The American Dream Essay Example for Free

The American Dream Essay What is the American Dream? The American Dream is an idea people have that they can have happy and successful lives if they work hard enough. Since the Mayflower brought over the first settlers, America has attracted people all over the world to relocate to our country just to start a new and free life. They all had a dream, something we call the â€Å"American Dream†. We may think the American Dream doesn’t mean much but for some it could mean everything. The American Dream can mean different things to each individual. For example, in the novel Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck, George and Lennie mentioned that they wanted to live on the fat of the land. This was their dream because George doesn’t want anybody around telling him what to do and Lennie wants to tend many of his own rabbits. Whereas, in the nonfiction story Of Plymouth Plantation written by Bradford, the pilgrims are brought to America to seek better lives. They wanted to escape religious persecution. Their dream was to be able to worship God and find land to own. America is known as the land of opportunity. People from other countries dream of bringing their families to the United States of America. They just want to own their own home and have stable jobs. We Americans don’t realize how lucky we are to be free. Other countries would give up anything to be given the opportunity to come here. The desire among many parents is for their children to lead happy lives. This is especially for immigrants because many of them left their home countries die to difficult living conditions. Although the concept of the American Dream is well known most people don’t realize how long it’s been around. Back in the 1900’s it was about being free and treated equal. Being free and treated equal meant more to African Americans because they were done with being so discriminated against. They worked so much harder than whites and got little to nothing in return. For example, Langston Hughes’ poem, â€Å"I, Too, Sing, America† is about an African American that gets mistreated. He has to eat dinner away from everyone else when company comes over. He finally plans to stand up for himself by eating at the table no matter what anyone says. His dream was to be free of racism and treated equal. Now days, it’s difficult for people to capture their American Dream. The economy has gotten so bad overtime to where people have to get more than one job to bring in enough income. In reality, your income decides your way of living which is utterly ridiculous. Money shouldn’t have to play such a big role in our lives. I think one job should be enough to buy all the necessities and then some but, unfortunately its not. My mom has 3 jobs with loads of stress piled on her shoulders and it’s still not enough to 100% support us. Her American Dream shouldn’t be about having less stress and more money but should be about her living a happy stable financial life. In other words, the American Dream can mean so many different things but in the end it all related in some way. Everyone wants to be successful with no worries. Not everyone is as lucky as us Americans to have a dream that we at least have an opportunity to achieve. People all over the world dream about coming to America for better lives. If you try hard enough, you may be lucky enough to achieve your dream.

Kettle Foods Marketing Plan

Kettle Foods Marketing Plan Potato chips as a product has been a major snack being consumed around the world but most predominantly in is consumed English speaking countries and some West African countries as well. Potato crisps were first developed in New York, Saratoga Springs in the year 1853 to be precise. It gradually became popular as time went on. The industry has faced several challenges over the years especially in the UK due to the economic difficulties (recession) faced by the country and consumers are also now aware of the health issues that arise due to excess consumption of such snacks which decreased the level sales level of such products. However, the industry still stands and is still leading among snack industries. There are various reasons and factors in industry still remained important and one of such is the health aspect. Many manufacturers and companies over the years have been trying to come up with a solution to the response of consumers to potato crisps as a snack product that contains a high level of fat and sodium which can lead to a high blood pressure or blood sugar and tooth erosion if consumed excessively. As mentioned above, one of the companies which have decided to come up with a solution to the problem that affects potato chips health-wise is Kettle. Kettle has been in the business of manufacturing potato chips naturally without the use of GMO ingredients. Our analysis as will be discussed will focus on the potato chips industry using Kettle Chips as a case study. Kettle was originally founded in 1978 in Salem by Cameron Healy. In 1987 accompanied by his son, Cameron went on a 6 week motorcycle adventure which led them to discover how much the British really liked chips. A branch was later established in the UK, Norwich (1988). Kettle foods today are one of the biggest potato chips manufacturers and have maintained their originality in taste and natural ingredients till date. The Kettle Brand potato chips was perfected in 1982 and have been improving and even expanded their line of production to include Baked Potato Chips, Kettle Brand, Tortilla Chips and Kettle Brand in order to meet varying tastes of their costumers (Kettle Foods Inc., 2009). 2.0 UK MARKET DATA British Population is the biggest snack eaters in Europe amid growing health concerns about savory treats. As a country it consumes an estimated 6 billion packets per year, that equivalent of almost 100 packets of crisps per person. Its a national obsession with crisps and nuts, which means that they spent  £55 per person on them last year, more than double the  £22.50 of nearest rival, Germany. This is projected to climb to more than  £80 in 2014. Overall, they munched through 300 tons of the snacks in 2010, worth  £2.47billion and a quarter of all sales in Europe. Report author James Manley, of leading market analyst Mintel, said: The UK is king in the European crisps and salty snacks market. Eating occasions are unlimited and snacking is rife throughout the day. Though the health credentials of crisps are questioned, it still holds 48 per cent of sales in UK. Other snacks, including tortilla chips, popcorn and pork scratching make up the remaining 52 per cent. UK Potato Crisps Snacks Market to hit  £2.61bn by 2014 Says New Report. As per past records and analysis, in 2006 the UK market value of crisps, salty snacks and nuts was around 2500 million pounds. It has been noticed that the consumption of the chips is continuously increasing that too at a constant pace. As per current data i.e. 2011, the market value is 3176 million pounds. In Fig1.1 diagram, there is a forecast given for four years that is from 2012 to 2016. As per Mintel forecast it is estimated that UK market share for 2012 will be around 3300 million pounds and further increasing to 3500 million pounds in 2013 and so on. The end of 2016 estimates the total UK market value for this to be 4183 million pounds. By taking all the provisions it can be concluded that in the best case scenario maximum UK market value can go up to 4627 and in the worst case scenario it can go down to 3853 in 2016, keeping in mind all the different confidence level. Thus, analyzing all the past data and future forecast of UK retail sale of crisps, salty snacks and nuts it can be concluded that UK market has got huge potential for the consumption of the crisps and all and this can be taken as an opportunity for the existing market players of crisps and they can all increase their own market share by adopting several strategies. Most of the market share is captured by walkers so this can be an opportunity for kettle chips to snatch walkers customers by putting all the marketing efforts or kettle can put such strategy to attract new different groups of customers. 3.0 INTERNAL ANALYSIS THE MARKETING MIX Marketing can quickly and simply be defined as the process of making a product or service available to the consumer at the right place, price, and time (James and Carlson, 1996-2012). This usually involves the careful analysis of the product or service in four different aspects known as the 4Ps (McCarthy, 1960) before proceeding. You as a marketer has to consider what the consumer wants or what their needs are, the environment or location of your business, if the price of the product or service youll be offering will be too high or too low and finally but not the least, how to promote the product or service. Now we will be taking a look at Kettle Chips and how they market their products putting the 4Ps, which are Product (Service), Place, Price and Promotion into consideration. Before we go into the full analysis, it is good to have in mind the aim and objective of the companys (Kettle Chips) product which is to provide for the consumer the best healthy, nutritious and tasty potato chips for them to enjoy and now we will see how they have managed to achieve this so far. Marketing Mix An effective marketing mix has to match consumer need, corporate resources and to create a competitive advantage. A market-oriented firm always keeps an eye on its environment. The environment is divided into the microenvironment and macro environment. In microenvironment, the key actors are suppliers, management of the company i.e. the company itself, customers and competitors. Micro environment are internal to the organization and the organization has sufficient controls over it. Macro environment consists of economic, social, legal, physical and technology forces. Macro-environments are usually out of the companys