Culture and Culturally Competent Counselors Essay

Being Culturally Competent Letitia Batton Walden University Being Culturally Competent Counselors should have a sense of compassion and respect for people who are culturally different. As a social worker, it is easy to make diagnosis based on verbal and non-verbal presentation of our clients. Hays (2008) stated there are many factors to assess which include race, class, family structure, culture, relationships, religion, and generational/cultural influences. Based on the case study of Mrs. Hudson her externalizing behaviors may stem from an underlying anxiety disorder. It seems that her attacks are not medical in nature that is why she was referred by her primary doctor. She just recently started having these attacks and they happen out of the home and when she has to interact with others. Her assessment reveals that she is presently considered middle class, attended church prior to attacks, family oriented, and educated. Some potential concerns could be her daughter’s illness and past issues with her father that never got closure. Haitian culture relies on spiritual healing more so than Americanized tradition and this may be a big step for Mrs. Hudson (Pierce & Elisme, 2001). Counselors must be trained and competent when implementing diagnosis with culturally diverse clients. (Sue, 2008). DSM-IV provides counselors a tool to evaluate client’s cultural context (Hays, 2008). This process helps counselor’s assess their client’s background, cultural explanation of their issues, client’s environment, relationships, and overall cultural assessment to diagnosis and treatment (APA, 2002). Researchers have argued that the DSM-IV does not accurately represent all minorities (APA, 2002). It is important that counselors understand the family structure in order to provide the most accurate assessment information possible. Unfortunately, counselors are not immune to stereotypes. Beliefs in stereotypes, whether conscious or not, may lead to incorrect diagnosis and misunderstandings between the clinician and the client (Hays, 2008). These beliefs may stem from television or news reports. If believed, they may cause counselor to incorrectly interpret the diagnosis. When this happens the client may become offended and end counseling. Counselors should have knowledge of their own general views, as well as specific knowledge about diverse client’s issues (Sue, 2008). Diversity in family structure should also be taken into consideration when formulating goals and assessing treatment success or failure (APA, 2002). Counselors also attempt to understand the cultural values of each client to gain feelings of trust. Some issues with culturally competent assessments is that it is not race specific and whether existing instruments measure the correct attributes, based on different cultures (Hays, 2008). Diversity plays a role in many aspects of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. Clarity in these three characteristics may allow counselors to better assist families from diverse backgrounds and that will bring about better treatment outcomes (APA, 2002). Counselors should have an attitude of cultural humility in knowing their limits of knowledge and skills in rendering diagnosis with certainty than reinforcing stereotypes and generalizations (Sue, 2008). While guidelines exist for conducting a culturally competent assessment, few of these guidelines provide the link between the information gathered, the initial decision making, and the development of the treatment plan (APA, 2008).

Machiavelli and Renaissance Humanism

Renaissance Humanism is defined as â€Å"a literary and linguistic movement-an attempt to revive classical Latin (and later Greek), as well as the values and sensibilities that came with the language† (Hunt et al, 415). I think that Machiavelli was a humanist of his era because in his writing The Prince, he relied on history to provide a handbook to future rulers and princes. Machiavelli drew much of this guidebook from his past dealings with politicians and their self-ambitious monarchies. In my opinion he wrote this guide to as a way to show future princes that the ways of the past should be adhered to in order for Italy to regain its prior glory. In The Prince Machiavelli uses many examples from history to show that we need to embrace the past in order to gain a prosperous future. Machiavelli's, The Prince serves as a handbook to future rulers with their roles and responsibilities. Machiavelli begins his handbook with his view of princely virtues. He argues that in order for a person to be a good leader and stay in rule he must not just be a good person but that â€Å"he must learn how to not be good† (Lawall et al, 1951) in order to protect himself from anyone trying to overtake his rule. He must always be prepared and not make himself the â€Å"good guy† all the time. Machiavelli shows that being a good person all of the time will only allow for the bad people to overpower the good people, â€Å"because anyone who determines to act in all circumstances the part of a good man must come to ruin among so many who are not good† (Lawall et al, 1951). Machiavelli goes on to further his humanistic views on how a prince should be viewed by his people. He discusses the choices a person of power has in being â€Å"liberal† (1952) and generous or stingy. He goes on to say that being too liberal will bring a man of power to ruin and that being frugal is important. He explains that as long as a ruler â€Å"abstains from the property of his citizens and subjects† he will gain the respect of his people. He goes on to discuss that a ruler will be more respected if he is living and spending other people’s money. He discusses the examples set by Cyrus, Caesar, and Alexander in which they lived off â€Å"plunder, loot and ransom† (1953). These three rulers were spending the â€Å"money of others† (1953) and therefore were not hurting themselves by having to spend what was already theirs. Machiavelli goes on to explain that â€Å"nothing eats itself up as fast as does liberality† (1953) because when practiced it can lead to poverty and will make a ruler have to raise taxes which will in turn bring hatred on by his people (1953). Machiavelli also discusses the importance of being feared and loved as well as, being thought of as cruel but compassionate all at the same time. He uses Dido and Borgia as examples. Borgia is used as the example for cruelty. He says that because Borgia was so cruel his cruelness brought prosperity and unity to Romagna and therefore was prosperous because of the fear that he instilled in his people. But because his Senate was too â€Å"compassionate† he lost his clout (1954). Machiavelli also explains that a new prince is going to face several challenges and because of this will be faced to make very hard decisions that may or may not hurt his reputation among his people. Here he uses Virgil’s Dido as an example, â€Å"Hard circumstances and the newness of my realm force me to do such things, and to keep watch over all my lands† (1954). From these examples, Machiavelli is telling his reader that as a prince they must be flexible and show cruelty or compassion when needed in any situation. Machiavelli goes on to state that a prince should â€Å"be slow in believing and acting, and should make no one afraid of him†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦so that â€Å"too much confidence does not make him incautious, and too much suspicion does not make him unbearable† (1954). This is the way to keep support from his people and will not turn their backs on him when the going gets tough. Renaissance Humanism is defined as â€Å"a literary and linguistic movement-an attempt to revive classical Latin (and later Greek), as well as the values and sensibilities that came with the language† (Hunt et al, 415). Machiavelli’s The Prince was essentially a handbook for how a Prince should portray himself but could also be seen as a day to day handbook by the everyday people of his time for they were all faced with the same moral decisions on a daily basis. Machiavelli used The Prince as a gateway to create a moral and philosophical guide for all people in general and uses examples from history to show that the past needs to be embraced in order to gain a prosperous future.

