Role of marketing in a consumer society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Role of marketing in a consumer society - Essay Example The growth of Starbucks is also based on their sound management as well as effective operations (Reference for Business 2011). Starbucks developed a strategy to open only company?owned stores and avoid franchising. This strategy facilitates the company to keep full control of its excellent products and services. Starbucks strived to control more of its supply chain with the purpose of maintaining high quality of coffee high with consistent levels by working with growers and upholding the standard of coffee. These two strategies facilitate Starbucks to distribute the first part of its value proposition as well as quality (Marangos n.d.). In this paper, the role of marketing in consumer society will be described properly with reference to Starbucks. The company developed various strategies and marketing techniques while operating in consumer market. Various strategies were adopted to satisfy customers with delicious coffee drink. The company operates in broad marketing environment, whi ch has been explained by taking into consideration various factors related to the environmental issues. The theory of consumer society had also been discussed by analyzing the satisfaction level of consumers. 2.0 Marketing Techniques and Strategies From the case study it has been observed that Starbucks has developed expansion and growth strategies in order to make expansion of their brand or products. The marketing strategy of Starbucks is totally unique and different from others. They have adopted the strategy based on various factors such as expansion of business in favorable areas with suitable demographic profile in order to support and render service to them. This strategy was developed based on the growing reputation of Starbucks brand (CalaRos Bay 2004). Various small business firms at the outset face the issue of expansion or growth of their business. Thus, based on these two concepts, expansion as well as growth strategies have been adopted. Business expansion is a stage o f a life of the company in consumer society and business growth is the increase in financial fortunes for employees along with owners. Expansion strategy is developed with a view to validate the initial business start up idea of entrepreneur and the subsequent efforts of fulfilling the vision into success. Growth strategy means that the variety of changes will take place in the company’s business market. Growth causes challenge in managerial legal and financial aspects. This strategy will enable to raise the market share of company and large number of competitors in the market (Reference for Business 2011). The rapid store expansion strategy of Starbucks is domestic store expansion along with international store expansion. The other strategies are employee training in addition to recognition, where recruitment, hiring and training methods for baristas and store managers are included. They also provide screening, training programs and awards for partners. The other strategies are real estate group, store development group and retail operation group, planning as well as construction. For providing facilities to consumers as well as employees, several strategies are developed such as a broad range of store formats, a â€Å"stores of the future† project team, high traffic and high visibility of the location of

Exam II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Exam II - Essay Example It is true that, the application of this agreement has helped to reduce the negative outcome of the war. In February 1848, the Mexican-American war was formally ended by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Over the next years, the tension between the United States and the Government of Mexico continued to rumble. The Gadsden Purchase treaty helped to settle the occurrence of dispute on Texas. The Gadsden Purchase included lands west of the Rio Grande and south of the Gila River. The purpose of the Treaty is for the construction of transcontinental railroad in United States along a southern road. The Gadsden Purchase is also linked to the settlement of the border issues. The key boundaries of the United States of American have been settled by the implementation of the Gadsden Purchase. The Mexican army was defeated by the Americans in a number of battles that forced Mexicans to surrender. The war was considered by the Massachusetts as a crime. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo helped to provide half-a-million square miles to United States (Tate, 2013). The line of the Gila River and the Rio Grande became international border. Moreover, the formally gave away of additional territory was not accepted by President Polk. On September 15, 1853, James Gadsden met with Santa Anna. A verbal instruction has been sent by President Pierce for Gadsden. An agent for United States investors, Christopher Ward was the one who took verbal instruction to Gadsden. The instructions gave negotiation option for Gadsden for a greater share of northern Mexico to 15 million dollars and Lower California for 50 million dollars. The instruction of the President Pierce to sell large portion of Mexico was refused by Santa Anna. Santa Anna wanted to gather money to reduce the ongoing reb ellions. This is the reason behind the application of treaty between Gadsden and Santa Anna. Mexican border was heavily raided by Americans. The Treaty was also

