as people who pay money to go to the cinema do not wish to view a hidden advertisement during their film and have no choice but to sit and watch throughout the entire film. People who watch television at home may not like watching adverts and would rather flick through different channels whilst waiting for their original programme to come back on than sit and watch four minutes of advertising. Whilst agreeing the terms and conditions for TV licensing one of the key points the BBC agreed to was to no advertising and no product placement so rather than advertising products at the end of a programme, the BBC will just advertise its own upcoming programmes and its programmes rather than referring to or showing the brand name of a product such as mobile phone, they will just show the phone itself with the brand name hidden. Timberland have used product placement in various television programmes and films such as in the heist film TAKERS. All of the actors involved in robbing from the bank never mentioned any brands of the clothes they were wearing but were constantly referring to their Timberland boots and how they were the best for the job. The Timberland Company have confirmed that they did agree to the actors mentioning their product but did not ask them to continually mention them to get the viewers attention. People may still view this as unethical as although it was the film producers who approached Timberland, they still had the option of rejecting the offer. GOOD CRITIQUE! * Greenwashing Green washing can be defined as the act of misleading consumers or being untruthful about the environmental practices of a company, or the environmental benefits of a product or service. A business may choose to use this technique in order to attract more customers and appeal to a wider market. The Timberland Company have a full website dedicated to explaining its views on ethics and have set out four pillars which are updated annually and analysed regularly to ensure all targets are met. If any of these were found to be incorrect, this would be an example of green-washing. * Spamming in business this is where a company may often send various newsletters and promotional emails to somebody who has never signed up to the newsletters and often do not wish to receive the newsletters and updates because of the volume of emails being received. Businesses that do use this method often use a false email address which can not be replied to or blocked. Many businesses say they only use this method to gain the attention of potential customers and promote their products and services. Many people believe this is unethical as the recipient of the spam email has not agreed to receive the junk email and have no alternative but to ignore and delete all emails which they suspect to be junk or spam that clog up their email account. Spam emails are regarded as a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 as the only way a business can obtain the email addresses of customers is through purchasing them from other businesses with the consumers consent. Area of Activity: Ethics in intellectual property Intellectual property law gives people the rights to their own creations such as ideas, concepts, videos or music sounds. The most common way people protect their intellectual property is through copyrights, patents and trademarks. Ethical issues which arise from intellectual property are: * Counterfeiting A counterfeit is a forged copy of a product or brand name with the intent to deceiving people. The counterfeiter copies the original idea of a product or service and alters it slightly to either pass it off as their own or to deceive people into believing it is genuine. Tesco have been accused on numerous occasions of selling counterfeit versions of products from top designers such as Tommy Hilfiger and have faced numerous court cases and legal action. * Piracy Piracy is the unauthorised copying and distributing of a product. Reproducing a product without the consent of its original creator is illegal and can lead to a large fine and a jail sentence. An example of piracy sharing is online peer to peer programs such as Limewire. For years Limewire was used by millions of people to share illegal products with one another rather than obtaining them legally which caused many people to lose money such as musicians, film producers, computer programmers. Eventually enough evidence was put together to charge the creators of Limewire who were subsequently fined, jailed and had their peer to peer sharing software shut down permanently. Piracy is a growing concern and is becoming a losing battle for prosecutors as many websites which stream illegally sourced movies and songs are being shut down and are back live again under a similar name on a new server within an hour. Implications If a business chooses to ignore the ethical concerns of its customers then they are giving themselves a negative image and gain negative publicity and bad press which will cause them to lose money and drive away customers. Every business must make sure it listens to and takes into consideration the different corporate and environmental implications in order to ensure their popularity is maintained and attract more customers. Corporate implications are to do with the day to day running of a business looking at the corporate social responsibility policies, employee hiring and firing, consumer protection and managing suppliers. The Timberland Company have a clear Code of Ethics Charter which is available to all employees, investors, potential customers, potential investors and general members of the public. Their charter was set up to show employees and partners and future partners what Timberland is trying to achieve ethically as a business. Environmental implications are ethical issues which affect the environment such as pollution, recycling, using renewable sources and water conservation. Timberland have become very environmentally ethical since 2006 and have created a whole new line of