Homosexuality vs Society

Homosexuality in today’s society In today's society, there exists a mixture of issues which tend to raise arguments with people all over. There are a handful of topics that always seem to escalate these differences between people to the point where one who participates in debate and argument can direct their anger towards their feelings on the person themselves. An issue that has in recent years, begun to increase arguments, is the acceptability of homosexuality in society. Until recently, homosexuality was considered strictly taboo.If an individual was homosexual, it was considered a secret to be kept from all family, friends, and society. However, it seem that society has begun to accept this lifestyle by allowing same sex couples. The idea of coming out of the ‘closet' has moved to the head of homosexual individuals when it used to be the exception. Homosexuality is nothing to be ashamed of and we should all come to realize this. The United States is denying good peop le a better life based on sexual orientation. Acceptance of homosexual marriage is a major issue in today’s society.This is a civil. issue, and the United States needs to start realizing that they are denying marriage rights to homosexuals because of moral reasons. What ever happened to separation of church and state? Opponents of homosexual marriage feel that by allowing gay and lesbians the right to marriage undermines the traditional definition of marriage. However, as society changes and the demands of the American citizens change, there needs to be changes that comply with not only the traditional society but also with modern needs of the United States people.Not only are homosexual couples being denied marriage rights but also adoption rights in several states. There would be no harm to society by allowing homosexuals the right to marriage or to legally adopt; the positive impacts it would have on society are far greater then the negative effects. Homosexuals should get the same rights as any other United States citizen. For the United States to have a functional society, allowing all citizens, regardless of sexual preference, would be in everyone’s best interest to allow homosexuals the right to arry. Looking back at history, it was not that long ago that black and white marriages were not accepted in society. Accepting black and white marriages has made the United States a stronger society. Gay and lesbian marriages would not harm anyone; however, it would improve and enhance the lives of those couples involved. Allowing gay marriage would have positive effects on children to gay couples; in addition, allowing homosexuals to marry and adopt would help place some children, who may never be placed into a family, find families through adoption.Homosexuals can be found in every race, religion, age group, country, state, and social group. Discrimination toward homosexuals persecute their choice of lifestyle. The issues of military employment, legal rights for couples, and acceptance within society need to resolved. Some ways to help put an end to this discrimination is to put the military services on a legislative plan prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals, allow for couples to be legally married. People need to realize that homosexuals are just like them.Homosexuals are found everywhere and are good people and need to be recognized not for their sexuality, but for who they are. The problem lies with the heterosexuals, those who establish firm opinions against gays, based solely off of stereotypical thinking, or their own feelings, rather than rational or factual information. One of these stereotypes tends to be that lesbians want to act and look like men, and vice versa. Although this may be the case in some homosexuals, it is not true for every single individual, thus a biased stereotype is formed.A stereotype such as this may cause an extreme hostile attitude, as well as discrimination, against a homosexual i ndividual. Also, homosexual jokes are constantly made every day. As funny as this may be to a heterosexual, imagine how this single joke could damage a gay man's self-esteem or even his social acceptance. A straight male or female could easily laugh at this joke, as many have, while a gay man hears this joke and takes it to heart. He could easily feel inferior to a straight male, or just as easily be offended by the use of the word fag.Society doesn't realize when certain words are used, they can offend a variety of people. Not to mention, the words gay, fag and queer have found their way into our everyday vocabulary, all of which can cause different emotions to different people. For instance, when someone says â€Å"That's so gay† a heterosexual would view the word gay as meaning strange or different, which completely changes the meaning of the word and associates homosexuals with being weird. ?Many Heterosexuals believe we must not pass any laws regarding discrimination of homosexuals.If we didnt pass the law about discrimination, the homosexual man and his lover would have to continue searching because they were denied equal treatment as a straight man. This unequal treatment is the reason homosexuals are trying so hard to gain a law against discrimination. There is also no justification to deny a specific occupation to a homosexual, because of their sexual orientation, unless there is a threat to an individual. For instance a homosexual man wants to become an accountant. What is keeping him from accomplishing this goal?A major hindrance-a state licensing law. The same goes if another homosexual would like to become a hairdresser, or perhaps even a used-car dealer. This same Law prevents people with certain sexual orientations from achieving their goals in life. This is not the American dream so many have heard about. America is supposedly the land of the free, a land of equal opportunity. There isn't any equality found between a straight man and a g ay man. ? â€Å"Queerbashing† is one of the most extreme forms of discrimination to homosexuals, and seems to be taken very lightly in court.A district of Columbia judge had listened to the story of a young homosexual male who had been stalked, beaten, stripped at knifepoint, slashed, kicked and urinated on by a couple of young queerbashers. The judge believed these queerbashers were â€Å"good boys† at heart because they attended a religious prep school, and suspended their sentences. These young men were obviously guilty for beating up another person and various other reasons, but were set free with virtually no penalty because they went to a certain ‘good' school.This is completely unjust in the fact these boys got off the hook without paying a penalty for the physical, emotional and mental abuse they put this homosexual boy through. â€Å"Police and juries often will simply discount testimony from gays; they frequently construe assaults on and murders of gay s as â€Å"justified† self-defense. ?Discrimination against homosexuals has been in existence since before our time and can be found all over our planet, yet it has only just recently become an active fight, between heterosexuals and homosexuals, over the fact that it shouldn't even exist in the first place.Alliances between gay and straight men and women have been formed over the years and continue to grow in population. These men and women, of any sexual-orientation, joined these groups for support and help to aid in the process of becoming equal united states citizens. Together they can recruit new members and maybe one day even get rid of discrimination completely. In order to achieve equality in our nation, we must keep our mind open to new ideas and events and give homosexuals a chance to become human beings.