control. (Jobber and Fahy, 2003) Four Ps of marketing mix: 3.1 Product This part of marketing mix mainly focuses on what exactly consumer wants. Under product, we have to consider what the consumer needs are and what exactly consumers wants. For developing marketing mix of Kettle Chips we need to consider the part of the market being targeted by Kettle. Kettle Brand targets health conscious customers, which imply that their product has to be health inclined in order to appeal to the consumers and also to satisfy its customers. Secondly, Kettle, since 1978 produce their chips using only natural ingredients (Non-GMO products) in order to give their consumers extra reassurance of steps they take to ensure ingredients with integrity (Kettle Foods Inc., 2009). Findings from research, (Mintel, 2009) provides us with information showing an improvement in the sale of crisps due to the fact that they are more healthy in terms of calories and fat than they were before. The Non-GMO project stated Kettle Brand Chips as the first potato chips being produced without the use of GMOs in 2009. Their chips are gluten free and they use expeller pressed oil for their products in order to give their consumers a safe product to enjoy. Kettle Chips arent just bent on the health aspect of their products and ignoring how tasty their chips should be. They offer different seasonings of potato chips such as Sweet Onion, Tortilla Chips, Lightly Salted Sea Salt and Vinegar, Spicy Thai, Unsalted, Jalapeno, Red Chili etc. All of these are produced naturally to meet different tastes of consumers. Product Life Cycle This is simply a principle that suggests that every product has different stages that it must pass through before it is eventually pushed from the market. Introduction: This is when the product is first introduced into the market and as a result of that, a large number of the consumer market are unaware of the product so its profits are low at this stage. Normally in this stage the company or manufacturer will try to cover its high cost of production, which will result in the product becoming less affordable for the average consumer.(Vernon, 1966) According to product life cycle theory, the Kettle Chips products in this section are Jalapeno chili, Mexican Potato Bake, New Kettle Ridge Chips, Sour Cream, Corn, Tomato, Avocado and lime dip, Peach and Coriander Salsa. (Kettle Foods Ltd., 2012) Growth: This is the stage that usually determines if the product will survive or not. The producers at this stage will try to bring down the cost of the product as to make it more affordable for the average consumer by coming up with ways to cut down the costs of production and present better offers. In addition to this, the company will have to make use of a strong approach in advertisement and promotion strategies in order to catch the attention and interests of their customers.(Vernon, 1966) Under this section, Kettle Chips have products such as Mature Cheddar Multipacks, Ridge Chips, Tortilla Chip. (Kettle foods Ltd., 2012) Maturity: The third stage is only attained assuming the product has survived the previous stage (Growth Stage). At this stage, the price must have fallen to a more affordable level for more customers to purchase due to standardized production. Here, production and technology may also be exported to underdeveloped and developing countries where production costs will be lower and developed countries can focus on innovation to make the product better.(Vernon, 1966) Examples of kettle chips products that are currently in this stage are Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar and Lightly Salted. These are among the most demanded Kettle Chips seasonings.(Kettle Foods Ltd.,2012) Decline: This is the last stage. The product begins to fade out of the market, demand, and production and of course, profits begin to crash as well due to new technologies and new products coming up. It usually still survives for a while in the underdeveloped and developing countries but is eventually completely pushed out over time. (Vernon, 1966) The Boston Consulting Group Theory (BCG) Bruce Henderson founded this in the early 1970s. Initially, it was designed as tool to be used for financial management but was then put to better use in marketing. Boston Matrix considers products in two dimensions: relative market share and market growth rate. (Cranfield School of Management, 2000) Boston Matrix categorizes products in four boxes, which are Star, Cash Cow, Problem Child/ Question Mark, and Dog. Star: Building market shares as sales improve. Products here are cash neutral. They generate cash as volume and revenue builds rapidly, but they usually require special attention in funding because they are new products. Usually, aggressive marketing is required for such products. Cash Cow: The products in this box have high a high market share but low market growth, which implies that they are mature products. These generate cash that is needed to support other aspects of the business. Problem Child/ Question Mark: These are products that do not hold a dominant market share but are high in market growth. These are often newly introduced products that have a high tendency of failing in the market. They usually require large amounts of cash to fund their development. Dog: These are products that were once on top but have declined and now generating low cash flow and in some cases, even become liabilities to the business. Henderson advises that such products should be discarded. (Cranfield School of Management, 2000) In the following diagram some of the Kettle Chips products are categorized according to the Boston Consulting Group Theory. BCG MATRIX Fig. 1.2 3.2 Place When considering place, one have to consider the location of the business, how accessible it will be to the customers and probably the distribution channel or channels that will be used. Kettle Chips products are found almost everywhere around the world but predominantly in European and West African countries. The Kettle Foods office in UK supports a network of independent distributors which make their products available in the Middle East and European countries outside UK such as Denmark, Belgium, Greece, Austria, France, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Ice land, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Italy, Malaysia, Malta and Luxembourg (Kettle Foods LTD, 2012). Distribution Channel Kettle chips are found in various supermarkets and retail shops around the world making it easy for their consumers to access their products. There are various distribution channels that can be used by any business that produces consumer goods such as: ProducerÆ’Â  Consumer ProducerÆ’Â  RetailerÆ’Â  Consumer ProducerÆ’Â  WholesalerÆ’Â  RetailerÆ’Â  Consumer ProducerÆ’Â  AgentÆ’Â  WholesalerÆ’Â  RetailerÆ’Â  Consumer Source: Figure 9.8. Introduction to marketing theory and practice (Palmer 2004:357) Kettle Chips use wholesalers as well as retailers but do not use agents in their distribution channel. They sell directly to their wholesalers. Their distribution channel would appear like this for example: Kettle ChipsÆ’Â  TescoÆ’Â  Off-license shopsÆ’Â  Consumers (Kettle Foods Ltd., 2012) 3.3 Price Under price, there must be consideration of if the price of your product or service will be too high for your consumers or too low for the company to turn in profits. Kettle as a company usually build their facilities upon locations with good vegetation and natural resources that supports their business such as the Green building mentioned above under place and their facility in Salem, Oregon which is located adjacent to a nearly 2-acre wetland (Kettle Foods LTD, 2012) . These in turn enables them to avoid extra expenses that would have been spent on purchasing some raw materials and gives them the ability to keep a low cost on their products while making sufficient profit to grow the business. Kettle Chips products are not the cheapest and can still put up more effort in bringing their prices to a lower level. A minimum level of price should be maintained with a good quality in production because the lower the price, the higher the demand. This will give an organization an edge over its competitors that offer a higher price for the same quality or even lesser quality. (Kettle Foods LTD, 2012) Kettle Chips Pricing Strategy Kettle Chips came into the market in 1978 to be specific and at this period, they were not many companies manufacturing chips, especially in the UK and so, they decided to penetrate the market with their naturally made potato chips and were selling them at a high price. Kettle Chips had very little competition at this period so they were able to sell their products to high income earning consumers at high prices while having a low promotion. In other words, they used the Slow Penetration strategy to penetrate the market. This was possible for them because their kettle style cooking was unique at this period. Presently, Kettle Chips have a strong brand, so they maintain a Slow Skimming strategy because they have a strong brand. Being already established, they are relaxed about promotion and that is one of the reasons why more recent companies such as Walkers have a higher market share. Consumers are more aware of companies that spend a lot on promotion. 