products created solely from recycled products using renewable energy. Timberland also has a website detailing their four pillars which they have built their organisational structure around, the four pillars are : Energy : Becoming carbon neutral Products : Design products for recyclability Workplaces : Fair, safe and non-discriminatory workplaces Service : Community greening Conclusion In conclusion I believe that in order for a business to be truly ethical it must take into consideration all environmental and corporate implications and analyse their business practices before truly declaring themselves as an ethical business. Bibliography http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=105954p=irol-govConduct http://www.rightrespect.com/2010/07/29/right-respect-best-practices-timberland/ http://finance.mapsofworld.com/business/ethics.html http://www.timberlandonline.co.uk/csr/csr,default,pg.html http://www.timberlandonline.co.uk/green-index/environ_green_index,default,pg.html http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theoryproduction-process254.php http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DQA/is_2001_Dec_20/ai_81515662/ http://newscdn.bbc.net.uk/1/hi/business/102177.stm http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/software_piracy.html http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/bribery-bill.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7914415.stm

An Analysis Of The Perestroika Movement In Russia Politics Essay

An Analysis Of The Perestroika Movement In Russia Politics Essay As postulated by Tarasulo (73), Perestroika refers to the great political movement in Russia within the communist party of Soviet Union. The key player in the perestroika was the soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Basically, the essence of the perestroika was to restructure the soviet economic and political system. The concept of perestroika is greatly acknowledged for the end of the cold war as well as the fall of socialism in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union. The significance of perestroika in historical and present politics of Russia is explicit. Initiation and progress of perestroika le to establish of more independent actions by various ministries as well as dismantling of soviet-era planned economy. The replacement of soviet era planned economy by the market economy was a vital development in Russia. Despite the various economic and social tensions brought about by the restructuring process, the entire phenomenon led to increased nationalism among the constituent republics alongsi de social fragmentation. This paper will profoundly discuss and analyze the concept of perestroika and its significance to Russia and the globe in general (Kushner 123). Mikhail Gorbachev had all along had a deep compassion of bringing change to Russian political and economic systems. This quest for change and reforms is very evident at his entrance into the corridors of power in the year 1985. At this time, Mikhail Gorbachev took the office of general secretary of the communist party of the Soviet Union. Despite the opposition given to his reform agenda by well established members of the party, Mikhail didnt give heart. The most significant move initiated by Mikhail was the introduction of democratization, which entailed the introduction of multi-candidate elections in the communist party. Based on this regard, Mikhail was very optimistic that progressive and dynamic personnel will take the vital positions in the party and government. His main focus was to ensure that, the right people enter into power and carryout his institutional and policy reforms (Cohen 54). At the initial stages, the reforms being postulated by Gorbachev received mixed reactions. Fro instance, conservatives had a strong criticism for the reform agenda being advocated for by Gorbachev. Despite this opposition, overwhelming support was also thrown to the process by the liberals who were very optimistic about the newly anticipated changes. The issue of multiparty system also took course without prior anticipation thus reinforcing Gorbachev ideas of bringing change in Russia. The CPSUs conference held in 1988 under the leadership of Gorbachev was an important development and progress in the realization of reforms. At this time, a radical reform was initiated by Gorbachev and his supporters which were aimed at reducing party control of government apparatus. The issue of multi-candidate for regional and local legislatures was also warmly welcomed (Mlynar 93). Advantages of the Perestroika The political and economic restructuring established in Russia under the leadership of Gorbachev had a lot of benefits to the nation, its people and the global community. To begin with, the concept of democratization which entailed multi-candidate had a lot of influence in the mode of governance in Russia. By adoption of multi-candidate in the regional and local legislatures, competent and focused personnel were given an opportunity to lead the people. This was a magnificent development and achievement to the people since a sense of democracy was established. Based on the concept of multi-candidate, a better watch and management of the national resources and national affairs was made more efficient (Cohen 54). Another key achievement established by perestroika involved the concept of reducing party control over government apparatus. It is sad to note that; the communist party had all the powers and authority of all government apparatus there being able to manipulate government operations. The party officials and the different legislators had enormous influence over government apparatus thus leading to enhancing of their own interests. As stated by Kushner (123), the concept of separating the party from the government was a brilliant idea and led to more transparency and responsibility in the execution of national policies. The relationships of Russia and the global community was also enhanced through the