Lap 1 Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lap 1 - Lab Report Example These dimensions include physical wellness, mental wellness, emotional wellness, spiritual wellness, occupational wellness, social wellness, and environmental wellness. In most cases, multiple dimensions of wellness often overlap as they work together in terms of reducing health risk factors and promoting human life thereby leading to life satisfaction. Additionally, they provide effective strategies for an individual to stay healthy by advising for adequate sleep, rest, diet, nutrients, and engaging in physical exercises as well as looking for a balanced family, work, and relationships (Hoeger, Werner, and Hoeger 12). Hence, fulfilling the seven wellness dimension means achieving healthy and a happy life. Each of the groups that was identified in this study was to properly relate each of the seven dimensions can affect satisfaction in human life. For instance, different professions and ages as well as health or conditional status form the study group so that different relationship to each or a group of dimension to each of the participants. The experiment fully reflects a full repeatability since it is fully understood that stress and business often prevent how people often connect to the environment for that they can foster their positive intention. Therefore, the experiment has fully turned the hypothesis positive. In other words, people often compliment relates to their environment in their daily lives. In most cases, stress hinder people from performing their obligations and in all the cases, the stress is often driven from the an individual’s immediate environment. Therefore, the result of the experiment is real and reflect the reality of human

Into the World Essay Example for Free

Into the World Essay Individuals venturing into new experiences may encounter obstacles, but may also experience personal growth. † ‘Into the World’ is can be defined as aspects of growing up and transitions into new phases of an individual’s life. It can mean transitioning naturally, or change being thrust upon a person. In either case, any individual venturing into new experiences will encounter obstacles, but they will also experience personal growth. This is evident in the prescribed text, The Story of Tom Brennan by JC Burke, as well as my chosen text, I Was Only 19 by Redgum. The concept of ‘new experiences’ may not always start off positively. For example, in Burke’s novel, the protagonist, Tom Brennan, one fatal accident forced him and his family to flee their hometown of Mumbilli, forcing every character to undergo a catharsis. This causes Tom to become very withdrawn and introverted as he grows bitter and resentful of the whole situation and slowly getting pushed ‘back into that big, black hole’. He becomes very depressed, antisocial and isolated as he attempts to deal with the situation that his brother, Daniel, has caused. The author conveys the protagonist’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes and beliefs through a variety of techniques. The audience is aware of Tom’s growing guilt through the technique of first person writing. ‘Like I said, that was a low point. ’ (p124) The convincing, idiomatic, subjective voice of the teenage narrator creates a confidential relationship with the readers, as well as keeping them engaged. It also gives us insight into Tom’s inner most thoughts. As Tom plunges into intense feelings of guilt and animosity, he becomes numb to the struggles the other members of his family are facing. One of the most effective and engaging techniques used by the author to capture the reader’s attention, is the use of flashbacks. The Story of Tom Brennan is a nonlinear narrative, and this is first evident in the prologue, which has a reflective tone, when it changes from past tense to present tense. ‘ so as not to remind them of their pain and what our family now meant to this town. My name is Tom Brennan, and this is my story. ’ However, these flashbacks finish after chapter 9, which is when Tom finally begins to accept the situation. As Tom and his family are forced to make a shameful and hasty departure from their once-loved, parochial hometown, they flee to Toms’ Gran’s house in Coghill. Tom hates living in his Gran’s house, and his subjectiveness creates a bias and negative image of her, as he promptly denigrates her efforts, particularly her ‘culinary disasters,’ claiming that her food looked like ‘a charred slab of cow’s shit. ’ He can’t understand why she copes with the situation is a stoic manner and she becomes somewhat like a ‘punching bag’ for Tom, as he releases all his anger on her. Their relationship is strained, hostile and lacks mutual tolerance and respect as he refers to her as ‘The Grandmother. ’ As Tom re-establishes a connection with ‘The Grandmother,’ he learns empathy, and this is evident in chapter 12 when Tom first realises that she cares for him more than he realises –‘Do you think I couldn’t see you fading away those first few weeks? ’ Their developing relationship is then strengthened as Tom decides to build her a chook pen. Rugby is the lynchpin that holds the novel together. Tom is placed as half-back on the St Bennies team that ‘couldn’t catch a cold. The team provides him with a solid ground to stand on and his teammates give him new relationships and ties to Coghill. Football symbolises the prestige of the ‘legend of the Brennan brothers,’ and Tom unknowingly uses football as a measure of what he had and what he’d lost, of what he can and can’t do. When Tom goes on the St. Bennies footy camp, he learns humility. After Tom speaks with his dad at camp, he realises that ‘winning had been everything at St John’s, but now I was confused, because I think Dad was trying to tell me that it wasn’t enough. ’ He then uses his skills to teach and lead St Bennies. Tom’s uncle, Brendan, has a therapeutic effect on Tom, and as he starts running with him in the mornings, he grows and matures as he tries to get fit enough to travel to Nepal, and this is evident in Brendan’s statement: ‘He was lucky to have you there, Tom. Even if he doesn’t remember it. ’ At first, Tom is hesitant to start running, ‘ contemplating whether a ‘piss off’ was in order. ’ They run up the hill near Carmel’s property, ‘The Ascent,’ which she ‘reckoned it lead all the way to heaven,’ and this becomes symbolic of Tom’s struggle and his journey. The Ascent is an obstacle Tom must face, with the help of Brendan, in order to grow and bloom as he accepts the situation. Another factor that helps Tom heal is his friendship-turned-relationship with Chrissie, who also has a therapeutic effect on him. Chrissie is Tom’s confidante –‘I started talking. That’s what she did to me’, as she acts as a panacea to his pain, which he describes as ‘feeling bad all the time. ’ The concept of individuals venturing into new experiences is also explored in my chosen text, I Was Only 19 by Redgum. I as only nineteen presents the protest against conscription during the Vietnam War. It displays all the difficult experiences of a young man as well as his perspective towards the Vietnam War and the loss of his friend due