Famous Creative Thinkers Essay Example for Free

Famous Creative Thinkers Essay Column A: Steve Wozniak (computer engineer, Apple) (University of Phoenix, 2012) Steve Wozniak was born in San Jose, California in 1950 the son of an engineer. Wozniak developed a love for electronics in his early years. His grades never showed his intelligence, he was just good at building electronics from scratch. While attending the University of California at Berkeley he worked for Hewlett-Packard, and then he met Steve Jobs. Wozniak and Jobs together started Apple in 1976. Wozniak quit his job with Hewlett-Packard to work on the Apple project full time. Wozniak worked on the computer while Jobs did the marketing. Wozniak built from scratch the Apple I and Apple II computers; by 1983 Apple stock was around $985 million. Due to personal reasons he ended his position with Apple in 1987. The reason behind the resignation was an injury in 1981. While piloting his private plane crashed near Santa Cruz City Park. The crash created several injuries including amnesia. Even though his injuries were vast he was responsible for the first programmable remote control. He has written several books on technology, assisted in establishing the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1990. He also was the founder of WoZ, â€Å"Wheels of Zeus† to attempt wireless GPS technology. Wozniak works as a chief scientist for the Fusion Company since 2008. Column B Grace Hopper (computer scientist (University of Phoenix, 2012) Grace Hopper was born in New York City in 1908. She studied math and physics at Vassar College. She received a master’s degree in math from Yale in 1930. After marriage she continued her education at Yale receiving a PHD in math in 1934. She is the first women to achieve this degree from Yale. In 1943 Hopper joined the Navy Reserve. Due to her mathematical degree she was assigned to the Bureau of Ordnance Communication Project at Harvard. Harvard is where she learned the programming of the Mach I computer. Hopper also worked on the Mach II and Mach III. Hopper helped to make the term â€Å"computer  bug† popular when a moth shorted out the Mach II. In 1949 she began working with Remington Rand after a short time with Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation. While working at Remington Rand she was over the programming of the UNIVAC. In 1952 COBOL was born, a brain child of the Hopper team. COBOL is a program to where one computer can talk to another. Even though Hopper did not invent it she pushed it to be used by all computer companies. COBOL stands for â€Å"Common Business Oriented Language.† Hopper returned to the Navy for 19 years to assist in programming and standardizing communication with other computer languages. Hopper retired as a rear admiral in 1986 at the age of 79. She was the oldest serving officer in the Navy. After retiring from the Navy she became bored and coming back to the computer industry. In 1991 she received the National Medal of Technology. Hopper was the first women to receive such honor. The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in a Computing Conference is a technical conference to bring women together to learn programming. Hopper also encourages young people to learn the technique of programming.

Analysis of Approaches to Bargaining Models

Analysis of Approaches to Bargaining Models Abstract This paper discusses the various types of approaches to bargaining models, namely indifference curves and iso-profit curves, monopoly union behaviour and efficient contracts. Then we go on to study the concept of efficiency wages in a unionised as well as a non-unionised environment and with the help of existing economic theories we develop a model and incorporate the alternative wage rate. On completion of this paper, we will be able to understand the influence of wage level, alternative wage rate and other factors on the employment level, which would be highly important to both the firms as well as the labourer’s side while framing policies. Introduction Before starting with the paper, we need to know what efficiency wages are. It is the wage that is set by the firms or the employers which is higher than the market clearing wage. There are certain implications behind this action. Doing this, it would encourage workers’ loyalty towards the employer; the firms would be able to attract higher number of talents and thereby improving the applicants’ pool, raise the morale of the workers and as a result the overall efficiency of the firms increases. In various efficiency wage models, labour productivity has a positive relationship with the wage rate. Also worth mentioning, is that the efficiency wage model is an extension from the Shapiro-Stiglitz model of efficiency wage. In this paper, we combine both the microeconomics concept of labour union and the model of Shapiro-Stiglitz to derive the various propositions. Moving ahead, we discuss the basic two models of wage rate determination for the unionised and non-unionised sector of the economy. The first would be the monopoly