Communication, Gender, and Sexuality Blog...I Essay

Communication, Gender, and Sexuality Blog...I - Essay Example nfluenced all aspects of society from the basic family setting where men are viewed as the head of the family with the task of making important family decisions mainly resting on them to the work places where they hold the high esteemed positions. Women have therefore had to fight to be recognized from all fronts. They have learnt how to balance their caring nurturing side with their go-getter side making them a force so powerful. Standpoints have supported strong objectivity whereby marginalized or oppressed people such as women have been made able to create more objective accounts of the world. They have had to adapt to the masculine culture by taking up more male dominated roles like by venturing into fields like engineering which are more technical. In other words they have become bicultural. On the other hand when felt oppressed, they have learnt to stand up for their rights because of the strong objectivity the standpoints have offered them. This is seen vividly when it comes to the issue of women sexuality. They have defended their sexuality from the inhumane practices like rape, domestic violence and harmful demeaning cultural practices. Women have also learnt how to be accountable for the way they articulate their wants and demands. They base their demands on facts that are rational detaching all the emotional aspects that would discredit their plea on the basis that they are weak. Women have learnt how to look out for their

The Leadership Processes Of Daimler Chrysler

The Leadership Processes Of Daimler Chrysler Since its establishment in 1924, Chrysler has been the leading automobile company manufacturing various motor vehicles such as the Chrysler Six; which was the one of the first modern cars to be built. Chrysler Six was claimed to be the first car scoring several firsts, for instance, oil filter, air cleaner, high compression engine, four wheeled hydraulic brakes and other such tech parts. Chrysler took over its competitor, American Motors Corporations in 1987. This was one of its initial mergers and acquisitions that placed Chrysler on the third position of United States auto manufacturers. On the 12th of January 1998, Chrysler Corporation merged with the German company, Daimler. In the period leading up to the merger, both companies were experiencing high profit growths. Daimler admired Chryslers entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking while Chrysler respected the methodological engineering and technical capabilities of Daimler. The two companies were interested in a merger as it would complement their capabilities and resources which would produce greater profits. The merger was touted as a corporate merger of equals and held high expectations among all stakeholders of the organizations (Darling, Seristo, Gabrielsson, 2005). Soon after the merger, both subgroups experienced various conflicts due to different national and corporate cultures, business practices, management and leadership styles and inefficient communication networks. Negotiations between senior leaders frizzled and led to the lay-off of then Chryslers CEO, Robert Eaton. Due to the lack of management support, communication and the eventual domination of Daimlers culture over Chryslers, key executives who had been credited with Chryslers success in the 1990s left the organization. This resulted in a management brain drain which evolved into a crisis situation for DaimlerChrysler. Subsequently, an organizational restructuring, production cutbacks and cost cutting measures were announced. However, it was unable to resolve the crisis and thus faced huge losses which eventually resulted in a merger failure. Chrysler dropped from its third position in the United States automobiles chart when it went through a merger with Daimler-Benz. Although it was a merger of equals, it was soon overridden by Daimler-Benz due to Globalization, Classical Approaches, Systems Approaches, Management Styles, Leadership Processes as well as Culture. Soon it was realised that Daimler and Chrysler could not function successfully, and thus in 2009 DaimlerChrysler filed for bankruptcy which left a mark on the history of United States automobiles. The main focus of our report will centre on Chrysler, throughout the period before and during its merger with Daimler, and how internal and external factors affected its operations. GLOBALIZATION When Chrysler first started out, it scored several firsts in the industry such as an oil filter, air cleaner, high compression engine, four-wheel hydraulic brakes, and other advanced Chrysler parts. As the company progressed on, it went through several disturbances in its environment continuing into its merger with Daimler. Globalization started taking its toll on Chrysler.Globalization, according to Miller, K. (2009), is the improvement of transportation and telecommunications system making our world, both on a personal and organizational level ever more connected, efficient and interconnected towards a more global economy (p. 2). Chrysler embarked on its journey of manufacturing efficient automobiles through various improvements such as significantly expanding the electronics and computer content on vehicles, with applications ranging from power train controls for improved fuel economy and reduced emissions, to enhanced safety systems and chassis controls and to on-board communication systems. Moving on in the years, Chrysler developed vehicles using outdated and expensive structures even as its sales and resources shrinked. Since Chryslers business was heavily weighted to North America, this made the organisation more vulnerable to local economic fluctuations and less able to take advantage of developing markets, as stated by the New York Times. Climate change also made an impact on Chrysler. As Stephen J. G. said, The decision to drive cars long distances to work was common among people in North America and Europe in the past 60 years. Cities grew larger. The development of suburbs often placed homes far from work places; massive road construction encouraged extravagant car useà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Driving a car is the most air polluting act an average citizen commits. Chrysler produced auto vehicles that were manufactured without any consideration to its environment. Stephen J. G. (2008), said that Chrysler faced criticisms for their larger vehicles as they were exploiting the innate human tendency to seek domination over othersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Bigger is better. However, in 2009, due to climate change, Chrysler changed their tactics, targeting buyers with their higher fuel efficiency and smaller automobiles. Soon after, Chrysler came up with a Hybrid car which boasted fuel efficiency. Chrysler is further expanding on this idea by following it through till 2011 by making new models of the car but using the same technology, for instance, the electric vehicle Dodge Ev. We can view Chrysler in two different views, namely the Utopian view and the Dystopian view. For the Utopian view, we know that Chrysler will continue to change along with globalization and expand its horizons further than North America. It can also adapt with other cultures and societies by learning from its past and bringing it forward to use it in its future. Despite several downfalls, Chrysler always manages to pick itself up and survive through mergers, with Daimler in 1998 and Fiat in 2009. In terms of the dystopian view, clearly, due to its several changes, Chrysler is losing its original organizational structure. Chrysler is maintaining its image by retaining the Chrysler logo for its automobiles despite merging with various other organizations. Nevertheless, even though Chrysler has worked hard to preserve its external image, it has undeniably lost its charm to potential buyers and its customer base. SYSTEMS APPROACHES During the period of cultural change in the 1990s, Chrysler made some improvements to its organizational system. It increased the involvement of people in its operations which improved the permeability of its operations with its suppliers and customers. Before the merger with Daimler, Chryslers management had allowed permeability in its operations in which there was a two way communication between Chrysler and its customers through feedback and information flows. Recognizing the importance of receiving information from customers for improving their focus on development, Chryslers system processes utilized positive, growth and deviation amplifying feedback. In which, customers were requested to provide feedback about their products. Through processing these inputs from customers and workers, Chrysler modified its products to achieve higher profits (Zatz, 1994). In addition, Chrysler improved its system properties namely, holism and negative entropy. The CEO, designers and assembly line workers held meetings together to create and gather information and ideas. This resulted in the creation of successful products by the company (Zatz, 1994). This shows the property of holism where the end product achieved was greater in value than what the employees could have created individually. Chrysler also practiced negative entropy as it valued customers feedback and provided information of its operations to the public. However, after the merger with Daimler, Chryslers existing organizational system processes and properties were replaced by the dominant Daimlers system. This resulted in organizational restructuring, production cutbacks, cost cutting measures and numerous worker layoffs. The loss of Chryslers successful system resulted in high losses for DaimlerChrysler (Darling et al, 2005). The merger also brought about a high level of uncertainty among employees of Chrysler. According to Cervone, T (2009), communication was an area where DaimlerChrysler fell apart, because there were differences about what needed to be communicated and how to communicate. Daimlers style of communication was solely top-down management communication. However, Chrysler used a more in-depth and extensive communication network with its employees. Therefore as employees were unable to receive important information after the merger, equivocality was high among employees of Chrysler. This was due to the different enactments by employees which created multiple informational environments due to the limited information received in the communication networks. Karl Weicks Theory of Organizing states that reducing equivocality is central to the process of organizing in an organization. It also states that through the use of assembly rules and communication cycles, equivocality should be resolved. In the case of DaimlerChrysler, no effort was made to reduce equivocality and this eventually resulted in the departure of key executives of the organization, creating huge losses for the merger (Darling et al, 2005). The period of merger was a time of uncertainty, disorder and constant conflicts among employees of Daimler and Chrysler. There were various conflicts that stemmed from a vast difference in national and corporate cultures, conflicts on compensation as well as travel expenses. Failure to integrate or assimilate the organizational practices and cultures of both companies created disorder in the merger. Furthermore, the period after Chryslers CEO was fired by Daimler due to differences and the subsequent domination of Daimlers management, pulled Chryslers employees further into disorder (Darling et al, 2005). The New Science Systems Theory states that when systems are at the edge of chaos, order can emerge from disorder. It emphasizes the importance of relationships and being open to information to create new and innovative organizational processes. The high level of disorder present in the merger could have been advantageously used by the management of DaimlerChrysler to create a sustainable and innovative new system. However, as there were problems in the management itself and a lack of information flow and disharmony among employees in the organization, this opportunity was lost to DaimlerChrysler. CLASSICAL APPROACHES As with most German companies, Daimler embodied the concept of absolute formality. There was a high emphasis placed on the respect that junior workers had to show those higher up in the hierarchy, and it was expected of workers to take extreme care not to make mistakes when names and titles were concerned. Chrysler, being an American company, was practically the complete opposite of this. There was very little emphasis placed on hierarchies within the company, and the management encouraged a very comfortable, relaxed atmosphere. Many a time, mid-level executives could make decisions without fear of negative repercussions from higher-ups. In fact, it was this spontaneity and risk-taking attitude that Chryslers success was partially attributed to. (Vance Paik, 2006.) Upon the merger of the two companies, the actions of Daimler-side co-chairman Schrempp made it clear that despite touting the merge as a marriage of equals, Daimler was still fighting to retain dominance in the newly merged DaimlerChrysler. The Chrysler executives were used to ensuring that their opinions were heard by the rest of the board, no matter what their level was in the corporate hierarchy. This style of communication was unheard of in German companies, and Schrempp felt so threatened by this openness that he removed them from the company to preserve his position and power. (Badrtalei Bates, 2007.) Schrempp also axed some individuals from the post-merger management board, and a large majority of those fired hailed from the Chrysler division. Communications-wise, we can see that Daimler favored a top-down, formal style of communication within the company as seen from their strict hierarchy and style of decision-making. Chrysler, on the other hand, preferred to encourage an open floor of discussion, allowing as many employees as possible to participate and took their input into consideration. The main mistake committed by the DaimlerChryslers managerial board was that of being far too rigid when it came to the issue of communications within the company. (Vance Paik, 2006.) In Daimler-Benz, all decisions were made by a board of management executives in the main headquarters in Germany. Those in the lower levels of management had no power in making decisions, as everything would first have to be put past those at the very top of the corporate hierarchy. This cost the company their stability in the time period immediately after the merger, where many problems had the tendency to occur. Despite Chryslers executives being those who were used to making decisions on their own, without having to go through higher levels of authority, they were unable to make any quick decisions which might have saved the company due to Daimlers insistence on forcing them to adopt German style of decision making, which was an arduous, intricate process, and thus took a very long time. Although Frederick Taylors theory of Scientific Management offers that there is only one best way to accomplish any task, the case of DaimlerChryslers failed merger shows that this is not necessarily so there are situations which call for spontaneous, quick thinking as well. (Badrtalei Bates, 2007.) The reason for Chryslers apparent assimilation into Daimler, as opposed to there being a stabilized platform of equals between the two, was made clear by the remark passed by Schrempp in an interview conducted in October 2000. In it, it was insinuated that the German co-chairman had intended for it to be an acquisition of Chrysler instead of a merger of equals from the very beginning. This was ironically the exact same view that Chrysler chairman Robert Eaton had rejected so vehemently. It is then easy to see exactly why such a large majority of the Chrysler executives (about two thirds) had been either fired or left the company and replaced by managers from the Daimler corporate grid (Darling et al., 2005). DaimlerChryslers Hierarchy MANAGEMENT STYLE Despite many labelling the merger of DaimlerChrysler as the deal of the century (Keegan, 2005) where the merger of equals would bring out the best of both organisations, DaimlerChrysler went under major crisis after their merger. According to Darling, Seristo and Gabrielsson (2005), crisis is defined to be situations that interrupt an organisations usual activity and process (pp. 346-347). Crisis occurred within the newly merged company due to a few reasons; Firstly, the merger of Daimler and Chrysler resulted in