adoption of the new changes. It has been noted that, a lot of misconducts were being performed as a result of the previous system of governance (Kushner 123). The establishment of the congress of peoples deputies in December 1988 was also a key development in the government restructuring process. The new amendments led to establishment of a smaller soviet unions legislative body which consisted of 542 members. From this situation, all public organizations were accommodated in the new system. With this regard, it is evident that, perestroika was very beneficial in fostering political development. The issue of poor decision making and dictatorship evident in the Soviet Union and the communist party were abolished through adoption of these changes. Significantly, democracy and human freedom was adequately established through the restructuring process initiated by Gorbachev. An overwhelming support of the new systems of election was witnessed in the 1989 when the people expressed their democratic right to choose members for national legislative body. This was the beginning of democracy and human freedom as people were given the powers and freedom to choose their favorite candidates. Importantly, it was noted that the results of the election stunned the ruling elite. The glory and victory of a new era of governance ran throughout the country. The earlier lot of communist candidates who had been enjoying the privileges of unopposed candidature was astonished by the results of the election (Herrera 123). With regard to economic system, the perestroika had a lot of significance in overcoming the economic stagnation. This was achieved through a more efficient method of creating dependable and effective mechanism for accelerating economic and social development. The principles and core values of Gorbachev was to establish utmost respect to humanity as well as a considerable personal dignity. Based on these principles, the essence of economic crimes and corruption in the government was highly criticized and abolished. As a result fairness in distribution and allocation of national resources was enhanced. The previous scenario of excessive party influence to government apparatus was done away with. It had been made clear that, the communist party had been managing the government as its own affair; hence leading to excessive exploitation of national resources (Mlynar 93). Additionally, the abolishment of the soviet era planned economy and replacement by the market economy was a key achievement of perestroika. The soviet era planned economy had a lot of negative impacts on the economy of Russia thus leading to a very pathetic situation. Gorbachev advocated for a fast-paced technological modernization which was aimed at increasing the economic status. Industrial and agricultural productivity was also accelerated thus ensuring a favorable economic environment. A key strategy adopted by Gorbachev in fostering economic reforms was the improvement of the soviet bureaucracy so as to ensure efficiency and prosperity. A point worth of consideration is that, the economic restructuring was made possible through the reforming of the social and political structures (Kushner 123). One of the most celebrated strategies influencing the success of the economic reforms was on the concept of anti-alcohol campaign. The issue of alcoholism had grown to alarming levels thus calling for the need of change. To affect this policy, the prices of Vodka, beer and wine were raised as well restriction of their sales. The anti-alcohol campaign was very vigorous and significantly led to the decline in alcohol sales. The concept of alcoholism abolishment led to magnificent developments in the economy. Specifically people were more involved in productive activities thus leading to improvement in the economy. The concept of anti-alcohol campaign was warmly received and led to magnificent developments in the social and economic spectrums (Herrera 123). Perestroika led to significant developments in the economy and distribution of national resources. Basically, the vague and inefficient economic policies established by the communist party had a lot of negative impacts to the economy. In relation to this phenomenon, the soviet-era planned economy led to stagnation of economic developments. It is also sad to note that, the levels of poverty in the country were also high alongside very pathetic business environment. With the new political, social and economic reforms, the business environment was made more favorable. It is noted that, increased government support for the business processes was enhanced as well as the stipulation of better policies to counter the effects of uncontrolled business operations (Gorbachev 89). Another key achievement brought forward by the perestroika on the aspect of management of state enterprises. This was a great development which ensured that state enterprises operated freely so as to determine their out put as well as determining the expectation of the consumers. By so doing, the previous inefficiencies which accrued due to governments influence on the management of state corporations was countered. The dictatorship of government on the operations of the state enterprises led to numerous problems and losses to the enterprises. The concept of accountability and transparency in the management of state enterprises was established. This phenomenon led to increased profitability and improvement in quality of services and products offered by these enterprises. Additionally, the restructuring of the management of the state corporations led to recruitment of more competent and expertise personnel thus leading to efficiencies in the whole process. In addition, the issues of f raud and corruption in state enterprises was significantly reduced (Tarasulo 62). The benefits of perestroika were also felt in the global spectrum; whereby Gorbachev was very conscious in establishing and enhancing foreign affairs. Trade and relations with the west were enhanced alongside