model, as prescribed by Oswald in 1985, assumes that the labour union sets the wage and the employer chooses the profit maximizing employment level. The second case also stated by Oswald in 1985, notes that both the employer’s side as well as the worker’s side can benefit from the monopoly outcome by jointly bargaining over the wages and employment level. Literature Review Oswald, A. (1985): â€Å"The Economic Theory of Trade Unions: An Introductory Survey† Scandinavian Journal of Economics, volume 87. Oswald assumed that the union sets the wage and the employer chooses the profit maximising employment level. He also stated that the efficient bargaining model notes that both sides can improve on the monopoly outcome by jointly bargaining over wages and employment. Brown, J. and Ashenfelter, O (1986, June): â€Å"Testing the Efficiency of Employment Contracts† Journal of Political Economy, volume 94. They used the significance of a measure of alternative wages in an employment regression as evidence for the efficient bargaining model. Stiglitz, J. (1987, March): â€Å"The Causes and Consequences of the dependence of quality on price† Journal of Economic Literature, volume 25. In relation to the efficiency wages hypothesis, Stiglitz stated that, â€Å"one motivation for this literature is to explain involuntary unemployment: If the efficiency wage is framework is valid, then firms may not lower wages even in the face of excess supplies of labour. Krueger, A. and Summers, L. (1988, March): â€Å"Efficiency wages and the inter-industry wage structure† Econometrica, volume 56 Another additional motivation of this literature is the that the empirical observation that inter-firm or inter-industry wage differentials remain even after most possible economic determinants of these differentials have been controlled. Katz, L. and Summers, L. (1989): â€Å"Industry rents: Evidence and Implications† Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Microeconomics. The wage differentials tend to lower quits and increases the length of queues of job seekers attempting to gain entry. They explained the relationship between the existences of rents associated with efficiency wages. Research Question What is the effect of general wage level and alternative wage rate on the employment level, when efficiency wages are paid both in a non-union as well as union setting? Methodology The theory of income distribution is the study of the determination of the shares of the factors of production in the total output produced in the economy over a given period of time. For simplicity, we assume two factors of production, labour and capital, their shares are defined as follows: Share of Labour = (w*L)/ X and share of capital = (r*K)/X Where w= wage rate, r= rental of capital, L=quantity of labour employed, K=quantity of capital employed and X=value of output produced in economy. With this backdrop, we proceed on to the model where we consider firms and labours perspective, in both unionised and non-unionised labour setting. Initially, labour force is unionised. As a union, three of the most commonly pursued goals are: maximization of employment, maximization of total wage bill and maximization of total gains to the union as a whole. The general conclusions derived from this microeconomic thought are firstly, if the firm buyers have no monopsonistic power, labour unions can possibly attain an increase in the wage rate at the cost of a lower level of unemployment. Secondly, if the firm buyers have monopsonistic power, the unions actions can eliminate one part of the monopsonistic exploitation and thirdly, if the firm buyers have monopsonistic power, trade unions can increase the total wage bill in most of the cases, by either increasing employment or the wage rate or both. Considering, the concept of efficiency wage hypothesis and incorporating the alternative wage rate as used by Shapiro and Stiglitz we combine this macroeconomic phenomenon with the microeconomic concept of labour union. Looking at the employment level, alternative wage rate, normal wage rate we can run a regression analysis on the employment level with various other variables and determine the significance of these and come up with propositions under different cases. Bargaining Models In the context of labour unions, there are different types of bargaining that can take place between a firm and a labour union. These methods are also applicable in many other aspects other than labour unions. Indifference Curves and Iso-profit Curves Here, we look at the union’s preferences as the preference for a single worker. We can formulate the utility of the worker as a function of consumption, C and leisure, L, i.e. U (C, L). Representing, the utility function in terms of wage rate, w and labour supplied, h, we can write it as follows: U (h, w) = U (w*h, 1-h)where C = w*h and considering time constraint L= 1 – h. An indifference curve in (h, w) space is defined by setting u as (constant) and we define w implicitly as a function of h, w (h). Therefore, we can write it as follows: U (h, w (h)) = U (w (h)*h, 1-h) = Differentiating, the above equality with respect to h and hence obtaining the slope of the indifference curve. This implies that along the labour supply curve, where MRS = w the indifference curve will