How to Write the University of Virginia Essays 2018-2019

The University of Virginia is a public research university founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, making the institution a prominent historical site. Being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, UVA is well known for its historical foundation and early roots. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, UVA is situated in a lively metropolitan community. Ranked by U.S. News and World Report at #3 among public schools and #25 overall, UVA is one of the nation’s top universities. In the 2016-2017 application cycle, UVA only admitted 27.4% of applicants, making admission quite competitive. In addition to academic transcripts and letters of recommendation, all applicants are required to submit an additional supplemental essay, with additional essays needed depending on your selected major. With such competitive rates, it is often intimidating to complete these additional essays. However, is here to offer our guide on how to tackle UVA’s 2018-2019 application! Required: Choose one of the following (250 words): Note that this essay is required; however, UVA gives you the option to choose between 4 prompts, all of which have a 250-word limit. Choose the essay that you feel a stronger connection to, as this will make for a much stronger and more personal essay. With that being said, let’s take a look at each of the following prompts. For this essay, avoid choosing a word that’s generally self-explanatory or cliche. Example of this could be â€Å"happiness† or â€Å"love† because these words are often overused and the meaning can generally be inferred without an additional story. You want to choose something that is both personally meaningful to you and something that is attached to a greater story. For instance, if you are multilingual and your grandmother would always offer you a specific piece of advice in another language, you could use a word related to that advice in that language. Perhaps there is a story attached to the reason why she gave you that advice, or perhaps it is what you remember the most from her. Tell a story around this idea and your essay will be much more personal and impactful. You could also show off your nerdy side here or highlight your interests. Perhaps your favorite word is â€Å"emulsion† because it is relevant to your two favorite activities: chemistry and cooking. You could discuss your love for each of these subjects and, like the previous example, tell a brief story on how the word relates to your personal experiences. When choosing a word, you could also consider alternate meanings by considering meanings outside the traditional dictionary definition. In this case, you could contrast the traditional meaning with your own personal interpretation of the word in order to point out any differences and highlight your own personal connection to the word. Again, the key for this essay is to be personal. In terms of writing your essay, you want to make it clear what your word is without directly saying â€Å"my favorite word is _____.†; always start your essay with an interesting opener and a thoughtful conclusion. Since the essay is short at 250 words, you want to be fairly straightforward without being too stale or obvious. Chances are, you have a unique quality that makes up who you are. This essay is all about pinpointing that quality and describing it in terms of its importance to your identity. Perhaps you have an odd fascination with insects or you collect unconventional objects. This is a perfect essay to discuss these facets of your life. You must make sure to connect your quirk to your personality and individuality. Don’t simply describe the quirk; ask yourself why this quality is important to you and consider how your individuality would change had you not possessed this characteristic. You want to highlight your personality in this essay, whether it be through humorous writing or a creative story. For example, if your quirk is having to do a cartwheel every morning before school, you can write a story mapping out your day, with emphasis on your daily cartwheel. Perhaps this is the only way to get your blood pumping and prepare you for the day ahead. Perhaps doing cartwheels ensures that you always start your day with a positive attitude, allowing you to tackle any obstacles during the day. There are endless possibilities for quirks you could write about, as each person is different and has unique habits. Your quirk could be a unique mannerism such as a â€Å"weird† laugh or a unique daily routine you have. Perhaps your quirk was the object of ridicule in your earlier years, but now you’ve become confident in yourself and your unique qualities. Show UVA what makes you you and how proud you are to be yourself — weird quirks and all! For this essay, you want to consider your interests and how you want to share these interests with others. Your Flash Seminar should reflect something you’re passionate about, yet also be unique enough to not already exist. For example, you don’t want to create a seminar about something like â€Å"Cell Biology† or â€Å"Classical Literature.† For instance, if you love science and have always been intrigued by astrology, you could create a Flash Seminar called â€Å"Is there a Scientific Basis for Astrology?† If you love politics and are passionate about film, you could create a seminar called â€Å"Hidden Political Messages in Modern Film.† With any topic you choose, make sure to explain your choice. Why are you passionate about the topic and why do you think there should be a discussion about it? Perhaps you want to share your passions with others through a unique perspective or perhaps your proposed question has puzzled you in the past, making you eager to hear the thoughts of others. Discuss your reasons for creating the class and the goals you hope the class achieves. Like the previous question, you want to consider the topics you’re passionate about and want to share with others. You could interpret â€Å"message† as a form of artwork such as a painting, or you can interpret it more literally as a message or phrase. For instance, if you’re passionate about redesigning the roles of modern women, you could describe a painting that includes a dichotomy between traditional and more progressive roles of women. Perhaps half the painting includes black and white images of women performing household tasks and the other half uses vivid colors to portray women in positions of power and independence. Maybe you’ve been empowered by several strong women in your life and want to advocate for gender issues such as equal pay. Maybe there is a quote or phrase from a novel that you’ve read that stuck out to you and want to share with UVA’s student body. For instance, if a quote from Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do resonates with you due to a similarity with your immigration story, you could paint this message on the Beta Bridge in order to create a sense of community with those who share similar backgrounds. No matter what you choose to paint, make sure you have a personal connection to the art. Ensure that you answer the â€Å"why† aspect of the question and discuss the reasons why the message is important to both you and others. This is the last of the 4 prompt options and we recommend choosing the prompt you have the strongest connection to. Remember, there is no â€Å"best† prompt; regardless of the prompt you choose, ensure that you reveal something about your personality and give the admissions committee a closer look at your background Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. This essay is only required for those applying under architecture. Like the previous prompts, this essay also has a word limit of 250 words. If you’ve traveled to a place with intricate and unique architecture, or you visited a site that excluded aesthetic excellence, this is the place to discuss that. Perhaps you were intrigued by the ancient architecture and designs featured in ancient Greece. Or perhaps you were fascinated by a particular home you saw while driving through Hollywood Hills due to its unique modern characteristics. Be detailed when describing the instance or location, and allow the reader to visualize the design. Your goal for this essay is to highlight the location that inspired you and explain why this was inspiring for you. Maybe you loved the detailed engravings embedded into ancient European architecture or maybe you love the intersection of minimalism and functionality. Make sure to convey the passion you have towards architecture and show a genuine interest and love for unique designs. For those of you interested in kinesiology, or the study of how the body moves, you must complete this essay. There could be several reasons why you chose this field of study but make sure to choose something that is personal to you and had a large impact in terms of exciting your interest in the subject. For instance, if you volunteered in a hospital and often worked with patients recovering from physical injuries, you could discuss watching people slowly regain mobility. You could discuss how you were amazed by the body’s ability to recover and how a person could transition from immobility to mobility. Maybe you have a more personal connection and witnessed a friend or family member experience the same recovery. If so, you could definitely include this in discussing your motivation for pursuing kinesiology. You could also discuss the science and mechanics behind kinesiology if you did not necessarily have a defining moment that influenced you to choose the field. Perhaps you are interested biomechanics behind kinesiology and were always intrigued by how the body interacts with itself. If you have played sports before, you could draw a connection between the two here and discuss how your interest in sports influenced your interest in the body’s mechanics. You want to identify a problem that’s important to you and propose a solution to solve it. This doesn’t mean the problem has to be large, as the prompt also explicitly states â€Å"small engineering project.† For instance, if you live in a large household with many siblings, perhaps you want to design a robot that cleans the house, easing the daily burden on your parent. If your grandfather struggles with putting on his shoes due to a weak back, you could propose a machine that assists him with that every morning. A great way to address the prompt is to consider any medical disabilities that a friend or family member may have. However, make sure to propose something that doesn’t already exist. For instance, if a family member is hard of hearing, you wouldn’t want to design a hearing aid since this already exists. If, however, you have a proposed modification that makes an existing device better for your chosen individual, then this would be appropriate to discuss. Pay attention to the people surrounding you by identifying any daily challenges they may experience. Once you choose your project, you want to describe the design and explain how this would be beneficial to your chosen family member or friend. This prompt is essentially asking you why you want to study nursing. You want to trace your previous experiences and consider whether they impacted your decision to study health care. Perhaps an experiences volunteering at a hospital changed influenced your love for nursing, or perhaps you realized nursing comes naturally to you after caring for an ill friend or family member. If you worked or volunteered at a hospital, you could discuss a specific interaction you had with a patient. For example, maybe an elderly woman recently exited surgery and you were assigned to assist with her recovery. Perhaps the woman would often tell stories about her past experiences to you, reminding you of your own grandmother. Maybe it’s this deep interaction with patients that has attracted you to nursing. You want to be personal in your response; don’t simply state that you want to study nursing in order to help people. These answers are cliche and vague, as they don’t really highlight a particular experience that you had. With so many fields classified under arts and sciences, you have a variety of ways to approach this answer. If you’re studying biology, for example, perhaps a unique experiment in the lab opened your eyes to the intricacies of life. If you want to study math, maybe you struggled with learning a theorem and want to discuss how you overcame this challenge. Maybe Toni Morrison’s Beloved introduced you to the darker side of literature that made you both uncomfortable and intrigued. You want to discuss why and how the work challenged or changed you rather than simply describing the work itself. The key here is to draw a personal connection and explain how the work impacted you by describing your personal reactions to it. For example, if you found reading Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales challenging whether it be due to the language or content, you could describe the obstacles you encountered while analyzing the text. You could then conclude with discussing how working through these obstacles forced you to look at literature from a different perspective, thus allowing you to find unique symbols in the text that you otherwise would have skipped over. Remember, the purpose of these essays is to showcase your identity to the admissions officers. You want to highlight your personality and convey your passions in order to allow the reader to get a better sense of who you are. We hope this guide has allowed you to tackle UVA’s application with the utmost confidence. Happy writing! Want help on your University of Virginia application or essays? Learn about our College Apps Program . Want us to quickly edit your college essay? Submit it to our Rapid Review program , and we’ll get it back to you quickly with comments from our expert team.

The Service Factors of the Sunderland International Hotel Essay

The Service Factors of the Sunderland International Hotel - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the poor service quality of the Sunderland International hotel has resulted in the fact that the customers of the Sunderland International hotel have started providing negative feedback about the Sunderland International hotel on the facebook page of the Sunderland International hotel and on trip advisor. The company has not put great emphasis on the service of the Sunderland International hotel and this has resulted in the company earning negative reviews. Throughout the course of this report, the focus is on to try and resolve this problem. The report progresses through the steps of first defining the different concepts of service marketing and service quality, then the report tries to focus on the problems of service that the Sunderland International hotel currently faces and the steps that can be undertaken to solve the problems relating to the service. In the analysis of the problems relating to the service, it is found that the main problem lies with the fact that the employees of the Sunderland International hotels are not motivated enough to provide adequate service to the guests of the Sunderland International hotel. It is also found that the Sunderland International hotel lacks proper communication with the customers of the Sunderland International hotel and does not know what the customers actually want. The solution to the problem lies in the improvement of the human resource practices and improving connectivity with the customers. Service quality management is considered as an important aspect of the hospitality industry. The service quality management is engaged in improving the quality of the services that are provided to the customers. It deals with minimizing the gap that exists between the service expected and service perceived by the customer. The importance of the service quality management can be ascertained from the fact that it improves the productivity and profitability of the industry. The main aim or the obj ective of improving the service quality management in the hospitality industry is to retain its customer by satisfying its customers or clients.

Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Coursework - Essay Example However, after 9/11 events, it expected downturn in the economy, hence it felt the need to cut costs. Thus, in 2002, the company’s strategy was changed to ‘Investing in technology, capability and infrastructure’ (Rolls Royce, 2002). To cut costs it decided to change the priority on employees and lay-off extra resources wherever needed. In 2002 alone, it reduced the total head count by 4900 (Rose, Rolls Royce Annual Report 2002, 2002). Shift in focus from New Product Development to Creation of Capabilities which Increase the Scope and Value of Service Activities: Due to fall in overall demand for new engines, Rolls Royce shifted the focus from new product development to cost reduction per unit and creation of capabilities which increase the scope and value of service activities. Rescaled the business to balance load and capacity: Post 9/11 company analysed the impact of the event on the demand and capacity of civil aerospace business and its consequence on the workload and employment with Rolls Royce facilities throughout the world. In line with the expected downturn in demand for civil engines, Rolls Royce revised the number of engine units it expected to sell in 2002 (1500 from to 900 engines) Change in the mix of sales: Due to decrease in expected sales of new engines, Rolls Royce placed more stress on services front as a growth avenue. They strategized to increase their after- market revenue by developing comprehensive services capabilities. As a result of increased focus on services in 2001, the revenue from services accounted for 44% of sales in 2002 (Rose, Rolls Royce Annual Report 2002, 2002) Supply Chain Restructuring: Post September 2001, Rolls Royce decided to reschedule its entire civil engines supply chain effecting a 40% reduction in planned deliveries at very short notice. Supply chain restructuring was

Should People Use Animals for Medical Research Essay

Should People Use Animals for Medical Research - Essay Example This report approves that it is important for the medical researchers and scientists to choose the kind of animals to use in their research and experiments. The animals used for these purposes should not be exposed to unnecessarily sufferings. No regulations control to govern the treatment of animals as research models. Regulations are offered by the governmental agencies on the procedures to adhere to when using animal models in research. Animals ought not to be killed for use in medical research. Animals have been of immense importance for the development of therapies for treating cardiovascular problems and other deadly ailments besides the anesthetics used in surgery. In contrast, the animal rights groups dissent with this opinion. This essay makes a conclusion that the arguments exposed about the subject are diverse. A group of considerate individuals feel that it is important to use animals and not to treat them in inhumane way. The opponents detest the practice because it lacks moral reasoning. The proponents argued that it was of benefit to both animals and humans. The moral arguments are explored and the conflicting positions revealed in using animals as the only alternative in essential procedures without appropriate substitutes currently. There is an increasing and active need from the animal rights groups to find alternatives to for use in medical experiments. The use of animals is immensely accepted and supported because of the legislative regulations guiding the process, and the benefits that animal models have helped to achieve in medical knowledge. The use of animals for scientific research has been worthwhile for both animal and human health.

