'Compare and contrast the intended and emergent approach to strategic Essay

'Compare and contrast the intended and emergent approach to strategic management' and compare this to Dixons - Essay Example Mintzberg has lectured for several years on management and has authored several books on strategic management. The article is useful in researching Dixon’s strategy formulation process. Mintzberg article is geared at highlighting how the management can implement strategies that ensure organisational competitive edge. Pretorius and Maritz (2011) agree with Mintzberg that strategies should be based on the business environment. However, Ansoff (1991) disagrees with Mintzberg by critiquing the sample used in design school theory and asserting that strategies should not focus on the entire organization. Mintzberg conquers with Mintzberg and Waters (1985), that some strategies are emergent while other are deliberate. Concludes by asserting that strategy formulation should be controlled and executives must have the responsibility in the formulation. The article is useful in understanding modern strategy formulation in organisations since it focuses on the factors that should be consi dered in strategy formulation and responsibility of executives. I my view, the article offer a constructive approach to strategy formulation. 2. Ansoff, H., (1991). Critique of Henry Mintzberg's 'The design school: reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management,' Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12, PP 449-461. ... Ansoff explains how managers can manage changes in the environment through incremental strategies. Ansoff disagrees with Mintzberg and Waters (1985) and Pretorius and Maritz (2011), by concluding that it is impractical to formulate a strategy in an uncertain business environment. Ansoff provides an essential background for reviewing the history of strategy formulation in organisation. Kipping and Cailluet (2010) Aluminum industry case study confirms his views since managers have only implemented incremental strategies. Ansoff provides valuable criticism of design school since according to him it failed both prescriptive and descriptive observations. Ansoff suggests that managers should rely on trial and error and gradual strategies in low turbulent environment. I disagree with Ansoff since he did not offer any suggestions on strategy formulation in rapidly changing environments. 3. Mintzberg, H., and Waters, J. A., (1985) Of Strategies Deliberate and Emergent, Strategic Management Jo urnal, Vol. 6, PP 257-272. Mintzberg and Waters (1985) provide the framework of different strategic choices in the organisation. The article is aimed at highlighting different strategic formulation approaches. Some critical aspects of strategy formulation outlined by Mintzberg and Waters include types of strategies. Both Mintzberg and Waters are both reputable business authors. The article is useful in researching Dixon’s strategy formulation process. The paper offers both intended and emergent strategies like entrepreneurial strategy, ideological strategy, Consensus strategy, and Imposed strategy that are helpful in studying strategy formulation

Enforcement of entertainment laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Enforcement of entertainment laws - Essay Example Compensation Agents earn a compensation for their services at between 5% and 15% of the artist gross earnings from bookings, engagement, or employment secured by the agent. The commission given to the agent may vary depending on the type of work, length of time, popularity of the artist, and state laws. Some state laws stipulate that agents and talent agencies must obtain licences before obtaining commissions, and may be charge a particular maximum amount. Before agents represent an artist, they have to sign contracts (Ronald, 2008). According to Harrison, (2007), attorneys usually assist the artists in handling any contractual negotiations on their behalf, to be certain that the terms of an agreement such as fees and duration are favourable to the artist. Talent agents can sometimes act as managers with no licence and experience, and may negotiate contracts such as recording, publishing, or merchandising contracts for the artist, is like practising law without a licence which can je opardize the artist’s career. Contracts in the music entertainment industry can involve extremely complex legal issues such as a variety of rights, and usually have long term effects on the artist’s career. Conflict of interest may arise where an agent is being paid commission on the artist’s contract. This may make the agents focus on the advance money, at the expense of what they may assume as many details concerning the artist’s royalty calculations, publishing, creative control, production, merchandising, and other long term career issues of the artist. 2.3 Enforcement of entertainment laws State laws, such as California and New York require talent agents to obtain a licence as a form of the artist... This "Music Industry Management (Entertainment Law: Portfolio)" essay outlines the main components of entertainment law. The participation of lawyers in the media has made the media law develop much faster thereby leading to the development of entertainm ent law. Entertainment law refers to a combination of various traditional laws that focus on the provision of legal services to the players in the entertainment industry. The entertainment law combines various slaws such as company law, contract law, and sales of goods law. It is also noteworthy that, artist just setting in business, or fully established in the entertainment industry should consider having an entertainment lawyer in addition to having proper knowledge of their rights as an artist. The entertainment law firms all have different practices as most of the entertainment lawyers have varying areas of specialisation. It is therefore the onus of the artist to identify their needs be it litigation need (litigation attorneys) and or transactional needs (for the transactional attorneys). While the litigation attorney only specialise in defensive and offensive legal action, the transactional attorney s are responsible for facilitating entertainment deals, negotiations, strategi c initiatives as wells as other contractual issues. It is also advisable for artist to running contracts with entertainment law firms in order to enjoy complete legal coverage and legal representation. This should happen before and after legal issues arise because one entertainment lawyer may not provide the perfect coverage.

