Religion on social change Essay

This essay is to assess the contribution of religion as a cause of social change and what it has cause throughout the years, some say that religion acts as a conservative force, other say it is a major contributor of social change and some like to take the middle ground on this topic. Religion to sociologist can be seen in two types of ways which is either a conservative force (keeping thing the way they are) or a force for change. Those who see it as a conservative are the ones who believe it’s a force of stability and order whereas the force for change sociologist would say religion encourages societies to change. Religion being a conservative force function is to preserve status quo by maintaining traditional beliefs and maintaining patriarchy. Religion has many functions functionalist believe that religion maintains social solidity, social stability and a value consensus and is therefore supports religion being a concretive force. Marxist on the other hand see it as an ide ology that prevents social change by legitimating and reproducing inequality and also disguises exploitation. Feminist also believe religion being a conservative force is a negative force because it legitimates patriarchal power and maintains women’s subordination. Religion can be seen as a conservative force as well as being force for change, the most famous of these being Max Weber study of the protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism. Weber argues that the religious beliefs of the Calvinist helped bring about a major social change, specifically the emergence of modern capitalism in n northern Europe in the 16th and 14th centuries. The Calvinist had several distinctive beliefs which were: predestination which was that God has already predestination which souls will be saved and who’s not and that no individual can change that. Another belief of theirs is the divine transcendence which is that God is immortal and no human can claim to know his will (including priests) and which this combined creates that Weber refers to as ‘salvation panic’. One other belief the Calvinist believe in is asceticism which is being abstinence, having self discipline and self denial to just live a simple life as Jesus did. The last but no least belief is the idea of a vocation or calling which are defined by two functions, 1 is it helped the Calvinist to cope with their salvation panic as they took this as a sign of God’s favour ad their  salvation- for why else would they have prospered and 2 is their accumulated wealth by the most efficient and rational means possible and not spending it on luxuries but instead reinvesting it (which in Weber’s view is the spirit of modern capitalism). It is very important to note that Weber’s was not arguing that the Calvinist beliefs were the cause of modern capitalism but simply that they were one of its causes. Other societies had a higher rate of economic growth than northern Europe in the 16th and 17th century but failed to adopt modern capitalism. China and India were more materially advanced but didn’t adopt capitalism due to their lack of religious belief like the Calvinist. They promote rewards in the other life, good deeds and other goals that lacked the material drive that Calvinism created. Weber has theory has many criticisms some of these are that for example Kautsky argues that Weber overestimates the role of ideas and underestimates economic factors in bring capitalism in to being, he argues that in fact capitalism preceded rather than followed Calvinism . Similarly R.H Tawney argues that technological change, not religious ideas, caused the birth of capitalism. Weber has also been criticised because capitalism did not develop in every country where there were Calvinist, for example in Scotland. Steve Bruce is interested in the relationship between religion and social change, he therefore used two case studies to analyse this, The American civil rights movements and The New Christian Right. The new Christian movement is a religiously motivated movement to end racial segregation in America in the 1950s to 60s. The black clergy played a major role (Dr Martin Luther King) giving moral legitimacy to activists, they provided sanctuary and unity, appealed to common Christian values of equality. Bruce sees religion is an ideological resource he identified several ways in which religious organisations are well equipped to support protest and contributes to social change: 1) Taking the moral high ground which is the black clergy pointed out the hypocrisy of white clergy who preached ‘love thy neighbour’ but supported racial segregation, 2) channelling dissent is religion provides channels to express political dissent, For example the funeral of Martin Luther king was a rallying point for the civil right cause. 3) Acting as honest broker because churches can provide a context for negotiating changes because they are often respected by both sides in a conflict and see n as standing above ‘mere politics’ and lastly 4) Mobilising public opinion is  when black churches in the south successfully campaigned for support across the whole of America. It had the shared values of those in power and those in wider society and could use these to push for change. The New Christian Rights is a politically and morally conservative, protestant fundamentalist movement it has gained prominence since 1960s because of its opposition to the liberalising of American society. They want to take America ‘back to God’. As well as want abortion, homosexuality and divorce illegal and ban SRE in schools. They also want to bring back the traditional family and gender roles (patriarchy) and teach only the creationism, nothing about evolution or big bang theory. The new Christian right has been largely unsuccessful in achieving their aim, reasons are because the ‘moral majority’ was never a majority, but 15% of the population at most, also its campaigners find it difficult to cooperate with people from other religious groups and they lack widespread support and has met with strong opposition from groups who stand for freedom of choice. The new Christian rights is described as a failed movement for change , despite enormous publicity and a high profile in the media it has not achieved its aims of taking America ‘back to god’. In conclusion religion has played such a big role in past and current society, some might say for the best others may disagree. As in item A ‘†¦ religion can play an important part in bringing about social change for example religious ideas can be a powerful motivation for change, as Weber showed in his study of Calvinist.’ , as well as also campaigning for social reform.

