Standardisation Versus Adaptation in a Globalisation Context free essay sample

Standardisation versus Adaptation in a Globalisation context Challenge This is the challenge facing primarily multinational firms whether to standardise their local offering or adapt/localise it for the market they are selling into. According to De Wit and Meyer (2010), the question facing managers is whether they should anticipate and encourage global convergence by emphasising global standardisation, centralisation and coordination or should managers acknowledge and exploit international diversity by emphasising local adaptation, decentralisation and autonomy. In other words as St Augustine (534-430) put it â€Å"when I am in Milan, I do as they do in Milan; but when I go to Rome, I do as Rome does†. Technology influencing standardisation What is strongly influencing globalisation in today’s context is technology. Technology is driving converging commonality according to Levitt. Firms benefit more from commonality i. e. standardisation than adaptation to the local market. I would suggest that globalisation has been good for the world consumer in both rich and poor countries. We will write a custom essay sample on Standardisation Versus Adaptation in a Globalisation Context or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This has largely been achieved through standardisation. In particular, corporations have benefited from this standardised approach through economies of scale in production, distribution, marketing and distribution. Who benefits? As a consequence, the consumer has greatly benefitted in the rich and poor countries as goods have reduced in cost. It may be argued that this is purely for the consumption of goods but not necessarily for the communities that may have once manufactured these goods in either rich or poor countries. It can have devastating consequences once the manufacturer moves out of the local community. Kanter (Best of HBR 1995) would suggest it does not as she puts it â€Å"Does globalisation have to be at the expense of local community? Not at all if that community can become a world-class source of concepts, competence or connections. † Why Standardise? Standardisation is in essence according to De Wit and Meyer (2010) â€Å"doing the same thing in each country without any costly adaptation†. Standardisation is possible to apply to product offerings, value adding activities and resources employed. As mentioned previously, standardisation is particularly important as typically companies achieve economies of scale but more importantly for consumers it enables them to get a â€Å"predictable offering† according to Hamel and Prahalad (1985). Consumers all over the world know what to expect. Companies standardise not just for organisational convenience but it is a means of achieving cross-border synergies. Companies benefit from this strategy by leveraging resources, integrating activities and aligning product offerings across two or more countries. For example, the Apple iPhone has the same layout in terms of operating system /language applied for US, Ireland, UK, Australia and other English speaking countries. Applying this standardised US centric approach enables Apple to achieve huge economies of scale and avoid the costly task of employing localisation companies such as Lionbridge Technologies, Sajan, welolocalize etc. to adapt the market for the locale it is intended for. Consumers generally â€Å"accept† the US English on their iPhones with regards to spelling and use of Apps installed on their phones. The reason companies adopt this approach rather than localising for every locale is because the return in investment would be utterly negligible, enables Apple to have a cost advantage and ultimately keep the cost of the product down for the consumer. Other corporations such as Proctor and Gamble take a multidomestic strategic approach which is in essence treating the world as a portfolio of national opportunities. The product is the same/standardised for each market but the labelling or packaging has been adapted or localised for the market it is sold into. The company is thus avoiding RD costs, â€Å"re-manufacturing† etc. nd is able to achieve large economies of scale as the production of the good can be highly specialised in one locale. PG could in essence manufacture the washing liquid in Ireland but repackage the product for every market to take into account consumer preference not to buy a â€Å"foreign† product and to have confidence in the localised approach. G etting cross border synergies on a large scale can be a way a firm gains competitive advantage over its rivals. Firms can achieve this by leveraging activities, integrating activities and/or aligning positions. This can be seen in the below figure as argued by De Wit and Meyer. Cross Border Synergies Know your Market However, for the success of a firm operating in a global environment, they must remain aware of the specific demands of the local market and equally important be in a position to respond to these configurations in a timely manner. A company must know the differences in market structure, differences in customer needs, differences in buying behaviour, differences in alternative products, government regulations etc. If a firm is not responsive to the nuances of the local market then there is a risk of failure despite taking a standardised approach. According to Levitt’s article â€Å"The Globalisation of Markets, increased standardisation is in essence the world moving towards a converging commonality. Everything is becoming more similar or homogenised. This is where technology is coming to an increasing importance. Levitt argues that Standardisation decimates competitors that live in the old way of doing things. Multinationals and Global Corporations operate differently. The Multinational Corporation operates in many different countries but adopts its products and practices to each locale. Whereas a Global Corporation operates in a standardised approach which enables it to have lower operating costs and in essence treats the world as one overall market as oppose to multi-regional markets. Coca Cola it could be argued is the epitome of success. Its products is standardised in each market. However, it sought to achieve the convergence of cultures and nationalities, it did this very successfully in the 1970s in the hit song it used for its television commercial â€Å"I’d like to teach the world to sing†. By adapting a multicultural approach with cultures throughout the world joining together o sing the hit song it showed how a standardised product such as a cola could be enjoyed on a global scale. Levitt argues â€Å"The commonality of reference leads inescapably to the standardisation of products†. This enabled Coca Cola to focus on efficiency in production, cheap location to manufacture the syrup, distribution, marketing and management which brought about a reduction in cost for both the manufacturer and consumer. A so called win-win for everyone. Cultural impact of Globalisation Coca Cola sought to treat the world as one market. By making the product desirable on a global scale i. e. everybody wants to have the same product for every nationality and culture or as Levitt put it â€Å"Everyone in the increasingly homogenised world market wants products and features that everybody else wants†. Coke ensured this was possible by keeping the price low and thus ensuring local competition was eliminated or significantly reduced. Large scale production is typically cheaper than small scale production. Even if culturally, the elders of society frowned upon this, the younger people wanted to be the same as everyone else. Hence the reason the Coke commercial showed young people singing this song as oppose to more senior people. Levitt argues that cultural preferences for tastes i. e. older products is more or less a thing of the pass. However, in many multinational organisations Senior Managers typically treat the customer as â€Å"king† and offer the customer everything they could possibly want rather than what they’d like. This is a costly adaptation or providing a localised product. Managers need to engage the assistance of Marketers to help them sell the product consumers like rather than want. Managers may be fragmenting the market at a costly exercise and possible failure of product. Levitt illustrates this with the example of Hoover and how they overly localised the market rather than standardising the product offering of a washing machine across Europe. It resulted in Hoover conducting market analysis and potentially overly customising the products for each market with considerable cost variation. This would have put Hoover at a considerable disadvantage versus their competitors in each of the market. However, Hoover fell down significantly by not telling the customer what they wanted as oppose to conducting detailed marketing analysis and finding out all sorts of cultural preferences which would have resulted in varying costly products that would have put Hoover at a significant disadvantage versus their competitors. The Global standardisation philosophy: the underlying assumptions. This article by Douglas and Wind (1987) showed that there was greater potential for standardisation across industrial goods or luxury goods when rich or more upscale consumers were targeted. They also showed that more industrialised nations were ripe for greater standardisation than poorer nations. The reason being because customer interest as well as market conditions are more similar. Especially true if you compare nations such as Australia, UK USA The counter argument for standardisation Douglas and Wind argue that few companies pursue the extreme position of complete standardisation i. e. marketing, RD. manufacturing etc. They believe that some level of localisation is necessary due to the firms operations or in certain locations due to possibly regulation. It is not always possible to implement a global strategy particularly if for example a firms operations in another geography has in the past been given a lot of autonomy to pursue their own adapted strategy. They will get a lot of resistance to implement the â€Å"new† standardised approach. However firms pursue the standardised approach for the following reasons 1. Customer needs and interest are becoming increasingly homogenised. This we have seen earlier in the case of Coca Cola. 2. People around the world are willing to give up preferences in product features and design for lower priced goods with better quality. 3. Economies of scale can be achieved by firms operating in global markets in terms of production and marketing. This was evident by the earlier example of Apple marketing a non-localised product across many English speaking countries. Resistance to standardisation Douglas and Wind argue that despite Levitt’s paper, they found evidence that there was increasing diversity of behaviour within countries and resistance to the perceived globalisation of the world by firms. This has certainly resulted in an anti-globalisation sentiment that has certainly been evident in the last 10 years or more. Douglas and Wind also counter argue that despite the belief that people have a universal preference for low price at an acceptable quality. They find that this standardised approach has three major issues which I would tend to believe is more applicable today that when Levitt first wrote the paper. 1. Lack of evidence in increased price sensitivity. It is believed that customers are willing to trade off specific features for a lower price. However if you look initially at say Apple. They have successfully segmented the market and despite charging a premium for their iPhone, they have created desirability for a premium product with a significant mark up in price for its product. 2. Low price positioning is a highly vulnerable strategy. As above this is particularly evident with Apple’s counter strategy. They go even so far as to segment the market and charge more for the product in Europe as oppose the US to create an increased desirability for consumers. Pursuing a low priced position would not have made this product as desirable as it currently is. 3. Standardised low price can be overpriced in some countries and under-priced in others. Again Apple clearly runs counter to this argument. There is not a standard price for its product in every market. They may have adopted a standardised manufacturing approach with manufacturers in China but clearly adopt a non-standardised or highly localised pricing strategy. Apple are showing us how the take the benefits or standardisation and adaptation to best benefit the organisation as oppose to consumer . Otherwise they would have adopted both a standardised manufacturing approach but also a standardised pricing approach around the globe. Douglas and Wind also argue that standardisation is only possible if the following conditions 1. The existence of a global market segment 2. Potential synergies from standardisation 3. The availability of a communication and distribution infrastructure to deliver the firm’s offering to target customers world-wide. There are a number of constraints though to effectively implement a standardised approach throughout the world as follows:- Government and trade restriction. A firm may have a universal and standardised approach but if there are trade restrictions or local government barriers then the strategy is not effective. In particular the current climate dictates that the philosophy being approached is â€Å"every man for himself†. Despite getting agreement on world trade, countries are trying to export their way out of economic gloom. More and more countries are considering implementing barriers to protect domestic economies. 2. Differences in marketing infrastructure. It may not be possible to use the medium of television, print media or internet to assist marketing of products. For example in China, they put barriers in place to prevent overseas firms from advertising products on TV or even close down internet sites to protect local manufacturers e. g. many internet sites are closed . to â€Å"protect the local consumer† 3. Interdependence with resource markets. Overseas operations may not have access to the same raw materials, labour capital and will influence where an organisation will locate its facility despite the potential market in that economy. . Differences in competition from one country to the other. Despite being a multinational a firm might find it is competing against other multinational firms overseas and consequently may have to adapt a localised strategy on pricing, marketing or distribution to win consumers. Initially as I tacked this assignment I was very much in favour of Levitt’s view of the world and the only w ay forward for a multination organisation to succeed was to develop a very much standardised approach to everything from manufacturing, to marketing to distribution etc. However, having read the counter arguments I strongly now believe a firm needs to take the best of standardisation and adaptation combined to enjoyed the greatest possibility of success. Levitt despite being a radical thinker took a narrowed view of the world. A standardised approach of strategy was perhaps successful in the early 1908s but clearly not successful today. Many companies have taken the best of a standardised approach whilst ensuring aspects of their strategy is still localised. This is particularly evident by Apple who is now one of the most successful firms in the world.