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Free Human Resources Literature Review richard | October 20, 2011 4 0 Rate This Article Table of Contents [show] LITERATURE REVIEW 1. 1 Human Resource Management In a rapid competitive business environment, the procedures of outlining the role, function and process of Human Resource Management (HRM) within a dynamic and uncertain environment are ongoing for many decades.In the early 1980s numerous books and articles were published by American Business Schools professors to support the widely recognition of HRM concept, and the environmental volatility in today’s contemporary business that specifically identify conflict and heterogeneity (Soderlund and Bredin, 2005). Due to its diverse origins and many influences, HRM covers essential aspects of central concern in organisations such as individual, practice, educational theory, social and organisational psychology, sociology, industrial relations, and organisational theory (Soderlund and Bredin, 2005)..To date there is no widely acceptable definition for HRM and what it entirely involves in our daily business world (Brewster and Larsen, 2000). Fewer satisfactory definitions have been propounded by different writer such as (Soderlund and Bredin, 2005), whom perceived HRM as 1) an ‘executive personnel responsibility’, that mainly concern with management activities; 2) classified HRM as management philosophy that concerns with people treatment and, finally 3) discerned HRM as interaction management between the firm and its people.Due the conflicting theoretical conception and hypothetical disagreement about the general acceptance of the definition, Price (2007) definition would be used to in this literature because it better explained and cover huge areas of the study. According to Price (2007): â€Å"A philosophy of people management based on the belief that human resources are uniquely important to sustained business success.An organization gains competitive advantage by using its people effec tively, drawing on their expertise and ingenuity to meet clearly defined objectives. Human resource management is aimed at recruiting capable, flexible and committed people, managing and rewarding their performance and developing key competencies†. The dynamic and uncertainty in HR contemporary organisations are tremendously moving towards a radical dimension (Analoui, 2007).Recent debate by many researchers have laid more emphasis about matching and incorporating the HR-department with other strategic functioning departments within organisation (Soderlund and Bredin, (2005); Analoui, (2007); Price, (2007). 1. 2 HR IN A CONTEMPORARY ORGANISATION HR is essentially crucial in today’s contemporary organisations because it induce high-performance management through the use of employees; by enhancing their levels of customer’s service, productivity, growth, profits and quality control (Armstrong, 2000).Lado and Wilson (1994, p 701) outlined a separate interconnected a ctivities, roles, processes and other aspects that are aimed to attracting, maintaining, and developing the firm HR activities in contemporary organisations, such as: 1) planning; 2) recruitment and selection 3) training; 4) performance management; 5) benefits and rewards; 6) compensation; 7) and 8) career development (Banhegyi et al. , (2008) and (Robbins & Coulter, (2002). 1. 2. 1 Planning Planning in Human Resource has been discussed in different HRM contexts for many years (Wren, 1994). HR planning was initially an important aspect of ob analyses and was often used as bases for determining strengths and weaknesses among the employees and to develop the skills and competences they needed (Gallagher, 2000). As individual career plans started to gain more popularity, companies gradually started to pay more attention to the certain skills and competences among individual employees as a way of aligning and dealing with the companies’ succession planning (Kuratko and Morris (20 02). As this aspect been scrutinised rigorously by many researchers, HR planning is still a complicating and complex issue of debate within the HR practices (Schuler, 1986).In 1978, McBeath addressed his view of HR planning by highlighting a set of issues that he regarded as being important with respect to the HR planning. These were; An estimation of how many people the organization needed for the future A determination of what ability, skills, and knowledge requires to compete An evaluation of employees ability, skills and existing knowledge A determination of how the company could fill the identified competence gaps Storey (1995) argues that HR planning today is a very important task of every contemporary organization’s HR department.According to him, HR planning mainly involves the identification of skills and competence within the organization, the filling of identified competence gaps, and the facilitation of movements of employees within the organisation. An essential part of the HR planning is the succession planning which aims to ensure the supply of individuals and filling of gaps on senior key positions when they become vacant and replenish competences to areas where they are most valued (Wolfe, 1996). 1. 2. 2 Recruitment and selectionIn organization the system that responsible for placing diversifies talents throughout is refers to as recruitment and selection processes. The process of recruitment and selection is an ethical approach by a firm to seek and attract the most competent and suitable applicant for a vacant position (Analoui, 2007). Price (2007) inferred that recruitment strategies can be divided in three significant approaches: suitability – the most qualified applicant for the position, malleability – moulded within the cultural norms, and flexibility – the most reliable and versatility employee.These factors are quite complicating and can be easily mistaken during the process of hiring employees. Suitability is a critical aspect hence it mainly concerned with the process of hiring the most suitable applicant for the position. The process of selecting and retaining potential employees is the greatest organisational competitive battle in modern days (Pfeffer, 1994). Having the greatest talent simply implies that the firm will be able to compete aggressively in the market.This phenomenon are quit prevalent in our daily business life and has also pushes organisations to gain a niche by employing the most renowned managers to lead the thriving future. 1. 2. 2. 1 Channels of Recruitment Russo et al. , (1995) cascaded channels of recruitment into external and internal recruitment, and formal and informal channels. Internal recruitment channels mainly involve the use of intercommunication between other strategic areas of the organisation and the entire HR department. This approach enhances the firm to prioritise and target in-house or current employees (Russo et al. 1995; Analoui, 2007). Inter nal recruitment can be fully considered when it is fair and transparent, since favouritism might occur; while external channel of recruitment base on the contrary. 1. 2. 3 Training In today’s contemporary organisation, employees ‘skills and knowledge can make a positive impact on the firm‘s productivity (Guzzo, Jette & Katzell, 1985). Organisations have to counter some difficulties while training a single or more employees (Ostroff & Kozlowski, 1992). Previous literatures argue the affordability of some organisations that eprive themselves for a single individual employee particularly when human resources are limited: this can hinder the productivity on the short term and destabilize the organization (Bishop, 2003). He continues to stress that such perception about training implies that organisation should embark on a cost reduction strategies and focuses on in-house or on-job-training (OJT). Formal training is just one of the possibilities for organisations to en hance the personnel performance level, as important roles are covered also by organizational socialization (Chao, 1997) and multitasking (May, 1997).It was suggested in the early 1990s that organisational socialisation is a fine process for newcomers to source out information’s about the organisation, learn about the necessary tasks and how to perform their responsibility; clarifying their roles and relate with others inside the organisation (Ostroff & Kozlowski, 1992). This philosophy was also supported by Rollag & Cardon (2003) as they indicated that the process of socialisation within a firm enhance newcomer to incorporate and learn in a well conducive atmosphere. . 2. 4 Performance Management The concept of measuring performance or managing performance within organisations is to strategize how firms can get the utmost benefits from their employees (Dransfield, 2000). The approach to measuring performance can be classified as a three-step approach that composed by objectiv es, appraisal and feedback. The first step is the setting of performance objectives that are quantifiable, easy to measure and simple to communicate throughout the organisation (Dransfield, 2000).After that, the process of performance appraisal should take place (Bredin, 2008). The management of performance includes design of work systems, facilitation of knowledge utilisation, sharing and creation, and appraisal and reward systems (Cardon & Stevens, 2004). However, this phenomenon has been supported by different researchers claiming that performance management/appraisal is an outstanding process to determine and supervise employees output within the firm, so as it would be less complicating to ssess and achieve maximum performance (Zhu & Dowling, 1997). It is an excruciating process to implement and evaluate a systemic approach that can accurately pinpoint employee who is responsible for results within an organisation (McKenna & Beech, 2008). However, outcomes of individual behavio urs such as job satisfaction, employee turnover, absenteeism (Dyer and Reeves, 1995); motivation and commitment (Seibert, Silver, & Randolph, 2004), are proximal hence human resource processes are interconnected.In as much that the human resource practices are intended to achieve result in this area; there effect can also have a tremendous influence on the aforementioned outcomes (Bloom, 1999). 1. 2. 5 Benefits and rewards Eliciting high contributions within an organisational environment is highly essential for the firm as well as the employees (Appleby and Mavin, 2000). For instance, expectancy theories have explicated aspects of anticipated rewards in line with employee’s motivations.This indicated that every employee will have to face with a logical decision in accordance to the present economical circumstance (Tannenbaum and Dupuree-Bruno, 1994). As a result to that employee considerable effort will manifests into an intended realisations and fulfillment of a specific des ire outcome. Such manifestation enhances the explanation of the crucial aspect of organisational reward system and how it can be sustain and elicit the firm human capital investment Tannenbaum and Dupuree-Bruno (1994).The conceptions of both internal and external rewards are highly valued by organisations and its employees. Not only the obvious fact that employees yearns more about promotional opportunities, higher pay or better benefits, but also their desires and anguish spins from autonomy, personal growth and valued responsibility. Different authors have suggested the positive relationship, size and the implementation of innovative ideas in human resource practice as a result to economic of scale (Baldridge and Brunham, (1975) and Moch and Morse, (1977).This conception has locus the local firms at greater disadvantage in-terms of retaining or recruiting top-notch talent (Tannenbaum and Dupuree-Bruno, 1994). Figure 2: model for reward management Source: Bratton & Gold, 2003, p. 2 82 1. 2. 6 Compensation According to Patel & Cardon (2010) compensation is vital for contemporary organisation as it contributes to attract and retain high skilled workers with superior salaries, and it encourages a desired stakeholder behavior regarding recognition and legitimacy. Minbaeva et al. (2003) inferred that compensation would enhance motivation among personnel too.Even though non-financial compensation can really work as a positive stimulus for the workers, providing monetary benefits is necessary to increase the productivity of the employees on the individual or group level (Gomez-Meja, 1992). Balkin and Swift (2006) suggest a more flexible approach toward the payment issue. They proposed to relate it to the life stage of the organisation with a higher rate of non-monetary benefits during the first years of activity, and a re-equilibration whenever the company enters the mature stage.Non-monetary paybacks are represented by stock options, stocks or other form of equity s haring that enhance the participation and the motivation of employees, while spreading the risks over a larger number of people (Graham et al. , 2002). The aforementioned ownership sharing represents also a long-term planning for compensation, as Graham et Al. (2002) stated, but also short-term rewards exist. These are represented by profit sharing policies aiming to encourage the employees toward group work, or to control the organizational outcomes (Heneman & Tansky, 2002). 1. 2. 7 Career development (CD)Many practitioners and scholars within human resource development (HRD) field have claimed that the utmost crucial aspect of the practices is career development (McLagan, 1989; Weinberger, 1998; Swanson & Holton, 2001). However, this area of studies has been given little attention (Upton, Egan & Lynham, 2003). With the intense competition in the 21 century, many organisations have realised that in order for them to stay competition they have to improve their employees and enhance their career development (Boudreaux, 2001); rather than individual career development (Swanson & Holton, Upton, Egan & Lynham, 2003).Therefore, many organisations are now taking a proactive measures towards equipping their staffs and educationally (Leana, 2002) or create a climate that supports their staffs at all levels of the organisation to be more resultant and productive (Sullivan, 1999); which Boudreaux, (2001); Brown, (1997) referred to as ‘‘shared responsibility’’. However, learning within an organisation is quite critical and expensive; (McDonald, Hite & Gilbreath, 2002). The most common learning methods within organisations are informal (i. e. n-the-job coaching, sessions, lesson learned, development assignment) Power, Hubschman, & Doran, (2001) and formal learning (i. e. as training/workshop and other forms of professional training conducted by professional bodies internally or externally (McDonald, Hite & Gilbreath, 2002). 1. 3 The importance of HR in organisation The sole aim of HRM is to guarantee that the firm human capitals are being used in the fullest capability to produces the greatest organisation results that meets with the firm needs Nadeem Moiden, (2003) and Gilley and Gilley, (2007).Therefore, the philosophy of empowering employee’s capabilities is coined to the conception that HR is extremely crucial for sustainable competitive advantage and organisational success (Koch &McGrath, 2003). HR in organisation is also crucial because its assist managers and employees through a change process (Hendry, Jones, Arthur & Pettigrew, 1991). Businesses can gain enormous competitive advantages when their employees are used effectively to drawing on their expertise and ingenuity to meet clearly defined objectives.When organisation recruit the most effective, capable, committed and flexible people; and managed and reward them accordingly their performances, competencies and efficiency would help the firm productivity i mmensely (Price A. , 2007). Managers that tactfully execute organisational goals depend on the HR practices to deliver excellences so that they can achieve the utmost business performance (Becker, B. and Gerhart, B. , 1996). However, the HRM field has been isolated and misunderstood by many researchers and practitioner, failing to realise that without employees there would be no functioning organisation Argote, McEvily and Reagans (2003).As employees remain the most expensive and reliable asset of the organisation, the practices of HR will remain a vital area of discussion (Becker, B. and Gerhart, B. , 1996). 1. 3. 1 Advantages and disadvantages of HR As many other departments within an organisation encounter, challenges are inevitable and are present in our daily business lives. There are three main disadvantages, or some may refers to a challenges facing HR, namely: 1. Managers â€Å"need to support corporate productivity and performance improvement efforts† (Dessler, 2008, p 87). 2. Employees play an expanded role in employers’ performance improvement efforts† (Dessler, 2008, p 87). All the basics contents associated with high-performance organisation, such as high-technology team-based production, are rather futile without high levels of employee competence and commitment. 3. The challenge, derived from the first two, is that â€Å"employers see that their human resource units must be more involved in designing – not just executing – the company’s strategic plan† (Dessler, 2008, p 87). 1. 4 Strategic HR roles in dynamic and uncertainty environmentsStrategic HRM (SHRM) roles consist of strategies executions and formulations. The strategies execution has been the predominant aspect of the SHRM’s strategic job. Strategies formulators always set and margin their formulations in line with the corporate and competitive strategies and aligned the firm policies and practices towards their strategic formulation s (Dessler, 2008). In recent years, there has been a trend shift and researchers have now identified SHRM to take an active role with the top managers in the firm to formulate the company’s strategic plans.The gliding competitive environment due to a globalized economy has lead to that many employers are pursuing improved performance by improvement of commitment and competence level of their employees. Dessler, (2008) outlined four strategic tools that could be used to enhances employees abilities and proficiencies, such as employees satisfaction, loyalty, motivation and satisfactions. 1. 4. 1 Employee satisfaction Employee satisfaction is the individual satisfaction as a professional person, that is, the individual has an effect on his attitude.Organization member to its operating characteristic is the cognitive evaluation, employees get through the more realistic values and expectations of the gap between the value obtained after the meeting whether or not all aspects of wo rk attitudes and emotional responses. It involves the work of the degree of organizational commitment and work motivation is closely related (Saari, L. M. , & Judge, T. A. , 2004). Superior-subordinate communication is an important influence on job satisfaction in the workplace, in which the way a subordinate perceives a supervisor‘s behavior can positively or negatively influence job satisfaction.Nonverbal messages play a central role in interpersonal interactions with respect to impression formation, deception, attraction, social influence, and emotional expression (Burgoon, Buller, & Woodall, 1996). 1. 4. 2 Employee loyalty Employee engagement is personified by the passion and energy employees have to give of their best to the organization to serve the customer. Engagement is characterized by employees being committed to the organization, believing in what it stands for and being prepared to go above and beyond what is expected of them to deliver outstanding service to the customer.Engaged employees feel inspired by their work, they are customer focused in their approach; they care about the future of the company and are prepared to invest their own effort to see that the organization succeeds (Cook, 2008). Engagement can be summed up by how positively the employee: Thinks about the organization; feels about the organization; proactive in relation to achieving organizational goals for customers, colleagues and other stakeholders. Employee loyalty can be divided into active and passive loyalty.The former refers to the subjective staff loyal to the company with the desire (Cook, 2008). This desire is often due to a high degree of organization and employee goals and now there are consistent with organizational help for employees‘ self-development and self-realization factors. Passive loyalty is when the employees themselves do not wish to remain in the organization, but due to some constraints, such as high wages and welfare, transportation, etc. , have to stay in the organization. Once these conditions disappear, the staff can no longer feel organizational loyalty (Cook, 2008).The basic elements of enterprise employees, their enthusiasm on behalf of corporate morale, awareness of their work reflected in the subtle strength of enterprises (Pepitone and Bruce, 1998). 1. 4. 2. 1 Wages and benefits systems Salaries and benefits in the eyes of employees affect their loyalty is one of the important factors. â€Å"Money is not the most important, but no doubt a very important†, whether corporate or professional loyalty, loyalty is established on the basis of material, good pay system to ensure the basic material needs of the employees, will have good professional loyalty, and corporate loyalty (Cook, 2008). 1. 4. . 2 Enterprise human resource management system As indicated above human resource management is compulsory for each company and one of the most important courses; how to send staff to the right on the job, motivate employees, training and study staff, will be affected to some extent, staff loyalty. In the development of the unscientific, resulting in unfair business, become a mere formality, which often occurs. Negative phenomena that affect the performance of their staff, or even result in employees slack, complain more, rumors filled the air, to lose morale. Figure 3 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Source: Maslow, (1943) 1. 4. 2. Retaining top employees Excellent staff should have: First, high loyalty, company loyalty by recognizing the company’s values, to share weal and woe, and common development; second, right attitude, initiative, and study to make improvements, work hard and willing to do, know that they are doing, those things that do and should not do, great development potential; Third, professional ability, can work independently, with skill, and can continue to improve (McKeown, 2002). The roles of great employees are being productive and increased passion for and commit ment to the organization‘s vision, strategy and goals (Cook, 2008, p. 31-32). . 4. 3 Employee Motivation Motivating employees was highlighted as an indispensable part of HRM in many studies (e. g. Pinnington and Edwards, 2000; Dessler, 1997; Stone, 2005). Pinnignton and Edwards (2000) divided motivational incentives into two parts: motivating individuals and motivating groups. The former one pays the attention on individual needs and the later one highlight the equity principia. Some incentives played big roles in motivational process, for instance, the good communication between organization and employees (e. g. Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 2008; Stone, 2005; Dessler, 1997), High Job satisfaction (e. . Lambert, Hogan and Barton, 2001; Wright and Bonett, 2007), Good Payment and treatment (Carpenter and Sanders, 2004) and so on. Meanwhile, relating to the interesting issue on employee turnover often happened in the company, job satisfaction is one kind of factor that inf luences the turnover intent of employees. Lambert, Hogan and Barton (2001) pointed out that job satisfaction is a key mediating variable between the work environment and turnover intent, and suggested that managers take the focus on the work environment to improve employee’s job satisfaction, and ultimately lower turnover intent.Carpenter and Sanders (2004) opined that the investment in TMT (Top Management Team) could be way for attracting and retain talent for organization. Thus, it is required, and should be considered into the HRM process too. 1. 4. 4 Employee satisfaction Employee satisfaction is mainly concern with the satisfactions that derived from the individual as a professional person. One common research finding is that job satisfaction is correlated with life satisfaction (Rain, et al, 1991). This correlation is reciprocal, meaning people who are satisfied with their lives tend to be satisfied with their jobs vice visa.However, some research have argued this conce pt that that job satisfaction is not significantly related to life satisfaction because of their variable such as nonworking satisfaction and core self-evaluations are taken into account (Rode, J. C. 2004). Organization member to its operating characteristic is the cognitive evaluation. Employees get through the more realistic values and expectations of the gap between the values obtained after the meeting whether or not all aspects of work attitudes are emotional responses.This consists of the extent of firm involvement and related motivational activities (Saari, L. M. , & Judge, T. A. , 2004). Burgoon, Buller, & Woodall, (1996) one of the most suitable means of influencing employees satisfaction is the manners at which superior relate and communicate with subordinators. The meshing and mashing of interpersonal relationships between the two distinctive groups or status plays a significant roles in terms of respect, attractions, formative impression or emotional expression, deceptio ns and social influences (Burgoon, Buller, & Woodall, 1996).Weiss and Cropanzano, (1996) inferred that such immediacy and friendliness will cumulate the essential elements of job satisfaction (Weiss and Cropanzano, 1996). The way employee’s feels and thought that their jobs being appreciated are very much essential in terms of employees job satisfactions (Organ, D. W. , & Ryan, K. , 1995); turnover (Saari & Judge, 2004); and absenteeism (Wegge, et al, 2007). Job satisfactions ultimately looks at the general aspects of satisfactions employees gained from their work in entirety (Mount & Johnson, 2006)