Bendigo Bank Head Office

In a close outlook, one would perhaps be attracted by the attractive nature of the Bending Bank Head Office. The building is in a potential and attractive architectural design with various environmental friendly features. Its feature is perhaps a potential tool that promotes the facets of going green to protecting the environment. What specific feature can be ascribed to this building? Are they potential tools towards protecting the environment? However, these questions are adequately answered by the physique of the building. The architectural design is provided to be environmental friendly.(http://www. plugger. com. au/view/1847308/) The building is smartly located in first 5 Green star building, which is one of the Australian cities. By its physical outlook, the bank’s main building comprises of six storeys, the ground, four office floors and a car park. The floors assigned for the office has a leasable area which is approximated as been 13577 square meters. This building is architecturally linked to the former building for the bank’s Head office which therefore provides office space specification of around 16000 square meters. (http://www.plugger. com. au/view/1847308/) The architectural component of the building comprises of various ESD features that have come as an innovation to improve the potential relationship between the building and the environment. The features are many and provide a very attractive image of the building. These includes an under floor system of air conditioning, both gray and black system of water recycling, external systems of sun shades which are build on the western and northern sides of the building and internal blinds that are uniquely automated.Elsewhere, the building has windows of a double glazed capacity that provide deep sect of lighting within its framework. It has a light dimming compensation system for the daylight, which is made of a unique architectural perimeter zone. (http://www. plugger. com. au/view/1 847308/) A system of collecting rainwater is evident which creates saving of water for use in various processes within the building. It has an attractive package of workstations and carpets as well as low paint emission that permit collective cleanliness and attractiveness in the building.A package of water heating system of solar energy provides a tool for energy saving within the building. Uniquely, it has an atria of two full length of height that are used in ensuring that the staff are placed within a domain of 8 metres in reach of the natural light. (http://www. bendigobank. com. au/public/Community/index. asp) The complimentary physical characteristics are perhaps an important tool that guides towards sustainable and environmental friendly situation. Firstly, the nature of the building is specially structured in making a reduction in power use by 50%.This is an important aspect in the campaign of going green towards saving the environment. Either, it has a potentially high qua lity in internal environment, which is provided by more light penetration and the substance of fresh air within its space. Its architectural design is specifically made to improve the productivity of its staff through high standard working conditions. It has features aimed at both waste and water recycling to keep the environment clean. The material used for its coating and furnishing are of high environmental friendly standards permitting reasonable condition.It has been rated as a 5 Green star building due to its high architectural environment. (Karlson, Michael, 2005, 98) Generally, Bendigo Bank is focused on the community and the general environment. The development of its new office was to capture the ideal essence of the reflection that it has towards the environment and general high conditions for work by its staff. To meet this challenge, it has a compound of high quality and a location that is friendly to its staff in terms of the environment. It has ensured high quality in door air condition and saving structures for water and energy.Achieving this goal was contributed by its choice of excellent builder and architects, which worked together with the bank’s administration as a team. (Gray, Geoffrey, 2001, 66) Work cited Bendigo Bank’s 5 Star Green Building In Regional Australia Retrieved on 8th May 2008 from http://www. plugger. com. au/view/1847308/ Bendigo Bank. Retrieved on 8th May 2008 from http://www. bendigobank. com. au/public/Community/index. asp Karlson, H & Michael, H. The Natural Advantage of Nature. Earthscan, 2005, pp. 66 Gray, I & Geoffrey, L. A Future for Regional Australia: Escaping Global, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 98

Language2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Language2 - Essay Example They also end up relegating themselves to only living and socializing in areas where their neighbors speak their native language. U.S. immigrants, who do not speak English, have to master the language to compete for equal choices in work and living. Young students who do not speak English at home are at a disadvantage in American schools. They have to face the dual task of understanding the language, as well as following the curriculum. This adds an extra burden on them compared to their classmates who speak English as their first language. As a result, these students are not able to do well in their studies and lag behind their English speaking class fellows. While it is true that there are few international private schools that do teach in native languages, they are not always located at a convenient distance. Many parents are also unable to afford the tuition fee for private schools. The parents now realize that they have to teach English to their children otherwise they will be left out of the mainstream. This is why they are increasingly admitting them in special programs in schools which teach English as a new language. For many non-native adults in academia, expressing themselves well in writing or in oral communication is a difficult step. These adult scholars in higher education receive less attention as their teacher has to make the extra effort to overlook their limited skills in English expression to appreciate the gist of their papers, research or presentation. They are not able to communicate well. Teachers then need to have more patience and neutrality when speaking with these students. However, not all teachers have that extra patience. In addition, non-English speakers in academia also face problems in presentations as they may not be able to find appropriate words to fully convey what they have in mind. This can result in the audience losing interest in their presentation and can potentially have an effect on their grades. So, is

Outline The Aims Of The United Irishmen, 1791-1794 Essay

Outline The Aims Of The United Irishmen, 1791-1794 - Essay Example The first organizations were begun in Dublin and Belfast in 1791. The reasons behind the formation of the United Irish Society included frustration with the Whig Clubs lack of interest in parliamentary reform, and inspiration from events in France (Dickson 182). Complete and radical reform of parliament was one early United Irish goal. Although the original militant republican aims that the United Irishmen held accepted monarchy, the United Irishmen would later become anti-English as well as an anti-monarchical republican movement. The original republican aims also included to: "curb powers of central government; to preserve fundamental liberties; and to secure religious toleration" (Elliott xiii). It was only after their original aims were frustrated that the United Irishmen became anti-monarchical and began to consider armed insurrection, with the aid of the French, as a means of liberating Ireland. The United Irishmen were political reformers, but not social reformers (Elliott xvii). Their aim was not to return land back to the Catholics that the English protestants had confiscated. The United Irishmen sought national self-determination for all religions within Ireland. Their main aim later in the 1790s was an Irish revolution. The United Irishmen movement consisted of roughly equal numbers of Catholics and Protestants; however, the leaders of the movement were mainly Protestants (Elliott xiii). It is through this later aim for revolution that the United Irishmen formed an alliance with the Defenders, a Catholic lower class secret society. Unlike the United Irishmen, the Defenders did support land being returned to the original Catholic owners. But the Protestant leaders within the United Irishmen were not interested in this type of social reform. In fact, the leaders of the United Irishmen feared that the lower class Catholics would retaliate against the Protestants and attempt land reversal

