Consider these arguments in terms of culture, motivation, and Essay

Consider these arguments in terms of culture, motivation, and strategy, and comment on their substance. You should also reflect - Essay Example The paper also seeks to reflect on how power is exercised in organisations in relation to moral values. The paper begins by explaining the concept of culture in view of the arguments raised by Stiglitz. The paper will also critically analyse how motivation of the people as well as the strategy implemented have a bearing in the way financial institutions are operating during the contemporary period in USA in particular. Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behaviours. â€Å"This is commonly referred to as a set of basic values, perceptions, wants behaviours learned by a member of society from the family and other important institutions,† (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004). For instance, the following values are given priority in the United States of America: achievement and success, activity and involvement, efficiency and practicality, progress, material comfort, individualism, freedom as well as humanitarianism. The success or failure of a given organisation can be attributed to this concept of culture. However, Stiglitz argues that individualism and market fundamentalism have eroded the sense of community and have led to exploitation of the ordinary people. ... In actual fact, the approach taken by the banks is that which advocates the survival of the fittest. Whilst the free market concept posits to the effect that the market forces should shape the standards expectations especially of financial institutions, it can be argued that the conditions set are favourable to the business organisations which leaves the ordinary people exposed to manipulation by these big businesses. The aspect of materialism has increased dramatically in the operations of financial institutions and this has posed a serious challenge to the ordinary people who end being victims especially during turbulent periods that can be attributed to the strategies implemented by the financial institutions. Whereas marketers in the other industries worry about the impact of culture on their strategies, financial institutions in USA are primarily concerned with entrenching the aspect of individualism in their operations (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004). Stiglitz argues that rugged ind ividualism combined with a high degree of materialism has led to loss of trust among the members of the society and different financial institutions. The aspect of culture and moral values can also be attributed to the concept of ethics. Business ethics loosely refers to values, principles and standards that operate within a particular organisation which attempts to make a distinction between something that is morally good from bad (Rossouw, 2004). The concept of business ethics therefore derives from the value system that is used by a particular organisation to shape its operations. To reinforce this assertion, DesJardins (2006, p. 5) describes values as the â€Å"essential and enduring tenets†

Government and Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Government and Market - Essay Example Infrastructure is a very vital cog of any country, and hence takes a supremely significant position in the government's perception. Now, Rostow, who was a specialist in this field has made note and brought to light the fact that the inability of the governments to create infrastructure was one of the major road blocks that were faced during the process of modernization in Europe during the 19th century. In his argument, he says that the "creation of preconditions for take-off was largely a matter of building social overhead capital". This comes in line with the generally accepted argument that the cost of infrastructure or the social overhead capital compliments the industrial production process as this facilitates the transfer of goods, which leads to the creation of mobilization of markets on a national and international level. Haber, another esteemed expert in this field, has further developed the importance of infrastructural support in his arguments based on the case study of Me xico. Here, he offers the opinion that Mexico was unable to solve the problem of surplus capacity which it was facing in the 1980s by exporting goods to different countries around the world. All of this, he attributes to the lack of infrastructural support that was present in the country at that point in time. He cites Avisador Comercial de Havana which attributes this problem related to the exorbitant costs of transportation: "How, then, can merchandise be shipped to the coast at an advantageous price How can they [Mexican manufacturers] compete in foreign marketsif within their own borders they have incredibly high freight rates" [1] [5] In recent times, economic analysts have argued that the major difference between the growth differentials of different countries is infrastructure as highlighted by the case on India and China. Due to the importance infrastructure plays in the workings of a country and its non-excludable and unrivalled nature has further substantiated the claim for the need of governmental intervention to facilitate and hasten industrial growth in the country. On face value, one can see that this notion is somewhat not contestable in nature in that not many can refute the claim that has been put forward; however, some economists have also offered the notion of a private sector backed infrastructural growth. This notion certainly has immense promise in theory as this would basically remove the role of the government from this entire workup and would subsequently move the entire mechanisms onto a free market which would be highly appreciated in light of the concept at hand. However, that certainly doe s not appear to be a distinct possibility at the current point in time which is why infrastructural support has been ascribed to governments to this day and age. The rationale behind this is suggestions like the one offered are more likely to fail in the developing countries as private sector led infrastructural growth needs immensely advanced institutional or technological support in order to create and sustain excludable and rivaling properties. Due to this, infrastructure would remain severely under protected as well as remain under produced which would be due to the large number of externalities that cannot