Renissance Italy essays

Renissance Italy essays Renaissance is the Italian word meaning rebirth. It happened between 1350 and 1550 and it occurred in three distinct phases. First was characterized by a declining population, the uncovering of classical texts, and experimentation in a variety of art forms. The second phase was distinguished by the creation of a set of cultural values and artistic and literary achievements that defined Renaissance style. The large Italian city states developed stable and coherent forms of government, and warfare between them gradually ended. In the final period invasions form France and Spain transformed Italian political life and the ideas and techniques of Italian writers and artists radiated to all points of the continent. Renaissance ideas and achievements spread throught Euope and were particularly important in Holland. The Italian Peninsula was very urban which allowed trading to blossom and allowed for specialization in agricultural and industrial life that increased productivity and wa ges. Between 1350 and 1450 one in every six years had a high mortality rate. Overproduction became a problem. Orphans wre very common especially females. Dowry was used to wed the daughters. Church remainrd the center of peoples lives. A growing sense of civic pride and individual accomplishment were underlying characteristics of the Italian Renaissance. Michelangelo was extremely important in Renaissance art and sculpture. Art reflected both its concrete achievements and its visionary ideals. They were scholars and philosophers. Humanism developed in reaction to an intellectual world that was centered on the Church and dominated by otherworldly concerns. Hamanism was secular in outlook though by no means was it antireligious. Humanists celebrated worldly achievements. They studied and taught the humanitiesskills of disciplines such as philology, the art of language, and rhetoric, the art of expression. Lorenzo Valla was...