The African Union And Its Potential Politics Essay

The African Union And Its Potential Politics Essay On the 23rd of April 2007, an article was published in the New York Times entitled Africas Crisis of Democracy, which discussed the troubled presidential elections in Nigeria. According to analysts and observers, Nigeria was moving down a worrying path. Politicians and voters alike were becoming more and more disillusioned and started to lose confidence in the Nigerian political system and in democracy as a whole. Peter Lewis, director of African Studies Program at the John Hopkins University, was one of the researchers that conducted a survey on African public opinion and he ascertained that the political scenes in different African countries differed strongly from one another, especially during elections and in their aftermath. He stated that some countries have vibrant political scenes, while others go through the routine of elections but governance doesnt seem to improve (New York Times 2007).Lewis used the information generated through the survey to confirm the claim that people s confidence in democracy has drastically decreased. The results of survey showed that there was a 13 percent decrease, from 58 percent to 45 percent, in trust in a democratic political system since 2001 (New York Times 2007). Nigerias 2007 presidential elections were plagued by chaos, violence and fraud. These phenomena are not only present in Nigerian politics, but form a reoccurring theme in African politics in general. Many African democracies, according to Western standards, can be characterized as failed. In an article written by Ali Mazrui, states are claimed to be failed when they are unable to meet the following six criteria: exercise sovereign control over their territory; supervise their resources; effectively and rationally extract revenue from people, goods and services; build and maintain an adequate national infrastructure; provide for basic services like sanitation, education and healthcare; and lastly, states are bookmarked as failed if they are unable to bring up the capacity for governance and maintenance of law and order (Mazrui 1995: 28-29). Keeping these criteria in mind, it may be cautiously concluded that many African states are in trouble. The Angolan government can be drawn upon a s a relevant example; the government lost sovereign control over many regions of the country and as a result of this, the government also lost control over many of its resources, infrastructure and revenue (Mazrui 1995: 29). Apart from Angola, many other African states are unable to effectively control many of their countrys resources and set up an effective tax system. The consequences of these failings are that states become paralyzed by the lack of income and therefore cannot exercise their duty to provide basic services for their people, or even worse, a crisis of governance ensues. In the search for an overarching solution to these national problems, many scholars and heads of state have looked in the direction of the African Union (AU) to offer some relief and support. But what kind of organization is the AU and how can it be expected to help in solving structural political, economic and social problems that African states have? In this paper, an attempt will be made to answer these questions. Understanding Africas History It is important to understand the historical background of the African continent before even attempting to formulate a possible solution for the structural political and economic problems that the African states face today. Before colonialism and the formation of African nation states, the different regions of the continent were ruled by tribes with different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. Due to these differences, the tribes were often in conflict with each other over, amongst others, their territorial boundaries. Therefore, it could be said that there were already significant political centers and territorial division based on the heritage of common identity. During the scramble for Africa, the African continent was divided along the straight edge of a ruler, completely disregarding the already existing political formations and territorial divisions. Logically, the political elites of pre-colonial Africa had different political practices which strongly differed from those of the West, specifically on their concept of sovereignty. First of all, in the different regions of pre-colonial Africa control was exercised over people rather than land and secondly, political practices tended to be shared amongst the different political elites. That being said, it was not uncommon for different communities to have allegiances to a number of political centers (Herbst 1996-1997: 127-128). The political landscape of pre-colonial Africa was a web of territorial boundaries, defined by ethnic differences, and political allegiances to more than one political center. With the coming of Western imperialism these already existing divisions were abruptly disturbed. The initial transition from colonial status to independence in many African states proceeded quite swiftly and without major problems. This relatively peaceful transition can be attributed to the fact that in the last years of colonization, many of the leading African political figures were, for most parts, already in charge of their countries affairs (Emerson 1962: 277). After the abolition of colonialism, it was widely assumed that Africans would undo the boundaries that were set by the imperialists, but this did not happen. Also, the political structures introduced by the colonial intruders stayed intact. There were a few important reasons for why the expected territorial and political change did not occur in African countries. The first was that the leading political figures needed the state structure left behind by the West, because if the structure of the Western state was removed, there were no fitting alternatives that could