3.4 Promotion Kettle advertises their products through the use of e advertising (internet), Television and radio broadcasts, and public relations such as their community giving. Kettle makes donations of money, product and time to local organizations. They donate chips for fundraising events at local schools and give more than 175,000 pounds of potatoes to local hunger relief agencies every year. They also give out their brand products to organizations and schools. Kettle Chips successfully created a significant uplift in sales from existing, lapsed and new purchasers through a brand campaign in newspapers. They are now looking more confident than ever, their market share has increased as a result of this (Kettle Chips: The Story, 2012). The result of the campaign is as follows: Newspapers immediately boost sales by over 20% During the newspaper campaign, Kettle Chips sales of featured products were 20.5% higher among people in the public who saw the adverts, compared with a matched unexposed sample and maintained sales impact In the 12 weeks post campaign, newspaper advertising continued to increase the sales by 19.5% (Kettle Chips: The Story, 2012). Newspapers engage all types of buyers KETTLE Chips advertising successfully increased penetration and frequency of purchase as well as reengaging lapsed users. (Kettle Chips: The Story, 2012) Newspapers are brilliant for making big bold brand statements Kettle Chips simple but confident campaign captured readers attention and increased their emotional brand involvement. This was very beneficial in the sense that it gave their customers a sense of affiliation with the product and of cause; this encourages loyalty to the brand as well. (Kettle Chips: The Story, 2012) 4.0 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS Fig 1.3 The Marketing Environment. Source: Jobber, D and Fahy, J. (2003), New York: Mc Graw Hill Education UK LTD Micro Economics Introduction: Creating customer value and satisfaction is the main key to build relationships with customers. It is not a one man task.so there are many actors playing role to build micro environment. Marketing success requires building relationships with other company departments such as competitors, suppliers, customers, various publics and marketing intermediaries .All these are combined to process effective delivery network. Components of micro environment 4.1 Competitors Marketing concept is based on believing better customer value and satisfaction than its competitors. Thus the company should adopt itself to the needs of consumers.one of the important aspects of gaining strategic advantage is by positioning their offerings strongly against competitors offering in the minds of customers. All companies have their different marketing strategy based on their size and industry positioning. In the context of kettle chips, the three most powerful competitors for kettle chips are Walkers (PepsiCo), Pringles (PG), and McCoys (UB). The following table describes the leading brands value shares in crisps and salty snacks from 2009 to 2011. From the table it is clearly visible that Kettle Chips stands in the 5th position in the market of crisps and salty snacks. Fig 1.4 4.2 Customers Customers are the most important element in the companys microenvironment. The main aim of the entire delivery system is to serve customers and build strong relationship. There are five type of customer market and the company may target any or all of them. To start with the customer market, first type is consumer market, which consists of individual and households that buys product for personal consumption. Business market consists of buying the goods for further processing or in the production process whereas reseller market buys goods for the purpose to sell them at profit. Government markets consist of government agencies that buy goods for public service or to transfer them to others who need them. International market is made up of buyers in other countries who may be consumers, producers, resellers or government. Kettle chips has established itself as a premium brand for chips and thus these chips are mainly for a specific targeted customers whose income level are little high than others because as compared to walkers kettle chips are slightly costlier and kettle chips believes in delivering good quality crisps and consumers who are really health conscious go for kettle chips. Consumption of crisps, salty snacks and nuts in the last six months, by type, by demographics, November 2011 Fig 1.5* small sub-sample (75-100) SOURCE: Toluna/Mintel 4.3 Suppliers Suppliers are important link in the companys overall delivery system. They are the source of resources needed by the company to produce its goods and services. Supply shortage can cost sales in the short run but it can hamper customer satisfaction in the long run. Most marketers today treat suppliers as their partners for generating customer value. The people who make Kettle Chips have always believed that the simple approach to good food is best. So the highest quality potatoes are sourced locally, and no artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or MSG are added to the process. Only the best potatoes are used to give the distinctive golden colour, crunch and flavour of a Kettle chip. Kettle Chips source 75% of the brands potatoes from its home county of Norfolk, and 90% from East Anglia. Kettle Chips are made in the Kettle Foods Ltd factory in Norwich, where the company has been ever since it was first launched in the UK. Nelson County Potatoes is a bespoke growers group to Kettle Foods Ltd- makers of the famous hand-cooked KETTLE ® Chips, a premium quality product made using the finest potatoes. Its Norfolk-based growers produces more than 65000 tonnes of potatoes each year, a large proportion of which go in to kettle chips at the kettle foods limited base in Norwich. From this part about 100 million bags of kettle chips are produced each year and distributed across the country to all the major supermarkets and other food store. 4.4 The company For designing the marketing plans, the company has to interrelate and coordinate with all the departments within the company like top management, finance, research and development purchase, operations and accounting. The duty of the top management is to set the companys mission, objective, strategies and plans. Marketing managers work closely with other departments. Kettle chips takes pride of being a well-known and growing business with its roots based in the local community.it has got wide diversity of people from all backgrounds, working hand by hand to one common goal of making better chips. The company provides great working conditions and friendly management and this helps company retain the employees. Currently the managing director of kettle Foods at Diamond Foods, Inc. is Dominic Lowe, the Cadbury man who became Green Blacks managing director last year, moving from a  £1bn-a-year business to a  £40m-a-year one, believes the public is more concerned about the deeds of an ethical company than its ownership Macro-Environment: Introduction The macro environment comprises of forces that do not immediately affect the business but it may have effect in the long run, as time goes on. As these environmental changes take place, macro-environment affects the micro relationships of the business as well. The micro environment is complex and interdependent. (Palmer, 2004) Components of macro environment 4.5 Political/Legal factors In UK, food products including the Snacks are heavily influenced and controlled by legislation relating to composition and labeling requirements, such that consumers can be confident of the wholesomeness and value for money that they represent (Van Horn, 2002). On a world perspective, the availability of safe food is an increasing problem in fast-growing urban populations. Meeting this need by the provision of new food product is a major opportunity for UK as these markets develop. These refer to government polices such as the degree of intervention in the economy. What goods and services does a government provides, To what extent does it subsidized firms, What are its priorities in terms of health of the people, Political decisions can impact on many vital areas for business such as the education of the workforce, the health of the nation and the quality of the infrastructure of the economy such as the road and rail system. In developed economies, government intervention is inevitable in order to uphold the consumers trust and faith in the governments systems. Over the years, consumers lifestyles have become eclectic and the culture of ready meals and snacks has become popular. This has lead to several lifestyle diseases. Children studying in primary and secondary schools are the largest buyers of sweet and savory snacks. It has been observed that such snacks formed an integral part of their lunch boxes. Due to the adverse affects of snack food on childrens health, the government, through its Better Regulation Commission, has proposed certain standards for school food. The standards restrict the sale of confectionery, savory snacks except nuts and seeds, and deep fried snacks like crisps and burgers. (Better Regulation Commission, 2007). The government in the United Kingdom has become proactive in promoting healthy eating and balanced diet patterns to the citizens. The government, along with various other organizations like the NHS, initiated several awareness campaigns to tackle the growing problem of obesity. The campaigns promote the reduction of fat, salt and sugar the consumers daily diet. This move by the government can lead to a projected decline of 4.1% in the sweet snacks market and 3.4% in the savory snacks market over a period of five years (Just Food, 2009). 