Trend and analysis of SLS hotel external environment Research Paper

Trend and analysis of SLS hotel external environment - Research Paper Example The SLS Luxury brand caters to a specific class of people who desire a lifestyle of high-class service, sophistication, â€Å"over the top† luxury, and an atmosphere that fulfills these needs. SLS Hotels have created a new paradigm in the luxury hotel experience that speaks to a global, sophisticated audience. â€Å"SLS† stands for â€Å"style, luxury, and service. This speaks to the needs of today’s sophisticated travelers, offering an array of widely customizable features and an unwavering commitment to innovation and superior guest service (Hotels, 2014). The sort of products and administrations requested by customers is generally impacted by their convictions and state of mind which, on the other hand, are affected by social molding. The surrounding social entities and the associated activities. The Hollywood presence, for instance, presents the hotel with great opportunity for the constant flow of clients who even stay for longer periods. The hotel location is a great contributor to the accessibility by the target population who include the diplomatic tourists and business persons in Los Angeles. Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, in particular, is a popular destination for people seeking luxury and high-class lifestyle. The Hollywood movie industry, high-end shopping options and opportunities, beaches and resorts such as Santa Monica Pier and Venice boardwalk, attractions such as the Universal Studios, many museums and cultural events in L.A constitutes to the main social factors that make the destination popular (Enz, 2009). Being an economic hub, Los Angeles provides the hotel with an adequate supply of market as business people from all over the world frequently come to the city for conferences (Hotels, 2014). The growing population of Beverly Hills is also a social factor to consider. Currently, the population of the city stands at over 34,000 people. However, the population has various demands depending on the age-group and socioeconomic factors.

Importance of Expenditure on Education for Economic Growth

Importance of Expenditure on Education for Economic Growth REVIEW OF LITERATURE THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL PERSPECTIVE Introduction Education is recognized as a critical input for the holistic development of the economy. Further, the elementary education plays a very leading role in acquiring larger positive externalities to the society. The provision of elementary education is one of the central responsibilities of the government. Many economic theories also suggest substantial role for the government in providing of basic education. All states in India have undertaken the responsibility of providing elementary education to their citizens. Voluminous government expenditure was increased on education across the states, but there is no significant achievement among the states in terms of educational outcomes. This chapter makes an attempt to review the available literature to understand the theoretical linkages of development and problems involved. The review of literature very helpful in understanding the research problems and explore the research gap and identify the ways that lead to solve the problem. A: Theoretical Models of Public Expenditure on Education Review of literature is divided into two parts. The first part represents the theoretical literature on financing of education, public good discussion, externalities involved with education and government intervention in the provision of education in the system. The role of education in economic development and important factors influencing on productivity and externalities involved also discussed here. The second part describes empirical studies on relationship between education and economic growth, inter-state variation in educational performance, efficiency of education system and factors influencing educational expenditure. Finance is commonly referred as providing funds for commercial activities. Public finance includes both public revenue and public expenditure, which plays an important role in influencing the other variables in an economy. Public expenditure is referred as the expenses incurred by the Government for the maintenance of the government responsibility and to stimulate the welfare of the society. Financing is an economic activity of the government to provide and manage necessary resources for satisfying the needs of the people. Education is not a pure public good, because in certain situations education might violate the principle characteristics of the public good such as non-rival and non-excludability. But education in general or elementary education in particular is considered as social good or collective good, which produces various positive externalities and social advantages to the society. Several economists have supported public expenditure on education for providing better educational opportunities in the society based on the argument that expenditure on education impacts economic development positively. During the ancient period most of the countries were following the laissez faire policy, where market forces play dominant role in adjustment of the economy. The role of the state was limited. Even under laissez-faire policy, the Government was expected to perform certain functions. According to the father of economics, Adam Smith (1937)[1] who provided a broad platform to laissez faire policy, the government has three important functions. They are Protection of society from foreign invasion. Maintenance of law and order and justice in society. The correction and maintains of public works such as educational institutions for the instructions of the people. Smith greatly emphasized the role of public finance and emphasized the need for providing public services to the poor to live and maintain their human dignity. J.S. Mill (1848) is another well known classical economist supported Adam Smiths laissez faire policy in administration of the government. He purposefully divided the functions of the government in laissez faire into Ordinary and Optional functions. The ordinary functions are defence, maintenance of law and order and other functions essential for the maintenance of the system. On the other hand the Optional functions such as education, health, family welfare and others have positive impact on economic growth the long run. In his argument he also encourage government role in advancement of public expenditure because Individuals are unable to evaluate the utility of certain goods, Lack of foresight may prevent individuals from consuming the valuable goods. Monopoly power or high prices necessitate government intervention in the provision of primary education. For the first time Adolph Wagner[2] (1835–1917) has commented on increasing state activities and through his experiment he found a positive relationship between public expenditure and economic growth among the selected countries. He postulated that when economy moves towards higher economic development path, public expenditure of the state also increases. The increasing public expenditure contributes to economic growth in various ways. In contrary, Peacock and Wiseman[3] (1967) argued that the natural course of advancement and structural change in the economy, leads to constant and systematic expansion in the public expenditure. According to them public expenditure in the system will not continuously increase. It depends on the shocks and stimulus response in the society. The Voluntary Exchange Theory was developed by Knut Wicksell (1896), Eric Lindahl ( ), Howard Bowen (1948)[4] and Musgrave (1939)[5]. It suggests that the resources in public sector should also allocate in the same manner as in such a manner to their allocation in the market with its price system. Through this theory they argued for tax collection and public spending for improving the welfare of the people. Dalton[6] postulated the public expenditure theory (1967) and according to him maximum satisfaction can be yield by striking a balance between public revenue and public expenditure by the government. According to him economic welfare is achieved when Marginal Social Sacrifices (MSS) due to imposition of taxes is equal to Marginal Social Benefit (MSB) due to government spending. Prof. Pigou argued that net social benefit (NSB) is maximized in the equilibrium condition of MSS = MSB. Public Expenditure and Decentralization Since the SSA adopted decentralized model in government spending on education, theories relating to the public expenditure, decentralization and governance are reviewed. Fiscal decentralization theorem (Oates, 1972) states that sub central governments have a comparative advantage in providing public services due to heterogeneity preferences of the people residing in different jurisdiction. He strongly argued for the decentralization in the administration and performing the functions. According to him decentralization will bring good governance at the local level and satisfy more human wants through effective public expenditure. Public expenditure and Distribution Dreze and Sen (1989) propounded public support led strategies. According to them the holistic development of the system is possible only where each and every individual has a good standard of living. For better standard of living and for tracing number of activities, they strongly argued for the educational attainment. Apart from its intrinsic importance, education serves certain instrumental roles in ensuring the freedom of a person, which not only guarantees personal gains but also possesses social ramifications including empowering the disadvantaged and reducing inequality. Certain public service such as education, health, sanitation, family welfare, rural development and others are required particularly for the development of marginalized sections. In this regard, the government investment on social sector is essential for receiving the double benefit to the economy. Samuelsons Theory of Public good The first place in defining the concept of public good belongs to Paul A. Samuelson (1955)[7]. Samuelson consider as the establisher of theory of public good. He made distinguish between public good and private good. The public good as the good, which brings benefits for members of the society as a whole and the consumption of the Public good doesnt proclaim the consumption of the other person. In Indian context provision of elementary education is a right of children between the age group of six to fourteen years, therefore elementary education consider as public good. In this regard Samuelsons argument in the provision of public good (elementary education) is justifiable. Non-rivalry and non-exclusion are two important characteristics of public good; education in general a good only obligatory education can meet the characteristics of public good. The elementary education is fulfilled the characteristics of public good and the consumption of this good does not reduce the consumptio n of other good. All these reasons emphasized the government role in public expenditure in the system. Milton Freidman (1995) published his book entitled The role of government; in that book he postulated the role of government intervention in the provision of education. He positively argued that the government intervention in public good based on strong following reasons; Capital market imperfection Incomplete infrastructure Possibility to create a monopoly Existence of positive externalities Friedman, M. (1955): The Role of Government. In: Solo, R.A, Economics and the public interest. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1955, 123-144. He propounded and accepted the approach of efficiency in the allocation of public goods. It shows fundamental difference between the allocation of public and private good based on micro economic principle. Prof. A.C. Pigou established the ability to pay theory for the determination of optimum level of public expenditure. He explained that the resources should be allocated among different uses and expenditure should be incurred in different uses in such a form that the marginal utility obtained from each different use is same. The government sector would grow with increasing level of National income. According to him if a community were literally a unitary being, with the government as its brain, expenditure should be pushed in all direction as increases of the National income. Further Prof. Pigou observed that simple marginal rule of optimization implied on increasing public sector with increasing wealth, the optimum amount of public goods is likely to raise. Justification for State Intervention in Education Some of the justifications for state intervention in education sector are as follows Education is recognized as a social good, but through the Right to Education Act (RtE) Elementary education is recognized as a public good, where it is the responsibility of government and parents to provide certain level of education. People could ignorant about the advantages/benefits/values of the education, so they have no concern in educating their pupils. The imperfect market and asymmetric information in developing and developed economies make poor people to still consider education expenditure as a consumption rather than investment expenditure. Market mechanism is mainly determined by the demand for and supply of the product. But in the case of education which is a social good, the marginal cost of additional education unit is zero and its consumption is indivisible in nature. These factor causes market failure in the market for investment in Education. Scholars like (Vaizy 1962; Blaug 1965; Levin 1987; Tomilnson1986; Musgrave 1959; Tilak 1999 and others) have strongly supported the state intervention in provision of elementary education. Contribution of Education to Economic Growth: Theoretical perspective The role of education in development has been recognized since the days of Plato. He argued that the education has high economic value; therefore a huge part of communitys wealth must be invested on education. Education helps the society by enabling them to participate actively in the development process. But, a major contribution to the discussion on relationship between education and economic growth was first made by Adam Smith (1776), followed by the subsequent contributions by the classical and neo-classical economists until Alfred Marshall. Marshall (1890) emphasized that, â€Å"The most valuable of all capital is that invested in human beings’. Further he also states that, Knowledge is our most powerful engine of production. It enables us to moderate nature and force her to satisfy our wants†. Education is one of the most important components in capacity building. It provides a base for making a person capable of acquiring skills and becoming self-sustainable. Kuznets’s study of American economy (Kuznets, 1955) shows the significant contribution of ‘residual factor’ to economic growth. A study on agriculture of 31 countries shows that four years of elementary education makes a farmer more productive than the farmer who has no education at all. I n another study of 88 countries for the period 1960-63 and 1970-73, it was found that an increase in literacy rates from 20 to 30 per cent contributed to increase in real GDP between eight to sixteen per cent. Personal earning and education have also been found correlated (UNDP, 1992). The significance of an adequately educated and technically trained manpower has been specifically recognized in economic literature since the middle of fifties when research studies in the economics of education and growth, pioneered by endogenous growth models propounded by Solow (1957), Schultz (1961) and Denison (1962). They highlighted the role of the ‘residual factor’, which mainly implied technology, learning, education and health. in contributing to economic growth (OECD, 1963). For many years, the proposition that educational expansion promotes and in some cases even determines the rate of growth of overall Gross National Product (GNP) remained unquestioned. Amazing statistics and numerous studies in the World has revealed that the growth of the nation was not due to the growth of physical capital but that of human capital that was the principal source of economic progress (Denison, 1962). In the classical school of economic doctrine, later economists considered education as an effective tool measure for population control (Malthus, 1966), achieving social justice (Ricardo, 1971) and civilized development of the society (Senior, 1939). Thus in eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, education considered as a means for bringing about improvement in purchasing power of labour force, economic welfare and social peace (Mill, 1909). In the Neo-Classical school of economic thought, education was considered as a strong source of human capital formation and an effective source to increase the income stream (Fisher, 1929). Tilak (1989) argued that Education not only ensures economic growth with equity but also has positive externalities associated with it, which make the public financing of education imperative. There are some arguments for the complementarity in public and private expenditure on the grounds of equity. The benefits that accrue to the individual in terms of higher earnings are a reason why the individual should pick up a part of the cost. If we look at the state as a supplier of education and the individual as a buyer of it, then investments by both appear to be complementary; and this may be the best model on grounds of equity. Hence, the right balance between public and private expenditures is crucial to the success of any educational policy or programme (Psacharapoulos and Woodhall 1985; Majumdar 1983). Conclusion The above discussion reveals the importance of expenditure on education for the growth of the economy and also noted the growing perception that the greater relevance to the developing countries. But in the current atmosphere of growing scrutiny of the nature of state expenditures, whether education is to be treated as a public or a private good, and whether expenditure on education is to be treated as consumption or investment need to be understood correctly. If it is seen as consumption good, that is, private in nature, then the market mechanism may be regarded as the most effective means of ensuring its adequate supply. On the other hand the state expenditure on education must be reduced to increase investment in other areas of greater importance. However, education not only offers private monetary as well as non-monetary benefits to its consumers but also has externalities associated with it, which confer benefits to society at large, even to those who have not had any education. Therefore the government should take major responsibility in providing education opportunities of its citizens. [1] Smith, Adam (1937): An enquiry in to the Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations, (Edwin Cannan eds.), The Modem Library, New York, 1937, P. 423 [2] Wagner, Adolph (1958): Three Extracts on Public Finance in R. A Musgrave and Allen Peacock eds., Classics in the Theory ofpublic Finance, Mcmillan, New York, 1958, PP. 1-16. [3] Peacock, T. Alan and Jack Wiseman (1967): The Growth of Public Expenditure in the Untied Kingdom, Allen and Urwin, London, (llnd Edition) 1967. [4] Bowen, R. Howard (1948): Toward Social Economy, New York, Rinehart (1948) [5] Musgrave, R.A (1938): The Voluntary Exchange Theory of Public Economy. The Quarterly Journal of EconomicsFebruary (1938)53(2):213-237. [6] Dalton, Hugh (1967): Principles of Public Finance, Augustus M. Kelley Publishers, New York, 1967, PP. 5-7 [7] Samuelson, A. Paul (1954): The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure. Review of Economics and Statistics, November 1954, pp. 387-389.