Management Theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management Theories - Research Paper Example This led him to believe that in order to increase productivity; employees who reached their targets ought to receive more salary than those who did not. However, he had overlooked the fact that different people tend to have different behaviors and money cannot be the sole motivator of all employees (Flores & Utley, 2000). In addition, Taylor viewed employees as machines th can follow a certain standardized means of production. However, it has to be noted that employees, even the unskilled cannot follow the same processes at all times because they become demoralized by doing repetitive tasks. This implies that forcing employees to do what their managers say do not increase productivity because an employee will slow down his or her work rate if she or he feels that micromanagement is being used on him or her (Flores & Utley, 2000). Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management Taylorism or Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management is the analysis and synthesis of workflow in ma nagement. The most important point of the theory was to increase labor productivity and as a result, achieve better economic efficiency. Development of the idea was started in the 1880s and 1890s by Taylor when he realized the importance of applying science in the production industry. While working as a supervisor and a lathe operator in Midvale Steel, he realized that several employees had different capacities of production. This arose from the fact that different employees had different levels of intelligence, talents and motivations. He was among the first people to apply science into the field of production because he wanted to analyze and synthesize the best practices that could lead to a standardized process (Taylor 1911). The best practices would be propagated to all employees in any organization in order to ensure that they were all committed to their work. This would lead to increased productivity and reduced efforts because of using precise procedures, which would be devel oped after studying each individual carefully while working. The application of scientific management in industries resulted in increased ratio between managers and the laborers. It is of paramount importance to note that many laborers could not differentiate between micromanagement and this type of management. This, in turn resulted in frictions between workers and their seniors in the office. Strikes started to occur in industries because laborers felt that they were mistreated by the managers (Taylor 1911). Frederick Winslow Taylor Frederick Winslow Taylor was an American mechanical engineer who was born on 20 March 1856 and died on 21 March 1915. While at Midvale, Taylor realized that workers were not utilizing their potentials as well as the machines they were working with to their full potential. Due to the less productivity of the workers, Midvale Steel was accruing high production costs, which could have been reduced by increasing productivity. When he was promoted to the le vel of a foreman, his focus was ensuring that workers utilized their potentials. He later left Midvale and opened his own consulting firm, which earned him enormous experience in management (Papesh, 1998). Frederick Winslow Taylor Main Theory As Taylor was developing his ideas, he made three assumptions about people at the workplace. He believed that employees are economic animals whose main aim at the workplace is to maximize their earnings. In addition, he thought that employees should

Compare and Contrast two poems from your own interpretation Essay

Compare and Contrast two poems from your own interpretation - Essay Example The mention of death, â€Å"This is how I want to die!† (Sexton 5–6) suggests the persona’s suicide ideation, hence confirming the first assumption. The persona is unmindful of the other images in the painting, thus he expresses, â€Å"The town does not exist† (Sexton 1). At the lower right side of Van Gogh’s painting is an image of a town with houses that seem to be eaten up by the magnificent clouds. The persona is too focused on the stars in the painting, hence neglects the other things around the stars. This fascination with stars is suggestive of an irony. Normally, happiness is associated with merry-making, having parties, loud music, singing, dancing, etc. However, in the poem, the persona equates happiness with a starry night, gloom, silence, solitariness, and even darkness. Death is thus viewed as a positive experience, a beautiful thought, an attraction. Madness is the main theme in Fagle’s poem. The persona could likewise be Van Gogh, and the time setting could be before he commits suicide. The persona feels madness creeping in him and tries to fight it and thus pleads, â€Å"God deliver me - help me now deliver/all this frenzy back into your hands.† (Fagles 23–24). There is the struggle to keep himself sane. It is interesting to determine what makes the persona insane? The introductory lines bear this idea of insanity, thus: â€Å"Long as I paint/I feel myself/less mad (Fagles 1–3). The persona acknowledges the fact about his madness. He believes that painting could keep him from insanity. However, this statement is an anti-thesis because as the readers follow the thoughts of the persona regarding his painting, they will be convinced that painting only makes the persona lose his mind more. In the consequent lines, the persona reveals how deeply he is engrossed with his art that he imagines a â€Å"clo udrack

Gangs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gangs - Research Paper Example Frederick Thrasher defines a gang as: A gang is an interstitial group, originally formed spontaneously, and then integrated through conflict. It is characterized by the following types of behavior: meeting face to face, milling, movement through space as a unit, conflict, and planning. The result of this collective behavior is the development of tradition, unreflective internal structure, esprit de corps, solidarity, morale, group awareness, and attachment to a local territory (Thrasher 1927). The very definition given by Thrasher gives an elaboration of different aspects of the gangs. The very objectives of the gangs vary from one group to another. Some have political means while some have mere zest of wealth. And these means can only be found in young people so some of them are adult while most of them are not adult or grown up people. And these people have innovative ideas in order to become millionaire just in days. Miller and Vigil says: The association of young people with ille gal and violent activities or crimes is the one which separates them from other violent groups. (Miller 1982, Vigil 1988) From the above statement of Miller and Vigil it is not sure that other people are not going to involve in such activities if they are not young but there is also the possibility of young people to involve in such violent activities. But on the other hand it is true that the young people are known well in doing such illegal acts in the society because there are inherent in their nature and they are inherently associated with these violent actions. Young people are mostly involved in criminal and violent activities and it is inherent in their nature. Most of the illegal or violent activities are associated with young individual gang members but society links them with membership of a gang instead of individual criminal behavior. (Cohen 1990) The extent or degree of crime is not a matter of concern but the major issue revolves around the actions performed by differe nt gangs. Some gangs are involved in drug dealing and this obnoxious business they even don’t hesitate to kill other people. Some are involved in human smuggling and other high violence actions but there are some gangs which are involved only in low level violence. The low level violence covers street gambling, drinking, looting and plundering. All of these violent activities are considered as part of youth gang. These different gangs show that the violent activities and behavior of young people vary from one gang to another gang. There are many different sorts of conflicts which may arise among rival gangs for example there may be the conflicts of area or territory in which they are going to perform their violent activities. During these conflicts the rival groups use different techniques to feat each other like use of knives, fists, sticks and other dangerous weapons like grenades. Gang membership is one of the core or peripheral issues (Klein, 1995). There are some members in a gang which play a vital role in collective activities of a particular group. The involvement in different activities does not effect the membership of an individual because most of the members in a gang

Contemporary Scenario of Service Industry Essay

Contemporary Scenario of Service Industry - Essay Example In this paper, the researcher has discussed on various strategies and models adopted by service industries to attain competitive advantage and identifying the key success factors of the behind accomplishing their corporate image. The service sector is the portion of the economy that generally produces intangible goods. Throughout the world, service sector faces a high level of competition as there are many buyers and seller in the market. Producing service trend generally requires less natural capital and more human capital. One of the major benefits of growing service sector is less pressure on the local and global environment (Reed and DeFillippi, 1990). Presently developing countries give more emphasis on service sector in comparison to the other sectors. In the modern world, the growth of service sector is particularly important as it allows employing educated labor force and thus, reducing unemployment and economic crisis. In the service sector, service quality is one of the basic tools to gain competitive advantage. As defined by West and DeCastro (2001), there is no proper definition of the service quality due to the existence of discrepancies among the people. Measuring service quality is the most recurrent topic in management literature. However, (Youndt et al. 1996) described that perceived service quality by the people is the best way to measure attributes of the service over which the company has control. Youndt et al. (1996) developed a conceptual framework of service quality where they identified five major gaps that could impact customer’s evaluation of service qualities in various industries in service sectors, for instance, banking, tourists, event,  and hospitality. These gaps were: Service firms may not always understand what service or features they must have in their product to meet needs of the customers, or what level of features needed to be added in order to deliver high-quality service. This gap arises when firms positively identify wants of the customers, but the means to deliver service according to their expectation does not exist (Godard, 2001).

William Goldings Lord of the flies, and Stevensons Jekyll and Hyde Essay Example for Free

William Goldings Lord of the flies, and Stevensons Jekyll and Hyde Essay Both William Goldings Lord of the flies, and Stevensons Jekyll and Hyde focus on the duality of mans evil and the reasons for that sudden change in character. Golding is rather more interested in group evil, and the way that this develops in people, whereas Stevenson focuses on singular evil and the powers that drive a man to befriend the devil. In 1954, after being in the Second World War, Golding reflected on the evil he had seen in his fellow men, and was appalled at how cruel, animal like, and savage humans could be. He wrote this book to show the real nature of men and how taking away civilized society could change people very quickly into evil creatures, once the rules have all but gone, I learned during World War two just how brutal people can be to each other. Not Just Germans or Japanese, but everyone. I tried to point that out. Some have said that the brutality of the novel is impossible, its not, look at any newspaper, William Golding emphasizing the evil theme to his book. Being a teacher in the 1950s, he was in constant contact with younger children and was shocked at their naivety and lack of belief that evil existed in their picture perfect society. So on the island to represent evil, he created Jack Merridew. Jack is a parody of Hitler, who in the 1940s was trying to take over the world with his Nazi regime, Jack stabbed in the air with his index finger, this quote shows a certain likeness to Hitlers behavior and his very evil mind. Being brought up in Victorian England, Stevenson was living in a very class orientated society. Issues such as sex, crime, and murder were all both brushed under the carpet and forgotten about, or were never spoken of in social context. Middle class Victorian men were expected to be true gentlemen to whom sex was a very low priority. This ignoring of sex and other taboo issues led many men and women to lead double lives; in public they were very orderly and well conducted but behind closed doors or when darkness fell they would emerge and show the true nature of their wildly person. Evil was also another subject that was totally ignored, and consequently people denied its existence. So, in his book Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Stevenson aimed to show that evil was alive and well in Victorian London society and that middle class peoples double personalities could be very different and often a great deal more sinister than the face that they showed in public. The amount of evil and villainous material in Victorian literature was so little, so being influenced by such novels as Mary Shelleys Frankenstein and big crimes of the day such as Jack the Ripper, he decided to write and to explore the idea of what evil in texts would be like. In Lord of the Flies evil is explored and displayed in the form of two young boys; Jack and Roger. This alone is quite unusual as young boys are not usually classed or seen as evil characters, but this book is anything but usual in every sense of the word. In this novel the main evil character, Jack has a definite need to dictate over all others around.