Construction organisations have adapted themselves to address change Essay

Construction organisations have adapted themselves to address change and the growing complexity of the construction industry.Pre - Essay Example One of the key characteristics of the construction industry is its high complexity; the projects developed across this industry are depended on a series of factors, including technology, climate conditions, suppliers’ and employees’ efficiency and responsibility, local regulation and so on. Therefore, for the firms that operate in the particular industry the full achievement of their goals is a challenging task; in fact, the research on the industry’s characteristics and performance has led to the conclusion that operational and strategic failures are common phenomena in this industry. This issue is discussed in this paper; it is concluded that the above failures can justify the argument that in modern market no single ideal organization can exist. The aspects and the explanation of this argument are presented in this paper referring, as an example, to the challenges and the performance of firms operating in the construction industry. 2. Change and increase of co mplexity in the construction industry - characteristics, responses and consequences - discussion of the premise that there is no single ideal organization. ... The value of the construction industry for economies worldwide cannot be ignored. For example, in USA, one of the most competitive construction markets globally, the value of the construction industry for the domestic product has estimated to 9% - referring to 2005 (Atallah 2006). Despite its size, the construction industry in USA is not well structured – a high fragmentation has been identified; more specifically, most of the industry’s firms are small and operate within their local area – about 2.1 millions of the relevant businesses are self-employed (Atallah 2006). This fact limits the potentials of these firms to face the challenges set by the globalization. The above phenomenon is common in countries worldwide. Firms in the construction industry are usually established and operate in the context of the development of particular construction projects; in many cases, the end of a construction project can set the survival of a construction firm in risk. In oth er words, there is no expansion of the activities or tasks allocated to the employees. Rather, the operation of each construction firm is depended on the successful development of a particular construction project; it is for this reason, that most of firms in this industry are self-employed – the number of employees is low. This trend is reflected in the figures released in the study of Bennett (2003); in accordance with the above study, the construction firms in Italy have been estimated to 482,000 (for 2002), a number extremely high taking into consideration the potential number of construction projects developed across the country/ compared to the country’s size and relevant needs (Bennett 2003). Moreover, in accordance with a

Opium in afghanistan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Opium in afghanistan - Essay Example It is because of this use that countries like America have been struggling to control the planting and trade of the plant in general with particular aim of stopping circulation of heroin across the world. Apart from its use as drug, opium also has some medicinal values that will be discussed later in this paper. Opium has rich history linking it to Britain where cultivation was supported by the various regimes of the countries until the time its effects were detected leading to eventual ban to its cultivation. Though opium is internationally recognized as a product of Afghanistan, the plant was introduced into the country by Alexander the Great (Nawa 3). Upon its introduction, opium was used as medicine and for enjoyment purposes and intercropped with other plants. Further cultivation of opium in Afghanistan escalated in 1979 during invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet Union. With its economic viability, many locals indulged into the growing of opium that would later provide funds used to purchase weapons to help in defense against the Soviet. Further escalation of opium trade in Afghanistan links to the poor governance that existed in the country that would not monitor and develop the economy to more sustainable activities. In addition, the opium trade in Afghanistan escalated due to the degradation of the agricultural lands as well as the country’s infrastructure by the long lasted war. This situation left opium as an alternative and affordable source of income that required minimum human handling and storage. The long period of civil wars in the country led to lawless society that saw the development and flourishing of the illegal cultivation of opium. According to the reports of Nawa, growing of opium has seen integration of otherwise poor and vulnerable families into middle class earners (6). Through growing of opium, many families engaging in the cultivation of the crop

