Reality TV Shouldn’t be a Reality Essay

When you turn on a television today, reality TV litters the media. This is what our generation idolizes. But is it appropriate? Is this what we should be watching? When I see adults making immature and stupid decisions, I can only say, â€Å"No†. So I purpose that we ban the brain-melting reality TV material. Most reality TV shows, like â€Å"Jersey Shore†, is just a brain-numbing wreck that most children, teens, and even adults get sucked into. All this is doing is glamorizing bad decisions, stupidity, and bad behavior. Teens and kids want to be like these people, but is this how you want them to be? Of course not! So why allow children and teens watch reality television? Aside from the horrifying incompetence, reality television is a complete waste of time. Children and teens waste hours of watching reality television. Stupid dialogue and inappropriate behavior is no reason to waste hours of their lives! They could be doing more important things than to watch reality TV. By allowing them to watch reality television, parents are giving children the right to follow these â€Å"reality TV stars’† horrible example and waste away their lives. Another reason we should stop reality television is that it could disrupt our community. Instead of going outside and being active, a lot of people prefer to stay inside to watch reality television. Instead of filming documentaries that can inspire and prosper, filming crews work with degenerates that pollute our minds. And instead of living a good, clean, and meaningful life, the reality TV stars spend their life’s acting foolish and immoral. Unfortunately, this is a normal truth of our society, though I believe it shouldn’t be. Reality television shouldn’t be the center of our attention. So as you can see, reality TV should be banned form our society for multiple reasons, including that it glorifies and promotes bad behavior, is a waste of time, and that it could disrupt our community. There has to be a better way to use our time, money, and life’s.

Branding Essay

Case Study 1: Transaction pricing in a recessionary economy Our client is an FMCG major that sells its products across many large and small retailers. The client is facing pressure from one such large retailer to cut prices across brands and categories. The client is therefore losing money on several products. Our client would like to use analytics to bring in some science into the pricing decision. Our analysis should help the client decide what pricing strategies should be applied to each product. How would you approach this analysis? The data available is weekly price and volume data for all client brands at the retailer for a period of 2 years. Case Study 2: Managing extreme seasonality Our brand is a high end lifestyle brand, famous globally. They however, face an issue of seasonal sales, with over 60% of their sales coming in the holiday period. They would like to understand how best to ensure sales in non seasonal periods as well and make the sales curve more even. Data available includes volume and values sales and usage and attitude studies. Case Study 3: NPD (own label) at a supermarket chain A leading supermarket chain wants to expand its limited portfolio of RTE food products. Transaction data for the past 1 year is available. How would you go about understanding the type of products to be introduced? What is the launch strategy for the products chosen? Case Study 4: Acquisition vs New product development A food major in the market with no chips brand in its portfolio. A decision has been made at the board level to either acquire an existing brand or launch a new one in this space. You are in charge of implementing this. 1. How will you take the decision on acquisition vs. new product development? Which metrics would you evaluate, what analysis would you perform & what data would you require? 2. If you decide to acquire a brand, how would you choose among the existing brands? What info do you require on each brand to make this call? a. Any intangible factors that would influence your valuation of existing brands? In case you decide to launch a new brand, how would you go about it? How would you decide the desired new brand characteristics and the associated marketing mix? Case Study 5: Analyzing brand performance A chips brand has recently been launched, but its performance has not been too good. The large promotional investments put in have not yielded lasting returns. You are told to investigate what’s wrong with the brand. 1. What data would you request to complete your investigation in this case? 2. Can you talk about your analysis roadmap in this scenario? What possible corrective actions would you suggest (you are free to make relevant assumptions on the diagnosis)? Case Study 6: Heritage brand with stagnating growth A very old chips brand (kind of like a heritage brand) is faced with stagnating growth. It continues to perform reasonably well on key equity parameters, and there is no decline compared to previous years. 1. How do you read the situation? What data would you require to make an accurate diagnosis of the issue? What are the potential corrective actions you would suggest? How would you decide between the various options?

Coca-Cola Company Essay

Environment is an important aspect in our lives, allover the world, concerns are being raised on how the world can have a sustainable environment. Companies are under pressure to come up with programs that support environment. For the purpose of this paper we are going to examine the Coca-Cola Company environmental programs and polices. Coca-Cola Company is a multinational company that is well known for its production of carbonated soft drinks that are sold in over 200 countries allover the world. Coke soft drinks are sold in stores, vending machines and in restaurants. According to business week, coke is the most recognized brand from the company. This paper is going to analyze the environment issues that impact the company. Many nutritionists argue that soft drinks from Coca-Cola and other companies are harmful when consumed in access especially by the young ones, who may take a lot of soft drinks at the expense of a balanced diet. Studies indicate that those who regularly take soft drinks do have lesser calcium intakes in their body systems. The coca cola company in India has come under a big controversy that concerns pesticides together with other dangerous chemicals that purported to find in the bottled products from the company. In the year 2003, center for Science and Environment (CSE) which is a non governmental organization based in New Delhi, reported that aerated waters that were being produced in India by multinational big companies such as coca-cola, did contain toxins. These toxins included DDT, lindane, Malathion and chlorpyrifors, which can contribute greatly to cancer and also the breakdown of an individual immune system. Among products that were tested was coke which has found to have 30 times the amount of pesticide remains that is allowed by the European Union regulations. This lead to formation of a parliamentary committee that was given mandate to develop pesticide levels for soft drinks; this was first of its kind in the world. The company response was its products are well filtered in order to remove any potential contaminants before being marketed and that the normal have a minimum level of pesticides as required by health standards. In the sate of Kerala in India, sell of Coca-Cola products together with other soft drinks was banned, until the high overruled the decision. Suppliers Coca-Cola Company has a policy with its suppliers to follows all international and national laws that encourage ethical business dealing. The company has built its reputation on trust, respect and integrates. The company promotes the principles of human rights, shun child labor and encourage environmental conservations practices. The Coca-Cola Company has several supplies who supplies various material to the company that are used in production and overall distribution of the company products. (Coca-Cola – Our Brands 2007). To start with the company is supplied with aluminum from different supplies coming from different countries. Aluminum is also supplied to the company’s bottling plants in many parts of the world; it is used for manufacturing of cans and other containers that the company uses in packaging. Other suppliers of the company are farms who grow coco plant, sugar, corn and other plants that are used as raw material by the company. Some companies do enter into dealership with the company of supplying the raw material to the company. Over the years the company has acquired many suppliers as the demand of its products increase. Companies dealing in glass also supply a lot of it to the company as it is used in making of bottles for packaging soft drinks from the company. Effects of demographics Globalization, technology, and population are among key factors that affects the company business. Over a period of three years demographic factors will play an important role on the company sale and overall performance. In line with world growth, it is believed that the world have more aged people than today this is because the birth rate in many countries is falling while at the same time life expectancy is improving. Studies indicate that young people consumer a lot of the company products than the aged ones. In line with this the company may experience slight reduction in consumption of there products. This reduction of consumption may not occur since at the same time the world population is increasing there fore cautioning any decrease that may occur in consumption patterns. Other than aging and population, the company also will have to deal with environmental issues brought about by technology change and global changes. As technology continues to advance, the issue of environment also continues to attract more attention on how viable such technology is. To day people allover the world wants companies which are environmental friendly. Consumers have become more aware of their environment and prefer companies that value the environment and have policies that protect the environment. The company will be affected positively in three years to come if they have embrace technology that sustain environment, if not then the may experience negative effects. Environment and health issues have been a big issue in the company, in 2006 the United States Food and Drug Administration, had to respond to concerns of consumers by carrying out a survey on more 100 soft drinks and also other beverages which established that though, the soft drinks had amount of benzene, it was not a health concern to consumers. The Coca-Cola Company has a vision that seeks to promote sustainable growth and making a positive change in the whole world. In regard to environment the company has made significant and quantifiable progress. The company has integrated environmental issues in its business strategies and decision making methods. As it can be noted the company improved its usage of water ratio by 4%, the energy usage ratio by 5% and the recycling rate went up by 3%. These improvements have a direct benefit to communities where the company operates and to the company stakeholders. However, the company still is undertaking more measures to improve the environment. The company has taken key measures in improving the environment, which focus mainly on environmental performance measures of the company systems. These measures include improving the company operations and improving ways of conducting business which are geared towards minimize environmental effects that the company has. The environment impacts created by the company operations from the company bottling systems are for example sustainable packaging inventiveness, protection of climate and â€Å"eco-freshment†, the company has undertaken alternative refrigeration programs that are more environmental friendly. To further improve the environment, Cocacola Corporation has invested a lot in clean technology that fuels the company innovations; this includes the environment board; the company community and watershed schemes; and making partnerships with charity organization, non governmental agencies and peer companies that targets developing solutions that are innovative towards environmental issues. The Coca-Cola Corporation which is a global corporation has a unique challenge in managing the environmental effects to the company business. The corporation has a challenge because it does not own nor manage many of coca cola bottling companies around the world. Thus, these data will examine the corporation environmental management. Water The most essential need for all life forms is water; however accessing safe and clean water has remained dream to many. It is estimated that around 1. 3 billion people allover the world do not reach to clean and safe water. This has a great impact on the environment as a whole. Allover the world, from United Nations to community organizations are working in order to increase access to water, the company is doing its part by protecting and preserving water resources Water is an important factor in management of environment the corporation in line with undertaking sustainable water methods, it improved it water effectiveness by 4% in the year 2005, over three previous years the company has been improving its water efficiency, and the company projects that water efficiency usage will level off soon. To ensure this, the company has undertaken changes in product mix, meaning the growing of tea and coffee products; this is anticipated to make the company productions ways more water concentrated. The management in 2005 did a comprehensive risk analysis of water dangers that face the company systems and host communities in 811 company bottling plants and has continued in improving efficient water use. Wastewater disposal is an issue that the management is addressing by working with bottling partners in the whole world to improve wastewater treatment. In addition, conservation processes have been undertaken by the company and the company is strict on these processes to achieve and even surpasses applicable laws. The management has put up requirements for their bottling plant to have on site an effluent treatment plants that will be used in attaining the goal of increasing water efficiency. The goal of the company is to be 100% water efficiency by the year 2010 (Coca-Cola – Our Brands 2007). The company is focusing on other projects that will address the issue of water scarcity in world. At the end of 2005, the company had established around 20 watershed joint ventures with local communities and to help in providing access to clean water and also sanitation services in the communities allover the world where the company have their bottling plants. In line with enhancing access to water the management of the company entered into partnerships with Emory Global center for Safe Water, the United Nations Foundations, Millennium Water Alliance and others in establish Global Water Challenge. This all important combination aim at providing safe water for drinking, improving sanitation together with hygienic education in developing countries. The program depends on collaboration of partners, funding, mobilizing additional partners, and sharing of resources, best practices and expertise. Global Water Challenge has a program Water for Schools which focus on supplying water and also sanitation to many schools in Kenya in nyanza province. There is already great prospective of implementing the same project elsewhere. These efforts greatly enhance environment. Packaging Coca-Cola beverage is taken by people allover the world over 1. 3 times in a day, in order for the company to satisfy this consumption rate, the company depends upon packaging its products in containers. These containers are offer protection and enable distribution of the products to the consumer. The management has been working throughout in enhancing environmental along side social value packaging, by improving designs of containers in order to meet the set standards. In the year 2005 the company made a lot of progress towards achieving sustainable packaging distinction (Coca-Cola – Our Brands 2007). The company has pursed environmental friendly way of packing by reducing amount of material used on its can, bottles and polyethylene terephthalate. In 2005 the new technology of the company reduced use of glass by 52, 000 tons annual ii all of its plants in the world. The managed has also managed to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. In line with keeping the environment clean, the management has come up with recycling systems which are more efficient. An example of such recycling plants is CEMPRE in Brazil. These recycling plants have been used to produce recycled containers which the company reuses. This initiative have gone along way in improving the overall environment as broken bottles and cans used to pause a danger to the environment(Coca-Cola – Our Brands 2007). Solid waste and recycling The management of the company is committed in having an efficient lasting waste management that will reduce waste generated in the company’s plants and facilities. Majority of waste products around 98% is created in the bottling process, the waste products includes products like empty containers, plastics wraps secondary packaging and many more. (Pendergrast 2006). The management makes efforts to reuse or recycle such materials have continued to improve the efficient of managing the wastes. In the year 2005 the company achieved a 3% improvement of waste management from the previous year. The view to the environment this is a positive aspect from the company as waste management has always poised a serious challenge to many manufacturing plants. Energy and climate Global climatic changes and global warming have become an issue of create concern to the world. Companies are requested to reduce the amount of carbon emissions that they emit to the environment. Energy saving is another important issue that is being stressed. In terms of saving energy, the management of the company has developed a sustainable technology of refrigeration. The technology â€Å"eKOfreshment† has seen more than 4,000 CO2 refrigerated cooler on the market and a demand for more has already been created. These coolers are much environmental friendly and the company intend to produce more of them slowly by slowly to take over the old ones. In addition the management is introducing new energy management solutions by the year 2010. Today, the company cold drinks apparatus are over 40% more effective than ten years ago. This has reduced the amount of carbon dioxide in the environment by 700,000 tons per year which is same as removing 150,000 vehicles from the roads. In so doing the company has management to improve the environment management (Pendergrast 2000).