Hr Provision Essay Example for Free

Hr Provision Essay Provision function: is a consecutive process of human resources planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection, placement and incorporation. HR Planning The ongoing process of systematic planning is to achieve optimum use of an organizations most valuable asset its human resources. The objective of HR planning is to ensure the best fit between employees and jobs, while avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses. Sands Corporation would have to look at the three key elements of the HR planning process, which are: forecasting labour demand, analyzing present labour supply, and balancing projected labour demand and supply. Proper human resource planning will enable Sands HR department to plan recruitment, selection, training and career development . The HR plan needs to be flexible enough to meet short-term staffing challenges, while adapting to changing conditions in the business and environment over the longer term. Job Analysis and Design Job analysis is the process by which HR systematically investigate the task, duties and responsibilities of the jobs within an organisation. For human resource to be effective, Sands HR must be aware of the essentials that amount to each position. That is there should be a process whereby the substance, demands and responsibilities of a job are determined. Therefore two sets of information should originate from job analysis. First, Job Description which is the document that identifies and defines: a job in terms of duties, responsibilities, tasks and supervisory relationships. Second, Job Specification which is a written statement which emphasises the characteristics required from the incumbent to perform the job successfully, which should include skills, abilities and knowledge . Recruitment and selection the process of acquiring applicants who are available and qualified to fill the positions and choosing from a group of applicants the individual best suited for a particular position. Recruitment usually comes about as a result of HR planning and vacant positions that have to be filled. The staffing personnel, should use the job analysis as the point of departure, and follow steps such as recruitment planning, recruitment action (how, where and when), the type of recruiting source, screening and selecting . HR manager and the staffing personnel should through the recruiting process, consider the legal aspects as well, such as the labour Relation Act, No. 66 of 1995, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, No. 75 of 1997 and the Employment Equity Act, no. 55 of 1998. Placement this is the process by which the staffing specialist will place a new appointed employee in an organisation, or transfer existing employees are transferred to new posts. Placement is important because of the heterogeneity of the labour groups. The staffing personnel should make sure that there is â€Å"FIT† between the job itself and the new job incumbent, so that there would be high productivity and a lower turn over from the new incumbent. It should be clear that placement is a combination of the employers’ requirement to fill a position successfully and the employee’s motivation to reach the top. Incorporation The specialist in training and development should attend and make sure that the new employee settles into the new position. The employee should be provided with the information regarding the organisation and its culture through orientation, must also be given specific information about the position and the department should be given through induction. The new employee must be made to feel part of the new work group as soon as possible. The training personnel need to explain the organisations policies, rules and regulations to the new employee as well as counter negative influences by fellow workers.