irreconcilable differences in its managerial and leaderships styles. Managerial-leadership, or the lack of it, makes or breaks an organisation in times of crisis. According to Blake and Moutons Managerial Grid, Chryslers management belonged to the Country club style of management, where organisational leaders exhibited a high concern for its people as compared to the low concern for production. Chrysler, being an American based company, had its managers concentrating efforts on the establishment of a pleasant workplace with friendly and comfortable human relations. On the other hand, Daimler exercised the authority compliance style of management. As quoted from Daimlers Chairman Dieter Zetsche, Daimler systematically train [their] employees so that every one of them clearly understands that compliance is not optional its an integral element of [their] corporate culture (2009), which is characterised as high concern for production and low concern for people. The organisations main objective would be to ensure that its managers focus on arrangements of components in the workplace to maximize efficiency and attain goals. Hence, unlike the American based Chrysler, German Daimler management had little concern for human needs. According to Darling et al. (2005), The DaimlerChrysler merger à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ was not an ordinary merger. This merger had embedded within it the existence of two very strong yet different organizational cultures that were expected to become integrated to facilitate achievement of the goals and objectives of the merged cross-cultural global enterprise. Failure to successfully integrate the two cultures gave rise to a crisis that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ threaten[ed] the existence of DaimlerChrysler. As there was no clear distinction of a culture after the merger, employees from both companies encountered various intergroup conflicts. These conflicts escalated during the interactions of these now interdependent sub bodies of an organisation that lived in mistrust and continued to perceive opposition of goals, aims, and values, each perceiving the other party as potentially interfering with the realization of these goals. Both companies failed to drop their existing organizational culture and find a shared direction or vision. The merger was thus marked by deep distrust between the two subgroups, as could be seen from how Daimler and Chrysler both openly showed their conflict. They failed to reach a compromise, much less a collaboration to solve the differences to resolve the conflict. Many later commented that the DaimlerChrysler merger was nothing more than an outright acquisition of Chrysler by the German automaker (Keegan, 2005). American President of Chrysler group Jim Holden, together with the management, was eventually replaced by Zetsche and the German management from Daimler, who tries to instil the German practice on the American organisation, hence causing the organisational culture of Chrysler to be dominated by the Daimler management. As the merged organisation fought to survive in the highly competitive manufacturing sector, they adopted the Likerts System I due to the Blake and Moutons Authority-Compliance leadership style, the exploitative authoritative organisation, which is characterised by motivation through downward communication, top-level decision making, the giving of orders, and top level control. Although the strict hierarchical regime might have worked with the German Daimler, it only served as a harsh culture shock to American based Chrysler. Chrysler and Daimler succeeded on their own because of their unique features. Merging without collaboration simply meant that their uniqueness had to be sacrificed, hence causing them to lose their edge in the market. LEADERSHIP PROCESSES After the merger of DaimlerChrysler both subgroups experienced a high level of change. Many problems surfaced during the organizational change process. Firstly there was a lack of management support by Daimler and Chryslers management. According to Darling et al. (2005), Chryslers CEO, Robert Eaton who was in charge of the integration of the two companies, lacked the leadership skills or political savvy needed to help the new entity develop a unique culture that represented the best of both worlds. Secondly there was inconsistent action on the part of the management on both sides. Daimler-Benz and Chrysler both had extremely different styles of management and corporate culture. As a result, both companies experienced clashes in operational practices during and after the merger, which quickly escalated in intensity and frequency to the point where the merged company found itself entering a state of crisis (Darling et al, 2005). The leaders of DaimlerChrysler were thus unable to form a clear management vision to be shared with others in the organization. Ownership tension, characterized in this case by these two issues, hampered the successful implementation change efforts and subsequently resulted in a failed merger. In addition, communication between the two subgroups was poor. Daimler practiced an autocratic top down communication style, while Chrysler used an in depth and extensive communication style (Cervone, 2010). As the cultures and communication networks of the two subgroups were not assimilated, there was no clear communication network to both subgroups. Also there were differences about what needed to be communicated. This resulted in uncertainty and anxiety among all organizational members. Despite the multitude of problems experienced by DaimlerChrysler, during the change process, there was no clear effort by the leaders to successfully implement the change process by providing effective management support and reducing uncertainty for organizational members. These problems escalated and subsequently became one of the main factors that caused the merger failure. CULTURE In the early 1990s, Chrysler experienced several problems that stemmed from a lack of a strong culture in the organization. Chrysler was historically known for its innovation but along the years, lost its core value by producing outdated products. Its relationships with its customers and various stakeholders deteriorated. These problems adversely affected the companys profits (Zatz, 1994). In order to boost its falling profits, Chrysler made efforts to create a strong organizational culture that increased individual and organizational performance to greater levels. Chrysler began by revamping its core assumption of innovation with a multitude of effective values. These values supported individual participation, growth and improvement in processes which resulted in an overall increase in organizational performance. They are also described as themes for excellent cultures by Peter and Waterman. The values Chrysler incorporated are; the involvement of people in which ideas were solicited from suppliers, customers wants and needs were collated via customer feedback, assembly line workers were included in the planning process and mechanics were consulted early in the process. The value of learning or the Hands-on, value driven theme in which members actively took part in the analysis of past mistakes and achievements in order to improve their overall processes was implemented. In addition the value of quality was created. Chrysler had in place a product quality improvement partnership program to improve quality by increasing teamwork. This is similar to the theme of Simultaneous loose-tight properties as employees exhibited a unity of purpose of achieving quality through diversity in the form of teamwork. The program was a success as it produced the 1966 Grand Cherokee and Chrysler PT cruiser which consistently appeared at the top of the quality charts (Zatz, 1994). These values were encouraged by top management and in time, supported by all employees. This form of synergy was represented in the organizations behaviours and artefacts. Chrysler adopted a participative decision making style, practised wide communication on all networks, implemented low power distance which resulted in a freewheeling open culture that was indifferent to positions or hierarchy. Chryslers Onion Model in the 1990s In 1998, Chrysler merged with Daimler. The merger was touted as the merger of equals. However, Daimler and Chrysler failed to consider the vast differences in their national cultures during merger negotiations. This led to conflicting corporate cultures, unresolved problems and ultimately a failed merger (Darling et al, 2005). The German culture of Daimler-Benz was generally less individualistic then Americans. They were uncomfortable with anxiety and ambiguity, practised indirectness in communication and gave respect for title, age and background. While, Daimlers culture consisted of an autocratic leadership style, top- down management and limited involvement of employees. Daimler was characterized as being conservative, efficient and safe. This collided with Chryslers values and opposed its American values of a free-wheeling and open culture. They were characterized as being risk-taking and innovative. Therefore, misunderstandings soon occurred due to the differences in their communication styles, planning and decision-making processes and leadership styles (Darling et al, 2005). During the merger, there were long heated discussions between the CEOs of Daimler and Chrysler about the differences in their corporate cultures and behavioural traits. They recognized the differences but were unsure of how to assimilate the cultures. Finally, they decided that if the differences were far apart, they would pick a spot in the middle and they would merge (Cervone, 2010). By doing so, the CEOs failed to recognize that organizational cultures are often ambiguous. There are potentially multiple manifestations to a corporate culture which are diverse and dynamic. Thus, picking a spot in the middle of two different cultures will not create an effective culture for DaimlerChrysler. Also, organizational cultures are not unitary. It is impossible to characterize an organization as having a single culture as there are multitudes of subcultures existing in conflict or harmony with one another. As such, the CEOs decision to pick a culture that is midway between their cultures will not result in success. This would fail to recognize the subcultures within the organization that largely impacts its behaviours and decisions. In addition, organizational cultures are complicated. Integrating two independent companies with divergent cultures into one cohesive organization is a major undertaking (Zatz, 1994). Simply picking a culture will not create a sustainable culture for DaimlerChrysler. This objectifies culture by simplifying it and de-emphasizing the complex processes via which organizational culture is created and sustained. Culture is in actuality pervasive and it affects the everyday business of the firm (Weber, Camerer, 2003). Thus, more effort is needed to collaborate both cultures. The leaders should create joint basic assumptions and related values for the organization. This would create a shared meaning among all employees and subcultures which would in turn create similar behavioural traits. This level of synergy in cultures will result in success for DaimlerChrysler. Furthermore, organizational cultures are emergent. It is a product of constant interrelationships between organizational members in different contexts and settings. After the merger, cultural workshops were put in place to integrate both subgroups of the company. These workshops were not supported by both members and thus failed. Subsequently, no other efforts were made by the management to integrate the members. As no clear distinction of a culture was made, Daimlers culture grew to be more dominant and oppressing to employees of Chrysler. Employees became increasingly dissatisfied and there were constant cultural collisions in the interrelationships between Daimler and Chryslers employees. This led to the departure of key Chrysler executives who had led the company to success in its domestic and international markets for creativity, efficiency and profitability. As a result, the companies faced huge losses (Zatz, 1994). This situation could have been avoided by integrating employees of both corporations. By creating opportunities for employees to interact in settings such as orientation of members to the newly merged company, company events, department dinners or joint work teams, would have increased familiarity and created cohesive relationships between employees. Also, communication networks should be expanded and fully utilized to disseminate information during the merger in order to reduce uncertainty and increase support of the merger. These methods would have allowed a cohesive culture among members of both companies to emerge over time. CONCLUSION Why was Chrysler a success? Chrysler initially pioneered several automobile parts, making it more accepted in the automobile market. After being criticised for not being environmentally friendly, Chrysler replied to the criticisms by introducing a new line of automobiles such as Hybrid cars and electric cars in the Dodge EV series and brought the brand back into demand. Why was DaimlerChrysler a failure? The merger of Daimler and Chrysler did not thrive as many people had predicted. It would have became the collaboration of the century if only they had managed to solve the problems that occurred within the newly formed DaimlerChrysler. The issues they faced were: There were problems with the organizational system processes of the newly merged organization. Chrysler, on its own, constantly strived to improve its system properties, for instance, holism and negative entropy. However after it was merged with Daimler, they went under organizational restructuring, production cutbacks, cost cutting measures and numerous worker layoffs resulting in a high level of uncertainty among employees due to limited information received in communication network. Daimler embodied the concept of absolute formality, while Chrysler placed very little emphasis on hierarchies within the company. Furthermore, Daimler was still fighting to retain dominance in the newly merged DaimlerChrysler. The main mistake committed by the DaimlerChryslers managerial board was them being far too rigid when it came to the issue of communications within the company. The lack of a suitable managerial-leadership also caused a crisis. Daimler exercised the authority compliance style of management over Chryslers style of management of the Country club. The merger was thus marked by deep distrust when they failed to even reach a compromise to resolve their conflict. Chrysler experienced several problems that stemmed from a lack of a strong culture in the organization. Chrysler was historically known for its innovation but along the years, lost its core value by producing outdated products. Daimler and Chrysler failed to consider the vast differences in their national cultures and assimilate them during merger negotiations, thus causing DaimlerChrysler to lose its edge in the market, which ultimately led to a failed merger. What they should have done to solve the problems? During the negotiations prior to the merger, leaders of Daimler and Chrysler should have identified the vast differences in the national and corporate cultures of both companies. As both of the companies merged to complement their capabilities and resources, the domination and oppression of Daimlers culture over Chrysler adversely affected the merger. Chrysler experienced a loss of culture and an erosion of its successful values which reduced its overall capability. Therefore, the leaders of DaimlerChrysler should have exhibited cultural sensitivity and emotional intelligence to facilitate the growth of a cohesive culture. Through the collaboration of shared meanings and values, DaimlerChrysler would have created a successful merger. What happened to Chrysler in the end? Chryslers sales tumbled 30 percent in 2008 and it ended the year with only $2 billion in cash and reliant on a government bailout to keep it afloat. After which Fiat took an interest in Chrysler after thorough research of whether it will have minimal downside and be profitable. As JP Morgans analyst Himanshu Patel said, the merger for both Fiat and Chrysler could help the U.S. automaker secure another round of bailout funds. This is a strategic alliance, said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer with Solaris Asset Management in New York By Gilles Castonguay and Poornima Gupta We hope that Chrys