The role of International Financial Reporting Standards Essay

The role of International Financial Reporting Standards - Essay Example This facet consists of mathematical approach that most of managers do not have insight towards the norm and get scared of the mathematical issue. Other prevailing issue as per the management of numbers is that most of seniors as well as managers are busy that they do not have time give attention as far as the aspect of company data analysis and its interpretation is of more concern (Cunningham and Fiume 10-15). Many companies however, prefer to adapt the issue of numbers management for realizing their level of production. One of the companies that have adopted numbers management is the wall mart companies, one of the largest fashion companies on this world. Senior manager have articulated this norm with saying that their clients usually ask help to make them understand why workload within the company is at increase norm compared from the previous years Wal-Mart have been providing its services. Cumulatively, number management produces a stable, repeatable, and predictable pattern of variation in the output of a process as far as the aspect the aspect of business is taken into consideration. Some of the factors leading to the control of numbers and its management includes; capability of equipments, the level of training given to staff, and the choice and specification of paperwork/materials used in the process. Special Causes arise from time to time, with an unstable and unpredictable pattern. They are however, often within the control of staff or work-teams, for example in setting up and following procedures, using the correct paperwork or information (Cunningham and Fiume 21-25). Wall-mart being one of the outstanding business company worlds has had bad articulation as availed by Johnson. It is realized that in the year 2009 the company practiced manipulation on inventory counts, which is believed that it extended beyond Carmon supervised regions anticipated. As per the research, it showed that wall-mart organization decided to shrink rate of over 400 of their stores around the United States of America country, one of the issue that astonished Johnson, who was an employee and a senior manager by then. At the world of business, competition norm is evitable and that is why a standard practice comes at hand and makes us consider giving shrinkage rate of other stores an attention. Management of number generally affects only minority of people, equipment, procedures, or materials and a control Chart becomes the main tool used in SPC to give a visual representation of process performance based on data collected from the process. SPC helps one to identify any prevailing statistically significant variation that channelizes the aspect of corrective action. The Control Chart provides direction on when to take a concrete action and this in turn avoids the essence of error production. However, it also gives an oversight on when not to take an action and this avoids any possibility of over-adjustment or over-reacting from both the clients as well as employees (Cunningham and Fiume 32-36). Projecting the aspect of wall-mart numbers management, Johnson states that â€Å"It was a standard practice to look at [the shrink rates of] other stores because everyone competes with each other,† Johnson said. â€Å"When you see these overages in there that clearly should be investigated but the regional VP is saying ‘this is exactly what we're looking for,’ or ‘outstanding job,’ it is a point of concern,† Johnson said.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I think there is an unspoken culture at Wall-mart that a store is allowed to have excessive overages if it makes that store and the company look more profitable.†

Museum Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Museum Marketing - Assignment Example The primary role here is to correlate people and material things, so that the museum becomes an important site for the development of new forms of experience, memory and knowledge. As a transport museum, Coventry boasts of the largest arrays in its display of road transport mediums, cars, commercial vehicles and buses, apart from motorbikes and cycles. Through its plethora of galleries like the Introductory Gallery, Landmarques and Boomtime Boomtwon, among many others, this museum has the scope to tap markets other than automobile lovers. This can be done by adopting a certain level of media culture and displaying its millions of archive and ephemera objects in a way that appeal to the sensibilities of even the most average person by showcasing trends like now and ten as well as others like tours that involve no instructions. Set in the place where British automobile and transport was born, this museum displays collectibles that are mostly from a personal collection or gifts apart from the purchased items. (www.transport-museum.com) Having traced the journey from denial to discovery (Rentschler, 2002), museum marketing depends largely on presenting facts in a way that grab interest and offer experiences that most cultural industry based organizations would term as marketing orientation. With a new emphasis on skills and market presence, there is now a concerted effort towards driving resources to create museum visibility in the most unusual places. In thus regard, marketing activities concerning a museum seek to promote a ceratin sense of intrinsic values that will offer motivation to the most unlikely individuals as far as transport and automobiles are concerned, and turn them into visitors. This paper will study the methodology which can be adopted to increase the audience base and market the museum effectively. Coventry has a 303, 475 strong population (www.wikipedia.com) Apart from this, it is strategically situated between the Midlands and Birmingham with a proximity to London. Considering the fact that the Coventry has a large influence from the Midlands, owing to the fact that this is where Britain's tryst with transport really began, it is imperative for the museum's marketing managers to identify the niche crowd that subscribes to the concept of ethnicity, as the Midlands have a large variation in their population in terms of Asian and other communities. This has strong implications towards further research to find out the level of visitation to the museum. The museum is also in dire need of a complete refurnishing plan. This is owing to the problem that it does not, in its present form, cater to the sensibilities of emerging lifetsyle profiles as well as interest areas. Since the 1990s, museums including the Coventry, have seen a surge in studies revolving around experience of visitors and motivation. This laid the foundation for audience research (Doering, 1999; Thyne, 2001) as well as visitor learning (McManus, 1993). It was found that will factors like more upmarket ways that contribute to overall segmentation. These may include profiles that make statements about one's lifestyle or other such factors. (Todd and Lawson, 2001). The focus of museums has also come to include the area of multicultural audience studies, in a bid to include visitors from various walks of life. In this case, my

Decision in Paradise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Decision in Paradise - Essay Example The company was establishing itself on an island located in south Pacific. My post at this very prestigious company is the senior business executive. I am the personal assistant to the company manager who is Alex. Chris, my other friend is the proprietor and the owner of Marvel Construction. My core responsibility as an executive is to unearth the problems at Kava and eradicate them so that the company can attain its goal and fulfill its mission on this most difficult island. However on my arrival at Kava, I realized that my dream did not exist. It was shattered. It was after all not the paradise I had thought it was. Kava is an incapacitated island country situated in the South Pacific. This island is experiencing very hard times and someone should rescue it soon. The island quickly needs reconstruction in many areas. Kava Island is aged 15 years and below. It is a culturally diverse island with a combination of people with 50% coming from indigenous tribes, French, Americans, Africans, and Spanish. The people of Kava are basically of indigenous belief. As a matter of, 50% of the people have an indigenous faith while the rest is a mixture of English, French and Spanish. The main economic activity is farming of spices, cocoa bananas and coffee. They also are involved in extraction of petroleum. Marvel Construction Company is one of the largest construction companies with an international reputation. The company has over 20 branches across the US. Since its establishment 20 years ago in Nevada, Marvel construction company has expansively grown through the setting up of new premises and expansion of the existing ones. Marvel is focused on creating loyalty and value with its clients through the provision of outstanding services, fine products and technology advancement. The mission of Marvel Construction Company to the people of Kava is to bring forth prosperity, and establish a