The Raft of the Medusa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Raft of the Medusa - Essay Example The members that had been left on board that had not drowned or died had tried to construct a life raft due to the shortage of lifeboats aboard the ship only to save ten total lives (Lavessiere, Michel, Chenique). The use of line shows all of the straight angles of the raft and shows the details of the pitifully built raft. All of the lines used show such detail to the people that are on board. The background is more neutral so it creates an emphasis on the rest of the painting that should be focused on. There are so many details to take in as there is no primary focal point other than the entire raft itself. A pattern of compositional lines draw attention to that focal point with the use of angles on the sail, the wooden planks that make up the floor of the painting and the arms and legs of the survivors. The coloring adds drama because of the lack of color. Every inch of the painting is dark and dreary or a golden neutral shade. The contrast of the colors and the lighting makes the painting appear more dark and dreary and draws attention to anguish of the sailors on

Poor Communication within a Business Research Paper

Poor Communication within a Business - Research Paper Example Effects of poor communication to a business Ideally, for any business organization to succeed proper and effective communication becomes the backbone of this achievement. The effects of poor communication stream down from the organization’s top management organs to the least level of employees. The miscommunication may overflow to consumers in that the sales team may give minimized attention to the needs of their consumers hence delivering poor service to them. Essentially, the low morale of employees, in house miscommunication, non-content customers, and poor output or performance by staff becomes the product of poor communication. I. Low morale and motivation of employees Negative morale mothers animosity and harshness among staff members if their working environment is not fulfilling. In essence, the improper articulation of organizations goals and objectives to employees by the management translates to decreased morale. Sequentially, the general output by the employee’s decreases because of this inappropriate impact. Additionally, when team members do not have access to adequate information needed in the delegation of their tasks they lack motivation as they feel the need to work extra in order to fulfill their duties (Frater, 2003). Eventually, the working environment created is one characterized by bitter moods that end up spilling to the customer. In this regard, the top management needs to establish proper communication channels between them and their team players to ensure that their customers benefit from their services. A negative cycle may develop in the business, which may attract low sales and dismal performance by the business. Th e personnel become weak in the execution of tasks and implementation of the organization goals. Mainly, the whole idea of going in to a business undertaking is making a profit. Therefore, it will prove unworthy to continue venturing in a nonprofit able venture because of reasons that are preventable. In a counter approach, a business needs to ensure that the morale levels of its staff members are intact for the continued growth of a business. II. In house miscommunication and misinterpretation Subsequently, poor communication within a business setting has the ripple effect of compromising the in house

Course work Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Course work - Coursework Example Competition has been the main effect of the changing technological environment. The company has had to compete with a number of companies with Apple Inc. offering the greatest competition among the competing companies for the supply of wireless solutions. The increasing competition has been recognized in form of the introduction of new products. Companies have been able to do research and come up with new products that are able to meet the changing needs of consumers hence rendering RIM’s products irrelevant (Christensen and Raynor, 2003, p. 28). Companies have been able to produce differentiated products unlike RIM hence attracting a good number of customers. For instance, Blackberry phones are no longer differentiated resulting in IM to lose its clients to competing service providers. This is evident from the feedback recorded from the high end market for mobile phones. The major effect of the changing technology has been the introduction of differentiated products that have rendered those of RIM unattractive. One of the major characteristics of human wants is that they are always changing. Companies have invested a lot of capital in research and development in efforts aimed at understanding the needs of the market. Technology has played an important role in the efforts by companies to identify market needs (Schneiderman, 2002, p. 123). There are new technologies of doing research that have resulted in organizations collecting accurate information on market needs hence producing products that match the needs. RIM has been unable to embrace new technologies in the design and supply of its wireless solutions for the mobile market hence resulting in the loss of market share. Some of the new products that have been introduced as a result of changing technologies include iPhone and android. Research studies indicate that 74 percent of the companies using mobile email have shifted and adopted new