Organic Foods: They Are Only Natural! Essay -- Health Benefits of Orga

When going to the grocery store or supermarket, people have a one track mind. Their one and only concern is food, food, and more food. Most shoppers come prepared with a list, so they can get in, get the supplies they need, and go happily on their way. Some shoppers tend to pick out brand name or well advertised products. Others prefer the brands they grew up with as kids. However, many choose the money saving route and buy only the items that are on sale or the cheap knock-offs of the original. With all these different kinds of shopping habits, do any of these customers stop and think about what items might be the best for their families and the world? Do the consumers know where their products come from, and how they were produced? There is one item on the shelves that states it directly on the label. This item is organic food. Organic foods may be found in multiple stores and supermarkets now, and shoppers are becoming more and more aware of them. Organic foods are produced for t he benefit of people and the environment in terms of how they are grown, raised, and processed; additionally, their cost, availability, and health benefits play dominant roles in human and environment welfare as well. In fact, organic foods are beneficial to society because of the way they are grown and maintained. â€Å"Organic farming is based on the idea of producing healthy, natural organic food, keeping the soil healthy, encouraging and enhancing biodiversity, and using sustainable farming methods,† stated Healthy Eating Made Easy (â€Å"What Are 1†). Organic farms do not use synthetic, artificial fertilizers or pesticides on crops; only biological pesticides, pesticides from natural resources, are used. Natural fertilizers include manure and compost to ... ... not only a healthy choice for a single person, but also a choice for future generations and the world. Works Cited Byrum, Allison. â€Å"Report Confirms More Health Benefits of Organic Food.† American Chemical Society 3 Mar. 2003. 1-2. Web. 4 Mar. 2010. Healthy Eating Made Easy. â€Å"What Are Organic Foods?† Healthy Eating Made Easy 1-3. Web. 4 Mar. 2010. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. â€Å"Why Organic Food Is Better Food.† Planet Maine 1-3. Web. 4 Mar. 2010. Mayo Clinic Staff. â€Å"Organic foods: Are they safer? More nutritious?† Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research 20 Dec. 2008. 1-5. Web. 7 Mar. 2010. Organic Facts. â€Å"Health Benefits of Organic Food.† Organic Facts 1-2. Web. 4 Mar. 2010. Organic Fruits and Vegetables. Philippines Manila News. 10 Sep. 2008. Web. 10 Mar. 2010. USDA Label. The B.S. Report. 30 Jul. 2009. Web. 10 Mar. 2010.

John Bunyan: The Pilgrim’s Progress

Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ is considered one of most famous allegorical novels in English Literature. The story is about Christian’s spiritual journey going through various phases of temptations and trials. Published in 1678, The Pilgrim’s Progress is an inspirational aid for applying an evangelical view of Protestant Biblical to the trials in life.The value of The Pilgrim's Progress to the Puritans is extremely effective aid to applying an evangelical view of Protestant Biblical theology to the trials faced in human’s life portrayed effectively through various images and allegorical characters. Through its images, allegorical characters (Christian, Evangelist, Help, etc), and allegorical places (â€Å"City of Destruction† = earth, â€Å"Celestial City† = heaven, â€Å"Tophet† = hell) Pilgrim’s Progress Bunyan effectively show readers about spiritual journey in Christianity.Allegories are very popular rega rding that they are the simplest way to educate to and to confirm people’s belief system. An allegory is designed to illustrate a coherent doctrine, which exists outside the fiction. The important matters in allegory is not the adequacy, coherence, or consistency of the doctrine which is being illustrated in the story, however, it is how the words deals with the belief system.Everything in the story bears the point of reference to more specific aspect of the controlling doctrine, which the fiction is illustrating. Allegories do tend to be philosophical, also has its nature of affecting readers psychologically, and Bunyan has succeeded using this convenience to help the readers understanding the spiritual gloom. His success can be measured by its part of metaphorical personifications, which have entered the public vocabulary, as he used these encounters: Slough of Despond, Apollyon, Giant Despair, and Ignorance.Thus we can conclude that Bunyan has been triumphant in playing wi th images and allegory through out the novel effectively. Reference: Henri Talon, John Bunyan: The Man and His Works . Harvard University Press, 1951. Robert G. Collmer, Bunyan in Our Time . Kent State University Press, 1989. Vera Brittain;, Valiant Pilgrim: The Story of John Bunyan and Puritan England . Macmillan, 1950. Galen K. Johnson, â€Å"The Portable Bunyan: A Transnational History of the Pilgrim's Progress . † Christianity and Literature, (2005):