Lap Dance Feature News Story Prompt Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lap Dance Feature News Story Prompt - Assignment Example All 11 members of council were in agreement with the ordinance while only 8 votes were required for the approval of the ordinance. One of the main conditions of the ordinance is that there has to be no touching between the entertainers and patrons in any kind of business in Redondo Beach. It also requires a 6-foot separation between the patrons and entertainers, along the performance stage to be at least 18 inches high and a rail of at least 30 inches high. Adult entertainment industry will be greatly affected by this ordinance. It includes establishments such as strip clubs, gentlemen’s clubs, adult clubs, bikini bars, nudie bars, topless bars, adult cabaret bars and others. An entertainer in the ordinance mainly refers to dancers, both men and women. Activities such as lap dancing, tucking bills in G-strings, etc will become illegal as a result of the ordinance. Mary Macy (40) said, â€Å"Adult entertainment businesses are blight to any neighbourhood. They attract a variety of criminal activity, including prostitution and drug use. The proliferation of these businesses is destroying neighbourhoods across the city.† Tonis Zaslow (35) supported Mary Macy by arguing that the quality of life needs to be safeguarded. He said â€Å"Redondo’s reputation as a wide-open city needs to end. We can and will restore the quality of life that needs to be restored. It’s time to make a stand. This is just good government.† On the adult entertainment industry which contributes $150 million annually to the economy came out very strongly against the ordinance. Ken Majors (51), owner of Peppermint Giraffe Gentlemen’s Club said that â€Å"We’ll beat this. They tried to do this in two other California cities and the voters threw it out just like that. We’ll get the 30,000 signatures in two weeks. I know it. Want to sign the petition? We’re having a party to gather signatures. Come and bring your friends.† The

Economics for Business 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Economics for Business 3 - Essay Example Various macroeconomic variables were affecting the demand and supply of the products produced by Apple exist. Additionally, these variables are essential in ensuring that Apple poses a cutting edge in the market today. These variables include interest rates, GDP, GDP plays a key role in influencing the demand supply of the Apple Inc. in 2013, for instance, the global forecast for GDP was at 3.3% according to the Global Macroeconomic Outlook. This was a relatively slow growth, having in mind that the growth of the GDP in the last decade hit a 3.8% gain. Usually, slow growth in GDP is followed by a fall in demand for goods and services. Apple being a producer of cyclical products, led to a fall in demand of their products. Additionally, slow growth rate may end up leading to the company lowering its prices hence leading to a reduction in profit margin (Tynjà ¤là ¤ &Eloranta, n.d). In 2010, growth rate in the economy was registered and hence Apple’s profit margin rose from 21.5% in 2010 to 23.8% in 2011. A rose in profit margin also came from the fact that there was the demand for Apple’s product. Interest rates affect the demand and supply of products of a given organization to a large extent. An increase in interest rates by banks leads to decrease in demand for products. When interest rates increase, people tend to avoid dealing with the increased interest rates and wait till when the rates reduce. Apple Inc. Being an organization that deals with product sales is also affected by interest rates. In Japan, one of the major consumers of Apple’s products experienced increased interest rates in 2012. On a large extent, it led to the reduction in supply of the Smartphones in Japan. Inflation refers to the long-term rise in price of goods and services due to the devaluation of a currency. Apple targets several consumers in various

How music can shift social structure Dissertation - 1

How music can shift social structure - Dissertation Example A prominent example in this case is that of the Bluegrass music from the USA which is an amalgamation of Irish, African American, Scottish and German instruments and singing (Anon., 2005). Music and society both affect each other and at times it becomes difficult to find out which influences most on the other (Annon, 2005). Music not only reflects culture but it also shapes the culture. It has a tremendous amount of power in it. It can lift the spirits of the people and make them realize their connection with the Absolute power of God (Hammond, 2003). The aim of this paper is to examine how music can shape up a war torn or turbulent society in a positive manner. For the purpose of convenience I shall divide the paper into several parts. Part one will be based on the introduction of the topic. Part 2 will discuss the power of music to make peace; part three will discuss the theoretical aspect of the healing power of music. Part four will discuss the passage of music into the body and how it can be beneficial for the healer and the person being healed. Part five will discuss the practical implementation of the theory and its results on the society. For this research paper journal articles, books and authentic websites have been explored. Towards the end the conclusion will discuss the need of music in the current world affairs to maintain peace and harmony in the world. Music can be used as a tool to change the state of a person’s mind by manipulating their emotions. Music is considered to be a universal language that can transmit emotions and ideas across boundaries. A politician or a scientist making a speech will probably not make an impression on the masses as compared to a simple road side musician. People can long remember the words of a song than that of a speech of a politician.

Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Education - Essay Example After the final work, you will find the areas in your work I edited. The ideas I added are typed in RED to make you spot the new additions. I have also attached one more article that I used. If your teacher requests for it, you may provide it to him. Thank you and hoping we work again in the nearest future since my field is Education. Isaac #72032 TUI UNIVERSITY Grear Dale III MAE 515 MOD 3 SLP Dr. Xiaoying Wu February 21, 2011 Texas Public School System Education is an important aspect of society. In the view of Goer (2007), education has an enormous impact on the human society. It trains the human mind to think and take the right decision. To this effect, human is regarded as a rational being and distinguished from other animals when he is educated to take control of himself and over the environment around him. Education therefore equips humankind with the knowledge to take charge over his immediate environment and make it suitable for his existence. It is for the reason of this im mense impact of education that States all over the world adapt educational systems that will be most suitable to the needs of its citizens and help solve the immediate problems of its people. To ensure that the adapted educational system meets the expectation of society, there are systems put in place to check for success and progress of the entire educational system. Checking for success of the educational system includes checking whether the curriculum answers the most immediate perturbing issues of society and whether stakeholders in the educational system; including students and teachers are living up to the standards of the educational system. The system that is used for checking whether the educational system is up to standard is commonly referred to as assessment. In the State of Texas, the public school system is one of the most esteemed forms of education. Texas’ public school system continues to use a variety of assessments in which to evaluate curriculum and teache rs/instructors. Assessments are conducted by students in determining where their school ranks within districts throughout the state. The rankings are not always used in a positive manner. Some assessments are in an attempt to solicit student enrollment into certain school districts. The State of Texas’ overall intent for its ranking procedure and policies is also used to promote schools as Magnet schools, which is a positive step to improve student outcomes. Magnet schools throughout the state of Texas receive much more funding regular schools. It focuses on special funding for special programs and compensation to teachers/instructors who deliver their curriculum to a certain standard. It is noticeable that the typical standard school receives far less funding and therefore students are less likely to receive the same standard of education. The intent of this analysis is to compare certification programs and evaluation requirements for teachers as well as students within the state of Texas school districts. What is a Magnet School? The article â€Å"Public School Review,† suggest that the difference between a Magnet and regular public schools â€Å"is that they usually have something special to offer over a regular school, which makes attending Magnet schools an attractive choice to many students, thereby increasing the diversity of the student population within them.† (Chen, 2007) Students who are privileged to enroll in Magnet schools

Via Dolorosa Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Via Dolorosa - Research Paper Example The physicality of this particular path and the unidirectional focus that Christ’s ministry had with regards to the very moment of undergoing the hardships leading up to and including crucifixion can be literally understood by journeying this physical path towards the atonement for sin. As such, it comes as little wonder why the Via Dolorosa has come to occupy such an important place in the hearts and minds of so many of the faithful around the globe. Firstly, though it might be tempting, the fact of the matter is that the Via Dolorosa did not exist in its current form until around the 18th century (Russell et al 784). What is meant by this is the fact that the path that Christ supposedly tread prior to crucifixion on Pottery was one that has been up for debate I scholars and theologians for many years. Perhaps more importantly to those within the Roman Catholic, Episcopal, or Anglican faiths are what are known as the â€Å"stations of the cross† (Denomme 37). ... 3 – Jesus falls for the first time, station 4 – Jesus meets his other, station 5 – Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the cross, station 6 – Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, station 7 – Jesus falls the second time, station 8 – Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, station 9 – Jesus falls the third time, station 10 – Jesus’ clothes are taken away, station 11 – Jesus is nailed to the cross, station 12 – Jesus dies on the cross, station 13 – Jesus is taken down from the cross, station 14 – Jesus is laid in the tomb. As with any form of research, whether Biblical or scientific, the Via Dolorosa has come to be more completely and effectively understood over the past several hundred years. As continued scientific and archeological discovery took place in the Holy Land, the centuries of changes that had affected the landscape and impacted upon the existence of certain types and directions of roads th rough the city of Jerusalem came to be understood in a more complete manner. As such, the mere existence of changes to the route of the Via Dolorosa does not in and of itself denote that the path itself is somehow contrived. Rather, it has merely come to be understood in a more effective and complete manner as a result of the subsequent understanding of what roads and paths existed in what times (Kline 49). Moreover, due to the fact that Jerusalem has exhibited nearly continual residency by some people group or another over the nearly 3000+ years of its existence, it is not a precise or exact science to specify to any level of absolute certainty what existing and non-existing roads or paths can or should be included in the modern day interpretation of the Via Dolorosa. However, that being said, the actual path itself, barring some almost certain

Are Neuroscientists Able to Explain Human Consciousness Essay

Are Neuroscientists Able to Explain Human Consciousness - Essay Example The essay "Are Neuroscientists Able to Explain Human Consciousness?" talks about the different aspects of neuroscience in the context of human consciousness studies and how these studies have changed with the time. It would be an exaggeration to say that neuroscientists have no clue whatsoever to how consciousness is possible. In fact, neuroscientists have certain facts at hand to give them a hint. As whatever consciousness ultimately might be, it is somehow based on the workings of the central nervous system. This is something humans have not always known: For Aristotle, it was the heart, not the brain that was the seat of human mental life. In fact, Aristotle explicitly denied that the brain could be the sensory center. Before the advent of modern neuroscience, consciousness was a subject for philosophical debate or qualitative psychological descriptions based on introspection. In some schools of psychology, such as behaviorism, it was placed outside of the scientific program, and considered to be a kind of epiphenomenon. More recently, cognitive psychologists have taken certain functional aspects of consciousness as an unanalyzed basis for their studies on human perception and even with a certain degree of success. Such a position does not go far enough, however. Any attempt to account for higher brain functions in terms of the physical organization of the brain itself and of its constituent neurons is confronted sooner or later with the need for a detailed analysis of consciousness based on brain structure.

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 13

Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example She jumps to the stage and starts singing and dancing, and along with her, everybody dances. The dwarfed dancers sing and dance aside the eatables over the tables as the astonished and overwhelmed real-size guests watch them. In the end, one of the female guests passes a compliment for the girl, appreciating her energy and performance. The commercial ends with the girl’s wink to the audience. The main idea of the whole commercial is that Pepsi is the answer to all the thirst and tiredness, and the effect is equally strong upon people of all ages and all ethnicities. Pepsi instills all the freshness and energy in the person who drinks it that he/she needs to rock. The performers have been purposely dwarfed in the commercial. This variation in size not only adds a lot of drama in the commercial, but also suggests that those who drink Pepsi are taken by its joy into an imaginary world of happiness and joy where they can sing and dance and party wherever they want. Nothing could be more appropriate to end the commercial with than the wink of the girl that has been the center of attention throughout the commercial. Ever since the conception of Pepsi around the start of the 20th century, one of its primary goals has been outselling Coca-Cola because it is Pepsi’s main competitor. Pepsi has been using commercials to promote its product for decades. Pepsi has run numerous campaigns, including famous celebrities in many of them to make a claim. The fundamental ideology behind this has been that ordinary people should drink Pepsi because stars and celebrities drink it. For instance, the â€Å"Joy of Cola† campaign of Pepsi run in the late 90’s, Pepsi used a combination of factors including catchy jingles, humor, and celebrities to sell itself. The pathos, logos, and ethos used in â€Å"Joy of Cola† have helped Pepsi bring its consumers in the new millennium. The Pepsi jingle for this campaign was a very suitable jingle for Pepsi because it had the tendency

Smoking in ads Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Smoking in ads - Essay Example THESIS STATEMENT The thesis intends to argue on the fact that most advertising is made towards raising the usage of various products and on the same time, warning the viewers regarding the destructive behavior of smoking that can have unfavorable impacts upon the societal well-being at large. DISADVANTAGES OF SMOKING One of the common themes that many anti-smoking advertisements are based on intends to showcase the disadvantages of smoking on the health of the consumer. As depicted in these advertisements, the possibility of the smokers to suffer from several diseases, which can even cause significant threat to their lives. It is quite obvious that smoking affects both the physical along with the mental state of the regular consumers causing threat to various diseases. Theoretically, smoking is regarded as the habit or the action of inhaling the smoke of a tobacco or a particular drug. It is worth mentioning that smoking affects the physical state of an individual through the formati on of numerous diseases like emphysema, lung cancer and respiratory or heart diseases. At certain times, most of these diseases result in causing death of the individuals due to excessive smoking. Based on the above discussion, it can be affirmed from a broader understanding that negative consequences are observed from excessive smoking. Apart from affecting the physical state of an individual, smoking also affects the mental state of the regular abusers as well. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the biological factors engaged in smoking eventually affect an individual’s mental state by a considerable extent. It can be affirmed in this regard that the regular doses of a substance i.e. nicotine present in cigarettes eventually leads toward extensive changes in the individual’ brain, resulting in affecting their mental state at large (Mental Health Foundation, â€Å"Smoking and Mental Health†). Thus, showcasing these disadvantages of smoking, a ffecting the physical along with the mental state of regular abusers, anti-smoking advertisements tend to generate significant impacts on societal awareness against such destructive behaviors. SECOND HAND SMOKERS Another theme addressed in anti-smoking advertisements emphasizes the negative consequences faced by second hand smokers. In general, it can be affirmed that unavoidable smoking effects pertain not only on the abusers but also upon the second hand smokers breathing in the same air and therefore, reside within the periphery to be directing affected by the tobacco smoke. With this similar concern, secondhand smoking affects the lives of the individuals in the form of deteriorating their mental along with physical health. Conceptually, the notion of secondhand smoke is typically observed as the mixture of smoke that results from the burning end of a particular cigarette and also the smoke, which is exhaled by the smokers. It is quite evident that secondhand smoking distresses the people around the abusers in the form of causing several health related problems, even lung cancer. These problems may be related to respiratory along with ear infections, severe attacks of asthma and lung cancer among others. It can be apparently observed in this similar concern that the inhalation of secondhand

