The Cultural Anchoring Of Leadership Styles

With globalisation and related intensification of trade and commerce effective leadership has become indispensable in the business world. Where traditionally the business leader took the role of commanding â€Å"the troops† towards effectiveness and efficiency this has changed dramatically over the last decades. The service industry rise, knowledge management trends, increased workforce diversity combined with international trading and global sourcing of talent, has considerably reshaped the role of the leader in the contemporary organisation.Numerous firms are in global alliances depending upon flexibility/adaptability to local markets, requiring their managers to possess appropriate leadership styles to cope effectively with different value systems and cultures (Fahy, 2002; Coviello et al. , 1998). 2Arguably, the flattening of hierarchical structures has also contributed to this reshaping process as traditional sources of authority, upon which leaders have built on for years , have been diminished.Combined with the rise of new trading powers such as the â€Å"Asian Dragon†, business leaders, especially in international MNEs do not only face domestic multiculturalism and diversity but are also increasingly expatriated. Consequently completely new cultural pitfalls and challenges are faced requiring understanding of cultural values as well as quick cultural adaptation to transfer domestic leadership abilities into foreign markets. Combined with steadily rising competitive pressures, the contemporary business leader in a role not easily filled.Despite leadership being a universal concept (Bass, 1990), with most literature anchored in the (individualistically oriented) US, it has been questioned to what extend western leadership styles are cross-culturally transferable (Dorfman, 2003). Resultantly, debate has sparked over how far leadership is culturally contingent, if universal leadership qualities and tactics exist and what the explanatory variable s are (Scandura & Dorfman, 2004).This assignment aims at contributing towards this debate by exploring leadership disparity and possible congruence between the UK and Japan using academic measurement of national culture; Hofstede’s framework respectively. The next section will give an overview over the concept of leadership followed by an in-depth cultural comparison and concluding section. 4The term leadership incorporates some elements of controversy over its meaning and practices. Different cultural gist or terminology or in cross-cultural contexts makes a universal definition difficult (Yukl, 2002).This seems unsurprising as the understandings and expectations of authority roles differ between cultures. Nevertheless, despite cultural differences the majority of leadership definitions reflect some basic elements these manly being â€Å"group†, â€Å"influence† and â€Å"goal† (Bryman, 1992). Keeping this in mind, leadership can be seen as the â€Å"pr ocess of influencing others towards achieving some kind of desired outcome. † (De Jong & Den Hartog, 2007, p. 44) or bluntly spoken â€Å"leadership is the ability to get [people] to do what they don’t like to do and like it†Whilst this is a very basic attempt of a definition it allows for easier application in a cross-cultural context and highlights an important point: In order to lead one needs followers (Drucker, 2007). It is here where the inseparable link to power emerges whereby the power of leaders is largely dependent upon the perception of others (Hollander & Julian, 1969; Maurer & Lord, 1991; Pfeffer, 1977) but nevertheless forms the basis of leadership authority.It appears that only effective use of this power, combined with â€Å"leading by example† (Pfeffer, 1981) will result in positive and proactive guidance fostering creativity, innovation, commitment and long term organisational development. 6However, this is questionable and it seems that far too often in academic literature the terms â€Å"manager† and â€Å"leader† are merged giving a blurred picture of what each role actually entails. Readers should be reminded that leaders, unlike managers, do not have to rely on forms of power to influence subordinates, often actually relinquishing formal authoritarian control.This is due to the idea that to lead is to have followers, and following is always a voluntary activity. Nevertheless, it can be argued that even leaders need some foundation of authority; may it only be their charisma (Weber, 1968). This has been manifested in the participative, charismatic or transformative styles of leadership (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001) as oppose to the transactional style more related to operational, task focused managers.Especially in western economies with predominant service industries, innovation and knowledge management, the former have been the focal point in recent years as autocratic leadership styles do no lon ger seem sufficient to extract the full potential of an increasingly knowledgeable, highly skilled and demanding workforce. Such, arguably â€Å"softer† approaches fostering employee involvement and participation have nevertheless been proven to result in increased organisational performance (Bass, 1996; 1997; House & Shamir, 1993) and are arguably more â€Å"ideal† forms of organisational leadership (Bass & Avolio, 1989).This might be applicable to western societies yet a cross-cultural generalisation might be prejudiced and the influence of personal values and cultural influences upon leadership styles should not be ignored (Byrne & Bradley, 2007). Rather, culture, an essential component of which is personal values (Kroeber, 1952; Kluckhohm, 1949), is to be seen at a centre stage when analysing leadership differences (George et al. , 1998; Nakata & Sivakumar, 1996; Steenkamp et al. , 1999; Cadogan et al. 2001), as t is â€Å"the collective programming of the mind wh ich distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another† (Hofstede, 1980, p.260) and shape leadership preferences.Culture hereby should not be limited to national culture but has to be extended to incorporating organisational as well as political culture (Schein, 1985), the latter two arguably being extensively shaped by the former. Democratic or authoritarian political systems, national values regarding sex differences and ethical behaviour as well as organisational attitudes towards factors such as centralisation and work attitude, undoubtedly influence leadership styles.Not only will such factors shape leadership approaches, but with regard to cultural differences these will often even stand in conflict to each other. Consequently domestically implemented leadership approaches might not be applicable in other cultural settings and render ineffective in maintaining firm sustained competitive advantage and superior international performance (Kimber, 1997 ; Jackson and Aycan, 2001; Pfeffer, 2002).The next section will investigate the effect of cultural values upon leadership styles in detail using the U and Japan as examples. 9British leadership style has often been described as more casual in nature fostering teamwork and seeking group consensus (Lewis, 2001). As such, a more participative leadership style is predominant reflecting flatter hierarchical structures in UK organisations. So, hierarchical structures not primarily seem as means to establish authority structures (Laurent, 1983) but more as core administrative frameworks.This according to Hofstede (2001), is a reflection of the UK’s low association to Power Distance. Essentially, subordinates do not attribute much to position and title and leaders must â€Å"embody a collective will and take personal responsibility for it while continuing to communicate and co-operate with the team† (Mole, 1990, p. 105). Unsurprisingly, networking capability and people managem ent skills are highly valued in the UK (Stewart et al. 1994) as leadership qualities.Nevertheless, this (collectivist) team and people orientation is mainly seem as a path towards achieving organisational targets and innovation assuring individuals in team settings aggregate knowledge that has strategic relevance to the organisation (Miller &Morris, 1999). As such transformational leadership attitudes (Burns, 1978) can be seen where leaders are to create conditions under which subordinates devotedly contribute to the organisation yet this is done primarily through a strategic lens. (McCarthy, 2005).Nevertheless, the Anglo-Saxon system of shareholder satisfaction drives leaders towards task orientation often combined with a short-term outlook. As such quick, short-term organisational (financial) success is often more valued than long-term organisational success and relationship building, reflecting according to Hofstede, a culture of highly short term orientation and low uncertainty avoidance. Essentially, risks are seen as part of daily business practice and leadership approaches reflect that subordinates are given opportunity to implement potentially rewarding, but high risk, strategies.This shows that, despite team orientation and a one might say more relaxed, friendly and diplomatic leadership style, the British cannot deny their American leadership style influence, fostering structured individualism, speed and drive (Lewis, 2001). Falsely, m any authors seem to ignore this connection, even so influences of hire and fire mentality and the creating of specialist roles underlining a core individualistic attitude are undeniable reflecting British national, and interlinked to that, legal and organisational culture.Such individualistic attitude constantly resurfaces in leadership styles often portrayed through individual target setting, remuneration practices and shorter employment contracts. Employees do not look for lifetime employment and a steady career in o ne company resultantly British leaders are more reluctant to invest heavily in the training and education of subordinates (Schneider & Littrell, 2003). This continues to the often actively sought after and purposely created assertive and competitive environment amongst colleagues or departments reflecting a relatively high masculine attitude as Hofstede’s culture scale clearly outlines.While these attributes sketch general aspects of British leadership, styles will vary between organisations, industries and individuals. Service- or R&D intensive industries for example, will follow a more Theory Y (McGregor, 1960) approach fostering employee involvement and empowerment. Leadership on traditional manufacturing industries on the other hand due to their reliance on productivity and output combined with an often repetitive working atmosphere, might take a more Theory X attitude.In contrast to the UK, Japanese leadership, like many Asian countries, is grounded in Confucian principl es (Redding, 1990; Tan, 1986) and despite rising western influences, strong Confucian traits believing in moral, interpersonal relationships/loyalties, education and hard work still lurk beneath the surface (Lewis, 2001). Especially â€Å"taking the family as a model for society at large, Confucianism is basically authoritarian and stresses hierarchical and status differences† (Selmer, 2001, p.8).As such, through its vertically orientated hierarchies and rigid organisation (Chen, 1995) one would expect Japan to score higher than the UK in Hofstede’s power distance index, and so indeed it does. This offers leaders with traditional and legitimate power bases however, surprisingly not resulting in autocratic leadership styles as one would expect, but far more the association of assertiveness-authority and reason tactics (Schmidt & Yeh, 1992).As such, Japanese leadership style rewards subordinate respect and obedience with highly paternalistic attitudes, expressed by mendo u: â€Å"I think about your, I will take care of you† (Dorfman et al. 1997). Consequently, the Japanese leadership culture, despite placing emphasising hierarchy and status differences requiring full subordinate obedience, expects helping and caring for followers and being involved in their personal lives (Whitehall & Takezawa, 1968; Bass et al.1979).As a result the most powerful force of the Japanese leader is not autocracy but charisma combined with intrinsic rather than extrinsic (materialistic) reward mechanisms often predominant in the UK: bonuses, on-target-earnings, etc. (Maslow, 1943, 1954). This seems surprising considering the high masculine score, which, from a western perspective would result in autocratic, top down, assertive, tough and focused on material success (Hofstede, 1998) leadership.It is here where Hofstede’s framework seems to only partly explain the Japanese culture and low individualism but high masculinity and power distance stand in conflict with each other. 14Additionally, in such an environment more focus towards ascription rather than achievement would be expected (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1997, 2000). Nevertheless, the contrary appears in the Japanese context with leaders having to possess superior, often specific, (hard) knowledge supplemented by strong educational backgrounds (Nestler, 2008).Here another disparity to UK leadership emerges, where despite educational background being important for initial work placement, greater focus upon (soft) â€Å"people skills† and strategic directive is desired and ascription of leadership positions remains (Hampden-Turner & Trompenaars, 1994). 15The collectivist principles shape Japanese leadership style dramatically, requiring group consensus and decision-making despite extremely high masculinity and higher power distance.Essentially a â€Å"bottom-up† (ringsho) process of decision-making is chosen (Wu, 2006) with the leader granting independent decision making to the group generally letting subordinates use their own approaches to achieve overall collectivist objectives (Dorfman et al. 1997). This is surprising, as in western societies strong hierarchical structures often result in a â€Å"top-down† leadership approach but can be explained through high uncertainly avoidance collecting input and consensus from all parties involved before decisions are made.Even more so, the concepts of â€Å"wa† (maintaining social relationships) and â€Å"kao† (maintaining â€Å"face†) actually require the involvement of subordinates in the decision making process and the preservation of harmony rendering western leader contingent punishment behaviour inappropriate. It is here where Japanese leadership style diverts extensively from its UK (Anglo-Saxon) counterpart where public scrutinising is part of daily leadership practices reflecting a competitive and individualistic culture driven by short-term financial objective s with high-risk acceptance.Due to the collectivist environment and extensive future planning, Japanese managers on the other hand, do not view themselves as risk takers, despite this characteristic often being attributed to charismatic leaders (Bass, 1985). This is reflected in Japan’s extremely high uncertainty avoidance score and is further supported by strong long-term orientation valuing prevailing face and harmony. Unsurprisingly, life-long employment is desired, supplemented b continued job rotation aimed at developing employees.As a result leaders and subordinates enter into long and close relationships hardly ever interrupted contrasting the UK’s â€Å"burn out† environment fostering high staff turnover. Unlike in the UK, Japanese business leaders look for generalist employees capable of working in multiple levels of the organisation reflecting a society placing less value upon specialists than western cultures. 