Business Strategy In Global Environment Mcdonald Marketing Essay

Business Strategy In Global Environment Mcdonald Marketing Essay McDonalds is one of the worlds leading fast food makers, 1995 when Ray Kroc started the franchising system till now McDonalds have seen an era of constant growth in both in terms of reach to the customers across the globe or in terms of sales and profits. There are number of driving forces of its basic aims that kept it at above all system wide sandwich market throughout its most magnificent years. The idea of making a system of restaurants with low priced menu items available to local community in a fast, efficient and hygienic way as well as a enjoyable environment lead McDonalds to become worlds largest sandwich chain. (Marino, 2004. p.C213) http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpd5oqJsfyDAeDoy7AST6YNQfaNhLV25kSdfuI_KXZH6mcilIt=1usg=__7clK98n3FRPjsriVl9qBT21ydm8= After a years of hard work McDonalds has developed its customer loyalty and brand image across the world and strong financial base to counterbalance the impact of extreme competition by the similar sandwich industry players such as Subway, Burger King, Wendys. During early 1990s, when MacDonalds intensified its international operations to balance the impact of growing competition in USA, its brand image became so popular outside USA that on its opening in Beijing 1992 more than 40,000 customers flooded the restaurant. Earlier in 1990, an opening of a new restaurant in Moscow drew about 30,000 people. (Marino, 2004, p.C214) throughout 1990s McDonalds have seen many year of radical transformation in its strategic policies besides its glorious years, particularly in the later years of 1990 most of its efforts to overcome its falling performance, customer satisfaction and monetary profits resulted in further decline in brand image as well as sales. The top management launched a plan to further boost restaurants growth and diversification away from just a sandwich maker by adding no less than 40 new items in the menu. In order to achieve the target of 10 to 15 percent of profits an investment of $420 million was made to upgrade few things such as kitchen and research and development. Despite all these efforts it appeared that nothing was working to put McDonalds back on track. (Marino, 2004, p.C215) This was the first time when McDonalds posted its first time ever fourth quarter loss in 2002. It is the same time when Jim Cantalupo took over the charge of the corporation and introduced Plan to Win strategy to win back the lost empire of unprecedented history of McDonalds. Jim Cantalupo preferred to focus companys generic strategy on marketing mix of the company in order to overcome the declining brand image and negative publicity experienced just before him taking over the company. His plan focused on offering customers a better experience of enjoying their fast food as compared to competitors. (Marino, 2004) WHAT IS A BUSINESS STRATEGY By all the management scientist and academicians business strategy has been defined in many variable ways. Strategy can be simply defined as a plan to reach from one point to another or it can be as composite as the global market place. In a global corporate industry environment strategy is a complex and comprehensive framework of actions put together after careful analysis of capabilities and strengths and the environmental impacts of peripheral forces manipulate the organization (Elkin, 1998) Strategy can also be defined as a framework which steer those choices that determine the nature and direction of an organization. (Tregoe Zimmerman, 1980) Leadership in a highly competitive market depends on narrowing the focus of business strategy instead of broadening it. Business strategy includes identification of organizations operational excellence, its customer intimacy, and the product leadership. These three elements are the powerful dynamics of a business strategy. (Treacy Wiersema, 1989) To achieve objects an organization can exploit its unutilised resource strength and capabilities or it can altogether develop a core competency. A companys strategy is a plan of its management to achieve and sustain a market position, conduct its operations, attract and please customers, compete successfully, and achieve organizational objectives. (Thompson Strickland, 2003, p. 3) http://www.softsia.com/screenshots/Deep-SWOT-analysis-software_sxtn.gif INTERNAL STRENGTH AND RESOURCE CAPABILITIES STRENGTHS: The assessment of in-house resources of an organization is evaluated in relation to the competitors. (Thompson Strickland, 2003) MacDonalds business strategy still upholds the philosophy of Ray Crok who in 1958 said that, the basis for our entire business is that we are ethical, truthful and dependable. It takes time to build a reputation. We are not promoters. We are business people with a solid, permanent, constructive ethical program that will be in style years from now even more than it is today. (mcdonalds.com) a) Market Leadership In the fast food chains in the world McDonalds has one of the strong international presence, in the USA alone it has over 13,500 restaurants and 16,500 restaurants worldwide. It was operation in 120 countries of the world with Burger King at number two in 2002 was operating in 120 countries of the world with Burger King at number two with only 58 countries. Its operating income from worldwide operations almost compared the income from domestic operations. In USA McDonalds secured over 32 percent of the sales of top no less than 30 chains in 2003 out of which about 30 percent of the sales come from its international operations. The leadership of McDonalds amongst restaurants chains have widely been recognized and have placed it in a very strong position to increase and retain a major part of this market share. (Marino, 2004) B) Financial Strength Another very important policy of McDonalds is to own all real estates for franchised or company operated location. This gives a large rental income and asset base for the company. Beverley Vasquez in his article; McDonalds Takes Bite from its Land holding published in Denver Business Journal in 1998 says that McDonalds generate more money from its rent than from its franchise fees. (Denver Business Journal 50, p. B9) its strategy to own its real estates has given it even more control over what it can do with the land. The major advantage of this policy was to choose a piece of land to build a restaurant in any suitable location to generate maximum sales and to make financial assets and remove the impact of development McDonalds keeps about 100% of profits from company owned restaurants. (Marino, 2004) like any other company in the same business McDonalds liquidity is within the industrial standards. McDonalds current ratio in 2003 was 0.76, maintaining or improving current ratio help meet current liabilities and short term debts without putting further constraints on company operations. c) Brand Image In 2003 McDonalds brand value was placed at 8th number among worlds most valuable brand with $24.69 billion (source: interbrand). Brand image is the totality of consumer perceptions about the brand, or how they see it. Companies have to work hard on the consumer experience to make sure that what customers see and think is what they want them to. (Temporal, 2002 Marino, 2004) d) Innovative Skills In a global market place a company needs to be well aware of particular needs and requirements of the people defined by their cultural and religious affiliations and their particular eating habits. Due to changing eating habits of its customers McDonalds has improved its menus many times. This was due to many reasons such as innovation in food processing and cooking and growing health awareness in people. (Marino, 2004) Its menus in almost all countries reflect the local traditional elements and tastes. Kosher for Jewish people in Israel, introduction of low fat food across the chain, and menus according to particular French, Chinese and South American tastes are a few examples. It has integrated local eating trends and traditions successfully across the world by changing the local menus in several regions of the world, McDonalds have almost always adapted to the changes in the costumers preferences despite some of its failure to regain sales revenues in late 1990s. WEAKNESSES: a) Weak Strategic Direction Chairman and CEO Alan Greenberg took the full responsibility of its poor performance and resigned after face the first ever loss In fourth quarter 2002. The collapse was mainly cause of launching many concordant initiative and be deficient of will to completely implement them or waiting for the outcome of any particular initiative. Due to this deprived strategic decision making, management was left with no clear directions. Increased competition and hostility among the franchises forced company to review its policies regarding development, association, quality and customer services. At one stage company publicized 40 new menu items and customized cooking system which cost company a hefty $420 million. (Marino, 2004) A week strategy or failure to fittingly launch a strategy may result in a week performance of the overall business. (Thompson Strickland, 2003) If a company alter its business strategy it may result in customer confusion, price oriented customer may switch to another low cost leader if the business employing a low cost strategy shifts its focus to differentiation strategy At the same time those customers willing to pay a premium price may not identify the organizations strategic change. (Parnell, John A.,2003) b) Customer Services McDonalds discontinued its principal of restaurant evaluation system in early 1990(namely QSVC, Quality, Service, Value, and Cleanliness) in order to reduce the tension among franchises and to pave way for international growth and to improve its partnership with leading superstores. It was expected that companys image would regain When Greenberg reinstituted its Quality, Service, Cleanliness inspections and mystery shopping in 2001, but in 2002 company was ranked lesser than its main rivals including KFC, Wendys, Burger King, and even US internal revenue services. c) Revenues Losses and Share value In the start of 2003, McDonalds had to face a loss of $343.8 million in its first quarter Followed by a constant decline in revenue during 12 months to April 2003. Companys share value dipped to all time low. At one point in March 2003 it was being traded at $12.50. Putting further pressure on short term and long term liquidity and constraining the company to keep equity at sustainable level. d) Employees Turnover Employee turnover is very important in any organization accurate, efficient and quick customer service mostly relies on staff training and experience. McDonalds has 300 percent high employees turnover than industry average. This clearly means McDonalds not only have to train more than average employees but also have to wait until they are fully functional and experienced. It is 40 seconds slower than its close rival Wendys in drive-thru operation but still it generates almost 60 percent of its revenue from them. EXTERNAL MARKET FACTORS OPPORTUNITIES: a) Revenue Generation The strong worldwide presence of McDonalds provide it an opportunity to produce revenues from public offering and this was experienced successfully in case of Japan. Public offering could be phased out in 120 countries of the world once McDonalds could grow strong in each country. b) Diversification materialization of mega-store and expansion in their process has unlocked a new market segment for McDonalds retail products. Further new opportunity include launching McDonalds novelty products like watches and toys to be sold across the world and going into joint schemes with non rival companies to use MacDonalds premises to uphold their product. THREATS: a) Trends in Sandwich Restaurant industry McDonalds has faced challenges by the new trends in eating healthier food alternatives along with the other industry players. Customer dietary awareness grew after findings of various scientific researches advocating eating healthy food with lesser fats, oil and sugar contents. Sandwich chain have to keep modifying their menu in order to be concerned about customers wellbeing. McDonalds has to continue focusing on adjusting its policy to reflect healthier aspects of menu items or it could be an easy target for negative publicity. McDonalds main rivals Burger King and Wendys have addressed current consumer health trends more successfully. Particularly, Wendys has responded to this with the introduction of their gourmet salad line. Typically 30% of those consumers visiting Wendys do so specifically for the purpose of purchasing salads from their Garden Sensations salad line. (Marino, 2004) Soon after recognizing the market, the super store jumped into sandwich industry by offering read ymade meals and sandwiches at competitive prices further increasing competition for McDonalds and its rivals as well. b) Intense Competition After 2003 it was expected for systemwide sandwich industry in USA to grow around only 2 percent for foreseeable future. There was a shrinkage in local restaurant industry due to increased competition amongst traditional rivals, many chains were copying McDonalds theme at that time increasing market share was more difficult in both USA and worldwide. (Marino, 2004) a large number of customer was shifting to other low price outlets of similar quality and service as they were becoming more price conscious. The ideal condition is for the strength/ competitive assets to outweigh its weakness/ competitive liabilities by an ample margin-50/50 balance is definitely not the desired condition. (Thompson Strickland, 2003, p120) PEST ANALYSIS The analysis of macro environment in which business operates is called PEST analysis its consist of four elements Political, Economical, Social and Technological. POLITICAL FACTORS Individual state policies enforced by the government greatly influenced the international operations of McDonalds. Many groups in Europe and USA clamor for the actions taken by the state pertaining to the hygiene, health and fitness proposition of eating fast food. They have pointed out that things like cholesterol are harmful for human body and adverse effects like obesity are attributable to consuming fast food products. (ivythesis 2010) On the contrary, there are number of internal policies and regulation in order to control the company, specific segments of the market focus on different fields of concern for example environment, worker protection and specially health. In all parts of country and outside the country government check all these elements before issuance of any kind of license in the respective states. In countries like India it is a looming legal dispute in the franchise of McDonalds where certain breach of rights and violation of religious laws pertaining to the contents of the food, it is highly offensive to the Hindu religion in that region to have meat in their menus. There are also other studies that points to the infringement of McDonalds Stores with reference to the existing employment laws in the target market. Like any business venture, these McDonalds stores have to contend with the issues of employment procedures as well as their tax obligations so as to succeed in the foreign market. (ivyth esis 2010) ECONOMIC FACTORS It is seen that there are always numerous problem available to fast food industry and no organization in this business are excused for any disputes and troubles, all have concerns up to certain extant regarding economic factors individually. Branches and franchises of fast food chains like McDonalds are likely to experience difficulties in case the economy of any country is hit by inflation and a rapid change in exchange rates. In conditions like this customer have to go over the usual budget and they have to think whether or not they should use up more of these foreign fast food chains therefore these businesses must think of some solutions to deal with the effects of the economic environment specially when the problem are caused by the consumer behavior these issue can lead to a serious problem as it could influence their general sales. In regarding the operations of the company, food chains like McDonalds tend to import much of their raw materials into a specific territory if ther e is a dearth of supply.   Exchange rate fluctuations will also play a significant role in the operations of the company. if a franchise operates in a particularly economically weak state, hence their products shall cost higher than the other existing products in the market, then these franchises must take on certain adjustments to maintain the economies of scale. (ivythesis 2010) SOCIAL FACTORS The surveys and articles on the international strategies of McDonalds have been working in many areas to assure worthwhile returns for the organization. The company put so much effort to improve on establishing a favorable mind set from their basic consumer. McDonalds indulge a particular variety of consumers with definite types of personalities. It has also seen that McDonalds has provide the market such as United Kingdom an extra option in their dining needs and requirements as they have introduced a valued and reasonable set of food that affectionate a reliable level of quality for the respective market where it operates.   Additionally, those who are aged just below the bracket of thirty-five are said to be the most frequent consumers of McDonalds franchises. ( 2005) TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS McDonalds produces demand for their own products. Television advertisement is one of the companys key tool for marketing. It has also been seen that McDonalds are inclined to the interest the younger populations more, this can been seen in different ways such as distribution of toys in their meals offered by the company and the existence of play spots in the restaurant areas. Similar demonstrations can be seen in the commercial they make it clearly reflects their marketing strategy. They employ animated depictions of their characters like Grimace and Hamburglar. On the other hand they hire popular celebrities in order to promote their products. Their campaign regarding their logo Im Loving it is renowned across the globe and is recognized well in people of all ages. Moreover McDonalds has significantly been infused with new technology in their operating system and their biggest achievement is to introduce a Just In Time strategy Elements like the inventory system and the management o f the value chain of the company allows for easy payments for their suppliers and other vendors which the individual stores in respective markets deal with. The integration of technology in the operations of McDonalds tend to add value to their products. Basically, this is manifested in the improvements on its value chain. The improvement of the inventory system as well as its supply chain allows the company to operate in an international context. (ivythesis 2010) FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS 1. Rivalry Amongst Existing Competitors It has been seen that the competition in restaurant industry is too high as there are large number of many fast food businesses that are fighting with each other in order to get the bigger market share and to improve their customer base, McDonalds is not an exception to this, it has excelled in this sector of the market since its commencement in 1940. Nevertheless to stay competitive they started with McCafe and gained a huge success as a fast food providers. Another major step came out when McDonald started Breakfast to compete with the existing business serving breakfast. Hence, this industry is extremely competitive and the MDC should be up to date with customer taste preferences.(quickmba 2010) 2. Threat of Entrants It is hard to set up a different brand name as well as to enter the restaurant business, The cost of entry in the market is extremely high there is big research and development costs. Large established companies with strong brand identities such as McDonalds do make it more difficult to enter and succeed within the marketplace, it is difficult for new entrants to find their place as they are faced with price competition from existing chain restaurants.(quickmba 2010) 3. Threat of Substitutes There are many substitutes in this industry. Since there are a wide variety of products that people can choose, they could either be substituted by MDC Burgers, Beverages, dairy products, and others. 4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Power of suppliers within the fast food industry would be relatively small, unless the main ingredient of the product is not readily available. 5. Bargaining Power of Buyers Relatively strength of buyers is low in this industry http://maven.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/porter5forces3.gif SCHOOLS OF STRATEGY Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel discuss various approaches to strategic planning and they identify 10 different schools of thought which are divided into Prescriptive and Descriptive. We can apply Prescriptive schools for Strategy formulation and Descriptive School for Strategy formation. A) PRESCRIPTIVE SCHOOLS Prescriptive means what can be done most realistically. The prescriptive strategy takes other factors into consideration while analyzing multiple criteria and conflicting objections. After this, then chooses what strategy would or could be done realistically based on the objectives previously listed. According to the prescriptive strategy, the second best decision might be more appropriate. The prescriptive approach includes an analysis of possible decisions around a chosen solution known as sensitivity analysis. 1. Design School: This strategy is adopted by McDonalds in a way they have matched their internal situation of the company with the outside situation caused by the environment. Thus the strategy of the company is made and function to signify the best likely fit. 2. Planning School: Here strategy arrangement is seen as a prescribed procedure, which follows a thorough set of steps from scrutiny of the condition to the growth and exploration of different substitute scenarios. 3. Positioning School: This is very important approach as it is very much influenced by the Porters work, formation of strategy as an logical process that place the organization in the same context of the business the company is in, McDonald as a business used this as a strong tool of their strategy. B) DESCRIPTIVE SCHOOLS Descriptive means what is usually done. The descriptive strategy is done based on past evidence. It is something that has been most likely done in the past. 1. Entrepreneurial School: In McDonalds this approach look upon strategy formation as a visionary process, that is going on within the mind of the captivating founder or leader of the company. 2. Learning School: The whole function of this strategy is to educate people where the management of an the company take care of the workers that they work efficiently and does not work over time and incorporates these lessons learned into their overall plan of action. 3. Power School: Here strategy progress is appear to be a process of cooperation between power holders within the company, and or between the company and external stakeholders. 4. Cultural School: This strategy talk about developing a culture that makes the working condition comfortable for all this school takes the strategy formation as collective process that includes multiple groups and departments within the organization the strategy developed is thus a reflection of the corporate culture of the organization. 5. Environmental School: In response to the current challenges imposed by the external environment, this strategy structuring is seen to be a reactive process. 6. Configuration School: This is the last school and the purpose of strategy formation can be easily seen as method of altering the organization from one type of decision making structure into another. CONCLUSION McDonalds have increase its product line to ensure they have multiple products to choose form and to remain competitive to their rivals, and have focused to provide better and continuous service, they also have reduced their cost by reducing their supply chain expenses. In order to retain customers they have expanded their happy meal choices and took further step by adding premium and different coffees in their beverages menu as well as cakes and pastries. The concept of toys introduced by McDonalds for all kind of generations specially for kids was new to everyone in the market. As a suggestion they must provide special promotion during the festivals, apart from organizing birthday parties they should move on to one step ahead in organizing or sponsoring college festivals. After analyzing the marketing mix of McDonalds, it is clear that the company can be said to be `global, i.e. combining elements of globalization and internationalization. McDonalds have achieved this through apply ing the maxim, `think global, act local REFERENCE Marino, L. Jackson, K.B., 2004; McDonalds: Polishing the Golden Arches, p. c213-c234, Case Study 13, Thompson A. A. Strickland, A. J., 2004, Strategic Management, Concept and Cases, 13th Edition, McGraw Hill †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Thompson A. A. Strickland, A.J., 2003, Strategic Management, Concept and Cases, 13th Edition, McGraw Hill. †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Johnson, Gerry Scholes, Kevan; 2002, Exploring Corporate Strategy, Text and Cases, 6th Edition, FT-Prentice Hal †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Hooley, G.J., Saunders, J.A. Piercy, N. 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McDonalds becoming Major Coffee Player, Business Week/The Associated Press, Internet, http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D95MF7900.htm [Accessed at; January 15, 2009, 2:59PM ET] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Bandyk, Matthew; 12 January , 2009, 10:15 AM ET 2009, McDonalds Proves To Be A Recession-Proof Business, U S NEWS, Internet; http://www.usnews.com/blogs/risky34 business/2009/1/12/mcdonalds-proves-to-be-a-recession-proof-business.html [Accessed; August 12, 2010] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Vella, Matt., December 3, 2008, 11:30AM EST, A 7ew Look for McDonalds, †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Crown, Judith.; January 9, 2008, 9:26PM EST, Coffee Gets Hotter at McDonalds, BusinessWeek, Internet; http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jan2008/db2008019_036171.h tm?campaign_id=msnbc [Accessed on: August 12, 2010] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  www.bbc.co.uk, 17 January 2007, Growth on the Menu at McDonalds, , News story from BBC 15:31:37 GMT;, Internet; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6271795.stm (Accessed; August 12, 2010] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Gutierrez, Carl.; 11 November.2008, 03:40 AM EST, Market Scan: Burgers Thrive In the McDownturn, Forbes Internet, M EST, http://www.forbes.com/equities/2008/11/11/mcdonalds-restaurants-closer-marketsequity- cx_cg_lal_1110markets43.html [Accessed; 10 January 2009] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Gogoi, Pallavi. Arndt, Michael. Business Week Magazine, March 3, 2003. http://www.businessweek.com/@@LWIXFoUQQDDeyAwA/magazine/content/03_0 9/b3822085_mz017.htm) [Accessed: 5 January 2009] †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  McDonalds Corporation Official website http://www.mcdonalds.com/ †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Fortune 500; http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/ wwwfortune500.com †¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Macarthur, Kate., 2005, Wendys Overhauls Marketing Strategies, May 19, 2005, http://adage.com/results?end http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/02/pestle-analysis-of-mcdonalds.html (Accessed on: October 2, 2010) http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml (Accessed on: October 2, 2010)

