Social Science Journals and Impact Factor Essay Example for Free

Social Science Journals and Impact Factor Essay There is a proper way to deal with journalists that commit misconducts in their research publications in social sciences journals. Policies and procedures have been put into place to assist in the proper handling of researchers when they behave unethically. Editors must protect the integrity of the journals and the research, when allegations of research misconduct arise. This can pose a difficult task. Journals have had to rethink how to deal with such allegations and misconduct. â€Å"Editors must also think about the potential legal liability if the innocent scientists reputation has become damaged† (Resnik, Patrone, Peddada, 2010). Scientists need to remain credible and reputable, so accusations of unethical misconduct involved in their research can cause an uproar. The Committee on Publication Ethics, also know as COPE, issues an agreement that stated journals must develop misconduct policies, in 1999, and in 2006, issued standard procedures for handling with the misconduct in scientific journals. It is not yet a requirement, but a guidance of how situations should be handled when misconduct is brought to the attention of the editors of the publications. Research was done regarding the number of scientific journals had, in place, a policy detailing the use and reporting of unethical research practices. According to the article, â€Å"A misconduct policy is defined as statements about the definition of misconduct or procedures for responding to misconduct† (Resnik, Patrone, Peddada, 2010). For example, the policy described â€Å"how to report allegations of misconduct† (Resnik, Patrone, Peddada, 2010), and â€Å"how to correct the scientific literature in response to misconduct† (Resnik, Patrone, Peddada, 2010). The definitions of misconduct would not be limited to the U.S. Federal governments definition of misconduct: fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism. Other types of misconduct must be recognized as well, such as animal abuse or misuse of human subjects. The research shows that â€Å"less than half of the journals in the combined data set had formal misconduct policies† (Resnik, Patrone, Peddad a, 2010), although it is recommended by COPE. It is thought that since editors have been made conscious of the misconduct in the scientific research, that more misconduct policies would be in place by now. It is thought that maybe many journals have not developed these policies yet,  because journal editors do not view misconduct as a common problem when they should. Many editors view the misconduct as a something that happens on a rare occasion and are not motivated to develop the policies that are needed to properly handle it. If this issue was properly handled, accusations could not be made, as long as proper protocols were in place and followed appropriately. These kinds of policies have more benefits and a sort of security, but when writing for journals that do not have them in place can be dangerous to the reputations of the researchers and the publishers. Less than half of the reported journals have policies in place, and it would be beneficial to the rest of them to follow suit. The people effected by the misconduct of unethical journals are the participants in the research, as well as the publication the journal is referenced in. If it became a requirement of the social science journals to have policies in place, less accusations would be made about the behavior of the editors and journalists. It is important to remain completely ethical and avoid tarnishing the reputation of the scientists and journalists involved in the publications. This will help aim the publications to remain full of integrity and regarded as highly ethical. More support will come from journals that are deemed ethical, than those that are not, especially in the social science department. It is hopeful that in the near future more editors around the globe will obtain policies that require ethical research to be conducted in order for the research to become published. This would effect not only the reputations of the editors and journals, it would improve the reliability of the information that is provided in the research. It is the opinion of many in the field of social science research, that policies and procedures for handling unethical research practices are put in place, so that their years of hard work and dedication does not become undeniable. One accusation to a scientist could lead to many accusations of past and all future research. So if the guidelines were presently in place, this could be avoided. Until that happens, though, there will remain a certain percent of scientific research that is deemed unethical, and most likely will not be published. References Resnik, D. B., Patrone, D., Peddada, S. (2010). Research Misconduct Policies of Social Science Journals and Impact Factor. Accountability In Research: Policies Quality Assurance, 17(2), 79-84. doi:10.1080/08989621003641181

J & J Automotive Sales Essay Example for Free

J J Automotive Sales Essay Replicate business and referrals from pleased clients are fundamental to success in selling. The longer you work in sales as a professional person committed to treating your customers right, the higher and higher will be the proportion of your business emanating from repeat business and customer referrals. By contrast, think about the stereotype of the person we would generally consider the antithesis of professionalism in selling, the used-car salesperson. Of course, there may be some used-car salespersons out there that are professional businesspeople, but by and large their reputation is not exemplary. The reason? We believe it has a lot top do with the fact that the person selling in the used-car lot sees the prospect as an opportunity for a one-time transaction. Seldom will a customer return to that same used-car lot for a repeat purchase, and the used-car dealer virtually never has service facilities for developing an ongoing relationship after the sale. Used-car buyers rarely refer friends and colleagues to the dealer they bought from. When they do, it’s because of the availability of a particular vehicle rather than the dealership per se. Compare that with successful new-car dealership, especially those at the high end, who want you as a long-term customer that will refer friends and colleagues to the store and its salespeople. If you’ve ever dealt with a dealership like that, you’ve enjoyed a personal relationship with your salesperson and the service department reps, which is well worth paying for. You’d certainly agree that your salesperson does not fit the stereotype of a used-car salesperson. It’s just one illustration of a business which appreciates the fact that its survival is contingent upon repeat business and customer referrals. Joe luckily has good dealing