4.6 Economic factors These include interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates. Change in these factors can lead to a major impact on a firms behavior. Like Higher interest rates because it costs more to borrow. A strong currency may make exporting more difficult because it may raise the price in foreign currency. Inflation may provoke higher wage demands from employees and raise costs. Higher GDP growth may boost demand for a firms products. The market value of Snacks companies in the UK represents a further contribution to wealth, both in the holdings by private shareholders and in those held by institutions. The balance of trade arising from Kettle products is positive because the major materials are already found and created in UK plants. Also, the nature of the product cost structures is not ruling out significant inter-country shipment of such low price-dense, high bulk packs. The United Kingdom was faced with two unfortunate economic crises in the second half of 2007. The tumult in the financial markets along with steep increase in the fuel and food prices severely affected the business and commerce, as well as consumer confidence. The consumers have become relatively conservative in their approach to spending on consumer goods. The sweet and savory market has however shown a steady growth in sales. This reason could be attributed to the nature of these products. Snacks are particularly seen as indulgent and impulsive products with a low unit price. Snacks are also low involvement products unlike other consumer goods. In the United Kingdom, the market for crisps and snacks grew by 5% since 2007. This is mainly because the snacks companies have responded well to the consumers needs in this fragile economic environment. (Mintel, 2009) In spite of positive growth signs, the manufacturers still have to struggle due to the existing credit crunch, coupled with the rising costs of wheat, flour, maize and potatoes, and instability in crude oil prices. All these factors put a strain on the manufacturers profit margins. (Research and Markets, 2008) 4.7 Social factors / Cultural Changes in social trends can impact on the demand for a firms products and the availability and willingness of individuals to work. In the UK, for example, the population has been ageing. This has increased the costs for firms who are committed to pension payments for their employees because their staff is living longer. It also means some firms such as Asda have started to recruit older employees to tap into this growing labor pool. The ageing population also has impact on demand: for example, demand for sheltered accommodation and medicines have increased whereas demand for toys is falling. There is now a wealth of evidence to show that consuming a high salt diet brings with it increasing health problems. High salt intake is linked to increasing blood pressure, which causes strokes and heart disease, with other less well-known effects including stomach cancer and osteoporosis. Basically, these issues are advantage for Walkers since majority of their products are potatoes. Potatoes are low calorie and excellent for people that are health conscious. The sale of sweet and savory snacks thrives on consumption patterns of younger consumers aged between 15-34 years. Due to persistent efforts by the government to encourage consumers to adopt healthier lifestyles and eating habits, the demographics of main consumers of snacks has changed. Fewer children are attracted to crisps and snack. The Government regulations as mentioned above have also been a cause in making crisps and other sweet and savory snacks unpopular among children. 4.8 Technological factors Technology can reduce costs, improve quality and lead to innovation. These developments can benefit consumers as well as the organizations providing the products. Online shopping, bar coding and computer aided design are all improvements to the way we do business as a result of better technology. In the process of building this successful brand Kettle Chips, the business found that it had developed a reporting problem in lower management. The company system consisted of 70 to 80 spreadsheets, which were constantly being updated and sent back and forth between departments. The reporting process took at least eight weeks, and if any modifications needed to be made, it took a minimum of two days. Employees also had difficulty creating their own reports, and would have to rely on an IT software developer to do the job for them. This ended up taking most of the developers time, which would otherwise have been spent on other pressing IT needs. After a long search for a solution, Kettle Foods Ltd chose IBM Cognos Express, along with Logicalis UK as their IBM Business Partner. Kettle chips selected IBM Cognos Express because it combines the planning and modeling strengths of IBM Cognos TM1 and the reporting strengths of IBM Cognos Business Intelligence in a value-for-money offering; providing a complete planning, reporting and scenario-modeling toolset. 4.9 Environmental factors Environmental factors include the weather and climate change. Changes in temperature can impact on many industries including farming, production cost and Product life. With major climate changes occurring due to global warming and with greater environmental awareness this external factor is becoming a significant issue for firms to consider. The gener

Living Machines, Constructed Wetlands and Sustainable Water Resources E

Living Machines, Constructed Wetlands and Sustainable Water Resources Thesis: Conventional waste treatment plants, Living Machines and constructed wetlands can all be used for water purification, but only living machines and constructed wetlands will provide the human race with a sustainable future. Introduction Our liquid planet glows like a soft blue sapphire in the hard edged darkness of space. There is nothing else like it in the solar system. It is because of water (Miller 311). - John Todd Water is the most important resource on the planet. Absolutely no life could exist with out the presence of water. Humans use water to cook, clean, bathe and drink. However it seems that humans as a race have extremely little respect for this resource. Humans continually pollute and damage the health of our aquatic ecosystems using irresponsible agricultural practices and improper disposal of our wastes. These issues must be examined because the way humans interact with the earth have strong moral and ethical implications. As the scarcity of potable water continues to increase the value of water will continue to rise. In many places throughout the world clean water sources cause mass immigration and emigration of people so adequate water resources can be accessed (Homer 73). This causes large-scale political and ethnic upheaval. In the future water shortages have the potential for invoking war between ethnic groups as well as nations. It is the best interest of the human race to pres erve and restore the health of our aquatic ecosystems since they have such large implications for human societies and cultures. One of the major sources of water pollution throughout the world is human sewage. Understanding how to properly dea... ...tific America, February, 1993. Kerezman, Jim. Personal Interview. Assistant Superintendent Goshen Utilities, 9-28-99. Lerner, Steve. Eco-Pioneers. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998. Lyle, John Tillman. Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development. New York: John Wiley & Sons INC. 1994. Miller, G. Tyler. Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 2000. Schueler, Thomas. Design of Stormwater Wetland Systems: Guidelines for Creating Diverse and Effective Storm water Wetland in the mid-Atlantic Region. Washington D. C.: Anacostia Restoration Team, 1992. Todd, John and Jack Todd, Nancy. From Eco-Cities to Living Machines: Principles of Ecological Design. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1994. Umble, Art. Concepts of Treatment of Municipal Wastewaters. Elkhart: City Press, 1999. Living Machines, Constructed Wetlands and Sustainable Water Resources E Living Machines, Constructed Wetlands and Sustainable Water Resources Thesis: Conventional waste treatment plants, Living Machines and constructed wetlands can all be used for water purification, but only living machines and constructed wetlands will provide the human race with a sustainable future. Introduction Our liquid planet glows like a soft blue sapphire in the hard edged darkness of space. There is nothing else like it in the solar system. It is because of water (Miller 311). - John Todd Water is the most important resource on the planet. Absolutely no life could exist with out the presence of water. Humans use water to cook, clean, bathe and drink. However it seems that humans as a race have extremely little respect for this resource. Humans continually pollute and damage the health of our aquatic ecosystems using irresponsible agricultural practices and improper disposal of our wastes. These issues must be examined because the way humans interact with the earth have strong moral and ethical implications. As the scarcity of potable water continues to increase the value of water will continue to rise. In many places throughout the world clean water sources cause mass immigration and emigration of people so adequate water resources can be accessed (Homer 73). This causes large-scale political and ethnic upheaval. In the future water shortages have the potential for invoking war between ethnic groups as well as nations. It is the best interest of the human race to pres erve and restore the health of our aquatic ecosystems since they have such large implications for human societies and cultures. One of the major sources of water pollution throughout the world is human sewage. Understanding how to properly dea... ...tific America, February, 1993. Kerezman, Jim. Personal Interview. Assistant Superintendent Goshen Utilities, 9-28-99. Lerner, Steve. Eco-Pioneers. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998. Lyle, John Tillman. Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development. New York: John Wiley & Sons INC. 1994. Miller, G. Tyler. Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 2000. Schueler, Thomas. Design of Stormwater Wetland Systems: Guidelines for Creating Diverse and Effective Storm water Wetland in the mid-Atlantic Region. Washington D. C.: Anacostia Restoration Team, 1992. Todd, John and Jack Todd, Nancy. From Eco-Cities to Living Machines: Principles of Ecological Design. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1994. Umble, Art. Concepts of Treatment of Municipal Wastewaters. Elkhart: City Press, 1999.