have zero slope. To the left of the labour supply curve, workers work more and so MRS w and the indifference curve is upward sloping. We can reinterpret the first order condition for finding labour supply as the worker finding the highest indifference curve in (w, h) subject to the constraint that w equals the offered wage, leading to the tangency shown below. Looking at the firm’s side, its preferences are derived using the iso-cost curve. The firm’s profit function can be written as follows: ÃŽ   (E, w) = f (E) – w*E We set the price to unity and along an iso-profit curve, we set the profit equal to some constant , which implies an implicit relationship between w and E. Therefore, we can write it as f (E) – w (E)*E = . Differentiating, the above equation implicitly, we find the slope of the iso-profit curvealong the demand curve MPE = w, implying that iso-profit curves are flat when they cross the labour demand curve. Left of the demand curve, means MPE > w hence iso-profit curve is upward sloping, and right of the labour demand curve, means MPE Monopoly union Bargaining In this model, the labour union sets the wage rate, w and the firm chooses the employment level, E. Since, the firm’s objective is to maximize profits, it will set the employment level at the point where VMPE = w. Assuming the union acts like a single individual so that h = E, its problem is then Max U (w*E, 1- E)subject to MPE = w Maximizing with respect to E, and using the first order conditions we get, f’ (E) = w. The above expression implies that the indifference curve will have a negative slope while the iso-profit curve has a zero slope and to interpret the cross of the two curves it would mean inefficiency. Workers would be willing to work more at a slightly lower wage and firms would make profits hiring them. However even if unions do function this way, that does not mean they are necessarily bad workers are made better off, but these gains are smaller than the losses to firms and consumers. If the value of the redistribution to workers is considered more important than the loss to the other parties then the union may still be a good thing. However it would be better for everyone if the union and firm could find a more efficient way of bargaining. Efficient Contracts This is another model of unions which assumes that the labour union and firm will bargain in such a way that it leads to an efficient outcome. Now, any Pareto efficient outcome will be reached between two parties by guaranteeing some level of profits to the firm, and maximizing the union’s utility. Max U (w*E, 1- E)subject to f (E) – w*E = On solving, we get w = (f (E) ) / E. The first order condition can be written as follows Solving algebraically we get that the iso-profit curve and the indifference curves are tangent. It cannot be solved as to which combination of (E, w) will be chosen as there are several points- the locus of all these points represent the contract curve. Some information on profit and utility functions is necessary to determine whether the contract curve of the efficient contracts is downward or upward sloping, or vertical (the strongly efficient case). The Model General Assumptions: All the workers are identical. The worker’s choose their own level of work effort and this work effort is monitored by the firm with the help of technology. The monitoring process by the firm is not the most efficient or it is not perfect. The monitoring process can be expressed in terms of work effort as follows, q (e), >0, which implies that a worker will not be dismissed for an exogenously given level of work effort. All the workers have an identical utility function given as follows: U (w, e) = w – e2(eqn. 1) The workers are provided with unemployment insurance or they can obtain another or alternative job with wage rate. Efficiency Wages in a non-union setting Analysis: Now, if the workers are able to choose their level of work effort, which is not monitored perfectly by the firm, then the firm may pay wages above the market wage rate to ensure a higher level of efficiency or effort by the worker. The question is how would alternative wages enter an employment regression in this case? We have already assumed that the firm’s monitoring process can be expressed as a function of, q (e), suggesting that the workers are not dismissed for an exogenously given level of work effort. The workers can reduce their likelihood of getting dismissed, by the firm, by increasing their level of work effort. Implication behind this statement suggests that, q’ >0. Let n be the elasticity of q with respect to level of effort. We can therefore show that the optimal effort for the worker is e =(eqn. 2) In order to model the firm, we make another assumption of a concave revenue function, f’’ ÃŽ   = f (e*L) – w*L(eqn. 3) Using the optimization technique, the firm chooses the level of w and L, subject to the worker’s choice of e. From the equations 2 and 3, we find out that the optimal wage rate, w is twice that of the alternative wage rate,. Expressing f’ as a logarithmic form as a linear combination of various exogenous variables that affect the revenue and effective units of labour, the optimal amount of labour for the non-union firm is ln L = + ln ln w + X + ln (w ) And ln f’ = ÃŽ ±0 + ÃŽ ±1X – ÃŽ ±2 ln(e*L)(eqn. 4) X is the vector of non-labour factors affecting the marginal revenue product of labour. Interpretation of equation 4, is that the alternative wage rate, , conditional on w and X, will be negatively correlated with the actual or observed employment. Proposition: On running a regression of employment on wage level and alternative wage rate, it should yield a negative coefficient for the alternative wage if efficiency wages are paid even in the absence of efficient bargaining. Efficiency Wages in a Union setting Here, we discuss the case for efficiency wages in a unionised scenario and find the resulting demand for labour under both (a) monopoly unions and (b) efficient bargaining methods. Monopoly Unions Considering that the union comprises total of N number of workers, who are employed at the wage rate, 2. Using, the previous method discussed we calculate the optimal worker effort, e*, where e* = Each worker faces the probability of getting dismissed with a probability of q (e*). We also assume that the workers getting dismissed by the firms are replaced immediately. Now, the union’s objective is to choose w, so as to maximize the expected utility, V, of unionised worker. Let L be the employment level at the new union wage, w. Then for each wage, w, we have, V = [ q (w – e2 ) ] + if L And V = q (w – e2 ) + if L ≠¥N (eqn. 5) Now, in the case for monopoly unions, as the union raises the wage levels, it generally lowers the total employment level, hence we have L , a rising w would lead to rising employment because of increased work effort. The union balances the negative effect of wages on employment and positive effects of wages on employed members’ utility. Multiplying, equation 5 by N, the union chooses w to maximize V = Lq ((w – e2 ) (eqn. 6) Subject to f’e = w Using the optimization techniques, we solve for the monopoly union wage, w w = (eqn. 7) 2 is the measure of the slope or the steepness of the marginal revenue product curve. Higher the elasticity, n, with respect to effort, higher will be the union wage. In this model, the marginal revenue productivity condition for the monopoly model with efficiency wages is similar to the condition for non-union firms, although in this case, the unions will raise the wages and lower the total employment. This leads to the following proposition. Proposition: Under monopoly model and efficiency wages, if we run a regression of employment on X, w and and a union shift term, the coefficient on the union shift should be zero. However, in a regression that includes only the exogenous variables X and and a union shift term, the coefficient should be negative. Efficient Bargaining Here, we focus on the case where labour and the management jointly set wage rate, w and employment level, L. According to Mc. Donald and Solow, 1981, to derive the set of efficient contracts, they have suggested the necessary conditions for the contract curve. Vw / VL = Ï€w / Ï€L The subscripts represent the partial derivatives. Using equations 3 and 6, and substituting in the above contract curve relation, we get, (w – f’e) / (1 – f’ew) = (w ) > 0 (eqn. 8) As long as the union raises the wages above the non-union wage 1- f’ew > 0 and so is w – f’e. Wages exceed the marginal revenue product of labour (as already suggested by McDonald and Solow, 1981). Algebraically, solving the slope of contract curve is not possible and hence is indeterminate which leads to the next proposition. Proposition: Under efficient bargaining method and efficiency wages, if we run a regression of employment on X, w and and a union shift term, it will yield a positive coefficient for the union shift term as compared to a zero coefficient under monopoly model. However, in a regression that includes only the exogenous variables X and, the sign of the union shift coefficient is ambiguous, as compared to a negative coefficient in the monopoly model. Conclusion The results from the above classification of models suggests that traditional way of determining wage bill, i.e. labour times the wage rate, by the labour union and the employment level determination by the firm side are not the only factors that affect the decision making process of both the sides. Rather, the alternative wage rate, which is one of the factors taken up by Shapiro and Stiglitz in their â€Å"efficiency wage model†, is also instrumental in affecting the employment level. Another union shift term incorporated while running the regression, we find that it is also one of the determinants of employment determination. So, the ultimate conclusion that we can derive is that there are certain other factors as well in both wage and employment determination and these factors are statistically significant in different cases which again lead to various policy implications. Hence, modification of the theoretical microeconomic foundation and including certain other variables will show us a greater and deeper understanding of the employment determination and thereby various other policy prescriptions that both the sides can take into account while framing one. References Stiglitz, J. (1976, July): â€Å"The Efficiency Wage Hypothesis, Surplus Labour and the Distribution of Income in L.D.C.s† Oxford Economics Papers, pp.185-207. Oswald, A. (1985): â€Å"The Economic