The Contributions of William Gladstone Essay -- British History

Every country has a leader who helps change the country and the world. William was that leader in Great Britain. Born in 1809 to a self-made Scottish merchant, which taught him to help the average person; he entered the politics at the age of 22 in 1833 where he was a â€Å"tireless administrator† with â€Å"tremendous eye for detail† (Wilson 112). At first a very strong Tory, who felt that any electoral reform would lead to revolution, he became one of the founding members of the Liberal Party in 1859. He would later say that â€Å"I was brought up to distrust and to dislike liberty, and I learned to believe in it. That is the key to all my change† (Wilson 102). As Prime Minister and leader of the Opposition for many years he â€Å"was the standard bearer [and champion of many reforms], and his gov from 1868 to 1874 was one of the foremost reforming administrations of the century† (Tompson 287). His ability â€Å"to manage big crowds and to use the power of the crowd as an extra-parliamentary weapon† (Wilson) allowed him to push tough legislation through Parliament and â€Å"his sheer bigness, and grandeur, and moral weightiness was never to be repeated on the political scene† (Wilson 118, 103). William Gladstone was a British statesman whose reforms had a greater influence than Queen Victoria. With the era named after Queen Victoria, many people believe that Queen Victoria was the most important person of this age. The Queen wasn’t popular until later in life. People hated her for her refusal to come out of mourning after the death of her husband and her unenlightened political views. The royal pair had an active role together until 1861 where she went into prolonged sadness and never made public appearances. She emerged 1870s to a much-diminished role in g... ...y 2012. . Findling, John E., ed. Events That Changed Great Britain Since 1689. Ed. Frank W. Thackeray. Westport: Greenwood, 2002. 75-80. Print. Kagan, Donald, Steven E. Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. "Great Britain Toward Democracy." The Western Heritage: Since 1300. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 684-87. Print. Olechnowicz, Andrzej. The Monarchy and the British Nation, 1780 to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print. Tompson, Richard S. Great Britain: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present. New York: Facts On File, 2003. Print. "William Ewart Gladstone." Spartacus Educational. Web. 14 May 2012. . Wilson, A. N. "William Ewart Gladstone." Eminent Victorians. London: W.W. Norton &, 1989. 99-132. Print.

From Man to Boy

Lemons. The author makes his first stand at the very opening of the work with this hard peeled, soft-fleshed visual. The sour fruit, which is cut into by the narrator at the beginning of John R. Coleman’s, essay From Man to Boy, stands as a metaphor for the life circumstances in which he continues to find himself and others. The choice allows for a much shorter opening to the essay by utilizing the well-known allegory of the lemon as an acerbic, broken object or happenstance from which the owner has no means of escape. In the beginning lines Coleman produces the appearance of a setting in which the weight of an entire world the reader does not have to see to believe in, is resting on the shoulders of the narrator. He does this by coupling the lemon with a position of employment that is both low on the wage scale, and limited in skill requirements. Even the waitress, a position most readers will equate with being lesser in station, looks down on the work, therefore the worth, of the narrator. This immediately sets up the main character as a victim of his surroundings and appeals to the reader for compassionate understanding and perhaps even pity. This appeal is sustained by the dialogue between the co-workers when Dana tells Jack â€Å"It’s no use†(LaRocco, 128) trying to change the attitude and belief of the waitress who called him a boy. The writer tells the audience, in the same paragraph, that Dana was working this job even as he, the narrator, was reading the billboards’ insidious warnings. In doing so, the narrator is offering up tangible evidence for the argument of an irredeemable quality of ignorance in the world. The argument of ignorance is juxtaposed against the theme of education. The billboards, a metaphor for society’s spoken standards versus their actual behaviors,  promise the worthy and dedicated student a life free of discrimination, bias, and general condemnation. What the writer declares to be the truth of the matter however, is that reality falls far short of the pledge. Life is a lemon. Education does not prevent the action from happening; the waitress still calls him a boy. What education provided him with was a means to recognize the insult and therefore be injured by it. This injury is noted in the sad look on Dana’s face. The exposure of the treatment of the housekeepers by the students at the college serves to call further attention to the wide spread plight of the working class. At the same time, it presents an argument that educated people are as likely to fall into the pattern of abuse, yet more likely to change their behavior once it is questioned. The narrator seems to convince the students to cease the use of the term â€Å"wombats (128),† however he also makes clear that it does not erase the ramifications of the actions for those who were abused by them. Naming them as â€Å"the cleaning women (129)† continues a convention from the beginning that says much about society by not saying anything at all. Coleman maintains Dana and himself as the only individuals worthy of names, therefore individual identities, in the short piece. Doing this preserves the notion of a singular hero with only nominal support attacking the great beast of society without actually coming forward and declaring himself a hero. Rather than failing to define himself as the hero of the episode, Coleman comes closer to refusing it. This leaves him on the same playing field as his audience, which acts in tandem with his stylistic choices in the text. By using the quick, almost darting  motions of his statements, and the clipped pacing of short paragraphs and a barely over one page essay, he keeps the reader not only involved but in step with the narrative voice. In order to make points with the intended audience of blue collar working class America, Coleman does all he can to avoid triggering the alienation he is so adamantly set out to battle. Simplicity is the key to the peace. Coleman gets in, makes his point in clear, concise terms, and gets out. This appeal to the working class reader for whom this particular piece is written is continued with a lack of satire in the essay. The simple vocabulary, short sentence construction, and lack of word play beyond the lemon all feed into the assembly of a connection between the writer and blue collar America. He never feels the need to address the existence of those high paying white collar positions directly, while they are inferred by the PhD, the collegiate tack of the students, and the billboards with their empty promises. Reference to the Quaker tradition further exposes the intention of the author to connect with a wholesome and righteous way of life. This is the assumed role many hard working laborers aspire to. The association of Godliness with the Quaker traditions works on another metaphorical level with the housekeepers when the saying is considered; Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Throughout the entire essay, Coleman does his best to solidify his roots in this working class in order to achieve a single goal. The final remark returns to the scene of the first crime in the work, a seemingly flippant remark about being a boy who cuts lemons. By returning to this line the narrator takes a stand for all of the young men who  have had to defend their honor as men simply because they were not making money in the right tax bracket. Coleman combines this with an appeal to the student from working class family to be aware of the results of their choices in treating others before the damage is done. Overall, he produces a very effective essay that is driven on the backs of metaphors and unspoken pieces of the puzzle, which are alluded to behind sweeping statements designed to stir the primal instinct of honor and self preservation in the face of societal imposed duress. Work Cited LaRocco, C (Ed.). (1995). The Art Of Work : An Anthology of Workplace Literature. McGraw- Hill.

Death of a Hero, Written by R.Aldington

The text under analysis is taken from the novel â€Å"Death of a hero†, written by Richard Aldington. The first extract under analysis is very emotional by itself. In connection with the main theme of the novel the main idea of the first extract is the representation of the beauty of things menaced by war. The first is a beautiful canvas of spring as seen by two young and sensitive people in love. And the second one is regretful author's interposition about British nature and vulnerability of people of art during the war. From the very beginning of the text we see this beauty, and when George and Elizabeth just entered the Bushey Park .They were literally shocked by the beauty of the English garden and nature. This unexpectedness is conveyed to the reader through the metaphor â€Å"sudden ecstasy of delight†. We realize how sensitive and poetic they are, and how subtly they feel this delight. And the whole text, with its highly-emotional vocabulary, rhythm and colorful descriptions sounds more like a poem. And we can find the prove in the next couple of sentences. The description of the garden is very imaginary, as if we can see it through our own eyes. This effect is created with a help of certain syntactical structure.Many sentences beginning with adverbials of place: â€Å"Between the wall†¦ and another long high wall†¦ â€Å", â€Å"Underfoot†¦ â€Å", â€Å"There†¦ â€Å", â€Å"Among them†¦ â€Å", directing our gaze and inviting the reader to enjoy all the loveliness of the sight. The choice of words is also very rich and poetic in this part of the extract. Such as â€Å"†grandiose scale†, â€Å"innumerable bulbs†, â€Å"great secular trees†, â€Å"vast fans† help to show the splendor of the nature, to emphasize the color the author uses mostly coupled epithets such as â€Å"glittering green-and-gold foliage†, â€Å"the stouter green of wild plants†, â€Å"ten der blue sky†, â€Å"white and blue blossoms† and many others.All these create a visible scenery of the garden. For the greater part the epithets or attributes denoting color, are combined with metaphors describing the shapes of the flowers: â€Å"pale hearts† of the lilacs, â€Å"foam of white and blue blossoms†. A whole cluster of metaphors is devoted to the wild daffodil: â€Å"the soft, slim yellow trumpet†, â€Å"a pointed ruff of white petals†, â€Å"gold head†. Also, to create even more visional scenery the author uses simile very often in this part of the extract.And he compares the grass to an evening sky and the flowers to stars, the red tulips to bubbles of dark wine, and the large parti-coloured gold and red tulips are said to be â€Å"noble and sombre like the royal banner of Spain† . The colors are very warm and soft, ad its completely different from the colors that would be used in the next part. The choice of wor ds is remarkable for their sonorous quality (foliage, unfold, verdure, alert, sombre, banner etc. ). The passage is particularly rich in adjectives with alliterating (slender, stiff stem; glittering green-and-gold foliage; lost in the lush herbs).The alliterations are mainly based on the l- and r-sounds. These features make the passage particularly musical. To create the same musical effect the author uses the inversion. These stylistic devices create the atmosphere of harmony, beauty and splendor. With the words â€Å"English spring flowers† the second part of the text starts. And we can hear admiration and regret in this words. The change from the mood of tender delight to that of sadness and tension is immediate. Emotional words pervading the paragraph change their key; they are woe, bitterness, despair, bleak, mournful, appalling, foul, regretful.The author just opposed the the peaceful beauty of nature and the bitterness and despair in the world of men. This sharp contra st creates the atmosphere of despair and in this sentence â€Å"What an answer to our ridiculous â€Å"cosmic woe†, how salutary, what a soft reproach to bitterness and avarice and despair, what balm to hurt minds! † we realize it even more clear how unnecessary it is to have war. And the allusion from Virgil's  Aeneide shows to us that people should stop or they would have the same destiny as Troyans.Another contrast, brought about, is between the â€Å"bleak sky† and the â€Å"bleak race† of England and her beautiful flowers and poets. The final pathetic rhetorical question is whether the prospective conqueror would â€Å"think regretfully and tenderly of the flowers and the poets†. Also, the presentiment of England's final ruin is worded as one more classical quotation. The phrase: â€Å"fuit Ilium† is from Virgil's  Aeneidethe whole line being: â€Å"Fuimus Troes, fuit Ilium† which is the Latin for â€Å"We were Troyans: Troy was†, implying that it is now no more.The sharp contrasts, as well as the emphasis laid on the effect the transitory moment produces upon the heroes' senses, the refined metaphorical imagery comparing things in nature to man-made objects of luxury, — all these combine to bring Aldington's word-painting close to the Impressionist school. The lyrical intensity of Aldington's descriptions largely depends on the combination of the direct imagistic method, i. e. presenting things in a series of images almost physically palpable and real – with the author's own comments, bitter or sad.

Civilization essays

Civilization essays Afghan history before the politically critical period that began in 1973 could be broken into five distinct time periods. Throughout this paper I will discuss the two earlier periods the area now referred to as Afghanistan had no name, the territory lied across the crossroads of many trading routes; silk and iron. Afghanistans earliest sign of human history are rich in art, architecture, and archeological remains. These two earlier periods are commonly referred to as Pre-Islamic and Islamic. It was during the Islamic period, 700-1709 that Afghanistan began to assume its temporary form. The country began to appear during the eighteenth century and emerged at the end of the century as a budding empire spreading west and southward. In Afghanistan around 3000BCE-2000BCE the first true urban centers were founded, Mundigak and Deh Morassi Ghun. Mundigak (modern day Kandahar) had an economic base of wheat, barley, sheep and goat. With this evidence the idea that the original inhibitors of Afghanistan were from the Indus River Civilization is found. Ancient Afghanistan is believed to have been in the crossroads of the Mesopotamia and other civilizations. Information gathered about this area of the Middle East is found through the written scribes of oral legends, epics, and myths, these of which cast considerable light upon the early culture, and the politics. In 2000-1500 BCE the Aryan tribes came into Afghanistan they were originally a tribe of herders who spoke one language. The city of Kabul was established during this time. Beginning in the seventh century, the spread of Islam eastward local rulers and swept northeast into Central Asia and south toward the Indus River valley. Over the span of three centuries, the following of Islamic rule diffused from ruling classes into the classes of peasants, by the time of The Ghaznavids in the tenth century most of the middle East had become Muslim. The only exceptions to this ma...