The Third type of failure in a distributed system Essay Example for Free

The Third type of failure in a distributed system Essay In this paper I will be discussing the issue of failures in a distributed system, and to understand the different failures I will write about four failures that occur in and affect a distributed system. Also, I will be discussing and writing about how to isolate and fix two out of the four failure that can occur in the distributed system. In a distributed system nothing is set in stone or perfect, so there are some issues that can arise, and the issues that arise are the failures that can occur in these distributed systems. The failure that can occur are Fail-Stop, Network Failure, Timing Failure, and Byzantine Failures; each of which I will discuss separately. The first of the four failures in the distributed system is Fail-Stop and this is when a halting failure occurs with a type of notification to other components, and this can be when a network file server is in the process of telling its clients it is about to stop executing, and in the process the internal state and the contents connected to the volatile storage can be lost. The second type of failure in a distributed system is network failure, and this can keep processors from being able to communicate with one another. One of Two problems that come up are one way link and which can lead to problems such as the processors slowing down, this can cause one processor not being able to receive messages from the other processor. The second problem that arises is Network partition and occurs when the connecting line of two sections of the network fail, and it can causes a group of two processors to be able to communicate with one another but not with another group of two processors; this can lead to the two groups of processed downloading a file in different ways leading to the file inconsistent among all processors. The Third type of failure in a distributed system is Timing Failure, is the process or part of one that fails to meet its limit set for executing the process, message, clock drift rate, and clock skew on time. The timing failure causes components to respond with the correct value that is outside the specific interval meaning that it is too soon, or too late. Also overloaded processors can be hit with excessive delays even if the correct values are produced, and most timing failures are only in systems which have timing constraints and computations. The Fourth type of failure in distributed systems is Byzantine Failures occur when or during an execution of an algorithm, and when this failure occurs it can cause the system to respond in an unpredictable way by processing a request in the incorrect way, and corrupting local state in addition to sending an inconsistent response to request, and in a way failing to even receive the request. This can occur when an output of one function happens to be the input of another it causes small round off errors in the first function that could then lead to larger errors in the second function. Out of the four failures that can occur in a distributed system two of them can also occur or be in a centralized system, and the failures are Fail-Stop and Network Failure. I would assume that these two failures will fault the same way in a centralized system as they do in the distributed system. Of the two out of four failures that can occur in a distributed system the first of which to isolate and fix is network failure, this can be done by spoofing the network. Using the spoofing technique a probe can be sent down paths to find if the failures are on a forward path or reverse path. The way the network failures can be addressed and fixed are by using a network failure detection and recovery in a two-node by using windows server 2000 cluster that runs a sophisticated algorithm which can detect available network interfaces along with the plug and play function to detect disconnected cables used to connect the network, as well as connectivity issues between the network adapter and the hub or switch. Using windows server 2000 cluster can help detect network failures and lead to resolving them. The second out of the four failures in distributed system is t he Byzantine Failure and the way to isolate and fix the failure is by using a solution called Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance which is an algorithm that can provide high performance Byzantine state machine replication, allowing for processing thousands of request a second with the use of sub-millisecond increase in latency. Another way to help isolate and fix Byzantine Failures is using a redundant system that can use or migrate of mask the effect of a limited amount of faults through redundancy, this can lead to the detection of faulty nodes and identifying and isolating them before they can harm from failure. When it comes to dealing with a distributed system, an organization can run into failures, four of which were described in this paper and they are; Fail-Stop, Network Failure, Timing Failure, and Byzantine Failure but this also includes others that were not discussed. Never the less, these failures can and will occur, it is up to the organization of company running their system to identity these failure risk, isolate them if they are found, and of course they action to guard against and fix issues of failures so it will not cause irreversible damage and harm that can lead to loss of information and time. These failures are inevitable but knowing about them and how to use fault tolerant protocols will indeed safeguard a distributed system Reference http://www.combofix.org/what-is-network-spoofing-and-what-are-the-types-of-it.php http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242600 https://www.usenix.org/legacy/event/hotdep06/tech/prelim_papers/haeberlen/haeberlen_html/