compensate for it (Emerson 1962: 276). The only eff ective political structures present in Africa were the tribes, but these were of too small a scale to be of any significance (Emerson 1962: 276). Second, the inherited state system was in itself very fragile because of the absence of old-established political entities and robust communities which could lend stability the states (Emerson 1962: 279). Nevertheless, allowing the tribes to take over power as dominant elements, would have spiraled African countries into a state partial, if not total anarchy (Emerson 1962: 279). After colonialism, African states were left with a fractured internal situation. Many different tribes had been lumped together in attempt to achieve an easy governable unit, but in doing so, colonialism left behind great internal divisions that needed to be overcome in order for the states to function effectively. Apart from internal unity, the political elites of many new African states tried to achieve African unity through the ideology of Pan-Africanism. The most simplest and satisfactory definition of the phenomenon Pan-Africanism is that all Africans have a spiritual affinity with each other and that, having suffered together in the past, they must march together into a new and brighter future (Emerson 1962: 280). This idea of a united Africa and a shared African destiny sparked the initiative of the organization of Africas political elites into an intergovernmental organization. They joined forces in what was first known as the Organization of African Unity (OAU). However, the establishment of the OAU did not come to pass without a struggle, for there were definite differences in the objectives of the political elites that participated. There was a distinct schism between the post-colonial African states who envisioned an African partnership; the states were divided into two groups, the Casablanca and the Monrovia group. These two groups had slightly different ideological backgrounds, with the Casablanca group being more radical and the Monrovia group taking in moderate position. The Casablanca group envisioned a new Political Kingdom in which the participating states gave up most of their sovereignty, whilst the Monrovia group held firmly to the concepts of state sovereignty and self-determi nation in a partnership with other African countries. After long and numerous deliberations, these groups were dissolved by the establishment of the OAU in 1963 in Addis Ababa (BBC News 2001). However, in 2002 the OAU was replaced by a new organization, the AU, because the OAU was judged to be no longer adequate for the region (Packer and Rukare 2002: 365). The Constitutive Act of the African Union entered into force on May 26, 2001. The OAU as well as the AU were in part set up to help overcome the ethnic and social cleavages within the different African states, but before continuing with a further analysis of the AU and in which way it differs from the OAU and other intergovernmental organizations, it is important to broaden our understanding of these ethnic and social differences, and in which way they undermine a strong and legitimate state structure. In the case of Africa, overcoming these cleavages has proven to be quite difficult. The colonial era has left a deep mark on the African continent; because the imperialists divided the continent without taking the already existing divisions into account, many of the post-colonial African states are plagued by civil wars and unrest. The lack of an overarching national identity and the weak nature of the state system do not help in resolving the problem. What is needed is the reactivation of communalism; a common denominator which many, if not all Africans can rel ate to. According to Julius Nyerere, this may be found by introducing the ideas and beliefs of African socialism to all African communities. In a speech he made on the 13th of July 1966, Nyerere spoke of the difficulties that the formation of African unity faces. The development of the individual nation states will always be more important than the development of an African unity, because of the obligations that national governments have towards their people. This does not only pertain to political development, but also to the development of the national economy. So, when national governments take steps to develop themselves, it is inevitable that they will be taking a step way from African unity (Nyerere 1965 1967: 210). Nevertheless, Nyerere still believed that unity within and between states was possible; internal conflict and disunity can be overcome by the promotion of nationhood (Nyerere 1965 1967: 209) and an African unity can be achieved by deliberately moving to unity in every int er-state action (Nyerere 1965 1967: 210). In the Arusha Declaration of 1967, the precise ideology that formed the bases for African socialism were laid down. A few of the most important elements of the Declaration were: the absence of exploitation, the major means of production and exchange were in the hands of the peasants and the workers, the existence of a democracy and the conviction that socialism was a belief and not just an ideology (Nyerere 1965 1967: 233-234). There are many more important statements in the Arusha Declaration, the one just as important as the other, but they all amount to the following: respect thy neighbor as you would want to be respected, because all men are equal irrespective of race, religion or status and all share the responsibility of building up a strong nation state, through hard work and intelligence, that is free from poverty and inequality. Research Question The main purpose of this paper is to first of all understand what type of organization the AU is and if it can be compared to any existing inter-governmental or supra-national organizations. As the saying goes, with which one of these geese does the AU flock? After determining its nature, a further analysis of the Unions potential will be set out. The concrete