Disease Research

The ten leading causes of death in the United States of America as of 2005 are heart diseases, malignant neoplasm, cerebrovascular disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, unintentional disease, diabetes mellitus, influenza and pneumonia, Alzheimer’s disease, nephritis and nephrosis, septicemia, intentional self-harm. I preferred diabetes mellitus because I think this kind of disease should be given much emphasis and attention from the government. Diabetes mellitus is a type of disease in the pancreatic area.In this disease, the pancreas does not properly generate insulin. When the body cannot generate enough insulin, hyperglycemia and other related disorders will occur in our metabolism. Diabetes can cause harm in other body organs when complications will arise. First of all, it causes damage to the kidneys which are responsible for the absorption of waste products in our body. Damaged kidneys then causes the end stage renal disease in which the kidneys are destroyed mutel y. This then causes the nephrons to worsen which leads to other diseases such as hepatitis to arise.When this happens, the person now has two or more diseases to worry about. Today, it is estimated that 20. 8 million Americans suffer from diabetes. Out of this 20. 8 million Americans, 6. 2 million are undiagnosed. When diabetes goes unnoticed, prevention and early treatment would be impossible. If diabetes is not treated properly, it will then lead to life-threatening complications as mentioned earlier. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the disease will rise to more than 50% in the next 10 years if ignored.According to the United States National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2005, â€Å"Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is about twice that of people without diabetes of similar age. † (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention & American Diabetes Association, 2005) One major cause of diabetes is an individual’s diet. Since in the United Stat es most follow the â€Å"Western-style† diet in which almost everything is sweet (having lots of sugar in it), it is suggested that people should watch their diet more. However, there is little understanding of the mechanisms in diabetes at present.Unwatched diet may cause obesity which then causes some organs to become larger and cannot function properly (Giurini, Cook, & Cook, 2007). Thus, the government must pay their attention on funding research on diabetes because first, more than 20 million people in the US suffer diabetes at present and will increase in the next 10 years; second; most people do not know that they have diabetes; and third, diabetes causes complications and even death when not treated properly and continued unnoticed. People should be well-informed about diabetes so that they will know how to diagnose, prevent, and treat diabetes.   Reference: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, & American Diabetes Association. (2005). United States National Diabetes Fact Sheet. Retrieved. from. Giurini, J. M., Cook, E. A., & Cook, J. J. (2007). Diabetes: the latest trends in glycemic control. Clin Podiatr Med Surg, 24(2), 159-189.   

Leadership: Theory, application, skill development Essay

Over the past one year, the concept and skills that I have been able to learn is that of leadership. Leadership is an important aspect of life because in every situation in life, there is a form of leadership, although minor in some case that is observed. It is often experienced in homes, schools, businesses, organizations, and even governments among other areas in life. Although as an individual I have never been involved in any form of leadership, I believe that leadership plays a very important role in the existences of human beings in the world since through leadership, people are able to know what to do, at what time, how to do it, and what results to achieve in the long run. It was my belief that leadership is meant for the male gender and the females were not suitable for any leadership positions, be it political leadership, at homes, schools or any other place in life. There has been stereotyping in the society that women cannot hold leadership positions except for men (Steinberg, 2008). However, one Sadhana Smiles, who is a chief executive officer of Harcourts Victoria, a real estate group, disapproves this notion that men are the only people who can take top leadership positions. She however, says that a lot of women are rarely considered for roles in leadership since men prefer to deal with their fellow men and are more comfortable in transacting business with other men more than with women. At first, I knew that there is no difference in leadership. For me, anybody who gave commands and issued instructions was a leader. I was wrong. During the year, I read about different types of leadership styles and did my research through observation in several organizations, one being our school as well as my church. I discovered that the frequently applied leadership styles in many organizations across the globe include transformational leadership and the transactional form of leadership (Kippenberger, 2002). Under the transformational leadership I learned that the leaders get an opportunity to give inspiration to the employees, so that the employees can perform beyond their normal duties. I also learned that leaders are people who are capable of performing the functions of showing direction, aligning, influencing, motivating and inspiring of the people they lead. On the other hand manager is simply someone who is capable of planning, budgeting, organizing and allocating resources and can control and resolve problems easily. In addition, leadership can be explained by use of many theories such as the traits theory, behavioural theory, and the contingency or situational theory which include theories such as the path-goal theory (Lussier, & Achua, 2010). Therefore, with the considerations of the above aspects and example on leadership, I realised that leadership is a very important at all levels in an organisation, and within the society. In addition, I realised that in leadership, what can work in one context may not be applicable in another. Culture is also another issue that I got to understand plays a great role in application of the theories of leadership. It is therefore, recommendable that women should be given equal chances in leadership as men without any form of discrimination, something that I really support since women can perform just like men or even better. References Kippenberger, T. (2002). Leadership Styles. Chichester: Capstone Pub. Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2010). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development. Australia: SouthWestern/Cengage Learning. Steinberg, B. S. (2008). Women in power: The personalities and leadership styles of Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and Margaret Thatcher. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. Source document

Classical to the Post-Modern Eras Essay

In this essay, I’m going to trace the development of Classical Music from the late 1750s to the Post-Modern era in the 2000s and provide a brief history of music, and how they link together to form what we have today. There are many preconceptions of what the history of music is. Some people think it is mainly a biography of composer’s lives, but they are wrong. The history of music is primarily the history of musical style. In order to appreciate this, it is essential to become acquainted with the different sounds and to hear them in their contexts. Fashions in history change with the generations, like fashions in musical tastes. Lets first start with the classical music, Classical is an era; it is from about 1730 to just after 1800. A few people who contributed to the music in the Classical era are: Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Classical period focused on the opposite types of sounds- music during that period was orderly, uncluttered, well planned and precise. Music was expected to be technically pleasing and grounded in certain traditions and styles that had been approved by the public, often quite formal. Composers were seen as workers who were hired to write music that would please their employer (Sagebiel). The classical period of music combined harmony, melody, rhythm, and orchestration more effectively than earlier periods of music. The classical period is best known for the symphony, a form of a large orchestral ensemble. The symphonic pieces generally had three movements, the sonata, the minuet and the finale. Building of the achievements of earlier composers, Haydn, and Mozart brought the symphony to its peak in the last twenty years of the 18th century. Haydn excelled in rhythmic drive and development of theme-based music (Bishop 325). Mozart also added to the symphony by contrasting memorable lyric themes in full sounding orchestral settings. There are many styles of music within classical music, including symphony, opera, choral works, chamber music, Gregorian chant, the madrigal, and the Mass. A Classical composition will fluctuate in mood. Not only there are contrasting themes within a movement, but there also may be striking contrasts even within (Vardy). In Classical music, there is a flexibility of rhythm. A classical composition has a wealth of rhythmic patterns. Classical music is basically homophonic. However, texture is treated as flexibly as rhythm. Classical melodies are among the most tuneful and easy to remember. The Classical composers’ interest in expressing shades of emotion led to the widespread use of gradual dynamic change – crescendo (gradually getting louder) and diminuendo ( gradually getting softer). By varying the finger pressure on the keys, a pianist can play more loudly or softly. Classical works show a great deal of musical sophistication and use development, key changes, variation, musical phrases of varying lengths, counterpoint, polyphony and advanced harmony development. It uses very specific instruments, most markedly those invented before mid-10th century and adopted in the 18th and 19th centuries, such as instruments like violin, cello, viola, woodwind instruments, brass instruments and other instruments in the orchestra and solo instruments such as piano, harpsichord, organ and guitar. The classical period had a musical style that was consistent, which means that if you were a composer in this time period; you knew what was expected of you. Haydn had a huge influence on the development if Classical music and so did Beethoven but he chose to focus on a more romantic style which had a simple chord structure. This brings us to the Romantic era; The Romantic music period began in 1825 and ran until 1900. Several historical themes were at work during this period, including the increasing role of science as a worldview, the rise of nationalism in Europe, and a growing appreciation for the arts. The style of the Romantic music period is generally characterized by a wider range of dynamics, a greater variety of instruments, more dramatic melodies, more extreme tempos, fuller harmonies, and expanded formal structures within the compositions. Some of the most famous composers of all time lived and worked during the Romantic music era. Schubert, Chopin, Wagner, Brahms, and Mahler are among the most recognizable names. The transition from nineteenth-century Romanticism to twentieth-century Modernism is perhaps one of the big points in music history. Because the speed of twentieth-century innovation in all areas has been so accelerated, music has also moved from one new idea to another with such speed that no previous era can be compared to. Technology and scientific discovery are probably the basic influences on musical creativity and production. Dissonance became very important and in fact most of the pieces are made up of dissonant chords (Palisca). During the Modern era, many new musical techniques emerged. They were seen in melody , harmony , rhythm, meter, texture, tonality, and sonority . It is important to note that during the twentieth century not all changes in music were a revolution or a return to old ideals. Contrapuntal textures in music dominate the Modern era. While, homophonic textures are present, it is to a lesser degree and with less importance. During the 20th century, tone color has become a more important element of music then it was ever before. It has a major role which is creating variety, continuity and mood. Consonance is no longer in use in the 20th century. 