Economics - Product Differentiation in Monopoly Essay Example for Free

Economics Product Differentiation in Monopoly Essay Monopolies are firms that are the sole or dominant suppliers of a good or service in a given market. And what sets apart monopolies from competitive firms is â€Å"market power†- the ability of a firm to affect the market price. Price discrimination is the business practice of selling the same good at different prices to different customers, even though the cost of production is the same for all customers. Only monopolies can practice price discrimination, because otherwise competition would prevent price discrimination. Price discrimination increases the monopolist’s profits, reduces the consumer surplus and reduces the deadweight loss. (the buyers of the lower-priced product should not be able to resell the product to the higher-priced market. Otherwise, the monopoly will not be able to maintain price differentials. ) The monopolist must be able to identify segments of the market that are willing to pay different prices, and then market its products accordingly. A common technique to achieve this is by making it harder to get the lower prices, since wealthier consumers value their time more than their money. Some ways the monopolistic firms can implement discriminatory pricing are; †¢Linear Approximation Technique or Markup Pricing Technique †¢Personalized Pricing – extracting the maximum amount a customer is willing to pay for the product. †¢Coupons and Rebates – providing coupons to attract more customers or providing personalized discounts. †¢Bulk pricing – offering lower prices when customer buys a huge quantity of the same product. †¢Bundling joining products or services together in order to sell them as a single combined unit. Block pricing Charging more for the first set of the product, then less for each additional product bought by the same consumer. †¢Group Pricing- charging different customers different price based on factors such as race, gender, age, abilities etc. and also â€Å"psychographic segmentation†- dividing consumers based on their lifestyle, personality, values, and social class. †¢Charging different prices based on geographic location. Some products may be cheaper to produce in different places and based on the cost of the good sold the monopolistic firm can charge different prices in order to maximize its profits. Placing restrictions or other inferior characteristics on the low-price good or service, so as to make it sufficiently less attractive to the high price segment †¢Establishing a schedule of volume discounts (â€Å"block pricing†) such that only large-volume buyers (who may have more elastic demands) qualify †¢Using a two-part tariff, where the customer pays an up-front fee for the right to buy the product and then pays additional fees for each unit of the product consumed.

The Emerging Technology Trends In Computer Hardware Information Technology Essay

The Emerging Technology Trends In Computer Hardware Information Technology Essay The future of computer hardware is very fragile due to problems between software and hardware engineers and software now that cannot keep up with the material; the material may be decreasing as the software has priority. One thing to note is that the material cannot be totally eliminated. The market will always be a demand for faster hardware, lighter, more coherent and comprehensive. Arguably, the material can not hire as many jobs as the software does now because of the need and progress in software technology related to technology equipment. The material is and will carry on generating new applications that will make life easier and business more flourishing. Apply a new type of technology used in hardware applications, known as COTS. Commercial and product standards commonly known as COTS are proven and reliable in changing computer world. COTS allow software developers to provide new products, and hardware platform for adding custom hardware; a new device is the latest USB standard is also a past director of external equipment transfers. Cots are devices to help correct answers and progress on new computers, such as the XML protocol and new wireless advances. Another technology is the new hardware unit is microcontroller. The micro-controller unit (MCU) complete final products to the automotive market for smart cards. 16-bit and 32-bit MCU + are the main products of high-end consumer, the automotive and industrial control equipment. MPU Base application and wide variety of entrenched memory and other technologies add to their permanent unit and revenue growth. MCUs will carry on to see their make use of in products outside the home machine, which will allow hardware developers in the right direction for diversified applications. The tension between hardware engineers and software has led to an interesting correlation. Both types of engineers must learn to work together because the software and hardware engineers need each other in an appropriate communication to achieve various objectives. The types of material that is developed must cease and forth between the phase of software development for all types of applications across the board for all the different courses. With the increase in CPU capacity, created the software will always take more than enough room to allow the continued growth of the CPU in the industry. In the research project is completed, the balance between hardware and software engineers stay just as important for the optimal completion. Trends in computer software In an interview with John Bruggeman, Chief Marketing Manager, Wind River, a software design company based in the United Kingdom, which explains how the software has grown much faster than hardware applications. Bruggeman specialized software in Linux, which has seen faster growth than expected. For us the Linux business has grown from zero to 50 million dollars in 24 months. Not only Linux, but Amazon has created a unique opportunity to expand. Amazon Web Services has launched a new enterprise IT management software products, which include the rental of servers, instead of forcing companies to buy directly from a number of expensive servers. Technology recently published an article So far the market has taken the idea of Amazon and Amazon has shown that Web services have already won clients such as The New York Times, Red Hat and SanDisk. Other companies, like IBM and Sun are struggling to move to a new model. Sun already offers online rental system and expects to sell the equipment. We have the infrastructure, says Greg Papadopoulos, chief technology officer of Sun If you do not you can beat them, their hand. Suns final report shows that the Amazon Web Services functions have hit a new market that will continue to be successful. What are the current trends in computer hardware platforms and the evolving mobile platform, grid computing, and cloud computing? Mobile platform: more and more business computing is moving from PCs and desktop machines to mobile devices like cell phones and Smartphones. Data transmissions, Web surfing, e-mail and instant messaging, digital content displays, and data exchanges with internal corporate systems are all available through a mobile digital platform. Net books, small low-cost lightweight subnotebooks that are optimized for wireless communication and Internet access, are included. Grid computing Grid computing combines computer from systems multiple administrative domains to achieve common aims to solve a simple task and can disappear very fast. A grid computing key strategies is to use middleware to divide and distribute pieces of a program between several computers, sometimes up to several thousands. Grid computing is to compute in a distributed manner, which may also involve the aggregation of cluster systems based on large computer companies. The size of a grid can vary from a small restricted to a network of computer workstations in an enterprise, as for large public works across many companies and networks. The idea of a limited network may also be known as an intra-node, while the idea of bigger, wider networks may refer to inter-nodes. The grids are in the form of distributed computing; where the super virtual computer is composed of many networked computers to perform tasks freely collaborate large. This technique has been applied to computationally intensive problems in science, math and academic volunteer computing, and is used by commercial enterprises, such as various applications such as drug development, economic forecasting, seismic analysis and back-office data processing, support for e-commerce and web services. Grid computing gives a safe way to solve Grand Challenge issues, like proteins, financial modeling, earthquake simulation, weather patterns. The grid provides a way to use IT resources optimally inside an organization. They also offer a