Approaches To Hr By Multinational Corporations Management Essay

Approaches To Hr By Multinational Corporations Management Essay For better understanding this is important to discuss what a multinational company is in first place. In short words multinational company can be defined as a company or an organization that serves or produce in more than one country is known as multinational company. Other names use for such kind of organizations is Multinational Corporation (MNC), Transnational Corporation (TNC) or Multinational Enterprise (MNE). Multinational organization can be engaged in manufacturing, services or the exploitation of natural resources in the operating countries. Different writers described different definition of multinational companies. According to Moore Lewis (1999, P. 21) stated that an enterprise that engages in foreign direct investment (FDI) and own or controls value adding activities in more than one country is known as multinational enterprise. As Jones (1996, p.4) says An MNE is usually defined as firm that controls operations or income generating assets in more than one country. The re is a long list of multinational firms like Sony, Nestle, Wal-Mart Stores, General Motors, Ford Motor, ConocoPhillips Microsoft, Nokia, Toyota Motors, Intel, Coco-Cola, Sony, IBM, Nike and Citigroup etc. Now the main question is about the multinational companies of different origin adopt different approaches of HRM practices. To discuss this section this is really important to discuss the HRM practices in first place, to define what HRM is and then its practices will be discussed throughout this essay step by step, and then practices of HRM in broader context for the MNCs or MNEs. HRM is modern word use in the businesses, which can be defined as a model of personnel management that focuses on the individual rather than taking collective approach. (www.dictionary.bnet.com). As Pennington Edwards (2000, P. 4) stated that Human Resource Management (HRM) is a new way of thinking about how people should be managed as employees in the workplace. It can be classified into two schools of thoughts.i.e. Hard HRM Soft HRM. Both types of HRM are under studies of different authors in detail. Now to concentrate on the question directly a survey is going to be under studies Country of origin effects and HRM in multinational companies which took place in 2007 by P. Edwards et al. In which he discussed 302 UK based multinational companies, which cover both UK owned and overseas owned companies. This study will play an important part in the essay to get the conclusion either multinational companies of different nationalities have different HRM approaches and practices or not. 2- Challenges in multinationals According to Brett, Jeanne Kristin, 2006, international businesss nature is going under a sea change. The globalisation, multi-nationalisation, and the geographical diversification is pushing companies towards change in their management structure and style. Multinationals now need to consider regional market conditions and develop strategies to cater to each of the regional markets. 2.1- Culture shock Culture shock is the big challenge for multinationals, the difference brings the different thinking ways and working ways, and it needs time to adjust it. In most cases the expatriate manager prefer to emphasize and require the home office or home country values on the host countrys employees instead of accepting and learning within the new culture. (Adler, 2002) 2.2- Lack of cross cultural training In fact, most multinationals ignore this training program during the staffing management. However, the better understanding about culture block can help managers to improve the effectiveness of staffing management. For example, The managers at Bell Canada were totally asked be training about Muslim laws of drinking and the treating of women there before he or she assigned a project for Saudi Arabia such like constructing the telephone system in there. (Adler, 2002) 2.3- Family problems Family problem for PNC manager is another challenge. The overseas employees always think of their family. Sometime, such emotion will effect the concentrations in their work. These difficulties are usually underestimated. What the organization should do is to assist expatriates family to adapt their new environment. (Dolan, 1996) 3- HRM Functions in MNCs Team members of multinational companies come from different countries with the different culture, economic, religions and habits. All of these differences bring the different thinking and working methods, thus, how to manage the multicultural team is a big challenge for the HRM in the multinationals. In the article Managing multicultural team, the author states that Communication in Western cultures is typically direct and explicit. In many other cultures, meaning is embedded in the way the message is presented. The differences can cause serious damage to team relationships (Jeanne Breeet , Kristin Behfar, and Mary C. Kern, 2007) . 3.1 Retaining subsidiary staffs retention It can be argued that the retention of staffing in the multinationals subsidiary conducts huge influence. The transfers between the PCNs, HCNs and the TCNs are the big issues in the staffing management strategy. Scolders identify that the HCNs and TCNs who are sent to the corporate headquarters (HQ) called inpatriates. As this article mentioned before, the ethnocentric approach, the polycentric approach, the regioncentric approach, and the geocentric approach are the four major nationality staffing policies in the international staffing, by analyzing the complex and the new situation appear in the relationships between the HQ and subsidiary, B. Sebastian Reiche (2007) explores the international stiffing-related retention strategies . Firstly, he claims that a pluralistic and consensus-driven approach to international staffing enhances the retention capacity of international staffing practices through increased responsiveness to and involvement of the respective local unit. He states that the knowledge and skill from the local staff can help multinationals to reduce the risk and culture-bound in the local market. He also believes that this approach can improve the loyalty of local staffs, and the local staff can achieve individual career plan to cohere the institutional development plan. At the same time, he states that the PCNs still act as the vital role for informal controlling and coordination in the multinational companies. Secondly, he indicates that expatriation of local staff can help to retain the MNCss retention. In this approach, he states that the inpatriates can share their social and contextual knowledge of the subsidiary environment with managers at the HQ. And also inpatriates tend to be accepted by HCNs more willingly than foreign personnel. HRM is all concern about the employees at the work place, but the demands from HRM gone up as the education rate grown up. As Pennington and Edwards (2004, P.4) stated that As a level of education become higher, a greater proportion of the population world wide expect more than fair treatment, they seek a range of intrinsic rewards such as job satisfaction, a degree of challenge, a sense of career progression and satisfying relation with co workers. 