17Overall, Japanese leaders focus upon co llective (not individual) responsibility (Hayashi, 1988) and group harmony maintenance is usually considered more important than profitability and overall productivity (Bass, 1990).Nevertheless, also Japanese leaders have to drive performance resulting in somewhat of a trade-off situation between performance and collectivist harmony maintenance. According to the performance-maintenance theory (Misumi, 1990), Japanese leaders have to chose between goal achievement and the continuation of the group, preferably combining high levels of both (Misumi, 1995). If this is achieved, such supportive or participative leadership styles (Ouchi, 1981) are said to result in â€Å"higher levels of motivation, delegation of decision-making, commitment, and intrinsic job satisfaction† (Keys and Miller, 1982, p.6). This appears to be in line with the currently preferred leadership style in the UK.However, one should not forget that unlike the Japanese working environment, the UK has been subjec t to great inward as well as outward FDI flows resulting in a blending of many different leadership approaches. As such arguably UK leaders would find it easier to adapt to Japanese principles than Japanese leaders. This is due to the western â€Å"farce† of collectivist team working for individualistic goals and the limited respect paid to status differences.While Hofstede’s framework helps to understand the leadership differences between the two countries if fails to explain some factors. So for examples does high Japanese power distance explain hierarchical structures and respect to superiors but the theoretical assumptions of complete centralisation of power, low emphasis on developing the workforce and autocratic top-down contact initiation (Hofstede, 1991) do not fully reflect the Japanese working environment.On this note one should not forget that Hofstede’s framework is not free of criticism and arguably is outdated, limited in scope of methodology and m easurement (Dorfman and Howell, 1988; Roberts and Boyciligiller, 1984) and only reflects a blend of organisational (IBM) culture and national cultures (Hunt, 1983; Robinson, 1983). As such it is no surprise that other studies such as the GLOBE project have found differing or even contradictory results for similar cultural dimensions. The Cultural Anchoring Of Leadership Styles With globalisation and related intensification of trade and commerce effective leadership has become indispensable in the business world. Where traditionally the business leader took the role of commanding â€Å"the troops† towards effectiveness and efficiency this has changed dramatically over the last decades.The service industry rise, knowledge management trends, increased workforce diversity combined with international trading and global sourcing of talent, has considerably reshaped the role of the leader in the contemporary organisation. Numerous firms are in global alliances depending upon flexibility/adaptability to local markets, requiring their managers to possess appropriate leadership styles to cope effectively with different value systems and cultures (Fahy, 2002; Coviello et al., 1998).Arguably, the flattening of hierarchical structures has also contributed to this reshaping process as traditional sources of authority, upon which leaders have built on for years, h ave been diminished. Combined with the rise of new trading powers such as the â€Å"Asian Dragon†, business leaders, especially in international MNEs do not only face domestic multiculturalism and diversity but are also increasingly expatriated.Consequently completely new cultural pitfalls and challenges are faced requiring understanding of cultural values as well as quick cultural adaptation to transfer domestic leadership abilities into foreign markets. Combined with steadily rising competitive pressures, the contemporary business leader in a role not easily filled.Despite leadership being a universal concept (Bass, 1990), with most literature anchored in the (individualistically oriented) US, it has been questioned to what extend western leadership styles are cross-culturally transferable (Dorfman, 2003). Resultantly, debate has sparked over how far leadership is culturally contingent, if universal leadership qualities and tactics exist and what the explanatory variables a re (Scandura & Dorfman, 2004).This assignment aims at contributing towards this debate by exploring leadership disparity and possible congruence between the UK and Japan using academic measurement of national culture; Hofstede’s framework respectively. The next section will give an overview over the concept of leadership followed by an in-depth cultural comparison and concluding section.The term leadership incorporates some elements of controversy over its meaning and practices. Different cultural gist or terminology or in cross-cultural contexts makes a universal definition difficult (Yukl, 2002). This seems unsurprising as the understandings and expectations of authority roles differ between cultures. Nevertheless, despite cultural differences the majority of leadership definitions reflect some basic elements these manly being â€Å"group†, â€Å"influence† and â€Å"goal† (Bryman, 1992).Keeping this in mind, leadership can be seen as the â€Å"process of influencing others towards achieving some kind of desired outcome.† (De Jong & Den Hartog, 2007, p. 44) or bluntly spoken â€Å"leadership is the ability to get [people] to do what they don’t like to do and like it† (Truman in Sadler, 2003, p. 5).Whilst this is a very basic attempt of a definition it allows for easier application in a cross-cultural context and highlights an important point: In order to lead one needs followers (Drucker, 2007). It is here where the inseparable link to power emerges whereby the power of leaders is largely dependent upon the perception of others (Hollander & Julian, 1969; Maurer & Lord, 1991; Pfeffer, 1977) but nevertheless forms the basis of leadership authority. It appears that only effective use of this power, combined with â€Å"leading by example† (Pfeffer, 1981) will result in positive and proactive guidance fostering creativity, innovation, commitment and long term organisational development.However, this is quest ionable and it seems that far too often in academic literature the terms â€Å"manager† and â€Å"leader† are merged giving a blurred picture of what each role actually entails. Readers should be reminded that leaders, unlike managers, do not have to rely on forms of power to influence subordinates, often actually relinquishing formal authoritarian control. This is due to the idea that to lead is to have followers, and following is always a voluntary activity.Nevertheless, it can be argued that even leaders need some foundation of authority; may it only be their charisma (Weber, 1968). This has been manifested in the participative, charismatic or transformative styles of leadership (Den Hartog & Koopman, 2001) as oppose to the transactional style more related to operational, task focused  managers. Especially in western economies with predominant service industries, innovation and knowledge management, the former have been the focal point in recent years as autocrati c leadership styles do no longer seem sufficient to extract the full potential of an increasingly knowledgeable, highly skilled and demanding workforce.Such, arguably â€Å"softer† approaches fostering employee involvement and participation have nevertheless been proven to result in increased organisational performance (Bass, 1996; 1997; House & Shamir, 1993) and are arguably more â€Å"ideal† forms of organisational leadership (Bass & Avolio, 1989).This might be applicable to western societies yet a cross-cultural generalisation might be prejudiced and the influence of personal values and cultural influences upon leadership styles should not be ignored (Byrne & Bradley, 2007). Rather, culture, an essential component of which is personal values (Kroeber, 1952; Kluckhohm, 1949), is to be seen at a centre stage when analysing leadership differences (George et al., 1998; Nakata & Sivakumar, 1996; Steenkamp et al., 1999; Cadogan et al. 2001), as t is â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another† (Hofstede, 1980, p. 260) and shape leadership preferences.Culture hereby should not be limited to national culture but has to be extended to incorporating organisational as well as political culture (Schein, 1985), the latter two arguably being extensively shaped by the former. Democratic or authoritarian political systems, national values regarding sex differences and ethical behaviour as well as organisational attitudes towards factors such as centralisation and work attitude, undoubtedly influence leadership styles.Not only will such factors shape leadership approaches, but with regard to cultural differences these will often even stand in conflict to each other. Consequently domestically implemented leadership approaches might not be applicable in other cultural settings and render ineffective in maintaining firm sustained competitive advantage and superior internationa l performance (Kimber, 1997; Jackson and Aycan, 2001; Pfeffer, 2002). The next section will investigate the effect of cultural values upon leadership styles in detail using the U and Japan as examples.British leadership style has often been described as more casual in nature fostering teamwork and seeking group consensus (Lewis, 2001). As such, a more participative leadership style is predominant reflecting flatter hierarchical structures in UK organisations. So, hierarchical structures not primarily seem as means to establish authority structures (Laurent, 1983) but more as core administrative frameworks. This according to Hofstede (2001), is a reflection of the UK’s low association to Power Distance. Essentially, subordinates do not attribute much to position and title and leaders must â€Å"embody a collective will and take personal responsibility for it while continuing to communicate and co-operate with the team† (Mole, 1990, p. 105).Unsurprisingly, networking cap ability and people management skills are highly valued in the UK (Stewart et al. 1994) as leadership qualities. Nevertheless, this (collectivist) team and people orientation is mainly seem as a path towards achieving organisational targets and innovation assuring individuals in team settings aggregate knowledge that has strategic relevance to the organisation (Miller &Morris, 1999). As such transformational leadership attitudes (Burns, 1978) can be seen where leaders are to create conditions under which subordinates devotedly contribute to the organisation yet this is done primarily through a strategic lens. (McCarthy, 2005).Nevertheless, the Anglo-Saxon system of shareholder satisfaction drives leaders towards task orientation often combined with a short-term outlook. As such quick, short-term organisational (financial) success is often more valued than long-term organisational success and relationship building, reflecting according to Hofstede, a culture of highly short term orien tation and low uncertainty avoidance. Essentially, risks are seen as part of daily business practice and leadership approaches reflect that subordinates are given opportunity to implement potentially rewarding, but high risk, strategies.This shows that, despite team orientation and a one might say more relaxed, friendly and diplomatic leadership style, the British cannot deny their American leadership style influence, fostering structured individualism, speed and drive (Lewis, 2001). Falsely, m any authors seem to  ignore this connection, even so influences of hire and fire mentality and the creating of specialist roles underlining a core individualistic attitude are undeniable reflecting British national, and interlinked to that, legal and organisational culture. Such individualistic attitude constantly resurfaces in leadership styles often portrayed through individual target setting, remuneration practices and shorter employment contracts.Employees do not look for lifetime emplo yment and a steady career in one company resultantly British leaders are more reluctant to invest heavily in the training and education of subordinates (Schneider & Littrell, 2003). This continues to the often actively sought after and purposely created assertive and competitive environment amongst colleagues or departments reflecting a relatively high masculine attitude as Hofstede’s culture scale clearly outlines.While these attributes sketch general aspects of British leadership, styles will vary between organisations, industries and individuals. Service- or R&D intensive industries for example, will follow a more Theory Y (McGregor, 1960) approach fostering employee involvement and empowerment. Leadership on traditional manufacturing industries on the other hand due to their reliance on productivity and output combined with an often repetitive working atmosphere, might take a more Theory X attitude.In contrast to the UK, Japanese leadership, like many Asian countries, is grounded in Confucian principles (Redding, 1990; Tan, 1986) and despite rising western influences, strong Confucian traits believing in moral, interpersonal relationships/loyalties, education and hard work still lurk beneath the surface (Lewis, 2001). Especially â€Å"taking the family as a model for society at large, Confucianism is basically authoritarian and stresses hierarchical and status differences† (Selmer, 2001, p. 8).As such, through its vertically orientated hierarchies and rigid organisation (Chen, 1995) one would expect Japan to score higher than the UK in Hofstede’s power distance index, and so indeed it does. This offers leaders with traditional and legitimate power bases however, surprisingly not resulting in autocratic leadership styles as one would expect, but far more the association of assertiveness-authority and reason tactics (Schmidt & Yeh, 1992).As such, Japanese leadership style rewards subordinate respect and obedience with highly paternalisti c attitudes, expressed by mendou: â€Å"I think about your, I will take care of you† (Dorfman et al. 1997). Consequently, the Japanese leadership culture, despite placing emphasising hierarchy and status differences requiring full subordinate obedience, expects helping and caring for followers and being involved in their personal lives (Whitehall & Takezawa, 1968; Bass et al. 1979).As a result the most powerful force of the Japanese leader is not autocracy but charisma combined with intrinsic rather than extrinsic (materialistic) reward mechanisms often predominant in the UK: bonuses, on-target-earnings, etc. (Maslow, 1943, 1954). This seems surprising considering the high masculine score, which, from a western perspective would result in autocratic, top down, assertive, tough and focused on material success (Hofstede, 1998) leadership. It is here where Hofstede’s framework seems to only partly explain the Japanese culture and low individualism but high masculinity and power distance stand in conflict with each other.Additionally, in such an environment more focus towards ascription rather than achievement would be expected (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1997, 2000). Nevertheless, the contrary appears in the Japanese context with leaders having to possess superior, often specific, (hard) knowledge supplemented by strong educational backgrounds (Nestler, 2008). Here another disparity to UK leadership emerges, where despite educational background being important for initial work placement, greater focus upon (soft) â€Å"people skills† and strategic directive is desired and ascription of leadership positions remains (Hampden-Turner & Trompenaars, 1994).The collectivist principles shape Japanese leadership style dramatically, requiring group consensus and decision-making despite extremely high masculinity and higher power distance. Essentially a â€Å"bottom-up† (ringsho) process of decision-making is chosen (Wu, 2006) with the leader granting independent decision making to the group generally letting subordinates use their own approaches to achieve overall collectivist objectives (Dorfman et al. 1997). This is surprising, as in western societies strong hierarchical  structures often result in a â€Å"top-down† leadership approach but can be explained through high uncertainly avoidance collecting input and consensus from all parties involved before decisions are made.Even more so, the concepts of â€Å"wa† (maintaining social relationships) and â€Å"kao† (maintaining â€Å"face†) actually require the involvement of subordinates in the decision making process and the preservation of harmony rendering western leader contingent punishment behaviour inappropriate. It is here where Japanese leadership style diverts extensively from its UK (Anglo-Saxon) counterpart where public scrutinising is part of daily leadership practices reflecting a competitive and individualistic culture driven b y short-term financial objectives with high-risk acceptance.Due to the collectivist environment and extensive future planning, Japanese managers on the other hand, do not view themselves as risk takers, despite this characteristic often being attributed to charismatic leaders (Bass, 1985). This is reflected in Japan’s extremely high uncertainty avoidance score and is further supported by strong long-term orientation valuing prevailing face and harmony. Unsurprisingly, life-long employment is desired, supplemented b continued job rotation aimed at developing employees.As a result leaders and subordinates enter into long and close relationships hardly ever interrupted contrasting the UK’s â€Å"burn out† environment fostering high staff turnover. Unlike in the UK, Japanese business leaders look for generalist employees capable of working in multiple levels of the organisation reflecting a society placing less value upon specialists than western cultures.Overall, J apanese leaders focus upon collective (not individual) responsibility (Hayashi, 1988) and group harmony maintenance is usually considered more important than profitability and overall productivity (Bass, 1990). Nevertheless, also Japanese leaders have to drive performance resulting in somewhat of a trade-off situation between performance and collectivist harmony maintenance. According to the performance-maintenance theory (Misumi, 1990), Japanese leaders have to chose between goal achievement and the continuation of the group, preferably combining high levels of both (Misumi, 1995).If this is achieved, such supportive or  participative leadership styles (Ouchi, 1981) are said to result in â€Å"higher levels of motivation, delegation of decision-making, commitment, and intrinsic job satisfaction† (Keys and Miller, 1982, p. 6). This appears to be in line with the currently preferred leadership style in the UK. However, one should not forget that unlike the Japanese working e nvironment, the UK has been subject to great inward as well as outward FDI flows resulting in a blending of many different leadership approaches. As such arguably UK leaders would find it easier to adapt to Japanese principles than Japanese leaders. This is due to the western â€Å"farce† of collectivist team working for individualistic goals and the limited respect paid to status differences.While Hofstede’s framework helps to understand the leadership differences between the two countries if fails to explain some factors. So for examples does high Japanese power distance explain hierarchical structures and respect to superiors but the theoretical assumptions of complete centralisation of power, low emphasis on developing the workforce and autocratic top-down contact initiation (Hofstede, 1991) do not fully reflect the Japanese working environment.On this note one should not forget that Hofstede’s framework is not free of criticism and arguably is outdated, lim ited in scope of methodology and measurement (Dorfman and Howell, 1988; Roberts and Boyciligiller, 1984) and only reflects a blend of organisational (IBM) culture and national cultures (Hunt, 1983; Robinson, 1983). As such it is no surprise that other studies such as the GLOBE project have found differing or even contradictory results for similar cultural dimensions.