Beer Market Essay Example for Free

Beer Market Essay The Market. How should one think about market definition in the U.S. beer industry? Is there a single â€Å"beer market,† or are there several markets? If there are two or more markets, how would you identify them? How does demand substitutability and/or supply substitutability affect market boundaries in the industry? How high is demand substitutability and supply substitutability across segments of the industry, and in particular across the different markets you have identified? We find two markets in the beer industry: Alcoholic beer market and Nonalcoholic beer market. The demand substitutability heavily affects the market boundary in the industry. People who cannot consume alcohol can never try alcoholic beer. On the other hand, people who can drink alcoholic beer generally do not like nonalcoholic beer because they want to enjoy drinking â€Å"alcohol†. It means that the demand substitutability between alcoholic beer and nonalcoholic beer is low. In the alcoholic beer market, the demand substitutability is high. There are difference of the taste between the products (lagers, ales and etc.), but we believe people can switch the product easily. There is price difference, but still the range is $3-$7 and people can try other products easily. I can imagine if lagers decreased the price by $2, people having ales would try lagers. People can get almost all types of beer in USA, so there is no geographical boundary. In terms of the supply substitutability, it does not affect the market boundary. All beer companies can produce any types of beer. If a beer company earned a lot of profit in the nonalcoholic beer market, others would jump in the market. There is no geographical boundary, neither. In summary, the demand substitutability and the supply substitutability are high, except for the demand substitutability between non-alcohol and alcohol. Large Firms. Anheuser-Busch and SAB-Miller/Coors use advertising as their main tool in fighting for market share. It has been argued that they advertise too much. (See â€Å"Beer: Price and Advertising Elasticities of Demand† in the reading package.) Do high levels of advertising make sense, or should they be scaled back? Should SAB-Miller/Coors rely more on pricing to compete with A-B? Why or why not? Spending a lot of expenses make sense in the beer industry. First, the demand substitutability is very high. Beer is relatively cheap though there is the $2-3 price difference. Beer has different tastes, but still it tastes beer. People can try another type of beer easily, seeing the advertisement. Second, the advertisement of beer can increase the pie of the demand. For example, if we was an advertisement of beer in summer, we just feel like drinking beer. An advertisement can not only get the customers of a competitor, but also can increase the pie of the demand. Finally, an advertisement is effective to make a long lasting brand. Branding and penetration in the market is important and the companies cannot build them in short-run. An advertisement helps the company to make the prestigious brand in long-run. 3. Antitrust Issues. Some economists opposed the Miller-Coors U.S. merger. They argued that it would create too much concentration in the industry, and lead to more market power and higher prices for consumers. Do you agree and think the merger should have been blocked by the DOJ? Why or why not? Explain briefly but clearly. [pic] According to Steven Newborn, an antitrust attorney with Weil Gotshal Manges in Washington, D.C. said, â€Å"Normally, a 30% market share would not create a problem, but when you have two companies controlling almost 80%, the government may think there is potential for anti-competitive effect.†1 Others have different opinion. I can see a price war breaking out if MillerCoors starts to gain share from Budweiser, says Roman Shuster, a research analyst in Chicago with Euromonitor International PLC. InBev is known to push back, and what they do will have a huge impact on the market.2 I believe the merger shouldn’t have been blocked by DOJ because of below two reasons: †¢ To avoid monopoly: If the merger is blocked by DOJ, then Anheuser-Busch may even capture more market share due to its cost advantages as the result of economies of scale. This may result in a monopoly. Merger gives MillerCoors more than 30% of the market share and a chance to fairly compete with Anheus er-Busch. †¢ Consumers may benefit customers due to price war: Joint venture of MillerCoors was expected to reduce the production and transportation cost of the company. Now both the companies can brew beers at the combined locations and save on transportation and other costs. When the operations merged then hundreds of employees may be laid-off which is expected to reduce employee-related costs.3 Reduced cost will enable MillerCoors to reduce price in the hope to gain market share. Consequent price decreases by Anheuser-Busch may start a price war which will benefit customers. 4. Small Firms. Craft brewing has been the fastest growing segment of the beer industry, but very few craft brewers have reached annual sales levels of 50,000 barrels or more. Magic Hat, however, has reached annual sales of over 150,000. Why has Magic Hat been relatively successful, and does it have the potential to keep growing? If you were to enter the craft brewing market next summer, what would be your sales objective over the following 5 years? What strategy would you use to achieve that objective? Key success factors of Magic Hat potential of growing: As Co-founder of Magic Hat, Alan Newman, says Magic Hat has gone from making kegs for a few Burlington bars to being the number 10 craft brand in the country4. Mainly there are two reasons for its success: †¢ Quality Product Delicious Taste: Magic Hat products are known for its uniquely delicious beers. They have understood taste of their customers. They provide quality product and respect their customer choices. †¢ Quirky Branding: Magic Hat is having a different way of advertising. Its webpage doesn’t ask whether you are 18 or above. But says – Splendor and glory are yours if you can answer one riddle: when were you born? They associate their product to Splendor and glory. Their commercials are equally quirky. Instead of showing people drinking beer and having fun, they show the brewing process and end the commercial by saying â€Å"A performance in every bottle†. Branding is very important to attract customers and their different way of advertising has given them a unique brand name. I believe that Magic Hat has the potential of growing further by focusing on innovation. In Magic Hats Vision and Values Statement, the company focusses on innovation, stating that †¦ideas cannot be limited by current perception. 4 They are expanding in new places and also in long-term markets. Sales Objective and Strategy: Currently total brewery market in U.S. is $27.6B. And it is expected to increase at the rate of 1.9% per year for the next five years to reach $30.3B. But much of this increase is expected to be in craft and premium beer segments. So I believe a growth target of 5% per year I reasonable. So starting at 50,000 barrels, my objective will be to at least increase sales by 5% per year. I will adopt below strategy to be competitive in the market: 1) Select geographic areas where it is appropriate and profitable to sell products. 2) Keep optimum debt level. 3) Establish a brand name by effective advertising and public relations. 4) By optimally utilizing capacity. 5) By controlling distribution arrangements so that they are optimal. By carefully planning links to wholesale stores, bars and nighclubs. 6) By achieving economies of Scale. If required, acquire or merge with another brewery. References 1http://www.beer-universe.com/beer-education-article/2012-07-06/Beer-Wars-Is-Big-Beer-Getting-Too-Big-/ 2http://www.stltoday.com/business/columns/lager-heads/price-war-coming-in-the -beer-industry/article_44619cea-1fb5-5d76-b55c-e7dcc0ee3722.html 3IBISWorld Industry Report 31212 Breweries in the US 4http://www.legalzoom.com/business-management/success-stories/microbreweries-found-macro-suc