Using web based research, find an environmental-based ethical dilemma Essay

Using web based research, find an environmental-based ethical dilemma from the past five years online - Essay Example At the Severn tidal estuary, sea water rises up the river during high tide. The proposed barrage would allow the high tide to flow in through the sluice gates of the barrage, when the tide is at its highest, gates would be closed, when the tide starts to fall the water would be released driving two hundred and fourteen 40 MW turbines. The project could generate as much as 17 billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year. This project could generate up to 5% of the UK’s energy needs (Black & Veatch, 2007). A large part of the Severn estuary has been marked as a protected wetland. The estuary is the habitat of tens of thousands of birds and other aquatic wildlife. If the proposed barrage is built, 35,000 hectares of protected wetland would be inundated by water potentially endangering the wildlife that depends on it for survival (Turnpenny, 2001). Great numbers of migratory fish including critically threatened or declining species such as Atlantic salmon, sea trout, shads and eels also pass through the Severn estuary. Fish passing through the hydroelectric turbines are likely to suffer injury or death (Turnpenny, 2001). According to Kant’s categorical imperative, the ends do not justify the means, a person’s acts are morally correct if and only if it were correct for every other person to act in the same way, for the same reasons. Another aspect of the categorical imperative involves the treatment of human beings. Kantian morality is concerned mostly with the rights of humans, Kant considered non-human creatures to be mere ‘things’ which could be used and disposed of by humans at their will. Kant advocated kindness to animals, but only because he believed that those who are cruel to animals inevitably become cruel in their dealings with other humans as well (Gruen, 2010). According to Kant, humans are intrinsically valuable and they must not be used as a merely a means to an end but

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Teaching of Ethics and Humanity in USA and Indonesia - Essay Example This cultural value is highly evident in the education systems of the Universities in USA and Indonesia as they give very high emphasis to Human Values, Respect for others and Ethics in their education systems. Example, Seattle University practices the Jesuit Tradition which requires that the students should be made aware of the importance of what they need to do with the knowledge that they are in the process of acquiring. Similarly, Santa Clara University teaches moral thinking and decision making following the Utilitarian Approach, Rights Approach, Fairness Approach, Common-Good Approach, and the Virtue Approach. The Indonesian Universities teach Humanity, Respect for others and Ethics as well but the lessons imparted are more from the perspective of Religious teachings. As a matter of fact, Islamic and Buddhist education has prevailed quite strongly due to their strong influence on the society. Span and Quality of Education in USA is much better th... They prefer to expose their students to the real world challenges of the subject of choice. Example, the education in Finance & Accounting would not be limited to subject matter learning only but would also incorporate a number of surveys/researches required to be carried out by students even at the undergraduate level. When compared to education system in USA, the width & depth of education system in Indonesia is not comparable to the same in USA. Indonesia education system is based on improving subject matter expertise in technology whereby their applicability is sharply focused on the potentials of global competitive advantages that the country can derive out of such expertise. In this context, the teachers in Indonesia are definitely good experts but more focused towards the coverage of the subject than the applicability of the subject. Example, if the subject matter is networking the teachers would ensure that the entire concepts of network technologies are covered for the students at tremendous pace but fewer opportunities shall be opened to work on live networking projects. Expression of thoughts in USA is more freely allowed than in Indonesia (Thesis 3): USA believes in conversion of Tacit Knowledge into Explicit for the benefit of the future of Mankind. Hence, they tend to develop this culture in the educational system as well. The students in USA need to express their thoughts in class and in group discussions. Example, seniors discuss their internship experiences in open forums such that the juniors can avoid their mistakes when planning for their own internships. In addition to self expression, the Universities also give lot of emphasis in developing the writing skills of the