relationships with his customers which is a good start in countering this stereotype. Not only must he be aware of the features associated with a variety of models, he must also be familiar with mileage, modifications, rebuilds, and the quirks of each car on the lot. As such, he could work against the stereotype as a slick con artist looking to make a quick buck. Part of this, may be due to the larger commissions used car salespeople like Joe make on each sale, thus encouraging them to complete as many sales possible. While stereotypes abound regarding used car dealerships, it is unfair to cast a negative light on the entire used car industry. The bonded dealers behave like other principals; some are up front and cooperative; others disappear or simply refuse to cooperate. Now while you consider you have seen and heard it all, a new claim presents novel and astonishing facts. For example, you are looking for a second-hand care and Joe activates your stereotype of ‘used-car dealer’. However, the car looks quite good buy. Is he lying to you or is he offering a good deal? If additional information seems to fit your initial judgment then you have category confirmation. You are confirmed, in your view of the salesman and leave it at that. If, however, the category is not confirmed, then you engage in re-categorization, and attempt to find a category that is a better fit – maybe the Joe is re-categorized as ‘helpful assistant,’ who sold cars honestly. Since Joe has this characteristics of passion in cars and the sincere concern to his customers, having this kind of stereotype would not hinder him from obtaining good customers, because he will, of course, gain their trust and as such, would gain good relationship with them. As a customer on the other hand, having Joe as a salesperson of used cars, I would definitely come back to him and get another good deal in buying his cars. The stereotype wouldn’t definitely affect my relationship with Joe as his customer and surely would come back for another deal. AutoNation created a huge business by exploiting the public’s perception of used-car dealers. Middle-volume dealerships with less expensive cars try to increase sales volume by getting uncertain customers the larger dealers ignore. They track sales workers to make sure they follow a prescribed script with customers. Smaller suburban dealerships also concentrate on uncertain customers but some also give special services like loaner cars and pick-up and delivery service in hopes of repeat and referral business. Reference: Kimball, Bob, and Jerold Hall. Selling in the New World of Business. Binghamton, New York: Haworth Press, 2004.

British Phonographic Industry: Structure and Competition

British Phonographic Industry: Structure and Competition Olivia Boachie Business Economics and Industrial Organisation The following analysis attempts to assess the structure and sources of competitive pressure in the British Phonographic Industry using Porters five forces framework model, and how the advent of the internet has affected the structure and performance of the industry. Michael Porter’s Five-Forces model of the music industry Michael Porter’s Five-Forces framework model recognises the economic forces that affect industry profits. The five forces are: Internal rivalry, Entry, Substitutes and complements, Supplier power and Buyer power. These forces may affect and abolish the revenues of current businesses. The five forces framework is a business study and industry strategy improvement instrument which lets marketers eventually generate stakeholder value through industry events. The key factors of appeal are the demand and supply of products in the market, quantity of entrants presently in the market and their strengths and weaknesses. In response to the essay question, the British Phonographic Industry will be examined critically through each of the five forces. A graphical representation of Porter’s Framework is shown below: British Phonographic Industry â€Å"BPI (British Phonographic Industry) represents the UK’s recorded music industry, which is one of the most exciting and thriving music sectors in the world. British artists account for one in eight albums purchased by fans around the globe† (http://www.bpi.co.uk/about-bpi.aspx). BPI co-owns the Official Charts Company in â€Å"a joint venture with the Entertainment Retails Association (ERA). The Official Charts Company is responsible for the commissioning, distribution, marketing and promotion of the UK’s industry standard music and video charts and sales data. BPI also maintains the industry standard for certifying Gold, Silver and Platinum sales awards† (http://www.bpi.co.uk/about-bpi.aspx). There are three major record companies within the British Phonographic Industry which are: Warner Music UK, Sony Music Entertainment UK and Universal Music UK. Internal Rivalry Internal Rivalry refers to the jockeying for shares by firms within a market. It is fierce if competition drives prices towards costs. This is more likely when there are many firms, products are perceived to be homogeneous, consumers are motivated and able to shop around, prices may be set secretly, sales orders are large and received infrequently and the industry has excess capacity. The UK music business has been contested for by three big recording studios for years. There is severe rivalry amongst these recording studios; their market shares continued to be steady for years as new opposition hardly went into the market due to great entry barriers. The music industry is booming when associating online and offline sales collectively. The product distinction attainable in the music business is very low due to all types of music being approximately the same. The diversity could be attained through the setups of music delivered such as CD’s and online formats such as MP3’s. Downloading is now becoming more common than the constant visits to the music stores, the music business has unremittingly decreased the amount of stores and fixated on emerging an online approach. Through doing this they have been successful at reducing high fixed costs including store rentals and incomes of a high number of store employees which has assisted with their margins. In terms of competitive pressure, the music industry can be thought to be extremely competitive due to predictions of the music boom which started in the 1990s. Due to more talent coming out through shows such as X-factor, Britain’s Got Talent and the Voice in the UK, potential performers are now being presented in the music industry. Entry The threat of entrants is another force that determines the industry’s competitive pressure. If â€Å"new entrants move into an industry they will gain market share and rivalry will intensify† (http://www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/porter_five_forces.htm). The position of existing firms is tougher if there are barriers to entering