Company Act 2013 Analysis

Company Act 2013 Analysis Introduction The awaited new company Act 2013 has replaced the 1956 Act with prime objective to counter the present day challenges and in line with rapid developments, integrations, globalisation of financial markets and growing economy of the world by Lok sabha on 18 Dec 12 and in Rajya sabha on 08 Aug 13, has been received Hon’ble president assent on 29 Aug 13. The new act emphasized changes and improvised governance structure business-friendly corporate regulations, modification of e-management, enforcement, share holder protection, enhanced accountability, improved institutional structure, enhanced disclosure norms, efficient merger acquision, introduce the role of whistle blowers, one Person Company, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) changes. The Companies Act, 2013 not only simplifies the mergers, acquisitions and restructuring process but also modifying the previous constraint, regulatory body like National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)and facilitates an effective impact on w orld business environment. This paper is analysis of the Company Act 2013 regarding modification and new initiative taken in the field of MA framework and trying to prove that the new MA structure is in line with global context and in improving the efficiency and smoothness of doing business in India. Objectives The prime objective of this paper is to establish a healthy comparison between Companies Act, 2013 and Company Act 1956 regarding MA process. To evaluate the new initiative taken and its impact. To find out the possible measures or necessary step to overcome the existing lapses. Scope Scope of the study is limited to study the new regulation and mostly focusing on the new development of as per Company Act, 2013. Limitation The new Company Act, 2013 has become fully implemented from 01 Apr 2014. So the actual output and the consequences the corporate sector faced cannot be measured in this sort time horizon. Further the paper is based on the secondary data so the realistic situation may be different. Research Methodology This paper is an exploratory type research and based on the secondary data information from the following sources, Research journal available online, Article published in magazine news paper, various websites blogs, media reports and personal interaction interview of professional on media. Literature review Maximum references is taken from the ‘Company Act, 2013: Rules, Circulars Notifications’ published by Ministry of Corporate Affairs, India, which emphasise the all aspect of company rule regulation. Reports of various agencies like PWC, India’s report on ‘ Company Act,2013, Key highlights and analysis’, Nov 2013,Deloitte’s ‘Company Act, 2013, Fresh thinking for a new start’, Oct 2013, Assocham’s, ‘Mergers and acquisitions in the era of Company Act, 2013’ Feb 2014, Ernst Young LLP’s report on ‘India Inc Company Act 2013 an overview’, Sep 2013 and KPMG India’s analysis on ‘Company Act 2013, New Rules of the game’, Oct 2013, which were emphasise on the business friendly corporate regulation, improved CG norms, enhance accountability, raise levels of transparency and protect interest of investors. Development of Company Act The expedition of Companies Act, 2013 as follows: 2008  On 23rd October 2008, Companies Bill, 2008 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to replace existing Companies Act 1956. It is based on the recommendation of J.J. Irani committee 2012 The Companies Bill, 2012 was introduced and got its assent in the Lok Sabha on 18 December 2012. 2013 Companies Bill, 2012 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 8th August, 2013. After having received the assent of the President of India on 29 August 2013, it has now become the much awaited Companies Act, 2013. The Act comprises of 29 chapters, 470 clauses 7 schedules. The key high lights of Company Act, 2013 are the extent of subordinated legislation. Which contain 300 references in the Act to rules which may be prescribed to implement and operational. New Initiative and changes: 1. Simplifying procedures for restructuring [section 230-232] To provide for a simpler and faster process of mergers and acquisitions, the new Company Act provides following initiative like: (a) Fast track merger[section 233]: In 2013 Act contains provisions that merger process between 2 or more ‘small companies’ and between a holding company and require approval of ROC, OL, members holding at least 90% of total number of shares and majority of creditors representing 9/10th in value. This will taking less in the High Court (NCLT under 2013 Act) process and will facilitate easy completion of the process. (b)Multilayer investment subsidiaries [section 186]: In 2013 Act One of the measures adopted to prevent money laundering and to ensure transparency is to restrict one’s ability to set up multiple investment companies. (c) Registered Valuers [section 247]: For valuation to be made in respect of any property, stocks, shares, debentures, securities, goodwill or other assets or of net-worth or liabilities under 2013 Act, will be done by a person registered with the Government as a valuer. Registered valuer shall be appointed by the audit committee. (d) Minority buy-out [section 236]: The New Act has introduced new 6 provisions relating to minority buy-back which will provide greater flexibility to the promoters/ acquirer in realigning the control and management. The key provisions like purchasing capacity of share holder having more than 90% holding, act under the SEBI Regulations, price determined by a registered and provision of delisting guideline etc. 2. Outbound merger: 2013 Act introduced provision for an Indian company to be merged with a foreign company and vice versa which will require prior approval of RBI under FEMA rule. 3. New types of companies permitted: One person company (OPC) whose paid-up share capital does not exceed INR 0.5 crore or whose turn over does not exceed INR 2 crore would be a private company. These companies enjoy more choices and flexibility. 4. Objection by minority: Objection to the compromise or arrangement can be made only by persons holding not less than 10% of the shareholding or having outstanding debt of not less than 5% of total outstanding debt as per the latest audited balance sheet which will save the companies from being dragged in long drawn court (NCLT under 2013 Act) process by minority holders who is holding even single share. Threshold will ensure that merger / demerger etc. process moves smoothly and swiftly in accordance with the law. 5. Postal Ballot Voting by Postal ballot through post / electronic mode is made applicable to all companies. 6. Buy-back of securities To provide to shareholder in a joint venture an exit in a tax efficient manner or to reward shareholders Buy-back of security has often been used. Under 1956 Act, it is possible to carry out more than 1 buy-back in a financial year as long as conditions were complied with. 2013 Act has restricted the ability of a company to do multiple buy-backs of securities. 7. Other changes: Approval threshold i.e. Compromise or arrangement would require approval by a majority representing 3/4th in value of the creditors and members. The scheme of compromise and arrangement need to be compliant with the Accounting Standards and Auditor’s Certificate to that effect needs to be filed with NCLT in accounting treatment. Valuation report to be given to shareholders / creditors along with notice convening meeting for a compromise or arrangement. The notice for compromise or arrangement need to be given to CG, Income tax, RBI, SEBI, Stock exchanges, ROC, OL, CCI, if necessary, and other sectoral regulators / authorities, to enable them to make representations. Participation and resolution for compromise or arrangement need to be passed through Postal ballot. Treasury stock: Holding of shares in its own name or in the name of trust whether through subsidiary or associate companies by the transferee company as a result of the compromise or arrangement will not be allowed and any such shares shall be cancelled / extinguished. Takeover Offer may be included as a part of compromise and arrangement in the manner as may be prescribed in rules issued by SEBI. Merger of listed into unlisted company: In case of compromise / arrangement between a listed transferor company and an unlisted transferee company, NCLT may provide that the transferee Dispensation of meeting of creditors: Meeting of creditors can be dispensed only if 90% of the creditors in value agree to the scheme by way of affidavit. Combining authorized capital on amalgamation Minority shareholders Exit route: After passing resolutions at board meeting and not by circular resolution, the proposal of amalgamation, merger or reconstruction can be considered and approved by Board of directors only by The scheme of compromise or arrangement shall clearly indicate only one appointed date from which date the scheme shall be effective not at a date subsequent to the appointed date Capital reduction will require approval of NCLT. Comparison analysis: 1. For outbound cross-border deals The Companies Act, 1956 does not permit. The Companies Act, 2013 allows, subject to RBI approval, both inbound and outbound cross border mergers and amalgamations between Indian and foreign companies. 2. The Companies Act, 2013 states that an application need for the Tribunal to make compromise or arrangement involving CDR, with matters like (a) A report by the auditors of the company about fund requirements after the CDR will conform to a liquidity test (b) A valuation report in respect of the shares and the property and all assets, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, of the company by a registered valuer. The Companies Act, 1956 does not contain any specific provision regarding a high court approval of a CDR scheme 3. Under the Companies Act, 2013, the Tribunal will not sanction a scheme of capital reduction, merger, acquisition or other arrangement unless the accounting treatment prescribed in the scheme is in compliance with notified AS and a certificate to that affect by the company’s auditor has been filed with the Tribunal. Currently, SEBI has done this job. 4. The Companies Act, 1956 does not prohibit companies from creating treasury shares under the scheme. The Companies Act, 2013 prohibits such practices. 5. The Companies Act, 2013 clarifies that the merger of a listed company into an unlisted company will not automatically result in the listing of the transferee company. There are no such provisions under the Companies Act, 1956. 6. Under the existing Companies Act, 1956 any shareholder, creditor or other interested person can raise objection. However, under the Companies Act, 2013, only persons holding not less than 10% of the shareholding or having outstanding debt not less than 5% of the total outstanding debt, can raise objections to the scheme. 7. The Companies Act, 2013 empowers the Tribunal to dispense meeting of creditors if 90% or more of such creditors or class of creditors (in value terms) agree to scheme through affidavit. Though the Companies Act, 1956 does not provide such action. 8. Under the Companies Act, 1956 the terms â€Å"undertaking† and â€Å"substantially the whole of undertaking† are not explicitly defined. Under the Companies Act, 2013 provide the specific definitions of above. 9. The Companies Act, 2013 prohibits a company from making investments through more than two layers of investment companies subject to certain exceptions. There is no such restriction under the Companies Act, 1956. 10. The Companies Act, 2013 includes specific provisions requiring the company to send a notice of the scheme inviting objections/suggestions from inter alia the Income tax authorities, RBI, Competition Commission of India and such other sectoral regulators or authorities likely to be affected by the scheme. Currently, the Companies Act, 1956 does not require such notification to regulators/authorities. 11. The Companies Act, 1956 does not have specific entrenchment provisions (akin to veto rights). However, the Companies Act, 2013 stipulates that the articles of the company can include entrenchment clauses. 12. The Companies Act, 2013 also includes specific provision stating that contracts or arrangement between two or more persons as regards share transfer be enforceable as contracts. There are no such specific provisions under the existing Companies Act, 1956. 13. Under the Companies Act, 1956 preference shares are mandatorily redeemable within a period of 20 years. However, the Companies Act, 2013 will permit companies with infrastructure projects to issue preference shares, which are redeemable beyond 20 years, 14. The Companies Act, 2013 introduces the well-recognized internationally concept of class action suits in India Steps for improvement To improve and to make efficient the MA regulation, there needs to be address the interests of wider stakeholders including financial institutions, minority stake holders, employees, customers, vendors, regulators and the society at large. Effective system having following points Effective, diversified and independent board that is able to challenge management on its strategic choices Clearly defined roles for board and management Constructive board meetings Robust monitoring of business performance Management assurance like management controls, internal and external audit Openness and transparency in dealings with stakeholders A constant effort to improve accountability and drive better performance by focusing on the most substantive issues The ability of the board and management to work together in defining the optimum business model for success The ability to identify, access and manage emerging risks Conclusion With rapidly changed global environment, there is a requirement for adopting and sustaining good Governance practices for value creations and building corporations of the future which contains the measures practices regarding merger acquisition fast track process, protection of shareholders interest etc. The Companies Act, 2013, adds robust and progressive new provisions with investor-friendly regulation and also retains the old provisions. The 2013 Act features some new provisions in the area of mergers and acquisitions, apart from the existing provisions by simplifying and rationalising the procedures involved and ensuring higher accountability for the company. It is definitely take some time for implementation from which we can derive further more relevant information and result of company act. There are some part of this act which is still need to be relooked but overall while compare with other globally accepted company law like Japanese model, European model and American Anglo -Saxon model. Whereas no model/rule/regulation are perfect and better but the initiative taken for improvement must be considered as the first step towards growth and flourishing keeping the view of current changing scenario.