research question is formulated as follows: What type of organization is the African Union and in which way can it contribute in solving any of the structural political, economic, and social problems Africa has? Employing a predominantly qualitative methodology, which will take the form of a literary analysis, this paper will try to answer the research question by first answering a few sub categories or questions. First, the AU and its goals will be compared to that of its predecessor: the OAU. After that, a short comparison with the UN and the EU will be made in order to determine what kind of structure the AU has. Then, the potential of the AU will be discussed by focusing on its Charter and the areas in which it succeeds and those where it fails. By using academic papers, commission reports of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, the official website of different organizations, books and other sources, the objectives of this paper will hopefully be achieved. Comparing structures From the Organization of African Unity to the African Union The OAU On 25th of May, the OAU was established in Addis Ababa on the stool of Pan-Africanist ideals (Department of International Relations and Cooperation 2002). The basic ideas that underpinned the establishment of the organization was that African states needed to be strongly united against colonial oppression and racism, and also needed to improve the lives of the African peoples. Starting off with 32 member states, the OAU grew over the years to eventually gain a total of 53 member states. Unfortunately, by its fifteenth anniversary, the organization was seen to have failed in achieving its set goals: responding to serious intra-African conflicts and to act against foreign intervention (Packer and Rukare 2002: 365). Also, the OAU was plagued by an internal schism between radical (the Casablanca group) and moderate member states (the Monrovia group). Adding to this list of setbacks was the fact that many member states were troubled by a worsening economic situation. There was a drastic a nd immediate need for reform mainly because the contemporary challenges of the continent had changed. By 1988, the goal of eradicating colonialism and bringing forth independence in Africa was almost completely achieved. Still, the economic crisis was a very significant problem which was not being dealt with adequately, mainly due to two important principles in the OAU charter. The first was the sovereign equality of all member states and the second was the non-interference in the international affairs of states (The OAU Charter 1963: 4). According to experts, these two principles needed to be revised (Packer and Rukare 2002: 367). To say the least, the OAU was thwarted by the boundaries set by its own charter. The insistence of the OAU to maintain the territorial boundaries that were set by the colonizers prevented it from taking action in territorial claims, but also the insistence of upholding the two principles stated above restricted the OAU in intervening in many of its member states to stop economic degradation. The organization was also structurally and functionally weak, particularly with regard to the secretariat and the secretary-general (Packer and Rukare 2002: 369). The insignificant authority of the secretary-general made it impossible for him to supervise peacekeeping operations and act as negotiator in resolving conflicts. Furthermore, it was extremely difficult to achieve consensus in the OAU Assembly, because the member states were often unable to transcend their national interests (Packer and Rukare 2002: 369). The final problem that the OAU faced was chronic underfunding. In spite of all these problems and the proposal for the reform of the OAU, the African political elites chose to establish a new organization (the AU) instead of reforming the OAUs structure and revising its Charter. The important question that comes to mind is whether the AU can overcome the weaknesses of that the OAU and its Charter faced. The AU In 2002, the AU was established and replaced the OAU. The principle goal of the AU was to protect the security of the continent, rather than the sovereignty of individual states (Hanson 2009: 1). This is the first and foremost difference between the AU and the OAU, but the AU also plays an increasingly high-profile role in peacekeeping (Hanson 2009); another area where the OAU failed. The main objectives of the AU are the increase of development; combat poverty and corruption; and ending as many of Africas problem as possible (Hanson 2009). As one of the only international organizations in the world, the AU recognizes the right to intervene in the affairs of its member states on humanitarian and human rights grounds (Hanson 2009). These guidelines were based on the recommendations of a report entitled: The Responsibility to Protect. The report stated that sovereign state have the responsibility to protect their own citizen from avoidable catastrophe from mass murder and rape, from starvation- but when they are unwilling or unable to do so, that responsibility must be borne by the broader community of states (ICISS 2001: VIII). This key principle sets the AU apart from all other international organizations, including its predecessor the OAU. The European Union and the United Nations The European Union (EU) is an economic and political international organization founded under its current name in 1993. The objectives of the EU are the promotion of economic and social progress and the representation and assertion of the European identity on the international scene (NATO publications 2001). The EU hopes to achieve and maintain economic progress through the creation of a boarder-free Europe with an economic and monetary union, strongly represented by a single currency. On the issue of social progress, the EU promotes economic and social cohesion between its member states (NATO publications 2001). The EU asserts its identity on the international