Classification Essay - Types of Wood -- essays research papers

Wood types differ considerably in properties such as color, density, and hardness, making timber a resource that is valuable in a wide variety of contexts. Each of the samples of commonly used woods shown here has distinctive characteristics. Mahogany is a tropical tree prized for its heavy, strong, easily worked wood. Hickory is a tough, hard wood used for tool handles, furniture, and smoke wood for meat. Instrument makers favor the strong, richly colored wood of the cherry tree. Yew is strong, fine-grained wood used for cabinetmaking and archery bows. Like mahogany, the wood of the iroko is resistant to both rot and insects and bears the "interlocked" grain of many tropical trees. Oak is one of the world's most durable woods. It is used in barrel-making, veneers, and flooring....

Essay on Teens - Popular Musics Impact on Youth -- Exploratory Essays

Popular Music's Impact on Youth Popular music and its artists have an enormous impact on our culture's youth from generation to generation. In almost any generation within the past fifty years, the behavior and beliefs of the majority of pre-teens and teens can be closely correlated with those of the popular music artist's of that time. Which music was "the popular music" changed drastically several times between the 1950s and the present, along with the attitudes of that generation's young adults. With each change in popular music came also a lasting change in the behavior of generations to follow. In some cases, the change was evident --the band or artist was creating or surrounded by controversy-- in other cases, the change was not evident until afterwards, a learning experience perhaps. In the 1950s, Bill Haley and the Comets first used the word "rock" to describe a musical form. They also released two movies, Blackboard Jungle, and Rock Around the Clock, which featured their music and were aimed specifically at young audiences. Blackboard Jungle told a story of teenage alienation and also made a star of Haley because of the overwhelming number of negative criticisms it received. Also, since adults of that time thought the music was just plain bad, the teens were even more drawn to its sound (Brown, 50, 53). Elvis Aaron Presley is known as the "King" today, but in the mid-fifties, he was known as "Elvis the Pelvis" because of his pelvic thrusts and somewhat exaggerated hip movements (67). These sexual mannerisms caught the attention of young women who viewed him as a sex icon, but also caught the attention of the media. In the fifties, these actions were too obscene to be shown on televi... ... What is to be learned from our generation? There does not appear to be a clearly defined movement being promoted like the antiwar movement of the sixties and seventies. Our generation will leave a legacy, or a lesson to be learned. Through the generations we have learned much; drug awareness, responsibility, and safe sex were all changes faced by generations following the previous generation's lifestyles. Our children will face different lifestyles that we are facing now, and the popular music of their time will surely shape their behavior and attitude to fit their generation. Works Cited Brown, Charles T. The Art of Rock and Roll. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc. 1987. Christgau, Robert. Any Old Way You Choose It: Rock and Other Pop Music, 1967- 1973. Baltimore: Penguin Books Inc. 1973. http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/ent/A0860766.html

The Joy of Winning Essay -- Narrative Memoir Essays

The Joy of Winning   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Oh my God!" was exclaimed into my right ear and resonated above everyone in the room. My heart was thumping because I wasn't exactly sure what was happening. I wasn't excited to be going or even pleased. All I could think about was, "What did I get myself into? I shouldn't be here, I don't deserve this."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It all began on one of the most disastrous bus rides I have ever experienced that doesn't include a wreck. I was going to Grand Junction for the Western Slope Science Fair. I didn't even care about what I was about to do. I knew my information well enough just to get through the day. Then the storm hit us. I looked out the front window of the bus and peered out into the ferocious blizzard. The heater was not working on the right side window. On top of not being able to see, we had just hit a construction area where I wasn't sure what could be on the road.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An hour later than expected, we got out of the bus and headed for the auditorium where we were to set up our projects. After sprinting inside to keep my board protected from the elements, I walked with my fellow participants and set up my project. I didn't care at all about how good my project appeared in the eyes of the judges.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After I had set up, I got ready to go to lunch, since most of my companions were ready to eat. We all went down to Mesa Mall's Food Court where I had sausage pizza that had grease dripping down onto the plate. After I was finished eating, my friend Jimmy had to buy a CD, so we flew down to the FYE Music Emporium. As we ran out to the bus to go back, a hailstorm picked up. The hail felt like a thousand needles striking me at the same time and there was no way that I could open my eyes completely.... ...fifth, but when that went by, I knew it was not meant to be. Third place went to the guy next to me that the judges liked so much.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The announcer then went through a long speech explaining what the top two places meant. He said how they got to go to the International Science and Engineering fair in Louisville, Kentucky. He called my name to go up to receive second place for going to the International Science and Engineering Fair, but I received first at the Western Slope Science Fair.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Oh my God!" was echoed through the room and I couldn't believe that I was walking up to the stage. This wasn't right because I shouldn't get the award, or should I? I knew the answer as soon as it was placed in my hand. It was going to be a long ride, but I deserved every bit of it. I had shown the judges that I knew what I was doing and was confident at all times.

Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility Essay

In economics, utility is a measure of personal satisfaction or level of meeting a need that a good or service meets. For example the initial cup of coffee in the morning meets a large need and provides a large amount of satisfaction (utility). Another example is go under water and hold your breath, keep holding it until you think you will pass out. Then come up out of the water, that first breath is wonderful — tremendous utility. That is utility – the meeting of a need or being satisfied. Now Marginal Utility is the change in utility from one more good or service being consumed. So the amount of utility from the first cup of coffee or that first breath is huge. Diminishing Marginal Utility is the fact that each addition good or service consumed, creates a smaller and smaller amount of additional utility. In the examples above, that second cup of coffee in the morning or the second breath after the first will provide additional satisfaction or need meeting, but it will not provide near as much satisfaction (utility) as the first one did. The third cup or third breath has even less additional satisfaction or need meeting ability (utility) as the second and the first. Some products or services may have some increasing marginal utility at first, but every good or service at some point provides decreasing additional utility (or diminishing marginal utility). When the total utility curve stops increasing at an increasing rate and starts increasing at a decreasing rate, that is the point where the marginal utility curve reaches its max and starts decreasing — this is the point of diminshing marginal utility. Let me give you another example, if you had no shoes and someone gave you only one shoe, you would receive some utility. You can now hop through the sticker patch. But a second shoe that completes the pair might actually give you more utility than the first shoe, because you are clumsy and you keep falling down with only one shoe. But with two shoes, you can run and hop and not worry about stickers and stones. So the second shoe actually has increasing marginal utility. Now going on, a second pair of shoes doesn’t add as much utility as the first pair; though it is still better to have two pair of shoes than just one. So total utility has increased with the second pair of shoes, but marginal utility has diminished with the additional shoes.

The Role of Separation

Appointing a mission-wise Chair: Role separation resolves a potential conflict of interest arising from the fact that the CEO is the primary manager of a company and the chairman is the head of the board, which oversees management (Hodgeson, 2014). Separating the roles strengthens the system of checks and balances and enhances the appearance of board independence. Splitting the roles is widely considered to be a best practice in corporate governance, though its benefits remain controversial in some circles, notably in parts of the mainstream, corporate America. (Tonello, 2011). The mission relevance of the chair's role has long been recognized in the non-profit sector where facilitating mission delivery, through managing and organizing the governing board's mission-related work, has always been central to the chair's role (Akpeki, 2006). Appointing a new board chair, then, may come to be seen as a potential milestone for mission preservation in social entrepreneurships. The chair's role is central to successful corporate governance, and the influence of the person fulfilling this role can be critical to the maintenance of mission within thriving social entrepreneurship. It stands to reason that, through choosing a chair who understands and backs the social mission, organizations can strengthen mission stewardship in the boardroom and thus help avert mission drift. Commitment to carrying the torch of the mission is only a starting point for a chair. The chair's skills, personality, and behavior will determine his or her effectiveness. A capable chair should come with first-hand knowledge of the sector or industry the business is operating in, proven leadership skills and an understanding of board process. In social entrepreneurships, the chair will also need a firm grasp of mission in the practical sense, experience in delivering mission in a business context and a commitment to ensuring that mission has its place in board discussion and decision-making at every level (Shekshnia ; Rowley, 2014). A mission-capable chair will know how to keep the mission on the agenda, how to generate productive group discussion around mission and how to foster a positive board culture with a shared sense of purpose.