20th century music sound fantasy like, distant and mystifying. Chords are never as fundamental as it is in previous centuries. Poly chords are created by placing one traditional chord over another. The rhythmic vocabulary of the 20th century was expanded with increased emphasis on irregularity and unpredictability. The Melody was very elusive.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in India A Question of Multinational Corporation - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2128 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are the two largest corporations producing soft-drinks and bottled water today, therefore having a huge impact on people all around the world. One country in particular that has been greatly affected by these two corporations is India. Raman (2007) reported that both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo were initially attracted to India for production due to its expanding middle-class between the end of the 1980s and early 1990s as well as the extremely cheap supply of water (p. 107). Ironically, water is what ultimately caused the start of problems within India (in Kerala specifically) which came into view around 2001. The idea of water being a human right and the power that multinational corporations hold in foreign countries of the South became huge concerns. Canadians and many others around the world use these products daily, therefore making this very relevant to our daily lives. This paper will therefore argue that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, although thought to h elp India economically, has rather only caused many internal issues. Theoretical Backing Arturo Escobar and Gustavo Estevas post-development theory supports the argument that multinational corporations such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have only caused more problems in India rather than creating economic prosperity. Escobar explains that economic diversity is lost with modernization and development, which is what is happening in India. Their economy is highly based on the success of corporations within their country. The post-development theory also explains that environmental destruction is a negative result of modernization in third-world countries such as India. One of the major concerns with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in Kerala, India are the environmental concerns, including polluted water, water depletion, and agricultural problems. The whole reason that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have built factories in India is because it is the cheapest for them overall and there are less safety regulations. The government of India was convinced that allowing these factories to be built within their country would bring them economic prosperity (Raman, 2010, pg. 255), which has not necessarily happened. This could easily be linked to Andre Gunder Franks underdevelopment theory because the money that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have made from their factories in India is immense and has brought development back to the north, however, it has only caused underdevelopment to occur within India and has brought on many internal problems. The main idea of the underdevelopment theory is that development in the Global North has caused underdevelopment in the Global South. It is the idea that these countries are not undeveloped, but they are still not as developed as the countries and companies exploiting them, which is the case in India. Looking at the base reasons as to why transnational corporations such as the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo would want to have factories in India can be linked to the theory of neoliberalism, which supports the idea of globalization and privatization. The reasons that these corporations are spreading themselves around the world is for more profit, which is an important part of neoliberalism. India itself has been becoming increasingly liberalized since the 1990s, as the country previously did not allow corporations like Coca-Cola to be sold or produced within the country, but it is now open to corporations. Overall, the argument of this paper will be based on the post-development theory, but the phenomenon of these corporations existing in India is based on neoliberalism. Research Analysis The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo corporations have had negative impacts in India in three major ways: first, they have been the cause for several environmental problems, especially with water depletion and agriculture. Secondly, many health problems have arisen out the pollution and pesticides used by the two corporations; and lastly, alt hough they may contribute to the macroeconomics of the world, local economies in India have been virtually destroyed because of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Looking firstly at the issue of environmental issues that have arisen in India (namely within Plachimada in Kerala), water shortages and lack of safe drinking water have been the cause for major debate (Aiyer, 2008). The Coca-Cola Company was extracting anywhere from 500,000 to 1.5 million liters of groundwater a day (it takes roughly 3 liters of groundwater to make 1 liter of soft drink or 1 liter of bottled water) (p. 645). Plachimada was once a very plentiful place with a great amount of groundwater, which is why Coca-Cola originally decided to build up its factory there (Raman, 2007, p. 107). However, now residents are left with very little water for self-consumption, and in some areas, the water is not safe to drink at all (Hyams, 2004; Vedwan et al., 2007). This brings in a question of, who owns the water? Human rights sugges ts that water should be provided free to whoever needs it, but now Coca-Cola and PepsiCo own the only safe water, which has caused many legal issues in the recent past. Vedwan (2007) explains that there are simply not enough regulations governing the quality of commercial bottled beverages, which shows how multinational corporations often take advantage of underdeveloped countries like India. In Ghoshrays article (2007), Searching for Human Rights to Water amidst Corporate Privatization in India: Hindustan Coca-Cola Pvt. Ltd. v. Perumatty Grama Panchayat, he writes, At the heart of the case lies perhaps the most poignant legal battle of the current century: the corporate right to privatization versus the indigenous right to water,(1). Basically, the issue of water depletion in Plachimada has brought on many local economic problems. Agriculture is the largest industry in Kerala, India, but now many farmers can no longer afford to live happily (Aiyer, 2008, p. 650). Agriculture, on ce the backbone of the economy and the key source of capital accumulation, now only contributes 25 percent to the national GDP even as 75 percent of the population is dependent on it, (Hyams, 650). Their crops cannot grow without a sufficient amount of rainfall and groundwater. This means that local economies have been falling due to the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo factories in India, even though the companies have brought money into the country as a whole. The Indian Government will also have to start paying for this problem because if soil degradation gets worse, importing more foods may become necessary. Therefore, this issue is actually not good economically for much of India. Closely linked with environmental degradation, the health of the people in and amongst the area of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo has also become an issue. Hyams article, Killa-Cola (2004) explains that people had become getting sick just months after the Coca-Cola Plant was built in Kerala. The waters were ev entually tested by the government, and it was declared that the once clean water was no longer drinkable. For the locals living in Plachimada, this news was terrible because for many, the local groundwater was their only source of clean water. Now women are expected to walk miles for fresh water each day (Raman, 2007, p. 110). Not only that, but Coca-Cola had suggested that local farmers use their fertilizer on their fields for better crops. The farmers were encouraged to spread the sludge on their land; the corporation said it was an excellent fertilizer that would improve their yields. This provided a cheap and convenient waste disposal mechanism for the factory (Hyams, 2004). Little did they know that the sludge contained dangerous levels of toxic metals including lead, cadmium, and chromium. So not only were the people of Plachimada being poisoned by their water, but also by their food thanks to Coca-Cola. This problem has costed a lot of money for the Indian Government to deal with, and will surely cost more for them in the future. Sludge on the fields, however, was not the only health concern when Coca-Cola came to Plachimada. The drinks themselves, according to Raman (2007) and Ciochetto (2004), were also contaminated with pesticides. In India, however, it was the thoughtless ecological degradation that laid the land to waste and the poisonous content of the soft drinks themselves that were condemned by villagers and activists alike (Raman, 2007, p. 106). This issue is what ultimately brought most publicity to Kerala, India against the Coca-Cola Company. Even after this point, the CEOs of both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola did not really change their ways. In fact, Vedwans article (2007) explains, Perhaps, the most paradoxical