Cultural Differences in Turkey

Social studies Cultural differences between the youth in Turkey and the Netherlands. penn Cibii 012013001 Inhoudsopgave Introduction This project is made for the cultural studies class and will contain the differences between the younger people in Turkey and in the Netherlands. It's common that people go abroad and face with a lot of cultural problems. This is because there are a lot of cultures and they all differ from each other. Sometimes its very difficult for people to understand cultural things that are not normal fort hem but instead normal for the people of that culture.To understand why thats so difficult we have to look at the differences of 2 cultures. I chose Turkey and the Netherlands because i am from the Netherlands but i have a Turkish identity and i see a lot of differences between the Turkish and the Dutch people. For example i am here with a classmate who is dutch and from Holland. She is dealing with cultural differences and sometimes she really doesnt understand that some things are normal here because in Holland that things wouldn't accepted. The differences will be measured with the study of Hofstede. Gerard Hendrick hofstede is a dutch social psychologist.His most notable work has been in developing cultural dimensions theory. The tlve dimensions are : Individualism, masculinity power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation. He write the books ‘Culture's conseuenses' and ‘cultures and organizations'. The five dimensions will be discussed in this project to define the differences between the youth in Turkey and the Netherlands. After the five dimensions the mwthodology of study will be explained that includes the participants, methodology and materials. After that the findings will be explained with charts and despriction of data.After the findings comes the discussion with the analysis of data and what it means. At the end there wille be a conclusion which will include implications, limitations and further research and a statement. You can find the reference list and the appendices at the end of the project. Background In this paragraph I am going to explain the study of Hofstede and what all the dimensions mean. There are five dimensions which are seen as criteria to see the differences per culture. These are : Power distance, Individualism versus collectivism, Masculinitu versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance and the Long term rientation degree.Power Distance This dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people. People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further Justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise the distribution ot power and demand justification for inequalities of power. Indiv idualism versus collectivismThe high side of this dimension, called Individualism, can be defined as a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families only. Its opposite, Collectivism, represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. A society's position on this dimension is reflected in whether people's self-image is defined in terms of â€Å"l† or â€Å"we. Masculinity versus femininity The masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success. Society at large is more competitive. Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented. Unce rtainty avoidance The uncertainty avoidance dimension expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity.The fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should e try to control the future or Just let it happen? Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. Weak I-JAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles. The long term orientation The long-term orientation dimension can be interpreted as dealing with societys search for virtue.Societies with a short-term orientation generally have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth. They are normative in their thinking. They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the uture, and a focus on achieving quick results. In societies with a long-term orientatio n, people believe that truth depends very much on situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results.Methodology of study participants, place (preserve anonymity) The participants for this study are the younger people between the ages 18 and 25 in the Netherlands and Turkey. I choose this as the target group because the younger people travel a lot and have to face the most and sometimes at first with cultural ifferences. They go abroad to go on vacation, to study or to live in another country. Place Because its limited to 2 countries the places of course are in the Netherlands and Turkey.The place where the interview is held is on my school in Holland ; Fontys economische hogeschool Tilburg and my school in Turkey; Fatih university in Istanbul. I choose the school because I could find here the best participants who are speaking English and belong to th e right target group. methodology (qualitative/quantitative; case study, ethnographic etc) In this study there is made qualitative and quantitative research. Quantitative research is made hrough deskresearch and qualitative research are the questions that you can't answer with deskresearch so you need the fieldresearch for.For the fieldresearch I made questionnaires. I decided to hold the questionnairies with 10 persons in each country. So 10 questionnaires in The Netherlands as 10 questionnairies in Turkey. The people who were asked for the questionnaires are all in the age group 18 till 25 and all speak English. I made the questions with multiple choice answers so it will be easy to process the data and make a conclusion. materials; data collection instruments (observation, questionnaires) The data ollection instruments are : internet, literature and questionnaires.

Sociology reserch project paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Sociology reserch project paper - Essay Example For this particular research, the focus of ethnographic study shall be better insisted on the people living in Rocks Australia (Erickson, et al, 2000). The researcher intends to find out how the location and history of Rocks Australia affect the way of living of the people residing in it and the perception of the people who are simply visiting the place. Through the application of a collaborative research approach, the researcher of this ethnographic presentation intended to see the different features of Rock, Australia itself and that of the people residing in it. Through the collaborative research approach, the researcher and his colleges were able to establish a particular standing in the process by which they attain to create a more significant distinction towards the originality of the culture and the traditions that the society living in Australia is practically living in (Fine, 2001). The basic features of this methodology is that of the process by which the researchers themselves would have a first-hand observation of the ideal matters that creates and further recreates the lives of the people within their communities (Miller,2002). The researchers have practically seen the effectiveness of this methodology as they consider the need to make a practical observation on the society, its location, its build-up and other elements that makes it up so as to be able to particularly identify the instantaneous consideration that is needed in identifying the people of the area and how they are living or even possibly how their ancestors have lived before in connection with the present living situation of the people. Besides plain research and observation, tying the garnered outcomes from the said procedures are tied up with the necessary choices of theories that could be used to identify the reasons behind the issues of changes that happened to the society in focus that has been evident through the years. Among the theories to be examined to come up with a usable source of ethnographic information about Rocks, Australia is that of the theory of sense of place by Basso; another theory is that of the emotional geography (Kottak, 2005). These elemental theories that further explain the reasons behind social advancement and ethnological development of a particular group of people within a certain area of consideration are seen by the researcher to have a great impact on how the systems of progress present in Rocks Australia could be better understood and clarified (Miller, 2002). The clarification of such identifiable developments in the society residing within the territories of Rocks Australia is eyed by the researcher as an institutionalized basis of understanding the why's and the how's behind the immense progress not only of the place in Rocks but also that of the people residing within it. (Spradley 2003) Results The researchers were able to observe that many people residing, as well as of those simply visiting the area, consider Rocks, Sydney as a particular place of rich history and integrative past that could stand as the mark of its identifiable uniqueness in all Sydney. Basically sided with the French and European culture, Rocks, Australia has particular characteristics that are basically the same as

SUMMARIZED ARTICLE Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SUMMARIZED - Article Example The president told the media that he refused to rule out US action in Iraqi against the Sunni Islamic militia group who have spread out towards Baghdad and are threatening to divide the country and establish their own jihadist nation (Moon1). The stock market’s losses accelerated rapidly following president Obama’s comments, with industries and consumer discretionary sectors fronting the decline. The VIX, Wall Street fear meter, expanded to eight point three percent to end at 12.56% (Moon1). The Dow Jones Industrial mean dropped 109.69 points or 0.65%, to end at 16,734.19. The S&P 500 tumbled 13.78 points or 0.71% to 1,930.11 (Moon1). The Nasdaq composite slid 34.30 points or 0.79 percent to 4,297.63. The Dow reached an intraday low at 16,703.73 while the S&P and the Nasdaq fell to a session low at 1,925.78 and 4,284.528 respectively. Retail sales, in macroeconomic news, rose 0.3 percent in May, and almost half the growth rate that economists had projected. American’s new claims for unemployment grants rose unexpectedly in the previous week (Moon1). Despite both economic indicators being below expectations, neither was considered weak enough to change the opinion of bettering economic states and the market’s recent uptrend is still considered intact. Energy shares ranked among one of the recent few gainers. The S&P energy section index rose 0.3%. Oil costs hit nine-month highs on concerns that intensified violence in Iraq could interfere with oil supplies from the key OPEC exporter (Moon1). Major US Airlines’ shares dropped for the second day consecutively as oil prices increased. American Airline Group Inc, the world’s largest transporter, slid 4.9 percent to $40.2 while United Continental Holdings Inc slid 5.9 percent to $42.60 (Moon1). One of Nasdaq’s most active stocks, Geron Corporation, surged 21.2

Mangosteen Remedies Marketing Plan Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mangosteen Remedies Marketing Plan - Coursework Example From this paper it is clear that physicians prescribe the drugs for chronic diseases as mentioned above, which are mostly NSAIDs, to provide relief from pain. Although, they are highly effective yet they have severe side effects too. The worst part is that once patient stops consuming it, disease returns with a bang. They are only a stopgap arrangement and not a real cure in themselves. These medicines cause stomach cramps, drowsiness, diarrhea, heartburn, edema (swelling of the feet), nausea and much of the discomfort. Moreover, NSAIDs pose a risk of causing stroke, heart attacks, clotting, and kidney failure, if consumed for a longer duration. The risk is associated with the amount of dosages. No one would like to have such risks and dependency on such drugs. If choice is available for an alternative medicine; it is for sure that patient would prefer switching over to a safer drug where there are no side effects even after taking medicines for a long time. ‘Mangosteen Remedie s’ produces medicines from rind of mangosteen and using many such herbs. Mangosteen is a naturally available fruit. Its remedial potential lies in compounds called xanthones found in abundance in the rind of this fruit. Medical science has found a large group of xanthones in mangosteen. Xanthones are recognized as most potent antioxidants provided by Mother Nature. Antioxidants are the compounds that throw toxic elements out of our body and prevent oxidation of our cells. That is how it increases our immunity slowing the process of ageing and providing strength to fight back chronic diseases. Anti-inflammatory properties of xanthone make it an ideal substitute for many steroid-based drugs in the long run. (Properties of Xanthones) That is why it is found to work on asthma patients giving them relief including the patients suffering from bronchitis asthma. Mangosteen rind extract is found to work in many ailments for the above mentioned reasons. It imparts a rejuvenating effec t increasing the energy levels in humans and a good part is that it delivers a permanent cure without causing any side effects. The manufacturing operation consists of extracting xanthones from mangosteen rind and suitable preparations are made that are high in xanthone concentrations. Medicines outside of U.S FDA ‘Mangosteen Remedies’ products will be marketed in the form of dietary supplements. U.S. FDA does not offer any opinion on dietary supplements. This is to establish the fact that these medicines are beyond the purview of U.S. FDA.