Theory of Trade Unions: An Introductory Survey† Scandinavian Journal of Economics, volume 87. Brown, J. and Ashenfelter, O (1986, June): â€Å"Testing the Efficiency of Employment Contracts† Journal of Political Economy, volume 94. Katz, L. and Summers, L. (1989): â€Å"Industry rents: Evidence and Implications† Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Microeconomics. Krueger, A. and Summers, L. (1988, March): â€Å"Efficiency wages and the inter-industry wage structure† Econometrica, volume 56 Stiglitz, J. (1987, March): â€Å"The Causes and Consequences of the dependence of quality on price† Journal of Economic Literature, volume 25. Cowell, F.A. (2004, December): â€Å"Microeconomics: Principles and Analysis† STICERD and Department of Economics, London School of Economics. Autor, D.H. (2003, November): â€Å"Lecture Note: Efficiency Wages, Shapiro-Stiglitz Model† MIT and NBER. Koutsoyiannis, A. (1979): â€Å"Modern Microeconomics† Macmillan. 1

Creative Story: Positraction :: essays research papers

Creative Story: Positraction It was a cold night and Roger Katmandoo ( a 89 year old man) sat on his front porch. His rocking chair squeeked as he rocked back and forth. Right then a pair of hedlights came on and were shining right in Mr. Katmandoo's eyes. The headlights came closer towards Roger as the car's engine screamed. The car was right at the curb, and it keep going right up into Roger's yard. " Shit" he yelled as the red 67' Courger drove through his well kept lawn. "Jesus Palamesus" He hollared "U gonna die U sack of shit" Then the car stoped and flashed A gun out the winder as Roger pulled up a loose board in the floor of the porch and grabbed his machine gun. " Youin's best be gett'n out a here" he bluffed "or I will have to kick your little punk asses" Then th ecar speed off leav'n positraction tire marks all in Mr. Katmandoo's yard. Then when the car was half in the street and half in Roger's yard they all yelled "Hey Fuck-o" and speed off. "You little bastards callin me a buck-o" Roger yelled as his hudge buck teeth bit his bottom lip " I'll kick your ass". Then Roger jumped In his shit brown FORD truck and started the engine (well I mean tried to start the engine because he had to pull start it). Then he speed out of his driveway and took off with smoke coming from the tires (and from under the hood). He caught up with the Cougar and started hanging out the window trying to hit the car but he couldn't hold the steering wheel and do bash the car at the same time. So he got THE CLUB out from underneath his seat and put it on the steering wheel. So he got the Baseball bat and started hanging out the window hitting the car. The guy in the Cougar started swirved and Roger fell out of his car and flew underneath the wheel of the Cougar while he was yelling "I'll kick your ass" and crunched Roger leaving blood and guts all over the freeway. But Roger's skull stuck into the Cougar's hub cap. The cougar spun out of controll and flipped then hit the gaurd rail and went fling accross the freeway into oncoming traffic. And uuhh oh here comes the undertaker's truck full of dead bodies. Creative Story: Positraction :: essays research papers Creative Story: Positraction It was a cold night and Roger Katmandoo ( a 89 year old man) sat on his front porch. His rocking chair squeeked as he rocked back and forth. Right then a pair of hedlights came on and were shining right in Mr. Katmandoo's eyes. The headlights came closer towards Roger as the car's engine screamed. The car was right at the curb, and it keep going right up into Roger's yard. " Shit" he yelled as the red 67' Courger drove through his well kept lawn. "Jesus Palamesus" He hollared "U gonna die U sack of shit" Then the car stoped and flashed A gun out the winder as Roger pulled up a loose board in the floor of the porch and grabbed his machine gun. " Youin's best be gett'n out a here" he bluffed "or I will have to kick your little punk asses" Then th ecar speed off leav'n positraction tire marks all in Mr. Katmandoo's yard. Then when the car was half in the street and half in Roger's yard they all yelled "Hey Fuck-o" and speed off. "You little bastards callin me a buck-o" Roger yelled as his hudge buck teeth bit his bottom lip " I'll kick your ass". Then Roger jumped In his shit brown FORD truck and started the engine (well I mean tried to start the engine because he had to pull start it). Then he speed out of his driveway and took off with smoke coming from the tires (and from under the hood). He caught up with the Cougar and started hanging out the window trying to hit the car but he couldn't hold the steering wheel and do bash the car at the same time. So he got THE CLUB out from underneath his seat and put it on the steering wheel. So he got the Baseball bat and started hanging out the window hitting the car. The guy in the Cougar started swirved and Roger fell out of his car and flew underneath the wheel of the Cougar while he was yelling "I'll kick your ass" and crunched Roger leaving blood and guts all over the freeway. But Roger's skull stuck into the Cougar's hub cap. The cougar spun out of controll and flipped then hit the gaurd rail and went fling accross the freeway into oncoming traffic. And uuhh oh here comes the undertaker's truck full of dead bodies.