Keeping Сhildren Safe

I have been involved in identifying hazards in my setting, such as in the water play area, the children accidently spilling water on the floor from splashing the water out of the water bowl and from trying to experiment with pouring and filling bottles. Therefore, because this happened I proceeded to use in initiative and clean up the spillage on the floor.The procedure I had took in this situation was that I asked the children to step away from the puddle on the floor and I informed one other staff about what I had seen and asked if they can keep an eye on children while I went to go and get a mop or a towel to clean up the spilt area. I then went to collect the appropriate facilities and clean up the wet area so the children would not slip over and hurt themselves.Once I had cleaned it all up I changed the clothes of a child, as they was wet from playing in the water and it hen put a dry towel on the floor so if there is another spillage, the towel will keep it fairly dry. P4. 2it is important to understand the different policy’s that provide a healthy and safe environment for staff and children. My nursery follow the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) and the Reporting of Injuries and Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR).When I have identified the hazard, the procedure, the setting would like me to take, is to clean it up straight away. This is so the children do not fall over and injure them self. It mentions in the health and safety policies that when there is a spillage on the floor you must clear the area and mop up the spillage. I now know how to follow the settings policies and procedure as I have a copy of them at home therefore I can keep looking through them and making sure I am following the rules.P4. 3- If this was to happen again I would act quicker in dealing with the situation because I noticed while I was clean up the spilt area more children was wantin g to come over and play with the water. However I think I acted well because I managed to see a hazard and act upon it straight away before any children slipped over. P4. 1- I have been involved in dealing with minor accidents and injuries in my setting. For example I have filled in two different accident forms ofincidents that I have witnessed, such as a child falling over and grazing a knee or arm. The procedure I took in this situation was to comfort the child who had fallen over and bring the child to a bench in the outdoor play area to sit down. I had a look at the graze on the left leg and then I then told the child that I was going to get a wet paper towel to put over the graze. I went into the classroom and got the wet paper towel and the accident form. I went back over the child and asked her if she would want to hold the towel on her leg.While she was holding it down I started to fill the form out, I wrote down her full name, her age, location of incident, the date on inci dent, what happened, were she hurt herself, the treatment she was given, then I had to write down my name as I was the witness, another member of staff who witnessed it and finally I had to put my signature. Once I finished filling the form out, I had another look at her grazed leg and it was looking better, I asked if she wanted to stay sitting down or if she wanted to go back and play again, she said she wanted to play so I let her go but I kept a close eye on her.P4. 2- An accident book is available which must be filled in if any child or member of staff sustains an injury whilst on the premises. Details of how, when, where and who the accident happened to must be recorded by the member of staff who saw and dealt with the injury. The treatment given must also be recorded. The child’s parent will be shown this information when the child is collected from nursery and requested to sign the form. If a child’s injury is more serious than the everyday bumps and bruises, t he parent will be contacted immediately and informed of the situation.Accident records are reviewed regularly during senior meetings. P4. 3- looking back now at this incident I think I acted positively trough out the incident, because comforted the child and acted upon the injury accurately. I think if this happened again I would ask for a member of the staff to help as I left the child alone of a little while and the child may of needed some with them for comfort while I went for the wet paper towel. Also I think I will look out for any safety hazards in the outdoor play area so the accident is prevented and no one else will hurt themselves.