BUSINESS FUNCTIONS & PROCESSES Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

BUSINESS FUNCTIONS & PROCESSES - Assignment Example These functions within an automotive industry based organisation include automobile design development, formulation of effective marketing and advertisement strategies and implementing them accordingly (Ing. Punzenberger COPA-DATA GmbH, 2010). In the similar context, operations management within the automotive industry can be described as all the functions and activities associated with effective utilisation of raw materials for carrying out the manufacturing and the maintenance processes. This includes keeping record of all the fixed cost and variable costs associated with the daily production process. Operations management is also at times referred as the parent process of production management. Within this parent process, all other management processes such as inventory management, human resource management, and production management exist (Slideshare Inc., 2014). The concept has gained importance due to the increasing competitiveness in the current marketing scenario. Adding to this, this concept has proved its effectiveness and values provision to the automotive industry. The value part can be described in relation to that of quality, quantity, time factor and profitability. As already described above, production management within the automotive industry is all about manufacturing the demanded quantity of cars with set quality standards within specified period of time to make its availability in the market certain. It also ensures that the manufacturing process gets carried out in a timely fashion and effective selling strategies get formulated through which high profitability can be attained by the companies (Ing. Punzenberger COPA-DATA GmbH, 2010). In contrast to production management, which focuses on profitability earning, the operations management provides value to the manufacturing companies in terms of cost cutting. As

The psycology of Love Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The psycology of Love - Research Paper Example Nonetheless, even this basic concept takes in an extensive spectrum ranging from passion, intimate romantic love to the platonic love or the close, emotional non-sexual familial love that one may feel for a friend . Something about love that has been a subject of recurrent debate is its nature, although by determining what love is not, one can clarify various aspects. Frequently, love is contrasted with hate, the latter being the most extreme. All the same, when focusing on the contrast between an emotionally intimate and a sexual form of romantic attachment, the difference in consideration is between love and lust. Various Western authorities classify love into two main categories namely the narcissistic and the altruistic. In his work, exploring the definitions of love and evil through applied psychology, , who , defines love as a combination of simple narcissism and ‘the will to extend one's self with the aim of nurturing another's or one's own spiritual growth’ repre sents this view. He adds that by combining these, love is perceived to be an activity rather than a feeling. Different theories of love, according to researchers and psychologists exist. These theories explain love, emotional attachment and liking. Triangular Theory of Love Robert J. Sternberg developed the Triangular Theory of Love. Robert J. Sternberg developed the Triangular Theory of Love. He was a Tufts University’s psychologist and according to his theory, passion, commitment and intimacy are the three elements that encompass any instance of an interpersonal association. Passion refers to conditions of physiological and emotional arousal. It includes physical attraction and sexual arousal in addition to other types of strong emotional experiences. Passion is the most common love form and is evident in both infatuation as well as romantic love. Infatuation results when passion alone rules – it is an almost wanton physical desire. Commitment on the other hand invol ves a resolution to commit to love the other and endeavoring to uphold that love over time. It is based on the prospect that the relationship is permanent. Intimacy is defined as two people sharing their personal lives’ details and confidences, generally illustrated within romantic love affairs and friendships it involves emotional support closeness and caring. In all love forms, changing levels of all three of these components are supposedly evident (Reddy, 2011 and Cohen, 2011). Different types of love result from different combinations of passion, commitment and intimacy. For instance, a combination of intimacy and passion brings about passionate love whereas a combination of commitment and intimacy brings about compassionate love (Cherry, 2005). Cherry (2005) adds that according to Sternberg, in contrast to relationships based upon only one component, relationships built on two or more elements are more lasting. To describe a blend of commitment, passion, and intimacy, St ernberg (1986) uses the phrase consummate love. He suggests that this type of love is the most enduring and the strongest. However, it is not common. According to Sternberg (1986), ‘consummate love’ is an equal relationship with all the three elements. Generally, people strive after this ideal. All the other six love forms bring out one or two of the points predominating on the triangle. These can be categorized into complex or simple permutations –

Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Term Paper

Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry - Term Paper Example Adapting a classic piece of literature into film is a sophisticated task.The adapter has duel responsibility. On one side,he or she has to preserve the originality of the classic and on the other,he/she must be able to communicate the real meaning of the piece of literature. Utilizing a verity of techniques Daniel Petrie, the director of the film , A Raisin in the Sun(1961) did not only preserved the originality of the play, but also successfully transferred this classic of Afro American literature into a highly commendable film. Let me first discuss those adaptation techniques briefly. There are seven ways in which an adapter can transpose a play into movie (Desmond and Hawkes, 2006). These are visualizing the set, lighting, casting, musical tones, symbols and motifs, camera angles, and shot length. However, a creative filmmaker would not rely upon just one technique and would employ a variety of tools to make a movie engaging. Daniel Petrie used creative frame composition and shot variation to communicate the strong and shared emotions within the Younger family. Further, he brings the climax of the movie by capturing facial expressions of the characters in a close up. Moreover, he added or omitted various scenes and dialogues during the process of adaptation in order to make the flow of the film . Similarly, he creatively used music to communicate the real feeling of the characters and to move his audience In A Raisin in the Sun, the strong shared emotions and relationship of the black family play an important role to the overall development of the plot. The director communicated this emotional empathy with a creative series of shots and compositions that visually represented the shared emotions. Through the employment of this technical cinematic method, Petrise actually emphasized many important scenes of the play in his film. For instance, in Act Two, Scene One of the written play, for the first time in film, he uses frame composition to share the collectiv e family emotions. In fact this scene communicates a wide range of feelings. When Mama shares her purchase of the house in a better neighborhood, she herself and Ruth seems relieved and satisfied. Contrary to both the women, Walter not only seems angry and despairs but his dream of opening liquor shop seemed sunken. However, on the other hand Mama herself shows fear of the Walter’s possible reaction towards her decision. Screenplay script runs with an array of emotions and the filmmaker successfully expresses those emotions visually. The director utilized camera perfectly to capture those changing emotions on the actors' faces. For example, Walter mood changed from disbelief to dissatisfaction on hearing that the money has been used to buy a house instead of its investment in business. On the contrary, Ruth was extremely happy. But when Mama told them the location of the house, Walter became angry while Ruth’s frame of mind changed from joy to worry. Thus apart from di alogues, film depicts a vast spectrum of emotions through visuals. Petrise choice of using face-close-up is really effective. Petrise uses camera angle to create emotional effects. In Scene Three of Act two, he uses mirror to reflect Walter’s inner conflict . The camera cuts back and forth between Walter and Mr. Lindner. Through this technique, the director not only intensified the emotional meanings of the scene but also reflects Walter’s changing understanding of Mr. Linder offers. Film is a visual media therefore it is always preferable to rely upon emotions for the climax instead of dialogue (Duncan, 2006). Petrie's another smart choice is his exposition of climax through emotions rather than dialogues. These are the emotional moments when Bobo reveals about Willy’s run away along with their investment. This is disturbing news not only for Walter and Bobo, but for all the Youngers. During these critical moments Petrie’s framing Ruth into the scene is an ingenious choice as her reaction on such news is what viewers want to note. Moreover,

Any organism or group of organisms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Any organism or group of organisms - Essay Example Most have two auxiliary pairs of appendages. The first is the chelicerae, or mouthparts on which you find their fangs. These are used for feeding and defense functions, grabbing or poisoning prey. The second pair is called the pedipalps. They have mainly three functions: for feeding, movement and reproducing. Another feature of arachnids that makes distinguishing insects from them easy are the fact that arachnids do not possess any antennae or wings. All arachnids also contain exoskeletons just as all arthropods. Arachnids are typically meat-eating organisms. They feed on pre-digested remains of insects and other little organisms such as flies, bees, ants, crickets, wasps, grasshoppers, beetles, bugs and even others of their kind. Only two kinds, the  harvestmen also known and commonly called as the daddy longlegs,  and several mites like the house dust mite for instance, consume solid food particles. Because of this, they are out in the open to other internal parasites, though i t is not obscure for spiders to digest their own silk. Quite a lot of groups have the ability to exude  toxin and lethal venom  from specific  ducts or glands  to poison prey or threats. ... At the back of the mouth, there is a powerful hardened pharynx. This operates as a pump, drawing the food in to the body, from the esophagus which sometimes functions as a secondary further pump. The stomach in an arachnid is shaped like a tube, with a couple of outpouchings stretching all the way through the entire body. Both the stomach and these outpouchings called diverticula manufacture digestive proteins. They also soak up nutrients from the prey. This connects to a tiny hardened intestine and anus which is found in the rear part of the abdomen of the arachnid’s body. Eyes of arachnids are complex and very complicated, having two kinds namely the median ocelli and the lateral ocelli. Compound eyes have probably evolved into the lateral ocelli. They may possibly have a  tapetum. This helps in enhancing the absorption and the gathering of light. At the same time, the median ocelli may have been arisen from a crosswise crease of the  ectoderm. These eyes, in its ancient form, were probably both present in ancestors of arachnids. In contrast, modern arachnids that we see today are either lacking in one type or the other. The  cornea  acts as a light-focusing lens. underneath is a see-through body that resembles that of glass, then the  retina and sometimes, the tapetum. Nearly all arachnids have two other sensory organs. One of the most common and the most fundamental for most arachnids are the sensory hairs that are cover up the entire body. This also provides the arachnid’s sense of touch. Most other arachnids possess other sensory organs, even more complex and intricate such as trichobothria, or elongated hair-like structures that is used in detecting