the market. If barriers to entering the industry are low then the threat of new entrants will be high and if the barriers to entry are high then the threat of new entrants will be low. Barriers to entry are very significant in determining the threat of new entrants. An industry can have more than one barrier. The following are well-known examples of effective barriers: Access to suppliers and distribution channels Product differentiation Economies of scale available to existing firms The selection of a gifted artist and turning them into a success involves skilled use of advertising, talent supervision and investment. Recognised music labels devote a lot to undertaking appearance improvement campaigns, and experiment with advertising before the artist’s work is free for the public to see. These particular parts require professional abilities and involve having money. Substitutes and Complements Substitutes wear down profits in the same way as competitors entering the market by stealing business and increasing internal rivalry. Complements boost the demand for the product in question; thereby improving profit chances for the industry. In the music business, the alternatives for music purchases or downloads can be recognised to be plagiarised music downloads online and Radio stations that play music 24 hours. Plagiarised music websites which offer music for free are the distinguishable alternatives for the music industry. The consumer having a choice of whether or not to buy music or to download it continues to be a fight in their mind. So the risk of this alternative is very high. Music such as those on Jango or Napster allows consumers to listen to songs an unrestricted number of times without the need to purchase them. While they don’t obtain the luxury of downloading music for free and listening to the songs on the move, it can still be seen as an alternative as it permits for the entertainment of consumers. When it comes to TV and Radio music stations, the necessities for setting up those services such as TV set boxes and regular subscriptions are fairly costly in comparison to the price of an album. But with other facilities such as the ability to record channels and the choice of other stations on offer, they may have chosen the better option when compared to a music album. Supplier Power If a firms suppliers â€Å"have bargaining power they will exercise that power, sell their products at a higher price and squeeze industry profits† (http://www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/porter_five_forces.htm). If the supplier drives up the price paid for inputs, revenues will be condensed. Suppliers find themselves in an influential position when there are only a few suppliers, the resource they supply is scarce, there are no or few substitute resources, the product is easy to differentiate and faithful consumers are unwilling to switch. The bargaining powers of performers are high as it is believed that the voice and skill of each performer is distinctive and cannot be replaced. Buyer Power Buyer power is analogous to supplier power. â€Å"It refers to the ability of individual customers to negotiate purchase prices that extract profits from sellers† (Economics of strategy 6th edition, David Besanko). â€Å"Buyers have indirect power in competitive markets, and the price they pay will depend on the forces of supply and demand. The willingness of consumers to shop for the best price could instead be considered a source of internal rivalry, not indirect buyer power. When buyers are focused, or suppliers have made relationship-specific investments, buyers may exert direct power† (Economics of strategy 6th edition, David Besanko). Buyers then demand lower prices when suppliers are thriving and accepting higher prices when suppliers are struggling. The consumers for the UK music business can be either individual or corporate. Corporate consumers in the music business contain online and offline traders who buy albums in large quantities from the music label. Stores included could be HMV and Game and online music stores which include stores such as iTunes and AmazonMP3. The negotiating power of the corporate consumers can be assumed to be low due to prices being settled amongst them and the labels at the time of signing the contract. Advent of the Internet I will now analyse how the advent of the internet has affected the structure and performance of the music industry. The Internet is â€Å"a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols† (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Internet). The structural attractiveness of the UK music industry is determined by five underlying forces of competition. These include: The intensity of rivalry among existing competitors, the barriers to entry for new competitors, the threat of substitute products or service, the bargaining power of suppliers, and the bargaining power of the buyers. Below are points under each of the forces on how the internet influences the music industry which are taken from Michael. E Porter’s Competitive strategy free press, 1980. Rivalry among existing competitors The Internet has enlarged the amount of competitors in the music industry and decreased the significance of geographic boundaries. â€Å"There is increased rivalry because companies have a stake to succeed with use of the Internet. Rivalry increases when there is less differentiation between products. There is highly intense competition due to the Internet becoming an online platform for commercial use† (www.ukessays.com). Barriers to entry for new competitors The internet has decreased the fixed costs needed for a business to get to their end users. Most record labels find it easier to launch online ventures since they are positive about brand loyalty and trust. Threat of substitute products or services The internet has assisted in increasing the pressure from alternative products, as it may increase the diversity of products available to consumers. This can be done by customers being able to now purchase CD’s online or download songs for free. Bargaining power of the suppliers â€Å"The internet offers a channel for suppliers to reach end users, decreasing the power of intervening companies† (Michael. E Porter’s Competitive strategy free press, 1980). Procurement and digital markets tend to give companies equal access to suppliers and to standardised products that decrease variation. Buyers bargaining power of channels and end users â€Å"Moves bargaining power to end customers† (Michael. E Porter’s Competitive strategy free press, 1980). The customers have the bargaining power as they have the choice to either purchase CD’s from a store or download the songs for free online. From the analysis above, it is assumed that the UK music business is booming. The music industry is conquered by three big companies who have been around for a number of years and who operate great shares of the market. Applying Porters five forces framework is tremendously significant in industry analysis as it allows businesses to understand the overall attractiveness of the industry itself. However, one could say that the advent of the internet has affected the sales of CD’s. The need to purchase a CD with one song on it is no longer a necessity as you can just download the song from the internet. â€Å"Music piracy online is quite widespread, which affects artists and record labels profits. Anybody that has an internet connection can find illegal music downloads anywhere. Unsurprisingly the labels lose more money than the artists since the label keeps the majority of the money and the artist only sees a small percentage. It is now easier for artists to self-promote and se lf -release nowadays with all the opportunities for advertising and promoting online. Therefore, it could be said that the advent of the internet has decreased the music industry’s performance. References About The BPI. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20th, 2014, from The British Recorded Music Industry: http://www.bpi.co.uk/about-bpi.aspx Answers. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21st, 2014, from wiki.answers.com: wiki.answers.com David Besanko, D. D. (n.d.). Economics of Strategy. John Wiley. Illangakoon, S. (2010, November 5th). Porters Five Forces analysis for music industry. Retrieved March 17th, 2014, from Assignment help series: http://assignmenthelpseries9.blogspot.co.uk/ Internet. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21st, 2014, from Oxford Dictionaries Language Matters: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Internet Our Work. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20th, 2014, from British Phonographic Industry: http://www.bpi.co.uk/our-work.aspx Porter, M. (1980). Competitive Strategy. Riley, J. (2012, September 23rd). Overview of the five forces model. Retrieved March 18th, 2014, from tutor2u: http://www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/porter_five_forces.htm The UK expert provider of custom essays. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15th, 2014, from ukessays.com: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/information-technology/the-internet-on-the-macro-environment-information-technology-essay.php Business Organisation And Environment: Mcdonalds Business Organisation And Environment: Mcdonalds There are 2 types of business environment, namely internal environment and external environment. Internal environment is also known as controllable environment. The internal environment of McDonalds includes the following: Aim The aim of McDonalds is to be the best fast service restaurant experience. Marketing The marketing of McDonalds is very large. McDonalds was one of the eight corporate sponsors of Millennium Dome Experience. It invested  £8 million in the Domes community programme and learning experience. Besides that, McDonalds is also a major sponsor of the World Cup since 1994 and the Champions League from 1996 to 2000. McDonalds also sponsors British athletics since 1993 and formed the McDonalds Young Athletes League to train 11 to 17 years old teenagers. Moreover, McDonalds sponsors Child Safety Week since 1994. Management McDonalds also has a good management for their business. Such as, they have high recruitment standards. They care about the skills, talents and performance of their staffs. They also consider gender, marital status, disability, race and nationality when recruiting. McDonalds also provides a safe and secure working environment. All staffs will have opportunities for training and development. Moreover, McDonalds provides education of staff matters for their staffs. They have a good communication with their staffs. The pay of the staffs at McDonalds reflects their working performance. Besides that, over 40% of McDonalds managers started as hourly-paid staff members in the restaurant. McDonalds motivates their staffs by giving them free meals. They will also have paid holidays. The staffs will get free life assurance and the value is dependent upon their service. Those employees that are 19 years old or older with 3 years service with get private health care from McDonalds. Besides that, McDonalds has a sponsorship programme for their staffs. The employees of McDonalds will also get an employee discount card. There are also service awards for those employees with 3, 5,10,15,20 and 25 years of service. All employees will also get a stakeholder pension from McDonalds. Production McDonalds has their production of foods. There are five main ingredients for food, like beef, chicken, bread, potatoes and milk. The Big Mac is one the basic food offered by McDonalds. Moreover, McChicken is also known as chicken sandwich and McNuggets is also known as chicken nuggets which are products of McDonalds. McDonalds also serves desserts such as the McFlurry ice-cream. Moving on, the following shows the external environment (uncontrollable environment) of McDonalds: Political McDonalds is highly influenced by the policies set by the government of the various countries it operates in. For example, in the country of India, the local religious law restricts its residents from eating beef, thus it is considered an insult to have beef in the local McDonalds menu. In order to obtain the license to open a fast food restaurant, McDonalds has to obey the business regulations implemented by the local government. To succeed in the foreign market, McDonalds has to act according to the markets rules and regulations, and create a good relationship with the government by obeying the markets tax obligations and any environmental laws. Economic The markets economy has an impact on the branches and franchises of McDonalds. A weak economy would influence the customers buying power which would in turn affect the general sales of McDonalds. McDonalds imports most of its material as the local market cannot provide materials in abundance to meet the demands of the market. Inflation or changes in the exchange rate of the market would affect the operations of the company. A rise in the exchange rate of currencies would increase the cost of purchasing. Socio-Cultural Every country has a unique culture. McDonalds has to create a menu that is suitable to the local taste and culture. For example, the Hindu residents of India do not take beef, Muslim countries do not take pork and only consume halal food, Asian countries like to eat rice, Chinese likes to associate their meals with good fortune such as prosperity, and Americans eat big-sized meals. Additionally, the development of technology creates the need for better services and convenience for customers. For instance, McDonalds should provide wireless internet services and allow credit card payments at their stores. Technological McDonalds uses technological means for a variety of things. For example, television