Arguments Against Transformational Leadership Management Essay

Arguments Against Transformational Leadership Management Essay A person can have many distinctive qualities, leadership is among those qualities, not everyone possess such quality, which made this quality special and extraordinary. In the field of business, a decision often comes down to success and failure, leadership is one of the most important quality for a managerial person to have. As Thomas J. Watson, Jr. had put it: I believe the real difference between success and failure in a corporation can be very often traced to the question of how well the organization brings out the great energies and talents of its people. Leaders that can bring positive or beneficial effect to a group or enterprise are consider as a transformational leader, they are energetic, passionate, not only they focus on the systems and the structure of a business, they also focus on the individual employee to do well and to be successful as well. According to Cox (2001), leadership is divided into two categories: transactional leadership and transformational leadership. The distinction between the two, according to James McGregor Burns work on political leader (1978), are those ones who uses the policy of rewards to motive and earn his/her employees efficiency and loyalty, is called transactional leader; and those ones who gets involve with his/her employee, also possess determination and committed towards success as well as motivates its employees in exchange for their high performance, also their loyalty. However, in this ever changing world, business leaders needs improve his/her skill and ability in order to coordinate wit h the change. In this particular essay, the main focus will be on the transformational leadership and some of the arguments and criticisms against it, as well as some counter arguments in favor of the transformational leadership; along with supporting explanations, facts and various examples. Arguments against Transformational Leadership Theory: Study results shows that Transformational Leadership have its positive effect on organizations, improve its work productivity, performance and as well as the creativities, according to Bass and Avolio (1994), it can be found in every aspect of an enterprise, because sometimes transformational leaders are the type of leaders needed for an company to survive, according to Burn (1978): recognizes and exploits an existing need or demand of a potential followerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ looks for potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower. A transformational leader in an organization often break through its frame of organization culture and thrive, which made transformational leadership one of the most renewed and popular leadership theory in modern days, nevertheless, its resplendency is not without oppugns. There are many criticisms against the theory of transformational leadership, one of the criticism is transformational theory is very difficult to be trained or taught, because its components are too comprehensive; on the other hands, one of the argument against transformational leadership is that followers might be manipulated by leaders and there are chances that what they gain is so little compare to what they lost. Among them all, one of the important key criticisms against transformational theory is accusing it to be only for the selected individuals, which may lead to abusing of power. As Colonel Mark .A Homig (2001) have stated that: Transformational leadership is a double edged sword. Which means that, when a transformational leader over done his part in terms of leadership, his/her innate defect in personality or even later life experience can turn him/her into another type transformational leadership, the one on the opposite side-Pseudo transformation leadership. According t o Mark. A. Homig: has a potential immoral and unethical dimension that could be exploited by an unscrupulous leader inflicted on naive and unsuspecting followers. For example, Adolf Hitler was elected as the leader of Germany, he came into power during Germanys economic inflation and depression in 1920s, he did pull Germany out of its economic depression, however, after first couple of years honeymoon between him and the country, his follower later become so obsessed with him and followed him blindly into his conquest for his so called Lebensraum for Germany, which brought one of the worst disaster to Europe. Other example is Shoko Asahara, founder and leader of Aum Shinrikyo, also known as Aleph, a Japanese cult that is responsible for the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. The second key argument against transformational leadership is the un-clarity of its definition and components, since the definitions of the four components (Inspirational, Intellectual, Idealized, and Individualized) associated with transformational leadership are overlapping each other. According to Brayman (1992), the transformational leadership looks more suited to be a set of personality characteristics rather than special requirements. There are other various arguments against transformational leadership as well, like the ones associated with ethics, according to Avolio and Howell (1992), qualities that makes a great leader can lead to unethical act, as the first key point in this section stated, such leader can make his/her follower to make unethical decisions and even commit crimes as well, according to Yukl.G. (1998). One example for this case is Hitler. Within this essay, the focus will be on the above arguments, in the following section, and in-depth analysis will be done. Supports for the Transformational Leadership theory: Two of the key arguments against transformational leadership theory primarily focus on the un-clarity of its concepts, and accusing it to be misleading. However, if we take a closer look at the details and examine the core components of the transformational leadership theory, one can easily notices the arguments against transformational leadership is losing its roots. Based on Benard. M, Bass (2006)s book on Transformational leadership, the qualification of transformational leaders are those who has great personality qualities and the ability to influence others in exchange for their loyalty, it focuses on the processes between the leader and followers. Therefore, those who uses negative examples of transformational leadership such as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini to fault the transformational leadership theorys core concept is false, because idea or the overall construction of the theory of the transformational leadership is solid, and does not varies when people interpolate it dif ferently. Arguments such as the requirements for transformational leadership are sets of personality traits, and it cannot be taught or learn, Oscar Arias have stated: More than knowledge, leaders need character. Values and ethics are vitally important. The basics of leadership can be taught. What is desperately needed is more responsible leadership a new ethic to confront the challenges of our day. Based on an interview and commentary essay done by Jonathan P. Doh (, many educators believes that transformational leadership can be taught, in fact all types of leadership can be taught and learned. Here are some of the quoted interviews from that report: Jay Conger (Professor of Organizational Behavior at the London Business School and Senior Research Scientist, Center for Organizations at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles) have :Yes, most definitely. Here work experiences, bosses, special projects, and role models, education all play a role in leadership development. Using an analogy with sports, not everyone can become an outstanding player despite coaching, yet most will benefit and improve their game. A few will go on to become stars or outstanding leaders given coaching, extensive experiences, and personal drive. Also from Kim S. Cameron (Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the University of Michigan Business School.) said that: Some people have an inclination to learn some competencies faster or better than others, of course, and some people reflect more charismatic or likable characteristics than others. But many great leaders are not those that appear on the covers of Time and Fortune. They have learned to achieve spectacular results in their own circumstances. Think of parents. Can people learn to become better parents, or are we just born either competent or not? Everyone would agree that effective parenting can be learned and improved. So can effective leadership. Leadership can also be taught, according to Jay Conger, Kim Cameron, and Steve Stumpf (cited in Jonathan P. Dohs interview essay), have all agreed that leadership can be taught, but only to a certain extent. The reason behind this is the three dimensions of leadership: skills, perspectives and dispositions. Just like in school, everything can be taught to students, but there are always some students do better than others, in terms of adapting knowledge, and the ability of applying the knowledge that they have learned. Skills can be taught, and perspectives can be trained, however, dispositions such as ambitions, mental capacity, etc.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.is difficult to teach. Bottom line is, leadership can be taught and learned through education and training. There are a lot of examples of leaders that proved valuable to a company, just to name of few in this essay. Steve Jobs is one of the perfect example, he was fired from apple and later came back, and turned Apple into one of the most profitable technology company in the world. Another example is Gordon Bethune, CEO of Continental Airlines (merged with United in 2010), and he joined Continental Airlines during its bankruptcy, during that time, company was losing $55 million dollars per month, he, however, not only eliminated the debt they had at that not, but also increased Continental Airlines stock price from $2 a share to $50 a share. Conclusion: In conclusion, Transformational leadership theory have proved its value throughout the modern days, even if there are some criticisms, it still not enough to effect the core concept of transformational leadership theory. Counter arguments in support for the transformational leadership theory, have proved its aptitude in work performance, quality and earn their loyalty. Key arguments have been vindicated in this essay, even though, motive of a leader sometimes is questionable, but this does not change the core construction of the theory; transformational leadership theory or any leadership theory can be learned or taught, only difference is how well one can adapt and apply the knowledge of leadership. Transformational leadership is surely one of the most popular theory, and most likely will become the resolution for todays organization, as todays enterprises facing many tough challenges such as creativity, sustainability, and uniqueness.

The Thought and Influence of Voltaire Essay -- Writer Literature Paper

The Thought and Influence of Voltaire I The legacy of Franà §ois Marie Arouet, or Voltaire is not only a vast collection of writings, but also a world that has been radically and directly affected by these works and the activities of their author. While Voltaire did not create many of the ideas he professed, his success at disseminating these is unparalleled. He summed up with the most panache of anyone of his day the central issues of the Enlightenment, and rallied with the greatest fervour to see his beliefs tangibly realised. This paper will focus on Voltaire’s stances on vital issues, their weight versus the ideas and practices against which they are reactions, and their influence on both 18th century Europe and the modern West. II History Voltaire’s interpretation of history, its value, and the best methods for dealing with it, reveal clearly that his first love is literature. The important qualities of an historical work were, for him, character development, drama, and setting.1[1] But whereas previous historians may have been loath to give any texture to their descriptions of past civilisations, instead preferring value-laden generalisations (Golden Ages and Dark Ages); and whereas it was rare for one to make the attempt to transcend their setting and beliefs for the sake of better understanding their subjects,2[2] Voltaire emphasised that it was vital not just to look at significant events, but also to immerse oneself in the quotidian details of a society, thus understanding the character of the people behind the events.3[3] This deliberate identification with other cultures is characteristic of the relativism that the philosophes practised and that influenced their ethical theories. Drama aside, V... ...rsity Press, 1959) pp.288-291. 11[11] Gay. p.129. 12[12] Lauer. p.75. 13[13] Voltaire. Portable Voltaire. p.85. 14[14] Wade. p.785. 15[15] Voltaire. Portable Voltaire. p.142. 16[16] Voltaire. Portable Voltaire. p.144. 17[17] Wade. p.786. 18[18] Voltaire. Lettres Philosophiques. (Paris: Garnier Frà ¨res, 1964) p.34. 19[19] Wade. p.785. 20[20] Voltaire. Portable Voltaire. p.212. 21[21] Voltaire. Portable Voltaire. pp.134-136. 22[22] Voltaire. Portable Voltaire. pp.152-155. 23[23] Gay. p.289. 24[24] Wade. p.786. 25[25] Gustave Lanson. â€Å"The Voltairian Reformation of France† in Voltaire. ed. William F. Bottiglia. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1968) p.139. 26[26] Norman L. Torrey. â€Å"Duplicity and Protective Lying† in Voltaire. pp.19-30. 27[27] David D. Bien. The Calas Affair. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1960) p.25-26. 28[28] Gay. pp.278-281.