Organizational Structure Paper: Bank of America Essay

Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions not only within the U. S. but around the world as well. Its beginning rooted from a small bank called Bank of Italy that was established by Amadeo Peter Giannini and his son in San Francisco, California in 1904 (Bank of America Heritage. , 2012). At the time of establishment its initial reason of existence was to service those that were turned away from other banks; most were farmers who had come from Italy (â€Å"Encyclopedia Britannica â€Å", 2011). Today Bank of America provides services for almost 60 million consumers its new headquarters is now in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1958, Bank of America was also the first to create a bank card called BankAmeriCard, which allowed customers to access their accounts and charge purchases to them as well. Corporate Structures There are different types of corporate organizational structures; vertical structures and horizontal structures. The vertical structure consists of a hierarchically structured organization where all management activities are controlled by a centralized management staff (Bateman, T.  S. , & Snell, S. A. , 2011). This is more of a traditional type of organization such as that of Bank of America that often develops strong bureaucratic control over all organizational activities. Unlike a horizontal structure which is one of decentralization of power and or control. At least within specific departments an emphasis is placed on horizontal collaboration, rather than conceiving of leadership as one person always being in control. Leadership is often shared among team leaders and members shifting to the person with the most knowledge or expertise in the matter. Within the horizontal structure there are also other types of sub organizational structures; The Functional Organization (Departmentalization around specialized activities), The Divisional Organization (units around products, customers, or geographic regions), The Matrix Organization (managers report to two superiors) and The Network Organization (independent mostly single-function firms that collaborate on a good or service), (Bateman, T. S. , & Snell, S. A. , 2011). A company such as Bank of America may determine if they have the right structure by looking at their firm’s activities and how well they meet their goals and those of the firm’s stakeholders. Bank of America Structure The initial structure for The Bank of Italy (now called Bank of America) in 1904 was comprised of its CEO (Amadeo Peter Giannini) and a small board of directors. The initial corporate structure for this entity could be described as a classic horizontal structure where the CEO occupies the top position and is the senior member of top management. The top managerial level also included a board of directors without any additional management till the bank began to expand and merge with a variety of other financial corporations. The merging of Bank of America with other corporations such as Nations Bank, Fleet Boston and Merrill Lynch amongst others that had different organizational structures created the need for the new bank to restructure its own organization (Bank of America Heritage 2012). The current structure is comprised of a CEO, CFO, COO, a board of directors and an international operations team amongst others that report directly to the CEO. Although the CEO is the leading executive; this functional organization also shows indicatives of having a divisional structure because of its departmentalization that groups units around products and geographic regions. This type of organization can be best described as a matrix organizational structure (Joseph, 2012). The matrix structure is a combination of the functional and divisional structures. The former divides departments within a company by the functions performed, while the latter divides them by products, customers or geographical location. The organizational structure used by the bank is atypical because it brings together employees and managers from different departments to work toward accomplishing a goal. A disadvantage of having a matrix organizational tructure is that it is expensive to maintain (Joseph, 2012). A company’s overhead cost typically increases because of the need for double management; not that this would be a huge problem for a financial institution of this measure (Joseph, 2012). The structure is influenced by the dynamics and size of the corporation; its marketing, finance, human resources, and operations departments can also be found overseas running its international banking institutions. The matrix structure allows Bank of America to have the flexibility of a divisional structure by helping the separate divisions act almost as separate businesses or profit centers and work autonomously to accomplish the goals of the entire enterprise. While the functional structure used by large companies such as this one may organize along several different functional groupings unique to their businesses; an example is that of Bank of America, having separate management for those in charge of the international and domestic aspect of the business (Bateman, T.  S. , & Snell, S. A. 2011). Conclusion As corporations are born they are simplified in structure, as they grow and possibly merge with other corporations; there comes a time to cater to the new needs and demands of the management structure. With any corporation the foundation is always a CEO or president however how a company decides to structure and organize its employees and decision makers can be the key difference between a failing and successful company. It takes careful analyzing of the business to accurately determine which structure may best suit the organization’s needs and even then it may take a few changes to find the right fit. Bank of America has come a long way from its beginnings and along the way it has been able to adapt to new structures. Part of its success comes from its organizational structure; Bank of America has thrived and become a successful financial corporation that has since conception not only helped itself but others that in times of great need was able to help finance things such as movie projects, and the construction of the golden gate bridge.

20 Topics for an Anxiety Disorder Case Study

20 Topics for an Anxiety Disorder Case Study When a student has to write an anxiety disorder case study, he or she should not only find a proper case but also be aware of the topic and everything that concerns the matter. That’s why such academic assignment is quite difficult and challenging. 20 Topics for You to Choose A student has to choose a good topic and base it on some concrete case study. For example, one can write about post-traumatic stress disorder in general and then proceed to a particular case study. Here are 20 sample topics for a case study research. Many People Suffer from Insomnia. Do All of Them Have Anxiety Disorder or Do Sleeping Problems Signify Something Else? How not Acquire Anxiety Disorders When You Are a Lonely Woman about 35? When Is It Time to Worry: How to Recognize First Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder in Children and Adults? Can Hormonal Imbalance and Bad Immune System Cause an Anxiety Disorder Case? Treating an Anxiety Disorder Case: What to Do if the Dream Doesn’t Come True Can Physical Exercising Help a Person Get Rid of Anxiety Disorders? What Mobile Apps Can Help to Treat Anxiety Disorders? Medicines with Natural Ingredients vs. Drugs with Artificial Components: What Remedy to Choose to Treat Anxiety Disorders Pros and Cons of Group Therapy for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorder Cases Do Animals Suffer Anxiety Disorders and Do They Become Dangerous because of That? Advantages and Disadvantages of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorder Cases The Role of Social Media in Anxiety Disorder Progress (cyberbullying, false friends, â€Å"a gallery play†, fake relationships and love affairs, etc.) Five Major Reasons for Anxiety Disorders in Children: Family Problems, Inability of Self-Realization,   Drug Dependence, Stress, and Genetics Can a Person Suffer from Anxiety Disorders and Be Successful? Treating an Anxiety Disorder Case: Is It Possible to â€Å"Kill† Genetics and Give Birth to a Healthy Child? How to Manage Anxiety Disorders If You Live in the Third-World Country? What Are the Reasons for Social Anxiety Disorder and How Can People Fulfill Themselves when Having It? Why Do People with High IQ Often Suffer from Anxiety Disorders? Do Elite Athletes Risk Getting Anxiety Disorders after Their Failure or Retire? Pros and Cons of Practicing Mindfulness by Patients with Anxiety Disorders General investigation on the topic allows getting information about the issue, and concrete case study lets a person check the theory based on some examples. Mind to use appropriate facts to support each of these topics. The Sample: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Case Study Post-traumatic stress disorder occurs when people overcome some situation that had caused both mental and physical injury. Almost seventy percent of adults have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder in some way in the United States of America. That’s approximately 224 million people. Women are more likely to develop this particular disorder. The reason for PTSD can be different. Some people get into an automobile crash, a number of individuals survive after assaults committed by animals and people, some persons are injured at war and during military service, and some people overcome natural disasters. These reasons are considered to be serious ones. There are other events which can lead to PTSD. For example, a person can go for a walk and get scared by the sudden appearance of the barking dog. The dog cannot even touch a person but the person will be afraid of other dogs. Why? When a human being sees something unexpected one can either become paralyzed or think of possible outcomes of the situation. In the first case, shock awakes nightmares and recalls to negative information about dog’s bites which a person has heard of or seen somewhere. Due to that, this person may get PTSD that will follow his or her till the last breath. The object of the study is a man over 40 who used to be a military man. He became a disabled veteran and had to come back home. In addition to his traumas and after-war rehabilitation, he realized that he had acquired post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s a common problem of people who have been engaged in the military service. Military men follow certain rules and get commands. They are sure that their partner will protect his back and vice versa. Everybody trusts everyone there because that’s how they live and serve. When such people come back home, they realize that they cannot trust anybody. By the way, they have to deal with other serious problems. They don’t feel safe anywhere. Consequently, they try to isolate and avoid places inhabited by a great number of people. The vet (the object of the research) turned to have such problems as well. He had to rent a house in the wood far away from the town. He owned a 20-acre farm with lots of birds and geese which were his private guards. He didn’t trust anyone, including his own family. He woke up at night, took a rifle and went around his house to check if everything was alright. His family and friends thought that he would get over that. They couldn’t understand him and that was the main problem. He had only one friend who also was a disabled vet and who did really understand his state of mind. Soon, he started suffering from headaches, insomnia, muscle stiffness, paranoia, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety. His after-war life became his daily burden. In addition, he had a two-year-old son and a wife. He felt desperate because he didn’t know how to protect them. That’s why he decided to visit his physician. After some medical tests, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He took some medicines (Clonazepam, Cogentin, Florinal, Levothyroxine, Haldol, and Chlorpromazine) to cope with headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and muscle spasms. He had also to visit his psychiatrist and communicate with other disabled veterans who had already treated or at least delayed the symptoms of PTSD. Such rehabilitation and course of medical treatment helped him to sleep better and feel less worried. He also managed to give up taking the drugs but it had not changed his attitude towards people (he still doesn’t trust them). References: PTSD United. PTSD Statistics. ptsdunited.org/ptsd-statistics-2/ FQ Facts. Case Study 2. fqfacts.com/case-studies/case-studies-anxiety-disorders/ A. Bystritsky(2013). Current Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3628173/ MAYO CLINIC. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967 MAYO CLINIC. Post-traumatic stress: How can you help your loved one? https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/expert-answers/post-traumatic-stress/faq-20057756 National Institute of Mental Health. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml

Logistic and supply chain management in retail The WritePass Journal

Logistic and supply chain management in retail Introduction: Logistic and supply chain management in retail Introduction:Background:Supply Chain Management- Definition:Opportunities enabled by Supply Chain ManagementValue-chain Analysis:Research Aim: Methodology:Bibliography:Related Introduction: In today’s rapidly changing business environment particularly in retails industry, there are ever-greater demands being placed on retailer and how they deliver goods (products) and services to their customers quicker, with greater added value, to the correct location, with no relevant inventory position, reduced damage or outdated goods, lost of earning to mention few. However, customers themselves are becoming more sophisticated, wanting more quality, design, innovation, choice, convenience and service, and they customers want to spend less money, effort, time and possibly with no risk. These has force more retailer to adopt continuous improvement, highly competitive and dynamic for survivor and sustainability. Hence, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Logistic and Value Chain management became the main topic for improving efficiency, revenue generation, retain customer loyalty, customer services and satisfy customer’s need. The supply chain in grocery retail industry consists of different departments, ranging from procurement of materials to customer service. Supply chain management means transforming a company’s â€Å"supply chain† into an optimally efficient, customer-satisfying process, where the effectively of the whole supply chain is more important than the effectiveness. Background: Lidl is a German chain of discount grocery stores that operates in numerous countries across Europe, in UK alone Lidl have about 568 outlets / supermarket stores. Lidls largest market is Germany where it competes with fellow German discounter and arch rival Aldi. In reading the paper, one must examine and understand the trend and shifts in retails industry business thinking. It is imperative to know the six major shifts in grocery retails business thinking that may suit Lidl grocery stores. The first shift is from cross-functional integration to cross-enterprise integration. The second: from physical efficiency to market mediation; The third: from supply chain to demand focus; The fourth: from Lidl single-company product design to collaborative, concurrent product, process, and supply-chain design; The fifth: from cost reduction to breakthrough business models; and The sixth from mass market supply to tailored offerings. Each shift entails has its own components whether it be integrating within or integrating across Lidl – the groceries retailer company. Supply Chain Management- Definition: Harrison and Hoek (2011, p.32) defines supply chain management as â€Å"SCM encompasses the planning and controlling of all processes involved in procurement, conversion, transportation and distribution across a supply chain. SCM includes coordination and collaboration between partners (suppliers, intermediaries, third party service providers, grocery retails outlets and customers). In essence, SCM integrates supply and demand management within and between companies in order to serve to serve the needs of the end-customer.† Supply chain management (SCM), also called logistics network, includes suppliers, industrialized centers, warehouses,   depots or distributions centers, and retail outlets, as well as unprocessed materials, work-in-progress stock, and finished goods that run linking the facilities. SCM is all about having the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time and in the right condition. In general terms, Supply chain management (SCM) is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the operations of the supply chain with the purpose to satisfy customer requirements as efficiently as possible. Supply chain management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, finished goods, delivery to various retailer depots / distribution centres and to all retail outlets for consumption. Opportunities enabled by Supply Chain Management These following strategic and competitive areas can be used to their full advantage if a supply chain management system is properly implemented. Fulfillment: Ensuring the right quality and quantity of products are delivered to retail outlet shelves for sale at the right time. This is enabled through efficient communication, ensuring that orders are placed with the appropriate amount of time available to be filled. The supply chain management system also allows retailers to constantly see what is on stock and making sure that the right quantities are ordered to replace stock Womack and Jones (1996) describe the lean enterprise as collaborative form spanning the supply chain and argues that supply chains should be organized around value streams to eliminate waste, responding to the pull of the product through the supply chain by customers, to eliminate stocks by organizing value-creating activities around flow, and further stated that the advantage is also to reduce markets to stable, predictable demand through collaboration and co-operation, rather than the turbulence created by conventional inter-firm competition and aggressive uncoordinated sales promotions. Logistics: Keeping the cost of transporting finished product to their respective outlet as low as possible consistent with safe and reliable delivery. Here the supply chain management system enables retailer to have constant contact with its depot/distribution centre and depots team, which could consist of trucks, trains, or any other mode of transportation. Christopher. M, (2005, p.4) defined â€Å"Logistics is the process of strategically managing the procurement, movement and storage of materials, parts and finished inventory (and the related information flows) through the organization and the marketing channels in such a way that current and future profitability are maximized through the cost-effective fulfillment of orders†. While Piercy (1997) explain that efficient consumer response is based on ‘co-operative partnerships’ between retailers and manufacturers who commit to collaborate in reducing costs in supply chain. Piercy (1997) highlighted efficient cons umer response is a powerful weapon which demonstrably reduces supply-chain costs but criticized for reducing consumer choices and competition and restricting manufacturer strategic development. Charles Dominick (Next Level Purchasing.com President) explains, â€Å"the three types of entities of a supply chain: customers, a producer, and the producers suppliers. The extended supply chain includes customers’ customers and suppliers’ suppliers. SCM oversees and optimizes the processes of acquiring inputs from suppliers (purchasing), converting those inputs into a finished product (production), and delivering those products – or outputs to customers (fulfillment).† Supply chain management strategies were designed to cut the number of suppliers and reduce purchasing costs; but wasn’t to manage supply risk.   Even today, while struggling through a global recession, there is little agreement between buyers and sellers at major manufacturing firms on what constitutes information technology.    There seems to be a universal agreement on what a supply chain is.    Some describe it as a network of autonomous or semi-autonomous business entities collectively responsible for procurement, manufacturing, and distribution activities associated with one or more families of related products.    While reading the passage many consumers are still concerned about what supply chain management really is and how it is applied to its companies. Value-chain Analysis: Porter (1985, p.114) identifies five primary activities which add value to the final output of a retail company: Inbound logistics; Operations; Outbound logistics; Marketing and sales activities and Services. In support of the primary activities of the value-chain, Porter also identified support activities. These are procurement, human resource development, technological development and infrastructure; all these feed into each stage of the primary activities of the value-chain. This value-chain gives room for logistic and supply chain management improvement and provides insight into retails competitors   Figure 1. The Value Chain Lehman and Winer (1991) suggest concentrating the value-chain analysis under five key competitor abilities: Ability to conceive and design; ability to produce; ability to market; ability to finance and ability to manage. Supply chain management is getting a lot of attention in e-business. Why? Because the existing supply chains are mostly outdated for the e-business era, in which inventories and costs must be eliminated wherever they are found. Traditional supply chains were designed in a time of modest competition and slow response time but for retailer such as Lidl to succeed in today’s customer-driven environment, Lidl must emulate Tesco and Sainsbury store and add value to way of delivering online sales and the logistic of supply to each customer in a value-for-money approach. Lidl have to streamline intercompany (manufacturer to Lidl depots/distribution centres) processes just as they do with processes that reside within a Lidl outlet’s boundaries. By reengineering the intercompany supply chain, corporate boundaries are becoming meaningless. The result: enormous payoffs for all partners in the chain. Research Aim: Evaluate Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Grocery Retail Industries in UK and identify where improvement in logistic is possible within retails firm of choice. To also examine the Impact of Supply Chain Management and identify if there is room for improvement Objectives: To investigate whether there is a balance between investing in front-end and back-end (from customer / shop floor to depot/warehouse and to manufacturers) operations. To understand logistics management in Lidl, explore for efficiency and effectiveness of supply chain in modern retail stores that maintain lower inventories than traditional retail. Explore supply chain perspective to help the UK retailers identify superior suppliers and distributors and help them improve productivity, which ultimately brings down the customers costs. Replicate its national supply chain model in UK for global presence, taking into account the unique features of the regional market and emphasize on local sourcing of goods within each outlet. Research Questions: Ques. 1:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Why do modern retails stores carry a lower inventory? Ques. 2:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Why do effective logistics reduces company and its customer cost in modern retails stores? Ques. 3:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How does modern retail gain a competitive advantage in the application of improved logistics and supply chain management? Methodology: A systems approach was planned for this research. A systems approach presumes an objective reality that can be (more or less) â€Å"discovered†, the systems approach means that the world can be thought of, and divided into different systems. Arbnor and Bjerke (1997, p.111) define a system as a â€Å"set of components and the relations among them†, where a component means e.g. a function or a department in Lidl – the groceries retailer company. The research will involve an explicative study based on the results of a survey, which will be conducted. The questionnaire will be formulate and sent to Lidl groceries retailer’s Head Office and outlets. If very little response is attained from questionnaire, the research will switch quickly to using qualitative methods (primarily face-to-face interviews) with key industry professionals, logistics division and middle to top management. Probably statistical representative of Lidl the grocery retailer company, these interviews when conducted may generate a set of indicative prioritize areas and provide room for improvement. Qualitative study may be more appropriate for this research because the main research will entails a lot of information that may not be quantified, such as the Lidl SCM strategies, logistics versus SCM perspectives, differentiation of services offering and uniqueness features of Lidl (grocery retails firm). Bibliography: Alan Harrison and Remko van Hoek (2011), Logistic Management and Strategy: Competing through the Supply Chain, 4th edition, Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Ronald H. Ballou (2004), Business Logistic’s Management: Planning, Organizing and Controlling the Supply Chain, 5th edition, London: Prentice Hall International. Christopher Martins (2005), Logistic and Supply Chain Management: Creating value-adding network, 3rd edition, NewYork: Financial Times Prentice Hall. David Simchi-Levi, Philip Kaminsky, Edith Simchi-Levi (2007): Designing and Managing the Supply Chain: Concepts, Strategies and Case Studies, (3rd Edition) New York: McGraw-Hill, New York, U.S.A. Porter, M. E. (1985), Competitive Advantage – Creating and sustaining superior performance, New York: The Free Press. Lehma, D.R and Winer, R.S. (1991), Analysis for Marketing Planning, 2nd edition, Homewood IL: Irwin. Simchi-Levi, D., P. Kaminsky and E. Simchi-Levi (2004): Managing the Supply Chain: The Definitive Guide for the Supply Chain Professional, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, U.S.A. Monczka, R., Trent, R. and Handfield, R. (2002), Purchasing and Supply Chain Management Knoxville, United States: Thompson Learning. Womack, J. P. and Jones, D. T. (1996), Lean Thinking: Banish waste and create wealth in your corporation, London: Simon and Schuster. Piercy, N. F. (1997), Market-Led Strategic Change: Transforming the process of going to market, 2nd edition, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Arbnor, I. and B. Bjerke (1997), Methodology for creating business knowledge; Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications Porter, M. (1980), Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. New York, Free Press. Moss Kanter, R. (1994). Collaborative Advantage: The Art of Alliances. Harvard Business Review, 72 (4) Larson, P. D., R. F. Poist and A. Halldorsson (2007), Perspectives on Logistics vs SCM: A Survey of SCM Professionals. Journal of Business Logistics, 28 (1), pp. 1-24. Charles Dominick; President Chief Procurement Officer, Next Level Purchasing, Inc. www.nextlevelpurchasing.com Arjan J.van Weele (2005), Purchasing and Supply Chain Management: Analysis, Strategy, Planning and Practice, 4th edition, London: Thomson Learning Mentzer, J.T.,   S. Min and Bobbitt. L. (2004), Toward a unified theory of logistics. International Journal of Physical Distribution Logistics Management, 34 (8), 606-27