Process of internationalization of Japanese manufacturing company Essays

Process of internationalization of Japanese manufacturing company Essays Process of internationalization of Japanese manufacturing company Paper Process of internationalization of Japanese manufacturing company Paper This study was written to reexamine the procedure of internationalisation of one Nipponese fabricating company in Singapore. Impacts from fiscal crisis in twelvemonth 2008 forced the group companies to exert cost-cutting steps in their planetary operations, and localisation is the lone manner to salvage costs and to maximise the use of local expertness and reactivity to run into planetary competition. The reappraisal focuses on several front-end facets of international HRM activities during the procedure of internationalisation. Literature reappraisal on the subjects of strategic IHRM, staffing systems, cultural differences and expatriate choices were studied and compared with the current organisation construction and its HR direction attacks and patterns. Issues and jobs arises from expatriate assignments were reviewed for future development. Comprehensive rating activities and countries of betterment were recommended for the company to jump frontward. 1. Strategic Human Resources Management in International Context Strategy Human Resources Management ( SHRM ) is a procedure that allowed a company to convey its nucleus resources together for strategic planning, for illustration nucleus competence, nucleus procedures, cultural, construction and human resource to aline with the company scheme to accomplish its end and aims, see figure 1. Figure: 1 In the context of international field where the house operation involves in assorted states and using different national classs of work forces, the SHRM will look into broader position, for illustration in the country of six identified human resource activities in domestic context internationalisation [ Dowling P.J 2008 ] . Some of the extra international HRM s activities implemented by the HR section when Mastec progressed into internationalisation are given in Table 1. The nomenclature of employee class are such as, I ) PCN: employees born and unrecorded in parent ( place ) state ( headquarter ) , two ) HCD: employees born and raised in the host state ( where the subordinate operate, and three ) TCN: employees born in a state other than the host and parent state, were introduced into the company human resource system. The execution of the strategic IHRM depends on the phase of the company at during the procedure of internationalisation. Adler and Ghadar s theoretical account ( 1990 ) based on Vernon s life-cycle theory distinguishes three stages in the international merchandise life-cycle [ H. Scullion, 2005 ] . The first stage ( high-tech ) focuses on merchandises, research and development that stressing on proficient competence and function of functional country. The 2nd stage ( growing and internationalisation ) concentrates on concern growing and market incursion in local and foreign state. The 3rd stage ( adulthood ) put force per unit area on the lower monetary value and cost-control steps due to planetary competition. In the modern engineering universe, merchandise life-cycle has been shortened to 3~5 old ages, which allowed Adler and Ghader to propose a 4th stage. The 4th stage accent that a house must prosecute distinction and planetary integrating in order to accomplish cost-contro l steps. This is the chief ground for headquarter in Japan to reorganise the concern construction in Southeast Asia. The parent company has seen the adulthood of the market in Southeast which triggered their determination to implement cost-control steps. However, item examines at each of the subordinate shown that there are mixture of stages which the subordinates are sing. For illustration, Vietnam and India are in the first stage which focuses on merchandises and developing proficient competence. Human Resource Activities International Human Resource Activities Human resource planning administrative activities in foreign subordinate, cross-border hazards direction, political hazard, terrorist act and public assistance Staffing Staffing attack in subordinates in Vietnam, India, Thailand and Malaysia. Recruitment of HCNs for host-country operation, etc. Training and Development Cross-cultural preparation, linguistic communication interlingual rendition, pre-departure preparation Performance direction Evaluation of expatriate public presentation, abroad assignment ROI rating and staffs rating for foreign subordinate Compensation and Benefits Tax equalisation, abroad lodging and poster allowances, return air ticket benefits, health-care, etc. Industrial Relationship different revenue enhancement jurisprudence, conformities with host authorities policy, and conformities with general acceptable pattern of making concern. Table: 1 The other attack to strategic IHRM execution was contributed by the two logic of Evans and Lorange which suggested product-market logic and social-culture logic [ Evans A ; Lorange, 1989 ] . Both raise a inquiry how a house operates in a different merchandise markets and diverse social-culture environment, which efficaciously set up human resource policies. Product-market logic implied that assorted stages of green goods life-cycle demand different focal points of director which dictates the HR activities to concentrate on nucleus competence, entrepreneurial accomplishments and proficient know-how. Social-culture logic suggested that for a house to run in assorted counties, using people from difference social-culture backgrounds influences HR activities into supplying preparation and instruction of cultural difference. Concentrating on promoting unfastened communicating, an open-minded hearing, detering silo and easing activities that required less sentence construction will a cquire around linguistic communication and cultural different barriers [ H. Buknall, 2005 ] . The statement stressed the of import of willingness to listen, allowing the other party to clear up any uncertainty without doing self premise to accomplish effectual communicating. Since Mastec had gained the position of regional headquarter in twelvemonth 2009, the HR activities had started to look into above demand, but the execution procedure is still at a learning phases. This is the ground why merely exile from Singapore was allocated to subordinate operation in Vietnam, whereas Thailand and India still managed straight from Japan. The effectivity of current organisation construction to pull off the subordinate and how effectual it can execute its function as regional headquarter and keeping the similar degree of corporate authorities as earlier demand to be evaluated. 2. Staffing Approach and Human Resource Orientation As a house come oning toward internationalisation, direction and command go more complex due to operation in geographical scattering and multiculturalism. In leveraging those factors, the transnational house can follow centralized or decentralized attack which of all time fits the complexness of its environments. Majority of Taiwanese s MNC likes Foxconn and Acer Computer practising centralized control system. Prahalad and Doz refer centralised attack as global integrating with rigorous control and determinations doing from headquarter. Decentralized attack is more towards local responsive that gives some determination doing liberty to its subordinate in order to best modify it merchandise and services to run into local market demands [ Prahalad, 1987 ] . Typical decentralized control company is a joint venture confederations. One of a mention company which operates really successfully under decentralized system is Johnson A ; Johnson. The IHRM literature used four attacks to pull offing and staffing its subordinate, called ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric and regiocentric [ Perlmutter, 1979 ] . Through these four types of direction orientations, companies can clearly alter from one orientation to another, depending on the demands of the company [ Mujtaba, 2006 ] . This statement was proven by the determination of headquarter to alter direction system in Southeast from pure ethnocentric to regiocentric. Detail accounts of each type of the staffing approached are given as follows: 2.1 ) Ethnocentric. Is a staffing attack where subordinates are managed by staffs from PCN. In ethnocentric attack, PCNs are dispatched to make full in cardinal place of a subordinate in host-country. The head set of direction is what work at place, will work here [ Guergana K.S. A ; Mujtaba, 2009 ] . Some of the grounds to prosecute ethnocentric direction system are deficiency of qualified personal, competence or particular proficient cognition in HCNs. The demand for centralized control, hazard direction, needs for parent-subsidiary to keep good communicating and coordination are another grounds to pattern ethnocentric direction. However, there are several restrictions associated with ethnocentric system where HCNs has limited chance for calling publicity and leads to high turnover. Adaptation of exiles to host state takes much longer clip and frequently leads to hapless determination and cross-cultural struggle may happen [ Zeira, 1976 ] . High runing cost to prolong exiles disbursals being viewed as undue by HCNs. Typical illustration of ethnocentric attack company are Nipponese houses such as Panasonic, Sony and Hitachi. In Mastec organisation, the staffing attack for subordinates in Thailand, Vietnam and India adopted ethnocentric system due to miss of competence of HCNs and the demands for corporate communicating. Most of the clients in India and Thailand are Nipponese makers, hence an exile with Nipponese linguistic communication ability to pass on with client s parent company in Japan is still critical. 2.2 ) Polycentric In polycentric staffing attack, transnational houses rely on the HCN to run the concern operation and seldom PCN are transferred to foreign subordinate. Each subordinate is treated as an independent concern entity with determination doing liberty. In some instances, PCN belief that foreign markets are excessively hard to understand and therefore a articulation venture confederation was formed. The benefits of polycentric are local subordinate has more purchase to run concern operation and accomplish fastest local response to market demand. Polycentric system allows continuity of direction by HCNs in foreign subordinate. Language barrier, cross-cultural version jobs and high resettlement cost to prolong expatriate disbursals were eliminated. The disadvantage of polycentric is bridging spread between HCNs and PCNs at headquarter due to linguistic communication barrier, conflicting of national truenesss and conformity to headquarter HRM policies. There are possible hazards of subordinat e become federation, isolated from headquarter and non prosecuting corporate concern ends [ Dowling P.J 2008 ] . In Mastec s organisation, the constitution of subordinates in Indonesia and Malaysia was under joint venture confederation and run under polycentric system. In order to keep a sensible degree of control and to supply managerial and technology support, practical assignments system was implemented with frequent concern trips to see the subordinate company by the several director. 2.3 ) Geocentric The direction manner in geocentric staffing system focuses on planetary operation to pull best endowments and resources. Each subordinate and headquarter are interdependent of each other to do alone part based on their comparative advantages. An illustration of this company is Mercedes Benz, where the company beginnings natural stuffs around the universe from the lowest-cost position and assembles their autos in Germany where the best engineering is located. The strengths of geocentric attack are transnational houses able to develop a pool of planetary executive for deployment throughout the planetary organisation. It encourages calling development and publicity of high-voltage executive regardless of nationality. However, in the procedure of roll uping wisdoms and deploying expertness globally, host authorities may step in enlisting utilizing in-migration control to promote employment of HCNs. Extensive international socialization between PCN, HCN and TCN to back up geocentric staff ing system needs centralized control which reduced independence of subordinates and the staffing determination is clip devouring. High cost associated with cross-cultural preparation, resettlement disbursals and the demand to hold compensation bundle with international criterion gives significant fiscal load to the houses. 2.4 ) Regiocentric Regiocentric staffing attack focuses at a specific geographic boundary, but used a pool of directors from the subordinates within the part. Several regional headquarter can be formed such as in Asia, Europe and Middle East which will describe to headquarter in parent state. The regional headquarter additions determination doing liberty to run their concern. HCH will be able to interact with PCN posted in the regional headquarter. Parent company is able to keep sensible conformities to headquarter HR policy and manage hazards control with PCN staffed in regional office [ Dowling P.J 2008 ] . However, there is a potency of federation at regional instead than a state footing. Career chance besides limited to regional degree and deficiency of chance for HCN or TCN to research headquarter working experience. One should retrieve that the four direction orientations are non reciprocally sole. Therefore, they can take topographic point all the clip within same organisation for its sections or merchandise lines [ Guergana K.S. A ; Mujtaba, 2009 ] . The current organisation construction of Mastec clearly showing the application of assorted direction manners within an organisation. 3. Pull offing Cultural Differences Culture can be defined as shared of beliefs, values of a group of individual, ways of thought and life [ L. Laroche, 2007 ] . It encompasses what we are taught to believe and response to any given state of affairs by the society in which we are raised. In transnational concern context that runing globally, one has to be sensitive and understand the cultural ways of making concern. An illustration is, in Nipponese civilization, some of the determination devising procedure is executed through informal progress treatment to make a consensus called nemawashi [ Jon Miller 2007 ] . Greert Hofstede has defined civilization as: Culture is more frequently a beginning of struggle than of synergism. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and frequently a catastrophe. [ Geert Hofstedea„? Cultural Dimensions, 2009 ] The statement implied that if we have an insight position of different people behaves in different civilizations, we will be given to interact with the people in other states more efficaciously to make successful concern consequences. The Hofstede s five cultural dimensions of survey can be applied to hold broader positions of national civilization. Power Distance: Most of the states in Southeast Asia part exhibits big power distance. In such organisation, most of the power centralized in the custodies of few cardinal staffs. Subordinates have high dependence on their foremans and are improbable to near and belie with their foremans straight. Individuality: States in Southeast Asia are a assorted of individuality and Bolshevism. Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam are more Bolshevisms due to the people from birth onwards are integrated into cohesive groups, high regard for royal household and household oriented. In Nipponese civilization, individual sentiments about do non be and employees will move harmonizing to the involvement of their group ~ the group come before single. American and Australia states exhibit high individuality where people are more self-oriented. Maleness: Refer to the societies where gender functions are clearly distinguishable. In maleness society male are supposed to be self-asserting, tough and material success oriented. Female are supposed to be more modest, stamp, submissive and concerned with quality. In Asiatic society, particularly Korean and Nipponese company, the maleness civilization is stronger, where female staffs are expected to function tea whenever there is an of import visitant. Uncertainty Avoidance: This can be defined as people tolerance toward uncertainness or ambiguity. It indicate to what widen the cultural intricate a individual to exhibit the feeling of uncomfortable and nervous in unstructured state of affairss. State of USA and UK exhibit low degree of uncertainness turning away whereas Japan and Singapore exhibit high degree of uncertainness turning away. An illustration, Japan tends to hold rigorous Torahs and processs to which their people adhered closely. Long-run Orientation: Long-run orientation versus short-run orientation. This 5th civilization is said to cover with Virtue regardless of Truth . Valuess associated with long-run orientation are thrift and doggedness and values associated with short-run orientation are regard for tradition, carry throughing societal duties, and protecting one s face . Both the positively and the negatively rated values of this dimension are found in the instructions of Confucius, the most influential Chinese philosopher who lived around 500 B.C. This dimension besides applies to states without a Confucian heritage such as Brazil. [ Hofstede, 1994, Geert Hofstedea„? Cultural Dimensions, 2009 ] Beyond the economic and political-legal issues, a state s cultural environment ( communications, faith, values and political orientations, instruction, and societal construction ) besides has an of import deductions when it comes to a company s determination about when and how to make concern at that place [ Bohlander/Snell 2007 ] . Asiatic society comprised of assorted civilizations and traditional imposts inherited from different states. It is critical for a planetary director or exile to to the full cognizant of the several civilization before going for international assignment. Some director can follow culturally appropriate behaviours, but that does non use all the clip in all cultural puting [ Dowling P.J, 2008 ] . Therefore, it is indispensable for HR to set up and facilitates cultural preparation to fit exiles with necessary accomplishments to get by with the new environment in foreign state. 4. Exiles Selection Hiring and deployment people to efficaciously execute international assignment is a important determination because failure in expatriate assignment will do immense fiscal loss, damaging a concern, and distance a dealingss between subordinate and parent company. One can reason that an expatriate failure represents a choice mistake, compounded in some instances by hapless expatriate direction [ Eugene A ; Nic, 2002 ] . Recruitment and choice is a procedure of seeking possible occupation campaigners and garnering information for the intent of measuring and make up ones minding best people for a peculiar vacancy. The factors involved in expatriate choice can be assessed from single and state of affairs facets. Individual factors are one ) proficient ability, two ) cross-culture suitableness, and three ) household demand, whereas state of affairs factors are categorized as I ) civilization or state demand, two ) linguistic communication, three ) MNE demand. Technical ability of an employee to execute the needed undertakings is the most of import consideration, given most of the ground for international assignment is to fill up place . That means, particular accomplishments and competence or of import functions will be assigned to the exile. In most of the developing state such as Vietnam and India, deficiency of HCN s staffs ability required parent company to despatch expertness to make the occupations every bit good as cognition transportation. Giving that ground, an effectual accomplishment of exile is besides of import to interpret proficient or managerial accomplishments to HCN. Cross-culture suitableness or ability to accommodate to foreign environment is important for an exile to run independently in foreign environment. The desirable properties shall include cultural empathy, adaptability, diplomatic negotiations, linguistic communication ability, positive attitude, emotionally stableness and adulthood [ Caligiuri, 2000 ] . An employee with high coping accomplishment enabled him to last and blend into local civilization. Apart from civilization ability, person s personality, communicating accomplishments and attitude to alien are besides of import factors for exile to construct up personal web in foreign state, therefore contribute to successful of international assignment. Family demand determines the ability of household members to accommodate to the new foreign environment, peculiarly partner. The duty of partner to setup new place, plus the down side emotional feeling of go forthing behind a calling, friends and societal support web may do load to an exile and affected the work public presentation. The major causes of expatriate failure are household accommodation doing premature going, hapless public presentations, lifestyle issues, work accommodation, concern clime and repatriation issues, and other chances arise. By far, the biggest factor tends to be a partner s inability to set to his or her new milieus [ Riki Takeuchi, 2002 ] . Break to kids instruction, the demand to take attention of aging parents and detention of kids for a individual parent may do the selected campaigner to reject the international assignment. In order to avoid load of draging partner, the director assigned to India is without attach toing by his partner and kids. State or cultural demand may enforce limitation to use PCN or TCN. Multinational house demand to show that HCN is non available, or supplying a preparation plan to reassign cognition to HCN before the host authorities will publish working license. An illustration is in UK, working license for Nipponese linguistic communication interlingual rendition is easy to obtain compared technology occupations. In some state, working licenses merely issued to deport where draging partner is non permitted to work, which may make accommodation jobs. Or work license merely issues to male exile ( eg. no work license for adult female exile in Middle East state ) . MNE staffing policy is another of import determination to run into company objective, for illustration cognition transportation, direction development or organisation development. The motivational of HCN, HCN s calling patterned advance and maintaining the lowest cost of concern operation besides need to be considered. However, for the ground of corporate control and the demand for particular accomplishments, staffing of PCN can non be avoided. Other situational factors are manner of operation, continuance and type of assignment and sum of cognition transportations will impact the staffing policy. The ability to talk local linguistic communication linked to the capableness to larn local civilization. Differences in linguistic communication are recognized as major barrier to effectual cross-cultural communicating. Even though, many transnational houses topographic points linguistic communication at less of import standards and they view linguistic communication as a mechanical which is manageable by single. Exiles who are able to talk local linguistic communication will be regarded as portion of the local society which make concern communicating much easier and friendlier. The other of import facet of linguistic communication is the ability to understand corporate linguistic communication. Some transnational house from non-English talking states may follow corporate communicating utilizing the linguistic communication of parent state ( eg. Nipponese or Korean ) as a standard manner of describing. Prospective campaigner may be eliminated from the possible pool due to a deficienc y of competence in the common linguistic communication [ R.Marschanp, 1999 ] . Therefore, linguistic communication ability may restrict the transnational house ability to choose the most appropriate campaigner. The demand of Nipponese linguistic communication to pass on with Nipponese clients has placed limitation of expatriate choice in India A ; Thailand. 5. Lessons Learned The determination of headquarter in Japan to alter direction system in Southeast Asia part has put great force per unit areas on Mastec s HR direction to looks beyond local context. Throughout the procedure of implementing IHRM activities, legion valuable experiences have been learned for future betterment although there is no major jobs arise. Those experiences suggested that IHRM does non merely ease and back uping concern units but plays a strategic functions to originate the planning procedure and supervising the execution throughout the organisation. The close coordination between HR section and single concern units in the execution procedure is indispensable to recognize the company expostulations. Several experiences gained are examined below for larning procedure: 5.1 ) Mis-match of outlook: Lack of cultural apprehension: It is non surprise that the cultural preparation was ignored because HR section has taken for granted that Singapore is a multicultural state. The outlook director from the HNC in term of reactivity and local staffs direction have causes conflict under seeable direction system. This had resulted the director to wing more frequently to the finish to decide the issues. 5.2 ) Lack of cultural apprehension: In India, keeping custodies between male-and-male indicate good relationship and trust of each other. However, this pattern has given a civilization daze to the Nipponese exile when a local client tried to keep his manus during the walks for tiffin after a serious concern treatment. 5.3 ) Insufficient expatriate agreements: The last proceedingss determination of choosing a campaigner for occupation assignments in Vietnam has given surprises to the partners. In order to maintain his occupation public presentation, the exile agreed on the assignment and go forth behind his sick parent to be taken attention by his partner entirely. Frequently, the exile has to return to place at his ain disbursals for going cost. 5.4 ) Lack of communicating channel: The above mentioned exile does non has communicating channel to relay his personal job to the company. Approaching straight to his foreman could be misinterpreted into demanding for excess benefits. The issue may be solved if HR could near open-minded treatment or utilizing mentoring attack. 5.5 ) Language barrier: Due to the alone communicating demand with Nipponese exile of clients and possible local campaigner for occupations assignment in Thailand and India was eliminated. This has slowed down company nonsubjective to cut down runing cost toward regiocentric direction system. 5.6 ) Lack of broader position: Due to different compensation bundle for abroad assignment between Nipponese and Singapore exile, a possible local campaigner who has Nipponese linguistic communication ability rejected the offers for occupation assignment in India. The difference of compensation particularly in hardship state has viewed as undue and less attractive by local staff. 5.7 ) Lack of cultural apprehension: A freshly expatriate Nipponese director exercises his authorization to coerce a group of employee to work during the cultural national vacation in Thailand ( Buddhist festival jubilation ) . The director has promised to his client to despatch his employees to back up production and will pay ternary wage for the over-time working hours. Without understanding the cultural pattern of spiritual jubilation in Thailand, he applied pure ethnocentric direction manner that worked good in Japan into Thailand society. That incident caused cultural struggle between that group or worker and the exile. 6. Decisions The internationalisation procedure of Mastec is still at an early phase where there are still many activities needed to set in topographic point to beef up its operation. Mastec need to look beyond its coverage of IHRM surveies in the country of preparation and development, public presentation direction of exile, direction of repatriates, sequence program, industrial relation, and human resources direction in host-country. The issues and jobs that originate could be avoided if the proper pre-departure preparations were conducted before expatriate assignment. People before Products is a doctrine of the laminitis of Panasonic Group company, Konosuke Matsushita ( 1984-1989 ) , stress on cultivating the possible ability and development of workers before concern [ Konosuke Matsushita, 2007 ] . For illustration, Samsung Electronics used internal developed Local Expert plan to develop employees to better understand the international concern environment [ Tony Michell, 2010 ] . We can besides foretell that in long tally there is possibility for parent company determination to travel toward to polycentric system in Southeast Asia part subjected to successful of current agreement. Therefore, it is important for Mastec to implement more IHRM activities in order to show its independence and capableness to pull off the regional concern. At the same clip, it is indispensable to derive regard and trust from headquarter by following strong corporate administration, cooperation and conformities to headquarter HR policies in Japan. 7. Bibliography Peter J.Dowling ; Marion Festing A ; Allen D.Engle, SR. : International Human Resources Management ( 2008 ) . South-Western Cengage Learning Hugh Scullion A ; Margaret Linehan: International Human Resources Management ( 2005 ) Evan P ; Lorange: The Two Logics Behind Human Resource Management ( 1989 ) . Palgrave Macmillan Hugh Bucknall ; Reiji Ohtaki: Mastering Business in Asia ( 2005 ) . John Wiley A ; Son D.A. Heenan and H.V. Perlmutter: Multinational Organization Development ( 1979 ) Addision-Wesley. Prahalad C.K. ; and Doz Y.L: The Multinational Mission , Balancing Local Demand and Global Vision ( 1987 ) . New York, Free Press Mujtaba B.G: Cross Cultural Change Management ( 2006 ) . Liumina Press, Tamarac, Florida Guergana Karadjova-Stoev ; Mujtaba B.G: Strategy Human Resource Management and Global Expansion Lessons from The Euro Disney Challenges in France , International Business A ; Economics Research Journal, Vol.8, No. 1 ( January 2009 ) , pp.69-77 Y.Zeira: Management Development in Ethnocentric Multinational Corporation , California Business Review, Vol. 18, No.4 ( 1976 ) , pp.34-42 Lionel Laroche ; Don Rutherford: Recruiting, Retaining, and Promoting Culturally Differences Employees ( 2007 ) . Butterworth-Heinemanm Jon Miller ( 2007 ) : The Art of Nemawashi hypertext transfer protocol: //www.gembapantarei.com/2007/03/the_art_of_nemawashi.html Geert Hofstedea„? Cultural Dimensions. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.geert-hofstede.com/ Geert Hofstede: Cultural and Organization Intercultural-cooperation and its of import for endurance ( 1994 ) . Maidenhead, McGraw Hill Bohlander/Snell: Managing Human Resources ( 2007 ) , 14e. Thomson South-Western Eugene McKenna and Nic Beech: Human Resources Management-a concise analysis ( 2002 ) . Financial times, Prentice Hall P. Caligiuri: The Big Five Personality Characteristics as Forecasters of Expatriate s Desire to End the Assignment and Supervisor-rated Performance . Personal Psychology, Vol. 53 ( 2000 ) , pp 67-88. R.Marschanp-Piekkari, D.Welch and L.Welch: Adopting Common Corporate Language , International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 10, No.3 ( 1999 ) , pp.377-90 Riki Takeuchi, Seokhwa Yun, and Paul Tesluk: An Examination of Crossover and Spillover Effects of Spousal and Expatriate Cross-Cultural Adjustment on Expatriate Outcomes . Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 87, No. 4 ( August 2002 ) : 655-66. Konosuke Matsushita: Konosuke Matsushita s Enduring Insight-The Heart of Management ( 2007 ) . PHP INSTITUTE, INC, ISBN978-4-569-69112-1 Tony Michell: Samsung Electronics-and the battle for leading of the electronics industry ( 2010 ) . John Wiley A ; Son