scene through a Common Foreign and Security policy as well as a common defense policy (NATO publications 2001). A commonality share with the AU is the basic principles of respect for national identities, democracy and fundamental human rights (NATO publications 2001). The United Nations (UN), founded in 1945 after the Second World War, is an international organization that tries to maintain international peace and security; develop friendly relations between nations; and promote social progress and better living standards (UN: website). The UN also tries to safeguard the human rights of all the world citizens (UN: website). The UN has a unique international character that assists in the Union in reaching every corner of the world. Apart from peacekeeping and international security, the UN also works on a broad range of fundamental issues from sustainable development to the promotion of democracy (UN: website). While both the EU and the UN are both inter-governmental organizations, the EU takes on the form of a more supra-national organization. Both of these organizations were also created through the decision of different states to cooperate in order to serve over-arching purposes in different issue areas. Nevertheless, the UN is able to tackle more problems than the EU, because it is not bound to one specific area of the globe. Also, the EU has the power to sanction its European member states to comply with the made agreements, by for instance threatening with economic sanctions. While the UN strives to achieve equality and respect for human rights, the EU is mainly concerned with regional economic integration. The African Union tends to resemble the UN more that the EU. Even though the AU can only have member states within a certain geographical area like the EU, the AU still lacks the power to force its member states into compliance due to the lack of legitimacy. This legitimacy can only be attained if and when member states agree to give up a part of their sovereignty to the AU. Also, the issue areas with which that AU is concerned include other issue beside economic integration. In concurrence with the UNs objectives, the AU also takes on the responsibility of peacekeeping role and promotes social progress and unity within and between the different African states. Even though the AU was intended to be somewhat of a supra-national organization, it still has a long way to going before it is able to reach its fully functional and reaches its true potential. The African Unions Potential and Shortcomings As stated above, the main objective of the AU is to protect the security of the African continent and promote African unity. The AU has embarked on a number of peacekeeping missions under the inquisitive eyes of Western observers, who were not too convinced of the ability of the AU peacekeepers. Amongst the achievements of the AU are a number of successful interventions in a few of the member states (Hanson 2009). The 2008 intervention in Anjouan resulted in the successful expulsion of the Islands separatist leader (Hanson 2009), and the 2003 intervention in Burundi by the AU was acknowledged as a success by the international community. Still, the AU has more shortcomings than it has successes. The short life span and experience of the AU in peacekeeping lead to an unsuccessful intervention in Somalia and Sudan. This failure can be attributed to the lack of sufficient political and material support. Like the OAU, the AU faced a number of organizational and financial barriers as well as the same tremendous challenges with respect to poverty and civil war. The inability to effectively organize regional economic communities, on which the AU was also dependent for funds, was another one of the numerous shortcomings of this relatively young organization (Hanson 2009). As things stand, the AU is still somewhat fragile but has all the makings of an effective organization. In order to achieve its full potential a number of obstacles need to be overcome: the first and most important being the financial boundaries that it faces. In order to overcome this boundary, that AU needs to invest in strengthening the economic community on which it is reliant for funds. Furthermore, it needs to find new ways of generating fund from the international community. The second obstacle that stands in the way of an effective AU is the successful cooperation between the political elites of the different member states. Only when consensus is reached between the political elites of the member states, can the AU act in uniformity. Conclusion: Answering the Research Question The research question that this paper intends to answer is: What type of organization is the African Union and in which way can it contribute in solving any of the structural political, economic, and social problems Africa has? Before initiating the analysis on the similarities and differences between the AU and other international organizations, the relevance of ethnic and social differences within the different African states was discussed. This was an important starting point, because the problems that ensued from these ethnic and social cleavages were partially the reason for the establishment of the AU. The fragile state systems, left behind by the imperialists, were unable to fortify their legitimacy strengthen their institutional structure, partially due to the absence of internal unity. One solution to this problem was put forth by Julius Nyerere in the form of African socialism, which advocated national communalism which would unite Africans at the national levels and unit Africa as a whole. After ascertaining the relevance of the social and ethnic cleavages, the AU, OAU, EU and the UN were compare with each other in order to uncover what kind of organization the AU was. The AU was discovered to share the most resemblance with the UN and therefore, like the UN, tends to be more of an inter-governmental organization than a supra-national one. In answering the next part of the research question in which way the AU can contribute in solving any of the structural, economic and social problems of Africa the potential and shortcomings of the AU were discussed. The AU has a very promising structure, but the organization still has a long way to go before it is fully functional. Therefore, it can be cautiously concluded that if the with the coming of years and through the overcoming of the many obstacles it faced, the AU will be able to make a relevant contribution to solving some of Africas many problem.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn :: essays research papers