Feminism in the Handmaids Tale Essay Example for Free

Feminism in the Handmaids Tale Essay Some would argue that Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a book that pulls its ideas and beliefs about women and their place in society from the Bible. But based upon the novel, the Bible, and some writings by Christian writers, that is true, but highly skewed. Let’s begin by taking a look at how society is setup in The Handmaid’s Tale so we can have a clear understanding where the author is coming from. The whole premise is that women have lost all power, freedom, choice, and equality and are instead deemed either suitable for slave/maid type work or bearing children. Girls are taken to Rachel and Leah Re-education center, or the red center, as the girls living there knew it, and â€Å"indoctrinated† or brainwashed into the ideologies of the government and taught that their only role is to conceive children. They are also told that the structure of this society (Gilead) is better for women, more respectful and safe. Offred, the main character in the novel has a very monotonous and strict routine everyday that consists of shopping for the commander, the man of the house, and visiting the doctor frequently to be checked, and then undergo the ceremony. This ceremony is the emotionless, speechless sex that she has with commander in order to bear children because of the sudden drop in reproduction in the past society. Now that we have the groundwork laid, lets look at a couple ways they skew the role of women from what it is meant to be according to the Bible. The ceremony that they participate in includes reading from the Bible before engaging in sex. The only problem with that whole idea, is that they only read a small passage of one book every time, that speaks about a barren women urging her husband to lie with her servant so they may have a child. The problem with this is that it’s taken completely out of context. The backstory to Rachel, the barren woman, is that Jacob was supposed to be married to her after working for her father for seven years, but instead Laban, the father, gives his older daughter Leah to lie with Jacob. When he discovers he was tricked he tells Laban he will work another seven years if he can have Rachel as his wife. Because God saw that Rachel was much more loved than Leah, he made Rachel barren and blessed Leah with four children. This is why Rachel asked Jacob to lie with a servant girl; she was envious of her sister Leah (The Holy Bible ESV, Gen. 29-30). The way it is portrayed in the novel is just as a source of reason. The commander and the government need a way to convince women of society that what they are doing is good and it is what they are designed to do. The Bible also speaks in Genesis how man and woman were created in God’s image and how both are equally valuable. Women in Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale are not at all treated equal. Wayne Grudem says it well in his book Bible Doctrine, †¦and Paul emphasizes, â€Å"In the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for woman was made from man, so now man is born of woman† Both men and women are equally important; both depend on each; both are worthy of honor† (201). This quote really shows how incorrect the society of Gilead has interpreted the Bible and also how poorly they have viewed women. They claim the safest way to protect the women is to restrict all their rights and give them the opportunity of one of three positions in society, which of those three, they do not even get to select. There are few instances in the novel that represent love, affection, or care; and this would be in the previous world and then between Offred and Nick and even that is a lot of physical affection more than true love. The Bible clearly states in Ephesians 5, â€Å"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church† (Eph. 5). This whole idea is nowhere near represented in The Handmaid’s Tale. The commander is married to the wife almost as a status. He has total authority over her and because she is barren they do not even sleep together. To bare child, he lies with the Handmaid, and to have pleasure, he visits Jezebels, which is a strip club. Which brings up another point in which prostitution and pornography were two of the major staples in the State’s philosophy of keeping women protected, yet they still have clubs that the men visit to enjoy themselves. Some may argue that there is biblical text to support everything that was done, such as Titus 2:5, which states â€Å"†¦women are to be submissive to their own husbands† (Titus. 2. ). This verse is said amongst many other actions women should portray towards their husbands, but it is originally meant, all out of love for their husband and ultimately for their love of Christ. Gilead believes having authority over everyone’s lives and particularly complete control of women. This just one more example of the misconstrued biblical reference portrayed how they see fit. This whole concept of people pulling verses out of context and twisting them to what they want is why so many people have a hard time believing in the truth. It has been so misinterpreted to what people want to believe or how people want others to believe. Gilead’s focus is on reproduction, order, control, and power. They have just found a way to use religion as a tool for their own plans, and in doing so have butchered the entire meaning of the device they are using. One more example of this is through other biblical references in the language. The entire book uses a variety of religious or Biblical language which includes but is not limited to: soldiers being called angels, the domestic servants are called Marthas, the store Milk and Honey, and even vehicles carry religious terms such as behemoth or chariot. These terms are used to help solidify the State’s justification for their actions. Using Biblical terms allows them to continue to preach that everything they do is to protect and serve according to the Bible. Again the problem is that they pull what they want from context and don’t use it according to how the original author intended it for the original audience, or how God meant for us to live. Margaret Atwood wrote a great novel describing what life could be like; if suddenly all women were subject to men’s rule and forced to live under such rigid conditions due to society’s prior downturn. Although the basis of Gilead, and it’s ideas and beliefs were high misinterpreted passages and references of biblical text. As previously stated, if someone is going to use biblical and historical references to support a cause or form a governing society, they must have the facts straight. This means using them in context, and for the original intended purpose. Not changing them or falsifying them to fit your ideas and beliefs.