Social Networking as a means of Employee Motivation

Social Networking as a means of Employee Motivation 1 Introduction In recent years Social Networking is very popular in eyes of youngsters and teenagers but is also grabbing attention of older age. Social Networking Sites (SNS) have given a rise to new communication vehicle which facilitates an innovative way of sharing information, interacting and collaborating different users. Today, there are 204 social sites available in the world as shown in Appendix 1, but out of all the most popular once are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace and Blogs. Within the illumination of the global recession, organisations are using every possible means of equipment to survive the economic downturn; companies are implementing cost saving methods this in turn have increased the workload on the employees. This overload will give a rise to the concern of employees satisfaction, productivity and efficiency. One way of encouraging and motivating the employees can be by accepting social networking at the workplace. dynamic changing natures of the business environment have contributed to knock down the barriers obstructing communicational flows (Cross, Nohria, Parker, 2002). Implementation of social networking at workplace will provide both formal and informal interaction and will also help in knowledge enhancement and better communication. This will give a greater shift in culture of Knowledge congregation to Knowledge contribution. Social networking is growing as fast as a computer virus, it is agreed that it is used for personal reasons but now-a-days it is used as educational, training and learning tools at the workplace. As every coin have two sides, implementing social networking at workplace has its own advantages and disadvantages. Since there is no geographical restriction on sharing information, there are growing concerns for organisation for leakage, breach in security and privacy of the information. This rings the bell in everyones mind whether it is appropriate to integrate social networking at workplace. This argument will be revisited in literature review section (section 3) of this report. The researchs major source of information will be through primary data collection such as conducting interviews, survey and questionnaires. Secondary source will also be used and the list is mentioned in section 4.1. Many general views have been given by different researchers on impact of social networking at workplace but very few research have been conduct in sectors such as technological. This research will be based on Multinational Corporation (MNC) which is an investment banking sector where no prior research has been conducted. The report consists of 7 sections. The next section will discuss research objective, questions and boundaries in order to evade the uncertainty. This is followed by literature review in section 3 where previous research will be analysed. Research methodology and research limitation will be discussed in section 4 and 5 respectively, followed by the research time lines in section 6. The final section contains of conclusion. 2 Research Objective, Questions and Boundaries 2.1 Research Objective The main purpose of this research is to critically examine the impact of social networking in a multinational corporation investment bank. This will assist the organisation to recognise whether having access to the social networking sites at workplace will motivate the staff in enhancing their productivity or limiting these websites will demoralise the employees. It will also give a true and fair view of employees and employers perception of integrating social sites in working environment. 2.2 Research Questions The research will provide answer to the following particular questions: Will the use of social networking sites at workplace enhance the productivity? What are the other advantages and disadvantages of using social networking sites at workplace? 2.3 Research Boundaries Due to time constrain it is necessary to restrict research only to one multinational company and therefore the research will be an action based research. The company is a worlds largest investment bank which has its presence in 74 countries. The research will be based on the companys head office located in London. The name of the company will not be disclosed due to confidential reasons and will be referred as Company X throughout the research. The research will be based on three departments which are: Human Resources Finance Information Technology Each of the above mentioned departments will be analysed to identify the impact of social networking on flow of information in the departments and security levels desired for each of the departments. 3 Literature Review 3.1 General Many researchers have correctly said that the growing technology has twisted the traditional features of the workplace (Bennett, Owers, Pitt, Tucker, 2010). This is due to integration of social sites and social media in the working environment which has broadened the view of the employees in the organisation. This has facilitated organisation to build up new networks, help employees to connect each other in different geographical location and time. It has also been argued that the growing importance of networking and socialising in modern days is becoming more flexible and dynamic day-by-day (Cross, Parker, Prusak, Borgatti, 2001). Boyd and Ellison have defined Social Networking Site as web-based service that allows individuals to (Boyd Ellison, 2008): (1) Construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) Articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection and (3) View and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. It is a technology which is used to support social networking. At workplace the social networking can be referred in two ways: external and internal social networking. The use of social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and so on at the workplace is known as external social networking. On the other hand, there are some organisations that have developed tools such as Beehive at IBM, Watercooler at HP which provided social networking within the organisation which is referred as internal social networking. Company X uses Reuters and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 as the internal social networking tool and Facebook as the external social networking at the workplace. This research will only focus on impact of external social networking. 3.2 Impact of Social Networking on Productivity From past 5 years, social networking has sneaked into the business organisations due to the increased popularity and availability of social networking amongst office workers. (Shirky, 2008); (Tapscott Williams, 2006). This has lead to informal connection in the organisation and has transformed the ways of the knowledge sharing within the companies. The research done in 2008 by Skeels and Grudin has shown that around 37% of employees were using Facebook occasionally and about 17% were using it daily at workplace. Also around 50% of employees had their account on LinkedIn but only 4% were using it daily (Skeels Grudin, 2009). There is a significant increase in the number of user in Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking site and employees are using these sites at workplace to a greater extent due to vast growth and demand in social networking. According to the ClearSwift publications in January 2011, the exposure to social networking invites many threats to the companies. The research highlights that 42% of U.K. office workers admitted discussing work-related issues via social networking applications and 83% of the office workers were using office resources to access social networking websites (ClearSwift, 2011). The research conducted in companies such as Microsoft and IBM by different researchers has highlighted some of the benefits of using these social sites at workplace which are listed below (Skeels Grudin, 2009); (DiMicco Millen DR, 2007): LinkedIn being a professional social networking site helps to maintain professional network. LinkedIn and Facebook are often referred by employers for recruiting employees by reviewing peoples CV and other details such as profile pictures, details and post or comments. Facebook was helpful for building and strengthening knot between colleagues and also maintain contacts with the ex-colleagues. But the research has also shown some concern and worries about using these social sites at workplace which are listed below (Skeels Grudin, 2009); (DiMicco Millen DR, 2007): Staff wasting time during working hours. Security concern. Disclosing confidential data. Staff integrating professional and personal life. Some senior managers felt that employees were crossing the status and power borders of the organisation. Most of the company in UK have opposed the use of social networking at workplace and have banned these sites. However, Alan Calder have argued that blocking or restricting access to social networking site at workplace will demoralise the employees and make them less effective and productive (Calder, 2010). Some research have shown that social networking sites have reduced productivity and have cost companies lose of about  £1.38 billion annually (Manpower UK, 2010). Therefore, some companies are looking forward to strength the controls in the organisation. But companies need to be very careful in placing the controls. Since social networking has become an important part of every ones life and this has also been encouraged by the Smartphones such as Blackberries, I-Phones and many more. If the social networking sites are completely banned at the workplace, employees tend to use gadgets such as Smartphones to access social networking sites devoting less time to work eventually affecting their productivity. Therefore, employers need to weight the strengths and opportunities with weaknesses and threats to make a meaningful decision. Similar views have been shared by Jason and David (Fried Hansson, 2010) that the organisation will not be able to achieve anything by limiting or banning the social network sites at workplace because the time which they are devoting to the social networking sites will not get convert to productive work but and employees will find some alternative sources to spend this time. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) claims that handling carefully and allowing internet access for staff during breaks can be valuable for employees and can help them develop I.T. skills (TUC, 2007). Company X allows their employees to have access to Facebook and LinkedIn during working hours. The main report will throw lights on the benefits achieved by the employees with the use of these social sites in banking sector during working hours. Apart from deteriorating and enhancing the productivity social networking sites are playing a major role for recruiting employees. Employers use various sites to check the background of the candidate by making a judgment on their post and photos uploaded on the sites. According to study conducted by Deloitte in 2009, 23% of companies were using social networking sites for hiring employees (Allen, Deloitte LLP 2009 Ethics Workplace Survey results Social networking and reputational risk in the workplace, 2009). Now-a-days, LinkedIn is popularly used for recommending friends or co-workers for jobs and recruiting staff. May be in near future it will be incorporate as an official site for recruiting in the organisation. But till now no evidence have been found that it is a reliable source for hiring people. On the other hand there has been evidence that people are fired due to social networking site (write about wat jitu said as an example here). The other major concern of social networking is that it puts trust at workplace on stake. The survey conducted in Deloitte in 2010, highlights that only 34% of employees agree and 49% of employees disagree that social networking helps to build up the trust at workplace (Allen, Deloitte LLP 2010 Ethics Workplace Survey Trust in the workplace, 2010 ). The other drawback of social networking in working environment is the security of the sensitive data 3.3 Other Impact of Social networking sites in the organisation 4 Research Methodology The research will follow the inductive approach as it will highlight on developing a new theory after the data has been collect (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2009). The research will explore a new dimension of using social networking in a Multinational Company (MNC) for their business development in short term and long term and develop a good analysis based on the data collection as discussed below. 4.1 Data collection In order to achieve the research objective and question (mentioned in section 2) the subsequent data collection methods will be followed: Secondary Data Collection The secondary data will be collected from press release and academic literature such as journals, white paper and publication from ClearSwift and ZDNet. The data collection will be qualitative data. Also the research conducted by other researcher in Microsoft and IBM, technological companies will act as a base for this research. Primary Data Collection The forms of primary data which will be collect are as below: Face-to-face Interviews: Ten non-standardised face to face interview will be conducted split between Vice President (VP) and managers of three departments in company X. This will help to analysis the role of social networking in the organisation for different departments giving different viewpoints and a better insight of the matter. The interviews will also help to generate qualitative data which will be transcribed but will not be recoded due to ethics of the company. The time line for conducting interview is specified in research timelines section (section 6). Online Survey: Online survey will be conducted with the help of the website named Survey Monkey which will help to give a holistic view of the organisation as the survey will be filled in by VP, managers and subordinates. The layout of the questionnaires which will be formed for online survey will fulfil all the main attributes of questionnaires as recommended by Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009). This will provide quantitative data for analysis. In order to improve the response rate of online survey, questionnaires and face-to-face interviews the recommendation from Bryman and Bell (2003) will be followed. 4.2 Analysis of Data The quantitative data which will be collected through online survey will be analysed by using computer based software named Minitab 15. The quantitative data will be divided in to two separate groups: categorical data and numerical data (Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2009). The survey and interview results will help to produce a comparison between three departments within the MNC under the research study. (Add more details of what kind of information can be achieved from this analysis) 5 Potential Problem and Pitfall While undertaking the research following are the limitation and potential problem which are anticipated: Poor response to interview: Face to face interview or telephonic interview will be conducted, which will not be recorded due to confidentiality. The respondents might be bias answering in socially desirable way. Poor response to online questioner: Respond rate might be lower as online questioner because they are perceived to be spam. It would be difficult to determine whether respondents have understood the question correctly and have replied honestly. Inadequate Sample: Since only one organisation will be examined and so there will be limited sample to be examined. However, the research will be useful because practical evidence will be provided. 6 Research Time lines The research will start from 6th June 2011 and will commence till 12th September 2011. It will be conducted for 15 weeks as shown in Table 1 below: Table 1: Research time lines 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Appendices