reduction in the tensions of the cold war. The contributions of perestroika in building global relationships are remarkable. In this case, the new political, social and economic structures led to more interactions of the soviets and western leaders. For instance, the relationship of Russia with Germany was improved thus making the two states to improve their business relations. British prime minister Margaret Thatcher is quoted saying that, she like Mr. Gorbachev and they can smoothly do business together (Herrera 123). It is important to note that; perestroika had a great advantage on boosting the relationship of Russia and other nations. The issue of nuclear weapons in the global scene was very sensitive and required swift actions. It is evident that, Gorbachev leadership led to increased negotiations and consultations in the international scene thus facilitating understanding among the warring countries. This is a big achievement of Gorbachev leadership and is acknowledged for his role in enhancing global peace and reduction of the tensions of the cold war. From these insights, perestroika stands to be acknowledged for its numerous benefits to the Soviet Union as well as the global community. Basically, the improvement in economy, social setup and the political systems are the key advantages of the perestroika (Gorbachev 89). Disadvantages of perestroika Alongside the numerous advantages and benefits of perestroika to the social, political, and economic systems, the phenomenon has also been criticized for different catastrophes. To begin with, there has been overwhelming criticism on perestroika regarding the turmoil which impacted on the economy. Basically, the anti-alcohol campaign impacted negatively on the economy. From the concept of government increasing the prices of vodka, wine and beer alongside restricting the sale of these products impacted negatively on the economy. The revenues of government were drastically reduced thus leading to a budgetary crisis. From the analysis of the situation, it was evident that the government lost a lot of revenues following the abolishment of alcohol sale. Significantly, the employment rates and job opportunities provided by the alcohol industry were cut down. The government lost a lot of taxes both in the form of direct and indirect taxes. The alcohol industry was employing a large number o f people and as a result of the new laws, all these groups were rendered jobless (Tarasulo 62). On the other hand, illegalization and increasing of the prices of alcohol products led to increase in illegal activities. There was a rise of smuggling of alcohol products across the borders as well as illegal production of alcohol in the urban and rural areas. Based on this phenomenon, the security status of the nation was compromised. This is because illegal production and distribution of alcohol products led to low quality of the products. With regard to this situation, the health of the citizens was posed to a very high risk. The concept of beer and wines being manufactured at home or in the slums led to avoidance of adhering to hygiene standards; thus posing a very high health risk. Additionally, increase in price of alcohol products as well as restriction on the sale of alcohol led to increase in crime. This is because the alcohol dependants had no option rather than involving into crime so as to get cash to purchase the products (Gorbachev 89). Additionally, perestroika was also disastrous process which posed the nation at a great risk. For instance, the concept of increased international relationships led to dependency on foreign countries. Soviet Union had an increased trade with Germany, America and British among other countries following the concept of perestroika. In regard to this scenario, any misunderstanding which may occur between these countries may cause severe consequences to the country. For instance a lot of industrial assistance and cooperation was established between Soviet Union and other western countries. The countries began to exchange a lot of resources used in the industrial fields. Specialization among the countries was also established due to the influence of trade. This phenomenon is a potential catastrophe to the countries economy and more so in ties of war or in cases of misunderstanding (Prem 126). On the other hand, the political restructuring of the soviet society had a lot of impacts on the nations stability. With the concept of democratization, the people were given more freedom to participate in political issues. As evident in the 1989 elections, the whole process was very vigorous. Despite the benefits of political freedoms and rights, increased political participation is not always good for the stability of the country. For instances, the issues of ethnicity and bribery are potential phenomenon in the events of political campaigns. Additionally, political differences and tensions are more easily to occur thus jeopardizing the national stability and peace. This phenomenon has happened in different countries and Russia is not exempted from the phenomenon (Cohen 54). Conclusion From the discussion and analysis of perestroika, it is evident that it had a lot of significance in the social, political and economic setup in the Soviet Union. The concept of perestroika is greatly acknowledged for the end of the cold war as well as the fall of socialism in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union. The significance of perestroika in historical and present politics of Russia is explicit. Initiation and progress of perestroika led to establishment of more independent actions by various ministries as well as dismantling of soviet-era planned economy. The replacement of soviet-era planned economy by the market economy was a vital development in Russia. Despite the various economic and social tensions brought about by the restructuring process, the entire phenomenon led to increased nationalism among the constituent republics alongside social fragmentation.