Reading reflection 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading reflection 9 - Essay Example On most occasions, people sentenced to death normally use this term as a ground of defense. Proving their innocence through this ground of defense is an efficient and effective manner of receiving their freedom. Reflecting further on this notion of wrongful convictions, I came to realize that the best and most efficient method of exonerating these people is through the use of DNA evidence. My interest in the reading made me to research on a case that involved a person who was wrongfully convicted, and thereafter released. I settled on Joe D Ambrosio, who was released on March 2010. Ambrosio was convicted in 1989 for the murder of Klann, but during his trial, prosecutors failed to produce evidence that was exonerating him, despite such evidence being in their possession (Free and Ruesink, 2012). Ambrosio was released by judge Synerberg for wrongful conviction. From this case, I learnt that prosecutors and law enforcement officers can make an individual to suffer imprisonment from crimes they did not commit, especially if such individuals are not efficient in their work. This article introduces us to the element of racialism in the administration of justice in United States of America. For instance, the article denotes that the Governor of Illinois, George Ryan, conceded that the death penalty system in United States of America was full of error because it discriminated upon the person who deserved to die and who deserved to live, by analyzing the color of their skin. Because of this, he decided to forgive the death row convicts in his state. Reflecting on this, I denote that though it was wise of him to carry out such kind of an action, it could have been good if he enacted policies and laws that would abolish death penalty in the State. This is because he was in the position of power. In my own opinion, the best way to reduce inequitable administration of justice in regard to the death penalty, it is important for states all over America to abolish the

Bribery at Siemens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Bribery at Siemens - Essay Example Bribery is definitely an unethical and illegal practice. Bribery cannot be considered as a cost of business just to get contracts for the company or securing their financial position in any international state or country. The reasons given by the employees when they were accused with the bribery scandal was mainly focusing on one aspect. They said they did it for the benefit of the company, so that the organization could get good business and be stable in all their different business units. The employees said in their defense that the bribery was asked to them by the employees of Enel if they wanted the contract for their company, Siemens. The employees of Siemens also defended their case by saying that the practice of bribery was common to get the contracts for the company on an international level. In late 2006, Siemens had faced another scandal of bribery in the telecommunication department which was bribing foreign officials for securing of contracts. Accusations were also made by IG Metall Company to Siemens for bribing their unions. Many other countries like US, Italy, Greece and Switzerland has accused Siemens for having misconduct while doing their foreign business. Siemens had practiced bribery so that they could win the contracts in the international market and become a strong player in their respective field. This is an unethical practice but it has been observed that for multinational organizations, the concept of bribery is considered a norm. Siemens has also been charged for bribing the employee representatives of different organizations so that they can get their work done easily. The former Siemen managers were also convicted of bribing the foreign officials for getting the business contracts for their organization. The main worrying aspect is that the practicing of bribery may be spread along many levels of management and to get to the

Corporate Social Responsibility and Globalisation (find a topic on it) Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility and Globalisation (find a topic on it) - Essay Example It reveals the way many companies have tried to employ CSR strategy in order to achieve successful business performance in the competitive global market. Globalization has contributed to varied changes in the international business activities. The literature attempts to analyze the way global integration has radically risen due to increased technological advancement; thus stakeholders have now started implementing CSR strategy in order to sustain their business in the competitive global market. Thus, despite the growing concern to the global CSR frameworks and globalisation issues, the literature review systematically examines the increased concern on adherents to these frameworks for the last decades. Global corporate social responsibility has emerged in the last decades as the significant strategy employed by varied multinational corporations in the global business for creating effective business performance. In spite of the growing concern of CSR and globalisation aspects, many scholars have attempted to examine the increasing number of adherents to the CSR frameworks (Lim and Tsutsui 2012, p. 2; Zaremba 2009, p. 127). From a rational actor model, the increased number of CSR is a puzzle since the costs and benefits associated with these frameworks are profoundly uncertain (Lim and Tsutsui 2012, p. 2). Many multinational companies that have attempted to operate their business across the globe have considerably gained some public relation benefits for demonstrating their commitment to CSR principles. Although corporations employing CSR might gain public relations benefits, some of them have been accused of making empty promises and evading regulatory devices. Many scholars have argued on the issue of CSR in relation to the multinational corporations and their capability to adhere to the international policies where they operate (Cramer, 2006, p. 78;

Research Methods Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research Methods - Annotated Bibliography Example The article is helpful in providing my quest with information on the methods the IT sector relies on and uses as well as the challenges involved. Klein’s publication concentrates on the evaluative research that is done in the IS field. Klein uses the publication a platform to explain some of the needs that are met by conducting research in the information System field and discusses some of the regulations to go by in interpreting the collected information. This article provides the research filed with some of the varying principles that are used in the field in the interpretation of research, in data analysis. Tao, Clark, Gwyn and Lim article is based on the introduction of clickers in technology. The authors discuss the implementation of clickers in various social settings and the resultant effect the clickers had in qualitative analysis. The publication is a representation of how the research methods are implemented in different fields of the human world. In this case, the publication provides resources on what impact of technology has in the field of technology as well as interacting with the real world. Morse, J. M., Barrett, M., Mayan, M., Olson, K., & Spiers, J. Verification Strategies for Establishing Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 1.2(2) (2002). Pdf. The authors in this case discuss some of the challenges that the research field faces. Research and data resulting from the activity is often scrutinized, but this article discusses the various ways in which interpretation of the data collected is done to establish the viability of the process and justify its conduct. The article is a base by which the research field shows susceptibility to flaws. Glass and DeMarco use this chapter to discuss the reasoning between the quantitative and qualitative research

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Ethics - Essay Example A background of the text is first important in order for one to understand the different perspectives from which justice can be viewed. Glaucon argues that justice is pursued by man against his will - a matter of necessity rather than for the goodness of it1. He also thinks that the just man would pursue injustice were he to be immune to the consequences and besides, he ultimately ends up the happier of the two. Glaucon asks Socrates to defend the view that justice is better than injustice (358b-362d). Adeimantus also requires of Socrates to demonstrate that there is value to justice, not just a utility for man to gain certain advantages in society. To answer this, Socrates uses an analogy of justice in the city to portray justice in a person. He argues that a just man does not differ in any way from a just city (435b). Justice is the result of a soul that is well ordered, hence Plato creates three classes of people present in his model city Kallipolis; producers, guardians and ruler s. In a just city, these three classes of people are required to display certain virtues that all come into action to ensure that justice prevails in the city: the rulers should create just laws, the soldiers carry out the orders of the rulers and the producers stay in obedience of this authority. The ruler class is supposed to have wisdom to ensure that the entire city operates on the same basis. This wisdom is supposed to trickle down from the governing (ruling) class onto the entire population of the city. It ensures that the city has good judgment (428d). The soldier’s role is to carry out the orders of the rulers and as such is supposed to be well educated to understand the laws as much as possible. Through this, their role in ensuring justice can not be eroded by such things as pleasure, pain, fear and desire (430a). They gain this kind of focus through the virtue of courage and thus help in maintaining justice within the city. The producers on the other hand are requir ed to obey authority. For this to happen, the producers are supposed to possess the virtue of moderation which creates harmony, unanimity and agreement amongst all members of the city. The issue of who is to lead is settled this way and everybody works together thus ensuring justice. Moderation can not be divorced from justice as it enables everybody to play their particular role and â€Å"everyone must practice one of the occupations for which he is naturally suited.† (433a). The three classes of people that work harmoniously to ensure justice in the city now lead us to what justice should be in the human soul. The human soul has more than one single driving force; people are indecisive when making some choices, some part of their soul stops them from pursuing their desires and thus there is internal conflict. The part of the soul that is calculative and questions the other part is the rational part of the soul. Then there is the irrational part which is lustful and appetiti ve (439d). Emotions are created by the part of the soul that is spirited, which in times of internal conflict may ally the rational part against the irrational part of the soul thus the person ends up making a rational decision. The analogy between the city and the person is then clear; that the rational part