act to undo the effects of bad publicity came from the PepsiCo CEO when he publicly opposed the adoption of European norms for beverages sold in India (p. 671). This ultimately leads to increased underdevelopment in Kerala and other ar eas being affected by the drinking corporations because the people of the region are basically sinking deeper into poverty without sufficient water, increased disease, and lack of food . The post-development theory supports this. The last reason as to why the Coca-Cola and Pepsi corporations have had a negative impact on the overall society in India is economic-based. Although the corporations have helped stimulate the macroeconomics, it is clear that the micro or local economies in India have become even worse that they had been in the past (Raman, 2010, p. 254). Aiyers article (2008), for example, mentions that the agriculture sector, which used to be the largest sector in India, now only accounts for 25 percent of the GDP compared to the 75 percent of the population who relies on it. Seventy percent of this rural population faces daily hunger in terms of caloric intake, (p. 650) This fact has also led to a widespread physical depression in the rural areas of India, where an av erage of seven suicides per farmer happen each day (ibid). The corporations influence over India is massive, which is overall good economically for the countries in control (the United States), but not so much for India. According to Raman (2007), The Coca-Cola marketing system is an example of how the culture of consumerism is rendered essential to individuals perceptions of culture and self-worth (p. 109) Hyams notes that, Coca-Cola, which is the biggest US corporate investor in India, has the countrys law makers in the palm of its hand, (2004). Although the above statement may show some bias against Coca-Cola, it is for the most part true. Even in 2006 when the state of Kerala in India banned the use of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products, there was so much pressure from the government and corporations that the ban only lasted for one month (Aiyer, 2008, p. 640). It should also not be forgotten that while so many people are being starved in the towns where these companies exist, Coca-Co la and Pepsi are making around $2 billion per year in profit in India (Aiyer, 2008, p. 641). Overall, the above points provide truth as to why Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have had more of a negative effect on India overall rather than the positive effect that we are tricked into thinking exists. The academic journal articles referenced above support this thesis by proving that there has been environmental devastation, health problems, and economic issues caused by the Coca-Cola and Pepsi factories in the Kerala state in India. Conclusions: Overall, the issue of multinational corporations exploiting developing countries is nothing new, and countries going through rapid expansion, such as India, want corporations to come so that they can build a strong GDP. Looking specifically at Coca-Cola and Pepsi in India, it is easy to see that there have been many more negative aspects of having these corporations in India than positive aspects, even economically. The environmental degradatio n and health problems have caused many internal problems within Indian communities, and rather than bringing economic prosperity, it is clear that economic problems have resulted from Coca-Cola and Pepsi setting up factories in these villages. This brings us to the question of whether multinational corporations are really a good thing or not. We use their products everyday in North America, and most people share a common belief that they have helped build economies. Not only that, but we daily hear about the good things that corporations are doing for us and the events that they sponsor, such as the Olympics; but we must question what is happening behind the scenes of all of this. Looking at the issue of Coca-Cola and Pepsi in India is just a small example of the problems that multinational corporations have caused worldwide. Also, we must question if these corporations are really bringing development to a country, or rather causing underdevelopment, as Coca-Cola and Pepsi seem t o be doing in the Kerala province. Finally, is neoliberalism the answer? It seems like there have been so many problems that have arisen from it. That being said, Escobar and Estevas underdevelopment theory is becoming increasingly popular as the world begins to realize what multinational corporations and neoliberalism is doing to separate the rich-poor gap between the North and South. Is globalization all that great? By looking Plachimadas case, most would come to the conclusion that it is not. These are the types of questions that can be considered when looking at the issue of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo not only in India, but all around the world. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in India: A Question of Multinational Corporation" essay for you Create order

Organizational behavior culture and leadership to opito - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2667 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Organizational Behavior is the study of individuals and their behavior within the environment of the organization in a workplace setting. It is the study of the individual behavior in the organization to see that how and individual Perform in the work place It is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication and management. To explain the organization behavior , wherein Organizational behavior is the study, it does mean has three important determinants of behavior in organizations ; individual, group, structure theirs collaborate to applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organization work more effectively. There are some goals of the organization behavior which we can easily understand from the following figure. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Organizational behavior culture and leadership to opito" essay for you Create order figure 1.1 Goals of organizational behavior Describe understand (How people behave) (Any people behave as they do) Predict control (Which one productive or absent) (To control humanworkactivity) Organizational behavior (employees behavior): organizational behavior refers to the study of the individual in organization that how it feels and reacts in the environment of the organization: we can explain the behavior of the organization in the words of Buchanan: The study of the structure, functioning, and performing of organization, and the behavior of groups and individuals within them (David Buchanan, p. 2.) Organization behavior and role of the manager Is Organizational Behavior is more important to the Role of a Manager? Why it is always have seen that approximately 40 percent of new management hires fail within their first 18 months as manager? Is it just, because they do not having the required and technical skill and know how to gain their job functions? No, the reason for not working so good and failure is contributed to the fact they were unable to establish or build good relationships with workers and subordinates (cited A. Fisher). Organizational behavior studies the attitudes and behaviors of workers and tries to determine and find out the best paths to successfully supervise and modify them. In order for a company to be successful, administration has to struggle to construct friendly work atmosphere in the organization, and try to build up workers able of administrate their work professionally and successfully. Organization culture:/corporate culture. To explaining the culture of organization or corporate culture we can define this the collection/and combination of relatively uniform beliefs values tradition custom, and practice which are shared by an organization persons and which are transmitted from one generation of employees to the next(Buchanan p.512) Culture of the organization is the combination of ideas, customs, beliefs, values, language, codes, tool, technique, and work of art, ritual, and ceremony, among other element. The present situation of organization culture totally depends upon the ability of the human skill. The classic meaning of culture was provide by the Ninth-century English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in the 1st part of his Primitive Culture (1871): has defined CultureÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ is that complex whole organization setting in which include beliefs, arts knowledge, rule , morals, customs, and any other habit and capability acquire by person as a part of society. In Anthropol ogy (1881) Taylor made it clear that man is a dominant element which alone possesses culture. The concept of the organization culture rise by many social scholar, but the main contribution which is given to two main publication in 1980 namely by tom petr and Robert waterman in 1982. in their book. After that credit goes to Terrence deal and Allan Kennedy they wrote the book the corporate culture and they clearly explain the concept of culture on their book. OPITO THE OIL AND GAS COMPANY Now we can see from case study that the oil and gas academy how they treat the behavior and culture of the company: The major thing or we may say the major benefits of the opito is to form a supply chain from that supply chain they are able to understand the behavior of the employees and the working condition of the employees, as the behavior and culture play very important role for achieving the overall objectives, so the opito starts their work form universities and colleges to attract new talented entrants into the organization. We can exhibit culture also from the following diagram. Figure 1.2 There are several factors which affect the culture as well as the behavior of the employees in the organization they are as under: Factors which influence the behavior of employees may be external and internal factors Internal factors include the leadership style, culture of the orgtanzation, and organizational structure. A Whole external factor includes the social and family life of the individual and other social dominant factors such as other businesses etc. The factor which influence the culture of the organization includes the following a) Changing in the management activities/administration may greatly influence the corporate culture b) Employees play vital role in the development of the organization if they also disturb or made change in the existing level of the employees these may also suffer and influence the organization culture. c) Different type strategies/planning may also affect the culture of the company d) Geographical location may also affect the culture of the organization. Changing in management activities Figure 1.3 Organizational culture different strategies Employees change Geographical location As far as opito case study concern they management using a variety of techniques to have a good and sound culture in that oil and gas company, they have adopted a variety of ways to understand the individual and to form such type of culture, knowing organization culture is very essential for the manger because with out understanding the culture, manager can not in a position to better control the organization as we are seeing form case study that how opito are struggling towards their goals. Leadership approach to management and its human resource policies: The Longest Journey of a Hundred and Thousand Miles Begins With the Very First Step. Leadership: different authors have defined the world leadership in different ways, but in simple words the term leadership means is nothing but to encourage people to do work, with not only willingness, but willingness to do work with zeal and confidence. Leader has the power to prepare people do what they want and require them to do. By the power of their personalities, they are capable to encourage other to achieve goals that they would otherwise never have even considered pursuing. Leader can really manipulate believes, dealings and thoughts of their supporters. These are the only persons who can bring a great change in the attitude as well as in the behavior of the workers and subordinates. Leadership Style: The behavior and approach of providing path/instruction, implementing plans, and motivating people. Leadership styles are as under. 