The uk housing sector

The uk housing sector Introduction The UK housing sector has been under the shadow of ‘Credit Crunch since June 2007, which initiated from United States and began to cover the globe. Not only the construction industry, but all the other industries including textiles etc. were affected due to this. The housing sector was flourishing day by day as more projects where introduced and the log books were filled till next couple of month, until June 2007, the credit crunch began to expand its feathers, after which the whole streamlines began to draw down. The unwanted result for UK housing sector appeared in the form of; 20 30 % of house prices fell from its maximum level, from 2007 onwards Mortgages are not approved as frequently as it was done before and only 50% are approved and new home are not built as frequently as were done before 2007. Goodhart and Hofmann (2008) explain that the mortgage rates are directly dependant on the banks which has a strong impact on the price of the houses. Due to Financial Recession an alarming situation arose resulting in change of different policies within an organization in order to survive. The Large House Builder, plc is a large UK national house builder which has taken necessary steps to counteract the ‘Credit Crunch by maintaining a balance between its cost and its expenditure. This it has done by cutting down its costs, selling the portion of land which it purchased so that it could be sold at a reason able price when required and by repositioning itself into social housing sector. Appleyard (2006) states that the UKs housing sector is going through a change. The current recession has enabled the housing sector to change. This change is usually in the form of merging one firm into another so that both benefit from each others experience and expertise. The company board of Large House Builders, plc has therefore decided to attain the services of Small Firm Ltd which is a small, regional housing developer in the South East of England. This report will address the key change management issues which would take place when there is mergence of Small Housing Builders Ltd into Large Housing Builders plc in regard to its organizational structure and culture. The second part will be the further analysis of this mergence in the form of preparation of a change management plan for the first two years. LARGE HOUSE BUILDER plc The UK national house builder or the Large Housing Builder (LHB) plc has major contribution in UK for the last decade (Appleyard, 2006). The company has a regional structure with offices throughout different locations of the country. This regional structure is managed by a regional manager who is responsible to answer to the central management board concerning his tasks which mainly include the profit /loss, purchasing of land and all the procedures involved in achieving it and the development and marketing of the site. A recent research done by The Future Shape of the Sector Commission (2006) indicates that in 2006, Large House Builders were successful to build 25,000 houses. But due to the recession in 2007, this figure is said to decrease drastically. The research further suggests that to safeguard the market from adverse effects of credit crunch, Large firms started to merge with Small firms in order to benefit itself along with the other firm. The Large House builder plc, being a big organization has the capability to stabilize it in a number of ways. The current Recession has limited the space for the large housing builders to expand further. The only way suggested is by mergence, which can be done by having strong internal and external relationships within and outside the company. This will result in maximum output and the number one priority to satisfy the customer is hence achieved (The Future Shape of the Sector Commission, 2006) ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Greenberg (1996) emphasizes that organization structure should be such that it should clearly elaborate the arrangement between the single and assembly of people corresponding to the assigned duties, abilities and power with a certain organization. Although it is not possible to see the organizational structure physically but it can be presented in the form of a chart known as â€Å"organization chart† which elaborates the layout of the parties involved in the organization. Such organization chart can be seen for Large House Builders (Appendix B). The organization structure of Large Housing Builders is a complex one as many parties are involved in this firm. In fact there are as many as 20 sub-parties working at a time for a single project. They can be from designing team to finished project, transportation and logistics of construction materials to finance department, from IT department to Estimation works etc. From this fact it can be seen that it is quite difficult to structure the organization on one single page. In order to define the goals, the relevant part of the organization is magnified yet there is a deep inter-relation between different parties of the company which hurdles the way. As stated earlier, the firm is making its best for the survival in the current Credit Crunch. Although the top management is giving more importance to work hard in order to achieve prosperity which it has seen in the form of positive development yet the entire struggle is ending in vain as the current financial crisis is not permitting to prosper. The management of the firm feels like climbing a huge mountain when it comes to paying the salaries to the staff in the current credit crunch. According to Lu (2009, CL) the structure of the company is the correct usage of the potential facilities and the capacity that a company has. There can be three ways in which the project can be integrated into the firm: Functional Structure In this type of structure, much emphasize is given to functional part. Projects are located in functional units such as human resources, finance and marketing where as the projects located in function which has dominant role with relevant staff being seconded from other functions for duration of the project. The disadvantage is this structure is that all groups are more focused towards functional manager. Matrix Structure The Matrix structure is the one which has both the functional manager as well as the project manager. The members of the project have to report to both the functional as well as the project managers. There are three types of matrix structures according to their strengths; a. Functional Matrix Structure In this the functional managers are more dominant than the project managers. This type of matrix system is also called â€Å"Weak Matrix† system and is mostly suitable for large Firms. b. Balanced Matrix Structure In this type the project managers and the functional managers share equal power amongst them. This type of matrix