The Big Idea: How to Start an Entrepreneurial Revolution

In the latest Ease of Doing Business ranking from the World Bank, one country made a spectacular leap—from 143rd on the list to 67th. It was Rwanda, whose population and institutions had been decimated by genocide in the 1990s. On the World Bank list, Rwanda catapulted out of the neighborhood of Haiti, Liberia, and the West Bank and Gaza, and sailed past Italy, the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Poland. On one subindex in the study, the ease of opening a new business, Rwanda ranked 11th worldwide. You can see and even smell the signs of Rwanda’s business revolution at Costco, one of the retail world’s most demanding trade customers, where pungent coffee grown by the nation’s small farmer-entrepreneurs is stocked on the shelves. And in Rwanda itself the evidence is dramatic—per capita GDP has almost quadrupled since 1995. [pic] Rwanda: From Genocide to Costco’s Shelves This is the kind of change entrepreneurship can bring to a country. As Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, put it recently, â€Å"Entrepreneurship is the most sure way of development.† He is not a lone voice: Economic studies from around the globe consistently link entrepreneurship, particularly the fast-growth variety, with rapid job creation, GDP growth, and long-term productivity increases. You’ll see more palpable evidence of surprising entrepreneurial success stories on the Costco shelves. A few steps away from the Rwandan coffee, you can find fresh fish from Chile, which now ranks second only to Norway as a supplier of salmon. The Chilean fish in America’s supermarkets were supplied by hundreds of new fishing-related ventures spawned in the 1980s and 1990s. A few aisles over are memory USBs invented and manufactured in Israel, a country whose irrepressible entrepreneurs have been supplying innovative technologies to the world since the 1970s. And just around the corner, the Costco pharmacy sells generic drugs made by Iceland’s Actavis, whose meteoric rise landed it, in just 10 years, among the top five global generics leaders. Rwanda, Chile, Israel, and Iceland all are fertile ground for entrepreneurship—thanks in no small part to the efforts of their governments. Though the companies behind the products on Costco’s shelves were launched by innovative entrepreneurs, those businesses were all aided, either directly or indirectly, by government leaders who helped build environments that nurture and sustain entrepreneurship. These entrepreneurship ecosystems have become a kind of holy grail for governments around the world—in both emerging and developed countries. Unfortunately, many governments take a misguided approach to building entrepreneurship ecosystems. They pursue some unattainable ideal of an ecosystem and look to economies that are completely unlike theirs for best practices. But increasingly, the most effective practices come from remote corners of the earth, where resources—as well as legal frameworks, transparent governance, and democratic values—may be scarce. In these places entrepreneurship has a completely new face. The new practices are emerging murkily and by trial and error. This messiness should not deter leaders—there’s too much at stake. Governments need to exploit all available experience and commit to ongoing experimentation. They must follow an incomplete and ever-changing set of prescriptions and relentlessly review and refine them. The alternatives—taking decades to devise a model set of guidelines, acting randomly, or doing nothing—all are unacceptable. But the government cannot do everything on its own; the private and nonprofit sectors too must shoulder some responsibility. In numerous instances corporate executives, family-business owners, universities, professional organizations, foundations, labor organizations, financiers, and, of course, entrepreneurs themselves have initiated and even financed entrepreneurship education, conferences, research, and policy advocacy. As we shall show later in this article, sometimes private initiative makes it easier for governments to act more quickly and effectively, and all stakeholders—government and otherwise—should take every chance to show real leadership. To make progress, leaders need practical if imperfect maps and navigational guidelines. From what we know from both research and practice, here’s what seems to actually work in stimulating thriving entrepreneurship ecosystems. Nine Prescriptions for Creating an Entrepreneurship Ecosystem The entrepreneurship ecosystem consists of a set of individual elements—such as leadership, culture, capital markets, and open-minded customers—that combine in complex ways. (See the exhibit â€Å"Do You Have a Strong Entrepreneurship Ecosystem?†) In isolation, each is conducive to entrepreneurship but insufficient to sustain it. That’s where many governmental efforts go wrong—they address only one or two elements. Together, however, these elements turbocharge venture creation and growth. When integrating them into one holistic system, government leaders should focus on these nine key principles. [pic] Do You Have a Strong Entrepreneurship Ecosystem? 1: Stop Emulating Silicon Valley. The nearly universal ambition of becoming another Silicon Valley sets governments up for frustration and failure. There is little argument that Silicon Valley is the â€Å"gold standard† entrepreneurship ecosystem, home to game-changing giants such as Intel, Oracle, Google, eBay, and Apple. The Valley has it all: technology, money, talent, a critical mass of ventures, and a culture that encourages collaborative innovation and tolerates failure. So it is understandable when public leaders throughout the world point to California and say, â€Å"I want that.† Yet, Valley envy is a poor guide for three reasons. One is that, ironically, even Silicon Valley could not become itself today if it tried. Its ecosystem evolved under a unique set of circumstances: a strong local aerospace industry, the open California culture, Stanford University’s supportive relationships with industry, a mother lode of invention from Fairchild Semiconductor, a liberal immigration policy toward doctoral students, and pure luck, among other things. All those factors set off a chaotic evolution that defies definitive determination of cause and effect. Further, Silicon Valley is fed by an overabundance of technology and technical expertise. Developing â€Å"knowledge-based industry†Ã¢â‚¬â€the mantra of governments everywhere—is an admirable aspiration, but achieving it requires a massive, generation-long investment in education as well as the ability to develop world-class intellectual property. On top of that, a knowledge industry demands an enormous technology pipeline and scrap pile. Consider that top venture capitalists invest in at best 1% of the technology-based businesses they look at, and a significant proportion of that select group fails. A third limit is that although Silicon Valley sounds as if it’s a place that breeds local ventures, in reality it’s as much a powerful magnet for ready-made entrepreneurs, who flock there from around the globe, often forming their own ethnic subcultures and organizations in what Gordon Moore, one of the Valley’s graybeards, calls an â€Å"industry of transplants.† And difficult as it is to foster an ecosystem that encourages current inhabitants to make the entrepreneurial choice and then succeed at it, it is even harder to create an entrepreneur’s â€Å"Mecca.† 2: Shape the Ecosystem Around Local Conditions. If not Silicon Valley, then what entrepreneurial vision should government leaders aspire to? The most difficult, yet crucial, thing for a government is to tailor the suit to fit its own local entrepreneurship dimensions, style, and The striking dissimilarities of Rwanda, Chile, Israel, and Iceland illustrate the principle that leaders can and must foster homegrown solutions—ones based on the realities of their own circumstances, be they natural resources, geographic location, or culture. Rwanda’s government took a strongly interventionist strategy in the postgenocide years, identifying three local industries (coffee, tea, and tourism) that had proven potential for development. It actively organized the institutions that would support those industries by, for example, training farmers to grow and package coffee to international standards and connecting them to overseas distribution channels. Rwanda’s immediate priority was to provide gainful employment to millions of people. Its efforts led to about 72,000 new ventures, almost entirely consisting of two- and three-person operations, which in a decade tripled exports and reduced poverty by 25%. Chile also focused on industries where it had copious natural resources—such as fishing. As in Rwanda, the government took a powerfully interventionist approach to its entrepreneurship ecosystem in Augusto Pinochet’s early years, and the dictator’s free-market ideology made it easier for Chile’s middle class to obtain financing and licenses for fishing operations. The government also weakened labor (sometimes brutally) to reduce new ventures’ input costs and kept Chile’s currency inexpensive to maintain competitiveness in export markets. Natural resources often are not a key component of an ecosystem, however. Frequently, entrepreneurship is stimulated when such resources are scarce, requiring people to be more inventive. Taiwan, Iceland, Ireland, and New Zealand, resource-poor â€Å"islands† far from major markets, all developed ecosystems based primarily on human capital. So did Israel. In the 1970s and 1980s, its unique ecosystem evolved haphazardly out of a combination of factors, including spillover from large military R&D efforts, strong diaspora connections to capital and customers, and a culture that prized frugality, education, and unconventional wisdom. 3: Engage the Private Sector from the Start. Government cannot build ecosystems alone. Only the private sector has the motivation and perspective to develop self-sustaining, profit-driven markets. For this reason, government must involve the private sector early and let it keep or acquire a significant stake in the ecosystem’s success. Start with a candid conversation. One way to involve the private sector is to reach out to its representatives for early, frank advice in reducing structural barriers and formulating entrepreneur-friendly policies and programs. If the necessary expertise doesn’t exist domestically, it can often be found overseas among expatriates. In the 1980s the Taiwanese government engaged with the Taiwanese diaspora, consulting prominent executives in leading U.S. technology companies and establishing ongoing forums to collect their input. The government actually built programs based on the suggestions of these expats, who liked how their ideas were implemented so much that they returned home in droves in the 1990s, many of them to occupy prominent policy positions or run the new plants that were established. For example, Morris Chang, the former group vice president of Texas Instruments, came home and eventually set up and ran TSMC, Taiwan’s second semiconductor-fabricating plant. Taiwan: Bringing Expat Entrepreneurs Home Design in self-liquidation. In 1993 the Israeli government created Yozma, a $100 million fund of funds that in three years spawned 10 venture capital funds. In each one, Yozma, an Israeli private partner, and a foreign private partner with proven fund management expertise all invested approximately equal amounts. From the start, the Israeli government gave the private sector partners an option to buy out its interest in the funds at attractive terms—a fact often overlooked by other governments that copy the Yozma model. That option was exercised by eight of the 10 funds, profitably for the government, I might add. Five years after the founding of Yozma, its remaining assets were liquidated by auction. The government’s exit served as market proof that real value had been generated and is one of the reasons that the Israeli venture capital industry not only became self-sustaining but simultaneously achieved a quantum leap in growth. 4: Favor the High Potentials. Many programs in emerging economies spread scarce resources among quantities of bottom-of-the-pyramid ventures. And indeed, some of them, such as the Carvajal Foundation in Cali, Colombia, have dramatically increased income for segments of the population. But focusing resources there to the exclusion of high-potential ventures is a crucial mistake. In an era when microfinance for small-scale entrepreneurs has become mainstream, the reallocation of resources to support high-potential entrepreneurs may seem elitist and inequitable. But especially if resources are limited, programs should try to focus first on ambitious, growth-oriented entrepreneurs who address large potential markets. The social economics of high-potential ventures and small-scale employment alternatives are significantly different. Whereas 500 microfinanced sole proprietorships and one rapidly globalizing 500-person operation create the same number of jobs, many experts argue that the wealth creation, power to inspire other start-ups, labor force enrichment, and reputational value are much greater with the latter. One organization that recognizes this is Enterprise Ireland, an agency responsible for supporting the growth of world-class Irish companies. It has created a program specifically to provide mentoring and financial assistance to high-potential start-ups, which it defines as ventures that are export-oriented, are based on innovative technology, and can generate at least â‚ ¬1 million in sales and 10 jobs in three years. The global nonprofit Endeavor, which focuses on entrepreneurship development in 10 emerging economies, has to date â€Å"adopted† some 440 â€Å"high-impact entrepreneurs,† who, with Endeavor’s mentoring, are turning their successes into role models for their countrymen. Not all high-potential ventures are technology based; in fact, I’d argue that the majority are not. SABIS is a perfect example. An educational management organization founded in Lebanon many years ago as one school, SABIS now is one of the world’s largest EMOs, teaching more than 65,000 students in 15 countries, with the goal of reaching 5 million students by 2020. 5: Get a Big Win on the Board. It has become clear in recent years that even one success can have a surprisingly stimulating effect on an entrepreneurship ecosystem—by igniting the imagination of the public and inspiring imitators. I call this effect the â€Å"law of small numbers.† Skype’s adoption by millions and eventual $2.6 billion sale to eBay reverberated throughout the small nation of Estonia, encouraging highly trained technical people to start their own companies. In China, Baidu’s market share and worldwide recognition have inspired an entire generation of new entrepreneurs. Celtel’s amazing success as sub-Saharan Africa’s leading regional mobile provider and acquisition by Zain for more than $3 billion stirred the region’s pride and helped African governments fight â€Å"Africa fright† among investors. In Ireland it was Elan Corporation and Iona Technologies, listed on Nasdaq in 1984 and 1997, respectively, that served as guiding lights to a gener ation of budding entrepreneurs. Sub-Saharan Africa: Building Shareholder Value—and Better Government Early, visible successes help reduce the perception of entrepreneurial barriers and risks, and highlight the tangible rewards. Even modest successes can have an impact. Saudi Arabia, a nation with a dearth of entrepreneurial ventures (aside from the powerful family business groups), is fighting hard to tear down the numerous structural and cultural obstacles entrepreneurs face. One young Saudi, Abdullah Al-Munif, left his salaried job, tightened his belt, fought the bureaucracy, and started a business making chocolate-covered dates. He ultimately grew the business, Anoosh, into a national chain of 10 high street stores and turned an eye to overseas markets. Now when Al-Munif appears as a panelist at entrepreneurship seminars, he is swamped by aspiring Saudi entrepreneurs who take inspiration from his bravery, realizing that neither capital, nor technology, nor connections are essential to success. Overcelebrate the successes. Governments should be bold about celebrating thriving entrepreneurial ventures. Media events, highly publicized awards, and touts in government literature, speeches, and interviews all have an impact. This is not as straightforward as it may seem, because many cultures discourage any public display of success as boastful or an invitation to either bad luck or the tax collector. Whereas in Hong Kong even small-scale entrepreneurs drive black Mercedes to project their status, in the Middle East flaunting one’s success publicly can attract the envy of neighbors or, worse, the evil eye. Kenya’s first international call center, KenCall, founded by Nicholas Nesbitt and two partners in 2004, built an international presence by overcoming many bureaucratic and structural barriers, including the lack of a high-speed optical fiber hookup to the international communications grid. The Kenyan government didn’t wait until KenCall became big to sing its praises; even when it was a fledgling operation, the government brought in foreign delegations for visits, promoted the company in official publications and press releases, and hosted an international outsourcing conference. Government officials also used KenCall’s example to push for reforms, which expedited the construction of East Africa’s first undersea optical fiber link—an example of how entrepreneurial success can facilitate structural change, not just the other way around. 6: Tackle Cultural Change Head-On. Changing a deeply ingrained culture is enormously difficult, but both Ireland and Chile demonstrate that it is possible to alter social norms about entrepreneurship in less than a generation. Until the 1980s employment in government, financial services, or agriculture was the main aspiration of Ireland’s young people. There was zero tolerance for loan defaults, and bankruptcy was stigmatized. Parents discouraged their children from setting out on their own, so few nurtured dreams of starting their own business. But by the 1990s, after successful pioneers paved the way, hundreds of new software companies had been launched in Ireland. Some exported products; some went public. Many achieved healthy sales revenues. Just as important, entrepreneurs learned that it was possible to fail and regroup to try again. â€Å"If you wanted to be respected and taken seriously, you needed to be a founder with a stake in a company trying to do something,† recalls Barry Murphy, who was national software director at Enterprise Ireland’s predecessor in the 1990s. In her research, University of Minnesota professor Rachel Schurman has described how Chileans’ negative image of entrepreneurs as greedy exploiters was transformed in just one decade, as a direct result of the Chilean government’s concerted effort to liberalize Chile’s economy. Until the 1980s, Chile’s well-educated middle class wasn’t entrepreneurial, avoided opportunity-driven investment, and preferred to consume rather than save and invest. But by the 1990s, Chile’s new middle-class entrepreneurs were telling Schurman: â€Å"Today the youth, everybody, wants to be an entrepreneur. If a successful empresario is interviewed in the newspaper, everybody reads it. Why was he successful? How did he do it? It’s a model that never existed before†¦.† The media can play an important role not just in celebrating wins but in changing attitudes. In Puerto Rico, El Nuevo Dà ­a, the largest daily newspaper, supported local entrepreneurship by running a weekly page of start-up success stories. On the small island, these stories have quickly become part of the social dialogue and have raised awareness about the opportunities entrepreneurship presents, as well as the tools it requires. 7: Stress the Roots. It’s a mistake to flood even high-potential entrepreneurs with easy money: More is not necessarily merrier. New ventures must be exposed early to the rigors of the market. Just as grape growers withhold water from their vines to extend their root systems and make their grapes produce more-concentrated flavor, governments should â€Å"stress the roots† of new ventures by meting out money carefully, to ensure that entrepreneurs develop toughness and resourcefulness. Such measures also help weed out opportunists. In 2006 Malaysia’s Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development awarded 90% of some 21,000 applicants about $5,000 each in business support, strong evidence of the government’s commitment to entrepreneurship. The program was part of an affirmative action program largely aimed at indigenous Malays, who were less entrepreneurial than the country’s business-minded Chinese immigrants. Yet Malay entrepreneurs themselves attribute the disappointing results partly to the fact that funding was too loose and even stigmatized the Malay recipients as less capable. More broadly, Malaysian entrepreneurship-development programs, considered by many, including myself, to be among the most comprehensive programs in the world, have been criticized for actually inhibiting entrepreneurship among the Malays by unwittingly reinforcing their lack of risk taking. Similarly, recent reports on South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment program have reached the conclusion that BEE has discouraged entrepreneurship among the bulk of black South Africans and has benefited primarily the elite and well-connected. In fact, the hardships of resource-scarce, even hostile, environments often promote entrepreneurial resourcefulness. New Zealanders call Kiwi ingenuity â€Å"number 8 wire†: In the country’s colonial days, the only plentiful resource was 8-gauge fencing wire, and New Zealanders learned to fix and make anything with it. Icelandic entrepreneurship is built upon a legacy of â€Å"fishing when the fish are there, not when the weather is good.† For years incubators or entrepreneurship centers that provide financial help, mentoring, and often space to start-ups have been popular with governments. But I have seen scant rigorous evidence that these expensive programs contribute commensurately to entrepreneurship. One municipality in Latin America established 30 small incubators, but after several years only one venture out of more than 500 assisted by them had reached annual sales of $1 million. Though Israel’s renowned incubator program has helped launch more than 1,300 new ventures, relatively few of them have been big entrepreneurial successes. On the basis of my discussions with Israeli officials, I estimate that, among the hundreds of Israeli ventures that have been acquired at hefty valuations or taken public, at best 5% were hatched in incubators. And incubators definitely are not a quick fix. When well conceived and well managed, they can take 20 years or longer to generate a measurable impact on entrepreneurship. Poorly conceived and managed, they can be white elephants.