means of providing information for their technology and commercial business customers, with customers paying only for what they use, such as water and electricity. Grid computing is used by the grid of the National Science Foundation, National Technology, NASAs Information Power Grid, Pratt Whitney, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and American Express. The European Union has been a great supporter of grid computing. A lot of studies and projects have been funded by the European Commission Framework Programme. Lots of projects are emphasis here, but 2 of them deserve special point out: Enabling Grids BEinGRID and for e-Science. Business Experiments in GRID is a project, and also have a 1/4th amount of the whole project is funded by the European Commission as an incorporated Project under the 6th Framework Programme Sponsorship Program (FP6). Introduced in June 2006 and the project lasts for 2 years, until November 2009. The research is organized by the Atos Origin. According to the project sheet is their mission to create effective ways to promote the adoption of grid computing across Europe and to stimulate research on innovative business models using Grid technologies. Extracting best practices and common themes of the experimental implementations, two groups of consultants to analyze a number of pilots, technique and business. The results of this cross analysis provided by the TI website called www.tude.com. The project is important not only for its longevity, but also for its financial plan to 24.8 million Euros, is the greatest of all integrated projects in FP6. The grids of the E-science, which is founded the European Union and also sites in USA and the most part of the Asian continent, is a follow-up project of the European DataGrid (EDG), and is probably the largest computer network on the planet. This, together with the LHC Computing Grid (LCG) was developed to support the experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. LCG Project at CERN is based on the need to handle large amounts of data, where the rates are required to store several gigabytes per second. A list of active sites within LCG can be found online as well as real-time monitoring of the EGEE infrastructure. The software and documentation is also accessible to the public. It is speculated that optical fiber dedicated links, such as those installed by CERN to meet the needs of large volumes of data from the LCG may one day be available for home users and Internet service reach very fast approximately a thousand times faster than the usual broadband internet connection. Until April 27, 2007, United Devices United Devices Cancer Research Project based on its Grid MP product, which cleans the PC cycle of volunteering over the Internet. Grid MP in June 2005 ran about 3000000 machines. Cloud computing Cloud computing is computing on the Internet where shared resources, software and information is provided for computers and other devices on demand, with the grid. Cloud computing is a natural change of the well known to use of virtualization, SOA and utility computing. The details are extracted from consumers who no longer required specialized knowledge or control over the technology infrastructure that supports the tag. Cloud computing describes a new addition, consumption and delivery model for IT services Internet-based and are generally over-the delivery of Internet resources dynamically evolving and often virtualized. This is a result of product and ease of access to computer sites that offer Internet distance. This is mostly takes the form of internet based applications and tools that users can access and get use through an internet website browser as if it were a program installed locally on your own computer system. NIST provides a definition a little more objective and specific here. Tag word as a metaphor for the Internet based on the design previously used tags to represent the telephone network, and then to describe the patterns of Internet computer network as an abstraction that represents the underlying infrastructure. A typical cloud computing provider to provide common business applications online that is accessible from another web service or software as a Web browser, while the software and data stored on servers Most cloud computing infrastructure consists of services offered by the centers joint and integrated servers. Clouds often appear as single point of access to the computing needs of consumers. Commercial facilities are generally required to meet Quality of Service (QoS) of clients, and generally include service level agreements (SLA). The big cloud providers include Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Some large IT companies who are actively involved in cloud computing, Fujitsu, Dell, Hewlett Packard, IBM, VMware, NetApp and Microsoft. There are several doubts and confusions in relation to the phrase called hybrid when applied to the cloud a criterion description of the word hybrid Cloud has not yet risen. Cloud term hybrid has been used to assign 2 clouds. Separate conference ( private, public external or internal ) or a blend of clouds virtualized server instances that are used in combination with the actual physical hardware. The correct definition of the term hybrid Cloud; is probably the use of physical hardware and virtualized server instances tag together to provide a unique and common. Two clouds were collected are more properly a combined cloud. A combined cloud computing environment composed of multiple combined internal or/and external suppliers would be typical for most companies By integrating cloud computing services to multiple users to facilitate the transition to the public cloud services while avoiding problems such as PCI compliance. Another perspective on the implementation of a web application in the cloud using hybrid Web hosting infrastructure is a mix between Cloud hosting and dedicated servers it is usually implemented as part of a Web cluster, where some nodes running real physical hardware and some running on the server where the clouds. How network economics, declining communication costs and technology standards affect IT infrastructure? Network economics: Economics refers to the Business Network, which will benefit from the network. This is where the value is a good or service increases as more people buy the product or service. Examples include websites like eBay, or if the iVillage community together and share ideas to help the website become a better business organization. Metcalfes Law explains the proliferation of computer use by showing that the value of network participants grows exponentially as the network becomes more members. As the number of members in a network increases linearly, the values of the overall system grows exponentially and theoretically continue to grow indefinitely with increasing membership. Declining communication costs: The communication costs are rapidly falling down daily. The costs of communication and the exponential growth in the size of the Internet is a driving force that affects the IT infrastructure. When there is a decline happened in the communication cost will reflect several advantages and disadvantages to the information technology infrastructure. The main advantage of decline of communication costs is when its get fall to a very small and approaches zero, the use of communications and computer exploits. Technology standards: According to the growth of IT industry, the standards of design and communication is getting improved and more competitive day by day. Technology standards and economies of scale release powerful lead to decreases in the prices that manufacturers focus on products manufactured by a single standard. No economies of scale, the information of any kind would be much more expensive than is the case today. Creating and maintaining a coherent IT infrastructure raises multiple challenges including: Making wise infrastructure investments, IT infrastructure is a major investment for the company. If too much is used for infrastructure will not be used to form drag its financial performance. If it is too little used, a major business services cannot be delivered and competitors of the companys better than investing in the company. Coordinating infrastructure components: attempts to create IT infrastructures, select a combination of vendors, people and technology services and fitting them together so they operate in a coherent whole. Dealing with scalability and technology change: as companies grow, they can easily find that their infrastructure. As companies shrink, they can get stuck in too much infrastructure has been purchased in better times. Scalability: the ability of the computer of a product or system expansion to serve more people without breaking down. Leadership and management: refers to who controls and manages the IT infrastructure.