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1.Period: The period that is most evident in this novel is that of realism. Realism is a style of writing, developed in the nineteenth century, that attempts to depict life accurately without idealizing or romanticizing it. Mark Twain depicts the adventures and life of Huck Finn in a realistic, straight-forward way. He did not try to  ³idealize ² or  ³romanticize ² his characters or their surroundings; instead he described them exactly how they would be in real life. Realists did not write about the long ago or far away, the realists concentrate often on contemporary life and on middle- and lower-class lives in particular (such as Huck Finns). Evidence of the Romantic period is also found in this novel in that romantics tend to seek nature as a solace from problems caused by society and the big city. In this novel Huck turns to the Mississippi River (nature) as an escape from society, as does Jim for an escape from his slavery. Huck Finn also shows evidence of romanticism with its inst ances with the supernatural. 2.Style One of Mark Twain ¹s most effective uses of style in this novel is his first person point of view. In a first person point of view one of the characters tells the story, using first-person pronouns such as I and we. With this point of view the reader knows only what the narrator knows. The Adventure ¹s of Huckleberry Finn is told by the novel ¹s main character, Huck Finn. This point of view allows us to hear Huck ¹s distinct voice and dialect, further familiarizing the reader with Huck ¹s culture and surroundings. The skill with witch Twain elevates the dialect of an illiterate village boy to the highest levels of poetry established the spoken American idiom as a literary language.

The Mexican Peso Crisis of December 1994

There are three different types of foreign exchange regimes that can be used by developing countries once their currency has stabilized. The first one is called the managed float. Also called the dirty float, the managed float is a system when exchange rates are able to change due to the nature of the market, but leaves the option for the government to intervene if the fluctuation is not desired. It is the regime that has been used by the monetary system since 1973. The second regime is called the crawling band. The crawling band, in this case, would combine Mexico’s crawling peg with a wider band. The crawling band is a compromise between a system of entirely fluctuating exchange rates and those that are inflexible. The parity levels would be adjusted either up or down as a moving average of the actual exchange rates that would fluctuate on a wider band. The exchange rate would be only allowed to move a maximum percentage. The amount of the percentage is called the annual crawling peg. The wider band that would cover the crawling peg would allow for the actual exchange rate to fluctuate. The third regime is called the floating exchange rate system. Also called the flexible exchange rate system, the exchange rate fluctuates based solely on market forces in this regime. A floating system allows countries to have independent monetary and fiscal policies. Also, central banks would not have to hold onto a large international reserve to back a fixed exchange rate system. Capital flight was one of the main reasons for Mexico’s financial collapse of the peso. Capital flight is when assets and money flow out of a country due to an economic event that doesn’t assure investors things are okay. Capital flight differs from capital flow because capital flight occurs when investors feel that prices are about to fall and it becomes a race to get your money out before the prices fall. The assassination of presidential candidate Luis Colosio definitely played a factor in the capital flight out of Mexico. In 1994, the United States, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and a few others created a rescue package for Mexico. The United States put up $20 billion of the $50 billion for Mexico. The IMF guaranteed a credit agreement with Mexico for about $17. 7 billion. The Bank of International Settlements offered $10 to Mexico and The Bank of Canada offered about $1 billion. It was not just Mexico mismanagement that caused this crisis. The assassination of the presidential candidate was something that could not have been avoided and it caused to crisis to worsen even more. It seems like that event was the â€Å"last straw on the camel’s back†, so to say. In order to prevent this crisis from happening in the future, Mexico should pay closer attention to its current account balance. Now that this has happened once, Mexico should know what to look for in order to stop it before it gets even worse. Overall, the aid package was risky on the United States to do. No one was certain that Mexico would be able to pay back the money. The United States could just not do anything though. We have close ties with Mexico through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We weren’t just going to let Mexico fail. Just like the IMF helped Mexico back in 1994, they are currently lending to countries in need today. Countries with emerging markets such as Belarus, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine are receiving capital from the IMF. Almost always, low-income countries are also receiving money from the IMF.