to the war. The poem portrays war as a living hell and tells the audience the unseen, brutal ways of battle. It reflects on the horror and traumatising warfare that the young men had to go through. â€Å"I was only nineteen† is repeated in a sad, dull context as the lyrics are mostly describing the downside of the whole war concept. Through the themes, use of emotive language and vivid description, this repetition can easily be identified as setting a depressing and sympathetic tone. The use of rhetorical questions place emphasis on how the poet feels this experience has effected him â€Å"And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet? And whats this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means? † â€Å"And can you tell me doctor, why I still can’t get to sleep? † gives an example of repletion which has been used to emphasise the fact that the young men that have been taken to war and all the horrific experiences they’ve been through. The rhyming of the words of each line have been included to give a feel towards the song/poem and give a link towards each line and that there is a connection between the two lines – â€Å"And theres me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens. God help me, I was only nineteen. † The use of other poetic techniques, such as metaphors, are also used to emphasise the obstacles faced by young soldiers in warfare- â€Å"Was a war within yourself/ It was a long march from cadets/ And night times just a jungle dark and a barking M16. Another metaphor evident is â€Å"But you wouldnt let your mates down til they had you dusted off. † This is used to represent the camaraderie and friendship instilled in the soldiers. In conclusion, individuals venturing into new experiences may encounter obstacles, but may also experience personal growth. In The Story of Tom Brennan, as well as I was only nineteen by Redgum, the concept of personal growth is explored. Both the soldier in I was only nineteen, as well as the Brennans, face multiple obstacles whilst telling their story.

Cross Cultural Influences on Decision Making

Cross Cultural Influences on Decision Making Introduction This chapter introduces the reader to the broader context of the research area with an overview of decision making in cross cultural MA. The purpose is followed by the problem area and research question which will lead the readers through the thesis. Background Decision making is a process that managers face of diverging to explore the probable options and then converging on solutions. As Pratt points out, there is clearly a distinction between what an individual thinks(personality)and the way an individual thinks(cognitive style) (1980). The process is made even more complex when the companies are dealing in decision making in an arena of Merger and Acquisition. Mergers and acquisitions (MAs) have become the dominant mode of growth for firms seeking competitive advantage in an increasingly complex and global business economy(Adler, 1997).Cross-border merger and acquisition has continued to increase at a torrid pace during the last decade and half, to the point that it has become a major strategic tool for growth of multinational cormporations(Cartwright and Cooper,1993). Therefore it is essential for companies to pay attention to the analysis, strategy and planning behind its decision making. The management extent becomes much vast when it comes to different cultures both on the national and even greater on cross border level. The manager chances of successfully dealing with the rapid changes reduces to an extent. Multinational corporations require to hold a varied set of routines if they are to be renouned in a diverse world. Routines and repertotoires are often dependent on the multinational corporations unique institutional and cultural environment, and are therefore not imitated easily by other firms (Barney,1986). As multinational companies increasingly acquire targets in more culturally distant countries, they face new challenges in manageing their external environment (Moren,1980). Along side these encounters it is also important to understand the relation between national cultural distance and cross-border MA performance while devising strategic decisions. The difficulties in MAs are seen due to the lack of strategic decisions makingmade by organization. Managers end up having unrealistic expectations of probable synergies and fail to cope with multiple complexities. Companies now a days publish their cultural norms and values which might not be the real culture of the organization. Anthropoligists have researched that the undertaking of knowledge about a particular organisation culture does not always begin by inquiring the members themselves to identify the particular trait. In reality the cultural norms are recognised by understanding the profundity of cultural influences that are carried out in an interval within an organization. This necessitates to have an insightful long term observation and the foundation of norms,disciplines and new problem solving strategies. The decision-making paradigms have seen to occur in many fields, including management theory, psychology, information systems, management science, and operations research. It is also a fundamental activity of all management, and research and literature concerning decision-making processes.(Stewart, 2003) Problem Companies are equipped to make better decisions if they are more sensitive to cultural differences in a cross-cultural environment. Effective decision-making can enable smootherwork place relationship within and across the border MA, if managers are attuned to cross-culture management. Contextually how do organizations make decisions in a cross-cultural aquisiton is a critical research question in the study of administrative process. Researchers have paid little attention to complexities of decision making, in cross-cultural MAs. Previous research is more concentrated on routine operational decisions that are more available to quantitative analysis and particular descriptions.(Mintzberg, 1999) Additionally other important research questions, especially related to thinking or cognition are prevailing in the dynamic research of decision making, such as; how individuals get benefit from cultural diversity learning, and how do individuals think (Mitchell et al., 2002) and make different decisions. These emerging notions defined our research questions of this thesis. Consequently, we have formulated our research problem in the following questions: 1. What are the cross-cultural difficulties affecting decision-making in the aquired firm? 2. How does these cross-cultural difficulties influence the decision-making of acquired firm? Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to study the influence of cross-cultural implications of MAs on Decsion-Making. Delimitations The study is only concerned with the decision-making process in a cross-cultural acquisition and there is a less emphasis is on the cognitive factors of decision-making but the influence of cross-cultural implications on decision-making behavior in general. Due to time constraint, one case company is used for this analysis consequently the results limit to this Company A only. Moreover, the Company A has agreed to co-operate with an anonymous status of itself and its employees. This also set boundaries to the scope of our analysis and presentation. Further, this research has been conducted on a local Swedish company acquired by an Austiran firm, so analysis and conclusions will be restricted to information obtained locally. As a result, the analysis of Austrian work behavior is also subjective from Swedish employees perspective. Definitions To better understand the research, definitions are presented below to avoid misinterpretation of key concepts used in our study. Decision-making Cross-cultural Company A- It is a company based in Sweden. But has agreed to participate in our research on complete anonymity of itself and its participants and therefore will be refered to as Company A throughout the paper. Its formerly a Swedish organization which was acquired by an Austrian company in year 2000. (More information on Company A and its relevance to our study is mentioned in the Method) 1.6 Disposition The disposition of this thesis will be as follows: This chapter critiques the study and makes suggestions for future research. To fulfill the purpose of this thesis this section answers the research questions. This chapter covers analysis of the empirical findings in connection with theory and results. This chapter present result from the qualitative interviews conducted in Company A. This chapter presents theories within the field of decision-making and cross-cultural acquisitions. This discusses the procedure of collecting data and interviews as our instrument. Reliability, validity and generalizability of the study are also discussed here. Frame of Reference The section will present the previous research and studies in the areas of decision making and Mergers and Acquisitions integration. Further in reference to existent literature this section will discuss the decision making process in MAs. A brief summary of the whole frame of reference is presented at the end of the section in order to make a link with our research questions and to provide a base and guidance for the creation of themes for our empirical data. Frame of Reference Recently, a considerable amount of management research has been developed that focuses on the cultural perspective of international acquisition performance. (Arikan,2004; Rottig and Reu,2005) Researchers argue that a lack of national cultural fit may lead to cultural clashes between the involved workforces (Larsson and Risberg,1998). This may lower employee commitment and cooperation (Cartwright and Cooper,1996), and complicate the post-acquisition integration process (Very and Schweiger,2001) Some studies exposed a negative impact of cultural distance on the performance of international acquisitions (Datta and Puia, 1995, Olie, 1994, Uhlenbruck, 2004), while others identified a positive relationship (Doukas and Travlos, 1988, Morosini, Shane and Singh, 1998). Still other studies indicate that cultural distance either has no direct effect on international acquisition performance (Markides and Ittner, 1994) or is one of the least significant variables affecting performance (Kanter and Corn, 1994). These contradicting views developed the interest in the knowing how much of the cultural differences involved in the decision making in MA. This paper provides a descriptive framework that addresses the complexity of the decision making process of consequences of culture for international acquisition performance. Decsion-making Cross-cultural MAs Methodology A way of gathering knowledge about the social world is the methodology notion refered to by Stauss and Corbin (1998). The specific research methodology we are inspired by for this research is the grounded theory which is consummated by qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. To study the implications that emerge out of a cross-cultural acquisition and its influence on decision making process, we want to take advantage of the theoretical fundamentals and researches that have already been done in the realm of decision-making and cross-cultural acquisition implications. We also want to take that knowledge further through this chosen method by taking into account the case of Company A which was acquired by an Austian firm and has realized decision-making differences between the two units after the cross border Acquisition . 3.2 Research Method Determining the why and how of decision-making in a cross cultural contxt of an acquired frm can be done by finding the first-hand experiences of employees in Company A. To serve the purpose of our study we chose interviews as the primary source of data collection. We felt that person-to-person interaction with semi structured questions will be best in acquiring information. Moreover, considering the characteristcs of our investigation and that all the employees could be reached within a close proximity and in a single premise, the interview schedule was chosen instead of a questionnaire. Since culture can be a sensitive topic and the interviewees could be reluctant in answering, we ensured anonymity at the start of the interview process to make them comfortable as also stated by Kumar, Ranjit (1996). Through primary data we know the reasons behind a certain management decision. Most appropriate way of learning about opinions and behavior that are relative to culture is by asking que stions directly to people involved. (Ghauri Gronhaug, 2010) Information on the Austrian acquisition of a Swedish firm, as Ghauri and Gronhaug also states can only be gathered by asking people who have been involved or have observed the process i.e. of acquisition. Research problems which are focused on uncovering a persons experience or behavior and understand a phenomenon which we know little about are an example of qualitative research(Ghauri, 2004; Marshan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004). Such is the nature of our decision-making and cross-cultural research which includes social and behavioral sciences. The Choice of Research Method The approach is to use use a qualitative research methodolgy of investigation, data collection and analysis. Decision-making is not a fixed and static state to measure and its a cognitive process, besides it is not a steady state phenomenon and changes erratically with time and environment as described by Mintzberg(1997). Quantitative research emphasizes on the quantification of data collection and analysis as argued by Bryman and Bell (2007) and observe social world as an external and objective reality. Holloway (1997) advocated of qualitative research for capturing the way the individuals experience, interpret and make sense of their environment. Bearing this in mind and our focus of discovering and understanding the role of cross-cultural factors in decision-making, we were convinced to use this method. Consequently the choice of our research method, is qualitative and the purpose of the research inquiry is behavioral and therefore interconnected, therefore provides a basis for quantitative analysis. The qualitative study Our approach is purely qualitative. Auerbach (2003) claims that qualitative research involves analyzing and interpreting texts and interviews among others, in order to investigate specific patterns, i.e. examining decision-making amidst cross-cultural challenges in an acquisition. Interviews Interviewing is the most widely utilized method in qualitative approach of investigation, as stated by Bryman and Bell (2007) and this instrument suits appropriately to find answers to our research questions, .i.e. decision-making under the implications of a cross-cultural acquisition. The technique and construction is very important in the formulation of interviews. The interviews can be unstructured, semi-structured or structured (Saunders et al. 2007). As we were more interested in theory of a particular reality Wengraf (2001) instead of the numerical data, we chose to settle on semi-structured interviews. We were very particular in formulating the questions as two cover both aspects of cross-cultural implications and decision-making. On request by the contact person at Company A, we got interview questions reviewed for improvement from our tutor before presenting it to the company. The interview questions were then sent out to the contact person to be distributed to the interviewees in advance. Sampling The choice of subjects that were needed to be investigated for our research questions was crucial. Collins, Onwuegbuzie and Jiao (2006) stated that researchers should decide sample size in both quantitative and qualitative studies. In the sample from Company A, we were looking for all the people cooperating with Austrian counterpart and are making some forms of decisions. It was kind of our contact person at the company, after explaining our research necessity, he arranged ten people from mangers to engineers who were in some way cooperating with their cross border counterpart. Considering this we used purposive sampling technique which as mentioned by Maxell(1997) is used in qualitative studies to select e.g., individuals or institutions based on specific purpose. Data Collection The research design directed us on the empirical data. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews using open ended questions. This permitted us to probe relevant issues which emerged during the interview. We aimed at making the data reliable, to ensure this we recorded the interviews upon permission and also took notes to reduce the chance of misinterpretation. In an attempt to motivate the respondents to co-operate with us and obtain factual data with their trust we ensured the anonymity and confidentiality of responses. We skipped a few questions in two interviews due to shortage of time. We completed a total of ten interviews in a session of three days with an allotted time of thirty minutes each. Reliability and Credibility A reliable and credible data is vital for an authentic research. Throughout our study we took measures to ensure this. During the interviews we did not rely on perceptions which affects the accuracy of our observations and used constant probing to have clear answers. We remained unprejudiced and flexible to have reliable working data. Respondents sometimes perceive risks and may believe interviews to be jeopardizing their emotions and privacy as accounted by McCracken (1988). Knowing this, we assured the interviewees about the privacy and academic purpose of interviews. So they were at comfort in providing information conveniently. To avoid potential bias of our preconceived notions and theories we transcribed only what the interviews said, which we stored in the form of recordings and written notes taken at the time of the interview. We calim to have a plausible study, considering all the measures we took responsibly in terms of organizing and conducting the interviews. Qualitative Data Analysis Our analysis was exploratory as asserted by Creswell et al. (2003) with a focus on understanding the influence of cross-cultural difficulties on decision-making by employees in an acquired firm. Like in most of the qualitative analysis we refer to the inductive approach, as claimed by Bryman and Burgess (1994). Raw data was in the form of interview recordings and our notes taken during the interviews. We read the data vigilantly too derive concepts, themes, or a model which is common in qualitative data analyses, especially grounded theory (Strauss Corbin, 1990). In consistency with Strauss and Corbins (1990), our inductive analysis began with an area of study, which was to investigate the influence of cross-cultural factors on decision-making, and let the theory to develop from data. The analysis was organized as follows: Interview description: To begin with, we recorded all the interviews and took notes during the interview. We read the transcripts many times to get familiar with descriptions. Identifying discourses and theme generation: After identifying the accounts from the data, we recognized relevant discourses from the transcribed interviews, and excluded other irrelevant description. Following this we observed the core information and concluded some patterns of behavior/ theme. Later, formed categories with summary of data sets as behavioral, structural and interaction and communication to do a quality analysis and conclusion. Discussion: In this section we explored the meanings explicitly or implicitly included in our empirical findings and looked for links of cross-cultural difficulties and decision-making. We also put forward suggestions of future research in this clause. Empirical Data The Interviewees Total number of ten interviews that conducted, ee found that from technical engineers to line managers including logistics, project and bid manager everyone is cooperating with Austrian counterpart in one way or another after the acquisition. Consequently, employees at different levels of the organization are all involved in some kind of decision-making that accounts for the cross-cultural differences after the acquisition. Following are some themes that we identified that will be of assistance in developing the analysis. Employees organizational behavioural Swedes in an organization generally work in groups and are independent individuals at the same time. They also have a freedom to express views, owing to a less heirarchical system. Mutual agreement, consensus, structure and logical reasoning is very important to them for which they have a lot of meetings and discsussions. This also refers ot the notion of collective decision-making as explained by Melaville, Blank, and Asayesh (1993). Swedes are solution-oriented and are usually calm. The essence of usual Swedes vs. Austrian behavior was narrated by Interviewee 5 as: There is a great difference in the decision-making process. In Sweden everyone should agree and we ask a lot of people of what everyone think. Then we make decision after hearing all the opinions. And its opposite in Austira, you do not ask the employees if you are working as a manager. I think you are seen as a weak leader if you ask people of what they think. Its positive and negative in both ways I think Swedish way is better for working in a team and but in Austira you really make the decision and you come forward. Austrians