Serial Comma in Business Writing

Serial Comma in Business Writing In nearly every business writing course I lead, the subject of whether or not to use a serial comma (also called an oxford comma) comes up. There is always strong opinion. I actually dreaded writing this article. I was scarred by this subject while in graduate school studying composition and rhetoric, when I had to write a 10-page paper on the history and merits/detriments of the serial comma. I had to present my research and opinion to my classmates, who not surprisingly loved to debate grammar. The argument about whether the serial comma should or should not be included lasted over two hours. We never did come to any consensus. This controversy probably exists because there is no grammar â€Å"rule.† Just convention. And, style guides differ. To define: a serial comma is the optional comma used at the end of a list. The most common conjunctions in a list are â€Å"and† and â€Å"or.† The serial comma is the comma that comes before the conjunction: I like cookies, cupcakes(,) and gumdrops. (The comma before and is the serial comma.) TED Talks provide an excellent illustrative summary: Let me tip my hand, and give you my opinion on this business grammar issue, and then I’ll explain why: The customary convention in business writing is to use the serial comma. The customary convention in journalism is to omit it, historically to conserve space. The British tend to use serial commas less than Americans. It is both correct to use or not use a serial comma, so what is most important is consistency. (And, be prepared for some editors to correct you, regardless of which option you choose.) I recommend using the serial comma in business writing, since it is the customary convention. And, to me, it is much easier to consistently follow this convention, than to omit it most of the time and add it in when clarity is needed. Keep it simple. Let’s look at examples where the serial comma clarifies: When stocking your desk, be sure you have pens, pencils, paper clips(,) and pins. (The comma after pens in parentheses is the serial comma.) If you do not use a serial comma in this sentence, meaning is still quite clear, but you might wonder if you need to buy a box of paper clips and pins mixed together: When stocking your desk, be sure you have pens, pencils, paper clips and pins. Let’s examine a more ambiguous example: The job involves restocking shelves, cleaning and serving customers. (Without a serial comma before and, the sentence suggests the person doing this job will be responsible for cleaning the customers in addition to serving them.) Another example illustrating confusion that results by omitting the serial comma: â€Å"To reduce stress, I like running, yoga, meditation and visualization and quiet time alone.† Notice I omitted the serial comma here. Let’s see how this example works: No comma: To reduce stress, I like (running,) (yoga,) (meditation and visualization and quiet) time. Comma: To reduce stress, I like (running,) (yoga,) (meditation and visualization,) and (quiet) time. Recommendation Use the serial comma consistently in your business writing. Only omit it in those rare instances when it muddies meaning. Grammarians love to debate this issue, and there will never be full agreement, but for business writing, the convention is clear: use the serial comma. What is your opinion on this hotly debated grammar issue? Yes or no for the serial comma?

Origins of the Women's Suffrage Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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Law report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Law report - Essay Example Complicating matters for the yacht owners and the master, Rule C goes on to state that: †¦Demurrage, loss of market, and any loss or damage sustained or expense incurred by reason of delay, whether on the voyage or subsequently, and any indirect loss whatsoever, shall not be allowed as general average (York-Antwerp Rules, Rule C). It is therefore clear, that neither the master nor the yacht’s owners may claim as general average acts, the damages sustained upon the master’s discharge of the ship. However, this does not preclude general average acts. It only means that damages for delay and damages related to lost charters are exempted from general average acts. The damages sustained to the ship during the discharge are recoverable because, although those damages were sustained after the salvage operations were conducted they can still be regarded as direct consequence of the salvage operations under Rule A of the Antwerp Rules, 2004. ... foresees that it is possible, â€Å"then the subsequent accident does not break the chain of causation† (Australian Coastal Shipping Commission v Green and Others, 357). In such a case, the subsequent accident is a direct consequence of the general average act and is claimable as a general average act. In this regard, having intended to carry the ship to Southampton, the master must have contemplated that a change in those plans, following a fire would have incurred the risk of subsequent accidents. This is particularly so when the ship was placed on dry dock, which was not a part of the original plans and certainly not in contemplation of the master. Now faced with the necessity of having to place a ship on an unplanned dry dock following a fire, the master must have reasonably foreseen that subsequent accidents were possible. Moreover, the yacht was placed on dry dock as a direct consequence of the fire damages incurred while on the original journey. Therefore, the damages s ustained in the course of continuing the rescue of the distressed ship was a continuation of the salvage operations and therefore the general average acts continued at that particular point. The owners may therefore claim general average acts in respect of the damages sustained during the master’s discharge. The master however, is unable to claim special damages in respect of delay and loss of earnings as a result of the delay. This is because the concept of general average arises out of the imposed duty for all parties with an interest in a general average act to contribute to the cost of salvaging a distressed ship. The law of general average acts function together with the law of salvage and â€Å"sue and labour† and culminate to regulate the act of â€Å"saving (Mukherjee, 22). It is possible for

PERSONAL ETHICS ACTION PLAN Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

PERSONAL ETHICS ACTION PLAN - Assignment Example I will never compromise my integrity based on the opinions of others and I will remain true to my purpose and myself. I will remain ethical, motivate and enthusiastic at all times in both my personal and professional duties. While working in groups, I will ensure that my personal life reflects my character of respect, ethics and integrity and maintain the same standards throughout my career. I will lead by example and demonstrate how hard work and integrity pays off both in personal and professional life. I have learned that ethics comprise of the values, norms, beliefs and basic principles that govern interactions of individuals in the society. Sound ethical principles enable and individual to differentiate what is wrong and what is right. From my research, personal ethics provides the moral background that people build their live and assists in decision-making. Ethics will entail the core values that individuals will reflect on while solving day to day problems. I have also learned that ethics differ from one individual to the other and entails the ‘inner voice’ and intuitions that drive an individual in identifying what they consider as right or wrong in decision making. I believe ethics is demonstrated how an individual treats others with respect and dignity. Some of the virtues that guide individual ethical virtues that I have identified through research and course reading include integrity, competence, generosity and respect for other individuals’ lives and dignity. I have noticed that ethical norms are performed through consistent practice of the character traits that individual wishes to portray as the personal identity in the society. Ethics not only requires an individual to comply with the law but also the generally accepted norms in the society. From my discussions with classmates, the best way to understand your ethics is to begin questioning your beliefs, norms and attitudes of the human

News Writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

News Writing - Assignment Example US president Barack Obama officially declared a $3 billion contribution to a global fund to assist third developing states manage the implications of global warming. Addressing University students at Brisbane, Obama spelt out his promise to the UN Green Climate Fund. The president’s declaration comes amid preparation for the official beginning of the G20 Leader’s Conference (Koplowitz 1). â€Å"Today, I’m announcing that the United States will take another important step,† said Obama, â€Å"the United States will channel $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund to assist third world countries handle climate change† (1). Obama’s pledge referred to Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), cautioned could be at jeopardy if no step is taken to reduce carbon emissions. Echoing Obama’s sentiments, Athena Ballesteros, an executive member of the World Resource Institute, commended the U.S’s effort in curbing greenhouse emissions. â€Å"These promises take us a significant step closer to attaining an international climate settlement(Koplowitz 1),† said Ballesteros. In attendance was HelaCheikhrouhou, the head of the GCF. Mrs. Cheikhrouhou expressed optimism that the U.S and Japanese assurances and the subsequent G20 focus on climate change, would pave way for more important contributions by other states. â€Å"The U.S’s commitment will be a legacy of U.S President Barack Obama,† said Cheikhrouhou. Reading from the same script, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to follow Obama’s footsteps, assuring the GCF that his country’s contributions are on the way. â€Å"Concerning the Green Climate Fund, the moment all the appropriatecircumstances for receiving the contributions are met, we will deliberate on whether to contribute the fair share of the problem† (1), said Abe. For this major objective to be realized, the three nations developed a set

Radar Logic in the business excellence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Radar Logic in the business excellence - Essay Example Every organization has a mission, vision and goal. In addition, businesses develop strategies in which they can ultimately achieve these objectives. This is referred to as the business plan. It is essential that businesses develop a means in which they can assess their development with respect to achieving their goals and objectives. The intention of this treatise is to make out whether the organization is indeed running right in terms of direction and pace. The EFQM Business mold operates by providing organizations a yardstick for which they can measure and evaluate their existing position as pertains to excellence (Hakes & Wilkinson, 2007, 76). With this, the organization is granted the opportunity to identify the facets of the organization that is need of additional efforts in order to achieve the overall goal of excellence of the organization. The EFQM emphasizes on the importance of prioritizing the shareholders purposes and ensuring that the original targets of the company are met as stipulated. In conclusion, the EFQM model is a necessary tool for measuring the progress of the organization with respect to its goals. It beneficial as it helps to single out and analyze the different areas of the organization in terms of their performance. This is essential in the identification of the areas that need more attention and effort in order for the organization to achieve the excellence level that is