My Blueprint of Professional and Personal Growth

This paper is my analytic theorem to my Blueprint of Professional and Personal Growth from the course â€Å"Managing People & Promoting Collaboration†. It gives a brief breakdown of my path to become a manager I aspire to be, how my relationship with my family, partner and work can be a root of my happiness and how sure I maintain my personal integrity of ethics and morales within my work environment.An executive summary is presented to show how the course educated me in a more systematic way and how it helped me identify my strengths and weakness as a manager, how I can build a functional team, managing team and teams in virtual environment, building a team charter and etc†¦ Furthermore, in detail is one goal I added to my previous goals I identified in the previous course â€Å"Dynamic Leadership†, that I plan to achieve in my personal and professional development.Executive SummaryThroughout this course, Managing People & Promoting Collboration has educated and e nlightened me in four aspects – how to manage people, how to build a successful team, how to select a strategy to use in supporting a positive work environment and creating & sustaining culture in organization. Managing people can be natural as well as an acquired skill. Due to human nature that is ever changing and evolving, management also in order to be effective must also be evolving and be able to accommodate dynamicity. As this course exposed me to so many different concepts, theories and strategies in building a functional team, team work and fostering collaboration.I was able to identify my strength and weakness as a team leader which actually can aid as well as can hamper my ability to manage. Thought-provoking topics we covered during the eight (8) weeks ranging from finding an effective  manager; ensuring effective communication in organizations; handling difficult conversations; motivating others & personal motivation and purpose; strategies required to motivate team members; giving effective feedback; forming a team & selecting members; building a team charter; building functional teams; managing diverse teams and teams in a virtual environment; my role as an effective collaborator; ethical challeneges and legal risks of being a manager; creating a sustainable organization; strategies, theories and concepts on promoting a positive work environment and being a manager that’s a dynamic leader.Two elements that improved my understanding of managing people and fostering collaboration is effective communication and vulnerability based trust. The key to effective communication within team members is the context of the information. â€Å"Team members, therefore, must be aware of what, where, and when to communicate information to achieve effective and efficient outcomes† (McComb, 2012). Furthermore a team with a creative behavior creates an environment that could compel them to work with determination. Being able to make a difficul t task look like a fun game, the ability to challenge each other’s ideas in order for a new idea to arise and to be innovative.â€Å"When teams engage in creative behavior, their activities are focused on generating novel and useful ideas and solutions† (Colquitt, Lepine, Wesson, 2013). Also having energetic persona within the team keeps the team in rhythm and enables the team members to make spontaneous decisions – energetic persons have the natural powers of conviction and are able to communicate to others their point of view openly and with acuity. Most importantly, building vulnerability based trust according to Lencioni, â€Å"This means that members of a cohesive, functional team must learn to comfortably and quickly acknowledge, without provocation, their mistakes, weaknesses, failures, and needs for help.They must also readily recognize the strengths of others, even when those strengths exceed their own† (Lencioni, 2003). Such a trust enables the team to work with each other recognizing and admitting their strengths and weakness and they accept each other’s challenge as a lesson or an experience to their skills and not as an offence. Learning to be humble and show humility with each other will lead to successful team collaboration. This will enable the team to accept others point of view with keenness and also allow them to face any hindrances and challenges with  diplomacy.Moreover, this course assisted me in learning how to create a team charter in which it has showed me my strength and weakness. A Team Charter helps â€Å"team members recognize their complementary skills, their common purpose, common goals, and mutual accountability† (Byrd & Luthy, 2010, p. 14). It made me understand how to be prepared for any arising conflicts and how to manage it. †Conflict management works best when the parties involved in a disagreement are equipped to managing it themselves† (Weiss & Hughes, 2005). I also learnt the importance of feedback and feed forward. â€Å"Feedforward helps people envision and focus on a positive future, not a failed past† (Goldsmith, 2002). How it puts the employees in a check list in order to spot where they are wrong and perform better.â€Å"Effective feedback helps the coachee see the gap between intended performance and actual performance† (Payne, V. 2007). The requirements needed to excel and improve in their workforce. †Employees can provide useful input on the effective of procedures and processes and as well as input to managers on their leadership effectiveness† (Goldsmith, 2002). I believe that I can be more impactful to organizations due to my improved understanding by the way I can improve team building and team work as well as forster collaboration among collegues. I would also be able to be impactful as a manager who is able to lead, a leader who is able to communicate effectively, and one who can motivate others, a good manager that has an inspiring values following with ethics and morales at work and with the team memebrs; most importantly I can be a leader who can manage people and resources of an organization effectivtely and efficiently.â€Å"Some of the most critical decisions a manager makes involve personal values- how much emphasis to place on the immediate interests of the customer or the long-term interests of the company† (Posner, 2009). The understanding of effective communication has changed the way I view the job of a manager and the way I can practice collaboration in the organization because it has made me realize that the manager is not just a post or position but a responsibility taken upon oneself to utilize resources in an organization and to make sure that every individual under his control is aware and equipped with all the necessary information and that communication flows to and fro management to employees and between employees in oder to keep all parties involved in tune with organization’s objectives and targets.My goals to be successful and finish with my MBA in  the nearest future has grown even more stronger and this course has exposed me to the possibility of using other people to achieve these goals by learning from them and openining myself to opinions of others. Taking advices as well as giving advices to others that have problems and learning from the results. In other words, this course taught me how to feed forward effectively. â€Å"Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things.† â€Å"Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It improves responsibility.† – Peter DruckerLive, Learn & Loveâ€Å"The worm on the hook for the fish† – I stated this in my previous post as my motivational theme. The desire to achieve the goal and knowing what needs to be done to achieve that goal. The truth is I don’t know if I would be happy in my career, but I do enjoy and d o know that I want to be happy in any field I choose to be in and give a hundread percent to achieveing things expected of me. Being a manager must start with me being able to first manage myself, because if I can not take charge of things around me that are available to me and motivate myself to be the best I can be with the resources at my disposal then it would definitely be unnatural to manage others.And I can be that manager I aspire to be by gradually practicing and building on myself and then applying it to with others. I have to show others that I can lead and manage and that I believe in myself- by coaching and teaching them through what I have learnt and through my experiences. I must say it is an uneasy task to lead and manage especially when it comes to a diversity workforce of gender, qualifications, ethnicities and etc†¦ But I like the challenege as it gves me joy and eagerness into gaining more experience, learning openly without fear of making mistakes and enabl e me to make the right decisions. No relationship is perfect, I argue with my spouse and family at times and yet they are the one’s I seek advices and support from. I love them and they love me and we want to keep loving each other and pushing each other to attain the best things we want to acheive in life and more.My father taught me that family comes first and there is no joy if there is no family bond. Nothing is perfect and what makes the thrill of the bond to be unbreakable is all those arguments and laughter after that. What makes me sure that I can be happy with my partner and family is  because first and foremost, I want to be happy and remain that way with what I have. Though there would be differences and clashes at times because no one and nothing is perfect, I know that we can always try to make each other content and importantly, as long as we keep trying, that’s really want counts.Regardless of the fact that I may not be able to see or have enough time for my partner and my family am just glad that technology beats it all in bringing me close to them through phone calls, emails, skype and other applications. I for one can not please or make everyone happy, but to sustain my relationship with my family, partner and work I try as much as possible to separate my professional life from my personal life and also as I give my full time to my work I also have to give sometime for my personal matters. When it comes to intergrity, personal morales and ethics, I have come to realize that when in Rome, behave as the Romans would at the same time having standarnds and limits to what you can accept from others that are not ethically accepted by you is