The White Hotel :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The White Hotel Donald Michael Thomas began his writing career as a poet, and his early work was notable for the way it ranged across the heights of the fantasy worlds of science fiction and of sensuality. Thomas was a superb writer, meticulous researcher, and a genius in deceiving the reader. He skillfully wrote The White Hotel, combining prose, poem, and science fiction, to make it a believable, conceivable, and a touching piece of literature. In his novel, Thomas makes realistic and believable references to Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytic theories. Furthermore, he was able to capture the real Freud so well that many Freudian scholars believed this â€Å"case study† of Frau Anna G. to be a lost work of Sigmund Freud. This leads us to conclude that Thomas did not only possess a great imagination for fiction, but was also well studied in his accounts of Freud and the Holocaust. Composed of a prologue and six sections, The White Hotel utilizes a variety of literary forms. The main characters of this novel are the celebrated psychoanalyst and theorist Sigmund Freud and Lisa Erdman, a twenty-nine-year-old, half-Jewish Viennese opera singer who comes to Freud for treatment of hysteria in 1919. This novel is by far one of the greatest works of English literature, exploring such concepts as, premonition, inhumanity, sexuality, and briefly, the concept of life after death. It is fashioned with many images of love, death, life, and desire, taking the audience on a horrifying and historical depiction of the Holocaust. Thomas’ novel is written using the third and first person narrator, which seems to have more knowledge than the reader or the character. I have to admit that I was distracted and even caught off guard by Thomas’ disorganization of chronological events. For example, the novel begins with presumably the middle of the story, after which the novel continues with the beginning and then ends the novel with a metaphorical new beginning for Lisa Erdman. Furthermore, many parallels and symbols can be seen in each section, which brilliantly connects them into a cohesive story filled with meaning and dire premonitions of an inevitable future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout this course, we have discussed various novels, from a psychoanalytic point of view, and we have been able to deconstruct many of the characters according to Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. Ironically, in The White Hotel, it is those theories that allow the reader to be misguided, and not realize the important symbolism of Lisa’s symptoms.

The Cruel Joke of Life Exposed in Vonneguts Cats Cradle :: Vonnegut Cats Cradle Essays

The Cruel "joke" of Life Exposed in Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Cat's Cradle is set up like a series of comic strips, with satirical commentary found in the last "panel". What, then, could we conclude is the accumulative punchline for the entire novel? What does Vonnegut give us for his "last laugh"? If we attempt to answer this question, we must first try solving the answers to "what is the joke?" and "who is the joker?" It seems Vonnegut's characters are the victims to the cruel "joke" of life. In Cat's Cradle he suggests that God is the joker. Like any good comedian, he must consider his timing and his audience. By using human beings that are always trying to understand it all in a scientific age, it becomes the perfect "set-up". His method of delivering the joke seems to be either through Religion or Science. In the novel, the more the characters try to find the meaning of life, the funnier and more absurd the joke becomes. And no one is laughing harder than Bokonon. Julian Castle quotes this poem from The Books of Bokonon after Jonah shrieks, "My God-life! Who can understand even one minute of it?" Tiger got to hunt, Bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, Bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand (150). Bokononism is a witty, satirical retort to the methods that God uses to play his joke. Bokonon and his followers understand the joke and even play along. When the final "punchline" is about to be delivered (when the ice nine is released), the Bokononists, who seem to have always anticipated an end to this prank called life, willingly eat the ice nine and kill themselves.