structure is also called a â€Å"Perfect Matrix†. c. Project Matrix Structure In this type of structure, project managers are more dominant over the functional managers. This type of matrix structure is also called â€Å"Strong Matrix† and is mostly suitable for small firms. Project Structure In this type, the projects are self-contained structural units with each unit having its own staff members and resources. From the above mentioned type of matrix structures, the Large House Builders is having the â€Å"Functional Matrix Structure†(Fig.1). The firm was having a boom in construction as it produced about 25,000 houses in 2006. With the initiation of Recession Period in 2007, the firm started to stabilize its self by cutting down its costs. The firms performance was good when considering each project separately but on a broader perspective, there was less or poor coordination between different projects as the structure of the firm was based on some prototype or typical functions. Thus this structure permitted Large House Builders to enhance their accuracy level by keeping themselves gentle and adjustable with the members of the different projects. In the functional matrix structure, the staff members report to the functional manager as well as the project manager as stated by Lu (2009, CL). This sometimes took a shape of minor clashes between different parties and thus halting and making delay in the project. By analyzing the firm, it was seen that the structure of the company changes as the project progresses. These changes were not massive in nature; in fact some minor changes were taking place. When the bidding phase starts, the firm was showing a firm functional type of structure. As the project initiated, the Functional Structure branched out into two parts. When talking about individual project, Project Structure was mostly dominant and the overall structure of the firm was found to be Matrix rather than Functional. Finally at the completion of the project, Matrix Structure was found which influenced both the Projects as well as the firm itself. As stated earlier, that the company has regional managers which are controlled by the management board thus indicate that it is a â€Å"divisionalized organization† as whole of the structure of company is well organized. The characteristics of divisionalized organization are stated below; The management board directs the divisional members who further authorize the regional members to take control of the profit/loss, land acquisition and marketing. This type of arrange corresponds to the â€Å"middle line† part of the organization. This can be considered as the backbone of an organization where key decisions are taken Lu (2009). The firm has â€Å"limited vertical decentralization† of authority as regional managers are in charge of their region and the company is very much dependant on them. The regional managers are in focus of their jobs perspective and have only one goal of â€Å"Standardization of outputs† and thus producing quality houses in favor of the customers. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE According to Schein (2004) culture is an in-depth knowledge of assumptions, faiths and values that the members of the organization take as granted. However, it is difficult to describe it and can simply be regarded as the charm or the identity of the organization. Organizational culture has got both the formal as well as the informal components (Lu, 2009cl). Formal elements like aims and objectives were apparent as all the necessary steps were taken to strengthen the firm not only in its own field but other forms of construction as well. Whereas the informal components such as racism, religious symbolism etc. some what were not in line with the latest policies of the company. The board management took a notice of these moral values which were creating problem and hindrance in the achievement of the firms goals. According to Handy (1993) there can be four types of cultures as stated below; Power Culture In power culture, whole of the control is concentrated to very few individuals. This usually have a family type culture and is suitable for small to medium sized firms where the reaction to the current market trend is very instant. Role Culture In role culture the roles are assigned on the basis of functions. These functions are allocated to different member to do the job. Such a setup is usually in large firms. Achievement Culture Achievement culture is very much based on results and outcomes. Examples can be such firms in with much research and development activities take place. Support Culture In this type of culture, much importance is given to an individual person within the organization. Example can be such as within a design team only importance given to Architect. From the above discuss, Large House Builders plc were found to have â€Å"ROLE† culture because each member fully focused on the role given by the top management. The staff members with not encouraged to do such task which was not stated in their role statement. As all the managerial bodies were assigned their role statements, the junior managers tried to prove their mettle by giving more in the current credit crunch whereas the senior management was try to stabilize the firm in its own way which resulted in some unsettlement between the organization. ORGANIZATIONAL STRETEGY Hersey et.al (1969) defines a strategy as the setting and arrangement of the tasks which an organization wants to achieve. There is a long debate as to whether the strategy is set first or the structure of the organization is set first. But for a successful completion of the desired aim, strategy and structure are always in line with each other Lu (2009,Cl). The high standard of the firm was due to the fact that the management board was quite aware of the strength and weaknesses of their company. Every step taken was towards the stabilization of the business. The management board of Large House Builders was seeing the current credit crunch but was unaware that this could give a real tough time to them. So a meeting was called in which certain points were drawn down, the main theme was that the Banks were unable to give the money to the clients which in return resulted in a complete stop to construction of some time. According to Lu and Sexton (2006) the firm in the phase of innovation can be either explorative or exploitative which counts on the Structure capital, Human capital and relationship capital When seeing Large House Builder plc under the generic company level strategies illustrated by Miles and Snow (1978), the company was found to be â€Å"ANALYZERS†. The company was doing well and was very stable before the credit crunch in 2007. This can be judged by the performance of the company in 2006 as the company produced 25,000 houses indicating that it has very well organized structure and they are very bothered