The Complex Issue of Gun Control Essay -- gun laws, illegal firearms

Taking into account of the recent shooting sprees, the gun control debate has started again. However, people have contemplated: â€Å"Why does America need gun laws† and â€Å"Why are so many states disagreeing about the restrictions that need to be put in place for civilians looking to purchase firearms.† The reasoning for such contemplation is that the fluxuating strictness of gun laws have led to several incidences within states that have strict gun laws due to the fact that the perpetrators of these incidences have purchased their firearms either from black markets, or states where the severity of gun control is at minimal levels. One of the most important aspects of the debate centered on gun legislature is the distribution of illegal firearms to felons, criminals and American youth. Witemute’s article hints that there have been several illegal gun sales from unauthorized markets and to those under the legal ages of 18 or 21 depending on the type of firearm being sold. Unfortunately, these illegal sales have resulted in an increase in gun related injuries and deaths. (55) Another aspect of this debate is in fact, the lobbyists that are pushing for more lenient or tighter gun-laws. It seems that the lobbyists that wanted stricter firearm-related laws are the ones who have witnessed the damage that criminals and the mentally unstable can really do with a gun in their hand. Those pushing for leniency when it comes to gun legislature state that firearms are trying to protect their right to carry an essential tool for those who want to venture the countryside in search for animals to shoot down for food, clothing or sport. The last aspects of the controversy are the federal and state laws that have decided whether or not concealed wea... ...ina in the other hand has prohibited the possession of any firearm to civilians other than sportsmen, hunters and security personnel. Even though rifles and shotguns are permitted, they require a time consuming licensing procedure in order to even possess one and the only citizens that can procure them are sportsmen who need these firearms to hunt and shoot skeet disks. Works Cited Wintemute, Garen J. "Where the Guns Come from: The Gun Industry and Gun Commerce." Princeton University 2002: 54-71. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. Jost, Kennth. â€Å"Remembering 9/11.† CQ Researcher 2 Sept. 2011: 701-732 Wright, Stephen E. â€Å"Gun Control Laws Will Not Save Lives.† Ed. Christine Watkins. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issues. Rpt. From â€Å"Anti-Gun Group Common Sense Laws and Real Common Sense.† StephenEWright.com. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 28 Oct 2013.

Selling Products versus Images :: Marketing Advertising Commercials Ads

Products or Images? What are they really selling? If an alien were shown an advertisement and asked to describe what product that particular company were selling, in most cases the alien would not know. The reason that the product itself would be unclear is that it is not actually being shown because the product is not what is most appealing to the consumer. The ideal or image that is most likely projected is the attention grabber. The fantasy that is being put forth by the company is what the consumer is really investing in. People like to buy things that represent what they admire or respect. Products and brands have symbolic meanings and project certain images (Mehta, page 82) in the case of the ENYCE brand of clothing the ad portrays an image of living in an inner city and leading an urban lifestyle. It shows young attractive individuals who appear to be cool, relaxed and enjoying themselves. The men look tough and strong, while the women look stylish and comfortable. The reason that the clothes that are being sold are not simply shown on their own, is because people buy the image they wish to express to others. Individuals prefer products that match their self-concept since these purchases provide a means of self-expression. (Mehta, page 82) If a person wishes to project an image of being cool, tough, confident and relaxed in the city than they could relate to this ENYCE ad and wish to buy the products, regardless to what the product looks like. The person is not, however, investing into the quality of the clothes or the affordability, but the association of being cool or happy. This reason is why companies have turned to using a fantasy or image to sell their products. Value-expressive attributes or image of the product rather than functional attributes and informational claims are often used in advertising. (Mehta, page 81) Products often promote things that are valued by everyone such as happiness, romance, sex and other things that most people desire. Images often vary as product images do, but many of them play on what that target population wants as a whole. Everyone wants to be happy and self confident in everything they do, and this can be seen in ads of every kind.

Racial Discrimination and Class Prejudice

If someone said racism to you, what would you first think of? Would one think of black and white people straight away? If so, you need to understand that racism isn’t just about skin colour it’s about where you’re from, what religion you are and often different parts of a country are split due to racial discrimination. The idea of racism has been around for hundreds of years, it’s because human’s natural instinct is to put others down to make themselves look better. When Africans were taken across the Atlantic for the slave trade, they were demoralized so much so that they would rather take their own life than commit to a life of slavery.In southern America in 1619 White farmers and landowners needed cheap labour to work on their plantations; this is why the slaves were first brought to America. The Americans regarded the black people as animals; they didn’t agree that they were even the same species. However this all changed when slavery was banned around America in 1807, and every man was free. Eventually black men begin to gain land of there own and work for themselves, but this did not go unnoticed.Even after the civil war the black people in the southern states of America were still discriminated against and treated awfully. Groups of men used to go around at night and just burn, torture and kill any black people that they think have stepped out of line. Racial discrimination is still a very big part of our world today, racism is not just black and white, in Zimbabwe white farmers are being pushed out of their land; where their families have lived and farmed for hundreds of years, whilst their own land is being distributed as the black farmers believe it is there land.Nevertheless the white families are left penniless. In England today Muslims very often feel discriminated against, as English people are scared of them, English people think of them as terrorists after a lot of bad press, but this is not the case. If the cloud of doubt were lifted just a little, millions of people would have better lives. I find it hard to understand how people accept the status that they are given; they should surely be able to choose how to live their life and what to do.In â€Å"Roll Of Thunder, Hear my Cry† one line really stuck out for me, â€Å"Comical objects to cruel eyes that gave no thought our misery† this shows how the black people recognize their place in society and even if they don’t believe in it they accept it. Martin Luther King gave an inspiring speech, which changed the views of millions of people around the world â€Å"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. â€Å"†Equality is a hard concept to grasp for many people around the world due to the fact that lack of education is still a big problems lots of different countries espec ially L. E. D’s, this is mostly due to class. However this year in America, a country renowned for their vicious racists, have elected a black president. Barack Obama, the aforementioned president, is a pinnacle of light to such a diverse nation. Seeing as a mere thirty years ago black people were still fighting for entirely equal rights. Barack Obama is now thought of as the most powerful man in the world.Never the less this does not discount racism in America as there is evidence to suggest that the poor black people and ethnic minorities do not still receive the opportunities given to white people. Class prejudice happens all around the world, in England today this is a big issue, but the homeless often sell ‘big issues’ around the streets so they can scrap a living from the tower of success. Every class in Britain is stereotyped, it is almost as if the country is divided into, people your allowed to talk to and people your not. These are often referred to as classes.People get stereotyped on their class all the time, then it often falls into smaller categories such as race, or where you live. Stereotyping is a habit that we all need to get out of. Racism and Class prejudice is a growing problem in England today, if we do not take action it may get out of control. Infect some would argue it already is with the steady growth of gang crime and people getting hurt just because of where they are from. We don’t want to have people beaten on the streets or worse killed just because of their background. Everyone deserves a chance in life without being pre judged by other people.

Out of Africa or Multiregional Theory Essay

For many years, scientists have wondered about the evolution of mankind. The two theories that scientists have come up with over the years to explain the theory of evolution were the multiregional theory and out of Africa theory. The multiregional theory expresses the idea that Homo erectus developed in different parts of the world. The out of Africa theory expresses that Homo erectus developed in Africa nearly two million-years-ago and as the temperatures changed, they moved throughout the world and developed differently. The multiregional view posits that genes from all human populations of the Old World flowed between different regions and by mixing together, contributed to what we see today as fully modern humans. The replacement hypothesis suggests that the genes in fully modern humans all came out of Africa. As these peoples migrated they replaced all other human populations with little or no interbreeding† (Johanson, 2001). The multi-regional hypothesis argues that our early hominid ancestors, including Homo ergaster and Homo heidelbergensis, migrated out of Africa and thus the evolution of modern humans took place in different parts of the world – a process termed regional continuity. This theory places great emphasis on the notion of steady evolutionary alterations or changes that happen in different regions and produce diverse variations of the species. Evolution of this kind is kept at a regular rate due to an amalgamation of cultural progress and ‘gene flow’ or interbreeding, thus keeping all lineages evolving at the same time. This process is characterized as parallel evolution, which suggests a subtle morphological resemblance between populations of species who are geographically separated† (Edwards, 2012). â€Å"The out of Africa view posits that Homo erectus migrated out of Africa the different populations became reproductively isolated, evolving independently, and in some cases like the Neanderthals, into separate species Homo sapiens arose in one place, probably Africa Homo sapiens ultimately migrated out of Africa and replaced all other human populations, without interbreeding modern human variation is a relatively recent phenomenon† (Johanson, 2001). The Out of Africa theory predicts that the earliest fossils of Homo sapiens will only be found in Africa along with any transitional fossils, marking the evolutionary process of these modern humans. Such fossils will not be found outside this area. Secondly, this model suggests that modern-day human populations may not necessarily share lineages or links with the earlier populations that inhabited the same region. This idea stems from the notion that the new populations of modern humans that inhabit an area will replace any archaic Homo species that occupy this region, thus establishing a new lineage of descent. Evidence in support of these ideas exists through multiple sources, showing the clear superiority of this theory in contrast with the multi-regionalist model. Such evidence can be found in the striking research of molecular geneticists; research which supports the idea of modern humans arising in one place and subsequently spreading elsewhere† (Edwards, 2012). Both theories were further examined through anatomical, archaeological, and genetic evidence to prove which theory seems more valid. â€Å"The anatomical and paleogeographic evidence suggests that Neanderthals and early modern humans had been isolated from one another and were evolving separately into two distinct species† (Johanson, 2001). â€Å"The genetic studies support the view that Neanderthals did not interbreed with Homo sapiens who migrated into Europe. It is, therefore, highly likely that modern humans do not carry Neanderthal genes in their DNA. † (Johanson, 2001). â€Å"Archaeological evidence from Europe suggests that Neanderthals may have survived in the Iberian Peninsula until perhaps as recently as 30,000 to 35,000 years ago. Fully modern humans first appear in Europe at around 35,000-40,000 years ago, bringing with them an Upper Paleolithic tool tradition referred to as the Aurignacian. Hence, Neanderthals and fully modern humans may have overlapped for as much as 10,000 years in Europe. Again, with fully modern humans on the scene, it is not necessary to have Neanderthals evolve into modern humans, further bolstering the view that humans replaced Neanderthals. † (Johanson, 2001). The out of Africa theory is the theory most scientists are approving as the evolution of all humans due to fossil, anatomical and genetic evidence. â€Å"Researchers have discovered fossilized remains of two previously unknown primate species that lived 37 million years ago in what is now the Egyptian desert. The ancient teeth and jawbones of the tiny, monkeylike creatures shed new light on the poorly understood evolution of early anthropoids, a suborder of primates that includes apes, monkeys, and humans. The discovery, researchers say, is evidence that the common ancestor of living anthropoids arose in Africa and that anthropoids have been evolving on the now separated Africa-Arabia landmass for at least 45 million years† (Lovgren, 2005). All evidence points to the out of Africa theory being the most probable theory.