Cognitive and Emotional Intelligence paper sample Essay

DECLARATION I declare that this assessment is my own work, based on my own personal research/study . I also declare that this assessment, nor parts of it, has not been previously submitted for any other unit/module or course, and that I have not copied in part or whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of another student and/or persons. I have read the ACAP Student Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct Policy and understand its implications. I also declare, if this is a practical skills assessment, that a Client/Interviewee Consent Form has been read and signed by both parties, and where applicable parental consent has been obtained. Organisational Behaviour Assessment 1 Two important differences in organisational behaviour are cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence. The following essay evaluates theoretical and practical strengths and limitations of both intelligences and discusses the application of each in modern organisations. Modern organisations face differing challenges to those of the previous century, high turn-over, globalization and the rapid development of ever changing technology all require special attention. It has never been more important to find the right person for the right job. General mental ability does not give the whole picture. There is a link between cognitive and emotional intelligence, each being important contributors to modern organisations. Cognitive intelligence (CI) has traditionally been the indicator of successful job performance (Bosco, Nathan, & Allen, 2012). Organisational psychology uses cognitive ability to predict workplace success (Neisser et  al., 1996). Cognitive intelligence can be generally defined as academic ability, IQ or general mental ability, including the ability to critically think and reason logically, to analyse and problem solve, as well as individual aptitude in reading and writing (Sternberg, 2006). CI is a valuable asset in employees, particularly in some specialist fields where critical thinking, logic and reason are required, occupations such as scientific researchers, accountants, economists etc. The capacity of all workers to engage cognitive intelligence in quick and effective decision making serves as an important basis for achieving successful outcomes in the most workplaces. Patton (2003) found a consequence of the developing business climate is the global economy and the Internet, each necessitating an increased speed of communications in business transactions. Decisive leaders are forced to make timely decisions without consult and all the data on hand, such an environment necessitates in the need for higher levels of general mental ability in order to achieve both increased levels and faster acquisition of job knowledge, thus leading to greater levels of job performance (Schmidt & Hunter, 2004). CEO of Southwest Organisational Behaviour Assessment 1 Airlines, James Patton, displayed the importance of quick and effective decision making when facing a crisis on September 11, 2001. When planes where grounded and millions of passengers stranded, Patton decided that customers and staff would come first. No employees were required to stand down or take pay cuts, and passengers were given hassle free refunds, furthermore, Southwest employees were encouraged to take passengers to a movie or bowling to pass the time while awaiting news. In the aftermath of 9/11, while most airlines were reducing their workforces by 20% Southwest announced a $179.8 million profit sharing program for employees and managed to retain all staff (Gittell et el, 2006). Other examples of CI are literacy skills, such as reading and writing which are major tools of modern day  businesses: emails, documents and various other item of paperwork require high levels of accuracy for effective communication, efficiency on computers and an ability to learn new technolog y is important in this information world. McKenney, Copeland, Copeland and Mason (1995) propose that the revolution in communications and information technology should be considered as a dominant force in recent social and economic change. Although CI is undeniably important in establishing an efficient workforce it is not the whole picture. The value of cognitive intelligence is irrefutable however some limitations apply. Validities of predicting outcomes in real life are low. According to Viswevaran and Ones (2002), general mental ability accounts for only 25% variance in work performance. Furthermore, they suggest that intelligent behaviour is more than just the result of what intelligence tests measure. A practical example of the limitations of cognitive intelligence can be referred back to the other airlines effected by the 9/11 crisis. While Southwest airlines triumphed against adversary other airlines suffered greatly. There is no denying that the CEO’s of these struggling airlines were people of high cognitive intelligence, however, this personal asset alone was not enough to avoid financial losses, perhaps other ingredients such  as emotional intelligence and adequate policies are still required in order to retain consumer trust. Other CI limitations include measurement, particularly IQ testing which ma y result in adverse impact against minorities (Viswesvaran & Ones, 2002). Tests presented in a language other than an individual’s primary language as well as differing cultural approaches make the result of such tests weighted in favour of the culture that produced it. High IQ does not guarantee adequate function in the  workplace. Highly gifted people are often underestimated and misunderstood by peers and society (Nauta & Corten, 2002). They may make ineffective leaders as staff may not appreciate their intensity, perfectionism, questioning, and being â€Å"too smart† Heylighten (n.d.). Furthermore, CI does not guarantee a good team player. Elkin and Burke (2008) report Steve Jobs, while an example of a successful individual with extremely high cognitive intelligence, is reputed to have been a tyrant to work for. Critics claim he took credit for ideas that were not his, was not a team player, and was impatient, domineering and obsessive, behaviour which is inducing of high staff turnover or low employee retention rates. They also suggest Jobs strengths such as vision, magnetic charisma, perfectionism, all drove him to be a great CEO but are also the same drives that placed his company, staff and investors at risk. Highly intelligent individuals may have issues with delegation, trust, admitting error or asking for help. When compared to autonomous work, good teamwork enables tasks to be accomplished faster and more efficiently, reduces workloads, work pressure and improves staff relations (Kelly, 2004). Some highly intelligent people, such as those with Asperger’s Syndrome, may have low social skills. Individuals with Aspergers may test very highly on a CI tests but often their communication with others is blunt, awkward, stilted or odd (Shea, 2009). Saaty (1999) suggests that primary language expresses affections rather than ideas or thoughts. An inability to effectively communicate with consumers may result in difficult social relationships. While CI is indeed an important consideration in e mployee ability it is not a stand-alone measure of success. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is increasingly being viewed as having a significant influence on job performance and effective leadership in the workforce. A commonly referred to definition of EI was given by Mayer, Caruso and Salovey (1999) â€Å"Emotional intelligence refers to an ability to  recognise the meanings of emotions and their relationships and to reason and problem solve on the basis of them. Emotional intelligence is involved in the capacity to perceive emotions, assimilate emotion-related feelings, understand the information of those emotions and manage them† (p. 267). EI reflects one’s capacity to cope with daily challenges and may assist in predicting both personal and professional success in life. Assets in any working relationship include social awareness, social networking, relationship management, self-awareness and self-management. While small business has long relied on understanding the importance of social networking and keeping healthy relations hips and positive reputation in their community, new technology, globalization and social media now take social awareness and social networking to a whole new level. According to Qualman (2009) global connectivity now results in both positive and negative messages regarding products and services becoming immediately, permanently and easily accessible to the whole world. EI is a valuable asset in employees, particularly in some specialist fields where charisma and empathy are required, such as, sales and marketing, counselling or nursing. Effective leaders, as part of their role in managing relationships, should embody competent levels of respect, empathy, courtesy, motivation and be able to inspire others. The importance of empathy can be illustrated by an American business called Toro who manufacture commercial lawn equipment. The nature of the product results in around 100 serious injuries annually, prior to the appointment of CEO Ken Melrose, Toro faced an average of 50 law suits per year, resulting in massive financial losses to the company. However, Melrose added empathy. Injured workers and their families where meet by company representativ es, sympathies where expressed, investigations made and any needs were meet at the onset. This change in policy has reduced the number of lawsuits from an  average of 50 per year to only one since 1991 when the policy was introduced (Rainey, Chan & Begin, 2008). Furthermore, leaders need teams who are energetic, innovative, creative and passionate (Sloane, 2007). Understanding individual drives and motivations enables management to get the best results from their team. Effective management must be self-aware and have the ability to self-manage, including being aware of and managing moods, adapt appropriate emotions and behaviours to appropriate situations. Jack Welsh, Chairman of General Electric states that â€Å"A leader’s intelligence must have a strong emotional component. He has to have high levels of self-awareness, maturity and self-control.’ (as cited in Balakrishanan & Mouli, 2011, p. 44). EI allows managers to get the best out of their employees. Perks (2007) advises that successful leaders are high in emotional intelligence; they maintain posit ive working relationships and employ adequate coping strategies in all areas of life. Leaders, ideally, should possess emotional intelligence to encourage the best of their team. Emotional intelligence, however, has its limitations. Cherniss (2010) even suggests that EI has produced the highest level of controversy in the social sciences of recent years. More clarity in regard to theory is required. Roberts, Matthews and Zeinder (2010) propose that EI models do not adequately address theory. Furthermore, Roberts suggests that emotional intelligence definitions lack clarity and questions the criterion of which qualities should belong under the banner of emotional intelligence. It seems necessary to adopt one clear common definition. Measures of EI are currently underdeveloped in this relatively new field, more research and the creation of better measures may improve construct validity (Cherniss, 2010). This may result in the development of greater understanding and respect for the field. There is no guarantee that a person high in EI, will use this asset in a positive manner. Individuals with high emotional intelligence may manipulate people or situations for personal gain. Saaty (2001) suggests that decisions are not always based on the greatest idea  but on a person’s ability to persuade others to accept the idea. More exploration and clarification is required to address some of the limitations of emotional intelligence. Modern organisations face fundamentally different problems from those of the in the past, globalization, increases in technology and staff turnover are just some of the issues being confronted. The belief has been held for around a century that higher intelligence in individuals is more valued due to their higher task performance (Viswesvaran & Ones, 2002). Modern organisations provide services, and are organised according to a blend of individual’s, information and communication technology, social capital and recognized talents (Schoemaker & Jonkers, 2005). The measuring of CI enables modern organisations an affordable and speedy way of evaluating an employee’s general mental ability. General mental ability has been related to occupational level on both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (Schmidt & Hunter, 2004). CI measures allow employers to apply specific cognitive abilities to valid and appropriate positions within the business with a view to discovering the best person for the job. According to Holloway (2003) employing the â€Å"right person for the job† or job fit is more essential now than ever. Job fit can be described as â€Å"the degree to which a person’s cognitive abilities, interests and personality dynamics fit those required for the job† (Russell, 2003, p.27). This is where the importance of emotional intelligences comes into play. A constant balance between understanding the individual drives and motivations of workers and ensuring staff remain engaged, enthusiastic and valued has many rewards for modern organisations. Incorporating a balance between both intelligences gives employees the greatest chance of achieving appropriate job fit. Holloway (2003) states that positive job fit, results in increased job satisfaction, increased productivity and reduced staff turnover. Furthermore, research by O’Reilly, Chatman and Caldwell (1991) suggests newly hired staff whose with values that fit in with the culture of the organisation tend to adjust quicker, remain longer with the company and are overall more satisfied. While Hollaway,  (2003) states th at understanding of workers in regards to work/life balance, personal goals and drives may encourage loyalty reducing turnover, saving on retraining and downtime. Furthermore, EI combined with CI addresses the gaps between management