3.2 Selection Recruiting:- The main function of HRM is selecting and recruiting, no matter the firm is domestic or multinational. Staffing issue for domestic managers and MNCs managers are not very different for recruiting for the middle management or ground floor workers, but for selecting and recruiting of top management then the choices come like parent country national (PCNs), Host country national (HCNs) or third country national (TCNs). According to Parlmutter (1989) divided into three main categories. Ethnocentric where top management favours PCNs managers, who are posted abroad for a period of time. Polycentric where top management give choice to subsidies to fulfil management posts themselves, and Geocentric when top management recruits managers globally and post them anywhere in the world. For example Japanese style of HRM dont rely on interviews and job advertisements, they select the people from the universities and the most top MNCs can afford the students from the most prestigious university. According to Keeley (2001, P.62) stated that unlike the most Western companies detailed job description rarely exist. The company seeks to determine if the prospective employee has the type of personality that fits in well with the atmosphere at the company.While US MNCs rely on interview must attribute of HRM practices in their subsidies. In China, they had no selection processes per se when they first started. Senior managers were appointed by community government-officials. Most of the new hires were based on employee referrals. Selection criteria were based on nepotism and contacts. Hiring decisions are influenced by the following in china: 1. A persons ability to perform the technical requirements of the job 2. A personal interview 3. A persons ability to get along well with others already working here 4. Having the right connections (e.g. school, family, friends, region, government, etc.) 5. The companys belief that the person will stay with the company 6. An employment test in which the Person needs to demonstrate their Skills 7. Proven work experience in a similar job 8. A persons potential to do a good job, even if the person is not that good when they first start 9. How well the person will fit in the companys values and ways of doing things 10. Future co-workers opinions about whether the person should be hired (Huczynski, Andrzej / Buchanan, David, 2001) A most important attribute in Japanese style of HRM is called Shushinkoyo which means life or long term employment. This is considered the success key of Japanese HRM as stated by Keeley (2001, P.65) Nevertheless, a number of scholars both Japanese and non Japanese have praised Shushinkoyo and have attributed the success of Japanese enterprises to its practice. Here this shows that multinational companies from Japan apply different approach for selection the new recruits while US MNCs rely on a different phenomena of selection and recruitment. 3.3 Performance Appraisal:- This is the HR attribute which has significant attention from both academics and practitioners, the appraisal system in US MNCs use to reduce the labour force as stated in Edwards (2007, P. 40) that some US companies, GE for instance, have become known for using the appraisal system to remove the lower- performing employees from the workforce on a regular basis and /or to identify those in need of remedial action for their performance level. But in Japanese MNCs the companies gives the life time or long term employment as mentioned by Keeley (2001) that it is one of the best attribute of Japanese HRM in small Japanese enterprises or Japanese MNCs. Differences can b seen in the Edwards (2007) survey of Japanese and US multinational companies based in UK, where he stated that US companies are more likely to emphasise the importance of behaviour in relation to corporate values, while Japanese firms give lower importance rating to quantitative or qualitative individual evolution criteria , and criteria based on corporate values. In large organizations the performance review on periodic basis, this is second task of organizations HR departments, after hiring an employee and on the basis of performance employee get bonuses, promotions and rewards. Performance appraisals give opportunity to the workers (individual/group) to get prepare for the future goals of firm. 3.4 Pay, Compensations, Rewards Benefits:- Compensations like hourly wages and annual salaries while benefits are like life insurance, pensions and sick pays etc. According to Cherrington (1995) stated that compensation should be legal and ethical, adequate, motivate and fair, and should be able to give employment security to the worker. Pay compensation and rewards are not really different from each other, but in simple words rewards is the term use to motivate and to get the future goals by means of workforce for an organization, the reward system plays an important role, by reward (individual/group) the workers get appreciation and get themselves more committed to the firm. These are the some of the main features and functions of any (domestic/MNCs) firm HR department. In Japanese style of HRM they use a Japanese term Nenko Joretsu which means seniority system, where in Japanese HR management the wages goes up with the age and experience, as stated in Keeley (2001, P. 76) said that though nenko is most often translated as seniority'. While US and Europe MNCs apply the performance related pay system. This is the most important phenomena of MNCs HR system when they go to borderless business. According to Edwards (2007, P. 46) stated in his survey that Nationality has some effects. For example, American firms are likely to give organisational performance a higher importance rating for the KEY GROUP than others firms. UK firms are more likely emphasis individual output measures for LARGEST OCCUPATIONAL GROUP. It shows the difference in attribute of HR practices and approaches in multinational firms. 3.5 Training Development:- This is one of the important as well as crucial task for HR department for a firm operating globally, in this area of HRM multinational companies of different origin follow different approaches, for example according to Tung (1981) stated that by comparing US, European and Japanese corporations, Americans firms it seems tend to underestimate the importance of training, whereas most European and Japanese organizations see this as a highly important area of attention. The objectives and goals of training and development are to make sure the skilled and willing workers are available in the organization. Training and development are important to create a smarter working environment. In China, medium and large companies have formal training programmer and many have established special facilities for teaming purposes. Because of the lower educational level in the rural areas, the quality of the rural labour force is significantly in urban areas. Experienced, well-qualified staffs are in short supply. To disadvantage of hiring Key personnel from a shallow pool of talent, they invest heavily in training. Training is an important investment in human capital. Training improves an individuals performance and increase organizational effectiveness. (Ahlstrom Garry, 2001) Japanese MNCs pay less attention to training and development attribute of HRM, the reason might be the less mobility of workers in the Japanese firms, as they use the term Shushinkoyo. According to Keeley (2001, P. 88) stated that A study of the Japan Productivity Centre found differences in the attitudes towards training in Japanese and American firms. Where Keeley stated that from the study and respond of both countries towards training issue were positive but American firms were strong and more positive then the Japanese firms and he also stated that Japanese firms arrange training on request basis. A strategy which makes a firm successful is not easy to implement when they go beyond the borders, because of the barriers which might be language, religion, culture and legislations etc. As Keeley (2007, P.89) stated that HR practices which makes a firm successful in domestic environment are difficult to implement in their overseas subsidiaries. 