important.In business it is no new thing to get dirty for the greater good of the organization like to lobby or tell white lies; like hyping in other to make the organization have a favorable postion but at the same time safety, health and respect should never be compromised. I would as a leader work for the interest of the organization and push on to hit its projected targets but would pull the plug when its target are harmful and could end up bringing more loss then profit to the myself, the organization and its employees. Moreover, instilling humility and fairness is an important factor of my values in giving me a firm stand of integrity.Of course as a leader of a hospitality company I do make aware to my staff about policies and rules in order to control any unforeseen unethical behavior. Strategies that I am using at the moment in my organization as well as my personal life is firstly to communicate effectively – from the article of â€Å"Difficult Conversations† by Christensen, K 2011; feedforwad instead of feedback; the five (5) basic conditions to maintain an effective team by Coutu & Beschloss, 2009; building trust – vulnerability based trust by Lencioni, 2003 and the 4Rs of motivation by Maccoby,M 2010.The shared practices within the forum, he lped me to be more analytical and logic. Reading from my peers their diverse experience and goals, not only  powered me to achieve more, open other types of companies, listen more, better creative ideas, but most importantly they give me the â€Å"determination† in achieving them without fear and be prepared to face predicted challenges. My passion driven for the purpose; as the previous course â€Å"Dynamic Leadership† has taught me the dynamic styles of leadership due to dynamic personalities a leader have to encounter when leading others. This combined with Managing people & promoting collboation have broadened my goals and how I would develop my action plan.Action PlansDuring the shared practices and articles read during the eight (8) weeks of the course â€Å"Managing People & Promoting Collaboration† and the previous course â€Å"Dynamic Leadership†, I was able to build an action plan that I was taught from my previously. This has helped me see th ings more clearly and able to establish a clear game-plan and clarify my goals as a leader. Moreover, I was able to draw out many short and long term goals and have them prioritized. From the action plan that I have set, it is much easier to ride the wave of my success. As it is a stimulating elemenet that drives my passion for the purpose as I excel in my performance and also help others excel in theirs. Below is a new goal added to my list of the other goals I have planned previously.New Goal : My new goal is to improve my ability to motivate myself as well as others. My aim is to understand the personality traits of each employee and how they interact together; by identifying their strengths and weakness and coaching them if the need be. Motivation internal and external is a great factor that fuels the urge to achieve the unachievable. â€Å" Men and women want to do a good job, a creative job and if they are provided the proper environment, they will do so.† – Bill Hewlett – Co-founder, Hewlett-PackardObejctive 1: Self MotivationMilestones: a. Set mini goals or mini targets. This will aid me achieve a fraction of the major goal I have set. So this will actually help me feel like I am accomplishing something and I am moving forward in a bid to attain the entire target. Milestones: b. Positive mental attitude & enthusiasm to work. By avoiding negative feelings and persistently focus on the positive and eyes on the target. By talking to inspiring people or listening to new ideas. Being enthusiastic in finishing the mission; maintaining a healthy work and life balance. Obejctive 2: Motivating OthersMilestones: a. Mountain of vote of confidence. By making them aware that I am confident in the team members ability in getting the work done. Keeping things in perspective. According to Christensen article, Frederick Herzberg stated â€Å"the powerful motivator in our lives isn’t money, it’s the opoortunity to learn, grow in respo nsibilities, contribute to others and be recognized for achievements† (Christensen, 2010) Milestones: b. Recognition for those who portray exemplary attitudes in aiding the team, achieve its goals as well as also a collective reward for the teams success.Below is my previous goals I have listed in my previous course â€Å"Dynamic Leadership†. Goal 1 : My first goal as I mentioned in the post of week 7, is to successfully improve and expand the hotel industry that I am leading. My aim is to attract more customers and offer quality services. My calculated time frame for this is between 2 to 3 years.Obejctive 1: To do this I have to achieve my MBA within 2 years. Milestones: a. Implementation of new approaches and different leadership styles.Although with these time set objectives, there are other points that   will stay for a long term such as building team work that involves   shared goals, productivity and problem solving. b. Professional training: A period of 6 mon ths period will be   offered for advanced staff training to a more higher professional   level. With this knowledge I would be able to help guide the   people I lead, share with them my experiences and foremost   improve myself personally and professionally. Obejctive 2: Improve many features within the hotel industry which will take 6 to 9 months. Milestones: a. Establishing flexibility to access: Such as improve the  quality of   services, improve the advertisement criteria by subscribing to   different online booking websites like www.booking .com or   Expedia and also spreading of flyers to the airport and other public   vicinity – cafeterias, malls or supermarkets. b. Enlargement of infrastructure or amenities by increasing more   rooms and provide other facilities such as business center, spa and   gym which this will take approximately a year or so to put that into   settlement.Goal 2 : Obtain another MBA degree in Marketing to be achieved in th e commencement of the 3rd to 5th years. Obtaining more degrees may open doors to so many opportunities such as becoming more effective, more strategic, more developed, more crtitical thinking and be able to progress more strengthing my pillars in the realm of my business.Obejctive 1: To do this I have make a thorough research on the subject. Milestones: a. This is a milestone itself to plan to have another MBA degree in Marketing. I would do researches on the subject through the   internet or library or articles And also seek vices from my   academic advisor. b. Seek opinions and advices from family, friends, peers, colleagues   at work and most importantly from my academic advisor. More   prominently to know how this MBA, if pursued how it could be a   transition to effectively prepare for a career progression or a career direction.Obejctive 2: Time Management & Finances Milestones: a. Being that I am already pursuing an MBA degree I have to virtually draw a schedule betw een work, family , MBA – Project Management , Upcoming MBA – Marketing and myself. It is   essential that I don’t cram myself up and know if there is a   possibility I could pursue it comfortably. In the case if I did I would end up being workaholic plus MBA-holic. b. Financing my education wont be that much of a problem, being there is so many possibilities that I could fund my MBA. By   loaning from my income, family help maybe but may not be   needed, bank loan or a financial aid if applicableGoal 3 : Finally my last and ultimately crucial goal is to develop and enhance myself. After taking the Personal Values Survey, I was able to identify my eakness and would like to transform it into strength.Obejctive 1: Improve my communication skills with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Milestones: a. Improvement of communication skills, strengthening my   presentation as well as the way I carry myself in the business world   as well as in the society. b. Improve my ability to get information to and fro, people of diverse  culture and background in a clear, accurate and concise manner that would enable my messages to be clear and easy to understand. As in straight to the point, simple and understandable.Obejctive 2: To be more courageous Milestones: a. Build my courage esteem to venture into opportunities, ask questions and have a stand in decision making. b. To instill the valor to follow what I believe. As well as having a  personal and professional evaluation of things. Moreover I want to   have the courage to believe in my judgements and my intuition on business and other important decisions.As implied above, by achieving the goals and others I am planning for, I see and believe that these will help me advance to the next higher level and more professional. There is this quote that I stumbled across which resonated to me, â€Å"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.† – Vince Lombardi. I couldn’t agree less to this quote, because your team portrays you and vice versa, therefore in order to be an exemplary leader  for your people to look up to, one would have to be a genuine leader who is wise, modest, trustworthy and fair; to be supportive, to allow them the initiative, to involve them and to be true.I am aware of all the possible obstacles that could delay me and cause hindrance but I believe if you want to achieve something you will have to be well prepared to face the challenges ahead. Therefore, from the knowledge I have gained from this course, Managing People & Promoting Collaboration, not only it has heightened my beliefes but also give me the power to advance to another level I was not expecting to heed. My dad said, â€Å"Nothing comes easy†¦ To dream and to talk is free†¦ To achieve it requires your utmost effort and preparedness†.Therefore, I am de termined with trust and belief that together with my team I will achieve my goal with full passion and nothing is going to hold me back. A good relevant quote that shares the same point, â€Å"There’s nothing anyone can do to prevent you from reaching your potential; the challenge is for you to identify your dream, develop the skills to get there, and exhibit character and leadership. Then you need to have the courage to periodically reassess, make adjustments, and pursue a course that reflects who you truly are† (Kaplan, 2008).