Project Complete Duration By Using Network Diagram Construction Essay

Project Complete Duration By Using Network Diagram Construction Essay Time of activity is calculated in forward pass and backward pass to determine float. Forward pass (earliest start + duration = earliest finish) to calculates earliest event time of activity which estimates project complete time for example; activity F earliest finish days are 18 (14 + 4). Latest event time of activity is calculated in backward pass (latest finish duration = latest start) to determine activity in critical path and with float such as activity H latest start day are 20 (22 2). Total float = Latest finish Earliest start Duration. For example, float for activity C is 3 days (12 days 6 days -3 days) Activity A to Q is calculated in a forward pass; therefore project duration is 47 days (Table 1). Critical path are activity with zero float such as activity B (6 days 4 days 2 days) base on above formula and others activities. Below are the activities in critical path. Project will compete on 12 April 2011 which is calculated in a forward pass with 5 days working week exclude Saturday and Sunday (Table 2). For example, project start on 7 February 2011, activity A project duration is 4 days, therefore activity A will finish at 10 February 2011. a) 1 day delay during activity F, project still complete on 47 days due to activity F have 4 days float. Even thought delay 1 day, activity F still got 3 days float (4 days 1 days = 3 days). b) Activity P falls under critical path which mean activity with zero float. Therefore 1 day delay will increase project complete date from original 47 days to 48 days (47 days + 1 days delay = 48 days). c) Activity Q is last activity. Activity Q also is an activity with zero float and on critical path. Conclusion, 1 day delay in activity Q will delay whole project complete date by 1 day. Then new project complete date will be 48 days in state of 47days. Question 6 Project complete duration can be estimate by using network diagram. It helps project manager to monitor project easier base on duration of each activity. In other words, it helps manager to estimate the earliest time for activities to start and finish. On other hand it also helps to predict latest start and finish time for the activities to complete whole project without delay. Furthermore, network diagram is link among each activity, it provide clear picture on how each activity perform in project and on critical path which may influence project duration if there is any delay. Besides, it saves research time and speed out the time to solve the problem which helps to avoid delay in project. Moreover, activities in network diagram are depending of their completion means activity A must finish before activity B start. Each activity needs different time and resources to complete its part. Thus project manager able to allocate and fully utilize each activity time and resources with limited time and resources given. Network diagram show the activities in critical path. Base on this information, project manager able to forecast and monitor on those activities fall in critical path properly to avoid any delay during the project. In case of delay, project manager able to plan the necessary step to backup the activity delay so the project will complete on time. Base on network diagram, project manager able to make a decision whether project should speed out to save costs because of the shorter duration to complete or there is any opportunity costs while speeds out process take part. According to this, project manager able to monitor the budget with actual cost in each activity to avoid over budget from the project which may affect project future profit. (636 word) Appendix Reference http://tutor2u.net/business/production/critical-path-analysis.htm (view on 9/9/10 8:42am) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_purpose_of_a_network_diagram (view on 2/9/10 1:36pm) http://hadm.sph.sc.edu/courses/j716/cpm/cpm.html (view 9/9/10 9:01am) Mike Field and Laurie Keller (1998) Project Management The Open University, UK University of Sunderland (2005) SIM355 Managing Project, Version 2.0 The University of Sunderland, UK Date: 4th October 2010 To: Board of Directors From: Project Manager of Opening New Showroom in West England Reference: A report submitted to Board of Director of Cooper and Cooper on feasibility stage Project Management Preview of Opening New Showroom for 150,000sqm. Executive Summary Project management team had been tasked with the responsibilities to handle the project of Cooper and Cooper with objective to open new customized showroom which include workshop, administration office, luxury motor vehicles display and allow trading in buying and selling luxury customized vehicles. Project life cycle is used by project manager during project period to determine each stage in project life cycle is follow accordingly. Those stages are concept stage, development stage, implementation stage and terminal stage. By undertaking feasibility study, project manager develop a business case, establish goal and objective of Copper and Cooper at concept stage. STEEP analysis is use to focus on factors should aware before project start. Team member include team leader has appointed. In development stage, project plan has been created. It also includes financial plan by estimate total costs of the project and payback period. In addition, work breakdown structure has been created which helps in resources, quality, communication and procurement plan. Major categories risk has been determine and risk management model is use to manage risk. Implementation stage more concern about how project manager control and monitor whole project when it has been started. Motivation of team member is essential key during the project. Therefore leadership style help team member and project manager motivate team member. Project is complete at terminal stage and review of project has been done. Opening ceremony, trading and operation of new base is ready. Project manager and team member will be a consultant and relocated. List of Table Table 1: Stakeholder expectation to company 13 Table 2: STEEP analyses 15 Table 3: Work breakdown structure 16 Table 5: Prioritizing Potential Risks 18 Table 6: Estimate operation costs for the project 19 List of Chart Page 1 of 46 1 Page 7 of 46 2 Table of Contents List of Table 10 List of Chart 10 1.0INTRODUCTION 12 1.1Background of Cooper and Cooper 12 1.2Project Life Cycle 13 2.0CONCEPT STAGE 13 2.1Goal and Objective 13 2.2STEEP analysis 15 2.3Renovation and Security 16 2.4New Employment 16 3.0DEVELOPMENT STAGE 16 3.1Work Breakdown Structure 16 3.2Risk Categories 17 3.3Risk Management 18 3.4Risk Monitoring 18 3.5Cost Estimate 19 4.0IMPLEMENTATION STAGE 20 4.1Responding to risk 20 4.2Report Frequently 21 4.3Monitoring and Controlling 21 4.4Leadership and Motivation 22 4.5Managing and Administrating 23 4.6Approval from stakeholders 24 5.0TERMINATION STAGE 24 5.1Showroom preparation 24 5.2Open ceremony 24 5.3 Review and relocate team member 24 6.0CONCLUSION 25 APPENDIX 25 REFERENCE 45 Task 2 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this report is to determine ability of the project management team to handle the project with objective to open new customized showroom which include workshop, administration office, motor vehicles display area, customer parking lots and associated landscaping. Background of Cooper and Cooper Automobile company normally faces the challenge on provides best product to customer which really met their requirement. Cooper and Cooper (CC) are company mainly focuses on customization of high quality motor vehicles such as Mercedes, Ferrari, Lamborghini, BMW and Range Rover. Currently, they have 1 base in the south West of England and had acquisition new additional base of 150,000sq meters to build a custom showroom that allow trading in buying and selling luxury customized vehicles. Project Life Cycle Project manager use project life cycle (PLC) to defined planning methodology which include goal setting, define costs, establish time and project controlling. PLC comprises four stages: concept, development, implementation and terminal (Chart 5 in appendix). CONCEPT STAGE Goal and Objective Goal and objective of company may create motivation and focus performance. Therefore effective objective must be specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and time limited (SMART). In addition, other objectives such as customer and employee satisfaction and ethical practices will increase value of company in long term (Table 1). Table 1: Stakeholder expectation to company Stakeholder Expectation from company shareholder Return on dividend base on money invest employee yearly salary increment and bonus government tax computation base on profit generate supplier Continue supplier and payment on time customer Services satisfaction Therefore, preproject evaluation should be use to monitor project objective and overall strategy of the CC. Chart 1 below shows world yearly production of motor vehicles. According to this table, CC goal is to achieve 25% of the selling luxury customize motor vehicles base on car production in UK and achieve sustainable growth of 20% annually. Chart 1: World motor vehicle production (source: http://oica.net/category/production-statistics/) (For a breakdown of production by country in the world, refer Table 8 in appendix) Most of companies determine selling price as a cost + profit but hereby non-cost principle: selling price cost = profit are better way for CC to determine the selling price. Reasonable and acceptable selling price will help to stay competitive. Lean management is the way to create a sustainable continual improvement strategy and goal. STEEP analysis Besides internet factors that influence by both shareholder and stakeholder, CC should focus on external factor that may affect project by using STEEP analyses before open new base which shows table 2 below: Table 2: STEEP analyses Social Increase population life style by create more job opportunity and more income Technologies Aware of rapid technologies change in environment which will affect productivity Economy Increase in life style, gross domestic production (GDP) will increase therefore economy of nation, company and employee of company will increase Ecological Better living environment such as improve in transportation, education and etc Political Aware on changes in government policies such as health and safety law for employee (Table 9 in appendix ) Renovation and Security Showroom design will create right mood for customer to purchase motor vehicles. Thus renovation is an essential sales tool. Furthermore, security of showroom is major concern with valuable motor vehicles display so security alarm system such as CCTV and infrared for night security should be installed. Table 10 in appendix shows the detail costs for renovation and estimate will complete in one year for date of commission. New Employment New head of project and departments such as engineering, customer services and etc should be employed to run new base daily activities. Therefore this showroom will provide employment for 60 people. Project team leader should be appointed to specially take care of each part of the activities base on their experience and skill. DEVELOPMENT STAGE Work Breakdown Structure Once concept stage had been approved by related parties and new team leader had been employed. Team leader will monitor and control their team activities on below work structure. Therefore project schedule can map out and cost able to estimate after completion of work breakdown structure (WBS). WBS also helps to identify risk of the project too. Table 3: Work breakdown structure Project Manager Renovation Finance Security Marketing and customer services HR and Admin Engineering Customize Decoration Sale Facilities Invoices Electrical Services Purchasing Customer research Entrance Receive Plumbing Recruitment Customer complain Cost Interior design Events show Payment Risk Categories Once work had been allocated, we need to categories type of the risk. Table 4 in below show the categories of risk which may face during project period: Table 4: Major categories of risk (source: SIM335 Managing project, UOS (2005)) Risk category Example Technical Fail to change and get information regarding new technology, design error or omissions Environment Culture of organization such as same model of motor vehicles not accept by all population in the world Financial Cash flow problem, budget cuts and corporate unpredictability Resources Specialize skill people and equipment not available Human Lack motivation for employee will increase human error, personality conflict and miscommunication Logistical Material supplier problem such as shortest in material or excess credit limit and period Government Different government policies for different countries and change in rules and regulation Market Motor vehicles model fail to meet customer requirement and competitor produce new motor vehicle with meet customer requirement Risk Management Risk categories had defined, risk management model is the way to manage risk (Table 11 in appendix). According to risk management, objective of project need to define then only able to identify potential risk and monitor whether impact of the risk to such project. Example, logistical risk will affect project duration in case lack material for renovation. This logistical risk can be preventing by sign contract with supplier to confirm they will supply sufficient material when there is shortage. Furthermore payment period and credit limit should monitor properly to avoid excess limit given by supplier. Logistical risk can be avoided by sign contract with supply. Thus this risk had transfer to supplier. Risk