The Joke by Milan Kundera and how it relates with history of European, Essay

The Joke by Milan Kundera and how it relates with history of European, the Czech society, socialism, totalitarianism and any oth - Essay Example Consequently, the thesis statement of this paper is that the author criticises the communist ideology in Czechoslovakia. Analysis The idea of communism when it was introduced in many of the Eastern Europe countries was to create optimism on the people that they will be equal in acquiring and enjoying social and economic benefits (McKay, 2007). Ideally, the ideology was targeting the equal distribution of the resources in the society to enable people to grow equally on social benefits. This political idea has been castigated by the author as an opium system. Indeed, the author illustrates how one of the characters in the fiction novel wrote in a postcard critiquing the notion of optimism in a society. "Optimism is the opium of the people! A healthy atmosphere stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!" (Kundera 18). This observation of the author through the use of the character in the fiction novel, illustrates how the writer thought of the communist ideology in the republic of Czechosl ovakia during those days. Inasmuch the idea of communism in the country was to draw equality in the lives of the population, the system according to the writer, was pegged on optimism to the people that social and economic benefits will be distributed equally for their own good. ... Consequently, the statement from the novel depicts how the writer blames the communist ideology in Czechoslovakia in beholding them from participating in innovative and creative activities to improve their lives. Another aspect that has been demonstrated in the fiction novel by the writer in critiquing the communist idea is the imprisonment of the mind. This implied the effect of the political system that was practiced in the country in preventing the population in questioning the rationale of the government actions. Thus, the writer demonstrates how the communist ideology in his country had blinded the minds of the population in holding the government accountable in carrying out the state’s affairs. Indeed, the writer illustrates how one of the characters described another character in the fiction novel as unable to go beyond the government rhetoric in questioning its action. In addition, the writer demonstrates how the population is politically constrained in understanding t he ills of the government actions due to the legal system that was introduced by the communist ideology. "She was constitutionally unable to look behind anything; she could only see the thing itself" (Kundera, 143). In contrast, the communist idea in the history of European society was agitated to end the capitalism ills in imprisoning the population. Indeed, it was argued that the capitalism ideology had imprisoned the minds of the population due to its embracement of materialism in the society (McKay, 2007). However, the fiction novel demonstrates how the communist idea failed in liberating the population in questioning the actions of their own government. Indeed, the author demonstrates how one of the character

The Era of Technology for the Environmental Based Issues Essay

The Era of Technology for the Environmental Based Issues - Essay Example The idea could be referred as a perfect one because it will enable the council to get and accumulate sufficient funds which could be used for decreasing the level of air Creating awareness among the people is more worthwhile than that of applying the fees and fines over the people. It would work for California but new and effective strategies like in awareness could also be initiated. Public Law of United States (US) 480 stated that the United States sells the surplus gains to the developing countries, which pay them in local currencies. Later on, the country transfers much of its grains in de facto, but not to sell the grains which are not a good sign for a country which is highly effective and powerful in gaining and maintaining foods in total. This could be in a perfect way and the United States has to look forward to gaining an advantage by selling grains. In Economics, the name of elasticity is one of the most important topics which have its own importance and recognition. If the prices of food items are increasing without increasing the quantity, then it is known as negative elasticity in which prices are increasing not the quantities for poor. There are two different forests which need to be harvest accordingly. The first forest would be harvest accordingly and it is left in the similar position, while the second forest has been developed into a house. In terms of efficiency Forest, 1 would remain the oldest harvest age because it will remain in the same position for a long span of time, higher than that of the years of Forest B.