advertisements are used for marketing. Customers can order by phone for a delivery to be made. Besides that, in Singapore, McDonalds accepts EZ-link card payments as a means of convenience for customers. Moreover, the advancement in internet technologies allows McDonalds to implement web-based ordering and online payment. Legal McDonalds has to follow many regulations in order to be legally allowed to operate its business, for example, business registration, tax requirements, and employment laws. Besides that, McDonalds also has to acquire a halal certification in order to get Muslim customers. Environment As McDonalds serves millions of customers per day, it needs a large supply of materials. The large amount of animals slaughtered to create a supply for McDonalds is frequently criticised by world environmentalists. In addition, forests have been lost due to large scale plantation. Before using paper packaging, McDonalds used Styrofoam based packaging for its products, which is hard to recycle. Organisation structure McDonalds is a fast food franchising company and its success comes from its various franchisees all over the world. About 70% of McDonalds worldwide restaurants are run by independent businessmen and businesswomen. A franchise is a business licensed to use the name, logo and expertise of an existing, well-known business (123helpme.com n.d.). McDonalds provides licenses to the markets local operators to start a McDonalds restaurant. McDonalds may take away the license if the franchisee fails to meet the franchise agreement or requirement. All of McDonalds restaurants have a flat structure. A manager controls all the employees and makes all the decisions. This allows the staffs to only carry out their simple routine works such as selling and serving customers. On the other hand, the McDonalds corporation has a tall and complex structure. The corporation is highly formalized, has a limited information network, is centralised and has extensive departmentalisation. The departmentalisation of McDonalds is structured along functional lines. The various departments in McDonalds are operations, development, finance, marketing, and human resource. Operations The operations department of McDonalds controls the equipment and franchising of restaurants. They ensure that the franchisees are following the agreements set by the McDonalds corporation. They provide support for the franchisees in all aspects of the business. All in all, they make certain that the business of McDonalds runs smoothly. Development The development department plans and manufactures products. They ensure that the products made are up to the qualities set by the corporation. Besides that, they also develop new products for McDonalds. Finance The finance department keeps record of the profits of the company. They keep account on all the transactions done by the company. They also pay the salaries of the employees. They keep track of how the business is doing. Marketing The main role of the marketing department is to attract new customers. They organise advertisements and promotions. Moreover, they cooperate with the development department to ensure that the design, quality and price of a product are what the consumer wants. Human Resource The human resource department recruits and appoints all new staffs. They handle the affairs of all employees which include retirement, dismissal and etc. They employ quality staffs and motivate them to do their best. Culture in Society Cultures in societies are affecting the organization. An organization will change its way or structure to adapt to the culture in the society. It might also change the communication style with its customers in order to stay in business. In other words, McDonalds must understand that they must make their organization structure compatible with the various cultures in societies. Otherwise, the amount of customers will reduce when the organization does not adapt to the markets culture, or goes against it. When there are less customers, McDonalds will not have enough income and motivation to continue running their business. Culture of Religion Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law.'(wikipedia) When someone wants to operate a McDonalds restaurant, they have to consider about religion issues such as Halal in certain countries, for example Islamic countries like Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran, Sri Langka and so on. McDonalds have to comply with the regulations given by the government and the culture of the residents. Therefore in these Islamic countries, McDonalds have to provide Halal food due to the large population of Muslim and Arab people to run the business successfully. However, Halal issues are not only applicable in Islamic countries, there is also an exceptionally large number of Muslims and Arabs in non-Muslim countries like in Dearborn (Michigan, United States). McDonalds have introduced Halal chicken nuggets there. Culture of Food Different countries might have different food cultures. It will affect the food menu of McDonalds as well. In order to expand the business, or to increase the income, McDonalds has to do research on the food culture of the markets residents. Only foods that adhere to their food culture are able to attract more local customers. For example, at German, McDonalds serves beer. In India, there is no Big Mac because Indians do not consume beef. However, they do have a Maharaja Mac which contains lamb or chicken meat instead of beef. They also provide a vegetarian burger named McAloo Tikki, since a certain amount of Indians are vegetarians. Besides that, for rice-loving Chinese in countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, McDonalds introduced rice burger. In other words, McDonalds will modify their menu according to the food culture of the local customers so that they would be able to earn more customers as well as income. Culture of Social Women are also affecting the income of McDonalds. As there are more and more women that work nowadays, most of them will have less time to spend in the kitchen to cook for their family. The job of preparing a meal will fall onto their parents or even their husband, but they often choose to eat fast food. Therefore, McDonalds has become one of the places for these families to have their meal. This has directly increased the income of McDonalds. There are many more cultures in societies that affect McDonalds, it must clearly know the change of the culture in order to keep its business updated. If there are no customers due to the structure of the organization which is against the customers culture, McDonalds will not have the motivation to run its business in that market. The reason McDonalds run successfully is because it able to adapt with the local culture of the market. It also structures its internal environment well and has a good reaction to the external environments.