Monitoring Whole team member should work together to report, monitor and plan the risk when they find that potential risk rise. Potential risk event will impact project costs, time and scope. As a result, project costs will increase; time will extent and scope of business will be limited. Therefore prioritizing potential risks (Table 5) is useful to assessing risk on impact and ability to influence whole project. Table 5: Prioritizing Potential Risks High impact: Low ability to influence High impact: High ability to influence Low impact: Low ability to influence Low impact: High ability to influence Impact Ability to influence Site plan for new base should be submit to government department to get approval before renovation start. Equipment and material such as engine for motor vehicle should be purchase table 12 in appendix shows how purchasing procedure should be done. Cost Estimate In reality, most of the shareholders are concern with when can they get back their money after invest to this project. Table 6 below is the simple calculation on payback period for the equipment purchase. Base on below table; estimate payback period for project is 7 years because of the positives cumulative cash flow. Estimate costs for cash outflow are the operation cost incurred at initial of project (year 0) and there is no other additional cash. Cash inflow is the cash receive from the sales generate. Table 6: Estimate operation costs for the project IMPLEMENTATION STAGE Responding to risk According to risk categories and management in development stage, risk responsibility of stakeholders should take into consideration (Table 7). Table 7: Respond to risk (source: SIM335 Managing project, UOS (2005)) Risk respond Description Risk Reduction Deduce risk by hire lack experience employment. Risk Transfer Transfer risk to thirty parties by sign contract or agreement Risk Acceptance Accept risk rather plan it due to low impact Political risk cannot neither be reduce or transfer but only can be accept even thought impact is high Mitigating risk Reduce risk before event happen such as well maintain on technologies All project team member moves to site on this stage and project team leader should take care of their part to make sure project will complete as plan. Orientation given to all team members to make sure they know the procedure and activities they involve. Report Frequently Weekly meeting will conduct on every Monday morning for each team leader to participate on the status of their activity and problem facing. Problem will bring out to find the better solution to solve without delay project completion. Monitoring and Controlling Chart 2: Monitoring and controlling process (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Monitoring_and_Controlling_Process_Group_Processes.jpg ) Project comparing planned outcome and actual outcome will be done on the meeting and ongoing project evaluation according to process flow in chart 2. This is to make sure actual cost of work perform will not exceed budgeted cost of work perform by 10% maximum and measure the status of the project. Submission of changes request form (table 13 in appendix) and project communication form (table 14 in appendixes) is compulsory in case of changes during the project. This is to monitor and control project quality and resources Leadership and Motivation Project Manager should ensure employment motivation during project period. Therefore Maslows hierarchy of needs will help to increase motivation (Chart 3) Chart 3: Maslows hierarchy of Needs (Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm) Leader is the essential for increase motivation because leader role is to get things done and drive change through team member. Leadership styles as show in chart 4 below: Chart 4: Leadership style (source: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html) (For details of leadership styles, refer table 15 in appendix) Managing and Administrating Renovation such as floor, roof, stairs and external works undertake as per design which follow government rules and regulation. Electrical, gas and light installed after completion of ceiling renovation. Furniture and fitting, office equipment such as air-conditional and workshop facilities had been purchase and fix accordingly. Workshop and office area constructed at estimated size of 35,000sqm. High quality vehicles will display in showroom therefore showroom facilities and interior decoration done at estimated size of 95,000sqm. The balance 20,000sqm will as a parking lot for customer during entrance to showroom. Completions of showroom pass to shareholder and stakeholder to review and approved. Corrections actions will be done as per shareholder and stakeholder requirement. Approval from stakeholders After approval from stakeholder and shareholder base on renovation done, event team prepare for showroom opening ceremony. Motor vehicles will move in and display as per plan and design. Reconfirm all had been done and complete as per plan by using checklist (Table 16 in appendix). TERMINATION STAGE Showroom preparation 1 manager, 3 sales assistants and 2 administration assistant staffs will be employed as an operations team for the showroom. Showroom need to obtain Certificate of fitness from government agencies before start trading. Showroom operation hours are determined according to healthy and safety act. Open ceremony List down guest name for shareholder and stakeholder to decide who will be inviting for opening ceremony and sent out the invitation card to ceremony. All documents for project will be update and filling before signing off and finalist project. Review and relocate team member Project completion evaluation must be done to confirm completion of project by using project checklist (table 16 in appendix) and wait for opening ceremony. Once opening ceremony done, showroom can start to operate and trading for luxury customized vehicles. Project manager and team will base on Cooper and Cooper for at least six month after showroom open for consultation. CONCLUSION This report shows the purpose of the Cooper and Cooper to have new base. Project life cycle used to determine how project should conduct. At the concept stage of project life cycle, internal and external factors should be concern. Goal and objective, costs for renovation are determined. Development stage mention team leader and their member work base on work breakdown structure. Way to identify risk and necessary step should be taken for that potential risk. Implementation stage is the actual renovation work start in showroom and related equipment purchase. Correction step taken upon shareholder and stakeholder requirement. Termination stage is confirm project had completed and preparation for opening ceremony. Project manager and team member will relocate. (2064 words) APPENDIX Chart 5: Project life cycle (source: http://www.mpmm.com/project-management-methodology.php) Concept stage Development stage Implementation stage Terminal stage Table 8: Breakdown of production by country in the world (Source: http://oica.net/category/production-statistics/) Country Cars Commercial vehicles Total % change Argentina 380,067 132,857 512,924 -14.10% Australia 188,158 39,125 227,283 -31.00% Austria 56,620 15,714 72,334 -52.20% Belgium 524,595 12,510 537,354 -25.80% Brazil 2,576,628 605,989 3,182,617 -1.00% Canada 822,267 668,365 1,490,632 -28.40% China 10,383,831 3,407,163 13,790,994 48.30% Czech Rep. 967,760 6,809 974,569 3.00% Egypt 60,249 32,090 92,339 -23.00% Finland 10,907 64 10,971 -38.70% France 1,819,462 228,196 2,047,658 -20.30% Germany 4,964,523 245,334 5,209,857 -13.80% Hungary 180,500 2,040 182,540 -47.30% India 2,166,238 466,456 2,632,694 12.90% Indonesia 352,172 112,644 464,816 -22.60% Iran 1,359,520 35,901 1,395,421 9.50% Italy 661,100 182,139 843,239 -17.60% Japan 6,862,161 1,072,355 7,934,516 -31.50% Malaysia 447,002 42,267 489,269 -7.80% Mexico 942,876 618,176 1,561,052 -28.00% Netherlands 50,620 25,981 76,601 -42.20% Poland 819,000 65,133 884,133 -7.10% Portugal 101,680 24,335 126,015 -28.10% Romania 279,320 17,178 296,498 20.90% Russia 595,839 126,592 722,431 -59.60% Serbia 8,720 1,355 10,075 -13.40% Slovakia 461,340 461,340 -19.90% Slovenia 202,570 10,179 212,749 7.50% South Africa 222,981 150,942 373,923 -33.60% South Korea 3,158,417 354,509 3,512,926 -8.20% Spain 1,812,688 357,390 2,170,078 -14.60% Sweden 128,738 27,600 156,338 -49.30% Taiwan 183,986 42,370 226,356 23.70% Thailand 313,442 685,936 999,378 -28.30% Turkey 510,931 358,674 869,605 -24.20% Ukraine 65,646 3,649 69,295 -83.60% UK 999,460 90,679 1,090,139 -33.90% USA 2,246,470 3,462,382 5,708,852 -34.30% Uzbekistan 110,200 7,700 117,900 -43.30% Supplementary 302,450 110,109 412,559 -22.40% Total 47,952,995 13,761,694 61,714,689 -12.80% Table 9: Summary of Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulation 1992 UK lay down minimum standards for workplace and work in or near building (source: www.cipd.co.uk) Employers duties and obligation to provide health and safety working environment for their employee Publish a health and safety policy Arrange for the appointment of health and safety representatives Establish a health and safety committee if requested by a recognized trade union Appoint a competent person to evaluate risks and hazards Arrange periodic risk assessment Consult with employee health and safety representatives Present and inform employee of risks and combat risks at sources Arrange protection from unavoidable risks Provide health-risk surveillance and safety training Provide safety training Monitor and improve safety arrangements Comply with the updated provision concerning healthy and safety posters and leaflets Adopt work to the individual especially with respect to the design of workplaces Alleviate monotonous work and develop a prevention policy Appoint one or more competent persons to assist in undertaking preventative and protective measures Establish procedures to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to persons working in the company Require person at work who are exposed to serious and imminent danger to be informed of the nature of the hazards and steps taken to protect them Table 10: Cost breakdown for renovation and security alarm system (source: www.davislangdon.com) Cost Breakdown Total cost ( £)  £/à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡(gifa) % Substructure 114,000 85.07 6.12 Excavation and disposal off-site: 320à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡25 Ground slab, footings, column bases, filling to levels: 1,060à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡100 Frame and upper floors 113,400 84.63 6.08 Structural steelwork; UB and UC sections: 55tn @  ¿Ã‚ ¡1,600 Suspended concrete floor on permanent formwork: 280à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡80 Fire protection to steelwork: Item @  ¿Ã‚ ¡3,000 Roof 73,900 55.15 3.97 Aluminium standing seam roof cladding, including purlins, trims, cappings, insulation: 1,190à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡50 Upstands: Item @  ¿Ã‚ ¡2,000 Mansafe system: 165m @  ¿Ã‚ ¡75 Stairs 11,000 8.21 0.59 Precast concrete staircase handrails and balustrades: 2 nr @  ¿Ã‚ ¡5,500 External walls, windows and doors 291,000 217.16 15.61 Structural bonded glass to frontage with silicone joints and support, including automatic bi-parting entrance doors: 310à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡500 Coated aluminium double-glazed window system: 150à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡375 Aluminium louvres to glass frontage 1,500 projection; including support and brackets: 90à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡300 Entrance door for vehicles as integral part of glazing walling, including ironmongery and trimming: 2 nr @  ¿Ã‚ ¡4,500 Aluminium composite micro-rib profile wall cladding to sides and rear of showroom: 400à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡80 Steel fire escape doors: 3 nr @  ¿Ã‚ ¡900 Inner leaf of 140 block work: 200à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡45 Internal walls and partitions 68,400 51.04 3.67 Metal stud partitions to showrooms including support, up to 8m high: 320à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡65 Metal stud partitions including skim finish to offices, to 3m high: 300à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡45 Plasterboard including skim finish to external walls: 400à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡20 Proprietary glazed partitions: 100à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡225 Disabled WC cubicles: 2 nr @  ¿Ã‚ ¡800 WC cubicles: 4 nr @  ¿Ã‚ ¡50 Wall finishes 9,800 7.31 0.53 Emulsion paint finish to walls: 1,600à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡5 Vinyl wall lining or similar: 40à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡45 Floor finishes 114,300 85.30 6.13 Reinforced screeds to showrooms; 100 thick: 800à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡25 Screeds to common areas; 75 thick: 540à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡15 Ceramic floor tiles to showroom areas, including skirtings: 800à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡85 Carpet tiling to office and circulation areas: 450à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡20 Softwood skirtings: 300m @  ¿Ã‚ ¡8 Non-slip vinyl flooring to WC, including coved skirtings: 90à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡35 Entrance matting: 12à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡300 Ceiling finishes 45,200 33.73 2.43 Plasterboard suspended ceiling on concealed grid: 920à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡40 Mineral fibre suspended ceiling: 420à £Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡@  ¿Ã‚ ¡20