Socrates of Platonic Dialogue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Socrates of Platonic Dialogue - Essay Example Their parents, however, were often displeased with his influence on their offspring, and his earlier association with opponents of the democratic regime had already made him a controversial political figure. He made profession of no knowledge except of his own ignorance, and the famous "Socratic irony" was shown in his attitude of apparent willingness to learn from anyone who professed to know. The inevitable result of such conversations, however, was the reduction of the would-be instructor to a state either of irritation at the unmasking of his pretensions, or of humility and eagerness to be instructed by his questioner. It was natural that such a habit should create enemies, and Socrates was finally accused of introducing new gods and of corrupting the youth. His defense was conducted with his customary firm adherence to his convictions, and with entire fearlessness of consequences. He could, in all probability, have easily escaped the death sentence had he been willing to take a conciliatory tone, but he chose to drink the hemlock died (B.C. 399) a martyr to his unswerving devotion to truth. Socrates wrote nothing from which we may ascertain anything about himself and his philosophy. We have to depend on the information derived form the works of two of his distinguished scholars Plato and Xenophon and one his satirist Aristophanes. But unfortunately, these three sources also have quite contradictory views about Socrates which make the student of philosophy more skeptical about his philosophy. These three sources are (1) The Dialogues by Plato, the philosopher Plato, a younger contemporary and brilliant disciple of Socrates who presents Socrates as the main character in the majority of his dialogues. Plato characterizes Socrates as a prophet, a Christ-like figure whose unique way of inquiring originality of things inspires and compels us to investigate their reality and find the ultimate truth (2) The soldier and well-heeled country gentleman Xenophon (c. 430-c. 355), a petty bourgeois who presents Socrates as one of his own: a pompous, self-satisfied, rather dull Athenia n aristocrat with intellectual tastes and (3) The Clouds by Aristophanes, in which Socrates is presented as guilty of impiety and against the gods. As the Socrates presented by Plato in his Dialogues differ remarkably from that of the Socrates of the Clouds presetsnted by Aristophanes, and also as there are some doubts lingering over the originality and authenticity of both of them, we have to review them separartely in detail to find the original Socrates. 2. Socrates of the Clouds: Aristophanes (448-385 BC), Athenian playwright, was first and foremost a satirist. During his lifetime Athens was facing a period of convulsive cultural and social change which provided Aristophanes ready target in the politicians, poets, and philosophers of his day. His works show no sympathy for the aristocratic party in Athenian politics. He wrote more than 40 plays. The Clouds (423 BC) satirizes Socrates and presents him engaged in meditating about heaven above and

Whole Foods Essay Example for Free

Whole Foods Essay Whole Food’s chief elements of the strategy are to position the company as a market leader in the natural and organic foods, expand the brand internationally, provide the highest quality, and be the best food retailer in every community in which Whole Foods stores are located. Is Whole Foods’ strategy well matched to market conditions in the food retailing industry (one of the criteria for a winning strategy discussed in Chapter 1)? Whole Foods’ strategy is definitely well matched to market conditions. Currently, there is a huge demand for healthy food. People are more health conscious, expect taste and quality, and look for convenience in shopping. Whole Foods is able to address all the current trends through its strategic vision. The CEO John Mackey’s vision was for Whole Foods to become an international brand, carry the highest quality natural and organic foods, and be the best food retailer in every community. The products are free of pesticides, hormones, and other genetically engineered products that could affect health, community, and agriculture. In addition, Whole Foods is recognized by the USDA as being a Certified Organic grocer by Quality Assurance International. This means that all their products are grown organically; the products are grown without the usage of pesticides, fertilizers, bioengineered organisms, growth hormones, or antibiotics. Whole Foods had successfully addressed the economic conditions of 2008; as sales dropped due to the recession, Whole Foods executives changed the company’s strategy to better match the economic downturn. For instance, they reduced prices of certain foods, offered family sized meals, offered coupons, and managed to cut certain products’ costs. Based on the financial statement data in case Exhibits 9, 10, and 11, how well is Whole Foods Market performing? Use the financial ratio information in Table 4.1 of Chapter 4 (pages 98-99) to assist you in calculating a revealing set of` financial ratios and interpreting them. According to Exhibits 9, 10, and 11, there is an increase of their net income from $136,351in 2005 to $203,828 in 2006. In 2007 and 2008 Whole Foods net income decreased gradually, in 2009 net income increased to $146,804 due to the change in the company’s strategy. According to Yahoo finance net income has been increasing since 2009; in 2011 the company’s net income was $342,612. Whole foods’ balance sheet shows total assets of $3,783,388 and total liabilities of $2,155,512 in 2009. In 2011 total assets were $4,292,075 and total liabilities were $ 1,300,770. Ash The cash flow data shows a net cash provided by operating activities of $587,721 in 2009. Also, the company has invested $386,283 in 2009 as part of the growth strategy. Based on these recent information Whole Foods has recorded a strong financial performance. Fiantial Ratios 2009 Gross Profit Margin= Revenues-Cost of goods sold= $8,031,620-$5,277,310=34.3% Revenues $8,031,620 34.3% is the percentage of revenues available to cover operating expenses. Current Ratio= Current assets =$1,055,380= 1.54 Current liabilities $684,024 Since the current ratio is greater than 1, Whole Foods is able to pay current liabilities using assets that can be converted to cash in the near term. Debt to assets ratio=Total debt = $2,155,512= 0.057 Total assets $3,783,388 This ratio is very low, in other words the company’s operations are not financed through the use of debt.