and workers through understanding of positive leading by example management that can result in emulation by employees resulting in a ripple effect throughout the organisation. There is a strong link between emotional intelligence and cognitive intelligence and the combination of both intelligences has become necessary for successful business relations in modern organisations. Cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence are each important factors in regard to individual differences in the field of organisational behaviour in modern organisations. While general mental ability accounts for many valuable employee assets such as efficiencies in regard to knowledge acquisition and technological aptitude, limitations to validity and measurement of testing and relevance mean that cognitive intelligence is not the only measure of a successful employee. Emotional intelligence also plays a key role in individual success in modern organisations. Effective leadership, self- awareness, social networking, empathy, self-management are all are assets of the emotionally intelligent. Modern organisations benefit from the combination of both intelligences by finding the best fit for the position resulting in higher job satisfaction, higher retention of staff and greater profits. References Balakrishanan, L., & Mouli, S. (2011). Emotional Intelligence – A Key for Effective Employee Management. Amet Journal of Management,1(1),44. Retrieved from http://www.ametjournal.com/attachment/Amet-journal.pdf Bosco, F. A., Nathan, B., & Allen, D. G. (2012, July). Higher validity and less adverse impact! Using â€Å"Executive Attention† to measure cognitive ability. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Personnel Assessment Council, Las Vegas, NV. Cherniss, C. (2010). Emotional intelligence: Toward clarification of a concept. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 3(2), 110-126. doi:10.1111/j.1754-9434.2010.01231.x Elkind, P., & Burke, D. (2008). The trouble with Steve. Fortune, 157, 54-63. Retrieved from http://personal.bellevuecollege.edu/llum/GBUS101/09WSteveJobs.pdf Gittell, J. H., Cameron, K., Lim, S., & Rivas, V. (2006). Relationships, layoffs, and organizational resilience airline industry responses to September 11. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 42(3), 300-329. doi:10.1177/0021886306286466 Heylighen, F. (n.d.). Gifted People and their Problems. Retrieved from http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Papers/GiftedProblems.pdf Higgins, D. M., Peterson, J. B., Pihl, R. O., & Lee, A. G. (2007). Prefrontal cognitive ability, intelligence, Big Five personality, and the prediction of advanced academic and workplace performance. Journal of personality and social psychology, 93(2), 298. doi:10.1037/00223514.93.2.298 Holloway, P. (2003). Job Fitness Series: The Right Person for the Job. AboutPeople. Retrieved from http://www.aboutpeople.com/PDFFiles/The%20Right%20Person%20For%20the%20Job.pdf Kelly, B., (2014). Importance of Teamwork in Organizations, Demand Media retrieved March 8, 2014. Retrieved from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/importance-teamworkorganizations-12033.html McKenney, J. L., Copeland, D. C., Copeland, D. G., & Mason, R. O. 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Glendon’s criticism of current human rights discourse

Human rights are the basic rights that a person is entitled to by virtue of being a human being regardless of color, race, creed and country of origin. Many countries have been accused of violating human rights and it is for that reason that there has been put in place various watchdogs to oversee and ensure that basic human rights are not violated. Mary Ann Gledon is perhaps one of the most influential women in America as far as human rights are concerned. Besides her high qualifications as a Professor, Mary has been vocal and highly critical in the manner in which human rights laws are applied.The following discussion takes a brief overview of her criticism on the current human rights discourse . Glendon’s Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse is a book in which the author has criticized a great deal the application of human rights citing massive irregularities and thus abuse of human rights. Mary has in great depths criticized the courts arguing that by the ir unlimited authority to interpret the meaning of various human rights, the result has been that human rights have been individualized making people to lose responsibility for others.Besides this there is total detachment from moral standards and as an absolute right (as made to appear by the courts), is above all other considerations . Mary argues that looking at the property law many societal concerns are not put in place and thus workers and employees are left uncatered for. Mary’s general argument as far as human rights are concerned is that there is a lot deviation in implementation of these rights and thus the very purpose for which they were established is defeated . 2.What is the nature of Perry’s response to Glendon’s, and others, criticism of contemporary rights talk? Michael Perry a renowned scholar and a vocal human rights activist has in his book The Idea of Human Rights: Four Inquiries differed with Mary Glendon and has instead attempted to respon d to some of the issues raised in Mary’ book. This he has done by attempting to classify human rights in various categories . Firstly he argues that some rights that are classified under human rights actually do not apply to all but only to human beings in particular circumstances.For instance the right to vote only applies to those citizens in a particular territory but not to all human beings. Perry disagrees with Mary quite a great deal in many of the issues raised in her book and attempts to give a different approach to the same issue of human rights . 3. What refinements does Glendon suggest to current human rights discourse? Glendon feels that in order to bright order to the American system on human rights a lot of reference must be made to the European countries.She points out that the constitution and even decisions of courts of European countries are good examples of balanced human rights. This basically means that the scope would be expanded but only to the extent a nd limit where they do not interfere without concerns of the society. Conclusion To be able to arrive at the correct position we have to look at both authors critically since both have strong arguments but they also have some weaknesses in their arguments. Bibliography Glendon, Mary Ann. Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse:â€Å"Preface† (pages xi-xii, plus notes), and Chapter 7: â€Å"Refining the Rhetoric of Rights†, (pages 171-183, plus notes). Henry, J. Steiner. International Human Rights in Context, Oxford University Press US, 2008. Mahony, John. The Challenge of Human Rights, Wiley Black Well, 2007. Perry, Michael J. The Idea of Human Rights: Four Inquiries. Chapter 2 (pages 43-56, plus notes): â€Å"Rights Talk: What Does it Mean? And Is It Problematic? † Soohoo, Cynthia. Bringing Human Rights. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008.