Drugs Should NOT be Legal :: Against Legalization of Drugs

Drugs Should NOT be Legal Everyone agrees that something must be done about the tremendous physical and emotional health problems that drug abuse causes. Concern about the abuse of drugs is so widespread that recent polls indicate it to be one of the most serious problems in today's world, threatening the security and freedom of whole nations. Politicians, health experts and much of the general public feel that no issue is more important than drug abuse. America's other pressing social problems- disease, poverty, child abuse and neglect, and corruption- often have a common element; that is drug abuse. The use of illegal drugs such as cocaine, crack, heroin and marijuana cause extensive harm to the body and brain. Yet, even after knowing this many people want illegal drugs to be legalized in every aspect. The last thing we need is a policy that makes widely available substances that impair memory, concentration and attention span; why in God's name foster the uses of drugs that make you stupid? The campaign for drug legalization is morally disgusting.The number of people who are addicted to illegal drugs or are users of these drugs is quite shocking. Drug abuse is clearly an injurious and sometimes fatal problem. The leaders of the international economic summit in Paris in July 1989 concluded that the devastating proportions of the drug problem calls for decisive action. On September 5, 1989, President Bush called upon the United States to join in an all-out fight against drugs. The United States Congress reports an estimated 25 to 30 million addicts of illegal drugs worldwide. Not all users are addicts, but some of the 26 million regular users of illegal drugs in the United States are addicted. Reports of child abuse to New York social services tripled between 1986 and 1988 and most of the cases involved drug abuse. Approximately 35 percent of the inmates of state prison were under the influence of illegal drugs at the time they committed the crimes for which they are incarcerated. In some parts of the country, that percentage is as high as 75 to 80! Another fact that hits people hard is that out-right deaths from illegal drugs have quadrupled in the last ten years! The proportion of 19 to 22 year olds who were at risk from using illegal drugs rose from 44 percent in 1980 to 69 percent in 1987. Among 17-18 year olds the shift over the same interval was from 50 percent to 74 percent (Williams 226)! The abuse of illegal drugs is very threatening to America's future. These drugs are the cause of many problems and crimes.