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business Essay - 3

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business - Essay Example As a result of this open registration system, shipping companies that are located within the United States or other countries can register their ships in countries such as Liberia, Mangolia or Cyprus where the labor laws and environmental standards are much less stringent and thereby is able to escape liability for many of the regulations that are enforced upon ships registered in other countries. Harun Ur Rashid (2005) points out how the flag of convenience is one aspect of international shipping law that has allowed ships to escape liability for some of the worst accidents that have occurred, such as the oil spills off Spain’s northwest Coast on November 13, 2002, which was one of the worst environmental disasters in history, yet no liability could be pinned on the ship that was operating at below optimum standards. Ships can also escape liability for issues involving immigration and the liability of individual citizens of various countries who are employees on board its vessels. For example, the case of Empresa Hondurana de Vapores v McLeod involved an issue aboard a ship with a flag of convenience, which was registered in Honduras. The National Labor relations Board directed that an election be conducted among all foreign seamen aboard the ship. This was contested by the Honduran company that owned the ship as a violation of the private law of Honduras and thereby a violation of international treaty obligations1 as well as a violation of the United States Constitution itself. The Plaintiffs relied upon the case of Fay v Douds in which the Court held that district courts have jurisdiction over proceedings where constitutional rights are violated. The company therefore sought and won an injunction in a federal district court against the order of the National Labor relations Board on the basis that the Board had extended its jurisdiction into the foreign relations field through ordering such an election (Powar, 1962). Moreover, in

Radar Logic in the business excellence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Radar Logic in the business excellence - Essay Example Every organization has a mission, vision and goal. In addition, businesses develop strategies in which they can ultimately achieve these objectives. This is referred to as the business plan. It is essential that businesses develop a means in which they can assess their development with respect to achieving their goals and objectives. The intention of this treatise is to make out whether the organization is indeed running right in terms of direction and pace. The EFQM Business mold operates by providing organizations a yardstick for which they can measure and evaluate their existing position as pertains to excellence (Hakes & Wilkinson, 2007, 76). With this, the organization is granted the opportunity to identify the facets of the organization that is need of additional efforts in order to achieve the overall goal of excellence of the organization. The EFQM emphasizes on the importance of prioritizing the shareholders purposes and ensuring that the original targets of the company are met as stipulated. In conclusion, the EFQM model is a necessary tool for measuring the progress of the organization with respect to its goals. It beneficial as it helps to single out and analyze the different areas of the organization in terms of their performance. This is essential in the identification of the areas that need more attention and effort in order for the organization to achieve the excellence level that is

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Portfolio final pram project - Essay Example The analysis leads me to the inference that my writing lacks a good research, analysis, and brainstorming. I was a failure in supporting it with a powerful thesis that promotes the basis for every successful essay. I personally feel that the paragraph construction of the essay was also not so accurate because, it lacked a logical development of ideas and a proper construction. Though I was aware that a good paragraph needs a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence, I could not maintain these features when I completed this essay. Here one topic directly jumps to another without much description or logical conclusion. The essay began as a review of the given article but ended as a study analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of Social Networking. The lack of a good research was the grave issue I felt with my less successful essay. If I had engaged in brainstorming, I could have used more key words for searching the topic on internet and thus find out valuable sources that help support the study. I should also comprehend that only a good research leads to a good analysis and findings. A well organized introduction that ends in a thesis statement has an elite role in creating a successful essay. I have to keep in mind the fact that ‘well begun is half done.’ Also, I forgot the lesson that one should never end a paragraph with a quotation. The comparison of the less successful essay with the successful one helps me to explore certain other factors also with regard to writing. My successful essay, ‘Memories of Mother Day’ has a logical sequence of facts which I developed after brainstorming. It also has well structured paragraphs beginning with topic sentences, supporting sentences and a very logical conclusion. The usage of language was the other issue that attracted my close attention to my two essays. I am quite sure that language has a decisive role in the