Free Essays on Feminization Of Poverty

The Feminization of Poverty The majority of the 1.5 billion people living on 1 dollar a day or less are women. In addition, the gap between women and men caught in the cycle of poverty has continued to widen in the past decade, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "the feminization of poverty". Worldwide, women earn on average slightly more than 50 per cent of what men earn. Women living in poverty are often denied access to critical resources such as credit, land and inheritance. Their labour goes unrewarded and unrecognized. Their health care and nutritional needs are not given priority, they lack sufficient access to education and support services, and their participation in decision-making at home and in the community are minimal. Caught in the cycle of poverty, women lack access to resources and services to change their situation. The Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, identified the eradication of the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women as one of the 12 critical areas of concern requiring special attention and action by the international community, governments and civil society. The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women discussed the issue of women and poverty at its fortieth session in 1996, and proposed further action to be taken by UN member states and the international community, including the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in all poverty eradication policies and programmes. Among the agreed conclusions of the session were measures aimed at policies to ensure that all women have adequate economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, child-bearing, widowhood, disability and old age; and that women, men and society share responsibilities for child and other dependant care. Women are the World's Poor An important achievement of the Beijing Conference has been the recognition by ... Free Essays on Feminization Of Poverty Free Essays on Feminization Of Poverty The Feminization of Poverty The majority of the 1.5 billion people living on 1 dollar a day or less are women. In addition, the gap between women and men caught in the cycle of poverty has continued to widen in the past decade, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "the feminization of poverty". Worldwide, women earn on average slightly more than 50 per cent of what men earn. Women living in poverty are often denied access to critical resources such as credit, land and inheritance. Their labour goes unrewarded and unrecognized. Their health care and nutritional needs are not given priority, they lack sufficient access to education and support services, and their participation in decision-making at home and in the community are minimal. Caught in the cycle of poverty, women lack access to resources and services to change their situation. The Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, identified the eradication of the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women as one of the 12 critical areas of concern requiring special attention and action by the international community, governments and civil society. The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women discussed the issue of women and poverty at its fortieth session in 1996, and proposed further action to be taken by UN member states and the international community, including the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in all poverty eradication policies and programmes. Among the agreed conclusions of the session were measures aimed at policies to ensure that all women have adequate economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, child-bearing, widowhood, disability and old age; and that women, men and society share responsibilities for child and other dependant care. Women are the World's Poor An important achievement of the Beijing Conference has been the recognition by ...