Problems of Democracy in Pakistan Essay Example for Free

Problems of Democracy in Pakistan Essay After years of military dictatorships followed by sham democracy, the situation in Pakistan has reached such a point that the masses are yearning for radical change. Their suffering is immense as the people at the top continue to enrich themselves at the expensive of the workers and peasants, collaborating with imperialism as it rides rough-shod over the people of Pakistan. Everything is moving to an inevitable revolutionary explosion. Pakistan’s Supreme Court in its verdict of 16 December, 2009 declared the notorious NRO null and void ab initio. The National Reconciliation Ordinance of October 2007 was promulgated by the then President of Pakistan General Parvaiz Musharraf. It was the outcome of a deal he had struck with Benazir Bhutto, life Chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party in a covert meeting in Abu Dhabi. The deal was brokered by the United States and Britain. The aim was to create a new setup that could facilitate the imperialist war and other interests in this turbulent region. According to this ordinance all cases of politicians including corruption, murder, extortion, kidnappings and other heinous crimes would be withdrawn. Some of the major beneficiaries are now in power including Benazir’s widower Zardari, now the President of Pakistan and some of his most sinister ministers. The other main beneficiary is the Muteheda Qaumi Movement, MQM, whose leader, an absconder resident in London for several years, and its other leading figures were facing charges of murder and other crimes. The MQM is a mafia-type organisation with neo-fascist tendencies and its main ideological baggage is based on ethnic conflict. The present democratic dispensation is the product of such a nefarious design. After Benazir’s assassination in December 2007 Musharraf’s fate was sealed. The plan B came into action and Zardari having a long standing relationship with US officials was catapulted into the presidency with his firm assurance that he would be more subservient to the Americans than Musharraf or Benazir could ever have been. The Electoral College for this election are comprised of members of the National and provincial assemblies who were elected in the February 2008 elections, the results of which were tailor-made in Washington to serve the imperialist strategies. Ironically this unanimity, or â€Å"reconciliation†, between all the parties in Parliament was prompted by a collective fear on the part of these representatives of the ruling class in the wake of the beginnings of a mass movement that they witnessed on the arrival of Benazir from exile in Karachi on October 18, 2007 and later after the explosion of the wrath of the workers, peasants and youth at the news of her assassination on December 27, 2007. After a long period of suffering, the oppressed in Pakistan had risen up in the hope that the leader of their traditional party, the PPP under Benazir Bhutto, would be a beacon of change and free them from the unrelenting misery and distress. The Americans had already done their homework with the PPP leaders, who mainly come from the moneyed classes, to divert this outburst into a democratic election and facade of â€Å"democracy†. These leaders drowned the mass anger and revolt in sorrow and despair. They refused to call for a general strike for the elections to be held on the scheduled date of January 8, 2008 and blocked the movement. This gave an opportunity to the Pakistani state and its imperialist masters to regroup their forces and stave off the threat of a revolutionary upheaval. The Military in Pakistan has ruled directly for more than half of the country’s 62 years of chequered history. All the military regimes were supported and propped up by US imperialism. During the â€Å"democratic† intermissions the plight of the masses continued to deteriorate. After the first decade (1947-58) of democratic regimes, such was the crisis that when Martial Law was imposed by Field Martial Ayub Khan there was even a sense of relief amongst several sections of society. Ayub Khan had the impertinence to say in one of his initial statements â€Å"we must understand that democracy cannot work in a hot climate. To have democracy we must have a cold climate like Britain. † General Ayub told the first meeting of his cabinet, â€Å"As far as you are concerned there is only one embassy that matters in this country: the American Embassy. † The Ayub dictatorship embarked upon an ambitious economic, agrarian and industrial programme in the 1960s, mainly sponsored by â€Å"US Aid† and the World Bank. Although Pakistan achieved its highest growth rates under Ayub, Keynesian economic policies failed to improve the lot of the masses. The aggravated social contradictions exploded into the revolution of 1968-69 that was fundamentally of a socialist character. See Pakistan’s Other Story-The 1968-69 Revolution]. The failure of the existing left leadership to give a clear revolutionary programme and perspective to the movement resulted in the rise of the Populism of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Due to the absence of a Bolshevik-Leninist revolutionary party the revolution was lost. But it did shake the whole of South Asia. The ruling classes initially tried to impose Martial Law again. However, its failure to curb the tide resulted in the first elections based on the adult franchise in 1970 where the PPP became the largest party in West Pakistan. Having failed to curtail the revolutionary wave that pierced through the ballot, ultimately the ruling classes resorted to a war with India, which led to the break-up of Pakistan and then Bhutto was given power who, forced by the pressure of the masses, initiated radical reforms from above, but only to exhaust the revolution brewing below. Bhutto’s elected left reformist government was subsequently overthrown by a military coup led by General Zia ul Haq in July 1977, who later hanged Bhutto at the behest of US imperialism. The eleven-year brutal dictatorship of Zia was perhaps the most traumatic period for the working masses in Pakistan. In connivance with the Americans, Zia propped up and unleashed the beast of Islamic fundamentalism to crush the left. The continuance of that grotesque monstrosity is what produced the present day fundamentalist terror that is ripping apart the social fabric of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Zia Dictatorship began to crumble after another upheaval on the return from exile of Bhutto’s daughter Benazir in April 1986. The contradictions in the already weakened dictatorship were thus sharpened. General Zia’s plane was conveniently blown up in mid air in August 1988 – some have speculated that this may have been done at the request of the Americans, whom the megalomaniac and insane general had begun to â€Å"disobey† seeking his own personal agenda. From 1988 to 1999 there was another democratic interlude, where Benazir and Nawaz Sharif alternated in short stints of rulerships. This period was marred by an orgy of corruption, incompetence, spiralling economic decline and chaos. General Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup by overthrowing Sharif. Musharraf then introduced a â€Å"quasi-democracy† in 2002 but the 9/11 episode in the USA once again made another dictator another main American collaborator. This time the facade was not against communists but we had the so-called â€Å"war against terror†. Musharraf’s demise and the regime that ensued once again brought unprecedented agony and pain for the people of Pakistan. History has turned full circle. This vicious cycle of Pakistan’s political superstructure – dictatorship to democracy and back to dictatorship has brought no respite to society. Only the suffering has intensified. In reality this is a reflection of the ongoing social and economic crisis built into the foundations of this tragic country. The Pakistani ruling class after its independence from direct British rule came onto the scene of history too late and with this came an inability to develop the economy. It was a weak class even at its inception. It could not produce enough surpluses for its profits and capital needed to tap the resources of the country and carry out its historical role of the national revolution that its pioneers had envisaged. It adjusted itself accordingly, and its survival depended on the one hand by being subservient to imperialism and on the other allying itself and compromising with the landed aristocracy created under the Raj. The founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as early as November 1947, less than three months after the formation of Pakistan, had sent his emissary to Washington asking for a $2bn loan. The response he got was a mere $10million of loose change. The failure of Pakistan’s ruling elite is evident 62 years later. None of the national democratic tasks have been completed. Several agrarian reforms have failed to abolish feudalism. Pakistan came into existence not as a nation but as a state comprising different nationalities. National oppression continues and the national question has become a festering wound on the body politic of this country. The task of the formation of a modern nation state is far from being achieved and will in fact further deteriorate with the impending crisis. This state of incompleteness of the tasks has wrought havoc on the social and economic life of Pakistani society. The social and political infrastructure is in a state of collapse. â€Å"National sovereignty† is a farce and hardly anybody believes in the state’s independence. Imperialist intervention and domination is on a greater scale today than it was in 1947, the year of Pakistan’s creation. Except for a few years under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, all the finance ministers have been employees of the World Bank or other imperialist financial institutions. Now the US is even trying to control sections of Pakistan’s armed forces and intruding its military corporate contractors to take over â€Å"security† in several vital parts of the country. These include former Blackwater now XE securities, DynCorp and others. An embittered general described the strategic relationship as Americans using Pakistan as a â€Å"condom†. The conflicts within the army are also the result of this aggressive hegemony being thrust into the Military’s domain. This is already giving rise to bloody conflicts among different agencies and sections of the armed forces representing black money and other sections of finance capital. This conflict is being waged covertly at the present time. But if a desperate imperialism faces an impending defeat in Afghanistan and tries a partial US occupation of NWFP (Pushtoonkhwa), it could even trigger a severe crisis in the army already under strain from carrying out the CENTCOM instructions on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The fallout could have catastrophic consequences. Similarly the severe crisis of Pakistani capitalism has failed to develop a parliamentary democracy. The Pakistani ruling class, in the wake of its economic failures turned to plunder of the state at an early stage. They pay less than 10% of total taxation revenues. The real burden falls on the working class who are forced to pay more than 80% of the revenues through indirect taxation. The capitalist class steals electricity and gas, while billions of dollars of bank loans have been written off. According to the figures presented before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, a small section of these leeches’ annual corruption exceeds Rs. 500 billion (US$6. 2bn). Most of this money is stashed away in western banking havens. As this process started to become more and more evident, the army, the most powerful instrument of the state, started to become part of this evil nexus of plunderers and usurpers. The drug-funded and US/Saudi sponsored Afghan Jihad brought even greater loot to the coffers of the generals. Other institutions of the state and society including the judiciary, the bureaucracy and the media joined in this orgy of corruption. Hence, whenever there was a political crisis (conflict of the civilian plunderers) the military moved in to quell the rot. The dictatorships bred more corruption and as they began to lose their grip democracy was introduced the main reason being the growing danger of a mass revolt that is provoked by these repressive regimes. Although even a bourgeois democracy is a progressive step forward as compared to military dictatorships, the exploitative system that the military rulers intervene to salvage remains intact. In Pakistan this crisis-ridden system again creates a political instability that reflects the burning economic turmoil. The army and state are not a class, but in the last analysis the economic and social conditions determine the nature of the regime that is needed by the ruling class to preserve the system of exploitation of labour. Comrade Ted Grant elaborated on this in 1949 â€Å"The state by its very nature is composed of a bureaucracy, officers, generals, heads of police etc. But those do not constitute a class; they are the instrument of a class even if they may be in antagonism to that class. They cannot themselves be a class. † (The unbroken thread, pp. 235). In Pakistan the irony is that time and again the masses have risen up against the dictatorship, fundamentally to overthrow the yoke of exploitation and misery inflicted upon them by this vicious system of class rule. When they were allowed even to make half a choice through the ballot-box they propelled the PPP to power. Yet their hopes have been dashed time and again by the PPP in government in the short span of less than 40 years. The toiling masses have been loyal to their tradition for generations. The ruling class only allowed the PPP into the corridors of power to dissipate the mass upsurge. Above all the ruling class, the state and the imperialists have used the capitulating leaders of the PPP to carry through cuts, privatisations and other drastic anti-working class measures. They could not have achieved so much with the right-wing governments of Sharif, etc. , but even under the dictatorships they combined caution with repression. However, at least in the 1970s the PPP government did carry through some reforms for the betterment of the impoverished masses. In the later PPP governments since 1988 such was the crisis of Pakistani capitalism that there was no room for even minimal reforms.