4- HRM Approach in Multinational Firms: Now in this essay some of the multinational firms characteristics will be studied to see do they get affected by the country where they belong to in their HR practices and approaches or not? There are many MNCs, the country which has most MNCs is USA, and after that are Europe, Japan and Germany. There are many writers who discussed the issue of ownership and HRM in MNCs like Evan, Lank and Farquhar (1977), Barlett Goshal (1989), Rozenzweig Nohria (1994) and Innes Morris (1995) etc, which prove that the issue of ownership has been in discussion from ages, as according to Economist (1995) said that the issue of ownership is central to the number of important policy related and academic debate in the area of HRM and IR, One line of argument is that, with increasing globalization MNCs are becoming stateless players, detached from individual nation states. MNCs of different origin work in the host country by applying its local mechanism of HR practices and approaches, because it is not possible to work and apply 100% approaches of the parent country, as according to Rozenzweig Nohria (1994) said that a rank and file IR issues are more likely to exhibit local isomorphism . There are many arguments about the affection of country of origin on MNCs HR practices, the reasons are many for MNCs to adopt different approaches of HRM, as Ferner (1997) described that in short, it is imperative to take into account the dynamic of nationality as a factor affecting the behaviour of MNCs. The modernization of political institutions, the rapid pace of technology, the internationalization of product itself and changing pattern of international market and competition, all are likely to modify to pre existing national structure although not necessarily in the direction of convergence of different national systems on a single model. Now the essay will point out some differences in Chinese and American Human Resource Managements. China is one of the fastest growing economy of the world, according to Zhu (2005, P.2) explained that the past two and half decades of reforms and impressive economic growth have witnessed an unprecedented enthusiasm for the establishment of foreign invested enterprises (FIEs). Many foreign companies have expended their operations into china, attracted mainly by the sheer size of its potential market. There are many multinational firms in China like Aluminium Corp (ACH), China Petroleum Chemical Corp (SNP) and China Unicom (CHU) etc. The main practice of HRM is selection and recruitment as mentioned above, and the difference between the process of selection of Chinese and USA approach is, in USA model of HRM job interview is essential for filling a major position, while in Chinese HRM mostly jobs are allocated by government and interview process is not common. In reward system the USA model of HRM offers a variety of incentives system, while Chinese HRM system is different from USA, in Chinese system salary ranges are narrow, group reward system is common, but the pay system is more motivate than American pay system. In performance appraisal USA model of HRM believes in two way communication, while in Chinese model supervisor have absolute power and authority to evaluate subordinates, in USA participative management is welcome and encourage, but in Chinese HRM collective leadership is common, and in major decision making, the involvement of workers is symbolic. The difference can be seen in different origin or nationality MNCs that the US MNCs are significantly more like to collect information on employee attitude bring together HR managers from different countries and use HR international shared services, Japanese organizations are less likely to collect data centrally, while French origin MNCs acting more likely in US style of HRM practices, and German origin MNCs firms follow Japanese style of HRM practices. (Jackson, 2002) The best example is British American Tobacco (BAT), which is operating in a number of countries in the world, i.e. Pakistan, South Africa, UK, Japan, Saudi Arabia and many more. As this is an American based firm, and American have an interview must attribute in their HR practices, they apply the same approach for selecting and recruiting in the host country Pakistan, and the adopt some practices of Pakistan HRM practices (host country) like monthly payment of salaries instead of weekly wages, so its means BAT reflected their parent country HRM practices in some ways and in subsidies like UK, BAT apply the same HR practices and approaches as the parent country have, because the culture difference is not very distinct from each other i.e. UK and USA. (www.bat.com) (self experience as a worker of BAT in Pak) 5- Conclusion This essay was carried out to see, do multinational organizations of different origin have different approaches to international human resource management? There were some evidences that showed the answer as Yes they get affected by its country of origin in on or other way, but it is also proved that the most of MNCs adopt the best fit policy when MNCs start operating in a host country, because of the obstacles in the host country, i.e. language, religion, norms and values, culture and legislations. Writers in HRM field have different opinion about the behaving of MNCs, so the best option for MNCs is to apply the best fit approaches of the HRM practices, means combination of both (Parent Host countries) HRM practices. The issue of ownership country of MNC has been in discussion for ages, but still there is not a 100% accurate answer came out as according to Ferner (1997) said that but existing research has failed to systematically explore differences. All these discussion and researchers efforts bring the conclusion that in some HR attributes in MNCs they follow the a universal approach while in some they follow the different approaches in HR practices, according to the survey by Edwards (2007) stated that throughout the report, we have noted the persistent influence of nationality. There are clear national differences in all four area of HR/ER: Pay performance, Learning development, employee involvement and employee representation. But the bottom line can be that: yes! Multinational firms of different origin can be effected by the parent country HR practices when the run business in other part of the world instead of the home country. There are some obstacles for multinational companies which can stop them to apply the 100% parent country HR practices in their subsidies like legislation of the host country, rules and regulation and more, there is term used in Edwards (2007, P.29) survey of Multinational companies in UK called discretion or local autonomy. Which shows multinational companies of different origin give the power of decision making and freedom to their subsidies? In that survey the high discretion power firms are Japanese, which means Japanese multinational companies give more freedom to their subsidies comparatively to American, French and other Multinational firms of different origin. 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