1) Authoritarian or autocratic 2) Participative or democratic 3) Delegatives / Free Reigns: Good  leader  application  of all  three  styles  depending on  the situation  of the organization,  but  one  of them  usually  dominant,  bad leader  lean to  glue  to one  style and  do not take any  more.  We  can  explain  this  as  follows Authoritarian style of leadership: This style is generally used when leader tell his employee what he wants to do and how they want it accomplished/achieved , without getting the advice of their followers, in this type of leadership all decision made by the leaders it self and they dont allow subordinate to become a part his or their decision. Authoritarian (autocratic) I want both of u to follow the rules Participative or democratic style of Leadership. This  style  involves  the  leader,  including  one  or more  of the  workers  in  decision-making process  (determining what needs to be  to do  and  how  to do  this). Here the leader allows the subordinate to take part in the decision making. This style is not an indication of failing/and lake of power; but it is the mark of power that workers will respect. Participative (democratic) Work to gather to solve the problems and ) Delegatives (free reigns) leadership style: In this style, the leader permit and let the workers to make the decision. Though, the leader is still answerable for the decision which is made. It is used when employee are capable to study the condition and decide what needs to be done and how to do this. You may not do all! You have to place priority and assign certain tasks. Delegatives (free reigns) You two pay attention of the trouble/issue even as I goÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ We can also understand all the style from the following diagram as under. A good leader can use all these style depending on different forces between leader, follower and situation.diagramically we may present it by the following way. Forces As It clear from the above diagram that the forces may affect the leadership style and the leader my use one of them by keeping view the situation of the organization. As the case of OPITO they are using th e fayol management principles Good leadership, such as, planning, organizing,dircting,controlling and the environment of the oil and gas company different form other industries so they have arranged such environment in which at each level the employees are leading my professionals,Many managers are also leaders, but people in the oil and gas industry are encouraged to show leadership at every level. There are several example exists in organization in which variety of organization facing problem due to poor leadership quality, as we sum up from the above discussion that leadership play very vital role in the best management of the organization, here also we can see the case of OPITO that how they are using their leadership, they form for each section and department a separate manager who best controlling the activities of the company, they are familiar about the ups and down and the leadership global problem so they managed their activities accordingly, here another example of the week leadership of deloitte touch tomhastu limited who has invested a huge amount in this regard to know clearly about the week aspect of leadership to improve the company overall activities. HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES: Human resource policies of leadership that how to best manage the work force with in organization and how to get done work with other, require some solid hr policies by the leaders, as before the emerge of scientific management the proper work distribution and and discipline about work were not specify clearly but when scientific management emerge by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 1977 her standardization and discipline if we follow the following rules and policies: the job should be planned by management(leader) and doing of this should be left to workers the job should be broken down into its elements and these element should be distributed in workers The selection of workers should be to their fitness for job and not on friendship. Training should be given to selected workers. Monitor the worker to ensure the work. The payment to workers should be based on the piece of work, which they have performed, and produced. These above rules and policies of the Taylor must be follow by the functional leadership style to implement in the organization to control the activity of the organization now the question is that what is functional leadership we can briefly explain in the following way, Functional leadership: this type of leadership which are responsible for the advices to line authority and must be accepted by line manager, we can explain this by the following figure also, General Manager figure 1.4 Personal dept 1 finance dept Dept 1 head dept 2 head dept 3 head As now we can study how the opito has use their leadership and how they are achieving their objectives, the opito using the fayol suggested principles and also they are using for motivation the Abraham Maslow need of hierarchy. Culture: To explaining the culture of organization or corporate culture we can define this the collection of relatively uniform values, beliefes,customs, traditions and practice which are shared by an organization members and which are transmitted from one generation of employees to the next(Buchanan p.512). Realizing and assess the organizations culture may mean the distinction between success and failure in todays rapid varying business atmosphere. (Richard Hag berg, PhD.. HCG, and Julie Heifetz PhD. HCG (Corporate Culture 2000). Organizational culture can be closely define as the shared, belief, assumption and normal behavior of the group. They also state these are powerful influences on the way public take action and exist, and define what is normal and how to pass those whose are normal normal. To large degrees what we do is determine by our culture. (Toolpack Consulting, LLC, (Organizational Culture 2003) Organization attitude: attitude may be concern with person or individual, it is a tendency to respond in certain way favorably or unfavorably to objects persons or situations. Models of the corporate culture: From the culture perspective, all organization are held to possess cultures, such as we have studied in the case of OPITO oil and gas academy, having a variety of culture, due to their nature of business, but if is only a minority which have strong that is highly visible ones, which clearly distinguish them from other companies, and which affect the behavior of their employees. To explain how a strong culture is created we shall consider it under four headings, Packaging Constituents of org, culture ppppppphhfdhfhfhdhf Transmission system Formal informal It is clear form the above figure that how different things combine to form organization culture, but here the question arise again that person attitudes.,perception,behavior, is very necessary to form organization culture as we have seen from the case study of oil and gas company opito. How they have combined their workforce team to done work and how they are using different management techniques to solve the pro blems. Each organization has its own different culture. It is a combination of variety of elements which includes the founders, past leadership, present leadership, , events, history, crises and size (Newstrom, Davis, 1993). The climate is the feel/satisfactory condition of the organization, where individual share perception and attitude of the organizations members to have understanding with each others and to develop coordinated environment and culture (Ivancevich, Konopaske, Matteson, 2007). While the culture is the important and strongly embedded nature of the organization that is a result of long-held formal and informal systems, policies, tradition, rules and customs; climate is a short-term phenomenon created by the current/present leadership. Climate represent the beliefs about the feel of the organization by its members that how they feel in the context of the organization. This individual perception of the feel of the organization comes from what the people believe a bout the activities that occur in the organization. These activities with great extent influence disturb both individual and team motivation and satisfaction, this statement is true because it is very important for manger to have a complete awareness about the individual behavior and attitudes, because if no manager not no the perception and attitudes of the employees so he can not manage his business or organization successfully, as we have seen from case study that how opito are knowing the attitudes and behavior of the employees they form a separate supply chain through that they are able to best manage the employees. they have developed a leadership style at each level of the organization they are applying the authoritative and democratic leadership style which giving best support to the company on managing the organization activities and helpful for the management understanding of the employees behavior and attitudes, and perception in the company, as we as the opito have ap plied the fayol principles of management which give support in this behalf. Conclusion: with sum up our discussion, as it is clear that the study of the behavior of the individual and group is much important by the manager/leader, as well as the culture and the perception, attitude, beliefs also have dominant position in the study of the behavior of the individual as all these things should be study by the leaders and motivate workers to achieve the maximum objectives of the business concern.