My Goal - A Career in the Computer Industry :: Personal Narrative Writing

My Goal - A Career in the Computer Industry To have a goal, you must first find one to pursue. Then, you must decide on the steps necessary to reach that goal and proceed to complete those steps. Ultimately, after all your steps are finish, you will achieve your goal. The goal I pursue is that of becoming a self-employed web designer, and I have decided on, and implemented, many steps needed to reach that goal. Having started college, I have begun an important step towards my goal. However, I decided on many of the steps years before I started college. Growing up, I strongly desired a career in the computer industry. I enjoyed working with almost anything related to the computer field, but I was not sure specifically which area of this broad field I would enjoy most. Though my interests were so extensive, I found myself strongly leaning towards computer graphics. I decided to pursue a career in web design, an area with a great demand for imaging skills, as well as a diversity and abundance of job opportunities. After deciding on my goal, I started to research what my next steps should be. The first step was to choose a degree pertaining to web design and to find a college that offered this degree. I decided to obtain a Computer Science (CS) degree, as it covered a broad area of computer study. I researched colleges within the state of Montana, in order to avoid the costs of out-of-state tuition, and found two colleges that looked promising: Montana Tech in Butte, and Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman. Before deciding which to attend, I took nine credits at Carroll College in Helena and three credits at the Helena College of Technology to get a head start in my CS program. I tried to take classes that would transfer into both Montana Tech and MSU, but in the end, MSU would not accept all of my classes. This fact, combined with scholarship incentives, aided my decision to attend Montana Tech in pursuit of a CS degree. Having started college, I have begun the next step towards achieving my goal, but not without complications. Although I remained in the CS program for much of the first semester, I switched degrees about two-thirds of the way through. I found that I would be learning mostly computer programming in the CS degree and would not learn many useful skills pertaining to my goal.

Success and Failure in Alice Walker’s To Hell With Dying Essay example

Success and Failure in Alice Walker’s "To Hell With Dying"Â   Alice Walker’s "To Hell With Dying" appears on the surface to be a story of a man who has many near-death experiences. However, I believe that the story of Mr. Sweet shows the side of depression and failure that Alice Walker might have faced had she not pushed her way to success. Mr. Sweet grew up in a time period where the life between whites and blacks was very segregated. However, Mr. Sweet "had been ambitious as a boy, wanted to be a doctor or lawyer or sailor, only to find that black men fare better if they [were] not" (Walker 1143). When he realized this defeat "he turned to fishing as his only claim to doing anything extraordinarily well" (1143). This failure seemed to overcome Mr. Sweet as he turned to the bottle as a sort of sanctuary. Mr. Sweet "was constantly on the verge of being blind drunk" (1144); however, to the kids this made him the perfect playmate. Often when Mr. Sweet was "feeling good" (1144), he would dance about and play in the yard with the children. When he was in this state he was just as vulnerable as they were. In fact, most of the time the children won the battles. An ironic behavior that Mr. Sweet has in this story, however, is that we read about him playing with the neighbors’ children, but we never read about him playing with his own child. Maybe this is because of the second failure that occurred in Mr. Sweet’s life. When he was younger he had to marry Miss Mary, for she was pregnant with his child; "he was not sure that Joe Lee, [Miss Mary’s] baby, was also his baby" (1144). Mr. Sweet had been in love with another woman though. He had made up a song that he played on his guitar on this unhappy part of his life. When Mr. Sw... ..., was another Mr. Sweet. However, this Mr. Sweet took her route of success. He expressed his pain through the poetry he wrote so that whoever wanted to could read it and feel the pain that he had to overcome. Mr. Sweet, by showing Alice Walker what would happen to her if she surrendered to the racism of the outside world, helped her achieve success. Works Cited Walker, Alice. "To Hell With Dying." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1143-1147. Walker, Alice. "Remembering Mr. Sweet." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1147-1149. Works Consulted Harrison, Faye. "Writing Against The Grain: Cultural Politics Of Difference In The Work Of Alice Walker." Women Writing Culture. Ed. R. Behar and D.A Gordon. University of California Press, 1195. 233-245. Â  

Biographical Influences Essay of William Faulkner -- essays papers

Biographical Influences Essay of William Faulkner William Faulkner was a quite man who rarely spoke to anyone. Although he did not graduate High School, Faulkner had an innate ability to remember even the slightest detail of things he heard. The past has always played a role in the telling of most of his stories. However, before we can understand his style of writing, it is important to understand what influences played an important role in his writings. William Faulkner was heavily influenced by his culture, love of his family, and passion for hunting to produce some of his most compelling stories. Many people how the culture of the South and Southern history has shaped and influenced Faulkner’s works. I have examined this theory by looking at an important figure in Faulkner’s life, the "Old Colonel," Faulkner’s great-grandfather. Although the "Old Colonel," William Clark Faulkner, died eight years before the author was born, his legacy seemed powerful Faulkner’s mind. The man was not only a Civil War officer, but also a successful planter, businessman, lawye...