on the other hand dont have much freedom of expression due to a heirarchical system in the acquired firm view. Another common view observed was that Managers in Austria alone make decisions and value of consensus is less there. Austrains are social and build relationships. A lot more emotion is involed than facts in their reasoning. Moreover, Austrians are problem-oriented and get usually stressed under a problem. This observation can be futher emphasized by few statements of the interviewees. They have a lot more emotions and we like to base our decisions on facts. , Interviewee 2 said. They have much hierarchy. More power distance. There is a very large distance between the manger and the individual member in the group. Interview 4 affirmed. Decision-making process structure The decision-making process depends on the type of decision. If its a higher stake decision, the process is followed through formal procedures of contracts and agreements compared to daily operational level decisions which are simple. In Swedish unit agreement has to be reached through consensus whereas in Austrian unit, managers give a decision which is to be followed. More decision-making authority lies with managers in Austria than Swedish ones who work more as asupport function. Interaction Communication between units Cooperation at the technical or the lower level works well. At the management level cooperation is difficult where decision making takes longer. Some employees expressed that even with electronic facilities available communication across the border is difficult. Employees cooperating for a longer period developed relationships of trust which helps in cooperation amidst the cross-cultutral differences It doesnt work well when we cant sit together and discuss, makes harder to communicate over cross borders even though facilities are provided like skype ,video conferences, but it kills the team spirit as its not the same as for sitting together Interviewee 5 recalled. On a practical point, the interaction between units is informal. But it depends on the type of decision aswell, i.e. starting a project, would follow a formal procedure of interaction. Project mangers have a closer contact compared to the rest. Informal day to day technical decisions are handled on a daily basis. Its is also hard to predict a response to an interaction from across the border, some interviewees responded. Through data it was also understood that is easier to agree on factual information, which all can straightforwardly agree to. Language barrier has seem to affect the agreeability due to misinterpretations sometime. The technical side of the decisions are easier to agree on, compared to the decisions made at management level i.e. commercial issues. This can be analysed from the figure  [1]  below. The tactical decisions have been observed to have most complications whereas operational decisions are easier. decisionmaking_intro.gif Additionally, we comprehended from suggestions put forward by the respondents that, early in the process of post-acquisition integration, communication on the differences in national and company culture can facilitate decision-making. Understanding of adapting to a culture is important. Performace indicators and clarity on who makes which decisions will also assist. Additionally, diversity courses and communication on how to work together has helped in the past and can also facilitate later on. An interesting point observed by an interviewee during a diversity course; One thing I learned from that cultural diversity course is that people is Austria are more problem oriented and here in Sweden we are soultuion oriented and that affects how we are able to communicate and cooperate. Analysis Analysis Unfortunately a lot of merger and acquisitions fail to achieve their hoped objectives. Solutions are of course complex. MA are different along a number of dimensions. Companies fail to realize a blind spot, by keeping their focus mainly on costs, they minimize or defer until too late the human and cultural dimensions of blending two entities into unified growth-oriented business. In any case organization is generally a collection of people sharing a common vision, one or more location and resources such as money, equipment, and similar processes. Still much of the business management persists in believing that the latter is the most important issue, while people are only sort of the less important side of the scenario. The Challenge of Urgent Realization Clearly there is an urgent need to realize, rationalize, restructure and eliminated duplication the first weeks and months of post-merger integration. Nonetheless rationalization only escalates of the new organization making it a greater value to its shareholders. It is one thing to design a new structure and relationship on paper and quite another to bring them to life. No matter how visionary and driven the leaders are the financier, quickly learns that the synergy cannot be generated merely from above or realize and reacting by reducing headcount or vice versa. Synergy requires the commitment and involvement of the entire organizations. That is the most challenging part. Most mergers are seen of confusion, panic, uncertainty, distraction, limitation and dehumanization. The process is painful and the results are costly. When knowledge capital is vanished due to the turnover of key individuals during an MA, when pride in the company and pride in ones work is not appreciated through ill treatment at the hands of merger managers, when innovations are abandoned in favor of outdated practices just because one group is considered the boss and the new one reasoned expendable, the network that make the organization work break down and fall apart. When employees stop caring, they lose interest and motivation in improving the business processes. If they are not asked for their opinions, they have no means or enthusiasm to inform the new system designers the unrevealed secrets of success. When selection processes do not seem to be reasonable and rational, dynamic management does not step into position they take on new challenges elsewhere. These are not the circ umstances which synergistic growth is likely. Fortunately, the situation can be turned around. The MA can become an opportunity for people to learn, grow and have a voice. Shared visioning activities and cross company MA project teams can provide opportunities to meet new people and gain new perspectives and skills. The problem with the acquired organization is that the managers must rearrange strategy, organizational structure, work on staffing of employees, make changes to systems and culture, all on top of the day to day business performances. They feel the pressure to quickly perform and harmonize the decisions by reaching the performance in the changed worked environment. So they do this by restructuring to create economies of scale, streamlining operations, focusing on product and market synergies while eliminating noncore businesses. During the same time they might be looking for the next merger or acquisition opportunity. This does not allow them the time and effort to ensure a synergistic and sustainable basis of people and operations to support the growth. However for continued growth, building a foundation is the key to sustainable success because it defines how the work of creating the new organization will be continued. Regrettably most post MA implementation plans seems to assume that if the financial priorities are comprehensively addressed the human foundation will take care of itself. The synergy created by a successful MA Conclusions Discussion References Auerbach, Carl F. (2003). Qualitative Data : An Introduction to Coding and Analysis; New York, NY, USA: New York University Press. Bryman A., and Bell E. (2007). Business Research Methods Oxford University Press. Denzin, Norman K., and Lincoln, Yvonna S.