How to Use Tables and Charts in Microsoft Word

How to Use Tables and Charts in Microsoft Word How to Use Tables and Charts in Microsoft Word You’ve done the hard work in the laboratory, taking precise measurements and recording them diligently. Now comes the time to write up your results. But how should you do this? Is there not some kind of clear, simple and visually striking way to present your data in a Microsoft Word document? Friend, you’ve come to the right place. In today’s blog post, we run through the basics of adding (and formatting) charts and tables in Microsoft Word. Adding a Chart or Graph Microsoft Word enables adding charts and graphs of many kinds in your document, from simple pie charts to 3D surface graphs. To do this, simply: Place the cursor where you want your chart to appear Go to â€Å"Insert† on the main ribbon and select â€Å"Chart† from the â€Å"Illustrations† section In the new window, pick the type of chart you want in your document and click â€Å"OK† Your chart will now appear in the position selected and an Excel spreadsheet window will open (called â€Å"Chart in Microsoft Word†) Edit the values and labels in the Excel window to reflect the data required for your chart To change the chart title, simply double click and type (you can also add a caption by right clicking on the chart and selecting â€Å"Insert Caption†¦) You can customize your chart further via the buttons that appear when you click on the chart (options include layout, chart elements, chart style, colors and the data you wish to be visible). Linking Excel and Word Alternatively, if you already have an Excel spreadsheet containing a chart, you can copy and paste this to a Microsoft Word document using the â€Å"Paste Special†¦Ã¢â‚¬  option on the â€Å"Home† tab (to select this, click the small arrow at the bottom of the normal â€Å"Paste† button). To do this, open the Excel spreadsheet in question and copy the relevant chart. Next, select â€Å"Paste Special.† You can then add the chart to your Word document by selecting â€Å"Paste link† and â€Å"Microsoft Excel Chart Object†. This links the chart in the Word document to the one in the original spreadsheet. It will then update automatically if the values in the spreadsheet are changed. Adding a Table You have various options for adding tables to a Microsoft Word document, so we’ll stick to the three simplest here. Option 1 Go to â€Å"Insert† and select â€Å"Table.† This opens a dropdown menu with a grid. You can then pick the number of columns and rows required. Option 2 In the same dropdown menu, select â€Å"Insert Table.† In the window that opens, pick the number of columns and rows required. Option 3 Draw your own! In the â€Å"Table† menu on the â€Å"Insert† tab, select â€Å"Draw Table.† This lets you draw and edit tables by hand If you click on an existing table, you can edit its design and layout via the â€Å"Table Tools† tab that appears on the ribbon.

Employment and Productivity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Employment and Productivity - Essay Example Barriers to increased female participation include higher taxation rates (60% higher in Spain for women who are second income earners) and the lack of alternative child care options. The article suggests that there are potential advantages for increased female participation besides those already mentioned - such as lowered ratio of retired persons to working persons. Daly argues that women in sophisticated societies where they are not penalised by the tax rate and/or poor alternative child care facilities (such as Sweden) tend to have more children than women who live in societies where this is not the case. Interestingly of the countries surveyed Italy, Spain and Japan have fewer women in work than the others. This may be due to sociological rather than purely economical factors. All three countries have a reputation for putting family above consumerism. Whilst the arguments for increasing GDP make sense there is too little discussion of the social impact of more women going out to work. The truth is that working women tend to do two jobs - both as employees and as partners.

The Influence of Marketing through Culture and Tradition in Kuwait Research Paper

The Influence of Marketing through Culture and Tradition in Kuwait (Gulf) - Research Paper Example The origin of Kuwait culture comes from diverse backgrounds and is very rich. In addition, the influences of marketing on customs and traditions of Kuwait is widespread as observed in many firms (Ahmed 16). This calls for conscious marketing especially for the international marketer since what a certain culture accepts may be regarded as a taboo in another. This paper will focus on the influence of marketing on culture and traditions in Kuwait. The importance of culture in marketing cannot be underestimated, the traditions, values, attitudes and religious beliefs of a people can affect greatly the promotion of a product. Most of the marketing mix components can only achieve great outcomes if the culture and traditions of the people is well understood, respected, and tolerated especially that of the target market. For instance, promoting a product is expected to increase customers and consequently the profits, therefore to achieve greater profits through promotion it is imperative tha t a company puts into consideration a people’s culture and traditions in order to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and be able to produce and market the products that suit their needs. The language of a people is a vehicle of culture and affects the consumer behaviour considerably (Victor 142). One of the marketing strategies is promotion; consumer acceptance of a product requires a language to promote the product. Therefore, promotional methods such as personal selling, advertising, publicity and sales promotion can only be successful through the use of a language. In Kuwait, Islamic is the commonly used language which among the most influential cultural elements (Ahmed 67). Other elements include religious beliefs and ethnic values, all these cultural elements have an effect on the marketing mix, pricing, promotion, product, and price. This requires multinational firms to make their promotions and products adaptable to the environment they exist to ensure persuasi ve marketing. A cultural bound firm is the one that is consumer-oriented, this is evidenced by cultural groupings, and inclinations that tend to purchase certain products calling for marketers to be responsive on cultural influences on their marketing strategies. In Kuwait, culture is related to all dimensions of the society (Ahmed 23). Therefore, appropriate marketing strategy has gained more focus from marketers who wish to promote their products in an effort to increase their market share. Culture and tradition has become a key component of advertisements for most products and services to attract more customers and retain existing ones. Some of the business that have embraced marketing through culture and traditions include the National Bank of Kuwait, Commercial Bank of Kuwait, and Zain which is one of the best telecommunication companies in the country. The use of cultural strategies to market themselves has not only helped these companies increase their sales but also attract new consumers while at the same time achieving and increasing customer loyalty. Another important aspect on the influence of marketing through culture and traditions in Kuwait observed in organizing employees principles as a national culture in order for them to understand their work and what is expected out of it and the manner in which the expect to be treated. This means firms have to act in

Math Tutoring center Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Math Tutoring center - Essay Example Therefore, a Math Tutoring Center in the university would be a welcome idea. Many American universities have a Math Tutoring Center where students go for further assistance in various units in math. Most of the Math Tutoring Centers work in a walk-in walk-out basis whereby, students do not need to book for appointments. This is a great advantage for students since they can get assistance at the convenience of their own time. For instance, it would be necessary to book an appointment with a lecturer and sometimes the appointment may not materialize. Therefore, the Math Tutoring Center becomes the best alternative for students. This is a good motivation factor to the students especially considering the fact that university professors are hard to find. However much mathematics professors and lecturers would want to assist all students, they are limited by availability of time. Additionally, some students are not open to their lecturers. Therefore, students would feel more comfortable being assisted in a Math Tutoring Center. It is important to note that a Math Tutoring center offers math tutoring in a different set up thereby breaking the class monotony. This makes learning mathematics an interesting and enjoyable endeavor for students. Therefore, students will be motivated to put more efforts in learning especially considering that they will not have to wait for specified time to get assistance. More importantly is the fact that math tutoring centers foster faster learning because the assistance is offered instantly. Math tutoring centers are essential in providing teaching options in mathematics. First, mathematics is taught in a different approach than the one used in class set up. Although this may further confuse some students, the different methodological approach makes it possible for the student to understand the math concepts in different perspective. Secondly, the one to one approach in learning mathematics supported in math

Business Strategy of Tesco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7000 words