about their efficiency, performance and reputation. Thus they were having good expertise in their field of work with good amount of resources available for their expansion and establishment. Being analyzers, the company will expand their business in the same field i.e. construction of houses which may be on a larger or smaller scale but the basic aim will be stabilization, reputation and good performance. SMALL HOUSE BUILDERS: The Small Firm Ltd is a regional housing developer was has its operations in the South East of England. The firm is a family owned organization in which all the top management is from the same family indicating that the culture of the firm will be a family culture. The key members will have strong belief and good understanding between them. The Small Firm Ltd is completely customer oriented. High priority given to customers is very essential to thrust forward in business. Customer satisfaction is the key to success for the firm. The Small Firm Ltd produced 1,000 social housing units in 2006 which is the clear indication of well established link with public and private authorities. The close link between different authorities is very beneficial as such types of strategies are helpful when there is a limited space and time to stabilize. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE The Small Firm Ltd has highly motivated and trustworthy top management whose total emphasize is on customer satisfaction. The firm has produced 1,000 housing units in 2006 for different housing associations and local authorities. This indicates that the firm has strong ties with its customers and all of them have good understanding amongst them. As previously stated, the organizational structures can be Functional, matrix or project structures Lu (2009). From them above discussion it is quite obvious that the firm has â€Å"Project Matrix Structure† which is also called strong matrix due to the reason that in this matrix type, Project Manager has the authority to influence its staff and workers. The workers have to answer to the Project Manager for their work which is the case in Small Firm Ltd due to the strong tie between the Project Manager and the workers. The role of the Functional Manager in firm is independent to the Project Manager as the Functional manager focuses more on the technical side and the resources allocation. The resources and cost allocation is quite tough job when it comes to a complex project. According to Lu (2009), there may be a conflict developed between the Project Manager and the Functional Manager due to the resource allocation. The firm posses a â€Å"machine organization† due to the following reasons as indicated by Lu (2009): The firm is much focused on technostructureso that it competes the market and its competent. The firm shows limited horizontal decentralization as the members of the board share more ideas with the project manager and less with functional managers although both manager types are important for its success. The labor of the firm is hard working and always motivated to do the tasks which contribute to the betterment of the country and the firm. There is a strong communication and co-ordination grip between the labor and the project manager and thus show standardization of work process. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Deal and Kennedy (1982) explained that to check whether an organization is successful or not, study its culture. The Small Firm Ltd has a family culture which means that level of trust and motivation is very high. From the types of cultures explained by Handy (1993), the Small Firm Ltd is having a â€Å"POWER† culture (fig. 4), the reason of power that the total concentration of the power and authority will be on a single person who will be the leader. Small firm ltd is having an informal type of structure which indicated the strong influence of the leader (family member) the staff members including managers. The firm can easily cope with any external discrepancies that may arise during a tenure time of any project. Thus making it self stabilize creates less problems and such firm can easily cope with financial crunch. ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY Structure and Strategy should always be inline with each other (Lu, 2009). Thus this type of strategy can be found in Small Firm Ltd as the firm can easily cope with financial crisis. From the types of strategies stated by Miles Snow (1978) the Small Firm Ltd was found to have â€Å"DEFENDER† type of strategy. The Small Firm ltd is very market based firm, close study of market and new trends in market is very beneficial for the company as it helps to change the short comings and thus increase the profit. The strong relation between the top management and the departmental management is in strong observation between the leader which is very beneficial to enhance the chances of survival in the time of difficulty. CURRENT SITUATION The management board of Large House Builder plc has decided to merge with Small Firm Ltd in order to stabilize itself in the ongoing credit crunch period (Appendix 1). This is not the only aim; in fact other things are also taken into consideration like Large House Builder plc is trying to adopt the expertise of social housing as well so that if there is a slump in the construction of large houses, the company can mingle with the social housing sector. So there is a need of change between two companies which can easily be brought into practice by implementing a change management plan. CHANGE MANAGEMENT According to Lu (2009, LP2) change is an important fact of life and the key success is to manage it successfully. A successful manager is the one who doesnt allow change to happen on its own, in fact he make proper plans and strategies to implement change. Change doesnt take place at once rather it can take place many months and even years for the different parties involved in change to settle down and know each other. Such a situation of change management has risen up between the Large House Builders plc and the Small Firm plc. Both the companies are opposite to each other in the since that both have different organizational structures, cultures and strategies but the common thing between them is that the both are in the construction business and especially in house building. Both companies will have the following Organizational issues; Structural issues The large house builders have functional matrix structure and the small firm ltd has a project matrix structure. The small firm will have to work really hard to come with the structure of the large house builders. The large house builders have a very well organized formal structure where as the small firm has an informal structure. Cultural issues The Large house builder has a Role culture in which every manager has a certain role assigned on which he is only answerable for