Free Essays on Warsaw Convention

An international treaty known as the Warsaw Convention controls the legal rights of international travelers to sue the airlines for injuries suffered on an airliner. The Warsaw Convention is 70 years old. The Convention was originally designed to protect the airlines against excess damage liability. The three most recent major airline disasters are TWA 800, Swiss Air 111 and Egypt Air 990. All involved international flights covered by the Warsaw Convention. This year the United States Supreme Court confirmed that the Warsaw Convention "exclusively" controls a passenger’s right of recovery in U.S. courts for "physical injuries" sustained on international flights. The Warsaw Convention applies to passengers ticketed on an international itinerary even if the crash occurs on the domestic part of a continuous international trip. For example, let us assume an American citizen purchases a round-trip ticket in Seattle for a flight to Mexico City with a change of planes in Los Angeles. If a crash occurred during the Washington to California leg, the Warsaw Convention would still apply because that passenger was embarked on an international flight based on his ticketing to Mexico, although other passengers may have only been ticketed for the Seattle to Los Angeles domestic leg. Until very recently and for almost 70 years, the families of internationally ticketed passengers killed in airline disasters were doubly traumatized. First, they lost a loved one in what was often a preventable accident. Second, they discovered a harsh economic reality the maximum amount of money they could collect from the airline was $75,000 U.S. No matter how tragic the loss or how glaring the negligence, they could receive only $75,000, while the family of domestic passengers who died from the same crash could expect to collect millions in U.S. Courts. The only way around this liability limitation was to prove that the airline was guilty of "willful misconduct."... Free Essays on Warsaw Convention Free Essays on Warsaw Convention An international treaty known as the Warsaw Convention controls the legal rights of international travelers to sue the airlines for injuries suffered on an airliner. The Warsaw Convention is 70 years old. The Convention was originally designed to protect the airlines against excess damage liability. The three most recent major airline disasters are TWA 800, Swiss Air 111 and Egypt Air 990. All involved international flights covered by the Warsaw Convention. This year the United States Supreme Court confirmed that the Warsaw Convention "exclusively" controls a passenger’s right of recovery in U.S. courts for "physical injuries" sustained on international flights. The Warsaw Convention applies to passengers ticketed on an international itinerary even if the crash occurs on the domestic part of a continuous international trip. For example, let us assume an American citizen purchases a round-trip ticket in Seattle for a flight to Mexico City with a change of planes in Los Angeles. If a crash occurred during the Washington to California leg, the Warsaw Convention would still apply because that passenger was embarked on an international flight based on his ticketing to Mexico, although other passengers may have only been ticketed for the Seattle to Los Angeles domestic leg. Until very recently and for almost 70 years, the families of internationally ticketed passengers killed in airline disasters were doubly traumatized. First, they lost a loved one in what was often a preventable accident. Second, they discovered a harsh economic reality the maximum amount of money they could collect from the airline was $75,000 U.S. No matter how tragic the loss or how glaring the negligence, they could receive only $75,000, while the family of domestic passengers who died from the same crash could expect to collect millions in U.S. Courts. The only way around this liability limitation was to prove that the airline was guilty of "willful misconduct."...

Green buildings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Green buildings - Essay Example For example, the solar panels installed in green buildings are very energy efficient because their source of energy never depletes. Quality of water and air in the green buildings is better than what it is in the non-green buildings. Levels of air pollutants indoor are generally much higher than their levels outdoor. Many of these pollutants, like the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) originate in the materials that are used in the construction of buildings, yet there are other pollutants like the smoke that is generated by humans. Likewise, Asbestos is a material that is used for insulation purposes. It is made up of extremely minuscule fibers that are light enough to float in the air and are taken to the lungs with breath where they can cause serious damage to the lungs. Till 1980s, Asbestos was widely used as a construction material. However, as people began to gain awareness of its potential threats to health, they abandoned its use in construction. Green building makes sure that no such materials are used so that the environment both inside and outside the building becomes conducive for better health. Green buildings reduce waste. They mostly make reuse of materials or use renewable materials including sustainable lumber and plant matter. Recycled metal and stone are some of the primary building blocks of green buildings. Some green buildings even reuse byproducts of industries such as foundry sand, combustion materials as well as debris. One potential outcome of green buildings is that they inculcate motivation in the occupants to save resources and not waste things. Green buildings have a proper mechanism of disposal of waste. In addition to that, â€Å"green building furthers the... Since the onset of urge in people to make the buildings greener, architects have been adding numerous piecemeal elements for saving water and reducing the use of electricity in buildings. The structure of green buildings is not much different from the traditional buildings. They do not have to be designed in such a way that would make them look different from the conventional structures. In fact, green buildings have to be very much like the ordinary structures. It is only the addition of certain elements and avoidance of others that lends the â€Å"green† tag to a building. Such elements include installation of a solar panel for capturing sunlight, storing and converting it into the mechanical power. It is more of the occupants’ style of living that makes a building greener than installation or removal of elements. Occupants of a green building are very prudent in their use of things. They tend not to waste water, gas, or electricity. A building can not be expected to be green if the occupants living in it adopt such practices that are not consistent with the requirements of sustainable living. Nevertheless, there are certain factors that need to be taken into consideration while designing a green building. For example, there is sufficient water and heat proofing in the green buildings. In these structures, the roofs are covered with thick layer of soil to maintain a low temperature in the building and save it from the effect of hot weather. This obviates the need to install expensive and environment unfriendly HVAC equipment.

Web Based Delphi Information System Research Paper

Web Based Delphi Information System - Research Paper Example Property management systems are computerized systems that are used in the manufacturing, logistic, government and hospitality industry for managing properties. PMS is single software capable of performing numerous services including, management of personal property, equipment, and the associated legalities. In this digital age where web based applications such as PMS provide a competitive edge over old-fashioned, paper-based management mechanisms, these applications should entirely be incorporated into the business environment of any organization. This paper attempts to explore the advantages the PMS software such as Delphi would have on the hospitality environment such as chains of hotels. The hotel industry is made up of ventures interlinked together to provide wholesome services to consumers. Starting from reservations all the way to check out, all this activities need to be documented in a harmonious way. The adoption of technology is therefore necessary to promote interoperabili ty as well as efficiency. The many hotel systems such as point-of-sale, telephone, security and room control, entertainment and ordering, telephone services, accounts, HR and payroll among others are comprehensively packaged together in single PMS software. By automating these services, better customer service is achieved, which encourages spending, and consequently better returns. The automation can be achieved at a single entity or/and integrated throughout a worldwide chains.