When to use Adobe Photoshop Essay Example for Free

When to use Adobe Photoshop Essay Plain and simple, Photoshop is for creating and editing photos and raster (pixel) based art work. The program was originally developed as a tool to enhance photographs, but over time its functionality has developed to the point where it can be used to create: User interface designs Web pages Banner ads Video graphics Editing pictures for print Because there is so much information about Photoshop out there in the form of tutorials and guides, some people feel that it’s all you need – a one stop shop. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The problem is that there are instances when you don’t need to use Photoshop, and should in fact be using Illustrator or InDesign. Do not create logos with Photoshop – It’s a bad idea that will do nothing but cost you time and money. Again, Photoshop is pixel, or raster based. If you create a logo with it, the files that it creates can not be enlarged or manipulated in the same manner that an Illustrator-based logo can. Do not set type in Photoshop for print projects – For type to print at its clearest, it needs to be vector based; Photoshop exports type as pixels. Now, you can save your Photoshop files in as an .EPS file which allows you to export type as vectors, but still this is not a best practice, so just don’t do it. Adobe Photoshop There are a lot of tutorials on Adobe Photoshop. As a matter of fact, there are so many tutorials that focuses on Photoshop that many people contact me or comment on this site stating that there are not enough tutorials on Illustrator or Indesign. (One factual tidbit: My Illustrator tutorial section is the most popular page in the tutorials section according to Google Analytics. To be even more honest, it is the most popular page in the whole domain.) It is a good thing that there are a lot of tutorials on Photoshop, but there are some negative side effects within widely vast available information. These tutorials help you become an expert on this software, and to my honesty, that is how I learned most majority of the techniques with Photoshop. The problem: The vast information network on Photoshop tutorials also causes people to become â€Å"too comfortable† with Photoshop and tend to â€Å"try† to do everything with Photoshop alone. What is Photoshop? The most important thing to know about Photoshop is that it is a pixel based program. Photoshop was primarily created in the beginning as a photograph enhancing tool and not so much anything else like it is used today. Adobe has recognized that many users were starting to use Photoshop to create elaborate UI designs, web page graphics, banner ADs, text effects and more. Adobe then started rolling out features that help designers create images for print, web, motion graphics and so on. However, again, the problem is that there are certain times when Photoshop is not needed (gasp!) to create certain projects. Photoshop is generally used for: Photo enhancement/Photo color correction Software/Web/Mobile UI design Web graphics Motion graphics Special effects Common mistakes/misconceptions One common misconception is the idea that it is good to use Photoshop to create stationary systems and logo’s. For the sake of yourself, please take this idea outside the window. Let’s talk about business cards as an example. There is an alarming number of tutorials online that shows you how to create business cards in Photoshop. These are what I call â€Å"bad tutorials† that teaches you the wrong way of creating a business card. Despite the result and outcome of these tutorials being amazing, or perhaps you can even get it printed and it will look fine, it is a bad practice to get into an habit. Just because the result looks fine don’t mean the practice is the best way. First off Illustrator type is by far superior in print output than Photoshop is. Yes Photoshop can output type, and even in vector â€Å"paths†. Yes Photoshop can bring in vector objects as â€Å"smart objects†. Yes Photoshop can draw paths using the pen tool. But the most important thing out of all this is that IN THE END, it is outputted as pixel data. Yes I am aware that it also depends on the file output. For instance, .TIFF does not output vector data but does output layer information and transparency. But .EPS does support vector output, yet it still doesn’t mean this is the best practice to do so. So should you never use Photoshop to create business cards? There are times you actually want to use Photoshop to create business cards. When it is justified to use Photoshop for business cards and other print projects If your business cards contain any textures, photography, special effects, blurs (not that I am encouraging this), or any type of pixel based design, Photoshop is obviously the best way to go. However, remember to output ANY pixel based art work in 300 ppi resolution with CMYK color mode. Do not output it RGB. If you have Photoshop filters in your artwork, changing your work to CMYK mode, or even applying certain filters in CMYK mode seem to look desaturated or not look too good. The work around to this: Create all your special effects, filter effects, etc in RGB mode. Flatten the work (merge layers) after you feel that your work in Photoshop is complete, and change the color mode to CMYK. Again, you will regret not switching color modes to CMYK after you send it off to the printer. Your result will look significantly different than you hoped for. When you should never use Photoshop for print projects For the love of all things that you love, do not use Photoshop to set type in your print projects. It is important to note that I am not saying you should never use the type tool in Photoshop. I am stating that it is not a good idea to use it in print projects. Never use Photoshop to create logo’s. The obvious reason is because pixel data cannot be enlarged without distortion. If you create the logo in vector format, your logo will be scalable to any size forever.