Fred Maiorino Case Study Essay

Overview Fred Maiorino began his career at Schering-Plough in 1958 at the age of 28. He had been a successful sales representative till Jim Reed took over the position of General Sales Manager for South Jersey sales district in 1987. In 1988, Fred received his lowest ever performance evaluation of â€Å"Good† which was lower than any other sales representatives’ in the district. In fact, Fred’s salary increase at the end of the quarter was less than half of the average of other sales representatives who were at least 20 years younger to him. When Reed first came to New Jersey sales district, he turned to Fred for help and leadership. He implemented a new performance evaluation measuring system which rated salesmen according to two different measures. This new system included evaluations based on product market share gains and critical incidents of effective and ineffective salesmen actions recorded during joint calls made by district managers and sales reps. Moreover, Reed began coaching his subordinates and providing them with medical journals to help improve sales pitches. Unfortunately, even after working at Schering-Plough for over three decades as a highly successful salesman, Fred was terminated over coffee with Jim Reed at a local diner. This paper discusses why the different initiatives taken by Schering-Plough to motivate Fred Maiorino had failed. It also examines Reed’s role in the alleged breach of psychological contract and, contributions to the injustice and discrimination against Fred. Finally, this paper will provide recommendations for alternative coaching, goal-setting and leadership approaches that Schering-Plough could have adopted instead to ensure employee retention and loyalty. Breach of Psychological Contract At the beginning of their relationship, Jim Reed informed Fred that he would require Fred’s help in leadership. Although Reed may have made the remark in a casual manner, Fred took it seriously as he was able to recall the conversation even after a few years. Older employees tend to enjoy collaborative tasks through social interactions more than competitive tasks (Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004, p. 441). In fact, employees in their midlife  respond more positively to managerial strategies that promote cooperation instead of competition (Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004). In this case, it is fairly logical to think that Fred may have assumed that he would be promoted or provided with a salary hike if he was successful in helping Reed design a leadership plan for the district. In fact, this particular conversation with Reed may have led him to believe that Reed would acknowledge his hard work and loyalty by actually taking Fred’s advice or letting him help with the new strategy thereby , creating a psychological contract between the two parties involved. A psychological contact emerges when an employee believes that a promise of future benefit or return has been made in return for his contributions and, an obligation has been created for the employer (Robinson, Kraatz, & Rousseau, 1994). In other words, a psychological contract refers to the belief or perception of mutual obligations of an employee (Rousseau, 1989). Unfortunately, the assigned case does not indicate that Reed lived up to his promise of taking Fred’s help in motivating, mentoring and training new employees. According to Humphrey (2003) such acts can be deflating as the motivational benefits of bottom-up empowerment are forgone or lost. Moreover, violation of psychological contracts may lead to lower motivation and increased intentions to quit (Raja, Johns & Bilgrami, 2011). Thus, breach of such emotional contracts in the workplace may give rise to distrust, dissatisfaction and in extreme cases dissolution of the relationship between an employee and his employer (Roehling, 1997). In fact, breach of the psychological contracts lead to behaviors that undermine organizational effectiveness and efficiency (Lemire & Rouillard, 2005). Reed’s behavior increased Fred’s state of vigilance to the point where he began to actively monitor how well Schering-Plough was meeting the terms of their psychological contract. Moreover, in Fred’s eyes, Schering-Plough has breached the psychological contract with Fred. Fred had dedicated over 35 years of him life to the company only to find out it had made plans to make him retire early. Furthermore, Fred began to lose his faith in Schering-Plough when he realized that younger salespersons were being hired to replace long-term hard-working employees like him. In addition, Reed referred Fred’s decision to decline the early retirement plan as a foolish act. According to Zagenczyk, Gibney, Kiewitz, and Restubog (2009), supervisors’ supportiveness/discouragement strengthens/weakens the  relationship between employers and employees. A study that included 297 responses from 31 organizations confirmed a relationship between the existence of psychological contract and employee commitment. In fact, those with relational psychological contract exhibited more commitment to the workplace than those with transactional contracts (Chiang, Liao, Klein & Jiang, 2012). Violation of Procedural Justice Reed’s evaluation and spying on Fred resulted in the latter being suspended without pay for two days. This led to an increase in Fred’s feelings of injustice and violation. Additionally, Fred and Reed held different views of the measurement of Fred’s performance at work, flexibility, goal-setting and the purpose of coaching. In fact, Reed’s communication of matching market share goals and what was expected of Fred was highly complex and ambiguous. Such behavior on Reed’s part raised questions about procedural justice at Schering-Plough. Procedural justice is determined on the basis of the quality of what is being communicated an employee. In other words, procedural justice is based on the extent to which an employee feels whether his employer communicated crucial decisions in a sensitive and ethical manner (Harvey & Haines III, 2005). In other words, how a decision is made and communicated is what counts most (Harvey & Haines III, 2005). Unfortunate ly, Reed’s behavior implied that he regarded Fred as someone worthy of respect. This was further attested when Reed felt that it was not important to let Fred know the dates when he saw Fred’s company car parked in his driveway during work hours. Moreover, the new performance evaluation system implemented by Reed showed that Fred was doing â€Å"very good†. However, Reed decided to focus more on the least desirable component of Fred’s evaluation and give Fred and overall â€Å"good†. The results of the evaluation were humiliating for Fred as it was his lowest ever rating and was certainly lower than all other new hires who were at least 20 years younger to him. The assigned case study does not tell us how exactly Reed communicated his evaluations of Fred’s performance to Fred, but it does tell us that he evaluated Fred the very same way the second time. This time he sent Fred a memo letting him know that he was capable of doing better. The procedures involved in decision-making and the method of communication used affect employ ee behavior at work (Harvey & Haines III, 2005). Ineffective  Performance Appraisals and Goal-Setting Systems Right after Reed informed Fred that he would need the latter’s