Summary of Monster by Sanyika Shakur Essay -- Sanyika Shakur Monster G

Summary of Monster by Sanyika Shakur Growing up in a world of gangs, death, and suffering Kody Scott, also known as Monster Kody, grew up in a life of struggle. From eleven years old Kody knew what he wanted a to be, a gangster. Nothing could stop him from becoming one of the most feared gang member of the late 1970?s and early 80?s except maybe his own conscience. Kody Scott goes through an evolution, from a child to Monster Kody to finally Sanyika Shakur, his Muslim name. Sanyika Shakur is a true survivor, considering everything that has taken place in his life he has managed to make something of himself from nothing. Kody Scott was born into the gang life weither he liked it or not. Born on 1963 in South Central Los Angeles Kody?s life would be affected by the growing number of gangs inevitably. Kody knew he had a choice to be made, be a gang member or be a pedestrian. He viewed pedestrians as spineless nerds who were always victims of someone?s ridicule or physical violence, who never responded to an affront of any type. He himself had a taste of pedestrian life in grade school were he was picked on and had his lunch money taken from him. ?Early on I saw and felt both sides of the game being played where I lived. It was during my time in elementary school that I chose to never be a victim again, if I could help it?(Shakur 100). Being in a gang gave Kody a feeling of security in a city of violence. ?I felt very different, older, more attached than any of...

link between strategies Essay

The Business is shaping to be highly unpredictable, challenging and innovative by the passing day. Organizations face complex environment for which they need to formulate complex and full proof strategies to ensure competitive advantage, profit maximization and cost minimization, for which they need to adapt strategic approaches, theories and models. However, the role of theory is not always significant in scrutinizing the human resource(HR) strategy and the strategic plans. However, depending on the organizational strategy, HR strategies can be matched. This critique thoroughly discusses the linkages between Business strategies and the Human Resource Management (HRM) and their relevance in the dynamic environment. Strategic management is defined as the set of managerial decisions and actions that determine the long run performance of a corporation.(Hills and Jones,2001) Moreover, strategy is an action a company takes to attain superior performance.(Wheelan and Hunger, 1995) Strategic human resource management is ‘the process of linking HR practices to business strategy’(Ulrich,1997) To maintain the hierarchy in the market, organizations need to constantly formulate strategies to meet the customer requirements. There are various theories that have been formulated for firms to manage complex and problematic environment. These theories are broken down into two models; internal model which includes the Resource Based View ( RBV) and external based model formulated by Whittington (2001); which include Classical, Evolutionary, Processual and Systemic approaches. Due to the increasing value and appreciation of individuals as one of the major competitive advantage for organizations, there have been strong efforts to develop HRM. Beer et al suggest that ‘An organization’s HRM policies and practices must fit with its strategy in its competitive environment and with the immediate business conditions that it faces’ (Beer et al., 1984, p. 25). This is accomplished by applying different strategies which include two main models namely; ‘Best practice’ or Universalism’ and Best Fit’ or contingency’ or Matching model’. Strategic integration is used as one of the means to explore possible links between different approaches to strategy and HRM. So far, it has been recognized as a two-way process,  where HRM informs the nature of organizational strategy as well as being informed by it; that is full integration. Alternatively, it may be a one- way process where organizational strategy informs H RM without being informed by it in any intended or planned way; that is partial integration .(Millmore et al, 2007) Classical approach follows clear, rational, deliberate, linear, logical, and top-down approach to formulating strategy. (Millmore et. al, 2007) According to Sloan(1963), The long term aim of the approach is clearly profit maximization. For this approach, classicists choose best fit strategy and create a match between organization’s internal resources and the opportunities available in the external environment to achieve competitive advantage; its main goal. However, since the approach is subjective, the process of strategy development is affected by political, cultural and capability factors which need a complex model that clearly suggest the relationship between strategy making and HRM to represent such linkages in reality. (Millmore et. al, 2007) Looking at evolutionary approach, markets are highly unpredictable and hence the role of this strategy is to respond to the environment for survival and profit. To state an example, Sony released over 100 different versions of portable cassette player in 1980s and allowed the market to decide which would survive and removed the rest as a result of market failure.