Homework: Harmful or Helpful

Is Homework Harmful or Helpful to Students? The student body hates nothing more than finding out that, on top of the work assigned in class, there is an additional 10 questions to be completed at home. The big question that has arisen lately is: Is homework helpful to students, or does it create unnecessary stress? I personally have to say that homework is not helping us students learn anything more. First of all, homework causes students to become stressed out or even depressed. Second of all, it does not expand the student’s learning much. Third of all, too much of it can effect the student’s home life.Forth of all, doing too much homework can have negative effects on the body. As a student myself, I find that getting homework is somewhat helpful, but only to a certain degree. Many nights, students have pages upon pages of homework to complete and it’s difficult to get it all done within the specified timeframe. Having to deal with homework is very bad when you also have to complete important projects or assignments. This is because, if you don’t get your homework done, you get into trouble and could be penalized, but if you don’t get your assignments done, your grades will go down drastically.Getting both tasks done at the same time is troubling for most students and most of the time students will just bail on their work and give up because of the amount of stress. There have even been studies that prove that too much homework causes depression in children, especially from the ages of 14 – 19. Many people-especially teachers-will have you believe that homework is essential to a student’s success and helps to expand their learning skills and knowledge. However, this is not entirely true. I am going to use math as an example.If a student does all of his or her homework for math, writes the unit test, and passes, yes I suppose they have learned something. However, the information they have learned will only stay fresh in their mind for a short amount of time. Eventually they will completely forget about whatever they learned and will need to be retaught everything next year. So, in truth, they really haven’t learned anything, only memorized what they had to until they no longer needed it. Many topics learned throughout the school year are never even used in real life scenarios.For example, unless you have decided to take up biology as an occupation, many people will not use any kind of science in their lives. When a student comes home from school, most of the time they almost immediately start on their homework. If there is a great amount of work to be finished for the next day, they will work all through the evening and night trying to finish, usually skipping out on dinner or family time. When that student isn’t present very often and spends little time with the family, that cause problems between them and leads to fighting and weakened relationships. Read also  Homework Solutions – Chapter 3If the homework issue is consistent, parents may feel the need to speak to the teacher or even the principal, stating that their child has been neglecting to do much or anything except try to finish work. A few parents may even begin arguing with their child, wondering why they have so much homework and why they can’t spend time with their family for once. Arguing will create more stress for the student and will affect their performance in school. In extreme cases, too much homework can result in negative consequences on the body and mind.As well as stress, a heavy workload can cause everything from mild to strong body pains, to mental health issues, to physical inactivity, to sleep loss. If there is only a half hour or so of homework to be completed then it isn’t a huge concern. Although, oftentimes there is more than that and it has negative effects. Leaning over a desk for a long amount of time can cause back, neck, h and and joint pains that could last for days. If the subject being worked on involves a lot of thinking and brainwork, the student can suffer from headaches and dizziness.If the student is constantly sitting and doing work, they probably aren’t getting much physical activity and that could lead to obesity or sometimes malnutrition if they are skipping supper to finish. The most common negative effect of too much homework is mainly stress and lack of sleep. This happens because the child is worried that they need to complete everything or else the teacher will penalize them, so they stay up all night perfecting the assignment or task.There are an endless amount of reasons for why homework is bad for students, and there are many reasons to counter this argument. If you choose to believe the latter, then that is your choice; but think about this: Is homework really so important to the world that the health and wellbeing of students has to be put into jeopardy? Children donâ€⠄¢t need stress, family issues, and constant torment at this time. The issue really isn’t worth ruining our youth’s short amount of time to be carefree and have fun before they have to face the harsh reality of adulthood.