help, he implemented a new appraisal system that evaluated employees based on new criteria. However, this new system seemed to worsen his relationship with Fred. Job relatedness, formalization, reliability, open communication, trained appraisers, ease of use, employee accessibility and appeal procedures are among some of the characteristics of an effective appraisal system (Caruth & Humphreys, 2008). The newly implemented system barely met any of the above categories. General guidelines instead of comprehensive policies and written instructions were used by the company. It is important to use appraisal systems that encourage improvement and are not regarded as threats to be feared by employees (Hammer, 2007). As such, performance evaluations should be followed by accurate description and diagnosis of the ratings so that employees are able to discuss, understand and prevent future problems (Lee, 2005). This was lacking in Reed’s appraisal system. Moreover, recording and monitoring employee behavior during joint calls may have led Fred to be more cautious and nervous during client interactions. According to Gray (2002) such systems do not encourage competency or loyalty as they are distorted by evaluator bias. Fred never thought his performance rating was fair – in fact, he resisted it because older workers are more likely to avoid situations that put them at a disadvantage when compared to younger employees (Kanfer & Ackerman, 2004). The following paragraphs discuss what Reed could and should have done better to improve Fred’s situation and circumstances. Improving Leadership Style One of the major issues that led to Fred’s decision to take Schering-Plough to court was Reed’s ineffective leadership style. It is important for managers to know what behaviors promote achievement of results and what behaviors are plain ineffective (Lindbom, 2007). In fact, one of the most important job duties of a manager is to improve his followers’ performances. This meant, Reed should have communicated better with Fred. In fact, he should have asked Fred about his problems and listened to him instead of simply pushing him and sending him memos for poor performance. Continuous feedback and dialog would have allowed Reed to understand Fred’s needs, strengths, and weaknesses better while building a stronger bond with him.  Once this bond was built, it would have been much easier for Reed to alter Fred’s behavior according to the interest of the organization. An effective manager is attuned to individual followers and takes the right decision at the right time (Buzady, 2011). This allows the manager or leader to interact and alter workloads during difficult times. Transformational leaders focus on matching behaviors and communication instead of goals and skills (Humphreys & Einstein, 2004). Therefore, Reed could have improved Fred’s motivation and performance by communicating in a way that would have been easy for Fred to understand and relate to. Moreover, a leader must encourage and understand the ideals and values that his followers share. In order to come to a common ground with followers, an effective leader must think less about himself and more for others (Kerfoot, 2004). Congruency can only be reached when a leader looks beyond himself and more toward the opportunities for advancement of his followers. Leaders should ensure that challenging work that is valued is provided to subordinates while considering the followers ability. He should always consider the followers self-esteem and self-concept, communicate goals clearly and understand the relationship between paying attention to individual followers and job satisfaction (Isaac, Zerbe & Pitt, 2011). Moreover, it is recommended that sales leaders employ a more active style of leadership in order to improv e participation and performance. Therefore, Reed should have considered adopting transformational leadership style (Bass, 1993). Transformational leaders are those who are able to develop the ability within their subordinates to look beyond their own self interests and align their goals with that of the organization. Although transactional leadership style is more popular among sales managers and is believed to induce desired responses in employees, transformational leadership has been found to produce higher such results (Dubinsky, Yammarino, Jolson & Spanger, 2001). Transformational leader hold deep personal value systems that allow them to unite their followers while modifying their goals (Bass,1999). Moreover, transformational leader demonstrate individual consideration, charisma and inspirational motivation – all of which were lacking in Reed from Fred’s point of view. Improving Coaching Furthermore, Reed needed to change his way of coaching his subordinates.  Reed’s concept of coaching included handing out manuals and writing memos that stated Fred was capable of doing better. Today, most organizations are determined to improve the ability of managers to coach their subordinates effectively. Many organizations shelve out millions of dollars to promote and facilitate a health coaching environment. In fact, coaching is considered a manager’s top priority in many companies. Therefore, Reed should have designed one-on-one monthly meetings with his subordinates where he could have discussed ways to improve individual sales performance. Moreover, instead of punishing Fred for products that he was selling less of, Reed should have first appreciated Fred’s top selling products. Subordinates look forward to reinforcement when they do the right things and welcome constructive criticism when they recognize their work needs improvement (Robinson & Roussea u, 1994). Improving Reward System . A sudden change in the reward systems is usually not well accepted among employees who perform consistently. Therefore, it was critical for Reed to first speak to his subordinates regarding changes in Reed used a highly ineffective reward system where the company ended up awarding Fred less than his expected salary increase. Instead, Reed should have made every effort to determine what rewards his subordinates valued and how much effort they were willing to make to attain the rewardsperformance and work with them to improve on it. Constant coaching, mentoring and one-on-one monthly individual performance evaluations would have given employees an idea of what rewards to expect from the new system. In fact, the unexpected and unprecedented reward might have actually de-motivated Fred to the point where he did not find it necessary to work on his weaknesses in selling the two major products of the company. References Avolio, B. J., Bass, B. M., & Jung, D. I. (1999). Re†examining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the Multifactor Leadership. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 72(4), 441-462. Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational leadership: A response to critiques. Braun, C. (1997). Organizational infidelity: how violations of trust affect the employee-employer relationship. The Academy of Management Executive, 11(4), 94-95. Buzady, Z. & Georgiu, A. (2011). Riding the waves of the motivation cycle. OD Practitioner, 43(1), p. 35-41. Caruth, D. L. & Humphreys, J. H. (2008). Performance appraisal: essential characteristics for s strategic control. Measuring Business Excellence, 12(3), p. 24 Chiang, J. 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