Business Strategy of Tesco - Essay Example Whereas the mission of the firm is the business where the company wants to operate and the customer base the firm will serve. These are the foundation stone of the company according to which the company implement its different strategies. Tesco’s vision statement is: ‘We talk about Every Little Helps a lot, but it's not just a catchphrase or marketing slogan, it represents everything we stand for. For our people and our customers, it's how we run our businesses from China to Chorley’ (Our vision and values, 2009). Core competence is the competitive advantages that a company posses to differentiate itself from the competitors which gives them an extra edge to be the market leader. These services or products should be: valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and not strategically substitutable (Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson, 2009, p. 18). The core value of Tesco is to take care of the customers. Earning lifetime loyalty of the customer and to create value for the customer i s their only value (Nwagbara, 2011, p.62). The company believes that no one in the industry tries as harder as they do to reach to the customers (Polytechnic Institute of New York University, 2011, p. 1). Being responsible to the community and the society in which they operate they always try to maintain good neighbourhood and always try to be a responsible member in the society. The brand image for its great quality products with diversified product line is the core competencies for the firm. Tesco’s Mission statement is single phrases which says it all and lets the world know the reason for their presence in the market: ‘Creating value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty’ (Mission statement for Tesco PLC, 2011). b) Stakeholder Analysis The sustainable... Center of discussion in this paper is Tesco as the global merchandise and grocery retail company. In respect of profit Tesco is considered to be the second largest retailer after Wal-Mart and by revenue it is the third largest after Wal-Mart and Carrefour. Tesco have its presence in over 14 countries including Asia, North America and also at Europe. Tesco headquarter is located at Hertfordshire and is the leading grocery market leader at UK capturing 30 % of the total market share. Apart from the core business areas the company is also located at Ireland, Malaysia and Thailand. Worldwide Tesco operates in over 2318 stores with 1878 stores located at UK only. With the success of self-service store of grocery Tesco was born from the amalgamation of Cohen and T.E. Stockwell. After a strong start the company stated expanding its business ranging from small retail stores to large supermarkets. With the diversification in household goods the brand became very popular in the mind of the peo ple. Tesco then entered into the petrol stations for selling fuels at a very competitive price and then also expanded into banking, financial services and products. The sustainable growth and well governed business policies of Tesco gives the belief to the investors to get a competitive return of their investments and their shareholdings. The main reason behind gaining the trust of the shareholders is due to the transparency in the company operation and they expect the implementation of robust strategies by the company in every business processes for the long term growth of the organization along with the shareholders.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - Essay Example There are many reasons as to why the notion that Bilbo’s decision to go on the adventure was not due to peer pressure but one which was associated with his inner most desires being put forward. It is easy to believe that people never change, however while some might believe that others put faith in the notion that if given an opportunity everyone changes. As far as J.R.R Tolkien’s character Bilbo Baggins is concerned, an alteration of this character that undergoes significant changes is evident to the reader. The truth of the matter is that the true nature of an individual is brought to the surface when he is put under several tests. These tests for Bilbo were the adventures he undertakes. So we might say that this transformation might have been insightful but these characteristics, brave, resourceful and adventurous were always who Bilbo Baggins was. These hidden characteristics were a big part of why Bilbo Baggins decided to undertake this journey in order to find himself. His boring monotonous yet comfortable life and his forthright denial were just based on the forced perception of the Hobbits as creatures who were not at all adventurous or brave or prone to taking risks. Where society believed he was a coward he managed to prove them wrong in the way we see Bilbo fight the great spider by using his little sword. We see how slaying the great monster made Bilbo realize that without anyone else’s help he had managed to overcome a great hurdle. This independence and bravery were his defining characteristics as he had gloriously prevailed as the victor despite the enormity of his opponent. He now managed to see himself as the person Gandalf was known he was when he had extended to him the invitation to embark on the adventure. There are other reasons which would explain why Bilbo was so against the idea of going on the adventure when Gandalf had initially asked him. It had little to do with the Hobbit really wanted but

Reading the paper and answer question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reading the paper and answer question - Essay Example Traditional methods and materials have been replaced by modern means of nail connections and light wood frames. He further sees today’s carpenters as finishers of houses, rather than builders of houses. He begins by telling the readers about Henry Mitchell, his neighbor who has lived in the same house for 85 years. Henry Mitchell watches the writer renovate his house often. Each renovation watched by his neighbor reminds the writer of the original builder of his house one and a half centuries ago (Invention & Technology, 1999). The writer notes that before the 19th century, frame houses were built using large timbers. The constructors believed that sawing was a waste of materials and labor, so, through experienced workers, they only squared off logs to facilitate connection. This gave rise to the balloon frame. They introduced nails and lumber in mass production, giving further advantage to the balloon frame. The results were savings in man hours, less requirements in skills a nd a complete change in ways of building. The writer also notes that balloon frames are structurally and materially more efficient. Since no joint is of more significance than another, then the connection between each wood is efficient. This exemplifies modification of building practices progressively. Although the practices called for less labor, simplified connections and used light weight materials, they were limited because construction of houses never reached a fully automated level. Therefore, in as much as it was an innovation, it has remained resistant to change, to the surprise of many (Invention & Technology, 1999). The writer also believes that the American style of construction of houses was influenced by the Midwest, made up of the French, Amerindians, Europeans and Spaniards (Invention & Technology, 1999). The 19th century saw new houses rise in demand, occasioned by a change in wood technologies, and American settlers around the Mississippi at that time found new cult ures in building. The settlers built sawmills as one of their new enterprises, contributing to the millions of feet of lumber produced in the region. This denotes a change towards the new culture, because if the settlers had been close to a river, they would have used saw planks instead. The writer also believes the invention of balloon frame lies with the Chicagoans. This is because the balloon frame is among the City’s founding myths. It has also been mentioned as a contributing factor to the 1872 Chicago fire. It is believed that in 1833 when Chicago was a year old, Augustine Taylor, a carpenter from Connecticut, was requested to build many houses but his response was to invent balloon frames (Invention & Technology, 1999). In that year, wood was of variable quality and dimension. In the structure of a balloon frame, one joint may collapse due to poor quality wood, but the main structure will remain stable because of many redundant joints. Nevertheless, the openings left b y the collapsed joints would let in cold in cold weather. It was, therefore, suggested by Taylor that dimension lumber, since it reacts in different ways than wood plunks and timber, be selected by experienced carpenters. It would then be assembled into a building leaving allowance for contraction and expansion. With all the displayed experience, observers noted that Taylor must have worked with balloon frames before his arrival in

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - Essay Example There are many reasons as to why the notion that Bilbo’s decision to go on the adventure was not due to peer pressure but one which was associated with his inner most desires being put forward. It is easy to believe that people never change, however while some might believe that others put faith in the notion that if given an opportunity everyone changes. As far as J.R.R Tolkien’s character Bilbo Baggins is concerned, an alteration of this character that undergoes significant changes is evident to the reader. The truth of the matter is that the true nature of an individual is brought to the surface when he is put under several tests. These tests for Bilbo were the adventures he undertakes. So we might say that this transformation might have been insightful but these characteristics, brave, resourceful and adventurous were always who Bilbo Baggins was. These hidden characteristics were a big part of why Bilbo Baggins decided to undertake this journey in order to find himself. His boring monotonous yet comfortable life and his forthright denial were just based on the forced perception of the Hobbits as creatures who were not at all adventurous or brave or prone to taking risks. Where society believed he was a coward he managed to prove them wrong in the way we see Bilbo fight the great spider by using his little sword. We see how slaying the great monster made Bilbo realize that without anyone else’s help he had managed to overcome a great hurdle. This independence and bravery were his defining characteristics as he had gloriously prevailed as the victor despite the enormity of his opponent. He now managed to see himself as the person Gandalf was known he was when he had extended to him the invitation to embark on the adventure. There are other reasons which would explain why Bilbo was so against the idea of going on the adventure when Gandalf had initially asked him. It had little to do with the Hobbit really wanted but

A comparative study of the use of replacement pile foundations versus Assignment

A comparative study of the use of replacement pile foundations versus displacement pile foundations - Assignment Example The intention of this study are pile foundations as the structural parts that are involved with carrying and transferring the structural loads to the ground at a depth that is below the surface of the ground. The pile foundation mainly consists of the piles and the pile caps. Piles are long members that are also slender and carry out the function of transferring the loads to deep soils which have high load bearing capacities. Piles are mainly constructed using concrete, wood and steel. They are classified according to various standards which are dependent on the type of soil, material used to construct the pile and the characteristics of the piles to transmit loads. Piles are fixed to the ground through such processes as drilling, jacking, or driving them to connect to the pile caps. In basic point of view terms, piles can be broadly classified into two groups; displacement piles or driven piles and replacement or bored piles. Displacement piles are formed prior to being fixed to the ground through whatever mechanism, be it driving, jacking, screwing or hammering to the ground. Replacement piles are formed after a hole is dug into the ground in which the pile is formed. There are various other modes of classifying piles such as the mode of the load bearing material capacity. This paper will however focus on the replacement vs. the displacement piles. A comparative study of the use of these two types of piles will be given... They are classified according to various standards which are dependent on the type of soil, material used to construct the pile and the characteristics of the piles to transmit loads. Piles are fixed to the ground through such processes as drilling, jacking, or driving them to connect to the pile caps. In basic point of view terms, piles can be broadly classified into two groups; displacement piles or driven piles and replacement or bored piles. Displacement piles are formed prior to being fixed to the ground through whatever mechanism, be it driving, jacking, screwing or hammering to the ground. Replacement piles are formed after a hole is dug into the ground in which the pile is formed. There are various other modes of classifying piles such as the mode of the load bearing material capacity. This paper will however focus on the replacement vs. the displacement piles. A comparative study of the use of these two types of piles will be given (Berezantsev, 1961). Classification of pile s Piles are classified according to various means. This part of the paper will look at the various classification methods. Piles can be classified according to the method used for load transmission and the resulting functional behavior (Whitaker, 1970). Pile classification according to load transmission method In this group of piles, there are three subdivisions; end or point bearing piles, friction or cohesion piles and a combination of both friction and cohesion piles. End bearing piles These types of piles perform load transfer to the firm stratum that is located way deep into the structural base. Most of their carrying capacity results from the resistance to penetration of the soil below them. The figure below shows a