(2000). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Second Edition. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California. Holloway, I. (1997). Basic concepts for qualitative research. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Kumar, Ranjit (1999). Research Methodolgy: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage publications. Regnà ©r, P., (1999). Strategy Creation and Change in Complexity Adaptive and Creative Learning Dynamics in the Firm. Stockholm: Gotab. Richards, Lyn and Morse, Janice, M. (2007). Users Guide to Qualitative Methods.(Second Edition). Sage publications. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil, (2007). Research Methods for Business Students, UK, Prentice Hall. Smith, J.A., and Osborn M. (2008). Interpretive phenomenological analysis. In Smith J. A. (Eds.) Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods (2nd Edition). Sage Publication. Strauss, A. L.,and Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. (2nd Eds.). SAGE Publikation. Thomas, Susan, J. (1999). Designing surveys that work Sage Publication. Wengraf, Tom, (2001). Qualitative research interviewing. Sage Publication. Yin, R. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed.). CA: Sage Publications Reference: Pratt, J. The effects of personality on a subjects information process: A comment. The AccountingReview, 1980, 55, 501-506. Adler, N. J., Re-entry: Managing Cross-cultural Transitions, Group and Organization Studies, 6 (1981), 341-356. Cartwright, S. and C. L. Cooper, The Role of Culture Compatibility in Successful Organizational Marriage, Acad. Management Exec- utive, 7 (1993), 57-70. Barney, Jay B. 1986. Organizational cul- ture: Can it be a source of sustained competitive advantage?. Academy of Management Review, 11(3): 656-65. Arikan, A.M. (2004) Cross-border mergers and acquisitions: What have we learned? in Punnett, B. J. Shenkar, Oded, editors (eds.) Handbook for International Management Research, The University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MI. Rottig, D. Reus, T.H. (2005) The impact of culture on mergers and acquisitions: 25 years of research, Paper presented at annual meeting of the Southern Management Association, Charleston, SC. Larsson, R. Risberg, A. (1998) Cultural awareness and national versus corporate barriers to acculturation, in Gertsen, Martine Cardel, Soderberg, Anne-Marie Torp, Jens Erik, editors (eds.) Cultural Dimensions of International Mergers and Acquisitions: Berlin. Cartwright, S. Cooper, C.L. (1996) Managing Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances: Integrating People and Cultures, 2nd ed, Reed Elsevier: Oxford. Very, P. Schweiger, D.M. (2001) The acquisition process as a learning process: Evidence from a study of critical problems and solutions in domestic and cross-border deals, Journal of World Business, 36(1): 11-31. Datta, D.K. Puia, G. (1995) Cross-border acquisitions: An examination of the influence of relatedness and cultural fit on shareholder value creation in U.S. acquiring firms, Management International Review, 35(4): 337-59. Olie, R. (1994) Shades of culture and institutions in international mergers, Organization Studies, 15(3): 381-405. Uhlenbruck, K. (2004) Developing acquired foreign subsidiaries: the experience of MNEs in transition economies, Journal of International Business Studies, 35: 109-23. Doukas, J. Travlos, N.G. (1988) The effect of corporate multinationalism on shareholders wealth: Evidence from international acquisitions, Journal of Finance, 43(5): 1161-75. Morosini, P., Shane, S. Singh, H. (1998) National cultural distance and cross-border acquisition performance, Journal of International Business Studies, 29(1): 137-58. Markides, C.C. Ittner, C.D. (1994) Shareholder benefits from corporate international diversification: Ev

Essay examples --

The ancient islamic culture has made immense contributions to the whole world and all of its inhabitants.These contributions which are also achievements of the Muslim empire pertain to things such as advancements in science, Mathematics, astronomy, exquisite libraries,medicine, sophisticated encyclopedias, optics, and an extensive trade routes that stretched for thousands of miles. Luckily for the World the Muslims as a whole managed to achieve one thing after another, and didn't let anything get in there way, and ultimately this lead to the vast amount of contributions that the Muslims Bestowed upon to the world. Thanks to the Muslim culture, and achievements their ways have had a very profound impact on the way people go about their lives nowadays. If it wasn't for the Muslims hard work, will to succeed, and perseverance which led to contributions to the world, life as we know it now would be drastically rearranged, and many of the things that we classify as norms would cease to exist. In the area of math,and science the Muslims made many influential contributions to world. In Science, and in math the Muslims pursued in the topic of astronomy. The Muslims really pursued in this topic because for them the calculations for prayer times, pin point religious festivals, and the direction of Mecca were paramount, and in the area of astronomy all this can be efficiently be achieved. So the Muslims had the drive to succeed in order to archive what was nessessary. The most influential, and beneficial, of the Muslim astronomers were men by the name of "Al-Khwarizmi" "al-Khujandi", and "Omar Khayyam". With their hard work and ambitious dreams, these men became the driving force of the great astronomical research. Al-Khwarizmi, a... ...1th century. He compiled many astronomical tables, and more importantly reformed the calendar. His reformation was more accurate than the Julian calendaR and came close to the Gregorian. probably his most amazing feat was his calculation of the year which came out to be a near exact 365.24219858156 days long, which is accurate to the 6th decimal place! Omar Khayyam greatly effected the world with his doings, his year calculation to this day is exact, along with his upgrade of the calendar set the standards of calendar and provided a accurate dates throughout the year. contributions in astronomy range from the Arabic names of stars which we still use today to knowing the position of the planets.Such great ideas like these were those that set the foundations of the great Islamic empire that ultimately in the end were passed on to the world, and proved to be beneficial.