his work to the top management whereas the small firm has power culture in which whole power is concentrated on the leader or single person. Such issues may produce a clash between two parties. Strategic issues The Large House Builders have adopted the analyzers strategy where they are keen to expand their company according to given marketing conditions and respond to market changes. On the other hand, Small firm adopts defenders strategy in which they do the job in their own field of expertise saving themselves fro outside threats because of having family culture. Such issues may cause a hurdle towards success between the two companies. To cope up with such difficulties a two year change management plan will be setup so that the process of integrating two companies of different culture, structure and strategy can run smoothly. TWO YEARS CHANGE MANAGEMENT PLAN To bring about change in the organization, necessary two change management plan is to be setup for the proper implication of roles and jobs of the two different teams i.e. the Large House Builder plc and the Small Firm ltd. Lewins (1947) three stage change management plan for the individuals of the organization can be setup as: Unfreeze Change Re-freeze Kottars (1996) eight stages change management plan will be used to implement a successful change in the organization. The eight stage plan is: Establishing a sense of urgency Creating the guiding coalition Developing a vision and strategy Communication the change vision Empowering broad-based action Generating short-term wins Consolidation gains and producing more change Anchoring new approaches in the culture The two change management approaches will be integrated in such a way that a proper setup over a period of two years will be established which will enhance the companys performance. FIRST YEAR The first year of the mergence of Small Firm ltd into the Large House Builders plc will be very crucial as many objections and discrepancies are likely to be encountered. Though the anticipated outcomes of the mergence is likely to generate a lot of benefit to both the companies yet the initial few months are regarded as very sensitive for the Small Firm Ltd. The change management plan is broken down in Quarters of a year and possible planned workout is analyzed as follows: FIRST QUARTER (Q1): During the first quarter of the first year the Small Firm Ltd will be in the learning stage and would be considering ways to overcome the barriers which would resist their way towards the change. According to Greenberg (1996), an organization can encounter with two different types of barriers in change. Organizational Barriers to Change Individual Barriers to Change 1. ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS TO CHANGE Sometimes terms and conditions are such set in an organization which barriers a change to take place (Katz and Kahn, 1978). Following are the organizational barriers to change in the view of Greenberg (1996): a) Structural inertia The Small Firm Ltd and the Large House Builders plc significantly differ with respect to the organization structure they have worked in before. The Small firm ltd will learn to adopt the divisional structure of the large house builders by mixing their manager with the divisional managers of large house builders. b) Work group inertia The large house builders and the small firm have their own ways to complete the assigned task. A task is not just completed as it a part of the job in fact, it is because the person learn from his social values to complete a certain task as assigned Greenberg (1996). So to tackle the pressure of completion of task at both ends is different which needs to be considered when assigning tasks. c) Threats to existing balance of power This issue is very important when it comes to change within two organizations as the managing power of both firms is entirely different from each other. For example the Large builders have a management board and a CEO who is in charge of making key decisions whereas in Small firm there is a single power or a leader who takes key decisions. After mergence, a conflict would be raised up during the designation and allotment of powers within the organization. d) Previously unsuccessful change efforts. Both the firms are quite familiar with the fact that change management theories recently adopted by firms havent proved to be successful yet both are willing to stabilize themselves with firm motivation and hard work. 2. INDIVIDUAL BARRIERS TO CHANGE The Small firm being in the initial stage of mergence will be facing great difficulty to cope with the individual barriers to change. According to a research done by Nadler (1987), there are many factors that hurdle the way of people towards a change. These factors are: a) Economic insecurity A very important point which comes into ones mind during a change at any level of work is that whether my job is secured? Am I getting the right salary? Such issues when taken into consideration during a change in such a time of Credit crunch may alter the minds of the employees of not only the Large builders but in fact the small firm ltd also. The reason being that both the firms are going to re-locate and re-assign the tasks to the individuals which my interrupt the desired performance of members. b) Fear of unknown While following the same routine of work as followed by the staff for quite a long time, the staff felt secured that they had a good level of understanding developed between other staff members and managers. Merging with someone you havent worked with before will set up a fear of unknown and everyone will be in a state that something can go wrong any time Greenberg (1996). c) Threats to social relationship Due to a change the members of the firm feel un-relaxed and insecure as they had good relation ships with the members they were previously working with. Due to this a lack of communication would be developed which would resist the fluency of work. d) Habit By doing a similar kind of work for past many years develops a natural phenomenon for an individual and the person becomes habitual to it. Any alteration in form of a change/new job, can result in mental dissatisfaction resulting is low performance. e) Failure to recognize need for change In situations where the individuals of the organization are unable to understand the necessity of change can result in a complete disaster. To overcome this, necessary steps such as awareness campaigns are run to establish a level of understanding among the workers so that they are well aware of the advantages of change. During the First Quarter (Q1) of the first year, the Small firm Ltd will be coping up with the initial difficulties of settlement in the organization. With the further enhancement of the Two year change management plan, there would not be any discrepancy left within both the organizations after mergence.