Maple Lodge Farms

Studying the Relevance of Larry Greiner’s Developmental Phases to the Future Stability of Maple Lodge Farms Maple Lodge Farms, a family-owned business awarded the prestige of being one of Canada’s 50 best managed companies, has attained success by employing a number of strategic organizational practices. Since the inception of Maple Lodge Farms, the founders’ commitment to providing various Canadian households with the highest quality chicken products has allowed it to become one of Canada’s leading poultry companies.Initially, the business owners’ main priority was to launch Maple Lodge Farms as a highly recognizable brand capable of sustaining a loyal customer base. This goal was largely achieved through a variety of measures the founders implemented throughout the organization’s existence. Recently, a few of the methods used to promote Maple Lodge Farms consist of using an integrated organizational structure, ensuring the safety of the pro ducts through technological innovations and limiting the company’s environmental imprint on society.In this research paper, I intend to analyze the current transitional stage of Maple Lodge Farms in Larry Greiner’s terms, evaluate the success of the organization’s human resources strategy – relating it to Larry Greiner’s developmental phases – and offer potential suggestions to boost its future growth. For the purpose of this analysis, a discussion of Larry Greiner’s article, Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow: A company’s past has clues for management, is necessary to provide insight into the growth phase Maple Lodge Farms is now in.Larry Greiner, a professor at the Harvard Business School, believes the natural progression of a company from its initial stages to a more sophisticated business model is a consequence of its organizational structure. In other words, an organization’s current managerial framework influences its upcoming management decisions – hence the title of Greiner’s paper. He states that the future health of a business is dependent upon the way it is managed – i. e. its management style – in addition to how it reacts to challenges presented to the established managerial setup. Companies fail to see that many clues to their future success lie within their own organizations and their evolving states of development. Moreover, the inability of management to understand its organization development problems can result in a company becoming â€Å"frozen† in its present stage of evolution or, ultimately, in failure, regardless of market opportunities† (Greiner, 1998). Moreover, Greiner contends that a business undergoes five known developmental phases – each characterized by both an evolutionary and revolutionary stage. â€Å"1.The term evolution is used to describe prolonged periods of growth where no major upheaval occurs in o rganization practices. 2. The term revolution is used to describe those periods of substantial turmoil in organization life. As a company progresses through developmental phases, each evolutionary period creates its own revolution† (Greiner, 1998). Therefore, a specific growth period is defined by a particular management style and a management crisis which results directly from it – i. e. the evolutionary and revolutionary aspects of each transitional phase respectively.Furthermore, the age and size of the organization, in addition to the growth rate of the industry, all play roles in the construction of a progression model that accurately describes a business. Greiner’s assumptions are relevant to Maple Lodge Farms because not only do they enable an understanding of the organization’s present state of development, but they also offer implications for the future stability of the business – essentially by indicating which management style a company s hould adopt as it grows and changes.Before I investigate the effectiveness of Maple Lodge Farms’ business plan – specifically its human resources approach – and forecast its growth capabilities, I must first identify the organization’s present developmental state. According to Greiner’s descriptions of the various stages a company undergoes, the history of Maple Lodge Farms shows that it is currently in the third phase of growth – specifically, the evolutionary part known as the delegation stage. The next era of growth evolves from the successful application of a decentralized organization structure. It exhibits these primary characteristics: 1. Much greater responsibility is given to the managers of plants and market territories. 2. Management often concentrates on making new acquisitions which can be lined up beside other decentralized units. 3. Communication from the top is infrequent, usually by correspondence, telephone, or brief visits to field locations† (Greiner, 1998).The owners’ dedication to providing superior customer service has guided every facet of the way their business has been managed. In pursuit of this goal, the company has successfully implemented a decentralized management structure. â€Å"We are there every step of the way – we have established a unique integrated development team that includes senior representation from Sales, Marketing, Research and Development, Quality Assurance, and Supply Chain to ensure superior quality and customer-focused service† (â€Å"Maple lodge farms†, 2011).This structural framework reflects Greiner’s organizational aspect of the delegation stage, as it offers managers greater responsibility in supervising the operations of their plants – fundamentally affording them the freedom to manage these plants as they see fit, with limited corporate intervention. The other traits Greiner prescribes to the delegation stage †“ besides the organizational arrangement –, confirms the notion that Maple Lodge Farms is in fact in this transitional phase. The delegation stage proves useful for gaining expansion through heightened motivation at lower levels. Decentralized managers with greater authority and incentive are able to penetrate larger markets, respond faster to customers, and develop new products† (Greiner, 1998). The organization’s foray into Halal poultry – especially with the prosperous Zabiha Halal line – not only demonstrates the effectiveness of the company’s branding system, but also that Maple Lodge Farms wants to breach the substantial Muslim market and thus attract a more ethnically diverse consumer base.Moreover, the organization’s successful promotions of its newer items – such as the pre-cooked refrigerated foods, the chicken bacon and other innovative manufactured products –, suggests that Maple Lodge Farms is attempting to cater to different preferences; the firm does this to capture a larger market segment, beyond what they have attained so far. Furthermore, the company’s latest acquisition of plants in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in addition to Ontario, is testament to their desire to infiltrate a broader market across provincial lines.This action implies that Maple Lodge Farms is not only expanding its product lines to suit differentiated customer tastes, but also enlarging the organization nationwide – a claim supported by its recent obtainment of plants in New Brunswick, as well as Ontario, and its intention of partnering with Nova Scotia and P. E. I. growers to build primary operations in Berwick, Nova Scotia (â€Å"Grand river foods,† 2011). Since the characteristics that Maple Lodge Farms possesses are outlined in Greiner’s delegation stage, it thereby affirms that the organization is currently in this part of its evolution.Although Maple Lodge Farms appears to be doing well in the delegation stage of Greiner’s model, I believe that the organization may be on the verge