Pros and Cons of Gender Quotas Essay

There has been a considerable improvement of female representation in many areas of life in the past century: in â€Å"2012, women took home more than a third of the medals† awarded at the London Olympics, but more importantly, â€Å"the percentage of women on the boards of the 100 largest companies has risen over the past year to a record of 15. 6%. And in the last six months, 35% of new board appointments to FTSE 250 companies have been women† (Braund). Many countries, led by Norway, have promoted female representation by implementing gender quotas for corporate boards and they do so because gender quotas increase diversity in the workplace and with increased diversity comes many derivative benefits. Increased diversity by itself is a tremendous benefit; â€Å"it is in conformity with the notions of equality and representation† (Bilkisu). By increasing diversity on corporate boards, we can â€Å"give speedy increase in women’s representation [and] guarantee ‘equality of results’ for women and men aspirants† and, in doing so, support the concepts of freedom and liberty that this country was found upon (Bilkisu). Furthermore, not only do gender quotas promote democracy through increased diversity, they also help to defeat the tendencies of groups composed of similar individuals. Corporate boards with members that â€Å"have similar backgrounds and have been through similar socialization are more likely than not to share views and presumptions and [are] less likely to engage in vigorous discussion and to challenge management† (Gratton). Sharing views and presumptions and the reluctance to debate amongst one another results in groupthink, in which group members try to minimize conflict by reaching consensus and therefore create an atmosphere of decreased creativity, uniqueness, and independent thinking. This scenario often exists in all male or majority male corporate boards because â€Å"they tend towards ‘the risky shift’ which results in them colluding with each other [and] also lack the diverse networks that are so crucial to effective information search and decision making† (Gratton). Diversity promoted by gender quotas â€Å"can provide a wider range of opinion, experience and networking but also can help prevent groupthink that can hinder innovation† (Dong-youb). By introducing more women, businesses can reate an environment that stifles groupthink tendencies and allows for a larger variety of ideas and opinions to be shared. Introducing more women to corporate boards through gender quotas can help the business â€Å"better understand the needs of diverse customers and workers† and with the increasing globalization of the world’s economy, the customer base and work force for businesses are in fact becoming more diverse (Dong-youb). A better understanding of this increasingly diverse group of people allows the business to service their markets properly and enjoy continued profitability. Additionally, â€Å"women appear to be gradually taking control of the economy†¦ women control about 70 percent of household spending† and with women making more of the economic decisions, the need for more women on corporate boards becomes even more glaringly apparent (Bart). Especially â€Å"in the consumer sector [where] the products and services†¦ are mainly bought by women,† it is obvious that appointing more women to corporate boards would support the increasing number of female consumers by promoting their interests in business decisions (Gratton). Companies that choose to ignore this shift in society would be wasting the ample amount of talent that exists already, as well as passing up the â€Å"estimated economic benefits and boost to productivity of increasing female participation in the workforce†¦ at 11 percent of gross domestic product† (Coonan). â€Å"Diversity at the board-level also provides role models at the top of the corporate ladder that encourage aspiring younger employees with non-traditional qualifications or backgrounds† (Dong-youb). There have been an increasing number of women enrolling in higher education in proportion to men and an increase in the number of women on corporate boards would provide those young aspiring women with a role model. However, despite all the benefits that implementing gender quotas could have, there has not been as much change on the makeup of corporate boards as would be expected and there is a group of people that â€Å"are becoming frustrated by a lack of progress in this area and simply want quotas†¦ as a catalyst to disrupt the inertia and stimulate affirmative action† (Jury). Cons of Gender Quotas  While there are many people who see the benefits of gender quotas on corporate boards and strongly support the implementation of such, there are also people who view a gender quota as â€Å"wrong in principle, has difficulties in practice, is tokenistic and is counterproductive to the end goal† (Jury). Much of the view that gender quotas are not the solution to the lack of diversity on corporate boards can be contributed to the belief that â€Å"the fundamental criteria for a board appointment must be talent and appropriateness† and this belief is shared by both businesses and the women that businesses employ (Gratton). Everyone prefers to be chosen for certain positions based on merit as opposed to being picked for other reasons, since being chosen based on merit acknowledges strengths and dismisses any accusations of preferential treatment, especially when selection processes are transparent. Women facing minority representation on corporate boards are especially adamant that they â€Å"don’t want to go on a board as a token gesture[, they] want to be there because it’s meritorious† (McFarland). Women, just like men, want to be recognized for their skills and achievements and not their appearance or gender; â€Å"no woman wants to be a token female[,] yet the recent call for quotas of women in the boardroom runs the risk of achieving exactly that† (Mantzarapis). Implementing a gender quota for corporate boards can affect the dynamics of the workplace negatively by promoting the perception that women are only being appointed onto boards due to gender and not ability. These assumptions and questions concerning the reasons behind the promotion of women all contribute to â€Å"undermin[ing] her ability from the start and may make it more difficult for her to prove herself† (Mantzarapis). Even if the company openly claims that its decisions are based only on merit and not gender, the existence of gender quotas alone causes questions to be asked about the reasons behind a promotion or appointment no matter what the real reasons are. Since a quota system based on gender would undermine the merits of those females who would be appointed to corporate boards, those against gender quotas believe â€Å"it would be an insult to women and a great disservice to companies if women are appointed to fill quotas†¦ as standards will inevitably be compromised when an arbitrary numerical target is set against an unrealistic timeline† (Khoo).