BP Global: Future Strategy Sustainability

BP Global: Future Strategy Sustainability British Petroleum (BP) is the worlds one of the largest and leading petroleum product manufactures. It has headquarters in London. It operates from 29 countries. Though it has faced safety and environmental controversies in the history of its operations it could overcome all negative images through a concrete focus and consistent efforts towards sustainable developments. BP operates throughout the world in locations, terrains and climates that are tremendously diverse and frequently challenging. However, BP aims to minimize its environmental impact by taking a systematic and disciplined approach to operations, using sophisticated risk assessment techniques that directly inform its business plans. Therefore, BP is incorporating its environmental management systems into the group-wide operating management system that helps BP to set priorities for operations based on assessment of the key risks, including those related to environmental and social performance. BP believes this integration will promote greater efficiency and consistency across the business. It has formulated a set procedure to conduct, at least annually, a formal process to identify and assess risks and emerging issues, including environmental and social issues. Main aim of BP is to manage environmental and social risk during every phase of its operations viz. launching new projects, carrying out day-to-day operations and bringing a project to a close. BP strives to minimize the impact on the environment by identifying risks during the project set-up and using technology to reduce or remedy any impacts. The firm is investing in a broad portfolio of alternative energy businesses and RD, while advocating a carbon price and public funding to support such new technologies. The firms greenhouse gas efficiency achievements will be vulnerable to a shift towards unconventional fossil fuels. Climate change creates both threats to BP through market changing technologies, and opportunities, such as increasing natural gas sales at the expense of coal. BP partly manages these risks by applying an internal carbon price to new projects and through its policy influence. Through its clean energy investments BP is hedging against dramatic changes to the worlds energy mix. In this assignment, we have taken up the BPs sustainability report of 2009 and studied its activities enabling it to achieve sustainable growth. We also assessed its capabilities, current position and forecast its future sustainable growth. British Petroleum Limited (BP) Introduction Website: http://www.bp.com Location of Headquarters: 1 St. Jamess Sq., London, SW1Y 4PD, United Kingdom Sector Industry: Basic Materials Energy Nature of Business: Oil Natural Gas Business Wind Solar Energy Business Bio-fuel Business Energy Security Energy Diversity Business Technology Partnership Products: BP petroleum and derived products BP service stations Air BP Aviation Fuels Castrol motor oil ARCO gas stations am/pm convenience stores Aral service stations solar panels Historical Background: BP (NYSE:BP) is one of the worlds largest oil and gas companies in terms of production capacity. In 2009, the companys exploration and production segment produced approximately 2.53 million barrels of oil per day as well as 8.48 million cubic feet of natural gas per day while the companys refining throughput averaged 2.28 million barrels/day. BP expands its production capacity through improved rig equipment and technology as well as expansions into other countries. As of April 2009, BPs operates in 29 countries including Mexico, Russia, Algeria, and many others in the Middle East and Africa. While BPs global reach gives the company an ability to access untapped reserves, many of its operations are exposed to political risk in those countries. In particular, BPs Russian operations faced significantly managerial problems in 2008, but these tensions eased in January 2010 with the appointment of Maxim Barsk to CEO. BP has been involved in a number of environmental, safety and political controversies during its history, including the 1965 Sea Gem incident and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange. BP on the Sustainability: Before we predict BPs position in future, let us first have look in to its present position and future plans for protection of environment, commitment to society and efforts towards economical growth and sustainable development. Present: BP operates responsibly with better corporate governance and management systems. BP strives to deliver secure and affordable energy while addressing the global issues and climate change. Efforts are made to develop large scale business towards the production of alternative energy sources with low carbon emissions. BP has given utmost importance to safety reliability of operations. But the accidents and fatalities have not been on reducing trend, which can have a major impact on it sustainable growth. BP focused on low carbon or green house gas emissions, biofuels, and operations that can emit fewer pollutants. People Management: There is clear focus on training development of the workforce and reward and recognition system but there is no clear evidence of integration of people development with its diversified business requirements. Community Initiatives: BP has made efforts to build a strong mutually beneficial relation with society wherein they work. Future Plans: In BPs business strategies especially for the sustainable growth, there are many ways forward, but certain parameters are clear. The response must be integrated, global and balanced in terms of social, economic and environmental solutions. BP plans to focus on major public policy issues such as climate change, environmental protection and human rights. The future plan is to show that everything that is done, and every product and service that are provided, is delivered in an environmentally and socially sound manner. The challenge is to adapt, to become more sensitive to the wider world with change in environment. The future plan mainly boils down to the environmental protection and economy growth. BP needs to integrate its future strategies in all its business units to bring the transparency for verification against a common factor on a single platform. There is a clear focus on developing value leaders in future with strong HR strategies. The focus is more on integrating the HR policies across its operations to improve the skills and knowledge of the people. IT must also help BP to develop future leaders who can be visionary to achieve sustainable growth. Even though future plans of BP clearly focus on economy development, workforce development and environmental excellence but the community development appears to be in the last bench of the agenda as the concrete evidence of plans to reach Phase 4 or 5 of the sustainability model is not available with respect to community development. BP Today: Today BP displaying the following characteristics: Systemic plan to integrate human resource functions to reduce cost/increase efficiency Focus on value add training/development opportunities i.e. waste reduction, lean principles Undertakes community projects where cost-benefit can be exemplified. BP The Good Days By the early 1990s, a newly envisioned BP appeared to be adopting a strategic approach (Phase 5) towards sustainability. Like its competitor Shell, BP too strategically placed itself to move beyond petroleum. It committed itself in inventing alternative energy sources and technologies. It also committed itself to the Kyoto Protocols and greenhouse gas emissions. BP also ventured into social and community sustainability efforts, working towards enhancing the efforts in the respective local communities. These efforts were incorporated to its corporate strategy as part of five broad spectrum of business policy: ethical conduct, employees, relationships, health, safety, and environmental performance, control and finance. BPs vision was to market itself as the greenest fossil fuel producer in the industry: Their Beyond Petroleum won two PR Week campaign of the year awards and the gold Effie from the American Marketing Association. Ogilvy, the firm behind the slogan ironically still boasts of Beyond Petroleum as a successful case study in its website. BP CSR Disaster: Unfortunately for BP, the carefully marketed CSR plan went awry with the gulf oil spill. The oil spill taught the world rather brutally, that the heart of the relationship between BP and society did not lie in honest commitments. Chastened by the Exxon Valdez disaster, BP along with every player in the oil industry became rather religious on CSR initiatives. CSR actually poses a problem in such a situation in that it muddies the waters. Beyond Petroleum, the marketing campaign was the result of painstakingly long plan spread over years-but that was all it was, a carefully constructed marketing plan for external stakeholders that suggested CSR was at the heart of BP, but did little to show any evidence of it. BPs isnt out there to lead the green revolution. Their actual business is to make money for its shareholders; in BPs case by producing energy, mainly from fossil fuels. Today, not only has their motto come under external pressure, but has also instigated soul-searching within BPs ranks. Todays marketplace demands a lot more from corporations to establish long term sustainability. It should begin with a basic principle: A successful company must embrace corporate responsibility in all its forms-both internal and external. While BP did an excellent job externally for many years (see Sustainability Portfolio below), it requires much more in-depth introspection from management to get the internal vision re-aligned. Strategies of BP Today BP has a sound platform on which to achieve their commitment to combine growth with the discipline of performance and strategies. So the concept of sustainability is already part of business today. But it also demands a deeper, broader, more creative level of engagement than conventional environmentalism. Climate Change, demographic change and poverty are the three major trends that will set the corporate sustainability worldwide The BP has challenge to create a future energy mix that meets three of these objectives sufficiency; security; and sustainability of the energy. But there are hard political choices involved in agreeing to cut emissions and accepting the implications for energy. The company drives the necessary innovation or deployment of emerging low carbon technologies in the operation. In the drive for efficiency, BP will collaborate with the vehicle manufacturers on advanced engine technology and lubricants and provide better and cleaner transport fuels through less energy intensive processes and increase the energy efficiency of their facilities and equipment BP was the first energy company to be widely recognised as accepting the obligation to act on climate change. They have invested nearly $4bn in low carbon business since 2005 and commitment to invest $8bn in alternative energy in coming years. BP are creating long-term options for the future in new energy technology and low-carbon energy businesses. They will be also enhancing capabilities in natural gas, which is likely to be a vital source of relatively clean energy during the transition to a lower-carbon economy and beyond. BP will utilize the best talent inside and outside the company to develop and apply the technology associated with their business challenges. They have the right people in the right places with the right skills. They have developed a new leadership framework and extensive training programmes to build the professional skills of employees, BP will focus on operations and fostering a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement across all their activities. BP is a diverse and inclusive company where everyone can achieve their potential. BP will be able to demonstrate clearly how technology improves performance and improve the safety factor. BP will able to reduce its hydrocarbon emissions to water and hydrocarbon emissions to air, the burning of waste gas, carbon dioxide emissions, emissions of non-greenhouse gases, such as nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides significantly.. BP will be using its landholdings as a base for solar generation of electricity. BP focus is on four key businesses: biofuels, wind, solar and carbon capture and storage. Their goals are no accidents, no harm to people and no damage to the environment. Company will work to achieve this through consistent management processes, ongoing training programmes, rigorous risk management and a culture of continuous improvement. Community development must be focused on BP as an integral part of CSR rather than initiating just as a compensatory act for the damage caused to public and environment. As a company with extensive operations in developing nations, some whose BPs own revenues surpass, it needs to carefully manage aspects such as human rights approach and maintaining ethical business practices. BP would be stick with its commitments towards safety concerns, security, safe operations and accountability in all the locations. BP shall plans to further improve operating and cost efficiency right across the company, from refineries and marketing operations in the downstream to procurement, drilling and project management in the upstream efficiency and reduce costs for profit growth. BP will develop the culture of innovation in all their operations. BP continues to access new business opportunities, with new agreements in other countries. To increase its financial flexibility, BP shall plans to reduce its debt, now about $23 billion, to $10 billion within 18 months. BP has to establish new ways of communication with all stakeholders to improve the brand image and reputation across the globe. BP shall view the corporate governance as a strategy for long run sustainable growth and survival. They should also ensure that board should be structured appropriately to ensure the implementation of rules, regulations, ethical, moral principles and obligation in all activities. It is essential to achieve high standards in all three elements of the triple bottom line agenda economic, environmental and social performance. Focusing on any one at the expense of the others is not sustainable. BP shall build competitive advantage by procuring and multiplying resources create abilities over them and developing synergy of resources and capabilities. Core competencies enable BP to formulate strategies and draw strategic action by converting competencies into profitable business activities. Suggested Future Strategic Concepts for BP: BP should plan to re-conceive its product portfolio and the market it is being catering to till date. Taking a holistic view of the market, BP should mould the goods to cater to the energy needs of the community and not just oil or natural gas. Presently BP defines its productivity by production rate i.e. MT/annum. However, we would suggest that real productivity of BP product can happen when the firm follows up its product till its life cycle. It has already started activities in this direction by entering into strategic alliance with vehicle manufacturers. But it needs to take shape. Actual productivity definition for BP should be Amount of energy converted to actual use by the community per MT of fuel provided by BP. Say for example a Diesel Engine operated by Heavy Fuel (a product of BP) operates at about 30 to 35% efficiency. 10,000 Kcal of Energy provided by the oil is converted to just 3500 Kcal of another form of energy which again is not utilized to 100%. Hence BP should redefine productivity so that the benefit is directly transferred to the community. Such activity would be a win-win situation from BP as well as society at large. BPs one of the strategic management thoughts should be to secure its own future competitiveness. Given the finite life of natural fossil fuel, BP should start its activities in thinking differently on each different use of fuel. Let us take an example of transportation. All vehicles use fossil fuel. Scientists have already come out with hybrid cars, solar cars, compressed air cars, etc. BP should actually go a big way in developing Anti Gravity Cars. We all see UFOs and Flying Discs, etc. Can this earth not produce such vehicles? This is no fancy idea, BOAC have a specific RD drive for such vehicles. They already have achieved some success lifting about 3gm material. Ultimately, we aim at developing competencies by BP in a wider scope of business which would then not get jeopardized due to depleting finite resources. Improvement in Corporate Governance has to reinstate the confidence in community which has shaken up due to past disasters. The pace of expansion activities has overshot the governance speed. Here comes the role of strategic leadership. Two of the key qualities of an effective leader are to anticipate and envision. BP needs to provide more stress on these two aspects. We are aware that as and when there is a need, the fossil fuel prices are raised and there is no one to question them. BP should analyze in further details as to what extent the suppliers contribute to the competitive dynamics of oil business (this is one of the key pillars of the Porters 5 force model and extremely relevant one for BP). A simple coordination between the oil rig, VLCC and met department can effectively reduce cost to BP substantially. Many times this is not done because there is no stringent specific target or cap on total cost of product/MT. This effort will not only help BP outperform its competitors, but also can pass on the benefit to the customers for benefit of the community.