of entering the revolutionary component of the third growth phase – referred to as the control crisis. Essentially, this situation arises as a product of the management style introduced in the delegation stage – involving market expansion, decentralized organizational structure, delegative managerial style and so on.Moreover, the control crisis occurs when â€Å"top executives sense that they are losing control over a highly diversified field operation. Autonomous field managers prefer to run their own shows without coordinating plans, money, technology, and manpower with the rest of the organization† (Greiner, 1998). Though this scenario may not be representative of the company quite yet, Greiner insinuates that at the end of an evolutionary period, all companies must enter a revolutionary period; it is merely the path that all organizations must follow in their progression models.Therefore, it is more than likely that Maple Lodge Farms may soon be in a crisis control situation, as its lengthy evolutionary stage is poised to end. The firm should understand the pending reality of a control crisis and be willing to make changes regarding the managerial framework, so as to preserve the health of the company. In 2010, Maple Lodge Farms was given the honor of being named one of fifty organizations in Canada that earned the Best Managed Company award. The CEO of Maple Lodge Farms, Michael Burrows, attributes this success to the customer-oriented method the company whole-heartedly embraces. At Maple Lodge Farms, we speak with our customers on an ongoing basis to gain their insights and to identify the most significant opportunities that move us closer to realizing their success†¦Our sales team is actively engaged with our customers and in the marketplace as often as possible in order to remain abreast of new opportunities and challenges†Ã‚  (â€Å"Maple lodge farms,† 2011). Maple Lodge Farms has nurtured this customer service focus through the use of effective human resources management, which prioritizes the recruitment and training of individuals able to meet inflexible customer demands.Consider the organization’s venture into the untapped Halal foods market. The company’s interest in realizing potential gains from Muslim buyers compelled Maple Lodge Farms to first launch its Halal product line in the 1990s – which has since been perfected over the organization’s existence. In adherence with strict Islamic procedures, the company employs several Muslim individuals to handle the slaughter of its chickens. â€Å"We have a team of several Muslim Blessers and a dedicated Muslim Product Manager†¦under oath to perform the duties assigned to them with honesty and integrity.ISNA’s Halal auditor visits our plant on daily basis to ensure the Halal process is followed with consistency† (â€Å"Maple lodge farms†). Consequently, in order to meet the stringent requirements of the Muslim community, Maple Lodge Farms has recruited and/or trained personnel in a highly specified manner, so as to satisfy their particular consumer needs. Additionally, the human resources department of Maple Lodge Farms encourages management leaders to continuously undergo training programs in order to keep abreast of new managerial techniques.This increases the efficiency of how all the plants of the firm are run. Moreover, the company has regular employee performance appraisals in order to ensure the quality of services offered to consumers. Therefore, the organization’s emphasis on fostering an organizational culture premised upon customer satisfaction – achieved partly through human resources policies concerning recruitment and training – has allowed the company to achieve recognition for its entrepreneurial strides.The workp lace diversity amongst employees of Maple Lodge Farms – ensuing from the diversification of the firm’s product lines to accommodate Halal consumers – necessitates a form of diversity management and the implementation of employee diversity programs by the human resources department. Diversity management’s initiative is not simply to advocate tolerance; more significantly, its purpose is to combine the different perspectives of a multicultural organization’s staff and use them to improve the firm’s performance.My research indicates that while Maple Lodge Farms may have a rudimentary diversity management system in place, its human resources team should consider taking full advantage of the company’s diverse employee population. This involves: top management commitment, diversity training programs, inclusive/representative communications, activities celebrating diversity, support groups/mentor programs, diversity audits and management acc ountability.I believe establishing a comprehensive diversity management system will allow Maple Lodge Farms to become not only an inclusive firm but one that is more effective from a business standpoint. My analysis of Maple Lodge Farms shows that it has tremendous potential to grow as an organization. Firstly, the managerial team should consider altering its delegative style of management to one that involves coordination techniques. Since Maple Lodge Farms seems to be on the outset of a revolutionary period in Greiner’s growth model, a change in how the company manages itself is necessary. Those companies that move ahead find a new solution in the use of special coordination techniques† (Greiner, 1998). Establishing these modifications in the organizational structure and in the general way the firm is managed, will enable Maple Lodge Farms to progress into the coordination stage – the next phase of Greiner’s growth model – and maintain the company ’s steady evolution. â€Å"All of these new coordination systems prove useful in achieving growth through more efficient allocation of a company’s limited resources.They prompt field managers to look beyond the needs of their local units†¦they learn to justify their actions more carefully to a â€Å"watchdog† audience at headquarters† (Greiner, 1998). Furthermore, the aforementioned diversity management system is another change Maple Lodge Farms should make, as it will move the organization in a new direction – wherein the marketing strategy will be more wide-ranging and cognizant of the immense diversity in customer tastes.From a human resources perspective, Maple Lodge Farms has succeeded in aspects other companies have failed in; they have created an organizational culture that whole-heartedly advocates superior customer service policies. This is evidenced by the human resources policies emphasizing the recruitment and training of qualified individuals, who are able to meet the organization’s standards of customer service. The distinction of being one of Canada’s fifty best managed companies validates the human resources measures Maple Lodge Farms has undertaken to provide first-class products and the best customer service.If the firm were to establish a strategic plan to implement a coordination management style and a diversity management system, then Maple Lodge Farms would experience no difficulties in continuing its success as a company in the future. Works Cited 1. Grand river foods fresh poultry processing division sold to maple lodge farms. (2011, November 21). Canadian Poultry Magazine, Retrieved from http://www. canadianpoultrymag. com 2. Greiner, L.E. (1998). Evolution and revolution as organizations grow. Harvard Business Review, (Reprint 98308), 4-11. Retrieved from http://www. gertjanschop. com 3. Maple lodge farms amongst best managed companies. (2011, February 23). Brampton Guardian. Retri eved from http://www. bramptonguardian. com 4. Maple lodge farms ltd. : Zabiha halal. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. zabihahalal. com