History of Cooperative Learning

History of Cooperative Learning 2.0 Introduction The review of the literature is organized in seven themes. The first theme aims to provide an overall overview on the history and previous studies made on Cooperative Learning. The second theme addresses the importance of Cooperative Learning. Then, the third and fourth themes focus on Group Work and its benefits. Followed by, are the fifth and sixth themes base on the positive perceptions and experiences from students using group work and use of Group work in accounting class. The seveseventh section which is the last one of the literature review enumerates some of the criticisms of using group work as a teaching and learning strategy. 2.1 History of Cooperative learning The origin of the Cooperative Learning dated back at least 100 years ago, and even thousands of years ago, but little research was made until the 1960s (Jacobs et al., 2002:2). Since then, it has awakened much attention and has constantly been a hot topic in education. From 1960s till today great importance has been attached to the term Cooperative Learning. For instance, in the mid 1960s Johnson and Johnson contributed much for cooperative learning in the training of teachers at the University of Minnesota. Then, it progressed till the early 1970s where researchers like David DeVries and Keith Edwards at Johns Hopkins University built up Teams-Games-Tournaments and other researchers like Sholmo and Yael Sharan in Israel developed the group investigation procedure for the Cooperative Learning groups. In the late 1970s Robert Slavin extended DeVries and Edwards work at Johns Hopkins into Student Teams-Achievement Divisions and modifying computer-assisted instruction into Team-assisted Instruction. At the same time, Spencer Kagan created the Co-op co-op procedure. Followed by, in the 1980s Donald Dansereau widened a number of cooperative scripts, and many other individuals worked out further cooperative procedures (Johnson, Johnson Smith, 1991).The Cooperative Learning has also been found as an effective epitome of communicative language teaching. As affirmed by Putnam (1995) that The Cooperative Learning is embraced within a communicative language teaching framework He also pointed out that the cooperative learning activities are often used in communicative language teaching Cooperative learning has become so common that it is no more considered as a new idea in education. This can be viewed in the mid of 20th century where applications of cooperative learning drew its development to sociology and social psychology specifically to Gordon Allports Social Contact Theory and Morton Deutschs studies of group dynamics. This continues on, as Cooperative Learning is believed to make educational magic in a uniquely 21st century way. 2.2 Definitions of Cooperative learning It is believed that the use of cooperative learning in the classroom as an instructional strategy had been a subject matter for many years. Jenkins and OConnor (1996) suggested that cooperative learning in the classroom is amongst the best strategies for teaching students with and without disabilities in the classroom. As a result, the success of teaching using cooperative learning was conclusive in almost all studies. To begin with, it can be noted that many scholars and researchers have attempted to investigate into the concept of Cooperative Learning. In view of that different definitions have been given to Cooperative learning. According to Slavin (1983) Cooperative learning has been defined as a teaching strategy that encourages students to work in small, heterogeneous learning groups in order to promote individual learning. The fact that learning groups should be mixed or diverse is significant to ensure that learners can learn from each other, and provide encouragement and support to each other in different aspects and at different levels of the curriculum. Likewise, cooperative learning has generally avowed to be the best option for all students since it emphasizes active interaction between students of diverse abilities and backgrounds (Nelson, Gallagher, Coleman, 1993; Tsai, 1998; Wei, 1997; Yu, 1995). The accepted idea proposed in these different definitions by different authors is that Cooperative learning should be taken as a learning approach in which student are grouped together in order to ensure that they help each other in learning an academic subject in the scope of a common goal and also where they are actively participating in the teaching-learning process 2.3 Importance of Cooperative Learning Today cooperative learning is a matter-of-fact in almost all school content areas and, progressively more, in college and university contexts all over the world (Johnson Johnson, 1989; Kessler, 1992). This could be found in the results of several studies of the cooperative learning literature where Springer, Stanne, and Donovan (1997) acknowledged that there is the need for a shift in importance from teaching to learning. At the very first glance, it might seem that cooperative learning is merely the splitting up of students with varying levels in small groups in order to attain common goals. Things; though, are not always what they appear to be. In reality, cooperative learning goes beyond organizing students. For example, as stated by Crandall (1999) Cooperative learning is more than just small group activity. In a well-structured cooperative task, there is a genuine information gap, requiring learners to both listen and contribute to the development of an oral, written or other product which represents the groups efforts, knowledge and perspectives. Many studies have been conducted vis-Ã  -vis the effectiveness of such cooperative learning approaches. Cooperative learning is group learning activity planned so that learning is reliant on the socially structured exchange of information between learners in groups and in which each learner is held accountable for his or her own learning and is motivated to increase the learning of others. (Olsen Kagan, 1992). In addition Barbara Leigh Smith and Jean T. MacGregor (1992) mentioned collaborative learning as an umbrella term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint intellectual effort by students, or students and teachers together. Drawing from this quotation, it can be said that to some extent together with cooperative learning, collaborative learning activities also cover a broad territory of approaches such as classroom discussions intersperse with short lectures, peer teaching, students put together around group work in the amount of in-class or out-of-class time and others. Nunan (1992), for instance, uses the terms cooperative learning and collaborative learning interchangeably and quotes the following definition: Collaborative learning entails students working together to achieve common learning goals.(Slavin, 1983; Sharan et al. 1984). But for this study our prime focus is on group work. 2.4 Definition of Group Work Toseland and Rivas (1984) described group work as a goal directed activity with small groups of people aimed at achieving socio-emotional needs and completing tasks. Normally, this activity is aimed at individual members of a group and to the group as a whole within a system of service delivery. The use of group work has been broadly accepted as an effective teaching and learning tool (Conway, Kember, Sivan, Wu, 1993; Freeman, 1995). More precisely, there is a substantial body of literature advocates that the use of group work as a cooperative learning approach has positively contributes to student learning (James, 2005; Mahenthiran Rouse, 2000; Roberts, 2004; Rossin Hyland, 2003). Furthermore, as stated by Lundgren (2008) cooperative learning was considered as a relationship in a group of students that requires positive interdependence, individual accountability, interpersonal skills, face-to-face positive interaction, and processing. Infrequently, random or special interest teams could be formed to maximize student talents or meet a specific student need (Kagan, 1994). 2.5 Benefits of Group work 2.5.1 Group Work enhance Learning To start with, it is recognized that engaging students in Cooperative learning make them learn best when they are actively involved in the process (Gross Davis, B 1993) and also Cooperative learning involves groups of students working to complete a common task together (Siegel, 2005). It has also been viewed by Vygotsky (1978) that students perform at higher levels when they work in diverse groups, as opposed to working individually. Furthermore, as asserted by Johnson and Johnson (1987) huge majority of the research comparing student-student interaction patterns indicated that students learn more effectively when they work cooperatively. Other investigators like Cotterill and Mills (1994), in Australia at Wollongong University, stated that all three benefits of group work in their assessment policy, Group work, under proper conditions, encourages peer learning and peer support and many studies validate the efficacy of peer learning. It is said that teachers also get satisfaction with the integration of cooperative learning groups (Linchevski Kutscher, 1998). It is so because the use of small groups requires fundamental changes not only in the organization of the classroom but also in ways of learning (Kramarski Mevarech, 2003). Likewise, cooperative learning facilitate individuals to develop their own understanding as cooperative learning approaches force learners to actively relate their own experiences and perceptions to those of others. Consequently, while interacting in cooperative learning activities individual understandings are verbalized and discussed and in the process of discussion new meanings are created as learners help each other to better understand the learning matter. (e.g. Akan, 2005; Anderson et al, 1996; Kalliath et al, 2006). It is at this point interesting to note that Anderson et al (1996) put forward that group learning has become more important, as institutions of higher learning consist of increasing numbers of mature learners who bring life and work experience into the classrooms. Therefore, these mature learners return to formal education because rapid social, economic and technological changes require them to be lifelong learners with transferable skills. 2.5.2 Group Work and its 21st Century Skills Using Group work as a teaching and learning strategy does not only promote cognitive development but also plays an important role in the development of personal and social skills which will help students in future. As per Bermejo (2005) Group work is becoming more and more imperative with the demand for higher order thinking skills in the 21st century job market. The field of collaborative learning broadens beyond the classroom walls and then cooperative learning may be observed as a component of collaborative learning. This has been clearly discussed by Wiersma (2002) who believed that collaborative learning has a wider application outside the classroom and is rather a philosophy of life that involves working together, building together, learning together, changing together, improving together. Its a philosophy that fits todays globalized world. Moreover, it has been seen that in a literature there is a strong support that a successful cooperative work environment will lead to greater effort to achieve, more positive interpersonal relationships, and greater psychological health when compared to a competitive work environment (Johnson Johnson, 1989). As argued by Gibbs (2001) the requirements for students to enter todays work force with the ability to identify and organize information and resources, communicate well with others, and understand social and organizational systems. Therefore, it will be true to say that Collaborative learning does enhance leadership skills by developing and strengthening team members abilities to reflect, respect, converse, and resolve conflict. 2.6 Positive perceptions and experiences from students using Group Work According to Walker (2001) little research has been published to date reporting on student perceptions of group work. Despite the fact that focus of her study is on student perceptions of group work associated to peer assessment, her findings suggest that students in general had a positive attitude towards group work. The facts that most students are usually positive about group work have been echoed by additional researchers. To start with, Chapman et al (2006) in a study found that the overall attitude generally positive [and] degree of conflict was moderate. As a result, it can be said that most group experiences can be categorized as a positive one. The question which needs to be answered is: What are these positive experiences? At first, it will be true to say that students appear to enjoy working cooperatively and are willing to cooperate with others in the group (Krol, Janssen, Veenman, van der Linden, 2004). The reason behind which is the fact that it encourages various styles in which learning takes place. Normally, learning in groups is experienced as fun and more active. This can be found in a study by Yazici (2004) entitled as Student Perceptions of Collaborative Learning in Operations Management Classes provided evidence that the students agreed that they had a better understanding of Operations Management in a collaborative instruction environment. As said by Colbeck et al (2000) students who experienced to group learning approaches in education learn to value the skills which they are acquired for their future careers, like for instance, the ability to listen to other perspectives with an open mind, to suspend judgments, and to search for solutions in a democratic and inclusive manner. Moreover, in a study made by De Vita (2001) students found group work to be demanding, but on the other hand they felt that they learned a lot about themselves and felt better prepared to work in diverse teams in the future. As a result, it can be said that group work has lead to positive impact on students. 2.7 Use of group work in Accounting Class Many studies have focused on cooperative learning as teaching strategy in accounting field. For instance, Norman, Rose Lehmann (2004) in their broad review of literature between 1990 and 2003 agreed on the terms collaboration and cooperative learning were used interchangeably in many international accounting journals and elsewhere. In a study by B.J Farrell and H.M Farrell (2009) called Student satisfaction with cooperative learning in an Accounting curriculum showed that team work has been as an instructional strategy. As a result, it can be viewed that the used of cooperative learning is common in tertiary sector. Thus, teachers in secondary schools must ensure that cooperative strategies are being used. In Mauritius, either it is in Primary or Secondary schools; more focus is paid on teacher-centered classroom rather than student-centered. Therefore, for accounting students who will opt for further studies in Universities or will join the world market, they should possess the knowledge, quality and skill to work in groups. It is because team work is required in almost every universities and work place. Hence, in every classroom, especially in accounting teachers must structure lessons so that students work co operatively in small groups, ensuring that all members master the assigned material. Restructuring the classroom using one of the many cooperative learning models represents a major departure from the traditional classroom setting. In Mauritius it can be clearly noted that there are a competitive situations in classroom. Students only aim is to compete with each other for grades, they work against each other to attain a goal that is getting the highest mark. Therefore this lead to a competitive or individualistic classroom environment, but studies have shown that working in groups lead to significant positive effects on the learning of the students ( Johnson Johnson, 1989; Johnson, Johnson and Smith, 1981, 1991; Johnson et. al. 1981; Qin, Johnson, Johnson, 1995). 2.8 Criticism of Group Work It is believed that to avoid drawbacks of this particular teaching strategy, it is of the essence to recognize what has been said against it. Many researchers have proved that cooperative elements alone do not ensure maximal productivity from a learning group; there has to be both cooperation and conflict (Iganaki Hatano, 1986, Tjosvold Johnson, 1978, Worchel McCormick, 1963). To be more precise, group work practices have been criticized as being ineffective (Alexander, Rose Woodhead, 1992). It is because many problems like conflicts of ideas, disagreements, misunderstanding and free riders can be found during the processes of the strategy. On the word of D.Johnson, R.Johnson and A.Smith (1990), it has been viewed that when students interact conflicts among their ideas, conclusions, theories, information, views, opinions and preferences are obvious. Furthermore, Cohen (1996) stressed upon the fact that, Disagreements about ideas is a healthy sign during group work as long as intellectual disagreement does not degenerate into sharp interpersonal conflict. As said by Ames (1984) when cooperative groups fail, there is the tendency to fix blame on others and the weaker group members become the scapegoat. Therefore, misunderstanding might rise up. There are still some cases where pupils, even in small groups, tend to be silent participants and depend on the thinking of other students. Previous studies by Galton et al. (1980) and Bennet (1987) have shown that, whilst children in classrooms may be seen sitting in groups; closer observation proves that their mode of working is rarely collaborative. Free-rider is a familiar problem in group work. In a study by Per Ola BÃ ¶rjesson et al. named Free-riding in Group Work Mechanisms and Countermeasures, free-riding in group work has been described when one or several members of a group contribute so little to a group project that if the same grade is given to all members of the group, the grade would be misleading and unfair. Hence, this is ascertained that such problem is inevitable. Although many studies have shown that both low and high ability students tend to benefit from cooperative learning, the question of whether the experience of working in group will be of value in terms of creating a pleasant environment which will lead students in achieving academically is remained to be answered. Occasionally, random or special interest teams could be formed to maximize student talents or meet a specific student need (Kagan, 1994). It was certainly understandable Jerome Bruner wrote The single most characteristic thing about human beings is that they learn (1967: 113). The review of the cooperative learning literature is structured around six themes. The first theme aims to provide a theoretical frame of learning underpinning the use of group work as learning and teaching strategy in education in general. The second theme focuses on the rationale for the use of group work in Accounting. Vital in a discussion about group work in accounting education are the group work experiences and views of learners and educators as discussed in studies about group work these make up the third and fourth theme respectively. The review then examines suggestions put forward in the literature regarding ways to overcome some of the challenges associated with group work. The last theme focuses on the influence of task design on group work and suggests that good design can contribute to addressing a number of group work challenges. Use of collaborative learning in general collaborative learning Use of group work in accounting Group work experiences and views of learners as discussed in previous studies Overcome some challenges Task to design group work There have also been criticisms of this pedagogic approach, Holt et al (1997) council against its indiscriminate use. They note the complex relationship between individual, competitive and collaborative behaviours. Holt also stresses that all costs and benefits, particularly to the students, must be weighed. Further noting that time, in particular, is a very scarce resource for students. Evaluation has been carried out on the effectiveness of group work in accounting education for meeting the desired learning outcomes (Caldwell et al 1996; Ravenscroft et al 1997, Berry, 1993). Berry expresses concerns similar to those above about theconflict between individual and collaborative behaviours in this context. The effect of cooperative learning has been measured using student examination performance Ciccotello et al (1997). observed that students exposed to cooperative learning outperformed students taught by individual problem solving sessions on a managerial accounting course. Several papers report on the implementation and operational issues arising from the use of group work in accounting (Cottell et al, 1992; Cottell et al 1993; Peek et al, 1995). Referring back to the Group work in accouting that cooperative learning as a student-focussed pedagogical approach provides educational satisfaction (Norman et al., 2004) in creating a positive learning engagement for most students studying International Accounting and in developing their interpersonal, professional and written communication skills. Norman, Rose Lehmann (2004) in their extensive review of literature between 1990 and 2003 found the terms collaboration and cooperative learning were used interchangeably in many international accounting journals and elsewhere.