Contrasting Outlooks in Dream of the Rood and The Wanderer Essay

Differing Outlooks in Dream of the Rood and The Wanderer      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Outlook defines our perception of reality. The characters in Dream of the Rood and The Wanderer maintain opposed perspectives that greatly influence the way they view their common state of desolation. The dreamer and the Cross in Dream of the Rood embrace a religious ideology that gives them hope, whereas the earth-walker in The Wanderer embraces an existential view that leaves him to suffer his loneliness. The characters' differing outlooks greatly influence how they view their exile, their ultimate destination, and the journey to this destination, their "homecoming."    The characters of both works face exile: the dreamer's friends have "gone hence from the delights of the world," the Cross is "taken from [its] stump," and the wanderer is "far from dear kinsmen" (Rood 20-1; Wanderer 69). This exile saddens all of the characters: the dreamer is "all afflicted with sorrows," the Cross is "sore afflicted with griefs," and the earth-walker is "wretched with care" (Rood 19-20; Wanderer 69). While the characters face similar desolation and melancholy, however, they differ greatly in their reactions.    Before the dreamer approached the Cross he was dispirited, but upon hearing t... ...dle Ages," pp. 1-26; The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, (700/900), Five Old English Riddles (pp. 150-51), translated from Old English    Dockray-Miller, Mary. "The Feminized Cross of 'The Dream of the Rood.'" Philological Quarterly 76 (1997): 1-18.    Finnegan, Robert Emmett, 'The Gospel of Nicodemus and The Dream of the Rood, 148b-156'.   Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. 84 (1983): 338-43.    "The Wanderer." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993. 68-70.    Woolf, Rosemary. "Doctrinal Influences on The Dream of the Rood." MAE 28 (1958): 137-53.

the emperors new car :: essays research papers

The President's Old Cars Once upon a time in the very country you live in, there was a president who learned a lesson the hard way. See the president loved cars, new cars, fast cars, slow cars, rusted out cars, it didn't matter, if he saw a car he wanted, he bought it. Most other leaders were helping their countries to become stronger, while ours was off buying cars. Then there came that memorable day when our president learned his lesson.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While out shopping for new cars, the president came across one he didn't have. It was a 1986 Ford Escort. It was all rusty, missing hubcaps, and squeaked as he drove it down the road. But while talking to the car salesman, he never worried about what was wrong with it. The salesman (trying to get rid of this piece of junk) told the president that this car was in great shape and there would probably never be another car like this one. He also told the president that if anyone tried to tell him that this car was loud and smoked that they were just jealous and making it up. The president, happy to hear that someone might be jealous of him bought the car right away with his country's money.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On his way home people lined the streets to see his new purchase. Many laughed and pointed as his Escort smoked putted along the street. The president remembering what the car salesman had said thought these people were just jealous and pretending that his car was making all the smoke and noise. So he proudly drove around his 4-speed car through the streets ignoring everyone that laughed at him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now during the time the president was out buying new cars the American people more money because their jobs weren't paying enough. The president was giving less and less money every time he gave out money, so he would have money to buy a new car. The fact that his people were starting to starve didn't bother him at all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A couple of weeks later he was out to buy another car. He went back to the salesman that had sold him the Escort earlier. The president told the salesman that people actually laughed at his previous purchase. Then the salesman and president laughed because they were sure that those people were just jealous and making that stuff up about the car.