Employment Contract Essay

Employment Contract This Employment Agreement is made effective as of June 26th, 2013 and is between Joshua James, Frederick Alan, and Dave Darwin of the Builders Licensing and Training Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan (referred to as â€Å"the company†) and John Andrews (referred to as â€Å"the employee†). The terms of this AT-WILL Employment Contract are set forth below. Employment. The Company shall employ John Andrews as a building instructor. This employee shall provide to the Company the following services: John Andrews accepts and agrees to such employment, and agrees to be subject to the general supervision, advice, and direction of the owners of the Company. The employee should perform duties that are customarily performed by an employee in this position. The Company shall employ John Andrews at least forty hours a week including holidays. Also, the employee may be required to work weekends and some mandatory overtime every pay period. Best Efforts of Employment. The employee John Andrews agrees to perform to the best of his ability, experience, and talents to perform the duties that may be set forth or expressed by the Company including the implicit terms of this agreement. Ownership of Social Media. Any social media that is used by the employee while under Company time is property of the Company. This includes but is not limited to contacts acquired through the Company examples like addresses, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Linked In, and other social media. Compensation of Employee. As compensation for the services provided by John Andrews under this agreement, the Company will pay John Andrews an annual salary of $50,000 in accordance with the Company’s usual payroll procedures, not including overtime pay which will be based upon the usual hourly rate for such employment. Upon termination of this agreement, payment shall cease, however, John Andrews shall be compensated for periods or partial periods  that occurred prior to the date of termination. Confidentiality After Termination of Employment. The confidentiality of this agreement and information of the company are special and unique assets and need to be protected from improper disclosure. In consideration of this, John Andrews agrees that for a period of two years following termination or removal from the company whether voluntary or involuntary will not directly or indirectly engage in any business competition with the Builders Licensing and Training Insitute. Employee Name ______________________________ Date _________________ Employee Signature _______________________________ Date _________________

Laboratory Method

Laboratory method Lesson 42: Different Methods of Plant Propagation Reference: Effective Technology and Home Economics II By: Luz Villanueva Rojo Julia Garcia Cruz Dr. Cristina Villanueva I. Preparatory method Motivation Let the students guess the picture. Jot down their guesses on the board. Reveal the picture. 1. Have you tried planting a seed? 2. Have you tried propagating a plant using different kind of method? Orientation to the Work/Activity Read this  Respiratory ActivityMarcotting is another way of plant propagation where in the stems are included to take roots while still attached to the mother plant. Presentation of the Materials 1. Young plant 2. Knife 3. Moistened soil 4. Plastic 5. Coconut husk 6. String 7. Pot Procedure 1. Remove a ring of the bark below the node 3-5 cm long. 2. Scrape the cambium layer but not too deep into the wood to prevent healing before root formation takes place. 3. After the callus formation has taken place, wrap the surface with moist soil and coconut husk. . Cover securely with plastic and tie both ends using string, water the marcot regularly to prevent the drying and hardening of the soil. 5. When enough roots grow cut off the marcot just below the ball of soil that holds the root. 6. After cutting the marcot place into a pot big enough to provide sufficient room for the roots. 7. Place in a cool and shady place. 8. Precautionary Measures 1. Be careful in using the knife. 2. Make su re that your hands are covered with plastic when touching the soil. . Wash hands after the activity. II. Supervise Work Period or Laboratory Visit each group and observe if proper handling of tools is applied and steps are being followed correctly. III. Culminating Activities †¢Each group will have their representative to report the result of their experiment. †¢How is marcotting different from seed propagation? †¢What have you conclude after the experiment? †¢Do the process at home and produce a new plant.

Communications Scenario Essay

Effective office communications are not always easy. To communicate with one’s coworkers in a manner that is professional and efficient takes effort on all parties involved in the conversation. When speaking to a member of the opposite sex, one must be aware that differences exist in the way in which messages are sent and how messages are received. In the attached scenario, two peers must work together to run the business while their manager is away. Unfortunately, the communication between Mary and Steve in the scenario below was not very successful, professional, or effective. 1. If Steve were addressing a male coworker instead of Mary, would he have chosen to communicate in the same way? Men and women communicate differently. Because this has been proven in multiple studies throughout the years, one should recognize this and be aware of these differences when dealing with members of the opposite sex in business communication opportunities. Unfortunately, emotions tend to overcome common sense sometimes and communication breakdowns occur. Cynthia Burggraf Torppa, PhD, (n. . ) states that â€Å"Although at times differences in women’s and men’s communication styles seem to be constant and overwhelming, they are really quite minor. For example, both women and men can be nurturing, aggressive, task-focused, or sentimental. What is important to think about, however, is that women and men sometimes perceive the same messages to have different meanings. In fact, it may be as a result of the differences in message interpretation that the â€Å"battle of the sexes† occurs. Studies indicate that women, to a greater extent than men, are sensitive to the interpersonal meanings that lie â€Å"between the lines† in the messages they exchange with their mates. † If Steve were addressing a male coworker, he would have spoken the same way. What should have happened differently is that Steve should have been more aware of how Mary would have responded to the way he presented his problem. Men and women could more effectively communicate if the opposite sex had a heightened awareness to how each interprets messages differently. Men, because they tend to compartmentalize their communication into a smaller part of the brain, tend to be better at getting right to the issue, the more female brain (will) gather a lot of material, gather a lot of information, feel a lot, hear a lot, sense a lot. † (Gurian, 2005) 2. If Mary was treated in the same fashion by a female coworker, would she have responded in the same way? Mary may have reacted somewhat differently if this communication had occurred with a female coworker. She may have been more at ease communicating with another woman. However, in times of stress, people react in different ways. Many women, like Mary, tend to like to confide in others in order to obtain someone else’s point of view on the situation while others may choose to confront the situation head-on in an attempt to find a solution that makes everyone happy. 3. How was this exchange perceived by the male and female employees who overheard it? If others overheard this exchange, the males and females may have had very different view of how the communication was handled and what the real message being sent was. Many have said that women tend to let their personal feelings get too involved in the work environment and tend to take things personally. Men, on the other hand, are said to be able to not let personal feelings get in the way. Other women who may have overheard the exchange may tend to side with Mary, perceiving Steve as being a â€Å"typical man† who is unable to communicate his feelings in an adult fashion. Other men who may have overheard the exchange may have wondered what the problem was but would have been more inclined to ignore the exchange. Employees who observed Mary’s action of resorting to seek comfort from another female employee may believe that Mary is insecure about her role as a manager. As acting managers, both Steve and Mary should have kept the differences out of the view of teammates. Employees should not be witness to a disagreement between two managers and the destruction of the reputation is furthered by the way Mary sought comfort by discussing the situation with a coworker and by Steve slamming the door. While the CFO is away, Mary and Steve need to have a private conversation to work through the differences that have been displayed. Good communication skills and listening skills will be critical in this situation. Each will have to â€Å"flex† their normal personality styles to be able to communicate effectively and work through this scenario. A solid front must be presented to the rest of the team so show that issues can be worked through and that both Mary and Steve are capable of being in charge in the CFO’s absence. Scenario Mary Smith and Steve Johnson have equal roles in management positions at Company X, Y, and Z. They have been asked to work and make decisions together, while the CFO is away on business. An issue has developed, on which Mary and Steve disagree. While discussing the issue on the phone with Mary, Steve abruptly yells, â€Å"You aren’t listening to me,† and hangs up. A shocked Mary goes to another female employee to discuss how unfairly she feels she is being treated by Steve. Meanwhile, Steve has slammed his office door to brood alone. Do Mary and Steve not like one another? Do they not work well together? The answer is probably no to both questions. The cause of the distress is likely due to the ineffectiveness of their inter-gender communication, fueled in part by the stressful task of filling in for the CFO. Mary and Steve were communicating in stereotypical male/female patterns. Steve aggressively vented his anger at Mary and Mary meekly retreated to the solace of a fellow female employee, instead of confronting Steve. Each individual is unique; however, there are biological, social and cultural factors that influence how we communicate with the opposite sex.