Industry Structures

A rise In global markets will usually generate an increase in return off livestock, this can increase the local prices. Local bodies or lobby groups like National Farmers Federation, Sheep Cooperative Research Centre, Department of Agriculture for Fisheries and Forestry and Meat and Livestock Australia help to maintain a reasonably simple trading system. In this report it was shown that the future has potential and with the support of the producers and industries behind the live trade of lamb things will pick up and move on in favor of the market over time.Introduction The lamb Market is a volatile market with many highs and lows, this is a mature market with a constant and promising future to come. In the report It will cover; the main markets and end use applications for the product, monitoring the market and change of supply and demand patterns over the years. It will identify the future 1 OFF and overseas. The report will also cover how and what the industry agencies do to protec t the lamb market for Australia.Main Markets and End Uses There is a growing export demand for both lamb and mutton, with China being the largest export destination for Australia followed by India, Kuwait and Italy (IBIS, 2013) Australia's sheep flock is the second largest in the world although the flock has been wringing and Australia is the largest exporter of lamb according to IBIS world report. Producers sell prime lamb and mutton to meat processing markets or export markets. A rise in global markets will usually generate an increase in return off livestock due to more numbers being sold and cost increasing for them.In relation to sales of lamb and mutton, the average Australian consumes around 1 1 keg of lamb and mutton every year (IBIS, 2013) BARES estimates and annual increase of 3. 1% for lamb and 6. 1% increase for mutton over the four years through to 2016-17. (IBIS, 2013) Figure 1. Lamb utilization and retail price (ML, 2013) Supply and Demand Patterns Whilst there are la rge countries Australia's population is growing, therefore the demand for meat is on the rise and lamb being a popular meat and a substitute for others such as beef and chicken.In 2011-2012 Australia exported 49 percent of all lamb and 97. 5 percent of all mutton produced in Australia, the total value of these lamb exports was 1. 094 million. Around 19,240 Australian broad acre farms are classified as lamb around 19,240 Australian broad acre farms are classified as lamb producers the majority of these farmers are mixed enterprise, a substantial reapportion of their income coming from cropping, beef cattle, sheep and wool, as well as from the sale of lambs.Lamb producers generally sell their lambs to slaughter houses, feedlots or export. Around 9400 slaughter lamb producers earn more than 20 per cent of their total farm receipts from the sale of slaughter lambs and are classified as specialist slaughter lamb producers. With the numbers of lamb sitting steady we can see. Key Competito rs Competition for the Australian Lamb Market is continually increasing from overseas buyers and investors, despite remaining one of the largest and most valuable market for lamb.The reasons for this include a challenging domestic consumer market and strong growth in overseas markets, this is due to the decrease in the Australian dollar decreasing. (ML, 2012) New Zealand is one of Australia's closest competition in the trade market. The sheep flock in the United States has been declining in recent years, to the point that as at the beginning of 2012, it was the lowest in over a century, at 5. 35 million head. With ongoing widespread drought in the US there is currently little prospect of this pattern reversing, although the majority of the US flock is in the less- affected north-western states.Industry Structures and Policy Frameworks There are a couple of barriers to entry this includes capital investment and securing finance as new producers need to purchase land, fencing material s and livestock. The government and the livestock export industry are working cooperatively with trading partners to address post-arrival welfare concerns and to improve the Ongoing involvement in the livestock export trade provides an opportunity to influence animal welfare conditions in importing countries.The Department is Jointly funding a number of projects with the live export industry to improve infrastructure ND training to promote better animal handling and slaughter practices. Australia is the only country that requires specific animal welfare outcomes for livestock exports. Ongoing involvement in this trade provides an opportunity to influence animal welfare conditions in importing countries. This legislation was an important step by the Government to overhaul the livestock export trade.Arrangements to ensure exported animals are well treated during road and sea transportation are an important part of the standards. Ships must comply with strict rules about ventilation, d rainage and provision of water and food. Each animal must have access to food and water on demand and enough space to lie down, and there must be special pens for sick animals to receive veterinary care ‘Under the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997, a report on the carriage of livestock on any sea voyage to a port outside of Australia must be tabled in each House of Parliament every 6 months. (ML, 2013) Future Industry Challenges With the recent ban on live trade out of Australia this could be a potential future challenge for the livestock industry. The live trade of livestock is of great importance o both regional and rural Australia and is vital to the red meat industry. (Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, 2013) Since the mid sass's the livestock export trade has grown significantly to become a vital component of Australia's agricultural export earnings.Live exports are a legitimate trade providing farmers with a valuable alternative to domestic slaughter. Some people maintain that live trade of Australian livestock should be banned and a preference for frozen or chilled meat to be exported. Chicken being one of the most popular meats means that there is intention for the lamb market, beef also is a competitor for the local lamb markets and export markets as chicken is common in Asian countries.Industry Agencies and Bodies Meat and Livestock Australia – ML delivers marketing and research and development services for Australia's cattle, sheep and goat producers. ML creates opportunities for livestock supply chains from their combined investments to build demand and productivity. Department of Agriculture for Fisheries and Forestry – Supplying research and development in the agricultural sector, monitoring political and industrial sectors to keep the agricultural sector on top of the game.State Agricultural sectors – supplying information related to research and development that is relevant to the state b ody and the farmers related National Farmers Federation – ‘The NEFF is the peak body representing farmers, made up of state commodity councils and farm organizations, and is a powerful voice for agriculture politically (National Farmers Federation, 2013) Sheep Cooperative Research Centre (Sheep CRY) – The role of the CRY is to facilitate transformation of the sheep industry through making sheep easier to manage, developing the production and processing of meat and wool to meet increasing consumer