Nordstrom SWOT Essay

Representing people with disabilities in their catalogs since 1997, which is rare. This is a strength because it represents all customers of Nordstrom, not leaving out certain groups because of industry ‘norms’. This speaks volumes to all customers that Nordstrom recognizes them as individuals, but also, as O’Connell mentioned in an interview, â€Å"people with disabilities represent a significant marketing opportunity with $225 billion in discretionary income†¦ and companies that understand this will have a competitive advantage.† Has a customer first attitude to differentiate Nordstrom from other high-end retailers and department stores and build customer loyalty. They are in a highly competitive market involving high fashion, quality items at a premium price, but their service is what drives their business in. They invest in high quality staff, greet customers by name, write personal thank you notes, make follow up calls about satisfaction with prod ucts, have large well lit stores and fitting rooms, have a price match system, as well as a very lenient no questions return policy, all combined to keep their customers as satisfied as they can. Find a study that talks about service driving in customers, customer surveys, reports, etc. Nordstrom has different brands and product lines to reach different market segments and keep up with trends. These include: Rack, Haute Look, Treasure & Bond, and Trunk Club. This offers mid price markets opportunities to join with regular high price markets, online exclusive shoppers to join the Nordstrom network and fashions, appeal to â€Å"give-back† shoppers, and gives men a new online shopping experienced linked to the perks of Nordstrom’s inventories and in store tailors. This is a strength of the company because it creates a larger customer base to represent and build markets in, allowing the company growth in a variety of areas that competitors are not hitting. Compared to retail apparel competitors, â€Å"Nordstrom Inc. reported Total Revenue increase in the 2 quarter 2014 by 6.13 % year on year. The sales growth was above Nordstrom Inc.’s competitors average re venue growth of 0.99 %, recorded in the same quarter. With net margin of 5.4 % company  achieved higher profitability than its competitors.†   The Nordstrom Brand name and size are also strengths of the company. The Nordstrom brand has been around long enough to build relationships with suppliers and attain exclusive brands to carry, and establish lines of distribution, which puts them above new entrants because it is difficult to gain licensing for exclusive brands when you are not already established as well as establish your distribution system. They also have a size advantage having 118 original Nordstrom stores, 162 Nordstrom Rack locations, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 clearance store and they also reach customers online in 96 countries through Nordstrom.com and reaching customers online through HauteLook and NordstromRack.com as well. The high brand awareness, and availability is what competes in department and apparel retail. The company carries unique products; exceptional, high quality brands that are not going to be found at discount retailers to create the exclusive feel for customers. They also new experiences an d brands within the company through their Spa and Restaurants within some of the Nordstrom front-line stores. These differentiate Nordstrom from direct competitors, but also from restaurants competition by using quality, sustainability, and responsibility as their guide to the best experience. (http://wwwiebe.com/nordstrom-customer-service-first/) Find article about competitors with restaurants and spas, and how this makes a difference compared to their revenues and restaurants too. Has established online presence in 96 countries and built network through their multiple websites for each store brand, built their own app to shop from your phone, and gotten involved in social media, more specifically Instagram with their â€Å"Instalog† while keeping all of this integrated with their mortar stores. They also understand that â€Å"when you stop evolving with your customer, you die,† as Jamie Nordstrom, president of stores, has said. They are building fulfillment centers to accommodate online shopping more quickly, use RFID chips to keep their perpetual inventory system for stores and online to share, and invested more into online growth than brick and mortar stores,  knowing that this is where their growth is coming from. â€Å"Over the next several years Nordstrom expects to derive half of its sales from the Rack and from its online units, versus 38 percent today,† and that’s because â€Å"the U.S. Commerce Department estimates that electronic commerce amounted to 6.2 percent of total retail sales in the first quarter of 2014.† Analysts have also been saying Nordstrom has thrived compared to competitors because it is a pioneer in perks like free shipping and also having the unique diversity of products online. Their expansion into Canada this year also gives them an advantage against competitors who have not branched out internationally yet. This opens their market up to Calgary shoppers, Canada’s strong economy, an area underserved of luxury items, shoppers who are familiar with the brand, and expectation to grow to a total of 5 Canadian stores within 2 years. If their expansion continues in a positive way like their first opening, they will continue to have this s trength over their competitors. Weaknesses: Because Nordstrom focuses mainly on their customer service and does price matching on their items, they are at risk to be directly affected by price fluctuations and economic trends. The fluctuations in the market are out of Nordstrom’s control, but their choice of pricing strategy to match prices are internal choices that they are choosing to be vulnerable to. If they don’t want this as a weakness they would try to reinvent their pricing strategy to keep competitive pricing without matching competition because that is directly relative to the market. Offering free shipping does improve their customer loyalty, but it also comes with a high cost for the company. This is a weakness because they internally chose to make this sacrifice for the greater good of the company and take the hit on spending, but is hard to measure the direct effects of customer loyalty because of  free shipping. Nordstrom has the opportunity to invest more into their credit business because many of their competitors have more resources in this area giving them an advantage. Their competition is external but the choice to not invest highly in their credit business is a weakness of Nordstrom. The company would have to look into how they allocate their resources to see if there is room to invest additionally into this sector of business and if it would bring sufficient benefit to them. Opportunities: Already reaching 96 countries with their online retailing, Nordstrom continues to have room for growth in this area. New technology is keeping the market on their toes with ideas to expand and take advantage sooner than competitors, which is why Nordstrom is spending to grow fulfillment of network for direct sales channels to make delivery faster, and improve mobile app and in store personalized experience. They already have an app that was revealed earlier this year, Instagram, and multiple online stores with Nordstrom.com, NordstromRack.com and HauteLook.com, with plans to introduce Canadian Nordstrom Rack soon. The company plans to invest $150 million into its’ online retailing. They plan to hire up to 400 people for their e-commerce group, including Kirk Beardsley, the former director of business development at Amazon. Their acquisition of HauteLook changed their ecommerce capabilities, and they continue to look for integration opportunities to grow expansion further. They need to continually understand new markets such as the discount merchandising market, which they have recently made their footprint grow Rack sales by 20% in the first quarter of the year, compared to comparable stores that only grew 6.4%. The reason their growth opportunities online and in different markets remain an opportunity is because technology, online trends, and consumer preferences are always changing. They need to continue to stay on their toes with the online retail market since growth is higher than physical stores currently. Currently Nordstrom is â€Å"developing a strategy to secure their supply  chain in a resource constrained world will enable them to leverage their customer service brand image† by investing in recycling, transportation, paper and packaging, energy, water, human rights, organic food, and community support. They have the opportunity to continue this path of enhancing social and environmental sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and supply chain management to appeal to environmental supporting markets. The Canada debut of stores is their first branch into international markets, which says the company is in a stable enough spot to take on these new complex roles in the market. They have a good economy with a high median family income at $90,000 in the areas they plan to continue growth in. According to government data, this is the highest in metropolitan areas in Canada, giving the company the opportunity to expand and capture their market. There are not current plans to expand beyond Canada, but if they succeed there then that again leaves open an entire new box of options for the company to move overseas. Nordstrom will also be opening up Nordstrom Rack locations in Canada once they accomplish their mission with front-line stores, opening up opportunities to reach the middle class Canadian consumers who want designer brands at a bargain. Continuing to be an innovative brand will be an opportunity for Nordstrom to take advantage of. They launched their â€Å"first time private-lab el brand that will give 5 percent of its earnings to Girls Inc. and other nonprofits that seek to empower women and young girls. The move comes amid the increasing popularity of â€Å"give-back† fashion.† The charitable boutique Nordstrom opened in New York’s SoHo neighborhood in 2011, Treasure&Bond, will be available at 86 stores around the country and online as well to promote their â€Å"give-back† persona. There will be constant opportunity to follow trends and compete in the market with things such as these, and Nordstrom has the opportunity to continue its’ successful planning to meet them and conquer.   Disposable incomes in the US are rising, for instance June 2014 were at an all time high at 13021.20 billion versus the previous month at 12969.70 billion. What this means for Nordstrom and all retailers is that spending will begin/continue to increase and they need to be the brand/company that captures those sales. Their expansion, online presence, and quality need to continue to improve, and there marketing strategy relying heavily on word of mouth may need re-evaluation to determine if this is the best way to promote the brand while maintaining their high image.   Sales per square foot vary company to company and your ability to stock, merchandise, and turnover quicker than your competitor is an opportunity to capitalize on. Maintaining highest sales per square foot is a competitive tool in the retail industry and in 2013 Nordstrom had the highest sales per square foot at $400 in comparison to direct competitors Macy’s at $173 and Saks Fifth Ave at $350. Their ability to stock more into a space and turnover that merchandise faster than competition is a strength of Nordstrom in the external market. Threats: The department store and apparel industries are highly competitive, with direct competitors of Nordstrom being: Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Dillard’s, Saks Fifth Ave, and Neiman Marcus. As consumer preference continues to shift, and incomes continue to rise the market will only continue to be more and more competitive, leveraging many opportunities for each company. There is also a lot of indirect competition of Nordstrom including food service, spas, boutiques, discount retailers, online retailers, and specialty stores. This creates significant competitive areas and factors in position including their customer service, unique fashion trends, selection, quality, environment, location, and convenience. Further threats for the company to consider while making decisions also include plans for growth, market share, pricing, supply chains, brand image and much more. There is also indirect competition for Nordstrom’s credit business like banks, credit card companies , and other stores that offer a store card such as JCP, Saks,  Dillard’s, Macy’s and Dillard’s. Because some of the competitors in this area have more financial marketing and resources to dedicate to their credit business, it makes it a huge threat to Nordstrom The economy will continue to be a threat not only in the US but also in their new Canadian expansion. The US economy and Americans spending is going up, as listed in the opportunities column, but because the past decade has been rough its effects may still linger and possibly shift into Canada’s economy as well. The threat of an economic downturn is something that all businesses face though, so to be safe Nordstrom should continually set realistic expectations and plans for what they would do in that situation. Price changes and increasing costs also threaten Nordstrom’s supply chain of designer and high-end brands. Because of the global climate changes and shortages in resources, the market for material, labor, and transportation are not as stable. This threatens Nordstrom because higher costs for them are not good if they’re not producing higher sales or profits, and the environmental effects on their business is completely out of their control. Online expansio n of all retailers especially a dominator like Amazon has put up many obstacles for Nordstrom. It is difficult and expensive to constantly and quickly transition to new technological changes. Nordstrom is threatened by these changes to see if it can successfully invest and continually update to the markets demands. Their repositioning online and through social media with the wave of technology seems to be going well so far, but time will tell if they are able to continue on top or if they will fall behind the industry. In Canadian market they just entered there is a battle for the luxury market, which is not sufficiently claimed yet. Hudson’s Bay Company has Canadian roots and just bought Saks, with plans to move them up to Canada as well. This will harshly threaten Nordstrom’s pull on luxury market share in Canada. There is  also the 177-year-old brand Holt Renfrew that announced expansion in its Calgary luxury store, which is in the same place as the first Canadian Nordstrom. This is again a direct threat to their business in Canada and how their expansion will determine if they can grab and hold onto market share. There are also not many to choose from talent wise in Canada because the luxury market is not prominent so there is little experience to find. There is also a higher average wage in the area they are stationed because of the oil-fueled jobs in the Calgary area, so they will have higher labor costs demanded as well. References: http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2024579800_nordstromcanadaxml.html?cmpid=2628 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nordstrom/id474349412?mt=8 http://www.luxurydaily.com/nordstrom-integrates-instagram-to-create-shopping-experience/ http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/business/ci_26254983/models-disabilities-star-nordstrom-catalog http://wwwiebe.com/nordstrom-customer-service-first/ http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2024313399_nordstromearningsxml.html http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2024291908_nordstromstorexml.html http://www.internetretailer.com/2014/05/19/nordstrom-invests-heavily-e-commerce http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/306343_GDRT31838FSA