ASDA’s motivation techniques Essay Example

ASDA’s motivation techniques Essay Example ASDA’s motivation techniques Paper ASDA’s motivation techniques Paper McGregor is the final theorist of motivations and he carried out research into the two different styles of management. He identified that there are two different types, Theory Y and Theory X managers. These two have different views about employees’ attitudes to work. A management style is the typical characteristics and behaviours of a manager over a period of time. The Theory X manager will be inclined to be autocratic- telling employees what needs to be done, punishing and telling off when the step out of line and giving rewards for carrying out tasks to a good standard. Theory Y managers will be more democratic, giving more responsibility to employees and trusting them to work independently. A Theory X manager is most likely to create a workplace based on simply meeting Maslow’s lower needs, and focusing on what Herzberg termed movement and hygiene factors. For example making sure that the workplace is safe and that workers have acceptable toilet and washing facilities. Within ASDA there are both types of managers for the various departments, all of the staff are motivated individually depending on what type of person they are, for example if a Theory X manager is based around checkouts as this requires more set procedures and instructions, however a Theory Y manager would be those who work on fruit and vegetable who only require simply movement and require good hygiene factors. Herzberg Along with Maslow, Herzberg believed in a two-factor theory of motivation. He said that there were certain factors that at business could introduce that would directly motivate employs to work harder. However there were also factors that would de-motivate an employee if not present but not in themselves actually motivate employees to work harder such as hygiene factors. Motivators are more concerned with the actual job it’s self and will look out for certain things such as promotions and extra responsibility. Herzberg believed that businesses should motivate employees by adopting a democratic approach to management and by improving the nature and content of the actual job through certain methods. These are: job enlargement where the workers have a variety of tasks to perform, job enrichment which involved workers being given a wider range of more complexes, interesting challenging work and empowerment where they are delegated a higher amount of authority. ASDA clearly take this theorist into account as they ensure that the staff all have the highest amount of work to do and are never free. This ensures that all the staff is motivated at all times. In addition ASDA ensure that their staff has a large workload to keep them occupied at all times. This will therefore act as a great motivator. Methodology To complete this coursework, I will use a selection of resources to be certain that I get the best possible picture of what motivational strategies ASDA use. I have e-mailed ASDA asking whether they could provide me with information on how they motivate staff and they replied giving me a telephone number where I can have any questions answered, this will be one of my major recourses of information along with the internet and books. Finally, I also have a family member who has been involved in human recourses management of ASDA and I will ask her what various steps ASDA take to create a well-motivated environment. She will be a great source of information as everything will be valid and true unlike websites which can often not be truthful. Finally I will use the A-level business book which will enable me to understand a variety of motivational strategies, combining all of these I should hopefully come to a legitimate statement of how staff are motivated within this establishment. ASDA’s motivation techniques ASDA Stores Ltd. is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, (via the Vodafone Network), ASDA Mobile. Its head office is at ASDA House in Leeds, West Yorkshire. ASDA became a subsidiary of the American retail giant Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer in 1999, and is the UKs second largest chain by market share after Tesco. In December 2010, ASDA’s share of the UK grocery market stood at 16.5%. With this business being one of the largest supermarkets in the world, they also have stores in America; I feel that this would be an excellent company to observe on the motivation techniques as they are such a well-known company. Certain stores have around 523 employees therefore they have much practise on how to motivate each employee to ensure that they produce work to the highest standards. ASDA is a hierarchical structure because it has a lot of layers and also a lot of people reporting into more than one person before that information get to the boss. A hierarchical structure has many levels. Each level is controlled by one person. A hierarchical company tends to be a very big company just like ASDA is. In a hierarchical instructions are generally passed down from one person to another until it gets to the bottom of the hierarchical structure. If there was a problem in a hierarchical structure it would move up through the structure again from one person to another until it gets to where it is supported to be. Strengths of a Hierarchical structure in a hierarchical structure there is a close control of workers. Workers in ASDA will know exactly what they have to do so they dont wait around until they are told what they have to do. There is a small span of control. A span of control is when an amount of people report to one person. Also there is a better chance for promotion. One weaknesses of hierarchical structure information is slow moving. There may be poor communication between departments. Also workers may not feel involved in the business and they may not feel motivated to work. The types of communication used in a Hierarchical structure. The type of communication used is hierarchical will be more written communication. It will be written communication because the information will have a long way to go before it gets to the person. If it was verbal then when the message gets passed on it will change along the way. Any problems in communication and how I can solve it the problem with communication in hierarchical will be: communication will be slow, might not reach its destination and the information might change. I am going to focus specifically on the employees within ASDA stores and how they are motivated due to all of the reasons above, and also as they are highly known for their strategies employed to stimulate their staff. As there are many employees working within the stores, I will be able to gain a true insight into how they motivate and what scheme’s and approaches they take. It is important for ASDA to motivate their staff as it can have an effect on the output of their entire business and concerns both quantity and quality of products. If they do not motivate their staff then they will not feel inspired to carry out work to their highest potential, this can have major implications as not only will it reduce the amount of production but it will also produce negative customer service, as a result they will produce an un-enthusiastic and off-putting image for the entire business, this could lead to potential customers shopping at competitors such as Tesco or Sainsbury’s, for this reason it is essential that ASDA motivate their staff to the highest possible way. It is the mission statement of ASDA, To be the world’s leading supermarket. It has many aims and objective. ASDA believe that by following its aims and objectives, it can successfully turn their mission statement into a reality. Aims In relation to other supermarkets, ASDA is one of the fastest growing supermarket chains. However in order to maintain its lead position, ASDA states several main aims which it constantly strives to achieve.