( Richard Whittington, 2007) Such conditions lead to strategic conservatism, where organizational efforts are focused on the basics of production, to minimize costs, sought operating efficiency, impose tight control and performance monitoring. Therefore, this strategy stresses on environmental determinism due to which, matching model is deemed to be most appropriate for such organizations. It is believed that this approach can be seen as strategically integrated only in relation to the strategic imperative to control costs. SHRM requires a wider remit where emphasis is placed on developing and integrating the ‘human’ side as opposed to the ‘resource utilisation’ aspect.( Storey, 1989) Processual approach emphasizes strategy making as an adaptive and emergent  process driven by organizational learning . It is believed that decision- makers lack the ability to act with pure reason and only a few factors affecting a decision can be dealt with, this limitation of human cognition is known as bounded rationality. ( Simon, 1991) The actual scenario of the market is unpredictable and hence managers develop imperfect representations of complicated world which helps strategists to trouble shoot problems and aim on sufficient profit rather than maximizing profit. Mintzberg(1979) believes that the development of emergent strategies in organizations is based on learning. This needs to be recognized and supported through HR strategies. Systemic approach recognizes that strategy and strategy making will be affected by the social and cultural system within which this occurs. To state an example, multinational organizations need to be aware of the cultural system in the host country to formulate achievable organizational strategies. This suggests that HR strategy and its integration into organizational strategy will vary, underpinned by societal values. Another example mentioned by Whittington, tells us about the series of conglomerates developed in South Korea which characterized small and family owned businesses nearby Taiwan. This suggests that HR strategy need to be conceived and integrated into Organizational strategy to avoid non conceptualization of HRM. Resource- based view is popularly associated with the work of Prahalad and Hamel( 1994). They argue that competitive advantage stems, from building ‘core competencies’ which are superior to those of rivals, over a long run. In a nutshell, they assert that it is a firms’ ability to learn faster and apply its learning more effectively than its rivals, which gives it competitive advantage. Different types of link have been identified between RBV and HRM. To start with, Resource Based Theory (RBT) sees resources and capabilities as the principal source of competitive advantage, which gives HR a central position to realize this. According to RBT, capabilities need to be built or developed rather than being bought.( Teece et al.1997) Therefore the management seeks to improve the utilization of an existing capabilities , particularly in a situation of rapid change. Another link  between HRM and RBT is related to the potential contribution of human resource policies or strategies.HR strategies are important in developing an organisation’s capabilities.HR practices related to recruitment and selection, managing performance, training and development and reward can be designed to attract, develop and retain high quality employees. Hence, it can be concluded that the linkages completely depend on the organization size, social and culture and the dynamic environment. It is seen that the resources need to strategically formulated to enhance organizational capabilities and competitive advantage of the firm. Indeed there are no clear linkages but the performance and effects are visible if not accomplished. REFERENCES Beer M, Sector B, Lawrence, P, Quinn M.D., Walton R, (1984), â€Å"Managing Human Assets†, New York: The free press Hamel, G., & C. K. Prahalad (1994), â€Å"Competing for the Future†, Boston, MA: Harvard,Business School Press. 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(1997), â€Å"Human Resource Champions : The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering Results†, Boston: Harvard Business School Press Wheelan, T. L., Hunger, J.D. (1995),† Strategic Management and Business policy,† 5th ed, Reading : Addison – Wesley Longman. Whittington, R (2007) , â€Å"Theories of Strategy’, Strategy for business: a reader,† The Open University, Sage  Publications, in Mazzucato, M 2002.