Victim Rights Person

Victim Rights Person Victims Rights Introduction A victim is a person who has received injuries whether physical or emotionally when a crime is committed. This will include people who are physical assaulted, kidnapped, sexual assaulted, involved in domestic violence, a child abuse, a person at a motor vehicle accident or incident where a crime occurs, or get injured emotionally by witnessing this incidents. They can also be injured by another crime committed for example homicide, robbery or robbery with violence. A person who is victimized is also faced with psychologically problems he/she may lose clear line of thinking and becomes overwhelmed. In most cases the victim loses money or may be injured. The worst of all is the emotional pain that the victim undergoes. The victimized close relatives and friends can also suffer both psychologically and emotionally. It was also noted that, stress, fear, anxiety and a lot of tension is experienced by family members. The rights of the victim is an old issue that dates back since time of independence, In words for senator Feinstein, he points out that at the time of constitutions adoption, they was a few public prosecutors and crime victims were taken as parties and had to represent themselves. The founders of the nation did not have special protections given to the criminal victims. They did not foresee the modern ways where a public prosecutor acts independent of the crime victim. Nevertheless, as time passed changes in the criminal law occurred and victims had to be respected and given their rights. Accordingly, the public support also was awakened and victims rights protections become a public issue. This was witnessed in Maryland in 1994 when voters voted for state constitutional amendments that protects the right of the victim. The amendment passed by 92 percent of the total vote. This set the trend in many states as 33 states have various constitutional amendments that seek to protect victi ms. Currently all the 50 states at least have some kind of victims rights measures on the court level. As per statistics given by the department of justice, over 5 million violent crimes occur in America per year. This number is so big and human rights activists and politicians have for over 20 years been campaigning for these victims rights in the way the criminal justices process are carried on. Some of the rights they seek are: Victims should have a right to receive a public notice of events related to his criminal prosecution; this can be bail hearing date, the trial date, the sentencing date or even a parole hearing date. Victims should have a right to be present and hear the courts proceedings during their cases. They should also be heard during this process. The victims should have a right to be notified in case the criminal who victimized the victim is released on parole or he/she makes an escape from prison. Victims should be assured of their safety before a criminal is released on parole by the courts or when the criminal is released by courts. The victim should have a right to be protected against long delays caused in criminal prosecutions. The aim of these rights was to ensure that the victims are given legitimate attention consideration. This campaign and pressure lead to the passage of Victims of Crime Legislation, Bill 23, 1995; which states that, victims are entailed to the following rights: they should be shown respect, politeness and kindness. That, they should be updated on the court process about their cases. They should also be given information concerning services remedies. The victims should be informed the dates of important proceedings. That the victims should be informed when an offender is released pardoned or escapes. The victims should be interviewed by same gender officer in case the victim is sexual assaulted. The victim has a right to be compensated for injuries suffered. And that incase there was loss of property and it is recovered it should be returned without any delay. Lastly the victim should be able to be represented in the court by writing a victim impact statement. Any where, these rights have to be enforced by the courts to make them work and protect the victim. Otherwise they will be just mere words on paper. In a study carried out by National Victim Center, it found out that many victims still were being denied their rights. This occurred even in those states seen as having a strong legal protection. For example the study found out that a big number of victims from â€Å"strong† and â€Å"weak† states did not receive a notification during different stages of court process. As for bail hearing (those not notified in strong states were 37 percent and in weak states were 57 percent); as for pretrial release of suspects (the number was 62 percent in strong states and 74 percent in weak states for those who were not notified); and for sentencing hearings (those who were not notified were 45 percent in strong states and 70 in weak states). In a another report which was related to this, it was found out that racial minorities were the most serious affected by being denied their victims rights protection. According to observations, victims like to be involved in the justice process. Of particular interest is their always like to be notified of the process of their cases. Victims felt left out and were angry because they were not given information about the way their cases are progressing. It was also noted that, many victims do not want to interfere with the courts. As a victim is also important that the victim is not forces into accepting some justice program that has not chosen. However the question that is asked is whether the victims rights campaign is that necessary and important? Many people have a feeling that crime has increased for the last thirty years. Various studies carried out show an average individual (even those who have not been victimized) live in a regular fear of being victimization. Sadly, the fear of this people is true. This is because total number of crimes in United States has increased by 300% since 1965 to the present day. While violent crime has escalated to more than 600%. This has lead to a very large financial burden to the nation. As it is approximated that $450 billion is spend on crime every year. And that, 1.8 million days are lost in terms of work days, which translates to more than $55 million lost in terms of wages. It is also interesting to note that, as the laws to protect the Victims rights are passed, the crime increases. It was also noted that the percentage of those who repeated to commit a crime was high. A study carried out by University of Pennsylvania revealed that 67% of total crime committed in the nation was carried by a mere 10% of the criminal population. In other cases, the perpetrators hunted and victimized their victim for the second time. This is thought to be a result of the perpetrators not being given harsh penalties or as a result of more liberal laws which seems to give criminals a sense that the government is soft on them and their more rights than those of the victims. These facts are chilling and the problem is touching each community. The Department of Justice shows the America is the one with highest number of violent crimes than any other country. It is estimated that the homicide crime is five times that of Europe while the Juvenile crime rate is seven times more t han that of Europe or Japan. Looking at possibility of being a victim in1996, a survey carried out by Gallup poll, showed that women feared most being victims than men. The number was 57% of women as compared to men who were at 43%. The research also found out that non white people were the one more concerned about becoming victims than the whites. The numbers were 74.8% against 46.6%. It was also noted that few people had confidence in the justice system. It is also apparent that victims are most likely not to report a crime if the perpetrator is someone they know personal. Those victims who are violently attacked are highly likely to report the crime to police if the perpetrator is a stranger. The group which is likely not to report a crime is that of young children aged between 12 and 19. For the purpose of this paper, we will examine a research carried out by The Bouverie centre, Victorias Family Institute using a method of confrontative interview. The confrontational interview carried out in response to critics from the feminist about family therapy in the area of sexual abuse. The interview is designed to address issue of control and power in a situation of victim- perpetrator relationship. In this interview the survivor is allowed to face the person who abused her and face the impact of the abuse to her life. In the interview the perpetrator sits and listens as the victim narrates her feeling. The confrontative interview is where by the victim meets her/his perpetrators, on sexual abused victims the survivors offered different answers. The research was based on four young women, who had been repeatedly sexually abused by men. In was observed that all of the four women were disturbed and even had suicidal thoughts and suffered from severe depression. The women all developed risk behaviors as two shoplifted and the other got involved in pretty crimes. One woman started abusing drugs. Each of the women reported having recurring nightmares, and a lot of fear and mistrust. It was also noted that one victim wet her bed. The research further revealed that each of the victims experienced a sense of inferior, self loathing, shame and felt responsible for the abuse. From the study it was noted that the difficult part was that of the victim accepting the abuse and knowing that she was a victim and was not to blame. According to Karren, a participant she notes that, she could not turn back because she had experienced feeling responsible. Another participant, Cate said that it was a very enormous task when it came to breaking the news to her mother. Another participant, Army described the experience as feeling stronger, he felt like she has conquered something. It was noted that all four women felt more clear when it came to the matter of responsibility upon the contfrontative interview. When the perpetrators where seen physical and when they admitted being quilt had a lot of impact on the victims. It was much important when took the responsibility. According to Cate and Karren they were less troubled and got more focused and stable in their thoughts. The interview also provided a confrontation between the victim and the perpetrator, which lead to a powerful impact on the side of the victims; they experienced a sense of externalizing the pain they suffered. And the experience of knowing who was responsible for their suffering. As the women narrated their anger and emotional turmoil they have undergone, the confrontation offered a dignified opportunity to repair their feelings. They felt that they had triumphed and reclaimed their self identity The outcome of this study was very encouraging, it leads to reduction of nightmares, self doubt, gave the victims more stability and improved their self esteem and a sense of well being. As all four women agreed the interview was used to reduce the trauma they felt. Nevertheless, the interview had its shortcoming and did not provide an immediate solution to those victimized. Each of the four women at the centre had to continue with therapy and in the months that followed they made statements to the police and the police have laid criminal charges against the perpetrators. Although, this was not the main aim of the study, the women opened up during the interview. For example Amy after realizing that she was a saviors and an innocent person who was sexually assaulted commented that, the fact that sexual abuse is wrong when done to you, and that it is a criminal offence done to you and you are just a victim is so much. And it is more important if your family is there to support you. Fro m this study it is important for the victims to come out and be heard. Conclusion Although the Victims rights issue is a very controversial debate, as many laws about the â€Å"rights of accused† and â€Å"rights of offender,† result in the victim feeling that he/she is not secure. It is paramount that the victims should be given their rights and the necessary protection they require. However these rights must be enforced by the courts to be meaningfully. However, as studies show that more rights do not reduce crime, it should be noted that, more rights result in respect and fair treatment of the victims. It is also clear that those who have been victimized require proper therapy and assistance to be able to live a normal life and be able to regain their lost dignity. In the words of Bill Clinton president of America, the government will continue to amend the crime Victims Rights by giving violent crime victims access to information and other rights, but the same time protect the rights of defendants. References Anita, B., and John, P. (1997): Improving Community Response to Crime Victims: An Eight-Step Model for Developing Protocol. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Congressional Record, (April 25, 2000): (106th Cong., 2nd Sess.), at S2822 (discussing academic research on yearly American criminal prosecutions). Morris, A., Maxwell, G., and Robertson, J. (1993): Giving victims a voice: A New Zealand experiment. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 32(4), 301-321. Resick, P. (1987): Psychological effects of victimization: Implications for the criminal justice system. Crime Delinquency, 33(4), 468-478. Roach, K. (1999): Due process and victims rights, Toronto: University of Toronto Press. U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime, New Directions from the Field: Victims Rights, and Services for the 21st Century at 10 (1998); see Committee Report at 13-15.